Blinking, a man rolled to the side. There was a blaring sound from his left side. Blinking, he pulled back a sheet and looked into stern brown eyes, which softened as they connected with his grey ones. He reached out and brushed his knuckles over the woman's cheek. She reached up, caught his hand and turned it, kissing the palm of it.
"Morning Siri." She whispered as he smiled softly at her.
"Morning Melia." The dim light of the morning slipped through a crack in the thick heavy curtains. The soft tapping of rain on the window glass filled the room. The dark wood of the floor was almost black in the dim light as they looked at each other.
"You have to get out early today?" He asked, blinking slowly.
Amelia nodded her head pulling up the comforter. "Yes. I have to be out in about half an hour I would say."
Sirius smiled turned wider as he lowered his hand on her shoulder pulling her closer to himself. "Sounds like a lot of time in my book." His fingers trailed over the back of her neck and Amelia Bones felt her skin shiver slightly at his playful administration. She groaned once.
"I wish I could stay Siri. But there is a meeting about the budget with Scrimgeoure in an hour, which I have to attend to."
The dark-haired man chuckled slightly. "I thought he is your employee, not the other way around." His nose moved to the crook of her neck as he started kissing her collar bone.
Amelia squirmed a little. "Yes, but a good boss is on time too."
To that, the man mumbled against her skin as his hands glided down her sides. "Oh, you are always on time. No one will mind when you get there too late one time."
Amelia took a fist full of long black hair and pulled his head back. Her eyes stared sternly at him. "Just so you can have your fun this morning?" But she could already feel her defence crumble as he gave her this grin. This shit-eating grin of a guy who knew he could win someone over with the sheer amount of his charms alone.
"Oh Melia, I will have a long day too. So many meetings with some old people and people who try to get some of my money. Also, if I recall correctly, I am not the only one who has fun." Then he had the audacity to wink at her and move his upper leg into a certain place. A place that Amelia thought was very unfair of him. With a strong grip, she pushed him to the side and flipped him on his back, climbing onto him.
"Is that so? And what will you do if I take my pleasure and then just leave?" She smirked down at him with tangled hair and blazing eyes. Never before was she more beautiful in Sirius's eyes.
"I think that is the prize I have to pay for delaying the head of the DMLE. I am your humble servant and-"
His words were cut short when Amelia placed her hand over his mouth. "Tut-tut, I didn't say I want you to talk. You will lay there and I will take what I want. That will be payback for delaying me. Scrimgeour can wait."
At that exact moment, a silver lion jumped through the wall of Amelia's. Scrimgeour's Patronus.
The brunette woman glared at the silver animal, huffing. "Oh for Merlin's sake, how does he know?"
A strong voice echoed through the room. While Scrimgeoure normally was a really controlled and calm person, his voice sounded nervous and in haste. By the way, he was panting while talking it sounded like he was running somewhere.
"Multiple codes Magenta. I repeat, multiple Codes Magenta. Get your ass here boss!"
Harry groaned as he stretched his back. Picking up his glasses from the nightstand, he blinked owlishly into the room. It was early Tuesday morning and he was feeling still a little tired. Last night at four in the morning, he had woken up. Strange feelings brushed through his mind and it had taken some moments for him to realise that the feeling of dread wasn't from him, but instead from the twisting phoenix on his blanket. Dawn had been caught in a night terror and her emotions were quite vivid.
Harry had picked her up, trying to wake and soothe her but her instincts had taken over and he had gotten a beak to the index finger for his efforts. But he was not deterred and after a short while, he had been able to wake the small bird. After that Dawn had demanded a lot of his attention and wouldn't shift away from him for almost an hour. Harry sighed as he reached out and rubbed her back. In her sleep Dawn purred contently, not showing any signs that her nightmare was still on her sleeping mind.
