A/N: I come bearing bad news. I have two separate work trips out of the country coming up in January, which means there won't be any updates for a few weeks. The first week after New Year won't see any update, and the second week's update may not come in Saturday as usual, but it will be posted eventually. All in all, I don't think I can manage more than two updates in January, and I might be late for the first update of February as well. Don't worry though, I have no plans of abandoning the story. The updates will continue as normal from the second week of February. I hope y'all are going to stick with me. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. Hope you all kick 2020's butt.

13. Protectors

Hermione had received an award for special service to the school for carrying out her temporary role as a Head Girl. She didn't know that it was Harry who suggested it to Professor McGonagall and after consulting with the headmaster, who approved readily, she was given the award during dinner in front of the whole school. She looked really proud and happy and Daphne personally thanked her for doing such a great job when she was unavailable herself. There was a party in the Gryffindor common room (because Gryffindors jumped at every opportunity to throw a party) and Harry invited Daphne along. A few people looked displeased at having a Slytherin among them, but they all knew that she was the Head Girl, and didn't say anything to her.

That night, after returning to their dorm, Daphne had a favour to ask Harry.

"I have been thinking lately." She said, but she didn't know how to proceed.

"Yes, a thinking blonde. Who would've thought?" Harry commented and she hit his arms, smiling but looking unsure at the same time.

"Remember how I explained to you that my family always stayed neutral during any conflicts?"

Harry nodded. He didn't agree with the ideology, but he could understand why someone would do that.

"Since I am the head of the family, and my actions will dictate how the family name will be remembered later on, and I don't want to stay neutral anymore." She took a deep breath and looked at him with a fiery determination. "I want to fight."

Harry nodded in understanding. To be honest, he actually expected this from her. She was always a proud girl and didn't let anyone get away with messing with her. There was no way she would ignore the murder of her parents and stay back at home.

"And I want you to help me train for it."

Harry was surprised.

"Me? Why? I mean, of course I will help you anyway I can, but why me?" He asked.

"Because I have seen you sneak out after curfew every day and come back with small cuts and bruises. And you admitted that you could have avoided every spell I threw at you on the night I... cursed you. I know you are at least better than me. Besides, who else would I ask for help? I don't have a family." She ended with a slightly bitter tone, but looking adamant.

"I'm pretty sure mum, dad and even Sirius consider you and Astoria family. So don't you ever think that you don't have a family. You understand?" he said fiercely and Daphne nodded, a little embarrassed.

"As for the other thing, I'll help you in every way I can, but I'm not sure I can help you a lot. I can teach you fighting techniques, but you know far more spells than I even want to know." He admitted.

"Do you mean to say you can defend but not attack?" She asked for clarification because it didn't sound very convincing.

Harry laughed. "No, that's not what I mean. I don't want to boast, but even my dad cannot defend against me when we duel and he is a Senior Auror. What I'm trying to say is that my method of fighting and my magic in general are different from most people you know. So I don't know a lot of spells you use and you don't know any spells I use." He explained.

"Okay... different how?" She asked, very curious.

"I'll explain later. We should probably start with getting you some fitness. Have you been running during the Christmas holidays?"

She nodded. "Yes, I only skipped on Christmas morning and continued until... that day." Harry nodded.

"Good. We will run again for a few days to get in the habit and then start on a workout routine. Since you know I sneak out at night to train, you can tag along."

Daphne smiled in appreciation. "Thanks. I hope I can prevent things like what happened to my parents in the future."

Harry looked uncomfortable for a moment, weighing if she could keep a secret, but then he realized that he had promised to reveal one of his biggest secret to her anyway so what's another one?

"I have to tell you something, Daphne."

"What?"

"I was there that night." He admitted and Daphne looked confused. "The night... your parents..." he looked distinctly uncomfortable as he saw the look of realization in her eyes. "Mum, Dad and I went from place to place to try and save anyone we could, and the last house we visited had Fiendfyre blazing all over the place. We tried to control the fire and we eventually did, but we were too late to save anyone inside. If I knew they were there, I would have tried harder or something, but we couldn't do anything." He finished with a heavy voice, not wanting to meet her eyes in case they were accusatory.

