A/N: Let's answer that pesky question of just whom is showing up for dinner shall we? As usual I own the
plot, and some of the characters. Thanks to Lady Starlight for her usual terrific work to moderate my insanity.
Chapter 3 An Unexpected Visitor.
**********************Godric's Hollow, Wales******************
Emilia and Xander rolled apart, diving for cover and looking around as the wards screamed their intruder alert into their joined consciousnesses. Emilia concentrated a beat, summoning their wands from her bedroom where they had both left them. They arrived with a crack, and she tossed him his. Get the kids to the house, she muttered, waving towards the lake where several of the younger kids, in particular Bill and Fleur's eight-year-old twin girls, were playing in the shallows.
Xander sprung from the rock, leaping to the shallows fifteen feet away in one bound and grabbing the twins up in his arms, and starting to push them towards the shore. A loud CRACK and a monochromatic swirl of light erupted ten feet away from Emilia, and a hooded figure of approximately Emilia's height and build, grew from nowhere.
The figure held a wand half raised in one hand. Emilia snapped hers up, the tip already glowing as the unknown witch spun, her right foot scything up and sending Emilia's wand tumbling into the weeds.
Emilia rolled backwards with the impact, came back to her knees, flung her right hand up, palm facing the intruder. A wave of pure force flung the witch backwards, tossing her twenty feet into the lake, flying over Xander's head to land with a huge splash. The last of the kids stopped at the edge of the lake as Emilia called her wand back to her hand in mid air, diving into the lake and coming up immediately shaking her head hard once to toss wet hair out of her eyes. She swam quickly to the shallows, and watched as the witch sputtered and stood, looking away from them.
Emilia and Xander spread out, approaching the intruder slowly from a wide arc. She didn't look back as Harry and Hermione arrived at the shore, followed immediately by Remus and Tonks. The rest of the adults were scattered about the house, most of them with wands in hand. Emilia glanced back at her mother; Hermione nodded and vanished.
Her and Harry appeared on the other side of the unknown witch, waist deep in the water, their wands held steady in a two handed grip. The witch started to spin to Hermione, and a precise blue bolt sent her wand spinning through the air. Xander caught it reflexively as it flew past his ear, and stuck it in the back of his shorts one-handed. "Freeze," Harry snapped, "you're surrounded." The figure froze, her hands open in front of her. Harry flicked the fingers of his support hand and the witch's robes vanished, leaving her in torn jeans and a ripped and stained t-shirt.
"Who are you?" Hermione growled, and the obviously young witch slowly looked up at her, odd, silvery-grey eyes peering at her from under a shaggy mop, that as a bit of late afternoon sun slipped through the trees, shone a dark red color. Hermione froze as her hand slowly started to lower, "Luna?"
An hour later, the Potters' living room was filled to overcrowding even with liberal use of Expansion Charms.
Couches, chairs, and any empty stretch of wall were being used to sit, stand, kneel or crouch somewhere in the room.
Hermione glanced up as her daughter came down in the company of the still unnamed newcomer, though Hermione and Harry
seemed oddly comfortable with their daughter in such close company with the person who had been at wandpoint with her
only hours before.
Of course, the fact that Xander was following the pair of them closely, his eyes constantly on the newcomer, might have helped ease their minds. Emilia waited as the girl came to stand in the middle of the room, and stopped, looking nervously around at the gathered family. Jane glanced towards Hermione then walked across the edge of the room, and handed Emilia a mug of tea, sweetened with honey. "Thanks, Grandmum," Emilia said with a small smile. Jane just smiled and kissed her cheek before crossing to sit down on a couch with Roger. He sat back, and rolled his eyes slightly as he glanced to the side, finding Anna sitting on the floor between her boyfriend's legs.
Emilia took a sip of her tea, the sugar and touch of caffeine giving her a small jolt. She let her head loll back slightly against Xander's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Her still damp hair darkened the fresh t-shirt he had pulled on, after changing out of the wet suit he had had on. Alright, Em? he whispered as he kissed the top of her head. She nodded, and squeezed his hand where it rested low on her belly, lightly tapping her stomach just above the top button of her jeans.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Fred asked as he looked at the girl standing almost defiantly in the center of the room. She looked much less the worse for wear, as she stood with her hair clean and sparkling slightly in the light from the candles spread around the room. Godric's Hollow had electricity and even a satellite connection, that often went off line, depending on the moods of the inhabitants, but the Potters were just as likely to use more traditional means of illumination. The young sixteen-or-so-year-old witch looked small in a pair of Emilia's jeans and an old sweatshirt, with her bare feet poking out under the worn hem of the jeans.
"Let's ask, shall we, Fred," Hermione asked calmly, and turned towards the girl. "Alright, who are you?"
The girl looked towards her wand, sitting on an end table next to Harry. She took a breath, "My name is Harriet Molly Weasley," a sudden, shocked silence fell like a curtain in the room, she looked at Harry and Hermione, "Mum and Dad will be along presently..."
A coffee cup shattering broke the silence as George's fingers went numb. Hermione ignored it as she stepped forward, "How do we know that you are telling the truth?"
The girl blushed slightly, "Mum said to remind you of the time that the two of you were at Grimmauld one night doing research and the pair of you started drinking...you, uhh," her eyes dropped to the floor, and her blush deepened, "were...comparing Dad and Uncle Harry's um..."
Mione? Harry whispered, amused, she just shook her head, sending her hair flying around her face.
You won, Hermione replied simply. She stepped forward and held out her arms, and every eye except Harry's widened as Hermione folded the new girl into her arms. "Welcome home."
"It's starting...Mum says that it's bleeding across the worlds...something is coming," Harriet whispered. "She's scared...says that it's more of a risk to stay away, now." The girl started to slump, "I'm tired, that took too much out of me," she whispered looking up at Hermione. Without another word, Harriet's eyes rolled up in her head and she passed out.
