AN:
Nightwing2013 - Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'm glad you enjoyed the fluffy ending.
scrappy8 - Harry definitely has a rough time at things sometimes, but he does have some things going for him.
GreengrassRebel - Hopefully you will enjoy more fluff when I fit it in. Definitely a lot of story to get through, but you are correct that the quiet character moments are important and are fairly key to this story. As I've said, I have plans for Daphne, and they start coming into play in this book. Hopefully you'll enjoy them. Angelina Potter does rock, that is for sure.
stars90 - It's definitely a big part of this story giving Harry the support he should have had more of.
Chapter 47Harry awoke the next morning, with hair in his face, and an arm over his chest, amused to see that Dora was on the right of him, lying on her back, her hair long and mousy brown, and it was her arm that was over his chest, her body desperately trying to hog the bed. On his left was Alicia, and it was her long hair that was sprayed over his head, as she faced away from him, snoring lightly. At Harry's feet was Astra, and the little menace had stretched out so that her body covered everybody's feet, and lastly was Angelina, facing Alicia, snoring loudly, as he'd learned she tended to do.
Harry wanted to laugh at his predicament. He was trapped by his adoptive sisters and his familiar, and there was nothing he could do about it, lest he face their wrath for waking them up. He wished he could go back to the sad little boy he had been to tell him that life would get better and one day he'd have a host of 'sisters' that ran his life. Everything wouldn't be perfect, but he would at least have an incredible family, and that's all he'd ever wanted.
He managed to at least sit up, and Astra's tail started wagging, letting him know she was up, but enjoying lying sprawled across the bed.
"Bloody dog," Dora muttered groggily, and Harry let out a quiet laugh. "Oh, so that's why she's up," Dora groaned out. "You bloody well had to wake up."
"It's not my fault you like to sleep in," Harry retorted.
"Bloody hell, will you both shut up," Angelina muttered. "Some of us are trying to sleep here."
Harry smirked as Dora grinned evilly, and grabbed her wand off of the bedside table. She pointed at Angelina and flicked her wand, and Angelina screamed as she was lifted up by her leg.
"Dora!" Angelina exclaimed, and Dora and Harry laughed, Alicia joining soon after as she awoke to the noise and saw Angelina dangling in the air.
"Sorry, dear sister," Dora said impishly, and flicked her wrist and Angelina fell onto the bed in a heap. "Terrible accident, that."
"Oh, I'm sure it was," Angelina said sarcastically, glaring at Dora. "I will be getting you back for this. Be on your guard, sister."
That alone was proof she fit in with their family just fine.
"I look forward to it," Dora said with a grin. "Now, let's go get some breakfast. Harry's cooking of course."
Alicia and Angelina both laughed as Harry rolled his eyes, but nodded his agreement.
"Fine, but you all have to set the table and do dishes."
**HP**
Harry expected to end up at HQ the next day, but to his and Angelina's surprise, Dora, Sirius, and Remus never brought it up, so they continued with their normal schedules, figuring it would happen if it was going to happen.
Harry's plans for the summer had already been drastically changed with Voldemort's return, then his loss of his partial exemption to underage sorcery, and now with his suspension.
His suspension combined with the lack of word on whether he would go to HQ or not filled him with restless energy, which further fueled his anger and worry about the injustice of everything he'd endured. He was so worried about what would happen if he truly was expelled, if he was ruled against. It didn't help that he was still sleeping poorly, his dreams a mixture of the ones from Hades and Athena, his nightmares about the night Voldemort returned, and newer dreams about a strange, dark corridor.
Throughout it all, he had Angelina there during the days to listen to his rants and to help him redirect his efforts, reminding him that not all of his plans had been disrupted, and helping him to try and deal with his anger and trauma. At nights, Dora joined the cause with Sirius, Remus, Alexis sometimes, and even occasionally Mad-Eye, all doing their best to provide some comfort and help him deal with everything. Of course, he also had Astra, who was always a constant source of comfort. His family truly was a gift from the gods, and that thought alone was helping him to move past his anger towards the deities who favored him.
He was still going to his lessons with Gorlok on forging, and Gorlok had been kind enough to include lessons on working with leather so Harry could continue his path towards magehood before returning to Harry's apprenticeship towards becoming a weaponsmith in full. Harry was fairly close to completing that, and then Harry hoped to learn to forge armor from his mentor, even if he didn't need to do so for his magehood.
After his time with the sour goblin, he usually spent some time working to prepare the ritual that he would eventually use to create/summon the shadow clothing. It was tedious and time consuming, but terribly difficult once he started getting the hang of things.
Harry was helping Angelina with Quidditch maneuvers and drills, often assisted by Alicia and Katie, even if he wasn't a great keeper and only a fair chaser. She needed this next season to be good since she had high hopes of playing in the professional league, and he was determined to help her achieve her dreams. He was still hallowing the property, generally accompanied by Angelina and usually one of his three guardians, but now also occasionally Alicia and Katie who stayed over a couple of the nights and had wanted to witness his work, like Angelina had. They might have also been motivated by their desire to see the other shadow hounds that visited if possible.
His other visitor who had now come to dinner twice and even joined all three girls with him out in the night once was someone he hadn't expected to see so soon, but was delighted to be mistaken. Fleur had already gotten a paid internship with Gringotts and had moved to England. One of the first things she did was reach out and then was promptly invited to come over and enjoy some time at Shadow Hold. She was very busy with work, so he didn't see her super often, but it was still nice to see her often enough, and he got to hear about how she was actually working with Bill Weasley of all people, and Harry's little play at matchmaker during the Tournament seemed to be actually progressing. That made Harry happy for both his friends.
He'd also started a new project at the beginning of the summer, one Angelina, and when available, Katie and Alicia were also eager to join which was picking up a new element to learn. While a few years ago, his options would have been fairly restricted, it wasn't so straightforward now. He still had the lightning tome, and Mad-Eye had gifted Dora with a copy of his earth tome the previous year. However, the Black Family library had astoundingly (or not so when you considered who the Blacks were) contained tomes on fire, water, air, and ice. It certainly made Harry theorize that the Blacks exploring had been made easier by the family's knowledge and expertise in the elemental arts.
Angelina had picked air, since she knew that greater knowledge in air would improve her flying abilities, not including creating greater comfort in the air, and air elemental magic could also be used to enhance physical abilities, further improving her fitness levels. Admittedly, that was a huge draw for Harry as well, always having found comfort in the air.
Alicia had picked water, mainly due to the water element having a large focus on healing magic, and as a future healer, it was a skill she wanted to learn now rather than later. Water elementals focused more on a defensive approach to combat as well, using an opponent's strength against themselves, which certainly fit her combat style
Katie had decided that she wanted to take after Harry and start with shadow magic. She felt it would provide a huge advantage in surviving the coming war, especially since it would allow her to conceal herself and her family should they be attacked and unable to get away or fend off their attackers. She also admitted that having Harry's help to learn the element was a large reason why she picked the element, and some extra time with Astra, possibly getting the grim's help, like Harry had, was always of worth.
