Tharja sat at a small desk with a small potion flask, holding a small silver hair, belonging to her beloved Robin, over it, ready to drop it inside the green liquid within the potion. If all went well, once the hair made contact with the potion, she would finally get a glimpse of her chances with her beloved in the future. The other attempts had all ended with the experiment quite literally blowing up in her face. If this didn't work, she had only one option left...The extremely complicated spell in her spellbooks. She would be spending hours on that if this failed to work... Steeling her nerves, she dropped the hair into the flask...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Tharja sat there, blinking twice before yelling and wiping the soot off her face. It was HOPELESS! Why didn't it work?! After spending a few moments seething in rage she stomped over to her bookshelf and swiped a large book off of it before sitting back at her desk and reading. She found the steps and words and prepared the ritual.
Two days later...
Tharja breathed a deep sigh as she slumped in her seat. The ritual was almost complete...but she was reluctant to finish it. What if it was another failure? She was going to absolutely SNAP if all that work was for nothing...
Steeling her nerves she sat in the middle and began to recite the spell she had memorized. She repeated it three times, throwing her hands into the air, and
*POOF*
She eagerly turned towards the screen of magic to see her future.
She stared at the scene before her, her wide grin not leaving her face as her eye twitched and a single tear slid down her cheek. This wasn't her future...This wasn't her future at all! She was about to completely snap and destroy the room, but something in the vision before her got her attention, and quickly.
Tharja was observing a scene from the future. It was not a joyous scene at all...
What she saw was a large man beating the snot out of a tiny child with an iron Rod! She scowled at the look of glee on the large mans face...
"THAT'LL SHOW YOU TO RUIN MY BEST TIE WITH YOUR FREAKY MAGIC, YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE FREELOADER!" The man yelled, slamming the rod all over the child's open wounds.
Tharja snapped and flipped open her book. She searched for a few minutes, joined by a horrid chorus of screams. She finally found what she was looking for and immediately recited the spell, a giant flash of light erupting in the study.
When the light cleared, inside the room was a beaten, crying, trembling little boy and a cursing, swearing, screaming monster of a man.
"BOOOOOOOOOOY! WHEN I GET AHOLD OF YOU-"
Tharja activated Nosferatu, causing the fat man to crash through the study wall, in extreme pain. Tharja knelt down to examine the child, actually worried!
She cursed angrily under her breath when she saw the state he was in. Oh, that man was in for a UNIVERSE of pain when she got back to him!
Tharja lifted up the child, examining him for a moment before sauntering over to her collection of potions. She grabbed a bottle and realized it was EMPTY?!
"ARE THE GODS TOYING WITH ME?!" She shouted. "OF ALL THE WRETCHED TIMING TO BE OUT OF HEALING POTIONS!"She quieted when the little one whimpered in her arms. 'No yelling...' She thought before leaving her study to go find one of her friends.
'I need Lissa!' She thought. 'She is the white mage of the shepherds! Where is she?'
"Lissa, you dolt, where are you?!" She yelled, probably waking the camp. The first to respond to her was a blonde haired troubadour who looked around angrily.
"I beg your pard-" Maribelle froze mid-sentence, and her eyes widened when she saw just what Tharja was holding..."Tharja what did you do?!" She screamed, grabbing her healing supplies and rushing over, a green light washing over the little one, who gasped and his mouth dropped open as an unfamiliar feeling washed over him. It felt... Good?
"What did I do...?" Tharja hissed. "You think I did this?" Maribelle glared.
"I wouldn't put it past you, knowing what you did to your own daughter in the future!" Tharja's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Don't you EVER bring up my future self, Maribelle. Have you no idea how horrified I was to find that I went insane and used my own child as a practice dummy? Do you think I slept well the following week? Do you think I wasn't afraid to approach my own daughter because I felt unworthy of being in her presence? I won't ever hurt any child, related or not. No matter what. Now I suggest you take back what you said right now."
Maribelle sighed, "I take it back." The two women were unaware of the sudden escape attempt by the little one. Who began to thrash and kick, not knowing where he was...
