Avery Summer Property, Albania, 6/29/1987, 23:39
Severus arrived at the much nicer meeting place to find all of his comrades sober and alert, a welcome change if ever there was one.
"About time you got here, Snape," Dolohov grunted with a note of impatience.
"I was in the middle of a brew when I got your signal. For the past six months, these meetings have been nothing more than the drinking and diddling muggle women so I got to a stopping point before I left," Snape drawled unconcernedly.
"This meeting is much more important than the last few, Avery fill them in," Dolohov said looking to his partner expectantly.
"Very well, we have found a way into the area the dark lord is residing. I have made plans to launch a rescue mission sometime around the first of August," Avery said plunging the room into silence.
"Bout bloody time," Amycus Carrow exclaimed though the pudgy man seemed very pleased with this news.
"We will be facing heavy opposition so you boys might want to freshen up your fighting skills," Dolohov continued ignoring Carrow.
"No worries there, I train daily," Yaxley smirked.
"Yes, I imagine you need to be in tip-top condition to be an auror clerk," Alecto Carrow sneered.
"We can't all stay home all day and fuck our siblings," Yaxley drawled getting many guffaws from around the table and causing Snape to shudder at that mental image.
"Alright that's enough, just be ready for the mission and don't fuck this up, especially you two," Dolohov instructed shooting Crabbe and Goyle a pointed look.
"Sure, we won' mess nuffin up," Goyle said sounding a bit insulted.
Severus made a note of who was at the table wondering if he'd be lucky enough for some of these morons to get killed in the assault but somehow he doubted it.
"Now that we have given you all the details, it's time for you to give your oaths of silence," Avery cut in.
'Fuck!' Severus cursed internally realizing there was no way he could directly inform Dumbledore of this meeting.
Severus had no choice but to give his oath when his name was called otherwise he wouldn't be able to leave this meeting alive. All Severus could do now was try and guide Albus to the attack indirectly.
The meeting wrapped up as soon as everyone had given their oath not to reveal anything discussed at this meeting with anyone not at the meeting.
The oath of silence was a simple yet effective measure that had been used by the death eaters in the last war to ensure secrecy for major attacks. Severus had been hoping they wouldn't resurrect the old practice as it made his spying job so much easier without the damn oath!
Severus quickly departed from the manner-style summer home and made his way towards the wardline hoping he could find a way to warn Albus of the coming attack.
Head's Office, Hogwarts, 7/29/1987, 21:39
Albus was just finishing up the final calculations on young Harry's core to determine whether or not the lad was ready for the ritual.
The last few months had been eventful for the wizarding world. The death eaters had become more active in Eastern Europe and were starting to attract the notice of the aurors in the region due to the disappearances of muggles in villages along the Balkan mountains.
Albus had been steadily recruiting new members to the Order of the Phoenix though he seemed to have lost the support of Lord Peverell after their disagreement during the meeting in February.
Albus could understand Harry Peverell's point and there was undeniable logic to eliminating all of the death eaters before they could get started. However, Albus could not condone such a brutal attack, the order was formed to save lives not to take them. The order would find much less violent means to fight the death eaters, Albus was determined to do what was right, not what was easy.
Severus had also been acting rather oddly of late and kept telling him to keep an eye on Albania but wouldn't (or couldn't) elaborate as to why. Albus suspected that Severus knew something important but couldn't elaborate for one reason or another.
Albus had since set up powerful monitoring wards around the cave but knew if they were triggered that it would probably be too late.
Then there was another event that happened a little over a month ago that was nothing short of miraculous. It seemed Lady Malfoy had managed to design a potion to restore Frank and Alice Longbottom their sanity. Albus had been flabbergasted when he had received a call from Dedalus Diggle who was on call at the spell-damage ward of St Mungo's back in June.
Healer Diggle had called about an hour after the potion was administered to inform him that Frank and Alice had come out of their unresponsive state and were asking for him. According to Dedalus, the effects of the potion were almost immediate. Frank and Alice both seemed to regain awareness within fifteen minutes of the potion being administered, though admittedly they were very confused about what was going on.
Albus had rushed over to meet with them and was very surprised to discover how lucid they were. The only thing they couldn't easily recall was the night of their attack which Albus thought was understandable. Before Albus could explain to them about the Reformation of the order, Minister Longbottom and young Neville arrived and he thought it best to give them some privacy.
Albus hadn't contacted them since feeling it would be in poor taste but was hoping to talk with them after the ritual to remove the soul shard from Harry Potter's scar was completed.
The only thing Albus still hadn't figured out was how Narcissa Malfoy had gotten permission to administer such high-profile patients an experimental potion. He suspected she had a connection with the hospital administrator but hadn't looked into it much deeper.
Whatever the potion was, it was very well made as Augusta had been trying for years to bring her son and his wife back to their right minds. Madam Longbottom had called in some of the best healers and potion masters in Europe but none of them had been able to heal them.
He supposed he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, the Longbottoms were some of his best fighters in the last war. If he could get them back into the order, Albus really liked their chances of winning this time around.
