Usual Disclaimer, I own not the Harry nor the Potter and certainly not Harry Potter.
A/N: This is something that I sat down and knocked out over the course of a day back before Phoenix' Luck was so much as a glimmer in my eye... In fact I'm pretty sure I went straight from finishing this to the opening chapters of Phoenix' Luck. Unfortunately, I lost the thread and honestly have no idea where to go with it from here. So I'm putting it up as a one shot in the hopes somebody will feel the desire to adopt it.
Christmas was a terrible time for one Harry Potter. For his cousin, Dudley Dursley it was a time of presents and plenty and family. On the other hand Harry experienced it more as a time of additional work. Mostly that meant additional cooking for the veritable feast the Dursleys inevitably ate and additional cleaning as Dudley terrorized the house. Thankfully Marge Dursley would only be visiting for a bare few hours later in the day this year.
Any moment now Dudley would come rocketing down the stairs and his Christmas torture would begin in earnest. And indeed his slovenly cousin made those first few steps without distraction or interruption. It was on the fourth step down that the doorbell rang.
A strange silence descended on the house. There weren't supposed to be visitors this early in the day, so having visitors was odd. Odd was something to be feared and reviled if outright ignorance failed. Still the doorbell rang a second time. This second attempt was apparently enough to convince his more rotund relative to actually open the door.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Ah, you must be Dudley! You've got more than a little Vernon in you. No James, and certainly no Lily though. Definitely Dudley." A woman's voice said excitedly. "Well Dudley, I'm your great aunt Orchid. Why don't you run on up and let Petunia know I'm here."
The woman slid past Dudley and straight into the sitting room to take a heavy seat in Vernon's comfy chair without waiting to be let in. "Quickly now, Dudley, quickly." She reminded him.
Heavy steps went up the stairs and soon two pairs of legs descended them. "Orchid? What are you doing here… My god… You haven't aged a day." Judging from the growing horror in Petunia's voice she wasn't being polite.
"Didn't Rosie tell you I was a little fay? I've been living with the Daoine'Sith for over thirty years. I should hope I haven't aged a day." Orchid said.
"But those… Those were just stories…" Petunia stammered out clearly on the back foot.
The woman's tinkling laughter filled the room and even Harry could feel it putting him at ease. "It's never just stories for the Laurers. I'd have thought you'd realized that about your heritage when Lily got her letter."
"Don't talk to me about Lily!" Petunia nearly screeched. Even the seemingly irrepressible woman was momentarily silenced by that.
"I see. I hadn't realized things had gotten that bad. Well, I won't pry… Today." Orchid told her.
"Why are you here?" Petunia asked shortly.
"It's Christmas. The day of belief…" Orchid sighed. "Look this used to happen on the solstice but ever since Christmas caught on it happens today instead, don't ask me why."
There was a brief silence before Petunia said aloud, "no."
"No? No!? Who the fuck do you think you are!? You would dare even attempt to deny your child the blooming! Let me guess you haven't even picked out a 'nom de fleur' have you?" Orchid shouted angrily at her niece. "This is your responsibility, Petunia! How in the nine realms did you think you could get away with not doing this?"
"I didn't bloom!" Petunia cried venomously silencing her aunt. "I never bloomed, Aunt Orchid! Mother was so desperate, so hurt and you weren't even there!"
A long silence followed, only interrupted by someone falling heavily into a padded seat.
"WHAT IN THE BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE? WHO ARE YOU?" Vernon suddenly made himself known as he started thumping down the stairs.
"Rosie never told me… She should have told me." Orchid said quietly ignoring the man. "I got a letter saying you'd become Petunia." There was another long pause. "She should have told me."
"Well, now you know. I'm sure you can be on your way." Petunia spat.
"No, Petunia. Just because you didn't bloom then doesn't mean your line is exempt. Rosie must have missed the signs, ignored the warnings. There's still a chance… It won't be the same but you may still bloom. It's just… Harder, so much harder, as an adult." Orchid said.
