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Chapter 26

Things with Neville were a bit tender when they got back to Hogwarts. Harry had intended to stay with Hermione all night, but a battle axe of a medi witch had kicked Harry out, telling him visiting hours were over. With Neville, well… considering Harry had just gifted him and his grandmother a severed head, Harry supposed that was to be expected. Neville wasn't trying to avoid him, but he had caught Neville staring at him a few times, as though he was reassessing what he knew about Harry.

Harry had heard the line 'war changes a man' dozens of times in his life. It had even been a quote in one of Emma's favourite films she had on VHS back home. Harry thought that it was just a line at the time, but now he knew it was more than that. War was a burden, a responsibility to those who fought them. If that didn't change you, then you weren't doing it right.

Rita came through the very next morning. Harry had given the reporter enough gold to make sure every student in Hogwarts got a copy of the paper, so it was chaos as hundreds of owls came swooping into the hall and blocking out the morning sunlight. One owl dropped a rolled up copy of the Prophet into Harry's lap, and he unrolled it to take a look. The headline jumped out at him

Death Eaters life expectancy plummets

with the tagline of 'Harry Potter collects the head of Bellatrix LeStrange.' Harry heard the muttering around him rising as the students got their papers and read the headline. He began to read his paper.

My dear readers, it's with great joy that I bring you a message of safety this morning. While I can't bring the story of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's demise, I can report something almost as significant. Yesterday, while visiting his mother's grave, Harry Potter and company were attacked by Death Eaters who were led by notorious murderess Bellatrix LeStrange.

Many will recall she was You-Know-Who's right hand. As terrible as he was in many respects, the idea of being confronted by her filled people with as much terror as the idea of facing her master. Well, my readers, I can confirm that that particular threat is one we will never have to face again. At the end of the battle, Harry Potter and his associates stood victorious while LeStrange lay dead, slain by none other than the Boy-Who-Lived.

Some of you may be asking, "How do I know this?" After the fight, I was doing as any reporter of my calibre would do and searching for any information on what happened. To this end, I visited the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and who do I find there but Potter himself. Even when legally killing a deranged mad woman, the curse of Ministry parchment work is unavoidable. Mr. Potter…

The article went on to describe how Harry had presented the Longbottoms with LeStrange's head, and then went on to speculate at least about how long any new recruit could hope to last when even the likes of LeStrange fall.

Harry did give her a quote and was happy to see it in the paper in full. "I am sick and tired of bigoted fools who sign up to follow a terrorist because of nothing but vague promises of an easier life once he wins. Now, here is the other side of the coin. If you choose to serve that madman, I'll collect your fucking head."

-ϟϟϟ-

While Harry was reading the newspaper, Hermione was talking to her parents. The two Grangers had made their way to the hospital with Sirius first thing that morning to check on their daughter.

"Honestly mum, I'm fine. It was a very unpleasant experience, but it was over really quickly. The healers haven't even done anything to heal me, all they gave me is a Calming Draught and a Dreamless Sleep potion, and they are for stress not because I was hurt."

"Hermione, you're in the hospital and we are your parents. Of course we are going to worry," Dan said, defending his wife's concern.

"I'm more worried about Harry than myself," said Hermione.

"Why?" asked Emma.

Hermione hesitated for a moment before she decided that her parents were the best people to help. "When Harry was fighting LeStrange, I went to help him. I tripped LeStrange, giving Harry the opportunity to end it. But when he killed her, he was smiling. A few years ago, Harry had a small breakdown over casting to kill even though nobody died. Later he thought he was evil because he killed someone in self-defence. Last year, Harry killed Death Eaters and it didn't really bother him. But now… he actually enjoyed it. What if Harry is going too far? The prophecy said there was a chance Harry could become what we are fighting against. What am I supposed to do? How do I help him get back who he was without sacrificing what we need to win?"

As far as questions Hermione had ever asked her parents, this was the hardest one she had ever asked. It required a serious answer and serious consideration. The only comfort was Hermione didn't show any signs of being afraid of Harry, she was worried for him. Dan went quiet for ten minutes while Emma reassured their daughter. However, finally Dan thought he had an answer.

"First, Hermione, I don't think this is as much of a problem as you are worried about, at least not yet. Remember, this is one person. A person who, let me remind you, set both you and Harry on fire, burned the symbol of the man who murdered his parents into his chest, set a werewolf on him, taught a classmate how to torture him, helped to save the life of the man who betrayed his parents, helped Voldemort return from being almost dead, and then had just killed his godfather, at least as Harry believed at the time. That's just what she has done to Harry personally, there was so much more she did to others. Given all of that, a little satisfaction over ending that threat to him and people he cares for…" he hugged his daughter as he spoke.

