Summary: The Wizarding world finally knows that Lord Voldemort has returned, and the Second War has begun. As Harry prepares to enter his sixth year at Hogwarts, he is forced to deal with the trauma from his last encounter with Voldemort, the upcoming trial of Dolores Umbridge, Sirius's uncomfortable questions about his childhood, his budding relationship with Ginny Weasley, and the unknown shadow of what lies ahead as the "Chosen One" who must defeat Voldemort once and for all. This is an AU take of Half-Blood Prince following my previous story, Path Diverged.
Rating: PG-13
Categories: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2019.07.02
Updated: 2020.11.21
Path Diverged II by hp_fangal
Chapter 1: Back to Privet Drive
Author's Notes: “Who the hell does that man think he is, threatening me like that?”
Harry Potter glanced at his uncle, Vernon Dursley, before returning his attention to the car window in which he sat, watching as the scenery of London gradually faded into the residential neighborhoods that made up Little Whinging. His uncle continued to rant away about the conversation he’d had with Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black at King’s Cross station; Sirius was very recently cleared of all convictions making him out to be a mass murderer, which allowed him at long last to wander freely in the open and step up to care for Harry as he hadn’t been able to do before.
Of course, Sirius being free and technically Harry’s guardian had no effect on the fact that Harry had to return to the home of his aunt and uncle for two weeks’ time. Harry now understood that he had to go back every summer for his own protection due to a powerful charm Albus Dumbledore had placed on him as a baby to keep him safe from Lord Voldemort; he also learned that this charm worked through his blood relation to Aunt Petunia. Still, it didn’t make the prospect of dealing with their palpable dislike at his mere existence any easier, even if this summer was going to include daily visits from his godfather while he stayed in Little Whinging.
“And visiting! At our house!” raged Uncle Vernon, large mustache quivering. “With that long hair and – and the way he dresses –”
“You need to tell him to wear normal clothes,” Aunt Petunia piped up, turning her horse-like face to the backseat to glare hard at Harry. “He’s as bad as that – that awful boy your mother always hung around with.”
“Who, Snape?” Harry asked dully. He had recently learned, on top of the prophecy and everything else, that his Potions teacher, Severus Snape, had been his mother’s childhood friend from before Hogwarts up until he called her ‘Mudblood’ at the end of their fifth year. He’d been expressly forbidden by Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts’ headmaster, to speak a word of what he knew to the dour teacher, but he now remembered that if his mother had known Snape as children, then his aunt must have known him, too.
Petunia glared at him. “How do you know that name, boy?”
“Touched a nerve, I see,” Lord Voldemort’s laugh echoed in his mind, and Harry grit his teeth, determined not to think about his most recent encounters with the terrible Dark wizard who sought to end his life.
“He teaches at my school,” Harry forced himself to answer. “Probably hates me more than you do, come to think of it.”
“A teacher?” said Aunt Petunia with raised eyebrows. She turned around to face forward in the front passenger seat of the car again. “At least someone at that school is treating you the way they ought to.”
Harry rolled his eyes but kept his silence, knowing better than to say anything that could raise his relations’ ire more than their encounter with Sirius and the others at the train station had already done. Ginny Weasley kissing him, for example, had made his relatives go a rather unfortunate shade of puce, so anything else could result in consequences he didn’t want to deal with. He instead glanced at his cousin, Dudley, who was resolutely staring out his window and ignoring Harry’s existence. This suited Harry just fine, though. The last thing he wanted was to have to protect himself in cramped quarters.
When at last the car pulled into the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive, the Dursleys immediately exited the car and headed inside, leaving Harry to haul in his belongings by himself. Harry, all too used to this by now, relished the opportunity for some quiet after Uncle Vernon’s ranting for the entire drive, and started with Hedwig’s cage, carrying her safely up to the smallest bedroom in the house before returning outside for his trunk. As he pulled it from the boot of the car, grunting with the effort, a voice behind him said, “Merlin, Harry, seriously?”
