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Part I: Bitter-Sweet Dreams

Chapter 11

The party was underway before Harry even awoke, as Kyoto was dancing about in the living room all alone in the early morning. He was bored as he had ever been, as the cooking had been finished and put under heating charms early into the morning. The music had been brought, but was not to be turned on until the guests began to arrive, which was to be around 11. It was 10, and Kyoto was bored.

So, he just disobeyed orders. He turned the music on, and started to dance. Mid-dance break, he was hit in the head by Jamie, as she awoke groggily, trudged down the stairs still carrying her pillow, and swung with all of her power and smacked him in the head. And when he stumbled, she kept attacking him again, until he was on the ground, and she was just mere centimeters from placing her lips to his.

As they moved in to close that last tiny bit of space, the door opened. Or more accurately, was flung open, and there was the clicking of heavy, military-issued combat boots on the smooth wood of the entryway.

Standing over 6 foot, with a long, sweeping gray duster on, and mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes, was a man she recognized, even though their meeting was brief. He took off the glasses and glanced to Kyoto and Jamie, both still in their moderately awkward positioning. "So…I'm here." Was all the man said before tossing a long, heavy metal box from the doorway the good many feet through the air, where it landed just inches from the two on the floor. Kyoto didn't flinch, but Jamie looked ready to dive out of the way. "That is all, Demon."

"Whatever, bitch." Was Kyoto's reply, and with a nod of his head, the man in the duster nodded his head, and then disappeared out the door, the sound of it slamming was heard. After some silence, the box rocked for a moment. Jamie thought nothing of it until it moved again a bit later on its own.

Jamie looked at Kyoto. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Nothing." Was the only answer she got, and it was silence for some more time after that.

"And what is that?" She asked, gesturing toward the box on the ground. It was about 4 feet long, and made of heavy-duty metal, which was beaten up and dented, even rusted in some areas. There were, however, several hinges in places showing it opened on one side, and there were a few simple locks along one side. However, there were 2 large padlocks holding the lid down.

"This? This is Harry's birthday present." He patted the top, and the box leapt around for a moment, before, with a powerful slam of the side of his fist to the top, Kyoto silenced whatever was on the inside. "Got any wrapping paper? Maybe something in a nice festive pink, mayhaps?"

-----

Harry wandered down the stairs at about a quarter to 11. He was shirtless, and clothed in little more than some baggy felt sweats and his boots, which he had taken to wearing pretty much everywhere, even in bed if he was so exhausted he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. His hair was completely ruffled and out of place, and he wasn't completely awake, that was evident when he missed the last stair, fell, landed on his back, and before he even hit the ground, was sleep again.

"Uh…should we be worried?" Hermione asked, as she sat in a chair, knitting, to Blaise, who was messing around with a knife in her hand. The other girl shrugged, and they both got up and dragged him into the room they were in and he awoke long enough to get up on the couch, and then he fell back asleep.

"Why is he so tired?" Hermione asked after a while. Blaise shrugged, and Harry rolled over and looked at Hermione.

"Kyoto. Came in and attacked me at about 2 this morning. And again at 2:15. And every quarter hour after that until about an hour ago. If you get me coffee, I will be up. I promise."

Hermione stood and went to go get the coffee, and when Blaise looked at Harry, he was wide awake. Grabbing her and pulling her to him, he latched his lips to hers. When Hermione returned with the coffee, she saw the two of them on the ground, kissing deeply.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and sipped the coffee herself, as she sat down pushing the knitting material away from her with her foot, and crossed her legs, sipping the coffee. Harry jumped up, and took the mug from her for a moment, taking a drink from it. He smiled at her cheekily, before getting pulled back down by Blaise. He started tickling her at some point into it, before it turned into a wrestling match, and Hermione found herself in the fray of it, as acting ref.

And that was how Ron and Ginny found them as they exited the fireplace; Hermione, Blaise and Harry on the ground, laughing and laying out on the floor, Harry in the middle, with Hermione on one side, and Blaise on the other. Ron laughed as he watched Blaise make one last attempt to attack Harry, before covering him with one arm, and Hermione pounded the ground 3 times, and declared Blaise the winner.

The girl in question had enough energy to point at Harry and laugh, mocking him for being beaten by her, before she just fell out against him. Her hair splayed across his chest, his behind him clutched in Blaise's other hand, her secret to beating him, and both of them looking completely exhausted.

Ginny glared at Blaise, before drifting off into the house, wandering around some. Because of that, no one but Ron knew she was there but even for him, that thought disappeared when they watched Blaise and Hermione get into a playful match of sorts, which turned into them ganging up on Harry, and Ron became the ref.

