Thanks for all the reviews. Huge thanks to Arnel for the Beta job. Wouldn't be as British (though I'm still leaving some of those Americanisms in) or as neat without you.
Please read, enjoy, and review. :)
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Return of an Alpha | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama Warnings: Death, Mild Language Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 409 Summary: For three years, Harry has been Becoming Alpha of Hogwarts. Now another Alpha is returning, bringing with him darkness, chaos, and battle. Watch as sides line up for war, and people and society change. Hitcount: Story Total: 169718; Chapter Total: 4535 Author's Notes: |
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The next few weeks of summer went by as training, the war game, Quidditch, flying, swimming, sleepovers, homework, and everything else took over Harry's life. He had spent a week at Tracey's house, so they had taken their training to the outside of her home, practicing with swords, daggers, throwing knives, wands, and even some hand-to-hand during that week. Ginny and the twins had managed to get Harry over to the Burrow for a day, and he had told them quite truthfully that he thought it was one of the best houses he had ever been in. Just like Tracey's house and his own, the Burrow had a lived-in feel about it, and it was obviously full of a family who knew how to love and care for one another. They had spent the day just hanging out and showing their mother that Harry was just another teenage boy. Otherwise, nothing had really changed from the first week except that they were spending more days training and fewer days playing their war game all around Grimmauld Place. Daniel and Sam had shown Harry, Tracey, Daphne, and Astoria the memories of Tom Riddle that they had along with telling them his history, and Harry had given them some more than likely insights to Tom Riddle. He had told them that one thing he thought was that Hogwarts would probably hold a Horcrux, seeing as Tom Riddle had probably seen Hogwarts as his first ever home, just as Harry did. Another thing was the idea that Gringotts may have a Horcrux, seeing as he would be jealous of anyone with a key, using that as proof that one might belong to the wizarding world. He himself had once felt like that when all of his classmates had pocket money while he didn't, and it was somewhat similar. Both ideas had been taken very seriously, and they were using them as ideas. All four kids — and Ginny, when Harry filled her in — were told to keep an eye out for something that might belong to Rowena Ravenclaw or the little gold Hufflepuff cup at Hogwarts, though they weren't really expected to find it. On one of the few days no one had come over, Harry had gone into the study and made a list of the people he considered family, and the list included all of the people with colored Journals, Tracey's parents, Daphne's parents, Remus, and Maya as well. Sirius had then put all of them onto their shared family tree, connecting some of the people to his dot as well as Harry's to show that they shared some of their family, though a single line connected the two of them as family as well. Finally, it was July 31st, Harry's birthday, and Harry had spent the night over at Tracey's along with Sirius and Remus. All three Davises had insisted upon it, and Harry had been so excited that Sirius and Remus had to agree. "Hey, Trace," Harry said as Tracey tried to sneak into his room unsuccessfully. "Those war games really have helped our senses, haven't they?" she sighed as she sat down next to him on his bed, both of them fully dressed. "Among other things, yes," he laughed. "I mean, neither of us used to wake up at five in the morning without trouble before now." "True, but that will mean that waking up for classes will be easier," she reminded him as she slapped his shoulder lightly. "Yeah, I know." They both fell silent for a bit before Harry spoke again. "So, wanna go outside and spar a bit with our swords?" "Sure," Tracey agreed as she moved quickly to find her sword in her room. Harry grabbed his own and they met in the hallway before heading outside. It was a very common occurrence these days to have the two of them sparring outside in some way at five-thirty in the morning whenever Harry slept over at the Davis home. As long as they remembered to put silencing charms on their swords and the surrounding area, no one really minded. A couple of hours later, Harry faked an overhead blow and a right side attack before hitting Tracey on her right leg with a dulled sword. Quickly, as the blade went