Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 48. Fifth Year, Part 5. 1996.
Harry sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall, alone after his morning run. It was their first day back at Hogwarts and Harry felt Fleur's absence like a missing limb.
Hermione took the seat next to him and took a piece of toast. She slathered jam on it, then butter.
Harry frowned at the bushy-haired witch.
'Hermione? What's wrong?' he asked, and she shook her head, as if waking from a dream.
'Harry?' she asked, and he nodded.
'Yeah, that's me. What's wrong?' he repeated.
She blinked at him for a moment, then looked down at her toast.
Hermione's lip curled, and she dropped it on her plate.
'Harry, Neville told me last night in the common room that Snape is going to be teaching him Occlumency. You know about it, right?' she asked, and he groaned.
'That is possibly the worst idea, ever.' Harry sighed.
'Hold on, I may have something that can help.' Harry muttered and leant over to rummage through his bag.
Hermione cocked her head to the side.
Harry grinned and pulled out a book. He handed it to Hermione.
'Here you go, "A Beginner's Guide to Occlumency". I started learning from that book. Maybe you should use it too, help him out?' Harry said.
Hermione held the book in her hand like a gift from God.
'Are you sure? Won't you need it?' she breathed.
Harry laughed.
'No, I'm pretty good at Occlumency now, it's all up in here now.' Harry said and tapped his temple.
Hermione stared at his temple for a moment before she shook her head.
'Thank you, Harry. This is amazing.' She said.
Her eyes shone as she looked down at the book in her hands.
'Wait, you just carry a book like this around wherever you go?' Hermione asked and Harry shrugged.
'Shrinking Charms mixed with Featherlight and Expansion runic arrays make it easy. It's bigger on the inside.' Harry said and turned back to his breakfast.
Holly sat down opposite Harry and frowned at the two. Luna took a seat beside her.
'Harry? Why does Hermione look like she wants your babies?' Holly asked, suspicion in her tone.
Hermione spun to Holly and stared at her in horror, her face beet red.
'N-no, it's not l-like that.' She stuttered, and Harry put a hand on her shoulder.
'It's okay Hermione, breathe.' He said under his breath and turned to Holly.
'Neville has Occlumency lessons with Snape. I gave her my Beginner's Guide to Occlumency book so she can help Neville through the horror of having Snape in his head.' Harry said, and Holly shivered.
'Who thought it was a good idea to have Snape teach him something like that?' Holly asked, with her face scrunched like she smelled something awful.
Harry shrugged.
'I guess Dumbledore, he's the only one who can tell Snape to do anything. I doubt Snape wants to teach Neville Potions, let alone Occlumency. It requires absolute trust from both parties, something neither could have for the other.' Harry explained.
Hermione stared at him.
'Absolute trust?' Hermione asked.
Harry nodded.
'Yeah, you can do most of your Occlumency training alone, but to get the most out of it, you need to do a bunch of exercises with another person who is skilled with Occlumency already.' Harry said.
Hermione frowned.
'So, who taught you?' she asked, then looked down at the table.
'It was Fleur, wasn't it?' she whispered, and Harry nodded.
'Yeah, she had to learn as part of growing up a Veela.' Harry explained.
Hermione nodded and stared at her forgotten toast.
Holly cleared her throat.
'So, first day back at school. Are we excited?' she asked as she sent a sad look toward Hermione.
The next morning, Harry met the members of the DA outside of the entrance hall for their morning run.
Neville lagged at the rear of the group and Harry slowed down to match him as they ran.
'Are you okay? You seem distracted brother.' Harry said between breaths as he kept pace with Neville.
Neville glared at the ground.
'Umbridge has it out for me.' He snarled.
Harry chuckled.
'You and me both. But that's not what's bothering you.' He said.
Neville growled, his steps faltered, and he barely kept himself from tripping over.
'Something happened last night. You know about my connection with Voldemort, right?' Neville asked and Harry frowned.
'Yeah, why? What happened?' Harry asked.
Neville slipped on the wet grass, but righted himself.
