Disclaimer: I'm not JKR and this story was inspired by Project Dark Overlord's "A Shattered Prophecy". Also, PDO helped me write most of this chapter, (:
Bellatrix woke Harry before sunrise the next morning. She took him out to the training grounds to brush up on some dueling techniques. Harry didn't need it, but it was fun for him to beat Bella in all their duels.
Harry was sad, knowing that this would be his last playful duel with her for awhile. However long it took Draco to kill Dumbledore, that's how long he would be away. Harry knew that he would miss his assignments, Aunt Bella and Uncle Rodolphus, and most of all, he would miss his father. It would feel very wrong to not be near him. Harry had never been away from him for more then two days and he was used to being in his father's presence.
After sunrise, Bella took him inside, so he could take a shower and get ready. "Harry, don't forget your mask," Bellatrix told him. Harry sighed, wondering how long he would be able to keep the Order from burning it.
When he came of the bathroom after taking a shower, Harry got dressed in his trusty red shirt and jeans that were splattered in blood. He took a few minutes to look around his room, before he tidied his already neat desk and straightened his sheets. He knew he would be back, of course, but feelings of nostalgia couldn't be stopped from seeping in. Harry sat down at his desk a few times, intending to write a note to his father, but words wouldn't come. Maybe it was better this way.
Harry did not know how long he had been sitting there when Uncle Rodolphus came to collect him. Harry pressed the metal of his mask against his face for the last time in awhile. With mask firmly in place, Rodolphus led him to the dining room, where the Death Eaters were gathering.
Harry let Bellatrix enter his mind to show him the purpose and location of the raid. Harry smiled; they were raiding Diagon Alley. It was still about one week too early to be shopping for school supplies, and the Death Eaters intended to show the Wizarding World that even the Aurors stationed there could not protect them.
When Harry and Rodolphus enter the dining room, Bellatrix was already giving instructions. "Nott, Avery, and Yaxley you'll be stationed by the Leaky Cauldron. Remember, we're not just there to duel, we're there to leave a lasting impression. Set as many buildings on fire as you can," she said. Nott, Avery and Yaxley all nodded and sunk back into their thoughts.
They seemed to be some of the last ones to be given instructions, as Bella didn't go on. She walked over to Harry and Rodolphus. She kissed his husband softly and ruffled Harry's already bedraggled hair. "You'll be with us outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Make sure to set as many things on fire as you can, when you're not duelling," Rodolphus told him. "And Harry?" Bellatrix said. "Be careful, okay? This whole raid reeks of Dumbledore." Harry nodded.
Seemingly hours later, although Harry knew it could not have been more then half an hour, Bella announced that they were ready to go. They had all agreed to disapparate at the same time, and they would all apparate to different locations in Diagon Alley. Before disapparating, Harry was given strict instructions to stay close to either Rodolphus or Bellatrix.
Rodolphus gave the signal to disapparate. A uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a narrow tube greeted Harry. A second later, he felt his feet hit pavement.
Order members walked around Diagon Alley that morning, trying to remain inconspicuous. Most of the Order was there, with only Lily, Molly, Dumbledore, and Snape staying behind. Dumbledore was too busy for the raid, Snape stayed out for obvious reasons, and Molly and Lily were too scared to leave their children without both their parents, should something unimaginable happen.
While they waited for the raid to begin, James's thoughts went to Lily and Emma. They would be going back to Hogwarts in two weeks; Emma as a third year Gryffindor and Lily as the potions professor. James had grown to hate those long months they were away. Sure, he came up for Emma's quidditch games and Hogsmeade weekends, but it was always too long a stretch for James. He sighed.
Hopefully this year, he would be busy helping Dark Lord's son realize the lies he was brought up to believe. Dumbledore wanted the boy brought to headquarters where his future could be decided. Most of the Order wanted him in Azkaban, but Dumbledore was adamant about trying to save him. James thought Dumbledore was off his rocker; how could a boy who tortured people into insanity at the age of nine have any hope of turning to the right side?