"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" He shouted. "PLEASE LET ME GO! I DON'T WANNA DIE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!"Tharja, caught in the face by his kick, set him down and held him firmly on the shoulders.
"Kid! Kid it's okay! We're not gonna do anything bad." Tharja told him. Harry stopped thrashing, thankfully, but he was now hyperventilating, his tiny chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. Tharja bit her lip, not knowing what she was supposed to do. She settled for pulling in the child for an awkward hug, which seemed to work. The little boy was sniffling as she held him, struggling to keep his emotions at bay. He didn't want this new pretty woman to be mad at him for doing something freaks weren't supposed to do... The pretty lady pulled away, "So... Did the healing magic work?"Harry gasped when she said the word.
"You... You can't say that.."
Tharja raised a brow curtly. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Th-The M-Word..."
"M-Word?" Tharja asked. "You mean magic?" The little one nodded, scared out of his wits. Tharja, reacting surprisingly quickly, pulled the little one back into a hug. Harry, confused and NOT Hurt, which only added to his confusion. But he enjoyed the contact! Tharja looked down at the little boy, gazing deeply into his eyes. He was a beautiful child...Huge, expressive emerald green eyes, messy dark hair, ludicrously tiny size which would make cuddling all that much easier...
She snapped out of it. She had no time for cuddling! She had to stop thinking like this...
Maribelle smiled at the scene before an unfamiliar obscene voice screamed. She looked over to see a fat man stumbling around.
"Get over here, you...you tramp!" He shouted, making his way over to Tharja. "I'll kill you AND the freak!" The little one dove into Tharja's leg, the only thing he knew that felt safe. Tharja, enraged by the mans comment, blasted him with a low powered Nosferatu again, sending him unconscious.
"WHO was that, that BRUTE!" Maribelle exclaimed.
Tharja snorted and picked Harry up. "That 'brute' is the man responsible for the child's injuries." She explained, looking ready to rip Vernon's head off. But as she approached the fat man, she got a MUCH better idea... she walked forward, reciting a chant and the fat man screamed and turned into a small harmless bunny... without limbs of course. she picked up the rabbit and showed it to Harry. "Lookie here. Can't hurt you anymore." She smirked devillishly and held the rabbit to eye level. "And to make it even better, I have a new test subject for my experiments." The Bunny squeeled and struggled but Tharja held firm she tossed him into her tent and put him in a cage. Tharja giggled. "We're all good huh kid?" she turned her eyes back to him and was taken aback.
He was looking at her with the look of GIANT adoration.
Tharja's eyes shifted back and forth uneasily. "Um...What's happening...?" Maribelle giggled.
"The poor dear seems to have imprinted on his saviour." She explained.
"I-Imprinted?" she asked, looking back to the boy, who looked away, worried. In his head, little Harry James Potter thought that the pretty lady in the strange clothes was amazing. "Okay... What's your name..?"
Harry looked down timidly. "Um...M-My name is Harry, Miss..." He replied softly, not feeling worthy of looking at her in the eyes while talking to her.
"Well Harry, please look me in the eyes while I'm talking to you." she said, not aware of all the other campers showing looked up, the huge adoration in his eyes again.
Tharja was conflicted. On one hand...She was a HORRIBLE mother in the future...On the other...Harry was sooooo cute...
Tharja and Harry looked into each other's eyes for a few moments before someone cleared their throat. Harry hid inside Tharja's neck while she shot a look to Chrom, the Lord of Ylisstol.
Tharja blushed fiercely and turned her head away, hiding her blush behind the tiny boy she had somehow subconsciously found herself holding.
"Tharja... Care to explain?" he asked, tired. Maribelle came forward and took the group aside, explaining the situation, drawing several gasps of shock from the ladies and angered looks from the men. Frederick on the other hand...
"Are we sure this is not some trick?"
Tharja snorted. "Fredrick the Paranoid, as always..." She grumbled in irritation.
Cherchi appeared out of nowhere, snatching up the little Harry and spinning him around, gushing. Harry looked around fearfully as he was spun around.
