Chapter 73
"Abraxus will never crack. We could torture him for hours, and there is a chance he would never lead us back to Malfoy Manor, through the wards. That…is why we are going to go after his son, Lucius." Charlus advised the small group before him.
The discussion of how they would get through the wards had not been easy, and it seemed that the more possibilities that came to light, the more gruesome their job would be. Charlus looked grim as he watched his son take in his words, but his eyes were on one of his oldest friends. Arcturus was smoking in the drawing room again, and the severity of the conversation meant that not even Dorea was correcting him. The woman looked severe, but resigned at the same time. They all knew it would get messy if they took this route.
"All intel on the lad says he is cruel, and twisted, but doesn't have the stomach his old man does." Arcturus added.
"Lucius was a cowardly shit in my time. He won't get any sympathy from me. He tried to kill me in my second year, in the middle of Hogwarts. If not for my friend, Dobby, he would have." Thoughts of Dobby soured Harry's tone, but he shook his head at the grim thoughts of his fallen friend.
"Abraxus was a friend." Dorea said quietly, "But that was a long time ago. His family didn't fight in the war, but they were regularly seen breaking bread with the invaders in Paris. They secured their land on the continent and said the hell with everyone else. Things were never the same between us when the war was over."
"I broke off all dealings with the family when we received word of it. This was after the war, and only in recent times has the man tried to get back into my favor." Arcturus said gruffly, "His money made most of the country forget, but I will never forget Charlus asking if we could use the land as a base to lay low on, and he lied, saying it was overtaken."
"I nearly killed him when I found out it was a lie." Charlus admitted, "Right there in the middle of the Wizengamot. That was the week we lost Billius. I wasn't in the forgiving mood."
A silence fell over the room for a moment as the three war vets remembered their fallen comrade, and Harry glanced at each of them, wondering if they were truly up for this challenge. In the days that followed Harry and Charlus' duel, they had done so again, multiple times a day. More often than not the duels were split, but Harry was beginning to edge the man out.
Long after their duels were over each day, Harry pushed himself harder than ever before. His friends had been vocal about their concerns for his mental health, but he had shut them all out. He only told them he didn't wish to talk about Elaina, and that she was out looking for answers that he couldn't give her. It was clear Lily and the others wanted to know more, but he had been less forthcoming, and with James, Sirius, and Franks Auror interviews coming up, he spared no patience with them. He drilled them relentlessly, and even had Dorea work with Lily on some more obscure combat charms, in order to lend to her strengths, and prepare her for her apprenticeship in September.
Dorea had told Harry that his birth mother was a delightful witch, and she enjoyed working with her. The two seemed to get along well, and James brightened watching them work together every time he witnessed it. It was clear to Harry that, despite all that happened the man still swooned after the redhead. Even Euphemia had a soft spot for the girl. The woman had been quiet according to Lily, but at least she was not openly scorning the redhead. From what Charlus had told, everyone else had received the business end of the Euphemia's attitude in recent days, and Harry was not keen to be the target of her grief. Still, spending time with the woman every chance he had was one of the few things that brought him peace. They rarely did anything except have tea, and sit in the family room together, but it was enough for Harry to just be in her company, keeping his promise to Fleamont.
Through the grace of magic, James and Lily continued to go strong through the Summer. Outside of their training and preparation, they had gone on dates, and seemed to flourish under the one on one time. Harry was glad he had not messed up that particular aspect of his life, and James rambling like a fool in love, was one of the few bright points of his life these days.
A hot topic in the group since the start of Summer had been the Order of the Phoenix. An official meeting had yet to be called, but Harry had a feeling it was coming. Dumbledore was likely just waiting for Voldemort to kick off his attacks again, and the time traveler knew the time was coming.
The silence in the room had become thicker as Harry realized all three sets of eyes were on him. He glanced at each of them slowly, and shook his head, "I can be ready at a moment's notice. I want to make a statement before he does."
"The August session for the Wizengamot is at the first of the month. We can easily grab him after, with the right diversion." Arcturus said with his index fingers pressed to the crown of his nose in thought.
