Harry Potter woke up after the ordeal with the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. He was still bound to the stone angel that held him immobile in the graveyard and he watched as Peter Pettigrew resurrected his Dark Lord and gave him a physical body to inhabit once more. That it was more snake-like from his rituals to keep himself alive, was immaterial.

Voldemort said his whole spiel about going far beyond any other wizard on his road to immortality, which let Harry know that no matter what happened that night, it was only a holding action against the final confrontation. It was going to happen eventually, even if he somehow won tonight when they were face to face once more.

Harry watched as Voldemort called his most loyal, the death eaters that were still free after declaring they had been Imperiused the last time Voldemort had sought power. The ranks of his inner circle were sorely lacking, mainly because almost half of them were still in Azkaban Prison.

There was a bit of a show as Voldemort pretended to torture those that had denounced him and then he forgave them for forgetting about him making plans to always return. It was a little pathetic, actually. Harry didn't comment about that, though. instead, he waited for the right time to spring his own trap.

When Voldemort claimed that he had forgotten the old magics that had protected Harry Potter to his detriment, he walked over to Harry and prepared to touch him. Because now he could, thanks to him having Harry's blood inside his veins. Voldemort's confidence was riding high and he knew he would be safe from being dissolved like when he had been inside Quirrell in first year.

“Wait.” Harry said and Voldemort stopped just before his finger touched Harry's cursed scar. “Is this really you?”

Both Voldemort and the Death Eaters laughed.

“No, no. You don't understand. I've already fought off a manifestation of a teenage you from your diary in second year.” Harry said and Voldemort stiffened, as if slapped. “Are you another manifestation or are you the spirit I faced in first year and defeated when I killed Professor Quirrell?”

All of the Death Eaters stopped laughing and Voldemort gave Harry a very piercing look. Harry felt something tickling his mind and didn't fight against it. He looked right into the Dark Lord's eyes and didn't say anything else. He somehow knew that Voldemort was checking to see if what he claimed was true and let him. He also let all of his assumptions and speculations be 'seen' as well.

“Lucius.” Voldemort said, his voice deadly.

Lucius took a step back before he dropped to his knees. “I am sorry, my lord.”

“Your family will be if they were involved.” Voldemort said and a wave of his wand made the unknowingly traitorous man scream from the Cruciatus curse.

Lucius had been entrusted with protecting a piece of Voldemort's soul and the moron had handed it over to be used by a blood traitor to discredit the redheaded girl's muggle lover of a father, Arthur Weasley. It was such a waste of a powerful magical object.

“My lord.” Peter Pettigrew said and held up his bleeding stump.

Voldemort almost sighed as he ended the curse and turned towards the coward. He had only returned to the Dark Lord's service because he was scared of being killed by Sirius Black.

“Let him bleed out.” Harry's voice said and everyone turned to look at him. “You know he's a traitor. He turned on his best friends because he was afraid to die for them. What do you think he's going to do when things get tough again? I doubt you've all accepted him as a friend.”

Voldemort was the only one not concerned by that statement. “Do you believe you are worth more to me than he is?”

Harry chuckled. “Of course I do. No matter what he's done, without me, you couldn't come back.”

“What makes you think that?” Voldemort asked, curious.

“Whoever entered me into the tournament spent the entire year setting this whole thing up. It's the only explanation.” Harry said and glanced around the graveyard. “Otherwise, they could have kidnapped me right away and this would have happened at the beginning of the year.”

No one said anything in response, so Harry knew he was right.

“Here we are, a whole year of planning later.” Harry said, a little smugly. “Now what happens?”

Voldemort felt bolder, now that the conversation was once again under his control. “First, I will give you back your wand and then we are going to duel.”

Harry laughed and everyone startled slightly. “Either you think too highly of me or too lowly of yourself.”

“You dare...”

“You know, you can just cast a killing curse at me right now, right? I'm wandless and bound. Why am I not dead already?” Harry interrupted and then laughed again. “I think I understand. You want to prove yourself more powerful than a barely trained and unqualified teenager. How magnanimous of you to give me a sporting chance.”

None of the people present missed the sarcastic tone of Harry's voice.

“Then what do you suggest?” Voldemort asked, as if he didn't know that Harry was going to ask to be set free.

“You once offered me a place at your side and we could rule together.” Harry said and all of the death eaters gasped. “Shut up, you peons!”

All of the death eaters seemed to freeze at the exclamation.

“I won't become one of your marked sycophants.” Harry said and the look on Voldemort's face was full of disbelief. “I can't function if I have to keep my arm covered all the time.”

Voldemort gave the still bound boy a very searching look for several minutes. When he finished, he huffed and waved his wand at the statue holding him. Harry grunted as he dropped to the ground and his right hand found his wand by instinct. He didn't hop to his feet and started casting spells, though. He slowly rose up to stand and kept his wand at his side.

“It seems you hold as much disdain for the wizarding world as I do.” Voldemort said.

Harry almost laughed. “With the exception of one particular witch, whom would drop me the very second she knew what I really thought about the rest of the wizarding world and those in authority, it could all burn to ashes for all I care.”

Voldemort walked over to the boy... no, the young man... and gave him an understanding look before he put a hand on his shoulder. “You realize I need to make this look good.”

Harry did laugh this time. “My leg has been torn up by an acromantula and my forearm was messed up by Pettigrew. I doubt anything else you do to me is going to make much difference.”

“Crucio!” Voldemort said, only there wasn't much passion behind it.

Harry barely felt his muscles twinge. “Was that it? I mean, I've felt worse under the care of my muggle relatives and I've survived that for thirteen years.”

Voldemort raised his brow ridge before he barked a laugh. “All right, Potter. You've convinced me and can take Pettigrew back to Hogwarts with you. Have fun making something up to tell them.”

Harry gave him a huge grin. “You're going to let me intentionally embarrass Dumbledore? Really?”

Voldemort smiled. “Of course. By the way, you can trust Moody. He's one of mine in disguise if he hasn't run out of polyjuice.” He gave the young man another glance. “I should probably give you another Crucio before you go, because you need to be convincing.”

Harry nodded and braced for it, then grunted as a more powerful curse was used on him. He barely shook, which surprised everyone there, even Voldemort.

“I believe you are much more interesting than I thought you were at first.” Voldemort said and waved at the Triwizard cup. “It's a return portkey, so grab Wormtail before you summon it.”

Harry smiled and walked over to the still bleeding out Pettigrew. “Accio tournament cup.” He said and grabbed Pettigrew's arm as the cup hit him in the chest and they disappeared in a swirl of a portkey.

“My lord? Are you not worried they will question Pettigrew?” One of the other death eaters asked.

Voldemort held in his laugh and nodded at Lucius.

“Cornelius Fudge won't want to lose his office if Sirius Black is proven innocent. Pettigrew will be kissed before the night is over.” Lucius said, confident in his prediction. He successfully hid his trembling arms from being noticed.

Voldemort nodded and smiled as he grasped Lucius' arm. “The rest of you, return to your homes. We will meet in a few days to start planning in earnest. We have a take-over campaign to resume.”

“My lord.” All of the death eaters said and most of them apparated away.

“Lucius, I will require some assistance from you.” Voldemort said. “You have a lot to make up for.”

“Of course, my lord.” Lucius said and he and Voldemort quickly cleaned up the area and then apparated to Malfoy Manor.

*

Voldemort had been right. Almost as soon as Harry had appeared on the winner's dais, the Minister of Magic was there with his Dementor guards and one of them had sucked out Pettigrew's soul. That had caused enough confusion for Moody to squirrel Harry away from the crowd and back into the castle.

Before Moody could interrogate the winner of the tournament, Harry warned him that Dumbledore had no reason to pretend he wasn't the real Moody anymore. The shocked look on his face was worth costing the man a precious minute before the man needed to open the special trunk to reveal the real Moody.

A glance at the enchanted Foe Glass showed three faces and Moody dove through the fireplace to use it to leave the castle. The office door blew open and Albus, Minerva, and Severus Snape entered the room. No one spoke as they searched, only to see the open trunk and sighed at the truth. Moody had been a fake and they had all been played.

Well, everyone except Dumbledore. He had known the whole time and let things play out, just as he said he would at the beginning of the tournament. Harry wasn't surprised when Albus ignored his protests about his injuries and took him to his office to interrogate him about what happened that night.

Like Voldemort wanted, Harry made up a long and elaborate tale about a fourth task adventure, daring risks he performed to succeed, and confronting Peter Pettigrew, whom had set everything up. Since there was no one else around to say he was a blatant liar, Dumbledore had to accept it as truth.

Harry did his best to ham up his blood loss, even though he really had lost a lot of blood, and Dumbledore reluctantly let Harry leave his office to go to the hospital wing. Hermione found Harry limping along the stairway and did her best to help him get to the hospital wing.

“You know... you are the only one... that has cared enough... to help me... no matter what.” Harry said between panting breaths as he kept pretending to be more hurt than he was. “You have always... stuck by my side.”

Hermione blushed and didn't respond. She did grip his arm over her shoulders a bit tighter.

“Hermione.” Harry said in a serious voice and Hermione almost stumbled. “If I asked you to leave all of this behind, would you come with me?”

Hermione stopped walking just outside the hospital wing. “Harry, I... I... I'm...”

Harry turned and looked deep into her eyes. “It's been four years, Hermione.” He said and took a deep breath and let it out. “Four years of defying death and surviving. Risking my life... risking your life... every damn year.”

Hermione blushed at the intense look Harry was giving her.

“Isn't four years of this enough? Haven't we done enough?” Harry asked her, his voice pleading. “Do you really want to do this again next year?”

“Harry, I... Hogwarts... I...” Hermione took a deep breath and let it out.

“You can't give it up, can you?” Harry asked her.

Hermione blushed again, only it was from embarrassment this time, and she shook her head. “With magic, I... I'm not plain old boring Hermione anymore. I'm a witch and... I know this world is scary, and life-threatening, and...” She paused and let resolve fill her. “Harry, I'm more me now than I ever was as a muggle.”

Harry saw the truth in her eyes and nodded. He wasn't going to convince her to leave, so he took his arm away from her shoulder and didn't say anything as he left her in the hallway and limped into the hospital wing on his own.

“Mister Potter, I see you finally decided to let me deal with your injuries.” Madam Pomfrey said.

“It was the headmaster's fault, Madam Pomfrey. He wouldn't let you deal with the abuse and starvation my relatives heaped on me my whole life, so why would he care if I bled out on his office floor while he interrogated me?” Harry asked her.

Both Hermione and Madam Pomfrey gasped at his words.

Harry ignored them and hopped onto his regular bed and laid down. “Go ahead and pretend you care what my actual health condition is, since you never have before.” He said and settled down to rest. “I have abusive muggles to get back to tomorrow. Can you make sure to stop the bleeding long enough to let me die at Privet Drive and not here at school? It's easier to hide me away from prying eyes if I'm not bleeding all over the place.”

Hermione stared into the hospital wing and tears came to her eyes. She had never heard such a defeatist tone from Harry before. He had always been a little broody; but, this was on a whole other level. She also saw the sad look that Madam Pomfrey gave Harry and knew that Harry's words were true. The healer had known he had been abused and hadn't treated him for any of it.

Madam Pomfrey treated his wounded leg first and gave Harry an acromantula anti-venom potion before she wrapped the wound on his leg, then she sighed when she checked his forearm. She didn't say anything about the wound being carved with a silver blade and that it would need to heal on its own. She did her best to clean it and used a sticking charm to hold the skin closed and wrapped it. Harry hadn't made any noises at all.

The healer did a full medical check-up on Harry and Madam Pomfrey gasped when her wand revealed that he had been exposed to the Cruciatus curse. She whispered about how bad it was for someone's body and nerves to be cursed like that.

“The Cruciatus curse? Moody showed us that last October. I had it cast on me twice tonight and it wasn't too bad. I've honestly felt worse when being punished by my relatives.” Harry admitted, and it was true. A broken arm to a little kid was excruciatingly painful and felt like it was the end of the world. The tingles Voldemort had given him earlier didn't compare at all.

Hermione had heard enough and she ran away from the hospital wing because she couldn't face the fact that she had known Harry for four years and never once suspected that his home life had been that bad, even after all of the things she had heard from him and the Weasley twins. She had dismissed everything as an exaggeration, just like Molly Weasley had in second year, and now she knew that she was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Madam Pomfrey cried silent tears as she gave Harry a calming draught, a blood replenishing potion, and a dreamless sleep potion. She went back to her office and silenced the door as she sat at her desk and put her head in her hands before she cried loud wracking sobs. The realization had hit her hard that she had failed in her duty to a student by believing the headmaster's assurances that Harry Potter was being taken care of.

*

“Here are your winnings, Mister Potter.” Minister Fudge said the next morning and dropped the bag of galleons onto the nightstand beside Harry's hospital bed.

Harry didn't even look at it. “When should I expect a trial for Sirius Black? I've given you proof that Peter Pettigrew has been alive all these years, just like I told you last year and you didn't believe me.”

The man's face scrunched up and his lips pursed. “What are you talking about? I had the imposter dealt with and everything's fine now. The Aurors will be by later to ask you about the missing Diggory boy.”

Harry gave the man a flat stare and didn't say anything in response. The silence started to feel oppressive and Fudge sweated a little.

“Well, then. Have a good day.” Fudge said and walked out of the hospital wing as fast as his pudgy little legs could carry him.

