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SIYE Time:16:48 on 28th March 2024
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The Space Between
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor, Tragedy
Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Rape, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse
Rating: R
Reviews: 559
Summary: Harry and Ginny's lives have finally evened out. They've faced trauma, and loss, more than most have, but they've fought hard to find a normal.

If only things could stay that way... Old enemies find new ways to seek revenge.

This story is the sequel to Bound. It would be extremely helpful if you read that first.

Warnings are to be safe. It's probably overkill. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hitcount: Story Total: 352167; Chapter Total: 2335
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
Thank you everyone for taking the time to leave a review! I do really appreciate it. I've set up a patreon account under Sarah Jaune where you can get my original story. It's currently updated every two weeks. I'd love input and feedback and I wanted to keep it as affordable as possible, so it's only $3/month to get access to everything.

This chapter is one I've been waiting for- it's been a long build up but things will start to really move now, although we'll have some lulls and sweet chapters as well.

Please consider going to patreon (you can google to find it) or joining in on facebook under Sarah Jaune.

As always thank you for the support and thank you Arnel for beta'ing!

Sarah




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Chapter 54

Scorpius wasn’t trying to sneak into his house. It was late when he arrived home, but then it was often late. He’d spent entire summers with the Potters and now that he was an adult, his parents had no legal say in where he went. Still, he’d told his mother where he was going so she wouldn’t worry and he’d said he wasn’t sure when he’d be home. If things hadn’t gone well with Lily, he might have come back straight away to lick his wounds. Scorpius grinned as he moved silently from the fireplace in the parlor towards the open entrance way which would take him to the stairs and up to his room. The house was quiet and dark, save for a single light across the hall in his father’s study.

He did not want to speak to his father just then. He was too happy over what had happened with Lily to want to see the older man. Inevitably Draco would ruin his good mood.

“Scorpius.”

He froze at the foot of the staircase and closed his eyes briefly before turning around to face his father who stood silhouetted in the open door of his study. “Yes?”

“We need to talk.”

Scorpius let out a slow breath and tried to shore up his calm as he waded into what would inevitably be a sticky confrontation. He didn’t say anything as he took a seat in the one across the desk from his father and remembered viscerally his terror from earlier when he’d asked Harry’s permission to date Lily. Only in that case Harry had pulled a chair around to sit with him, not behind a desk.

Mr. Potter’s permission had been so important to him.

Oddly, the thought calmed him. Nothing Draco could do actually meant anything to Scorpius so he didn’t have to fear whatever was coming next.

“We are meeting with your intended tomorrow.”

Scorpius blinked as he tried to take it in. “My… what?”

“Fiancé,” Draco clarified calmly. Then he went on to explain who she was, remind Scorpius of a time he’d met her when they were seven, how she was German, and on and on. It was an important alliance for the family and he needed to be ready for the meeting by nine the next morning.

In all of it, his father didn’t even once say her name.

Scorpius had to fight hard for control, but he managed to hold onto it as he said, “I told you I wasn’t going to marry someone you chose for me.”

In an instant his father’s control was gone. It happened so fast Scorpius didn’t even have a chance to react. One moment his father was in his chair, the next he had his wand on him and Scorpius was hit by a flash of light. His chair flew backwards and crashed into the wall, spilling him into the floor as pain shot through him. Another light hit him and this time the pain was so intense he wanted to scream, only his jaw wouldn’t unclench enough to allow even that small noise. The pain let up and Scorpius tried to catch his breath as his father knelt down over him, his wand to Scorpius’ throat.

“You will do what you are told.”

Scorpius didn’t even think. His hand smashed out, breaking his father’s wand as it crashed into his nose. A second later he felt a blow to his face and then another, but Scorpius kicked out hard and sent the older man crashing to the floor. In a second, Scorpius was up and hobbling for the fireplace as the world spun, afraid like he’d never been before.

“Scorpius?” his mother called from the top of the stairs, but he didn’t slow for even a second. They couldn’t follow him to Ivy Run since they weren’t part of the Fidelius Charm. He grabbed for the Floo powder and in a second he was stumbling into the flames.

