The Lion Cub Chapter 115: Greengrass Christmas (Patreon)

Harry groaned and hid his face in the pillow as some sounds invaded his ears.

“Harry, you have to wake up.”

Harry had no intention to wake up. He had earned his right to sleep as long as he wanted.

“Harry!”

He groaned pitifully as Daphne tried to wake him awake.

“Please, let me sleep.” He pleaded, trying to stuff his head further into the pillow.

“You promised you’d spend the day with my family.” Daphne reminded while shaking him again.

Harry rolled to the other side of the bed to escape from Daphne’s reach. He smiled when he felt she could not disturb him and happily snuggled under the sheets to get some shut-eye.

But his relief was short-lived as Daphne climbed into his bed and continued to disturb him.

“Wake up! If you don’t wake up, I’ll have you doused in water.” Daphne threatened.

Harry let out a mournful whimper at the loss of his sleep.

“I’m awake!” he declared, turning around in bed.

Harry opened his eyes with some effort to stare reproachfully at his girlfriend.

“Good. Now, get yourself out of bed, freshen up and come with me to my home.” Daphne demanded with a glare and her hands on her hips.

“You look like an angry cat.” Harry blurted out sleepily before he could bite his tongue.

The glare on Daphne’s face turned up a notch, making him fully alert.

“You…” Daphne started pointing a finger at his face, but he caught her hand and pulled her over.

As Daphne tumbled into his bed, he threw his arms around her and tried to pin her against the bed. They tumbled around in the bed as she fought back with her nails working as claws until she finally tired herself out.

“You messed up my dress.” Daphne muttered while he nuzzled into her hair and planted his lips against the crook of her neck.

“You messed up my sleep, especially after I spent the better part of last night in Tracey’s home shaking hands with a bunch of old men and women. My cheeks hurt from keeping a smile plastered on my face for the entire evening.” Harry complained.

“Shall I kiss away poor Harry’s ouchies?” Daphne mocked.

“It’ll be a good start if you ask me.” said Harry, grinning against her neck.

Daphne scoffed but didn’t say anything else and lay there in bed with him. He made the most of it with his wandering hands, tracing the fine contours of her waist while his lips continued tasting the skin on her neck and shoulder. Inevitably, their lips danced against each other when Daphne turned her head and caught him by surprise. He felt her fingers thread through the hair on the back of his head as they deepened the kiss.

They inevitably pulled back for air, leaving them panting with their lips apart by an inch.

“You smell funny. Go take a shower, you lazy bum.” Daphne said after regaining her breath.

“You’re welcome to join…” Harry offered with a wink.

Daphne pushed him away and climbed out of the bed while he laughed. Harry soon followed suit to get himself ready for the day.   

 When he followed Daphne to the Greengrass manor, he was unsurprised to find the garden bereft of any snow touching the ground.

“Mum wouldn’t let the snow destroy her garden. She’s very protective.” said Daphne, seeing his look.

Harry merely smiled, knowing full well that it wasn’t just that. The garden hosted some of the best offensive tricks, hiding amongst the innocent-looking flowers against any enemies in the event of a fight.

“I know your family don’t celebrate Christmas, so what is going on?”

“We have a couple of special guests coming over.” Daphne said enigmatically.

“Who?”

“Some people you know.” Daphne said shortly.  

“Is it the Flamels?” He asked, rolling his eyes at her attempts to keep an air of mystery.  

“You’ll see.” Daphne grinned.

“Mistress and Mistresses’ friend is welcome to the Greengrass manor.” A house-elf standing by the side of the door bowed.

“Where are they, Mitsy?” asked Daphne.

“In the game room, mistress.”

Daphne caught his hand and urged him to walk faster towards the game room, which was on the second floor of the manor. They climbed the stairs and walked into an area where colourful drapes adorned the doorways and walls. Carpets of intricate designs spread out on the floor with many fancy furniture, a coffered ceiling and a statement chandelier shouting out the opulence.

Daphne took him further in until they came across a room within the game room where a giant chess set could be seen. But his eyes also fell on an elderly couple sitting on two comfy chairs with teacups in their hands.

“Harry, meet my grandparents from my mother’s side, Conrad and Adelaide Regensburg.” Daphne said happily.