Madam Pomfrey came over and cast several diagnostic spells and handed him another calming draught. Harry drank it and laid back to wait. A few minutes later, two Aurors entered the hospital wing. One was a very tall black man dressed in an African-like shawl over his Auror robes and the other was a short woman with bright pink hair.

“Mister Potter? I am Kingsley Shacklebolt and I need to ask you a few questions.” The black man said.

“Sure.” Harry said. “Go ahead. I'll give you the same answers I gave Headmaster Dumbledore when he interrogated me for over half an hour last night.”

“Excuse me?” The pink-haired woman asked.

“He always interrogates me after my end of year adventures.” Harry said with a shrug.

Kingsley turned his head and gave Madam Pomfrey a questioning look.

“I gave him a calming draught already.” Madam Pomfrey told him.

“That's because she doesn't want me ranting about the injustice in the world.” Harry said and looked at the pink-haired woman. “You know, you're kind of cute for an older bird.”

She blushed a little and then her hair changed through several colors before it settled on red. “My name is Tonks.”

Harry looked at her hair with wide eyes and quite boldly dropped his eyes to where her crotch was. “I really want to ask if you can change the color all over. I really, really do.” He said, not joking at all, and looked back at her severely blushing face. “That would be bloody brilliant.”

Tonks could only sputter at the sincere look on his face.

“Are you sure you only gave him a calming draught?” Kingsley asked and the healer nodded. “All right.” He said and then spoke in a serious tone. “Mister Potter, can you tell us what happened last night during the third task?”

Harry gave them the same cock-and-bull story that he had spouted to Dumbledore about a fake fourth task and everything. Again, since no one was there to call him a big fat liar, they had to accept that it was the truth. Well, as far as they could believe a 14 year old teenager they thought was prone to exaggeration, anyway.

“You don't believe me.” Harry said and looked right into Tonks' eyes.

“We have to take all recounted statements as suspect until they can be confirmed.” Kingsley said.

“Is that why no one ever mentions Quirrell's death from first year, the 60 foot basilisk I killed second year, and the 100 dementors I drove off last year with my patronus? You couldn't find anyone to give you the same story?” Harry asked the pair of Aurors and they looked shocked. “I was right here, you know. You could have asked me.”

It took Kingsley several moments to recover. “Mister Potter, it's a crime to lie during an investigation.”

“Then you need to arrest Minister Fudge. I told him about Pettigrew being alive last year and he didn't believe me and tried to have Sirius Black kissed without a trial.” Harry said.

The two Aurors looked even more shocked now.

“Arrest Snape, too. He lied about me being confunded and a bunch of other things. There are way too many of his lies for me to remember them all.” Harry gave them searching looks. “Actually, I don't know if he has ever uttered anything that wasn't at least a partial lie. That's funny. Can you arrest him for being a habitual liar?”

“No.” Kingsley said and managed to compose himself. “Mister Potter, I assure you that we will be investigating your accusations.”

Harry huffed. “That means nothing's going to happen. It never does when someone tells me that.”

“What do you mean?” Tonks asked.

“No one's believed me since I was a little kid and old enough to tell people about my abusive relatives.” Harry said and both Aurors seemed to stiffen. “The same goes for the professors here at school. I've tried to go to my head of house a couple of times and all she does is punish me for telling lies and never listens.”

Tonks felt her stomach do a flip at the calm delivery. She knew it was the calming draught; but, she had a feeling that he would still be calm saying it, even if he wasn't forced to be calm.

“This year, the fake Moody put my name in the Goblet of Fire to get me to compete and the headmaster said he would investigate to find out who did it. The genius assigned Moody to do it instead of doing it himself like he promised. I spent all year trying to survive and discovered he was a fake. If the headmaster won't do his job to protect the students, why would you think I expect you to do yours?”

Neither of the Aurors had an answer for that.

“Is that it?” Harry asked and they nodded. “Really? Okay.” He waved at them. “See you never.”

“Mister Potter...” Kingsley started to say.

“Before you put your foot back in your mouth, I mentioned a professor's death, killing a Class 5 X creature, and casting a patronus strong enough that it scared off half the guards of Azkaban. You didn't ask me one single question about them. Not one.” Harry said, calmly. “I know how things go. Out of sight, out of mind. If you don't see it, you don't have to worry about it.”

“Mister Potter, we are authorized to...” Kingsley tried again.

“Yes, yes. Blah, blah. I told you already that I understood. You're not going to do anything.” Harry said and looked at Madam Pomfrey. “Can I go to breakfast now? I have to try and eat as much as I can before I'm back at my relatives and they starve me and work me harder than a house elf all summer.”

Madam Pomfrey had to clamp her mouth shut to stop herself from apologizing for failing him, and nodded.

“Thank you.” Harry said and slipped out of bed and dressed in his dirty and blood covered clothes. He picked up the bag of galleons and his wand. “Goodbye.”

The three people watched as Harry Potter walked out of the hospital wing. They hadn't missed the tone of finality that his last word had.

“We need to report this.” Tonks said.

Kingsley nodded and turned to Madam Pomfrey. “Madam...”

“The headmaster ordered me to never share the medical records of the students.” Madam Pomfrey said and motioned to the open doors of the hospital wing. “That was why. If anyone knew...”

“We will be visiting the headmaster next.” Kingsley said.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a strange look, shook her head, and went back into her office. If Kingsley actually believed he could get anything out of Albus that he didn't want to share, then she knew Harry was right. Nothing would ever be done about anything, no matter what was said or what proof could be found. Everyone knowing how hurt Harry had been, would make no difference.

*

To the surprise of all the other students, Harry Potter, the Triwizard Tournament winner, looked like crap and sat at the far end of the table with the first years and not with his friends. He also completely ignored the people trying to congratulate him. It was almost as if he didn't care.

Hermione silently cried as she ate absently and tried to not stare at her friend. She had thought about the situation all night and barely had any sleep. After she had gone over everything, especially her answer to his hypothetical question, she realized that if he actually did ask her to run away with him, she still would have said no. She was too young and this was her world and she couldn't give it up.

“Why's Harry sitting all the way over there?” Ron asked between bites of pork chop.

“Ron, chew with your mouth closed.” Hermione said and wiped at her wet face.

“What's wrong with you?” Ron asked.

“Nothing.” Hermione said and paused to take a breath. “Nothing's wrong. Harry just needs to be alone for a while.”

Ron shrugged and went back to concentrating on his food. Neither he nor Hermione would realize that would be the last time they would see Harry Potter for a long time, because he would not be on the train ride back to London. His abandoned trunk would be taken by the castle's house elves and deposited into the Room of Lost Things.

*

The Knight Bus dropped Harry off at Malfoy Manor and the conductor named Stan still called him Neville. Harry waved goodbye to the best example of ignorance the wizarding world had to offer and walked over to the closed gates. Instead of trying to open them by hand, he glanced around to see if anyone could see him, then took out his wand and shot a weak blasting spell between the bars.

Harry wasn't surprised when there was a kind of gong sound and the spell bounced off and dissipated. He had figured there would be protections on the gates, just like the ones at Hogwarts. Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have settled for not having the best protections for his home. There was a crack of apparition and the man himself appeared on the other side of the gate with his wand raised.

“Potter! What are you doing here attacking my front gate?” Lucius asked, almost in a snarl.

Harry chuckled and put his wand away. “I wasn't attacking it. I was knocking.” He said and motioned towards it. “I don't see any other way to ask for entrance here, do you?”

Lucius opened his mouth to suggest that he could have floo called, except he knew Harry wouldn't know the address. An owl would have taken half a day to arrive as well and it was still morning. He waved his wand at the gates and the slight glow disappeared before they opened.

“Why are you here?” Lucius asked.

“You know why.” Harry said and stepped through just enough for the gates to close behind him.

Lucius gave him a squinted eyed look, as if waiting for him to attack, then blanked his face. He nodded and strode back towards the manor, because he was not going to side-along apparate the boy. They entered the large and expensive house and Lucius took Harry to the parlour that Voldemort had set up as a meeting room and kind of throne room.

“My lord, I have discovered what caused the disturbance.” Lucius said and stepped aside to reveal Harry Potter. Narcissa Malfoy gasped and then covered her mouth with a hand.

Voldemort ignored her interruption and gazed at Harry as if he was trying to figure him out. “Like you suspected, she dropped you when she found out you no longer cared about the wizarding world.”

Harry scoffed. “It was worse than that. I asked if she would ever consider leaving with me and she said it was her world.”

Voldemort barely held back his bark of laughter. “If you admitted you don't care about it after that, she would hate you for it.”

Harry could only nod. If the wizarding world made Hermione more herself than she was without it, then saying he didn't care about it would probably piss her off.

“Then you should be happy to know that most of my followers agree with you. The way the wizarding world is right now, is insulting to anyone that has any pride in themselves, their achievements, or their families.” Voldemort said and both Lucius and Narcissa nodded. “Usually, in order to welcome someone into our ranks, they have to prove themselves worthy...”

Harry walked over to him and handed him a folded piece of old parchment. Before Voldemort or Lucius could laugh at him, Narcissa gasped and pointed to it. Both Voldemort and Lucius looked down at the writing on the front of it that said it was the Marauder's Map of Hogwarts.

“Open it.” Harry prompted.

Voldemort flipped open the front halves and his eyes widened almost comically as he saw the first floor of the castle. Argus Filch's name and his footsteps were there and they kind of shuffled back and forth in the Entrance Hall.

“I believe the caretaker is mopping the floor after all of the students left.” Harry said and pointed to the side of the parchment. Narcissa unfolded it slightly and Lucius unfolded his side and they folded them back together to show the second floor. They repeated this until they reached the seventh floor and saw Albus Dumbledore as he paced around in his office and Fawkes was on his perch.

“I officially welcome you into the fold, Harry Potter.” Voldemort said, his voice full of glee.

“Thank you.” Harry said with a smile. It was nice to feel wanted, even if it was by a sadistic murderer. “Before you get all caught up in making plans with that.” He said and his smile disappeared. “I have a suggestion about giving the headmaster a lesson about ignoring people begging him for help.”

Voldemort, Lucius, and Narcissa raised their heads from looking at the parchment to stare at him.

“No one knows you've come back.” Harry said and then told him the elaborate story he had fed Albus and the Aurors about what 'really' happened. It made Voldemort smile, Lucius smirk, and Narcissa held a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh.

“What is your lesson?” Voldemort asked. He was in such a good mood that he actually wanted to know and wasn't just humoring the young man.

“My aunt and uncle won't be leaving Little Whinging for London until suppertime to pick me up from the train, which means they are at home right now.” Harry said and his smile came back and took out a blood replenishing potion that Madam Pomfrey had given to him if he felt weak. “I just happen to be wearing damaged and blood covered clothing and I have a seeping wound on my arm...”

Narcissa couldn't muffle her laugh this time when she understood what Harry meant. “That's evil!”

Voldemort's smile matched Harry's. “You are still proving to be much more interesting than I thought at first.”

“Thank you.” Harry said, pleased. It was nice to feel appreciated, too.

*

The Dursleys were terrified when a battered and bloody Harry Potter stumbled through the front door and down the hallway into the living room. He flung his arm around as well and splashed blood all over the place, then he let out a blood-curdling wail and collapsed to the floor.

“They... they're coming.” Harry croaked and pretended to faint.

The three Dursleys were out of the house barely a minute later and sped away in the family car as if the trunk was on fire and they were trying to get away from it. Six disillusioned figures stepped into the house and one of them carefully closed the front door, then they cancelled the spells.

“You know what to do.” Voldemort said and the five death eaters nodded and proceeded to wreck the place.

Harry stood up and held out his bleeding arm out to Voldemort. It was sealed together and Harry quickly wrapped it up. “The cupboard under the stairs is the best place for the scene of the crime.”

Voldemort nodded and the pair went there and Harry changed into wizard robes and tossed his damaged and bloody clothing into the space after adding some bloody handprints, then he kicked the door closed and made sure to break the lock.

They went upstairs to the locked room and Harry opened everything. They stepped inside and Voldemort realized they wouldn't have to make a mess. He gave Harry a pointed look.

“Yes, they thought this was doing me a huge favor that I didn't deserve.” Harry said and shoved the bed out of the way and moved the loose floorboard. The piece of cake he had left there was mouldy and there were several bugs on it.

To Voldemort's surprise, Harry actually took a bite out of it to prove that he had recently done so, then he placed it back in the space and left it uncovered.

That was quite clever of him. Voldemort thought and handed over the fake wand he had transfigured. Harry gave it a hateful glare before he grasped it tightly and snapped it in half. He shoved the pieces under his pillow and left the end of the handle sticking out. They left the room after that and Voldemort cast the locking spell at the door to lock all the locks.

“We need to leave. The owl notice will be here in a few minutes.” Harry said and they went down the stairs. The others had finished as well and they disillusioned themselves and Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak. They went out the back door and one of them cast the Dark Mark over the house before they used a portkey to leave.

It was just in time, because an owl with the notice about using magic near muggles arrived, as did Tonks when the crack of apparition sounded from the front lawn. Her pink hair changed to blue as she entered the home and she gasped at what she saw. She didn't try to go farther into the crime scene and stepped back outside.

That's when Tonks saw it. The Dark Mark. It took her a minute to decide what to do and she apparated back to Hogwarts to tell Albus Dumbledore about what she had found after he called her to check on the place when the protective wards had fallen. She would head to the Ministry of Magic after that to report the crime and hoped that Albus would want it to be, because she hated lying to her bosses.