10:45pm
Emilia sat crossed-legged on the floor of her bedroom on a thick blue rug. A thin, sheathed sword rested across her legs as she sat with her eyes closed, her breathing slow. Hipper was stretched out by her right hand, providing the only movement in the room as she slowly stroked down his shimmering blue-black fur, fur exactly the same color as her own hair. A fact that she had been utterly enraptured with when her parents had presented him to her, the day she left for Hogwarts.
She languidly opened her eyes and looked up towards her bed, where Harriet slept, clutching a pillow to her chest. Emilia's Familiar looked up towards her, and she stroked his head, I'm fine, Hipper, she said, her bottom lip in her teeth. Her eyes cut to the right, as Crookshanks slipped in the slightly cracked door. He rubbed up against Emilia then stopped next to Hipper. Crookshanks seemed to talk to Hipper for an instant, before the dark Familiar looked up at his mistress. Go ahead, I'm fine. Hipper nodded and stood, rubbing against her once before following Crookshanks out into the house.
Emilia slowly drew the sword sitting on her lap, watching as light from a pair of candles and a pair of enchanted red and gold lava lamps set on the dresser, danced along the water pattern of the polished Damascus blade. She reached down to her side and picked up a soft square of black silk and started to slowly run it down the already immaculately clean blade. Emilia laid the naked blade back down across her legs, and traced the lines and folds of the cord wrapped handle with one finger. A triplet of oval stones, sapphire, emerald and ruby, formed a three-pointed starburst menuki between the crimson ray skin underlay and the black cord overwrap. A series of runes decorating the oval tsuba of the sword, between a small, rampant lion at the cutting edge, and a phoenix at the back of the blade, lit the same color as her eyes as she ran her finger over the stones on the handle.
The sword, a present for her fifteenth birthday, had been made by a wizard smith in a small costal town in Oregon. The wait for a sword by Malcolm Kincaid was usually on the order of five years, each was made one at a time, with meteoric iron in a blend that could defeat most any spell even, if rumors were true, the Kedavra. Each sword was further enchanted for speed and strength, along with various spells that could make it disappear in the sheath or shrink or grow as needed. The feather from a California Mountain Phoenix was set in the handle, providing a magical core, just like a wand. Kincaid had made two as a favor to Harry, insisting that he find someway of repaying the him for saving his own children after they had been caught in the middle when a running Death Eater had taken a school hostage after he was cornered trying to escape.
Both of the kids, Rain and Michael, were now in Hogwarts, going there instead of one of the six schools in the United States, because Malcolm had gone there before he emigrated to be with his wife in her homeland. Not unsurprisingly, both kids, Rain who was actually one of Emilia's roommates, and Michael, thirteen, had made Gryffindor without a quibble from the hat. Rain had also become a favorite sparring partner for Emilia; her own blade was one of her father's own creations as well.
Emilia leaned her head forward, granting access to her neck milliseconds before Xander sat down behind her without a sound and gently pressed his lips to the crook of her neck. A faint, happy sound slipped from her lips, as he spread his legs out, surrounding hers and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His fingers slipped under the hem of her t-shirt, and moved in small circles on her stomach. You alright, Em?
Yeah, she bent her head back, sighing quietly as her lips found his. She pulled away slowly, holding his bottom lip between hers for an instant longer before she let go totally. Why do you ask?
You're playing with your sword, Xander murmured, glancing around her room at Godric's Hollow. It was much like hers at Grimmauld, one wall was entirely covered in floor to ceiling bookshelves, while opposite that, a large bay window complete with a padded window seat, overlooked the Quidditch pitch and the lake on the grounds. The headboard of her bed, this one with linens and a comforter in dark shades of her house colors, sat against the wall to the right of the window. A larger version of Hipper's playground sat next to the bed. This one was complete with a small drawbridge that opened and closed automatically at his approach, along with a tall, turreted tower high enough for him to watch out the window comfortably and sit in the cold air wafting through the house from the Cooling Enchantments in the summer months.
This room was a touch more lived in, than her Grimmauld room. A pile of clothes was stacked near her closet, along with an overnight bag of Xander's that Tonks had brought along with her and just grinned as she tossed it at him on her arrival. Emilia's outfit from before she had gone swimming was hanging from the turret of Hipper's tower, tossed there during her and Xander's enthusiastic reunion, before the guests had started to arrive in force.
I'm just thinking, Emilia replied, picking the red-lacquered sheath for the sword from next to her left knee and sheathing it with unconscious practiced grace. She set the sword aside and stretched like a cat, before lying down on the rug with her head in his lap.
You think that they are alright, Harry? Hermione asked, looking over her shoulder at Harry as he rested his head on her shoulder as they watched the pair, as they stood at the partially open door. Hermione leaned back against him, as Xander started to slowly comb through Emilia's hair with his fingers, and she scooted up, pulling in tighter to him.
Harry nodded and kissed her shoulder, They'll get through it, he bit his lip, trying to hold in a sudden urge to laugh. Though I doubt that they are too happy with our new visitor sharing their room, as Sirius is already got two of the other boys with him, your folks have the guest room, and Remus and Tonks are on the couch. And that's not counting the ones that decided to stay in the secure quarters in the caverns. I rather expect that poor Em and Xander were thinking of taking up where they left off this afternoon.
Hermione smiled and stepped back, easing the door shut as she took Harry's hand and led him towards the master bedroom. Remind me to talk to Em about the wonderful world of Silencing Charms, Hermione said lightly and Harry's laughter filled the back of her head.
Xander yawned hugely and closed his eyes for a moment, and glanced up at the bed, I'm tired, Em. He flicked his wand, creating a large sleeping bag next to them with an attached pillow.
