It was supposed to be a promising evening where Harry celebrated six months of dating with Severus after they hung out a little at Malfoy Manor with friends and family. It was also supposed to be the night that Delphini Riddle was released from the Ministry of Magic orphanage and got to live with the Malfoy's. That was until Kingsley arrived alone, and announced right off that there was a problem.

Harry sighed. "Such is my life, there's always a problem. What happened now?"

"The Wizengamot disagrees with the placement option of leaving the girl with Narcissa because of her supporting the Dark Lord along with her husband and son." Kingsley revealed.

"All three of them were cleared in trial." Harry reminded.

"It doesn't erase what was done before that." Kingsley shrugged.

"Narcissa was never marked, and Draco was forced to take it when his father failed Voldemort." Harry countered.

"Harry, it's not my decision. Minister of Magic I may be, I only sit into the meetings with the Wizengamot. As it stands right now, they're at a standstill. Half say it will be fine, the other half say it's asking for trouble." Kingsley told him. "It's tied."

"Then what happens? Leaving Delphini in an orphanage isn't an option. That's the kind of neglect that put Voldemort on the path to darkness. So really, all they're doing now is absolutely ensuring that this child follows the same road and enacts that prophecy." Harry folded his arms. "I'll talk to them."

"Well, they do have an agreed solution…But it's up to you, actually." Kingsley mentioned.

"I have a strong feeling I'm not going to like this…" Harry mumbled. "Go on then?"

"They'll mutually agree that the kid is released from the orphanage, but only if she's in your care…" Kingsley informed.

"Me?" Harry stared at him with surprise. Kingsley nodded. "Why the hell do they think that's a good idea?"

"Because if there's any business happening where she may be going dark, or looking to resurrect her father…You're there to stop it." Kingsley explained.

"Oh, I get it…They want me to be there to keep being the savior." Harry scoffed. "Haven't I done enough? Do I have to actually die before they stop relying on me? Jesus, Delphini is just a kid! At this age, there is no physical way she can get her hands on a time-turner to go back and make sure Cedric lives. One, she doesn't even know about all that. And two. She's goddamn ten, Kingsley." Harry commented. "Are they trying to drive me insane? Because it's working."

Kingsley sighed. "Why are you so against it? It's not like she wouldn't adore you like your godson, nieces and nephews do. You're great with kids. Harry, you have your own house. Financially stable for generations to come. I know you have an extra room."

"That's Teddy's room when he visits and stays overnight or the whole weekend." Harry reminded.

"You have another room too." Kingsley countered.

"That's my office…" Harry mumbled. "You said it was my decision. And I'm saying no. Yes, I love kids and I want my own someday, but I'm not going to take in this child simply because the Wizengamot has decided they can't trust Narcissa, Lucius, and apparently, Draco too." He said firmly.

"Then she stays in the orphanage," Kingsley told him. "I told you, I can't override this. They are stuck in a tie about approving Narcissa taking her given their prior ties with supporting Voldemort."

"Alright, you know what…This nonsense stops now." Harry backed away from Severus and apparated out of the room.

"Um…Where's he going?" Draco asked.

"I think the better question, Draco, is what is he going to do." Ron commented.

"Fair point. He had that look in his eyes." Hermione agreed.

"What look?" Severus pushed.

"The one where he's about to do something crazy or stupid to make a point." Ron, Hermione, and Draco said at the same time.

It was moments later when Harry returned, but not alone. It appeared Harry dragged the entirety of the Wizengamot along with him and by the looks of it, none of them even realized what happened.

"What the hell are we doing here?" One member asked.

"I brought you here to prove a point." Harry stated, arms folded while standing before them.

"How in the-,"

"Don't you worry about how I got you all here against your will." Harry told them.

"Why did you bring us here, Mr. Potter? This could be considered capture and we could have you-,"

"When I want you to speak, I'll ask you to. Until then, shut up." Harry remarked. Most of Harry's friends, and even Severus tried to hide the laughter of Harry putting these people in their place. "Ever since Delphini was found in that raid, you've all been unable to make a decision regarding her future. You go back and forth, changing your minds because you're scared. Merlin's sake, your first idea had been to kill her. She's just a kid. And I can't fathom how or why you would fear a little girl." Harry informed.

"A little girl who is prophesied to bring back the Dark Lord!"

"After the years you spent fighting him, after all he did to you. Voldemort killed your parents. Bellatrix killed your godfather. Why on Earth would you not be worried or scared about the Dark Lord returning!"