He kept up with Harry.
'I had a flash of happiness, or excitement, or something last night. It shot right through me, and it came from my scar. Something happened last night that He was very happy about.' Neville said.
Harry jogged beside Neville for a minute before he cleared his throat.
'What would be disturbing is if he was having a fun time with one of his lady Death Eaters. Or guys, I guess, I don't judge.' Harry suggested, and Neville tripped over and fell on his face.
Neville looked up with mud on his face.
'Really? What would make you think of something disgusting like that?' Neville shouted.
Harry laughed.
'It changed the mental image in your head, didn't it?' Harry asked, and Neville blinked, then gagged.
'I don't know what image is worse.' Neville admitted.
'My work is done. Now hurry up, everyone else is way ahead of us now.' Harry said and took off, leaving Neville face down in the mud.
Later that day, Susan told the group that a mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban occurred the night before.
Harry turned toward Neville, who looked a little green as he read the Daily Prophet. He felt guilty for putting the mental image of Voldemort in bed with his Death Eaters into Neville's mind, but perhaps it would be better than the reality of escaped Death Eaters.
The rest of the week passed by in a flurry of activity.
Harry continued his extra classes with Flitwick and McGonagall after class, which became secret meetings once Umbridge pushed through 'Educational Decree #26' which forbade Professors from giving information beyond their lessons. It was enough of a grey area that none of the three felt comfortable with openly conducting their extra classes.
Harry paced in the abandoned classroom on the eighth floor where he taught the Defence Association.
Their group stood opposite him, conversing in low tones until he cleared his throat.
'Okay everyone. In light of the mass breakout at Azkaban, I've decided that our sessions will be a little different from here on out.' Harry began.
Harry looked into Holly's eyes, then at Susan.
'We're going to talk about combat tactics when fighting Death Eaters.' Harry said and mutters filled the classroom.
Ginny shook her head at something Ronald said and turned to Harry.
'Harry. We're not going to fight Death Eaters though, are we?' the youngest Weasley asked.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
'I truly hope you don't.' he said, and the room fell quiet.
Daphne glared at him.
'You said you hope 'you' don't. Meaning you will?' she asked.
Harry felt the corner of his mouth twist into an involuntary smile.
'I did say that. To date, I have fought at least four Death Eaters and will likely fight more in the next few years. I am at peace with that fact.' Harry said and met Holly's eyes, then Susan's.
Harry cleared his throat and forced his gaze to move across the others.
'I have fought monsters and have killed. Killing made me feel like the worst person in existence.' He said, and he saw tears well up in Holly's eyes.
Ginny's face paled when he mentioned monsters.
'But I did what I needed to do in order to protect the ones I care about.' Harry paused and took a ragged breath.
'I don't want to kill anything ever again, but if it's a choice between someone I care about being hurt, and someone or something trying to hurt them, I will.' Harry said, and Neville cleared his throat.
'Harry, what made you like this? You've always been so driven, I don't get it.' The Boy-Who-Lived asked and the others in the room stared at the boy.
Harry sighed and met Holly's gaze.
She nodded.
'When Holly and I were children, it was around Christmas and our parents took us to Diagon Alley to shop. We were in Quality Quidditch Supplies when the window exploded, and dark robed figures attacked the alley.' He paused.
Susan wrapped her arm around Holly's waist while the others in the group stared at Harry.
Harry cleared his throat.
'This group of attackers was led by Fenrir Greyback, the leader of the werewolves of Britain and in the last war he worked with the Death Eaters.' He explained, and Neville's eyes widened.
'We hid in the Quidditch Jerseys, thinking we were safe. But I hadn't thought of hiding our feet. Greyback entered the shop and saw our feet. He toyed with us, and he held me in the air with a single hand by my head, crushing it.' Harry said.
Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
Harry unconsciously ran a hand through his hair.
'Somehow, I used accidental magic to blast the monster out of the shop through the window where he was attacked by someone else and fled.' Harry smiled at Holly, who his eyes had never left.
Harry took his eyes from Holly and met Neville's.
