Disclaimer:

I don't own anything related to the rights of Harry Potter... Or the lefts.

Author's Note:

So, I'm rather surprised at just how popular this story is, especially this quickly. So thank you guys for reading!

I do want to say, however, that I'm currently trying to keep up and write four separate stories, and still contend with the one-shots and ideas that pop up, so I don't know how often they'll be updated, but I'm not abandoning any of them. There's a new poll on my profile to vote on which story you think should be getting the most focus.

I know this chapter ends a bit suddenly, but it was actually the best place to stop it, considering where the next chapter picks up.

Oh, and beware for the Ginny-bashing at the end of this chapter.

Without further ado, here's the fourth chapter of Becoming Mr. Black. Enjoy!

Publish Date: Feb. 28th, 2014

Update Date: N/A

Chapter Four

Are You Serious?!

(A.K.A. You Mean You Weren't Joking?!)

Hermione and Neville had barely made it into the room, wands raised, when they were ripped from their hands and into Harry's waiting one. He set them on the table next to his chair and sat down again, saying, "No fighting in here, you two."

Hermione blinked at her empty hand and then blinked at Harry before scowling and asking, "What was that for?"

Harry simply arched an eyebrow in reply. "I've turned this place into my sanctuary, and I won't have that changed." He stated, shaking his head. "No fighting in here."

Hermione huffed and shot back, "I'm sorry, I was worried about my best friend!" She waved a hand at the two Slytherins and continued, "The last guy that was alone in their presence ended up in the hospital wing for a month and he's still being treated for the damage they caused to his entire pelvic region." She threw her hands up in the air and exclaimed, "And that was a year ago!"

Neville winced and unconsciously covered his own bits.

Tracey snorted and replied to Hermione, "That one was all Daphne. Even I was mildly surprised at just how vicious she was then." The brunette seemed to think for a moment before continuing, "Although, now I think I know why she was so... Angry about it."

Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion as Daphne growled and snapped out, "He deserved it, and you shouldn't have stopped me, I wasn't done with the little bastard."

Harry tilted his head to the side bemusedly and asked, "What did he do that was so bad that he deserved more than he already got?"

Hermione was treated to the sight of a blush creeping across the blonde's cheeks. It was the first time the bushy-haired witch had seen any emotion other than apathy and mild annoyance or irritation on her face, and it was a strange sight indeed. Hermione had both Runes and Arithmancy with her, so she felt she had a good idea of what kind of person Daphne was, but she was starting to think she might have been mistaken.

Just a little bit, though.

Tracey barked out a laugh and answered for her friend, "He decided it would be a good idea to call Daphne a pet name." She snorted and added, "It wasn't."

Neville winced and and questioned, "What kind of pet name could someone possibly call you that would invoke such a violent reaction?"

Daphne's blush deepened and she answered stiffly, "One that was already taken."

Hermione's mind raced in thought. As far as she knew, Daphne kept everyone but Tracy at arm's length. No one got close enough to her emotionally to develop pet names.

Neville rolled his eyes and responded, "I meant specifically, what name?"

Tracey smirked at Daphne, who scowled in return and said, "Don't you dare, Tracey."

Tracey's smirk turned into a rather wicked grin and she answered Neville's question, ignoring Daphne's statement. "He said, and I quote, 'How would you like to go out with me this Saturday, my little Viper?'." Tracey shrugged and continued, "He was probably just trying to sound smooth, but he picked a supremely stupid word to use apparently."

The thunderous scowl that crossed Daphne's face at the mere memory made Neville back up a step, as he was acutely aware that he didn't have a wand while she did. He wasn't sure he had ever been quite so afraid, and he made a mental note to never refer to Daphne as any kind of serpent.

Ever.

Hermione, ever the curious one, proved once again that her brain quite often simply made her mouth speak long before it ever considered what was going to come out. She tilted her head to the side slightly and asked, "Who calls you Viper, then?"

Tracey grinned wickedly.

Daphne scowled dangerously.

Neville dropped his face in his hands and groaned.

But it was Harry's statement that accomplished the impossible. Two small words that did something no one ever thought would happen, and the only witnesses were in the room.

"I do."

Daphne's head dropped and her shoulders slumped. She was sure she could hear her hard-built reputation as the Ice-Queen shattering.

Neville's head shot up and he looked either supremely confused, or immensely constipated.

