Chapter 63: Medallions and Alliances

Harry POV:

Harry tugged nervously at his collar, the robe feeling tight around his throat. The dress robes he was wearing felt heavy, and if not for the spells woven into the silk, it would be rather hot from all the bright lights shining down on his head.

The dress robes Sirius had insisted he wear for the medal bestowing ceremony were made of silk from some sort of magical silkworm called a Spice Flutterling that was found in Indonesia. They ate only plants from which spices could be harvested, and the silk came in a variety of colors, from red to orange to brown, depending on which spices had been consumed at the time. They were also fireproof, which was nice.

His robes were a cinnamon brown color, and had a ridiculously high and pointy collar. Ed had joking called them 'Doctor Strange robes.' It was probably a reference to something.

Harry wished Ed had been able to attend the event with them, same as Mr. Lupin, but neither had been able to make it. Ed had to stick around in America for a few more days to learn more about what it was that the Flamels had given to him, while Remus had claimed that a werewolf attending a party held at the ministry by the ministry would just be asking for trouble.

'I wish they'd been able to come. Probably would have made the whole thing more bearable,' he thought to himself. And no, he wasn't sulking! No matter what Sirius teased him about!

"..and so, I am honored to present this Order of Merlin, First Class, to its recipient, Harry Potter!"

Oh, right, and he had to stand next to the Minister of Magic as he pontificated endlessly. Half of what he said was just self-aggrandizement and ego-stroking, the other half repeating a very sanitized version of what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets.

To Harry's frustration and complete lack of surprise, Minister Fudge had refused to even so much as mention a single thing about Voldemort's involvement in his speech today. Not matter what four professors of Hogwarts had tried to tell him, he just would not be swayed. Whether it was fear of the dreaded Dark Lord actually being back or just sheer incompetence didn't matter.

'I guess Ed and I will just have to do something about Voldemort ourselves,' the Boy-Who-Lived thought to himself as he stepped up to receive the golden medal stamped with the face of Merlin himself.

With a massive, wide smile that reminded Harry of a used car salesman who didn't know how to sell anything, Minister Fudge lowered the medal around Harry's neck, the golden medallion resting above his heart.

It felt heavy as it dangled from his neck. Was this what responsibility felt like?

Harry blinked as the assembled crowd of onlookers burst into applause, and several cameras went off, nearly blinding him.

"Smile, pup," Sirius said under his breath as he walked over and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry obeyed, smiling and waving for the people who were watching him.

And then, with the ceremony over, Harry – with Sirius at his side – descended from the stage and started to mingle with the different people who'd gathered. It was quite impressive, but made Harry a little uncomfortable.

'So many people, and I hardly know any of them,' Harry said as he shook hands with someone who said they were called Bagman who babbled about Quidditch to him.

"…and the youngest Seeker of the century would surely be able to make use of the maneuver!"

"Thank you, that's quite interesting," Harry said, his interest genuine. "I never thought about combining the Wronksi Feint with the Altgrin Ambush. I'll have to try that out in practice next year."

"Come on, Ludo, don't talk the poor kid's ear off about your old glory days," a man chuckled. "Let some other people have a turn to shake his hand."

"Oh, right, of course," the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports said, smiling widely at a middle-aged man with a large and bushy salt and pepper beard.

"Simon Blunthouse, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation," the man said in greeting, shaking Harry's hand.

"He's old Crouch's replacement," Ludo Bagman added.

"What happened to Mr. Crouch?" Harry wondered.

"He got fired after it was discovered that he sent a scion of a Noble House to Azkaban without a trial," Simon replied, and Sirius grimaced at the reminder.

"Truly a shame. He was a surly fellow, but good at his job," Ludo sighed.

"He was. I've had to pick up the pieces, and I wish he'd left more notes for me to follow," Simon sighed.

"Does your job entail being an ambassador?" Harry wondered.

"Sort of. We don't really have ambassadors in the magical world, but we do have attachés and people who communicate and keep in touch with other magical governments," Simon said. "It can be difficult. I honestly think the reason Mr. Crouch was so good at his job was because he was fluent in three different languages. Trying to talk with somebody who only speaks French is troublesome and tiring."