Albus finished the last calculation and his heart sank at the results. According to the numbers, little Harry Potter's core was still too weak to attempt the current ritual.
"Drat, I will have to make a few more adjustments,' Albus thought as he pulled out a fresh sheaf of parchment and began reformulating the array.
He was getting closer but he still had more work yet to complete, if he could just reduce the magical power drawn from the boy during the ritual, then they could proceed as planned.
If only there was someone with a core that closely resembled young Harry's so they could assist in the ritual. It would simplify things a lot as it wouldn't put so much stress on the boy's underdeveloped magical core.
'That would definitely speed things along but who could-
Albus was pulled from his thoughts as the device he had tied to the wards around Albania exploded in a cloud of dust. This could mean only one thing, the wards had just collapsed.
Albus quickly activated the portkey he had prepared for this eventuality, vanishing in a flash of blue light.
Lura-Dejes Mt National Park, Albania,7/29/1997, 22:47
Albus hit some type of rebounding transportation ward and was flung hundreds of miles off course appearing somewhere near the Albanian coast. He was forced to apparition hop back to the cave, having taken precious time to apparate close enough not to trigger that unusual transportation ward. Albus made a note to come back and examine that ward in more detail as he was almost certain that ward was put up specifically to delay him.
By the time he had made it back to the forest where Voldemort was hiding, he found a small battlefield littered with injured and dead Albanian aurors.
Albus could tell as soon as he arrived that Tom was no longer there. The oppressive feeling of dread had been lifted from the air around this cave system and the forest felt alive again. There had been a cold darkness looming over this section of forest for the past seven years and there was no mistaking that Lord Voldemort was gone.
Albus quickly sent word to the Albanian ministry and tried to help the injured as best he could until the authorities arrived. He counted ten dead and fourteen injured, though at least three of the injured probably wouldn't see the sunrise.
After aurors and healers started to pour into the forest Albus talked with his old friend Auror Armend. After he explained what he knew, Albus took his leave knowing that this incident would worsen the rift between Britain and Albania.
This was the second time Albanian aurors had died defending this forest trying to prevent a British dark lord from returning. The Albanian ministry was already furious with Britain over the eighty-two incident and this was several magnitudes worse.
Pushing the International implications aside, Albus realized that he had to reach out to Lord Peverell immediately. Harry was one of the few people that knew about the soul shard in young Harry Potter and might be able to help him solve the problem he was having with the ritual.
'I just hope he will see me at this hour,' Albus thought as he activated his portkey that would return him to Hogwarts so he could floo to the Peverell residence.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 7/30/1987, 00:18
Harry was woken by Jangles gently shaking him awake.
" Master Harry, there is old whiskery man needing to speak with you," Jangles whispered when Harry's eyes opened and looked at the tiny elf curiously.
"Alright I'm up," Harry grunted as he stumbled out of bed and followed Jangles out of the room hoping not to wake Bella.
"Is he here?" Harry asked feeling a bit more awake as he started descending the stairs.
"No master, Jangles wouldn't let him through without permission," Jangles answered.
"Good man um elf," Harry corrected as they stepped into the sitting room to find Albus Dumbledore's head floating in the fire.
"May I come through, Lord Peverell?" Dumbledore asked as soon as Harry entered the sitting room.
"Yeah, you can let him through, Jangles," Harry said as he saw the look of urgency on Dumbledore's face.
"Yes master," Jangles nodded before snapping his fingers and allowing Dumbledore to step through.
Harry waited as Dumbledore's head disappeared from the fire before the flames flared up a bright green and a very wary-looking Albus Dumbledore stepped out of the fire, deftly avoiding Athena still sleeping in her basket by the fire.
"Good heavens, you have your own guard snake," Albus said when he looked over the large sleeping snake.
"She's my familiar, I would wake her and introduce you but she just fed and can be a bit cranky when woken up," Harry said as he led Dumbledore into the dining room where Jangles already had a tea service set up.
"Can I offer you some tea?" Harry asked politely.
"Yes, Please," Dumbledore nodded gratefully.
Once they were both settled and Harry had served them tea, Harry asked the question on his mind.
"What happened?"
"The death eaters have liberated their master. They killed ten aurors in the confrontation," Dumbledore sighed.
"Did they bypass your wards?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Best I can tell they found a way to bleed out the anchor runes before collapsing the ward with a volley of exploding hexes," Dumbledore answered after sipping his tea.
"Great, a couple more days and it wouldn't have mattered," Harry muttered tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Agreed though the ritual is actually why I'm here," Dumbledore confessed.
"Will it not work?" Harry warily
"It can work but there are some complications with the ritual. Harry's core will not be strong enough to perform the ritual as is," Dumbledore explained.
"We knew that was a possibility," Harry pointed out.
"Yes but now it is of the utmost importance that we remove that fragment of soul from the boy," Dumbledore explained.
"Bet you wish that you blew up their hideout with them in it now," Harry chuckled darkly.