After a few minutes of this, Harry stood and walked up the stairs to get dressed. As he was there, he heard a rapping on the side of the door to Blaise's room, which was where he was at the time. Turning, he looked to see Blaise herself standing there. He smiled at her and beckoned her in, and he placed a kiss on her cheek. "You know you never opened up my gift."

She looked up at him for a moment, before she jumped up and down, and clapped. She held her hands out and closed her eyes. He chuckled and pulled out the simple cardboard box, no bigger than his hand, and set it in her hand. She looked at it, and then went and sat on the bed and opened it. And out into her hand fell a ring band and a shimmering bracelet. Set in a deep black material, the bracelet had the sky blue stones along the entire length of it, and seemed to have a soft glow along it. The ring was different. The obsidian setting was twisted, almost like it had been burned in a way, but looked beautiful as such, as the individual strands twisted and then seemed to grab a hold of the nice sized stone in the top, also a sky blue.

Blaise gasped as she saw what was in her hand, and looked at Harry, speechless. "Where…where did you get these?"

Here he smiled. "I made them. Kyoto helped, and to some degree, so did you."

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked, confused as to what she did. Smiling, Harry grabbed the book off of the desk in the room, and placed it in her lap, opening it to the pages on the Devil's Tear. There were notes written along the margins of the book, and even some parts crossed off and arrows directing the reader to read different, hand-written sections. As she read what he had created, she stared in shock, and when she finished reading she hugged him tightly. She held out her left hand for him to place the bracelet. He did the clasp, and felt an energy through him, and could tell Blaise felt it as well.

She smiled at him, and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. On her left hand. And she smiled brightly at him and kissed him deeply after saying "thank you" to him. She began to pull back as they both looked into each other's eyes. The moment was screaming at them, and as the words were on the tip of each of their tongues, there was a glowing from the girl's hand. They both looked, as the bracelet and ring seemed to literally sink into the girl's hand. And where they were, there was what looked to be tattoo-like designs of what both pieces of jewelry looked like on her skin.

As that happened, Blaise looked at Harry. She could almost feel him there with her, beyond physically. She felt safe. She smiled at him, and clasped his right hand in her left, and they headed back downstairs. "I don't know what it is that made them do that, but I'll see what Kyoto says about it, and then we can see if I can make something else for you that you can show all of your friends." Harry said as they walked down the stairs.

Harry heard the voices of Ginny arguing with Hermione loudly, and then saw Ron standing near the bottom of the stairs, almost like a bodyguard or a bouncer of some kind. Upon seeing Harry and Blaise coming down, he made to move them back upstairs, or to the side, or anywhere but where Hermione and Ginny where. Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend, and shook his head, and Ron nodded in understanding. "What's going on?" It was as much a question as a statement.

"Well…Ginny came, it seemed allowed and everything, and she was setting your present from the family in the side room, and saw the list of the people coming. She seemed angry about a few things, and questioned where Dumbledore was, on the list and everything, but assumed it was on the back page. And…she saw Malfoy's mum's name, as well as Lestrange, and she freaked. She started yelling out for you to come and explain why you had suddenly become all 'Slytherin' and everything, and then she made some…comments about Blaise, some including Imperius, and well…Hermione made to defend your honor."

Blaise shoved past Ron, and Harry shot his friend an apologetic looki before he ran after the girl. There was the sound of a slap, and as Harry came into the room, he almost ran into Blaise, as the girl was standing by the doorway. Ginny was holding her face, as Hermione looked the angriest Harry had seen her since the time she hit Draco Malfoy.

"Ginerva Weasley, I do not think you completely understand what you are saying, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt there." Came a voice from the kitchen, and as the door opened, in walked Professor McGonagall. She looked at Hermione, and nodded at her, before looking back at Ginny. "Especially considering that you are speaking about a relationship I myself know and approve of, trusting another student with someone you care for a great deal isn't very easy. I know, as I have trusted Harry with caring for Blaise here. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to the castle for a bit. Harry, I will return for the party, and happy birthday." And with that, she headed to the fireplace, just avoiding the tumbling form of Daphne as she stumbled out. She threw the powder in, and headed back to Hogwarts.

"Now what was this about Blaise using Imperius on me, Ginny?" Harry asked, seething just slightly, just barely being able to get into a dark mood again as watching Ron brush the soot from Daphne was making him smile, because he was making it worse.

"Well…I mean…" The girl was stammering. Harry sighed and released Blaise's hand and walked over to the room and took a seat on the couch, and placed his head in his hands, before leaning back and placing his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"If I can throw off that curse from Voldemort himself, then what would make you think she could keep it on me? And for that matter, how would she get past the Under-aged Magic Usage detectors?" At the girl's silence, he sighed. "Ginny, you have to understand. You and I, it just won't work. A crush isn't good basis for a lasting relationship, trust me.