"Ah," Harry said with a wince. "I can see how that might be hard. I was in France last year for summer vacation and I certainly wouldn't have been able to get around if not for kind local guides."

They chatted a bit more before Sirius ushered Harry off in order to let his godson speak with other people.

"Good work, pup," Sirius praised Harry. "Keep it up, okay? We're almost done!"

"We still have two more hours to go!" Harry replied.

"I know. Almost done!" Sirius snickered. "Most of these things can normally last for five hours, so a three-hour meet-and-greet is pretty short all things considered."

Harry held back a groan at that, before mustering up a smile as he greeted yet another person who was approaching him. This time, they were wearing a lime green robe that burned his eyes.

"Hello, young Harry," Dumbledore said, smiling in a grandfatherly way down at Harry.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry replied in greeting, flashing a strained smile at him that the older wizard immediately spotted.

"Not one for the spotlight?" he asked with an understanding chuckle.

"Yeah, it's very… odd," Harry admitted. "I've never been good with crowds, and this feels a bit too much."

He then took a deep breath. "But, I'll deal with it. This isn't just about me, after all. People want reassurances, and seeing me here might help calm some people down."

"That's a very noble and mature point of view," Dumbledore said proudly.

"He may claim to hate being the center of attention, but he's a natural at speaking to crowds with those sappy words of his," Sirius declared, gently slapping Harry's shoulder fondly. Harry pouted up at him, causing his godfather to snort in amusement.

"Well, I thought his words were quite heartfelt, and touching," Dumbledore claimed. "I'm proud to have him as a student. He's done so much for inter-house relationships."

"Yeah, his little study groups. Heard of them. He's got some big names hanging out with him. And made friends with kids I never thought he would," Sirius said, smiling down at Harry.

This time, Harry looked away with a blush on his face, which only grew when he heard a cheerful voice call out to him.

"Harry!"

"Susan, hey," Harry said, suddenly feeling underdressed as he saw his friend from Hufflepuff approaching. She was accompanied by her aunt, the stern-faced director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement giving Harry a nod in greeting.

"Mr. Potter. Congratulations, and well done," she said. "My niece has told me a lot about you. I must admit, I thought most were just her gushing about her friend."

"Auntie!" Susan whined, blushing a little.

"Ah, Madam Bones, what a pleasure to see you," Dumbledore said, grinning politely at the monocle-wearing witch.

"Dumbledore," Madam Bones said back curtly. "Susan, why don't you and Harry talk for a bit."

"Yes, auntie," Susan nodded.

"How are you?" the headmaster asked, watching Harry escort the brunette away. "Doing well, I hope?"

"Annoyed. The moment a student was petrified you should have alerted somebody," the head of the DMLE said, tone razor-sharp. "The Aurors should have been told, as well as the Magical Creatures Department! We could have handled the problem as soon as it cropped up."

"I feared that approaching the Ministry would have put us in even more danger. Whoever it was that unleashed the Basilisk could have gone to ground, or stopped holding back and let the monster rampage. And in the end, I had faith that Hogwarts would be able to completely handle it," Dumbledore replied, waving off her concerns.

"It never should have gotten to the point where the faculty and a student were forced to fight a thousand-year-old Basilisk," Bones retorted. "We have people trained for this sort of thing, Dumbledore!"

"It was for the best," Dumbledore replied.

"We are not all incompetent despite what some think," Bones scoffed. "And if push came to shove, we could have negotiated with Gringotts for some of their Curse Breakers or Tomb Seekers to scour the castle for the Chamber's location. Nobody wants children, the future of the Wizarding World, to be killed."

Dumbledore and Madam Bones continued to talk while Sirius stood awkwardly nearby, watching the two. His head kept moving back and forth between them like he was watching a riveting game of tennis.

"I haven't seen auntie this angry in a long time," Susan whispered to Harry. They hadn't gone very far, and had instead lingered close to their guardians, and thus were able to hear everything they were saying.

"That's angry?" Harry asked, surprised. "She seemed more frustrated than anything."

"Yeah, she doesn't really show her anger. But I can tell. She's mad," Susan said with a shiver. She then perked up when she saw some other fellow students. "Hey, let's go say hi!"

"Padme, Parvati," Harry said in greeting as Susan dragged him over to the twins.

