26 Chapter 26

That evening, the newspaper finally arrived. Everyone took their copies eagerly to shout out in surprise. The ever present header of the Daily Prophet was replaced with The British Magical Daily.

DAILY PROPHET UNDERGOES CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP;

ABSORBED INTO THE MAGICAL DAILY PRESS

PLEASE WELCOME THE BRITISH MAGICAL DAILY - YOUR NEW NEWSPAPER

NEW MANAGEMENT PROMISES TO DELIVER THE TRUTH, WHATEVER IT TAKES

ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE DAILY PROPHET REAPPOINTED AS EMPLOYEES OF THE MAGICAL DAILY PRESS

QUILL IS MIGHTIER THAN A SWORD– RESPONSIBILITIES OF A JOURNALIST

WHAT AN AVERAGE WITCH AND WIZARD CAN DO TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOCIETY

MAGICAL DAILY PRESS HIRING! CONTACT THEIR OFFICE TODAY!

People all over the country had their jaws on the floor. What in Merlin's name was going on? The Daily Prophet had changed ownership? If so, then who were the new owners? The paper mentioned everything except the name of the new owners at all. Attempts to find out who they were turned out to be futile. Everything was under the name of the Magical Daily Press which was owned by someone named Frank Olive, and no one knew anything about him.

At the Ministry of Magic, Minister Cornelius Fudge and Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge were spluttering with rage. In Malfoy Manor, a group of wizards tore the newspaper in anger. At Hogwarts, in the Head's office, Dumbledore was close to having a heart attack. Down in the Room of Requirement, Harry and Daphne clinked glasses containing non-alcoholic champagne for a job well done. There were changes taking place in Magical Britain and no one knew who was behind it.

Pretty soon, the end of the year arrived. Because of the attacks that had taken place during the year and how much stress it brought to the entire school, Dumbledore cancelled exams for all students except for the fifth and seventh years. Hagrid was released from Azkaban with a full pardon and was seen crying in the Great Hall with relief.

On the last day of school, everyone boarded the Hogwarts express. Harry was still quite cold towards his peers, but had decided not to do so after the summer; after all, they were sheep and it was that mentality he was trying to break. Besides, he would extract his revenge on them in more creative ways that didn't require him to shout and curse in public; that was Daphne's job. Daphne and Harry were sitting next to each other in a compartment, with her head resting on his shoulder, reading a book. Their friends were sitting in the same compartment, talking to each other and having fun. A few hours into the train ride, Draco Malfoy turned up with his two goons. He entered the compartment, his face furious.

"You'll pay for what you did, Potter" Draco said in a low voice.

Harry and Daphne rolled their eyes. Such a threat was par for the course for Draco Malfoy; he was all bark and no bite. So Harry looked up from his book and smiled at Draco and said "Hello, cousin. Would you like to join us?"

"Don't call me that!" snapped Draco. "As far as I'm considered, you and I are not related even remotely! I will cut you off from the family tree, you filthy half-blood!"

Harry snorted. "Oh, I'm so scared. I really don't care what you do in your home, Draco. I'm only related to you through my grandmother; and as far as I'm concerned, you have absolutely no power over the Black family. In fact, it is my godfather that has the power to disown you and your mother; that would make her a blood traitor. How would you like being compared to the Weasleys?" he asked with a smirk.

Draco's face went red with anger. He drew his wand, but before he could even fully remove it from his robes, Harry had already flicked his, throwing the boys out of the compartment.

"This isn't over Potter!" shouted Draco. "My father will show you why you shouldn't mess with us. He'll strike you where it hurts you the most. By the time this summer is over, you will be a crying baby!" He then walked away.

Harry clenched his fists. Daphne leaned closer and whispered, "That sounds like a threat."

"I agree" he whispered quietly. "Tell your family to be on high alert during the summer. I'll tell the same to Sirius and Aunt Amy. Knowing Lucius, it'll probably be an assassination attempt, especially after the article that is going to be printed soon about him suspected in the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. That should remove his power base in the Ministry."

