Chapter 137

Harry awoke the next morning to Hedwig's cheerful hooting and grooming of his hair. Hedwig had known her Harry had been distraught for weeks and now whatever had been causing his anguish was gone, along with that piece of dark magic he'd been carrying around.

Harry watched the sun rising through the windows that faced the Reserve with the sea behind it. He showered and dressed in his favorite jeans and a tunic top that Harry liked because of the dragons on it that flitted around the fabric like a flock of fiery birds.

He sat in the window seat, petting Hedwig and just basked in the idea that he didn't have to die. Severus looked in on him after he'd dragged out of bed, himself.

"Feeling somewhat better, Harry?" Severus asked.

Harry looked up and smiled, but there was a slight tinge of sadness in his eyes. "Much better." There was a bit of hesitation in the voice.

Severus sat in a chair in front of Harry and looked at him, letting him know he wasn't leaving until Harry talked. "Does this have anything to do with you having the Resurrection Stone on your person when you went to the Ministry?"

Harry sighed. He realized that this was coming, eventually. "I heard you and the Headmaster a few days ago. I knew you and Tom and everybody wouldn't just let me die, but I wasn't sure that it was fair to let hundreds or thousands of people die in my place." Harry waved a hand at Severus, who looked like he was about to protest. "I know, I know, that shouldn't have been my problem. Still, I knew the first thing you would say was that my parents had died to keep me alive and I couldn't just throw that away." Harry looked at Severus a little pleadingly. "I wanted to talk to my parents … Lily and James … to ask them what they thought, whether I should let the Dark Lord kill me or not."

"And what did they say?" Severus asked as calmly as he could manage. He'd find a way to hex James even after death if he'd told Harry to go throw himself in front of a killing curse in the grand Gryffindor manner.

Harry looked down with a grimace. "Never got a chance to use the stone. I carried it around in my pocket, looking for some time alone, but never did get the opportunity."

Severus relaxed back and nodded, thinking swiftly. He would have lectured, but Harry had not used the stone and the stone was gone. Harry had enough on his plate without a scolding about something that hadn't happened and couldn't happen, now.

"Well, it was lucky you had it and that cloak with you." Severus said with a sigh and waved Harry out the door to breakfast. Very lucky indeed, even if it meant Black was back as well.

They went to breakfast and cheerful munched on the crisp bacon while Beth persuaded Tinker to bring out more strawberries. Tom was not down yet. They figured he was still exhausted from his duel with Death Eaters.

The Daily Prophet arrived and Severus frowned. The headlines were lurid. "Boy Who Lived returns from beyond the Veil". The front page article seemed to be quoting the couple of captured Death Eaters that the Aurors had arrested at the Department of Ministries. Of course a story like that would not stay within the ministry where it belonged.

The article was written by the editor, who was trying to not appear extremely alarmed and was failing. It seemed that escaping death twice made Barnabas Cuffe wonder just how powerful Harry Potter was and whether he was more to fear that You Know Who.

The news of the Hallows had luckily not reached the Auror's ears and the Death Eaters had been unconscious when the Hallows had been discussed. So no one knew how Harry and Sirius had managed it and Cuffe at least was dismissing Sirius as the one who had brought them back with 'possibly dark magic.

To Severus' dismay the article saying the Death Eaters had confirmed that Voldemort was indeed the dark wizard that was gathering followers was on the front page, but below the one about Harry. That meant that the wizarding world really considered Harry more of a threat, or at least the Daily Prophet did.

The floo sounded and Rosmerta let in Black and Remus along with an apologetic looking Albus and Hugo Savage, followed quickly by a harried Lucius who was looking a bit rumpled. Everyone was clutching the Daily Prophet.

"The Wizengamot wants to question Black and Harry about this. I'd have tried to explain it all, but I was not sure what story you wished to give." Albus watched Severus carefully. The last very heated argument was still fresh in his mind. He knew that their relationship, such as it was, was even further fractured and might never recover.

"I'll tell the Wizengamot that I did it, and that will take the heat off Harry." Sirius broke in, looking desperate. He somehow felt that all of this was his fault.

