Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliated people, places, or objects.

Chapter 8

Camelot Castle
7:00 PM
August 8th, 1996

"Barty, I really don't want to do this, but if you don't drop your gun and kick it over to me, then I will," Nate Granger said with his gun pointed at his brother. Looking at his brother with his hand shaking, Barty dropped his gun onto the ground and kicked it over to Nate. As Nate bent down to pick up the gun, Barty charged at his brother with a bestial yell. Nate jumped back throwing both guns to separate sides.

He stood up watching his brother charge him before sidestepping his brother and tripping him. Barty's momentum carried him face first into a wall before he could catch himself. Quickly turning back toward his brother, Barty withdrew a knife from his belt. Charging once more, Barty swung the blade at Nate's neck. Nate dodged back from the blade each time it neared him.

Waiting for the perfect moment, Nate grabbed Barty's wrist before forcing his hand behind his back. With a firm jerk of his brother's arm, Nate forced the knife from Barty's grasp. Nate snatched the knife out of the air as it fell. Nate kicked his brother in the calf, forcing him to his knees before putting the knife to his neck. "It's over Barty; I don't want to kill you. Leave now or I will."

Nate held out his hand to the side. Sirius, who had picked up one of the guns from where it had landed, handed nate the gun. Nate removed the knife from his brother's neck and held the gun to the back of his head. Barty held his hands above his head and slowly stood up. Turning to his brother, Barty gave him a look of pure loathing. "This isn't over, little brother," he said, spitting in Nate's face with the last words.

Barty walked to the door before looking back one last time. Shaking his head, he gave them a look that told all of them his thoughts. He walked through the door, the air around him shimmering before he disappeared into thin air.

"Did he just do magic?" The blond haired girl in slytherin colors asked the room.

Remus looked to her and shook his head, "No Daphne, the realm of Avalon has just ejected Bartholomew Granger from its borders, never to return."

"Well," Nate said, holstering his gun and putting Barty's gun and knife onto a nearby table. "Sorry about the hubbub." He smiled to the group of people around him. "I hope that I'm still welcome, my parchment still works and I got the memo too."

It's a pleasure to see you, Nate," Sirius said with a huge smile on his face. He pulled Nate into a hug that showed just how truly happy he was to see him. "I was afraid that we'd have to put up with that arse again."

"I am glad to see that you're all here," Nate said looking around. "Where are Frank and Alice? What about James and Lily?"

The other adults in the room exchanged awkward looks between themselves. Looking at the adults, Hermione made a decision to save everyone from having to say out loud what she knew would hurt her boyfriend. She grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him over to her father. "Daddy, this is Harry Potter, my best friend, my boyfriend, and the guardian of the tome," she said, giving her father a severe look.

Recognition dawned on his face as he looked at Harry. "So, you're Harry Potter then," he said, looking at the young man before him. "I never realized that the young man that my daughter went on and on about in all of her letters was the son of two of my oldest friends."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Harry said, extending his hand towards his girlfriend's father.

Nate looked at Harry's hand and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He took the young man's hand and shook it firmly. "Harry, you don't need to be afraid of me. If you are half the man your father was, my daughter will be the happiest woman I have ever seen. Of course, if you ever hurt her, you will see firsthand the skills that I used against my brother. Also, please call me Nate."

"Ok, Nate. Where did you learn those skills, by the way? That was amazing."

"Well, before I became a dentist, I was an officer in the Corps of Royal Marines. After years of service, I was offered to be an ambassador to a Special Forces unit fighting a local terrorist. When I accepted, I was introduced to James Potter and Sirius Black, the leaders of this unit called the Brotherhood of the Tome. I became acquainted with the world of magic and learned of the darkness in this side of the world I lived in.

"I trained them in CQC for years in this very castle. Of course, outside of this castle it was mere days. One day, on a recon mission with Sirius and Remus, the death eaters attacked a crowded street. The moment the first spell was cast, my gun was in my hand and I had taken down two of the death eaters. I watched as a dozen men and women were hit with green spells and they fell to the ground.

