Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Twenty One

Jealousy, Lies and Deceit

"But jealous souls will not be answered so

They are not ever jealous for the cause,

But jealous for they're jealous. 'Tis a monster

Begot upon itself, born on itself."

(Emilia, Act III Scene 4, Shakespeare's Othello)

Saturday night arrived quickly and Harry approached the evening with a little bit of amusement. The thought of trying to trick someone who was very observant was an amusing one and quite frankly with everything else that was happening in the world Harry decided he needed some amusement.

Rose arrived from Hogwarts at about six o'clock. She came with Sirius and appeared to be very nervous. When she arrived Chrys looked her over from head to toe as if trying to discover the tiniest detail that might give the game away.

'You need to take your bracelet off, Sarah will notice it,' said Chrys. Harry had noticed from the moment she had arrived the night before she had been extremely nervous and flustered. Additionally when Harry had asked where Sirius was, she hadn't even given him a response.

'You look fine Rose,' Harry said to his sister as she glanced at her skinny reflection in the mirror. 'Just one thing, have you lost weight recently?'

'I don't think so,' she said. Harry glanced at his sister again. If she hadn't noticed the drop in her weight then something was wrong. She certainly didn't need to be dieting, if that's what she was doing. Although Harry hoped that that was the cause rather than something else. He knew she was still having nightmares and wished that he could say something that would console her.

Harry took Rose's arm and led her into the drawing room, where Ron and Alasdair were waiting. Harry thought it best if they stayed out of Sirius and Chrystal's way until it was dinner time.

'Hello Rose,' said Alasdair. 'I don't know quite what's going on here. Let me have a look at you.'

Rose walked over towards Alasdair allowing him to glance her up and down.

'Well you don't look like my daughter's child,' he said. 'And there's perhaps only an inkling of Sirius in you and that is stretching the imagination. Chrystal won't tell me who your real parents are, but I'm sure by the end of the night I will have figured it out. And when my daughters shenanigans are over, I'll ask her to fill me in completely. Don't worry sweetheart, I won't give away the secret. I just fail to understand why my daughter would want to pretend she has a child. Or maybe I understand too well.'

At that moment a house-elf walked in and announced the McDonalds. Harry took in a deep breath and hoped for the best.

As they entered the room Harry could hear Chrys talking to Sarah.

'Okay, Sarah and John, you remember my father Alasdair do you not?' she asked. Sarah greeted Alasdair. 'And this is Harry whom I think you met at the Dunvegan Ball and his wife Hermione.' Harry noticed Sarah glancing at Hermione's small bulge. 'Then this lovely young lady is our daughter Rose whom I believe you've already met, and her boyfriend Ron Weasley.'

The reaction that Chrystal got was the kind that you really need to be there to see. Sarah's mouth dropped open, and then she pulled it shut again. It was clear that she had absolutely no words to say and from what Harry had heard about her that was an achievement. Her husband looked amused. Harry almost wondered if he were in on it.

'Rose dear, it's lovely to meet you again,' said Sarah about five minutes after Chrys had spoken. 'And Ron, I've heard a lot about you from Natalie.'

Chrystal showed everyone to the table with some amusement over Sarah's reaction to her "news." Harry could see that Chrystal was enjoying this and it was good to see the smile on her face that he hadn't seen in quite a while.

When they were seated Sarah looked as if she had regained her composure.

'So why did you give her up?' asked Sarah. 'She's a very pretty girl and from what I've heard she's quite talented.'

'I had to Sarah,' said Chrys as she rang a little gold bell to signal that it was time for the entrée to be brought out. 'Whenever I looked at her I saw Sirius. I couldn't stop from crying. I was in no fit state to be a mother. I needed to move on from Sirius before I could be. I did the best thing for my child.'

Sarah glanced at Rose again as a few house-elves brought out bowls of roast pumpkin soup. Harry got stuck into his immediately trying to avoid the conversation.

'I don't understand why you didn't tell anyone,' said Sarah when she had finished her soup. 'I can understand why you wouldn't want to care for her yourself, but to send her to a Muggle orphanage that's just terrible. You had friends, we could have helped.'

