- Timeskip: One Week Later -
After finally having the chance to speak with his parents and tell them he loved them, and hearing that they loved him back, Harry felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. There was now a small bounce in his step when he walked, and smile that would appear on his face from time to time whenever he thought back to that moment in his apartment.
When he had given up the Resurrection Stone to Death, there was a part of him that mourned the loss of getting to speak with Lily and James. He never thought that Death would be willing to bring their souls from the afterlife for him to get the chance, and for that one conversation alone, he would forever be grateful to her.
"Is that the last of them?"
Fleur's voice broke through his thoughts, drawing his attention back to the present as he placed a book into one of the many enchanted trunks in the Black Family library.
They had been slowly packing away all of the books and tomes in the library over the last week to take it with them to France. It normally would have taken a day at most to get it all done, but the sheer number of curses and wards on some of the bookcases meant that they had to proceed very carefully.
He had originally planned on getting Kreacher to do the work, which would have taken a snap of his fingers, but that was before he was what had become of the House-elf…
It seemed that, even with ordering Kreacher to forget seeing Harry steal the Locket, the House-elf eventually came back and found it missing. The loss of the Horcrux had caused the elf to spiral into a deep depression for failing his former master Regulus, and had eventually driven him into madness.
With no other choice, Harry was forced to put him down, or risk facing an insane House-elf with suicidal tendencies.
Thankfully, Harry didn't actually have to do the deed himself, merely ordering the House-elf to end his service to the House of Black was enough to kill him. It was been a surprise to learn that when Kreacher had died, the spells keeping the portrait of Walburga Black from being destroyed finally faded.
It had been a great pleasure for Harry and Fleur to smash the portrait as the woman screamed all kinds of slurs and profanities at them.
…
Grimacing at his role in Kreacher's death, Harry sighed as he grabbed the last few books off the bookshelf and stuffed them into the trunk. Closing the lid, he glanced down at his dirty clothes before waving his wand over himself, getting rid of all the dust that that had gathered on them.
The bookcase he had just cleared out contained several old texts dating back to when the Black Family first started writing down their knowledge of spells and magic. He and Fleur had been surprised to find that some of the spells in the book looked to be prototype versions of modern spells, requiring more wand motions and having weaker effects.
While it wasn't something he thought he'd ever use, it was an interesting read for Fleur, who wanted to try and replicate some of the weaker charms in her enchanting.
She planned to see if there were mild ones that could be added to clothing that were subtle enough for non-magicals to not notice them. More than one wizard had been accused of breaking the Statute of Secrecy after they walked around in a snow storm while dressed in a shirt and shorts, using Warming charms on themselves to get around the cold while the non-magicals pointed and whispered to each other.
"That's it for this shelf. What about yours?" Harry called out, spotting Fleur on the last shelf of one bookcase.
"Oui, this is the last for me." Fleur replied, putting three more thick tomes into the trunk before spelling it shut.
Gathering all of the trunks together, they totaled a whopping seven, each with a magically expanded interior that was filled to the brim with books. They could have used ones with massive house-size interiors that they found in the Black Family Vault, but those were already sent to the Gringotts Bank Vault in France. These trunks were simply meant to carry books and luggage, not everything they owned.
Shrinking the trunks down to the size of playing cards, Harry stuffed them into a backpack before taking Fleur's hand as they walked down the stairs to the Floo. Grabbing a pinch of the silver powder, Harry waited for Fleur to travel first before throwing his own into the fire. "Leaky Cauldron!"
With a flash of green flames, Harry stepped out onto into the dimly-lit pub. Taking Fleur's hand again, they walked towards the back of the pub, giving a wave to Tom who smiled toothlessly back. "Have a good one, you two!"
Harry chuckled softly at the man's enthusiasm, even with the country at war and Death Eater attacks taking place every other day, Tom never seemed to lose his cheer. Part of Harry wished he could have that kind of mentality.