"I really wish it were that simple, Harry," Dumbledore sighed sounding exhausted.
"Alright, we'll table the moral debate for now. Do you have any idea how to make Harry's core strong enough to perform the ritual?" Harry asked deciding to move on to the more important issue.
"If we could find someone who has a similar core to his then that person could connect their core to his and take the brunt of the ritual," Dumbledore answered looking relieved that Harry had let the other issue drop.
"So if we could find someone with a core similar to Harry's, we could still remove the shard on the thirty-first?" Harry asked just to make sure he heard correctly.
"Yes, I have an artefact that can painlessly connect the two cores, it would be quite simple," Dumbledore answered.
"Oh, then let's do that," Harry said as he sent off a patronus message.
"It's not that simple, this would have to be a very close relation to have magic that is similar enough to young Harry Potter's to be compatible," Dumbledore pointed out as he watched the cobra patronus slither off through the air.
"I can do it with no issue whatsoever," Harry assured the headmaster with complete confidence.
"We will have to run a test but if you can that would simplify matters a lot," Dumbledore said looking hopeful that Harry's suggestion would work.
"Good, we just have to wait to fill in Lord Black, providing he wakes up to my patronus message," Harry said seconds before he heard a 'woosh' in the sitting room.
"Dammit Harry, why is that infernal serpent always by the fucking floo?!" Sirius demanded as he entered the kitchen looking harried.
"She's been sleeping there for years Padfoot," Harry snorted.
"One of these days I am going to give that overgrown garden hose a good kick," Sirius huffed in annoyance.
"Go ahead and try but If she bites, that's on you. But you should probably know that the antivenom potion rarely works against her venom," Harry sighed having listened to his godfather moan about Athena for years now.
"Typical, why couldn't you bring a bunny back from the rainforest?" Sirius grumbled before noticing Dumbledore sitting at the table listening to them bicker.
"She ate the rabbit, now enough about poor Athena," Harry sighed as he offered Sirius a cuppa.
"We have a bit of a crisis, Sirius," Dumbledore cut in.
"Must be otherwise my cousin wouldn't let you enter her house," Sirius sniggered as he gratefully accepted the cup of tea.
"Yes, well the wife is sleeping," Harry admitted.
"Not quite," Came Bella's voice from the doorway looking over the gathering curiously.
"Lady Peverell," Dumbledore said politely.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, Sirius," Bellatrix said as she glided into the dining room and took a seat on Harry's right, giving him a questioning look.
"The death eaters got Voldemort out of that Albanian forest," Harry explained in answer to her unasked question.
"Took them long enough," Bellatrix snorted as Harry served her a cup of tea.
"Yes, well Harry and I were just discussing a way to go forward with the removal ritual," Dumbledore continued shooting Bella a wary look.
"By my Harry joining the ritual, I heard," Bellatrix smirked.
"Ah, I forgot about the monitoring spell," Harry muttered sheepishly.
"Yes, well I agree that Harry should have no issue assisting in the ritual," Bellatrix said after rolling her eyes at her husband.
"Why is there a monitoring spell down here?" Sirius asked his curiosity getting the best of him.
"Corina and Ignotus have been trying to get to the cookie jar and have resorted to sneaking down here after we go to bed," Harry admitted fondly.
"Ah future troublemakers in the making," Sirius beamed.
"I think that we should perform the ritual at Hogwarts tomorrow night at the stroke of midnight," Dumbledore said getting them back on subject.
"Alright, I'll meet with you there at nine to begin preparations," Harry said as he drained his cup.
"You should bring young Harry about nine as well so we can perform the compatibility test," Dumbledore said as he looked at Sirius.
"Sure, we'll be there," Sirius said as he refilled his cup.
"In that case, I must be getting back to Hogwarts, I am sorry to have woken you, Lady Peverell," Dumbledore said as he stood from his seat.
"Have a good night, Albus," Harry said as he watched Albus head into the sitting room.
Harry waited for the 'woosh' from the floo signalling Dumbledore had left before looking at the table's other occupants.
"It looks like the war will kick off again soon," Harry sighed.
"So Voldie is with his people?" Sirius asked.
"Yes and if they managed to get him into a temporary body we're fucked," Harry scowled.
"You know he most likely already has some type of vessel, Avery would have made preparations before retrieving him," Bellatrix pointed out.
"I do, but I have never hoped more that I was wrong," Harry admitted.
"I think I had better fill Amy in, I'll see you tomorrow night," Sirius said before stalking towards the fireplace.
"Good night, Padfoot," Harry called right before Sirius disappeared in a flash of floo fire.
"So now what?" Bellatrix asked.
"We get rid of the soul shard and then I start chipping away at the death eaters like I did when I first arrive in this timeline," Harry said as he stood up from the table.
"Let's go back to bed, we can talk more on this later," Bellatrix said in a soothing tone.
"Yeah, lead the way," Harry smiled tiredly.
In the back of his mind, Harry wondered how bad things were going to get and how quick they were going to get that way.