"That gives us a few days to prepare." Dorea added, and then a slight smile crossed her face, "And should also give us a day to celebrate Harry's-"
"I'd rather we didn't." Harry cut the woman off, causing a look of hurt to cross the woman's features, and the teen swallowed before adding, "I just don't really feel like celebrating right now."
Charlus and Arcturus shook their heads before his godfather spoke, "Look here, Potter, even in the trenches, when we were in the middle of hell, we celebrated birthdays. Even if it was an exchange of alcohol, shots, and well wishes…or in some cases wishes of death to the enemy, we still celebrated."
In agreement, Charlus added, "Besides. Your birthday will also mark the year you joined our family. A year since you did something that has never been documented in the Wizarding World, by leaping through time by twenty years. You have a family now, Harry. Embrace it, enjoy it, and know there is a good chance not all of us will be here to celebrate your next one. Let's make the most of it."
Taking a deep breath, Harry shook his head as he eyed his mother who looked at him with hopeful eyes, "Fine…just us though."
"And your friends that you train with!" Dorea added cheerfully, "You should be with the ones you love on your birthday."
"Not everyone I love." Harry said before he could himself.
This cut Dorea's smile off immediately, and Harry regretted it. There wasn't a day that went by where the absence of his girlfriend wasn't felt around Potter Manor. For Harry, though he had lost his closest confidant, the only one who knew everything about him in this time. The one he kept no secrets from. The reason he was getting over his past was gone.
Trying to rebound from the situation, and avoid hurting Dorea's feelings, he relented, "I suppose getting to celebrate a birthday with James and Lily should be something I embrace. I haven't been able to do that for eighteen years. The others would be great too."
Dorea smiled at her son and offered a hand out to him, which he took in his own, allowing her to squeeze it comfortingly. Charlus added helpfully, "We can keep it simple for your sake, son. A dinner, perhaps."
Dorea released Harry's hand and clapped her hands together, "A dinner would be lovely. We will host your friends. You never know what a day can hold, son. Enjoy each one as the blessing it is."
Harry hardly heard the woman's words as his mind stayed on Elaina. Taking his chance to dismiss himself from the meeting, Harry made excuses and departed the room. His mind was swimming with thoughts of the last year of his life. Elaina had been such a positive addition to his life, but now so much had changed, and it all seemed as hopeless as the day he died in his own time. Voldemort was as powerful as ever, and still, he was no closer to defeating the man. Despite his family around him, he felt as alone as ever.
As he crossed the windows, he looked out over the grounds to see a rare sighting of the family of griffins flying over the nearby forest. As he watched them soar, he remembered the last time he spotted Halo, and felt a lump form in his throat.
It had been a long day of training for Harry and Elaina to kick the Summer off. They had already freshened up since the end of their day and were taking a quiet walk through the grounds. Conversation steered away from Voldemort and the war, and more to stories he had heard about each of their friends over his years in his time. He told his girlfriend of his first broomstick that Harry had gotten him at the tender age of 1, and she laughed at the thought of baby Harry zooming around Godric's Hollow.
"I'll hex you into the next century if you do that to our kids, Harry." She laughed.
Harry's stomach flipped at the girls' words, and she didn't even react. Harry wondered if she had realized her slip up, but instead tried to fish for more on the topic he had been so curious about, "Our kids? You know, I wasn't sure you ever wanted a family."
"I never really knew what it was like to have one." Elaina admitted, her heterochromia eyes fixed on the pond that sat at the edge of the forest, "But after experiencing some of yours, Harry. Maybe it is something I want one day."
"You know, I was trying to ask you about this on our last day of Hogwarts. I just couldn't find the right words." Harry said, trying to make light of the situation.
"You're supposed to be a Gryffindor, you coward." The girl mocked, causing Harry to laugh aloud.
"Hey, I was a Slytherin on this go around, just like you. Besides, you make me nervous, sometimes!" Harry defended.
Elaina stopped and looked at him mischievously, "Me? I make you nervous, Harry?"
The girl had stepped dangerously close to him and he swallowed hard as he stared into her intense eyes that promised so much trouble, "Maybe…"
The girl leaned her face closer to his and closed the distance in a soft kiss. When they separated, Harry blinked rapidly as if hoping she would continue, and he could close his eyes again, "I think I like that. It's sweet, Harry."
