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Rise of the Dark Angel	By : isabel88 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 61369 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does, as such, I am NOT making any money off of this....

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Title: Rise of the Dark Angel

Author: Izzyb09

Beta Reader/Co-Author: Tonks-is-cool.

Chapter: 11: Making an Entrance Part One: Allies and Enemies

Settings: AU after OOTP: It's canon up to the beginning of the battle at the DOM when they are in the veil room, after that, it's AU and mine.

Pairings: HP/DM; LV/SS; LM/RL; NL (CL)/LL; RL/BL

Warnings: This story will contain mentions of Violence, Child Abuse, Adult Language, Alcohol Use, Slash/Het Sexual situations and Death. Please discontinue reading if such scenes or themes are offensive to you.

A/N: you know, I think this is the fastest we’ve ever updated. *laughs* but that’s because this chapter was written in advance so we got it out faster to you guys. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…if I did, Ginny would have died in the CoS, Dumbledore would have choked on his lemon drops and Harry would have stood up for himself against Molly and Dumbledore.

Disclaimer 2: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Disclaimer 3: Everything InuYasha related is owned by Rumiko Takahashi. I just love the anime, I do not own it and as such, no money is being made nor is any copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Letter or commentary/introduction and flashback

{Parssseltongue}

~…~ indicates scene change

O.P.D.: Wednesday 23rd Feb. ’11.

Last time on RDA;

Hedwig flashed into the room. She looked at the three of them before trilling softly. |What have you three been up to?|

"Nothing much," Harry smiled.

Hedwig ruffled her feathers before softly thrilling; the sound moved through the room and the three found themselves feeling more relaxed and calmer.

"Thank you girl," Snape smiled. "Take him home and make sure he rests."

Hedwig nodded and she and Harry flashed out.

"It is done," Voldemort looked at his lover.

"Yes," Snape nodded, "Now come, despite the potion, you should still get some rest. We do not know what effects the sudden rejoining of your soul will have on you."

"Rest with me?" Voldemort asked as he allowed himself be pulled from the chaise longue and over to the bed.

"Always," Snape replied and the two settled on the bed, with Voldemort curled around Snape, and drifted off to sleep.

Being that Harry was meeting with the Dark Lord and Snape, Draco and the others made their way back to Potter Manor. Remus wasn't with them as he and Fenrir had already left to go on the mission for Voldemort.

"I can't believe you guys and Remus are on Voldemort's side," Charlie said as he collapsed into a one-seat chair in the Living Room.

"Believe it." Draco smirked as he took a seat in the recliner.

"Well," Charlie corrected, "you I can understand as everyone basically knew about your father, but Luna and Neville—

"Actually," Cory interrupted, "my name isn't Neville...it's Cory."

"Wait...what?" Bill looked at him. "What are you talking about? You're Neville Longbottom, son of Alice and Frank Longbottom."

"No," Cory shook his head with a grin, "I'm not."

"Oh man," Charlie groaned, "more secrets, and let me guess, somehow, Dumbledore is mixed up in it?"

"You'd be right Charlie," George grinned.

"Ok," Bill sighed before he smiled. "What is it? If you're not a Longbottom, then who do you belong to?"

"That'd be us," a voice sounded at the entrance to the room.

The friends looked back and saw the LeStranges standing there; Bill and Charlie jumped in shock while the others laughed.

"Bloody demons of the underworld!?" Bill looked between the LeStranges and Cory, seeing the similarities.

"Not demons, my dear," Bellatrix giggled. "Just Dumbledore and his stupid manipulations."

"Whoa wait..." Charlie pointed at the trio and Cory. "Bellatrix is your mother?"

"Yep," Cory smiled. "And Rodolphus is dad; my real name is Corvus Rodolpho LeStrange, but everyone calls me Cory."

"And just how is Dumbledore involved?" Bill asked.

"Well," Rodolphus started and he told the two exactly how their son came to be known as a Longbottom. When he was done, the two were still staring in shock.

"You know," Bill shook his head, "I really shouldn't be surprised at what I learned; I mean, just when I thought Dumbledore couldn't get any worse, I find this out."

"Trust us," Rastaban snorted, "we were just as shocked. We spent the last fifteen years believing Cory to be dead, but he's been with the Longbottoms all along."

"Hey Bill?" Fred looked at the eldest Weasley.

"Yeah?" Bill looked at his former brother; it would take some time to get used to that fact.

"I thought there was something going on between you and Fleur Delacour?" Fred asked. "What happened? I mean, are you still together?"

"Yeah," Bill nodded. "She's in France right now with her family."

"What's going to happen with the two of you, now that you're on different sides of the war?" Draco asked.

"Oh man," Bill groaned, "I didn't think about that. I'll have to talk to her; I really care about her."

"Don't worry," Luna spoke up with a smile, "things will work out in the end...quite possibly sooner than you think as she will surprise you."

Bill and Charlie looked at her confused while the others smiled.

"Don't worry," George laughed, "Luna always says things like that."

"More often than not," Cory smiled, "Harry is the only one to understand her right away, while it takes the rest of us a short while to figure it out."

"And also the Dark Lord," Draco made his input, "and Severus as well seems to be able to grasp what she's saying immediately."

"We're used to it," Rastaban looked over at Charlie, his eyes taking in his whole appearance; there was something about the redhead that was drawing him in.

"Oh," Charlie nodded, "ok then."

"Hey Draco," Cory asked, "The Dark Lord mentioned that you and Harry helped changed his mind...how?"

"Well," Draco started, "when Harry and I were on our mission, he and I started talking about muggles and travelling. I told him about some of my travels across Britain and Europe together with my father and of some of the business dealings my family has had with muggles and I also told him of how muggles are, well for lack of a better word, needed. On the other hand, we talked about the concerns we purebloods have about muggles, how the muggleborns and some of the half-bloods endanger our world, which is the reason for the anti muggle stance of the dark side and the raids on muggles and muggleborns in the first war and what is done now by the Death Eaters.

"On that day Harry told me about his childhood in the muggle world and expressed his wish to see more of muggle and wizard Britain. So we travelled around a bit in the afternoons or evenings. We visited London and other places. We looked at several muggle museums like the British, the Science, the Museum of London, and the Royal Air Force Museum. We went to see movies, and looked up certain topics up in muggle libraries. The more we learned, the more new questions popped up. It was quick and easy to get around; because Hedwig can flash us everywhere we want in an instant, much better than flooing or using the Knight Bus." Draco sneered at the mere thought of using something as plebeian as the Knight Bus.

"Well, what we learned had shaken us up. We discovered, or in Harry´s case, rediscovered, some facts he had heard about as a child in the muggle world, but that were not properly explained to him then – or he simply forgot, after learning about the wizarding world. Now Harry and I understand why the Statute of Secrets was agreed upon by all wizarding nations on Earth. We were quite shocked to discover just how dangerous muggles could be, if they ever discovered that magic is real, that there is a hidden wizarding world right in front of their noses."

Bellatrix sneered at him. "Muggles, how can they be dangerous? They are so pathetic when tortured, they cannot defend themselves, and they have no magic!"

Draco sighed. "Yes, dear aunt, they can be dangerous. Not the single unarmed civilian muggle that you catch unawares in the dark of the night, but their scientists, their armed forces, their information technology is dangerous. It is true! Let me explain."

Bellatrix and the others listening exchanged doubtful looks, but nodded, interested to hear what Draco had to say. If Draco Malfoy and the Dark Lord had changed their opinion, something extraordinary must be going on.

"Over the last sixty years, muggle technology has made astonishing progress. It is a crime that this information is not brought to the attention of the average wizard. The old fashioned Muggle studies class at Hogwarts keeps us naive, dumb, and blind to the grave danger we are in. Why? Because Dumbledore and others believe muggles are our friends, that we should like them and live peacefully together, all sunshine anddaisies!

"Did you know that muggles built spaceships and actually landed on the Moon? A spaceship with tree muggles onboard, called Apollo11, actually landed and they walked around on the Moonon 20 July 1969. After that followed several more, similar missions to outer space and the Moon."

Draco´s audience gasped and shared incredulous looks with each other.

"Did you know that they created weapons that can pulverize whole cities or even countries in the blink of an eye? During the last great muggle war, around 1940 and 1941, London and many other cities in Britain were attacked and suffered considerable damage from muggle bombs, dropped from German military airplanes. Alone the air raid called The Blitz on London killed over 30 000 muggles. The wards sheltering Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic in London held, but just because we wizards were lucky. They suffered no direct hit. Nobody knows if these wards would have held of a direct attack with conventional muggle bombs or a V2 for example, that was a dangerous long distance German weapon.

"St. Mungo’s was somewhere else before that muggle war, and was relocated to its current place sometime later, heavily warded of course. This information was obviously deliberately kept secret or forgotten, well rather obliviated by our considerate Ministry of Magic, to not alarm the wizarding public.

"In August 1945, two nuclear bombs, built in America with help from German scientists, destroyed two large Japanese cities and ended the Great muggle war. Over 200 000 muggles were killed with just two Atomic bombs! In case you do not see where I’m coming from, let me explain it this way; Nuclear or Atomic bombs are very similar to the combined works of the Bombarda and Expulso Curses. They create a blistering heat wave, a blasting gust of wind and radiation all around that is lethal to all life forms. Since then, muggle scientists working for their armed forces have developed increasingly more dangerous missiles and also terrible short range combat weapons."

Draco looked a bit green in the face, remembering the pictures and short films he and Harry had seen about the great muggle war, called World War Two. His audience looked as if they were going to be sick too. So he changed the topic.

"Did you know that they built Satellites? That is something like a flying watching device that orbits around the planet high up in the sky. The muggles are building a network of them, all around Earth. They can broadcast Television information around the world to all muggles in a heartbeat or take photos down upon the countryside or a city with great precision.

"That is not everything. All over the muggle world, in shops, banks or on streets, on the underground, at train stations and other public places they have started to set up devices called Video Cameras. These things constantly take pictures, like a stream of photographs, well, it´s more like a pensive recording. They record everything that happens during twenty-four hours a day. There are not very many of them yet, but the muggles are building and installing more and more of them every year.

"Until now, the Obliviator or Misinformation teams from the Ministry have managed to catch most of the leaks and stop the information about strange happenings being spread amongst muggles. But it is only a question of time until such a spying device in the sky or on a street or at Kings Cross for example records something that gives us away to the muggle governments, scientists and armed forces.

"Over that new thing called the Internet, which is something combining their telephone with computers, like instant floo-network-communication worldwide, such information can travel around the planet in minutes. It is unbelievable! Should muggles discover us—should they perceive us a threat or a danger to them—they will put all of their ingenuity in finding and killing us. The witch hunts of the past would be a piece of cake compared what would happen now.

Bill and Charlie exchanged looks; they had never thought Muggles could be so dangerous. They had spent years listening to their father talk about how fascinating and exciting they were, but to hear Draco explain things now, showed that they—or their father—didn’t truly know anything about Muggles. They had learned a bit when they had been inducted into the Dark Lord’s ranks, but what Draco was telling them now, gave them more insight.

"The Department of Mysteries is working on improving wards and so on, but it is a feeble balance, muggles have become too clever for their own good,” Draco continued. “The wizarding world cannot risk to be found out. The average wizard on the street is not aware of the danger at all; so many people have become sloppy and careless. Or they think it is fun to prank the dumb muggles. Or like you, dear aunt, think it is fun to terrorize hapless muggles. The kind of raids the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters did back in the seventies, or the recent public attacks are dangerous to all magical folk.