"Will somebody care to tell me what is happening in MY HOUSE!" Vernon shouted now that he'd bottomed out on the stairs.
"This is a Laurer matter Vernon. I know for a fact Rosie told you to keep your nose out of them." Orchid bit at him in an annoyed tone. "Speaking of Laurer matters, where is Lily's child? I'd think the noise would have roused them by now. It would do them some good to witness Dudley's blooming, give them some warning at least."
"He's not here." Petunia said quickly. "He's staying over with friends."
"I see. That's too bad then." Orchid replied. "Child," She said apparently shifting her attention to Dudley. "Your 'nom de fleur' will be Peony. The Peony flower represents bashfulness, remember it well."
Harry couldn't help a snort at the thought of Dudley ever being described as bashful.
"What was that?" Orchid's question caused him to gasp and cover his mouth.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Petunia quickly cut in.
"You seem rather nervous for it being nothing. Ignoring strange sounds tends to end badly. We should really look into it." Orchid told her niece.
"No… No it's mice. There have just been a few in the closet lately." Petunia told her.
"Mice… Right." Orchid clearly didn't believe her but apparently didn't consider the sound worth investigating just yet. "So. This is Vernon is it? If his nethers are proportional to his chest I can see why you picked him."
Vernon was left spluttering at the woman's forwardness. "How… How dare you!"
"How dare I suggest you have a big dick? Yes how terrible of me, I apologize. I'll be sure to only spread around tales of its diminutive stature from now on." She deadpanned.
"You… You!" Vernon could barely a word out at her teasing.
"Leave my husband alone." Petunia firmly stated.
"Fine." Orchid agreed. "Fact remains we have less than two hours before the child blooms and neither this house nor the child are prepared for the ceremony." She sighed. "At the very least you have the right bushes outside. We'll need some cuttings from the hedge to make up for the lack of preparation."
This was met with a nervous silence. "You hired a gardener?" Orchid's voice was pure venom this time. "Is there nothing of our family's legacy you haven't spat upon!? Should I even ask if you have been teaching our ways to the next generation?" She sighed in defeat. "Call them. Get them out here as soon as possible. I can delay it a few hours at least until they arrive. I'll pay for the inconvenience myself."
Nobody moved and it took Harry a moment to realize why. He was the gardener.
"Well? What are you standing around for? I shouldn't need to remind you what will happen to him if he doesn't bloom." Orchid's tone was cutting.
"Harry tended the bushes." Dudley replied and judging from his gulp he was on the receiving end of his parent's glares.
"Well then mores the better. Call whoever Harry is staying with and tell them there's been a family emergency. It has the unfortunate advantage of being true." Orchid said.
"It's a long drive, we might not be able to get him today…" Vernon offered in an unusually cowed tone.
"Then you'd best get started. It'll be difficult to delay the ritual until tomorrow but that just means its better if I start now." Orchid pointed out. She waited for a moment while again nobody moved. "Well? Snap to it!" The volume of her roar caused Harry to squeak in surprise, though he quickly put his hands back over his mouth.
"Petunia… What's in the cupboard?" Orchid asked with obviously false sweetness.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Petunia replied.
"You're lying to me." Orchid's voice was factual rather than accusing. "You've been lying to me. Something is wrong and I haven't been able to put my finger on it… I think the answer is in that cupboard though."
"YOU BITCH! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Vernon suddenly roared.
Harry barely heard the creak of a footstep followed by a series of wet snapping sounds. "You were warned, Vernon Dursley." A second later the footsteps approached right up to the cupboard. The sound of the lock being undone made Harry jump and back into his cupboard even if he couldn't move more than a few centimeters.
The light was almost blinding when it suddenly entered his cupboard. He heard a woman gasp and couldn't help blinking out the light to try and get a look at this mysterious woman he'd been listening to.
