Hello guys! My finals are finally over! I just have to wait for my marks. Please, wish me luck!
And in celebration I have finished the next chapter. I hope you like it!
Enjoy!
"What the hell did you do?" was the first thing he heard when he entered the Training Room to see his friends and girlfriend after his short encounter with his housemates.
Before he was able to answer, he found himself engulfed in a tight hug and Hermione put her hands on his cheeks. Harry chuckled slightly and wiped away the moisture that had gathered at the corner of her eyes. She shook her head and stared into his eyes.
"Are you okay? The Cruciatus-"
"-was a fake," he finished and saw Draco slap a hand over his eyes. Ron sat down on one of the sofas with a shake of his head. Neville meanwhile decided to simply continue staring at him.
"A... fake? It wasn't... Harry James Potter!" hollered Hermione and punched his chest. "How dare you to scare me like that? I thought that bitch did really cast the curse on you!"
With a chuckle he caught her hands and guided her to his friends. Then he sat down with her on his lap. She bristled at first, but then sighed. Her glare turned into a pout when he stole a kiss from her and he looked at the others. "You didn't think that she would really have the guts to cast that curse again, did you? Even if, I've told you how it only tickled a little bit when she did it the last time..."
Ron crossed his arms and leaned forward. "So... what exactly did you do?"
He didn't answer immediately and Neville exhaled softly. "Seriously Harry. I can't believe you only acted as if you were in pain. It looked so... so damn real!"
"It did, didn't it?" he murmured and then looked around. "D'you think I'll get an award for my performance when it comes out that it was faked?"
Harry grinned slightly while Draco rolled his eyes and conjured a cup of tea for each of them. Hermione shifted on his lap and adjusted herself so that her head rested on his shoulder. His hand automatically went and played with her soft curls. A soft sigh was what he got in return.
"Imperio Momentum," he stated then and Draco spit out his tea. Coughing the blond put his cup down and stared at him.
"You... you... are you bloody mad?" he asked – not angry, but rather incredulous and slightly amused. "Merlin's balls, what if that gets out?"
"Then I'll stand for it," he answered simply.
Hermione shook her head and gave him another glare. "Oh no, Mister! You won't. I don't care how many Obliviates I would have to use, but I would definitely not watch how you get carted off to Azkaban!" She sat up and threateningly raised a finger. "And before you ask, I don't care how many laws I would break with that!"
Ron whistled softly. "Wow, I never thought I would hear Hermione say something like that!"
Said girl huffed and crossed her arms, while Harry looked at her slightly perplexed. "Say... am I right when I say we're definitely rubbing off on you? Since when don't you care about rules?"
Hermione sighed and slid off of his lap, to pace around the room. "Does it even matter? We're already breaking enough rules – no – laws as it is!" She waved her hand around as if to show them something, but didn't stop her pacing to look at them.
"Firstly we're leading an unapproved duelling-club or whatever you may call it, secondly we're teaching them spells well beyond what their age allows them to learn, thirdly the five of us are all illegal animagi – well Neville's still trying, but that's not the point..." she rattled those things down in an unbelievable speed and Harry guessed that all those things were bothering her for quite some time now. "The next thing is, that we're learning the Dark Arts, including Blood Rituals and Unforgivables. On top of that we're teaching the H.A. some of the simpler dark things."
She took a deep breath and then faced them again. "And last but not least we're using a time-turner to get more training done. If something happens and we mess up the timeline... I don't even want to imagine what would happen then!"
"Time-turner?" asked Neville and Harry threw him a surprised look, while Draco rubbed his head a little apologetically.
"You should've told him the first time I went to Snape for my training!" Harry exclaimed and then frowned.
"Sorry, I had to help Daphne with her prefect duties that evening and it just slipped my mind... guess there's no time like the present, eh?"
Harry nodded, lost in his thoughts, while Draco with occasional comments from Ron proceeded to tell Neville about their additional training. He automatically slung his arms around Hermione when she sat down tough.
The two meanwhile started a whispered conversation on their own:
She looked up at him. "How is your training with Snape going anyway? Does it help you against the dragon-blood?"
With a frown Harry brought himself in a more comfortable position while thinking about the best way to formulate his answer. "It's... difficult to say..."