It had been the first time, that Dawn had shown a sign of night terrors and quite frankly up to this point, the black-haired boy had thought that phoenixes didn't have any kind of bad dreams. But then again, they were quite intelligent so it was no wonder they had this kind of dreams too. Brushing his fingers through Dawn's plumage, he thought a little. The last two days had been quite calm all throughout. Yesterday, Fred and George had lost Gryffindor a hundred points for being outside the school at night. Neither of them would say what they were doing out there, but it had been strange since they both wore their sleep attire and not some other clothes, given the strong rain that had been pouring down during the entire night. In fact, both had been sent to the infirmary, as both of them had blue lips and deep red noses, shivering madly. Harry knew that their head of the house had questioned them thoroughly but they wouldn't tell how or why they had been outside at all. But given their history, professor McGonagall had taken points for being out of bound.
Pulling back his hand, the boy got out of bed. He shivered a little as his foot hit the cold floorboards and with the tip of his toe he searched around until he found his slippers. Stretching once more, he shook his head in the attempt to clear his mind. He would go under the shower, without really thinking or caring. When he came back out, the purring phoenix was still sleeping on his pillow. Quietly he moved over sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Hey, you." He whispered softly, brushing through her feathers. A golden eye opened slowly and grumpy before tugging her beak under her wing. Harry smiled softly. "I know, I know. I want to sleep too. But we have to go." The wing came down again, as Dawn cooed softly. She then got to her small feet and hoped sluggish to the side, dragging something out from under the nightstand. This turned out to be her old pouch in which she slept a few months ago.
Harry smirked. "Aren't you a little too old to be carried around?" Dawn's answer to that was that she stuck her head into the warm soft pouch and crawled into it until only her butt was still sticking out.
Yeah, she had grown but not so much that she wouldn't fit anymore. With a sigh and smile, the black-haired boy picked up the pouch and strapped it to his chest. The small phoenix twisted inside until only the back of her head was pocking out of the fabric. It took all about ten seconds until the boy felt through their bond that she had drifted off into sleep.
The boy moved through the dorms, seeing that everybody was still getting ready. He moved past Ron, who looked up and gave him a short nod, which Harry returned. Harry was halfway through the room when someone stepped into his way. Standing before him was Dean. He looked over at our boy-who-lived and crossed his arms.
"Harry, we have to talk." He said in a serious voice.
The black-haired boy sighed but nodded. It had been too good to be true and he knew at some point they would have to talk about it. He gestured to the bathroom, and the two of them moved in there. Harry closed the door behind himself.
"So, you want to talk." He said, rubbing the pouch on his chest with his left hand in a nervous gesture. Dean, who was a little larger than him nodded and stepped to the sinks, leaning against it.
"We live in the same dorm. Well, you live mostly in your trunk but nothing the less. We have to talk about this. You broke my girlfriend's heart." He stated with an angry glare in his eyes.
Nodding, Harry looked down. "Yeah, but it was for the better. It wouldn't have been right."
Frowning, Dean blinked at him. "Oh, is she not good enough for you? Is that it? Is poor Gin not good enough for the golden boy huh?"
Harry raised his eyes frowning himself now. "No! But I don't love her and staying together with her when I don't love her wasn't right."
Dean snorted angrily. "Yeah? But using her and then dumping her was right or what?"
"Do you think I wanted to hurt her? No god damnit! I didn't want to to that but I was in a pretty dark place at that time so give me a break." Harry gritted his teeth.
Dean shook his head. "I don't give two damns about that. Do you know who had to dry her tears? Me! Who held her when she had doubts? Me! I made her laugh again, I made her smile again but when she came back here, the tears returned, by seeing you! But yeah, everybody has to be sympathetic to the poor orphan boy. I have no idea what you think this is, but not everybody feels sorry for you. You have a lord title, you have more money than you can ever spend. You dumped Ginny so you could go with that damn Slytherin Greengrass. But you still play the victim in everything, even though others suffer and sacrifice. But yeah buhu, poor Harry Potter, someone was mean to him."
Something snapped in Harry's mind as he listened to Deans words. He stepped away from the door into his personal space. "Someone was mean to me? Someone was mean to ME? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what it is like to be me? Titel? Money? I don't give to rat's asses about that! Do you think my title brings back my mother and father from the grave? Who I never get to meet? Huh?" He stepped even closer and Dean took half a step back. Harry's hand flashed up, gripping the taller boy at the collar, pulling him closer.
