Chapter 6

Harry clenched his teeth, a frown on his face as he entered the American Ministry. He thought he had managed to rid himself of the intrusive nature of the wizarding world, but, here he was. Harry's face was thunder. It seemed that the American ministry had managed to detect his presence in their country. Or maybe someone had told them. Harry couldn't be sure. Harry didn't know how, but the letter that burned in his pocket was a definite indicator of their knowledge.

Harry wanted nothing more than to ignore the letter. However the demand to register with the American Ministry had also been accompanied by a veiled but definite threat. Harry did not want the force of the American Ministry tracking him down. He had had enough interference with one ministry in his life. He did not need another.

That therefore led his less than voluntary arrival at the American ministry of magic; Godric and Eric at his side. He was not coming alone. He wouldn't have allowed that. Neither would either of the two vampires that stood by his side.

"Good Evening Gentleman" the young man behind the counter said as the three of them approached. He had a grin on his face that spoke of hope and youthful optimism. Harry would have guessed it was his first week on the job. He would have felt rather satisfied with revealing the true nature of the world to the young man. It was not the one that he saw reflected in the happy eyes. The real world was far more dangerous and much more terrifying.

"I will need your names and to register your wands, if you don't mind." Harry looked at the man, unimpressed. Oh how he had grown to despise wizards.

Harry took a step forward. His face was tired. He really didn't want to have to put up with wizards; especially American wizards. They were far too cheerful.

"Harry James Potter" he forcefully placed his wand on the counter with a clatter. He scowled at the young man. The blue eyes widened slightly and the smile wavered. It was obviously not who the man behind the counter had been expecting. However he pushed on.

"Ah, right. Well, let me just take a look at that wand there." The young man picked it up. He examined it for a time, running his fingers over the bumps in the wood.

"Can you tell me what its made out of Mr Potter."

"Lord" Harry interrupted him.

The young man blinked "Excuse me sir?"

"It's Lord Potter. Well, Lord Potter-Black to be exact. I would rather you address me properly, if you are going to do so at all."

"Oh" the young man's smile had nearly faded altogether. He seemed far more tense. That was better. Harry was not here to make friends.

"My apologies Lord Potter-Black. Would you be able to tell me the material of your wand?" the boy tried to force his smile again. "For the records."

"Elder wood, with a Thestral tail-hair core" Harry's voice was nonchalant, the words were not.

"Right" the young man seemed to flinch, as he quickly handed back the wand. He then rapidly scribbled down the information that Harry had told him, into the records book. The young man then looked up.

"Next please" his smile was dimmed as he looked to Eric. He looked almost nervously at the tall blonde. The vampire stepped forward.

"Eric Northman. I have no wand" Eric was tall and intimidating. His words were fast and direct. He grinned at the man before him, his head tilted to the side threateningly.

The man's eyes widened slightly before he questioned Eric.

"Oh. Then what creature..."

The man was cut off, but not with words. Eric's smile turned into a snarl as his eyes turned red and his fangs descended. The man seemed to step back slightly.

Eric's fangs soon retracted, but the growl was still there as he spoke.

"I'll thank you not to call me a creature. I am as autonomous as everyone else in this room. Human no, but still a person." Eric's eyes were still red.

Harry looked on and gave a small nod. His lover was right. The man behind the counter and the entire wizarding world as a whole really needed to overcome its prejudices. It wasn't too long ago that this very culture had claimed that those of another skin colour were nothing more than 'creatures' and 'animals'. You would think that they would have learned from their mistakes. Different was not a synonym for lesser. Vampires, werewolves, centaurs, they were people too.

The man looked dazed as Eric's eyes finally faded back to blue. Harry felt a little sorry for the man behind the counter. He was little more than a boy, after all. They shouldn't pin their whole anger at the wizarding world on one man. However the man had called Eric a creature.

Harry felt less sorry.

The man looked to Godric. The smile looked pained and forced as he looked to the man who looked around seventeen.

"Name?" He questioned in a much weaker voice than he had had before.

"Godric" the vampire smirked as he strode forward. "Godric Gryffindor" he grinned.

Harry froze. However the man behind the counter looked as though he was about to pass out. All the blood had drained from his face. His mouth was wide. He looked as though he was going to be sick. Eric merely looked on in confusion.

"W-wand?" The man behind the counter managed to choke out. Harry would have been surprised that the man was still managing to speak, if his mind wasn't still lost in the realisation of who he had saved. Of who was standing right in front of him. Of who's childe he was dating.