The next thought in her head was about Harry Potter. He was supposed to come back to that house in the evening and there would be no way that he would be allowed to. If it was declared a crime scene, he wouldn't be allowed back there for a week or more as the Auror Department investigated.

Just as Tonks stepped through the gates of Hogwarts, she remembered Harry's words about his abusive relatives and the headmaster never doing anything. It made her stop and she frowned before she stepped back out and let the gates close once more. She turned around and walked at a fast pace to Hogsmeade and entered the Tree Broomsticks. She used the floo there and went to the Ministry.

Perhaps letting her boss know before she told Dumbledore, might earn her some respect from her boss and maybe from a messy-haired glasses-wearing teenager that had called her cute and had given her an interesting idea. She blushed at trying it, because it really did look cool when she had changed her pubic hair to bright pink.

*

The crime scene didn't cause an immediate panic and no one really expected it to, even knowing the blood was Harry's and was recent. They had catalogued all of the evidence and cordoned it off, so that no other wizards could enter. They didn't account for the muggles, though. The police swarmed in a few minutes after the temporary muggle notice-me-not charms dropped from around the house.

Using muggle science, they also determined that it was Harry Potter's blood, that the wrecked place was the sign of either a failed kidnapping or a successful murder attempt, because there was too much blood for a single teenager to have shed and still lived.

After interviewing the nosy neighbours, arrest warrants were issued for the Dursleys and a manhunt was quickly launched. They were tracked down at Vernon's sister's place and all of them were arrested. Marge's protests that even if they had killed the little mongrel, they should be thanking them for it.

The Bobbies exchanged surprised looks at the nodding heads of Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley, then decided as one that all of them were violently resisting arrest and took care of them before shipping them off to jail for processing.

When the Dursleys failed to show up at the train station to pick up Harry, the magical people in charge started to worry. When the train arrived and Harry's friends told the Aurors, that also included Tonks, that he wasn't on the train and they hadn't seen him since that morning, was when the real panic started to set in.

Harry Potter was missing and presumed dead.

Hermione burst out crying at that point and told the Aurors what Harry had asked her and what he said to Madam Pomfrey. That gained a lot of attention from them and she was sequestered and grilled about everything she knew. When she had told them everything she knew three times, they finally released her into the custody of her upset parents.

“I can confirm a lot of that and a lot more.” Tonks admitted and told them about the report she had filed.

When they looked for it back at the Ministry, it had surprisingly disappeared and her boss hadn't even seen it. They checked for the one Kingsley had filed and it was also missing. They followed the paper trail back to the records and filing department and found the older woman that did favors for Dumbledore. She had taken both reports and made them disappear to protect the Boy-Who-Lived.

They tried to arrest for interfering in an Auror investigation and she laughed in their faces before she explained she didn't break the law, then she dared them to go find any law that she had broken. Their case was done because they had filed the report stating so. She didn't interfere at all.

That had them stumped for about half an hour as other Aurors searched for the relevant law. When they came back with nothing, they had to let the innocent woman go. The problem was, there were no more leads to where Harry Potter had gone and none of them had any idea what to do now.

*

The next day, Narcissa Malfoy listened to her husband's recounting of what was going on at the Ministry and her girlish giggles were difficult to suppress. Harry Potter's lesson to the headmaster about not listening to him, had shaken up most of the wizarding world, and people were freaking out about his possible death.

The newspaper article would be in the paper that morning about Harry being a Triwizard champion that had won the event and he had been sent by Albus Dumbledore to his abusive relatives to be starved and beaten. That his family had been arrested by the muggle police for his murder, just made the whole thing so much better.

Voldemort couldn't have been more pleased. What he had thought was an amusing little distraction had blossomed into a nearly country-wide incident that had everyone talking about it and looking into what had happened. It seemed to have taken on a life of its own, too.

There was a knock on the door of the meeting room and one of the death eaters opened it to reveal Harry Potter.

“What do you want?” The man snapped at him.

“Avery!” Voldemort spat and the man flinched. “I've already warned you to be respectful of my guest. Do not make me regret not being more... forceful.”

“Y-yes, my lord.” Avery said and stepped back.

“You don't have to be merciful on my account, Voldemort.” Harry said and the others in the room hissed a little at him for speaking the name. He rolled his eyes at them. “Would you rather I call him Mister Named or Mister Who?”

The male death eaters looked a little confused and Narcissa gave him a look.

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who is too long to say every time.” Harry said and Narcissa's muffled laugh was pretty loud in the silence. “You see? The intelligent beauty gets it.”

Narcissa blushed a little before she stopped herself.

“Is there something you want, Harry?” Voldemort asked.

“Not really for me.” Harry said. “I just had another idea and thought I would share it with you.”

There were a few grumbles and Voldemort waited for them to die out. The thought of the impact of what the paper was going to have today had kept Voldemort's good mood going, so he saw nothing wrong with at least listening to whatever it was.

“I suppose it wouldn't hurt to hear it.” Voldemort said.

Harry ignored the surprised looks on the men's faces. “I was brooding over everything I went through this year and...”

“We don't need to hear your puberty troubles, Potter.” Someone grumbled.

Voldemort stood and pointed his wand at the man. “Crucio!”

“AHHH!” The man screamed and fell back from the table onto the floor and twitched and flailed.

“Sorry about the interruption.” Voldemort said and sat back down. “You were saying?”

Harry let a warm smile appear on his face. He hadn't had anyone defend him like that before and it felt kind of nice. “I was walking through a public area of the school when Malfoy tried to goad me into a fight again. I told him off like usual and tried to walk away...”

“Excuse me?” Narcissa interrupted and Voldemort gave her a pointed look. “I'm sorry, my lord. I just want him to clarify what he said.”

Voldemort let her sweat for a few seconds and nodded. “Could you explain that?”

Harry shrugged. “Malfoy has always verbally assaulted me whenever he sees me. Ever since first year, he keeps insulting my friends and my parents. When he finally realized who I was, he still insulted me and them, then he told me that he would pick my friends for me.”

Lucius let out a sigh and Narcissa looked embarrassed.

“When he offered me his hand to shake, I refused.” Harry said.

Nearly all of the people in the room made a surprised sound.

“You refused the offer of friendship.” Voldemort said, his voice flat.

“Considering I had just learned about magic and had no idea about anything except how he had spoken to me and my new friends, of course I refused.” Harry said.

“And you've never tried to reconcile with him?” Narcissa asked, her face sad.

“Why would I do that?” Harry asked, confused. “He challenged me to an Honor Duel in first year and never showed up. I knew then that he wasn't worth my time.”

Lucius slapped a hand over his face and Narcissa looked embarrassed.

“I honestly thought he couldn't embarrass us more than he already has.” Lucius admitted.

Harry was still confused. “Why? What's going on?”

Voldemort's happy mood faded. “When a pureblood son and sole heir to his house issues a challenge of honor, there are certain obligations that are to be met. When they aren't...”

“My lord, I apologize for airing a family problem during an official meeting.” Lucius said.

Voldemort waved a hand. “Just be sure to deal with it as soon as possible. Depending on how it turns out...” He paused and looked back at Harry. “You will need to meet with the Malfoys to deal with that mess.”

Harry was still confused, so he just nodded.

“You were describing your encounter with young Malfoy.” Voldemort prompted.

“Yeah, after I told him off, I tried to walk away. He sent a curse at my back like usual and I dodged...”

“I'm going to kill the idiot.” Lucius whispered.

“...and when I turned around to return fire, Professor Moody was there and shouted at him to stop and yelled at him for being dishonorable and casting at a man's back.”

Both Lucius and Narcissa turned to give Barty Crouch Jr. a respectful nod.

“This seems like a lot of nonsense.” Someone commented.

Voldemort didn't object this time and Harry gave him a raised eyebrow. Voldemort pointed his wand at the man and a brief scream and several twitches later, he nodded.

“The point of the story is that Moody then transfigured Malfoy into a ferret as a punishment.” Harry said. “I'm pretty sure he was still Malfoy and not an actual ferret, because he was freaking out and trying to get away.”

Everyone looked confused by the story, even Voldemort.

“The reason I told you that is because Malfoy was changed back afterwards by McGonagall and he was fine. He had been a transfigured animal and wasn't harmed by it, even though two different people performed the spells to do it.” Harry said and waited.

“I think you need to explain more than that.” Narcissa said. “Even I can't make sense of why you are telling us this, besides the obvious of informing us of Draco's behavior.”

“I have years of him being an idiot if you want to hear it all, so it's not that. It was just the example I needed to tell you and ask a very important question.” Harry said and looked at everyone. “Can you all do that? Transfigure someone into a ferret or some other kind of small animal?”

“Are you trying to come up with some elaborate muggle trap or something?” One of the death eaters asked.

“No, although it would let you keep many more of them in a much smaller space until you need them.” Harry said and they all looked thoughtful at the suggestion. “What I was getting at was that the Dementors at Azkaban can't see the prisoners and they will only stop witches and wizards from escaping.”

Narcissa gasped and shot to her feet, her eyes wide. “You can't possibly mean...”

“A single person or a pair of people, disguised as Auror guards, can walk right into the prison during a normal shift and transfigure the high security prisoners into animals. They can then walk out of their cells on their own and right out of the prison.” Harry said with satisfaction at the shocked looks on everyone's faces.

Before Harry realized what was happening, Narcissa strode across the room and grasped his head in a tight grip. She had a look of utter need and desire in her eyes that Harry had never seen before, then her lips were on his and her tongue was suddenly everywhere.

It was Harry's first kiss and he reacted like any teenager being kissed by an experienced woman. He let out an involuntary moan of pleasure and hugged her as he did his best to kiss her back with enthusiasm. It went on for nearly a full minute and no one said a word or tried to stop them.

Narcissa broke the kiss and her face was flushed red. She was also quite happy to see that Harry's face was just as red as hers was.

“I think that family honor thing might be settled already.” Harry said.

The man closest to them let out a chuckle, then the next guy laughed, and then the laughs flowed around the room. Even Lucius looked amused and it had been his wife that had just kissed someone else.

“I think any reward I might have come up with for such a brilliant idea for a completely undetectable prison break, would pale in comparison to Mrs. Malfoy's improvisation.” Voldemort commented.

A moment later, another round of laughter flowed around the room and both Lucius and Narcissa looked proud at the praise.

“I'm glad I could help.” Harry said and left the room before anyone could stop him. He had known making the suggestion based on Sirius' own escape would get him some attention. Not once had he suspected that any woman would react like Narcissa had, because it was almost unbelievable.

By the time Harry was back in the guest room and the door was locked, he had asked himself several times if he would have made the suggestion if he knew what the reaction would be. He surprised himself by admitting that yes, he would have. Narcissa was a beautiful and intelligent witch and she made sure Harry's first kiss was one that he would remember for the rest of his life.

*

It took a week before anyone at the prison realized that most of the high security cells at Azkaban prison were empty. The mass breakout of hardened criminals was reported in the newspaper and most of the public freaked out again. That it was only a week after Harry Potter's disappearance and unconfirmed death, made it all the more alarming.

The entire Auror Department was poised to mobilize if anything happened as they desperately searched for the escaped prisoners. It had been a huge black eye to their reputation to have so many prisoners slip through their fingers and no one had any clue how it had happened.

There had been no massive attack, no unexplained deaths of the guards, and the Dementors reported that nothing had happened. It was such a strange event that it had everyone in Britain nervous for weeks afterwards, because no one could explain it.

*

“Oooo, Haaaaarry!” Bellatrix called in her playfully insane tone of voice. How she had made it carry down two hallways without using her wand, had everyone stumped. “Baby Bella needs her feet rubbed with cream again!”

Harry barely held in his sigh and put down his Charms book and summer homework. It had been a few weeks since the breakout and the prisoners had been tucked into individual rooms in Malfoy Manor to let them recover. He never thought he would be coerced into helping Narcissa take care of them, though.

Then again, the second kiss from Narcissa to satisfy the family's honor had been just as memorable as the first. Because of that, and accepting the hand of friendship that Lucius offered afterwards, he was considered a good friend of the family.

As a friend, Harry had a duty to help them with their problems, like taking care of their unexpected guests that his idea had foisted upon them. He would never know that he was also being treated to recover from his abusive muggle relatives by the house elves adding the potions to his food.

Harry walked to Bellatrix's room and knocked on the door. That earned him a bark of laughter and he did sigh this time. He hadn't knocked the first time she had called out and he had seen a whole lot more of a woman's naked body than he had ever seen before. There had been a lot of space between her thighs as well and he had seen... everything.

His nearly instant hard-on from seeing her thin bony arse bent over like that had been embarrassing, as had the look of amusement on Bellatrix's face when she turned around and saw he had that reaction. She had relentlessly teased him about it since then as he cared for her needs. Well, what she deemed were her needs. He doubted she needed to be fed fruit slices by hand during lunch every day.

Harry opened the door and saw she was on the bed and had her feet propped up on a pillow. His eyes noticed that her sleepwear was suspiciously draped over her and wasn't secured, which meant she intended to tease him with glimpses to try and get him to react again. The problem was, he almost always did react and he secretly liked that she tried.

Despite spending almost fourteen years in prison, Bellatrix was still a beautiful woman, just like her sister. Thin and bony? Yes. Evil beyond evil? No doubt. Insane? Definitely. But... and this was a huge but... she could be so goddamn sexy when she shamelessly pouted and pretended she desperately needed your help and then she needled you into doing everything that she wanted.

