KEYnote: A huge section of Harry's development was covered in When Dragon Spoke to the Moon, it isn't covered in this story because Harris hasn't hit those life marks.

It covers Harris's divorce, what happened with Hermione, his relationship with his family and in-laws, as well as his fate if Luna was from Middle Earth and if Andromeda had never found the Belladonna Cure ;)

Chapter 11 - Poetic Irony

Dear Genie,

It was lovely having tea with you in Hogsmeade. I'm sorry again that Harry couldn't come.

I'm honestly growing worried. He's not in the hospital wing and there's been no rumours of him at St. Mungo's. Something terrible happened but know one will say what. The teachers are all upset and Harry hasn't written to me despite Hedwig, his snowy owl, being absent from the owlery.

He missed Monday's classes. The Gryffindors are saying he's a coward for hiding from him, but the Slytherins said he looked sick. Theo said his irises turned red. I'm sorry for going on and on but I don't know who else to talk to.

Everyone is assuming the worst of Harry and very few people are as worried about him as they ought to be.

Professor Snape looked ill too, really pale and I caught his hands shaking a few times. Something is wrong. I don't think Theo was lying about Harry's eyes, that can't be natural can it? I might ask Hermione, even if she doesn't like me much, for help finding something in the library about it.

She might not be around Harry as much these days, but she is always going to be his friend whether they know it or not.

Thanks as always for listening to me.

With Love,

Luna

When push came to shove, Harris was a father before he was anything else. Despite his own sons and daughter being gone, he still had someone who needed him. Frankly though, he was grateful for a reason to set aside his heartbreak.

Narcissa took Bella to get settled while Harris climbed the steps, already cleaner for Narcissa having moved in. Sirius was standing outside of what he assumed was Harry's door looking conflicted.

Sirius looked up at him, "Harry, I'm so sorry."

Harris only shook his head, "How is he?"

"I died?"

"In one of Voldemort's traps that I fell for," Harris answered honestly.

Sirius frowned, "Time magic-"

"So much has already been changed, Sirius, what I tell you now is hardly likely to be anyone's future."

"Andromeda shouldn't have-"

"She broke, Sirius, everyone has their breaking point and she found hers," he said tonelessly.

The problem with loving someone as he loved Andromeda, was that he knew her. After seeing her today, after hearing her refusal to admit she had done anything wrong, he knew why she had done what she had, knew it better than she did.

Harris did blame her, but he understood that there was no getting over the loss of a child, there was just learning to live with it.

Andromeda Tonks was a woman of immense power and many regrets. Unlike Dumbledore she hadn't tried playing for the greater good, she wasn't Voldemort who thought to remake the world for her own benefit, she wasn't Harris who had sacrificed everything by trying to everyone but himself. No, she hadn't done any of those things, instead she had taken herself out of the equation, locked up her power to keep from deciding the fates of others, to keep from hurting people.

Only, it hadn't worked, she had still hurt the people she loved, she had still lost everything, and she had contributed nothing, at least not until after it was too late.

Harris still thought it was more Ted and Nymphadora's fault for not trusting her, for not knowing that she would have protected them if they had let her.

But everything she went through, after making amends with Narcissa in their time, discovering the cure for the Longbottoms, something Andromeda was deeply ashamed for, and for Bella who she always believed was beyond saving…

It had been too much for her.

It was an explanation, he understood her, but it hit deep that she would hurt him like this, that she would trade away the family she still had had.

If she had ever truly loved him, it had not meant enough to her to spare him this fate.

Of course, maybe she reasoned that he didn't matter so long as another vision of him found a happier life.

"Harris?"

He looked up to meet Sirius's worried gaze and asked again, "How is he?"

Sirius looked toward the closed door, "Shouldn't you know?"

Harris sighed, and knocked on the door, "Harry, it's me, may I come in?"

There was a long pause followed by a faint, "Yes."

Harris gave Sirius a parting look before entering and shutting the door behind him.

Harry was sitting at the bed, looking numbly down at his hands.

"If I were you," Harris said slowly, Harry's shoulder tensed at his poor excuse of a joke, "I would be wondering if happiness was ever going to be something I could hope to hold on to."

Harry looked up at him, "We're cursed."

Harris snorted, "Entirely possible. Our luck has a sadistic streak, that is certain. Always chaos, always surviving, when others don't."

Harry sniffed, "Why her?"

He took a long moment to answer that before saying, "In fourth year, Pettigrew killed Cedric, I blamed myself, naturally, and so did many others. My fifth year was hell. Voldemort haunted my dreams, I was Umbridge's favourite target, and Dumbledore forced Snape to give me private tutoring in the mind arts."

