"Now I know why we never came in here last summer," Harry said, looking around the room. "It's really creepy."
"Imagine growing up here," Sirius said.
"The door wasn't locked against kids?" Dora asked.
Andromeda snorted. "Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga were not worried about keeping things safe for children."
"I guess with a name like that, I'd be perpetually angry." Dora looked at her mother. "Then again, with a name like mine, I guess I can sympathize."
"There is nothing wrong with your name," Andromeda sighed.
"I think it's pretty," Harry said with a smile.
"Thank you, Harry," Andromeda said while Dora blushed.
"Pretty weird too though admittedly," he continued with a mischievous smile.
"Thank you, Harry," Dora said emphatically while Andromeda snorted again.
"Surrounded by Dark magic that literally makes my skin crawl and they're just quipping like we're outside on a picnic," Amelia said. "I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned."
Ted grinned. "You get used to it."
A few days after the end of the school, Sirius took everyone to Grimmauld place to begin their investigations to learn more about Horcruxes. After going through the library and accumulating all the books on the subject, they went into one of the artifact rooms to find one of the examples the Blacks had to see if they could glean any additional information from them.
As they had guessed, Fudge had tried to hide everything under the carpet. Thankfully, Amelia's efforts in spreading information before Fudge could stop it made his efforts futile. The Wizengamot met and it was agreed that Voldemort had returned. If his supporters were there, they might have been able to keep things quiet longer. However, gaping holes in the Wizengamot ranks as well as the trials that followed for the few caught alive proved that some were working against the Ministry. True to her word, Amelia had dragged out the bodies of the ones killed during the fight in the cemetery as further proof.
Some tried to claim that it was a disgruntled few pretending that Voldemort had returned, trying to throw a coup using a dead man's name. Unsurprisingly to some, Lucius had spearheaded that view. However, multiple witness accounts coupled with their memories to be watched, prove that wrong. The problem now was that no one in the Wizengamot could agree on what the next step was.
While not given allowance to go to emergency footing, Amelia and Rufus Scrimgeour, Auror General, started to do everything up to formally declaring it. Reserves were brought to active service, retired Aurors even returned. Some were tasked to do investigations for rumors and activity. Amelia quietly approached a few that she trusted to be brought into their side of the conflict.
"We should have a name," Sirius said as he went through the racks of items and materials.
"A name?" Ted asked.
"You know, for our side. There's the Dumb Eaters, the Morons at the Ministry, and the Order of the Secret Chicken. We should have a name. Can't just call it 'our side' all the time."
"I like Potter's Army," Dora said.
"I don't," Harry laughed.
"The Only Intelligent Ones is a bit much," Andromeda said sadly.
"Again, don't know if I'm impressed or concerned," Amelia muttered.
After more searching, Sirius found the remains of Discordia's Horcrux: a broken crystal flower. They had found her journal buried deep in the library. She did not recount how she made it, but only what she chose as her soul fragment's vessel, the last gift from her husband slain by the opposing family. The crystal flower was in the very back of the room, hidden within a glass ball.
Andromeda drew a complicated arithmancy and runic array, placing the ball in the middle. She, Ted, and Amelia poured over the circle as the magic examined it. "Hmm, it's magic is still there but it's really faint," Amelia muttered.
"It is almost a thousand years old," Sirius said.
"Unfortunately, unless we know exactly how to make one and I kind of don't want to, there's a chance that making them isn't the same from person to person. So even if we traced the magic of this, it may not lead us to the others," Ted mused.
"Do you know where the diary is?" Andromeda asked Harry. "Even destroyed, it would be beneficial to examine it."
"I think Dumbledore still has it," Harry said.
"And he will not part from it for anything. Especially after we explain why we want it," Andromeda growled.
"Harry, does the ball feel familiar?" Dora asked. "Like, try to remember what the diary felt like. Do you think this thing feels like that thing?"
He picked it up and felt his skin tingle. He tried to think back on how the diary felt. Even when he thought it was just a simple diary, writing in it and talking to Tom's memory, he had felt something strange. When he confronted the manifested memory, the oddness in the magic had increased though admittedly he was distracted with the basilisk and fighting for his life and Ginny's life.
"I think so. It's hard to say for sure because it was a while ago." He scratched his scar. "But yeah. I think it kinda feels similar."
"Didn't you say House Elves can find certain kinds of magical items?" Dora asked her mother. "If we use this as an example, maybe Kreacher can find other things in Grimmauld that can help us figure things out more."
"That is excellent reasoning," Andromeda praised. "We can certainly try. Kreacher?"
The House Elf appeared with a crack. He glowered at Sirius and Ted, ignored Dora and Harry. "Yes Mistress Black?"
She had Harry give him the ball. "I want you to bring us everything in Grimmauld that feels remotely like this."
His eyes widened as he felt the leftover magic of the broken Horcrux. "E-Everything?" he asked in a quavering voice.
"Everything," Andromeda said firmly. "Books, journals, other examples of this kind of magic in an object."
After some dithering, he handed the ball back to Harry and disappeared with a loud pop.
"That was weird, even for Kreacher," Sirius said slowly.
Kreacher returned, holding a locket on a chain. He held it tightly, as if intensely reluctant to let it go. As soon as Harry saw it, he winced and clutched his scar.
"Harry! Are you okay?" Dora looked at him closely and Ted came running over.
"Yeah, just my scar hurt when I saw that," Harry gasped. He shivered. "I recognize that feeling. It feels like the diary did in the Chamber."
"I don't recognize that locket," Sirius said. "Kreacher, where did you get it?"
"It was in Grimmauld. Kreacher did as ordered."
"Kreacher, how did you get it?" Andromeda asked.
"It was Master Regulus'," he admitted.
"What?! Reg didn't have a locket like that!" Sirius looked wrathful.
