I'll Be Your Huckleberry
Harry was wandering the halls under his cloak when he heard a harsh sob coming from the closest boys' bathroom. Creeping inside he saw a Slytherin he had never talked to holding paper towels to his hand which was bleeding. Umbridge had gotten another one. Harry was surprised though; he thought she went easy on all the snakes because of their high ranking parents.
The cloak slid off his shoulders and pooled in his hands. "She got you too then?"
The boy froze and turned slowly to face Harry. "What did you say?"
Then it was Harry's turn to freeze. He'd had those words written on his wrist since he could read. When Aunt Petunia never said anything growing up, he asked the Librarian at primary. She was a kind older lady who gently explained that those words were the first thing his soulmate would tell him. And that when his soulmate spoke those words, the tattoo would turn from ashy grey to a solid black. He glanced at his wrist. It was a super common phrase so it's not that likely that it would be him, but there it was. Solid lines of black script. He looked at the boy in wonder.
Then he snapped out of it because he was still bleeding. "Are you okay? Zabini right?"
The dark skinned boy was still staring at him. "Uh yeah I'm Blaise. And not really. You see this psycho bitch carved words in my hand because she doesn't like that my mom's trying to get involved in British politics. She thinks foreigners should stay out."
"That sucks. What did she have you write? If I can ask."
"I am the son of a dirty foreign whore. Yeah, real winner in the government there."
Harry revealed his hand where it was finally starting to heal. "'I must not tell lies' is what she told me to write. Like Cedric dropped dead on his own."
Blaise huffed a laugh.
They heard a noise in the corridor. Harry swore under his breath and gave Blaise a grin.
"See you later I guess." Then he stepped into the corridor pulling on the cloak as he went.
XX
Harry kept thinking about that interaction for weeks, going about classes and the DA as usual, but always wondering about that boy that made the writing on his wrist darken. He got a chance to talk to him on the second Hogsmeade weekend of the new year. Valentine's Day weekend. Cho had asked him to meet her and he'd said alright but he felt like a prat after GInny and Hermione had explained she saw it as a date. He wasn't really interested in Cho any more and with Cedric…it just felt complicated.
He had just left Cho crying in the tea shop. He had an hour before he had to meet Hermione and Rita Skeeter at the Three Broomsticks when he saw Blaise window shopping. No one else was around so he sidled up beside the other boy.
"Hey there Zabini."
If he was surprised to see Harry, he didn't show it. "Potter."
Harry lost track of what he was going to say next and then, for good measure, tripped.
"So did you go home for Christmas break?" Harry asked, straightening up.
"No, mother had company and doesn't like it when I'm underfoot." He replied in a bored tone.
"I can understand that. My relatives don't particularly like to see me around either."
Blaise glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "That's right. You normally stay for holidays but you and the Weasleys vanished overnight. Care to comment?"
Harry bit his lip. "Promise you won't say anything? I'm gonna sound crazy."
Blaise looked at him head-on, looking serious. "If our wrists are to be believed, I have a lot of reasons to trust you."
Harry looked him in the eye and hesitated. "Alright. We were with Sirius Black. He's my godfather. I had a vision of Mr. Weasley being attacked so the Headmaster sent us to Sirius' place."
Blaise's eyes widened minutely, but he kept quiet.
Then, "That sounds rough. Having to see that. With Weasley senior I mean. But why does the Headmaster get to make that kind of decision on where you go?"
Harry scratched the back of his head, "Well he's Dumbledore isn't he?" His face turned bitter. "Making decisions that affect people's lives is what he does."
"Well that's dumb." Blaise replied. "People who get led rarely make their own way."
They reached the Three Broomsticks and Harry awkwardly mentioned that he had to go do a thing. Blaise laughed at him to his face and waved him off, turning to go find the other Slytherins in town.
XX
Dolores Umbridge was plotting. That damned Potter boy had been making a fool of her all year and she wouldn't stand for it any more. There had to be a way to shut him up.
She was looking over old Prophet issues and saw the one from last June, where the Tri-Wizard Tournament had ended and Cedric Diggory had died. Hmm. That gave her an idea. Nobody knew how Diggory had died except Potter. Maybe the little pissant had done it. Yes, that was it. She could get the Aurors to investigate him for murder of a pureblood heir.
