Teeth

by hathanhate

It starts with an animagus transformation gone wrong and leads to a journey Harry never expected. Come along for the ride as he faces war and change and the consequences of growing older; gaining a family and new friends and power he never could have imagined along the way. M/F, M/M pairings, mostly gen. Slow pace. (Under review, editing and reposting here and on AO3)

46. Part Five, Chapter Ten

Beta: Zerubel

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

He hissed into the sheets, his head was pounding like there were dragons running rampant inside his skull. There was a pop sound that was entirely too loud and he growled. A squeak, and then-

"M-Mister B-Black. Lippy ha- has brought you a p-potion." He lifted his head a bit and carefully opened his eyes. The room was dark, for which he was thankful, but he could see the frightened little house elf and the vial she held. He took it from her with a muttered 'thanks' and she popped away. He recognized it as a hangover cure immediately and sat up, groaning, to knock it back; feeling infinitely better once he had. She'd also been kind enough to leave a glass of water for him on the bedside table. He picked it up and gulped it down, dehydrated.

He rubbed his eyes, and then blushed a little when his memories of the previous night came back to him. Blaise had spent the night in the manor as well, he knew, and he wondered if would be able to look him in the eyes or not. He felt a little strange, thinking about it, but...

Well, he wasn't upset, and he didn't regret the kiss. Better too, he thought to himself, that he'd had a chance to try it out. If he ever got the chance to kiss Sif like that (and he turned even redder at that thought), he thought it might be a good thing that it wouldn't be his first. He might be a little less likely to make a fool of himself that way.

He sighed, and got up. It had happened, and he couldn't run and hide from that or from Blaise, so he may as well get ready for the day, and then go and face the music, whatever tune it might be.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

He needn't have worried. Blaise was in the dining room when he came down, along with Daphne and Scorpius, sitting across from him, and he grinned at Harry when he saw him.

"Lippy paid you a visit I see, since you're on your feet." He teased with a grin, and it was like last night had never happened. Harry felt relieved, and smiled back.

"Yea. I think I might have scared her though."

"What did you do, curse her?"

"No. But I growled at her." He snorted, and Daphne giggled. Scorpius smiled at his mother but didn't look like he had any idea what was so funny. Harry settled into the seat next to the Italian, who bumped their shoulders together and passed him some toast and jam. Harry noted for the first time that he was dressed in white healer's robes. Blaise noticed the animagus' eyes on his clothes and spoke:

"I've got work today; got to get over to St. Mungo's once breakfast is done." Harry nodded.

"I've got to work today too." Daphne sighed. "And Draco's already gone. My dearest father-in-law," Harry's lip quirked up. "will be down soon, but he's got business today, so after breakfast it'll just be you here, since this one is going over to Andromeda's." She poked her son's cheek, and set about feeding him some fruit. "At least until whenever you've got to go." He nodded. He wanted to talk to Lucius about Bruce before he went, but that could wait until after he'd eaten. He didn't want to pop up at the Lupin household too late in the day, so- wait.

"Tonks works today too then?" He questioned.

"I do," The pink-haired witch waltzed in, Teddy on her hip and a grin on her face, dressed in red Auror's robes. He noted absently that Daphne wasn't wearing hers yet. "And mum's got a bunch of errands to run today, so Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucy are looking after the kiddos." Daphne frowned.

"I thought Andromeda was taking them. Lucius has business at the Ministry today, and Narcissa already left for France." Tonks paused.

"What?" They stared at each other for several moments, and then, in unison, they both cursed.

"What about Mrs. Weasley? You're friends with her aren't you?"

"She's got all her grandkids over today, we can't dump two more kids on her. What about Dean?" Tonks directed her question towards Blaise.

"He's already at work, I imagine." She and Daphne both looked a little panicked now.

"I could watch them." They swung around to look at him. "I mean, they're both my godsons. I don't mind." He'd never watched children all on his own before, and the thought made him nervous, but Teddy's yellow eyes and blue hair had turned green and black respectively as soon as he laid eyes on Harry, and he'd love the chance to spend time with the little one. Tonks and Daphne exchanged looks, some sort of silent conversation going on between them, and then-

"Are you sure?" Tonks questioned.

"Why not?" He smiled. "I could stay here with them for the day if it's alright with Lucius, or I could take them over to Grimmauld and look after them there. It is my house, after all." He remarked wryly. Tonks bit her lip, and then.

