Magic Knows No Boundaries But Those We Believe In

By NonsensicalRants

Chapter 17:

Dead Faces

Harry's offer of tea and banana bread was well recieved and once everybody was served he took his seat at the head of the dining room table.

"So. I Understand Albus recruited you all to see if you'd join me in my endeavor?" Harry said in an overly polite manner. "Or was it you Remus?"

"Oh no, we all volunteered." Remus answered. "We all happened to be in an Order meeting when your letter arrived, and we're all interested."

Harry tried not to gawk at the man at his apparent slip.

"Order meeting? I'm not sure I understand?" Harry lied.

"Oh hush, you. We all know you're fully informed in the going ons of the Order of the Phoenix." Lily told him.

Harry gulped. That didn't add up. There was no way they should know that he knew the Order of the Phoenix even existed. Was Dumbledore screwing with them all?

"I must insist on my ignorance of this Order." Said Harry. "But suffice to say you intercepted my request and have come to my aid?"

They all nodded.

"Well then, I do believe introductions are in order. I know I've met my colleague here and the young werewolf in the alley. Forgive me, I don't remember your name?" Harry said to the young man sandwiched between Lily and Remus.

He was far more amused by that sentence than it warranted.

"Romulus." He answered. "Romulus Lupin. I'd be a sixth year at Hogwarts, but I'm being homeschooled because of my condition."

Harry nodded in understanding.

"With your father's experiences in Hogwarts I'm sure you wanted to avoid all of the hassle and danger of being around others your age." Harry conceded.

"Well, it would have been fun to get Ron, Nev and 'Mione to become animagi and frolick about the Hogwarts grounds every full moon like this lot used to do, but they don't seem keen on me repeating their idiocies." Romulus answered.

... had he accidentally dosed them all with veritaserum? He decided against drinking the tea.

"You all seem really loose-lipped about war secrets and past crimes that could get you put away. You three are still unregistered, correct?" He said to James, Peter and Sirius.

"Meh. We put up enough privacy and detection wards to catch even the world's greatest assassin before knocking on the door." Said Sirius. "So we can talk openly without fear.

"We really ought to come by and properly anchor those wards so they're permanent." James suggested. "We want your wards, with an a, to be safe during the full moon. And taking a weekend out of our lives to save our foundation a thousand galleons hiring enchanters is just wise business practice."

Harry allowed his eyebrows to rise at that.

"You speak as if you've already decided to sponsor me." He said.

"Not only sponsor you, but devote as many waking hours as we can to volunteering here." Said Peter with a smile that lacked all of the cruely and deciet of the Peter Harry had known.

Harry was surprised by his own lack of discomfort or repulsion by the man's presence. It helped that he looked much more human, and certainly masculine, than in his world. But he also just seemed... likeable, in a sleepy kind of way.

"Wow. I thought this would take some convincing. But I guess that works out. Is it because you are all such close friends with two werewolves that you decided to sponsor me?"

They shared knowing looks.

"That alone would probably have been enough." Admitted James.

"But really, it's more our belief in you and the certainly that any cause you chose to persue must be worthwhile." Said Remus. "What, with your knowledge of the future."

Harry's occlumency shields were starting to slip as his confusion at their behavior and reasoning seeped through.

"I would advise against putting so much faith into any diviner, let alone me." Said Harry. "I am nowhere near flawless in my predictions of the past or future."

Seriously? They all put that much stock into the most wooly Hogwarts subject there is? Whoever Trelawney's predecessor was must have been excellent to instill such faith in them. It would certainly explain why they took the prophecy so seriously in his timeline. And likely this one as well.

"Oh, we think your abilities at fortune telling might be a smidgeon better than the run of the mill sooth sayer." Said Sirius, barely holding back laughter. "Is there anything important you can tell us? Time and day of deaths for instance? I'd like to maybe avoid our untimely demises if you have any info on them."

Peter smacked him on the arm.

Okay. So they really were strangely confident in his seeing abilities. He'd just have to run with it.

"Well if I have any visions concerning you I will share them post haste." Harry consoled them. "But per chance ask me of your futures and I can make predictions even without sight? Deduction is usually enough to make some educated guesses."

Romulus eagerly raised his hand and was bouncing on his chair.

"Hmm. Such a rowdy class today. So many eager hands from students." Harry said jokingly. "Mmmm, how about YOU! Mister Lupin. You have a question?"

