Harry Potter and the Destiny of Prophecies - 9. Chapter 9

With a glimmer of sadness and a lot of laughter, Harry’s seventh year at Hogwarts was speeding by. The weeks between the abrupt departure of Ronald Weasley and the onset of the winter holidays were extremely busy. Harry’s mornings were spent teaching or in private lessons with various teachers and Aurors. His afternoons were spent in classes and cramming for the end of term tests and remaining N.E.W.T. exams (which Hermione constantly reminded him were only a few months away now). His evenings were filled with DA sessions or the private tutoring McGonagall had somehow snaked him into doing for several fourth and fifth year students. For the rest of the night he would grade or write essays, and then spend private time with Draco before they both fell into an exhausted sleep.

His one meeting with the Ministry during those weeks was boring. Almost no hint of Death Eater activity anywhere in England, and only the vaguest of rumors from Europe were to be found. A team of Aurors had been sent to Bulgaria, but not one heard anything or suffered anything more severe than a head cold. Even Durmstrang was quiet. Harry made several attempts to get inside Voldemort’s mind, but had no success at all. The supposed attack on the Malfoys never occurred, and Harry had to wonder if maybe Voldemort had felt his presence and cancelled the attack.

The muggle government was also quiet. After having called a few more Ministry officials for “talks”, nothing more was heard from them. Some of the muggle-born in the Ministry had hinted that their attention was likely being take with some muggle problems overseas. Whatever the cause, the silence was causing Harry to worry a little, and he didn’t like it at all.

The last week of school was pure hell for Harry. Writing, administering, and correcting tests for four classes consumed so much of his time that he ended up staying up late every night to study for his own tests. Then to add to that stress, Narcissa and Molly had dragged them off for a wedding rehearsal. Fortunately, Draco was prepared for Harry’s distraction and had Jeremy and Pansy plan things for the Yule Ball, or both of them would have been unprepared for the night. Draco had even formally asked Harry to be his date for the Ball, something Harry would never have thought of doing.

“Let me get that!” Draco snapped irritably as Harry fumbled with the sash on his formal robes for the night. He sighed and let Draco tweak it so that it hung just perfectly. He’d never understand all these little nuances of clothing, which is why it was a good thing Draco did. “There.”

“You look beautiful, love.” Harry told the blond, and it was the pure truth. Draco’s platinum blond hair was not gelled. His bangs hung down, just touching his eyebrows, while the rest of his hair was plaited into an intricate braid woven with silver and green wires. Loose, it reached a good three inches below Draco’s shoulder blades and Harry loved it when it was unbraided and fanned out around Draco’s head in bed. However, that wasn’t a sight anyone but Harry ever got to see. Draco was also wearing a forest green robe that practically clung to his body. Black and Gold embroidery lived up the cuffs and ran down the inside seams providing even more definition of the young man’s frame. A black velvet sash ran around his middle, and his wand stuck out from the sash as if it was the sword he’d stopped wearing following the destruction of the Sword of Gryffindor.

Harry was dressed in a crimson robe of similar design, but with silver and gold embroidery and a gold sash. His own, much larger wand was also running through the sash. His hair, usually so resistant to brushes, gels, and other forms of control, had cooperated tonight, letting Draco sculpt it into a form that resembled the waves of the ocean, and showed his scar off quite nicely. Draco had wanted to make sure everyone remembered that Draco was with the Boy-Who-Lived, and Harry could think of no argument worth not giving Draco what he wanted.

Naturally, they were the last students to enter the hall. The golden lion that Draco had made for Harry roared after the band had finished a lively dance tune, and the silver dragon Harry had made for Draco let out its own roar and a foot long finger of flame, gathering everyone’s attention as Draco and Harry entered, arm in arm. The two toy animals immediately made their way to the long table of refreshments and took statuesque poses they would hold all evening until their masters left. Anyone that tried to touch them got a nipped finger in return for the efforts, and Professor Tonks’ dropping a ladle of punch resulted in a jet of flame that evaporated the punch before it could touch the silver dragon.

Meanwhile, Draco called out to the wizard band for a dancing tune, and led his lover through a dance. Harry’s fumbled steps of past dances didn’t even hint at an appearance tonight as he glided across the floor. For an entire song, they danced alone and no one dared ruin the moment by joining. Many sighs were heard, especially from the crowd of fourth and fifth year Hufflepuff girls. A motion from Harry on the second tune brought several Gryffindors and Slytherins onto the dance floor.

