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Lord Potter's Own Will | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: Violence/Physical Abuse Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 26 Summary: REPOSTED Harry is now Lord Potter, and he decides to use his new found Independence to set the course of his life. Hitcount: Story Total: 26164; Chapter Total: 1777 |
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Chapter 7: Dewis (Welsh)/ Choice (Modern English) December 28, 1995 Potter Estate, Yorkshire "It seems too quiet around here," James Potter commented as his son sat down to eat his breakfast in the small breakfast nook off the kitchen. Frames had been put up in nearly every room in the house so the Potters and Evanses could be part of the family wherever Harry might be. "Sirius and Remus are still in Ireland," Harry explained as Dilly placed his porridge and juice on the table in front of him. He could smell that she'd made more food, most likely bacon and eggs from the delicious, fatty smell. "Dad, where's Mum?" "She's still resting in the meadow in the sitting room portrait," James explained. "Why do you ask?" "It's not something I want to discuss in front of her." "You know you can talk to me about anything, son." Harry thought for a second, and then he looked to his father. "At the trial the other day, Sirius made us leave the room when he had to talk about his injuries in Azkaban. He'd already told us he'd been cursed, almost daily at the beginning, but there was something else going on. Dad, did he tell you what they did to him there?" James Potter furrowed his brow, "No, Harry, he didn't." "I think it was something awful," Harry confessed. "Remus fire called last night, said the medical exam took nearly four hours. Sirius was barely conscious when Remus was allowed to bring him home. The Healer said he had to be sedated while they examined some of the scars, they were still painful to him. Dad, what the hell happened to him?" "Harry, I don't know," James confessed. "However, I know Sirius is very private about such things. It took me being friends with him for years before he'd tell me about the abuse his parents put him through. Don't go digging, Harry. He'll not appreciate having his private issues made public, even if its only to you." "You think he's at least talking to Remus?" "I suspect he is," James confessed. "Sirius has gone through as much as Remus, just in a different way. Sirius was abused by his family, Remus by society. Remus has told me often he'd take having people hate him, as long as he knew his Mum and Dad loved him. It pained him Padfoot never had such assurances. "Sirius has always been very protective of our friend, even more than I was. He took the treatment of werewolves as second-class-citizens as a personal affront. He thought it bad enough that Remus would have his body ripped apart and sewn together monthly; to then have people classify someone as a sub-species, it was despicable. I honestly think the issue of the Black family hunting werewolves at their German estate convinced Sirius he wasn't ever going to be part of his family. He was twelve and he knew it was wrong, even if no one agreed with him. "Our current Minister used werewolf legislation to put his name on the political map, back in the first war. He made a case for those with lycanthropy as less intelligent and emotionally driven in their actions. People listened, despite his lack of any true scientific evidence. The pathetic part is Remus is twice as intelligent as he, and far more diplomatic." "Anyone would be better than Fudge," Harry seethed. "He's a wanker of a human being who thinks nothing of walking over others to get what he desires. I hate him." "Harry, you shouldn't hate," a gentle voice interrupted them. He looked down to see Dilly coming toward him with his plate of bangers and fried eggs. She made the eggs his favourite way, yolks hard and the edges crispy. "When you allow yourself to hate, you give evil a chance to grow in you." "Why? Why not hate someone like that? He broke Sirius' wand without a second thought and sent him to Azkaban without even listening to what he had to say! He ruined my godfather's life and body! He put Umbridge at my school where she..." Harry physically looked as if he wanted to sick as he stopped himself from saying the words. His body actually heaved forward, not being able to stop the convulsing at the memories. "Harry, what do you mean? What did this woman do?" James asked his son in the fatherly tone that indicated this wasn't really a request, rather a demand. "Umbridge...she was really mean to the students, especially me," Harry said, hoping it would appease his father. "Try again, Harry. You don't look like you're going to sick up all over your breakfast because someone said something mean," James told his son and Harry got irritated that nothing got past his father. Dilly reached and took his hand, her gentle eyes prodding him to tell the truth. "Dad, she used a blood quill," Harry explained, lifting his hand to show where it said I must not tell lies. Dilly gasped and James clenched his jaw together so tightly the veins in his neck, cheeks and forehead bulged. "This woman abused you?" James asked through a nearly closed mouth, the words only just escaping the prison of his teeth. "She used an implement which was banned generations ago?" Harry was beginning to feel the sting of his father's words, even if the anger wasn't directed at him. The young wizard fought back the tears which wanted to gather and fall. He was awed at his father's anger. Never had someone get angry about how he'd been treated. Hermione had been upset, but Hermione would have been upset if anyone had been hurt in such a way. This, his own father, was different. He is someone who loves him and wants to protect him. Dilly's taking of Harry's other hand and pulling him down into a hug proved to be too great a response, and he did cry. James muttered something and left the portrait. A loud scream was heard in the dining room, and the noise only made Harry cry harder. James returned a moment later with Harland and Eldon Potter in tow. "D-d-dad, I'm s-s-s-orry," Harry stammered, even as he was working to get hold of his emotions. Dilly had released him, but she was holding on of his hands with both of hers, rubbing gentle circles on the back. "Harry, you have nothing to be sorry for," Harlan replied, as James was still seething. "No boy should be treated like this." "There was no one I could go to," the young man explained. "Umbridge was bearing down on the professors, even McGonagall. The Ministry was after Dumbledore. She made sure we couldn't go to the Hospital Ward and see Madame