"Ehem." Romulus cleared his throat dramatically. "Yes professor. I was wondering if you could tell me when in the future I learn how to do wandless magic?"

Harry considered the boy for a moment.

"Have you shown any talent for it in the past?" He asked.

"Well, no. I've been trying really hard at it lately but with no real success." Romulus admitted.

"Then what makes you think you will in the future?" Harry asked curiously.

Romulus gave him a deadpan look. Like something about that question was utterly demeaning.

"Call it a hunch." Said Romulus.

Harry leaned back in his chair.

"Well, I discovered wandless magic when I finally accepted magic fully and understood it on an instinctual level." He admitted. "Every witch and wizard at some point in their lives gets to the point where magic just clicks with them. Where the divide between spells become superfluous and with a wave of the wand, a mental command, and muscle memory a witch can set the dishes to wash and dry themselves, the duster and broom to get to work, and the laundry to fold itself all at the same time."

The adults present all nodded at the explanation.

"For some it becomes so second nature that they can instantly use any new spell they come across without encantation or wand movements, although all of them I've met are ancient men and women with over a century of life under their belt." Harry explained. "I can't quite do that, but I can learn any spell from seeing it done once. Still need the wand movements and incantation for most until I've got some practice."

At this point Romulus took out a tiny notebook from his breast pocket and jotted down what Harry was saying.

"It is that combined with the ability to truly feel the magic of the world around us, accept it's wild sentience and emotion, that I suddenly discovered I could tap into it with but my mind. No wand necessary." Harry finished. "Of course, I do believe very few people have the temperament to do it."

"Were there any specific events or experiences that got you to that point?" Lily asked.

Harry nodded.

"Actually, it was my apprenticeship underneath Ollivander learning wandcraft that first let me tap into that." Harry said.

"Wow!" Said James. "It only took you a few weeks under the old coot to gain this ability?"

Shit! Well that's a pretty big hole in his life story. Harry played it off by chuckling.

"Actually, I apprenticed under Ollivander for over a year with another apprentice." He said truthfully. "We only decided to reveal ourselves to the public recently after I returned from a tour around the world."

That left his entourage in deep thought for a few moments before they, all at once, seemed to come to an understanding of his meaning.

"And who was this pretty blonde you speak of?" James asked in a strangely knowing tone. "Were you two close?"

"Actually yeah." Harry admitted. "We dated through our time together. She was wonderful. To be honest, I still very much love her. But we can't be together for reasons I'd rather keep private."

"Oh, I think we all know those reasons. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to reclaim your flame with her in good time." Sirius assured him.

They all nodded in understanding, or more likely misunderstanding. He was starting to feel like they were having completely separate conversations that only superficially appeared to be connected to one another.

"Is she anybody I know?" Romulus asked. "I've met quite a few pretty blonde witches."

Harry considered the young man. What harm was there in telling half truths they would never get the meaning of? At least it might amuse him.

"Possibly. She's a bit of an oddball, but oddly cute and very caring and inquisitive." Harry said truthfully.

Lily looked at Romulus knowingly.

"Hmm. A blonde, inquisitive oddball?" She said to the boy in overaggersted sarcasm. "Whoever could that be?!"

He stared at her in something akin to horror.

"No way! You don't think it could be... could it?" He said, turning to Harry.

"I have no idea what you guys are getting on about." Harry said honestly.

This was becoming far more taxing than he expected, and in completely unexpected ways.

He was supposed to be the one that left people off center and confused, it wasn't right for the tables to be turned on him in this way! Then again, he was dealing with all four Marauders simultaneous, the wife of one, and the son of another. Perhaps he'd finally met his match in pure zaniness?

"Right! Well, do you think Mr Ollivander would take me on?" Romulus asked eagerly.

Harry shrugged.

"Maybe. You'd have to ask him." Harry said. "He only took me on because I saved his life once. And the life of the aforementioned pretty blonde at the same time."

That left Romulus in deep thought.

"Then I'll just make sure I'm ready when the opportunity to do the same comes around." Said Romulus with conviction.

"What makes you think a similar opportunity will present itself to you as it did me?" Asked Harry.

Romulus gave him that same deadpan look from earlier.

"Call it a hunch." He repeated.

... Right, he needed to rush these linatics out of his door before he punched one of them.