"However, that's not to say Harry doesn't need to talk. The problem is going to be convincing him to do so. Hermione, you need to understand something about men and relationships, and Fleur does as well. You two need to be the people Harry feels he can share with. That means whatever he tells you needs to stay between you. Maybe you can talk to Fleur about it, I'm not sure how three way relationships work on such things, but outside of Fleur is definitely off limits.

"As to the prophecy, ignore it. Everyone has a darker side to them. Some embrace it and make it a core part of who they are, some find it uncovered by alcohol or some other trigger, and some have it buried deep until they are pushed in just the right way. War has a tendency to bring out the best and worst in people, even if you have done things you are proud of. But if you were in Harry's position, do you think you would have done anything any differently?"

"No, I would have done everything he did. Or at least something similar, I'm not sure I could pull off everything he did," Hermione admitted. "Let's just hope that Harry gets left out of the madness for a bit."

-ϟϟϟ-

In the Great Hall, Malfoy finished reading about what Harry had done to his aunt. He imagined the grief his mother must be feeling right now, and he acted. He stood up and marched across the room, shouting "Potter!".

Harry heard the call and turned to look at the parochial blond git. "Ah Malfoy good morning, how are you on this fine day?" He put all the fake sickly sweetness into his voice he could fake.

"Don't give me that dragon shite!" Malfoy shouted, and then did something Harry never would have expected. Malfoy reached inside his robes, pulled out his dragon hide gloves, and threw them in Harry's face, falling into the remnants of his breakfast right after. "Harry James Potter, Warlock of the House of Potter and false Heir of the House of Black, I, Draco Abraxas Malfoy, Heir of the House of Malfoy and rightful Heir of the House of Black, do call you out. I accuse you of uncouth barbarism, the murder of my aunt, and unseemly behaviour. Your gloating in the paper and your smug attitude in this hall is behaviour most unbecoming of the future Head of the House of Black, and I challenge you to a duel."

The hall was suddenly silent. Everyone, including the professors, was waiting to hear how Harry would respond. Harry looked over at the headmistress, knowing she didn't want there to be any more duels involving the students, and he had sort of promised he wouldn't do it again after the last time. McGonagall gave him a look that told him to de-escalate the situation.

Harry understood and turned back to Malfoy. "Malfoy, I strongly recommend you reconsider your declaration and pick up that glove before I am forced to. This is not a situation you want to be in."

"The challenge is made, Potter, accept the duel or surrender the Heirship of the House of Black back to me and be labelled a coward," Malfoy practically spat the words at Harry.

Harry sighed. "Malfoy you do realise that you have to stake an equal stake in a duel. You would be risking your entire family on your ability to duel me. No tricks, no back up. Just you, me, and the arena. Is this really a good move on your part? On the back of my word given to another, I offer you one last chance to withdraw your challenge."

"What, are you afraid, Potter, now you realise you're not the only one who can use the laws to their advantage? You're nothing but a jumped up halfblood with an over inflated sense of your worth. I will crush you," Malfoy said, obviously believing every word.

Harry sighed. He looked over at Professor McGonagall again, and this time she looked resigned to what Harry would have to do. Maybe if Malfoy had picked anything other than the Heirship of the House of Black, then Harry could have just given it to him to keep the peace, but this was too important. So Harry picked up the glove and stared Malfoy right in the eye, a grin on his face. "Draco Abraxas Malfoy, I eagerly accept your challenge. I will finally get to pay you back for the end of third year. I nominate Warlock Sirius Black of the House of Black as my second and I nominate Gringotts Bank as the neutral arbiters of this dispute, do you object?" Traditionally, Malfoy was supposed to nominate the arbiters, but it was just accepted practice, not a rule. Plus, given Harry didn't think Malfoy had put more than thirty seconds worth of thought into this plan of his, Harry was sure he didn't have an arbitrator in mind.

"If you want the greedy little bastards as arbitrators, then fine by me. I nominate my father, Warlock Malfoy of the House of Malfoy as my second," Malfoy said before he walked out of the hall, probably to go tell his father about the mess he had just gotten him into.

Harry looked down at the last few bites of his breakfast and decided after Malfoy's dirty glove had been in it he wasn't going to touch the rest. He picked up his goblet of juice and downed it before he too stood to leave, as he now had a lot of things to do.

