Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or W.I.T.C.H
Rebelling For Love
Chapter Two
Constant Vigilance
"I don't have any clothes, any of my books, money, a toothbrush." Lily was starting to get into a state of panic and Dumbledore patiently let her finish before trying to calm her down "Tulip will help you with all that once we get inside."
"Tulip?"
"One of the Potters' house elves."
"House elves?"
"Let's just go inside." Dumbledore ushered the girls towards the manor, but Lily was still fretting "I just left my parents without a word. They have no idea where I am, they're going to worry!"
"My parents don't know where I am either, they're not going to worry." Tammy shrugged.
Lily glared at her "That was not funny."
"I wasn't trying to be."
The girls kept bickering until they reached the house and Dumbledore let them in through a backdoor to a kitchen where tiny creatures with huge eyes and pointy ears shuffled around, cooking, doing laundry or taking care of other practical chores.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say these are either house elves or walking, talking tennis balls on a caffeine high." Tammy commented before they were introduced to Tulip, a helpful little elf who had already been instructed to send letters to Lily and Tammy's families, as if written by them from the summer camp they were supposedly attending.
She got a list from each girl of the things they needed from their home and with a small 'pop' disappeared to pack for them.
"I'm dizzy." Lily complained, sinking onto a barstool and hiding her head in her hands. Tammy curiously looked around the kitchen and tried chatting with a few house elves to learn more about this new world.
"Lily?" a small, but firm voice rang through the kitchen and Lily immediately recognized it and looked up "Grandma!" she jumped off the stool and ran straight into the embrace of short, white-haired woman with emerald green eyes.
Tammy waved, but then followed Dumbledore out of the kitchen to give them some privacy.
"You're really here." Lily cried, hugging her grandmother tighter and enjoying the way she still smelled the same and the comfort she could still give her just by stroking her hair gently.
"Yes, my dear. And I wish I could've shared all of this with you sooner. But for your sake it was better that you didn't know. You weren't ready until now." Rose said, rocking Lily back and forth.
"Ready for what?" Lily sniffled.
"For the responsibility of being a Guardian of the Veil." Rose explained and hesitantly let go of her "Let's bring Tammy, Marlene and Dorcas in here. It's time I told you girls a story."
Once the girls had said hello to each other and were all benched around a dining table with a hot cup of tea, Rose began her tale "There has always been a veil between the Muggle world and the magical, and many years ago when the city of Meridian was taken over by dark wizards another veil was created to separate them from our world and especially the Muggle world. But with the rise of Lord Voldemort the veil has gotten less powerful, thinner if you want."
"I want to wake up." Tammy whispered.
"Portals have begun to open in the veil, doorways through which evil can cross between worlds. There are people called Guardians, whose job it is to close these holes using their powers. I became a Guardian when I was your age and I helped close portals when Grindelwald was gaining power. But the duty is now passing to your generation."
She paused to make time for the information to sink in, but when neither of the girls spoke, Rose continued while holding up a pink crystal "This is the heart of Kandrakar, our name for a universe embracing both the Muggle and Magic world, it contains the elementary forces of nature. In the last few days, you have all had unusual experiences. Am I right?"
Tammy raised an eyebrow "It depends, does this count?"
"The four of you should be starting to notice extraordinary abilities. Tammy, have you noticed water behaving strangely around you?" Rose nodded her head at the teacup in front of Tammy and when she tapped it with the tip of her wand, a small maelstrom was created. Until it took over and the tea spilled out onto the table.
"Dorcas, I know you've always been scared of fire, but try concentrating on the candle. It will be harder for you and Marlene, but give it try." Rose asked and Dorcas pointed her wand at the candle on the table with a look of deep concentration. After a while she set a banana on fire.
"You Marlene, were given the power of the Earth." Rose began explaining, but Marlene didn't let her finish before pointing her wand at a potted plant on the table, instantly making it grow.
"Hah, I'm a natural." She proudly exclaimed, but unfortunately right after she said it, the plant had grown too much and the vase it was in splintered to pieces.