Harry smiled several times that night, figuring that his past with Draco had probably helped keep the shock down when Hermione and Ginny had shown up as each other’s dates, and then spent as much time on the dance floor as Hermione’s very advanced pregnancy caused. She was in fact due to give birth any time now, and Harry was very much on edge. There was even a betting pool going on that she’d go into labor at the Yule Ball.

To the dismay of many, the Ball passed without pregnant students going into labor, without an attack by Voldemort, and without even one lover’s squabble. Harry couldn’t remember a more perfect night, or a more perfect after-Ball activity than what Draco and he did that night.

The next morning, Draco had gone straight to Malfoy Manor while Harry went to Black Manor. According to tradition, the couple had to spend the last 13 days before the completion of the engagement ceremony apart. That meant that Christmas would be separate this year, and only Hermione’s reminder that there would be many more Christmases to come kept Harry from breaking tradition. Besides, Black Manor was quite full with Hermione, Ginny, Jeremy, and eight Slytherins there. Draco was surrounded by an equally sized group of Slytherins, plus Seamus, Lavender, and the Patil sisters. Luna Lovegood had declined their invitation because her dad was taking her hunting for something called the bruvis bovinus, supposedly found only in North America.

The weeks before Christmas passed slowly for Harry. Hermione went into false labor four times, and Millicent jokingly remarked that the child was as clumsy as his father since he obviously couldn’t find the birth canal. Hermione had chased her (clumsily) around the Manor for two days after that comment, much to the amusement of everyone else. On Christmas Day, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley showed up with the twins for a Christmas feast. No word had been heard of Ron or what he was up to, but Harry had a hard time sharing the grief they showed at that fact.

Ron could rot in hell for all Harry cared.

Severus, Tonks, and Remus arrived together just as the Weasleys were leaving and Harry found himself blushing as Tonks and the Potions Master took turns giving him advice on married life. The rest of the people at the Manor enjoyed the display until Harry lost his temper and pointedly reminded his two ‘parents’ that they’d never been married before. Before either could respond Remus got down on one knee and asked a horrified Severus Snape to be part of his pack. (b/n LOL!)

“Oh, you Merlin-forsaken Gryffindor!” Snape had growled before grabbing Remus’ hand and pulling him upstairs to the bedroom. After that, Tonks became the butt of everyone’s jokes as they asked how she was getting along with Professor Flitwick. The Auror turned Professor left after half an hour, and the group of students turned on Millicent, who only lasted ten minutes before fleeing.

At four a.m., Harry was greatly regretting staying up until past midnight. He barely had time to shower before Severus dragged him downstairs to the Manor’s apparition point. They appeared at Malfoy Manor long enough before sunrise for Harry to enjoy an early breakfast with the elder Malfoys while Draco ate with Severus and Tonks.

“So, are you ready for everything?” Lucius asked him quietly.

“I think so.” Harry replied nervously.

“Don’t worry, you really don’t have to do much at this ceremony.” Narcissa said with a smile.

“Still, I didn’t really understand that there were spirits in these bracelets until Severus explained it last night.” Harry admitted. “He still wouldn’t say who they were, but from the look in his eyes he expects me to be shocked.”

“Does he?” Lucius said, hiding his grin behind a cup of tea. “Well, you don’t have long to find out if he was right. We should all be heading upstairs to change.”

Hermione was waiting for him, now a week past her due date and showing no signs of having gone into labor. She’d been brought by the Malfoy limo along with most of the other students since she couldn’t apparate or floo this late in her pregnancy. She helped Harry dress in scarlet and gold robes for the ceremony, and also helped him get his hair into some semblance of order, or at least down to “well-shagged” instead of “wildly-shagged.”

His nervousness increased as they returned to the garden where the original ceremony had been held, and he looked at the pre-dawn sky. A moment later, Draco appeared in green and silver robes, with his hair flowing freely instead of tied into a pony tail or braid. Almost two weeks of separation had made just enough difference for Harry to notice every little thing about him, and the smiles that lit both of their faces were completely unguarded despite the group of nearly thirty people that were watching them. Hand in hand, they moved through the seated people and approached the old wizard, who was flanked on his right by the Malfoys and on his left by Severus and Tonks. All five of them were smiling brightly as Harry and Draco moved to stand before them.

