The Bonds That Tie
Nobody bothered Harry was his was cooling off upstairs in his room, though Sirius did deliver updates that Harry was just sitting in front of the fireplace, bent forward with his chin resting on his folded hands, which were being held up by his elbows on his knees. The vampire had a look of annoyance, and deep thought, so everything felt it wasn't in their best interests to try to speak to him yet. However, it left Remus on the main level with the Malfoy's, which he was fine with knowing they'd taken in Harry through blood adoption. At the same time, Remus was looking right at Voldemort, though a younger version of himself, and the other death eaters. It had been about an hour as Severus reported in that dropped the two males off at the ministry, then informed Dumbledore that Remus had been found and was recovering at Malfoy Manor for a bit at Harry's insistence to ensure the man was okay. Severus informed he'd be back soon and would speak to Harry again to make sure he was alright. Remus wasn't sure what to say to any of the house's residents, so he sat quietly, watching everything with no defense as he didn't know where his wand was.
It was another thirty minutes before Severus returned to the manor and came through the floo.
"Everything taken care of?" Voldemort asked.
"The two imposters are at the ministry, along with added information to the investigation on Dumbledore. Kingsley has assured that it's drawing close to trial time because the evidence is stacked against Albus and he's completely unaware to just how much has been dug up and added." Severus reported. "Where's Harry?"
"Hasn't moved since going up to his room according to Sirius." Narcissa replied.
"I'll talk to him." Severus went to go upstairs when he saw Harry coming down. "Harry? Are you alright?"
"I'm…Calmer. Have the fools been dealt with?" Harry remarked.
"Entirely. And Albus is unaware you know he's involved, though knows you're quite hacked off about him ending the searches and scolding Granger and Weasley for relaying you the information." Severus admitted. "Most of the Order, and all the junior members except the Weasley girl aren't happy with Albus for his decision. Reminding him how you got when Sirius died last year and bringing up that Remus is also family to you."
"It means they're losing faith in Albus or catching onto him having another agenda. I suspect Neville may have told them that Dumbledore can't be trusted and it's why I'm so secretive and distant from them." Harry revealed. "Speaking of…Lucius, Narcissa?"
"Yes, dear?" Narcissa replied.
"With your permission, I'd like to bring them here. Those I know who will sway sides. If I have to give this explanation once to Remus, I rather it be to everyone at the same time." Harry asked.
"That is fine with us." Lucius nodded with his wife.
"Shall we depart, for now?" Antonin inquired.
"Everyone stays. We're going to be allies, everyone better get used to seeing one another." Harry pulled his DA coin from his pocket and flicked it into the air, then suspended in place to write out Meet at Grimmauld in fifteen minutes. No parents. No Order. Tell no one I've summoned you. Harry's eyes glowed red as he saw the strands of magic connecting his coin to everyone else who had been in Dumbledore's Army for fifth year. It would show a ghost-looking coin with the names of the members on them. Harry flicked the strings of who to send the message to as they lit up golden and then he tapped the coin with a claw as it began to pulse like a heartbeat. Harry wrote down six names on a piece of paper. "Kreacher." The elf appeared to Harry.
"Lord Potter-Black has summoned Kreacher?" The elf stated.
"These six people are coming to Grimmauld. Once they are there, lock the house down." Harry told him.
"Yes, Lord Potter-Black. Kreacher will do as his master commands!" Kreacher nodded.
"When they arrive, tell them Harry says to floo through to Malfoy Manor." Harry added.
"Kreacher will not let Master Harry Potter-Black down." Kreacher popped away.
"He certainly likes you," Sirius chuckled.
"I'm not an ass to him." Harry remarked. "You go through to Grimmauld too, Sirius. Warn them from your picture to keep an open mind when they come through."
"You got it, pup." Sirius walked out of his picture, assumingly to go to Grimmauld.
"You're going to tell them everything?" Severus asked.
"Would be rather pointless not to." Harry commented.
"That was so cool…" Pansy giggled. "The coin thing."
"Leader of the army privilege." Harry shrugged. "Hermione created the coins, but mine controls them all. My ability see magic strands allows me to pick and choose who gets the message."
"You'll tell them all, right? Eventually?" Blaise wondered.
"These six will pass the message in secret." Harry replied as he sat down next to Severus, arms folded and one leg over the other. Harry's eyes were closed and if they didn't know any better; they'd say he was sleeping.
. . .
The time ticked away, it felt like forever but they knew when it had come because the floo flared to life as Harry's eyes opened and zeroed in on it. Harry waved his hand over the others. "Just for now. Stay quiet." The only people visible were the Malfoy's and Harry's Slytherin friends, as well as Remus and Severus.
Neville and Luna were first through.
"Harry, good to see you again, my friend." Neville greeted.
"You as well, Neville," Harry shook his hand. "Luna."
