Harry Potter - Tales of The Phoenix Incarnate

It was a strange time to be one Harry James Potter, now formerly of the Spare Bedroom in No. 4 Private Drive, owned by the Dursley family. Currently the young man was enjoying the comfortable bed he has been using for the last few weeks, by what has effectively become his adopted/found family; The Weasley’s of the Burrow, located just outside the village of Ottery St Catchpole. 

It had been an interesting ending to his most recent Summer holidays and as he and his friends prepare for their next year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he couldn’t help feel more prepared than the previous year, and far happier than he’d ever been in his young life. All due to the arrival of an old family friend of his parents and, from what he’s been learning, his entire family line. 

Harry thought back on how far he’s come in the last 2 years since getting his letter inviting him into the world his parents were once apart of; finally learning the truth (in all honesty he doesn’t think he’ll ever forgive the Dursley’s for the whole ‘Dying in a car crash’ business), leading into being shown a world most could never even fathom, attending the same school and learned the same things his parents once had, making real friends for the first time in his young life, saved one of his soon-to-be friends from a fully-grown Mountain Troll (don’t ask, that’s a story for another day), found a three-headed dog with the name of Fluffy (Hagrid, need I say more!?), discovered that it was guarding an ancient and powerful stone that could give the user ever-lasting life and was sought after by the most evil Wizard in recent History that just so happened to be his parents’ killer (again story for another time), tried to stop said mad-man and ultimately managed to succeed, if barely. And all that was within the span of his first year of schooling. 

Sufficed to say, compared to his first year in the Wizarding World, Harry’s, and by extension the Weasley’s and Hermione’s last few months of their summer holidays has been both as chaotic and wild as Harry has come to expect from this new facet of his life. 

Starting with escaping (Yes Hermione, it was an escape, a Daring one if the twins have their say in it, thank you very much!!) from his former home with the Dursley’s, his mishap with his first ever Floo-Travel, meeting back up with the Weasley’s and being physically man-handled by their, apparent, new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; Gilderoy Lockhart (we’ll touch more on this oaf later!!) and subsequent encounter with the self-righteous and pompous Malfoy family (truly like father like son those two) led Harry to believe that this was bound to be the way of things for the foreseeable future. 

However, it was at this exact moment that Harry’s already manic and colourful new life was flipped on its head with the introduction of the, previously mentioned, old friend of his parents, and more than one secret was exposed to the young Potter; His parents had left him a Will, Inheritance, real guardians and parental figures that were meant to care and look after Harry instead of what he had to experience at the hands of his relatives, he was far more powerful than he ever thought he would be, and not only that he was one half of a unique Bond/relationship that he and his Bond-mate were still learning all the in’s and outs of all these months later. 

Needless to say, Harry has never been Happier, nor as physically and mentally exhausted as he currently was trying to muster the energy to get up from his nice soft bed and face the next morning routine that his parents friend; the man who flipped said table and set all this into motion; John ‘Logan’ McCloud, has been subjecting Harry and the other children/members of the house to since the day after they met, and that was all before they even got to school. 

Confused on why Harry and the others were all feeling like they had run away from a pack of rampaging Hippogryph’s, all around the UK whilst carrying what equals to their body weight in packs on their backs? Well firstly you wouldn’t be far off from the truth really, and secondly to answer this and explain what other changes that have occurred, we need to rewind a bit. 

————————————————————JLM————————————————— 

Right after they exited Gringott’s; the Wizarding bank of England, and noticing how late the hour was, and everyone still reeling all the information that they had heard and were still trying to digest, Logan had insisted on treating all of them to a meal at the The Leaky Cauldron. 

The Professors respectably declined, both so they could return to the castle and prepare for the coming year, as well as for Albus to prepare for the Wizardgamont sessions to ensure Sirius’ release went as smoothly as possible (despite any issues you may have with the old man and his mistakes, you can not dispute his determination to make up for his sins, and regain the trust of those he cares deeply for at least).  

This left Logan, Harry, The Weasley’s (after a small debate between Logan and Mrs. Weasley, which Logan easily won by ignoring all of Molly’s attempts at not inconveniencing anyone in any way or accepting anything for free. Honestly woman except someone wanting to treat you and yours for a change), Remus (really, pretty much the same as Molly, only Logan basically stated Remus was joining them and didn’t accept any attempts to decline from the man and strongarming him into following them all when he politely tried to leave them anyway!) and the Granger’s to enjoy a very filling and enjoyable meal with close friends and family. 

Logan did have a small issue with Tom; the bar man, and another small debate with Molly, when he attempted to order something called ‘Sake’ for himself and whichever adults that wanted to join him, only to discover the poor barman had no idea what that was, thus meaning that he didn’t have any. Not to mention Molly not wanting the man to set a bad example for the children, and said children trying desperately to not to laugh too loudly at the entire display, else they incur the Matriarchs wrath.  

Before everyone was finished, Logan called Ron and Hermione to stand in front of him and replicated to same flames and procedure that he did for Harry and released the binds on their minds and magic, only on a less dramatic a scale. And as promised, they could think far clearer than they thought possible and felt marginally stronger to boot, but also as promised they felt significantly more drained than they were before, which prompted the end of their evening to get everyone home to bed. 

As they all prepared to leave, and as Hermione and her parents were moving to make their farewell’s to everyone with promises to see them all soon, Logan interrupted them once more by saying that he will bring them all home and that they need to head back out into the entry-way to Diagon Alley first. 

Visibly confused, yet intrigued, everyone did just that and once they were lined up and bunched together as comfortably as they could (it wasn’t exactly large enough for that many of them to stand in the entryway at the same time like this, admittedly). When everyone was ready, and told to gather around Logan, the man let loose the Etherial flames that they had seen soo many times today and were no closer to understanding what they were, or the man producing them, except for the strange sense that he means them no harm.

The Flames slowly built up more and more around Logan’s body, his eyes burning with raw power, until you couldn’t tell if the flames were merely coming from Logan or they in fact made up Logan’s form entirely. When, finally, the flames grew too much for any of them to bare looking at directly, it finally exploded outwards and encompassed all of them as well.

If you were to ask later on, and indeed what the Granger’s would describe experiencing when they were finally able to open their eyes and found themselves standing in the back garden of their home, was that they were enveloped in warmth and felt more secure than they ever had in their lives. Like when there’s a torrential storm outside and you're wrapped up in a warm blanket, safe and sheltered from the storms. It was both the strangest and yet most welcoming sensation any of them have ever experienced and they were already missing it as they gathered their wits and moved to go inside.  

And just before Hermione did, she caught in her peripheral view what looked to be a giant, bird-like, creature, getting progressively smaller in the distance, covered in what she could only guess was the same Flames as Logan’s own, flying high into the sky and into the distance before it got too far for her to see.

Shaking her head clear of even more questions brimming in her young mind she went inside to join her parents, determined to question the Weasley parents, Professor’s and this Mr. Lupin on all they knew about this new and strange man embroiled in her friends life. Determined as she was to protect her friend!

With the others, they found themselves just inside the outer garden walls of their home, looking at the wonky yet homely view of the Burrow in all its glory. Whilst the children and Bill tried to shake off the shock of suddenly appearing home instead of being in the Alley still (as they expected to as they hadn’t felt any indication that they had been moved at all) Logan, Remus and their parents were already moving to go inside, the men unsuccessfully hiding their smug smiles at the faces all the kids were all making and Mrs. Weasley berating Logan on not warning her that he was going to Flame-Travel them and to please do so in the future, whilst trying to hide a slight smirk of her own.

With a half-hearted reply to Molly, and ushering everyone into the house, wishing everyone a swift good night after a long day of shopping and drama, arranging for Bill to stay the night in his old room, who then sat down for some tea with his parents and Remus, whilst Logan waved for Harry and Ginny to come over before they head upstairs. 

“Before you both went to bed I just wanted to have a quick word and explain what’s gonna be happening the next few days.” At their nods that they understood, he continued. “Now Harry, as Griphook said he will need about a day or two, possibly more to look through all of your account details and make sure Toe-Fang hasn’t deliberately mussed up any of your family holdings. When we receive the summons you and I, along with Ginny of course, and if Arthur and Molly would like, either of them or Bill will come with us as well…” Here Harry made to interrupt with a question. 

“Sorry John, but why would Ginny need to come with us?” Harry stopped momentarily at an outer feeling of slight hurt and sadness, which he knew was not coming from himself. On a hunch he turned to the red head standing next to him and noticed the sad look in her eyes and on her face as she lowered her head to the floor. 

Realising how that sounded he was quick to correct. “Not that I don’t want you there Gin, I wouldn’t mind either way, though I would appreciate someone else there that I trust in case I miss something important!”  

Here he felt the sadness lift slightly, both from his rushed explanation (to which the girl herself and the other adults found quite funny) and, he would later learn, from the little nick-name he wasn’t even conscious of having used, regardless he was encouraged to continued. 

“I’m just confused and curious is all, and don’t want to have to inconvenience you or your family any more than I already have. Plus, I’d like it if you weren’t just included because of me, but it was what you wanted to do, y’know!?”

