Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 5/12/1992, 19:59
Harry stepped through the door to find the kids sitting on the floor doing their homework on the coffee table.
Once again he had been forced to oversee his younger self and Draco's detentions.
This was the first time that Draco had sat detention with him though, after the last few nights, he wouldn't be surprised if it would be the last.
Tonight Harry had them scrubbing Moaning Myrtle's loo while the ghost girl in question did her best to pester them the entire time they were in her restroom.
Harry hung his coat up noticing that Athena was curled up in his chair watching the children work and Bellatrix was lounging on the sofa reading one of her romance novels.
"Daddy, you're late," Carina admonished when she spotted him.
"I had to watch detention, what did I miss?" Harry asked as he lifted Athena out of his seat and sat down and allowed his familiar to curl up in his lap.
"We had French dips for supper," Carina beamed.
"And homemade chips," Ignotus added with a smirk.
"Oh Harry and Draco's morning training is going to be brutal tomorrow," Harry muttered to himself with a vindictive look in his eye as he stroked Athena's head.
§The hatchlings fed me my dinner, you forgot again§, Athena admonished.
§I am sorry, Athena. It has been a very long day§, Harry apologised.
"Cissa also asked me to pass along a message," Bellatrix said as she shut her book and set it on the end table.
"What message?" Harry asked warily.
"She wants to meet with you soon to discuss her proposition," Bella said as Harry got comfortable in his favourite chair.
"I am still undecided about that," Harry admitted.
"We both know that you're going to end up doing it, " Bella said, giving her husband an exasperated look.
"Doing what?" Ignotus asked curiously.
"Enrolling you in Narcissa's advanced dance lessons," Bellatrix said as she gave her son a knowing smile.
"What?!" Ignotus exclaimed looking worriedly between his parents.
"I am on the fence about it, son," Harry assured him.
"Ballet lessons will help him with his balance," Bellatrix said matter-of-factly.
"True but Iggy would look ridiculous in a tutu," Harry argued half-heartedly.
"A tutu?!" Iggy asked sharply over his sister's giggles.
"It's traditional," Bellatrix said reassuringly.
"I don't want to do ballet especially if I have to wear a tutu," Ignotus exclaimed looking horrified.
"Then you had best finish your homework," Harry suggested with a smirk playing on his lips.
"Okay, just please no tutu," Iggy practically begged.
"I am already taking ballet, Daddy," Carina said as she set her quill down.
"I know you are, Princess," Harry smiled.
"Aunt Cissa doesn't make the boys wear tutus," Carina giggled.
"I know," Harry beamed ignoring his son's incredulous look.
"That wasn't cool, Dad," Iggy huffed.
"It'll teach you to be nosy," Bella giggled.
"I wasn't being nosy," Ignotus protested.
"Are you both done with your homework?" Harry asked barely containing his laughter at his son's reaction.
"Yeah Dad," Iggy answered.
"Yes Daddy," Carina beamed.
"Good, both of you can go get ready for bed," Harry instructed.
Harry ignored their grumbling as the twins put their books away and made their way up the stairs.
"So when are you going to talk to Cissa?" Bella asked as soon as the children were out of earshot.
"In a few days, I am not looking forward to the trip," Harry said with a put-upon sigh.
"I don't blame you," Bellatrix admitted.
"I made arrangements for us to leave for Italy during the second week of June," Harry said in an overly casual tone.
"Excellent, I am really looking forward to this trip," Bella exclaimed looking very pleased.
"I am too but we will have to figure out where we want to stay," Harry said feeling very pleased with his wife's reaction.
"Cissa has agreed to let us use the Malfoy summer home in Tuscany if we want," Bellatrix beamed.
"We are going to have to start acquiring property of our own," Harry said after a moment.
"It is getting tedious to have to ask my cousin and my sister to use their vacation homes," Bellatrix agreed.
"We need to find a manor house as well," Harry added.
"I already have one," Bella smirked.
"You do?" Harry asked.
"LeStrange Manor is technically mine since the Lestrange line is extinct. Though after Aunt Cassie finished looting it, there isn't much left other than the manor itself," Bella explained.
"That may be for the best, the place was definitely not to my taste so we can redecorate it to suit the house of Peverell," Harry chuckled.
