Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Here's the next chappie. Enjoy!!
Chapter Thirty Seven
Harry watched as his blond haired friend paced the length of his room. Draco was doing most of the talking as Harry sat quietly on his bed, watching his friend work himself up.
"I just can't believe she would do something like this!" he seethed.
"She didn't explain why?" Harry asked.
"No, she just told me that it's something she had wanted to do for a while now but couldn't before." Draco spat in anger. "But I know she's lying! She never wanted to join the Order. This is all Marco's doing! He's the one who's brainwashed her into joining!" Draco said, his grey eyes sparking in rage
Harry didn't say anything. Draco already knew what Harry thought of his uncle.
"What did you say when they told you they had joined?" Harry asked.
"What do you think? I went berserk! I told mother I wouldn't speak to her again if she became an Order member. She was going on about how it was the right thing to do, to join Dumbledore. When I told her what I thought of Dumbledore and his Order, Marco started yelling at me. He said the usual rubbish, how I was just like father and that I had been brainwashed by…by, well you know!" he trailed off.
"By me." Harry supplied with a hint of a smirk.
Draco started pacing again, muttering obscenities at his uncle under his breath.
"I hate him! I swear I hate him so much!" Draco said loudly enough for Harry to hear.
"Draco…"
"I know he thinks he's in charge now, but he can't seem to get it through his skull that he doesn't own me!" Draco yelled in frustration.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Ever since Aunty Bella…ever since her funeral, Marco just acts like he's the head of the family. He constantly tells mum not to get upset over father and that it's a good thing he's gone and he acts like I'm his bloody son! Telling me what to do all the time!" he spat.
Harry didn't say anything. Marco was the eldest. In Harry's memory, Marco had always been protective of his younger sisters, Narcissa and Bella. Harry remembered Marco's broken form at Bella's funeral. It wasn't an easy thing, to bury your baby sister.
Draco was still pacing, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
"I know mum would never have done something like this if Aunty Bella was still alive. Mum wouldn't dare to even dream of joining the Order. And Uncle Marco was always scared senseless of father and uncle Rodolphus. He would never have pulled such a stunt!"
Harry couldn't help agree. Marco really had a problem with both his sisters' husbands; both had been loyal followers of Voldemort.
Draco sighed and came to sit next to Harry, having tired himself out with all the pacing.
"I just can't deal with all this crap anymore. My whole life has just turned on its head and I don't know how to fix it." he confessed tiredly.
"I know what you mean." Harry replied quietly.
Draco looked at Harry, his eyes lingering on Harry's face. He looked away and shook his head.
"When did life get filled with such crap?" Draco asked.
"It always was filled with crap. We were just too young to notice it." Harry answered.
"Harry, we're seventeen not forty!" Draco reprimanded.
Harry smiled and threw Draco a look.
"So what are you going to do now?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. I can't let mum join the Order. Hopefully, she'll change her mind. I told her I'm not going to stay under the same roof as Order members and then I left and…came…here." Draco trailed off, realising what he had done.
"Right, because there are no Order members living here." Harry mocked.
Draco glared at Harry.
"I'm under your roof! You're not an Order member!" he snapped at him.
"Do you think Narcissa will change her mind?" Harry asked, ignoring Draco's angry glare.
"Hopefully she will." He mumbled. "I just wish father…if he was here…" Draco trailed off. He sat with his head lowered.
Harry knew that Draco missed Lucius, whatever their relationship was like, he was still his father. And at a time like this, Draco was bound to miss Lucius. A part of Harry missed Lucius as well. He was the only one left that had been a part of Harry's past.
"I need some alcohol." Draco said finally, getting to his feet.
"Right behind you." Harry replied following Draco out of the room.
xxx
As soon as Harry and Draco stepped out of the room they could hear loud voices coming from downstairs. Draco and Harry recognised the high voice at once. Draco growled something that sounded like 'mother' and headed downstairs.