"I told you to shut it and listen. Let me explain something to you." Harry paused. "What you're planning to do now, keep her in an orphanage? That's how her father ended up angry and wanting revenge. Because muggles treated him differently for accidental magic. Alright? Then Dumbledore found him, told him he was a wizard, and he began at Hogwarts. But you know where he ended up every summer? Back at the orphanage, getting bullied and teased." Harry gave that a moment. "You clearly know nothing about how Voldemort grew up, therefore you don't understand his motives for doing what he did. For wanting to gain power, for wanting people to fear him."

"And you think you understand why Voldemort went insane? Power-hungry?"

"I don't think, I know I do." Harry told them. "I understand Voldemort better than anyone, because I know enough about him to see why a fair amount of people believe we're the same." Silence. "Not only are Tom and I related, distantly, through the Peverell brothers, Cadmus and Ignotus. But we had similar upbringings until Hogwarts came into play. See, I followed the light because I made friends. I have people I care about. People I was willing to die for." He paused. "Tom didn't. He was left to his own devices. No guidance, no friends. Tom didn't care about anyone, and regretfully, it's going to defend him here…It wasn't his fault."

"Excuse me?"

"Tom Riddle Jr. was born of a love potion his mother had been drugging his father with for a fair amount of years. When Merope Gaunt got pregnant, she decided to stop dosing Tom Senior thinking it would be fine because they had a child on the way. But Tom Senior left her and rejected his son before he was even born. Merope lost her will to live, got weaker, and shortly after giving birth at the orphanage and naming her child; she died." Harry explained. "The problem with this is that children born of love potions are incapable of feeling and understanding love."

"He is correct. Love potions don't create real love, just obsession." Severus confirmed.

"His descent into darkness was not his fault. Bullying, teasing, name-calling…It's emotional, mental, and physical abuse. And on someone who already can't properly process emotions, while also not being led away from the darkness?" Harry said. "It really doesn't take much, guys and girls, to push someone over the edge into anger, darkness, wanting to get revenge."

"Do you know why Voldemort sought the power he did? Because it wasn't to be the most powerful wizard around." Harry commented. "It was for the control he obtained to make people fear and obey him. So he would never have to be at someone else's mercy. Like he was in the orphanage, getting bullied for being different." Harry enlightened. "So he could be in control of what happened to him. But here's the thing about what happened to Tom to become Voldemort…It can happen to anyone."

"Explain. We all know right from wrong. It's easy to decide to stay in the light and not want to dominate the world."

Harry shook his head. "See, that right there. You don't understand because you didn't deal with what Tom did. I'm sure there are plenty of others, but for argument's sake…Let's use me as an example." Harry said.

"You, Mr. Potter? You're the beacon of light to this world. You can't possibly use yourself as an example to show us how anyone can be pushed to the place Voldemort was. You always fought for the light and-,"

"That right there is your first mistake and the entire problem. You only saw me as the Chosen One. You didn't know my life or the things I had to go through. Same as you didn't know Tom's story. So don't believe for a second that I didn't have temptations to the dark side too." Harry told them firmly. "Everyone believed that just because I was the boy who lived, I was living with only the finest of everything. Rich, spoiled, pampered. Basking in the glory of being famous…"

"No. That wasn't my life at all. Dumbledore left me on the doorstep of my mother's sister's house. My aunt, along with her husband and son are muggles." He stated. "You'd think with family, everything would be great. Families look out for one another, love each other. Nope. There was no love in that house for me." Harry remarked. "My existence in that house was to be their cook, gardener, cleaner. A slave. There were three bedrooms in that house, none of them were you know where I slept? In a cupboard under the stairs." Harry informed.

"Around five, I was made to do the chores. I ate when they felt like feeding me. I got up at 5 am. I went to bed around 11 pm. No naps. No breaks. I wasn't allowed to rest or take meds when I was sick. I was allowed five minute, cold showers twice a week. I was constantly reminded they were saddled with me, and they shouldn't have taken me in. That I should have died when my parents did." Harry revealed.

"If I didn't finish all the chores I was told to do, I'd get beat." Harry admitted. "Choked, thrown into walls or on the floor, whipped with a belt, punched, kicked. And even after the beatings were over, I had to get back up and finish the work." He said calmly. "If I blacked out from it all, they left me where I was. No doctors, no hospitals. Didn't matter if I was bleeding, had broken or sprained bones. But when I regained consciousness, guess what? I had to finish the chores." Harry paused now. "I also got bullied for being a freak. By my cousin, and his school friends. That was my life. Ten years, until my Hogwarts letter came. And that didn't help matters any."