"If the 'Cho fiasco' didn't prove that, then I don't know what will. But Ginny, you have to realize, your family has been the only family I ever had before. And because of that, you will forever be family to me. The little girl who put her elbow in the butter, she was my little sister. Because all the nervousness about me, all the idolization, that wasn't me. That was who I was depicted as.

"And when you see who I am, and respect me for that, you will realize that that is all I am to you, and will ever be. A brother, and hopefully when that day comes, a good friend. And you will know me as Harry. Not just in name, but in your mind."

Ginny ran from the room in tears and Kyoto wandered in, clapping with a smile on his face. It was a smile that freaked Harry out. "And what are you so happy about? Do something with my mother, I suppose…" Blaise asked, mirth written on her face.

"No…not yet. However, you all know what a nice person I am, right?" At their rolling of the eyes, he smiled. "Yeah, true, I'm not. But I have a thing about awkward situations. They are fun. So, that is why I decided to invite that cute little Asian girl to the party. Thought it might be nice to…" And he never got to finish as Harry started chasing him, and eventually they were out of the front door, and Harry was chasing him around the grounds at very high speeds.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked in confusion, as Harry and Kyoto came back panting. Harry kicked Kyoto in the leg when they got back, and Harry sank down on the couch, and Blaise sat down on his lap.

"Cho just got an invite to the party." Blaise sighed, before looking at the tattoo-like things along her wrist. Kyoto saw the design and he got a thoughtful glint to his dark, empty eyes, before he smiled at Harry and ruffled his hair, and then went looking for Jamie. He had some news for her.

-----

The party was underway quickly. Neville arrived, and Ginny seemed to be attempting to use him as a dancing partner, trying to make Harry jealous. But Harry didn't even see them, as there was too much fun going on around him. Cho had, in fact, arrived, and had grabbed Harry for a dance. She apologized for everything, and as they danced, Harry realized he had little to worry about from the girl.

The whole dance, she was glancing over to Kyoto, who was standing by the huge case of butterbeer, and had a look in his eyes that was borderline demented, as he would drink one of the bottles in one drink, and go for another one. Whenever someone would come for one, he looked almost like an animal defending its prey from others.

When he was dragged from the case by Harry, who realized that he had a strong possibility of getting addicted, he sighed after trying to fight away. He stood by Harry, and Cho appeared from where she had been, dancing with Dean, and had surprisingly come, to talk to Kyoto.

"So baby bro, this is your ex?" Kyoto asked, stretching his back. Harry elbowed him in the stomach, causing the man to seem to double-back and hold his stomach for a moment.

"Cho Chang, nice to meet you." She held out her hand for him, but with her fingers bent and her palm facing the ground, like she expected him to kiss her knuckles. Kyoto took it and shook it kind of roughly, and then released her hand. Cho spoke some words in Chinese, and Kyoto shrugged. He spoke absent-mindedly in the same language, before Cho spoke again.

"Not a nice thing to say about the Japanese, young lady." Kyoto said, almost as an off-handed comment. "Especially since I am named after the city I was born in." Kyoto didn't seem too bothered about the whole thing, but smiled regardless. "But nice Chinese, for someone not born there. Your accent is a bit off, but its nothing some practice won't help." And he made a move for the butterbeer again. Harry grabbed him, not even having to watch him to know what the man was going to do.

"What are you, his father? Let him have some if he wants some." Cho scolded, attempting to get back in Kyoto's good graces. The boy wasn't even looking at her, as Blaise was stalking sexily over to him, two glasses of pumpkin juice in her hands.

"No, but do you know what happens to House Elves when they drink butterbeer?" At the girl's silence, which was accompanied by a confused look from her, almost indignant, seeming to ask about why she would care about house elves, he continued. "Its narcotic."

"Are you calling him a house elf!"

"If you would let me finish, I would tell you. Anyone not of slight human blood would find butterbeer fairly addictive, if not immediately narcotic. Even those with human blood, Halflings and such, would still find it causes a buzz."

"And how would you know this. And besides, what is he, anyways?" Cho asked, her Ravenclaw nature causing her to run through all possibilities in her head, trying to figure out what Kyoto could be. He wasn't a vampire, and looked too healthy and strong to be a werewolf, which ate away at the inflicted person's body with each turning.

However, Harry had left with Blaise and Kyoto was left with Cho. "Worry not, young one, of my curse. My blessing. Just…" and with that he took off for the butterbeer. However, Jamie appeared in his way, and grabbed him, pulling him to her to dance.

As the dancing continued, Harry started dancing with Hermione. He was surprised that she had grabbed him as forcefully as she had. And then he realized why. "Bellatrix and Narcissa just portkeyed here. They are in the kitchen." Harry made to go, but she held him. "Hey, not until after the dance, buddy." Harry smiled and danced with his friend, laughing together as they spoke about silly things as they danced, making fun of the incredibly suave and smooth dancing they saw in movies and such, of those dancing couples.

