It's back...... Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter.
Chapter 29: A Stitch in Time.
**************Hogwarts, Room of Requirement************
November 3, 2019
8:30 pm
Emerald eyes blazed as a young, eleven year old boy took a breath and rolled back to his feet. He dove sideways, never taking his eyes off the tall, grey-eyed man, with longish black hair, and retrieved the plain, oak staff that he had dropped. He took a breath, panting slightly, as his knuckles whitened on the staff. He took another breath, and....
Horatio snapped the staff in a wild, horizontal swing at Sirius' neck. Sirius grinned as he rolled sideways, snapped out his own staff at ankle height and watched as Horatio went tumbling. Sirius recovered and stood leaning on the staff, looking down on the youngest Potter, by ten or so minutes, as he shook his head and looked up at Sirius with utter annoyance.
Sirius gave him a small smile, and set his own staff aside, before approaching the boy and extending his hand to pull him to his feet. Against his better judgment, Horatio let him pull him up. Sirius did not let go of his hand, but used it to pull him close, "Control, Horry," he whispered in the young, raven-haired boys' ear as he dropped his hand. Horatio reached up and swept long hair out of his eyes and glanced around to see the various other members of the "dueling club" working on spells, hand-to-hand and other techniques. Over in one corner, Harriet, Emilia and Cordy were standing, talking to a familiar young girl his age. They were demonstrating the full body bind on Xander, who was taking the abuse good-naturedly.
He rolled his eyes as he watched Xander give Emilia a pleading look, and smiled slightly when he saw her mouth back, "shush." He caught Harriet's eyes, and they shared an amused grin, even as he was wondering when she had changed her hair color to the darker red she had on now, he seemed to remember her having had a much lighter shade this morning. Horatio looked back up to Sirius, "It's no fair, Sirius, you're much better than me, I can't beat you, I'm not mum or dad, I'm just a kid."
"You will be, my lad, you will be," Sirius replied as Horatio knelt down to rub his slightly throbbing ankle. Sirius hid a grin as he caught Harriet looking at Horatio, oddly, before he carefully blanked his face and knelt down next to him. "Listen Horatio, I knew Harry and Hermione when they were scared thirteen-year-olds, not much older than you. They didn't have everything given to them, yeah they are powerful, but they studied and trained for years to get where they where...still do. You just have to keep trying. Besides," he smiled and glanced over at the girls, "you are much better at this than your sister, she forces it too much, even more than you."
"She's trying to show off," Horatio muttered.
"Whatever gives you that idea," Sirius laughed, as they watched Caitlin O'Brien, the young girl that the other girls had been talking to, try the spell with a newly acquired wand. The young girl shouted something, and Xander jumped, rubbing his leg and glaring at Emilia, who just shrugged and smiled devilishly. "Stinging Hex," Sirius and Horatio muttered as one. Sirius looked down at his watch and groaned, "Horry, I have to do something, can you go work with Elliot for a while?" he motioned towards the twelve-year-old Gryffindor who was practicing his marksmanship against several room supplied targets over to one side. Horatio nodded and watched as Sirius ran over to Cordelia, whispered something in her ear, and kissed her cheek before leaving, not even staying to watch her nod.
Cordelia continued to lecture the rest, walking among the students as they practiced whatever spells she had set them according to their skills. She sidestepped absently as an errant Stinger escaped from Clark and spun in place dodging a wild swing of a staff by an over-excited fifteen-year-old. After another hour she looked up as Sirius returned to the room with a large leather roll over his shoulder and nodded to her. "Alright, that's good for tonight, everyone," she yawned slightly as a slight brogue undercut her words. Cordy blinked a couple of times, "we'll pick up here day after tomorrow." The students began to file out, in singles, twos, threes and groups. Horatio and Emilia shrugged and walked over to the side of the room to pick up their bags. They stopped at a hand on Emilia's shoulder from Sirius.
"Can you and Horry stay here a bit?" he asked softly.
