Harry woke slowly, stiff and sore with a bad ache in his stomach and feeling sick. He pulled himself from the bed and the world rocked slightly as he stumbled towards the bathroom. He fell to his knees and threw up into the toilet. He knew that his reaction was a by project of the healing Ry had done but that didn't help him now. He placed his head on the toilet seat as he closed his eyes. He started slightly when a hand rubbed his back and a glass of water was placed next to him.
"Thanks," Harry muttered as looked at Severus crouched beside him.
The man gave him a small smile as he rubbed his back. Harry looked passed Severus to see Dracka in the doorway, watching them. His stomach rolled and he was throwing up again. Severus quickly grabbed the glass as Harry threw up until nothing was coming up and he spat into the bowl.
"Kingsley got a lead," Severus told him softly. "Ry and his team are checking it out."
Harry nodded slightly as he let his forehead rest on the toilet seat again.
"I hope he's having better luck than I am," Harry muttered.
xXx
Ry signalled Ginny and Ron to the left of the building while Tom and Bayley moved to the right. Miller stood next to him while he knelt down and pulled on his light magic slightly and a small white mouse appeared on the ground in front of him. The little mouse twitched its nose and lifted it into the air and took a sniff as Ry saw through the small animal's eyes.
He gave it a nudge towards the building and the mouse bounded off. It scrambled along the pavement, away from its master, as it stepped into the shadows and ran along the wall of the building. It sniffed along the ground, smelling the recent activity of humans along the ground as it moved. It was nudged towards the back of the house and it found a door with a slight gap under it.
The mouse flattened itself down and squeezed through the small space and into the building. It glanced around, its sight in in grey tones, as it was gently pushed forward. Hugging the wall and the shadows, the mouse scrambled along until it came to another door. It flattened itself and pushed under the door and into the room, its nose twitching, but it was just a bedroom and it was nudged back out into the hallway.
It slipped into two more rooms after that without finding anything or any humans until it came to a large room. The little mouse slipped into the room with a large table and quickly scampered under a large piece of furniture. The smell of humans was strong and it sent a bolt of fear through him but his master whispered in his ear and he settled. He found a dark corner to hide in as people made noises he didn't understand.
His master whispered encouragement and slightly nudged him to the edge of the furniture. The little mouse moved forward and stuck his head out from under the wood. He looked around as it sniffed the air. People were seated at a table and were talking but the little mouse couldn't hear the words. His master cooed in his ear and he looked at each person as his master looked through his eyes.
xXx
"Take this."
Harry started at the voice and looked at the potion held out before him then followed the arm up to Draco's pale eyes. Harry took the potion and drank it down before handing the vial back to the man.
"When did you get here?" Harry asked hoarsely as the potion worked its way into his system and his stomach started to settle.
"Somewhere between the second time you threw up and the third time," Draco replied mildly as he looked around the bathroom before flicking his wand and the smell of vomit disappeared as he pushed the button on the toilet. Harry pulled back sharply before the water could hit him. "You need to update this bathroom, Blake."
Harry snorted as he turned and leaned back beside the toilet. Severus took a seat next to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders as Harry leaned into him.
"I'll be sure to put it on the to do list," Harry said tiredly.
"No seriously," Draco replied with his nose in the air. "I don't think this room has been updated since the sixties. Just look at that wall paper!"
"Only just brought the place about six months ago," Harry countered as he glanced around the bathroom. "At least the bedrooms and the kitchen are done."
"You call those bedrooms done?" Draco inquired with a sniff.
He knelt down in front of him and placed a hand on Harry's forehead. Harry gave the blonde man a wink as Dracka growled and they looked over at him in the doorway.
"Yes, Mr Dracka?" Draco asked primly. "Do you have a problem with your bedroom as well?"
Harry snorted as Severus huffed a laugh while Dracka looked caught in the lime light in the doorway.
xXx
The little mouse took another sniff before bolting towards the other door in the room and away from the smells of the humans as his master nudged him onwards. There were no more humans and the little mouse squeezed himself under another door and into an alley. He picked up the scent of two humans like his master before he dashed off into the night.
Ry pulled back from his mouse and let it go, the magic would run out in time as he focused on Miller beside him. He pushed himself to his feet and glanced at the man beside him. Due to his father the Aurors seemed to be working with the Department of Mysteries more and more.
