CHAPTER 10:

GRIM DEFEAT, OR BITTERSWEET VICTORY?

Harry woke with a splitting headache, a melancholy disposition, and a groan when he realised that he was in the Hospital Wing again. It took some time for his memories to come back into play. And then, he grimaced.

It had been a pretty shitty week since Black's infiltration. Firstly, Lupin was absent during his DADA classes that week, or even absent in general, and Snape had taken over, and acted like the arsehole he was, shoving a lesson on werewolves down their throat. The thing was, it would have been a very interesting lesson if it weren't for Snape's nastiness. As it was, Harry knew that Snape was hinting as strongly as he could without blatantly stating it that Lupin was a werewolf. Harry already knew, and by this point, he didn't much care, as long as Lupin was confined safely during his transformations. He wondered who would put things together, and realised Hermione might, sooner or later, assuming her Time-Turner antics didn't make her overly tired.

Then, Slytherin bowed out of the match against Gryffindor (supposedly due to Draco's injury playing up, but in all likelihood due to the foul weather), and Wood was on the warpath, inflicting heavier training on his team. Training that McGonagall nearly had Harry pull out of for security reasons, though Harry persuaded her otherwise (even with the knowledge of a previous life, Harry enjoyed Quidditch). Still, Wood trained them hard, perhaps too hard, singularly obsessed with gaining the Quidditch Cup for the year.

And it all culminated in one of his worst Quidditch matches, up there with the one where Quirrell enchanted the broom Harry was using, and the one where Dobby fucked around with the Bludgers last year, and where Lockhart showed how incompetent he was at first aid, amongst so many other things. The shitty weather was bad enough, as was the skill of Hufflepuff's Seeker, Cedric Diggory, though Harry couldn't fault Cedric for his skill. But then, Harry caught a glimpse of the Grim, or at least that damned huge dog that looked like one.

It didn't help that, at one point, Harry thought he saw the Duke, hidden at the side of one grandstand in the stadium, with a cloaked figure that could have been Daniela. The figure certainly looked too feminine and not ragged enough to be a Dementor. But his distraction at the thought of Daniela watching his game became a moot point.

Because the Dementors decided to intrude.

It was worse than on the Hogwarts Express. Harry knew now that the voices he had heard was his mother in this life, Lily Potter, saving his life from the other owner of the voices, Voldemort. But now, it wasn't just his mother's demise he heard again, but also his last fight with Grindlewald, his arguments with Miranda that nearly devolved into battles, the gruesome scenes of the Second World War, and the tiny coffin containing his young cousin, Eva, being lowered into the ground. One of his earliest memories.

The next thing he knew, he was in the Hospital Wing, having fallen, and barely been cushioned by a spell cast by Dumbledore, according to Hermione. But his broom, his beloved Nimbus 2000, had been blown away, into the Whomping Willow, and there were little more than splintered shards of formerly-enchanted timber. This whole debacle was humiliating to Harry, and to Henric Stan.

However, sitting there in bed, in enforced bed rest for the rest of the weekend, gave Harry time to think. Well, beyond speaking with his friends, anyway. Of course, thought was partly chased away by the sheer anger and fury Harry felt towards the Dementors. He was not going to fall prey to soul-sucking demons who loved to rape his mind!

Perversely, it also put his rivalry with Draco into perspective. Draco, for all his power and influence through his power, was little more than a little boy who wielded power with little finesse, and was little more than a bully. Snape was also little more than a bully, albeit one whose mentality had never truly grown up, and who despised Harry for being James Potter's child.

This wasn't to say Harry didn't want revenge against them. They just weren't a priority, and they had better pray that he didn't make them one. The Dementors, Sirius Black, working on his research, that was the priority.

After he was released on Sunday night, albeit after considerable arguing from Pomfrey, he made a detour to the Chamber of Secrets, intending to use the Time-Turner the Duke possessed later, only to come across a startling scene. Alcina was present, though Daniela was not. And she did not look happy, berating the Duke. "…Nearly killed my daughter!" she snapped. "It is one thing to allow her to come to this place, as inelegant as it is. It is yet another to bring her out into cold weather, in which she is vulnerable, near these Dementor creatures!"

