Three Silver Roses

. . .

Harry sighed softly to himself. Sunset was fast approaching and his table was still a littered with papers. He slumped back, taking comfort in his well-cushioned chair. It was a wonderful day yet he couldn't go outside—there was far too much work to be done!

He was currently studying the kingdom's laws; one in particular that nagged him endlessly—political marriages as alliances. His father had mentioned it to him before but it was an entirely different story when the said documents were at hand and taunting him. He wasn't ready to be married yet.

"Harry" the voice came from the doorway. It snapped him out of his daze. With much practiced grace, his father entered the large study. He was a tall man with dark skin and broad shoulders. He possessed a dashing set of dark brown eyes and unruly ebony hair. He closed the gap between them effortlessly in a few long strides.

"Father" Harry acknowledged the man by lowering his head briefly.

Gryffindor was a far off Kingdom. It was a land home to wizards and muggled alike. King James ruled the land with courage and strength. His wife, Queen Lily, governed with wisdom and equality. The monarch was blessed with twin princes; Evan, the oldest, and Harry.

"How are your studies?" James inquired nonchalantly. King or not, he was a father at heart and he loved both his sons dearly. His voice was strong yet not in a commanding sense; it was a voice which Harry was accustomed to and respected very well. "I have word that your transfiguration skills are stronger since last month"

"I have been practicing" Harry couldn't help but smile; earning praise from his dad always filled his chest with happiness. "—day and night" he added, remembering all the hours in the gardens when he tried to turn leaves into flowers yet all he got were nothing but silver roses.

This earned him a soft chuckle from the king. James smiled to himself seeing the Harry had not changed in his twenty-one year of age. It was still the same young five year old prince which he first taught magic all those years ago.

"It seems that Transfigurations has not been the only thing you've been studying this summer" he motioned with a grin as he pointed to the numerous piles of books haphazardly arranged in front of the shelves.

"Let's see" he said taking a few steps and picking up the nearest book in his reach.

"Divination"

"Magical creatures"

"Defense against the Dark Arts"

"Charms"

"Astronomy"

"Magical Creatures"

"History of Magic"

"Ancient Ruins"

"Arithmacy"

"Divinations" the king paused as he nearing the end of the row of books lain on the floor of the Prince's study.

"Flying…?" he stated in almost a questioning tone, before turning around and looking at his son. Book on hand, or in the air rather which was levitated by his magic, he approached the prince with a teasing glint in his green eyes. He eased the book on the table. "—without a broom?"

"I thought it would be fun" This caused Harry to shuffle, grabbing the book and attempting to hide it on his lap. "I think I'd enjoy the feel of flying without a broom. I mean it could come in handy one day. Brooms aren't always at hand nowadays. Plus, it's faster than walking."

His shoulders tensed and he looked down, using his long bangs to avoid his father's eyes. He in return kept his eyes strictly on the parchment in front of him and nearly cursed as he realized what the roll of fabric was.

Seeing his son's baffled reaction, James couldn't help but laugh, causing Harry to look up at him with a mixture of surprise and anxiousness behind his eyes—the color of green just like his mother's. Harry remained silent.

James once again gave his son a warm smile and placed a heavy hand on Harry's hair and ruffling it some more. "I read this book when I was fifteen" he said playfully as he snapped his fingers and instantly the book was in his free hand. "You're two years behind your old man, my boy!" he said waving his hand in the air and immediately all the book on the floor vanished and were placed back into their placed on the shelves.

"But I say, you've done quite an amount of reading haven't you?"

Harry merely nodded in response. It was true; he had a book in hid hands nearly everywhere he went! Even when he was training with the sword with his brother Evan in the courtyard, he had a book nearby. Often he would summon the book to him, but other times he would apparate it from and library and back because he found that this method left the book in a far better condition than if summoned.

"I have, father" he replied with a soft smile of his own.

Harry was always more of the reader than the fighter type, especially when compared to his stronger older brother Evans which was the exact replica of Harry except he was a full to inches taller in height, heavier in weight and more muscled in build. Nonetheless the two got along fine, with the expectation of Evan ruling the kingdom as the crowned Prince and Harry will support him as an adviser during his supremacy.