"There are about six men and five women," Ry reported softly. "They seem to be holding a meeting with a silencing charm around them. I didn't recognise any of them but I have a feeling that Dad will be interested in one of them."
"Do you want me to call in the Aurors?" Miller asked.
"They haven't broken the law," Ry pointed out.
"What about the Department then?" Miller suggested with a smirk. "I'm sure more than a few would be happy to back us up once they know it's for Blake."
"Let's pull back," Ry recommended after a few minutes of thought. "I'll take images from the mouse's memories and we'll see if Dad knows them…That is a lot of people gathering and it may not be about Dad."
"And if it is?" Miller asked mildly.
"Then we are in trouble," Ry replied. "Dad is not in a state to fight."
"That's what we are here for," Miller said with a savage grin. "To watch his back."
xXx
Harry woke with a shiver as Ry's magic settled on his skin. He carefully rolled on to his back to look at his son. Ry was dressed for a mission and Harry always felt a bolt of concern go through him at the sight. Ry gave him a grin as he stood in his flak vest with his dragon hide pants hugging his legs with his sword, wand holster and gun hanging from his hips. The man had filled out over the years and his training had added strength into his body. While Harry was short and slim, Ry was taller with added bulk to give him strength.
He looked his son over and Ry raised an eyebrow in question as he worked. He had cut his hair shorter than it had been in school and the lightning bolt scar was a thin line on his forehead. He wore contact lenses, instead of his wire rim glasses, and it made his eyes stand out against his dark hair. He was in his late thirties now and was in the prime of his life and Harry smiled fondly at the image the man made.
"You're looking well," Harry commented. "How is Sam going?"
"She left," Ry replied mildly. "Couldn't deal with me being called away in the middle of the night for a mission."
"Ah," Harry stated. "That was a short…six weeks?"
"Three and a half," Ry corrected with a grin. "I don't know how you seem to do it and you were married."
Harry gave his son a big grin as he looked him over.
"And divorced once," Harry reminded him with a smirk. "You could always try the other side of the fence?"
"Bugger off," Ry snapped and Harry grinned. "That's you, not me."
The two Potters shared a look before Ry put his wand away and pulled out a file and passed it to his father.
"Are you going to unshrink it for me?" Harry asked as he held the small file. "The last time I wore glasses, Severus was not impressed."
Ry barked a laugh and resized the file for his father. Harry flicked the file open and looked at the first black and white photo. He placed the first one to his right on the bed and the next as he worked through each photo until he came to the last one and froze. He felt a chill as he looked at the photo in his hand.
"Go get, Draco." Harry ordered softly as he held the photo.
"I thought that one would get your attention," Ry remarked before moving to the door. "Did you want to move this to the dining room, you look like you could do with a coffee."
"Ah, yes." Harry agreed, not tearing his eyes away from the photo. "Good idea. I'll just get dressed."
"Do you need a hand?" Ry asked in concern.
Harry looked up from the photo at his son. Ry gave him a small smile but he could see the steel in the man's eyes as he looked at him. He smiled back at him, he was proud of the man, even if he couldn't hold a relationship for more than a couple of months.
Ry moved to his cupboard without Harry having to say word and his smile widened. The two men knew each other very well and now that Ry was older. They looked even more like brothers than father and son as Ry aged and Harry didn't. Something that had caused them problems when it had been leaked in the papers about Harry and a link to the Deathly Hallows. No one had been happy but Harry had known it would have just been a matter of time before people started to notice that he didn't age. Even surrounded by wizards that fact was hard to miss.
Harry shifted to the edge of the bed while Ry helped him dress and handed him his cane. Most of the time, Harry didn't need it, after all the work that Severus and himself had put into repairing the muscles in his leg, but every now and again he needed the added support, normally when he'd done something stupid. He took the cane and felt its familiar shape in his hand as he stood on his own with Ry watching him carefully.
"Malfoy has some potions for you," Ry mentioned as he looked him over. "To replace the weight that you have lost."
"Yes," Harry replied in amusement. "Severus was picking through the box and Draco was not pleased. I could hear the conversation from here. There's nothing like two snipping Slytherins to make you pull the blanket over your head and wish you were somewhere else."
