Sorry for the long wait. So here's chapter 2.
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Chapter 2: Explanations and confusement
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"He's waking up."
"No he isn't. Now be quiet."
"I still can't understand-"
"He's just a little brat. I don't see-"
"Be quiet!"
"I -"
"Princess Petunia Janera, stop this ridiculous childlike beha-"
"I'm no child!"
"Listen to your Mother."
"Fine!"
"She certainly hasn't changed."
"You're perfectly right. She hasn't. I thought allowing her to leave would make things better but-"
"You did what you believed best, Rose, darling. Our daughter is just-"
"Don't talk about me as if I weren't here. I am, if you've noticed and I don't enjoy-"
"Be quiet!"
"Don't order around your Princess as if she was a servant, Guardian."
"Well, unless you want him to wake up, then we should be quiet."
"Don't we want him to wake up?"
"Well…now I think of it, I assume so. There's so much to explain."
Harry listened to the voices. It was quite interesting to pick out the voices, especially when they didn't know you could hear them. He was planning on listening more when a voice said 'Wake up' and he was instantly awake.
He looked around him. Apparently the entire day hadn't been a dream, like he had wished. Unfortunately. On the other hand, since it wasn't a dream, he had just met his maternal grandparents. Who happened to be a Queen and King.
Sure enough, Queen Rose was kneeling next to him, her skirts sprayed out around her. "Hello, Harry dear. I'm sorry for giving you such a shock…we should have been more careful."
Harry shook his head, swallowing. The King stood in front of him and Marigold to the side. Aunt Petunia was further away, her back turned to him. "I'm fine…but I'll admit it's hard to believe."
"Of course it is, my dear boy. But you'll understand later on. Would you like something to eat?" King Dorian asked, bending down. "Or perhaps a room where you can rest? This castle is as much yours as it is mine."
Harry wanted to open his mouth and politely thank them, but say 'no thanks, I think I'll return to Hogwarts now', but something stopped him. Part of him actually wanted to stay there. It was beautiful, he had to admit, and the Queen and King were certainly nice people. There were just so many unanswered questions he had. So he opened his mouth and said the first thing he wanted. "Where am I? And exactly what am I doing here?"
The queen stood. "Oh, well, that's a long story, Harry. I- well, I have to admit I'm wondering where Lily's Guardian is." She sighed.
Harry, throwing a look over to Marigold, finally stood up himself. "What is a Guardian?" The fact that Marigold had announced herself as one, and that his Mother had one made him wonder just what exactly they did.
"A Guardian is someone who is raised to look after the Royal Family. We are well trained in all arts of fighting, weapons, magic and healing and always accompany the Family when they leave the castle. I am your Aunt's Guardian, though she has refused me many times. Your mother had one, the Queen and King do and you, I assume, will receive one. There are four families of Guardians and all four families are trained." Marigold answered, her voice changing and becoming more melodious as she spoke. Harry wondered why, but before he could ask, the Queen spoke.
"Crown Princess Lily's Guardian Mighty Star appear!" She raised her hands, and Harry froze as a very familiar figure appeared in the circle.
"What?" Harry managed to ask, before having to sit down again. The day was becoming too exciting.
***
"I told you not to drink from the toilet, not to do so, Padfoot." Sirius Black looked up to see an annoyed Remus Lupin standing in the kitchen doorway. He was tapping his foot, holding a toilet brush. "You clog up the toilet."
Sirius shrugged, returning to his tea. "I was thirsty. I was a dog. How else was I supposed to get a drink?" He lounged in his chair, picking up the morning's Daily Prophet. He had been visiting various people over the summer, and was truthfully ready for a rest and a relaxing cup of tea. And of course a few pranks. He remembered hearing that Arthur and Molly Weasley's twins were a couple of jokers. Perhaps he'd send them a letter turning them bright pink.
"Padfoot. I charmed the toilet closed, which means you had to have turned human to open it. And then I fail to see why you didn't just go to the kitchen to get a drink." Remus looked even more annoyed.
"Oh, Moony, what can I say? Toilet water tastes better." Sirius shrugged it off. He was enjoying himself, acting like a dog to annoy his best friend. It was a lot of fun.
"Oh! Just-just don't go anywhere. I'm going to the store to get some cleanser." Remus stomped off, muttering about mangy mutts.
Sirius waited until he was gone, before getting a quill and parchment from Remus's study.
"Dear Gred and Forge,
It has come to my attention that you two are continuing a tradition of being pranksters at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I wish to commend you for that and inquire if you have topped the Detention Record at school…I believe a total of 1798 times.
I also wish to commend you for passing on a certain map to one Harry Potter. The kid needs it, and I must say it served its purpose in your hands. Er…basically I just wanted to say you two are on the way to becoming the best pranksters. I'm not one cut out for formalities.