No one spoke for a long time and Harry glanced up to see that Daphne had tears in her eyes. He thought that he was doing the right thing, telling her, but now he was not sure.

"I am not sure what to say, but you couldn't have done anything. It was Fiendfyre, they were likely dead as soon as it was cast." She said in a forcibly collected voice. Harry nodded and patted her arm.

"I'm sorry." He offered timidly and she nodded, trying to wipe off the tears but they were not stopping.

"It just hurts, you know." She said in a watery voice. Harry scooted closer to her and put his arms around her.

"Tell me about them." He asked and she looked at him in confusion. "Tell me about your parents."

There was a prolonged silence while Harry wondered if it had been the right thing to ask. Eventually, however, Daphne started to talk.

"Father was very formal. He was all business, always busy with some meeting or other. We used to hate it since we were young. But as I grew older, I realised that he did all of that for us. He hardly enjoyed the luxuries that he bought for us. He was not the perfect father a child wants, but he did his best. I'm not sure how much I loved him, but I would rather him being alive and cold than not having him around."

Harry conjured a handkerchief and offered it to Daphne, who was now freely crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked her gently and she nodded. He wanted to say that it was enough for today, but she carried on.

"Mother was perfect. She was the most beautiful woman in the world. She had to be strict at us and be the lenient one at the same time because father seldom had time for us. I think she managed alright. When I was young, she used to sing when she thought no one was listening. It was beautiful. I miss her so much."

Harry squeezed her shoulders as she put her arms around him as well. Her eyes were closed, tears dripping down the corners. Harry took the handkerchief from her hand and dabbed her tear streaked face before placing an affectionate kiss on top of her head.

She calmed down after a while, but did not let him go. Not right away, at least.

"Thanks. I feel… lighter somehow." She said with a steady voice.

"If you feel heavy again, you know where to find me, dontcha?" he nudged her playfully, and she smiled at him. Merlin, she was pretty!

"Thanks, Harry." She quietly said. "For everything."

"My pleasure, Daphne." He answered back easily. She grinned at him one last time before extracting herself from his embrace. As much as she enjoyed it, she had to clean up and get a hold of herself again. Harry got up as well.

"Well, I'm off to training. See you tomorrow morning." He said as he summoned his broom and went out of the window.

For a fleeting moment, Daphne wished she was with him on the broom before she pushed the stray thought away and went back to her room.

Ioioioioioioioioio

James Potter was not a happy man and he was very close to cursing someone badly. He knew Amelia Bones was feeling the same way and wished Sirius was here. He would either calm him down, or would be doing something so reckless that James would have to concentrate on stopping him, which would be a distraction from his own anger. More likely the latter.

They all knew that the Ministry was severely infiltrated by Death Eaters and their sympathizers, but to cut the Auror force in half was simply announcing it to the world. And that meant Voldemort had enough people in the Ministry to overthrow it if he wanted.

"I am not going to approve this move no matter who ordered it. The minister can come down and talk to me if he really wants it." Amelia Bones firmly said.

"Head of DMLE can be changed, I hope you did not forget that." Selwyn said in a slickly voice.

"Not until four more years. I was re-elected last year, remember?"

"Oh there can be special situations where a change needs to be done immediately." Selwyn waved a hand airily, as if discussing weather.

"Is that a threat, Selwyn?" James asked in a cold voice, knowing very well it was.

"It is a fact, Potter. I hope you can manage to clear out the list of people by tomorrow morning. We need their office by tomorrow afternoon." Selwyn pushed the parchment forward and left.

"I'm not doing this." Amelia announced as soon as he left. "There is no way in hell I'm doing this."

"I don't think you will have a better alternative, Amelia. I would be very surprised if they don't attack you personally if you refuse to do this." James said honestly, seeing no point in sugar-coating things to his superior.

"I'll even have to fire you, James! I'll have to fire every single competent Aurors I have in the force if I want to follow their orders." She exclaimed.

"Might as well. I was thinking of resigning anyway. On the bright side, most of the listed Aurors can survive without a job for a few months. We will have to gather resources to take care of the ones who cannot." James said, already starting to form a plan.

