Warning: the latter half of this chapter may be graphic for some people (and a walk in the park for others). You have been warned.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war" -Einstein
Harry often wondered whether or not the War even existed. Sure, he had read about the deaths and attacks in the Daily Prophet but reading the newspaper was akin to watching a movie on one of those Muggle tellies. It was easy to read about John who-it-is or Mary whats-her-face on the ends of the killing curse. For all Harry knew, the War could be just some sort of fantasy creation by the Ministry in order to garner more hands in the office. For all Harry knew, the War was simply an imagination to keep students in school and out of trouble. For all Harry knew, the War was just an excuse to keep the populace fearful of an invisible power.
But Harry now knew the War was indeed real.
"I - I - just don't understand," Ginny sobbed, surrounded by her solemn brothers, "Why - why is it me?"
The Gryffindor common room resembled a funeral parlor. It might as well been with the sheer desolation blanketing and threatening to suffocate the room. As Ginny gasped for air, the whole of Gryffindor gasped with her, already mourning the death of one of their own.
"I'm not even fifteen!" Ginny wailed, breaking down to hysterics as Harry watched her descend to a level he had never seen.
"Don't worry Ginny, we'll fix this," said brave Fred.
"We're not going to let you go, we'll go instead," encouraged courageous George.
Their words of supposed comfort only led to more tears for the youngest Weasley. Ron looked stonily into the fire, his expression murderous. In the corner, Harry could spot Lavender and Parvati crying and holding on to each other. Harry could not stop the lump in his throat from rising as he awkwardly patted Ginny on the back.
"They can't make me go," Ginny muttered as she stared at her hands, "I'm too young."
The Weasley clan looked at each other for comfort but only found questions. Ginny was far and away the youngest student conscripted into this make shift Wizard army. The fact that she had been selected over a countless number of more qualified students added to the mystery and shock. Hermione, bless the girl, sat ruminating at Ginny's feet.
"It doesn't make sense," Hermione whispered.
"Damn right it doesn't!" Fred exclaimed angrily.
"Dumbledore has to be able to do something about this," Ron said with questioning eyes.
"Dumbledore will know," Neville agreed grimly.
"It's settled then, we're going to Dumbledore," said George. The Weasley clan were quickly gathering arms to protect their precious child and even Ginny had a tiny, shimmering glint of hope in her watershed eyes. Harry hoped that they would not let her down.
"We'll go too," Dean and Seamus announced simultaneously.
"So will we," whispered a teary Lavender.
"Me too!" cried a Sixth year.
One by one, the whole Gryffindor common room eventually announced their plans to appeal to Dumbledore for Ginny not to be sent to almost certain death. Harry's heart swelled at the show of unity from the Gryffindor House as they piled out of their portrait to the Headmaster's office. The steady marching of their feet resembled a raucous pack of protesters, ready to rage war for their own. They marched steadily, adorned with grim faces. Ginny was in the center of the group as the rest of the House did their best to shield her from invisible harm. As they reached the gargoyles to the Headmaster's office, they realized that none of them knew the password.
"How do you think we get in?" whispered Neville.
"Password," Hermione promptly replied. To their great surprise, the gargoyle stepped aside to reveal a man in a bowler hat. A man in a green bowler hat; Cornelius Fudge.
"Well, what do we have here?" he asked, not unlike one of those insidious pedophiles faced with a new litter of children.
"Cornelius!" yelled Dumbledore's voice from behind the Minister of Magic. The old Professor looked a bit worn for wear as he reached the bottom step and found himself facing almost the entirety of Gryffindor.
"Children, you must go back," he pleaded.
"No! No!" admonished Fudge, "Look how proud they are of their prize student! They're here to send her off."
The smile on Fudge's face could not have been any wider nor could it have not provoked any more vicious of a reaction from the Gryffindor faithful. Harry could feel the magic radiating from the Weasley twins as well as see the sparks fly from the tip of Ron's wand.
"Send her off?" George spat.
"Why yes, Mr. Weasley. Your sister should be honored to receive such a privilege to serve her Ministry," Fudge explained.
"Honored?!? She's not even fifteen!" Ron roared.
"Well -" the Minister started to fluster, " -sacrifices must be made in order to serve the good of the people. No one is out of the question."
There was a load uproar by the students as they threatened various parts of his body with gruesome torture. The Headmaster tried to placate his students but it was to no avail as the crowd wanted blood. Harry could feel the anger growing within the mob and joined in the taunts as well.
"SILENCE!" bellowed the Headmaster, his wand at his throat to amplify his voice.
"Dumbledore! You can't possibly let Ginny go!" Hermione implored, "She's not of age. She's not even - no offense Ginny - well qualified to fight on the front lines!"
"Why - I never - the nerve - she will not be directly on the front lines. She'll serve in support of course," Fudge was taken aback as if Ginny fighting was the most unreasonable conclusion in the entirety of the world. Suddenly, something clicked in Harry's head.
