Chapter 16
After flying for a little while, Harry and Schrodinger returned and they all prepared to leave. Hermione was sitting in the passenger seat while Integra drove one of Harry's cars back to Hellsing Manor, Sirius hitched a ride out of boredom and a wish to catch up with Hermione. Harry apparated Schrodinger and Seras outside of a cozy little cottage in rural Ireland. The walked up to the door, knocked and were greeted by Daphne Greengrass.
"Thank you for coming, Potter." Daphne said gratefully.
"Potter-Victoria." Harry corrected with a grin.
"I don't understand." Daphne said. Harry pulled out his collar and showed her his mark.
"Property of one Seras Victoria. Speaking of which, this is my fiancee, Seras Victoria. This here is my little brother in all but name and blood, Schrodinger." Harry said, introducing his companions.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Greengrass" Schrodinger said with a bow.
"Nice to meet you!" Seras said.
"The pleasure is mine. I wasn't aware you would be bringing others." Daphne said.
"I hope it's ok, when I did this for Astoria It left me unable to stand on my own. Seras is here to bring me home if need be. Schrodinger is just here because he's awesome." Harry said, scratching behind the young vampire's ear.
"Come in, Pardon the mess we just moved in." Daphne said.
"We?" Harry asked. Daphne nodded.
"Tracy and I are together." Daphne said with a proud grin.
"I kind of figured there was something going on between you two. Congratulations!" Harry said.
"Thanks. I'm sure it probably seems strange." Daphne said. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I'm essentially co-parenting Schrodinger here, a vampire cat boy, with two lesbians who are also vampires and one of my best friends is pregnant with my child, and it isn't my fiance who is totally on board with all of it. Love is awesome and should be embraced, there's nothing strange about it." Harry said. Daphne stared at him.
"He does that a lot. Half of what he says is either mind-numbingly stupid or completely insane, the other half is utterly beautiful." Seras said looking at Harry affectionately.
"Why would that be considered strange?" Schrodinger asked.
"Because some people have small minds and even smaller dicks." Harry said.
"See?" Seras said, grinning. Harry pulled a canvas bag out of his coat that contained a ceramic bowl, a parchment with the pre-drawn runes and various alchemical ingredients.
"Do I need to be lying down or something?" Daphne asked.
"Couldn't hurt. Astoria can't remember what it felt like. She was... nevermind." Harry said, placing the parchment in the bowl and arranging the ingredients.
"Tell me." Daphne said with a look of concern. Harry sighed.
"Astoria was probably hours from death when I got there. She was bleeding badly internally, and has no memory of the cleansing ritual." Harry said. Daphne paled, her hand covering her mouth in shock.
"Draco and Astoria don't know just how close it was and they don't really need to. I'm just really, really glad I got there when I did." Harry said, concentrating on the task at hand.
"Oh Tori..." Daphne said. Harry placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Greengrass, she's ok. She's safe and healthy and doomed to probably at least a century of marriage to Malfoy." Harry said.
"Potter-" Daphne went to say but was interrupted.
"Harry, please. Nobody remembers to call me Potter-Victoria so you may as well use my first name." Harry said with a grin.
"I can't even... I just... Oh thank you." Daphne said, rushing forward to hug him. Harry smiled and returned the hug.
"Come on, let's eradicate this stupid malediction so we can make Sirius' dumb ancestor roll over in his stupid lavishly-decorated corpse box." Harry said. With a wave of his hand the contents of the bowl ignited. He pulled out Captain Stabby and slashed his palm, dousing the flames with his blood, creating the sickly sweet cloud again. He pushed his hand forward and spoke the incantation, creating a bright flash of light that enveloped him before shooting forward into Daphne. Harry felt the familiar ache of magical exhaustion taking hold, and just as he thought he wasn't going make it, they heard the telltale shattering glass and Harry collapsed onto the floor unconscious. He awoke moments later to the sound of Schrodinger crying.
"I'm ok. I'm sorry Schrodinger, I don't know why that happened. Is Daphne ok?" Harry asked. His voice sounded weak.
"I'm fine, Harry. Merlin what did you do to yourself?" Daphne asked. Harry looked up at Seras.
"P-potion... Jacket... please?" Harry said. Seras reached into his jacket, withdrawing a flask that looked familiar and held it up. Harry nodded weakly, and she uncorked it and held it up to his lips, helping him drink it. Harry shivered and struggled to sit up.
"Seras, Schrodinger, I'm so sorry I scared you. I truly was not expecting that. With Astoria and Scorpius I was weak after but I didn't pass out. Come here, Schrodinger" Harry said, opening his arms. Schrodinger carefully gathered him in his arms and held him.
"It's ok, I'm going to be ok. I just need to take it easy for a bit." Harry said, rubbing his back as Schrodinger sobbed into his jacket.
"Come on, help me up, the potion will work faster if I'm upright." Harry said. Schrodinger effortlessly lifted him and sat him in a chair.
"I apologize for imposing on your hospitality, Greengrass, do you mind if I sit for a bit?" Harry said.
"Y-Yes, of course..." Daphne said, Harry smiled and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.
"Ms. Greengrass, do you have any coffee or tea? The caffeine might help." Seras said. Daphne nodded and walked into the kitchen, Seras followed her.
"I have so many questions.." Daphne said while putting on a kettle. Seras laughed.
"Well I'm not letting his ass out of that chair for a while, so we've got time." She said.
"Why would he do this for Tori and I?" Daphne asked.
"The answer is a lot more simple than you'd think. He did it because it was within his power to do so." Seras said.
