Embracing His True Self

Chapter 52

The downside to having so many people within the manor, Harry found out, was that it wasn't easy to find who you were looking for. His search for Severus so far was proving futile, unless…he had gone back to Hogwarts. He doubted it though, Barty had informed him that Severus had returned for good. He was no longer going to be spying on Dumbledore for Voldemort apparently. He was surprised for two reasons, one that Voldemort had actually listened to him, he'd half expected Voldemort to continue Severus' path – his spying duties – and the other the fact Severus had returned full time. Oh, he knew Severus hated his duties but it was also the place he probably called home. Much like he had and Voldemort at one point.

"Why don't you ask our Lord where Severus' room is?" Barty asked, getting annoyed by the running around. He wanted to show Harry his last gift. He wanted to find out just what he thought of it, be it good or bad, the anticipation was killing him.

"You think he's gone to his room?" Harry questioned, "I thought it more likely he'd be brewing," he confessed, it's the first place he'd checked, the potions labs but he'd found nothing, they were empty. He'd half expected him to be making more hangover cures for everyone if he was entirely honest.

"Well, he is sort of staying here until he finds a place to stay," Barty explained, "Might be unpacking."

"Good point," Harry mused, Severus was very anal, at least about his potions lab, he could be that way with his private life. No doubt he wouldn't be satisfied until it was turned into something he was happy with. Although, he couldn't see Severus unpacking everything, just things he'd be liable to use while living there. He was much too private to endure living here for long. "I'll just look for him later, come on…show me what you wanted to show me."

Barty's grin took on a feral edge, "Brilliant!"

A sudden pop had both of them turning swiftly around to find a House-Elf standing there.

Harry could have hit his head, why hadn't he just used Dobby? "Hold that thought," he added, "Yes?"

"Master demands your presence immediately,"

"Me or Barty or both?" Harry asked the House-Elf.

"He demands Master Harry Potter-Black's presence," the House-Elf said curtly, looking a little worried that Harry wasn't immediately moving.

"Guess you better get going," Barty said, "He's usually in a hurry when he sends an Elf and not one of us whose closest."

"Yeah, I'll see you later," Harry said distractedly, genuinely curious as to why he was being requested. "I wonder if Draco will dare follow me up to where I'm going," yes, he knew Draco had been following him all morning, he was actually half decent about being unobtrusive about it…but not compared to him being hypervigilant given the amount of people here.

"It would be a shame to miss his face," Barty said wickedly, "Let me know when you're done,"

"Please, you just want to know what's going on," Harry teased, as he began to walk away, absently waving his hand goodbye in the wizards direction. Completely ignoring the other Death Eaters, whether they moved for him or refused to budge.

A large cluster of Death Eaters stood at the staircase leading up to Voldemort's office. "Move," Harry commanded, getting a little annoyed now. It was as if they were going out of their way to try and annoy him completely.

"Go around," one Death Eater retorted, evidently the ringleader of this particular group. The Death Eaters own annoyance evident. Fingering his wand, eyes narrowed as if just waited for Harry's legendary temper to get the better of him. The thought of seeing the little snot punished made them almost salivate. It would be a public punishment too if he attacked anyone. They just had to make sure they weren't seen at fault, otherwise it wouldn't be good for them. Not that their Lord would care, he never did for petty disputes.

"You want to be the reason I'm late to see your Lord? If so keep going," Harry added snapping in irritation, they were being deliberately annoying in order to get him in trouble he realized. His anger tapered off, a sly smirk appearing on his face, deciding to fuck with them. "If this is how you treat Voldemort you really should have more care, the Cruciatus curse is very painful," he whispered conspiratorially. "He knows how to keep it on to maximise your pain without turning you to into a vegetable,"

The Death Eaters hastily parted with that threat, leaving a pathway free for Harry to move towards the stairs. Which he did, with his head held high, but his hand lingering on his wrist, ready to call upon his wand in a seconds notice. He didn't trust them at all, but he made sure that he remained impassive, making it clear that he did not see them as a threat to him.