Avery Summer Home, Albania, 7/30/1987, 03:59
The ritual room was shrouded in thick grey fog as the potion dissipated from the air, revealing a child-sized form laying in the fetal position in the centre of the room.
"M-my, lord," Avery whispered from his place in the circle of death eaters standing around the walls of the circular room.
"The ritual was successful, but I will need some of the elixir," Voldemort's voice hissed out of the child-sized body.
Severus rushed forward and poured the tiny vial of gold-coloured liquid into the mouth of the homunculus.
"And someone will have to go retrieve Nagini from the forest near Gaunt cottage," Voldemort hissed after swallowing the liquid and gesturing for Snape to return to his place.
"It will be done at once," Dolohov grunted before turning to the Carrow Twins, " Amycus take your inbred sister and fetch the dark lord's familiar."
"Right," Amycus scowled before he and Alecto left the room shutting the door with a soft click behind them.
"Thomas, please find me somewhere more comfortable to rest," Voldemort commanded.
"At once my Lord," Avery grunted as he stepped forward and gently lifted the homunculus form of his master from the floor and set him in a conjured armchair.
"You have done well to find me, Thomas. Though I admit it took you all longer than I would have preferred," Voldemort said as Avery placed a blanket over his tiny nude form.
"Dumbledore enclosed the area in powerful wards and had the Albanian ministry guarding the area. It took us years to find a way to get around the old coot," Avery explained as he knelt in fro t of his master.
"Meddling fool, he will pay for his interference," Voldemort hissed upon seeing the truth in Avery's eyes.
"Where are the rest of my servants?" Voldemort demanded as he looked around the room, noticing Lucius and Bellatrix's absence among others.
"Many are dead, though Bellatrix has left your service, my lord," Avery answered a tone of disgust in his voice at the mention of Bellatrix.
"Fool, no one leaves my service," Voldemort said with a dark chuckle.
"She found a way to remove her mark, my lord," Avery said warily.
"Impossible," Voldemort said looking taken aback at this news.
"She showed the entire Wizengamot at her trial, she was even found innocent on the imperious defence," Avery elaborated.
"We will deal with her later, do you have my wand?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes my lord," Yaxley said as he carried a velvet pillow with a long white wand on it before falling to his knees in front of the chair and presenting the pillow for his master to take.
"Excellent, well done Mr Yaxley," Voldemort hissed as he picked his wand up in his tiny hand and held it lovingly in his tiny hand.
"Pettigrew had it in his possession when he was captured, no one realized who the wand belonged to, my lord," Yaxley said looking pleased with the compliment.
"And what of Lucius?" Voldemort asked looking back at Avery and completely disregarding Yaxley.
"Dead killed in an accident at the ministry," Avery answered.
"Very well, everyone but Thomas and Severus may leave," Voldemort ordered.
Even in his diminished state, it took less than thirty seconds for Voldemort's orders to be carried out, leaving the three of them alone in the ritual room
"You both have much to tell me, I must know everything that has happened since I was incapacitated," Voldemort demanded as his eyes bored into Avery's
What Voldemort learned both angered and worried him, it was quite shocking to hear the retelling of what happened to Thaddeus Nott and Markus Selwyn. The revelation that Fenrir Greyback had been killed while fully transformed was another shocking blow but everything paled in comparison to the news of Augustus Rookwood and the LeStrange Brothers being killed in their prison cells.
"This is very troubling, have you considered that these may all have been carried out by the same person?" Voldemort said thoughtfully.
"You think Lord Peverell is behind all of this, my lord?" Snape asked in surprise.
"It is possible, he is very powerful and he has gained Bellatrix's complete allegiance, there must be a reason for that," Avery said as he considered the information.
"It is too early to be certain but usually the simplest answer is often the correct one," Voldemort said in a thoughtful tone.
"All of these deaths have some connection to the Blacks, Bellatrix's husband, the werewolf was killed on Cassie Black's behest, and Nott and Selwyn were killed at Narcissa Malfoy's ball," Snape said thoughtfully.
"Well if you are using that connection then you must include Lucius as well, that accident could very well have been a well-disguised assassination," Avery pointed out.
"My thoughts exactly Thomas," Voldemort said grateful for his servant's deductive skills.
"So what would you like us to do?" Avery asked.
"I know of an ancient ritual that can restore me to full form but it must be performed at dusk on the summer solstice," Voldemort sighed as he gestured to the vial of potion in Severus' hands.
Carefully Snape uncorked the potion and brought it to his master's lips to drink.
"Thank you, Severus, I will need you to find a copy of Secrets of the Darkest Arts and begin collecting ingredients for the rebirthing ritual on page seven hundred and ninety-three," Voldemort instructed.
"Shall I brew it here?" Severus asked.
"No, the ritual will have to be performed on my father's gravesite," Voldemort said sounding drowsy.
"I will begin collecting the ingredients immediately, my lord," Severus said as he bowed low.
"See that you do, now I must rest the ritual took a lot out of me," Voldemort said sounding as if he was close to falling asleep.
