Title: To Hell and Back
Author's pen name: Ashlynn LionHart
Universe(s): Harry Potter and Inuyasha
Disclaimer: I dot not own anything from the Harry Potter books or Inuyasha series, no money is being made with this and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Main pairing: Naraku/Harry
Summary: Due to an unforeseen event, Harry is pushed through the Veil by the Ministry to prevent him from being corrupted by the Dark Lord. The Order can't stop it, Harry is helpless to prevent it and something goes very wrong with everyone's plans.
AN: Sooo, I guess you might have been waiting for this part for awhile now. It took me a long time, I guess, since I had a hole in my motivation to write this plot for awhile (I wrote a flurry notes for future stories in my ideas' booklet instead!) and I had to create the characteristics of some necessary OCs who'll be included very soon in this one. And school. And exams. And the job, blahblah- So yeah…wanna see a bit of what the mix-up of magic and phoenix fire last chapter did to Harry? Here it is! Enjoy!
.
.
.
.
- Chapter six -
(Contemplating Ashes)
.
.
.
.
When the young wizard flared back into existence, it wasn't exactly with a grace reminiscent of a phoenix –despite the similarity of the travelling method –but more in style with his previous experiences with the floo network. Ergo: Harry was spat onto the ground sputtering and coughing on what he supposed might be the ashes of the skeleton-bird he had a minute ago sat upon. The bright side? He was spared the nauseating dizziness of the endless spinning in-between fireplaces. The not-so-bright side? Some phenomenon had yet again hurled him smack into another unknown place/world/realm… whatever.
After attempting to clear his lungs somewhat, he got back on his feet and subconsciously dusted imaginary sooth from his still pristine white robe. The teen glanced down blandly when he realized what he was doing and that there wasn't even a the speck of a stain on the infuriating piece of clothing. Huh. Was it spelled with any of those nifty charms to keep it clean, wrinkle-free, smelling fresh…to keep the scent of decay at bay and do away with bloodstains from open wounds or any gore belonging to the corpse it was supposed to pretty up in its final rest?
His hand rose quickly to reach his mouth when he suddenly hunched, bile stirring in his throat, his other hand frantically tugging at the clasp holding the garment closed tight over the thin frame of his body. It felt utterly constrictive around him, snug and stifling, he was choking on the panic raising inside, finally free to uncoil from the depth it had lurked, ignored while surrounded by the eeriness of the fog-white world and its creatures: he could feel it crawl along his spine, twinning up to the back of his neck. Shivers were wracking his bones as he dry heaved above the lush green grass. Death!
Dead, dead, dead…!
That was what he was to the eyes of all these persons who saw him fall through the Veil and did nothing nor utter even a feeble protest when a child –an underage wizard! –was calmly brought to his meet end right in front of them. What was wrong with these people? He had barely hit his sixteenth summer that night, he had been 'killed' on his sixteenth birthday in front of a plethora of Ministry employee, enemies and allies, in front of his best friend's father and the headmaster of his own school, someone who knew him for about half a decade!
There had been no miraculous rescue, no last minute attempt to sway the verdict on his behalf, not even the comfort of a last friendly embrace, no… nothing except a shiny trinket dangling at his ankle like a chainless shackle.
And they had draped him in the very robe they traditionally put their deceased in when the time came for funerals. Clothing meant for the dead ones to wear in a last homage to their life among the livings. He had been a dead man walking, on display for the 'mourners' convoked to witness his legal murder.
The moment he wore the white robe his fate was set.
Harry finally got the last fastening to open and wrenched the robe from his back over his head, abandoning it in a heap at his feet while he staggered back in horror at what it represented warping his arms around himself in meager comfort to stall the tremors still wracking his limbs.
His unsteady escape stopped once his back hit the rough bark of a tree and he slipped down the length of its sturdy presence until he sat on the tangled roots, shoulders trembling and eyes blurry with the beginning of tears.
He was alone again.
They had…discarded him from their lives, from their world…his world, his parents' world, Sirius'… They didn't want him anymore; they thought Voldemort had infected him, might control his mind one day and use him in one of his nefarious plots. 'Why? Why am I always…why do they always cast me aside? At every hint of something…strange, unusual, or supposedly dark I'm drowned in accusing stares, suspicion, fearful glances. Don't they see I'm scared too? No one explain anything and they stay there and watch and wait until I meet their expectations, their image of the shinning hero battling the Dark and saving the day.' He let out a chortling sob, unseeing eyes glued to the bungle of white cloth shed on the verdant carpet of the clearing. 'At least the Dursleys…at least with them I already knew they didn't want me. I didn't know then that there was something better out there, just waiting for me to grow up. The wizarding world…Hogwart…it was my haven and finding about Sirius only made it all better until…until it was all taken away.'
Now, he had nothing.
