Of Faeries and Fate
by AiedailEclipsed
Warnings - AU (alternate universe), creature!fic (fiction about magical creatures [main characters as creatures, to be exact]), slash (guyxguy), mpreg (male pregnancy), Harry/harem (more than one lover), possibly more.
Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter or any similarly copyrighted/trademarked materials, all rights to Harry Potter copyright/trademark belong to J.K. Rowling. I make no profit from this piece of fictional writing. I only claim ownership over original characters and concepts.
Author's Note - As a note, I plan on updating this story once per week if all goes according to plan; however, I cannot guarantee that will happen due to the start of university in two weeks. Also, I would like to thank my four wonderful betas: AliasEmi, shadowflame23, Lizzosaur, and last but not least, DrackenLady. Finally, for those who love my work I've created a page for updates regarding this story and any others I put up. You can go to my profile to find the link to the Facebook page I've set up. Thanks for reading!
Prologue - All Hallow's Eve
Oh Lily, what have we gotten ourselves into...
A young woman entertains the thought that perhaps they had finally gotten in over their heads on something, as even now her hands shake from the thought of what she had to do to leave that accursed house. Her tiny, beautiful baby Theodore squirms on her chest, as if sensing her distress. She pulls herself out of her reverie and strokes his back gently to lull him back to sleep. Glancing ahead, she can see the imposing wrought iron gate appear from the mists that seem to haunt the land. She picks up her pace slightly, hoping that she is not too late to save her best friend, the sister she never had. The wards pick up on her imminent departure and the gates swing open; she runs now and as soon as she's free of the wards, she turns on the spot, still in motion, disappearing from the oppressive air of the Nott home.
When she reappears in the familiar little village, she can tell at once that apparating while still in motion was not her brightest idea. She falls hard, twisting at the last moment to avoid crushing her precious cargo. After a moment, she takes stock of her physical faculties and finds herself uninjured and that somehow, despite the jostling and hard fall, Theodore has not woken. She breathes deeply and stands, making sure that she had not twisted an ankle or worse from her landing. Looking around, she finds herself at the usual point on the edge of the village at the very cusp of the wards that prevent apparation. She walks forward at a more sedate pace as to not cause panic amongst the copious amount of people out. For the first time, she realizes the date upon seeing the children are costumed and the parents trailing behind, smiling gently at their children's antics. It's All Hallow's Eve,' she realizes after a moment. It would have been Theodore's first... But Lily is more important than a holiday that comes around every year, she reassures herself. She continues her journey along the main street, eyeing her destination at the end of the row of houses and storefronts.
Nothing seems amiss; she can see the lights from the living room shining out into the streets, but then... The door opens and against the light framed by the entryway she can see a tall cloaked figure. She freezes in place as fear rushes through her. The Dark Lord: Voldemort... I'm too late. A sob nearly rips out of her chest as she sees a flare of green light overpower the night. She steeled her resolve and ran, not caring for the sake of public calm anymore. She must reach Lily, for she knows that James would have tried to protect Lily and the baby even at the price of his own life. She is only halfway to their little house when a loud boom shatters the quiet of the night air and she runs all the harder. The Fidelius is doing its job marvelously, no one is even looking at the house, they all stare at her as she runs through the crowds of children and adults with a baby strapped to her chest. Finally, she reaches the gate when a second flash of green light illuminates the night and she truly loses her composure.
"LILY!" she screams and dashes through the gate, hoping to at least protect the baby. She had realized during the run that she would die in any capacity after leaving her husband, so she would have nothing to lose. Her precious Theodore... They will take him, surely to become a Death Eater as the rest of the Nott family had. She darts through the doorway and starts up the stairs only to find James' body. She freezes and begins to creep around him when she hears the words "Avada Kedavra," echo down the hallway and she reaches the top of the stairs in time to catch a glimpse of green light, followed quickly an overpowering blast of golden power. The shockwaves nearly force her down the stairs, but she grabs onto the railing and holds strong. She hears only a scream of deep, unimaginable pain and then nothing. Not even the cry of a child.
Theodore had long ago woken up, but as though he could feel the intensity of the situation, he remained silent. She looks down to reassure herself and he looks up at her solemnly, neither smiling nor frowning. She starts forward again with her wand drawn, unsure of what had taken place in the room at the end of the hall. She can see that the door frame had been blasted out of the entryway and blown against the opposing wall. Upon reaching the destroyed wall, she finally sees Lily. She lay against the floor just as James had. She had put herself between Voldemort and the baby. This time a sob truly escapes her and she looks up to see the baby staring at her from between the bars on the crib. On his forehead, there is a lightning-shaped scar that had definitely not been there last time she had seen him, just a month before. And then, most importantly, she realizes that Voldemort is no longer in the room. Nothing of him remains here, other than the destruction and heartache that he had wrought.
She tells herself that she can mourn the death of two of her best friends later, but now she must do as Lily bade her to do in the event she ever died. "Take the boys and run, flee to America." So she does just that; she gathers little Hadrian into her arms, holding him awkwardly while Theodore still remains snugly nestled against her in the sling. She starts to create a Portkey out of something, but realizes that the Death Eaters or the Ministry could potentially track her by using her wand to create the Portkey. She quickly heads down stairs once again and spots Lily and James' wands on the couch; she trades her own for Lily's resolving to put it to rest one day soon. But first we must be safe. She points her new wand at the first object that seems good enough to create a Portkey out of and mutters the spell, "Portus."
By the time the Ministry realizes that she had created an illegal, international Portkey, it'll be too late. She'll be long gone. She grabs hold of the vase and sure enough, just as that hook like sensation catches her under her navel she sees someone starting up the path to the house with their wand alight. The next moment, she's gone and is spinning around and around as the features of the land she passes blur together to create a mesh of colors. As they travel, she hears the babies begin to bawl, but she can do nothing. They're still in the grip of the Portkey and then, all at once, it's over and she's on her knees in a forest in northern America.
She soothes the babies cries and tears and whispers to them both, "Don't worry my darling Hadrian, Theodore; we're safe now." And only then does a tear escape her eye.
A/N - Reminder, go like that Facebook page to get up to date news on the story as well as insider tidbits! You'll be able to interact personally with me and ask any questions that you might have; in addition, you will be privy to questions and polls that could determine story content and characters. Stay tuned, as next Saturday a new chapter will be up!