"You hand picked her, didn't you?" Harry accused, his mind recounting the argument between the Headmaster and the Minister when Harry and Neville were stuck in the centaur trap. The Minister flushed with outrage but all Harry had to do was look at Dumbledore for confirmation. The old man hung his head.
"You wanted more students for the War because you thought the Professor was building an army! You wanted to make an example out of someone! This isn't random!" Harry started to gain steam.
"The youth must serve their Ministry," Fudge started to back up behind his bodyguards.
"So you're just going to send a little girl off to the lines just to make an example out of her?" Hermione screeched, clearly incensed.
"Everyone must serve," Fudge muttered as he cowered by his bodyguards.
"I'll show you how to serve," grumbled Ron as he brandished his wand. There was a cacophony of sparks as spells were immediately cast to and from Fudge. The resulting scuffle had the remaining Weasley clan down on the ground as Aurors restrained them to the best of their abilities. Fudge kept muttering and scurried away with the rest of his bodyguards back to the Ministry to the disbelief of the rest of the Gryffindor populace.
"Professor, you can't let him do that!" begged Hermione.
"Please Professor," whispered an inconsolable Ginny. The aged wizard approached the tiny redhead and crouched down, his knees creaking in protest.
"I am so sorry, my child. It should not be your burden to bear," he creaked, tears in his eyes. Ginny's lip wobbled as she took in the news that not even the greatest wizard of the century could stop this unfathomable decision. Turning, she fled.
The train ride home was morbid . Fred and George spent the ride trying to cheer Ginny up to no avail. They even went so far as to say that the Ministry would no longer be concerned with Neville casting an Unforgivable now that they had Ginny on their side. This suggestion did not help at all. Harry slouched gloomily against the window pane of glass, staring out at the mockingly bright day. The news had reached the Weasley parents quickly as they were both at the platform when the train finally arrived. Ginny immediately ran into her father's arms, sobbing hopelessly the whole way. Harry could distantly hear Mrs. Weasley promising all her brothers would come home and try to alleviate the situation. Harry doubted anything could be done. As he approached his own mother, Harry noted that Lily looked furious as she stared at the morose family.
"This is bullshit," Harry stated frankly.
"The Minister's gone too far," Lily spat out the name and did not even admonish her son's curse. Harry knew she felt strongly about the recruitment of students.
"There has to be something we can do," Harry begged.
"I'm looking into everything I can Harry," she replied with a steely look on her face.
Harry walked back to the Weasley family who were still wrapped in various consoling hugs. Ginny caught him out of the corner of her eye and wrenched herself from her father and mother's grasp only to throw herself at him in a crying ball of heap.
"Tell me this is a dream," she whispered into his chest.
"It's all a dream," Harry lied, "You'll wake up and I'll still be trying to figure out Hermione, Fred and George will still be pranking teachers, and Ron will still be planning out Quidditch matches."
Ginny hiccupped into his chest as she clutched him tighter, "Please see me before I go."
"I will."
Ginny released Harry and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. Harry watched as the Weasleys formed a protective shell around the only daughter as they started their retreat to the Burrow. He caught Hermione and Neville looking on and approached the pair.
"Do you think there's anything we can really do? There has to be some sort of legal precedence," Harry asked Hermione. The girl could only shake her head mutely.
"I'll get Padfoot to look into things," whispered Neville. Harry nodded at him before sticking his hand out for a handshake. Neville took his hand, still looking at the Weasley family's retreating backs. Hermione pulled him in for a tight hug before Harry departed for Godric's Hollow.
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There's no place like home.
Harry loved Godric's Hollow. He loved the countryside that stretched for miles and miles into the distance. He loved watching the sun rise from his bedroom, the combination of bleeding red and orange skipping across the horizon. There was nothing more enjoyable than relaxing in his comfortable, plush chair as he finished his summer work. There was nothing more pleasing to the ears than the sound of his mother clanging about in the kitchen downstairs while she concocted some sort of dinner for him. He would never really be quite as complete until he would return home; through the swinging wooden gate and up the staircase into his beloved room.
But Harry was not enjoying his time at home; all he could think of was that blasted Fudge. His mother had always told him that Fudge was terribly unfit for the job. He was a politician in the worse way possible, able to bend and stretch for whoever posed a threat to his office. His drive was not to help serve the people but to keep office for as long as possible. It was an unenviable trait that bookmarked a rather malevolent time in wizard politics. While it was not Harry's place to particularly explore the demented area of politicians, Harry could not help but fume at Fudge's rhetoric. Why send a child simply to further an agenda? Were there no morals? No costs? Harry had half a mind of sending a rather scathing howler to the Minister of Magic, but he was unfortunately interrupted by noises downstairs. Leaping up from his prone position in his bed, he checked outside and saw a couple of figures in robes make their way through the swinging wooden gate. Their hoods were pulled over their head but Harry could make out a taller figure and two more slender bodies. Leaping down the stairs two at a time, Harry called out.