Orchid actually looked younger than Petunia, like a woman in her late twenties rather than one old enough to be a grown woman's aunt. Dark hair wreathed her face but where it caught the light it was clearly a dark red and her eyes were a startling green Harry had only ever seen in the mirror. The darkly colored dress of silk and lace was almost an afterthought compared to her captivating eyes which at that moment were expressing love and… an apology?
"You must be Harry. I can see the Lily in you at a glance," Orchid said with a friendly smile.
"Aunt Orchid-" Petunia attempted to interrupt the greeting.
"Don't you dare Aunt Orchid me!" The woman had whipped around so fast Harry was surprised she wasn't injured. "You have disgraced this family. The shame you've brought on us is so deep I can't stand to look at you! Take your husband to the kitchen to bind his hand and prepare your child their post-blooming feast and otherwise stay out of our way!"
"Now Harry," There was a moment of emotional whiplash as she turned back to him with a sweet smile and soft words, "I've heard you're the one responsible for taking care of those wonderful bushes out front." Harry nodded but didn't say anything. "Now, your cousin is about to go through a very special moment in their life. I know it's hard to believe but they won't be anything like they are now when it's done. But if we don't handle this very carefully they could wind up dying in the process."
"I'd like your help to make things go right, Harry… But I absolutely must know whether or not you want your cousin to die. It's very important. If you can't choose of your own will to help your cousin then it's safer for all us, especially you, if you just watched." Orchid told him.
Harry hesitated for a moment but spoke the absolute truth when he whispered, "I don't want Dudley to die."
"Good. Do you know where the hedge clippers are?" At Harry's nod she continued, "Then I need to get us about twenty branches, they should be as long as your elbow to the tip of your fingers or so. Try to gather them from the bottom of the plant and if there are any of the bushes which seem extra special to you be sure to get lots from them." Orchid ordered.
As soon as Harry was in motion she turned to his cousin. "Come along Dudley, we need to get you cleansed before the ritual."
Harry was, strangely enough, almost feeling sorry for his cousin as the boy sat trembling within the circle of branches. He'd been the next to be 'cleansed' after Dudley and the experience had left him with skin a raw pink all over. Worse though was that they weren't allowed to put their clothes back on afterwards, apparently the same rule applied to Orchid as she had come downstairs completely naked after cleansing herself.
"Try not to resist. This will only get more painful if you fight it." Orchid told them. "Now, are you ready?"
Dudley gulped and strangely enough looked to Harry for support. In his surprise Harry could only nod but it seemed to be enough for him. "Y-Yes. I'm ready."
"Good." Orchid said and moved into the circle. She rested her hands on the boy's shoulders and began to speak. The language was like nothing Harry had ever heard before. He could feel the words, even if he couldn't understand them. Before he even knew what was happening he had joined in.
Dudley tried to put on a brave face but he couldn't help whimpering in fright when bits of bark suddenly grew over his skin. Over half an hour the bark expanded until he was entirely encased within it, like a Dudley shaped tree.
Still the chant continued. Harry completely lost track of time as nothing visibly happened. He simply continued chanting the words as they appeared in his mind.
Finally the chant came to a triumphant crescendo and ended entirely without warning. To Harry's poor eye-sight it looked like the interior of the circle of branches was suddenly in perfect focus and much more… real than the room around it. He probably would have mused about that longer but a loud crack interrupted his thoughts.
Orchid stepped back and waited patiently while the bark cracked and twisted. The sections around the joints were the first to break loose. As soon as they could move, awkwardly wooden hands were quickly brought to bear on sections bark attempting to rip them off. When the first segment was pried off it was momentarily held together by a membrane of sticky sap before tumbling to the floor revealing a surprising amount of open space and pale skin.
From there it was a few seconds more before a flaxen-haired young girl broke free of the majority of the bark and looked around the room with pastel brown eyes. To his surprise the girl barreled into him, almost knocking him off his feet. She clutched him tightly while she rubbed her head against his chest.
