6

Chapter VI: Return to Grimmauld Place

(Harry P.O.V)

Harry's eyes scanned the crowd of death eaters, watching their every movement. None of them have a high magic signature, of the lot, Harry thought to himself, his eyes falling upon the burly man that stood in the center, That man has at the most maybe a fourth of mine. Though, by his composure, it's unlikely he has enough presence of mind to see how outclassed he is.

Harry turned his attention back to the auror laying on the ground, I still sense his magic as well, which means he's not dead, it's not fading either so his condition isn't critical. A smile grew beneath Harry's cold facade, Good, that means I can have fun. "I'll ask again," Harry said his voice icy, "Which one of you hurt my Daphne?"

"If you're asking who was in charge here," The man with the largest aura called out, "That would be me. Glad you stopped by though Potter, it means I can kill two birds with one stone and drag both your sorry asses to the Dark Lord." The man licked his lips with a feral growl, "Boys, get them."

The ten wizards left standing all lifted their wands, but before a spell could even be cast, Harry forced a pulse of magic from his mind, the shockwave making the dust on the ground rise and expand. The men stood still, as a vein popped in the ring leader's forehead, "I said get hi-" The boss of the small group hadn't even a chance to finish his order before like flies, the bodies of his soldiers began to drop. "What the hell?" The man said his voice trembling, "What did you do to them?"

"I took them out," Harry said, "The aurors will take them into custody when they arrive. You, however, won't be so lucky." He cracked his neck, "You decided to harm my girlfriend, custody would be too easy for you. It's a pity really, had you only chosen a different target, you wouldn't have earned yourself this painful experience."

Harry smirked, as the man lifted his wand, two stunners flying at him as he ducked, avoiding the attack. "Harry," Daphne whispered, "I'll back you up I just need to-"

"Don't worry about it, Princess," Harry said smiling brightly down at the beautiful blonde in his arms, "I got this."

"Harry he's Silas Crump, a werewolf that escaped Azkaban. You shouldn't take him-,"

"I said it's fine," Harry said with a grin placing Daphne gently on the ground, "Compared to the things I've been through, this man is nothing but a puppy." Harry watched Daphne's eyes widen as he stepped back, a stone pillar forming from beneath the ground blocking the reductor curse that had been aimed towards them.

"A puppy huh?" Silas growled like a feral animal, "We'll see about that! Bombarda!" Harry smirked, swirling his hand as he caught the bolt of magic, sending it back towards Silas, the spell exploding at his feet. "How did you-," Faster than the poor man could see Harry rushed him, slamming his fist into Silas' gut, his legs falling to the ground.

With a flick of his wand, black chains emerged, pinning Silas down as Harry took a clump of the man's hair into his hand, "It's very rude to interrupt people when they're talking. Perhaps I should teach you some manners before I send you to the other side ."

"What are you-," The man hadn't finished his sentence before Harry's knee had made contact, shutting the man's jaw by force. Harry's face had become blank as parchment as he placed a finger over his lips, fear building in the man's eyes.

"Quite, I'm talking," He said, his glare never leaving his chained opponent, a ring of black flames surrounding the two, separating him from Daphne. "Now then, Silas, was it?" Harry said, his tone laced with boredom, "Before I kill you, I want to know everything you know about Voldemort. Where does he stay? What is he planning? How many new recruits has he garnered? And most importantly, who gave away my girlfriend's location?"

"Please," Silas said the determination lost in his eyes, "I swear to god I don't know-,"

Harry's fist crossed the man's face, the sound of his nose breaking echoing through the night sky, "Your god isn't here. You'll have to settle for me. So let's try again, what do you know?" The man whimpered under Harry's glare. "A silent one, huh? Seeing as you didn't waver under my legilimency pulse, it means you must have some occlumency shields. Clever. But I've been studying a lot about occlumency and legilimency over this summer, so I have a question for you. Do you know what happens when someone's occlumency shields are broken by pure force? I don't mean what happens when they are bypassed, or what happens when the legilimens enters someone's mind undetected. I want to know if you understand what happens if you make me get the information I want by force?"

"Please, if I tell you anything," Silas said, "The Dark Lord will kill me. Please, even if I wanted to help you I couldn't."

