"So you are pregnant?" Cissa asked as they walked down the
streets of Hogsmeade.
Andromeda nodded and couldn't keep from running a hand over
stomach, though she was far from truly showing yet.
Lucius and her nephew had gone back to their manor the moment
the ballroom dance class was let out.
"But you haven't told Harry yet?"
"No," Andromeda sighed.
"Why ever not?" Cissa asked, "You know your man will be overjoyed.
He's been walking on air for weeks now and the looks that man
gives you-" she mock fanned herself. "I have to work at it to get that
look from Lucius. You could be wearing a burlap sack and still have
him wrapped around your finger."
"Making babies is a wonderful aphrodisiac -one I have been
enjoying, but the sex was just as good before."
Cissa frowned, "Are you afraid he will not want you once you are
showing?"
Andromeda laughed, "No, and before you ask I'm not worried about
him pressing me for sex afterward either. Harry's more responsible
and self-controlled than that more so than I ever have been."
Cissa let out a huff, "If either of you had any more 'self-control,' you
would still be mooning over one another. But if you aren't worried
about his reaction to the pregnancy, why haven't you told him?"
Andromeda looked up at the sky, the sun had set and only a few
stars were beginning to awaken, shining down through the
atmosphere. "It's too early Cissa, barely four weeks, eight as the
contraceptive isn't a hundred percent if it isn't taken continuously. But
two months is still within the window where miscarriages are
common."
Narcissa's face instantly shut down. "You're healthy, it should not
happen to you. You were always the most fit out of the three of us."
Andromeda frowned at her sister, "Miscarriages have nothing to do
with your health, well, I mean they can, especially if you experience
some extremely large emotional or physical trauma, but within the
first four months miscarriages are possible for all woman of any
description."
Narcissa looked away, "I had mine in the fifth months."
Andromeda grabbed her sister's hand pulled her off the walking
route, "You do know that miscarriages are not the mother's fault,
don't you?"
Narcissa stared at her feet -or rather the hem of her gown, and
murmured, "You have no way of knowing that."
Andromeda cupped her little sister's face between her hands and
gently raised her face, "I was sixteen for my first pregnancy and I
was in the muggle world. I read their books and whatever your
opinion on them is, their science does know how babies are created,
down to the smallest living part of them. I saw pictures and videos of
the entire growth of a babe.
"Unless you are beating up or pouring toxins into your body,
miscarriages happen because the DNA -the two strands of the
parents that make up the baby, don't align correctly. Those parts stop
building and tell the mother's body to try again."
"But I lost six little ones…" Narcissa said. And for the first time since
Andromeda had received her letter to Hogwarts, she saw her little
sister on the verge of tears.
"It was not your fault," Andromeda said, firmly. "It wasn't anyone's
fault, it just means that the egg or -and more often than not, the
sperm wasn't complete enough or together they didn't match well
enough to make a fully functioning human being. No different than
an ingrown hair that is likely to grow back normal once you've pulled
it out."
Narcissa wrinkled her nose, "Nice analogy. But I still don't see how I
wasn't- how it was my 'egg' that was-"
Andromeda's hands dropped away from her face to her shoulders as
if she might shake the fairer woman. "The directions for natural
material to be built wasn't complete so it moved on. If such a child
had been born, they might have lived a half life, or not even survived
long after being born."
"There are worse things than being born without a limb, I would have
wanted those babies even if they had needed full-time care,"
Narcissa said fiercely.
"What if they had not just a few limbs missing but had been born
without half their body? What if their lungs never formed? What if
they had only had part of a brain, not just a chemical imbalance like
Bella likely did but with literally a chunk of their brain missing? If a
natural miscarriage occurs it is likely for the best."
"You're exaggerating," Narcissa said skeptically.
"What do you think our time of the month is?"
"It's our moon cycle."
"It doesn't bloody well follow the moon, even the most consistent of
us aren't that consistent."
"It's just what happens!" Narcissa said, her face turning ever so
slightly pink.
In the wizarding world, unless you were a healer, the only you
learned about your body is what your parents told you. There were
not many books -outside of wild origin stories to go to for outside
help. Even if you went to a healer, the most they could tell you was if
you and the child were healthy and how to stay that way. They rarely
-if ever could or were likely to tell you what had gone wrong, or why
a problem arose in the first place.