“Harrrry. My toesies need your fingers to help them.” Bellatrix said and wiggled her toes at him.

Harry tried to not look at the expanse of calf she had left exposed as he walked by her bed. He knew he had failed when he heard her soft cackle and he entered the bathroom and retrieved the bruise balm Severus Snape had made for all the prisoners. Over a decade on cold stone was not a good thing for bare feet, apparently.

“Make sure you warm it up properly before applying it.” Bellatrix ordered with a knowing smile.

Harry didn't bother trying to weasel out of it as he opened the jar and knelt at the end of the bed. He scooped out a small amount of the cream that actually was cold to the touch and he rubbed it over his hands and coated his fingers with it. He then cupped them to his mouth and softly blew warm air on them.

The look of anticipation on Bellatrix's face made Harry blush a little, then he gently took one of her feet into his hands and started to massage it. The almost indecent moan that came out of her mouth when his fingers slipped between her toes, gave Harry a hard-on. His eyes went to her legs when she moved and her sleepwear slipped just enough to give him a nice long glimpse of her inner thigh.

“Yessss, my little dark lord.” Bellatrix whispered and moaned. “Just like that.”

“I'm not evil.” Harry said, although he wasn't so much protesting as stating a fact.

Bellatrix cackled softly. “Harrrry, you don't have to be evil to be dark. It's just more fun that way.”

Harry looked surprised for a few seconds and then shrugged, since he couldn't disagree with her. The death eaters did seem to have a lot of fun doing their raiding and pillaging thing. He would never join them or help, though. More cream was applied to his hands and he warmed it up, just how Bellatrix liked it, and Harry switched to her other foot.

*

“I hereby start this meeting of the reformed Order of the Phoenix.” Albus Dumbledore said as he sat at the table in the Great Hall that was used during holidays when there were not many people in the castle. “We have a massive problem and I need all of you to help.”

“This isn't about the Potter brat again, is it?” Severus asked.

Albus tried to not glare at the man. “Severus, you know it is imperative to keep Harry safe. I shouldn't have to remind you of how important he is.”

Severus held in his sigh at the needless reminder about the prophecy and he held his tongue, because he wasn't going to be successful in stopping them from trying to search for the boy. His master was not going to be happy about that.

Voldemort had been very specific in his orders to not reveal that he had Harry Potter and would never give Snape permission to hint that the Dark Lord had returned. The dark faction could do many more things like recruiting behind the scenes than they could do openly, because they knew he was back and no one else did.

Albus gave the new Order of the Phoenix members an inspiring speech that rose their spirits, urged them on to do his bidding, and to search diligently for their missing student. Not surprisingly, no one asked why it was so important to find the boy, even with the story of his death in the paper and his relatives being thrown in jail for the crime.

“We will meet again in a week to share our progress.” Albus said and smiled magnanimously. “Thank you all for help. If any of you find anything urgent, do not hesitate to contact either myself or Minerva with it and we will let everyone else know.”

The meeting broke up after that and more than half of them left to get to the task and the rest stayed for a spot of tea and sandwiches. Severus made an excuse about brewing a potion, which always worked because he always was, and he left the Great Hall to return to his office. He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a liquor bottle and a glass, then ignored the glass and drank directly from the bottle.

“Merlin's balls, we're fucked.” Severus said and took another drink.

*

Harry had finally finished all of his summer homework and had stupidly chosen to take a walk outside. The sky practically opened up when he was halfway across the manor's grounds and chilly rain poured down. He had just reached a small grove of shaded trees that gave him a reprieve from the rain when he heard something.

“C-c-c-coollllld.” A voice hissed from nearby.

“Hello? Is someone there?” Harry hissed back.

“Another speaker! Help me!” The voice said, urgently.

“Where?” Harry asked and started walking around.

“Here! To the left... almost... under the brush.”

Harry ducked down and eased the brush out of the way and saw a huge snake. It was in a depression in the ground that was filling with water. In fact, everywhere was filling with water in the downpour.

“I doubt I can carry such a large and magnificent snake very far.” Harry hissed in warning.

“I just need warmth until the rain passes. I can worry about moving after that!”

“Then give me a moment to brace for you.” Harry hissed and stepped back to the closest tree and sat down. “All right, I'm ready.”

“Thank you.” The snake said and slithered out of the brush and the water... and slithered... and slithered some more. It was much bigger than Harry had suspected and he grunted as the majority of the weight was suddenly on his lap and his chest was wrapped up tightly as if he was going to be crushed and eaten.

Surprisingly, Harry didn't feel threatened in the least. “I'm sorry I don't know the warming charm.”

“It is all right, Speaker. Your warmth is sufficient.”

“My name is Harry.” Harry hissed and spoke normally, so the snake would hear his name in English.

“I am Nagini.” The snake replied.

“You have a name?” Harry asked, surprised. “You're the first snake I've met with one.”

“What other snakes have you met?” Nagini asked.

“I set a Burmese Python free at the zoo about five years ago. He was pretty grateful.” Harry said. “I didn't talk to the snakes in the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley. They were too noisy to understand.”

“The young are too impatient. You need to meet a mature snake to understand you.” Nagini said.

Harry felt like this was quite wise and applicable to people as well, especially after his recent experiences with Narcissa and Bellatrix. He still couldn't figure out how they had convinced him that Narcissa also needed her feet treated. His protest had died on his lips when she had slid her robes apart and revealed more thigh than he thought a woman could safely show.

“I haven't seen you around the manor before and I've been here for a month.” Harry said instead of voicing his fairly naughty thoughts about wanting to see what Narcissa had at the top of her thighs.

“My master leaves me to my own devices until he needs me.” Nagini said.

Harry knew who she was talking about right way. There was only one person besides him that could speak to snakes in all of Britain. “I'm not going to ask you what he needs you for.” He said and ran his hands over the snake's skin. “With you this big, I can accurately guess it's for disposal.”

“I didn't have to eat for six months after the last one.” Nagini admitted. “I also couldn't move for the first two.”

Harry chuckled when he imagined Dudley on the floor and flailing his arms because his belly was too big for him to move. “I'm glad I've never had that problem. I could barely get enough food to eat while growing up, let alone enough to force me to stay still for so long.”

“I have been there as well, Harry. Living grub to grub, with a rare tasty mouse, and trying to survive with my wits alone.”

Harry's hands stroked her skin, almost lovingly. “Isn't that funny? I thought it was odd when the Sorting Hat told me it wanted to put me in Slytherin and I just learned it was because I behaved more like a snake than a human. I can even talk to them.” He laughed. “I can only imagine what everyone would have said if the Boy-Who-Lived had been sorted into the same House as the dark lord he defeated as a baby.”

“That is because humans are stupid and blame easily. If you were all snakes, it would be so much simpler.”

Harry chuckled. “And a lot more dangerous. I fought a 60 foot long basilisk and lived. I wouldn't want to fight like that every day of my life.”

“You prefer your life to be boring?” Nagini asked and her tongue slicked out. “The rain should end in a few minutes.”

“Is that more snake wisdom?” Harry asked and his hand reached up to stroke Nagini's head.

“No, the water tastes different.” Nagini responded and closed her eyes. “I see why the females like you stroking them. You have powerful fingers.”

Harry's face flushed red with a blush, because he couldn't stop his mind from imagining his fingers stroking a particular part on those females and wondering what it felt like.

“There is no need to push. I will move when asked.” Nagini said and started to shift her weight on his lap.

Harry's blush was epic, because Nagini had mistaken his growing erection as being pushed away. “Um... I... I'm not sure how to explain...” He looked down at his crotch and back at the snake's face, only to be surprised to see a kind of smug look. “Oh, you cheeky little snake!”

Nagini hissed a laugh and quickly unwrapped from around his chest. The rain slowed down and came to a stop just as she moved off of him. Her tail lifted up and flicked back to tap Harry twice on the cheek and she kept laughing hisses while she slithered back towards the manor.

Harry stood up and didn't bother trying to wipe off his damp behind. “Of course a snake would give me grief for being horny. I'm Harry Potter, after all.” He said and shook his head and walked after the snake.

When Harry was out of sight, Voldemort dropped his disillusionment and leaned against the tree. He had rushed out when the rain started to find Nagini to bring her back inside, and stumbled across Harry already rescuing her. Technically, anyway. It was their conversation and several revelations it contained that had surprised him. The boy was both a Parselmouth and he was supposed to be in Slytherin.

The more I learn about him, the more interesting he becomes. Voldemort thought and disillusioned himself once more. He couldn't be seen stalking the boy to keep an eye on him.

Besides, he had Bellatrix for that. That she performed the task with enthusiasm was all a part of the plan. The boy was almost desperate to have someone that appreciated him and Bellatrix enjoyed having someone to tend to her every whim. It was a win-win situation for them. How she had roped Narcissa into it as well was immaterial.

Whatever it was, it had worked. Harry was being pulled deeper and deeper into the dark and he apparently wasn't fighting against it like everyone thought he would. Even Lucius was surprised at how quickly Harry had fit into the flow of the death eater meetings and no one objected to him or his ideas.

Voldemort dropped the disillusionment when he entered the combined meeting and throne room for the next meeting. He was quite early and he hissed a greeting to Nagini and cast a warming charm on her. She hissed back that her new pet Harry needed to learn that spell and Voldemort chuckled.

“I'll have Narcissa teach it to him tomorrow.” Voldemort promised and sat on his throne. A meal popped up onto the table in front of him and he started eating.

The time of the meeting arrived and the room almost instantly filled up with his death eaters. Promptness was always appreciated and Voldemort nodded slightly. Just before he opened his mouth to start the meeting, there was a knock on the door.

The closest man to the door stood up and opened it. “You always wait to knock, don't you?”

Harry smiled at the man and didn't say anything.

The man chuckled and sat back down. “My lord, we have a visitor.”

The others made similar amused sounds, because Harry had pretty much done it for every meeting so far to share his ideas.

“And what, pray tell, will you be surprising us with this time?” Voldemort asked.

Harry didn't say anything and pointed right at Barty Crouch Jr. and then he pointed at Lucius Malfoy. No one said anything as they thought about it, then Narcissa gasped and jumped to her feet when she understood.

“You can't seriously mean...”

“Barty was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts has ever had.” Harry praised the man and Barty preened a bit. “He successfully used polyjuice to impersonate an experienced retired Auror for ten months in a school full of wizards and witches, pulled off the biggest prank on the triwizard judges and the public, then he escaped before getting caught.”

“I never did thank you for tipping me off.” Barty said. “I would have been kissed for sure.”

Harry nodded, because it seemed to be Fudge's default move when deal with criminals. “Mister Malfoy is Minister Fudge's sounding board and Fudge accepts bribes all the time to listen to his suggestions. I was just wondering why you needed to waste so much of your money when you have an expert infiltrator that can mimic overweight people in his sleep that can do the same tasks for free.”

The look of utter desire and need was back on Narcissa's face and she was suddenly across the room and snogged the hell out of Harry.

“I am quite grateful he only offers ideas like this in public.” Lucius said and most of them laughed.

Narcissa broke the kiss and was satisfied at the blissful look on Harry's face. “Thank you, Harry. If there is one thing we all appreciate beyond a brilliant plan, it's saving thousands of galleons for something more important than lining an idiot's pockets.”

“That was my second idea.” Harry said, intentionally angling for another kiss. “When Barty gets all the information he needs from Fudge to impersonate him, and because Fudge is a complete moron, you can have Fudge's house elf get all of that bribe money back. It's not like he's going to need it after you kill him.”

Deathly silence filled the room for about five seconds before there was a hungry growl sound and Harry's mouth became occupied for quite some time. He was also sure his butt had been grabbed a few times, too. When he opened his eyes and saw that it was Bellatrix in his arms and not Narcissa, he mentally shrugged and kept kissing her back.

“Bella!” Narcissa gasped. “How did you get in here? Go back to bed!”

Bellatrix broke the kiss with a loud smack sound. “Can't talk. Busy corrupting the innocent.” She told her sister and dove right back into the kiss. Harry didn't object in the least.

Everyone turned to give questioning looks to her husband, Rodolphus.

“What are you looking at me for? We all know he's too goody-goody to have sex with another man's wife. He could have bedded Narcissa weeks ago for the family honor debt and he accepted two kisses instead.” Rodolphus said and a lot of them nodded. “If I had a daughter near his age, I would trust him with her.”

It was the highest praise that a pureblood man could give to another man and they all respected that.

“Despite how entertain this is, we should start the meeting.” Voldemort said and they did just that.

No one paid any attention to the older woman licking the inside of Harry's throat and the death eaters worked out the details of Harry's audacious plan that was both simple and complicated at the same time. It would take some work and a lot more planning to pull it off; but, it was doable. Fudge would be replaced with an imposter and no one would ever know.

*

“Baby Bella's toesies are going to miss you.” Bellatrix said in her playfully insane tone of voice.

Harry tried to hide the thoughts from his face that he was going to miss them, too. He failed.

Bellatrix made a cooing sound and pulled him down to her height and gave him several quick kisses. “Make sure to use school owls if you send us anything. Yours is too noticeable.”

Harry smiled, because he felt like she really was going to miss him. “The same goes for everyone here. Draco's eagle owl is just as distinctive.”

“We will buy another smaller owl anonymously and only use it for you.” Narcissa agreed.

Harry nodded. “Thank you for picking up my school things for me.”