"Dad! Is that you? Dad, you have to do something about…" Harry trailed off as the taller person pulled back the hood of his cloak.
"Professor Snape?" Harry quizzed, "What are you doing here, sir?"
The other two compatriots remained hidden with their heads bowed. Harry looked at them curiously as he watched the Potions Professor look around the foyer.
"Mr. Potter, can you please retrieve your mother for me?" Snape droned in that deathly monosyllabically tone.
"Of course," Harry responded, still curious as to the meaning of the Professor's visit. Had something happened?
"Mum! Professor Snape's here!" Harry called out as he poked his head into the kitchen.
"Severus?" Lily asked with a rather surprised look on her face. Harry simply nodded in response.
"Severus? What's the meaning of this?" Lily asked as she wiped her hands with a hand towel. Snape stood silently before giving the slightest flick of his wrist towards the hidden pair. As soon as they pulled back the hood, Harry could immediately spot the tell tale shimmering blond of hair fixed upon their heads.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked incredulously.
The ignorant boy was bleeding around the eyes and seemed to have a large, purple bruise marking the entire left side of his face. His jaw was set, his eyes challenging as he dared Harry to say any more. Beside him, Malfoy's mother was relatively unscathed but wore a desperate expression on her face. Next to him, Harry heard his mother gasp as she took in Malfoy and his mother. Harry's mind raced with possibilities, a tinge of fear running through him as he remembered that his wand was still on his bedside table.
"No," Harry blurted the first words that reached his mouth.
"Harry -"
"Mr. Potter -"
Lily and Snape reproached him at the same time but it was to no avail as Harry continued to shake his head in denial.
"Do you know who he is?!" Harry spit out.
"Mr. Potter, please," Narcissa Malfoy softly spoke.
Harry gulped, not used to being dressed down by someone he just met. While he recognized Malfoy's mother (she had dropped her son off at one of Harry's earlier birthday parties), Harry had barely spoken to her much less almost accusing her son of being a Death Eater in training. Harry bit his lip as he tried to solve this rather disastrous puzzle.
"Go on Potter. Say something," egged the young Malfoy. Harry's jaw flapped in the wind as he struggled to find the words to explicate his displeasure. Feeling defeated, Harry shut his mouth and settled for glaring resolutely at his Slytherin counter part.
"They've been targeted," Snape stated succinctly, "They have no one else."
Lily raised an eyebrow at this admission but said nothing. She took in the disheveled appearances of the usually proud Malfoys. While their robes might have still retained their expensive branding, the expression on their faces revealed that neither cared much for their fifty Galleon robes at the moment.
"I can't keep them here forever," Lily said strictly, "They can stay for the time being but they need to be moved."
Snape gave the barest of head nods to show he understood. He beckoned for the two Malfoys to approach him so he could speak to them in private. Harry leaned over to his mother and looked questioningly at her.
"You do know who they are, right?"
"I know perfectly well, Harry. But I will not turn my back on people who have nowhere else to go so you better do your best to make this situation better or else the rest of your holidays will take an even sourer note," Lily snapped.
Harry bit his lip to refrain from snapping back at his mother and turned back to the Malfoys to keep a wary eye on Draco. Snape seemed to be giving them instructions, still retaining his usually passive face. Narcissa nodded once or twice before shaking the Potion Professor's hand vigorously. The blond haired woman approached Lily cautiously before procuring two wands from the inside fold of her robes. She offered them to Lily.
"These are our wands," she simply said, knowing the implication of surrendering them. Lily looked at them critically for a moment, weighing the options inside her head. Finally, she took them gently.
"I'll keep them safe," she promised. Narcissa nodded swiftly before she retreated back to Snape to bid farewell.
"Lily, can I have a word with you?" Snape requested. Lily stiffened but acquiesced nonetheless.
"Harry, show Mrs. Malfoy and her son to their room. They'll be staying in the guest room for now," Lily ordered. Harry grit his teeth and turned to climb the stairs.
"This way," he barely muttered.
The guest room was the furthest room down the left side of the hallway with the closest room being Harry's room. The master bedroom stood on the right side of the fork at the top of the staircase. Harry opened the door to the guest room and gestured for the Malfoys to step inside. Narcissa stepped inside the quaint room with only a hint of a nose scrunch. Malfoy did nothing to hide his distaste of the room. Feeling a bit indignant at their appraisal of his house, Harry reminded them.
"It's not much, but I'll make sure to have my Mom conjure another bed. Enjoy your stay," he finished as sarcastically as possible.
"Mr. Potter," Narcissa called out as Harry was beginning to leave the room, "Thank you for letting us stay here."
"You're welcome," Harry replied, slightly thrown off balance by the sudden comment. As quickly as she thanked him, Narcissa shut the door of the room in his face.
