Disclaimer: If I could steal the rights to Harry Potter, I would. Just saying.
Ok, here's the deal. I was not happy with the last chapter at all. I don't know how thrilled I am with this one, but we'll see what I think in the morning. It's really short. By far the shortest chapter I've written, but I've decided I'm not going to hold myself to certain lengths or update times. So I might update with a new chapter in three days, and then another three weeks after that. It's going to be that way, because if I force myself to write on a deadline...the already questionable quality of the story will suffer :)
Alright, enough of that. Thanks for the reviews everyone. They're awesome! I can't get over how many I have. Thanks so much.
In Other Words
It was Harry's day off. After a year as Head Auror, any free time was met with a sense of relief, matched in intensity only by his children's desire to make sure he had no time to actually relax.
He was sitting in the sunroom of Potter Manor, reading. Ginny had decided to take a nap after breakfast. Her third pregnancy had hit hard, and seven months into it she rarely went more than a few hours without resting for a bit. Kreacher was watching James and Albus out back. Albus was still learning to walk in a straight line, so Harry wasn't all that worried about him wandering off.
Kreacher. Harry shook his head fondly. When he had first met the elf, the idea of leaving him alone with his children would have been ludicrous. Letting the elf live had also been in question after Sirius had fallen through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. But, as Harry had been forced to acknowledge many times, things change. The gift of Regulus' locket had caused such a complete transformation in the ancient elf that it had barely been surprising when Kreacher had led the charge out of Hogwart's kitchen against the Death Eaters during the final battle.
A sudden pop caused Harry to look up. A bloodied Kreacher, holding a stump where his right arm should have been, caused Harry to fly out of his chair and disapparate into the backyard instantaneously. He spotted the charred remains of Kreacher's arm, obviously spell damaged, and scanned the lawn, searching for his sons. He found nothing.
With a wave of his wand and a tersely spoken Expecto Patronum several glowing misty silver stags burst forth and flew in various directions. Harry summoned his broom and immediately took flight, rising high enough to see the nearest town, almost ten miles away. He frantically flew back and forth for a minute and, seeing nothing, returned to the manor. Within seconds, three telltale cracks of apparations accompanied the arrival of Ron, Bill and George Weasley.
Bill was the first to speak. "Harry? What's going on?"
"They're gone! Someone took James and Albus, and attacked Kreacher." Harry motioned to the burnt appendage. He started pacing, but before he could make a full circuit of the portion of the yard set aside for the children, Ron grabbed his arm.
"Harry, did he see anything?" he asked.
"What?" Harry was still looking around frantically.
"Kreacher," said Ron. "Did he see anything? Does he know what happened?"
"Kreacher!" yelled Harry. The injured elf appeared, hunched over and shaking. Kreacher started toward them before stumbling a bit and falling to his knees. Regulus' locket bounced against his chest. Bill rushed forward and gently forced him onto his back, running a diagnostic spell before staunching the bleeding.
"Kreacher, what happened?" Bill had to wave away Harry, who was being held back by Ron and George.
"Man and woman appear. Man take Master James and Master Albus. Woman send fire at Kreacher." The elf had to pause as it coughed for a moment, and Bill noticed the scorch marks covering his face and chest for the first time. Spotting the arm and knowing it was lost, he turned to George.
"Go to Mungo's. Get a medi-witch and bring her here. We'll find out what we can and search for the kids when you get back."
George nodded and disapparated. Bill turned back to Kreacher, who was wheezing lightly with every breath.
"Kreacher. What did they look like?" asked Bill.
Kreacher coughed again, then moaned softly before answering. "Man...man tall. Woman be short, thin." He coughed again, then continued. "Both wear black. Short hair. Angry." With a sigh, Kreacher's large yellow eyes rolled back and the elf went limp.
"Kreacher!" screamed Harry, torn between the desire to know more and concern for his friend and servant.
"He's alive, just unconscious," said Bill, attempting to calm his brother-in-law.
"He said we're looking for a man and a woman, dressed in black with short hair," said Ron. "Could they have disapparated away?"
Bill shook his head as Ron let go of Harry, who ran over to the broom shed. "No, only people keyed into the wards can apparate on the property. And I set these wards to cover the entire property, including the forest. The only way in or out would have been on foot."