Nobody heard the breath of relief Harry let out half way up the stairs, he was good…but not good enough to fight seven Death Eaters on one. He wasn't completely suicidal, he would have made sure to cause maximum suffering…but he wouldn't have come out unscathed he knew that. He'd fight if he had to, and relished a challenge, but he was too curious right now about many things to really want to endure a trip to the closest Healer and worse…Voldemort's digging into what happened.

Harry froze, was he worried about disappointing Voldemort? Been seen as weak? Lesser than Bellatrix and the others who had been taught from him? Stunned disbelief coursed through him, no, it was impossible, there was no way he was worried about something like that.

Taking the last few remaining steps he knocked on Voldemort's private office door, not the one downstairs, which he wasn't using right now. Presumably because of all the noise and the people milling around. There was only so much noise one could take.

"Enter," called out Voldemort.

Harry blinked, Voldemort sounded in high spirits, then again so had he since he read the newspaper. Opening the door, he stepped inside, to find Voldemort facing the Portrait of Phineas Black, the former Headmaster of Hogwarts. He hadn't expected an update quite so soon. Shrugging it off, he wandered in and sat down, presuming that the seat had been placed there for him. "An update already?" Harry queried, staring between Phineas and Voldemort curiously.

"Indeed, it would seem that Dumbledore has a warrant out for his arrest," Voldemort stated with a victorious gleam in his reddish brown – maroon - eyes.

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise, "They actually took it seriously?" the bloody Ministry rarely took anything in the Daily Prophet seriously.

"They have to," Phineas drawled his tone one of boredom. "They are very serious allegations, especially if he has been under charms of the manipulation kind. He will find himself with a full scan to ensure that he was sound of mind…relatively speaking," someone who caused all that couldn't be considered 'sound of mind' if he wasn't compelled in any way.

"There's other subtle ways to manipulate people," Harry pointed out, "Although I'm not sure Dumbledore at the time would use them…he will have had a strong aversion to anything Muggle related." If he had even visited the Muggle world after the elder Dumbledore – the father – had moved his family to Godric's Hollow one of the few pure wizarding towns available to them. "But underestimating him is never a good idea…so why just a warrant for his arrest and how did you find out?"

Voldemort watched the emotions pass through Harry's eyes, he didn't need the mind link or the now removed band from Harry's leg to get a grip of his emotions. His eyes, they told everything even while his face remained impassive, occlumency hadn't changed that. It's that of course, or he was just the exception when it came to reading Harry. The robes he wore didn't do him any favours, they brought out the colour of his eyes, and seemed to make them pop more, especially since he'd gotten rid of this disgusting glasses years ago. He looked regal, a true Lord of his estate with that attire, he definitely had to find out why he was choosing to wear them. Find out and make sure it remained that way, it helped that Harry looked years older than his true age.

"Very good questions," Voldemort stated smoothly, turning back to Phineas in enquiry.

"When Dumbledore read the newspaper he completely lost it, he was screaming, shouting obscenities and throwing everything within touching distance at walls, portraits and the floor." Phineas said with supreme amusement, it had been quite a comical sight to see such old man throw what could only be described as a temper tantrum. "He was just calming down after exhausting himself when the Aurors barged in,"

"Let me guess he got away with Fawkes?" Harry stated, already knowing he was quite correct, it was an exact scenario he could see playing out.

"Informed them that they were mistaken if they thought he was coming quietly, and yes, he used Fawkes to get them both out of there." Phineas informed them lips twitching at just how well the young boy knew Dumbledore. No, not young boy, the Black heir, Lord Black, and Phineas found himself proud to have such a Lord in place, even if he was first and foremost a Potter and a Half-Blood to boot.