"Are you saying that we go underground? A bunch of recently fired Aurors continuing their duty or something?" she asked sceptically.

"Not all of us. Only those who want to stay and fight. We will advise the others to leave the country while they can. The ones that choose to stay can help during attacks and maybe do some attacking of our own."

"You mean like the Dumbledore's group you are in?"

James gave her a sheepish smile. "Yeah. They can join the Order or form a separate organization on their own if they want."

Amelia nodded. Those details could be worked on later. For now, she had to think about the immediate course of action. She pressed a button on her desk. A young assistant came in.

"Spinnet, go and fetch every Auror in this list and ask them to come immediately. I want everyone in that list to be in my office within five minutes." She ordered.

"Yes, Madam Bones." The assistant, a certain Alicia Spinnet, hurried off.

"I am going to resign by the end of the day." She announced to James Potter, who nodded.

Ioioioioioioioioio

"Padfoot, what's up?" Harry answered his mirror. Sirius looked quite… serious.

"Big things are happening here, pup. Prongs and half of the Auror force resigned yesterday, along with the Head of DMLE. Things are getting serious."

"What? Why did dad resign? Or Madame Bones, for that matter?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Fudge asked Amelia Bones to fire more than half of the Aurors, because the ministry wants to expand departments that are involved in making new laws and keeping records. Some small departments like the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts have been evicted completely. Death Eaters are taking over the whole ministry. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort is announced the Minister of Magic or some crazy shit." Sirius explained gravely.

"So they resigned instead of being fired?" Harry asked, understanding why they did it now.

"Yeah, that was the thought. Anyway, the fired list contains every Auror that has been competent in their job, and now most of them are forming an underground organization that will help the civilians and try to destroy the Death Eater forces. They are calling themselves 'The Protectors' for now. Yeah, cheesy, I know."

"So basically another organization like the Order?" Harry asked.

"Well, not exactly like the Order." Sirius said with a sly grin. "Dumbledore is pretty big on fighting with minimum violence, giving the enemy a second chance and all that shit. The Protectors think that if you have to deal with an enemy, you gotta make sure they never bother you again."

"So, it's open season on Death Eaters over there?"

"Yep. Only two rules: protect the innocent and destroy the enemy. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me." Harry nodded in agreement.

"I hope mum and dad won't be too disappointed to know that I would try to join these Protectors instead of the Order. They sound more useful already, no offence." Harry said, seriously thinking about trying to join as soon as school is over.

"Don't worry about it. James is already a member of both, and I will be leaving the Order soon to join them. Remus won't, though. That man has an unhealthy obsession about following Dumbledore's orders."

"Dad's joining? Does that mean he will leave Order as well?" Harry asked, not sure if Dumbledore would be too eager to let go of his father and his godfather.

"Not at the moment. There is nothing that says you can't be a part of another team when you are a member of the Order. Prongs will be meeting with Dumbledore today to see if the two groups could coordinate with each other, to avoid any on-site conflict, you know. Which reminds me, he might drop by and say hello to you. Anyway, if Dumbledore doesn't want to share, James will simply take a vow for each group to keep their secrets to himself and not divulge them to the other. If Dumbledore becomes too much problematic, James will leave the Order, but we are hoping that Dumbledore will cooperate, and to be honest, he might not have much choice, seeing that three prominent members are leaving the Order and if he doesn't cooperate, it will be four."

"Who else is leaving?" Harry asked, guessing that one would be his mum.

"Lily, of course." Sirius confirmed his thoughts. "And didn't I mention who is going to lead the Protectors?"

"You haven't, no."

"Mad-Eye Moody, who else?" Sirius said with a wide grin and Harry gaped.

The war just got heated up real fast!

Ioioioioioioioioio

James Potter and Mad-Eye Moody entered the headmaster's room together. There was no telling how this meeting would go, so they talked about all the possible outcomes on the way.

"James, Alastor. Take a seat." Albums gestured to the two squishy armchairs that appeared in front of the headmaster's desk. They took a seat, Mad-Eye with a grunt.

