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Waking up earlier than all others he looked at the young man with hazel hair snuggled against him. Neville perfectly fit into his arms,which was possible because Harrison had been doing some catching up with his peers in matters of size. Kissing the others forehead caused Neville to stretch a little and he began kissed the others cheek and neck, using that method of waking his boyfriend. Once the dark brown eyes were blinking at him he got up, brushed some strands of hair out of the others face and grabbed a set of clothing before he left for his morning shower. This year had been more stressful, life shattering and strenuous than any year he had ever lived so far. Taking lessons for etiquette and politics had been borne out of the belated realization that the Potter Family was more than just his sure name. The Twins had been teaching him social cues, to interpret facial expressions and what some body postures indicated which was how he had become interested in human interactions of all kinds. With Roger Davis and Jake Flinton teaching him all the nuances of Magical British and International society, laws and how everything worked he had not only learned about how his previous life had been screwed up but also that he liked and felt drawn to progressive traditionalism. Especially since it was not just a political leaning but a lifestyle that was governed by something he desperately wanted and wished for.

Harrison had always wanted to have guides to help him through life, rules he needed to obey and rituals he needed to observe in order to feel less unsettled by life itself. Growing more comfortable with it's Hierarchy and rituals had calmed him and given him a much clearer vision of the future than he had ever had. This might have been caused by the fact that realizing how drawn he was to the very notion had forced him to confront many issues, and form opinions on topics he had largely been unaware of previously.

Suddenly he was forced to analyse memories from his past and saw them through the lense of political interaction. Things like Molly Weasleys forced warm welcome of Remus Lupin at her table. Or the sneers that came to all Dark faction faces whenever they could not connect a new name or face with the vast amount of knowledge about British pureblood families. The dismissive gestures of his pure blood teachers whenever Hermione was trying to dislocate her shoulder and how the Light ones would then look chagrined, fighting old habits and failing at it. This had been the thing that had struck him the most when Roger had wryly mentioned that especially those of the radical factions were observing a code of conduct that was outside of lived experience. They opposed each other for the sake of opposition, not because they necessarily disagreed on these topics. All of it led p to his most recent realization, that one needed to redo the system if Magical Britain and Magicals in Britain were to survive.

All of this was why Tom Marvolo riddle, despite his real and very much easily discernible disdain for his peers had found such a large following, willing to allow themselves to be branded like cattle. Humans were complex creatures and you couldn`t satisfy everyone but the fact remained that the current system was riddled with issues. Without the Hogwarts fund, made by the Founders, orphans would be unable to attend Hogwarts. And how come there were so little of them- where were all of the other muggelborn and half-bloods who needed an education and simply didn`t show up? Unless the country itself, and all of magical Europe was so depleted of magical human births that they were indeed at the point of breeding themselves out of existence. It had been weeks filled with shock and wonder to realize that there was no pre-school, health education nor sex education unless done by the parents. Turning the defence lessons into partial general education lessons had made it easier to come to grasp with some aspects and as Harrison taught them to the kids he understood his own feelings towards some things better. In doing so he had begun to reach out further and begun to observe the rules and laws of traditionalism until he felt prepared enough to contact the Li family and Ryu Gao in order to be able to attend the ball with Sue. It was she that had informed him of the pockets of Chinese, Asian, African, Indian and other cultures strewn all throughout Britain that never ventured into the main Magical districts or applied to attend Hogwarts. To realize that, while vile, idiotic and badly executed the Civil War caused by Voldemort had been a badly needed attempt to shock magical Britain out of its lazyness. Which was why he had been thrown for a loop when he had found the letter tucked under his pillow. He`d barely held on all throughout the Yule ball , frantically going through all he had learned and accpeted about himself and his life as well as his position in life in order to figure out how to proceed from here. Once this fist volley of revenge thoughts had filtered out of his system it occurred to him that of all things, he could not have possible foreseen this. He had come back with the intention of not relying on his knowledge of the future, busily keeping his to-do notebook around at all times and adding and subtracting things as he went along, removing possible obstacles and ensuring that he got a bigger picture of the whole situation. He`d made himself busy in order to not hasten into preparations such as visiting the graveyard and exchanging the bones for example. But he had come back in time and time had adjusted to release the soul piece of his scar before he returned. And then he had gone ahead and gotten rid of the diadem only to send Dobby for the necklace three weeks ago, ensuring that Kreacher was gone and replaced by a much better elf in the process. And if he got it right the new timeline meant that Voldemort had gotten a large chunk of his soul back and perhaps possessing Peter was the second thing necessary to cause the change from insane to sane. Which was the only explanation for a letter beneath his pillow. The previous version of Voldemort had never done that because, as they had assumed and Dumbledore suspected, the lack of power to do the deed, considering his first attempt had taken a decade. But those speculations aside the most logical reason why it had taken a decade the first time was because there had not been an opportunity. Wandering souls, according to the research he had done in the past 24 hours, were following basic needs and being without a physical body should, over time, dissipate. Instead, Voldemort's soul had been forcibly bound to earth and too far removed from its anchors- so it had been just a mindless cloud floating though Albanian woods. And while it might have occasionally fallen into a snake, realizing that suddenly there was a body to take care of, humans had been rare to come by. Coupled with the fact that Tom Marvolo Riddle had been half mad at the age of seventeen when he split his soul the first time, it stood to reason that receiving the diary soul would have done little to help a wandering spirit gain awareness.