"Alright."

"You can watch them here." Daphne smiled uneasily. "Lucius won't mind."

"Okay." He grinned at them both. "Don't worry. It'll be fine." Tonks sighed, and then grinned.

"Great!" She crowed, and a second later she'd come around the table and dropped the young child into his lap, alongside a large bag, and was rattling off instructions. "He's potty-trained and he'll tell you when he needs to go, but he's got charmed underwear on that will take care of it if he has an accident. There's a change of clothes in here if he gets dirty at all, since cleaning charms tend to eat away at fabric a bit. He's got a cloak if you take him outside, and a second set of muggle clothes if you take a trip into the muggle world. I've packed cleaning rags for you to wash him up with if he gets food on his face and hands when he eats; he's a messy eater you know. There's sandwiches for the both of them and some bottled water, and he has a sippy cup with pumpkin juice in it, and another one with apple juice; he gets picky sometimes. There's some toys in there and he's got his wolfy in his hands. He hardly puts it down but try to make sure he doesn't lose it, that would just be a nightmare. He needs to take a nap around eleven or so or he gets cranky. He's allergic to peanuts so try to keep him away from them but if there's an accident he has an epipen in the side pocket that we got from a muggle doctor; take the safety cap off and stab the needle into his thigh until you hear it click. Then give him the blue potion that's in there. It's easy. There's band-aids and you know how to cast an episkey don't you? Of course you do. If there's any kind of emergency there's a mobile phone in there and my dad's number is speed dial three. I've also written down the floo addresses for Remus' office at Hogwarts and the floo address for the Auror office." She hardly took a breath through the whole thing and Harry sat there and stared at her for several seconds, trying to make sure he'd gotten everything.

"Are you sure you'll be alright with both of them, Harry?" He looked up at Daphne and nodded, smiling. Lucius had arrived sometime outside his notice and was sitting next to her, making faces at his grandson (and Harry had never seen him look so undignified and human), and he spoke to Harry without looking at him.

"The house-elves can help you with them." He nodded.

"Okay." He hadn't planned on staying here the whole day, but it was what it was, and it would give him a chance to spend time with Teddy and get to know Scorpius. It could even give him a little taste of what it was like to be a parent, sort of.

Maybe next time he came to visit he could ask Ginny about watching Rose.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

Harry stared. Scorpius stared back. They were in the little blond's room, and there was chaos all around them; toys of every shape and size littered the floor, and there were finger and handprints made from blue paint (he had no idea where said paint had come from) covering one wall, a chair, and Harry's face. Teddy had, finally, gone down for a nap, and so now it was just he and his youngest godchild left awake, since Daphne had warned him that her son didn't always take naps at the same time as the young metamorphmagus. He looked a little tired, and at the very least he wasn't running around screaming and laughing anymore.

Harry, for his part, was absolutely exhausted.

He'd spent most of the morning following them around and playing whatever they wanted to play. They'd messed about with nearly every toy Scorpius owned, played seekers and snitches, tag, made one attempt at a board game that only lasted through two dice rolls before the kids wanted to do something else (the board and its' various pieces were scattered all over one corner of the room, and Harry knew he needed to do some cleaning before anyone else got home). Then he had stepped out, just for a couple minutes, to use the loo, and everything had gone down-hill from there.

They'd found the paint, somehow, and had gotten it all over each other and the wall before Harry had come back. The chair and his face had gotten covered in the ensuing chaos as he tried to catch them both and get them cleaned up. While he'd been cleaning Scorpius' hands and face (he'd gotten Teddy first), the blue-haired child had managed to tear one of the curtains, and when he'd gone over to reparo it, Scorpius had knocked a framed photograph off the wall, and cut his hand on the glass. It had been a simple matter to clean up and repair the photo with magic, and just as simple, despite his own panic, to episkey the cuts up enough that only one wasn't closed at the end and he'd covered it with a band-aid that had little moving snitches on it. It had been quite another matter, however, to calm the child down. He'd screamed so loudly and terribly that Harry had been certain for several moments that he was hurt much worse than he had been, and then he'd spent ages pacing about, holding him and patting his back, and trying to calm him down while Teddy followed them and kept asking if he was okay. When he'd settled, they'd all sat down and he'd read a story to them, and the young metamorphmagus had fallen asleep sometime before the end, so he'd settled him into one side of Scorpius' bed (it really was much bigger than a child's bed needed to be), and now, here they were.

