Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

by Fergus Flamacron

Six years after the attack by Acnologia, a catastrophic event leads the entire island of Tenroujima and everyone on it to be flung headfirst into another world. A world with different people, different magic and different threats. What happens when Dragon Slayers meet with the Boy Who Lived? Pairings mostly, but not entirely, the same as canon. DISCONTINUED

64. Number Four, Privet Drive

Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 64:- Number Four, Privet Drive

---

"They'll be fine."

"Harry, you don't know that. You can't possibly know that."

"Trust me, Hermione," Harry said vehemently. "I know the Dursleys, okay? If there's anyone that's going to be fine with everything that's going on right now, it's going to be them. They're like… a living embodiment of everything all the Muggles are thinking right now about magic. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia spent their whole lives since I was sent to stay with them absolutely terrified that one day I'd end up becoming a wizard. They can't stand anything outside their precious normal, and I definitely count. And now everyone else in Little Whinging is probably thinking the same thing. Which means, they will be fine."

This had been Harry's rhetoric all through the previous evening and most of the following day. Friday had come - the day that the UN summit was finally going to take place. And thus far, Harry had adamantly refused to do anything whatsoever about the letter that Mrs. Figg had sent to him last night.

And Hermione had refused to stop pestering him about it, which Ron pretty much just ended up looking back and forth between them wherever they went like he was watching a slow tennis game.

Harry stood by what he said though. Since the statute had been broken on New Year's, he had actually thought several times about what the Dursleys might be doing in this situation. He'd always pictured Uncle Vernon absolutely thriving in it. It was so easy to depict him as the one rallying the other Muggles throughout Surrey to galvanise them into vigilante action against anyone that so much as looked at him funny. Harry had even once heard him muttering about how criminals should be hung in front of the television once, and he was already aware people were trying to do just that. He could easily picture Vernon tying the noose himself.

It was a bit more difficult to picture what Aunt Petunia might be doing in all this. But even though she had lived in a near completely Muggle neighbourhood for all her life, Harry now pictured her craning her head over the fences of everyone down the road as if hoping she'd spot something magical that she could tell everyone about.

And Dudley… well, he was probably using this as an excuse to be more public about beating up the other kids in the neighbourhood, yelling that he'd seen them do a magic trick or something.

Harry didn't want to think about any of that. He wanted to focus on saving people who were actually worth saving. The Dursleys did not fit on that list… in fact, they were miles from it.

"But Harry, they're still your family…" Hermione tried again, but Harry cut across her.

"Only by blood, Hermione. They've never been the family I needed when I was growing up. Never once. Considering all the things they put me through when I was a kid… even if they are in trouble they deserve to be. Can we just focus on setting up the next DA meeting. We've got to fit a lot more people into it this time."

Hermione lapsed into silence as they reached the Room of Requirement and walked straight in as soon as they'd summoned the door. It was exactly the same as always but for the fact it was now completely empty.

"Damn," Ron muttered as he looked around the massive training hall. "Three months ago I didn't even know this room existed. Now I've got used to it being filled with rowdy Fairies… looks kinda desolate without them here, doesn't it?"

His attempt to start a conversation fell on deaf ears, which became apparent when Hermione said, "But what if something did happen to them, Harry?"

"I don't care," Harry growled. "I care about the Weasleys. I care about your parents. I don't care about them."

"Don't care about who?" said a voice from nearby that made all three of them jump.

"Sirius!?" Harry gasped, as his godfather made his way through the door that lead from Aberforth's pub. "What are you doing here? What if I'd brought in the new students?"

"I would have turned into a dog and you'd just have to come up with a reasonable excuse for having a big shaggy friend in the school when you're only supposed to have owls, cats or toads," Sirius grinned lopsidedly, before his face fell back into a deep frown. "But seriously… I'm here cos there's really nowhere better to be. There's still not been any sign of Remus whatsoever and if I have to sit in my house listening to that bloody House Elf mumbling about how much he hates Mudbloods then I really will become a murderer and strangle him."

"You shouldn't be so hard on…" Hermione started, but Sirius cut across her before she could continue. "So, who do you not care about, Harry?"

"The Dursleys of course," Harry murmured darkly. "Who else?"

"The Malfoys? The Death Eaters? Grimoire Heart?"

"Okay, fine… but yeah, it's the Dursleys."

"What about them?"

"He got a letter from his neighbour last night," said Ron quickly. "She was under the impression that they might need rescuing in the near future. Hermione thinks Harry should go, but Harry says that he doesn't care."

"Right, gotcha," Sirius nodded. "Well, if that's the case can I chip into the argument?"

"Go ahead," Harry nodded. He already knew what Sirius was going to say though - his godfather would be in total agreement with him. Sirius knew better than anyone he knew how horrible it was for someone to grow up with a family that hated them. His mother's portrait (which had been continuously frozen over by Gray over the last few months) was proof enough of how awful the Black family had been and from Sirius' expression whenever the rest of his family was mentioned they weren't much better. If Sirius was in Harry's position, he wouldn't want to help them out either.

"I think you should rescue them, Harry."

…Never mind.

"What!?" Harry gasped. "Are you serious!?"

"Oooooh, the urge to make a pun about my own name at this moment is so great!" Sirius screwed up his eyes for a moment as if waiting the reach the point where making the joke would no longer be remotely funny before saying. "But Harry, look… I totally get where you're coming from. The Dursleys don't deserve squat. Not from you and not from anyone else either. But still… you sorta have to do it, and I think you know that."

"Why?" Harry asked. "The only times they've ever done anything nice for me is when they've been afraid of something. I was locked out of the house in rain and even hail to do gardening for them! I was basically only fed their leftovers for years! And you all know where they made me sleep! Did you know that when Uncle Vernon heard about my hearing this summer, he actually said he hoped I'd get the death penalty!? The death penalty, right there in front of me!"

"…That is just wrong," Ron looked a bit sick.

"And I should save these people, why?" Harry asked.

"For the same reasons I'd save my family if they were still alive and they were in trouble," Sirius said consolingly, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "There's two big reasons. First, because if I could save them and didn't then I would have that on my conscience for the rest of my life. Knowing that someone died or was injured because I didn't do anything to stop them… that's not something I would want weighing me down. And I can say that, because sometimes it feels like that's exactly what I did to Lily and James by convincing Wormtail to be Secret Keeper in my place. And yes, before you say it, I know that I can't blame myself for that really. But it's not fun, Harry. It's really not."

Harry had no counter argument to that. He just opened his mouth to speak while his brain struggled to find the right words to send out of it. And before it could, Sirius was speaking again.

"And also because it's the right thing to do," he said wryly. "The hero shouldn't choose who gets saved and who doesn't, Harry. The hero should save everyone when he can. Even if they are complete dickheads."

"That's right, Harry," Hermione said. "And you know that's true. If you really wanted them to just die, you'd be happy at the prospect. But you're not. You're just trying to ignore your morals because you hate them so much."

"Yeah, besides," Ron interjected. "Didn't you save your cousin when the Dementors attacked you both in the summer? You didn't think twice about saving him then, did you? Cos you didn't have the time to do it. You just jumped right in and saved him."