"Meaning?" prompted Hermione with a raised eyebrow.
"The blood needs slightly longer – at the moment two to four minutes – to take effect, but then" he carefully thought his next words over, so that they wouldn't worry her, but couldn't find a really reassuring continuation. "Well, it's like the pain is three times stronger when it finally starts."
His girlfriend started to trace small circular patterns on his shirt with a finger, a frown adorning her features which Harry had dubbed as her 'thinking-face'.
"Does this mean you're just repressing it, until it becomes too much?"
He nodded. "That's what Snape said as well. It seems logical, as it would explain why the pain's stronger then."
They were interrupted by Neville however. "Say Harry, does that mean, that you're sixteen now?"
A little confused by the sudden change of topic Harry nodded, feeling slightly distracted. "Yeah... and so's Draco. I believe Ron and Hermione have nearly gotten four months down as well..."
Draco eyed him. "Are you okay Harry? It's the first time since we we're in Australia that I see you distracted like that."
He sighed when all of his friends looked at him slightly worried. "I just need some time to come to terms with using an Unforgivable to get what I wanted..."
...HPHP...
The next day, shortly after lunch, Harry was found frowning and looking out of the large window – trying to drown out the noise around him. He was sitting in the corner of the Phoenix Common-Room. Classes today had been cancelled, because Professor McGonagall - who really had taken on the post as the current headmistress - together with the little Professor Flitwick, was on her way looking for a new DADA-teacher.
The currently free position was also the reason, why everybody around Harry was celebrating. With nothing else to do Fred and George had decided to raid the kitchens.
Fred was currently standing on a chair, with a bottle of butterbeer raised in the air – all the members of the H.A. gathered around him. "For that Umbitch remains in Azkaban as long as she's able to breathe!"
"Hear, hear!" they all chorused and started to laugh and continue their happy chatter.
Harry shook his head and stared at his own bottle that he had placed on the windowsill. 'So much for the secrecy of the Common-Room location... now the whole H.A. knows where it is...' He spotted Hermione in the crowd and she gave him a slightly worried smile. She herself had been dragged into the middle of the celebration by Parvati and Lavender.
He knew, that she was concerned because he wasn't celebrating with them, but somehow Harry really wasn't in the mood for that. 'Are you okay?', asked her voice in her head and he flinched slightly. They hadn't used that form of communication for a long time.
He gave a slight nod in her direction – knowing that it wasn't enough for her he smiled slightly. 'Not really, but I guess I'll be.' Sure, he was glad as hell, that Umbridge was finally out of the picture, but Rose's situation threw a large shadow over his happiness.
With that he made a decision and stood up. He strode through the slightly surprised students and ignored the confused looks he was getting. Euan had been at breakfast this morning, but he still hadn't seen Rose ever since the girl had gotten the letter.
Harry was going to visit the small girl in the hospital-wing.
...HPHPHP...
As soon as Harry set foot into the Hospital-Wing he stumbled slightly when he felt himself engulfed in a giant hug. Blinking, he realised that he was holding a small brown-haired girl. 'Rose?' He sighed and looked down at the girl which had her head buried in his stomach and slowly, not to startle her, lowered himself down to her eye-level.
"I'm so sorry..." he whispered a little awkwardly into her ear when her arms tightened around him and he encircled her with his own to give her at least some comfort. "Believe me, Rose... I'm so terribly sorry."
"Thank you," she whispered and Harry was completely thrown off guard at her words, not understanding what she was thanking him for.
He shortly looked at the two adults, that came out of Madame Pomfrey's office – of course followed by the nurse herself.
He was released from Rose's hug and looked into the teary eyes of the first-year. The look reminded him so much of Hermione's after he had told her about the prophecy, that he felt his stomach clench painfully - fully aware that no eleven-year old girl should be having a look like that in her eyes.
"For what are you thanking me?" he asked quietly and she sniffled and wiped her nose with a handkerchief she had retrieved from her pocket.
Rose grabbed his hand and led him over to one of the beds to sit on. While she was doing so, Harry caught the eyes of Madam Pomfrey, who gave him a sad smile and a nod. Still not really understanding what exactly was going on he had to keep himself from simply using Legilimency on those around him and sat down when Rose hoped onto the bed next to him.