He was exhausted, and had a new appreciation for the power of puppy eyes and his own susceptibility to them.

"Do you want me to read you another story?" The little boy looked as though he was considering the question very seriously, and Harry bit back a smile. When he was calm he was like a tiny, more adorable version of Lucius. The rest of the time he was a hellion.

Teddy too.

"Okay." The little blond ran to the bookshelf and pulled out a book, carrying it back and handing it, very solemnly, to Harry. "Can oo read uh one 'bout uh tree brudders?"

"Sure, come on then." He settled back and gathered the little boy up onto his lap so that he sat on Harry's crossed legs with his back against the animagus' chest, as though Harry was a chair, and opened the book in front of them. He checked the table of contents, and then flipped through the pages. "The Tale of the Three Brothers," He began. "By Beedle the Bard."

"There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across... However, these three brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway along it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure."

"And Death spoke to them." Harry paused, but Scorpius was staring at the book, and the slightly moving picture there of three men on their bridge, with Death, looking not unlike a dementor, standing with them, in fascination. He continued. "He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him."

"So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a w-wand," He paused again, a chill going down his spine, and then continued on. "more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother."

"Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone," He grit his teeth. "from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him the stone would have the power to bring back the dead."

"And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility." The animagus took a deep breath.

"Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts. In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination."

"The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible."

"That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand, and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat. And so Death took the first brother for his own."

"Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him."

"Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world," He hesitated again, and then went on. "she did not truly belong there and suffered. FInally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her. And so Death took the second brother for his own."

"But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life."

He stared blankly at the page for several moments, idly noting that Scorpius had fallen asleep. This story was about the items, his items, that had made him Master of Death, and that made him wary. He'd not thought they were very well-known things, but this was a children's storybook. He would need to be careful, he thought to himself, to keep his possession of those items quiet. Not that it had been difficult. Not many people knew he had an Invisibility Cloak, and no one aside from his father and brothers knew he had the stone and wand. He didn't even use the wand, for that matter, so no one would be able to connect it to him, he didn't think.

And besides, it was just a children's story (no matter what truths it might have concealed in it), it wasn't as though people took these sort of things seriously, right?

He shook his head, set the book to the side, and carefully gathered up the sleeping child in his lap to carry him to the bed. He laid him down, and Scorpius rolled over and curled up against his cousin. The wizard stood there for a moment after he'd pulled the blanket up, watching them sleep with a smile on his face. It had been a very stressful day, and it wasn't over yet.

But next time he came to visit, he'd ask to watch them again.

He sighed, turning to survey the room, and then, after a wave of his hand to cast a silencing spell, he went about cleaning up the mess.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

When Lucius arrived at home around three in the afternoon, it was to find that Harry had taken over his kitchen, and the house-elves, tittering fretfully about outside of the room, were clearly unhappy about it. The boys were sat up on stools at one of the counters, eating sandwiches, and the animagus was bustling about near the oven, mixing things in bowls and pulling a batch of cookies out of the oven, filling the room with the smell of melted chocolate as he did so. The tall man stood in the doorway and blinked.

"Gra'fadder!" Scorpius beamed up at him, and Harry looked up.

"Oh hey, welcome home." And then he turned around and set about getting the next batch into the oven. Lucius came and kissed his grandson on the head, and smiled at Teddy, and then questioned:

"You're baking?"

"They asked for chocolate-chip-cookies, and I thought I could make a cake too, for after dinner tonight." He paused. "Assuming I'm welcome to stay that long." Lucius scoffed.

"Of course." He said, with the tone of voice one used when suggesting anything else would be idiocy. Harry grinned at him, and added a few pinches of cinnamon to the cake-batter.

"Can we 'av some yet?" Teddy asked, and Harry smiled fondly at him.

"Not yet. They've got to cool down a bit. Just finish your sandwich and they'll be ready before you know it." The little boy sighed in disappointment, but took another bite of his food.

"I didn't know you knew how to bake." Lucius commented lightly, watching as Harry began pouring the batter into three separate circle tins. There was a bowl with something red in it near him that he didn't touch yet, and another empty bowl.

