Chapter 28 - Family and Fiends
A lone figure walked through the glen. It cast an elongated shadow because the rays from the early morning sun were just cresting the horizon. He leaned heavily on an ancient gnarled cane; his crooked stature appeared less than human as he limped along the path to the front door of the silent cottage. The hunched figure climbed the few steps to the entryway and lightly rapped on the wooden door.
"Pleases to be quiet, the Master and Mistress of the house are still sleeping," the house elf addressed the visitor.
"Expect me they have, requested my presence they did. Wait in their home I shall," he replied. His cloak flew from his shoulders to hang from a hook on the wall.
"My Master bids that all his house elves address guests with their proper name. My name is Winky. I have been here with the Master for many years since the day my other Master died. If there is anything you require…" the elf replied respectfully and escorted the wizard to the front lounge.
"Understand their need for rest, difficult their journey has been. When they wake, announce my presence," the wizard commanded as he handed the elf a small card. He slowly hobbled into the inviting room and found a comfortable leather chair next to the ever present fire. He hardly had time to settle in the chair before voices in the hall revealed he was soon to be joined.
"That will not be necessary, Winky. I've been expecting him," Harry said from the other side of the door, a low murmur from the elf was inaudible to anyone but Harry. He entered the room and greeted his guest. "Abraham, welcome; we've planned to meet with you soon."
"Disturbed you I hope I have not, urgent is this meeting," Gnome replied.
"I have been up since before dawn. Hermione is still sleeping," Harry replied at the doorway to the lounge. He wore a dressing robe over the clothes he obviously slept in. His hair appeared more tangled then usual, the streaks of gray twisted in the remaining jet-black hair. He entered the room and offered his hand to the wizard. A bundle of papers in an old journal remained locked under his other arm.
The wizard stood with difficulty to accept his greeting, "Time we have little of. A message I received last night; disturbing it was," he said. "This message implied a name the writer would not reveal," Gnome said.
Nodding, Harry hesitated before answering. "You must understand, with recent events we have to be cautious. Until we are certain of our sources and contacts, information cannot be freely distributed."
The ancient wizard stood silent; he appeared to be hesitant to speak.
"Abraham, we have discovered information about a time-altering wizard that has been interfering with our history and lives, possibly for a millennium or longer. From what we know, he is an escaped criminal from the future where three officers were sent through time to capture him, but they failed that task," Harry began.
"This I knew; these three unknowingly influenced the world they sought to protect. Stories told to me by my mother I heard in my youth, but specifics I never discovered," Gnome said.
"We know who they were, but specific details of the legacies they left are unknown. What we have derived is they and their ancestors are unique to this world," Harry said.
"Hmmm, unique to this world, you say. Ancestor to Mr. Potter I always believed one was. But exist in other worlds you do. Spoils that theory," Gnome replied.
"No, not exactly an ancestor," Harry replied. "We assumed at one point you were a descendant of one of them since we have never found evidence of your existence in any of our other 'travels'. But then again we only discovered your existence recently," Harry unconsciously patted his bundle under his arm. "We know one of them, Sorcath of Falleen, kept a detailed log of the events prior to and after leaving their time. He was also a Parselmouth and used that language to record the facts of their joint mission," Harry added.
"Identified the prisoner in the log, he did?" Gnome asked in disbelief.
"Good morning," they heard from the doorway to the hall. Hermione still wore her bedclothes covered with a conservative dressing robe.
"Good morning, love," Harry replied as he quickly met her halfway into the room. A chaste 'good morning' kiss to the cheek was all she would allow in the presence of company.
"Simple wizard family was mine, except my grandfather. Famous was he," Gnome said to continue the prior conversation.
"You never mentioned your family before," Hermione observed.
"Quite right, only a twin brother," Harry added.
Gnome fell back into the chair, shaking his head. "Truth I hid from you. Brother he was not; my son he was. All other facts true they were," Gnome muttered.
"Son?" Harry said astounded, "You took your son's life?"
Gnome nodded, "Yes. He was to marry the next day, but that night he insisted we use this spell to prevent the man I only knew as prisoner number 335525 from harming us. We did not know who he was."
"Then the Horcrux you said you created from your brother was actually your son?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Mislead you I did; brother he was not, my son he was," Gnome repeated remorsefully.