"Harry! Congrats on your shiny new medal!" Padme said with a grin.

"How are you two doing? Has you summer been fun?" Harry asked.

"It's been fun! We spent time with our family over in India," Parvati replied.

"Sounds nice," Susan said.

"Our great-uncle was very impressed when he heard what you did," Padme told Harry. "And was quite interested when he heard you were a Parseltongue."

"Your great-uncle? Oh, wait, was he the one who was also a Parseltongue?" Harry asked, vaguely recalling something to that effect.

"You remembered!" Padme gasped. "How sweet!"

Harry ducked his head, blushing a bit, and Susan and the twins smirked at him, but thankful decided not to tease him any further.

"So, Padme, Parvati, what do your parents do?" Harry wondered.

"Our papa is a member of the Indian Ministry's foreign service," Parvati said. "He's the attaché to the British Ministry."

"I heard a little about the foreign affairs department from Mr. Blunthouse. How does anything related to foreign stuff get done without ambassadors?" Harry said. "Admittedly, I don't know much about what ambassadors actually do in the mundane – Muggle – world to begin with."

"I dunno," Padme replied with a shrug. Even her sister shook her head, not knowing either.

"Do you see anyone else we know here?" Harry asked afterwards.

"I saw Ron and his family. Hard to miss all those red-heads," Parvati replied. "I think a couple others from the study group are here, too, because their parents work in the Ministry."

"And Minister Fudge wanted everyone to attend, so he sent invites to pretty much everybody in the Ministry plus all of the 'donors' who contributed to his various campaigns," Susan added.

"Just be careful, I saw the Malfoys walking around with some other Syltherins and their parents," Padme warned.

"They're not all bad," Harry said, trying to find some silver lining, though even he knew that most of them were not exactly the nicest.

"I suppose Daphne and Tracy are alright, but the rest are kinda mean," Padme replied with a frown, her sister and Susan nodding in agreement.

"Fair enough," Harry nodded slowly. He couldn't exactly dispute that. Not with Draco being such an arse all the time.

"Let's go say 'hi' to Ron, then," Harry said a moment later, and he and Susan went off to find the Weasleys. They found the large family pretty quickly, the red-heads looking unusually tanned, and were greeted by Fred and George slapping Harry's back followed by a crushing hug from Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, you silly boy!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly. "You were so brave! But so reckless!"

"Now, now, Molly, perhaps the boy might like to be able to breathe, don't you?" her husband laughed, and she released Harry from her grasp.

"Th-thank you, Mr. Weasley," Harry said, gasping for air.

"No problem, Harry! And what a surprise, eh?" Arthur Weasley said. "I do believe you are the youngest recipient of an Order of Merlin ever!"

"It was very impressive," Fred said with a nod.

"Went and fought a big ol' snake, and saved a damsel in distress," George nodded.

"A true Gryffindor!" the twins said in unison.

"We were all pretty shocked when we saw the corpse just dumped out on the front lawn," Ron said with a nod. "Did not expect that at all."

"I'm just glad you're okay!" Ginny said.

"Indeed, you being safe is a relief," Percy agreed. "And discovering a lost piece of our history… why, I hear that there are people talking about adding a new chapter to Hogwarts: A Historyall about the Chamber of Secrets! Once it's been looked over by Curse Breakers and historians, of course."

"Yeah! We went to see Bill in Egypt earlier in the summer, and he told us that he'd been asked to be part of the Curse Breaking team to investigate the Chamber of Secrets!" Ron said excitedly.

"Huh, that's pretty neat," Harry hummed. "Think we'll see him around the castle?"

"Probably," Percy said. "He will have to work on-site, after all."

"That should be interesting. I wonder if I'll have to help out with that," Harry mused.

"I mean, since you're the only Parselmouth in the country, that seems likely," Ron said. He then perked up. "Maybe Bill will need some extra hands. Think the professors would assign us extra credit for that?"

"Professor Flitwick might. I bet the Ravenclaws will be begging to have a bit of fun exploring the Chamber," Susan said.

"Good point," Fred said.

"Trying to keep a Ravenclaw away from long-lost knowledge…" George added.

"Will be an effort in futility," the twins said in unison.