"Hmm" said Daphne, again leaning her head on Harry's shoulder. "Is the plan for Hawaii still on?" she asked.

"Oh yeah!" he whispered excitedly. "I've wanted to go there for the past four years. And we can argue there as much as we would like; no one to interrupt us."

Daphne snorted. Leave it to Harry not to forget about her telling him that they needed to talk. She really was angry and disturbed at the fact that he was willing to risk his life so easily. Besides, she had spotted a change in him since the Lockhart incident. She did not want him to carry that scar for the rest of his life without a closure.

As they reached King's Cross station, they got down from the train. Harry said goodbye to his friends and portkeyed to Potter Castle. He couldn't wait for tomorrow's edition of the Magical Daily.

He wasn't disappointed. When Harry was having breakfast the next morning, he unfolded the newspaper and smirked.

CHAMBER OF SECRETS AT HOGWARTS HOUSED A SEVENTY FOOT LONG BASILISK

BOY WHO LIVED KILLS BASILISK TO DEFEND HOGWARTS USING GRYFFINDOR'S SWORD

HADRIAN POTTER – CONFIRMED HEIR OF GODRIC GRYFFINDOR

NATURE AND HISTORY OF GRYFFINDOR-POTTER FAMILY MERGE EXPLAINED BY THE SORTING HAT

POTTERS CONFIRMED AS THE OLDEST SURVIVING MAGICAL FAMILY IN THE WORLD – NEARLY 2500 YEARS OLD!

LORD VOLDEMORT REVEALED TO BE TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, A BASTARD SON OF A MUGGLE AND A SQUIB DAUGHTER OF THE HOUSE OF GAUNT

LUCIUS MALFOY SUSPECTED IN FACILITATING THE OPENING OF THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS AND THE ATTEMPTED MASS MURDER OF OUR CHILDREN IN THE PROCESS

LUCIUS MALFOY TRIED TO ATTACK AND CURSE THE BOY WHO LIVED IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE STUDENT POPULATION AT HOGWARTS

SUSPECISIONS CROP UP IN CASE OF MALFOY'S INVOLEVENT WITH THE DEATH EATERS DURING THE WAR; WAS HE TRULY UNDER THE IMPERIUS CURSE AS HE CLAIMED?

LORD MALFOY BOOTED OUT AS ONE OF THE GOVERNORS OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL; FACES INVESTIGATION DUE TO ALLEDGED THREATS GIVEN TO OTHER GOVERNORS

AMELIA BONES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS FORBIDDEN FROM INTERFERING AT HOGWARTS – WHY?

'FUDGE AND UMBRIDGE DIDN'T LET ME DO MY JOB' SAYS AMELIA BONES

IS CORNELIUS FUDGE FIT TO BE OUR MINISTER OF MAGIC?

DOLORES UMBRIDGE'S DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR IN RELATION TO THE BOY WHO LIVED; WHY DOES SHE SEEM TO UTTERLY HATE HADRIAN POTTER?

WHY DIDN'T DUMBLEDORE ACT WHEN STUDENTS WERE ATTACKED?

WHY WAS A SINGLE STUDENT TARGETTED BY ALL? WHY DIDN'T THE TEACHERS DO ANYTHING?

IS THIS THE WAY WE TREAT THE BOY WHO LIVED? HADRIAN POTTER WAS SENT LETTERS AND HOWLERS TELLING HIM TO KILL HIMSELF

'I FORGIVE ALL THOSE WHO TARGETED ME, BUT I WON'T TAKE SUCH PERSONAL ATTACKS ABOUT MY FAMILY LYING DOWN NEXT TIME' SAYS LORD POTTER

HAGRID DECLARED INNOCENT OF CRIMES! WAS PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED AND THROWN IN AZKABAN WITHOUT TRIAL PERSONALLY BY MINISTER FUDGE!

SECOND YEAR STUDENT DAPHNE GREENGRASS FIGURED OUT THE CREATURE WAS A BASILISK; WHAT WERE THE TEACHERS AND MINISTRY DOING?

HYPOCRISY OF TOM RIDDLE A.K.A LORD VOLDEMORT

LORD VOLDEMORT NOT REALLY THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN AS HE CLAIMED?