"Of course he did," Harry scoffed, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully, "The first place will be the Weasleys', I don't think they'll change their opinion, at least not the parents and youngers…they seem to revere the ground he walks on. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George don't care." And he often wondered just how that was, what made Ron and Ginny so different from all the others? Maybe the fact Bill and Charlie had been gone from Britain helped, Percy just believed everything the Ministry said and Fred and George were natural rebels. "He'll try and gather his allies, use what's left of the Order…but how many are left that truly support him…that's the question."

Voldemort's lips twitched, the boy was exceptionally clever, and he had to admit each thought Harry had given voice to…he had already thought himself. It was just a shame they were on lockdown, otherwise he would have advised Lucius to whisper such things in the Minister's ear, catch Dumbledore before he became more problematic, "There's only one problem, this means we have no idea where he is, what he's planning or his next step." He'd meant to get rid of the problem not make it more severe. It was very inconvenient that he had just lost his spy within Dumbledore's ranks where it would have proven to be more…useful.

Harry winced, "Yeah, sorry about that," Harry sighed, "Unfortunately we can never account for everything no matter how meticulous it's planned." Even the best laid plans of mice and men go awry as the saying goes Harry muttered mostly to himself.

"You can say that again," Voldemort stated dryly, his biggest one was definitely the boy in front of him, awry indeed.

"House-Elves can find anyone, anywhere, no matter what wards they're under," Harry pondered, "Without even knowing the address, I could get Dobby to replant the portrait but without knowing where he's actually staying for the duration it might prove futile."

"Perhaps not under the Fidelius Charm," Voldemort deduced, "Unfortunately, I do not think anyone has had the forethought to run tests."

"Or fortunately," Harry corrected shrewdly, "Depending on whether it works or not. I don't think Dumbledore will be stupid enough not to put his place of residence under that charm especially as he is a wanted wizard…better question…who the hell would Dumbledore trust with such a thing?"

Voldemort leaned back, his mind mulling over every potential applicant, but he found absolutely nothing and nobody he honestly could say that Dumbledore actually trusted.

"Moody might be one," Harry suggested, "But Severus might be able to answer that question for us," he was closer to Dumbledore than them, and not only that but he been by his side for over a decade playing a docile little turncoat, which of course, he wasn't.

"Agreed," Voldemort conceded, although quite honestly, he did not believe the question would be answered. Dumbledore might seem to have many friends, acquaintances but none they could say with one hundred percent certainty was the one he'd use.

"Does Dumbledore even know Severus was gone?" Harry asked, giving a bark of amusement.

"Minerva does, she planned on informing him before the newspaper came if what she told the Aurors was true," Phineas informed them. Well, she didn't specify Severus, just that she had news she had to tell him regarding 'one of the faculty retiring' but it didn't take much to put the pieces together.

"What about her? She's always been enchanted by Dumbledore, follows him even against her own instincts," Harry queried, wishing he had the memory of the scene, so he could replay it until the day he died. The 'her' of course, was Minerva, who they were discussing.

"She hightailed it out of there paler than a ghost," Phineas revealed gleefully, his face twisted in utter delight. "She must have sensed how close he was to losing it." unlike him, she would be able to feel the magic emanating from the powerful wizard.

"Would have paid a fortune to see that," Harry replied, a rueful look on his face, he honestly couldn't remember seeing McGonagall anything other than composure itself. The only close break they had to her being shocked was definitely the incident with the troll. Then of course, she went ahead and awarded them points, encouraging them to break school rules as opposed to punishing them and preventing more rule breaking. It wasn't a teacher thing to do at all, especially having so many students under the one roof. Frankly it was astonishing that nobody else was hurt trying to be a hero and a stupid idiot like he'd been forced to be in order to prevent greater scrutiny by the old fool.