"What is this about? Have you found a new lead?" Albus asked eagerly. "Sorry to hear about your resignation, James." He added, giving the man a slight nod.

"It's okay. I was thinking about resigning anyway, Fudge ruining the ministry and what not." James answered.

"We are here to discuss some very important matters, Albus. And you should consider what we say very thoroughly before making any decisions." Moody said, getting to the point immediately. Albus nodded.

"Sounds serious. Would you like a drink?" he offered, already a bottle of gin and three glasses appearing.

"Aye. We might need something stronger later." Middy commented as he accepted the glass offered by Dumbledore and sniffed it carefully before taking a sip.

"I see. I will leave this here, then." Albus said, pointing to a bottle of firewhiskey that appeared in front of them. James gave a nod of approval.

"I'm leaving the Order." Moody declared after a hearty swig. Albus's glass stopped right before it reached his mouth as he stared at his old friend. With a forcibly steady hand, he put down his glass and glanced at James.

"I don't plan on leaving yet, but it may change depending on how you choose to handle things." He said, before vanishing his gin and pouring the firewhiskey on his glass. Albus looked at both of them for a while before speaking calmly.

"I see. And may I ask what brings on this... change?"

Mad-Eye looked at James and the younger man nodded. He explained the situation about the Protectors to Albus while Mad-Eye drank the firewhiskey.

"So Alastor is going to lead this new group?" Dumbledore asked for clarification and both men nodded. "Why not join the Order? Anyone who wants to oppose the dark side is welcome, you know that."

"It's not about the Order, Albus. It's your method." Moody said, his magical eye fixed on the headmaster along with his normal one. "Your policy of minimum violence and second chances are something I have always disagreed with, as I have told you numerous times. These people, the Protectors, they believe the same thing. How many Death Eaters have walked free because we let them go under your orders? Way too many! The Protectors don't believe in taking hostages in wartime, especially if the hostages are Death Eaters. They approached me to lead them, and I didn't take long to decide. With all respect to what you have achieved Albus, the Order is not going to win the war."

Dumbledore looked torn between being angry and pleading. "But if we don't give them a chance to redeem themselves, what sets us apart from them? We have a duty to give a chance to those who may realize the fault of their ways. Otherwise the light side and the dark side become the same type of people just fighting at opposite ends." Albus argued, unwilling to deny a chance of redemption to anyone.

"That is the sort of philosophy for a time of peace, headmaster. In war, you give your enemy a second chance, you die." James shot back, tired of Dumbledore's words of forgiveness and redemption.

"Listen Albus, every time you let a Death Eater go, they don't go and think about their life choices. They think about attacking someone else, and when that person suffers because of the Death Eater you let go, you are partly to blame for their suffering. You can't go and offer second chances to criminals and murderers and have innocent people suffer for that. That's called being passive when action is necessary, not redemption and all other shit you like to spew." Moody said firmly and Albus wanted to protest but James cut him off.

"Albus, we can show you every victim that has suffered because of your nonviolent policy, but I don't think you are capable of admitting that you are wrong. So let's call it a difference of opinion and move on to more important things."

Albus looked like he wanted to say something in his defence, but decided that these men were not old enough to understand why he was doing things the way he did, and nodded in defeat. Youth always seeks war, and they were no different.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, feeling his age once more.

"Potter here is going to be a member of both organizations, and since we are working towards the same goal with different methods, it would be beneficial for both organizations if there is a communication between the groups. We don't want to encounter conflicts in front of the enemy, and can hopefully help out each other. So he has volunteered to be a liaison between the two groups if you agree to it. We are not asking for full access to Order information or anything. Just heads up on important Intel and the likes. Of course we can be more, but I am willing to share just as much as you are." Moody explained, hoping that Dumbledore would be cooperative.

Albus wanted to say that he did not want to be affiliated with murderers, but knew that it would severely affect his relationship with one of his oldest friends and one of his favourite students.

"What if I refuse?" He asked.

"I would leave the Order." James said. "If we meet any members of the Order in the field, we would regard them as allies, but if they try to interfere in our operation, we treat them as hostiles."

Albus stayed silent for a long time, pondering this strange turn of events.