Emilia stood slowly and looked back at him, Where's mine? her eyebrow crooked as he opened his mouth, a stunned disbelief filling his eyes. He looked away, and started to conjure another, but stopped as a small hand grabbed his. Emilia knelt in front of him and pulled his eyes to hers with a hand on his chin. She kissed him quickly, I was kidding, Xan...she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, I think I'm going to take a shower before bed, he nodded and let go of her hand and paced over to his pack and started to dig in it. He glanced back to find Emilia looking back at him from the door to her bathroom with her hands on her hips, I didn't mean alone, Xander.
His eyes lit as he sprung the ten feet between the closet and the door, catching her up in his arms and sending her into a fit of giggles, which cut off abruptly as the door to the bathroom closed.
July 3, 2015
3:35 am
A soft moaning sound came from the direction of the bed, and Emilia slowly pried her eyes open. After a moment, not hearing another sound, she relaxed, falling into the arm that had slipped up under the Quidditch jersey she had worn to bed, bunching it up to about her ribcage. She closed her eyes again, smirking as Xander cupped her bare bum in his sleep. Emilia kissed his throat, the highest she could reach without moving unduly, and stated to drift back off, Xander's and her own body heat inside the sleeping bag was as good as any sleeping draught.
"Daddy!" the voice was only barely familiar, but at the same time, Emilia knew she had known it all her life as her eyes snapped open again. She turned her head enough to look towards the bed, to find her guest flopping and turning uncontrollably. Emilia slowly slid out from Xander's arms and the bag, pulled the jersey down to cover her, more or less, and moved over to the bed.
Emilia looked down at the girl, and bit her lip, as she slowly reached out and pushed sweaty, shaggy red hair from the girl's forehead. "Mummy..." Harriet murmured, rolling over in her sleep. The covers to the bed, the light sheet that Hermione had covered her with was long gone, kicked to the floor and the long t-shirt that Emilia had dressed her de facto cousin in last night, had ridden up to her hips, displaying her knickers. Emilia pulled Harriet's shirt down to cover her. "I can't do it, Mummy," Harriet whispered harshly.
Her eyes opened quickly as she sat up abruptly, and looked around the room with slightly glowing silvery-grey eyes. She seemed to actually see nothing, at least nothing in this room, "He comes again...once thought vanquished...the flight of death comes once more...from seed, not deed, the dark lady guides from the shadows...the darkness rises and the circle begins again..."
Harriet convulsed, almost off the bed, and Emilia dove, grabbing the other girl and pulling her to her breast, "MUM!" Emilia screamed, and held Harriet as the girl continued to shake. Xander blinked awake on the floor and looked up to find Emilia's eyes glowing and fighting to hold the trembling girl, both her body and her magic. He deflected Mr. Wings as the stuffed hippogriff shot past, and dove at Emilia's sword, flinging it under her bed and putting a sticking charm on it.
His pack, with his own toys, started to shake and he sealed it with a spell before jumping up and tossing his arms around Harriet's other side. Emilia's door slammed open and Hermione sprinted in, her hair wild and falling loose around her face and her own Quidditch jersey, an eighteen-year-out-of-date one, obviously hastily donned. Harry followed a moment after, his eyes glowed as he waved a hand around the room and it suddenly stilled, though Harriet was still convulsing. A nerve twitched in his cheek as he looked over to Hermione and nodded. Hermione pulled Xander away and cast a spell, sending Harriet's excess magic into the huge sump of the wards.
Harry relaxed at the same time Harriet's convulsions relaxed. "It's alright, Em, I have her," Hermione said to her daughter, and watched for an instant as Emilia stood, reluctantly, before moving to Xander and allowing him to grab her arm. Hermione muttered another spell and Harriet's breathing eased, "You and Xander head down and get some tea or something."
Emilia nodded and pulled on a pair of sleep pants under the long jersey she already had on, and grabbed Xander's hand, pulling him towards the door. She stopped next to Harry, "Dad," he looked to her, she bit her lip and Harry's eyes widened slightly at the trace of fear he saw there, "You need to see this...Legilimens..." Images raced across the forefront of his mind and Harry suddenly paled.
Across the room, Hermione let out a sharp breath, "Oh bugger..." her hands shook slightly as she looked at Harry. Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she held his eyes for a long moment. "Xander, get your parents up...we need to talk about this," he nodded, and she looked over to her daughter, "Em...send your Patronus to Dumbledore...we need him here, now."
Emilia nodded and left, not trusting herself to speak, pulling Xander along behind her. "Aunt...Hermione..." Harriet said tremulously, looking up from her arms. The glow had left them, leaving only her normal slightly disconcerting gaze. "I'm...sorry."
"It's alright, Honey," Hermione said, smiling down at the girl, who looked so much like the sister she had thought she had lost at Hogwarts for years, until a letter appeared in the claws of a tiny Familiar, one also never found after the chaos of Hogwarts. "Can you get dressed, and meet us downstairs, steal something of Em's, she won't care." Harriet nodded, and Hermione stood and left the room, closing the door behind her and Harry.
Hermione waited as she followed Harry to their bedroom and closed the door, before flinging herself across the room. Harry caught her automatically; his hand came up to cup the back of her head as she squeezed him hard enough for ribs to creak. Oh...God...Harry, not again...He kissed her hair, turning his head enough to touch. She swallowed, not holding in the tears she let dampen his shirt. We killed him...I know we did, all of the Horcruxes are gone... he couldn't have come back.
Harry walked them backwards to the bed. He sat down with his back against the headboard and pulled her into his lap, rocking her slightly as he fought to keep his own emotions in check. I... he stopped, at a loss as to what to say, Mione, I...
"It's alright, Harry," Hermione whispered, her hands shaking slightly as she turned in his lap enough to reach up and cup the back of his head, If they want to start again, her 'voice' growing slightly fierce as she heard the sound of Sirius talking in the hall to someone, Merlin help them...
Are you...
