Chapter Thirteen: Released
The two champions must have spent the entire night on their feet, dancing and singing along with the band. 'The Weird Sisters' wasn't the only band to show up, as this was a Tri-Wizard event they had bands from France and Sweden. The Swedish band of 'Black Frost' appeared right after 'Weird Sisters' played their hits, the band wasn't as big of a hit as instead of Punk/Pop the band played a metalish music.
Though Fleur was ecstatic when they announced that the next band was 'Flags and Doves' which was her favorite band; Harry hadn't really heard of them based on the fact he wasn't even aloud to watch the news with the Dursleys. Turns out he loved the band, though he was more focused on Fleur.
She moved gracefully in the crowd of people, dancing like no one was watching or without a single care in the world. When her favorite song 'Blanc' came on, though the English translation was Weiss; he thought it was a sad song at first as it was nothing but piano, then it picked up.
"Mirror tell me something, tell me who's the loneliest of all" She sang as the sad part played on, then violins played along with the drums. "Mirror, tell me something! Tell me who's the loneliest of all?" Here a techno rift set in. "Mirror, Fear of what's inside me, tell me can a heart be turned to stone!"
Then it was just humming, as the music started to pick up "Mirror Mirror, what's behind you!? Save me from the things I see, why won't you save me from the things I see? I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?...Mirror Mirror, tell me something? Who's the loneliest of all?" The violins had stopped, and nothing but a piano rift set in "I am the loneliest of all."
Harry was entranced with just her voice, not the song or the people around him just her. Just like that the song was over, though short and delicate he was rather fond of it.
That was how the night went, they danced and drank punch; Malfoy tried to sneak a dance but this time it was Harry who knocked him flat, he felt the power in his eyes but thought nothing of it. Though he might have scared the little bastard a little more than he meant to.
He escorted her to the carriage, she kissed him one last time for the night to seal a perfect end.
"Good night, Ma Belle." Harry whispered softly, bowing lowly as she climbed the steps.
Fleur who was sporting a light redness across her cheeks "Good night, Tempête." She said in a low whisper.
Harry rose a brow at her, the way she was holding herself told him she was nearly pouncing on him. Their kisses had become more heated and much, much fiercer as the night went; he found it funny really. He knew better than test his luck, and took a step back as she entered the carriage.
Of course he wanted to make sure Hermione found her way back to the Common room, he entered for the first time since the start of the tournament.
Needless to say he didn't much care for the sight.
"You're a bloody traitor to Gryffindor, you bitch!" Ronald screamed, George was holding him by the chest and looked extremely annoyed.
Hermione was across from him with Fred holding onto her waist "Traitor!? You want to talk about Traitors? Look in a bloody mirror Ronald." She screamed trying to grab her wand.
"That's rich! You should be more grateful!" He shouted back "I saved your life!"
"I saved yours! We're even!" She screamed, her face a bright brick red from anger "If anything you owe me!"
Harry look on dully, he stepped forward slipping his wand into his wrist and muttered two words. Twin red jets fired out of his wand within seconds of each other. Fred and George looked for the source of the blast seeing Harry they were sputtering for answer.
"They're knocked out, I don't have time to defuse the situation nor are we going to sit around and let them kill each other." He explained to the Twins "Ginny." He said spotting her yawning by the lounge chair wand in hand to intervene if need be.
Ginny looked up, lazily but she did "Wha?" She asked yawning again.
"Drag Hermione back upstairs." He said looking at Fred "Help her until the wards won't let you."
"Got it mate." Fred said carefully picking up the bushy bookworm.
"George, drag Ron back to his bed." Harry said rubbing his eyes "I'm going to sleep, why do I bother?" He said to himself as George literally dragged his younger brother up the steps.
XX~XX~XX~XX
Harry was practically dead when someone woke him up the next morning, it was McGonagall saying something along the lines of 'You need to come with me now, Dumbledore has something for you.' How she even knew where he was sleeping he didn't know.
He was annoyed with scowl on his face, his hair was windswept and dark rings circled his dull green eyes. He wore a pair of black sleep pants and a silver tank-top with the Black crest on it.
"Mr. Potter" McGonagall said looking at the crest with a slight shock as they headed for the Headmasters Tower. "Why are you wearing a Black Crest?"
"Because I can." He answered simply "It was a gift."
"From who?"
"Andromeda Tonks." He answered casually "She's my new guardian, my God-Father is setting it up as we speak."
McGonagall stopped in her tracks, looking at him with wide eyes "G-God-Father? Yo-You know about that?"