Shooting her a stern look, Rose continued "Air is not with you. Cassidy broke her wand willingly and her children were not blessed with magic. Now you dear Lily, are the keeper of Kandrakar's heart. You unite the Guardians and possess a bit of each element."
The crystal glowed and tugged at the leather string it was bound to, eager to get to Lily, sensing it was being passed on from Rose who had been the last keeper of the heart.
In silent awe Lily took the heart, but it slipped out of her hands and fell to the floor, rolling away from them.
Rose sighed "All four of you will get better with your powers. I hope."
Dorcas shook her head "Uh, recap? We've got to protect the world from evil by repairing holes in the veil?"
Marlene were studying her nails, making sure she hadn't gotten them dirty when practicing her newly discovered Earth powers "This doesn't involve sowing, does it?"
"I've only known you ten minutes, but I can tell we're destined to become great friends." Tammy remarked.
"Sarcasm is her other power. That's not recent though, it's been with her since kindergarten." Lily explained, ignoring that Tammy used her wand to flick tea at her. She hung the heart of Kandrakar around her neck and when Rose got out her wand and passed it onto her, Lily's hands shook.
"What's Kindergarten?" Dorcas wondered and Marlene shrugged while Tammy tried to explain it, realizing that her world was as mysterious to them as theirs was to her.
"Why didn't we learn any of this at Hogwarts?" Marlene wanted to know, dropping her nail file.
"Dumbledore is usually not one to hold information back you know, but he thought it was the best way." Rose told her and Marlene and Dorcas nodded understandingly with a sense of respect Lily and Tammy didn't understand yet.
They were about to ask why everyone spoke of Dumbledore with so much esteem, but just then Tulip returned with suitcases for Lily and Tammy who eagerly looked through them to see if they'd gotten everything.
"Thank god!" they both burst out at the same time, Lily holding up her toothbrush while Tammy clutched her skateboard.
Tammy giggled "Lily, how are you going to fight evil in those skirts and sweater sets?"
"Oh don't listen to her," Marlene stood up to show off her figure in her long skirt and tiny, strappy top that revealed her bellybutton "looking good is as important as anything else."
"What? No it isn't!" Tammy argued, but before it could get any further a large group of people entered the kitchen asking the house elves for tea and sandwiches while heading for the roaring fireplace.
Dumbledore had come back inside the kitchen as well and asked if everything had gone like planned. Men and women nodded and filled in details about a mission they had apparently just come back from, but two young boys broke free of the group.
One of them was skinny with long limbs, sandy blonde hair and a wearied expression while the other was tall, bulky and devastatingly beautiful with long black hair and captivating grey eyes. Rain was pooling at their feet while they lobbied for Dumbledore's attention "Is James back yet?" the beautiful one finally managed to ask.
When Dumbledore shook his head he looked disappointed and stomped out of the room. Marlene pointed at the door he'd just slammed shut "That is Sirius Black. His family is full of dark wizards and last year he cut himself off from them and moved in here with his friend James."
Tammy looked up from her wand with an interested expression "He just cut off his family?"
"Yeah, it was quite the scandal." Marlene gushed.
Just after she'd said it Sirius came back inside, said some things to the sandy haired boy and then headed towards the group of girls at the table, looking at Lily and Tammy "New recruits?" he wanted to know, while his friend politely introduced himself as Remus Lupin.
"Actually they're Guardians, like us." Marlene boasted proudly.
Sirius eyed the two new girls suspiciously "You're the Guardians of the Veil we've been waiting for? You look like you couldn't kill a fly."
"If the fly is plotting to take over the world and killing innocent people you don't want to see what I can do with a flyswatter." Tammy insisted. Against his will Sirius smiled "Oh really?"
"Yeah, in fact less can do it, sometimes annoyingly arrogant boys are enough to set me off." She crossed her arms and refused to break eye contact.
Remus stifled a yawn "Have either of you seen Peter?"
Dorcas looked up from the charred banana, as if she'd been expecting it to tell her what went wrong, to answer him "Yes, he's staying with his mum for a bit again. It seems she doesn't have much time left."
