As he approached the confrontation as surreptitiously as he could, Harry's mind worked on how best to deal with the situation. If he dealt with the no doubt Death Eater that was holding Greengrass hostage first, the others that were observing would no doubt intervene, and something told him they weren't the type to hold back much even in a crowded muggle museum. Which would cause an absurd amount of trouble all on its own.
He needed to get rid of the observers first. Pausing in his stride he glanced at the first he'd spotted, eyes looking for anything he could use to his advantage. A smile curled his lip when he spotted the sign indicating where the toilets were.
Carefully pointing his wand, which he had hidden up his sleeve just in case, he cast one of the healing spells he'd recently learned at the disco cowboy. The effect was almost instantaneous, the man's face suddenly twisting in discomfort as he began shifting in place. Within moments he began looking around, almost panicked, and when he spotted the sign Harry'd seen he almost sprinted in that direction, completely forgetting his job.
Harry smirked, pleased. The spell he'd used was meant to completely evacuate a patient's bowels and bladder for any procedure. The patient would have a two minute warning before they'd begin to involuntarily void themselves for at least ten minutes, till their guts were pretty much clean as a whistle. More than enough time.
Glancing to the other observer after making sure that the hostage taker hadn't noticed his actions yet, he took in the combo of unflattering leather trousers, tie-dye shirt, and beret, before looking around for any options. This one was a bit simpler, and after a brief spell over the area the Greengrass/Davis families were in to muffle external sounds, and with a mental apology to his target, he used his magic to make an attractive woman standing next to the Death Eater feel the sensation of someone groping her backside. The effect was immediate, with the woman whirling on the man, rage in her eyes, beginning to yell and slap the shit out of the Death Eater, who was caught completely by surprise, everyone's attention turning to the altercation as Vatican security began to approach.
Satisfied that the Death Eater would be at the very least distracted for the next few minutes, Harry turned back to the hostage situation, pleased to see that the man holding Greengrass hadn't noticed anything. Then he strode forward, ready to deal with the situation.
Tracey's heart was hammering in her chest as she watched the wizard that was holding Daphne hostage smile unpleasantly. He was a sallow faced man with dirty blonde hair and cruel hazel eyes. You could see the odiousness of the man in practically every movement he made.
"-why it would be in your best interest to stop running." He was saying, his voice oily and self satisfied. "There is nowhere the Dark Lord can't find you. It would be best if you returned to Britain and joined the winning side. For your family…" He said, pulling Daphne closer to his side.
Tracey watched as her best friend's stony countenance cracked slightly, letting a glimpse of the fear she was feeling show. Tracey bit her lip, wishing she could risk doing something to help the blonde. Unfortunately their assailant had made it clear he wasn't alone, so anything overt wasn't in the cards. Eyes darting to the side she saw Astoria was being held tight by her mother, both of their eyes wide and fearful. Tracey's parents had moved closer to her, obviously trying to protect her as best they could. And Daphne's father's fists were clenched tightly at his sides as he glared at the Death Eater, his anger not doing much to hide the fear that wanted to break through.
Tracey and Daphne had overheard their parents discussing fleeing the country in order to avoid being targeted by You-Know-Who's men. That was partly what this vacation trip was about, getting out of the danger zone while they searched for a more permanent solution. Unfortunately it seemed that the Death Eaters could still locate them somehow, even though they'd been travelling mostly by muggle methods.
It could only be someone else close to the Greengrasses that had given the Death Eaters the information. Tracey swore that if she ever found out who, they would regret ever being born.
Tracey could see Daphne's father waver, about to give in, when someone stepped up beside the Death Eater, looking mildly interested in the painting the group was standing in front of even as he held his wand against the man's ribs much as he had been doing to Daphne.
Potter.
Tracey felt her heart surge with hope. No matter what anybody in Hogwarts's opinion of the boy, even his greatest detractors (other than Draco and his clique, but they were just pathetically in denial) agreed that he was dangerous. One did not just survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament at fourteen without at least some skill to supplement luck, not to mention everything else he'd been rumored to be involved in.
It was in his stance, the way he moved now that a threat was present. It gave the impression of someone dangerous, ready for any attack. Whether that was true or not, Tracey didn't know, but it certainly seemed that way.
"Who-?" The Death Eater began before being interrupted by Potter.
"My name is Hermes Black." Potter said, his accent now indeterminate rather than his usual Surrey. He sounded like he could be from anywhere that spoke English, which was simply odd to hear. "I've already been introduced to your friend, Yaxley."
The look on the dark wizard's face grew colder. "So, you were the one that interfered with our… persuasion… of Flamel."