"Yeah, I do." He answered with a bored look, running a hand through his hair "Look I don't blame you for not telling me, I'm upset with Dumbledore that's all."
"But, But Black is a murder" She said slowly.
"Sure, like Draco Malfoy is a Gryffindor and Hermione is a Hufflepuff." He said with a calm glare, crossing his arms "Did you really think He could have killed Peter or James?"
McGonagall went silent after that statement, before she muttered "Ice Pop." The Gargoyle nodded stepping to the side "Be careful up there, he's right pissed he is." The stone statue muttered to Harry as they passed.
Once inside the office McGonagall was dismissed and Dumbledore had Harry sit in front of him. "Lemon drop?" Harry looked at him with a death threat look, so he retracted the jar. "What do you know of Sirius' actions since June?" He asked taking a sip from a goblet.
"I know that he's a Lord, that's all you need to know." Harry answered leaning back in the chair.
Dumbledore nodded "I see you also found Harold." He said with a small smile.
"Who?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Harry, I know most of what goes on in this castle. Much like how I know you and Miss. Delacour were courting before the Ball…I dare say she had her eye on the moment your eyes locked when they arrived." He said leaning back in his chair looking over his spectacles. "I knew of your current living arrangement as well, while I do not condone it….I will approve for now."
Harry frowned "Whatever, why am I here?" He snapped, he was tired, bored and annoyed.
"Harry…I would like to introduce you to someone." He said motioning to the door, a young man entered the room his blond hair was cut very short, his sunglasses blocked out what colour his eyes were and the obvious police uniform threw him off.
"Hello Harry, My name is John Watson." He said getting down on one knee "I'm a Muggleborn, I went to school here a few years back, Gryffindor."
"Watson? Like Sherlock?" Harry asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, My folks thought it was funny." He answered dryly "Now, you have to know…there was an accident."
"What type of accident?" Harry asked with a frown.
Watson stopped for a moment, looking for the proper words "Harry your relatives were found this morning at four A.M when we got a call from a neighbor. The lovely woman told us that the Dursely's left their lights on all night and the front door was wide open." He paused giving Harry a second to breathe, he sighed removing his glasses "When we investigated…we found their…bodies."
"Oh." Harry said taking a small breath, after a minute of silence he smiled. "So they're dead then?"
Watson sat there with a strange look on his face before turning to Dumbledore who was watching Harry like he'd been slapped. It seemed of all the things he didn't expect Harry to be smiling about it!
Harry let out a small laugh "Well…Isn't karma a bitch?" He muttered with a gleeful smile "I had hoped this day would come, but that was before I had a Home to look forward to." He said looking to Dumbledore "That's right old man; I wasn't going back to the Dursleys this coming summer! I was never going back, protections be damned!"
Dumbledore was sputtering "Wha-Wh-When?!" He said rather quickly, rubbing the flesh under his eyes. He looked like he just gained a few years in a few short seconds.
"How did they bite it?" He asked with a lightly raised brow, the outer ring of his green eyes a bright red "Was it painful? Slow?"
Watson glanced at the aged Professor "Er….whoever did it…was very…methodical." He said after a few seconds of staring.
Harry nodded, placing a hand under his chin as he crossed his legs "I see, I can't say I wanted my Aunt to die though. Pity that." He mumbled looking up at the detective. "Was it quick for her?"
Watson shook his head "Not that we can tell…the autopsy hasn't been finished yet. From what we could tell, she was skinned then stabbed in the temple." He explained in a slow voice.
Harry frowned, looking hard at the ground "Do you think you could find her killer?" He asked with a raised brow.
Watson sighed "The case is still new, we think it was just some Muggle on Muggle violence." He said with a small sigh "Being that this is the only wizard home for some ways, we could track all magical means of transport other than brooms or the knight bus. However the knight bus wasn't anywhere around the area at the time of the murders." He explained leaning on a column.
Dumbledore looked up from his thoughts "You seem to only care for your Aunt, Harry…why is that?"
"Because Vernon and Dudley have been dead to me for a very, very long time." He hissed out, eyes glowing with rage.
Dumbledore raised a hand "Harry…what caused this anger for them?" He asked softly.
Harry looked at Watson "Leave, Now." He threatened with glowing red eyes.
Watson nodded to Harry as the man paled "I'll keep Jenkins out of the loop, if need be I'll alter his memory." He then stood taking his leave.
Dumbledore nodded looking right at Harry.