"So you want to start fixing the place up?" Bella asked hopefully.
"We'll have to sort all of the legal issues out but yes, this place is getting a bit small," Harry answered after thinking about it for a moment.
"I'll make a trip to the bank in the morning and get things going," Bella assured him.
"Excellent, if all goes to plan we can be ready to move in by Yule," Harry said as Athena slithered out of his lap.
"Bella can have her sisters help decorate," Bellatrix beamed.
"Great, I sense a lot of green and silver furniture," Harry smirked as he made a show of looking around the sitting room at the very Slytherin decor.
"I promise we'll be a bit more neutral when we decorate the manor," Bella said.
"I will also have to set up a jungle room for Athena," Harry said as he watched the snake in question coil up in front of the fireplace.
"There are greenhouses on the property, it might be easier to repurpose one of them," Bella pointed out.
"True, then I can plant real trees and not have to worry about the roots growing through the dining room ceiling," Harry beamed.
"Bella will miss the beach," Bellatrix said thoughtfully.
"It'll only be a floo trip away," Harry soothed as he stood from his seat.
"Are we moving?" Carina asked as she and Ignotus came back into the sitting room dressed in their pajamas.
"Not until around Christmas," Harry said unsurprised that the twins had been eavesdropping.
"Will our new house have a quidditch pitch?" Iggy asked hopefully.
"It will have lawns," Bella said rolling her eyes at the question.
"No more beach time?" Carina asked worriedly.
"We'll still own this place. We can go to the beach whenever we want," Harry promised.
After this, the family of four turned in for the evening. The kids seemed to be excited at the prospect of moving though that was probably because they knew the manor grounds offered them more room to fly.
Harry knew it was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision to move out of the beach house. He also felt a bit anxious as he had come to love their current home but he knew it was time to move his family somewhere with a bit more room.
The manor had a lot of land meaning the kids would have more room to play. They could build Bella another workshop or just move her current workshop to the new property.
As Harry crawled under the covers and Bella snuggled up to him, his mind was whirring with the possibilities the former Letterman property offered.
Avery Manor, Hampshire, 5/14/1992, 21:39
Voldemort stood in the ballroom of Thomas' manor looking over his assembled death eaters as he informed them of the attack they would be launching tomorrow night.
Hopefully, his servant at Hogwarts would draw quite a bit of attention to himself when he attempted to take out Peverell which should throw the ministry into a state of chaos when they received word of the primary attack.
There were about two dozen inner circle members now though none of them were quite as good as the death eaters they were replacing.
Merula in particular showed a lot of promise though she was still quite young and didn't have the skill Bellatrix possessed.
He had decided to put the Carrow twins in charge of the attack on the primary target while he would dealt with a more personal issue at the ministry.
"Is everything ready to go, Thomas?" Voldemort asked after he ascertained that all of his inner circle was present.
"It is my lord. Runcorn has created a way through her wards but it will only be open on the night of our attack," Avery answered at once.
"Excellent. Amycus you and your sister will be leading the attack," Voldemort said as he looked at the brother and sister.
"It will be an honour, my lord," Amcus replied.
"Do not dawdle or try anything overly dramatic, just kill her and leave," Voldemort instructed.
"Of course, my lord" Alecto answered.
"After this attack, the ministry will be in chaos and we can begin moving our plans forward," Voldemort said to the room at large.
He had been working towards this attack since New Year's and he believed that his people were finally ready.
After this attack the country would be thrown into a state of chaos that he could use to his advantage... that is if his servants didn't mess things up.
"Amycus, do not fail me or else," Voldemort warned as his res eyes bored into his servant's brown ones.
"I will not fail you, my lord," Amycus swore.
"You had better not or you will sorely regret it. Now you may go and choose your teammates. Have them at the property by eight tomorrow evening," Voldemort commanded.
"Yes my lord," Anycus answered before he and his sister bowed themselves out of the room.
"Are we ready to take advantage of this tragedy, Thomas?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes, I believe our candidate has a good chance of being voted in," Avery answered.
"Good, be ready to put our plans into motion Sunday," Voldemort ordered.
"It will be done," Avery promised.
"Good, now leave me I have work to do," Voldemort said as he gestured toward the door.
