Author's Note: Hi all! This is actually a story I'm doing for the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where you need to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. I have not forgotten about my other story but I really wanted to try this out. So bear with me as I attempt to meet my word count and hopefully have a great story by the end of the month. Wish me luck, please!

Harry Potter and Eternity of the Heart

Chapter One: Magic in America

Ridgefield Psychiatric Ward

Ridgefield, New York, United States of America

June, 1995

She had walked the world for close to four hundred years and there were still places that caused a shiver to run down her spine. Ridgefield Psychiatric Ward was definitely on the top of the list. The stinging scent of bleach and antiseptic burned her nose and she tried to not to wrinkle it in disgust. The buzzing of the gates and the wary looks of guards only caused to remind her of Azkaban. And listening to the shrieks, manically laughter and hard look of the guards almost made her wish for Dementor's. At least she had the chance of using a patronus to protect herself. Come to think of it, she would at least be able to use magic to defend herself without having to obliviate a whole psych ward.

Finally the door she was looking for came into view, not that it was better than the rest of the place but at least she was with one of her own on the other side. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her wire rim glasses up her nose and opened the door. The room was white, same as everything else in the building. There was a single bed in the back of the room and a small bathroom in the corner across from the bed. The occupant was sitting on the side of the bed, head bent and rocking back and forth slightly.

She sat in the only chair in the room and addressed the raven haired girl. "Good morning, Zephyr. How are you doing today?"

The girl raised her onyx eyes and peered at her between curtains of black hair with unhidden loathing.

"Do you remember me, Zephyr?"

The girl shifted. "You're the vampire."

"Close enough. Did you draw a picture for me like I asked?"

Zephyr reached under her mattress and tossed the woman a stack of papers. The woman, who was a fair as Zephyr was dark, picked up the sheets of paper with a calm air. When they were gathered and neatly stacked, she slipped them into her leather briefcase.

"Lorien."

The woman sat up straighter in the chair. "Yes, Zephyr?"

The dark eyes met the gray ones with such intensity but Lorien held the stare. Finally, Zephyr spoke. "You're the vampire."

Lorien tucked a long strand of her white hair behind her ear. "Anything else?"

Zephyr fixed her with her dark eyes again. "He's back."

"Who is?"

Zephyr rolled her eyes. "You Know Who."

"No, I'm sorry, I don't."

"You Know Who, He Who Must Not Be Named," She lowered her voice. "Voldemort."

Lorien crossed her legs in an effort to hide her uncomfortable feeling of where the conversation was going. "What do you mean 'he's back?'"

"In his body. Free movement." Zephyr stood up and stretched out her willowy arms. "No longer reliant on the rat and snake."

Lorien's eyebrow's lifted. "A rat and snake? They're enemies, Zephyr. How could they work together to help him?"

"They won't for long. Enemies are enemies." She stopped moving and became stone still. "Vampire and human."

"I'm not your enemy, Zephyr. I'm here to help you."

She gave Lorien a disbelieving look before sitting down on her bed, facing the wall. Lorien sat there in hope that Zephyr would start talking again. After five minutes, Zephyr hadn't moved and Lorien realized that the girl was done talking. Girl…Zephyr was going on twenty-one now. She was getting to be far from a girl and Lorien realized she couldn't keep her locked up like this. She could always show up at Hogwarts, Zephyr in tow, and drop her on her father's doorstep. She hid a smile, imagining the look on his face when she would tell him he had a daughter, let alone a mentally unstable one.

"Last chance to say anything, Zephyr."

She kept her back towards Lorien without any hint of hearing her. Lorien sighed and picked up her briefcase. "Good bye, Zephyr." Still, no response so Lorien stood up and left the room. She briefly nodded to the guards on her way out before turning in her visitor's badge and heading out the front door. She took a deep breath of the fresh air, put her sunglasses on and went to her car. The sun prickled her skin despite the short walk to the BMW.

Lorien would have to contact Dumbledore when she got home. Most of the time Zephyr spoke nonsense but on occasion she was startling clear in her speech. If Voldemort had returned to a corporeal body then it would spell a horrible disaster for the Wizarding world. Zephyr had been right in her assessment that Lorien was a vampire. She hoped that Zephyr had been wrong about Voldemort's return but something told her in her gut that that was not the case.


Alena Swanson had always had a feeling in the back of her mind that she was forgetting something. She didn't know when the feeling started but there was always something in the back of her mind that kept telling her there was something missing. But just like any other day, she pushed the feeling away and started her day. She had just finished all her classes for her abnormal psychology degree and was to start her internship at Ridgefield that day.