His eyes once more fell on the two adults. A woman with smooth dark blond curls and a slightly tanned skin and a man with raven-black hair that was tied in a low ponytail. He also had a tan, but his was darker than the woman's. Ignoring them for now, he looked down at the girl and waited, while she was wringing her hands, seemingly trying to form words.
"Madam Pomfrey and Mrs. Edison told me everything that had been going on s-since... since I g-got the letter f-from the Ministry," she whispered and her voice cracked slightly at the end which nearly broke Harry's heart. The girl angrily rubbed her eyes. "I... I know that I don't know you very well and... you see... I only wanted to tell you, that I... understand and I'm glad that Umbridge is gone."
Harry's eyes widened and he slipped down from the bed to kneel in front of the girl, taking Rose's hand in his own. Staring intently at the small first-year, he was surprised to only find honesty and a tad of defiance in her eyes.
"Rose..." he began quietly, deciding to be bold. "Do you know what I've done? If it wasn't for my foolish pride and anger you wouldn't even be in... in the situation you're now in. I knew Umbridge was crazy, I knew she was malicious, I knew she didn't hesitate to use violence to achieve her goals and yet I didn't think of the possibility of her joining Voldemort... I didn't think she would have the guts to do so... and that's exactly what cost you your family."
She shook her head. "No! Maybe I wouldn't be in this situation now, but... with everything I've heard about You-Know-Who since I started school I... I t-think that it wo-would've happened... happened anyway. Everybody thinks so."
"But-"
Suddenly the woman stepped forward. "Rose is a very intelligent girl and she immediately realised how dangerous the situation in the magical world is, Mr. Potter. Therefore we fully explained to her what You-Know-Who is trying to achieve."
Harry now narrowed his eyes at the pair. "Excuse me, but who're you?"
"I'm Rosie's aunt", replied the woman. "My name is Dhalia Gibbon-Wilkes. And this is my husband Albaric Wilkes."
He eyed her expensive robes and titled his head to the side. "You're a witch... how is that possible? I thought Rose is a muggleborn student. And-" Suddenly his eyes widened. "Just wait a minute... Gibbon... Wilkes?"
The woman nodded and the man shifted a little uncomfortable, Harry noted. He rose to his feet once more. "How can this be possible, that Rose is related to a woman, who belongs to the Gibbon-family?" He gave the woman an icy look. "An old dark family, who did everything they could to help Voldemort gain power in the first war?"
The woman sighed and rubbed her nose. "My own uncle was a squib and he was thrown out of the family. He later was forced to take on another name and married a muggle woman. They both had a son who was born without any magic. That was Rosie's father – my cousin. Sam – that was his name, had never learned of the existence of magic before Rosie got her Hogwarts letter, because not even his mother had known, that she had married a squib." She paused shortly to give Harry time to let the information sink in and then continued: "My father himself simply couldn't stand to see his brother being treated like that and cut ties with his family as well – even though he still carried their name and stayed the legal heir."
Her eyes widened suddenly when Harry simply raised an eyebrow at her statement. "You don't think that we would harm Rosie, because she classifies as muggleborn, do you?
Harry didn't answer and eyed her husband. He clicked with his tongue. "The thought is not very far–fetched when one considers the fact, that the name Wilkes is also strongly associated with the Dark Arts."
The man sighed and Harry's eyes shortly hushed over to the girl sitting on the bed. Her head was moving from Harry to her relatives as if she were watching a tennis-match.
"The former Baron of magical Northampton, Sir Laurent Wilkes died, serving the madman who calls himself a Lord." The man gave a sneer that made Harry sure that the man must have been a Slytherin when he had been at Hogwarts. "That's all there is to it. I may have inherited the title of Baron and also have a seat in the Wizengamot, but every time I set foot into the Ministry I have to try and erase the shame my father put on the family-name."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that and the man continued: "I hold no pride in the name Wilkes. And although I was educated in the old pure-blooded ways, the Dark Arts and was taught to despise all things muggle, I'm quite happy to be living comfortably with electricity and a car. I even work at a muggle-business-company."