“One year and a day ago, we stood in this spot and bound together Harry James Potter and Draconis Malfoy (b/n doesn’t Draco have a middle name?) in the most ancient of rites to determine their compatibility as mates. During this time they have faced challenges and separation, but both still approach once more at this, the conclusion of their trial. Lucius Malfoy, father of Draconis, have you found Harry Potter to be a worthy mate for your son?”

“Beyond all expectations.” Lucius said formally, bowing his head slightly to Harry.

“Narcissa Black-Malfoy, has Harry Potter met your expectations of a worthy mate for your only child?”

“He has, and more.” Narcissa said elegantly, smiling at Harry. He felt his cheeks blushing at her words, and her smile.

“Severus Snape, standing for the father of Harry Potter, has Draconis Malfoy met your expectations as a worthy mate for Harry Potter?”

“He has shown that neither force nor trickery will sway him from the side of his beloved.” Severus said in his most captivating voice. “He is…acceptable.”

“Nymphadora Tonks,” She winced at her first name, and the old wizard smiled. “Standing for the beloved mother of Harry Potter, have you found Draconis Malfoy to be acceptable for Harry Potter?”

“I have.” Tonks said simply, also smiling.

“Having heard the acceptance of the families of these two who wish to wed, is there any who might know of reasons why such a union would be unacceptable?”

The silence was broken only by the sobs of Mrs. Weasley, who was crying in happiness. Harry stood proudly, his stance daring anyone to speak up, but no one did. The old wizard had to wait one full minute before continuing, and as he reached forty-five, Harry began to relax. Why did these blasted ceremonies have this damn custom? Even muggle ceremonies did! Of course this wasn’t a wedding but…

“I object!” A very familiar, and unwelcome voice called out from the edge of the garden. Harry spun, grabbing for a wand that wasn’t there. None of the party was allowed to carry their wands except for the Master of the Ceremony, but at least he had his wand pointed at the fiery red-haired young man that stormed towards them in dirty, ragged robes.

“HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE YOU SCUM?!” Molly Weasley roared at her youngest son. “GET OUT NOW!”

“Please, mother.” Ronald Weasley snorted as he closed with them. “You know the ceremony. Any with business at this ceremony may pass whatever wards are set at the location, and I have business here.”

“I always said you were a gate-crashing, scum, Weasel.” Draco sneered from Harry’s side, while Harry tried to control the rage that demanded he smashed his old friend’s face.

“Be quiet, Ferret.” Ron sneered.

“Everyone will be silent.” The old wizard commanded, and his voice seemed to silence everyone. “Step forward, objector, identify yourself and your objection.”

“I am Ronald Weasley.” Ron said fiercely. “And I object because that scum Malfoy has corrupted my best friend, forced him into the Dark Arts, and has failed to remain faithful!”

“What one views as corruption, others may view as saving,” The old wizard said grimly. “The use of dark arts, or lack thereof, has no bearing on this ceremony. Only the charge of infidelity has bearing. Present your proof.”

“Draco Malfoy kissed and attempted to have sex with me.” Ronald said in a voice that showed he expected that to be enough.

“How say you to this charge, Draconis Malfoy?”

“I admit I did kiss him.” Draco said, and there were gasps from those that did not know. “He was attempting to sabotage my relationship with Harry and had succeeded in fooling me to believe that Harry had cheated on me with another.”

“Did you not see the bracelet on his arm?”

“I did, but I doubted it due to rumors that Harry had found a way around the charm.” Draco said, his head lowering, but Harry squeezed his hand tightly.

“Such trickery has often been attempted, but the spirits of the bracelets do not lie. Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, are you willing to hear the words of your guardians on these matters?”

“I am” Harry said defiantly.

“As am I.” Draco said a moment later, his voice less sure.

“Guardians Patronus!” The old man roared in a voice that seemed like thunder. Harry’s bracelet grew warm, and he was surprised to see the snake that adorned the Malfoy crest crawl down his hand and drop to the ground, where it grew larger and larger. The lion on Draco’s bracelet also leapt to the ground and began to grow. Then, the two forms shimmered, and Harry felt his knees almost give way as the snake turned into his mother and the lion into his father. His father’s appearance was filmed over with gold, while his mother’s was silverish, but they both smiled at him. Behind him everyone gasped, including Ron.

“Guardians.” The Old wizard said into the silence that followed their transformation. “A challenge has been issued on the fidelity of this couple. How say you?”