Hermione's reaction, however, took the cake. She completely locked up. If one were to plug her brain in like a computer, this is what would be going on inside.

Harry Potter has a pet name for Daphne Greengrass. Y/N

Yes.

Unable to compute.

Daphne Greengrass allows Harry Potter to call her a pet name. Y/N

Yes.

Unable to compute.

System failure. Reboot? Y/N

"I think I broke her," Harry snorted.

Hermione was completely still, locked in place and trying to find a way to assimilate this new information into what she already knew to be true. She wasn't having much luck yet, but she wouldn't stop until she knew how this had come to happen.

Finally, finally, Hermione decided she needed more information and began, "How-" She shook her head and restarted, "Wha-," She shook her head again, beginning again and settling on a simple, "Explain."

Harry sighed and replied, "We met in first year. One thing led to another and we became friends. We could only meet up a couple times a year without raising suspicion, which made it difficult, but we made it work."

Daphne continued, "And I kept tabs on all of the Death Eater children in Slytherin with Tracey's help and passed along what I could."

"Speaking of," Harry said with a grin, getting the attention of the blonde witch. "Would you consider accepting a job offer?"

Daphne arched an eyebrow at him and smirked slightly, replying, "That entirely depends on the job and what's in it for me."

Hermione snorted in derision and muttered quietly, "Of course she'd ask that."

Daphne ignored the bushy-haired witch and continued focusing on Harry, asking, "So what's the job, exactly?"

"I find myself in need of a medic and potion brewer, and far more often than I'd like, and I'd rather not have to have to scramble to find one every time," Harry replied, also completely ignoring Hermione's statement. "So I'd like to hire someone on a more permanent basis."

"And the more important question of what's in it for me?" Daphne said, her smirk widening. She noticed Tracey looking at her oddly but brushed it off, opting to focus on Harry instead.

Harry stood and crossed his arms, taking a step toward Daphne. "What do you want?" He shook his head and corrected himself, "Better yet, what would be fair?"

Daphne grinned at him and said, "Well it seems you did learn something I tried to teach you," causing Harry to grin back at her. By this point, she was thoroughly ignoring the incredulous looks Tracey, Hermione and Neville were directing at the two of them, having too much fun with this conversation. "An excessively large paycheck, travel reimbursement, hazard pay, paid vacations, generous research funds, unlimited and unrestricted access to any and every family library you can allow, and a spacious room in mansion on a gorgeous private island in the sun. One with beaches. Good ones."

"Done." Harry replied immediately, turning and beginning to write on a piece of parchment.

Daphne froze. He couldn't be serious, could he? Didn't he know that was far too much? "You can't be serious. That's too much!" she heard Hermione exclaim. Great. Now I'm thinking like Granger. Next thing you know, we'll be best friends.

"I'm not Sirius," Harry grinned, and Daphne nearly sighed in relief until he continued, "My godfather was seriously Sirius. I'm Harry. I did mean it when I agreed, though."

Daphne arched an eyebrow and asked, "You do realize I was joking, don't you?"

Harry smirked and replied, "You do realize I wasn't, don't you?"

Daphne blinked in shock before finally muttering, "Wait, what?"

Harry finished up what he was writing and folded it, walking over to a long, slim box and opening it. He dropped the parchment inside and shut the lid with a snap before turning back to the rest of the group.

Neville looked intensely at the box on the table and then at Harry. Finally he asked, "Harry, is that what I think it is?"

Harry nodded and replied, "Most likely."

Neville nodded slowly and then asked, "And did you just do what I think you did?"

Harry grinned and nodded again and said, "Again, most likely."

Neville sighed and chuckled, shaking his head. Hermione finally couldn't take it any more and asked, "What is it and what did you do this time, Harry?"

Harry's answering grin made her want to knock it off his face, but before anyone could do anything else, the gem inlaid in the top of the box began to glow. Harry turned and opened the box, pulling out a thin stack of papers. He flipped through and read them quickly before signing them and dropping them back in the box. As soon as the lid was closed, he turned around and said, "To answer your question, this is similar to the vanishing cabinets, except for paperwork. It's connected to an account manager at Gringott's."

Hermione arched an eyebrow and replied flatly, "You avoided the question of what you did this time."

Daphne, who was rather pale at this point, finally said, "Harry, please tell me you didn't do what I think you just did."

Harry looked at her bemusedly and asked, "What do you think I just did?"