"Hello, Harry." Luna smiled.
Next to appear were Fred and George Weasley. "Harry…We've missed you our dark and silent partner in crime." The two greeted at the time together.
"Partner in crime?" Severus arched a brow.
"Figure of speech, Severus…I gave Fred and George the funds to start their joke shop in Diagon Alley. I'm a silent partner, but see a percentage of the business." Harry informed.
The floo flared one more time as Ron stepped through first, then Hermione.
"Harry." Ron said.
"Ron," Harry replied.
Hermione all but shoved Ron aside and instantly hugged Harry tightly. "Oh, Harry!" Hermione almost cried. "Are you alright? I've been so worried."
"Yes, Hermione…I'm quite fine." Harry stated before hugging her back and then let go.
"Where's the rest of the army?" Neville inquired.
"I only summoned you six." Harry remarked. "Lucius, can you lock the manor down?"
"I can. Why?" Lucius inquired.
"I don't need any escapees when I reveal the truth." Harry replied.
"More than fair. Lucius?" Narcissa looked to her husband. Lucius tapped his staff down on the floor three times. "It's done, sweetheart."
"Thank you." Harry said.
"What truth, Harry? What's going on?" Luna questioned. "Are we gearing up for a battle?"
"Eventually, but not right now." Harry told her. "I know it's no secret everyone's wondering when I'll forgive them for the abandonment this past year. I know you want your friend back. I've kept my distance to protect you."
"From what exactly? Voldemort getting in your head and using us against you. We'll fight him, mate." Ron assured.
"Quite the opposite. I'm protecting you from Dumbledore." Harry enlightened.
"Harry, Dumbledore is-," Hermione started.
"Trying to control or kill me anyway he can." Harry cut her off.
"He really has been," Neville interjected. "Harry told me about it a couple days ago."
"He left me with abusive relatives. He ensured I fought Voldemort alone every year at school. He let Umbridge torture students and he's been plotting my life for me since the night my parents died. He even tried to get me married, which he didn't have the right to do." Harry told them. "He claimed himself my guardian when he never had the power as such. It was my parents, Sirius, Remus, and now, the Malfoy's." He added.
"But…Harry, Remus was ineligible because of he's a werewolf. No offense to you, Mr. Lupin." Hermione mentioned.
"That's what he made you and Remus believe, but it was false and entirely illegal." Harry remarked as he summoned the bank papers to his hand. "It's all right there for you, legally documented. Albus Dumbledore was never supposed to make decisions for me after my parents died. I was blood adopted by Sirius, allowing me to be his son, and allowed to be named Black heir and then lord when he died. You'll see that guardianship was transferred to Remus when Sirius was in prison and then again when Sirius died. Then it went right to the Malfoy's when they blood adopted me." Harry revealed.
His friends flipped through everything, seeing that Remus had always been eligible. "S-So what you said the day of the party. Remus was actually your guardian and Dumbledore lied?" Ron look shocked.
"Sirius arrived at the house in Godric's Hollow, blood adopted me, then Hagrid showed up on Dumbledore's orders to take me away to my muggle relatives. Dumbledore made Sirius believe I was going to be safe and sound, so he went on to track down Pettigrew for selling my parents out. And then he ended up framed and imprisoned for twelve years. But the moment he was imprisoned; I was supposed to be with Remus. There's even a letter in there with Albus speaking on Remus's behalf that he was safe to raise me." Harry explained. "Dumbledore allowed me to be raised with the Dursley's fully aware that they were abusing and starving me; his excuse was the blasted blood wards protecting me from Voldemort when Voldemort wasn't a problem because he didn't come back until fourth year. Third year he wasn't part of, and second year was just his memory in a damn diary, and first was him attached to the back of a teacher's head. Seriously, how much of a threat was he?"
"That's true." Hermione agreed. "But Harry, still…He's only ever looked out for you."
"Has he?" Harry asked. "Let the eleven year old new to everything about the magical world see a priceless artifact be taken out of a vault at the bank? Give the eleven year old an invisibility cloak to roam the halls of the school, end up mysteriously on the third floor to find the trap door under the three-headed dog's feet with his friends. Allow the kids to make friends with the giant who has a big heart and can't keep secrets lay hints about the stone. Let the kids work out on their own to go after the stone believing they have to protect it from the evil potions master. Ron's a chess master, you're the brains and I ended up alone against Quirrell." Harry reminded. "Should I start breaking down every other year or is it sinking in that the man has literally, openly, led me to some big fight?"
"No, okay…That makes sense." Hermione agreed.
"He did know Harry and I were in Hagrid's hut the night Mr. Malfoy came to remove him from the school. He looked right at us and basically told us to get into the chamber." Ron shrugged.
"And third year involved Sirius breaking out of prison to get Scabbers, who was Pettigrew." Hermione nodded.