Muggles on the other hand… Andromeda had driven herself into
more than a few panics with the sheer number of factors that
seemed potentially able to harm her unborn child.
That Nacissa wasn't ready to accept the science was not only
understandable but to be expected. After all, there were many
muggles in the 'modern' world that didn't know far beyond the basics
of how a child was formed.
"Every month our bodies release at least one egg from our ovaries,
which are-"
"I know what a damned ovary is, Drom," Cissa snapped.
Andromeda grinned, "Each month there is an egg -or usually,
released into our cervix, if it isn't fertilized, the cervix rejects both the
egg and the liner that would have been used to create a baby had
the egg been fertilized. Most miscarriages work the same, the egg is
considered not properly fertilized and the body rejects it. No one's
fault, just the tumblers in the lock not rolling into place."
Narcissa's expression went distant, "You said four months though."
"It can take weeks or even months after the child passes before your
body releases the material."
" Material ," Narcissa echoed bitterly.
"It wasn't your fault, Cissa."
"Five."
"What?"
"Five miscarriages before Draco, and one after," she said it angry,
she said it hollow. As if it was an old pain that was to be examined
but no longer felt. She looked up to meet Andromeda's dark eyes
with her pale ones. "Yet you think it wasn't my- my shortfallings?"
Andromeda hugged her sister tight, "No, Cissa, not your fault, no
one's fault. It just is."
Narcissa hugged, her back, almost clinging.
Some nightmares- time holds no sway over.
Narcissa pulled away, almost jerking herself into an erect posture,
her spine turning to steal, her voice was cutting when she carried on
the conversation, her steps brisk. "So you don't think Harry can
handle this talk?"
"I believe he could handle it, there isn't much of anything he couldn't
or wouldn't be able to handle, but I don't think I could handle seeing
the disappoint on his face. He is just so bright lately, I couldn't raise
his hopes then crush them. It would break my heart."
Narcissa's face didn't smile but it did soften, "You love him."
Andromeda frowned at her, "You knew that. You saw it before I did."
"I mean if the circumstances were less… less drastic. Had you met
before, you might still have found each other."
"I would never have cheated on Ted."
"Maybe not with your body," Cissa agreed. "But had you gotten to
know the Boy Who Lived, even with your husband around, could you
have kept from loving him?"
Andromeda paused considering. Things weren't perfect with Ted, but
then things weren't exactly perfect with Harry either. They were far
too broken to be called perfect. But with Ted, marrying so young...
Ted was safe, Ted was familiar, warm, weightless laughter, he had
been her home.
Although Harry was her home now.
She felt a headache forming, "They are both kind men, both powerful
in their own right. They, they-"
"Harry is very charming," Cissa interrupted.
Andromeda paused, "Harry is disarming. No one as powerful and
with a history like his should be so, so-"
"Domestic?" Cissa offered.
Andromeda laughed, "He makes a better mother than I do."
"And a better father than Ted?" Cissa asked.
Andromeda went very quiet then, the only sound between them their
footfalls hitting the path as they walked the long way back to the
house. "Ted loves our Nymphadora, loved her as best as any father
could."
"But Harry?" Cissa prompted.
Andromeda shook her head, "But Teddy saved Harry. I think Harry
was lost all of his life and in Teddy, in me, he found his place, his
home, his reason to be. Ted Tonks was his own person before
Nymphadora and I. He was young too -we both were, but he knew
who he was. He didn't need to be found, he had a family, and I don't
think I was even the only woman he had eyes for."
"Probably because he believed he couldn't have had," Narcissa
noted. "A pureblood is not typically a mud-muggleborn gets to keep."
Andromeda shrugged, "I don't know if I can compare the two, not
one as better than the other."
"I think you can."
Andromeda glared at her.
Narcissa didn't back down, "Beyond his blood status, beyond all the
trappings of his fame, I've seen you dance in Harry's arms, I've seen
your magic grow brighter by the day. If Harry is destined to be the
next Albus Dumbledore than you aren't far behind. Ted may have
been intelligent, but spell for spell, could he have held a candle to
Harry Potter's flame, to yours?"
Andromeda answered the original question before they reached the
edge of their property, Teddy peeking out the window to wave at
them. "I don't know that I could have loved two men at once. But I
know, had I truly gotten to know Harry before I lost myself, I would
not have been able to keep from admiring him."
