Darkness Returns

Darkness Returns

Chapter Three: Manor of Broken Dreams

By: Azkaban Riddle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"HARRY?" screamed Ron and Hermione at the same time.

Harry then heard frantic footsteps and a few moments later his vision was obscured by very bushy, brown hair. It appeared that Hermione had just hugged him. She let him go. Ron stepped forward and embraced him like a brother he hadn't seen in a long time. Both Ron and Hermione were smiling and gleaming with happiness at the surprise visit.

Harry could see that Ron and Hermione weren't the only ones smiling; Padma Weasley- Ron's wife (formerly known as Padma Patil) was also smiling. She gave Harry a hug.

Tonks and her husband, James Marshall (known as Jimmy) were also situated here. Fred Weasley with his wife: Bellatrix Marshall-Weasley and the widow of George Weasley: Lily Marshall-Weasley (twin of Bellatrix and sister of Jimmy) were also there.

Dear old Moony and his wife Annayangie Clarkson Roussalet -Lupin (mother of Lily, Bellatrix, Jimmy, and Dayanne Riddle) were here at this living room along with Viktor Krum and Marla Krum, his wife.

A bunch of kids and teenagers Harry didn't know and didn't recognize were here also. Then there was Draco, looking shocked and surprised.

Harry could believe this from Malfoy, Ron, Hermione, and Padma, but not from the rest of the people gathered here. Once Padma had gotten married with Ron, he, Harry, had come to expect anything from her.

Didn't any of the others realize that Malfoy had made their lives hell? Did not Malfoy had tricked Hermione? They, surely, can remember that because of Malfoy the Light Side, along with Harry, had almost surrendered to the Dark Side, thirteen years ago? If they didn't remember that, they had to remember that Malfoy had made the woman that Harry had loved suffer so much? And had almost married her?

'This is just unbelievable! How could they get along and be friends with a person- oh, my bad- with a scum like this?' thought Harry.

"Oh, Harry! It has been so long! I haven't seen you for thirteen years! You should come with your family to visit us sometime, y'know!" exclaimed Hermione. She smiled at him and gave him a playful punch.

"Sorry I couldn't visit you sooner," said Harry sarcastically. "But, of course, you can see that this is not a friendly visit. I need to talk to you about Italian Ministry issues right now, or else I would have not come here at all- that I can guarantee." Hermione's, Ron's, and everyone else's smiles flickered and died. Hermione looked disappointed, and she wasn't the only one.

"Oh," whispered Hermione, with sad face. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and her hands were trembling. Harry looked at her coldly and without mercy.

~+~+~+

'I'm not going to let my wife get upset like this because of him!' thought Draco. He glanced at his wife once again and put an arm around her shoulders. He gave Harry the dirtiest look he could muster.

"What do you want with us, Potty?" asked Draco. With this said, Ron stepped out of the queue, almost face-to-face with Draco, giving him a very intimidating glare.

"Okay, okay.... What do you want us to do, my dear Harry Potter?" said Draco. "There, see, was that better Ron?" Draco demanded of Ron in a whisper.

"Much better!" responded Ron, dropping his stern look. He moved toward his wife and sat next to her.

Draco could not believe this! Even after Potter had just made Hermione upset and tearful; even though Potter had not talked, written to, or visited Ron for about eleven years, Ron was still somewhat defending Harry right now!

He guessed Ron just couldn't help it- they had been best friends all of those years, they both had grown up together as close as brothers, and they had grown accustomed to stand up and defend each other, after all. Draco finally understood why Ron was standing up for the ex-Gryffindor even after all these years.

~+~+~+

"The Italian Ministry," started Harry, but Ron cut him off.

"The Italian Ministry? What's the Italian Ministry got to do with you?"

"I work there as an Auror," said Harry simply.

"Cool!" stated Ron.

"Anyway," continued Harry, "as I was saying before an ignorant red head interrupted me," Ron's ears became rather red, but he did not say anything to Harry, "the Italian Ministry requested that I come here and ask Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy something important. Let me start from the beginning."

Harry took a seat in the only unoccupied chair. He smirked at everyone and continued.

"After the Second War, Ministries around the world have learned that it's better to cooperate together than stand out alone, so they have built an organization consisted on government, safety, and some other usual departments. The organization was named Worldistries Wizarding Government. Of course, Country Ministries will still remain, but the Worldistries has much more power and will have the best people imaginable at what they do.

"Look," Harry said to Draco, "the Italian Ministry was the one to come up with the idea of such an organization. Then, the British Ministry followed, along with many more, including, but not limited to, the Wizarding State. I was one of the few chosen straight away for this program, and so I will have to guide most of the people I recruit and sign up. This program is scheduled to begin the twentieth of August, this year. To make it easier for employees and for "people concerned," the Ministries gathered together and decided that there should be a Worldistries Headquarters or a main office in each country across the world.