Emilia looked up at him frowning. She shared a subtle glance with her brother before shrugging, "Yeah, sure, Sirius. We'll catch up guys," she said towards the group of Gryffindors that was hanging back slightly, Xander, Elliot, Harriet, and their newest member, Caitlin. They nodded and waved, Caitlin looked a smidgen reluctant to leave Emilia, but as Harriet leaned in to her shoulder and led her away, she smiled and followed them out.
Sirius looked to the door as it closed and sighed. He flicked his wand towards it, and nodded as the flash of Silencing Charm on a surface lit the room for a microsecond. He frowned, taking Cordelia's hand as led them towards a pair of couches that had appeared in the center of the room. A small coffee table arrived with a flash, complete with several sweating, cold goblets of Pumpkin Juice. Horatio looked at Cordelia oddly as she leaned forward and picked up two of them. She handed one to Sirius, and took a long drink before returning Horatio's gaze with a pale, crooked eyebrow, "What?"
"Um, Aunt Cordy...why are we here?" he asked, as Emilia took a drink of her juice before nodding.
Cordelia gave Sirius a slight nudge, he looked at her, she nudged him again, "Fine..." Sirius reached up and ran his hand through his hair roughly, "Um, your Aunt and I...well you two can't just be as good as your peers...you have to be better. I really, really don't want to do this..." He reached over and picked up the roll from the floor next to the couch. Sitting it down on the table, he opened it with a flick of his wrist.
Emilia gasped slightly and gave her twin a disbelieving look. She reached forward to run a finger lightly along a two-foot Damascus blade. She looked to Sirius; he gave them a smile and gestured towards the weapons.
Neither Cordelia or Sirius missed the tiny flare of light that lit the twins eyes as they picked up the blades. Emilia ran her eyes down the blade, twisting it, and casting the dappled light reflected from the candles around the room. She fingered the cord-wrapped handle, set with three emeralds on each side. "They are not quite the Sword of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw," Sirius said lightly, "but they should do the job."
"Sirius and I will teach you," Cordelia put in, softly, "They are a few of the toys we pulled from the Potter vault before..."
****************************Budapest, Hungary****************************
November 3, 2019
10:20 am (Previous morning)
The soft drip of water trickling down from above was the only sound besides the occasional scrape of a boot on stone or a periodic cough as someone inhaled a mouthful of dust. The catacombs below the ancient city were undisturbed from the current unpleasantness above.
Luna jumped back slightly, as the beam from her wand crossed a skeleton. She looked back and gave Hermione a slight shrug as Ginny held her hand over her mouth, muffling her sniggers. Luna shot her a rude gesture, before turning and continuing down the long abandoned corridor.
They had entered the ancient catacombs under the city this morning, following the clues laid down by Rowena and Godric a millennium ago. A small, tingle of fear slid across their nerves as they walked amidst the corpses of long-gone inhabitants of the city. Luna frowned, her second sight picking up something. She closed her eyes and waved them forward, ducking under a rotting beam holding up the low ceiling.
The group slipped forward, heading ever deeper under the city. Hermione glanced to Harry, I wish we had Cordy with us, she mentioned softly as she ducked under a beam; you know what these catacombs have held before.
Come on, Mione, afraid of a few neck-biters?
Um...yeah, she admitted sheepishly; then sighed internally, no, not really, but this is their territory, we are at a disadvantage here.
Harry reached over and squeezed her hand for an instant before dropping it. "Let's go," Harry said softly, "it shouldn't be much further." The sextet, the same one that had gone into the Ministry of Magic for the first battle of the second war continued on. They moved down, perhaps another quarter mile into the earth under the ancient city.
