Bonded chapter 92

Chapter 92 -

Dumbledore followed a step behind Amelia Bones as they walked through the Ministry to a meeting room, where Harry Potter was supposedly waiting for them. Dumbledore's mind was working overtime as he couldn't really work out a way for Harry to have escaped Azkaban. Maybe it was because he was tired. He felt sluggish to put it mildly, but he had no idea how Harry could have possibly successfully gotten free from his trial. Harry had admitted his crimes and even revealed Venom in front of the Minister of Magic and Rufus Scrimgeour; even without Dumbledore's testimony, it should have been a fairly simple case.

"I must admit that I find myself curious as to how Harry was not sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban, Minister Bones," Dumbledore said, voicing his thoughts out loud.

"Truth be told, Dumbledore, I also thought it would have been a slam dunk." She said with a deep sigh. "Before the trial started, I had caught a former staff member of mine trying to break in and meet with him."

"Ah, Nymphadora?" Guessed Dumbledore. The girl was close enough to Harry and was the only one he could think of who had been recently fired.

"Yes," Amelia said with another sigh. "She's currently in a holding cell, that's one headache at least. The other one was trying to stop Sirius Black from storming into the ministry, that's an entirely different struggle, I assure you."

"I could imagine," Dumbledore frowned. Sirius Black was always a stubborn individual, even as a child. You had to be a special level of stubborn to say 'no' to Sirius's mother, and Sirius had basically made saying 'no' to her a very large part of his whole personality.

"No, you can't." She huffed crossly. "He has threatened to sue us and perform all manner of pranks on us, from the mildly amusing to the depraved and borderline legal. Some of which I didn't even think were possible or legal, to be honest. He's also tried to get in by flirting with one of my aurors. When I shut that down, he nearly got in by making love to another and convincing her to let him 'just visit his beloved godson for a moment'. Now, I have had to suspend one of my best aurors, and when she comes back, she might very well end up taking some time off for maternity leave. The second we finally allowed him to come and see Harry, he waltzed in like he owns the damn place and gave me the smugest look I've seen in ten years. Damn that man!" Despite what had happened earlier, Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "It's not funny!" She said, shooting him a sharp glare.

"Of course not," Dumbledore said, raising his hands up in surrender. "But that still does not explain how exactly Harry was not tossed into Azkaban," He said, becoming serious once more.

"When Harry came to us, he apologised profusely and claimed that it wasn't his fault, that he was forced to act against his will by the creature, 'Venom'." She explained.

"Really?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully. On the one hand, that proved his theory that the creature had been influencing Harry, and it seemed like Harry had been strong enough to free himself of its influence. But on the other hand, that sounded a lot like the 'imperius' defence that so many had used in the last war. So any people who had committed such horrible atrocities had simply tossed the right amount of money and claimed that they had been put under the imperus curse and had been let free. Dumbledore knew that if Harry truly still wasn't on the side of the angels, then he would use the same excuse that the Death Eaters did as a slap in the face towards the Ministry and Dumbledore himself, a reminder of their failures.

"Sounds unlikely, right?" Amelia asked, guessing his thought process.

"A bit, yes," Dumbledore said lightly. "It reminds me much more than I'd like of the defence that the Death Eaters had used in the last war."

"I can see the correlation," Amelia nodded her head. "But I assure you, Dumbledore, that this is very different from the last war. I had Potter in my office before the trial and stuffed to the gills with as much veritaserum as I could legally get away with. He has even been examined by two separate healers from my department and three specialists whom I had called in from St Mungos. And if that wasn't enough, then I got a couple of curse breakers and our top magical creature expert to take a look at him. He's no Newt Scammender, I admit, but he knows his stuff. All of them had checked him over and had assured me that he is one hundred per cent possession free, and there is nothing inside of him that shouldn't be there. Thank Merlin."

"And what of the creature itself?" Dumbledore asked. "What has happened to this Venom?"

"Potter says he doesn't know." She replied. "It's possible that the creature abandoned him, but I can't say for certain." She said just as they arrived outside the room. "Are you ready?" She asked, placing a hand on the doorknob.