Neville was the one that answered, stating, "Authorized an excessively large paycheck, travel reimbursement, hazard pay, and paid vacations, Set aside some generous research funds, and is probably having a mansion built with a spacious room on a gorgeous private island in the sun. One with beaches. Good ones." He shrugged and added, "Can't add anyone to the access list for a family library without the Master Tome, so you likely can't do that part just yet."

Hermione asked incredulously, "How is it that you remember every one of Daphne's demands but can't remember the password to get into the dorms?" At Neville's confused shrug, Hermione shook her head and said, "I doubt Harry did all that."

Harry nodded and stated, "You're right." Hermione began to grin victoriously when he continued, "I only set aside the funds for research and the part about the mansion being built, the rest is included in the employment contract." A second of thought later and he shrugged and added, "I had to buy the island, too."

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why would you do that?!"

"I was joking, Harry. I knew those demands were too outrageous!" Daphne added. "Send another letter and cancel it!"

Harry just shrugged and said, "Can't. The island's already been purchased and construction has already been paid for and authorized." He grinned and continued, "You were the one that told me to never cancel a contract with the Goblins, are you really sure you want me to do so now?"

Daphne winced and sighed heavily, uttering, "No." She glared at him and said, "Why did you do it?"

Harry straightened and suddenly looked very serious, startling Daphne slightly. Finally he responded simply, "Because it was fair."

Daphne's eyes widened and she spit out, "No it wasn't!" She shook her head and elaborated, "Harry, a medic-slash-potion brewer can't demand that kind of pay or those kind of benefits. Their jobs aren't worth that much to anyone, for any reason."

Harry shook his head and answered with a grin, "And I disagree, obviously."

Tracey was the one that interrupted and asked confusedly, "Where in the hell did you get that kind of money, Potter?"

"An inheritance of sorts," Harry answered evasively before changing the subject. "Either way, it's done. All I'm waiting on now is the employment contract for you to go over and then it's all completed." At that, the gem lit up again and Harry pulled out another slim stack of papers that he glanced at before immediately handing it to Daphne.

Finally, something seemed to register with Hermione, and she asked, "Wait, why do you need a medic on call anyway? I thought you said you were done with all the fighting and whatnot."

Harry went still and seemed to think about what to say before finally answering, "I'm hedging my bets. Do you remember the legacy I inherited?" At Hermione's nod, he continued, "Well, it seems he wasn't exactly the pacifist we both thought he was."

Hermione's eyes widened comically. "What?!" She exclaimed loudly. "What do you mean by that?"

Harry just shook his head and replied, "I'll tell you and Daphne later, but I'll need an oath that it doesn't go anywhere else."

Hermione grumbled at being told to wait for answers, but she seemed to be willing to do so. After Daphne had gone over the papers in her hands and had a short argument with Harry about taking it all back, she finally capitulated and signed the contract. Finally, Hermione brought up the question that had been plaguing her mind for this entire encounter. "How exactly did you keep in contact with Daphne?" she asked curiously. "If you could only meet up a few times a year without being noticed, how did it work?"

Harry snorted and failed miserably to smother his laughter. "This has been bothering you for a while, hasn't it?"

"YES!" Hermione demanded. She scowled at Harry and said, "Now, for the love of Merlin, tell me how you did it!"

Harry bit back a laugh and waited for as long as was deemed safe. Just before Hurricane Hermione whipped out her wand and became a whirling dervish of death, Harry said, "We kept in contact through owls. Sometimes more than one a day. Used the school owls to avoid detection."

"But, Hedwig would never allow you to use a school owl," The bushy-haired girl exclaimed. "Do you not remember the one time we tried? The poor school owl still can't fly in a straight line."

Harry snorted again and said sadly, in an obvious imitation of what had happened, "I'm sorry girl, but no one can know that I'm sending letters to Daphne, and let's face it, your just so gorgeous that you can't help but attract every eye in the room."

Hermione froze and blinked once. Twice. Three times before she finally asked, "Should I be more worried by the fact that you're that smooth with your owl, or the fact that you're that smooth with only your owl?"

Daphne just cackled at Harry's exclamation of 'Hey!'.

A while later, Tracey and Neville had departed, leaving Hermione, Daphne, and Harry all seated around the fireplace. They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a while before Hermione finally asked impatiently, "So are you going to explain?"

Harry sat in silence for a moment before replying, "Oaths first. This is far too big to risk otherwise."