Neurotic. Everyone's gone certifiably insane.
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The next few days passed without any major hubbub. Harry did his best to avoid Malfoy aside from the strangely mandatory dinners his mother seemed to request from them. To his surprise, Harry found that his mother and Narcissa seemed to be cordial enough to each other. He knew that Narcissa was slightly older than his mother, but the two seemed to have crossed path at their time in Hogwarts. Indeed, Harry was always puzzled when Malfoy somehow seemed to attend his birthday parties before he was old enough to attend Hogwarts. Harry had always assumed that it was because the Malfoys seemed to regard the Potter family as slightly respectable despite his mother's heritage. Appearance were everything for the Malfoys.
For most of the dinners, Harry was content to glare at Malfoy and viciously stab whatever food seemed to be on the table as a warning sign to the other boy. Malfoy gave his usual sneer and smirk but seemed to lack the bite that was so indicative of him. As the days went on, Malfoy spent more time in his room with his mother, where Harry usually did not hear as much as a peep.
On the fourth day of the break, Harry saw an unusual white owl racing across the sky to his house. This particular owl was unknown to Harry so he watched with mild amusement as it wobbled slightly in the air as it tried to make its way to his window. Harry opened the window in advance and saw a scroll attached to its leg. The owl gave him an affectionate nip to which Harry responded by allowing it a treat. He opened the scroll and was surprised to find it was from Cho.
Dear Harry,
I hope this owl finds you! He's a bit old and tends to wander aimlessly for a couple of days so I apologize in advance if he needs a bit of a rest. Things are so boring here now that everyone's gone. Marietta is driving me spare! Just the other day though, we got a pick up game going. It was way too easy though without you here. How are things at home? I'm really sorry about Ginny, that's so incredibly unfair. I know I'm rambling a bit but there's nothing else to do here! Anyways, I have to go and pretend to listen to Marietta for a little while.
Hope you write back,
Cho
Harry grinned as he folded the letter within its creases. This letter certainly had been a pleasant turn of events to a rather dour week. He did not quite think Cho would even bother writing him a letter during the winter. Harry gave himself a reminder to give Ginny a big, fat "I told you so" but immediately felt guilty when he remembered her current predicament.
"Who's that Harry? A girl?" came a voice from behind the young boy.
"It's actually a love note from Lockhart. You remember him right? Kind of a fairy, big smile," Harry smiled as he turned to face his father.
"You know I'd accept you no matter what," the older Potter said in mock seriousness. Laughing, Harry hugged him tightly around the middle before pulling back and taking in his rather disheveled form.
"Dad, are you okay?" Harry asked. The man in front of sported different cuts and bruises and rather dusty robes but still wore a bright smile on his face.
"Nothing that can't be fixed with a little visit to that snappy Pomfrey. How is she anyways? Still worried that the students are going to burn the castle to the ground?" James joked.
"Not so much as worried as she is prepared," Harry said wryly.
"Unchangeable that one. So the letter is from a girl, I presume," James waggled his eyebrows.
"Yeah," Harry drawled out with an added eye roll. James made to snatch the letter from his hand, but Harry was to quick on the draw.
"Harry, I have to check and make sure she's not a Death Eater," James said with a solemn face.
"Trust me, she's not," Harry laughed.
"Oh so you checked personally?"
"Dad, too much."
Laughing in response, James took a seat on Harry's bed, "Alright I'll back off for now. Let me guess though, Hermione?"
"No," Harry said with a curious expression, "Why would you think that?"
"Well you don't mention anyone besides Hermione and Ginny so I figured," James shrugged.
"No, someone else."
"Who?"
"Well I'm not telling you now you gossip monger."
"Guilty," James raised a hand. Harry chuckled again before settling into his desk chair and turning to face his father.
"Dad?" Harry said in a much more solemn tone.
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you tell me about Sirius?" Harry finally asked the question he had been preparing since he saw the Azkaban escapee.
His father's face was perfectly schooled in maintaining a calm visage. Only a slight flicker of the eyes and an ever so subtle tightening of the lips gave away any indication of surprise. James took a moment to respond, clearly weighing the options inside his head.
"It's a bit complicated, Harry. No one knew that Sirius had given over Peter around that time," James said carefully.
"Then why didn't you listen to Sirius? He said that Pettigrew was the one that betrayed you," Harry asked, trying the best he could to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
"I only found that out recently as well, Harry. I will never forgive myself for not listening to Sirius. I let him sit in Azkaban all that time without so much as a single second to hear his appeal," James gulped.
"So we can trust Sirius right?"
"Yes we can," James sighed, "But I'm afraid that my treachery is something not easily forgiven. It's probably best if you don't mention me around him if you see him any time in the near future."
