Warning: Badly translated Romanian and Slovak. I do not speak either of these languages and am relying completely on Google translate. If you have a better translation, please let me know.
Title: Nightmares of Reality: Part the Second
Author: Claire (.morbidity)
Rating: T
Genre: Family/Tragedy
Pairings: Probably no pairings. I think. A part from the obvious ones – e.g. between married couples. But a Pairing Warning: none of the relationships will be nice. They'll probably all come crashing down. The main ones that I've figured out are LE/JP and LE/SS.
In case you were wondering, no: there will not be a Harry/Lily pairing.
Warnings: Probably eventual murder, insanity (not the happy kind so prevalent in fanfics: the scary, dark, serious talk with your psychiatrist kind), death, torture, character death, nastiness in general, in this chapter specifically there are possibly horrendous translations and, naturally, some spoilers for the books (oh Merlin, the main character is called Harry!).
So… The rating right now is T. It's quite possible that at some point it will go up to M.
Warning: Badly translated Romanian and Slovak. I do not speak either of these languages and am relying completely on Google translate. If you have a better translation, please let me know.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR.
Extended Summary: The Potters were living the dream: they had two powerful sons, one beautiful daughter and a public ready to bow to their every whim. Lily works, while James cares for their twin sons and daughter. Ethan, their son, killed Voldemort but he has grown up a sweet child, away from all the media. The life of the Potters is truly a dream come true. But Harry's dreams aren't the happy kind.
Notes: Warning: Badly translated Romanian and Slovak. I do not speak either of these languages and am relying completely on Google translate. If you have a better translation, please let me know. I know I'm saying this a lot, but I want to make sure it's clear and so I'm copy and pasting it all over the author's notes – which I'm sure many people never bother reading.
And here's Part Two! I'm very excited for this arc. And this chapter, which completely went where I didn't expect it to go, but oh well…
Thanks for the Reviews. I really appreciate it when you take the time and effort to give me feedback. It means a lot to me.
-NoR-
-NoR-
-NoR-
Part the Second: Chapter 1
Vampire to Teach at Hogwarts
The appointment of the Vampire Sanguini to the post of Professor of Magical Society and Its Environment (MSIE) at Hogwarts has Magical Beings' Rights' Activists everywhere celebrating – but is equality worth endangering our children?
Delaney Davis
Yesterday Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, etc. announced on behalf of the Hogwarts Board of Governors his latest appointment to the staff as Professor of 'MSIE'. The subject was first introduced to the curriculum last year, and so far its success has been questionable due to the untimely death of Nicolas Flamel, its first teacher, over Christmas break, and the second teacher's disappearance at the end of the school year (Perenelle Flamel is now assumed dead). The subject itself was introduced in support of the recent popularity of activism for the Rights of Magical Beings, of which Albus Dumbledore is a well-known supporter. And so it should have been expected that the new professor of MSIE would be, in fact, a vampire.
The Vampire Sanguini has appeared in public on many occasions, often accompanied by his reportedly close friend, the author, Eldred Worple. Over the past two years they have campaigned for the Rights of Vampires, alongside other controversial political figures such as Remus Lupin (werewolf, co-owner of Black Lawyers), Sirius Black (co-owner of Black Lawyers), Albus Dumbledore, Halfrida Humphfrey (hag) and most recently Ulger (goblin). It is due to their protests for equality that MSIE is now a subject at Hogwarts, the curriculum last being changed in 1889 with the abolition of the Dark Arts and the inclusion of 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' due to the anti-Dark movement of the time; and also that the recent invention of the 'Wolfsbane Potion' by Damocles Belby is now being distributed to all sufferers of 'little furry problems'.
Next year the children of Hogwarts will have the opportunity to learn what life is truly like for a vampire. But is this worth the risk?
It must be noted that as a vampire, Sanguini has an insatiable urge to drink human blood. He reports that for all his forty-eight years as a vampire he has been trying to cure himself of this addiction, and that the help of his dear friend 'Eldred' has been invaluable, however he refuses to talk about past kills and just how far along the path of a 'vampire' he has travelled. When questioned he quickly changed the subject to how much he is going to enjoy teaching the children at Hogwarts.