"Indeed you have Harry" James answered "but how about your other lessons? Like Herbology and Potions." He turned around to survey the library before finding the books he wanted and with another wave of his hand, the books were placed neatly on Harry's desk top. Harry fell silent.

"I don't recall seeing these in your pile of books" he added, curious as well as concerned for his youngest son.

"They are subjects that are not of my concern at the moment" he explained lifting the books from his table with a small spark of magic and failing. "I shall study them another time" Truthfully he wasn't very fond of either subject and did not enjoy studying or reading about them at all.

"Perhaps that is the truth my son" James started and paused slightly, thinking carefully of his next words. "But as the crowned prince's future adviser, I strongly suggest that you make yourself knowledgeable with these crafts" he ended, disapparating Harry's discarded books now laying on the floor and again returning them to their proper places on the shelves.

"I will father" Harry promised with a brilliant as he disapparated the last book on his desk back to its original place. His smile faltered as his eyes once against found the parchment he had been brooding over all morning. This did not go without the king's detection. Careful not to disturb the prince's trance, he moved quietly behind him and looked over the document which had made Harry fall silent.

"Grundgesetz als Ehe " he read aloud, conveniently bringing Harry back to his senses for the second time this morning. He gently pushed his son's hands aside to lift the parchment up. It was a document which he was well acquainted with himself. "This is the Kingdom's constitution for marriage"

"Harry… you know that there's no way around it." James sighed, looking over his youngest son with sympathy. "If there was your mother and I would have taken it. By laws and customs, heir or not, as prince of this kingdom you have to marry. The same applies to your brother, more so since he is the next in line for the throne."

"Yes, I understand, Papa" Harry whispered slowly, hauling himself off he chair so that he could stand beside his father. "But look at this—" pointing out the window "—our kingdom is beyond what I can see from here. It stretches past the horizon and into the abyss… If am to serve as counsel to Evan—"

"What is it that you fear, Harry?" The King asked from the side but the boy kept quiet.

Harry paused, turning to gaze straight into his father's eyes. "—I fear that I am yet to understand our people, Papa. All my life, I have been raised inside the castle only to mingle with the people our escapades. They always hold back, thinking of me as their prince and not their equal."

"But you are their Prince, Harry. Crowned or not, you are still the child of the King and Queen." The elder cooed before draping an arm over his son. "They are fools not to should know their place"

Harry shook his head at the thought. "I know mine; it is my duty to serve them as it is theirs to serve me. I shall lead by example but I cannot do so if they are afraid of me."

This time, it was James who was astounded; Harry, a man no older than twenty-one, spoke in words centuries old in wisdom. It was his turn to ponder. What is man but a hypocrite to mock his own preaching?

"Papa?"

James burst out laughing. "My boy, you speak far beyond your age! You read far too many blasted books!"

"Not even half of mother's collections yet!" The younger jests, making his father laugh even louder. The room rumbled in deep throaty sounds while the pair of brunette continued their light-hearted humor.

"Then, pray tell, what hinders you from taking a bride?" the question came much later as they walked to dinner. "You must find a bride and take your place as his adviser for if Evan is killed, god forbid it, you shall become king"

"I do not think I'm ready, there's—" Harry trailed off.

"—so much can continue to learn on your journey." James continued Harry's broken thought. "Your mother and I were married early but we do not expect you to do the same. But heaven forbid that you stay unwed after twenty-five—woe the thought of it! You at least need to start, son. Brides cannot be found that easily"

Harry thought for a moment before deciding to follow the well-given advice. It was true, he may need to start looking for one now but that did not entail to marriage immediately. He still had time; his brother's coronation was still in the distant future.

"Okay" Harry conceded "Now you have invitation, please be sure to choose one"

. . .

That evening in the dining hall, the entire monarchy sat down for supper—all except Evan, Harry noted as he entered the hall. A long table was placed in the middle of the room, with the king sitting on the end and the queen sitting beside him. There was one chair beside on the king's left side which was adjacent for the queen.

"Good evening Father" he greeted his father with a curt nod, before walking to his mother's side and kissing her on the cheek. "Good evening mother"

His father acknowledged him with nod and a smile "Good evening Harry" he said. His mother too greeted him with a smile "Good evening Harry" she said, resting her hands momentarily on his before allowing him to take a seat beside his father. They're food was served immediately.