Harry whipped around, heart racing, wand already in hand, but relaxed upon seeing it was just Bill Weasley, his friend Ron’s eldest brother, looking as cool as ever in his dragonskin boots with his long hair pulled back in a stubby tail with the fanged earring in one ear. Bill worked for Gringotts bank as a curse breaker, although he had been stationed in London at a desk job for the last year to help out in the fight against Voldemort with the Order of the Phoenix. “What are you doing here?” Harry asked, quickly putting his wand back in his pocket.
“Mum insisted I handle first shift of guard duty,” Bill answered easily with a grin as he reached out to shake Harry’s hand, “make sure you got back here all right.”
“You can tell her I’m fine,” said Harry, turning away to resume pulling his trunk out of the car. Bill stepped up next to him and helped him get it the rest of the way out. “Thanks,” he muttered, closing the boot a little harder than necessary and hoping his uncle hadn’t heard the loud thunk it made.
“Listen, Harry,” said Bill, “Mum told me this morning that you and Ginny are in a relationship now.”
Harry, who had just bent down to start hauling his trunk toward the front door, paused, feeling his face flush. Ginny…
About two weeks earlier, Harry had almost been tricked by Voldemort into going to the Ministry of Magic to try and rescue Sirius, whom he had believed was in danger. One of his best friends, Hermione Granger, had convinced him to check and make sure that Sirius wasn’t still at Grimmauld Place, the current Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, which was a secret organization devoted to fighting Voldemort and his Death Eater followers. His other best friend, Ron Weasley, and his sister Ginny along with Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom had become involved in a distraction they had staged to get Harry into Dolores Umbridge’s office to use her fireplace to Floo his godfather.
Umbridge, however, had seen through their deception, and she had subjected Harry to the Cruciatus Curse to try and get him to disclose whom he had tried to contact. It had been Professor Snape of all people who had stopped her and let Harry know of Voldemort’s ruse. However, after taking a sleeping potion in the hospital wing, Harry had been trapped in Voldemort’s mind and been subjected to the Dark Lord digging through Harry’s memories, threatening to rip all that Harry was to shreds. Dumbledore had been able to wake him, but then Harry had been possessed by Voldemort and taken Ginny with him into the Ministry to have him retrieve a secret prophecy about Harry and Voldemort that was located in the Department of Mysteries.
Ginny had backed Harry in retrieving the prophecy, escaping over a dozen Death Eaters, and holding their own until members of the Order had been able to rescue them. Sirius had been among their rescuers, his goal to get Harry and Ginny out of the Department of Mysteries safely, but Voldemort had instead come directly to the Ministry to get the prophecy from Harry and kill him. Thanks to Sirius and Dumbledore, Voldemort had again been unsuccessful, and he had tried possessing Harry once more, this time determined to see him dead.
Unexpectedly, Ginny had told him that he loved him, had reminded him of his feelings for those he cared about, and Voldemort had been forced to retreat, but not before being spotted by multiple members of the Ministry of Magic. Sirius had been cleared of all charges, Umbridge was awaiting trial and a potential sentences of years in Azkaban for what she had done to Harry, and Harry himself now knew the full contents of the prophecy along with Sirius, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. Harry and his friends had been interviewed by Aurors to have Umbridge put away for a long time. Most importantly, however, he and Ginny had gotten together.
Thinking he was in for it, Harry straightened up and looked up at Bill. “Yeah,” he said, bracing himself for either a lecture or a beating. Or both. “And?”
Bill raised his eyebrows. “Well, I suppose it goes without saying that you’d best not go breaking her heart. She’s cared about you for a long time, you know.”
Harry nodded. “I know,” he said. He waited, still unsure what Bill might do or say next, all the while thinking that Ginny had entirely too many brothers.
Bill eyed Harry for another moment, then smiled. “Mind you, Mum actually lectured me to go easy on you, so I think it’s obvious who she likes the best.” His smile turned to a grin, and he bent down to help Harry pick up his trunk and carry it to the front door.
“Thanks,” Harry told him when they reached it. “I can manage it from here.”