"Who's Regulus?" Harry asked.
"He was my brother," Sirius said shortly. "My little brother. He became a Death Eater and died in the war."
Andromeda took the locket and placed it in the center of the circle. She winced as the circle flared, the lines of the array emitting bright light and oozing magical strength. "Well, it certainly is heavily enchanted and there is plenty of Dark and Death magic in it so I think it is a true Horcrux. It must be one of Voldemort's if Harry is sensitive to it like he was to the diary."
"Makes sense," Ted said as he applied a pain relief charm to Harry and a protective spell. "Harry survived His Killing Curse after all. He would be sensitive to examples of His magic and magical signature."
"How did your brother get a hold of it?" Amelia asked Sirius.
"Answer her Kreacher," Sirius barked.
"Master Regulus needed me," Kreacher muttered. "Said only Kreacher could be trusted. Master Regulus had me accompany the Dark Lord. Master Regulus saved me when Kreacher would have died." His voice shook and broke. "Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to take Master back to the dark place. Ordered Kreacher to bring the locket back and destroy it. Kreacher is shame! Kreacher has not broken the locket. Kreacher could not save Master Regulus…"
"Dear Merlin," Andromeda gasped. "Regulus must have known something important about the locket and had Kreacher run away with it, at the cost of his life. He betrayed Voldemort."
"Why?" Sirius asked, anguished. "I thought he was such a proud Pureblood and Death Eater! He blamed me for getting cast out of the family. He only cared about the family name and reputation."
"He must have hated Voldemort enough for some reason. I mean, there were plenty of reasons," Amelia said as she hugged Sirius.
"Purebloods don't like halfbloods and Muggleborns right? Not you all of course," Harry said weakly when Amelia, Sirius, and Andromeda looked at him. "But, like in general right?"
"Some are like that, yes," Andromeda said wryly. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, like, if Regulus was a proud Pureblood, he wouldn't like listening to not-Purebloods right?"
"Yeah, something he shared with my parents," Sirius said.
"Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle," Harry said. "His memory told me. He made the…oh what do you call when you switch up the letters of one word to make another?"
"An anagram?" Ted offered.
"Yeah that! He wrote his name in the air with fiery letters and rearranged them into 'I am Lord Voldemort'."
"What a pathetic loser," Dora said.
"Marvolo. I know that name," Andromeda said slowly. "Recognize it from somewhere."
"Gaunt." Amelia pounded a clenched hand into her palm. "Marvolo Gaunt. I remember reading through old case files and remember thinking that was a weird name."
"Kreacher, bring me the ancestry book," Andromeda said suddenly. She grabbed the book when Kreacher did so and she opened it, paging through it. "The Gaunts. Here. Old line that died out. Marvolo was the last Patriarch and had a son and a daughter: Morfin and Merope. Morfin died in Azkaban without having children."
"If his middle name was Marvolo, he was probably Merope's son then," Ted said. "But if his family name is Riddle…"
"Then at best his father was a halfblood," Sirius said awed, "otherwise his father was a Muggle."
"Riddle isn't a magical family name as far as I know. Investigations into the cemetery and the bones taken from the grave show that there were no magical records for Riddles," Amelia said. "You know what, let me do some digging. I think we're onto something here."
"I'll do the same," Ted said.
"Andi and I will work on this thing then," Sirius said, looking at the locket.
"Yes. Thank you Kreacher. We will carry on and ensure this locket's destruction," Andromeda said.
Kreacher wept with relief.
-0-
Amelia and Ted returned after a few hours away.
"So get this," Amelia said as she unpacked the food she brought. "Turns out Marvolo and Morfin went to Azkaban for resisting arrest and injuring Aurors and Ministry officials. Morfin specifically was being charged with the crime of assaulting Muggles. In this case, the Muggle in question was named Tom Riddle."
"That's incredible," Dora gasped.
"Marvolo was released but was found dead at his home afterwards. Morfin was sent back to Azkaban many years later for murdering three Muggles, all named Riddle. There weren't any records involving Merope at all. No death certificate or anything," she continued.
"There's no birth certificate for a Tom Marvolo Riddle at St Mungo's or any other magical medical facility," Ted said next. "I mean, there's a chance a private Healer helped with the birth but they would still file some kind of birth record or certificate with the central files. At the least, if Tom Riddle Junior was seen at a medical facility, it would create a paper trail."
"So Lord Voldemort, Pureblooded wizard, is really a halfblood," Andromeda mused.
Sirius smiled sadly. "That would be enough to piss off Regulus. He was very…pig-headed about his beliefs."
"That would set him off?" Harry asked. "Not the whole, you know, racism and murder but lying about your blood-status and listening to someone he didn't think he should?"
Sirius laughed. "Yeah, that was my brother."
"We are certain that locket is one of his Horcruxes," Andromeda said as she ate. "And it is active. Nasty thing. There are compulsion charms on it that make someone aggressive and temperamental when you touch it. Sirius and I have designed a spell to help us try to find out where others are. Unfortunately," she gave Harry a sad smile, "you may have to aid us. Since you are familiar with Voldemort's magic, you may be the only one that can guide the spell."
Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll do it. I'll do my part."
"Brave boy," Andromeda praised, patting his cheek. "We will be with you the whole way."
"How did you break the diary?" Dora asked.
"Stabbed it with a basilisk fang."
"That won't be easy to get," Sirius said.
"Actually," Harry smiled, "there's more in the Chamber at Hogwarts. A giant mouth full of them."
"We could wait for school to start up and you can get one to us," Andromeda said thoughtfully.
"Not necessarily," Ted interjected. "Since I'm on the Board, I can visit the school whenever. I can even arrange for a tour of the grounds which isn't uncommon during the summer. I plan it for when Dumbledore isn't there…"
"Less of a chance for him to catch onto us," Dora grinned. "I sneak in with Harry-"
"-we grab a few and get out." Harry's eyes sparkled. "We might even have someone at school that can help us. A House Elf."