All the adults around the room were already beginning to notice a pattern with Harry, where he feels that he wasn’t worth much effort from others and didn’t want to be a bother to anyone, likely a result of years of living with the Dursley’s, and a quick look to Logan gave them all they needed to know. But that was nothing to what young Ginny was experiencing right now.

For both Harry and Ginny, upon leaving the bank and throughout the meal noticed that they were beginning to sense what the other was feeling, far stronger than what Ginny had felt back in the office when trying to comfort Harry. 

With that vile piece of magic and madness now removed from Harry, and with this new and mysterious Bond growing stronger by the minute, they had begun to feel soo much more in-sync with each other, as though they’d known each other for years and could anticipate what the other thought and felt. 

They were beginning to realise that, to a certain extent, they actually could feel each other’s emotions and hear random snippets or impressions of thoughts. Before today, this would have seemed strange to them, but as things stand it just felt like this is how they were meant to be their whole lives, and as was explained earlier, the Bond was truely making up for lost time. 

As such Ginny felt, rather than saw, how panicked she had inadvertently made Harry feel by misunderstanding his words, despite how she could feel that that wasn’t how he meant for his words to sound. 

This Bond of theirs was still soo new and neither of them knew what to expect this early on (and honestly they are both still quite young to boot), but from what she already knew and what she could feel from Harry, she should have known that he would have loved to be near her more and wanted it to be her choice instead her being dragged along for the ride. Instead, she let her old insecurities resurface soo quickly.

Not only that, but it was almost heart-wrenching to feel how much Harry was almost desperate for closeness, but held himself back in fear that she or any of the others would tire of him (as the Dursley’s often did) and punish him for it or send him away to live with them again. 

This last thought/impression alone from Harry was enough to bring her to tears and, in a move more to reassure Harry than herself (though she will later admit to her mother the next day, in a quiet moment between them both, that it also helped her feel a bit better from everything she learned and experienced from Harry’s memories the day before) she leaped at harry and wrapped her small arms around the boys neck and hugged him almost as much as her Mother’s infamous/legendary hugs, only saved from falling flat on the floor by Logan’s steady hands. 

Shocked and worried were good words to describe how Harry felt right now, even though he had the impression that he had explained himself and made Ginny feel better after his muck-up with his words, her actions as well as what he was feeling still made him think he had upset her more than he thought. 

His confusion was soon cleared when Ginny spoke next to his ear, inadvertently making him shiver slightly at the pleasant feeling it brought. (a sensation that still confused the young lad, though he wasn’t about to complain) “Harry, you don’t have to worry so much that we don’t want you around okay? I know that you're used to having to deal with everything almost on your own or being shouted at and told your worthless or whatever else those awful excuse for Muggles would subject you too, but I promise that I will never feel that way!”  

Here Harry began to tear up himself, both from feeling the sincerity of her words and through sensing the emotions she was pouring out to him. Arthur, Molly, Bill and Remus all grew concerned and made to question what the young Weasley meant by that, but were waved off by Logan as Ginny continued. “And I promise you, no one here will ever think those things of you either. You will NOT be going back to those people ever again, not if I have anything to say about it!”  

Here Harry gave a small, wet chuckle, both at how serious she was being and because of what he felt was Ginny’s desire to try lightening his mood, and when she was sure he felt a bit better she added. “And if it’s got anything to do with you, be it because of our new connection or because it’s what you want to share with us…. Or me!?” 

Although Harry could not see her face, he knew she was blushing slightly, both from the Bond and from the heat he felt from her cheeks so close to his neck, and he hugged her a little tighter to both make her feel better and to silently let her know he would always include her if that was what she wanted.

Feeling the reassurance both in his hug and through the Bond she continued. “Then we will be there for you and support you however you need, okay? Thank you for making sure it was my choice to go with you, and not because I had too with our Bond, but I’d want to be there to support you, alright!?” 

As she finished her sentence and pulled back to look at Harry’s gorgeous Emerald eyes again to make sure he understood (and trying not to become lost in them for the umpteenth time) he gave a firm nod in answer and they turned to address the adults again, with matching blushes at their moment being watched by them like that (and unknown to either of them, Harry had kept an arm around Ginny’s side, subconsciously not wanting to let her go just yet, which was not being contested in any way by Ginny).

Once again listening, Logan spoke back up, with only a slight grin on his face. “In answer to your question Harry, Ginny would need to speak with the bank eventually anyway to sign her onto and give her access to your accounts and vaults, so it’s best to get it done and out of the way early on.” 

At Harry’s nod as though that made perfect sense to him, and everyone else’s confused looks as well as sensing Molly’s incoming explosion at how improper it was for Ginny to have access to someone else’s account when it wasn’t hers, Logan was quick to add. “As your parents hinted at earlier in the Will Harry, when your Bond feels you are both mature and old enough, you will both be considered, in the eyes of magic AND.” Here he looked to the other adults, in particular Molly. “The Wizarding Government, set up from the time of Merlin and Morgana, and the Founders of Hogwarts, to be Fully and Lawfully Married.”  

This was understandably a shock to hear brought up again so soon, not only for the adults but for the two Bond-mates as well (along with a heavy blush on both their faces as they’d likely forgot that little titbit with everything else they'd learned that day). “Now before anyone else goes reacting, exploding and/or jumping to conclusions, just let me finished first!” 

Logan was lucky to say this before Molly recovered from her shock or everyone would have needed to cover their ears. As it stands, Logan merely continued explaining.

“When you were both born, starting with Harry here, you were always going to meet, fall in love and eventually Marry one way or another, no matter how long it took, no matter what you both eventually grew up to be, this was destined to happen in one form or another, so the prospect of signing her on early will merely remove the chance of others throwing accusations and barriers in the way of proceedings later on down the line. At the same time though, the Bond takes into account your choices as well, and will progress accordingly. So it's not a typical ‘its destined to happen and you have no choice in the matter, might as well throw you both in at the deep end and see if you swim.’ type of deal!” Logan finished his explanation here and gave them all a chance to digest this new information and looked to the two in question.

It was little Ginny who broke the quiet that followed. “So, what you're saying is that even though we have this bond, and nothing can change that (not that I’d want it too mind), it still relies on us setting our own pace? We can decide how fast we go, and we won’t be forced to do something by the Bond that we don’t want to yet, or aren’t ready for, and because the Bond is present, no one can do anything to either of us or use this… situation for lack of a better word, against us!?” 

At Logan’s answering grin he added. “It’s not in the nature of this kind of Bond to force or influence its intended in any way shape or form, it merely helps ensure no one will interfere with what you share and to protect you in any way possible. Plus, as it's the will of pure, GOOD magic, how can any government body sensibly interfere with those lucky to experience this connection!? It’s why it was included in the Marriage ledgers of the Ministry so that NO ONE can interfere or manipulate either of you! As you are both still ‘technically’ minors your parents and guardians still have a say in your lives in a legal sense, and we’ll touch more on that later on tomorrow, it does however give you the same rights to privacy as any adult, and protects you from those looking to steal, manipulate or blackmail either of you or your families if this information were to get out, which it inevitably will, sadly!”

As Logan finish his explanation, Ginny turned her head to Harry to gauge his reaction and found that he was already looking at her to judge her own. Upon eye contact, both felt like they needn’t have bothered looking as they could feel how much both wanted to grow closer and learn about this Bond and of each other. 

How content and happy they currently felt, along with the growing sense of something deeper that neither could immediately identify, but greatly wanted to hold onto with everything they had (though Ginny had a clearer guess on what it was, and was encouraged in the knowledge that Harry was feeling the same, if not a little confused by it from his lack of experience with any kind of affection and being hesitant to get his hopes up from previous experiences with those Muggles. Something to be addressed later!). 

With matching grins they turned back, as one, to Logan and it was Harry that spoke first. “I don’t think either of us will have an issue with seeing where this goes, but it does make us feel a bit better that we actually have a choice. And that the Weasley’s and Ginny will be protected should anyone try anything funny or to twist the facts and make them look bad…”

He had to stop at the slightly angry look from Ginny at his exclusion of himself from that statement, and the looks of protest starting on Mr and Mrs Weasley’s faces, not to mention Remus’ put out and sad look as well.  Before anyone could comment though, Logan jumped to his defence. “Before any of you start, and Ginny you can lower the death-stare a few notches at least will ya?! He has a point, and no, it's not the one you’re all thinking it is!” 

Seeing that he had there attention, and Ginny’s temper had been quelled slightly with confusion, he continued. “Now even though Harry excluded himself there, and yes lad, we will be addressing that self-esteem/self-worth issue at a later date! No, it is not your fault and no, no one here pities or blames you at all, that dubious honour belongs to those Gob-shite relatives of yours.” 

Hearing this everyone’s anger almost completely disappeared in favour of looks of reassurance, so that Harry knew that their reactions and anger were not his fault but on his behalf. (Further reinforced by Ginny bringing an arm around Harry’s waist and deepening the loose hug that Harry had started, giving him a light squeeze to boot and bringing a smile to his face when he looked at her.)

Bringing their attention back to him with a small cough (causing the young Bond-mates to startle and lightly blush, though the others pleasantly noticed that neither loosened their hug at all) Logan continued.