While he greeted the two old grandparents of his betrothed quite warmly and with the appropriate courtesy, he was worried. He worried about the prospect of this day being a meet and greet with Daphne's extended family and spending another day with fake smiles and inane conversations. But thankfully, his worries were unfounded as it became clear shortly that only Daphne’s grandparents had joined them from across the English Channel.

Even so, he didn’t escape the scrutiny of Daphne’s grandparents. Breakfast and lunch were little more than an interrogation of sorts where the elderly couple grilled him on his intentions and ambition and then tested his patience with their wordplay. His academic status, financial status, and anything else relevant to him became a topic of discussion.

Damien was the only one who sympathised with his plight, but the man kept a safe distance away from him.

Daphne’s grandparents were slightly interested when he lifted the Fidelius Charm surrounding the Greengrass Manor to open the Floo network for their guests for the evening to arrive.

Harry was finally given space by Daphne’s grandparents when new guests arrived in the evening.

“You don’t know how happy I am to see you, Neville.” Harry hugged the surprised-looking boy while Madam Bones and Agusta Longbottom exchanged greetings with Damien and Evelyn.

“Okay. I think I’m missing some context here.” Neville muttered.

“All you need to know is that you saved me. You’re a true friend.” Harry patted Neville on his back before moving on to hug Susan.

“You too, Susan. Don’t think I forgot about you. Thank you for coming as soon as you could. You look beautiful, by the way.”

“I don’t understand.” Susan looked confused as she hugged back before pulling away, “What’re you so afraid of?”

“Germans.” Harry whispered.

“He’s being overly dramatic. He is talking about having a little talk with my grandparents.” Daphne said with an unimpressed stare, which Harry actively avoided in regaling his sad tale for the guests.

“I was sleeping peacefully in Potter Manor this morning. Then a conniving, beautiful Slytherin girl broke into my home, snogged me until all reason left my mind, seduced me to go with her to her home and then threw me to the wolves without an ounce of mercy.” Harry said, throwing his body behind Neville when he felt like Daphne might kick his shins.

“I hope you had your fun, Harry. Because you might not be so snippy with your words once I get my hands on you.” Daphne said with a scowl.

“Such open threats on the Chosen One in the presence of the niece of the Minister of Magic, no less. All tact seems to have fled from your mind, dear Daphne.” Harry remarked, his eyes alight with mirth.

“I apologise for his childishness.” Daphne said to Susan, completely ignoring Harry, “Please follow me.”

“You better start preparing for several gruelling sessions with her aunt if you’re serious about pursuing Susan.” Harry piqued up as they watched the two girls walk away hand in hand.

“That’s not so bad.” said Neville, a self-deprecating smile stretching on his face while his ears turned pink at the subtle implication, “I doubt Susan’s aunt can be any more intimidating than my gran.”

“You know nothing, Neville Longbottom.” Harry said with a shake of his head.

Dinner was a far better experience simply because he was no longer under the scrutiny of the pair of old Germans. The presence of Amelia Bones and Lady Longbottom kept the conversation on much less invasive topics. However, the conversation at the table did dip into less savoury topics like the war from the ‘adults’ in the room. Astoria was all too happy to redirect that back to her incredibly pink Pygmy Puff.  

Harry could only shake his head at the incredible interest shown by both Dahne and Susan for the pink little creature sold in the Marauder’s Den.

“It is still one of life’s greatest mysteries why girls like fluffy pink things.” Harry joked making Neville laugh, which didn’t go unnoticed by the girls.

“How can you mock my poor Squee?” Astoria asked with a bit of heat as she produced the Pygmy Puff in her hand and showed it to Harry and Neville.

“She named it Squee…” Harry bellowed out in laughter, which only served to infuriate the girls.

But he had another justifiable reason why he was laughing. They reminded him of a character in an old comic book he read. The Squee character and the Squee, the Pygmy Puff, were quite the character and visual clash, which made him laugh all the harder. His renewed laughter only served to dial up the intensity of the girls’ stare.  

“Boys are mean and ignorant. How do you both tolerate them.” Astoria scrunched up her nose as she posed her question to Daphne and Susan.

“Sometimes we pretend they don’t exist when they open their ignorant mouths.” said Susan all too seriously.