"Admiration," Narcissa drawled, sounding for all the world like her
own snobbish husband, "I suppose, that is one way to phase the
feeling."
Teddy was not hard to tuck into bed that night. The fight he had put
up for his shower which played out much like a wet wrestling match
with a wild lemur and a sightless exploring trying to get a better look,
on account of Harry's glasses being thrown off in the scuffle.
Anyone who said raising children wasn't a full time position, had
never been left with a toddler for a week.
Harry was almost too tired to get frisky when Andromeda pulled him
into a kiss.
Almost.
Flinging a locking and silencing spell on Teddy's door, Harry pressed
Andromeda against the couch arm. The tiredness he had felt just
moments ago was gone, replaced with a wash of and endorphins
and the heady smell of the woman he loved.
He kissed along her throat, her collarbone, and followed the line of
her top. His lips tasting the top of her breasts, her fingers busy
undoing his shirt.
Her patience ended before the line of buttons did and she ripped the
shirt open with one forceful jerk.
He pulled back with a chuckle, "Does my shirt offend you?"
"Just the buttons preventing me from doing this," she said in
response, bending forward and running one long wet line up his
middle, only pausing when she reached his throat, giving him as
much care and adoration as he had shown her.
Harry let his shirt fall to the floor. Swiftly, he bent to wrap an arm
around her lower thighs, lifting, and pushing them over the couch
edge.
She squeaked. He caught himself with his other arm before falling on
her. He grinned at her, she never squeaked.
Her answering smile was mean, and she slipped a hand lower,
taking a firm hold his tenderest of bits. She didn't hurt him, but she
did have his full attention. Lucky, or perhaps unluckily for him, her
hand didn't stay, as both her hands came around his bare back and
pulled him down for another searing kiss.
Harry's hand slid down her left leg, and rose upwards under her
layered skirts. He had the fabric hiked up nearly all the way when a
knock sounded on their front door.
They both froze.
"Don't answer it," Andromeda instructed.
Harry did as instructed, his hand moving closKnock-knock.
Harry's shoulder slumped, and he brought his arm up so he could
hug her, and relax while they waitKnock-knock.
"Whoever it is can go get tossed," Harry growled low into her ear.
She pressed herself upward, tight against him, entangling her legs
around his. He shuddered, trembling with the need to respond with
more activeKnock-knock-knock-KNOCK-KNOCK.
"I'm going to murder whoever it is," Harry whispered with feeling.
"COME ON!" A familiar voice yelled through the door, "I know you're
home, Aunt Andromeda! Harry! You are always home."
Harry groaned with annoyance and resignation. Draco Malfoy would
not leave until someone slammed his face in with the door.
He made to roll off Andromeda and the sofa, but they were too
closely entwined. Harry ended with his back on the floor, Andromeda
riding his waist, too high up forKNOCK-KNOCK. "I'm not leaving until one of you answers this
door!" Draco yelled.
In that particular moment, Harry was distracted from all thoughts of
getting up, or moving, or really breathing. Because it was one of
those moments when he looked up and could only register how
beautiful Andromeda was. Her brown curls falling around her in soft
rivulets. Her lips red from his attentions, her cheeks flushed with her
own excitement, her eyes… Her eyes like liquid warmth, focused
solely on him, looking at him as if he were something amazing,
something handsome, and wanted, and loved .
No one had ever looked at him like that before, no one had ever
made him feel so safely himself in his own skin.
He wasn't thinking; does she like me? Am I doing the right thing?
What should I say? How will she interpret me?
He was thinking; can we be like this forever? How many hours of
sleep do 'actually' need? I wonder how many sounds I will hear
tonight? Do all people in love feel this wonderful? Is it possible to
love her any more than I already do without combusting?
With Andromeda there were no wrong answers, just more to learn,
more to explore. Harry had never thought too long about what he
wanted in a lover, in a partner, in a wife. But if he had, Dromeda was
both everything he wanted and everything he needed.
Life could not have been betterKNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Okay, maybe minus the in-laws.
AN: Thoughts and reactions please?
Without It
Dear ReluctantSidekick, don't kill Sirius, please.
Chapter 23 - Without It
Daphne Greengrass loathed asking for help, especially from the
damned Boy Who Lived.
They were wasting there time, Potter wouldn't help a bunch of
Slytherins. No way inDraco went to knock on the door again and nearly knocked on the
man who opened the door.