Voldemort watched his servants leave before he too rose to his feet intent on returning to his study to continue his research on the corruption ritual.
Things were finally starting to fall into place and he couldn't help but feel pleased with the progress his death eaters had made in the last few months.
Hogwarts Grounds, 5/15/1992, 19:59
Quirinus waited patiently near the gates for his target to arrive.
Tonight was the night he was to carry out the attack on Peverell and he prayed that he was successful.
Having worked with Harry Peverell for years, Quirinus was more than aware of the man's abilities which is why he would be attacking so close to the gates in case his attack failed and he was forced to flee.
Tonight would be a night of nights as his master would be launching a much larger attack in a few minutes' time. Quirinus was still unsure as to the target his master was attacking but he was sure it would be a major blow to the ministry.
Quirinus had been recruited to the death eaters two years ago by one of his former students. When he had joined his master had assured him that his role would only require him to gather information.
It had worked out well until a few months ago when his master had ordered him to kill one of his colleagues.
Quirinus had no choice but to agree even though he had reservations about the task he was ordered to complete.
He was not a killer, at his heart Quirinus was an intellectual and had only joined the dark lord's cause for access to books on the rarest of magicks.
He was not as incompetent as he portrayed himself to the students of Hogwarts but he was by no means an experienced fighter either.
The prospect of fighting an opponent that was much more skilled than himself had Quirinus' palm sweating around the handle of his alder wand. As the seconds ticked closer to the impending fight, Quirinus felt his chest tightening and his heart rate speeding up.
Even with the precautions he had taken, he knew there was a good chance that he would not survive this encounter.
If the rumours were true, then Peverell was Narcissa Malfoy's hitman. His exploits had been bandied about amongst the death eater ranks for years. If this were the only rumour about Peverell then Quirinus wouldn't be so concerned.
Sadly there was another rumour that even the dark lord subscribed to. Many death eaters believed that Harry Peverell was none other than the Reaper who had been slaughtering death eaters for going on two years now.
Quirinus wasn't sure rather he believed this or not but he was not sure he wanted to face the man in single combat either.
Quirinus was pulled from his thoughts as he saw the doors of the castle open in the distance and he spotted his target approaching.
Quirinus drew his wand and prepared for the coming fight as Harry Peverell got ever closer.
Hogwarts Entrance Hall, Five Minutes Earlier
Harry led the two first years out of the dungeon corridor feeling very annoyed with Minerva.
"You two are free to go," Harry said as he came to a stop in the entrance hall.
"That was awful even for you, Professor," his younger self muttered.
"I've supervised so many of your detentions that I am starting to run out of fun ways to punish you, so we're left with disgusting and boring," Harry shrugged.
"I noticed" younger Harry grumbled.
"Draco, your mother would prefer it if you don't get any more detentions," Harry said as he locked eyes with his nephew.
"Yes sir," Draco answered moodily.
"Good, try and stay out of trouble boys," Harry instructed knowing how unrealistic the request was.
"Yes sir," his younger self and his nephew said in unison.
"Good. Oh Draco, your mother wanted me to inform you that your training with me will carry over into the summer," Harry told his nephew who looked horrified at this news.
"The summer, sir?" Draco asked warily.
"Yes, your mother feels that you got yourself into trouble because you have too much free time on your hands," Harry explained.
"Unbelievable," Draco muttered, shooting his younger self an irritated look.
"Don't be so upset, you will be joining the twins for their training," Harry smiled.
Truthfully the twins' workout was fairly laid back compared to what he had been putting the two first years through. Unfortunately, he never had time to give them a full training session except in the summer so he just taught them self-defence techniques. Ignotus and Carina were constantly running around and had boundless energy anyway so a physical training regiment seemed unnecessary.
Even before he agreed to continue training Draco over the summer, he had planned on taking the twins training up a notch. They were getting closer to Hogwarts age and he didn't see them having any trouble with a more intensive training regiment.
"Yes Professor," Draco said sounding almost resigned to his fate.
"Don't worry, there won't be much difference to the training you do now," Harry assured his nephew.
"What about me, sir?" His younger self asked curiously.
"That is up to Sirius but I would bet you'll be joining us as well," Harry said thoughtfully.