She cooed at him mockingly and he gently pushed her away with a laugh, "Shove off. I was trying to be sweet!"
"Oh, you have to try?" Elaina challenged.
"There's no winning here, is there?" He asked desperately, but smiled nonetheless.
"You of all people should not have the answer to that, Harry. Next time, you wanna talk about our future though. You should be more blunt. We have to keep dreaming of what we will do when we win. Otherwise, we may never make it to our dream at the end of this m-"
Before she could finish, Harry's eyes widened looking at something over her shoulder. Noticing his distracted eyes, Elaina spun around to see what he saw, but he gripped her arm tightly making sure she couldn't jerk towards the new arrival. Standing before them in all his glory was the family guardian, Halo. Massive wings, and the head of an eagle greeted them, and Harry gripped Elaina's hand, but smiled at the same time, "He hasn't approached me since the day I arrived here. I have had glimpses of him, but never this close."
The beast stalked towards them slowly, but with curiosity in his eyes. A beast this size in the wild would've had Harry drawing his wand, but generations of Potters had interacted with these creatures on the grounds of Potter Manor, and he knew Halo would not harm them unless provoked. As the beast came within a few meters it began pacing around the two who just followed the massive beast with their eyes. After completing a full circle around the two, Halo took an audible huff, before sitting on its hind legs, as if beckoning them forward.
Harry kept his eyes on the griffin and slowly made his way forward. Before he could get out of arm's reach, however, Elaina grabbed his wrist suddenly, making Halo squawk in indignation, causing her to flinch backward, releasing him. Halo eyed the girl now distrustfully and Harry held his hand up, "Wait, no, she is with me. We don't want to harm you."
Holding his hand out slowly, he lowered his eyes and slowly began to inch forward, only occasionally glancing at the beast to ensure it did not appear threatened, just like Hagrid taught him. Before he knew it his hand was gently brushing the golden feathers of the creature, and he heard an audible sound of content release from the creature's beak. Looking over his shoulder he gently urged Elaina to come forward, and with wonder in her eyes, she followed the example he had just led with.
Not before long, her hand was touching his, but the girl was clearly timid in front of the large creature when she whispered, "He's amazing."
Harry smiled at the girl, and looked up at the creature that wasn't even looking at them. Instead, Halo was taking in the surroundings of the area, as if anticipating what would happen around them. His eyes so sharp, Harry had little doubt he could see all the way to the edge of the forest, "Yeah he is."
Halo suddenly began to sit up, causing both teens to spill backward quickly out of his way as he took off, galloping across the water and taking to the sky as if nothing had happened. As they watched the creature disappear from sight Elaina whispered with a wide smile, "You sure are something else, Harry Potter."
Blinking away the tears that threatened to spill, Harry wiped at his face and spoke softly, "Where are you, Elaina?"
.o.
"Are you sure the lad is ready for this?" Arcturus asked bluntly several minutes after Harry left the room, "He has not been the same since she left."
"We can't stop our plans, because she ran off with him." Charlus said with a tint of anger and steel in his voice.
Sighing, Dorea shook her head, "I feel his pain everyday since she left. He feels like she betrayed him."
"The feeling is going around." Charlus muttered under his breath.
"There is nothing you could have done, old friend." Arcturus comforted, "We gave the girl everything. Considering her legacy was our enemy, we couldn't have done more for the girl."
"Harry loved her." Dorea said softly looking toward the door her son exited.
This silenced the two men for a moment, and the woman bit her lip before saying, "Do you think she will come back?"
"Can we afford to welcome her if she does?" Arcturus asked bluntly.
Charlus shook his head, "As much as I want to take Harry's pain away, I agree with Arcturus. If she does come back, Grindelwald will have had Merlin only knows how long to poison her against us, or the Wizarding World in general. She will be a liability. An unknown."
"The girl will be family. A young woman our son loves." Dorea said pointedly, "Harry says she went away to learn his magic. None of us can doubt how effective it was. In her hands, if she did come back to fight with us. It would hold immense value. Particularly if she studies dueling under him. There can be little doubt that he was one of the best."
The two men grumbled at that, but Dorea just placed a hand on both of her hips. Charlus sighed at last, and came, placing an arm around the woman, "If she comes back we will have to talk with her. Extensively. We have to know she is still someone we can trust."