"Britain will have a Worldistries Headquarters too, you know. Not an office, though, but we're working on that. It'll be located right next to your Ministry of Magic. And actually, that's not what I came here for, really. The Worldistries, after all, does not pay me to just talk about them. The ministers for each ministry gathered one month ago, last June I believe, to have a look at people's files, both professional and personal, to find future candidates that may become personnel in later. According to both your files and to the Worldistries Wizarding Government's main officials and ministers, they made the British Ministry of Magic give you a promotion, Malfoy."

Hermione's and Draco's faces lit up; they had been expecting a promotion for years!

"Oh no," said Harry hurriedly, "this is not only a simple promotion. Malfoy here will be a part of the Worldistries just as soon as he signs these release papers from the British Ministry, saying and accepting that he renounces them." Harry put a small stack of papers on the table in the middle of the room and then sat back down in his chair. Harry spoke to Draco once again.

"If you become an employee of the Worldistries Government, you will earn more than two thousand Galleons per week," Draco raised his eyebrows. "In a month, you would gain a lot more than eight thousand Galleons. A lot more Galleon earnings than normal Wizards- they average way less to even say.

"When you enter, the Worldistries will pay you a month off, but only a month. If you take off more than one month that whole year, it will show in your pay earnings. It's really a pity that they take that money away, but oh well; it's still loads of Galleons to earn. You can see why so many Witches and Wizards both have applied for jobs at the Worldistries, but you didn't even have to apply, did you?" Harry gave Draco a venomous stare.

"Of course, not everything can be fun and games, can it, Draco Malfoy? There are a few disadvantages, for you of course, to this job that I should tell you about before you sign the release papers, or else the guilt will follow me until I die!" exclaimed Harry, in mock horror. He laughed a high-pitched laugh after this.

"That's not your laugh," Ron voiced his thoughts out loud slowly. "I remember your laugh even after all these years. Your laugh used to be warm, lighthearted, contagious even at times. Whenever you laughed, Hermione, me, and anyone else around you felt like nothing in the world could or would never harm us... You've changed.... You're not the same Harry we used to know and love... The Harry who was my best friend, or who wouldn't stop working until he set things straight! You're just not him, you can't be the real Harry!"

"Oh really?" asked Harry, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He sneered at Ron. "What am I then, a Death Eater? The last one left? Don't make me laugh. If I wasn't the real Harry, I wouldn't have this scar, would I?" Harry lifted up his bans to reveal a barely visible scar shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"You might be telling the truth, really. What do you think we are? Stupid? Anyone but ourselves could fall for that trick! You could have drank Polyjuice potion before coming here! The real Harry might not even know you're here! You might have him kidnapped somewhere! We know old Death Eater ways too, you are not the only one. I am willing to bet you are a Death Eater in disguise!" Ron exclaimed, triumphantly.

"Sure I am. Backed-up to your old usual Hogwarts standards, aren't you, Ron?" Harry's sneer widened at the latter. "Only three statements correct out of nine, I'm afraid to say. Well, well, well, Ron! You actually were right about something for the first time in your life! I'm impressed. You were right on correct in saying I am not the same Harry that you used to know and love--"

"--It's not that I used to know you, it's that I still do! Someone as pure, someone as friendly, honest, and brave as you could never be able to change!" contradicted Ron.

"'Could never be able to change?' Ha, ha! That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard!" replied Harry, with a murderous face. Harry gave two steps toward Ron, while Ron gave two steps back at the look on Harry's face. He didn't want to get too close to Harry, because if he did, that might be the last thing he ever does again. Harry continued with his rampage.

"People can change, especially me! And I did change; I managed to change years and years ago! How could I not? How did you expect me not to?!"

Harry was starting to feel not just angry, not just furious, but full-out enraged. Right that second, the wine glasses in Tonks', Fred's, and Viktor Krum's hand exploded. Some of the crystal chandelier lights started malfunctioning and then the whole chandelier went out completely. All the doors in Malfoy Manor and even in the house neighboring in front of them flew open. Every flower base, crystal and china alike, cracked and exploded. So did the picture frames and glasses; everything fragile shattered. Sparks flew out of the tip of Harry's wand and some of those gathered at the drawing room screamed when they saw this happen, surely believing Harry had lost total control of himself and was about to curse them.

They were all in the dark, in this small, little drawing room, bumping into each other eventually.

