A Technomancer's Drabble
By P'yeknu
After reading Swordchucks' Dancing With Myself, I had this idea . . .
(With a nod to Hellishlord's and Seel'vor's Harry's Notebook, not to mention nods towards The Real Us and Jeconais' White Knight, Grey Queen . . . ^_^)
"You realise, 'Mione, that if they catch you doing this . . .!"
"Quiet!" Hermione growled under her breath as she continued her analysis of the layered locking charms on the handle that now stood between them and learning a vital secret about Hermione's best friend. "They've been keeping things hush-hush from the rest of us since they got together when we were in first form! And since they're interested in Harry for some reason . . .!"
"'Mione just can't stand the idea of someone like 'Soupy' Moon actually doing something she couldn't beat," Padma noted with a smirk.
"Neither can you or the other 'Claws, Padma," Susan noted with an arched eyebrow as she gazed on the lovely Tamilar native.
"Got it?" Pansy asked as she leaned against the wall nearby, arms crossed. With Daphne and Tracey, she was the only other Slytherin present at this attempted penetration of the Icemaidens' sanctum sanctorum.
A deep breath. "I think I got it, Pansy. Here we go."
With that, she chanted a quick phrase in the harsh language of the Land of the Morning Calm as she pointed her wand at the handle. A second later, a lock audibly disengaged. Hearing that, Hermione grinned in triumph as she touched the handle and pushed down, opening the door to the once-sealed dungeon-level classroom that had been effectively taken over by six female students - two Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs and two Slytherins - during their first year in 1991 as their private study space/work zone.
"Lumos!" she called out as she held her wand high to look inside.
One look made her jaw drop.
"Oh, my . . .!"
A quiet pop. "Miss Mooney?"
"Ne?" the pretty raven-haired Korean girl hummed as she looked up from her textbook to gaze on the house elf that had just appeared beside her private study desk in one of the remote corners of the library close to the restricted section. "What is it, Winky-ya?" she asked as she straightened her glasses over her dark brown eyes as she stared at her.
"Winky wishes to tell Miss Mooney that Miss Grangy, Miss Park'son, Miss Greeney, Miss Davey, Miss Bonesy and Miss Paddy Patty have got into your private classroom, Miss Mooney," Winky stated with urgency as she stared at one of her Master Harry's closer friends and allies. "They's be trying to learn Miss Mooney's secrets, what Miss Mooney wants to do for Master Harry . . .!"
"Quiet!" Mun Aesup - her name was normally written in Roman script as "Ae-soup Moon," completely disregarding proper Korean name format, to say ANYTHING of what the second syllable of her given name often inspired when it came to nicknames! - hissed as she waved Winky down. "It's being dealt with."
Winky blinked. "Winky hopes so!"
"What in Morganna's Name IS all this?" Pansy demanded.
Tracey shook her head. "I sure don't recognise ANY of this!"
"Unbelievable . . .!"
Eyes locked on Hermione. "What?" Susan demanded.
The normal-born witch took a deep breath. Of their group, only she had enough experience of the "muggle" world to understand what she was now seeing around her. Yes, Tracey and Hannah were both half-bloods with immediate muggle relatives, but they had fully adopted themselves into the wizarding world when they began attending Hogwarts six years before. That would make explaining what Aesup - Hermione was probably the only student outside Luna Lovegood who always wrote and pronounced the Korean-born witch's name properly - had created here. "This reminds me of some really bad science fiction movies I've seen when I was younger," she stated as she waved around, indicating the many opaque-glass, man-sized tubes lining all the walls of the room, then the considerable number of computer bank-like monitoring devices that were attached to them, and then to the diagnostic beds set in the middle of the room, both of which had something on them, both objects covered by blankets. "I'm not sure what this is meant to make, but knowing how much Aesup and her friends are comfortable with muggle culture, I've got a VERY bad feeling about this!"
"So what're on the beds?" Susan asked, pointing.
Hermione looked over, and then she paused as the vague human shapes under those blankets made her freeze. "I . . .!" she began before gulping.
Seeing their companion's hesitation, Pansy sighed before walking over to one of the beds, reaching for the blanket. Pulling it somewhat back then made her gasp in shock as she saw what - or rather, WHO! - was underneath.
"POTTER?"
"Winky told me what's happening, Sup-a."
Aesup smirked as she leaned back to rest the back of her head on that wonderfully muscled abdomen, currently covered by a proper boy's uniform and cloak. "Don't worry about it, Harry-ya," she said as she allowed Harry's hands to rest on her shoulders, her own hands reaching up to keep his in place. When they spoke privately, Aesup and Harry always used the former's native tongue; the latter had been taught that thanks to a specially-enchanted lollipop the former had created for his benefit when they had first met on the Hogwarts Express, along with Camellia, Marian, Jane, Achelois and Brianna. "I prepared your doubles for this after Brianna-ya overheard Hermione-ya speak to the others of your would-be coven in their normal meeting at the SGC." She nodded to another part of the library, where the so-called "smart girl's corner" was located. "I'm sure once they get over the shock, they'll be fine."
"They should be," Harry smirked. "And if this test goes through . . . "
Aesup smirked. "Riddle and his fools will soon be history."
Harry nodded. "Ne!"
"Okay. It's some sort of golem."
Susan shook her head. "Trace, I've never seen a golem as life-like as this!" she declared as she waved her hand at the handsome image that had just been uncovered by Pansy. "Even ones made out of the best materials . . . "
"Unless Aesup somehow cloned Harry's DNA."
Eyes turned to Hermione. "What?" Daphne asked in confusion.
A sigh before the bushy-haired genius walked over to gently place her hand on the exposed part of "Harry's" chest. After a couple seconds pressing into the skin to feel what seemed to be a breastbone underneath it, she then reached up to press into the soft parts of his cheeks. "This feels like I would be touching a real person," Hermione stated. "Even the most closely-detailed golem feels artificial when you touch it. This is . . . "
By then, the others had come up to place their own fingers on the well-toned flesh that had been exposed. "Yeah, it's real, alright!" Daphne stated. "How in Merlin's name did Soupy DO this, anyway? I don't think . . .!"
"Daph, remember!" Pansy cut her off. "Her whole family may be magical, but they live full-time as Muggles in London. So do the families of the other Icemaidens. They're as indoctrinated in Muggle society as 'Mione is!"