down to block a blow that had already hit, Harry caught her sword with his own and sent it flying through the air to land a few meters away from them. Both of them sank to their knees, panting, after that. Harry sheathed his blade and wiped his forehead off with his sweat-covered shirt. He knew that they would both have more bruises to add to their collection, but it was such a normal thing that all of the teens knew how to make bruise paste now. Once they went inside, both would put it on their forming bruises and let it set for about ten minutes before washing it off in a shower. "That was a good training session," Harry gasped out as they both fought to get their breath back. "Yeah," Tracey agreed breathlessly, "but do you always have to kick my butt so well?" Tracey paused and then cut Harry off just as he opened his mouth to reply. "You know what, don't answer that because I know the answer and I don't want to hear it right now when my body is covered in bruises and I have aching muscles." Harry laughed as he had almost regained his breath and could smile at her a bit. She returned it as well as she could in her exhaustion. Neither of them would be good company until they found a shower, and ate and drank something. Finally, Harry stood up, got Tracey's sword, and helped her up before she sheathed it. Then the two of them headed into the kitchen to grab a couple of cold bottles of water each. They took the water to their rooms with them as they got a change of clothes and put their weapons away. Once Harry got into the bathroom with his water-one bottle already drained dry and the other a quarter of the way empty-his change of clothes, and his bruise paste, he undressed and applied the bruise paste to all of the forming bruises he could see in the body-length mirror. That finished, he just looked at himself in the mirror. Over the past year or so of training, he and all of his friends had gained a lot of muscle and were keeping off all of the fat. They were all thin but quite strong. Most people in Hogwarts weren't able to run as long as they could because all of them had been working on their stamina every day for the entire summer as well as most days during school. Plus, most of their classmates didn't fight with swords, daggers, knives, wands, or hand-to-hand. Finally, the paste had settled in long enough for Harry to start up the shower, and he let it warm up before stepping in and sighing in relief as the hot water ran over his back. He closed his eyes and let his chin fall to his chest. The paste was washed off as he cleaned himself, the water moving it down the drain, leaving no trace of the paste. With a giant effort, Harry stepped out of the shower and began drying and dressing, stopping in his room to throw the sweaty clothes into the hamper and pick up his daggers and wand. Ankh took his normal place on Harry's shoulder, and Harry finally headed back into the kitchen, tossing the two empty water bottles into a container that Sam would take to the recycling depot once a week or two. "Another sword session?" Samuel asked Harry in amusement as he flung himself into a chair at the table and leaned his head back against the chair. "Of course," he replied with a sigh just before both Remus and Tracey walked into the kitchen, Tracey's hair just as damp as Harry's. "I see these two have been busy this morning," Remus commented dryly as he sat down and watched the two teens close their eyes to relax. "Be quiet, Moony," Harry groaned for both of them. "We were up at five in the morning and needed something to do." "Again?" Daniella commented as she walked into the kitchen and began cooking alongside the house-elves, who had already been busy at work. "Yes, again," Harry groaned. "Oh, Happy Birthday, Harry," Remus commented when he knew Harry would stop groaning because he had opened his eyes again. "Thanks," he said as the others added their wishes, Tracey among them as neither had said anything about it earlier. Both he and Tracey suddenly jumped as their pockets heated up. The adults at the table saw where their hands were going and just went back to what they were doing; Remus and Samuel reading the paper while Daniella made food for the starving kids. Ginny: Happy Birthday, Harry, and Happy Early Birthday, Trace. Both: Thanks. Daphne: Yeah, Happy Birthday, Harry. Others: Happy Birthday, Harry! Harry: Thanks. Blaise: Let me guess, you both were up early and decided to spar with swords again. Tracey: Harry, have we gotten that predictable? Harry: I believe we have, Trace. I think we'll have to confuse everyone soon. Tracey: That sounds like an excellent idea! Draco: *Groans* Did you have to give them an idea? Astoria: Why are you even bothering to ask, Draco? Of course Blaise had to give them an idea! Blaise: *Groans* Why is it always me being picked on? Theo: Because I make sure I keep my mouth closed when something like that is offered to me, knowing that I'll be told off if I don't. Blaise: Theo! Arghhh… *Groans* Ginny: ANYWAY! Tracey's house after breakfast, right? Tracey: Yup. We'll swim, fly, maybe play Quidditch, and we'll just hang out today. Absolutely no training at all; the adults promised us a day off today and tomorrow to just have fun. Harry: Then why did we use the swords again…? Tracey: Because we were bored, needed something to do, and had way too much energy? Harry: Ah, right, that explains it perfectly. Hermione: No it doesn't, and Happy Birthday, Harry. Harry: Yes it does, Hermione, and thanks. Daphne: Don't argue with Harry and Tracey about something like this, Hermione. You know as well as the rest of us that the two of them — and Ginny at times — do things that make perfect sense to them but not to anyone else. They're like the twins in that. Hermione: True… *Sighs* Tracey: Well, Harry is already eating the sticky buns that Mum made, so I'll say good-bye for both of us. See you all in an hour or two! "Hey, Maya!" Astoria called with a pleased look on her face when she spotted the older Slytherin entering the room, and Harry waved at the younger Slytherin as she waved to both of them. They were all in the indoor pool on the third floor, having agreed that it was easier to wait inside than outside for everyone else, but they wanted to be able to do something for a while. That evening, when the sun had lost some of its strength, the group would go swim in the pond outside. Maya led two younger kids into the room, all of them dressed in their bathing costumes. Harry quickly swam over to the edge where Maya was waiting to introduce the boy and girl who had followed her in. The boy shared Maya's tanned skin, black hair, and light green eyes, but the girl had pale skin, light-brown hair, and brown eyes. "This is my younger brother Graham," Maya told Harry, and he smiled at Graham kindly, receiving a small one in return. "And this is Natalie MacDonald, our friend, though I still say she's more Graham's friend than mine." Harry smiled at Natalie as well, but he also looked at her a bit curiously. He remembered that it was the fact that her parents were both Muggle-born that made Maya realize that blood didn't make all that much of a difference in anything but politics in the wizarding world. Graham seemed to be like Astoria had been at this time last year — watching, learning, and calculating, all without saying anything else. Natalie, on the other hand, reminded Harry more of Neville when he had confidence — strong, willing to do what she could for her friends, and quite brave. He had a feeling that the two friends wouldn't be in the same House at Hogwarts, but that probably wouldn't drive them apart with how close of a friendship Maya had told him they had. "Come in, enjoy the water, and meet some of the others," Harry told them. "Natalie, Graham, you should go talk to the younger blond over there, Astoria Greengrass. She's only a year older than you and will be quite willing to help you all out when you get to Hogwarts in the fall, no matter what House you're Sorted into." "Thanks," Natalie said as she slipped into the water before turning to face Graham with a raised eyebrow, only confirming Harry's thoughts that she would probably be more of a Gryffindor than a Slytherin. "Are you coming in or not, Graham?" Graham followed his friend in finally, and they took off swimming towards Astoria. Natalie then introduced them both to the others, and a conversation ensued that even got Graham talking; Harry thought it was about Hogwarts, but he couldn't be sure. "Thanks for that," Maya said softly, sighing a bit as she slid into the pool as well. "I brought them along because they need to see all of us in a group setting. Plus, I want them to know who they can turn to when they get to Hogwarts this year. It'll also help loosen my brother up a bit; he acts like a Gryffindor when it comes to Natalie, but he's a Slytherin at all other times." "No problem at all, Maya," Harry told his friend. "It was a bit obvious that Graham is worried about being here, but hopefully the others will let him relax so that he can enjoy himself. Otherwise, I think it's great that you brought them over for the party. None of us minds at all if you bring friends or siblings over. The more the merrier." With that, Harry took of swimming towards Ginny and