"Any other Order members I can expect to lose?" He asked tiredly.

"Lily, Sirius and Tonks so far. Kingsley will join us, but he wants to stay in the Order as well if you allow." James listed off.

"You have taken away all my skilled wands!" Dumbledore accused, frowning at the pair.

"That's the thing about good wands, Albus." Moody said, leaning in. "They demand to be used."

Albus hoped Mad-Eye didn't notice when his hand automatically clenched his own wand inside his pocket.

Ioioioioioioioioio

"Harry, there's a guy who looks exactly like you sitting in the stands." Dennis Creevey said in a whisper. Harry turned and said man waved at him.

"That's my dad. Ginny, run drills for a while. I'll go and have a quick chat with him."

Harry flew away towards the stands as Ginny blew the whistle and gently landed next to his father.

"Hey dad, what's up? Padfoot said that you might drop by." Harry greeted his father, propping the broom against the empty seat next to him.

"So you heard what happened?" James asked his son, who nodded. "Well Mad-Eye and I came to talk with Dumbledore. He needed some convincing, but he has agreed to keep communication between the groups for now. He said he may terminate this communication later if he finds our methods too disagreeable, but I think by that time the Order will not have enough members to really have an influence either way. The Protectors already got Mad-Eye, Tonks and Kingsley from the Order, though Kingsley wants to be at both the Order and the Protectors. Your mum and Padfoot will be joining as soon as recruiting starts. So the headmaster may not have much choice but to give in if he really wants to help."

Harry nodded. He could never understand how Dumbledore had defeated Grindelwald with that mindset.

"You do know that I'll join the Protectors once I am done with school?" Harry said, hoping his father would not disagree.

"I expected no less. You are my son, after all." James said with a sad smile. He wished he could ask Harry to concentrate on his studies and career, but he couldn't. Both Lily and himself joined the fight a week after graduating. Hell, they fought in a battle together before they were even married. And his parents had not stopped him from fighting. And so he couldn't say no to Harry either, without appearing to be a hypocrite. This was one of the main reasons they didn't object to Harry getting training from Zhi from a young age. Of course, they wished that their child would be obsessed with quidditch and girls like every other teenager, and Harry was obsessed with both, but he had a bigger obsession. He wanted to seek revenge on the Death Eaters. Specifically, the Death Eaters that tortured his mother to a coma when he was one. James tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant. And at last they had accepted the fact that their son would either destroy those Death Eaters, or get destroyed in the process. And to be perfectly honest, if Harry didn't want them so bad, James would do it himself.

"Merlin, that boy is a horrible chaser!" James commented, pointing at Dean Thomas. Harry looked to see where his father was pointing and grimaced.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, he is all we have at the moment. Ginny is professional level and Demelza is alright, but I can't find a decent third chaser. The two reserves are both first years and don't have the temperament to play an actual match. Our main keeper is pretty shit as well, so I'm training the reserve for the next match." Harry explained.

"You know; it has been a long time since I played quidditch." James commented and Harry looked at him with a knowing grin.

"Come on, old man. Let's see if you can still move." Harry said, holding out his hand. Few moments later, a Nimbus 2000 came up to his hand, and he passed the broom to his father, who climbed on it.

"Who does this belong to?" James asked, knowing that all Harry's spare brooms were already in use.

"Take a guess." He said with a smirk. James groaned.

"Harry, how would you explain how you have Minerva's broom? You plan on returning it, don't you? I'm pretty sure she has tracking charms put on it."

"That's why you will be returning the broom, not me." Harry explained happily and James stared at him.

"You are adopted." He announced. Harry smirked.

"I look like your twin."

"It was a coincidence."

"Sure it was."

The two Potters bantered back and forth on their way to the middle of the pitch where the team was training. Harry signalled Ginny to join the drill.

"Damn! She's good." James commented as Harry shouted at Dean to pick up the pace.

"Yeah, she's the best hope for Gryffindor next year. If everything goes fine she should end up with the Harpies within a few years."

After a few minutes, Harry blew his whistle and called everyone to gather around.