They stopped before a tall, sealed black iron door. The door looked as if it was new, not a speck of rust or hardly any dust adhered to its surface. Hermione waved the rest of them back, Ginny and Neville dropping back covering their rear as Hermione started to mumble soft Latin words under her breath. She slowly ran her wand along the ancient lettering causing a faint green glow to come from the letters. Hermione groaned to herself and looked back to Harry. Without a word of explanation to the rest of the group, she slowly peeled off the glove she was wearing on her left hand. "Mione, I can do that," Harry objected as Hermione reached up and pulled a silver folder from a pouch.
"No, Love," Hermione whispered, stepping to him and pulling him into a quick kiss with her ungloved hand, "let me." She smiled slightly as she stepped back, and a flash of steel whirled around her right fist as she flicked open a stainless balisong. She winced as she drew the razor-sharp blade along her palm. She closed her wounded hand, squeezing it, before flicking it open at the door.
A loud rumbling sound sounded as she stepped back, wiped the blade on the leg of her pants and replaced it. She smiled up at Harry as he grabbed her hand, looking at her reproachfully as he ran his wand along the cut, sealing it without a scar. She shrugged slightly, as they turned back to the now open passage. The beams of light from their wands appeared to be slightly distorted as they shined into the passage. Harry started forward, stopping as Hermione reached out and grabbed his shoulder.
"Harry," she hissed, "wait...look," Hermione pointed up towards the top right corner of the passage. They watched as small rocks, dislodged by the opening of the door slowly slid downwards as if in oil. She reached back, drawing her sword and slowly pushed it into the field. The resistance was stiff, but not impossible as she drew it back and examined it. She reached over and took Harry's hand, intertwining their fingers.
Harry gave her a nod and looked back at the others, "Stay here, we'll be back in an hour."
"And if you're not?" Ron snapped, looking at them and then at the doorway warily.
Harry shrugged, and he and Hermione stepped forward. After a minute of pushing though the field, with a feeling as if stepping through a vat of molasses, they emerged on the other side. Hermione's jaw dropped slightly as they looked around to find the entire passage suddenly as new as if it had just been constructed. Brightly polished marble floors and tall, black granite pillars decorated the corridor. Small gold sconces were lit with gold and red flames, burning cheerfully. "Time field?" Hermione muttered.
"I suppose," Harry replied, "but aren't those inherently unstable outside of something like a Time Turner's field?"
"That or a relativistic event," Hermione agreed as she took his hand, nervously, and led him forward. A long pristine corridor stretched out before them, and with identical shrugs of annoyance they headed out. After several hundred yards, Hermione looked down at her watch, and cursed softly, "Bloody watch stopped."
"Mine too," Harry confirmed with a grimace, "hope we aren't gone too long." Another fifty yards in, the long corridor opened up into a huge, circular room. The far side of the room was lost in the gloom. Situated directly in the center of the room, a tall, golden chair remarkably like the one that Dumbledore sat in at every meal at Hogwarts faced away from them. Harry waved to the left, Hermione nodded and moved off as Harry drew his wands and started to circle to the right. Harry stopped and took a shocked breath as a black-haired face looked up and grinned. A night black goatee framed white teeth, which were bared in a slight, knowing grin. The wizard's legs were crossed in front of him, clad in battered leather breeches, worn under a white linen shirt. Emerald eyes twinkled in the light of twin wands. He set aside a bejeweled sword, placing it on the ground next to his throne and clasped his hands lightly together in his lap.
He laughed, "I'm glad to see that our clue to this place was not too obtuse," Godric, grinned, "Rowena thought that we were probably being too smart for our own good. She never really trusted others to be as smart as they were."
"Umm," Harry said oddly, "aren't you..."
"Dead?" Godric asked cheerfully, "Probably, or rather the real me is, I am sure judging from your clothes and your accruements...Lord and Lady Gryffindor." Hermione glanced over to Harry, her mouth hanging open slightly. "It is not such a mystery that I would know, M'Lady," Godric said laughingly, "Only the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw heirs would wield those blades, and Rowena's would only reappear when her heir, in this case you, had reappeared and was reunited with mine." The shadow stood from his chair and waved his hand. With a pop of light, a small gold triangle appeared, hovering in the air before him. The three sides of the triangle were inscribed with Runes, with lines leading from each point to a faceted diamond the size of a Galleon set in the center of the triangle.
