Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe and all the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Many thanks to TabiPrewett for Beta'ing this chapter!

They were back in the dark, candle lit office.

Harry remained silent. Daphne had been right in saying that things had gone quite differently, her grandparents had been planning on actually joining Voldemort would likely even have succeeded in doing so if it hadn't been for Alberic's unintentional interference.

How would the First Wizarding War have gone if Voldemort had used that Void Sphere to create a more powerful and bigger army? Would it really have worked to awaken people to the Gift like he himself had done accidentally at Hogwarts?

"The encounter with my parents had been planned. They knew that I would eventually go down during my summer at home. The iron lock on the door wasn't to keep the door shut; its real purpose was to magically notify Aeran about when I would finally enter the basement." Alberic said morosely. "The confrontation itself was bound to happen, as for the outcome.. things didn't go down the way they wanted. Again."

Harry silently looked at Alberic. A man that had sought to make his parents proud of him throughout his entire youth yet never succeeded. Even now he looked saddened by the memories of the events. Harry's first impression of Alberic was that of a blunt, and maybe even a bit cold man, but he could now easily see the same Alberic from the memories in front of him.

The morose look was soon gone however, so Alberic continued.

"Investigations followed naturally, but the magic had completely eradicated any trace left of the Inferi and my parents. Nothing was left. I told them pieces of the truth while shielding my thoughts from their inquisitive gazes, 'my parents died after experimenting with strong, unstable magic and caused an explosion, resulting in their deaths'..." Alberic said, picking up a quill again to spin it between his fingers. "I destroyed all their research on the Void Sphere, I didn't even look at the documents myself in fear of accidentally reading and remembering a lethal piece of information.."

"And the Death Eaters? They didn't approach you?" Harry asked curiously.

Alberic shook his head. "Voldemort and his followers didn't show much interest in us, my parents hadn't contacted them yet fortunately... Not that it would have mattered after they had died though. We still had no substantial amount of money, and the family line was thinned out again, not to mention that Avelina and I were no fighters either."

Alberic let out a sound of amusement, but it sounded hollow. "Funny how at the time, I found myself in practically the same position my father, and mother had put themselves in, history had repeated itself for the Greengrass family."

"But you did things differently this time." Harry replied respectfully.

"I did. The story after this isn't all that interesting or new from what Daphne might have told you. We laid low during the second war just like everyone else, Avelina worked multiple jobs part-time, I studied to become potions master by learning every book Avelina could buy for me. Then you ended the war by defeating Voldemort, and we took that time of freedom and celebration to continue the apothecary line Avelina inherited from her parents." Alberic said smiling uncharacteristically warmly as he continued. "It ended up being a success, business grew and expanded. In response we paid off our lingering debts, reclaimed the Greengrass manor, and gave birth to Daphne and Astoria."

"Which brings us to the present." Harry said with a nod recognizing much of the things Alberic said, although in a slightly different way and order from Daphne. "How are things now with the Death Eaters? The Greengrass' have power and wealth again, right? Daphne told me that you would occasionally get visits from Voldemort's recruiters here."

"Correct, they have visited multiple times, but I made it absolutely clear a few weeks ago, when I finally joined the Order, that I was not interested in joining or following Voldemort, and preferred a neutral stance. Of course this will only be temporarily. There will be no neutrality in this war." Alberic answered quietly toward the end.

"But turning back to the topic at hand.. I think you can understand why I cannot help you any further than this. I do not wish to use the spells that have been ingrained into me unless I absolutely have to. I wouldn't even be of much use to you. I know that you have the very same Gift that my parents had. The same trait they had hoped to kindle within me with the Void Sphere." Alberic said.

"If you decide to continue, you will easily learn it, but I guess you already discovered that yourself, haven't you?" Alberic asked knowingly.

"I have." Harry answered easily, remembering how quick he learned the Opanare and Mortigore in the Chamber of Secrets in comparison to spells of other schools.

Alberic nodded seriously. "Something inescapable seems to be bound to you. Do what you think will give you the best results, Harry. I too hope for our victory in the upcoming war so that my family can be safe again."

"Either path is dangerous. You can choose to stop here, and remain like you are now. Meaning that you will need a great amount of luck and people to help fight for you.." Alberic said quietly before lifting his eyes and staring into Harry's intently. "..Or you choose to pursue the Dark Arts to grow stronger and increase your chances of victory at the risk of your very own self."

Harry nodded grimly. "I fight for the same reasons. I wish to save and protect everyone."

Alberic didn't give any signs of hearing him as he held his gaze like a guardsmen. "But know this, I will be your enemy if you end up being dominated by what should be controlled. The Arts will never again destroy, or endanger my family. No matter who you are."

Harry nodded slowly and firmly in response. "I won't be making any inventions like your parents did. I only seek powerful spells for use in battle."

"Yes, I don't think you would go there either, but my parents too only started with the thought of inventing some Dark spells to make an extra bit of gold."

