Chronicles of Camelot

White knight, black christmas

"Huh?" asked Dan.

"My Mother," Harry explained, "She died protecting me, supposedly creating a shield around me from some of the oldest, unknown, unexplored magic in the world: the power of love. Now, if that's true, then it's clear to me that Mum feels the same and that love protected her and seemed to redirect the power onto you."

"Hence the physical abuse," Dan nodded, "Which I can never stop being sorry for Harry, so please, do whatever you need to son."

"Thanks," Harry replied, laying Excalibur across his lap, before he looked deep into Dan's dark eyes, the Holy Knight sensing the presence of his betrothed as she seemed to enhance his skills through their bond. With a slow smile, Harry delved into Dan's mind and, as he had feared, he found several powerful compulsion charms, all of them tied to Harry and all of them designed to give Dan the kind of attitude that Harry would have experienced with the Dursleys.

'Bastard,' Harry thought coldly, Excalibur suddenly glowing with raw magic as the silver eye of the Holy Knight shone just as brightly, Harry now gathering all of his own magic into one Parseltongue command, {Release!}

There was a moment of silence before Dan shuddered and Harry pulled out of his mental scan, a sad, almost forced, smile crossing his face; seeing the expression, Dan asked, "Did you remove them?"

"I did," Harry replied, "Since Hermione and I underwent the Ritual of Release, my own magical prowess has increased ten-fold: if I were a normal third-year, I'd probably exhaust myself, but thankfully, I also happen to have my betrothed helping me and the power of the Holy Sword to back me up. I'm sorry that you were dragged into Dumbledore's manipulations Dad and I'm sorry if you ever thought me a failure towards Hermione. I promise you that I'll keep my word and protect her with my own life in future."

"I know you will son," Dan smiled, extending his arms to Harry, the Holy Knight allowing his child side to come out as he felt himself being embraced with the love and comfort that, since September First, he had been sorely missing.

Leaving the car, Dan watched as Harry stepped inside, the elder Granger following lightly; however, as he stepped through the door, Dan actually felt scared as a thick male voice demanded, "DANIEL GRANGER; WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING LAYING YOUR HANDS ON MY GODSON?"

"Ah," Dan laughed, looking to a now trimmed Sirius Black, his Azkaban robes replaced by a set that Harry had seen delivered to the Grangers' home, "You must be Sirius; pleased to meet you."

Sirius, trying to look intimidating and frightening, broke with the calmness and demeanour of the man before him, the ex-prisoner breaking down in fits of hysterics as he looked to Harry, "Sorry pup, I tried."

"No worries Sirius," Harry replied, watching as Dan and Sirius shook hands, the two sides of his life – magic and Muggle – united with the one motion.

HPHG

Once Harry had seen to the few light bruises that Dan's compelled attacks had given him – with a little help from Dobby – he found himself sitting in the middle of Emma and Hermione, Sirius sitting in a chair behind the living room door, his lithe form almost hidden from view as Dan sat in the other chair. Sebastian and the Order were seeing to their own tasks and Harry was now waiting on the arrival of Remus to complete this little set: when he had told Sirius of Remus' invite, the Marauder had seen the joke and the opportunity that he had waited twelve years for all come together.

While they waited, Sirius laughed again as he asked, "So, you really do care for Harry do you?"

"We do," Dan replied; he had been a little hostile when he learned that this man had been Harry's pet over the summer, but, when he'd received Hermione's letter explaining everything, Dan had seen that Sirius was just as loyal to those he cared for as Harry, the ex-prisoner not spending one single day, until today, out of his form as Padfoot. Dan, seeing Sirius' nod of acceptance, continued, "Sirius, you didn't see what Harry was willing to do for me last summer. Those…monsters decided to grab him and dare to call him their property; then, when I tried to help Harry, he ended up getting hurt. Well, the fat one wasn't going to accept that, so he tried to attack me, but, yet again, Harry saved a Granger from danger and jumped in the way of the attack."