James walked into Arthur's twin sons' joke shop, Weasley Wizard Wheezes, feeling proud. Molly and Arthur had joined the Order when Emma was first born, and James and Sirius immediately took young Fred and George under their wing. James and Sirius had fed into every mischievous idea Fred and George conceived. They helped them with their products and even helped Fred and George slice the ribbon when the shop opened.
James was just about to pick up a strange new candy when the area outside the store filled with the sound of nearly fifty people apparating. He immediately drew his wand and ran outside to see Death Eaters setting fire to buildings and duelling the outnumbered Order of the Phoenix. A teenager with a bright gold Death Eater mask stood near Bellatrix Lestrange, laughing as he hit an Auror with the cruciatus curse.
Harry could not help the malicious laugh that escaped his lips as the Auror fell in front him. The Auror's muscles spasmed from the pain, and he screamed, as if white hot knifes penetrated his body. Harry lifted the curse after a minute or two when Bella told him to stop.
"We've come to kill, Harry, not torture," She said before killing the Auror herself. An Order member threw a curse at her; which Bellatrix easily reflected. Her wand flourished without wasted movements as she unleashed her own curse. However, her opponent proved capable, and it was not long before she became consumed in battle.
Meanwhile Harry stomped on the dead Auror's wand, snapping it in two. It wouldn't help for an Order member or Auror to use it, should they lose their own wand. All around him, Death Eaters were shouting curses at their opponent or trying to set more of the buildings on fire. Harry suddenly remembered that his job there was to set buildings on fire.
He turned towards the ice cream parlour in which he was instructed to destroy and felt a pang of mournfulness. It was the only place he had been to in Diagon Alley and it held happy memories for him. When he was seven, his aunt and uncle took him there after he had grown restless of staying in his room during Death Eater meetings. They took him again after he went to St. Mungo's for his scar. Harry could still taste the cold, chocolate dish melt in his mouth.
Just as he was about to say the curse that would catch Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour on fire, three red curses flew toward Harry. Growling, he stepped out of the way in the nick of time. Lucius had taught him how to avoid spells when he first started training. Now, it was a reflexive move and used little more thought than falling asleep.
Surprise flitted across the three Order members who fired the curses. Harry recognized them as James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They had not expected him to know they were there, let alone dodge all three stupefies. The three men surrounded Harry, but, he felt anything but worried. Adrenaline and magic pumped through his veins at the prospects of fighting the three men. On all his missions, the most he had dueled at once had been two.
"Stupefy!" James shouted, but Harry conjured a full-body shield before the word was even completed.
James ducked out of the way as his spell rebounded off of the boy's shield. Harry threw sectumsempra at Sirius Black as he watched James jump out of the way of his own curse. Harry's spell hit Sirius square in the chest, staining Black's shirt red. The Auror froze, feeling sick at the amount of blood leaving him. Harry smirked behind his mask as he leveled his wand. As he was about to deliver the final blow, Sirius disapparate with pop.
"Stupefy!" Remus shouted. His face was wet from beads of sweat rolling down it. If only Dumbledore hadn't ordered stupefy to be the only spell they could use on the boy.... Remus doubted that he and James could go on like this much longer. The boy, however, looked as though he was having the time of his life. His eyes, the only part of his face they could see, seemed to shine with joy, and his cruel laugh rang out around them. The boy needed to be caught soon; otherwise, he would slip through their fingers.
Harry rolled his eyes as he dodged the spell. Was the stunning spell all they taught in Hogwarts? "Petrificus Totalus," Harry said lazily at Remus Lupin before he could attempt to stun Harry again. Instantaneously, Remus's arms and legs snapped together, and he connected with the ground.
