This is a notice to all who dare to read this particular piece of fanfiction from the authoress, the following fiction is an Alternate Universe to the most extreme, the "what if" scenario that has been plaguing my mind for nearly five months now. So if you will, please bear with me as I attempt to work out any kinks that may come along, and do try to enjoy reading what very may well become one of the most laborious pieces of writing I have ever set out to accomplish.

So without further ado, I bring to you the first chapter of "Libertas Volo Tandem"

LibertasVolo Tandem

Chapter 1

Scindo

Pain was not a new companion to Harry James Potter, even though he was barely entering adulthood at eighteen. So when he heard that dying scream fading, and the most agonizing pain rip through his body, he was not surprised.

Of course the fulfilling of the prophesy could not have come without any strings attached, the young wizard thought, almost bitterly. Stupid old man, don't think for a moment that I don't place the blame for my life on you. I can only hope that in my next life, I'll have a better run. Maybe I could grow up with an actual family this time? Is that too much to ask of you Fate? Or am I just your favorite fuck toy?

Calmer now that his internal rant had finished, Harry was supirsed to find that he could no longer feel. It was as though he were floating in a vast sea of warm liquid, yet he could breath, very well thank you. Faintly he could make out the frantic cries of Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Neville, and everyone else. Telling him to wake up. Begging him to be alright. Calling him to come back. Wait…

Calling him back?

Now that wasn't quite right. Why on earth would they be calling him back? Didn't they want him to be free? Didn't they want him to be able to not feel pain? Why would they call him back to such a horrible existence, where his family didn't want him, where his parents were dead, where his very being was compromised by simply existing?

Oh young one.

Harry would have given a start, had he been able to move. That thought was definitely not his own.

You do not deserve this. Even the fates are not so cruel. Perhaps… yes, that will work, to start over from the beginning, in a new universe, where things would have ended up so differently with just one very small change.

Hey! Now wait just one minute! You can't just go around making people start over again! I never want to relive my childhood with the Dursleys ever again! You can't make me! I won't do it! You hear me you bloody disembodied voice?!? I am NOT being a slave for ten years with those wankers again dammit Harry's mental voice was screaming frantically, his very being writhing and attempting to get back to his body, anything, even that accursed existence would be better than reliving those ten years.

Calm young one. Calm. You shall find that this time around, the little phoenix will be Free to Fly at Last.

Harry knew in his heart to trust the voice, but the last time his heart had told him to trust, he ended up being manipulated for seven years, the last one even through death, by the one person whom he had given his unwavering trust to. So he still struggled, but the warm liquid became repressive, holding him down firmly, albeit gently, not even his magic could move about him as he was used to.

You should not fight the arcane magic young one; it is only there for your gain. It is your ultimate defense, your greatest weapon, your closest confidant, and your most trusted adviser. Learn to use it, and you shall find your wings at last young one…

The voice, which Harry finally registered as not a voice at all, more like words that he understood being forced through his conscience, faded out. And it was as though his eyes had been closed and put behind a thick blind fold, as darkness enfolded him all at once. It was not an imposing darkness, not hot like an imposed vision, not cold like dementors, it was warm and cool all at the same time. It was like velvet wrapping itself around him, humming with approval, with a firm decisiveness that scared him just a tad.

This was not his magic, but it was not not his magic. Almost as though an entirely new source had been introduced to him, and was now acquainting itself with him, and yet, Harry could have sworn that this feeling, this magic, was entirely familiar to him. It was like being hugged by a loving relative after a long absence. Or, at least what he thought being hugged by a loving relative after a long absence should have felt like.

He could feel the distinct thoughts of the magic, 'My dear, dear child, oh I shall never lose you again'. And as odd as it may seem, those words put him at ease, even when the pain started up once again, even when he knew that his soul was being split from his being, even when a deathly chill attempted to worm it's way into the velvet cocoon as his soul was sent through the very threads of time and space.

Petunia Dursley may not be the most beautiful woman to grace the Earth; she may not have the grace of her younger sister, nor the kindness that Lily had always managed to radiate. However, if there was one thing Petunia Evans Dursley was not, she was not stupid, nor was she a fool. So when she had heard news of her parents' death whilst she was away at school, she did everything in her power to stay close to her only living family, her sister Lily Evans, recently made Potter.

The wedding was spectacular, a marriage of both muggle and magical means had been used to accentuate the union. Lily was simply resplendent in her custom made wedding dress, even though she had been rather upset to learn that she could not use her mother's dress as she took after her father's side of the family more than her mother, besides, the dress was now Petunia's to pass down to her daughters.

Petunia sniffled back a sob of happiness as she saw her sister walk down that isle, with their joint godfather handing her off to James Harold Potter, looking like the happiest woman in the world, leaving all worries about the war behind her at the door.

As Lily walked out with her husband she spotted her elder sister, smiling, crying, and laughing all at the same time.

Older than her dear younger sister by two years, Petunia was overjoyed when Lily had told her that she wanted her to be her maid of honor at her wedding. Vernon, her husband of a year, was supportive of the small family, even with Lily being magical, even going as far as to offer Lily a place to stay with his mother or Petunia and himself if ever things got too complicated within the magical community.

"Petunia…Pet-dear?"

