191 CHAPTER {267-269}
****A-DATE-NIGHT (I)****
Harry slowly stirred in the bed before he finally sat up. The sun wasn't up yet, but Harry could already see the horizon brightening up. He rolled his shoulders before taking a deep breath. It was a long day yesterday and he could already say the same for today.
"S not even daylight yet" The figure beside him mumbled in a low tone.
"Sorry, I woke you up" Harry apologized softly before slowly leaning down and gently kissing her forehead after he brushed her hair. Tonks smiled brightly and snuggled closer to Harry. "It is still quite early, you can go back to sleep" Harry added softly as he continued to run his fingers through her hair.
"S alright. I can go back to sleep after you leave" Tonks mumbled softly and rolled over so that she could rest her head on Harry's thigh. Thankfully, Harry wasn't sporting a morning wood or the situation would have become weird. "So, what's the plan for the day?" Tonks asked as she made herself more comfortable.
"First, I will train with Himera, then I have a meeting and then I might need to visit the prisoners, and after that, I am free" Harry answered before a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "By the way, how is your father?" Harry asked. He knew that the man was probably alright as otherwise, Tonks wouldn't be here.
"The healers said that he is alright. They had flushed out the drugs from his system, but they decided to let him sleep through the night" Tonks answered with a smile.
"That's good…" Harry trailed off with a nod of his head. "And I am sorry for getting him involved in all of this" Harry apologized, making Tonks frown at him.
"What happened wasn't your fault, at least not completely" Tonks pushed herself off the bed and looked straight into his eyes. "Yes, they kidnapped my father so that they could get to you, but even if it wasn't for you, Voldemort could have sent his Death Eaters after him" Tonks finished while looking straight into his eyes.
"Alright then" Harry smiled and nodded his head. He simply wanted to make sure that Tonks wasn't holding any sort of resentment against him and from her reaction, Harry was certain that wasn't holding any sort of resentment for the attack on her father. He hated manipulating her like that, but he needed to be sure.
|Maybe, I should do something nice for her| Harry decided as he was starting to feel a bit guilty. "So, are you free tonight?" Harry asked while staring into her eyes.
"Yeah" Tonks immediately bopped her head, looking excited.
"Good. It's a date then" Harry beamed at her with a bright smile and without wasting any time, Tonks captured Harry's lips for a hungry kiss. Harry smiled and returned the same in the same fervor and by the time the two of them separated, the two of them were panting and their cheeks were flushed.
"So, where are you taking me?" Tonks asked, trying to change the topic as she wanted to distract herself from the boner he was sporting. To be honest, she wanted to jump his bones at any given chance even though he was only 14 years old, but they had decided to take it slow, so she didn't want to freak him out.
"It's a surprise" Harry answered with a teasing grin on his face, but honestly, he had no idea where to take her. However, he did have the time to come up with a brilliant plan.
Tonks pouted at his answer but looked excited nonetheless, but then all of a sudden, a frown appeared on her face "I don't have to wear a dress, do I?" Tonks asked while growing.
"You can wear whatever you want" Harry answered with a reassuring smile on his face. |Looks like we aren't going to any high-class restaurants| Harry decided much to Lily's amusement. Yes, Harry did have the money to reserve any high-class hotel completely for a night, but Harry didn't want to spend so much money just for a single night.
|My son, sometimes you shouldn't think about expenses when enjoying the moments with your loved ones is more important| Lily advised sagely, hoping that he would take her on an extravagant date. Women could be sometimes vain like that and Lily herself was not an exception.
|Is that so?| Harry asked, sounding constipated.
|Yes| Lily answered in a firm tone. This was not a topic she was planning to compromise on. |Women love to be treated like a princess and they need to be reminded just how special they are to you from time to time. That is how it works| Lily added firmly after a small pause and decided to wait for her words to sink in.
|I see…| Harry mumbled even though he was far from happy. Nobody ever told him that women were such high maintenance. |I will see what I can do| Harry answered reluctantly and Lily internally beamed at the job well done. It was a masterful stroke on her part, especially when the iron was hot.
"Brill!" Tonks cheered happily. "So, when are you picking me up?" She asked after a moment.
"Around 8?" Harry suggested and Tonks simply nodded her head at that, looking excited. Now that everything was taken care of, Harry placed a kiss on Tonks' lips before he climbed out of the bed. "Alright. I gotta go now or I am going to be late. See you at breakfast" Harry said as he started to make his way toward the washroom.
"Yeah. See you at breakfast" Tonks said before she plopped down in the bed, already missing Harry's body heat, but it was still too early to leave the bed, so she decided to sleep in…
~~Timeskip~~ (A couple of hours later)
Harry was making his way back from the training room after training Himera. Yesterday might have been a long day, but that didn't mean Himera was going to get a break from training. He also had a chat with her while training which led him to discover that he was right. They failed to learn anything from the Royal Mages as they were sworn to secrecy.