Harry nodded, his mind swirling with questions but also anger. How could his father let his best friend simply go to Azkaban without hearing his explanation? Harry was sure that his father was not the type of a man who would leave his friends out to dry. Then again, Harry could not really recall a time when his father was surrounded by his friends. The only times Harry saw him when he was younger were on birthdays and other important events. The rest of the time, Harry lived with his mother. Harry could not remember a time when James Potter was simply out with his friends. Was his father really so alone?
"I'm sorry I didn't really tell you about any of that, son. It's a part of my life I'm not very proud of," James continued.
"It's okay, I was just - curious," Harry said quietly.
"How are the Malfoys?" James asked, eager to redirect the conversation.
"They keep themselves mostly. Malfoy's still a git though. Draco I mean," Harry specified.
James chuckled and nodded, "Be careful, Harry. They might appear nice, but the Malfoys have and always will simply look to suit their interests. Their family comes first and nothing else."
"I know that," Harry rolled his eyes, "I figure the less I see them the better."
"Good show, Harry. Now your mum's granted me some time help your dueling. What say you we take it to the basement and you can teach me these advanced spells you've been apparently learning about," James sat up and clapped his hands together eagerly.
"Try to keep up," Harry quipped, earning a light shove in the back from James.
An hour later, Harry sat on his haunches, wiping sweat from his brow, after a particularly tough spell knocked him off his feet. James had caught him off guard by simply side stepping the majority of his curses. Frustrated, Harry resorted to firing a random amount of Stunners around James's feet, hoping to at least have his father antsy. His father simply performed an intricate leap and launched a spell that knocked Harry on his back.
"How do you do that?" Harry choked out as he tried to fill his lungs with air.
"You telegraph your moves too much. I know they teach you these intricate wand movements at school but most of the time they're unnecessary. I can practically spell out the jinx you're about to use even before you say it - here - practice trying to disarm with a tiny, tiny flick of your wrist," James showed just how little movement was needed.
Harry tried to replicate his father's effort but failed the first time. After several attempts, Harry finally managed to disarm his father with the daintiest of touches. Harry looked at his own wand, impressed by the feat. James laughed and nodded his head, affirming that Harry did indeed do a good job.
"That was wicked! Can I do that with other spells too…" Harry trailed off as he spied a figure lurking at the top of the stairs. James turned around to see a blond haired boy nervously looking between the two Potters.
"Draco, right? Come down and join us," James beckoned.
"I'll have to decline," he replied sourly, "I was just sent down to tell you that dinner is almost ready."
"Oh nonsense! Harry tells me that you're near top of the class in Defense."
Harry bowed his head shook it slowly.
"Flattered as I may be, I don't have a wand," Malfoy said.
"I have a spare here. It won't be as good as your own, but I gather you and Harry can put up a good show. Isn't that right Harry?"
Harry looked at his dad as if he had lost his mind.
"I suppose," Malfoy said, itching at the opportunity to hold a wand again.
"Here you go," James summoned a spare wand and tossed it to the other boy, "Step onto the stage."
Malfoy hoisted himself onto the makeshift platform and eyed his wand warily, clearly not too comfortable with it. Harry gave a look to James, clearly bewildered as to why he would set up this duel. James held his hands out, signaling that he had the situation under control.
"Now, same rules as in school Draco. I'll know if it's a dangerous spell, so no funny business. From either of you," James pointedly looked at both of the teenagers.
"Ready? Go."
Harry immediately attacked Draco by simply trying to blow up the ground from beneath him.
"Deprimo!"
Harry's aim was unfortunately off target and missed Malfoy by a couple of feet. Cursing, Harry immediately crouched in preparation for one of Malfoy's jinxes. Predictably, Malfoy sent a harmless disarming spell sailing over Harry's head.
"Incarcerous!"
Harry could hear a dull thud from where he aimed his curse. Frowning, Harry thought that was incredibly too easy. As the particles of dust settled from the air, Harry could indeed see Malfoy struggling to escape from his imprisonment, his face stuck on the ground as he continued to wiggle.
"Really Malfoy? That was it?" it could have sounded like a taunt but to Harry, it was a genuine question. He did not expect the Slytherin to be beaten that easily. Harry's instinct was correct. Unbeknownst to Harry, Malfoy had muffled finite under his breath and rolled over to fire a jinx. Harry's glasses exploded in his face, the glass turning into sand. Harry was momentarily blinded as he ducked and rolled to evade incoming spell fire.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Harry dodged and rolled like a madman, unable to see where the jinxes were heading. Not knowing if he could somehow manage to ever see again, Harry spotted a blurry, body like figure and gave a tiny flick of his wand, hoping that the Expelliarmus would work. By some miracle, Harry felt a wand soar into his grasp and heard Malfoy gasp.
"Um, got it," Harry raised the other boy's wand in the air. After a moment, Harry heard his father recite a soft incantation and hand him the steel frame of his glasses. As Harry was putting on his glasses, he could see Malfoy stomping up the stairs back to the house. He turned to his father who was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and disappointment.