" I can bake and cook. I just don't do much of it. Just because you know how to do something doesn't mean you like to." Lucius hummed, and Harry handed him, and each of the boys, a spoon with extra batter. The boys both made enthusiastic noises, and Lucius chuckled, but put the spoon in his mouth all the same. Harry had a spoon of his own, and he held it in his mouth while he went about mixing up some frosting.

He hated baking, but when he was of the mind to make a cake, he'd make the best damn cake he could.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

Harry followed after Lucius dutifully as the man led him to his office; the children having been left in the care of a house elf for the time being, and the blond man having demanded a word with him in private. Harry had rolled his eyes and agreed, though he already felt anxious having Teddy out of his sight. He didn't let himself acknowledge the feeling; that was the best way he had, at this point, for managing his instincts.

Lord Malfoy's office was somewhat less extravagant than the rest of his home, done in dark woods and deep reds and browns. It was surprisingly homey, and, rather than sit down in the large chair at the desk, Lucius led him to a small table in front of a fireplace, and they settled down in armchairs opposite one another. His Grand Uncle called a house-elf to bring them a bit of firewhiskey, and Harry frowned. He didn't know what Lucius wanted to talk about, but he hadn't thought it was anything serious. But, if the blond felt the need to drink alcohol just to talk, it must be worse than he thought.

They didn't say anything while they waited for the elf, and, after it arrived, while Lucius poured a small bit for each of them. Harry accepted his, and held it in his hands, but didn't drink it. He waited, instead.

"I heard a rumor, that Minister Fudge invited you to have dinner with he and his wife." He frowned, of all the subjects he might have expected (and he hadn't really been sure what he expected), that was not one of them.

"He did." He took a sip of his drink then, and put it down. "I got the impression it was some sort of political move, since the twins mentioned it's an election year."

"It is an election year, but the Minister is not running. He plans to retire this year." That gave Harry pause.

"Then why would he invite me to dinner? It's not as though I've ever given him the impression we were on particularly good terms." He'd never given him much of an impression to the contrary either, of course (their only interactions, after all, had been in the summer before his third year when he'd blown up Aunt Marge, and at the end of fourth year when he'd still been freaking out over Cedric's death), but still...

"That's what I wondered, so I did a little bit of digging. Apparently, both the Minister and Lady Bones have been, discreetly though it was, asking after your whereabouts for the past few months. It started right around the same time the Hall of Records did a review of the Wizengamot's member's information."

"Lady Bones?"

"Amelia Bones. She was Second Seat in the Wizengamot, and so became Chief Warlock after Dumbledore's death; the first witch to do so, at least once we voted Fudge out of the position." Harry frowned.

"As Lord of the Black family I'm technically a member of the Wizengamot..." He said carefully. Information on Wizengamot members? "Is this because I've never used my seat or something?" I mean, I didn't think they'd called for a full session since I gained it..."

"They haven't, and no." The man took another sip of his firewhiskey. "That's actually why I was at the Ministry today. They've been keeping a tight lid on everything and not letting many people into the Hall since then, but I managed to bribe one of the record keepers to look the other way long enough for me to do some digging." Harry sat forward a bit.

"What did you find?" He gave the younger wizard an indecipherable look, and set his glass down, running a finger along the top edge of it and eyeing it as though it were much more interesting than their current conversation.

"In the muggle world, they use all sorts of titles; Count, Viscount, Baron, and so forth. They generally have to do with a person's placement on the royal family tree, or other things, but the magical world, as it is, has no use for most such titles, and those we do have a use for, we use a little differently. Lord, or Lady, for instance, are both, in the muggle world, nothing more than terms of address for persons of various titles, but in our world, it is a title unto itself, denoting the head of any family that is either noble, ancient, or both. We use Chief or Chieftess for the heads of those families that are neither ancient, nor noble, though only those ones who have earned some level of respect." Harry nodded uncertainly, not knowing what this had to do with anything. "Beyond that, we use the title of Duke, to denote a Lord who also owns a section of land upon which they allow a town to be built, or allow a number of people outside their own family to live. It's also used when a Lord gains a certain number of vassals who've sworn themselves and their families to a Lord, though many Dukes, Like myself, tend to continue using the title of Lord, at least off of paper. Once you gain the title, you never lose it, though your heir may not necessarily inherit it. You yourself, came to be considered a Duke, during that period of time during the war in which you brought so many people to live in your castle."

"I did?" Harry asked, surprised.