"A few decades ago, muggles were quite oblivious. But with their newly developed technology, it is only a question of time until muggle scientists and their military discover us, if we aren't more careful. When we spoke to the Dark Lord, we told him what we had learned. Believe me, he didn´t like it at all. We were both punished of course, or rather, I was punished for mentioning it and Harry was punished because of me being punished.

"Later, after the Dark Lord had calmed down and listened to our explanations, which included showing him some of our memories in his pensive, he admitted that Yaxley and my father brought him confidential reports from the Department of Mysteries. These reports shed a light on research done by the Unspeakables, with disturbingly similar results as what Harry and I discovered on our own by simply being curious and visiting a few muggle museums and libraries.

"And besides that, is the whole question of what are mudbloods and where do they come from? That too is a topic of research by the Unspeakables. It appears that muggleborns are not stealing magic off wizards as the old theory went, but that they might be descendants of half-bloods and squibs, only that the wizard connections have become obscured or forgotten for various reasons. Severus and Harry spoke with the Dark Lord about this topic too. So now you know why the Dark Lord changed his mind." Draco finished his lecture and leaned back. He took a glass of juice to dampen his throat after speaking for so long.

The teens, the LeStranges, Bill and Charlie sat there looking at Draco shocked speechless.

“Wow,” Charlie shook his head.

"What did you mean by punishments?" Bill asked, referring to an earlier statement as he was too overwhelmed to focus on everything else.

"Well," Draco chuckled, "Harry really doesn't take too kindly to someone hurting me," the others grinned when they remembered how Narcissa had suffered, "and he reacted to the Dark Lord punishing me." Draco couldn’t help the smile as he remembered fondly how Harry had tried to defend him.

"Reacted how?" Charlie asked; he was intrigued by what Draco was telling him. To hear that Harry would stand against the Dark Lord...it was slightly mind boggling.

"His magic was going to lash out," Draco clarified in a slightly smug tone.

"At the Dark Lord?" Bill and Charlie were shocked; they couldn't imagine anyone actually fighting against the Dark Lord, especially after pledging to be on his side.

"Like Draco said," Fred chuckled, "Harry really doesn't take too kindly to someone hurting Draco."

"What did the Dark Lord do?" Bill asked.

"He did the only thing he could do," Draco said, "he cast the Cruciatus on Harry for a moment; it brought his magic back under control. Harry accepted his superiority, again, and submitted."

At the wide-eyed looks from the two, the others laughed.

"You guys have to understand that Harry," Cory started, "and us included, know that while Harry himself is very powerful, he still understands that he is working for the Dark Lord, who in all essentials is our boss, our master, even if we are not branded with the Dark Mark."

"The only thing is," George picked up, "Harry has already stated in no uncertain terms, that he will not allow anyone to hurt Draco...not even the Dark Lord. I'd imagine that if it was one of us, he'd more than likely have real effort restraining himself, but only if it was the Dark Lord that punished us. Harry accepts a reasonable punishment, but nothing more."

"If it's anyone else," Fred continued, "he wouldn't have control and it's even worse with Draco here, because Harry loves him. He would do anything to protect him."

"Even if it meant starting a conflict with the Dark Lord," Charlie surmised.

"Yes," the teens nodded.

"And I think," Bellatrix spoke up, "not condemning, speaking ill or mutinous of our Lord, but I think our Lord knows this and knows that if he were to attack any one of the teens without reason, he would lose important followers."

"Trixie's right," Rodolphus smiled at his wife before looking at his son. "Now that we have our son back, we would not be able to stand by and watch him be attacked by our Lord no matter how loyal we are to him and I daresay, Lucius is the same with Draco. It´s a good thing that our Lord has regained not only his good looks, but also his sanity for whatever reason. Well, I believe Harry is behind this development."

"But," Charlie looked at said blond, "it was to my understanding that your father...well...your father—

"What? Hated me? Despised me?" Draco chuckled, "I suppose those are therumoursgoing around and if I do say so myself, I'm damn proud of my, and my father's, ability to act in public."

"It was all an act?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Draco nodded, "in fact..." and so, he told the two newcomers exactly how he and his father are in private and how much he really meant to the cold-hearted Lucius Malfoy.

~...~

Miles away in Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, the atmosphere was anything but festive. Just a couple of days ago, Arthur and Molly Weasley had gotten a shock when the Family Clock and the Burrow Wards had informed them of the shift, more specifically of the removal of Fred and George.

Arthur and Molly were once again in the kitchen, and were joined by their two youngest, Ron and Ginny, along with Hermione, who had taken to visit the Weasley's everyday ever since the Inferi attack.

"Mum, dad," Ginny looked at her parents. "What does it mean? Does that mean there's something wrong with the twins?"

The kids had been told what exactly had happened a few hours after it did.

"I hope not," Arthur's sigh was weary. "But neither your mother nor I can get in touch with the twins to find out exactly what is going on."

"What could have caused their names to be removed?" Hermione asked.

"Only three things," Arthur answered, "the Patriarch of the family, in this case me, removes them from the House Wards and the Weasley Clan, sort of a disownment, their deaths and the third option would, they removed themselves."

"What?" Hermione, Ron and Ginny were shocked.

"No," Molly shook her head, "not my twins, they wouldn't have done this."

"But mum," Ginny spoke up softly, as though afraid to anger her mother, "at the Will reading, they all but stated they would side with Harry. What if that's what happened? I mean, you don't think they were so shocked and angry with us that they would do this, would you?"

"They wouldn't!" Hermione was shocked. "You guys are family, and Harry isn't."

"And yet they were willing to stand with him over us at the reading," Ginny countered. "Who says they didn't disown themselves?"

"They wouldn't actually do that, would they?" Hermione looked around at them.

"THAT BASTARD!" Ron got up from his chair so fast that it flew back. "It's all his fault! I can't believe this. First he almost gets us killed, then he does something so that we don't get money, he refuses to answer Hermione's letter and now he's turned the twins against us."

"Ron," Hermione started, "you can't honestly believe Harry had something to do with this?"

"And why not Hermione?" Ginny scowled at her.

"Well for one thing," Hermione started, "Harry wasn't even at the will reading and he didn't know about it so there's no way he could've done something and the twins don't seem like the ones to do something just because someone told them to do it. Not everything that happens is his fault."

"Oh yeah?" Ron turned to scowl at his girlfriend. "Remember the Burrow was attacked and it's because of him; it's because you-know-who believes we're close to him so he attacked us, so it is his fault."

"Well, I suppose I agree with you there," Hermione conceded before turning to Arthur and Molly. "What do you think could've happened to cause this?"

"I think it's the last option," Arthur sighed, "I do believe the twins disowned themselves."

"Of all the--," Molly scowled. "Why would they do that?"

"You saw how they reacted at the will reading," Arthur responded, "they were ready to go against Ron for Harry; it wouldn't surprise me if they did do it because of that."

"So what are we going to do?" Ron asked, "the twins got all that money from the mutt and plus with their store opening soon...we'll never get money from them now."

"They wouldn't abandon their family like that." Hermione looked aghast; she couldn't fathom anyone just leaving their family like how the twins seemed to be doing. "I mean, not after everything you've done for them."

"They would do that," Ginny snorted, "it'd be just like them. So after all we did, we get nothing."

"Maybe not," Molly said before turning to Hermione. "Do you remember what Albus was hinting at that day in his office?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded.

"You have to make sure you succeed," Molly said, "we'll be going to Diagon Alley soon for your school supplies and we should see the Potter brat there, however, even if we don't, you will find him on the train and tell him you're sorry about the letter and you want to be friends. Then you will tell him about the will, but do it in such a way that he doesn't figure out what you're truly after."

"He's too stupid to figure it out," Ron snorted, "we'll be fine."

"Let's hope so," Arthur sighed, "that money would have come in handy; I'm glad to Merlin we were able to fight off the attack a while back."

Hermione looked around at the Weasleys; a part of her was starting to regret her actions towards Harry, considering how he had treated her from the get go. He had been her very first friend and it was through him she and Ron, and by extension the other Weasleys, had become friends; Ron had wanted nothing to do with her from the start, but because of Harry, he had changed his mind. She sighed and looked out the window; while that part of her was regretting her past actions, another part of her cared too much about being in the good graces of a Wizarding family to destroy it.

~...~

"How close are we to the two packs?" Remus questioned Fenrir as they took a rest stop.

"At the most, another day away," Fenrir answered as he looked around. "Their territory encloses this forest and both sides of the adjoining mountain ridge. They must be around here somewhere, but of course when they are hunting, they wander around quite a bit, following the deer. During winter, they stick to their camp site at that old farm near the forest´s border we checked yesterday, but during the summer months they enjoy roaming the forest, just as my pack does."

The day they had left(on the 4^th), Fenrir had led Remus to his pack where he had fought a few of the other wolves who threatened him; though he was a new wolf, Remus held his own and came out on top, proving to the wolves that he was worthy to be a part of their pack. It also helped that he was bigger than the other Beta.

"Are they close to each other?" Remus asked as he leaned against a tree trunk.

"Separated by that mountain ridge," Fenrir answered, "they know that the other pack is there, but they have a sort of truce going on."

"I see," Remus shifted against tree until he was comfortable.

"You know," Fenrir started conversationally, "I never thought I'd see the day when you accepted the wolf as a part of you rather than an affliction to hate and despise."

"Neither did I," Remus shook his head with a smile, "but Harry helped me."

"That boy works wonders, doesn't he?" Fenrir murmured as he thought on all he knew about Harry and what he had done.

"Yes he does," Remus nodded before he shifted once more; he was anxious to get to the wolf packs so that they could do what they were supposed to and go back home. He missed his blond.

"Ready pup?" Fenrir asked when he noticed the shifting.

"Yes," Remus knew that it would be futile to keep arguing with the other wolf over the name, so he held back the retort, it also helped that the wolf was his Alpha.

The two stood and each called their wolves to the forefront; soon enough, where two humans stood before, now were two wolves. The bigger of the two gave a slight growl to the smaller and they both took off into the woods. They ran until sundown before stopping once more. They changed back when they found a safe spot to do so.

"We'll rest here for the night," Fenrir said, "before we continue on to the packs; they're just over a few hours away, so we should make it there by midmorning if we leave at dawn."

"Sounds good to me," Remus nodded and the two settled down for the night.

~...~

It was now the seventh of August, which meant that the teens would be heading to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies. Harry's meeting with Voldemort and Snape was two days ago and true to his word, he had mostly rested those two days; he did not work out as hard as he did on other days. Draco had of course wondered why he was so tired and when Harry had told him that it was a result of the meeting and that as much as he'd like to, he couldn't tell, he had accepted it. He had noticed that Harry’s famous scar had faded to a very fine silver lightning bolt and he had also sensed that Harry's magic had increased and knew that it had to do with whatever had happened in that meeting, which would probably explain why his boyfriend had been so tired.

Not wanting to rouse any suspicions beforehand, Draco would travel with his father as always, while Harry, Luna and Cory would be going together.

They were all at Malfoy Manor getting ready to go; Fred and George had gone to Diagon Alley early that morning to do some last minute preparations. Charlie had gone back to Romania while Bill had headed down to France to see and talk with Fleur.