"So what's 'DNA?'" Susan asked.
"Deoxyribonucleic acid," Hermione translated. "The basic building blocks of what makes all living things living, even what could be normally termed as pure 'magical' beings." A sigh. "It'll take too long to really explain so that you'd all get it, but there's one thing about DNA you need to know: with the right materials, it can be copied to the point where a whole knew being can be created right from scratch." She waved to "Harry." "Only been done with animals like sheep and other types, but clearly, Aesup . . . "
"Grew a whole new Harry Potter," Daphne finished for the nominal "head" of their would-be coven, and then she breathed out. "Wow!"
"Let's see how detailed he is," Pansy proposed.
With that, the raven-haired woman shifted the blanket back to expose all that was underneath it. As six pairs of eyes followed the progress, they soon widened to the proverbial size of dinner plates when one welcome detail soon came into light. "He's huge . . .!" all of them gasped.
"So what's happening, Sup-a? Hey, Harry!"
"They're enjoying the fruits of our labours, Brianna-ya."
"They damn hell better!" Brianna Spinks stated as she sat down beside Aesup as she drew her wand and added an additional privacy shield over what her fellow Icemaiden and Harry had done. All three were now staring at the Korean's glowing crystal ball, which currently was displaying events in the Icemaidens' private laboratory. "It took us WEEKS to get him finished!"
"You enjoyed creating Rose much more than you did my 'brother,'" Harry reminded Brianna as he stared in amusement at the hazel-eyed woman with the very nice body and the gently wavy reddish-blonde hair.
"Naturally," Aesup stated. "We're not going to get into a fight with your coven concerning who gets to sleep with you, Harry-ya."
"What if I wanted all of you at once?" Harry playfully wondered.
"Could you have sex with your own sister?" Brianna asked.
A hum. "Maybe . . . "
Tracey was trying not to shudder. "Soupy MUST have exaggerated . . .!"
"Hey, Trace! Can't I drool in peace here?" Daphne wondered, her eyes looking from a distance as if they were spiralling in dizziness.
"She's not the type to exaggerate ANYTHING . . .!" Padma breathed out.
"Quiet, Padma! I want to drool . . .!"
"I can agree to that," Hermione said. My, it was hot here!
"'Mione! Drooling here . . .!"
"So what do we do with him?" Susan demanded as she licked her lips.
"Would you all like to take a test drive?"
Everyone jolted on hearing that odd woman's voice. It wasn't anyone they could recognise. And they knew all the accents all the Icemaidens possessed: Mun Aesup's mixture of Korean and southwest London, Brianna Spinks' Norfolk accent, Camellia Matthews' Birmingham tones, Marian Rivers' Kent dialect, Jane Roper's eastern London speech and Achelois Runcorn's Cheshire dialect. The one who had just spoken to him seemed meek and quiet, almost like . . .
"Harry?" Pansy gasped as they all slowly turned . . .
To stare in shocked silence upon the smiling nude young woman who was now sitting up on the other diagnostic bed behind Hermione, Pansy and Susan. Silence fell as the six witches took in the lovely sight of someone who looked so much like Harry had he been born a girl - or exposed to a certain spring in a very remote part of the Middle Kingdom many kilometres to the east, of course! - and yet seemed very much her own person. She even had the messy hair Harry had been born with, not to mention was forced to wear glasses over vibrant green eyes that could easily take the shade of the Killing Curse when aroused. The only difference was hair colour; the girl had hair that seemed almost Weasley-red in shade save for the fact that all of Harry's would-be lovers knew that his late mother's hair was that very same shade.
"Oh! My! GOD!" Hermione gasped a word at a time.
"Harry."
"Hm? Say something, Bri?"
"Stop drooling at your sister."
A sigh. "Okay . . . "
"Um, 'Mione . . .?"
"Yeah, Padma?"
"Can you please kindly explain this to us?"
A shake of the head. "Not really."
A giggle escaped the girl that had just woken up. "Oh, 'Mione! My beautiful, wise future sister-in-law." A purr. "With the gorgeous fanny that I could spend days licking custard and chocolate mousse from," she then said playfully, winking invitingly at the bushy-haired witch. Who was now blushing as bright as a Cruciatus curse beam from what had just been said. "Try to think it through. If you want, examine the evidence as thoroughly as possible." Another wink. "I'm not going anywhere important right now."
Hermione gulped as she tried to keep her brain from crashing due to the information overload. Fortunately for the just-awakened girl, Pansy was now showing a strangely Gryffindor-ish side to her as she came up to stand right beside the woman as her hands reached out to gently touch the other woman's body around her face, neck and shoulder. A quick check of a neck pulse made her blink. "Sweet Merlin! You're a real woman! How?" she exclaimed.
"Oh, it's just a magical replication of what someone goes through when one has a baby, although I was never born in a woman's womb," the woman stated with a smirk as she gently took the Slytherin's hands and guided them back to her shoulders. "Even though there wasn't much left of Dad's and Mom's bodies after dear Tommy-boy A-K'd them both and they were cremated, Aesup was able to recover enough DNA thanks to cut hair locks they sent to each other when he was officially courting her; they were saved in their personal diaries, which Brother Darling recovered when he was able to access his parents' vault during the summer while you were all in the Alley. With a little of Brother Darling's DNA to act as an additional base so I could emerge at the same physical age he's at now, I turned out to be something of a twin sister to him."
"You're a bioroid?"
Eyes locked on Hermione. "What's that?" Tracey asked.
"It's short for 'biological android,'" the bushy-haired witch answered. "A genetic replica, right down to the basic body functions, no different than a real sister." She then gazed on the unmoving male replica of Harry on the other bed, her eyes focussing on his crotch for a moment before she turned to stare once more at the girl. "Or brother, for that matter." She then sighed. "So why were you created, anyway? What's Aesup trying to prove?"
"The 'power the Dark Lord knows not.'"
Confused blinks. "The what?" Daphne asked.
The woman closed her eyes. "That's what killed Sirius last spring."
Hermione paled. "The prophecy?"
"Yeah."
Hermione then blinked. "You call him 'Brother Darling' . . .!"
A nod. "Right."
