<<<<<<<<<
Harry stood still as he watched the funeral of Arthur Weasley. He had already cremated Remus and Tonks as per the traditions of his family, and here he was, at the Burrow, a week after the final battle, attending another funeral.
Mr Weasley had been a good man. He had graciously welcomed Harry into his home and provided food and comfort without asking for anything in return. He had even taken Harry to the Quidditch World Cup when there was no reason to do so. Harry had never been particularly close to the man, but he could sympathise with the Weasleys' sense of loss.
What was irritating was how Ginny would constantly stand next to him, trying to take his hand. When she tried for the third time, his eye began to twitch in annoyance. He wanted to let her know that there was nothing between them anymore. He didn't know why, but he just wasn't interested in Ginny. What had he seen in her? He had no idea. He actually found her to be … shallow.
As the ceremony continued, Harry couldn't help but let his mind wander. The adoption papers and birth certificate of Edmund Potter-Black had been submitted to the Ministry of Magic. Thanks to his influence, he didn't have to answer too many questions, and Kingsley aided him as well when Harry faced problems over Teddy's birth parents not being mentioned in the birth certificate, which instead, had his name listed as the father. Kingsley had told Harry that he was very proud of him for adopting Remus and Tonks' child, having stepped up and taken responsibility for the baby. The adoption hadn't been released to the press yet, but Harry wanted to talk to Luna about an interview. He was touched that the Lovegoods had been printing positive facts about him during the Voldemort regime, knowing how dangerous it was to do so.
He was snapped out of his musings when he felt someone grab his arm and pull him away from the family.
"Harry, we need to talk," Ginny said quietly, waving her wand around them to cast a silencing charm. "Why are you avoiding me?"
"Ginny, this is really not the time," Harry sighed tiredly.
"Then when is the time?" she shot back. "This is the first time I've gotten the chance to speak to you since the final battle! As your girlfriend, I think I have the right to be upset when my boyfriend refuses to spend time with me!"
"Hold on a second! Boyfriend?" asked Harry incredulously. "What gave you … okay, listen, Ginny. I have too many things going on right now. I have responsibilities that I need to fulfil, not to mention a baby to take care of. I'm not exactly looking for a relationship. I'm sorry, but we won't be getting back together."
"What?" she shouted angrily. "You can't just leave me like this! After Dumbledore died, I let you go because I knew you wouldn't rest until you killed You-Know-Who. That's what you've always wanted to do, and I understood that. But now, you suddenly –"
"No, Ginny," Harry interrupted. "Killing Voldemort was not what I always wanted to do. The responsibly of killing him was thrust upon my shoulders and I carried the burden unwillingly. All I've ever wanted was to be a regular, ordinary wizard. Not the Boy-Who-Lived."
"But you are the Boy-Who-Lived!" she cried. "Don't you dare break up with me, Harry Potter! Don't be an idiot. We're supposed to get married and have children and that's what we're going to do. I respected your wishes the last time, and now, you respect mine!"
Harry shook his head, scowling at her. "It's my life, Ginny," he shot back furiously. "And I'll decide who I want to spend my life with and when I wish to start a family. We are not getting back together and I'm not your boyfriend!"
Fuming, Harry marched towards the Apparition point beyond the wards surrounding the Burrow, not caring about how rude it was to simply leave without saying goodbye. Just as he was about to Disapparate, he saw Ron and Hermione running towards him.
"Oh, bloody hell," he muttered, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Kill me."
"Harry – mate – where have you been this past week?" Ron panted.
"We've been searching for you since the battle!" said Hermione furiously. "We sent owls, but not once did you choose to reply until yesterday! Do you know how worried we've been?"
Harry closed his eyes as he took in deep breaths. He flicked his wand and erected a silencing charm around them.
"Is that Dumbledore's wand?" asked Hermione sharply, her gaze fixed on the Elder Wand in Harry's hand.
"No, it's the wand of my ancestor."
Technically, it was true. According to the family tree that he had seen in one of the drawing rooms at Potter Manor, he was the descendant of Ignotus Peverell, and Kreacher had said that the Peverells were supposed to be the brothers of the tale.
"Then why are you using it? What happened to your wand?" asked Hermione, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I'm using it because I like it better than my old wand," said Harry through gritted teeth. What was this, an interrogation? It was quite unwelcome, as he wasn't in the mood to talk to them.
"Where have you been living for the past week, mate?" asked Ron, repeating his earlier question. "You didn't come to the Burrow. I mean, where else can you go?"