He would have rejected this train of thought if not for the past months spent learning to see the world from different perspectives. The simple truth of the matter was that Albus Dumbledore had been his only source of knowledge in his previous life. No one could dispute that Riddle probably was sociopathic from the get-go and had no comprehension of love whatsoever, but he was far from the mindless megalomaniac that had come close to ruling Britain. Which lead to his true source of agitation that had been with him all throughout the ball. Not only was Lord Voldemort in Hogwarts, but this powerful Magician with an army of slaves at his disposal was also willing to let their past rest. Could he, The Boy Who Lived, do that? This was not just a question of his parents anymore or the live he had lived but also of Neville, who was being taught by the traitor who led the Lestranges into his home. It was about the many families decimated or eradicated by the actions of this man and his followers.

What would happen with the slaves sentenced to hell, what to those roaming the streets. How could they keep those bloodlines without keeping them around? And would Riddle even be willing to abandon his quest to make every single magical being cower at his feet? And if he met the man and they came to an understanding, where would he stand? Could he plan and participate in executions? Could he stomach pretending to not be involved at all? What were the things he needed to happen, and could he allow himself to be killed in an attempt to kill Voldemort when the man refused? Could he support the man who killed his parents? Would he be able to go to war with those he cared for if he did? On the other hand, what would the fallout be if he refused this chance? Could he afford to slow trod to change? How would he go about causing the changes? Where would this, his, world be if he just ended it here? And what happened if he met the man and he died? His Grim Reaper had informed him that his greatest deeds in live were supposed to happen after he defeated Voldemort. And being the Man Who Conquered he could have had the influence necessary to change things. It was only his promise to himself to be better, do better and learn all he could that had caused him to reach out to others and let them teach him their own point of view and political leanings so he could decide which one suited him. Ever since reading the letter Harrison had been conflicted about the whole issue but his decision had been sorely tested once he came to bed last night. Hearing Neville talk about switching political sides moved by the feelings for him and the pressure put on by Hannah as well as the lengthy discussion with the kids, meant that he had to rethink his desicion. And then Neville went ahead and promised himself to him, as they were lying half naked in bed with each other.

Tradition dictated that he either completely break with the other, declaring him offensive and out of line- to make clear that Neville had overstepped his bounds- or to accept the offer. The problem was that he loved Neville and the others magic had already begun to set in motion changes according to this new path, but since he was contemplating working with Riddle it would also mean that he had decided for Neville long before there was an agreement of marriage. The situation was his fault since he allowed this relationship to form an grow while he was incorporating traditional rituals and behaviours into his life. He was duty bound to honour their mutual agreement to break this relationship off at the end of this school year to allow for exploration before trying again and perhaps entering courtship in a few years. Allowing the hot water to clean him, using the soap he had made, Harrison closed his eyes. He had made a promise and he had not rejected Neville. Now all that he could do was hope that Neville would accept his own role and not break apart should he be able to make a deal with Riddle.