"I don't quite see how that's my problem," Harry said as he loomed over the man like the shadow of death. "If you make me break your shields, you'll snap, you'll go insane. Normally, I'd say that's better than being Voldemort's puppet, but since it's been explained to me that you are a werewolf as well, St. Mungos won't be able to keep you under critical care in their insanity ward. Instead, you'll be put down, like a dog. So you can choose, do you want to die to them, or to him."

A manic laugh escaped the man's mouth, "You won't do it!" Silas said his eyes wide, the fear the man faced now shifting to insanity, "I've heard the story! When you were in the Graveyard! I heard about how you crawled in fear of my lord! You're weak, you let that boy-," Harry didn't even allow Silas to finish before he broke his occlumency shields, the man falling to the ground a drooling mess.

Harry stood there quiet, a chill running down his spine now as he pulled himself from the memories of the werewolf beneath him, "Malfoy," The steel grey eyes of his self-proclaimed rival shone in his mind, "So he's the one that gave up the Davis' address, but why?" Once more the image of the fifth-year Slytherin Ponce entered his mind, You're a fool Malfoy, you've entered a game you aren't even the least bit ready for.

"Harry," The sound of Daphne's hobbled footsteps quickly approaching him made him turn, a smile crossing his face as he wrapped his arm around Daphne's waist, his face nuzzled into the crook of her neck, his lips planting soft kisses against her neck before they pulled apart.

"Hey, Princess," Harry said with a smile, "Miss me?"

"What kind of stupid question is that," Daphne said with a small tinge of red forming against the bridge of her nose. "I was going to ask if you got a lot stronger but-," Harry watched as her girlfriend's eyes scanned the battlefield, "I think I got my answer. You're incredible, I didn't even hear you say a single spell. How did you get so strong?"

"I um," Harry said scratching his head, "I had a good teacher." Daphne's brow furrowed. Moody was a great auror, everybody knew that, but, he knew his girlfriend wouldn't believe standard training with Moody alone would have caused the power spike his body had undergone. "It's a long story," Harry said dismissively, "What I'm more interested in is if you're alright? I saw your leg was all bandaged, but, they couldn't have done that," Harry said as he looked at the dropped bodies.

"It's a long story," Daphne parroted, "I'll tell you about it later. I hope I didn't interrupt your training. I didn't want to but I-"

"It's fine, it actually ended a couple of days ago," Daphne's eyebrow raised as Harry continued, "I want to come to see you as soon as I could, honestly I did," Harry said his resolve crumbling quicker under Daphne's curious eyes than even Morgana's, "But, I found out that a bunch of these small rural villages had been under attack over this summer. I went to go visit them, Moody thought it would be a good idea to remind everybody that I wasn't dead or something."

Daphne shook her head, "You could have come to remind me first."

"Best for last?" Harry said with an apologetic smile before Daphne let out a gentle sigh, leaning up to capture his lips. "What was that for?" Harry whispered with a warm grin."

"Yes, Flyboy, I missed you," Harry smiled at Daphne's admission before she watched the girl flinch, gripping her leg.

"That doesn't look pleasant," Harry said, "Well since I'm on a reunion tour now, how about we head back to Grimmauld Place, I'm sure everyone's been waiting to see me, and I'm sure we have some medical supplies for you to help treat whatever happened there. Kreacher!" Harry called out, and for a moment his eyes sunk, "Right, yeah..." He said gently, "Dobby!"

Daphne looked as if she wanted to protest, but it was too late as Dobby appeared, the elf's clothes drenched in water, "Merlin, what happened?"

"Mr. Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said jumping as he tightened his arms around Harry's leg, "Dobby is so happy to see you again. Miss Greeny was always so worried about you. Dobby is glad Mr. Harry Potter is safe. How can Dobby help the Great Harry Potter."

"Um, do you think you can take Daphne and I-"

"We're fine, Dobby," Daphne called out leaving Harry's brow furrowed with confusion, "How is the situation at the bridge coming."

"Dobby saved everyone he could," Dobby said, his eyes sinking, "Dobby did his best, Dobby really tried, but Dobby couldn't get everybody. The aurors told Dobby to go so they could begin collecting the bodies."

"Bodies? Bridge?" Harry asked his voice cold and confused.

"We have a lot of catching up to do," Daphne said, "I'll explain inside, when Mr. Davis gets back we can use the floo to get to Grimmauld Place. I know you must be dying to see Sirius, Remus, and the Tonks' again." Harry nodded, and while the names had warmed his heart, Harry's chest still felt tight. He'd grown stronger, that was certain, but how much had he missed since he'd been away.