Tharja looked at the other woman flatly before pulling Harry out of her arms. "Stop scaring the kid." She said flatly.
Cherche blushed and looked at Harry, "Sorry honey..."
Harry nodded, hiding back into Tharja. Lissa let out a squeel.
"He's so Wittle!" Tharja facepalmed at their reactions, as they were drawing her attention to how adorable Harry was as well.
"You dolts..."
"Well at least let us introduce ourselves!" called out Lucina.
Tharja scoffed. "There're way too many of you." She looked down at Harry. "Can you not see how shy and frightened he is? I'm...going to take him back to my tent..."
The girls awwed and waved Harry bye as he disappeared into Tharjas tent. Harry looked around the room in awe. It was bigger on the inside!
Tharja, on her part, sighed. "I thought they'd never shut up...Anyway..." She looked down at Harry. "Are you...hungry or whatever?"
Harry's hand went to his stomach, and when he pressed against the shirt, it concaved pretty far. Tharja tsked.
"We'll get you food in your stomach. Breakfast is soon."
She frowned when Harry looked at her confusedly. Tharja rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You don't even know what breakfast is? It's almost ridiculous how you've been treated."
"N-no ma'am... It's just... Do you want me to go make it?" He asked, the voice almost being a whisper.
Tharja looked at him for a moment. "You... Cook?"
Harry nodded. "I...I'm not too good at it, but...I try my best...If I don't make it right, though, you have to beat me so I can do better next time...Okay?"
Tharja tsked again, "Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong!" She said, getting angrier. Was this... Was this how Noire had felt?! Tharja softened and looked back at Harry. "...It's time..." She whispered softly. Harry looked confused.
"T-Time for what?" He asked. Tharja knelt down and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly and protectively.
"Time for me to correct the mistakes I made as a parent... Harry... I'm going to keep you. And you shall be my... Son." She told him sincerely.
Harry's adoring eyes began to fill with tears and Tharja grew worried for a second.
Then, he threw his arms around her, sobbing his little heart out. "Thank you..." He sobbed. "Thank you so much..." Tharja, trying not to mind the fact that her clear outfit wasn't hiding much, and was getting wet, let him cry. She stroked his hair awkwardly, letting him cry for about half an hour.
Gently, she scooped him up and sat down in the small chair she kept by her desk, gently placing the little boy in her lap. She smirked down at him. "So, you done getting my clothes wet?" She said playfully, ruffling his messy hair.
"um... I'm sorry I did..." He mumbled before Tharjas shushed him. Someone tapped on her tent from outside. It was her beloved Robins voice!
"Tharja? Breakfast was ready a while ago."
Tharja rose to her feet. "What?! I missed it?! Well...I suppose I'll just eat in my tent then, dearest!" She called back to the object of her affection.
"Uh... Okay but we saved some for you! Do you want some?" She called back.
"I'll eat later! I need food for Harry."
"There's plenty to go around! Harry can have some too!" Robin called back into the tent.
"Oh...Well, Robin, I'd be very grateful if you could bring it to us...I'm in the middle of something important...And...Can...You bring Noire in here...? I have something very important to tell her..."
"She's asleep but, okay!" She called, her voice fading out. Tharja turned back to Harry.
"Harry... Why was magic forbidden at your house?"
Harry looked down. "M-My aunt didn't like my mommy...And she was a freak...So...She hated the freaky stuff because of mommy, and my uncle and cousin hate it because she hates it, so...they wanted to beat the freakishness out of me..." Tharja grew quiet for a moment. Then she spoke up.
"You and Magic are not freakish. Hell, half the people in the camp use magic in a daily basis. Like Me for example."
"Y-you're magic?"
Tharja smirked, then created a small ball of flame in her hands, which she extinguished ten seconds later. "Indeed I am." She said calmly.
"So that's how you turned Uncle Vernon into a rabbit?"
Tharjas nodded and was about to speak, but the tent unzipped. Walking in was a timid and shy girl, carrying two trays of food.
"M-mother? I brought your... Food.." She trailed off as she locked eyes with Harry.