She wore her best suit and spiked her short black hair. She had heard some disturbing things about Ridgefield but nothing was going to spoil her excitement. She checked in with the nurse on duty, who had her name tag ready for her. She met her mentor, a steel gray headed man named Dr. Solomon. He showed her to the locker rooms, where she would need to change into scrubs. So much for wearing her best suit. Once she was dressed in her scrubs, name tag in place, Dr. Solomon handed her a clip board and started down a hallway.

"Mrs. Johnson is schizophrenic. If she appears calm, then it's a good day. If she restless and agitated, don't go in the room unless you have at least two guards with you."

Alena made a note off to the side of Mrs. Johnson's name. They continued down the hallway, Dr. Solomon telling her briefly about each patient on the floor and how to approach them. She noticed that he skipped over one door, number 125.

"Dr. Solomon?"

"Yes?"

"What about this patient?" She looked down on her chart. "Zephyr Fawkes."

Solomon took a deep breath. "Ms. Fawkes has her own nurse and worker that deal with her. I would advise you to leave her alone at all cost. For the most part, she has been harmless but when she goes into a rage, well, let me just say the last person who went in there when she was agitated spent three weeks in the local hospital. Four days of that stay was in the ICU."

Alena quickly drew a line across Zephyr's name before giving the door one last wary glance and then continuing on with her tour.


Lorien had sent word to the American Witches and Wizards Association that she needed to speak with Albus Dumbledore immediately. If they had any question as to why she wished to speak with him rather than the British Minister of Magic, they kept it to themselves. The AWAWA was located in the heart of the New York City, unbeknownst to the many muggles who lived and worked around them. To their eye, it was a burnt out building that the city had seemed to forgotten at the corner of 11th and Vine. But to the magical eye, it one of the most elegant constructions in all of the magical places, save perhaps to Hogwarts. By the time she had walked the marble halls to the top most floor and opened the door into her office, Dumbledore was already waiting for her. This did not bode well at all.

"I would have come to Hogwarts for you, Albus. I know you just finished another Tri-Wizard Tournament and no doubt you're very busy with guests."

He looked weary and burdened as he sat down in the plush chair in front of her desk. "I'm afraid I am far more busy with just guests."

Lorien took out the papers that Zephyr had thrown at her and started shuffling through them to hide the shakiness in her hands. "Is it true then? He's returned?"

All sense of tiredness seemed to leave the wizened man before her. "How did you find out?"

She merely placed the pages on her mahogany desk. Each page had just a portion of the larger picture and when she arranged them properly, a disturbing sketch of a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth stared up at them.

Dumbledore touched the edge of the page closest to him. "The Dark Mark. Zephyr?"

Lorien nodded. "She told me today at our meeting that he's returned. She even said his name. She mentioned a rat and snake. She said that he was no longer reliant on them. Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

Dumbledore nodded his head slowly. "Yes, I'm afraid I do but what scares me even more is that she knows. Peter Pettigrew was an animangus."

"Pettigrew?" Lorien shuffled through her mind to call up a face with the name. "Isn't he the one that betrayed James and Lily?"

"The one. His animangus form is a rat. From reports that I've had, it appears he's the one that has been playing nursemaid to the feeble Voldemort. The snake is his favored pet called Nagini. How do you think she came by this information?"

"Very easily most likely. Distance has no effect on her use of legilimency. Add that to the fact that she has no filter or control of who's thoughts she invades, she could have picked up on this at anytime. How many other people know about his return?"

Dumbledore sat back in the chair with a heavy sigh. "Many people know. Few believe. We were unaware that someone had infiltrated the staff at Hogwarts, something that I fully blame myself for. He was the one that sent Harry and another student directly to Voldemort. Harry himself witnessed the entire rebirth ceremony."

"And what of the other student?"

"He was killed immediately."

"I'm sorry, Albus."

"If I had only paid more attention…"

Lorien gave him a weak smile. "The muggles have a saying that goes 'Hindsight is always 20/20.' I have four hundred years of hindsight to ruffle through. I don't even want to think of the mistakes that could have been adverted if I had paid more attention. Zephyr," Lorien started to gather up the papers again, "would be one of them."

"We thought Fiona could help him, dissuade him from making a terrible decision."

"And all we got out of it was one severely disturbed child we had to put into hiding. How is Fiona doing?"

"Still in hiding. He thinks she's dead and I can't help but wonder if he should know. I'm growing weary of keeping secrets."

"Does he truly regret his decision?"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "I'm certain of it."