Before he left Harry's first stop though was the teachers table. He strode up to the headmistress and opened with, "Sorry, I tried to calm everything down but Malfoy wouldn't budge."

"So I saw. Though did you really need to parade your latest victory in the paper like that?" the exasperated headmistress asked.

"Anyone who joins the Death Eaters murders multiple times. If that article stops even one person joining the Death Eaters, then yeah it was worth it. As bad as this looks because of it kicking off here, in a school, Malfoy's fate was already sealed. I will never forget what he did to me at the end of my third year. His father may have gotten him out of trouble with the law, but that debt is still to be settled." Harry waited for the headmistress to say anything, but she didn't for a while.

She may not like what Harry was doing outside of the school, but that wasn't school business. As long as he didn't bring it into the school, it wasn't her business to stop him. As for what had happened just now, Malfoy had made a legal challenge that was separate from the feud that would have banned it at Hogwarts. And just like when Harry challenged Umbridge, McGonagall's hands were tied, so she did the only thing she could. "As headmistress, I refuse the use of Hogwarts Castle, its grounds, or any of its domains as the grounds for this dual."

Harry understood. "I understand, I know it was different with Umbridge as it was the whole school against her, this has the potential to have the students break into factions and have war in the corridors. I can see why it's best if that happened away from the eyes of everyone. Anyway," Harry changed the subject slightly, "big surprise here, but I will need to be leaving the castle for some time today on House business. I strongly suspect I will also be bringing Hermione back with me today."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Be safe and try not to get into any more duels before you get back."

Harry gave the professor a weak smile. "You know me, professor. I always try.

She gave him a disbelieving look, not unlike a grandmother would give a child who was insisting that he hadn't just eaten the last of the biscuits while his face was covered in crumbs.

Harry left the hall, and once he was on his own he Stepped to his house. Fleur was already waiting for him with a bag with what he suspected was a clean change of clothes for Hermione at her side. Harry flung his arms around Fleur as soon as he saw her and the two had a moment. Even before the morning paper, the last day had been one hell of a day.

He and Fleur had ended up talking half the night on their mirrors because neither could get the images of the day before out of their heads. Harry had even Stepped home for an hour last night just to hold Fleur after she had admitted that she had killed one of LeStrange's back up fighters in the graveyard. It was the first time Fleur had done that. On an intellectual level, Fleur had understood that this was likely when she decided to join Harry's war. However, knowing something theoretical and looking in the mirror and seeing someone who was a killer was a rather dramatic paradigm shift.

"Did you sleep well in the end?" Harry asked Fleur, concerned for her wellbeing. She was already taking a sick day from work. Goblins had to be the only employer on the planet who accepted a mental health day off because of an existential crisis brought on by your first kill in battle. Of course, that was normally reserved for the goblin warriors, not the people who worked in the bank. Yet Fleur wasn't the first bank employee to need a day off for this, and given how cutthroat goblin banking could be, they doubted Fleur would be the last

"I got a few hours before dawn," Fleur admitted. " What about you, did you at least eat well?" Fleur had noticed Harry had little tendency to skip meals if he was preoccupied enough.

"I ate most of my breakfast. Unfortunately the fallout from the paper meant I didn't get to finish it." Harry said. He could see Fleur's copy of the paper, so he knew she was up to date on what the Prophet said.

"What happened?" Fleur asked, her eyes darting over Harry looking for injuries.

"Nothing has happened yet, I'll explain later when we have everyone together. I don't want to have to tell it twelve times," Harry said.

With what Fleur considered an ominous statement, the two Floo'ed to St. Mungo's. They came out through the non-emergency Floo, and because they knew where they were going having spent a good few hours there the day before, they were able to walk right past the queue for the welcome witch.

Dan, Emma, and Sirius were already in the room with Hermione, who was sitting up in bed and a smile spread over her face when she saw Harry and Fleur. They instinctively split so they were either side of Hermione's bed and proceeded to sandwich their girl in the type of hug they knew she loved. It was only temporary, as the reality of the events of the day before and the knowledge that the war was far from over would soon bring them back down, but for that moment there was a simple joy in the three of them being together again.

Hermione's first question was. "So that was the fallout from the Prophet article?"

Harry told everyone in the room exactly what had happened and how Malfoy had challenged him to a duel. He finished by asking, "I named you as my second, Sirius, I hope that's okay?"

