Chapter 10

Back to the Burrow

Ministry of Magic - Eight years ago

"Enough games, Potter. Tell us what they were looking for."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't."

Gawain Robards slammed his fist on the desk between himself and Harry. "Can't? Can't? I'm your superior officer, Potter. The only things you can't do are the things I say you can't do. Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't give a damn about You-Know-Who or your ever-growing fan club. There are rules here. Do you want to be an Auror, Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then act like it. Aurors with long careers answer when the Head of the Auror's Office asks them a question. So, for the last time, Potter: what were the Death Eaters looking for in the Forbidden Forest?"

Harry let out a sigh. "I mean no disrespect, sir. But I can't discuss it."

Gawain stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. "The first Death Eater encounter in two years. On Hogwarts grounds. One of them, presumably their leader, is still on the loose. And you can't discuss it?" Gawain was breathing heavily, red in the face, wand in his hand. "What the hell makes you think you have a choice in this?"

"Not so long ago, insubordination like that would be grounds for immediate dismissal from our ranks." Gawain gave a small start and turned to see Allec Flint in the corner behind him. He then turned to the other corner where Orion Doxon stood with the pretty, not-quite-thirty Melinda Waffling at his side. Gawain seemed surprised they were there, though he had been the one to invite them in.

Gawain turned back to Harry, eyes briefly flicking up to the scar on his forehead. A moment's hesitation and then he spoke. "Flint, go fetch Shacklebolt." Allec nodded and made for the door, light glistening off his ever-present gold jewelry. "Doxon, bring it here."

Doxon, dark hair slicked back and beard neatly trimmed, approached the desk and handed a piece of parchment to Gawain. As though acting calm would make him so, Gawain gently placed the parchment on the table and slowly slid it towards Harry. "You do know what this is, though?" he said pointing at the drawing of a ring set with a stone bearing the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. "Don't you, Potter?"

He certainly did: Marvolo Gaunt's ring. The Resurrection Stone. There was no use lying – Doxon had been there when Harry had first seen the sketch. He'd seen Harry's face – his reaction had been a dead giveaway. "Yes, I know what it is."

"Do you know why they were after this?"

"I don't know what their exact plan for it was, but I have a pretty good guess."

Gawain's eye twitched. "And you won't tell us?"

Harry shook his head and Gawain kicked his fallen chair to the corner, prompting Melinda to jump out of its path. "I swear this job is going to give me another ulcer. I'm working with children now. Disrespectful, entitled children who think they know everything. Back in the day, every Auror was a man. He put in his time and earned that title. Now look at what we have to work with."

"Back in the day, the Auror's office was alternately incompetent or corrupt", Harry said, hot in the face. "You chased the wrong men for years, from Sirius Black, to Dumbledore, to Stan Shunpike. Scrimgeour spent his last days trying to discover Dumbledore's secrets, instead of hunting Voldemort." Harry felt a drop of satisfaction as Gawain flinched at the name. "And speaking of Voldemort, didn't you stay on and serve the ministry when he took over? Did you do everything his puppets told you to do? I guess following orders is more important to you than who's giving them."

Gawain's grip was threatening to snap his wand. Harry was gripping his own wand under the desk, just in case he'd gone too far, in case Gawain would attack…

"Bah!" Gawain threw his hands up in frustration and paced the far end of the office. "Doxon, speak some sense into to this man!" he shouted.

Doxon, who had remained stone-faced throughout the interaction, turned to Harry. "Harry, certainly you can understand that your position on this is suspicious. I was alongside you on this mission. We've both questioned those we captured. They're all clearly Death Eaters and were ready to kill anyone who got in their way: us, the centaurs, even students from the school had they wandered into the Forest. Why are you protecting them?"

"I'm not protecting them, Doxon." Harry tapped the parchment on the desk. "This needs to remain a secret."

"Harry, Death Eaters have not mobilized since the defeat of Voldemort. Everyone we've captured has been in hiding for two years. Why resurface now? Who was the new leader – the white-masked Death Eater? We have one lead," Doxon said tapping the parchment himself. "Whatever this is, it's our only hope of finding this man and stomping the Death Eaters out for good. If we stop now – if we let this evil fester until it returns in strength – then what was the point in fighting Voldemort at all? You may have come out unscathed, but people sacrificed their lives to stop him. You spit on their graves if you stay silent now."