"Of course, my lord," Snape said before sweeping from the room as he knew a dismissal when he heard one.
"What of the Potter boy, Thomas?" Voldemort asked as soon as Snape left the room.
"He is the ward of Lord Black. After the blood traitor was acquitted of betraying the Potters, Sirius Black took him in," Avery answered.
"Then we will have to find the blood of another to complete the ritual. Any of Dumbledore's yes-men will do just fine," Voldemort said thoughtfully.
"I will start making plans to find a suitable candidate at once, my lord," Avery promised.
"I will also need the flesh of a servant but I believe Viktor Crabbe will do nicely for that. The man is useless for anything else," Voldemort said after considering his options for a moment.
"He was wiped out financially by Lady Malfoy, the bitch sent a collector to their home and the man cut off his index finger, lord's ring and all," Avery explained.
"It looks like the Blacks are rising to power again," Voldemort said sounding intrigued.
"Yes, but not for long, my lord," Avery said with a knowing smirk
"Agreed, they will soon fall," Voldemort agreed," As he allowed Avery to carry him to his quarters to recuperate from the ritual.
Room of Requirement, Hogwarts, 7/31/1987, 00:03
Harry sat cross-legged on the floor of a bare stone room, he was focused on channelling his magic into his younger self through a special silver bracelet. His younger self had on a matching bracelet that was linked to the one he was wearing by a long glowing blue chain. These bracelets were acting as a conduit for their cores to link so Harry could share his magic with his younger self and still keep his distance from the ritual.
His younger self had been given a powerful sleeping draught to prevent him from getting too distressed by the ritual.
Dumbledore meanwhile was directing the ritual and was delicately pulling the soul fragment contained in the small runic array drawn around little Harry's scar.
Harry watched as the array started to lift off of little Harry's forehead, the two-dimensional array still attached by black smoke-like tendrils coming out of the lightning bolt scar.
Albus started to slowly lift the soul shard away and Harry was a bit shocked at how deep in the scar the tendrils seemed to go.
As Harry watched, he thought that this strongly resembled the time he saw the dark mark being removed from Bellatrix's arm. The dark tendrils of magic that were rooted deep into little Harry's head closely resembled the magic from the dark mark though Harry could feel the wrongness of the soul shard, it made the hair on his neck stand up.
Dumbledore had to tug on the array with the tip of his wand as he slowly pried the thing away from little Harry's scar.
Harry could feel the draw on his core the longer this went on and he highly doubted his younger self would have been strong enough for this ritual even if they had waited to perform this ritual when he was eleven.
With one mighty pull, Dumbledore ripped the soul shard free before the runic array and all were sucked into the pre-prepared vessel, which in this case was an enchanted silver candy dish.
"W-whoa," Harry panted as he immediately unfastened the bracelet and panted heavily feeling like he had sprinted a mile or two.
"I know, that took a lot out of me as well," Dumbledore admitted as he stared at the horcrux candy dish in disgust.
"Here, go ahead and destroy it," Harry said as he unclipped the dagger from his belt and handed it to Dumbledore, sheath and all.
"Is this goblin made?" Dumbledore asked as he unsheathed it and eyed it with interest.
"Yes, it's impregnated with basilisk venom," Harry explained.
"Ah, now I see," Dumbledore nodded as he took the dagger in a two-handed grip and stabbed it into the runic array drawn with little Harry's blood on the inside of the candy dish.
The bowl reacted like all of the other Horcruxes, it released a blood-curdling shriek before a black cloud of smoke rose out of the bowl and quickly dissipated into the air, leaving behind the smell of sulphur.
"There that is one problem solved but we are not out of the woods yet," Dumbledore said in a troubled tone as he sheathed the dagger and tossed it back to Harry.
"He created a temporary body, I take it?" Harry asked as he staggered to his feet.
Harry took his dagger back and dug a couple of pepper-up potions from his robe pocket, before tossing one to Dumbledore. The room had reformed so little Harry was laying in a four-poster bed and tucked under the covers. Now it more closely resembled the Gryffindor common room with a merrily burning fire and cushy armchairs.
"Indeed," Dumbledore said after downing the potion and giving Harry a nod of thanks.
"Getting the soul shard out should keep the kid out of this at least," Harry pointed out as he downed his own potion and flopped into one of the chairs.
"That is yet to be seen but I fear Tom will not give up so easily," Dumbledore sighed sounding thoroughly exhausted as he took a seat by the fire.
Before Harry could reply, the door to the room opened and Sirius entered looking worried.
"How did it go?" Sirius asked looking frantic.
"The ritual was a complete success," Dumbledore said as he indicated the bed little Harry was sleeping in.
"Huh, his scar is fading," Sirius said, a touch of relief dripping into his tone as he gazed at his godson's sleeping form.
"Good that just proves the ritual was successful," Harry nodded as he looked upon his seven-year-old self.
"I think it best if we let him sleep off the effects of the potion," Dumbledore suggested.
"Agreed I think I am going to head home before my wife starts to worry," Harry said as a pot of floo powder appeared by the fireplace.