“Silly.” Harry’s mother said, and he shivered at her voice. Tears came to his eyes as she smiled down at him. “My son is everything a mother, or a husband, could ever hope to have. He is full of love, a love he gives freely to all those who want it. He has been tempted in ways many others have succumbed to, but has not failed in his dedication to his love. His heart is pure.”

“My son’s chosen one is not what I would have expected.” Harry’s father said, looking directly at Harry, and his heart swelled at the look of pride he could see in the man’s face. “Still, he is not me and he must choose his mate based on his needs and his desires. Draconis loves my son, and that love has never wavered even though his faith in my son did for a time. Yet, how can you trust something unless it has been tested, and Draco was tested. No matter what kept him from breaking the fidelity he swore, the fact remains he did not break that fidelity. He did not perform any actions irredeemable and he has tortured himself every day since it occurred, vowing to make himself a stronger person and earn the love and trust my son has placed in him. I am proud of him and he is a worthy mate to Harry. The objections are groundless.”

“What?” Ron nearly screeched at the ethereal creatures. “You can’t want your son with a Malfoy! They’re nothing but evil!”

“Enough, objector.” The old wizard said before casting a silencing charm on the red-head. “Your objection has been heard, and found wanting. Depart.”

With that, it was like some invisible creature grabbed Ron by the back of his robes and pulled him out of the garden. Everyone’s attention returned to where Harry stood next to Draco, but Harry’s attention was solely on his shimmering parents as they smiled at him.

“We declare they are worthy.” The two spirits said in unison, each of them placing ethereal hands on the couple. “Let your love guide you, may the years be kind to both of you, and may you live together for the rest of your days.”

With those words, Harry’s mother leaned in to give him a kiss on the forehead, and Harry closed his eyes as the ethereal lips touched him for a cold, fleeting moment. When he opened his tear-stained eyes, they were gone and the old wizard was waving his wand again.

“The year and a day has been served, all objections have been rejected, and the period of trial is over. In accordance with the wishes of the couple, they shall be wed in five days.”

With a pop, the old man was gone, and the couple were immediately surrounded by cheering friends and family. The sun had just risen, and a new day began. Harry smiled, putting any thoughts of their objector out of his head, and walked into the house beside the man who would soon be his husband.

It was going to be a very long day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Were those really my parents?” Harry asked Draco in the quietness of Draco’s bedroom at Malfoy Manor.

“Yes.” Draco whispered softly. “It was your father that guided me to Hearly Manor.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We didn’t know until that day, and after that well, Severus though you’d just obsess over it.”

“Of course I would have!” Harry said forcefully. “We could have called them forth and talked to them!”

“No, we couldn’t have.” Draco told him softly. “The spirits could only be called forth in certain circumstances and said certain things. They stretched it a lot tonight, and if the Weasel hadn’t challenged them they wouldn’t have been able to say even that much.”

“Oh.” Harry said, thinking about what Draco had said, then relishing the memory of what his parents had told them. The fact that they had approved of Draco meant everything to him, and answered any last doubts about their wedding in five days. Fortunately, there were no traditions about separation before the wedding since it was just a ceremony solidifying something that the magical events of this morning had already established.

Harry and Draco were forever bound together as a couple.

“Harry?” Draco’s voice interrupted Harry’s thoughts.

“Yes, love?” Harry responded softly.

“Do you have any regrets? I mean, you’ve lost Ron as your friend, you’ve changed, and so much is different now…”

“Draco.” Harry broke in firmly, but with love in his voice. “My life, and this world are both better because we are a couple. Ron is in the situation he is in because of the choices he made, not the choices either of us made. I would have it no other way.”

“Thank you, Harry.” Draco whispered, and Harry bent so that his lips touched his lover’s gently.

“No, Draco, thank you for trying to kill me that day.” Harry whispered as he ended the kiss, and Draco succumbed to a fit of laughter.

“Only Harry fucking Potter would take someone trying to kill him and try to seduce him!”

Both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Morag!” Harry screamed the name as he came out of sleep, and he realized he wasn’t the only one. Draco was sitting up in bed next to him panting heavily as that name, and a strong echo of pain echoed through Harry’s mind again. He could see Draco wincing as well.

“Cruciatus.” Draco whispered in horror.

“Can’t feel where she is.” Harry whispered, “Not well enough to apparate.”

“Must be shielded.” Draco whispered back, wincing again as another flash of pain echoed inside Harry’s head. Both young men moved as one, getting out of bed and wrapping themselves in silk night robes before heading into the hallway. Harry followed Draco, who knew Malfoy Manor much better than he did, through several passageways until they reached a large set of double-doors.