"Who were your parents?" Harry demanded.
"Mara and Johan Kristensen; my mother's stories were the reason my son and I experimented," Gnome replied.
"Mara?" Hermione muttered under her breath, "Where have I heard that name before?"
"My mother was named after my great-grandmother, a family name I understand," added Gnome.
Harry shook his head, having missed the connection, "So you have no idea who prisoner number 335525 is?"
"Identity I never learned, hidden he remained. Afraid to show himself I assumed," Gnome added.
"You know about prisoner number 335525, but not who he is?" Hermione asked again.
"Obsession he was for my grandmother and mother. Neither would tell me who he was. 'Wait until you are of age' they would say. My grandmother vanished in my fourth year at Hogwarts, mother died soon after," Gnome replied.
"What was her name, your grandmother?" Hermione asked.
"Gryffindor, she was," Gnome began.
"No, not her house, what was her name. Maybe we can trace her and her connection to the 'prisoner'." Harry insisted.
"Gryffindor, her name was Aurellia Gryffindor," he replied slightly confused at the interrogation.
"There's one other detail we need to clarify, why didn't you tell us you are related to Godric Gryffindor? " Harry demanded his voice sounded more like that of an angry parent than and Auror.
"Detached I felt from my family, deserve them I do not," he replied.
"Are you aware of the names of the three agents that were sent to capture prisoner number 335525?" Hermione asked.
Gnome shook his head, "Names were never revealed to me. Assumed my grandmother knew of them well enough to carry on this task," he replied.
"I should say she did know them, she was one of them," Harry said sharply.
"Harry, how could he know? We had the journals written in Parseltongue and to my knowledge no one else could interpret the writing except for Riddle or one of Slytherin's ancestors," Hermione said critically of Harry's comment.
"One of the three, she could not have been, peaceful woman she was. I remember her fondly," Gnome replied, a longing in his voice for those times lingered.
"Describe her, if you can remember her," Hermione asked.
"Remember her I do, better than remember, drawing I have at my home. But since time is short, describe her I will. She was a handsomely beautiful woman, rugged and suited for life in those times. Braided hair, always she had; long it was, as if she never cut a lock. Deep and warm light brown eyes, and her laugh warmed me as a child. I never doubted grandfather's reasons for loving her," Abraham replied softly, as if lost in a memory.
Harry glanced at Hermione and winked. "And her family? We know some about Godric, but nothing of her," Harry said.
"Orphan she was; she held fast that she had no living family," Abraham said.
"Convenient, no family. No living family because they didn't exist yet. She was the type the Continuum would have sought out. From what we know, she was not an orphan, her family…" Harry started.
"Must have been proud of her sacrifice, who ever they were," Hermione interrupted.
Hermione closed her eyes and focused, hoping Harry would understand. Barely a moment passed when she felt his presence in her mind.
'We shouldn't tell him she was related to us, we still don't have verification of his claims,' Hermione thought.
'Right, good catch, I was about to tell him what we know,' Harry replied in thought.
'There will be time for that after we're done,' she replied in thought.
Both Harry and Hermione stared at Gnome, unsure of their next action. She finally decided some trust was necessary. "We have discovered prisoner number 335525 escaped from a point in our future and returned to a point in time to murder his brother, at one point we assumed that was you. His brother was a famous and great man, and is buried in a grave on Newias Mountain . Newias Mountain is now known as Newhill and is near Carmathen. That wizard was Myrddin Emrys, the wizard we all knew as Merlin. His brother, prisoner number 335525, is Myrddin Wyllt. He had come to both of us at different points in our lives and led us to believe he was helping us," Hermione said, the momentary pause was largely unnoticed.
"Fits this does, his name was a mystery to me," Gnome said.
"We believe our information is correct, your grandmother was sent to track Myrddin, and was unsuccessful. Her descendants, the descendants of any of the three, are the only ones capable of capturing and containing Myrddin. That clearly falls to you. We will stand at your side, but ultimately it falls to your abilities," Harry added.
"The portal is the key," Hermione commented.
"Yes, the 'Veiled Arch' in the Ministry of Magic was designed to contain him. Instead he escaped, and splintered reality, creating this mess we've fallen into," Harry added.
