Author's Note: Hello my lovely readers! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Sorry for taking so long to post the sequel for the story. I've been suffering some serious writer's block the past couple months and I have been working on other projects. Anyways, I hope my previous readers from the first half are still out there patiently waiting and I hope ya'll enjoy the sequel. Also to those that are just stumbling onto this story, please take a moment to read the first half titled 'Blood of Merlin'.Ok, here we go!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe, just the sequel/OC I came up with.
Chapter 1
Nothing was the same. Colors were dull. Skies were growing dark. Fear laced the air as well as Death's stench. Ever since the gruesome murder of the great Albus Dumbledore, hope in all that was good was fading fast. The threat that is Lord Voldemort was growing with each passing day. People were disappearing, either hiding or getting captured. No soul, magic or non magic, was safe.
Dark times were ahead her godfather had said. And the most important thing we had to remember now was to unite as one, and fight together. Oh and that 'love was key'. Emma scoffed to herself. She had been growing increasingly bitter over the past few weeks since Albus' death. She tried her best to hide it in public settings, but she should know better than to hold it in. Emma couldn't risk another 'snap'.
Breathe. In. Out. Breathe. In. Out. I was alone now in one of the fields several hundred feet from The Burrow. Day in and day out, I have been doing nothing but meditating. I would test my powers, but I was hesitant. The last few days at Hogwarts had been rough. I nearly lost myself on multiple occasions and put others in danger. Anxiety ripped though me constantly; damn, this is only a taste of what Harry must put up with.
Harry. Oh, my Harry. Pieces of him were going away just as quickly as mine were. Actually, all of us were falling apart at the seams. The logically headstrong Hermione Granger, the glue that kept us together was broken at the moment. This morning, she arrived to stay the remainder of the summer (as did I), but something had changed. After getting me alone, she cried and screamed. She had to erase all traces of her life with her parents, fearing that they would end up like 'the others'.
I never saw Hermione cry and it was unnerving; it made me think that if she of all people had come undone, what could that mean for even stronger witches and wizards? Lucky for me, I didn't have to take the crying for long. Ron had taken over, temporarily being the 'glue' we each desperately needed…at least, Hermione's glue.
Breathe. In. Out. Breathe. In. Out. Slowly, I allowed myself to levitate off the ground, and gather the winds. After a few moments, a small cyclone of dirt and other debris circled around me. Kicking it up a notch, I attempted to separate the debris, which required more concentration. Footsteps approached the floating Emma, now only a few feet away, and a gasp from below broke that concentration. And just like when Harry interrupted me weeks before, it was repeated in that instant.
"Ugh!" I groaned. At least this time, I bewitched the ground so my 'landing' wasn't as harsh. But looking up, instead of seeing Harry like before, I was facing a wide eyed, jaw dropped Ginny Weasley. I grimaced before standing while rubbing my backside.
"Whoa, that was so wicked!" Ginny exclaimed. Oh yeah, she was one of the lucky few that hadn't seen any of my parlor tricks.
"I believe you needed something Ginny dear." I said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, right!" Ginny said, snapping out of it. "Mum wants you inside. She said she wants us all to eat dinner and have a quick chat before you leave to get Harry."
"Dinner?" I questioned. She nodded with a confused look. I turned away and noticed that the sun had nearly set.
"Yeah silly! And you better hurry up; mum is a bit peeved that you skipped a meal earlier!" Ginny stated as she skipped away to the house. I sighed and followed behind her, feeling a bit guilty. Mrs. Weasley had been kind enough to take her in, not wanting to be alone in her current state. But it wasn't long till that guilt was pushed down by something else: excitement. It won't be long till I get to see my Harry.
Now here we are, after a full meal prepared by Molly Weasley, standing in the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry's horrid family just departed down the dark street and only Harry remained. His silhouette was highlighted in the living area by a single light while the rest of the house was dark. My heart beat rapidly against my chest having only seen his shadow and my pace quicken up the path to the front door.
"Calm yourself Emma, we are about to go in." Hermione mumbled beside me. I scoffed. She had Ron for almost the whole summer and I am just now seeing him after weeks had past.
"I haven't seen him in close to a month Hermione! And I won't get that much time with him once he starts hunting." I hissed back. Hermione wanted to add more, but Hagrid began knocking on the door. A few moments later, the door swung open. I couldn't see him, but I was able to hear him greet Hagrid and the others happily.
Moody shuffled in before, grunting a hello to Harry while Hermione just pounced quickly. Harry mumbled a hello and few hugs as we each shuffled inside. I was the last to greet him and in a way, it was well worth the wait. It seemed like time stopped for us as our eyes locked.