Is this vampire truly as 'safe' as we've heard? Can we trust our children's wellbeing to this dangerous creature?
Only time will tell.
"Well, at least she saved the prejudice for the end of the article."
Sirius harrumphed, ignoring his friend's assessment in favour of glaring a hole into the paper.
"You know, it's not going to burst into flames, no matter how much you give it the evil eye."
Sirius shot him a filthy look, before turning back to the paper and pulling out his wand.
Remus quickly pulled out his own.
"No, Sirius, that's my copy, dammit! I'm not going out there again to buy another, just because you were offended by some silly article."
Remus didn't pay attention to Sirius' grumblings as he flipped through the pages. He would be lying if he said he didn't think it should be burnt – it deserved it. Not only had their article been demoted to the third page when they had requested the front, the first and 'most important' news was that Gilderoy Lockhart was releasing his new book: Fighting the Fromage, third in the celebrity chef's series: Defence Against Dinner. It was slightly humiliating to be considered more trivial than that.
"How's Eldred say Gini's holding up?" He asked with a sigh. Sanguini (or Gini) was the shyest of their little band of protesters. No vampire liked a crowd and Gini, who had never been outgoing as a human, was downright terrified of people. He tended to latch onto Eldred like a worm, and only for the past month had he been comfortable around Sirius and Remus. Convincing him to teach had been a migraine and a half, and he had only been soothed with the knowledge that Eldred would be doing most of the teaching: his job was stand in the classroom and look harmless.
"Not well, of course." Sirius, calm now, was staring listlessly at the other parchment in his hand – the letter from Eldred. "He says he's having a panic attack – won't stop speaking Romanian. Why couldn't 'Frida teach again?"
"Apart from the fact that she's scarier than all of us put together?"
'Scary' was too kind a word for Halfrida the Hag, and terrifying didn't cover it by half. Hags, like vampires, were a solitary lot. But while the vampires' need for seclusion came about from their fear of witches and wizards, hags kept to themselves because of their ghastly appearance. While vampires liked to live in groups of two or three, hags lived by themselves. It was a self-imposed exile, although it was often helped along by the poor parents who had birthed the ugly thing. Those who didn't ended up in places such as Knockturn Alley, begging for food and selling their own toenails.
Halfrida, however, was a special case. Both her parents were blind due to a curse placed on them by a vengeful wizard (the wizard himself was deaf and partially blind and had thought them to be the witch and wizard who had cursed him). To them, Halfrida was the most beautiful girl in the world – not matter how disgusting her voice sounded. When it came time for her to go to Hogwarts she decided to remain at home in order to help and care for them, and although the people she met sometimes called her a horrific freak of nature she could not have cared less about their opinions. She only realised after her parents died and she had gone to get a job what she was – and she had been disgusted by the prejudice she faced and so used the money her parents left her to begin campaigning for the rights of hags. Even now, eighty-seven years on, she had not ceased for a day.
However perhaps the scariest thing about 'Frida wasn't her voice or her appearance. It was her dedication and determination. She would have turned the students into a quivering mess by the end of the first week, which was not beneficial on the 'hags are nice' front.
"Any other news?" Remus asked, twirling his quill as he tried to think of what to write. He was trying to write a letter to a client who hadn't written or contacted them at all for a week, which was vaguely disturbing as the hearing was due in a month.
"No – oh, wait, Prongs wants us to watch the kids for the day – apparently he and Lily and spending a day together." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Are we free to watch them?"
Remus tapped twice on his desk and a planner flew up from under a tower of papers, diaries and the like. Their assistant would be away for another week and the pile of unfiled things was verging on ridiculous. It would be a relief beyond compare when Dora returned.
"I don't think so. We haven't written anything in for the past week, so I can't be sure, but it doesn't look like we've got much more than work planned for today. Certainly no rallies that I know about."
Sirius grinned.
"I'll floo over right away."