"Will you be joining us at the order meeting this afternoon?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"No, I will not put my family at risk by being associated with the order," Harry said flatly.
"I wish you would reconsider, you could do a lot of good working with us," Dumbledore said.
"You don't fight them like a serious enemy, your tactics of catch and release will just end up getting your people killed," Harry said not unkindly.
"When you get to be my age you learn the value of human life, I cannot condone my people fighting to kill," Dumbledore said.
"And I can respect that but I will not work with your order as long as it fights with kid gloves on," Harry said as he threw a pinch of powder into the fire.
"Very well, thank you for your help with young Mr Potter," Dumbledore said with a resigned sigh.
"It was my pleasure, Albus," Harry said before turning to his godfather, "Sirius, bring Harry by the house tomorrow, I think Bella may be a bit worried too," Harry said before stepping into the fire and calling out, "Peverell beach house."
Albus watched Harry Peverell disappear into the flames and sighed internally. He could understand the man's reasons but all the same, he wished Peverell would join the order as he would be a useful asset to have.
"So now what?" Sirius asked pulling Albus back to the present.
"Now we prepare ourselves as best as we can and pray we can weather the storm that is coming," Dumbledore said gravely.
"We'll make it through this," Sirius said confidently.
"Oh I am sure we will," Dumbledore agreed as he began forming a plan to get Peverell at least partially on board.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 8/17/1987, 12:39
Harry was enjoying a quiet day at the beach, the kids were at their lessons with Narcissa so the beach was quiet except for the crash of the waves. Harry loved his kids but he couldn't deny a little quiet time away from their constant bickering was always welcome.
The kids were getting bigger and had started to fight with each other... a lot.
Harry had finally had enough and moved them into separate bedrooms last spring which seemed to solve a lot of their problems.
Ignotus had become quite hyper and was always into mischief and seemed to enjoy pestering his sister. Corina was more reserved and would find sneaker ways of getting even with Ignotus, often involving a prank of some kind.
Harry and Bella had just had lunch on the deck and decided they would like to go enjoy some sunshine on the beach before Narcissa came over with the kids at three.
Tonight they were having a family get-together before Harry left for Arizona next week. Since Nymphadora was starting her fourth year and would be back at Hogwarts before his trip was completed.
Harry hadn't seen much of his niece this summer as she had been visiting her friends from Hogwarts a lot more. Harry still found it hard to believe she was fourteen now, next year she would be sitting her O.W.L's.
Sirius had made up for Tonks' absence by bringing Harry and Susan over to play at the beach quite regularly. Between them, the twins, and the Greengrass girls, the beach was often packed with screaming giggling children. So It was a bit of a rarity for Harry and Bella to be able to enjoy the quiet beach.
"Any word from the girl you'll be apprenticing?" Bellatrix asked casually pulling him from his thoughts.
"Yes, her name is Jennifer Martin and she is a recent Castelbruxo graduate," Harry said remembering the letter he had gotten from Sanjay three days ago.
"There will be no punishments with her like there is at Spankbottoms I hope?" Bellatrix asked pointedly.
"Of course not, I'm a professional magizoologists," Harry exclaimed in faux offence.
"Good after you teach her how to wrangle snakes you won't have to go away every spring," Bellatrix said sounding pleased.
"That's the plan, I will tend the Greek island with the basilisks and visit Africa every summer but that's it on my field trips," Harry assured her.
"What will you do with your free time?" Bellatrix asked huskily.
"Watch quidditch," Harry said thoughtfully.
"And?" Bella pressed.
"Maybe take the wife on vacation," Harry tried.
"Good, I have always wanted to visit Australia," Bellatrix said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, we could do that. The place is quite lovely just as long as we avoid Sydney," Harry said flatly.
"Yes, Bella knows all about your dislike of deadly spiders," Bella giggled.
"Good, we can go to Queensland, the area is beautiful and the snakes revere me," Harry said after some thought.
"Just think, in three more years we can travel as a family by portkey instead of having to use those damn muggle death traps," Bella said with a wide grin.
"I can't wait, I am not a fan of that form of flight either, I swear there is always a crying baby, right behind me," Harry ranted.
"Oh, I meant to tell you that Pandora Lovegood floo called me yesterday," Bella said in a casual tone.
"Oh," Harry asked nervously.
"Yes, they want a follow-up interview on the crumple-horned snorkack," Bellatrix explained.
"I'll call them later this evening," Harry said making a mental note to call them before dinner.
"No need, I invited them over tomorrow afternoon," Bellatrix said sounding amused.
'This could be interesting,' Harry thought as he remembered his last encounter with the Lovegoods.
" She is very eccentric, isn't she?" Bellatrix giggled.
"We're all a bit odd dear," Harry chuckled.
"Agreed, Bella likes to be spanked, Andi lays with a mudblood, and Cissa is plotting on taking over the wizarding world by influencing our children" Bellatrix nodded.
"And I married into that madness," Harry added.
