Disclaimer: Yep, Harry Potter still not mine.

A/N: HAPPY ANIVERSARY! That's right one year ago today I began this my very first fanfiction story, Watching Over Harry. I'm so grateful to all of you who have been with me this whole time and to those who may have just discovered it. I have received so many helpful tips from readers that have made me a much better writer.

Over the last two days I re-read Watching Over Harry from the first chapter to this latest one. And I can honestly say that I have gotten a little better with each new chapter. I plan on going back and fixing some of the obvious spelling and grammatical errors and maybe sharpening up some of the dialogue. So I will be taking the next couple of weeks to do that, after which the new chapters will begin again.

Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews they really do inspire me to keep writing. So without further ado here is the next chapter of Watching Over Harry.

*Thanks to Key To Chaos for pointing out a name mix up!

Chapter 32

Pius Thicknesse rushed to give the incredible news to his master. He had witnessed the entire event in Diagon Alley, from the fight between Potter's group and that of Lucius' to the accidental death of Albus Dumbledore. This would definitely change his master's timetable on moving his plans along. With Dumbledore gone, the only one who could seriously challenge his master, it was inevitable that his master would be victorious. Potter was still a child and although politically connected at the moment he was no match for his master.

Pius entered the large hall of the Riddle mansion and saw nearly a hundred Death Eaters kneeling in front of a large golden throne reminiscent of the chair Dumbledore sat in at Hogwarts' Great Hall. Directly in front of him were six forms that were twitching on the ground in front of his Lord, among those were Lucius Malfoy, Alexis Carrow, the Prewitt boy and the Parkinson wench who thought too much of herself, Pius mused. They were all in fetal positions twitching from what looked like the after effects of the cruciatus curse.

Another was slowly spinning upside down in the air, his robes falling over and hiding his face, his back was bared and several deep cuts crisscrossed each other, a large puddle of blood pooled directly beneath the unmoving man. It brought back the memory of Alecto Carrow who also found himself on the receiving end of the Dark Lord's wrath. Alecto was never seen after that meeting, it was rumored that the Dark Lord allowed his snake to devour him. Pius shivered at the thought of being crushed and then eaten by the abnormally large snake.

Pius wisely stood off to the side of the hall not wanting to interrupt his master punishing those who failed in capturing Narcissa Malfoy and Harry Potter. It was extremely bad form to interrupt him while he was dolling out punishments and a good way to finding yourself joining those unfortunate souls on the floor.

"I am very disappointed Lucius, how many times will you fail me? How many times will I allow you to live after such incompetence?" Voldemort hissed at the shaking man.

"F-forg-give me my L-lord, Dumbledore and…"

"SILENCE!" Voldemort cut off Lucius' pleading. The blonde wizard winced and tried to make himself smaller curling into a ball.

"I grow weary of your pathetic excuses Lucius; I grow weary of the incompetence of my so called elite Death Eaters! I grow weary of my soldiers losing to CHILDREN AND OLD WOMEN!" Voldemort raged, his voice echoing through the room causing many a grown witch and wizard to whimper and a few others to lose bladder control.

"If we are to have my utopia we must not give an inch, we must be brutal and merciless to those who oppose me. The Ministry is full of mudblood lovers and those who would deny you your proper place in our society, they must fall at our feet and we must crush their bones beneath them. Soon the Ministry will fall and we will rebuild it in my image. And those faithful of you here today will reap rewards beyond imagination. You will be the princes' and princesses of the magical world and those of lesser blood will fall at your feet and worship you and serve you as their betters." Voldemort stated to a boisterous round of Huzzah's.

"But as always I must make an example of what can happen should you fail me. I have obviously been too lenient, I have let go unpunished several recent failures and apparently this has spawned slothfulness in my servants." Voldemort looked up at the suspended body of Tobias Umbridge, younger brother of the former under-secretary to the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.

"Nagini…lunch." Voldemort called to his pet. With a snap of his fingers the body crashed to the floor with a thud and a low moan escaped from the lips of the still alive man. With lightning speed the large snake coiled itself around the battered and bloody body and began to constrict its coil around the warm body.

A bloody curdling scream echoed through the room as bones began to snap on the man. His collarbone snapped in half his ribs crushed as the last remaining bubbles of air were forcibly expelled from his lungs, a loud crack indicated that his hips were pulverized.

Nagini loosened her coils from around the man and positioned her head to that of Tobias Umbridge, several Death Eaters vacated their stomachs as the great snake unhinged its massive jaws and began to swallow the man head first. Several minutes passed as the Death Eaters were forced to watch until Tobias' feet disappeared within the jaws of the hellish servant.

