"I am Lord Noctis. And I think it's time we had a talk."

The words echoed around the vast Atrium, which had fallen deathly silent while the man calling himself Lord Noctis spoke. It hung in the air as the amassed onlookers stared in numb disbelief. Harry kept his gaze locked on the face of the last known living Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy; reinforcing his Occlumency barriers by habit. His stare was returned with patient expectation as the silence stretched on.

This was everything Harry had been dreading. A new Dark Lord, a great new threat to the people of the Wizarding World. After so many years of trying to keep something like this from happening, it seemed that he had lost that struggle. Harry was at a loss for words, and it didn't look like he was alone in that. No one seemed to know what to say.

The weary tone of Ron's voice broke the air. "Ahh, goddamit…"

Harry swallowed to clear his throat, fighting to keep the fear from showing on his face. This was serious. The Purifiers had been a threat sure, but none of them had the skill or the power to take up the mantle left vacant when Harry had beaten Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, all those years ago.

Here was a wizard taking on the tile of a Dark Lord, a title of fear and power recognised in every country across the wizarding world. Only those with the power to back up their claim would dare to call themselves so, as doing so made them a target for both regular wizarding kind and other power hungry Dark Lords worldwide. Anybody with the title got an automatic kill order placed on their head by every government on the planet, muggle or otherwise. It set them up on a grand stage on which they declared war on the rest of the world. By the Ministry's latest intelligence there were less than a half dozen witches and wizards identifying themselves as a Dark Lord active today. And looking at the man standing in a still expanding pool of blood before him, Harry knew with cold clarity that this was no pretender.

No, here was a wizard who could apparently possess people, and had just executed, or made to execute themselves, six people in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. This was bad.

"Okay," Harry said in the most official voice he could manage, "I'm here. You've just killed six people and have just made yourself Undesirable Number One. What do you want to talk about?"

Lucius' eyes never left Harry's as he spoke, "What indeed, Harry? There is a lot to discuss. How about we start with this?" He gestured to himself, "Lucius Malfoy. Death Eater, turned a new leaf, turned over again into a Purifier. Surely a man like this must have been high up on your list of suspects?"

"What's your point?" Harry said, not letting his frustration show.

"That's just it; you must have known this man was involved with the Purifier movement. With his history and means it would be clear as day. No doubt you led a number of investigations into him, yes? And what did you find Harry?"

"I'm still not hearing a point."

"Nothing," Noctis carried on as though Harry hadn't spoken, "You found nothing. The great Harry Potter, Head of the Auror Office, and you couldn't even root out this little serpent from under your nose. Didn't you ever stop and wonder why, Harry? Did it never seem odd to you that it was getting harder and harder to make any progress with the Purifiers? That it was getting harder to deal with the threat that was growing on your doorstep?"

"What are you getting at, that I wasn't doing my job?"

Another humourless chuckle, "No Mr. Potter, I'm sure you did your duties as best as you could. Indeed there hasn't been a more celebrated Head Auror since Arcanius Cromwell's day. But what can one man do when the seat of power he relies upon in built on a foundation of corruption?"

"Bullshit," Ron spat.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Harry continued, "We stamped out every inch of corruption in the Ministry after Tom Riddle died." And that had been no small task given the turbulent years that followed the Second War. Harry still had the scar on his eyebrow to prove it. Repulsive creature she might have been, Umbridge had known how to throw a surprisingly solid left hook.

Noctis merely shook his head sadly, "You misunderstand me. I am not talking about the blood purist taint. It's really much simpler than that. I am talking about the most basic failing our kind, gentlemen - simple greed and self interest."

He gave Harry a knowing smile, twisting the facial muscles of Lucius in a way that was unexplainably disturbing to look at. When he spoke his voice was soft, "You are wrong Harry, I'm afraid I do know what I am talking about. In fact I know far more than you could imagine."

He held out his free hand like a teacher giving a lecture on transfiguration basics, "Anthony White, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, obtained his post through promises of returned favours. Trevor Marshall, Undersecretary to the Minister, took bribes to pass on select information to eager ears. Leanne Corewood, Analyst within the Communication Overwatch, destroyed incriminating information before it could be passed on to other departments." He shook his head with a sad smile, "Within your own department your own men sold out their colleagues for reasons pettier than the last. Downey, Augustus, Williams…" As he spoke he nodded in indication to a number of Aurors within the circle around him, "The list goes on Mr. Potter, in every section of every Department those you place your faith in let you down time and time again."