Potter smiled coldly, his lips curling in a mockery of a smile. It was actually rather chilling to see. Almost Snapelike. "I'd advise that you let the young lady go." He said simply.
"You overestimate yourself." The Death Eater said arrogantly. "My men-"
"Have already been dealt with." Potter interrupted. "Look for yourself. Honestly, I don't see how they could have been easier to spot."
The dark wizard's eyes narrowed before he glanced to the sides, apparently searching for whoever he'd brought with him. When he didn't spot them he turned back to Potter, apparently taking things more seriously now. "Try anything, and I can't promise little Miss Greengrass will leave intact."
"So much as a paper cut hurts her, I'll heal you to death." Potter said simply, stating a fact. Tracey felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"Heal me to death?" The Death Eater asked with a sneer. "What kind of idiocy are you talking about."
"I came across an interesting spell in my books on healing magic." Potter explained, eyes flinty as he glanced at the Death Eater. "It is meant to restart a heart that has recently stopped, resuscitating someone much like a mundane defibrillator. However it has to be used carefully, because if a healthy person gets hit by it, they'll instead suffer a massive heart attack that will kill them in minutes as it tries to forcefully start an already beating heart." His words were cold and matter of fact. Everything in his demeanor said he would do what he said. "It'll look like a completely natural death, even to a magical examination. Just a random heart attack. All I'd need to do is act the part of shocked bystander trying to help the dying man." He smiled again, sharp and dangerous.
There was silence among the group as they took Potter's words in, every one of them tense. Tracey herself swallowed slightly, and she could see that Daphne was looking at their classmate with a reevaluating gaze. Tracey felt she knew what was going through her best friend's mind at the moment, because it was going through hers as well.
Potter was a Slytherin, no two ways about it.
The Death Eater had gone pale as he stared at the younger man. "You're bluffing." He said hoarsely.
Potter raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Are you really willing to take the chance?"
Slowly and carefully, the Death Eater let Daphne go, the girl immediately making her way to her family, where her mother and sister enveloped her into their arms.
"I admit I'm surprised. It's not often that you meet a Death Eater that doesn't take the stupid option." Potter said sardonically. "Now I suggest you leave."
"The Dark Lord will not forget this." The man whose name Tracey hadn't gotten threatened Potter. "This is twice you've interfered in his affairs. There won't be a third time."
"Sure, sure." Potter said dismissively, his attitude showing that he didn't consider the Death Eater important anymore. "Whatever you say. Do give Voldemort my regards in between your screams when he Cruciatuses you for failing." He said, ignoring the flinches of everyone there at hearing the You-Know-Who's name.
The Death Eater snarled at him, but rather than reply he turned and left, walking away from them hurriedly.
There was a moment of silence as Potter watched the man leave, wand still at the ready. Once he was satisfied that the Death Eater was gone, the boy turned to Daphne's father as he slipped his wand back up his sleeve. "I would suggest we leave in case he decides to be an idiot and attack when he thinks our guard is down."
Lord Darius Greengrass nodded slowly even as he studied Potter warily, obviously not seeing through his disguise. "Yes, I agree…" Then he turned back to his family, checking on Daphne, before he and Tracey's father began to lead the way out of the museum, the rest of the group following. Tracey saw Potter glance down along the museum mournfully, obviously upset that his vacation was being interrupted, before he began to make his way out with them.
Not long afterwards the group was in a couple of taxis to a restaurant that Tracey's father knew of where they'd be able to rent a private room and discuss things. The entire trip there was spent mostly in silence, the adults looking after their children, making sure they were alright after such a scare, while Potter simply observed and kept an eye out for any followers, watching their backs.
Once they reached the restaurant and Daphne's father had indeed requested a private room, the man finally addressed Potter. "You have my thanks, young man." He said, sounding weary. "I owe you a great debt after what you did for my daughter."
"Yes, thank you." Daphne said with feeling, giving Potter a somewhat shaky smile, obviously still recovering from being held by that bastard. Not that Tracey blamed her. She was still shaken as well. Even during some of the bigger events at Hogwarts, the two of them had only ever been observers. To suddenly be dragged into something like that…
As Potter nodded to them, accepting the gratitude, the male Davis in the room spoke, eyes calculating. "You said your name is Hermes Black?"
Potter nodded. "I did."
"Any relation to the Black family of magical Britain?" Tracey's father pressed.
"That's the second time I've been asked that." Potter said somewhat sardonically. "The answer is no. I'm muggleborn and there isn't any relation that I'm aware of."
"A pity." The Lord Greengrass said. "I would have wished you an unknown child of the late Sirius Black."