"You did." He paused a moment, and then went on with his strange lesson. "Besides Duke and Lord, the only titles we have any use for outside of those denoting one's profession or political position, like Healer, or Warlock, or Minister, are Heir (in reference to the first heir to a Lordship), Prince, Princess, Queen, and... King." His gaze fell sharply on Harry at the last, and the animagus' stomach dropped. "Prince and Princess denote the various possible heirs, first in line or no, to a King or Queen-ship, such as a King or Queen's children, siblings, direct uncles and aunts, first cousins, and parents, if for some reason the title passed over them."

"Lucius-"

"Titles like that are monitored by very very ancient magic, so ancient no one knows how it works anymore. It's immediately known to such magic if someone gains such a title, or if a previously-existing title changes, and the wizengamot records alter themselves to reflect such information. They do not, however, track the cause of such title-changes. So tell me, King Black," He spoke the title with a dark tone. "how it was, you attained the status of royalty?" His eyes were narrowed at Harry, suspicious, and just daring him to lie or try to brush it aside, and the animagus was panicking, because no one here on Earth was supposed to know about that, and not only did Lucius know, but so did the Head of the Wizengamot, and the Minister, and Mitera-only-knew who else. He grimaced and stood, pacing around the office and pulling at his hair, because bloody fucking shit, but this was bad.

Worse than bad, this was terrible.

Merlin only knew what sort of problems this was going to cause him. He didn't even want to be a King dammit! What was going to happen? What would the Minister, or, gods forbid, the wizarding public do if they found out just what he was King of? What would his friends do? What would the Weasleys do? Would they turn their backs on him? Would people be afraid of him? Or would they put him up on an even higher pedestal than the one they'd made for him for being the Boy-Who-Lived? Would people come crawling to him for things they wanted? A chance to talk to lost love ones? To bring them back somehow? Which was worse? Fame or infamy?

"Harry." He started. In his panic, he'd forgotten the blond man was even there. "Sit down." He ordered sharply, and Harry, startled and still freaking out a bit, did just that, right there on the middle of the floor. Lucius didn't berate him for it, and instead just stared at him for several moments. "I asked a question, Harry. I still expect an answer." And Harry didn't even know where to begin, except-

Except that story was still on his mind.

"You've read the Tale of the Three Brothers?" He asked, the words falling off his tongue before he could think to stop them. The Lord Malfoy blinked, and then frowned.

"I have." He spoke slowly, uncertainly.

"They're real. The items, I mean."

"The Hallows?" He looked surprised.

"Hallows?"

"It's what the wand, stone, and cloak are called. The Deathly Hallows. They're real?"

"Yes. I-" He paused. He'd trusted Lucius with the Horcruxes, surely he could trust him with this? "I have them." The man's eyes widened, his mouth falling open just a tad. "It was an accident. I got them all without knowing what they were. It was Dumbledore's fault, really." And it was, he thought. He'd never considered that before. "The Cloak was passed down to me by James," It was Dumbledore, he knew, that had sent it to him that first Christmas at Hogwarts. "and the stone was set into a ring that Voldemort had turned into a Horcrux. Dumbledore destroyed that, cracked the stone, but it still works, and he asked me to take it, for safe-keeping. I didn't know what it was then. And the wand was his. I don't know how he got it, but it was his, and he had Father take it from his body when he died, and Father sent it to me when he was on the run, because he was worried about being caught, and having Voldemort get his hands on it." He'd been talking very fast, and then he stopped. "And, the story is true, at least, the part about them being made by Death. If you gather them all-"

"You become Master of Death." Harry's eyes snapped up, staring at the man. "The story is connected to a legend, I've a book on it, somewhere, that says that any wizard who should manage to obtain Death's three Hallows shall have power over Death, and so become his Master."

"Her." Harry corrected numbly. Lucius blinked. "Death is a Her, not a Him." The man stilled.

"You've met-"

"A few times now, yea." He sighed, and leaned back a bit where sat on the floor, suddenly feeling exhausted. "She's Hel, of Niflheim; one of the nine realms, specifically the realm of the dead. She's its ruler, its Queen, and as her Master-"

"You're King... King of... Niflheim." There was something like awe in his voice, and Harry closed his eyes.

