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“This is bullshit!” Harry shouted, once he was solidly on his feet again. He looked around and found himself standing ankle deep in snow and in between two very large groups of vampire hybrids, with a few wolf-shifters mixed in. “Read your contract, Harry, there’s nothing to worry about, Harry. Right. We’re having words when this is done, arseholes!”
“Who might you be?” The person Harry was actually there to intercede asked curiously. Harry took a deep breath and let it out before stabbing the Sword of Gryffindor into the ground between the groups, activating an invisible barrier between them. There was no way around it and it was at least five feet in width so it would protect the area he stood as if it were neutral territory. Aro frowned at the action. Good. Harry liked it better when he had the upper hand.
“Pardon my outburst.” Harry said, slipping into his more calm, aristocratic demeanor that Draco had all but beaten into him after everything, determined to make him a respectable member of high society. “I’m here on behalf of the International Confederation of Wizards.”
“The ICW has no authority over our kind.” Aro’s brother, Caius said, frowning.
“According to the peace negotiations held at the International Creature Accords in 1872, we do.” Harry argued, pulling out a copy of the accord that had been signed. “The self-proclaimed vampires known as Marcus, Caius, and Aro, I believe that is you three,” Harry gestured between them, “signed an agreement to serve as a governing body for your particular race of vampire. We were unable to send a representative for your failure to serve as such last year when you allowed one of your own to turn innocent people and use them as her personal army for an action that was brought on by her own mate. The tracker … fuck what was his name?” Harry scratched his head.
“James.” Someone behind him called helpfully.
“Thank you!” Harry called back, snapping his fingers. “Yes, James, instigated the attack on the Cullen Coven, some two years back. You did not step in, and you did not contact his mate, Victoria, to inform him that he, along with her and their other companion, Laurant, broke the peace treaty that was in place for the Cullen’s to reside here. You did not inform her of the illegality of her actions after his death when she made her army, nor did you take any action of your own.”
“And yet you did not step in, then, either.” Marcus said in a bored tone.
“I was elsewhere undercover.” Harry stated, raising an eyebrow. “And as such, my family was not under direct threat at the time. Things have changed.”
“Family? And who is it you are claiming as family? Your kind do not often step in for issues involving those without what you consider a spark of magic?” Aro asked, still looking curious.
“Suppose I should have led with an introduction.” Harry gave him a disarming crooked grin. “Representing the ICW and magical peoples, I, Lord Harry James Potter-Black, head of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black, declare this battle forestalled.”
“Harry Potter.” Someone muttered in awe behind him, along with all the wide-eyed looks on the creatures before him.
“Now. As I was saying, I have been sent here to sort out the issue of governance. For too long, the Volturi have sat in their halls, only policing when entire villages and cities were being ransacked by your kind. You have not been enforcing your laws unless you found them to benefit you in your stronghold. For example, do those around you know that you have been waging war against other covens simply to gain and possess those whose Change brought forward an enhanced ability? Jane can cause pain by looking in someone’s eyes, Alec can cause complete sensory deprivation, Dimitri is an unparalleled tracker. You, yourself, Aro, can read everything about a person with one touch. The Cullen’s have managed to ascertain several individuals with abilities simply by giving them a family. You mean to destroy who you can and possess you you can’t.”
“You have no proof.” Caius argued, and Harry gave him his best unimpressed look. He was feeling too old for this. Even if he hadn’t aged since around the time he was 18, which really wasn’t that long ago. Becoming Master of Death apparently meant he was now Death’s bitch.
“I have eyewitness testimony and reports from several covens.” Harry stated calmly. “Regardless, you came here on the word that someone had seen a child who was turned. Having the history she does, I cannot blame her for going to you, her supposed government, for help. You willingly allowed more than 20 people to be viciously attacked and turned against their will, without any information, to be used as soldiers, and only stepped in when the Cullen’s managed to survive. Threatening the life of one of their mates.”
“She was not his mate yet.” Jane hissed.
“Wasn’t she?” Harry asked, raising another unimpressed eyebrow at the broody girl. “She may not have felt the bond as Edward did at the time, but she shares it with him now. You are already on thin ice, do not test me.” Harry took another deep breath. Merlin, he hated the cold. “The Volturi are officially under investigation by the ICW until such time as a determination can be made of your fitness for remaining in charge in Europe. As the Cullen coven is the largest in America, they are being offered probationary status as the governing clan.”
“Wizards cannot interfere in this.” Aro said, finally looking agitated, those around him snarling in agreement.
“We can and are.” Harry argued. “Should you choose to pursue your current course of action, we have no qualms with razing you and banishing all of your kind from Europe altogether. There’s a newly hatched Chinese Fireball that could do the job nicely, making it appear as a massive gas leak.”
“You made it!” A cheerful and bright voice called, making Harry turn and smile at the woman approaching him with her mate and another man and woman following along.