Though the air was tempting, Harry was thinking about his duel with Voldemort. He was thinking about an element that had some few applications for everyday use, but mostly had applications to combat, and unlike his shadow element, it wouldn't be as restricted based on time of day. If anything, it would be a fantastic complement. Harry was thinking about lightning.
Lightning was dangerous. Lightning was volatile. Lightning was also versatile and helpful. Lightning was energy that could be created into a weapon or that could be a power source. It could be used to stop a heart, but it could also be used to restart one. It was fast and generally fleeting, but powerful causing the sky to shudder with claps of thunder when it strikes. While lightning itself is fleeting, the base electrical discharge that causes it is possible at any moment with the right imbalance. The Shadow element was great for concealment, for holding or imprisoning and opponent, and for wearing an opponent down by absorbing strength or creating illusions. It had offensive capabilities, but it wasn't its strength. If he learned lightning, he'd have an offensive element to pad his repertoire, helping to balance his knowledge and abilities.
Yes, lightning would be his next element.
**HP**
Harry and Angelina were chatting while Harry finished up dinner with Angelina's assistance, both expecting Remus, Dora, and Sirius to return home any minute.
"I'm getting spoiled living here," Angelina said, sniffing appreciatively at the stew Harry was making, while she tossed the salad.
Harry laughed, always still rather humbled how much his family and friends liked his cooking.
"While I don't think you're spoiled," Dora's voice cut through the room. "I do agree that Harry's cooking abilities are divine."
Harry and Angelina both glanced towards her, and both smiled, surprised, but pleased to see Sirius and Remus with her and that they had Kinglsey and Fleur with them as well.
"Hey, Kingsley, Fleur," Harry greeted. "What brings you here tonight?"
"We're taking you to headquarters," Sirius answered.
"I volunteered to be your guard," Fleur said with a smile.
"The Order wanted to send a large guard and then have you fly to HQ, but I reminded them that you have a hellhound capable of sending you both somewhere without affecting the Trace on you," Dora said.
"A flight might have been nice," Angelina said, wistfully.
"Not with Mad-Eye leading it," Sirius and Kingsley both said, wincing.
"It would have gotten over the top and miserable very soon," Dora agreed.
"So, instead you get my beautiful visage," Fleur said mock haughtily, "and we can leave after you 'ave properly fed me."
"Vain and pushy," Angelina remarked. "Bill's a lucky bloke."
Harry chuckled and Fleur smiled at that.
"You know zhat 'e is, Angelina," Fleur replied. "Still, 'opefully 'arry will let me dine with you and enjoy one of his delicious meals."
"Of course, Fleur," Harry said with an eye roll. "You know you're always welcome."
"Merci, mon cherie," Fleur said as the group moved to assist Harry and Angelina finish up the meal and set the table.
The conversation was light and enjoyable as they ate the meal and then did the dishes. Soon though, they were packed and it was time to depart.
"Remus and I are going to head over and be providing security when you get on ground," Sirius said. "Kingsley and Dora will go with Angelina first, and then also provide security while Fleur and Harry go via Astra last."
"We'll be appearing about a block from our destination and then we'll move on foot to HQ," Kingsley said.
Harry and Angelina both nodded their understanding and it wasn't long before Sirius and Remus were gone, then Angelina, Kingsley, and Dora, and finally it was time and Astra was graciously taking Fleur and Harry to where the others had just gone.
Harry found himself on a dark street, standing on the sidewalk next to a patch of unkempt grass. All around him were grimy houses that were very not welcoming. Harry glanced at the rest of his friends and family and they quickly set off down the street, with Dora and Fleur taking the lead, guiding them while Remus and Sirius brought up the rear, carrying their trunks and Hedwig's cage. Finally, they made it to a small square and Dora and Fleur guided them over to the divider between two houses. All around Harry could see broken windows, paint peeling, and heaps of rubbish.
Kingsley fished out a piece of parchment from his pocket and gave it to Harry.
"You and Angelina need to read that and memorize it."
The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin-bags just inside the broken gate.
Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said:
The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
"Think about what you've memorized," Remus said quietly, and Harry thought about it, and Angelina gasped beside him as they both saw a battered door emerge out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't felt anything.
"Let's get inside," Sirius said, and Harry and Angelina followed him up the worn steps and threw the newly materialized door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox.
Sirius tapped his wand on the door one, and Harry heard loud, metallic clicks before the door creaked open.
"Don't go too far inside, and don't touch anything," Sirius cautioned and he and Angelina both stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. Harry could see just fine, but he knew his sister was probably struggling, relying more on her other senses, which were probably currently being filled the smell of damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell.
Harry and Angelina made way for the rest of their escort to make its way into the hall, allowing Sirius to close the front door, removing the last bit of light entering the room. With the door shut, gas lamps sputtered into life along the walls, revealing peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet, a long gloomy hallway, and a cobwebby chandelier. The decor was serpent themed and ancient.
"Blood hell, Sirius," Harry muttered, looking around. "You said this place was a dump, but it's really a dump."
Sirius, Dora, Angelina, and Remus all chuckled softly as hurried footsteps drew their attention to Mrs. Weasley entering the room from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried towards them, though Harry noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time he had seen her.
"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug, before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "You look good!"
"Our two Quidditch players have been quite active this summer, not even counting his other hobbies," Dora said. "
Mrs. Weasley looked around, noticing Angelina for the moment, and frowned briefly before smiling.
"Angelina, dear, it's nice to see you as well. I didn't expect you to be here."
"I go where my family goes," Angelina said with a shrug, and Mrs. Wealsey's head tilted in confusion, and Harry realized that they hadn't heard about Angelina living with them or the blood adoption. He hadn't informed Ron and Hermione, being rather irritated with them, and it seems Ginny hadn't spread the word, though considering she was supposed to be limiting contact with him as well, that was probably more for her benefit in not seeming too knowledgeable about his activities over the summer. That left Dora, Sirius, Remus, Alexis or Mad-Eye but obviously they had let the information stay within the family for whatever reason. Perhaps it had to do with Angelina wanting to tell people herself.
"Angelina lives with us," Harry said, gesturing to himself, Dora, Sirius, and Remus. "Her family wasn't good to her, so she officially joined mine. Blood adoption official and all," Harry said with a grin, and Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh . . . well that's wonderful, dears," she said finally before glancing at the escorts. "He's just arrived, the meeting's about to start."
Fleur, Kingsley, Sirius, Dora, and Remus all nodded, and started to file past Harry, Fleur kissing him on the cheek as she passed and giving Angelina a quick side hug. Harry made to follow, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.