The girls exchanged looks as they took that information in, and then they turned as one to stare at her. "So what would you want from us?" Pansy asked.
A coy grin. "Make me a woman the day Brother Darling makes you his."
Their jaws dropped.
"Camellia's already got the pepper-up potions ready, Harry."
Harry smirked. "I won't need it."
Brianna and Aesup both laughed, and then they perked on hearing a polite cough from behind them. "Good afternoon, Headmaster," Harry stated as he looked over his shoulder at Albus Dumbledore, who was currently accompanied by Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. A look of concern then crossed his face as his eyes briefly flicked towards his shrivelled hand. "How's the arm?"
"It is sadly not getting better, my boy," the aged warlock replied with a tired sigh as he walked over to gaze upon Aesup's crystal ball. "Ah, I see you've decided to allow those ladies who desire you to meet Rose."
"Hermione's curiosity was becoming too much of an annoyance, Kyojang-sŏnsaengnim," Aesup reported in her normal accented English, though she did address Albus by the Korean title for "headmaster." "And besides, they seemed to have worked out things amongst themselves. I don't think Harry has much to worry about, especially from the likes of Ginevra or Romilda."
Albus shook his head while Minerva scowled and Severus maintained his normal icy demeanour. "To believe those two are part of my house," the leader of Gryffindor spat out, her accent growing stronger as she tried not to lash out with her wand at something. "To actually contemplate making use of . . . "
"Professor, we've proven it's really not them behind this," Brianna warned her head-of-house. "Ginny and Romilda are both tools to be used in their mothers' plots to get their hands on Harry's family fortune, not to mention what he inherited from the Blacks. In the end, they're innocent."
"They can eventually recover from what Achelois discovered, Albus," Severus stated as he stared upon the headmaster. "It'll take some time. Achelois is already making the initial healing potions for Miss Weasley and Miss Vane as after-class study work with Millicent's help."
"Excellent," Albus breathed out. "Aesup, Brianna, please summon your friends. Let's go to your laboratory and explain some things." He stared at Harry. "Is Rose ready for what will be asked of her?"
"No one's ever ready, Grandpappy," Harry stated with a light smile.
The others solemnly nodded.
"'Rose Jamie Potter?' That's cute!"
"Well, believe it or not, Mom did plan to call any future daughter 'Rose' to keep up the tradition of using flower names in her family," Rose stated as she slipped on her bra and fastened it into place. "And while it was never proven after the attack that she was pregnant with a child when Tommy-boy struck her down, how could one explain the extra soul presence that was found when Achelois' mother examined the ruins of Godric's Hollow years later?"
The others nodded in understanding; Achelois Runcorn's mother Napaeae often volunteered her time to help the Aurors in magical forensics analysis of crime scenes, which ran side-by-side with her muggle job of being a crime scene analyst for the Cheshire Constabulary. "It's a pity you weren't around when Harry needed a family," Hermione noted, her eyes misting over.
"Well, in a sense, I was always there," Rose admitted as she proceeded to dress in a pair of designer jeans, a plaid shirt - McGonagall tartan pattern, Hermione was quick to detect - and a home-knit cardigan sweater. "My memories were exactly copied from Brother Darling's mind over a two month period at the start of term, just after my body came out of gestation." She indicated the opaque tubes around the room. "All his knowledge is mine. All his skills are mine. All his memories are mine. Except for one small detail."
"The curse scar," Tracey mused as she glanced at the unmoving male bioroid on the other examination table. He, too, was unscarred.
"Yes, the scar. Tommy-boy's little last gift to us before he took a fourteen year vacation from a physical body," Rose said as she finished dressing, then slipped on socks and trainers before walking back over to sit on the bed she had been lying on when Harry's would-be lovers had found her. Once there, she hopped onto the bed, and then reached over to draw Pansy closer to her. Before the brunette Slytherin could do a thing, Rose overwhelmed her with a kiss. "Our beautiful viper," she then cooed into the madly-blushing Pansy's ear. "Believe me, Brother Darling and I both have wonderful plans for you."
Pansy nearly felt her legs go from that promise, just as the door to the lab opened to reveal four other women. "Good afternoon, girls," Marian Rivers said with a smirk as the Hufflepuff and Slytherin Icemaidens formed a line of review in front of the doorway. "Now, what in Merlin's name are you all doing here bothering our deal little Rosebud before she can be properly unveiled?"
Harry's sextet of would-be lovers instantly blushed as they stared warily at the four newcomers. "Um, Marian, we can really explain this . . .!" Susan began as she moved to wave off the Icemaidens' anger.
"Please do, Suze. We're listening," Jane Roper prompted.
"Don't bother, Jane. It can wait."
Everyone tensed further as Aesup and Brianna walked in, followed by Harry. "Harry!" Hermione gasped on seeing him, her cheeks instantly brightening as she noted that Harry's replica was still uncovered.
It happened all at once.
Harry's holly wand sailed through the air towards Rose.
Albus Dumbledore walked into the room.
Rose snared the wand.
The Icemaidens quickly cleared the line of fire.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
A second later, the Elder Wand sailed through the air to land in Rose's other hand as she tossed Harry's wand back at him.
Silence.
And then . . .
"I concede the defeat."
Eyes locked on the headmaster. Hearing that, Rose nodded, a kind smile on her face. "I won't let you down, Grandpappy Firebird."
Albus deeply bowed in return. "I know that, Miss Potter. In the meantime, Professor McGonagall, would you be so kind . . .?"
"Certainly, Headmaster," Minerva nodded as she waved her wand.
A second later, the Sorting Hat appeared on one of the stools that had been in the classroom before the Icemaidens turned it into their private space. As the battered hat woke up, it looked around in confusion. "Eh? Don't tell me a whole new year has started! Where . . .?" It then focused on the people present. "Ah!" it called out. "I take it Miss Mun's experiment was a success! So where . . .?" Its empty eyes seemed to lock in on Rose before it smiled. "Oh, my! I knew placing you in Gryffindor was the wise choice, Miss Mun."
"You're courteous, Kŏmŭn'yong-nim," Aesup stated with a polite bow; her respectful nickname for the Sorting hat was "Lord Black Dragon."
A wheezy laugh. "So polite!"
