Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes

that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.

When You Have Nothing Left to Lose

Chapter 13:

"So Pot-"

Harry coughed to interrupt her.

"Fine. Harry." Daphne rolled her eyes. "You never did tell me why exactly they're targeting you and the others. You also lacked to mention exactly who is hunting you. Death Eaters again?"

Harry couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that. "I take it you're not sympathetic to their cause?"

Daphne crossed her arms. The two of them were out past curfew in their abandoned classroom once more. It had already been a few weeks, and she felt she had given him enough time to adjust to their partnership. She was leaning against a desk as Harry was pulling out the research he had collected so far. "Shouldn't you already know this, being from the future?"

Again, Harry chuckled. "Who says I know you that well in the future?"

She rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't have trusted me so readily or been so kind if I was only a stranger. The only other possibility would be that you know me to be a capable witch, which I find unlikely with the questions you asked me."

The time traveler couldn't help but look away. "You never did answer my original question."

Daphne sighed and rolled her eyes again. "I value our traditions. The muggles keep encroaching on the wizarding world, and the last time they knew of us, they were not kind. Protections should be in place, but that does not mean I believe in the Dark Lord's methods of culling their population.

"Now, who is after you? Don't think I forgot my own question."

"... A… corrupt and vile Ministry of Magic exists in the future. I was part of a resistance against it. 15 years in the future…" He drifted off in remembrance. "15 years and you think at some point they'd have learned from their mistakes." Harry shook his head. "Who knows how many lives could have been saved."

"So I take it your efforts this year to 'usurp the Ministry' end up unsuccessful?" She raised a brow.

"Do you really think that was my goal? The boy I was back then wasn't strong willed enough. He started truly taking the war on his shoulders as he felt like it all relied on him. He was-" Harry shook his head. "I am part of the reason Voldermort returned back in 1994. I fell for one of his traps. I… realize I was only a kid and shouldn't have been expected to do more even though I did extraordinary things for my age."

Daphne looked at him, curiously, a brow raised.

"I mastered a fully corporeal patronus at 13. I slew a thousand year old basilisk at 12. I faced off against Voldemort at 11 and lived to tell the tale. When I say 'I did extraordinary things for my age,' I'm not being egotistical. So I may have given the Ministry to fear me just for how strong I was becoming, but my eyes were only on stopping the Dark Lord to put an end to what I allowed… until they gave me a reason to go against them later on."

"And what was that reason?" Daphne asked, genuinely intent on his words.

Harry looked down for a minute in thought. "Delores Umbridge forces my hand later on in the year. My friends and I form essentially a DADA study group to get ready for what we know is coming. His re-emergence into the public eye. She resorts to such highly strict rules with physical punishment that it comes to a point."

"That makes sense. It does seem as if her presence is meant to bring things to a boiling point. Many would accuse her of being ignorant of the results of her actions. No, she knows exactly what she is doing. She's trying to force a reaction." Harry couldn't help but be impressed with Daphne's analysis but quickly refocused at her next words.

"What about this latest time? 15 years from now, if I heard you correctly?"

Too far down the rabbit hole at this point, Harry answered, "After the war, we were busy with cleaning everything up. Rebuilding what was broken with so many less than what we started with. A lot of us, I think, just tried to live whatever normalcy we could and tried not to think about it…" He sighed. "With our complacency, old patterns re-emerged: corruption, uselessness. The same Ministry of Magic as before, just with different names in different roles."

"What woke you from it then? Did things come to a point again?" The Ice Queen of Slytherin had melted. Standing in front of Harry was the caring Daphne he knew… or would know.

"Ironically enough? Getting captured by an enemy at the time and getting converted to the other side. I ended up helping change the tide of their war on the Ministry. We had almost won, when they pulled this shite and dragged me in with them."

Harry was gazing off into space in thought, remembering his life as the Death Eater leader, a life he longed to return to.

"What did you call yourself?" She asked, realizing he wouldn't have used his own name.

A small smile crossed his lips, lost in the memory. "They called me the Shadow Wolf. I've heard the ministry was more scared of my silver mask than any other."

Daphne furrowed her brow and frowned. "Silver mask? Trying to mock the Dark Lord?"

Harry's face dropped in an instant, realizing he had said too much. Daphne would have caught it even if she wasn't paying attention.

"I want to hear everything. We agreed that you would tell me." She spoke firmly.

"Not everything is necessary information."

"That is not your decision to make. I have to decide for myself." Daphne countered.