Both boys walked inside to find Narcissa and Marco standing in the middle of the room, talking loudly with James and Lily. Damien was standing next to his mum. Everyone turned to see the two boys walk into the room.
Harry watched as Narcissa hurried over to Draco. She stood in front of him but didn't reach for him.
"Draco! What is the meaning on this! What were you thinking walking out like that!" she reprimanded.
Draco didn't answer her but glared at her. It was clear to see that it was costing him everything he had to keep in control of his temper.
Harry looked over to see Marco standing next to James, a look of relief on his face. He was just as tall as his sister but where Narcissa had blond hair, he had black hair, similar to Bella. Harry noticed how much older he looked than the last time he had seen him. He could see the fine lines on his face and his dark hair was starting to grey. Harry smiled, he was certain that Draco and his antics was the reason for Marco's sudden aging.
"Why did you walk out like that?" Narcissa asked Draco.
"I think we should discuss this at home. Narcissa, Draco we should leave." Marco said in his usual curt way.
"I'm not going home with you until you change your mind about joining the Order." Draco answered, directing his answer to his mum.
Narcissa stood to her full height before answering.
"We will discuss this at home." She said in a bitter tone.
"It's not going to be my home anymore if you decide to stay as an Order member." Draco stubbornly replied.
"Draco, stop this childishness and come…" Marco started.
"I was talking to my mother!" Draco hissed at his uncle.
James and Lily suddenly felt very uncomfortable in their own home. They looked at Damien as he inched towards the kitchen door, intending to sneak out. He had witnessed enough family fights of his own to see anymore.
Narcissa was staring at Draco with wide eyes.
"I can't believe you would speak to my brother like that!" she said to him.
"Then your brother shouldn't interrupt me." Draco answered back.
"What has gotten into you?! Is this the way you have been brought up to speak to others? Are you trying to embarrass me?" Narcissa asked, clutching to her robes, her eyes filling with angry tears.
At the sight of his mum upset, Draco calmed a little. He looked over to see James and Lily looking quite embarrassed as well. James was saying something in a low voice to Marco and was leading the upset looking man towards the kitchen.
Harry watched from Draco's side as James and Lily walked into the kitchen, taking Marco with them. His attention came back to Narcissa.
"I'm sorry mother but he does this every time! Whenever I'm trying to talk to you he always interferes. I've had enough of him!" Draco snapped.
"That is enough! I won't have you speak about my older brother like that. He only interferes because he cares." Narcissa said this in a way that showed she had said these words before many times.
"Yeah, he cares so much he's brainwashed you into joining with Dumbledore!" Draco hissed angrily again.
"Draco, we have been through this! I joined for a purpose, there is a reason!" Narcissa said.
"What reason? What purpose? All your life you were on the other side and now all of a sudden you want to switch sides! Why?" Draco asked angrily.
Narcissa was quiet for long minutes. Her eyes were wide and fixed on her only son. Her lips were pressed tightly together.
"That is exactly why." She said in a near whisper. Her hands were shaking as she spoke. "All my life I was told the same thing; 'keep you head down and your eyes lowered. Then maybe, just maybe, you'll survive.' Well I don't want to just survive anymore. I've had enough of this type of life! It was like this when I was growing up. It was like this when I got married and had you. I was told always to keep my head lowered. Never raise your head or your voice. And where did that bring me? I'm living the life of a widow even when my husband is alive! I've lost my only sister and have nowhere to go but my brother's home. I want to do something about this! I want to act against what caused my life to disintegrate around me."
"Is that what this is about? You want to find an aim to your life? Merlin, you could do something else, anything else! Why Dumbledore? Why the Order?" Draco asked.
"Why not?" Narcissa asked.
"Because he's the enemy." Harry answered her question quietly.
Narcissa and Draco turned to look at Harry in surprise. They had almost forgotten he was there. Narcissa looked carefully at him before answering.