"Well I do have to be going to meet with my girlfriend soon. I have all of the paperwork necessary for you to sign." He told them as he got up to retrieve copies of the agreements to them.

"Er, right. About your girlfriend." Lily segued into the personal topic. "How did that matching come about?"

Harry considered his mother, momentsrily forgetting about the stack of papers he was carrying.

"It, uh, sort of just happened honestly." He told her. "Do you have some kind of criticism of my choice in lover?"

Lily shuddered at his use of the word lover, but barelled on in putting her foot in her mouth.

"Well, the age difference is more than a little concerning, I think." She said haughtily. "To say nothing of her... questionable allegiences."

Harry mercilessly smothered the strange mix of emotions boiling up beneath his iron tight occlumency shields. Anger and incredulity at somebody criticizing the woman he was inexplicably fond of. Embarassment and gratitiude over his mother trying to look out for his wellbeing. Confusion at her concern for a son that she didn't even know was her son and the question of if she could somehow feel that maternal connection and be acting on it.

He responded in cool measure.

"With all due respect, Mrs Potter, whom I give my heart to is a personal affair and ours is a business relationship." He said. "While I'm happy to extend friendship above and beyond our shared duties in this nonprofit, I would ask that we keep my dating and sex life out of our conversations."

Lily sputtered at his curt rebuke and turned redder in the face than Ron when he joined Bill kn visiting Fleur's extended family... on her grandmother's side.

She looked about ready to climb over the table and smack him.

"Why... you.. I think its very much my business!" She practically exploded. "I just want to make sure..."

James reached over and squeezed her hand, shutting her ho.

"Lils, he's right." He said. "He's a grown man and we already said we'd put our faith into whatever decisions he made. Let it go."

Lily Potter deflated and returned to her seat.

... Right, well, moving on.

Sirius, seemingly eager to break the tension, stopped him there.

"As hilarious as I find it to know my eldest cousin is cradle robbing our new boss, I would like to check the property to make sure its all in order." Sirius said. "If that's alright with you?"

"Er, sure. I actually meant to give you a tour earlier but I guess it slipped my mind in my nervousness." He admitted. "If you'd follow me."

"That won't be necessary." Peter told him as he and Sirius vanished, replaced by two hairy quadrupeds.

Padfoot and Wormtail then rampaged through the shrieking shack like they owned the place. Sirius with his nose to the ground and tail wagging and Pettigrew vanishing behind any furniture that could hide his tiny form.

They soon exited the room and continued on through the rest of the building.

Harry set out the documents on to the individual placemats as he listened to the two animagi sweep the house. At one point he was sure Sirius had knocked over a lamp upstairs with his tail and Peter had somehow gotten into the walls based on the scratching noises.

By the time they both returned Lily and Remus had finished reading through the documents.

"All clear." Said Sirius. "No signs of booby traps, spying equipment or toxic substances. Paint is non-lead based."

"What's more, not a whif of any rodents or pests." Said Peter. "Save for me. Couldn't even find a cockroach or termite to snack on."

He said it humorisly, but Harry suspected he would eat such things in a pinch as a rat. But it was good to know he didn't have roaches. He intended to keep it that way.

"I will need you to certify that you intend to be trustees and will faithfully administer any duties you all decide to divy up amongst yourselves as members of the board." Harry told them. "I technically only need three people, but with five of you that should really shave off how taxing your responsibilities will be."

They signed without any questions or comments once Lily and Remus gave them the go-ahead. Cuation to the wind then? What had he done to instill such trust in them?

"So. I hear my substitute has been giving you a hard time?" Lily said once the finished paperwork was passed back down to him.

"Oh right! You're supposed to be my coworker. Whyever haven't I seen you around the castle?" Harry asked. "And no. Severus has been shockingly friendly. I think he respects me. Heaven knows why."

"He does." Said Lily. "He told me so himself. Says you remind him of me, with a pinch of Dumbledore and Sirius. It's a combination that's driving him bonkers."

Hearing it put that way, yeah. He could understand why his presence had such a strange effect on the old bat. He was caught between his joyous friendship with Lily, deep respect for Albus, and raging rivalry with Sirius. Explosive combination. The former likely because of his eyes, the second and third because those two men had such an influence on developing his personality.

He took great joy in knowing his mere existence caused that man an existential crisis.

"And I've been away from work because I'm working on a project to help my... to help someone very dear to me with their sickness." Lily said. "A sickness I caused by trying to protect him. But you already knew that."