Daphne hadn't really seen him in person in over a year, and then he
had been dirty and clothed. And her first thought upon seeing him
sort of cleared all other thoughts;
Oh Merlin, but is he pretty.
Harry Potter had gone from gangly teenager to being a young,
handsome, beautiful man who- Daphne shook herself as she
watched Harry's eyes scan over them all. It wasn't a happy look.
He leaned into the door frame crossing his arms, his pants hanging
low on his hips. "Draco," he said sounding pissed, "why the hell are
you here and why is our entire Slytherin class with you?"
It wasn't their entire Slytherin class, Crabb was dead and Goyle had
no interest in joining them. But everyone else; herself, Tracy, Pansy,
Mili, Draco, Blaise, and Theo were all standing on Harry Potter's
front stoop about to ask for a favor.
"We need a favor," Draco begun, "It's about our NEWT's."
Harry jabbed a thumb to the side, "Hogwarts is that direction. Now if
you'll excuse me I have better ways to spend my time than dealing
with my in-laws and his friends."
In-laws? Daphne wondered. How could Harry and Draco be in-laws?
Possibly cousins, but not in-laws.
Harry went to shut the door but Pansy got in his face, catching the
door. "I realize you might have some sluzzy waiting in bed for you
but we have a real concern that needs to be addressed. I know you
hate Slytherins but we aren't just asking this for our sake."
Taking a more objective look at 'the Man Who Conquered,' Daphne
realized that Pansy was right on the ticket. He had definitely either
been having or preparing to have sex with someone when they came
knocking. Maybe his anger was more about the interruption than a
dislike of who had interrupted.
Harry didn't have the opportunity to respond because the door was
yanked opened further revealing an enraged Bellatrix Lestrange.
Except for Draco, they all took several quick steps backward. Pansy
nearly tripped over her robes.
This is impossible, Bellatrix is dead.
'Bellatrix' glowered down at Pansy, who looked like she was about to
pass out from fright, "Who the hell is calling me a 'sluzzy'?"
They gaped at her, they gaped at Harry. Gaped at the woman, who
was definitely one of the Black sisters, in an undershirt, her skirts
wrinkled, her dark wild hair falling free around her, and gaped again
at Harry who was wearing the same color lipstick on the edges of his
lips as she had stained her lips.
Oh Merlin.
Andromeda Tonks, one of Bellatrix Lestrange's two living sisters,
turned her ire on Draco, "And Nephew, if you wished to speak with
us, you should call before the sun sets."
Nephew . In-laws. Oh. Merlin.
It wasn't some mindless fan in Harry's bed, it was one of the most
renowned witches to ever pass through Slytherin house warming his
sheets. A witch who was more than twice his age, a witch whoDraco glared at his aunt, clearly, he had known about this affair
beforehand, while the rest of them were left to exchange astonished
glances. Theo's face was nearly slack with shock. None of them
could have predicted this turn of events.
"Well, Aunty we are here now, so you might as well hear us out."
Andromeda slinked her arm around Harry's slim waist, he returned
the gesture. They were within an inch of each other's height and they
looked good together. There was an ageless quality about them
both, so that if Daphne hadn't known who they were she wouldn't
have been certain how much younger Harry was from her.
Harry and Andromeda exchanged a look, and in that wordless
communication that happened between people who knew each other
well, they broke apart.
"I'll get the tea," Harry sighed, turning his back on them, while
Andromeda held the door open for them.
Daphne kept her eyes on Harry who walked through the house like a
dancer. Where he had once been so awkward and hesitant at school
-as if he never quite fitted into his own skin, he now walked with all
the grace and pride of a seasoned athlete. He wasn't sculpted, but
he was in shape and the soft lines of his muscles were...
Daphne sort of regretted that he wasn't single, but she wasn't about
to stick her foot into Andromeda's territory. It wasn't healthy to screw
around with anyone descended directly from the Black line.
Harry bent to pick up his wand and shirt from the side of the sofa.
Daphne found it odd that he had left his wand behind when he
answered the door. She never went anywhere without hers
nowadays.
She stood in the center of the unsure of where to sit, there was only
the sofa, which wasn't enough room for all of them, and she wasn't
about to sit where two people had just been…
Andromeda resolved the issue by conjuring chairs for them all. Harry
returned with a tray of tea and teacups, looking like he had just
stepped out of every woman's domestic wet dream. She appreciated
that he hadn't put his shirt back on.