"Be careful," Andromeda warned. "The House Elves at Hogwarts are loyal to the school and the headmaster."
"He might listen to me first. He likes me a lot. I helped him get free."
"That's a good plan then," Amelia said. "I'll keep things up on my end and as we figure out where more of the things are, we can send people to get them and bring them back to be stabbed with the fang."
"Wouldn't it be get bitten by the fang?" Sirius asked.
"Only if you want me to bite you," she replied.
"Please, we are eating and there are children," Andromeda said severely.
"She means me," Dora assured Harry.
Ted chuckled. "Is there anything else we can do in the meantime? Besides polish up on spellwork and the like."
"I have an idea." Harry cleared his throat when everyone turned to him. "If Regulus betrayed Voldemort when he found out that Voldemort isn't a Pureblood, what's to stop others from doing the same?"
"You want us to tell people his history?" Amelia chewed her sandwich. "That's…not a bad idea actually. Not that many would believe us knowing we're against him."
"But if it's printed in the Daily Prophet," Ted smiled, "well people believe lots of wrong things written there."
"Who's going to write the articles though? They have to know they're going to have a giant target on their back," Amelia asked.
"Skeeter." Sirius smiled. "We tell her we take off the gag order and tone down the threats as long as she writes a few articles for us. Hell, this time she's morally in the right to demean her subject matter."
"Would she do it though?" Ted asked.
"We'll pay her too, not to mention what the Daily Prophet will pay her," Sirius said. "I bet she'll write anything if you pay her enough."
"I bet she'll do anything if you pay her enough," Dora snarked.
"I'll even offer to have their headquarters be guarded by some Aurors," Amelia said, warming to the idea. "That would be perfect. Voldemort goes crazy having his secrets aired and loses support. The masses learn and the Ministry will have to play damage control."
"And I am sure Dumbledore has an idea of all of this and has been hiding it as he does. Having it come out will derail his plans and keeps him on the defensive as well. Thus with the other three sides in conflict, we will take advantage of the chaos," Andromeda smiled at Harry. "Good idea. What made you think of it?"
"Dora taught me what you said. It's not enough to kill them, you have to kill their reputation and character too."
"I am so proud of you," Andromeda said tearily, kissing Harry on the forehead. Dora hugged him tight and kissed him on the cheek.
"What are they teaching you?!" Amelia exclaimed.
"You don't want to know, technically," Ted said in a weary way. "I had to put my foot down at some of the spells they wanted him to learn."
Andromeda blushed lightly. "Teddy dear, family secrets and all."
Ted shrugged. "I assumed she'd be part of the family sooner or later," he said with a sneaky look at Sirius.
Sirius and Amelia went bright red and the rest of the meal passed with them being teased mercilessly by Andromeda and Ted with Dora and Harry enjoying the show.
-0-
A few days later, they met for a very happy dinner.
"It's worked better than we expected," Amelia said happily. "We've been getting calls all day about people wanting to share information on the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Nothing really current but lots of stuff we wondered about during the first war is coming up. It's incredible."
"We made Skeeter rich," Sirius laughed. "The papers are being sold left and right and we have a personal literary attack dog for life now. As soon as she saw her first royalty check she said it was well worth the risk."
"I got a message from Dumbledore, demanding to know the source of the information for the articles," Amelia said. "Naturally I told him that we did not know but had no reason not to believe the information. I also asked him if he wanted to confirm or deny anything and never heard back from him."
"Will Skeeter tell him?" Ted asked, concerned.
"She won't. I let her know that the deal will be off and I'll personally do terrible things to her if she betrays us," Sirius said.
"Don't say that around me," Amelia sighed.
"What? You're not on duty and Nymmie doesn't listen to me."
"Pass the potatoes?" Dora asked Harry.
Ted grinned. "Well good news keeps coming. There is a Wizengamot meeting next week and Dumbledore has to attend. The Board of Governors are going to inspect the school and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall is going to be stuck showing us around and inspecting the new protections around the school. Should take hours."
"Hey, boss' Boss, I feel like I'm going to be ill that day. Better run an errand to get something for it and I'll be taking Harry as emotional support," Dora said to Amelia.
"Sounds serious, and no not you," she said, making Sirius' jaw snap shut. "I'll let Scrimgeour know."
Sirius stiffened for a moment, looking out the back kitchen towards his home. "Someone's at my place. I can feel it through the wards."
"Trying to get in?" Amelia asked, as she and the adults readied their wands.
"No…" He squinted out the window and saw someone walking around the perimeter of his home. "That's Remus."
"Can he come over here?" Harry asked.
"No, he's only keyed into my wards to my house. I kept him out of the ones the houses share and between the boundary. I wonder what he wants, he normally sends me a message before visiting."
"He is a close ally of Dumbledore, yes?" Andromeda wiped her lips. "We should see what he wants together."
"I should probably leave," Amelia said. "Don't want him reporting back to Dumbledore about me being here."
"No, we will go over to greet him at Sirius' part of the yard," Andromeda said. "You may stay here with Harry."
"I need an adult so I don't burn down the place," Harry said cheekily, making the others snort.
Sirius and the Tonkses walked across the back yard when Remus walked back to the front of Sirius' home. They waited for him to circle around.
"Oh you're home," Remus said with some relief.
"We were having dinner together," Sirius said, gesturing at the Tonks family.
"Sorry to interrupt then."
"No problem. What's up?"
Remus handed Sirius a letter. Sirius opened it and read it swiftly. He snorted and handed it to Andromeda to read. "So he's got you playing messenger?"
"Well, we are friends after all," Remus said wryly.