'Ever since that moment, everything I have done is to protect those I care about.' Harry declared, and he took a deep breath.
He turned around and paced for a few moments before he turned back to the others.
'That is why, if you are ever faced with Death Eaters, and fleeing is not an option. Don't hold back.' Harry said.
'Fighting Death Eaters means you are fighting someone who has no qualms with killing you, torturing you or anyone else. So, you have to fight to win. Injure them, kill them if you must, because if you stun them, someone else will wake them up and they will kill you.' Harry said.
Neville frowned.
'That's not what Dumbledore says.' the Boy-Who-Lived said.
Harry groaned, as did Daphne.
Holly and Susan rolled their eyes.
'Neville, I totally agree that Dumbledore is a powerful and influential figure. I can't argue with that. But fighting a war with Stunners just means that more of your friends and family will die.' Harry paused.
He met Neville's gaze.
'Stunners can be reversed in a moment, serious injuries, and death cannot.' He added, then turned to the others.
'When fighting Death Eaters, take them out permanently. Anything else is a waste of time and innocent lives.' Harry said.
Ronald shook his head.
'But killing is wrong, don't you understand that?' the red head growled.
Harry sighed and ran a hand down his face.
'Across the world, there are something like seven billion muggles spread out over hundreds of countries. Each of these countries have police forces, like our Aurors.' Harry paused, and Ron glared.
'So?' Ron snapped.
'So, most, if not all, of these countries also have a military. People specially trained to fight wars, either defensive wars to protect their nation from others or offensive militaries to fight wars of conquest.' Harry said.
Hannah blinked and looked at Susan, who nodded.
Harry stared into Ronald's blue eyes.
'Some of these militaries are used to keep the peace on the other side of the world to their homes. But what these all have in common, even the police, is that they are empowered by their governments to kill if necessary.' Harry said.
Neville shook his head beside Ronald.
Hermione's eyes grew wide, and she stepped away from the two boys, toward Holly and Susan.
'Didn't you hear Ron before? Killing is wrong. Just because the muggles do it, doesn't mean it's right.' Neville snapped.
Harry took a deep breath and sighed.
'Neville, Ronald. Even in the magical world, Britain is the only nation whose Aurors are not allowed to use lethal force in combat. This has led to Britain having the highest rate of Auror deaths in the last twenty years.' He said, keeping his voice low.
'That's because we've had the Dark Lord killing people.' Neville snarled.
Harry shook his head.
'Even in the last ten years, when the Dark Lord was broken by you and his Death Eaters were hiding or imprisoned. British Aurors still had the highest casualty rate in all the magical world.' Harry stated, and both boys blinked.
'How?' Neville asked.
Harry quirked an eyebrow.
'Do the research before you form your own opinion, brother. But suffice to say for this conversation, petty criminals will use the anything from a Severing Charm to a Killing Curse to surprise an Auror team more often than you'd think.' Harry said and turned to the others in the group.
'Shall we begin some practical stuff before we finish up?' he said, a faux smile on his face.
Each night, Harry returned to his bed to call Fleur in their mirrors and talk long into the night about their days, their projects, and their plans.
On Thursday night, Harry lay in bed chatting with Fleur over their mirrors.
A knock came from Fleur's door, and she turned toward it. Fleur angled her mirror toward the door so Harry could see as well.
'Come in?' Fleur called and Lily opened the door and stepped inside.
Harry frowned. His mother looked pale and stressed.
'Mum? What's wrong?' he asked, and she turned to see him in Fleur's mirror and smiled.
'I'm glad both of you are here. James just had to go back into the Ministry. Voldemort and his Death Eaters have launched attacks all over Britain. They needed all Aurors to help.' Lily said, and Harry froze.
Lily walked into the room and sat at the desk with her head in her hands.
'I hoped we wouldn't see this type of war again. He's attacking all across the island, and not just his Death Eaters, but werewolves too.' Lily said.
Harry blinked as an image of Fenrir Greyback flashed through his mind. An echo of the fear the werewolf had triggered in Harry back then came to the surface and Harry's face twisted into a snarl.