"And how will you explain that you 'did it' when a few questions will show your likely complete ignorance about this sort of Dark Magic? And if you do manage to convince them, and you are cast back into Azkaban for dark magic, how will that help Harry?" Hugo nodded toward the horror stricken Harry.

"We need to make all of this look less like a long list of dark magic use and more like what it really is, a bunch of near-misses with the Dark Lord because he is trying to kill Harry." Lucius said. "The only problem is explaining the Hallows."

"You think we should reveal them?" Albus asked in astonishment, gripping the wand in his pocket. No one knew he had Death's wand, and he preferred it that way. He would rather the general public still believe the Hallows a myth.

"My only concern is whether the Dark Lord knew the Gaunt ring was one of the Deathly Hallows?" Hugo asked with a touch of anxiety. They could not reveal all this if Voldemort would then know that they had destroyed a Horcrux.

They all looked at Albus who was deeply conflicted. He could say that yes, he was sure that Voldemort knew and keep the Hallows a secret or make things easier for Harry by letting them tell about the cloak and stone. He sighed; he'd done quite enough to Harry, lately.

"No, if he'd realized that the stone in the Gaunt ring was a deathly hallow he might still have made it a horcrux, but he would never have let it leave his sight." Albus said positively.

Severus nodded and stood. "Hugo, if you would inform the Wizengamot that we will be there this very afternoon?"

Hugo nodded and went to the floo immediately.

"Meanwhile, we need to think of ways to make this look less frightening to the public and Harry is going to practice his very best 'I'm harmless' look." Severus eyed Albus narrowly. "You can show him how to do that, Headmaster."

Albus gave Severus a slight smirk. Yes, Albus had that look down cold.

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Voldemort celebrated with his Death Eaters through the night. In spite of the fact that he hadn't killed Harry Potter, at least he was dead and that would likely cripple Dumbledore's plans. The loss of the prophecy was aggravating but irrelevant since Potter was dead. The Death Eaters was euphoric since the Dark Lord was happy and not hexing anyone but a few random muggles that they dragged in for the celebrations.

The Death Eaters mostly just collapsed where they fell after too much firewhiskey or whatever they had imbibed. A few apparated home when it seemed safe to depart. Voldemort sat on the big chair he'd appropriated as a 'throne' as the sun rose and contemplated his next move.

Pius Thicknesse had left quite early, citing the need to check on the Ministry's reaction to all this. Now he hovered outside the ballroom door, clutching the Daily Prophet. He could not put off letting the Dark Lord know that Potter was alive, that would make him even angrier. He just wished he could be assured that he would survive being the messenger.

Pius slowly approached Voldemort, who caught sight of him and narrowed his eyes. He could see that the wizard had bad news. "Well?" Voldemort barked.

Wordlessly he handed over the newspaper. Voldemort read the headlines swiftly and leaped to his feet, enraged, but then seized control of his temper quickly. In his saner moments he realized that he was driving followers away with his curses and torture. He could no longer afford to lose any of his Death Eaters.

Voldemort snapped, "Stay here, sober up some of these louts." He then stalked to the kennel / cells and sneered at the cowering muggles. No sense losing followers when he could just lose a few prisoners, instead. Screaming soon soothed his raw anger and then the killing curse cast on a few three-piece suits had him feeling that he was once more in charge of the situation.

He walked back toward the ballroom, passing the small kennel housing Igor Karkaroff and paused, eyeing the cowering wizard. He might find some use for him. The wizarding world simply wasn't as frightened as they needed to be.

Voldemort strode back into the ballroom, which immediately fell silent. "My loyal friends. There has been a fortuitous event. Harry Potter is not dead. I did celebrate when I thought he'd died, but in truth I had a different end for him in mind and now that can still happen." The ballroom was now awash in relieved faces. "Thicknesse, be sure and attend that 'inquiry' and make sure we find out how Potter managed it. Nott, Goyle, Crabbe, Hogwarts will be starting once again and I need to know Potter's every move. Your sons as well as Blaise Zabini and Bulstrode's daughter can assist in that."

The men in question nodded eagerly. It was a relief that their Lord was not handing out cruciatus' by the bowl-full at present.

Voldemort waved them off with orders to 'get started'. He then turned to his hosts, Cygnus and Druella Black and their daughters Bella and Narcissa along with the LeStranges. He had some special orders for them.