Sirius nodded. "Sure thing kid. I don't mind taunting old Lucius for you. But you know he is going to try something."

"Yeah but I want you to try something before you get into it. It's obvious that Draco didn't have his daddy's permission to challenge for the duel. Give Lucius the opportunity to invalidate the challenge. Let him walk away."

"Why?" asked Sirius. "Do you think you'll have trouble with the fight?"

"Fighting Draco? No, that will be easy. I just want a break. I have had to kill four people in the last four months. I have had another two fights where I was able to capture rather than kill, and Malfoy Manor was burnt down in my name. I'm tired, and I want a break. I will fight the duel if Malfoy doesn't want to back out, but if I can I would like to go until the new year without having to fight." Harry explained. "I doubt he will take it, you're right that Lucius will see this as an opportunity to do something underhanded. But it's worth trying. Anyway, I'm changing the subject. When are they letting you out Hermione?"

"They want a healer to give me one more scan, and if it's clear then I will be free to go. The healers should be around in the next forty-five minutes to an hour." They talked for a bit until the healers came and kicked everyone out of the room except for Hermione and her parents so she could do her scans. Ten minutes later Hermione was given a clean bill of health, and while Fleur took Hermione her change of clothes, Dan and Sirius tackled the parchment work the hospital needed.

Hermione was given a prescription for Calming Draughts, but that was more as a precaution than anything more severe. The healers couldn't imagine being possessed by Voldemort, even for only a handful of minutes, not leaving someone with some issues. Considering what had happened to Ginny, Harry thought that they both had a point but were also blowing it out of proportion. Ginny was possessed for months, and while she had a few problems from that it wasn't like she was a *nutcase. If Harry was right, Hermione probably wouldn't take the potions, but he would be drafted to help her sleep for the next few nights to keep any nightmares at bay. Which, now he was thinking about, it was probably going to be a thing for Fleur as well. She had just killed someone yesterday.

Fleur and Hermione came out of Hermione's room just then, with Hermione's hair redone in some elaborate braid that Fleur must have used magic to do because they hadn't been in the room for over an hour getting ready. The two of them were smiling about something they had been talking about.

"So where are we going first?" asked Dan when he and Sirius had finished with the paperwork.

It was Hermione who answered. "Gringotts, then we can stop for some lunch before going to the Ministry. I still need to give my statement."

The bank was the only business in Diagon Alley that didn't seem to have suffered for the lack of confidence the public had in their safety at the moment. They walked past a number of shops that were boarded up, some with signs saying they were offering their wares by owl order, others had For Rent signs up as property owners tried to entice new business.

The bank, however, had people in and out as normal. People still needed to eat and those groceries still needed to be paid for, so either people needed gold for their owl order or gold traded for mundane pounds so that they could get what they needed elsewhere. However you did it, you needed the help of the bank to pay for things. As such, the bank still had customers aplenty. Though most of them were appearing in the Alley right next the steps of the bank, rushing in, and disappearing just as quickly on the way out.

From how nervous the crowd was, Harry half expected that someone was going to jump out and attack him and his family as they walked along the alley. Yet the truth was that it was entirely uneventful. It just went to prove how effective the Death Eaters' terrorism was. There hadn't been any sign of them in Diagon Alley for weeks, but people were still terrified.

Luckily, when they got to the bank they didn't need to go to the regular tellers, but instead to the other services desk that was far less busy. Harry specifically requested to speak to the same goblin that had arbitrated his last duel, as he trusted Bonesnapper to be fair in this arbitration.

Despite not being on duty, the desk goblin recognised Fleur and trusted her to guide Harry and Sirius to Bonesnaper's office. As they walked, a lot of the bank staff greeted Fleur in passing, but not one of them stopped to try and talk to her. Harry got the impression that the goblins liked to keep the people who were on the clock working, but when people got a break they were friendly enough.

Fleur knocked on Bonesnapper's door and the familiar gruff voice called for them to enter. As soon as he saw Harry, Bonesnapper smiled and said, "Mr. Potter, this is a surprise. What can I do for you? Challenged another fool to duel? After what I read in the paper this morning it wouldn't surprise me to learn that tensions were running high."

Harry couldn't help but smile back. "You're almost entirely right. This time I'm the one who was Challenged. The Malfoy heir seems to believe he can Challenge me for the Heirship of the House of Black after I killed his dear auntie Bella. I nominated Sirius Black, Warlock of the House of Black, as my second," Harry said.