"No Harry, he's not the enemy. He never was the enemy. It took me a while to realise that as well." She said in a quiet voice.
"You've been mislead by him. You've fallen for his words and acts of wisdom. You talk about taking control of your life? All you've done is swapped one dictator for another. Dumbledore is no different to what Voldemort was." Harry said, taking out the aggression that was bubbling inside him since he had seen her at the meeting this morning.
Narcissa and Draco stared at Harry. Suddenly Narcissa turned to face Draco, a stern look took over her features.
"You want to know what my reasoning is to join the Order. Then go and get your uncle, apologise for insulting him, and get back home. I promise I will discuss this with you. If you still don't agree with me, I promise I will rethink my decision."
Draco looked at her for a moment, thinking over her promise. He let out a dejected sigh as he realised that he had no argument left in him. He headed towards the kitchen to face his uncle. As soon as Draco was out of the room, Narcissa faced Harry.
"I know you think you have everyone figured out but the truth is you couldn't be more confused." She said quietly to him.
"I'm not the one who is confused. You're the one who switched sides." Harry answered back.
Narcissa stared at Harry, her eyes fixed to Harry's face.
"I know that many people see you as a hero. Others fear you for your past and your abilities. I know that everyone sees you as a strong wizard, more powerful than Dumbledore and possibly darker than Voldemort." Narcissa said quietly. "But after seeing you today in the meeting, after hearing you speak to that Auror, do you know what I saw? I saw a confused boy who doesn't know what side he should be on. I see a lost boy not a powerful wizard. You are so confused you don't even know who to hate anymore. You stood up for Voldemort, the person who took everything from you and you treat your true parents like they wronged you in some way." Narcissa kept her eyes fixed to Harry while she spoke.
"For someone who doesn't know me, you sure do make some strange observations." Harry answered darkly.
A sad smile took over Narcissa's face.
"I know you more than you think, Harry. I saw you grow up just as much as Lucius did." She confessed, surprising Harry.
"I don't remember seeing you that often." Harry said before he could stop himself.
Narcissa did something very strange then, she reached over and gently touched Harry's face, her long fingers trailing down the side of his face. That was the first time she acted so motherly towards him.
"You don't remember because he didn't want you to remember." She whispered.
Harry felt his stomach lurch like he had skipped a step while going downstairs. His memories. Voldemort had taken his memories. He had oblivated him and erased memories of Narcissa.
"Why?" Harry asked, his voice sounding choked to his own ears.
"It was when you were really young. I couldn't stand to see you hurt. You were the same age as my Draco and it tore me apart to see a child in pain. I used to care for you when you were hurt. But of course, that wasn't the right thing to do so eventually I was stopped from meeting you and your memories were altered so you didn't remember me." Narcissa told him sadly.
Harry could feel his heart beat painfully fast. He knew that Voldemort had played with his mind, took away certain memories and altered others to fit his plan. But never did he think it was done to such an extent. He felt a strange sort of explosion go off in his head. Could he trust any of his memories?
"I know what you think about Dumbledore but Harry you have to see that the truth is something else. He is not like Voldemort, not in any way." Narcissa stopped as the kitchen door opened and Draco walked out with Marco and the Potters.
She turned to face them but whispered a few last words to Harry.
"Let go of him, Harry. He'll only cause you more pain. Focus on your true family, the ones that never used you."
xxx
Bright flashing lights, jets of light flying in every direction, shouts of curses ringing in the air around him. Harry watched with a thumping heart as the familiar dream played out before him once again. He waited as patiently as he could for Bella to make an appearance. He closed his eyes as the image before him rippled and swam around, making his dizzy. He opened his eyes to see everything around him horribly distorted. The fuzzy images cleared momentarily for Harry to see Bella. She was brandishing her wand and blocking oncoming spells before firing some of her own.