"Don't forget about Luna's warning guys," Harry looked at the others. "We don't want to give away our game plan before we get to school."

"And that means we have to avoid being seen together," Draco finished; he hated that idea, no matter how much he knew it was what they needed to do. Now that he and Harry were finally together, he wanted to be with him.

Harry reached out and pulled the blond into his arms, allowing Draco to rest his forehead on Harry's shoulder.

"I know," Harry smiled into Draco's hair, "I don't want to be away from you either, but we have to do this. With our changed appearances, Cory, Luna and I will be hard to recognize, but that isn't even a guarantee. I want to avoid the traitors as much as possible until school."

"I understand," Draco pulled back to look at his boyfriend, "I don't have to like it, but I do understand."

"Thank you," Harry smiled before claiming his lips in a kiss. It was short because of their audience, but neither minded. They pulled away and turned to look at the others. "I really wished Remus would've been back already."

"So do I," Lucius agreed, "but I know this is important to our Lord's advances and I shall bear. I waited years to be with him, I can wait a while longer."

"It's time," Snape said as he observed the group. "Remember your positions; you do not want to be revealed as of yet."

"We know," Cory nodded, "We won't mess up."

"Let's go," Harry nodded letting go of Draco. "Cory, Luna and I will have Hedwig take us directly to Ragnok's office and then we'll try and meet you at the twins or the Three Broomsticks."

"Sounds like a plan," Draco said and he kissed Harry once more before turning to the Floo, which has father had just activated. "Diagon Alley!" He disappeared in a flash of green flames.

"Be safe," Lucius told the three.

"We will," Cory nodded and watched as Lucius inclined his head in a nod before following his son.

"Hedwig," Harry called and the phoenix flashed into the room to land on Harry's shoulder. Harry turned to Snape. "What are you going to be doing today?"

"Another abysmal year is about to be embarked upon," Snape sneered, "as such, I must accumulate the lesson plans that will attempt to raise the intelligence of the dunderheads that roam the school."

"At least this year will be more interesting than last," Harry said.

"You are correct on that point," Snape nodded, "the presence of Lucius and the changes that encompassed the three of you do indeed make for an exciting year."

"Well," Cory smiled briefly, "we'll let you get to that."

"I do wish we could go with you," Rudolphus said as he, Bellatrix and Rastaban walked into the room.

"I know," Cory nodded, "so do I; but don't worry, there will be plenty of time in the future for us to be seen together."

"We should go," Luna spoke up she walked over to Harry, followed by Cory.

"See you guys later," Harry said and the trio disappeared in a flash of fire.

~...~

Harry, Luna and Cory appeared in Ragnok's office, startling the other occupant, the goblin for the Longbottom vault, Peregrine.

"Lord Potter-Black," Ragnok stood from his desk and moved around to bow to Harry.

"Ragnok," Harry groaned, "What did I tell you about calling me that?"

"Forgive me Harry," Ragnok grinned, which looked a bit scary on the goblin. "My mind seems to have slipped."

"Yeah and I'm a fuzzy bunny," Harry snorted before holding out his hand for Ragnok to shake. "You're mind doesn't slip anymore than I am female."

Ragnok laughed. "Well said, young one." He turned to Luna and Cory. "Ahh, Ms. Lovegood, you so do look like your late mother and you, I see the truth has finally been revealed."

"Thank you," Luna smiled, tucking a strand of her dirty-blond hair behind her ear. It never failed to please her to hear someone tell her how much like her mother she looked; she considered it a great compliment.

"Yes it has," Cory nodded with a smile, "and all parties involved, with the exception of the one who instigated it, are very happy."

"I can see," Ragnok nodded before moving back to his seat.

Peregrine could only look on in shock; to see his boss, one who hated interactions with most wizards and humans, act so familiar with the three wizards was slightly disconcerting.

"Let us proceed shall we?" Ragnok gestured to the teens to take a seat and they did. "Now, we're here to the Longbottom holdings and what they have in store for Mr—

"My client isn't here," Peregrine interrupted; although he was a goblin, he didn't originate from London. The Longbottoms had brought another goblin from a foreign country to manage their accounts here at London Gringotts.

"Actually," Cory turned to the goblin. "I am. My name was once upon time Neville Frank Longbottom, but I recently found out the truth about my parentage and I discovered that I am actually Corvus Rodolpho LeStrange."

Peregrine tried to look shocked, he truly did, but he didn't quite pull it off.

"And from the look on your face," Cory's eyes narrowed at the goblin. "I can see that this isn't shocking to you, which leads me to believe that you knew all along about Rodolphus and Bellatrix LeStrange being my true parents."

"It would not surprise me Peregrine," Ragnok turned to the goblin and spoke with a sneer, "to learn that you did know of the deception, wizard affairs mean nothing to goblins unless it is financial."

"So I am right," Cory nodded. "You did know of what had happened."

"Yes," Peregrine nodded, "what I don't understand is, why you're here and how you found out the truth."

"How I found out doesn't matter," Cory waved his words away. "What matters is why I'm here. I'm here because I want to know what will become of the Longbottom's vault and money. Since I was obviously adopted by them, everything they owned went to me, but now that I have reclaimed my rightful status and family, do I still have access to these vaults?"

Peregrine looked like he smelled something foul, Harry decided. The way the goblin's features seemed to shift with each word that Cory spoke made it clear that he didn't want to be there to answer any questions.

"Will I inherit the Longbottom's vault along with the LeStrange vault when I turn seventeen?" Cory finished; the thought of gaining everything from the Longbottoms sent a thrill of delight through him. To think that they had taken an innocent child from his parents and then for the Old Coot to do whatever he did to erase his memories, and not to mention, the verbal abuse he suffered under from the Lady Augusta Longbottom. It seemed like poetic justice for him, a LeStrange, to take everything from them the way they had taken everything from his parents.

"No," Peregrine denied; he knew of what happened all those years ago. In the goblin's mind, it was none of his business as long as he got paid and he was. Every month for the past fifteen years, he had been paid very well for his services and his continued silence; if the boy knew that the vaults and everything Longbottom was still his that would stop.

Hedwig trilled as she shifted on Harry's shoulder; she could sense the deceit coming from the man. She nipped Harry's ear to get his attention, and when his head tilted slightly, she informed him. |he lies|

Harry turned to the goblin and narrowed his eyes.

"I think Peregrine," Luna turned to look at the goblin as well and spoke before Harry could. "It would be beneficial to your health if you do not lie. Phoenixes are such fickle creatures and a snake is even more deadly."

The goblin looked at her in confusion before his gaze drifted past her to Harry and the goblin couldn't help the slight shift back when he saw the malice in the green eyes.

"Are you sure Peregrine?" Harry questioned softly; the power could be heard in his voice.

"You wouldn't be lying to me, now would you?" Cory looked at him and his own eyes darkened with anger.

Ragnok stared at the proceedings with a smile slightly full of malice; he knew, of course, that the Longbottom fortune was still accessible to the boy, such a shame that the Longbottoms never counted on the fact that the truth would one day be revealed, so they had covered every loophole. The boy would still get everything, despite the fact that he had now acknowledged and claimed his LeStrange birthright. He hadn't say anything as he had wanted to see what move the goblin would make. He wasn't disappointed.

Peregrine looked around the room at each occupants; he took in the glee on Ragnok's face, the malice and power in Harry's, the anger in Cory's and the eerily calmness in Luna's as well as the guards at the door. He shifted once more and scowled, knowing he'd have to tell the truth lest he loose his life.

"I may have misspoken," Peregrine said, as he opened up the folders he had with him and looked through them. "It seems that due to the steps the Longbottoms had taken, you are still allowed access to everything."

"Excellent," Ragnok said as he took the folders from Peregrine. He looked them over before looking up at the teens. "All that is needed is your signature and everything shall be transferred out of the Longbottom vaults into the one opened by your parents for you the day you were born."

"Blood or ink?" Cory asked as he leaned forward.

"Blood would be more permanent," Luna said, "you really can't argue with it."

Cory smiled at his girlfriend before pricking his finger, letting a drop of blood hit the paper. When he was done, he leaned back in his seat and smirked. "The Longbottoms never expected their money and everything they valued would end up in the hands of a LeStrange."

"Karma is a bitch," Harry smiled, "they took everything from the LeStranges fifteen years ago and now the favour is being repaid."

"You are no longer needed Peregrine," Cory turned to the goblin. "But before you leave, I require a vow that you will not speak of what has happened here to anyone without my permission for if you do, your life shall be forfeit the moment the words dare to pass your lips; can't really have the Lady Longbottom figuring out anything is wrong before it's time for the bitch to know."

Peregrine scowled darkly and looked to refuse the vow when he saw Ragnok look to the guards who took a step closer, raising their weapons. Valuing his life, he turned back to the four, noticing that the teens had now moved to their feet.

"Very well," he growled out before the vow was made. A glow of light signalled the vow sealing and Peregrine left the office quickly.

Hedwig ruffled her feathers even as an amused trill escaped her. |that was fun...never knew a goblin could move so fast|

"Well now you do," Harry chuckled, drawing smiles from the others, who knew he was talking to Hedwig.

"It was such a pleasure doing business with you," Luna curtsied with a giggle and Cory wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Same here," Ragnok nodded, having enjoyed his time with the humans.

"We'd best be going," Harry said and the two teens moved to his side. "Oh and Ragnok? In regards to where my feet are planted in this war, I think you'll find Bill Weasley very trustworthy and very willing to cooperate."

"Our Lord is very pleased with his decision," Cory smirked.

Ragnok looked at Harry and Cory in slight confusion for a split second before it became clear to him and his eyes widened in disbelief and delight. "Are you saying that William Weasley is now—

"Firmly situated on our side," Luna smiled, "Your curse breaker is quite the employee."

"What of certain marks?" Ragnok asked.

"None," Harry smiled, "Bill will be another spy and will pass on information to Severus Snape if Severus is unable to get the information himself; in the event that Bill is unable to pass the information to Sev, then he will pass it on to either you or he will contact Hedwig, who will then pass it on to me."

"Very well," Ragnok nodded. "May your vaults be overflowing and may your life be enriching."

“And may your business deals always be profitable and your weapons stay sharp,” Cory replied.

Ragnok grinned and Luna curtsied while the boys bowed—Harry very carefully with Hedwig on his shoulder—before the three teens smiled and disappeared in a flash of phoenix fire.

~...~

Draco and Lucius walked through Diagon Alley, ignoring the looks they were receiving. Even without the rumours that Lucius was the right hand man of the Dark Lord, they still would be stared at simply for the fact that both Malfoy men walked through the streets with an air or superiority, power and control; walking side by side, the two made a striking picture.

"Are you collecting your books first Draco?" Lucius looked at his son. "Or will you proceed directly to Madam Malkin's?"

"Madam Malkin's," Draco answered, "I have no intention of walking through the streets with those books. I think they shall be the last thing I collect."

"Where are Harry and the others meeting you?" Lucius nodded before asking.

"We'll meet up at the twin's store," Draco smirked, "but we won't be acknowledging our relationship until we get to school. For now though, it would be positively enticing to see the look on the Weasel's face when he witnesses the changed interaction between Harry and I."

"Excellent," Lucius smirked as well and the resemblance between father and son was even more pronounced.

"When will Remus be back?" Draco asked as the two made their way over to Madam Malkin's.