~*~

Harry bolted up the moment he saw Scorpius fall through the fireplace and onto the floor. “Scorpius!” he said as he knelt at the young man’s side and began to examine him. He rolled him over and gasped at the state of his face, already bruising and bleeding.

“Scorpius?!”

Harry heard Lily’s frantic cry and he held up a hand for her. “No, Lily!” he said, halting her in her tracks as Ginny, Al, and Nat spilled into the room.

“Oh Merlin, Harry!” Ginny swore loudly. “I’ll call for Audrey.”

“Dad?” Al said as he took his sister into his arms. It was out of comfort, Harry was sure, but possibly also to hold her back. “Can we help?”

“Not this moment,” Harry said as he pulled out his wand and stopped the worst of the bleeding. He didn’t dare do more until Audrey arrived to examine the kid… no man. Scorpius was now a man, but just then he looked terribly small and young to Harry. “Can you speak, Scorpius?”

It looked extremely painful, but Scorpius managed to say, “My dad.”

Grief and fury spilled up and over into Harry’s core as he thought of his classmate. However, he didn’t let it show. “Okay,” he said as he motioned for Lily to come forward. “Come hold his hand, Lils. When Aunt Audrey gets here, though, you have to move.”

Lily knelt next to him, as did Al and Nat, as Harry made his way into his study. He had a two-way mirror which connected his directly to the Minister of Magic. Slowly he shut the door and picked up the mirror. He waited a minute for her to join him. “I need to arrest Draco Malfoy.”

Allison MacMillan let out a low hiss. “What happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet,” Harry told her, “but it appears he attacked his son.”

Her expression turned instantly to concern. “How badly is he hurt?”

“I think he’s had the Cruciatus used on him,” Harry bit out as he fought hard for control. “He’s shaking with those muscle spasms. I know the signs. I’ll have to get it confirmed by our source,” he said referring to Nat, “but I don’t think there is much doubt.”

“On his own son…”

“I don’t know what happened,” Harry admitted. “I honestly can’t think…” but he let his voice fall away because he knew why. Of course, he knew why.

“Harry?”

“Can I fill you in in person?” he asked her. “I want to get him arrested and then I’ll meet with you tomorrow at the Ministry.”

“I understand,” she said simply. “I’ll hold off the press and make a statement. Do I need to know why he did this?”

“No,” Harry assured her confidently. “It’s a stupid, childish matter. I’d be willing to bet on it.”

He exited his study to find Audrey there and more worryingly, Scorpius was still on the floor. Al sat with Lily on the couch as his daughter cried silently but Ginny and Nat were both absent. Harry moved swiftly to his sister-in-law and crouched down by them. “How is he?”

“Nat said Cruciatus,” Audrey confirmed grimly. “I can tell. He’s twitching just like everyone else I’ve seen who has been tortured this way. He has some internal bleeding, Harry. Bleeding on the brain, but I’ve stopped the worst of it. I want to take him to hospital, but it’s no good. I’ll have to treat him here rather than risk moving him.”

Harry let out a low sigh. “I need to go arrest his father.”

“No.”

Harry turned to Scorpius who had forced his eyes open. “I’m afraid I have to, Scorpius. Your father used an Unforgivable Curse on you. It’s out of my hands.”

Scorpius’ eyes fluttered closed again and he mouthed the single word, “Okay.”

“Do you need something from me?” Harry asked Audrey.

“No, Ginny has gone to the hospital to get what I need and Nat is making up a bed for him. We’re all set here.”

Harry nodded and stood.

Lily’s heartbroken face met his and he held out his arms to her. She was in them in a second.

“Daddy…” she whispered into his chest. “This is m-my fault.”

“No,” Harry promised as he kissed her temple and tried her tears. “And don’t you let him hear you say that, alright?” he whispered in her ear. “He needs you to be strong, Lily. You have to pull it together for him.”

“Alright,” Lily whispered as he let go and turned to the fireplace to head to the office to summon his team.

He arrived into his office and opened the door to find Williams waiting for him. “Draco Malfoy just turned himself in,” he informed Harry. “I have him secured in the interrogation room.”

“Well,” Harry said to give himself a moment to recalibrate. “That makes things easier.”