Under the desk, Harry's fists were clenched so tight he thought his nails might draw blood. He'd come out unscathed, had he? He hadn't sacrificed? He hadn't had his parents stolen from him as an infant, hadn't been attacked and tortured, hadn't had to watch loved ones die? Besides, Harry did die to stop Voldemort – it wasn't his fault he hadn't stayed dead.

He opened his mouth to respond but the door opened first, revealing Kingsley Shacklebolt in robes of deep violet. "What's the emergency? Allec told me it's about the Death Eater encounter."

Gawain looked as if he couldn't decide whether to scream or vomit. Finally, face ruby-red, he nodded to Doxon and proceeded to pace around the office.

"Well, Minister", Doxon said holding up the parchment. "We know that the Death Eaters were searching the Forbidden Forest for this ring. That's why they came out of hiding – to find this. As you know, the man we believe to be their leader escaped and is still at large. None of us knows the significance of this ring, it's completely foreign to not only the Aurors but every other Department we conferred with as well – except for Potter. He's admitted he knows what this ring is and may even understand what the Death Eaters want with it. He refuses to tell us though and has insisted that his knowledge on the matter remain secret."

"Harry is this true?"

"It is, Minister."

"Why are you refusing to share this information?" Kingsley's deep voice was curious rather than accusatory.

"This object was a factor in the defeat of Voldemort. Dumbledore had a history with it and it was part of his plan – the plan that succeeded in destroying Voldemort for good. He didn't want anyone else to know about it and I think he was right in thinking so. He urged me to keep it a secret – from everyone. I know for a fact that the Death Eaters do not have the ring. I'm also certain that finding the ring ourselves will not be any help in catching the man who escaped."

Kingsley was silent for nearly a full minute. Finally, when Gawain had stopped his pacing to stare at the Minister, he spoke. "You're certain of this, Harry? Of Dumbledore's plans and this being a dead end in the current mission?"

"I am, sir."

Kingsley nodded. "Then our path forward is clear. Harry is to keep this information confidential and we must use other means to track the fugitive."

"But, Minister – "

Kingsley held up a hand silencing Gawain. "This is my final decision. Do not question Harry on this topic again."

Gawain looked to be fighting the urge to vomit again. "Very well. If that's it, I'll ask everyone to leave my office. Now."

Harry didn't need to be told twice; he sprang from his seat and made straight for the exit. As he turned to scooch by Kingsley and out the door, he got a clear view of the desk. The sketch of the Resurrection Stone was no longer on it.

Present Day

Harry woke up early the next morning, before the sun had truly risen. On any other Saturday morning, especially one following a night of drinking with Ron and Hermione, Harry would've taken advantage of his children's absence by sleeping late. But this morning Harry was fully awake the second he opened his eyes. He got out of bed immediately and set to work. He was working on a case, he had a plan, and he would, hopefully, start getting answers today. Those facts burned in him, a stimulant more powerful than any wakefulness potion he'd ever taken. Oh, and Ron and Hermione were coming along too – at least for the time being. Harry grinned broadly in the semi-dark of pre-dawn, excited to be going to work on a weekend.

He was meeting Ron and Hermione at the Burrow later this morning and he had a few things to do first. He packed bags for Albus and James – they might be spending a few more days at the Burrow. Next, he put together a bag of tactical items for himself including his Invisibility Cloak, the Marauder's Map, various potions and his broomstick. Finally, he wrote a letter to Ginny. He was sending it by owl, so he couldn't include specific details of the case, lest it be intercepted.

Hi Ginny,

How are tryouts going? Any idea when they will announce the final roster? We're all so proud of you here. Ron says that even if you do make the team and win the World Cup, you still won't measure up to his quidditch achievements. "Some team wins the World Cup every four years, but how many quidditch players have their own song?" The boys don't really understand how this is different from your normal quidditch, but they're extremely excited anyway. But win, lose or draw, just know that nothing you can do will let us down.

