The Lion

The Roar of the Lion

A shadow passed across the moonlit ground. The Muggles on the street took no notice of it. They hardly noticed anything really. Harry leapt down the fire escape onto the street, he had work to do.

Harry walked to the nearby pawnshop. Inside was a grubby looking woman with large glasses and claw like nails. "A wand," he said impatiently. "A wand was brought in here a year ago, I want it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the shopkeeper said eyeing him with distaste. Rita got all kinds of weirdoes, she didn't send them away necessarily, and money is money.

Harry stalked up to her and put his unmasked face an inch from hers. "Rita Skeeter, you bitch, give me my wand."

"Oh my god!" Rita backed up against the wall.

"Rita, my patience is running out," Harry warned. Wordlessly Rita pointed to a shelf on the other side of the room.

"Thank you, Rita, you are truly wonderful," he said with a twisted smile.

A few minutes later Harry strolled down the street, twirling his wand in between his fingers.

A few streets down in an alley Crabbe was dealing with some debts that he was owed. A skinny man stood backed up against the wall. Crabbe's large frame, mostly consisting of belly, was blocking his escape.

"I-I did my part!" squeaked the man and Crabbe's wand prodded his abdomen.

"The hell you did," Crabbe said with a grin and went over in his head the many ways that he could beat this man to a pulp. Or better yet, which curse to kill him with.

Harry approached a section of town called the Lion's Den. It was know for being full of no goods, like Knockturn Alley with a few more drops of evil. He saw a flash of light nearby and decided to follow it. Down a side street he found a large man blowing the tip of his smoking wand. At his feet were the charred remains of something, maybe a person.

Harry strode casually towards Crabbe, it was a few seconds before Crabbe took any notice of him.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked gruffly, stashing his wand into his jacket pocket.

"No one really," said Harry, feigning coyness.

Crabbe looked at Harry's face. "Creepy make-up job man, you must be very popular in certain arenas, eh? Dirty jobs? Paybacks?"

"You could say that," Harry replied in a disinterested tone. Harry was too focused on Crabbe's throat, his bobbing Adams's apple. Beneath all that, thought Harry, was life. A wasted life at that, one that was due to come to an end.

"'Suppose I better clean this up, that fucking idiot," said Crabbe waving his hand over his former associate.

"You always were one for simple spells weren't you?" Harry asked looking up at the sky as if it were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

"Wha-what the fuck are you talkin' about?" Crabbe asked. The man in the lion mask was starting to give him the creeps.

"Incendio? I mean really Crabbe. Voldemort must have taught you something more effective than that."

"How do you know my fucking name? I don't know you."

Harry decided it was time to remove his mask.

An hour later Sirius arrived on the scene with a team of Aurors. He knelt down beside the piles of bone and ash. "What do you make of this?" asked Sirius running his fingers through his long, black hair.

"I have no idea," said Mad Eye Moody. "It would make sense if there was just one set of remains, but two? The Death Eaters have been focusing on one-on-one deals. I'm betting one is a Death Eater and one is his associate."

Sirius furrowed his brow and stood up. "But why are they both dead?"

"You've got me there son, you've got me there..." muttered Moody as he exited the alley to confer with the other Aurors.

Harry watched the activity in the ally from a rooftop across the street. There were a lot of men running around in dark red and purple robes. He watched as a man that looked to be partially made of wood exited the alley. Shortly after a tall man came out carrying two bags. Harry studied him carefully. The man had shoulder length black hair, it was a bit shaggy and often fell over his eyes. Harry knew him from somewhere.

Elizabeth Weasley sat on the steps outside her and her mum's apartment. Her mother was supposed to be off work an hour ago, but had never shown up, and Elizabeth didn't have a key. She sighed, the story of her life, people not showing up. That's what happened with her dad, he stopped showing up. She was more responsible than her mother, her mother who was out all night boozin' and making the rounds for a few extra dollars. And for what?

Footsteps on the sidewalk broke her train of thought. A man holding a red and gold mask stopped in front of her. She looked up at him skeptically, "I thought costume parties were only for Muggles."

Harry chuckled and sat down beside Elizabeth. "What are you doing out here alone?"

Elizabeth scooted a few inches away from him.

"I'm not a creeper," he said kindly. "Where's your mother?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Up there maybe, making more money I suppose. I think this week is Malfoy's."

"Malfoy, hmmm..."

"I don't like him," said Elizabeth, not noticing Harry's thoughtful expression. Harry got up quickly. "I don't like him either," he replied and took off down the alley running beside the building. Harry mounted the fire escape and took the stairs two at a time.

Harry stopped beside a window with faded Lion's Club sticker on it. "Alohomora," he whispered. Inside was Ginny and Malfoy lying naked on the bed. Their clothes and sheets were strewn on the floor, along with several empty wine bottles. It took a few seconds for them to notice Harry.

"Holy shit!" yelled Malfoy, pulling his hips away from Ginny's. He flung himself across the bed to reach the set of drawers on the other side that his wand was on.

Ginny grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself. She was shaking in fear.

"Ginny," Harry said kindly. Ginny's eyes went wide and she yelped. She pulled the blanket tighter around her and scuttled farther away from him.

"Who the hell are you?" Malfoy half asked half screamed at Harry.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "I thought you knew everything Draco, or that's certainly how it appeared in school."

Harry brought his hands to his face and peeled off the lion mask. "Surprise."

"Oh my god," Ginny gasped.

"No," said Malfoy, his hand shaking. "NO!" He leapt towards Harry and knocked him down, then stood over him in triumph. "I killed you once and I'd kill you a hundred times Potter. But first how about some fun?" He said malevolently.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry was blown back by the force of the spell and waited for the pain. It never came. Slowly he raised his head and looked Malfoy in the eye and grinned. "I think you're going to have to do better than that."