“He said you’d be in shortly,” Williams explained. “Do you want me to call anyone else?”

“No, not right now,” Harry told him as he started down the hall to where he’d find Draco. “You can be my witness to this.”

“He’s a bit of a mess,” Williams told Harry. “I offered to call a Healer but he refused.”

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and opened the door to find Draco chained to a table. They’d been this way before, except then Harry had gone out to Azkaban to see Draco. It had been a long, long time again before Draco was married. His old schoolmate’s face was a mess. His nose had to be broken and one eye blackened, but his hair was neat and his clothes were clean. Draco had taken some time to fix himself up. Harry wasn’t sorry to see the bruises. Scorpius had faired much worse. Rage swamped Harry again and he forced it down. He had to keep his composure.

Harry sat slowly in the chair opposite from Draco and studied the other man more closely. He looked exhausted and haggard. Harry had no sympathy for him, but it was good to know. “Your son has a brain bleed.”

Draco’s already pale complexion waxed even further. “Is he okay?”

“My sister-in-law will treat him tonight, stay with him at my house,” Harry explained coolly. “She didn’t want to move him to hospital.”

Draco closed his eyes for a solid ten seconds before he opened them again. “I used the Cruciatus Curse on him.”

“I know,” Harry retorted evenly. “Do you want to explain why or do you want to wait for your barrister?”

Draco shook his head. “I have no excuse. I’m not going to defend myself.”

“That is something, then,” Harry said evenly. “It will save your son from having to testify.”

Draco glanced away from him and stared off towards the opaque glass, behind which Williams was watching. Finally, he turned back to Harry. “He doesn’t want me for his father.”

Sadly, Harry knew it wasn’t true. “What makes you think–”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know!” Draco shot back as his expression darkened. “Nothing I say or do means anything to him.”

“You don’t know him,” Harry replied honestly. “You don’t care to know him.”

Draco’s mouth thinned down to a small slit before he finally retorted. “He has an obligation to the family. It’s not fair. He doesn’t have to like it, but we all make sacrifices.”

“What obligation?”

Draco shook his head and turned away again. “I didn’t want to marry Astoria, you know. But it was best for our family. They wanted me to marry Daphne, actually, but she refused to cooperate. Astoria knew her place and I knew mine. The same goes for Scorpius. Our family needs this alliance to… well, you wouldn’t understand.”

“No,” Harry agreed as he sat back in his chair. “I wouldn’t understand forcing my child to marry someone they didn’t love for the sake of blood lines.”

“It’s not just blood lines!” Draco retorted angrily. “It’s money and position and those are two things my family has been sorely lacking since the fall of the Dark Lord. My father left me in an incredibly difficult position and it’s taken me years to secure a bride for Scorpius. Several I’ve considered haven’t worked out, but now I have someone and she’s perfect for the role.”

“So, you told him about this bride when he arrived home?” Harry asked, finally putting the pieces together. “I am sure he didn’t take it well.”

“He refused, as I assumed he would,” Draco agreed as his fury seemed to fizzle out. “I… I can’t explain it, Potter. I saw all the times I didn’t have a choice and my son not accepting responsibility for his family, plus the blasted Daphne having made him independent financially, and I lost control.”

Harry let out a long, slow breath. “Well, I’m about to make your day a whole lot worse.”

Alarmed, Draco’s gaze snapped up to Harry. “What? You said he was–”

Harry held up a hand to stop him. “He was not doing well, but he’s being looked after. No, it’s about Scorpius. He asked me if he could have my permission to date Lily.”

Draco went very still. “You said no, of course.”

“I didn’t say no,” Harry replied with a wry smile. “He’s a good, smart, capable young man who cares deeply for my daughter. Why would I say no?”

His old nemesis stared at him for a long, long time. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” Harry shook his head. “You’ve been so wrapped up in what you were doing you missed the fact that you have a wonderful son. I don’t know if that’s because of you or in spite of you.”

“I’m sure you have an opinion on it,” Draco admitted bitterly. His brows drew further together. “You’re… you’re serious?”

“I am never more serious than when it comes to my daughter,” Harry assured him quietly. “I trust Scorpius with my life, because I’m trusting her to him. He’s more than earned my trust.”