Harry chatted some more with the Weasleys before being swept away by a few more people who wanted to speak with him. Unable to just turn them down, Harry ended up circling through the crowd.

Susan eventually left his side, returning to stand with her aunt, leaving Harry alone to weather the storm once more. He sucked it up and handled it all on his own, smiling at everyone who approached him and shaking plenty of hands.

"Harry!"

The Boy Who Lived glanced over towards his name being called and saw Daphne and Astoria were walking over to him, the latter wearing a massive smile while her sister looked exasperated trying to keep up with her. They both were wearing silver and green dresses that shimmered as they moved.

Astoria made to hug Harry when she got closer, but Daphne grabbed her sister by the back of her dress and tugged her back.

"Remember your etiquette lessons," Daphne hissed. "That means no hugging!"

"Well, how else am I supposed to thank him?" Astoria pouted.

"Like this." She turned to Harry and gave a deep curtsy.

"Thank you for saving my sister," Daphne said, giving him a small but genuine smile. "She might be a pain, but she's my pain."

Astoria stuck her tongue out at Daphne, and then mimicked her. "Yes, thank you for saving my life."

"It was no problem," Harry assured them, but the elder sister scoffed at that.

"One does not slay a Basilisk for somebody they don't even know and claim it was 'no problem,'" Daphne drawled.

"If you say so," Harry said with a shrug, before glancing at Astoria. "Are you doing better, now?"

"I am!" she nodded excitedly. "I've never felt so full of life and energy before! I can actually run around without feeling like I'm about to die afterwards!"

Harry could admit Astoria did look a lot healthier compared to the last time he'd seen her, but then again, she'd been nearly possessed by a fragment of Voldemort. Harry bet anyone would feel out of sorts after that.

"Good. At least you didn't miss your final exams," Harry said, making conversation.

"You sound like Hermione," Daphne scoffed, while Astoria giggled.

"I suppose if there's one good thing to come of this, it's that Tom knew a lot and helped me answer some of the questions," Astoria said, her smile flickering a little as she recalled what had happened with the diary.

Harry didn't know if she'd been aware of what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets such as Tom Riddle's reveal about his alter ego as Voldemort, but he wasn't going to ask her or say anything. He didn't think she deserved that kind of trauma on top of everything else.

"So, you cheated," Harry hummed.

"It's only cheating if you get caught," Astoria said in a haughty tone. "Otherwise, it's simply good planning."

"Fair enough," Harry said with a nod. He knew that he had used his Occlumency rather liberally in his First Year to help pass some of his tests at Hogwarts. Hadn't done so for his Second Year exams, though. Not after the warning Nicholas Flamel had given him last summer about what might happen if he kept abusing it. He'd had to do his exams the old-fashioned way.

"Some people wondered if Astoria wouldn't have fit in better with the Hufflepuffs given how cheerful she always seemed to be," Daphne snorted. "At least now there's definitive proof she's more cunning than some of the knuckle-draggers in the dungeon."

Astoria nodded in agreement, and Harry couldn't help but chuckle a little at that description of their fellow Slytherins.

"Speaking of Slytherins, I wanted to extend an invitation to you two to join our study group," Harry said, bringing up something he wanted to discuss for a bit. "And any other Slytherins you think might be okay with playing nice with the other Houses are welcome as well."

"That's… that's very kind of you," Daphne said, blinking a little in surprise.

"Like I've said, I don't like Draco, and Ron might have a bit of an irrational distaste for your House, but I think mending bridges and making friends with each other can only help us. After all, it's not like the Houses matter all that much when we graduate Hogwarts," Harry pointed out.

"Good point," Astoria nodded. "I always thought the divisions between the houses were silly. I'd be happy to study with everyone!"

"And so would I," Daphne quickly agreed as well. "I'm sure Tracy wouldn't mind, either. As for others… I'd have to make discreet inquiries."

"Well, there's no rush, we have until the next school year starts," Harry said.

"Astoria, Daphne," a man in a forest green dress robe said, walking over to them and interrupting their conversation. His eyes widened when he spotted Harry, and something Harry couldn't identify flickered through them.

"Daddy!" Astoria said, happily grabbing onto his hand and pulling him over. "Harry, this is our daddy!"