Harry gave him a horrified look.

Harris smirked, "Not quite as bad as getting possessed, but it still wasn't my idea of a good time."

Harry glanced down at his hands, "I'm glad Cedric is alive. I'm really sorry that I hurt Madame Pomfrey and Snape, but I'm glad Cedric lived. His dad is really proud of him, ya know?"

Harris smiled even as he remembered Amos Diggeray sobbing over his son's corpse. "I'm glad too."

"But why Andromeda, she's like really old, right?"

Harris shrugged, "Nymphadora and Remus got married, they had a son during the war, Teddy Remus Lupin, and I was his godfather. After Ted, Nymphadora, and Remus died in the war, Teddy went to live with his grandmother. I spent a lot of time with them and she… she understood. Everyone else, excluding Luna, wanted me to step up in the world, in the government, as an auror, as some sort of leader, Dumbledore's replacement. Others wanted me to be a kid, wanted me to return to school for my last year and just do what normal people my age did.

"But I didn't want any of that, I just wanted a family. With Andromeda and Teddy, I had that. Andromeda never asked for me to be other than I was. She was one of the few people who saw me as Harry and not the Chosen One," until recently.

"The Chosen One?"

"The prophecy," Harris sighed, "The attention got worse after I actually defeated Voldemort."

"Why didn't you kill him in the graveyard?"

"Because we are equals, there is no guarantee who will win. Besides, you were in danger."

"But why does it matter what happens to me if there are two of us?"

Harris put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "First, we are not the same. We share the same beginning, but I have no memories of this timeline. Second, since reality has failed to unravel, I believe it is safe to say there will be no time paradoxes like with the use of a time turner. We are separate entities." Harris smirked, "And you're still a minor."

"I thought you said I wasn't a child," Harry sassed.

Harris grinned, stars, he reminded him so much of his son James, "I meant you understood what was happening, not that you should be robbed further of a chance to enjoy your youth."

Harry tilted his head, "That's a… that's different than how Mrs. Weasley would have said."

Harris grimaced, "She doesn't change, actually, she does, she gets worse."

"Did you really marry Ginny Weasley?"

He sighed, "Yes."

"But why? She's… she, I mean this is the first year she's been even slightly normal around me."

"Yeah, well, she turns into a real badass, and she was pretty hot."

Harry scrunched his nose, "But she is Ron's little sister."

"Definitely awkward, but not as awkward as Ron and Hermoine dating and then getting married."

Harry's expression at this was priceless and Harris laughed.

"How would that even work?" Harry asked, "They argue all the time, they are hardly even friends anymore since I started hanging out with the Slytherins."

Harris knew this from the bi-weekly letters they had been exchanging, "Theo and Blaise were my brothers-in-law, because of the way things fell out, we were never truly friends, but we were family. They are good people."

"Ron can't see past them being Slytherins and Hermione… Hermione doesn't like Luna."

Harris squeezed his shoulder, "Hermione likes Luna just fine, what she doesn't like is you out performing her in class and Luna becoming a closer friend to you. Hermione is, and will always be, Hermione the girl and woman who is steadfast and brilliant. Harry, you were her first friend. She has wrapped her self identity around being the clever one, being the one you turn to for help, and being the very best at everything save Defense Against the Dark Arts and flying on a broomstick. She is scared to lose a place in your life, and with how differently Hermione and Luna view the world, it does not surprise me she is blaming Luna for the distance between you."

Harry nodded, "That makes sense. Ron and Hermione also don't seem to get my teasing Draco. Since Aunt Narcissa said Draco had to be nice, he can't pick a fight with me. It's really funny to tease him now because, well, it's like there is no more competition anymore. I don't like him or anything but-"

"But you never set out to be his enemy in the first place," Harris supplied.

Harry nodded, "Exactly! I just want people who don't like me to leave me alone. And it's nice to like, pass Draco in the hall and not have it escalate into hissing insults and hexes."

"That's mostly Ron anyway. The true animosity was always between Ron and Draco, but Draco focused on you for being the famous one and treating Ron like he was lesser than."

"That and him insulting Hermione," Harry added.

"And that. Draco's son never married one of my children, but he was Blasie's brother-in-law, we made many a comment at Draco's expense."

"Did you really marry Ginny just because she was pretty?" Harry asked.

Harris sighed, "No, I married her because I thought I loved. I thought she had gotten over the hero worship, but she wanted the fame and she wanted to be young. I wanted to start a family and fade into the background."

"Aren't you going to tell me not to go out with her?"