"Hogwarts was great for nine months. But guess where I had to go back every summer? The Dursley's, where I resumed my place as their servant." Harry remarked. "Just like Tom always had to go back to the orphanage. We grew up the same goddamn way, dealing with the same things. Do you see it yet? The comparison. I would have done anything to get away from the Dursley's. So imagine the temptation when the first time I faced Voldemort, who was bodiless and attached to Quirinus Quirrell's head, and he asked me to join him."

"He promised he'd bring my parents back. He told me there was no good and evil, only power, and those too weak to seek it. That together, we could do extraordinary things. All I had to do was give him the stone." Harry chuckled. "See Voldemort went over the edge in later years…I was teetering on that edge at eleven years old. I knew Voldemort was powerful and had killed my parents too. But I didn't care. There was a chance. There was a solid chance to escape the hell, control my own choices, live free…See how we've circled back to why Voldemort wanted power? For the control it gave him? See now that, I wanted the same and I could have had it?"

"But I remembered that my parents were killed trying to protect me, so I wouldn't dishonor their sacrifice." He said. "I was eleven when I first thought about joining him to have control over my life. Remember that." Harry stated. "There were plenty of other times too. Like my second year, when everyone looked at me differently for being a Parselmouth. My fourth year when just about everyone abandoned me for ending up in the tournament when I had nothing to do with it." He paused again.

"I remember the time I was ready to call Voldemort with the mind link we had, tell him I was sick of being everyone's beacon of light and take me away. That was my fifth year." Harry informed. "When Sirius got killed, I lost the only father I knew. Worse to think about the fact, in one lifetime, fourteen years apart from one another, I'd lost two fathers. I was so far done with caring that the idea of joining the dark side was the equivalent of the happiness I got being able to fly my broom. Because I was in control, I was free." He said.

"So, tell me oh wise ones with all your faith in me, what would you have done then? If I'd decided to join Voldemort. Or hell, I could have just ascended him and taken over entirely as a new, bigger and badder dark lord. What would you have done?" Harry asked. "You wouldn't have known what to do because you clearly had no idea that someone as good as me could ever consider going dark, nor how easy or fast it would have been to do so. Snap of a finger." He enlightened. "You wouldn't have known what to do because you haven't been there. You haven't suffered enough to know that pain, the desperation, the motive of doing whatever it takes to be in control and obey no one but yourself."

"He wasn't your father." One remarked. "Sirius. He was your godfather, not your father."

"He was, actually." Harry said, arms folded and his Black Lordship ring showing. "Maybe not birth father, but he had adopted me." He mentioned.

"He was a felon, that adoption would never have gone-,"

"It was blood magic." Harry revealed. "How else do you think he named me his heir, that when he died, I became Lord Black and inherited everything when I wasn't actually a blood relative to the Black family. Sirius adopted me as his son over the Christmas holiday of 1995." He stated firmly. "I hadn't known what he did, at the time. He gave some wine to celebrate the new year we were going into, but when I attended the will reading at the bank, I found out that he blood adopted me. It wasn't wine that I drank, it was a potion. It was verified on the inheritance test I had to take, Sirius Orion Black was listed as a second father via blood adoption." Harry told them. "That's something else I've never told anyone, except Remus, because he was there."

"But my point stands at how many times I was on that edge." Harry remarked. "You said, at the beginning of me using myself as the example, that it never would have happened. You still believe knowing right from wrong keeps you from going over that edge? Right or wrong doesn't matter. Even if it's the wrong choice…It's still an option when you have nothing else." Harry enlightened. "I could have. I could have snapped so many times and decided this whole light thing isn't worth the pain I'm suffering. Maybe if I go to the dark side and cause some of that pain, they'll get it. Let them feel what I feel, then maybe they'll understand." Harry told them.

"Maybe I should have told Voldemort in the forest that if he went through with killing me, he'd be destroying his own soul." Harry shrugged. "He wouldn't have killed me if he knew I was his accidental horcrux. He would have probably protected me. He told Nagini he had to keep her safe when he realized the secret of his horcruxes was out. If he knew I was one too, I would have been exiting that forest at his side and he would have been taunting all of you with the information that he couldn't die unless you were willing to destroy me." Harry smiled.

"Do you get it now? How easy it is to get pushed to the edge, over it…That someone pushed far enough, even me, can choose to be dark? Could have chosen, just one time, to be selfish and get revenge? And the joyous part of this is that you already realized that if I made that choice…The entire outcome of the war would have changed." Harry revealed.