“Anyway, as Harry suggested, and I’m impressed you picked up on this so soon.” (earning a deeper blush from Harry and sly smirk from Ginny as she sensed Harry’s bashfulness at the praise) “Though judging from what you’ve put up with so far being back in the Wizarding World I probably shouldn’t be. Regardless, there will always be those who will attempt to spin any form of Bond or connection such as this between the Great Harry Potter, vanquisher of the Greatest Evil…. Blah blah blah…”  

This earned quite a few chuckles from most of the men, whilst Molly and Ginny didn’t share their mirth of a mad man chasing poor Harry for most of his life or the way some people carried on; treating Harry’s right to privacy and space with little regard and objectifying him. (Needless to say, Molly’s opinion of Lockhart took a big hit when she witnessed him dragging Harry to the front of the store like that earlier, and she never got the chance to reprimand the man for that with all the commotion at the front of the store that followed!) 

When the few chuckles that did escape died down Logan schooled his expression to one of intense focus, startling those who didn’t have history with him, and went on to explain. 

“Anyway, attention seekers like that ignoramus Lockhart, or power/money grabbing zealot twits like the Malfoy’s and spineless simpering buffoons such as your esteemed Minister of Magic; Cornelius, will all try and spin this in a number of ways in order to either discredit you all or to gain control of these two for themselves. From stating that you, Molly and Arthur…” 

Here he turned his head to look at the Weasley parents to address his point. “Have basically sold your daughter to the Potter line in an attempt at manipulating young Harry here, or flat out trying to steal his gold for yourselves. I know…” He was quick to jump in whilst raising his hands in a placating manner, seeing the rage and indignation that quickly built in all the Weasley’s present (both at the insinuation that they as a family or as people would stoop so low, and as parents to do that to their own or any child) 

“And anyone with half a brain and any REAL loyalty to your family will know that that’s a load of Bull. But unless we release all the details about the Bond, which we MUST NOT do for a variety of reasons, chief among them being effectively making what Harry already goes through about 100x worse and dragging wee-Ginny here into it as well. Something which, if you were to look over at Harry, would show you he already does not want that happening to either her or you!” 

Looking to the young man showed a shocking sight, one they really should have noticed sooner had all their attention not been on Logan. In front of the adults stood a young Wizard, hair raising slightly, raw energy radiating off the young man as an almost physical force and his already Emerald eyes practically glowing, showing his distaste and his defiance at putting Ginny or her family through such pain and accusation. This was further cemented by how protectively he was holder Ginny to him, with both his arms now, as if to shield her even more.

Ginny for her part was beyond shocked, both at Harry’s actions and the feelings she could sense coming from him. She already knew he didn’t like the attention, that it made him uncomfortable (something in the back of her mind vaguely registers the guilt her previous behaviour instilled, but she pushed it away for more important matters at hand, for now at least!).  

It was one of the many reasons that drove her to set aside her shyness and stand up to the Malfoy boy on Harry’s behalf in the first place. But to feel just how much he wished to be left alone, how the staring and whispers behind his back or to his face, and how the fabled tales of his life hurt him, how much he would trade it all just to have his family back!

How much he wished to spare both her and her family, the family he feels apart of even after such a short amount of time, from even a small part of that. Well, it touched Ginny to her core and if she wasn’t already crushing on this remarkable young man, she definitely would have been now. As things stand though, the more she learned of Harry, as a person not the fable, the more that silly Hero-worshipping of hers was dying and the clearer picture of him as a whole was beginning to settle into her heart, something she found she was excited to experience and learn more of.

For now though she reached up with her hand and brought his face and attention to her by turning his head to look at her, and once again, as he did, he seemed to instantly deflate and relax, the glow dimming from his eyes and the power that was coming off of him (felt physically by the others and still not affecting her in the slightest other than making her feel like she was wrapped in one of her Mother’s warmest blankets) slowly ebbed away. 

When it was all gone Harry practically collapsed in on himself, and would have taken Ginny with him, as she was suddenly feeling rather drained herself, had they not felt another’s arm around them both, catching and supporting them whilst leading them to two chairs that were moved closer together. 

Looking up she saw it was Logan, once more moving faster than any could see (again with the displaced gust of air the only mark of his movement, though this time sans the low boom for some reason!?) and kneeling down before them as her parents moved to check on them both whilst Bill and Remus stood at the edges of the table looking concerned.

When she looked back to Logan, he was looking back at them both, the centre/iris’ of his own eyes now glowing with those Etherial flames of his as he looked them both over quickly, before they too dimmed and he addressed them both. 

“And that is another example of your protectiveness of each other rearing its head, as well as the kind of power Harry HAS to learn to control! But what you probably don’t realise, either of you, is that as soon as Ginny came to the realisation of how Harry normally feels about all the unwanted attention, about how much it hurts and how much he’d rather have his parents back instead, you wee-Gin…” (to her credit, even in her tired state, her eye still twitched at the nickname! It just didn’t have the same pleasant effect as when Harry did it! Not unpleasant mind you, but still not the same.) “Also began releasing some impressive magic and power, almost matching his. Both of you trying to protect the other!”

Ginny looked to her parents and at her Fathers answering nod (unknown to either of the kids, Ginny’s own eyes had begun to glow a slight golden/brown before she tried calming Harry down, further supporting Logan’s claim) she realised this was the reason she was feeling drained now, she hadn’t even realised she was getting so worked up on Harry’s behalf until just now, too pre-occupied with being stunned on how protective Harry was of her already and trying to calm him.

As she thought this through, she also realised something else, and voiced her thoughts aloud. “How did you know that was what I was thinking just now!? I certainly don’t remember saying anything, did I?” Once more, at the answering shake of her parents heads she turned to Logan for an answer, and surprisingly felt a small bit of impish humour coming from Harry for some reason. Before she could question him, she received her answer.

“Because wee-Lass, and this is something the both of you, and your siblings and friends will learn eventually, the Great Albus Dumbledore isn’t the only one with more than a few tricks up his sleeves! And unlike Albus, what I do is so much more than simple magic, that it’ll take more time than we currently have to explain everything. For now, just know that most minds are as open to me as any book in your school library and very few thoughts stay private from me if I’m truly interested in finding them!” 

All through this explanation from a man that they had only met today and were already massively intrigued by (and strangely so trusting of already) Ginny noticed one telling detail. As she watching Logan explain, dead in the eye as he explained how he knew what she was thinking, she saw that he never once moved his lips.

Looking to Harry she could tell that he heard what she had too, and through his memories saw that he already knew their new friend was capable of this feat from before he removed that Horcrux from his head. 

Remembering a story that Bill once told her about certain types of magic she asked him. “Does this mean you're a Legitamen’s? And isn’t it illegal to do that to minors without our or our parents/guardian’s consents!?” One could tell from her tone that Ginny was mildly angered and gearing up to let the man have some.

Sensing this on-coming, and hearing a light chuckle from behind him, courtesy of Remus muttering under his breathe. “So much like Lily, it's frightening!” Logan turned just enough to give Remus the a stink-eye at his comment before he turned back to explain. 

“Firstly, you are correct that it is illegal to magically do that to kids, or anyone really, though on adults it’s less frowned upon. And don’t worry, by the time you leave for school I’ll have made sure that your minds are protected from any magical means of invasion, as I know of a few people that take liberties with the students’ minds. Later!!...” Logan hastily added, both to the kids and other adults to stop them from interrupting.

“Secondly…” he went on afterwards. “As I just finished explaining, what I am capable of and what Witches and Wizards can do with their magic are two completely separate beasts.” Here he gave an admittedly cocky smirk, far exceeding anything the twins have ever worn. 

“What I just did is known as Telepathy, an ability purely of the mind, and in many, many different ways far more versatile to what magic users are capable of. Long story short I didn’t so much read your minds as hear your surface thoughts. The average person’s minds are unguarded the majority of the time, especially the young, distracted and untrained, all of which are categories all of you kids fall into one way or another. But as I said, by the time you go to Hogwarts, even Dumbledore will struggle to hear so much as a whisper from your minds!” 

Seeing that they were understanding everything so far, apart from the awe-struck faces that they and Bill were making, causing all the adults to chuckle lightly, he added. 

“Also, if the prospect of me reading your minds makes you feel like I’m invading your privacy then you have my apologies. I swear on the lives of all those I hold dear that I do not read a person’s mind often or do so lightly. Only when I have permission or it’s of the utmost importance! I swear to you both that I will respect both your privacies and secrets till my last breath. Also, before you all head to school, I will teach you all a way to have a sort of, well a door for lack of a better term, available in your minds. Whilst it will help with keeping others out of your minds, it won’t stop me (I honestly have too much raw power for that and can basically blow open the doors relatively easily) but if I do need to read or speak with any of you telepathically, I will ‘knock’, so to speak, on these ‘doors’ and you can sense my intention to see or speak into your minds and you can then choose to let me in or not, how does that sound?”

Once Logan had finished explaining things, he leaned back to give the two kids a moment to process all this with their tired minds. One look into each other’s eyes after a fair amount of time sorting through their own thoughts, and sensing that the other had pretty much come to the same conclusion, they turned back to Logan, and Ginny spoke first. 

“Thank you for your promise, though I don’t think it will matter too much, as you said you’ll help us learn to shield our thoughts for the most part and will respect our privacies if you do catch something, so I think that’s enough for now.” Getting up, still rather shaky from the expense of magic earlier, she leaned forward and gave the man a hug, mildly shocking him for a moment before he returned the hug with a warm smile.