Harris shrugged, "It's your life, Harry. I can tell you anything you want about my past, but it will never match your future. Too much has been changed already. For instance, Cho Chang-"

Harry flushed.

Harris flashed a grin at him before continuing, "Was still heartbroken over Cedric's death. My first kiss involved her crying over Cedric."

Harry gaped at him, "Why did she kiss you then?"

Harris shrugged, "For the same reason most people wanted to be with me. She also saw me as someone who would miss Cedric. But that was a traumatic memory for me, and I only knew Cedric well enough to know that he was a good person and that his death was a tragedy. We also had very different ideas of romance. Gin was easy to talk to, whatever else was between us, we were friends in the beginning."

"In the end?" Harry asked.

Harris shook his head, "It got complicated, I wanted a divorce and she stopped at nothing to try and keep me. Including becoming pregnant."

Harry blinked, "If you were trying to divorce her then why would-"

"I wasn't okay after the war, I had my own scars. When Gin tried to hurt me, I tried to hurt her back, but the twins, Rose and James… they were my world, a world that included their mother."

Harry rounded his shoulders, "I don't think I want to marry Ginny, not ever, not the person she is now and not after what you just told me."

"It's your life, Harry. You might marry someone else and have kids or adopt children who will mean just as much to you as they meant to me."

"But we are cursed," Harry stated.

"I have done everything in my power to give you your life back. Dumbledore will not be involved, Snape will never attempt to hurt you, Sirius is free, and the Blacks are united. The Black family, Harry, isn't anything to screw with. Take Bella for instance, she was Voldemort's right hand, and I've freed her from him as well. Narcissa is also willing to fight for you and Draco now. Draco is unlikely to be pressured into helping his father, the same is true of Theo. My life went to shit because I was piece on a board, but no one is pulling our strings anymore. We are free."

Harry looked away, "But happiness-"

"Happiness is not something that once reached can be kept, like all things, it ages and grows and wanes and is born again. I haven't killed Voldemort yet because chasing him leaves the people I need to protect vulnerable. He is very good at running and I'm not about to race into a trap."

"But what if he hurts someone?" Harry asked.

Harris smiled sadly, "It's not an if. He will hurt people, but you and I have done much to weaken him. But no one can protect everyone. I've set my own traps, and soon his anger will outweigh his cowardice; then I will end him."

"I thought you said you were equals."

"We are, but I know him and he doesn't know me, I have the advantage and he won't be ready for me to use lethal force. I haven't hurt any of his followers and killing his soul pieces isn't exactly the same thing as killing a person."

"So that's it then, Andromeda ruins our life and you do what she wants anyway?" Harry asked.

Harris sighed, looking away, "I'm older now, Harry, I've lived my life. I'm going to remake this world not because anyone wants me to, but because people I still love are alive. I'm doing this for you, for Sirius, for Hermione, Luna, Ron, Theo, Blaise, and for all the people at Hogwarts, for your futures, for your descendants. The wizarding world took everything I was and reshaped my story to their narrative. It's high time I repay the favour."

He smirked at Harry before continuing, "Dumbledore couldn't do it because of his prejudices. He condemned the old families, and rather than winning over the children from those families, he leaned into the divides between Slytherin and the other houses."

"Why does it all come back to Hogwarts?"

"Because our community is so small that ninety percent of the population went through those halls, and because Hogwarts is where the Ministry, Dumbledore, and Voldemort chose as their battlefield."

"It doesn't seem right," Harry said.

"No, it doesn't."

"Do you really believe we can ever lead a life that belongs to us?"

Harris touched Harry's chin, turning him to face him, "The misery in my adult life, Harry, was caused by me. I went along with too much, I allowed myself to be pushed and used and most of my actions were reactionary. I married Ginny because it's what I thought I should have done. I hid from the public and they published whatever they liked about me unchallenged. I never knew what I wanted until I realized it could be taken from me.

"So find what you like, decide who you want to spend time with. It doesn't matter what Molly Weasley thinks of you, it doesn't matter what our parents might have wanted from you. Dumbledore and Dursleys made us believe that kindness was rare and loyalty to a cause was goodness. But blind loyalty is not something a true friend will ask you for, and some people are not kind until you give them the opportunity to."

"Like Theo and Blaise," Harry said quietly.

Harris nodded, "You and I played peacemaker between Ron and Hermione so often we never had time for anyone else. But it isn't your job to fix them."

"They've stood by me when no one else would have," Harry defended.

"Ron and Hermione are not the only fighters at Hogwarts. I spent so much time trying to make other people happy that there was nothing left for me."

"So what, I trust that other people will be good to me?"

"Be brave, Harry, pain and death are a part of living, but there is still joy, family, and friends to outweigh the sorrows. So be brave."