Harry growled and rubbed at his eyes beneath his glasses. "Damn it," he whispered to himself. "Why do you guys have to be right?"

"Because we're clever," Sirius smirked. "But seriously, Harry… you really should save them. For your sake as much as theirs."

Harry was silent for a good minute, trying to get the torrent of emotions in check… but everything that had just been said to him were things that he had known from the moment he read Mrs. Figg's letter. But his intense dislike of his relatives had been enough to overpower them until the others forced his morals out from under the baggage wearing it down.

"Fine," he whispered. "Yeah… fine. You're right… but ugh, I can't believe I'm about to do this."

"Well then it's a good thing we're not going to make you do it alone," said Ron.

---

Lupin exhaled loudly through his nose… which was one of the few things he was able to do in his current situation. He was sitting right in the middle of a dark room by himself, seated on chair and firmly bound to it - thick ropes pinning his arms and legs down to the chairs own arms and legs. For many hours now Lupin had tried to break himself free, but it seemed that both the ropes and the chair had been magically reinforced, and the chair itself was stuck to the ground. Otherwise he would have certainly tipped himself over by now.

This was the exact spot where he'd been for almost the entirety of the last few days. And… he'd pretty much just been left there. When he'd been initially taken by Greyback, he'd been expecting some kind of brutal torture. In fact, he'd been sure of it. But the only real torture he'd been inflicted with was one of complete boredom. There was quite literally nothing to do. And he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Greyback himself since he'd been brought here.

Though he hadn't been left completely alone. Every so often someone would come in and untie him long enough for him to eat, drink and go to the toilet before taking him straight back to the chair and tying him down once again. Every time it was someone different, but every one of them had something in common.

They were all werewolves, just like him. Their clothes were shabby and worn just like his own, their faces were tired and sometimes angry. And every one of them gave him looks of near complete disdain.

That was no exception today, when two women came into the room carrying a glass of water and a plate of steak and potatoes between them.

"Good morning, ladies," Remus said to them politely, trying to keep some humour in his voice despite the situation. "Or I assume it's morning at least. I really don't know how long I've been stuck in here."

"It's actually afternoon," said one of the women, who had auburn hair while the other had longer black locks. "Hence why we're bringing you your dinner."

"Of course," Lupin nodded, as both of them trained their wands on him and untied the knots around one of his arms so he could reach the plate properly and eat as they placed it on his lap. "My apologies… you lose track of time somewhat when you're kept in a dark room for days on end."

"Well, you brought it on yourself," said the black haired woman crossly. "I'm surprised the Greyback's even bothering to keep you alive after he found out you were spying on us. I was certain that if something like that happened he'd disembowel whoever was foolish enough to do it."

"Well, somebody had to," Lupin shrugged, spearing at the potato with his fork. "If it wasn't going to be me doing the spying then who else would do it?"

"Why did you have to spy on us at all?" the black haired woman growled. "You could have revealed all of Greyback's plans under the wrong circumstances! Why the heck would you want to work with the humans."

"The humans?" Lupin looked up to fix his gaze on the black-haired woman's fiercely. "You make it sound like we are a completely different species. We are not. We are just as human as anyone else, just with an unfortunate… animalistic affliction."

"Yeah, well we're not exactly treated like people, are we?" the auburn haired woman retorted. "Everyone despises and shuns a werewolf. We're practically the scum of the earth to most of humankind. The fact that we only change once a month doesn't seem to even matter to them. It's like they expect to be attacked at all times."

"All true," Lupin nodded. "It's an absolute travesty and believe me… I hate it as much as you do," he whispered hoarsely, gripping his fork so tightly it was a wonder the metal didn't snap. "I'm a werewolf too so I understand how it feels… to be treated as unclean… to go through life living in fear of what people would think if they knew what you really were. I think it's fair to say I've had it better than most. I managed to find some great friends who didn't judge me for what I was… but I still understand exactly how you feel."

"And yet you still feel the need to betray us?" the black haired woman snorted. "To report on our movements to this Order of the Phoenix and help the Ministry against us?"

"Yes. Because Morgana and Voldemort are not the better options. They are by far worse."

"At least they want us around," the auburn haired woman said, a slight hint of yearning appearing in her voice. "The Ministry and the general public all push us away, but the Death Eaters… they welcome us with open arms."

"And does that make it right to stand with them?" Lupin asked pointedly. "Humanity is deeply flawed… and there are many terrible people out there… but there are many good too. Many people who are scared of werewolves but are still decent and kind in most other respects. People that deserve saving… who could be educated instead of avoided… as opposed to the pure evil that Voldemort represents. I fight for the people who deserve to be fought for. And that includes my fellow werewolves."

"Oh right, spying on us is fighting for us now?" said the black haired woman.

"It is if it helps change the public's perception one day that a werewolf doesn't have to be a bad person… then yes. It is. You could easily join me you know. In doing what's right for the world and not being corrupted by a desire for affection."

"You think the Wizarding populace could ever change their minds about us?" Auburn scoffed. "We're just monsters to them. I heard you had to give up your post as a teacher at Hogwarts when it got out you were a werewolf."

"It'll take a lot of work… but it's better than proving them right by joining the enemy, isn't it?"

"What choice do we have? At least Morgana thinks we're valuable… and she's promised that we'll be treated like ordinary citizens when she comes into power."

"Do you believe that?" Lupin asked with a brow raised. "Do you really think she'll deliver on that promise? I don't know much about Morgana but I do know she's ruthless… and if she were to conquer the country or the world, she wouldn't have any further need for werewolves after that. It wouldn't surprise me if she had all of our kind culled in an attempt to eliminate the curse from her kingdom. However bad we get treated by the Ministry and the wizarding public, at least they allow us to live. Can you say with total certainty that Morgana would do the same?"

That gave both the women pause for thought. The auburn haired one bit her lip while both of them shifted awkwardly on the spot.

"Morgana is evil," Lupin pressed. "Voldemort is evil. Yes, they want us around, but only so they can use us to scare everyone else. We're a means to an end for them… they don't care and they never will. Nobody could ever convince them to care about us. But the general populace… they could…"

"I think you've done enough preaching for one day, Lupin," said a dark voice from the doorway, and both the women jumped as Greyback himself sidled into the room. "Optimism's a fine thing, but we're realists here. Nobody's ever going to care about us, on either side. But that's why we're siding with the people who'll at least let us be ourselves."

"No. They will let us be monsters. And that is not what we are… with you being the exception," Lupin glared. "You're a monster regardless of whether you're a wolf or not. You're just in this for all the blood you can spill. But I don't believe the same can be said of most of the others under your command. They're just desperate people looking for hope, and the hope you're providing is false!"

"It ain't false if it's the only one we got. The only way we'll ever have it fair is if we rise up and overpower those who oppress us," Fenrir grinned savagely. "And that's exactly what we're doing! Ladies… take away the food. Let's starve our guest for a little bit… really get his appetite going, huh?"