"So…You ask why I hated them?" He said removing his glasses and tossing them onto the desk, though his vision was blurred for the moment; it was necessary. "Do you know the Glamour charm?" He asked calmly in a soft voice.
"I do." The elder wizard said softly.
"When I was a child, I didn't go to Kindergarten but when the first school year came around." He paused looking right at Dumbledore "I was afraid they would ask about the bruises, the scars and the burns."
The elder wizard paused looking at him with a small raised brow "Harry, you've got two scars…the one from the Basilisk and the other from Voldemort." He said in a sage like voice.
Harry let out a laugh "Right, Right you would know my body more than, hey I would right?" He said in a dull voice looking annoyed again "When I was a kid I was scared of the rejection and the questions, so I was able to cover the wounds up. I didn't found out about this until recently, they did more than just Starve me Sir." He hissed out.
"What are you saying Harry?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"I'm saying that I put up a shield." He growled out "I'm rather sure Madam Pomfrey had an idea, during First Year? When I passed out from magical exhaustion. I am constantly using magic to keep it up." He explained cracking his knuckles.
Harry placed a hand on his face in the top corner of the left side, he pushed magic into his fingertips and pulled across his skin. A loud cracking sound could be heard, the magic actually rebounded around the room, cutting into the wall and shattering a glass case. It dropped the protection he worked so hard to keep up all the time, it was his shield.
Harry's skin was paler than average, it looked almost like snow really thus making the dark marks stand out clearer on his face. His green-red eyes still seemed to burn harder than normal, shining with rage and hatred. Along his left cheek was a long thin scar, from his jaw bone to his nose.
The tank top showed off the jagged cuts, the knife wounds, the dog bites and poorly done stitching. On the back of his neck was a symbol of an 'F' likely for Freak. That was just what had been shown, along his chest and back was more markings of abuse and attacks. While he was rather fit from his years of running, hiding and fighting back, he still had a haunted starved look to him…it was one that a prisoner of Azkaban would have after some time.
"Happy Professor?" He snarled his eyes started to radiate red.
"How long have your eyes been doing that?" Dumbledore asked quickly, urgently.
Harry rose a brow "You mean the red? For a while, since the Chamber at least." He answered with a glare "Can I put it back on now?"
Dumbledore nodded, very slowly "I…I-I'm so sorry Harry…I didn't know…" He whispered through pained eyes.
"THERE WAS NO WAY YOU DIDN"T KNOW." Harry roared before he placed his shield on, he lunged on the desk making it move back a fraction "I found out about Ms. Figg! How she's a Squib?! Crookshanks actually helped me with that one, he was the same type of cat that she would raise." He snarled with venom.
Dumbledore looked unaffected by the teens outburst "I may have known you were not loved…" He whispered softly "I didn't know they were beating you, or even starving you." He tried to explain.
"I remember you telling me that I was safe in that home, so were they." He growled out "Was that a Lie to keep me put?"
"No!" Dumbledore said quickly "Harry, only someone who meant no harm to you, that did not call that residence home, could have entered."
"So they were just after the Dursely's?"
"Seems like it…Harry I am so So-" He was cut off.
"Save it old man, I've got a new home." Harry said as the magic started to cake around his features, much like armor or a shield "You try to fuck with Andie, Gama or Pads, and you will not like the Black wraith." He said with a glare, his eyes slowly warming to the green.
"Yes…Yes…I knew that much already, tell Sirius yes to his question so you know…I hope you have a good month Harry, I'll tell the other Headmasters you're currently moving into a new home…but…I think you might need more help than just that." With that he reached into his desk and pulled on a drawer, he placed two things onto it.
One was a rather tall bottle of what looked like Brandy and the other was a familiar golden disk with the hour glass in the middle. A Time-Turner, it was designed to take one back from half an hour to several hours depending on how long you turn it; he remembered reading about how it used a portion of your magic to work.
"This is for me…." He said summoning a cup, before pouring it to the top and taking a long drink. Then he slid the Time-Turner to him "Use it to your advantage. Make sure to give it back."
Harry nodded, standing finished forcing the magic to his skin; making his skin darker, rings lighter and the scaring vanished. He then leaned on the old man's desk, inches from his face "You tell anyone, anyone about what you just saw." He growled, his eyes burning bright red once more. "I will not stop until your name is removed from everything."
Dumbledore nodded slowly, the rage filled red eyes was still throwing him off. If he'd had these eyes for that long and yet he still saved Ginny Weasley and Sirius then he couldn't be becoming Voldemort. He watched as the teen took the magical item and left his office, then he took a long swig of the amber liquor "I may need to purchase more of these…."