The others laughed. With that, Rose walked over and bowed politely to the Hat. "With your permission, Sir Alastair?" she said formally.
The Hat seemed to jerk. "Oh, my! So formal! Please do, my dear!"
Slipping her wand into her sleeve, Rose then picked up the Hat and placed it on her head before sitting down on the stool. Immediately, she felt a warm presence flood her mind. «A newborn child, yet so mature at the same time,» the Hat transmitted into her mind. «Touched not just by your brother, Miss Potter, but by those whose dreams saw you given the life denied you while you were still in your mother's womb. Poetic justice indeed. Now, let's see here . . . » A mental "hum" seemed to echo in Rose's mind as the Hat probed her mind, and then it seemed to laugh. «Ah, love has made the choice for sure. How ironic that your desires burn so brightly despite how others might view you when they learn the truth about you. You don't care about that one bit, Miss Potter, for you foresee better things for those you care for and are willing to get them by any means at all. I knew when I Sorted your brother he'd be good there, if only he didn't allow fears others forced on him to influence him elsewhere. Therefore, better be . . . » "SLYTHERIN!"
On hearing that, the Slytherins in the room gasped in shock before a scream of delight escaped Pansy as she found herself hugged by Daphne and Tracey. Standing beside Albus, Severus looked like he had just been awarded the House Cup and the Quiddich Cup without any form of cheating or other skulduggery to influence the final tallies. The others applauded as Rose stood up, taking the Hat off and handing it to Minerva. "My thanks, Sir Alastair," she said with another polite bow before accepting Harry's hug.
"You're welcome, my dear," the Hat replied.
More applause as Rose's new housemates came over to embrace and kiss her. Pansy's kiss was long and full of tongue, and then she shifted herself to Rose's side. "Now that's over with, I suggest we leave our students alone so they may deal with whatever business confronts them now," Albus stated.
"Certainly, Professor," Severus declared, and then he stared at Rose. "Miss Potter, my office as soon as it's convenient, please."
"Yes, Professor."
The adults quickly vacated the room, and then Brianna closed and locked the door behind her. Once that was done, everyone took a deep breath before Hermione turned to Rose. "Why?" she then asked.
"Why what, 'Mione?" Rose wondered.
"Why did you disarm the professor like that? Taking his wand . . . "
"Under normal circumstances would lead to a blood-feud between our houses," Rose finished with a smirk. "But this time, it's necessary, 'Mione. Haven't you all noticed Grandpappy's hand? How shrivelled it's become?"
"I have," Tracey stated. "Why is that, anyway?"
Harry closed his eyes. "The professor's dying, Tracey."
Silence.
"What . . .?" Daphne gasped.
"How . . .?" Susan croaked out, her eyes tearing.
A sigh. "It's time for you all to learn some things," Rose began.
The explanation took an hour and it covered everything Harry - and thus, Rose - had learned concerning horcruxi, the history of Tom Riddle and how he had evolved into Lord Voldemort and what had happened during summer break that had guaranteed that Albus Dumbledore would be dead within a year. At the end of that, the newcomers to this secret were stunned speechless. "I can't believe that!" Daphne finally stated as she shook her head. "Horcruxi are made by the blackest magic imaginable! And if someone was actually stupid enough to create one, that's as far as they go! Are you saying Riddle was crazy enough to create SIX of them? Did he have any idea . . .?"
"We don't think so, Daphne," Aesup replied. "Now, according to what we've learned over the years concerning those things, it's possible to create one horcrux and remain relatively sane. Things like that were done by sorcerers back in Korea for many years, ever since the age of Tangun-wanggŏm. But more than one . . .?" She shook her head. "The more you make, the more insane you become. It's no wonder that near the end of the First War, Riddle was willing to maim and butcher everyone that crossed his path."
"So how many have been found?" Pansy wondered.
"So far, three," Achelois Runcorn spoke up. "The ring once worn by Riddle's late mother, the Lady Gaunt; the diary Draco's father forced on Ginny Weasley when we were in second form; and . . . " A nod towards Harry.
Stunned silence. "Harry's a Horcrux?" Hermione gasped.
"WAS a Horcrux," Aesup amended. "We got it out of him earlier this year when we started to hunt those things down in earnest."
"How?" Hermione wondered.
"Oh, a simple Killing Curse did the job quite well."
Hearing that, all of Harry's would-be lovers screamed, "WHAT?"
"I only just passed out," Harry assured them as they all spun on him, the concern in their eyes burning like novae. "Actually had a chance to talk to my parents and Sirius before waking up. It was nothing!"
"NOTHING?" Hermione shrieked out. "How could you . . . mmlph!"
Her voice was cut off when Harry swept her into her arms and overwhelmed her with a kiss. As they continued to snog, the others quickly gazed on the leader of the Icemaidens. "So once these things are destroyed, Riddle's mortal again," Padma recapped. "With him out of the way once and for all, cleaning up the rest of the Death Eaters would just be a mopping-up exercise."
"Right," Aesup said with a nod, and then she walked over to one of the glass chambers lining the room. "And to help us out here . . . "
She tapped the glass with her wand. The opaque screen then vanished, revealing a tall, slender male body, totally nude. On seeing him, Harry's would-be lovers blinked. "Who's that?" Susan then asked.
"You made a double of Riddle?" Pansy asked.
"Yes," Aesup replied. "Furthermore, his soul was created from what we could salvage out of the Horcruxi that have been destroyed so far." A smirk. "As soon as he's ready, we can use him to help us find the others."
"And it'll be all over after that," Rose completed.
"How soon?" Pansy wondered.
"Within a couple days," Aesup confirmed. She cleared her throat. "In the meantime, ladies, may we discuss some . . . ah, personal business?"
The others blinked. Save Hermione, who was still busy kissing Harry.
"Professor?"
"Enter, Miss Potter."
The door opened, revealing Rose. "Reporting as ordered," she said as she closed the door to his office, and then she gave him a jaunty salute.
Severus nodded, trying not to smile too much at the show of casual familiarity she was demonstrating to him. "I trust matters concerning Harry are being negotiated now between your creators and the members of his coven?"
"In the Room as we speak. I assume we're off to the Alley?"
"Yes. But we'll be accompanied by Messrs Goyle and Crabbe."