So, Gred and Forge, I suggest you wait in the Gryffindor Common Room by Waxing Half Moon at midnight by the fire place and chant these words: 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good and wish to become the best prankster ever.' Oh yes, a hint of advice. Have Harry there too. He knows a few of our secrets and will be a help.
Sincerely, with great expectations,
Mister Padfoot
P.S. You now are all bright pink. This spell will wear off in one week. Send letter addressed to Messrs. Padfoot and Moony when you wish to receive the incantation. "
He grinned as he sent it of using Remus's owl. He was sure Ron would read it as well and find it funny. And though he had never really met George and Fred, he couldn't wait for their reply. For no prankster is going to pass up an opportunity to learn a spell that turns someone bright pink.
Sirius returned to the kitchen, ready to fix something to eat, when he dropped the plate. The strangest, but a familiar feeling washed over him as he was suddenly blown away.
***
When the wind stopped, Sirius was surprised to see a scene he had almost forgotten. The beautiful Throne Room, with its many flowers and open air was a sight he had not seen in years-and a sight he never expected to see again. The fact that the death of Lily was on his hands made him stay clear. It had been his fault that Peter had been made Secret Keeper, and his fault that Lily had died, along with James. There was no reason to go back to the Kingdom, for he was sure they knew, and it would be a fate worse than death to be held as a traitor by everyone he had once called dear.
He stayed frozen in his spot, not daring to look. He had no idea why he had been called, by a member of the Royal Family, no less, but he did not really care to know. It had to be bad news. Until he heard a voice.
"Sirius?" He swirled around, not expecting and was met with a person he would have never thought to see here.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" He stalked over, taking in the people. The King was standing annoyed to the side, Mari was on the other side, expressionless, The Queen had an annoyed, but also sad look on her face, Harry was simply confused and the other woman, who Sirius guessed to be Petunia, was facing the other way, ignoring everything.
"I'd like to know that, myself, Sirius. Marigold just appears on the porch and then transports us here and now it seems that my mother was a Princess and so is Petunia and I have no idea what's going on. And then they say that they wanted to talk top my mother's Guardian, but that can't be you, can it, Sirius? I mean, you were my Dad's best friend, not my Mum's…and this entire thing makes no sense." Harry finished, crossing his arms.
Sirius looked up. All right…this situation just got worse. He was sure that Harry would never come here, that nothing would ever have to be explained. Harry had never questioned Sirius before, and Harry never seemed interested in hearing about his grandparents. Not to mention that Sirius never was going to volunteer the information. It was pointless to. But now… "Er…that's a long story, Harry."
"Why weren't we notified of Lily's death? And how did she die in the first place, Sirius?" Queen Rose suddenly said, looking even more annoyed. "Honestly, Sirius, for a Guardian, I'd like to know just how you guarded her, because that makes no sense. You're here for protection, Sirius. And you should have at least told us when she died."
"I-I-" For once in his life, Sirius was at a lost for words. "I thought- I-"
"He was in prison, framed for their murders." All head turned towards Harry. He continued. "My parents were advised to perform a Fidelus Charm. My Dad wanted to use Sirius as the Secret Keeper, but Sirius thought it'd be too obvious and convinced them to switch to Peter Pettigrew, but not to tell anyone. Peter was the spy and betrayed my parents. Then Sirius cornered Peter and Peter yelled out into the street how Sirius had betrayed them. Peter blows up the street, turns into a rat and escapes, leaving Sirius to take the blame. He was in Azkaban for twelve years. He just escaped two years ago and has been on the run ever since."
Sirius threw Harry a gracious look. "Harry's right, your Majesties. I've never forgiven myself for causing their deaths and I had vowed to stay away from here, until you called me."
Queen Rose sighed as she returned to her Throne and sat down. "Honestly, I really expected to learn about my own daughter's death when it happened, not almost fourteen years later."
Harry sighed. "Can't someone please explain to me what's going on?"
Sirius groaned. Explaining the entire thing to Harry. Whoa, not something to take lightly. Especially because there were parts even he had never really understood. "Well-"
"Well I think I'll be going now. Mother. Father." Petunia nodded to her parents. "Don't call me, I'll call you." She raised her arms and Harry stared at her.
"Don't you dare leave, Petunia Janera." This time Dorian cut in. "We still need to talk to you. And you owe Harry an explanation." Petunia's look of disgust told them all what she felt like, but it didn't seem to matter. She knew she had to obey her father's orders. Glaring mightily, she waved a hand, whispered words Harry couldn't hear and then sat down on the chair that had just appeared.
