Manors and Manners (Part One)

Dark Lord Tom Riddle aka Voldemort Reembodied Thanks to Nefarious Triwizard Plot!

Written by: Luna Lovegood

We at the Quibbler take our news seriously. While many have accused us of fanciful flights and wondrous ponderings we always strive to deliver the story. Our reputation for intriguing and unusual reports is well deserved as the Quibbler has historically tried to stay mainly on the fringes of what is known. We do this intentionally in an effort to satisfy the sense of adventure and wonder that is so often missing from other publications.

This story and the one below it however are different. Previously we have interviewed Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, Triwizard Co-Champion. We have also reported on some of the extreme circumstances that he becomes involved in. We have always reported only the facts when it comes to Harry Potter. Mr. Potter's life tends to be far too extreme to risk embellishments. That is why we ask you to not assume we have written this story as part of a prank or an unsubstantiated rumor. The accounts in this report have been largely verified by several sources including the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

We originally were asked to hold off on publishing this story, and we wished to allow for initial measures to be taken and for the Ministry of Magic to be allowed to break the news first. Unfortunately, as the largest leading report for the past two weeks was the current winner of Brightest Smile…it appears our hope for action was unfounded. As such, we will not maintain the silence any longer. What follows is a brief explanation of the events surrounding the Final Task in the Triwizard Tournament…

Sirius smirked as he watched Remus finish reading Luna's new article and nodding appreciatively. "The girl's good isn't she, Moony?"

"That she is indeed. You'd never know she was only fourteen from how she writes these articles," Remus said. "I especially like the bit at the end guaranteeing their readers that a weekly defense column will be included from now on."

"Oh?" Sirius' grin widened far enough to split his face in half. "Did you catch who was going to be writing those?"

Remus shook his head. His nostrils flared as he caught Sirius' far too pleased expression. "You didn't…"

"I did!" Sirius said pumping his arm in the air. "What better person to write a defense column than a recently inducted Auror, Wizengamot member, Head of House Black and escapee from Azkaban? The job was practically written for me, Moony!" Sirius moved over and clapped his friend on the back as Remus just sighed heavily. "Perk up old buddy. You get to write a few guest sections too you know!"

"I what?!" the werewolf sputtered. "When did I agree to that?"

"Just now. Glad to have your help. I'm a busy man after all." Sirius laughed and pulled Remus to his feet. "Come on, we have to get going or we're going to be late."

Remus nodded and dropped the paper onto the table. The article below the one with Voldemort was face up – the one describing Lily Potter's 'miraculous revival'. "I still have a hard time believing all this, Padfoot."

"Which part, the one with Potter Manor being restored, the one with Voldemort getting resurrected, or the one with our deceased female friend also being resurrected?"

Remus snorted. "Well when you put it like that, all of them. However what I was specifically referring to was Lily. I know we were both there in that graveyard the other night…but it still seems surreal. We didn't exactly stay to talk to her. I feel like we almost ran away…are we even sure that she remembers anything?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "We didn't stay so that Harry could have some time to deal with it without us hovering over him. Or…well…fawning over Lily…And of course she remembers!"

"You can't know that for certain, Sirius. It's not every day that someone returns from the dead you know," Remus said shaking his head in exasperation.

"Well, Moony, unlike you I do know for certain that she remembers us. I called Shiva last night to see if she needed any help and how things were going." Sirius held himself up in a regal pose. He managed to hold it for a few seconds before his shoulders slumped. "They're all as good as can be expected I suppose. Harry's not exactly being enthusiastic, but it sounded like he's starting to open up a bit. Lily is walling off again like she used to. I just hope she lets it all out before she cracks."

Remus cringed. "Damn. I suppose I shouldn't be very surprised. She did just lose James after all."

Sirius pushed the door to Grimmauld open and herded his friend outside before locking up and walking into the garden. Sighing he shook his head. "It's not just James, Remus. Bloody hell, it's probably not even mostly James. You do know how much they were fighting towards the end don't you?"