Harry sat as he took everyone's tea preferences. Daphne half
expected a house elf to come scurrying in but it was Harry's hand
that motioned upward, the teacups floating right side up and the tea
began to pour itself from the teapot, as did the sugar and cream. The
teacups floated gently to each of their hands. Harry never spilled a
drop.
It was a small display of power, but even so, wandless he had just
shown them all a level of control and presion with his magic that
none of the rest of them -expect perhaps Andromeda, could have
accomplished.
Harry Potter had been doing more than playing house it appeared.
"Now," Andromeda began, "What the hell do you people want?"
"The NEWT's are next week," Draco began.
"We are aware of this," she answered her voice clipped.
Daphne was no longer perturbed by the older woman's anger, she
would have been ticked too if someone had stopped alone time with
Mr. Potter.
"We haven't been going to school but we as well as the would be
seventh years- who you don't know so we didn't bring them, want to
take our NEWT's at Hogwarts with everyone else," Draco continued.
"What's stopping you?" Harry asked, his features softening to real
concern. "Minerva would welcome you all."
Minerva? Daphne shook her head, Harry sounded honestly
concerned. He was just full of surprises.
Harry emerald eyes focused on her, "What are you all afraid?"
Daphne answered, her voice as cold as she could make it, "It was
torture or be tortured and more often than not it was both. For those
of us who weren't sons or daughters of one of the Dark Lord's inner
circle, we were 'taught' out of view of the other students. But what
the other students saw of us was only our 'privileges' and their own
pain. If we walk back in there alone- it will not matter that we fought
on your side during the final battle. Things could get out of control."
"Things were pretty shit for us who were descendants of Death
Eaters," Theo intoned, "Fucking No-Nose Madman and the damned
Carrows... If it wasn't for Professor Snape a lot of the students would
be dead or crazy today."
"You're afraid the other student will what? Chase you out of the
school?" Andromeda asked.
"Ms. Greengrass has a point," Harry said.
Andromeda turned to him, "It couldn't be that bad."
Harry shook his head, "A few of the first and second year Slytherins
had some broken bones, and that was the stuff the professors knew
about. Things at Hogwarts are not good for Slytherins. I've been able
to curb it a little, but I agree with Ms. Greengrass, it would be unwise
to just waltz back in there unescorted."
"So you will help us?" Mili asked, her astonishment clear in her
voice.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "You aren't looking for my protection, the
professors could ensure that. You lot are looking for my
endorsement, aren't you?"
The blankness on all their faces, the masks they all wore to hide
their emotions, gave them away.
Harry smiled at them a little bitterly. He put his cup down the same
time Andromeda in an almost choreographed motion. He put an arm
around her, as she put a hand on his thigh.
It was Andromeda who answered for him, and what a Slytherin
response it was too, "What's in it for us?" It just went to show that
she might have married a muggleborn but nothing could wipe away a
person's roots.
Draco huffed, "We're family."
"Yes, but you are in no real danger. You are asking us to play
politics," Andromeda said with a slight twist of her lips.
Daphne had expected to be dealing with the Gryffindor Golden Boy,
not this strange wizard sharing a life with a Slytherin. Daphne had
assumed it would be a matter of ego stroking and hedging around
what they really wanted, but Harry and Andromeda had seen through
them before they even gotten the words out.
"No, we are asking Harry to play politics," Pansy said haughtily.
"Harry's mine," Andromeda nearly growled, "Anything that involves
him, involves me."
Daphne watched Harry's face and some light sparked in his eyes
when Andromeda had said he's mine . A self-satisfied smirk stole
over his face and Daphne knew that Harry liked belonging to her.
He was brave, Daphne wouldn't be comfortable turning her back on
a woman like Andromeda much less sleeping with her.
"Fine," Draco pouted, "What do you want?"
Harry and Andromeda grinned at him.
Everyone else let out a soft groan.
"Drake," Blaise breathed, giving Draco a bemused and exasperated
look.
"What?" Draco asked.
Andromeda spoke, "Didn't Luci teach you anything useful? Don't ask
people you are bargaining with for whatever they want. It gives them
the upper hand."
Daphne doubted that if the two hadn't been family she would have
explained that.