"Oh" Godric had the cheek to look confused at the question. What a bastard. "I haven't used that piece of wood for a while. It will take a second."

Godric shut his eyes. His hands waved through the air in what looked like intricate and precise patterns. His lips began to move in a murmured chant. Harry could barely blink as the tattoos that stained his skin started to glow. A warm bright yellow spreading from his fingers and up his arms, across his collar bone as they illuminated the vampire's pale skin.

A bang, loud and piercing, echoed through the atrium. It echoed, bouncing off the walls. The light seemed to jump from the pale skin and into a far more defined shape. That of a rather large and imposing staff. It formed clearly in Godric's fist. The vampire tightened his grip. He opened his eyes. Every singles member of the room was staring at him.

"Here it is" the vampire had the audacity to sound smug.

He placed the staff on the counter. The thump was deafening. The staff was of twisted wood that spiralled in harsh turns to the top. There it twisted around a large red gem, trapping and pulling the precious material into the tough fingers. The staff was thick, sturdy and heavy. It looked as though it would crush a man's skull under it, with a single strike.

"Oh" Godric pauses in contemplation as he looked at the enormous staff on the counter. "You said wand. My apologies." He picked up the staff.

A flick of his wrist lifted the staff parallel to the floor and as he rotated it everyone could see the thing shrinking. Soon it was unrecognisable. The wood was smooth and polished. It gleamed in the light. The only thing that remained of the staff was the, now, much smaller, ruby that was perfectly encased in the wood.

"There, that's better." The man grinned wickedly.

Harry wasn't sure how the man behind the counter was standing, let alone how he managed to ask his next question.

"M-materials?" He nearly squeaked.

"Oh, if I remember correctly the wood is Ash and Apple" Godric ran a finger along the now smooth wood, with a fondness in his expression. "and well, the core is dragon scale and" the vampire grinned "one of my own fangs."

Harry was definitely sure that the man behind the counter was going to pass out now. He was swaying slightly and his face was extremely pale.

Harry finally took back over. He didn't want the man passing out in front of the whole room.

"I think you have enough information on us now. We are here to see the president. Is she in?"

The man could only nod. He seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Harry couldn't blame him.

"I think I remember the way" Godric grinned.

Harry didn't know whether to punch the wizard turned vampire in the face or laugh uproariously at his own ignorance. Bloody fucking Godric Gryffindor. What a joke. What an utter fool he had made of himself. All the time he had spent explaining the wizarding world to the vampire; how the potion that Harry had given to him functioned and the reason it had not been invented sooner. All the talk of Snape's new potions and his inspiration from the work of Salazar Slytherin. The man had know all this fucking time.

The thought forced a frown onto his face as he followed behind the shorter vampire. Harry looked toward Eric. He was ready to turn his anger onto the taller blonde at that moment. He wasn't sure whether he could face yelling at one of the founders of the wizarding world.

However as Harry turned, frustrated, to the man by his side, he saw the look of confusion twinkle in his eyes. The man was evidently as confused about the situation as he was. It seemed that his lover had not been deceiving him. That was rather comforting, given the situation.

The trio were followed by whispers and stolen glances as they made their way toward the president's office. However, for once, most of the whispers were directed at Godric rather than himself. But the words just seemed to bounce off Godric. The vampire was grinning and had a bounce in his step. Harry was sure that the sunlight must have been the reason for this.

The vampire had, earlier that week, had a three day trip to Washington. Godric had come back with his stories of the inaccuracies in museums, the great monuments that he had seen and the utter pleasure of merely sitting in the sun, the joy of watching people as they went around their day to day lives. Eric had told Harry, that he had never seen the vampire so happy.

So as the three entered the office of the president, Harry was sure that the vampire and newly discovered founder of Hogwarts, was ready for anything that was thrown at him. Harry couldn't help but feel some of the reassurance seep into him.

Harry may be back in the wizarding world. But at least he had these two men by his side. He finally had a family.

It was two hours later when the three men finally left the office. The talk with the president had been rather long and arduous. The woman had refused to let the three leave until she had at least, attempted, to gain as much information from the three as possible. She had been rather unsuccessful, but that hadn't stopped her from trying.

"I'm exhausted" Harry sighed with frustration. "Let's go home."

Harry was far too tired to even try and open the screeching cat stuffed in a scratchy brown bag, that was Godric and his new found identity. He would deal with this whole revelation after he'd had a day of rest. Right now all he wanted to do was curl up in his room, Eric beside him and sleep for hours.

"How do you want to do it?" Eric looked as tired as Harry did. He put a hand on his partner's shoulder.