Remus paused and looked to Sirius with a frown. "James' letters made it seem insignificant."

"It wasn't. I don't know specifics – didn't want to know at the time. But it wasn't nothing." Sirius scowled. "Not that it really matters anymore anyway. Harry's a teenager, Dumbledore is a murderous bastard, her son has been all but adopted by a school teacher barely out of her teens, oh and Harry has a 'harem'. None of this is going to be easy for her."

Sirius sighed and turned to fully face his friend. "Remus, you've ditched a lot of the old annoying habits of hanging back and being depressing. If you're going to have a relapse then let me know now so you deal with it before meeting everyone. The last thing they need at the moment is a depressed werewolf."

Remus' eyes narrowed for an instant before he started chuckling. "I feel like I should probably take that as an insult. Instead I'm going to take it for the rebuke it was intended to be and humbly state my apology. I promise I will endeavor to be upbeat and totally not depressing today."

"Good," Sirius replied his face splitting into a wide grin again. "Then let's go see our friends."

Hermione nervously wrung her hands as Fleur slipped on her shoes. "Are you sure? Maybe just you should go? Or just me? Or perhaps I should call Luna? Maybe Daphne? Neville would be good too. Even Fred and George might be better. And – "

"Mione," Fleur said smiling as she got up and put her arms on the brunette's shoulders, "calm down. 'arry will be fine wiz just you and me. Luna has already said she will stop by later in ze week and I would be willing to bet good money zat Daphne will be around before ze day is zrough. If only to see ze skeleton on display." Fleur paused and nodded contemplatively. "I admit, I am looking forward to zat part myself. Anyway, you know zat Neville will not be allowed to meet Lily until his grandmuzzer can make it somezing formal which means he can't meet up wiz 'arry just yet. And do you really want to subject the poor woman to Fred and George zis fast?"

Hermione's mouth opened and closed a few times before she chuckled and shook her head. "Well when you put it like that…" Then she shuddered and leaned into Fleur. "I'm still scared though, Fleur. He's going to be so confused and I don't know if I can help him through this. This isn't like the battles or accidents he's been in. This is social. This is…not my field."

Fleur pulled back slightly and leaned down to lightly kiss Hermione. "Relax, love. You simply need to be zere for him and to listen if he needs to talk. Both zings that you already do. I can help wiz ze bigger things if needed. I doubt we will need to help much zough. Tonks stayed wiz him last night remember? She will have helped him to feel better and open up."

"You're right. I'm being foolish," Hermione said steeling her gaze and briefly hugging Fleur. "Thanks. I wish my parents hadn't called the other night. I know they were worried and I know that you and Tonks were still there for him but…"

"It is not ze first impression you wished to leave on ze muzzer of your boyfriend, no?" Fleur teased.

Hermione's face blushed bright red. "Not really, no. We know he didn't need all of us hovering, but does she know that? Ugh, this is pointless. I'm just going to get worked up again. Mum, Dad," Hermione shouted turning to the stairs, "we're heading out!"

Richard and Emma came down the stairs dressed for work and moved to hug both girls in the hallway. "Good timing, sweety," Emma said, "we're just about ready to leave ourselves."

"Hermione, your mother and I greatly appreciate you coming home when we asked. Next time you go silent for ages please do try and call first. Especially if you've said you'll only be gone for a short while and there's a known terrorist who dislikes you on the loose."

Hermione nodded hurriedly staring at the floor. "I'm sorry, Dad. Just everything started happening so quickly and with Harry's mum…"

Richard hugged her and pulled back smiling. "I don't pretend to understand just how you four make this work, but it's blatantly obvious you care deeply for each other. You go take care of your partner girls," Richard said smiling at Fleur and Hermione. "Fleur, I'm trusting you to make sure she calls if something else major happens."

"I will, Richard. Zank you for your hospitality last night."