WAS SALAZAR SLYTHERIN TRULY EVIL? OR WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE BASILISK TO PROTECT THE STUDENTS AND NOT HARM THEM?

IS THE HISTORY OF THE FOUNDERS OF HOGWARTS FLAWED?

LILY POTTER DEVICED RITUAL TO STOP KILLING CURSE!

DOES LILY POTTER DESERVE ORDER OF MERLIN, FIRST CLASS POSTHUMOUSLY FOR GETTING RID OF THE DARK LORD VOLDEMORT?

LILY AND HADRIAN POTTER CONFIRMED TO BE PARSELMOUTHS!

EVERYTHING WE KNEW ABOUT PARSELMOUTHS A LIE?

HOW HADRIAN POTTER SURVIVED – THE TRUE STORY OF THE BOY WHO LIVED

ALL ABOUT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE'S DISGRACEFUL ACTIONS SINCE 31ST OCTOBER, 1981

IS DUMBLEDORE FIT TO REMAIN AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER?

'I WAS REPEATEDLY TARGETED BY ALBUS DUMBLEDORE FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER' SAYS LORD POTTER

'STAYED SILENT ONLY DUE TO MY GODSON TELLING ME NOT TO REACT' SAYS A FURIOUS LORD BLACK

DUMBLEDORE PERSONALLY TRIED TO DISCREDIT THE BOY WHO LIVED; WHY?

FLAWS IN THE STORY ABOUT THE POTTER ATTACK – DID DUMBLEDORE LIE TO US?

IS DUMBLEDORE GOING SENILE?

Harry read all the articles and wanted to pat himself on the back for the move he had made in purchasing the Daily Prophet and converting it into the Magical Daily. He had told the staff to report the truth, and so had supplied them with all the information necessary for today's edition. If the country wanted a leader, he would give them one.

HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP

Albus Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge all let out a primal scream of rage after reading the newspaper.

HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP

It was a couple of days later that Harry found himself at the International Portkey terminal in London, along with the Greengrasses, Sirius, Amelia, Neville, Susan, Hannah and Tracy for their trip to Hawaii. Harry had extended the invitation to his friends, as they had supported him when he was called the Heir of Slytherin, even if no one listened to them.

International magical travel was a lot quicker than its muggle counterparts. There were both International Floos and International Portkeys. The former worked at short range, so it could not be used for intercontinental travel; so the floo was highly regulated by the magical government by both countries and could be used to travel abroad. There were inter-connecting international floo systems in place for each continent – Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia.

International Portkeys were used for inter-continental travel or even for travel within the continent. It was personal preference whether one wanted to use the Floo or the Portkey. These too were highly regulated. Open wards were erected around the borders of each country which alerted the respective magical governments if there were any illegal portkey use or Apparition. International travel for magical people was quite frequent, and so there was never a problem of two or more countries attacking each other, as there had always been an international body in existence, keeping peace with the several countries of the world. Besides, even though every witch and wizard in the world today used a wand, each country had their own brand of magic, which the others respected. So, there was never a problem of war, unlike their muggle counterparts. Of course, there had been international incidents like the war brought about by Gellert Grindelwald, but the various magical governments worked together to bring him down, but the Dark wizard had followers from all over the world, because of which he became very powerful. After the implementation of the International Statute of Secrecy, the currency around the world was standardized into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, minted and regulated by Gringotts International Bank. This further promoted foreign trade and the international market boomed.

"Portkey to Honolulu, Hawaii" said the Ministry portkey regulator. "Registered under Lord Hadrian Potter." The man's eyes went wide when he saw Harry. He stammered and said "R-right this way sir. The portkey will leave in two minutes."

The portkey was a rope, and everyone took hold of it. At the designated time, Harry felt a pull behind his navel as everything started to spin. It was several seconds later that their feet touched the ground. They found themselves in an office where a woman was standing who said "Welcome to Hawaii. Please show us your identification and move on and adhere to the rules set by the Magical government of Hawaii. Please register your wands before you step out. Thank you."