“It was my pleasure, especially because you let me replace your entire wardrobe.” Narcissa said and she stepped forward and gave him a chaste kiss. “Make sure you play nice with my little dragon or I will not be happy.”

Draco snorted from across the floo room.

“I'm sure she meant that we can't openly curse at each other in public. Slytherin rules.” Harry said and he nodded. “Don't forget that you get to be the first to see everyone's faces when we arrive together.”

“I reserve the right for first taunt on the weasel.” Draco said right away, already jockeying for position.

Harry thought about it and smiled. “As long as you leave Hermione alone for the first week, I'll help you come up with some good ones.”

Draco, Narcissa, and Bellatrix looked surprised.

“She would rather stay at the deathtrap than seek safety with me, even after everything we've been through. A week off is all she deserves.” Harry said.

“If you think it's a deathtrap, why are you going back?” Draco asked.

“It would take too long to transfer to another school to take my OWLs and it would tip them off that I wasn't coming back. Staying this year gets me my OWLs with little fuss and then I can leave.” Harry answered.

“Not the country, surely?” Narcissa asked, a little concerned.

“I'm only fifteen, so no. Unless I had an adult go with me.” Harry said and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Dammit, Potter! Stop flirting with my mother!” Draco almost shouted.

Bellatrix cackled, Narcissa let out a soft laugh, and Harry chuckled.

“Too easy.” Harry whispered and kissed Narcissa's cheek and then Bellatrix's cheek. “Thank you for putting up with me all summer. You don't know...” You can't know! “...what it meant to me.”

Bellatrix and Narcissa shared a knowing look before they both kissed his cheeks.

“Make sure you practice that charm I taught you. I don't want to hear about any pregnant witches before you're seventeen.” Bellatrix ordered him.

Harry couldn't have stopped his embarrassed blush if he tried.

“Too easy.” Bellatrix said and gave him another kiss.

“Lucius and I will pick the both of you up at Christmas. Discreetly of course.” Narcissa said. “Now off with you. The platform awaits.”

“Goodbye, mother.” Draco said and kissed his mother's other cheek. “Aunt Bellatrix.”

“Dragon.” Bellatrix nodded.

Draco stepped into the fireplace and tossed down a pinch of floo powder. “Kings Cross Station.”

The green flames flared and engulfed the blond boy before he disappeared.

“Please don't give him a hard time.” Narcissa said in a safe voice. “He is trying to adapt.”

Harry gave her a searching look. “You know he can't do it, don't you?”

“I don't know what you mean.” Narcissa lied.

Harry lifted his eyes from her face to look at the empty doorway. “Some people don't have what it takes to do what is necessary when the time comes. They can pretend and they can play; but, seals don't last long among the sharks.”

“Only other sharks do.” Bellatrix said.

Harry looked down at her face and smiled. “I've killed, I've maimed, and I've faced death every year at Hogwarts. The thing is, I didn't realize something important until I stayed here this summer.”

Bellatrix looked into his eyes. “What is it?”

“After everything that's happened to me and everything I've been through, my opinion of who I used to be and who I am, had to change. I tried to fight against it and it's impossible, so I decided to accept it instead.”

Narcissa's eyes widened slightly when she guessed what it was and watched Harry pluck up a pinch of floo powder before he stepped into the fireplace. No! Don't say it!

Harry gave them Gilderoy Lockhart's award-winning smile. “I'm the Boy-Who-Lived.”

The green flames flared and Harry Potter disappeared.

*

Draco internally laughed at the expressions on the faces of everyone in the Fifth Year Slytherin compartment. Harry had been right. It had been worth having him around this summer in order to be the first to witness the reactions. It had been over an hour and most of them were still staring at Harry as if he was an illusion and they couldn't believe that he was really there.

The mechanical watch on Harry's wrist made a soft chime sound. “Five minutes.” He said and stood. “Does anyone else want to see this?”

“Does a Hippogriff shit in the woods?” Gregory Goyle asked and stood, too.

All of his friends stared at him in shock and Draco barked a laugh before he could stop himself.

Harry smiled at him, patted his shoulder, and they left the compartment. Draco almost dove out of the compartment after them, because he wanted to see it, too. Pansy Parkinson followed him and Vincent Crabbe did as well. Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and Millicent Bulstrode exchanged looks, shrugged, and went with them to stand just outside their train car on the platform.

The group was large enough that they provided a natural cover for Harry, even with Blaise Zabini left on the train. When there was only a couple of minutes left before the train was set to leave, a very large group of people entered through the muggle entrance looking haggard and rushed.

Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley, the two Aurors that Harry had talked to previously named Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks, the real Mad Eye Moody, Hermione Granger and her parents, and Remus Lupin had relieved looks on their faces... until the group covering Harry from sight split apart to reveal him and they all looked shocked to see him... just as the train's whistle blew.

“Let's go back inside.” Harry said and he and the Slytherins stepped back onto the train just before the doors shut and the train pulled out of the station. They entered their compartment again and sat down.

“Did you see the astonished looks on their faces?” Pansy asked, excitedly. “It was amazing!”

“You intentionally made them miss the train.” Daphne said, almost in praise.

“I used their normal behavior against them.” Harry said and the other students gave him interesting looks. “I figured after searching endlessly for me all summer, the surprise of me showing up here for school would be enough to stop them from getting across the platform in time to both board the train and carry their luggage.”

“That's Slytherin quality scheming.” Blaise said, clearly impressed.

Harry thought about not saying anything, then smiled Gilderoy's award-winning smile. “Well, the sorting hat wanted to put me in Slytherin and said I could find my way to greatness there.”

It was suddenly so quiet that if someone had dropped a pin on the floor, it would have sounded like thunder.

“Unfortunately, I had already been poisoned into thinking 'Slytherin bad, Griffindor good' by Hagrid and Ron.” Harry told them. He didn't miss the brief grateful look on Draco's face for not telling them of his part in all of that. “I don't think there's such a thing as a resorting, is there?”

Two of the girls sucked in sharp breaths and the guys just gave him blank stares.

“It's not really a resorting.” Daphne said when she recovered enough to speak without yelling. “The school by-laws state that you can be expunged from your House with a two-thirds majority and the approval of at least two of the six prefects. Once you're out, you can ask to be sorted into another House, assuming they don't reject you for the same reasons you were kicked out of your old one.”

Harry leaned forward and looked right into her eyes. His own were almost glowing, they were so intense. “Are you telling me that I could have been out of Griffindor at least twice in the last four years and NO ONE told me about it?”

“Harry.” Draco said and he didn't flinch when that gaze turned to him. “We all thought you knew.”

Harry sighed and sat back. “How would I know about school by-laws or anything else? I even didn't know I was a wizard until Hagrid knocked down the lighthouse shack's door after midnight on my birthday in 1991.”

Again, the silence was so loud that it was deafening.

“I guess it doesn't matter now. They won't kick out the triwizard tournament winner.” Harry said.

“You haven't read any of the newspapers all summer, have you?” Daphne said.

Harry didn't bother trying to glare at her. “Can I have a summary, please?”

“You're a running joke for both the Ministry and the Daily Prophet. We were staring at you earlier because you had the guts to show your face in public.” Daphne said and Pansy nodded. “Being willingly beaten by muggles and almost killed by them has made you into the most pathetic and worst example of a wizard to ever exist.”

Harry actually did glare at her for a second before he shook his head. “I should have known that my personal life would be twisted into a sensational story that would hurt my reputation more than being a lying cheater during the tournament did.”

None of them wanted to comment on that. They assumed their opinions wouldn't matter to him, and to the old Harry Potter, they would have been right. However, the Boy-Who-Lived wanted, no needed, people's reassurances and praises. When he didn't get it, Harry's mind and heart hardened. He knew then that he wouldn't get help from the snakes.

“I guess there's no point in staying here.” Harry said and was at the door to the compartment barely a breath later and opened it. “Thank you for the hospitality, Heir Malfoy. I will take my leave.”

“Harry, wait!” Draco gasped as the compartment door shut. “Daphne! Why did you tell him that?”

“He needed to know the truth.” Daphne said.

“You mean that the Slytherins weren't going to help him?” Draco spat at her.

“That's not what I said!” Daphne spat back.

“You literally told him you thought he was a pathetic wizard! To his face!” Draco shouted and she recoiled. “The Dark Lord worked hard all Merlin-be-damned summer to keep Potter turned away from the light and convinced him that he was needed! And you... you ENDED that with one sentence! Potter KNOWS we can't be there for him, thanks to you!”

The color drained from Daphne's face. “I didn't... I swear... I thought...”

“Save your excuses for your father when he recovers from the Dark Lord's wrath.” Draco said as he pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket. “I need to let mother know the plans for this year are scrapped. We can't keep an eye on him and he's going to be on his own.”

“Draco, please don't.” Daphne whispered and grabbed his hand. “I can fix this. I know I can.”

Draco gave her a scathing look. “If you can get to Potter before he finds someone else to latch onto, I might not send this letter.”

Daphne jumped to her feet and ran from the compartment in a desperate search for Harry Potter.

“She's not going to succeed, is she?” Pansy asked as Crabbe shut the door.

“No, she burned that bridge with fiendfire. Even if she catches him, there's nothing she can say to convince him she doesn't believe he really is a pathetic wizard.” Draco said and wrote out his letter. “All we can do is hope whomever he finds doesn't turn him against us again.” He said and sealed the parchment closed.

“What if they do?” Millicent asked.

“Then we've already lost and it doesn't matter.” Draco said and stared at the sealed letter. “I'd be happy if he stayed out of it altogether, actually.”

“Why?” Pansy asked. “You've spent the last four years making his life hell.”

Draco made several odd faces and then sighed. “That was all my fault. I said things he didn't like when we met and then he rejected my formal offer of friendship. I took it as a family insult and retaliated as much as possible. I took it too far and... and now it doesn't matter.”

“I'm sure if you explain...” Pansy started to say.

“One mistake was acceptable. A second was a matter of family honor. A third?” Draco shook his head. “I doubt Harry will look at another Slytherin for the rest of the year, now that he knows what everyone thinks of him. He's never going to talk to anyone, especially not Daphne or another Slytherin.”

Blaise gave him a hopeful look. “We could declare him an unofficial...”

“No, we can't.” Draco interrupted him. “It's too late for that. Daphne just couldn't keep her mouth shut for a few more hours for him to be brought to the first House discussion. Without that...”

“Are we allowed to use what he told us?” Pansy asked. “If we could spread it around, it might help.”

Draco shook his head again. “All you'll do is add to the rumors and it won't stop them. I think this is the first time that the truth is much worse than the rumors.”

“What do we do?” Blaise asked.

“The only thing as can do to save the reputation of our House.” Draco said and sighed again. “We claim deniability. If anyone asks, Harry Potter was never in this compartment.”

*

Harry Potter hadn't gone anywhere and had only put on his invisibility cloak. He had heard everything the Slytherins said and thought about telling them that he wasn't that fickle or that he wasn't going to run to anyone that showed him any kind of welcome. He was the Boy-Who-Lived and he didn't run from his problems. He ran towards them.

That gave him an idea and he carefully made his way up the train. Harry stopped and looked into a compartment that had Ron's little sister in it. She was snogging Micheal Corner and it kind of looked... amateurish. Harry laughed under his breath at that thought, because his snogging sessions were so far beyond what Ginny was doing.

“Excuse me.” A wispy voice said from beside him. “I need to enter there.”

“Hmm?” Harry turned and looked at the short blonde girl. “I'm sorry I'm in the way. I was... I... uh.” He didn't know what to say, because he didn't want to explain that he was daydreaming about having a convicted death eater sucking on his tongue.

The girl smiled. “Your wrackspurts are in a tizzy. Are you confused about something?”

“Yes! I can't figure out how to not sound creepy if I explain what I was doing, then I realized if I explain, it's both creepy and kind of illegal.” Harry told her. “Not the act itself, though. Just who it was with, probably where it happened, and maybe when, since I was supposedly dead and in hiding at the time.”

The girl's smile turned dreamy. “They do sound like good reasons for such a huge infestation. Most people can't figure out what's going on. Good for you.”

Harry couldn't stop his laugh at her reaction. “You don't mind that I might be a dark wizard?”

The girl shrugged. “Just because you're dark, that doesn't make you evil.”

“Exactly!” Harry said and smiled at her. “I'm glad I finally met someone that actually understands.”

“Technically, we haven't met yet. I'm visible and you are a floating voice in a train hallway.” The girl said and her dreamy smile returned.

“Huh?” Harry said eloquently, then he realized he was wearing his invisibility cloak. He pulled the cloak off and the girl's eyes widened almost to owl proportions. “I'm Harry Potter. And you are?” He asked and held a hand out to her.

The girl very, very slowly blinked exactly once, then she took his hand. “Luna Lovegood.”

“It's nice to meet you, Luna.” Harry said and folded up his cloak to tuck it into his pocket. “Are you sure you want to go in there? Ginny is having a difficult time flossing Micheal Corner's teeth with her tongue.”

“I thought I could give them a chance to breathe independently for a few minutes.” Luna said and glanced inside the compartment. “I suppose there's no rush. They seem okay.”

Harry chuckled and motioned up towards the front of the train. “Did you happen to pass an empty compartment on the way here? We could go there instead.”

Luna looked up into his eyes and her eyes were still huge. “We?”

Harry nodded. “I had an idea earlier to track down someone like Susan Bones because she has a relative at the Ministry. At least, that's what the rumors said. I don't know for sure.” He said and was only slightly surprised when Luna took his hand to start walking. “It can wait until later.”