I'll be fine as long as you are here, Harry...she looked towards the door again, I suppose that we should really get a shower and get dressed; this could be a bit. Hermione pulled away and stood, waiting as he joined her. Harry kissed her cheek, before pushing past and heading in the direction of their bathroom. She watched the door for a long, silent moment, before the sound of running water came from beyond. Hermione turned to the closet, and flung a pair of jeans for her, and a shirt and a pair for Harry at the bed before she pulled off her jersey, tossed it on top of the jeans and joined Harry in the shower.
Half an hour later, the kitchen-now on its second or third incarnation following the second demolishing of the house during the battle to kill Voldemort seventeen years ago and the time eight years ago that Emilia and Sirius decided they could make Potions...the wards had kept the destruction only to the kitchen-was softly humming with conversation.
Tonks and Remus sat together, her lime green hair contrasting with his mostly grey, now, mop as she leaned her head on his shoulder, a cup of coffee sitting ignored in front of her. She only looked up with her eyes as Emilia and Xander slipped in from the porch, hand in hand and leaned against the wall. They waited a moment longer as Hermione and Harry arrived, accompanied by Harriet who looked around at the others shyly.
Harriet sat down at the table across from Tonks and timidly served herself from the carafe of coffee set there. Emilia kissed Xander on the cheek and walked over to her mother as Hermione flicked her wand at the stove, before sliding it into her hair for safe-keeping. A pot filled with milk and chocolate as Emilia watched. She leaned into Hermione, "Thanks, Mum," she whispered, motioning towards the stove.
Hermione shrugged and reached out, hugging her as she watched the beverage start to make itself; "Weren't expecting this for your second night together?"
Emilia just shook her head and watched as Sirius entered the room, looked around at the adults and near adults and sat down at the table next to Harriet as if daring them to make him move. Em snorted softly then glanced over at her father, still standing in the doorway. He was taking to Remus, and trying to get his hair to do something resembling behaving with his off hand. "You know that Dad could get his hair cut...it would make it more controllable..."
Hermione looked back at her daughter with a look of slight, feigned horror, "But he wouldn't be my Harry then..." Emilia rolled her eyes as Hermione leaned back against the counter, and looked over the top of her mug at Harry. Her eyes cut to the side, and a tiny, Marauder-worthy grin flitted across her lips, "Besides, it's part of his image now...You should see him, he has these charmed boots that I gave him, allows him to kick down any door...and then he stands there, in the doorway looking in...Harry has this spell that creates a tiny thunderstorm with lighting that backlights him, all you see is his shape, that shaggy hair and his glasses that catch the light...gets my knickers wet every time," Hermione added in a matter-of-fact tone, lifted her mug to her lips and took a drink to hide her grin.
"Mum," Emilia moaned helplessly as Hermione chuckled, fixed a second mug and walked over to Harry. He took it with a small smile and kissed her cheek in thanks before taking a sip. He motioned towards a chair, and sat, scooting the chair back a touch so Hermione could sit on his knee. Emilia rolled her eyes, and paced over to the kitchen counter, where Xander had found a seat and hopped up next to him, handing him a drink as she did.
"Albus," Harry greeted as Dumbledore arrived silently and nodded to him. The ancient wizard who looked to be in his mid-thirties these days, and was dressed as almost no one on the Wizarding world would ever believe in worn jeans and a flowery shirt, with his long, auburn hair tied back into a tail, paced over to the stove and served himself from the pot of hot chocolate there.
"Excellent as usual, Hermione, one hundred points to Gryffindor," he said with a bright smile, then crossed to the kitchen table and sat opposite Harry and Hermione. He looked slowly around the room, before his eyes settled on Harriet. Before anyone could speak, Dumbledore nodded and reached into the air, flicking his fingers and handing Harriet an envelope neatly labeled in green ink with: "Harriet Weasley, Kitchen Table, Godric's Hollow". "I have been waiting to give you that envelope for a very long time, Miss Weasley, I was starting to think that it might truly be destined for the 'undeliverable' box, I am glad that I was wrong."
"Th...Thank you, Sir," Harriet said nervously. She glanced over at Emilia, who smiled supportively and waved towards Dumbledore.
Dumbledore smiled at her and waved towards the letter, "The Sorting Hat informed me when the letter was being addressed that it did not need to see you...your house will be Gryffindor..." Emilia let out a soft gasp, and Harriet's eyes shook slightly, "You will need to take your OWLs, but I assume that you will do smashing on them, after all I do remember your mother's coursework. And after Miss Potter's OWL results, if you find that you need help with your revisions, I am sure that she can help you with any shortcomings." Dumbledore's smile broadened, and he looked over at Emilia sitting very close to Xander. She held his hand in her lap with hers, and Dumbledore's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly for a brief instant. Dumbledore looked to Hermione and Harry, "I will do what I can, however they will have to be even more discrete than you ever were. I have an idea, but it may take a bit of effort on all of our parts."
Dumbledore turned back to Harriet as Hermione nodded, and Emilia looked at them with a puzzled expression on her face. "Unfortunately, I hear that we have more unsettling business to attend to at this early hour." Dumbledore reached into a pocket of his shirt, and removed a doll-house sized Pensieve. With a tap of his finger, it grew to the size of a salad bowl. Faint runes glowed in random patterns and colors, as he said, "Emilia, if you would be so kind as to share your memory." Emilia's eyes widened as she realized that everyone there would see her memory in its entirety. She blushed slightly, but came forward to the table. "Do you know what to do?" Dumbledore asked kindly, as if sensing her discomfort. Emilia nodded and he motioned to the bowl.
Emilia's wand came into her hand from behind her back; she touched it to her temple and slowly drew out a long, silvery-blue strand. With an ambivalent look, she dropped the memory in the bowl and returned to her seat next to Xander. Dumbledore waited for her to sit, and touched the bowl with his own wand.