"He does not ask for much does he?" Andromeda asked sarcastically. "He wants to use your ancestral home as a hideout for his personal order. Then says we may join said order as if it was some grand honor."
"We all share a common goal in stopping Voldemort and keeping Harry safe," Remus said diplomatically.
"Dumbledore doesn't care about keeping Harry safe," Dora said heatedly. "He's proven that for thirteen years."
"You don't know that," Remus said sharply.
"I know more than you," Dora retorted. "Harry trusts us to tell us."
Remus opened his mouth to argue before visibly swallowing his words. "Where is Harry by the way?"
"Out galivanting with his friends, drinking, engaging in illicit activities." Andromeda sighed at Remus' expression. "He is resting at home, not that it is any business of yours."
"I see Harry isn't one of the ones invited," Ted said as he read the letter.
"Harry is underaged," Remus said severely. "The point of this is to keep him safe."
"I also don't like the face that Dumbledore told us not to tell him anything here," Ted said even more severely. "This involves him. He deserves to know."
"He…he is too young."
"I see your lips moving but hear Dumbledore talking," Sirius said. "Anyways, the answer is no. To both." He looked at the Tonks family. "Sorry, didn't mean to speak for you lot. What do you have to say?"
"No thank you," Ted said. "To joining I mean."
"Get bent," Dora said.
Andromeda spat eloquently on the ground.
Remus stared at them. "Dumbledore needs-"
"I don't care what he needs," Sirius said. "I said no. He can respect that since he is all about personal autonomy and will and all that. If he tries not to respect that, well, he better get ready for a fight and I don't think he can afford another one."
"Don't you see?" Remus said. "This is what Voldemort wants. He wants us to be divided."
"Except Voldemort isn't the one dividing us," Dora retorted.
Remus looked at them for a moment, staring at Sirius the longest. "You're planning something," he accused.
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe. I plan lots of things. Parties, ways to piss off my parents, ways to bother Nymmie." He smiled at her glare.
"And you won't tell me," Remus said bitterly.
"Depends. Are you going to tell Dumbledore?"
Remus sighed. "We really should be working together. Perhaps this is Dumbledore's peace offering."
"Perhaps it is a collar to keep us in place and under his hand," Andromeda replied.
Sirius took the letter and with his wand wrote "no" in large blocky script over the whole letter and signed his name neatly in the corner. He handed it back to Remus. "There, now you won't have to tell him."
Remus shook his head and turned to leave.
"If you break away from him, swear you won't help him but help us, truly help Harry, you have a place with us," Sirius said.
"I owe him too much," Remus said. "I truly believe in him and together, we have a chance."
"We do have a chance," Sirius said softly. "But I don't believe in him, not anymore. Stay safe Moony. Hopefully when this is all over, we can hash things out."
Remus said nothing and left.
Andromeda put her hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I am sorry cousin," she said sadly. "I know he is one of your closest friends."
"Yeah." He rubbed his face. "Well, hopefully when this is all over, I'll get to tell him 'I told you so' and we can fight for a bit and it'll be good. But that can wait. We have bigger problems to take care of for now."
They returned to the home. "Any fires?" Sirius asked breezily.
"Just a little one," Amelia said with a smile. "Harry made crème brulée for us. I taught him the tiny flame spell and he used it to caramelize the sugar. He's quite the chef."
Harry proudly served the little desserts to everyone's delight. "What did Remus want?"
"He came to recruit us for the Order of the Secret Chicken," Sirius said. "We said no."
"It was a fowl idea," Ted grinned.
Harry and Sirius applauded while the witches groaned.
"Good thing your cooking is better than your sense of humor," Dora teased.
"Oh it sounds like you said you don't want anymore," Harry said and took it away.
Dora turned to him and her eyes became incredibly large and bright blue. She sniffled, tears brimming and lip quivering.
"Oh…oh I'm so sorry," Harry said with a bright red face. He hurriedly gave her the dessert back. "Please don't do that to me ever again."
The adults laughed as she winked at him, her expression returning to merry mischief. "Never take my treats away then."
-0-
"I still can't believe you have a real invisibility cloak," Dora whispered.
They had come to Hogwarts with Ted and the rest of the Board. At first Dora was going to disillusion herself and Harry but he revealed that he had a cloak that could fit over the both of them. They managed to sneak onto the grounds behind Ted and the other Governors. A few times Dora almost revealed them with her clumsiness but Harry was able to keep her from falling completely. At the earliest opportunity they snuck off.
They also brought the locket with them. Sirius, Ted, and Andromeda had perfected the tracing spell and with Harry being the caster, they managed to discover a few other Horcruxes with Voldemort's magical signature. It gave them a rough idea of where they were and they were surprised to discover one being at Hogwarts. They were going to recast the spell with the locket to see if they could find it while at the school as well as obtaining a few basilisk fangs.
"Why do you sound upset?" Harry whispered back.
"Because you didn't tell me!"
"I'm supposed to tell you everything without being asked?!"
"Yes!"
"Well you're supposed to ask!"
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Your face doesn't make sense."
"Hey! Don't use my comebacks against me!"
They walked into the girl's lavatory and took off the cloak. "What are we doing here? Harry, please don't tell me you sneak into girls' bathrooms."
He flushed. "Of course not! This is where the entrance to the Chamber is."
"In the girl's bathroom? Slytherin was a pervert."
Harry laughed. He hissed out loud, making her skin crawl. She jumped when the sink shifted and the yawning tunnel appeared. "What the bloody hell was that?!" she exclaimed.
"Parseltongue."
"You can talk to snakes?"
He looked at her. "Yeah," he said quietly.
She saw the look on his face and her heart throbbed. She hugged him tightly. "Sorry, just caught me by surprise. I think that's pretty neat."
He flushed again but smiled. "Thanks."
"Do you mind doing it later at home to mess with Sirius?"