"Now, I hope that I have impressed upon you the severity of the consequences should you fail in your future assignments." Voldemort hissed. "You are dismissed!"

All but twelve Death Eaters quickly left the great hall of the mansion, the remaining figures kneeled in a semi-circle around their lord and waited for him to speak.

"I do hope you have a good reason for not arriving when I summoned you Pius." The Dark Lord stated dangerously.

"I-I do my Lord. I bring good news…Albus Dumbledore is dead." The slippery politician said with a gleeful smirk on his face.

Voldemort stopped in his tracks as he replayed what he had just heard in his mind. "Are you certain of this Pius?"

"I am my Lord, medi-witches confirmed it to Minister Bones at Diagon Alley after Lord Malfoy's failure there." Pius glanced at Lucius who was glaring daggers at him. Pius smirked at the still twitching man.

"How was this accomplished? Who killed him?" Voldemort asked in interest.

"Dumbledore attempted to attack the Potter boy, but was cut down by spells coming from those in his party and several others from aurors and others present." Pius related.

"Dumbledore attacked Potter… in broad daylight? The man obviously had finally cracked." Voldemort mused as he sat down in his throne absorbing all the details. "This is most welcomed news Pius. You have done well." Pius beamed at the praise.

"With Dumbledore gone we may be able to move up your plans on taking Hogwarts my Lord." Lucius offered.

"True, although Hogwarts still has powerful wards and defensives, these will have passed on to the deputy headmaster of the school. Our numbers are not yet sufficient enough to risk an all out assault. Also with it being the summer months there will be no students there and we will need that leverage to hold the castle. The threat of dying children will keep the Ministry and others from trying to retake the school. No that plan will have to wait." Voldemort replied weighing his options carefully.

"No we must continue our efforts in weakening the Ministry and to do that we must somehow get some of our people back inside and in positions of power and authority." Voldemort stated.

"It will be impossible to do my Lord with the Bones whore implementing her new security measures. Anyone with your mark my Lord would be found out upon entering the Ministry and promptly arrested and their assets seized." Bryce Edgecombe informed his master hesitantly.

"He is correct my Lord." Pius offered. "All Ministry employees now must take a magical oath of loyalty to the current Minister until such time he or she is voted out and a new one is confirmed. All members of the Wizengamot are inspected for the dark mark as well. No one is permitted into the chambers without being checked and no wands are allowed except for the Sergeant at Arms and his staff of aurors. These aurors are handpicked by the Minister herself and are stationed at every door and at strategic locations within the hall."

"The Bones woman is making quite a nuisance of herself." Voldemort muttered. "There must be away for us to get our people on the inside."

"What if we used the Imperious Curse? They might not be our people but at least we could control them." Alexis Carrow offered.

"It would not work." Pius stated. "The magical oath would fight against the curse and would be rendered ineffective."

"I may have a more subtle solution my Lord." LilithZabini spoke for the first time.

"And what exactly are you proposing Lady Zabini?" Voldemort hissed softly.

"What we need is to get someone close to the Minister." Lilith stated primly.

Malfoy snorted. "Obviously, I assume you have a method to do this." He sneered at the exotic woman.

"Indeed I do. You see, Harry Potter is the godson of our dear Minister for Magic. He is as close to her as her own neice. From what I've seen of him he has grown into quite the handsome young man." She stated silkily her smoky voice oozing sexuality.

"Will you be making your point soon?" Malfoy huffed. Lilith smiled seductively back at the frustrated man.

"There is a gathering tomorrow-night at the Greengrass Estate, many of the old and noble families will be in attendance at the request of Lord Potter-Black. I am told that the Minister will be there, security is expected to be extremely heavy and the home and surrounding area warded to the hilt. Potter is attempting to establish a strong political base around himself and Minister Bones." Lilith continued.

"Yes yes, and this helps us how?" Voldemort asked impatiently.

"I have been invited to attend by the Davis family and will be introduced to the handsome young lord. My plan is quite simply to ingratiate myself upon the boy and then seduce him. I'm sure you are aware how…persuasive I can be. Once I have him so infatuated with me I can begin to manipulate the boy and have him do whatever I ask him to do." Lilith moaned huskily, several of the male Death Eaters had their tongues hanging out and were glassy-eyed at the sultriness of her voice.

"You do realize that the boy is married and to Bellatrix Lestrange no less." Snape remarked. "She would cut you up and toss you out her door as nothing more than meat scraps."