"Do you want to know what it is like to be me? To have the whole school turn on you, just because you speak some dumb language that Voldemort spoke?" Dean flinched. "Voldemort. VOLDEMORT! Stop flinching, it is a name. Just a god damn name! One he made up because he is too embraced to be the son of a muggle! The name of a psycho who wants to kill me since I was one year old! Who tried to kill me thrice already! No, wait it is four times now. My money? Do you think my money can buy me back my aunt and uncle? My aunt and uncle who were so afraid of magic and what it could do that they stuffed me into a cupboard for YEARS! Who were rightly afraid of it because guess what? They DIED because that crazy psycho is still after me. They died because they are related to me! Do you have any idea what it is like to have the death of multiple people on your conscience just because you are alive? Yes, I am sorry that I hurt Ginny, I didn't want that, she doesn't deserve it. But don't think my life is easy. I have no one left of my family, just my cousin, who hasn't answered my letters since his parents died. So don't tell me about sacrifice and love. I build my own family, out of those I loved. I am sorry that Ginny couldn't be part of it. And for the record, I didn't dump Ginny for Daphne. Going with her came much later."
With that, Harry felt like the red mist that had descended over his gaze lifted slowly. He let go of Deans collar stepping back. Just now he felt Dawn's head rubbing against his stomach. As he looked down, the phoenix cooed softly at him and he gave her a sad smile as he rubbed her head.
"Listen, Dean. I understand you. No, I do. Someone you like or maybe love was mistreated and you want to protect her. I understand that. I even commend you for it. But don't think the world is so simple that there is a good side and a bad side and that is it. Life is more complicated than that. Also if I hadn't broken up with Ginny, you wouldn't be together with her. But that is neither here nor there. But just because we shared a dorm, doesn't mean you know me, okay?"
With that, Harry walked to the door and opened it. "Oh and by the way. My name is Peverell."
So the boy-who-lived walked through the dorms and down the stairs. At its end, Hermione was already there. His friend always got up early, earlier than most. one time Harry had asked her and she had told him that the other girls blocked the bathroom for so long that she prefered getting up before them and check her homework in the time that it took him and back then Ron to get down.
"Morning Mione." Harry spoke up, getting her attention.
"Good morning Harry." The bushy-haired girl looked up with a smile, before turning into a little worried smile. She didn't notice his slight frown. "Is everything okay with Dawn?"
Nodding, the boy stepped closer. "Yeah. She didn't sleep well, had a nightmare. She didn't want to get up and dragged the old pouch out, so she could keep sleeping." He brushed his index finger over Dawn's spine and even while sleeping Dawn ruffled her feathers contently.
"A nightmare? I had no idea phoenixes could get nightmares, but then again every animal of a certain intelligence get's those so I shouldn't be surprised. Dawn is nothing but intelligent after all."
Harry nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that is true. Most of the time I think she is smarter than me."
That made Hermione laugh and shake her head. "That isn't that high of a bar."
In turn, now Harry was laughing too. "Oh, that hurt Mione. Not everybody can be so smart or hard-working as you."
They were still laughing when Neville joined them and they walked out the common room.
Breakfast was for the first part mostly the same. Slowly but steady students came into the Great Hall, starting to eat. Harry saw Daphne and Tracey come inside about five minutes after he and his friends had settled down. He raised a hand, waving. The young Greengrass heiress returned it with the appropriate measure, while Tracey looked like she wasn't aware of him. Or Daphne. Or that the world existed, while she yawned and slumped along with the Slytherin table.
Harry was enjoying a simple porridge with honey. Dawn was still sleeping over his heart, so he pocketed the bugs that had been prepared for him. This made some of the other students look at him with a little disgust, but he didn't care. Dawn would wake up eventually and then she would be hungry, so what was a bag of bugs in his pocket in exchange for her happiness?
Above them, the fluttering of wings was to be heard as the morning mail came in. With them came a rain of water droplets, as it was raining outside. Sometimes Harry wondered. There was so much that magic could do but those simple things, like drying the owls coming in or stopping rain and snow from falling onto their meals was not possible?