"Understand I do not; the Veil I was warned to avoid by my grandmother before she passed on. 'The place to hold evil', she told me. Warned me return from the other side was impossible. Learning of your return from the veil intrigued me, impossible I believed, but possible it was," Abraham said.
Harry still held the leather bound journal under his arm, along with the file folder from the future. "What do you know of the 'Warning of Power'?" Harry asked.
"The Warning of Power is a phrase I have not heard in a long time. If I remember, it means there must be a balance between good and evil, one cannot exist without the other. Power itself is neither good nor evil; it is the means that power is used. If power is used for evil purposes, only the purest of power, only one untainted by evil can defeat that evil," Abraham explained.
"Yes, that is how it was explained to us, but without the balance concept. That makes complete sense," Hermione said nodding.
"And since you are the sole descendant from the agent named Aurellia Hoth, and she was tasked with the capture of Myrddin, that task now falls to you," Harry added.
Abraham shook his head, "Defeat him I cannot, pure I am not, but help I will. Another to defeat him you must find," he said.
"We may not have to, all we need to accomplish is to trap him in a manner he can be contained. That was the original task your grandmother was assigned. The Arch we've used to travel between realities was designed to contain him. But obviously something happened and created these links. We know the year this started, and we have some details about what happens, in respect to the team sent to track Myrddin. If we return to the past and assist the team…" Hermione said.
"No, we can't. We can't return to the past without creating a larger paradox," Harry interrupted to remind her of the risks in altering time.
"Harry, you're right, the alternate realities may be the direct result of the paradox. Each followed history to a certain point and then deviated. Our world - one possible future - may not be the correct one. We have no way to determine that until we know the exact point he changed history," she added.
"Perhaps if we merge our resources we may stand a chance. If we need to balance between good and evil we'll need all the help we can find," Harry said.
"The children are with Rudy and Lucy; we have to find a way to reunite with them, I'll feel comfortable if I know the kids are safe," Hermione said, in her assertive tone.
"Help the children could be, but contain him they cannot. Abilities they have yet to develop, other descendants from Wolfgat and Sorcath we must find. I cannot help, I cannot change my transgressions," Abraham said.
"You may not have to, we may know of others that can assist, but I must call the children," Hermione said. She removed her wand from her housecoat pocket and thought carefully before replacing it. She picked up a thin metallic plate and appeared to press it before she turned and left the room.
"Unusual signaling device, is it a Protean Charm?" Abraham asked.
"No, it's a Motorola mobile," Harry replied.
Hermione had left for the hall for a semi-private conversation. "… Yes… hire a muggle auto… No, do not Apparate home… No, do not use any magic of any kind… Right, if you have any problem, listen to Lucy or Rudy, they have our full confidence. See you both in a few hours, I love you Annie," Hermione finished and pressed the off button on the mobile telephone.
"Harry, the kids will be here in a couple hours. I'm in need of a shower," she called back into the hall before disappearing up the stairs.
"Weakened are her abilities, rest she needs," Abraham commented.
Harry nodded, "We both need to rest, neither of us have adequate reserves," he replied.
"A full lunar cycle she requires, here where she feels safest," Abraham added.
Harry looked at his guest with renewed curiosity. "You've studied her personal magical abilities?"
"No, simple deductions; witches typically require more time than wizards. The more magical powers they have expended, the more time needed to rejuvenate. I have, however, a complete magical exhaustion witnessed I have. Careful you must be to retain some abilities. You both have been through much these past weeks without rest, similar symptoms you both have. Has she had difficulty performing simple charms?" Gnome asked.
"Some, most recently she was unable to apparate here. What I've noticed, is that as weak as she seems, simple contact between us has helped," Harry replied.
Gnome smiled, and nodded. "Close your two are, closer than husband and wife. Such a bond is rare," he said.
"We've been together a very long time, we've been through many trying times together," Harry replied.
"This you both will survive, strong are you when together. But be aware if drained all your power you have, difficult or impossible to regain your power it will be. Many I have watched fall in conflict because of this, safer for her to remain here to rest, a fortnight at least. Her instinct to avoid further drain is good," Abraham added.
"We both have been trained by the Ministry, and her training continued into both magical and Muggle medicine. We both are aware of the risks of Magical Depletion," Harry said.
"Good, good. Further counsel I cannot offer. I must return to my home…" Abraham began but was abruptly cut off.