"Simpleton!" Lilith mocked. "He is the Lord of two Ancient and Noble Houses, and it is within the old laws governing marriage practices of the Ancient and Noble houses that he can take a wife for each house. If I can seduce him and get him to impregnate me, and being from an equal house, by the old laws he would have to take me as his wife if there is not one for that house already. Bellatrix would have no choice but to accept me as his second wife." Lilith stated smugly.

"Once I am entrenched in his little family, I am quite adept at subtle manipulations, with enough time I could have him spilling his darkest secrets, influence his views and opinions, and have him introduce legislation that you my Lord would want passed. I could even have little accidents happen to others in his little family including Bellatrix. With enough time my Lord, I could have him walking right into your waiting arms with the key to the front door to the Ministry and you wouldn't even have to raise your wand." Lilith finished.

Voldemort sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face. His mind began to look at the potential pros and cons of this plan. Lilith was unmarked, and if she could somehow gain control over Potter and bend him to her will it would save his dwindling resources. Logically it could take a few years or more for the plan to bear fruit. Could he wait? He had waited twenty years already what would be a few more. He could still cause mayhem in the country and force the Ministry to spend more of its resources in a vain attempt to find and engage him.

And if she gave birth to his spawn and if it were the only surviving heir, it would gain all the wealth of the Potter and Blacks once Potter was killed, and he would be, that wasn't even a question. That wealth would then be his to do as he wished. And he would need that kind of wealth to rule his kingdom. The plan had many what ifs; many things would have to fall into place for it to work. But if anyone could do it, it was the exotic Lady Zabini. She was as dangerous as she was beautiful, the widow of seven former husbands was evidence of her skill.

"Very well my dear. You have my permission to go forward. I would also like the names of all the families in attendance to this little social gathering. I may want to pay them…a visit in the future. I will also require weekly reports, I want as much information of the goings on within the Ministry as you can get." Voldemort ordered.

"Of course my Lord. It will be done as you command." Lilith bowed to the pale faced Voldemort who was sporting a sadistic smirk on his face.

oooOOOooo

Bella was sitting on the sofa in the small parlor of Black Manor, the setting sun cast it warm colors through the large window. The ambient light in the room was soft and low, Bella was humming a familiar lullaby and Harry was stretched out on the sofa as well with his head in Bella's lap. She was running her fingers through his raven hair and gently massaging his scalp.

His eyes were closed and his head relaxing into the wonderful ministrations of his wife. His mind though was trying to sort through the events of the day and trying to find some sense in it but there was none to be found that he could see. At least the family meeting had been productive…

…The family had gathered at the Black home and had discussed what the death of Dumbledore would mean to the Wizarding World. Amelia arrived later that afternoon after issuing a statement to the press and arranging a guard to watch over and protect Dumbledore's body. Aberforth had come and had taken his brother's body back to their family's ancestral home to be buried quietly.

Aberforth had informed Amelia that he held no ire against those who were involved in the incident. He had noticed that his brother had become more and more obsessed with Harry over the years and had fallen into some kind manic delusion that he needed to control the boy. He also sent his deepest apologies to Harry for the way his brother had manipulated and harmed him.

Surprisingly Moody and Lupin had approached Amelia and offered thier services to Harry and his family. Remus also wanted to apologize to Harry in person and hoped that he would forgive him for choosing Dumbledore over him. He realized too late that he had made the wrong choice but did not know how to make amends.

Harry of course forgave him immediately and Remus was brought to Black Manor. Of his own accord and quite unexpectedly, Remus gave a wizards oath to never betray Harry and swore an oath of loyalty to him and the House of Potter-Black. Harry was grateful for the pledge of loyalty as it removed any doubt of insincerity from Harry's mind.

Through Moody Harry learned that most of the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix were interested in joining Harry, they to felt that this war could not be won by passive means. There were some however, that were longtime friends of Dumbledore's that decided to go back to their own lives and not get involved. A few even blamed Harry for causing the death of the great wizard.

By the end of the meeting, Harry's military arm had gained thirty new members. One good thing that came from Dumbledore was an extensive spy network throughout the Wizarding community; they too had pledged themselves to Harry's cause through Mad Eye. Mad Eye Moody and told Harry that when the news of today's events and Harry's speech came to light in the morning, many of the disenfranchised magical community would turn to him as a light for hope.

Amelia and Augusta agreed that the political fallout of this would be to sharply redefine the lines of political power.

"Harry your stand on equality for all magicals will bring you tremendous support from the people who have been ostracized by the Pure Blood agenda. No one of your House status has ever so publically stood up for them before. In affect you have issued a call to arms for all those who feel disenfranchised. I just hope we don't see a backlash of violence on establishments and people of pure-blood ancestry. I may need you to call a press conference to reassure the populace that the new administration will deal appropriately with any acts of bigotry or hate crimes. I said as much in my press release but to have you give your approbation will be more helpful I believe." Amelia stated with a little concern in her voice.