"Ha!" Ry laughed as they moved out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen.
The two Potters walked into the kitchen's dining area to see Severus and Draco looking through potion books and a couple of Harry's notebooks scattered across the table. Both men looked up when they came in and Severus's dark eyes looked him over. Draco got to his feet and moved towards the box at the other end of the table and started to pull out potions and Harry groaned.
'Where's Dracka?' Harry asked across the link with Severus.
'He said he had to go back to his Coven,' Severus replied in the same fashion.
Harry nodded as his heart clenched and he eased himself down into his chair. He hung his cane off the side of the table, such a familiar movement as Ry moved towards the kitchen to make up drinks for them.
"Now," Draco announced as Harry placed the file on the table. "Take these three now, before you have your coffee."
"You know me too well," Harry drawled with a grin.
The blonde man just placed the three potions down in a neat row. A little squeak had Harry smiling as the gold griffin worked its way out of Draco's pocket and jumped. Harry caught the gold figurine and it danced around his palm before settling down as Harry ran a finger down its back.
"Hello, little Leo." Harry cooed as the griffin basked in the attention. "Have you been good for Draco?"
"He got into Mediwizard Helcon's office," Draco stated with a smirk. "Broke the photo frame of his wife and chewed up one of his books. He wants it banded from the St Mungo's. Says that 'wild beasts shouldn't be around patients'."
"Ha!" Harry laughed as the griffin took off and flew towards Ry with its claws outstretched.
Ry yelped as the little griffin grabbed the back of his flak vest and ran up his back. Severus looked over at Ry in amusement while the man tried to grab the little figurine. Draco tapped the table and pointed to the potions and Harry sighed and picked the first one up.
"How's Cho?" Harry asked the blonde as Draco took a seat next to him.
"Fantastic as always." Draco replied, with a true smile. "She's working in the Intensive Care Unit now."
"Any wedding bells?" Harry asked with a smirk and a wink. "Or little feet?"
"Ha," Draco barked as Ry finally managed to grab the griffin and he dropped in it in front of Severus in disgust. The Slytherin just gave him a smirk as he cupped the griffin and it rubbed his head against his hand. "We are happy the way it is. With our work, when we get time together, we want it to be us."
Ry moved back to the table with coffee and tea for everyone and laid it out while eyeing off the griffin. The little glass figurine had curled up in Severus's hand while the man stroked its back.
"What about you, Potter?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"You know damn well!" Ry snapped as he sprawled out in the seat next to Severus and picked up one of Harry's notebooks.
Draco pulled out his mobile phone and Ry groaned.
"She had lots to say about you on Facebook," Draco announced and Harry snorted. "Lacking in many departments from her words. Not a great image for the infamous Harry Potter."
"Shut it, ferret!" Ry snapped then smirked. "Show him the photo, Dad."
All eyes turned in his direction and he sent a glare at his son but the man just gave him a smug look.
"What photo?" Draco asked.
Harry opened the file and pulled out the photo and slid it towards the blonde. The man paled as he looked at the photo as his eyes widened in surprise. He picked it up and looked at it closer.
"My father?" Draco whispered.
"No," Harry stated.
Draco squinted at the photo with a slight frown then his eyes flicked up to Harry.
"Your son," Harry uttered. "Scorpius Malfoy."
"My…son?" Draco stuttered as he looked at the photo. "He must have been named after my great-grandfather. He looks a lot like my father."
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "He went to school with my children. I can't say James was too nice to him. Keeping alive the Slytherin Gryffindor feud those two. I wonder if it had something to do with the James Potter name."
Severus snorted and Harry looked over at him in amusement.
"Did he have something to do with your capture?" Draco asked and steel came into his pale eyes as he looked at Harry then at Ry. "Potter?"
"We think so," Ry replied.
"Is this man in my future?" Draco uttered with his eyes locked on Harry.
"No," Harry said firmly. "He would have already been born, Scorpius Malfoy is from my past, not this time's future."
"God," Ry moaned. "This is confusing."
Harry gave his son a grin as Draco flicked the photo over to Severus. The man picked it up in interest.
'Should I call Narcissa and tell her she has as…sixty year old grandson?' Severus asked over the link.