"A young woman was hiding behind a car, keeping as quiet as possible. It was obvious that she was hoping that the death eaters wouldn't notice her. I watched as one of the jumped on top of the car, wand pointed down. The woman looked up at hearing the sound above her. Like a fool, I forgot about the gun in my hand and charged the death eater. I leapt onto the car's hood and punched him in the jaw. The death eater dropped his wand and I stomped on it. This of course pissed him off to no end.

"He grabbed me by the neck and pulled out a second wand. Pointing it at my head he smiled a malicious grin at me. Blood coated his teeth as he opened his mouth. Suddenly, a loud sound filled the air and the death eater fell over with a hole in his head. I looked over and saw the woman standing with my gun in her hand, smoke coming out of the barrel.

I heard numerous pops around me, a sound that I had come to learn was the magical travel known as apparation. Thinking quickly, I put my emergency portkey into her hand before saying 'brotherhood'. That was the activation word. It brought the two of us here. I knew the first time that I met her that I was in love with her. Miranda Swan, the woman who would become Miranda Granger, and my first step away from the brotherhood."

"You left when you found out that she was pregnant," Sirius said to his old friend. "I never imagined that the young woman who helped to save my life a year ago was your daughter. Makes sense though, she has your heart and determination."

"I'll take that as compliment," Nate said with a smile on his face. "I then went to dental school so that I could provide for my family and work alongside my wife."

"So," Harry said looking around the room at the other occupants. "I believe that I know all of the current generation, but I don't know some of my parents' friends."

"Harry," Sirius said reaching out to the red haired woman he had been talking with earlier. "This is Sam Abbot, your mother's best friend and you godmother. Unfortunately, the ministry denied her petition for custody of you due to her history with me and her marriage to a muggle."

"It is so nice to see you again Harry, and I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to be there for you when you were a child," Sam said, looking at Harry with sad eyes.

"It's ok; I can tell that you wanted to be there. Trust me though, if you had been the Dursley's would have been even worse," Harry said pulling his mother's best friend into a hug. She hugged him back fiercely, crying into Harry's shoulder.

Sam pulled back and smiled at the young man before sitting down in a seat to calm down. As he looked around again, he noticed another woman approaching. Her regal bearing and blonde hair gave away her identity. Narcissa Malfoy looked at Harry with wide and sad eyes. "Hello Mrs. Malfoy," Harry said to the woman before him.

She collapsed to floor, tears running down her cheeks. Draco sprung from his spot on the far side of the room and rushed to his mother's side. "Mother, are you alright?" Draco asked his mother in quiet, distressed tone.

"Oh, Jamie, I'm so sorry for everything that's happened," Narcissa muttered to herself as she looked at Harry through her tears. "I never wanted any of this to happen to any of you. I was supposed to protect him and you, Harry, but I failed you both so badly."

"Mrs. Malfoy, none of this is your fault. My father trusted you until the very end. He knew that you loved him like a little brother, just as he loved you like a big sister. You should never doubt that," Harry said, kneeling before the distraught woman.

She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief that Draco handed her and stood from the floor. She pulled a flask from her pocket and took a long drink before looking to Harry and said to him, "I hope that you will be able to get along with Draco, he hasn't had very many true friends in his life. Not since Cecilia-"

"Mother!" Draco yelled. A look of anguish was on his face for a moment before it shifted quickly to a stony indifference. "That's more than enough." Draco quickly left the room in complete silence.

"Who's Cecilia?" Harry asked.

"Cecilia was my daughter. Lucius and Draco adored her and would have given her the moon if she had asked. One day, when she was 6, my allegiance to the light side was revealed to some of the other death eaters. They came to our home and attacked us. Lucius and I fought them off, but one got further into the house and found the children. Draco was huddled over his sister, but he was still just a boy,"

Narcissa had stop for a moment to take a drink from the flask before placing it back into her pocket. "The death eater ripped Draco from on top of his sister. He screamed his sister's name at the top of his lungs. The death eater grabbed her from the floor and put his wand to her head. As Lucius and I ran into the room to see the death eater with a smirk on his face. He yelled at us 'Those who dare defy our lord shall be punished!' With that he cast a reducting curse at the floor at our feet. When the smoke cleared, they were both gone."

