Warnings: AU, M-preg, some slash.
Disclaimer: Sadly the realm of Harry Potter does not belong to me. I cry myself to sleep each night because of this sad fact.
Elian
By Lady Lupine
Chapter One:
Elian pulled his cloak around him tighter as he walked into Hogwarts. He smiled when he felt the castle greet him enthusiastically. He'd spend nearly his entire life living with the High Elves, and they had decided that he needed to return to the mortal world to learn about his past, and his heritage.
Elian had a rather unique position with the elves. Normally their population grew when they came across what they called a 'foundling' or a mortal with elvish blood. Elves, for the most part, could not breed themselves.
However, every thousand years or so, they found one, whom was called a Carrier. This person would be able to carry elvish children and help boost the population. It was discovered that Elian was indeed a Carrier.
As such, he was treated with more respect than the elf king himself. He had expressed a wish to finish his schooling with humans, and was immediately granted the request. He had guards of course, especially as he was heavily pregnant.
The elvish gestational period was about eighteen months, and he was about nine months in. When the baby was born, it would be taken back to their homelands, and another elf would come to impregnate him again. This would likely continue for the next several hundred years. Elian himself would decide when he'd had enough.
Elian smiled when he looked around the castle. It was beautiful to him, and he loved the feeling of the magic. He was one of very few elves who could perform wizarding magic, so it was likely a good idea he learn how to do it.
He rested a hand gently on his stomach. He was almost as large as he would be for the entire pregnancy. This was his second, and he knew how it would go. He would grow a little bit more, but the remaining nine months, his child would be developing and gaining the knowledge all elves needed to live. Elian was quite a bit bigger than he'd been the first time, and he was quite sure he was pregnant with twins.
This was quite surprising, as elvish twins were almost nonexistent. Elian reached down and set a hand on the head of a large dog-like animal that stood beside him. It was the elvish version of an Animagus. This dog was one of the royal guards, and was assigned to be beside Elian at all times.
He looked up again when he heard footsteps coming towards him. Three teachers walked towards him. A man with a long white beard, who had to be Albus Dumbledore. A woman with a tight bun and a strict expression, and a man with long black hair, a hooked nose, and an annoyed look on his face.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Albus Dumbledore, a smile on his face.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Elian said with a slight bow. "My elvish name is Elian, my human name, Harry Potter."
When he said the name, Dumbledore nearly choked, and the other two teachers looked astonished, though the man was quick to hide it.
"Harry Potter? My goodness, we thought you were dead!" Albus exclaimed.
"I would have been, had I been left in that orphanage, Headmaster. I do not know what the logic was behind my biological parents placing me there, and nor do I care. I have a new life now. I am a Carrier for the elves, and honored to be so," he said. "I prefer to go by the name Elian if you don't mind." They were all even more startled when Harry revealed briefly his largely pregnant belly, before pulling the cloak back around him.
"Perhaps we should retire to my office to speak, young Elian. Would it be all right if I invited your former family to join us? That way we can avoid having to explain what is going on too many times." Elian nodded his permission, then followed the teachers to the Headmaster's office. As they stepped past the gargoyle, and into the room, Elian looked around in interest.
"Please, take a seat while I make a few calls," Albus said, heading over to the fire place. Elian lowered himself into a seat and rested a hand on his belly. He smiled when he saw the Headmaster's phoenix. The bird immediately flew over and landed on his knee. The dog leaned over and inspected the bird, then lay down, not worried about it.
The phoenix looked up at Elian, a let out a trill. Elian smiled, "I am pleased to meet you, Fawkes." He reached out and gently pet the birds chest. Fawkes chirped in enjoyment. The two professors watched as the bird leaned forward and rested his head on Elian's belly, listening.
Albus turned around just in time to watch his bird. Fawkes let out a string of excited chirps and trills, before spreading his wings and practically laying on the boys belly. Elian simple smiled and stroked the bird's head. Albus was completely baffled by this behavior. Elian looked up and saw his expression.
"Elvish children are very rare, Headmaster," he said. "It is even more rare for there to be twins. All beings of light will feel the need to offer protection. Fawkes remembers the last elvish Carrier, who was murdered cruelly when she was relatively young. As the gods only rarely put a Carrier on the earth, they are allowing for multiples, in order to make up for the last time. Fawkes is giving his blessing and promising to keep an eye on me."
Albus looked relatively astonished at this. Before he could comment further, his Floo flared to life, and a line of people came out. It include James and Lily Potter, Michael, Nicole, and Aiden Potter, Sirius and Jenna Black, Riyan Black, Remus and Rebecca Lupin, and John Lupin. Michael and Riyan would be third years, Nicole and John would be first years, and Aiden Potter would be a first year, next school term.