'Don't take this the wrong way Sarah, but you guys were much more friends of Lily and Sirius than you were of mine,' said Chrys. 'I know you were upset that I didn't see you for years but I was trying to sort myself out. You're commenting on my actions in hindsight Sarah, and it's much easier to see the flaws in our actions when we've had time to reflect on them.'

Dinner was brought out during a lull in conversation.

'Was I too painful for you to see us?' asked Sarah when Harry was about halfway through eating his meal. 'Was it too difficult to see Claire and I? I know you were in contact with Remus.' Who was Claire? thought Harry.

'Remus was different,' replied Chrys. 'He forced his presence upon me. But with you two I had to make an effort and even though this might be wrong, it was too much of an effort. Somehow you two reminded me more of Lily than Remus did of Sirius and James. I have apologised Sarah.'

'I know,' she said. 'It was just so unlike you.'

Sarah turned her attention to Rose leaving Chrys to contemplate the events of the past seventeen years. Harry knew that some of Sarah's words had hit her hard. Chrys had told Hermione on several occasions how she had made quite a few mistakes when it came to her interactions with her old school friends. Harry knew she felt guilty about it. Sarah began asking Rose questions about her childhood. She continued it throughout the night. Harry was getting sick of it. The same questions over and over again. The first time it was interesting. It was good to hear about his sister's life that he didn't really know too much about. After a while it wore thin. He spent most of the time concentrating on his dessert. Finally Alasdair spoke.

'John, Sirius, would you like to join me for a fence? We should leave the ladies to their discussion,' said Alasdair. Harry looked up in curiosity. Ever since he had taken the sword from the founders' room he had wanted to know how to use it properly. Somehow he got the feeling that he was going to need to.

'Can I watch?' asked Harry.

'I'd like to as well,' said Ron.

'Why not,' said Alasdair with a smile. 'And if you wish, it would be my pleasure to teach you.'

Harry and Ron eagerly excused themselves from the table. Alasdair gave them a smile.

'I'm not surprised you want to distance yourselves from my daughter's antics,' he whispered to them. 'I really have no idea what she's playing at. Also I can see that Sirius is none too happy about it. Anyhow we shall fence now.'

Alasdair led the men to a room which Harry had not seen before. It was an open room of which the walls were only decorated with swords and shields. A shiver ran down Harry' spine as he realised that this must be the battle room that Sirius had talked about.

Alasdair invited John to draw a sword and they soon began their battle.

'First to draw blood wins,' he said.

Harry stood watching them in awe. For one thing they weren't fighting with the traditional clothing that Harry had seen the Olympic Fencers wear, when he had watched the Olympic Games at the Dursleys. And that they were not using the same swords. They way the swung the swords and moved was so graceful, Harry had never seen anything like it before. The battle continued for about half an hour before Alasdair finally won, by drawing blood from John's arm. Harry noticed that as soon as John placed the sword down the cut healed. When Alasdair saw the look on Harry's face he laughed.

'It's a bit different from Muggle fencing isn't it Harry?' he asked. 'If you are fighting competitively the swords are enchanted so that the wounds they inflict will not harm you once the battle has ended. He threw a sword at Harry and one at Ron. 'I know neither of you has any idea about fencing but why don't you give it a go while Sirius and John battle it out. I'll try and give you pointers along the way.'

Harry and Ron assumed the duelling position that they had learnt from Snape and Lockhart in their second year, and then with some amount of trepidation from both sides they began swing the swords wildly at each other. They continued on for a few moments before Alasdair stopped them.

'You look as if you're both afraid of hurting each other,' he said. 'I assure you that you don't have to be worried about hurting each other. And you need to get over that if you have any chance of successfully learning how to fence. Now try again.'

Harry took a deep breath in and tried again. He tried hard not to think that it was Ron that he was throwing a sword at and it became a little easier. So far he had done well for blocking Ron's swings however the sword was getting heavy and he was getting tried trying to block and then swing the sword. Then he felt a slither on his arm. He saw blood flowing from it.

He glanced up at Ron.

'It looks like you win,' he said placing his sword on the floor. He was amazed when his graze healed as soon as he had placed the sword on the floor. 'Next time I'll beat you.'