-NoR-
Every now and then James and Lily would decide to spend the day alone. On those (admittedly rare) occasions, Harry and his siblings would be shunted off to whichever family friend was able to take them. So he was quite accustomed to the sensation of standing in front of the fireplace beside Ethan and Ava, clutching a bag of activities for the three of them, waiting for the green light to signal the arrive of his pseudo-godfather, Sirius Black.
They waited in silence, although Ava was squirming in Ethan's arms. Their parents had already left to some Muggle town on the eastern coast of Spain. Harry fidgeted with the bag's overly lacy handle – the bag was Ava's, magically expanded to suit their needs.
Harry glanced up at the family portrait Remus had commissioned as a Christmas present for the family the year before. When he'd come home for the holidays he'd found it to be even more spectacular than the photograph he'd seen. They were all wearing their best clothes, Harry and Ethan standing together at the front, Lily and James behind them, James holding Ava. As Harry watched, Lily winked at him, and he and Ethan started nudging each other, James stopping them before it could turn into an all-out brawl. Harry smiled a little, but any further amusement was siphoned away by the thought of what was to become of him, and his siblings, for the day.
Sirius and Remus were great – all of their 'babysitters' were, all things considered. But every 'babysitter' had their own drawbacks. Aunt Bathilda had many a story to tell. Unfortunately she was a very old lady who had trouble keeping three young children entertained. When they went to the Lovegoods' place they were always sure to be entertained, however sometimes their battiness was overwhelming. The problem with Sirius and Remus was that they had a lot of work to do, and very little time to do it in.
When Sirius and Remus took care of them, they may as well have been at home.
So it was with half-fake smiles that they greeted Sirius and stepped into the fireplace. He didn't seem to sense their mood. He gave a cheery 'hello!' before launching into a story about how glad he was to see them and how boring work was – as if they didn't know already.
Upon their arrival at Black Lawyers co. they were welcomed by an equally cheerful Remus.
"Hello Ethan, Harry, Ava. You look different every time I see you!"
It was a joke between the friends of the Potters. Of course the siblings looked different – Lily wouldn't have it any other way.
Harry bobbed his head in reply, trying not to act like he had recently been confirmed a long-term patient at St Mungos. Ava managed a 'hi' before she almost slipped from Ethan's arms and he had to pause in his own greeting to heave her up onto his hip.
"You're getting too big for this." He muttered to her, causing Harry to smirk a bit – that was exactly why he always chose to carry the bag, rather than the sister.
They shuffled into the head office of Black Lawyers to find that nothing had changed form their last visit; the only difference being the impossibly tall tower of papers in the centre of the desk – a sure sign that Tonks was away. Tonks was Sirius' cousin, or more accurately she was the daughter of his cousin Andromeda. She'd started being sent by her mother during the summer to help Siri and Remi in the office and they'd set her to work organising various files and keeping track of their schedule… By the time she was sixteen they were paying her and once she'd left school she had become indispensable. Her absence was easily noticeable in not only the room but also in the running of the entire organisation, and not just due to the lack of fluorescent hair.
Harry and his siblings stood in the centre of the room as Sirius conjured some chairs for them to sit at, on the other side of the desk. However a flashing parchment in the pile caught his attention and he hastily removed it, glancing at it in horror.
"You've all had breakfast, right?" Sirius questioned when he looked up, but he looked anxious about whatever was in the document so Harry simply nodded and began taking out Ava's colouring set as Ethan helped her to a seat between them. It was a process they were well familiar with, however this time Harry and Ethan would not be wasting away their time reading books and generally being unproductive: this time, they had schoolwork. Harry reached in again to the bag, bringing out quills, parchment, ink and books.
"What d'you feel like?" He mumbled, half whispered, to Ethan. There was something about the office – or perhaps the looks of hard concentration on Remi and Siri's faces as they scribbled notes and wrote speeches or whatever it was they did – that made both Harry and Ethan extremely conscious of how loud their voice sounded.
"Astronomy. I can't be bothered with anything harder right now." Ethan returned, taking the offered books and utensils.