"Albus, what in the world is going on?" Lily asked.
"Take a seat everyone," Albus said. When everyone was sitting, casting curious glances at Elian, who was not paying attention, Albus spoke again.
"The reason I called you all here early, is to meet a new transfer student that will be attending Hogwarts this year," he said. "This is Elian. He has come from the elves, in order to learn magic here. He is also what the elves call a carrier," Albus told them.
Remus let out a startled gasp at that, looking at Elian in amazement. He then noticed the somewhat bizarre looking grey dog that sat at Elian's side. It had its eyes trained on him.
"I see you know what that means. Elian is going to tell me a little bit more about it in a moment. The other thing that you should know is that Elian was adopted by the elves from the mortal realm. He was once known as Harry Potter," he said softly. This caused quite a reaction from the group.
Despite all the noise being made, Elian seemed to be focused on giving Fawkes attention. After a few minutes Elian looked up, too see them all shouting and waving their arms at each other. He rolled his own eyes, and heard a quiet giggle. Elian looked around and rested his gaze on little Aiden Potter.
The small child had walked hesitantly towards him, stumbling slightly. Elian gently caught the boy, wondering what was wrong. The adults seemed to occupied to notice anything, other than the Potion's Master, Snape. He was watching Elian closely.
"Hello, little one," Elian said gently, touching the boys cheek.
"Hello. I am Aiden," the boy said quietly, a small little smile on his face.
"And I am Elian," the elf said just a soflty. He could see the little was trembling somewhat. Concerned, he knelt down on the floor, level with the boy. He motioned for the child to come closer. Aiden did, without hesitation. Neither child seemed to realize they had the attention of everyone in the room now. Lily had her hand over her mouth, tears running down her face. She looked horribly shocked.
"You look like Dad, kind of, and like Michael," Aiden said hesitantly. He reached out with a shaking hand and gently touched Elian's ear. Elian gave him a smile, not remotely bothered by the fact that his ears were being touched. The slightly pointed appendages were very sensitive, and elves did not particularly like being touched there, but it didn't bother Elian.
"I suppose I do," Elian said thoughtfully, then grinned, touching his nose. "I look very much like you too, young one."
Surprisingly, Aiden looked upset at that. "No, you don't wanna look like me," he said. "I am a weakling, useless."
"Come now, why would you think that?"
"'Cause I'm sick a lot, and John and Riyan and Nicole and Michael said so," Aiden said quietly. "They said I'm no good at magic and will be a squib. How come you're talking to someone like me?"
"Well, I happen to think that you are pretty special," Elian said gently. He noticed that the boy was leaning on the chair in an effort to stay upright. "As for being a, squib? Well, would you like to see your magic?" he asked him. Aiden nodded, his eyes wide. Elian smiled, "Hold out your hand."
The boy did as requested, and Elian held the hand up with his own. "Now I want you to close your eyes. Imagine that your magic is all in one place, locked deep in your chest, right by your heart," Elian said. Aiden scrunched his face up, concentrating. "Can you picture it?"
"Uh huh," Aiden said.
"The next step is to bring your magic out. Do you know how it feels when you just got out of the bath, and the water is still flowing all over the top of your skin, right before it dries?"
"Yeah, I like that!" Aiden exclaimed. Elian smiled,
"Me too. Now, imagine your magic feeling just like that. Picture it coming from your heart, all the way to your skin. Can you feel it?"
"Yeah, it's really slow, but I feel it!" Aiden exclaimed.
"That's good. Keep imagining it on your skin. It's slow because something happened to scare it into hiding. Is there anywhere that it feels stuck?"
"Um, yeah, on the back of my neck, and my shoulder," Aiden said concentrating.
Elian rested his free hand on the indicated place. "This is the reason you feel so shaky. Your magic is all blocked up, so it's building up inside, with no way to come out. Like when your mum and dad tell you that you have to be still. You just want to get up and run, don't you?"
"Yeah," Aiden said with a giggle. "That feels better!" he exclaimed suddenly.
"Good, now I think it's out. Open your eyes little one," Elian said. Aiden opened his eyes, and was amazed to see a golden glittery looking substance hovering over his skin.
"That's my magic?" he said in surprise.
"Yep, that is it. Quite a lot of it too. If you keep practicing, then your magic will learn that it doesn't have to be scared to come out. Are you feeling any better now?"
"Yes, lots better!" Aiden said, excited. He did an excited little dance, letting out a whoop. Elian laughed at his antics.
"Okay young one. Let it go back. You can't keep it out too long, or you will have the opposite problem. Then you'd be glowing all the time, and that would make it hard to sleep. Try doing that for a few minutes every day."