Harry knew when not to dig. Especially with him having just tkld her tl but out of his private affairs.

"I'm not omnipotent Mrs Potter." Said Harry.

"Oh enough of the stuffiness!" Said Sirius. "We're going to be working together for a long while. Im not Mr Black, I'm Sirius. She's Lily, he's James, he's Peter and he's Remus."

They all nodded as their friend pointed to them in turn.

"You and I have been on a first name basis for a whole weak now." Added Remus. "Along with all the other Hogwarts faculty. So why not them?"

Harry conceded to that point.

"And would you prefer we call you Hadrian or maybe a nickname for it?" Asked James.

"What would that be? Had?" Asked Peter.

"Nono, it's a roman name. Means dark-hared. The correct nicknames for it are Ryan and Hades." Said Sirius.

Harry hadn't known that. About the Hades part. Even when given the choice of a new name he accidentally christens himself the lord of death. Fate sure did love screwing with him.

"Maybe just... Harry?" Suggested Lily. "James, didn't you have a relative named Harry?"

"Harrison, actually. A great uncle of mine." Corrected James. "But Harry is the correct shorthand for it and Hadrian as well."

That part Harry did know. The origin of his namesake. But he was getting the feeling that he was being made fun of.

"I've always been fond of being called Harry by my friends." Harry admitted. "In fact, I think I'll get around to making Albus and everyone accustomed to calling me that."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Harry. I look forward to a long friendship and business partnership." Sirius said, offering a hand.

Harry shook it and the five other hands that got offered in turn.

From there the conversation turned to business. But with company like this it was anything but droll.

He told them about his plans to find a property in the middle east and northwest Africa to grow ingredients for the wolfsbane potion.

Sirius inquired about the lack of chains and Harry explained that the facility would focus on intoxication for treatment, namely alcohol and thc, to make the transformstion more bearable for those who couldn't use wolfsbane. When Lily pointed out that some of them would have jobs that require drug tests he assured her that he had thought that far ahead and had detoxification potions to remove traces from their systems on the way out.

The place was to be free of chains and barred cells. It was meant to feel like a home for his wards.

His new employees proved invaluable in suplyimg suggestions for minor improvements. Namely the need to reinforce the doors and windows in case of a werewolf getting out of control. Remus, of all people, suggested pitfall traps with cages at the bottom on the hill and fields surrounding the shack.

"In case someone gets loose while transformed. It's better to wake up in a cell than with human limbs scattered around you." He'd said.

It was a fair point.

He showed them the barracks, capable of sheltering twenty werewolves in each of the five rooms. There was also the basement which had a walk-in freezer he'd reunforced himself. It was empty, and designed to hold any werewolf who, for whatever reason, couldnt be made docile during transformation.

Extreme cold could incapacitate a werewolf. And potentially kill it, so he would need to train somebody to safely use it in cases that it was necessary.

"I think it's more likely than you think." Said Lily. "Many people have moral objections to narcotics, or have health conditions that make it unwise, get a combination of somebody allergic to wolfsbane and disdain for drink and devil lettuce and you'll have somebody in need of a deep freeze."

She was right. There was room enough to install a few more freezers if the need ever arised. And if the funds didn't dry up.

Soon enough it was time to say farewells.

Harry had, over the course of the night, slowly allowed his occlumency shields down and allowed himself to feel. It was nice, being around them. These people he ought to have loved and who ought to have loved him.

He was happy. In a meloncholy kind of way.

"I look forward to our correspondence over the week." Harry said as they filed out. "Don't ever be afraid to write."

Lily was the last to leave, but before exiting the door he'd held open she turned on Harry and considered him.

"I want you to know, it was wrong of you to decieve Albus into thinking you're a seer in order to get the Divination postion." She said. "But I understand the necessity, and I know that we've all decieved him in greater measure for similar reason."

Harry stared wide eyed at his mother. Then she did the unthinkable.

She hugged him.

It was a tight, bone-breaking, Hermione-esque hug that took his breath away. And in trying to regain it he breathed her in. He was hugging his mother for the first time in memory, and she smelled like all of his dreams coming true. Strawberry and passionfruit mixed witht the unnameable musk of perfume and... and her.

He hugged her back and melted into her soft warmth.

"I hope you know what you're doing. We know you've been working all on your own until now. Call onto us for anything. No matter how trivial." She said.