She had an important Floo call to make.
XX
March dawned cold and windy in the castle and Harry was heading down to breakfast with the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years. He had just sat down and pulled a serving bowl of scrambled eggs closer when two Aurors dressed in their signature red robes came in and walked towards him.
"Harry Potter?"
"Yes?"
"You're under arrest for the alleged murder of pureblood Cedric Diggory last June. Come quietly or we will be forced to bring you at any means necessary."
All at once voices around the hall rang out in protest. Susan Bones started walking over, a determined look pasted on her face.
Harry put his hands up peacefully. "I didn't kill Cedric."
"Then you'll have no issue coming with us to prove that?"
He sighed and thought about his options. Dumbledore wasn't in the hall yet and McGonagall was looking at Umbridge, who was smiling dementedly. This was a plot.
"Hermione, don't tell Snuffles. He'll worry. And continue our after school practice." He said quietly to the girl beside him, then louder. "I'll go quietly."
He stood up and the Aurors guided him out of school and to the Ministry.
XX
Harry sat in a cold metal room with one door, a table and two chairs. The Aurors had dumped him in there and gave him nasty smiles as they locked the door behind them. They had long confiscated his wand and searched him for other magical items.
Finally, at least a couple hours later, the door opened and one of the Aurors from before came in.
"Mr. Potter, what do you have to say for yourself?"
He took a deep breath. "I want to talk to Amelia Bones. I'll only talk to her."
The Auror frowned but realized he'd be in deep shit if it got out he hadn't followed protocol. If someone asked for a higher up officer, he was supposed to follow through.
Scowling, he nodded and left the room.
Soon after a woman with gray hair streaked with strawberry blonde and a monocle entered the room.
"Mr. Potter, I had hoped to not see you again in a professional sense for many years. Why are we here?"
"Ma'am I'm not sure if you know, but they're saying I killed Cedric Diggory and that's a lie. I'll go under veritaserum or share memories, whatever it takes. I didn't do this. I…I think I'm being framed."
She frowned. "These are very serious accusations. But yes, memories are submittable evidence. It's too far gone to test your wand. Normally we don't dose minors with veritaserum; it can have unusual side effects. Here's what we'll do. I have a potion vial in my pocket, a pepper up I took earlier. If you consent, I'll put your memory in that vial and confirm that it hasn't been tampered with. In that case I'll have to show it to the Wizengamot as in all cases involving purebloods must be tried by Wizengamot. It should be quick. Maybe two days. In which case, you'll be moved to a ministry holding cell. You'll be kept comfortable." She stood up.
She took his memory, sealing it in the potion vial and with a nod, left the room.
Harry sat back in the metal chair. Two days. He could do that. Before he could get too comfortable in his chair, a different Auror came in and guided him to the holding cells, locking him inside. There was a small bed, a sink, and a toilet with a half wall in front. For privacy he guessed. Not that there was a lot of privacy offered when the entire front wall was barred and had an Auror posted in front, who was currently eating pastries and reading the Prophet.
With a sigh he sat on the bed and figured he might as well make the best of it.
XX
Meanwhile at Hogwarts…
Blaise had cornered Hermione Granger and invited himself to an underground meeting of rebellious teens in a room he didn't know existed. And all it took was swearing that Harry was his soulmate and he wanted to help.
The teens all wanted to talk at once because nobody was clear on what exactly was happening.
Hermione stood up and tried to corral everyone's attention but they kept talking over her until Ginny Weasley stood and shouted everyone down, doing an eerie impression on her mother who most of Hogwarts knew by reputation from her infamous Howlers.
Once everyone was quiet and shamefaced, Hermione spoke.
"Okay, so the Aurors arrested Harry on the charge of Cedric's murder. We know he didn't do it so how do we clear his name and what do we do about Umbridge? It's obviously a play for power in the school. She's been after Harry since day one and this is just a more targeted attack."
Nobody noticed Blaise in the crowd and that's how he liked it.
The group raised several ideas but the best came when Ron spoke in a tight voice.