Quickly the women grabbed the plate back and resecured Lupin's arm to the chair before hurrying out of the room.

"You realise you might as well kill me," Lupin said to Greyback when they were alone. "It should be obvious by now I'll never be your subordinate willingly."

"We'll see…" Greyback chuckled menacingly. "You might feel a little differently after we execute the plan."

"Plan?" Lupin frowned. "What plan?"

When Greyback told Lupin what the plan was, the captive werewolf was left ashen-face in complete horror, and wishing he had not asked.

---

"Mmmmhhhh… I've got to admit the bath here is nice," said Lucy as she entered the kitchen of the home she temporarily shared with the rest of her team and Juvia. a towel wrapped around her hair. "It's not as big as the one I have back in Magnolia… that or I've grown a little since I was last there. Do I look taller? I feel taller all of a sudden."

"Nah I think you're pretty much the same," Natsu snickered as he scooped another log from the fireplace and sucked up the flames from it. "You've probably grown about as much as you're ever gonna."

"Unless you start growing sideways, which is always a possibility considering how heavy you are," Happy said with his paws over his mouth.

"When I want your opinion I'll ask for it, cat! And I'm not heavy!" Lucy glared at him. "Anyway… do we have any idea when the summit is going to start? I would have thought you guys would have left by now. It's getting dark outside."

"There's a bit of a time difference between here and New York apparently," Erza said as she sharpened a sword absent-mindedly. "The summit starts at two in the afternoon over there, which will make it about six in the evening here. But it shouldn't be too much longer before we're all set to go."

"Why are they taking so long to get started anyway?" Juvia asked. "Juvia would have thought they'd like to start as early as possible to make sure they could talk for as long as possible for an issue this big."

"They probably want to make sure the area's secure," Gray pointed out with a sigh. "There's going to be a lot of security forces there. Probably even more than there is at the Ministry these days. Can't say I blame them considering how much damage Grimoire did before."

"Rrrgh… don't remind me of those bastards!" Natsu snapped the log in his hand in half without much effort and tossed both ends back onto the flames in the grate. "Every time I think about them I just want to rush out there, find them and beat the stuffing out of them!"

"That's how we all feel, Natsu-san," said Wendy. "But not even our noses can track them after they've Disapparated."

"I hate this! I hate just sitting here for days and doing nothing!" Natsu muttered. "Reminds me of Edolas… when we had to sit around and wait to go and find the King, except this time we've still got our magic."

"We don't exactly have an alternative. Whining about it's not going to make them jump out of the shadows and face us head-on like last time," said Gray. "Just keep it together. We'll get a crack at them eventually, and when we do…" his fist tightened. "If they think they pissed us off before when they invaded our sacred ground, they've really got something coming this time."

'Let's just hope we can keep the property damage to a minimum when we do," Lucy said in a slightly deadpan manner. "They already hate us out there enough as it is."

Suddenly there came a loud crack from outside that indicated someone had just apparated in. Sure enough, in walked Amelia Bones a few seconds later, who took one look at Gray's feet on the table and the towel in Lucy's towel before saying, "Well I'm grateful that you at least seem to be settling in."

"It's definitely a nice place," Juvia smiled. "Orders of magnitude better than Azkaban was. Juvia couldn't have asked for a nicer prison."

"Thank you very much for looking after us, Madame Bones," Wendy dipped her head respectfully to her.

"If you're here then can I assume that means the time has come?" Erza said, storing her sword back in her Requip space and getting to her feet.

"Yes, we'll be required to be at the summit half an hour before it's scheduled to begin, and it'll take a little longer than that to get through all the new security. It took quite a long time to sort that out - the Muggles were pretty adamant that only their security measures be put in place. They were very mistrustful of letting wizards put spells on their building but eventually we were able to work something out. The governments of both worlds now believe that the building's as fortified as its going to get against a potential attack. They've even evacuated the public from the area around the building in a four New York City block radius. Nobody's taking this one lightly."

"Understandable," Erza nodded. "How are we getting there? By Portkey?"

"Um…" Amelia looked momentarily uncomfortable. "Actually Erza… there's… been a slight alteration to the plan. While the Ministry is… just about willing to let Fairy Tail members come and represent themselves… the Muggles have decided they don't want you to be one of them."

"…What?" Erza blinked in surprise.

"We gave them a case file on all the different things Fairy Tail can do," Amelia said apologetically. "All wizards and witches entering the building will be required to leave their wands behind but we have no way to disarm you Fairy Tail mages. And the idea of you being able to to pull swords out of thin air and launching them at will is… quite frankly a terrifying one for them. Many said that they wouldn't feel safe with you present."

"Not safe?" Lucy asked. "But what about Gajeel? Is he still being allowed to go? He can turn his arms into swords too! And the Master is more powerful than any of us - is he still going?"

"They are, yes. The Muggles are more afraid of Erza's specific ability because they plan to have armed security stationed around the hall, ready for an incident at all times. And they believe that Erza's ability to conjure and instantly throw swords to be the most threatening as she could theoretically strike down all of that security in the space of a second, whereas they believe Makarov, Lisanna, Gajeel and Pantherlily cannot do that, which would give them a chance to retaliate if they attacked."

"Do they really think they'd be able to do much against Gramps if he got angry?" Natsu scoffed. "Not way in hell."

"I doubt that they would be able to do anything either but they believe they at least have a chance. So… I'm sorry Erza but it looks like you won't be able to attend the summit meeting."

"…I understand," Erza said, slowly sitting herself back down. "I am… a risk. Yes, fine. I can accept that. But we should still have five Fairy Tail mages attending if possible. So… it looks like you're up Wendy."

"ME!?" Wendy squeaked, almost trying to duck her head underneath the table. "You… you want me to go into a meeting like that? I'm not nearly as confident and good at speaking as you are, Erza-san. I'll bungle it up!"

"You won't have to say anything if you don't want to," Erza chuckled. "You'll just need to stand there and look cute. You were always a close runner-up in the debate, Wendy. After all, how can a child like you possibly be a part of a terrorist organisation?"

"She's got a point there," Lucy smiled. "You're the youngest and possibly the purest of us all Wendy. If there's anyone who can convince people of the good of Fairy Tail, it's got to be you."

"Only reason we didn't pick you from the get-go was cos we thought you'd be nervous," said Happy. "Looks like you've got no choice now though, Wendy. You've got to take Erza's place."

Wendy swallowed nervously, but then pushed herself to her feet, a determined look in the back of her eyes. "…Okay then," she said, trying to steady herself physically and mentally. "I'll… I'll go and do my best, I promise."

"Well if you're going then I'm going with you," Carla said immediately.

"No you're not," Amelia interrupted just as quickly. "Five Fairy Tail members were promised and no more. To take another one, even a second talking cat, would violate the terms and that wouldn't exactly paint us in the best light for an opening meeting with the Muggles. Besides, Pantherlily has the talking cat side of things covered, so I wouldn't worry too much."

Charla frowned with displeasure, clearly irritated at the fact she was being essentially benched. But there was nothing she could really do to protest that would get her anyway, so she very reluctantly nodded. "Alright then… fine. Just be safe, okay Wendy?"