Harry being dipped by Hermione, and then both of them going into spins at the same time. At one point, Hermione was released on a spin from Harry, and started doing a dance Harry recognized from some muggle program as the "cabbage patch" or some such idiocy. Harry did a disco-like dance he had seen Kyoto do once, and then they both came back and mocked the tango, Harry with a lock of Hermione's hair held gently between his teeth where the rose would be, and he dropped it from there as they took to laughing as the song ended.

Heading into the kitchen to the applause of everyone at the two friends' antics, he grasped Blaise's hand and had her walk with him. Once in the kitchen, which had Shacklebot guarding it, there sat Narcissa, and a surprisingly fragile-looking Bellatrix. The latter had her long black hair cast over her face, falling as if put that way to purposely cloak her face from view. Harry walked over to her and slid his hand through her dingy hair, brushing it back from her face to see tears on her face. She was still moderately dirty, and he looked to Narcissa.

Before words were said, Snape made his presence known. Harry knew he was there, for some reason, and he assumed it was the Demon in him letting him know, as he had known Narcissa was on the other side of the door before he had even opened it. "Pomfrey refused to let her bathe. When you were there, she was allowed as Poppy can not deny you, as well as the health of the child was important, supposedly, but once you left and the baby was lost, they saw no reason to care for her."

Harry sighed, and glanced to Blaise, who seemed to know what he was asking and nodded. Harry took the woman's hand and placed it in Blaise's who lead Bellatrix up the stairs to Blaise's room, and to the bathroom there. And Harry sat in the seat Bellatrix had been sitting in, and looked at Narcissa.

"She was very emotional when told you requested her presence here. It was good for her. I thank you, for the both of us." Harry nodded at her. "The ministry has a lot of issues going on, ones that I assume you know nothing about at the current time, which is understandable. However, Fudge was thrown out, and replaced by Madam Bones. Because this is a war, Law Enforcement rule is instated. That was how Fudge got his job, truthfully, as he was secondary command of Law Enforcement during the First War, and when his superior mysteriously died, he became Minister.

"We have testimony about Bellatrix being under Imperius, as we captured a lower-leveled Death Eater who, on a bargain, reported what he saw during his times there, in a pensieve, for a lesser sentence. So she has been cleared of all charges. However, there is the issue about the fact that she never finished schooling."

Harry was shocked at this. And apparently so was Snape. "Yes, she was engaged to the bastard husband of hers. She was pulled out at the end of her 5th year, the year he graduated, and placed into the Dark Lord's services."

"So she is…"

"The first falling of the Dark Lord, your miraculous survival, was over the summer of when she was pulled out. The attacks were worse then, and she built up a reputation in just a few days, as attacks were happening sometimes as many as 5 a day. She had an affinity for the Dark Arts that everyone in our family had, and has, and therefore picked it up like I hear you picked up broom work, and Jamie picked up dancing."

"So…How old is she exactly?" Harry asked, doing the math in his head, and finding himself refusing to believe the answer was correct.

"She turned 31 the day that…well…the day we took her back from His forced services."

"Wow…I always thought she was older." And that means that they put a teenager in Azkaban! He thought to himself in shock. After a bit of thinking about this realization, he sighed and then spoke again. "So what do you suppose we do about her schooling?"

"Well, schooling is paid up for her for her last two years, and as such, she deserves it. The Ministry has ahold over the school in this time and under these circumstances. She will be able to return to the school, if not as herself, then nothing more under a guise. However, what you have to do with this, is that I am hoping that you will be able to take care of her. Watch her back. No one will know it is her, but it will be nice to be able to have you take care of her."

Harry nodded immediately. "If at all possible, I think it might be important to talk to Blaise as well. Makes me almost wish I had listened to the Sorting Hat when it said I would do well in Slytherin now, as I can not protect Blaise or Bellatrix. She was in Slytherin, right?" Narcissa nodded. "Dammit. I will do my best, however." Narcissa smiled at him in thanks. "How will she stay hidden?"

"Bellatrix always had Metamorphagus abilities. Not as much as my niece Nymphadora, sadly, but enough to change her face enough to appear older and younger than she truthfully was, and her hair and eyes. It was always useful to her, as she could look old enough to get into the nightclubs we used to frequent, as I had the Veela charm to get myself in. She can look around your age, and from there, there isn't much anyone can do but speculate and think she looks slightly familiar.

"Severus knows, as will Dumbledore when Severus leaves, and all of the other teachers will simply be told that her transfer could not be helped, seeing as her parents were killed, and they had been purebloods who wouldn't support the Dark Lord." Harry nodded. "Now get back out there to that party of yours. I may come out for a dance in a bit, but for now I must contact a few people, young Demon Lord.