Theo laughed, "Do you mean Lucius Malfoy? Luci. Oh, that's rich."
"It's funnier when she calls him that over dinner," Harry said.
"Wait, you guys have family dinners?" Pansy asked.
"That must be interesting," Blaise said drily, shooting Draco a dark
look.
Harry shrugged, the motion showing off the magnificence of his
chest, "It's been almost a year and we haven't thrown any spells at
each other yet."
"Yeah, but how often do you guys have dinner? Every other month?"
Tracy asked.
"Every week," Harry said smoothly.
Blaise turned in his seat to face Draco, "What did he just say?"
Draco swallowed hard, looking nervously in every direction but at
Blaise, "So what did you two want?"
Harry ran a hand through his hair.
Tracy and Mili let a small sigh, and Daphne almost joined them.
"Nothing at the moment," Harry said, "But if I pay you a favor then
you will all owe us a favor."
"Done," Draco and Daphne said in unison.
Harry smiled, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "And so we are
clear, each of you owes us a favor, and there is no time limit on when
we call that favor in, whether five weeks from now or fifty years from
now."
Their group exchanged looks but Harry may be many things, the
devil he wasn't, cutting a deal with him was worth it. The chances of
him asking horrible things of them were slim. Even Andromeda
wasn't likely to ask something too bad from them.
"Is everything settled then?" Andromeda asked.
"Yes," Draco said, "that's all. We'll meet here before we go to
Hogwarts on the first day of testing."
"Fine," Andromeda said, "Now get out of our house."
"Bye," Harry said, grinning and relaxed.
Daphne was pretty sure she had never seen Harry Potter relaxed
before.
They left.
Once they were back on the street walking to the center of town
Pansy and Blaise turned on Draco. "What the hell was that?" they
asked.
"Sorry, usually Teddy is awake later than that."
"Teddy?" Theo asked.
"Theo," Tracy said, rolling her eyes, "How out of the loop are you that
you don't know who Teddy Lupin is?"
"Oh right," he said, "Harry is the kid's godfather right?"
"Harry Potter is fucking Andromeda Black!" Pansy exclaimed,
throwing her arms up as if that where the central issue.
"She is a widow now," Daphne said.
"I can't believe it isn't in the papers yet," Tracy noted.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us, Drake," Blaise grumbled.
"I haven't told anyone, neither have my parents or Harry's friends.
That's why it has stayed out the papers but it is pretty much an open
secret at this point. They share a house and they are seen in public
all the time."
"No one has seen them kissing in public," Pansy sneered.
"My parents don't kiss in public, at least not often," Draco shot back.
"She is twice his age!" Pansy exploded.
"No one would care if it was other way around," Daphne said.
That shut Pansy up, her own parents were nearly that far apart, but
her father was the older one.
"What are family dinners like?" Theo asked.
Draco shrugged, "They're fine. My father hates it but Teddy's pretty
entertaining and Harry is a good a cook."
Daphne's jaw dropped, "He cooks?"
"Why do I feel like everything we knew about Harry Potter is a lie?"
Mili asked.
"Because," Draco answered, "we never knew him."
Harry's weekend seminars turned into practical DADA review and as
Andromeda told him he might as well take his NEWT exams now he
spent most of his free time that weekend studying.
He was not worried so much about his particles as his written
exams. Hermione had made a copy of her notes for him which
turned out to be far more useful than the text books.
When Monday came around he felt a little like a lion tamer as he
walked out in front of the Slytherins through the Great Halls. The little
Slytherins waved excitedly at him and the rest of the school,
excluding his closer friends glared at them all.
Minerva and the other professors had been forewarned but the
tension in the room became thick enough to walk on. Harry sat with
the Slytherins as he was beginning to believe how much he
underestimated the hostility level.
As the day wore on it became apparent that if it wasn't for the tests
there would have been fighting. Perhaps the worst tension came
from the sixth year Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. They
had no exams as pressing as their OWL's or NEWT's and they made
their dislike of the older Slytherins returning known.
The one that got Harry was when someone directed a comment
towards Draco.
"How's the full moon, Scum? Is it freeing to finally have your outsides
match your insides?"
Harry's wand was pointed and let out a ray of crackling blue light that
made a satisfying bang when it hit the sixth year Gryffindor. The spell
was meant to more disorient than hurt the target, but the boy was
still sent backward, landing hard on his butt.