"What?" Harry said irritably.
"Better lucky than good sometimes, eh?" James said with raised eyebrows, "You let your guard down, Harry. You can't do that. Don't stop until the duel is over."
"I know," Harry muttered, "I was just surprised. Malfoy's not a pushover."
"Well either way you still got lucky. How you managed to disarm Malfoy while not even looking at him was something," James clapped him on the back as a compliment.
"I know," Harry sheepishly admitted, "I could barely see anything."
James looked at him curiously before saying, "No - Harry - your back was turned to Malfoy when you disarmed him. You weren't even looking at him."
"Oh."
James continued to look at his son for a moment before fixing the collar on Harry's shirt.
"Come on. Lily will be furious that we're delaying dinner."
Harry nodded numbly as he headed up the stairs. Entering the kitchen, Harry could spot Lily trying to teach Narcissa how to skin the potatoes. Narcissa was trying to be a good sport about it all, but failed miserably as she continued to slice the potatoes in half or simply missing the whole potato itself. Lily chuckled at a particular bad slice and relieved her of her duties. Narcissa protested but looked quite relieved to sit down at the table with her son. Draco was looking out the window, his face displeased.
"Good of you to join us," Lily replied snippily.
"Just helping the boys here," James smiled at Narcissa courteously as he took his seat.
"Right," Lily huffed.
Dinner was a tame affair as the adults chit chatted about the old Hogwarts days without bringing up the subject of Lucius Malfoy or any other potential Death Eaters. Narcissa was polite enough to brush off any remarks Lily or James, but mostly Lily, had about the War. Once or twice, Harry thought that his father looked uncomfortable answering Narcissa's questions but the moments passed by quickly and Harry did not give it another thought. Dinner was finished and Harry excused himself to write his reply to Cho. Narcissa and Draco were also excused and retired to their room for the night as well. Once they were gone, James broached a sensitive topic to Lily.
"Harry's found out about Sirius," he stated quietly, putting a sound charm around the kitchen to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
"It was only a matter of time," Lily stated matter-of-factly, her face in a deep frown.
"I told him that we just made a mistake regarding Sirius. I told him we didn't believe him at the time," James said in a monotone voice. Lily snorted a very unladylike snort in response.
"I'm sorry, Lily, I had to do what needed to be done."
"Sirius needed to go to Azkaban? Sirius needed to rot in a jail cell with Dementors? Sirius needed to stay there for thirteen years? Of course," Lily scoffed.
"I can't change too much. You have to understand," James pleaded quietly, sighing as he knew how this argument was going to end.
"I can't change too much," Lily mocked, "Here you are playing with everyone's lives and no one knows the better. I'm the one that has to deal with knowing. I'm the one that has to live with the fact that I purposely ignored one of my friends and sent him to that hell hole. I'm the one that has to live with the fact that Harry's real father is DEAD and he doesn't even know it!"
Lily jabbed her thumb to her chest as she repeated her claims, clearly distraught. James sighed frustrated, running a hand through his hair as he watched Lily pace the kitchen.
"I'm just doing what I can to protect Harry. To defeat Voldemort! Sirius would have found out about me too soon," James explained.
"Defeat Voldemort?" Lily asked incredulously, "Have you looked outside? The War's still going on! Poor Ginny is being sent to the front lines because Fudge is an ass that wants to make an example out of a fourteen-year old girl. I don't know what happened in your time, but it's terrible here."
James took a step towards her and towered over her, showing menace for the first time in a very long time, "You didn't see what I saw. You don't know how much I had to deal with just to get back here. You don't KNOW how this can all end. So don't talk about things you can't understand."
"Let go of me," Lily said through gritted teeth. James took a step back, blinking as he realized that he was harshly holding her wrist. He let go and watched as Lily wrung her out to reestablish the feeling in it.
"I don't know. Perhaps it would have been better if you didn't know either because you have no idea how this will all end either," Lily gestured around her.
"It will end differently."
"It better damn end differently," Lily threw her apron to the ground and stalked out of the kitchen.
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Harry whistled as he headed down to high street to pick up some groceries. His mother would be out for the day running chores for the Order which left Harry to do most of the house work. After finishing his third letter to Cho (they had been trading letters for about a week now), Harry picked up the grocery list and headed out the door, informing Narcissa along the way. It was nearing dusk as Harry picked up a couple of apples and other assorted fruit. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry spotted a very pretty girl mulling over a choice of rashers.
"Go with the ones on the left. They cook better," Harry suggested out of the blue.
"Thanks," the girl smiled at him, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Amelia."
The girl stuck her hand out for a handshake. Harry dusted his hands off on his jeans and shook her hand, smiling all the while.
"Do you go to Uni around here?" she asked.
"Oh no, I go to a boarding school," Harry simply replied.
"Aw, that's too bad. You're a cutie," she flirted.