Reaching the courtyard behind the pub, Harry pulled out his ebony wand and tapped several brinks to open the way. Opening the archway into Diagon Alley, they both froze at the scene in front of them.
…
Diagon Alley had become a warzone.
Several of the shops on the main cobblestone path were on fire, their front windows looked to have been blown apart by spells. All around the path, dead bodies littered the area as a group of black-robbed individuals did battle with another group, who wore a combination of red and blue robes.
The red robes were the new uniform for the British Aurors, to distinguish themselves from their French counterparts in blue.
The fighting was intense, with Unforgivable Curses being thrown by the Death Eaters, and a mixture of Stunning, Blasting, and Cutting Curses were sent from the Aurors' wands.
As one of the Death Eaters in the rear, wearing a far more decorated silver mask than the others, fell to a Cutting Curse at the neck, the others started to panic.
"MORSMORDRE!" One of the Death Eaters shouted, conjuring the Dark Mark in the sky before they quickly gathered those on their side who were still alive before Portkeying away.
A collective sigh of relief came from the Aurors, who all were covered in sweat, dirt, and blood. The fighting seemed to have been going on for well over an hour, and most of them had used up all of their magic. Thankfully, now that the enemy was gone, they could finally catch a break as they sent word for Healers to Apparate in.
With the sounds of over a dozen pops signaling the arrival of assistance, those that could still move began checking the bodies of the Aurors who had fallen. Most of those among the dead were British Aurors, who had far less training than the French, or who had been taken out in the initial attack when the Death Eaters surprised them.
There were, luckily, very few bodies of innocents. With how scared the magical community was, practically no bystanders were in Diagon Alley when the attack happened.
- Harry's Apartment -
Not wanting to get caught in the aftermath, Harry and Fleur had quickly moved away from the scene and hurried back to their apartment. As soon as the front door was shut, Fleur got to work immediately, warding it with charms before moving over to do the same with the windows overlooking the street.
There was a nervous silence in the living room as they sat cuddled together on the couch, waiting as Hedwig arrived with the emergency edition of the Daily Prophet.
DEATH EATERS ATTACK -
DIAGON ALLEY IN RUINS!
By: Andy Smudgley
The front-page photo showed the aftermath of the attack that Harry and Fleur had seen firsthand. Bodies littering the street as wounded and bloodied Aurors moved around the area, helping the Healers get their comrades to St. Mungo's while others began checking the identities of the Death Eater bodies.
The article explained that the Death Eaters had done another surprise attack, catching the few Aurors stationed at Diagon Alley off-guard as they set fire to several shops, the most notable being Ollivander's.
When reinforcements had arrived, the fight quickly turned into all-out warfare as the two sides fought from opposite ends of the Alley. Several more shops, including Madam Malkin's Robes and Fortescue's Ice Cream, were destroyed in the ensuing battle.
The final body count revealed that three innocent bystanders had been killed, including Florean Fortescue himself. Of the thirty Aurors who fought, twelve had been killed or fatally wounded before being carried off to St. Mungo's where they died shortly thereafter from their wounds.
It was estimated that around twenty Death Eaters had been involved in the fight, and eight were found dead. Two were identified as newly graduated Slytherin students from Hogwarts, and one was identified as Rodolphus Lestrange, the leader of the group whose death signaled the retreat of the remaining Death Eaters.
Knock Knock!
Before they could continue reading, there was a knock on the front door, causing their heads to snap in its direction before glancing at each other worriedly. Getting up from the couch, Fleur drew her wand.
"Homenum Revelio." She whispered, watching at the Presence Revealing charm showed a single person standing outside the door. The person on the other side felt the charm pass over them and waved back politely.
Slowly opening the door, Harry blinked at the person on the other side of the door, wondering what the hell Dumbledore was doing standing there in bright orange robes with yellow shooting stars moving across the material.
"Headmaster? What are you doing here?"
"Maybe I come in? There's much we need to talk about." Dumbledore asked politely.