"Don't worry Charla," Wendy said, while looking very worried herself. "Master and Gajeel-san will be there to protect me. And Lily and Lisanna-san are no slouches. I'll be alright."

"We will make sure of it too," Amelia nodded. "And since that's settled if you'd like to come with me, Wendy. We'll be on our way now."

"Um… wish me luck everyone," Wendy called, as she hurried outside. There was a group of about four Aurors out there, tasked with watching the house to make sure Fairy Tail didn't try anything, but Amelia just ignored them and offered her hand to Wendy. As soon as the Sky Dragon Slayer took it, they vanished with a crack and suddenly Wendy was standing in a field. The other four Fairy Tail members going to the summit meeting were already there, as was Dumbledore, Kingsley, Scrimgeour and a couple of other Aurors. And sitting innocently in the middle of them was an old golf club. No doubt the Portkey that would whisk them right across the Atlantic.

"Looks like we're all here then," Makarov said demurely. "Are you feeling alright, Wendy?"

"Um… yes, Master," Wendy nodded quickly. "We've been treated pretty well… but… I'm quite nervous now. I never thought I'd be representing Fairy Tail so soon after joining."

"Tell me about it," Gajeel snorted, with his hands behind his head. "Was barely half a year ago from my perspective that I hated Fairy Tail's guts. Now I'm gonna be trying to convince the governments of a whole world to give a chance? This is freaking messed up."

"And I'm the newest recruit out of us all," Pantherlily nodded. "I still question whether it would have been better to bring us as opposed to those who've been with the guild longer."

"I suppose you could almost call all of us besides the Master the new recruits… in a way," Lisanna smiled lightly. "I mean I've been with the guild for years but… well, you know… I did take something of a two year hiatus. Are you sure you picked the right people, Master?"

"Sure? Not really," Makarov coughed honestly. "But I suppose, in a way, you might be the best people to represent the guild. The newer recruits - the ones with the least bias towards it compared to others like Erza and Natsu. Most of you are as new to the guild as the wizards of this world have even known about it. Maybe you'll be able to relate to them in a way others could not."

"I still think Lucy-san would have been better suited to coming than me," said Wendy.

"They'd never have allowed her to enter," said Dumbledore. "They won't want someone who can summon another magical being right past all their security."

"But if they took away her keys…"

"Then there'd still be a chance some of her Spirits could pop out on their own. We had to be completely honest about what each of you are capable of doing. It is the only way to build trust between us."

"…I suppose so. I just hope I don't screw up."

Gajeel barked with laughter. "I'd be more worried about someone screwing up if Salamander was here. You'll do fine."

Wendy blinked, but was grateful for Gajeel's encouragement. Even if it was offhand.

"Well, the time is upon us," said Amelia. "If everyone would like to take hold of a section of the golf club, we'll be going in twenty seconds.

Everyone crowded around the golf club, laying a hand on it and waiting as the seconds ticked down until they hit precisely five o'clock in the afternoon. Then, with a roaring whoosh, they were gone.

---

When they re-appeared, it was right in the middle of a road and utterly surrounded by skyscrapers. "Wwhhooooaa…" Wendy said, which voiced the opinions of the other Fairy Tail members before. They'd seen impressive buildings before, for instance in London when the Dragon Slayers had been flying around before they attacked Gringotts, but never so many towers in one place. The buildings rose high as far as they could see down each side of the road and beyond… it was breathtaking.

Although Gajeel ruined the mood somewhat by pinching his nose and muttering, "Ugh, it reeks here. Way too much smoke and rubbish around this place."

"Yes, our cities don't tend to be the cleanest of places unfortunately," said Dumbledore. "Regardless though we're on a schedule so, if you'd like to follow me."

The road was mostly empty, but in the distance they could see crowds of people standing behind barriers and trying to peer past Muggle Law Enforcement to see what was going on. There were helicopters circling the area, and hundreds of American police all over the place. And it even looked like they'd called in the National Guard. They regarded the wizards and mages with obvious suspicion, their hands tightening a little on their weapons. But to their credit, none of them tried anything even though some of them looked downright terrifying.

"Well it's clear where all the non-magical security is," Lisanna whispered. "But what kind of magical security has been put in place?"

"For starters there have been Anti-Apparition wards having been placed up all over the UN Tower," said Amelia. "We also enlisted the help of the Goblins of Gringotts to use their special Thief's Downfall to remove all forms of magical disguise so that nobody can sneak in, which everyone has to go through magical and Muggle alike. With the exception of the security, all wands and weapons will have to be left at the entrance, but all witches and wizards are allowed to take in their own personal Portkey which they can activate to get them out of there if something goes wrong and a fight breaks out. In the long run though, everyone is being forced to put a lot of faith in each other for this meeting to even take place. It could take very little to start a panic."

"And what's going to happen to us exactly?" Pantherlily asked.

"You… unfortunately… are going to have weapons trained on you at all times," Amelia said reluctantly. "It was the only way we could convince world leaders on both sides to let you in."

"You realise it could take only one person with an itchy trigger finger to set things off, right?" Gajeel grunted.

"Unfortunately yes," Amelia sighed. "But really there's no way that we can pull something of this scale off in such a short time with a solution to every problem that will be suitable for us all. There's no flawless way to proceed. And… we figured that if there's anyone that can take a hit, it is probably you lot. I hope that's… acceptable to you."

"It will have to be," Makarov growled. "Because surrender or not, I will not tolerate a single unnecessary injury to myself or anyone else from Fairy Tail. If I see but one, there will be nothing to stop me from busting my way out. Not a thing."

"I don't doubt it," Dumbledore said. "Let's just… please… make sure nothing goes wrong for as long as we can."

As they drew closer to the doors they could see all kinds of delegates from multiple countries standing around outside. The Muggles had evidently all got here some time ago, while the wizards were just now arriving and meeting up with the Muggle governors of their respective countries before going in together. As they approached the President of India was shaking hands nervously with the Indian Minister of Magic before they proceeded through the doors.

A hush fell over the faintly talking crowd as Fairy Tail approached. Amelia turned to them and said, "I need to get to Fudge's side. But Dumbledore will be staying with you lot in there. Good luck, all of you."

She hurried off to go join the British Prime Minister, indicating Fudge had yet to arrive personally. But with all eyes on them, the five Fairy Tail members followed Dumbledore to the front door of the building, where they were met with nervous Muggle security, and even more nervous wizarding security a short distance behind them. The marks emblazoned on Lisanna's leg and Gajeel and Wendy's arms seemed to tip many of them off as to who these people were.

"Um… er… hello and… welcome… to New York," one of the Muggles said nervously.

"These guys are them right? Fairy Tail?" said another, taking a slight step backwards.

"Should… should we handcuff them or something?" said a third, extracting a pair of cuffs from his belt. "I feel like we should…"

Without warning, Gajeel broke from the group and strode towards this particular individual. Everybody tensed, including the other Fairy Tail members, but Gajeel just snatched the cuffs from his hands, popped one in his mouth and bit the chain between them in half."Thanks for the meal," he said, before returning to the others and noticing everyone incredulous looks even as he crunched on the metal in his mouth. "What?" he asked defensively. "I was hungry."

