Author's notes: Hello! I felt guilty for making you wait such a long time for the last chapter so I'm posting this now. It's only part a but I hope it will occupy you until next time! Don't forget to R&R please :) Also I think my Beta might have left me since I haven't heard from her in three weeks. Would anyone be up to the task and beta read for me?
Chapter 10: Framboises Givrées.
Part a
There was a loud 'thud' as Lily shut the lid of her trunk.
Everyone had gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast but Lily relished the first moment of solitude she had since last night.
She walked over to the window and stared at the frozen lands unseeingly.
Dead. They were dead.
It was final and irrevocable.
Oh, she had been worried about them before… She had known that the parents of Muggleborn witches and wizards were easy targets. She had spent many sleepless nights wondering if Hogwarts was the right place for her since the summer.
It would have been so easy to give everything up, to turn her back on the last six years and go back to the blissful anonymity normal life procured. No more Voldemort.
But she hadn't done it. And it hadn't mattered in the end.
A car crash. A stupid car crash. Nothing even remotely magical. She wasn't to blame. They had made sure to drill the thought into her head last night after she had woken up in the Hospital Wing.
But still, she felt guilty.
Guilty because a tiny part of her was relieved she hadn't indirectly been the cause of their death. Guilty because she didn't feel anything but emptiness. Guilty because she couldn't even cry.
She loved them. Oh how she loved them-even Petunia although she was in less than cordial terms with her.
Petunia…her only sister… They should have stood together in this time of grief. They should have tried to put the past behind and re-forge the bond that had united them in their childhood.
But judging from the letter Petunia had sent her-along with another one for the school-she had lost her sister too.
Although only three years older, Petunia was engaged to a beef of a young man called Vernon Dursley and she was going to live with her future parents in laws until the wedding. Lily wasn't welcome there, even for the brief two weeks of the Christmas holidays.
But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Not yet anyway. When realisation would settle in for good, Lily would feel all the things she didn't at the moment. Then she would cry at last. Maybe it would break her but in the meantime she was just a shell. A beautiful, fragile shell, as cold as the sea.
She wouldn't have minded staying at Hogwarts but Madam Weasley had insisted that she shouldn't be alone after such an ordeal. Lily could tell that the good nurse had been appalled when she had told her that her sister could not take her in. But the old witch had rallied rather well and had said that friends were also a possibility.
It was impossible for her to go to Marian's but James had offered to take her home with him and Dumbledore had approved. Cléobulle was to stay at Hogwarts for Lily didn't have the heart to uproot him in an unfamiliar environment for a mere two weeks. He would be well taken care of by Madam Weasley (who wouldn't leave the castle this year).
A knock at the door pulled her from her contemplative state. She wasn't surprised to see James stepping in, already dressed in his winter cloak. She had been waiting for him after all.
James smiled a tentative smile at the sight of his friend standing at the window. "Are you ready? The carriages have been brought around a few minutes ago. Here… I'll take your trunk downstairs."
Lily followed him outside the room without a word but she made sure to smile her thanks to him. If there was one person she felt she could rely on then that person was James. She knew she was very lucky to have him for a friend.
***
From the large windows of the teachers' lounge, Keanan Raven watched the students streaming out of the castle and pilling into the carriages. He sighed as he caught sight of a girl with red hair going down the front steps with a tall black-haired boy. He remembered when the whole mess he was in had started…
***
Scotland, winter 1790
Sprawled carelessly in a comfortable armchair with a glass of brandy in his hand, Keanan Raven was staring into space, pictures of a red-haired girl from the future flashing in his mind.
A fire was burning merrily in the grate and it gave the room a warm and cozy atmosphere in great contrast with the icy December wind that could be heard howling outside.
There was a soft 'pop' and a rather tiny house-elf appeared in front Raven. The little creature frowned at the sight of the almost empty glass.
"Master Keanan knows that he shouldn't be drinking considering his rather dangerous occupations."
Raven glanced dispassionately at the dark liquid remaining at the bottom of his glass. Was that his second one already? He fancied that if he swirled the alcohol just this way then the flickering light of the fire gave it a beautiful reddish hue.
"What do you want Pippin?" he asked, his eyes still on the glass and intent on recapturing the fugitive colour.
"Will Master Keanan be coming to the dining room for super?" Pippin asked, taking advantage of his master's lack of attention to take a peek at the decanter resting on the desk on the other side of the room. The thing was actually three-quarters full and, satisfied, Pippin tried to coax the brooding man out of his study. "Faidi has made some of that raspberry shortcakes you like so much for dessert..."
"I'm not hungry tonight."
"But maste-"
"I said I wasn't hungry, Pippin. And I wish to be left alone."
Pippin knew that when the master spoke in his no-nonsense tone it was useless to argue and he vanished quickly.
Once the elf had gone Raven tossed back the rest of his drink in one gulp and started to pace on the expensive Persian rug covering the cold stone floor in front of the fireplace. He didn't have to look at his pocket watch to know that the old crackpot was late. He was, after all, the master of Time--in his own bizarre way at least.