'Only if you want to explain that to her,' Harry countered.
"Something you two want to share with us?" Ry asked sweetly, well aware of their connection.
Harry gave the man a smirk while Severus flicked the photo back to him.
"Let's see if I can narrow this down," Harry said instead as he looked down at the photo. "Okay, I would say he is older than eighty. I gave him that scar on his cheek. So, maybe early to mid eighties. Little hard to tell with wizards since the life span is longer than muggles."
Draco leaned over and snatched the photo from Harry's hand. The blonde gave him a smirk as he sat back in his seat. His eyes taking in the image of a person that could have been his son.
"He's a Light Wizard, by the way." Harry added blandly.
"What!" Draco yelped. "He's a Malfoy! Tell me he was at least a Slytherin."
"He was," Harry confirmed with a smirk. "My son and him were in the same year together at Hogwarts…in Slytherin."
"What!" Ry yelped.
"Albus Severus Potter," Harry recited as he looked at Severus.
"Ha!" Ry barked. "You cursed the child with that name! Oi!"
Ry rubbed his head where Severus had clipped him.
"Act your age, Potter." Draco sneered as he looked down at the photo. "What happened?"
"Scorpius and Al were close friends," Harry explained. "I must admit I wasn't a very good father to him and I always wondered if there was more to their friendship. He wouldn't have told me even if there had been. He was closer to his mother, but even then, I don't think he would really confide in her. He pulled away from us when he started school and wouldn't talk to James. He did talk to Lily, his sister, but his classmates were his family. I was working for the Aurors when the kids were young and sometimes worked with the Department. By the time he graduated, he was more a stranger than my son."
Ry leaned over and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze and Harry gave him a sad smile.
"I was away more than I was in the country which kind of led to my divorce, not that my wife was at home much either," Harry said into the silence. "The relationship I had with Al was strained to say the least. James was a different story, he was a lot like Sirius and would take everything in stride. He was popular in school and Lily was a happy child. Al always struggled, being the son of Harry Potter and being in Slytherin was hard for him."
"And your wife's name was?" Ry questioned.
"None of your business," Harry replied with a smirk. "Bit of a mouthful I know, we did shorten it. Anyway, something happened with Scorpius and Al about ten years after they finished school. Al found me, I still don't know how. I was on a mission for the Aurors and he found me. He was in a state…I'm still not sure why he came to me since he had stopped talking to me after having one hell of a fight, shortly after he left school. He would still talk to his mother but wouldn't contact any other family member…Anyway, that's off topic, he just turned up out of the blue at the door to the house we were camped out in."
Harry fell quiet as he remembered his son turning up on the doorstep with blood on his robes and hands. The boy claimed it was his own blood that he had used to find Harry, but to this day he wasn't so sure.
"What happened with Scorpius?" Draco asked softly.
"He followed in Lucius's footsteps into the Ministry out of school," Harry answered. "Al had a job in the courts while Scorpius worked through the ranks heading towards Minister for Magic then he just disappeared around the time that Al found me."
"Do you think Al had something to do with Scorpius's disappearance?" Severus questioned.
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "Al went back to the Ministry and he found a woman and got married and had kids and moved on with his life. Scorpius was never mentioned and besides the team I was working with at the time, no one knew that we had met that night. Al and I started to talk again which my wife was happy with. We became close, we were very similar and I think that's why I had so much trouble with him when he was younger. He even named his first son after me, another Harry Potter."
"You said you left that scar on his perfect Malfoy skin?" Draco commented, then stuck his nose up in the air. "Which is a sin by the way."
Harry smirked at the man.
"Yes," Harry said before sobering as his thoughts turned darker. "Al turned up at my house in Germany in a panic, he said that Scorpius had come to see him. Scorpius appeared and I could feel the dark magic around him, he'd tracked Al. We all froze and Al turned to me and it dawned on him what he'd done."
"You hadn't aged," Severus guessed.
"Did Al have dark magic?" Ry asked at the same time.
"Al never held dark or light power," Harry answered. "He only had a wizard core and yes, Severus, I had stopped aging. I should have been well over a hundred by then but still looked the same age as I do now. Al moved forward and tried to talk to Scorpius but the man lashed out and hit him. I saw red and pulled my wand. Al jumped to his feet and got between us.