Harry had seen this dream so many times now he could tell what was going to happen next. It was always the same. Bella would duel with apparent ease before the image of the dream became distorted. Then her pained gasp would jerk him awake and he would spend the rest of the night wondering what had happened to her.
Harry desperately willed himself to stay in this dream, to see what it was that happened to Bella. He wanted to know why he kept seeing this particular dream. What was it that was pulling him to come here?
Just as he had predicted, the image of Bella began to alter until it was nothing more than swirling colours and fuzzy images. Harry prepared himself to hear her voice, to hear the pain in her voice. Just as it rang in his ears he heard his name being yelled.
"Harry! Harry!"
Harry woke up to see James gently shaking his shoulder in an effort to wake him. Harry blinked at him, confused as to why he was waking him up. He looked around him and saw that he had fallen asleep on the living room sofa. James was the only one in the room with him. Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes. How had he managed to fall asleep?
"Are you okay?" James asked.
Harry nodded his head.
"Yeah, fine." He said in a quiet voice.
He looked over to the clock on his wall to see that it was only ten in the evening.
"You've been training a lot, probably tired yourself out." James offered as he saw Harry blush a little at falling asleep so early.
Harry ran a hand through his hair but didn't respond. Ever since Narcissa's talk with him, Harry had spent every waking moment in his training grounds. It was the only thing he could do to distract himself from her words. Everything about his past life seemed to be nothing but a lie. He felt he couldn't trust any of his past memories?
James sat next to Harry and saw the look on his son's face. He had been quieter and somewhat subdued since Narcissa and Marco had come over to collect Draco Malfoy. That was a few days ago. James knew that Narcissa must have said something to Harry but he couldn't figure out what it was that had affected Harry so much. He decided not to focus too much on that just now.
"Where are mum and Damien?" Harry asked.
"They're in the kitchen." James answered. "I'm sorry for waking you. I would have let you sleep but you looked like you were having a nightmare." James trailed off, not sure if Harry was going to tell the truth or just refuse to talk about it, like usual.
To his surprise, Harry responded.
"It wasn't a nightmare, at least I don't think it was anyway." He said.
James tried to hide his surprise. He decided to press his luck and question Harry.
"What were you dreaming about?"
Harry looked up at his dad, wondering if he should talk to him about this bizarre recurring dream.
"It was…it was nothing. Just a silly dream." He finished lamely.
James could tell Harry was lying.
"You didn't look like you were enjoying it." James said in a quiet voice.
Something in Harry screamed at him to talk to his dad about this dream. Even if no solution came from talking, it might make him feel better. Taking a deep breath, Harry started.
"Dad, have you ever seen a memory that wasn't yours?" Harry asked, his voice tense and strained.
"Many times." James answered calmly.
"Really?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yes. I've seen plenty of memories using a pensive." James answered.
"No, I meant, without a pensive. Like in a dream?" Harry asked again.
This time James understood and his hazel eyes widened with surprise.
"Oh, um, no, Harry. I've never experienced that." James said quietly. "It's happened to you." It wasn't a question but Harry still answered it with a nod.
"I've had this same dream many times but I can't make any sense of it. I know what I see has happened before but it's not my memory." Harry tried to explain.
"Whose memory is it?" James asked with unease.
Harry looked up at his dad and for a moment he debated whether he should tell him or not. Deciding that he had started the awkward conversation, he may as well finish it, Harry answered.
"I think it's Bella's."
James didn't say anything but he was relieved. Bella he could deal with, Voldemort was a different story.
"What do you see?" he asked.
"She in a duel. It looks like a raid of some sort. I can see Aurors everywhere. She's…she's duelling with them and then, I think she gets hurt but I can't see it clearly. Everything gets kind of fuzzy and the memory seems distorted, like I'm seeing it through a swirl of colours. I always wake up just after hearing her gasp as if in pain." Harry finished, grief thick in his voice.
James was speechless. He didn't know how to respond to that.