Harry frowned at him, "I am a Gryffindor."

Harris chuckled, "You are also a Slytherin, a survivalist, which is ironic with how often we chase down life threatening circumstances. Thus why the Sorting Hat agreed with making us lions. But remember this, you are more afraid of being disliked by your friends than you fear dying for the people you love. Fighting isn't easy, but it is clear. Personal relationships are harder."

Harry let out a puff of air, "Yeah, I guess I am. Though, I think I've done pretty well this year."

Harris grinned, "Yes, you have. Are you happier than you were?"

Harry winced, "Gryffindor House is going to hate me when I get back, I lost them the Quidditch match."

"So quit."

"What!?" Harry exploded, "But you know how much it means to me!"

"I know it's not worth your life, I also know that if the Gryffindor House sees themselves as the reason you quit, and they lose the next game, they will be begging for you to come back."

"But-"

"Did Angelina really pressure you into flying when you were feeling unwell."

"I mean, yes, but-"

"I'll speak to her."

"No! I'm not going to be Draco Malfoy asking for-"

"Asking for what? Help when someone needlessly endangers your life? Tell me Harry, how many times have you wished an adult would take you seriously and step in? How many tragedies could have been avoided if someone listened, if someone spoke up? How many times have you been punished for something that has happened to you?"

Harry didn't answer him.

"You don't have to take my advice, but I will be stepping in. Umbridge went unchecked for far too long, if I step in now, I can step in again before something terrible happens."

Harry let out a long breath, then said, "Thank you."

Harris pulled the boy in for a hug, "You're going to be okay."

Harry hugged him back, but whispered, "You can't promise that."

Harris squeezed him, "Maybe not, but I can do my best, and that's all anyone can do." He pulled back, "Harry, you are one of the most powerful wizards in history, embrace it, believe in yourself. We are a part of magic, the things we can do will amaze you. Don't do it for fame or glory, don't do it to have power over others or for grades and your professors, do it for yourself. Magic is something no one has the power to take away from you."

Harry nodded, "Okay."

Harris stood, "Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, Mr. Black," Harry responded, telling Harris that he would, or at least try to accept the fact that they were different people.

Harris left, closing the door softly behind him. He leaned back against the door for a moment before taking in a deep breath and descending the stairs.

He really hoped Sirius had rum.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the crystal decanter on the table. Harris reached for it even as he took a seat between Sirius and Bella. He knocked back a tumbler then refilled it with the intention of nursing it through the upcoming interrogation.

Narcissa was the first to speak; "You're Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived?"

Harris smirked at her, "Is there a problem, Cissa dearest?"

She bared her teeth at him, as she gritted out, "Yes, I slept with a boy my son's age."

Harris chuckled, "First, I am not fifteen and second, when I actually was your son's age in our twenties, that didn't exactly deter you."

Her blue eyes widened, even as she snapped, "What does that mean?"

Harris smirked, "You really think I'm that good I would know your body that intimately on the first go?"

Narcissa's cheeks were pink, "I wouldn't have-"

"Had a threesome with one of your sisters?" Harris shot back.

Sirius choked on his own spirits and Regulus looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Bella started cackling.

Narcissa snarled at her older sister, "Shut it."

"You did it for the same reason," Harris continued, "Or I mean you did me for the same reason. Have you told Lucius about us?"

Narcissa straightened in her seat, raising her chin, "I did."

"Excellent," Harris said with a smirk, taunting Lucius Malfoy was one of his favourite activities.

"How did you and Andromeda get together?" Narcissa asked as Sirius was spelling away the liquor poured down his front.

"Her grandson was my godson, we raised him together. My own marriage was a ruin. One thing led to another… it started as sex, it turned into more."

"But she betrayed you too," Bella said.

Harris shrugged, the zing of the spirits both deepening and softening the pain in his heart, "She broke. Andromeda invented the Belladonna Cure. When she realized it could undo the damage to the Longbottoms and Bella, her guilt outweighed any sort of reason."

"You sound calm," Regulus noted, his voice deeper than his frame indicated it might be.

"If I start screaming now, I'll never stop," Harris said evenly, "Besides, I have shit to do."

"Like what?" Narcissa asked.

Harris smiled slowly as he swirled the liquid in his desk, "Pissing off a certain Dark Lord, interfering at Hogwarts, and-" He gestured to the four other people at the table, "Raising the House of Black from the ashes."

Sirius groaned, "You want us to get involved in politics?"

"How are you doing, Regulus?" Harris asked.