Before the boys could reply, Professor McGonagall stepped out of the great hall and looked at the three of them curiously.
"Good evening, Minerva," Harry smiled when he heard her approach.
"Good evening, Harry. Have they completed their detention for the evening?" Minerva asked with a look of interest.
"They have. I had them scraping algae off of the walls of the dungeon corridor, this evening," Harry beamed.
"Sounds dreadful," Minerva said giving him an approving nod.
"They'll be scrubbing the owlery floors by hand tomorrow," Harry chuckled, ignoring the two boys' looks of horror.
"You two had best run along," Minerva said as she looked down at the two first years.
"Yes Professor," Draco answered before he and Harry made a hasty retreat up the staircase.
"Scrubbing algae?" Minerva asked as soon as the two first years had disappeared up the stairs.
"I am running out of tasks for them to complete. They have already cleaned the potions classrooms, scrubbed Moaning Myrtle's bathroom floors, processed mountains of potion ingredients, polished every trophy in the trophy room, and spread fresh manure on the pumpkin patch," Harry shrugged.
"Good heavens," Minerva said sounding almost... impressed.
"My sister-in-law was adamant that Draco regret his decision to break school rules," Harry shrugged.
"I knew you were the right man for the job," Minerva beamed.
"When is this detention nonsense going to end, Minerva?" Harry asked tiredly.
"Let's see, you put us through four years of misery with Nymphadora so I believe that your penance will be complete after this year is up," Minerva said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Thank god," Harry muttered.
"I just hope that you're twins aren't near as disruptive as your niece was," Minerva said giving him a pointed look.
"I will deal with them if they are," Harry promised.
"Excellent," Minerva said looking pleased with that answer.
"Well I hate to rush off but I need to get home and have my supper," Harry said as he glanced at his watch.
"Yes, I need to get some papers graded myself," Minerva nodded.
"Good night, Minerva," Harry said as he turned to leave.
"Good night, Harry," Minerva called as she began climbing the grand staircase.
Harry couldn't help smiling to himself, he was almost through with these constant detentions. Minerva had been dropping them on him since he had started teaching. First, it was Tonks and now it was his younger self and his associates.
She had just answered a question he had been asking himself for a while now... when it would end.
Harry stepped out of the castle into the cool night air and took a deep breath. The school year was almost over and he like the other teachers focused on getting his O.W.L and N.E.W.T students prepared for their exams.
The exams would start in a few weeks, the seventh years would be starting theirs the week after next and then the fifth years would sit their exams the last two weeks of term. Once the O.W.Ls were finished he would have a week before school let out and he could prepare for his trip to Italy.
Harry began crossing the lawn at a leisurely pace enjoying the cool night air on his face as he walked.
Harry was near the gates when he noticed a distortion in the air, if it wasn't for the nearly full moon overhead, he wouldn't have even noticed it.
"If you're planning on ambushing me you should have picked a better hiding spot," Harry said as he came to a stop twenty feet away from the person hiding under a disillusionment charm.
Harry's wand slipped into his hand as the disillusionment charm fell away to reveal Quirinus Quirrell standing near the gates looking very anxious.
"Harry, I am surprised that you noticed me," Quirinus said as he raised his wand.
"You're standing in the moonlight, if you wanted to not be noticed you should have picked a place in the shadows," Harry said in a conversational tone.
"Mobility trumps any benefit I may gain from being undetected," Quirinis chuckled.
"So you're the spy at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"I am," Quirinus agreed.
"And you intend to kill me?" Harry asked.
"I must, the dark lord ordered me to," Quirinus said looking almost regretful.
"You are welcome to try," Harry chuckled anticipating that his opponent was seconds away from attacking.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Quirrell roared, sending a blinding burst of light towards Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes as he sidestepped the curse with ease having watched Quirrell practically telegraph his wand motions.
Harry was a bit disappointed at his spell choice. Casting an unforgivable curse anywhere inside Hogwarts wards would pretty much ensure that the headmaster would be here within minutes.
"Unbelievable," Harry scowled as he waved his wand causing thorny vines to burst from the earth under Quirrell's feet.
Quirrell barely avoided being wrapped up in vines by diving to the ground and clumsily rolling back to his feet.