"No, but I think it's better if we get it over with," Dumbledore said in a sombre voice. "This will not be easy."

"Nothing worthwhile is," She told him with a sad smile before she opened the door.

Walking in, Dumbledore took a look around. The room was rather bare and plain, with simple blue walls. On either side of the room were a small selection of chairs. On the left of the room, sat in one of those chairs with his wand out and ready, was Rufus Scrimegeour.

"Dumbledore," He grunted out in agreement, only briefly looking at the older man before turning his eyes back to the only other two people in the room.

In the centre of the room, there were two chairs positioned to face each other; in one of those chairs was Harry Potter, who was sitting with his back facing Dumbledore. Harry hadn't so much as twitched in the time that Dumbledore had been here. Standing next to him while sending Dumbledore a heavy glare was another person that Dumbledore felt he had failed, Sirius Black. He couldn't blame his former pupil for distrusting him; it was a miracle in and of itself that Sirius hadn't judged Dumbledore on all of the ravings from his family. But now Dumbledore was the one who had saved Sirius's hated enemy from prison while seemingly abandoning Sirius and hadn't protected the man's godson adequately. No wonder the man looked like he wanted to hex him.

With heavy steps, the headmaster walked in, followed by Amelia Bones, who shut the door behind her with a wave of her wand. Dumbledore stopped a few feet away from Harry while Amelia moved off to the right of the room and took a seat, not before sending a heated glare at Sirius. Like Rufus, she had her wand out and ready and aimed in Harry's general direction. Taking in a deep breath, Dumbledore walked around Harry and sat down in the chair opposite him. He didn't speak straight away; instead, he settled on taking a good look at Harry.

The boy was slouched in his chair, his skin a shade paler than before, and his hair was matted down to his face, which was covered in sweat. His cheeks were red, his eyes were narrowed, and they looked like they were being forcibly kept still through sheer will. The boy seemed to take some comfort from Sirius who had his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I've probably looked better, haven't I?" Harry said with a self-depreciating chuckle.

"I think that applies to both of us," Dumbledore said, unable to stop the small smile that appeared on his lips. "You should count yourself lucky that you never got to see how I looked on my twenty-third birthday; that was a horrible sight, I assure you."

"No offence, but can you even remember that far back?" Harry asked, earning a mildly amused snort from Sirius.

"Just the important parts," Dumbledore smiled sadly at Harry. "At my age, you forget a lot. Some things, though, they can never leave. Not unless you want to be obliviated, I suppose."

"I'm alright," Harry said with a small shake of his head. "My head is fucked up as it is."

"Join the club," Grunted Sirius. "Be thankful neither of you had to spend over a decade with dementors."

"I had Snape as a teacher for half that time," Harry gave Sirius a cheeky grin.

"Okay, you win," conceded Sirius with a small smirk. "Little scamp," He said, ruffling Harry's hair. A gesture that both warmed Dumbledore's heart and stabbed into him like a spear. The love that Sirius had for his godson was there, so clearly visible even for a blind man. But the two had been kept apart for years, their happiness denied, in large part thanks to him. "Wouldn't wish Snape on anyone," Sirius added, glaring at Dumbledore again.

"I suppose a simple apology will not fix things," Dumbledore sighed deeply, looking as old as anyone in the room could recall seeing him."Still, I will offer one anyway. Harry, Sirius, no words can express how sorry I am for what I've done to you both, for what I've allowed to happen to the two of you. You both deserved better lives, but you didn't get them because of me. I won't ask for your forgiveness; I know I don't deserve it. All I can offer is my sincerest apologies. I am truly sorry."

"Sorry?!" Sirius repeated furiously. "What is sorry?! What can I do with 'sorry'? What can I buy with 'sorry'? Hmm? Can it give me back the last decade of my life, Dumbledore? The time I spent in a cell that was less than half the size of this room? The torture of the dementors? The agonising feeling of knowing that my godson was growing up without me? I supported you against the advice of all of my family, even the rare few that I liked. They called you a stupid fool, only now I know how much they understated things. Damn it, Dumbledore! My godson's safety was entrusted to you, and what happens? Abusive relatives and teachers, along with near-death death every year at your school, and let's not forget unknown creatures nesting in his body doing who knows what!"