Slowly a tiny projection of Emilia's bedroom appeared floating several inches above the bowl. The rest of the room watched as Emilia fought herself awake, and ran to Harriet. The room went silent as a church as they heard, once more for Emilia and Xander, "He comes again...once thought vanquished...the flight of death comes once more...from seed, not deed, the dark lady guides from the shadows...the darkness rises and the circle begins again..." In the kitchen, Harriet whimpered slightly as she saw herself give the prophesy and then convulse, her magic out of control. Emilia slipped to her quickly, and knelt next to her, holding her attention until Dumbledore quickly canceled the projection.
"Em, why don't you and Xander take Harriet back to bed," Harry said into the sudden silence, "you too, Sirius." All of his kids, related by blood or not, gave him a slight glare. "I promise I'm not going to let anyone," he emphasized softly, looking directly at Dumbledore, "keep things from you that concern any of you, but you four are exhausted, Hermione and I will fill all four of you in, in the morning."
As if in unconscious agreement, Emilia, and a second later, Harriet yawned hugely. The latter wavering slightly in her chair as the backlash for the use of magic, the likes of which very few sixteen-year-old witches or wizards even contemplated, let alone actually summoned and used, came back to haunt her. Emilia sighed, and waved over Xander. With his help and the reluctant help of Sirius, who still did not want to leave, they pulled Harriet to her feet and left in a tired mass.
Harry watched as the door closed behind them, reestablishing the wards he had put up so as not to disturb the rest of the house. "Molly won't like it, Harry," Remus said softly, "so far she doesn't even know that Harriet exists, let alone is here, but when she does..."
"Doesn't matter," Hermione cut in, her eyes hardening, "Harry and I are Harriet's guardians, Ron and Luna sent along a letter with her that confirmed it. Molly can complain all she wants," she took a breath as her hand tightened on Harry's, "she isn't going to do the same shyte to Harriet, that she did with Harry, when she kept Sirius from telling him what he needed to know."
Dumbledore cleared his throat softly, "I agree..." Remus and Tonks both looked to him, disbelief on their faces. "The greatest error I made in the last...bit of unpleasantness was to not give Harry the information he should have, when he should have had it." Remus nodded slowly as Tonks looked between them, her dark eyes still slightly thunderstruck. Dumbledore took pity on her, "Nymphadora, I appreciate the sentiment, but I have proved over and over again, by my own hand, that I am not infallible. If I was..." he looked up towards the upper floors, and took a breath, "there would be fewer witches and without parents, and fewer parents, without children." He took a long drink of his beverage, though the level did not seem to be lower when he set it back on the table.
"However, at the moment, that point is only peripherally germane to the situation," he went on, in a voice that was carefully neutral, mostly thanks to hundreds of years of experience. Experience, that despite all of their powers and skills, the other four did not have. Ice-blue eyes glanced over to the side, finding Remus' knuckles whitening, as he gripped a bright red mug with a replica of an Auror's badge on it. Hermione had long ago warded all of her crockware, lest it explode or shatter at an importune moment. "I assume that you all have noticed the problem with the young Miss Weasley's prophesy?"
"There's no date," Hermione supplied, her voice soft. She leaned back against Harry, as he held her up.
Dumbledore nodded, "Indeed, with the others, there was a date, or at least reference to one, this one is rather open-ended." He took a sip of his drink and stood. He looked to each of them, his eyes the ones of one who had seen too much. "I will leave to make inquiries...and I will make efforts to verify the security of the school...There will not be another, mishap, if I can prevent it. If there is anything at all..."
Harry nodded and Dumbledore vanished without a sound. He looked down at his and Hermione's intertwined fingers where they rested on her belly, their rings touching and causing the runes to glow softly. "Last time," Harry said softly, his eyes still downcast, "the war tore the heart out of our year..." Hermione leaned her head back onto his neck. "Our kids won't run, they are too damn stubborn to do so, just like their parents."
*******************Godric's Hollow******************************
A lithe girl, of medium height, stood motionless in the center of a vast cavern. Soft, glowing orbs hovered near the
jagged ceiling, providing a soft cascade of light down into the chambers far below the Godric's Hollow house. A
large, firmly-padded, red mat covered the stone floor under her feet, which were bare under a pair of black sweatpants.
A light grey, long-sleeved t-shirt, with a logo of an American Quidditch team stretched across her chest. Hair, black
enough to seem blue in the light from the orb, was pulled back in a bushy tail that hung just past her shoulder
blades.
Fingers tightened around the hilt of a thin, lethal blade, as a half dozen, semi-solid, dark forms shimmered into being around her. Emilia took a breath as all six slowly drew weapons, consisting of wands, several swords, one with a pair of short axes and a sixth who cracked a shining whip composed of hundreds of tiny blades.
The two directly in front and behind her, one with a long, curved cutlass, the other, a tall burly phantom, with almost two feet on her, a huge claymore, moved as one, swinging at her head and waist and she MOVED. Time slowed as emerald eyes lit from within as she pirouetted to the side, swatting down the claymore with her blade, and continuing the spin to face the more dangerous of the two, the smaller, faster opponent. Emilia bent backwards at the waist, watching as the flat of the cutlass flicked through where her chest had been and bounded up, her blade flicking diagonally up then right. Her right heel clipped his ear, sending the "dying" simulacrum tumbling away.
She flipped backwards through the opening in the circle as the claymore flashed downward in a head-splitting stroke, tumbled backwards and rocketed back. She spun inside his reach, and snapped the sword to her right with her elbows tight to her body. A ghostly head tumbled away and she turned, batting away a turquoise spell into the head of the attacker with the axes. He dropped away, falling into a paroxysm.
Emilia flung her hand out, sending the simulated Death Eater flying, to crash against a wall. Her wand filled her hand and a red bolt flicked across, impacting him in the head. The remaining two started to circle her out of sword reach, and she took a breath. A CRACK sounded and the whip shot across, and wrapped around her sword. Emilia's wand fell to the floor as she fought for an instant, the force tugging at her sword. She glanced back and saw the last adversary raise his wand...