Harry knew his face was showing surprise then. "Well... that's certainly unexpected." Then he cracked a small smile. "I didn't think that any pure-blooded family other than the Blacks was able to produce black-sheep."
Mr. Wilkes snorted. "Oh, you don't want to know how many pureblood-families have cast aside their unwanted members."
Harry didn't say anything more, not really caring if he was deemed unfriendly and an uncomfortable silence placed itself over the room. Madam Pomfrey started shifting nervously and Harry with a bemused smile saw that she started to occupy herself with checking Rose over.
"So I guess you'll be taking Rose in?", he asked suddenly and everybody jumped startled.
Mrs. Wilkes looked down at the floor. "You see, Mr. Potter... we can't... that is... we aren't able to provide the necessary protection for Rosie."
Harry's eyes shifted over to the small girl that was looking down at the floor and saw wetness at the corner of her eyes once again. He felt his heart clench and shook his head with a sigh. The couple looked at him with dread, but Harry simply gave them a very small smile. He understood why they couldn't take Rose in. At least for now...
"I understand, that Death Eaters will probably try to recruit you when they catch wind of your names." He looked at Mr. Wilkes and the man nodded. "If they not already have."
He started pacing in the room, when the door opened and Professor McGonagall entered the hospital wing. She was looking over her shoulder and huffed. "Seriously, one would think you knew how to take care of yourself when you don't have the potion to get your urges under control!"
A voice answered loudly, laced with amusement and mixed with a little bit of guilt: "Well it has been quite some time since there was a full moon where I didn't take the potion..."
Harry smiled slightly when a very familiar figure with patched robes, brown hair and amber coloured eyes entered. "Remus!"
McGonagall jumped a little startled while said man grinned at him and gave him a small wave.
"Oh, excuse my rudeness," said McGonagall. "I didn't expect someone to be here at this time. I hope we didn't interrupt anything..." her eyes fell on Rose's relatives and lit up. "Ah! Mr. And Mrs. Wilkes, I'm glad you could come!"
They both nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you Professor, or is it Headmistress now?" said Mr. Wilkes.
McGonagall smiled slightly and Harry chuckled when he saw Remus gave an annoyed huff. It seemed as if the Professor had totally forgotten about the man. Suddenly a large black dog limped through the door and Harry raised an eyebrow. Padfoot barked softly and looking closer Harry could see two deep gashes on his left front leg.
He decided not to say anything for now.
"Well then, would you two – and little Miss Zeller – be so kind to join me in my office? I have a proposal for you regarding your rather... difficult circumstances," McGonagall said.
"Of course," answered Mrs. Wilkes and held her hand out for Rose to take.
Harry, glad that the little girl wasn't crying anymore, gave her a small wave and a smile, before she left with the Professor and the Wilkes couple. At the door, McGonagall looked over her shoulder. "Poppy, I know that it's usually not your field of expert, but would you take a look at that dogs leg?"
Harry snorted when the door fell shut and the large black dog whimpered slightly.
"Change back this instant!" snapped Madame Pomfrey and Harry jumped startled at her outburst. "Or so, Merlin help me, I put you on a leash!"
He whirled around to look at her and saw that she was glaring at Padfoot with one hand on her hips and her wand in the other. When he turned back he saw the dog slowly shift into Sirius and winced when he saw the deep gashes on his godfather's shoulder. They looked more serious now than when he had been a dog.
"Hey, Harry," he smiled.
"On the bed. Now!" ordered Pomfrey and Sirius quickly obeyed, afraid of the nurse's wrath. She immediately went over to him and waved her wand over his arm. Sirius gave a yelp when a faint popping sound was heard.
"Ouch! Merlin's balls, that hurts!"
"Be silent Black," snapped Pomfrey disapprovingly. "I bet those injuries are your own fault like most of the time. Really now that I think about it, you are nearly on par with Mr. Potter when it comes to stays in the Hospital Wing."
Harry gasped and then held his nose into the air. "Nobody can keep up with me in that area, surely you know that?"
Madam Pomfrey gave him a glare, but her lips twitched slightly and he smiled. "Excuse me, but I have to treat your dogfather."
