Chap. 27: The weekend.

Harry arrived at the Three Broomsticks at nine that morning, as promised. He grabbed a booth and waited on Daphne, who he knew would have Tracey and Astoria with her.

At five after nine, the door opened, and in walked the three witches who immediately spotted Harry, and they made their way to the booth along the wall, with Daphne sitting beside Harry. She removed her black pea coat, as it was 48 F out that day. Once finished, she turned and gave Harry a long snog as the door opened again. It was Ron and Hermione.

"Where are they?" Hermione asked.

"They're there," Ron said with a blush as he pointed toward a booth.

Hermione followed where he was pointing, and saw Harry and Daphne wrapped in an embrace, and it was getting quite hot, tongues and all. The kiss, she noticed, was even affecting Astoria and Tracey, who were gaping at the two.

Finally, both Tracey and Astoria cleared their throats, and the two broke apart.

"Get a room, you two," Tracey complained.

"Believe it or not," Harry quipped, "we're thinking about doing just that."

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione screeched even though Daphne was laughing.

"Oh, hello, you two, didn't see you there," Harry said.

"I imagine not, mate," Ron commented, "what with your tongue stuck down her throat. Everybody got a good show."

Both Harry and Daphne noticed everyone staring at them, but they quickly turned away when the two caught them looking.

"Yes, well," Harry said after clearing his throat, but loudly enough for everyone to hear, "I haven't seen much of Daph since school started, and we got a little carried away."

"And what do you mean by 'doing just that?'" Hermione asked with a huff as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Daphne slyly said with a smirk.

"Really!" Hermione harrumphed, but Daphne ignored her.

Here, Madam Rosmerta showed up, which broke up the confrontation. "What will you be having, everyone?"

"Whatever they want," Harry said, "and put it on my bill."

"Thanks, Harry," said both Tracey and Astoria, who brightened right up.

Here, Ron and Hermione grabbed the table next to their booth and sat in the two outside chairs. That was when Hermione noticed that Harry's scar was gone.

"It's gone!" Hermione said with wide eyes.

"What's gone?" Asked Ron.

Here, Harry lifted up his bangs and showed Ron his head.

"Bloody hell, mate! I never thought I'd ever see that."

"Gone for good," Harry replied, "and no more problems, either."

"Well, that's good then," Ron said and then ordered a Butterbeer for he and Hermione.

"What did they do, in the ritual that is?" Hermione asked.

"Couldn't tell you," Harry said. "I didn't want to know when I agreed to it, as I was told that there had to be some sort of sacrifice, and I didn't want to witness that. I couldn't tell you what that was, either, before you ask. They slipped me some potion, and I was out of it for most of the time.

"I think I caught a few pieces, at the start, or that could have been some twisted dream over the potion and alcohol; I couldn't say. If it was a snippet of it, I'm glad I finally passed out, as it was all about sex. People all around me were dancing and ready to, well, do the deed."

Hermione looked stunned, and Ron was now blushing red.

Also, now, Daphne looked shocked. "What did you see?"

Here, Harry lowered his voice. "I could have sworn that I saw the waitress from the hotel there, and she was, well, masturbating while dancing as the voodoo priest prayed. A Lich showed up, Baron Samedi, and just after that was when I passed out."

"You willingly went through that?" Hermione asked in a scandalized tone.

"It was either that, Hermione," Harry deadpanned, "or allow You-Know-Who to hit me with the killing curse, and hope that I survive it, so, which option do you think I chose?"

Daphne did not like what this might be adding up to, at all, but she wouldn't say anything. After all, it had saved her husband. However, adding up his "injuries," what was taking place around him, and what could have been the sacrifice made her wonder. Maybe she should do some reading on the ritual? She also noticed that both Tracey and Astoria seemed to catch on, as well, and she gave them a subtle shake of her head. She would wait until she and Harry were alone and discuss it.

Daphne wasn't mad at Harry but wondered if her uncle, father, or the minister had explained these rituals to Harry in any sort of detail. She knew that magicals saw things differently than the muggle-reared, and that could cause them problems in the future.

"I didn't think we'd ever slip away," Harry said, as he and Daphne walked inside Black Manor at eleven o'clock. They had broken away from everyone and slipped behind Honeydukes to apparate using Harry's cloak.

They quickly made their way up to the second floor, and to their temporary bedroom, where they took off their coats and flopped back on the bed against the pillows.

"I have something to tell you, Daph," Harry said, "and it's about my wand."

When Daphne smirked, Harry sighed. "Not that wand, dear."

"Oh," Daphne replied. "What is it?"

"My Holly wand quit working, and I'm having to learn to use the one fashioned by Samedi," Harry said, and then handed Daphne the wand.

She held the wand up and looked it over carefully, and didn't have any idea what the wood or the core was. She did notice that it was longer than Harry's other wand.

"I don't know what this wood is, but it's a tan-yellow," Daphne said, "and very smooth with a skull formed into the butt of the handle. How long is it?"

"Fourteen inches," Harry replied, "and that's three inches longer than my old one. I don't know of anyone that has one that long except Hagrid, and his is sixteen. I've got to find a wand maker, and have them tell me what they can about it.

"This will take some getting used to since it seems that all my spells are now way overpowered. Plus, just a small twitch of the wand tip is magnified over its length, and I'll almost have to learn to use it from scratch."

"Have you tried many spells with it yet?" Daphne asked.

"I'm afraid to try some spells, as even a Lumos is extra bright; blindingly so. I'm going to have to learn to meter back my magic, as it even causes a numbing feeling in my arm, and I can feel myself drawing in the magic from around me. I've never noticed that before."