"Sirius tried to warn you," Bella pointed out as she got up from her seat and grabbed Harry's hand.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he let her pull him to his feet.
"We are going swimming before the beach is overrun with squealing brats," Bellatrix answered as she shucked off her swimsuit.
"We had better hurry," Harry grinned as he followed her into the sea, hastily stepping out of his swim trunks.
It was a few hours later after they had a refreshing swim that Narcissa and the children arrived all of them decked out in their swimsuits.
"Mummy Daddy, we're back!" Corina squealed loudly
"I thought that was you, Princess," Harry chuckled.
"Good afternoon," Narcissa said as Corina and Ignotus ran over to their parents.
"Cissa, how are you?" Bella asked as she scooped up Corina.
"How's it going, mate?" Harry asked Ignotus who was clutching his toy broom.
"Aunt Cissa said I could fly if it's okay with you, father," Ignotus said and Harry could hear Narcissa's etiquette training in his speech.
"Sure, just stay away from the water," Harry beamed.
"Uncle Harry?" Draco asked nervously as Ignotus jumped onto his toy broomstick and zoomed across the sand.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"I was wondering if you could teach me to fly a real broom?" Draco asked hopefully.
"If it's okay with your mother, I would be happy to," Harry said as he looked at his nephew's eager face and couldn't fight a smile.
"I have already given him permission. You did such a wonderful job with Nymphadora. Did you know she made the Hufflepuff quidditch team last year?" Narcissa praised.
"And she also flew Harry's broom through my house," Bellatrix huffed.
"Ah, that reminds me," Harry said before looking at Draco, " if I teach you to fly you have to promise not to fly your broom in the house," Harry said only half-jokingly.
"I promise," Draco said at once.
"Then come by tomorrow after your normal lessons and we will start your flying instruction," Harry said.
"Yes sir," Draco said eagerly.
"Now run along and play, Draco," Narcissa said fondly.
"He really is a good boy," Narcissa smiled as Draco began chasing after Ignotus, Corina hurrying to follow after him.
"He is now but he was a brat in my timeline," Harry chuckled.
"His father's influence no doubt," Narcissa huffed.
"Agreed, so how goes your attempt to get in the minister's good books?" Harry asked.
"She still doesn't trust me," Narcissa sighed.
"Can't say I blame her," Andromeda cut in from directly behind her sister making the blonde jump in surprise.
"Dammit Andi, I hate it when you do that!" Narcissa snapped.
"Where is my destructive niece at?" Bellatrix demanded.
"She should be arriving soon, she's been at the Jones girl's house for the past week," Andi replied as she conjured herself a lounger.
"At least you're not dumping her on us anymore," Bella muttered as sh stood from her seat to look back towards the house.
"Yes well, it's all I can do to keep her at the house this summer. I think she's at the stage where her parents embarrass her," Andi sighed.
"Understandable her father is a mudblood- *Ohh!" Bella squealed in surprise when Harry reached over and smacked his wife on the bottom.
"How horribly uncivilised, best hope the children never pick up your habits," Narcissa sighed.
"You're just upset no one has given you a good spanking," Andromeda quipped.
"If you must know, I always preferred to be the one administering the punishments," Narcissa said in a haughty tone.
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," Harry snorted as they heard the sound of Tonks laughing coming from the house.
"Ah my daughter is here and she seems to have invited the Jones girl," Andromeda said with a touch of annoyance.
"Wotcher," Tonks said when she and the dark-haired girl approached.
"Nymphadora," Andromeda said expectantly.
"Oh right, this is my Aunt Narcissa, My Aunt Bellatrix, and my Uncle Harry. Everyone, this is Hestia Jones my housemate and fellow beater," Tonks said as she gestured to the dark-haired girl.
"Pleasure to meet you," Harry said kindly and was rewarded when the girl turned beat red.
"She can stay until dinner but then we must have a family night," Andromeda said firmly.
"Sure mum," Tonks sighed.
"Then begone," Andromeda said as she pointed at the water.
"Geez mum, how rude," Tonks sniggered as she dragged her friend to the water and the two teens were intercepted by the twins and Draco.
"I am not looking forward to the day the twins turn into teenagers," Harry muttered.
"Nor am I, it'll mean I'm getting... old," Bellatrix said as she glanced at Andromeda.
"I am quite young, Ted and I still act like teenagers when the brat's at school," Andromeda defended.
'Oh no, here comes a Black sister argument,' Harry thought as he tuned them out and watch Ignotus zoom around on his broom.
Harry sat at the dinner table while the kids were getting ready for bed. The family dinner night had gone pretty well all things considered and everyone but Andromeda and Tonks had gone home for the evening.
"So whatcha' got for us this year?" Tonks asked excitedly from her place on the other side of the table.
Harry couldn't fight a grin, Andromeda had just run into the sitting room to have a word with her sister before she went home giving them a moment alone.
"I thought it was time to give you this," Harry said as he summoned a book from the sitting room and slid it to her.
"The Compendium of Irritating Pranks by: P. Foot and P. Wrongs," Tonks read out loud.