"Let me think about this," Lorien said at length. "Perhaps it would be prudent to tell him but I'm not certain if telling him would be best for now. I'm sure Hogwarts needs you, Harry will need you as well. If anything develops here, I'll be sure to contact you."

"Thank you, Lorien. I may contact you soon to gain some advice."

"Are you planning on reforming the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I'm afraid that is a definite possibility."

"Well, you know where I stand. Just give me the word and I'll start contacting some of my people, feel them out as to where their loyalties lie."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps you should start now."

Lorien nodded. "Very well. I'll contact Boris this evening."


Zephyr paced her small room like a caged tiger stalking in front of the metal bars at the zoo. So many thoughts were assaulting her at the moment. So many doubts of his return and yet she had seen into the minds of his most faithful and most deceived. Voldemort had returned. And she needed to be there…England….London…12 Grimmauld Place…that was where she needed to go. That was where the one who Voldemort feared was going to set up his headquarters.

She heard someone coming down the hall and latched onto their mental waves. It was a woman, she was nervous and was trying to process a lot of information. There was something odd in her mind, as if a barrier had been placed there. Interesting. Her name was Alena and she was very kind hearted. Perfect. Zephyr dug her fingernails into her arm and scratched herself so hard she drew blood. She went to the door and began beating on it as hard as she could, purposefully smearing some of the blood on the small window that looked into her room.

"Help me!" Zephyr did her best to sound panicked. "I've hurt myself! Help me!"

Alena's mind was startled and then after she heard the comment of being hurt became increasingly worried. She called for someone to come but the guards were half asleep by now and most of the doctors in the facility had gone home for the night.

"Please!" Zephyr begged and sure enough the lock on the door clicked. Zephyr ran to the middle of the room. Lorien, smart, old Lorien had forgotten to take back the pencil she had given her when she asked for those drawings. Zephyr held it close to her, hiding it from the timid woman who was inching her way into the room.

"Zephyr, that's your name right, honey? Are you okay?"

But Zephyr could hear her thoughts and all she was thinking was Please, dear God, don't let her hurt me. Well, maybe she wouldn't hurt her. It would be much easier to get out of the place if she had a hostage. Yes, that would be the way to go. Unless…Zephyr turned her head, looking over her shoulder and fixed the young intern with a steady glare. The woman had violet eyes…Zephyr had never seen that before. She invaded the woman's mind and seized control very quickly.

Stand up.

Alena obeyed and stood to her feet, her hands had fallen limply at her sides. She was Zephyr's puppet for as long as she needed her to be.

We're going to go outside now and if anyone asks you, I was feeling ill and you thought fresh air would do me good. You are to say that I am very docile and we have become friends and have no need of any assistance.

"Let's go outside," Alena said in a semi-flat voice. "It would do you good."

Zephyr smiled a the ease she had gained control over Alena despite the strange barrier she felt earlier. She grabbed some extra clothes and threw them into a well worn canvas bag before following the calm Alena down the hallway of the ward. Zephyr knew that Lorien has set up anti-apparating charms around the entire facility and she wasn't sure where the boundary was.

"Alena, do you have a car?"

"Yes."

"Let's go for a ride, shall we?"

"If that's what you want."

Zephyr held her breath as they passed through lobby of the ward. The night guard on duty stopped them but Alena parroted back exactly what Zephyr had told her to say. The guard look suspicious and she was ready to pounce on his brain too if need be. But he allowed them to pass but she could see he was going to call Lorien to see if this was permissible. It wouldn't matter really. They would be long gone before Lorien even got the call.

Alena led her to a small two door car. Zephyr slid into the passenger side, allowing Alena to drive since Zephyr wasn't quite sure she could remember how to drive. She shuffled through Alena's mind and found a local ice cream shop that was a good fifteen miles away. Surely Lorien couldn't have set up her barriers that far away.

"Let's go get some ice cream."

Alena nodded her head, started the car and pulled out of the lot. Zephyr still kept her presence in the woman's mind and would continue to until they arrived at the ice cream place but it allowed Zephyr a moment to breathe. She knew there was something horribly wrong with her mind. Her thoughts were splintered into shards that didn't connect all the time. Other people's thoughts constantly came in and out and she had a difficult time telling which thoughts were hers and which were not. She also knew Lorien was just trying to help her piece everything back together but it wasn't working. The vampire had twenty years to fix her and was still at loss. No, the only person who could help her was either her father or Dumbledore. And then, if they failed her, her last resort would have to be Voldemort himself.