Tammy let her arms drop and she and Lily drew back from the conversation, giving them some space and whispering to each other their thoughts about the whole thing so far.
"When do you think we'll get more information about that rebel leader we're supposed to save?" Tammy asked and Lily said she had no clue "Hopefully they'll teach us more about our powers before putting someone's fate in our hands."
"Right, you literally dropped the ball earlier." Tammy snickered and Lily turned her nose up at her.
Rose walked over to them "I think it's time you girls got some sleep. Tomorrow morning you're going to practice your powers."
"Good idea grandma, where do we sleep?"
Given the size of the Potter manor it shouldn't be too difficult to find somewhere for them, but no one was sure exactly which bedrooms were available. The Potters had generously extended their home to the Order, but kept the hallway with their bedrooms private. Mrs. Potter kindly agreed to let them use two empty bedrooms across from James and Sirius' rooms. Remus had been offered a room of his own, but he bunked with Sirius and the two walked Lily and Tammy upstairs, helping them with their luggage.
"So where is your friend James?" Tammy wondered. He'd been mentioned a lot, but clearly wasn't present.
Sirius opened one bedroom door while Remus showed Lily into another "We don't know, some days ago he left for a secret mission and I haven't heard anything since. I might go look for him soon though, if no one tells me anything." He set her trunk down and wished her goodnight before Tammy had a chance to respond.
Lily was happy that Remus didn't chat too much. She was exhausted and scared and excited and confused all at once and seriously in need of sleep. She hung up a few dresses that she didn't want to get wrinkled, brushed her teeth at the little sink next to the closet, and slipped on her nightgown all the while keeping the heart of Kandrakar around her neck and her wand slipped under her pillow.
After tossing and turning for only ten minutes, unable to relax enough after the events and discoveries of the day to fall asleep Lily suddenly heard her balcony door being opened from the outside. Startled she shrieked, before grabbing her wand and instinctively she knew to say 'Fuego' to make a ball of fire shoot at the intruder.
Luckily Tammy responded by yelling 'Aguamenti' and moved her wand so she drew a wall of water in front of her, blocking Lily's attack.
"What are you doing in here?" Lily yelled, clutching the crystal around her neck.
Tammy was trying to catch her breath after the scare "Oh you know, my room was cold so I thought I'd come in here and let you set me on fire!"
"I didn't do it on purpose … I think." Lily apologetically drew her shoulders.
"I don't think I did either. All night I've been waving this stick around and nothing! At least it chose the right time to work." Tammy decided before looking at the floor in front of her. There was a scorch mark and a pool of water "Do you know a dry-spell?" she snickered at her own pun.
"Just put a towel down." Lily moved her comforter aside to step out of bed and get a towel, while Tammy crossed her arms "I meant for me, I seriously think I wet my pants."
Rolling her eyes, Lily soaked up the water "You're not wearing pants." It was true, Tammy always slept in an old, worn t-shirt that went all the way down to her knees "What are you doing in here?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're leaving, right?" Tammy tugged at Lily's suitcase and was surprised to see her hesitate.
"Why would we leave?" Lily sat back down on her bed "I mean, it may all be unbelievable, but I'm not losing my grandmother again."
It was a new situation for the girls that Lily was the one stubbornly insisting on an adventure, while Tammy wanted to call it quits "I get that, but this is all just too strange. And that Lord Voldymark guy does not sound pleasant."
"And so what if we leave? We're part of a legend, and sooner or later Lord Voldemort will attack the Muggle world as well. Then where are you going to hide?"
"Don't you mean our world?" Tammy tried to correct her, not believing that Lily had already situated herself in the strange situation.
"I mean … what I mean." Lily declared.
"Clever."
"Well, it's late."
"True. Can I sleep in here then?
"Fine," Lily made room for Tammy in the bed and blew out the candle on her bedside table "but it's straight to sleep and no hogging the covers."
Safely tucked in next to Lily it didn't take long for Tammy to drift off, and while Lily did feel better having her there, sleep still didn't claim her. She twirled the pink crystal between her fingers and thought she could see entire tales of past Guardians in its reflection.
