Found Family - 3 (Patreon)

NOTE:
I'm leaning toward fluff rather than smut for this story. Thoughts?

"Hello, Poppy," Harry greeted the healer as the group entered the familiar room.

She came to a had stop as her eyes landed on the trio. Dumbledore strode beside Harry while he carried Iris.

"James?" She managed to whisper after a moment.

Harry shook his head, "Sorry, no. Harry Potter, nice to meet you again."

"Again?" She was trying to wrap her head around the newest development.

Her professional instincts kicked in once she saw Iris. She carefully approached the girl while subtly casting diagnostic charms.

"She appears to be fine," Poppy said. "Some old injuries that didn't heal right. We can fix those." She glared at Harry. "Are you her father?"

Harry shook his head, "I'm her older brother. We met yesterday."

"Older brother?" Poppy paused at his words. "James and Lily only had one child. Not to mention you are much too old for that claim."

Harry smiled at her, "Magic."

"You have that Potter smile," She sighed. "Now, who is this?"

Harry rubbed her back, "It's ok, she's nice. She's a magical doctor and she'll do her best to make sure you're healthy before we get rid of that thing."

"What thing?" Poppy narrowed her eyes at him.

He brushed a bit of Iris' hair away to show Poppy the scar.

"Iris Potter," She gasped.

Iris flinched.

"I'm sorry, dear," Poppy swapped her voice to a gentle tone. "I was not expecting any patients today."

Isis nodded, "Will it hurt?"

"It might feel a little weird, but it won't hurt," The healer soothed.

Harry gave Iris a reassuring squeeze, "She's one of the best. I spent more time here when I was in school."

"Why?" Iris asked.

He chuckled, "I'll give you the full list once we're done here."

"Promise?" She whispered.

"Promise," Harry nodded.

That seemed to appease her. Iris slid out of his grasp then stood proud before Poppy.

"I'm ready," Iris said in serious tone.

Poppy smiled at the girl. She hurried to the potions cabinet only to return with a handful of bottles of different sizes.

"These won't taste good," Poppy cautioned. "You would be richer than your wildest dreams if you can figure out how improve it."

Harry raised his eyebrows for a moment at her statement. He hadn't figured out how to make them taste good, but he had managed to make them palatable. It wasn't completely his work. Neville figured out the proper techniques for preparation of the ingredients. He had eventually gotten over his aversion to potions. It turned out that Herbology and Potions were intrinsic to each other. He knew the perfect way to acquire the best quality of ingredients. Was it better to dice or cube a magical plant to get the desired reaction. Neville didn't like to work around a cauldron, but his prep work was the best in the business.

Neville. He would need to see about possibly adopting him too. There hadn't been any noticeable differences from this world to his original.

Iris gave him one more look before she took the first potion.

"Follow me, dear," Poppy directed Iris to a nearby bed. "You'll be a bit tired once you've finished them all."

Iris' gaze snapped to Harry. Her shoulders were tense. She was ready to bolt at the first sign.

"I'll be here the entire time," He summoned a chair from across the room.

It came to a stop beside the closest bed. Iris hopped onto the bed. Her eyes widened for a moment as she settled into the cushions.

"Albus," Harry motioned for him to come over.

"Yes, Harry?" Dumbledore said with a smile.

"I need to ask some questions about the state of things," Harry explained. "I have been operating under the assumption that this timeline is the same as mine. Other than the obvious."

Albus summoned a chair to take a seat across from him, "Ask away."

They waited as Poppy handed Iris the potions one at a time. She explained what they were for before handing them to the younger witch. Iris winced after each one.

"Sweaty socks and old tires," Harry chuckled.

Iris glared at him, then at the potions. There were still three more to come. She took a steady breath before moving on to the next. Harry smiled with pride. He began to ask Dumbledore questions about the world. They started out on lighter topics until Iris fell asleep.

