Harry Potter & The Moonlit Artist
Chapter One:
Rich velvet blood trickled down the corner of her lips; she laughed full-bellied with a haunting echo of the insanity she portrayed. Pale skin crackled with rotten ancient dark Alchemist markings while the translucent feathers of her wings now dulled in their colors and deeply stained with a crimson tint. Within the silver moonlight, the way the darkness carefully hid her humane side, she appeared as an Angel of Death; a cliché in comparison, but no less true within this moment.
Blurred vision, Harry reached out for his broken glasses, and through their cracked lens he laid eyes upon madness in bloody flesh. Bloodied, scorched, and weak it took Harry the very last of his strength to push himself off the ground and onto his bruised knees.
Flames flickered around them; destruction, death, despair…Harry and the Angel of Death allowed chaos echo within the background while silence encased them within their own reality. Nothing could break the barrier which surrounded them, an invisible force.
Harry pulled out his wand.
The Angel casted her amethyst eyes upon the starry evening sky. Words of caution slipped through a jagged smirk, "Will you do it, Harry? Will you free your angel from this hell?"
Those eyes, rich with brilliance and rebelliousness, they lingered upon him casting a spell; the same spell which bond his heart forever to hers. Lowering his wand, Harry began to weep softly. The Angel turned to face him, a swirl of dark energy hovered above her black, rotten claw. He raised his wand once more, tears stinging his eyes, his hand was still with certainty.
Silence.
With swift movements the Angel kicked off the ground, but within that moment Harry uttered the darkest magic he has ever known, "Avada Kedavra!"
A flash of emerald.
Harry's screams echoed silencing the chaos.
"…Harry…"
()_()
"You are unbelievable, Harry Potter," the crimson Howler roared at Harry in Ginny's voice, "the absolute worse! A week before our wedding is when you need to find yourself? Find yourself? What exactly does that mean? And with whom are you going to find yourself with? You better wise up, Mr. Potter. Fame is slowly dissipating, and soon being 'Harry Potter' would not be such a wonderment. Don't bother coming back, or communicating with the family because even Ron wouldn't betray his blood."
Soon the Howler ripped itself into pieces, and Harry is left with a headache and peering eyes. He closed the curtain that separating his cubicle from the rest of the train. Straightening his glasses, he turned his attention back to the passing scenery.
This was not the first time Ginny has sent a Howler, in fact it was honestly a common occurrence whenever he had to go away for work. Ginny, although he would always adore her, has become a bit obsessive and for lack of a better word-clingy. Perhaps it was because his fame grew to a towering popularity ever since he defeated Voldemort; was she jealous? Or worried?
Either way, Harry could not take such drama anymore. After all he has been through, he wanted normalcy and above all else he wanted tranquility. And whether it was because Ginny recovered swiftly after such terrible events, or he simple matured far more than the rest, he needed change.
Harry was still young, but felt as if he aged at least a decade; and so, Harry wanted to reclaim some form of youth he loss in the last few years. Everything simply moved far to quickly: defeating the dark lord, correcting the corruption at the Ministry of Magic, and soon-to-be Head Auror. He needed to take some time to himself; to find himself again. For the last few years he only known he was this prophecy child, the chosen one, and what destiny dictated for him; Harry never had time to enjoy this beautiful, amazing world of magic.
If only Harry could recapture that intensity, ecstasy-fueled feeling he felt the very first moments he was within the magic world. That is what he wanted, needed; he left everything in search of the same thrill he had the first few months at Hogwarts. Harry seemed to have forgotten the delights of being a wizard.
There was a rising spot within Rome that said to bring the "magic" back into the magic world; young, influential, beautiful magical creatures gathered here for renewals and getaways. Harry was aspired by such a place, by La Libertà delle Arti.
Like most magical things, this train make traveling to Italy from England easy and quicker than the muggle counterpart. Although it such travels still took some time, Harry used it for mapping out Rome. He was not sure upon the whereabouts of La Libertà delle Arti, but he knew the approximate entrance. The clearer problem was he did not speak an ounce of Italian, and despite the fact he was a famous wizard he still did not known of spells which would be helpful in a foreign place. If he had any nerve, he would get in contact with Hermione and ask her for some insight, but she was with Ron, and Ron was intensely loyal to his family.
Perhaps Harry would follow someone from the train, but as he remembered he saw no one younger than 60 he rethought this idea. Whatever the case, Harry was tired and perhaps a few hours of sleep would do him well. It was only a few moments of closed eyes did sleep engulfed him in slumber.