“Susan's aunt is an Auror.” Luna said and she tried to not smile at holding hands with a boy. It made her feel nervous, though. “What do you need her for?”

“I want to charge the Daily Prophet for slander and maybe put my own story out there.” Harry answered and opened the next train car's door.

“You won't be successful with that. The Ministry dictates what the newspaper writes and they will never make themselves look bad.” Luna informed him. “By the way, lies spoken out loud are called slander. In print it's called libel.”

Harry chuckled and felt Luna's fingers shift a little as if they were slipping, so he turned his hand just enough to catch hers as his fingers slipped between her fingers. It was a move Bellatrix loved when he did it with her toes and it made Luna stumble in surprise and she stared down at their firmly clasped hands.

“If the Ministry runs it, I guess that means I can't tell my story, either.” Harry said.

Luna's hand tightened and Harry brought them to a stop. “Harry...”

“What is it?” Harry asked and turned to face her.

“My father is the publisher of a small magazine called The Quibbler and...” Luna started to say when the next train car's door opened up and a nearly breathless Daphne Greengrass stepped inside. She had a happy look on her face for a moment, then she saw Harry intimately holding hands with the Lovegood girl and her face changed to a deep loss.

Without saying a word to them, a dejected Daphne walked around them and made her way to the next car and back down to the Fifth Year Slytherin compartment.

“I wonder who choked her Garglesmurf?” Luna asked, rhetorically.

Harry laughed and coughed at the same time, which choked him up and made it hard to breathe.

“We should sit down.” Luna suggested.

Harry nodded as he fought to hold back the budding tears in his eyes. They entered a compartment that had two students in it, whom looked shocked when they saw Harry. The two eleven year old first years hopped up and ran out as soon as Harry and Luna sat down.

“Are you all right?” Luna asked and reluctantly let his hand go to rub his back.

“F-f-fine.” Harry croaked, because his laughter was still stuck in his throat. He had tried to laugh so hard that it choked. It hadn't happened before, because Harry hadn't heard anything so hilarious before.

The compartment door opened and the old lady that pushed the cart of treats was there. “Anything from the cart, dears?”

Harry dug out a couple of galleons from his pocket. “Drink.”

“Good idea, Harry.” Luna said and grabbed both galleons. “Two pumpkin juice, two pumpkin pasties, a chocolate frog, and two licorice wands. One black and one red, please.”

The cart lady filled her order and accepted the money.

“Thank you. You can keep the change.” Luna said.

“Enjoy, dear.” The cart lady smiled warmly at her and closed the compartment door.

Luna handed Harry one of the bottles of juice and rubbed his back as he slowly sipped it. “How are you, now that you don't have to lie?”

Harry lightly coughed. “Sore.” He said and took another sip. He spent a minute thinking about what Luna said and how to explain what happened, then he realized something. She had distracted him from how Daphne had treated him and had cost him Slytherin's support.

“Here. Suck on this.” Luna said and held up the black licorice wand. “Like this.”

Harry stared as Luna put the red licorice wand into her mouth and proceeded to suck on it. It was... it was... he didn't know how to describe it. He had thought Bellatrix teasing him had been sexy. What Luna was doing and making him feel was... he really liked it.

“You are amazing.” Harry whispered in appreciation.

Luna stopped sucking as she blushed a little, then she slid the black licorice wand into Harry's open mouth. Harry wasn't going to balk at it, not after Luna had so easily given him an erection. So, he pretended it was an ice cream and swirled his tongue around the tip a few times and took small light sucks on it.

Harry knew his reverse teasing had worked, because Luna blushed deeply and started to match him. By the time they had both worn away their licorice wands down to the halfway point, Harry's throat was fine. They stared at each other and ate the rest of the licorice in small bites, consumed the two pumpkin pasties, and shared the second pumpkin juice.

“Do I need to ask what the chocolate frog is for?” Harry asked when the other food was gone.

“It's a bribe.” Luna said and gathered up the trash and slipped it into the pockets of her robes.

Harry glanced at her bulging pockets and back at her face. “You clean up after yourself, too?”

“I have to.” Luna said and then fell silent.

Harry recognized that look, so he sat back on the seat and put an arm around her shoulders. Luna let out a sigh that was barely above a breath and leaned against him. They didn't saying anything else and stayed silent as they rode the train the rest of the way to Hogwarts.

Because they were both dressed reasonably well, when they were required to don their robes to arrive at Hogsmeade in a presentable fashion, they both threw on the outer robes necessary with their School House colors. Harry's was slightly modified, though. When the train came to a stop, Luna held onto his hand and didn't let him leave for two minutes.

“It should be less crowded now.” Luna said and kept hold of his hand and opened the compartment door. The students really were a lot less packed together, so they weren't jostled or delayed as they left the train. As soon as they stepped off, Luna's hand dug out the chocolate frog and she pretty much shoved it into the face of the prefect that had been standing right there at the doorway.

“Thanks!” Ron said and quickly tore it open and had shoved the chocolate into his mouth before the spell to make it jump had activated. “I moh Mermin!”

Harry didn't get the chance to laugh or ask how Ron had arrived there after he had been left behind in London, because Harry had been dragged to the closest carriage and he and Luna climbed inside. He was surprised to see two startled Hufflepuff fourth year girls as they stared at him and Luna.

“Don't mind us. We thought we could use you as cover.” Luna said to them and then gave Harry a dreamy smile. “Are you sure you want to do it? Once you choose this path, there's no going back.”

Harry knew what she was talking about and nodded.

“I'll be in the library in the morning an hour before breakfast.” Luna said and leaned against him. “The sooner we get your version of the story out, the sooner people can argue if you really are an attention-seeking glory-hound or an abused attention-seeking reluctant hero.”

Harry almost laughed and then caught what she said. “Wait. My version?”

“Yes, Harry. People are not going to believe it's the truth, even if it is. Because, in the end, it doesn't matter if it's the truth or not. All that matters is if everyone will think it's the truth.”

Harry gave Luna a surprised look for a moment, then he actually did laugh. Luna leaned against him and Harry put his arm around her shoulders again. He wasn't sure why he was so comfortable doing that with a girl he had just met, until he remembered what he had been doing for most of the summer.

Maybe I learned more than I thought I did about what a girl would like? Harry asked himself.

The carriage stopped and Harry let Luna go to hop out and reached back for her hand. Luna took it like a proper lady and stepped down from the carriage with poise. Harry smiled at her with his award-winning smile and turned back to the carriage and held his hand out. Both girls shook their heads, so he shrugged mentally and took Luna's hand to go inside the castle.

Most of the students were already there and it was fairy noisy as everyone talked to their friends. When a few of the students saw Harry, the noise seemingly dropped to whispers and mumbles all around the Great Hall.

“Good luck.” Luna said and stepped on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek.

“Thanks, Luna. See you in the morning for the interview.” Harry said and let her hand go.

Luna smiled and half-hopped and half-skipped her way over to a spot at the Ravenclaw table.

Harry was tempted to copy her, just to surprise everyone, and chose not to. His new robes would be sufficient to get him all of the attention he could ever want. He walked over to the fifth year spot at the Griffindor table and sat on the side to give most of the school a view of his back. That got most of them talking loudly again when they saw what was there on his robes.

“Are you going to save spots for Ron and Hermione?” Neville asked.

“Why?” Harry asked back.

“They're you friends.” Neville said back.

“No, Ron gave that up last year by being a jealous berk and not apologizing. It was easier to ignore what he did than it was to tell him to shove off like I should have, since I didn't have any other friends besides Hermione since first year.” Harry said.

There were a lot of guilty faces around him, especially Neville's. None of them had tried to be friends with Harry.

“When I asked Hermione if I asked her to run away with me, she chose school over me, so I know she's not really my friend or wanted to be more than that. It's just easier for her to keep me around instead of being alone.” Harry said and chuckled. “We were more alike than I thought, I guess. I kept Ron around for the same reason.”

“And you're not doing that now?” Lavender Brown asked.

Harry shook his head. “I had an... interesting summer. It made me think things over and I realized something.”

“What's that?” Lavender asked, a little eager about more new gossip. Hermione rejecting Harry after he asked her out, would be all over the school by the morning.

Harry stood and turned around to show the Griffindors his robes. Gasps came from Lavender and Neville made a weird sound. Harry turned back and sat down again and saw Neville's pale face.

“That was a nice scorecard of your battles, Harry.” The Weasley twin on the right said. He did his best to not freak out about everything Harry had faced.

“Four to nothing for the Boy-Who-Lived against You-Know-Who. How did you figure that out?” The other twin asked. He was having just as much trouble keeping calm as his brother.

“I can't say. School secrets, you know. You'll have to read about it when I give Luna Lovegood my interview.” Harry said and used his award-winning smile. He saw the slight shiver from Lavender and she bit her lip.

“Does that mean the rumors of your death aren't true?” The twin on the right asked.

Harry had to think about that. “As far as the muggles and my relatives are concerned, it's true.”

“Hold on, they really did send them to prison?” The twin on the left asked.

“Yep! I had someone look into it and even without a body, with all the blood and other evidence of abuse combined with my pathetic living conditions, they were convicted and sent away.” Harry said.

Parvati Patil had a hand over her mouth and looked like she was close to crying.

“Even my whale of a cousin Dudley was sent to junior prison because the idiot admitted to how much he terrorized and beat me up since we were kids, how my aunt and uncle starved and beat me, and that he was happy that I was finally dead after all the years they had tried to get rid of the freak.”

Not one single person moved or spoke after hearing that.

“Harry James Potter!” Hermione's voice cut through the silence as she and Ron entered the Great Hall with the other prefects that had been on the train.

Harry turned around and looked at her. He saw the shiny Prefect Badge on her robes and opened his mouth to congratulate her, then he saw the same badge on Ron's chest. “BA-HA-HA-HA!”

“What's so funny?” Lavender asked, her curiosity overriding her shock. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall was looking at Harry now.

“Ron... Ron is... hahahaha....” Harry had tears rolling down his face. “They made the dumbest and laziest student in our whole year the Griffindor Prefect for the first years to look up to! That's HILARIOUS!”

“Hey!” Ron said, angrily.

“That's not true, Harry.” Hermione said, disapprovingly.

Harry wiped at his eyes and calmed down. “Hermione, his name was at the bottom of the scores last year because he didn't have us to copy from for the first term of the year and didn't pass in any of his reports for two months. Even Crabbe and Goyle beat him.”

“Potions grades don't count.” Ron growled.

Harry grinned at him. “Actually, they had Outstandings in Defense Against the Dark Arts the last four years, just like I did. They're quiet, not stupid.” He glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw several approving faces. I might not have their open support like Voldemort wanted; but, I might not have their animosity, either.

The doors to the Great Hall opened again and the first years were lead inside by Minerva McGonagall. Her disapproving glare at Hermione and Ron had them scramble to sit down. Harry didn't move over to make space for them, though.

As Minerva walked past Harry, she stiffened at what she saw on the back of his robes and her lips thinned out to almost disappear. She didn't comment on it and kept walking. All of the first years saw his back as well and looked shocked.

The sorting happened and nothing of note came to anyone's attention, except the last girl to be sorted was named Rose Zeller and she went to Hufflepuff, and that was only because she was the last student to be sorted and everyone was hungry.

After the feast and Albus Dumbledore made several announcements like he did every year, he introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a woman this time, named Madam Jugson. She barely stood and sat again and didn't care that no one applauded for her. The headmaster ignored it as well and dismissed the students.

Severus Snape was instantly out of his chair and strode over to the Griffindor table. “Potter! Twenty points from Griffindor for defacing school robes.”

Harry stood up to meet him and smiled. “They aren't school robes, Snape.”

Snape's eyes narrowed. “Another ten points for not wearing school robes and another twenty points for disrespecting a professor.”

“I am only required to wear robes for the feast, not school robes.” Harry said and his smile became a grin. “Also, since school doesn't officially start until class begins in the morning, you are only a member of the staff attending a meal and not acting as a professor.”

Snape sneered at him. “That's another ten points and a detention for your cheek, Potter.”

Harry chuckled and several gasps came from the students near them, because they had all stayed to watch the confrontation. “As stated, school doesn't officially start until tomorrow. Your point deductions from nothing mean nothing and you can't assign a detention.”

“Then I will assign it in the morning.” Snape said, angrily.

“Will you make something up then as well? Can't you wait until I have potions class on Friday?”

“I don't need a reason to punish an arrogant brat like you!” Snape spat.

Harry motioned with his hand to indicate everyone around them. “I am very glad that you finally admitted in front of the entire school and the other professors that you have never treated me fairly.”

Snape sneered at him again. “You will be serving detentions with me until Yule!”

“No, he will not.” Minerva said from behind him.

Snape turned around and saw her stern look. Before he could lie and justify himself, Minerva held a hand up to stop him.

“As Deputy Headmistress, I have a responsibility to look after the student body. Albus has been stopping me from acting on all of the complaints of unfairness against you, because he claimed there was never any evidence. You just admitted that it was true and gave me that evidence.”

“I...” Snape started to say.

“You will no longer be allowed to assign points, remove points, or give detentions without the approval of another professor.” Minerva said and Snape's face went red with anger. “I'm sure that Slytherin House will still prosper in points if they continue their efforts in other classes.”

Snape stewed in anger for several moments before he turned and strode past Harry and through the crowd of students.