"Sorry 'bout that, it only happens when I get very angry; I just... lose control," Harry mumbled, his voice a great deep grunt. His breathing was recovering into its normal phase, not that one with harsh and ragged breathing that had been heard moments before.

Harry took out his wand from his front pocket and pointed it at the chandelier above his head. He muttered, "Lumos!" A jet of bright light came out of his wand, illuminating the whole room. Then Harry said, "Mittere!" The jet of light broke away from Harry's wand tip and floated all the way up to the chandelier and stayed there, lighting the filled drawing room.

"I'm sorry. I will pay for anything that has to be replaced for my sheer lack of common sense. I need to work on that," Harry faked a smile. It looked more like a grimace, though.

"Harry, that's okay. We have known you for years and know how you can lose control sometimes. Really, don't worry. There's nothing here that can't be fixed with my wand and my magic," Hermione reassured Harry cheerfully.

'That's weird. It's definitely news for me!' thought Harry. 'I always thought you were a Mudblood. A proud Mudblood that I need to brake at any cost...'

Harry faked a smile once again, and this time he managed it without having it look like a grimace, but he was still flaring mad. They didn't remember anything, did they? How could he not have changed, first of all? How could he have not become cold hearted and strict after all that he had been through? After that- that incident, twelve years ago?

"Harry, we never forgot-" started Hermione, but Harry interrupted her, not for the first time in his life.

"Anyway," said Harry, "this is neither the place nor time to discuss this. Where was I?"

"Oh, so after all those years he has finally gotten brain damage! Took him long enough!" whispered Fred Weasley to Ron, rubbing a little bit of the right-hand side of his head and looking rather confused about something. Thankfully, Harry did not hear them.

"Nowadays he is deaf too," James Marshall replied, having overheard the comment. The three of them tried to stifle their laughs, but nonetheless, chuckle came out of their mouths. Harry did not hear this either.

"Ah, yes, there was where I left off. There are future disadvantages to this job I should tell you about. In the Ministries of Magic, as soon as you finish all the work you had to do that day, you could go home, couldn't you? Well, when you are working for the Worldistries as an official, you have working hours; in other words, the Ministers give you a schedule, which you absolutely cannot break unless you are in rank three and above. For example, your minister, your counselor, or even you decide that your schedule should be from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon. If you finish all you had to do that day for work before it is your leaving time, well, you will still have to stay in the building until your working period is officially over.

"As I said before, there a few exceptions to being able to break that schedule, of course. Just in case some officials don't want to follow the rules, they have installed Punch Card machines- or something like that. Have you heard of those, Malfoy? All right, you haven't, I got the point already! Well, it's these kind of machines Muggles have built for work--luckily our 'punch cards' run by magic. The Muggles grab a card that was made especially for them, and every time they got to work, they have to introduce the card into a type of machine that makes a puncture- god, this is complicated to explain. It's confusing, really, to explain it to a Wizard who hasn't seen one before.

"Well, never mind; you'll see the magical ones soon. The Welcoming Guards will probably explain everything to you once you get to the Worldistries. Oh, by the way, did I mention that if you join, you'll have to work as an Auror, for that's what the Ministers decided you would work the best at. Unfortunately for you, I'm the Head Auror, so you'll get bossed around mostly by me. Another thing, whoever wants to start working for the Worldistries Wizarding Government Organization has to have his house raided or at least checked before he starts working. As you can see, they are not taking any chances any longer. So, do you want the job or not?" asked Harry, rather aggressively.

Draco thought...

~+~+~+

It might be a good idea... After all, the Malfoys aren't made out of gold nor money. Yes, that schedule thing is way off, and so is working and being bossed around by my old school rival, the one and only Harry Potter, a skeleton key to all the doors in the Wizarding World, but still....

Oh well, it is worth the money and everything else included, and if I don't like the job, I'll quit, even though I don't know of any job better than the Ministry's... Besides, 'Mione would love that her old best friend and I talked to each other or at least became mutual to one another.... I'll take the chance. After all, it can't hurt, can it?

~+~+~+

"Fine," answered Draco. "I agree even though I will have to work with you around! Just kidding!" He added the latter quickly, because Ron was starting to give him that menacing look again.

"Then just sign here and here," Harry rustled through the small stack of papers at the table in the middle of the room, showing Draco where he had to sign, "and then you will be all set to go."

Harry retrieved a purple pen decorated with the Worldistries logo ( the word 'Worldistries' surrounded by little flying snitches) out from his robe's front pocket and handed it to Draco. Draco received it with a trembling hand and moved toward the table at the middle of the room. He took the release papers from the table in his hands and walked back to his now vacant chair. Once he sat down, he turned his gaze to the papers. They said:

British Ministry of Magic

These Release Papers are British Ministry of Magic property. Release Papers like these are kept under close surveillance by trustworthy personnel. Please reinstate your name, age, address (if any, or if living in Muggle neighborhood) phone number (if any), your business with the Ministry, and how many years you have worked in the Ministry until now.