()_()
Harry stood, dumbly, within the rushing crowds of Rome. Looking down at his map, he tried to make sense of the scribbles, after all he was no expert in Cartography. All he understood was peering over the map he witnessed one of the great wonders of the muggle world, the Colosseum.
Harry could see Draco being unimpressed with such a muggle sight, but Harry could appreciate the beauty in the structure and sheer-massiveness of the Colosseum. Still, this appreciation, was nothing more than that. Magic seemed to haver dulled his senses, so even if he could appreciate muggle things, they never had the same thrill of a magical counterpart.
It was not until a young woman with curved horns caught his attention; this woman was part of a group of three who ran through the crowd so effortlessly. A spark kicked his feet and pulled his legs into a run; he was not so graceful in his efforts to catch the women, but the women with the horns was still in his sights far in the distance.
It was normal for muggles to be unaware of magical thing around them, but Rome was considered a sacred place, and with that being said there was at least one person with devilish horns running around. How could no one notice her?
Harry followed the group to the back side of the Colosseum where massiveness of the structure overcast an enormous shadow. Each woman had at least one horn; focusing his attention one of the women appeared to have a unicorn's horn which was insane, because they are innocent creatures and illegal to kill. Another woman had a fluffed reddish tail along with side horns mimicking tree branches.
Harry was confused with those he was approaching. Were they human? Creatures he never learned about?
"Excuse me," Harry held out his hand and ran towards the women, "you all wouldn't happen to know where La Libertà delle Arti is, would you?"
Confusion masked the women's faces.
Harry showed them his map, "You see, I am lost, or not so much as lost as in I cannot find the place I am looking for."
Still the women appeared to not understand.
The woman with the curved horns gave a loud shriek, pulled her violet hair back to reveal her forehead and began speaking in Italian. She seemed to recognize Harry, and after a few moments so did the other two. Screaming, the women began to grope and pose with Harry, taking pictures for their social medias.
When Harry was about to walk away, the unicorn horned women grabbed him and aimed her wand at his ear. She spoke her speak and there was a loud "pop" that deafened Harry.
Silence.
Slowly Harry regained the sounds of the world and soon the chattering of the women became clear English.
"Do you understand now, Harry Potter?" inquired the unicorn woman, "I am Olivia," she pointed at the curved horns woman, "she is Rosette, and she is Amrosia."
Harry held his ear, "Yeah, but you could have warned me before you did that."
"Sorry," Leia smiled, taking hold of one of Harry's arms, "you are big news, Harry Potter. Why are you here in Rome?"
"Why else would someone come to Rome," Rosette spun around in circles laughing joyfully, "this is the greatest place in the world," she grabbed hold of Harry's shoulders, "even Harry Potter knows this, eh?"
They all seemed drunk, or under some kind of influence. Harry did not so much mind, but not he began to wonder if they were capable of leading him to the destination he wanted to go.
Leia threw Rosette off of Harry then took both of his arms and began to swing them around. Once they stopped she pulled him close, "You are handsome, Harry Potter, do you know?"
"I'm not so much aware," Harry politely humbled himself.
Escaping Olivia's grasp, Harry tried to distance himself from her and Rosette until he was caught within the firm hold of Amrosia. She began to undress him, beginning with unbuttoning his shirt, but before she could unbuckle his belt Harry escaped her grasp as well.
Now Harry stood within the center of them. Suddenly he found himself in a situation he never thought he be when in search of normalcy.
"What is wrong with the lot of you," Harry questioned while watching the women dance in a circle around him, "have you gone mad?"
Rosette lightly wrapped her arm around Harry from the back, "We are free, Harry. Free, free, free."
Amrosia snatched his hand and gave it a tug as she leaned backwards, "Harry, you must accept freedom before entering freedom. Free yourself."
Olivia clasped both hands upon Harry's face and forced him to look straight into her aloof stare, "Don't you want to find La Libertà delle Arti?"
"Yes." Harry said without hesitation.
"Then follow," Olivia straightened herself, snapped her fingers and the others gave her their attention, "sisters," Olivia's voice deepened to a more mature tone, "Harry Potter wants to find La Libertà delle Arti, so let us lead him to freedom, shall we?"
With no more to be said the three each took hold of a part of Harry and dragged him towards one of the arches of the Colosseum. Rosette turned her back to the arch, gave a fierce look and fell backwards through the arch, disappearing as she did so. Next it was Amrosia, who took a running leap through the archway performing a flip just as she went through.