He grinned. "Sure, why not." He took out his broom and unshrunk it. "We could slide down there but it's kinda gross."
Dora mounted the broom behind him, looping her arms around his middle. "Take us down then. Less gross the better please."
He flew them down the tunnel, avoiding the slime covered walls neatly. He landed gently on the rough stone hewn floor.
"That was good flying," Dora praised as she got off the broom.
He smiled. "Thanks! I'm better outside though."
"I bet. I'll have to get you to fly me around later when things are less…you know…dire."
"I'd really like that," he said sincerely.
She smiled and flicked her wand, summoning a ball of light to float above them. "Right, lead the way." She followed him down the tunnel, picking her way over the rubble and debris. She gasped when the giant skin of the basilisk came into view. "You faced that thing?!"
"I think that was a really old skin, it was longer and bigger when I fought it."
Dora blanched and walked as close as she could to him. "I didn't think it was possible but I hate Dumbledore more now. Making a second year fight a basilisk like this." She continued to follow him and as they walked into the Chamber proper, she shrieked when she saw the body of the basilisk. "That thing is fucking huge!"
Harry shivered a little, his memories of the desperate fight returning to him.
Dora noticed and she hugged him protectively from behind. "I'm here Harry, you're not alone."
He sighed with relief as he felt her embrace. "Thank you," he said softly. "It's…seeing it again in person…it's even more terrifying."
"Let's get what we need and get the fuck out of here," she said. She donned dragon-hide gloves and very carefully removed two fangs from the basilisk's distended jaws. Using impenetrable gauze, given to them from Ted, they wrapped the fangs tightly and secured them in the highest-grade medical safety bags they could get.
"Right. That's done. I guess we should cast the spell down here too and see if we can find the Horcrux here."
"Actually, I have an idea. Let's see if Dobby can help."
"Who's Dobby?" Dora asked before jumping when a loud crack heralded the arrival of a House Elf.
"Great Master Harry Potter!" Dobby squeaked with delight. "You called?" He looked up at Dora for a moment before noticing the dead serpent. He squeaked and dashed around Harry.
"Hi Dobby," Harry said, turning to face him. "So uh, yeah. That's the thing you were trying to save me from back in second year. We're in the Chamber of Secrets."
Dobby gaped. "Great Master Harry Potter is amazing wizard to best the monster."
"I was lucky," Harry said. "I was wondering if you can help me with something but before I ask, you have to promise to not tell Professor Dumbledore. Can you promise that?"
"Dobby promises to aid Great Master Harry Potter and promises to not tell Dumbledore!"
"You can do that? Don't you work for him? Also you can just call me Harry if you like," Harry said, trying to ignore Dora's giant smile.
"Dobby works for the school, not necessarily Dumbledore," Dobby replied. His ears drooped a little. "However, if Dumbledore asks Dobby directly, then Dobby might have to tell him Dobby helped Master Harry."
"Unfortunately we can't let you help us if Dumbledore can find out," Dora said.
"Dobby wants to help!"
"Dobby, how did you help me despite working for the Malfoys?" Harry asked.
"Dobby decided to help Harry despite them. They never thought to ask Dobby anything."
"What if what we are doing today is just as important if not more important than then?" Harry asked slowly. "The stakes are way higher."
"Dobby will always help Master Harry but Dobby does not know how to prevent Dumbledore from knowing if Dobby is asked."
Harry grinned. "He might ask you if I ever asked you for help. He might not ask you if anyone else did. And if you don't know their name…"
"Dobby cannot tell!" Dobby said with a wide grin.
Dora smiled. "Hi Dobby, my name is Nobody. How do you do?"
Dobby blinked for a moment before smiling even broader. "Hello Nobody! Is you Master Harry's friend?"
"She is one of my best friends and I care about her a lot," Harry said firmly.
"Then Dobby will help Nobody!"
Dora had blushed lightly from embarrassment and pleasure. She took the locket out of the pouch they kept it in and handed it to Dobby. "Can you search the castle and find something that feels like this? It's really important."
Dobby touched the locket and made a face. "That is very Dark!"
"It is and there are others like it," Harry said. "We're trying to break them. It will help others if we can do that."
The House Elf nodded. "Dobby will look!" He disappeared with a crack.
"Real genius moment," Dora said warmly, ruffling Harry's head.
"You thought of it first with Kreacher," Harry replied.
"True, but the whole if he doesn't know my name thing."
"I just thought how Auntie Andi would get around things," he said.
"She's going to love that," Dora laughed.
Dobby reappeared with a crack, holding the locket and a circlet. "Dobby found something!" he said. "It was in the Room of Lost Things. It feels like the locket, very Dark. Very dangerous." He made a face. "Much like bad Malfoys." He gasped. "They feel like bad thing at Malfoys! What bad Master Lucius gave away to hurt Master Harry!"
"That basically proves it and proves us right on these things," Dora said as she took the locket and circlet. "At least it's good to know that we're on track."
"Thank you, Dobby, you've been a huge help," Harry said. "I really appreciate it."
"Dobby will always help Master Harry! Call and Dobby will answer, you and Nobody!"
"I like him," Dora said after Dobby left and they made their way out of the Chamber.
"Even after knowing he tried to keep me from Hogwarts by doing illegal underaged magic, blocking me at King's Cross, and made a Bludger chase me for an entire game to, and I quote, "severely injure" me?"
Dora frowned. "Okay, maybe I like him a little less now. I'll temper his responses a bit after this is all over."
-0-
The mood at dinner was positive that night.
"I can't believe our luck," Ted said. "We got fangs and a second Horcrux. And the school will be in better shape for the coming year. The new protections are going to do some good. And as far as we know, Dora and Harry weren't caught."
"Not to mention that your Dobby has confirmed a few things for us." Andromeda hugged Harry. "Very proud of your little mental trick as well."
