Title: Father's Day
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling.
Author's Notes: This is it folks. No more chapters, no epilogue. I took the liberty of combining everything into here. This is the last of my story. It's been a wild ride, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for all of your responses. I do enjoy getting the reviews.
Chapter 16: The Perfect Circle
Disbelief ran through Harry's mind, and then his head snapped towards Bartholomew Chambers. The man seemed surprised to see Draco in the room, and for a second Harry's eyes flashed. If Bartholomew and Draco were working together, then why was the former surprised to see the latter.
Because that's not Draco… it's the polyjuice potion.
Draco knew someone had pretended to be him and kill Ron, Harry thought to himself. But who did he suspect? Harry's mind flashed back to a day earlier in the year. It had seemed so long ago … he and Hermione had followed Draco into Knockturn Alley.
Knockturn Alley … the shopkeeper … Draco's threat.
Artemius Niggle had uttered the curse that killed Ron.
All of this passed through Harry's mind in a matter of moments. His gaze quickly flickered to Hermione, surprised to see her staring back at him, her mahogany gazed etched with confusion.
"Polyjuice…" Harry whispered, and Hermione's eyes widened in recognition. Obviously Artie was beyond the point of reason though; he was trying to struggle out of Harry's grasp.
"Niggle," Bartholomew rasped, his eyes narrowing.
"In the flesh," Artemius replied. "Draco's flesh, that is. Expelliarmus!"
Hermione let out a gasp and Harry felt his heart drop as the spell hit Amelia in the back, sending the younger witch flying into her father. Together, the two flew backwards, hitting the office wall and dropping to the floor. Bartholomew's wand flew out of his hand at the impact, rolling to a stop at Niggle's feet. Ron's murderer stepped forward, placing his foot on the wand and snapping it in two. Harry watched in kind of a daze as Bartholomew scrambled to his knees, his left arm wrapping protectively around Amelia as he glared daggers at his attacker.
"I should have known better than to trust you," Bartholomew said, trying to scramble to his feet. He gave up the attempt when Artemius waved his wand around.
"Don't move, Chambers," the man warned. "Unless you want your little girl to die."
"Leave Amelia out of this," Bartholomew hissed. "Your quarrel is with me."
"I have no quarrel," Artemius interrupted. "I'm simply a businessman who knows how to recognize a good opportunity when I see it."
"You're a monster," Hermione hissed, drawing Niggle's gaze, though not his wand. Mentally, Harry began computing the distance needed to intercept him. It was no good - even if he managed to make it in one leap, he still allowed at least two full seconds for the Deatheater to act. In that time he could easily get off the killing curse.
"The infamous Hermione Granger … and the even more infamous Harry Potter…," Niggle began. "What a shame it will be when the wizarding world hears about your untimely deaths at the hands of a known Deatheater … and how I was too late to save you."
His gaze flickered to Bartholomew. "But first, it's time to finish you off and take my place as the leader of the Deatheaters," Bartholomew let out a scowl. "But first," Artemius said, his gaze maliciously settling on Amelia. "You will have the privilege of watching your daughter die."
Amelia's eyes widened in horror. Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth, and Harry felt himself instinctively rising to his toes, ready to strike.
"Avada Kedra!" Artemius shouted as a burst of green light erupted from his wand. Harry released his grip on Artie the second the spell burst from the wand, lunging towards Artemius. Dread filled his heart as he sprang - he would not be in time to save Amelia.
But as things turned out, he didn't have to.
Bartholomew jerked Amelia back, spinning around in a half-circle so his back was presented to the curse. The green light hit him in the back, killing him instantly and sending him lurching forward onto Amelia, who let out a loud shriek when she realized what happened. A second later Harry crashed into Artemius, his arms wrapping around the body of Ron's killer as the two went to the ground. Artemius wand flew out of his hand as he landed with a loud thump. Harry lashed out at the man, allowing his pain and anger to guide him as he began to pummel him, lashing out with his fists as he hit the dark wizard over and over, forgetting about everything except for making the man responsible for Ron's death pay.
Then an image flashed into his mind - an image of Artie, and suddenly Harry's arms dropped. He stared down at Artemius Niggle - battered and bloody, his hands pulled protectively over his face as he tried to protect himself from Harry's onslaught. Harry watched him for a moment, his chest heaving, his thoughts racing through his head as he tried to regain control of his rage.