"No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's over, then we'll have dinner. Angelina, dear, you can go with Harry or George and Fred are upstairs as well. And keep your voice down in the hall," she added in an urgent whisper.
"Why?"
"I don't want anything to wake up."
"What?" Angelina asked, bewildered.
"I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting. Just head past those curtains, and up those stairs, dears. Second landing, door on the right. Angelina, dear, you can either stay with Ginny and Hermione, or we can find you a room later. Perhaps with Tonks. Now, I've got to go. Ron and Hermione will explain everything."
With that, she left them and hurried back to the meeting where the rest of the Order members had disappeared to. He glanced at Angelina who shrugged, and the two of them made their way carefully past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, past a large troll's leg umbrella stand, and then up a dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken house-elf heads that had been mounted on the wall.
"This is Sirius's other house?" Angelina asked incredulously. "No wonder he ran away. The people who lived here were nutters."
Harry chuckled, and nodded in agreement as they reached the second landing. They crossed the dingy landing to the door on the right, and Harry grimaced seeing the doorknobs were also serpent's heads before he opened the door.
He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room; then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair- Hermione had thrown herself on to him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.
"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless-but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us-the dementors! When we heard-and that Ministry hearing-it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations–"
"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry. He seemed to have grown several more inches during their month apart, making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, though the long nose, bright red hair and freckles were the same. Harry pulled back and noticed an amused looking Angelina.
"Oh, Angelina!" Hermione exclaimed, seeing her finally. "What are you doing here?"
She glanced at Harry.
"She knows? We weren't supposed to tell anyone about -"
"Hermione, you aren't aware of everything either," Harry said shortly, cutting her off. "You two decided to leave me out to dry, newswise, so I didn't share everything either."
"We wanted to tell you mate," Ron said. "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us–"
"-swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said. That promise didn't stop Ginny from passing notes through Sirius, Dora, or Remus whenever they came over. It didn't stop them from telling me things, and I didn't do anything stupid, I might add, unless you think fighting off the dementors was stupid."
Harry had been happy to see Ron and Hermione at first, but the reminder of their promises only reminded him of the anger he'd felt all summer being left out to dry. The resentful feelings that Angelina had tried to help him deal with though were coming to the forefront of his mind at the moment.
He felt Angelina put her hand on his shoulder, and he sighed, trying to release some of the tension, trying to let his Occlumency help him remain in control. The strained silence spoke volumes.
"He seemed to think it was best," said Hermione rather breathlessly. "Dumbledore, I mean. We - we didn't know that Ginny was passing notes to you. She didn't say anything."
"Probably because she knew you would have ratted her out," Angelina said, her tone low.
She hadn't been pleased with anyones treatment of Harry either. Their home might have been large and wonderful, but it was hard to ignore basically being locked up, even if they were locked up in a fantastic place. The amount of times she'd seen Harry get disappointed that they couldn't go see a matinee, or that they couldn't go to the range and try and get a pickup game of Quidditch going were more than she wanted to count, and while Harry never held it against her when she left, she still felt bad every time. His few visits to the Spinnets and the Bells and the Dueling Circuit were the exceptions to his lockdown, and even that was only for short visits, nothing more.
"She also isn't obligated to tell you that she found a way to talk to Harry, especially since we know from Dora and Sirius that you two have as much information as we do, perhaps a little bit more that you might have overheard, or probably less, since Sirius and Dora tell us quite a bit," Angelina finished.
"We - we didn't know," Hermione said breathlessly. "We were told that Tonks and Sirius refused a guard, and that they felt you were safe, but he disagreed, and didn't want too much information being shared."
"I was safe," Harry said flatly. "The dementors should be working for the Ministry and shouldn't have come after me. Voldemort or Death Eaters wouldn't have been able to get on the property. The wards are too strong. As for the dementors. I took care of them, with Astra and some of her friends' help, sure, but still, I was fine. I was safe. That has nothing to do with you not telling me that you were cleaning a house, and not being willing to write anything more than what you did!"
"Harry, just because you took care of them didn't mean you were safe," Hermione protested. "That's why Dumbledore wanted members of the Order to -"
"To babysit me," Harry finished heatedly. "Since I don't deserve the courtesy of enjoying time to myself, or time with my friends. I need to have someone watching me every moment that I'm in my home. I need someone to chase off dementors for me."
"You should have had someone to chase them off for you!" Hermione said, sounding nervous.
"I didn't want them chased off," Harry said coldly, his voice raised. "They came to my home and tried to steal Licia's and Lina's souls. I didn't want a patronus to scare them away! If I did, I would have let mine do so."
"Alicia and Angelina were there?" Ron asked, confused.
"Well, if you bothered to actually write to me like a friend, rather than someone who had to be minded, you would know that Angelina lives with me, and you would know that Katie and Alicia have both come over this summer several times. They've come to see me and Angie, just as I've gone over to both of their places."
"Angelina lives with you?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Mate, mum wouldn't let us come over. They wouldn't let us go anywhere," Ron protested. "She said it wasn't safe."
"And how much did you argue?" Harry responded archly. "Our home is almost as safe as this place, protection-wise, and even safer in other ways. Nobody wants to hear that though. They want me even more imprisoned than before."
"They don't want that," Hermione protested.
"Really?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Then why am I here?"
"Harry's right on the money on this one," Angelina said. "I've seen the protections on our home. Not including the pack of hellhounds that live in the woods and will tear apart anyone who dares encroach on their territory, the amount of land makes hiding easy, and the wards are incredibly strong. They're almost Hogwarts level strength. If we hadn't been at the lake, we would have only found scraps of dementors in the morning after the hellhounds tore them apart."
"Besides, if Ginny can find ways to write to me without using an owl, I'm sure Dumbledore could have and I'm sure that you two could have," Harry said. "He just wants to keep me in the dark. Dora and Sirius won't tell me everything either, but I still know just as much, if not more than you all. I know that Hagrid's out trying to recruit the giants. I know they're trying to approach the goblins, the werewolves, and anyone else they can. I know the Order's struggling to recruit and get word out about Voldemort's return because of Fudge. I know they're trying to keep tabs on known Death Eaters. I know what they're guarding at the Ministry. Did either of you - er - bother to ask Dumbledore why you couldn't write to me much? At all?"
He saw them exchanging a glance that told him he was behaving just as they had feared, which did not improve his temper, especially since he could also see their shock at how much he knew.
"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on," said Ron. "We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted–"
"I know, because my guardians told me," Harry said shortly, causing both to wince. "The problem is that you two didn't write anything important. You also really didn't WRITE ANYTHING! Almost every letter from either one of you was about how you'd tell me more later. You said things were going on, but you couldn't say more. You two didn't bother to really write me anything other than how you couldn't write to me. HOW COME YOU COULDN'T JUST WRITE ME A BLOODY FRIENDLY LETTER! NO! DUMBLEDORE MADE ME SWEAR!"