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Madame Anat Ahmos once again led a group before the Wizengamot. She was looking a little weary, and was obviously hoping this would be quick and her last trip here.

Sirius and Harry were behind her and took seats in front of the Wizengamot.

Albus and Hugo had both needed to recuse themselves, as they had been a part of the 'incident', but they stood on the courtroom floor near Harry and Sirius. The Malfoys and the Snapes were there along with Dora and Tom, lining up beside the wall. Sirius and Harry were the ones the Wizengamot had decided to question, and the rest could be called on if needed.

Sirius had settled on a slightly barmy look of cluelessness. Harry had been well coached in Albus' signature look of 'I'm inoffensive and quite harmless.' Healer Randall was there in full Healer garb to hover nearby and remind people that Harry was rumored to be a bit 'delicate' at present.

There was a bit of shuffling and Madame Bones pounded for silence. "We are not here to charge anyone with anything." She gave the handful of reporters that had been allowed into the courtroom a stern look. "We are here to find out the truth and have a clear explanation of the events that occurred in the room of the Veil."

There was brief wrangling over veritaserum and again Severus refused to have it anywhere near Harry. Sirius agreed to veritaserum with Madame Ahmos screening the questions.

Madame Bones cleared her throat. Where to begin?

"Why exactly were you in the Department of Mysteries?" Amelia asked Sirius, and Madame Ahmos nodded to Sirius.

"The whole lot of us were following Harry. He'd gotten lured there by 'You Know Who'." Sirius answered and hoped the rest of the questions were as easy.

There was some murmuring that stopped when Amelia glared at the offenders. "And how did you get lured there, Mr Potter?" Amelia asked, trying to not sound accusing. She'd heard that Harry Potter had been having a bad time, and needed to go home early from school.

Harry answered carefully. "Well, 'You Know Who' sent a message saying he had captured my little sister, Elizabeth." There were hushed whispers of sympathy. Many could easily remember when that occurred throughout the wizarding world on a near daily basis. "He somehow managed to pick a time when I was alone. The school Beth goes to was on lockdown, so I was afraid that he wasn't bluffing." Harry ducked his head as if in embarrassment. "I ran straight to the ministry, just as he said. It was lucky that my family came after me, or I'd have been dead straight away."

"So you followed Mr Potter to rescue him from his folly?" Zebulon Smith asked a bit acidly. It was aggravating. Obvious dark magic in use right here in the ministry and the Wizengamot tiptoeing around the perpetrators.

Glares were sent Smith's way, and Amelia banged her gavel once. Cornelius Fudge took the moment to say a few words. He'd let Amelia preside, since he wasn't sure exactly what would be found in the inquiry, and wanted to avoid any unpleasantness for himself. "Smith, if you wish to ask a question you will let Madame Bones know and she will see if the question is of any value to the inquiry."

Smith subsided sullenly and Fudge looked down at Harry kindly. Obviously the wizarding world was for the most part still on Potter's side, which relieved Fudge. He rather liked the young wizard.

Amelia focused back on Sirius. "Mr Black, what happened after you found Mr Potter in the Veil Room?"

Madame Ahmos nodded to Sirius and he took a deep breath. This is where it could get tricky.

"We were soon engaged in a fight with Death Eaters and 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. Sirius sweated a little and continued. "Bellatrix LeStrange was dueling Harry and I and she cast a Killing Curse at Harry. I pushed him aside and fell through the veil, but he had a hold on my arm and was pulled through as well."

Amelia cleared her throat and was about to ask the next rather obvious question, but Fudge broke in, breaking his own edict of not interrupting. "And what did you see, Mr Black?" The entire audience seemed to be holding its breath, awaiting his answer.

"Well, there was a lot of mist and it was a bit dark – like twilight. It was rocky, like the other side of the veil and after a few moments, well, he approached us." Sirius hesitated.

"He?" Amelia prompted, gripping her gavel tightly. She was fairly sure she knew where this was going.

"Ummm. Death." Sirius answered slowly. In spite of a general expectation that Black and Potter had experienced something, this still shocked the crowd. Murmurs and whispered conversation started and Amelia banged a few times.