Emilia let go of her sword suddenly, flinging her hand at the whip-wielder. She flipped backwards, banishing her sword at the whip-wielder. The sword slid in to the hilt, as she landed lightly in front of the last one. Emilia reached for her sword, fifteen feet away. It flashed across the space, landed in her hand with a loud slap and she sliced left, shattering the enemy's wand a millisecond before the tip of her blade ripped open his chest.
Emilia took a breath, her eyes glowing more fiercely now. They faded slowly as she looked around the room. The specters shimmered and vanished, and a soft, airy voice cut across the sudden stillness. "Your response to the whip was interesting..."
Emilia started slightly at hearing Harriet's voice. She looked over to find the young redhead sitting on the stairs leading up to the house dressed much as she was in workout gear. Harriet wiggled her bare feet, and watched iridescent colored nails sparkle in the light from the lamps with an oddly pleased expression, before she blinked and looked over at Emilia. "Yeah," Emilia said slowly, watching as Harriet stood from the stairs and stalked towards her, "he's a bitch, Mum added him after some Death Eater they ran into in Belgium...he can tear you apart if you let him."
Harriet looked around the room, at the racked weapons on the wall, and at the open door that led to the Potions lab, before she stepped onto the mats and stopped several feet away. "Your mum said that you were down here...care for a duel?"
Emilia smirked slightly, "I do admit that I'm curious...Mum said that Aunt Luna was always pretty good."
Emilia made a motion to start to put away her sword, but stopped as Harriet motioned away with her left hand. She reached behind her and pulled loose a six-inch, black, metal rune-inscribed cylinder. She gave it a small, snapping shake, and with a flicker of inscribed runes, it grew, both ends extending until Harriet held an inch-thick six-foot long staff in front of her. "Like it, Mum made it for my last birthday," she snapped it into a blurring figure eight, and recovered with it held behind her back, "the Runes are there to discourage Dark Sneaglewurts from sleeping in your bed--that and they provide a semi-solid shield might stop a Unforgivable-not that I really want to test it. It has a core too, so I don't really need a wand."
Em laughed, "So what rules?"
"Nothing too disfiguring," Harriet replied, "that would be...regrettable."
"Sure would," Emilia agreed, she gestured in the air, and a sudden heaviness filled the air for an instant as protective wards established themselves. She dropped her sword into a low guard, the point trailing away from her. She rose up on her toes slightly...Harriet's staff snapped at her head, and was batted away by the sword. Em snapped a cut diagonally up and her eyes widened slightly as Harriet flipped up and back, landing in a roll and bounding up in one coordinated move and charging back.
Emilia batted away a strike at her side and tumbled forward flipping over Harriet and slashing downward as she landed. Harriet caught the blow on her staff and tossed Emilia back, only to have her staff nearly tore from her hand at a gesture. Harriet bounded back and snapped one end of the staff downward, and shot a stuttering series of Stunners at Em, only to watch them be deflected into the ceiling.
Harriet spun the staff in a blurred arc, sending a blue spell off into the shadows. She took a breath and flicked her staff to each side. A pair of workout machines twisted and changed, becoming tall, metallic stick figures that charged. Em ducked under one, swinging a weight like an axe, and spun, firing a Reductor to destroy the other as it came in from behind her. She spun and sliced upward, her blade glowing faintly and the first attacker came apart with a clatter.
Emilia spun at a noise, ducked inside Harriet's strike and knocked the staff away, spun low and swept the redhead's feet from under her. Emilia sword fell away to the ground as she dropped on the girl's legs, pinning them between hers as her punch snapped in and stopped an inch away from Harriet's nose. She panted for an instant, watching as Harriet looked up at her calmly. "This will be so much fun," Harriet said lightly and Emilia laughed, rolling off her to sit on the mat next to her. She reached up and pulled the tie holding her hair in a tail and shook it out, grimacing slightly as half of her face was covered in her hair.
"Very few of my other friends would think so," Emilia said almost contemplatively. "I should introduce you to Rain, she would."
"I'm your friend," Harriet said her eyes wide and Emilia just nodded. Harriet grinned and reached out, summoning her staff to her, and watched as Emilia did likewise with her weapon.
Em glanced over at the other girl sharing the mat with her, and slowly reached up to move sodden bangs from her eyes. She inspected her sword, then set it aside, watching as Harriet gave her staff an odd shake and it collapsed to a fist-sized cylinder. Harriet glanced down at the white t-shirt she had borrowed, and saw that it was soaked through with sweat from their duel. With a slight shrug, she peeled it off over her head, leaving her in a sports bra and training pants, and dropped the shirt to the mat with a soft plop.
Em shrugged and followed her example, leaving her in the exact same outfit, only logical as Harriet had no clothes of her own with her. "We've got to get you some new clothes, Harriet, not that I mind sharing," Emilia grinned, "I've always wanted a sister..."
"Since you don't mind sharing...how about Xander? He's a hottie," Harriet asked with a small grin.
Emilia took a small breath and looked over at her, "Harriet, you aren't..."
"A lesbian..." she supplied, her voice slightly dreamy, "no, but then I am a virgin still so I do not really know," she replied matter-of-factly and flopped onto her back, and looked up at the stone ceiling of the caves under Godric's Hollow. "I expect I will find out this year at Hogwarts, it should be much nicer than the other one.... But if I am, I will be sure to let you know, either way..."
"Alllrighhttt," Emilia said softly. She took a breath and lay back on the mats next to Harriet. A soft drip of water cut through the silence of the cavern, no one else was down here using the workout facilities, Potions labs or armory. "Harriet..."
"Yeah?"