"I've been living at the Potter ancestral manor," said Harry stiffly. "Since I'm seventeen, I claimed my inheritance and was finally able to access my family's properties."
When he sensed Ron's jealousy rise up again, he interrupted, "Did you think everything was going to be rosy again after you two walked out on me?"
Ron and Hermione gaped at him.
"Harry, we tried to come back, we did, but," Hermione said uncertainly, "we couldn't find you."
"I'm glad you never found me. If you had, the war would have never ended. Didn't I tell you that hunting for the Horcruxes wouldn't be easy, Ron? What part of that didn't you understand? Was your stomach all you could think about? We were at war! Did you think Dumbledore told me everything and had given me a layout of all his plans? That manipulative old goat never prepared me for anything! I had to figure it out all on my own! I told you that there was a Horcrux at Hogwarts. You snubbed me. You insulted me. Both of you were constantly whispering behind my back. You thought I was such an idiot that I could never figure things out without you, didn't you Hermione?"
The two of them were stunned. "Harry –" Hermione began.
"I killed the snake in Godric's Hollow," said Harry, shutting her up. "I approached the goblins and sought their help in getting the cup. It was in Bellatrix's vault. The diadem was in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. I destroyed the locket with the Killing Curse the day you both left. He really is dead. All his Horcruxes were destroyed. That's why I took a stand that night. I'm not a monster who engineers a battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters purely for the fun of it! It was done so that we could finally defeat him once and for all! After knowing me for six years, you had gall to compare me to Voldemort?"
Harry had lost his composure by then and had started screaming. Hermione shot a filthy look at Ron. The redhead spluttered, unable to come up with anything to appease his friend.
"Harry," said Ron weakly. "I know it was wrong. But come on! My dad had just died, mate! You know I would never have said that if he had been alive! As for what happened in the tent, it was that bloody locket! It affected me more than you and Hermione!"
"And I didn't mean to Disapparate, Harry," Hermione said softly. "You know that."
Harry waited patiently for a minute, simply staring at them. "That's it?" he asked incredulously. "No apologies? Is 'sorry' an alien word to you?"
Ron's face and ears turned red. It was clear that his temper was rising. Hermione opened her mouth but Harry beat her to it.
"I forgave you after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, even though you never apologised," he said angrily. "At the time, despite how awful you were to me, I could sympathise with your situation, so I let it go. But now? Abandoning me during a time of war, only because of your damn stomach? And then blaming me for your father's death and to top it off, accusing me of being the same as Voldemort? That, Ron, I can never forgive. I would have at least considered it if you seemed genuinely sorry, but the word doesn't even seem to come out of your mouth! Even now, you don't seem to realise the magnitude of your actions."
Ron glared back at him. He didn't utter a single word.
Harry turned towards his other best friend. Hermione had tears in her eyes and Harry could feel his vision being blurred by tears too.
"One month may not be a long time for a person to change, Hermione," he said quietly. "But to me, it definitely was. It changed me, and I don't think you'll accept me for who I am now. Thank you for everything, Hermione, but our friendship will never be the same again. I'm sorry."
Without another word, Harry Disapparated from the Burrow, leaving Hermione upset and Ron very angry. Ginny walked up to them a few minutes later and was furious to find out that Harry had left without reconciling with her. She thought giving him some space to cool off would be enough, but Harry had used that time to disappear again.
"Where did he run off to now?" asked Ginny angrily.
"He went to his manor," spat Ron. "Bloody git. He's acting like Malfoy."
Hermione was silent. There was more to the mystery than what Harry told her and Merlin be damn it, she was going to get to the bottom of it. She was also sure that if she gave Harry enough time to cool, things would settle down. The younger boy had an infamous temper, but she also knew that he was a very forgiving soul.
He would be back and their friendship would mend.
<<<<<<<<<
The Hogwarts Express shined brightly under the sunlight as people gathered on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Headmistress McGonagall had reconsidered her decision to cancel the second term, so the school reopened on the first of February. Various magical construction companies had worked efficiently, and the castle was finally repaired in a month's time thanks to the generous donation the school received from several witches and wizards across Magical Britain. People were talking excitedly as they boarded the train, the gloom that had been prevalent over the last two years having disappeared. The most notable name being mentioned in nearly every conversation was Harry Potter-Black.