"Hiya Harry." I breathed. Harry just stood there for a moment then he stepped forward and grabbed hold of me. He hugged me close for a moment before leaning inwards to place a soft kiss on my lips. His stubble scratched my skin which turned me on immensely. Ignoring the large crowd, I wrapped my arms tighter around Harry to deepen the kiss. I heard a cough from behind us and pulled away to see Moody with an annoyed look.
I calmed myself and side stepped Moody with Harry right behind. Bill and Fleur were having their own conversation while the twins smirked at me. Standing beside Hermione, we each quieted down so Moody could speak.
"All right. We'll have time for a catch-up later. But now, we've got to get the hell out of here and soon." Mad-Eye interrupted, even knocking into Lupin as he walked through until he was at the head of the room. "Potter, you're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."
"What's the Trace?" Harry asked.
"If you so much as sneeze, the Ministry will know who wipes your nose." Mad-Eye grumbled. "The point is we have to use certain 'transportation' the Trace can't detect: Brooms, Thestrals, etc. We will go in pairs, that way, if anyone's out there waiting for us, and there will be, they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one."
"The real one?" Harry repeated, moving closer to Moody while still holding my hand.
Mad-Eye smiled and pulled out a silvery flask from his leather jacket, holding it up and shaking it a bit so we could all hear the liquid sloshing around inside. "I believe you're familiar with this particular potion."
"No, absolutely not!" Harry exclaimed, making me wince; I was one of the few to agree with the idea in the first place.
"See! I told you guys that he'd take it well! Fred you owe me five Gallons!" George exclaimed. Fred sighed as he produced a few coins from his pocket and I rolled my eyes.
"No," Harry continued. "If you think I'm going to let you all risk your lives for me, I-"
"Never done that before, have we?" Ron muttered sarcastically. Hermione smacked his head making him yelp in response.
"This is different!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean, taking that, becoming me. No." I sighed and stood in front of him.
"Harry, you aren't the only one fighting this battle! We all are here willingly."
"Semi-willingly actually." Fred and George popped in but I ignored them.
"We all know what's at stake here; what we have to gain, what we have to lose. There is so much at risk here…we have a plan, we have to follow through." I said, staring him down, daring him to object.
"But what if something went wrong?" Harry whispered. "I can't bear to lose anybody, you especially; I would never forgive myself."
"Everyone here is of age, Potter. They've all agreed to take the risk," Mad-Eye told him, bringing the attention back to the current matter, cutting me off. I stepped away from Harry and turned to face Moody. "All right then. Go ahead Granger, as discussed," Hermione walked past Harry, taking a thread of Harry's hair with her, making Harry gasp as she did it.
"Straight in here, if you please," Mad-Eye said, holding the flask out so Hermione could drop the hairs in. Immediately, the muddy potion began to bubble and spark before it settled into a gold color.
"You look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry…" Hermione commented, before she caught all of her friends staring at her: a surprised Ron, Fred and George smirking, and my eyebrows rose at her in question.
"Oh, you know what I mean!" Hermione huffed. "Their potion looked like bogies," Hermione shuddered.
"Fake Potters, up front please," Mad-Eye ordered, stepping forward with the flask in hand. I, Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Fleur all stepped up in front of Mad-Eye, ready to take the potion.
"Right." Mad-Eye nodded before stepping up to Fred, the first in the line. "For those of you who haven't taken Polyjuice Potion before, fair warning, it tastes like goblin piss."
"Have a lot of experiences with that do you, Mad-Eye?" Fred asked, but only got a glare in return. He just shrugged. "Just trying to ease the tension."
"Good job ole boy," George said as he patted his shoulder.
One by one, each of us drank from the flask. It was odd thing to watch as the people I grew close to over the last year change in such a way. I was the last to drink from the potion. I locked eyes with Harry as I tipped the flask back and let the Harry bile flow down my throat. The potion didn't sit right in my stomach and it didn't take long for the potion to run its course.
Looking down, my skin bubbled and morphed just like it did with everyone else. My long red hair grew short and brown. My once perfect eyesight went foggy after a few seconds. And after a few more moments, the five of us, all a reflection of Harry, stood in front of the original.
"Wow, we're identical!" The twins said in unison smiling at each other.
"I dunno George; I think I'm still better looking," Fred said while looking the others over. I rolled my eyes again and stared at the real Harry. My Harry. The gaze he returned to me was a faraway one. I gulped before looking away.
