I own nothing

Thank you all for the feedback. Both the good and bad have been very helpful. I'm aware that at the minute there are some holes in the story, but I already have plans to address that. I don't plan on doing the entire week leading up to it as that sounds tedious even to me

I'm also ignoring canon Rufus. The fact a head Auror, who's fought his entire life would try and recruit a teenager to essentially put his life on the line never sat well with me

Headmasters Office

"Good morning, Rufus" Albus started as the Minister sat down "before we start, 'Nippy'" he called out before a pop signalled the arrival of a house elf. "Can we have some tea please, is tea ok for you Rufus?"

"Wouldn't say no to something stronger but as its still barely midday yet tea will have to do" Rufus replied

"Tea please Nippy with a few of those delicious biscuits you made for me yesterday" Albus continued

"Yes sir, Headmaster Whiskers" Nippy replied before popping out. Not thirty seconds later a tray with a tea pot, two cups and a plate of biscuits appeared on the desk "help yourself Rufus"

"So" Rufus began "not even Hallowe'en yet and Potter is up to his old tricks"

"I'll thank you not to take anything your predecessor may have told you about Harry as the truth Rufus" Albus replied looking over his glasses at the man "over the past 5 years Harry Potter has shown himself to be the most remarkable young man I've ever met. And while the tales that have reached many ears are likely true some may have been embellished by certain individuals in the past to slant them a certain way."

"So, what is true about him then?" Rufus asked "word has it he killed in his first year, is responsible for his tutor now being incapacitated in St Mungos his second year, harboured a fugitive with the aid of a werewolf in his third, put himself in a tournament for those above his age group fourth year and last year lead a revolt against the ministry. And now this year he has put himself in a situation again and term only started about seven weeks ago. What happened Albus?"

"Ah, some of those are true from a slanted way of looking" Albus said to him after a moment to think "the reality is somewhat different though. Quirrell was being possessed by Voldemort in his first year and because of the nature of the protection around Harry it meant that when Quirrell touched him he disintegrated because it targeted Voldemort. Quirrell would have died anyway because of being possessed for nearly a year as Voldemort had to actively leech his magic to survive in his body. So his vital organs were already in the process of shutting down

Gilderoy is in St Mungos because he tried to cast a memory charm on Harry and his friend Ron Weasley using a broken wand held together with spellotape, I don't need to tell you as a former head Auror just what a faulty wand can do"

"He always was an idiot, Albus. I'm surprised the wand didn't blow him up!" Rufus exclaimed "the number of times I've had to drill it into new recruits that if your wand breaks to immediately go and get a replacement is frankly uncountable. Witches and Wizards are heavily reliant on our wands, so they need to be in perfect working order"

"Indeed" Albus said "continuing on, Harry found out that his Godfather was innocent in his third year after finding Peter Pettigrew alive and well. Sirius was near here all year to get to Peter to prove his innocence. Alas the dementors found him first and it was only with the aid of Remus teaching Harry the patronus charm that Harry was able to drive off the dementors that Cornelius had stationed around the castle. Three times that year they targeted Harry. He was incredibly lucky to survive"

"I was against those creatures being around here" Rufus again interrupted "Hundreds of dementors had no business being around our children. Cornelius was arrested last week for crimes against the Wizarding World over the last year. Denying the return of a Dark Lord while knowing it was true will do that, so he sang under veritaserum, I found out he was taking advice off Lucius the whole time who financed his run for office. Some plot between them to claim the Black name and gold from Gringotts in return. It's been added to the list of crimes. He was apparently a sleeper Death Eater, no mark and aided in the murder of many of our now extinct Pureblood families" he said when he saw the surprised look on Albus' face "oh, he never took part in raids, but he was responsible for putting many Death Eaters in prominent positions in the Ministry and supplying the Death Eaters with house locations. While I have no love for the Dementors I hope he receives the Kiss for it"

"That is very surprising" Albus said "I knew he was in Lucius' pocket, everyone did but I had no idea he was working for Tom the whole time"

"Fourth year?" Rufus asked

"Fourth year Harry was placed into the Tri-Wiward tournament against his will" Albus said gravely "Barty Crouch jr had escaped from Azkaban with the aid of his father and was masquerading as Alastor Moody for the entire year. It was a plot to help his master regain his body using the trials of the tournament and Harry's blood as part of the ritual. It succeeded and Lord Voldemort rose again. Harry was lucky to escape with his life that night"

"So, I assume his plot to overthrow the ministry was nonsense too?" Rufus asked after a few quiet moments

"Yes" Albus chuckled "nothing quite so sinister I'm afraid. He was simply teaching children how to defend themselves due to Madam Umbridge apparently forbidding practical lessons. Her mission it seemed was to protect Cornelius' position of power in the ministry by not teaching children how to use spells that might in the future be used against the ministry. Harry, due to his friend Hermione's wishes taught them all the spells he had learned during the tournament to get them through their OWLS. The raid on the ministry in June was due to Harry receiving news that Voldemort had kidnapped Sirius and was using him as a hostage to draw Harry out of the safety of Hogwarts to the Department of Mysteries. Harry grew up in a household that showed him no love, so he saw Sirius as his way out of that place and went to rescue him. The one adult he trusted with said information delayed informing me of the situation by several hours and we arrived only just in the nick of time. Sadly, it went wrong and due to incomplete information, most of which I take responsibility he lost his godfather to Bellatrix's wand

As to today Harry foiled an assassination attempt on himself two nights ago and the staff here, I myself included failed him miserably in resolving the issue. I have endeavoured to start correcting situations, but I fear this one may have come too late. He's declared Blood Feud against the students in question because he saw no other way to resolve the situation satisfactorily"

"I see, well that certainly clears a lot of things up Albus. It seems I owe the Harry an apology for assuming the worst based on other people's information. I will need to have a meeting with him tomorrow or Thursday Albus about this Blood Feud. I don't think Harry quite knows just what he's done."