"Nothing wrong with a little youth in your life," Harry smartly responded.
The girl laughed, tossing her hair back, "You're a smart one aren't you. Give me a call in a couple of years, mystery boy."
She left with a wink but without a number. Harry chuckled to himself as he continued to pick up the rest of the list.
Why can't I speak to all girls like that? I freeze up in the moments where I'm needed and I'm Casanova at the shop. Great.
Sighing in defeat, Harry picked up the last of his groceries and paid the proper amount. Armed with two brown bags of necessary food, Harry continued to whistle a jaunty tune as he rounded the bend to Godric's Hollow. The sun was settling in the horizon and Harry took a moment to admire the view. It was not every day one could be treated to such an open expanse of land. As Harry approached his house however, he immediately noticed something was afoot. The magic surrounding the house was altered, Harry could feel that much. Setting the bags down in the garden, Harry quietly tip toed to a window and peeked inside.
That's not good.
Three cloaked men surrounded Draco in the kitchen. The blond haired boy was on his knees with his hands bound around his back. To Harry's horror, he spotted Narcissa splayed across the kitchen table. Her wrists and ankles were bound to each corner and there were already many cuts and bruises on her body. Her clothes were gruesomely torn off in several places and Harry shuddered to think what they had done to her. Currently, the tallest Death Eater seemed to be questioning Draco.
Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I do? Where's mother? How'd they get here? What happened to the wards around the house?
The questions raced through Harry's mind in a flash. The Potters had declined taking on another Secret-Keeper after their previous fiasco and elected to erect a series of highly advanced wards around Godric's Hollow to prevent it from being discovered and subsequently attacked. Harry had no way to locate his mother as his owl was currently delivering a letter to Cho and he had no idea if his shimmering Patronus could even find his mother.
Peeking back inside, Harry almost chucked his lunch when he saw what they were doing to Draco's mother. One of the Death Eaters severed her leg and Harry could see the blood immediately spurt from the veins and arteries. Narcissa screamed in agony, no doubt silenced by some charm or the other. After a couple of seconds of what had to be excruciating pain, the Death Eater muttered something, waving his wand to and fro, and the leg suddenly reattached itself. The Death Eater then severed the leg and repeated this process. Harry knew that he had to act quickly or else Draco's mother would quickly die from blood loss. He hated Malfoy but there was no way he was going to let this happen.
Okay. Best possible scenario? Dumbledore shows up and I run away.
Most plausible scenario?
I can't take on all three of them at one time. Suicidal.
I can't even take one of them straight on. I have to ambush them but also extract Malfoy and his mother. How am I going to do that? Are there any spells that can hold them off for that long? Would Malfoy be able to fight back if I found his wand? Their wands; I know where they are! Do I get them first or do I try to free them and then get their wands?
Harry's mind was quickly melting into mush as he tried to process the necessary information needed to overcome this abominable situation. He carefully poked his head around the corner to see what was happening. To Harry's horror, one of the Death Eaters had removed his robes and shirt to reveal a sickly tattooed body. On his right shoulder was a giant serpent filled with several other miniature serpents surrounding it. The rest of his back was also tattooed in similar though Harry could not make out they were. His hips were thrusting in between Narcissa's legs and left little to no imagination of what they were doing to her. Harry could see Malfoy desperately pleading, tears in his normally cool eyes, as he fought his captors but the other two Death Eaters simply laughed at him.
DO SOMETHING. I have to look. I have to assess the situation.
Harry forced himself to look inside the kitchen, desperately trying to block out the image of the tattooed Death Eater. His eyes quickly scanned the area. Mr. Tattoo was at the kitchen table. The other two Death Eaters were standing off to the side, blocking the main hallway. The stove and the rest of the kitchen were separate by a counter that jutted out from the wall. There was no way Harry could curse one of the Death Eaters without the other ones doing something to one of the Malfoys. He needed a way to take them all out at one time. Collapsing the roof or ground was impossible since Narcissa or Draco would surely be hurt in the resulting rubble.
Please! Let there be something!
There was a flash from the back of the kitchen near the counter and Harry saw his silver lining. A set of knives were perched on the counter, no doubt left there from the skinning of the potatoes a couple nights earlier. His mother was usually very prompt in cleaning the kitchen but had seemed distracted for the past couple of days. Harry thanked the fates for what ever had distracted her and formulated the plan in his head. The task would be difficult, no doubt, but if Harry could pull it off, he would be able to save everyone.
In order to free Draco, Harry would need to summon the knife edges towards himself and in the process, slice the Death Eaters apart. There was little room for error since Draco was simply kneeling in front of them, begging for his mother's life. Both of the Death Eaters were of average height and Malfoy on his knees was essentially half their height. That gave Harry approximately two and a half feet to hit the two Death Eaters. If all things went according to plan, Harry could summon the knives, free Malfoy, and hit the last Death Eater while he was - distracted.