Tracey noticed the way Potter frozen briefly at that, obviously reminded of his recent loss. To his credit he managed to recover admirably, and she didn't think the adults noticed, as they hadn't thought the mention might have that type of effect. "May I ask why?" He asked.
The two patriarchs glanced at each other before the Davis one spoke. "Due to the legal complications of Sirius Black's status at the time of his death, the dispensation of his estate is currently in limbo." He said, taking on the voice he usually used when speaking to his clients as a solicitor. "At this point the Black estate is set to come under control of either the Malfoy family through his eldest cousin Narcissa, or Harry Potter, the man's godson." He frowned then before continuing to speak. "The chances of it going to the Malfoys is currently uncomfortably high despite Lucius' incarceration and Dumbledore's intervention, so any option that would sway it out of their hands, and thus You-Know-Who's, is something we'd be very interested in investigating further."
Potter settled back, pondering that, apparently a bit surprised by the news. It took a moment for Tracey to realize that the reason was likely that the man's death was so recent and such a raw wound, that the boy likely hadn't considered what would happen to Black's estate. Now that he knew, however, she could see that the news that the Malfoys might get their hands on the Black money, library and artifacts was troubling him.
He sighed before shaking his head. "I'm sorry to tell you that I'm a hundred percent sure that Sirius Black is not my birth father. Or an uncle. Or anything like that."
Tracey saw her father shrug. "Well, it was worth checking…" Then he turned to Darius. "So, what are we going to do now? They obviously know we're here. Should we head somewhere else? Austria, perhaps? I always did want to see Vienna."
Darius was silent for a moment before he seemed to slump, looking tired. "You should go, Jeffrey, with your family. I… don't see much point in running anymore."
Everybody, including the man's family, stared at him. "Dad-" Daphne began.
"They've made it clear that they can get to us, and that they aren't afraid of crossing lines, as if we'd ever forgotten it." Darius said wearily. "Our friend may have held them off for today, but I highly doubt he'll be around every time they try something. And I… I can't lose Daphne or Astoria…" The room was silent as he took a moment to compose himself. "You and your family are in greater danger since you're a muggleborn, so you should find somewhere safe, and not tell me about it. I'll… I'll go back to the Wizengamot…" He said, his meaning obvious to everyone there.
There was almost a minute of silence as everyone digested the fact that he was capitulating to You-Know-Who's demands before a quiet voice spoke up. "So… You're just… going to give in." Potter said quietly, his voice carrying an undercurrent of something that made the hairs stand up in the back of Tracey's neck.
Lord Greengrass looked at the young man, and the despair was practically written on his face. "I don't have a choice."
"There is always a choice…" Potter bit out, his anger now becoming visible. "A choice between what is right and what is easy."
Tracey was suddenly reminded of the end of her fourth year, during the memorial to Diggory. She remembered Dumbledore's words. She remembered glancing over at the Gryffindor table and seeing the look on Potter's face.
She glanced over at Daphne and saw that she understood. None of the others there knew who Potter really was, so they couldn't know the effect that the elder Greengrass's words were likely having on the boy. Even Tracey only knew the barest details, the ones that could be parsed through from the Hogwarts rumor mill and her own observations. Potter had lost everything but his closest friends to the madman currently threatening the UK, his childhood included, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't lose them as well, along with his life. The very fact that Granger and Weasley still stood by his side in spite of what they had already experienced spoke to the kind of friendship you only heard about in stories.
So for the boy to hear someone give in to the monster that had taken everything from Potter out of an (admittedly understandable) fear…
"You don't understand." Darius said, his tone a bit frostier than before, and both Tracey and Daphne winced at the poor choice of words. "You don't have anything at stake in this. You could easily not get involved. I don't have that option. I remember the last war. That kind of attitude is why I am head of the family instead of my father. So I refuse to listen to someone that doesn't have any clue what they're talking about."
Every word the man said made Tracey want to scream at him to shut up. She'd heard about how frayed Potter's temper had been during the previous year at Hogwarts, how liable he was to blow up at people. While it hadn't helped his reputation or the rumors he was mad, it was all, especially with the aid of hindsight, more than understandable. So she knew a blow up was likely approaching.
"I don't understand…?" Potter said softly his voice cold enough that Tracey shivered like she'd stepped out of Hogwarts castle naked and soaking wet in January. Then he stood up, slamming his palms onto the table, and she was both surprised yet not when he removed his disguise, allowing everyone there to recognize him. She wanted to groan at the foolishness of the move. How could he be a cunning, absolutely terrifying Slytherin one moment and a reckless, foolhardy, and still rather scary Gryffindor, the next? His next words made any complaints she had over his actions die in her throat.