Harry kept his face impassive but his head swam with the implications this stranger had casually laid out at his feet. He knew most of those people. Augustus had been at his house for dinner! Could it be possible? Could there be corruption so deep in the Ministry after everything they had struggled against over the years? Harry didn't want to believe that, he wanted to write it off as just the malicious accusation of a dark wizard.

But he had been chasing down the Purifiers for nearly half a decade and what did he have to show for it? A lot of innocent blood on his hands and his son lying comatose in a bed.

Something must have shown on Harry's face, because Noctis kept on speaking, "Is it really such a shock Mr. Potter? You place the power of your nation on the backs of fools and incompetents," he waved his hand dismissively at the crowds of onlookers that were still being ushered out the Atrium.

"You people don't know how to govern yourselves any better than a pack of dogs… Democracy?" he scoffed, "The masses choose between the better of half wits and sycophants; men and women who lie and trick to gain enough support to place themselves onstage and see who can put on the best show. And through it all, within the halls of the Ministry you fight and scramble in a mad political struggle for advancement and power. Is it such a wonder your government is so rotten when time after time you insist on being led by the least among you?"

"Let me guess," Harry cut him off, seeing what was coming. "That would be where you come in,"

Noctis turned his attention back to Harry, "Centuries of turmoil. War, poverty, disease and division. This is what Britain has gone through on the backs of lesser men. History does not remember these sad little men, it remembers the great leaders. And why would they not? Godric Gryffindor himself rose to power leaving countless corpses in his wake, and he was the greatest leader this country has seen in centuries!"

"You think you're some kind of hero?" Harry asked in disgust. He stabbed his wand at the six Purifiers lying dead around Noctis, their blood soaking into the hem of his robes. "Is that what you call heroics, forcing people to blow their brains out?!"

Noctis looked behind at the bodies behind him for the first time. He glanced over them with interest. "They did make quite a mess didn't they? I considered having them use the killing curse, but it just doesn't have quite the same impact." He looked back at Harry, "I did not say this country needed a hero, only a strong hand to guide it."

"So that's your plan then, take the country over by force?" Harry asked, forcing a smile on his face that he did not feel, "I don't know if you noticed but things didn't go too well for the last person to try that out." He had to look confident, to show no fear. That was the way an Auror had to deal with people like this; show them you are the one in control.

"Oh no, I noticed," Noctis said, his tone of voice sounding strange coming from Lucius's mouth, "Indeed, I know the last moments of Rosier's reach for power quite intimately." And once again that unnerving smile - knowing what you don't and having no intention of sharing. Harry felt his hairs stand on end despite himself.

This man had been there, in the Great Hall the night Albus had been…

"But you were talking about Voldemort weren't you?" Noctis continued, still smiling, "Yes, you defeated Lord Voldemort - a great victory, some would say. The most feared wizard in generations fell dead at your feet. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived," his mouth twitched as if he found something funny about that, and Harry felt illogically insecure all of a sudden.

"But I know your story Harry, and I don't see a great and powerful wizard standing before me. I see no honed skill or great knowledge or raw power," he wasn't smiling now. His face, Lucius's face, was dreadfully calm as his eyes bored into Harry's.

"The sad truth is that you cannot stop me Mr. Potter, just as you could not save your government from its own greed and cowardice. You're just a man - a boy who got lucky, who defeated a terrible wizard through circumstance and trickery. You are no saviour Harry Potter, no great leader of men," his voice had gotten quiet, like it was just the two of them in that vast Atrium.

"You are no hero. What you are is weak. You could not save this country from the Purifiers," now his voice was barely above a whisper, "Any more than you could save your son."

"STUPEFY!"

It took Harry a second to recognise the voice as his own. It sounded so vicious, so full of rage. Fury coursed through him and burst out of his wand in a bolt of red light so bright it lit up the hall. It shot towards Noctis and exploded in a shower of crimson.

The world around him snapped into focus like he had come out of a tunnel. He had completely forgotten about the people in the Atrium, he had been so focused on Noctis's words, his blood boiling higher with every sentence. He had completely forgotten Ron at his back, shouting pacifying orders to the jumpy men on each side of them. He had completely forgotten to keep control. This Noctis had seemed to know exactly what to say to get under his skin.

The blinding red light faded as quickly as it had arrived and Harry re-aimed his wand where Noctis was standing.

Still standing.