Hearing that, Rose smirked. "They need some time away from Drake?"
A sigh. "Unfortunately so. Especially given what Riddle forced on him . . . " Hearing a knock at the door, he called out, "Enter!"
The door opened, revealing Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. "You wanted to see us, Professor?" the former asked as the latter closed the door behind him, and then both stared at Rose. "Um . . .?"
Rose smiled as she offered her hand. "Hi. Rose Potter." A saucy grin then crossed her face. "Nice to meet two such handsome boys as you."
Hearing that, the boys in question began to blush. "I say, mate. I never knew Harry had a sister," Gregory stated as he stared at his best friend.
"Neither did I," Vincent replied. "Her resemblance to the late Lady Potter is most astonishing, especially given her eye and hair colour." He gently grasped Rose's hand and courtly kissed it. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Potter. Vincent Jordan Crabbe, at your service."
"Gregory Alexander Goyle, also at your service," Gregory added as he repeated his best friend's actions. "Though, if you'll forgive us both for asking you this, if you really are Harry's sister, why . . .?"
"Haven't I been in school since first form?" Rose finished.
"Exactly."
"Simple reason. I was not alive, much less sentient, until several months ago, when the spirit of Mom's unborn daughter was located by Achelois' mother and allowed to temporarily merge with Brother Darling's mind so I could eventually emerge into my life at his level," Rose explained.
"Really?" both men gasped, and then they stared at their head-of-house. "I assume, Professor, Achelois' delightful friend Miss Moon . . . " - here, Vincent pronounced Aesup's family name with the stretched "oo" sound common to English instead of the more clipped Korean "u" sound - " . . . had something to do with breathing life and magic into this delightful young lady."
"Indeed, Vincent, you're quite correct," Severus stated as he stood up and reached for a portkey Albus had provided him for Rose's shopping trip in Diagon Alley. "And it's good that you're welcoming your new housemate with your proper selves and not the dimwit dunderheads everyone thinks you are."
The younger men perked. "You're one of us, now?" Gregory exclaimed before they both grinned. "Smashing, Rose! Utterly smashing!"
"So can I depend on a pair of wonderful men like you to escort me through the Alley as I'm getting all my things?" Rose asked.
"Fair lady, it would be our honour and pleasure," Vincent said.
Both men offered their arms to her. "Let's go!" Rose stated.
"Wonderful tea, Aesup," Padma stated.
"It took me a while to train the elves to make proper maeshil-ch'a, but the effort was worth it," Aesup stated. Everyone was now relaxing in the Room of Requirement, which had been configured into the recreation room of the lodge house of a lord from many years past. Cups of Oriental apricot tea were in their hands as they enjoyed the beautiful brew. They sat around a table with Harry at the head and Aesup and Hermione - as respective heads of their groups - to either side of him. "Much that I don't mind pumpkin juice every once in a while, I wouldn't be able to drink it every day of my life."
"Some of us don't know how you girls managed to grow up among the Muggles like you did yet still learn magic," Daphne noted. "For people like Pansy, Padma, Susan and I, it was easy; we live in magical communities. You don't."
"Would you girls like to know a secret?"
Eyes locked on Achelois Runcorn. Possessing long, center-parted cinnamon hair and deep brown eyes, she had a narrow face that was still quite pretty to look at. The Cheshire native almost always projected a thinly-veiled look of bored amusement when she was made to interact with her peers. But her sister and brother Slytherins knew much differently. If you didn't offend her in any way, Achelois was one of the most dependable people you could rely on; some of her housemates affectionately called her a "Slyther-Puff" because of her willingness to blend her own considerable ambition with dogged loyalty to those she liked and loved. But if you ever DID offend her, as Draco Malfoy, Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini once learned to their sorrow in fourth form . . .!
"What secret's that?" Daphne wondered. While she personally still found it hard to like Achelois - unlike many of the other Slytherin girls, Achelois didn't seek Malfoy's attention and openly laughed at his attempts at trying to control his housemates - the grey-eyed blonde respected her very much.
Achelois reached into her sweater and pulled out a folded sheet of paper before reaching across the desk to hand it to Daphne. The blonde took it in her hand, and then she opened it, leaning back to allow her coven-mates to gaze over her shoulders at what was written there. A minute later, Daphne's jaw nearly dropped to the floor in disbelief, and then she stared at Achelois.
"Is this for real?" she demanded, her voice a hushed whisper.
"Very," Achelois stated.
"William the Third and Mary the Second, King and Queen of England, Scotland, Ireland and France, Defenders of the Faith, etcetera . . . " Hermione read the ancient script, and then her jaw dropped as the meat of the message sank in. "Declare that on this day, the first of March of the Year of Our Lord 1692, Our loyal servant, Lord Achelous Helios Runcorn of Chestershire, having proven his loyalty to Us, is declared forever independent of the control of Our Ministry of Magic and of the International Confederation of Wizards that Our Ministry now forms part of. Furthermore, due to his loyal service to Us, We declare he and his prodigy forevermore the holders of Our Magical Shrievalty of Chestershire, to enforce Our Law and Justice in Our Names, free of influence from either Our Ministry or Our House of Lords Wizengamot . . . " She blinked as her eyes turned up to lock on Achelois. "You mean to say that . . .?"
"My mother is the current Lady Magical Sheriff of the county," Achelois stated. "If I prove myself worthy, I will take her place when it is my time."
Silence fell over the room as Harry's would-be lovers took that in, and then Hermione sighed. "So what does that mean? To be a Magical Sheriff?"
Achelois smiled. It was bloodless. "Ever hear of Helena Gibbon?"
"Marcus Gibbon's sister?" Pansy wondered.
"Who's that?" Hermione asked.
"They're both Death Eaters, 'Mione," Susan answered. "Almost as nasty as the Lestranges and the Carrows. No one knows where Marcus is, but Helena was found dead about five years after Riddle tried to kill Harry." Her light blue eyes seemed to harden for a moment. "Aunt Amelia was in charge of the case that was launched after she was found dead in Knockturn. But no one ever found out what had killed her at the end, save for the fact that her Dark Mark had been physically ripped out of her arm but some sort of sharp object."