"I know this sounds weird since we sorta just met..." Emilia said slowly and Harriet turned her head to meet her gaze, "but as soon as Dad uncovered you from that robe...I knew you, like I had known you all my life. I remember when I was younger, I used to have this dream, where...I used to play with someone, we played tricks on Sirius and talked and stuff...and that person, looked just like you, only my age at the time." Tentatively, Emilia stretched out a hand, relaxing as Harriet took it instantly.
Harriet took a breath as a flicker of light, from one of the glowing Illumination Orbs set about the cavern, danced in her eye, "It...probably was me...I dreamed of you, and here, of Hogwarts where I could actually go to school..." her soft voice faded away as she looked away for a moment. She took a breath, "It's not like here, there...or rather it is, but..."
"What happened?" Emilia asked rolling up on her side to face her. She bit her lip, and squeezed the hand that was in hers, "what happened, there...and why didn't you come back earlier, why haven't your parents followed-"
Harriet shrugged, "I was born there, so I don't know all that much about this reality-but as soon as I arrived, I knew I this was were I was supposed to be. Mum says I was conceived here...or at Grimmauld on their wedding night rather, so I guess that would account for it."
"Why do you know that?" Emilia asked and Harriet just shrugged. Behind them, Harry came halfway down the stairs, a towel around his neck and in workout gear; he stopped at the sight of them, and reversed his course, deciding to go for a run outside instead.
"I just...do," Harriet replied, she let go of Emilia's hand and sat up, flowing into a cross-legged posture. She leaned forward slightly as Emilia sat up as well, and reached back letting her hair loose from the short tail it was in. "I am going to let my hair grow out," she mused, "I don't care that Snarkoffs might like long red hair too much..." Em did not say a word as Harriet stretched to the side and grabbed a plastic water bottle she had dropped there earlier. She took a drink, "It's different there...my parents there...I mean the people who would have been my parents there, they died with yours, the ones that would have been your parents there that is. They found the Horcruxes earlier, before they did here...you understand, Mum has a great deal of time to figure out what went wrong there...Your parents, they decided to end it, before they were really ready, and Dumbledore never came back..."
Harriet took another drink, swallowed, "Mum thinks it's because of your mother's parents dying there...During the attack when your parents saved them here, there, that Harry and Hermione were at the Burrow responding to that attack. Snape's party was delayed getting there by a few minutes, just long enough for your parents to get involved at the Burrow, by the time they found out, it was too late...Your mum, there that is, she shut down for almost a month, wouldn't let anyone in except your dad, then when she came out, they found Snape...tore him apart, I guess from what Ginny says. Here, from what Mum says, our side alternated between the defensive and offensive, giving and taking, there--" Harriet closed her eyes for an instant, remembering walking through a shattered town next to the half-destroyed ruins of the castle, "Your parents went on the offensive, Ginny doesn't talk about it much, but they went almost as Dark as Tom to end it."
"Ginny's there?"
Harriet nodded, "She and Draco were the ones that found my parents, when they came across...broken and bleeding," she swallowed, "Dad almost bought it at least twice before they were stabilized, even then...he lost an eye doing so. Mum was as bad, Poppy said she almost died on the table at least once, they were lucky that most of what remained of St. Mungo's supplies had just been relocated to there as it was more defensible."
Em bit her lip, considering, "So your dad only has one eye...that would suck, I couldn't imagine Dad like that."
Harriet shrugged, "Mum had a couple of the Osiris Eyes in her kit, since they were already developed from the prosthesis, just modified a touch, they just took off the Transmitting Spell, and used that-I'm used to it, it's just Dad." Emilia took a drink of her own water and held out her hand, catching the sheath to her sword and sheathing it, before nodding understandingly. "The rest...well the war stalemated, really. Our parents, there, killed Tom, but died doing it...The Ministry fell when the Death Eater they had elected to replace Scrimgeour was assassinated by Mad-Eye Moody, and now both sides raid each other constantly. Those who can have left Britain as the fighting has spilled over to the Muggle side, and the rest hide. Hogwarts is abandoned, they haven't had classes there in fifteen years really, I learned from Mum and Dad and a few others."
"But why didn't you come back then? You are here now," Emilia looked at her, her eyes opening slightly.
"Couldn't..." Harriet flowed to her feet, and paced over to the side of the room. "I came as soon as I could, really. Mum had been back once to visit for a few minutes while the crack remained. Turns out that it takes a great deal of power, more than either of my parents could summon, normally, to open a rift, to the right place mind you. The only way that they could do it at all, was that," she paused and looked down at her feet, shuffling slightly. "When I was a kid, the other kids there, Draco and Ginny's, some others always used to make fun of me because I used to see things that they didn't, just like Mum. They used to call me...names, say I was insane, loony..." She looked up pleadingly, "They were right, I guess, in a way. I tried so hard to prove I was as good as them when I was younger, trained harder, read all the books that I could get a hold of, but they still kept on...but the fact was I still saw things, places. The fabric of reality is thin around me and Mum, it's what let me cast the spell to bring me...home, and it's what will let Mum bring her and Dad over, later, as soon as she gathers enough power."
"If it's just...raw power that you need, Mum or Dad would provide it in a heartbeat, surely both of them," Emilia trailed off as Harriet shook her head forcefully.
"They would, yes, but Mum won't let them, just in case something goes wrong. I tried to stay until we all could come but they forced me to come over," Harriet wiped at an eye, and took a quick breath as she closed her eyes. Emilia kicked to her feet and moved over quickly, pulling the girl's head to her shoulder. She felt hot tears falling to her shoulder for a minute, before Harriet pulled away. "Thanks, Em," she said in a soft choked voice. "They said, that if for some reason they couldn't get back, then I would be with your parents...seemed to think that they would take me in or something," she added with a small, rueful smile.
"They might," Emilia allowed with a smile, reaching out and hugging the other girl, "But I'm wondering just where you are going to sleep." She looked around the cavern, "I suppose we could make Sirius sleep down here, he is a boy." Harriet's eyes flashed slightly, and she looked away for a heartbeat, focusing on something or sometime else. "Alright there, Harriet?"