0o0
"Our security has been breached!" Lily's door was kicked open the next morning, so early it was still dark out, and Sirius grabbed a dress from one of the hangers and threw it to her on the bed.
"We think your friend may have been kidnapped. She's not in her room, but all of her things are still there. McGonagall and Moody are checking the perimeters to see which spells have been broken, but get up. Moody wants you to go back to the Muggle world and see if her family knows anything." Sirius tapped his foot impatiently while Lily yawned.
Tammy poked her head out from under the covers, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand "What's going on?"
Sirius threw his hands in the air, exclaimed "Girls!" and left the room.
Picking up her wristwatch from the nightstand, Tammy groaned "Five-thirty? That boy has serious problems." She threw the watch away and buried her head in her pillow.
Lily swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched before getting up "Actually I think we have problems, apparently they sent out a search team because you weren't in your room. Let's get dressed, Grandma wants us to practice this morning and I want to have time for breakfast."
Tammy stomped her foot "It's summer!" she whined. But she did leave for her room while Lily held two dresses up in front of the mirror, wanting to make a good impression on the other Order members staying at the Potter manor.
When Tammy knocked, dressed in her usual cutoff jeans and a blue fringed t-shirt, Lily had only just decided that a skirt may be more practical and put on an A-lined, woolen skirt in purple with a white, short sleeved silk shirt. She put the Heart of Kandrakar inside the shirt so nothing would happen to it and put her wand in her pocket.
Tammy had used her wand to twist her long, unruly hair into a bun.
Together they found their way to the kitchen and pretended not to notice some people were glaring at them while they got a piece of buttered toast and a hardboiled egg.
"Does this look cooked to you?" Dorcas held up a fork with a pierced piece of carrot on it. Her brown hair was parted into two braids and she wore a denim shirt with shorts in mustard yellow.
Marlene had also put up her waist long, straight blonde hair and like last night she was wearing another long, wrap-around skirt with a tiny string belt and a mint-green, short strappy top "Dorcas, it's a carrot. The only way it can harm you is if you're mugged by bunnies."
"Constant vigilance!" a scarred man yelled from across the kitchen, his back turned to the group of girls.
Dorcas looked frightened, but when the man turned around both his normal eye and a twirling one of glass focused on Tammy "Young lady, that's not a place to keep a wand!" he glared at her hairstyle.
When Tammy tried to discreetly pull her wand free it had tangled in her curls and there was a terrifying moment when she tugged repeatedly and little sparks flew from the tip of the wand. When she finally got it out she stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans "Thanks for letting me know."
Moody looked at the wand poking up from the back pocket and rolled his eyes, one of them kept rolling, before throwing his hands in the air, exclaiming "Newbies!" and moving to leave the kitchen.
"Alastor." A regal looking woman with her hair pulled back tightly and dressed in bottle green robes crossed her arms and glared over her glasses at the man who growled "You'll do best to treat our new Guardians politely."
Some of the witches and wizards in the kitchen suddenly looked at Lily and Tammy with awe while Moody grumbled under his breath "Better wizards than them have lost their buttocks."
With a panicked expression Tammy drew out the wand from her back pocket and settled for holding it with reverence while the regal looking woman approached them "Hello, I'm Minerva McGonagall. You must be Miss Evans and Miss McGee."
"Hey." Tammy nodded.
McGonagall scrutinized her with a stern expression "That is not a proper way to greet someone young lady."
Tammy did a mock curtsy "Well I'm sorry I thought we were in some kind of war, not a finishing school."
McGonagall drew in breath, but Moody fixated his magical eye upon her "Minerva, you'll do best to treat our new Guardians politely."
Her lips tightened up into a thin line "Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, get over here." she demanded.