Tracey, Maya right behind him. "And Harry is after the Snitch with Patricia right behind him!" Natalie called, her Sonorus Charm easily carrying her words to the players; she had been quite willing to commentate a Quidditch match. "Ouch! A nice Bludger shot by Astoria; it completely missed Harry, but stopped Patricia in her tracks! And Harry has the Snitch! Slytherin team wins 310-180!" "Nice game," Harry told the Gryffindor girls with a smile. "I was afraid there for a moment when you were basically right beside me, Patricia. If Astoria hadn't aimed that Bludger so well, it would have been a fight for the Snitch." "I noticed that, too," the Gryffindor Seeker replied. "Let's hope that we can do something like that during the match this year, just to give everyone a show." "We'll try," Blaise told them all, smiling as he put his arm around Harry's shoulders and the other around Daphne's. "It was an excellent game." "Hey, Harry, when does Bole leave again?" Draco called from over where he was talking with Astoria and Tracey. "This year, I believe, why?" he replied, but Draco only shrugged as he went back to their conversation. "I'm not even going to bother asking until later," Harry told the people around him, drawing laughs from them. "Thanks guys!" Harry told all of his friends who had gotten him books. The books included ones on defensive spells, hand-to-hand combat, Potions, sword fighting, Charms, Quidditch, Transfiguration, and some Muggle novels. Opening the gift from Sirius, Harry dropped the box and stared at it in shock for a few moments before looking up at his godfather. He began looking back and forth between them before slowly reaching into the box and pulling out the Firebolt held within. "Sirius, no way!" he gasped in awe as he ran a hand over the wood of the broom. "Is this really —?" "It is," Sirius told him with a nod. "Is that a Firebolt?" Angelina was finally able to demand, and Harry nodded wordlessly, unable to speak. "Think of this as twelve years of birthday and Christmas gifts, Harry," Sirius said to his godson, a smile on his face. Harry suspected later on that Sirius was enjoying the awe and happiness he could put on his godson's face. "We're never going to win another Quidditch match," Patricia groaned to nobody as she looked up the ceiling in despair. "The kid is already amazing on a Nimbus 2000 and a Nimbus 2001, but he now has the best broom in the world. We're so doomed." Harry and his Slytherin friends all laughed at Patricia's antics, as did all of the others not on the Gryffindor team. "You're going to try that out later, right?" Ginny asked Harry, and he could only nod as he slowly put the broom back into the box and moved onto his other gifts. Ginny had gotten him a green stone statue of a basilisk, which drew odd looks from everyone else as they both laughed at the gift, but they all knew better than to ask. "You didn't have a sword through its head," Harry hissed to her in amusement as they laughed. Ankh was looking at the statue of the snake and hissing in a snake's version of laughter as he realized why Ginny had gotten Harry that specific statue. "I thought Sebae would prefer it if the statue of her was as not dead as she is," Ginny replied as they finally stopped laughing. "This isn't another snake, right?" Harry asked in amusement when he saw that Daphne, Astoria, Theo, and Blaise had all gone together on his gift again, but they only smiled in response. Much to Harry's surprise, he opened the small package and was met by the sight of a dagger. Blinking slightly, Harry lifted it out of the box and unsheathed it. The sheath was made of a black dragonhide of some sort. Looking at the dagger itself, Harry had to hold in a smile. They had managed to find a dagger with a snake carved into the hilt and small stones of all four House colors scattered over the hilt. Before Harry could thank them, Draco handed Harry his gift, and Harry opened it to find a few pieces of the dragonhide cord as well as a small pouch that had a little weight to it, meaning there was something in it. Opening the pouch, Harry was surprised to find a collection of throwing knives in it. "I gave Draco the knives," Remus told Harry as he pulled one out and felt the weight in his hand. "They're charmed to always return to the pouch, sort of like the ones you have on that special sheath do, and I can put the charm on more if you get them. Those knives aren't as good as the ones you already have, but it means you'll have more of them if you need them. This is my birthday gift." "Thank you, all of you," Harry said to his friends and honorary uncle. "These are wonderful gifts. I'll