"Well, he did–"
"Harry, calm down," Angelina said, pulling Harry into a hard embrace, and he breathed in and exhaled, trying to release all of the tension. "Ron, Hermione, this is the part where you apologize. No excuses. Just apologies," she said firmly.
"Harry, we're really sorry!" said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. "You're absolutely right, Harry- I'd be furious if it was me!"
Harry closed his eyes, some of the tension leaving his body, and Angelina finally pulled back, looking him in the eyes, clearly trying to see if he was through with his outburst. With two loud cracks, Fred and George materialized out of thin air into the middle of the room.
"Well, well," Fred said. "It seems Harry is here, and he brought a friend."
"Stop doing that!" Hermione said weakly to the twins.
"Indeed, Fred," George said, ignoring Hermione. "Harry, here, brought the very lovely Miss Angelina Johnson."
"No," Angelina said, and Harry felt more of his anger fading away as he realized he was going to get to watch the prank that Angelina had planned to mess with George.
"No, what?" George said, confused.
"You said he brought Angelina Johnson," Angelina said. "That's not true."
The door opened and a long mane of red hair appeared, along with Astra at the person's feet.
"Oh, hello, Harry!" said Ginny, brightly. "I thought I heard your voice. Oh, Angelina! It's great to see you! Though, not surprising, if Harry's here."
"Hey, Ginny," Angelina said, smiling brightly.
"Hi, Gin," Harry said, feeling some more tension fade as he smiled at the youngest Weasley.
"What does little sister know that we don't?" Fred asked his twin, who also was scratching his head, trying to figure out what his girlfriend was hiding.
"Also, wouldn't Astra"s presence clue you in that Harry was here," Hermione said.
"Oh, no, Astra visits me every now and then," Ginny said, much to the surprise of most of the room, except for Harry and Angelina, the latter of whom smirked.
"Oh, they're confused," Angelina explained to Ginny. "I told them Angelina Johnson wasn't here."
"They're not the only ones," Ron muttered, annoyed.
"Oh, you haven't shared the news yet?" Ginny asked, grinning. "I guess that means I can be the first one of this lot to tell you in person, congratulations!"
She stepped forward and grabbed both Angelina and Harry in a hug.
"Congratulations for what?" Hermione asked, now also looking annoyed.
"For becoming Angelina Potter," Angelina said, pulling away from Ginny, and eyes widened around the room, jaws dropped, and she grinned. "Harry, here, asked, and I just couldn't say no."
She kissed Harry on the cheek playfully, and Harry rolled his eyes at her.
"You- you two got married!" Hermione asked, looking flabbergasted with Ron's mouth open in clear disbelief and a hint of betrayal.
"Hmm," George said thoughtfully. "I must admit, if there was a boy who could steal my girlfriend and get away with it, it would be Harrikens. I did not see it coming however. Though, you didn't break up with me, so does that mean we're still together and Harry and I are sharing you? Or are we sharing Harry? Details are important after all."
"I didn't think Harrikens swung that way," Fred mused, "but I must give him props on a good show."
"We're not sharing Angelina!" Harry protested, not sure if he should be surprised or revolted that the twins simply ran with Angelina's words.
"Oh, don't be so selfish," Angelina said, playfully scolding.
"Very selfish," George agreed.
"And I thought you were better than that, Harry," Fred said, looking disappointed.
"You can't be married!" Hermione said, indignantly. "You can't have -"
"We're not," Angelina said, grinning. "Who said anything about being married?"
"You changed names," Ron said accusingly "That happens in marriage."
"It also can happen when someone legally joins your family," Harry said. "Angelina, here, is my sister now. She's a Potter."
"Oh, this is just about you guys claiming to be his sister," Ron said with a laugh, his anger fading. "You're just having us on."
"No, she's really my sister," Harry said. "Legally and by blood. We did a blood adoption ritual. She is Angelina Potter."
"A blood adoption ritual?" Hermione asked, shocked, before looking at Angelina. "But what about your family? You can't undo that. That's so rash! What if -"
"Angie's family has never been good to her," George said, his tone a mix of controlled anger, before he smiled. "Harry saved the damsel in distress again!"
"Call me that again and see if you still have a girlfriend," Angelina said warningly, before she looked back at Hermione. "Dear old Dad was going to marry me off to Marcus Flint. Dropping my name and joining Harry's family was one of the only ways for me to avoid that fate, without a hefty fine and possible jail time."
"That's so medieval," Hermione said disgustedly. "How could they just marry off women . . ."
"Technically, if they were alive, Harry's parents could have done it to him," Angelina said. "It's not just women. Sirius could still try, with being Harry's godfather and the Head of an Ancient House. Harry's the head of his House, so he could fight it, but he could still try if he wanted to. A lot of places in the world, even in the muggle world, arrange marriages for political and financial reasons. I don't like it, but it's a part of life for a lot of places in the world.
Hermione nodded slowly, still looking disgusted.
"Wait, so she is your sister?" Ron asked, confused. "How does that work?"
"Blood adoption means that Angelina's genetics takes on some of the Potter characteristics and Harry takes on some of Angelina's," Hermione explained, unsurprisingly. "It doesn't usually affect the people doing the adoption, though sometimes between witches or wizards who are drastically different in power, the weaker person has gotten stronger, or sometimes those born with birth defects have had their defects healed as dominant traits take over. However, it is more likely to show up in their children, grandchildren and future descendants. Angelina's children could have Harry's hair or eyes just as Harry's children could have darker skin and Angelina's hair and eyes. By all accounts, they are biologically siblings now."
"So that's why she lives with them?" Ron asked. "When did that happen?"
"Right after you all left at King"s Cross," Harry said. "I'd extended the option for her to live with either me near the end of last year, as did Kate and Leash. Angelina took me up after -"
"After I had a row with my dad on the platform," Angelina said smoothly. "It was the final straw with him hitting me there for all to see. I went home with Harry and the rest is history."
"He hit you!" George exclaimed, looking angry.
"Has he ever done that before? Did he just snap?" Hermione asked, worriedly, glancing at Harry, knowing Harry's own experiences with physical abuse.
"He didn't hit me much, growing up," Angelina admitted. "As a girl, my value to him was that he could sell me off in marriage to a good family. My value drops with a busted up face and body."
"Well, George," Fred said, laughing. "It seems you need to step it up. Mr. Potter changed your girlfriend's last name. That's supposed to be your job."
Angelina winked at George who snorted in amusement.
"Now that we're all caught up, you should know that it's no good tonight," Ginny said, turning to Fred and George. "They put up an imperturbable barrier."
"How d'you know?" said George, looking crestfallen.
"Tonks told me how to find out," said Ginny. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap. Truthfully, I could also Sense something was there, thanks to Harry, but the dungbombs are a nice way to confirm it."