When Ginny came back to her seat, Harry spoke next. “And I think the idea of learning how to protect what we’re thinking will help a lot in the future, so we definitely want to give that a go if we can manage it.” 

Logan nodded to confirm the plan for a later time, he quickly moved on to say. “As I think I mentioned earlier, one of the abilities you two are gonna develop (possibly sometime relatively soon if you keep progressing the way you are) is sharing so much of yourse;ves that you’ll eventually be able to hear each other’s thoughts anywhere you are. The techniques I’ll be teaching you won’t interfere with this in any way. How can you block off thoughts from someone who shares your mind!?” At everyone's nod that they understood the point, he continued explaining. “Though the ‘door’ I mentioned before could possibly be used so you can keep a modicum of privacy, for surprises and birthdays and so on!”  

Seeing their awed expressions, and growing grins, he continued. “And now that that sidebar of info has been discussed lets return to our previous conversation shall we!?” At everyone’s light chuckle and agreements, he stood and addressed the room again, the others all noticing out of the corner of their eyes, and smiling knowingly, at how Harry had taken Ginny’s hand and she had tiredly leant her head on the boys shoulder. Logan simply grinned but noted to himself that he had better wrap this up soonish and let them get some well-deserved rest soon. 

“As we were saying, with everything that has happened, and will be happening eventually, if not sooner, it’s best if we get ahead of any manipulations or allegations that can and will be attempted, and any allegations slung around by those wanting to get a leg up on all of us or find a way to control Harry or his inheritance! Now this can be…. Ginny, dial it back a bit!” Logan adds quickly upon sensing Ginny beginning to become upset at the prospect of someone manipulating or stealing from Harry.  

Blinking quickly, Ginny didn’t even realise that she was getting angry again. ‘This protective instinct really will take some getting used to I guess.’ Ginny thought to herself. Feeling Harry squeezing her to him a bit more both helped her to relax again, and let her know he appreciates the concern and is thinking along the same lines as her, helps Ginny reign in her anger, nods to Logan allowing him to continue. 

Nodding back, Logan picked up where he left off. “I have a few ideas, some plans in the making and others that are already in the works.” For the first time that evening, Remus spoke up to hazard a guess. “Your referring to getting Sirius out of Azkaban aren’t you!? With Sirius being Harry’s Godfather, he can have full legal say over anything to do with Harry’s inheritance and can protect him and it from others trying to take anything that is rightfully Harry’s!”

Temporarily ignoring the kids’ astounded looks at this information, Logan smirks at Remus. “Both correct and almost correct Remus! You're close, those are some of the plans I have in the making at the moment, and some of the measures we can take to protect these two here. Another, and more important in some aspects, as there are those with a rather loud voice in the ear of your Government that will still attempt to take advantage of the bond between these two should they discover it.” Here Arthur chimed in with a guess of his own.

“A voice like the Malfoy’s and his ilk, you mean!?” 

“Him, and a few others that all seem to know how to expertly manipulate that imbecile Fudge. We’ll deal with him later though. What I’m referring to is that with Sirius released and taking over the key Guardianship of young Harry here, as well as being the last living Male heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black…” The eyes of the adults and Ginny widened as they caught onto what Logan was planning, except Harry; not having the foreknowledge of wizarding culture just yet like everyone else in the room. Fortunately, Logan saw his confusion and elaborated.

“With Sirius claiming his Lordship, no one will be able to contest his decisions concerning his ward; this being you, Harry! And any who have an appropriate/approved connection to said ward, this being Ginny should your Bond be discovered, and by extension her whole family. AND since he will be holding the Potter Lordship in Harry’s stead until he reaches majority and/or is ready to take it himself, he will have double the sway in keeping unwanted parties from influencing Harry, or slandering him, Ginny or any of you! So, until we have Sirius out, and have him up to speed and healthy enough after his time in Azkaban, we need to keep our heads down, and close to home for now at least.” Receiving many answering nods of agreement, Logan smiled before continued to say.

“Now, that’s for all of you. I, however, will be out taking care of a few errands, most likely tomorrow and over the next few days. Conferring with Albus and working on making sure we have everything set up for Sirius’ trial, among a few other things. Both during and after this however, I will also be helping you two to learn a bit more about what you're going through, and helping you to better control your new reserves of Magic, and getting a jumpstart on your schooling. Not to mention all the glorious training that I'll be subjec…… I mean, running you and the others all through. Trust me, you’ll all have an absolute blast!” 

Even after everything Harry has seen and done, everything he experienced in last year’s adventure and all that Ginny has grown up experiencing at home, the large smile that twisted on Logan’s face at the end of this sentence sent more chills down the young couples’ spines than anything they’d ever experience in their whole lives.

To make matters worse, looking around the room they could clearly see the pale and horror-stricken faces of the Weasley parents and Remus. Flashes of similar…… training they had undergone from Logan in the past flittered rapidly before their eyes. Quickly shaking off their shock and returning to the present they were in time to see Logan stand back up and speak to the room again.

“I think that will do for now, everyone’s had a rather long day as it is, and the coming days will be longer still.” Again, the rooms gave a collective shudder, those who didn’t let out a smattering of yawns as if to prove his point.

“Why don’t you two go and get some sleep, I’ve a few more things to discuss with Arthur and Molly, not to mention organising some independent/remedial training for Remus here… No Remus, I didn’t forget our conversation and you’re going to sort your ‘Furry Little Problem’ out and that’s final!”

Looking towards said man would show him blanching at the notion of whatever Logan had in store for him, making the kids chuckle and the Weasley parents wincing in sympathy, once more remembering how Logan could be when training someone. 

After the Weasley parents had given both the children firm hugs, ones that Harry was still feeling shocked and unfamiliar with receiving but not at all complaining at the warmth he received from the act, and after Ginny had given Bill a hug of his own, and Harry and Remus shared an awkward, though still warm hug of their own (give them a break, they only met today and have a lot of lost time to make up for, they’ll get there eventually!!) Harry and Ginny both moved to Logan and gave him a hug of his own, both pulled back and looked at the man who had already done so much for them all already, and Harry said. “Thank you for everything Uncle Logan, you honestly don’t know how much this has all meant to me!”

At seeing the slightly damp look in the young man’s eyes, Logan decided to let the ‘Uncle Logan’ comment slide for the time being with a simple eye-roll and fond smile, and simply replied. 

“Harry, you never have to thank me for helping you or your family and friends, it was my pleasure to know each one of your ancestors, and your parents, and it was my honour and pleasure to be counted as both and to know you as well. I’ll always do what I can or what I must to ensure those I care about are happy and protected!” At the two beaming smiles pointed towards him, and as they began moving towards the stairs, neither was expecting to experience the sudden dizziness or to black out the next moment.

What the young Bond-mates did not know at the time, and what they would find out the next morning when Mrs. Weasley explained to them over breakfast the next day, was that as soon as their backs were turned Logan raised his hands and simply tapped them both on the back of their heads, putting them to sleep and catching them before they could fall. 

After forestalling any outbursts and protests (particularly from Bill, being the one to know Logan the least of the Adults in the room) by telling the others to wait, Logan effortlessly picked up both the kids, carried them into the living room and arranging them on the couch so that they were laying together and comfortable, before Telekinetically Levitating a warm blanket from nearby and draping it over them both, effectively tucking them in. Taking a moment to move some of Harry’s hair out of his face, with a soft look in his eyes, he stood once more and returned to the kitchen and the watching adults.

After closing over the door behind him, Logan once more held up a hand to stop the bombardment of questions they were all waiting to unleash all at once and proceeded to cut them off first. “Before you all start and risk waking them up, this was necessary! None of you can see inside their minds like I can, and if it wasn’t blatantly obvious from Ginny’s reaction at viewing some of Harry’s memories before their Shield sprang up around them, they are beyond mentally and emotionally drained and need the rest!” 

At everyone’s answering nods at remembering what happened those few short hours ago he went on to explain. “What none of you realise, and I’m almost sure Ginny didn’t as well, otherwise she would’ve let Harry have it both barrels, is that Harry repressed the bulk of those memories from her, subconsciously, after he realised she was seeing them and they were making her upset. Their fierce protectiveness once again making itself known.”

Upon hearing this, Molly’s eyes instantly began to water, both at Harry’s obvious and selfless care of her daughter and at the hardships and pain this remarkable young man has already faced in his short life. Arthur placed his arm around his wife’s shoulders whilst the others were shocked at what they were hearing. All of them thinking; ‘how much worse could Harry’s memories be that Ginny got that upset at what sound as just the tip of the iceberg!?’

Seeing that they were all listening now, at least, Logan went on to explain.

“Now that they were going to sleep, Harry’s subconscious wouldn’t have been able to stop the Bond from sharing the rest, and neither were going to be able to sleep peacefully in that case without being close to each other and feeling their Bond-mate near-by, so that they can draw comfort from each other as needed. The only way they’re getting any rest tonight, possibly the next few, depending on how they do, is by staying together until the nightmares have all been shared and they can support each other! This being the case, did any of you want to explain that to a 12 or 11 year old!?”  