"Excellent. Warlock Black, do you accept to act as Warlock Potter's second in this matter?" Asked Bonesnapper.

"I do," answered Sirius.

"Brilliant. Now Mr. Potter, you know I need to direct the rest of this discussion to your second, so while I don't mean to be rude, as arbiter I will be ignoring you for the rest of this meeting." Bonesnapper set the expectations for the meeting.

Harry sat there holding Fleur's hand while they listened to Sirius and Bonesnapper discuss details. As the challenged party the choice of combat was Harry's, but Sirius did raise a legitimate concern about Malfoy choosing the location. Given the status House Potter had with so many Death Eaters' houses, if they were to choose, say, a field at high noon then there could conceivably be an ambush right after the duel was finished. Sirius officially charged the arbiter to ensure not only the sanctity of the duel, but also making sure that after the fight people could leave freely. After all, it was the responsibility of the neutral party to ensure that the location chosen was suitably fair. Of course if the Malfoys, as the ones choosing the location, chose somewhere where it would take great expense to secure, then that was on them.

-ϟϟϟ-

While Harry, Sirius, and Fleur were in the office talking to Bonesnapper, Hermione and her parents were waiting in the lobby, as having three people in an office was already excessive. Having six people suddenly turn up when most of them didn't actually need to be there would be considered rude.

It was for this reason that Hermione got to watch as none other than Narcissa Malfoy walked into the bank looking a little upset. Considering she probably found out from the papers this morning or possibly from the Ministry later the night before that her sister had just been killed because of the blood feud, looking upset was natural.

At the same time, just because Hermione could understand why Narcissa Malfoy was upset didn't mean she had any sympathy for the woman. They were talking about the wife of Lucius, the mother of Draco, and sister of Bellatrix who was helping her sister hide the LeStrange gold by moving it to a vault in hers and her sister's name after Harry had captured Bellatrix's husband. They may not have any evidence of the woman doing anything directly, but she was up to her neck in the business of the Death Eaters. She had chosen her bed, and as far as Hermione was concerned the bitch could die in it.

Hermione watched as the woman cued up to speak to a teller. Not because it was particularly interesting, but because honestly she had nothing else to do. If there was one universal truth of both the mundane and magical world, it was that waiting in banks was boring. It didn't take too long for the Malfoy woman to reach a goblin, and Hermione picked her ears up to listen. For the most part her cat features became a non-issue in the magical world. Sure, there were bigots, but she would be dealing with them for being first generation anyways. Plus, occasionally they came in handy.

"I have a certificate of death here for my sister. I would like to transfer the contents of our joint vault into my personal vault and close the joint vault," Narcissa said to the goblin in a cold detached tone.

"Very well, may I see the proof of death please?" The goblin asked. Hermione couldn't see any details from so far but she could see Narcissa hand over some parchment, and context made it obvious what it was. She could just imagine under the cause of death it read 'hole in the head brought about by biting off more than she can chew.'

"That seems to be in order. Lady Malfoy, can you please present your key to the vault?" The goblin asked as he handed back the back certificate. Narcissa took a key form somewhere Hermione couldn't see and placed it in a small bowl on the tellers desk.

There was nothing Hermione could see or hear to say something was wrong. but there must have been because the next words the goblin spoke were. "I'm sorry, but all trading for this account has been suspended."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY ACCOUNT IS SUSPENDED?!" The Malfoy woman screamed at the teller, ending all need for Hermione to pretend she wasn't eavesdropping because now everyone, witch, wizard, goblin, hag, and even a dwarf were now giving the woman their undivided attention.

"Let's see." With the lack of chatter in the room, the goblins' voice now carried clearly. "It's taking a minute for the ledger to update. Ah here it is. Heir Draco Malfoy has challenged the Black heir to a duel, taking the right to inheritance of the Black estate upon the current warlock's death. To match that stake, the complete assets of the House of Malfoy must be held as the equivalent stake. So apart from some discretionary funds for the cost of living, all accounts belonging to the Malfoy family are frozen until such time as the duel is decided."

Everyone started to whisper amongst themselves. The news that the Malfoys were, at least for now, homeless and broke would spread quickly, and Hermione couldn't keep herself from laughing.

A/N

nutcase - some may consider my use of the term nutcase here as problematic but this is back in the 90's in Britain, mental health wasn't really done well in the country back then.

the author would like to allay any fears that they are suffering from an addiction to energy drinks. I enjoy every minute of it. now don't forget to pay your comment/review tax