Pomfrey, or be caught out of bed after hours and get more punishments. We just did the best we could healing each other in the common rooms." "What has happened to that school?" Eldon muttered. "Nothing like this would have happened when I taught there. Headmaster Dippet would have protected his students, Ministry be dammed. Of course, in those days, the Ministry stayed out of the workings at Hogwarts." Harry smiled at the stern attitude his great-grandfather had, but his stories reminded him of countless old people he'd heard talking in the park near the Dursley's house. It was always, "in my day...". There was a comfortable familiarity to his statements. "Well, Umbridge is gone, made sure of that," Harry replied and all three older Potter men nodded in time. It caused Harry to laugh aloud, the hurt feelings diffusing. "But, I still worry about my friends at Hogwarts. We've got a ghost teaching history, and no one learns anything except for the Goblin Wars. On top of that, our Potions teacher is a right awful git and the Defence position is cursed, so no one lasts more than one year." "Well, Harry, you know you can do something about that, don't you?" Eldon asked the young Potter and Harry shook his head, confusion knitting his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?" "Harry, I do believe it is time you went into Lord Potter's office, so I may explain all your position entails," his great-grandfather said. "To get in you must press your forearm bearing the ancient symbol of our family to the door. The magic of the house will accept your insignia and allow you entrance." "Alright," the young Lord replied. "May I finish my breakfast first?" "Please do," Eldon answered with a chuckle, the other two men joining him. "I would also suggest you dress for the day as well. You will be meeting several other former Lord Potters from long ago. They might not appreciate their student being dressed in night clothes and a dressing gown." Harry nodded before shovelling his eggs into his mouth. LPOW LPOW LPOW LPOW LPOW At high noon, Eldon returned to the kitchen portrait frame, asking that Dilly take lunch to Harry in the office. Dilly nodded, silently filled a plate and Disapparted into the room, returning nearly as quickly. The house had been exceptionally quiet, Remus and Sirius only having returned thirty minutes before. Dilly had made the men a meal, Remus dining in the kitchen, talking in hushed tones with James about what Sirius had allowed him to say regarding Azkaban. It wasn't much, James could tell by Moony's haunted gaze when he spoke. The conversation quickly turned to the International Wizarding Rights complaint which would be filed by Ireland against the U.K. through the I.C.W. "It is a truly well done document," Remus explained. "We're just waiting for the correct day to file it. In part, it will be Harry who decides as he wants to hit Dumbledore with everything at once. I never realized he could be so tactical and yet vengeful." "He's my son," James said ruefully. "I held a grudge against Snape for years, simply because he had been a friend of Lily's." "I wouldn't feel so bad about that," Remus replied. "The man's still a git, especially to Harry. Remember, he gave as well as he got." An uncomfortable silence fell between the two, and Remus looked down the hall to the sealed door of the office which housed Harry. "How long do you think it will take for him to learn what he needs to know?" the werewolf asked. "I don't know, but Dad and Grandfather are in there with him. They'll make sure he eats and gets rest if he needs it," James answered. "When he's done we'll know it. From the discussions I've had with Dad, it's a long process, longer than what he went through with Myrddin. Harry has quite a few choices to make as well." "Do you think he'll go back to Hogwarts?" "As much as it pains me to say this," James confided, "I don't think he will. It isn't the same place we went, it's not safe, not the quiet bubble we enjoyed when we went. Harry lives in a fish bowl there. He craves privacy and safety and the love of family. We've got the last one taken care of, you and Padfoot will be there to care for him in a way which he's never had before. He's got Lily and I, as well as the rest of the portraits. It's in his power to have his other two desires as well. I know my son, he's going to take steps to have them as well." "I suppose, although I find it hard to see him leaving his friends behind. Ron and Hermione, even Ginny and Neville; they've stuck by him through everything. It's going to be hard to break that bond." "Who's to say he won't just being them along?" James suggested and Remus shrugged. He couldn't imagine Molly Weasley being that happy about it, but he wasn't going to bring that up now. "I should go up and check on Sirius," Remus said, making move to stand. "Lily's up there with him," James reported. "Let him be." "Are you sure? What if he needs help with something? What if he needs to go to the loo?" "Lily will call for Jolly then," James reminded him. "She might be the best one for his wounded heart right now." "Really, I never knew they talked that much." "They didn't, but they did. It wasn't like the relationship she had with you, where you'd patrol together and do your revisions and assignments together. Sirius and Lily had this strange brother and sister thing; especially after Lils and I were married." "I wasn't around much then," Remus reminded and James nodded. "Tell me about them." "Even when we were young, he had a much easier time opening up to her than either of us," James went on to explain. "She was the first one he spoke to when Maggie left school, and when Marlene was killed. He shadowed her in the halls our sixth and seventh years, if you or I weren't with her. He was worried about the Slytherins attacking her. He also knew she'd never consent to an escort." "He was right about that." "Stubborn as the day is long," James said with a sigh for he loved her for it. "When she was pregnant with Harry, she shared her fears with him, even if she insisted on keeping them from me at first. Always thought I needed to see her brave," he said with a wistfulness. "If he's going to let his emotions out it'll be with her." Remus nodded and sat back down. The men spoke for a while longer before moving from the kitchen to the snooker room to play chess, Remus moving James' pieces as the portrait requested. The sun was below the horizon when the door to the office opened and Harry emerged, a triumphant smile on his face. "I have made some decisions. January 2, the House of Potter will announce itself to the whole of the Wizarding world." |
| Reviews 26 |
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