"I have a meeting with him at 3, perhaps I could pass on some information for you?" Albus asked

"Yes, that would be wise. Now I'm not doubting the legitimacy of the Blood Feud. I was taught from an early age that you don't question Magic when it's of that nature but by declaring Blood Feud on their families he's not just done it with the boys in question, he's done it with every member of their families. So, he's also declared Blood Feud with their parents too. He's lucky that purebloods only seem to have one or two children at most and that they have no siblings. I don't think any of them realise just yet but there's letters being sent out from your assistant in the Chief Warlocks office informing them in the next few hours. Obviously, those parents in Azkaban won't be informed but their mothers will"

"Ah yes, it was something I myself didn't see. I shall have to thank Jennifer for doing so in my place" Albus said thoughtfully "I'll explain that to Harry but depending on his new point of view I don't really see him being that concerned" seeing Rufus' surprise he quickly continued "What you need to understand is that for five years he's been ostracised by his fellow Slytherins, I have endeavoured to protect him as much as I can but I cannot control everything. So, for years now he's heard and read a lot about the previous war and knowing his fellow housemates' families supported the man who killed his parents will not have helped endear them to him. Some of the comments I have overheard uttered at him were deplorable"

Taking a deep breath, he continued "This morning Harry swore to take out all Voldemorts followers. I'm sure in his mind he was picturing the people he's fought before or his fellow Slytherins fathers who support Tom but knowing that their mothers may have been involved will not surprise him. I've never heard of a Blood Feud being cancelled. The Weasleys for instance still have one with the Malfoys, it may have been diluted somewhat by Magic accepting Apollo Malfoys sacrifice in his daughter's stead, but the animosity has never lessoned and continues today. So, while it may not be right Harry will likely view their parents as collateral damage and a way of making sure no one can gain revenge against him in the same way. He's the last of the Potters and has a very low opinion of his own mortality due to his upbringing"

"Well, that might make it easier from a war standpoint" Rufus said after taking it all in "the fewer Death Eaters out there the better, I have already started cleaning house as it were in the Ministry. It doesn't help the bloody paperwork that's going to happen afterwards though"

"Alas paperwork is the bane of my existence. Having three major roles in our world means I have three times the amount of work to do" Albus said chuckling

"I don't know how you do it Albus" Rufus said "thank you for the meeting Albus. I'm grateful that you've not judged me by my predecessor in this office. And while I know we may butt heads occasionally I know we still have the same goal. The betterment of the wizarding World. I had intended to ask Mr Potter to aid in the image of the Ministry, but I now see the folly in that. He's already doing what he can to help the wizarding world and actions seem to speak louder than words I've found in the month I've been in office"

"I'm glad you see it that way Rufus" Albus said cheerily "Your predecessor was far too fond of his image than to tackle the real-world issues and help the people he swore to help. My advice would be to tell the people exactly what you're doing to make a better ministry, be as transparent as possible. I know that's not always a choice but when the people see that you're being honest and open with them they'll respond better"

Nodding Rufus stood up leaning heavily on his cane "I shall try and make an appointment to see Mr Potter in the next few days to go over the procedure. I know you see any loss of life as unnecessary Albus, I'm not going to argue with you over that. But this situation might actually make the Death Eaters think twice in future. Their lives are not as secure as they believe. I shall be in touch Albus. Hopefully you have a more productive day than it's been so far" he finished with a chuckle

"You are correct, to me any loss of life is unacceptable, but I do agree with you. More so than you perhaps realise. Have a good day yourself Rufus" Albus replied

With that the Minister for Magic exited via the floo to his own office. Looking at his pocket watch Albus saw that he still had a few hours before his meeting with Harry Albus stood up. Putting an alert ward on his office Albus looked over at Fawkes who had returned during the meeting with Rufus and asked, "do you fancy coming with me Old Friend?" Fawkes looking at him flew over to him and sat on his shoulder preening Albus head after he had done so and then flashed them both to the top of the Astronomy tower. Looking out at the scene of the sprawling lands that surrounded Hogwarts Castle was one of the most pleasurable things he had been fortunate enough to see in his long life. Every time he came to this part of the castle, he marvelled at the various things he saw, the various animals that littered that area, the people milling around in the distant village of Hogsmeade oblivious to the other sights around them. They were utterly spoiled and didn't seem to care, quite happy to go on with their lives, never questioning their places in the wider scheme of things. They were content. At times Albus was quite envious of that. Being destined for greatness was not all sunshine and daisies. It went side by side with love and loss too.

He was grateful for times like these where he seemingly was normal. Conjuring a chair for himself and a perch for Fawkes he said "I'm very grateful for your companionship these many years Fawkes" looking over at Hogsmeade where he knew his estranged brother worked, he continued "without you I would truly have nobody" Fawkes looked at him and then looked over at the village and crooned in reply.

"Yes, maybe you're correct Fawkes" Albus nodded at the reply "it has been far too long since I spoke with him. I shall go and see him after I have spoken to Harry. I think it's long past time for the conversation that should have taken place many years ago"

With that they both fell silent looking over at the grounds very content being in each other's company.