"There's a big family of Acromantula in the forest. If we could lure her out there, without putting one of us in danger, I think the ….spiders" He shuddered. "Would overwhelm her fast."
They all looked at each other. Acromantula were man killers and despite how strongly they all thought their skills were, they were still kids.
Finally Luna spoke. "I'll go. The forest likes me."
"Are you sure Luna? Absolutely sure?" Hermione asked.
The blonde nodded with a serious look on her face.
Hermione looked at everyone in the Room of Requirement. "Let's do this."
XX
Voldemort was meditating. His magic and mind had felt sharp like a glass that you realize too late has a large chip in it. He was going to find the cause.
Diving deep into his magical core he saw holes. Holes with lights guiding away into the ether and a roughly patched spot. Like a jigsaw piece put in place. He reached out to touch the patch and received visions of his younger self, his sixteen year old self to be precise, and a young red head. Then a small boy he recognized as Harry Potter, killing Sebbath the basilisk and untethering his soul piece from the book he'd bound it to. Lucius was going to have some explaining to do.
He reached out and plucked at the lights, each one representing part of his soul. He blinked. There was an extra light he didn't recall making.
Touching the strand, he was pulled into someone else's mindscape. It was odd; shaped like Hogwarts but filled with trunks of different sizes and wearing, also filled with small cupboards. He sent out a pulse of magic, testing the construct. He was shocked when his nemesis, Harry Potter, appeared.
"What are you doing in my dream?!" The boy exclaimed.
"Peace, Potter, I am testing a hypothesis."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "You look different. Less snakey."
Voldemort sighed. 'Yes I look less 'snakey'. I may have miscalculated some choices, but they are in the process of being fixed. What would you say to a ceasefire? We are not so unalike…" Before Harry could interject he was nothing like Voldemort, he continued. "There is a link between our minds. You have been receiving visions no doubt since I have been reincorporated? This is why. On that night in October so long ago, I had planned a ritual. Not unlike rituals I had done previously to guarantee my safety in the event of my murder. This is called the Horcrux Vita. Unexpectedly, when your mother rebuffed my attempts to save her life, Old Magic was enacted. It took life force from me and placed it in the only other living being, you.
As you might assume, I'm significantly less likely to harm you knowing this. But Unexpectedly, this joining of souls has had an impact on myself. Combined with the rejoining of my first soul piece; you may recognize it as a journal or diary, my sanity has been much improved. I believe there are other ways to assert my claim as strongest wizard. I am in the process of absorbing the rest of my soul containers." He shifted. "There is something else you should know, no doubt Dumbledore was keeping this close to his multicolored vest…There is a prophecy concerning the two of us. As I look like my old self," He gestured, indicating his human visage. "And have appropriate contacts, I shall collect it myself tonight."
Harry just blinked at him. This was a lot to absorb, if it was even real. It felt real though and that was sort of scary.
"I have heard through my various contacts that you, young Harry, are in ministry holding. Perhaps we shall run into one another at the ministry."
And then, Voldemort bowed politely and followed the light strand back to his own body. He opened his eyes and sighed. There was work to do. He could reabsorb the Horcruxes from a distance. It would strain him but he could do it. Cracking his neck and knuckles, a common habit he couldn't kick no matter how refined his manners, he got to work.
XX
Amelia Bones was a by the book kind of lady. If the evidence pointed to something she didn't like, she put on her big girl pants and dealt with it.
Unfortunately, the man in Harry Potter's memory was in fact Peter Pettigrew, albeit worse for wear. She couldn't identify the child size creation, but it looked like a homunculus. The rest of the memory showed a rebirth ceremony for Voldemort. The Potter boy was extremely lucky to have lasted in a duel before portkeying away. Dark magic was at play. But before she could deal with that, she had to deal with the case at hand. Harry Potter had obviously not killed Cedric Diggory. That much was clear.
She calmly walked back to the holding cell. Perhaps talking to him again would give her clues as to who would want the boy charged for murder.
She nodded at the Auror on duty and entered the cell. Harry sat up from where he lay on the bed.
"Mr. Potter. You're being released. We at the ministry apologize for the inconvenience. We are now opening an investigation into Peter Pettigrew and the events of November 1981 and June 1995. Is there anything else you care to discuss?"