"Mr. Potter," the man said in greeting. "My name is Cyrus Greengrass."

He then bowed his head deeply towards Harry. "Thank you for saving my daughter, and curing her."

"I… it's fine, it's what anybody would have done," Harry said.

"He said the same thing to us earlier," Astoria said in a teasing tone.

"Sometimes, being too humble can be just as dangerous as having too much of an ego," Mr. Greengrass warned the boy. "Take pride in your achievements, and do not undersell yourself."

"I guess," Harry said, uncomfortable with that line of discussing.

"Hmm. Well, in any case, I've been hoping to speak with you, and while this place isn't the best place for it, I suppose an audience wouldn't be a terrible thing," the girls' father said, and Harry felt confused. What did he mean by that?

Their conversation had already attracted some attention, but a moment later there were even more eyes on them as what felt like everyone in the hall watched in shock and disbelief as Cyrus Greengrass knelt down on one knee before Harry.

"I, Lord Greengrass, head of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, do pledge my house's friendship to Heir Apparent Harry Potter of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Let all debts and feuds that may exist between our houses be dissolved hence forth. Your enemies are our enemies, and so long as we live, let there be peace between us," Cyrus declared, drawing his wand and holding it so it pointed down, like a sword. The tip then glowed, as magic itself acknowledge the vow he had just made.

There were gasps of shock from the onlookers, and Daphne and Astoria both had shocked expressions, holding their hands over their mouths in disbelief at their father's words.

Harry was confused, but didn't have time to wonder all that much about what had just happened because Sirius had rushed over, placing his hands protectively on Harry's shoulders while standing behind him.

"Did you have to do this in public?" Sirius growled out in annoyance, and Cyrus just smirked.

"I would have thought somebody as fond of dramatics as yourself would approve. I do recall how… flamboyant you were when at Hogwarts."

"That was then, this is now," Sirius huffed. "Honestly, Greengrass! An Oath of Friendship in the middle of a Ministry gathering? And a magically enforced one, at that?"

"There is nothing more important to me than the safety and well-being of my children," Cyrus claimed, his mirth vanishing from his face and tone. "And it does make my stance quite clear."

"I suppose I can't argue with that," the Head of House Black sighed, before muttering under his breath, "They'll be gossiping over this for weeks!"

"So, what just happened?" Harry asked in a quiet voice as his godfather led him away.

"House Greengrass has declared themselves your ally. Politically, it means he will try and align his House with whatever sort of stance you take in the Wizengamot. Secondly, he has dissolved any blood-feuds or debts between you. If your parents or ancestors wronged House Greengrass in the past, then it's basically all water under the bridge. That has less immediate benefits, but it does mean it's a blank slate between you two. Something most Houses do not have," Sirius explained. "Take my family, for instance! There's an entire wing of the library in Grimmauld Place dedicated to keeping track of the grudges, debts, and petty feuds between us and everyone else!"

"That can't be all of it," Harry guessed.

"Smart. The Oath of Friendship means that if you go to war with anyone, House Greengrass is obligated to supply soldiers or supplies to your cause. Of course, this sort of thing meant more back when the nobles houses were actually nobles, complete with fiefs, land, and people to rule over, but it's still important because he will be obliged to aid us against You-Know-Who," Sirius stated, and Harry nodded slowly.

"That could be very important for us," Harry murmured. "Do you think we should… tell him?"

"Maybe," Sirius said with a frown. "Won't make any decisions one way or another until Moony and I have heard everything from Eddy-boy."

Harry bobbed his head in understanding. 'I hope Ed and Sirius can patch up this rift between them,' he thought to himself. He didn't like it when his family was fighting.

Harry paused for a moment, causing Sirius to glance down at him in worry. He just shook his head and kept walking, though his mind was whirling with thoughts.

'I… I see them as my family,' Harry realized. He'd never dwelt much on the thought of family before. Not when his only living relatives were the Dursleys. But it was like Ed said, wasn't it? A family doesn't have to be based solely on blood ties. He could choose the people he wanted to call family.

That brought a smile to his face, and his steps felt lighter.

'A family… I have a family!' he thought to himself happily. This realization was, without a doubt, the highlight of the entire day.