"Sirius, I-"

"You know what you should do with your 'sorry'?" Sirius cut him off. "Write it on a piece of parchment, put it in a letter and send it to Egypt. Then you go to Egypt on one of those Muggle planes, first class! Get the letter, go to the River Nile. Jump in, jump out. Take off all of your clothes. And you know that 'sorry', you can shove it up your arse!" Sirius finished with a yell.

"Alright, Sirius, chill," Harry said tiredly, placing a hand on Sirius and lightly pushing him a step back. "As Sirius so eloquently put it, a sorry is not going to cover it, Dumbledore. You've fucked us up royally, to say the least. Voldemort is out there right now, trying to kill me, and you haven't even tried to train me once, even since my first year when you learnt that Voldemort was alive. You didn't even tell me why he was after me the day after he nearly killed me."

"Another mistake on my pile," Dumbledore said apologetically. "I had hoped that you would still be able to have something of a childhood. A curse of mine, I suppose, always doing too much or not enough. As is the case with your life, Harry. I interfered when I shouldn't and was absent when I was needed."

"That's putting it mildly," Harry said before coughing hard. "If I didn't have Venom, then who knows how dead I'd be right now. He's gone now, you need to help me get him back."

"What?" Dumbledore blinked, looking at Harry with a shocked expression.

"You didn't train me," Harry reminded him, slowly standing up from his chair. "Venom was my secret weapon against Voldemort, a creature he had never seen before."

"The power he knows not," Dumbledore whispered softly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, having heard him. "We need him to win the war, Dumbledore. I know he did things that you wouldn't have approved of. But...he's important to me. He's family. We need him. I need him. Help me find him, Dumbledore, please. He's the key to peace in our time."

"He did horrible things, Harry," Dumbledore reminded him, standing up.

"Nothing compared to what Voldemort has done or half the things that the ministry let slide over the years," Replied Harry. "Face it, Dumbledore, if you want to make a difference in this world, then we need change, real change."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore said softly, as he placed a hand on Harry's chest. "But violence is not the way, Harry. This Venom, we know not what he wants. Perhaps he has good intentions, but he cannot be trusted. Besides, you do not need him, Harry. You've had the power to defeat Voldemort all along. 'Love,' Harry, that is what you possess. The ability to care for others, a feeling Voldemort could never know. The power to push through anything and come out on top for those you love."

"Bull," Sirius said flatly. "There were plenty of people who loved others that Voldemort wiped out. The hell kind of an idea are you trying to put in his head? Love? He'll defeat Voldemort with love."

"A power many underestimate," Dumbledore assured him. "The only power Harry needs to rely on."

"I do love deeply," Harry said thoughtfully. "I love Sirius, Tonks, and Fleur. I love all of them. Enough that I'd do anything for them," he said, earning a smile from Dumbledore. "Anything, including getting rid of you," Harry said, suddenly glaring up at Dumbledore, who stepped back in shock.

"Harry, I -"

"Dumbledore," A voice called. Dumbledore turned in time to see Amelia Bones step in front of him. The woman placed her hands on his shoulders. Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak when suddenly he felt something wrap around his wrists. Looking down, his eyes widened when he saw a pair of handcuffs on his wrist.

"The latest in magical suppression cuffs," Harry said lightly with a small smile.

Dumbledore didn't get long to process this because at that moment Amelia drove her knee up between his legs hard enough to push him up to his tiptoes. He fell to the floor, curling up into a fetal position. He looked up in time to see Madam Bones lock lips with Harry in a passionate kiss. As the two kissed, Madam Bones's form started changing until suddenly Harry was no longer kissing the Minister of Magic, but instead Nymphadora Tonks.

"Surprise," Sirius said with a lazy wave just as Scrimgeour stepped next to him. The man pulled a potion out of his pocket and drank it. Steam poured out of his ears as he too transformed, this time into Fleur Delacour.