"Thanks! Dora did a good job with the Nobody thing, but I tried to channel you in figuring out a loophole."
"Well done the both of you," she praised and kissed both Dora and Harry on the head.
Sirius looked at them proudly. "We're in really good shape. Amelia told me that she has a few people on our side. They're determined to not let things go the way the first war did." He grinned. "One of them is Moody and he told Amelia that he told Dumbledore he wasn't joining him."
"Whoa, that's huge," Dora said.
"Yeah. Well, Moody never liked all of Dumbledore's policies during the first war. And of course he doesn't like how the Ministry's trying to downplay things now. Apparently when Amelia approached him he said something like, "about bloody time someone has their head out of their arse". We can rely on him."
He sobered a little. "She thinks she knows a couple of Aurors that have sided with Dumbledore though. They've asked some strange questions and disappear at odd moments. Not odd enough to place blame, but odd enough to notice."
"Better the devil you know than the one you do not," Andromeda said prosaically. "Are there any Death Eaters or sympathizers in her ranks?"
"She's done some digging and she thinks she's identified a few that are suspicious. She's still trying to figure out a way to out them and arrest them or something. Luckily none of the Aurors seem to toe the party line so instead of a four-front war, it's only three."
Harry shook his head. "This is so confusing sometimes."
"That's life sometimes," Ted said with a sad smile.
"Sometimes it is better to be confused than the alternative," Andromeda said.
"What, not confused?"
"I find that if you are ever not confused at all about something, you are most likely dead."
"Or an idiot," Dora muttered.
"Which in that case, death is preferable," Andromeda chuckled darkly.
-0-
A few weeks later, dinner was subdued.
Andromeda put the newspaper down. "I never would have believed it. They broke out of Azkaban."
Sirius nodded. "I visited Amelia after she got back from the prison. Voldemort must be desperate. He attacked the prison after his moles in the Ministry made things weak there for him. He busted out a bunch of his loyalists but took some casualties in the process. Still, from what Amelia can tell, he won more than he lost. Got his most near and dear and sacrificed a few expendables to get them."
"At least Crouch Junior and Pettigrew were not among them," Andromeda said with cruel satisfaction. The pair had been executed shortly after their trials. "Still." She sighed heavily, looking at the picture of a wild-eyed black-haired woman staring coldly out of the newspaper. "This will make for an awkward reunion."
Ted hugged his wife. "We'll get through this. It'll be okay."
Harry shivered slightly. "I never knew that's what happened to Neville's parents."
Sirius shook his head. "Alice and Frank were good people. Definitely didn't deserve what happened to them." He sighed deeply. "Speaking of awkward reunions," he looked at Andromeda, "I got a letter from Narcissa today."
"Oh?" Andromeda's eyes widened. "More vitriol from Lucius?"
"No. She wanted to talk to me as Head of the Blacks." He hesitated. "She also wants you there."
"Curious. Did she say why?"
"Said she thought it would be best to say it in person. I have a feeling she sent it without Lucy's knowledge."
Andromeda chewed her lip for a moment. "If that is the case, perhaps we should meet with her."
"That's what I thought. How about tomorrow at Grimmauld? I don't want her knowing about us here, not yet."
"Agreed."
-0-
Narcissa Malfoy nee Black personified elegance. She stood at the mantle like a subject from a painting, neat and polished. She wore long and expensive looking robes, a deep green scarf wrapped around her neck, her hair done up and pinned. When she saw Andromeda and Sirius she did not smile but her posture relaxed ever so slightly. "Andromeda," she greeted silkily, "Lord Black."
Sirius snorted. "No need to call me that."
"You are the Head of the House and it is only proper to do so." Her lips twitched. "Though none would have ever imagined you becoming so."
"You're not wrong." He gestured for the ladies to sit before he did. "Let's cut to the chase. What do you want, Narcissa?"
"Sanctuary."
Sirius and Andromeda looked at each other. "For your family?"
"For me primarily, Draco hopefully." Her eyes flashed. "Lucius made his bed. Well no, he has never made a bed in his life. He made his choices and I will let him reap the rewards."
"And what do you offer for sanctuary?" Andromeda asked.
"You would force family to pay for it?" Narcissa asked almost blandly.
"I remember you refusing to do anything with me when I was disowned," Andromeda replied just as blandly. "Not to mention how you and your family has treated mine."
Narcissa nodded. "Touché. I have a lot of information that will be helpful to you and the Ministry."
"Why not go to the Ministry for help then?" Sirius asked.
Narcissa finally smiled. It was sharp and devoid of humor. "Please, I am many things but stupid is not one of them. If I went to the Ministry I'll be thrown into Azkaban as a collaborator at best and killed by my husband or his associates otherwise."
"And what's stopping us from turning you in?" Sirius asked.
"Because you are family. The Blacks take care of each other and damn the others," Narcissa said.
Sirius smiled thinly. "You're right about that." He looked at Andromeda and continued at her nod. "Alright. You have sanctuary. You are under my protection and will remain so until I say so."
Narcissa relaxed fully, almost slumping in her chair. "Thank you," she whispered. "I know I will have to do much to deserve it but I will." She pulled out a sheaf of parchment from her bag and handed it over. "Here is a list of known Death Eaters that remain in Voldemort's company. There is also a list of ones without the mark but are sympathetic to his goals and ideals. There are more but these are the ones I am sure of."
"That will do a lot already," Andromeda said as she took it.
"He has returned as you know and is currently in Malfoy Manor, as are ones that have found themselves adrift after the conflict the night of his return."
"Can you get us through the wards and protections?" Sirius asked eagerly.
"Unfortunately not. Lucius never gave me permissions throughout our marriage. I technically only have one point of entry that he allows." She smiled. "Save for the tiny window I made for myself in the event I needed to leave. It is only out I am afraid."