"Lycanthropy isn't a joke and it does not make the person less or
more than who they were before," Harry said stonily to the befuddled
boy.
"Thanks," Draco said softly as they walked to their next exam room.
"Don't mention it," Harry said tightly. He was wondering that even as
an animagus, Teddy might face the same type of bullying from other
kids as he grew up.
Hermione caught up to them then, "Can't you do anything without
making a scene?" She was smiling.
Harry didn't smile back, "He was making fun of lycanthropy."
Hermione's smile fell instantly. "Right." After a moment she said, "So
transfiguration is next. Are you ready?"
"I better be or Minerva is going fry me."
Over that week the NEWT exams proved far more challenging than
the OWL's. The written exams were all open ended questions.
Rather than multiple smaller open responses, there were ten vague
questions meant to be answered with specific details all within one or
two essays.
Harry wasn't stupid and he didn't do poorly on the written part of the
exams, but after being out of school for over two years there wasn't
much improvement in his writing abilities. Of course, his practicals
were nearly easy. Working with Andromeda, Filius, and Minerva the
testers were light weights.
In all, he took five exams. And the scores for the eighth years were
given to them that weekend.
Herbology: Exceeds Expectations.
Transfiguration: Outstanding.
Charms: Outstanding.
Potions: Outstanding.
Harry frowned at the paper he elbowed Hermione who was staring
down at her nine outstandings as if trying to burn the image of the
way the O's looked into her memory.
She turned her head, her eyes glued to the paper until she could no
longer see the paper. "What?" she asked.
"I don't have my DADA score, do you?"
Her eyes snapped back to the paper in her hands, "I got an
outstanding."
"Naturally," Harry said as he looked over his own paper, "But it isn't
even listed on mine."
She took the paper from his hands, "That's odd." But she was not
worried or interested or ready to solve the issue like Harry expected
her to be.
The eighth years were conjugated together in the Great Hall. The
professors, Kingsley, some other ministry officials, the Prophet, and
test officials were all there and Harry was beginning to sense a trap.
"I think I need to leave," Harry said and headed toward the exit.
Which of course is when the other students came flooding in.
Draco caught his arm, "You knew this was going to happen, right?"
"Knew what was going to happen?" Harry growled.
Theodore smirked at him, "You never did make any public
appearances except for that one time you lectured everyone about
human and non-human rights."
"What does that matter now?" Harry asked, his temper rising.
"Harry Potter," Kingsley called, "Please come to the front of the hall,
please."
Only his asking please twice had Harry walking -reluctantly, up the
hall as everyone else took their seats.
Everyone was smiling at him and all Harry could think was traitors .
When he reached the front of the room, Kingsley grinned and turned
to the crowd. "Everyone here knows Harry James Potter. A man who
gave up his youth to stand for what was right and against those who
would tear us apart. In this year after the war, times have been
bleak, and rebuilding has been slow and emotions have been high."
Kingsley paused looking over the students, "But if it were not for
Harry Potter and his supporters we would be living in a land without
hope. So as we have not been able to wrangle the man to accept a
formal regeneration of his deeds, for his sacrifices and valor. Today
we will be awarding Mr. Potter with a Mastery in Defense Against the
Dark Arts. Firstly, as his real-world experience does speak for itself,
but also because his test scores have broken and surpassed every
previous score on record.
"Thus it is my honor and privilege to award Harry J. Potter with his
Mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
The entire room exploded with clapping and hooting as everyone
stood to their feet, even the Slytherins. As Harry couldn't not accept
the document- his Defense Against the Dark Arts score and mastery
certificate, he reached out and shook Kingsley's hand.
The first camera flash went off and that particular picture would be in
the paper for weeks, and in every new copy of every British
Wizarding History book.
Harry could have down without it.
AN: So. All my grand writing plans; well, starting some point next
month my writing isn't going to be weekly and you will all be lucky to
get a monthly update. On the plus side when I do come back to
writing on this site some time next summer I will be a better writer.
On the down side I can no longer make promises. My goal is to get
this fic to past the 100,000 and give you all a clear ending point.
The sequel is forming in my head and I hope to get it posted as I
have a few chapters written already but there is no way for me to
finish it this year because I am just that slow of a writer and I simply
will not have the time.
Thank you to all my reviews it has been getting to know many of you
and share some of the stories swirling around my head.