Godric or rather his image plucked the triangle from the air and tossed it like a Frisbee to Harry. Harry snatched it from the air and looked down at it as Godric went on. "The first part of your quest, I am afraid. When that item is reunited with it's two brothers, only then can you find the Orb."
"You just had to make it difficult," Harry muttered, lowly. Hermione gave him a reproachful look, but Godric only chuckled.
His expression darkened, "I am sorry, but there were and are reasons." He waved his hand though the air, and a large spinning representation of the globe appeared hanging in the air. He motioned again, and the world stopped spinning. The globe zoomed in and in and in, until an image of a shining, white glacier appeared. "The next piece will be found only when the night overpowers the day, in the land of those who commune with the Raven..."
Around them, an ominous rumble started, and Godric's image started to fade, "You have about two minutes until the chamber collapses." His image vanished as Hermione took a breath, caught Harry's eyes and the pair of them, MOVED. Twin blurs ripped down the hallway, jumping over pillars as they fell as the ceiling collapsed at their heels. They sprinted out and dove through the bubble just as it vanished with a loud ripping sound.
They stood, and ducked as a hissing black form dove out of the darkness at them. Spell fire ripped out around them as Ron glanced over, "VAMPIRES." Harry ducked and waved a hand, tossing back an attacker into a wall. The Vampire stood and shook his head, before he bared his fangs and hissed, cat-like at Harry.
Harry looked around as he felt Hermione ease up to his back, her sword already free in her hand and glowing softly. The vampires hissed and back up slightly as Harry's came into his hand as well. Glowing blue eyes hung in the darkness sneaking back into the corridors, regrouping. Around the corridor, Neville was kneeling down over Ginny, she had been knocked out, while Ron and Luna were back to back, periodically firing Incendios off at the vampires surrounding them.
The room seemed to take a breath all at once, and the dark ones rushed out of the dim corridor. Harry ducked, sliced upward and left. He continued his spin, dodging under a swipe as his first attacked vanished in an eruption of flame. A sword clanked behind his back as he bent over, Hermione rolled over him and sliced downward. A second vampire vanished as she recovered, and pushed at the air.
A group of four approaching Ron and Luna from out of their view shot backwards as if fired from cannons. Harry! He turned, looked at her, and nodded. Hermione drove the Sword of Ravenclaw into the ground at her feet and muttered a spell over it. A wall of flame appeared, surround the six, leaving only two vampires within. As one, both charged Harry.
He spun, sliced up, and back down. Two more vampires dissolved in bouts of flame as Harry summoned Neville and Ginny to him. Ron and Luna sprinted over just as Hermione pulled her sword from the ground, kicked a stone into the air with her boot, and caught it. PORTUS! The other five grabbed onto her shoulders and arms and between beats of a heart, they vanished in fall of color and a rush of flames.
The circle of fire slowly died, leaving darkly hissing shadows that slowly vanished into the gloom, their prey gone.
****************************South China Sea*****************************
Lucius Malfoy's forces were vast, destructive and in their numbers almost unstoppable. Except for one, small disadvantage. They didn't swim all that well. During the dark years when his forces had overrun all of Europe, most of Asia and a decent amount of Africa, leaving the interior untouched, he had been able to send them by land or via various means of transportation, without recourse to water.
Unfortunately for his aspirations at world domination, the Americas, both North and South were not reachable by this technique, at least not easily. Vast invasion armadas set sail, to establish beachheads in which portals could be established to bring X'Sheen in overwhelming numbers. But boats, no matter how big, suffered one fatal flaw...they had to travel over the ocean.
Spears of fire rained down on a long line of wooden ships propelled by magic as they steamed down the Mariana's straight towards Australia. Australia, the last bastion of freedom in this part of the world had been under almost constant threat of invasion by Death Eater led, X'Sheen forces, which were now withering and dieing on the vine.
