Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (21)

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Chapter Twenty-One: Family Reunion

Harry ended up spending four days in the Hospital Wing. He had been ready to leave after the first night, but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't hear of it. She insisted on running a full battery of tests to determine how severe of damage the killing curse had done to him. When Harry had first come in he had exhibited no signs of life at all. The Lovegood girl had said he would recover and the kind-hearted nurse hadn't had the heart to tell her the truth. People did not come back to life. Mister Potter would never wake up.

And then, he did.

The elderly Healer had always been driven by logic. The sight of blood or other bodily fluids had never bothered her; they were simply natural aspects of being a human. Bones broke, and she would fix them. Quidditch players would fall off brooms, and she would make sure they got back on them before the next match. It all made sense.

Except when it came to Harry Potter.

She knew he had survived the killing curse before, everyone knew that. She had even come to almost understand it. Anything could happen once, right? Now he had survived it again. There was no precedent for this. Of course, there had been no precedent when he had survived it the first time. There had to be a logical reason for it, and she was determined to find it.

After days of performing every medical test that she knew of, along with consulting other Healers for suggestions of other tests, she had come up with only one logical answer: Harry Potter was an anomaly. Normal rules did not apply. Within twenty-four hours of being unquestionably dead, he was now sitting up and showing no adverse affects from the curse whatsoever.

As Mr. Potter had been recovering, it seemed that the condition of the Lovegood girl actually worsened. She had no exhibited any physical evidence of being cursed, but it was obvious that she was suffering some form of distress. More shocking was the glow that had developed as the two of them lay together in the same hospital bed. The strictly moral Healer had originally objected to allowing the two teens to share the same bed, but had relented when she had, mistakenly, pronounced Mr. Potter deceased. She could not explain what the golden glow could have done for the boy to seemingly raise him from the dead, but she did know that the feeling of power that it radiated was unlike any she had felt in all of her many years in medicine.

The rest of her patients were much more straightforward. The Granger girl had suffered a great shock, but had since pulled herself out of it. The Longbottom boy had been hit with a few nasty curses, but he had also pulled through. The boy strongly reminded her of his father. She had seen him charge into battle the very same way. The thought of Frank's current state caused her to fight back tears. The students needed her, and she would be strong for them.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I can't think of any more tests I can perform on you. I cannot possibly explain how you survived, but you have. I can honestly say that I have never encountered another student like you in my eighty years here at Hogwarts. That includes your father, and that is saying a great deal, I assure you."

Harry smiled in relief.

"Thank God! I couldn't bear being in here another minute. I don't think I'll ever eat jello again. Come on, you lot. Let's get out of here."

All six members of the group rose in unison and made to take their leave. As they moved towards the door, however, it suddenly opened on its own.

"Ah, I suspected that I would find you all together. Although I am sure you are all quite anxious to leave, I would ask you to remain for a little while longer. I have a matter that I must discuss with all of you."

Harry sighed in frustration.

"Can't it wait? I haven't left this room since I woke up after the battle!"

The other members of the group mumbled their assent. Dumbledore merely smiled.

"I promise to be brief, Mr. Potter. I merely wanted to ask you all whether you wished to leave now, or if you would care to stay long enough to sit in on an Order meeting. The choice is yours."

Harry looked around at the others and knew that he could speak for all of them.

"We'd prefer to stay for the meeting. I think all of us would like to know more about what happened and what's being done about it."

The other members of the group nodded their heads in agreement. Dumbledore's smile grew even larger.

"I had anticipated that you all might feel that way. Come with me. Since this will be a full Order meeting, we will be convening in the Great Hall. I do hope there will be enough sandwiches."

Dumbledore then turned on the spot and walked out of the Hospital Wing towards the main staircase. Harry and his friends quickly followed suit. With the mention of sandwiches, Ron was heading up the group.