"Peter is still with his mother, Professor." Remus explained and Sirius followed in tow, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "And Professor, I was wondering if you've heard from James or,"
"Potter is still out on his mission, Black." McGonagall cut him off and handed the two boys some papers "You're on Hogsmeade duty today. A lot of Hogwarts students are staying there for some days, it's vulnerable for an attack. Take Longbottom with you, two of you will be in the Three Broomsticks at all time, tell people you're there to see Madam Rosmerta, every once in a while one of you tours the shops and keep an eye out for anything out of norm and report it if you overhear something suspicious."
The boys walked away with their assignment and more people came to McGonagall to find out what their missions would be. Lily felt a chill, she was realizing that these people really were in a war and she was surprised to find out that more than being scared, she wanted to help.
Lily strode over to McGonagall "What is our assignment for today?"
She flipped through some of her papers "You and the other Guardians will be staying here for the day, training with your grandmother." Before Lily had time to ask where and how, McGonagall had moved on to someone else.
Tammy didn't look pleased "How come everyone gets to contribute and we'll be stuck here all day?"
McGonagall overheard her and crossed her arms with an exhausted expression "Guardians." she sighed and left the kitchen, having handed out all of the missions.
"Considering how long they've been waiting for us I'm feeling very unpopular this morning." Tammy pretended to feel a chill.
Marlene threw her ponytail over her shoulder "Something tells me you're used to that."
Before an argument could break out between the two of them Dorcas rose from her seat with her hands up in surrender "Can we please not fight? I'm nervous enough as it is." She looked pale and sickly and Lily couldn't help but think that she wouldn't last long in practice, let alone in a real fight.
She wasn't feeling too confident herself either, the only display of power she'd shown so far was nearly setting Tammy on fire, but when Rose entered to kitchen to fetch them she was the image of calm and it helped Lily's nerves.
Rose led them out into the garden where obstacles and practice tools had been set up for them on the lawn. Marlene and Dorcas, who already mastered basic spells, were practicing anything they could think of relating to their elements.
Lily and Tammy were practicing everything from levitation to protective spells and while it didn't prove too much of a struggle for them, they were most in touch with their magic when they were under pressure. Like when Marlene misjudged and accidentally sent a rock flying straight at Lily, she immediately cast a Protego.
It was well into the afternoon by the time they took a break and were served tea and sandwiches by the house elves. Tammy stuffed herself with food "All of this really takes it out of you, what are we doing next?"
Setting down her cup, Rose folded her hands "You are going to unite."
Marlene and Tammy looked warily at each other "Unite?"
Rose put a hand weathered from age over Lily's "Take out the Heart, dear."
Lily clutched the necklace in her hand. All day it had been pleasantly warm against her skin and glowing more brightly, as if the magic she had practiced was feeding it. She pulled it over her head and held it out for all of them to see.
"Now stand up, all four of you." Rose commanded and the girls did as they were told, scrambling chairs around and glancing uncertainly from one to the other.
"Now stretch out your arm with the Heart Lily and say the words 'Guardians, unite'." Rose instructed and Lily drew a deep breath, hoping her voice wouldn't be too shaky. She could sense something big was about to happen.
"Guardians, unite." The crystal floated out of her hand, glowing brighter and spinning around in the air. Immediately Lily felt as if pure energy swirled around her until she consumed it. For Tammy it felt like vitalizing water, but she didn't get wet. Dorcas felt the warmth from fire, but she didn't burn. Marlene had leaves and cool, nurturing dirt around her, but when their transformation was through she looked as clean as before.
Rose wiped away a single tear.
"What have we got behind us?" Tammy exclaimed joyfully and turned a circle around herself like a dog chasing its tail.
Marlene ignored her "What have we got in front of us?" she was looking down and true enough their bodies had changed. They looked older with more female curves.
Chuckling, Rose explained "It's the past of the legend; it resides within the Heart until you unite. Now you embody it."
With an impressed expression Marlene nodded "That's some legend."
"They're wings!" Tammy drew the attention back to herself, waving her arms "We've got wings!"
Lily looked at the scaly, green pixie wings that had seemingly grown out of their backs "They can't be wings. If they were wings, when we went like this," she concentrated on her new muscles and made her wings flap "we'd, aaah!" she yelled as she suddenly hovered above ground.