Noctis was in the same spot, the same position, as if nothing had happened. Only his free hand had moved. It was held out in front of him with his palm faced outwards, like he was signalling something to stop.

"Bloody hell," Harry heard Ron mutter, "That was a Protego."

Wandless magic, at that speed, and while he possessed another body. Harry's mental assessment of this Noctis was getting worse and worse by the minute. Looking over he saw that nightmare smile back on his face.

"Oh dear," he said affably, "It seems I've said something to upset you."

Harry just gritted his teeth and raised his wand, ready to cast again if Noctis so much as blinked in a threatening manner.

"I guess I have outstayed my welcome. I came only to deliver you a message, and then I will take my leave." Once again Harry found himself meeting Noctis's unnerving stare, "I will be taking power. You cannot stop me. I know you must try, but I felt that I would give you this chance all the same."

There was no smile this time; his face was deadly serious, "Do not stand in my way Harry Potter. This is not a fight you can win."

He looked away and regarded the crowd of Aurors and the last of the fleeing civilians. Their eyes were frozen in morbid fascination, like they were witnessing a car crash. Or an execution.

"A darkness is coming!" He called out to them, making the Aurors bristle and the onlookers flinch. "It will wash over this decaying country and eradicate the weakness that you have suffered blindly under. And after it had passed a new dawn will come, bringing with it a new era for us all."

He turned away from the crowd. It seemed he was leaving. No one seemed to know what to do; you couldn't exactly arrest a man when he was possessing another.

But Harry still had one more question.

It seemed for a moment that he couldn't make the words come out; like they had choked inside his throat. But he managed to strangle the words out somehow.

"What did you do to my son?"

His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, choked with rage and a deeper, stronger tone of fear.

He had said it so quietly he was sure Lord Noctis must have missed it, but the man looked back at him. For the briefest moment they stared at each other. On Noctis' face there was a new expression, one Harry could not read. Then Noctis raised his palm out again, and the moment passed.

His Protego flared back into life. Something was different with it this time though, Harry could make out a slight golden sheen to it, causing him to scowl. A Protego Maxima, that couldn't be good.

For the first time since he had arrived, Noctis' wand arm began to rise.

In response the Aurors around them suddenly seemed to come to life. There was a shuffle of movement, the sound of several voices.

"He's making a move…"

"What's he…"

But Harry knew, in an awful wave of certainty, what was about to happen.

"STUNNERS!" He barked, and in an instant the great room flared into red light, showering the figure of Lucius Malfoy and blocking him from sight. Meanwhile Harry and Ron fired continuous shield breaker hexes at it, trying to wear it down enough for a stunner to break through. Anything stronger and they risked killing Malfoy. And they needed him alive.

"I will find you!" Harry roared at the covered figure in the midst of all the light. His voice echoed over the other Aurors. He knew he didn't have much time. "I will find you and I will make you pay for this!For what you did to my son!"

No answer came. There were dozens of stunning spells wearing down on Noctis's shield, but they were too late, far too late.

Amongst the clamour, the voice of Lucius Malfoy could be heard.

"DIFFINDO!"

The Protego crumbled away as Lucius's body collapsed on the floor.

Silence fell.

Harry let his wand drop and watched numbly as the blood pooled around Lucius and mixed with the other Purifiers on the cold marble floor.

And so died the last Death Eater.

For the longest time Harry had thought the moment would bring with it a sense of peace, of finality.

But it did not feel that way to Harry now, as he gazed over the seven corpses littering the Atrium. Seven puppets that had been used up and cast aside by some unknown and uncaring madman. Seven destroyed lives that were undoubtedly not the last.

No. It did not feel that way at all.

XXXXX

Albus ate his breakfast without much enthusiasm and ignored the students chattering around him. The Great Hall was buzzing with morning activity. A few seats over Albus was blankly aware of James arguing with one of his friends and being the centre of attention as usual. But Albus himself was in no mood to be sociable; all he wanted was a nice stress free breakfast. No fuss, no drama.

He just sat at the Gryffindor table, ate his cereal and stared off into space hoping that no one would bother him today. But Albus had never been particularly lucky.

"Morning!"

Amy sat down across from him with her usual cheerful air, pointedly ignoring his obvious desire to eat in peace. They had been at Hogwarts for three years now, and Albus had yet to see anyone match the girl's relentlessly cheery attitude, it was like she almost did it to be vindictive.

"Mm," he mumbled back without looking up.