Please hold on.
Harry pleaded, mostly for Malfoy's mother. Positioning himself between where he knew where the knives were and the approximate area of the Death Eaters, Harry concentrated as hard as he could on controlling the knives in flight.
"Accio knives!"
Harry could not hear if anything had struck its target due to the Silencing charm around the house and immediately bolted inside. He had but a split second to see that all three bodies were collapsed on the ground, blood pooling around them. In the other half of the split second, Harry fired the strongest Stupefy he could to the large tattooed man. Mr. Tattoo was clearly caught off guard as he was blasted into the adjacent wall. Mr. Tattoo moaned on the ground, clearly not knocked out.
"Stupefy!"
The next Stunner seemed to knock Mr. Tattoo out, but Harry could not dwell nor check if that fact was true. He immediately rushed over to the blood-covered Draco and hoped that he had not killed the boy.
"Malfoy! Malfoy!" he yelled as he extracted his body from the pile. Harry was relieved to find Malfoy struggling to release himself from his bonds.
"Hold still! Finite!" Harry pointed his wand at the bonds behind his back and released the boy. Draco immediately went to his mother while Harry rushed up the stairs to retrieve their wands. As he hopped down the stairs to give the Malfoys their wands back, Harry was shocked to see Malfoy crying over his mother's body.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked questioningly as he cautiously approached the boy.
Narcissa Malfoy was a gruesome sight to behold. Gallons of blood surrounded her body and slowly dripped off the table, the sticky substance creating a coat that could have resembled a dining room table cloth from very far away. Her clothes were ripped in all places and Harry had to look away out of decency.
"She's dead," whispered Draco, his head buried on her stomach. His eyes were glazed over, clearly in shock.
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat as he turned away from the scene, tucking their wands into his robes. There was little time for Harry to dwell over the evening's occurrences as he spotted three more figures racing to his house from across the large expanse of land. Grabbing a spare of binoculars his mother had used for bird watching, Harry lifted them to his eyes and saw the tell tale masks of Death Eaters.
"Malfoy! Malfoy! We need to go, there's more Death Eaters coming!" Harry shook the boy's shoulder, hoping to break him out of his stupor. Malfoy barely moved, only muttering, "I can't leave her. Only thing left…"
"Malfoy, I'm sorry," Harry pleaded in earnest, "We have to go take my broom and get out of here!"
The Death Eaters had already landed on the road and were going to cross the garden at any moment. Harry had no choice but to forcibly yank Malfoy's arm and pull him to his feet. Taking the boy by his shoulders, Harry squared himself and looked straight into Malfoy's eyes.
"I am very sorry, Malfoy. We need to leave," Harry begged. Malfoy numbly nodded, clearly not understanding the importance of Harry's statement. Harry did not have time to sort out all of Malfoy's problems. He quickly gave Malfoy one of the Death Eater's wands and signaled for him to come up the stairs.
"Malfoy! Where are you going?"
Malfoy had walked into the corner where Mr. Tattoo lay in a crumpled heap. The Death Eaters surely were coming through the door at any moment. Harry watched as Malfoy stood over the unconscious body of the man for a moment before raising his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus. Confrigo."
Harry watched in terror as Mr. Tattoo was engulfed in flames, his body unable to move to prevent himself from being burnt alive. At the same moment, the doorknob turned and Harry reacted instinctively.
"Reducto!"
The door burst into splinters and sent the Death Eaters outside reeling. Harry screamed for Malfoy and the boy finally snapped out of it and broke into a run up the stairs. A series of spells singed Harry's shirt as he turned the corner to his bedroom. Harry retreated into his bedroom and locked the door with a temporary sticking charm. It would last approximately three seconds under the weight of the Death Eaters. Quickly using a packing charm for his most important belongings, Harry scrambled around the room to retrieve his Firebolt. He hopped on to the broom and signaled for Malfoy to do the same. Malfoy hesitantly hopped onto the back and Harry kicked off through his window just as his door exploded.
"Hold on Malfoy!"
Harry immediately went into a series of barrel rolls to avoid the deadly green curses being sent in his direction. Up and up he went as he tried to evade the curses. In one last moment of inspiration, Harry sent a desperately aimed Reducto at the Death Eater's brooms. Harry watched in grim satisfaction as the brooms exploded on the ground. Once he was high enough to assume he was out of immediate arm, Harry turned his broom around to see if any of the Death Eaters were following him. There were no other bodies in the sky and Harry let out a sigh of relief.
BOOM.
Harry cried in dismay as he watched Godric's Hollow erupt from the inside, the flames quickly engulfing his home. The fire licked the night sky as if the devil's tongue was at work itself. There were tears running down Harry's cheeks as he took sight of his beloved home being razed to the ground. Knowing it was only a matter of time before more Death Eater reinforcements arrived, Harry steeled himself and quickly for the only destination he knew: The Burrow.
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