“Of course I did.” Harry agreed, kissing Alice’s cheeks as she leaned in to hug him. “Perhaps if someone had told me a few years ago what was going on I could have stepped in then.”
“I tried telling her.” Jasper said, hugging Harry as well.
“No matter. I’m here now.” Harry sighed, before turning back to the Volturi. “Alice, be a dear and introduce your guests so we can get out of this Merlin blasted cold.”
“Happy to.” She agreed, waving the newcomers closer, though they looked at the neutral zone warily. She and Jasper took turns telling their story before the newcomers added what they could. Harry just listened and managed to only scowl at Jasper and Alice as they reached out and kept touching him. He’d forgotten how possessive and touchy they were, not having seen them since shortly after his 20th birthday. Had it really been eight years already?
“You are not an impartial representative.” Marcus stated, ignoring the story when the newcomers went back to meet the rest of those gathered with the Cullen’s.
“Perhaps you’d prefer I call on the goblins?” Harry offered, smirking when several of the Volturi grimaced. “You have the next 24-hours to return to your citadel, or your homes, whichever you prefer, or you will be dispatched as you planned to do to others here. Your choice.” Harry sent over a copy of the documents for them by hovering them, not wanting to get too close. He wouldn’t turn if bitten, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt while the venom was pushed out of his body.
“The witness comes with us.” Aro stated, accepting the scrolls and tucking them into his dramatic robes.
“No.” Harry said firmly. “You’ve traumatized her and her family enough. You were the ones, after all, who killed her mother.”
“I’m sorry.” She said, looking behind Harry apologetically. “I saw the child and I remembered what happened and I-”
“You were scared.” Harry said gently. “It’s alright. You went to your government, thinking they would investigate before launching an all out assault. Should the Cullen’s choose to accept you, as well as your apology, you will be in their jurisdiction. Any crimes committed against them, or in their territory, will be addressed by them.”
“We accept.” Carlisle said, stepping forward one step.
“No!” Several shouted, before rushing toward the barrier. Harry sighed as they were blown back.
“Mind stepping back for a moment?” He asked, rolling his eyes when Jasper and Alice both touched him one last time before stepping out of the neutral zone.
Harry cracked his neck and stepped forward out of the safety the zone provided and whipped out his wand as well as a specialized long knife that had Basilisk venom infused in the blade. He did his best to drop some of the creatures without killing them, but he also showed the same restraint they were intending to use against the Cullen’s and the wolves. Which was none. There were only seven left standing out of the 20-some-odd that had originally been standing with the Volturi leaders. It felt good to slip into action again. He was always better with actions over words, but he promised to try the diplomatic approach that the ICW initially wanted. Not his fault they didn’t listen.
“By my estimate you are down to just over 23 hours now.” Harry said calmly, facing the leaders. “I do not give extra chances. Leave now, or I’ll be forced to enact the punishment for failure to comply.”
“We will be bringing this up to your superiors.” Caius said, a hand firmly gripping Aro’s arm to keep him in place.
“I look forward to it.” Harry inclined his head. Once they were gone, Harry summoned the fallen to him and bound them with the chains and cuffs provided to him for the mission. He touched his wand to a portion of the chain and said, “lackluster,” sending them directly to the area at the ICW headquarters where they would be interrogated by the goblins, vampires, and wix for their actions and crimes. He wiped a hand over his head and went back, pulling the sword from the ground, only just realizing he hadn’t been given a return portkey. “Fucking bastards.” He muttered, sheathing the sword on his back and approaching the Cullen coven after tucking his wand and long knife away.
“You said you were protecting ‘family’,” Bella Swan, no, Cullen, said cautiously, stepping forward, “who were you talking about, if I can ask?”
“Bit of a long story.” Harry said, scrunching his face up. It was really difficult to look at Edward and see nearly the same face of Cedric Diggory. “You should really have done a bit more looking for family, Edward. I know some of your distant relatives. They’d probably be interested in meeting you, actually.”
“This is my family.” He said, looking confused.
“I meant your mortal family. There were still some relatives of yours that remained in England when your mother and father came to America. Not really relevant. Er, Bella, yes?”
“Yes. Bella Cullen.” She agreed, taking Edward’s hand in hers.
“Right. Weird as it is to believe, about a hundred or so years ago, maybe two, my great-great-something grandfather came to America because his family disowned him for being sympathetic to creatures over blood purity of wix. He made his way to this odd nowhere and was accepted into the local tribe. He even married and had children who were Quiluete. There was some sort of magic already here, so his melded with theirs. Resulting in the wolves standing with you.”
“What was his name?” Bella asked, placing a hand on a large wolf that came up beside her with a small child on its back.