The man flicked blue-grey eyes to him, the same colour that Sirius and Harris had. "I cannot thank you enough for getting me out. I thought…" he shook his head, "But it has been easier than I thought it would be to regain myself. It was like being caught in an endless nightmare, but my body hasn't changed, I haven't aged -physically, that is."

"So you're sane and in control?" Harris asked.

"As sane as a Black can be," Regulus said with a twist of lips that wasn't quite a smile.

"Will you be prosecuted if you reenter society?" Harris asked.

"Unlikely," Narcissa said, "it is pretty well known that Regulus was personally murdered by the Dark Lord for betraying him. After you freed Sirius and Bella, to prosecute Regulus now with the court already knowing the truth is messy, they won't touch it. Besides, Reggie was just a researcher, he never killed or tortured anyone."

Sirius blinked at his brother, "Really?"

Regulus nodded.

Sirius let out a great breath of relief.

"Thank you again, Harris, for removing the Dark Mark," Regulus said.

Harris inclined his head, "Anytime." Then took another swig from his glass.

"You removed my Dark Mark? That's why it's gone?" Bella asked, looking at Harris with wide brown eyes.

"Yep," he said, finishing off his glass before refilling it.

"We should be more worried about Bella," Narcissa said seriously.

"Especially after what you did to the Longbottoms," Sirius said, fighting and failing to keep the heat from his voice.

Bella scowled at him, "I didn't do anything to them."

"You tortured them into insanity," Sirius snapped

"No," Bella growled, "I didn't."

"My apologies," Sirius said with veneum, "You must have just stood back and laughed at the wonderful entertainment."

Harris just kept drinking, surely he could get blitzed tonight? Narcissa could handle Bella. She was getting better, even with Sirius provoking her.

Hell, Bellatrix was currently more stable than Andromeda both now and when Harris had begun helping her with Teddy after the Battle of Hogwarts.

"I didn't!" Bella yelled, "I was tortured with them!"

Harris stilled, giving the woman ready to rip Sirius's face off his full attention.

"Why would your own husband, brother-in-law, and Crouch Jr. torture you?" Sirius asked coldly.

"Because I saved Neville Longbottom," she sneered.

Sirius gaped at her.

Harris should have been surprised, but whether it was just being done with everything and everyone today or the liquor making its way to his head, all he could muster was the dry remark, "Good to know you have standards."

Bella glowered at him, "I've killed more people than you can imagine but even I draw the line at killing babies."

"Why return to manor?" Narcissa asked, "If you betrayed them, why return when you knew Rodolphus would do to you?"

"Where else was I supposed to go, Cissa?" she asked, "It isn't as though I'm innocent, I just didn't do that."

"Why laugh at your trial?" Harris asked out of curiosity as the pieces of who Bella was fell into place; the reasons why Andromeda had been so desperate to save her.

Bella shrugged, "Because he lost, because they lost because it was all bloody pointless, live or die, it didn't matter. They thought the mudblood would be the ruin of us but we did that to ourselves a century ago."

Harris observed her before dunking back his drink again. Stars, he didn't want to think anymore, he didn't want to feel anymore.

"How old were you when you slept with my sister?" Bella asked.

"Which one?" Harris asked as he began pouring himself another drink. He wanted to black out, he wanted…

He avoided that line of thought with another long intake of the amber drink.

"Andromeda," Bella specified.

"Nineteen," Harris answered, "My marriage to my wife was that fucked by two years in." He looked into his glass and remembered Gin drugging him with aphrodisiacs. He had sworn off drinking after…

He drank that thought away too.

Funny, Gin was the cause of his sobriety and Andromeda was the cause of his relapse.

That sounded about right.

"What happened to you?" Sirius asked him.

"After I got you killed?" Harris asked, "You didn't make it through this year. The war started after that. I got one more year at Hogwarts in which everyone wanted to pretend to be kids while Draco was being used as a would-be assassin for Dumbledore by Voldemort and Dumbledore was leading me down the path of martyrdom. Child soldiers, the lot of us. Narcissa made a deal with Snape and Dumbledore, in the end, had Snape kill him.

"Seventh year, Death Eaters took over the school. I went on the run, camping in the woods mostly, with Hermione and Ron. Shit happened, the final battle was fought at Hogwarts. A lot of children died. Nymphadora, Remus, and Bella were killed then. I let Voldemort kill me because Dumbledore told me to, then I woke up and killed Voldemort. Fun times."

He finished his third glass, or was it the fifth?

"Bloody hell," Sirius cursed.

"Dumbledore is evil," Narcissa hissed.

"~So is your husband," Harris hissed back.

They all stared at him with odd expressions.

"What?" he asked.