"I am not sure," Lucius replied, "I imagine it would take a few days to get to where they are going and the left the day before the two newcomers were welcomed, which would be around three days ago."

"Understandable," Draco nodded as he opened the door to the shop. They ended their conversation, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop. The store was half-filled with students, both old and new; the new students stared at the two blond men in awe while the returning students steered clear of them. Draco couldn't help but to chuckle.

After being fitted for robes, the duo then made their way out the store to continue on with their shopping. They went to all the necessary stores (the Apothecary, etc) before ending up at Flourish and Blotts. There, they spotted the mudblood Hermione Granger together with the Weasleys and Draco couldn't help the smirk that he sent their way as he collected his books. He knew that this year would be exciting and he couldn't wait.

~...~

"Do you think we'll see Harry today?" Ginny asked Hermione as the two got ready to go to Diagon Alley.

"Definitely," Hermione smiled, "Harry may think we don't want to be friends with him or he with us, but it's the twins; he'll be at their store sometime today and then we can do what we're supposed to."

"Good," Ginny nodded, "because I'm tired of this; we should be together already. I didn't do all the things I did just for fun...well, maybe, but my point is, I did them so that I could have the experience for him. He's such an innocent that he'll be putty in my hands."

"What all have you done exactly?" Hermione turned to the youngest Weasley. She had heard the rumours of course, but she hadn't believed them, but now, listening to Ginny, she knew that there was at least some truth to what was being said about the redhead.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ginny smiled mischievously. "Let's just say Harry won't complain about me not knowing what to do."

"Ginny!" Hermione was scandalized. "I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"Oh stop being such a prude Hermione," Ginny rolled her eyes; really, the girl acted as if she never even heard of sex.

Hermione's eyes narrowed in offense, but before she could reply, Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out up the stairs.

"Girls, let's go!"

"Coming Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione yelled back before turning back to the redhead. "We're finishing this conversation later.”

"No we're not," Ginny snapped and her expression darkened. "This chat is over." She walked to the door. "Maybe if you did something once in a while for Ron, you wouldn't be so uptight." With that, the redhead left the rooming, leaving Hermione steaming behind her.

"I can't believe her," Hermione hissed as her hands clenched into fists.

"Can't believe what?" Ron asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Your sister," Hermione growled out before closing her eyes to take few deep, calming breaths. "You know what? Forget about it, let's go. Your mom already yelled for us."

"Can you believe the twins are actually opening up a store?" Ron asked as the two walked down the stairs. "I hope we get discounts."

"I wouldn't count on it Ron," Hermione sighed as the two cleared the stairs and walked into the kitchen where Molly, Arthur and Ginny were.

"Are you two ready?" Molly asked.

"Yes," Hermione nodded and they moved to the fireplace where Arthur activated the Floo.

"You go first Hermione," Molly nodded.

Hermione grabbed the Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!"

"Ron, you next," Molly instructed.

Ron went, followed by Ginny, Molly and then Arthur. When they stepped out of the fireplace in the pub that was the entrance to Diagon Alley, they brushed, or charmed in Hermione and Molly’s case, off the extra soot before heading to their destinations. They went to Flourish and Blotts first, where Ron and Hermione saw Draco and his father.

"It's the ferret," Ron snarled under his breath to Hermione. "I bet the git is happy about the money. I still can't believe Sirius left him money and gave him Grimmauld Place."

"I know," Hermione nodded even as her brows furrowed. "I do wonder though, what it is that Malfoy is hiding and how Sirius came to know what it was."

"Oh who bloody well cares," Ron scowled. "Look at him, thinks he's something."

"What is he smirking at?" Hermione asked when she saw the smirk on Draco's face before he left with his father.

"Forget him," Ron said, "let's just get our books before going to Madam Malkin's."

"I still need to get a new potions kit," Hermione murmured, "I want to be prepared for this year as I have a feeling Snape is going to be more—

"More of a greasy-haired git?" Ron injected. "I'm glad my grades weren't enough to get in his class. I wouldn’t have been able to stand another year under bloody Snape."

"If you and Harry had made more of an effort," Hermione said as they walked to where Ginny, Molly and Arthur were waiting, "you’d both be in potions along with me instead of having a free period.”

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "but neither one of us will be in that class, you'll be the only one. Maybe I can talk some sense into Harry then; he'll be so relieved to get our friendship back he'll believe what I tell him and forgive us."

"I hope so," Hermione smiled, "although, he was rather quick to forgive you back in fourth year after you let him know you were sorry."

Ron smiled at her quite smugly but said nothing as they joined his sister and parents. When they left the store, they headed over to Madam Malkin's for their robes.

As they were strolling through Diagon Alley, they passed by Ollivander´s wand shop. At the beginning of the summer, the Daily Prophet had a small article that the shop was found completely empty, locked up and no signs of a struggle and that Mr. Ollivander had vanished overnight. Nobody had seen him since then. The population was asked – as always when something mysterious happened this summer - to give any information they might have to the DMLE Auror office.

Ginny noticed that there was a new sign on the door, below the peeling gold letters above the door that read Ollivander, fine wand makers since 382 B.C. The shop's display consisted as always of a solitary wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

"Look, there is a new name on the door." Ginny pointed to the sign and read out the name. "Hendrik Askani. Wandmaker Journeyman. Former Apprentice of Master Wandmaker Gregorovitch."

The group stopped and gathered around the entrance to the wand shop.

"So there is a new wandmaker", Ron said. "His name sounds foreign, where do you reckon where the bloke comes from?"

"Perhaps from Germany," answered Hermione. "Askani I don´t recognize, could be German or perhaps Italian, but Hendrik is definitely German, Danish or Swedish. He has completed an apprenticeship with Master Gregorovitch. Wasn´t he the wandmaker that made Victor´s wand?"

"Victor? As in, Victor Krum?" asked Ron.

"Yes, that Victor," answered Hermione, a tiny smile on her face as she remembered the Bulgarian seeker from fourth year.

"Ohhh, that Victor!" Ginny cried out and pretended to faint because the famous Quidditch star was mentioned.

Hermione flushed a bit and rolled her eyes, while Ron glowered. He didn´t worship Victor Krum so much anymore, because of his jealously, after Krum had shown interest in Hermione during fourth year.

Mrs. Weasley commented, "It's hard to believe that someone actually kidnapped Ollivander. I hope he is still alive."

Hermione said, "It's nice to see the Ministry doing something right by bringing in someone else to make the wands until Ollivander is found, otherwise, a lot of students would be without wands this coming year."

Mrs. Wesley nodded. "Yes, so lucky for the new first years that they found someone to take over Ollivander’s wand shop until he comes back. Can you imagine how it would be for the poor dears to get a Hogwarts invitation and then to come here and to find the shop closed?"

“Thank Merlin it won’t come to that,” Mr. Weasley murmured. “Come on; let’s continue with our shopping.”

Soon enough, they were done with their school shopping and were ready to go to the twins' opening. They briefly went back to the Burrow to drop their stuff off before heading back to Diagon Alley.

~...~

Fred and George stood in front of their store, robes on with hoods up and covering their heads; they didn't want anyone to know anything about their appearances as yet until their former family was there and it was time for the store to open.

The two looked through the crowds and when they saw who they were waiting for, they exchanged smiles.

"Ready bro?" Fred asked.

"Always," George grinned before lifting his wand into the air as Fred did the same. Sparks flew out and fireworks exploded in the air.

"Welcome all," Fred shouted above the excitement, a silent Sonorus making his voice heard. "To the grand opening of the best of the best, our store."

The crowd cheered and the two looked at each other before turning back to them.

"We Fred," Fred threw off his hood and robes, his dark hair gleaming in the light, his sea-green eyes flashing with delight and triumph at the stunned look on the Weasleys' faces.

"And George," George's appearance made the Weasleys pale further, "would like to welcome you to the store that has everything; from dungbombs to fireworks to miniature games of events that took place at Hogwarts. We welcome you to...

"...P3's Wizarding Wonders," both Fred and George waved their wands, revealing the store to the crowd, drawing loud cheers and an increased excitement from them. Their gazes found the Weasleys and they smirked at them.

~...~

"Oh my God," Hermione's hand flew to her mouth when she saw the changed appearance in Fred. "I can't believe it."

"What the hell?" Ginny scowled darkly as she took in the sight.

"Merlin," Ron breathed out when he saw George remove his hood and robe; the appearances in the twins were shocking. From their hair colour to the body, it left Ron with a sick feeling of disorientation and most of all, jealousy.

"Arthur!" Molly grabbed her husband's arm in a tight grip as she gazed at the twins; now she understood what really happened. The red of Fred's hair was darker than the Weasley red, it reminded her of only one other person to ever have that shade of red; Lily Evans-Potter. And if she thought that was shocking, it was nothing compared to seeing the jet black hair of George, the same shade that the Potter men were famous for. Fred and George had not only severed their bonds as Weasleys, but they had become Potters.

Arthur for his part could only stare; the excitement and noise level of the crowd didn't register in his mind as he took in the appearance of his former children. He said former because he knew then and there the reason for the shift in the Burrow Wards and the Family Clock; Fred and George hadn't died, they had disowned themselves from the Weasleys and had joined the Potter family.

~...~

Draco stood next to his father in the crowd and where he was standing, he had the perfect view of the Weasley family. The looks on their faces when they saw the twins sent glee and satisfaction through him.

He felt a hand on the small of his back the same time he saw Cory and Luna step beside him. Knowing it was Harry behind him, he shifted his stance so that his back was pressed against Harry's chest. When Harry's hand drifted down to his waist, he moved to lace their fingers together.

"I take it was exactly as they planned?" Harry asked and his breath teased Draco's neck, sending a shiver of delight through the blond.

"Exactly," Draco turned his head slightly to look at his boyfriend before turning back to the crowd. “I thought we’d have to keep our relationship private until school?”

“I remembered something,” Harry grinned, “they won’t recognize me like this, so we’re safe. It’ll shock them though, when they realize at school that the stranger with you now and Harry Potter are one and the same.”

“Brilliant,” Draco smiled.

"I wish we'd got here in time to see their reactions," Cory smiled, "but the expressions on their faces now are still good."

"Don't worry," Luna smiled and while the smile seemed innocent and childlike, if you knew her well enough, you'd know that the smile was one full of malice and there was a hard glint in her eyes. "They will show their hands once again and we should be wary on our journey back to Hogwarts."

Lucius looked at the girl with appraising eyes before he nodded; he, like the others, had understood the message behind her words. The youngest Weasleys and Hermione would cause a scene and they (Cory, Luna, Harry and Draco) would have to make sure they avoided the three on the train if they wanted to enter the school how they planned.

"I take it things were enlightening at the meeting?" Lucius questioned.

"Very," Cory nodded, "mother and father will be proud to know we have gained everything. It would seem that past pre-emptive actions have worked in our favour."

"Very well," Lucius nodded, "I shall ensure that the message is conveyed. Draco, I bid you good day; I shall see you back at the Manor."

"Yes father," Draco inclined his head in a slight nod before passing off his purchases to the elder Malfoy, who took them, shrunk them, and placed them in his pocket before disappearing through the crowds.

Draco's gaze followed his father before turned back to watching the Weasleys; he saw that the crowd had started to enter the store and saw that the Weasleys and the mudblood were between them.

"Let's wait until most of these people have left before we go in," Harry murmured.