"They can't have gone that far, let's go," said Ron as he accepted a broom from Harry. A louder than normal crackfrom a side-along apparation resulted in George and a medi-witch having three wands pointed at their faces. The witch gulped noticeably at the sight of three of the most well-known wizards in Britain aiming at her before she scurried over to the immobile house elf.
They shared Kreacher's description with George as the four of them mounted brooms and split into pairs. At that moment, four additionalcracksannounced the arrival of the aurors. Harry sped over and gave them the description and their orders before rejoining the Weasleys. The four of them sped away into the air.
Bill and George entered the woods to the east while Ron and Harry headed directly south. The trees thickened as they flew deeper into the forest. Harry mumbled under his breath constantly, distracting Ron to the point where the red head almost flew into a branch.
"Harry, what are you doing?" yelled Ron into the wind.
"Tracking spell," answered Harry, absently. He said nothing more. Harry's concentration on finding his children fueled his frantic pace, and he avoided all obstacles without a noticeable effort. Ron was having trouble keeping up.
Each time Ron noticed Harry's mouth moving, they seemed to change direction. Ron sent his terrier Patronus to his brothers while following closely behind the distraught father. Without warning, Harry pulled up on his broom and braked, almost causing Ron to collide with him.
Before Ron could say anything, Harry pointed. Ron gulped and tried to keep the bile from rising in his throat. About fifty feet in front of them were two bloody masses that no longer resembled bodies, but couldn't be anything else. Harry shot forward, and though Ron hesitated a moment, he followed almost immediately.
They slowly hovered over what appeared to be the remains of two Death Eaters. Ron shook his head and chanced a look at Harry, who was swearing under his breath.
"Harry? Are those Death Eater masks?"
Harry shook his head once. "No, just copycats. Happens a few times a year. We have a file on most of them." He ran his hands through his hair. "Where the hell are my kids?"
Ron floated over and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Let's float around. If James and Albus used accidental magic like this, they're probably scared and hiding."
George and Bill dove down at that moment, startling Harry into pulling his wand on them. With a sigh, he lowered it and explained the plan.
As the four of them slowly floated in an expanding circle around the two mutilated bodies, Harry began to sink into a sense of dread. The sight of torn robes, slashed skin and chunks of flesh missing didn't seem like any sort of accidental magic he'd ever heard of, especially from children as gentle as his sons.
A sound made its way to the foursome's ears that closely resembled sobbing. Bill was the first to react and immediately spun his broom around and careened into the thick growth of trees behind them. The other three were right on his bristles. The large black animal curled around a crying James and a concerned but apparently very curious Albus made Harry blanch. Ron was stunned, his mouth opening and closing every few seconds. Occasionally a noise that suspiciously resembled a whimper escaped his throat. After a few moments to establish the boys were unharmed by the extremely large feline, Bill and George glanced at each other and started snickering, doing their best to keep from disturbing the animal.
Harry glided down carefully, landing a good distance away from his children and the animal that appeared to be protecting them. Logic had finally worked itself through the shock and he realized it had not been a case of accidental magic that had dispatched the would-be kidnappers.
The three Weasleys landed a few feet behind him, shooting concerned looks at each other. Ron had still not shut his mouth.
James caught sight of his father and ran as quickly as his little three year old legs could carry him. Harry fell to his knees and let out a breath, tears streaming down his face as he realized his sons were unharmed and safe.
Albus, still a toddler, pulled himself up using the fur of the huge cat as leverage. He fell back with a look of childlike frustration before trying to push himself back up again. The cat moved his head toward the boy, resulting in the three remaining adults aiming their wands at the beast. It huffed in a way that almost sounded amused before nudging Albus in the back, helping him to his feet. Albus waddled forward carefully as Harry beamed. He let out a short laugh and picked James up and placed him on his hip. As he approached Albus, he leaned to one side and picked him up as well.
He turned to the three red heads with a smile on his face and a child on each side. They grinned back at him and then Ron let out a sigh and bent forward with his hands on his knees.
"Blimey, Harry. Why does this stuff always happen to you? It's starting to get ridiculous, mate." Ron shook his head and stood straight before a look of terror crossed his face.