'I'll give you both a lesson next week,' said Alasdair. 'You could both use the practice. Now we ought to find the ladies. I'm sure they'll be in the sitting room.'

They followed Alasdair to the sitting room, where the women indeed were. He then poured them a glass of scotch. Harry glanced at it. He had never drunk anything other than wine before.

'Sip it slowly,' Sirius whispered into his ear. 'Just look like your enjoying it and Alasdair won't notice.'

Harry lifted the glass up to his lips slowly and took a sip of the amber coloured liquid. It tasted strange, almost burning. He stifled a cough. He took another sip, this time prepared for the worst. However he found it wasn't so bad. He walked over toward Hermione and spent the remainder of the evening talking to her, Ron and Rose, Sarah's fascination with Rose having weaned a little.

Later when they were in their room he told Hermione about the fencing experience. He asked her about what happened.

'Did I miss any fireworks sweetie?' he asked.

'You did indeed,' she said. 'Thanks for leaving me with them. It was hilarious. Sarah just kept putting her foot in it.'

'So what will happen next?' asked Harry.

'Only time will tell,' replied Hermione with a smile. 'But I think your sister's about to get some more unwanted attention.'

~~~~~~~~~

Hermione was right when she had commented on time. It didn't take long for the news to get out after Chrys' dinner. Strangely enough it wasn't Sarah that told the paper. The Daily Prophet received an anonymous tip off from someone. Rose's photograph was plastered all over the papers and every time Harry saw Chrys she was commenting on how some reporter had wanted an interview. So far she had kept quiet and Rose had done the same. Yet all this had achieved so far was cause even more media speculation. Harry felt the entire thing was almost laughable. How this kept Rose out of danger he had no idea, but his parents and Rose had agreed to it and hence he would keep quiet about it.

January flew by and still Harry had no idea who the traitor was. All he could think was that it had to be one of the Hit Wizards. Somehow he had gotten a very bad feeling about Terry Boot the day they had undertaken the salvage mission. He had been missing earlier and then appeared to be very cagey later.

Harry had just finished Quidditch practice and was going to Number 12 Grimmauld Place to talk to Ron about it. Terry had been a prefect and that was really Harry's only association with him besides the DA. He didn't know what to think of him but deep down inside Harry didn't really feel that Terry would betray them like that. He couldn't give an explanation as to why though and the feeling he was getting about Terry was just getting worse.

Harry arrived at the house to find Molly Weasley cooking in the kitchen and Ron sitting at the kitchen table talking to her about the days events. His face lit up when he saw Harry.

'How was practice?' he asked.

'Pointless,' replied Harry. 'You probably haven't heard but the league has been put on hold again. Thomas Doyle broke the news to us today. No more games for the rest of the season or until the league is fully satisfied that the threat has past.'

'Which means we're on hold until the bloody war is over,' said Ron. 'Cancelling Quidditch. It's just wrong.'

'They need to be worried about everyone's safety Ron,' said Molly from behind a saucepan. 'At that match Marcus was killed and Rose was taken. Plus the Dark Mark was shot into the sky. That in itself causes enough terror.'

'Well it doesn't help that all I saw today was two corpses and Quidditch was the thing I looked forward to,' Ron retorted. 'It was the bright spark in my day and now I've got nothing.'

'They're going to continue training so it won't be that bad,' said Harry. 'Anyway Tadgh was really interesting today. He kept asking me all these questions about Chrys and Rose. He wanted to know who Rose's father really was. It was almost as if he didn't buy Chrys' story.'

'Well it is a load of dungbombs after all,' said Ron. 'He's sensible enough and can probably see right through it.'

An owl soared in the room and landed on Harry's shoulder. Although he did not know whose owl it was Harry felt somehow that it was slightly familiar. He removed the letter from the owl's beak and received a surprise when he opened it.

Dear Harry,

Sorry I haven't written for a while, but you haven't sent me a letter so I've had no real way of contacting you. I've managed to borrow this owl from someone and will await your reply. I really need your advice on something, so I was wondering if you could come and meet me? I know where the Leaky Cauldron is, so I was wondering if we could meet there about three o'clock tomorrow afternoon? Please let me know either way.