"Maybe we can even convince her to tell us where Grandpappy is. Go settle that old score once and for all." Arcturus said with a huff, causing Dorea to roll her eyes, but Charlus felt a familiar fire burn in his heart. The desire to snuff a man's life out. Years may have passed, but there was no doubt that if he crossed paths with Gellert Grindelwald again, and the man was armed, Charlus would do everything in his power to strike the man down.
.o.
Harry's birthday had been a quiet affair. He had insisted the day before that the day go on like normal until they had all gathered for their celebration that evening. This meant early morning training, followed by a nice breakfast that Mipsy insisted on making.
The birthday teen fought hard that morning in training. His mind drifted far from his astray girlfriend and he pushed himself to the breaking point in attempts to think of anything other than Elaina Essex. He had tried to pretend he was in high spirits at breakfast, but it was clear Dorea saw right through him
The teen tried not to make too much of the day, and the golden watch he sported on his left wrist was the only noticeable difference in his apparel from yesterday. Charlus and Dorea had informed him that it was tradition for a wizard to receive a golden watch on his seventeenth birthday, and they apologized that no one had gifted him one the year before. He didn't tell them that Molly Weasley had once gifted him the watch of the brother that saved his life in Hogsmeade, and the thought of it made him slightly uncomfortable at the memory. Fabian Prewitt had saved his life, and he had not even thought to thank the man properly since he woke up.
Shaking off the discomfort of the thought of Fabian Prewitt and the future that awaited him, Harry sat in his room, pondering the year that had gone by. He could hardly believe how much time had passed, yet so little had been accomplished. Lives had been lost, Horcruxes had been destroyed, but in the endgame, it felt like little had been accomplished.
A knock at the door drew him back to reality as he beckoned his visitor to enter. As the door opened, James revealed himself dressed in khaki trousers and a tan button up shirt. Harry had rarely seen the boy dressed like a muggle and he raised his eyes at his appearance, "Hot date, Prongs?"
"Not exactly. Come on. We have places to be." James prompted.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"Lily is expecting us. Come on." James pressured waving his hands in a hurry up motion.
James pushed his way into the room, moved to the closet, and quickly tossed Harry a black button up from his closet.
Groaning Harry shook his head, "Prongs, I wasn't really wanting this kind of company today."
"Trust me. This is going to be a good experience. One you should've had a long time ago. I don't ask a lot, Harry. Come on, we shouldn't be late." James chided.
Sighing, Harry took the shirt and began to change his outfit at the persistence of his birth father. When he was done, James offered him a thumbs up, a quick look up and down, and then a motion for him to follow. When they made it downstairs, they passed Charlus and Dorea, who both looked amused as James saluted them, "We will be back in time for dinner!"
Giving them looks for help, they both ignored Harry with short chuckles, and the teen pouted as he followed the prancing teen. James threw his arm around Harry as they crossed onto the grounds, "Trust me, old boy. We are going to have fun, but I am going to apparate us."
"This would be a good time to just tell me where we are going." Harry growled out.
"And spoil the surprise? Not a chance." James chuckled.
Before Harry could protest further, they crossed the wards, and the two turned into an apparition. As soon as they landed, however, Harry knew something was wrong. The entire neighborhood around them was in flames, and Harry's eyes widened. They were in a muggle neighborhood with cookie cutter houses, as far as the eye could see. Harry barked out James' name, "Prongs! What is this?"
"I-I-I I don't know. I just left Lily and her parents here half an hour ago." James said frozen in shock.
With a jab of his wand, Harry cried out, "Augamentai!"
A torrent of water left Harry's wand as James surged forward to the house directly in front of them. Harry shouted to stop the boy, but instead a green spell came out of the house straight towards James. Thankfully, Harry was already in the process of summoning James back, and the curse missed narrowly.
No longer amused or in shock, Harry turned his attention to the front of the house, and transfigured the door into jagged teeth, before animating it to clamp down on his attackers, causing a scream of pain. Harry did not hesitate to move forward past the fallen James and finish off his attacker with a wicked severing charm.
By the time Harry entered the house, the man's head had fallen from his shoulders, and Harry screamed out, "LILY!"