"No, you will remain here. For the safety of all concerned, and I feel there is still much to discuss," Harry insisted.
"I cannot stay, I cannot face Myrddin," Abraham insisted, and raised his arm in a threatening gesture.
Harry's posture quickly changed to offense. He quickly waved his hand over his guest, the air surrounding Abraham shimmered and the elder wizard froze where he stood. "I have far more to risk to allow you to leave now," Harry said, a note of apology in his voice.
Abraham struggled to escape the invisible bonds for only a moment, before resigning to remain as a guest of the Potters.
Harry added, "If there is anything you require, I will have it brought from your home under Azkaban Prison. If she needs a fortnight, then that will be how long we will remain within these grounds. In the interim, I must ask you to refrain from disclosing any information to my children; they are not your responsibility."
"Honor your instructions, I will. But imprison me here you cannot," Abraham insisted.
"Don't consider this an imprisonment; you've isolated yourself far too long. There's much we can all learn from each other. You have free run of the grounds, but be warned, we'll be notified immediately if you leave the estate," Harry commanded, as if he were instructing his children on house rules.
Abraham tried to rebut the order, but Harry simply waved his hand once more releasing the elder wizard. "Now, if you will excuse me, I believe I should also prepare for the day," Harry said before leaving the wizard alone in the main lounge.
Once in their bedroom, he closed the door, and laid the documents he still carried on the end table next to the bed. Hermione had just stepped from the shower and had wrapped one towel around her body and another around her hair; she joined him in the bedroom.
"I convinced him to stay," Harry said to open the conversation.
"How did he take the news?" she asked.
"About as well as we expected, I told him he cannot leave the grounds. The ward we left that notifies us if one of the kids tried to leave without permission should work on him as well, if the information they gave us is accurate," Harry said while he unwrapped her hair. He gently rubbed the long strands of her hair with the towel, a move she recognized as an attempt for a different kind of interaction.
"Later, darling. The children will be here in a few hours and there's much to do," she said in a soft voice, left a fresh imprint of her lips on his cheek and disappeared into her dressing room.
Now alone, and holding a damp towel, Harry crossed to the small shower room where she had recently been. The mirror on the wall still moist with steam, a fresh towel was carefully placed on the counter next to the shower stall. A thin slip of paper lay on top of the towel with an equally fresh imprint to match the one she left on his cheek.
Harry released a deep sigh, unaware he had been holding his breath, and promptly turned on the cold faucet.
The first week of the enforced holiday at home proved to be the most stressful. The houseguest continued to be ill at ease when interfacing with the Potter family. The two youngest members also needed time to adjust to the recent events. Annie most of all suffered from disturbing dreams, and remained hesitant to renew her budding relationship with Jerry. Ben's adventure, although less stressful, proved as difficult to put into the past.
Jerry, his parents, and the surviving Malfoys also stayed in a nearby cottage in the small village, to remain in contact without undue magical use. The idea was to hide their strength should that be a means to trace them.
Annie had one issue she was determined to resolve. The time she spent waiting for her parents to return solidified her feelings for Jerry. But even though he was there to help, he still remained distant.
The second week of this forced isolation proved to be a sunny summer's day. More than a week had passed since Annie's recovery. And even more time had passed since the couple had been left alone. The warmth of the day coaxed one girl from the house to a small, well-manicured spot. She walked through the garden on the side of the cottage, and wandered down a familiar path with a purpose. The nearby stream added to the charm and tranquility of the small fenced area. A well-worn bench near the edge of the enchanted site was the calming place she sought.
Annie had spent many long, lonely hours here in those years she misunderstood her mother's youthful mistakes. Though she never met those that remained here, she felt she knew them well. In her hand she held a lily and a rose; she stared at the memorial markers before her. Out of habit, she rubbed a phantom pain from her stomach, a pain that still haunted her.
"Hi Gram, a lot has happened in the past weeks. I'm much better now, my 'illness' has been cured, but there is so much I still have to correct myself. Dad told me I could go to Gryffindor next year, but I need to finish where I am, even if no on thinks I belong there, I can't face him yet," she said to one grave.
The names were as familiar to her as her own, Alexander and Alycia Granger to one side, James and Lily Potter on the other. A smaller stone with the name Jason and Janet Potter had been a mystery until the truth was finally revealed.