"I grabbed my son and Scorpius threw the first spell. I pushed Al to the side and threw up a shield around him and pulled on my dark power and Scorpius froze. He was always a smart man and I could see the wheels turning in his head as he flicked his eyes between Al and I." Harry continued. "I pulled my sword and stepped forward. He could fight, took after his father and grandfather that way. I'm sure Draco would have made sure that he studied under a swordsman."
"I bloody hope so," Draco muttered, with his nose in the air.
"Shove it, Malfoy." Ry snapped.
"Enough!" Severus hissed and the two men settled. "What happened?"
"Scorpius cast the killing curse," Harry uttered.
"It hit you?" Severus stated more than asked
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Al tried to talk to the man but he was beyond that and turned his sword on Al. Yelling that I had corrupted him…the man could never hold his temper…"
Harry fell silent as the memories rolled over him and the image of the bloody body of his son laid out on the ground came into his mind.
"He killed him," Severus whispered, picking up on his emotions over the link.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "While I was still trying to recover from the killing curse. Scorpius moved towards me, probably to make sure I was dead and I lashed out with my silver knife. That's how he got that scar. The man was so surprised and in shock that he jumped back and apparated."
"Did you ever find him?" Ry asked as he held Harry's hand.
"No," Harry expanded. "I looked everywhere for him and even used his blood to try and track him down. I thought he had been killed a few years after he killed Al, now I'm not sure. We have no idea when he came here either."
"You moved to Russia after that?" Severus questioned.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "I couldn't stay there any longer. I had to break the news to his family and my wife. She didn't take it well, blamed it on me and I agreed with her. It made matters worse when my grandson was appointed to work with me in Russia."
"Now he's here," Draco pointed out. "What do you think he's after?"
"The Deathly Hallows," Ry said with conviction as he looked at his father.
Draco frowned as he looked at Harry.
"How could he even get here?" Draco asked. "This timeline isn't the same as the one he would have come from. It wouldn't be like he was going back in time, like you did when you came here."
"All questions that we have no answers for," Harry mused. "Time magic is strange magic."
"Well," Ry exclaimed as he got to his feet and adjusted his sword slightly. "I'm off, hopefully Miller or Kingsley have something for me back at the Auror department. You still have an Auror team camped out front, which will call us if anything happens."
"What joy," Severus drawled sarcastically and Ry flashed a grin in the man's direction.
"I should be going as well," Draco said as he got to his feet. "Box is here and Severus knows what's what."
Ry peered into the box and Draco moved it away from the other man.
"I left your potions on your desk at the Auror department," Draco snapped.
"I hope you warded it this time," Ry replied with a grin.
"Yes," Draco sneered then muttered. "They have no respect for personal items in that place."
"Thank you, Draco." Ry offered and patted the other man's shoulder. "See you Severus, Dad."
Harry pulled himself to his feet and Ry gave him a hug. He clasped Severus's shoulder on the way out as Draco moved forward and ran his eyes over Harry. Harry pulled the man into a hug and Draco patted him on the back before pulling back. He nodded over at Severus as his griffin took to the air to land on his shoulder before leaving Harry and Severus alone.
"Since you're up," Severus drawled and wiggled his cup.
Harry grinned and picked up the two cups to make coffee for them.
"I've given Draco a copy of your notebooks about the poison," Severus reported as he leaned back in his seat.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Harry questioned as he moved back to the table and sat beside Severus.
"Because we had to look at this objectively," Severus responded. "We were too close. Dracka?"
Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat as he held his cup of coffee in his hands.
"I don't know, Severus." Harry answered. "I think we waited too long, not that twenty or thirty years is long for a vampire. He has another life now and we just sprung this on him without warning."
"He seemed happy with the arrangement," Severus purred with a smirk.
"He's a vampire," Harry retorted. "It's in his nature; blood, sex and everything in between. It was well worth it to see the look on Ry's face, though."
Severus gave him a smirk and got to his feet stiffly. He held his hand out to Harry in offer.
"Back to bed," Severus purred.
Harry gave him a grin as he placed his mug on the table and Severus helped him to his feet. There weren't many offers that could pull him away from a coffee but the offer of curling up with Severus was one of them.