Seeing their faces gave him his answer. “I thought not. Hence the knocking them out myself. By morning they’ll be confused and more than a little emotional from what they’re about to go through, but they’ll be that much closer to each other as a result, and for them that is only ever going to be a good thing. Do not ask them how they feel about the nightmares or question them on what they’ve experienced. Act as though everything is normal and make sure the others do so as well. Harry’s gonna feel vulnerable enough with just letting Ginny know everything without everyone pitying him. Molly you can give Ginny the option of talking through everything if she feels she needs to, but don’t try and force her to, because the protective aspect of the Bond will slam down tight and she’ll refuse to talk to you all together in defence of her other half, do you understand!?”

Giving everyone a chance to digest all that, Logan glanced at a nearby clock before speaking again. “Don’t try waking them in the morning, let them have as much time as they need to fully wake up. Lord knows they won’t be getting many lie-ins in the coming couple of weeks!” Once again getting a shiver was the answer to that statement from the adults who knew Logan, and a continued confused glance from Bill at this repeated reaction to his supposed training methods. 

“For now, they’ll need someone to watch over them for a few hours to make sure that they are comfortable and not disturbed. Molly, Remus would you both mind staying with them for a while!? I’ll take over for you both before midnight when I get back. Arthur, you get to sleep and be ready to head into work tomorrow with me. I’ve some business to attend to and we can’t afford to let anyone in the Ministry get suspicious to our plans before we’re ready, so you need to be in work as though nothing is out of the ordinary!” 

The mentioned adults nodded in agreement to the plan so far, before Logan moved to the back door as Molly and Remus went to make themselves comfortable in their silent vigil, and Arthur moved to the stairs. Just before the door was opened though, Bill decided to speak up finally. “Wait a moment, where exactly are you going?!” 

Stopping at the door, and slowly turning his head to look at the eldest Weasley child, all of them tensed upon seeing Logan’s eyes had changed. Instead of the vibrant Amber colour that everyone had become accustomed to over the course of the day, they now appeared as a deep, luminous, Blood Red with what appeared to be small black markings along the irises.

Quite frankly they looked to many in the room to resemble something entirely Demonic in nature and was enough to set everyone’s nerves into high-gear, and to cause Remus’ (mostly buried/dormant) animal instincts to kick in and tell him to flee from the present danger, despite his rational mind knowing that this man was a friend and he (Remus) was not the target of Logan’s ire this night. When Logan began to answer Bill’s question, they could hear the malice and power in Logan’s voice. 

“I have some business to take care of as well as some others to attend to, as well as a few matters to check in on to hopefully make things run a bit smoother for us all down the line! Not to mention paying an old friend a visit to make sure he’s ready for what’s to come. Don’t wait up! When I get back, I’ll relieve you both, Molly and Remus, and let you both get some proper sleep. Until then, enjoy your evening folks!” Exiting the door and closing it quietly behind him relieved all four remaining occupants of the substantial pressure that had slowly been building as Logan had been speaking, allowing them all to relax again.

Turning to his parents and their guest, Bill asked a question that had been steadily building all day since being called to his boss’s office. “I’ve been holding off asking this all day, but just who the freakin’ hell is that guy and are we sure he’s safe to be around. Cause after that I’m not so sure I want him anywhere near the others, let alone Ginny or Harry!?”

Arthur decided to field this question after a shared glance between the other 2 in the room, and let Molly and Remus get comfortable to watch the kids.

“Son, we can’t tell you to trust John. In all honesty, that has to be your own decision. We’ve had many years of knowing and fighting beside that man and he has never betrayed our trust. On the other hand though, Logan stays very secretive on many matters that may or may not affect you or those you love, but in the end it has been to help us grow or to teach a valuable lesson to improve us as a person. What little any of us have ever found out about him is that he is one of the fiercest, deadliest and oldest beings known in existence. He has seen more than any Witch or Wizard, done more than any other living being on this planet, suffered worse than any of those who count him a friend can possibly fathom and sacrificed even more in the defence of those lucky enough to be counted as someone he cares even remotely about, and it has never changed the remarkable and caring person he is from the man we all met in the past. If you don’t trust him, that’s completely fine, and he won’t even hold it against you! But just know that that man will never betray the trust of those he holds dear, and we are forever thankful to be counted among them!” 

Finishing his impromptu lesson on a trusted family friend to his eldest son that has never even heard of this stranger, who suddenly turns the world they all knew on its head, for better or worse, Arthur squeezed his sons shoulder before heading for the stairs and his room. Bill soon followed his father, after giving his Mother’s cheek a kiss and bidding Remus and her a goodnight, and spending a few more hours awake and trying to digest all that he had learned today. It was an uneasy sleep that eventually claimed him, and not just cause of the insistent cawing of the damn bird skull rambling and demanding in his skull! (A tale for a later time!) 

—————————————————JLM————————————————

Many thousands of miles away from the home of the Weasley family, lies a massive monument in the middle of an ocean, currently being pelted by a torrential wind and rain to rival any hurricane level gales and storms. This building, surrounded and guarded by the some of the foulest creatures in the magical world; Dementor’s (creatures who drain away any happy memory or feeling of those near them, leading to the consumption of a person’s very soul when they finally reach the point of simply giving up) stands tall and imposing for all those who have the unfortunate pleasure of visiting, be it to guard or inspect the prisoners incarcerated within, or to stay within its walls for an extended period for one crime or another.

Through the winding halls and corridors, down the many, seemingly endless expanse of halls and doorways, we find a particular prisoner of this hell on earth, a man with shaggier dark hair than he’s ever had in his life, a thinner frame than could be considered humanly possible or healthy, and only slightly less mad than his neighbouring residents, one such resident being his own, disgustingly deplorable mad-Cousin, cackling softly in her own cell of her precious Master and all his glory. (A cookie for any who can guess who this wacko is!?)

This man is one Sirius Orion Black, last male heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, Godfather to Harry James Potter and falsely accused murderer of his dearest friends, James and Lily Potter (I say falsely accused because as we’ve already established, he was set up and wasn’t even allowed a trial to defend himself, but we’ll sort that soon enough).

How has this man managed to remain mostly sane you may ask? He discovered some years ago (don’t ask him to tell you how long ago, he honestly doesn’t even remember how long he’s been in his cell let alone how long he’s been here!) That the Dementor’s ability to influence his memories and emotions is lessened when he is in his Animagus form (a Wizard’s ability to transform himself into his or her inner animal) so he could get some reprieve from the madness that all eventually fall into with prolonged exposure to those vile creatures. 

Sirius was feeling the tiredness and misery creeping into his mind once more, and eagerly waited for the next patrol to pass by so that he could transform again and get some peace. When the guards and the Dementors had finally, blessedly, gone he waited a few more moments to make sure he wouldn’t be found out or disturbed before starting to draw on the magic within and begin the change. Just as he was about to begin shifting, he heard a voice he thought he’d never hear again and feared it meant he had finally lost what little of his mind he had left. 

“Hello, you old mutt, long time no see.” Looking up at the door of his cell, he saw an impossible thing, something that he knew couldn’t be possible and yet every instinct he had left in his body and mind, everything in his very soul that he has guarded these many years screamed at him to be true.

He looked up upon the face of an old friend and felt a treacherous little notion begin to form in the back of what’s left of his sane mind; hope. Because who he saw when he looked up, just on the inside of his cell door, leaning against the brick wall, was John ‘Logan’ McCloud. He tried to shake that feeling away, knowing as soon as he let something like that start was the day he’d truly begin to lose what was left of his mind, knowing that that couldn’t be possible and he was finally starting to hallucinate. 

“You’re not real, you can’t possibly be, and even if you were you’d never come see me after how I failed them. Just leave me be and let me sleep!” Sirius pleaded with the spectre. Trying to turn away only to receive a strike to the top of his head that shot pain down to his core. Rubbing the now sore goose egg that was beginning to form on his head, and looking back to what had struck him through the tears in his eyes he saw an angry Logan with his fist raised, ready to strike again if necessary.

“Did that feel real to you, or would you like another? In all honesty Sirius I’ve a bag-load ready and waiting if that’ll help prove that I am actually here. Well, after a fashion anyway!” Logan finished with a shrug and floated back to his starting position. Sirius had heard of plenty of stories of how the insane in Azkaban came up with wild visions that were apparently so real to them, but that blow could’ve only come from one man and that hopeful feeling began to grow even more. 

Beginning to chuckle softly, gradually growing to a more manic cackle he tried getting up to embrace his old friend only to fall through him all together and fall face first into the wall he was leaning against. Stunned upon lifting his face from the floor he turned back around to what he thought to be real, he saw Logan looking back at him and saying.

“What, I did say ‘after a fashion’ didn’t I!?” Sirius deflates again and begins spiralling before he feels himself lifted off the floor and brought back to the bed, seemingly without anything touching him, and as he was set upon the bed he saw Logan kneeling in front of him, eyes steely with focus, the centre of his iris’ beginning to glow with those Etherial Flames of his before he raised his hand and let it rest just in front of his eyes and forehead.