Harry sighed before looking around, realizing something, and putting his research away.

"What are you doing?" Daphne asked, stunned.

"I'm sick of this room. If we are going to talk, it might as well be comfortable, so grab you things and come over here."

Daphne pulled her small satchel back over her head and walked up to him, eyeing him oddly.

Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and motioned towards her. "Closer. It's going to be a tight fit."

"I swear to Morgana, Potter, if this is your attempt at something improper, you will see for yourself the reason I am called the Slytherin Ice Queen." Daphne pointed her finger against his chest to get her point across.

He, for his part, just motioned his hands in surrender. "No tricks. Just an invisibility cloak to make sure we don't get caught."

To quell any further concerns, Harry turned around and had Daphne press against his back as he threw the cloak over them. It also let him take the lead as he knew their destination.

Sneaking through the abandoned castle, they easily avoided the prefect and teacher patrols as well as the ghosts of the school. Finally, they made it up the seventh floor, near a painting with trolls in tutus. Leaving Daphne in the middle of the hall and putting away his family heirloom, Harry quickly paced back and forth three times along the wall across from the painting before turning around with a lopsided grin, already guessing her reaction.

Daphne's normally stoic face did not disappoint him as she was visibly shocked to see a door emerge out of the wall.

"May I introduce you to the Room of Requirement." His grin had still not dropped as he held the door open for her.

Quickly taking her cue, she entered through the doorway into what she could instantly recognize as the Slytherin common room, except much warmer and not as dark, just cozy. The bits of red decoration replacing some of the green decor were an amusing choice.

Closing the door behind him, the door vanished, and Harry stood beside Daphne, looking at the room's capabilities. "What do you think? I figured you would prefer something more similar to your common room, and I do remember your choices were very comfortable."

"And how do you know what the Slytherin common room is like?" Daphne turned her gaze to him.

"Weasley and I snuck in under polyjuice during the second year Christmas holiday. We were trying to get proof from Malfoy that he was responsible for the attacks… He was not." Harry started moving and sat on the couch near the fire.

Daphne sat across from him in an armchair. The light of the red flames, casting flickering shadows across the room. "Malfoy never was one to hold his tongue, let alone cunning enough to enact something like that."

Harry smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, remembering the topic of their conversation before they left the classroom. Daphne for her part waited for a couple minutes trying to let him gather himself until he was ready. Finally, he spoke.

"You asked why my mask was silver."

He saw her nod from the corner of his eye, though kept his focus on the flames dancing in front of him.

"I was an auror before I was captured. We thought we were ending the Death Eaters once and for all." Harry scoffed. "We couldn't have been more wrong.

"What we thought was our final raid was an ambush. No survivors on the side of the Ministry, except one: me, and I earned that right during the battle. There were so many of them, and, after a certain point, it was just me against them. I can't tell you how many I killed, but, in the end, it wasn't enough. Instead of killing me, though, they captured me, and I was eventually… convinced… on the real motives of this new Death Eater movement."

The Ice Queen facade was broken. "What do you mean by new motives? Are you telling me that the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord's troops, changed from killers of all muggles to… what? What could they possibly be besides that, and who could bloody convince you of that?"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at her last question, turning towards her.

"Don't laugh at me, Potter. I told you I would only help you if your intentions were for good; it is sounding like you broke the terms of our agreement." Daphne glared, her blue eyes a cold fury.

He merely lifted his empty hand and let a ball of light emerge. "I have not broken the vow, Daphne." Harry lowered his arm and eliminated the piece of magic before continuing.

"By that point, the Death Eaters were not what they once were. They were a resistance against the 'light' of the Ministry and those who were trying to erase the culture of the wizarding world. They kept the same outfit and used 'dark' magic still, but they no longer needlessly killed and tortured, especially on the innocent. The Ministry claimed the Death Eaters still did, but it was just to frame them and lessen their support."

Daphne looked at him in shock before her voice softly filled the silence. "Who told you all this? Who convinced Harry Potter to become a Death Eater?"

The man in question looked down. "You did."

The room quickly descended back into silence.

"Excuse me?" Daphne finally spoke.

Harry sighed. "You were the one to finally take me down. You captured me. You convinced me to join the Death Eaters as your right hand or, more accurately, your fist."

"You mean…?"

The Shadow Wolf nodded. "Your ideologies lead you to commanding the Death Eater movement in a way never seen before, towards the true betterment of society without cruelty. Eventually, you actually handed the reins over to me, though by that time we both were really of the same mind in most matters…"

"You make it sound like we were…" Daphne gulped involuntarily. "Close."