"Yeah – I'm doing charms." Harry said, taking out Magical Theory and A Standard Book of Spells. Charms theory was decidedly easier than the theory work for some of the other subjects they did – transfiguration and potions being the most notable. There was a possibility that Defence could have some difficult theory work as well, but Harry wouldn't know – Quirrell hadn't been a very good teacher. Even less so in that he had for half the year been possessed by the Dark Lord Voldemort, and had killed himself before he had decided on the summer assignments. Unfortunately their other Dark Lord-possessed Professor, Professor Perenelle, hadn't been so kind. In fact she had made sure to grade their exams and set holiday work before she had gone to steal the stone. Or rather, Voldemort had done so. Neither Harry nor Ethan was in any hurry to begin on the MSIE homework.
Harry had barely written the introduction when he began to feel a twitch coming on. Doing homework was bad enough, but in such deathly silence it was horrible. Half an hour later, he was begging for distraction. A sentence later he laid down his quill, giving up the effort entirely. Thankfully, Sirius seemed to have the same problem.
"I didn't get much of a chance to talk to you last time we came over, Harry. How are you? How're your friends – Daphne? Justin?" Sirius whispered, as if to prove that he had indeed paid attention to Harry's letters throughout the year. Remus, Ava and Ethan continued to be absorbed in their tasks, so Harry answered, also in whisper.
"I'm fine. They're all great. Daphne's great. So is Finchly." Harry had been receiving letters once every two or three days from Daphne, who was determined to keep him updated on every exciting day of her holiday in Venice. Harry had been responding with interest. Finchly's letters hadn't been quite so frequent, but nevertheless Harry was very well informed about the new puppy the family had adopted – a terrier named Georgina. He was constantly bemoaning the fact that he couldn't bring her with him to Hogwarts, sending both Daphne and Harry (the recipients of his whining) into tears of exasperation. From his other friends Harry had received at least two letters each (it had been two weeks since the beginning of the holidays) and had even received a short note from Granger.
"Finchly wants to take his dog to school." Harry added, knowing Sirius would appreciate the sentiment.
Sirius smirked. "Poor kid. Hogwarts needs more dogs."
"Hogwarts has nodogs." Harry replied.
"You're wrong. Hagrid, the groundskeeper, has Fang… And next year, Remus and I are thinking about visiting every now and then…"
"Really? Why?" He asked, wincing shortly after as his words came out a bit too loudly. Glancing around, however, the other three in the room hadn't been disturbed.
"Silencing charm." Sirius said in explanation. However he still did not raise his voice – the atmosphere of the room did not allow for bellowing. "As for why we'll be dropping in, well, next year that MSIE project of ours," Harry flinched a little at the reminder of the dreaded subject and its professor, but Sirius didn't notice, "is being taken up a notch. Eldred – Eldred Worple, you've met him before, he works with us – is becoming the professor, with Gini – Sanguini the vampire – as his assistant. So we'll be coming through occasionally to check on them. No one will mind if we pop by occasionally."
Harry felt a grin rise to his face. "That'd be great – but wait, Sanguini the vampire? We're getting a vampire professor?"
Sirius matched his grin. Harry felt like laughing. He'd only ever met Sanguini once at Sirius' work, but it had been enough to begin a slight fascination with the species on Harry's part – the aura of mystery, the drinking of blood… Having Sanguini as a teacher at Hogwarts… "That's gonna be brilliant."
"You tell that to the Daily Prophet." Sirius said gloomily, turning to stare at the page in front of him again.
But the words sparked an idea in Harry.
"Could we?"
Sirius looked up, seemingly baffled, so Harry continued. He wasn't quite sure were he was going with this, but if it helped Siri and Remi then he was fine with it.
"Could Ethan and I talk to the Daily Prophet?" He clarified. "Tell them how much we like the idea of a vampire teaching us. I mean we're the Potter twins. Ethan's the Boy-Who-Lived. Surely that counts for something."
For a second Sirius looked thrilled. But then he frowned. "No. Lily would never forgive us and I couldn't exploit you two like that. It's bad enough how much publicity we get from your family without us feeding the flames. And do you really want to be stared at more than you already are?"