What followed felt like some of the worst hangovers he’d ever experienced back when he, James and Remus would drink themselves silly many years back and then Lily would have Hexed their arses for disturbing her in the middle of the night. When it was over and he could see past the flames from the hand in front of his face, he proceeded to shake his head and blink away the pain as his head began to clear, more so than it has been in many years. In fact, he was feeling much better mentally than he had since first arriving in his cell. Looking back up he still saw Logan, looking as though he hadn’t aged a day, and indeed for all he knew the man hadn’t. 

Standing once more, Logan said “There, that should speed things along a bit, feeling better Anáil Madraí?” (Roughly translated as Dog breath) At Sirius’ nod of confirmation, Logan acknowledged it before continuing. “Good. I’ve repaired some of the cracks that had begun to appear around your mind, you should be feeling much better than before. And before you ask, no I’m not actually here. I’m a Mental Projection.”  
 

———————————————————JLM——————————————————— 

The scene changed to many miles away, on the shore ‘closest’ to the island Azkaban rested upon, and a lone man stands by the water. It’s Logan, the iris’ of his eyes glowing once more and, from an outside perspective, seemingly talking to himself. “I’m miles away on the shore speaking and projecting my image directly into your mind!”  

 
 ———————————————————JLM——————————————————— 

Returning once more to Sirius’ cell, the image carries on by saying. “Your shields have been worn down so much over the years I was able to establish a connection with your mind with ease, we’ll have to work on those later! For now, all you need to know is that only you can see or hear me, and every guard and Dementor in the prison will be giving your cell a wide berth for the next few hours or so whilst we talk, and so you can actually get some rest before Morning!” 

As the man finished, and as Sirius attempted to take in all the facts with a mind that felt clearer than it had in years, he stood up again and looked anywhere but Logan’s eyes, feeling great shame in front of a man who had treated him no different to James or Remus, like a trusted nephew or member of his family. A man who had taught him more about life and magic than any of his Hogwarts professors or his retched family and who had basically taught him how to be the man he used to be, someone he could be proud to be and not what his family tried to force him into being. How could he look this man in the eyes when he had so spectacularly failed not only his brothers in all but blood, but his dear Godson as well. 

Without raising his eyes, he attempts to speak to fill the void. “Logan…. It's good to see you. Finally here to take your pound of flesh for my cock-up ay? Well go ahead, it’s no less than I deserve. I’ve failed them all, I fa…..” He never got to finish that sentence as he experienced another strike to his head. “OWWW, blimey how are you hitting me so hard when you say you're not actually here!?”

Logan just gives him a dead-pan stare. “I have my ways, and before you try going down the pity road again, get in line cause there’s quite a few people I’m already dealing with trying to start those, least of all myself, and you know how I feel about pity parties!?” 

Still rubbing the new goose egg on his head and blinking away his tears, still unable to look the man in the eyes, he attempted to start again when Logan pre-empted his next sentence by talking over him. “You’re not the first man to make a rash decision in a moment of grief, pain and anger Sirius! You at least had the common sense to make sure Hagrid was who he said he was and why he was there before allowing Harry out of your sight. Yes, I know what happened, I’ve spoken with Remus, we’ll touch on that in a moment!” Logan was quick to add on seeing Sirius’s first confused expression and then the shock on his mangy face on hearing his old friends/brother’s name.  

Yet again, before he could question him, Logan kept talking. “And I could stand here and berate you, reprimand you for falling into such an obvious trap, for not noticing or suspecting something was amiss sooner after all the time and training I put all of you through over the years, but considering that fact that I wasn’t even in this World when all this happened and I failed to anticipate Pettigrew actually using that raisin he calls a brain to think up his betrayal?! I’d be a hypocrite if I did, which, again, you know how I feel about!” With silent tears beginning to form in his eyes, Sirius gave a silent nod of acknowledgement at what Logan said, well aware of all the points being made, and allows the man to continue as he kneeled down to eye level with Sirius. 

“Many have cocked up in the life of one Harry Potter. Not least of which are yourself or I, and the only way we will make amends is by growing a pair and excepting our mistakes and doing whatever it takes to repay the debt we owe! And when he’s ready, Harry can take his pound of flesh from us all. Though given Lily’s temperament, and her forgiving nature, he may just yell at us for an hour or two then forgive us our sins, even if we aren’t deserving!” Here Logan gave a weary chuckle whilst Sirius perked up at the mention of his beloved Godson. 

“Harry, you’ve seen him!? Is he okay? Where is he? What happened to him after I gave Hagrid my bike!? Where is he no….” Sirius’ string of questions tapered off with nothing but a stern look from Logan. There was a running joke/theory between himself, Remus and James, and occasionally Lily when she felt like having a good debate, on whether Minerva McGonagall learned her own stern glares that she gave all her students from the master himself, or if she simply practiced hours on end till she had a decent copy for her own.

Coming out of his thoughts he returned his attention to Logan as he said. “You’ll have plenty of time to be brought up on the situation and the history of your Godson after we get you out of here.”

At Sirius’ shocked, and slightly eager look he quickly added. “And no, that does not mean that we’re breaking you out now! I won’t free you only for you to become a fugitive on the run and still unable to look after Harry as you should’ve.”

This statement alone curbed Sirius’ recklessness, almost falling into the same trap he did all those years ago and strived to be patient and listen more. “I’ve come here now to let you know, we’re organising a trial for you in the Wizagamont, and using evidence from the Potter Will, we’re gonna get you exonerated and lawfully freed. And simultaneously embarrass those idjit’s Fudge & Crouch all in one fell swoop! Don't ask, again we’ll explain later.”

He was quick to add in upon seeing Sirius’ hopeful expression. “It shouldn’t take more than a few days to a week, maybe a week and a half to get everything ready and then you’ll be in the courtroom finally telling your side of the story, with Truth-serum which I’m sure you will have no objections taking!” Logan finished with a sly smirk on his face which was matched by Sirius’, nodding in the affirmative to the plan.

“I still have a few things to do before morning, so I need to go, but try to act as normal as possible till you hear from myself or Albus! I’ve placed seals around your cell that should protect you from the worst of the Dementors affects but you’ll still feel their chill every now and then so hang in there, got that!?!”

At Sirius’ answering nod, Logan turned and began to release the projection in Sirius’ mind when the man himself asked some final, desperate questions. “Is Harry safe? Is he happy?”

Logan paused for but a moment longer than Sirius was comfortable with, before turning his head enough to see Sirius’ eyes, and answered simply “He is now! Get some rest and be ready Mutt, soon we start making amends.” And like that Logan faded away, and Sirius was left to his agony and tears at what Logan’s answers and his own past actions had brought him.

Sirius did not know how long he let the tears flow, but soon enough, and with his mind clearer again thanks to his old friend and mentor, a fire was lit in his very soul, one no Dementor could hope to snuff, and a determination filled his core along with a burning desire to right the wrongs he caused his Godson. He may not know yet what his actions, or in-actions in this case, has cost Harry but Sirius made a Wizards Vow there and then with himself that he will spend the remainder of his days atoning for his sins and protecting and nurturing his dear friends’ son till his last breath. If Harry will allow him to that is!?... 

And on that last, gloomy thought, Sirius got up, lay down on his ratty mattress and for the first time in years, fell into a somewhat restful slumber.  

———————————————————JLM——————————————————— 

Far beneath the Streets of Whitehall, Central London, deep underground lies what many believe to be the heart of the Wizarding community of England. At this time of night, The Ministry of Magic appeared almost eerie in its silence. Oh sure, there were guards on duty, the usual light team of Night watchmen, and a small contingent of Aurors on stand-by for any crimes being committed at this late an hour or still filing paperwork, and that’s not even including the amount of Unspeakables burning the midnight oil within the Department of Mysteries.  

But even with all these people, the same mistake is constantly made by those who become complacent in the endless day-to-day grind and the lack of discipline that is common practise with the average Witch or Wizard, both in this day and age and indeed in the mindset of the Magical Community at large throughout the world; the inabilities to tell when something different from their norm is occurring before it’s too late, and the false belief that they were so secure in their might as a Government and their magical superiority that they fail to remain on guard for any that can surpass them. Not to mention their complete reliance on all things magical. 

These are some of the thoughts Logan is currently having as he walks along the halls of the Ministry, making his way towards the exit. Given how old he is, the many years of experience and training, and the knowledge of this building and the magic used in its construction that many believe is lost to time but is in actuality, simply locked away inside his head, he of course knew that he wouldn’t have any issues sneaking in and doing what he came here to do.

No what surprises Logan so incredibly at this very moment is just HOW easy it actually was to get inside! 

Even when he was last in this World during the last war, he at least had to be mindful of his step and presence as not to let the more aware or sensitive beings that used to prowl these halls every day and night even catch the slightest hint that there was a disturbance present, and that was only on a lucky day for them.  

Now, Logan abysmally thought, they might as well have every door in this place wide open and throwaway all the keys, because as he made his way towards the Floo (deciding to trip at least one or two alarms on his way out to get these people to realise just how far they have slipped and re-tighten their security, hopefully) he hasn’t even spent the full 10 minutes he gave himself to get in, make his way down the Hall of Prophecies, find Harry and Tom’s prophecy (Logan refuses to use that silly little nickname for anything other than to mock the Bastard or to force Witches and Wizards to stop that infernal flinching at a simple name! Honestly, it was a made-up word for crying out loud. And he thought himself soo clever, he couldn’t think of a better name to hide his muggle ancestry. It's just beyond sad really!!), replace it with a fake that will harm all who attempt to touch it with the intent of giving it to Riddle or harm Harry, as well as alert him of anyone who tries.  