The entire party was checked out and they took another portkey to Harry's beach house. Once they landed, Astoria was the first to react. "This is awesome!" she said.

Harry smiled as he had to concur. The beach house was large and airy. It gave a feeling of paradise and vacation, which was what Harry wanted. He could spot the beach right behind the house. The view was spectacular.

"Alright" said Sirius. "It's nearly five in the evening here. Why don't we unpack and head to the beach? We can look for dinner later."

They all changed and headed for the beach, while Harry and Daphne silently went in the other direction for some privacy. They sat down on the beach and stared at the crystalline water and the waves splashing. After several minutes of silence, Harry asked, "What do you want me to say?"

Daphne snorted. "You don't know what to say?" she replied. "How about you explain to me why you went into the Chamber of Secrets alone, without anyone to help you, knowing the fact that there was a fucking basilisk in there!"

Both teenagers didn't notice that Cyrus and Elizabeth Greengrass were near them, taking a stroll. Cyrus, while he liked Harry, was still not sure how his precious daughter was faring with her fiancé. So he subtly cast an eavesdropping charm near the couple and the two adults listened. They felt bad for invading their privacy, but both Cyrus and Elizabeth wanted to know about the status of the young couple before making their big announcement.

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself and said "What else was I supposed to do? If you don't remember, we had considered that the creature might be a basilisk before the Yule holidays, but we thought it didn't explain the attacks. McGonagall was already treating me like I'm a junior Dark Lord, Dumbledore would have done everything he could have to pin the blame on me, and no one would have believed me! How does one explain that there was a fucking basilisk crawling around the school? No one knew there were pipes in the castle until you discovered it! What was I supposed to do?"

"Still, that doesn't mean you could just go in there alone!" yelled Daphne angrily. "Don't forget that I saw the memory, Harry. You told Myrtle to inform the teachers that in case you didn't return in six hours to tell them that you're probably dead. Do you have such a callous attitude to what happens in case you really had died down there?"

"What do you mean?" asked Harry dangerously, standing up.

"I mean that there are people here who care about you!" shouted Daphne, her eyes blazing with anger as she stood up too. She had bottled things up for too long, and her anger finally found its target. "Did you, even for a second, think about us? Did you think about how Sirius would have felt to know that his godson is dead? Did you think about me?"

"I did it all for you!" shouted Harry, his hair turning white. "Riddle attacked you only because of you being betrothed to me! Did you forget that? If not for you having that mirror, you could have died! It was all because of me. Did you expect me to sit on my arse while the teachers and Ministry did nothing?"

"I can take care of myself" said Daphne. "I'm not an invalid, Harry. While I'm touched that you felt the need to kill the basilisk because it attacked me, you did not have to risk your life for that!" She paused, and looked into his eyes and asked, "Is this about the Dursleys?"

Harry stiffened. "Don't Daphne" he said stiffly. While he had revealed some parts of his time with Vernon and Petunia Dursley, it didn't fully cover the damage done to him by them. He was psychologically damaged and he did not want anyone to point that out to him.

Daphne pursed her lips as she looked back at the waves. Her beautiful dark blonde hair was flying in the wind as she replied, "So, was the incident in the chamber another attempt at suicide, Harry? I thought you said you were past that."

Cyrus and Elizabeth silently gasped and their eyes went wide. Harry's eyes flashed green as he snarled "Daphne . . ."

"I've noticed changes in you Harry" said Daphne, not caring about his anger. "You're quicker to anger, you're more reserved than before, and not to mention colder." She turned to face him and said "We were making progress, Harry. You were on the way to healing from all that went wrong in your life. But one incident ruined all our efforts, whether you admit it or not."

Harry's eyes went wide. He knew what she was talking about and he didn't want to go there. It had plagued his dreams for months, and he did not want to talk about it. "Don't" he whispered.

"Whether you admit it or not, you're a sexually abused victim. The incidents with both Lockhart and your uncle haunt your dreams, am I right?" she asked.

Harry's face was blank and his eyes unfocused. He took a step back from her and said, "Don't go there."