Tammy and Marlene tried it as well while Dorcas let out a heavy sigh "Oh man. I hate heights. I get woozy in high-heeled shoes."
Their bodies weren't the only things that had changed; their clothes had also been altered. Lily's sleeves were flowing around her arms now and her skirt was shorter with slits up the side, all of it helped her to move better.
"You know," Tammy commented from up in the air "somehow I cannot imagine your grandmother wearing that."
"Oh shoes, that reminds me…" Rose said mostly to herself, ignoring Tammy. She took a small box out of her pocket and enlarged it with her wand.
Marlene dumped unceremoniously on the ground "We get shoes?" she squealed.
"Yes, dragon skin boots. Watertight, fireproof…" Rose handed a pair of purple boots to Lily that went all the way up to her knees. Dorcas got a similar pair in black. Tammie's jeans were shorts now and of a solid, but more giving material than denim. Her fringed top had tightened into a knot on the side. She got blue ankle boots. Marlene's were ankle boots as well in a deep green color.
"Look how well they go with my outfit." She stretched out her leg to show off the shoe easily, now that her long brown skirt had one long slit up the side and the strings that tied it together were now tiny ropes. Her strappy top looked like it was made of a new fabric, like Lily's shirt and Dorcas' that also now had long, flowing sleeves.
"These are your uniforms," Rose told them and handed them all a quiver to tie around their leg which was fitted for their wands "they work as armor, able to hold up against your own elements and warn off some attacking spells. Now to your wings. Air has always mastered flying greater than other Guardians. You will improve a little with time, but you will never be able to fly great distances or carry too heavy objects. Right now you probably wouldn't be able to lift anything but yourself."
Lily nodded "I can tell, my back is already sore." Marlene agreed with her while Tammy furrowed her brows "I don't feel tired at all."
Rose considered her thoughtfully "Maybe you have an affinity for air. Our bloodlines are very old, it's possible yours and Cassidy's have crossed in the past. Now, enough talk. Put you wands in your quivers and get in touch with your elements."
They asked her how and it didn't come as easily to Marlene and Dorcas as it did to Tammy who soon could command little puddles of water with ease. Lily had no element, but she tried focusing on water and imitated Tammy's tricks, on a less impressive scale.
Marlene managed to grow roots that cracked through the bricks of the Potters' terrace and closed around Tammy's right ankle. She sent a spray of water at Marlene, breaking her concentration so she could get free. Dorcas set the roots on fire.
"You can manipulate your elements without using your wands, but you still need to practice your spells." Rose reminded Lily and Tammy who shrugged their shoulders. At that moment they felt it was easier commanding the elements than magic.
"Lily … LILY!" Rose had to raise her voice to get Lily's attention. Tammy had exploited her flying advantage to dodge an 'attack' from Dorcas so Lily had set off after her. She lost control, turned upside-down and had to break her landing with her hands.
"Yes grandma?"
"Remember your most important job as Guardians is closing the portals. To do that you have to hold the Heart up to the portal. You can also open portals, but only in an extreme emergency. It makes the veil more vulnerable and it will drain your energy." She patted her granddaughter on her head, torn between being proud or scared for her.
Lily was getting an inkling as to why being keeper of the Heart was as big a job as commanding an element.
Some of the Order members that were back from missions or hadn't left yet were watching the young Guardians with much interest, whispering to each other and pointing to their wings. For the first time the girls began feeling like a team when they could tell that people around them were considering them to be different.
"Maybe we should find somewhere else to practice." Tammy quietly suggested and Rose agreed, helping the girls past the security wards. She stayed back to let them try out their powers on their own.
The four girls went to an undesirable part of town, figuring it would supply them with some privacy, and did have time to duel a bit in an alley but when the first rat scurried by Dorcas proclaimed she was out of there.
It was getting later and darker so they all agreed to go back to Headquarters, but planned to get started early the next day.
A/N: I know the wings and the veil and commanding elements deviates from the Potter universe, but it is an AU story and I've done my best to fit it in as much as possible. Please review.