"Alright," Cory and Luna said before they shifted closer to Harry and Draco, allowing people to pass.

"Did you finish your school shopping?" Draco asked even as his gaze drifted over the crowd and a sneer flitted across his face.

"No," Harry shook his head, "We came straight here from the meeting. I suppose we could do that now with everyone at the twins."

"Let's," Cory nodded and he grabbed Luna's hand in his and turned in the crowd. Draco turned too and Harry paused to look over at Fred and George nodding to Flourish and Blotts; when he got two nods in reply, he turned along with his friends.

~...~

"And now," George smirked as he watched Harry and the others disappear in the remaining crowd, "for the fun part."

"You know they're going to demand answers," Fred grinned, "and that Ronald will be spouting off his jealous tendencies."

"Really?" George had an innocent expression on his face that didn't fool his twin at all.

"Let the fun begin," the twins said as one before they chuckled darkly; they would enjoy their moment.

They turned back to watch as Molly led the others through the remaining few people and up to them.

"Frederick and George Weasley," Molly fumed as she came to a stop in front of the boys, her hands on her hips, "I demand to know what is going on. What have you done to yourself?"

"Excuse me madam," Fred smiled at her, "but you obviously have me confused with someone else. You see, I am not this Frederick Weasley whom you are looking for, in fact, I am not a Weasley at all."

"You're not you say?" George turned to look at his twin, his eyes wide in mock shock, the delight shining clearly through them. "Well, what do you know? Neither am I."

"Really?" Fred turned to him, "but if you're not a Weasley, then who could you possibly be?"

"Didn't you know?" George asked, eyes dancing in delight at the indignant spluttering from the Weasley matriarch. "I'm a Potter; George Ulrich Potter to be exact."

"That can't be!" Fred gasped and a hand flew to his chest. He barely suppressed the chuckles when he heard the shocked gasps from the others.

"And why ever not my kind sir?" George asked.

"Because I am a Potter," Fred declared, "Frederick Sebastian Potter at your service."

"Frederick you say?" George tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner. "I knew a man by that name; he was my twin."

"Well," Fred looked thoughtful, delighting in the outrage that grew on the Weasleys and Granger's faces. "I am a Potter and we do look alike. Hey, maybe I am your twin."

"Would you two stop this nonsense?" Molly near screeched, effectively stopping George from replying.

As one, the two turned to Molly and the expression on their faces had her and the others taking a slight step back.

"You are not our mother," Fred hissed, his sea-green eyes darkening in his anger, "in case you have missed it, we're no longer Weasleys and we will no longer associate with the lot of you nor will we put up with such an overbearing, controlling, excuse of a mother like you. You have no authority over us. We are no longer your concern..."

"...and as such," George continued, his own eyes darkening as well, his tone filled with malice, "we would appreciate it if you would keep your bloody mouths shut and stay out of our way."

"You can't do this," Ron snarled.

"Oh really?" Fred smirked and it was such a dark smirk, that Ron felt fear dance through his body.

"I assure you," George grinned and it was just as dark as Fred's smirk. "We can and we have."

"So you gave up your family for him?" Molly was beyond angry. "I gave birth to you, I took care of you and this is how you repay me? By abandoning your family and joining the one who has caused us nothing but grief. Our home was attacked and I'm sure it was because of him and yet you turned your back on us. HOW DARE YOU?!"

The last part was loud enough to draw the attention of several shoppers in the streets.

"How dare we?" Fred stepped closer to Molly, not wanting his words overheard by anyone but them. "You treated us like we were fools, you trivialized our abilities, made it seem like we were good for nothing but pranks, that we were a waste of space..."

"You made our lives hell with your constant belittling," George picked up, "always looking down your nose at us, never believing we would ever succeed. But now, look at how things are..."

"We have succeeded," Fred grinned, "without help from you, though even if you had offered, we never would've taken it; we have flourished. We no longer have to wear masks...we can finally be true to ourselves."

"And with the backing of someone very close and dear to us," George finished, "things will be running much smoother. Now, as we will never turn away customers, you can enter our store or you can go back to the lowly drivel you call a house. Either way, we don't really give a fuck."

With that, the twins turned to walk into their store, leaving five shell-shocked people staring after them.

~...~

While Fred and George were telling off their former family, the quartet was busy in Flourish and Blotts.

"Hey Harry," Cory turned to his friend, "Don't you have these books at home anyways?"

"More than likely," Harry shrugged, "Although, I'd bet the ones in the library are far more advanced than those on the school's curriculum. You think we should leave these books and just use the ones from home?"

"Why not?" Cory grinned. "It's not like we're going to be hiding who we truly are anymore. We'll show everyone, especially Granger, just how serious we are; with the books home, we can get a much better and deeper understanding of the same material that will be taught at school and probably beyond."

"So I bought all my books for nothing?" Draco huffed and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Dray," Luna giggled, the sound bringing smiles to her male companions. "Don't be like that. You should hang on to them; there will be some snakes out there with no way of moving through the jungle that is Hogwarts."

Draco looked at Luna and nodded, letting her know he understood her message; a few upcoming Slytherin students will not be as well off as most Slytherin students. They would be in need of books.

"I agree with you Cory," Harry smirked, "and I think we'll do just that."

"Where to now?" Draco asked.

"I need a new familiar," Harry said and the teens turned to leave.

"You know Hedwig won't like that," Cory chuckled; after she had dropped them off, Hedwig had disappeared back to Potter Manor. According to Harry, she knew that it would be detrimental to their plans if anyone were to see her before they got to school.

"She is quite possessive, isn't she?" Harry laughed, "But it's ok; she knows I'm doing this and she's fine...just as long as it's not another bird."

"So what are you going to be getting?" Draco asked as they made their way to the store. Cory opened the door and the quartet walked in.

"I won't get a snake," Harry told them, "I think Nagini's going to give me one of her babies, so I'll choose something different."

"Look around," Luna smiled at him. "I know you'll find the perfect choice for you. I think we all will."

"I swear," Draco looked at her, "you scare me sometimes."

Harry, Luna and Cory started laughing and Draco crossed his arms with a pout.

"Ahh," Harry grabbed Draco's hand to pull the blond to him. "Don't pout."

"I'll pout if I want to," Draco sniffed, though his lips twitched with a smile when Harry kissed him. "Let's look around."

They walked through the store, stopping at cages to look at the animals before moving on. As the time passed on, Harry felt like none of the animals was the one he was looking and his frustration grew. Luna had told him that he would find his animal and he trusted her, and it was because of that he hadn't left as yet. He was just about to go back to the front of the store when he stopped. He felt a pull and he turned to where it was coming from. He saw a cage sitting in the back of the store in the darkened corner and he started towards it.

"Harry?" Draco tried to get Harry's attention, but the brunet paid him no mind.

"It's alright," Luna smiled. "He found him, and ours as well."

"Ours?" Cory looked at his girlfriend.

"Yes," Luna nodded as she followed Harry.

The shop owner, seeing where the teens were walking to, hurried towards them.

"I don't think you should get too close lad," the owner warned; with the scar barely visible and Harry not wearing glasses, the shop owner didn't recognize him as Harry Potter.

Harry ignored him and came to a stop in front of the cage. He looked down and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat; curled up around each other were two puppies and two kittens. One of the kittens was cream-coloured with black lines around its paws, a small black nose and what was probably the most eye catching thing about it was that it had twin tails and each tail had two black lines around the tips; the other kitten was the same, except the colours were switched. The two pups though, were the reason Harry's breath had catch. They both fur so white they looked silver; one of the pups had a silver crescent moon on its forehead and the other had a circle. As if sensing they were being stared at, animals opened their eyes and raised their heads to look at them.

The two pups had eyes that were as golden as the sun and yet, the pup with the crescent moon seemed to be looking at them coldly while the other pup growled, its eyes flashing; the two kittens yawned and stepped closer to the two pups.

As Harry looked at each of the animals, he could feel the magic reaching out to his and he could feel a faint trace in his mind; he focused on it and saw that it lead him to the pup with the crescent moon, who seemed to be staring at him in cold indifference, something he never thought an animal could do. He allowed his magic to answer to the one from the pup and he felt the bond snap into place.

-yes...I have finally found you-

Harry heard the voice of the pup in his head.

"Young man," the owner was a bit nervous. "I have other animals here that you can look at. I cannot allow you to purchase those ones. They are dangerous; every owner that has ever bought has returned them."

"Why??" Harry asked as he reached out to open the cage.

"Because," the owner stepped closer. "They have attacked their owners. The pup with the crescent moon is the most dangerous. He can poison by just breathing on you or scratching you; the other pup can use his own blood as weapon. The two pups have three forms whereas the kittens have two."

"What are their names?" Draco asked.

"The crescent moon pup is called Sesshomaru," the owner said, "the circle pup is called Yasha and the two nekos are Kilala and Kirara and in their giant form, they can fly."

Harry watched as the pup named Sesshomaru, the one that had bonded to him, leapt out of the cage to settle on his shoulders.

"Sesshomaru huh?" Harry reached up to pet the pup.

-It means Killing Perfection- Sesshomaru's voice echoed in his mind

-It suits you- Harry replied back with a grin.

"Merlin," the owner breathed, "you'd be the first person he's ever done that to, lad."

"What is he?" Harry asked as he raised his arms to better look at her.

"He's Japanese ," the owner said, "They all are."

"How much?" Harry asked.

"Are you sure none of you want other animals?" the man offered once more as he started walking to the other cages in the store. "We have a wide variety."

"That would be pretty stupid," Draco sneered, "being as how we have bonded with them."

"All of you?" the man looked at them and started at the fact that each teen now had an animal sitting on their shoulder.

"We'll take them," Harry turned to look at the man, not knowing he made a striking and formidable pose with Sesshomaru on his shoulder. "We'll also need everything for them; from beds, to cages and collars."

"They're so beautiful," Draco smiled before he laughed softly; Yasha had jumped from his shoulders to his arms and was now licking his chin.

"How much for everything?" Harry asked, already reaching into his pocket.

"Nothing," the owner shook his head. "I meant it; you can have them and everything for free. The fact that they came to you of their own accord and bonded; you were the wizards meant to have them."

"Thank you," Cory nodded and turned to leave with Luna, Harry and Draco following.

The man nodded and went to help a few customers. When he came back to his counter a few minutes later, a pouch of galleons was sitting on the counter along with a slip of paper that the two kitten and puppy paws on it. The man smiled and took it up.

~...~

When the quartet left the store, they looked at each other.

"Fred and George?" Cory asked.

"Why not?" Harry grinned, "I'm sure we can avoid the Weasels just perfectly."

"As I live and breathe," a voice behind them spoke, "Draco Malfoy."

The four turned and saw a young man, not much older than them, standing there. He had dark brown hair, dark eyes and a slightly muscled body. The boy was smiling at them as he walked closer, oblivious to the dark scowl on Harry's face; very bad decision on his part.

"Henri Laurent," Draco nodded even as he imperceptibly shifted away from Henri and towards Harry; he knew without looking that his boyfriend was tense and that the wrong move would set him off. He just hoped Henri had enough sense to recognize danger.

At the name, Harry tensed further and his eyes darkened as his magic woke; this was the guy that had been his boyfriend's first.