Alberic's chilling gaze vanished with a blink of his eyes as he looked back to his quill. "Choose for yourself, Harry. You have seen only a fraction of the things that my father could do, I didn't even stand a chance against him from start to finish. I would still lose if I were able to go up against him today."

"Your father was strong, yes." Harry agreed remembering how Alberic had been thrown back against the wall by a disarmed Aeran. Now that he thought about it, Alberic had likely survived the explosion of the orb because of that.

He watched Alberic rise from his chair and pick up the Pensieve before putting it back inside the cabinet again. "You have trouble with your wand, right? Daphne explained it to me in one of her letters."

".. I do." Harry said before laughing tentatively. "Daphne sure does talk an awful lot about me."

Alberic chuckles as he turned back from the cabinet with a small, rectangle shaped box. "She does. She could write whole essays, but these things are always written in-between the lines of course, she doesn't write about what you do down there in clear words to be safe."

Alberic's expression quickly sobered as he sat back down in front of him behind his desk.

"I too had problems with my wand, but that was because I was forcing myself to practice, my wand disagreed which is completely logical as I too wasn't suited for the Dark arts. I had no affinity for it, it repulsed me even. My wand often ended up being an extra weigh for me during those times."

"What I don't understand is why it's causing trouble for you. Normally people with the Gift get a wand which suits them accordingly, but you sit here before me with both the Gift, the will to practice willingly and a wand that seems to be wrong for you all at the same time." Alberic said questionably. "It doesn't add up."

Harry frowned, but understood nonetheless. This would explain why he suddenly felt himself at odds with his wand, but Alberic was missing an important piece of information. "I.. I actually didn't have it since the beginning. It.. was suddenly just.. there."

Alberic's eyes bored in his searchingly, and his words were clear in the silent office. "That is unheard of. How? What have you been doing?"

"I didn't do any experimenting or the likes if that's what you think, it just.. happened." Harry said slowly. He couldn't just start talking about how he accidentally absorbed Voldemort's artifacts during the night in the corridor, and the Chamber of Secrets with Ginny..

Alberic looked at him for a prolonged time before making a thoughtful hum. "Attaining it after you got your wand would somewhat explain it. If your ability had been.. dormant during your wand picking then you picked your wand without taking that into calculations, which proves to be a major factor."

"For now." He said quietly, pushing the small, black box toward him across his desk. "You will take this with you."

Harry picked up the box and opened it after Alberic nodded at him.

Inside rested a single black wand, carved spirally from top to bottom, the handle was slightly curved and had a few silver linings embedded into it. It looked to be around thirteen inches in length.

"Isn't this..?" Harry said looking at the wand that definitely belonged to Aeran Greengrass, the only personal thing Alberic had left of his father, because of his successful attempt in disarming him prior to his death.

"My father's wand, yes, a person who was born and raised with the Gift. It should serve you better than your current… Use it when you are alone or when the situation is dire. Suddenly using a different wand will undoubtedly raise questions." Alberic clarified.

Harry shook his head and made to decline his offer. "I- I can't take this. It's not mine, it's-"

"-It doesn't matter, my father is dead and the things he did with that wand only served to inflict me, and others with agony." Alberic said bluntly, cutting him off. "Take it, and give it better use than he did."

Harry looked back at the wand in the box. Feeling his determination quickly settling in with each second that passed. This wand could certainly help him in the future. Every little bit could make the final difference. He knew that. It was what he now strived for.

He grabbed the wand by the handle and instantly felt power surge through him, it felt.. confident in the secure grip of his hand, and hummed with a resonance Harry thought long forgotten in his own wand. For a moment, it was as if he was at Ollivander's shop again.

"Thank you… I will make sure that I do." He said feeling Daphne's locket shift slightly with each breath he took.

"So." He began, his voice stirring her from her thoughts. "That was quite different from what you told me at the beginning."

She looked up from her sitting position on the edge of her bed, Harry had returned from the meeting with her father. He didn't appear to be mad, but Daphne felt anxious nonetheless. He was awfully calm. He shouldn't be.

She nodded as he sat beside her, shifting the point of gravity on the bed toward him. "I'm sorry, Harry. We didn't know each very well yet, but I really liked you and I wanted to gain your trust.. but instead of honestly telling you that there were parts about my family I couldn't talk about. I choose to pick the easy route and misled you, only parts of it were true."

He didn't respond and she leaned closer to him before reaching out for his hand with her own, slowly intertwining their fingers when he accepted her touch.

"I didn't want you to think dirty of me for having had people like that in my family not too long ago. People who were thinking of actually joining Voldemort by showing him their horrific experimentation results." Daphne continued quietly.

"You should've known that I wouldn't have thought differently about you." Harry said lightly chastising her, making her nod. He was right, she shouldn't have thought like that, but she hadn't been sure at the time.