"If I knew that a ministry worker was harming children, would you have to look into it?"
Her brows rose. "That's a very serious charge. Of course I would be obligated to look into it."
He took a deep breath. "Madame Umbridge, if you can call her that, has been using this black quill to carve words into students." He showed the back of his hand. "I know of at least one person in each house."
A more serious look crossed her face. She knew Dolores had been the wrong decision for professor. It didn't matter that Fudge needed eyes on Dumbledore; there were other ways.
She calmly summoned three Aurors by tapping a finger to her badge.
"Shacklebolt, Proudfoot, you're to go to Hogwarts and arrest Dolores Umbridge. For charges of child abuse and possession of a dark object. Dawlish, I want you to seal her office and quarters. Do a deep scan for illegal items, including Blood Quills as well as any parchment with blood. If she's willing to harm children this way, she might be willing to use their blood in unsavory ways as well. Dismissed."
They saluted and left the cell block for their assignments.
"Anything else Earth shattering to share, Mr. Potter?" She asked, exasperated.
"Well…yes…" He looked shifty.
"Go on…"
"Voldemort visited my head and he looks really different from that memory I shared. He said he made soul pieces and was going to reabsorb them and there's a prophecy that he plans to collect himself."
Amelia rubbed her temples. "Did he give any timeline?"
"I think he said tonight."
Her head fell and she sighed. "Great."
XX
It was just after dinner and Blaise was getting ready to go to Umbridge for the get-rid-of-her plan when Luna pulled him back. Three Aurors came marching down the hall just as everyone was leaving dinner.
Two of the officers stopped the pink monstrosity.
"Dolores Umbridge, you are under arrest for child abuse, possession of a dark artifact and use of a dark artifact. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to a legal defense. If you cannot afford defense, a legal wix can be provided." The one Auror recited, as if this happened daily. Maybe it did when you were an Auror. They cuffed her with magic resistant cuffs and confiscated her wand.
She began to sob and threaten their jobs at the same time; it was really disgusting as she had snot dripping onto her pink cardigan.
Two of the officers hauled her away, her screaming the whole time about political plots to depose her rights. The final officer asked Professor McGonagall to show him to her quarters, making a loud announcement to the hall full of teenagers and preteens.
"Excuse me, students. My name is Auror Dawlish with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am announcing that while Ms. Umbridge is under arrest her living quarters, office, and class room are off limits due to our investigation. We at the DMLE apologize for the interruption to all of your educations and your evening. The advancement of young wizards and witches is important for the development of society. With that, Professor McGongal?" He turned to her and gestured for her to lead the way.
Hermione looked at Blaise from across the entryway. This would require a meeting.
They met up in the Room of Requirement with the entire DA plus Blaise.
"Well what now?" asked Ginny.
Hermione looked at the group seriously. "If they're taking Umbridge, Harry must have told them what she's been doing. This is a good thing. We have to trust that Harry will be okay."
"And what's she been doing besides being a bitch?" Zacharias Smith exclaimed.
Blaise stood up and smiled coldly at the Hufflepuff. "She's been having students carve sentences into their hands with a dark artifact."
"Why is this Slytherin even here?" Smith whined.
"I'm here because I care about Harry and I'm a victim of Umbridge as much as any other student."
Smith crossed his arms and huffed, but quieted down.
They agreed to wait a few more days to see if Harry would be ok.
XX
Marvolo Riddle was sneaking into the Department of mysteries with his top lieutenant, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Augustus Rookwood, former Unspeakable. He was tentatively going by Marvolo in his head now that he had absorbed all his horcruxes back. Even the one in the Potter boy. He could agree now that Voldemort was a childish and silly name, but he still disdained the commonness of "Tom".
They were almost to the Prophecy section when he saw Aurors and surprisingly, Harry Potter. He had not thought they'd allow a young boy to be at the scene of a potential battle. Owning up to his fate, he stepped forward and pushed back his robe hood, revealing a human looking bald head. As an unfortunate side effect, his hair would have to grow back naturally. Although he liked that it made Polyjuicing into him much more difficult.