"We put him through hell though." Daphne said.
"When you were children. Honestly, Harry acts like a child sometimes, but he's really more grown up than most people I know." Seras said. Daphne sighed.
"That will take time for me to process. In the meantime, you and Potter?" Daphne asked. Seras grinned and nodded.
"We met a few months before the fight against Millennium. He's... He' amazing." Seras said.
"I never could get a read on him in school." Daphne admitted.
"A lot of people couldn't apparently. Hermione thinks that everyone had the image of what they expected him to be, and that wasn't of a quiet, polite, courageous boy with entirely too little regard for his own personal safety." Seras said.
"We always assumed he hated us because we were in Slytherin." Daphne said. Seras nodded.
"He told me he never really minded the Slytherins, that was mostly Ron. He just never had a chance to sit down and talk to many of you. He said he was talking to Minerva about abolishing the house system." Seras said.
"I can't believe he owns Hogwarts." Daphne said with a grin. Seras smiled.
"You should have seen Hermione when she found out." Seras said.
"Oh this I have to hear." Daphne said.
"He forgot to tell her after he did it, so we're sitting there eating at her house and her owl arrives with the prophet. She showed it to him and he just smiled and said 'I'm an educator now.' Then he told me 'I got us a castle, babe. Squid in the lake and everything'" Seras said. Daphne laughed out loud.
"Is it true he killed that demon thing with a cupcake?" Daphne asked.
"It was a mini-muffin. While everyone including Alexander Anderson and Alucard were throwing everything they had at it and accomplish nothing, he floats a muffin down it's gob and expands it, choking it to death." Seras said.
"But that's so stupid!" Daphne said. Seras nodded.
"Yet it saved us all." Seras said.
"What's with Schrodinger?" Daphne asked.
"He used to be with Millennium. That awful doctor engineered him to be used to defeat Alucard. He was supposed to be a devastating weapon and Harry did what he does with everyone." Seras said.
"What's that?" Daphne asked.
"He loved him. Unconditionally. Unreservedly. That man's capacity for love is astounding. Three people whom he regularly tracks down just to hug them and tell them he loves them, met him as potential enemies. He even made Alucard back down when he was menacing poor Schrodinger." Seras said.
"I keep hearing about this Alucard, is he another vampire?" Daphne asked.
"Think about the name for a minute." Seras said, smiling when Daphne's eyes widened.
"You mean to tell me that Harry stared down Dracula and Dracula flinched?" Daphne asked. Seras nodded.
"Harry is the only living being Alucard considers a threat. The funny thing is they're great friends." Seras said. Their conversation was interrupted when Tracy walked into the room.
"So does anyone want to tell me why Harry Potter is sitting in our chair with a sleeping cat boy sitting in his lap?" Tracy asked. Seras shivered and smiled.
"Harry wants me to correct you, it's Potter-Victoria." Seras said.
"How?" Tracy asked.
"He and I have some sort of connection. He can hear and feel what I do, and when he lets his occlumency down I can hear and feel what he does. Oh! He thinks he figured out why he passed out."Seras said.
"Well the tea is ready, let's go out there." Daphne said, carrying in a tray. The smell of tea more than anything woke Schrodinger who blushed when he realized he'd fallen asleep and stood up, bowing to Tracy.
"Hello Ms. Davis. I'm Schrodinger, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said.
"Hello Schrodinger, please call me Tracy." Tracy said with a smile. Schrodinger grinned and then sat on the floor next to Harry.
"So I think I figured it out. Astoria was extremely weak when I did the cleansing ritual for her, and Scorpius is still a toddler. You on the other hand were at full strength. I think the malediction was using your magic to defend itself. Do you have any cousins?" Harry asked.
"My cousin Amelie in France." Daphne said. Harry nodded.
"When I do it for her I'll have her exhaust herself with a few patronus charms or something." Harry said.
"After that you'd do it again?" Daphne said, incredulously.
"Well, yeah." Harry said, yawning and stretching.
"Ugh, Sirius' great grandfather can suck it. Greengrass, can we use your floo? I really need some sleep." Harry asked.
"Of course, and call me Daphne. You saved my sister's life and gave me a chance at having healthy children." Daphne said.
"It was my pleasure." Harry said, draping an arm over Schrodinger who was helping him walk.
"Jesus, Harry, do you want me to call a taxi or something?" Tracy said.
"I should be alright. Cleansing rituals are no joke. If I'd tried that when we were in school I have no doubt it would have killed me." Harry said, hobbling over to the fireplace.
"Oh by the way I'm planning on taking over the government in a few days, ok bye!" Harry said stepping into the floo with Seras and Schrodinger and yelling the name of the public floo near Hellsing.
"Was he joking?" Tracy asked.
"I hope not." Said Daphne
They arrived on the other end, and Harry spilled out of the floo collapsing in a heap.
"Harry!" Schrodinger said, running over to him.
"Sorry. I feel so useless." Harry said, allowing Schrodinger to help him up.
"Stay here, with Harry please, Schrodinger. I'll go get a car." Seras said, running off almost too quickly for Harry to see.
"How you holding up kiddo?" Harry asked. Schrodinger sighed.
"I know it was important, and that you were helping Daphne, but I really do not like seeing you like this." Schrodinger said. Harry nodded.
"I really am sorry about that. I wish I could just hide us all away on an island somewhere and be happy forever, but the world can be a really scary, harsh place. That's one of many reasons for us to cherish the ones we love, when we're weak or hurt, or too sad to do it on our own, our loved ones are there to pick us up and stand beside us through the worst of it." Harry said.