Harry James Potter-Black, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One, the Man-Who-Won, the defeater of You-Know-Who, the holder of Order of Merlin, First Class, the Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble Clan of Potter-Black, was the hero of everyone around. He had given a personal interview which had appeared in the Quibbler in the second week of January. The young wizard had explained that he had disappeared underground during those months for a reason, and that it was only due to his mission being a success that he was able to defeat Lord Voldemort. He had also praised several people like Neville Longbottom, Minister Shakelebolt, Lee Jordan, and the Lovegoods who had stood up against the Death Eaters and protected the innocent.
In addition, the young Lord had donated quite a bit of money to Hogwarts and the Magical Orphanage, which sadly, had a large inflow of new orphans. Unknown to others, Harry, on the advice of Ragnok, had also invested in many businesses which were doing poorly because of the war. In time, they would grow into cash cows and Harry had quickly acted, making him reap the rewards in the future.
What was shocking, however, was that Harry Potter-Black had also adopted an orphan. The baby was just four months old, and it was said that Harry had already blood-adopted the child, who was named Edmund Potter-Black. It also came as a surprise to people when Harry announced that he was the blood-adopted son of the infamous Sirius Black. No one knew until recently that Sirius had been innocent; Fudge had buried the information after Voldemort had revealed himself to the world, not wanting to attract more problems for himself and the Ministry. It was quite satisfying when Cornelius Fudge himself was sent to Azkaban for corruption. The foolish man's incompetence was what helped Voldemort seize power so quickly.
Harry stepped out of the Floo with Neville Longbottom, the silver Head Boy badge gleaming on his chest. He had accepted the position when McGonagall offered it to him, only because he could get a separate suite. He couldn't raise Edmund in the Gryffindor dorm, after all.
"Ah, it is so nice to finally be rid of them," Neville said with relish.
Harry smiled and nodded. All the remaining Death Eaters, after being questioned, were given appropriate sentences. The inner circle Death Eaters, along with others who had committed horrible crimes, were all executed through the Veil. The others were given a sentence in Azkaban based on their crimes. Many were made to do community service to repair the damage caused. Harry had been very happy when Dolores Umbridge was executed, kicking and screaming. Draco Malfoy too was sent to Azkaban for the attempted murder of several people during his sixth year; the arrogant boy had nearly killed Katie Bell, Ronald Weasley and Professor Slughorn, not to mention smuggled a dozen Death Eaters into Hogwarts, resulting in several people being injured and Albus Dumbledore being killed. All those families had to pay a lot of money to the Ministry as compensation, so none of them had enough gold to bribe people.
Harry boarded the train and headed towards the prefects' compartment. Ron's badge had been given to Neville at the beginning of the year, much to the redhead's anger, so Neville was now a prefect. However, Hermione had still retained her badge. When he entered, Harry was surprised to see who the Head Girl was.
"Greengrass?" he asked in surprise.
Daphne looked up from her book and greeted him politely. "Hello, Potter. Or do you prefer Black?"
"Potter is fine," Harry said dismissively.
"Where's your son?"
Harry beamed with happiness. "He's with my house-elves. I didn't want to scare him by bringing him to the platform where he could be mobbed by strangers. He's only four months old, after all. He'll be brought here once the meeting is done."
Daphne smiled slightly and nodded. She was quite surprised when she was offered the position of Head Girl. After all, it was rare for non-prefects to be chosen for the position, but Professor McGonagall had explained that she was the highest-ranking student in their year, and that the only reason she was not chosen as prefect two years ago was due to Severus Snape's favouritism towards Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. In addition, the headmistress had commented that Daphne's exemplary work during the first term, with her having helped save numerous first and second-year students from the Carrows' wrath by putting herself in harm's way, could not be forgotten. Daphne had been initially overwhelmed, but after a few more encouraging remarks, finally accepted the position.
Hermione Granger entered the compartment a minute later and glared at the Head Girl badge pinned to Daphne's uniform. How could she have not been made the Head Girl? She was the top student in their year, was she not? She had also fought against Voldemort. What had Greengrass done to deserve this? Nothing! The girl was a nobody! She hadn't contributed to the war effort while Hermione had been helping Harry with it for years! Granted, things didn't work out in the end, but she was sure that her contribution held more weight than someone like Greengrass!
Hermione also saw that Harry had been made Head Boy, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment and jealousy. How could Harry be the Head Boy while she wasn't chosen as Head Girl?!