She grabbed an orange from the serving plate and began peeling it, "Ooh, so it's grunting today, we must be in a great mood this morning."

Albus stubbornly grunted in reply and kept eating his cereal.

"C'mon Albus," she persisted, "I know it's a Monday but that doesn't give you an excuse to try bring the rest of us down. Just think, double Potions after breakfast then you can doze back off in History of Magic!" She gave him a wide smile as if that settled matters and went back to her breakfast. Her blonde hair, so pale it was pretty much white, was so bright under the morning sun it was almost painful to look at, so Albus resolved to stare at the table in front of him.

"I think it's more got something to do with his duel with Scorpius tonight," he heard Keegan mumble sleepily beside him as the boy sat down rubbing his eyes. He had only made a half hearted effort to dress himself today. Half the buttons on his shirt weren't done up and his tie was hanging around his shoulders. His messy brown hair was sticking up at several odd angles from where he had slept on it.

Amy was frozen with an orange slice held in front of her open mouth, evidently taking a moment to process what Keegan said. "What?" she asked after a second. Her eyes darted back and forth from Keegan's face to Albus'. Keegan wasn't paying attention, spearing three sausages onto his fork at once while Albus redoubled his efforts to avoid her gaze.

"You're kidding right?" she asked. Getting nothing but a shrug from Keegan she turned to Albus, her face growing darker by the second. "Right?" God help him but Albus swore sometimes it was like the girl only had two moods, sickeningly cheerful and frighteningly angry.

"S'not a big deal," Albus said. It wasn't, really. It most certainly was not the reason he so desperately wanted to eat breakfast alone this morning. Just a little peace, no drama…

"Not a big deal," Amy hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "What. Happened."

"'Was pretty sweet actually," Keegan said around a mouthful of food. As per usual he was completely unaware of the escalating sense of danger at the table. He had yet to remove the skewered sausages from his fork and was taking bites out of them between sentences.

"After the match last night Al got into it with Malfoy… there was the usual name calling, family insulting... then they started scrapping again in the corridor, which was a good one by the way you shouldn't have missed it…in the end Al called Malfoy's dad a Purifier, and Malfoy challenged him to a duel at midnight tonight." He looked sidelong at Albus, grinning like he'd done him a favour. He either didn't notice the betrayed look Albus was giving him or he just didn't care.

"And you accepted?" Amy said, looking positively murderous by this point. She had been trying to dissuade Albus' hostility with Scorpius since first year. But Albus couldn't help it, the snivelling runt just knew how to push his buttons.

Albus looked up and had to stop himself from flinching under her glare, "Yes?"

Dammit, he hadn't meant that to sound like a question. He gulped to clear his throat. "Look, what was I supposed to do, just refuse?"

"Yes you were supposed to refuse!" she snapped back, startling a pair of girls sitting next to her at the table. "I don't understand why you keep letting him get to you Albus! All you do is get yourself into trouble! Just last week you got detention from Professor Howl for trying to sabotage Scorpius's work in Charms!"

In fairness, she had a point. Ever since their first week Albus had been at odds with Malfoy. Their dislike with each other had been mutual from the start. Everything about the boy just made him angry, from his confident sneer to his pompous attitude and his continuous berating. It seemed as if they had always been destined to be at each others throats.

He'd drawn quite a bit of trouble over the feud, from both other Slytherins and from teachers who caught them going at each other. But he wasn't about to stand down now, not after Malfoy had called him out like that.

"What's the matter Potter? Afraid to fight without your father or brother there to save you? Looks like not all the Potters are such mighty heroes after all!"

"C'mon Ames," Keegan said leaning over the table to grab a jug of orange juice, almost knocking it over onto a pair of sixth years. "The git had it coming. He's been a dick to Al since our first day."

"And Albus has been entirely innocent in all this?" she asked sarcastically, looking at the both of them.

That's a bit unfair really.

Well, perhaps the Soprano Screamers in his dinner last October had been a bit much…

"Hey, Malfoy's the one who drew first blood. Besides, its about time someone finally but the boots to that blonde little twerp's –"

"That blonde little twerp's… what, Mr. Pembroke?"

Albus couldn't see who was standing behind him and Keegan, but he recognised the voice easy enough. Oh crap.

"Um, to his feet so that he doesn't get cold, Professor Longbottom?" Keegan said with a grimace as he and Albus slowly turned around. Professor Longbottom, Head of Gryffindor house was standing over them with a terrifyingly polite smile on his face.