Your cousin,

Dudley Dursley

P.S. Congratulations to you and Hermione for everything.

Harry looked up from the letter to see Ron staring at him intently.

'You look shocked,' said Ron. 'Who's it from?'

'It's from Dudley,' said Harry. 'He wants my advice and wants to meet me at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow.'

'How does he even know where The Leaky Cauldron is?' asked Ron with slight concern. 'I'm sorry, I know your Mum cast that spell and everything but it sounds fishy. You never told him about it did you?' Harry shook his head.

'I can't see why Dudley would need my help so much that he wants to see me,' said Harry. 'Usually when he asks for help it's for a love potion and he would just write that in a letter.'

'He's asked you for love potions?' asked Ron trying hard not to laugh.

'He's asked me several times,' replied Harry. 'It's been slightly amusing actually.'

'I don't know whether or not you should go,' said Ron. 'What if it's a trap?'

'I know but if Dudley actually needed my help and I didn't give it to him,' said Harry. 'If I go will you come and keep and eye on things? In the back ground that is.'

'If that's what you want Harry,' he replied.

Harry located a quill and scribbled a quick reply before going upstairs to locate his parents.

Lily and James were upstairs sitting and talking. His mother looked happy. Her eyes were sparkling and she had a flower in her hair. His father looked as if he had managed to put on some weight. Harry tapped gently on the door before entering.

'Hi, how are you?' he asked.

'Fine Harry,' replied his mother. 'How was training?'

Harry quickly filled his mother in on the temporary cancellation of the League before telling them about the letter he had received from Dudley.

'I was just wondering what kind of charm it was that you cast on Dudley?' asked Harry. 'Because Ron thinks it could be a trap.'

'It was a memory modifier,' replied Lily. 'I know you shouldn't interfere like that but I couldn't stand the thought of the Dursley's mistreating you. Sometimes it's hard to believe that Dudley is Petunia's son and then I look at Vernon and everything makes sense. It wasn't too difficult to make Petunia forget the awful memories she had of me.'

'You cast charms on Petunia and Dudley?' asked James in surprise. 'When?'

'The summer before Harry started seventh year,' replied Lily.

'But you hadn't been revealed yet, had you?' asked James.

'So I went in my cat form,' replied Lily.

'But you would have needed a wand to do magic,' said James. 'How did you do it without a wand? Sirius and I tried for years without success.'

'How do you know I didn't have a wand?' asked Lily with a touch of amusement.

The wheels in Harry's head began to turn. For perhaps if his mother could do magic without a wand, that could be the reason Rose could.

'Do you know that Rose can do wandless magic?' asked Harry.

His parents looked at him in surprise.

'What are you talking about?' asked Lily. He noticed his mother's face was turning white.

'She healed Chrys,' said Harry. 'She did it without a wand. I watched her. Then Ron, Hermione and I questioned her about it and she said she'd always been able to do it.'

'I'm going to kill her,' his mother said heatedly. She stood up and stormed out of the room. 'I swear I'm going to kill her. I'll be back soon.'

'Who do you think she's going to kill?' his father asked him in amazement as they watched her rush out of the room.

'I have no idea however I think Rose would have to be high on the list of suspects,' replied Harry with a touch of cheek in his voice. 'Do you know what time Hermione's getting here?'

~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry awoke early the next morning. He usually slept fairly well at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, however his sleep had been disturbed because he tossed and turned all night. He was seriously worried about what Dudley may potentially be up to.

He spent the morning watching Hermione and Penelope play with baby Reade. He had never considered that he wouldn't be around for his child. For some reason that morning he realised that there was a very real possibility that he wouldn't be. So many circumstances beyond his control were in force. There were times that he wished he wasn't entangled in prophecies about Voldemort's defeat. It was a difficult burden to bare. Yet at the same time, although there was suffering which he knew he could bring an end to, he felt that he was not yet ready. The time would come to defeat the Dark Lord and Harry knew that he would realise when the time came. It wasn't this afternoon, yet he was very suspicious of what Dudley wanted.