Tharja gave her daughter a glance. "...Put it down, please, Noire..." Noire nodded and placed the trays down. As soon as she did so, Tharja lunged forward and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "...I'm sorry..."
Noire gasped. "M-mother?"
"I'm so sorry for all the terrible things I did... I promise to change... I'll never hex you or raise a finger against you again..." Noire felt a smile on her face as she timidly hugged back. Tharja teared up. "I swear on my life that I will do all I can to...to actually be a mother to you... I'll do all it takes to make up for what my future self did..." Noire began to leak tears and she wiped them off, turning her attention to the other reason she called her here. "Do you want me to introduce you two?" She asked them, who both nodded.
Tharja gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, making her blush. "M-Mother...I'm an adult now you know..." Tharja chuckled and gave her another one.
"Well, I'm a terrible mother, so screw the fact that you're an adult." She turned to Harry. "Now...Noire...I'd...like you to meet your little brother." Noire had a small intake of breath as she knelt down to Harry's height. Harry shied away a bit before Tharja told him "And Harry, this is your big sister, Noire." And she held her breath, eager for the reaction.
Noire looked at the little boy before her with a tilted head. Little brother...So she was a big sister now...
Harry looked up at his new Big Sister. He'd never had one before...
"Well go on you two..." Tharja coaxed. Harry reacted first, hugging Noire tightly. Noire let out a soft squeak of surprise and looked down at the little boy, then at her mother, not entirely sure what to do. She wasn't entirely used to physical gestures of affection yet...
Tharja smirked and flicked her fingers in a, "Go on" gesture. Noire reached out slowly and wrapped her thin arms around the tiny child. She found herself enjoying the contact. She turned to Tharja. "...Mother...Hugs are...nice." She said, blushing slightly. Tharja smiled slightly.
"Yes daughter. They are."
"M-miss Tharja?" Harry's meek voice called out.
Tharja looked at him with a tilted head and a small frown. "Yes, Harry? Is something wrong?" She asked.
Harry blushed a little bit when Miss Noire picked him up. Harry meekly whispered, "Can I eat now?"
Noire giggled a little bit, rubbing his head. Tharja nodded, "Of course you can." She picked up Harry's tray, then his fork. "Noire, you hold him and I'll feed him." She ordered gently.
Noire nodded. "Yes mother." she said sitting down and placing Harry in her lap. Tharja came forward and picked up a piece of bacon.
"Open up Harry." Harry obediently opened his mouth with a small "Aaah" and allowed the black mage to place the strip of meat in his mouth. He chewed slowly.
Harry gave a small smile, "I like it..." he whispered. Noire giggled and Tharja offered another grin.
"I'm glad you like it. Have some more." and for the next half hour Harry was fed and halfway through, Harry had been full. But he didn't want to be rude, so he kept eating.
Noire had picked up on his obvious discomfort, however, and she turned to the older mage. "Um...Mother, if I may, Harry...does seem to be feeling ill..." She told her.
"N-no Miss Noire... I'm- Urk-!" he growled and clutched at his stomach.
Tharja frowned, "Harry? What's wrong? Is it not good?"
He looked up at Tharja timidly. "M-My tummy just...hurts a little bit..." He admitted. Tharja frowned and picked up a nearby bucket.
"Something tells me you need this."
Harry looked at it strangely. "To Mop the floor? Urgh..." Tharja shook her head and took Harry from Noire, patting his back. She was hoping he would simply expel it all through a belch...but when she heard the sick noise come from him, she knew that he was about to vomit. Quickly, she pointed his head over the bucket.
Harry threw up the breakfast into the bucket while Noire rubbed his back, enjoying the Big Sister position already. Harry wiped his mouth and started to cry. "I don't like that at all..." He sniffled. "I...I thought that only happened when you get beaten bad enough or drink the bad poison stuff under the sink..." Noire gasped and her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Tharja confusedly. Tharja, who was also sad, turned Harry to face her.