Spotting the Elder Wand in his grip, Harry was relieved that he wasn't an imposter under Polyjuice, not with that wand in his hand.
Nodding, he stepped back to let the aged wizard inside before closing the door behind him as Fleur came over to greet to the Headmaster.
"Ah! Ms. Delacour, how lovely to see you again. I hope things are well?" Dumbledore asked, smiling happily as he shook her hand. Her passive allure having no effect on him at all.
"Oui, 'Eadmaster Dumbledore. Despite everything that iz going on, of course." Fleur replied, feeling Harry move to stand next to her. "What can we do for you, sir?"
"Yes, things have been quite hectic as of late. The recent attacks have been picking up at a frightening pace…Which is why I've come here to ask Harry a favor." Dumbledore turned his attention to Harry as he continued. "You remember when I spoke of an Order that your parents were a part of?"
"The Order of the Phoenix, right?" Harry replied, getting a nod from the Headmaster.
"Indeed. The Order is a secret group that was founded to oppose Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the last Civil Blood War. We've once again taken the fight to them, but as it is a secret group, we cannot meet in public locations like Hogwarts." Dumbledore explained, finally getting to the reason for why he was there. "It was my hope, Harry, that you would allow us to use Grimmauld Place as our base of operations."
Glancing at Fleur as she shrugged, he gave his own shrug in reply. "Sure…We're not going to be using the place, so it'll just sit empty otherwise."
There was no real harm in letting the Order use the building. They had already taken out everything of importance or value, and all that was left were tables, couches, and chairs. If Dumbledore wanted to use the place to fight back against the Death Eaters, then that wasn't a problem for him.
"Thank you, Harry." Dumbledore smiled, sighing in relief that he wouldn't have to look elsewhere for a base of operations. "Before I leave, there's something you both should be aware of…"
The seriousness in his tone caught them both off guard, but they kept quiet as the man seemed to struggle with what he was about to say.
"The Order has received news that Voldemort may be making his move soon. The Death Eaters have been suffering many losses thanks to the assistance of France's Aurors, and now he's desperate to find a way to win."
"We believe…" Dumbledore paused, glancing at Harry and Fleur as if trying to come to a decision about what he wanted to reveal. "We believe that he may attack the Ministry in the hopes of recovering an…artifact. One that has significant importance to you, Harry."
"Me?", Harry asked, confused as to what he was talking about.
"Yes, Harry…you." He confirmed, "What do you know of Prophecies?"
At the word 'prophecies', Harry understood immediately where this was going. Voldemort must be struggling against a combined effort of Britain and France, and since the Pureblood Faction wasn't backing him this time around, he needed to find out if the prophecy was still in effect or if there was something included that could lead him to victory.
Except…only the people who are involved with the prophecy can grab it from the Department of Mysteries.
If Voldemort wants to find out what it says, he'll need to actually go to the Ministry in person and retrieve it himself. Without the Horcrux in Harry's scar, there was no way for him to coerce Harry into getting it through fake visions.
"Not much, sir." Harry lied. "I understand it's an elective at Hogwarts, but I've never been interested in that sort of thing."
"Then this will come as a shock to you, Harry. But there was a prophecy made during the last Civil Blood War that involves both you and Voldemort." Dumbledore explained, and Harry was quick to put as good of a fake shocked look on his face. "It was prophesized that someone would be born with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, and based on that night in Godric's Hollow, I believe it to be you."
Waiting a few moments for his words to sink in, Dumbledore went on. "During the last Civil Blood War, Voldemort learned only part of the prophecy. And we believe he will make another attempt at it, in order to discover what lead to his downfall, and whether or not it will happen again."
Harry nodded, feeling Fleur's hand squeeze his comfortingly as he processed the information.
It was exactly what he thought it was going to be, and there was no small amount of surprise on Harry's end that Dumbledore was willing to reveal all of this to him. "…why tell me all of this, sir?"
