Chapter 9: Dueling Title

" Harry!" The headmasters cut through the crowd like a knife, grabbing his attention immediately.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." He responded respectfully.

Sirius and Septima took their turn greeting the ancient wizard before he returned his attention to him.

"I know right now probably isn't the best time." He started, gesturing to the crowd of mourning witches and wizards. "But I wished to congratulate you on your most impressive dueling title."

Harry smiled sadly. 'Flitwick encouraged me to try out for the team in the first place.'

"Thank you, sir; Filius taught me a lot of what I know."

Albus Dumbledore smiled sadly; "between him, young Miss Tonks, and Septima;" his long fingers pointed to the hazel eyed beauty, and she smiled sadly; "you've become quite an impressive young wizard."

Harry flashed him a confident smile. "I work hard."

Approval shined in the old man's blue eyes. "You certainly do, my boy."

"Albus;" Sirius spoke up for the first time; "Harry, Septima, and I were going to have lunch at the Sneaky Serpent in Diagon Alley, would you care to join us?"

"That sounds lovely, Sirius."

His godfather nodded his head, before turning back to him. "Do you know where we're going, Harry?"

He nodded before disappearing with a loud 'pop.'

"He sure is full of surprises." Albus said with a smile.

Septima smiled back. "You have no idea."

The restaurant was busy he thought to himself as he took in the hustle and bustle.

"We have about a 45-minute wait, sir." The hostess said politely without looking up.

Dumbledore responded. "That's quite alright, Miss Clearwater."

His housemate looked up from whatever she had been looking at with wide eyes.

"Headmaster!" She said with a gasp, before taking in the rest of the group. "Professor Vector, Harry." She took a quick look around, offering them all a cute smile; "follow me."

The 'Sneaky Serpent' was a modestly decorated restaurant across from Memorial Park in Diagon Alley.

While not as casual as Hogsmeade or The Leaky Cauldron, the 'Sneaky Serpent' catered to the wizarding world's upper-middle class.

The foursome took their seats, and Harry noticed that their tables lantern contained a glowing, yellow pixie.

Septima was the first to break the silence. "So, how's the investigation into Filius's death going?" The brunette asked, concern in her voice.

Dumbledore offered no visible reaction but let out a soft sigh. "Slow. Whoever poisoned Filius covered their tracks well."

"So, he was murdered?" Harry interrupted, earning him a stern look from Sirius.

"Sorry for the interruption." He offered sincerely, earning him a proud look from his godfather.

The headmaster frowned. "It would appear that way, Harry, yes."

"Was Snape able to identify the poison?" Sirius asked with curiosity.

Albus frowned again. "We are still looking into it." Harry caught the slight warning in his headmaster's voice.

Dumbledore then offered his runes professor a bright smile.

"Septima, I know this may not be the most appropriate time, but Ravenclaw does need a new Head of House, I was hoping you could fill the vacancy?"

She offered Dumbledore a bright smile. "Of course, I would, headmaster." Her tone turned more somber. "I always hoped for this day, I just thought it would come under better circumstances."

He saw his godfather squeeze the younger woman's hand softly, and she shot him a grateful smile.

"Of course, my dear, but time is of the essence."

"Of course, headmaster."

The conversation turned to lighter topics after that, and Harry lost himself in thought. Thinking about the project on vampires he was working on for Remus.

"Nymphadora has accepted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position."

Dumbledore's words snapped him from his thoughts, and he almost interrupted the conversation.

Waiting for an opening in the conversation; Harry jumped in, "Tonks is our new defense professor, sir?" He said, excitement clear in his voice.

The young metamorph was bright, charming, and incredibly talented, winning her first dueling tournament not even a month prior.

"She's going to be amazing!" Harry gushed.

"Harry has a crush on my cousin." Sirius informed the headmaster.

He felt his cheeks redden, but before he could respond, Septima was talking.

"Does Daphne know that?"

Harry buried his head in his hands.

"You and Miss Greengrass would make quite the pair." His headmaster approved, and the table erupted in laughter.

The quaffle slipped through his fingers and started to rocket towards the ground.

Ignoring his fears, Harry turned his Nimbus 2001 in a sharp dive, letting out a 'whoop' of joy as the air hit his face causing his eyes to water.

A few meters before the ground he grabbed the quaffle out of mid-air, pulling his broomstick upwards as he did so.

"Nice catch, Harry!" His godfather yelled from the opposite end of the quidditch pitch at Memorial Park. "Maybe you should try out for seeker!"

He grinned. He was quickly growing to enjoy the sport but didn't want to make that type of commitment to another extracurricular activity.

"I need to concentrate on defending my title!" Harry yelled back, sending the quaffle wide left of Sirius.

The lanky black-haired man crashed into the charmed ground and bounced a good 5 meters in the air, letting out a cry of joy as he did so.

Flying closer to the ground, Harry jumped off his broom, joining Sirius on the ground.