"A kukri can do that to someone," Camellia Matthews mused with a smile that matched her sister Slytherin's in iciness. "Especially one that was treated in the blood of a yeti after it finally emerged from the forge. Made by a master swordsmith in Nepal for Aunt Napaeae after she helped the Brigade of Gurkhas track down the murderers of four first-generation witches - the daughters of some of their most respected senior servicemen - a year or so before Riddle began his vacation from a body thanks to Harry's mother."
"'Kukri?'" Tracey asked in confusion.
"A very vicious knife," Hermione stated, shivering. "Did your mother have the authority to do that to that woman, Achelois?"
"Yes, she did. And no, she never had to say a word to the idiots in the Ministry about it, even if she wanted to assure Suze's aunt that an animal like that would no longer be running loose in the world," Achelois replied. "Think about it, Hermione. If she had been allowed to live, a dozen schoolmates of ours would never have made it to first form. Andy Kirke and Natalie McDonald over in Gryffindor are two of them, along with Orla Quirke over in Ravenclaw. All first-generation wizards and witches . . . " - the Icemaidens as a whole tried to avoid using the "M" word when they could - " . . . whose existence couldn't be tolerated by Riddle's ass-lickers. Helena Gibbon was hired by Malfoy to get rid of them once he was able to locate them; since she knew how to live on her own and wasn't being actively pursued by the Ministry, she had a free hand to do whatever she wanted. When she found out, Mother felt she had no choice but to remove the Lady Gibbon from existence as a clear and present danger to the lives of Her Majesty's subjects."
"Like the SAS would deal with terrorists?"
"Right."
"So what did Uncle Lucius try to do after the bitch was exterminated?" Pansy asked, her lips turning into a sneer as she tried not to spit out the title she had given Draco's father. "If he was hell-bent on killing muggleborns before they could have made it to Hogwarts . . . "
"Oh, I'm sure he was tempted to keep going," Achelois mused. "Until he walked home a week after Mother eliminated Gibbon and found a package waiting for him in his bedroom - delivered anonymously with some help from Gringotts - containing pensieve memories of Gibbon's torture and death. And a note."
"'Behave or else,'" Daphne stated.
"Well, more vulgar than that, but that was the gist of it."
Morbid laughter filled the room; even Hermione found herself thinly smiling at the idea of a pompous man like Lucius Malfoy being brought brutally down by someone whose power he couldn't equal with either gold or magical power. "He never figured out who it was, I hope," Padma stated.
Achelois shook her head. "Nope."
"So why tell us all this?" Pansy asked.
The brown-haired Icemaiden smiled. "As you can probably guess, all of us - save Aesup since her family are recent migrants to Britain - are related to various Magical Sheriffs patrolling our home counties. But there are several shrievalties that are vacant and need incumbents as soon as possible. Among them are the Magical Shrievalties of East Sussex . . . " - her eyes locked on Daphne for a moment, and then they flicked to Pansy - " . . . Lancashire . . . " - to Tracey - " . . . Merseyside . . . " - then Hermione - " . . . West Sussex . . . " - and then Harry - " . . . and Somerset." She then looked on Susan. "Also, the Magical Sheriffdom of Moray in Scotland needs a sheriff."
Silence fell over the room as the people there took that in, and then they exchanged looks. "What are the qualifications?" Hermione asked.
The Icemaidens grinned. "You have to have your OWLs or equivalent of same," Brianna stated with a knowing wink. "NEWTs weren't around at the time the original qualifications for a Magical Sheriff were contemplated back in the seventeenth century and it's never been changed since that time."
Everyone nodded. "Blood doesn't matter," Aesup stated. "Nor does perceived 'faults' in one's ancestry, but one must be a human magic-welder, of course. Half-breeds - even werewolves and other lycanthropes - qualify."
Hermione nodded, an icy smile crossing her face. Pureblood fanatics like Lucius Malfoy would totally die of apoplexy if they ever learned that powerful magical agents such as Achelois' mother were out there, free of Ministry and Wizengamot control. And thus, free from possible attempts at bribery. "You must rise above all factions and be prepared to put down even your family if they try to force you away from your duties," Camellia then added.
Hearing that, both Daphne and Pansy grinned. Both of their parents were effectively free from Voldemort's influence thanks to the total control the former's family had over the potion supply market in western Europe and the extensive business holdings - even grander than the Malfoys possessed - the latter family held in both the magical and mundane worlds. Put simply, the hard-core Death Eaters didn't want to anger the Greengrasses and the Parkinsons because it would come back to bite them in their collective arses should they ever actually win against the Ministry. Brianna smirked as she then added, "And in the end of it all, you must be willing to protect all equally."
"Hermione's a shoo-in, then," Padma noted.
Laughter filled the room. "What about Padma?" Hermione asked.
"She has to renounce her Indian citizenship first," Aesup warned.
Padma nodded in understanding; like the Mun family of Kosŏng and the family of Aesup's mother (the Pak family of nearby Ch'angdo), the Patils of Chennai (and the family of the twins' mother, the Walses of Coimbatore) still held citizenship in the Republic of India despite Padma and Parvati being born in Saint Mungo's. "What about our desire for Harry?" Pansy asked.
"Pansy, haven't you ever heard of the Floo network?" Achelois asked.
"Or Apparation?" Camellia added. "Much less a Portkey?"
More laughter filled the room. By that time, most of the tea had been drunk. After finishing her cup, Aesup then cleared her throat as she fixed Hermione with a contemplative look. "Lady Granger?" she called out.
Hermione perked at the formal mode of address. "Lady Mun?"
"Are you the leader of the coven who wish to unite both in bodies and souls with our honoured friend, Lord Potter?"
A nod. "I am. Do you and your friends seek to join us?"
"We are tempted," Aesup nodded. "Not just because of Lord Potter's all too many virtues and attributes . . . " - she ignored the blush crossing Harry's face as she said this - " . . . but because we have long known the truth of his destiny when it concerns the so-called 'dark lord.' He revealed the prophecy that was made by Professor Trelawney to Headmaster Dumbledore before his birth shortly after he learned the prophecy from the Headmaster last spring. Since the madman Riddle and his followers are a threat to all living beings, magical and non-magical alike, we must clearly unite behind Lord Potter to see the madman and his followers finally done away with. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
Aesup then smiled mischievously. "How soon would you desire to consummate your relationships with Lord Potter?" she then asked.