Drying himself up he slung the towel around his waist and went back into the dorm, where Neville was back at his own bed while Seamus was sitting in his bed looking at nothing in particular as he tried to get his brain to reach the same amount of awareness his eyes had while Dean was on his stomach and muttering about sleep into his pillow, a clear indication that he was awake and truly unhappy about it. A typical day, with Ron's curtains still drawn and his awful snores hidden behind the silencing barrier they all had drawn around his bed, resigned to the fact that the redhead just would never cast silencing charms.

Picking up his trunk Harrison opened his office compartment, that held all of his communicators, notebooks with never ending parchment that were linked in pairs or fours and that he had bought despite their huge asking price. Since beginning the year he`d been carefully giving them to people and it had come in handy for all kinds of communication. Grabbing one of his lasts sets he roamed around a bit more, putting all he needed in his shoulder bag and removing his dragon hide vest and shoes. This little excursion required proper dress. Ten minutes later he was dressed in a black twill trouser, emerald satin shirt, greenish brown dragonhide vest, boots of the same colour and a cloak made from silk that held his family crest. His careful mental plan to just buy muggle clothing and only deal with magical clothing was shot to hell by his rank in society the moment he learned of it. This had led to a long discussion about runes and potions with the Twins, Angelina and the Patil Twins, sharing and teaching him receipts and formulas they themselves were using in order to add to the properties of clothes and what most magical clothing was already enhanced with as well as what he could do to repair his own clothes. As it turned out, elf repair was fine, but it could not restore the cloth or extend its lifespan. Proper potions and runes could.

It had been the first and longest day of his life spent solely on the topic of clothing and fashion in general and he really could do without repeating that. Being an Heir of an old family came in handy, since his family, with some exceptions, followed the traditions of keeping fabric in rolls by buying them in bulk during a time of high income or low prices, as well as keep the newer expensive stuff perfectly stored. Which was why he was wearing his grandfathers vest and shoes made from dragon leather. The clothing topic alone had swallowed over a month of his time and had led him to discover his interest and fascination with Ancient Runes while proving all over again that he couldn`t brew a potion to save his life.

Ignoring the appreciative and assessing looks of his schoolmates Harrison made his way through Hogwarts and into his favourite hidden passage where Winky waited to take him away. Diagon Alley was unusually deserted as he strode through it, collecting his letters before he went to his appointment at Twift and Tatlings in order to pick up the ordered wardrobes for his brothers and himself. Since they had supplied the fabrics and the sewing material all he was paying for was the work hours. Going through the order he left the next patch of prepared fabric and materials that and picked the styles and cuts he wanted for the measurements already on file. When he was done Harrison left and crossed over the street to check on the progress of his second-hand shop. Since sorting through his properties and the Room of Requirement had become such an undertaking that would keep going for another few months, he had been searching for an opportunity to give people a job and to get rid of the things he no longer needed in order to create income. Noting the awe filled eyes from the two young werewolves currently dealing with the costumers he moved upstairs where he presumed the contracted owner of the shop could be found. He needed to hand Zoe the new contracts with the Gao and Patil family he`d been carefully organising. It would mean these families and their communities could enter a mutual business relationship bringing their stuff and buying hers while also using her shop as selling point for their wares inside Britain. Having been raised by an economics teacher the young woman of nineteen very nearly threw herself at him in joy, catching herself at the last minute and blushing beet red.

Deciding that he would not make her embarrassment worse he smiled, said his goodbyes, and left for his appointment at the bank. He had gotten a good grip on his finances and made some investments that were already slowly giving him returns, which was good since he had been spending money in large quantities as well. There were some decisions about properties and some investment decision to be made and he also wanted to read through his mail before he had to arrive at what might very well be final meeting of the day and in his last chance at life. Putting the letter from Augusta Longbottom aside he worked through the others while he waited for his account manager. He opened Augustus letter just as Quick Silver entered, half an hour later. It was the expected marriage proposal and two standard drafts of marriage contracts. Crossing out some formulations and adding others he carefully went over the pre-printed parchment, checking for rune clusters and hidden fine print, adding his own wordings, and crossing entire sections, while his account manager had grabbed the prepared papers and signed contracts that Harrison had put on the table. He was still working at the marriage contract ten minutes later while Quick Silver continued to read through the pile , counter signing them and doing the necessary steps of authorisations of the contracts. This also included detracting the fee the bank demanded for the whole process and the opening, managing and otherwise financing of the projects if necessary.