Slowly, Harry stood to his feet, brushing off his robes as he stared at the man on the ground. His left hand ran through his mussed up black hair before taking a step back and staring at the man below him with contempt.
"You're not even worth it," Harry whispered, his throat dry. "But you will pay for what you did."
He turned to look at Hermione and Artie, who were crouched on the ground. Artie looked positively furious, and Hermione's gaze was focused on Amelia, who was sobbing over her father's lifeless body. Harry felt his heart reach out to the girl - he knew what it felt like to be an orphan, and could only imagine how much worse it had to be to witness your father's death. He began to make his way towards the two witches when Artie gave a shrill yell.
"Harry!"
Harry spun around, white hot pain lancing through his shoulder as a slender knife embedded itself into Harry's body. Stars flashed behind his eyes as his world grew out of focus. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered Hermione's shrill scream. A wave of nausea passed over his body, his vision blackening for a bit before sliding into a sharp focus. As Harry fell backwards, he saw the satisfied smirk of Artemius Niggle. Niggle pulled the knife out of his shoulder, drawing a surge of blood from Harry.
"Stupefy!" Artie screamed, sending a blast of light towards Artemius. The older wizard flew into the wall, collapsing to the ground. Harry watched helplessly as Artie, his red hair blazing like a flame, stumbled over towards him, leaning down and scooping up the knife Niggle had used to stab him.
Artie … no …
The Gryffindor stumbled on the pool of blood, his blue eyes blazing as he gripped the hilt of the knife tightly in his right hand. Harry felt the blackness beginning to creep in around the corners of his eyes, but he valiantly struggled to throw it off, his right hand pressing against the gushing wound in his arm. Hermione was by his side, ripping a long strip off his robes to tie around the wound - Harry didn't have a clue where his wand was.
"Artie, no!" Hermione shouted, her gaze snapping up as the boy stood over Niggle's unconscious body. Harry tried to roll on his right shoulder, groaning in pain at the throbbing in his left shoulder.
"He killed my dad," Artie shouted, and Harry could almost feel the hatred rolling off of him. Even Amelia's sobs began to dim as the grim reality of the situation came crashing down on them.
"Put … the knife … down … Artie," Harry grunted as he tried to pull himself towards Artie. Hermione pressed her arm against his shoulder, drawing an agonizing groan from Harry as she pushed him back to the ground.
"Harry, don't move," Hermione whispered, pressing her hand against his shoulder. "You've lost a lot of blood."
"Artie's … going … to …" Harry muttered as his vision began to blur.
Hermione leapt to her feet, going for Artie. A blur out of the corner of his vision was all he saw before the darkness took him.
* * *
He felt like he was falling for the longest time, falling head over heels in the darkness. Muddled voices tugged at the corner at the corner of his mind, but it was impossible to determine the direction that they came from or who they belonged to. A faded image of Artie holding a knife came to mind, and Harry instinctively stretched out, trying to snatch the weapon from the younger boy's hand.
"Harry?"
Harry's mind screamed in protest as Artie remained out of his grasp. No, he wanted to scream. Don't do this. Don't ruin your life like this…
"Harry!"
Harry Potter's eyes snapped wide open, the bright light blinding him for what seemed like hours. Slowly his vision began to return to him, and it was the sight of Hermione's beautiful face that greeted him.
"Artie," Harry managed to bark out, wincing at the hoarseness in his voice. Hermione flashed Harry a sympathetic look, reaching for a glass of water and bringing it to Harry's lips. Harry flashed her a grateful look, taking a sip of the refreshing liquid before collapsing back on the bed. His shoulder screamed in protest but he turned his gaze to Hermione's mahogany one.
"Shh…" Hermione whispered, bringing a finger to Harry's lips. "Artie is fine. He's with the Weasleys right now."
"Did he…"
Hermione shook her head, a look of relief passing over her face. "No, he didn't Harry. Draco stopped him."
Confusion flooded Harry's features. Draco Malfoy stopped Artie from killing Artemius? He glanced at Hermione, not quite sure of what to make of this news. The expression on her face was one of utmost seriousness, and felt the shock flow through his body as he settled back on the pillow.
"How?"
* * *
For the second time that night, Hermione Granger felt her heart rip in two. First the heartbreak of her favorite student's loss, and then the nearly fatal stabbing of the man she loved.
The tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she pushed Harry to the ground, drawing a brutal cry that caused fresh ripples of pain to echo through her heart.