With that she let go and exited through the door, closing it behind her.

Harry stood there for a moment. The emptiness left by her disappearance like a hunger for human touch that he had never known. Suddenly he was a three year old child, wanting to run out of the door crying for his mother and father that were still on the other side of it. For his godfather and the father to his godson too.

And then he remembered his own versions of these people. The ones who had died. The ones who had died because of him.

All at once these, and the reminder that all of his friends and families from his own timeline might be lost to him forever, and the responsibilties he had shouldered came crashing onto him all at once.

He apparated away.

He reappeared in a secluded woodland. He didn't know where specifically. It was one of their hiding holes during the hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes. Could have been the place Hermione went camping as a child, could have been the place near the river they had recovered in after their dragon ride post-Gringotts break-in.

It didnt matter. It was secluded, it was far away from anybody he could hurt, and it was in tact.

And so he let loose, and his magic reduce the world around him into nothing.

Stone boulders were reduced to dust, the trees to splinters, and the unfortunate birds, rodents and insects nothing more than a pink mist.

Their magics all screamed in agony and betrayal as his usually loving and understanding magical extension pulverized them and swirled their remains around him into a viscious typhoon.

He was screaming. He didn't remember when he started doing it, but it registered that he was screaming and couldn't hear it over the sound of the world around him being ersdicated.

It was wrong. The world was wrong.

Why had it taken so much? Not from him, but from everybody?

Good people. Brilliant, wise, loving people from all sides of this conflict thrown away like refuse in the name of... of what? Not Voldemort, not the Ministry, not a god or ideal. Just chaotic happenstance.

From accidents in lab experiments, to an unlucky shot in the battlefield to cold-blooded murder in the persuit of immortality. It was all so senseless. Potentially good people locked in cages with soul-sucking demons, for crimes that were so pointless, fighting and dying on a battlefield for an inch of ground that would be lost the next day.

There were so many of them, people he had loved and hated but were all just... people. Stupid, caring people with dreams snuffed out by fates that toyed with them seemingly for their own amusement.

And they were all his responsibility now. Why him? There were plenty of people smarter, stronger, kinder, wiser or more experienced than him. There were even a few who were all of those things. Why couldn't they have a shot at this saving the world business?

Hell, there was a hero hiding inside of everyone he knew. From little Xenophilius to Hagrid, if given the chance they could take the reigns of destiny and uphold this responsibility. And yet fate chose Harry. Why?!

Why did it chose to take everything away from him not once, but twice, and now dangle the threat of taking it all away from him a third time? What had he done to earn this?

Was it a punishment? Was it all a twisted reward, letting him see them all alive when he had so long ago accepted their deaths and the unfairness of their lives before moving on?

He just didn't understand.

He didn't know how long he was there, but his emotions were spent long before his magic, and so the latter died down. The once scenic woodland now a tumbled mess of transfigured wood, stone, soil and meat forming a winding wreath of impressionist art.

Some of it was smooth, some of it was jagged, but it was all a horrible testament to what he was capable of. What he had been capable of for some tjme and hadn't even realized until now.

As if he didn't have enough to deal with, now apparently he was a walking, talking weapon of mass destruction.

Bellatrix looked at the grandfather clock and clicked her tongue impatiently.

Hadrian was late. He had promised to meet her at her apartment thirty minutes ago, and he still wasnt here.

It wasn't the first time. And she wasn't angry about it. She knew she should be angry at him, as any lady ought to be. But something about his boundless patience from the moment they first met, during that patronus lesson and ever onward made her feel the need to reciprocate that patience.

And so there she sat, on the end of her couch, reading Duelist's Weakly.

She had already learned all of the going-ons of the fencing league, where dueling was performed with both fencing skills and spellcasting. Their season was over, with the new champion being a quarter-veela from france.

Then there was the brawlers league. Fists, and wand and body throws oh my!

The former she had considered trying out for once or twice during duller seasons, the latter not so much. Simply barbaric.

Although she had to admit, the rising star in the brawlers league cut a fine figure. A Bulgarian man whose moving picture was a bit pidgeon-toed, but that could be chalked up to the disorientation from the obvious nosebleed and head trauma he was sporting.