"…Let's… just get this over with…" Makarov muttered, already questioning whether bringing Gajeel had been a good idea after all before they moved forwards to get through what would be a very laborious and thorough security screening before they could get inside.

---

"I don't like it," Charla said uneasily as she paced up and down the table. "I don't like not being there with her… I know she's well protected but still, I should be by her side."

"We all should," Lucy pointed out. "But until the cloud of fear settles we can't be. We'll just have to ride it out and see where today takes us."

"Well, no offence to Wendy and the others, but to be honest I'm not getting my hopes up," Gray sighed. "The meeting didn't come fast enough if you ask me. The public and the politicians have already made up their minds about us. They aren't going to be changed so easily. It's going to be no different than the Magic Council back home."

Erza frowned. "That's really not the best attitude to have, Gray. You never know… some good might come out of this. At the very least perhaps our names can be cleared."

"If that happens then great. But I won't be holding my breath until it does."

"Juvia wonders… if worst comes to worst and they decide that we can't be trusted after all, if they decide to try locking up up properly… what will we do?"

"If that happens we'll bust our way out like we always do," Natsu said immediately. "And then… screw them all! Fairy Tail will do what it has to do. Even if we have to beat half the world to a pulp to get it done!"

"Just like Natsu to pick a fight with everyone on the planet," Happy snickered.

"But he's right," Erza nodded. "The most important things are defeating Morgana, Grimoire Heart and the Death Eaters. It will be a lot easier to do that with Ministry approval, but in the end… we will do it without if we must."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Charla murmured. "After all we lost our hiding place in Hogwarts the moment we…" Suddenly she looked up sharply, her pupils shrinking to tiny dots as strange images began to fill her head. Bright flashes of green light, people fleeing in terror through a street, one unfortunate man being grabbed in what looked like a giant pincer… a blur of other images coming in so fast that she couldn't make sense of them, and in the middle of all the chaos stood Morgana, smirking triumphantly as she chanted and the structures around her began to fall apart…

"GAAH!" Charla cried, stumbling backwards as clarity returned to her, her eyes bulging wide open.

"What… what is it Charla? Are you okay?" Happy was immediately by her side, while all the others gathered quickly around the table.

"Y… yes, I'm fine… I think."

"Did you just get a premonition of something?" Lucy asked quickly. "Is the UN summit going to be attacked like we suspected?"

"There… there was definitely an attack," Charla rubbed her forehead with one paw. "But… it wasn't the summit. I don't…" her eyes bulged and she gasped in horror when she sorted through the images enough to figure it out. "Quick! Someone go outside and tell one of the Aurors to contact Tonks. Hurry!"

---

It was not easy for Sirius to take three people via Side-Along Apparition at the same time, especially since he had never actually been to the place he was trying to Apparate into, which was Harry's bedroom at Privet Drive. Harry himself had to be the one to focus on the destination rather than Sirius himself which was not the safest method of doing things - it greatly increased the chances of Splinching. But nevertheless they managed it and with a loud crack they reappeared next to Harry's bed.

"Been a while since I was last in here," said Ron as he looked around. "I'd forgotten it was this small… not that I'm surprised."

"Believe me, this is a vast improvement from my old cupboard," Harry muttered.

"Um… guys… take a look at this," said Hermione, who has spotted something through the window and had crossed over to have a quick look. The other three followed and saw that even though it was night, there was a small group of people standing on the Dursleys front lawn, and several of them appeared to be throwing eggs at the house. Other people were watching from their doorsteps around the street, but nobody did a thing to intervene with what the miscreants were doing.

"Well… Aunt Petunia's going to be furious," Harry muttered dryly as he watched them trampling all over the flowerbeds.

"But it looks like Arabella was right," Sirius noted. "I wonder how long it'll take for them to grow bold enough to try breaking in instead of just egging the place."

"I bet the only reason they haven't done it already is because of Dudley. He's a champion boxer now after all… not really a person you want to pick a fight with if you don't have magic," Harry grunted, before turning to face the door. He took a moment to steel himself, as he did every time he came back on the Hogwarts Express to remeet the Dursleys for the summer holidays. "Let's just get this over with, shall we?" he said, marching across the room and throwing the door open to lead the group down the stairs.

"WHO THE HELL'S THAT UPSTAIRS!?" the familiar roar of Uncle Vernon could be heard from the living room and as Harry began to descend towards the ground floor the big moustached man appeared at the bottom, carrying a large cricket bat in one hand. Harry hadn't even known he owned a cricket bat. But evidently Uncle Vernon hadn't been expecting to see his nephew because his jaw went slack and his face went completely white when he set eyes on him.

"You!?" he gasped. "What in blazes are you doing here, boy?"

"I'd drop the bat if I were you," Sirius said, placing a bracing hand on his godson's shoulder and aiming his wand at Vernon warningly. "Harry here may get in trouble for using magic off the school premises but I won't."

"Y… You're… Black! You're him!?" the bat clattered to the floor. Now Vernon was clearly downright terrified. After all, Harry had neglected to mention that Sirius was innocent of mass murder to them. It had helped to keep them off his back for the most part the last two summers to think that he might have a murderous godfather willing to come and avenge him.

"Yeah, I'm him," Sirius smirked. "Now back up into the living room and nobody has to get hurt!"

Vernon all but fled, and Harry led the procession in. Dudley was seating on the sofa, wide as ever, but looking distinctly like a deer in the headlights as the wizards and witch entered, and when Harry looked at him his cousin refused to look him in the eye. And Aunt Petunia immediately shot to her feet at the sight of Harry and Sirius and hid herself behind Uncle Vernon, peering out over his shoulder like a frightened Bowtruckle.

"Harry!" she hissed like an angry cat. "Why are you here?"

"I'm kinda still asking myself that question," muttered Harry. "But… would you believe me at all if I told you I came to see if you were alright? I got a letter telling me that you guys were having… a hard time from the neighbours."

"You actually came to help us?" Dudley said in disbelief, but before Harry could reply to that he was quickly cut off by Uncle Vernon, who's face went from white fear to purple anger in a split second.

"A hard time? A HARD TIME!? IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL IT, BOY! NOBODY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WILL TALK TO US ANYMORE EXCEPT TO THROW INSULTS AT US! PEOPLE THROW THINGS AT US WHEREVER WE GO! THEY'VE PUNCTURED THE TYRES ON OUR CARS MULTIPLE TIMES IN THE LAST THREE DAYS, I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GO TO WORK AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS KEEP CLIMBING OVER THE FENCE OF OUR BACK GARDEN TO SCRAWL GRAFFITI ALL OVER THE HOUSE! AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU AND YOUR DESPICABLE, UNNATURAL KIND!"

"…Well, it's good to know your own problems with other Muggles hasn't given you any perspective on how bad things are right now for my despicable, unnatural kind," Harry growled sarcastically.