"Harry, don't move," she whispered, pressing both hands against the pulsing wound as she glanced around frantically for her wand. "You've lost a lot of blood."
"Artie's … going … to …" Harry gasped out, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Reluctantly Hermione ripped her eyes away from the geyser of blood, horror flooding her body when she realized that Artie really intended to go through with the murder of his father's murderer.
She lunged from her spot beside Harry, dashing towards Artie at top speed. "Artie, no!" she screamed, trying to distract his attention from the unconscious man for as long as she could.
Artie glanced at Hermione, his eyes bright with unshed tears. His right hand was shaking from the adrenaline coursing through his body, but slowly he began to lower the weapon in his hand.
"Accio knife," someone shouted, and the knife Artie had been holding was torn from his hand. Hermione dropped to her knees, surprise coursing through her body as she glanced over her left shoulder. Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway of the office. His clothing was dishevled, his hair was ruffled, and he appeared to be favoring his left leg, but he stumbled into the room nonetheless, the knife securely in his right hand.
Hermione's eyes widened for a moment, and briefly she wondered if Draco was going to finish the job Artie had started. But instead, he simply stared at the boy for a moment before grumbling, "Kill him and you'll get life in Azkaban."
The mahogany-haired witch cast a grateful smile at Draco, but he ignored her. Instead he threw her his wand and Hermione caught it, turning her attention back to Harry. She quickly muttered the charm to stop the bleeding.
She scarcely registered the vicious kick Draco delivered to the unconscious wizard's side. Instead, she pressed her forehead against Harry's, listening to the barely audible breaths emerging from his mouth.
"Please don't die, Harry," Hermione whispered, her tears falling freely onto the face of her former lover.
* * *
Harry fell back against his pillow, staring dazedly at the ceiling. He still couldn't believe Draco would have stopped Artie from killing Niggle - or killed Niggle himself. He closed his eyes, trying to process this information, but he couldn't keep the exhilaration out of his mind. Artie was okay - he didn't kill anyone - it was going to be okay.
Amelia…
Harry's head snapped up, his gaze falling uncertainly on Hermione. "What about Amelia?" he asked. Hermione's gaze trailed to the side of the bed, a sad expression on her face.
"She's in the next room over, sleeping," Hermione said quietly. "They gave her a sleeping draught. Ginny's watching her for the moment. I'm supposed to go over there once you wake up."
The dark-haired wizard nodded, sadness creeping through his body. "What's going to happen to her?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted. "Professor McGonagall is trying to find family, but so far she hasn't had any luck. We think her father may have been her last surviving relative.
"Oh," Harry said, closing his eyes as a wave of empathy washed over his body for the younger girl.
"She'll be okay, Harry," Hermione reassured him as she stood to her feet. "She'll need time, but she'll be okay."
Harry nodded, opening his mouth to ask if Hermione would stay, but promptly shutting it. It would be selfish of him to ask her to stay when Amelia needed her around so much more. Then his eyes widened as brain finally processed Hermione's words from earlier.
"Ginny's awake?" he asked.
Hermione gave him a slight smile and a nod. "She woke up yesterday. Draco sat with her for awhile, but when he told her what happened she insisted on getting up and seeing Amelia."
Relief flooded his body and Harry nodded, collapsing against the pillow.
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"I …," Hermione blushed, her gaze drifting to the ground. "I heard what you did for Ginny. I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you."
Warmth filled his body - his love for Hermione radiating from every fiber of his being. He opened his mouth to speak, to apologize for his selfishness and to beg for her forgiveness, but Hermione simply lifted her left index finger to her mouth. Tears clouded Harry's vision as a glint of gold flickered into his sight. Hermione was wearing the engagement ring he gave her.
"I love you Harry Potter," Hermione whispered, leaning over the bed and brushing her lips briefly over his. The kiss lasted for just a short second before she withdrew, her eyes brimming with tears. "Now get some rest, my love."
Harry nodded, the fuzziness already beginning to cloud his vision as sleep finally overcame him.
It was the first peaceful night of sleep he had in a long time.
* * *
When Harry awoke the next morning, his head was clear, his shoulder barely hurt, and he felt better than he had in a long time. His heart was practically singing. Hermione still loved him. He was going to marry Hermione. Artie was okay and Ginny was awake.
In his elation, he missed the sound of the door opening, but his smile widened even more when Ginny came into the room. Her eyes were bright and she happily crossed the gap between them, giving Harry a warm hug and a light peck on the cheek.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Ginny mumbled as Harry hugged the younger woman.