Then he made his way silently to the Hall of Records and found the book he was looking for.

The Tome of Bonds; put together to keep a record of any and all legally formed bonds for the purpose of settling disputes between multiple claims to a family’s legacies, wealth and knowledge, and as a record of all marriages for public record and viewing should the need arise.

The creator; non-other than Merlin himself, also managed to weave the ability to discern between a True Bond, those simply for the purpose of logging marriage bonds between two loving partners, those for status and power (an unfortunately large section in this day and age sadly) and the most precious, a Bond that was the will of Magic and Life itself!

Now you may be wondering just how Merlin managed these last qualifications with the magic of the Tome, was he really that all powerful, did he have some ancient, coveted knowledge of an age long past, blah blah so on and so forth, but in all honesty he had help in the creation of this book from a few, let’s just say un-orthodox beings who wish to remain nameless for the time being and leave it at that for now. 

Standing before a podium that this Tome has forever resided, it was clear to Logan that it had not been (thoroughly) inspected in quite some time, which both disappointed him; as this book was meant to be checked near-daily for any updates, and also showed how lax those in charge of this country have become in many of the old responsibilities entrusted to them, whilst at the same time pleased him in equal measure; as it meant that the changes he was about to make wouldn’t be discovered before they were ready for them.

Waving a hand before the cover cause the book to fly open and many pages to skim rapidly to the left, before finally settling on the page Logan needed. There, in Golden cursive of old were the names; ‘Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Potter nee’ Weasley. Type: True Soul-Bond. Started upon the birth of Mr. Potter on the 31st July of the Year 1980, reciprocated upon the birth of Ms. Potter on the 11th August of the Year 1981. Status: Bond realised and currently growing; Early stages started/initiated. Completed & Married on: N/A.’  

Logan gave a light smirk. From what he could make out, the book was still going strong after all these years. The records matched exactly what he had sensed from the young Bonded pair, he already knew that the stages section would likely update again by morning at the rate they were going, but with that Horcrux of Riddle’s still within Harry at the time and suppressing the Bond from completing itself when they first met on the Platform last year, he wasn’t too concerned about that bit.

As he explained earlier the Bond will grow at the rate the Bonded couple needed, the only reason it wasn’t showing at a higher stage was because of the soul fragment and it was making up for lost time and getting them where they were supposed to be had Riddle’s soul not been involved!

Getting down to business, Logan once more waved a hand in front of the Tome, with his signature, Etherial flames surround said appendage. Recognising the energy, the Tome did nothing to prevent the alterations being made to its contents and simply complied. All the information that once pertained to Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley was now hidden from public viewing and only those he allowed would even notice the entry.

All of this happened a total of 5, maybe 6 minutes ago, well within the timeframe he set himself to be in and out of the Ministry undetected. It was frankly embarrassing how easy this excursion was and after he had dealt with much of the corruption in the government body he would have to add re-training the security staff and tightening protocols and procedures.

Honestly this is what happens when the lazy elect the inept into power! With that final thought he triggered the Exit Floo in all the grates and caused every security alarm and spell on every floor to go off all at once. Give the idjits something to do for the next few hours before he came back in the morning with Arthur and speaks with whomever was in charge of the Aurors to investigate Sirius’ lack of trial. 

That taken care of Logan’s mind turned to his final task, and last stop for the night. Number 4 Private Drive. Just because he was always seen as a generally laid back man did not mean he didn’t have a vindictive side, as the Dursley’s were soon to discover first hand. And as an old friend had been the inspiration of in his corner of Existence; Even Demons Run when a Good Man goes to War! And Logan was no good man, nor was he a stranger with the mindset of War. 

———————————————————JLM——————————————————— 

On the dark street of Private Drive, were you to be awake and walking along its paths at this late an hour, you would be remiss for believing that all was calm and peaceful this night. Even those who were of a more Magical persuasion wouldn’t be able to tell of anything different from any other night. 

Inside the house of Number 4 however, everything was far from peaceful. Inside the bedroom of Mr. And Mrs. Dursley and the bedroom of their son Dudley, one would be forgiven for thinking that the two males of the house were currently in the midst of violent nightmares.

And indeed, Petunia was woken from slumber to the sounds of her husband grunting and moaning in seeming pain. As she woke fully and tried to stir her husband, and hearing her son moan and whine in fear from his room she was about to get up and try to comfort her baby boy when a voice startled her, a voice that she recognised from years ago, at the debacle (in her mind) that was her sister’s wedding, a voice that sent the fear of god shivering down her spine. 

“I suggest you do not move Petunia, not unless you want me to make their suffering worse! Now Vernon having it worse I’d have no issues with, but I draw the line of actively harming a child if I can help it! Even if said child were to deserve it themselves.”

Swinging her head around every corner of her room that she could, trying to find where the voice was coming from, she almost screamed in her fear upon seeing an almost glowing pair of vibrant, Blood-Red eyes with strange black markings surrounding the pupils, almost like comma’s her subconscious supplied for her whilst the rest of her mind was whirling in fear and hysteria. 

“Wh-w-w-Why….. Why are you here, w-w-what d-do you want?” She startled back slightly when those hellish eyes flattened in what she would guess equalled a dead-pan stare.

“Seriously Petunia, you're really gonna play dumb with me or can we just get down to business here? You should be intelligent enough to figure out perfectly well who I am and why I’m here!” The man’s voice was laced with a heady combination of pity, anger and a tone an adult uses to explain something simple to a simpering child. And it had the desired effect of making Petunia feel like an imbecile on her last warning. 

“Thi… ‘ehem’.” She attempted to clear her dry throat before trying again. “This is about him, isn’t it? That fre…….”

She cut herself off with a scream as the face of Logan McCloud suddenly appeared just inches in front of her own, his face a mask of anger and impudent rage, those blood-red eyes boring into her own and glowing brighter still, the black markings beginning to spin wildly.

His voice was as silent as the grave but holding soo much power and authority, she had no choice but to take notice of what he said, feeling the breath from his words against her face.

“Finish that sentence in anything other than a neutral description ofYOUR SISTER’S SON!....” These last 3 words practically roared into her face (dare she even fathom) with even more power to his voice than before. “And the suffering your husband and son are experiencing will be infinitesimal in comparison to what I put you through!... Understood?” When she shakily nodded and then tried to blink away her tears of fear, she was shocked to find the eyes back in their original location, face once more shrouded in the shadows. 

Logan’s voice spoke again before she could attempt to speak once more. “You are partially right that this involves Harry, but he does not know I am here! He did not send me in some petty attempt to inconvenience your pathetic family, and he won’t know of any of this if I can help it. You will never tell him I was here. In truth you shall never see your nephew again!”

Here Petunia attempted to speak in her panic, trying to explain that he needed to stay here, that her family had an agreement with one of her nephews kind, when Logan cut her off with an almost deafening. “SILENCE!!!” that seemed to ego around the room. She would have shrieked again if she could use her voice at all at the moment, instead she simply whimpered and nodded. 

“I know about the agreement” He continued from where he left off. “I have come here to inform you that that agreement is now null and void, you will find a letter in the morning on your kitchen counter explaining all this to you again. You will no longer have to associate yourself with him or the world your sister came from and any and all protections your family were promised and given for keeping your nephew here are here-by dismantled!”

Seeing the fear and panic grow in her eyes would have fooled many into thinking she was fearful for her nephew, but Logan was not most people. He knew her only concern was for her and her family alone. In all honesty it was taking all of Logan’s considerable will power and restraint to not snap all of their necks and be done with them.

One of the few reasons for his restraint is that she shared Lily’s blood, despite every wall Petunia attempted to throw up she was Harry’s only remaining living blood relative. He would not willingly harm that boy any more than these ‘people’ already have! 

“The only saving grace I will grant your family is to leave markers around your home to warn me if anyone comes near with the intent to harm you all. If I have any mercy left in me on those days, if they ever come, I may come and investigate. Maybe.” Somehow this promise did little to settle Petunia’s fears, but she was unable to voice any of this, not only because of the fear clogging her throat, but because he spoke again.  

“Now, what I will elaborate on and answer to your earlier questions is that your husband and son are fine, mostly. They are currently still sleeping, but are experiencing every fear inducing experience that you and your family have put young Harry through the last 10-11 years. Every pain, every injury, every ounce of fear, every lonely, terrifying night lying in his bed, begging and praying for salvation. Your son is simply experiencing all of this in a typical nightmare, have no fear. I draw the line at bringing deliberate harm to a child, but he will remember this nightmare for many months and years to come. Your husband on the other hand, is no child and I am forcing him to experience every beating, every strike, every insult, every trauma you ever allowed Harry to experience at his hands! He will wake with no physical marks on his body, but will still feel the experiences of years of abuse upon his body, only to experience the same the next night, and the next and so on and so forth. I cannot stress this point enough, Harry has not sent me here to exact revenge on you pathetic people. He is currently sleeping and doesn’t even know I’m here! This is simply my anger at a pathetic woman who would dare allow a member of her blood, her Family, A FUCKING CHILD!!!”