"Merlin, it sucks to admit, but at least Voldemort offered to do something for me that would have helped my situation. If I went dark, it would hit you so hard that your head would spin. And I wouldn't have told you until the end what happened when you asked why or how. I'd have gone out of my way to gather you up just like this and laughed before I smirked and told you that it was you who made me that way." Harry remarked.

"Told you that there had been signs. There had been warnings." Harry chuckled. "And then I'd have killed you and not cared." Most of them flinched. "However, I had things that kept me in the light, so that was your lucky break. And light doesn't even work in this context. Nothing was keeping me in the light, I amend my word choice to hold on. Sirius and my parents were the only reason I didn't snap, they kept me holding on to a tiny hope that one day, things would get better."

"You don't have the right to stand there and tell me how I felt because until today, no one knew how close I came to going over that edge. You had no idea that your beacon of light was dying out. And since you've screwed up twice, you don't get the right to decide the fate of Delphini Riddle. I will, to make sure she doesn't end up like her father and me, which was suffering needlessly if someone, anyone had taken the time to notice or care and did something about it. She is staying with her aunt, end of discussion." Harry decided firmly.

"You must understand our hesitation to allow former Death Eaters to raise the girl. She was being cared for by a relative of a Death Eater. Isn't the point to keep her away from temptation?"

"The point is to not repeat the mistakes of the past." Harry scoffed. "And that is exactly what you're doing by leaving her in an orphanage. Not to mention, you intended on making it public knowledge that it came to light that Voldemort and Bellatrix had a secret child together. Do you have any idea the kind of target you'll put on her back for that? You will set her up to get bullied and teased. Looked at and treated differently because of who she is. Is that fair to her? To be judged simply because she was born the child of Voldemort and Bellatrix? You do not put the sins of the parents on the child." Harry remarked. "I'm related to Voldemort, you gonna judge me for it? Hell, I'm blood adopted into the blacks. That makes me related to Bellatrix too by blood magic. Removing all the years apart it would be, that makes them both my cousins."

"Delphini will be fine, and there's no risk of the Dark Lord returning if you don't muck it up. She needs a loving home, with a damn good support system so that when she learns who she's the child of…She's prepared to show people she's not like them. She needs a normal life, people to love, care for, and guide her. A chance to be a child. She needs what her father didn't get because no one gave a damn, and no one tried to help him out of that darkness, nor even be steered from it. The same path I wanted to and could have taken many times over if not for a large majority of people who are in this room right now, some who are not, and some who are no longer with us." Harry explained.

"All that aside, if you leave her an orphanage, you will effectively ensure that she wants to find out about her heritage. Want to know why her remaining family didn't take her in. Make her want revenge." He paused. "You will be the ones who make that prophecy come to pass because you'll set the situation up where she will never know the truth about why her parents were killed. She'll just see that they were killed, and she'll want the chance to know them. And have the drive to give into temptation to find a way to bring them back." Harry stated.

"So no. You don't get to make this decision and destroy what I almost died for and what plenty of others did die for. I'll be damned if I let you and your hesitations be the reason Voldemort comes back. Because it won't be you who has to face him. It will be me, and you'll put it all on your precious savior to handle, just like last time." Harry finished.

"We did not put it all on you…"

"The hell you didn't." Harry glared. "Do not get me started in listing off my seven years of Hogwarts and all the shit that went down where the ministry didn't do anything to help. All you did was sit back and let a teenager, at the time, face the most dangerous dark wizard the magical world has ever seen." Harry remarked simply. "You didn't do anything because you knew there was a prophecy about a boy born as the seventh month dies who would vanquish Voldemort. And since Voldemort marked me that night in Godric's Hollow, you sat back and let your savior risk his life. You said nah, he's got it. It's fine." Harry told them. "I wasn't fine. And it wasn't like you didn't know where I was. You sure as shit knew when magic was being used in a muggle household and called me out on it. So you knew…And you just didn't care."

"And you're content to do it again. You're content enough to make the same mistakes again, and this time you'll not only have Delphini on the dark side, but she'll have brought back her father and likely her mother. Is that what you want?" Harry inquired. "Cause that's what's gonna happen. Guess what…I'm not letting it happen again. I'll do what you should have done, which was help the people you govern. Not just the adults, the kids who don't have families or homes. The kids who were stuck returning to abusive homes. The kids who had no choices. No child deserves to go unloved and unprotected, it doesn't matter who they are." Harry revealed. "Tom could have been placed with another magical family, rather than forced back to the orphanage."