"How commendable of you to look after the wellbeing of your classmates Mr. Pembroke. And would you mind telling me what horrible ordeal you went through this morning that prevented you from getting properly dressed before coming down for breakfast?"

Keegan looked thoughtful for a second. "Um, it was seven o'clock on a Monday Professor?"

"How dreadful that must have been for you. You just have to tell me all about it. Shall we say, detention this afternoon?" Still that genial smile.

"Wouldn't miss it Professor."

"Good lad. Now run upstairs and get yourself cleaned up before you embarrass your house any further and I'll have to take another five points from Gryffindor. There's a good chap."

He lifted Keegan out of his chair and set him off towards the main doors, where Keegan broke into a run. Just before he reached the door he tripped over his own feet and nearly fell flat on his face. Luckily he was able to stop just in time by grabbing onto a squawking first year to steady himself.

As he ran round the corner and out of sight Professor Longbottom turned back and nodded to Amy and Albus.

"Ms. Adler, Mr. Potter. I trust you're up to date with your Bandersnatch Shrub cultivation essays due tomorrow."

Albus nodded enthusiastically, "Absolutely sir."

"Just finishing it up after lunch, Professor," Amy said behind him.

Professor Longbottom grinned down at them, "Good to hear it. Enjoy your breakfasts." And with that he turned and walked back to the teacher's table. If Albus didn't know better he would have thought the Professor's shoulders were shaking, almost as if he was trying not to laugh…

Around them the sounds of conversation started back up as students eased up once a teacher had left earshot.

Albus turned to Amy with a smile, looking to share a laugh at their carefree friend's misfortune. However, when he looked back he saw she was looking at him with a frown on her face. The look was so at odds with her usual demeanour that he automatically felt guilty.

"What?" he asked, suddenly frowning himself.

"You're not really going to duel Scorpius tonight are you?"

Albus sighed. "Yes I'm gonna duel Scorpius. C'mon Amy I don't understand why you're so bothered about this. I mean, Keegan doesn't care."

"Keegan doesn't care about anything," she said rolling her eyes, "Albus, this feud you've had with Malfoy has slowly been getting out of hand for a while now. It's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt."

"It's gonna be fine. Look I'm just –"

"You're not even listening to me!" she hissed at him. She looked visibly upset now and Albus felt his insides twist further. "I mean, have you even asked yourself why you hate him so much."

"Yeah 'cos he's a spoiled, arrogant –"

"I mean really, seriously asked yourself. Ever since first year it's like you've had a vendetta against him. And from what I can see there's no real reason for it, it's like you're making a determined effort to hate him." She looked him directly in the eyes, "As long as I've known you you've gone out of your way to avoid any kind of conflict unless it involved Malfoy. So why are you doing this Albus?"

He found himself caught out for a moment. He reached for an immediate answer but to his surprise none came.

Sure he didn't like Scorpius' attitude, but there were other kids in their classes who were worse; and he never paid them much mind. Amy was right; he never liked confrontation, ever since he was little. But his natural cowardice didn't seem to apply to the uppity Slytherin. Sure he resented Scorpius for all the jabs at Albus and his friends and family, but hadn't Albus done the same back to him?

It seemed as if Albus should have a good, defendable reason for why he had such a problem with him, but for the life of him it wouldn't come to him. He looked up to see Amy watching him intently with her wide brown eyes and floundered about for something to say.

"Look, Amy I -"

Before he could get another word out someone dropped down in Keegan's vacated seat and rested their arm on Albus's shoulder.

"Yo Al," James said, "I hear tell that you've got yourself a little bit of a duel coming up tonight."

"Um, right," Albus responded, suddenly finding it awkward to talk about it under Amy's scrutinizing gaze. She didn't even look at James.

James seemed to not notice. He gripped Albus' shoulders and gave them a fierce shake. "My little brother," he said with no small amount of pride as Albus's head rocked back and forth, "Fighting in a duel to defend our family honour. And against a Malfoy no less!" He clasped his fist to his heart and gave an over exaggerated sigh of emotion. "So proud… so proud..."

He thankfully stopped shaking Albus, who looked up at Amy only to find her seat empty. Glancing down the table he saw her walking away towards the main door. He half stood up; wanting to call out to stop her but for the life of him he couldn't think of something to say.

Instead he just slumped down in his seat while James, who hadn't seemed to notice a thing, kept talking.