"Let's grab some food!" The dog animagus cried out.

It was the last week of June and Harry had decided he needed a break from training, a break Sirius endorsed wholeheartedly.

The pair each grabbed some fish and chips from a cart and grabbed a table overlooking a beautiful fountain of Achelous.

Harry cast a quick 'muffliato' on their table, and they both took a few minutes to eat, enjoying the hot sun.

"How's the silent casting coming?" His godfather asked in curiosity.

Harry frowned, that project wasn't going as well as he would have liked.

"Not as well as spell deflection with Tonks."

Sirius smiled but went into lecture mode. "Try practicing doing the spells while mouthing the incantation and move on from there."

He nodded his head. 'I hadn't thought of that.'

"Have you reached out to Terry yet?" Sirius asked.

In the past couple of weeks Harry, at the urging of Sirius and Lily, had encouraged him to reach out to him to try and mend their friendship.

The truth was, he missed his friend. Without Terry, he had nobody to talk to within his own house. But Terry had used legilimency on him at least once.

"Remus has been getting the Wolfsbane potion from Melissa, I don't see why I need to talk to her son."

Sirius frowned. "You need friends, Harry."

He sighed. "If he reaches out to me, maybe we can work something out."

Sirius nodded his head. "Don't let it go on too long, Harry. You'll regret it in the end."

They finished their meal in silence before taking a walk around the park.

"Tonks will be dueling in the London Invitational next month."

Harry's face brightened at the news. "That's fantastic!"

With her title in Bucharest a few weeks ago, her second this season, Nymphadora Tonks was officially considered England's next great duelist.

"It's the second week of July, I assume you want to go?" It was more a statement then a question, and Harry nodded his head eagerly.

"Of course!"

They cycled through topics for the next quarter hour before heading towards the apparition point.

"Have you thought of what you would like to do for your birthday, Harry?"

The truth is, he hadn't. With the Dursleys his birthday had never been a cause for celebration.

"No; no grand party, but a surprise would be okay."

Sirius smiled maniacally at his godson's statement, and he wondered if he had made a mistake.

"Sirius?" The pale man just gave him a look.

"Can I have lunch with Lily and Daphne next week in the Alley?"

Sirius flashed him a smile; "of course Harry. You can visit with your friends anytime you want, just let me know where you're going first." He paused for a second. "Your friends are welcome over whenever you want as well, they can use your private floo."

"Are… are you being serious?" His godfather smiled. "Of course! You're a kid, Harry. Believe it or not most kids don't spend their summers studying magic 8 hours a day."

He shot his godfather a sheepish grin. "I like magic."

"And there's nothing wrong with that." Sirius said with pride. "But don't be afraid to live a little as well."

A fond smile came across his face. "Your dad and I once broke into Hogwarts, for merlin's sake. Did I ever tell you that?"

He smiled as his godfather launched into a story that involved Sirius, his father, the Bloody Baron, and a herd of centaurs.

"Minister Nott."

Octavius Nott took his beady eyes off the proposal in front of him and glanced towards the plump redhead in front of him.

"Yes Angela?"

"Barty Crouch is here to see you."

Octavius kept the fear off his face; "send him in."

The Minister of Magic poured himself a glass of firewhisky, taking a large sip nervously.

"Minister, I was hoping I could get a minute of your time to talk about the Triwizard Tournament."

Nott offered the middle-aged wizard a slight smile. "Of course, Bartemius. Can I pour you a drink?" He offered.

Shutting the door to his office, Octavius Nott cast every privacy spell he knew.

"I'm impressed, Octavius."

The voice sounded like Bartemius Crouch, but the pathology favored one of his Lord.

"My Lord, how can I serve you?"

Crouch eyed him with a casual danger, twirling his wand in his short, stubby fingers.

"I have been unable to contact Lucius and wish to hear where we stand with our plan."

Nott took a calming breath. "Lucius has Francis DuPont under his thumb, and I'm told from both him and Bellatrix that Dolohov recently placed Minister Dimitar under the imperius as well."

Crouch nodded in approval. "I assume we are on track for the Tournament as well?"

"Of course, my lord."

Nott let his lord think in silence.

"Flitwick is dead." Crouch stated.

"The result of Bellatrix's spy."

"Who will be replacing him?" His lord asked.

"Daniel Avery will be the new Charms Professor, while Septima Vector will take over as head of Ravenclaw."

Crouch nodded his head in approval when he heard Avery's name. "And what of the Defense Against the Dark Arts opening, do we control that as well?"

Nott frowned. "Dumbledore has filled the position with Bellatrix's niece, Nymphadora Tonks."

Crouch gave him a look of amusement. "Oh, Bella cannot like that."

He smiled; "her niece is quite the duelist."

The Dark Lord smiled cruelly. "I hope to kill her someday soon."