Once he was done writing the contract, he checked if he had gotten the wording right and when he did not return quill to parchment for over a minute the contract glowed softly and began to absorb the finished draft before it multiplicated itself, a copy of which Harrison then put into an envelope. Seeing this, Quick Silver pushed three more sheets of parchment towards him, and Harrison singed them after checking them over before he began to set up his Last Will. These documents done he noted that the warding on the grounds around Potter Manor had been done exactly as he had specified, and it had cost him most of his inherited jewellery. Considering that his jewels had been used in the warding process he could live with the loss. This meant that he could work on his own warding scheme without needing to worry about his property for the next several months and knowing that it would remain warded for his brothers.

Catching the attention of Quick Silver, he pointed to the portfolio of researched old established and completely new companies. Due to the verbal deals, some of the investments his family had been keeping up now needed to be ended. And since he was already redoing his investment plans, he put all of his investment money into the magical world and especially companies associated with his allies. While he had been focused on warding, making connections, and learning all he could as fast as he could The Twins had opened "The Pottery" Owl order business and were earning money, especially since they had refined their existing products and released some balms and animal foodstuffs, they had been tinkering with for most of their lives, enlarging their target audience by a wide margin. It was a relief to know that he did not need to worry about them even if his meeting today would end in his death. Signing the last document, he finally rose, put his copies in his map and left the bank to send off all the answers and contracts with the post.

All of his matters were settled when Harrison arrived in the dusty bedroom of the Shrieking Shack, not interested in hiding his abilities since it would serve no purpose. The air was thick with potions fumes and the sheer magical power of the man brewing them. Harrison paused briefly before he moved out the door and up the steps into the first floor the air thickened, revealing that someone powerful had taken residence here. It took him several seconds to recognise the man behind the cauldron as a much thinner, much healthier looking red eyed Peter Pettigrew. Various human pieces of what he assumed had been Alastor Moody and a myriad of animal pieces were strewn over the long oak table, clearly stolen from some family homes banquet hall. The movements of the other man were precise and careful, trusting that he wasn't here to disrupt the work. Moments passed as they stood in the same room, both feeling the power of the other, both aware that this was a unique meeting that would decide their future.

Finally, the preparation of what he could now identify as a heart was done and crimson red eyes in the face of the man who had brought about his seventh death and this last chance were meeting his. There was no pain in the encounter of eyes, just a world of thoughts and emotions that had been absent in those eyes in his previous life. Partially assured that the letter had not been a fluke he calmly unlatched his bag and removed the prepared utensils. The pieces of the diadem and locket, a vial of basilisk blood and his largest chunk of basilisk flesh alongside the box that held the Phoenix feather wand. Voldemort, having gently put his work in a protected container looked at the pieces put gently on his work desk and allowed his hands to trail over them, opening the box to pick up the wand, eyes widening slightly.

"This is confirmation, then.", he said, the voice low which indicated that the body he was using was unable to sustain the power it restrained. "Are we even now, Lord Potter?", he added, eyes alight with something akin to humour and Harrison allowed himself a small shrug. "It depends on where we go from here, Lord Slytherin." The fingers, still chubby and claw like moved over the gifts, opened the phial of blood, adding it into the potion, stirring it as silence once again descended over the room. "Are you asking me for my goals, Lord Potter?"

"I am asking if you intend to keep filling the streets with magical blood to show everyone how much better you are than the purebloods?"

"I once told you we were similar, and I know now that Dumbledore thinks the same. Fitting then that you understood my motivation when no one else did."