Albus had mentioned before that both worlds shared historical events. Harry wanted to know how far that reached the personal level. The beats were close enough. Alice and Frank Longbottom had been killed rather than tortured. Neville was under the care of his grandmother. He hated to say it, but that was probably a better outcome. Neville suffered constantly when they were alive in that tortured state. Barty Crouch Junior had gone down fighting rather than be captured. The best change he discovered was that Pettigrew was well and truly dead. Sirius had managed to hit the rat with a Stunner just as Wormtail finished the explosive spell. Chunks of Peter were spread across the street rather than just his finger.

Those were the only changes he noticed.

Sirius had still been taken in for murder. Harry needed to teach Sirius not to laugh manically at the scene of the crime. He was still going to check if the Weasleys still had Scabbers. Harry also made a mental note to check if Crouch Senior had pulled a fast one again.

"It sounds close enough for my knowledge to still fit," Harry said once they had finished.

Dumbledore sighed, "I find myself in a mixture of relief and trepidation."

"I'm going to get to work once Iris has recovered," Harry stood from his chair.

"Recovered?" Dumbledore asked. "She should wake from the potions in an hour or two."

Harry nodded, "That's not what I'm talking about."

He placed his palm against her forehead directly over her scar. Threads of sludge stuck to his hand as he pulled it away. Iris let out a little groan in her sleep. Harry closed his hand into a fist as he continued to pull away. The sludge was roughly the size of an orange once it settled into an orb. Albus and Poppy stared at it in horror as a screaming face rolled along the surface.

"Be quiet," Harry rolled his eyes.

The sludge swirled in the air above his hand. It began to shrink, compressing into the shape of an egg. The ghost of a screaming face was patterned along the shell.

"Behold, a piece of Tom Riddle," Harry tossed the egg in the air and caught it. "Coward, murderer, and sub-par wizard."

He clenched his fist shattering the egg. It disappeared with a strangled scream. One horcrux down. They were easy to handle once he knew how.

"Sub-par?" Poppy asked.

Harry nodded, "I've hunted a lot of 'dark lords' over the years. He was a powerhouse, but his supposed knowledge wasn't as vast as people thought." He winked at the healer. "You'd be surprised at how much 'exotic' magic you can find that are just spells that fell out of use."

"Such as?" Albus asked.

He smiled at Dumbledore, "The Ancient and Noble House Black is known for their dark magic. No one thinks that their lethal arts are adapted cleaning and crafting charms."

"Pardon?" Dumbledore after a moment of silence.

Harry's wand appeared in his hand then he pointed it at the bed next to them. Anyone who had the bad luck to cross wands with one of the fearsome family would recognize it. Much to Poppy and Albus' surprise, the bed wasn't reduced to ash.

"How did you do that?" Albus asked.

"I used the charm for its intended purpose," He chuckled. "Banishing grit and grime."

Poppy and Albus stared at him for a long, silent moment.

"You're telling the truth," Dumbledore said finally.

"They adjusted the spell to target living biological targets," Harry clarified. "The mechanics are impressive, there's no arguing that, but it was originally a spell used by enchanters to keep their projects clean. Metal shavings, random dropped hair, and other little things that would mangle their work." He paused to make sure they understood. "They made it target skin and bone exclusively then overcharged it."

Albus leaned back in his chair with a rueful smile on his face, "Interesting. I knew I recognized the spell from somewhere. Enchanting was not a skillset I explored extensively." He turned his attention to Harry. "I am interested in how you know so much about the Black Family magic."

"I told you before," Harry willed the family ring to appear on his hand. "I'm Lord Black."

Poppy stared at the ring in confusion, "How?"

"Sirius left it to me in his will," Harry replied.

"Why?" She repeated again. "He betrayed your parents."

Harry shook his head, "Peter Pettigrew betrayed my parents. In my world. I'll need to talk to Sirius here before I can say the same."

"Peter?" Poppy repeated in a clearly confused tone.