Harry raised an eyebrow at this, before he smiled and stood, heading out and calling someone. A moment later, Kyoto wandered in. And as he did, Narcissa stared as him in moderate shock. "This…is this…"

"Hola!" Kyoto spoke with some pep in his voice. Harry smiled, turning to leave Narcissa to speak to Kyoto. He headed out and ran up the stairs to Blaise's room, and walked in and made sure the door was closed behind him. Blaise sat on the bed, and Harry hopped on next to her and explained what had been said. In the process, Bellatrix had come out. She was far from dressed, actually quite naked in fact, and stood there listening to the news of her return to Hogwarts. And with a screech, she ran over and tackled him in a hug.

And there he sat, with her hugging him. Harry was staring over at Blaise in complete shock, looking for help, but the girl was laughing at his shocked face. And when Bellatrix made no sign to be in the process of moving, Harry was left sitting there in confusion with the naked Bellatrix on his lap. She looked at him, and as he looked at her, he watched as her face seemed to age backwards, and her hair drew in a curl, and her nose changed, to a smaller, button-like nose. Overall, she looked similar, but not enough to draw an immediate reaction to herself. She stood from Harry, and smiled, before she made to put on her old clothing, the articles in question were in bad shape.

Harry muttered to Blaise for a moment, before the girl stood and went over, taking Bellatrix into the closet. Harry had noticed the look in the woman's eyes, now a light brown color, that was hard to hide. A look of sadness, a need of approval, and a need to give reason for this approval. If Harry had asked her to jump off of the house and go to the ground headfirst, in exchange for just a bit more of his forgiveness, she would have climbed up on the roof.

-----

Having stood outside the door for some time, Harry watched as the door opened and out walked Blaise, and behind her, Bellatrix. The latter had her deep colored hair tied back, with strands falling to her face, just enough so that she could feel like she could hide behind her hair if need be. She was dressed in simple jeans and a white button-up shirt, which had the sleeves rolled up.

"Is that…my shirt!" Harry asked, mocking a scandalized tone. Blaise smiled, and Bellatrix raised the shirt some to her face, and inhaled into the shirt. She smiled, and Harry smiled back gently. He took Blaise's hand, and walked in between the two girls. Both were shorter than him by around the same amount, Bellatrix just slightly taller.

"Uh…Bellatrix…"

"Bella." She said slowly. "Please…all of my friends used to call me it. That or 'Bunny', something I never understood at all." Harry snickered, realizing the reference to the Muggle cereal quickly.

"Bella, I don't know how this is all going to work out, but we will try and look out for you as much as we can. I do not know how much I can do, especially considering the fact that I am directly targeted by this 'Dark Lord' as they call him, and in a different house than you two, but I will see what I can do." Bella nodded and smiled weakly.

She stopped walking and sighed. "Harry…I know how much I have done to you. And Narcissa says it's not my fault, because of the curse, but it was because I couldn't fight it. And I am so sorry, for all the things I did and the people I hurt." She was quiet for a moment, before looking up at him. "For years, I couldn't fight it. And I find myself stuck in the mindset of a teenager even as a woman of my age. I am not used to thinking on my own…I don't know what to say or how to act so much of the time.

"Hell, for the first year of our 'marriage' as it was called, I wasn't allowed to wear clothes in the presence of the monster who called himself my husband, or whenever he had company. If it was important…I had to…'entertain' them, if he thought it would help his dealings." Here the tears fell. "And it hurts because I was so out of sync. I didn't want to do any of that, I didn't want any part of it, under any circumstances, but I just, just wasn't strong enough. And I have all the memories of what I have done in me, but it almost seems like it wasn't me." She was on the verge of breaking down, and her voice got weaker and more pained as she spoke. Her knees were shaking and looked about ready to give out.

"As far as I am concerned right now…that was not you. That was Bellatrix Lestrange…And right now…you are Bella. Just Bella." And Harry grabbed her to him, and held her to his chest. She began to cry harder and harder, and as they stood like that, Blaise standing beside Harry and Bella, rubbing the girl's back, and gazing between the two, smiling. She mouthed "You're doing the right thing" as there was the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Blaise looked panicked, but Harry shook his head. He could feel the feeling Narcissa gave off in him when she was around.

She came up looking flustered, and fanning herself. She looked at her sister and sighed, as the cleansing tears of years of darkness in her life spilled. Narcissa moved and took her sister, where they sat on the ground and comforted each other, while Harry and Blaise were sent down the stairs. He held her hand as they headed down the stairs. After more dancing, in which Harry danced with Blaise's mum more times than he thought he would, did some weird dancing with Hermione again, and a lot of flailing with Daphne, Blaise reappeared and whispered something to her mother.