Nott offered his lord a cruel smile; "I look forward to the day, my lord."

And with that, Bartemius Crouch left the Minister of Magics office.

"This bitch isn't messing around." His godfather mumbled from next to him.

From their box at the London invitational, they were watching two Italian witches duke it out for the chance to fight Tonks in the finals; winning a third duel in as many months would vault his coach into the top 3 in the world.

Harry had to agree with his godfather as the dark-haired witch used a dark flame whip to sever her opponent's hand from her wrist.

"Is that allowed?" He asked in curiosity.

Sirius's eyes didn't leave the duel in front of him as the now one-handed witch was struggling to continue with her want in her left hand.

"Limbs can be regrown. It's legal, though frowned upon."

The one-handed witch stepped out of her circle, forfeiting her match.

The crowd groaned and began to boo at her cowardice.

"Come on!" Sirius said, pulling at his sleeve. "Let's go grab some ice cream!" The man-child pulled him to the door.

' Do dementors cause arrested development?' He thought to himself, following his godfather to the door.

"Sirius?" The older man stopped and looked at him. "Where are we going in August?"

For the last few weeks, the older man and Remus had been dropping hints about an upcoming vacation; the suspense had been driving him mad.

His godfather smiled. "That's for me to know, and you to find out." He said in a sing-song voice.

They talked amongst themselves for a while longer as he enjoyed a cone of mint chocolate chip.

About ten meters in front of him he saw an athletically built girl with familiar long, blonde hair.

With a smile he caught her eye; "Daphne!" He said with a slight shout.

From next to him he saw his godfather smile, and Harry noticed the stern looking blonde man she was with.

" Introduce yourself properly when meeting a Lord, Harry. A lot of them are pretty obnoxious and demand respect." He remembered Sirius's lesson from the year prior.

"Lord Greengrass." He introduced himself with a slight bow. "I'm Harry Potter, of House Potter."

The older man gave him a calculating look with his sharp blue eyes.

From next to him he noticed his daughter's annoyance.

The older man must have noticed it as well; "Alfred Greengrass, Heir Potter, Lord Black."

Sirius smiled. "Enough of the formalities;" his godfather said, after introducing himself properly to Daphne's dad.

"Are the two of you enjoying the duels?" Lord Black asked.

Alfred deferred to his daughter.

Daphne introduced herself with a polite curtsey and Harry found himself staring at the green-eyed beauty in front of him.

' Puberty has done wonders for her.' He thought to himself.

"Very much so, Lord Black." Harry noticed something akin to approval flash across her father's face at her polite tone.

"I have particularly enjoyed your cousin's performance, Lord Black."

Harry grinned internally; 'I've never seen her act so formal.'

Sirius smiled in agreement. "She's very good."

"She has a very distinct style." Daphne continued, giving him a quick glance. "It's very similar to my own."

"And Harry's." Sirius agreed.

Alfred raised an eyebrow at this. "I'd love to see the two of you duel sometime, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded eagerly. "We have a dueling pit at our place, the two of you are welcome anytime."

Sirius nodded in agreement before adding; "would the two of you like to join us in our booth for the final match?"

Daphne looked to her father who appeared to give her a slight nod, and Daphne accepted on behalf of the pair.

"Banderas isn't going to last if she can't keep up with Tonks." Daphne commented as the final hit the minute mark.

Harry turned slightly to face her, his arm brushing hers, he could smell the mint on her breath and the raspberry in her light-blonde hair.

' When did we get so close?' He wondered idly, making no effort to back away.

"Tonks is what I want to become." Harry added.

She offered him a brilliant smile, one that showed her comfort - the type of carefree smile he didn't see at Hogwarts.

She grabbed his hand lightly, interweaving her fingers with his "we'll be better." She stated.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Alfred watching the two of them out of the corner of his eye while he talked with Sirius.

Tonks sent several sharp, medal discs at her opponent, who dodged deftly, returning with a large wall of dark flame.

He swore he heard Tonks swear as she erected a brilliant golden shield.

The onslaught continued, and Tonks shield was beginning to show signs of cracking.

"She needs to end her shield, quickly cast a dome of water then return fire." The Slytherin commented, her hand still in his.

Sirius spoke up, and Harry frowned. "If she ends the shield, she gets hit with the spell;" he countered.

Daphne spoke up; "if she doesn't she loses, it's a lose-lose."

Tonks ended her shield and the fire burned part of her torso.

Instead of erecting a water dome Tonks responded with a high-level lightning spell.

"Gutsy move." Alfred said with approval as the Italian witch let out a painful yell, taking the brunt of the spell.

Tonks didn't waste her advantage, sending a barrage of a potentially lethal curse known as ' Thors Hammer.'

One of the curses hit the other witch, knocking her fifty feet outside of the circle, ripping the other witch's arm from her body.

The crowd went wild at the show of violence, and Tonks was declared the victor.