"In my world," Harry started. "He was the secret keeper that betrayed my parents. Pettigrew tried to pin it on Sirius and faked his death by blowing up a street full of muggles. He left a finger behind to throw the Aurors off the trail. No one knew he was an unregistered rat animagus."

"You said his finger?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry's gaze snapped to the older wizard, "You said they found chunks of him in the street."

"There were quite a few bodies caught in the explosion," Albus defended. "The Aurors said they found as many pieces as they could."

"And they only found a finger," Harry finished. "That's another stop I need to make."

"Where exactly are you planning to go?" Dumbledore asked.

"I was going to go to Azkaban to speak with Sirius," Harry answered. "I wanted to make sure he was the same as the one I knew. Then I was going to break into Malfoy Manor for another horcrux. Is Quirrell on campus yet?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. Harry tried not to laugh. There were a few unexpected perks of being the Master of Death. He quickly learned that he could see through invisibility cloaks and disillusions. No one can hide from death unless they had the Peverell Cloak. This included House Elf invisibility.

Albus wasn't lost in thought. A Hogwarts House Elf appeared beside Dumbledore to give a report.

"He has moved his possessions into his quarters and stocked the Defense classroom," Dumbledore answered. "Do you intend to kill him?"

"Quirrell is a walking corpse," Harry continued. "He's going to die before the end of the year even if he attacks a unicorn."

Dumbledore sighed, "I hate to waste a life, but you are correct." He paused. "Did you say you were going to break into Malfoy Manor?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "Lucius was given a horcrux to keep safe."

Albus shook his head, "Must you resort to criminal activities so casually?"

"Should I put on a suit first?" He smirked.

"Definitely a Potter," Poppy sighed.

"Is there another way to retrieve the horcrux?" Albus asked.

He shook his head, "Not once I change things." He paused to make sure Iris was still asleep. "I want to make this to be clear. I'm not asking you for permission or blessing. There are things I need to do and I will regardless."

Dumbledore sighed. The weight of the world settled on his shoulders. He knew that he was more a scholar than a warrior. His heart had been broken after his duel with Gellert. Raising his wand against his former students was even worse.

"I understand," Albus nodded. "I do not agree, but I understand."

Harry returned the nod. He looked down to the sleeping witch under his care. She was still asleep. The potions alone would have kept her sleeping for an hour at most. Her entire body seemed to relax once the horcrux had been removed. She wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Proper rest was something she desperately needed. He wasn't going to leave until she was awake.

Harry nodded once, "Thank you for your time, Albus. I'm going to stay here while she's sleeping."

"Please tell me you aren't taking her with you," Poppy's voice had a hard edge.

"Don't worry, Poppy," Harry winked at her. "I have a plan."

"I will be in my office if you need me," Poppy shook her head as she walked away.

"As will I," Dumbledore added. "It was nice to meet you, Harry. I hope we get to speak more later."

Harry leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He settled into a meditative trance that he used when he needed to sleep when out on assignments. There were brief moments of peace in his life. He couldn't blame it on people coming to get the Elder Wand or the multiple dark lords and ladies. Harry would go absolutely crazy if he didn't have something to do. Usually this includes some sort of adventure. Exploring tombs as a curse breaker for Gringotts, going on expeditions with Luna, learning Quidditch tricks with Krum, and testing out inventions with George and Ron. His limit so far was a week of downtime. Even then was due to the fact that he had been watching Teddy for the majority of it.

His mind began to wonder through his memories. He had to balance the changes he was going to make versus the consequences. There were people he hoped to save, but that would mean others wouldn't be born. The trajectory of an unknown number of lives was going to be adjusted. There were certain people he had no intention of forgiving or allow to live longer than necessary.

"Harry," Iris whispered his name.

His eyes opened before she finished speaking, "How do you feel?"

"Great," Iris stretched her hands over her head. "I can see better too."

Harry nodded, "We'll get your glasses enchanted like mine."