Harry made his way to The Leaky Cauldron somewhat nervously. He got there early on purpose so that he could try and assess if it were a trap. He knew that his questions would be answered fairly quickly once Dudley arrived. After all he had never been one to beat around the bush. But he did have quiet a few questions floating around in his head.

He sat down at a table and ordered a Butterbeer. It had been quite a while since he was in The Leaky Cauldron and he almost instinctively looked around to see who else was there. Out of the corner of his eye he spied Tadgh Moran. To put it nicely Tadgh had not been exactly happy yesterday when Thomas Doyle had told them about the cancellation of the rest of the league's games. Emma and Ebony had also not been happy, but it was Tadgh whose reaction was the most pronounced. He had thrown his broomstick at the ground with such force that it had snapped. As he was waiting for Dudley he spied Chrys entering the pub. Somehow he got a bad feeling about who she was meeting.

He was right.

She headed straight for Tadgh. She did not look very happy.

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of the twins latest design extendable ears. They were a tiny set that could be tuned into any dimension provided the sound did not travel through walls. The good thing about them was that they were inconspicuous. He got a feeling he shouldn't be listening, but both Chrys and Sirius had not appeared to be very happy lately.

Tadgh lit up a cigarette as he watched her approach.

'You're late Chryssy,' he said.

'Well I might have made an effort if I was actually meeting someone important,' she retorted. 'Give me one of those.'

He handed her a cigarette. She lit it, inhaled and coughed.

'You haven't smoked in a while,' he remarked.

'It's bad for your health,' she said in a somewhat sarcastic voice inhaling another puff. 'It's a filthy Muggle habit. What do you want from me Tadgh?'

'What do I want from you?' he asked in an amused voice. 'You presume a lot.' He blew smoke in her face and she coughed again.

'Why did you turn up to Dunvegan on Christmas Day?' she asked angrily. 'I want the truth, not the you came with Meghan crap.'

'Well I did come with Meghan,' he said. 'We are a couple in case you hadn't noticed.'

'I swear to you if you hurt her I will kill you,' threatened Chrys. 'That girl is like a sister to me. I swear if you're using her to get to me,'

'And why would you assume that?' asked Tadgh cutting her off. 'Is it that hard to believe that I wouldn't be attracted to a smart, beautiful Quidditch player?'

'When it comes to you Tadgh I don't know what to believe,' she replied. 'You've shown that in the past and you're showing it again now. Why did you want to meet me today then? Given that you won't answer my question. I assume you had a reason.'

'You lied to me,' he hissed through his teeth. 'You've made me into a joke.'

'So what if I didn't tell you everything,' she said in a loud whisper. 'There are some things that just aren't your business.'

'You told me that the man you loved was dead,' accused Tadgh. 'That was a lie.'

'He was serving a life sentence in Azkaban,' she replied defensively. 'It wasn't like we could ever be together. And in a sense Tadgh he was dead. He was dead to me.'

'And as soon as he broke out you ran off with a pathetic excuse for an explanation,' he said. 'So obviously he wasn't dead to you. You were pining for him the entire time we were together.'

She didn't answer. She just sat there looking at him angrily.

'And what about the girl,' Tadgh said.

'I never lied to you about that,' she said. 'You never asked.'

'It's not the kind of question a guy thinks of asking,' he snapped. 'One would assume that you might mention something like that. Or your father would. Do you realise how many people have asked me if I knew about it? Or even if she's mine?'

Chrys tried to stifle a laugh.

'That's a joke,' she said. 'Some people simply can't count. Just deal with it Tadgh. Everyone has challenges that they have to deal with.'

'All I want to know is why you didn't tell me,' he said softly.

'It wasn't important Tadgh,' she said sighing. She looked as if she were about to cry. 'It was in the past. Over and done with it. It wasn't like I was going to see her again. I just couldn't do it. Every time I looked at her I saw Sirius. It was just too painful.'

'Don't lie to me Chrystal,' he said.

'I'm not lying,' she replied defensively.

'Well it's not like I exactly expect honesty from you,' he said. 'After the reaction I got from your husband on Christmas Day, it was obvious that you didn't exactly tell him the truth either. He was very surprised to hear about us.'