The fire was everywhere, and the house was falling apart. A quick cast of the homenum revelio charm, showed no one alive was in the house. He feared his mother and her parents may already be dead upstairs, but the sound of spellfire out back gave him hope.
The house began to come down around him, but with quick swishes of his wand, he created steel support beams to keep the house from collapsing on top of him. James was at his side now too, transfiguring things that were in their path until they hit the back door. Here Harry saw signs of a battle, and saw two masked figures down, one clearly dead by the way his neck was twisted. The other was possibly breathing, but Harry planned to take no chances with survivors.
Striding forward with a quick flick of his wand, he ended any hope the remaining Death Eater had of living as he stepped over the exacerbated corpses. James gagged behind him, but Harry was more interested in pinpointing the spellfire.
A path of destruction revealed itself in the fence line, and Harry took off as he could see lights highlighting the way. He crossed into the next backyard, and quickly found himself going around another burning house before he found Lily fighting in the street. The girl was a mess, her clothes were singed, her hair was frayed, and her face was bloodied. Her legs were shaking on their last stand, and Harry felt a fire erupt inside him as three masked figures attempted to finish her off.
Lily had fought her way through at least two Death Eaters, and he would be damned if another one laid a finger or spell on her again. With a roar of rage, the street tore apart at Harry's blasting curse and disintegrated two Death Eaters on impact. The third, and only survivor, screamed out, "It's Potter!"
Potter seemed to be some type of summoning call as Death Eaters began apparating onto the street from both sides. Another half a dozen easily. Growling Harry realized they had unwittingly stepped into a trap. James was at Lily's side who was swooning and holding a wound on her side.
Harry eyed the group that began surrounding him, and knew they were inside anti-apparition wards, and there was no way James and Lily were in a state to escape. None of them engaged Harry and he knew there was a message to deliver as he addressed the lead Death Eater, who announced his arrival, "Real brave. Attacking muggles."
"The Dark Lord sends his birthday wishes, Potter. We just wanted to deliver them personally." The man mocked.
"Funny." Harry spat, "Voldemort must not have valued your lives. Having sent you all to me, your lives are forfeit. I'd tell you to run…but I won't let you."
With a lasso like motion over his head, Harry gathered debris from the neighborhood in a swirl and sent them careening towards one direction of three attackers, before turning around and shielding James and Lily from the other three. Spells and curses barraged his shield, and he waited for a single moment before swiping his wand at the throat of one, causing a gash in the Death Eaters garment that sent blood spraying out. Before Harry could pen the other two down, one of his surviving attackers sent a killing curse sailing towards him, but with a bob of his head the curse missed him and nearly took the life of a Death Eater on the opposite side of the street. The two masked men began shouting in outrage, but Harry hit them with the Black family suffocation spell before turning back to the Death Eater, who was sending a second killing curse his way. With a flick of his wand, the man's arm was removed, and the killing curse was swallowed by a piece of fence that flew in front of Harry in his defense. Turning to look over his shoulder, he observed James looking pale as he held his shaking wand. Offering the teen a nod, he walked towards the Death Eater, who had lost his arm and was on the ground fumbling with the wand with his non-dominant hand. Before the Death Eater could point the wand at Harry, however, the teen kicked the masked figure over, and crushed his hand with a stomp, causing the wand to snap as well.
The Death Eater wailed in pain as Harry reached down, and ripped the mask of his attacker off and instantly recognized the face of Amycus Carrow. Snorting Harry growled out, "A Carrow? They really scraped the bottom of the barrel here. Voldemort sent a dozen Death Eaters to kill a muggleborn and her family on my birthday, and still couldn't get the job done? Ridiculous. Glacius!"
Ice erupted from Harry's wand, and Amycus howled in pain. Harry stopped once the ice was pinning Amycus Carrow to the ground, and open wounds from the frostbite were appearing ons his face, "I am only going to ask this once, Carrow. Then, if I am not satisfied, I am going to freeze your body until your insides stop functioning. It will be immensely painful. Or you can cooperate with me, and depending on how useful the information is, I may let you live. Nod if you understand."
"Harry." James called out from behind, but the teen ignored him, as Amycus spat at him.