"Peony." Orchid's voice was soft and friendly but it still resulted in the girl giving a surprised squeak and practically teleporting herself behind him. Their great aunt chuckled at the girl's antics, "I see my insight for your name was correct. Fear not, my little Peony, I won't hurt you… Or are you perhaps ashamed?"
Judging from the way she tried to bury herself in Harry's back the last word had hit the mark. "Why are you ashamed?" Harry couldn't help asking as he tried to look over his shoulder. Big brown eyes looked at him in wonder but the owner's words were apparently caught in her throat.
"Peony, my dear little girl, you are no longer Dudley. You have been cleansed and born anew, his mistakes are not yours." Orchid told the child.
"But I was so horrible! I hurt Harry… And yet… And yet he's so kind! He still loved me…" The girl said in faint wonder looking at the circle of branches.
"And Harry is very special in a wonderful way… But so were you. The ceremony has taught you much, opened you to the feelings that went into each branch. Still the bud always contained the flower, my little Peony, it only needed its chance to bloom." Orchid told her.
Peony finally released her cousin and took a few unsure steps towards her great aunt. "Harry…" The girl stubbed her toe on the floor in a shy manner and looked down at the ground, "I'm sorry. About everything. I'm so sorry."
"Okay, I forgive you." Harry said and couldn't help but reach out and fluff her hair slightly. The blond huffed in annoyance then smiled. Now that he had a good look at her he realized he could actually still see her parents in her. She had the gawky height that plagued Petunia but on a solid frame with enough muscle to suggest a future in sports and just enough fat to soften her edges and make her pleasantly huggable.
"Aunt Orchid…" Peony said turning to her great aunt. "Thank you. I'm really glad I got to bloom."
Orchid gathered the girl into her arms and squeezed her tight, "It was your right you silly girl."
They were all made to pause when the doorbell rang. Orchid looked to the door then back to her charges. Her face became an emotionless mask when she caught sight of Harry's paleness and Peony's horrified cringing. Without a word she all but glided to the door and opened it wide doing nothing to hide her nakedness.
"WHO IN THE BLAZES!" Harry heard Aunt Marge scream. Apparently the woman had brought at least one dog because it began angrily growling.
"I assume you are my niece's sister-in-law. While I cannot forbid you from this house I can warn you right now that any untoward behavior to either me or the children will end most unpleasantly." She shifted her glare from the woman to dog for a bare instant but it caused the animal to back down immediately.
She didn't bother giving the woman even a second glance as she returned to the living room while leaving the door open. "Harry dear, get dressed and start cleaning this up if you don't mind. Oh, but please keep the branches together and out of the garbage. I'll show you both what they're useful for soon. Peony dear follow me, we need to get you a proper bath."
Orchid put a firm arm around Peony's shoulder and led her towards the stairs while Harry made a beeline for his cupboard. When they passed Marge she stared at the naked people wandering the house with wide eyes. "What in the blazes is going on here?!"
"Your brother is in the kitchen, Miss Dursley. I would suggest you join him." Orchid replied in a dangerous tone. The large woman nearly went purple but apparently decided that she would take things up with someone completely on her side.
The Christmas feast, or rather Peony's blooming feast according to Orchid, was somewhat smaller this year due to Harry's absence from the kitchen. To Harry it didn't matter at all as this time he could actually eat some of it. Orchid and Petunia were each doting on Peony but otherwise the adults engaged little in conversation as the tension festered in the air.
After the meal Orchid showed them how to prune the branches down to thin dowels and gave them oils that would make the wood soft and pliable. Once they were secured in their task she returned to the kitchen and the shouting began.
While he couldn't hear everything, it was clear that life was going to change for all of them after this. The simplest argument had been about Orchid taking custody of Harry. Most of the shouting that time had been Marge receiving a proper dressing down for disparaging the memory of Lily and James Potter within Orchid's hearing.