"Is Evan not joining us tonight?" he inquired, as the first course was unveiled before him—soft bread and tomato soup. It was the first conversation of the night and he was fully concerned on the whereabouts of his brother.

They often talked here during dinner. For them, it was family time where all formalities were dropped and even with their rules and strict upbringing, they could fell like a normal family with an entire kingdom resting on their shoulders.

"He has gone to Scotland to look for a bride" his father answered him, pushing down his food with a bit of wine from his glass. "Marvelous" he commented its taste before taking another sip. "She's the daughter of my dear friend Rowena. I believe her name was Elena" his mother continued.

"She's must be beautiful Harry!" his mother exclaimed after a short pause. "I remember her mother back when we were schooling and she was the most beautiful person I ever saw" she said, enchanting a moving picture back from her childhood memories into the air with a wave of her hand. It was quickly dispersed into a thin sheet of cloud by James' hand.

"Lily, you know well enough not to use magic at the table" James corrected as he dispersed the cloud manually by waving his hand in the air. His wife barely hid a giggled from his comment as she stopped his hand mid-swing in the air. "You weren't all that proper yourself when we were in school" she shot back, enchanting yet another memory from her school days. This time it clearly showed the king enchanting bits of chocolate in the air spelling out "Lily" in the middle of a heart.

James flushed a bright red. "You sneaky woman!" he accused sending her a playful glare as he let this magical incident slip. "This was the day I started courting you" he whispered to her with loving eyes, manners aside and placing his arm on the table to reach for his wife's soft hand.

"Yes it was" she whispered back to him in the same love-dazed voice and the same lopsided smile on her lips as laced her fingers with his on the table.

The couple continued the parade of love until "ahem" Harry cleared his throat to capture their attention. The two merely laughed as they released their hold on one another's fingers and continued to eat.

"Anyway; as I was saying" Lily recovered from the embarrassing display of affection and continued with her tale.

"Rowena was one of the smartest girls I've ever known! She was brilliant in every subject there was!" she said confidently with a bright smile, flashing another moving picture from her memories. "She would always join us fro parties and balls, but we knew she was studying whenever she had the time" the picture showed Rowena and her smiling with big rolls of parchments in their hands after the graduation ceremony.

"I miss my friend so much" she finally said with a sigh, ending the spell and letting the image of the two of them fade into nothing. "I wish I had gone with Evan"

"No worries Lily" James softly touched her hand as he spoke. With tenders eyes and a caring smile he continued "I'm sure if all goes well. She will be here as a guest for Evan's wedding" he said, pulling the queen's hand to his lips and placing a kiss on it. "Then all will be well."

Lily sighed before looking into her husband's emerald eyes and giving him a soft smile in reply. "Yes all will be well" she agreed. There were a few minutes of silence once more before Lily broke the spell again. This time it was a question directed at her son.

"How about you Harry? Have you decided on which invitation to accept?" she asked out of the blue, stopping Harry midway from taking another bite of the meatball on his fork.

Harry avoided his mother's gaze and instead fixed his eyes on the plate of paste in front of him. It took a while for him to answer. He had been thinking about it all morning—rather all day. There were so many things in this kingdom which he had yet to discover for himself and he fears that this lack of knowledge will lead him to be defenseless as an adviser.

He thirsted for wisdom which can be gained from experience through journey's far beyond the castle grounds. He wanted to go out there and see for himself the hidden treasure this land processed. But he couldn't.

Harry knew it was his duty. He needed to find his bride before turning eighteen, just like his brother had done. There had been multiple invitations coming worldwide and he could only choose one then pray it turns out well. Seven invitations and he needed only one. Harry gave a long breath before answering

"I will go to my godfather's kingdom in search for my bride" he finally said, shocking both his parents.

Immediately as he said the words, the enchanted invitations one by one transfigured into different flying creatures and one by one exited the window. There was a humming bird, an eagle, a dove, a bird, an airplane, an arrow and finally an owl which hooted before it left.

"Sirius?" asked James, hardly believing his son's decision to go the kingdom farthest from their own to one of his best friends. "Why in all places did you choose to go to him?" he asked, still in a momentary sate of shock at the revelation.

"Yes my dear" his mother added I worry "The road shall be long, tiring and heavy for you cannot fly there by broom" she said, fearful of her youngest child's safety. "Did you know that?"