"Parseltongue," Narcissa said, regaining her composure first because of course she did.

He rolled his eyes and repeated in slow English, "So is your husband."

The blonde grit her teeth, "How did you survive dying?"

He tapped his scar, "The same way I did when I had Bella hit me with the Killing Curse. Stupid horcruxes, Harry's came to me easy enough though, Voldemort won't be able to possess him through it again."

Sirius gaped at him, "You had Bella hit you with the killing curse?"

Bella grinned, "I killed the Dark Lord."

"A piece of him at any rate, all that's left his man eating snake and the bastard himself," Harris said, his head spinning now, his shoulders starting to relax a bit.

"Are you suicidal?" Sirius demanded.

Harris actaully laughed, "I was raised for slaughter, Sirius, then I lost my entire family to the woman I've been in love with for thirty bloody fucking years. Of course I am."

It was nice to say, nice to share, make them realize how little he cared anymore.

He didn't care anymore.

Sure, he would try, for Harry, for his old friends, for this little broken family, but really? It was spite that was holding him together.

Spite, yeah, spite was reason enough to keep from passing on into the next life. He finished another glass, and when he found the decanter empty, he twisted his hand, wordlessly and wandlessly accioing a bottle to his hand. He began to pour it, then thought, fuck it, and drank straight from the bottle.

"Maybe you should ease up on the drinking," Sirius recommended.

Harris ignored him.

"You defeated the Dark Lord at seventeen?" Regulus asked.

Harris shrugged, "I killed him at eleven actaully." Then shook his head his vision swimming a bit, "I mean, I killed his host, Quir-" his words slurred, "Professor Quirrelmort. Unicorn blood drinker, disgusting, and Voldemort stuck on the back of his head like a fleshy leach," Harris gestured to the back of his own head and made a grotesque face.

"How?" Regulus asked.

Harris shrugged, "My mother's bloodward. Voldemort couldn't touch me; it burned, nearly killing myself too in the process. But that's why he did the whole grand scheme of the Triwizard Tournament so he could get my blood to use. He doesn't like being told no."

Bella grimaced.

Narcissa was drumming her fingernails on the table, "What happened in your second year when Lucius set a basilisk on the school?"

"What!?" Sirius and Regulus exclaimed.

"Big snake, parseltongue, people blamed me of course, that was fun. That stupid diary, also a stupid fucking horcrux that almost ate Gin. Possessed her to kill all of Hagrid's chickens -I'm sorry, roasters. Fawkes helped too. He blinded the Basilisk, brought me the Sorting Hat, the Gryffindor sword and I stabbed it through the mouth, got stabbed myself on a fang. Used said fang to stab the horcrux and Fawkes cried for me," Harris explained, or tried to, he couldn't be sure if he slurred some more or not.

"At twelve?" Regulus asked.

Harris grinned, "Made the dragon in the First task seem tame, at least the horn tail was chained up."

"Merlin, Harry, how much trouble-" Sirius began

"Can a couple of kids get into?" Harris finished, "In the original timeline, Hermione and I started a DADA club and dubbed ourselves Dumbledore's Army. A few of us broke into the ministry of magic and had our first true battle with Death Eaters. None of us died surprisingly enough, except you, Sirius, and a couple Death Eaters, though none of us really remembers who killed who."

There was a heavy silence, that Harris filled by tipping back the bottle, his stomach aching a bit for filling up on fluids this fast.

He ignored it.

"And here I thought our childhoods were messed up," Regulus said.

Harris stood abruptly and would have fallen over if Bella hadn't caught him.

He leaned into her and whispered into her ear, "You are the smart one." Then hissed in parseltongue, "~And the most beautiful."

Bella shuttered against him and he laughed.

He laughed because he didn't want to cry. He was supposed to be the head of this broken house, he would not cry in front of them.

Regulus reached across Bella to take the bottle from Harris's hand.

Harris let him.

He also allowed Sirius to help him up on his other side, because while needing help after drinking that much that fast wasn't ideal, falling on his face was not the point of this.

No, the point was to make himself forget the pain, the loss, the faces of his children, of his granddaughter who he had been so excited to meet, so proud of.

Living proof that all he had suffered, that all the mistakes he had made both as a person and as a parent had amounted to something so beautiful.

Someone so entirely perfect who he had every intention of showering with love and attention.

He didn't have to be scared of being a bad parent or failing her, that was Teddy's responsibility…

Teddy who had turned into such a wizard, such a father.

Dad, I know my parents died for me but you're the man who raised me. I know it couldn't have been easy at seventeen, I know your friends didn't approve of you giving up your own pursuits for me, and I know I'm the reason you couldn't live with James and Rose full time anymore, but I'm so grateful. I was given Remus's name, but you're always going to be the one I think of as my father.