The five adults shared a look as Harry looked at them expectantly. How on earth were they going to explain this to Harry? Sirius sighed and shifted. "I guess I'll explain…"
***
"Well, Harry, I have no idea where to begin. Because frankly I had no idea that anyone would ever have to explain this to you. But I guess I should start with your mother before Hogwarts.
"Lily and I grew up together. She was the Crown Princess and I was her Guardian. A Guardian is someone who watches over his or her charge, the member of the Royal Family. Lily and I got along well and we were very good friends, especially with Marigold here." He nodded at Marigold. "We'd always play together and I was almost always with your mother. But I think the real story starts when we started Hogwarts."
Harry looked at the people in the room. The Queen and King in all their grandeur, Petunia in her normal clothes, Marigold wearing her tunic and hose and Sirius in old wizarding robes. "What do you mean? And I thought my mother was muggle born."
"That's what we told everyone, but it isn't true. Your mother, Harry, was Crown Princess Lily Marie of the Fae." Sirius waited for the reaction he was sure to commence.
"What? Are you saying my mother wasn't even human? That she was a fairy?" Yep. Sirius definitely got the reaction he had waited for.
"Not fairies, Harry. Please don't call us fairies. It's very insulting. Fairies are little annoying creatures that can't do much of anything. We're Fae." Sirius started to pace.
"All right. So what are the Fae?" Harry spat the words out. This was getting ridiculous! It seemed as if Sirius wasn't explaining anything to him.
"The Fae look human, Harry, but are not, simply said. They have a different form of magic than what humans possess, don't age like humans do and for one thing, we have wings." Queen Rose spoke up. Everyone turned to her.
"Wings?" You have wings?" Harry said, incredulously. This was getting unbelievable. "I don't see any."
"We can hide them and we almost always do." Rose answered, removing her cloak and placing it on the Throne behind her. "Watch me." And as Harry watched, she leaned her head back, straightened up and suddenly two transparent, glittery wings were resting behind her.
Harry blinked. "That's-that's-I-I can't describe it!"
"You'll get used to it. It's something that you were born with, and usually small children keep their wings out until they learn to fully retract them. Lily, however, learned very quickly. Before she was year-old she could retract them. But I think we should talk more about Lily, Harry dear." Rose left her wins out as she sat down again. "Sirius?"
Sirius nodded. "Right, Majesty." He turned to Harry. "I guess I should continue where I left off. No offence to any of your teachers at school, except perhaps Snape, but they don't really teach you what you need to know at Hogwarts. There are many different kinds of magical peoples living in this world, simply in different realms, and not all are friendly.
"I'm sure you've heard of Dwarfs and Gnomes and Dryads. They are creatures that you can find in the Human Realm. But in this realm, things are different. Humans can only enter here with permission or else they risk either being captured here forever or death. Depends on who finds them and the people's own intentions.
"Well anyway, though we can fit in with humans, we usually prefer to stay apart from them. They're often too violent for our liking and mostly too stubborn and close-minded. That's why very few humans know much about us. We keep to our selves and don't have huge wars or fights or anything else like that. Oh, and we have to tell the truth when we're asked out straight."
"We have to tell the truth? But I've lied before, I'm sure of it." Harry shook his head. "I know I've had to have lied before."
"Are you really sure? Half-truths don't count as lying, Harry. And anyway, your powers, your lying, they all won't take effect until you know and acknowledge who you really are. Of course, it could also be because of your mixed blood…" Rose shook her head gracefully. "I assume it lies upon who your father was. I always told Lily that marrying him wouldn't be a good idea, but that's how young love is, I assume."
"Wait, what do you mean about my father? I take it he was human. So does that mean that I'm not all Fae?"
"First of all, yes, Harry, you are only half Fae. But, your father was not human either. You have no drop of human-blood in your body, as far as I'm aware of." Dorian sighed. "But I think it is better to speak of your father later. I am not the best person to explain it to you, Harry. I highly doubt that anyone here is."
"Dorian is quite correct. Let's begin again with Lily. It is custom here for the Heir to the Throne to complete a magical education at Hogwarts. Though wizards can't use our magic, we can use theirs. It is also a way to get to know the human world and a way to study them. Any future King or Queen must know how to deal with humans. Though not many humans know of us, there are a few and they must be dealt with accordingly.
"On of them is always the Headmaster, or Headmistress of Hogwarts School. Professor Albus Dumbledore is considered a Friend of ours. He has earned our trust and admiration. When we wrote to tell him that our second daughter, Lily Marie, was to begin Hogwarts accompanied by her Guardian Sirius, he was very helpful. He helped making up names and a past for her. Evans is a common muggle name, he said, and Black would do as well. Therefore we decided that Lily should be considered muggle born, and Sirius half-blood, cousins on their mother's side.