Fred heaved a deep sigh.
"Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."
"Snape's here tonight?" Harry asked with a groan.
"Yeah," said George, carefully closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny followed. "Giving a report. Top secret."
"Git," said Fred idly.
"He's on our side now," said Hermione reprovingly.
"He's a professor," Angelina said archly. "He always should have been on our side. He's always been a git."
Ron snorted in amusement.
"Bill doesn't like him, either," said Ginny, as though that settled the matter.
"Is Bill here?" Harry asked. "We can in with Fleur, but she didn't mention Bill would be here."
"You know about Bill and Fleur?" Fred asked, surprised.
"Oh, Fleur writes to Harry quite a bit, and she's come over for dinner a few times," Angelina said, grinning. "Plus, Sirius brought it up as well when she first joined. He mentioned Bill taking a desk job back home, and how he had recruited a familiar face to the Order."
"Damn, so you two probably know more than we do," George said, impressed, and Ron and Hermione winced.
"I do," Harry said. "Dora, Sirius, and Remus share most things. It sounds like you guys know most of what we know, but I know a bit more. Though, Lina and I might know more members of the Order than you guys do too, but that's more because of Alexis, Sirius, and Dora having recruited a lot of their coworkers and friends. All I really know is that we're recruiting, trying to make allies, trying to get word out of Voldemort's return, protecting something at the Ministry, and countering Voldemort's movements and recruiting attempts when possible. Not really sure of all of the roles or who is doing what though."
"That's more than we know," Fred said sourly.
"Charlie's recruiting abroad," George said. "Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."
"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked. The last he had heard, the third Weasley brother was working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic.
At Harry's words, all the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks.
"It's a shame nobody's told you about that." Ron said in a tense voice. "Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad."
"Why not?"
"Because every time Percy's name is mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred said.
"It's been awful," said Ginny sadly.
"I think we're well shot of him," said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.
"He didn't," Angelina said in a sad, low voice, and George nodded, and she scowled, but Harry couldn't figure out what she had clearly figured out.
"He did," George said.
"What's happened?" Harry asked.
"Percy and Dad had a row," said Fred. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts. . . . "
"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."
"You're kidding?" said Harry.
Though he knew perfectly well that Percy was highly ambitious, Harry's impression was that Percy had not made a great success of his first job at the Ministry of Magic. Percy had committed the fairly large oversight of failing to notice that his boss hadn't been his boss, having been Barty Crouch Jr. using Polyjuice Potion.
"Yeah, we were all surprised," said George, "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch wasn't Crouch and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch Jr. left him in charge a lot, probably to help him cover his lack of knowledge about the job, and he wasn't going to complain. . . ."
"So how come they promoted him?"
"That's exactly what we wondered," said Ron. "He came home really pleased with himself-even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that-and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts-Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."
"Only Dad wasn't," said Fred grimly.
"Why not?" said Harry.
"Harry, think about what the Prophet's been saying," Angelina said angrily. "Think about how Fudge has been acting, according to Dora and Sirius."
"Oh . . . ." Harry said. "Percy backed Fudge and the Ministry and doesn't believe me or Dumbledore. He believes in the Daily Prophet."
"Right in one," Fred said grimly. "Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family-and Dumbledore."
Harry let out a low whistle.
"Bet Percy loved that."
Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way.
"He went completely berserk. He said-well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been-you know-not had a lot of money, I mean–"
"He said what?!" Angelina exclaimed angrily, and Astra started growling.
"What?" said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a noise like an angry cat.
"I know," said Ron in a low voice. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he-Percy-knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."
Harry swore under his breath. He had always liked Percy least of Ron's brothers, but he had never imagined he would say such things to Mr. Weasley.
"Mum's been in a right state," said Ron dully. "You know-crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work-ignores him, I s'pose."
"I wonder what will happen when the Daily Prophet's credibility is questioned," Harry muttered thoughtfully, and he glanced at the group to see that, aside from Angelina of course, the rest looked confused. "Sirius is starting up a new newspaper. He's blackmailed Rita Skeeter into working for us, and she knew about a lot of people that Sirius could hire, people the Prophet either screwed over, or people who hate the Prophet because of its lack of journalistic integrity. It's almost ready to start printing, and Sirius is going to have the paper direct a lot of effort into making the Daily Prophet and the Ministry look bad."
Fred and George whistled appreciatively.
"It won't be hard," Hermione muttered furiously. "The Prophet didn't even mention a word about dementors attacking you. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors. Even more so now that I know Angelina and Alicia were there too. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy. We thought they would, it would be in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off. We think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town- I mean, if you're expelled, obviously," she went on hastily. "You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."
"I'm not worried," Harry lied. "I've got the bodies of the dementors I killed. I've got two eyewitnesses. Besides, supposedly it will be with Madam Bones, and I know she's got a good reputation for being fair."
Angelina nodded firmly.
He was trying to convince himself as much as he was his friends. He could tell that Angelina wasn't sold on his words, but then again, in the past month they'd been living together, they'd both gotten to know each other even better than before. It was like hiding things from Dora or Sirius or even Remus or Mad-Eye. It just wasn't something that was easily done.
Further conversation was cut off at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs, and only a few moments later Mrs. Weasley opened the door and appeared in the doorway.
"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks," said Ginny unblushingly. "He loves playing with them."
"Oh," said Mrs Weasley, "I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please. . . ."
Ginny grimaced at the others.
"Harry and I already ate," Angelina said.
"Oh, nonsense, dears," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'm sure you could always use more food. Besides, Tonks isn't much of a cook, I know."
"No, but Harry is," Angelina said, grinning. "He fed us all before we came here."
"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking at him with surprise and interest. "Well then, maybe you'll have to join me in the kitchen one of these days. At the very least, maybe you can get Ron in the kitchen."
"Not likely," Ron said with a snort as the rest of them followed Mrs. Weasley out of the room.
Harry frowned again, seeing the place.
"I thought Sirius had a house elf that was supposed to be taking care of this place," Harry muttered quietly. "It seems like very little's been done."
"Oh, Kreatcher," Ron said. "He's a nutter. Never met one like him."
Hermione frowned at Ron.
"He's not a nutter, Ron–"
"His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on plaque just like his mother," said Ron irritably. "Is that normal, Hermione?"
"Well-well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault–"
Ron rolled his eyes at Harry.
"Hermione still hasn't given up on spew."
"It's not "spew"!" said Hermione heatedly. "It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. And it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too–"
"Hermione, you make it hard for people to support you with S.P.E.W," Angelina broke in and Hermione looked at her offended. "What? It's true. You're on this crusade, but you don't understand elves at all, and seem to think that they're stupid."
"That's not true!" Hermione replied heatedly.