"Of course Aunty." Harry nodded. "Perhaps we can plan it for the day after the news is released." Harry offered.

"That would be fine Harry." Amelia sighed in relief.

"Are we ready for the function tomorrow at the Greengrass Mansion?" Bella asked changing the topic.

Bill cleared his throat. "Yes my Lady, my team finished setting our special ward stones earlier this morning. Anyone with a Dark Mark will be immediately stunned as they cross over the threshold of the mansion. Any dark artifacts crossing the ward line will cause a loud shrieking to occur around the object. We also have the standard anti-portkey and apparition wards.

Once the party begins defensive and offensive wards will become activated around the exterior of the house. We should be quite safe." Bill grinned as he sat back in his chair next to Hermione who gave his hand a squeeze underneath the large dining room table the family had gathered around.

"I also have a dozen handpicked aurors who will be patrolling the grounds as well. I had met with Bill earlier and had those aurors keyed into the wards." Amelia added.

"Do we know if Lady Zabini will be in attendance?" Harry asked.

"According to Lord Davis, the invitation was extended and she had accepted." Augusta replied.

"Do we know if she is still Voldemort's secret keeper?" Tonks asked.

"When I scanned Pettigrew's mind she had been. We can only hope that she still is. If not, at the very least we can get a little more intelligence from her." Hermione spoke up, receiving quiet nods from the group.

"Right, well tomorrow should make for an interesting day, hopefully not as violent as today's was. You all have your assignments and know what to do, so let's be safe tomorrow." Harry smiled warmly at his growing family before reaching for Bella's hand and led her to the parlor.

oooOOOooo

Bella continued her soft singing and gentle ministrations to Harry's scalp. She loved these moments with her husband, when he was unguarded and just allowed himself to be putty in her hands. All too often he unfairly placed the burden of guilt upon himself. He felt guilt over Hermione's parents death, for Luna's father, and for the countless other deaths that had occurred since Voldemort's rebirth.

With her constant reassurance Harry was getting better at not blaming himself, there were just those rare moments when the guilt crept back in. But those moments were becoming much fewer.

"What kind of wedding would you like to have love?" Harry's random question caught her of guard. His eyes were still closed and his breathing soft and even.

"Wedding?" Bella asked with a bit of confusion.

"Yeah, doesn't every girl dream about their wedding?" Harry asked opening his eyes and looking up at the love of his life.

"W-well, yes but…we kind of skipped that part didn't we." Bella replied with a crooked smile. "In the eyes of magic we are husband and wife, I don't need some stuffy ceremony to know that I am totally yours and you are totally mine. I feel your love so deeply in my heart and soul that a ceremony would be just some unnecessary affectation that has no real meaning." Bella grabbed Harry's hand and placed it over her heart.

"This right here, this heart that beats in my chest, beats only for you. It is yours through this life and the next, there is nothing I need more than just knowing that the bond we share has joined us eternally together. So no my husband, I don't need a wedding to know we belong to each other. It's knowledge I already have that runs through every cell of my body." Bella answered and then leaned forward and tenderly kissed his warm lips.

Harry starred in loving awe at his wife as she flooded their bond with all the love in her heart and the sincerity of her words. There was nothing more to say on the matter, in all things that mattered they were husband and wife and nothing could be more wonderful.

Harry relaxed his head back on Bella's lap as she renewed her efforts in relaxing her husband. Suddenly the doors to the parlor opened and quickly closed as two bodies entered into the room in a tangle of limbs. The pair seemed to be fighting for oral dominance as two pair of lips were trying to devour each other. Hands were roaming furiously trying to remove clothing.

Bella and Harry stared at the couple and then back to each other and then back to the amorous couple. Harry sat up and next to Bella who had a large grin on her face, Harry then cleared his throat.

"I hope we're not disturbing you." Harry stated trying to keep the amusement out of his voice. The startled couple let out a yelp and flattened themselves against the door and faced the center of the room to find the Lord and Lady of the house watching them.

"H-Harry I-I can explain you see…" Hermione stuttered before being interrupted.

"Exactly what is you intention with my daughter master William?" Bella asked Bill, his face now glowing a spectacular red.

"Well uhm…" Bill began, Bella raised her eyebrow at the man. Hermione and Bill just stared at the floor in embarrassment and a little fear on Bill's part.