"Forever in our dreams and in our hearts," she read from the smaller one. "You would have been almost as old as Rudy and Lucy. I wish I got to know you. There have been times I wished I had a big brother or sister I could talk to," she said.
"Instead, you were the big sister," a voice from the fence said.
She turned to see Jerry standing by the gate; the half smile on his face felt comforting and frightening to her at the same time.
"Jerry?" she asked hesitantly.
"If you'd rather be left alone, that's fine. I thought you might want some company," he said.
She nodded, and scooted to one side of the bench, leaving a place for him. He walked in and sat on the bench, leaving a respectable gap between them, symbolic of the emotional gap they now had.
"Flowers for you grandparents?" He asked cautiously.
She nodded silently.
"Arty is having a difficult time; she misses her mum," Jerry said, trying to start a conversation.
"Jerry?" she began hesitantly ignoring his comment.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry," she whispered, and wiped her cheek.
"For what? You have nothing to be sorry about," he said, and placed his hand in the gap between them.
"What happened to us, what happened to you, it was my fault," she managed without allowing her voice to break.
"Bugger that, your mum's double said we were attacked," he replied.
"I caused the attack, it was my fault. I can't fault you for hating me," she said softly, her eyes stared at the smallest of the gravestones.
"I don't hate you, Annie Potter. I still love you," he said with confidence.
"Why? Why do you love me? I'm not as pretty as other girls, if it wasn't for my parents being famous…" she said, her voice began to falter.
"If they were normal Muggles, I still would have found you," he replied, placing his hand on her knee, causing her to flinch.
"Please, don't…" she started to say but turned away from him without finishing her thoughts.
Undaunted, he held her shoulder, and pulled her back to face him.
"Annie, what do I have to do to convince you we belong together?"
"Leave me; promise you'll forget me," she said, her face now streaming with tears.
"That I won't do. No one knows you better then I do," he said holding her face in his hands and wiping her cheeks with his thumbs.
"I… can't…" she mumbled.
"You can't what? Face the reality that something horrible nearly happened? That you're afraid to get hurt?" he asked.
"I'm sorry for hurting you," she muttered.
He pointed a finger to her head, "The girl in here had nothing to do with what happened," he lowered his hand to her chest and pointed at her heart. "The woman wanting to escape from in there did nothing to hurt me. Deny that you feel anything and you deny being alive," he said firmly.
"How can you want to be with someone that…" she started to ask, but he held a finger to her lips.
"No, you were not in control; after that first time at school, when you left class for hospital on your birthday, Whitby was talking about what happened. Then after you ran off later that night, I realized something was off," he said.
"Pity? This was all for pity?" she hissed in anger.
"No, not pity, concern; I was worried about you. When I found you by the lake, I was afraid you would do something foolish. I had no idea what was really happening to you. A bit of research led me to believe a Legilimens was trying to control you or you had suffered a poorly cast Imperius," he said now holding her hand.
She blinked hard to clear her eyes; "You tried to…" she started.
"Yeah, I wanted to help. You were in a bad way. Nearly the entire school noticed, Arty wanted to help by having the party. I had suspicions what was wrong, but meeting that centaur in the forest made me think someone was trying to control you," he said.
She remained silent, but did not pull her hand away. "Jerry, I…" she began again.
"Shhhh, let's forget the past. We've recovered and that's all that's important," he cooed.
"I… tried to kill you that night," she muttered.
"I know," he said. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes for the first time in weeks, through the fog of grief and beyond her tears; he could still see that spark of love.
"How… what do you remember?" she asked hesitantly.
"Enough," he replied, and gently rubbed a scar on his shoulder. "Enough to never want that wand again; I managed to buy a new one that seems to suit me better," he said producing a new wand.
She shook her head in confusion.
"I remembered some when I woke in Hospital that morning, they kept you asleep. I feigned sleep while they talked. They discussed what was best for us like we are children," he said and tightened his hold on her hand. "I knew what almost happened, and I admit I was angry, at you."
"You knew?" she asked nervously.
"Yes, I did. That anger I felt never really left, even after they tried to clear my memory. I was angry, but unsure why. A few days later, I watched while they put you in some trance, and bits of that night came back. I thought about what you did, and I thought about all the other times you hurt people. I knew it wasn't you," he related while refusing to let her retreat.