Everyone was then ushered into the room to eat. There was a lot of fun there, as Harry was sat at the head of the table, and everyone ate and had fun. Where Ron seemed to try and look more restrained as he ate, that all went to hell when Harry got into a speed-eating contest with Blaise with the ice cream they had snuck from the dessert area half-way through the meal. Harry had won, and Blaise had sunk into the chair with an ice-cream headache that left her slurring words for a good 5 minutes.

And as he sat there, gloating in this, suddenly there was the ominous shout of "Presents!" that heralded bad things. Many bad things. And as they headed to the presents area, it seemed there were more presents than people there, and it was reported that many people sent their presents to him. He opened the usual jumper and cake from Mrs. Weasley, who was unable to attend due to Order business for her at the time. He placed it to the side, with a thanks directed toward the Weasleys there.

As he reached for another, he saw that it was from Ron. He laughed loudly as he opened the box to see, on the top, a piece of parchment connected to a string of twine that had, written on it, simply, "Keep the Bloody Hell Out." It looked to be meant to hand on the door handle. Harry nodded to his friend, before moving the sign and finding some Chocolate Frogs there, and sitting on the top of them, was the "Harry Potter Chocolate Frog Card."

Two of them actually. One of them had the original factory wording, describing the "accomplishments" that seemed the most important to "The-Boy-Who-Lived" and not Harry. And on the other one, handwritten in Ron's handwriting, was a different description. Something a lot more personal.

Beneath a Colin Creevy Picture, Harry recognized it as one of the boy's, was a different description.

Harry James Potter.

Born July 31, 1980-whenever the hell he feels like dying.

Also known as: Heron, Youngest-Seeker-in-a-Century, The-Boy-Who-Won't-Die, "Birdy-Boy"

Harry Potter's accomplishments include: Breaking more rules at Hogwarts than any other student in history on his own, Dating the hottest Slytherin in Hogwarts recent history, Pissing Severus Snape off to no extent just by living, And being the first Weasley to ever not have red hair.

Harry looked at his friend, on the verge of tearing up slightly. It was incredibly thoughtful of him, and there was still a bit left, which Ron urged him to read before making any comments.

His interests include: Flying on his Firebolt, Leading the Gryffindors to continuous, consecutive, Quidditch Cups, Dancing, Getting on the aforementioned Snape's nerves, Shocking the world, Hanging out with his two Bestest friends in the world; Hermione and Ron, and snogging the hell out of his girlfriend in public places where just anyone could walk in…

We love ya, mate! –Ron

Harry stared at his friend, before standing from the table, and embracing his friend in a one-armed hug. Blaise did the same, only it was a full hug, and then the redheaded boy was showered with hugs from all the weeping girls in the room, crying at the thoughtfulness of the entire gesture.

Moving to another gift, he looked inside to find a glossy material. Taking it out, he stared in shock. There in his hands was what appeared to be a leather long-coat of some kind. He stared at it in shock, and held it up, as if asking for an explanation. "It's from Padma and me." Parvati said. "Lavender threw in for the added features, like the holster for your wand in the arm and length charm, but she got you something of her own."

"I…I can't. It's too much…"

"Shut up." Padma said. She hadn't spoken much to him, but was smiling to him brightly. "It was something our parents really didn't mind much, and you helping Parvati with the Defense OWL, they felt it was worth it. I am the mentally grounded one, as they say, while Parvati is a lot more abstract and…'artistic' as they call it. You helping her to the point that she was able to do as well as she felt she did was…very helpful. And besides, we all know that He is after you. So no point not excepting it."

"What is it?" He felt very ignorant asking, but the leather was a deep black, with a feel to it he didn't recognize.

"Wyvern leather." At the gasps, Padma smiled. "The family has a lot of stock in the preserves for them, and the ranches, and the leader of the pack was recently killed by another, for control. He was the strongest the reserve had ever seen, and could rarely be brought down by the entire staff. He had a weak spot on him that was exploited that got him killed, but that spot was not put into this jacket." At the group's raised eyebrows, she smiled and blushed slightly.

"She has been working at the preserve since school let out. She saw all of this happen, and was responsible for the materials, while I…did the designing."

"You designed this!" Harry near shouted in shock. Parvati nodded meekly. Harry stood, and held it up. It was beautiful, and had none of the normal reactions of leather. It made no sound, and rarely stuck or anything. It had a bright sheen to it, as well as a nice texture, but it moved as if it was made from a harder cotton almost. He placed it on, and was shocked to feel it adjust to fit him perfectly, hanging to just above his boots. And he was even more shocked to find that it had a hood that covered his face perfectly. He damn near looked intimidating to them with the hood up, the ominous figure he was casting.