His hair hung like a dark curtain over his eyes when he let his head fall to the side, listless, a ragged breath on his lips.
He had no one, nothing to call his own except Sirius' last gift and the clothes –no, not his, not his, theirs, they didn't belong to him…he didn't want them –on his back and he was stranded in another world.
'I suppose I'm lucky, considering. I'm still alive; again, I live again when I wasn't supposed to.' A faint hysterical sound escaped him. 'I really am the Boy-Who-Lived aren't I? There's no escaping that one anywhere…'
He breathed in slowly, holding then releasing the air in a steady rhythm. Once the shivers had abated and he didn't quite feel like spilling his gut on the grass the moment he got up, Harry brought his legs under him and grabbed what he could of the trunk to help lift himself off the grass.
Upright, he leaned slightly to press his forehead to the bark, the distinctive texture grounding him further. Then, the teen rubbed his face with both hands before shaking his head to clear his mind a little more. It didn't work.
He was feeling all out of sort, but one thing was obvious: he had to move. He needed to find out where he had landed and try to get in contact with civilization if it was at all possible. Or even an option. If not…well, trying to survive with all odds against him wasn't exactly something new for him, was it?
Giving up and submitting to the whims of Fate had never crossed his mind before; it certainly wouldn't do so now of all times.
If the wizarding world thought they didn't need him, he certainly didn't need them. He was his own man from now on.
…
Miles away from a particular clearing encompassed by thriving greenery, and quite a distance from the nearest village, a dark haired teenage girl suddenly stopped walking and jerked her head up to the west, startling her companions who eyed her worriedly.
There was something stirring in the air, disturbing the quiet flow of life in a familiar way, but one she couldn't quite grasp clearly, lingering just at the edge of her awareness. Was that…?
A burst of energy suddenly echoed back, screaming to her senses in an eerie pattern she quickly recognized: someone had used the powers of the Sacred Jewel in a huge blast and what she got here were merely the last remnants of the energy that had been deployed for whatever purpose they were initially intended.
She didn't know what and that worried her. For such a massive output to be needed…nothing good would come out of it she was sure.
Her eyebrows furrowed when she realized it came from the direction opposite to where they were currently headed to. She was ready to alert her friends when a strange…'tingle' resonated along the familiar energy of the Shikon no Tama, smoothly covering any trace possibly leading to a new shard. Her mouth was barely beginning to form the first word of a forewarning when the odd power gave one last pulse, like a beckon, before shutting off completely, erasing itself neatly from her sixth sense's radar.
She stood there, befuddled for a moment, and then dropped the news to her companions.
With a great deal of hesitation and reluctance, they nonetheless decided to continue their journey and keep a look-out for a repeat of the phenomena. They were close to their destination and on a serious lead for information on Naraku's current hideout; they couldn't just let it go right now, and add to that that Kagome couldn't sense anything else from whatever it was… Continuing was the best option.
Beside, it might be another plot of the malicious demon to lure them astray from their hunt. Again. Better not take any chances; if the energy manifested itself anew on their path or if nothing came out of their venture, they might just go and investigate further.
They had already wasted enough time deliberating so Kagome hoped onto Inuyasha's back at a casual motion of his hand while her friends straddled the transformed nekomata.
With haste, they set off onto the road in a flurry of paws and feet pounding the hard soil and sending light clouds of dust flying in their wake.
…
The sun was still somewhat and the young wizard making his way through the thick canopy was quickly growing weary.
He persisted, one foot after the other, stubborn yet careful of what might be hidden beneath the numerous bushes cluttering the forest's floor some ripe with unknown berries, others tangled with the occasional brambles.
If asked, he would have had no trouble admitting he was seriously lost.
Harry only had the vaguest notion that he should try to find some source of running waters; maybe a stream or a river, and follow it until he reached- what? A settlement? Or until he met another human or a strange creature like the one stuck to the giant skeleton? A being which, by the way, had been all too eager to mash him into a pulp with some sort of diamond arrows before saying a single word to his face. Right. Better not going any further with that thought or he'll burst a nerve from anxiety before going anywhere…
…and it didn't even speak in English! It was some sort of vowely language that-
Unfortunately, his moment of distraction was all it took for Harry's unique brand of luck to kick in and take a hold of the situation. A single wrong step, a conveniently place root and the teen was just at the right angle.
He tripped.
Missed by a hair's breath the branch he tried to grab to stop his fall.
Slipped onto the only patch of wet moss for miles around.
And then tumbled down a steep slope just few awkward feet to his left.
Which he eventually discovered had hid the very stream he had been looking for all along by rolling right in the middle of it in a great splash of water.