Daphne turned to him again, and his heart skipped a beat as she offered him another one of those smiles. "She's absolutely brilliant!" She gushed.

Harry laughed and offered his agreement.

Daphne's father was calling her name, and without putting much thought to it Harry put a hand on her arm making her pause for a second.

Raspberries assaulted his senses again. "Daphne;" a messy strand of blonde hair covered her face, and she offered him a pretty look. Blushing slightly, he collected himself and continued. "I'm having lunch with some friends for my birthday on the 31st, would you like to join me?"

The girl lost her usual confidence, and her gaze flickered behind him over his shoulder for a moment.

Daphne smiled shyly. "I'd love to." She said, before gathering him in a soft embrace.

Remembering that her father was right behind him, he was careful with his hands, placing them safely on the small of her back, trying to fight the coming hardness between his thighs.

They released a few seconds later and said their goodbyes; once Daphne and Alfred were a safe distance away; Sirius offered him sly smile, "are we going to have to talk about rings and quaffles, Harry?"

Harry gave his godfather a glare. "Just make sure you put a lunch together, Black."

"So, Harry, how were the duels?" She asked.

It was a Tuesday in mid-July, and Septima and her student were currently sitting in his room, preparing for their occlumency lesson.

She had learned occlumency from her mother at a very young age and had found that beginners performed best in a comfortable environment. That meant sitting amongst several photographs with friends, a messy desk, and a neatly organized bookshelf.

"Brilliant!" He responded with a brilliant smile, and she smiled.

She stopped him before he could continue. "Don't tell me anymore, Harry." Septima said with a laugh. "Tonight, I'm going to try and steal it from your mind, let me know when you're ready."

The soon-to-be fourteen-year-old gave her a determined nod. 'The boy has many talents, occlumency is not one of them.'

The boy was better than average but would never be able to keep some of the more advanced legilimens out of his mind if they really wanted.

' Legilimens.' She cast silently.

She was met with a thick, black fog. 'That's new.' She thought with approval.

Septima tried to navigate through the fog but was lost.

A half a minute later she was in the familiar memory of Harry at the beach in Dover.

She felt his effort increase, his will trying to force her from his mind. 'He's getting better.' She noted.

Pushing a little harder, the teacher overcame the student and she saw snips of a memory, slowing down she began to watch, gently pushing away her students' meager efforts as she watched the conversation between Sirius, Alastor Moody, and Harry play out.

Septima lessened her effort a bit, allowing Harry to push her out of his mind.

"Good work Harry." She said with a large smile. "Let's take a break and get back to work."

An hour later the pair were drinking butterbeer in the kitchen.

"Do you know what Sirius has planned for your birthday yet?" Septima asked, before quickly adding. "You want your first date with Daphne to be impressive."

The boys' cheeks reddened, and she gave him a soft smile.

"Are you two going to continue working on your room next year?"

The green-eyed teen smiled; "yes, there were some wards I was hoping you could show me before school starts up?"

"Or course, Harry." Having a student as eager as Harry Potter made teaching fun.

"Chatting up my girl?" Sirius interrupted her thoughts, ruffling Harry's hair.

She gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "Be careful, love." Septima said with a smile. "Or he may steal me away."

She let her boyfriend stew on that as she said goodbye to Harry and grabbed her coat.

Harry twirled his wand, conjuring a flock of sparrows to intercept his opponents' multiple stunners.

"Good job Harry!" Tonks shouted from across the pit.

His new defense professor had shrunk the size of his circle to three feet for today's session, apparently he needed to work on his shields.

"Cannoventus." He said with a whisper, conjuring a thick screen of dark smoke.

He immediately followed up with a trio of silent stunners, hoping to catch the champion duelist off-guard.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Harry!" Tonks said in a sing-song voice.

' Shit.' He thought, bringing up a golden dome at the last second to absorb the violent looking spell.

"Ruo Flagram." He whispered; a thick, dark purple flame erupting from his wand.

Tonks' eyes widened at his casual use of the dark arts, and a wicked grin appeared at her face.

He directed the flame whip at his opponent, burning the older witch's arm severely.

He didn't stop to see the effects, following up with several cutters.

Tonks pirouetted gracefully, somehow managing to heal her arm in the process.

" Very impressive, Harry."

He grunted, conjuring a brick wall to absorb a black spell that he knew would remove his kidney, violently.

' Kid gloves are off.'

He smiled despite the danger, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"Ardere Sagitto, Debiles Fulmen, Glacius Duo!" He shot off in quick succession.

Tonks grin was maniacal as she took an arrow in her shoulder to avoid the bolt of lightning.

Blood seeped through her platinum robes. If anything, the blood-stained robes made her look hot.

Tonks responded with an entrail expelling curse, forcing him to duck.

He howled in pain as Tonks' bonebreaker connected with his right leg, causing him to stumble out of the circle.

The older witch healed herself and made her way towards her student.