"I could have been placed literally anywhere but with muggles who hated me. All I've heard over the years were how many people wish they could have taken me in. It wasn't exactly forbidden knowledge about my home life. And yes, I know Dumbledore is the one who put me there under some bullshit blood of bond ritual that was useless instead of letting Sirius take me, but you asshats could have gone over him and done something. Hell, you knew Sirius was innocent after my third year. Could have rescinded his felon status, let him take me then. But you didn't. You just left it be. You left Tom alone to suffer. You left me alone to suffer. I will not let you decide this girl's future because you're scared of a possibility that won't take place if you don't screw up again." Harry remarked. "And you won't, cause I'm not gonna let ya." He smiled.

"You can't override our decision."

"Can't I?" Harry arched a brow.

"You have no power in the Wizengamot."

"I beg to differ." Harry said calmly. "I don't often throw my weight around, but I can, and I will for a good reason. And that reason right now is that you're about to make a stupid decision that affects not just Delphini's life and future, but all of ours. If you do this, you will be the ones who bring back Voldemort. This now makes you a threat to our world's safety, and oh, look at that. I am the head of the department that takes care of threats to the people." Harry mentioned.

"Is this a threat?"

"No, never. Why would I threaten you?" Harry paused. "This isn't a threat, it's a promise." He said in a cold tone. "And you can ask anyone in this very room that when I say I'm going to do something, I will because I always keep my word." Everyone in the room, aside from the kids, nodded. Including Kingsley.

"You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I want and have to for the protection of our world when you're currently about to make a choice that risks the return of Voldemort. It's my job to oversee that all threats of dark nature, or anyone aspiring to become the next Voldemort, are neutralized to keep the people safe. And I've got the Minister of Magic behind me to ensure that job is done, no matter who it is I have to fight, chase, capture, or destroy to see that objective is achieved." Harry informed. "You think just because you're the Wizengamot you have all the power to make choices that could affect others. You vote on laws, don't get ahead of your paygrade. You are not gods or goddesses. You don't decide who lives or dies and you don't decide people's fates. If that is your manner of thinking, that you have that kind of power, you are no different than Voldemort himself."

A pause. "And we definitely can't have Voldemort returning, or leave those who think like him running loose. So, if you proceed with your decision as it currently is, I will do my job, as defined, to investigate crimes related to the dark arts, and to hunt down and capture dark wizards and witches." Harry stated firmly. "Mark my words, and so help you God…If you end up being responsible for Voldemort's resurrection, I will come after you. I'd deal with Voldemort first because you sure as hell can't handle him, of course. You know, priorities and such. But then I will absolutely come after each and every single one of you personally for bringing him back in the first place." Harry added casually after a moment.

"You wouldn't dare…"

"Careful now. Your tone suggests that you're challenging me. I don't advise you to continue. You will lose." Harry said. "There is nothing wrong with Narcissa taking in her niece. I remind you that it was Narcissa's act of motherly love that saved my life. If she hadn't told Voldemort I was dead, he would have realized the Elder Wand refused to kill me because I was its master. And had that been the case, Voldemort could have taken any wand from a follower and killed me with it."

"I will not stand here as Lord Black and have you judge my family with the things you've done because you're not saints either. And I will not have you question Narcissa's loyalty to family. She's a good person. She is a loving mother, grandmother, and I have no doubts she'll be a loving aunt too because she warmed right up to Teddy. If you can trust me as your savior and head of the auror department, then you can trust my judgment. You can trust my words. And I trust Narcissa Malfoy with my life." Harry informed.

"So now I'm telling you. Not asking. Telling you that Delphini will be released from the orphanage and placed with her family for the duration of her underage status. If you refuse again, then I'll have to go into why I can in fact override your decision with not one, but three ways. And that won't be fun for anyone, but mostly you. So with all that in mind, do we have a problem with the arrangement of Narcissa taking in her niece?" Harry asked.

"No. No problems with that decision." One person said.

"Fantastic! Then per order of Lord Black, who has final say over all living Black family members, Delphini Black-Riddle is hereby released from ministry custody and will be given to her maternal aunt, Narcissa Black-Malfoy, who will stand in place as guardian until the child reaches the age of seventeen." Harry stated.

"Y-You had the power to override our decision the whole time?"

"I told you I could. That was one of three ways because you have no say over my family. As long as she hasn't done anything illegal, she's a member of the Black family, and a minor with no parents. That means I am in charge of her welfare, and I decide her placement within the family." Harry informed.

"You were never giving us a choice, were you?"

"No. But I saw an opportunity to lay out your various mistakes over the years and used it in hopes that going forward from tonight…You will remember it well and apply the lesson to your future decisions regarding other people's lives so you don't destroy them." Harry commented.

"Fine. Now, will you send us back?" Another inquired.