"With all due respect, you lost all motivation and drive by the time you were 20. What was left was a raging monster, unsatisfied that the world still refused to bow at his feet. You and Dumbledore insisting that there was purpose behind your actions quite honestly is nothing but a warm fart in the ocean- no one cares or could find proof of it years later."

The startled, raw laugh he earned for this bit of dry sarcasm assured him that this was indeed a sane Dark Lord, which gave him a great sense of relief. This had been the point that he had expected to die at, after all. "That sounds like you have ideas, young Lord Potter and like your assistance comes with a price."

"You hardly need my assistance. You own the richest thirty families and various possessions."

Crimson eyes met his and they stared into each other's eyes for quite some time, until the potion hissed, and the older man hurriedly added some pieces in an order he most certainly had established within his mind before stirring the mix first seven times clockwise and then twenty times anticlockwise. "This was an offering to be left in peace, then? Or was it more? How far are you prepared to go, and where are you going, for that matter?"

Smiling now, because this was the kind of game, he could play he waited patiently for the next burst of activity to pass before he spoke into the open what had been less than clear ideas before. "I want to remove the Ministry from where it is. I want to change the system and grow our society, by allowing squibs to stay and gently budging muggle borns into leaving their world completely at the age of fourteen. I want to establish a landownership feudalism system with the werewolves for my own land and whomever else of these and other sentient being groups will want to live on it undisturbed. It would be foolish to assume that I could do that if you were still hell bent on destruction of me and the world at large."

Voldemort`s eyes were on him, head titled as he thought it over. "Remove our areas behind strong wards to ensure we can`t be found, to stop the excessive spending involved in redoing the wards. It is a long-term plan. I don`t see why it would not be manageable for you and the group of friends and allies you are collecting. Which means you decided that you would prefer a Dark Lord to speed up the process." He didn`t flinch at this and all its implications, instead met the other eyes and waited as the man`s mind worked through it.

"To turn Hogwarts into the Ministry of magic, double and triple the warding around this area and Hogsmeade, moving St. Mungo's on these grounds. A completely new system with completely new seats and old but worked over traditions. Becoming international players by removing all muggle influences and adding all magical beings into our trade and legal systems. A near perfect utopia."

Nodding he waited, watching as the other once again added something before he stirred the potion again, the fumes already penetrating every pore of his skin and heating the room to impressive levels, considering it was just one cauldron. And just like the cauldron the crimson eyes had begun to gleam unholy red, as the mind behind the madman worked through the implications and the new ideas, he`d just been confronted with. "What will you do now?", the older man asked, his voice near breaking and frowning at the fact. "I will visit the unicorns and centaurs to offer them a new home and inform them of the changes about to occur."

"How so?"

"Because of your very invested hunt to sustain yourself during that stint on Quirrell's back I have acquired friendly relations with both species."

"You are honour bound to inform them that their livelihood may be in danger with the Dark Lord returning."

"And also honour bound to inform them that the Prophecy spoken in 1980 has been fulfilled."

Their eyes met again.

"Will you inform me of any warnings the centaurs give?"

"Will you sacrifice all your pupils inside Azkaban to build our version of Numergrad with walls that entomb Dementors?"

Crimson eyes widened, completely thrown by the very specific question and the darkness he had come to expect in those eyes returned, albeit without the madness he had always found drowning in them as well. "You have given me much to think about, young Earl."

"Indeed.", and with that he bowed his head slightly and left the by now oppressive heat of the room in order to leave this Schack and attend to the next two meetings.

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Bill Weasley was standing in the vault his sister would inherit, putting the last finishing touches on it before he left. It had taken some doing to get into Hogwarts and have a private chat with his sister but what had been said and revealed had made him glad to have done it. They discussed the property and decided to sell most of the properties attached to the Prewett family, with the exception of the cottage he would move into. The net income from the sells would triple her current wealth. This had been the moment when Ginny asked if she could be starting Mind Healing sessions. He had been confused and felt a pang of pain as his youngest sibling and only sister noticed this and launched into a narration of her first year. Something he had been unaware of even though he had known that something had happened to his beloved little sister. And then she followed it up with the aftermath of being unable to sleep without light, of the nights she woke after dreaming of first ordering and then watching the huge snake to eat her family. This was followed by a detailed description of the days in which she would look at her hands and see blood on them causing her to have difficulty breathing and starting to panic until she could lock herself in a bathroom and scrub her hands clean until they were raw. To then hear that the Twins, of all people, had taken to checking in on their sister ever since she woke up in the hospital had caused his heart to clench.