Voldemort chuckled, Minerva McGonagall had not changed since her Hogwarts years. She had been the same then as she was now. Always trying too hard, brought up to never display her emotions as they were signs of weaknesses. Which was why he had noticed her more than any other Gryffindor. After all being hairbrained was a Gryffindor trait, he'd soon deducted that she probably ended up in the wrong house, or picked one when she was equal measure brave and smart. Loyal to a fault, and it was just a shame that the idiot she chose to give her loyalty would never give her any in turn.

"Thanks," Harry said, just as the former Black Headmaster vacated the portrait. "Well…that was unexpected," leaning back as he stretched out languidly. Certainly not what he had expected when he woke up this morning at any rate. "Think he'll try to get back into Hogwarts?"

"It's possible, everything he owns is in the school," Voldemort said pensively, a thoughtful look coming onto his face, "Perhaps I should allow Lucius to tend to the Minister, suggest that they lay in wait for the old fool."

"I can do you one better…the Marauders map," Harry said green eyes gleaming, "They'll have his exact location, at the exact time he comes and he won't expect that."

"You detest the idea," Voldemort pointed out astutely.

"To my bones," Harry agreed, grimacing, "It's a brilliant piece of magic, its amazing that three fifteen year olds were able to make it. I don't think I could have done it, or could do it even now, it's a mixture of potions, runes, spells, charms and transfiguration…they could have done well going into the Ministry together…" instead of joining the Order and going to war was unsaid. They could have made the magical world rise out of its stagnant state it had been stuck in for generations. "People should be allowed to see it, use it, but I don't like the thought of the beauty of it being replicated and turned into something…insignificant I guess."

"I deduce you'd say the same for that Invisibility cloak of yours," which was unique in itself, it had been in the Potter family for generations and it didn't look a day old, wasn't deteriorating and that itself was impossible. Magic didn't last that long, no invisibility cloak had ever lasted that long.

"I could unravel the map…but the cloak? That would be impossible," Harry admitted, and that was a irrefutable fact.

Voldemort nodded curtly, agreeing with Harry, that was true. Flicking his hand in the opposite direction, Harry blinked in surprise when a black square package sailed through the air. "Enjoy your birthday," he stated, his lip curling unconsciously, unable to prevent it.

Harry laughed, finding amusement in the look of pained derision painted over Voldemort's face. Honestly, you'd think there was something foul under his nose, not just saying 'Happy birthday' which he wasn't anyway, but he was in his own way. Hadn't he said it the last time? Harry was sure he had, although he had been rather mocking…hadn't he? Harry couldn't' remember he had been too stunned when he'd been handed – had the gift shoved into his hands more like – the parcel which had been filled with clothes he'd actually barely worn. They'd becoming too small for his frame pretty quickly, and those expensive clothes couldn't be altered.

What had he gotten him this time? Unable to contain his curiosity he opened the box and blinked in surprise. There must have been a silencing spell on the box otherwise surely he would have heard the snake by this. Was this Voldemort's way of offering him more protection or just something he bought because he could talk to snakes? "Uh…" Harry was speechless as he stared at the tiny snake.

"It's a black tiger snake it's a species of snake indigenous to Australia." Voldemort informed him, "It's actually ten feet, once you make him his normal size. The tiger snake has a preference for coastal regions, creeks and wetlands. The snakes venom is very potent and causes adverse effects, such as breathing difficulties, numbness, tingling sweating, and inevitably paralysis."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Harry asked, mesmerised as stared at the snake that looked little more than a pencil size at the moment.

"Knowledge is power," Voldemort retorted immediately.

"Yes, yes it is," Harry agreed wholeheartedly, which was why Dumbledore had tried to stifle him, it hadn't worked of course. He'd let the old fool believe he was mediocre, he often wondered if Dumbledore knew he was smart or if he'd just studied with someone smarter until he knew the material? If he did believe that then Harry had well and truly done his fooled him.