In retaliation, Harry shot a bludgeoner at the man's groin, causing the man to groan loudly. Not finished there Harry conjured a dagger, and levitated it wandlessly directly above the man's eye, "Let's try that again. I think you understand the severity of the situation. So I will go ahead and ask my question. Where is the Heir of Slytherin? Where is Voldemort?"
"I don't- NOOOO!"
The younger teen's words were cut off by a scream when the dagger embedded itself in his left eye, and Harry grabbed Amycus roughly, "I am already losing my patience here. Your friends are dead and you are going to join them if you don't tell me what I want to know. Where is Voldemort?"
"He is going to kill me, if I tell you." The teen sobbed.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM GOING TO DO?" Harry roared out, pushing the teen back towards the ground, "GLACIUS!"
The ice erupted from his wand, and this time he held Amycus under the spell until his lips turned blue and his eyes went hazy. A shout of his name behind him ceased his spell and another dagger was conjured as he ignored his birth father's desperate call behind him. The dagger floated directly over the last good eye of Amycus Carrow and Harry barked out, "Last chance, Amycus. Where is Voldemort?"
"Nott Manor. He is at Nott Manor! Please just stop." He whimpered weakly.
The dagger fell to the side of Amycus' head, and Harry chuckled darkly, "Now was that so hard?"
Turning his back on the man, he turned to see the horrified expressions of James and Lily and he offered them a forced smile, "Happy birthday, right? Lily, where are your parents?"
The girl hesitated, glancing at the chaos around her as the first responders began to arrive in the distance. Swallowing hard, the girl answered, "I helped them escape when the attack began. They sent three in to kill me. I was more than they could handle. I guess the rest were on standby in case you showed up."
Nodding Harry approached the girl and pulled her into a hug, "I am glad you are okay. Use the point me spell and find your parents. I will contact the Ministry and begin cleaning this up."
Turning to James, he shook his head, "Go with Lily and send a Patronus to Charlus and Dorea. We need to keep the Statue of Secrecy intact, and most of the neighborhood has seen the fighting. I don't know how they will silence the phone calls that had to have gone out, but that is a job for the obliviators."
"You killed half a dozen people." James whispered quietly, seemingly in shock.
"They would've killed Lily had I not. James…do as I say." The hint of steel in his voice seemed to indicate he was no longer interested in entertaining the conversation and James just nodded.
Lily looked at Harry sadly before saying, "We just wanted to give you a chance to meet your grandparents. Have lunch with them. I thought you could tell them the truth. My Mum has been so curious about you."
"Voldemort attacking them here, means he has figured out who my family was. They won't be safe here anymore." Harry advised, "They will need to be moved. I am sorry, Lily."
Harry didn't bother addressing what Lily and James had been attempting today. It had been an unmitigated disaster. There was little doubt that at least a few muggles would have been killed in the fires engulfing the neighborhood.
The moaning of Amycus Carrow echoed in his ears as he begged for death. James and Lily were both eying the injured teen with morbid trepidation and Harry jolted them both back to reality, "I need to finish this here. Go find your parents, Lily, and get that message to mine."
"We are your parents, Harry." Lily said weakly.
"This time I am here to protect you from the horrors of war, though." Harry consoled darkly, "Allow me to do so for a little longer."
Lily went to protest, but Harry watched as James swallowed hard, put a hand on her shoulder, and shook his head. After a moment's hesitation, Lily surged forward embracing Harry in a sob, "Thank you for coming for me."
Saying nothing, Harry just squeezed the girl tight in the embrace, gave James a nod, and separated with the red head. James didn't hesitate to pull the girl from Harry and start walking her towards the burning house. Both had their wands in hands and began putting out fires around Lily's childhood home, and the names of her parents were echoing around the area as Harry turned to the whimpering Amycus Carrow, shaking his head, "You chose the wrong side, Amycus. You also crossed me on the wrong day. You gave me the information I needed. Therefore, I will make this quick."
With a flick of his wrist, Amycus' head separated from his shoulders and Harry began walking off in the direction of where he hoped he would find his maternal grandparents. Not a single glance was sent back towards the carnage he left behind.
(A/N) You all wanted the monster? Well now he's here. Destiny arrives all the same.
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