"It was a pleasure, dear," Emma said. "Run along girls. Say hello to the rest of your friends for us. Hermione, do try to come back for a bit longer stay at some point this summer if you can. I love you."

"I love you too, Mum, Dad." Hermione gave her parents one last hug before walking outside with Fleur holding her hand. "Okay. Let's go."

Daphne's day had not been off to a good start. Tracey had elected to spend time with Luna ostensibly to keep the girl happy and allow Daphne time to be near Harry without complications. While that was all true and perfectly understandable – it was actually downright sweet – the unforeseen side effect of that was leaving Daphne alone with her father.

Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem. Marcus Greengrass was not an evil man. He just wasn't a good man. There had never been much love between Marcus and Daphne. She had originally thought he hated her though eventually realized he was simply disappointed in her gender rather than anything she had done or not done specifically. He needed an Heir to inherit the legacy he'd built. Daphne being a woman made such a thing vastly more complicated and annoying for him. In turn, Daphne had always felt that he used far too heavy a hand in nearly all aspects of life, from his business dealings to his punishments. She'd swiftly grown to distance herself from him while maintaining the veneer of a Pureblood Princess that would always keep him mostly satisfied with her and convinced she could be left to her own devices.

All they'd ever truly needed to function amicably together was a buffer. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't something she'd ever complain about. Unfortunately, this summer had removed all normal buffers from their relationship. Her mother and Astoria had gone to Paris for a week in order to visit with the Delacours. Daphne had been pleasantly surprised to find that Astoria had struck up an odd friendship with Gabrielle. How that little tidbit had slipped under her radar the entire school year was something she'd have to seriously interrogate Astoria about upon her sister's return. Really, the girl was becoming far too adept at using her perky personality to mask her deeper goals. Hiding things from others was fine; hiding things from her sister was not so fine.

With her sister and mother gone though and Tracey vanished for the day…that left Marcus and Daphne eating breakfast alone together. Her father had been increasingly agitated throughout the entirety of the last year and as Daphne quietly laid the plate of breakfast in front of him he stared up at her with a coldly calculating gaze. A shiver of apprehension ran down Daphne's spine as she took her seat across from him in the Heir position.

"Daphne," Marcus said in a perfectly calm and rational tone. That wasn't ominous at all. "Where do you stand with the young Lord Potter?"

Daphne barely managed to hold in her scowl. Of course he was going to ask about Harry. His precious Heir had to be secured and his continued family name ensured. "I am in good standing with Harry, Father. He respects me and his legal guardian approves of me. His primary partners are amenable to opening talks in the future."

"According to the papers Lily Potter has recently awakened as well. Where do you stand with her? Her opinion is going to be extremely important to the boy and therefore the negotiations in general."

This time Daphne couldn't prevent the twitching of her lip though at least she kept from growling. Her voice was remarkably controlled when she replied. "I'm surprised you heard that, Father. I wouldn't think you read the Quibbler."

"I don't. However Jeannette does and she brought it up while I met with her husband. Your standing, Daphne?"

"I haven't spoken to her yet. I felt the best course of action was to allow for her to meet and speak with her son before bombarding her with anything else." Considering she'd only been among the living for a few days how Marcus had expected Daphne to meet with the woman was utterly beyond speculation. "I hope to make a favorable impression while inspecting their restored Manor today."

Marcus rubbed his chin nodding. "Very well. Ensure you do. I grow tired of waiting for this, Daphne. Either cement your status as the boy's betrothed soon or I will be forced to pursue other options."

Daphne froze. Dimly she realized her hands were clenched into fists and made a conscious effort to relax them. This, this right here was a large part of the real reason she had refused to accept Harry's paramours' offer of speaking with him about her attraction. She was certainly interested. She had Tracey's blessing. And she had a father who was basically forcing her to enter into a political marriage before she hit sixteen. While she wanted to try and be with Harry Potter she did not want it to be because she had been cornered by Marcus Greengrass. This was going to be her decision and no one else's! Daphne was in control of her own life and if she had to be thrown out of her family and made nameless in order to prove that then she would do so!