"Really? Because you just said that it's not Kreatcher's fault that he's the way he is, despite the fact you only have known him for a month. Maybe it's not, but I doubt you really can know that for sure. You act like wizards regularly abuse house elves because you heard about Dobby and you saw the deplorable way that Crouch treated his elf, despite the fact that we now know the reason he treated her so badly was because she was his son's jailer and she almost let him escape," Angelina said. "I bet he'd been kind to her the entire time she'd served his family up until that point. Elves aren't stupid creatures and most of them are treated very well by their families. I won't disagree that they need more legal rights and that they deserve protections from wizards, but half of the things you want to give them are things that they don't want, nor would they ever want. You want to give them holidays and pay."
"If we get them, they deserve them!" Hermione said heatedly.
"Who said they want them?" Angelina replied back with a raised eyebrow. "You're basing your platform on human wants and desires, but they're not human."
"They're still living creatures!" Hermione shot back.
"Yeah, they are, but they aren't human," Angelina shot back firmly. "That's not a crime, but right now it feels like your mad that we don't treat them like they're human. Our gold doesn't mean anything to them, or at least very little. All sorts of creatures have different wants and desires. I'm not saying we should treat them worse, but what you want and what they want are drastically different things, and you have no idea what they want because you haven't talked to them other than to tell them what they should want because apparently they're all brainwashed and stupid. Did you know that their magic is more powerful than ours in a lot of ways? They gained magical power by putting themselves into servitude to witches and wizards. Being free causes them to lose much of their magical power. There are free elves in the world. Free elven colonies. They don't have a ton of magical power, or at least not the type of power that house elves have, and thus live closer to the way goblins do than to wizards. In addition, with their powers, money means very little to them. They don't need it. They don't want it, and elves like to work. They get bored without a purpose because of how powerful their magic is."
"Well . . . I didn't know about their magic," Hermione admitted.
"Because you decided we were all abusers who didn't care," Angelina said flatly. "You decided that the elves needed saving and you would do it. They do need better rights, but like Harry said last year, change your platform to what elves want and not what you want for them because if they're so stupid that they don't realize they want days off and pay, then what will they do if you get them those things? Are you going to take over and plan out their lives until they become what you think they should be? You should think about that because while you're not as bad as the elf abusers, most of whom would abuse a muggleborn or halfblood for also being inferior beings, you're certainly more speciest that a lot of witches and wizards. You seem determined to turn elves human, rather than let them be what they are."
Harry, Ron, and the twins grinned as Hermione grew silent pondering Angelina's words. They made their way down the landing, but before they descended the stairs, Ron said, "Keep your voice down in the hall," he cautioned.
As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall, they saw Remus, Mrs. Weasley, and Dora at the front door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts behind those who had just left.
"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. "Harry, Angelina, dears, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall it's through this door here–"
CRASH.
Harry and Angelina were both already grinning, very familiar with how clumsy Dora could be.
"Tonks!" cried Mrs. Weasley in exasperation, turning to look behind her.
"I'm sorry!" wailed Dora, who was lying flat on the floor. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over–"
But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech.
The moth-eaten velvet curtains they had passed earlier had flown apart, but there was no door behind them. For a split second, Harry thought he was looking through a window, a window behind which an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though she were being tortured-then he realized it was simply a life-size portrait, but the most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever seen in his life.
The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed, and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears.
Remus and Mrs Weasley darted forward and tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they would not close and she screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at their faces.
"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers–"
Angelina swore as Dora apologized over and over again, dragging the huge, heavy troll's leg back off the floor; Mrs. Weasley abandoned the attempt to close the curtains and hurried up and down the hall, Stunning all the other portraits with her wand; and Sirius came running into the room.
"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he roared, seizing the curtain that Mrs. Weasley had abandoned.
The old woman's face blanched.
"Yoooou!" she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"I said-shut-UP!" roared Sirius, and with a stupendous effort he and Remus managed to force the curtains closed again.
The old woman's screeches died and an echoing silence filled the room. Panting slightly. Sirius turned to the rest of them.
"Hello, Harry, Angelina," he said grimly. "I see you've met my dear mother. Welcome to the House of Black."
**HP**
The next day was a bit tense in the House of Black for everybody. Mrs. Weasley had not been approving of how much Harry and Angelina knew about the Order, and had gotten into a row with both Dora and Sirius when the twins brought up giving him the information now that he was living at Headquarters, only for Harry to tell them he already knew most of what was going on. Of course, it had all been a charade to get more information, but it hadn't gone as well as the twins had hoped.
Dora and Sirius had been firm in that it was up to Mrs. Weasley what they, Ginny, and Ron were told, but they had the right to tell Harry, and now Angelina, whatever they felt they deserved to know. They reiterated that they refused to treat either like children, especially since Angelina was of age, and while Mrs. Weasley argued Harry wasn't an adult, much to his annoyance even if he was warmed by her care, they said Harry's abilities and what he'd gone through spoke for itself.
Things had only gotten more tense when sleeping arrangements were rearranged. Mrs. Weasley had planned for Harry to bunk with Ron, and Angelina to bunk with Dora or have her own room on the same floor that Hermione and Ginny shared a room on, but Sirius and Dora shot that down. Dora and Remus were set to share a room on the same floor that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were on as well as Fred and George, so Angelina would get her own room, but they wanted her on the same floor as Harry, and him to have his own room, just in case of nightmares, since Dora and Angelina were usually the two that checked on him on the bad nights. Angelina having her own room so that she could easily sleep in Harry's room with him was also not something Mrs. Weasely was extremely approving of, despite the blood adoption, but it was Sirius's house, so she had little say in the matter.
Through the tense atmosphere, they were put to work, just like Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and the twins had been doing: cleaning the house. Their job was to tackle the Drawing Room, which had a large infestation of doxies. Most of the morning was spent using doxycide spray to remove the pests, the teens attempted to listen in on Order conversations when they could, and they scouted out the next problem, which might or might not be a boggart that was also in the drawing room. Things could have been worse. The twins, Angelina, and Ginny were especially good at keeping up the mood of the group.
In that time, Harry and Angelina were able to talk to Fred and George a bit as well and learn about some of the joke products and inventions that they'd created or were developing for their shop, and their current plans for the shop once they graduated from Hogwarts.
In addition to the cleaning, they had their first run in with Kreatcher, who was pleasant enough to call Hermione a mudblood, the Weasleys blood traitors, and Harry a brat before he left, with Hermione trying to justify his words, while the rest argued that he was well aware of what he was saying, and that he wasn't as clueless or insane as Hermione was trying to claim. It was only Astra growling that scared Kreatcher away, him muttering about "the devil hound," as he fled, which did admittedly get laughs from everyone in the room. Throughout the day, Kreatcher would appear in whatever room they were in and attempt to smuggle things away under his loincloth, muttering horrible curses at them every time they caught him at it.
