Harry Potter: Beyond the Looking Glass
Rating NC:17
The Dark Lord is destroyed, but the cost was beyond measure. Harry and Hermione survived, but their hearts were shattered in the process. Now years later, they have recovered to an extent, and gone on. The war is over, but a new threat is arising, one that could destroy all they have accomplished in the interim. What you know to be fact, might just be illusion, and illusion, fact. A sequel to Harry Potter and the Circle's End, http://fanfiction.portkey.org/story/4941 so go read that first...along with all the one shots and stuff that are related to it.
A/N: Of course I wasn't going to leave that universe hanging folks. As usual I only own the plot...and all the characters that Rowling hasn't invented, and there are a lot of them in this one. As Circle was, this book is also, unabashedly NC17, there will be sex, a lot, violence, a lot, and everyone will curse. Ok, not everyone, the Familiars don't usually. Though that Crookshanks... Lady Starlight has once again agreed to slog through the morass of my writing to provide you all with a moderately readable experience, so thanks to her for her terrific beta reading.
Prologue: A Bit Later...
******************Diagon Alley, London, England**********************
June 15, 2007
3:20 pm
"Mum," a small girl with wild, curly, almost bushy, jet-black hair looked up from a large chocolate, vanilla and strawberry sundae, "when is Dad getting here, I want to go look at Flourish and Blotts, they surely have that book on el...elementary wand theory, that I was wanting with my allowance..."
Hermione shrugged, and looked up and down the once-again busy street, watching as hundreds of wizards and witches went about their business, happy and free, with not a care in the world, except for how big a sale that Weasley's Wizarding World, a large, "superstore" that they had gotten the idea for after a business trip to the Colonies was having. "He should be along presently, honey, he had to get your brother at Quidditch practice..."
"Honestly, Mum, it would make it much easier if you would just let him play on the same team as me, just because he is a year younger..." Emilia frowned as she swirled her spoon in her ice cream. "It should really be about ability, not age, Mum."
Hermione nodded, "Yes, Em, it should be, but that's not how the league is structured."
Emilia sighed, and took a contemplative bite of her ice cream. Hermione bit her lip, looking away slightly to disguise the humor in her eyes as she looked at an eight-year-old reflection of herself, albeit one that already knew she was a witch, already knew she was smarter and more powerful than the rest of her agegroup, and thankfully only treated that as another fact. "Mum?" Emilia asked as she looked up at her mother, sweeping jet-black curls from in front of emerald eyes impatiently.
"Yes?"
"Can I have a wand, please?" Emilia's eyes widened, an identical, soft pleading look to that her father still occasionally used to his advantage.
Damn, Emilia, that's not fair. Emilia gave her a look, and Hermione was glad that her children could not, quite, read her mind, she hoped. "If I could, honey, I would have," Emilia opened her mouth to object, and Hermione shook her head, "you still have to wait until you are eleven, I know it's not fair."
Emilia frowned and sighed, and started eating her ice cream grumpily. "What's wrong, Em?" Hermione asked, looking over from a dish of double chocolate. She watched as her daughter, who had been known to eat two sundaes if her father was the one taking her out, pushed around her food, listlessly.
"She didn't come last night, Mum," Emilia whispered.
"Who, Poppet?" Hermione asked with just a touch of concern.
"My friend, Mum, she plays with me in my dreams, most every night. But she wasn't there last night," Emilia looked down the street as several wizards and witches moved by in a tight group.
"Em," Hermione asked carefully, "what does this girl look like?"
Emilia looked at her oddly as if she was asking her to describe her brother, Sirius, she shrugged slightly, "Like me, Mum, she has Aunt Ginny's hair, though."
"Hey, Poppet," a happy baritone said from behind her.
"DADDY!" Emilia cried and jumped up out of her chair, hugging Harry's waist. Hermione looked at Harry, and crooked an eyebrow. He just pointed over his shoulder at the counter, she leaned around him and saw Florean handing her son a sundae at least as big as his older sisters. She watched as her seven-year-old son carefully wound his way through the tables and set his sundae down on the table. He hopped up on a chair and started eating, almost before Hermione could cast the charm to keep his youth Quidditch uniform clean.
"Long day, Mione?" Harry asked, sitting down next to her, and accepting a bite of her ice cream.
"Nah...but we are going to Flourish and Blotts as soon as the kids are done," Hermione grinned at Harry's exasperated expression and kissed his cheek as Emilia cheered.
I know that was short, but it really was a prologue, look for a full-length chapter tomorrow for Christmas, and
yes, we will very much so earn the rating with that one...and we will meet all new characters...well not new, you have
seen them before, just not here. Have a good Christmas Eve, and I hope Santa finds all of you with bags full of
presents.