As luck would have it, there were plenty of sandwiches, along with urns brimming with tea and bottles of chilled butterbeer. Harry noticed that the Order members who were already present seemed to be avoiding the sandwiches for some reason. In truth, they were all too nervous to eat. Remus Lupin had been pacing back and forth when they had entered the Great Hall and came over to talk with them.

"Hello, you lot. How are you feeling Harry?"

Harry shook hands with his guardian and friend.

"I'm fine Remus. How are you doing?"

Remus tried to smile and only partially succeeded.

"I've had worse. I don't like being in the Hospital Wing anymore than you do, Harry. As soon was I was able, I left to recuperate at Grimmauld. Nothing against Madam Pomfrey, but Tonks has a much kinder bedside manner. Much, much, kinder."

Harry grinned and shook his head while the others laughed. Tonks would have smacked the former Marauder for talking about her, but she wasn't there. Yet.

"O.k., Remus. I'm glad you're doing better. We don't need the sordid details."

A wolfish grin appeared on Remus' face.

"Don't you try to get all moralistic on me, Harry James Potter. I seem to recall hearing something about you familiarizing yourself with a certain young lady's cleavage not long after the battle ended, not to mention that it was in front of everyone."

Harry's face turned a deep red as the others all laughed again, except for Luna. She merely smiled and whispered something into his ear that made him turn an even deeper red. Then, before he could be embarrassed any further, the doors to the Great Hall opened to a man Harry had never seen before.

"I wonder who that is?"

As the words escaped his lips, Luna provided him with an emphatic answer.

"DADDY!"

The man opened his arms wide and quickly had them wrapped around his daughter. For the brief moment he had seen them open, Harry could now see where his fiancée got her prismatic eyes. After a few minutes, Luna's feet were returned to the ground and both pairs of eyes were directed at Luna's friends. The now beaming girl wiped a tear from her eye and took her father's hand.

"Daddy, these are my friends. You already know Ginevra and Ronald Weasley."

The instantly likeable man bowed to the two redheads.

"Of course. I've known the two of you since you were both knee high to a niffler. The Weasley family exemplifies everything that a Pureblood family should be. I was not surprised at all to hear of your involvement in the fight against the Dark Lord."

The man then shook both of their hands and allowed Luna to continue her introductions.

"This is Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. I've been saved by both of them. Neville is engaged to Ginevra, and Hermione is engaged to Ronald. Oh, and it was Hermione that came up with the idea for Harry's interview two years ago."

Mr. Lovegood shook Neville's hand and placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Your parents were always kind to me, Neville. When most others wrote me off as mad, they accepted me for who I am. From what my daughter has told me, you have shown her that same acceptance. You are a good man, Neville. Your parents would be very proud of you."

Neville's own eyes grew watery as he returned the man's firm handshake.

"Ah, and you are the remarkable Miss Granger. My daughter has told me a great deal about you. She says you are the most intelligent person she has ever met, and she has met a great deal of people from all over the world. I want to thank you again for arranging that interview with Mr. Potter for us. To date, it is still our largest seller. We still get requests for copies of the article."

Hermione's face turned pink.

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Lovegood. Your publication was the only one not controlled by the Ministry. I'm glad it has also been good for your business."

The man laughed.

"Good? It has ensured that my darling Luna will never lack for anything. We've had some tough times over the years, but things are much better for us now."

Mr. Lovegood stepped back from shaking Hermione's hand and gazed intently at the obviously nervous boy before him. Even Luna seemed to tense up.

"Daddy, this is Harry. Harry Potter."

Luna's father's face was now unreadable. Harry felt as if he would have rather been facing down Voldemort. After what seemed like an eternity, the man spoke to him in a voice devoid of emotion.

"Mr. Potter. Am I to understand that you have become engaged to my daughter?"

Harry felt the sweat slide down his temples.

"Yes...yes, Sir."

"Do you love her as much as I know she loves you?"

Harry could now feel sweat sliding down his back.