"I know, Lady Dimitrescu," the Duke said calmingly. "We have been over this before. I took all necessary precautions. I enchanted your daughter's pendant with a Warming Charm to prevent any nasty effects of being in cold weather. I ensured the wizards would not notice us. And…ah, it seems we have company."

Alcina turned to face Harry, and for a moment, given the scowl on her face, he feared she would attack him. But upon seeing him, her features softened, and she hurried over, embracing him. In that moment, Harry was struck by the rather perverse similarities between Alcina and Molly Weasley. Despite many differences, their maternal nature seemed very similar. "Harry…Henric…I am glad to see you are well."

"As well as I can be having dealt with Dementors mind-raping me again. But what's this about Daniela?"

The Duke coughed contritely. "…Daniela pestered me to allow her to witness the Quidditch game. You mentioned it during her visits here, so she cajoled me. I worked out ways to make it to the stadium without detection, I've done so before, but…when the Dementors attacked…Daniela went into a catatonic state. I had to flee with her back to the Chamber of Secrets, as the Dementors had somehow detected us, despite our best efforts. Before I did so, I saw Professor Dumbledore using a Patronus to force them to flee."

"And this fat and fatuous oaf is not contrite enough for allowing my daughter to get into danger!" Alcina snapped. "If I didn't know you would recover so swiftly from any injury, I would disembowel you where you stand…or rather, sit! In addition to that, I've needed a suitable cover story for Bela and Cassandra as to why their sister is in such a state!"

"Which I provided, free of charge in light of my contributing to her state, Lady Dimitrescu," the Duke said deceptively mildly. "It's a half-truth, and a plausible one. Daniela came with me to Hogsmeade, and Dementors got too close. Old Aberforth owes me a few favours, he'll back me up if Mother Miranda deigns to come all the way to Britain just to sniff things out, unlikely though that is. Do not misunderstand me, Alcina, I am very unhappy. I am fond of you and your daughters, despite your bloodthirsty ways. Indeed, I am fond of every one of the Four Lords…or at least the likes of Moreau have my sympathies. I am old now, very old, old enough to have seen empires rise and fall. All because of a simple mistake. I am immortal in a way you and your fellow Mutamycete mutants cannot approach, and believe me, much of the time, it is a curse. I try to treasure the friends and acquaintances I have, even knowing that one day, I would lose them to violence, illness, or just plain entropy."

The man's usually jovial features were overcome by a considerably more melancholy expression. He looked centuries old at the minimum. Harry had rarely seen him like this, even as Henric.

Alcina seemed, if not mollified, then a little less angry, as she turned to face the Duke. "That's as maybe, Duke, but I am still most vexed by Daniela's condition, and I…"

She was interrupted by the Vanishing Cabinet bursting open, and a by-now familiar buzz filling the Chamber of Secrets, before reforming into the familiar form of Daniela, who flung herself at Alcina. "Mămică!" she sobbed as Alcina embraced her.

In Romanian, Alcina answered in kind. "Daniela? Why did you…?"

"…I…I knew when I woke up, you'd be blaming the Duke or Harry," she babbled. "It was my fault, I just wanted to see him playing, see him flying…and then they came, Mother. The Dementors came, and it was horrible and cold and…and…"

"Hush now, my daughter," Alcina crooned softly. "You are safe now. I feared the worst when the Duke brought you back to me. I…"

"…I remember, Mother," Daniela said quietly, and yet, it cut across Alcina's words like a sword. She looked up at her adopted mother, and said, "Not everything…but I remember who I was…before the Cadou. I just…I…sorry, I needed to find you."

"…And…rebuke me for turning you into a monster?" Alcina asked quietly.

Daniela shook her head. "…I can't. I wanted to, and yet…I remember all the love you showed me and my sisters. Twisted though it was to shape us into…what we became, I know you loved us, more than you could love anyone else. I will miss my birth mother, but you are my mother too. But…" Her golden eyes turned to Harry, glistening with tears. "I'm more worried about…about what Henric will think of me. What I've done…it can't be forgiven…iubit."