The rough London brogue of Vernon drifted through her thoughts, snapping them back into the present. She looked up with her light blue eyes with a faint smile gracing her thin, but not ugly, lips. Vernon was watching on with worry evident in his dark brown eyes. "I'm so sorry Vernon, what were you saying?"

"I was asking whether or not it would be a good idea to go and visit me mum over in Canterbury for the holidays. I'm sure she is biting at the bit to see you again, with you expecting and all. But if you aren't feeling up to it, we don't have to go."

Petunia scoffed, "oh pish posh Vernon. I'm feeling fit as a fiddle, you shouldn't worry so. Besides, I'm sure your mother would love the company. She is getting on in her years; we should be visiting her as often as we can now."

"And what of Lily? Didn't you say that she wanted to visit you for Christmas?"

Petunia could never question why she had married Vernon William Dursley. He was just so right for her, chivalrous, thoughtful, brave, (even if he did have that curious phobia of snakes bigger than the usual garter snakes) and always thinking of ways to make her smile. No, she would never question her matrimonial union with Vernon. With a true smile, she responded to her husband. "Lily said that she could apparate to our area with little trouble, and said that if it's okay, she'll be bringing along James and our presents. And don't get me started on the presents part. When I told her that she shouldn't have bothered, she began to go on about, and I quote, how I'm always looking after her and making sure she stays as sane as one can in a world of strangers and how you are always doting on her like a little sister, that it's her turn to dote on us, and nothing we say can dissuade her from her decision. End quote."

Vernon gave a hearty chuckle at the information. "That sister of yours Pet, she's got quite the spirit, now I am sure that the fire in you is genetic. I can only hope that it passes down to our little one so that he or she may hearten the world they come into. Lord knows that the Kingdom is in desperate need of more people like you and Lily, so willing to give cheer, and unwilling to step down in the face of a challenge."

"I'm sure our little one will be the perfect mix of the two of us, Vernon dear, I'm sure."

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"Nia? Are you crying?"

"Oh Lily," Petunia cried as she gave an awkward hug to her younger sister from around her pregnancy swollen abdomen. "I just can't believe that my little sister is all grown up and now a married woman who is now happily expecting! And look at me, I'm practically bursting at the seams, ready to give birth to my first born of the man that I love with all my heart. I'm just so happy Lily, I just wish that mum and dad could see us now. They must be so proud of us."

"I'm sure they are Nia, and I'm sure that they're happy that we are living in harmony with each other, with friends that care, and husbands that love us more than life itself. Speaking of, where is Verny-poo?"

Petunia wiped her eyes with a napkin, chuckling at the nickname that Lily had given her husband. Indeed, he had taken to it like a fish takes to water, finding it an endearment that he had never found within his own sister Margery or Marge for short. She had always been too preoccupied with her dogs, never giving him the time of day one should always find for a sibling, elder or not.

"Oh he's at work, diligent as always, they offered him a higher position up in Surrey, and we're planning to move there. It is a very nice house, a simply wonderful neighborhood, if not a tad on the dull side of society."

"Oh, however will you manage," Lily gasped dramatically, putting the back of her dainty hand to her forehead, appearing to be distressed. Of course, that was the very moment that one James Harold Potter had decided to walk into the dining room where the two women had taken to sitting and chatting in whilst the boys were at work.

"Lily? Is anything wrong? Can I get you a cold compress? Do you need a warm water bottle? Any odd cravings that need to be satisfied?" James hovered and flitted about Lily like a worried humming bird.

Lily simply rolled her eyes at her husband's antics and waved him away, "oh off with you, go find Remus to torment, or Sirius to goad. How, ever, did you deal with Vernon when he mother henned you Petunia?"

Petunia smiled at her sister's fortunately unfortunate pampering. "Oh I simply sent him off on another errand, or seduced him to bed," she said with a conniving wink.

James spluttered with indignant pride, and Lily laughed freely. The sound of a door opening and closing caught the auror's attention, as he snapped into an alert state, which Petunia noted with a sad realization. The war must be getting bad.

"Pet-dear, I'm home," a burly call echoed through the medium sized flat, as one Vernon Dursley arrived back from work. "Ah, James, Lily, good to see you two. Everything's fine I take it?"

"Yes, yes, actually, we were just speaking about you dear," Petunia said with a small smile as she laboriously rose out of her seat and gave a loving kiss to her husband.

"Ewww," James teased a smile dancing in his hazel eyes, "not in front of the kids!"

To which Vernon replied with the same smile within his own dark brown eyes, "Then I shan't perform such acts in front of your eyes ever again James, It pains me to taint the eyes of the ignorant."

Laughter rang out from the flat, and one would never begin to think that such a great tragedy would befall the small, yet happy family in less than three year's time. A tragedy that would have torn lesser families asunder, leaving those still left bitter and harsh, a tragedy that did leave others bitter an harsh in another world, but in this, the pain it would inflict would only bring the living closer, and leave the dead at peace knowing that their loved ones would carry on with determination and love strong in their hearts.

At least, for now, they would enjoy their fleeting happiness, for when it ends, the world as they know it would crumble down upon itself unto ashes, paving the road for the future to rise in a glorious show of flames of love and winds of change.

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End chapter one: Scindo

Ketsueki says: Man, that was tiring. Scindo means to split, or divide. Libertas Volo Tandem is to be free to fly at last. I hope that I can get the next chapter out soon. :3 Have a nice day.