That was not the only thing that bothered her. She was also angry at her friend for his recent behaviour. Harry had come to the Burrow to comfort Mrs Weasley a week after Arthur's funeral, but when the woman had demanded Harry stay at the Burrow, he had flatly refused, saying that he had to take care of his son. The fact that he had blood-adopted Remus and Tonks' child was quite a shock. She was disappointed in him for doing so, and for changing the boy's name. Sure, Teddy was Harry's godson, but that didn't give him the right to take away the child's identity! She had pointed out that Remus and Tonks would be disheartened to find out that their only child did not resemble them anymore, and that he would grow up without their chosen name, but it was futile. His stubbornness could easily rival hers, and it was legendary.
Ginny wasn't pleased with him adopting the child either, but Harry would hear none of it. Hermione could see that her friend was getting annoyed with Ginny's repeated attempts in trying to get back together. He had told the girl in no uncertain terms that he wasn't interested in continuing any sort of romantic relationship with her, and that had led to a heated argument, with Ginny and Molly yelling at him to fall in line. Harry's point was that they had only dated for about two weeks and he had realised after the war that he wasn't interested in her anymore. He had changed as a person, was his defence, and Ginny hadn't taken it well at all.
Changed … that was the same reason he had given her and Ron for breaking off their friendship.
Hermione huffed as she finished the meeting and left to find Ron and Ginny. Harry surely had changed because the Harry Potter she knew wouldn't be acting like this.
"Where's Harry?" asked Ginny without preamble once she entered the compartment.
"He's not coming," Hermione said bitterly as she sat down, folding her arms over her chest. "He's still in the prefects' compartment. The rest of them are all cooing over Teddy."
"He's bringing the child to school?"
"Well, considering that he's here, I can assume that Teddy will be with Harry the entire term."
"Why would he blood-adopt the child and change his name?" asked Ron, shaking his head in exasperation. "I mean, it's not his son! The way he acts –"
"It's like Teddy is his own, I know," frowned Hermione. "I can't believe Sirius adopted Harry. How is that possible, anyway? Are you sure it's legal? Blood rituals are illegal, aren't they?"
"Not the adoption ritual," Ginny huffed testily.
<<<<<<<<<
Harry released puffs of colourful smoke from the tip of his wand, making Teddy squeal in excitement as he tried to catch it. They were in the prefects' compartment, with several of his friends and classmates surrounding him.
"He's so adorable," gushed Hannah Abbott.
Harry smiled again as he watched his son look at the others in the room with big violet eyes. Teddy turned towards his father and his face crinkled. Soon, his hair turned jet black and his eyes bright emerald green – his natural appearance.
"Wow!" exclaimed Tracy Davis, the new Slytherin prefect. "He looks so much like you now! I wish I were a Metamorphmagus!"
"Don't we all?" chuckled Neville as he tickled the boy, making him giggle.
"He changes his hair colour to the most ridiculous colour that catches his fancy," Harry chuckled. "We play that game for hours on end and he seems to enjoy the attention."
Harry released a dark purple colour smoke ball. "Teddy, can you change your hair to this colour? Come on, mate, you can do it!" he encouraged, planting a kiss on his son's nose.
Teddy squealed in delight, his hair turning from black to purple.
The people all around applauded and cooed over his behaviour. Harry smiled as he hugged the boy closer. He was very happy with his decision in adopting Teddy as his son.
Daphne Greengrass smiled softly at the father-son duo. How she wished her mother or father had loved her like how Potter loved his son! But that was not to be, because life was cruel that way. Her stepmother, Ursula, had never liked her. In fact, she hated her step-daughter and went out of her way to treat Daphne badly, making the girl feel like a stranger in her own home. Her father, being the astute businessman and politician, didn't spend as much time with his two daughters as he should have. Truthfully, Daphne had never really known him. He had been virtually absent throughout her life, and the few times he did pay attention to his eldest daughter, he was strict and aloof. By the time she was eleven, Daphne had sunk so deep into her shell that she was too afraid to come out. She had been a loner throughout her life, but war tended to bring people far from their comfort zone. She had been unable to watch silently while the Carrow siblings tortured the young children at Hogwarts.
Detentions were the worst, where the older years were made to practice the Cruciatus Curses on the younger ones. Daphne had kept a keen eye on the students being given detention. There was a handy book in the school library that automatically updated every point loss and detention being given to a student and she made use of it judiciously. The junior Death Eaters who were eager to cast the torture curse on the younger students found themselves stunned and bound before they could reach their destination. That way, the first-years were not harmed. Those whom she could not save, she brought them to Madam Pomfrey so that they could be healed.