"Heal yourself." She directed.

Harry grunted in acknowledgement, grinding his teeth in pain, straightening his right leg. "Episkey." He got out, hitting his leg perfectly with the spell.

He felt his leg knit itself back together painfully.

Standing up, he walked around gingerly.

"How does it feel?" Tonks asked.

He smiled. "Pretty good."

"Where did you learn those spells?" There was no accusation in her voice, just curiosity.

"The Black Library has some incredibly interesting books." He replied casually. 'So did Tom Riddle.' He added to himself, casually.

"Keep it up, you've improved greatly." She said with a smile. "Sirius told me Mad-Eye wants to duel you."

He nodded. "Yeah, we met at your tournament." He smiled, remembering that day fondly.

"Get out your wand, Harry." Tonks snapped, all business-like.

' She must be practicing.'

"Your shields are great, Harry. But your battle transfiguration needs some work."

He frowned.

"But I can help you." She said with a smile.

The pair spent the rest of the afternoon getting a crash course in battle transfiguration from one of the best duelers in the world.

' Life is good.' He thought to himself.

"Watch it!" He let out as the witch poked him with her wand a third time.

"Harry." Sirius said, a touch of warning in his voice. "This is for your benefit, be polite."

The pair were paying a visit to Madam Malkins, and outside of the normal school robes, Sirius had insisted that Harry get an "appropriate" wardrobe.

The process had been quite annoying.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, be still, we are almost finished." The gray-haired witch replied with a touch of irritation.

Ten minutes later the pair were leaving the robe shop. "I thought my letter said I needed dress robes?" He questioned with a touch of confusion.

"They did." Sirius confirmed. "There's a ball to go along with the tournament."

He nodded his head at the mention of the international tournament set to take place at Hogwarts this coming year - excited to have the opportunity to interact with the international students.

"But you don't want to purchase your robes before finding out what your date will be wearing." His godfather lectured. "It's important to ask your date what color she will be wearing so that your robes will match her dress."

Harry just nodded. Used to his impromptu lessons on society.

"Now would be a good time to mention that I have arranged for you to receive dancing and etiquette lessons with an old acquaintance of mine."

He squirmed at the thought of dancing.

Sirius saw his face and rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that look, Harry!" He admonished. "You'll thank me anytime you have to appear in a formal setting, trust me." Sirius seemed to be amused by his own words.

The two turned into the trunk store, and Harry immediately made his way to the shopkeeper.

"Remind me why you need a new trunk, Harry?"

' Because I fucked up the ward on my old trunk, now every time I touch it I get a migraine.'

"Because I'm keen on starting my own library, and my current trunk lacks the space." He said with a smile.

The dog animagus groaned; "you always have a book in your hand, don't you already have a library?"

Harry frowned; "I have about a dozen books that aren't for school. The rest come from either the Hogwarts or Black libraries."

With the help of the shopkeeper, Harry decided on a nice two compartment trunk, and an hour later, the pair were standing in 'Flourish and Blotts.'

"Dammit Sirius!" He frowned, rubbing his ribs where his godfather had just elbowed him.

Harry followed Sirius's gaze, making eye contact with a set of familiar hazel eyes.

The other boy glanced towards the corner causing Harry to sigh; "Sirius, I'll be right back."

His black dragonhide boots echoed off the wooden floor as he made his way over to a vacant corner towards Boot.

' He seems nervous.' He grinned to himself.

"How've you been, Harry?" His former friend started nervously.

"What do you want, Boot?" His response came out harsher than he meant, and the other boy flinched, but didn't turn away.

"I deserve that." Terry said softly, never breaking eye contact. Harry could feel the sincerity in his voice, and he relaxed a bit.

Foregoing the awkward apology, Harry cut to the chase. "How can I ever trust you again, Terry."

The brown-haired boy shrugged; "you can't. Not yet at least."

The admission shocked Harry more than he let on.

"I've always been good at legilimency, it's become sort of a habit to gleam people's surface thoughts."

Harry thought silently for a moment, letting a small smile come to his face; "go on then, do your best on me."

Terry looked shocked. "Are… are you sure?"

He just nodded. "When you're ready."

Terry let out a wicked smile. "I've already read your surface thoughts, Harry; I'm interested to see your old trunk."

Harry was somewhat shocked. "You're better than I thought, I didn't even notice you."

Terry just nodded. "You're not too bad yourself, that's as far back as I was able to reach in without disturbing your defenses, not too bad."

"How many times have you down that to me?" Harry asked.

Terry caught his eyes; "not much for first year." Again, Harry sensed honesty in his response.

He nodded. "I need you to make it up to me."

Terry nodded.

"When we get back to Hogwarts, I want you to watch Malfoy and Nott."

The other boy agreed. "Of course."

Harry offered him another smile. "I also need you to meet Daphne, Lily, Sirius, and I for lunch for my birthday."