"After the story was conceived, they were sent to Hogwarts, where Lily met your father. They graduated, got married and stayed in the human realm, fighting against some evil source named Voldemort. After your Christening, we did not hear a thing from them again." Rose clapped her hands and the doors to the Throne room opened, letting servants carrying trays and pushing carts full of food. They left the path before they reached the dais, and turned to the left, where tables were set with magnificent cutlery. Returning to the path, they bowed before Their Majesties and left.
Harry stared at all the food. It was hidden behind a wall of ivy, but he could still see enough of it to be amazed. It made a Hogwarts Feast go to shame. But before he wanted to eat, he needed to know something. "Aunt Petunia, why did you say you hate magic, then, and everything that has to go with it? And why do you live in the muggle world?"
Several gasps were heard as everyone's head turned towards Petunia. She crossed her arms and glared. "Because I do hate magic. I think it's horrible and unfair. I can't do anything. I have to either stay in this world and be a Princess, but can't do anything, because after all, Lily is the Heir, or I can go and live in the muggle world and have a normal family.
"It's not fair that I didn't get to go to Hogwarts. I'm the oldest, why couldn't I have gone? Lily's dead anyway, and al she left is this little brat who can do everything and has lots of friends. All I want to be is normal, and I thought I succeeded until Marigold appears on my doorstep and whisks me here against my will.
"And Marigold doesn't even like me anyways. She was friends with Lily and only assigned to me because Violet died and there was no one else to take her place that was my age, so they took Marigold who was five years younger and Lily's best friend.
"I can't stand it here. And what's Vernon going to do when he finds out? He's going to, if I just disappeared. Thank heavens I've been able to bind Dudley's powers and let him grow up to be a sweet lovely little boy, not like this freak here. I-"
"That's enough!" Dorian shouted, making Petunia fall off her chair. "That is perfectly ridiculous, Petunia. You are not the Heir because you don't have the Heir eyes. You know that only the Heir has such bright green eyes, the colour of emeralds. It is the way to decide who is the best candidate. And I wish to hear no more over Lily from you.
"Secondly, it has always been that the Heir attends Hogwarts with their Guardian, and no one else does. When you were the correct age to begin, you showed no interest. I'm sure that if you perhaps had said then that you wished to attend, perhaps we could have done something. But it was too late when you started making a scene about Lily going.
"Thirdly, I want you to apologise to Marigold. She lost her elder sister and then you make a scene about her. Do you think she wanted to be your Guardian? I don't think so. But you are correct that that was the only way. You need a Guardian and she was the only one who could serve you.
"Then I come to your 'normal' life. Misleading your husband is not a very nice thing, Petunia. And your son should learn about his powers and how to use them. It isn't fair. I want you to tell them and bring them here to us some time in the next month. They need to know, and if he does something like divorce you, then so be it. He wasn't meant for you. You cannot just close out part of your life.
"Jealously is for children, Petunia, and you are no child. I want you to grow up. Now go back to your family, Petunia, and I expect to meet them soon." He raised his arms, letting the spell holding Petunia in place go and she vanished almost immediately. Turning to Harry, he apologised.
"I'm sorry you got stuck with her, Harry, she's always been a handful. But I don't think you'll have to spend much time with her anymore. I fully intend to speak to The Wizard about this. Wizard Dumbledore's always showed good judgement, but not sending you here is ridiculous."
"Better with Petunia than with Them." Rose spoke up slowly. "I think that's what Wizard Dumbledore probably wanted, Dorian. He knew that They would protest if we received care of Harry, and we would protest if They received care the care of Harry. Petunia was the only option. He could live in a world where he was just seen as a normal magical human and not be placed in the middle of politics."
"Yes, well, I still feel a bit annoyed. Now, I suppose we should come to business. I called Petunia and Lily here because there is news that an evil wizard has risen in the human realm and I wanted to know about them." Dorian began pacing.
Harry cleared his throat. "That would be Voldemort. My parents fought him before, and he was defeated when he tried to kill me and his curse bounced back against him. I survived because my mother gave her life to save me. Now he's back and starting to rise again."
Rose sighed and looked at Sirius. "I assume you are fighting him again as well?"
"Correct, Your Majesty, I am. Right now I am recruiting those who have thought. I am unable to fight myself, seeing how I am seen as a convicted criminal. But it is true that I wish to fight again."
"Wonderful. I think we do need to contact King Alaric and Queen Moria, even against how much I dislike them. They deserve to know about everything we have just found out." Dorian seated himself in his Throne. "And Harry deserves to know about his father."
***
All right. James isn't appearing in this chapter. But next chapter all will be revealed. Should I continue, by the way? I guess that's it. Questions? Comments? Review.
-Myra 7/7/03