Harry was broken out of his musings when he sensed someone waiting for him around the corner. "Lucius? What a surprise" Harry greeted the man with a smile as soon as he turned the corner…
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****SMART-CHOICES (I)****
"Lucius? What a surprise" Harry greeted the man with a smile as soon as he turned the corner. It was clear that the man did not have any intention to ambush him or anything like that and to be honest, Harry would have been disappointed if the man tried anything like that.
Lucius might be good with a Wand, but he was no fighter…
"Can we talk?" The man asked, looking nervous.
"Sure, lead the way" Harry gestured for the man to continue and without wasting any time, Lucius led him to the nearby antechamber. After getting seated, Harry started to speak again. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked curiously as he leaned back in his chair.
Lucius didn't know how to start the conversation, so he simply pulled out the letter from his robes and held it out for Harry. Instead of grabbing the letter with his hands, Harry used his Magic to levitate the letter toward him and instead of touching the letter, he opened it to read its contents.
When he was finally done, he closed the letter and turned toward Lucius. The man was shifting uncomfortably in his chair, looking really nervous. "So, what is your plan?" Harry asked, surprising Lucius.
"…Uhh. I don't have any?" The man admitted unsurely before the man decided to ask the most important question. "Aren't you surprised that I was in contact with the Dark Lord?" The man asked with a frown.
"If you think I didn't know about your love letters then you are a fool" Harry answered with a sneer, making the man flinch. "I simply wanted you to keep passing the information to level the playing field. Not that it helped him by much, but still" Harry finished with a snicker.
"You see, Lucius. I try to learn about my enemies as much as I can… After all, it takes time for a person to truly change and there was no way that a person like you would have become docile and submissive, unless, you were simply bidding your time" Harry explained and the man grimaced at his words.
"I see… So, I was simply dancing to your tune" It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Lucius was looking completely defeated.
"No. I wouldn't say that… You can say that I knew you much better than you knew yourself" Harry pointed out with a smile.
Lucius chuckled mirthlessly at that… "That's even worse" The man said and continued to laugh with no trace of humor in his voice. "So, what now?" The man asked when he finally started to calm down.
"Why don't you send your Lord a letter saying that you have done your part?" Harry suggested and the man nodded his head in understanding.
"What about my son? Are you going to punish him?" Lucius asked warily. Harry could say a lot of things about the man, but he genuinely loved his son. That was something Harry could respect, but he was still going to kill him. Helping Narcissa was going to be a lot more profitable than helping Lucius.
"Of course not, but the story would have been different if you had tried to go along with Voldemort's plan" Harry answered coldly and Lucius nodded his head with a grim look on his face.
"…I thank you for your leniency" Lucius said with a bow of his head before standing up and after that, without wasting any more time, he left the room. After all, he had a letter to write in the confines of his room. He could have tried to join the others for breakfast as he wasn't forbidden from that, but Lucius knew that it might be better if he kept his distance from his son.
|I am surprised that he didn't beg for his own life| Lily said scathingly after Lucius was gone, leaving Harry alone in the room.
|He is a prideful man. He knew that begging wouldn't save him, so he decided to go out with dignity, at least, that is what I believe| Harry answered in a thoughtful tone. He wasn't certain as Lucius was a cunning and slippery man, but at the same time, he was an extremely prideful man.
|So, when are you going to kill him?| Lily asked curiously.
|After I kill the rest of his Death Eater buddies| Harry answered as he stood up from his disappeared with a soft crack, instead of walking back to his room to take a shower…
~~Timekip~~ (10.45 am)
~~Kings Cross Station, London~~
Harry arrived near the Kings Cross Station fifteen minutes before 11 o'clock as he wanted to scout the station before walking in to meet Rachel Node. He didn't believe that they were planning to ambush him in such a busy place, but he knew that people in power could do stupid things when they were desperate enough.
Harry looked around and noticed a tall building… Moments later, he appeared on the roof of that building and started to look around. The Royal Mages were working with Muggles, so he wasn't going to put it past them to take him out with a sniper or a Muggle missile for that matter.
While Harry didn't know much about Muggle missiles, he knew enough to understand that they were a threat to him even though his physical body was a lot stronger than normal Wixen…
After looking around for a bit, Harry was certain that there were no snipers around the Kings Cross Station who were planning to take him out, but that didn't mean that they couldn't use a Muggle missile to take him out. Yes, some Muggles were going to die, but they could always blame the attack on a terrorist or something like that.
However, there wasn't much Harry could do about a Muggle missile without revealing Magic to the world, so after casting a Disillusionment Charm upon himself, Harry started to fly toward the Station and when he was floating right above the station, he cast an Alert Ward, covering the whole station.
Now, he would know if a missile was about to hit the Kings Cross Station a second before the actual impact. A second may not sound much, but it was enough for someone like him to get away without any problems… With all of that taken care of, he started to head inside the station…
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****SMART-CHOICES (II)****
~~Platform 9¾, Kings Cross Station~~
"You are right on time" Harry said, staring at the woman approaching him from the other side. From the corner of his eyes, he could clearly see the clock and it was exactly 11 o'clock, which meant she was right on time. While he had never met the woman before, he could see her name floating over her head.