(Sirius P.O.V)

Sirius rubbed his temples as he paced across the newly furnished Black Family Dining Hall. In any other circumstances, seeing the faces of so many new members would have calmed his nerves. The Weasleys, not just Molly, and Arthur, but Bill and Charlie had joined shortly after Voldemort's appearance. The Weasley's were a family with a young daughter sized grudge against the Dark Lord, and their tenacity was astounding. Though they had not been the only ones to join out of vengeance as Amos Diggory too sat in a chair alongside the long table.

"Sirius, stop prancing about will you, you're making us all lose focus," Agusta Longbottom called out, "Take a seat, this self-muttering isn't helping anybody." Sirius was the Leader of the Order in Harry's stead, as such, he hated being bossed around, but the matriarch of the Longbottom Family was right in her words.

Sirius sighed as he took his seat at the head of the table, Emmeline reaching out to grab his hand from beside him, though the fact that Remus' chair was empty had not exactly filled him with reassurance as he looked down the table. The eyes of Dedalus Diggle and Elphias Doge dug into him as Andromeda took the reins, thinking aloud. "It doesn't make sense, we were alerted of all the backcountry attacks by the Death Eaters thanks to Narcissa, and due to that we were able to react and keep casualties low, and yet somehow, we were caught with our pants down regarding the biggest attack they've ever orchestrated, an attack done on the muggle world no less."

"Forgive me for saying this," Amos said, "But are we certain that Narcissa's words can be trusted. After all, we know exactly what her husband is."

"Narcissa isn't loyal to her husband, her escapades with Remus this summer should prove as much," Sirius said stamping out the notion of betrayal, "She and I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to keep her son safe should she continue to feed us information. We have no reason to question that her motives have changed. Draco has a better chance of staying alive with us than Voldemort after all." The sound of the Dark Lord's name sent shutters down some of the newer members' spines. "It's more likely that she wasn't aware of the attack at all, which if true, is troubling in its own right."

"Do you think it's possible she's been found?" Tonks asked her voice trembling at the idea of harm coming to her aunt.

"If she had been," Bill said with a tired sigh, "She'd most likely be dead. Though, she reports that the Dark Lord still believes Snape is in his clutches. If that's true, which we can't confirm or deny, there's no guarantee how long even an occlumens as skilled as Narcissa could keep her secrets from Snape."

Snape, Sirius growled the name itself making his skin crawl. He remembered when Dumbledore had sent Harry's School letter to him, in a way it had been a helpful reminder to key Dumbledore out of the house's wards, but had still made his blood boil upon reading it. Slughorn returning was one thing, truthfully, Sirius had remembered the man as being charming in an oaf-ish sort of way, but seeing that Snape had been named Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor had made Sirius nearly set the letter aflame. Of all the people to choose to train students against the Dark Arts, something pivotal as war was now looming closer than ever, the old fool chose a damn Death Eater.

Sirius was snapped from his haze as Molly spoke up, "Perhaps we should send word to Dumbledore, he must know of-"

"We do not, under any circumstances, rely on Dumbledore for substantive information," Sirius growled, "He placed a bug in my godson's head in an attempt to control his actions, and did nothing regarding the loonisy of Harry's name emerging from the Goblet. Dumbledore is an asset on the front lines of course, but he is not to be trusted. If anyone has a problem with that, they are welcome to leave."

The Weasley matriarch wasn't given a chance to respond as the sound of tumbling from the living room fireplace broke the tension. Sirius' brow raised as he held his wand firmly in his grasp, Bill right behind him with his wand pointed over Sirius' shoulder. The wands, however, quickly were withdrawn, as with squinted eyes, Sirius watched as Daphne, Blaise, Tracey, and her father all emerged from the fireplace. "Daphne?" Sirius called out, "What are you-,"

"He's back," Daphne said with a smile, "Harry's back." Sirius had felt as if his entire morale had been inflated with an air pump at the words that had spilled from the fifth-year Slytherin's Mouth. "You should have seen him, he wiped out a group of twelve death eater recruits like it was nothing. Really he-"

Sirius scanned the living room, waiting for another body to fall from the fireplace, but one never came. Bill and Arthur had come to help Mr. Davis, as well as his daughter and Blaise to the table, but Sirius felt unable to move, "Where is he?"