"Fourth year was the tournament." Neville reminded. "Harry was under the age limit set, still got entered and forced to compete."
"And that was right after the world cup incident with the dark mark ending up in the sky." The twins stated.
"Then fifth year…Harry ends up turned into a vampire, but we also dealt with the pink nightmare…" Ron shivered. "Harry, you had more patience than I, mate."
"Tell me about it." Harry scoffed. "I should have used my vampire powers to make her use her own quill…" He rolled his eyes. " My point is everything together, guys. Dumbledore was using my money under a fake guardianship title. Never let me have my key to the vault. Never wanted me learning about everything I inherited…That farce of a marriage contract with Ginny, who is all obsessed with me now."
"Sorry about her. Even I've told her to back off, Harry." Ron sighed.
"But what's all this about you having a boyfriend who is your soulmate!?" Hermione demanded.
"It's not your fault, Ron. Albus has her convinced that we're meant to be and our love can save the world," Harry mocked. "He's trying to control everything and it's why I've stayed away. I don't want him using you to get to me. He's a skilled Legilimens-,"
"Not as skilled as me," Severus remarked.
"I don't think anyone's as good at it as you, Sev." Harry responded. "But I didn't want Albus trying to look in your minds to get information on me. Also, Hermione, tell ya when we get to that part."
"What would he see that's so secretive?" Luna questioned.
"Who I'm allied with to take him down…" Harry sighed.
"Who…Are you allied with? Please don't say it's the ministry?" Ron pushed.
"Remember that Sirius told you to keep an open mind…" Harry snapped his fingers as the barrier dropped to reveal Voldemort and his death eaters. "I'm working with Voldemort himself."
"Harry! Have you lost your mind!?" Hermione screeched.
Remus looked shocked. "Harry…"
"Mate, he killed your parents…And his psycho lady killed Sirius. She tortured Neville's parents to insanity!" Ron argued.
"Who are you calling psycho!?" Bellatrix stood.
"Cool it, Bella!" Harry demanded, snapping his fingers and pointing for her to sit back down where she was. "And why did you take offense to that? Come on, you kind'a got a psycho streak."
"Yes, Harry…" Bellatrix sat back down.
"Guys, let him talk…Believe me, I thought it was mad too." Neville stood next to Harry.
"You knew, Neville?" Luna said gently. "He is right, we should hear Harry out."
"I'd call it insane, but I'm certain Harry lost his mind a long time ago," George chuckled.
"I agree," Fred nodded.
"Eh, not so far off." Harry shrugged, not even denying it. "Look, just…Listen. I know it's crazy and I was entirely against it in the start…But they've been here for me when all of you walked away over something I didn't have a choice in." The group looked down some. "I know it was a shock to find out I was a vampire, there was a lot of things to question and fear…But imagine all that as the person it happened to." He paused. "I didn't have anyone to turn to. Draco found me on the verge of a bloodrage around this time a year ago and even though I nearly attacked him; he didn't run off and reveal it to the school. He let me feed off him instead and told me I could any time. This is where I've been since my birthday, or a couple weeks afterward when Dumbledore ticked me off. I happened to stumble on a death eater meeting and yes…Voldemort tried to kill me right away, until he realized the killing curse can't kill me. I blasted him backward and we've sort'a had a new understanding for one another ever since."
"I'd have paid good money to see you blast him back," The twins said in unison.
"Moving on…They realized with the truth out that Albus would try to either control me as a weapon, which is all I've ever been to him. We'll go over that later. It's part of the story. They came up with the blood adoption by the Malfoy's. They have been working with me to end Dumbledore's manipulations and show everyone for who he really is. Voldemort doesn't want to take over the world, he wants to fix it because it's corrupt as hell. That's an idea I support…So we're allied and partners in this endeavor."
"It doesn't excuse everything he did, Harry…" Hermione stated.
"No, it doesn't…But Dumbledore manipulating him as a child does." Harry countered. "Albus did the same thing to him and pushed him onto the path of darkness. I've seen his memories, how Dumbledore worked him. Molded him into a dark wizard, pushed him to the dark side and yes. Yes, he chose to keep walking it…But he didn't have what I got. He didn't have friends or love, a light to pull him away."
"The dark lord was born of a false love between his own parents. He was conceived under the effects of a love potion and it is often the case that children born of such are unable to feel love or understand it." Severus explained. "He has followers, allies…But he didn't get what Harry got. If not for all the friends and love Harry had when coming to Hogwarts, when he was turned into a vampire; he'd have stayed on a dark path too."
"Alright, that sucks…" Ron admitted.
"Indeed." Voldemort replied.
"He looks different from the ministry battle," Hermione pointed out.