"I know that now, especially after the visit to the Dursleys'. You are one of the few who now knows about this.. but that doesn't matter a lot, or does it?" She said morosely. "In the end I'm just making up excuses. I deceived you, I feel even more horrible now that I know what you've actually been through yourself, I didn't think it was.. that bad."

She looked down at their joined hands. At the time it had felt like the right choice- no, the most efficient choice, but she quickly grew to regret that after time passed and she got to know him even more. It had been inevitable, but she wanted to stall, and forget about it for as long as she could to avoid facing her mistakes.. until the point finally came in the Chamber of Secrets where she was forced to reveal the tip of the iceberg in order to halt his reckless practice.

Harry sighed softly beside her, and proceeded to take her chin in his hand to lift her head, making her look into his eyes.

His eyes were calm and clear, no stormy emeralds some occasionally saw from time to time whenever he was angered or frustrated.

"You aren't mad?" Daphne asked tentatively after she didn't see any rage in his eyes.

"I don't like the fact that you gave me false, or incomplete information under the intention that I would open up to you in response. Don't do that ever again." Harry said a bit harshly before softening again when he continued. "But I can understand your reasons, and I'll forgive you if you won't get mad at me for what I am about to tell you, and if you keep the promise you made with me before we came here."

"Promise? What do you..?" Daphne asked, lightly shaking her head. Not understanding what he meant- no, not wanting to understand.

"Yes, promise." Harry said with a nod. "During our last practice session in the Chamber you promised that you would give me the book if I decided to continue after being shown whatever it was that you and your father had to show here." He finished indicating around them.

"What?" Daphne gasped perplexed. Increasing the grip on his hand. Why was he still saying this? "No, you can't be serious, Harry!"

"I know what to expect now Daphne. The memories, the Arts, Voldemort. I understand what it means and what it can do. I'm prepared."

He briefly stared in front of him, thoughts and feelings drifting through his eyes she wished to know.

"I've come to a decision. After today, after Little Whining, after everything you've done for me, and shown me." Harry said resolutely before releasing her hand and standing up, her gaze following him. "I know what my choice and what my drive will be."

"What do you mean?" She asked frowning in incomprehension. This was becoming weirder and weirder. What was this ominous shift? The memories with her father should have shaken him, stopped him, but instead he just looked more confident and determined.

"What I have noticed is that everyone who used the Arts went mad because they used it for their own good. Your grandparents, Voldemort, Death Eaters, and Grindelwald probably too are all examples of this." Harry said holding her locket in his hand through his shirt. Watching her also rise from the bed to stand opposite from him. "People like your father are different however, they never did it for themselves, Alberic did it in hopes of making his parents proud, he didn't do it for his own gains. Aurors too use Curses to protect others. It's intent that matters, not the kind of magic. I'm sure of it."

Daphne slowly shook her head, feeling a tight expression on her face. That didn't relieve her at all. It was all speculation. "That could be pure coincidence, you fail to mention that those people who went much too far in their actions, all had a strong connection to the Dark Arts.. Isn't it strange that my father, the first to defect from the family didn't have this supposed Gift?"

Harry lightly frowned, and she could see his mind work. "What you say could also be just coincidence; maybe the Gift doesn't have any link."

"No, what I think is that we are both right, Harry. Dark magic is used with negative intent, true, but the Gift is the thing that leads everyone to corruption by making the connecting ten times stronger, maybe even more, I don't know!" Daphne said throwing her hands up. He was taking this in all the wrong ways, and she didn't have solid evidence to convince him otherwise.

"Well, I don't feel very evil right now, Daphne. Do you get the feeling that I am?" Harry asked, smiling lightly as he spread his arms.

"No, of course not, stupid… that isn't my point." She admitted with a sigh. How could she ever?

"This will be my weapon, and you will be my protective hilt. It'll be fine with you around." He said conclusively as he continued to give her the same gentle smile from before and affectionately stroked a loose strand of hair out of her face. "What I have decided on is that you are my reason, you are my drive, my will, my strength, my everything. I will fight for you, bleed for you, suffer for you, and endure anything on my path if it means I can be with you again at the end of the day. You've helped me so much. I owe everything to you."

"So corny…" She said with a smile, feeling her insides melt away with emotions before they were replaced in a flash for foreboding and unsettling ones.

"But really, Harry.. you need to do those things for yourself, no one else. You need to live for yourself." Daphne said hoping that her premonition wasn't right.

"Probably, but that won't work as good. I just feel that I will do anything, use all and any kind of methods, and sacrifice all that I have to offer to ensure that you are safe and happy, preferably with me in the picture of course." He said promisingly. "My friends too. We all need to get out of this in one piece. Together."

"No, Harry.. Don't be ridiculous." She exclaimed incredulously in disbelief. He looked resolute, and calm, but only feelings of anxiety passed through her stomach at his words. "What kind of twisted way of thinking is that? What about me then? How can I just sit back and allow you to go on like that, knowing, that you don't even do this for yourself? That I'm the reason for your hardships, your battles?"