When I tell people I want to be like you, I don't mean how they know of the Great Harry Potter. No, I want to be the kind of father for my daughter that you were for me. I want Magnolia to know every single day that she is loved and wanted. I want to be her hero, not because I saved the world, but because I was there for her when it wasn't easy, because I was there for all her birthdays and holidays, for all the good mornings and good nights. I want to be her hero because I helped teach her how to face her fear and helped her through them.

I might not always succeed, but she's never going to doubt that I tried the best I could for her.

I love you, Dad, and I know little Magnolia is going to love her grandfather just as much as I do.

Harris didn't remember how he got into bed, he didn't remember much of what he had said during the 'family meeting', he was just glad of the hangover that gave his misery a physical form in the morning.

Physical pain he could deal with.

But he honestly didn't know how long he could continue on like this.

Because who was he really?

A few months ago, he would have told anyone quite proudly that he was a father, that he was Magnolia's grandfather.

Hermione and Luna, the whole extended family had begun to tease Harris for how excited he had been over the new baby before she was even born.

Their little Magnolia.

He wasn't anyone's grandfather now, he was just a powerful wizard with not much to live for. He would keep going through the motions but he had to wonder if Andromeda knew that when she erased them, she had killed him as well?

Even if he survived, went on living, Teddy's father, the twins' father, Magnolia's grandfather, the original Harry Potter was dead.

Harris Magnolia Black was caught between stepping in to correct all those who had failed him in his youth and setting the world ablaze himself.

The world was so set in destroying itself after all, that lighting a few matches wouldn't require much effort at all.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was trying, unsuccessfully, to figure out who had murdered his brother. Of all the things going on, from Harry being possessed by Voldemort, to Bellatrix Lestrange being on the loose, to Harris Black being a massive pain in his arse.

Honestly, he couldn't understand why Sirius trusted him so. Certainly, Albus had interceded in Harry's life, but it had been necessary, and how was he to know that the Dursleys wouldn't merely dislike Harry but hate him. Albus had thought too well of Lily to think any relative of hers could be so… evil.

It was hard to defend himself against all of Harris's accusations, because he had been right about most of Albus's mistakes, and because…

Well, it sounded so naive when said out loud, but Albus had kept hoping that things would get easier for Harry, that he would have time to be a child.

The connection between Voldemort and Harry had gone deeper than he feared and he knew of no way to remove it without killing or crippling Harry.

Dear Harry,

I was wrong in your second year, it wasn't just a piece of Voldemort's magic he passed on to you, it was a piece of his soul that most definitely is draining you of life energy and will one day grow strong enough to overcome you and use your body as permanent host.

Oh, and by the by, there is this prophecy, yes, the very one that had Voldemort after you and Neville in the first place, that led to the tragic one deaths of both your parents, and the thing says that only you can stop Voldemort, likely at the price of both of you dying.

Which makes sense now that I know you're partially already possessed. Honestly, it's amazing you've lasted this long, if you were a weaker wizard, you would already be dead. So thanks for being you; and yes, the world literally rests on your shoulder.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore

Yes, that would have gone down well. How Harris seemed to know all this was terrifying because it meant that Voldemort might already know.

Harris Black seemed to know a lot about everyone yet no-one knew him.

Did it rankle that Harris was possibly a better wizard in magic than Albus? Absolutely. He was self aware enough to know why he had provoked the other man, originally just to test the limits.

Only for Albus to discover that age was catching up with him and all the power in the world couldn't restore him.

All things came to an end, him included. No matter how 'great' he was, he wouldn't be around forever. The wizarding world was in trouble, Hogwarts was in trouble, and the only person other than himself that stood a chance against the Dark Lord was a fifteen year old boy and a pureblood who despite setting himself up as Voldemort's enemy was getting cozy with Voldemort's lieutenant.

Albus was growing desperate, the Order of the Phoenix wasn't what it had been, the Ministry was in shambles, and the wizarding people? What was left of them at any rate, were tired.

When they would finally be motivated to fight, they would be far, far too late.

There was a knock on the door, grateful for a reprieve from his own spiralling thoughts, frustrations, and helplessness, he called out, "Come in."

Newt Scamander came in, his shoulders straight like they hadn't been for most of the time Albus had known him. His wife had taught him, how to be comfortable in his own skin around other people and not just magical creatures.

"Newt, my dear fellow, what can I do for you?"

Newt ignored him in favour of greeting Fawkes who preened under the attention.

Albus waited, familiar with the other man's idiosyncrasies.