Terry smiled. "Deal. Owl me the details."

With that the two boys parted.

The Black Library contained the largest private collection of Dark Arts books in the world.

At least that's what the portrait of Arcturus Black had told him when he'd found the place earlier in the summer.

The library was quite impressive; and what it lacked in charm, it more than made up for in knowledge.

Harry had spent quite a bit of time here since the beginning of the summer; taking notes in his journal, then practicing what he had read in the dueling pits.

The entire process had been exhausting, but well worth his efforts.

When he had told Daphne what he was doing she had been eager to join him, and he looked forward to giving her the chance sometime in August.

Right now, he was reading about a particular rune grouping that, when carved and charged, would cause a wide-area explosion, like a muggle bomb.

To him, the most surprising thing about the rune grouping was its simplicity. He recognized all the runes necessary to make many of the grouping's work - with a little bit of effort.

Magic, he had noticed, didn't need to be difficult to be exceptionally dangerous.

Dimly lit and eerily quiet, the circular room gave him the creeps.

"Seven wizards, Lorenz. You bring me seven, unharmed wizards and I will provide your clan with the loan."

Lucius stuck to the shadows nervously; distancing himself as much as he could from the ancient Italian Vampire and the neurotic necromancer, acutely aware that between Lorenz Macaro's bodyguards, and Marcel DuPont's disciples he was vastly outnumbered.

"Very well, Monsieur DuPont. We have a deal."

The vampire turned on his heels to leave when DuPont stopped him.

"Lorenz!" The ancient man glanced over his shoulder towards the French wizard. "I want you to drain them in front of me and answer any questions I may have."

The clan leader frowned but didn't disagree.

"What can I do for you, Lucius Malfoy?"

The blonde-haired man stepped out of the shadows.

Eager to get out of the chateau, Malfoy didn't mince words. "We need you to control the dementors again, Marcel."

Marcel gave him a wicked smile, and the younger man shuddered. He had never felt comfortable around his father's old friend.

The necromancer appraised him for a few moments.

"You are a clone of Abraxas." Marcel added with a touch of sadness.

His father's murder nearly sixteen years ago remained one of the wizarding world's greatest mysteries.

DuPont looked back up at him. "25 muggles. That is your price."

Lucius smiled. Allowing the men to round up a couple dozen muggles was sure to raise spirits.

"You have a deal."

Alastor Moody waved his wand intricately as the dueling pit in front of him transformed into a warzone riddled with debris.

"Dueling is boring, Potter!" He snapped.

Moody was excited. Nymphadora Tonks and Albus Dumbledore seemed to think the boy was special, and at Albus's encouragement, here he was.

The boy's emerald eyes lacked the wonder he would have expected; instead, the child took stock of his surroundings, dipping into a distinctive crouch, minimizing himself as a target, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Without warning, Moody sent a pair of silent stunners at the boy.

Potter dodged to his left, returning fire with a trio of silent cutters, before disappearing for a momentarily.

' Damn he's fast!' Harry thought with a smile as he ducked behind a brick wall, casting a disillusionment charm on himself, and transfiguring some debris into a brown bear, sending it towards his opponent.

"Nice work Potter!" His opponent yelled back. "But you can't hide from me!"

His bear exploded in a show of gore.

He was on the defensive immediately, deflecting several bone-breakers.

Harry responded with back-to-back wide-area stunners, forcing the old man to shield, using the time to try a spell he had read about that afternoon; "Ignem Aestifer!" He bellowed.

A hateful array of orange-black flame spat out of his wand, forcing Mad-Eye to apparate.

"Fighting to kill are ya boy!" A voice from behind him barked.

' Shit' he thought to himself, taking a bonebreaker to the chest.

He growled in pain as he felt several ribs break.

Moody was in front of him in an instant.

"Make sure you know what the spell you're using is capable of!" Moody yelled.

Harry applied a quick numbing charm to his chest and conjured a brick wall hoping to by a few seconds of time.

"You need to get more creative with the spells you know, Potter! Not try new ones!"

His eyes widened in surprise as he took a stunner to his chest.

"Where did you learn that fire spell, boy!" He barked at the child in front of him.

He wasn't mad, more curious, that spell could be exceptionally dangerous.

Potter looked nervous, but he met his eyes.

Moody reached out softly, meeting decent occlumency shields. 'The boy really is impressive.'

"The Black Library."

Alastor nodded - the Black family had always had an affinity for the dark arts.

"You need to practice it more before using it in a friendly battle."

Potter gave him a sharp nod. "Next time I'll be better, sir."

The boy's confidence caused him to grin. "For now, I want to work on your magical control."

He had the boy's attention, now. "I beat you because you thought you were safe behind a wall. With enough practice, your enemy is never safe."

Potter had a determined look on his face. "What do I need to do?"

He let out a vicious smile. "When you cast a 'lumos,' what color is it?"