Dangerous was the only word she could think of to describe it.

He frowned somewhat at her words before looking back at her apologetically, as if the concept didn't fully register.

"I'm sorry, Daphne, but you won't be able to change my mind on this one. The thought of losing you is unbearable so I'll use that weakness as my strength." Harry said stroking her cheek, his eyes reflecting a choice that was set in stone. "Looks like I can be pretty selfish after all, right?"

She felt her frustrations flare up, he wasn't supposed to think like this, act like this, be like this! He was supposed to realize..

She slapped his hand away and stomped his chest with her fist. "You think yourself to be some kind of great, shining knight, a martyr?!"

His face didn't show any reaction to her punch, and he simply immobilized her by taking her into his arms and holding her tight when she struggled for a few seconds, trying to get out before finally giving up. His grip too secure to escape. "No, not at all, because I plan on staying with you, Daphne."

She bit her lip as he stroked the top of her head, fighting to keep her swirling emotions in check.

"Besides, won't you knock some sense into me if anything ever happens?"

She nodded and reigned in her emotions. "You bet that I will... I'll take matters into my own hands if you start acting like an even bigger idiot."

"Heh, you already broke half of your promise." Harry said as she slowly hugged him back. His heartbeat calming her. "You got mad."

"So? You're not going to forgive me now?" She asked curtly with a somewhat wet sniff.

"I will forgive you regardless, Daphne, but don't do it anymore. We don't need to." Harry gently replied. His hand slowly continuing its combing through her hair.

Daphne didn't reply and simply held their positons, feeling the shape of her locket between them.

Daphne had already seen how he enjoyed his practices with the spells he learned so far from the family book, combining this with his zealous desire to fight for her would likely prove to be a dangerous mixture. She needed to watch him even more carefully from now on.

"Don't worry, Harry. I'll make sure you'll start loving yourself someday.. I'll protect you.. from yourself." She murmured into his chest. Maybe her words would reach him better if she whispered them against his chest, close to his heart.

The following day started with Harry bumping into Daphne as he stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, nearly knocked them both down.

The trip had been arranged quicker than he had anticipated from The Order, and they would soon be meeting up with their guardian. Harry already had somewhat of an idea as to who it would be judging from the way they had to meet up.

"Sorry." He muttered when they both recovered their balance and dusted themselves.

"You can go first next time. It's obvious that you can hardly resist, but now is not the time for groping, Harry. Do that when we're alone." Daphne said raising an eyebrow slightly. Playfully and questioningly.

Harry raised his hands defensively with a small laugh. "Uh, will do?"

"Who will be going with us anyway? Why not simply have him or her Apparate us to Diagon Alley directly?" Daphne asked with a light frown.

Harry motioned for her to follow him. "Likely because it happens to be someone who can't Apparate."

"Can't Apparate? How is that even?" He heard Daphne mutter behind him to herself.

The Leaky Cauldron was just as Harry remembered it to be. Dark and shabby with a few groups of people drinking and conversing to each other, taking little notice of them and filling the bar with a buzz of chatter.

Behind the counter was Tom, looking even more baldheaded than Harry remembered him to be. Well, it had been quite some years since he last saw him after all.

Tom squinted his eyes at him as he racked him memory before seeing his scar. "Mr. Potter? It's great to see you again! You've grown so much."

Harry smiled at the bartender, but gestured to keep his voice down. He didn't want a repeat of his first time here by shaking everyone's hands again. "It's good to see you too, Tom. We're just passing thru though."

"Of course, of course." Tom said nodding his head before looking around the bar searchingly. "Hagrid should be here somewhe- Ah! There he is."

"Harry!" Boomed the familiar voice of Hagrid giving him only the time to turn around before he was caught in a bone-crushing hug. Lifting him off his feet, making Daphne slightly stammer as she feared for his bones.

"Hey, Hagrid." Harry wheezed after he was released and put back on his feet again.

The gatekeeper was just as enormous as always. The space he took up in the shabby bar only adding more feeling to it.

"An' you must be Daphne Greenhouse!" Hagrid said warmly, turning to her in the cramped space of the bar, pushing a few stools aside with his behind. "Dumbledore told me all about you! Harry's girlfriend!"

"I-it's Greengrass." Daphne clarified as Hagrid shook her hand enthusiastically, making her small hand disappear in his own.

"Ow sorry! My bad." Hagrid said apologetically before turning back to Harry with a watery look in his eyes. "It be great that you found yerself a girlfriend, Harry, a small piece of happiness.. Your parents would have been proud of yeh."

"Thanks, Hagrid." He said to the gatekeeper, feeling a mixture of emotions at the compliment as he gave Daphne a small smile who returned it.

"Well, let's get goin' we came here fer business!" He said before walking past them, deeper into the bar.

"..Is Dumbledore really sure about this?" Daphne asked as she watched Hagrid push through the cramped bar. "I still remember Magical Care.."

"It's fine. Hagrid can be trusted with this." He said grabbing her hand and following Hagrid.