After lunch, they continued to clean through Black family artifacts and items, finding some extremely odd things, including an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which scuttled up Harry's arm like a spider when he picked it up, and attempted to puncture his skin, and a heavy locket that none of them could open, but which Astra growled at, though unable to explain to Harry why she didn't like it other than a scent of "wrongness", which meant they set it aside for future study. There was also a musical box that nearly put all of them to sleep until Ginny slammed the lid shut, and an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for "services to the Ministry" which Sirius translated to "giving them a lot of gold."
The day's work clearly showed Angelina and Harry what to expect with the rest of their summer if they weren't careful, which was not a happy thought. Harry had already decided that he would approach Sirius and Mrs. Weasley to give them all some time during the days to study or relax, since it was their summer break and they deserved some time not doing chores.
Harry's day ended quite differently than it started however, with Sirius, Remus, and Dora pulling both him and Angelina aside a bit before dinner.
"We'll be leaving in an hour," Sirius said, "so take this time to clean yourselves up and wear a nicer set of robes or business casual clothing."
"Where are we going?" Angelina asked with a frown.
"We're going to meet Harry's lawyer," Dora said, and Angelina and Harry blinked at them in surprise. "He's agreed to take on Harry's case with the evidence we've already provided, but he wants to meet you, Harry, to really see what he's working with. As a witness, he wants to interview you as well, Angelina, but because of your new place as Harry's sister, he also wishes to meet you for other reasons."
"Who is representing me?" Harry asked, frowning. "Why do I need a lawyer? I thought this would be a simple thing?"
"It should be," Sirius said grimly, "but I wanted to be sure. There are a lot of obscure laws, and while I trust Amelia to be fair, I know that your expulsion came from Fudge's influence. I don't want to take the chance he interferes with Amelia's review. Lord Greengrass and his associates, Madam Davis, Lady Boot, Lady Clearwater, and Lord Ogden all agreed, and Lord Greengrass will be representing you."
"Lord Greengrass," Harry muttered. "Related to Daphne Greengrass?"
"Her father," Sirius said with a nod. "You saw him compete in the Dueling Circuit last year and this year."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. He did remember the man. He'd been quite good, and obviously his daughter was quite skilled with weapons and with a wand as Harry had seen in both years competing in the Dueling Circuit.
"I'm sure you're familiar with some of the others as well," Remus said. "Lady Boot is Terry Boot's mother, and Madam Davis is Tracey Davis's aunt. You might also remember Penelope Clearwater, who is Lady Clearwater's niece."
Harry and Angelina both nodded, remembering the girl who had dated Percy. Harry knew of Tracey, but he'd never spoken a word to her. All he knew about her was that she was best friends with Daphne Greengrass and another witch that Harry thought was named Haley Quentin, but whom Harry had also never spoken with. The three of them tended to be rather aloof with the other Slytherins, at least publicly, though they were aloof with everybody. Daphne was known as the Slytherin Ice Queen. They certainly never seemed to support Pansy Parkinson's or Malfoy's stunts, but neither did they condemn anything.
Regardless, Angelina and Harry both did as asked, showering away the grime they'd gotten from cleaning all day and they both put on nicer clothes, Harry choosing to wear a set of semi-formal robes that had Hades and Athena's symbols sewn over his heart and the Potter crest sewn on the collar. Upon Sirius's recommendation, he also wore his sword on his side. Angelina, to Harry's slight surprise, wore a nice knee length blue dress.
"Dressing up can be nice sometimes, Harry," Angelina said with an exasperated chuckle at his look.
Harry rolled his eyes before he turned to their two guardians.
"Where are we going?" he asked them.
"We're going to Lord Greengrass's secure office," Sirius, pulling out a pen. "Portkey," he added to the unanswered question.
"I thought Mad-Eye said it's not worth setting up an unauthorized portkey," Harry said, confused, thinking of what his mentor had told him a couple times about methods of magical travel and how they were regulated.
"Lawyers have special permission for portkeys," Dora explained. "This is authorized and while the Ministry could arguably trace it, they'd be in a world of trouble if it was made aware they did so."
"Now, everyone put a finger on the portkey," Sirius said, glancing at his watch. "It will go off in roughly a minute."
One minute later, the four of them were transported away from Grimmauld Place, and they appeared in a room that resembled every waiting room or office entryway that Harry had ever seen, in real life and on the telly, minus the secretary's desk. There were a few couches to sit on and two doors. One that led out of the building, and one that probably led to Greengrass's office.
They only were waiting for perhaps a minute or so before the inner door opened and Cyrus Greengrass walked out. He was an impressive looking man, a strong build, slightly above average height, blonde hair, and brown eyes, wearing semi-formal black robes.
"Good evening," he greeted. "Lord Black, Lady Potter. It is a pleasure to see you again. Lord Potter, Lady Potter, it is a pleasure to finally meet you both."
Both Angelina and Dora seemed a bit surprised at the titles, neither being used to it yet, but they recovered quickly.
"The pleasure is ours, Lord Greengrass," Sirius answered.
"Shall we move this into my office?" Greengrass asked, gesturing for his office, and the four of them followed him into the office finding a rather austere dest that filled the back of the office, while the majority of the office was filled with a conference table and chairs.
"Now, Lord Potter," Greengrass started off,
"Harry, please," Harry cut in, and Sirius glanced at Harry in exasperation but Greengrass let out a slight chuckle.
"Very well, Harry," Greengrass said. "We'll make this informal if everyone is comfortable with that?"
Angelina, Dora, and Sirius all nodded.
"Very good. Then Cyrus will do for me," Cyrus said.
"Tonks," Dora said.
"Angelina," Angelina added, and Cyrus nodded.
"Now, Sirius and Tonks have given me a rundown of the events that have occurred, as well as provided much of the evidence that will be used to exonerate you," Cyrus said. "I would like to hear from both of you about the events that took place, the events after, and all pertinent events that could affect this trial."
So, for the next two hours, Harry and then Angelina gave their accounts of the Dementor attack, what happened afterwards, and Harry gave accounts of the incident with Dobby back in his second year, since Cyrus thought it was necessary to know about. He also recounted all interactions he could remember with any members of the Wizengamot he had met.
It was the last set of interactions that Harry was confused about, which is why he asked Cyrus about it after the fact.
"Well, Harry," Cyrus said. "If everything goes as it should, we will have a rather easy time presenting the situation to Amelia Bones in her office with a few other witnesses and representatives from the Improper Use of Magic and Child Services Department. I'm worried about what happens if that doesn't occur. While you have not been vocal about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Ministry seems to be rather focused on destroying your reputation and removing you from the Magical World. They can only do so much to Albus Dumbledore, being who he is, but if Fudge is desperate enough, as I think he is, he might try something while you don't have your guardians to help you, when he feels he can take advantage of your youth and your upbringing. I am preparing for that situation."
"I guess that makes sense," Harry said slowly. "Do you really believe it is necessary?"