"You're sure that this isn't one of your memories? Maybe an earlier memory?" he asked. It was implausible to suggest that Harry was somehow accessing a dead person's memories. It wasn't possible.
"I don't think so." Harry answered, for the first time questioning the memory. He rubbed at his head, his fingers trailing his old scar. "It turns out I can't be too sure about my memories." He said in a bitter voice.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
Harry told his dad what Narcissa had told him. James felt like something had pierced his heart when he learnt the truth that Voldemort had taken away Harry's memories. James didn't know that Harry's memory had been abused by Voldemort. The only thing James knew about was the altered memories that Harry believed were memories of his childhood with the 'Potters'. James didn't know that Harry had been oblivated.
"I'm really sorry, Harry." James said, feeling stupid even when saying it, but what else was there to say to him?
Harry brushed the apology away.
"Why are you sorry? It wasn't your fault." Harry said.
James lowered his head and felt shame wash over him.
"It is my fault. I didn't look for you when I should have. If I had, maybe I could have brought you home, away from him and his abuse! It's all my fault." He said in a self incriminating voice.
Harry looked over at James, he didn't know his dad still felt guilty about that. There had been a time when these same thoughts had passed Harry's mind but he had quickly squashed them. He wasn't going to hold James responsible when it was Voldemort's fault. He had placed the blame for Voldemort's wrongdoings on James all his life. He wasn't going to do it anymore.
"Dad, look at me." Harry said as softly as he could. He felt very uncomfortable doing this. James looked up at him with guilt filled eyes.
"It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. I know that sometimes it seems like I do but I swear I don't. What happened was Voldemort's fault. His fault and Peter's." Harry added.
At hearing his ex-best friend's name, James bristled. The guilt vanished from his eyes and instead, Harry saw them fill with rage. Harry had never told James about meeting Peter. James knew that it was him who told Harry the truth but they had never discussed the topic before.
"Don't talk about him!" James said in anger. "I don't want his name mentioned in my home."
"Dad…"
"No, Harry. I don't want to think about him. He's done enough damage to me to last a lifetime. I don't want to hear his name!" James said. Harry could detect the immense hurt in his voice disguised by all the anger.
"Dad." Harry said, moving a little closer to him. He could tell his dad was really upset. James had his head lowered and his hands clasped tightly before him.
"I treated him like a brother." James whispered his head still lowered. "I protected him, me and Sirius and Remus always looked out for him. I thought he would rather die than betray me and look at what he did? He took you away, knowing what your loss would do to me." James had not spoken to anyone about Peter in a long time. All his anger and confusion as to why his friend sold him out like that had been locked away inside him and now it all came crashing out.
Harry knew why Peter had done what he did. Peter had told him before he died. Deciding that his dad had a right to know why his friend hurt him, Harry spoke up.
"He was trying to protect you."
James looked at Harry, surprise and confusion on his face.
"What?"
"Peter, he was trying to protect you and mum." Harry explained. James was just staring at Harry, unable to speak. "When I met him, last year, he told me everything. He thought that I was you." Harry said, pushing down the memory of that awful day. The day that had changed his life forever.
"He thought I was you?" James managed to utter in a choked voice.
"He wasn't exactly in a state of sound mind. He had been imprisoned for six years. Forced to live like…well a rat." Harry didn't want to go into too much detail. He still remembered the awful cell he had found Peter in.
"Oh" James said in a small voice.
Harry knew that even though his dad hated Peter, he still didn't want to imagine him in such a state.
"Peter told me that Voldemort had forced him to steal me out of Godric's Hollow. He promised Peter that if I was brought to him, he would spare your and mum's life."
James didn't know how to respond to that. He sat in shocked silence. His eyes were fixed on the ground, hands shaking slightly.
"It doesn't make it right." James said finally in a hollow voice. "What he did, it still wasn't right, sacrificing your life to save mine or Lily's. He shouldn't have listened to Voldemort. He should have told us, he should have told me! I wouldn't have let him get hurt. I would have protected him!" James said angrily.