"I don't want to be. I owe Hel. I... I promised her something, but once I fulfill that promise I don't need to- I can cast the title aside, and give the Hallows back to her or-"

"Are you mad?!" Harry jumped. "Why in Merlin's name would you give up that title, do you have any idea the sort of power-"

"I don't want power!" The animagus yelled at him. "I've never wanted it!" He was growling, and he'd stood up without realizing it. Lucius just watched him, calmly, and that was infuriating all on its' own.

"Everyone wants power." He said sedately, and Harry snarled warningly at him, teeth bared, though it wasn't as intimidating with the glamours in place. "It's the reasons that are important. Some want power for power's sake, others want power to conquer, power to destroy their enemies, power to achieve their dreams, power to change the world. Not all desires are malevolent. And if there is one desire I understand you to have, it is the desire to protect, whether that means protecting the innocent or just your family doesn't matter. Can you tell me, honestly," His voice quieted, softened. "that you don't want the power to do that, no matter what should come your way?" He glared at the man, but said nothing. "There is nothing wrong with wanting power, what matters is your motivation." He took a sip from his drink. "There are always going to be dangers, and enemies, and horrors in the world, and there is always going to be a threat to those you care for. Would it not be better, to gather to yourself as much power as you can, so that you can obliterate such threats when they make themselves known?" Harry came forward, slowly, and sat back down in his chair, still angry but no longer as assured of the righteousness of that anger.

"I don't want to be a King."

"Perhaps not. But for all that you know, there may come a time where being a King would be what you need to be in order to best protect what you love. You are not a seer, Harry. You do not know what the future holds. So tell me, with that possibility there, do you think it wise to so easily cast away a position of such power?"

"I might not ever find myself in that sort of situation."

"True. But are you willing to take the risk that you might be wrong?"

"What does it matter to you?" Harry hissed defensively, reminding himself, spitefully perhaps, that family or no, this was the same man who had set the wheels in motion to loose the Basilisk on Hogwarts just in an attempt to get Dumbledore sacked. And still he watched Harry, entirely composed.

"As a King, you are in a position to claim unused seats in the Wizengamot, and also, certain rights."

"What do you mean?"

"Ordinarily, each Lord or Lady or Duke is only permitted one seat, and if more than one seat is made available to a person and their family when they come of age, they have the option to choose which one they wish to sit upon, though there's no particular difference in them. I imagine you would be familiar with this. Your primary choices would likely have been between the Potter and Black seats, yes?"

"Yes."

"But what happens, do you think, to the Potter seat? To the one you didn't choose?" Harry frowned.

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

"Nothing." Lucius told him. "Each seat-holding family is only permitted to use one seat, and so extras remain empty, untouched, and waiting. When your Heir, if you should choose to have or declare one, comes of age, they will have the option to claim it, assuming of course, that you've passed on beforehand. If they don't, it will continue to remain empty and unused. Unused seats go unvoted, and the Wizengamot has dwindled through the years as a result. However as a King, you would have the power to denote any seats belonging to your family, or given to you, to someone of your choosing, be they a member of your family, or a vassal." He leaned forwards in his seat. "You could give the Potter seat, permanently or temporarily, to someone you trust, and thus create the opportunity to add more votes to your own."

"I don't sit on the Wizengamot though. I've never used my seat." He argued, but it was a weak argument, and he knew it. His thoughts swirled back to what Tom had taught him about the laws on werewolves, and how he had thought to himself that there was very little he could do. "And one more seat would hardly make a difference." There were two-hundred seats on the Wizengamot, he remembered from his brief research in British Wizarding Law, back when he'd been trying to prepare for his emancipation, and while only about half (ninety-three) of them were actively used, two out of that number was hardly impressive.

"Yes, but unused seats can be gifted between families who already hold them. It's often used as a way to form alliances, a traditional gesture of goodwill, since the seats remain unused, because only a Lord, Duke, or," and he gestured at Harry, "A member of Royalty or someone they have appointed, may sit on a seat. The Malfoy family has six unused seats, and my wife has another three that were gifted to her from Lord Orion Black when we were married. Also, if I recall, James Potter had five unused seats himself; two from his father and three from his mother. I imagine, with him gone, and you his only heir, you would have inherited them; you probably have more from Sirius Black, though I don't know the number. If they were being used, neither I nor my wife would have any issue with giving you our untouched seats. That's fourteen seats, Harry, at least;and I imagine we are not the only ones who would like to see old seats put to use. Lady Zabini has eleven empty seats at her disposal. That's twenty-five, and that would make a difference." He paused. "And, even if you didn't want to become involved in politics or make use of them yourself, you could use those seats to help people, like the Weasley family for instance." He said the last a bit bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