"He'll be here," Daphne said softly, "He just said he needed to take care of something first. He went with Dobby somewhere after we floo'd here" Instantly, an idea popped into his head as to where his godson had gone, and with a thankful nod, Sirius had left the manor, heading out the backdoor to the tight back garden space before vanishing in a puff of black smoke.

It had felt like decades since Sirius had been here, though in reality, only a couple of months had passed from the time he purchased two grave plots a few spots away from the statue that sat in the center of the cemetery. In the winter, the area looked cold and barren, the perfect environment for death, but the way the trees had regrown their lush green petals, and the stretch of emerald green grass had somehow managed to make the Godric's Hollow Graveyard look more like a place of new beginnings rather than the end of one's journey.

That's where he saw him, his raven-black hair long and looking in desperate need of a haircut. The boy had looked bigger, though certainly not fatter by any means, and yet, despite the fact that Sirius saw the man that now stood before him, he couldn't help but smile at the little boy he'd bring here every Halloween from America. "You know, a lesser Godfather would be a bit upset that his Godson didn't come to alert him he was back after disappearing for an entire summer."

"Then I suppose I'm lucky I don't have a lesser Godfather," Harry said, and Sirius smiled as the two raced towards each other, Sirius' hand resting firmly against the back of his Godson's head, a proud smile donning his face.

"You look well pup," Sirius said, "Strong too. I'm glad to see you're still in one piece."

"I've missed you, Sirius," Harry replied, his arms tightening around Sirius' waist, "Wasn't nearly as fun of a summer without you. I would have come sooner, but-," Harry stopped as the two broke away, "I went to the Memorial Stone, but I didn't see them there. I wasn't sure why, but I thought that coming here made the most sense."

Sirius nodded walking with Harry towards the new graves that had been dug in Godric's Hollow. "The Memorial Stone," Sirius started, "It's where the old House of Black was remembered. I've designated Godric's Hollow to be where the new house will be remembered." Sirius' eyes glanced over towards the headstone where the freshly placed flower's now rested against. Here Lies Kreacher, A Noble Elf of House Black.

"You're brother's buried here too," Harry said gently, Harry had been the one to first inform Sirius that his own brother had turned traitor to the Dark Lord. Fulfilling Kreacher's last request had only confirmed that notion. "I'm certain that both Regulus and Kreacher appreciate it."

"I can only hope so," Sirius said with a tired smile, "Are you done here pup, or do you need a little more time?"

"Couple minutes," Harry said gently as he climbed the steps of the Potter memorial stone. Sirius watched on in silence as Harry placed his head against the stone heads of his parents, a gentle sigh escaping his lips as he wrapped his arm around each of their necks. "I promise, I will finish what you started. I will make you proud, I swear it."

Sirius smiled gently as he wrapped his arm around his descending Godson, "They already are Harry, I know it." Harry looked up at him and nodded before with a crack, both he and Harry vanished into a plume of black smoke.

(Daphne P.O.V)

Daphne couldn't help but smile as she watched Tonks tackle Harry with a tight hug from the Black Sitting room before smacking him on the head gently, berating him for not keeping in touch. Daphne had very much wanted to do the same thing, but the cryptic way in which Harry had answered her questions regarding his summer training had made her wonder is sending word back was even possible.

She hissed as she felt Andromeda placed her palm against her injured leg, the bandages unwrapped as the middle-aged witch got to work on some primary-care magic sealing the now cleaned out wound. She closed her eyes, releasing a tired sigh before finding Harry's emerald eyes staring back at her, the wound sealed tight. "How are you feeling?" He asked gently.

"Better," She replied as she patted the seat on the couch beside her. Harry gladly followed the order, allowing Daphne's head to rest on his chest as the feeling of something metallic rubbed against her temple. "Since when do you wear jewelry?" Daphne asked, wasting no time as she pulled the collar of Harry's tee.

Daphne's eyes widened, though the three-eyed crow necklace was only half of the reason. Harry's chest, abs, and shoulders were littered with scars, all of them healed and faded but clearly visible. Her arms dropped to her side as Harry's collar re-adjusted, her body trembling at the sight she saw before her, "Harry, what happened to you?"