One of the owls landed near Hermione, as she was the only one out of the three friends who read the Daily Prophet. Neville often would get mail from his grandmother and sometimes from his great uncle. But Harry rarely got mail. Sirius prefered the mirrors as those were quicker and more personal. Remus sends a letter now and then, but rarely. Harry had no idea why. Sirius had mused that Remus felt he would overstep his boundaries, but Harry wasn't sure about that. Narcissa also sometimes wrote him, but she had told him it was hard writing, as he wasn't the only one she wanted to write to in Hogwarts and every time she felt ill about it, so Harry had asked her to limit her letters for her own sake.
Harry eyed over to Draco Malfoy, sitting alone at the edge of the Slytherin table. This was surprising. Normally, he would be surrounded by his friends and lackeys, but now he was sitting all alone. Come to think of it, the Malfoy heir had sat alone for a time now. Harry looked closer. There were dark rings under the boy's eyes and his hair wasn't as smooth as it used to be. Also, he looked like he had lost weight. The frown on his face deepened. Something was wrong. He disliked the pale arrogant git greatly, but even he could see that something was amiss. Harry turned his head to the side, a question to Hermione on his lips when the question left his mind. Hermione's face was pale beyond belief and her eyes were wide as she rapidly read the papers.
"Hermione? What's wrong?"
The girl just stared at him, before flipping the paper around.
Mass Breakout from Azkaban!
A man sat in front of a large fire, his fingers brushing over his upper lip. It was quiet around him. No one would dare to disturb his musing unless it was really important. His pale long fingers glided back and forth while he was thinking. The work of the last months was slowly showing. He had everything ready to get his plans in motion. All he had to do is wait. But waiting wasn't something he really liked. Yes, he understood the importance of patience, he understood that it took time to get things done, but still, he wanted it done and finished more than anything. He had waited long enough. He was waiting for a decade to get starting. Finally, it was close. Just two more pieces of the puzzle had to fall into place for him to be ready.
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of the door opening. Slowly, red eyes rose from the floor and at the person who stepped through.
Cuts showed on light flesh, one eyebrow was singed off. The man who had stepped inside was smeared with mud, his clothes showing rips and gashes and his left sleeve was drenched in blood, unclear if it was his own or someone elses. He limped and with a groan, he fell to his knees. Lucius Malfoy looked like he had come from a battlefield and that was accurate.
"My Lord." He mumbled, his eyes tired.
"Is it done, my servant?" Was the cold whisper that answered his words.
For a moment, Lucius didn't react, then he nodded slowly. "Yes, my Lord."
"Show me!" Voldemort ground out, standing up. Again Malfoy nodded and held his hand out of the door, waving.
Three persons followed the man's wave. All three looked gaunt and dishevelled. All three wore black and white striped prisoner's clothing, dirty and threadbare. But their faces were quite different. First, there was a man with long black hair and thin lips. He looked at the cleanest and most filled out. That was no surprise given the fact that he had spent five months in the normal world and had only been back for a month himself. Antonin Dolohov bowed before his master, but you could see the twitching in his eyes and body. His mind was scarred beyond belief by the exposure to Dementors.
Next to him was a young man, even though he looked like he was in his forties, with greying hair, he was only 29. While Dolohov's frame twitched now and then, this man was shivering and spasming quite a lot. In his brown eyes, madness resided. He fell on his knees, pressing his forehead against the floorboards in almost religious devotion. His cracked lips were twisted into a wide smile, showing the missing of a few teeth. Bartimus Crouch Junior was probably the most devoted of the Dark Lords servants, even more than Bellatrix Lestrange. For him, his Lord was a god walking the earth.
The last man wasn't twitching. He looked calm, almost at peace. While he was thin and hollow, his eyes shined bright and clear. No spark of madness resided in those unnerving yellow eyes, almost catlike in form. His red hair looked dull and his beard was quite long but from his posture, you would think he just came home from a simple stroll through the park. He leaned forward, bowing in a calm and collected manner. It was also this man, Augustus Rookwood, who spoke first.
