Bloodline chapter 16

Chapter 16 -

Harry couldn't help but smile as he sat in the train compartment. The school year had finally finished, and he and his siblings were riding back in the Hogwarts Express. Dan was sitting with the window on his left, Daphne on his right, and Harry sat opposite Daphne, sitting between Tonks and Iris, who was sitting at the other window seat.

Harry had been glad that his brother and sister managed to get an entire school year away from the Dursleys. It enraged him beyond words that he couldn't just take them straight out of there. But all of his capabilities didn't change the fact that Dumbledore possessed more power than he did when it came to the Ministry of Magic. Harry had been planning to get them out of the Dursleys' ever since his first month there. He remembered that he had once tried to tell the Muggle teachers at the Muggle school that he had gone to, but that had been a mistake, as the headmaster of that school was friends with Vernon. Once Harry had gotten back, Vernon had punished him for 'telling lies about upstanding folks'. Harry had learned from that. He had once stumbled upon a wizard who had been passing through the area. Harry had tried to explain everything to him and later had gotten a visit from Dumbledore, telling him to be 'careful who he talks to' and that 'it was best for them to stay at the Dursleys'.

Harry had learned from that, too.

Since coming back to the wizarding world, Harry had learnt as much as he could about how the wizarding world worked. Say what you want about Slytherins, but they knew how politics worked. Right now, Dumbledore was the biggest and the best wizard alive as far as most people were concerned. The number of possibly trustworthy wizards and witches that would be willing to get them out without extorting Harry for all he was worth was few and far between; none of them were powerful enough to get them out of there anyway. Which meant that when Harry got them out, everything would have to be airtight, leaving Dumbledore with no room to argue.

Still, for now, he was happy. Seeing his brother and sister here with him. Seeing them happily talking about their school year, seeing their smiles as they paid attention to their pets. That was enough for now.

"You know, Mother invites Harry to our home every year," Daphne told Iris and Dan. "The two of you are, of course, welcome to come as well; I'm sure she'd be delighted to have you all attend."

"Hey, my mum's going to want all of you to come to our place as well," Tonks told them before they could respond to Daphne's invitation. "Not that Harry ever accepts but -"

"We'll come," Harry said, cutting her off.

"I...wait, what?" Tonks blinked, staring at him like he had just spoken another language.

"We'll come," Harry repeated. "To your place as well," He added to Daphne. "Since Dan and Iris are both in the wizarding world now, I see no reason why they shouldn't meet the best of the best of our world. And both your families certainly qualify." He said sincerely.

"That they do," Daphne said, after masterfully recovering from her surprise. "Mother will be thrilled, I suppose. I think that -"

"Dibs," Tonks interrupted with a smug smile.

"Excuse me?" Daphne blinked, staring at Tonks.

"Dibs," Tonks repeated with a smirk. "Harry's coming to my house first."

"Excuse me?" Daphne repeated in an incredulous tone. "What makes you say that? I'm sure that Potter would rather come to my house instead."

"I called dibs," Tonks shrugged as if that ended the entire matter. Daphne looked like she was ready to leap out of her chair and strangle Tonks. She turned her gaze to Harry, who simply nodded.

"Dibs were called," He said solemnly. "I will be going to Tonks's place first." A strangled noise escaped Daphne's throat before she turned to the other two occupants in the compartment.

"Sorry," Dan said apologetically. "But she did - in fact - call dibs."

"To ignore the dibs is to ignore the rules; without rules, we live with the animals," Iris said in a business-like manner.

"See?" Tonks smirked. "Dibs."

"I hate all of you and myself," Daphne said in the driest tone imaginable.

(.)

"Harry!" Mrs Elizabeth Greengrass said as they all departed from the train, she walked over and quickly pulled him into a hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you again, Dear." She smiled.

"Yes, Mother," Daphne huffed from behind them. "Your own daughter is also back, if you noticed." Mrs Greengrass pulled away from Harry with a sheepish look on her face.

"And, of course, it's good to see you again, Daphne," She said just as her husband walked up behind her. "Ah, and the younger pair," She smiled down at Dan and Iris. Dan had his owl perched on his shoulder while Iris's cat was resting in her arms. "I hope you've been enjoying your first year at school?" She asked warmly.