After that came the fate of Peony… That was nowhere near as pleasant. The battle lines were drawn early and hard. Orchid was for taking custody of Peony as well, Petunia adamantly refused. The surprising part was the disposition of the Dursleys. Though for terrible reasons, Vernon was actually for Orchid leaving with Peony, not that it saw him free of the woman's scathing words. Marge sided with Petunia but seemed to feel that Orchid should 'cure' Peony of her 'unnaturalness' so they could have their Dudley back.
Harry couldn't help hugging his cousin close as the girl silently cried beside him. He was reminded of a few occasions in the past when he'd wished that Dudley could experience his parents scorn as much as Harry did. If he'd had any idea how the guilt would gnaw at his heart as he watched his cousin suffer he was sure he'd have beaten the idea out of his mind with his own cupboard wall.
A few minutes later Vernon began to lay into Petunia which quickly got Marge's backing. The words got more and more heated as their history gave each the ammunition to leave deep scars with their words. In minutes Harry learned more of Vernon's father issues, mostly feelings of inadequacy, than he'd ever even conceived to have existed while his Aunt's jealousy of his mother was dragged out on display in the ugliest possible manner.
"IT'S YOUR FREAKISH BLOOD THAT CAUSED THIS YOU BITCH!" Vernon roared. The next set of sounds was difficult to identify. Furniture was broken and it sounded like pots and pans were being thrown around. There was a pained scream from a human followed by a whining gurgle that must have come from a dog.
The silence that followed wasn't complete, someone was whispering something, but there was no way for them to hear it.
"Petunia take the children and get in the car." Orchid's voice was quiet yet carried far in the silence. "As the current head of House Laurer, I declare the marriage between Petunia Evans and Vernon Dursley void henceforth. Notice will be given to the Queens in one day's time to give the house of Dursley time to get their affairs in order. The house of Dursley shall be recorded in the records Under Earth as oath breakers. They shall receive no succor from the fay, nor trust from their fellow man. From now till the end of time let them have neither shelter nor rest from their just rewards."
Petunia walked back out to the sitting room utterly pale. She swiftly assisted them in gathering up the branches and began to herd them towards the car. When Harry looked back towards the Kitchen entrance he saw Orchid watching them leave with an unreadable expression as she wiped scarlet hands against a white towel.
Harry's eighth Christmas couldn't come fast enough for him. It had been nearly two years since his Great Aunt had entered his life like a dervish and shaken the core of everything he knew, but he didn't regret a moment. Of course it also helped that Peony was visiting for the week to assist him with his blooming.
It was very different experience in the small Irish cottage Orchid kept than it had been at Privet Drive. For starters he had learned just how unprepared Petunia had been for Peony. Harry had been cleansing himself for almost a week using different herbal oils each day. As his mother's stand in Orchid had also paid careful attention to the bushes around the cottage to ensure that they'd be in proper condition for the ritual.
He'd spent almost three hours a day meditating for the last month and had been on a strict diet for just as long. A clear and uncluttered mind would ease the pain of transition and likewise a body well prepared for the transition would cause less pain during it. Even his immature magical potential was given a workout by the various pixies that simply adored his Great Aunt too much to stray far from her abode.
At the present moment he had just finished his cleansing and was sitting naked in front of the house's shrine to Titania while Peony plaited his hair. A single wooden cord was woven in with the crown plaiting and he recognized it as one of the branches from her blooming. "Thank you." He said with a slight blush.
Peony giggled. There was a slight edge of inhuman music within the sound but it was very pleasant. "I'm merely returning it, Harry. Do you feel you have a good grasp on your 'nom de fleur'?"
Harry nodded. "Nightshade is the flower of magic. It means to be powerful, but not without purpose. Nightshades give much and are relied upon by millions, but when treated disrespectfully may be dangerous and possibly even deadly. A Nightshade is many things to many people. To some it is an important curative and herb, to others a symbol of a common food, a beautiful flower, a powerful narcotic, or a deadly danger. I believe it is an admonishment to embrace all sides of my personality but to also keep in mind the appropriateness of my words and actions."
They were interrupted by a short knock on the door. "I'm ready. How about you?" Orchid said from the doorway. The children nodded to each other and stood to follow her. "Nervous Harry?"