Harry fully nodded. "Yes I did" he said "please understand" he started to explain himself, as he disapparated all the silverware in front of him.

"I wish to serve my brother as best I can" he paused looking down on his eyes before continuing. His hands clenched and unclenched in front of him. "I fear that I cannot do this at my current state"

"Please allow me to travel and discover the lands. Let me see for myself what our people need so that we can lead them accordingly" he inhaled a deep breath, watching carefully at his parent's blank faces. "I want our kingdom to prosper under Evan's reign and I want to be by his side when he does" After finishing, he waited for his parent's reaction.

James and Lily were careful with their words. Sharing mental thoughts through their connection, they spoke after the dining room was transfigured into a small and cozy den—rather they had apparated to the castle den. Lily and James were seated on a big cushioned couch beside the fire and adjacent to them was Harry seated on a day bed. The queen was lying down with her head rested on the king's lap.

"Very well" James nodded finally agreeing for Harry to take the long journey to his best friend's kingdom, Sirius Black.

He didn't expect his parent's to agree that is why it took Harry a few second for his brain to register that they had. "You mean I can go?" he finally piped up, after a few minutes of debate with his inner self. "I can go to Sirius?"

"Yes you can" they both said in unison. "The elves had begun to pack your things already" his mother stated with a soft smile, motioning at the flames and showing house elves at work packing his things. Harry couldn't help but smile back at her.

"You leave tomorrow morning at dawn" his father continued, his hand idly caressing the queen's long brown locks.

"Tomorrow?" Harry nearly choked out with excitement. "I'm leaving tomorrow?" he shot to the air with glee. "Thank you!" he said kissing his parent's both on the cheek before hurriedly running up to his quarters and falling asleep with a big smile on his face. He couldn't believe it! The adventure of a lifetime was finally his!

Harry woke up to the before first light the following morning. He was so excited that he barely slept a wink the previous night. He stretched his arms and pulled his glasses on his face before rising to take a very early and cold shower before his trip.

"Harry" he heard his mother's voice through the door after a soft knock. With the wave of his hands he opened the door and his mother, elegantly dressed in her finest robes entered his room with a proud smile on her face.

"I'm so proud of you darling" she told him, as she enveloped him in a soft comforting embrace. Harry relaxed under his mother's touch as they walked out of the room and to the main entrance of the castle and he inhaled his mother's sweet scent it was still the same scent since his child hood days. He had faint memories of himself as a baby being carried by her so tenderly in her arms just like this.

"I wish you luck baby" she whispered to him, placing a soft kiss on his temple. "Don't forget to right now, okay?" she made him promise with one of her devious smiles.

"Yes mother" he promised, kissing her on the cheek as they walked towards the carriage.

"Harry!" his father called out just as he left his mother's embrace. "Return home, my son" he told him, before nearly crushing him in a tight embrace as well. This type of family affection was not limited to partings put for the Potter's they found it most appropriate at times like this.

"You have my strength and your mother's wit" James told Harry "I'm sure like you brother you will make us proud"

"Yes" was the only word that Harry said but it was a powerful confirmation, coming from a prince of his bloodline. He will make them proud, he promised himself as he closed the carriage door behind him and waved his final goodbye. With a final look at the castle, he finally left him home for an adventure.

The ride was peace until.

"Young prince!" the driver's voice alerted him from his sleepy state. Almost immediately after being woken up, Harry felt the surge of energy coming from all round him. It was like he was being pulled towards it. Like a spell.

"What is it Dominique?" he asked with the same urgency. Suddenly just as shortly as the adventure began, the carriage began to shake with magical power.

"Damn it!" he cursed aloud trying to the divert this influx of magic with his own; he knew what this was—a worm hole. With the great magical powers surrounding them, it was possible for magic to bend certain rules of physical property to transport a wizard from one place to another. He has studied this a few nights before.

It was like holding a map in his hands and folding it. No longer was as straight line from point A to point be the shortest route, but a bridge of magic in between the folded pages—a worm hole. He forced magic out of his body to control it, but he couldn't he only knew about this theory but not it real life!

"Your highness, a worm hole!" Dom alerted him, blasting a magical capsule to protect the prince and himself but it was too late. Harry and the carriage had vanished.