"I cannot do that Harry!" snapped Daphne. "I've tried and tried again after that incident to talk to you but you avoid it! It didn't affect you much immediately as you had other things to worry about, but you never told me about the nightmares did you? I figured it out. It's quite easy to see that you're barely getting any sleep at all, and you've been studying and practicing magic at a rate that might be harmful to you! Once I was petrified, it became worse. Unless you do something about it now, it will grow and contaminate your mind! You're already suicidal!" she shouted.

"I'm not suicidal!" shouted Harry. "I have brains, okay? I didn't go into that chamber only because of you or because no one believed me! I knew this had something to do with Voldemort! So I had to go. I knew I had Aquila with me; you know that he would never abandon me in case of danger!"

"So what if it had something to do with Voldemort?" she snapped. "That was even more a reason why you should have contacted someone else! He is known as the most dangerous Dark Lord in British history for a reason!"

"Have you forgotten about my destiny?" shouted Harry at the top of his voice. His skin was now glowing, and magic was rolling from both teenagers in waves. "There is a fucking prophecy about us, have you that forgotten so soon? If there is something about Voldemort, I have to get involved!"

"Harry, you idiot!" yelled Daphne. "He attacked you only because he believed in the prophecy! You set too much in store by that and call it destiny. Did your mother believe in it? If she had, she would not have performed that ritual that saved your life. If she had believed in the prophecy that said that only you could kill him, how was she able to do it?"

"That's because she didn't!" he said angrily. "That bastard may be disembodied, but he didn't die. I don't believe in Divination either, but as long as Voldemort does, he will come after me, and so will Dumbledore!"

Both Harry and Daphne were breathing heavily now, staring at each other with anger in their eyes. "Alright" said Daphne finally. "Say for the sake of argument we agree that your decision to go into the chamber alone was good judgement on your part. You wanted to kill the basilisk because it tried to kill me. In that case, would you support me if I went up to Dumbledore or Voldemort right now, and challenged them to a duel to the death for all the pain and hardship they caused you?" she asked quietly.

Harry sucked in a breath. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. He turned away from his fiancée and sat back down on the sand. There was tense silence for a minute, with neither of them looking at the other. Finally, Daphne kneeled down in front of him. She took Harry's hands in hers and said softly, "Harry, I want to help you. But I can only do that if you talk to me. I beg of you, don't shut me out. I thought we were a team. Please Harry, trust me. We'll get through this together, one step at a time."

Harry looked at the beautiful face of his fiancée as his vision blurred. He hugged Daphne as tears started to flow from his eyes. Sometimes he felt so burdened by all the pressure and felt like he would burst. He felt that he was alone, and always would be alone, and that thought haunted him above all else.

"I'm here Harry" she said softly, kissing his forehead. "I'll always be here, right next to you. We'll get through this together. You're not alone, Harry. I'm with you, always"

"Really?" hiccupped Harry, sounding like a small child.

Daphne cupped his face lovingly and said "Really. I promised you, didn't I? Remember that day when you gave me this ring? I wear this ring all the time to remind myself of how important you are to me and how important I am to you. It represents my promise to you that I'll always be there by your side; whether to hold your hand when you're successful or to pick up the pieces when you have fallen down. I'll always be here."

Harry shed a few more tears as he hugged her closer. He nuzzled his face against hers, and he tenderly and slowly found his way to her lips and kissed her. After a minute of slow kissing, they pulled apart. Harry grabbed her in a tight hug and whispered in her ear "I love you".

Daphne's heart skipped a beat. Did Harry just utter those words? The same boy who had told her that he didn't know what love was? She pulled back, cupped his face and looked deep into his eyes. "I love you too" she whispered as she kissed him again.

Several feet away, Elizabeth Greengrass was silently crying while Cyrus was in shock. The relationship between his daughter and Harry was a lot deeper than he had ever imagined. To think that those two were just budding teenagers and yet acted like an old married couple was astounding. He immediately cancelled the charm and the adult Greengrasses went over to the other side of the beach.

"That poor boy" whispered Elizabeth. "I wish I could do something to help him."