Now she was learning about proposed rule changes for the strip league, the one she took part in, where duelists stood at opposite ends of a narrow strip similar to the fencing league, whereas the brawlers fought in a ring. Casting, blocking and parrying without the ability to dodge or advance truly took the most skill with a wand of them all, hence her fondness of it over the others.

And then there was the laughable attempts at introducing more brutal forms of HEMA into magical duels. The last two wizards put into ring with wands, claymores and morning stars ended... exactly the same way as the prior hundred attempts had ended.

Hilariously. And with quite a bit if gore. She was fortunate enough to be in the crown for it, invited as the date for one of the duelists. She had also been in the splash zone. She wasn't the type of girl to get a man's bodily fluids onto her during a first date, but that time had been an exception.

There was a knock on her door.

"If it's a Mister Morrigan making an evening ca, he is more than welcome to simply barge in." She called out.

And he did.

She was so busy feigning indifference to his presence that she was thoroughly surprised when she found his head pressed against her stomach and arms wrapped around her waist.

She eeped at the sudden intimacy from the man kneeling in front of her. It was a first for them.

"Oh my, have you finally decided to get a little more frisky with me? You certainly know how to keep a lady waiting." She purred as she raked her nailes on his back.

And then she felt it. His magic, always expanding outwards from him in such a way that even those less in tune with magic could feel the warmth and welcoming nature of his aura. It wasn't stretched outward now, it was trapped beneath the surface and felt like the roiling sea. His skin akin to lashing winds, foaming waves, pelting hail and bolts of lighting to her touch. It was wrong for this wonderful man's magic to feel so painful. So pained.

She switched from aroused clawing to soothing back rubs and from purring flirtation to cooing consolation.

"What's wrong my dear? Did somebody attack you?" She asked in genuine concern.

No wonder so many people thought she was bipolar. With her ability to switch from hot under the collar to mothering in a split second like that.

"Had to go work through some issues." Came his muffled response. "So many dead faces. So many dead children."

She fought the frightened shiver his response brought down her back and continued rubbing his.

"Past deaths for future deaths?" She asked, thinking maybe he had a rather horrible vision of some kind.

"Both." He answered simply.

As always his opfuscations were both concerning and confusing. But also damned interesting.

She still didn't know much of his past, especially his youth. But this wasn't the first time she suspected life hadn't been kind to him. She saw the telltale signs of it. Powerful people like him and Dumbledore always had great tragedies which either broke and rebuilt them, or mutated them horribly like Voldemort. All roads led to power in this way. That being said, she knew with his boundless patience and joy that Harry was the former, but it seemed his rebuilding process wasn't done yet.

Perhaps in never would be? It hadn't for her. She wasn't sure about Dumbledore.

Hadrian was hurting. But he wasn't breaking. She couldn't fathom a thing capable of breaking him. But like her, recharging and relaxing from the stresses of life was an occassional necessity. When memories bubble up and erupt from the dark recesses of the mind.

"Would you like a drink?" She offered.

She felt him shake his head against her stomach.

"No. Only drink when happy. With people that make me happy." He said.

Fair enough.

"Alright, up!" She said, patting his back with both hands.

He obeyed and got off of her, and she missed the weight but knew neither of them would get much out of staying in that position. He wouldn't share any more information with her, and he clearly wasn't in the mood for a tussle on the couch.

"Sit." She demanded as she got up, indicating the seat she just vacated.

He obeyed like an adorable, if downtrodden, puppy and she made her way to the hallway closet. She retrieved a guest blanket she kept when a friend or relative (See: Nymphadora after a breakup or Narcissa when angry with Lucy) needed to crash on her couch. A quick trip to the kitchen later and she returned to her - boyfriend? - with the blanket, a spoon and big ol tub of double fudge ice cream.

"Bunch up." She said before crawling into the couch with him and wrapping them both together with the blanket.

"Okay. So. I'm going to feed us some chocolate ice cream, and eventually we'll fall asleep because it's dosed with a mild dreamless sleep potion." She informed him. "It's one of Fortescue's special comfort ice creams. Charmed not to melt when we inevitably drop it as we pass out. Now, in the morning we're going to continue working through these issues of yours. Don't have to tell me about it, but you do have to come along with me as a try to cheer you up. Kay?"

She didn't look up to see his reaction as she popped the lid to the ice cream, but based on the rough chuckles that made them both vibrate she'd take that as a yes.

"Now." She said as she scooped up the first spoonful of chocolaty goodness. "Say aaaah."