He ran over and gave Padma and Parvati huge hugs, lifting them from the ground and spinning them around in his arms. They laughed as he kissed each on the cheek and thanked them many times, before taking it off and folding it gingerly back into the box. They laughed at this. "It's wyvern leather, Harry. It won't rip or tear or anything, not just because of the material it is made, but the enchantments and such on it makes it damn near indestructible. Don't quote me on it, but I think the only thing stronger is Dragon, and that might not even be true in some cases. Besides, dragonhide doesn't move. It's like a damned board…" Parvati trailed off. Harry smiled, before being given the next box, which he was told was Lavender's.

Blaise leaned over and whispered to Harry, "You know, these gifts are interesting. You have some very good friends, babe. I hope that they can become mine as well." He smiled and she kissed him on the cheek, as Harry geared up to open Lavender's present.

"Hermione called me and let me know that you had gotten rid of the glasses, so I went through with grabbing a pair of sunglasses before I came here. The real gift, though, is under them." Harry found a pair of nice black sunglasses. They were not exceedingly expensive, and suited his needs, and seemed to be nice and sturdy. Underneath the glasses, was a book. It had enchantment runes on the cover, and next to them, and small case. Harry looked in confusion, and then looked to the cover and read. And as he did, his jaw fell more and more.

Lavender explained to everyone. "The book it on Enchanting things. It is minor-leveled, some on runing, some on scripting. The book below it, I Enchanted to be somewhat of a practice journal for enchanting. And in the case, there is a set of Enchanter's Pencils, Quills, Charcoals and such." Hermione looked in shock at the girl she had known for years. She knew little about the girl's family, as she rarely spoke on them. "My mother has been training me in Enchanting since I was small. Somewhat of a new family tradition, more of a hobby to make sure I was magical, unlike my sister, and it kind of stuck. Thought it might be a nice thing for Harry to do, get his mind off of everything going on around him, while at the same time, training to fight in the end.

"The ability to Enchant things can be a good combat technique, as some of the more powerful Enchanters back in magical wars could do them on soldier's armor to make them less vulnerable, make them more accurate, that such thing. Might be a good thing for Harry to learn. It can only help I figured. Thought it would be a nice thing to share a bit of me with him like he shared his abilities with us. Hope you can get some use out of it." Lavender trailed off at the end, almost unsure. She looked to Parvati, who smiled at her, making motions to ensure her friend that Harry would like the gift. They both looked to Harry, who was staring down at the books and supplies in front of him. When he looked up, he smiled brightly at Lavender.

"Thank you for sharing some of yourself with me. I promise you, barring unforeseen circumstances, when school starts again, I will work on this with you, and we can have some fun. Thank you for giving me this part of you." He stood and walked over, hugging Lavender as well, and kissing her on the cheek as well. The girl giggled and smiled to Parvati, happy the boy had liked her gift.

Next up seemed to be Susan Bones. She smiled gently at him, her long blonde hair was up in a high ponytail, and had dressed very well in muggle clothing as far as someone from a Wizarding family goes. Her gift was a mirror of some kind. She explained that it was a mirror called a Truth Mirror, and could see through most invisibility spells and potions, and badly made polyjuice as well as show some signs of mind-control and would show very big lies someway. He thanked her, and she smiled meekly. She was grasping the hand of Hannah Abbott, who sat next to her.

The latter girl had given Harry a kit to polish his wand, as well as a book on under-used curses and spells, that fell out due to "better" spells, as well as more abstract magic. It was a rarely read book, as some spells would specialize on petrifying a person's arm, something no one would do if they could just petrify the whole person with a "simpler" spell. But the spells were so abstract that their defenses, and specific counter-spells were rarely known.

Harry thanked them both deeply, hugging the two, but not kissing either, as Hannah and Susan were still holding hands, even during the hugs, and it almost seemed possessive. Taking a seat, he received some assorted candy goods from Dean, and also in the box was what looked to be a soccer jersey, in gold and red. The word "Gryffindor" was across the front, and the number 1 under it, and on the back, above the 1 on the back, was the name "Potter." It was obvious this was a custom jersey, and he thanked his friend deeply, and placed that too back in the box.

Next up, was apparently Snape, something that shocked and confused everyone in the room. "This, Potter, is for your current handling of the situations going on around you." Was written on the card, and Harry sighed, and nodded to the man, before opening the small box. And inside, was a bowl. And on a card on top of the bowl, it read, "Pocket Penseive." He thanked the man, not showing the card to anyone, as Snape had written on the back, that it contained a few good memories the man had of Harry's parents, as Snape had been a witness to the boy's parents deciding to date, and other such memories.