“Or hex them.” Daphne added, her wand arm going to her hips where her wand was strapped to her green dress.

“Okay.” Harry raised his hands in surrender,

“Keep in mind that the Pygmy Puff in your hand exists only because of me. If I hadn’t invested in the Weasley twins, Squee…” Harry’s lips twitched as he struggled not to laugh, “…wouldn’t exist.”

“All the more reason for us to hex for taking advantage of us girls for our love, beautiful and subtler things in life, and insulting us after making a profit off of us.” Susan pitched in like the ever-loyal Puff she was.

However, Harry was saved by Minister Bones, who asked him for a private talk.

*****

“It has come to my attention that Dumbledore has taken long leaves of absence from Hogwarts. If I’m told right by my aurors, he has gone missing for days. Do you know what he is doing?”

Harry stared at the Minister sitting across, casting the eerie green light of the fireplace.

“He is doing what he has always done in the past decade, which amounts to nothing.” said Harry, but his answer didn’t satisfy Minister Bones.

“You should leave Dumbledore alone. You’ll have nothing interesting to do with pursuing his actions. Trust me.” Harry said, seeing the Minister’s look of frustration.

“Trust me, I wish I could forget Dumbledore and his secretive ways. But the man is resourceful and instrumental in putting down Grindelwald. He remains one of the few enemies the Dark Lord fears, a position you also share.” Madam Bones raised her wine glass in his direction before taking a sip.

“I’m flattered to be given this high honour.” He said with a chuckle, mimicking her action with his glass of eggnog. “But seriously, don’t waste your time with Dumbledore. He is on a fool’s errand.”

“So, you know what he is up to.” Minister Bones leaned forward in her seat with an intrigued look.

“If you must know, Dumbledore is tracking Voldemort’s earlier footsteps. Dumbledore is interested in tracking Voldemort’s activities. At the same time, he was a student in Hogwarts.” said Harry, to the immense disappointment of Minister Bones, who expected something of a sure-shot secret to end the war.

“Why now of all times?” Minister Bones muttered thoughtfully, leaning back into her chair deflated.

Harry debated whether he should share the information about Horcruxes with Minister Bones. It was not as if any of the Horcruxes were intact. All of them were destroyed, and Dumbledore was the one to finish the last one by destroying the Gaunt Ring. But the risk of Voldemort learning about the destruction of Horcruxes remained in case the Dark Lord plucked the information out of Minister Bones’ mind.

He supposed he now understood why Dumbledore remained prickly in sharing the information with a third party. He had revealed the full picture only to Sirius and Daphne, and that only happened because he trusted them explicitly and was confident he could keep them safe. He hadn’t even told Hermione on account of security reasons. After all, her parents were vulnerable, which made her vulnerable. He couldn’t rule out the fact that Voldemort could track down Hermione’s parents and use them to get to her.

Of course, Voldemort had a giant ego, which prohibited the man from using sound strategy to win the war. He was only too happy that his enemy remained blissfully unaware of such simple methods and preferred elaborate, cartoonishly dumb plans for world domination.

“The Dark Lord has stepped up his offensive. I’m sure you’ve noticed he is shifting his target from muggles to wizarding families.” Minister Bones started delicately breaking the lull in their conversation.

“I have. It’s quite hard to miss when one of the best wandmakers gets kidnapped from Diagon Alley.” said Harry.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Minster Bones nodded succinctly, “We both know we can put as many Death Eaters behind bars, but the war won’t be over until the Dark Lord is dead for good.”

“I’m aware.” Harry said, curious to see where this was going.

“Unfortunately, the Dark Lord has been elusive. He hasn’t even participated in most of the raids. So, it gets increasingly difficult to end this war.”

“You don’t have to dance around the issue, Minister. Ask what you want.” Harry looked imploringly at the older witch.

“The only time the Dark Lord came out of his hiding is when you were involved. I think your presence will force him to come out in the open.” Minister Bones said carefully.

“You want to use me as bait.” Harry said bluntly.

“Well… that is…unfortunately true.” Minister Bones admitted with a flustered look, “I wouldn’t have asked if there was…”

“I agree with your assessment. So, how may I help?” Harry said without any complaint, which made the older witch gape.