"A glowing white light." Harry answered automatically.

He nodded. "Why."

He could tell he had confused the boy. "Why isn't it a red light?"

"I - I don't know?"

Moody nodded. "There is no reason, your mind automatically associates a light as white."

His student looked shocked, as though what he had just told him was the most obvious thing in the world.

Moody smiled. "You have a decent understanding of occlumency, boy!" He snapped. "Cast lumos and pretend it's a dark red color!"

Potter gave him a determined nod and set to work.

"Rupert!" Lily nearly shouted as the black-haired girl leapt from her chair, forgetting her banana split.

Sirius turned to Tonks. "Ugh-oh cousin, looks like you have some competition."

The rest of the table laughed as his friend blushed.

Rupert Macnair gave the girl a tight hug. "Lily! I haven't seen you in so long!"

She frowned. "That's your fault."

He offered her another smile. "The Auror Academy has me busy."

Macnair went over and offered his girlfriend a soft kiss, plopping down on her lap.

"Get off me you oaf!" Tonks responded, jabbing him in the ribs with her wand.

Macnair ignored her and turned to him.

"Happy birthday, Harry. Sorry I missed lunch."

He smiled softly at the older boy; "no problem Rupert, glad you could make it."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." He said with a predatory smile.

Next to him Daphne eyed the older boy with interest, while Terry looked slightly nervous.

He turned to Sirius, and with a look, his godfather finished his milkshake and called attention to himself.

"Alright, everyone, grab the rope." He said, producing a rope from his robes.

A second later the group disappeared, only to reappear in a field littered with magically placed trees, walls, and an unnatural looking river, a moment later.

"Where are we?" Septima asked in confusion.

"On a property owned by Sirius's family." Remus replied in amusement. "The same one, if I recall, where you left James stranded after the incident with Marlene."

His godfather smiled fondly, while Daphne gave him a strange look.

"It's better if you don't ask." He whispered.

Regaining his focus, Sirius called attention to the group.

"This afternoon, we're going to play a game."

Harry eyed his godfather in curiosity.

"We will be playing a game I've adapted from the muggles; paintball."

He noticed Daphne, Lily, Rupert, and to a lesser extent Septima sneer at the mention of adapting a muggle game, but Harry was interested.

"The goal is to eliminate the other team. It's like a battle, but we shoot pain instead of spells, and when you get hit with the paint, you're eliminated."

The simple explanation caught the rest of the groups interest.

"For the first game, I thought we would do kids versus adults?"

Harry looked at his team and smiled; this was by far the best birthday he had ever had.

"Terry, Lily, I want you two to stick together, watch each other's backs and cause distractions; Daphne;" he smiled at the girl in question; "and I will flank them from either side.

The group split up, with Harry casting a disillusionment charm on himself before silencing his boots.

He saw Lily cast several illusion charms while Terry filled the area with a thick, dark smoke.

' Maybe I was wrong to be the hunter.' He thought. 'They get to use more magic. '

He glimpsed to his right and saw Remus moving slowly towards Terry.

' Got him.' He smiled, silently sending several balls of dark blue paint towards the werewolf.

"Dammit!" His opponent yelled, getting hit with several pellets and stomping towards the exterior.

Harry was shaken from his revelry by Lily's elimination a half-second later.

"Harry I could use some help over here!" He heard a familiar voice yell to his right.

Still under his disillusionment charm, he sprinted towards the creek and a wall near the center of the arena where Daphne was holed up.

Pellets of paint littered the area as Sirius and Septima had Daphne surrounded.

At that moment a third attacker started peppering the teenagers.

"Macnair must've got Boot!" Daphne yelled, dodging some more paint.

"No shit!" He responded, taking the older boy out.

A second later, Daphne dispatched of Sirius and Tonks made her presence known.

"Seriously cousin, leaving the women to handle the kids!" Septima laughed, taking Daphne out with several pellets of paint.

The two rounded on him, and Harry fired as fast as he could while diving and ducking behind anything he could use as a shield.

"Nice use of your surroundings, Harry!" Tonks encouraged him, as if they were back at Grimmauld Place.

"But you're still too slow!"

As she gloated, Tonks was hit with a gob of dark blue paint.

"Finally!" He yelled as he dove again, narrowly avoiding Septima's barrage of paint.

' She's faster than she looks.' Harry re-doubled his concentration, dodging again before returning fire.

They exchanged fire for a few moments longer before Septima grazed his leg.

"Loser!" Sirius proclaimed immediately, doing a victory dance.

"Double or nothing!" He shouted back with a grin.

She hopped to the right, avoiding the incoming cutting curse, returning with several bonebreakers of her own.

Daphne watched as her opponent batted away the three bonebreakers with ease, returning fire with a concussion hex.

' He's better than me.'

She realized with a hint of bitterness.