"Oh, Harry, if it isn't one thing, it's another...," Daphne said with a sigh. "Gregoravich's shop might know, but there's a shop down Knockturn Alley that deals in special wands. They might be better, as Gregoravich only has a sales staff at Carkitt Market. You would have to travel to his main shop, but Krum mentioned that he has semi-retired."

"Krum, you say?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Daphne replied, "he was mentioning it to Blaise, and said that Gregoravich moved from Vienna and that he was one of the last to buy a wand from his old shop."

"Krum and I became friends," Harry said, "so I'll send him an international owl post on Monday."

"Hmmm," Daphne hummed, "Harry, about that ritual. Did Uncle Gareth, Da', or the minister tell you what it might entail?"

"What? No," Harry replied, "not really; just that a sacrifice was needed, why?"

"Harry," Daphne explained, "they're only two kinds of sacrifice, and they are taking a life or giving one. What did you see?"

"I saw what they did to those chickens," Harry explained, "which I didn't want to talk about. It was gruesome. However, that is all that I saw."

"No, Harry," Daphne said, "you would have to make the sacrifice."

"I can't remember anything because I was out."

"I know, Harry," Daphne said, "and that's what worries me. I don't think they would force you into taking someone's life, so that only leaves the other option."

"What option?" Harry wondered.

"Well," and here Daphne licked her now dry lips, "you saw what was going on around you, didn't you? You know, sex?"

"You're not saying...," Harry said in a low voice.

"I don't know, Harry, and I'm not mad at you at all. I'm just wondering if something happened after you were out of it, and if so, could there have been any witches that were attracted to you?"

Harry now looked like someone doused him in ice water.

"Surely not..." Harry said with a pause; "there was that waitress that I met at the bar who Jaxson introduced us to, and she seemed to know more than she let on. I could have sworn I saw her dancing toward me at one point."

"How old was she?" Daphne asked.

"Eighteen, and hadn't been married for long."

Daphne pursed her lips at this and was now determined to look those rituals up.

"Let's forget about it, for now, lover boy, as I think that you and I deserve our long-awaited alone time, don't you?"

Harry gave Daphne a huge smile at this and drew his fiancée into him to snog her senseless.

When Snape had returned, he and Dumbledore had not had time to discuss what he found, as Dumbledore had left in search of another Horcrux. He hadn't returned until that day and had summoned him to his office after the students had left for Hogsmeade after breakfast.

Snape made his way past the gargoyle by saying "Ice Mites," and then rode the revolving stairs up, where the door opened before he could knock.

"Good morning, Severus," Dumbledore said from his seat, who was looking weak and tired. "What did you find during your adventure?'

"What I found," Snape snarled, "was that I quickly became broke, Headmaster! It cost me every galleon I had with me, and what few I had put back in the office."

Here, Dumbledore sighed and allowed a pause to occur before he poured he and Snape a glass of Scotch.

"What did you find about the owners of that paper, my boy?"

"Shell companies, with no names," Snape deadpanned after taking a huge swallow. "One company owned another, and that went about in a circle. It was set up to deceive, so I could not say who actually owns it."

"I think it's someone here, Severus," Dumbledore said.

"And, what, pray tell, makes you believe that?"

"Each place you went to has a British tie," Dumbledore explained and took a small sip of his Scotch. "Besides Panama, Ireland, the British Virgin Islands, and Barbados are old British colonies, my dear boy. Panama, however, is still tied to the Americans, and from what I've heard, the muggle banks in the US and UK run these scams together.

"No, my boy, I believe the owner of that paper to be our own ministry."

Snape looked stunned at this, but that would explain why the writers knew so much, even though some of it wasn't verifiable.

"No, after what they wrote about Harry and me, I believe them to be behind a rather nasty smear campaign, and there will be no stopping it, I'm afraid. The best that we can do is to just sit back and allow things to unfold."

"So, I went to all that trouble..." Snape said, now gobsmacked.

"Well, you did go on the orders of Voldemort," Dumbledore said, making Snape wince.

"What if Potter is involved?" Snape asked.

"Harry? No, I do not think he is that cunning, nor conniving, my boy," Dumbledore said with a shake of his head.

Snape, on the other hand, thought that he was, and his father had shown traits of it, though it was also said that the boy's grandfather should have been in Slytherin. Lily had a very cunning streak in her, as well, and Petunia had a vindictive one on top of it. Plus, the Greengrasses were now involved, and they were all Slytherins. The headmaster was too blind to see it, and his wanting to see the best in everyone, and give them a second chance would be his undoing, in the end, he thought.

"Have you heard anything about Narcissa and Draco by any chance?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Not a thing, Headmaster. They slipped off in the middle of the night, and all that anyone has been able to find was that they left for Paris, and then the States. That is where the trail ends."

"Hmmmm," Dumbledore hummed as he raked his hand down through his beard while in thought.

Here, Snape took the last drink from his glass and stood. "If that is all, Headmaster, I must attend the potions I am finishing for the Hospital Wing, and I wish to go home early."

"You may go, dear boy," Dumbledore said as he stood, and made his way to the large window behind his desk.

As Snape was making his way down the spiral stairs, he was wondering what today's Magic Eye would have in it. Who would it target this time?

Tracey and Astoria did retrieve a copy of The Magic Eye and were reading the headline news. It was an exposé on Philip Pyrites and his "dandy ways." It spoke about how he dressed as an effeminate dandy and acted as if a spot of dirt would contaminate him and cause his death. Pyrites was known to wear a morning coat, with tails, and a top hat with gloves while carrying a cane everywhere he went. His predilection for young males was also discussed, which made the two witches blush and laugh.

A/N: And so the drama continues, and a wedding and honeymoon are next. I know that some didn't care much for the voodoo ritual, but that was the only believable thing that I could come up with besides hitting Harry with the killing curse. It was nasty but had to be done, which is why this story is M rated.