“A Malfoy and a Potter,” Draco closed his eyes and shook his head. “My father will disown him.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

Draco didn’t answer immediately. Finally, he asked, “How long will I go to prison for this?”

“I don’t know,” Harry told him. “That’s not up to me. Personally, I think you need therapy more than prison. I’d be willing to suggest it to the Wizengamot if you’re willing to try.”

He glanced down at his chained hands and nodded once. “Astoria won’t speak to me. She says she’s going to leave me if it comes to a choice between me and Scorpius. I’ve buggered this whole thing up, Potter, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“You have to tell your son you are sorry,” Harry informed him. “If he wants to see you, I can bring him to see you. If not, you should write him a letter. Then you need to figure out how to love the son you have, not the one you couldn’t force to do your bidding.”

“I have cocked this up,” Draco said bitterly. “I realized it as he left. I knew he’d run to you.” Gray eyes met green and there were levels of grief and regret in them. “My son ran to you for protection, not to me. He had to run from me. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

~*~

“What are you still doing up?” Al asked Nat as she made her way down the stairs to the couch where he sat, waiting for his father to get back from the Ministry. He’d thought everyone was asleep, save his aunt who was stationed in James’ room with Scorpius, monitoring his friend.

Nat, dressed in shorts and an old t-shirt sat down next to him, curling into his side a bit like a cat. “My feet are freezing,” she said as she stuck them under his thigh and poked at his arm until he wrapped it around her.

Al was thankful he was wearing jeans so he didn’t have to feel her cold toes. She was cold all over, though, as he wrapped an arm around her. “You okay?”

“Are you?”

“No,” he sighed. “Scorpius was attacked… by his dad. There is nothing okay about it.”

A moment later he felt Nat melt further into him as her shoulders began to shake gently.

“Oh, Leah,” he said as his heart ached for her. He held her close and let her cry. “He’ll be okay.”

“I know,” she sniffed. “I’m sorry to cry, but I was holding it together for Lily and then… I dunno.”

“It’s okay,” he promised, grateful she’d come to him. He always wanted her to come to him.

Nat swiped at her cheeks and kept her head on his chest. She was still so small, especially compared to everyone else and he was getting bigger by the day, but he didn’t care.

“The curse… the one his dad used. It wrecks up a person’s… aura, maybe? The magical field around them look weird. I checked on Scorpius before I came down and his is back to normal, but that was the creepiest part of this. When I looked at him, his magic didn’t look right.”

Al had no idea what to say to that so they fell silent and slowly he felt Nat relax until finally she was asleep, her soft breath the only sound in the room until his father arrived back from the ministry. He looked exhausted and wrung out, Al noted. He wondered, for a moment, if he really could handle the job of being an Auror, but then he dismissed it. It would be hard and a lot of it would be ugly, but he never wanted his father’s job. The job of the Head Auror was miserable. Al rather thought Teddy would do a good job once he was a lot older.

His dad inclined his head to Nat but Al shook his head. “I have her,” he whispered as he slid an arm under her knees and pushed to his feet. She was so small, so slight, it wasn’t even a struggle. Predictably, she stayed asleep. When she was out, Nat was out. She simply snuggled her nose into his throat and stayed asleep. It wasn’t the first time he’d carried her, although typically it was up the hospital wing.

Silently they made their way up to the girls’ room and Al tucked Nat into her bottom bunk before leaving to speak to his father.

“How is Scorpius?” Harry asked softly once the door was shut, while they stood in the dimly lit hallway.

“He’s okay,” Al told him. “Nat said his magic looked wrong for a bit, but she says it’s better now. What happened, Dad?”

“Draco Malfoy turned himself in,” Harry explained as he glanced to James’ room. “Other than that, I don’t have anything else to tell you.”

Al couldn’t help the sense of relief at the news of Draco being in custody. However… “Is he going to get out?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted reluctantly. “Al… he needs help. He was abused by his father and part of me would rather see him get therapy than be sent to jail.”

Outraged, Al felt anger flare inside him. “He nearly killed Scorpius!”