"Sure thing." Harry smiled. "As always, it is a pleasure doing business with you again. Safe travels, mind the landing. Could be a bit rough."

"Wait, what are you going to-," Someone began.

"Bye now." Harry snapped his fingers as a portal opened up under the Wizengamot members and they dropped in before the portal closed.

All anyone wanted to know was truthfully, if Harry was alright. They'd known him since he was eleven, and none of them ever knew how bad he had it, how he actually felt, how close he was to going dark. They were just as guilty for never seeing past the surface either. But to save on the chance Harry might slip back into that dark place he was after the war, they silently all agreed to leave the matter be and not draw attention to the confessions.

"You know what…I'm not even going to ask." Draco commented.

"Probably for the best that you don't." Harry chuckled.

"I will go get the child," Kingsley stated. "Good show, Harry. I may have to pull you into more meetings with me when I attend them, just for the sake of getting a decision made faster."

"I appreciate your vote of confidence in my abilities to get things done, Kingsley. But there's a reason I'm not in politics." Harry mentioned. "Besides, you think after that any of them are going to try to argue a case with me?"

"Good point. I must ask, though…What other two ways did you have of overriding them?" Kingsley questioned.

"I don't know if you remember this or not…But I currently stand as Lord Potter, and Lord Black. I have two unclaimed seats on the Wizengamot panel that I could take up for situations where there's an even tie and a decision can't be made." Harry reminded. "And then there is the fact I could just call in one of the many favors the ministry owes me for all the bullshit over the years where they left a teenager, for seven years, to face the Dark Lord."

"I would have loved to see their reactions to hearing those." Lucius admitted.

"I think we all would have. Now then, I shall get Delphini and return her here." Kingsley informed.

"I will ensure her room is ready, and if she requires anything, we can take care of it." Narcissa said. Kingsley nodded and left through the fireplace. "Thank you, Lord Potter-Black…For your kind words and confidence."

"I only spoke the truth, Narcissa. It's what I do best, actually. And please, don't get all formal with me. Harry is fine unless it's an event where the title is required to be addressed." Harry mentioned.

"Of course." Narcissa nodded.

"So Draco might not ask, but how exactly did you just send them away?" Severus inquired.

"I made a portal. It's kind of like a portkey or apparition. Only you don't need to be touching an object to be taken to where the portkey is set to. And you don't get that twisty, or squeezed through a tube feeling during transport." Harry shrugged. "It's too complicated to explain. Let's just say I can focus on and manipulate the magic I use when apparating, and change it to an easier way of transportation. Portals, like a window from where you are to where you wanna go. All you have to do is step though. And in this case, if I open a portal, I can send anyone through it. Took a while to study and work with, but now I can do it at the snap of a finger."

Harry waved his hand downward as a blurred white and gray oval appeared with a foggy center, but then it cleared and revealed a shot of two houses, side by side. "See? This one would take us home. Just have to step through and we're in Godric's Hollow, on the sidewalk in front of our places."

"Muggles don't see it? The portal or people coming through?" Hermione asked.

"No. There's a notice-me-not charm imbued with the magic on the other side. If Sev and I went through this right now, no one would see anything out of the ordinary who was walking or driving by. When you cross, it taps into the surrounding area. It can recognize if it's safe or not, know automatically if there's muggles around, or if we're in a completely magic known place and don't have to hide." Harry snapped his fingers to close the portal.

"It's amazing, Harry." Severus complimented.

"Thanks." Harry smiled.

"Not just the ability. Everything you do, and who you are is amazing." Severus told him. "You are one of a kind."

"Aw. You're so sweet, Sev." Harry leaned over to kiss him. Severus returned it and then they intertwined their fingers while holding hands.

"Harry?" Came Kingsley's voice from the fireplace.

"Yeah?" Harry replied.

"I seem to be a bit too intimidating for the young girl, and wondered if perhaps you might be less frightening to coax her out of hiding? She's also speaking a language I don't understand. And you happen to be a universal translator, so help." Kingsley inquired. "You are just so good with kids."

"Universal translator? How original." Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't be a suck up, Kingsley. I can try, no guarantee that she will warm up to me, though." Harry stated as he let go of Severus's hand and stood.

"Much appreciated," Kingsley stated before the call ended.

Harry waved his hand in a downward swipe as a portal opened revealing Kingsley in a small bedroom.

"Ah, there you are, Harry." Kingsley greeted.

"I told you I'd be right here." Harry reminded. "Where is she?"

"Under the bed." Kingsley reported.