"A little. I'm still not sure about the whole gender issue…" Harry quietly stated.
"That's fine Harry. Like I told you during the summer, the blooming will handle that. It will simply be as natural for you as being a boy is for you now." Orchid giggled, "I swear Rosie, or should I say Timmy, was so torn up about that I thought she was going to have a cat. Then it's all over and she turned that megawatt smile of hers on me… Now that I think about it I think it's pretty clear Peony inherited that little trait too."
Peony couldn't help flashing said smile at being compared to her grandmother. She had clutched rather desperately to learning about the Laurer family line in the years since her parent's separation. There had been a minor tiff of sorts between them last year when Orchid had made it clear that Harry was likely to take over the family's more druidic traditions. However it was quickly resolved when Peony proved her talent for the family's unique combat arts which Grandmother Rose just so happened to have been a prodigy in.
The cottage was small so it didn't take them long to get back to the ritual circle. Harry was struck by just how different it seemed to be on the inside of the circle rather than the outside. For starters even now he could see everything inside the circle with crystal clarity even though everything outside of it had the blurriness he expected from not wearing his glasses.
When the chant began he simply allowed himself to relax. Even the feeling of bark slowly sprouting from his skin and covering his body was somewhat soothing. Like the wood was embracing him rather than constricting him. It wasn't until he was completely cut off from the outside world that the painful part began.
On the physical side his body's changes were excruciating but he almost didn't notice them as a war began in his soul. Despite his long meditations he had never seen the pit of blackest evil that had infested his soul. The power of the Earth and the Fay was pouring over and into them both changing them as they battled for dominance. At first he put the whole of his soul, a shining mass of brilliant light, into attempting to cut off the evil remnant. However that proved untenable, they were simply too well bound for him to completely remove the taint.
Instead he changed his focus to identifying the individual anchors. The memory of his parent's death was its strongest point and there was nothing he could do about it. However the attachment to his anger was relatively weak, a bit of clever maneuvering allowed him to merge that connection into the one tied to his hate instead. None had touched his love but simply adding some to a point wasn't enough to detach it either. However he could use love to assist in herding the attachments so that they focused on only a few points.
The concept of gender was suddenly washed from their soul leaving them both stunned. The being that was formerly Harry recovered first and struck hard. Rather than trying to destroy the fragment they instead focused their knowledge of the Fay into instilling a fundamental shift. Malice became Chaos and Hatred became Purpose.
They were caught unawares as it struck back shattering love. It could not destroy it, but they would never feel love as a pure emotion. Knowledge soothed them, understanding that they would need to bond with many lovers to stabilize it and create a whole love again.
A shard of love that was handy became an improvised dagger cutting to the core of the enemy. Love and the Fay rampaged within the creature finally subduing it and allowing a weakened soul of nature to merge with it and create a new being.
She drew herself together in exultation as she figuratively stood victorious. The battle had been hard but had actually forged her identity as it passed. Nightshade would be kind to her friends, vicious to her enemies, indomitable, cunning and a veritable living ley line due to the power of the Earth present in her shaping. This was not without price though, for her love could never be fully given and trust nearly equally as hard to win. Even cruelty and outright malice were required a place in her heart due to the battle.
The bark surrounding her was pushed away by a simple show of magic to reveal her final form to her family. Dark purple, almost black, hair hung down to her waist with Peony's branch wrapping around a braided segment that covered half of her face on the way down. Her eyes were still green but her skin carried none of the tan she'd earned playing outside the cottage. Even her face was more angular and noble than before.
In her hands she held a chick that looked like a young raven but black fire burned furiously around it. "I… Am Nightshade Victorious." She finally said aloud as her relatives closed in to hug her. Her voice was filled with eldritch power and her eyes were glowing with powerful magic. Once she felt skin of another on hers she instinctively released the magic and her features returned to what would be her new normal. "And I'm hungry! When's the feast?" She joked.