'How can we help?' Fleur asked, drawing Harry out of his memory.
Lily shook her head.
'James didn't know any more than that before he left to help. But it looks like Voldemort is continuing his war, the war that Frank and Alice paid with their lives to pause.' Lily murmured.
Harry's mind raced.
'What happened next? Can we predict his movements?' Harry asked, and his mother shook her head.
'No Honey, his forces are spread thin across the country. He's not just targeting magicals either, he's attacking purely muggle towns and villages too.' Lily explained.
Fleur gasped; her ice-blue eyes wide with horror.
'No, no, no. It's too soon.' Fleur breathed.
'We must be able to help in some way.' Harry growled.
Lily sighed.
'But we can't, not yet. The attacks will have likely finished by now, that's what they did last time. Apparated in, did as much damage as they could for five to ten minutes, then disappear.' Lily said.
Harry fell silent. He ran a hand through his hair.
'We will wait up with you until James returns. We can't let you do so alone.' Fleur soothed and walked over to rest a hand on Lily's shoulder.
Lily glanced at Harry in the mirror and up at Fleur and smiled.
'You don't need to do that.' She said.
'Of course we do. Besides, I just had an idea and I need Sirius' input, Remus' too.' Harry said with a lopsided grin.
Lily's emerald gaze met Harry's for a moment, then it moved to Fleur's. The Veela gave her what could only be construed as an elegant shrug.
Lily nodded.
'Okay, you two. Let's head downstairs and I'll see if I can summon Sirius. Remus will be locked away tonight for the full moon.' She said and left the room.
Harry nodded absently, and the mirror turned to show Fleur's worried face.
''Arry? What do you have planned?' she asked.
Harry blinked in surprise, lost in his mind.
Harry sighed and met her gaze.
'It's only the beginnings of a plan, so that even if there isn't anything I can do right now, I might still be able to contribute.' He admitted, and she nodded.
Harry watched as she put the mirror down on a dresser and he followed her with his eyes as she went to the wardrobe and put on a heavy dressing gown.
'Why is it so damn cold at nights here?' Fleur hissed, and Harry shrugged.
'It's Wales, it's a cold place.' Harry said, and she rolled her eyes as she left the bedroom and moved to the stairs.
'Well, I would like to discuss our future residence. Could it be warmer at least?' she complained as she entered the lounge room.
Lily sat in front of the fireplace.
It roared with an orange glow and warmed the room considerably.
Fleur smiled.
'This is better.' She muttered as she took a seat on the chair opposite Lily's, both in chairs closest to the fire.
'Well, I suppose we can modernise the Manor, put in climate control once Moony can figure out how to make the muggle heaters work with magic.' Harry mused and Lily stared at his face in the mirror.
'Harry, you're a genius.' She breathed, and a shiver ran through her body.
Harry laughed.
'Not really, just trying to make the most of the investment into Crocus Industries.' Harry said.
A flash of green came from the entrance hall.
'Lils?' Sirius called.
'In here.' Lily said.
Sirius walked into the lounge while Orion silently walked up the stairs to Charlus' room to go back to sleep.
Sirius sat in the chair beside Lily in his dressing gown and he looked half asleep.
'So Lils, why did I just wake up my son and bring us both here? What's going on?' Sirius asked.
Lily pointed at Harry in Fleur's mirror.
Sirius turned bleary eyes on him.
'Kiddo, what's going on?' Sirius asked, then gave a wide yawn.
Harry sighed.
'Mum just told us about the Death Eater attacks around the country. Aunt Amy will probably tell you more about them when she gets home.' Harry began and Sirius froze mid yawn.
'Attacks? Where?' he demanded.
Lily cleared her throat.
'Sirius, they're everywhere. It's a coordinated attack across Britain, there's even a few in Ireland and they're attacking both magicals and muggles.' Lily said, and Sirius slumped into his chair.
'Okay, the urgency in your voice makes sense now. But why call me over?' he asked.
Harry cleared his throat.