'What I tell my husband is none of your business,' she said raising her voice. 'That is my concern alone.'

'No I suppose not,' he said. 'Unless you've lied to him about being the child's father.'

'He is,' she hissed. 'Don't talk about things you don't understand.'

'You know what,' said Tadgh with a smile on his face that made chills run up and down Harry's spine. 'I think you were telling the truth when you said the man you loved was dead. But the father and that man wasn't Sirius Black. You were just using him as a front for a dark affair you were having.'

'Who was it then if you're so intelligent?' she asked sarcastically.

'James Potter,' replied Tadgh.

'Hi Harry,' a voice said. Harry jumped before looking up. It was Dudley. 'Thanks for agreeing to meet me.' Dudley had a huge smile on his face. Additionally he had lost even more weight than he had the last time Harry had seen him. Harry had always thought that Dudley had looked like Vernon, yet now he was seeing a lot more of Petunia in him.

'That's okay Dudley,' said Harry recomposing himself. 'Not a problem, do you want a drink?'

'Butterbeer,' replied Dudley quickly. Harry got up to get the drinks. How did Dudley know what Butterbeer was? As he moved to the bar he tried to get a bit more of an idea of what was happening in the Tadgh-Chrys exchange, but was unable to hear anything without the extendable ears. He bought two bottles of Butterbeer and made his way back to Dudley, surveying who was present in the pub. There weren't that many people. Harry could see Ron out of the corner of his eye. Ron gave him a slight nod. Harry did the same in acknowledgement.

Harry placed the beer on the table.

'What's up Dudley?' he asked wanting answers. 'How do you know where The Leaky Cauldron is? And how do you know what Butterbeer is?'

'Well any Muggle can see The Leaky Cauldron if they know it's there,' he said. 'They just need to be told it's there by a witch or wizard. But to answer your questions better, I'd best explain. You know I was studying at University right?' Harry nodded. 'Well there's a village nearby and I used to go and visit the village quite often on week nights. You know go to the local pub for a drink and a meal of an evening. Anyhow I kept bumping into this girl. She was there quite often. It took a while for me to get the guts up to speak to her but eventually I did. We started having dinner together, taking walks, that kind of thing and I noticed she was very secretive. Little things added up until I finally realised that she had to be a witch. So I asked her straight out. She was actually quite relieved to know that I knew about the wizarding world. She said she had been dreading working out a way to tell me and she had been worried that I would dump her as soon as I found out. I explained to her that my cousin was a wizard.'

'Did you tell her who I was?' asked Harry with a slight bit of alarm.

'No I didn't, strangely enough she didn't ask,' he said. 'But it would appear that you're quite famous in your world from the number of things I've been reading about you in the paper, so I'm kind of glad I didn't tell her. Anyway I wanted your advice. You know my parents well. Probably better than most people. I'm really serious about this girl. How do I tell them?'

Harry looked at his cousin with some amusement.

'You want me to give you advice on how to tell your parents that you're dating a witch?' he asked with some disbelief.

'There's no one else who knows my parents well enough that would believe me,' replied Dudley.

'I guess you have a point there,' replied Harry with a smile. He couldn't believe this Dudley that came to him. Sure, he knew his mother had cast a charm on him to make him friendlier, however Harry had to believe that some change had occurred. The old Dudley, under a charm or not would not have dated a witch.

'Can you come and cast a charm on them?' Dudley asked hopefully. 'I'd ask her to do it, but I don't want her to think I'm ashamed of her.'

'It's against the law,' replied Harry. 'Although sometimes people do stretch the law. Listen Dud, how serious are you about her?'

'Really serious,' he replied.

'Because your mum might be okay about it,' said Harry. 'Your dad however would hit the roof. I wouldn't tell them unless you were really serious. Your father will disown you. You know how he feels about magic.'

'That's the problem,' said Dudley wistfully. 'But I don't know if I really care if he disowns me. My entire life he's tried to bring me up to be someone that I don't think I want to be. The truth is I just don't know.' Dudley looked at his watch. 'I'm sorry Harry I've got to run. Can we catch up sometime soon?'