Dragons wheeled overhead, fighting tooth and claw as streaks of grey shot out of the clear, blue sky to have Dragons bearing the green skull fall from the air. Great steel ships floated in line abreast, turning broadsides to the wooden armada flying the flag of the Death Eaters. With a torrent of blue Reductors, great fireballs of cannon fire, and sun-bright flashes of plasma, the enemy fleet burned.
Australia was saved again...for now.
****************************Hogwarts*********************************
November 4, 2019
8:35pm
Emilia looked up from her library book, frowning. A shadow crossed her table, one she had secured soon after starting school. It was hidden far, far back in the back corner of the vast library, and free from interruption for the most part. She ducked sideways as a tall pile of books floated past with no regard to any humans who might be in the way. "Did you hear that?" she whispered across the table to her brother whom she deigned to let sit there. He shrugged and returned to his Potions text, marking down some obscure fact for an Essay on moonstones.
She looked across the table towards Xander, and Caitlin, they were leaning together working on an assignment for Lupin. Xander gave her a small smile and looked back to his book. After another minute she looked back to her book, her lips moving slightly as she started in on her History of Magic assignment.
A soft scrape of wood on wood sounded again and Emilia looked up. She stood, walking towards the sound when she stopped and turned back towards the table, "Now I know, that..." she saw Xander's eyes widen as he leapt out of his seat, crashing into her and sending them tumbling. With a tremendous crash, the bookcase slammed to the ground, sending hundreds of books tumbling down. Xander bit out a curse as a large, heavy metal smashed into the arm he had thrown across Emilia to protect her head.
Footsteps thundered away, and Emilia carefully rolled out from under Xander. She looked up to see her brother already charging away, his wand in hand. "Go, Em," Xander groaned, "I'll be fine."
"But you're, you..."
"Go, Emilia," he snapped, groaning slightly. He rolled up to a seated position, cradling his right arm. He reached across his body, drawing his wand awkwardly with his left hand. Emilia bit her lip, but nodded, and sprinted out of the library, even as voices shouted as they ran to the back of the room.
Emilia sprinted past Lupin as he ran in the opposite direction. He continued on as she waved him towards the back, yelling about Xander. She reached the hall, her wand flicking back and forth. She barely checked a stunner as Harriet and Horatio came around the corner, shaking their heads. "Crap," she whispered hotly.
*************************Hogwarts, Hospital Wing*************************
Emilia watched as Madame Pomfrey made Xander drink some vile concoction and moved away, into her office. He shuddered, looking around the room as Remus came closer. Emilia stood and walked to the window as Tonks rushed into the room, tripped over a chair and almost fell on her injured son. Lupin's arms snapped out with long practiced skill and caught her.
Emilia bit her lip slightly as she looked out over the dark lawn, broken by the lights of Hagrid's hut and the roving torch and wandlights of several patrols. Her arms wrapped around her, and rubbed along her arms unconsciously, as she felt a slight chill that the warmth of the castle in November did not account for.
Behind her, Tonks wept softly as she gathered Xander in her arms, hugging him. Emilia grinned to herself slightly as she Tonks go on and on until she was finally dragged from her son by Remus. He said something to Xander, and pushed Tonks towards the door, muttering something about the 'boy needing sleep'. Remus glanced towards Pomfrey's office, slipped Xander a package of chocolate frogs from his jacket pocket and led Tonks away.
Emilia looked back over her shoulder towards the door, waiting until it closed behind Xander's parents. There had already been a parade of well-wishers through the infirmary, Tonks had just arrived last as she had been in Hogsmeade going over security precautions with the town MLE detachment. Abigail, Harriet, Horatio and Elliot had all been here until just before Poppy had decided she could go ahead and give Xander the potion. She had kicked all of them out, but at Emilia's silent intransigence, Poppy had just shook her head and muttered something about "bloody Potter women." Emilia had not understood the reference.