"Father, I believe I have made myself very clear on this matter. I am maintaining my own course here perfectly well. You need not be concerned," she said. Her calm veneer shattered ever so slightly more with part of her frustration seeping into her tone.

"If only I could trust that," her father sighed. "I know of your…dealings…with Tracey Davis. I am no fool and you have learned well from me even if you haven't enjoyed it. Daphne, I no longer believe that you have any interest in Harry Potter other than a convenient cover for your true relationship." He scowled and wiped his lips briefly while Daphne just glared and clenched her fists again. "I don't give a toss if you want to keep that girl on the side for the rest of your life. I don't care if your husband only exists to provide you with semen for a baby. I do care though that you have a baby and a husband! Appearances must be maintained and I will not let this family disappear to appease your heart. Do not toy with me, Daphne. Use the boy for cover or find someone else. Either way ensure you do something, girl! This misdirection and stalling is unbecoming of you and not at all indicative of my Heir. Keep trying my patience and I will assume you are playing power games with me and act accordingly."

His piece said, Marcus pushed his plate aside and left the room. Daphne finally allowed the angry growl loose as she rose to clean the plates. Taking her father's plate to the sink she turned back to her own half eaten dish. Starting slightly at the sight of several small blood droplets near her setting, Daphne turned her hands over and noticed for the first time that she had dug her nails into her palms hard enough to draw blood. Letting out another frustrated sigh, Daphne cast a quick healing spell on her hands and finished cleaning the table, her appetite gone entirely.

Checking the time, Daphne moved to the Floo. She was a few minutes early, but it seemed appropriate to take her leave rather than risk running into her father again. Harry would understand. He probably wouldn't even notice she was early at all, Daphne thought with a small grin. The boy got far too consumed in the bigger picture and lost sight of the minutia at times.

Tossing a pinch of powder into the fire grate she called out, "Potter Manor. No hypocrites allowed." Harry's version of a pass code was entertaining if somewhat unsecure. The familiar whirling swept over her and the trip was only interrupted by a slight tingling just before she stepped out of the receiving fireplace.

"I will never understand how you all make that look so easy," a familiar, mildly annoyed voice sounded from just off to her left.

Daphne shook her head at Harry and chuckled. "And we in turn will never understand how you manage to fail so spectacularly from a simple Floo trip. Hello, Harry."

"Hey, Daph. How's it going?" Harry asked laughing along with her. "You're a little early…I think…maybe…I kinda lost track of time and didn't want to find a clock…"

"You could've just used a tempus spell," she said arching her eyebrows. Harry's wide eyes and small gape only served to add to her amusement.

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I keep forgetting that I'm not at the Dursleys anymore so I can actually do small spells and things during the summer. You'd think I'd have learned by now."

"Well it has only been one real summer you've been in a wizarding household," she said shrugging. "You can't be expected to drop every old habit right away. Besides, I imagine Shiva would try to limit it somewhat if only to at least attempt to maintain the spirit of the underage magic law."

Harry grunted. "Maybe before we heard a prophecy saying that Riddle is going to gun for me explicitly. Now between her and Lily, she's probably going to be enforcing mandatory training 12 hours a day soon."

Daphne turned an intense gaze on him. "I didn't think either of you believed the prophecy meant you'd be dueling him one on one?"

Harry shrugged again. "Honestly, Daph? Do I think it's set in stone because of a prophecy? Hell no. Do I think my worst good luck ever is going to end up with me facing off against him one way or another just because Fate apparently hates me? Pretty much, yeah."

Daphne groaned and managed to avoid facepalming. "Well at least you got your mother back. Fate can't hate you that much."

"Yeah cause that hasn't been awkward as hell," Harry muttered. Daphne's eyes narrowed at that but Harry smiled and looked up at her before she could say anything. "Come on, I'll show you around a bit. Snapfist is with Lily and the others in the study. We're waiting for the others before the official tour starts."