'Sure,' replied Harry as Dudley stood up to leave. 'By the way who is the girl?'

'Her name's Cho,' replied Dudley. 'Cho Chang.'

Dudley had turned around and headed toward the door. It was probably a good thing because he would have gotten an enormous shock when he saw Harry's jaw drop in surprise. Dudley and Cho? It was unthinkable and a match made in, well Harry wasn't entirely sure what it was a match made in however it certainly wasn't a match made in heaven. His jaw was still hanging in the air as Ron approached the table.

'So what happened?' asked Ron.

'He wanted my advice,' said Harry very slowly. 'He wanted to know whether or not I think he should tell his parents that he's seeing Cho.'

'He's seeing Cho?' said Ron in disbelief. 'That fat oaf of a Muggle cousin of yours is seeing Cho Chang, a very intelligent young woman who also happens to be a pretty good Seeker?'

'Apparently,' said Harry still reeling in shock.

'And that's what he needed to see you about?' asked Ron.

Harry nodded his head.

'Unbelievable,' said Ron. 'I thought Cho had more sense than that.'

'Evidently not,' said Harry. He burst out laughing. 'I'm sorry Ron but it seems so stupid.'

Ron glanced around the room.

'Well so far it doesn't seem to be a trap,' said Ron. 'But over there I think is one pretty upset woman.' He pointed in the direction where Chrys and Tadgh had been. Harry saw Chrys sitting there alone. She looked fairly upset.

'She was here with Tadgh Moran,' said Harry. 'Perhaps we should see if she's okay.' Harry and Ron stood up and walked over toward her table. She raised her head slightly when she saw the two of them.

'Harry, Ron,' she said with some surprise. 'What are you doing here?'

'I was meeting Dudley,' said Harry. 'I'll explain later. Are you okay?'

'Why wouldn't I be?' she asked.

'You just look a little upset,' replied Ron.

'I didn't know you smoked,' said Harry glancing at her hand.

'I don't,' she replied. 'That is I don't anymore. I've just had a hard day.'

'Tadgh,' whispered Harry. He put his hand up to his mouth realising that perhaps he shouldn't have said anything.

'Yes I was meeting Tadgh, Harry,' she replied. 'Sirius told me you were observant. He's an old friend. There's nothing more too it anymore. He's upset I didn't tell him about Rose. I guess that's an understandable reaction after what he has read in the paper's lately.'

'Well I noticed him talking to you on Christmas Day,' said Harry. 'Then yesterday he was asking me a lot of questions about you and Rose. I noticed him here and I noticed you walking over toward him.' Harry omitted the fact he had eavesdropped on their conversation. He was unsettled by what he had heard. 'There was one thing, he was very curious to know who Rose's father was.'

Chrys looked around.

'We had better go and talk,' she said. 'Grimmauld in half an hour okay? I'll meet you in the lounge room. Find Prongs and Crookshanks.'

Harry and Ron nodded. Harry finished his drink and then apparated to Grimmauld Place. They approached the door, located his parents and went to the living room to wait for Chrys. He filled them in on what had happened with Dudley. His mother laughed.

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I was just imagining the look on Petunia and Vernon's face if Dudley appeared and told them he was dating a witch. That would be one thing I would pay good money to see.'

'I think it would be entertaining to be there if you suddenly appeared out of thin air personally,' his father said with a laugh.

Chrys appeared a couple of seconds later. Her cheek certainly looked very red, but other than that she looked much better than she had at The Leaky Cauldron.

'What did you say to him?' she asked Harry.

'I told him that it was Sirius,' answered Harry honestly. He had told Tadgh that Sirius was Rose's father even though he knew it wasn't true.

'He didn't believe you,' said Chrys. 'He made a horrible accusation. He accused me of having an affair with you James.'

'Who are we talking about?' asked James.

'Tadgh Moran,' replied Harry.

'Who the hell is he?' asked Lily.

'A thorn in Sirius' side,' mumbled Chrys. Harry thought that he was possibly the only one who heard her. 'He's an Irish Quidditch player and he plays for Puddlemere as well.'

'Moran?' asked James. Harry nodded. 'The name's not familiar. Did he go to Hogwarts?'

'No,' said Chrys shaking her head. 'Not while you were there. He's Bill Weasley's year. He went to Beauxbaton's for three years before coming to Hogwarts because his parents were in Belgium.'

'Ah,' said James. 'How do you know him?