“Father?” Draco said loudly, banging on the door. “Mother?”

“Enter!” Lucius’ voice was faint, even though he was obviously yelling. Draco pushed the door open and for a moment, Harry was astounded at exactly how huge the room really was. It was nearly four times the size of the room he shared with Draco at Hogwarts, and there were several doorways into side rooms. Near the far end of the room was a huge canopied bed with green and black curtains. Lucius and Narcissa were both standing near it in evening robes of their own, brown and black for Narcissa and pure emerald green for Lucius.

For a moment, Harry realized just what Draco might look like in thirty years or so and he fought a wave of horniness. One did not admit to being attracted to one’s father-in-law no matter how much he looked like one’s husband. (b/n hehehehehe) Harry winced, and Draco actually put a hand to his forehead as another bout of pain echoed through their foreheads.

“What is it boys?” Lucius asked in a very concerned voice, rushing towards them with Narcissa not far behind. He gently took Draco by the shoulder, leading him to a nearby couch while Narcissa did the same for Harry. It was a few moments before Harry felt like he could speak.

“Morag.” Harry finally ground out. “One of our oathbound. She’s being tortured.”

“We can’t tell where.” Draco said in a much calmer voice than Harry had managed. “It’s like she’s someplace shielded.

“Blast!” Lucius muttered. “You’re going to need to use the Oath Stone if she’s in a shielded space. That will amplify your ability to sense your oathbound and locate them through any shielding. You’ve both got your wands on you, good. I’ll lower the apparition words, and you two go to Black Manor. Narcissa and I may have our wands back but we still can’t leave the Manor without Ministry approval. PINCY!”

“Yes, Master Malfoy?” A house elf said, appearing right after Lucius had called her name. “What can Pincy do to serve?”

“Awaken all the guests that are Slytherin students and inform them to attend Masters Malfoy and Potter at Black Manor.” Lucius ordered. “Boys, summon the rest of your group that aren’t here and take them with you when you go. Message me by floo as soon as you know the location. I’ll wait twenty minutes and go tell Auror Mitchells that Harry woke with a vision about Voldemort attacking a student. That will give you a cover for how you know and give you reinforcements.”
“Yes, sir.” Harry managed as a fresh bout of pain hit him.

“The wards are down. Go.” Lucius said firmly. “And good luck.”

Harry and Draco apparated, barely hearing Lucius’s last words. Kreacher was immediately at their side as soon as they arrived and Draco started issuing orders while Harry moved up to the library. By the time Draco arrived carrying clothes more suited for hunting down whoever was hurting one of their oathbound, Harry had the Oath Stone uncovered and had found a good enough lock to apparate to where Morag was being held. He could sense that there were blocking wards, but nothing to stop apparating. Behind Draco the first of their other oathbounds showed up. Within ten minutes, both Harry and Draco were dressed, and the remainder of their group had arrived. While Draco went downstairs to tell his father where they were going, Harry informed the group of what was happening. Everyone nodded grimly, and when Draco returned they were ready. Harry drew his wand out, a motion followed by everyone else present, and they apparated together, the older oathbound taking those still too young to apparate on their own.

They appeared in a hallway just outside the room where Morag was being held. A single wizard in Death Eater robes was standing there, and twelve stunning spells hit him at once. Remembering Professor McGonagall’s collapse after being hit by multiple spells in his fifth year, Harry checked the prone form for a pulse and closed his eyes briefly when he realized that the wizard was now dead.

The expected wave of guilt never materialized through Morag’s echoed pain. He stood firmly, the group behind him and Draco was quiet as he took four steps back.

“Reducto!” Harry yelled, his spell blasting the door so hard it flew into the room. Without hesitation, he moved into the room with Draco at his side and the rest flowing around them in a rush.

Eight Death Eaters, one still pointing its wand at a sobbing form on the floor looked up in surprise. The door had missed all of them, and they all had their wands out. Still the odds were over three to one, and Draco only had to block two spells from Harry before all eight of the enemy were on the floor.

While Harry went to take the still collapsed form of Morag into his arms, Draco began overseeing the binding and sorting of the Death Eaters they had captured. Ten of their people guarded the entrance in case more Death Eaters appeared. Morag was weeping senselessly and Harry tried using the bond between them to calm her down. Surprisingly, it worked.