"I love your daughter more than life itself, Sir."

Throughout the questioning, Mr. Lovegood's face remained expressionless. None of them made a sound.

"I see. One last question, then. Have you and my daughter had sex?"

Harry could now feel the sweat accumulating in his trainers.

"NO! I mean, no, we haven't. We haven't, Sir."

Mr. Lovegood let out a deep sigh. At first, Harry thought it signified relief. He was wrong.

"No? Not even once? Merlin, I never expected my daughter to end up betrothed to a Puritan. Jorda would be so disappointed."

Luna frowned at her father.

"Daddy, mum is very happy for us. I've talked to her several times about my relationship with Harry."

Mr. Lovegood nodded at this and then turned back to look at Harry with a questioning expression.

"Well, if she says so. I take it you do plan on consummating your relationship eventually, right? I mean to say, I would like some grandchildren to spoil. I never imagined that the two of you hadn't been together at least once yet. No wonder Luna's aura seems so tense. You'll want to be careful, Mr. Potter. If she doesn't get some release soon, you might not make it through the wedding night."

Harry felt like he could not possibly be more embarrassed. Again, he was wrong.

"Don't worry about Harry, daddy. I'm sure he'll be able to keep me very satisfied."

Just as Harry began to contemplate jumping through the nearest window, more Order members began to arrive.

Dedalus Diggle arrived along with Elphias Doge. Both looked more anxious than Harry had ever remembered seeing them before. The proprietor of the Hogshead Inn then arrived alongside a slightly dazed looking Arabella Figg. The two made a very odd looking couple. Hagrid was the next to squeeze through the doorway. The witch directly behind him noticed Harry right away and approached.

"Hello, Harry. My, you are looking fit."

Harry recognized the witch as being Hestia Jones. He hadn't realized before how attractive she was.

"Um, yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

Hestia had taken a few more steps towards Harry when Luna suddenly stepped in between them.

"Yes, Harry is doing quite well. I don't think we've met. I'm Luna Lovegood, Harry's fiancée."

Hestia's alluring smile turned into a dour frown.

"Oh, I see. Well, nice to see you again, Harry. I must get ready for the meeting."

Harry was about to reproach Luna for being unnecessarily rude when her father began clapping.

"Well done, my girl! You'll encounter that sort of thing a lot, I'm afraid."

Luna nodded.

I already have, daddy. I accept that it's a part of being with Harry."

Harry looked to Ron and Neville for some kind of explanation of what had just happened. Seeing their equally blank stares, he turned to Hermione and Ginny. They seemed to understand, but did not offer any help. He resigned himself to adding it to his list of things girls did that he would never begin to understand.

Moody, McGonagall, Kingsley, Snape, Tonks, and the rest of the Weasley clan arrived to complete the Order's ranks. Once everyone was seated, Dumbledore rose from his chair at the head of the table and spoke.

"Voldemort has brought this war to our own doorstep. Never before has he been able to infiltrate Hogwarts. In light of this, we must change our own tactics. To this end, I have brought in the services of two special agents to assist us. To preserve their own identity from our enemies, they will henceforth be known as 'Cloak and Dagger'."

Two cloaked figures stepped through a side door. One was apparently male, while the other was more obviously a female. Although their faces were obscured by magically induced darkness in their hoods, Harry had a good idea who the two were. Dumbledore's eyes met with his briefly before he continued.

"Secondly, I would like to address the dramatic changes apparent in Peter Pettigrew. His level of magical power has increased many times over. His physical self also seems to be going through some kind of transformation. Professor Snape, as spy for the Order, do you have any further insight into this?"

Snape stood up as Dumbledore sat down.