"Thank you, Elian," Aiden said, as he returned to normal. He gave the boy a hug. Elian returned it with a smile. It was then that they noticed the adults watching them, their jaws dropped. James was staring at Aiden in amazement. He'd not heard his son speak that much all at once, ever. He was also profoundly relieved that he was able to access his magic. They had tried everything to fix the problem, but no one had known what to do.
The kids were all looking somewhat shame-faced, and trying to stay out of sight of their parents. Aiden ran over to his mother.
"Mum, did you see? Did you see me? That was my magic!" he said. Lily swept her son up in her arms, hugging him tightly.
Elian was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable on the floor, and was currently debating with himself, whether he could get up or not. Surprising him, Remus Lupin offered him a hand to help him back to his feet.
As Elian reached out, the grey dog let out a growl. Elian rolled his eyes and smacked the back of the dogs head, shaking a finger at him. "Liath, he is a werewolf, not a tree sprite," he said, allowing Remus to help him up.
"A tree sprite?" Remus asked, a slightly bemused expression on his face. While he was very mild mannered most of the year, on the full moon, he surely ranked more dangerous that a sprite.
"Have you ever met a tree sprite?" Elian asked once he was on his feet again. "Two inches of mischief, and a wicked temper. Bloody things tied my hair in knots while I was asleep. About eight thousand knots. To the top of the bed. I had to cut my hair off to get rid of them. All because I neglected to notice a new tree in the middle of a forest."
Remus laughed at that, "Ah, well, I see your point." Elian smiled, then plopped back into his chair. He looked at the group and let out a small sigh.
"I will tell you my story, and then you are welcome to ask questions if you like. Is that acceptable?"
"Absolutely," Albus said immediately. Elian smiled at that.
"Very well. The farthest back I can really remember was my arrival at St. John's Home for Unwanted and Abandoned Children," he said soflty, ignoring the violent flinches of everyone in the room. "I guess that would be about eleven years ago. A house elf Apparated me into the lobby and then left me there.
"I was assigned a room, and told the rules. 'Obey Father Jess at all times, disobedience means punishment, there is no such thing as a family,' and my personal favorite, 'you eat when we remember to feed you'. I spent two years at that place, working hard at whatever meaningless task Master Jess set us. In those two years, three children died, from untreated wounds received from being beaten.
"When I was almost five, I was rescued by the elves. At my pleading, the found homes for the other children and burnt the orphanage down to the ground. Nothing will ever be built there again. I was taken to the forest where the High Elves lived to begin my training.
"It was discovered that I had some recessive elven blood and with their tutoring, it came out. When I was nine years old, it was discovered that I was the next Carrier. This is a position of honor and it is respected by each and every elf, not matter what. Technically I am higher ranked than the king. The elves, for the most part, are incapable of having children. One or two may be born every few hundred years.
"They occasionally find humans with elven blood, and can bring that out if it is in high enough quantity, and they raise those children in the elven ways. However, every thousand years or so, our gods allow one with the ability to carry full blooded elven children to come. I am that one.
"When I was eleven, I became pregnant with the first full blooded elf in over nine hundred years. My first son was born eleven months ago. I am working on my second and third child right now," he said resting a hand on his stomach. "They are due in another nine months.
"I will spend the next few centuries doing this. It is of vital importance to the survival of the race. Liath and a few others, who are hidden, are here for my protection. I wished to learn more about where I came from, so I am here."
The group looked astounded at his story, and the fact that he already had a child, at thirteen! Lily and James both had tears sliding down their faces, and had no idea how to react to what they were learning. Elian looked at them both.
"I am not angry with you, if that is what you are thinking. I am happy with my life, and fortunately for me, I love being a Carrier. There is nothing to fear from me. I didn't return to make you feel guilty, or to ask questions. I simply returned to learn. That, and to let you know what became of me, if there was the slightest chance that you wanted to know."
Elian looked at them all, a clear expression on his face. He definitely meant every word that he said. They watched the young man, or rather, elf, get to his feet. He was looking uncomfortable in his seat. Lily couldn't blame him. He looked to be full term, and she had been horribly uncomfortable at that size.
Lily walked over to her eldest son. The others seemed frozen, uncertain what to say. Lily stopped in front of Elian, and looked into the emerald green eyes that looked so much like hers. Elian still resembled her and James, though not as much as he had when he was little.
His black hair was long and tied at the nape of his neck. He was a little taller than her now, at about 5 feet nine inches. He seemed pretty muscular and fit, except for the pregnant belly thing. Elian tilted his head slightly, waiting to see how she would react.