“Harry?” She gasped out, looking into his face with wonder.

“Sorry it took us so long to get here.” He told her with a wan smile.

“You actually came!” The dark-haired Slytherin whispered, a smile almost forming on your face.

“Of course we did, it’s part of our Oath.” Harry told her, his smile growing in strength. That seemed to calm her more.

“V...V…Voldemort was here.” She managed to stutter out. At this, Harry let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He had been worried about what would have happened if Morag was being tortured by someone other than Voldemort, because then he would have no excuse for knowing about her. He immediately felt guilty though, at Morag’s next words. “I…I wasn’t telling them anything but then he used some spell to get into my mind and he left really quickly. He didn’t tell the others anything so they kept torturing me.”

“Don’t worry about that now.” Harry told her as a commotion at the doorway took his attention away from her.

“Aurors are here, Harry!” Crabbe called from the doorway.

“Let them through.” Harry ordered. Moments later, Kingsley Shacklebolt led a team of ten Aurors into the room, his expression dark.

“Mind telling me what you think you are doing?” Kingsley raged as soon as he spotted Harry.

“Rescuing a schoolmate.” Harry replied shortly. “I see you got our message.”

“I knew all this was going to your head!” Kingsley was practically yelling now. “I don’t care how good you think you are but you have no right to lead a group of half-trained children on a rescue mission when there are Aurors to do that!”

“Time was of the essence.” Harry replied calmly to the angry man. “Voldemort sensed my presence and was about to order her to be killed. I couldn’t let that happen and it would have taken far too long if I waited until you assembled enough Aurors. She would have been dead by the time you got here.”

“He saw it?” One of the female Aurors gasped.

“It’s classified information.” Kingsley snapped at the woman. “Mr. Potter can occasionally see what the Dark Lord is doing because of the curse when he was a child. He’s been trained on how to keep the Dark Lord out of his own mind.”

“When Voldemort gets angry, I can sometimes break through the barriers on his mind.” Harry told her firmly, enjoying her wince at that name. “It’s how we’ve come close to tracking him down several times over the last year. It infuriates him to know that I can spy on him while he hasn’t broken through my barriers in years.”

“Oh.” The woman said, her eyes wide.

“There’s still the problem that you can’t be leading a vigilante group every time someone is in danger.” Kingsley said, still pursuing the topic Harry had tried to change.

“Kingsley, everyone I brought here is extremely well trained.” Harry said firmly. “They’re among the best, and several of them are Defenders. I didn’t bring half-trained students with me. Every single one of these people could take their N.E.W.T. in the DADA field and pass with an ‘O’ right now. There are several more wedding guests back at the Manor who didn’t fit that qualification and they weren’t brought. Time was of the essence in this situation.”

“Okay.” Kingsley gave in with a sigh. “It sounds like you at least did think things through a little. I want your word though. No traipsing off to save the world without Aurors around.”

“Whenever it is possible, you have my word.” Harry said defiantly. “If it’s not possible, I’ll make sure to get word just like I did tonight.”

“That’ll have to do.” Kingsley said, then he looked at the girl Harry was still holding. “How is she?”

“She’ll be okay.” Harry said with a small smile. “She’s been under Cruciatus for a while, but given some rest she’ll be fine.”

“Any idea why they were torturing her?” Kingsley asked.

“She’s a student at Hogwarts.” Draco answered, coming to stand next to Harry. “She’s probably the only student in Slytherin right now whose parents had ties to Voldemort but aren’t in Azkaban, hiding, or worse. She didn’t want to go home for the Holidays but there was no legitimate reason for her to be kept away. Her mom’s over there, stunned. She was the one performing the curse. Her dad’s not in this group nor was he the man outside. All the others are foreigners, I think.”

“Well, there should be a medic team here soon and we’ll figure out what to do with her then.” Kingsley said. “What happened to the man outside?”

“Too many stunners.” Harry said evenly, hiding his surprise that he still felt no guilt even though one of the spells had been his. He’d always thought killing someone would make him feel guilty, but now he’d emotionlessly killed twice. A little part of his mind told him that maybe he really did accept the difference between necessary death and unnecessary death. Voldemort killed indiscriminately, but he didn’t. Maybe that was the key to his lack of guilt.

“It happens even with trained Aurors.” Kingsley said comfortingly. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. Even if it had been me and my team showing up here, we’d have probably had the same result.”