Hardened emerald eyes met blazing sapphire. "We are… engaged. Once we win…"

"Sweet, Morgana…" Daphne's words were failing her. "That's why…"

"Why I knew I could trust you and why I admittedly couldn't help but see you again after the first time we happened across each other." Harry rubbed the back of his neck.

"I… need to go." Daphne quickly got up.

The time traveler rose as well. "I completely understand, but before you leave I would like to just say a couple more things." At her nod, he continued. "I do not expect the relationship we have in my timeline to be continued in any way here. I am only telling you as I promised the truth and it is better to not hide anything any longer at this point. Secondly, I do hope this does not inhibit our arrangement." He then bowed before sitting back down. "Goodnight, Daphne."

Daphne nodded as she left and, before the door closed behind her, added, "Goodnight… Harry."

The man turned boy sighed and leaned back into the couch before looking at the room around him. With a thought, it started to morph and change.

The couch near the fire remained, but instead of in a warm seating area, it was beside a massive training arena, exactly like the one at the old Scottish Mountain Hideaway. He started undressing, throwing first his robes into the air, the material catching on a coat rack that materialized right underneath it. His already loose tie came fully undone and joined his robes. Finally, he rolled up his sleeves, untucked his shirt, and undid a couple buttons.

With a flick of each of his wrists, his wands emerged from their illusioned holsters.

The Shadow Wolf was ready to let loose some of his feelings.

Ten minutes later, Daphne cracked back open the door and was shocked at the sight she beheld.

Harry was opposing what seemed close to two dozen armed training dummies firing random spells and a few others already destroyed. Currently the man was flying through the air at a high speed.

'No, not flying. Falling.' She thought.

He was arcing downwards at a high speed, spinning and dodging the spells around him with the smallest of adjustments. Right as he was about to impact a dummy head first, he used his left wand to silently cast a spell towards the dummy, ripping it apart. The recoil of the blast stalled all of his momentum downwards for a moment that he used to cast a circle around him. As soon as it was complete, a ring of magic quickly expanded in an instant, rocketing outwards and destroying the 10 dummies around him. The last 14 were on the other side of a chasm that stretched down into what looked to be an unpleasant field of magic.

Tucking into a ball, Harry fell the rest of the way to the ground but quickly bounced back up. He raised a curved green magic shield around him and held it while just staring at his opponents in thought. Spells ricocheted off it as if they were pebbles. Their impacts at the surrounding area told a different story, though, as small craters left their mark.

Slowly he backed up. His wands not even pointed at the shield, his own magic solidified in the air despite the continual impacts.

Daphne, now, was fully inside the room and was staring in awe.

After setting his mark, Harry finally stopped and a vicious grin emerged on his face. His dark emerald green, almost black magic began rolling off of his body. Daphne could swear she was hearing the growl of a wolf somewhere, but the sound seemed everywhere and nowhere at once.

Then, the Shadow Wolf took off, the magic swirling around him like a cloak. As he got near his shield he used a quick but intricate movement of his wrists, sending a flock of ravens from one and a pack of wolves from the other. Then, the Wolf pointed both wands down at an angle near his feet, propelling him up a bit until he was able to land atop his still standing shield for only a second. A second long enough to send off a rush of three spells from each wand before aiming both wands down again and casting off once more. This time, however, he flew up into the air.

The large amount of ravens around him helped block the spellfire coming towards him while his wolves were already tearing apart the first couple dummies. Harry's last spells had already disabled 5 of the bunch. Once he reached the apex of his arc in the air, he pointed one wand behind him before letting out a wind from it that quickly sent him forward five meters. Satisfied at his spot, he tilted it up again and sent another spell.

In an instant, the Wolf was rocketing towards the ground in the middle of the surviving dummies. Weaving his arms around him, he began spinning and rotating, magic forming an object around him.

Able to see it clearly from the side, Daphne watched Harry in the middle of the head of an enormous wolf made entirely of hsi green magic. Spells from the dummies ricocheted off him, hammering the wards around the arena.

Finally, he landed and the wolf magic impacted the ground, exploding around him, destroying everything around him on that side of the chasm. The dummies, wolves, and even the ravens could not handle the blast. When the flash of light ended, the Shadow Wolf stood, panting, sweat beading down his face but his magic now just an aura around him.. He looked around, surveying the results. Slowly turning around, he finally spotted Daphne, and his eyes went wide.