"Pity," Sirius said. "Would have been nice to do a sneak attack or something."
"I have contemplated it as a means to get to the Ministry but Lucius has always been paranoid." She hesitated. "He is getting desperate, the Dark Lord. After the newspaper article he is in constant rage. He is trying to find support but many are reluctant to do so, not like before. He has made example of some and while that had steeled some spines, it also dissuaded those on the fence."
"Pity," Andromeda said and did not mean. "It is good to hear that he is having trouble for once."
"He is obsessed with something," Narcissa continued. "He desperately wants something deep within the Ministry. That and regaining strength are his only priorities. I do not know what, but he craves it almost more than anything else. Aside from killing Dumbledore and Potter." She flinched at the look of intense hate on Sirius and Andromeda's faces.
"The only way he is getting close to Harry is when he is dead and we are dancing on his grave," Andromeda snarled.
"Or if we're pissing on it," Sirius growled.
"You really do care for him," Narcissa said with wonder.
"You might if you met him," Sirius said.
She shrugged. "I only know of him through my son and as you might imagine, he is a bit biased."
"Speaking of, why did you say hopefully sanctuary for Draco?" Sirius asked.
For the first time, Narcissa looked upset. "Because he is his father's son. I have tried to teach him discipline, to question before accepting. However, he cares far too much about his father's opinion. I have done my best to prevent him from formally joining Voldemort but…" she hiccupped, "I will try to get him to see reason but if he refuses…I cannot save him if he does not wish to be saved himself. I will try my best to."
She flinched slightly when Andromeda took her hand but after a moment, she gripped it gratefully.
"Well, in the end you can always stun his arse and drag him out," Sirius said simply.
"He would never forgive me."
"He'd be alive still. And possibly not in Azkaban."
Narcissa nodded slowly. "There is that."
"I'm going to offer you Grimmauld for your sanctuary. No one but a Black can get in and I already wrote Bellatrix out a while ago. Andromeda and her family and I don't live here, but I have no problems with you being here. Did you bring your things?"
Narcissa shook her head. "No. I wanted to remain at the manor until Draco goes back to school to try and continue to protect and convince him. Once he does, I will take what is mine and leave the manor forever. I will try to obtain as much information before then."
"That'll help a lot. I'll talk to Amelia and see if we can get you some kind of protection as an informant. Should cover you after everything is over."
Narcissa smiled, a sincere one. "That would be appreciated."
"May I ask what finally brought this about?" Andromeda asked. "Did you stop loving Lucius?"
"Certainly not. I never loved him to begin with. I was very fond and affectionate of him, but then the war showed his true colors and how he acted after, especially after His return." She slowly unwound the scarf and Sirius and Andromeda grimaced at the bruises around her neck. "He only ever struck me once before and I made sure to tell him that he only ever had the one lapse in judgement. If he ever struck me again, he would suffer the consequences."
"We will make him pay. All of them," Andromeda said quietly.
Narcissa met her eyes. "Andi, Bella is completely gone. She is nothing like she was before, even at her wildest."
Andromeda looked incredibly sad. "I always was afraid of that, Cissy."
"She scares me and she never scared me before. Be on your guard when she is near. She will not hesitate."
"Thank you for the warning," Andromeda said softly.
Narcissa squeezed her older sister's hand.
"Well, I'm glad you reached out," Sirius said after a while. "With this, you helped a lot. It's going to be huge before the war starts."
"Oh Siri," Narcissa laughed without mirth or pleasure, "the war has already begun."
-0-
"Dora!" Andromeda ran into the hospital room, eyes wide. She nearly sobbed with relief when she saw Dora sitting up on the bed. She wrapped her arms tight around her.
"Mum! I'm okay!" Dora hugged her back tightly. "Really, I am."
"She's technically right," Ted said in a shaky voice. He smiled at her look. "Some burns that were fairly easy to heal. Going to be sore for a bit from the bones that need regrowing. That was a nasty Bone-Shatter Curse you took. Good thing your bracelet took the brunt of it."
"Doctor-patient confidentiality!" Dora protested, grunting when Andromeda hugged her harder.
"She's your mother," Ted retorted.
"What happened?" Andromeda demanded.
"Death Eaters or pretenders attacked Diagon Alley," Dora said. "Started a riot, smashing things and throwing spells around. Luckily Scrimgeour had a full squad on patrol ever since Voldy returned and a few of us at HQ were able to pop over to join the fight. No one died on our side but a few of us were hurt worse. I don't know if there were any civilian casualties but a lot of people were hurt. Three of the Death Eaters got killed and one captured. The rest made it away."
"Thank goodness you will recover," Andromeda said, her voice trembling.
"I'll be fine, I think." Something in Dora's tone made her parents look at her. She gulped. "I…killed someone today." She sighed when Andromeda pulled her to her. "I was hit in the leg by the curse and fell over. Looked up and saw this guy about to cast something at a couple kids hiding in a doorway. I hit him with a Blasting Hex, was aiming for his hand and wand and got him in the chest."
"Oh Dora, it sounds like you saved their lives," Andromeda said soothingly.
"What if I chose a different spell?" Dora asked, her voice quiet. "I could have picked something else. I was in pain and pissed and just wanted to stop him."
"You could have yes," Ted said kindly. "He also could have chosen to do anything else but attack innocents. He made his choice and accepted the possible consequences by doing so. Just like you did when you became an Auror."
Dora looked up at them, her hair short and black and curly, her eyes wide and blue. "That makes sense…"
"You had to have known that this was part of the job," Andromeda said softly.
"I do, and I mean, I don't like that I killed him even thought I didn't mean to at the time. I guess, I was worried how you two would treat me after. How Harry will." Her voice hitched slightly. "I'm a little worried that I don't feel that bad, not really."