"Madame Bones, a pleasure. I am Marvolo Riddle, formerly known as Voldemort, although I am unsure if I would still call myself Dark Lord. If you will allow me to collect a single prophecy I shall leave peaceably."
It looked like she was going to acquiesce, then it went downhill. A young Auror must have gotten spooked because all of a sudden spells were being cast. Marvolo defended himself and limited his casting to spells that would disable his opponents instead of killing them where they stood. Unfortunately, Bellatrix had not quite caught on to the new plan. He saw her aim at the Potter boy and cast the killing curse. In a moment of reflection he pushed Harry away, and knowing he would die, took the curse.
Everything stopped.
XX
Bellatrix, upon seeing her master dive in front of the curse meant for his enemy, fell to the ground and began to sob. Amelia quickly disarmed her and Rookwood and restrained them. Just then, Albus Dumbledore appeared. His eyes widened when he saw Marvolo's form on the ground, recognizing his old pupil. He pulled out his wand and cast some unknown spells on the body, seemingly satisfied with the results.
"Oh Tom, so you did redeem your soul from the dark magics you've worked…" He whispered into his beard. Turning to Harry, "My boy, are you alright? This has been an adventuresome few days. I trust the Auror corp has been convinced of your innocence in the case?"
He just looked at the older wizard in shock.
Amelia turned to Dumbledore. "Mr. Potter is indeed free to return to Hogwarts. My department will be issuing an arrest warrant for Peter Pettigreew and issuing an apology to Mr. Sirius Black by letter and in the Daily Prophet as well as dismissing all charges."
XX
Once Harry got over his shock at VOLDEMORT taking a curse for him and dying because of it, he realized his friends were probably worried. Not to mention had anyone told Sirius? Before he could ask Madame Bones anything else, the Headmaster tossed him an unexpected Portkey and he was suddenly in the Hogwarts entry hall. It was around 8pm judging by the beat up watch he had. It used to be Dudleys, like everything Harry owned, but it had been easy to fix. He figured at this time, everyone would be in the dorms so that's where he headed. He needed to grab the map anyway so he could check in with Blaise. He didn't know what they were yet, but the marks on their wrists had to mean something. Soulmates were a big deal.
He reached the common room and was ambushed by well meaning and worried friends.
"Harry! Are you okay? Are they really charging you with Cedric's murder? Oh if you're here maybe not but oh–" Harry put a hand on Hermione's shoulder to cut her off.
"Hermione, it's fine. Madame Bones saw my memory of what happened and they're officially charging Pettigrew. Sirius' case is being investigated too. Because how can you murder someone and they're still alive? I think Madame Bones is pardoning him. What's been happening here?"
Ron spoke up, "The Aurors showed up just after dinner and arrested Umbridge! It was awesome. We aren't having Defense classes until they can clear her rooms of suspicious material."
Harry's eyes widened. "I told Madame Bones about what she was doing with the detentions but I didn't think it was enough to arrest her."
They all nodded. Then, Harry jolted. "Blaise doesn't know I'm back!"
He bolted for the dorms, rummaging through his trunk to grab the map. Blaise was in the library with Ginny and Luna. He sighed in relief, he wouldn't have to break into the Slytherin dorms.
He waved at Ron and Hermione and hurried to the library.
Harry saw Blaise leaning back in a wooden chair, rocking it back and forth in ways Madame Pince would hate if she saw. He snuck up behind him, Luna noticed him and smiled to herself.
"Hey there." He said in a medium tone, not wanting to get kicked out for 'causing a disturbance'.
Blaise lost concentration on the chair and jolted back. Harry caught the back of the chair and steadied him.
The dark skinned boy looked up in wonder. "You're ok…What happened?"
"Madame Bones listened to me, but more than that…I think the war's over. Something really strange happened…" He told them about Voldemort entering his mind to talk, the horcruxes, and the events in the Department of Mysteries. The three students sat, staring at Harry in disbelief.
Then Blaise spoke up, "You know we were going to totally murder Umbridge for getting you arrested…We had a plan and everything. Guess it's karma that she's been arrested now,huh?"
"So she's gone for good now?"
The three of them nodded.
Harry's eyebrows rose and he huffed. "Amazing. The one adult who gets things done. I think I need to send Madame Bones flowers or something."