She padded over from the window and knelt down next to Xander. She looked around the brunette's bed, frowning slightly before she reached out and gingerly touched him on his arm. He turned his head to look at her, and gave her a small smile. She frowned, "T...thank you, Xan."
"Hey, it was just a shelf, not a troll," Xander quipped. He was caught unawares as Emilia jumped up and crushed him in a hug hard enough to draw a soft grunt of surprise. Sudden tears burned down her cheeks as she sobbed softly into the shoulder of his hospital robe. Xander looked down at her, frowning, desperately confused as what to exactly to do. He eventually just decided to lie motionless and to not say a word as the small girl cried.
**************************London*********************************
November 5, 2019
6:20 am
Fred and George stood uneasily in the deep, cloying London night. Across the potholed and trash strewn street, a pair of black-cloaked, rather pale figures stood on either side of heavy steel door. The leftmost one, a thin, brown-eyed woman, who wore a short, leather skirt, and a blood-red, short top under her open cloak, in spite of the cold, smiled slightly, exposing pristine white fangs. She opened her stance, and fingered the hilt of a worked dagger before drawing it slowly, and kissing the flat of a cobalt blue blade. "Sorry, Luv," Fred said lightly; "married."
"Your loss," the vampress replied, laughing.
Beyond the steel door, a curious meeting was occurring in the light of a few flickering oil lamps. A small, blonde woman looked around the room with curiously vibrant violet eyes. She was alone, having come down from Hogwarts for this meeting with only the twins for an escort. Sirius was somewhere in France, meeting with a resistance cell. An ancient, dark presence sat across a small, bare, except for two steaming goblets of blood, inlaid table.
Cordelia watched as the ancient extended a withered hand, complete with bejeweled long skeletal fingers, and took a sip from his goblet. He set it down and looked to her with a contented sigh, "Why should I support either side, Cordelia? My children hunt every night, their bellies are full." He smiled thinly, and licked his lips clean of blood. "We do not have to hide, we can walk openly in the night..."
"Down broke and shattered streets, hunting poor pitiful wretches, please," Cordelia spat, disdainfully.
"I don't see you refusing your drink, Cordelia," the Ancient, Marcus Octavius answered, sneering.
Cordelia made a show of subtly sniffing the goblet before purposefully bringing it to her lips to drink. "I can tell the distinct scent of Death Eater miles away. This was from the patrol your forces ambushed earlier this evening in Surrey." Marcus chuckled and saluted her with his own goblet. Cordy did not smile however, as she stood and leaned over the table. Across the room, the main dining room of an old, Muggle Chinese restaurant, several tall, lethal-looking vampires stepped from the shadows. Cordelia slowly looked at each one, her eyes glowing softly before she looked back to the ancient. "You do not want a war with us, old fang...and you do not want our attentions to turn to you once this...unpleasantness has passed."
"What do you want?"
"You and yours are to limit your hunts to only those who deserve it. As simple as that," Cordelia replied and started to the door.
"Are you sure that you don't want to stay?" a tall, dark vampire asked from behind Marcus, "It will be daylight soon. We have a spare bed down below; you could see what it's like with your own kind...
Cordelia's head spun to him, her eyes lit fully and she MOVED, flashing across the room and knocking the tall vampire through a dividing wall into the next room. She paced to the new hole in the stained and peeling wall, seeming to reappear across the room without crossing the intervening distance, she looked down at him sprawled on the floor and slowly showed her fangs. "I am a Pureblood vampire, the Sun holds no terrors for me, nor does death. Be careful, or I will feed you to my husband in bite-sized chunks." She turned on her heel and walked quickly to the door. "Remember what I said, Marcus, I would hate to have to visit in a somewhat less social manner, perhaps with...Albus as my partner."
She left the old restaurant in silence as her words sunk home.
There you go, another chapter...next time, a dinner conversation.