I wanted to let you know that I got a big case at work. It's unrelated to the Hogsmeade Huntsman case and I can't share details here, but this new person seems just as dangerous. This could take a while to crack and I may need to travel. The boys will be staying with your parents until this thing is solved. I hope to be able to share more details with you soon.

But don't worry about us! Best of luck with tryouts and I can't wait to see you again.

Love always,

Harry

Harry folded up the letter and sealed it. Then he grabbed the rest of his items and headed outside, where his security team would have the owl tasked with carrying the letter to Ginny. Sure enough, Harry was surrounded by six grey-clad security wizards arry was surrounded by sixthe second he crossed the illusion that marked the perimeter of the protective spells around his house. One of the wizards stepped forward with a large bird perched on his forearm.

"The owl you requested, sir", he said with a slight bow of his head.

Harry did not have an owl of his own, but the Ministry provided owls for his use whenever he wanted them. Having the largest flock of domesticated owls in Britain, Harry always had his choice of whatever breed and color of owl he wanted. Today's was a handsome eagle owl, its feathers a dark brown. Harry never cared which breed he got, as long as it wasn't a snowy.

Harry quickly fastened the letter to the owl's leg and, with a hoot, it flew off into the growing dawn. Harry joined hands with his security and they turned on the spot as one. Harry felt the familiar suffocating sensation of Apparition and, just as he thought he couldn't take it anymore, his feet slammed onto the ground. As Harry filled his grateful lungs, his eyes fell on one of his favorite places in the world. The Burrow looked just like it always had. Large fields surrounded the building, with a couple loose chickens squawking in response to the sudden appearance of seven wizards. The building itself was made of stone and severely lopsided with five or six chimneys sticking out from the red roof. Harry smiled.

Harry and his team approached the house, but the front door flew open before they got there. Out walked the closest thing Harry had to a mother – she'd fed, clothed, and treated Harry as one of her own long before she'd been his mother-in-law. Molly Weasley looked much as she had since Harry had known her. True, her flaming red hair had a few more strands of grey and her face had a few new wrinkles but her smile was exactly the same as it was sixteen years ago in King's Cross Station, when she helped a lost boy without a second thought.

"Harry, dear, it's wonder – "

"Halt! Not another step!"

The security wizards sprang into motion and formed a circle around Harry: two watched Harry's back while four stood in front of Harry with their wands pointed at Mrs. Weasley.

"Stand down! Stand down!" Harry shouted. "For Merlin's sake, you knew who we were meeting here. I said, 'wands down'!" Harry shouted again, for the security wizards hadn't moved. Harry pushed his way to the front and physically pushed their wands toward the ground.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley", Harry called over his shoulder, "I'll just be a second." Harry turned back to the security wizards, livid. "Listen carefully", he said in a whisper. "Do not pull a wand on anyone else in this house. There will be a red-haired man and children inside. Ron and Hermione will be arriving shortly, as well. Any further aggression towards any of them will not go well for you. I'm not having this conversation again."

Harry turned to walk to the house but a security wizard spoke up. "Please, sir. We apologize for offending you. But we have strict orders to accompany you inside this residence."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, using all of his willpower to keep his temper. "Fine, you. You come in with me and stay out of the way. The remaining five you stay outside and make a perimeter around the house. Do not hassle Ron and Hermione."

Harry turned on his heel and marched toward Mrs. Weasley without looking to see if his orders were obeyed. "Mrs. Weasley, I'm so sorry about that. These folks take their jobs a little too seriously."

Mrs. Weasley was in the middle of pulling Harry into a hug when she pulled back. "What did you call me?"

"Molly, sorry", Harry said grinning sheepishly. "Old habit, I honestly can't help it, Molly." She pulled Harry into a hug and led him into the Burrow. Harry barely had time to note that the kitchen looked the same and that something smelled delicious, when he was struck by three knee-high blurs.

"Daddy, daddy!"

"Uncle Harry!"

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy!" Harry laughed as little arms clung to his legs so tightly they may have been the edge over a bottomless pit. Harry gave Molly a wink and then pulled out his wand. He gave it a quick wave and the children rose, laughing, into the air.