"Now we don't have a lot of time so I can only give you a rundown of the basics. First of all you'll want to keep on your toes. Make sure you give your opponent a moving target. You stand still and you're just a big bull's eye. Second, don't be too proud to ignore an obvious advantage, if he's standing legs wide apart and you've got an opening you give him a swift kick in the happysacks - 'works a treat, trust me. Thirdly…"

Albus just nodded dumbly and returned to staring at the table in front of him. He tried to get Amy's words out of his head but something about them seemed to bug him. She was worried about him again, and she seemed to have touched on something important. But he was in the right, surely?

James continued to drill Albus with half heard instructions and advice while Albus let his head drop down onto the table with a dull thud.

Just a nice, stress free breakfast...

He barely heard James's voice as he tried to get the upset look on Amy's face out his head. No fuss, no drama. Just a nice, stress free breakfast. Was that really too much too ask for?

XXXXX

James leant against the doorway to Albus' room as the mist gradually receded. He had only caught some of the memory, but the fading image of his younger self as he detailed the tactical merits of spitting in your opponent's eye made him smile despite himself. As far they could tell, there was no pattern to the events that the Pensieve projected, but if nothing else it was good to look back at happier times.

But God he hated seeing him like this.

"Don't worry Al," he said softly, "We're gonna find a way to help you."

James had broken a few promises in his life, but this was one he intended to keep. There had to be some cure, some remedy that could undo this. Now all they had to do was find it, no matter what they had to do.

No longer able to bear seeing Albus the way he was, James turned and headed out the room. He walked the stairs and into the living room where across from the fire, sitting snugly in a plush armchair was Lily. Her long red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was writing away on a letter nestled in her lap, probably to Rose. The girls had always been so close growing up, spending all their free time together. They were both the top students in their respective years, and despite being a year apart and being cousins it was not uncommon for the two to be mistaken for sisters.

"Anything new?" she asked without looking up.

"Nah, just some memories from third year," James said. As per their father's orders, someone had to check in on Albus every hour. The Pensieve only showed something about twice a day, the rest of the time it would sit there like any other Pensieve. Even so it was better than nothing, and James was sick with doing nothing.

Lily grunted in reply and kept on writing. She always put up a tough front but James knew his little sister well enough to recognise how much talking about Albus upset her.

And he had an idea why; James had heard from Hugo, who had heard it from Rose, that Lily and Albus had had some kind of fight just before the Purifier attack on the school. Rose hadn't given much detail, but Lily had said some pretty harsh words to Albus. That had been the last time they had spoken, and James was sure it was eating her up inside.

"But I'm sure we're onto something with yesterday's memory," he continued, trying to reassure her, "I mean, we got something from the night of the attack before, what's to say we won't get something else?"

Lily looked up at him for a second. She had a look on her face as if she wanted to ask him something, but in an instant it was gone. She just nodded and went back to her letter.

"You'll see," James called back over his shoulder as he headed towards the fridge, "Al will be back on his feet in no time to bug us all once again." He grabbed a carton of orange juice and popped off the lid.

"Lily! James!"

His father's voice. James span around and saw the silver form of a stag that he recognised as his dad's Patronus standing in the middle of the living room. Lily had jumped up in surprise, scattering the contents of her letter over the floor.

"Stay at home, both of you!" Harry's voice echoed out from the silver figure, "Your mother will be home soon, she'll explain everything. For now just listen to me. Stay. At. Home!"

Just as quickly as it had arrived the Patronus vanished, as if it had never been there at all. Lily stared wide eyed at the spot where it had been for a moment, before turning to look at James.

"See?" he said with a weak grin on his face, "We're making progress."

XXXXXXXXXX

Author's notes:

Just in case anyone's wondering, Harry doesn't consider Draco a Death Eater, meaning, to him, Lucius was the last one remaining. That's a matter of his perspective, I'm not saying everyone else thinks the same way.

Oh, and I hope this goes without saying, but a character's views don't reflect my own. Just want to make sure we've got that cleared out the way.

And as I'm sure you've worked out by now, Albus' story is gonna be non-linear. The benefits of having him the way he is is that I get to jump around and tell his story by crossing different points in his life. It might be a bit odd but trust me in that there is a reason for it and it isn't random. This is actually important to the plot and should get clearer as the story progresses.

Anyway I hope it was a good read. If not, tell me and once I get over weeping hysterically in my bathtub I'll try and do better.

Thanks for reading. You are awesome.