"Don't you get smart with my, boy!" Vernon growled. "You are the entire reason that we're in this mess in the first place. I never wanted you to be a part of his household - I always feared that one day it would get out! That people would figure out what you were… but I never imagined something of this scale. Your kind shattered everyone's perception of reality and now we're paying the price. Just because we happen to be related to a freak!"

"Hey, you could be a little more grateful, you know?" Hermione said, her voice dripping with offence. "Harry just came all the way here to make sure you were okay and maybe to help you escape if things were getting out of hand for you! He's your family!"

"Yes. And that's the most unfortunate thing about our lives, being related to something so unnatural!"

Hermione looked downright shocked. This was her first time meeting the Dursleys properly and from her expression it was clear that she'd always thought Harry's distaste for his relatives had caused him to exaggerate their unpleasantness somewhat. Now it was pretty clear to her that he'd been completely spot on.

"You really want to keep calling him names like that in front of me?" Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Is your head as thick as your gut or do you want me to hex you?"

"Look," Ron said, stepping forwards to put himself between the two groups. "If you ask me, these guys don't deserve squat. We should just be leaving them to fend for themselves, but we're not. We're here to help now so let's just get it over with so we can make sure Harry's conscience stays clean, okay?"

"Help us?" Aunt Petunia asked as if she hadn't actually heard them saying it the first time. "What exactly would you do? Use some kind of spell on the neighbours to make them forget about us?" She almost sounded hopeful and reviled at the idea at the same time, but such was her desperation to get back to normal that it seemed she might even be willing to turn to magic for a solution this time.

"That could work," Dudley said quickly. "You should start with the Polkisses."

"Huh? You mean Piers and his family?" Harry frowned. "I thought that Piers was your best friend."

"Yeah, he was," Dudley muttered. "But he was the one who figured out you were a wizard first. You remember what happened on my eleventh birthday? With the glass that vanished at the zoo, and you talking to that snake? He remembered that and riled up everyone else. He won't talk to me anymore. Says I put his life in danger because I was harbouring a wizard."

"Guess he wasn't much of a friend then, if he could turn on you that quickly," Harry muttered, wincing as he remembered that day well. Small wonder that the Dursleys had fallen under suspicion. "But anyway, making them forget wouldn't help. Everyone's talking about magic now and it wouldn't take them long to come to the same conclusion they've already reached about you. But maybe we can relocate you somewhere else. Somewhere where you wouldn't be held with such suspicion."

"And where would that be?" Uncle Vernon growled. "Some village or town full of your… magical… kind…" he spat out the word 'magical' as if it was the most disgusting thing he could have had on his tongue. "You can forget about that! I would rather take my chances in dealing with ordinary proper people than go anywhere near your kind!"

"Even if the so-called proper, ordinary people want to hurt you?"

"Them I can fight off! Not to mention I can win back their support. As far as I'm concerned, we're just as much a victim of magic as they are! More so actually! I never wanted you in this house, boy! Every moment that I was forced to look at you and know what you had a chance of being was agony and now you've completely defaced our family. I'm sure it won't take too long to make the neighbours see that. They should be regarding us with sympathy rather than suspicion. And even if they don't, I will not abandon this house!"

"Your house is more important to you than your lives?" Harry growled. "If we took you to Hogsmeade or some other place you could live a decent life there…"

"Absolutely not! This is where I live, and I will not have my family become the freaks in town by not being freaks!" Vernon spat. "Now clear off before somebody outside sees you boy! You're not welcome in this house ever again, you hear me? You better not come back here in the summer this time because you definitely won't be allowed through these doors again!"

"And if Dumbledore says that he has to come back!?" Sirius glared.

"Then I will still turn him away! I have reached my absolute limit!" Vernon roared, swinging his cricket bat so forcefully through the air that he almost hit Aunt Petunia. "No more magic! No more sorcery! No more anything unnatural! Ever again! The world knows about your kind now so let the world deal with you. I've had enough!"

"What about you?" Sirius directed his intense glare at Aunt Petunia next. "This boy is your sister's son! You'd really dishonour her by turning him away forever!?"

Aunt Petunia's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she searched for an answer, but Harry prevented her from needing to give one.

"That's fine, Sirius," he said bitterly. "I'm actually in complete agreement with Uncle Vernon on this one. There's no way I'm coming back here this summer."

"But what about the blood wards, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Dumbledore said the spell he put on the house will only protect you as long as you can still call this place home."

"There's plenty of other places I can stay if I have to," Harry growled. "Where I call home isn't important and Hogwarts has always been more of a home to me than this place anyway. All I need to know for the moment is whether the Dursleys are willing to accept my help and it looks like they're not."

"Damn straight we're not," Uncle Vernon growled. "We can handle ourselves and we will do it properly! Without unnatural powers or abilities! Now get out of here. I hope I never see or even think about you ever again!"

"I'm not leaving without an answer from you Petunia," Sirius glared at her. "I knew your sister well. She was one of the kindest, cleverest and most loyal people that I ever knew. She almost never had an unkind word to say about you, even with how much you pushed her away. Are you really so willing to turn on her own son like that?"

"…Vernon is right," Aunt Petunia said after a couple of moments of hesitation. "That boy… he's brought nothing but… misery… to this place. Misery and bad luck! If he hadn't been here, my precious little Diddykins wouldn't have been attacked by those… Dementors… last summer. If it hadn't been for him, Vernon would have made a big business deal several years ago if he hadn't been here. And now… it's his fault that the neighbours look at us all as if we're the freaks! And besides he…"

For a moment she seized up, her face twisting into an expression of pain… almost loss… before twisting back into one of fury.

"I hate him," she said spitefully. "I hate everything about him. As far as I'm concerned, magic itself is a curse upon my life! Take him back to that school of freaks and leave us be! We don't need his help, nor will we ever!"

"…Well, it's nice to clear the air, isn't it?" Ron glowered at the Dursleys with utter revulsion. "I think it's safe to say we've tried hard enough to put Harry's mind at ease, wouldn't you?"

"Absolutely," Hermione said. "My parents are Muggles like you, and I've always taken great pride in being Muggle-Born. But if you two had been my parents, I would probably be calling myself a Mudblood! You're disgusting!"

"I told you they were," Harry muttered, but he saw Dudley wincing out of the corner of his eye at Hermione's statement. "But yeah, I'm done. You don't want my help, fine. Good luck to you. I hope the rest of the neighbours prove to be as unreasonable as you!"

He turned away and stormed back up the stairs, followed closely by Ron and Hermione. Sirius gave the Dursleys a single glaring look before suddenly raising his wand and making them all back away in terror, only for him to lash out and turn their sofa, armchairs and television set into piles of sulfur, which immediately let off a foul smelling stench into the room, before turning Vernon's cricket bat into a bunch of flowers in his hand.

"Consider that a parting gift," he said before he followed his godson back up the stairs towards the smallest bedroom.

"Harry…" Hermione said, completely ashen-faced when they arrived. "I'm so… so sorry that I pushed you into this."