Turning back to the snake, it was pure black, and wasn't happy with his current size at all. Grinning wryly, Harry spoke to the snake, and to neither of the occupants, it did not sound like hissing but English. He told the snake who he was, that he wasn't allowed to bite anyone unless he was in danger or Harry allowed otherwise. That he had an owl and nothing had better happen to her. Then informed him that he would make him bigger…but not the whole ten feet, that would be impossible to cart around with him. He made him a good size to sit comfortably around his neck but noticeable, what could he say, he rather liked the thought of scaring the shit out of everyone. For those who claim to be Slytherin's they were all deathly terrified of snakes or maybe it was just Nagini.

"What's your name?" Harry hissed out.

"The great one called me Aadarsh," the snake replied, its tongue tasting the air, glad to be out of the box he'd been placed into half an hour ago – not that he knew it was half an hour – and stretch out so to speak.

"Great one?" Harry teased Voldemort a wicked chuckle leaving his lips when he swore he saw Voldemort's cheeks go pale red, so slight that Harry honestly believed he was imagining it. "You named the snake you bought me?"

Voldemort sniffed imperiously, "Such creatures deserve good names," and wizards came up with the most ridiculous names these days. Even his Death Eaters, he could say he genuinely liked only a few of what they'd named their children.

"What does it mean?" Harry asked, he didn't know much about Hindu, and he knew that's where the name came from. Voldemort was obsessed with the Hindu culture for some reason. He'd named his House-Elves and his snake as well as Harry's as proof of that.

"The one who has principles," Voldemort informed him, and it was actually more geared towards Harry than the snake itself. Despite being on his side, he had stuck to his core principles and refused to give in, even in the face of potential danger. Not that Harry seemed afraid of him, even in the beginning it was as though the boy didn't fear death and perhaps didn't understand the true meaning of fear. That was probably what made Harry even more fascinating to him.

"Thank you, he's amazing," Harry said sincerely, stroking the snake which seemed content to scent him thoroughly, it was awfully submissive for such a creature. "Are they normally so…docile?"

"Snakes all respond well to Parseltongue's they are…elevated compared to the humans they fear." Voldemort explained, "One could even say that they revere the ability it is ingrained. They also feel compelled the answer and do as directed by a parseltongue, none more so than their chosen Master." By chosen Master simply meant the one the snake gives their loyalty to.

"Nothing to do with magic?" Harry blinked in surprise. As always quite eager to learn anything new, although he did have to admit he preferred reading to learn new things as apposed to only getting snippets. He would need to go into the Muggle world and find a few books on those sorts of snakes, and maybe one in the magical world too. The more information he had the better.

"Surprisingly not, although they can tell Muggles from Wizards," Voldemort informed him. The snakes also had the ability to get jealous, Nagini had gone off to sulk, not even giving him a chance to explain. Honestly, sometimes he wondered what he had been thinking bringing her back from Romania.

"Their sense of smell," Harry said with a decisive nod, which was true, snakes had unbelievable power on that tongue of theirs.

"Indeed," Voldemort replied, in agreement. Feeling smug and satisfied that Harry liked his gift, he'd gone back and forth on what to get him like some sort of demented idiot. He did not buy gifts for others unless it was tradition to do so in order to achieve his goals or it benefited him. This did neither, he'd actually wanted to buy a gift for Harry, wished his to be the best, the most memorable. He would never admit it to anyone, and obviously the fact he cared for Harry had not changed him. He could still curse others like nobody's business and his killing instincts were still prevalent.

It would seem he just had a soft spot.

"I'm pleased you like it," Voldemort stated, with his usual dismissive tilt to his head when he had business to attend.

"Yeah, yeah, I better go before Barty wets his pants," Harry said with a sly smirk, "He has something he wants to show me," well, give him really. "Have fun!" Harry turned, situating the snake comfortably on his neck, making sure it was comfortable for both him and his snake, he didn't see the glare boring into his back. He felt it though and it made him shiver, that powerful gaze constantly cut through him, made him feel naked and a little vulnerable as though he could see into the heart of him. Out of everyone though, he probably did, having been in his mind as often as he had during his Occlumency training.