"Then how are you going to show me around?" Daphne teased with a grin.

Harry chuckled. "Okay you caught me. I just want to show off the basilisk skeleton. It looks amazing!"

Daphne laughed at his enthusiasm. "Good to know. I admit I'm looking forward to seeing it myself. You didn't have any issues with Snapfist did you?"

"Huh?" Harry asked looking confused. His face scrunched up then relaxed. "Oh, you mean did he give me a hard time for freaking out the other day?" Daphne nodded. "He pretended to for a minute or so, but admitted almost immediately he understood why I was rather…short. Just asked me to try and be more polite the next time I had a minor breakdown." Harry snorted and shook his head in exasperation. "Like I can control that."

Daphne shrugged. "Well you didn't start tossing spells or kicking up a magical wind so I think you were rather restrained as it was. Anyway, I really think you should change the pass code to open the Floo, Harry. It's far too simple."

Harry stopped walking and turned to her smiling widely. Daphne just lifted an eyebrow in response waiting for him to explain why he appeared to have caught the canary. "Nice to see that Gryfferins can outfox Slythindors. The pass code is mostly a funny ruse. I did originally want it to be 'no Toads allowed' but with the Umbitch dead it kind of seemed like a waste of a joke. Anyway, it just serves to shunt you from the primary Floo to the personal one. The wards are the real protection, Daph."

"What wards work through the Floo?" she asked incredulous.

"Shiva, Bill and I added a bit to the goblins' work. A slight modification to the Anchor lets the ward scheme penetrate into the Floo stream. Anyone coming in without permission is bounced to a random grate somewhere down the line. Anyone coming in without permission and with hostile intent is…basically slapped back to their origination point with a hammer." He rubbed a hand through his hair and grinned guiltily. "The pass code does help the wards to identify people, but it's just an initial targeting section. You and most of the others are already keyed in by blood. I still need to get Remus, Amelia, Neville and Hannah when they stop by but the main group is mostly good otherwise."

Daphne's mouth fell open and she couldn't help the shiver of shock that ran through her. She was not above admitting to herself that there was a hefty amount of pride and happiness that he'd trusted her enough to preemptively key her into his home's defenses. "When did you get my blood to key me into the wards?" she finally asked after floundering for something to say.

Harry shrugged. "Uh, sometime before the Yule Ball was announced I think. It was back when I still planned to come and inspect this place during the winter hols."

"Impressive foresight," she said finally pushing down her reaction and managing to smile at him. "Thanks for letting me in, Harry."

"You're my friend. Of course I was going to let you in here if you ever wanted in," he said shrugging. She blushed slightly realizing that to him it really was just that simple.

A knock sounded from the next room over and Harry turned walking forward. "I got it!" he called. "Come on, Daph. Entrance hall is through here."

Daphne stepped forward quickly to follow her friend but as soon as she walked through the door she gasped in surprise. Hanging several meters above her and twisting idly in the air was the skeleton of the giant basilisk they had killed. Some of the initial effect was likely lost since they were at the tail of the beast though it was certainly impressive enough as it was. Her mouth lifted in a half smirk thinking back to the battle with the creature. Sure she hadn't actually done much damage, but she'd still participated in bringing it down. It was nice to imagine what she'd be capable of in the future if she could do that at twelve.

"Mione! Fleur! You're here!" Daphne heard Harry yell and she turned to see the newcomers step into the house. The basilisk's head turned its empty gaze down on them and opened its mouth in a not entirely silent hiss. Hermione and Fleur both froze and stared up at the thing as it examined them. Harry, completely unfazed, pulled them both into a hug and leaned in to kiss first Hermione and then Fleur. Daphne felt a brief pang of longing though her expression was steeled back into a welcoming smile before any of the three pulled away and looked back at her.

"It's nice to see you too, Harry. Hello, Daphne," Hermione said with a wide grin.