"I didn't want to come early and make you think that the whole thing is a trap" The woman answered with a deadpan.
"I see…" Harry mumbled while giving her an understanding look. He could see where she was coming from and he had to admit, the woman seemed to be smart, much smarter than Derrick Oswell and Elizabeth Carter. "You alone?" Harry asked, looking around, but he didn't notice any other Wixen around them.
"Yes, I promised that I would come alone" The woman answered with a nod of her head. Harry stared at her for a second before nodding his head. The woman didn't look scared and if she was, she didn't show it on her face. To be honest, Harry was impressed.
"Let's sit down?" Harry suggested and after getting a nod from the woman, he started to lead her toward a nearby bench. The two of them sat down and Harry immediately waved his hand to cast the Wards the Royal Mages had at the hotel room to keep Himera from contacting him.
Meanwhile, Rachel's eyes grew wide in surprise at his choice of Wards… She started to wonder if he was trying to mock her with those Wards, or if he simply wanted to show her that he had managed to crack their Wards in less than twelve hours, or if he was trying to intimidate her by showing off his Wandless Magic skills…
Whatever it was, now Rachel was certain that she had made the right choice by trying to cut a deal with him…
"I am Rachel Node" The woman extended her hand toward Harry. He already knew her name, but she still decided to introduce herself to him.
"Harry Potter" Harry extended his own hand and shook hands with her. Right now, they were meeting under a truce, so he was going to keep everything civil and follow through all the formalities and Rachel also seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"So, you were saying something about cutting losses?" Harry asked while staring straight into her eyes.
"Yes" Rachel said with a nod of her head. "I have realized that we can't beat you. It was a mistake to make an enemy of you, a mistake I seriously regret" Rachel added with a grimace.
"Really? You should have thought that before kidnapping Himera, right?" Harry asked with a frown on his face.
"Yes, but I was ordered by the Queen to aid MI6 and SHIELD" Rachel revealed with a sigh. She knew she was playing a dangerous game by revealing secrets nobody should know, but if she wanted her organization to survive this shit fest then she needed to take the gamble and come out on top.
"Is that so?" Harry asked, only to receive a nod from the woman sitting across from him. "However, why should I care? You made your bed and now you have to sleep in it, no?" Harry asked in a cold tone and the woman flinched at his tone. Internally Harry smiled, the woman was hiding it well, but she was scared as fuck.
"Yes, as I said. I made a mistake, a mistake I seriously regret, but I cannot turn back time. We have sworn loyalty to the Queen, we have also sworn to follow her direct orders, so I couldn't have ignored her order" Rachel tried to explain, hoping that he would understand.
Rachel knew that Harry Potter was no Voldemort and that was why she decided to meet him in the first place…
"Then how are you here? Did the Queen order you to retreat or something like that?" Harry asked as he raised his brows in question.
"No, but there are some specific circumstances when we can ignore her orders and choose the best course of action. Right now, cutting our losses is the best course of action" Rachel explained with a reluctant look on her face. At first, she didn't want to do it, but she realized that not explaining their circumstances might doom them.
Harry hummed at her words and started to tap the backrest with his fingers with a thoughtful look on his face. "However, all of that still doesn't answer my question of why should I let you guys go" Harry said while staring straight into her eyes, but he didn't try to use Legilimency.
"Are you going to help me destroy SHIELD or MI6?" Harry asked, without giving her the time to say anything.
Rachel seemed to reel back at his question… This was not something she was expecting when she came here to negotiate their surrender. However, she quickly managed to collect herself and started to speak.
"Look… I know I am asking you a lot, but I can't help you with any of those. Both SHIELD and MI6 are necessary for the safety of Britain and its people. Our Oaths won't let me help you with something like that" Rachel explained while looking nervous. She didn't want to set off the Magical Nuke sitting across from her by saying something wrong, but there were some things she needed to say.
"Then you are no use to me" Harry said coldly while glaring at the woman sitting across from him. He couldn't believe the audacity of this bitch… She came here to negotiate their surrender without bringing anything to the table. Did she simply expect him to roll over and accept their surrender or something like that?
|Just kill her and get over with it| Lily whined inside his mind.
|No, not here. She might be an audacious bitch, but we were meeting under a truce. I am not going to kill her here| Harry quickly denied, as he didn't want to break the verbal agreement.
For the first time, Rachel broke out of her stoic persona and started to look frantic… "Look, please…" Rachel was ready to beg, but she trailed off realizing that begging or pleading was not going to work. Harry started to stand up and she immediately started to wrack her brain for options, and then all of a sudden, something finally clicked inside her mind.
"Knowledge!" Rachel exclaimed in a desperate tone. "We can give you Knowledge!" Rachel added frantically.
Harry paused. "Knowledge?" Harry asked, looking curious.
"Yes, knowledge. We have existed since King Arthur claimed the throne, so obviously we have amassed a lot of knowledge throughout the years. I can give you access to that" Rachel explained hurriedly.
"Well…" Harry trailed off before a smile bloomed on his face. "You have my curiosity" Harry added with a smile wondering what sort of knowledge he was going to discover…
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