When Newt finally turned to face Albus, hazel eyes bright, his freckles declaring his heritage even if his hair was now a silver grey (Fawkes perched proudly on the man's shoulder), he said, "There is a matter to which we need to speak of."

"Oh?" Albus prompted, only for Newt's gaze to shift past him, a sign of nerves.

Newt didn't speak for a long tense minute.

Albus sighed, guessing what this was about, "Why are you here, Newt?"

"To speak with you," Newt answered with a non-answer reflexively. Living in New York City, he had learned to speak faster, even if the answer wasn't as well thought out as he wanted.

"No, I mean, why did you agree to be a Professor at Hogwarts, not that we aren't grateful to have you. But your life is no longer in the United Kingdoms."

Slowly, Newt forced his gaze back to Albus, then he said with almost painful clarity, "I'm here because Grindelwald has escaped from prison."

It took Albus a moment to let that sink in before he exploded, "What!? Why wasn't I told? He escaped this summer when I hired you?"

Newt nodded, "No one have not forgotten what Grindelwald did to them. Some of their aurors thought it might have been you who freed him. But I know they are wrong."

Albus let out a harsh breath, this couldn't be happening. This was too much, too much. How was Albus supposed to help if he couldn't predict what others would do?

He knew Voldemort, he knew Harry Potter, he knew Severus, and his Order, but he did not know Harris Black nor could he guess what Gellert would do if he escaped prison.

As if guessing his thoughts, Newt supplied, "He's not looking to take over the world, Dumbledore, he's looking for a legacy. Voldemort is not the only one hunting your students."

"No," Albus said with finality, "Gellert never liked children, he hated being seen as one when he himself was young." It's why he had grown a beard as soon as he possibly could.

Still, Albus worried, could Gellert's mortality have given him a new view of things?

Newt opened his briefcase, pulling at a picture that he laid gently on the table between them.

Albus leaned over to look at the image that had no people, or bodies, in it. It was just a wall lit by wand light. Innocuous image of a Nurmengard prison cell.

Until one noticed what was carved into the stone: I may pass on from this world, but my legacy will live on, our children will know what it means to be free.

Albus's hand began to shake when his eyes came to rest on the sketch of a particular horizon scratched deep into the stone.

Albus was brought back to a time when he was young and arrogant and in love with a boy who was his world.

It was the horizon line of the Scottish mountains that one saw standing atop the astronomy tower at Hogwarts. Albus remembered that one evening with painful clarity. He had just been hired as the Transfiguration professor and Gellert had come to congratulate him. On that tower they had spoken of their dreams and ambitions and shared their first kiss.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to never hide? To live and love openly?" Gellert had asked.

Albus was young and British, and knew that his love for Gellert was enough of a reason for the muggles to imprison him, or perhaps worse even without knowing about the magical gifts they possessed.

"We have the power to change the world," Albus had answered with the naivety of someone who thought they could deal with anything as long as they had a friend, a lover, on their side.

"Come with me, Albus, let us change the world together," Gellert had pleaded.

Albus had almost gone with him, but he remembered his sister, his brother… "I can't, Gellert, I'm sorry, but I'll always support you."

"Is this because of Aberforth, that bitter brother of yours? What happened to your sister wasn't your fault, Al."

"No, it's not him, this is about my own dreams. I'm a professor at Hogwarts now. Changing the world starts with them, these students, -my- students. If I can direct their education I can redirect the future."

Pure arrogance.

Gellert shook his head sadly, taking Albus's hand in his, "I don't have the patience for that."

Albus had known there was darkness in Gellert but not the extent of becoming a dark lord.

It's hard to imagine the people you love could be quite so monstrous. Gellert had seduced many to his cause, Albus included.

They had kissed then, and Albus knew he should have broken things off with Gellert, knew the dangers, knew that his sister wouldn't have died if Albus had stirred clear of this wizard.

But love was a strange power.

"Albus, do you mean it? Will you always be on my side?"

"I promise."

Albus had been a perfect fool.

Gellert had played his cards wisely, pressing a pendant into his hand, "I'm sorry about what happened to Ariana. Let's make a pact so nothing like that could ever happen between us. I swear, Al, that I'll never harm you." He had pressed his thumb into the edge of the pendant.

Albus had followed him.

He had come to regret that, had ended up asking the man in front of him to help correct that wrong. Albus had betrayed Gellert and Gellert's vision for the future of their world had failed.

Looking at the drawn horizon, Albus knew exactly what he was planning.

Gellert Grindelwald had always been a lover of poetry.

AN: Thoughts, what did you like about this chapter or want more of in the future, leopard seals, or feedback, please?