"Been busy, Harry?" Hagrid asked as they entered the small, walled courtyard of the inn.

"I have. I'm sorry that I didn't visit." Harry said as Hagrid tapped the brick wall a few times, making the stones turn and wiggle away to reveal the entrance to Diagon Alley again. Surprising Daphne a bit as she noticed that Hagrid umbrella wasn't a normal one.

"It be fine, Harry. I 'ave been very busy myself after all!" Hagrid said happily as they went down the snowy streets of Diagon Alley.

The wizarding shopping district was a lot more somber than Harry remembered it to be since the last time he came here. The streets were still quite crowded during this time of the year, but most of the wizards and witches wore big hats and hoods to hide themselves away from direct eye contact. People moved in groups like this and quickly went in a straight line from point A to B.

"You have? With what?" Harry asked curiously after he looked away from the streets to his enormous friend. Hoping that he wasn't doing anything questionable again.

Hagrid however, looked absolutely giddy as he turned back to them with fond eyes. "Constantly been goin' to the Forest lately ter take care of our hairy friend, if yeh know what I mean." Hagrid said with a wink, making harry realize somewhat dreadfully that he was talking about the giant Acromantula, Aragog, in the Dark forest.

"I take it that he's doing well then?" He asked trying to sound genuine, but failing as Daphne easily saw through it.

"Who are you two talking about?" Daphne whispered as she took his arm in hers, noticing that Hagrid treated it as a secret between the two of them.

"I'll tell you about it later.." Harry calmingly whispered back to her, thinking back on his near-death experience with the giant spider and his family in the Forest.

"He's doin' great! That ol' furball made quite the recovery yeh know, the whole colony is strengthening again. Dumbledore is a bit worried 'bout that, but I'm sure that it will be jus' fine. Aragog don't hurt a fly!" Hagrid boomed happily as Daphne gave him a look that said he was definitely going to explain it to her now.

"That's great, Hagrid.." Harry brought out a bit unenthusiastically; luckily, Hagrid didn't seem to take notice of it.

Things continued as they had planned after hearing Hagrid's forebodings words about Aragon's improving condition. Daphne quickly took him to her shops and proceeded to fit him out like a mannequin. Taking much joy in her task while Hagrid struggled to squeeze himself through the doors every time. Harry himself came with the occasional comment or two about her choice of clothes for him, but didn't really care much about what he wore, anything was better than his old ones.

Besides.. obliging to her wishes always made her smile.

Harry soon found himself with a shrunken bag of clothes in his pocket while Daphne hummed happily on his arm.

They also visited the shop of Fred and George on their way back to the Leaky cauldron after noticing the amount of colorful 'open' signs on the shop. The twins jovially greeted them and proceeded to give them free packs of all kinds of stuff from their shop like the Reusable Hangman, Skiving Snackboxes, Everlasting Eyelashes and more..

"Well, we got all that we came for, and more." Daphne said as they resumed their way back to the inn again with Hagrid.

"Finally!" Harry moaned jokingly at her, following the large back of Hagrid in front of them.

"Don't be like that; I know that you love the things I picked out for you." Daphne said with a grin, sticking close to him for more warmth against the cold around them and body contact for closeness.

"Of course I do." He said with a smile.

"Say, you don't think we can visit Ollivander's? We quite close and I'm sure that Hagrid will keep it a secret for us if we ask nicely." Daphne asked with a more serious face, referring to the problem with his wand.

"I, eh. Don't actually have to anymore, Daphne. I've solved the problem with your father's help." Harry said apologetically. Not having told her yet because of her initial reaction to his decision just the day before. Spreading the surprises out a bit had seemed like a good idea to him..

Daphne immediately frowned at him. "What do you mean 'solved'? This has been a problem for you for weeks!"

"It's not that my wand is working perfectly again, I simply got a new one from your father, it's from your grandfather to be precise."

Daphne looked slightly irritated by the sudden revelation of his new wand. "Couldn't you have told me about that a bit sooner, hm?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to unload too much on you in one go. I-" He cut himself off abruptly when an incredibly familiar feeling washed over him mid-sentence. Feelings of comfort, longing, and warmth.

"What's wrong, Harry? You're looking kind of strange.." Daphne said questioningly in response to his sudden silence.

Harry was so concentrated that he hardly registered her question in his mind. "I.. I'm not sure. Don't you feel that?" He said uncertainly. He couldn't place where he had felt it before, but it was most definitely familiar to him. He looked back up and quickly scanned the crowd around them, somehow trying to determine from which direction the compelling emotions came from.

"Harry? Feel what?" Daphne asked in a slightly worried tone beside him, lightly shaking him by the arm that she held.

"Just.. a moment." He said distractedly. Somewhere.. He was sure of it. Something was..

And then he spotted something, or rather someone. He didn't understand why it was coming from his direction, but he was happy that it did for in the distance stood someone he had been hoping to come across again for quite some time.