Hermione blushed. She HATED it whenever the Korean asked such blatant questions like that; in a way, Mun Aesup was very much like Luna Lovegood. "Preferably as soon as possible. I have long desired Lord Potter, stemming from the day he saved my life from the troll in first form at Hallowe'en."
"So it is an expansion of the Life Debt you owe him, correct?"
"Correct."
"What of the rest of you?" Achelois asked the others.
The members of Harry's coven found themselves relaxing. "I've always found Harry attractive," Susan admitted. "In a way, I was no different than people like Ginny and Romilda. A 'Boy Who Lived Groupie,' I once overheard Harry once call them in the library when he was with Jane and Marian in third form. Hearing how much he despised the whole cult around what happened between him and Riddle when he was a baby really shook me. Then came fourth form and the Tri-Wizard. Cedric sat us down one day after everyone had been picked and berated us for wearing those 'Potter Stinks' badges." Her eyes focused on Harry. "He pretty much figured out what had happened to you right from the start, Harry. And that's what finally made me see the real you." A shrug. "I met Hermione in the SGC later on and we decided that we'd share."
Everyone laughed. "And you guys?" Camellia asked as she stared at Padma, and then she glanced at her sister Slytherins.
"I've always been bi-curious," Padma admitted. "It was a stroke of luck that brought me close to the SGC when Susan and 'Mione were making out one day late in fourth form and . . . " A shrug. "Well, I dived in with both feet right then and there. I knew Harry was a decent sort of fellow; I never bought into the garbage people said about him in second form with that whole 'Heir of Slytherin' nonsense, then later in fourth form when he got tricked into being part of the Tri-Wizard." She thumbed Daphne. "Daph came a little latter."
"On her knees," Susan said with a knowing smirk.
Achelois' eyebrow arched. "They did that to you, Daph?"
"They weren't nasty about it," Daphne admitted, her cheeks reddening.
The Icemaidens all laughed. "To believe the Ice Queen of Slytherin is a closet submissive!" Camellia said with a whoop.
"What about you two?" Achelois asked as she stared at Pansy and Tracey.
Tracey held up her hand. "Half-blood here." A snort escaped her. "I'm just as 'dirty' in the eyes of Malfoy's dad and the rest of Riddle's idiots as Hermione is." A shrug. "Atop that, my family have strong economic ties to Pansy's, so when they decided to back Harry, we came along for the ride."
"My family straddles the line between black and white in both worlds," Pansy then spoke up. "We'd just be seen as the source of a bottomless pit of galleons to Riddle and his fools. And my family's earned every last knut we've got out of hard work; we're not giving it away to anyone, especially an insane magical freak like Moldyshorts!" Everyone else laughed at Pansy's use of Harry's common nickname for Voldemort. "But since we also control many successful businesses in the Muggle world, we're not seen as 'proper' in the eyes of many of the light-aligned purebloods like the Weasleys."
The Icemaidens shook their heads, understanding looks crossing their faces. "I sometimes think Ginny's mother's as close-minded as Drake's father," Camellia noted with a sneer that wouldn't look so different on Severus Snape's face. Looking almost the equal of Daphne, the native of Birmingham had long black hair that shone a deep blue dependant on the light and eyes the shade of rain-laden storm clouds. "Her father's a lot better than her mother is; he genuinely cares for normals. If it wasn't for his wife hounding him all the time, Mr. Weasley would be a good candidate for the Shrievalty of Devon."
"Is that also a vacant office?" Hermione asked.
"It is. Luna's late mother Selena was the last Sheriff of Devon."
That information surprised everyone. "Does Luna know?" Padma asked.
"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't," Aesup stated. She had always liked the quirky Ravenclaw, but her knowledge of what some of her friends' parents were involved with was too vital to allow it to be released to even someone like Luna Lovegood. "Certainly given the breadth and depth of the duties a Magical Sheriff might encounter, it would explain Luna's strong interest in odd creatures, much less her father's willingness to report such things in The Quibbler. The late Lady Sheriff Lovegood, despite her knowledge in spell-crafting, would have kept whatever had been passed down from her predecessors away from those who might want to use such knowledge for their own purposes." A shrug. "Which, in this case, would include most wizards in Britain."
"Being a Magical Sheriff would allow someone to call upon a private storehouse of knowledge, almost like a family Grimoire," Hermione noted.
"Ne." A deep sigh. "Well, much that we're had a chance to enjoy some tea and talk, I think you all need a chance to be alone with your 'Gryffindor god.'" Aesup winked at Harry when she said that. "So we'll leave you be."
With that, the Icemaidens rose to leave.
"Oh, Severus! Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon yourself, Narcissa. How are you this fine day?"
Narcissa Malfoy tried not to smile too much as she remembered what she and her sister had forced on the potions master before the start of the current school year. "I'm quite fine, thank you," she said as she faced Severus near the front entrance of Gringotts. She then took note of the two young men who were currently accompanying their head-of-house. "Vincent. Gregory," she greeted them with a polite nod, and then her eyes focused on the young woman who was currently between her son's faithful companions. "Who . . .?"
Her voice then dropped to a stunned squeak as Rose's face, eyes and hair became as clear as day to her. "Lily . . .?" she gasped before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she dropped in a dead faint.
Vincent and Gregory were immediately at her side to prevent Narcissa's skull from being crushed on the hard stones of Diagon Alley. Seeing this, Rose blinked before she turned to stare at her head-of-house. "Um, Professor, not meaning to be too intrusive, but how close were Mom and Aunt Cissa anyway?"
"Far closer than you would ever believe, Miss Potter," he replied.
Rose felt sweat pour down the back of her head. "Oh, joy . . .!"
"Oh, my dear heavens!" a very familiar man's voice then called out from behind them. "Forge, do my own two eyes deceive me?"
"I don't think so, Gred!" a very similar voice said as Rose and Severus turned around to see who had just joined them. "Because I seem to be seeing the same lovely vision of womanhood that you're seeing!"
Rose blinked, and then she stared in annoyance at the Weasley twins. "And who says anything about me being a mere 'vision?'" she demanded.
Fred and George jerked, and then they stared intently at her for a moment before exchanging looks. "You realise what this means?" the former asked.