Harry walked over, shifting into his form as Henric. He knew now he stood on the precipice here. He needed to choose his words with care. He gently embraced her. Quietly, he said, "Dani…that doesn't mean I won't love you. It can't be forgiven, but do you feel regrets?"

"…For most of them. But some of them…they deserved it. You…do not hate me?"

"…I was sad at what you became, Dani. But…you remember at least our favourite spot?" He said this to make sure it was really Dani, as he never brought it up while she was amnesic.

"Yeah… outside of the library at Castle Dimitrescu, it was the garden near the Beneviento house. We used to go there, and sit watching the waterfall. Heh…I used to get into so much trouble with my father over that. He hated me spending time with you…with anyone. I…I remember eating him. But…one of my last memories before…before I died…I remember him telling me that this was the price of my disobedience. 'Honour thy father', he said, quoting from the Bible, and he claimed I never honoured him enough. I…I'm glad I put paid to him." She chuckled sadly. "Isn't it awful, that I'm glad I ate my own father? He drove my mother into an early grave, and…ugh, I just…so, you're not mad?"

"Sad and disappointed, Dani…but…I'm more happy to see you alive."

She giggled, snuggling into his embrace. "Don't mind me being a swarm of flesh-eating bugs, iubit?"

"Not at all. I was little more than a walking fungal hybrid when we knew each other, Dani."

Alcina cleared her throat. "As good as it is to see you two reconciling," she said in English, "are you sure you are all right, Daniela?"

"…As much as I can be, Mother. But…if it's all right, I would like to eat only what the Duke procures, criminals and the like. If I want to feed from now on, I want to be sure that whoever it is deserves my eating them. I…I'm grateful to you providing for us, for trying to take care of us. But…"

"You need not justify yourself to me, my daughter," Alcina said with a sad smile. "I…I have been a bad example to you, and by the time I realised it…it was too late. I will try to smooth things over with Bela and Cassandra. Don't think too badly of them."

Daniela snorted. "You're kidding me, right? I love my sisters, Mother, even seeing what they've become. But I'm not sure I can change what they are, even if they regained their memories. And bringing a Dementor to unlock their memories is a bad idea. That has to be one of the worst things I have experienced. Apart from, you know, dying, and I am genuinely glad I don't remember what happened beforehand. But seriously…the cold…the flashbacks…" She shivered. "I'm glad the Duke got you to give me chocolate when I woke up."

"I didn't know whether it would work on a being of your unique…constitution," the Duke said, "but chocolate is a universal remedy against Dementor exposure. And while you require human flesh to sustain your bodies, it doesn't exclude you eating other foods. I'm glad it worked."

Harry nodded, before something occurred to him. "Actually, Duke…I need to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"…Did you notice a large black dog on the grounds just prior to the Dementors attacking?"

"Indeed I did. At a different part of the stands, but I did indeed."

"…Was that a Grim?"

After a moment, the Duke shook his head. "Not at all. I have seen more than a few Grim, and they generally have a somewhat different appearance, more spectral, more ghostly. Harry, that was no Grim. In truth, it looked more like a relatively mundane, if rather large, black dog. And yet, when I saw it…it was watching your match with considerable intelligence. It may not have been a Grim, but the dog was no ordinary dog, I am sure of it."

"Yeah, well, if it lured the Dementors to us," Daniela said with a strange and disturbing hybrid of scowl and grin, "I'm going to catch it, and neuter it. Snip, snip!" She then snapped her fingers. "Actually, no. I think I'll use my sickle. Wanna make it howl soprano…"

As she devolved into maddened mutterings about mutilating a certain mutt, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Despite everything, he had Dani back. True, more violent and demented than before, but the woman he fell in love with was back. He may have lost the Quidditch match, but he had won something else, something more precious, in the form of the love of his life…

CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:

Daniela's regained her memory! Yay!