“Thanks.” Harry said, making his voice as soft as possible and trying to look relieved.

“My dad offered to take Morag for the holidays.” Draco said. Harry knew it was a lie. Morag had been allowed to go home in the hopes of getting information from her parents about Voldemort’s activities. Harry did feel a little guilt at that, but the girl had volunteered.

“If he’s still willing…” Kingsley said softly.

“He will be.” Draco replied confidently.

“Harry, this is the first real Death Eater activity we’ve seen here in a while.” Kingsley said, moving on to another topic as a team from St. Mungo’s appeared. They took the girl from Harry, and he finally stood up, moving to Kingsley’s side while the medi-witch checked the girl over. “Do you think this means he’ll be active in Britain again?”

“I have no idea.” Harry admitted. “I did get the sense that he plans something, maybe focused on Hogwarts. He was quite pleased at how many people he’d recruited while overseas, but he’s not staying here. I know that much.”

“The Minister will probably call a meeting about this.” Kingsley warned him.

“Frankly, unless you arrest me and force me to go with you, I need to focus on our wedding in a few days.” Harry told him.

“Do you think he’ll attack the wedding?” Kingsley asked worriedly.

“I doubt it.” Harry said with a snort. “I mean, the guest list is over three hundred people, and I know that most of them will bring their wands. Then there’s what, forty Aurors and sixty more MLE agents on duty? I remember hearing Lucius grumble about paying all the overtime.”

“Yeah, there’ll be a lot of us there.” Kingsley said with a smile. “I doubt he’s gotten several hundred followers yet. He’d need a small army to pull something like that off.”

“That’s why we’re going with so much protection.” Draco said firmly, smiling at Harry.

“Okay, you and your friends can leave now.” Kingsley said.

“Don’t you need statements from all of us?” Harry asked in surprise.

“No.” Kingsley said. “Just write up a report and give me the names of everyone who was here. I trust you.”

“Thanks, Kingsley.” Harry said with a genuine smile. “Malfoy Manor, everyone.”

With that, the group of students apparated from the room after some shuffling around to make sure everyone who couldn’t apparate was partnered. They appeared at the apparition point just outside the Manor’s gate, and made the long walk in complete silence. Once inside the main entrance of the Manor itself, Draco instructed a waiting house elf to provide rooms for those who hadn’t been staying at the Manor already, and Harry advised the group to get some rest. The sun was just rising, and Harry realized that he was still tired. Before everyone left he told them they’d get together after lunch to make sure everyone had their stories straight before Harry sent a report in to Kingsley. They nodded, and the house elf led away those without rooms while Harry joined Draco in heading for the master suite of the Manor.

They found Lucius pacing in worry and Narcissa frowning into the fireplace. As they entered, Lucius face shone with relief, and Narcissa stood, wringing her hands. Harry smiled slightly at their worry.

“How did it go?” Lucius demanded.

“Good.” Harry said.

“One dead Death Eater.” Draco said with a tight smile. “Eight more captured, no one from our group injured. Morag should be okay. They’re checking her out at St. Mungo’s. She’s going to be needing a place to stay so they’ll probably be contacting you.”

“Good,” Narcissa said with a nod of her head. “We’ll be more than happy to take her in for a while.”

“Voldemort was there before we arrived.” Harry told Lucius. “He used legillimancy on Morag. She’s pretty certain he’s aware of the Blood Oath now.”

“That is going to be tricky.” Lucius said slowly. “Still, good job. You two should get some rest.”

“Yes, sir.” Draco said, taking Harry’s arm and leading him out. By the time they got back to their room, Harry was dead on his feet, and he fell asleep as soon as he laid down. However, instead of the darkness of the truly exhausted, he found himself looking at a fire from a sitting position. Then he heard a voice in his head and it sent chills through him.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Harry Potter.” The mental voice was one he recognized intimately. “It is time we had a little talk.”

“Talk, Tom?” Harry formed his response carefully. “What makes you want to talk to me now?”

“You’ve surprised me.” Voldemort responded, his voice sounding amused. “When you were eleven I gave you a wondrous offer and you refused. I see now I might have been wrong to make the offer the way I did. You were right to turn me down. You are far too crafty to be merely a servant. I’ve found that little island we have both called home isn’t as important as it once was. I was wondering if you wouldn’t consider a truce?”

“Go on.” Harry replied carefully, biting down the instinctive response of telling Voldemort to forget the idea. “I’m listening.”