“I’m not excusing him,” his father sighed as he placed a hand on Al’s shoulder and then pulled him in for a hard hug. “But his dad never loved him, and that generational abuse is built up. Scorpius is going to break that cycle. Well, we need to leave it to the court.”

“You weren’t loved as a child,” Al pointed out stubbornly.

“No,” Harry agreed. “I also used the Cruciatus Curse twice. I wasn’t punished for it, but I know what it’s like to lose control.”

“Not on your child.”

“No,” Harry agreed evenly as he let Al go. “Go get to bed and we’ll talk about this in the morning. I’ve done my job, Al, and Draco is actually sorry for what he did. He turned himself in and is willing to go to jail. We will see what happens.”

~*~

Harry watched his son’s retreating back before he pushed into James’ room to see Audrey sitting by Scorpius’ bedside, reading an old novel. “How is he?”

“Better,” Audrey said as she yawned.

“Audrey,” Harry said as he knelt down next to her and studied Scorpius for himself. The boy was pale, paler than normal, but his breathing was steady. “Thank you for all you do.”

“It’s my calling,” she said simply. “Also, I get days off unlike you. Thank you for all you do.”

He shrugged it off. “Do you want me sit with him for a bit?”

“Absolutely not,” Audrey said pointedly. “Ginny is going to take a turn in a few hours. You need some sleep. Besides,” she said as she held up the battered old book, one Ginny had received when she’d been pregnant with Hope. Harry read the cover and couldn’t help the small tug of amusement at Audrey reading the awful rubbish. Matilda Magpie and the Squire’s Son. “This thing is so ridiculous, it will keep me entertained until I’m ready to swap. You get some sleep.”

He wanted to argue with her, but the truth was he didn’t have it in him. So he nodded and rose, leaving the room as silently as he’d entered. He undressed in the dark quiet of his room and slipped into bed and almost immediately into sleep.

~*~

Ginny’s wand vibrated at three o’clock as she’d set it and she reached over instantly to touch it before he could wake Harry. She hadn’t heard him come to bed but she could sense him there. It was her turn with Scorpius so Audrey could have a small kip on the spare bed they’d set up in Harry’s office. She left her room a moment later, padding softly into James’ room to find Audrey staring pensively off into the distance. “Everything alright?”

Her sister-in-law started, turned to her and holding up a scrap of parchment Ginny instantly recognized. Her dream. The dream about James and Caroline, although she hadn’t known at the time it was Caroline. “I’d forgotten I stuck that in there,” she said taking it from Audrey.

“You never mentioned the dog,” Audrey said quietly.

Confused, Ginny glanced up at her. “Come again?”

“You’ve had that dream a number of times, right?”

“Right.”

“You told me about it, but you never mentioned the dog.” Audrey’s expression was frozen.

“I don’t–” Ginny began but she broke off as she glanced down at the words she’d written so many years before.

Dog…

“There was a big dog in my dream,” Ginny said with sickening horror as she remembered again, vividly, the dream she’d had so long ago. “Oh Merlin! In the dreams since the dog went away and I forgot!”

“You say right here,” Audrey said as she jab at the parchment, “It was a dog the size of a small horse, Ginny! What is Rufus if not massive?”

“I don’t… oh bugger, I don’t know how I could have forgotten,” Ginny said as she sank slowly onto the side of the bed, carefully avoiding jostling Scorpius.

“You have to tell them,” Audrey said bluntly. “I dismissed your dream, since you clearly aren’t a seer, but Ginny, this is just too strange to be a coincidence. You have to warn them so they don’t do anything stupid. It worries me that James isn’t in the end of your dream and I really want to know where that baby comes from.”

“But it can’t be true,” Ginny whispered in shock, even though she’d half believed it ever since she’d had the dream. “I’ll… I’ll write to James tomorrow. I’ll warn him. He’s not going to take me seriously, but I have to warn him.”

“Good,” Audrey said as she stood.

“No,” Ginny whispered and her sister sat back down. Pleadingly, Ginny glanced up to her. “No, we can’t change things. Isn’t that what I learned with the prophecy from Harry all those years ago? They can’t be changed.” She sat in the horror of it and had to fight not to be sick. “I am so scared.”

“Maybe it isn’t real,” Audrey said quietly.