'Is it possible to make a Marauders Map for the whole country? But instead of everyone's names, just have it show magical activity?' Harry asked.
Fleur blinked, while Lily and Sirius both stared at him.
Sirius coughed.
'You know what, kiddo? Your brain is scary. I'd have never thought of that.' He muttered and stroked his goatee.
Sirius stood and paced in front of the fire.
'It'll have to be a completely different type of magical object. The Marauder's Maps simply tap into the Hogwarts wards, but I think we can use the same idea. I think we can make this work.' Sirius mused.
Lily quirked an eyebrow.
'Are you sure you were the jokester of your little gang? James always said Remus was the brains, and he was the brawn. How would you make this work?' she asked.
Sirius cocked his head in a way that reminded Harry of his canine form.
'Well, Lils, put simply, we'd make a map that shows the country, and we'd have to set up some of those sensor things Moony has been telling us about lately.' Sirius paused his pacing and looked at Lily.
'Seismometers.' Lily supplied, and Sirius returned to pacing.
'Yeah, those things. We would need to tweak them a little, so they'd show magic rather than whatever they do now. We'd have them around the country and feed their readings back to our map, which would show us where magical activity is happening.' Sirius said, ignoring the incredulous stares of the two women as he paced.
Sirius looked at Harry in the mirror.
'How would this help us with the Death Eaters?' he asked.
Harry ran a hand through his hair.
'I figure we could watch it for a few days to figure out what normal activity is, so then when abnormal activity occurred, we would know in real time where that abnormal activity was.' Harry said and his mother gasped.
'Oh my god. That is genius. We might even be able to track where Death Eaters go, or maybe we could refine the magical readings. Perhaps we could study Severus' Dark Mark to see if his magical signature is any different because of the mark.' Lily rambled.
Fleur pulled the mirror close to her lips.
'Your whole family is kind of brilliant.' She breathed.
'Then you'll fit right in with us, you're brilliant too.' Harry grinned.
Fleur winked at him, then turned to Lily.
'What is this sensor thing Sirius is talking about?' she asked, and Lily blinked, brought out of her thoughts.
'Oh, it's called a seismometer. It's a muggle instrument that detects movement in the ground and is used to track earthquakes. I'm not sure how we'd turn one into something that can detect magical activity, but between all of us I think we'll be able to figure something out.' Lily's gaze fell on the fire, and she stared into it, then shook her head.
'Sirius, feel free to stay in one of the spare rooms. I'll mirror call Amy and let her know where you and Orion are. Tomorrow we're going to get to work on this idea. We need to decide whether it will actually work, and soon.' She said and sighed.
'If its anything like last time, Voldemort will keep attacking every night.' Lily trailed off.
Sirius nodded.
'I'll check out your library, then the Black library tomorrow. The Bones library still won't let me in after I spilt my coffee on a book last time. I'll get Amy to look in there.' He said with a chuckle.
Lily turned to Fleur and smiled down at Harry in the mirror.
'Thank you, both of you. This idea was brilliant, and Fleur, I'll need your help with some of the enchanting this map will require. I don't trust my husband and his friends with something this intricate.' Lily said, and turned to look at Harry.
'Harry love, go to sleep. I'll let you know if anything happens when your father gets home. We're going to need your help to get this crazy plan of yours working.' She said and Harry smiled.
'Okay mum, I'll see you soon. Fleur, can we go back up to bed?' he asked, and Fleur nodded. She exchanged a small smile with Lily.
Fleur carried the mirror upstairs and into their room. She placed the mirror up against a pillow and slowly removed her dressing gown and gave him a saucy wink.
She crawled into bed and shivered.
'Merde, its cold.' She complained.
'I wish I was there to keep you warm, and I appreciated the show.' Harry said, and she huffed.
'I wish you were here with me too, my love. Now sweet dreams. We're going to be very busy soon.' she whispered.
'Good night Fleur.' He whispered back.
Harry lay in his bed as the mirror deactivated and rolled over, images of a silver haired goddess in his mind.