As nice as it was to see Dumbledore trusting him with the information, he figured the man had a specific reason for coming to the apartment personally.
"Because…" Dumbledore glanced at Fleur worriedly for a second, before focusing on Harry. "Should he learn the contents of the prophecy, he may very well come after you again. Which is why I'm here…"
"I understand you both will be leaving for France in a week?" Harry and Fleur nodded. "Good…Should Voldemort succeed in taking the prophecy, then it is my recommendation that you both stay in France, and not return to Britain."
Wide-eyed, Harry stared at the Headmaster as Fleur gasped. "Sir?" That wasn't what he excepted, he thought that Dumbledore might ask him to fight or to go hunting for Horcruxes. Not flee the country.
Nodding gravely, Dumbledore explained. "I understand it is a lot to ask of you, Harry. But if Voldemort should succeed, and find out the contents of the prophecy… it will mean that our attempts to stop him have failed, and he will not only be able to gain control of the Ministry, but he may use the knowledge he'll gain from the Prophecy to push forward with his plans and finally gather the Pureblood Faction to his side."
"The Aurors and the Order, myself included, will do everything we can to stop him. But I fear that he will also split his forces to attack Hogwarts as well." A pained look crossed Dumbledore's face at the thought of Hogwarts being taken or destroyed. "If he should succeed, then you will need to stay as far away from the school as possible."
Pulling out a letter from a pocket of his orange robes, Dumbledore handing it over to Harry. "This letter contains everything you'll need to transfer from Hogwarts to Beauxbatons for your final year, including a personal note from myself for Headmistress Maxime."
"I trust that Ms. Delacour here," Nodding at Fleur, "Will assist you in getting what you will need for your schooling."
"Of courze!" Fleur replied as if the answer was obvious.
"But…" She added, glancing down at the letter stamped with the Hogwarts seal before asking. "You speak as if thiz will happen soon."
Harry nodded along with her. The way Dumbledore was talking, and the distress they could hear in his tone, it seemed as if the Headmaster thought that the attack was going to come in the next week or two.
"That is because it will." Dumbledore grimaced. "Our information suggests that Voldemort will be making his move on the Ministry and Hogwarts in a week's time…I fear that it will be too soon for the Ministry and the Order to gather enough support to face an attack on two fronts without suffering…severe losses."
The conversation died out as the thought sunk in. The possibility that Voldemort's forces could very well succeed hovering over them like a dark cloud. Harry thought furiously of a way to stop it from happening, and while he wasn't sure how to help with the Ministry, he did have one idea for Hogwarts.
"Actually, sir." He spoke up, drawing Dumbledore's attention away from his own sober thoughts. "I may have an idea that could help us…"
It was time to take a trip back to Hogwarts.
- Chamber of Secrets -
"Marvelous!" Dumbledore expressed, his eyes roaming over the sealed entrance to the Chamber as the three of them walked down the dark tunnel and up to the stone wall with two serpents carved into it. "Simply fascinating! Many, including myself, have searched for this chamber over the centuries, but none have ever discovered it."
It had been an interesting trip for the trio. Harry had revealed that he knew the location of the Chamber of Secrets, and tried to come up for a believable lie for how he figured out where it was.
It had taken him having to explain that he was a Parseltongue, and the use of the Cloak, to convince Dumbledore of a lie that he had found it after exploring the castle in his free time.
Not that it was technically a lie. Harry had to do some exploring to figure out which Second-floor bathroom the secret entrance was at, seeing as each floor of Hogwarts had more than one bathroom for each gender, and all of the doors along the hallways looked similar to each other.
He had initially tried to go alone into the Chamber, but Fleur refused to leave his side, and Dumbledore wouldn't pass up a chance to discover something new about the school. Thus, leading to all three of them making their way down the staircase and into the dark tunnels that lead to Slytherin's secret chamber.