At the corner of the street shifted a short wizard with bandy legs and long, straggly haired ginger hair from underneath his hat. In one of his hands was an ancient looking suitcase Harry would recognize out of thousands.

Mundungus..

Dumbledore's words from weeks- or even months prior resurfaced from within him.

'Things might find their way back to you again. Fate can be a funny thing sometimes, turning you at corners you never thought of crossing.'

"Daphne, I need you to distract Hagrid for me." He whispered hurriedly, not taking his eyes of the wizard for a second now that he had found the dirty grave robber.

"What? No, I'm going with you if you're going somewhere again!" Daphne whispered back fiercely, following his intense gaze to see what he was looking at. She didn't know Mundungus however, and was unable to identify him from the rest of the crowd.

"That won't work this time, someone needs to stay." Harry said decisively, thinking quickly he pulled out the new Skiving Snackboxes from Fred and George's joke shop out of his pocket. Mentally thanked them for giving him a pack during their brief visit. "Please do this for me." He pleaded, the possibility of letting Mundungus get away again making him anxious.

"Fine! But you will tell me everything when you get back." Daphne snapped, relenting. "What do you want me to do?"

He pushed a few pills into her hand from the Skiving Snackbox. "Take the white one first and act shocked, and then eat the yellow one. No time to explain the rest."

"You owe me after this. A lot." Daphne whispered with a glare before taking the white pill.

The effect was instantaneous as her eyes widened comically in surprise as a sudden flood of blood burst forth from her nose.

"I-I'm bleeding!" Daphne exclaimed so truthfully it made Harry wonder whether or not she still said it on purpose or genuine shock.

People nearby immediately looked back at them in shock as the blood streaming down from her chin and dripped onto the snowy street.

"Gulpin' Gargoyles! Hold on lemme fix you right up!" Hagrid exclaimed after he turned and saw her condition.

"I-it's fine." Daphne said a bit weakly as she held a hand in front of her mouth to make it look like she was just trying to compose herself. Fainting not a second later as she stealthily took the remaining pill in the process, her eyes closing and her body collapsing in on itself.

"O-oi!" Hagrid yelled, catching her lithe body, saving her from the cold, unforgiving ground.

Having slowly retreated during the scene, Harry turned and darted into the people surrounding them. Disappearing from his faithful girlfriend and guard.

Quickly getting his sense of direction again by sensing the pulling aura of longing and warmth, he set off to the spot he last saw Mundungus.

'Sorry for doing this despite having said all those things to you, Daphne. I still mean them… but this is personal!' Harry thought apologetically. She would likely be angry after she awoke from the Fainting Fancies.

Soon the man in question came into view again and Harry watched with fast rising ire as the thieving Order member finished some kind of shady trade with an haggard looking wizard on the corner of the street. Was he selling Sirius' stuff right here and now?

'Retrieve it..'

The entity's voice emerged from his thoughts in his rising anger, and Harry purposefully ignored it. He had a score to settle with the man that dared rob him of Sirius's possessions.

Mundungus clipped his ancient suitcase shut after the haggard wizard left, and looked up with a satisfied smile. It fell away abruptly, however as he now noticed Harry's fast approaching figure pushing himself through the people around him.

Harry pushed harder against the people around him, to increase his speed as Mundungus tipped his hat at him with his grubby fingers, and promptly turned on his heel to enter a nearby alleyway.

The gesture only sparked his rage more.

'Not this time Mundungus, I won't let you Apparate so easily this time..' Harry thought darkly, anxious to get his hands on the man again.

Harry broke into a sprint, quickly following him into the alley, and quietly slipped his wand out of its holster. It was a lot less crowded here as it was simply used as a dead end to Apparate away in. Forming a small network of pathways through and around all the nearby shops.

'He has one.. retrieve it.'

"Mortigore." He whispered, discretely casting the spell on his free hand, readying it for use, and feeling it go ice cold as the Dark spell created a layer of ice on it. Harry's sleeve hiding it from being shown clearly to any onlookers who happen to glance at him as he moved through the narrow path.

His eyes met those of Mundungus again when the man looked back fearfully before breaking out into a clumsy sprint himself. Growing more anxious as the distance between them decreased.

"Sorry, 'Arry! T-time is short, 'eh? Gotta go now!" Mundungus shouted back when Harry was quickly gaining on him.

Their footsteps echoed as the walls became higher and the light became sparser. A few cloaked, old witches watched them run by with their old hazy eyes, but Harry ignored them, his fingers were nearly grasping the back of Mundungus.

"Well, Catch 'ya later, 'Arr—rgh!"

Just as Mundungus reached the area of the Apparating zone Harry snatched onto the back of his cloak and proceeded to roughly yank him toward the wall beside them, changing his words into an abrupt sound of struggle as the collar of his suit briefly dug into his windpipe from the force.

Mundungus dropped his case onto the ground with a clatter, making the contents of his rubbish burst out as he tried to reach out for his wand.