He remembered how awed he had been when the illustrious Merlin of the legends had appeared in front of him for the first time. His ethereal form had been almost invisible but it had still created a great impression on a lad of thirteen. He hadn't believed it at first when the old wizard had told him he would do great things in the years to come. More ludicrous was what came next: he, Keanan Raven, was to be a very special member of the Tempus Fugit Order. Order created by Merlin himself to 'observe the world and sometimes rectify the acts of the Great Goddess' (in Merlin's own words), for, you see, the Great Goddess didn't always do things right.
It had taken little convincing to make young Keanan join. And now, fifteen years later, there were few things or times he hadn't seen. A very peculiar magic was flowing in his veins and he could freely go backward or forward in time in a three hundred years margin. Raven knew that this travelling had a price and that it was taking a toll on his body but he wasn't overly worried, it usually took him no more than a day or two to recover completely from a sudden time change.
The Tempus Fugit Order must be one of the oddest ever created considering that none of its members lived at the same period. The oldest of them all was Merlin of course. They could communicate with one another by ways of ethereal transportation and Raven was the only one who could actually travel physically at will through time. Consequently he was some sort of handyman. Meaning he was sent on missions. Mostly to observe and more rarely to intervene, for life had to follow its course and the unbalanced forces of the universe had a wicked knack to upset it.
It was his most recent mission that had caused Raven such distress. He had arrived back to his normal time a day ago and was now waiting for Merlin to contact him so he could do his report. His abilities did not allow him to actually visit the old wizard in his own time.
Raven suddenly felt a light breeze unsettling his messy hair. Speak of the devil…
"Good evening, my boy," Merlin said jovially. He was seated behind Keanan's desk and the leather of the chair could be seen through his flickering ghostly body. "Goodness me! You look absolutely awful!" he added with a chuckle. "Ladies trouble?"
"Nothing of the sort," Raven replied testily. He had great respect for the man, he really had. A very powerful wizard he was. But it didn't mean he wasn't an old coot all the same.
"If you say so." It was hard to tell because the ghost was barely visible but Raven was sure Merlin's eyes were twinkling merrily.
"Now, about the mission…"
Merlin sobered instantly. He may be an old coot but he had a world to watch over. "Yes?"
Raven started pacing again. "I had to visit several different years. You know, the before, the after and the in-between." Merlin nodded. "Well, it seems that all is taken care of thanks to some 'keys'. The dark wizard Flamel feared will be brought down."
"Well, this is good news indeed. So we had nothing to worry about after all?"
"Not exactly. I've felt some disturbance. It was very faint but there is a possibility of the future taking a different path. I would say that it had approximately one chance out of ten to take the wrong one."
Merlin's ghostly eyebrows knitted together, his face couldn't actually darken but it was clear that it wasn't good news to him. "We cannot take chances, Voldemort must fall," he murmured.
Raven stopped his pacing and looked at the old man. So much depended on him, he looked very tired and very old all of a sudden.
"I have identified the keys," Raven said gently, "I will tell Flamel who they are and he will have them watched."
"Would you watch them for me?"
For a moment Raven stood frozen. No, this wasn't happening, he wouldn't let it happen. He swallowed nervously
"I can't do this, Merlin. I would have to stay in the same time for a very lengthy period and I was never gone more than a couple of months. To do this properly I would have to stop my travelling for at least two years…"
Merlin rose and glided through the desk to come and stand-or rather float-near the young man.
"You know that how long you stay will not matter in the end, Keanan," he said gently. " I understand it's still a lot to ask…you won't regain those two years, they will be irrevocably spent. But I have a feeling that it is very important that we see to this particular matter. You are one of the most powerful wizards who have ever existed, your knowledge of the magical arts is nearly bottomless. I believe that you are the most qualified person for this."
Raven knew he was going to regret it but he couldn't well refuse Merlin, not when the old wizard was practically pleading with him. Drat! Who was he kidding? He couldn't resist seeing her again, no matter how much it would hurt to stand by and watch her build her life with another and then die. The temptation was too great.
"I will do it," he said in barely more than a whisper. He swore he could actually feel the weight of the translucent hand Merlin had placed on his shoulder.
"I hadn't expected less of you, my boy. The Great Goddess made the right thing by giving you these powers."
Raven chuckled mirthlessly. "I don't know if I'm very thankful for that. It's not all that it's cracked up to be."
Merlin raised an eyebrow. "What was that? I don't think I've heard that expression before."
"I picked it up on the last mission. They have a very disturbing manner of speaking in the twentieth century. I had to adapt myself."
"Good, good. Now, there will be one person who will be aware of your true identity. He actually asked for our help, his name is Albus Dumbledore. Heard of us by Flamel although the old rascal wasn't supposed to reveal anything about the Order to anyone. Never was one for rules, Nicholas."
When Merlin had gone Raven went back to his comfortable chair near the fire. He decided to give himself a week before starting his new mission. He wasn't ready to see her again yet. Not when just yesterday he had seen her corpse lying on the ground with a crying baby in her arms.
***
Well, that's it for now! I'll answer the questions you've asked (and those you will ask) when I post Part b, which I will probably combine with Part a. I expect it to be up anytime between Sunday and next Saturday.