"What did he look like?" Heribert Brothers asked eagerly. He'd emerged from the Department of Mysteries when he'd heard that this 'inquiry' was occurring. The 'incident' had happened Friday afternoon and the Wizengamot had hastily convened on a Sunday – unprecedented, but Monday was Christmas and no one wanted to wait for weeks until they could convene again.

Sirius grimaced. "Well, he wasn't a skeleton, like a lot of tales make him out to be, but you do get the impression of bones just beneath the skin." Sirius shrugged. "He was pretty scary. Plus he had rather impressive robes." Sirius grinned. "He flourished them almost as good as Harry's dad, Snape. I half expected him to start tapping his foot and call us dunderheads just like him as well."

Nervous and somewhat hysterical laughter broke out among those that knew Severus. Even those that had only read about him were aware that the description was quite accurate.

It also distracted them from the alarming fact that the two of them had actually met Death and lifted the mood a bit.

Amelia got the crowd under control and hushed the Wizengamot members as well. "Why exactly did Death let you return?"

Madame Ahmos looked at Harry and Sirius. She wanted that answer as well.

"Well, Harry traded two of the Deathly Hallows to him for our release." Sirius answered, causing an immediate uproar.

When the noise died down, Dumbledore was standing with arms up, waving for silence and to get attention. "Please, if I could have your attention, Ladies and gentlewizards. I realize that all of this is a great surprise to you. We've all grown up with the story of the three brothers. Few of us know that the three brothers were members of the Peverell family, which is quite real, as were the objects mentioned. Harry Potter is one of the last descendants of the Peverell family."

Amelia turned to Harry and asked, "How exactly did that happen?"

"I went to the ministry with my invisibility cloak and I realized when I was facing Death that I had the stone with me as well and so I had two of the Hallows to trade to him for our two lives." Harry answered carefully.

Pius raised his wand and was recognized by Madame Bones. "Who were you planning to bring back to talk to Mr Potter?" Pius let his voice take a bit of an edge. Any hint of necromancy would have the general public ranking Potter up with the Dark Lord.

Harry felt a flare of anger but hid it under a guise of sadness and answered earnestly. "It is almost Christmas and so much has happened, not to mention that 'You Know Who' is out there and after me again." Harry gave the Wizengamot a solemn look with big green eyes. "I just wanted to talk to my mother and father – James and Lily – for Christmas."

There was a collective sigh of understanding and the crowd almost oozed sympathy, to Pius' disgust. A few others in the Wizengamot were equally dissatisfied, but for the most part that seemed to convince them that Potter was not trying to bring an army of disembodied wizards back.

"And the third Hallow? The Wand, do you have that as well?" Pius asked, trying to not be too eager. He was sure that Voldemort would want to know where the wand was. This was also the only object that most of the rest of the Wizengamot had heard of and might have thought really existed.

Harry shook his head, "No I've never heard that my family ever had it. According to the tale it left the possession of the Peverell brother that it was given to within days. I have no idea of where it is."

Pius cut to Sirius quickly and asked. "Is that true?"

Sirius nodded, "No idea about the whereabouts of the wand. If I'd had it I wouldn't have lost to Bellatrix, would I?"

Pius sank back, defeated. The Wizengamot conferred quickly. They had no other questions at present and Heribert Brothers from the Department of Mysteries seemed satisfied. They'd have been happier if there had been some Deathly Hallows to confiscate, but there was no getting them now unless some of the Unspeakables could bring them from beyond the Veil, as Heribert pointed out to them.

Now that the course of action was a bit clearer Minister Fudge slipped the gavel from out of Madame Bones' hand and banged once for attention. He gave Harry a benevolent smile. "The Ministry thanks Mr Black and Harry Potter for their cooperation in clearing this matter up so quickly. This inquiry is now complete and the Wizengamot is dismissed until after the Holidays. Happy Christmas, everyone."

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Christmas Day went off without a hitch, everyone happy as they could be except for Tom, who managed to fake Christmas cheer along with the others. He was deeply conflicted about whether he should tell Dora about what the dragons had determined. That he had to die before Lord Voldemort could die. The wedding was in two days and Dora, along with every female of her acquaintance was eagerly finalizing all the plans for it.