"I think I can whip up a Portkey. I'm too tired for apperation" Harry gave a small smile. "Just give me a second."

The three stepped out of the ministry building. Harry plucked a can from a nearby bin and flicked his wand into his hand. He paused.

"Godric" Harry looked to the man that was standing watching. "How about you show us how its done?" Harry raised his brow in a challenge.

"Harry, Harry, Harry" Godric had a cocky smirk. "You really want me doing that?"

Harry gave a shrug "Why not?"

"I haven't cast any spell in…" Godric paused "Well, before today, in over two hundred years. You really want me doing that?"

"Scared Gryffindor?" Harry grinned. Godric smiled back, a fire in his eyes.

"Give me the can, Potter." Godric was smirking at the young man. He really knew what buttons to press.

Godric focused on the can in his hand. He ran his fingers along it.

"I suppose this will do."

Harry knew that look. Had seen it on every face that stepped through the portrait of Gryffindor tower. The man was about to show off. Oh, how he was about to show off.

Without even reaching for his wand, a gold light began to trickle from the man's finger tips. The gold spread, encasing the can in its entirety. Godric's eyes were locked in concentration.

Then the light was gone.

"Alright. Grab on. Here we go."

The three were gone with no sound at all.

Harry, as always, stumbled as he landed. But now, rather than collapsing on the floor in a heap, he had a hand to catch him. Eric pulled Harry tight to him, he placed a kiss in the black locks.

"You never change Harry." Eric gave a fond smile.

However the moment was rapidly and irreparably broken as the pair looked up.

"Eric" Harry's voice was filled with a slight panic "the bar"

The doors of the bar were wide open, just hanging on their hinges. The windows were blown in, or out, Harry supposed. Glass littered the pavement, chunks big and small.

"Be careful" Godric hissed at the two men. "They may still be here."

Harry and Eric nodded. Harry cast a quick wave of spells over himself. Silencing, scent blocking, magic dampener. Whoever it was that had done this was not going to have an easy time detecting him. The two vampires would be enough of a challenge for them, but Harry wanted to ensure that there were no survivors.

They split up.

Harry made his way through the front door, while the vampires made their way around the back. The bar was a mess. More glass littered the floor, along with a variety of drinks that had been contained within it. Chairs were thrown to the walls in splintered pieces. It was evident that a fight had been had. Harry just wanted to know who the loser was.

He quickly found out. As Harry stepped into the main room, looking around the corner, he noticed a rather worse for where looking Pam. The woman seemed frozen, though without restraints. Her arms were pinned to her chest, her back to the wall and her legs so tightly together that they seemed tied. She did not appear to be conscious, although there were no visible injuries.

Harry didn't need to be a genius to work out what had happened here. This was obviously the work of magic. The question was, were the perpetrators still here?

Harry cast a quick diagnostic on the woman in front of him. Even though she was unconscious, she seemed uninjured. That was vampire blood for you. Although it was a shame that whatever injuries Pam had sustained were now undetectable. It would have been rather fun to force the same injuries on those that had made them.

Leaving Pam for the minute, Harry kept his eyes on his surroundings. He had been in war for long enough to know that you were never safe.

Harry spread his senses, trying to feel if there was anything out of the ordinary, any presences that should not be there.

Oh, oh, there it was. It was hidden, it was cautious, but there it was. There were two magical signatures. No, wait, three. Two were very similar. They tingled with the same feeling. Relatives, close ones, siblings?

They were in the back room. They were searching. Searching through things that did not belong to them. Things that they had no right to look at. Harry clenched his teeth in anger.

Godric and Eric seemed to have notice the three unwanted visitor. The two vampires and one wizard made their way toward the intruders. They were in Harry and Eric's bedroom. The door was open. Harry stepped through the frame.

He suddenly felt as though he was stepping through a waterfall. It was cold, heavy and fully engulfed him. Harry knew exactly what that was. Shit. He was stepping through a set of wards. Ones that he had not seen. Ones that he had not been expecting. What an idiot.

An alarm, loud and blaring filled the small room. The three intruders whipped their heads around. Harry froze. Two sets of ginger hair and one of brown fuzzy locks. He knew exactly who these people were.

"Fuck" he heard Ron whisper.

They were gone in less than a second, with a pop. It seemed that had an escape plan.

But for once Ronald's choice of words was correct. Fuck really was the only way to describe the situation. What in the fuck were they doing here? How the fuck had they found him? What the fuck was going on?

Harry blinked at the space they had left. He was going to kill them.