"These changes in Peter's appearance have been slowly progressing since the night the Dark Lord retook human form three years ago. The ritual used to accomplish this needed the flesh of one of his followers to allow it to work. After Peter pleaded with his master to replace the severed hand, the Dark Lord supplied him with one seemingly made of silver. Since that time, the silver substance has been gradually spreading over the entirety of his body. The more that the substance spreads; the more powerful Peter seems to become. I have asked the Dark Lord what magic is responsible for this transformation, but my questioning was rewarded only with the Cruciatus curse. I have not attempted any further inquiries about the matter since."

The professor then sat back down as the rest of the Order were reminded of how perilous, and vital, a job he performed.

A few whispered conversations broke out around the table. The sound of the Headmaster's voice quieted them all at once.

"Thank you, Severus. As always, your services are greatly appreciated. For more information on this, I turn to our special agents."

The hooded wizard took up his own position nest to Dumbledore. Harry looked over at Remus and saw the realization dawn on his face. Despite the obscuring charm, along with another to disguise their voices, Remus' heightened senses told him the identity of the two "special agents." Returning Harry's gaze, both shared a brief smile.

"Thank you, Headmaster. My partner and I have been researching this for sometime now. It is our belief that the substance in question is not any kind of armor at all."

Kingsley Shacklebolt jumped up.

"Of course it's armor! I saw hexes rebounding off it with my own eyes! It may be unlike anything we've encountered before, but it is armor. And, like any other armor, it can be breeched. We just have to come up with the right hex to do it."

The Auror then sat back down amidst another outbreak of whispers. The hooded wizard continued.

"If I may be allowed to finish, the metallic substance consuming Peter Pettigrew is much more than mere armor. It is something much more powerful, and much more sinister. Peter's body is playing host to a symbiotic parasite born of dark magic. In return for enhancing his magical level and providing him a high level of protection, the parasite feeds off his body and mind. If allowed to continue, the parasite will eventually consume the whole of both. Once this happens, the humanity of the one consumed is replaced by the mindless savagery of the parasite itself. Once it has consumed Peter, it will seek to infect another. If allowed to replicate freely, all of the wizarding world could be destroyed."

The conversations that broke out now were far above the level of whispers. Dumbledore was forced to magically amplify even his own naturally booming voice.

"SILENCE!"

All sound halted. Even the very air seemed to still.

"We must stay focused. Things are dark enough without chaos entering in. We all have a great many things to think about and work on. I, myself, have a difficult decision to make. I will also need to speak with some of you in the next few days. For now, I suggest you all take great care and look out for one another. If we are to prevail, we must stand united. Cyre, if I might have a word?"

With that, the Headmaster rose once more and left the room alongside Luna's father. Before Harry could even attempt to follow them, a hand on his arm stopped him in his tracks.

"Harry, if I might have a word with you?"

Harry turned to see Remus looking back at him. Next to him was a short witch wearing a rain hat.

"Hello, Harry. I've never seen you at school before. I should have known you'd be a Gryffindor, what with your parents who they were. I was in Hufflepuff, myself. I shared a room with old Pomona. There's a few stories I could tell you about her, you know."

The woman was set to go into full blown gossiping mode when Remus pulled Harry away from her.

"You'll have to excuse us, Arabella. I have matters of great import to discuss with Mr. Potter, here."

Looking distinctly put out, Mrs. Figg wandered over towards Aberforth as Remus guided Harry away from the crowd.

"Harry, I have a message from Cloak and Dagger..."

Remus' trailed off as Hagrid walked past them. The look he gave Harry let him know that the information was not to be bandied about. Once the half-giant was gone, the former professor continued.

"They wish to speak with you and your team. In particular, they would both like to have a word with Miss Lovegood."

Harry's heart began to race. He had worried so much about how Luna's father would react to him that he had completely overlooked the fact that Luna would be facing the same scrutiny. The sound of Remus laughing brought him back to reality.

"I'm just winding you up, Harry. They both think very highly of Luna and Ron, as well as the rest of your group of friends. The Battle of the Ministry proved their loyalty to you. Once everyone else is gone, they'll be meeting with you. I can still hardly believe that they're really back. In a way, it's almost as if both of us have had our family returned to us. Well, I'll see you later, Harry."