"Yep," Iris chirped while Dan offered a polite 'yes'. "It was fun."

"As it should be," Mr Greengrass hummed approvingly before he shook Harry's hand. "Good to see you again, lad."

"You too, Sir," Harry said politely.

"Ah, and Nympha...Tonks," Miss Greengrass added, remembering the pink-haired girl's dislike of her first name. "I hope you enjoyed your year as well."

"Yeah, it was pretty fun. Especially, with tall, dark and handsome being significantly less broody," Tonks said, sending a cheeky grin at Harry. He rolled his eyes and was about to respond when a new voice cut in.

"Ah, there you are," Andromeda said as she walked up to them. First, she pulled Tonks into a brief hug before she then hugged Harry. "It's good to see you all again," She said to the three elder students before stepping back and looking down at Dan and Iris. "Hello, you two, I hope you had a good year."

"Yes, we did." Dan confirmed as Iris nodded.

"Ah, that's good. I was wondering if you'd all like to come over to visit during the summer," Andromeda offered. "We'd be more than happy to have you over for dinner."

"What a lovely idea," Mrs Greengrass cut in, her voice a tad bit less warm. "But I was just about to invite Harry and his siblings over to my home." The air became tense as the two witches locked eyes.

"Mother, Harry has already accepted our invitation," Daphne informed Elizabeth.

"Really?" Elizabeth's eyes lit up.

"Yes, but we will be going to the Tonks family first," Harry told her. A wide smile appeared on Andromeda's face, while a confused look appeared on Elizabeth's face. "Tonks called dibs," He added in the form of an explanation. Elizabeth deflated immediately.

"Well," She sighed as she turned to her husband. "If she called dibs, then there's not much we can do then, is there?" She asked, earning an apologetic shake of the head from her husband and an exasperated groan from Daphne as she rubbed her face with her hands. "Still, I do hope you come to see us straight after." She told Harry.

"We will," Harry assured her. The group continued to make small talk for several more minutes, but eventually it was time to go.

"Do you need me to drop you off?" Andromeda had offered the Potters.

"No, thank you," Harry politely refused. "I've already made arrangements to get home."

"If you're sure, Harry, but really, it's not a bother for any of us," Elizabeth told him.

"I'm aware," Harry said, matching her sincerity. "But really, it's just that I honestly do have plans." He said before turning to Daphne. "I'll send you a letter for when we can come over," He told her before shifting his attention to Tonks. "You too,"

"Looking forward to it," Tonks grinned before leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"Not as much as I am," Daphne cut in, sending Tonks a glare before she kissed Harry's other cheek.

"Okay, with that...it's time to go," Harry told his younger brother and siblings.

(,)

After they had left the train station, Dan and Iris found themselves walking into the nearest empty alley before Harry stopped them.

"I'd advise you to make your own way home," Harry told Dan's owl, Hedwig. She hooted before fondly butting her head against Dan's and then flying off. "As for you three," He said, looking at Dan, Iris and Astro the cat. "This is going to be unpleasant," He said while holding out his arms. "Grab on," He instructed them.

"Ummm... what's happening?" Dan couldn't help but ask as he grabbed one of Harry's arms while Iris grabbed onto his other one.

"We're going to apparate," He informed them. "That's basically a quick way for a wizard to get around. Just a fair warning, it will feel unpleasant because it's your first time. Now, hold on tight." He told them before the trio suddenly disappeared. Moments later, they reappeared in a different alley. Dan and Iris stumbled away from him; they both looked like they were seconds away from vomiting. Iris's cat did end up vomiting, though, something that Harry cleaned up with a lazy wave of his hand.

"That...was horrible..." Iris groaned, and Dan nodded his agreement before finally swallowing the sickness in his mouth.

"Don't worry, the first time apparating is always the worst." He assured them. "Oh, and do me a favour and don't tell anyone that we did this."

"What? Why?" Dan asked while giving him a questioning look.

"Strictly speaking, I don't really have an apparition license yet," Harry revealed. "I'm getting one over the summer when I take the exam at the ministry; until then, I'm not really allowed to do it. So don't tell anyone, got it?"