Voldemort contemplated the idea of sending Barty out on a mission he knows would result in his death and capture. He did not like the feeling of competition or the jealousy that reared itself inside of him. It made him irrational, after all it would jeopardise everything if Barty was caught. He was above petty emotions like jealousy, he got what he wanted when he wanted. There was nothing to be jealous of, even before he realised his own feelings he hadn't been comfortable with Barty and Harry's friendship. Despite the fact he should be pleased with it, after all more connections and friendships Harry created the less likely he would be to leave the dark side.

Not something he had to worry about now anyway, he had well and truly made up his mind.

"What happened? What's going on?" Barty asked as soon as he met Harry at the dungeons, his eyes alight with eagerness. Both in what he was about to show Harry and of course, finding out what was going on and why he was called. There had to be a reason and he wished to know – if he was permitted of course – only then he would drop it and not bring it up again. He would never go against his Lord's wishes, even if he was curious. "Is that a snake?" he blurted out belatedly realizing it was there.

"Voldemort got for him for me," Harry said, "For my birthday,"

Barty gaped, his brain going momentarily offline. Not only at the reverence in Harry's voice – which by the way was a first especially when it came to the Dark Lord – but also the fact that their Lord had actually bought something for someone. He'd never heard of that happening before, it was so out of character that he was stunned speechless.

"His name is Aadarsh," Harry told him, absently stroking the snake as he hissed at him. "Put your hand forth, let him scent you," he added, as the snakes face came up, scenting the air with his tongue. To his surprise Barty did exactly that, he didn't even seem the slightest bit hesitant. Harry wondered if it was because Barty was used to snakes or if he trusted him. His mind flashed to the reactions of Hermione and Weasley when they found out, how pale and sick they looked over his talent. He'd known about it before Hogwarts begun, but he hadn't anticipated the reaction from everyone.

"What kind is he?" Barty asked, delicately stroking its head, and he absently wondered at his true size, although it could be a juvenile snake and have more growing room.

"Black tiger snake," Harry told him, as Barty slowly pulled away so that the snake didn't strike out of fear at his unexpected movement. "So what the hell do you have down there…or should I be asking who?"

"Come on," Barty said, yanking open the door and making his way down the stairs, the stairs were narrow allowing only one person at a time down them.

"Barty," Harry said in warning, his tone going grim, as he made his way down after him.

"Come on," Barty urged him, his own tone not as cheerful as it had been just moments ago.

As soon as they were outside the cell, Harry stared at the red robes, an Auror. The figure looked sort of familiar, was it someone he knew? It was doubtful he didn't know any Aurors…at least not personally. He was pretty sure Voldemort had a few Aurors in his pocket though. "Who is he?" assuming it was a him due to the short hair.

"She," Barty corrected, staring at Harry cautiously, this was the moment of truth.

"Who is she?" Harry asked, his tone filled with exasperated amusement.

"Nymphadora Tonks, Auror and Order member," Barty told him, "The only Metamorphamagus in the British isles."

"You do realise you have just condemned her to death right? She's definitely not getting out of here alive," Harry said impassively.

"Yes, she's a thorn in the Dark Lord's side, she was never going to survive the war anyway," Barty stated, relaxing a little at the lack of horror or any sort of negative reaction from Harry. "This means you can investigate, find out what you're missing and make your potion it gives her life some meaning." Even if it was over the second he was done.

"I thought it was a gift only for the Black's," Harry cocked his head to the side. She meant nothing to him, he only cared for a few people and he was going to try his best to see they survived. He knew the people he actually cared about would hate him for his decisions but that was life. He was used to it, the condemnation for his choices, at least these ones were something he wanted.