"Em," Harriet took a breath, "you know you said we need to go shopping for some clothes for school...could you help me?" she asked nervously, "I...I know that I'm not much to look at..."
Emilia felt her jaw drop slightly. She took a step back and slowly panned up and down her friend's body. "You are giving me the mickey, right?" Harriet shook her head quickly, and Emilia's heart took a misstep at the look of pain in her almost-sister's eyes. "Girl...I would be worried about Xander around you if I didn't know better. The boys will be fighting to carry your books around."
"They never did back there," Harriet said in a small, small voice.
"They were stupid," a male, adolescent voice said softly from behind them, almost as if he had not realized he had said it. Sirius stood at the base of the stairs, his glasses in one hand as he pushed longish black bangs away from an unblemished forehead. He scuffed the toe of his trainers against the stone floor of the cavern, and slid his glasses back on, before burying his hands deep in the pockets of the black track pants he had on and hunching his shoulders slightly.
"Sirius Ronald Potter," Emilia snapped, "just how long were you there?" She bit her lip slightly as her brother, who truth be told she was very close to, flinched and dropped his eyes. Neither of the Potters noticed as Harriet looked at him, her eyes opening slightly.
"I just came down the stairs, Em, I needed to use the gym too...I'm sorry, alright," he looked at Harriet, ignoring for a second his sister, as manners won through. "Pardon me, Harriet, it was not my place to say anything." He shrugged slightly and turned on his heel and started back up the stairs.
Emilia glanced over as to watch Harriet as the redhead's eyes tracked Sirius the entire way up the stairs. "It's alright, Harriet, I'll apologize later. He shouldn't have been listening in."
"I didn't mind," Harriet said absently, still looking up towards where Sirius had vanished into the main part of the house. "He...won't say anything...I know it." Without realizing it, her hands tightened around the water bottle that was still in them, "Emilia...is he..."
Emilia's mouth opened in a silent "O" of comprehension. "Are you sure...That's just Sirius..."
"Please, can we, I," she let her eyes drop. "Nevermind," she said in one word. "I'm sure he's out of my league..." she muttered darkly, and turned to pick up her discarded shirt from the floor.
Emilia sighed, There goes Mum's delusion of Sirius being sweet and innocent, "Harriet...If you want my brother," she chuckled slightly, her head shaking ruefully, "Merlin help me, I'll help you get him."
Harriet's eyes grew huge as she spun on her heel and flung herself at Emilia, crushing the slightly younger girl in a bone-breaking hug, "Thank you..."
"We'll see how much you want to thank me, later when you really get to know him."
Hermione frowned slightly as she slipped back upstairs, invisibly, having not wanted to disturb the girls. She leaned against the wall at the top of the stairs and closed her eyes, her body fading back into visibility as she remembered an unexpected visitor on a happy Saturday afternoon...
***********************Diagon Alley***************************
Several years prior...
Her head was down as a lithe, brunette young woman, with striking, silvery-grey eyes sat down at their table. Emilia glanced up at her, and smiled, before returning to her ice cream. "Hi, sis," Hermione greeted as she took a sip of her coffee and turned to glance in the newcomer's direction.
"Hello, sis," the newcomer replied, reaching across the table to grab Hermione's hand in her own. She bent across the table and kissed her on the cheek, "I've missed you so much."
"We had no choice...by the time we knew..."
"We don't blame you, Hermione," she replied, smiling slightly, "even I didn't forsee it, the castle flung us...away, and we didn't know ourselves for years how to get back..."
"What are you going to do, how long can you stay?"
She shrugged, "I don't know, we want to come home soo much, he almost can't stand it, but he's so much more...rooted. And even if he could, it's not yet time, polyjuice and other things can only be used so much," she reached up and pulled on her long thick, chestnut braid and pulled it over her left shoulder. "Hair color is nothing...but I was never as famous as you three."
"What are you going to do in three years?" Hermione looked around the area, her eyes flickered and a subtle defensive ward appeared around them. Emilia perked up, having felt the ward on her expanded senses; then went back to her ice cream, even though Hermione knew quite well that she was paying attention.
"I don't know," the woman admitted, "We've already had to reinforce the Cloaking Charms around Harriet's magic several times...where we are, she would be such a target..."
"You won't be able to, then. Once she starts to hit her magical puberty, if you keep cloaking it, you might stunt it. She has to learn to hide it herself, and I doubt she will be able to do that for years. Harry and I couldn't do it until we were like sixteen, seventeen, and we had the added pressure of a Dark Lord after us."
"We might again, Hermione, there is a darkness rising, one like I've only felt once before."
Hermione looked up as a pack of eleven or twelve year olds slipped past, giggling as they looked at the latest issue of Witch Weekly. Harry's picture was blinking from the cover, as Hermione looked to the woman, "He's dead, I saw him die, it damn near killed Harry and I."
"It's not Tom...I don't think, the taste is wrong, close, but wrong..." she stood and walked around the table, giving Emilia a hug, which the small girl returned forcibly.
"When are you coming to stay, Auntie?" Emilia asked softly.
"I don't know, Em," she admitted and kissed the girl on the forehead, "I love you though."
"I know," Emilia replied, and turned back to her ice cream.
Luna turned back to Hermione and kissed her softly on the lips, "Give that to Harry for me, I love you, sis."
"You two, Loony," Hermione whispered and watched as her once thought lost sister in everything that mattered took a step back and vanished with barely a sound.
A/N: That certainly changed everything, didn't it? Next chapter, a bit of shopping. That's always fun
and peaceful right? Baring some random catastrophe, like word crashing again randomly like it just did, you should have
a chapter or Without Supervision as well so go check that out. Also you a few of you were looking for info on the kids,
the bios of the first 4 are up at my LJ, here: http://bladeandwand.livejournal.com/6898.html