"More to the story, Hermione…Allow me to finish?" Harry asked as she nodded. "On Voldemort's path, he created horcruxes. Objects where you can put a piece of your soul in it. A way to live on, even if your body is destroyed. It's how he never actually died when he tried to kill me as a baby. He had horcruxes to fall back on, but couldn't get back his body until fourth year. One of his horcruxes was the diary of Tom Riddle from second year. Now…It was destroyed by me. Didn't have a choice. It means I destroyed a piece of his soul; he can't get that back. But his other horcruxes were in good order." Harry told them. "I should mention that the only way to split the soul is to go against nature. It's murdering others, that tears the soul. At the same time…The only way to put the soul back together is to feel genuine remorse for the evils committed."
"You're about to tell us that…He actually feels sorry for the murders he's done?" Luna asked gently.
"He does and that's why we were able to merge the parts of his soul back together. Regaining his soul gave him this appearance," Harry informed.
"He looks rather handsome over the snake face," Luna stated.
"Why thank you, young lady," Voldemort bowed his head to her. "Harry, I quite like this friend of yours. What is her name?"
"My friends are rather cool, Tom," Harry told him. "And I'll introduce you later."
"Tom?" Ron blinked.
"I don't call him Voldemort and he knows I refuse to. I call him Tom, as he was born as." Harry remarked and Tom shrugged. "Moving on." He paused a moment. "This is where we get to why Dumbledore needs to be revealed as a manipulative bastard. The diary piece of Tom's soul is gone…But there's one other." The friends' eyes widened. "Severus…Tell them what you showed me about what Dumbledore has known all these years?"
"From the time of the diary housing a piece of the dark lord, Albus has known they were working with a different kind of dark and rare magic. It wasn't until this year that Harry decided to play along to Dumbledore's desires that we learned about those horcruxes. Slughorn is the one who told Tom about them when he was a boy attending the school. However, Slughorn's memory was altered due to him being ashamed of what he believes he taught Voldemort to do. Harry used his powers to look in Slughorn's mind and see how things truly went." Severus began. "This is when Harry and Dumbledore both learned of the horcruxes Tom had made over the years, why he'd been able to come back…But, it was about two months ago now that Albus revealed to me alone that the horcrux Voldemort never meant to make was the one inside Harry."
"H-Harry's one of those…Soul containers?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. It happened the night his mother threw herself between Voldemort and Harry, the curse rebounded and a piece of Voldemort latched itself onto Harry as the only living thing in the room since Lily was dead, so was James. It's why Harry and Voldemort have the link they do." Severus nodded. "Albus revealed to me that when the time came, Harry needed to die. And Voldemort had to be the one to kill him in order to destroy Voldemort himself. As long as these pieces of his soul exist in containers, Voldemort cannot die. The pieces made him immortal, but back inside him, or destroyed would allow Voldemort to be killed like any of us."
"Albus's plan was to collect the objects containing Voldemort's soul and destroy them as the diary had been. Leave nothing for Voldemort to fall back on, but it involves killing me to destroy the last piece. And Albus has known this all year long, with every intention of just letting it happen." Harry continued.
"Of course, just to set the record at ease among you…I have no intention of harming Harry to get back my soul. I've actually asked him to hold onto it for safe keeping. If Albus believes that I'm the one who has to kill Harry to become mortal, then it's going to be quite the shocker that I refuse to kill him." Voldemort stated.
"Severus called Albus out on raising me like a pig for slaughter, keeping me alive until the proper moment. I assume Dumbledore thinks I'll just sacrifice myself for the greater good." Harry shrugged. "That's what the prophecy was about. I'm the one with the power to destroy him because I literally hold the last piece of his soul. If that is gone, anyone can kill him. In theory, of course. It could also have meant that Voldemort kills me and I still come back to life to kick his ass and send him straight to hell with my unyielding power of love since he can't feel it. It drove him out last year when I told him he'd never know love or friendship. It made me stronger, that he was the weak one. Who knows, doesn't matter now. The prophecy was destroyed last year, it's likely changed given the state of the alliance. Things change based on people's decisions and actions." Harry went on. "Point is. Albus is the bad guy here…And we're putting an end to it. Are you with me, or not?"
"Consider carefully, if you say you're not; you're leaving here obliviated and not remember anything…" Neville stated. "I've already chosen. I'm on Harry's side."
"You know you've got us, Harry." The twins agreed.
"Me as well." Luna nodded.
"I'm with you, cub." Remus assured. "I've got a bone to pick with that old man."
"Easy, Uncle Remy. Everyone's gonna get their chance." The werewolf nodded to him. "How about you two?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.
"We walked away once and we've regretted it since…" Hermione stated. "Not again."
"Yeah. We're with you, Harry," Ron offered his hand.
Harry shook it and Hermione put her hand over both of theirs as all three smiled.
"And the golden trio is back." Draco snorted.
"Shut it, Dray. That's entirely the wrong thing to say." Harry told him with a slight pause. "It's properly…The army is growing."