"For how long?" Harry asked he knew if Voldemort had his mind set on destroying someone, they didn't last that long.
"Harry! Don't stand up for him! Peter took you away from your home. He was willing to let you die! I don't care how many people he wanted to save in exchange for your life, he didn't have any right to take you away!" James was breathing hard, unshed tears glistening in his eyes.
"I'm not standing up for him. No one can hate Peter more than I do. I just wanted to tell you that he didn't betray you. He was trying to save your life. He knew what he did was wrong." Harry said as calmly as he could.
"Then he could have made amends! He could have brought you back home. He could have stolen you away from Voldemort like he stole you away from me!" James said angrily.
Harry didn't say anything right away. He looked away and tried to push that horrid memory away. Peter on the ground, convulsing in pain while Lucius held onto him, restrained him while Voldemort altered his memory.
"He did." Harry said in a small voice. "He tried to bring me back when I was ten. He was caught and imprisoned and my memory was oblivated."
"How do you know this?" James asked in shock.
"Peter showed me that memory. I saw myself being oblivated. I had thought that that was the only time my mind was wiped clean but from what Narcissa said, it seems it's been happening to me all my life." Harry said bitterly.
James stared at Harry, unable to imagine how Harry could possibly deal with all this by himself. He didn't know what to say to him that would be comforting so he settled for gently wrapping an arm around him. For the first time in James' memory, Harry didn't flinch away or look uncomfortable. Instead he moved into the unofficial hug and seemed to be somewhat comfortable.
Despite the depressing talk they just had, James couldn't help feel happier than he had felt in a while.
xxx
The next day, Harry walked into the living room to find his parents and brother sitting with Sirius, Remus and Tonks. Harry noticed right away that Tonks was sitting next to Remus and looked like her old self, happy and comfortable. He mentally sighed with relief. It seemed Remus was okay with her. He had noticed that Remus had been slightly cold to her during the Order meeting but they must have worked things out now.
Harry sat next to Damien and joined in the conversation that was taking place; the identity of the 'Dark Prince'.
"You really should have stayed for that meeting. You may have been able to recognise his voice from Ginny's memory." Sirius told him.
Harry bristled at the mention of Ginny but didn't say anything.
"I guess we could ask Dumbledore to show Harry the memory again. I'm sure he won't mind." Lily said thoughtfully.
"Can't one of you guys show me the memory? I mean you've seen it so you should be able to show me it as well." Harry said quickly. He didn't want to ask Dumbledore for anything.
"Yeah, I think that might work." Lily said, looking around at the others for confirmation.
James noticed that Harry was looking uneasy at the prospect of watching the memory of the attack on Ginny. He didn't blame him. It was rather disturbing. Harry was bound to feel guilty for endangering Ginny's life. That was probably the reason he hadn't asked to see the memory yet.
James had had a hard time watching the memory as well. It was awful to see how close Ginny came to losing her life. He thanked God, Ginny had survived and wasn't badly hurt. But that wasn't the only part that was disturbing. The resemblance of the attacker to Harry was frightening.
James studied Harry sitting before him, his hazel eyes washed over Harry's face, taking in every detail. A strange look came over his face as he scrutinised Harry.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Harry asked, feeling uncomfortable.
"Sorry, it's just, he looks just like you. That was the only thing that was reinforced by watching Ginny's memory. If I didn't know any better…" James couldn't finish. "He must be using polyjuice, that's the only thing I can think of." James said, running a hand through his hair.
"I don't think so." Harry quickly objected. "For a start what would he use of mine to make the potion?"
"Maybe we should talk to Dennis. See if that fanatical idiot ever chopped off your hair while you were sleeping." Damien supplied. "I mean, come on, it's not as if anyone would be able to tell." Damien said gesturing towards Harry's messy hair.