“Maybe,” Ginny agreed.

And neither believed it.
“I can ask him not to leave the country,” Ginny said hopefully. “He’s not supposed to, anyway. In my dream the Healers looked to be darker skinned, like South America.”

“It doesn’t mean he was in South America,” Audrey pointed out reasonably. “You said they were speaking English.”

“I did,” Ginny agreed and felt a small sliver of relief. “Go on, go get some sleep. I need to think.”

~*~

The owl James received from his mother was odd. She mentioned about Lily and Scorpius, which was weird but since James liked and trusted Scorpius it was okay. Then she told him about Draco’s attack and how the Wizengamot had quietly met and remanded Draco to inpatient treatment at St. Mungo’s and how Scorpius was going to stay with them for at least the summer since he didn’t want to go home. All that made sense.

Then she’d asked him to be careful, which was not unusual for her but was still a little strange.

Then she’d told him not to eat or drink anything anyone gave him. That tipped it over into strange, but James had George Weasley as an uncle. He never did trust anything anyone gave him, so it was fine. Still, he’d have to reply and tell her she was going round the twist in her old age, just so she’d have a reason to smile.

His letter from Caroline had been worrying. It wasn’t so much what she said as what she didn’t say. She didn’t tell him much about her job, which told James plainly there was something going on there. He wanted to go check on her himself but the team had been given an unexpected full sponsorship to a training camp in Brazil and he was leaving in less than an hour. He’d have to write his father a note and ask him to check in on Caroline and Honor.

His letter from Louis had been short and to the point. He loved Egypt, he loved his job, and he didn’t miss the fog, and he’d met a girl. It was Louis, though, so he expected the girl to be gone by the next letter. Grinning, he penned him a quick reply and sent it off with one of the team’s owls before using his own to send a longer letter to his parents.

He forgot to mention he was heading to Brazil.

Okay, he didn’t actually forget. He simply decided they didn’t need to know since they’d only worry needlessly about him.

“Potter,” one of his teammates called. “Move it, Portkey leaves in three.”

The training camp was held on the same field the Brazilian national team played on and James could honestly say he learned more in one day than he did in his entire time at Hogwarts. It was stunning to watch the players, not just from the stands, but actually hear what the world’s best players had to say on their technique and form. Nothing like this had ever been done before and it was being held quite secret. There were intense rivalries among the nations, but a few countries had been invited to participate with some of the greats who had recently retired.

“Who put this on?” James wondered later that evening as he sat down with two of the Brazilian players, Carlos and Lucas, and one of the Japanese in a bar in downtown Brasilia. They were all exhausted, but also starving from the heavy day of practice and the bar was located in their hotel. Oddly enough they’d been put up in a Muggle establishment, but the Muggles in Brazil didn’t seem to question their strange clothes like the Muggles in Britain did.

These three were also rookies in their first season on their respective national teams and the four of them had hit it off three days before when they’d first arrived. It helped that they all spoke English fluently but James was quickly catching on to Portuguese, although Japanese was still way beyond his skillset. He had no idea how Nat could cram so many languages into her head and keep them all straight.

“I heard it was a private arrangement,” the Japanese player, Kaito, said as he stretched out his shoulder, wincing a bit in the pain. “Your mother didn’t know anything about this?”

“No,” James said, not bothering to explain he hadn’t told his mother. It was odd, but in this world his mother was a lot more famous than his father.

“I saw your mother play once,” Carlos said with a long sigh. “She should have played for England.”

“Agreed,” Lucas said as the waitress brought over their drinks.

James was the only one to have requested water, knowing he wouldn’t play well if he had a beer. “I think she gave it up to have me,” James admitted with a wry grin. “It’s a tough choice for a woman.”

Carlos laughed and groaned at the same time. “You mean we’re stuck with you instead of her?”

Grinning, James picked up his glass and took a sip.

And he remembered no more.

When he awoke, the only thing James could focus on was how badly his head was pounding as wave after wave of nausea crested through his body. Rolling, he felt the soft bed under him and he kept rolling until he hit the floor and crawled towards the loo, the cool tiles of the bathroom scraping along his naked flesh.

He was violently ill for more than ten minutes before he passed out on the bathroom floor.