"Okay everyone, this is my father James Potter. He was just passing by and I thought we could play a little five-A-team match since this old guy knows a bit about playing Chaser."

There was a cheer from the team. Drills were useful, everyone knew that. But actual games were the reason they all played in the first place.

"Okay, Ginny, you're the captain of red team. You will have Dean and Thomas as chasers with you, Ron as your keeper and Jimmy as the beater." The people whose names were called stood to one side and Harry waved his wand to make their practice kits Red.

"Dad, you're the captain of golden team. You'll get Demelza and Pete as your chasing partners, Denis as the keeper and Ritchie as the beater. I'll be the referee and we will play with one bludger. The first team to reach 200 wins." He waved his wand again to make the team's kits golden and the teams took their positions, James already talking with Demelza and Pete. Harry took the quaffle and floated the bludger in front of him. As the two teams were on position, he released the bludger first and then threw the quaffle to the air, moving away from the action.

The teams were quite evenly matched. James was a bit rusty, but everyone knew within three minutes that he could still go professional if he really wanted. Only Ginny could match his skill and intensity, mainly due to regular practice. Demelza was far better than Dean, and Thomas and Pete were evenly matched. Ritchie and Jimmy were opposite kinds of beaters, one specializing in predicting the path of a bludger and the other had an excellent aim with a bat. It was not very noticeable when they played together, but on opposite sides it was pretty transparent. Denis was alright, his small size working against him as Ginny liked to shoot to the far post, just beyond the reach of Denis. Ron, on the other hand was the definition of inconsistency as he made some spectacular saves but made blunders out of easy chances. After twenty minutes, the score was 80-90 in favour of the red team led by Ginny Weasley when Harry called a timeout.

He flew towards Denis first, the small boy looking nervous.

"Your reach isn't long enough." He stated as a fact, and Denis nodded. "So charge her when she starts her throw. Ask Ritchie to cover her passing lanes to Demelza when she shoots."

"The opponent keeper is nervous. We have to exploit that." James said, as he came up beside Harry, the rest of the team following him.

"Dean, your aim is good but your movement is sloppy. I'll recommend a decoy tactics. Ritchie, your interference is excellent, but aim some bludgers at the opposition as well. Ginny is moving to the same position way too often." Harry said before flying away towards the other team, as James took it from there.

Ginny was already talking to her team when Harry came up beside her.

"Ron, pull your head together, that last goal was just sloppy. Get your head in the game." Ginny was saying to her red faced brother, who looked like he would explode any minute.

"True. That was bad." Harry said, before quickly adding "but some of the saves you made were world class. Concentrate on those. Anyways, they know you are nervous and they will be exploiting it pretty soon. Ginny, you are becoming predictable. If Ritchie had the aim of Jimmy you would be in trouble. Demelza, you are doing great, but your positioning could be better after the final pass. It will allow Ginny to fake more shots and pass to you. Jimmy, you aim is on point, but you are not mobile enough. Move around more to cover more ground."

Once again, he flew away, and after another minute, he resumed play with a blow of his whistle. The players Harry commented on were already improving the aspects he talked about and Ron was making more saves than before. After being denied twice by the redhead, James suddenly decided to employ a tactic that was one of his favourites during school. As soon as Harry saw James move in a particular way, he knew Ron was fucked and Ron's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw that Denis had come up with the three chasers on a quick four man passing routine and Ritchie joined in too once he ensured the bludger was not close to any one in his team. James' team scored three goals in quick succession with that tactic before going back to normal. It was a high risk tactic because it essentially left your own post without any defence whatsoever. Ginny tried to reply with speeding up the wing and scoring through the far hoop, but she was surprised when Denis charged at her and saved the shots comfortably. Her team scored a few with Demelza coming up beside Ginny to receive a last moment pass after a fake shot, but Harry cheered when one attempt at that routine was diverted by a pinpoint bludger work from Ritchie, who hit the bludger directly at the quaffle, taking it out from Demelza's reach.

The game went on for nearly an hour before James and his team won 200-180 and Harry shared his observations and pointers for every individual player before dismissing them for the evening. Ginny stayed behind for a moment to talk to James, who gave her a lot of pointers on chasing before heartily complimenting her. She thanked him for the help and the game and left.