"Why did I have to be the one to polyjuice into a man?" She complained, still wearing Scrimgeour's clothes.

"Because I called dibs on playing 'me' and Tonks was the one who knew Bones well enough to be convincing," Sirius reminded her.

"What..." Dumbledore coughed violently. "...what is happening? How did you..." He trailed off as a familiar black goo suddenly covered Tonks's clothes, which were currently the same robes that Madam Bones would wear. The goo slithered from Tonks and onto Harry, where it covered his entire body up to his neck. Once they separated, Tonks was left in her usual style of clothes while Harry was covered in black with the white spider logo on his chest.

"She got the kiss as well!" Fleur suddenly said furiously before turning to Harry. "You had better give me the kissing of a lifetime after this," She told Harry sternly.

"Yes, Dear," Harry said in an amused voice while Tonks chuckled. Harry turned back to Dumbledore who was staring at them with horror.

"What...what have you done with Madam Bones?" Dumbledore asked weakly. Between his intense pain and the suppression of magic that he relied on for over a hundred years, he wasn't at his best.

"She's currently at home," Harry revealed calmly. "Along with Scrimgeour and several other members of the Wizengemot, all working on passing through the laws I instructed them to pass through."

"W...why?"

"It's time to bring change to this world, and we're going to do it, even if we have to drag them kicking and screaming." Harry smiled. "It was simple enough, transferred Venom to Tonks."

"Hi," Tonks gave a cheery wave.

"She sneaks close enough to Madam Bones and transfers him to her," Harry continued before his stomach opened up to reveal a large mouth with razor-sharp teeth.

"An ability of mine, Dumbledore," Venom's voice spoke from the mouth. "Creating more of myself, with Madam Bones, I was able to spread myself into every member of the Wizengemot. At least the ones we knew for sure were aligned with Voldemort or you, we left the rest alone."

"Told you, Dumbledore," Harry continued. "We're going to heal the world from the damage you and Voldemort caused. It'll be spread out slowly, but eventually, law after law after law will result in a new era."

"You...you can't do this, Harry!"

"We can do whatever we want," Harry and Venom said at the same time.

"I...I will stop you," Dumbledore vowed, pushing himself up to his knees.

"We already have," Harry grinned before stretching both his arms out. Two tentacles shot out and wrapped themselves around Fleur and Tonks. A few moments later, it retracted, leaving the two women gasping. At once, they both transformed. Tonks became covered in a multi-coloured goo, not unlike Harry's, covering her from her toes to her neck. Meanwhile, Fleur had a similar one that was blue in colour.

"No copies for these two," Harry's mouth-stomach grinned. "We made originals just for them. Meet 'Camouflage'," They gestured to Tonks just before her symbiote covered her head as well, leaving her with pink, teardrop-shaped eyes. "And you can also say hello to 'Flame'," They pointed to Fleur as her head became covered as well. She raised her hands, and two large fireballs appeared above her hands.

"Sirius," Harry said suddenly. "You want one?" He offered.

"Maybe later," Sirius said thoughtfully, looking between the three symbiotes.

"Fair," Harry shrugged before turning back to Dumbledore. "Our agents are in the government, spreading to everyone we need to spread them to. They'll fight our war on the legal front, and we'll kill Voldemort. Bam, no more darklords. You might mean well, Dumbledore, but too little and too late. We can't risk you interfering; we can't risk any more orphans popping up because of you."

"Harry, I..." Dumbledore trailed off, wondering what he could say. He couldn't think of anything, nothing to right the wrongs he had created. "I don't know that I'll ever forgive myself for what I've done to you." He said softly. "Perhaps one day you might."

"Perhaps," Harry said softly, staring down at Dumbledore for a moment before he shifted forms into his full-size form, which towered over everyone.

"Fuck this guy!" Declared Venom.

"Oh shit!" Sirius took a step back as he watched Venom reach down and bite Dumbledore's head off. "I...wow...I don't know how to feel about that."

"We do, he tasted awful, too much hair," Venom complained, dropping Dumbledore's body and turning to face the rest. "It's time," He told them. "It's time to end the war."