“But I haven’t seen the inside of this house yet!” Bill exclaimed brightly as they set his trunk down again. “You really should invite me in to make sure you get your trunk upstairs all right.”
“I can get it upstairs just fine on my own,” protested Harry.
“Mum says you’re still healing up from everything,” said Bill.
“So weak,” Voldemort’s voice echoed in his mind.
“I’m fine!” insisted Harry, trying not to let his own demons get to him. “I don’t need you coddling me or anything like that!”
“Never said anything about coddling,” replied Bill evenly. “Just making sure I have a good report to hand in when my watch ends.”
The net curtains in the living room window behind Bill twitched a bit, and Harry groaned. “Look,” he said, trying desperately to keep his temper in check, “my aunt and uncle really weren’t happy with… with everything at King’s Cross station, all right? I’m really tired, and I’d like nothing better than to just slip inside quietly and stay out of their way for the rest of the day, none of which will happen if they see me inviting in a full-grown wizard an – an hour after being told that Sirius is going to be visiting me every day for the next two weeks!”
Bill didn’t say anything to this at first, instead eyeing Harry speculatively. “Would they hurt you for that?” he asked bluntly.
Harry’s breath caught. “Why – why would you ask me that?” he asked, trying hard to sound confused instead of panicked.
Bill raised his eyebrows. “Ron and the twins told me about the bars on your window four years ago when they flew Dad’s car over here to rescue you,” he said calmly. “The only kind of people who would do that sort of thing to a kid are abusive people, Harry.”
Harry flushed and looked away, feeling uncertain of how to respond to this. He really didn’t want to talk about his life with the Dursleys with anyone, least of all with Bill. “We don’t like each other,” he finally managed, unable to look up at older man. “It’s always been that way. Just… tell everyone I’m fine.” He opened the door and heaved his trunk inside without another word, grateful that Bill didn’t say anything else or try to come in with him. He hauled his trunk up the stairs and into his room and shut the door, grateful to be alone at last.
Would they hurt you for that? Harry had long done his best to gloss over the more difficult aspects of his relationship with the Dursleys, but to be asked such a direct question like that really threw him. Uncle Vernon hadn’t hurt him in years – well, okay, he’d done his best to strangle Harry last summer for having his wand out after Mundungus Fletcher had loudly Apparated away from guard duty, but that was it for recent events, really…
“Such an unwanted orphan you are.” Harry pressed his hands to his face, wanting nothing more than to forget everything that had happened, to never again hear that insidious voice tearing him apart –
“Boy!” came Uncle Vernon’s voice from downstairs. Harry sighed and headed out of his room to see what his uncle wanted, only a little grateful for the distraction from his own mind.
Uncle Vernon was sitting in the kitchen as Aunt Petunia started preparing dinner. Harry could hear Dudley in the other room, laughing at a show on the telly. “Yes, Uncle Vernon?” asked Harry with forced politeness.
“Who were you speaking to out there?” his uncle asked suspiciously. “Don’t think we didn’t see or hear him, boy.”
Don’t call me that!
Harry drew in a steadying breath, knowing that the movement of the net curtains must have been Aunt Petunia spying on him, as was her way. “Bill Weasley,” he answered, doing his best to focus on the here and now. “He’s one of my friend’s older brothers. He was on… well, guard duty and wanted to help me bring in my things. I told him ‘no’, of course.”
Uncle Vernon let out a ‘harrumph’ and glowered at Harry. “I don’t appreciate your kind standing on my front door step like that,” he said angrily. “Especially that one, looking like a – a gigolo with that hair and earring.”
Harry did his best to keep a straight face. “Yes, Uncle Vernon,” he said. “Anything else?”
Uncle Vernon glared at Harry. “Two weeks and we’re rid of you, right?”
“For this summer, yeah,” said Harry. “I expect that I’ll have to come back next summer, though.”
His aunt and uncle exchanged disgruntled looks, and Aunt Petunia immediately put Harry to work making dinner, which Harry was fine with. The reality was that this kind of busy work kept his mind off of other things he really didn’t want to think about. His dinner portion was smaller than Dudley’s, as per usual, but after doing the dishes, Harry was finally allowed to retreat to his bedroom for the rest of the night. He had just sat down when –
“Harry!”