definitely use them." Putting the gifts to the side, Harry pulled Tracey's to him. Opening the small box that was a perfect cube made of a really nice wood and had his initials on it, he had to smile up at her. Harry pulled out the Golden Snitch and held it in his hand, making sure to hold it with his finger tips so that he could claim it as his own. "Thanks Trace," he told her, and that was all that needed to be said. Tracey's parents gave him a book that said to open it when he got back to Sirius' house, so he just thanked them and put it in the pile with the rest of his gifts. "Thanks everyone," Harry said to all of his friends with a smile. The Firebolt responded more to Harry's thoughts than his body, which amazed him to no end. It was making flying, which was already an amazing freedom to him, feel even more amazing. He let out a laugh as he did a vertical dive towards the ground, pulling out of it just in time and then racing around the house. "This is amazing!" he called to his friends as he passed over them. Before anyone could say anything to him he was too far away to hear, climbing up into the air again for another dive. He kept it up for another long while before he finally landed by his friends, a huge smile on his face. "Thank you so much!" he told Sirius as he hugged him tightly. "This broom is bloody fantastic!" he added as he let his godfather go. "Can we have a go?" Ginny asked Harry with a smile on her face and a look in her eye. The look worried him as it promised him a good hex if he didn't let the others try, so he threw the broom over her head to Draco. "You gave me that Nimbus 2001 second year, so I think it's only fair that you're the first to ride my new broom," he told the shocked boy as Ginny glared at him. Luckily, Ginny realized why he was letting Draco go first and calmed down as the blond boy took off into the air, actually laughing and cheering as he rode the new broom. "Draco is never this carefree," Daphne muttered just loud enough for those closest to her to hear. "That broom will make anyone laugh and cheer," Harry told her and the other Slytherins. "Ar e you hoping for anything tomorrow?" Harry asked Tracey quietly as he moved to sit next to her on the couch with another slice of cake. "Just a chance to have fun with my friends and family," she told him with a smile. "I think that's what birthdays are for," he said after they just ate cake for a few minutes. "Having fun with friends and family; enjoying the day." "That's what we try to do, at least," Tracey said. "Plus, with our friends, who couldn't have fun when we're together?" "You have a point," Harry admitted with a laugh as he watched the twins turn Hermione purple and she yelled at them while most of the room laughed. "We've got some of the best friends around." "Happy Birthday, Trace," Harry said as he gave Tracey the gift he and Ginny had gotten her together. She opened the piece of parchment in confusion until she read it. Her eyes widened and it wasn't possible to see her eyebrows because they were hidden in her hairline. Harry smiled at her when her head flashed up to look at him, and he gestured to Ginny, who was behind Tracey. When Tracey saw the little light-brown kitten, she held out her arms and Ginny gave Tracey her new kitten. She held it gently in the crook of her left arm as she scratched it behind the ears. The little kitten was only about three months old, Harry knew, so Tracey would be able to raise the kitten, but she wouldn't have to worry about feeding her milk or anything like that. Before Tracey was allowed to say anything, the others with colored Journals all began giving her other gifts, all of them different things to do with taking care of a kitten like toys, food, a cat box, litter, and a carrier. Once she had opened all the stuff, all Tracey could do was thank everyone. Finally, she was able to say something else, and it was a question for Harry. "You named Ankh after an Egyptian god, right?" she asked him, catching the attention of Ginny and the twins as they had been in Egypt the summer before. "It means life," Harry told her in response, knowing Tracey would hear the unspoken assent to her question, though it wasn't actually a god. "Is there a name for cats by any chance?" she asked, allowing her question to trail over to the three Weasleys. "Bast is the goddess of cats in Egyptian Mythology," Ginny told her friend after the twins shrugged in confusion. "What?" she asked as the twins stared at her. "I was curious about the mythology so Bill got me a few books for my birthday and Christmas, as you should probably remember. Besides, you both know