Harry wondered briefly at the abrupt end of their conversation before a gravelly voice called out to him from behind.

"Potter! What's this I've heard about you getting yourself tagged with another killing curse? Haven't you learned anything? CONSTANT VIGILENCE!"

Harry's mouth gaped open. He didn't expect a hug from Moody, but to catch hell from him for getting hit with the deadliest curse in existence?

"Hey, you weren't there! My brain felt like it was being blown apart inside my skull when Pettigrew hit me with it! It wasn't like I was just standing there picking my nose!"

Moody merely grunted as Kingsley's own mouth dropped open.

"So, you really did get hit with the killing curse and survived it...again?"

Harry was starting to get really irritated now.

"YES! What do you think he would hit me with, a cheering charm? I was distracted by the pain in my head and got hit. I'm so sorry I disappointed you!"

Kingsley's shocked look did turn to one of disappointment, but not for the reason Harry thought it would. The large Auror then reached into one of his robe's pockets and brought out a handful of galleons.

"Damn you, Moody. I should know better by now than to bet against you."

Looking over to Moody, Harry saw an enormous, and more than a little unsettling, smile break across his face.

"I told you the rumor was true. Hagrid never could keep a secret after a few buckets of mead."

Kingsley's face quickly hardened.

"You mean you already knew? That's cheating!"

Moody put the galleons into his own pocket and clapped Kingsley on his shoulder.

"No hard feelings, Shack. Tell you what; I'll give you a chance to get your gold back. Which members of the Ministry Six do you think will marry one another?"

Giving one more smile towards Harry, Moody steered Auror Shacklebolt over towards the exit to the foyer. He could not believe that they had made a bet about him nearly getting killed. He made a mental note to talk with Moody sometime soon. The least the man could do was offer him a cut. As he was turning back around to go in search of Luna, he found himself tightly enveloped in a familiar embrace.

"Oh, Harry! I've been so worried about you!"

The feel of being crushed against an ample bosom and the faint smell of cookies gave Harry a reassuring feeling of normalcy.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. I just wish I could have done more to help in the battle."

Mrs. Weasley drew back enough to look Harry directly in his eyes.

Harry James Potter, you will not blame yourself for any of this, you hear me? The important thing is that you're safe. I don't know what I would do if I had lost one of you."

As she began to tear up, Fred and George put an arm around each of her shoulders and moved her back towards the rest of their family. A pang of longing caused Harry's own eyes to mist over.

"Wotcher, Harry! Something in your eye, there?"

Harry turned to see the teasing smirk on the young Auror's face.

"Shut it, Tonks. Despite all my money and all my supposed power, the one thing that I'd always wanted was the one thing I could never have."

Despite the seriousness of Harry's words, Tonks laughed.

"Never have? That's not what I've heard. I'd say being engaged is a pretty damn good start to one. I won't even ask about what else you and Luna are doing to pursue that goal."

Harry blushed furiously. This, of course, only made Tonks laugh that much harder.

"Luna and I haven't...we aren't...shut up."

Harry turned away from the still chuckling Auror and tried to ignore the burning in his cheeks.

"Harry, over here!"

Harry looked over to see that a few people had sat back down at the table where they had just had their meeting. Hermione was waving him over.

Seven people now sat at the table. Hermione and Ron sat together on the far side. Ginny and Neville sat at the end. Luna was looking around behind her chair smiling at him beatifically. At the head of the table, with their faces now discernable to him, were his similarly smiling parents. He could just make out the tell tale signs of several privacy charms surrounding them all.

"What's wrong, Harry? You look a bit flushed."

Harry's face reddened even more as his eyes flitted between Luna and his mother.

"No...it's nothing, Luna. I'm fine. Just a little warm in here."

Lily smiled at him.