Daphne's reaction had certainly turned some heads, as no longer was she staring at Harry alone, but Tonks, Andromeda, Ted, Sirius, and the Weasleys had all turned to look at Harry in confusion. Harry swallowed the clambering of the new crowd growing louder as he pulled off his shirt. Instantly, the crowd fell silent, the markings extending to his back as Sirius growled, "That bastard, I gave him permission to train you, not to do- this," Harry's godfather looked about ready to puke at the damage Harry's body had undergone during the summer.

"It wasn't Moody," Harry started, "Well, a few of them were, but most of them aren't his fault. I got careless more than a few times during my training. I'm a slow learner, but I learn all the same." Harry turned and a gasp fled from the mouths of all those around them as Daphne's eyes started at the dangling pendant. "By your reaction, I'm guessing you recognize the symbol."

"That's impossible," Arthur whispered, "That's her symbol, but how did you get that? The ministry made the selling of her likeness illegal in any way."

"It was a gift," Harry started and Daphne couldn't help but stare in wonder, "A gift which marked me as her student."

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Molly started, "Morgana has been dead for centuries. She was defeated by Merlin himself, how could she-"

"Lady Morgana is dead," Harry said firmly, though the honorific had surprised Daphne. Harry had a hard time remembering to call the professors at Hogwarts Professor, yet had called Morgana lady in a heartbeat. "But her ghost lives on. Not that it should be all that unusual, I mean, Voldemort was killed once too and he's still hanging around."

"You," Tonks started, her voice shaking, "Are you telling me that you trained with Morgana herself? How? Why?"

"I wish you guys had a pensive or something," Harry said with a sigh, "Honestly it would make explaining this so much easier." Harry waved his hand, the fire in the pit sparking to life as Daphne felt every adult shutter at Harry's display of silent wandless magic, "It's a long story, so everyone take a seat."

Daphne had felt her eyeballs nearly roll from her head as she listened to Harry all about Avalon, the Black Stone Castle, the Gravity Training Rooms, the Meditation Temple, and especially, the Healing Pools. There were so many questions she wanted to ask that it had somehow left her speechless. It appeared to be a shared reaction as nobody in the living room said a word.

"Yeah," Harry said, "And that's the story of how my summer went. But from what I've been gathering, yours hasn't been exactly peaceful."

The silence continued before Sirius had finally broken out of his haze, "Morgana's student, wow." Sirius shook his head regaining focus, "And no, our summer hasn't exactly been a cakewalk. The Order has grown which is good, more people on our side is never a bad thing, but it seems like ever since Voldemort's been revealed, he's picked up his timetable. At first, it had felt just as it had before, people going missing, and showing up dead, small raids on out of the way villages for resources but mostly to drum up fear. But he's accelerating, his attack tonight proved that."

"The Brockdale Bridge," Tonks began, "The Death Eaters destroyed it tonight, I don't know the exact number of casualties, but it's going to be high, on both the wizarding and muggle side. Attacks on the families of Muggle Born children are getting bad too. The Auror department was running a route of all Muggle Born student's families, but that order was rescinded in light of this attack. Merlin only knows how many missing person's reports we'll have tomorrow."

"What about Hermione's parents?" Harry asked in a fright, "Are they-"

"They're fine," Augusta Longbottom said with a smile, "They are currently living in my estate with their daughter. The Death Eaters may come for us all the same, but with the way Neville's been growing, any death eater will have a difficult time taking them from us."

Daphne couldn't help but grin at the bright smile that grew onto Harry's face, "So Neville's grown a lot stronger too," Harry had looked so serious mere moments ago, but his eyes lit up with childlike wonder the instant his friend was mentioned, "What about Michael, has anyone heard from him?"

"Reports show him leaving the country for France," Tonks said, "Though he didn't take his family with him, he's probably just visiting, I'll bet he'll be back in time for the wedding. If everything goes well, you'll see him in just a couple days."

Harry's grin broadened before it sank once more, "Wait, someone's missing, where's Remus?"

"Moony's on a date," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Seriously!" Harry called out in shock, "With who?"

"You'll find out later," Daphne said with a smirk, "For now though, it's been a long night. Let's get some sleep."

"Don't you two do anything I wouldn't do," Sirius said with a grin before Emmeline bonked him on the head.

"No do things that Sirius wouldn't do," Emmeline said with a grin of her own, "Don't do anything Sirius would do."

"I'm not that much of a deviant!" Sirius called out.

"Yes," The entire crowd surrounding him called out in unison, "You are