I like cats, so that name stuck out for me." "I'm going to call you Bast, then," Tracey told her newly-named kitten. As everyone began playing with Bast, Harry watched his almost-twin in amusement. She was looking around the room quite a lot as well as the clock. He knew that she wanted those who weren't part of the colored Journal group to leave so that she could change into her Animagus form and play with her kitten that way, but she also didn't want to seem rude or anything of the sort. It was a very amusing scene for him. Finally, people began to leave, and Tracey began to relax. When Maya, her brother, and Natalie finally left, she transformed right away, drawing laughs from everyone. "She's been waiting to do that since we gave her Bast," Harry commented off-handedly as he watched Tracey walk cautiously over to Bast and then start playing with her. "So that's why she had been watching the clock and the people leaving," Hermione muttered, and Harry raised an eyebrow without looking at her. "Seriously, am I the only one who knew why she was so anxious?" he asked aloud, and no one answered him for a moment. "I knew," Ginny stated as she bent down on her knees by the two cats and held out her hand for them. "Of course, we both knew she would react like this when we got her the kitten, so that might be why." "I guessed that might be the reason," Harry heard Theo whisper under his breath, only hearing it because of his heightened senses after his transformation. "At least I'm not the only one other than Ginny to understand Trace, but why does it have to be Theo?" Harry muttered to himself in Parseltongue, which drew Ginny's attention because she stiffened slightly even though she didn't turn around. "Because those two are always watching each other?" she commented quietly, and Harry had to fight to keep his groan internal before he thought about her response. "What do you mean by that?" he asked as he tried to hide his confusion. "Exactly what I said: Tracey and Theo watch one another," she replied in a tone that made Harry realize she was rolling her eyes. "When, exactly, do they watch one another? And how in the world does that mean he understands her?" Harry asked as he moved to sit on the couch so that he could watch both the two cats on the floor and Ginny as she played with them. "Mostly during meals, though probably during class as well," she told him while rolling a ball for Bast to chase while Tracey watched her. "As for the second question, I have a question: Do you understand me and Tracey?" "You know I do," Harry replied in confusion as he tried to figure out why she was asking that without giving away that they were talking almost silently. "Well, you watch and talk to us, right? That's what those two do, and they've known one another longer than you've known either of us." "So you're saying it shouldn't be a surprise to me that they understand one another," Harry stated. "Exactly," Ginny replied smugly as she flashed him a smile that showed her smugness. "What 's the gift that Samuel and Daniella got you?" Remus asked as Harry went downstairs the morning of August 2nd and into the kitchen. "Oh, I never opened it," Harry admitted as he went back upstairs to get the book. When he got back into the kitchen, he went to the table and sat down in his usual spot, the book in front of him. The cover reminded him of the Journals: Soft, yet stiff. The book itself was about the size of a textbook, though a lot thinner and lighter. Opening it, Harry was shocked to see that it seemed to be a book full of charms. Blinking multiple times, he closed the book and saw that there was now a title on the book: How to Make, Charm, and Personalize the Journals. "Bloody Hell!" he exclaimed loudly, surprising the two Marauders, but he barely noticed. "No way!" "What is it, Harry?" Remus asked the shocked boy. "He-he gave me instructions on how to build the Journals!" Harry told the two adults in the room as he looked up at them. "Everything he's done, all of his research, everything! It's all here in this book!" "You'd better take care of that book then," Sirius said, and Harry then realized that the two Marauders weren't very surprised by what he had told them. "You knew, didn't you?" he accused them, and they both had the thought to look at least slightly guilty as they nodded. "He told us what they planned to give you," Remus admitted. "Thank him for me, then," Harry said as he grabbed a couple pieces of toast and a bottle of water before heading back up to his room, planning to read the book and learn as much as he could from it. |
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