Bella with a wave of her hand caused the gas torches in the room to flare brighter, illuminating the room. Hermione was surreptitiously trying to re-tuck her blouse back into her skirt and smooth down her messed up hair. Bill was trying to re-button his shirt but his shaky fingers were not helping him in the slightest.

Harry's next words were meant to be harsh and accusatory but came out as a loud chuckle at seeing the couple's uncomfortable expressions. Bella cleared her throat at her husband and gave him a stern look. But through their bond they felt each other amusement.

"Yes well, William, Hermione…I must say that I'm quite disappointed in the two of you." Harry stated as seriously as he could muster.

"Hermione lowered her head further and Bill looked like he wanted to flee the room."

"Yes quite disappointed." Bella continued for her husband. "Disappointed, that it took you two this long to get together." Bella chuckled.

Bill and Hermione stared back at the other couple in confusion before the light entered into their minds. Bella stepped forward and pulled Hermione into a hug.

"I was wondering when you two would get together." Bella said with mirth in her voice.

"Really…y-you're not upset?" Hermione asked.

"Heavens no! Harry and I have seen the looks you two have been giving each other for weeks." Bella stated.

"Just let me warn you Bill, I've always been very protective of Hermione, and now that she is a member of my family even more so. Do I need to explain myself further?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No my Lord, I understand completely." Bill said his voice breaking a little.

"Good, then we have an understanding." Harry smiled and slapped Bill on the shoulder.

The two couples sat down and spoke for awhile. Bill and Hermione told them how they just felt so right with each other. Bill had been worried about the age difference and wanted to wait to get involved with her. He had told her that he fancied her but that he would wait until she turned seventeen before exploring any kind of relationship with her. Hermione had other ideas, and told Bill the she fancied him and wanted to see if they could have a romantic relationship, she told him that she would reach her majority in a couple of months and she had no desire to wait.

Needless to say there were fireworks the first time they kissed and now couldn't get enough of each other. It was not all physical; Bill was quite intelligent and stimulated Hermione's mind as well as her libido. Harry and Bella listened cheerfully to the couple. Harry was happy for his best friend slash daughter and hoped that her happiness continued to grow.

Narcissa and Luna entered the parlor and informed Harry and Bella that the rest of the family had left for the evening and would return tomorrow prior to the Greengrass engagement.

"Cissy." Bella called to her sister before she left the room.

"Yes Bella?"

"By chance do you have a stomach settling potion brewed?" Bella asked the blonde witch.

"I believe so. Are you having stomach problems?" Narcissa asked in concern.

"Well just in the mornings. Over the last several days I get up and I'm hit with a wave of nausea and I have to run to the loo." Bella stated.

"Oh?" Narcissa asked her eyes sparkling. "Do you mind if I perform a quick diagnostic spell on you while you're here?"

"Not at all?" Bella stated.

"Harry be a dear and let your wife up so she can lie on the sofa properly." Narcissa asked sweetly.

Harry sat up from his comfortable position on Bella's lap and stood up from the sofa. Bella stretched herself out and tried to get comfortable. Narcissa then rolled up Bella's blouse to expose her belly. Taking out her wand she began to weave it around Bella's belly in a specific pattern. Luna and Hermione's eyes widened as the recognized the wand movements. It was a pregnancy revealing spell.

Within a few moments a sparkling gold hue surrounded Bella's belly. As soon as the color appeared the younger girls shrieked with excitement and ran to Bella's side and kissed her cheeks and then began to place their hands on Bella's stomach. Narcissa had a huge grin on her face that threatened to split it in two. Bella's eyes began to water as a surge of happiness went through her and she began to half giggle and half cry.

Harry stood back looking completely confused not knowing what the spell was that Narcissa had cast. Bill came over to Harry and patted him on the back.

"Congratulations Harry!" Bill said jovially.

"For what?" Harry asked still oblivious.

"Congratulations…daddy!" Bella cooed at her husband.

Harry's eyes widened to humorously large proportions and dazed crooked grin appearing on his face. "I'm gonna be a dad?" Harry whispered in awe.

"Yes you are dear brother-in-law, and a father to twins." Narcissa giggled as she just cast another revealing spell over Bella.

Amidst the shrieks of joy and happiness from the four girls in the room, none had noticed that Harry had fainted dead away after hearing the word twins. Bill looked down at Harry and laughed. "I suppose there's a bottle of Fire Whisky somewhere in this house. I think Harry's going to need it." Bill laughed as he stepped over Harry looking for the libation and a couple of glasses.

oooOOOooo

A/N2: I hope you enjoyed the chapter a little bit of everything in this one. Next chapter is the gathering at the Greengrass Mansion. Please Read and Review! I love to hear from you all, and thanks again for your interest in my little story.