"We have returned to you, Lord Voldemort." He spoke. His voice was rich and clear, like honey and silk. A faint smile ghosted his lips as if he listened to a cosmic joke only he could hear.
Voldemort rose to his feet, smiling for real for probably the first time in weeks. He stepped over and the two men standing deepened their bows. "Ah, my most faithful, my loyal. Finally, you return to my side. I am pleased. Are you ready to resume your duties towards me?"
"With all my heart my dear Lord." Crouch barked out quickly, a crazy smile on his face as he raised his head from the floorboards. Voldemort reached out and placed his hand in the straw-like hair of the man. Crouch made a sound like a sigh, the sound a child in a warzone makes when it is touched by an angel. Then the Dark Lord turned his gaze towards the other two.
"Of course my Lord." Dolohov grumbled, nodding firmly.
"When we have recovered from our stint in hell, Lord Voldemort." Completed Rookwood. Everybody in the hallway outside the room was flinching. For someone to talk like that to the dark lord. no one called the dark Lord by name anymore. That was dangerous.
To their surprise, the Dark Lord only laughed, cold and high pitched. "Of course, Augustus, of course."
The red-haired man smiled. "There is something more. We have a gift for you." The thin fingers with broken nails snapped once. And an icy cold filled the room. Through the door, a dark hooded creature floated, a cadaver in tattered robes. All around the people started shivering. A hollow rasping sound came from the deep hood where the head should be.
Lord Voldemort looked up into the hood. Where others felt horror and sorrow around those, he felt nothing. A long time ago, he had cut his soul and mind, rebuild it and casting aside his weaknesses, like fear and sadness. Like doubt and compassion. He was now stronger, not held back by his weak human flaws. So while the others quivered in fear and sadness, he stood tall, staring deep into the dark folds, unblinking. For a moment the dark creature hovered in front of him, staring back. Then the tattered robes sank lower until they pooled on the floor as the dementor kneeled before the Dark Lord, bowing its head.
With a wide smile, Lord Voldemort nodded once, taking the implied allegiance with stride. Around him, his followers were in awe. No one besides the Ministry had ever gotten the allegiance of these dark creatures. And now Lord Voldemort had done what none other had been able to do.
"My Lord." His triumph was cut short by a voice. It was Lucius. The eyes of the dark Lord narrowed and he already raised his wand when he saw, why the man had spoken. The blond Wizengamot Lord gestured to the door, where just now a woman walked in.
Her raven hair fell in long curls over her shoulders, framing a wide decoltee. She wore leather duelling robes with silver strands in them. It contrasted strongly with her pale skin, her red lips and her violet eyes, which were focused on just one person in the room. With quick strides, Bellatrix crossed the room, kneeling in front of the Dark Lord. With almost religious reverence she lowered her head over his hand and kissed the tip of his yew wand.
"My Lord, I have returned to you." Her raspy voice was faint, quiet, almost a whisper. His hand moved up and he placed it on her head like one would pet a loyal dog. Going by the content purr and relaxing of her shoulders, she enjoyed it greatly.
"My dear Bella, welcome home. Did you fulfil your mission?" While his voice was cold, it softened ever so slightly, knowing exactly how to play on Bellatrix Lestrange like on a harp.
Eye, violet and deep moved up to look at him with a huge smile. "Oh of course my beloved Lord. I would never disappoint you, rather would I die."
Voldemort smiled a smile which a shark would kill for and nodded. "Of course you don't. Then what are you waiting for?"
Bellatrix kept kneeling, her head lowered. "Your command of course my lord."
Voldemort grinned now really entertained. This was what that stupid Malfoy wouldn't understand. This was loyalty. This was devotion. This was POWER! He just snapped his fingers and Bellatrix moved out, passing the dark hovering creature near the door. After a few seconds, she returned with a broad-shouldered man in a military uniform. The uniform was white, with a few medals pinned to his chest. Under his arm was a military cap, with a dark rim and a skull at the front under which two wands were crossed.