Daphne even came up with an ingenious plan six weeks into the first term. She anonymously purchased a large batch of Polyjuice Potion from the black market and used it to impersonate the first years during detention. No eleven-year-old deserved to be cast under the Cruciatus Curse just because they had a Muggle-born in the family. The students had been reduced to tears at her actions, but she managed to extract their silence. If word ever got out about what she was doing, then things would get ugly, very fast.
Unfortunately, a month before the final battle, she had been caught by Alecto Carrow. Needless to say, her punishment had not been pretty. But that did nothing to deter her from protecting the younger years.
The reason Daphne was so protective of the first and second-year students was due to her own history, having been bullied by Parkinson and her cronies when she had been a first year. Ursula, her stepmother, had refused to teach her any magic before Hogwarts, so when she was sorted into Slytherin, it was a dangerous place for her, as all the first years in Slytherin knew several hexes and jinxes even before their first Charms or Defence class. It was expected. No pureblood parent would send their child to a boarding school without teaching them at least a few useful spells.
Needless to say, her first and second years had been an absolute nightmare. Worse, she had no one to confide in. Her father was busy and the less she said about her stepmother, the better.
It was during this time that she became close to Madam Pomfrey. With so many hexes and jinxes cast on her by her dormmates, she needed treatment. The Hogwarts healer had been worried about her, but Daphne had been tight-lipped, not revealing anything about the bullying. She knew that if she said anything, it would only get worse as she had practically no support from her parents or teachers. Snape clearly favoured Parkinson.
However, Madam Pomfrey had guessed what had happened, and in Daphne's second year, during the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, she had pulled the girl into the hospital wing, practically forcing an apprenticeship down her throat in order to teach her various healing spells and counter-curses. With the constant attention of the matron, Daphne improved and blossomed. She was still a loner, but was finally able to defend herself from her tormentors.
After an ugly confrontation on the first day back to school during her third year, Pansy Parkinson understood that her favourite target wasn't so easy to bully anymore. Daphne had bested her in a duel and humiliated her in front of all the other Slytherins in the common room and the bullying stopped immediately. They finally left her alone.
She had continued her apprenticeship under Madam Pomfrey until her seventh year: the year where she saw, much to her horror, eleven and twelve-year-old children being placed under the Cruciatus Curse. She remembered how it was to be tortured at that age, and had been unable to watch silently. She recalled all the help Madam Pomfrey had given her, and this time, the roles were reversed. Determined to help those who were being picked on by the Death Eaters, Daphne had come out of her shell and taken a stand, only for her father to be tortured and killed for her actions.
It was only a matter of time before her stepmother and Astoria made her leave Greengrass Manor permanently. Daphne was surprised that they hadn't done so already. Astoria had been contracted to marry Draco Malfoy, but he was in prison for the next five years, something she knew her half-sister was quite pissed about, and hated Harry Potter for it. The younger Greengrass' relationship with Malfoy had been going well, except the foolish little girl didn't know that Malfoy was trying to force Daphne to have sex with him the whole time. Even the blond ponce could see that Daphne was far more beautiful than Astoria, and he probably thought that the quiet girl would be easy to seduce. How wrong he had been! At least without all those morons in the Slytherin common room, it would hopefully be a good term.
But she wouldn't be living with the Slytherins. She would be living with Harry Potter in the Head Boy/Girl's suite. She wondered how the situation would play out, as she was not an easy person to get along with. She hoped they wouldn't come to blows. Harry was a very powerful wizard, magically and politically, and at the moment, she had nothing.
"Hey, does anyone know whose Patronus that dragon was?" asked Ernie suddenly. "That thing was huge!"
"Yeah, I was thinking about that too," frowned Padma. "I've never actually seen a dragon Patronus before!"
Harry chuckled to himself as he whispered, "Expecto Patronum!"
People gasped as the silver Hungarian Horntail Patronus burst from the tip of the Elder Wand. It wasn't as large as before, but it was still pretty impressive.
"It was you?" cried Neville.
"I thought your Patronus was a stag, Harry," said Luna, looking confused.
Harry shrugged. "It changed, apparently. That was the first time I cast it with the dragon form. I'd used it just hours before in Hogsmeade and it was a stag then, but when I cast it again during the battle, it was a Horntail; not sure why it happened, though."
That caused people to whisper excitedly as they wondered what would cause a Patronus to change its form. Edmund was petting the Patronus on its snout and laughing in excitement. The final year at Hogwarts was going to be brilliant; Harry was sure of it.