"I. Will. Not. Live. To. See. Twenty." Potter snarled, punctuating each word clearly, making sure he was understood. "I. Have. No. Future."
Tracey swallowed heavily, feeling the weight of his presence and his words, practically tasting the magic he was releasing bearing down on her. If she'd ever doubted Potter's power, he'd just wiped that out handily.
Darius and her father had gone pale as they stared at him, eyes wide as they realized who they were dealing with. Daphne looked about how Tracey felt, with a bit of resignation in her eyes, which Tracey knew they shared. Daphne's mother, Juliette, had a hand over her mouth as she stared at Potter, and Tracey's mother, Claudia, looked sad as his words registered with her. Astoria, for her part, was staring at Potter, looking more than shocked enough by the dramatic revelation.
Potter wasn't done. After a moment to let his words sink in he continued. "But before I'm done, you, Voldemort, and this entire, misbegotten magical world will KNOW that I. Was. Here." He said firmly, a statement of fact as immutable as a law of the universe.
There was silence in the room for a few moments before Potter straightened up and turned, striding out of the room with authority, walking past the startled waitress who'd been bringing them their drinks when he opened the door.
Tracey stared after him, feeling her cheeks warm slightly at the display of power and authority as the room descended into silence besides the waitress setting their drinks down, obviously confused by the atmosphere but knowing better than to question it.
Once the woman was gone Tracey turned to find Daphne just as pink cheeked as she likely was before the blonde girl turned to her father. "That… was a mistake."
Yay, it's done!
I hope you all liked it. I had the resolution to that confrontation planned for a while, because it demonstrated how Harry was learning to think outside of the box in using his newer skills. I feel that confrontations don't need to become violent in order to be impressive. I hope I hit the mark.
Harry's last words of the chapter are something I consider extremely important to this story, because it shows what kind of headspace he's in, and what prompted him to begin travelling. To those who read the inspiration for this fic, Make A Wish, you all know that this isn't just my interpretation. In that fic, Hermione finds out what Harry's done when she finds a pamphlet for the Make A Wish foundation (thus the title of the fic) with a message stating 'I want to live before I die'. That's the same attitude Harry has here. Even when he considers a possible future, it's always tinged with the belief that it's just wishful thinking for something that won't come.
Things aren't over when it comes to the Greengrass and Davis families. The next event involving them might be a bit more… explosive. We'll see. My plans there aren't as firm yet.
I think that's all I needed to say, so once again, let's go to the usual reminders.
The first is that you can have a say in what I write when you donate to my Pat A Ron. Every dollar donated equals a vote in my monthly poll, and now I've made it so that the votes for the things that don't win in a given month roll over into the next, which is why some fics that haven't gotten much love for a while have been updated recently. So if you want to donate and see your favorite stories of mine updated more often, go to Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll closes on April 6th.
The next two reminders are more important to me, however. First is that my best friend has a Pat A Ron for their original fiction. Donate any amount you want and get access to some objectively excellent writing (far better than mine, if I'm being completely honest). Their first story, which is a supernatural steampunk detective thriller that I very much enjoy called 'The Curious Investigations of Mister Jonathan Scott', is currently at 18 chapters, the first of which is free, so you can see what his style is like. So if you like, say, The Dresden Files, but want it more steampunk, this is for you. And they've now started another story that will be updated while they build up more Jonathan Scott chapters, this one being a cyberpunk (the genre, not the game) story called 'Tales of Luminous City', the first chapter of which is now also free. You can find their stuff by searching for Grimm Tales in Pat A Ron. Unfortunately their updates might be a bit delayed seeing as their computer suddenly went kaput, making them lose all their stuff. So any help you guys would be willing to give to assist with the procurement of a new PC would be appreciated.
I would appreciate it a lot if you could help them out, as unlike me they've had employment trouble due to some disabilities, which this pandemic hasn't helped.
Second, my sister has also begun a Pat A Ron. She recently got her Bachelor's in Digital Animation. She's trying to make her own series to post on Youtube, but needs money, so she's making art and plans on accepting commissions. She primarily does tokusatsu themed fanart (Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, etc.), and she plans to let people have a say in what she makes, much like I do. That's at Pat A Ron dotcom /linduarte. (Oh no, now you know my last name! The horror!)
Please keep in mind though that we've been made aware of a bug with the site that makes it seem like you can't donate less than $5. If you don't want to donate that much, to any of us, just put a zero before the number you want to donate, such as 03. That should get you going.
Thank you all for the support, even through the dry spells I've gone through. I promise to try to improve. Till next time!