Hermione's eyes widened and Daphne sighed before immediately giving her oath. Hermione looked at her oddly before giving her own as well.

As soon as the mild flash died, Harry began with a question. "What do you two know about Mr. Black?"

Hermione looked confused and asked, "Is that someone related to Sirius?"

Harry barked out a rather Sirius-like laugh and replied, "I'll get to that later. For now, just the question."

Hermione shook her head before looking at Daphne, who was completely frozen. Hermione looked quizzically at the blonde and asked, "What's wrong?"

Daphne swallowed thickly before replying, "Mr. Black is a lot like the muggle Boogyman, only for those like Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He appears in places of war or when the bad side has the upper hand, and he proceeds to cull those he calls his enemies, and with no more mercy than they themselves were willing to show. Mr. Black is unstoppable, unkillable, untrapable, and impossible to locate. There have been stories of him passed down since far before the time of Merlin, as far as anyone can remember, and some even think he goes all the way back to the birth of magic itself. Often called Death's Hand or The Scourge of the Dark, the last rumored appearance of him was during the Great War against Grindelwald." She shook her head and concluded, "But it's rumor. Myth. There's no possible way for him to exist, no one can live that long."

Harry grinned widely at Daphne and whispered, "Unless the name itself is a legacy passed down from the current Mr. Black to his or her successor."

Both witches paled drastically, but for completely different reasons. Daphne finally voiced their respective thoughts in a single word and said quietly, "Explain."

Harry sighed and began his story, starting with the events at the end of fifth year and his short conversation with Dumbledore after Hermione had left and the trunk he had been given. He had tried on a few random occasions over the next two years to open it with absolutely no luck, until earlier this year. "I finally got it opened, and as it turns out, Albus Dumbledore was the previous Mr. Black."

Daphne snorted and muttered, "I knew there was no way someone could be that forgiving all the time," earning a scowl from Hermione.

The brunette opened her mouth to reprimand the blonde, but was interrupted by Harry replying, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that, but now I know why he was."

Hermione's head whipped around and she squeaked, "What?!"

Harry shook his head in reply and responded, "He felt he didn't or wasn't able to forgive enough in his time as Mr. Black, so he tried to make up for the supposed bad he did under that name." He shrugged and continued, "And then he retired the name and Mr. Black vanished once again."

"So he passed it on to you?" Hermione asked. At Harry's nod, she sighed and continued, "Do you have to, Harry? Wasn't Voldemort enough?"

"I don't have to, no," Harry sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and said, "And I'm still trying to decide what to do about it."

"It should be an easy decision, Harry. In fact, I'm sure you've already made it, and even started planning for it, even if you haven't realized it yet," Daphne smiled sadly at him.

Hermione looked confused and demanded, "What are you talking about? He just said he was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do!"

Harry looked curious as to her reasoning and tilted his head to the side, asking, "What makes you say that, Viper?"

Her smile seemed to sadden further and she asked, "Why would you hire me as a potion brewer, and more importantly, medic, if you hadn't already decided to do it, even subconsciously?"

Hermione's mouth, which had been open to refute whatever the blonde came up with, snapped shut with an audible click. She honestly couldn't think of a reason for Harry to need those on hand almost all the time if he was going to try and get the normal quiet life he wanted.

Harry seemed to be of the same mind and simply muttered, "Well, damn."

Daphne was sitting on the edge of the Astronomy tower late that night, thinking about the events of today. She smiled a rare smile at the thought of working with Harry for the foreseeable future. Sure, it was likely going to be terrifying at times, but that was heavily outweighed by the fun and excitement and the chance to do what she loved.

Her ruminations were interrupted suddenly by a blonde waif of an intruder, causing Daphne to look over at the girl curiously. She seemed extremely nervous, something Daphne had never before seen in the girl next to her. Again, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "What are you doing here, Luna?"

Luna sighed and replied with a question. "Did you know that I am a legitimate Seer?" She shook her head and continued, "Not like Trelawney or the like, who have two or three legitimate prophecies in their lifetimes that they never remember. My Seeing is active, I can use it whenever I like, as much as I like."

Daphne froze completely. A Seer that could do what Luna could do was rare. As in maybe one or two every few centuries or so. To know Luna was one of those was shocking, to say the least.

"Next question," Luna continued. "Do you know why I act the way I do?" At Daphne's questioning look, Luna elaborated, "Loony Lovegood."