"The Weasleys have never been classified as an Ancient Family, but they were a Noble one," And Harry made a note to ask Tom about the terms 'Noble' and 'Ancient' and what they meant. "until about a century and a half ago, when they lost their seat. You could give them one, and allow them to regain that lost title." Harry's eyes widened. "You could do the same for any number of people, if you were so inclined. They would be bound as vassals to you, not in the sense that they would be your servants, but in the sense that you would have power over how they voted their seat, if you wanted to use it, for as long as you are alive and holding a royal title; but they would also keep that seat and the title that comes with it, even if you later decided to be stupid and give up your Kingship, or if, Merlin forbid, you died." He was leaning forwards as he spoke, and, in spite of himself, so was Harry. "You may not want to get involved with the Wizengamot, but there's more to it than that, and just because you don't want a sayin how this country is run doesn't mean that, for example, Arthur Weasley, won't either."

"I thought you hated him." Harry said quietly.

"Our families had a feud between them, and we never got along in school, but considering the fact that my wife and Arthur's daughter insist on having tea together at least twice a month," The man rolled his eyes in exasperation. "it's a moot point." He sighed, and sat back. "All I'm telling you, Harry, is that you should do a bit of research and think things over before you decide to do something rash and wind up regretting it." He swallowed down the last of his firewhiskey, and Harry, who'd hardly touched his own, took a swig of some himself. "Especially since this is something that has the power to impact more than just yourself."

He was still panicking a little, and was still unsure and unhappy about it all, but...

Well, a little research, and maybe some more in-depth discussions on wizarding law with Tom, couldn't really hurt. But for now-

"You said there were certain other rights?" He questioned. Lucius nodded.

"I only have a base understanding of those things." He said. "It's been some time since I've looked into those sorts of laws. There's not been a King on the Wizengamot in my lifetime, so my knowledge is limited. Let me do some research on the subject before we speak on it. Can you come visit again, in a couple months or so?" Harry nodded. Odin had more or less told Heimdall to let them come and go as needed, or so he understood. "Then we will talk more about this then."

"Do you think the Minister and Lady Bones will continue to keep quiet about this?"

"At least until they've spoken with you, yes, I do. Fudge is an imbecile, but he can keep his mouth shut as long as there's no political benefit for him to open it, and with him retiring, there's not. I think, however, you should accept his dinner invitation, and make your wish for discretion known. Lady Bones is a respectable witch. I'll have a word with her on the subject, and I can try and keep a lid on things if one of them does tell the wrong person. I own a portion of the stock at the Prophet, at least enough to stop them from making anything public if I call in a few favors with some of the other stock-owners, and there's only a handful of other respectable newspapers, the most notable one being that Quibbler the Weasley girl works at. That Lovegood girl is a friend of yours, isn't she?"

"She is."

"Then I doubt you'll need to worry about them either. And if any of the smaller papers publish something and those two don't, most people will take it as being incorrect reporting. You can rest easy, I believe."

"Good." He paused, running a hand over his face. "Thank you, Lucius." He nodded.

"Of course." He waved a hand. "Go on then, you've a house-elf to save from some children." He smirked at the animagus, and Harry chuckled.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

Tonks and Daphne were both pleasantly surprised when they came home just after dinner time and found their sons were busy eating dessert (a rather delicious-looking cake), with bibs around their necks; especially so when they realized both boys were more or less clean and unharmed, and practically singing their godfather's praises.

"Can Uncle 'Arry watch us 'gain Mommy?"

"Lookit! Uncu Harry made cake! Its yummy!"

"We play'd lotsa games!"

"I wonned at tag!"

"He read stories, Mummy!" The two witches exchanged glances, and then looked at Harry, who grinned at them.

"How was work?" He asked pleasantly.

"Hey Harry?"

"Yes Tonks?"

"Can you babysit all the time?"

He laughed.

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

He spent a second night at the Manor, and then, just after breakfast the next morning, he left. He wandered for a while, putting on one of his old disguise-glamours, and went to Diagon Alley. He didn't have a destination in mind, and there was nothing in particular he wanted to buy, but he walked about a little, looking around at the various shops and reminiscing, and he even got a bit of ice cream at Fortescue's, and some treacle tart at the Leaky Cauldron. He was having dinner with the Dursleys that night (he'd borrowed Tonks' mobile long enough to call and ask to come and visit a little), and he really could have stayed at the Malfoy's until then, but he had been in a strange mood, and had decided against it.