Harry felt a push to his back and felt something warm and wet blow across his arms. Turning slowly, he realized he was looking straight into the face of the animal that he suspected had violently rescued his children from the would-be kidnappers. A glance at the bloodied bit of cloth stuck in its teeth confirmed his guess.
The four adult humans tensed, and Harry took a step back before Albus spoke.
"Kitty!"
The black beast moved toward the boy and before Harry could move, stuck out its tongue and licked Albus' face. Even Ron could feel the purring from his position several feet away. It reminded him of the car engine his father had been working on for the past several years with vibrations oscillating every time the creature took a breath.
After a moment to absorb the surprise of such a large wild animal being friendly with two children, Ron grabbed his godson and placed him on his broom. Harry did the same with Albus as the six of them took flight, aiming north for the manor.
They arrived soon enough to find two aurors standing guard. Ginny was sitting on the ground with her mother, leaning into the older woman as she sobbed. Harry landed next to her and she looked up with swollen eyes and a red face. When she saw Albus she began sobbing again as she embraced her firstborn son. Molly looked up at her son-in-law with a glowing smile which was reinforced when Ron brought James over.
The medi-witch walked up to Bill and spoke a few quiet words, then stepped away before dissapparating. Bill glanced at the wounded house elf and then made his way over to Harry. At the questioning glance he received, Bill motioned his friend away from his wife and children before speaking.
"She said Kreacher is too old to survive these kinds of injuries. He probably won't last the day."
Harry shook his head and sighed. Bill placed a comforting arm around his shoulder and the two of them walked up to the injured elf, who was lying face up. His injured arm was wrapped, but Kreacher's face was drawn and haggard. Harry looked sadly down at the elf that had served him and his family for ten years, and fought against Voldemort for even longer. He was as much a hero as Dobby, and even though it would be yet another oddity about him that people would puzzle over, Harry knew he would honor Kreacher as highly as any wizard he had known.
"Master," Kreacher wheezed when he felt Harry approach. He didn't open his eyes, and Harry could tell how much effort it took for the elf to speak.
"It's okay, Kreacher. Don't talk."
"Master," the elf began again, disobeying an order from his Master for the last time. "Young Masters...alive?"
"Yes Kreacher, they're fine. You...you did great. Thank you for watching over them." Harry knelt down on the grass as Bill stepped back and returned to the rest of his family.
"Kreacher could not," he winced and shuddered. Harry placed a hand on his bony shoulder before the elf continued. "Kreacher could not stop enemies of the family. Kreacher failed Master."
Harry smiled sadly. "Kreacher did not fail. You did everything right. You're a great elf. James and Albus and all of us are safe."
Kreacher shuddered again and his closed eyelids squinted tight in pain. Harry felt the shaking elf still and watched as the agony left his face and turned to an empty expression that almost resembled sleep. He closed his eyes and willed Kreacher's soul, damaged and abused for so many years, to accept peace in the afterlife.
He then stood and walked toward the aurors, who were standing around awkwardly. The two that had been missing when Harry had returned had shown up and all four were waiting for the Head Auror to give them orders.
"Robins, Simmons, fly south about four hundred meters. There's two bod..." Harry paused, then corrected himself. "The remains of the two kidnappers are located there. Also, there's a large cat that I think is probably responsible. It seems friendly. Looks like a black panther or something similar. I think it's probably magical. Regardless, be cautious. Try not to injure it unless it attacks you."
"Sir!" Simmons interrupted with a point. Harry spun and spotted the large black panther slinking up to them. Several wands appeared from both the aurors and Weasleys before Harry shouted.
"Stop! Wands down!"
Bill, George and Ron all grinned a bit at how protective Harry was being toward the animal that had saved his sons. Ginny gasped when she spotted it, then had to hold on to Albus who was squirming in her lap, shouting, "Kitty!" with a huge smile.
Harry walked out slowly, his hands open and face up, and approached the animal. It saw him emerge and seemed to grin as its body relaxed and its tail, which had been swishing along the ground, rose up into the air and flicked excitedly.
As Harry approached it, the suspected panther began to purr again, and the rumbling seemed to calm the distraught wizard. He reached a hand out and stroked the cat on the head between its ears. In response, it seemed to imitate a smaller house cat as it fell to the ground and rolled on its back, exposing its stomach. Harry grinned and beckoned the Weasley's to approach.