The next thing he was given was a small box, and many around the table were smiling. Before he could open it, Dean began speaking. "This is a present from the DA. It's a little something that was drafted off of an idea Hermione had last year, and we got in contact with Fred and George." The girl in question's face paled significantly, and the box began to shake. "Basically, they are small balls, similar to grenades, that give off a pulse of magic that targets the residue of dark magic and traces it back to the source, and causes enough pain to generally immobilize the dark wizards long enough for them to be stunned." The box was rattling, and Hermione was effectively choking. She started to talk, but Parvati placed her hand over the girl's mouth, saying she would ruin the surprise. Lavender helped to stop Hermione from speaking, as the girl struggled more and more. Snape was edging to the door slowly.

"How many are in there?" Snape demanded. He had heard of these devices in an Order meeting, and the idea was sound, but dangerous to him, so he had been told. One of them could probably slow Snape himself down for a bit, but he would be able to stand it long enough to apparate away. However…

"Around 20 or so." Susan said, with an angry and indignant undertone to her voice.

"Shit." Snape said deeply. He growled out "Idiots. Its not just dark magic. Its dark anything!" And with that, there was a harsh shaking from the box, and Harry was getting a stinging through his hands. The box fell, as the realization hit.

Turning, he took off from the room. Blaise came to it moments later and went after him. Hermione followed. Harry bolted up the stairs. Between Kyoto, Bellatrix, Snape, and Harry himself, and the amount of power Harry was figuring was in the box they had handed him…He was looking at death. If not his, then someone else's.

Grabbing Bellatrix up in his arms, and Kyoto and Narcissa following, Harry jumped down the stairs and ran out of the house. Kyoto was following, Narcissa after him, and Snape bringing up the rear. Hermione was left to explain to everyone, as they all ran into one of the smaller houses on the property, and Blaise ran with them, opening the door, and they all went in.

"What was that all about?" Dean asked. And then the orbs all rattled powerfully and exploded outward from the box. The wave of pure gray energy, rippling from the box for a good few seconds and all over the house, through walls like a ghost, and finally out of their line of sight, as the energy passed through the walls out to the property outside. But the effects of the energy were still apparent.

"What was that all about, Hermione?" Lavender shouted in indignation. "Didn't he like our gift?"

Hermione sighed. "It's not that. Let's just say that, Harry, as well as a few of our guests could have been…frankly, killed, by that gift."

"But it only hurts dark wizards!" Hannah protested.

"No. It targets all things with a signature reminiscent of what the Ministry calls "dark" or classifies that way. Do you know what it would have done to Professor Snape? It probably would have killed him."

"Damned Death Eater!" Hannah muttered, but was silenced at the look Susan gave her. It was all dawning on her and Padma as time passed.

"So is Harry a Death Eater?" Padma asked, looking slightly angry. Everyone shook their heads. "Exactly. Now, the question is, what made it so that it hurt him. Either he ha…the scar!" And Padma smiled and nodded. They had come to their conclusion, even if it was wrong, Hermione had no intention of telling them so. "It was made by the darkest magic. It could have killed him!"

Everyone sighed, before they all realized that the damper put on was great, but eventually all left on good graces, asking to be brought back from the Burrow where they all went when the energy died down and Harry came back. Their parting left Hermione there with Ron, Ginny, Daphne, Parvati and Padma. Ginny was crying, and Ron helped her to the fireplace and took her home, before coming back. Then they all made the venture outside, realizing the energy had yet to dissipate from the house, as it was slowly trickling out. Once at the small house, they all found Harry sitting in the front of the house. Kyoto was holding a large metal case in one hand, and was putting it on the table in front of Harry when they all walked in.

Harry didn't open it, and smiled at them all. Padma sat there, looking at him for a moment, before tracing the very faint scar on his forehead. "What happened that this is so pale now? He comes back and it goes away?" Harry smiled at her softly. She traced it again, and then seemed to draw her hand back sharply. Harry looked at her oddly, and she smiled weakly. "Sorry. Just…had a very weird feeling. Thought I heard something I don't think I did." She smiled weakly before they all spoke for a bit longer. And upon feeling the burden off of him, they all headed back to the house.

Harry was caught holding Bella's hand in his own, while he gave a piggy-back ride to a once-again playful Blaise, and got some ribbing about having somewhat of a triangle relationship, something that no one seemed very worried about at all, as he assumed they might be upon seeing the three. And he realized that that was the way to protect Bella. People knowing that messing with the girl would not only get Blaise on them, but Harry as well, was better than one or the other. He reminded himself to talk to the two about the idea.

As they entered they house, they found Jamie dancing to the music she had put on, and soon they were all dancing, Kyoto with Jamie, and Harry lost in the many girls around him. Bella was even dancing. Narcissa and Snape strutted a waltz during a more down-toned song, and they had fun. Hermione called back some of the others, and the party was back in full swing.

As they awaited Luna's arrival, as the girl had just returned from a trip, and said she would be coming by at around 3, they got an unexpected arrival. As Harry was dancing with Narcissa, who should come through the fireplace yet again,

But Draco Malfoy.

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