She touched her face. A bright smile crossed her face when she realized she wasn't wearing her glasses.

"I don't need glasses!" Iris cheered. "Why do I want keep wearing them?"

"Because they are awesome if you get enchanted ones," Harry replied. "These are charmed to be more comfortable and can see anything that has been poisoned or altered."

Iris picked up her glasses, "Why would people poison me?"

"I didn't tell you what's going on, did I?" Harry closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Iris shook her head.

"Settle in," Harry said. "This is a long story and you're going to want to ask questions. I'll stick to current events."

Harry began to tell her about Voldemort's first rise. He mentioned the fear of the name attached to a taboo as well as what that meant. From there he moved on to tell her about the prophecy, how their parents were attacked, and what happened after. Then, he explained his plans going forward. He made sure to avoid any details that would influence her experience in school. Harry didn't want to make her think she had to stick to the things he did in his life. He wasn't going to force it if she didn't want to talk to Ron or Hermione. Her sorting was another thing he wanted to make sure she made on her own. She might make the same choice once she finds out which one their parents had been in.

He made sure to tell her more about their parents than the night they died. Their favorite classes, achievements, friends, and adventures. He found a few of Lily's journals in the Potter Vault in his timeline. She had extensive notes about her time at Hogwarts. James Potter featured quite a lot in those pages. People swore she couldn't stand him for the first five or six years of school. In fact, his pestering was to hide her involvement with the Marauders. No one expected the perfect Lily Evans to be behind some of the more complicated pranks they pulled. She didn't agree with the treatment of Snape and refused to take part. Her work with charms was amazing. He had thought the used potions book in his fifth year had been impressive. Her notes made it look like crayon drawings. There were tricks and techniques he still used to this day. She was able to develop spell-chains that were faster than standard before the taking the skill and speed of the spellcaster. She didn't create new spells. Instead, she improved the existing ones she could find.

Stories and connections to their mother had always been a special thing for him. He lived his entire life in the magical world which meant everyone knew James or had a few tales they could share. Their mother was a Muggleborn, she went home during the holiday breaks for the first three years at Hogwarts. She started staying with friends over the summer and only visiting for holidays. It was a common occurrence among Muggleborn. At some point they couldn't connect to the mundane world. It was like visiting a relative's house rather than home.

They spoke for so long it was lunch before they left the infirmary. The House Elves were focused on getting the school ready for the approaching school year. Instead of putting more work on them, which they would have loved, Harry took Iris to the Three Broomsticks.

"Come on in and find a seat," Madam Rosemerta said as they walked through the door. "I'll be right with you."

Harry couldn't believe how young she looked. It was obvious once he thought about it. She was even younger than the first time he had seen her. Two years to be exact. She was just as attractive as he remembered. Rosemerta was too busy to get a good look at them. Iris was enjoying no longer wearing her glasses. They were a major point in her description, so people overlooked her as just another kid.

Rosie appeared at their table a moment later. She stared at Harry for a long moment before she shook her head.

"Sorry about that," She smiled at him. "I thought you were someone else for a moment."

Harry smiled at her, "I get that a lot."

"Do you know what you'd like?" Rosie bounced back like a pro.

"Uh," Iris looked around for something to read.

"We're going to need a small portion of roasted Diricawl thigh and sliced radishes for her," Harry said. "I'll take the special. We'll both have spiced cloudy apple juice. Hot, please."

"A small portion?" Rosemerta asked.

Harry nodded, "A normal portion would be too much. I will order more if she's still hungry."

Rosemerta took the order then left them to their own devices.

"Why a small portion?" Iris asked softly.

He replied, "You need to work up to bigger meals. You're not used to normal sized portions. I forgot last night. I'm guessing you were uncomfortable yesterday evening."

She blushed as she nodded.

"Let me know if you are still hungry," He said. "You don't have to keep eating if you get full and you still have food on the plate."

She nodded, "What is a Diricawl?"