"You're not trying to kill me?" Quirell asked in surprise.
"No, Albus will be here any moment and I don't want him giving me that look of disappointment for the rest of the school year," Harry shrugged as he lazily avoided a cutting curse aimed at his throat.
Harry waved his wand again causing the gates to slam shut as he moved closer to Quirrell.
"You can't capture me," Quirrell exclaimed as he cast another killing curse that went so wide Harry didn't even have to dodge it.
Before Harry could reply, a giant hand made of earth burst from the ground and wrapped its giant fingers around Quirrell clutching him tightly in a fist that holding him in place with his arms pinned to his sides.
"Well done, Harry," a grandfatherly voice called from behind where Harry stood.
"RE-RELEASE ME!" Quirrell shrieked as he fought futilely against the giant earthen hand.
"I thought I sensed you approaching," Harry said as he summoned Quirrell's wand.
"Pl-please let me go," Quirrell begged pitifully as he continued to struggle, his purple turban coming undone as he writhed against his binding.
"You have my thanks for your less violent approach," Dumbledore said as he came to stand beside Harry.
"Stupefy," Harry said as he pointed his wand at Quirrell in hopes of silencing the man's begging
Harry watched dispassionately as his spell struck Quirrell in the chest causing the struggling man to slump unconscious in the giant hand's grasp.
"I've worked with the man for years, I thought I owed him that small mercy at least," Harry sighed as he met the older man's gaze.
"And you didn't want to have to deal with the red tape," Dumbledore said shrewdly.
"There is that. Is the ministry on its way?" Harry asked.
"I sent word to Alastor before making my way here," Dumbledore nodded as he vanished the transfigured hand and began checking Quirinus for portkeys.
"I'm going to miss dinner again," Harry muttered as he glared at Quirrell's unconscious form.
"You could have dinned here," Dumbledore pointed out.
"Jangles was making spaghetti and meatballs tonight," Harry sighed before sending off a patronus to Bella letting her know that he'd be late.
As the silver cobra patronus slithered through the air and moved over the path to Hogsmeade it illuminated the silhouette of dozens of men walking up the path.
"I can see why you would save your appetite for something like that," Dumbledore conceded as he unlocked the gates.
"The menu here is rather limited. Was Quirrell the person you suspected was the spy?" Harry asked curiously.
"No, I admit that I thought it was Aurora Sinistra," Dumbledore said quietly as the aurors approached them.
Before Harry could comment, Alastor Moody came to stand in front of him leading a group of very young-looking aurors.
"What's going on Albus?" Alastor demanded as the aurors began to search Quirrell.
"It seems that I had a death eater hidden in my staff," Albus said as one of the aurors pulled Quirrell's sleeve back revealing the dark mark branded on his arm.
"Perhaps sleeveless shirts should be part of the dress code," a young female auror suggested helpfully.
"Shut it, and get that trash ready for transport, Mayweather," Moody grunted at the young auror.
"You brought recruits?" Harry asked incredulously.
"The auror office is in a bit of a crisis, this is my second-year class," Moody shrugged as he watched one of his students slapping restraints on Quirrell.
"How is my niece getting on?" Harry asked as he watched the aurors preparing Quirrell for transport.
"One of my best, she'll be a damn good auror," Moody said gruffly but there was no mistaking the look of pride on his face.
"I knew she would be," Harry said fondly as three of the auror recruits levitated Quirrell through the gates.
"Alright now that the prisoner has been processed, What the hell happened?" Alastor asked as he looked between Harry and Dumbledore.
"This is Harry's story, I just showed up towards the end," Albus said as he watched Quirrell being portkeyed away.
"Then I suppose it's a miracle Quirrell is alive," Moody snorted.
"Honestly, you kill one death eater in self-defence and people assume I am the grim reaper," Harry muttered.
"Alright, Mayweather get Peverell's statement," Moody barked.
"Yes sir," the young blonde auror said eagerly as she pulled a notepad from the pocket of her robes.
Harry groaned internally as the auror batted her eyes at him knowing it was going to be a very long night.
Longbottom Hall, Orkney Islands, 5/15/1992 20:19
Amycus led the group of twelve to the wardline of the minister"s home. It wasn't difficult to find the place that the dark lord had mentioned.
