"Harry has a point, Sirius. If Remus wanted to be a part of Harry's life, why wait until now? I know I don't have much of an excuse since I knew Jas and Lily, but I was nowhere near as close to them as you and Remus were," Ted argued.
...
Sirius quickly glanced around the compartnt, looking for so support, but when none was forthcoming, he just sighed. "Harry, you may feel betrayed by the man, but he is the only friend I have left. So would you please be civil with him, or at least not be so hostile?" Sirius pleaded, using puppy-dog eyes to devastating effect.
"Fine, Sirius, but don't expect to be warm and friendly to him."
Hearing a chi announcing the train would be leaving soon, Androda comnted, "We need to get going—the train will be leaving in a minute," before giving both of them hugs.
"Now rember, Harry, if you need anything, just use the mirror to contact . And do so pranking for on so Slytherins," Sirius said with a smile.
"Fine, Sirius, as long as you rember to tell about any developnts of importance," Harry demanded.
"Sure, Pup. Just try to have so fun and relax a bit," Sirius replied before giving him a manly hug.
"I will. You just be careful. Eventually, Lucius is going to attempt to get back at you for calling in those contracts," he stated seriously, hoping his godfather would keep his guard up and not do anything foolish.
"What are you, my mother?" Sirius joked. "Being serious for once, I can handle myself. Besides, I'll have Remus watching my back. But watch yourself too. I wouldn't put it past Lucius to try offing you."
"h. At the mont, he has bigger concerns than revenge on . Sure, he'll try, but his household is in crisis, and he doesn't have the cash to spare to attempt to kill and hope to get away with it.
Besides, the man has hundreds of enemies who now have a chance to strike back at him for every insult he ever made—and they're far more dangerous than . Plus, he'll have to contend with power plays in his own faction since he's been weakened so badly. Worst case scenario, if he tries sothing, I'm sure I could hire an assassin or two to kill him off. It's not like I don't have the money," he stated semi-seriously, to the shock of those in the cabin.
"What?" he questioned when he saw everybody staring at him open-mouthed.
"Harry, you just said you would hire assassins to kill him. Killing is wrong!" Sirius exclaid in alarm.
"Then you're naive. Sotis in life it's kill or be killed, dog eat dog. And as far as I'm concerned, if he attempts sothing, it gives permission to retaliate with lethal force. Besides, we all know he's a murderer and a rapist who should be rotting in jail rather than walking free, pretending to be a decent, respectable fellow. I would be doing the world a favor by removing him—preventing him from harming anyone else ever again."
"Seriously, Harry, killing is wrong and should never be permitted," he stressed.
"Seriously, Sirius, wake up. Do you ever wonder who would be alive today if, from the mont the Death Eaters started their murdering and raping, instead of stunning and binding them, you had done what needed to be done and removed them permanently?" he asked, looking at his makeshift family.
Seeing no reply was forthcoming, he continued, "They could never have bribed their way out of jail to continue their service to their Dark Lord. Would my mum and dad still be alive? Would I be alive now if I tried to stun and capture that troll last year? No—I would be dead, splattered on the bathroom floor like a bug, along with several others. And you would still be in jail.
So open your eyes and see the truth of the issue. At tis it's necessary to kill—to take life to allow life to continue. At the end of the day, the question is why you do it. For personal gain? For power? Or for survival and peace?" he asked sagely, having spent the days after he killed the troll in turmoil, wrestling with his own feelings—even if the logical part of him knew he had done what was necessary.
"You killed a troll?" Sirius asked in open-mouthed shock.
"Long story, but yes—I killed a troll last year when it sohow got into Hogwarts. I have no regrets. It was kill or be killed, and I saved a girl's life for sure," he stated with conviction, thinking over the fight.
"It's true," Tonks added, joining the conversation as the overhead speakers announced the ten-minute warning to departure.
"Let's leave the issue for now. We gain nothing by arguing over it," Harry said, not wishing to leave on a sour note.
"Agreed. Let's not spoil the morning," Ted said, kissing his daughter on the top of her head.
"Dad!" she protested in embarrassnt.
After saying their final goodbyes, the adults left, and Harry and Tonks made themselves comfortable and exchanged small talk as they waited for the train to leave. He took the seat next to the window so he could look out over the platform and watch the last families begin to board.
Casting a privacy charm on the door so they could talk in private, he said, "This is going to be an interesting year—I can feel it." He was thinking of a couple of personal missions, such as getting so answers about what happened at the end of the previous school year involving Professor Quirrell, and whether the rumors of Neville confronting Lord Voldemort were true.
"What do you an?" Tonks asked.
"Well, it's going to be interesting seeing how many people now want to be our friends—or, in your case, boyfriends—just because of our status being public," he said, not ntioning his deeper concerns.
"I have you to thank for that. Now I have to worry about people wanting to marry for my family na, money, and abilities," she pouted.
"At least you know. And frankly, now that you do, you can avoid it. Besides, if they annoy you, I'm sure I can try my hand at pranking them. It's up to you in the end—you have no marriage contract to worry about."
"That's one good thing, at least. Harry, did you an what you said about killing Lucius if he tried sothing?" she asked in a concerned manner.
Thinking it over—considering first Lucius's history as a Death Eater and then his current plot, which involved the Chamber of Secrets and could risk the lives of hundreds of students—made the choice rather easy.
"Yes. And soday you'll be faced with the sa choice if you want to be an Auror. You'll have to fight, duel, and maybe even kill in so cases. But it all cos down to choice and motive. If a wizard is casting deadly curses—like the Killing Curse—at you, should you be bound by the concept of capturing and stunning? What right does he have to live instead of you? My mother and father faced the sa moral choice in the last war—it was kill or be killed."
Glancing at his cousin, Harry continued, "There are tis in life where you'll be faced with impossible choices—choices you don't like and will hate—but during these tis, we must harden ourselves and beco ruthless in order to live to see the next day. We must beco like a blade, a weapon.
Only after the killing and bloodshed has stopped and the threat has been removed can we repent and show rcy and forgiveness to our foes—for the choices they made. To do otherwise in a ti of war would only play into the enemy's favor," he explained, repeating argunts he recalled from books he had read on the morality of war and conflict.
Thinking over the rumors of Longbottom fighting You-Know-Who the previous year, he decided to give an example.
"Tonks," he said, grabbing his cousin's attention. "What if tomorrow Lord Voldemort sohow returned to this world and renewed his war? His Death Eaters would rally to him and start up their campaign of terror again. Would you show rcy to them—knowing full well they would show you none, give you no quarter or pity?
They would torture and rape you before killing you. Killing itself doesn't make you a monster—the reasons why you kill do. If they returned, I would do everything in my power to break them—not just for revenge, but to remove the danger," he stated with cold conviction, though his insides burned at the thought of revenge.
"Think on it, Tonks," he said before the cabin fell into silence.
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