James blinked as his friend fell to the pavement, while he pursed his lips. How could a mere boy of sixteen render two highly trained duellists unable to fight? The boy had not even broken a sweat, while the three Marauders had tired desperately to capture him. James scowled as Rodolphus Lestrange arrived to help the boy duel. James knew he would lose. The odds at two to one were too unfavorable, especially when he had to protect a frozen Remus. So far, the kid had seemed unwilling to use the Killing Curse, but James knew from experience that Rodolphus would not be so kind.
Surprisingly, the teenager waved him away, shouting to stop protecting him--"I'm not ten anymore! I can do this on my own!"--and even more surprising, Rodolphus listened. He took one sweeping look at James before he walked away. James's arm itched to curse his retreating form but he controlled the urge. There were more pressing matters at hand.
James took two steps towards the boy, nearly closing the gap between them. He wanted to kill the boy who had tortured Frank and Alice. His hands shook from wanting to punch the teenager. Instead, he shouted a stunning spell.
Harry instinctively jumped out of the way before he remembered that he was not here to win the duel. He was there to be captured. His father's warning echoed in his head: "To ensure that the Order doesn't kill you during the raid you'll need to take your mask off."
Harry looked at James Potter for a moment. Did the man have it in him to kill a sixteen year old? Pure fury danced in James's eyes, and Harry knew that James's anger would make him kill if the chance would present itself. He decided that this was as good a time as any to take off his mask.
Eyes widening, James watched the boy pocket his wand. James raised his wand. The boy's eyes followed it. James was about to say the curse. The teenager took off his mask.
James skirted back, as if confronted with a snake. He nearly tripped over his feet as he took in the boy's unruly hair, black as sin and identical to his own. The sixteen year old was James, right down to his build. But, there was something that didn't belong to James. Shockingly green eyes waited for him to react--the same eyes James saw when he looked at when he saw Lily and Emma. "It can't be. He... Harry's dead. For fifteen years. He's been dead for fifteen years... although, we never found his body. No. Harry's dead. Even Emma knows it. He was killed the day Peter brought him to Voldemort."
Suddenly, Voldemort's son's age entered James's mind. Sixteen years old. The same age Harry would have been.
"Hello James," Harry said between laughs, taking two quick steps towards him. James seemed to be having a hard time finding air.
"Harry!" Bellatrix yelled as the Auror she'd been duelling slumped to the ground, dead. She saw Harry had taken off his mask.
"How long has she been there?" Harry thought. "Not now," Harry said to her. It had come out much harsher then he had intended. Guilt washed through him when he saw Bella looking at him, hurt and concern written on her face. How long would it be until he saw her again? Harry knew that she did not know about the plan and she would be devastated. She loved Harry, or, at the very least, loved the fact that she was always in the Dark Lord's good graces because of him. A lump formed in Harry's throat. "Mother," He quietly tacked onto the end as he put his mask back on, appeasing Bella. His eyes shifted to a blue bird that flew to her nest full of peeping chicks, despite the fires. A strange feeling of envy came over Harry.
The wind flew out of James when he heard his son's name on Bellatrix Lestrange's lips. James heard the boy--Harry--call to her harshly, and then add the word that made James want to kill Bellatrix. "Mother," Harry whispered softly. His eyes, Lily's eyes, grew soft as they rested on the bird for a moment, before hardening again.
James's mind was having a hard time registering what was going on around him. Harry was alive. That, in and of itself, was a miracle. The thought of it had haunted James and Lily's dreams for fifteen years.
And yet, James couldn't help but feel as though he didn't want Harry. He didn't want Voldemort's son. He wanted his son. He wanted the wobbly baby who flew flawlessly, even if he spent more time falling over than he did walking. Almost robotically, James lifted his arm and muttered the stunning spell.
Moving in auto-pilot, James walked over to Harry and took him up in his arms for the first time in fifteen years. He noticed a furiously red, lightning bolt shaped scar resting on Harry's forehead. Bellatrix rushed forward, her wand already ready to curse James away from Harry. When he saw this, James apparated with Harry back to headquarters.
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