"She is a Black…sort of," Barty replied wryly, "She's Andromeda Black's daughter, she's the niece of Bellatrix and Narcissa,"

"So a second cousin to Sirius?" Harry asked, trying to understand families wasn't his strong suit, especially the Black family. It was too inner related, cousins marrying cousins it was hardly surprising they were all interbred. Oh, Tonks, right, he had met her very briefly and knew a bit about her well, mostly the fact she was a half-blood technically, which made her blood better, causing the return of the Metamorphamagus in her line. "I wonder what made her join the Order…I mean seriously? She's an Auror…she's already out on the front lines why the hell would she risk her life and career by joining the Order as well?"

"Stupidity," Barty sneered derisively.

"Maybe," Harry said simply, he sort of saw why his parents had, his mum being a Muggle-Born and his father having married one and produced a Half-Blood son. Something Voldemort had wanted rid of, the war had been different back then. The war had changed for the better, in Harry's opinion, but not its primary goal, to bring back magic that had been deemed 'dark' because the Ministry felt like it. To bring back the old ways and the Pagan holidays and rituals. Which by the way did no harm to anyone. The Muggle-Borns had been a product of that, the magical world changing due to the influx and before you knew it…you were evil if you did pagan rituals and arrested and put in Azkaban.

They started blaming the wrong thing, wrong people, at least the focus is where it was meant to be.

"How did YOU manage to get the best of an Auror?" Harry asked, amused, "Don't they have partners?"

"The idiot tripped over her own feet and knocked herself the fuck out," Barty said scathingly. He would have laughed but it was honestly not funny, it had been sad and pathetic. How she managed to finish Auror training was beyond him.

Harry however, burst out laughing, just imagining the scenario playing out.

"And that's an Auror," Barty stated darkly, staring at the unconscious witch with obvious distaste.

"No torture," Harry stated firmly. "If she's mine I want her healthy until I figure out the potion…afterwards she can get killed…and with the killing curse." Not that he would be the one casting it, it was the one spell he had refused to learn and still didn't know if he would succeed if he tried it. She'd done nothing so he wasn't going to make her suffer, he was indifferent towards her presence here.

"Yeah…you might have to go to Our Lord with that," Barty said, "They will only listen to him and if Bellatrix finds out she's here…well, it's best you don't know."

Harry scoffs, "Yeah," he could imagine just exactly what the witch would do, especially considering how pissed off she was at him.

"Why are you so determined to make the potion anyway? I've never seen you like that before," Barty said, his focus now on Harry as he completely forgot the Auror.

"So you guys can go out without being found out, with new identities you'll all have a new lease of life," Harry confessed.

Barty blinked, staring at Harry completely stunned, "That's why?" he croaked out, well fuck, you could knock him over with a damn feather. He wanted to work on an experimental potion on his birthday to help them all…perhaps there was a bit of a Gryffindor still inside the boy after all…unless he had ulterior motives for helping them…perhaps a boon but it would be worth it regardless of what Harry asked.

Plus, what he asked was never anything untoward or risky, as seen by the fact he had only asked them to watch out over his friends for the boons in the past.

He'd never had anyone care enough to do anything like that, not ever, and he knew Rab and Rod would feel the same.

Barty gave Harry a genuine heartfelt smile, changing his face completely, it might be Harry's birthday but Barty felt like it was his. "Thank you, Harry, even if it never works…I'm grateful that you tried…but knowing you, you'll get it working." After all this time he was still learning new things about the now sixteen-year-old but he also knew his mind was brilliant and just as amazing as their Lords. If anyone could do it, it would be him.

It will be him.

"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling alright?" Harry said shoving him with his hip, grinning widely, teasing the older wizard who rarely spoke so heartfelt.

So do you want to see Tonks dead or will she be given an opportunity to leave the war behind and survive by swearing a fool proof vow that would prevent it? Will Harry get the potion working? Will the Lestrange brothers change their identities and live new lives? Will their significant others ever find out? Or live their lives without knowing? Hmm, how to get Luna into the story without Neville...an attack is too obvious perhaps bullies? those who torment her in school? What do you guys think? Read and Review Please!