"And who would dare ambush Harry Potter?" Harry called in a mock-serious voice. "Well, well, well James Sirius Potter! The number one name on Azkaban's most wanted list, I should've known!" Harry gave a flick of his wrist and James somersaulted in midair and landed in Harry's left arm.

"Next we have Rose Granger-Weasley! The evil genius that has infiltrated a muggle pre-school!" Harry flicked his wrist again and a giggling Rose joined her cousin in Harry's arm.

"Last and most dangerous, we have Albus Severus Potter. He's the only living person to bite an Auror and live to tell the tale. I'm lucky to be alive!", Harry shouted dramatically and Albus also floated into Harry's arms next to his brother and cousin. Harry pulled them all into a bear hug and spun them around, when he saw a tall man enter the kitchen.

Harry shifted toddlers around until his right hand was free and then shook hands with the newcomer. It was remarkable how a few subtle changes could dramatically change someone's appearance. While Arthur Weasley had been balding ten years ago, now his head was completely bare. Perhaps in an attempt to keep the same total amount of hair, his facial hair had gone the other way. Arthur's thin mustache had been replaced with a full, thick beard. Harry couldn't help but think it made the man look more rugged, despite the fact that he was pushing sixty.

"Arthur, thanks again for watching them."

"Harry, please, we love having them. We're happy to watch them whenever you need us to."

"Well, I'm glad you said that", Harry said in a low voice. He looked down at his armful of toddlers. "Kids! Why don't you grab your collection of chocolate frog cards, I'd love to take a look." The three of them leapt out of Harry's arms and raced upstairs. "Arthur, I'll explain more when Ron and Hermione get here, but we may need you to watch them for a little while longer." Harry shot a furtive glance over his shoulder at Mrs. Weasely, who was staring at the lone security wizard who'd entered the Burrow with suspicion, apparently oblivious to this conversation. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular device that fit easily in the palm of his hand. "As a thank you for the last couple days and pre-emptive thank you for the next few, I got you this."

Arthur took the object delicately, holding it with two fingers. He turned it over slowly, fascinated. "Harry is this…" Arthur prodded the side with his finger and the object flipped open. The top side of the device had a luminous screen while the bottom half was covered with numbered buttons.

"Cellular telephone", Harry whispered. "Very high-tech muggle technology." Harry moved closer so that his body would block the device from Molly's line of sight. "See the buttons? Each of these devices has its own unique number. Type in the number of the device you want to contact and the two devices will become linked, you can speak to the other person as if they were in the same room. Not all that different than using Floo Powder and sticking your head in a fire."

Arthur stared at the device in wonder. Very carefully, he prodded one of the buttons which instantly made a quiet but high-pitched beep sound. Arthur jumped then covered his mouth with his free hand to stifle a chuckle.

"Harry this is marvelous!" Mr. Weasley said in an excited whisper. "I've been looking to get my hands on one of these for ages. Muggles, so incredibly inventive. The lengths they'll go to make do without magic. Bless them." Arthur slipped the device in his pocket and then glanced in the direction of his wife. "Harry it might be best if Molly…didn't know that I had this."

"My lips are sealed", Harry said with a wink and Arthur clapped him on the shoulder. At that, two things happened at once: The front door opened to reveal Ron and Hermione and the three children came stampeding back into the kitchen. At the sight of the newcomers, the children let out a scream and bum-rushed them just as they had done Harry. James flung the chocolate frog card binder aside but Harry snatched it out of the air.

Harry took advantage of the momentary chaos to take the binder into the living room. He paged through the binder and was momentarily shocked to find the cards arranged in alphabetical order. Then he smiled, apparently a weekend with Rose wasn't all that different than a weekend with Hermione. Harry flipped through the binder until he got to the H's. He scanned the page for Herpo but paused when he saw his own name at the top of the page. He hadn't looked at his own chocolate frog card since the day the company told him it was going to be released. The picture was of a baby, wrapped tightly in a blanket and sleeping peacefully on a doorstep. Just underneath a shock of jet-black hair was the scar shaped like a bolt of lightning – it was a livid red, noticeably darker than the scar on the man looking at it. Harry read the inscription.