The man walked with his back straight, paying no heed to the dementor or the others. His eyes were fixed on the Dark Lord who turned to confront the man. With a snapping sound, the man slammed the heels of his boots together, straightened his posture even more and put his fist over his heart.
"Greetings Lord Voldemort. My name is Heinz Gruber, I am an Oberst of the RGA. Your emissary convinced me, that your fight is worth the contribution of our unit."
Voldemorteyed the man for a moment, before a surprisingly warm smile showed on his face and his voice changed to a warm tone, warmer than most of the Death Eaters had ever heard. "Of course, Oberst Gruber, your reputation precedes you. Be at home here for a while, while we clear out the details of our joined operation. May I ask how many men you bring in?"
With a proud gesture, the Oberst pushed out his chest. "Fifty man sir."
Fifty.
Nothing like the Army of Grindelwald was used to be but still, it was quite a lot. That almost half as much as all his Death Eaters combined. So quite a bolster to his strength.
"Wonderful. I heard nothing but the best about the 30th Division. Please, be our guests." He snapped his fingers and Alecto moved into the room, the woman a broken shell of her former self, especially since the Dark Lord had cut off her brothers left hand for her failing her duty. Long ago, the Dark Lord had learned that to hurt someone really, you had to go for their family.
"Show our guests their rooms." With a deep bow, Alecto led the Oberst out of the room. The elder man walked closely by Bellatrix and for a moment his hand moved out, brushing through her hair. The black-haired woman stiffened but the strong gaze of her lord kept her from acting out.. Quite a few Death Eater were lingering outside the dining room, watching from beyond the threshold.
With a wide wave, Voldemort pointed to the door. "All of you, leave us. My inner circle stay."
In haste, the followers left the room. Only Malfoy lingered for a moment before he bowed deeply and limped out. Following him was the Dementor. The four former prisoners relaxed considerably when the creature was gone.
Bellatrix always eager was the first to speak. "My Lord, if I may, why don't you show that german Swine his place. He lusts for something that is yours." She gestured to her body. Not that the dark lord had ever taken her to his bed, no matter how often she offered herself and her entire being to him.
Voldemort made a throw-away gesture. "For now we need him. His man will fight for us, die for us. They are a real army, not like these looters and rif-raf that linger around this house. Real soldiers. We will deal with them once our victory is secure. But I am a generous lord. You are allowed to kill him when I give the order. Also, you did well with your assignment. The reward you asked for is yours."
With a squeal, Bellatrix once more got to her knees kissing the hem of his robes. For years now she had wanted it. Finally, the day had come. Finally, she was allowed to kill her husband. After all these years, she could finally do it.
"Now, everything is in place. We can finally move."
In the middle of his bowing inner circle, Voldemort started laughing and all the Death Eaters outside started shivering. Not because of the Dementors that circled the house. No, they shivered because the laugh sounded like a dark god had come for his own amusement.
This time, a shorter Chapter. Sorry to all that it took me so long. I worked for the last weeks on my master thesis and I was done but then writer's block and yeah. So sorry. But I finished writing about the quality control of food in the first world war in Germany. Food history is more interesting than most people think.
Now, just a little bit. I was asked showing more of Melia and Sirius so here you go I hope you like it. Yes I know canon Amelia would probably never miss out on work for a love interest, but then this Sirius changed her.
Dean, oh I had so much fun writing that. Harry has been quite passive about his break up but to much is to much and I just wanted him to let loose once here. So dean was the one who got shit on. I enjoyed it and this is a Harry with more backbone.
Voldemort was pretty much putting together all the loose ends of former chapters into one, him amassing his troops. He is pretty close to getting out there. For you all who ask what is up with him and Bella, I modelled it a little in form of an abusive relationship. He uses her but she is too much smitten by him to really see it and takes the abuse. I have thought about giving her redemption but I don't think it is really possible. Maybe something small, but no "Oh I see he is evil now love me world."
Like always, comments are most welcome. If you have good powerful Harry, Slytherin Harry or all in all Harry politics fics, I love recommendations. Just please no Gay Harry stories. I am straight and Harry is my point of view so, yeah.
So this was this chapter, next up, Dungeons and Dragons.