Harry in response kneed the wand out of his hand, and quickly gripped him by the neck with his hand, freezing the thief against the wall behind him as the ice on his hand quickly latched onto his neck with a bone-chilling grip.

"Ah.. W-what's 'rong 'Arry? Ya' seem angry?" Mundungus tried to say aloofly with a face that was a mixture of fear, and discomfort as Harry nearly stood nose to nose with him.

"Don't." He began menacingly, increasing the area and thickness of the frigid ice on his neck that was locked in his grip. "..Act stupid."

The ice cracked softly as it continued to solidify on the flesh of his neck, and stone wall behind him, making him briefly pull a pained face as he clawed at the ice with his grubby fingers. "Sorry, sorry! I won't, I won't!"

"Dumbledore might have let you off easy, but I'm not him." He said breathing in the unpleasant smell of old tobacco from the man.

"I-I 'et it! 'yer angry because I nicked an' stole some of Sirius' stuff, right?" Mundungus said quickly, looking round for an escape route as he did so. His eyes quickly looking around, unfortunately for him there was nothing and no one nearby.

"I wouldn't think about it Mundungus.. Moving now might damage your neck. This isn't just any freezing smell." Harry said threateningly when he noticed his looks. He felt little sympathy for the man. This coward had been shamelessly robbing him of Sirius' possessions. Mundungus' anxious behavior and petty excuses actually reminded him of Pettigrew a bit…

"Yes, I noticed! " Mundungus said laughing nervously as he quickly removed his fingers from his frozen neck after noticing that those too nearly froze stuck to the surface of the incredibly cold ice. Wha' is it tha' ya' want from poor me, 'Arry! I don't 'ave all the stuff anymore from his 'ouse! Look it's all on the groun' now!"

Harry slowly turned his gaze away from his, daring him to move a muscle as he looked at the contents of the ancient suitcase which were spread all around them on the snow covered ground. Judging by the looks of some of the items he could make a solid guess in saying they weren't all legal.

"Locket.."

He saw it lying on the ground not a second after the entity's voice whispered it from the back of his mind. Right there in the snow covered ground laid the locket from one of Dumbledore's memories. Slytherin's locket.. in the same moment he was also able to place the feelings he initially felt coming from Mundungus' direction. They were the same emotions he felt during his visits to Dumbledore's office when Gaunt's ring was still intact.

He rounded back on the shivering Mundungus.

"Where did you find this?! And what are you planning to do with it?" He questioned, gesturing to the golden locket on the ground.

Mundungus' eyes glance down to the spot he indicated with difficulty as his immobilized neck prevented him from looking down.

"I-I stumbled upon it durin' my time at Grimmaul' place!-"

"-During your theft." Harry corrected with a glare.

"Yes, yes!" Mundungus said hastily trying to nod in the process, but only ending up hurting himself as the ice didn't allow his skin to move so easily, and broke his skin into miniscule cuts.

"I stumbled upon it an' took it. It's a solid piece of gold embedded with emeralds after all, eh? C-can't blame a man for a little bit of foolishness in the prospect of wealth, right?!" He asked in an attempt for sympathy.

"You already stole plenty from Sirius and made enough money for yourself off of it. You found this locket in his house, and thus I think it's safe to say that it belongs to Sirius." Harry said glancing back to the S shaped locket. "I'm taking it with me. Sirius' stuff.. is my stuff."

Mundungus didn't look all that excited about handing it over, but the biting and inescapable prison of ice on his neck quickly served to change his mind.

"F-fine! You can take it and in return you can let me go, right? Let's say this never happened and be on our own way again?" Mundungus relented with a small hiss of pain.

Harry gave a sharp nod, let go of his neck and stepped back. Sinking down to his knees so that he could pick up Slytherin's locket… It was warm to the touch despite having lain in the cold snow.

"Harry, mate, warming and melting Charms aren't working! What is this?" Mundungus exclaimed, trying to melt the ice with an array of heating and melting Charms to no avail.

"It's just as I said Mundungus, It's not just any freezing spell." He said dismissively, turning the locket over in his hand. The serpentine S was inlaid with green, glittering stones, and Harry could briefly understand why Mundungus had wanted to steal it. Still, this was stolen from him and Sirius. He had every right to take it back.

Besides Dumbledore would also likely want to see this once he returned to school.

"It's because the ice is being sustained by my magic. Here." Harry explained before cutting his flow of magic to the spell trapping him with his wand.

Mundungus stumbled forward a bit as the ice binding him to the alley wall behind him instantly fell away in chunks and splashes, revealing a red, irritated neck with a few blue spots here and there.

Harry realized that might've gone too far with his spell as he saw his blue and lightly damaged neck.. He had been sure not to make it too powerful; however the effect was still more than he anticipated. Practicing on inanimate objects didn't always give much, or the correct information on how it would play out against live targets.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused back on the matter at hand, namely a spluttering Mundungus.