"Cecilia was found a few days later, she had been raped and tortured. Then when it was finally over the bastard killed my little girl and left her in the middle of Diagon Alley. Lucius had every memory of our little girl obliviated from his mind and I… well, let's just say that I have my own way of dealing with it."

"Cissy," Sirius said walking toward his cousin. "What is it that you have in that flask?"

"It's nothing, just a little drink that I'm fond of." Narcissa looked at Harry and smiled at him. "You look so much like James, Harry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go freshen up." Narcissa walked out the door and headed for the stairs.

"Excuse me, I need to have a word with my cousin," Sirius said walking out the door after Narcissa.

"Harry, I think that I should properly introduce you to my replacement," Remus said. Harry looked at his father's friend and saw the blonde slytherin girl standing next to him. "This is Daphne Greengrass, she is in your year at school but I doubt that you really know her."

"I don't know that we have ever really met," Harry said, extending his hand to Daphne. "It is a pleasure to officially meet you Daphne."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Harry," Daphne said, taking his hand in her. They gently shook hands before releasing. "Is there anything that you want to know about me?"

"Maybe just why Remus chose you as his replacement in the brotherhood."

"Apparently I impressed him with my knowledge and skill in his class when he was a teacher. I don't have an amazing or tragic tale to make you understand the way that I am or the way I treat people. I'm just afraid of being hurt so I just don't let people get close to me."

Harry looked around the room at the people that he was going to get know in his time in Camelot Castle. Most of them looked confused, tired, or even depressed. "Alright everyone, how about you all head on up to your rooms and get settled in. The cook will let you know when it's time for you to come down for dinner." Everyone except for Hermione and Remus head out of the room.

Harry collapsed onto the loveseat that he and Hermione had been on before everyone else had shown up. Hermione sat down next to him and leaned into him. Remus sat on a chair across from them. "A few more people will be joining us in just a few days," he said leaning forward in his seat. "Moody, Severus, Shacklebolt, and Tonks will be coming here tomorrow afternoon."

"Remus, why is it that all of them were so easy to open up to me like that?" Harry asked the older wizard as his girlfriend started to doze off in his arms. "I mean, this is the first time I'm meeting some of these people in my memory and they're divulging their deepest darkest feelings to me."

"That would be part of being the guardian," Remus said leaning back. "People almost feel like they need to confess things to you as if you were a priest or something like that. It helps them feel better and lets you get to know the real them better. Granted, if they really don't want to tell you then it can't compel them to."

"Ok, I think I understand now."

"Cissy!" Sirius yelled as he walked after his cousin.

"What is it Sirius?" Narcissa asked turning around to look at him.

"Give me the flask."

"Sirius, please let this go," Narcissa pleaded.

"Give it to me now!" Sirius yelled again. Narcissa gave one more pleading look before giving in and handing it to him. He pulled the stopper and sniffed at the contents. "I thought as much. A calming draught. Let me guess, you've been drinking this constantly since Cecilia was killed."

Narcissa looked to the floor and nodded silently. "Cissy, do you know how dangerous these can be? If you drink to much at once you could literally calm yourself to death."

"Don't you think I know that? My little girl was murdered by someone that my husband called his friend. Then my husband decides that rather than deal with his loss, he would rather just forget that she ever existed! And worst of all, my son hates himself because he blames himself for her death and feels that his life should be utter shite because of it!" Narcissa collapsed to the ground again tears flooding down her cheeks.

She reached out for the flask in Sirius' hand. The pleading look returned to her face again as she silently begged her cousin for his mercy. "I'm sorry, Cissy, this is for your own good." Sirius poured the flask's contents onto the ground behind him. When he was done, he stopped the bottle again and put it into his pocket. Then, before she knew it, Narcissa was in her cousin's arms as he gently rubbed her back and whispered into her ear that everything would be alright.

Narcissa buried her face into her cousin's shoulder and bawled. Down the hall, Sam stood watching the one who got away comforting a mother who finally got to grieve. Silently, she swore that he would never get away again.

Well, I decided that after 4 years that you all deserve to get another chapter up as quick as I could.