"You Should feel ashamed." A voice snarled in the background, it was a man with nearly pure black hair and potion bottle green robes. Salazar Slytherin…the Slytherin founder, the ancient wizard had a portrait inside the Headmasters office; though none of the other Headmasters could find Helga, Rowena or Godric. "I knew this would happen, in fact it brings me joy to see the heir of Potter start to snap back." He exclaimed with a smug look lining his features.
Dumbledore didn't answer for some time, sipping on his liquor "What should I have done?" He whispered to the portrait of the famed dark Founder.
Salazar sighed, rubbing his eyes "You could have just asked Black." He said in a low threatening voice "You had the power, the influence to do that. Instead you let him rot, while you let the poor boy grow up like that." He snarled his face contorted with anger "You wonder why I hated Muggles. I pity you Dumbledore, I would get back on his good side."
"I gave him the Time-Turner."
"Trinkets will not satisfy a Potter. Actions will." Salazar stated before his portrait went still again, as that happened it rotated back into the wall. Showing the Slytherin flag, much like how the other House flags were set.
Dumbledore frowned again "I hate that portrait, always unwanted." He mumbled drinking again.
XX~XX~XX~XX
Harry wasn't happy that the Dursely's were dead, he didn't want them killed just thrown in jail or something but he wasn't going to complain about it. He kicked a pebble as he walked along to the hidden tunnel to the Whomping Willow, he wasn't really thinking about anything but the scars. Could he remove them? He could cover them but could he Heal them?
A voice called out to him making him stop, he was then hit with a blasting curse. Harry was throwing face first in towards the lake, he growled as he focused on his feet and landed onto the water. He saw the pale blond figure of Draco Malfoy, as he examined his bruised arm. "That was a cheap shot yesterday Potter!" The Slytherin roared.
Harry sighed, he was literally floating on the water. He knew how to do it but that didn't mean it was easy, he was splitting his focus "Malfoy, back off. " He roared his eyes crimson red.
Malfoy seemed to scoff at the concept, he leveled his wand to throw another curse or hex but Harry beat him to it. He threw a large wave of his element at the Slytherin Weasel, when it connected he turned on his heels and slowly walked to the shore line.
When his feet connected to the ground he took off into a sprint, running as fast as he could for the Whomping Willow. If he fought Malfoy right now, he would kill him. He threw a stone at the knot, paused only for a minute to check his surrounding before he went inside.
The tunnel was much like it had been the last times he used it, when he was at the Shrieking Shack he threw himself into the worn couch and promptly dozed off; knowing full well that Malfoy wouldn't find him.
After some time a rather large black dog was watching him, before he ran his tongue along the teens face; waking him up quiet easily. The dog shifted into his true form, his rather nicely dressed God-Father; Sirius Black. He gave the older man a large hug and they sat down on the worn couch.
"So I have a few things we need to talk about." He paused looking at the entrance, he let out a growl as he smelled the air.
"Arry!" A female voice called out from the tunnel, a very welcomed but not at the moment voice.
"Fleur?" Harry shouted back, he glanced at Sirius who shrugged.
"She was going to find out sooner or later." He said dryly, crossing his arm and kicking his feet up on the table. His wand rested in his lap, he showed no care in the world.
"Where are you?" She called out after a minute.
"Up the stairs to the right." He said with a small sigh, after a few seconds Fleur came into the room with wide eyes; her wand already inside of her grasp went right to Sirius' position.
"Arry, what are you doing with that Murderer?" She hissed looking upset over the whole thing.
Harry spotted the necklace gently rest near her collar bone, it made him smile a little as he stood slowly "Fleur…please don't do anything rash." He said softly.
"I won't." She said lowering her wand a fraction "I know you Arry, you wouldn't trust this man without cause."
"He isn't just some murderer or man…he's my God-Father." Harry explained rubbing the back of his neck "This was the thing I wanted to tell you about."
"So he didn't kill them?" She asked softly.
"No, though another friend of theirs did…I saw the rat bastard with my own eyes." Harry explained, moving with her to the couch opposite of the final Black heir.
Fleur raised a brow, her eyes widened and she nodded slowly "It is nice to meet you Mr. Black." She said with a firm voice, looking at the man as she put her wand into its holster.
"The pleasure is mine Mademoiselle Delacour, may I say you did rather well in the first task." He said looking down at his nails, still without a care. "Shame I fell asleep."
"Sorry…Why are you meeting 'im today Arry?" She asked looking at the teenager.