Harry nodded as he put a finger to his lips for the others to stay quiet and out of sight, then got on the floor to be her level by sitting on his knees where he could see the quivering figure huddled towards the back wall. Instantly, the girl was defensive and trying to make it known to leave her alone.

"See, I don't know what language that is." Kinglsey stated.

Harry chuckled. "It's Latin, Kingsley…Come on, most of our spells are such."

"Well, it sounds different in full sentences!" Kingsley argued.

"Stop yelling. You're scaring her." Harry told him.

"Sorry…" Kingsley stepped away, hands up, saying that he meant no harm. "I'll just be quiet."

"I support that idea." Harry remarked as he shifted to get inside the room and sit on the floor against the wall. Delphini started talking in some other language, then continued to change it mid-sentence until she ran out of breath. "Impressive. You're like me with the ability to read or hear any language and just know it." Harry said. "Yelling at me isn't going to send me off. I'm just here to help, kiddo. I'm not going to hurt you." Harry promised. "Why don't you come out of there so we can talk?"

Delphini inched slightly to come closer to the edge of her under bed shelter, and looked at Harry, then nervously at Kingsley. "Kingsley, if you could give us a few minutes?"

"Of course," Kingsley left the room and Harry hid the portal from sight, but those at Malfoy Manor could still through it fine.

"See? Just us now." Harry assured with a smile. "My name is Harry." He introduced. "What's your name?"

"D-Delphini…" She spoke quietly.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm sure you've been feeling pretty nervous and scared ever since you were brought here last year. I can imagine it's a little terrifying when the aurors barged into the place you were staying and took you away. No one's told you anything all this time." He started. "Forgive us, we didn't know there were other children lying about when the war ended and we know the woman you were with was of no family to you. We've been trying to determine who exactly you are to find if you have any family."

There was a little shuffling under the bed. "Did you find my parents?" Came the girl's small voice. "Miss. Rowle said they left me with her and never came back…" Delphini added.

"I'm sorry, little one. Your parents are no longer with us, they died in the war when you were still a baby." Harry informed gently.

"I never knew my parents, Miss. Rowle told me that they were killed because they wanted too much power." She paused. "Do you know what happened to them? Were they bad people?"

"Well…People want power for different reasons, and sometimes, too much power can make a person not think clearly. Then they start making bad choices that affect or hurt others." Harry explained as Delphini came out from under the bed now and sat with her back against the cot and legs pulled to her chest.

Harry could see her face, that she had dark brown eyes and her hair. For being the child of two dark-haired people, Delphini had silver hair with blue tips. Harry supposed it was possible that her Black blood enabled her to have Metamorphmagus abilities. Nymphadora did. Maybe it was a female trail. Narcissa also had multi-colored hair, black and white. Maybe it jumped around the generations? It didn't matter, it wasn't important.

"Unfortunately, your parents wanted power to hurt and control others. I'm sure they didn't mean to get carried away, but it caused a big fight and those who tried to stop them had to do whatever it took to protect others. Sometimes, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Harry stated. "I wouldn't say your parents were bad, but didn't have easy childhoods and were very misguided that carried into being adults who wanted power because they believed it would get them everything they wanted, to rise above and make those who hurt them afraid. To be in control."

Delphini looked over to him sadly. "Power doesn't sound like it's all that great if that's what it does to people."

"It's fine to have power as long as you don't abuse it. It's fine to be strong as long as you're not using it to hurt others. There's a big difference in power to protect and power to dominate. Too much power in the hands of those who use it to rule over eventually leads to losing control of it, and it becomes something that corrupts, changes, and controls you instead." Harry revealed.

"They had to be killed because they were hurting people, didn't they?" Delphini asked.

"I know your mother died because she was trying to hurt another mother's daughter who had already lost one of her sons in the battle. And your father ended up killed by his own spell that rebounded." Harry admitted.

"You were there when they died?" Delphini looked at him.

"Not when your mother died, but I had been the one your father was fighting. His spell rebounded because I was protected by the same power he tried to obtain." Harry confessed and she looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Well…I can't be upset about not having them then. They abandoned me and hurt others for power…That wasn't very nice of them." Delphini mentioned. "You don't have to say sorry, Harry…I'm sorry my dad tried to kill you."

"You don't have to apologize either, Delphini. You are not responsible for your father's choices." Harry put a hand on her shower.

"I won't ever be like them. I don't want power…I just want a home with a family that loves me." Delphini said.

"It's your lucky day then," Harry smiled as she looked at him again. "We found family on your mother's side. I believe findings revealed that your father had been the last of his line." He informed. "But I'm here to bring you to your family."