Standing beside the awestruck Headmaster, Fleur giggled at the child-like wonder coming from the elderly wizard as Harry chuckled softly. Turning serious, Harry spoke up, "I suggest you both keep your eyes to the ground once we're inside. The Basilisk may not be happy that I brought others down here, and it might try to stare into your eyes and kill you."
Dumbledore and Fleur nodded, the humor leaving their faces as Harry turned to the wall, speaking in a low, faint hiss. "~Open.~"
At his word, the serpents parted as the wall cracked open into two halves, smoothly sliding out of sight.
"Follow me." Harry ordered, taking the lead as they stepped into the Chamber, their footsteps echoing against the stone walls in the otherwise dead silent room.
Crossing the single stretch of stone leading up to the massive carved face of Salazar Slytherin, that acted as the nesting room for the Basilisk, Harry took a deep breath before speaking again in Parseltongue. "~Ssspeak to me, Ssslytherin. Greatessst of the Hogwartsss Four.~"
As the mouth of Salazar's statue opened, Harry motioned for the them to step back quickly as the colossal size of the Basilisk slithered out.
Keeping their eyes to the ground, they heard the shifting of its scaled body as its massive head rose up above them. "~Why have you called on me…~" It hissed, bringing its head down to glare at the familiar raven-haired child. "~I sssaid only to call on my when the ssschool isss attacked.~"
Harry gulped at the murderous tone of the ancient beast, already thinking that this was a bad idea. 'Too fucking late to stop now, Harry.' He thought, hearing Fleur shift nervously as Dumbledore palmed the Elder Wand beside them. It was difficult to hear his own thoughts with how loud his heart was pounding in his chest, and he had to quell the desire to wipe the sweat gathering on his forehead.
Even though this wasn't the first time he spoke with the beast, Harry knew that he would never be able to shake off the terror he felt in its presence.
"~Forgive me…~"
Pausing, Harry couldn't recall what the Basilisk's name was. 'Fuck! What was its name again? Something 'S'…. Setha? Sarah? No...Right, Sythia!'
"~…Sssythia, but the ssschool isss sssoon to be attacked by the Betrayer'sss forcesss…~" He explained, hoping that it was good enough to keep the Basilisk from killing them immediately.
His words did the trick as the Basilisk reared its head back in surprise. "~WHAT!~" It roared, making them flinch away from it as Sythia slowly got control of itself before speaking again. "~I sssee…And when will thisss attack happen?~"
"~In ssseven daysss time.~" Harry replied, "~If I call on you, will you ssstill help protect the ssschool?~" He asked, needing to be sure that it was still willing to help. The last thing he wanted was to release the Basilisk, only for it to go on a rampage and kill everyone while destroying the castle.
The Basilisk stared down at him for a moment before replying, a touch of anger in its tone that the human should question its words. "~Of courssse…That isss what Massster Sssalazar bid me to do.~"
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, some of his worries eased by the Basilisk's answer.
Now they had a thousand-year-old Basilisk on their side to help fight Voldemort's forces. From what Dumbledore told him on the way there, it seemed like Voldemort was going to be using his other forces of Giants, Trolls, and Werewolves to attack the school while the Death Eaters went for the Ministry.
"~Then the next time I will call on you, be prepared for battle.~" Harry replied, getting a nod from the Basilisk before it slithered back into the statue's mouth which closed behind it.
When the mouth finally closed with a BANG, Harry had to reach out and lean on Fleur's shoulder while his knees shook. "You both can look up now." He added, taking a few moments to try and calm his rapidly beating heart.
"I must say, Harry." Dumbledore spoke up, glancing at Harry's sweat covered face before turning to look at the stone columns around the room decorated in snake carvings. "You are surprisingly more like your father than I thought. You would have done well in Gryffindor." He teased, chuckling as he reached out to pat Harry on the back.
Holding onto Harry's side while his arm rested on her shoulder, Fleur giggled softly.