"Got it," The two nodded in agreement. "Are we doing that again?" Iris shivered.

"No, I brought us within walking distance of Number four. I reckon we can just walk the next few minutes in relative peace and quiet."

"Hmm," Iris hummed thoughtfully. "Or we could go on the Knight Bus," She suggested.

"No!" Dan said at once. "That apparating thing was bad enough, I'm not going on that death trap you call a bus as well."

"Baby," Iris teased, and Dan very maturely stuck his tongue out at her.

(.)

"Well, well, back in paradise," Dan said sarcastically as they arrived outside the Dursleys' house.

"Another summer in the trenches," Iris sighed deeply.

"Yeah, well, we'll be the ones winning the war." He assured them before he knocked on the door. Moments later, furious footsteps were heard before the door all but burst off its hinges as it opened quickly, revealing Aunt Petunia.

"Get in!" She hissed, looking around as if suddenly all the neighbours were going to pop out and stare at them.

"Missed you too," Harry said with a roll of his eyes before he and his siblings walked in. Aunt Petuia slammed the door behind them and marched into the living room while yelling at them to follow after her. The trio walked into the room where they found Vernon standing up from his chair. Harry glanced to his right and saw Dudley sitting in the kitchen and swallowing a bowl of ice cream while staring at the kitchen's TV.

"You!" Vernon said, red-faced as he pointed one of his sausage fingers at Harry. "I want to have a word with you! You sent your ruddy beasts to attack my car!"

"I did no such thing," Harry said innocently.

"You did! You did!" Vernon insisted with an angry hiss. "And you sent those stupid birds to attack us! It took days to get all the feathers out of the house!"

"I would have personally just summoned them all to my hand," Harry said idly.

"Enough!" Vernon said furiously. "It was bad enough that I had to deal with your freakishness while you were here! I'm not putting up with it when you're not here as well! Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, Uncle Vernon," Harry said politely.

"Bloody better be!" Uncle Vernon snarled before staring at the three Potter siblings. "Now," He said, his voice loud and firm.

"Vernon, the neighbours," Petunia whisper-shouted.

"Now," Vernon said, his voice firm. "The three of you are going to hand over your stupid little sticks and your freaky school stuff, and you're going to shove them straight in the cupboard, and I had had better not see hair or hide of any of that stuff for the rest of the summer." The twins both froze at that and both looked up at Harry, who was staring at Vernon with an unamused look on his face.

"Your request..." Harry began.

"It's not a bloody request!"

"Has been denied," Harry continued as if Vernon hadn't spoken. "We all have homework to do. And you have no right to take a wizard's or witch's wand from them."

"I will not have that freakishness in my house!" Vernon glared hatefully at him. "It's bad enough when it was just you, but now these two? No, no, you hear me, boy? No! I will not have it. Not in my house! If you don't like it, then leave."

"You know damn well that we don't like it, and if we could leave, we would have, just like how you would have kicked us out ages ago if you could," Harry glared back at him. "They're both underage, they can't use magic in -"

"Don't say that word!" Petunia and Vernon hissed.

"-the house anyway," Harry ignored their words and continued speaking. "Plus, like I said, they need their stuff to do their homework. Besides, it's their stuff, not yours. It'll be kept in their room, where you'll never need to see it. End of discussion.

"Says who? I didn't agree to that!" Vernon snapped. "Now, give me the freak stuff!" He moved forward, only to freeze when he suddenly found a wand tip pressing against his flabby neck.

"Give me an excuse," Harry's voice echoed through the room like a shotgun blast. "Give me an excuse to hurt you. Give me a reason to change you into the stupidest and ugliest animal I can think of, give a reason why I can boil your eyes before shoving them down your throat and ripping them out of your stomach. Give me a good reason to hurt you, Vernon, and I promise you, I will take it." He said, his eyes flashing with pure hate. Vernon gulped and took a step back. He and his wife paled while Dudley remained in the kitchen, blissfully unaware of what had just happened, as his attention hadn't strayed from the TV. "Now, we're going up to our room. Stay out of our way until we get to school, and you might just make it out unscathed."