"But it's for a good cause, right? I mean, we're trying to bring equality to our society and all that. Isn't that good? And it's not exploitation if we want to help."
But Sirius shook his head.
"No. It's not that simple, Harry. You're too young to understand what's going on."
Harry was about to protest, but Sirius stopped him.
"No, Harry, I know you understand. It's just that the public will see us and think we are making you do this without really understanding what you're saying. And to a certain extent they're right. You haven't got to the stage where you're forming your own opinions – right now all your beliefs are your parents and ours. It's not right for you or Ethan if we sit you in front of some reporter and tell you what to say. But come a few years… Well, who knows? I'm sure we could work something out. Maybe you could even come protesting with us." He said light-heartedly. Unfortunately at this point Remus was taking down the silencing charm.
"Sirius?" He was frowning at him. "Surely you didn't mean-"
"Not now!" Sirius said quickly. "I meant in a few years time – when they're old enough to know what they're doing."
"Hmm…" Remus replied. "But in any case, we were thinking about heading off to have an early lunch. Ethan is apparently 'quite hungry' while Ava is 'starving' – something tells me somebody didn't eat all their breakfast." He turned a teasing smile to the squirming girl.
Looking around, Harry saw that indeed Ava and Ethan had stopped what they were doing. Ava had made her way through almost the entire colouring book – her drawings disturbingly neat when Harry thought back to his own pictures at that age, and even now – and Ethan had finished his astronomy essay and had begun herbology.
"That sounds fine – we're going to the muggle world, I take it?" Sirius asked, glancing at the Potter siblings.
"Yes, I would think so." Remus replied. "How about-"
Whatever Remus had been about to say was lost as the ugliest woman in existence entered the room. Her hair was thin, grey and scraggily, coming down to about her shoulders. Her ears were huge and almost as grey as her hair and her face was covered in wrinkles and spots. As she walked she hobbled a bit, her hunched back preventing her from walking. The list of features went on. Harry shivered a little upon seeing her. He'd seen her image in the paper, of course, and on the front of their copy of 'Hags without Gags', her autobiography, but he had never seen her in real life. Honestly, he wished he hadn't.
"'Frida?" Remus asked, perplexed.
"Remus." She gasped, her voice wheezing. "There's no time. There's a group of vampires in Slovakia requesting a portkey here. The Ministry here is uncertain, but they've been kicking up a fight and everyone's being sent over – you're lucky I heard about this and managed to nab you this portkey. It leaves in a minute. Quickly."
She tossed Remus what looked like a miniature red cushion.
"But the children-" Remus said.
"I'll look after them." She replied. "There's no time. Give the girl here."
A surprisingly docile Ava clambered into the hag's arms, who looked quite shocked at the attitude as well. Hags were not well known for their babysitting abilities. But there was no time to ponder that as Sirius and Remus rushed around the room, trying to find everything they'd need for the impromptu trip to Slovakia – wherever that was.
"Harry, Ethan, I'm sorry we have to cut this short, but we've really got to go. We'll make it up to you-"
Several things happened at once.
Firstly, Sirius tripped on the leg of his chair. This may not have been terrible in of itself, however it sent him careening into Remus, sending the portkey flying.
At the same time, Ethan was bending to put their astronomy book away in their bag, as neither needed it at the moment.
As he did this, the portkey went soaring over his head, straight into Harry's waiting arms.
It began to flash blue. Everyone was screaming at Harry to drop it.
His fingers began to release it.
Ethan stood up, unaware of what was happening.
His hand brushed the portkey.
The two boys disappeared in a flash of blue.
-NoR-
A sickness-inducing journey later and Harry and Ethan arrived, sprawled, on a forest floor, somewhere in Slovakia.
Harry groaned into the grass. He had landed on top of the root of some tree and his elbow had hit at a strange angle. He was sure to get a bruise.
Off in the distance, he could hear the twittering of birds and some crickets and possibly – in the distance… People of some sort?
"What happened?" Ethan wondered. It was rhetorical, but Harry answered anyway.