Harry chuckled and then he went over to Remus, who was guiltily staring at his friends wounds.
Now that he looked a little closer he could see the man's tiredness. "Rough night, huh? What happened? Normally you've got the Wolfsbane with you when a full moon's approaching."
Remus sighed tiredly and sat down on the nearest bed. "My vial broke when Padfoot and I ran into some Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley. We had a little trouble and my transformation begun before we were able to reach Grimmauld Place" Remus stretched his arms and cracked his neck.
"Sirius grabbed me and while I was changing apparated us into a house I was unfamiliar with. He told me this morning, that it was just two streets away from the place where we fought with the Death Eaters and that it belonged to a trusted acquaintance."
Sirius chuckled from where Madame Pomfrey was treating him. "Poor Selwyn nearly got a heart-attack when we appeared in his living-room!"
Harry's eyes widened. "You... apparated into a Vampire's home? With a Werewolf in tow?" He slapped his forehead. "Are you freakin' mad? Selwyn could've killed Remus! You must know about the strong aversion vampires and werewolves have against each other!"
Sirius looked a little put out when Madam Pomfrey roughly pulled his shoulder and grimaced. "Yeah well... it was the only place I could think of, where no one would get hurt by Remus. I've known Selwyn even before you were born kiddo and rest assured, Remus did as well. The two always got along rather good."
"You're both right..." murmured Remus. "But I guess I can be happy that he didn't freak out when he saw me in my werewolf-form."
Harry didn't answer and looked at the now yawning Remus, who gave him a small smile after noticing his eyes on him. "Pray tell me, Harry, what're you doing in the Hospital-wing? Don't tell me you got hurt again?"
He shook his head. "No... I'm perfectly fine. Say, have you heard about Umbridge?"
"Dumbledore told us when we stopped at Grimmauld before we came here. Got what she deserves..." grumbled Sirius from his bed. "She- ouch! Woman, that hurt!"
Madam Pomfrey gave him a glare that immediately shut him up and Harry sighed with a small smile. "Well... then you know what happened anyway. And what exactly led me to doing what I did."
"The small girl that left before. Was that the one whose parents got killed?", asked Remus softly.
Harry sighed, this time a little sadly. "D'you really have to ask, Moony? Why else would Rose have been here?"
The werewolf nodded apologetically. "I wasn't sure because of the two purebloods being here with her... I thought the girl whose family got attacked is a muggleborn."
It was Sirius who answered. "She is."
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you know about them?"
Madam Pomfrey disappeared into her office and Sirius gave Harry and Remus a sidelong glance. "I may not look like it, but I'm the Lord of the House of Black - Lord as in Marquis. Don't you think I know that those two were Lady Dhalia Wilkes, nee Gibbon and the Baron of the magical part of Northampton Sir Albaric Wilkes?" Sirius looked at his shoulder and carefully examined the nearly fully healed flesh. "The last generation of Gibbons was clever enough to distance themselves from the Dark Arts and the Wilkes are known for throwing out weak or unwanted family-members – just like my family. So... I guess that girl is the product of a squib marrying a muggle or something like that."
Harry and Remus stared at him. The werewolf then coughed. "Padfoot, I'm impressed. I didn't know you had it in you."
Said man gave a huff. "You know a thing or two about purebloods when you get their history and ancestry drilled into your head for sixteen years of your life. And even so, the Wilkes only climbed up the ladder of magical nobility from Knight over Baronet to Baron because my great-great-grandfather gave them a part of our land." He threw his head back and gave them a sneer that would make Lucius Malfoy proud, before cracking a grin and rubbing his head.
"I guess so..." muttered Remus and Harry had to chuckle at the looks on both of their faces.
Suddenly a question popped up in his head. "Err... why aren't you two at Grimmauld Place now if you were there this morning? Pomfrey was there often enough. Why did you come here?"
Harry got a suspicious feeling when both men grinned at each other, but patiently waited for them to answer.
The werewolf clapped his shoulder. "Well Harry... why should we go to Grimmauld, when we'll be living here from now on?" The grin widened. "After all... why should your new – or rather old - Defence Against The Dark Arts Professor and his faithful dog stay so far away from the school?"
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Dark Phoenix of Slytherin