Now, Daniela regaining her memory was always going to be part of this story. But the question was how? Well, the Dementors seemed like an easy way, but how to do it? I was impatient to bring the original Daniela back, so I decided she got the impulse to watch Harry's Quidditch match.

Now, the difference between Daniela as she is now and Daniela as she was without memories is…well, marked, but she is still different to what she was as a human. If I had to make comparisons, it'd be like that between canon Bellatrix Lestrange, and her crazy-awesome iterations in Nemesis13's works. Daniela's still pretty violent, and her delusions, while significantly lessened, are still present. But she now has a moral compass, her madness is lessened, she's carrying around quite a bit of guilt at what she did while amnesic, and she's dangerously protective, not just of Harry, but those she cares about…and he cares about. Hermione and Ron would be horrified by her actions, but she'd happily save them.

Review-answering time! Thanks for the feedback regarding a Nier: Automata crossover. However, as stated earlier, I've only recently started it, so any crossover is a long way off.

Also, a couple of guest reviewers pointed out that Credence Barebone was a Dumbledore. Now, I was intentionally vague about that through the Duke's exposition (he did not directly get involved with the events of the Fantastic Beasts films), but the person who claimed as such, Grindlewald himself, is a noted liar and manipulator. Is Credence a Dumbledore? Who knows? And considering that the careers of both JK Rowling and Johnny Depp have become troubled, well, I'm not convinced we'll be seeing another Fantastic Beasts film any time soon, if at all. Thus, I was intentionally vague to avoid any future revelations, assuming we get any…

Lucius Walker: You're welcome, but giving Myrtle a role was really a means to cover up a plot hole. If Harry is using the Chamber of Secrets that often, what's to stop her from tattling on him? As for the Duke, he's lived long enough (in my story) to have anecdotes about various people, magical or not, for the past half a millennium. He's something of a name-dropper when he's in the mood. But he also doesn't tend to have strong friendships, save for with those who are as long-lived or potentially so as he is.

ShadeSlayerX: The Duke does make a handy expositional tool, and I do like to use certain characters as such.

WearyCurmudgeon: I know, but you'd still look askance at a 43 year old man (which Harry/Henric is, technically) being friends with a 13 year old. To Harry/Henric, the relationship is complicated, at least in terms of defining it. Hermione is one of the few people he would consider revealing the truth to, but only once he's sure she won't go running off to a teacher. It doesn't help that she still has a fairly straightforward and childish morality, whereas Harry/Henric is not only an adult, but he is something of a hypocrite, albeit a self-aware one, and whose morals are somewhat grey.

As for the Dio VS Alucard Death Battle, I think part of the problem is that they scaled Dio and The World's strength to Jolyne Kujo's Stand, Stone Ocean/Stone Free. That, and Alucard can simply outlast Dio. Alucard has millions of extra lives. Dio only has one life.

Finally, I wasn't considering that. I was considering some sort of transdimensional thing (possibly the old standby of the Veil-Assisted Transdimensional Pratfall), especially as the Nier universe, given what happens in Nier: Replicant, may not be compatible with the Potterverse.

Valiryo: No. Alcina would kill him. Hagrid means well, but he's an idiot, and he'd probably piss her off quickly.

BlazczeM: True enough, but I only just started playing Shin Megami Tensei III. Besides, once I have enough of a grasp of the lore, who's to say I can't do a story not based on the plot of any one game, but one set at Hogwarts with the lore? I can see, for example, Pixie causing mayhem at Hogwarts if she was summoned by Harry.

Skull Flame: I'm not sure what the Duke bribed Myrtle with. But they met in life while the Duke was peddling his wares in Hogsmeade.

WhiteElfElder: It'd have to be a powerful wind: he can basically turn himself into an Obscurial tornado. But Fiendfyre, and indeed any powerful-enough fire spell, would be enough to kill him. But Henric will know how to avoid it this time, mostly by avoiding giving any enemies an unmissable target. Well, unless he's angry enough that he forgets that.

No numbered annotations this time.