"After that spell, after you came out, you seemed different. At one point there was a brilliant glow about you that seemed to reach out to me. I felt it touch me at some level, and my anger faded. The next day I found that other version of you, the one from the world we ended in. She was confused and scared but she told me everything that happened, and it cleared all my questions," he said.
"She… I…" she failed to find the words and let him continue.
"Annie, I loved you before any of this happened, and I still love you. I believe that helped us both survive. I know the dark force implanted in you was to blame for everything you did. I also know, I remember, you did try to stop at one point. That was the pure Annie trying to force through," he said. He no longer needed to keep a tight grip on her hands; she inched closer to him.
"I only remember bits, but there are things I have been told I did. I would never have imagined I could do any of those evil and horrible things … I had a talk with one of my mum's doubles before we left that world. She knew what happened, she's the one that found us before I… before I…" she stuttered and floundered trying to explain. Her chin quivered.
"I'm glad she stopped you, I would rather wait until we are both ready for that," he said softly, and leaned forward to kiss her. This was their first kiss in nearly two weeks; it was a simple, tender kiss.
"Jerry, there's no way I can forgive myself. I'll never be able to tell you how sorry I am," she said.
"You've already started. Your idea last week saved your brother and Arty, that really shows where your heart is," Jerry replied.
She remained content to let him hold her a while longer. "Thanks, Jerry, I do love you too. But I… we need some time to recover. The healer told me I had one injury that…"
"Time we have, just forget what the healer said, ok? Now, would you like some help placing those flowers where they belong?" he asked with a hug.
She nodded and smiled. He took the two flowers from her lap to place on the proper graves. She reached into her pocket, and removed another memento.
The quiet, tender moment shared between the two had been observed secretly by another. He watched and listened to the two teenagers revealed secrets and resolved an unspoken trauma. A mischievous smirk broke across his face as the moment he waited for had arrived. He stepped through the woods adjacent to the small family plot, and to the fence that encased the two teenagers.
Neither of the teens noticed him, until a polite cough announced his arrival.
"Good morning, I've been sent here to aid the Potters, could you direct me to their home?" he asked.
"Certainly, they live…" Jerry began but was quickly cut short.
"Man I inquire to your business with the Potters? They rarely take official callers at home," Annie asked.
"I'm afraid my business is an official Hogwarts matter regarding their daughter. Do you happen to know her?" he asked.
"Annie, your dad said to report anyone on the grounds," Jerry whispered to her.
"I'm Annie Potter. I was unaware there was any unresolved business with the school," Annie replied. She stood and carefully walked to greet the wizard, being careful to maintain her distance.
"Then you are the subject of my search. My name is Arthur Lailoken. I have been asked to fill the vacancy on the faculty left when Professor Malfoy met his unfortunate end. My purpose for seeking you out is to inquire if you wish to remain in the Slytherin House as a Prefect. With your parents' permission, of course," the wizard said, extending a hand to Annie.
"Prefect?" she asked suspiciously.
"Of course, your decision to return after the recovery from your illness is commendable. It was the deciding factor for Headmistress McGonagall to offer you this post," Lailoken replied, a lip curled slightly as he spoke.
Annie stepped back a couple steps, almost to Jerry's side. "And the Professor sent you, after she was notified of my current status?" she asked.
"Yes, of course. She wanted the offer made in person. I have been appointed Slytherin's Head of House and wished to meet you myself," He said.
"Annie, that's brilliant," Jerry said and put his hands on her shoulders to congratulate her.
"Jerry, could you go fetch your Uncle Ronald? He may be excited to hear I'll be in his house as Prefect," she nervously said to him.
"'Uncle Ronald?' You mean dad?" he asked correcting her.
"RUN, NOW," she commanded and pushed him back, but he held her arm sending the pair tumbling to the ground. Her free hand clutched her chest as they fell.
"Pity you seem to be more clever then your mother, she never saw through the guise herself," Lailoken said. His hand waved over the couple, without uttering a sound. The two teens remained motionless, with the exception of their heartbeat.
"Annie!" a voice called from the distance.
"It seems your parents were prepared for my arrival; shall we adjourn to a more fitting location?" Lailoken asked rhetorically, and with a snap of his fingers the three vanished a moment before Harry ran down the trail to the now vacant burial site.