"Of course we want to know, Elian," she said, giving him a hug, careful not to press on his stomach. Elian returned the hug, a small smile on his face. Despite his outward appearance, he had been worried about her reaction to him. He couldn't really remember much from before the orphanage. Just faces, and impressions. Nothing specific. He remembered more of his twin, Michael, but other than that, he didn't know much about his family.
James walked over next, looking at his pregnant son. This was a bit hard to swallow, considering that they'd technically made him and Lily grandparents already. Elian looked up at his father, a slightly worried expression flitting across his face.
James paused in front of the child who looked so much like him. Everyone in the room seemed to be watching with avid interest, including Professor Snape. The sneer had slid off his face a while ago. Lily seemed to be holding her breath, waiting to see how her husband would react.
James reached up and gently cupped his son's face in his hand. "Welcome home, son. For however long you are here, welcome home." With that, he kissed Elian's forehead and gave him a hug.
Lily had tears sliding down her face, and Sirius and Remus exchanged smiles, their eyes bright. Albus' eyes were twinkling away as he watched the interactions. He took the moment to speak up.
"Elian, perhaps now would be a good time to show you to your room. We still have three days until the start of term, and you have until then to decide if you wish to be Sorted and share a room with your year. If you do not want to, you are welcome to keep your own room.
"You're looking a bit tired. Perhaps you'd like to go freshen up, get something to eat and maybe relax for a little while. I would suggest we continue talks in a few hours. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, Headmaster, it is. I appreciate that. It was a rather long journey," Elian replied with a smile.
"Very good. I think Professor Snape will show you to your rooms and show you how to summon one of the house elves. Send a message to any of us if you need anything at all."
Elian raised an eyebrow at the noise of protest he heard, but turned to the grumpy looking man and gave him a polite bow.
"Professor Snape, it is an honor to meet you," he said as they walked towards the exit. "My tutor in potions is rather fascinated with your work." At that comment , Liath let out a snort. Elian smacked the dog on the head, making a face. Snape raised an eyebrow as they walked. He wouldn't admit it but he was rather curious. He didn't even know the elves were aware of the mortal world. Elian turned back to him with a smile.
"I have read, many, many times, every article and bit of research you've had published. I am under strict instructions to memorize everything you ever tell me about potions, so that I may repeat it word for word when I return home," Elian said with a slightly martyred looking expression. Snape surprised himself and let out a snort of laughter.
"How long has your tutor been studying potions?" he asked curiously.
"About twelve hundred years," Elian said, making Snape choke a bit.
"That long? Why on earth is he interested in my work? I am sure he's got a much better grasp than I do."
"I doubt that," Elian said thoughtfully after a moment. "I've read both of your research. While Nira has had plenty of time to take working each potion out and testing again and again to get it to do what he wants to do, you seem to have an instinct that he lacks. When he read about your Wolfsbane Potion, he was mad to try it himself.
"It took him three months to make a viable batch, and I had my eyebrows burned off three times, my hair changed color twice, he melted twenty two cauldrons, and somehow made such a stink, we had to move to the other side of our forest for an entire summer. That was even when he was following step by step instructions," Elian said, rolling his eyes.
"He's good, but only after a lot of practice. We usually hide from him when he gets it into his head to experiment."
Snape's eyebrows had shot up at that story, and the corners of his mouth twitched, very much against his will. "That is quite impressive," he said blandly. Elian smiled, resting a hand on his stomach. The twins were a little stressed out from all the travelling and were currently trying to annihilate his kidneys. Snape saw the young elf's face clench up for a moment as they walked.
"Are you all right?" Snape found himself asking.
"Yes, sir," Elian said with a small smile. "Just a bit of cramping. It happens, particularly when I am tired."
"If there is anything I can do, let me know. I am the staff healer during the summer time, as Madam Pomfrey, the mediwitch, does not return until the first day of the term."
"Thank you, Professor. I appreciate that. If it is still bothering me after I get some sleep, I will let you know," Elian said with a smile.
"Very well, Elian. These are your rooms," he said gesturing to a portrait with a large sphinx on hit. 'The password is not set yet, so you may put whatever you like. Just let the sphinx know. The house elf that will be assigned to you is named Mia. Just call for her if you need anything."
"Again, thank you Professor. Will you be at the next meeting?" he asked, his hand resting on the edge of the portrait.
"Most likely all of the Heads of House will be there," Snape replied. Elian nodded and turned to the portrait as Snape walked off.
As soon as he was alone, he sat on the couch with a grimace. It was going to be an eventful, and probably traumatizing year. Elian had not let himself get emotional about the abrupt meeting with his former family. He forgave them, yes. Still, he was afraid to get to know them. Afraid to find out what had happened, and why he'd been abandoned. Afraid of being hurt again. With a sigh, he called for the house elf, Mia, who was delighted to meet him and made sure he knew it.