…
Making their way back up to the Girl's Bathroom, Dumbledore led them back to his office as Harry and Fleur followed behind hand in hand. The death grip Fleur had on Harry's hand made him realize how terrified she was, despite her having kept it together admirably while they were down in the Chamber.
As they waited for the stone gargoyle protecting Dumbledore's office to move away and reveal the staircase, Harry let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulder, kissing the top of her white-gold hair as he pulled her shaking body against his.
"It's okay, Flower. We're safe now." He whispered into her ear, feeling her cling tightly to his body for support as she gathered her nerves.
"That was worse than the Dragons." She whispered back, her face pressing into his shoulder as they walked up the stairs behind the Headmaster, who could hear them whispering but kept quiet to give them some privacy.
When they stepped into the office, Dumbledore motioned them over to the two guest chairs in front of his desk as he moved around it to sit in his larger chair. The old chair creaking gently as his aged body sank into the comforting leather.
Harry quickly pulled the two guest chairs closer together so that Fleur could continue to rest her head on his shoulder as they all sat quietly for a moment. At Dumbledore's side, the soft melody of Fawkes's voice drifted through the air like a soft rain washing over them, cleansing away their terror and calming their nerves.
The phoenix's song worked beautifully, drawing soft smiles from the three as they all started to feel better.
"Thank you, Fawkes..." Dumbledore said, bringing his hand up to rub Fawkes's plumage.
Sighing, he turned his attention to the couple sitting in front of him. "With the Basilisk protecting Hogwarts, Voldemort's forces will find it nearly impossible to take the castle." The relief in his statement was palpable, and Fleur's smile brightened along with Harry's as she finally lifted her head from his shoulder.
"All that is left, is to prepare the Aurors and the Order for the attack on the Ministry. But that is for myself and others to worry about." He continued, smiling at them as he waved a hand towards where his office's Floo was. "You two should go home and get some rest, my Floo is open for you both to return to the Leaky Cauldron."
Harry and Fleur nodded tiredly, getting up slowly from the chairs.
Despite how little actual work they had done, and how early in the evening it was, the amount of adrenaline that they felt from witnessing the battle in Diagon Alley and being in the presence of the Basilisk was more than enough for them to head to bed early tonight.
They were going to need all the rest they could get for the battle coming next week.
Their final plan was for Harry and Fleur to arrive at Hogwarts in the morning on the day of the attack, where they would be met by Minerva and Flitwick, who would be responsible for activating the wards on the castle and helping to fight off the forces coming to attack the school.
All the while, Dumbledore would be leading the Order to the Ministry, and help the Aurors fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters to prevent them from reaching the prophecy or taking the Ministry by force.
…
With a final good night to the Headmaster, Harry and Fleur used his Floo to travel back to the Leaky Cauldron. Shuffling through the small crowd of people eating dinner, they quickly moved into the back courtyard and opened the archway.
Luckily, Diagon Alley wasn't in the midst of another battle this time, though the burnt down ruins of several shops remained. As well as the blacked and bloodied cobblestone path that had yet to be cleaned up, seeing as the Ministry was focused on more pressing concerns at the moment.
Quickly reaching the apartment, Harry made them both a warm cup of tea as Fleur warded the front door before sinking down onto the couch together.
The only sound in the room came from the crackling of the fire in the fireplace, as the warm orange glow lit up their features while they sipped on their tea. Fleur had moved over to sit on his lap as they stared out the window, their eyes unfocused as they thought of what was to come.
The two of them sat there for almost an hour, the warmth of the fire and feel of their lover's body gently lulling them to sleep. When the last of his tea was finished, Harry waved his ebony wand and sent the cups into the kitchen while he lifted Fleur's sleeping frame off the couch, having fallen asleep in his lap.
Padding softly across the wood floors, he gently laid her down on the bed before climbing in behind her and pulling the covers over them.
With a soft kiss on her cheek, Harry cuddled up behind her sleeping body, breathing in her white-gold hair's cinnamon scent as he slowly joined her in sleep.