So instead, there he was, sitting on a bench in the Alley, eating his treacle tart and people-watching; and thinking, as well. He was trying to justify, in his mind, having some sense of power over these people, and their lives, through his position on the Wizengamot, despite not living here in this country any more...

He didn't even like the thought, but-

If it could help and benefit his family and friends; the Weasleys, and the Malfoys, and the Lupins, and even Neville and Seamus and Blaise and everyone else... If it could help protect Remus and the twins and change the werewolf laws to give them a better life than what they had... If it could give Dad a place in the government and give him a Lordship to bring back some lost honor to the Weasley name... If it could put Harry in a position of being able to prove his father's innocence in Dumbledore's death, enough so that he could come home to England (and Harry could see that he considered it his home, that he wished to return to it; could see it in his eyes every time they talked about the old days and Hogwarts)...

It was a startling thought, that in the face of all that, he cared very little about how the rest of the wizarding public was affected, in the grand scheme of it all. It it could help his family, the things he would be willing to do, and not just in the case of politics-

It was... A little scary.

Harry was forced, for the first time, to ask himself what he wouldn't do for his family, to question what lines he wouldn't cross to keep them safe and happy- and it was a little terrifying to realize he wasn't sure there was anything he wouldn't be willing to do. With every situation he imagined, every instance where he thought up something he wouldn't ordinarily even consider doing, and then asked himself if it was something he'd do if it was to keep his family safe, the answer was always 'yes'.

He didn't like to kill, but he'd done it, and he'd do it again for his family. He'd kill for them in a battle, and he'd kill in cold blood outside of it for them. He was horrified by the very thought of torture, had never even considered doing such a thing, but if it was for his brothers, or his father, the Weasleys, the Malfoys, his friends, for their safety-

He didn't think he would even hesitate, and that was... It was frightening, to think what he might be capable of doing, if he had to.

In the face of that, sticking his fingers into the political pie didn't seem so bad.

Which was why he'd already sent Fudge an owl, to arrange to meet and have dinner with him the next night, if nothing else than to ask him, politely, to keep his mouth shut. It would be the weekend after that, and Tonks had invited him to come and spend a day of it at Hogwarts with her and Remus and Teddy (school was still in session, and while Remus usually flooed home to Grimmauld on the weekends, he'd made the suggestion to his wife that Harry might want to visit the old castle, and McGonagall had already given her permission on the matter). Then on Sunday, he would take a portkey back to New York, to spend a few days at home before Heimdall called them back to Asgard. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes, and took a deep breath, and then paused, and smiled.

"I know that scent." He said aloud, not bothering to open his eyes, and laughing inside at such a coincidence, because, really, what were the chances? There was a deep scratchy chuckle, and the man sat down on the bench next to him.

"Stayin' vigilant, I see." Harry smiled, and opened his eyes. Moody was wearing a glamour that made him look like a much younger man; unscarred and unassuming, perhaps even slightly handsome. Harry was sure, though, that beneath it his eye was spinning around as usual, and that with it he could see through Harry's own glamours.

"Mostly." Moody chuckled, and it was so strange to see him look the way he did when Harry could smell the man beneath them. It was funny, to have that sort of disguise turned on him. The retired Auror stood, and waved a hand.

"Walk with me boy." And Harry followed.

He'd seen and visited with many old faces these past few days, and it had been more hectic and stressful than he could ever have expected.

What was one more, really?

fafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafafa

A lot of logistical stuff regarding the way the wizarding government works. The possibility of Harry getting involved in politics a little too, which isn't something I had really planned to have happen, but, if it does, it probably won't be until after the events of the second Thor movie have run their course.

But now Harry has been pushed into considering that not only is his title not as empty as he'd like to think it is, but it may not be so easily cast aside either. He also finally knows the tale of the three brothers, which, previous to this chapter, he wasn't familiar with.

Aside from that, you have NO idea just how much of the babysitting scene was based on personal experience. I love children, I really do, but they are hell's minions.

I think that's all I have to say about this chapter, so, review please, ask questions, give me your opinions, and I'll see you all next chapter.

Sincerely,

Mr. Hate