"I just had a few things to tell the Pup." Sirius said holding out a scroll for the teen. "It was James'."
Harry snatched it quickly and started to read through the lines "He wanted me to become a Marauder?"
"No, he wanted to create a new breed of Marauders…the Drifters." He explained with a small sigh "The Marauders were pranksters, the Drifters were going to be sentinels."
"What do you mean?" Fleur asked sitting next to Harry.
"James was living in the middle of a brutal war, he wanted his son to be a guardian to the weak." Sirius stated pulling a few books from his side bag "These were on the shelf, they're darker in nature."
Harry read through the lines slowly but carefully "He wanted me to find people I trusted to protect the weak?"
"Sort of, he wanted you to be free. Away from the Ministry, Dumbledore and Voldemort; this was what he came up with." He pointed to a small symbol it showed an Owl with twin daggers behind it "Fight in the shadows, from place to place."
"I see…." Harry said softly looking at the parchment "Well…we have a hidden room we can use."
"Oh?" Sirius asked looking up.
"The Chamber of Secrets."
Both Fleur and Sirius froze "It's defendable, only I have the key and it is very large." Harry reasoned.
"That it is…" Sirius mumbled rubbing his jaw. "Harry…did…Dumbledore.."
"Oh, He said yes to the training you asked for." Harry waved him off as he read.
Sirius paused, he expected Harry to have been told about the Murders…It might be best to see how he reacted to the news before he told him of Bella's involvement. "Did he talk to himself?"
Harry froze a little looking over the scroll, it had some Animagus training tips, spells and personal notes inside. "Yes, it was a rather….heated chat." He mumbled, feeling Fleur's hand on his leg made him calm down a bit more.
"Why didn't he just Owl you?" He asked crossing his arms.
Fleur looked over at Harry with a raised eye, he was late to breakfast.
"He wanted to tell me something about the Dursleys." Harry explained with a small sigh "They were murdered last night, as of right now the Detectives have no leads."
Sirius nodded slowly, while Fleur looked torn between jumping for joy and offering him a shoulder to cry on. "Are you okay?" Sirius asked softly.
Harry shrugged "While I can honestly say, I hated my fucking cousin and Uncle." He sweared, he hardly ever swore as far as Sirius knew. "My Aunt wasn't completely terrible, a vile piece of work but…"She didn't brand me. He finished to himself, at some point he would have to show them…at least his new family.
"I see…" Sirius said with a small sigh, he wouldn't let this bomb sit forever. He would let Harry and Bella start a friendship, or bounding as Bella called it; he was her favorite nephew after all. Then he would tell Harry about the murderer, if that caused a rift between Bella and him; they would be closer to work on it.
The small group must have stayed there and just talked to each other, Fleur was trying to get inside of Sirius' head while Sirius just sat there gazing at the pair. In a way it was like watching James and Lily, Fleur was very fun, risky, adventurous and easy going; much like James had been. While Harry who had his head in her lap, was more fiery, serious, outgoing, passionate and destructive; this was Lily to a Tee.
Never, ever. Piss that woman off. She was just as dangerous with her tongue as her wand. Needless to say, Harry would likely be deaf if she was still alive.
Though that didn't mean he didn't miss that woman, she was the sister he never had and would likely mourn her death until he died. It was nice though…to see them so happy and carefree.
XX~XX~XX~XX
Hello Hello, you lovely people! I must say, I was not expecting so many reviews! I was nearly overwhelmed; not to say I didn't like it, in fact I rather enjoyed it! So I also think I should tell you all that THANK YOU, without all of your guys support…I might have actually stopped this a while ago. It was only a few P.M's in early June that told me to keep this going or put out new chapters.
So I think I should answer a few questions Non? I'll make a deal with you lot, every three chapters or so, you ask me a question and I will do my best to answer it without spoiling it for you! So sound good? Ask away people!
I will say, I am going to make Bella more of a Surrogate Mother than anything to Harry. Being his relationship with the Weasley's is kind of strained, cause of Ron and he really never knew what a Mother was like. Andie will be like the school teacher you always loved, like the one you stayed with after class just to talk to. Sirius of course will be the Surrogate Father of the story (That doesn't mean BellaXSiri, I haven't completely chosen who else is being paired yet!) and Remus will be a Surrogate Uncle.
I did like what I did to Harry in a way, yes it wasn't entirely nice but…I think it gives a more Dark perspective to the Potter; exactly why he was so longing for attention or not caring for injury.
So with all that being said, I shall retire. Expect a Chapter before Christmas guys! ~ Demon.