Olivia turned to Harry, taking his chin and lifting it to her eye level he noticed a glowing neon pink heart just under her right golden eye, "You must clear your mind and accept freedom if you want to enter, Harry Potter. La Libertà delle Arti, is a place of free magic, free creatures, free minds."
With a kiss, Olivia slowly walked in front of the arch, turned to face Harry then dropped back through the arch. Quickly Harry hurried to the arch, looking through it there was only the other side of the inner Colosseum, but with a focused eye he could see a magical barrier.
Harry looked around. He had no idea what he was going to get himself into, but whatever it was he knew it was going to be at the very least interesting based upon the three women he had just met. Securing his map and wand, Harry closed his eyes and stepped through the arch only to step through it and inside the Colosseum.
Harry done these three more times before becoming frustrated. He tried everything to empty his mind, but this was more difficult than he first realized. Early evening became to darken the clear sky, and Harry was still no closer to entering La Libertà delle Arti than when he first was led to its entrance.
Leaning against the stone archway, Harry slid down onto the ground and light 'thud' his head against the cold stone. Removing his glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose exhaustedly. He did not understand what free magic, free minds nonsense was. How could one truly free their mind? There were countless thoughts and questions clouding within his head, and the majority of them were now fueled by the wonderments of what the hell was happening right here and now; not simply with the seemingly loons he just met, but with the very reason he was leaning against the stone archway of the Colosseum.
What was Harry doing? He had everything: an enriching career based around his talents, friends he considered family, and his blood family now far from his life, and of course there was Ginny. He adored everything about his new-found life, but if he was honest, it was boring. Perhaps he was used to a life of adventure and danger, and the weight of normalcy was now heavy upon his shoulders. That was why Harry was here in Rome.
Placing back on his framed glasses, Harry slowly pulled himself up to his feet; but with a slip of a hand Harry fell backwards through archway. Going through this magical barrier was a similar sensation of being thrown into a freezing lake with the mist of winter.
All air escaped his lungs as darkness encased Harry.
Swirls of rushing colors flew passed Harry leaving shimmering stars in their wake.
Music…loud and full of lively adrenaline. Multiple hands carried under Harry, colors of neon blinded him as his body was being carried up above the crowd. Blurred visions of ancient ruins streamed with a fusion of modern technology and magic.
What was this? Where was Harry?
Suddenly an alluring, haunted voice carried through the crowd and echoed off stone ruins of the cramped and over-populous enclosed area. Harry was spun forward towards a stage; a floating marble flat layered with speakers of variety, dancers, and a waterfall of illuminating colorful water which thicken into a foam that the crowd smeared and threw against each other.
With a swift flex two immense wings captured the attention of Harry and everyone within view; feathers in texture, but they changed in color almost mimicking the outermost cosmos. A curved, pale back attached to such mountainous wings, and as they slowly turned a perky dark furred bear ear rested upon a partly shaven head. Fully facing the crowd, an ivory haired angel cast her tempestuous amethyst gaze.
Jewels linked with silver chain curved and formed around her luxurious ample bosom while an equivalent quality skirt hung loosely upon her thick, curve-bound hips. Her pale skin glowed with colorful symbiology and glistened with what could only be her own sweat.
Her voice carried, slow and heavy with consciousness, but as soon as the music picked up her words quicken with rhyme as her back vocals echoed the last few words she spoke. Then a scaled skinned man with dragonic wings joined her with heavy verses.
This angel captured him; luring him within a deadly enchantment, Harry fell under an unbreakable spell. His eyes fought against the smoke and blinding light to keep their gaze upon the enchantress. Nearing a wall, Harry hurried to climb upon the steps that led up above the wall, but he stopped and clung to a column when paralleled the stage.
Everything dulled in their intensity; the music, the crowd, Harry steadied his focused his attention upon the angel before him. Somehow, she embodied his desires, wild and magical, then suddenly freedom lingered within the back of his mind. She was free, even if Harry did not fully understand what this meant, he knew she portrayed free magic, and a free mind.
Softly the music faded into a quiet beat then abruptly ceased as the angel turned her back to the crowd.
Cosmic wingspan easily as wide as the enclosed space; all eyes fixated upon them.
A shiver of excitement chilled Harry's spine.
An aroma of honeysuckle and winter rain thickened the mist moving through the crowd.
Suddenly darkness.