Harry Potter is the only person to survive the Killing Curse and is most famous for his defeats of the Dark Lord, which resulted in the end of both the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Potter is currently the Head of the Auror's Office and is widely considered the most influential figure in the reorganization of magical Britain following his triumph over the Dark Lord at the Battle of Hogwarts. Potter is an avid quidditch fan and enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons.

Harry smiled. He usually dreaded seeing his name in print, especially something like this that would play off his fame. But somehow the chocolate frog card wasn't so bad – he particularly liked that the picture was him as a baby. Somehow, the Boy Who Lived seemed like a different person altogether.

Harry turned the page and found what he was looking for: Herpo the Foul. Herpo's picture was similar to the ghastly green drawing he'd seen at the crime scene. His face was monkey-like, balding although his eyebrows were abnormally long. He held a snake in his right hand – a king cobra, just like the prior picture. Although he wore blue robes here instead of a toga, there was no doubt this was the same man from the crime scene. Harry flipped the card over.

Herpo the Foul was born in ancient Greece and was one of the earliest known Dark wizards. His work is still a lasting aspect of Dark magic to date. He is best known as the first wizard to hatch a basilisk. He was also the first wizard known to successfully create a Horcrux. He is one of the earliest known parselmouths.

So that didn't tell him anything new, besides confirming for the thousandth time that Hermione was always right. Harry turned the card to look at the picture again. Herpo was shaking the cobra and laughing. Rather than protest this treatment, Harry had the feeling that the snake was rather enjoying itself. Herpo the Foul and Merope Gaunt – how were they connected with some new Dark wizard making a Horcrux? Harry felt like he should know the answer but just couldn't remember – like recalling the details of a dream after you've woken up.

"Daddy?"

Harry looked up from the binder to see that his oldest son had walked in. "Yes, James?"

"Where are your mummy and daddy?"

Harry frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Well I was talking with Rose and she said she has four grandparents. Four!" James said in disbelief. "She has gramma and grampa just like me and Al, but she said she also has two other grandparents. Aunt Hermione's mummy and daddy. I know gramma and grampa are mummy's parents…so, do you have parents?"

James was never shy about asking questions, but Harry wasn't prepared for this one. Harry patted the couch next to him. "Come over here." James ran over and scrambled up onto the couch, but rather than sitting there he jumped into Harry's lap. Harry thought about his own childhood, how he was kept in the dark. His aunt and uncle lying to him from the start, believing his parents died in a car crash for 10 years. He thought about Dumbledore – always telling him a little bit but never the full picture. While Dumbledore's intentions had been good, Harry wouldn't have his children fed the same platter of secrets and half-truths.

"Your mother and I knew we'd have to have this conversation with you some day, I was just hoping it would be later." Harry took a deep breath. "My parents are dead. They died when I was very small, even younger than Al." James was staring wide-eyed at Harry. "Someone very bad came to hurt us, to hurt me, when I was just a baby. They protected me, sacrificed themselves so I could be safe. I…can't say that I really knew them, but I know they were good people." Harry lifted his son and looked him in the eye. "And I know they would have loved you."

James looked confused. "So you grew up without a daddy?"

"That's right."

"Can we get you a new one?"

Harry laughed and pulled his son into a hug. "No, I don't think so. But you and Al terrorize the grandparents you already have, you want more victims, is that it?" Harry tickled James who laughed, squirming.

Then they heard the front door burst open. Harry rolled to the side, pushing James behind him and drawing his wand in one fluid motion. He pulled up, shielded by the arm of the couch, his wand pointing directly at the face of the man who had just entered the Burrow.

"Easy, Harry. I thought you might be mad at me when you blew me off in Hogsmeade last night, but you don't have to curse me too."

Harry dropped his wand and grinned. "Sorry, Fred. Old habit."

"Habit?" said Fred shaking his head. "To think, I've been out telling people you're the black-haired Weasley brother, meanwhile you've been making a habit of ditching me and nearly cursing my head off. To be honest, Harry, this might be my fault. I had such high hopes when you became my brother-in-law. It's my own fault I'm disappointed."