"I do," Cyrus responded. "I've been doing this a long time, and I've seen all manner of tricks used to skirt the law and bring about verdicts that were unjust. Your godfather is certainly an example of that. A sad fact is that you are easy to target if they choose to do so. You are young, effectively muggleborn, even if your guardians have likely been working to counter that, and you have not thrown around your political weight, like you could be doing. It also makes the reward for destroying you much greater."
Harry nodded again.
"Now, the last thing to discuss is what reparations you wish to require of the Ministry for their poor handling of the entire affair," Cyrus said, and Harry blinked in surprise.
"Sir?"
"Harry, as your defense, I'm allowed to look into the prosecution's evidence against you," Cyrus said. "I've done so discreetly so that the prosecution isn't aware of my defending you and isn't aware that I know what cards they hold. Currently, they have still not conducted any investigation into the events. They are unaware that dementors are unaccounted for, or seem to be unaware, and seem to have no idea that you were attacked by dementors a thousand miles away from Azkaban where they should have been. In addition, you were illegally expelled without a proper warning, since the issue with the house elf was expunged and thus holds no basis on your current record, which means you were owed a warning before expulsion, as well as a cursory investigation. Again, none of that happened. By all accounts, you could ignore this summons, take your evidence and the Ministry's actions to the ICW and would likely receive asylum through them and Magical Britain's membership could be suspended, pending a review by an international committee or at the very least, significant international sanctions could be thrown against us. In doing so, you would ensure that Fudge's administration would be ripped to shreds, but you would likely also destroy the reputations of most of the Wizengamot and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Harry gaped at the man, and saw the shock reflected on Angelina's face, but Sirius and Dora both nodded slowly, grimly.
"Wh-what would you recommend?" Harry asked, finally.
"Well, as a member of Magical Britain and the Wizengamot, I would prefer that you don't destroy our institution and the reputations of many of the members who have played no part in this," Cyrus said slowly. "I do believe that you should request a formal apology, published, and printed frontline news, paid for by the Ministry which outlines all of their mistakes and the situation. I hold no love for the dementors and this is a chance to deal a major blow to those who defend their use. Your situation allows you to force the Ministry into either publicly admitting they tried to kill you, which won't go over well, or admitting they have lost control over the dementors, which also will not go over well with the public. I would also suggest you sue for damages in reparations for what could have been done, should you have been illegally expelled and for the Ministry's lack of effort to prove your guilt before acting. As the Lord of a Noble House, the amount could be upwards of two hundred thousand galleons. Possibly far more depending on many factors."
"T-two hundred thousand galleons!" Harry exclaimed,
"That's insane!" Angelina said.
"Depending on circumstances, we can broach other possible reparations at the hearing, if needed," Cyrus said.
Harry finally sighed.
"I don't know about the gold," Harry admitted, "but I do think the rest of what you recommended sounds good. A formal apology might at least keep the news off of me, and anything that hurts the dementors is fine by me. My patron would love nothing more than for me to wipe them off the earth."
"Keep in mind, Harry," Cyrus said. "Gold speaks. A formal apology is something, but it's hard for them to cover that up when they are forced to pay you for their mistakes. That is not something that can be easily hidden, especially from taxpayers."
"Harry, he's right," Angelina muttered. "Gold and political clout speak far more than the words in a newspaper. That same newspaper that will print the apology was the same one that was slandering you, and will likely slander you afterwards."
"Alright," Harry said quietly. "I'll go with whatever you recommend."
"Good," Cyrus said, approvingly. "Now, I believe that is everything we needed to discuss. I have a meeting with Miss Spinnet tomorrow and will hear her story and appraise her of the situation. Do you have any further questions?"
**HP**
Mrs. Weasley kept them all working very hard over the next few days. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate. Finally, the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all their attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk. Mad-Eye had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it.
They then moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders as large as saucers lurking in the dresser (Ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half). The china, which bore the Black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed.
In a way, Harry felt like they were waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by Kreacher. The house-elf kept appearing wherever they were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. Sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "Master must do as Master wishes," before turning away and muttering very loudly, "but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudblood and traitors and scum. . . . "
At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione's protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room.
They had issues with Order members ringing the doorbell several times a day, which always awoke Sirius's nutter mother, which had the added side effect of preventing Harry and his friends from overhearing any Order conversations. Sometimes Order members would stay and help, but it was left mostly to Mrs. Weasley and the underage occupants.
Despite the fact that he was still sleeping badly, still having dreams about corridors and locked doors that made his scar prickle, Harry was managing to have more fun than he'd thought he would have, being mostly locked away in the House of Black. He was still nervous about the hearing, but Angelina, Dora, Sirius, and even surprisingly Ginny, were all quite good at helping him relax, keeping things light, and helping him when things seemed to be too much. Things between Harry and Ron and Hermione were mending well, but his two oldest friends did seem to struggle with helping him through his struggles in the evenings, through his anger, and through his bad dreams, often treating him like he was glass waiting to break, or worried he would start yelling at them.
Before he knew it though, it was the evening before his hearing, and he felt his nerves rising when Mrs. Weasley turned to him and said quietly, "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight, too. A good first impression can work wonders."
Angelina, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all stopped talking and looked over at him. Harry nodded and tried to keep eating his chop, but his mouth had become so dry he could not chew.
"You'll be going in with Sirius and I," Dora said. "You'll hang out in the office with us and Alexis until your hearing."
Further conversation was cut off as an owl swooped in through a magical window designed to let owls in while keeping the elements out. It dropped a letter in Sirius's lap. Sirius frowned and opened the letter before he scowled fiercely.
"That son of a bitch!" Sirius cursed.
"Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
"The letter is from Cyrus," Sirius said. "Harry, your trial has been moved, both location and time, and when I say trial, I mean trial. You're now being tried in Courtroom 10 at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."
There were curses, and exclamations of anger all around the room at Sirius's words.
"Cyrus wants us to stay the night with him so he can escort us in," Sirius said. "Obviously, we haven't been notified, which is part of what he's checking on right now. Since we haven't been notified, he believes that we won't be notified until there's no way for us to make it on time and they'll be able to expel you for not showing. It's also imperative that Angelina now comes, both as a witness, and as a member of your family. If we're not notified, not only will Cyrus be able to hit the Wizengamot with failure to notify the defendant or his guardians, but also with not notifying members of the Wizengamot or possible proxy's. I would be unable to act in my capacity on the Wizengamot due to being your guardian, as would Dora as yours or my proxy. However, Angelina could act as our proxies, and since they haven't notified her, it's another nail in the Ministry's coffin against you."
"Pack your things," Dora said firmly. "Let's listen to Greengrass. We'll stay with him tonight, like he recommends. It's clear the Ministry is trying to destroy you. Tomorrow, we're going to teach Fudge a lesson."