"I also wrote instructions for a few of my greatest wards yet," Harry grinned.
"Excellent, they could never figure out how to take down the lunar ward in the potions lab," Tonks giggled.
"Have you been studying the spells I gave you?" Harry asked as he summoned them both a Coke.
"Yep, I can cast them all even the stunning spell," Tonks beamed.
"Excellent, I included more spells for you to learn and it should help you ace your defence O.W.L next year," Harry said indicating the book.
"I will get them, defence is one of my best subjects," Tonks assured him.
"Good, don't get caught setting up those wards," Harry said as he saw Andromeda heading their way.
"I won't," Tonks grinned as she chugged the last of her soda and let out a very impressive belch.
'BUUUUUUUUURP'
"Nymphadora, that is very unladylike!" Andromeda hissed in annoyance.
"It was a pretty good one, though," Harry said reasonably as he sipped his drink in a more dignified manner.
"Don't encourage her, Harry," Andromeda sighed as she snatched the can out of Harry's hand and took a drink.
"If you wanted a drink, you could have asked," Harry grumbled.
"I can't drink a whole soda, I have to watch my figure," Andromeda smirked.
"Typical," Harry said as he took his drink back.
"We have to get going Nymphadora, tomorrow we have to do your school shopping," Andromeda said.
"Can't I go by myself?" Tonks whined.
"Absolutely not, I remember last year," Andi said as she began leading her daughter to the fireplace.
"I thought those two were never going to go home," Bellatrix said as soon as they heard the fireplace 'woosh'.
"Andi stole my Coke," Harry complained.
"So you gave the brat more wards to try out?" Bellatrix asked curiously seeming to be unconcerned about his soda.
"A few, the donkey ward should be quite funny," Harry admitted.
"Donkey ward?" Bella asked as she led him to the sitting room.
"Makes everything someone says inside the ward sound like the braying of a donkey," Harry beamed.
"I would pay to see that," Bellatrix giggled as they got comfortable in his lap.
"McGonagall will go spare," Harry chortled
"So what are you going to do now, we have less than a year before the dark lord regains a body?" Bellatrix asked seriously as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I am going to see about picking off his supporters but the main two will be very difficult to reach," Harry answered.
"Bella can help," Bellatrix offered.
"I would rather do this on my own," Harry argued.
"Tough, I haven't fought in going on a decade and you will need me when he comes back," Bella said stubbornly.
"I don't want you to get hurt," Harry said softly.
"Don't you worry about Bella, worry about whoever draws her ire," Bella giggled.
"We'll talk about this later," Harry sighed knowing deep down there was no way to keep his wife out of the battle if she decided she wanted to fight.
"Good, I will need my own outfit though, grey isn't my colour," Bella said thoughtfully.
"Black dragonhide?" Harry suggested.
"Yes, and a mask," Bellatrix said giddily.
"I will look into finding you some battle robes," Harry sighed.
"I don't want robes, I want a catsuit," Bella corrected.
"A catsuit?" Harry asked in confusion.
"I saw it on the telly thing, I would look sexy in a catsuit," Bella said matter-of-factly.
"Alright, I will try and find you a catsuit," Harry said having no idea what she was talking about.
"Good, we have a year to prepare, I have kept up a lot of my training but we might have to start sparring together," Bella suggested.
"That will do us both some good," Harry conceded.
"Yes, you haven't been in a fight since we broke out of Azkaban," Bellatrix pointed out.
"Not true, I fought those dragon poachers and there was Greyback," Harry defended.
"Yes, I forgot about the poachers," Bella said thoughtfully.
"They weren't very good," Harry reasoned.
"And Greyback nearly killed you," Bella pointed out.
"Which is why I started my physical training back up," Harry agreed.
"Good, we can start sparring when you get back from Arizona," Bella said as she pulled him to his feet.
"Alright but I usually don't have to fight my targets, I catch them off guard and by the time they know I'm there, they're dead," Harry pointed out.
"There will be a time when striking from the shadows is no longer an option," Bella shrugged as she led him to their bedroom.
"I know," Harry sighed as he began undressing.
"Don't worry Harry, Bella will get you in prime fighting shape," Bellatrix assured him as her silk robes slid to the floor and she stepped out of them.
"If you haven't forgotten how to duel," Harry teased as she bent down to unfasten her sandals.
"Oh, Bella hasn't forgotten anything. I bet I can even teach you a thing or two about the Black family magic," Bella purred as she made her way over to the bed, slipping off her bra on the way.
"I have read the family grimoire, cover to c-cover," Harry said getting a bit distracted as his wife crawled onto the bed on all fours and wiggled her naked bum enticingly at him.
"We shall see," Bella said as she looked at him over her shoulder.
Harry decided he didn't care so much about the current topic and hurried to join her in the bed as she rolled onto her back. Harry moved to where he was over top of her, his wife's violet eyes were now locked onto his as he closed the distance between them.
"We'll discuss this later," Harry growled as he settled his hips between her parted legs and captured her lips in a soft kiss.