It was in this narration that he learned why the Twins had handed over all of their stress balls to the Weasleys in a box labelled "Ginny". These balls were the size of apples and filled with specially mixed balms that would aid their sister to sleep, to calm down and to feel warm. Hearing why those balls existed made him glad that he had stood with the Twins on the issue of them being handed over to his sister instead of trying to sell them to someone who could then patent them. Once the floodgates had opened Ginny was unstoppable in mentioning the nights, she had slipped into the bed of one of the Twins, being expected with a cup of hot coca, how her personal Hero Harry had dropped blankets over her casually whenever she had sat in the common room, shivering from nightmares and the fear of sleep, conjuring lights to stop her fear of the dark taking hold. How the Twins had witnessed this once and begun to work on portable light bulbs that she could activate with a mere touch and ensure that she was surrounded by light and warmth without anyone else being disturbed. How they had grabbed some of her clothes and returned them with new rune clusters for warmth even if her coldness came from within. And how Harry had gifted her an ever refill cup of coca that stood on her nightstand and would begin to fill once she tapped it once with her wand and stop only once she tapped it twice. And while he was still struggling with the implications of his sister being possessed by a Horux and how he, despite his love and fondness for the Twins had still underestimated them, Bill held his little sister as she kept spilling all her secrets, crying and trembling in his embrace.

Fred had spent weeks teaching her the spells to check any book and notebook for malevolence and Dark magic once the Twins noticed that she hardly ever touched any without panic attacks much less dared to write into them, to the point of her grades beginning to fail. How she had wished she could marry Harry, the only male other than the Twins and himself that she trusted and how he had taken care of her evidently asked by the Twins and because as Ginny saw it, Harry knew the Terrors that kept her up at night better than anyone else. The fear she felt whenever her hormones took over or her anger rose and she was having thoughts that included mean and horrible things, fearing she would become the monster that had taken hold of her for a whole year. Admitting that even with the help she got she felt unmoored and like she was breaking steadily apart. That was why he promised her to find a female mind Healer for her, starting as soon as possible before they delved into other, older issues about second-hand clothes and how she wished to have at least underwear to call her own. This at least he could immediately rectify and so he left her a stack of money, sticking around until he felt like she could be left alone again, unsure about how to ever meet the eyes of either Potter from now on until eternity. That was why he had immediately gone to St Mungos and then set up the contracts necessary, even as his mind whirled. It grew into a storm when he noticed that the Goblins were closing rank and informed him, upon leaving, that all human employees were required to attend a Meeting on Wednesday. Something was afoot, having had these kinds of meetings he knew that his employers were cleaning house and that he might be without a job after that day. Instead of despairing he thought of little Ginny sobbing her heart out as she clutched at his body and about the possibility of simply leaving here and starting anew.

That was why he went by his new cottage to check on the progress of the clothes he had kept for them and their soaking process before he spun on his heel to arrive some twenty feet outside the Burrows wards. At least Ginny would soon have a completely new wardrobe that had been in the family, and he would have enough clothes even as he lost his job and his vault- needing to open a non-employee vault that came with the additional costs he had so far been spared. Mind filled with possibilities he looked around to find the whole area different from the decades that he had known this plot of land. The rickety house had been torn down and everyone was busily running about, casting spells and brewing potions while slowly but surely the walls were being raised again. They had redone the entire ward scheme before tearing down the house and he was proud of what they had accomplished, but it still felt strange to watch the trio of redheads after the day he had just had.

"Oi, Bill!", cried Charly and he ran towards his brother, wand already out and moving in order to ground the last spot of wall and unite the units to build a strong foundation. At least The Twins and Ginny were taken care of, and his parents finally got the house they always wanted. And whatever else happened he would either be sent back to Egypt or in need of a new job by the time February rolled around.