His next trip into consciousness found him lying, again, in a bed but this time not his hotel bed.

“He was definitely poisoned,” he heard one of them say, blessedly in English.

Then he heard his coach’s voice. “Sabotage of the teams, do you expect?”

James relaxed back into the pillows and realized he didn’t feel quite as awful as he had before. And then his stomach cramped again and he was sick all over his pillow.

James would learn, a few hours later, that several people in the hotel bar had been poisoned just as he had, including a few Muggles. Anyone who had ordered water was given something. He was actually the only wizard to get sick since everyone else had either ordered alcohol or one of those revolting sugar drinks the Muggles favored.

“I can call your father,” his team captain, Marvis Stanton, said later that night. He was about sixty, his hair thick and gray, with the fit body of the athlete he still was.

“No,” James shook his head immediately. His parents were already worried enough about Lily, and thus far it hadn’t leaked to the Magical press… especially since this exercise was supposed to be kept quiet. “It was a Muggle terrorist attack.”

“I’m thankful you weren’t hurt worse,” his coach said with a snort. “If I’d lost Harry Potter’s kid on my watch… your old man would come down on me.”

James smiled weakly and let it go. They’d be going home the next day and he wanted to put the whole thing behind him.

~*~

Harry strolled through Diagon Alley towards the small jewelry shop where Caroline worked. He had been attempting to get down to see the girl since James’ letter, but he’d been caught up in the drama with Draco’s move to St. Mungo’s, Scorpius’ slow recovery, and the investigation into Caroline’s grandparent’s death.

He’d ended up bringing in Nat and she’d said instantly it was Fiend Fire, which Harry was stunned to learn she’d decided to see by taking a drink to the Room of Requirement.

“You did what?” he’d asked in alarm after she’d told him what had burned the house.

“The point is,” Nat had said with her abnormal composure, “I wanted to see it and it was the only safe way I could think of.”

“That fire could have still been burning,” Harry pointed out.

“It’s what I told her,” Al said glumly as he kicked at a stone. “But she told the room she needed to see the after effects of Fiend Fire. It showed her the burned out room.”

“With Crabbe’s son dying in that room it just felt important,” Nat persisted. She then cocked her head to the side and studied the wreckage. “But she did something else, like a bubble.”

“She?”

“It’s definitely Crabbe’s work,” Nat confirmed. “It has her magical signature all over it, just like those curses on the poor women she’s captured. I didn’t really understand what I was seeing at first, but now I can tell who performed a spell if I’m familiar with them.”

The two stared at her as this news sank in. It didn’t officially close the case, and the girls didn’t know about Nat’s magical ability, but Harry could make up some line about someone in the ministry knowing magical signatures. It would be enough, even though it wouldn’t bring justice for the deaths.

Also, his son had been caught in a poisoning in Muggle Brazil. Harry was less than thrilled James had opted not to tell them he was leaving the country, but the fact that his son thought he could get away with it was maddening. Still, he was a man now so Harry decided to keep it to himself. It was James’ life and he had to let him live it. Plus, he didn’t want to worry Ginny. She was already so scared for Lily’s safety, but in the future, he’d send an Auror to watch his son if he traveled. Blessedly, he’d been able to stop the coach from committing to travel for the world cup next month in August. England wasn’t in the game, so there was no reason to go.

All of this was rolling around in Harry’s head as he stopped at the glass front door of the shop where Caroline worked to see her cringing away from a young man leaning over Caroline as she sat at a desk behind the counter and Harry nearly exploded.

Years of practiced restraint kicked in and slowly Harry pulled open the door. At the sound of a chime overhead the man straightened away from Caroline and smiled widely at him. Caliper was his name and it was his father’s shop. Harry had never bought anything there, but they’d picked up Victoire’s engagement ring here and he was passingly familiar with the younger man’s father.

“Mr. Potter,” the man began.

Harry cut him off. “Was he threatening you, Caroline?”

The man instantly bristled as Caroline shrank into her chair even further. It was all the answer he needed.

“No…” Caroline began.

“Caroline,” Harry said quietly as he ignored the man’s loud protestations. “I need the truth.”