"Hello. I see you've met Mr. Skelly," Daphne said walking towards them.

Fleur laughed as she nodded. "I do not know about zis nickname, but ze beast is…most impressive. You two truly slaughtered zis at twelve?"

Harry winced. "I wouldn't say slaughtered. More like 'got in a lucky shot'. But yeah, we did."

"Does it have to hiss at us every time we walk in?" Hermione asked glaring at the skeleton.

"It's charmed to do that to whoever's at the front door. Fleur, you can apparate directly into this room now that you've seen it so it won't bother you if you do that. Mione, as long as you use something besides the front door it won't pay any attention to you."

Hermione nodded. "Good to know. Harry…" she paused as she ran her eyes up and down his body carefully checking him over, "are you alright?"

He held up one hand and waved it back and forth in a so-so motion. "I've been better. Tonks helped last night. I did talk with Lily yesterday and this morning though and it's not as awkward as it was originally. I feel a bit bad though that I was rather comforted when I woke up and she was brewing a hangover potion."

Fleur cocked her head at that. "Zat does seem a bit…unusual, 'arry."

"Shiva told her most of my life story last night it seems. It's…comforting to know that she was upset enough to end up with a hangover. I'm not happy she had a headache, I'm happy she cared." All three girls winced and were suitably impressed at the woman's ability to be able to brew a potion after hearing all of that. "They stopped just before hitting this last year I think. Shiva mentioned this morning that she wanted Lily conscious for today and not off trying to murder Dumbledore or finding the Umbitch's remains so she could reanimate her and kill her again."

"Which was a very good idea if your last year was worse than the first three," Lily Potter said a trace of both amusement and exasperation as she walked into the entrance hall. "I don't even want to know who James and I pissed off to give you such bad luck, Harry. Hello girls. Fleur, Hermione, nice to see you again. You must be Daphne."

Daphne curtsied and nodded. "Yes, Milady. I'm Daphne Greengrass. It's a pleasure to meet you Lady Potter."

A wince and flash of pain darkened Lily's features though both were gone so quickly Daphne almost thought she'd imagined it. "Lily is fine dear. If you're not comfortable with that, Mrs. Potter is okay too. That one does make me feel a bit…well old, but I suppose I should get used to it."

"Lily then," Daphne said smiling back at the woman. She was remarkably polite and upbeat for a dead woman. She also hid her pain well like Harry.

"Er, Mrs. – Lily – has the Manor changed much since you were first here?" Hermione asked waving a hand to encompass the grounds.

Lily shrugged. "I haven't explored much yet and honestly I hadn't spent much time here to begin with before it was damaged. Snapfist was saying they kept most of the arrangements the same in the reconstruction. Ragnok apparently got a kick out of the trophy room. The way Snapfist tells it, the man seemed positively giddy that the old wyvern head survived." She shook her head. "Men and their trophies. Honestly, I practically fainted when I walked in here and saw this thing!" she gestured towards the slithering skeleton above. "I can't believe Daphne and Harry fought this alone before hitting their teens! Daphne, you have my respect and I seriously hope you have your parents' too. If not, bring them here and take them through the front door," Lily said shuddering slightly.

Daphne blushed at the woman's praise. While she had told her father she wanted to make a good impression she hadn't actually believed that she'd stand a chance of impressing Harry's mother. Certainly not this quickly. That Lily was singing her praises without even having gotten to know her beyond second hand stories…and especially after what her father had said just a short while ago…Dammit she might not make it until the start of September if this was the sort of in-law she could look forward to by dating Harry. "Thanks, Lily," she finally managed to mumble.

"Let's go back to others," Harry said. He wrapped an arm around Hermione and tugged gently. "Come on, Mione, we're hanging out in the library."

Daphne had to cover her mouth to stifle her laugh as the brunette's eyes widened and her breathing picked up. Before any of the others could say anything, Hermione had started walking at of the room at a pace that was practically dragging Harry behind her.