"Indeed I do, dear brother. The lovely Ae-soup Moon . . . "
" . . . has finally proven what a mad genius she really is."
"Which means that we simply must . . . "
"Oh, indeed, we indubitably must!"
" . . . do everything we can . . . "
" . . . to get her to work for us!" both chanted together.
"OI!" Rose snapped.
"Um, pardon me, gentlemen . . .?"
The twins stared at Vincent and Gregory. "Much that we understand your rejoicing at learning of the lovely Miss Moon's prowess in a laboratory, but may we please prevail on you to allow us to find someplace where poor Aunt Narcissa could recover from her fainting spell?" the former asked.
"It would be a proper thing for young gentlemen to do," the latter said.
The twins looked stunned. "Um, of course," George said.
Rose smirked as she stared at Severus. He tried not to roll his eyes.
"Ooooh . . .!"
"Are you alright, Cissa?"
Narcissa's pale eyes fluttered for a moment, and then she blinked as she found herself focusing on her former schoolmate and the godfather of her son. "Severus . . .?" she whispered before blinking as her mind instantly recalled what she had just seen before she passed out. "Lily . . . "
"It wasn't Lily, Cissa," Severus assured her.
"Aunt Narcissa, are you alright?"
She looked left to see Vincent and Gregory staring concernedly at her. "Vince? Greg?" she wondered before nodding her thanks as the former handed her a glass of water. "Thank you," she said with a nod as she took the water and sipped from it. "Who was that girl that was with you?" she then asked.
"James' and Lily's daughter, Rose," Severus stated.
Narcissa jerked. "They never HAD a daughter!"
"They would have, hadn't the Dark Lord got in the way."
Silence.
"What . . .?" Narcissa eeped.
"It's easily explained, Aunt Cissa."
The matriarch of the Malfoy clan jerked on hearing that soft voice, and then she slowly turned right to stare into a pair of warm green eyes behind reading glasses. As she took a moment to take in this lovely near-doppelganger of her old schoolmate - with the considerable number of hints indicative of who her father was - Narcissa tried not to break down and cry. "How . . .?" she squeaked out as she reached over to gently touch Rose's face.
"A man named Glaston Tor," Rose provided.
The older woman blinked. "Glaston Tor? I remember James complaining about him once in seventh form. Some crazy old man who often wandered into Godric's Hollow looking for things. Lily found him really fascinating for some reason; it drove James right up the wall every time he saw her with that old man walking around the village. Why would he be involved in this?"
"Because he sacrificed his life and magic to save my spirit from the killing curse that struck Mom down," Rose stated matter-of-factly.
Narcissa's jaw dropped. "What . . .?"
"Virtually at the moment Moldyshorts cast Avada Kedavra on Mom, Elder Tor cast a Desidero Infantis spell," the younger woman explained.
"Never heard of it," Fred, who was with George at the doorway to the private lounge located in the back of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, stated.
"You wouldn't," Rose said. "To cast it is like casting Avada Kedavra on yourself, Aunt Cissa. But with one difference. It's the ultimate sacrifice to protect an unborn child. Elder Tor saw to it that when Mom was struck down, my spirit would survive and remain in this world until such time as someone - in my case, Napaeae Runcorn - could find me, then help me have my own life."
"A noble sacrifice," Gregory noted.
"Indeed," Severus said with a nod.
Vincent and the twins also nodded at that. Narcissa blinked as she took that in, and then she reached over to touch Rose's face again. "How was this body created?" she then asked. "Not some sort of dark ritual . . . "
Rose laughed. "Oh, don't worry about it, Auntie! It's just . . .!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH . . .!"
Rose then yelped as a screaming Narcissa flew right into her arms and swamped her with an embrace that would easily break a lesser person. "HEY!"
The twins, Vincent, Gregory and Severus tried not to grin too much on seeing the prim-and-proper Narcissa Malfoy wailing as she nearly smothered Rose with her hug. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! SHE CALLED ME 'AUNTIE!' I'M SO HAPPY! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH . . .!"
"Excitable, isn't she?" Fred mused.
"Damn straight about that, dear brother," George noted.
Rose was desperately trying to pry off the screaming Narcissa from her. "HEY! CALM DOWN, AUNTIE! I NEED TO BREATHE HERE! HEY! HELP!"
Narcissa continued to wail as she held Rose tight.
To be continued . . .?
To explain . . .
Everyone remember the Harry Potter and Me television interview?
Remember the names that were blanks on Jo's note sheet for Harry's class?
Here's my version of them:
MUN AESUP (normally Romanized as "Ae-soup Moon")
Gryffindor, born in what is now Kangwon province in North Korea close to the DMZ with South Korea, currently lives with her family in the New Malden section of Kingston-upon-Thames, Greater London. By the way, "Mun" is the family name (it means "door" or "gate") and "Aesup" ("forest of love") is the given name.
BRIANNA CHLOE SPINKS
Gryffindor, born in Methwold (part of King's Lynn and West Norfolk District), the County of Norfolk.
MARIAN KATHARINE RIVERS
Hufflepuff, born in Chatham in the County of Kent.
SKYE JANE ROPER
Hufflepuff, born in Greenwich in Greater London. Prefers her middle name.
CAMELLIA ROSA MATTHEWS
Slytherin, born in the Sutton Coldfield section of Birmingham.
ACHELOIS HYPATE RUNCORN
Slytherin, born in Halton in the County of Cheshire.
Any takers? Suggestions?
And now . . . the REAL explanation . . .
I wrote this little drabble for posting on Seel'vor's Yahoo Group website (which can be accessed via his "Homepage" link at his author profile here at the website) back in April 2009 when a whole flurry of drabbles were being posted there and elsewhere. People who've read the Icemaidens fanfics so far should recognise a lot of the themes that first appeared here in this little drabble fic. For everyone's information, this is set in sixth year and when I wrote this story, I hadn't considered doing a crossover with Sister Princess to bring Chikage into the situation.
To explain some of the odd quirks the characters had here, please go to The Great Hall Yahoo Group (marked as "thegreathall_hp") website, where the site master was so nice to collect all the drabbles that appeared on Seel'vor's group over the last few years. Please be advised that you have to register onto the group to get at the collected drabble files.
Enjoy!
Fred