"Ok everyone, time to change." Mad-Eye grunted as he spilled a bag of clothes on the ground in front of us. I grabbed the closet shirt and pants that fell, and then proceeded to change. I quickly threw my dress over my and tore my leggings off. I didn't bother wearing a bra since the dress had one sewn in and I knew it would be fewer clothes for me to deal with. Harry noticed this and his eyes widened. I sent him a wink which must've been odd to receive at that moment.
"All right, the pairs will be as follows," Mad-Eye began. "By broom: Arthur and Fred, George and Remus. Then by Thestral, it will be: Fleur and Bill then Granger and Kingsley."
"Which leaves you with me, Ron!" Tonks smiled brightly before letting Moody finish. She hopped down from her spot on the window seat. She stumbled a bit and Remus was able to catch her in time; I smile at this. It was so sweet seeing Remus step up and care so much for his new wife…it gave me hope.
"And Pendragon," Moody shuffled so he was standing in front me. "That leaves you with me." I nodded in response, already aware. Aside from Harry, I was the most logical choice to be paired with the crazy lunatic that was Mad-Eye Moody. But that didn't stop Harry from protesting.
"Wait?! Are you mental?!" Harry exclaimed.
"Harry, before Mad-Eye even had the pairs in order, I volunteered to go with him."
"Why would you do that?!" I held up a hand to stop him.
"Because they would suspect you to go with him! And no offense to the others here, I'm the only one who has a chance against the swarm apart from you." I said truthfully. Before Harry could protest anymore, Hagrid stepped in.
"Yer with me, Harry an' they'll be non der wiser," Hagrid smiled. "I brought you here sixteen years ago when yer were no bigger than a Bowtruckle; it seemed only right that I be the one ter take you away now." Harry seemed to calm a bit at the half-giant's words and hugged him quickly.
"Yes, it's all very touching," Mad-Eye grumbled. "But we are on a schedule! Let's go, NOW!"
Immediately, we all moved out of the house and out into the street. I grabbed my silver and black Firebolt then mounted quickly. I got into line with the others and waited patiently for Moody to shuffle out after the others.
"Head for the Burrows, we'll rendezvous there!" Mad-Eye shouted at the crowd. "On the count of three!" Hagrid's bike revved up while both Kingsley and Bill attempted to keep the restless Thestrals calm. "One…two…" I turned towards Harry to give him one last look. I smiled at him and surprisingly, he returned it.
"Three!" Everyone shot off from the ground. Into the night, I sped off into the skies with Mad-Eye keeping up beside me. As soon as they had broken through the clouds, we each were ambushed by loads of Death Eaters; at least a dozen were after each Harry and the ones after me doubled.
"Which one are you?!" A rapsy voice shouted to my right. I quickly shot a spell in his direction, causing him to scream, and fall back. I tried to stay as close to Mad-Eye as possible, shooting spell after spell, without my wand I may add, at oncoming Deatheaters.
It felt like an eternity the longer they flew into the skies. I kept fighting and spellcasting all the while my broom seemed to fly with a mind of its own. If there was any chance that I was going down, I would go down fighting, and I will make sure to bring company. At one point, Voldemort appeared in the midst of the battle, flying towards me and Mad-Eye.
My blood went cold, knowing I was in such close proximity to Voldemort…the man that killed my parents and Harry's. A man that is hell bent on destroying the world. No, he is no longer a man; he is but a monster. The other Deatheaters nearby dispersed and Voldemort trained his wand in my direction. Before I could shield myself, a shot of green light came forward, but at the last second, Mad-Eye was there taking the full blast of it. I didn't even get a chance to scream for him, but he was already falling fast.
"No!" I bellowed in Harry's voice. Voldemort smiled a sickly sweet smile as he raised his wand once more. The air around was supercharged at that moment as it slowly began to pick up. Voldemort's smile faltered and a look of realization came across his features.
"You are not the real Harry! You are a Pendragon!" He screamed, but his voiced was drowned out by the harsh winds I was summoning.
"Damn right," I replied. I could faintly hear him yelling to the others, but that didn't stop me. Lightning shot from all directions as I tried to hit Voldemort, but the coward disappeared in a snap, replaced by his followers. Flashes of green and yellow hit my wind tunnels, causing my concentration to falter.
In a final act to protect myself, I jumped from my broom and let the winds carry me as I plummeted to the ground just like Moody did moments before me, but that didn't stop the Deatheaters from chasing me. My body shifted out without them realizing and my tunnel trapped them, leaving me vulnerable.
'The Burrow. Burrow. Take me to the Burrow!' I chanted to myself. I was a few hundred feet from the ground when I felt a tug at my navel. Various shapes and colors warped my vision as I apparated. The last thing I heard was a swish and I felt my body hit a solid force before I saw black.