Coughing icy cold water, it was a very pitiful looking wizard who discovered that his much hated set of robes was not waterproofed. He had donned the white atrocity again despite his aversion because it could be useful until he managed to get something else to wear. He could use it as a makeshift blanket to sleep or bungle it into a pillow or rip it to shreds and make some self-cleaning bandages if he ever got hurt while exploring. He wasn't stupid enough to dismiss whatever slim resources he had simply because he was disgusted by a matter of symbolism. But the dratted thing was apparently useless as a raincoat.
The teen sat there, unmoving, water droplets sliding down his face and back into the stream while he gave an affronted glare toward the spot of disturbed vegetation he had barreled from.
Bloody glorified overgrown weeds conspiring against him.
He growled lowly in his frustration, looking for all the world like a drowned cat with his longish hair and soaked clothes stuck to him like a second skin.
He would have found the Merlin damned stream without having to fall into the cursed thing! He would have! ...Eventually.
If he didn't know any better, he would have thought…no…not possible. He wasn't given anything to drink or eat at the Ministry, so his 'good fortune' couldn't be from some sort of luck potion if such a thing even existed. Unless he fell into it as a baby?
He rose to his hands and knees –and wasn't he spending a lot of time on them lately? –then wobbly stood and clambered out of the wannabe river.
When Harry was back to the relative comfort of dry grounds, he…sighed.
A big lungful of air fleeing from his mouth just like his drive to continue marching through the shrubbery was doing too. He was tired. The strain of the last few hours was finally catching up in one big lump.
Shoulders dropping, he painstakingly un-wrapped the wet robe clinging to the formal shirt and pants he wore underneath. The thing was then negligently spread to dry on a sturdy bush growing nearby in the sun; it had brownish green leaves and small red fruits hanging in grapes, but it wasn't like it was going to stain the magical clothe. He could care less if it did anyway.
The will to find out more about his situation was still there and he hadn't given up! He just needed a bit of a break to gather his strength and rest. Beside, his clothes were dripping with water that added a certain weight and discomfort to his movements so it was a good idea to wait for everything to dry somewhat. Right?
Fingering the mother of pearl buttons of the white –did you expect another color? –dress shirt, the teen decided against removing it in case something dangerous came by and he had to move quickly and far away. Lying about naked in a forest wasn't smart by any means as he didn't fancy having to run for his life starker in the bushes. That's just nasty. 'And I didn't try and imagine that. Nope. Ugh…Perish the thought!' He shuddered in dread over the possibility.
Nonetheless, he took the risk of removing his shoes and socks since he knew from experience they were a real nightmare to dry off. It just takes sooo long without a handy spell at hand.
'I miss my wand.' He thought glumly, sitting down on a large flat rock pleasantly warm from the sun's rays. A part of it was halfway in the running water but the stream wasn't strong enough to wash over it.
Annoying strands of hairs were stuck to his neck, reaching across his throat and his bangs were stubbornly hugging half of his face, and the snug fit was starting to bother him. Therefore, Harry took to the obvious task of gathering the whole mess into a tail over his shoulder and wrung the water thoroughly out of it. He stopped in stunned surprise by the simple fact that he could to do so. 'What the-? I have short hair, like really short barely-under-the-ears kind of short. I never had anything different since aunt Petunia's failed attempt at a haircut! Did the freak-fire earlier burnt me bald and it just grew back a bit longer? Like that time she left me with only a fringe to hide the scar? But…even then it just got back to normal length in the morning.' He tugged roughly on the handful, yelping disconcertingly as the pain was real enough to convince him that yes it was rooted to his head and no it wouldn't come off if he tried that again a bit harder. It will hurt more, that's all.
'Great.' He huffed. 'With my luck, it won't be the only thing that changed–'
Hastily, the young wizard plunged down to his elbows on the flat stone then sprawled on his stomach, the joints of his fingers already white from gripping the rock's edge on the stream' side. Peering intensely at the crystal clear liquid as if it was a mirror –the only thing of the available in this situation –he took stock of his appearance.
Longish black hair? Check.
Ears? Not pointy or fishy like? Check.
Mouth?No teeth missing, no fangs, no forked tongue? Check. He sighed a bit in relief at that. '…Wait a minute–! '
Nose? ...Check! Still there; he wasn't Voldy infected.
And his eyes? No weird color change? Che… 'What's that?'
Harry leaned forward a bit more, the tip of his nose brushing the cold stream in his effort to get a better view. He would have sworn he saw something… He gasped. There! Were his pupils slanted? They didn't seem quite round anymore, but the water made it hard to see the middle of the deep green of his irises. And were where his glasses? A disbelieving hand patted the space over his eyelids then over the ridge of his nose. All this time since he appeared here and he didn't have his glasses on? And he could see perfectly well? That…that was probably the best –and only –good news of the day! He probably lost them trying to evade the diamond spears earlier. He could tolerate the change of shape with a result like that.