“His family name was Black.” Harry said, looking in the eyes of the wolf who blinked a few times. “Do me a favor and tell Billy that I’ll be over tomorrow for dinner? You might not want to be there, though. He’s probably going to yell at me for not coming by in the past near decade. Even if he only did meet me once. He was rather insistent, that once, that I make sure to come by every so often. He’s gonna be rather pissed.”
“In the meantime,” Alice interrupted, taking Harry’s hand while Jasper leaned closer to his other side, “party at our place!”
There were several loud cheers and Harry only minimally huffed in annoyance since he couldn’t apparate if he didn’t know where he was going. He hadn’t seen Alice and Jasper’s new place, which they knew full well. It didn’t take too long to reach the house, but still longer than him just being able to apparate there. At least Alice was nice enough to carry him on her back, though.
“Can we ask about this?” A large man questioned, pointing to how Jasper and Alice were practically draped over him on the sofa in the living room when the party started to die down.
“About what?” Harry asked, confused for a moment.
“Harry’s with us, of course.” Jasper said innocently, his hands still playing with Harry’s hair.
“But you and Alice are mates.” Edward said in confusion.
“And Harry is ours as well.” Alice hummed. “I saw him surviving his battles, and knew we would be needed. It took us a while to track him down since he kept hiding with his magic.”
“When his friends found out who and what we were and what we were doing looking for him, they practically threw us in his house and ran away.” Jasper said with a small smile. “It was rather entertaining.”
“Says you.” Harry grumbled.
“How long are you staying, Lord Potter-Black?” Carlisle asked, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Harry kind of wanted to hex him.
“Just Harry.” Harry corrected. “I’m apparently here to help you get yourselves established and get a new treaty drawn up since I wasn’t given a way to get back. Just, ‘here, go handle this, it’s in your contract’. Really need to learn to read the fine print.”
“Would you be willing to assist us in a new treaty with the local native tribe as well?” Esme asked interestedly.
“I’ll have to.” Harry sighed. “Billy will make me sit down with the Elders to go over what currently exists and make any updates or changes. I’ll present them to you and you can make whatever alternatives or suggestions you choose. Then we’ll meet on neutral ground to seal the treaty and hopefully have the rest of your governance for those remaining in America drawn up as well. I’ve got some small experience in law making, so I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Mm. Love hearing you talk so diplomatically.” Jasper practically purred in his ear. Harry rolled his eyes.
“You love hearing me talk, period.” Harry huffed.
“You were right.” Jacob said, still wiggling a finger in his ear as he sat down with Renes-something. Harry couldn’t remember the girl’s name. “Dad was pissed. Pretty sure if he wasn’t in his wheelchair he’d be here already yelling at you instead of yelling at me.”
“Sorry about that.” Harry gave him an apologetic smile. “When I finally got out of my … funk, I guess, I looked into the family and found out the tree from Ephraim had kept going and added you, your sisters, and those weirdo cousins of yours. Came out to introduce myself. When Billy found out Sirius was my godfather, he said I was officially required to come visit every so often.”
“How old are you, anyway? You don’t look any older than me.” Jacob asked, head tilted like a curious puppy. The thought must have been rather loud, because Edward snorted.
“Stop that.” Harry pointed at him. Edward raised his hands placatingly. “I’m … er. What is it, 28? I think? Somewhere around there.”
“No way.” Bella said, looking as curious as Jacob.
“Born Harry James Potter, July 31st, 1980, in Godric’s Hollow. England, obviously. Some of your, er, friends,” Harry gestured to some of the obviously eavesdropping vampires, “know some of my story, and I really don’t feel like getting into it right now.”
“Harry died on May 2nd, 1998.” Alice said, holding his hand in hers. “But he acquired a rare magical gift and more or less stopped aging at the same time. He’s still human, but he’s … more. We had a lot of work cut out for us with all the PTSD when we found him.”
“Worse than me, I do believe.” Jasper agreed, still playing with Harry’s hair. “Why don’t we get you out of here so you can relax somewhere more privately?”
“Yeah, alright.” Harry agreed, getting to his feet. “You have somewhere to be tomorrow, Jacob? I know your ears are sensitive, and I highly doubt they’ll be able to handle Billy Black in full disappointed parent mode.”
“Probably not.” Jacob snickered. “I’ll find somewhere to be. Just give me some heads up beforehand so I can make myself scarce.”
“Sure thing.” Harry agreed. “When I come back,” He looked at Carlisle, pointing an accusing finger at him, though the vampire was smirking, “it’s just Harry. Call me Lord Potter, or Lord Potter-Black and I’ll hex your hair a rather unattractive and violently bright color. Everywhere.”
“Noted.” Carlisle snickered. “Have a good evening, you three.”
“Night everyone!” Alice called happily, whisking Harry away with Jasper close behind.
At least he got to see his crazy vampire mates out of this ordeal. Even if he was still annoyed about Hermione being right about reading the fine-print of his contract.