Runcorn had created a tunnel through the trunk of a very large willow tree that straddled the wardline. The hole was about three feet in diameter and looked like a giant worm had bored a hole through it.
Getting through the passage was a tight fit but Amycus' team accomplished it in the end and were soon assembled on the West lawn.
"Alright, Alecto, take your team and go around the backside. Make a ruckus and distract her protection detail," Amycus whispered to his twin and got a nod in response.
"The rest of you, get your brooms out. We're going in through the second-floor drawing-room window," Amycus ordered.
Amycus unshrunk his own broom and as he watched Alecto lead five of their number on foot across the moonlit lawns of Longbottom Hall.
Amycus and his team waited until they heard the sound of spellfire in the distance before he mounted his broom and kicked off.
Amycus rose into the air and was soon joined by the members of his team. Taking a moment he searched for his entry point. Spotting the window of the second-floor drawing room, Amycus flew towards it pushing his broom to the limit.
He cast an exploding hex at the diamond-paned windows when he got within fifty feet making them explode inward. Amycus soared through the window opening and quickly dismounted the broken glass crunching under his feet as he shrunk and pocketed his broom.
"All right lads, fan out and find the bitch. Whoever kills her can have the little muggle whore in my dungeons," Amycus ordered as the last member of the team landed in the dimly lit drawing room.
Amycus stepped into the hallway his steps muffled by the thick carpet as his team took off in different directions.
Below them, he could hear a pitched battle taking place as the floor shook and random explosions were heard as the auror protection detail tried to fend off Alecto's team.
Before Amycus could get his bearing a nasty yellow beam of light passed his head and he turned barely avoiding getting hit by a second spell.
"I just love unexpected visitors," a male voice chuckled as he sent a third spell that Amycus was forced to shield.
Amycus recognized the caster in the flash of light from the fourth spell, he was facing off against Frank Longbottom!
'Fuck!' Amycus cursed internally, their reports had indicated that Frank and his wife lived at their property in Cambridge.
Amycus suddenly realized that he had not brought enough men when a bloodcurdling scream echoed down a hallway that two of his teammates had just entered.
Amycus began returning fire but he quickly realised that he was way out of his depth. Frank was casting spells so fast it was all Amycus could do to shield them.
He was caught by surprise yet again when he was hurled through the air by a powerful explosion to his right as the hallway wall was blasted open from the other side.
Amycus had the breath knocked out of him as a mangled body slammed into him pinning him to the floor.
"Your mother is going to have the manor collapse on top of us if she's not careful," a female voice exclaimed as more spellfire could be heard very close to where Amycus was laying.
Amycus mustered all the strength he had to roll the body off of him and scrambled to his feet only to dive back to the floor as twin beams of yellow light flew at him from either end of the hallway.
Amycus was forced to crawl through an open door into a guest bedroom as his two attackers continued to send spells in his direction.
Amycus knew that he was in danger of failing this mission. Even as he sat there trying to figure out his next course of action, the wall to his right exploded inward sending chunks of plaster, a cloud of dust, and a mangled body in death-eater robes hurling through the room.
"Four down, two to go," Amycus heard Frank say cheerfully through the very large hole in the wall.
'BOOOOOOOOOOOM!'
"Better make that one, dear," a woman Amycus assumed was Alice Longbottom corrected.
Making a decision, Amycus ran towards the bedroom window and cast a blasting hex, blowing most of the exterior wall outward to the grounds below. Pulling his broom out of his pocket, he unshrunk it as he leapt through the hole, jets of redlight missing him by a hair's breadth as he plummeted towards the ground.
Amycus mounted his broom and pulled up before he hit the ground and made a beeline for the passage in the willow.
Amycus was surprised as the grounds were lit up by spellfire as dozens of aurors began to fire at him from the lawns below.
He was nearing the willow he could see the tunnel and started to lay flat on the broom, preparing himself to fly through the narrow opening when his broom exploded underneath him peppering him painfully with thousands of tiny splinters of wood.
Amycus screamed in agony as he tumbled across the lawn, his momentum carrying him twenty feet before he skidded to a stop in the wet grass.
Before Amycus could get his bearings, his vision was filled with red light before everything went black.