"There's no need for you to be," Harry muttered. "That went pretty much the way I was expecting it to anyway. You were right though. I had to try and I did. Anything that happens next won't be on me."

"That was quite an insult you through at them there, Hermione," Ron said appraisingly. "Calling yourself a Mudblood? Pretty hardcore."

"Yeah. Too bad they probably won't understand it fully," Hermione smiled a little. "Still, I guess we're ready to head back to Grimmauld Place?"

"Yep, pretty much," Sirius nodded, but before he could take hold of anyone the sound of extremely heavy footfalls coming up the stairs reached their ears. Sirius turned about, levelling his wand at the door and expecting an enraged Vernon demanding his turn his furniture back. But both he and Harry were very surprised when suddenly Dudley appeared in his doorway.

So did Dudley. As soon as he saw the wand trained at him he almost fell over, but luckily for him he caught himself on the wall. His eyes flicked to each of the four magic users in turn until Harry finally broke the awkward silence by saying, "What do you want?"

"Um…" Dudley swallowed. "Can… can I talk to you for a minute, Harry? I mean… without all your friends?"

Harry raised a brow. Dudley looked nervous as hell but never before had he wanted to talk to Harry alone. The only times he'd ever wanted Harry to be on his own was so that he could beat him up with no adults looking. And he'd never asked before - Harry usually had to flee from him and his gang in the old days to make sure it never happened.

"Whatever you've got to say you can say it in front of us all," said Ron before Harry could think of an answer. "I imagine it's not going to be anything Harry wants to hear anyway."

"…Probably not," Dudley muttered. "But… it's a bit… awkward really. Um… well… you see… how should I put this… er…"

"Just spit it out already," Sirius rolled his eyes, all of them waiting for the inevitable insult.

"I just… wanted to say… I'm… sorry."

"…Huh?" Harry blinked, knocked for a complete loop. "Did I just hear that right? You… Dudley Dursley… did you just… apologise to me? As in me… Harry Potter?"

"…Yeah," Dudley said awkwardly.

"But you've never apologised for anything in your life!" Harry cried. "Especially not to me!"

"I know, I know," Dudley winced. "That's… that's the point! That's the whole reason why I'm apologising now. Because… I… I'm a horrible person. And I have been all my life, especially to you. And… you know, this could be the last time I ever see you for all I know. So I just… wanted to say it once before you go."

Harry was almost falling over. His brain was struggling to process this! The words sounded sincere, but they were so alien! Nothing like that should be coming out of that mouth, that face, that person! This was Dudley! The cousin that had seemed to make it his life's mission to make Harry's childhood as miserable as possible.

"Wha… but…" he struggled to come up with something to say, and a quick look to his companions showed they were equally surprised at this unexpected turn of events. "Are… are you serious?"

Dudley nodded.

"Well… I… I don't know what to say…" Harry rasped, struggling to keep himself from freaking out or maybe even hexing Dudley on suspicion of him being an impostor. "Except maybe… what the hell? Where did this even come from?"

Dudley scuffed his shoes on the floor slightly and muttered, "From the night you saved my life… in the summer holidays when we were attacked by those… Dementeds?"

"Dementors," Hermione corrected immediately. "And technically he didn't save your life, he saved your soul from being sucked out. You'd have still been alive if that happened, just not yourself anymore."

"So you're saying you're actually grateful to him now?" Ron asked. "That's what this is about?"

"Well yeah but… not just that," Dudley winced. "When those things were there… I… I saw things… horrible things… about me. I saw… just how horrid a person I am. I saw all the things I ever did to you… to the other kids… even to my parents… I saw how rotten and… awful I was. It was like I could feel all the fear and hatred that everyone else had for me and I felt… so… guilty! I felt guilty and I just… wanted it to stop! But even when they were there anymore I still felt the guilt. It wouldn't go away."

"But… how does that work?" Ron whispered. "Dementors don't do that to people. They force people to relive their worst memories, don't they? While they feed on the happy ones?"

"Yeah. They do," Sirius nodded, a look of dawning comprehension appearing on his face. "But… a spoiled brat like him who's had everything handed to him on a silver platter… he wouldn't have any absolute worst memories. Or at least nothing bad enough for the Dementors to force to the front. So… maybe instead… they forced him to confront the reality of who he really was."

"Of course," Hermione breathed. "Because he was raised by your aunt and uncle, Harry, who doted on his every move and thought he could do nothing wrong, he thought he really wasn't doing anything wrong. But the Dementors… made him realise that actually he was. He really, really was!"

"With all the happy memories he had they'd have been providing more than enough of a feast to do something like that," Sirius whispered.

"Not so many happy memories anymore," Dudley said miserably. "I used to remember punching you and feeling good about it. Really proud, you know? But now when I think about it I just… I hate myself. So… if you're really never coming back here I just wanted to make sure you knew that I was sorry… for everything. Just once. So maybe you'd remember this conversation as much as your remember all the times I hit you or something."

Harry was utterly dumbstruck. He'd expected all three of the Dursleys to have the exact reaction his aunt and uncle had had downstairs. His cousin's reaction was beyond belief, so much so that he actually wondered for a moment as to whether he might be dreaming.

"Well… er…" he floundered for a response. "I guess… thank you, Dudley," he said awkwardly. "That's um… real… nice of you."

"Weird, huh?" Dudley muttered. "Feels really weird for me to by the way."

Harry snorted at that. "Does that mean you haven't beaten anyone up since that day then?"

"No. Nobody," Dudley shook his head adamantly. "Even in the boxing ring I've been off my game since then, cos I don't feel the same as I did when I hit my opponent anymore."

"Really? Well… er… in that case, I guess the only thing that I can do is… accept your apology, Dudley. And I… can't believe I just said that."

Dudley actually grinned, which threw Harry for a loop even more. It hadn't been even half a year since this guy had been openly taunting him about the death of Cedric Diggory. And yet Harry could tell his apology was a sincere one. He truly felt bad for all of his actions… and Harry knew from experience just how horrendous a Dementor experience could be. To not accept his apology after that would be nothing short of cruel.

"Thanks Harry," Dudley said. "I… I'm glad we at least got to sort that out before you go back to the school."

"Yeah… actually… so am I," Harry said, and he meant it. While growing up with the Dursleys, part of Harry had always wanted their love. After all, they were his family and when Harry saw other loving families out and about he would often daydream about Vernon and Petunia being that way with him. He would fantasise about running away from Dudley because they were playing tag rather than because Dudley would beat him up if he caught him. As he'd gotten older those dreams had faded, getting crushed under the brutal reality that that was never going to happen. But now, all of a sudden, his cousin was being nice to him! Wanted his forgiveness! It beggared belief… but it also felt like a tiny little bit of those fantasies had just come true.

It was hardly enough to clear the air completely, nor would it wipe away all the abuse that Dudley had ever put on him. But it was there.

"I thought you might throw it back in my face, to be honest," Dudley murmured. "I'd deserve it."

"Probably," Harry actually smiled. "But… are you planning to ever bully someone like you bullied me every again?"