The blonde girl ducked the concussion hex, and follow-up trauma curse before transfiguring a chunk of brick in front of her into a coyote.

Harry dealt with the coyote with ease, and she smiled as she watched the cutter her opponent hadn't seen slice into his abdomen.

Harry was livid, and she was on the defensive; dodging arrows easily enough, only to be attacked by a swarm of bees.

She growled in pain as the annoying insects stung her - choosing to unleash a wide-area stunner instead.

Seeing Potter throw up a shield, she quickly dealt with the bees as she felt her face begin to swell.

Switching strategies, she sent a quick barrage of tripping jinxes, stunners and piercing curses, hoping to keep him on the defensive long enough to slip past his defensives.

Potter smiled at her as he dodged and batted away her spells with ease, causing her to growl in frustration.

"Debiles Fulmen!" She shouted, hoping to get the introductory lightning spell to work properly.

To her delight, a jet of lightning struck Harry's circle, causing him to shield.

"Not bad, Greengrass!"

' Was that amusement?' She thought with disgust. 'Is he toying with me?'

"Debiles Fulmen!" Potter replied calmly.

While her bolt of lightning had been uncontrolled and relatively weak, Harry's was precise and strong, shattering her shields and crashing into her body she felt electricity course through her causing her to scream in pain.

The pain was gone a second later, and Harry and her father were running towards her with concern on their face.

"I'm fine!" She yelled, standing up and offering her father a smile, causing him to visibly relax. Knowing that her father trusted her and didn't baby her pleased Daphne to no end.

"Very precise, Harry."

She said to the still concerned boy.

She smiled inwardly at his obvious concern.

Her father turned towards Harry for the first time as she watched Alfred's reaction to the Ravenclaw carefully.

His dark eyes seemed to trail over Harry's features, and the dueling pit at Grimmauld Place was silent.

"You are an impressive duelist, Mr. Potter." Her father said, offering him a slight smile, causing her to let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Thank you, Lord Greengrass."

Her father offered him another smile. "You may call me Alfred, Mr. Potter."

She saw the slightest bit of trepidation cross Harry's face, but he recovered quickly, offering her father a charming smile; "than you must call me Harry, Alfred."

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Sirius and Nymphadora Tonks try and stifle their laughter.

"Why don't you two goes grab lunch in the alley, Harry." Sirius Black spoke up. "I'd like to talk to Alfred about a few things."

Harry smiled nervously, but she grabbed his hand, dragging him upstairs towards the floo.

The 'Sneaky Serpent' was much quieter on a Tuesday afternoon. He noticed absentmindedly, as Daphne let go of his hand to take her seat.

They sat silently for a few moments as he debated with himself internally.

Daphne must have noticed his indecision; "what is it, Harry?" She asked. Her pretty face giving him a questioning look.

He took a second to gather himself; "why did you hug me at the tournament? Or grab my hand today in front of your father?"

She blushed prettily, briefly glancing down at her glass of water before looking him in the eyes.

"Did it bother you?"

He gave her a shy smile. "Of course not! It was just awkward with your father right there."

She chuckled softly and waved him off. "I was just killing two birds with one stone."

At his questioning look, she continued.

"While marriage contracts haven't been used in hundreds of years, my family is still rather traditional, my father would have to approve of anyone I, um…" Her face reddened again, but her eyes didn't leave his. "Dated." She ended.

Harry gave her a curious look. And she continued nervously; "by expressing interest in front of my father I was able to judge his reaction, when I got his approval, it made things easier should we go on more dates in the future."

He offered her a look of shock. 'More dates?'

Then he thought about his current situation; he was having lunch with a pretty witch that he was interested in. 'I guess it is a date.'

They chatted idly as he paid the bill forty-five minutes later.

Harry reached out and grabbed her hand as they headed out into an unusually cool August afternoon.

"Do you mind if we do some shopping?" Daphne asked, leaning her body closer into his.

"I'd like to get Astoria's birthday gift."

The breeze caused Harry to tremble slightly, but he gave her a soft smile. "Of course."

The sky darkened slightly, and Daphne began to tremble slightly; an odd sense of deja-vu came over him.

"Daphne…" He said, ignoring the growing voice in the back of his mind. "Use occlumency if you know it and get out your wand."

The words had almost no effect on his date, as three hooded figures came into view.

" Not Harry! Please not Harry!"

He heard his mother's voice echo faintly in his mind.

He was completely supporting Daphne, now, as the dementor closest to him seemed to gravitate in his direction.

Clearing his mind and waving his wand he shouted. "Expecto Patronum!"

A thick, silver stag erupted from his wand, chasing down the dementor closest to him.

Daphne started regaining control of herself, as the Alley seemed to fill with silver mist as more and more auror's appeared.

"Can you floo me home, Harry?" The girl leaning into his chest said softly.

"Of course, Daphne." He responded tenderly, guiding the girl towards the 'Leaky Cauldron.'