Harry threw him a glare but reflexively ran a hand through his hair. Damien grinned at Harry's attempt to flatten his hair. Sirius hid his grin behind his hand. He used to tease James about his hair all the time as well.
"I would have woken up if anything like that happened." Harry retorted.
"If its not polyjuice then what is it? How is he doing this?" Lily asked.
Harry thought about it. The answer couldn't be as complicated as it seemed. Nothing ever was.
"Whoever this guy is, he is good at disguising himself. He was the one who disguised himself as Auror Davis and went into Riddle Manor for my wand. There is something he's using to disguise himself. It may be polyjuice in the Aurors case but I'm certain he couldn't have taken anything from me. He must be disguising himself in another way." Harry said thoughtfully.
He looked over at Tonks and suddenly the answer hit him like a blow. His eyes travelled to James and locked with his.
"He's a Metamorphmagus!" Harry said not believing he hadn't thought of that earlier.
"What?" James asked his eyes wide with surprise.
"Think about it! It makes sense." Harry said quickly getting to his feet. "That explains everything. If he was using polyjuice then he wouldn't have to hide his face behind the mask. He could look like me and cause all the damage he wanted. But he's not using polyjuice. All he does is change his hair and the colour of his eyes. Maybe he's changing his height and body type as well. That is why he keeps his face hidden behind the mask. When he went to get my wand, he kept his face hidden. The other Aurors only saw him from behind. They didn't see his face. He must have morphed himself to resemble Davis but he can't change his features completely to match his." Harry looked over at Tonks to confirm if what he was saying was right.
"That's right. I can change any and all of my features but I can't look like someone else. For example, I can mimic Lily's hair and eyes, and her height and things but I can't look like Lily without the help of a polyjuice." As if to prove her point, Tonks changed her hair to match Lily's red hair and her eyes changed to a pair of identical green eyes. But her face still resembled Tonks.
"If he's a Metamorphmagus, then we should be able to find him. Don't they have to be registered?" Damien asked, excited with the development.
"No, Metamorphmagus' aren't like Animagus'. They are born a Metamorphmagus; they don't train themselves to become one. Even then, Animagus' don't have to necessarily get registered. We were unregistered for at least eight years." Sirius added with a mischievous smile.
"But, there must be some sort of documentation, some record somewhere of who is born a Metamorphmagus!" Lily said, annoyed that they couldn't use this development to identify the culprit.
"In some cases, where the child shows signs that they are a Metamorphmagus, it can be listed on their birth certificate. With others, who don't show any signs until they are much older, it doesn't get documented. It is supposed to but if the parents don't bother filing it then no one is to know. That's the problem. Like Sirius said, there is no registration as such, so there is no way to track who is a Metamorphmagus and who isn't. Most of the Aurors who worked along Tonks for years didn't know she was a Metamorphmagus until recently." Remus said.
Silence met his words. Everyone looked dejectedly at each other.
"So what do we do with this information?" Tonks asked quietly.
"We start looking." Harry said. "We have a starting point. We have the initials, C.B. and we know he is a Metamorphmagus. We can start researching records of those who are documented to be born as Metamorphmagus' with those initials."
It was a long shot and the chances of finding him were little, but it was something.
"We'll get what we can from the Ministry files. I'm sure we can sneak out a few files at a time." Remus said, getting up from the table.
"Good job, Harry." Tonks said with a smile.
Harry didn't respond. He had a long way to go before he congratulated himself.
"Watch that memory as soon as you can. Hopefully we'll get more clues." Sirius said before leaving as well.
Harry nodded his head, his heart twisting painfully at the thought of watching her get attacked and nearly killed. He had to watch Ginny's memory. It may give him more answers.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well, there you go. I've given you one more clue!
I know that a lot of you have been asking if the character who is the 'Dark Prince' wannabe is OC or a cannon character. I'm afraid I can't answer that. It's too complicated!!!
But I have mentioned the character before, if that helps at all ;)
Please review!! Cheers!!!