"Harry did you eat too much?" Harry looked at her, then averted his gaze and nodded guiltily. Tharja put a hand on her hip. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I...I didn't wanna be rude...You were feeding me...It would be rude not to eat it all...right?" Tharja patted his head, her hand EASILY larger than it.
"If you're full you can tell me okay?" she told him.
"Okay Miss Tharja..." he whispered. Noire was still wondering about his chemicals thing.
"Mother...What in the world are chemicals?" She asked softly. "He said they were poison...Did...Did someone make him drink poison?" Harry teared up but was shushed by Tharja putting her finger over his lips.
"Noire could I talk to you outside please?"
Noire tilted her head in confusion. "Y-Yes, of course mother." She replied, gently setting her little brother down. Tharja bent down and kissed Harry's forehead.
"I'll be right back, okay?"
"O-okay Miss Tharja.." he whispered, trying to figure out what she had just done. Tharja went outside with Noire and narrowed her eyes when she saw many of the girls and a small group of guys waiting outside.
"Oh get out of here you idiots!" she yelled, effectively scattering the group. She went a small ways away from the tent and put her hand on Noire's shoulder.
"Mother, what is it?" Noire asked, now growing worried. Tharja sighed.
"Noire, your brother...He...He's suffered...Immensely." Noire got even further scared. Why would a child that tiny suffer?
"What do you m-mean mother?" Tharja scowled and wiped her eyes.
"You see, dear...Your brother...is not from this world...I was trying to create a vision of my future...And instead I ended up witnessing the child's horrid upbringing at the hands of his...MONSTROUS relatives." Noire was starting to cry. Her baby brother was a lot like her... She quickly rushed back to the tent, only to find Harry trying to put books on shelves and organise?! Noire caught him off guard by scooping up the little one in a bear hug, crying. Tharja stepped in as well. She smiled sadly seeing her children hugging each other... Tharja looked to see her tent better organised... Intriguing. She looked to see Harry holding some of her Magic Tomes and gasped when it began to glow, hitting Noire back with a weak Wind. The young woman frowned when she looked at her tome. "Noire? Are you all right?" She asked.
Noire moaned a little and sat up.
"F-fine..." She groaned. The two women were distracted by the sound of padding feet and crying. Tharja looked over to see Harry starting to walk away. Frowning, she briskly moved to his side and caught him before he could get anywhere.
"Where are you going, young man?" She said with a smirk.
The smirk disappeared when a loud, "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY MISS THARJA AND MISS NOIRE I DIDN'T MEAN TOO I'M SORRY IM SUCH A FREAK!" Noire was shocked. Tharja tried to shush him by hugging him.
"Hey. Hey hey hey hey hey..." Tharja said soothingly, rubbing the back of his head. "We've been over the whole magic is real thing...And since my tomes reacted to you, that can only mean one thing..." Harry began to calm, still crying softly though. Tharja pulled him into another hug, not aware that Lissa, Cherche and Maribelle had broken in at the sound of Harry's screaming. Said women were looking at the heartwarming sight before them. They weren't aware Tharja could be so... awed, alerting Tharja to their presence. She shot them a glare, but the women were too distracted by Harry's cuteness.
Harry looked at the women and waved his tiny hand. "H-Hi..." He said shyly, blushing and making himself smaller in Tharja's arms, clutching at her clothes tightly, eyeing the strange women warily.
Tharja rolled her eyes, "Harry, this is Lissa, Cherche and Maribelle."
"H-hi..." He whispered, going back to hiding inside Tharja's bust.
The dark mage smiled down at her new son, then turned to the other girls. "Please leave." She asked calmly. "I'm trying to calm my son down." Looking confused, the three women left, waving by to Harry before disappearing. Tharja went back to rubbing Harry's head. 'Actually being a mom is embarrassing...But...I think I like it.' The young woman thought, planting a soft kiss on the little boy's cheek.
Tharja tried to get his attention again, only to realise he had fallen asleep against her bust. Noire giggled at how peaceful he looked.
"He's so peaceful..."
Tharja smiled warmly. "Yes...He is..." She didn't move. She didn't want to wake the beautiful little boy in her arms.