A finger slid delicately along a thin silvery trail at his temple, not quite a scar it looked more like a shimmer of light fused on a patch of skin. It could have been worse considering the size of the projectile. Pondering on his healed wound –any trace of blood was absent from his face and hand too! –the teen wasn't sure if he was ready yet to discover what other surprises the obviously magical flames might have left on him.
Lifting his eyes to the sky, he rolled onto his back to watch the clouds move around in the wind; he really needed that little break.
…
The sun had passed the midday point in the sky and the quietly slumbering wizard furrowed his brow, body turning on its side, and his bent knees coming up a little closer to his chest. His breathing was even, coming out in peaceful huffs and he had remained like this for several hours, soaking up the warm rays, his rest unperturbed by nightmarish visions for the first time in a long while. He had stayed, thus far, miraculously undisturbed by the dangerous local wildlife and other malicious predators roaming the forest.
He didn't even twitch when the shadow of some big shape flying high above blocked the light briefly as whatever it was sped up, soaring in the air while smoothly angling itself for a landing. And what a curious sight it was! Nothing in the wizarding world Harry knew of had its likeness: a carriage of fine wood adorned with sculptures and paintings of fantastic beasts, the entrance at the end covered by a heavy cloth of some kind which was decorated in rich embroideries and led by two enormous snakes pulling the whole contraption across the sky. The picture was complete with the addition of an eerie green smoke trailing both the reptiles and their burden.
Alas, the raven haired teen saw none of the eye-catching arrival.
…
Soon, Harry was gradually shifting into a half-awake state; the hardness of his resting place not bothering him in the least, but sleep was starting to loosen its grasp. Lazily, the teen opened his vivid green eyes into barely seen slits and peered between his lashes at the bubbling water jolly sparkling in the sunlight.
He caught a matching mass of tiny sparkles from the corner of his eyes and wondered hazily why in Merlin's name his hair was imitating a miniature night sky in plain daylight. He didn't dwell on it for too long; his mind was pleasantly blank, not yet aware enough to worry about his new find and, well, it was just hair. He wasn't too anxious since it seemed like another more cosmetic change to add to the list. If his bangs started to show sign of strangling him –like that beastly Pouch hanging on his neck –he'd start worrying a bit.
Till then he was blissfully content to linger between sleep and daydream. After all, a lot had happened that day and he didn't know when he'll get the chance to relax next. He had been condemned to death, betrayed?, woke up in at least three different worlds –the void, the dead one, and here –he had gained a shiny new set of bruises, had been assaulted by a creature made of diamond, was put on fire then seemingly disintegrated, got lost in a forest with an utterly empty stomach…Did he forget something– Oh. And fell into a river. A very small one, true, but he still got soaked to the bones.
He grumbled sleepily.
Hypnotized by the play of lights skirting on the stream' surface, he was understandably a bit out of it when the head of a bright yellow giant of a snake emerged from the water to hover menacingly above his vulnerable form. Its jaw was gapping open, fangs slowly dripping venom and its whole demeanor was poised to strike the defenseless prey conveniently lying still right in from of it.
Easy kil– .
Until said little morsel decided to open its mouth and hiss sloppily.
In a speech the great serpent clearly understood.
"Move…You're h'din the sssun…"
.
oOoOo
.
NB: Angtsy, angtsy, I know but he had to get rid of the aftermath's buildup so better sooner then later. Now, the teary parts are done and I'll just point out that he isn't normally so prone to breakdowns: it took the death of someone he think of as family and an inevitable death sentence to himself by people he was supposed to fight for to save.
- With that out of the way, I'm sure those who look for this kind of thing noticed I use the word 'radar' in a era related to feudal Japan? That one is justified since the part is oriented toward Kagome's pov and she come from the 20th century. One thing I totally hate to read is a story set in an ancient time where the vocabulary slips into modern figure of speech… I have read a LotR fanfic once in which one of the knights was 'built like a tank' come on guys… a tank: they have horses and carriages out there!
- Daku-DarkNess316 : Well, we see a bit of the hair you asked about previously. I'm not sure if it's worth writing in the story since it's more a technical detail but here's for you: when the diamond spears explode on his landing point, Harry is covered with bits and dust of the stuff and I wrote that he gather some and put it in the Pouch, yeah? Sand is horrible to get rid of without washing the hair so there still are specks of diamond in his locks when the merge with the Shard's power happen and the phoenix fire whisk him away. I pictured in my mind that the magical fire melted the diamond (a stone pure like a phoenix so it's not an impurity it'll get rid of) into his hair strands along with the other things it did. So his hair will always look uniquely otherworldly like a night sky and it'll help with a part of the plot coming up. You'll see. But like I said…I mainly did it because I liked the idea hehe… :)
PS: Did someone see the hint to Obelix's magic potion incident? I couldn't help it. And Harry don't know yet about the FF luck potion since it only show up in 6th year…but his cousin has lots of comics.
How'd you like it?
~Ashlynn