'Quidditch,' replied Chrys. Harry bit his lip. From their conversation that he had overheard he knew that she was lying. He was a little surprised. He just didn't know what she had to achieve by lying. 'He says he's watched Rose flying and says she flies just like you did James. It's interesting, given that he plays for Puddlemere that he hasn't made any comment to Harry. At any rate the cat could be out of the bag. I'm not going to pretend to have had an affair with you James. If people comment there's no way I could pretend that.'

'Then we can only hope that Tadgh will shut up,' said Harry.

'We can but hope,' replied Chrys. 'My experience of Tadgh is that he will say what he wants to whenever he wants to. I made this choice, I'll just have to face the consequences.'

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

'You have returned,' snarled his master in his high-pitched voice.

'Yes my Lord,' he said.

'What have you to tell me?' his master asked.

'The child is hers my Lord,' he replied. 'The evidence is overwhelming.'

'If that is the case then I am mistaken,' his master said in a contemplative manner. 'What is this evidence?'

'I watched the girl,' he said trembling. He did not want to infuriate his master. 'She is a natural flyer. She's intelligent. She has the MacLeod eyes. She has to be the Heir of Ravenclaw.'

'Is she a Celt?' his master asked.

'She performed wandless magic to escape,' he stuttered. 'She has to be a Celt. All other types of witches that could perform wandless magic have died out. They were targeted years before the Celts. Then Rowena Ravenclaw was that last of the Celts. It makes sense that her Heir should possess the trait.'

'I think you may be right,' his master said in a contemplative voice. 'Go, you shall be rewarded my servant.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius came storming in the room.

'Where have you been?' he asked loudly. 'I've been worried sick. Couldn't you have told me you were going out for a couple of hours?'

Chrys turned around and Sirius' looked stunned.

'Who did that to you?' he asked.

Harry glanced at Chrys again and realised that while they had been talking a big purple bruise had come up on her cheek. He couldn't believe he had been so unobservant.

'It doesn't matter Sirius,' she said softly. 'I deserved it.'

'What's wrong with you lately?' he asked. 'Why couldn't you tell me where you were going?'

'You're not my keeper Sirius,' she yelled. 'You're my husband.'

'Yes,' he said angrily. 'I'm you're husband. And that entitles me to know what on bloody earth is going on.'

'There's nothing going on,' she said. 'This is my problem and I'll sort it out.'

Harry turned around and walked out of the room. He had had enough of this. Every time he saw Sirius and Chrys together lately they were fighting. And he knew she wasn't being honest with him. He was seriously worried about what she had gotten herself into and Harry only hoped that she would find herself a way out before it became too late. He felt he should say something to Sirius. Except he felt that he would betraying Chrys. It was a difficult situation to be in. he owed Sirius a lot, yet he felt some loyalty toward Chrys.

He walked upstairs to where he knew Hermione would be waiting for him. He needed to talk to her about it. She would give him some good advice. About Sirius and about Dudley. She had not been extremely happy about him going to meet Dudley, but she had learnt that Harry's curiosity needed to be satisfied or there could be hell to pay. As soon as she saw Harry she threw her arms around him and kissed him numerous times all over his face.

'You look happy to see me,' he said.

'I'm just glad that nothing happened to you,' she said. 'That would be terrible. What did Dudley want?'

Harry explained to her what Dudley had wanted. She too found it highly amusing.

'I can't believe Cho would fall for someone like Dudley,' she remarked. 'Are you sure there's nothing more sinister to it?'

'I'm inclined to think so,' said Harry. 'It just isn't like Dudley.'

At that moment an owl soared in and dropped a paper on Hermione's shoulder.

'It's the Prophet,' she said. 'Have a look at this Harry.'

Harry glanced at the paper.

Minister of Magic Candidates

The following candidates have been selected for the next round.

Ludo Bagman

Amelia Bones

Marcus Parkinson

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Seth Zabini

The interviews will take place in February and the final three candidates will be announced in early March. Voting will take place on the first day of April.

'Well I guess that's both good and bad,' remarked Harry. 'It's great that Umbridge and Rita Skeeter didn't make it through, but Marcus Parkinson and Bagman are still in the running.'

'We need to place our faith in the Wizengamot and hope for the best,' said Hermione with a grim look on her face.