"What are you doing in London Henri?" Draco asked, "More specifically, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted a change of scenery," Henri smiled and he took in the blond's appearance; Draco had changed since the last time he saw him. His body had been lean before, now, it was lean and muscled; his hair was a bit longer, but it was his eyes that held Henri's attention. While before they seemed cold, guarded and closed off, now, they sparkled with happiness, with a joy, a freedom, that Henri knew wasn't present before. It intrigued him and he knew he had to be with him again.

"I believe," Cory looked over Henri, "it is polite to introduce yourself rather than to dominate conversation as if you're an old friend."

"Oh I am sorry," Henri nodded, "My name is Henri Laurent. I come from France and I am an, how you say, an old friend, of Draco. And who are you?"

"Luna Lovegood," Luna spoke up and her eyes had adopted the spaced out look she wore before she joined up with Harry and the others. "This is Cory, you know Draco this is—

"I'm Draco's boyfriend," Harry cut her off, glaring at Henri.

"You're dating Draco?" Henri's gaze shifted from Draco to Harry, unable to believe that this was what he just heard.

"Yes," Harry answered curtly; he could feel anger moving through him, as well as they need curse the guy.

"Was there something you needed Henri?" Draco asked as he placed a hand on Harry's arm to calm him down. He knew his boyfriend; he almost killed Narcissa and that was because she had slapped him, and he could only imagine what Harry would do if Henri tried anything. He also knew it was deliberate that Harry hadn't said his name.

"I'm relocating to London," Henri turned his gaze to Draco, dismissing Harry. He was oblivious to the darkening of Harry's eyes or the growls coming from the two pups. "It is for a job and I thought of you and re-establishing our previous...acquaintance."

"Over your dead body," Harry went calm; to think that this fool would try to entice Draco specifically after he told him the blond was taken. His blood was boiling and his magic rose, ready to do his will.

Sensing danger, the people in the alley started staring at the five and Draco wrapped an arm around Harry's waist, curling into his boyfriend's side. He turned his face to Harry's neck and gently kissed him.

"Calm down," Draco whispered, "I don't want you going to Azkaban for murder."

Despite the fact that Henri could feel the malevolent aura, he didn't think anything of it. He just thought the guy was being a little possessive and what he knew of the Malfoys, especially Draco, was someone who did not like that. It wasn't the first time he had seduced an old flame from their boyfriends and he knew he could do it with Draco; the blond had enjoyed their time as much as he had.

"If I were you," Luna spoke as she petted Kilala. "I would leave; he really is quite possessive of Draco. I have no doubt that you thought Draco would come back to even though you were told he was taken, but you are obviously mistaken."

"If you value your life," Cory's eyes narrowed; he could feel Harry's magic spiking and a wind was starting to pick up. The guy really had no idea the damage he was about to unleash on himself. "I suggest you leave...now."

Henri looked at the four and finally seemed to notice the danger that everyone else did. His gaze rested on Harry and he took a step back; the cold rage in those darkened green eyes terrified and it was made even more formidable when he saw the same look in the golden eyes of the pup on his shoulder. He had been so sure he would be able to take Draco away from the guy, but looking into the eyes of said guy, he saw a look that was daring him to do so.

Harry clenched his fists tightly; he was trying to control the urge to hex the bastard until he was unrecognizable. Draco was his and no one else's.

Realizing that his boyfriend was not calming down, Draco shifted Yasha in his arm and moved his other arm from around Harry's waist to throw it around his neck, mindful of Sesshomaru. He grabbed his boyfriend by the neck, pulled him down and captured his lips in a harsh and intense kiss.

"Leave," Luna's eyes turned cold and Henri gasped. "Now!"

Needing no other incentive, Henri turned and quickly walked, ran, away, not looking back once.

"I'm sorry," Harry said as he pulled back from the kiss to rest his forehead against the blond's.

"Don't be," Draco grinned, "I have to admit it was very arousing watching you go jealous and macho on the guy."

"Yeah?" Harry grinned and nipped Draco's lips. "I'm glad you liked it; I just hate the thought of anyone touching you or having you. Add to the fact that he was your first..."

"I'm not mad," Draco smiled, "if our positions were reversed and an old flame of yours showed up, you'd be visiting me in Azkaban."

"Well thank Merlin it didn't come to that," Luna giggled, "Come on; let's go see Fred and George."

"Sounds like a plan," Cory smiled, "you guys do know that if you tell them about this, and they run into him anytime, they won't have any control?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "but it’s not my fault if Fred and George asked what we did today and I mentioned him."

"Evil," Draco laughed and grabbed Harry's hand in his free one. "You're pure evil."

"You love me still," Harry said and the quartet laughed, ignoring the looks from everyone else.

~...~

"Hey Panse," a dark-skinned guy turned to the girl beside him.

"Yeah Blaise?" Pansy, who had chin length, dark hair, turned to her friend.

"Isn't that Draco?" Blaise gestured to the blond walking past the store, Harry, Cory and Luna in tow.

Pansy turned to where he was looking and recognized the Malfoy blond hair. "Yes, that is him. But, who are those three teens with him?"

"I don't recognize them," Blaise frowned, "but, maybe we should speak with Draco."

"I agree," Pansy nodded even as her eyes narrowed at how close Draco was to the shoulder length, dark haired teen.

The two paid for their purchases and left the store. They walked behind the quartet and when they got close, Pansy called out.

"Draco!"

The quartet stopped and turned around and Pansy and Blaise started at the three with their blond friend; they recognized Luna, and they saw a familiarity in both Cory and Harry, but they couldn't place where they knew them from.

"Pansy," Draco nodded, "Blaise. How are you?"

"Good," Blaise's eyes travelled over Draco's form. "Merlin Drake, you look good."

"Zabini," Harry growled, "Ogle my boyfriend again and you will lose your sight."

Blaise ignored the guy and reached out a hand to touch Draco, but before he could reach his destination, his wrist was suddenly in a vice-like grip. Blaise turned to the person, ready to tell them off when his eyes caught the dangerous gleam in the green eyes that seemed to darken.

"Who the hell are you?" Pansy glared at Harry, only to pause when her eyes met the darkened emeralds. 'There's only one person I know with green eyes like that.' Her eyes widened slightly in disbelief and shock. "Potter?!"

When he heard the name, Blaise paled as he finally recognized just who the deadly green eyes belonged to.

"Harry is a little," Draco smirked, "possessive and he really doesn't appreciate someone touching what's his."

"Harry?" Pansy echoed, "Draco, what's going on? Why did Potter call you his boyfriend, why are you calling him Harry and why is he looking at Blaise like he's measuring him for a coffin?"

"You're very smart Pansy," Cory grinned, "I'm sure you can figure it out."

"You're dating him?!" Pansy narrowed her eyes and looked between the two; Harry still had yet to release Blaise from his grip.

"I did say that," Draco drawled before turning to his boyfriend. "I know you want to kill him, but please refrain from doing so. Blaise is one of my best friend and I'd hate to lose him."

Harry said nothing, but he did release Blaise's wrist slowly and it was only then that Blaise realized that the pup on Harry's shoulder and the one in Draco's arm were looking at him in cold rage, the look that was in Harry's eyes right now and they seemed to look at him as if he was prey.

Blaise took a step back from the four.

"Draco," Pansy started sweetly, making Blaise wince and surprisingly, the four didn't even seem to notice the false sweetness to her voice. "When exactly did you start dating Harry Potter and why are you hanging out with Lovegood of all people and who is the boy?"

"Well," Draco smirked, "Harry and I started dating this summer, Luna and I became friends because she's Harry's friend and this is Cory, he's also another friend and Luna's boyfriend."

"Draco," Blaise started hesitantly, "What of your father? If what you're saying is true, then he can't be too happy about this relationship...especially considering who he works for."

"Blaise," Draco's eyes narrowed, "Need I remind you that we are in a public domain, and such topics should be discussed within private quarters, despite the fact that Harry cast a Silencing Charm the moment you guys came to us."

Both Blaise and Pansy looked chagrined at his words; they were Slytherins, so they should've known better than to start discussing sensitive topics in the open without even casting their own Silencing Charms.

"You're right," Pansy nodded. "I apologize."

"We've just completed our shopping and were about to venture into Fred and George's shop," Cory spoke up, "would you care to join us?"

"The Weasleys?" Blaise looked aghast. "Why ever would you go there Draco? They're blood traitors."

"Zabini," Harry smiled at him and Blaise swallowed, it wasn't a nice smile. "You've insulted me from the moment you got here; first you ogled my boyfriend, which I technically can't fault you for since Draco is eye catching, but then you disregarded my warning and tried to touch him in a purely suggestive manner and now, now you've resorted to insulting Fred and George in my presence. Now, Draco's best friend or not, I will not tolerate it. Do you understand me?"

Harry's magic flared a bit as he spoke and Blaise trembled slightly in the force of the power.

"Yes," Blaise nodded; he always knew Potter was powerful, but even this display was beyond his wildest imagination.

"Luna, is it?" Pansy turned to the blonde. "I do love what you have done to your hair."

"I love yours as well," Luna smiled, "Let's talk, shall we? Come along boys." The two girls linked arms and headed off towards Fred and George's store.

The boys looked at each before following after them. Blaise made sure he was situated as far away from Harry as he could get and Cory chuckled at him when he saw what the dark skinned guy did.

"Don't worry," Cory smiled at him, "Harry won't hurt you; you are Draco's friend after all and making Draco happy is important to Harry."

"Glad to hear that," Blaise murmured, "Just the same though, I think I'll keep you and Draco between us until he's beyond his homicidal thoughts towards me."

Cory laughed and nodded.

~...~

Fred and George grinned at the sight of their store filled with so much people. They had never dreamed that people would love it so; they hoped, but it was still mind numbing to see it actually happen.

They saw that the Weasleys, Granger included, had entered the shop and was now looking around; they could spot the jealousy on the faces of Ron and Ginny and their smiles widened.

"I reckon they're wishing they didn't treat us like shit now," Fred smirked at his twin.

"You'd be right," George grinned and his grin turned into a smirk when he saw just who came into the store next. "Time for mayhem."

Fred looked to where he was watching and the twins looked at each other before moving through the crowds towards the door.

"Hey guys," George smiled, "Glad to see you could finally make it."

"You guys have outdone yourselves," Harry laughed as he looked around; he shifted Sesshomaru from his shoulders into his arms.

"Mate," Fred looked down at the pup. "What do you have there?"

"It seems they all have them Forge," George looked at the animals in the other three arms.

"Familiars," Luna smiled, "This is Kilala, Cory has Kirara, Harry has Sesshomaru and Draco has Yasha. They're Japanese."

"Cool," Fred grinned as he reached out to pet Kilala.

"And who are you two?" George looked at Blaise and Pansy.

"Blaise Zabini," Blaise answered politely, remembering Harry's warning.

"Pansy Parkinson," Pansy smiled at the twins. "This is a very nice establishment you have here."

Before either twin could answer, they were interrupted by the arrival of Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here ferret?" Ron snarled, completely missing the way Harry's eyes narrowed and his body tensed.

"I always knew you were daft Weasel," Draco sneered, "but I had no idea you that daft. I'm customer just like everyone else."

"You don't belong here," Ginny scowled, before her eyes shifted to Harry. Though she didn’t recognize him, she noticed just how gorgeous he was and an appreciative gleam came in her eyes as she gave him a once over.