Harry could only grin in response. "It's good to see you too, Fred." The taller, red-haired man crossed the room and pulled Harry into a hug.

"You'd think they were lovers reuniting after a ten-year war", Ron said rolling his eyes. "Oi! Your actual brother is right here", Ron yelled waving his arms, but Fred ignored him. "Must be a symptom of the missing ear", Ron said knowledgably. "Can't hear like he used to."

"Actually, I can hear just fine, Ron", Fred said. "So what exactly are all of you doing at the Burrow anyway? I'm having flashbacks to our Hogwarts years. Don't tell me you need a ride to Diagon Alley", he said with a laugh.

"Well", Hermione almost looked sheepish, "we are going to Hogwarts."

"What for?" Fred asked. Then his head jerked to look at Harry. "Don't tell me the Hogsmeade Huntsman is still about? I thought that was solved! Ron, do we need to shut down the Hogsmeade branch –"

"Easy, Fred!" Ron said throwing his hands up. "It's not that. She is caught, that's over. This is something else. As per usual, Harry bit off something larger than he can chew and needs Hermione and me to help him out. I see this as a fun reunion tour, Harry's the one with the responsibility and whatnot."

"And it's top secret", Hermione said with a glare at Ron. "So we can't say anything else."

"Fair enough", Fred said. "But make sure you say hi to Gabrielle. Fleur's sister", Fred added in response to Harry's confused look.

"Gabrielle Delacour is at Hogwarts? What for?"

"I'm surprised Ginny hasn't mentioned it to you, Harry, then again, I suppose she was never enthusiastic about that side of the family", Hermione said. "Gabrielle did graduate from Beauxbatons a couple years ago but they didn't have the classes necessary to go into her chosen field. Hogwarts does. So she's taking some post-graduate classes there. I think this is her last year."

"What's her chosen field? Most everyone talks pretty highly of Beauxbatons, I'm surprised they wouldn't have the courses she needs."

"She wants to join our Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical creatures. Beauxbatons does cover all the same subjects as Hogwarts except for Care of Magical Creatures – they don't see that subject as a necessary branch of education", Hermione said.

"You do know it's 'cause of you, mate, don't you?" Ron said with a grin at Harry.

"What do you mean?"

"Bill told me. When you pulled Gabrielle out of the lake in the Second Task of the Tri Wizard Tournament all those years ago, Fleur got attacked by grindylows and couldn't save her. But you had no problem with the grindylows and you got one over on the mermaids too, they didn't want you taking two captives, remember? Anyway, ever since you saved her she's been a bit…" Ron grinned, "obsessed with you. And since you saved her from water creatures and mermaids, she thought you were some kind of monster hunter. So ever since then, that's what she's wanted to do. Obviously now that she's grown up she knows that's not really what you do, but she still wants to protect people from dangerous magical creatures", Ron finished with a shrug. "Probably why Ginny hasn't mentioned it to you though. Doesn't want you thinking about the beautiful, 21-year-old part veela that's had a crush on you for over a decade."

Hermione's eyes narrowed but she said nothing.

"Right-o" said Fred. "And Bill has been begging me to go down to Hogwarts and visit her, no doubt because Fleur told him to. Apparently Gabrielle's been having trouble fitting in and making friends given the cultural differences and that she's a few years older than the other students. Personally, I'd wager she's got every boy in the school following her around like puppies, but what do I know. Anyway, if you three see her while you're there I think that would count as a visit from the whole family and I will consider my brotherly duties fulfilled."

Hermione, Ron and Fred continued the conversation, but Harry's mind wandered. He'd never gone back and finished his seventh year at Hogwarts – the fight against Voldemort had made sure of that. They'd given them the option to return but he hadn't taken it – Harry had no desire to take tests again and the Aurors were begging him to join right away. But right now, Harry longed to go back. Just shed all his responsibilities except for practicing quidditch and doing homework. No petty workplace arguments, no expense reports, and someone else in charge – yeah, going back did sound wonderful.

Harry gave his head a quick shake and rejoined the conversation.

"Well, Harry, I really think we should get going. Are you ready to go to Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, I am."