With a thought on his part, the entire arena cleared, the wards came down, and the distance between the two shrank to within a few meters. Then his aura reduced to a light mist but still was leaking out. He let his wands slide back into their holsters before walking up to her.

"Hey. I… didn't think you would be back, let alone tonight." He said as he stopped in front of her.

The entire time Daphne just stared at Harry in shock at the magic she just witnessed. His nonchalance at it just amazed her further. Her normal facade was completely shattered.

"Daphne, are you okay?"

"Huh?" What? Um… How did you…?" Daphne couldn't believe how she was speaking.

"Oh… just… working off some steam…" He replied, lamely, his arm returning to the back of his neck.

"Must be dealing with a lot then to be doing that." She somewhat recovered from her awe.

Harry couldn't help but nod. "Yeah. Hasn't exactly been a happy life for the most part if I'm being honest. A lot of bad times, but… when I got sent here, I left behind what feels like the promise of a better future. It's not easy."

"I can only imagine, but… I have to ask. With all of the bad you're talking about, why don't you try to make a better future starting now?"

"... I keep thinking about that, and that's the worst part: the temptation to fix everything. I just don't know if it would end up doing any more harm than good." Harry sighed, and the room shifted again, removing the arena and materializing a couch underneath him as he sat down.

"What right do I have to do that even if it would?" His head sunk low.

Daphne cautiously walked up and sat on his right, observing him. "I mean it's not exactly like you have much of a choice. Do something unprecedented and get back to your timeline, not just the future. This makes a time turner look like a toy. It might be possible, but we both know this is a long shot."

Harry raised his head towards her, and she continued. "You must have realized this by now. I'm doing what I can to help, but this is super advanced and niche. Magic is capable of many things, but there's still a lot left to learn. Why don't you stay?"

"I don't know if I can… Corner's death… He played a major role in the war when I left. I'm not sure if time would be stable if I didn't go back."

"First of all, I can understand if you will miss having him by your side, but do you really think he would want you to waste your life trying to do something you can't?" Daphne put a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him and was shocked when he seemed to fall further at her words.

Harry gulped. "I don't think he would want his killer to live, Daphne. We were enemies in the last war."

"You said he was one of the targets of this group that's after you." She stared at him coldly.

"If you remember, when you asked me, I just said you're 'very clever.' I meant about connecting the dots to my time travel. He was one of the group that came back before me… Well… he kind of dragged me through with him… Then once I learned all I could, I realized he was too dangerous to be kept alive." Harry was looking down, not daring to look at her.

"I've already changed the future, and I don't know if time can handle it."

"Who was he?" Daphne asked softly.

"The Minister of Magic and the head of all the corruption."

Daphne leaned back into the couch and looked ahead. "Well. No matter what his role was or how important the things he did were, you can't change what you did. Time is tricky, but it seems to be able to handle itself. It appears to easily make new branches in time as a result of magic, but our control over it is abysmal. Staying here won't break time. Trying to change it more and more won't either, but you'll most likely end up with consequences you didn't expect."

"Wow. I'm… surprised at how easily you're accepting all of this." Harry turned back towards the blonde.

"The Greengrasses may have remained neutral in the last couple centuries, trying to not get involved in war and death, but that is only because we know how much they cost. My family knew that even if the Dark Lord was dead, eventually, something else would come around. War always rears its ugly head. I understand what enemies have to do to one another." Daphne turned to look back at him.

"So, Harry. What are you going to do now?"

"I think I'm going to make my own way. It does drive me crazy knowing I can fight." Harry's eyes seemed to glow with power but unlike before it held no rage in it. It was strong but not unkind.

"You can say that again. That display of magic was… intense. I've never seen anything like all of that. The way you moved around the field. Let alone your attacks. I need to learn all of it."

"And what do I get in return now that our agreement has changed?" His lopsided smirk came back.

"I'm sure my parents could be convinced to support a separate faction apart from the Ministry, Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord. We can do more together than apart." Daphne presented her hand.

"As partners?" Harry raised a brow.

She nodded. "Yes."

"In what?"

"Everything."

Harry's eyes went wide in shock and couldn;t help but stare at the girl opposite him. It took him a few moments to collect himself, but he eagerly grabbed her hand and gave the top a kiss.

"I'd be honored."

AN: So I really wanted to get back to what this story started as with its feats of magic, but the story seems to be changing as I go. I'll try to keep up the fights, though, but just need to have it make sense. Reviews are appreciated.

As Always,

Occidere Prima Vel Occidi