"Oh?" Draco turned to her, "and just who is going to remove me from the store?" his eyes narrowed when he saw the way she was looking at Harry, and it was his boyfriend’s turn to place a hand on his arm to prevent from hexing her.

"How did you get those?" Hermione's eyes widened when she saw the animals in their hands. "You're not supposed to have them."

"What are they?" Ginny asked.

"Oh please," Cory interrupted just as Hermione opened her mouth. "Spare us the lecture and book report Granger. We didn't ask for one and frankly, none of us here care to listen to the drivel you're going so spit."

Hermione looked so scandalized that the twins, Harry, Luna and the Slytherins couldn't help but to laugh.

"How dare you talk to her that way?!" Ron growled and reached for his wand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Ronald," Luna spoke up, drawing the three's attention to her.

"Luna?!" Ginny was shocked. "What are you doing hanging out with Malfoy, Parkinson and Zabini?"

"I really don't see how that is any of your business Ginerva," Luna replied as she looked around. "You've never once interested yourself in anything I do, so why start now? It's a bit too late to play the part of the concerned friend."

"Well said Luna girl," Harry smiled and this time, the three's attention were on him.

"Who are you?" Hermione's eyes narrowed as she looked at Harry; she took in the raven-black, shoulder length wavy hair, the muscled body and the bright green eyes. "You look very familiar, like I've seen you before."

"I assure you," Harry smirked as he petted Sesshomaru, "we've never met. I'd never lower myself to mingle with gutter trash."

Hermione bristled in hurt and outrage while the others laughed. Before she could respond, Harry turned to Fred, blatantly dismissing her. "Want to show us around?"

"Sure mate," Fred grinned. "Let's go."

"Come on Cory," George clapped said guy on the back. "I know we have things here that you'd like." He turned to Pansy and Blaise. "You two can join if you want."

"We will," Pansy and Blaise answered as one.

The group turned to leave, leaving Hermione, Ron and Ginny staring after them. The trio gaped when they saw Draco step closer to the dark haired boy and slip his arm around his waist.

"You're a pouf?" Ron's voice held disgust.

The group stopped and turned to stare at him. Hermione and Ginny both took a step back from the glares they got from the group; even the animals in their hands seemed to be glaring at them.

"What's it to you?" Draco's tone was icy and Ron couldn't help the flinch when he saw the cold rage in his grey eyes.

"Choose your next words wisely Weasel," Harry warned. "You'd hate to have them be your last."

"Are you threatening him?" Ginny narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's a not a threat," Harry smiled, "it's a promise. Let's go guys; I think we've wasted enough time on them."

"Weasel, Mudblood, Cow," Cory nodded to the three before turning and walking away. The others followed, not even bothering to hide their laughter.

~...~

Harry and the other teens stayed in the store until closing; during the time, they had endure looks from the Trio, but the glares the three got from them, prevented them from coming closer. Once, Molly had dared to venture to them, laying into Luna for hanging around two unknown, to her, boys and the three Slytherins, but she had been stopped in her tracks at the death glare in Luna's normally complacent and vacant sky blue eyes. She hadn't dared come near them since then.

Harry smirked because he could feel the stares from Hermione and every time he looked at her, her brows would be furrowed and he knew she was trying to figure out where she knew both him and Cory from. He would wink or scowl at her periodically, leaving the girl flustered.

When the last person had left, Pansy turned to Draco. "So, are you going to explain just what the hell is going on?"

"Pansy," Draco started.

"Don't 'Pansy' me," Pansy scowled. "You're hardly heard from almost the entire summer, and then we do see each other, you're friends with Lovegood, met some new kid and dating Harry Potter. I think I'm justified to react this way."

"Be that as it may," Harry looked at her. "Justified or not, I won't allow you to speak to Draco like that. Did it never once occurred to you that there was a very good reason no contact was initiated by Draco? And since we're on that level, communication is a two way street and before you start ripping into Draco, perhaps you'd like to explain just why it is he received no owls from you?"

Pansy, properly chastised, shifted her eyes from both boys.

"I understand you guys have questions," Draco said, "and you're right, I should've kept in contact, but like Harry said, I had a very good reason for not doing so."

"And that reason would be?" Blaise asked.

"Why don't we take this back home?" George suggested.

"Sounds like a sound plan to me," Fred smiled before drawing and waving his hand; he quickly muttered spells under his breath, skillfully locking the store as well as warding it. His smile turned to a grin when he saw the shocked expressions on the two Slytherins faces. "I thought you Slytherin lot were supposed to be good at keeping your expressions from being open? From the moment you got here, we've been able to read them."

"Can you blame us?" Blaise said dryly. "We've been a bit knocked off course."

"We should go," Harry said. "Hedwig."

"Why are you calling your owl?" Pansy asked. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open when the white phoenix flashed into the store.

"Flies darling," Cory laughed.

|Read their auras for me please girl| Harry told Hedwig through their mental connection.

|They are on the same side as you| Hedwig trilled in confirmation as she settled on Harry's shoulder. She tilted her head and looked down at the pup in his arms, trilling softly. |Is this the one you chose?|

"Yes," Harry smiled as he rubbed Sesshomaru's head. "I'll introduce you guys properly when we get home."

|Ok; have them gather round| Hedwig trilled once more as she rubbed her head against his.

"He can understand what she's saying?" Blaise looked at Harry in shock. "I never heard of anyone that could understand a phoenix."

"Harry's special," Draco grinned.

"Gather round," Harry said. "We're going home."

Draco stepped close and wrapped his arm around Harry's waist while Luna did the same on the other side; Cory held on to Luna while Pansy held on to Draco and Blaise held on to her; Fred and George each placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. The group disappeared in a flash of fire.

~…~

When they reappeared in the living room in Potter Manor, Hedwig flew from Harry’s shoulder to her perch while everyone found seats around the room.

“Now that we’re here,” Pansy looked at the others, “could someone explain just what is going on?”

“Ok,” Harry nodded. “But before we do that, you will have to take a vow of secrecy to never reveal anything you’re about to be told until you’re given permission to do so. Is that understood?”

Blaise and Pansy looked at each other.

“Yes.” Both answered at once.

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand, but before he could do anything, Snape walked into the room.

“I see you are back,” Snape greeted. “I trust your endeavours were successful?”

“Very,” Fred and George grinned while the others, excluding Pansy and Blaise who were staring at their Head of House in confusion—they didn’t recognize him—laughed.

“Did you have any doubts Severus?” Harry smirked.

“Severus?” Blaise and Pansy had confusion written on their faces before it cleared away and understanding dawned.

“Professor Snape?!” they both exclaimed and Snape turned to them.

“Ms. Parkinson, Mr. Zabini,” Snape walked over to them. “Your summer has been well?”

“Yes sir,” Blaise nodded, his eyes not leaving his teacher. “Professor, why exactly are you here?”

“And what happened to you?” Pansy added.

Snape turned to Harry and the others. “What information have you divulged to them?”

“Just that Drake and I are together,” Harry answered. “We were about to have them swear a Vow of Secrecy when you walked in.”

“Proceed,” Snape inclined his head as he took a seat.

Harry turned back to the two Slytherins and all three stood up. The words were the same as the ones Bill and Charlie had spoken and when the light, that signalled the Vow taking place, cleared, the three sat back down.

“So,” Blaise was the first to speak. “What is going on? How is that Draco and Harry are a couple? And why do all of you look like that...especially you professor.” He couldn’t get over the changes he saw in the teens or his professor.

“Everything you’ve ever known about us,” Cory started and he gestured to him, Harry, Luna and the twins, “is a lie. With the exception of Luna, each of us has had our lives manipulated by Dumbledore.”

“What do you mean? Pansy asked.

“Well,” Harry started and he filled the two teens in on what had been going on in the past five years at Hogwarts. He didn’t tell them anything concrete about his past as he did not fully trust them, despite the Vow that they had taken. When he was done, like Bill and Charlie, they stared in shock.

“I always knew the Old Fool was dangerous,” Pansy said. “I never realized exactly how dangerous he was though.”

“And what about you?” Blaise turned to Cory. “How did Dumbledore mess up your life?”

Cory’s eyes sparked with anger, as they always did whenever he thought on what Dumbledore did, but just as he opened his mouth to answer, his parents and walked into the room.

“You’re back,” Bellatrix smiled. “How was your shopping?”

“It was fun,” Luna smiled at the woman. “We got familiars.”

Pansy and Blaise stared in shock.

“Really?” Rastaban looked at the teens and the animals they had.

“What the fuck is going on?” Blaise gestured frantically. “Why are you so nice to them?”

“She’s my mother,” Cory answered.

“I wasn’t aware the LeStranges had a son,” Pansy raised an eyebrow.

“They do,” Draco smiled, “and you know him.”

“No we don’t,” Blaise shook his head as he looked at Cory. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

“Oh you have,” Cory chuckled. “You just knew me by a different name.” At their looks, he clarified. “You knew me as Neville Longbottom.”

“What?” the two Slytherins eyes widened in disbelief and they looked at everyone, wondering if this was a joke.

“Let me fill you in,” Cory smiled and then, he went on to explain exactly how deep Dumbledore’s manipulations ran.

“You ok over there?” George asked when Cory was finished; it was funny to him to see Slytherins so shaken up.

“Yes,” Pansy nodded. “Just a bit shocked.” She turned to Cory. “So, you were really Neville Longbottom, but you’re actually Cory LeStrange?”

“Yes,” Rodolphus nodded. “Trust me when I say, we were just as shocked when we found out the truth.”

“So tell me P-Harry,” Blaise looked at said guy. “Just how many of the Dark Lord’s followers do you have being here?”

“Well,” Harry’s brows furrowed. “Severus lives here and he spends most of his time in the potions labs; I asked Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rastaban to permanently live here seeing as how they spent most of their time here anyways and they can’t use their ancestral home. They took me up on the offer because it meant they’d be closer to Cory; and then, you have the Pest Control meeting here a few times a week with the LeStranges.”

Pansy and Blaise each raised an eyebrow and exchanged a questioning glance.

“What happened to your manor?” Blaise addressed his question to the LeStranges.

Rodolphus answered with a dark scowl. “Well, what do you supposed happened back in 1981 after the Dark Lord disappeared and we were sentence to life imprisonment in Azkaban?”

Blaise mouthed an “Ohhh” of sudden understanding.

“Indeed “ohhh”,” Bellatrix sneered. “The DMLE raided our manor, searching for evidence against us. They destroyed most of the interior and confiscated our property. They killed both house elves because they tried to stop them. The Aurors burned the house to the ground and now, there is nothing left but a ruin; we checked last year as soon as we had been broken out of Azkaban.”

Fred, George, Pansy, Blaise, and even Luna, looked shocked while Severus, Harry, Draco and Cory had already known.

“You said Pest Control?” Pansy asked when she had gotten over her shock. “What exactly is that?”

“It’s a group of Death Eaters,” Draco explained. “They’re led by Antonin Dolohov, you know him, right?”

The teens, with the exception of Harry, nodded; they all had met the elder Death Eater at least once before or had heard of him from their parents.

“This team is responsible for the disappearance of certain muggleborns, halfbloods and muggles that were a threat to the Statue of Secrecy,” Harry continued. “I mean, people like the Creevy brothers of Gryffindor for example; they are two muggleborns that recklessly took photos of everything—from the Hogwarts express to Hogsmeade—and shown them proudly at their home. They told their father and other relatives and friends about the existence of the magical world; the idiots even boasted about going to a special school and knowing the Boy-Who-Lived.”