Once again that thundering voice rang out, and a small voice in the more rational part of her mind wondered how her neighbours still hadn’t heard anything yet. “To experience the life you have subjected him to out of petty, pathetic jealousy!” 

The words struck a small, almost forgotten nerve within her heart, a part of her heart that she had attempted to forget and keep buried ever since her sister went off into a world of magic and wonder whilst she was left behind. And it hurt, it hurt so very much so she attempted to do her norm whenever it resurfaced and bury it again. Only it wouldn’t, or rather it wasn’t as easy as it normally was. 

She couldn’t contemplate this for long however as Logan began speaking again.

“That is his penance to take, however. And as I said, your son is experiencing much of the same, minus the lasting pain. You, however, will not be left untouched either!” Here she gave a small shriek in fear and brought the blanket against her chest. “Oh, not in that manner you Amadán Níos Mó.” (Roughly Translated to simpering fool) His words, vaguely registering as Gaelic in the back of her mind, did little to reassure her.

“I will leave you to your own punishment now Petunia, with only a word, just one single word! And even though you don’t deserve the sentiment, I will still hope that you learn your lesson from this, and strive to improve your life, before it's too late to prove your sister’s faith in the person you apparently really were, wrong!” As Logan finished speaking, he closed his eyes, and after a moments torturous silence, against her better judgement, she attempted to speak to the darkness of her room? 

“Wh….what w-word?” She was startled once more at seeing those vibrant, dark red eyes before her face again, only now the markings circling them were different, and as she remembered all of this in the coming few days, she would vaguely register that the markings were spinning and had melded in something that resembled some strange three-pointed pin-wheel like shape. 

And with the quiet whisper of Logan’s final word, Petunia knew no more till she woke at her customary time in the morning to begin breakfast for her family, with only a vague notion in the back of her mind that would soon grow over time, that anything had even disturbed her peaceful slumber at all that night. 

“Tsukoyomi!”  

After he spoke this, and Petunia had passed out once more, Logan stood and left the house in a shroud of flames, returning to the Burrow and the two young children who needed him far more than he needed to waste more time with these pathetic fools. 

What Petunia experienced in her mind, she will spend many days trying to come to terms with when she was able to remember. In the quiet of her day, left alone in her home as her husband limped out of the house to work; this time not just because of his substantial girth and weight, but as though his leg had been injured or broken, though no injury was present, and her son had left to see his friends; surprising all his gang in that he did not appear to want to chase or bully any kids in their area as he once used to, as though he had lost his taste for it.

Petunia would feel a well of sadness and heartache, expressed through silent tears she’d catch herself shedding at random times of the day, as she remembered her nightmare from days ago that felt like she had lived days, to weeks, to months in the span of a single night.

Where she had visions of her parents, long since gone now, telling her what a disappointment she was, how she had let them down so much and soo many times with her jealousy and pettiness, visions of her dead-freak sister, asking and begging her with one, repeated and simple question; Why? Why did she not care for her sister’s son, why didn’t she protect him, why didn’t she love him, why did she hate him and her for something that was beyond their control. Why could she not have been a better sister and aunt to her very family, someone of her own blood!?

And in those quiet moments, when cleaning her immaculate home mattered so little to her, she let her tears fall and wept for her family, and finally felt the remorse she denied herself for soo long. She would pull herself together and deny it all later on, but these moments of doubt, doubt for where her life had taken her and what her choices had taken from her, would only increase and grow. Petunia would eventually, finally feel remorse for how she treated her family, with no way to make amends. If she was lucky she would eventually get the chance to beg for forgiveness, but such things were well and truly out of her hands now.

Guess she got what she wished for, huh!? 

———————————————————JLM——————————————————— 

As we bring our focus back to the Burrow, well into the night and reaching into the wee-hours of the morning, in the Burrow’s living room where two young children slept in moderate peace, broken only by the occasional whimper or moan, stemming from Harry’s awful memories being shared between the two, and drawing comfort between each other, the light snores of Molly Weasley as she slept in her favourite chair and the occasional slurping of a coffee cup in the hands of Remus as he sat in silent vigil of the young Bonded pair.

He had left Harry when his instincts screamed at him to find him years ago and he wouldn’t let a silly thing like sleep stop him from making up for that mistake now. 

(Binks Sake - Violin version/Cover titled “Binks sake on violin – exactly the same” begins to play {If playing the anime version ignore the talking Skeleton, if the version listed before, go and give the artist some love, as they thoroughly deserve it!})

As he brought his cup to his lips to have another drink of his coffee, he heard the faint sounds of music beginning to be played. It was soft and soothing, yet drew all of your attention like a signal in the night. Hypnotic yet peaceful in its harmony and bringing many a memory of hearing that same song, that same instrument; a simple string violin, and feeling nothing but peace even on his most troubled of days or nights, soothing his pain many a time after a rough transformation.

Looking out the window confirmed his suspicion, Logan had returned and had taken up a post just in the courtyard of the Weasley home, leaning against the brick wall. As he continued to play his tune, Remus turned to look at Harry and Ginny, and wouldn’t you know it, the old enigma still had the touch!

Where before was a pair of uneasily sleeping children, they now slept in what seemed to be complete and utter peace. The music helping to sooth their minds more than anything Molly or Remus could think of mere hours before. 

Making a decision, and taking the intended message the man outside was sending for what it was, Remus set his cup down and got up, crossed the room to Molly’s chair and gently shook her awake.

She startled slightly, but upon recognising the man waking her, hearing that soft music from soo long ago to her memory, and looking first to the children, seeing how much calmer they slept, then to the source of the music in her front yard, seeing it to be Logan, looked again to Remus as he spoke.

“I think Logan’s done with whatever he was doing. I believe the kids will be fine the rest of the night. Why don’t you head to bed?” At Molly’s answering nod she replied with “Don’t think your scurrying off young man, you’ll stay here tonight, it’s much too late to leave now anyway, and I’m sure Harry would like to speak with you more tomorrow.” Though he would normally insist on declining, that last line, combined with Logan being just outside made him reconsider. He knew the man wouldn’t be letting him leave for those same reasons and decided to just accept the kind request….this time, at least. 

Nodding to Molly, he went back to his cup, disposed of it in the kitchen whilst Molly had one last check of the children, before they both went upstairs to sleep. All the while the music never stopped, only kept playing in the same soft, gentle fashion, easing the minds of all in the house and allowing them to sleep sounder than they would have before.  

It wouldn’t be for many hours later that the music finally stopped, and Logan had appeared in Ron’s room, quieter than any would believe of a man of his size and stature. He was not looking at the owner of the room however, currently asleep still and snoring up a storm. No, he was all but glaring in a murderous rage at the slumbering lump of fur and grizzle in his cage. ‘You could just do it now!’ He thought grimly to himself; reach out with the power of his mind and snap the neck of that treacherous, vile peace of filth and before the deed was done make him experience all manners of agony and hell on earth in the time between one heartbeat and his last.  

He could take the revenge rightfully owed to Harry and all those that have suffered due to this coward’s actions. But no, he stays his hands (so to speak) whilst feeling the weight of the ever present chains digging into his skin, and simply applies several seals to the cage that soon glow faintly and fades into the metal.

These will prevent him from wanting to exit his cage, preventing his escape before they were ready, and keep Logan’s presence hidden from him, either by making sure he didn’t hear Logan’s name or even see the man if he were to be brought down in the cage. 

Job done, he left Ron’s room and appeared back downstairs in a swirl of softly glowing flames, and once more standing before the couch where Harry and Ginny slept, Logan saw that the effects of his music had already worn off as the young couple were once more beginning to become unsettled with the memories and visions they were experiencing at the hands of a young man’s horrid memories.

Sensing their fear and mental anguish, Logan kneeled before them both and allowed his power to flow once more. His iris’ once more beginning to glow with his flames as he raised both his hands to Harry and Ginny’s heads respectively, and gently placing a finger to each forehead.  

Moments later, after bringing his hands away and breathing a sigh of relief, both the children were once more sleeping soundly, even curling into each other for comfort and peace. This sight alone was enough to bring a weary smile to Logan’s lips, even as tears began to form along the edges of his eyes. 

Truly the things Harry had experienced in his young life, both in an out of the Magical world, was something that should never have happened to one so young or of any age. A victim of chance and fate.

Well Logan has had many an issue with Fates grand designs in the past, and more experience than most in screwing with them when he found a just enough cause. And these two children, these otherwise innocent younglings, let alone the children of old friends!?? These were two perfect examples of why he did what he did, why he always stood on the front lines and took the blows meant for others where and when he could, why he drew the lines in the sand, why he was a defender. A Guardian of more than simply Creation itself! 

Backing away from the peacefully sleeping couple, he began to float above the floor and crossed his legs, entering into a lotus position in the air and beginning to meditate, softly glowing with soft/low flames, and spreading his awareness over all within the house and miles around, constantly monitoring the perimeter and surrounding forest.

He would not be taking any chances until he could strengthen the Burrow’s wards and implement some barriers and shielding of his own. He would protect those he cared for, and make amends for the years he was away and allowed the pain they felt to happen. Of this he gave his word. And John Logan McCloud was a man that kept his word, no matter the cost!