Telling her before the wedding was cruel. Waiting until after was equally cruel and also a bit unfair, keeping the information from her.

The dragons, being more practical than precisely fair insisted that he not tell Dora. "You told us that if the situation were reversed you would want every moment possible with her. We're sure that she feels the same way."

"I promised her that there were no more secrets." Tom answered. "I know that this knowledge will be devastating, but she deserves to know everything."

Tom managed to cut Dora out from the herd of females making last minute plans and drew her out the door and far enough away to not be heard. He cast a privacy ward and took Dora's hand. Dora sensed the anxiety in Tom and her happy smile dimmed a bit.

"Tom, whatever is wrong?" Dora asked.

Tom found a bench for them to sit on. It was rather cold and he cast a heating and drying charm on it, playing for a little time. He could see the lights of dozens of pairs of dragon's eyes as they drew closer to the pair of them.

"I promised you I would not keep secrets from you any longer." Tom began slowly.

Dora grasped Tom's hands and took a slow breath, "… and?" Dora prompted.

"The dragons have realized that as a Horcrux, I too hold the Dark Lord to this life." Tom watched as Dora paled further. "Destroying the objects that held the Horcruxes and cleansing the soul pieces is not enough to break the bond."

Dora could hear dragons rumbling and hissing in the background, likely discussing it all. Yao, though included her in the conversation. "At first we thought that the problem could be solved. We thought that the cleansing of the soul pieces would break off the connection. Then we thought that as Tom has most of the soul-pieces and obviously more humanity, that he would be spared this since he is more 'whole' than the Dark Lord. However, it has become obvious that Voldemort is still considered by the fates to be 'the original' and the connection still exists, otherwise Tom would not have felt pain when the Horcrux residing in Harry was destroyed."

"Did you feel a lot of pain, Tom?" Dora asked, hoping for a contradiction.

"Yes, though it was overshadowed by the pain of seeing Harry and Sirius fall through the veil." Tom answered quietly.

"While Harry's scar was still a problem we didn't want to burden you with this, and having the added stress would likely have landed at least Severus in St Mungo's secure ward. When the plans to destroy the scar Horcrux fell through, we began to wonder if we could ever be truly rid of him." Yao spoke slowly and thoughtfully. "Then after Harry's scar was taken care of and we told you of your problem, we began to wonder. Do we really have to kill Voldemort? We might destroy the body he is in and contain the spirit. Something similar to a horcrux, but not exactly."

Tom and Dora's spirits rose at the idea that there might be a way to dodge out of the way of this particular problem before it killed him.

Tom, though, knew when someone was desperately grasping at straws and Yao and the other dragons were showing all the signs of reaching for any answer they could conjure up, no matter how far-fetched.

"Should we tell anyone else?" Dora asked uncertainly.

Tom hesitated. "I can't put Severus or Lucius under any further strain. Especially after watching Harry go beyond the veil. Hugo … maybe. Rosmerta and Petunia don't know anything about dark magic like this. The boys are unlikely to have any answers." Tom thought for a moment. "Harry would be the most understanding, I think, but I hate to load this on him right after he'd finally free of worry about his scar."

"Perhaps we should wait a little. If we have no answers by the spring break we will tell Severus and Lucius and whoever else they feel needs to know." Dora said positively and then fixed Tom with a stern eye. "And no, I expect to meet you at the altar for our wedding tomorrow. If you jilt me I will hunt you down and it won't be pretty."

Tom sighed in relief. If she planned on hunting him down, she wasn't giving up on him.

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Tom and Dora's very well attended wedding went smoothly. Harry was quite proud to be Tom's best man. Dora had firmly told her hair that it was to pick a nice shade of pink and stay there. There was no stumbling during the walk down the aisle and no fumbling with words. Dora and Tom cut into the truly magnificent cake that had been made for them and at last escaped to their honeymoon at a very posh resort in Anglesey.

The remainder of the holiday Lucius and Severus planned how best to punish a certain Dolores Umbridge, hampered a bit by Petunia and Rosmerta calling for a lot of blood-letting. The Board of Governors were calling for a meeting before school resumed.

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