"Ginny, I am so sorry for accusing Draco," Harry said honestly, drawing back and regarding the younger woman with an emerald gaze.
Ginny gave Harry a weak smile. "It's okay, Harry," she said. "I'm used to it by now." She paused, an uncomfortable silence lapsing between the two old friends before she looked at Harry seriously. "My parents told me what you did. Thank you."
Harry gave her a weak smile. "It was the least I could do." The younger witch gave him a slight smile, rising to her feet.
"Gin, are you in here?" Draco's voice sounded out from the hallway as he barged into the room, not bothering to knock. His gaze flashed over Harry before he completely ignored his old nemesis, focusing his gaze on his wife.
"You ready to go?"
Ginny gave Draco a slight nod, turning her back to Harry. As Draco ushered her out the door, she gave Harry one last glance before she leaves the room.
"Draco?" Harry called out. The blond-haired wizard stiffened for a moment, pausing briefly as he glanced over his shoulder to Harry, his grey eyes flashing with a sort of disdain.
"Why did you do it?" Harry asked. "Why did you stop Artie from killing him?"
Draco frowned, and for a moment it looked as though he'd leave the room without ever answering his question. But after a moment he lifted his chin, regarding Harry coolly.
"I did it for Ginny," Draco said. And then he left the room.
* * *
Father's Day…
Artie was practically bouncing off the walls as he and Harry made their way down the stands of the Cannon's stadium. Secretly, Harry was quite pleased that Artie was so happy, and impressed with the effort that the Cannon's made to make Artie feel welcome. Tucked under Artie's left arm was an autographed quaffle, signed by each member of the team. Over his right shoulder was his father's old Quidditch robes, which someone had dug up for him. Harry grinned, reaching out and mussing Artie's hair as they made their way to the portkey point. Together they'd take a portkey back to London, where his wife Hermione, and Amelia, their newly adopted eleven-year-old, would be waiting for them to go to a Muggle restaurant Hermione insisted was "simply divine."
Harry smiled sadly at the thought of Amelia, who was still a long way from recovering from her ordeal less than a month ago. He still remembered the day Hermione had come to him with the suggestion that they adopt her, and after consulting with Amelia and the Ministry, and endless mounds of paperwork, the young Gryffindor had finally come to live with him and Hermione, who were, by this point, married. Hermione had insisted she didn't want to wait any longer, and so the two had hurriedly sought Dumbledore to perform the ceremony in the presence of family and friends. A formal ceremony was in the works, but most of those details were still being worked out by Hermione's mum and dad.
Together, Harry and Artie reached the portkey point, where a line of wizards and witches were waiting to apparate to their homes. The two chatted, mostly about Quidditch as they moved up in the line until it was their turn to use a portkey.
Artie handed his quaffle back to Harry, who tucked it under his arm. An older wizard handed Artie a pair of broken glasses, and with his free hand Harry reached out and took a hold of the free end.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Artie said quickly, quickly reaching into his robes and pulling out a plain envelope and handing it to Harry. Harry stared at the envelope in confusion, but at Artie's expectant stare he slowly shifted his hold on the portkey, taking the envelope in his right hand.
At that moment Harry felt a tug behind his navel, and he felt himself being pulled through time and space. It was disorienting, the way the portkey suddenly ripped them from one location, but soon enough it had ended and he and Artie found themselves in Diagon Alley, right outside the twin's shop.
Harry handled the quaffle to Artie, adjusting his glasses, which were precariously skewed on the bridge of his nose. He tucked the broken glasses into his pocket, making a mental note to return the portkey to the Ministry the next Monday morning. When he looked up, he found Artie staring at him expectantly.
"Are you going to open it?" Artie asked, his voice carrying a tinge of nervousness in it. Harry nodded, turning the envelope over and slowly ripping it along the seam. He slowly reached in and pulled out a homemade card with a crude picture of a Gryffindor Lion on the front. Harry's face broke out into a lopsided smile as he opened the card, reading Artie's slightly messy scrawl on the inside.
Happy Father's Day, Harry
Love,
Artie and Amelia
Harry felt the moisture begin to build in his eyes, and he quickly blinked to bring it under control. "It's perfect," Harry said, his body filled with pride and happiness at the realization that he finally had a real family. Artie's face lit up with a smile as the two made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.
Yes, things were indeed perfect.