Malfoy was speechless for a moment. Then he said, "Well it sure worked on Granger, screamed like a hor she did."

White-hot anger arose in Harry, Granger...that was Hermione. "I suppose it did work," Harry said bitterly. Then he brightened, "But I'm sure it will work so much better on you."

Draco's eyes turned glassy. "No, Potter. You know I didn't mean that. I-I had orders, I had to do it. Potter!"

"You know," Harry said twirling his wand in between his fingers, "it would be nice if maybe once you could have called me by my first name." Malfoy opened his mouth to do so, but Harry silenced him with a wave of his hand. "It's too late now, too bad you didn't think of it earlier, "Harry said mockingly sad.

"Potter, er, Harry-"

"Don't you EVER say my name again! You hear me you fuckin' murderer!" He took a few steps away from Malfoy breathing hard. "You hear me?"

"I-" Malfoy started. Harry's eyes were bright and glowed green, "CRUCIO!"

"ARGHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHH!" screamed Malfoy, falling to the floor.

"CRUCIO!" "CRUCIO!" Each time the spell increased is strength. "CRUCIO!" The skin on Draco's arm began to bubble and boil. He screamed in pain. He could almost see his bones through the skin.

"CRUCIO!" Draco felt as if someone was pouring hot oil on his arm and sanding his skin at the same time. "AREEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed like a wild animal.

Harry lowered his wand and looked a Draco's convulsing form. "How did that feel Draco? Are you hurting?" Draco whimpered and rolled over to reveal his face to Harry. It looked as though someone had shoved it on a fryer. "Feeling that good huh?" asked Harry. "Now how about a grand finale. CRUCIO!" The spell hit Draco and sent his hurtling through the air and through the wall. Harry walked to the window and watched the body fall. After a few seconds a bodily splat echoed up the alley.

Harry sat down beside Ginny on the bed, she was crying into the sheets. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he said reaching out to comfort her. She pushed his hand away violently. Harry saw a tattoo on the arm that had pushed him. He used his Quidditch reflexes and grabbed her arm. "Ginny, who did this to you?"

Ginny was bawling now. Her face was covered in black ooze, her mascara mixed with tears. "Shh..." Harry said. He pressed the tip of his wand to the Dark Mark. Ginny's crying ceased for a moment, then was replaced by a howl of pain.

"ARGHHHH! HARRY! What are you doing?" she moaned. After a few seconds Harry removed his wand. The Mark was gone.

"How did you do that?" Ginny asked wiping her eyes. Harry didn't answer, he leaned over and tucked the hair that had fallen into Ginny's face behind her ear.

"Elizabeth is waiting downstairs for you," he said quietly before getting up and climbing out the window.

Sirius was in the kitchen when he heard his front door open on its own accord. He picked up his wand and crept to the door. He peeked around the corner to see who had broken in. He gasped with surprise and his wand fell to the floor. He scrambled to pick it up but a heavy Quidditch boot pinned it to the floor. He looked up into Harry's acid green eyes.

"Do I know you?" Harry asked. It was actually more of a statement than a question.

"I'm your godfather, Sirius, oh Harry." Sirius pulled him into a hug. Harry recoiled and pushed Sirius away. His eyes were wild, like a caged animal. Sirius studied Harry carefully, "I thought you were dead."

"So did I, apparently I have unfinished business," Harry chuckled darkly.

"Harry, I don't understand. What are you doing here, why are you here?"

Harry surveyed the room in interest, holding off Sirius's question for a moment. "I'm not sure how I got here, there was a man...with a staff...didn't see his face." Harry looked a little confused and lost for a moment before a slightly mad glint returned to his eye. "I have some people, certain individuals to deal with."

"Harry," Sirius said quietly. "Do you know what happened?"

Harry stared out the window into the darkness. "There are snatches of memory, but I have the basic idea," he said bitterly.

Sirius turned away from Harry, he didn't know what to say to him. He reached down and opened the trunk he used as a coffee table. "Here," he said handing Harry an invisibility cloak, "this may help, it was yours."

"I know," Harry replied and let the watery fabric slip through his fingers. In a sudden movement he threw the cloak over himself and disappeared. Sirius looked around wildly. "Harry?" He was already gone.

The Death Eaters were meeting to celebrate the extermination of their last threat, Ron Weasley. He was the last of three great aurors that had come very, very close to uncovering the Death Eaters' hideouts. They had also arrested and killed some notorious Death Eaters. A year ago that day, Harry Potter and his wife Hermione had been murdered. It wasn't murder in the Death Eaters' eyes though, they were a threat and threats needed to be dealt with permanently. They had a small black candle memorial in the middle of the table for Draco Malfoy. Crabbe had been extendable so no one talked about him.

Wormtail tapped his glass to make a toast.

Harry climbed quietly through the window with his invisibility cloak wrapped around him. He watched the Death Eaters go silent as Wormtail stood up. He didn't pay attention to what was being sad, it didn't matter to him. Stealthily crept to the edge of the table. Carefully he placed one foot on the table and delicately leaped onto the table. He waited for any reaction from the Death Eaters sitting around him. All of them were sitting still, attentively looking at Wormtail. Good, Harry thought.

Slowly he walked down the table, skirting the many dishes and platters until he reached the middle. He stopped and surveyed the diners. Wormtail had just finished giving his speech and there was scattered applause. It was time to have a little talk with the Death Eaters.

Harry whipped off the invisibility cloak. "Hello, boys."