“You…you do realise I’m asking you to place yourself in grave danger.” Minister Bones said with a pinched look.  

“I’ve been in grave danger from the day I was born, Minister.” Harry reminded the older witch with a shrug.

“Be as it may, I’d like you to think this more carefully. I cannot impress upon you the danger involved in this scheme.” Minister Bones said seriously, ‘In fact, I cannot guarantee that we can destroy the Dark Lord by setting this trap. It may as well end in both of our demise.”

“Greater risk is certain for greater reward, madam.” said Harry as he brought forth a palm of his hand where his fingers crackled with lightning. “Trust me, I’m quite prepared to end this war.”

*****

The Siege of Paris (1663) by Camilie Leroy

The siege of Paris took place from 3 January 1663 to 7 January 1663. The end result of the siege was predetermined long ago when Prince Henry, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Edward landed their army and dragons on the mouth of the Seine.

The three Targaryen royals had shown the true power of the House of the Dragon during the battle of Siene. Their dragons had decimated the French fleet and turned one of the largest ports of France into rubble within a day. From the rubble of the port city of Le Havre, the Targaryen army launched a massive invasion into the heart of France.

Prince Henry split his forces into three groups. His daughter, Princess Rhaenys, was given a force of 6000 strong and 100 wizards. His nephew Prince Edward was gifted 4000 soldiers and 50 wizards. Prince Henry commanded the largest force numbering 7000 men and 200 wizards. Their forces made the vibrant trade city of Honfleur their base in the invasion of France. The merchant ships and a portion of the French fleet centred around the port city were captured intact by Prince Henry. He didn’t make the mistake of launching his dragons like he did with Le Havre.

Instead, he took the conventional approach by using his army and wizards to cripple the defences of the city and capture it. Within two weeks, all resistance to the Scottish occupation of the city was destroyed. Once he made Honfleur his base, he sent forth Prince Edward to capture all French coastal cities and ports along the Scottish Channel and swing eastward to take the cities of Rennes, Nantes, Le Mans and Tours. Princess Rhaenys was sent forth to capture the cities of Beauvais, Amiens, Compiegne and Reims.

Prince Henry would set forth from Honfleur and capture the city of Rouen as he marched his army through the banks of the Seine straight for Paris. All three Targaryen royals would face stiff resistance from the French cities thanks to word spreading of the fate of Le Havre. The strategy employed by the three Targaryens was twofold.

Before they attacked with their conventional armies and weapons, they’d send forth the wizards and witches in their armies to ward off all major resources like mines, water bodies and farmlands to deny the population of cities crucial resources to fight back. They also sent forth saboteurs under disguise to burn stores of grain, steal enemy weapons and poison wells.

Misinformation was also a major strategy employed by Prince Henry's army.

House Targaryen had a long history of warring with the Christian population of the Scottish Isles. They had worked tirelessly to purge all foreign labels and faith systems from the home isles, which made them experts in the field of propaganda and controlling information. Therefore, they were quite adept at waging this war with sophistication the French royal court could hardly compete.

The propaganda Prince Henry used in France was particularly effective in turning the commoners against the French nobles and royal family. Across the many cities, towns and villages surrounding Paris, rumours started to spread that the King and the nobles were possessed by the demons of hell. These propagandists were none other than the clergy of the Church, who made large swathes of people believe.

Of course, the muggles could never understand the clergy were put under Confundus charms. There are unverified claims that House Targaryen used a spell in their secret repository formed by King Hadrian and Queen Rowena. To this day, the spell remains a classified secret in the Targaryen library.

The three prongs of attack led by Prince Henry, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Edward converged on Paris from the north, west and east on the evening of January 3. By the time the three Targaryen royals surrounded Paris, there was a civil war within the city, and royalists were fighting off the enraged commoners. King Antoine II of House Bourborn fled the French capital with his family in tow and moved to southern France.

For the first time, dragons were in the Parisian sky, and their roars shook the French capital.

The Targaryen army marched into the city of Paris almost uncontested. The Targaryen royals landed on Paris mounted on their dragons while the army took over the strategic positions across the capital city.

On the morning of 7 January 1663, the Targaryen banner flew atop the walls of Paris.