Name (full name, print only please):

Age: Phone Number (if any):

Address (if any):

Business:

Working Years In Total:

~+~+~+

On the next page, there was more writing:

Release Papers ---(British Ministry of Magic)

Once I, Draco Lucius Malfoy Black, sign these papers, it will be very clear to me that I am agreeing to not work in the British Ministry of Magic anymore, due to: promotion to the new Worldistries Wizarding Government Organization. When and if I do sign these Release Papers, I will, of course, help the Ministry of Magic at times of necessity and when the Minister requests my help or advice, even though I will not be able to decide for nor represent the British Ministry of Magic on events and so on (for more information on this topic, see page four, section G). I will not have much choice but to accept the decisions of the Ministry without opinions or asking why of their decisions (except in a few exceptions). Once I sign these papers, the Ministry of Magic is not responsible for my actions nor behavior, and for anything that goes wrong in which I am included into or involved in. (When signing on bottom, please sign with your complete full name, no printing please).

I, Draco Lucius Malfoy Black, agree to everything mentioned here and promise to keep commitment and world to the British Ministry of Magic.

Signature: Date: Time:

~+~+~+

Draco took the purple pen in his hand and filled out the first Release Paper with the 'British Ministry of Magic' title:

Name (full name, print only please): Draco Lucius Malfoy Black

Age: Thirty years old Phone Number (if any): 1012)-6428-2249

Address: Malfoy Manor

Number Two, Phoenix Way

Black Forrest, JL lake, Chilterns

Hertfordshire

7LF 90464

UK

Business: Unspeakable for the Department of Mysteries, Official for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (Being and Spirit Division), and part-time Official for the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Working Years in Total: six years .

~+~+~+

Draco then filled out the second form title 'Release Papers.' He put the date, the time, and then signed the paper with a full, complete name.

"Is that it?" asked Draco roughly.

"Yeah, I think," answered Harry, with an amused tone in his voice. "Well then, welcome to the Worldistries Ranks," continued Harry, "You will be working as an Auror and in the Introductory Oath, you will be presenting yourself as, you know, 'Draco Malfoy, thirty years old, married to Hermione Granger; I have two kids and apparently one coming up soon,'" Harry glanced at Hermione's growing belly.

"'I am a licensed and qualified Auror Official now in the Worldistries Ranks,' or something like that. Present yourself at the British Ministry of Magic Auror Headquarters Office on August twentieth at nine in the morning. Worldistries' Officials will be waiting for you there and will be escorting you the Worldistries Headquarters from the Ministry's Auror Office. That will be your test day- a feeling of what it will be like while working with the new Wizarding Government and you will also get a tour of the Foundation. You may bring your family if you like.

"Well, my work here is done, so I will leave and let's hope that we don't have to see each other's faces until August the twentieth," finished Harry.

He turned around and made to leave. Hermione, Ron, and the rest gathered in the drawing room began whispering to each other, everyone except Draco, who apparently was still thinking about his new found job.

Suddenly, the long silence was broken when Hermione muttered, "Harry, please wait! We need to speak to you!"

Harry stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around. He wanted to keep his promise, which was to get out of this creepy house without another word out of his mouth once he had done everything he needed to do and had said everything he had needed to say to Malfoy, but he still didn't move.

"Harry... Please," Harry turned around and looked into Hermione's face, surprised to see that she was crying. "Harry, please, please stay and talk to us. Listen to us; listen to what we have to say... We are very sorry and ashamed of ourselves, we admit it. We apologize, Harry."

As Harry opened his mouth in a snarl, she put one hand up to stop the insulting retort that she was sure was forming in his throat.

"I have known you for so long, this friendship took so many years in the making, Harry, that I know you are beyond angry with us. I think that maybe 'beyond angry' is the understatement of the year, for you are way above that with us for what we supposedly did to you, but at least try. Harry, please at least try to understand us. At least stay for old times' sake and for the sake of the friendship we once might have had..."

Harry gave up for that instant. There was no point in making her suffer and cry as she gets rejected by one that was once her best friend. Of course, he still wants to see them suffer by his means: for what they did to him, but there was just no point right this instant. There were other things on his plate apart from plotting revenge and seeing former friends suffer that were very important, and neither of those factors weren't one of them right now. At least not yet...

"Fine. Have it your way," said Harry, "I'll stay."