“Thank you for finally doing your job, Madam McGonagall.” Harry said and Minerva bristled. “I'm sorry it took the entire student body to be witnesses before you actually listened to anything I said and didn't dismiss me outright or ignored me like you have for the last four years.”

Minerva looked shocked at the accusation and the students all started muttering about it.

“I should have done this years ago.” Harry said and turned around and slowly walked through the crowd. “Of course, my scorecard would have been a lot smaller back then.”

Minerva couldn't stop herself and read it. At the top and most dangerous was Voldemort. Below him was the Basilisk, then it was the Hungarian Horntail dragon, the 100 Dementors, a swarm of acromantulas, a werewolf, 2 boggarts, a mountain troll, merpeople guards, and a Cerberus. It was an impressive list, considering the three headed dog was the least dangerous thing on it.

Albus Dumbledore hid his worry as Harry left the Great Hall and he read the scorecard. There were several large secrets on it and everyone that saw it would be reminded of them. The mild compulsion charms he had used at the time to discourage the students from talking about them, had long since faded. By the confused looks on the faces of the students, they also seemed to realize it.

*

Harry met Luna in the library and he didn't miss the fact that she wasn't wearing shoes. He sat down right next to her and whispered in her ear. “Who do you want tortured to make them stop?”

Luna stiffened slightly and looked startled, then she blushed with both embarrassment and pleasure. No one had ever wanted to stick up for her before. “H-Harry...”

“Let me guess. You tried to report it years ago and they told you to toughen up and ignore it, so you did and don't bother reporting it anymore.” Harry said and Luna nodded slightly. “Then all you need to tell me is a few names and I'll have it taken care of.”

Luna's eyes widened. “Harry, you can't. It's not worth getting into trouble for.”

Harry gave her his award-winning smile. “Who said I would get into trouble for it?”

Luna looked into his eyes for several seconds before she blushed again and ducked her head. “We need to get to the interview. The world needs to hear it in your own words.”

Harry reached up and lifted her chin. “An hour isn't going to be long enough for that. Do you want to eat breakfast in the kitchens with me?”

“Y-yes.” Luna said, caught in his eyes. “You have new glasses.”

“I have new everything. New clothes, new school supplies, and a new attitude.” Harry said and stood up with his hand held out to her. “I learned a lot about how things worked and about myself over the summer.”

Luna stood and took his offered hand. “I don't know if I can become the dark lady that you need.”

Harry gave her another bright smile that really could have won an award if it was ever submitted. “Why don't you just be who you are and let me worry about everything else? You might not become the dark lady I will need in the future; but, you could be the neutral lady I need right now.”

Luna almost passed out at what he just offered. She had been joking about it, sure that he would joke right back, and now... now... she swayed on her feet when she realized a boy had just asked her out and it couldn't have been more perfect.

“Oh, right. Your bare feet.” Harry said and scooped her up into his arms.

I was wrong. Luna thought and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. Now it's perfect.

Everyone that was up that early and in the hallways stared at them as Harry carried a surprisingly light Luna through the castle and down to the kitchens. Luna was glad that she had spent the money for a dicta-quill, because her hands shook too much to write as Harry recounted everything that happened in his life. It wasn't what he was saying that had her so nervous, it was how he was saying it.

Luna's blush stayed on her face because Harry had snuggled up to her side and whispered into her ear about everything and gently caressed her back and her arm. His lips occasionally touched her fair skin as well and Luna's heart was beating so fast that she thought it was going to burst.

When Harry was done recounting everything up until the end of the triwizard tournament, Luna was completely turned on and her body desperately needed Harry to never, ever stop what he was doing.

“You really are going dark.” Luna whispered back.

“No, Luna. I'm already gone and the wizarding world made me that way.” Harry whispered and turned her head to look into her eyes. “Would you mind if I try corrupting your innocence a little?”

“Yes.” Luna said and leaned forward slightly to briefly kiss him on the lips. “You better do it a lot or not at all.”

Harry laughed softly and gave her an intense look. “Can't talk. Busy corrupting the innocent.”

Luna opened her mouth to laugh and then Harry's mouth and tongue were on hers and she was lost. Utterly lost. The kiss was mind blowing and she never wanted him to stop. Never ever ever. Her desperate whiny moan urged Harry to take a liberty or two and Luna moaned even louder for him.

“The Great Harry Potter sirs will be lates for class if he keeps snogging his Misses Loony.” Dobby's voice said from nearby.

Harry forced himself to slow down before he broke the kiss and saw that Luna was no longer blushing. He also realized that she had somehow straddled his lap at some point and he was very happy to have her there. The thin cloth button down trousers he wore and her damp panties were the only things stopping a whole lot more specific touching from happening.

“Oh, poo.” Luna said and rested her head against Harry's forehead.

Harry chuckled, gave her a quick kiss, and helped her sort herself out to put her school uniform back in order. When Luna went to pick up the dicta-quill, her blush came rushing back.

“You might have to cut the last part of the interview before publication.” Harry said with his award-winning smile. There were a lot of moaning suggestions on that parchment that the public probably shouldn't read about in a national magazine.

Luna nodded several times and cast a spell to dry the ink and rolled up the quite long scroll of parchment. She tucked it into her robes and Dobby handed them their schedules. Harry thanked him for looking out for him so well and Dobby blushed and popped away.

Harry and Luna thanked the castle elves for the food and for letting them have a meeting there in the kitchens. The elves looked shocked that anyone would thank them for anything. When the two students left and the door closed behind them, the head elf motioned for everyone to look at him.

“Maybes stories of Harry Potter's greatness are not just dragon dung.” The head elf said.

“Dobby still bes a nutters.” Another said and most of them nodded.

*

Of course, every time Harry saw Ron wearing the Prefect Badge, he laughed. Ron caused quite the row in the common room before curfew in the Griffindor common room the first day of school and all of the Griffindors had witnessed it. They all watched as Ron verbally assaulted Harry for not respecting the fact that he earned the badge and Harry didn't.

It was like a switch had been thrown as Harry's entire relaxed attitude disappeared and he looked like a coiled snake about to strike. Then he did. His every biting word brought forth all of Ron's flaws and attitude problems since first year.

Hary told everyone how Ron was only his friend because he wanted to be known as the Boy-Who-Lived's best mate and was jealous every single time Harry received attention and he didn't. At the end of each sentence, Ron's face went paler and his anger rose. They all waited for the train wreck that was coming and couldn't do or say anything to stop it, not even Hermione or Ginny.

“Ron, you are the least deserving student to have a Prefect Badge in our entire House. The. Least. Even Seamus is liked better than you are and he's a shameless flirt that can't let a skirt pass by without telling the girl she has great legs.” Harry said and waved at the Irish boy.

Everyone turned to look a Seamus to see if he was going to defend himself from the accusation.

“In my defense, the girls in our House are all hotties.” Seamus said, shamelessly.

“I absolutely agree.” Harry said and a lot of the girls looked pleased, even Hermione. He turned and looked right at Ron. “It's time you learned the truth, Ron. The only reason you could ever be given a Prefect Badge is because you were the Boy-Who-Lived's friend.”

Ron let out an inarticulate yell and swung a fist at Harry to punch him in the face. Harry had years of Quidditch honed skills and easily dodged it before his own fist slammed into Ron's gut and dropped him to the floor, wheezing.

“What a shining example of student behavior you are to resort to fighting during an argument.” Harry said and his posture went back to relaxed as he looked down at Ron. “How long would you keep that badge if Hermione wasn't doing all of your Prefect duties and schoolwork for you?”

Ron didn't answer.

“Harry, that's enough.” Hermione said.

“Yes, it is.” Harry said and looked around at everyone's surprised faces. “Let it be known that the Boy-Who-Lived is no longer friends with Ron Weasley. Anyone that has been going easy on him and forgiving him for his behavior for my sake, please stop. He doesn't deserve it.”

“Harry!” Hermione said, sternly.

“Hermione, he believes he deserves it and that's his problem. He's never earned anything in his life, especially not friendship, and he doesn't value it like he should or like how I used to.” Harry said and Hermione's stern face changed to show sadness. “I can see by the look on your face you're going to choose something else instead of me again.”

“That was true?” Ginny asked with a gasp. “He asked you out and you said no?”

“No!” Hermione exclaimed and sighed. “He asked me a hypothetical question and I refused.”

“What was it?” Katie Bell else asked.

“He asked me if I would leave all this behind and run away with him.” Hermione said and saw all of their surprised faces, which made her blush with embarrassment.

“Wow! You really... how could you say no to that?” Lavender asked and shook her head. “I thought you were supposed to be the smartest witch of our age.”

“I... I don't know what you mean.” Hermione responded, even though she suspected she did.

“He was testing the waters to see if you liked him. If you did, he offered to give up everything to be with you.” Parvati said and wished it had been her. “And you shot him down, hard.”

Hermione saw the looks the other girls were giving her and her blush didn't fade. “I... um... I wasn't sure I liked him like that.”

“How do you feel about him after an entire summer without him?” Lavender asked.

Hermione's eyes went to the floor where Ron had stayed.

“She spent the entire summer hidden away with him and his family.” Harry said and both Hermione and Ginny made surprised noises.

“How did you know that?” Ginny asked.

“Just because you didn't know where I was, that doesn't mean I didn't know where you were.” Harry responded. “I don't know why you would do that, though. Without me acting as a buffer and telling you and Ron to shut up, I bet your fights have been just as explosive as this one was.”

Hermione blushed again from embarrassment and didn't say anything.

“The fact that you didn't even try to send me letters after hearing I was missing and could be dead, let me know exactly how much my so-called friends cared about me.” Harry said, nonchalantly.

Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and the Weasley twins looked embarrassed. None of them bothered trying to tell him that Albus Dumbledore had asked them to not write to him.

“Well, this has been enlightening. I can see how much my presence in Griffindor has annoyed you all for the last four years, so I hereby call for a vote of censure and expulsion for Harry James Potter.” Harry said and everyone made surprised sounds. He smiled winningly at everyone as he spun in a slow circle and did a bow at the end. “You can let me know in the morning how much of a landslide it was. Goodnight.”

They all stood there and watched as Harry went up the stairs to the dorms.

“Was that really Harry?” Ginny asked.

“No, Harry wouldn't act like that.” Hermione said. “I need to talk to Professor McGonagall.”

“You've already kicked him in the balls. Are you going to spit on him, too?” Seamus asked.

“That's right. You already told him he doesn't mean as much to you as school does. Why do you want to make his life even harder?” Dean Thomas asked her.

“I don't! He must be under some kind of influence and...” Hermione started to say.

“He can throw off the Imperius Curse with barely a twitch. I doubt anything could influence him, except how people treat him.” Lavender said and sighed. “Are we actually going to vote him out of the House?”

“According to the newspapers, he...” Someone started to say.

“Yeah, we know.” Fred said and cut him off. “He's already claimed we turned on him twice already. Hands up! Who wants Harry Potter, the lying nutty cheater, chuckled out of Griffindor?”

Surprisingly, more than three quarters of them put up their hands, including four of the six prefects and Ron. Only a few abstained and the rest voted against it. It really had been a landslide.

“Well, that's that.” Lavender said. “I'm going to bed and curse you idiots in private. Parvati?”

Parvati nodded and the two witches went up the stairs holding each other. That let everyone choose to go to bed as well and the common room quickly emptied of everyone except Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and the twins.

“What do we do now?” Ginny asked. “How do we fix this?”

Fred sighed. “We do the same stupid thing that Dumbledore asked us to do all summer.”

“We ignore him and leave him alone.” George said sadly. They both knew Harry wasn't going to forgive them after this latest thing. The twins nodded to each other and walked across the room and up the stairs.

Ron sat up and then stood. He tried to not glare at Hermione about hearing what he heard, because she hadn't told him that Harry had asked her out, then he gave up and glared at her before he walked up the stairs.

Ginny wasn't sure how to feel. There had been so many ups and downs that she was reeling a little from it all. That the boy she not-so-secretly loved had wanted her brother's almost girlfriend, was a revelation that she hadn't wanted to know. She also didn't want her current boyfriend to find out how she really felt, so she tried to bottle it all up and went to bed with her emotions all over the place.

Hermione felt like crying and she wasn't sure why. She tried to justify it by thinking it was all Harry's fault and that helped a little. If he had just stayed as his old brooding self and kept everything locked up inside, everything would be fine and nothing would have happened. She felt a tear escape and wiped at it before it got away.

She went upstairs to her dorm room to change for bed and ignored the other girls as they chatted in whispers. Hermione knew that what happened in the common room would be all over the school by lunchtime tomorrow and she felt another tear escape. This one she didn't bother to catch.

*

Harry Potter was promptly kicked out of Griffindor House the next morning and he laughed, because he had expected it. The best part was that Minerva McGonagall didn't hear about it until lunchtime and it was much too late for her to stop things from progressing.

Minerva had to assign Harry one of the visitor's suites because he didn't want to be sorted again. He was Houseless and he wanted to keep it that way. When he informed her that he couldn't be the Griffindor Quidditch team's seeker anymore because he was no longer a Griffindor, Minerva knew then that she had truly failed the boy and he had hit her back where it had hurt the most. Her trophy case.

After that, Harry had a great first week at school, even though the Griffindors gave him angry looks for quitting their team. His class schedule hadn't changed because was easier to keep him in the slot he already had instead of finding somewhere else to put him.