"W-Who am I going to be living with?" Delphini inquired.

"An aunt." Harry revealed.

"I-Is she my only family?" Delphini wondered.

"No. You've got another aunt, and a handful of cousins." Harry smiled. "I think you'll like it there. Both of your aunts are very nice women. Wonderful families too. I know them personally." He assured. "They're anxiously awaiting to meet you, so let's not keep them waiting." He stood up slowly to his feet.

"They are?" Delphini asked as Harry offered her his hand and she hesitantly put her hand in his, then he helped her the rest of the way up.

"Yes. The whole rest of the family is there, and some of their friends. Everyone's waiting for me to come back with you. You're going to be living in a big house, and have your own room." Harry told her.

"Okay…" Delphini agreed softly.

"Atta girl," Harry encouraged. "Let's get your things packed up."

"I'll get her things, you take her through." Kingsley said.

"Yes, sir." Harry nodded.

"Sir?" Delphini wondered.

"He's my boss." Harry said. "Come on."

"We're not doing that keyport or appa-thingy, are we? I don't like it. My stomach really doesn't like it…" Delphini mumbled.

"Portkey and Apparition? No. I don't like it either, we're just going to walk." Harry assured as he waved his hand to make the portal visible again. Harry stepped through, then waited for Delphini who still stood on the other side and was peeking around the room. This time, she could see everyone around the room. "Come on," Harry encouraged. "There's no need to be afraid, everyone in this room is family or friend of."

"What if they don't like me?" Delphini bowed her head in a bit. "A-And Miss. Rowle sent me to a private school, the kids were mean. Called me a freak…"

Harry dropped down to one knee, resting his arms on that knee, and used his finger to raise her chin up so she'd look at him. "Delphini, those kids were muggles, they don't know about our world and they don't understand it. That's why we magic-folk have our own world. People fear what they don't understand." Harry informed.

"The family you are going to be staying with are all magical, so you don't have to worry about muggles here. And next year, you'll be turning eleven…You'll get to go to Hogwarts, learn how to use your magic. I know the first nine years of your life haven't been easy with that woman who had you, but you're not there anymore and things are only going to be looking up for you." Harry said as he offered her his hand. "It's okay to be scared, but you can't let it control you. I won't let anything happen to you, and I'll be right here the whole time."

Delphini put her hand in Harry's as he lightly guided her through until she was standing next to his kneeling form. "What if I scare them like I did with the kids at the orphanage? They were magic kids, and they stayed away from me too because of my ability to speak any language…There's one I didn't use with you, it's the one that makes people back away and look at me like I'm a monster…"

"What language is that?" Harry asked.

"I don't know what it's called, but it made the caretakers uneasy too…" Delphini said.

"Speak it to me," Harry invited.

Delphini took a breath. "Thisss iss the language I ssspeak."

Harry chuckled a little. "You're a Parselmouth, Delphini. That language is Parseltongue. Your father was one too. It's not a very common ability."

"How come you understand it?" Delphini asked.

"Becaussse I'm a Parsssemouth too." Harry replied as Delphini looked surprised. "But just look around the room, no one looks scared or worried. I mean, if you speak it, no one but me will understand…But the others don't mind." He said.

"But I share it cause of my father. It makes me like him. I'm the child of two bad people…What if I become bad too?" Delphini had tears forming in her eyes. "No one will like me then…"

"Just because your parents were bad does not mean you will be too. It's not genetic, their evil state of mind doesn't pass onto a child." Harry assured. "My parents were the epitome of good, but things happened as I grew up that made me want to go dark. Made me angry and believed I was turning bad. But I didn't let it control me. I chose to keep holding on because it would get better. And it has."

"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Delphini," Harry adjusted to be in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. "I'm going to tell you something that I want you to remember. I hope it will help you like it helped me, okay?" Delphini nodded slowly, showing she was listening. "The world is not split into good and bad people. We all have light and darkness inside of us. It's the part we choose to act on, that's who we really are."

Harry heard Hermione gasp in shock, covering her mouth softly. "Merlin, babe…Why are you about to cry?" Ron inquired of his wife.

"She knows who I heard it from, and why." Harry stated. "Promise me you won't forget?" He looked at Delphini.

"I'll never forget." Delphini said before she hugged him tightly, both her arms around his back as much as she could get them. "Thank you."

Harry only took a moment of hesitation before he hugged her back in the same fashion that Sirius once hugged him. One arm around her back, the other hand was on the back of her head. "You have nothing to worry about here…We-," He paused, only a second or two before he turned his head slightly to kiss the side of her head. "We-We're a proper family." Harry assured.