She didn’t look up as tears began to slide down her cheeks.

“Did he threaten you?”

She nodded and it was all Harry needed to have the man arrested.

It turned out the younger man had taken a fancy to Caroline and he’d been trying to get her to do things in order to not lose her job. It was then revealed they’d lost a string of young, pretty employees because of the same thing. The old man, who had been semi-retired, backed his son, firing Caroline and filing a suit against the Ministry.

The whole thing was a proper mess and Caroline was out of a job.

“You don’t need a job,” Harry told her as he handed her a handkerchief as she sat in his office, miserably crying. “I’ll pay for Honor’s school things this year and if you need money, you simply need to ask.”

“You don’t understand,” Caroline said as she wiped at her eyes. “My grandparents were in debt, and James has paying for it!”

This was actually news to Harry. “He’s paying for it?”

“Out of his salary for the team,” Caroline confirmed miserably. “I didn’t want him to b-but I would have had to fight the goblins, and I have nothing to give them. I have nothing!”

Harry let out a slow breath. “Right.”

“Please don’t be mad,” she said softly. “I know I shouldn’t let him. It’s why I wanted this job!”

“I’m not mad he’s paying for it,” Harry assured her, surprised she’d worry about it. “I’m not even surprised.”

Her eyes shot up to his and they were as big as saucers. “You aren’t?”

“He wants to marry you,” Harry reminded her firmly. “He loves you.” Harry pulled a chair over to her and sat down. He didn’t take her hand, as he might have someone else, but he made sure she was looking him in the eyes. “He wants to make you part of our family. I don’t know if you will be, but I do know if my son loves you that much then you have to be very special.”

“I’m not.”

There was a world of hurt and abuse in those two words.

“You are,” Harry told her. “You’re never going to like or want a father, but I will be your protector from here on out. If you need or want another mother, Ginny will be there for you always. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Caroline whispered.

“I’ll deal with the goblins,” Harry told her and held up his hand. “I know James can and he even has enough money in the rest of his trust to pay it off, but the fact is that money is set aside for when he married and being in debt to the goblins is not a good idea. I’ll take care of it. I want you to head to my house and have dinner there, as I know your sister is already there, then you two can head back to James’ place, or stay the night. I want you to tell Ginny what happened. Do you promise?”

After a moment, she nodded.

“Alright, then, you can use the Floo here in my office.”

Twenty minutes later he was walking into Gringotts to settle the debt against Caroline. First, however, he negotiated down the exorbitant interest rate the goblins had forced onto Caroline’s grandparents when they’d been fighting the legal battle against Caroline’s despicable father. Then he’d reminded the goblins they’d gained a considerable asset when they’d been told to seize Donald Baker’s holdings. After that, it was a small lump sum which was once and done and he’d sent a note to James to explain what had happened. He thought about going to see him at training but he knew enough to know having one’s dad show up at work was never a cool thing to do.

~*~

Crabbe grinned as she read through the Muggle tabloid which talked about the terrorist cell poisoning Muggles all over Brazil. She’d hoped Potter would fly to his son’s side, but apparently the stupid man had bought her ruse of Muggles attacking Muggles.

But then, everyone had bought her ruse when she’d set up the training for the ridiculous sport in the first place. It had been easy, so easy, especially since she’d killed several rich men in Saudi Arabia and appropriated their wealth.

Then she’d simply had to disguise herself as a waitress and drug the Quidditch players so they wouldn’t remember anything about the night. She hadn’t done anything to the foreign players, exactly, just a simple forgetting potion in their beers, but Potter she’d needed in her power.

The prostitute had been the hardest part. Who’d have thought finding a girl no one would miss in a city as big as Brasilia would be so difficult? But she’d managed and even now she had the little welp gestating in a secret location in the country, cared for by a house-elf. She wouldn’t survive the birth. The Muggle bitches never did, but it wouldn’t matter. The welp would be damaged and the Potters would be stuck.

It wasn’t the plan she’d originally intended, but it was a wonderful plan, nonetheless. Yes, things were going very, very nicely indeed. The brat was now fifteen. Soon enough she’d be old enough and she’d only be the first.

After her, Isabella was going to go after them all.

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