Daphne flushed slightly. She had been one of the ones to call her that before she had met the girl. She hadn't since, but it was still a bit embarrassing, especially considering all the help Luna had been the past few years in passing messages to Harry.

Daphne finally shook her head and Luna smiled softly, saying, "I act the way I do because people far more often than not tend to humor Loony Lovegood and let the strange girl do what she wants." Her grin widened and she continued, "This makes it easier to delay and redirect people to encounters they need and avoid the one's they don't."

Luna tilted her head to the side and added, "Harry, for example. You wouldn't believe just how much work it was to get him where he needed to go and to meet the people he needed to meet, and in the right order." Luna shook her head and snorted. "I've used so many made up creatures as excuses for things, and I have to remember every detail, or else everything falls apart. Then, people start questioning things and that just makes it even more difficult to do what I need to do." The blonde sighed and continued, "If you and Hermione hadn't met Harry today in the order you did, in the manner you both did, things would have not worked out the same. Harry never would have offered you the job that deep down you know you only really took to be with Harry. You never would have playfully accepted and realized too late he was serious, and things would have been much worse all around."

Daphne scowled dangerously at Luna and demanded, "You've been manipulating Harry?" She shook her head and continued, "Stop. No one gets to mess around with his life like a game, so stop. It's not necessary."

"I did this because it was necessary," Luna corrected. "If I hadn't interfered the way I did, then Hermione would have been the first to find Harry instead of you. She would have convinced him to begin showing himself around the school, which would eventually numb him to the constant attention. He would have repaired his broken relationship with Ginny at her urging, they would have had three children, two sons and a daughter, and he would have been content with his life."

"Then why do it at all?!" Daphne demanded loudly. It hurt to find out that he would have gotten back together with the weaslette, but still. "If he was going to be happy-"

"Daphne!" Luna snapped, causing Daphne to stop her ranting in shock. Luna had never been angry with her before, and seeing the irritation and impatience on the younger blonde's face directed at her instead of the usual dreamy expression or even the rarer serious look was something that cut through Daphne's rage at Luna manipulating Harry's life like a chess piece.

Luna took a deep breath to calm her nerves and said, "I said he would be content, not happy. And even then, it would be short-lived." Daphne paled a bit and Luna sighed before continuing, "He would have spent the next twenty years feeling like there was something missing in his life, but ignoring it in favor of what he had in front of him."

Luna seemed to sadden and kept speaking, "He would have then found out that two of his children weren't actually his, that Ginny had been using her quidditch career to cover her quite numerous affairs, and that she was far more interested in the fame of wedding and bedding the Boy-Who-Lived than she ever was in loving Harry. Due to this and in addition to the fact that he had become far too used to being stared at, he wouldn't notice the person that killed him in the middle of Diagon Alley while he was on his way to finalize his divorce from Ginny, on her orders."

Daphne was torn between finding a bathroom to vomit the bile rapidly rising in her throat or finding the little ginger weaselette to rip her into pieces, and to Daphne's horror, Luna just kept going, "The Potter name and fortune would have ended up in the hands of Ginny, who would have squandered and wasted it all away on frivolous crap well within her lifetime, destroying not only the Potter name, but Harry's own name as well as she used his reputation to get whatever she wanted, no matter what the cost or who was hurt in the process, as well as leaving her children broke, destitute, uneducated, and in the case of Harry's daughter and only biological child, sold to a whorehouse for the rest of her rather short life."

Daphne had thought that was the worst of it, but Luna spoke again, "Shortly after the death of Harry Potter, a small number of dark lords band together and attempt to take over the world, and with no one of Harry's caliber to stand against them, they nearly succeed. Their near success is the last straw, however, as they revealed our existence to the Muggle world in a way that made them fear us. Within a century of the death of Harry Potter, Magic is extinct on Earth."

Luna took a breath and said quietly, "There are things that must be done, and I won't be there to help Harry along and make sure that the worst doesn't happen." She shook her head and continued, "Honestly, I'm only telling you this because I need the help and have no choice but to include someone, you happen to be the closest to Harry that wants the best for both him and the magical world."

Daphne tilted her head to the side and asked, "What exactly are you talking about?"

Luna huffed and answered, "There are going to be times where I need something to be done, but I'm simply not available to do it. To that end, I need you to do those things for me, and trust that it's for the best, even if it seems strange or random." Luna pinned Daphne with an intense, probing stare and asked, "Will you do that for me?"