"You are helping him" replied Cyrus. At her dumbfounded expression, he clarified "You're helping him by giving birth to our daughter all those years ago."

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm so proud of her"

"Me too" said Cyrus. "Clearly Harry has a lot of secrets, that prophecy for example which troubles me, but what I'm very happy about is that he trusts her with his secrets. From what I could make out, they don't tend to keep secrets from each other."

Elizabeth nodded. "I guess it helps that they were friends before they became a couple. I expected you to make a bigger fuss about them kissing."

Cyrus sighed. "They're betrothed and thirteen and clearly it isn't their first time kissing each other. Besides, I like Harry. And after listening to what we just did, do you think I can bring myself to give him the talk about not hurting my daughter? You heard them – they just declared their love for each other!"

"Just make sure that you don't treat him with pity" warned Elizabeth. "Daphne told me about that long ago. It seems he hates it when he is pitied for what all went wrong in his life. We don't want him to grow distant from us, do we?"

"Understood" replied her husband.

HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP

Harry and Daphne had their first snogging session, and it was a very happy couple that came back to the house. Harry even laughed along with the rest as Sirius attempted to prank everyone in the house; Neville's tail was especially funny.

They had dinner on the beach, overlooking the sunset. Suddenly, Sirius got up and pulled Amelia up with him. "Attention everyone" he said. The group turned to look at him confused. "Amelia and I have an announcement to make".

"We do?" asked Amelia, confused.

"I hope so" said Sirius grinning.

He removed a small velvet box from the inside of his pocket and got down on one knee. The girls all gasped and squealed (except Daphne, of course. She believed that she could never make such noises in her life, something which Harry was trying to disprove).

"Amelia Susan Bones" said Sirius. "We have known each other since school. I remember you cuffing me on the head as a first year telling me to behave; I remember you telling me that you would never go out with me because you thought I was an immature jerk – a total coincidence that Lily had said the same to James on countless occasions until they started dating; I remember you chasing me around the castle after I sneaked into the Hufflepuff dorms to steal your bra and - "

"We don't need to reveal that part" said Amelia, blushing.

"Anyway, I have loved you more than anyone in the world. Would you do me the honour of being my wife? Will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box to reveal a ring. It had a large diamond, with emeralds surrounding it.

Amelia had a small smile as she said, "I must be crazy, but my answer is yes. I will marry you"

As everyone started clapping and whistling, Sirius put the ring on Amelia's finger. They all congratulated the newly engaged couple, just as Sirius said, "Cyrus, didn't you say you had something important to announce?"

"I think it can wait" said Elizabeth. "After all, you just proposed. Whatever it is, we can say it later." Her husband nodded behind her.

"Nonsense" said Amelia smirking slightly. "I'm pretty sure what it is you're going to announce too. I'm not the head of the DMLE for nothing."

Elizabeth snorted and smiled. "What is it, mum?" asked Astoria.

"Well" said Elizabeth. She took a deep breath, held her husband's hand for support and announced, "I'm pregnant! And the healer says it's a boy this time."

Harry's eyes went wide and his face paled. His grip on Daphne's hand slackened, and it fell limply by his side. He was happy for Cyrus and Elizabeth, he truly was. He started into the distance, his face blank as he realised that the marriage contract between him and Daphne would soon be declared void since she would not be the heiress anymore. The contract was very specific in that it would only be initiated if either family did not have a male heir, and the heiress would have to marry into the other family. Since the contract was initiated and then voided, it didn't affect any future generations, so that was a relief. But he was going to lose Daphne; he was sure of it. Why would she stay with him? He was damaged, while she was whole. He didn't deserve someone like her. Voldemort only targeted her because of him. This was probably for the best. Daphne would not be in any more danger because of him. There was a sharp pain in his chest as he idly wondered how he was going to get over the pain of losing Daphne. The very thought of her leaving him was much worse than all of Uncle Vernon's beatings put together. But he had to stay strong. She would be much happier with someone who deserved her and Daphne's happiness was more important than his own.

Harry never noticed someone looking at him with narrowed eyes.