It usually took Harry longer than a week to get back into the groove of classes and doing work. This time, with Luna as a distraction and his own changed attitude, he had adjusted after only the first day and it was like he had never left the castle. Even Harry's double potions class on Friday was fun, because he had sat on the Slytherin side of the classroom with a mortified Millicent Bulstrode.

Harry had to do all the work himself and he was fine with that, because Snape couldn't score him badly because he was with Millicent and Snape didn't want her to have a zero for the lesson. She fainted after Harry thanked her and had kissed her on the cheek.

When Harry walked through the hallways wearing plain black robes and no House colors, people stopped what they were doing and stared at him as he passing by. He always waved, greeted them, or gave them a version of his best smile. If he heard them whispering about him, he would not ignore it like he used to and walked right over to them, corrected them, and thanked them for thinking of him.

It unnerved the hell out of everyone.

Harry did that specifically because that was the reaction he wanted and he always held in his laugh at their surprised faces. His hearing was excellent after years of listening intensely for his relatives as he hid from them and their punishments. Any noise or spoken words concerning him, had him on high alert, and he never once thought to use it to his advantage until this summer.

His time spent at Malfoy Manor around the death eaters and listening for threats had not been wasted. Harry always made sure to be nearby to overhear Snape's reports to Voldemort and that was how he had learned about Hermione and the Weasleys. Sirius had invited them to stay at his house to protect them and not Harry.

It hurt a lot to hear that, especially after Sirius had invited Harry to live with him near the end of third year and never fulfilled that promise. It had been almost a year and a half since then and Harry would have been abandoned at Privet Drive if he had gone back there this summer and everyone else had spent it together. Harry would never forgive Sirius for that.

The Quibbler article called 'The Truth About Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived' made the front page. Harry's very photogenic photo made it a sensation and everyone bought it. To no one's surprise, he won Witch Weekly's sexist smile award for that year. When asked in the Witch Weekly article what caused the winning smile, Harry gave all of the credit to his girlfriend, Luna Lovegood.

*

By the end of the month, Luna still couldn't believe that she had a boyfriend. He was a real one, too! Harry actually listened to her and asked about the creatures she claimed to see. He asked for names, descriptions, and explanations for their behaviors. No one had ever been so attentive to her and her fragile little heart was rapidly falling for his charms... and his hands. Oh, his hands!

Luna felt little sparks shoot through her body as his fingers roamed over her delicate skin while they cuddled on the couch in his room. She moaned and purred in equal measure when he caressed her breasts and then his lips were on hers and her purrs became hunger sounds. She knew they were going too fast, and she knew he was corrupting her just like he said he would, and she didn't care.

Her small hands fumbled for his pants and then she felt his glorious hardness for the first time. Harry moaned for her as she stroked him, then he was inside of her and she hissed in pain. They both froze at the sound and stayed still for several minutes. They had definitely taken their playing a bit too far this time.

Harry broke the kiss and looked into Luna's eyes. “You have the choice of letting this continue with your permission or saying no and I'm still going to try and make your accidental first time be the best that I can.”

That wasn't a choice at all for Luna. “Unless you like the taste of blood, you can only use your wand this time.”

Harry gave her his award-winning smile. “I think you meant if you like the taste of it.” He said and moved down and Luna quickly screamed with pleasure because Harry kissed her down there like he always kissed her mouth. She never knew that a tongue could be used down there like that!

A few minutes later, Harry was back up facing her and Luna didn't care about the bit of blood on his lips and kissed him hard as he entered her again. Bliss... it was pure bliss... and Luna couldn't get enough of it. She pleaded and begged for more and Harry happily provided it.

Luna's once fragile heart was filled with love for him and she couldn't imagine herself with anyone else. Harry was hers and that was that. No one could have him or would take him from her, not even Ginny. Luna would curse the bint before she would let her get anywhere near her Harry!

*

Christmas arrived and Harry left the castle to spend it with Luna and her father. His gift of a trip to Scandinavia for the three of them during the last two weeks of the year was enthusiastically accepted.

After a quick celebratory shag in Luna's bed, they packed up and left on one of the best trips Luna had ever been on. It wasn't because she had a boyfriend along, however. It was because Harry was actually interested in magizoology and did his best to learn everything and helped as much as he could on the hunt.

Xenophilius saw his daughter falling hard for the charming boy and couldn't fault her for it. He had felt the same way for her mother and she had reacted in a similar way when he had invited her into his life so completely. His silent approval gave Harry's own heart more strength than he ever thought was possible.

No one would ever find out why Cho Chang's, Marietta Edgecombe's, and Lisa Turpin's families had disappeared during the holidays. There was no evidence of attacks or kidnappings, so the investigation died a quick death.

Luna cried on New Year's Day when she read the paper and lightly punched Harry several times before she collapsed into his arms. “Why don't I hate you for it?”

“Because you know they can never hurt you or anyone else ever again.” Harry whispered to her. “I think it will help if I told you something important that a surprisingly good friend told me once.”

“What's that?” Luna asked.

“You don't have to be evil to be dark. It's just more fun that way.” Harry said, cheekily.

Luna huffed a laugh and lifted her head from his shoulder to kiss him. “They were evil without being dark, weren't they?”

Harry nodded. “It's a disgrace to everyone who actually is light to claim to be light while also committing crimes they know the light side would never approve of, and the dark side would hate them for not owning up to it. Cedric would have been ashamed of Cho if he knew what she did to you.”

Luna barely held back her tears as her emotions surged again. “Thank you, Harry.”

“You're welcome, Luna.” Harry said and gave her several quick kisses. “If you can't accept who you are, then no one else is going to.”

Luna looked deep into his eyes. “That's why you are so confident, isn't it? You accepted that you are the Boy-Who-Lived.”

“Yes, I have. Fame and all.” Harry said and looked deep into her eyes, too. “It's just too bad everyone assumes the Boy-Who-Lived is a light wizard, even after all of the things he's been through.”

“Father had to do another reprint of the article when the Daily Prophet tried to steal part of the article and used the cover picture without permission.” Luna said.

Harry smiled. “I think your dad is as voracious about journalism as he is for hunting down new or undiscovered creatures.”

Luna nodded and cuddled back in. “Would you be happy to know that a lot of your fans are upset at the Daily Prophet and the Ministry for how they've been treating you?”

“Only if they stay that way.” Harry said and kissed the top of her head. “I doubt they will, though. They are worse than the students at school with how they keep flipping between me being the savior and me being the next dark lord.”

Luna let out a rare chuckle, because it sounded so odd for her to make those noises. “Will you ever tell them that they have made you into both?”

“No, my dark lady.” Harry said and held her tenderly. “Only you will ever know the real me.”

“Good.” Luna said and closed her eyes. “No one else deserves to love you like I do.”

“No, they don't.” Harry whispered and closed his eyes. “Only you, Luna. Only you.”

“Only me.” Luna whispered back, happier than she had ever been in her life.

They drifted off to sleep in their sleeping bag and felt more like themselves than they ever had before.

*

From January on, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was more of a review and everyone catching up to everything they should have learned during the last four years of school. It was especially bad for the fifth years, Harry's year, because they had OWL exams at the end of the year and they would determine what NEWT courses you could qualify for.

Unlike everyone else, Harry was more advanced then the rest of the class. When asked by Miss Jugson why he was so far ahead, he explained that he had to learn a whole bunch of things to stay alive last year when someone was trying to kill him with the tournament. Since he was competing with seventh years, he had to study and practice a lot.

Hermione blushed when she heard that, because she had helped Harry as much as she could. She had the theory down pat, like always, and she was only behind in the practicals. With her own year end term tests to take before the third task, Harry had to do a lot of the real work on his own and she had only compiled the spells for him to look up.

Potions was becoming Harry's favorite class, because he was able to tease the Slytherin girls and not get in trouble for it. Snape always ignored him when he sat with one of them. Harry even once snuck in and sat beside Daphne and the girl made odd distressed sounds every time he neared her or asked her anything. It was a great time.

Luna moved into Harry's room unofficially and everyone knew it. They didn't hang all over each other when in public like everyone expected, though. Also, everyone stopped picking on her and calling her names, too. More than a few of them suspected that either Luna or Harry knew something about Luna's three main bullies disappearing, because it had happened after they started dating.

The rest of the year was one of the best that Harry had at school, even with the longing looks he received from his old friends. With no house rivalries to be concerned about, a jealous best mate to make him slack off, or wasting time with Quidditch practice, Harry had a much easier time doing his homework and studying.

Since Luna was a Ravenclaw, she knew a bunch of tricks for cramming information into her head to retain it and shared them with her boyfriend. Harry had no trouble with his OWL exams and passed most of them with Outstanding and two with Exceeds Expectations, History of Magic and Astronomy.

When asked what courses he would be continuing next year, he always said he was consulting with his girlfriend about that, since it was completely up to her if he came back to school. That answer shocked a lot of people, because none of them could conceive of Harry Potter not being there at Hogwarts.

What they didn't know was that he wasn't quite a full student there. He was essentially paying for expensive tutors because he had no House and lived separately from the other students.

Luna believed she didn't have the right to tell him what to do and Harry laughed. When he explained he would only come back if she wanted him there to help her study for her OWLs and he wasn't going to continue past that anyway, she didn't feel guilty about wanting him to be there for her. Harry's suite had become theirs and she didn't want to give that up and return to the chilly Ravenclaw dorms.

Harry signed up for Charms and Transfiguration and that was it. Minerva didn't bother trying to convince him to take more than that and refunded most of the teenager's school fees. It had been paid when he was a child and he deserved to have that money back if he was only coming to school for those two classes.

*

Summer was another wonderful time, because Luna's father had arranged an African Tour for two months. Harry happily accepted the offer to go along and they kitted him out with copies of their adventuring gear for hot weather and they set off on a grand adventure.

Luna could see that Harry enjoyed being a part of her family and that he wasn't faking it. It had been a real worry for her, until she saw the genuine smile on his face as he discussed with her father about the best way to hunt for invisible creatures was to be invisible himself and offered his invisibility cloak. That made her love Harry even more than she already did.

The best part was that it worked. They easily caught a Demiguise and offered it a nice meal and to talk, then offered to let it take more food back to wherever it lived. It let out an odd sound, almost like a laugh, and stayed with them for over a week.

It led them around to several hidden and unknown spots and the trio of magizoologists found more creatures that were pretty much legends or forgotten species that people thought were extinct. Xenophilius promised to keep the locations secret and he would still have years of material to publish in his magazine.

Both Xeno and Luna were extremely happy about the whole thing and the Demiguise left at the end of the week with a bulging backpack of food and the same odd sounding laugh.

*

Back in Britain, Voldemort had his plant in the Ministry of Magic move his death eaters into key positions. It wasn't going to be an attack or anything, however. With the Minister himself as one of them, it was laughably easy for them to eventually take over everything and no one would ever know that Voldemort was in complete control unless he told them.

Albus Dumbledore knew that something was going on. Severus had told him some of Voldemort's plans and Albus had tried to figure out when the next attack was going to happen. He had the members of the Order of the Phoenix stake out specific areas and important people to wait. The attack never came.

A few of the Order members expressed confusion about why they were still searching for Harry Potter, except for Sirius Black. He was angry at Dumbledore for not telling him that Harry wouldn't be staying with him, mainly because Harry couldn't be found and politely ordered to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place for his own safety.

*

Luna and Harry returned to school and Luna couldn't have had a better time. Instead of the frantic scramble of OWL year that every other student in her year was experiencing, she was relaxed and enjoyed having Harry pretty much at her beck and call. It was absolutely wonderful.

They were getting longing looks from a lot of the girls, because Harry had grown a few muscles and had a wicked tan that really showed off his physique after roughing it for two months in Africa. He had started wearing tight muggle t-shirts after classes and on weekends, just so Luna could feel proud that others could look at him and couldn't touch, because Harry was hers. Making Luna horny was a bonus they both took advantage of. A lot.

Harry also avoided all inquiries and questions from Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. It was none of their business what he did during the summers and his personal life was exactly that. Personal. He also refused all invitations to talk and discuss things with the headmaster. Albus had wasted fifteen years before wanting to tell Harry whatever it was, so why bother telling him now?

It left Albus frustrated that Harry was completely ignoring him. He had important information to tell him, now that the boy was approaching his seventeenth birthday. Harry would be old enough to handle an adult's responsibility and there was a huge and heavy weight for to boy to bear. How could he make Harry care enough to hear about it? The attempts to use Harry's friends fell flat because he didn't have any.

With Harry's notes from the year before and his experience casting powerful spells, Luna was more than prepared for the end of year exams. She surprised the OWL examiners and her fellow students by casting the Patronus spell that wasn't taught until seventh year NEWTs. Her brightly glowing jackrabbit with deer antlers darted around the room, quick as a flash.

Luna would receive Outstandings in everything and she left the school with her head held high and a smug smile on her face. Harry Potter was on her arm and he looked proud to be there. The jealous looks were ignored and they said goodbye to everyone and left the castle, never once looking back. That would be the last time anyone saw either of them.

Voldemort received a letter and he chuckled. He handed it to Bellatrix and she sighed before she handed it to Narcissa. She sighed as well at what the letter said and handed it to her husband. Lucius read it and his eyes widened as he looked at the Dark Lord.

“Yes, it's true. I have the Boy-Who-Lived's permission to take over.” Voldemort said.

The death eaters were silent for a moment, then they all burst out laughing. They had expected a huge battle with spells being cast all over the place and deaths on both sides. Instead, it was done with a letter and a single phrase.

“All it takes for evil to triumph, is for a good man to do nothing.”