Starting, Harry looked around for the source of the muffled voice. A moment later, he could have hit himself. He quickly opened his trunk and dug around for the two-way mirror that Sirius had given him for Christmas. He still felt a twinge of guilt over not having opened the present sooner because it would have prevented pretty much everything that had happened that fateful night, but seeing as how both he and Sirius were alive and well despite everything that had happened, he didn’t have much guilt to spare.
“Hey,” said Harry, finally pulling the small mirror out from the folds of his Invisibility Cloak and seeing Sirius’s face instead of his own reflection. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for the better part of an hour,” said Sirius, grey eyes looking a bit worried as his brushed his long, dark hair from his face. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” said Harry quickly. “I was just – you know, helping out with dinner.”
Sirius raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment. “Drive home go fine?” he asked instead.
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Well, I mean, Uncle Vernon ranted about your appearance on the drive here, but that’s really nothing new when it comes to him meeting our kind.” He shrugged. “So, what time do you expect to be over tomorrow?”
“Round nine, I think,” answered Sirius. “Bill said no one helped you get your things in.”
“I was fine on my own,” said Harry, feeling nettled. “I didn’t need anyone’s help, either.”
Sirius eyed him in much the same way Bill had a couple hours ago. Harry really didn’t like it and was worried about what would come out of his godfather’s mouth next.
“Alright, I wasn’t going to say anything until I came over tomorrow,” Sirius finally said, “but back at the station, the way you stepped away from your uncle…”
“Sirius,” Harry started, but Sirius cut him off.
“He obviously scares you,” he pressed on. “Has he ever hurt you?”
“I see you got no less than you deserved every day of your pitiful life, Harry.”
“No!” Harry lied forcefully, shoving the taunts to the back of his mind. “What is it with this line of questioning today, Sirius? First Bill, now you…” He glared at Sirius’s face in the small mirror. “We just don’t like each other, we never have!”
Sirius’s face wasn’t angry or upset, but resigned, even sad. “The thing is, Harry,” he said quietly, “the only way you could dislike them was if they did it to you first.”
Harry didn’t know what to say to this, had no idea how to respond in such a way that wouldn’t reveal the parts of his childhood he wanted to forget. He heard his uncle grumbling and clomping up the stairs. “I’m tired,” he said abruptly. “It’s been a long day, I should get some sleep.”
“Harry –”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, round nine, yeah?” said Harry distractedly, moving to put the mirror on the bedside table as he heard his uncle reach the landing.
“I – okay,” said Sirius, sounding resigned. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Harry.” Harry placed the mirror face-down on the table as sharp rapping sounded on his bedroom door.
“Boy,” rumbled Uncle Vernon, “I expect you up at eight o’clock sharp to make breakfast, understand?”
“Yes, Uncle Vernon,” said Harry, sighing as he started getting ready for bed.
“And – tell your godfather –” Uncle Vernon paused. “We would prefer that you go out elsewhere in the area while he’s here tomorrow, is that understood?”
“Yes, Uncle Vernon,” Harry intoned again as he set the alarm clock on the bedside table.
“Good.” Uncle Vernon walked away, and Harry sighed. Two weeks. He could do two weeks. Well, he could so long as certain people stopped pressing for information that was none of their business.
Grumbling to himself, Harry changed into his pajamas, turned out the lights, and climbed into bed. He was actually very tired, but given that sleeping generally meant nightmares, it would be some time before he could give into his exhaustion. Less sleep meant less chances for the nightmares to come and overwhelm him.
Instead, he let his mind dwell, as it had for the last few days, on the prophecy. Neither can live while the other survives… How could he, a boy of not quite sixteen, be the only one who could end Voldemort’s reign of terror once and for all? Somehow, the support of those he loved was going to help him, but how could it be when the odds were stacked so heavily against him?
These questions, and more, remained unanswered when at last Harry drifted off to sleep.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
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