"Do you know what a Dodo is?" Harry asked.

"Aren't they extinct?!" She whispered. "We can't eat those."

"These are magical birds that can teleport," Harry explained. "They can be raised like chickens if you treat them right. The Dodo's that muggles saw left before they could kill all of them."

"What does it taste like?" Iris asked.

"Turkey," He replied.

"Ok," She nodded. "Why apple juice?"

"The magical world has an obsession with pumpkin juice," He shuddered. "It's fine in small doses, but I can't stand it for long. I like Spiced Apple Cider, but you're too young to drink and we have things to do today."

The hesitance vanished from her voice, "What are we going to do today?"

"We have two options," Harry replied. "Do you want to rob a mansion or capture a fugitive?"

Their conversation was interrupted as Rosie delivered their order. Iris tentatively took a bite of the meat before she began to eat with gusto. Harry watched her with a soft smile before he started on his own meal of Shepards Pie.

"Your daughter?" Rosie asked as she lingered beside the table.

Iris looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows. She blushed.

"Yes," Harry replied. "I just found out about her a couple of days ago."

"Oh, my," Rosie gasped. "What happened?"

"We lost each other in the war," Harry replied softly. "People were lost in the madness."

She gave a solemn nod, "She has your eyes."

"Thank you," Harry said. "Do you have any kids?"

Rosie laughed, "No, no kids for me. This place is my baby."

"It's a nice place," Harry looked around the place. "How long have you had it?"

"Ten years now," She replied. "I worked as a waitress here for years before."

He looked at Iris out of the corner of his eye. She was busy eating her meal. He turned his attention back to Rosie once he made sure she wasn't upset. Harry wanted to make sure she knew that she wasn't alone or going to be tossed aside if he got bored.

"Would you like to join us?" He asked.

Rosie took a look at the other customers. There were only a few others.

"I'll get busy the moment I sit," She shook her head. "Things are fine as long as I'm standing."

"I hope your shoes are enchanted," Harry chuckled.

"They are," Rosie replied. "Where are you from, stranger?"

Harry was as honest as he could, "I travel."

"Travel?" She leaned forward a little to show off her cleavage.

It was very nice encouragement to continue. Iris was thankfully still busy with her food.

"Curse breaking," Harry clarified.  "For Gringotts and private customers."

"Hm," She smiled at him. "Interesting work. Do you have any good stories?"

He chuckled, "A few. I could tell you about them sometime."

"We'll see," Rosie winked at him before she turned her attention to the other customers.

Harry shook his head. That woman was dangerous. He wasn't sure if she was being nice, flirting, or playing him for more business. It had been a while since he had even thought about romance. A couple of one-night stands and very brief relationships. A life filled with murders popping up all the time was not one that left much time for romance. He had been tempted to let one of the morons have it. The wand would always find its way back to him. It always did.

"Are we really going to rob a place?" Iris asked, her eyes shined bright and eager.

Harry chuckled, "Yes. We'll play it easy, no need to make noise."

"Aren't we going to steal stuff?" She asked.

Harry shrugged, "I'm after one specific item. Everything else isn't important. We already have plenty of money. Artifacts and grimoires are better than gold." He paused. "We're not after those. Just one cursed book."

"Oh," Iris didn't pout, honest.

He chuckled, "Did you want to really rob a place?"

Iris found a very interesting stain on the table. She shrugged.

"Hm," Harry leaned back in his seat.

Where could they hit that was exciting enough for her, but safe so she wouldn't be in danger. There were plenty of Pureblood morons to choose from.

"I'll have to do some research first," He said after a moment.

"REALLY?!" Iris clapped a hand over her mouth once she realized how loud her voice was.

He smiled at her, "We have some time before school starts. I'll teach you some magic along the way too."

Her eyes glowed with barely contained energy. He wasn't sure if she was more excited about learning magic or robbing a place. Harry had a feeling that he wasn't going to have to worry about getting bored.