"No, never!" Dudley said quickly. "I… I don't want to be that jerk anymore. I don't want to be the one everyone hates. I want… to change."

"Well… if you ask me, you can," Harry said, as an image of Gajeel Redfox appeared in his head. But all accounts, Gajeel had once been very like Dudley, delighting in being the strongest, the head of a gang of sorts, beating up those weaker than himself and getting a kick out of it. Now the guy was in America, trying to prove to the world that he and the people he associated with were the good guys. That they would fight to defend the weak, not oppress them. And if Fairy Tail could give Gajeel the chance to become that person, even when they had no reason to… surely he could give his own relative a chance to change into someone else as well.

"Thanks," Dudley said again.

"No… no, thank you for apologising," Harry said awkwardly, the two of them clearly trying to figure out where to go from this point. "Er… it's… it's… really appreciated."

"So… where are you going?" Dudley asked. "Back to the school?"

"Yeah. It's safe there and none of this has stopped the fact we have exams coming up. Er…" Harry paused as a thought occurred to him. "Dudley are you sure that you want to stay here? I mean, do you agree with your dad. That you don't need our help?"

"…I don't know if I like the idea of staying here really," Dudley muttered. "But I don't know if I like the idea of going to a wizard place either. Sounds a bit scary to me."

"Well, it wouldn't be," Harry rubbed the back of his head. "It might not be easy for you to adjust or anything, but at least you'd be safe there. Much safer than you would be here." It felt so awkward for him to essentially be inviting Dudley back to Hogwarts but Hermione had been right. His conscience wouldn't let him just leave his cousin behind without offering again after such a heartfelt apology. "Maybe you could convince your parents to move there? They do anything you want them to after all."

"Yeah… which is part of what made me so horrid," Dudley muttered. "But… yeah… yeah, I think I'll go ask them. Be right back."

As he hurried away, he left behind a rather stunned bedroom.

"Well, how about that?" Ron eventually said. "And here I thought it would be weird if Percy came crawling back to our family begging for forgiveness. That was just knocked completely out of the Quidditch Pitch by that."

"I know… it's so weird," Harry whispered. "I can barely wrap my head around it."

"Do you think that this could be a new beginning, Harry?" Hermione asked eagerly. "An actual new start for you and your cousin?"

"I dunno… maybe," Harry shrugged. "It's a bit early to just forgive and forget the last fifteen years, Hermione. But he seemed sincere enough. And if the Dementor really forced him to see what he said, it sounds unlikely that he'll just relapse back to his old self. Which is what I would have thought would happen if he apologised under I think any other circumstances. But… you never know."

"And here you thought no good would come of this trip," Sirius grinned, ruffling Harry's hair lightly.

"I never thought anything good would ever come out of this house, let alone this trip!" Harry mused.

"Do you think this means you might one day be able to patch things up with your aunt and uncle?" asked Hermione.

"Oh heck no," Harry shook his head. "Fat chance of that. Uncle Vernon hates unordinary things too much and Aunt Petunia hates me cos of my mum… that's never going to change. But Dudley… I can see it… maybe… I dunno, we'll have to see."

"I'll just be sure that Fred and George keep the Ton-Tongue Toffees away from him this time," Ron chortled, much to even Hermione's amusement. But as the snickering died down, there came a shout from downstairs that caught their attention.

"WHAT THE RUDDY HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE!?" roared Uncle Vernon. And that was a sentence that made them all frown in bemusement.

"Out there?" Harry asked, crossing quickly over to his window and peering out into the street below. Even though it was just after six in the evening it was already dark outside, what with it being the middle of winter. The people that had been crowded on the lawn were still there, but they were now fleeing back to the safety of their houses or cars… running away from a single, solitary figure that stood on the pavement outside the house, stood beneath the nearest street light as if using it as a spotlight.

And Harry's blood ran cold when he recognised who it was!

Morgana was standing outside Number Four, Privet Drive! And she had her arms raised and appeared to be chanting something, but even as she did so she caught sight of Harry in the window and gave him a smirk and a wink. Which made Harry's blood run even colder until it was almost completely standstill in his veins.

"Shit…" Ron swore when the others saw who it was as well. "Quick, let's get the heck out of here!"

"Agreed," Sirius said, grabbing hold of all three of them at the same time. "I'll come back for the Dursleys in a second!" he declared before spinning around and trying to Disapparate, only for nothing at all to happen. They gasped as they realised Morgana had probably already put Anti-Apparition wards up around them in a very wide radius. There was no way for them to magically escape!

"She's trapped us here!" Hermione cried. "She must have been watching the house, Harry, waiting for you to come and try and save your family!"

"What's she doing out there anyway?" Ron squeaked fearfully, when Morgana suddenly clenched her fists and brought them crashing together in front of her, a strange magical pulse emanating from them and sending a tingling feeling rushing over everyone in the house. But nothing else…

"What… what just happened…?" Harry asked weakly.

"I think," Sirius whispered, a trace element of dread beginning to creep into his voice. "She might have… well, I can't say it for certain since I don't know the details of the spell Dumbledore used… but I suspect she might have just destroyed the Blood Wards on this house."

"…Oh no…" Hermione whispered, before Morgana's voice was suddenly ringing in their ears, magically amplified for them all to hear.

"I do hope you can forgive me for my unexpected visit, Harry Potter," she said, her voice so smarmy that they could see her crooked smirk even without looking at her face directly. "For what it's worth, I am sorry. My fight is not with you, after all. But even though you're largely disliked and thought of as little more than an attention-seeking child by most of the magical populace, there are still many out there, like your friends in that house, that consider you a beacon of hope. And I would rather watch you and your friends perish now then have you grow to be potential threats to me after all. But of course… I don't want people to just remember the great Boy-Who-Lived dying in some boring old Muggle hovel. What's exciting about that? That's why I prepared a little extra surprise for you on this… historic day."

She spread her arms wide open again and thrust her head backwards until she was looking directly into the air. She herself began to rise off the ground, a swirl of air carrying her upwards into the roof of the neighbouring house. Harry could no longer see her, but he didn't have to. After all, the huge glowing light and tornado that had formed might in the middle of the road outside was more than enough to attract his attention.

"What's that?" Ron gulped. "What is she doing?"

"That… looks like one of those transport spells she uses," Hermione whispered, but then her hands slapped in over her mouth and she gasped in horror as the white light fell away and revealed what was inside. The remaining Muggles still out in the open screamed and bolted as lanky, furred beasts came leaping out of the circle they were standing in, bloodcurdling howls ripping across the street a short distance ahead of the creatures themselves!

"Oh God!" Sirius gasped. "I'd forgotten it was a full moon tonight!"

Harry's heart was in this throat. The world's most powerful sorceress ever was right outside, along with at least forty transformed werewolves, and they couldn't apparate out!

Suddenly, figuring out how to deal with an apologising Dudley didn't seem quite so difficult in comparison to this!

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Fun fact:- I didn't just pluck this full moon out of thin air. January 5th 1996 really was a full moon night. I'm trying to keep the timeline as accurate as possible even to real world events.