"That felt so good!" James exclaimed, as Ginny was out of earshot. Harry chuckled. He knew his father loved playing quidditch.

"You weren't that bad, old man." Harry said with a laugh and James laughed with him. He wished he could preserve these little moments before the war could threaten to take it all away.

"How's Daphne and Astoria?" he asked, flying towards the castle.

"They're alright. What's gonna happen to their property?" Harry enquired. James sighed.

"So far it's safe, but the lawyer suggested that she should sell it soon to avoid more troubles in the future. In fact, I think Daphne will get a letter from the guy within a couple of days. You could give her a heads up."

Harry nodded. He could do that when they went on their first training session tonight.

"So what's the new outside? Apart from the usual, I mean." Harry asked once he made sure no one was eavesdropping.

"Dumbledore agreed on me coordinating the Order and the Protectors on missions. He is upset that so many of us are leaving the Order, but that man is as stubborn as they come." James replied with a hint of frustration, walking towards the castle.

"Still convinced Death Eaters deserve second chances?" Harry asked with a scoff.

"Yes he does. And speaking of Death Eaters with a second chance-"

Severus Snape was coming out of the doors of the Great Hall and stopped cold seeing the pair. His face was twisted with hate and anger.

"Potter, what are you doing out of bounds at this time?" he asked with a sneer.

"Why Snape, I didn't know I had a bedtime." James replied casually, but his jaws were tight.

"Arrogant and self-centered as always, Potter. I was talking to your nuisance of a son." Snape spat.

James laughed humourlessly. "Pray to whatever Lord you serve that I don't see you in the field wearing your little uniform. We are not taking prisoners anymore these days."

Snape looked like he wanted to curse the older Potter to oblivion. "Why are you out of bounds Potter? Did you think that being a Head Boy exempt you from all rules? Or are you hoping that daddy will save you if you get into trouble?"

"I don't really see any reason you need to know about what I do in my free time." Harry answered, yawning lazily.

"Detention for the rest of the term Potter!" Snape shouted. Harry smiled.

"I will pay you a hundred galleons right now if you can tell me what law I am breaking." He replied challengingly. "Remember I have the power to review detentions and I have a witness present in case you want to play the your-word-against-mine card. Seriously, a hundred galleons right now." He finished, brandishing a copy of the Hogwarts rule book in front of the Potions master.

"Do you have a hundred galleons on you right now?" James asked curiously.

"Why would I have a hundred galleons on me right now?" Harry asked back, bewildered. James smiled proudly.

"Enough!" Snape shouted, pulling out his wand, his eyes burning with hatred, but before he could bring the wand up, a wand was pointed at his heart.

"I swear Snivellus, just give me a fucking reason." James said in a quiet whisper, wearing a maniacal expression. "I dare you, you fucking prick. Just fucking sneeze at my son, I will rip out your heart and force-feed it to you."

Snape slowly lowered his wand and put them back in his pocket. A little wariness clouding his hateful face.

"Good. Walk away now. And hope Dumbledore will always be there to save your pathetic hide."

Snape ignored the words and started to walk towards the school's main entrance. Suddenly James yanked the man back by his robes.

"There is a very interesting piece of information that I learned recently. Care to take a guess at what it was?" James whispered very softly, careful to be out of Harry's earshot.

"Fuck off, Potter." Snape hissed, trying to push him away, but the other man would not let go.

"I learned the name of the man who caused your master to come after us." James's voice was soft as the wind. "I learned the name of the man who conveyed the prophecy to Voldemort. Do you want to know the name of the man who was responsible for my wife being brain dead for over a decade? Do you want to know the man responsible for the death of Frank and Alice Longbottom? Do you?"

Severus Snape had always hated James Potter and was always wary of the man. But never before was he truly afraid of the man. He could see the intent of vengeance on his eyes radiating like the sun. Severus Snape was white as a sheet as his ears involuntarily strained to pick up the name he knew very well.

"It was you, Snivellus."

A/N: Don't forget to leave a review to get me and my beta slucas123 all motivated, because the next chapter's gonna be big.