"Wasn't that little Nymphadora you were talking to? If she's anything like Andy was, I'll bet she had something...colorful to say."

"Who's Andy?"

James laughed.

"Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora's mum. She was quite the wild child in her day let me tell you. Marrying a Muggle was just one of the things she did to piss off her family. Andy and Ted were great friends of ours. If they hadn't sacrificed themselves, we wouldn't have been able to go into hiding."

This reminder of the war brought all of them back on topic. Harry looked over at his father.

"Dumbledore said you and mum were helping out the Order, so what have you been doing? And what's with the 'Cloak and Dagger' stuff?"

"We've been working closely with Professor Snape for quite a while now. Voldemort still seems to trust him, so he gets a lot of information that none of us ever could. That, along with Lily's love of research, has allowed us to thwart some of snakey-pooh's plans. As for our nickname, well, I thought it was kind of cool."

The teenagers laughed at James while Lily merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Please, don't encourage him. What Mr. Funny fails to mention is that, although I do the research, he's the one who risks his life to see that our plans are carried out. I may excel in Charms, but he's the fighter. From what I've seen, he's passed that trait on to both our children."

Hermione blushed as Lily beamed at her like the proud parent she was.

"Harry's the powerful one. I can usually hold my own, but he's already faced Voldemort more times than most of the Aurors have. I'm usually the one with her nose stuck in a book looking up an answer."

Ron snorted.

"What do you mean, 'usually'? That's like saying I'm 'usually' hungry."

All of them laughed at this. The Weasley appetite was the stuff of legends. James looked at his watch.

"Well, we'd better go. We're supposed to have another meeting with Severus in a few minutes. We need to figure out what creatures Voldemort has at his disposal. A dragon is bad enough, but it's not likely to be his only pet. We've been hearing rumblings about the giants and werewolves for months now. The more allies he gets, the fewer there are to potentially help us."

James and Lily stood up, causing the rest of the table to follow suit. After hugging their two children and shaking hands with the others, the two of them headed for the Dungeons to talk with Snape. Staring after them for a time, Harry was brought back to reality by a tiny hand slipping into his own.

"We'll see them again soon, Harry. Let's go see if everyone has left yet."

Harry immediately turned his attention to his beautiful fiancée and squeezed her hand in affection.

"You're right, Angel. Let's go see if we can talk with Dumbledore."

Harry and the others then filed out of the Great Hall in hopes of finding the Headmaster. As luck would have it, they arrived at the front of the main staircase just as Dumbledore and Cyre Lovegood were coming down it. Noticing the children approaching, Luna's father abruptly halted their conversation. Dumbledore, however, motioned for the group to join them.

"You may speak freely around members of the Order, Cyre. Indeed, I would trust any of these brave soldiers of the light with my life. Without them, our cause would have already been lost."

Cyre's face softened back into looking much more like his daughter. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he shook the shorter man's hand.

"Thank you again for coming, Cyre. I will leave it to you to contact Caradoc and Benjy. Tell them we are once again in need of them. I have already activated two of our other sleepers, and I am in hopes of gathering allies from abroad."

Cyre nodded in understanding.

"Consider it done, Albus. I must admit I had hoped we would never need to call for a full assembly ever again. It is a shame that four of our best agents from the last war are lost to us."

The ghost of a smile played on the Headmaster's lips.

"Never give up hope, Cyre. I would not at all be surprised to see more than one of our friends we felt were lost return to us."

Cyre's eyes widened.

"How can that be? Are you suggesting that the dead may return, or that the broken may be healed?"

Casting a look towards Neville and Harry, Dumbledore's face became serious again.

"I am merely saying that all things are possible. We all must keep hope alive in our hearts. As soon as we believe the battle is lost, it will be. You know what you need to do. I have an idea that may bring tow of our number back to us, but I cannot yet guarantee it will work. I will tell you more about it when I have had a chance to do more research. Until then, good luck, and may God look after us all."