"You are our darling daughter. Today you did your job and defended others. You stopped someone wanting to hurt others. We are so proud of you," Ted said. "And I know Harry will be the same."
Dora breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"I'll send our boy a message. He wanted to come too. He was very worried but I convinced him to stay at home," Andromeda said. "Knowing him, he's probably cooking for you right now." She laughed when Dora's stomach growled. "When will you be released?"
"Not for another hour or so. We have to make sure the skelegrow is working fine," Ted said sternly. He rolled his eyes at Dora's glare. "I am your healer and your father."
"Yes, Daddy," Dora grumbled.
"Be patient love and when we go home, I'm sure Harry will pamper you to your heart's content, no matter how unreasonable it may be," Andromeda said with a smile.
-0-
"Dora!"
Dora stumbled slightly and for once it was not due to her own clumsiness. Harry tackled her, hugging her hard and Dora reveled in the affection and care, not even caring that her wounds ached. "Hey Harry," she said as she hugged him back. "I'm okay, don't worry."
He looked relieved though his face was bright red. "I was scared," he admitted.
Dora gave him a watery smile. "Thanks but really, I'm okay." Her stomach protested her statement. "Okay, maybe I'm hungry," she admitted with her own bright red face. She glared at the smiling faces from her parents who were watching.
"I got plenty of food for you," Harry said as he helped her sit. He poured something into a bowl and brought it to her.
She looked at it. "What's this?"
"Porridge."
"What."
He had the audacity to look confused. "Uncle Ted said you were on a strict diet for recovery. No strong flavors, nothing too crunchy or meaty, something easy to digest."
"I. But. I almost died and you want me to eat porridge?!" she yelled.
"You almost died?!" he yelled back.
Ted and Andromeda whooped with laughter. "If you could see your face now," Andromeda laughed, tears streaming down her face. Dora's indignant impotent face made her howl louder.
"She didn't almost die," Ted said, wiping tears away. "She did get hurt but she's on the mend. Consider this revenge for scaring us," he said to Dora.
"Get hurt in the line of duty and my family takes the mickey while starving me," Dora muttered. Her mood immediately improved when Harry set a roast chicken on the table and a large plate of roast vegetables, gravy, and Yorkshire puddings.
"That's your chicken by the way," he said. "There's one for the rest of us. Plenty more where that came from."
"You better feed her Harry," Andromeda teased. "She's rather delicate and needs assistance."
"You'll need assistance if you don't stop it," Dora groused. She blushed when she saw Harry cut her vegetables for her and held the fork out with a potato stuck onto the tines. She finally opened her mouth and ate it, taking the fork from him and poking him with it.
True to his word, there was plenty of food and even her appetite was finally sated by the end. Drowsy from the full stomach and medication, Andromeda helped her to her room and tucked her in after changing her. The last thing Dora felt was her mother's kiss on her forehead before falling asleep.
-0-
Dora's eyes snapped open and she shivered. The tendrils of her nightmare clung to her as she shook her head, trying to banish them. She took a deep breath, trying to still her breathing. After a while she realized that she was holding something in her hand. Blinking slowly, she realized she was holding Harry's hand and he was sleeping in a chair beside her bed. Somehow her grip did not wake him.
"Hey," she said softly, shaking his arm.
He blinked a few times and yawned. "Oh hi," he said sleepily. "Are you okay?"
"Had a nightmare and found you here." His concerned smile made her feel warm. "What are you doing here?"
"I came in to check on you before I went to bed. You were tossing and turning a little but you settled down when you held my hand so I sat with you."
"Oh, thank you." She was grateful her dark room hid her blush and how happy she felt. She looked at the clock. "It's two in the morning," she gasped.
"I don't mind. You sat with me a lot when I first came and earlier this summer with my own nightmares." For the first two weeks, Harry had terrible nightmares involving the cemetery and Dora had sat and cuddled with him.
"Why didn't you just join me?" she asked.
He was glad the dark hid his blush. "I didn't want to presume."
She snorted but was pleased. "Well come on you silly thing," she said, tugging on his arm. She scooted over in her bed, making room for him. As soon as he settled under the covers, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and snuggled close. She felt more at peace with him there. "Thanks for being with me," she said softly.
"Of course," he replied softly. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm sore in places, skelegrow is a bitch."
"Yeah it is."
"You've had it?"
"Yeah. I'll tell you later."
She snorted. "You better." She fell silent.
"What's wrong? Want to talk about it?"
After some hesitation, she told him what happened. She described the chaos, the exploding spells, the cacophony of noise. She described how she felt her leg shatter and how she fell over. How she was consumed by rage seeing the man menace the screaming children. How she snarled the spell and watched his chest explode, how he fell over and never moved again. She mentioned how she did not feel terrible about it and that it worried her.
Harry twisted in his arms and looked at her as she spoke. When she finished he buried his face into her neck. "I'm glad you were there," he murmured. "Not that you were there and got hurt but glad you saved people. You saved those two and stopped a bad person from hurting them and hurting anyone else. You're an awesome Auror."
She teared up. "You don't think any less of me for killing him?"
He looked into her eyes, his deep green ones meeting her light blue ones. "No. Not even a little bit. You did your job. You saved people. You stopped the criminals. You're a hero."
"I don't feel like one," she admitted.
"You are one to me. You've always been one," he said sincerely. "Uncle Ted was right. He made a choice to do bad. You made a choice to do good."
She hugged him close, kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered.
He shyly kissed her back. "Thank you for being awesome," he whispered. "I'm glad you're here."
"Me too." They held each other and she felt him fall asleep. She listened to his breathing slow and become even, how he became limp in her arms. He felt warm, comforting. He trusted her. She felt her eyes drift close and her arms squeezed him just a little tighter.
She had no more nightmares that night.