"That's a big cat," stated Ron. George smacked him in the back of the head as Bill snorted.
"Thanks Ron," said Harry. "It's good to know living with Hermione all these years has increased your observational skills."
Bill and George laughed at their younger brother who only huffed once before grinning himself. "Well," he asked Harry. "You gonna keep him?"
The five of them exited the pensieve into the headmaster's office. Harry glanced at Sirius. "That's why I was pissed that you were abusing Kreacher." Sirius began to say something before Harry turned away and spoke to Remus. "And that is why my Patronus changed. Kreacher lived with us after that, and came almost everywhere he was allowed. Scared the hell out of some people."
Remus gave him a crooked grin. "I would imagine."
"You named a magical panther after a house elf?" asked Bill.
Harry nodded. "We never figured out exactly what he was. I'd swear he was magical, because he could definitely understand what we were saying. He also seemed to know what we needed or when we were going somewhere, and suss out any...unsavory characters."
"Are you saying my family's house elf was reincarnated into a magical cat?" sputtered Sirius.
"I do not believe that is the case, Sirius," said Albus, who had moved to his desk during the conversation. "There have been reports from throughout history of magical animals coming to someone in need. Fawkes, for instance, appeared to me during a time of great stress during the war with Grindelwald. He has not left me since. Also, my Patronus is indeed a phoenix, just as Harry's is a representation of Kreacher."
Sirius rubbed his face and sat down. Bill joined him as Albus offered them a dish full of Skittles. Harry and Remus stood over the pensieve, glancing down into it as Harry retrieved his memory.
"Why haven't you shown us much from your life after the war?" Remus asked him quietly.
"It wasn't important," responded Harry. "Everything I showed you was background information. It all had something to do with defeating Riddle."
Remus sighed. "I understand that, Harry. I...we," he waved to indicated the other three who were chatting about their scheduled holiday. "We all want to know about your life after the war."
"Why?" asked Harry. "It's not real, anymore. This place and time is where I live now. And I can never go back."
"Does that bother you?"
Harry shook his head, slowly. "Not as much as I would've thought. The first few days were difficult. But, after I... After what Fawkes showed me, it got easier. I miss the kids, sometimes."
They were interrupted by Sirius laughing at something Bill had said and wandered over to the others.
Albus gazed up at them with a smile splitting through his beard. "It seems that Bill is ready to depart for Egypt whenever the three of you are ready."
Sirius stood. "I'm ready now! Bill has been telling me about some of the witches that Gringotts employs. He said he'd set me up." Harry's godfather was grinning stupidly.
Harry and Remus, knowing that Gringotts didn't employ female curse-breakers, glanced at Bill. The redhead gave them a conspiratorial wink.
"I guess it has been about twelve years since you had a date, Padfoot," said Remus with a smile.
"What?" asked Harry, with a smirk. "Sirius was only in Azkaban for nine years."
"That's true," responded Remus, tapping his chin with his finger.
"Oi!" shouted Sirius. "And when was the last time you were with a woman, Remus? And you haven't been in prison for the last decade, either."
Remus blushed as Harry and Bill laughed at them. Albus looked contentedly amused as he pulled out a brass doorknob.
"Here is your portkey. I created it myself, so it will take you farther than a standard Ministry portkey."
"To where?" asked Bill.
"You should arrive in Rome's portkey terminal. An acquaintance of mine will provide you with a similarly charmed portkey which will take you to Cairo. I believe you can arrange transport to Gringotts' Main Camp from there."
"That's great. Thanks Albus," said Bill. The four of them said their goodbyes to the headmaster as they left the office. Harry was the last to the door, and turned around before leaving.
"Albus. I know you've faced him before but, even in his current form, Riddle is extremely dangerous. Don't underestimate Quirrell, either."
Albus nodded sagely. "I have no doubt you are right, Harry. I will plan accordingly. I shall send Fawkes with news as soon as I have confronted them."
"Be careful."
"Indeed. You as well, Harry. Have a wonderful holiday."
Alrighty...there it is. Shortest chapter I've written. Hope it was okay. I believe I've said it before, but I have most of the story planned out. That said, I'd love to hear (er...read) any ideas you awesome readers have. And sure, this might be a sly way to get reviews, but you can PM them to me as well...I'm not too picky. I just love feedback. :)