Harry’s face had darkened. He still got quite angry when he remembered what a nuisance Colin Creevy had been from the first day of his first year; always following him around, asking stupid questions and taking pictures at the most inopportune moments and to top it all off, he had to have sold some to the Daily Prophet.

Cory, Fred and George scowled and sneered too; they remembered very well how much of that behaviour had bothered and frustrated Harry, who hated all the attention because of his fame.

Pansy and Blaise nodded again while Pansy commented. “So that’s how our reports have been of use; now I understand.”

Cory furrowed his brows as he looked at the two Slytherins. “What do you mean?”

Pansy looked a bit put out and then she explained. “Well, for about twenty years, all the younger Death Eaters or children in Slytherin have always watched the other students, especially the muggleborns. We have observed them, listened to rumour and gossip and then, we made regular reports of anything noteworthy to our parents which we wrote in a certain code. Before I started Hogwarts, my mum told to find out who of the new first years were muggleborns or halfbloods living in the muggle world.

“She told me to keep my ears open about what they talked about; mainly, if and what they told their family or any muggle friends about where they went to school, or if they managed to keep Hogwarts a secret as they should. The seventh years pay special attention to any talk of muggleborns or halfbloods having a muggle boy-or girl—friend, and if they planned to marry a muggle. Disgusting.”

Cory looked astonished and shocked; he had been a rather clueless Gryffindor before this summer and he hadn’t thought of this before. Fred and George exchanged one of their usual telling looks but didn’t comment audibly. Luna seemed unfazed as ever.

Cory turned suddenly to Harry. “Uhm, Harry, you mentioned the Creevy brothers. Do you know, well, do you know what became of them? After all, they are in Gryffindor...” he trailed off.

Harry exchanged a telling look with Snape, raising a questioning eyebrow. He knew about the fate of the Creevys, but he wasn’t sure if he should tell the whole group. Maybe this was a bit too close to comfort for someone like Cory; after all, he had been Neville Longbottom—a rather pathetic and sheltered Gryffindor—before this year. Harry himself was much more used to darkness, pain, torture, death and killing from his hard life up to now.

Snape nodded to Harry, giving his permission to tell the other teens; in the end, nothing good could come from coddling them. They all needed to learn to fight and kill a human in order to be of use as soldiers for the Dark Lord. Any revolution caused a certain amount of bloodshed; revolutions just weren’t possible with only flowers and singing about love.

Harry’s face was set in a hard, blank mask and his eyes had narrowed a bit. “There was a raid on their family home; their father was executed after interrogation and the boys kidnapped. Extended family and a few friends were tracked down after a while and disposed of. Colin was killed recently, his death used to power a ritual; Dennis is still alive. The Dark Lord has no further use for him and he gave him to me. I plan to use Dennis for curse practice in the next few days and then later, kill him. After all, training with dummies has its limits.”

There was an audible gulp from the two Slytherins, Cory and the others were used to this side of Harry as they had been there when he had tortured Gibbons, but even they still gulped—except Draco who shivered a bit in delight—at the darkness in Harry’s voice. They had known or heard that Harry had turned dark, and that he was powerful, but had disregarded what that really meant. Most of the time, Harry was easygoing and friendly, unless of course, he became jealously possessive of Draco, like earlier in Diagon Alley.

Bellatrix beamed at Harry in pride and tackled him in a surprise hug—making Draco, who was sitting next to his boyfriend, jump from his seat—as she cackled happily. “He has come a long way, hasn’t he? No ickle baby Potter anymore! I’ll love to teach you all about the fine art of torture!”

Harry grinned and his eyes sparkled as he returned the hug after a moment.

Snape, Rodolphus and Rastaban looked on with amused smirks; Blaise and Pansy watched the most infamous, dangerous female Death Eater hug the former Saviour of the Light in astonishment while the twins, Draco, Cory and Luna were already used to Bellatrix’s antics.

Harry managed to get Bellatrix off of him after a while so that he could continue his explanation to Blaise and Pansy. “You asked about what Pest Control does. Hunting muggleborns is one part of their assignments; they also target certain Wizarding folk of the Light side that are a threat to the Dark Lord’s plans.”

“Yes, or we handle traitors,” Bellatrix added. “Like Karkarov.”

“I read about him in the Daily Prophet a few weeks ago,” Blaise remarked.

“Exactly,” nodded Bellatrix. “That was fun...” she trailed off with a reminiscent gaze.

“They also do research on Muggles and how muggles could endanger wizards,” Draco continued. “Muggles have made frightening progress when it comes to worldwide communication, surveillance and weapons of close range combat or large scale mass destruction. You and most other wizards have no idea of this danger because the Daily Prophet never reports anything about what is really going on in the muggle world and the Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts is a joke. It’s keeping wizards content and naive in the belief that muggles are helpless and harmless. This obviously happens for political reasons, because Dumbledore wants it that! For example, remember how last year we spent the weeks looking at diagrams and talking about a toaster works?” Draco shook his head in disbelief.

Blaise looked contemplative and then nodded. “Yes, that’s true; we did talk about muggle household artefacts like a toaster, a coffee machine or a cold box. I took that class because it is a requirement for most jobs at the Ministry, but I don’t think we learned that much useful stuff.” He paused. “Exactly what kind of research does this PC team do and where?”

Harry smiled grimly and answered him. “They research muggle modern day weapons, technology and so forth and how they could affect us; how wizards can defend themselves and keep their homes safe, should the muggles ever figure out how to detect magic and attack us. There is a large ballroom—very well warded and shielded now—that I allow the PC team to use to do their research.”

“Hmmm, ok,” Pansy smiled. “What else did you do here all summer?”

“Summer school,” Harry, and the other teens, laughed. “When the ballroom is free, we teens use it to train ourselves in hexes, shields, curses and their counters on practice dummies, just like we did in the DA last year, only this time, we’ve added Dark Arts and Sev, Lucius, Rodolphus, Rastaban and last but not least, the one and only Bellatrix as teachers.” At her name, Harry winked at the witch and did a salute to which she did an elaborate mock curtsey in answer causing everyone to smile and chuckle.

“Some days we had our lessons out on the grounds,” Harry continued. “There, we mostly trained in fitness, strategy and stealth. We sometimes did single duels or group battles all together and we learned how to transfigure or charm things lying around, like rocks, branches or the water of a fountain, into something that could help in a fight. Similar to what Bellatrix and I witnessed when the Dark Lord and Dumbledore duelled in the Atrium of the Ministry; that was beyond awesome by the way.

“We also started to learn the basics of Martial Arts which a muggle fighting technique that uses your body or a weapon such as sticks, staffs, daggers, sabres or swords, to defend yourself or to knock out your opponent. The reason we studied it is because it could come in handy if we’re ever in a situation where we lose our wand in a duel or if magic doesn’t work in an area. It takes years of training to be really good, to be a master, same as wizard duelling, but at least now, we have an idea of how it looks, how it works and how to use it.”

Blaise and Pansy looked at the teens in awe, causing them to chuckle.

“Come on guys,” Harry smiled, “you know that I was always good at DADA in school. Truth is, I had to learn it early on my own or I wouldn’t have survived up to now. Every year since I started Hogwarts, the manipulative old bastard placed me in several dangerous life or death situations. But just because I’m really good, I still have a long way to go to become the best. Take Drake for example; he already knows some fencing and the basics of Dark Arts because Lucius started teaching him as a young boy, but Cory, Luna and I started from scratch and I’ve only fought with a sword once before.” He paused and could barely suppress the shudder as he remembered fighting the Basilisk and then the pain of the Cruciatus after he had told Voldemort of it a few weeks back.

Cory perked up, remembering the first meeting of the DA in Hogsmeade last year. “That was when you killed that Basilisk in second year, wasn’t it? When you used the sword of Gryffindor?”

“Yes,” Harry answered tersely; he wasn’t angry at his friend, he just didn’t feel like revisiting the details of what happened. The others saw the way his face closed off and though they were curious, they acknowledged that it was his choice if he wanted them to know what really happened.

After a moment, Draco got them back on track by finishing the report of their summer activities. “If one of the Death Eaters had time, they joined us; it was to not only spice things up, but to keep themselves in shape. Why do you think Aunt Bella, her husband and Ras look healthier rather than how they should look after such a lengthy stay at Azkaban? It was very interesting, often demanding and exhausting, but it was all good fun.”

“Whoa,” Blaise sighed, “I knew the Dark Lord was powerful, but I had no idea of how he ran his operations or everything that you guys accomplished.”

“This is a lot of information,” Pansy looked at the group.

“I trust it will not be a problem for either of you?” Snape’s voice was dangerously soft and it held the insinuation that should they have a problem, they would be obliviated and sent on their way.

Blaise and Pansy shared looks, before Blaise spoke. “I admit, this information is a bit overwhelming and unsettling—especially everything that Dumbledore did—however, you trust us enough to tell us and I appreciate it.”

“In other words,” Pansy continued, “we’re glad we were told the truth and your secret is safe with us.”

“Good,” Harry nodded. “Draco really cares about the two of you and I’d hate to have to hurt you if you had decided to hurt him by not being able to accept that we’re going to be working on the same side now.”

“You know,” Pansy smirked at Harry, “I think I always suspected you weren’t as pure as everyone thought. Welcome to the Dark Side Potter.”

“Harry,” Harry smiled. “And thank you. It’s a fun place to be.”

“We know,” Blaise grinned. “You know Harry, you’d make a fabulous Slytherin; the way you hid your true persona throughout these years without anyone—especially us Slytherins as we pride ourselves on watching everyone—being none the wiser.”

“Well,” Fred grinned. “The hat did say he would make a good Slytherin.”

“What?” Pansy and Blaise wondered just how many shocks they could go through in one sitting.

“You know,” George smirked, “Come to think of it, it did the same to us.”

Now, everyone turned to look at the twins.

“Didn’t know that, did you?” Fred laughed. “Oh yes, like Harry over there, the Sorting Hat wanted to put us in Slytherin...”

“...said we had the drive and ambition to go after what we want,” George continued. “The only reason it placed us in Gryffindor and not Slytherin was because...”

“...even though we were sneaky and underhanded,” Fred picked up, “the things we had done and what we aimed to do; only a Gryffindor would dare to be so brave or foolish.”

“Unbelievable,” Snape’s complexion had paled a little. “To think, I was this close to having not only you two, but Harry in my house as well.”

“Slytherin would have won the House Cup all these years,” Harry laughed, “if all three of us were in Slytherin and on the team.”

“The things you could’ve done,” Snape shook his head, “thank Merlin for small favours. If you three had been sorted into Slytherin, where you no doubt would have developed your abilities even further, the school would not have survived.”

Everyone laughed at that. After that, the talk shifted onto more pleasant matters; Blaise and Pansy had expressed their appreciation for the new looks of the teens, often teasing the boys, delighting in the flushed cheeks. All in all, as far as everyone was concerned, the day—and night—couldn’t have gone better.

A/N 2: so that was chapter ten. We hope you guys liked it; things are picking up now that HG and the others have seen the changes in Fred and George and they have met Harry and Cory, though not knowing who they are. Chapter 11 is almost finished, so hopefully it will be out by the weekend or next week at the latest.

Don’t forget to review when you’re done reading.
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Rise of the Dark Angel