"Ahhhhh." Voldemort sighed as the crisp evening air blew in from the harbor and his boat docked into London.

The delicioys smell of salty air, fish, London rain, and Muggle machinations filled his senses.

He wiped his drenched hair out of his face and lifted his nondescript Muggle rucksack as he departed the small fisherman's boat.

Sixteen years. Sixteen long years he spent away from the country which birthed him. Leaving it to the children of his fist followers to mould in his image while he turned his sights abroad. Only ever returning to stoke the flames he had left beneath metaphorical cauldrons that needed delicate attention.

The terror from the first war still gripped magical society to the point that to this day people feared his name. But with the children of his first batch of Death Eaters now having children of their own old enough to serve, it was time to collect the new batch and finish what he started.

The seeds had been planted everywhere else which had fertile soil. It would be some time before they were ready, and he would need new blood to tend to it all. Hence his return.

"Daddy's home. Who will be first to taste of his belt?" He asked rhetorically as he walked the plank onto the pier.

The sound of appiration hailed the arrival of Aurors. An entourage meant to search for any dangerous cargo in wizarding vessels.

While the question had been rhetorical he was delighted to get an answer all the same.

Notes:

Another chapter published on time. Exactly one week after the last. The next one I think is going to be even easier to write. It's kjnd of a fluffy chapter. Heartwarming, even.

Im worried i might have given too much away in this chaoter. I'm pretty sure most of you will have figured out the big plot twist I have planned for the finale. I was very tempted to just reveal the plot twist entirely.

Reviews:

wanker Wrote:

Wow. regular updates with depreciating quality of chapters and complete stagnation of plot line. geez, you must be proud.

Take your time with chapters, no? Why the rush? Your earlier chapters were like much better and so much more fascinating to read.

Response:

Depreciating quality? Are you quite sure? I put a similar amount of hours jnto each chapter as ever, just in closer proximity to one another.

The earlier chapters were sometimes easier because I had a working framework with the original fanfic. Now its all me and I lost some of the rhythm. Im getting it back though.

ThR1992 Wrote:

When referring to Draco and Hermione's class, you called them the seventh year, and I understand that they are the sixth year.

Bellatrix would skin him if she ever tried to trick her.

It's going to be a tough test facing the homonyms of her parents and Sirius. But if he could differentiate his friends and Bellatrix from his world, he could do it and I guess he had his close in the woods before facing Voldemort.

I imagine he was trying to identify a possible spy.

It was a pleasure to read another chapter, congratulations on meeting your self-imposed deadline. Hopefully you can repeat it.

Response:

6th and 7th years are together. Ill have to go clarify that

Uh, you keep saying she. What do you mean by trick her? Do you mean CHEAT on her?

Guest Wrote:

Good chapter, only issue is you're making Voldemort to be some kind of monster in term of power relative to everyone else, hopefully this doesn't get in the way of a good story

Response:

He is a monster. That's the point. With Harry so strong Voldemort needs to be a worthy foe. And this is a voldemort who, instead of gojng insane during thirteen years beinf disembodied with no ability to inprove his strength or skills, sownt 16 years traveking the world causing and fighting wars. Being patient.

Exivus Wrote:

I like the divination aspect of the story, it's a very unexplored branch of magic in fanon. What I don't get is why Harry would go through the hassle of getting his newts again in the hopes of getting some random job, instead of trying to find another seeker spot in a pro team, which I assume doesn't require any qualifications other than skill?

Response:

Harry did not become a seeker again because be is in a new world with Vildemort still around. Priorities being such that it is more important to build relationships with powerful allies and prepare for the battle to come. And seeing the people he loved and now knew to be alive.

CMDR Kovacs

Aww, I always thought "earn houseplants" was a rather clever pun, adding to Harry's charming eccentricity. How disappointing that it was merely a typo. I believe I shall now drown my newfound sorrows in a bucket of ice cream.

Response:

Oh I left the typo in, and I'm adding it to the eccentricities.

Sapphire Orchid

I'm so happy you put FF10 in as a reference, god that was my all time favorite game growing up, its the only game I've played consistently over my life

Response:

That is so very very sad. While I do LOVE the world of FFX(Minus character design chocies) and the gameplay is okay, the only game you return to? I constantly return to the Spyro trilogy, Jak and daxter series, Zelda N64 games, Croc and a few other goodies from my childhood.