"You don't have to make an attempt in retrieving the items you already sold. Just remember Mundungus... You won't do this ever again, and this didn't happen. I'll keep your little trades here secret in return. I can tell that half of your wares are illegal." Harry said with a deliberate look. He actually wasn't all that knowledgeable on the forbidden trades, but apparently his bluff worked as Mundungus nodded.

"Yeah! Definitely didn't happen!" He said quickly, scooping his goods from the snowy ground back into the ancient looking suitcase before standing back up again with an apprehensive look. "Later!" He Disapparated not a second later.

Harry let out a condensing breath.

Would Sirius have commended or berated him for this? He wasn't sure. His magic usage might not have been praiseworthy, but he did get back at Mundungus for the things he had done. Harry wasn't going to let wrongdoings against the people he cared for slide so easily anymore. This wasn't the first time either, Nott was testimony to that.

Harry looked back to the beautifully engraved locket in his hand. The feelings were even stronger now that he held it in his hand. The amount he felt from Gaunt's ring had been less at the time, but that was likely because of the protective enchantments Dumbledore put around it.

Another important thing he noticed that he was the only one who felt these things. During his time at Dumbledore's office he just assumed that the aged wizard was capable of easily ignoring the remaining affects, but Daphne's reaction today indicated that this wasn't the case. Harry was the only one who felt these things, he was feeling something else. Something only he sensed.

He made to hang Slytherin's locket around his neck before stopping mid-action as the entity's voice drifted through his mind again.

"Don't.. wear.. the locket. Another.. Artifact."

Harry nearly dropped the locket, and quickly stuffed it into the pocket of his coat before stalking away in a brisk pace. Back to Hagrid and Daphne.

'An artifact!? Another one?' He asked himself.

If what the entity tried to say with those words were true, then it meant that the locket was another artifact. If so then this too once belonged to Voldemort, and would likely be enchanted like the ring that took Dumbledore's hand.

The feelings he got from the locket were comforting and familiar, but why would he think about putting it on when he could easily hold on to it in other ways? Not only that but he was already wearing Daphne's locket. Why let another one constantly clash against it?

Harry wasn't glad to admit it, but the entity had likely prevented him from doing something very dangerous just now…

But, another artifact, he found another artifact.. Not to mention that this too came from one of the memories Dumbledore showed him, just like Gaunt's ring. Mere coincidence or a link..?

No, the Diary had also been an artifact. There was a definite link. Voldemort definitely enchanted each of his prized possessions with Dark and powerful magic. Harry couldn't think of a reason as to why he did so, but he decided not to try and understand the mind of the monster that continuously tried to kill everyone he cared for.

In any case, the entity was right in saying that there were more artifacts out there to collect. He himself just happened to stumble on another one again by pure coincidence after all.

Harry quickly made his way back, ignoring the glazed eyes of the old witch again, and darted out of the alley back onto the main street. Not a second too late either as he saw a towered Hagrid plowing himself through the crowds on the street in a panicked and searching manner. A conscious Daphne moving behind him, taking advantage of the gaps he created.

"R-right here, Hagrid." He said tiredly, the quick running to get back having exhausted him a bit.

"Harry!" Boomed Hagrid, this time however, it was a more emotional tone than anything else. Daphne in the meantime looked ready to drag him off and torture the information out of him. Looking exceptionally creepy with the half dried blood on her irked face that was only cleaned up partly.

"Where in Merlin's beard did you run off to!? One moment I'm helpin' Your friend Daphne here an' the next you're gone!" Hagrid exclaimed in a relieved tone. Trapping him in the strongest bone-crushing hug he had the pleasure of experiencing thus far. Making Daphne smile a bit sadistically as she watched him endure it.

"I'm sorry, Hagrid. I saw Mundungus. He's been stealing stuff out of Sirius' house.." Harry wheezed out of his pressured lungs after he was released, making Daphne's face change to one of comprehension as she likely remembered the events of Harry and Mundungus in Hogsmeade.

"I've heard so too, Harry, but that's no reason ter' just suddenly disappear! I was moments away of informin' the whole Order!" Hagrid said in an unusually stern tone. His big round face set in a serious expression.

"You're right… But I had a score to settle with Mundungus."

"I have no love either for stealin' someone else's stuff like he did, but don't disappear on me Harry." Hagrid said with a sigh, softening again. "Did you finish things up with him then? Because I don't want that ter' happen again!"

"Don't worry." Harry said feeling the locket in his pocket. "We talked things through."

Long time no see. I know.

Here it is in any case, hope you enjoyed.

Guest chapter 18 . Dec 23, 2015: None taken, it's the truth. I simply do my best.

Anon chapter 29 . Dec 22, 2015: Thank you for your reviews, very constructive and helpful :)

Can't say when next update will be, probably in quite some time again :

The amount he felt from Gaunt's ring had been less at the time, but that was likely because of the protective enchantments Dumbledore put around it. ref to chapt 2