"We took a portkey to Slovakia." It took a few seconds before the thought settled in. "We took a portkey to Slovakia! Ethan, what do we do?"
Harry scrambled upright, using the roots of the tree as leverage. Ethan, however, remained where he was.
"Don't care." He moaned. "Leave me alone."
"Do you understand what I'm saying? We're in Slovakia! I don't even know where that is? What's going to happen to us? Will people find us? Will we get back? How far away is Slovakia? Ethan, we're in Slovakia!"
Harry was pacing now. He and his family had never been big on travelling. Sure, they'd been to a few places in Europe: Germany, France, Spain and so on, but they'd never been so far without their parents. And they'd never been as far as Slovakia. Wherever that was.
"I think it's up near Russia." Ethan said, knowing what was on his twin's mind.
"Is that far from home?" Harry had never been one for geography. But then, neither had Ethan. Their parents had never bothered to make sure they learned much of it. After all, all a wizard didn't need to know where a place was to go there. Now both boys were wishing they had payed more attention to the atlases.
"I… don't think so?" Ethan's voice was uncertain. Almost as if he was saying the words just to make sure Harry wouldn't become ever more worried. Unfortunately, that wasn't happening.
"Okay, let's think about this logically." Harry said, partially to himself, partially to Ethan, who was still lying facedown on the ground. "Logically. Remus and Sirius were meaning to take this portkey here. That means that they'll know where we are. Which means that soon enough, they'll be here. They just need to go to the Ministry, track down another portkey, and make another portkey… And then they'll be here. And then they'll send us home. And that will be that. No more Slovakia."
Harry continued his mumblings, pacing around the tree they had landed upon, until he fell completely silent, thinking and listening to the sounds of the forest.
But something didn't sound right.
"Ethan… Can you hear that?"
Something in his tone must have made Ethan weary because he slowly sat up, also listening out.
"What are we listening for?" He whispered.
Harry didn't say anything. The noise was getting louder. It was hard to see anything through the dense layer of trees, but he thought he could hear…
"People – a person is coming. They're running…"
Suddenly, a man shot into view.
"FOC! FOC!"
Harry turned to Ethan, completely mystified as to what was going on. But a sense of foreboding was beginning to creep inside. Whatever it was, this could not be good.
"FUGI! Ce faci? Fugi! Foc!" The man made a shooing action. It was then that Harry noticed that his skin was very pale – almost white. Was he sick? Or could he be-
"Slovacă?" The man seemed to realise that they weren't comprehending. "Beh! Beh! Horí! Beh!"
"Uh… English?" Harry asked. Beside him, he saw Ethan get up, cautious of what was to come.
The man's eyes widened in enlightenment. But he wasted no time in screaming in dreadfully accented English:
"RUN! RUN! FIRE!"
Harry felt his eyes widen. He felt the man grab him by the shoulder and push him slightly. Quickly he clutched onto Ethan's arm and pulled him, both boys breaking into a sprint.
Everywhere was a blur. The trees, the roots, the otherwise beautiful scenery… He hurtled over some poor dead mammal without sparing it a glance. Suddenly there were rocks up ahead. The three changed paths, heading right, hoping beyond hope that there would be a way out.
At one point, Harry happened to glance to his left and thought he saw a fang hanging from the strange man, or vampire's, lips. He almost said something, but then he realised that at that moment he should be focusing on running away from the blaze that had the man so terrified, not wondering about the strange man.
In the distance, Harry could hear the crackles of flames. It was too close. They were done for.
"You know anything?" Harry panted at Ethan.
Ethan shook his head slightly. His face was very red.
"No – you?"
Harry thought for a second.
"Not for something this big."
But suddenly the man turned to them.
"You know magic?" He asked. "Has stick?"
There was no time to argue. Harry reached into his pocket and retrieved his wand, practically flinging it at the vampire.
The man grabbed it greedily. Harry felt a slightly strange turn in his stomach at the sight of the other wizard holding his wand, but pushed it aside as the man shouted some spells at them. Harry felt a mild tickling sensation run over his body, but otherwise the spells didn't appear to have had any affects at all.
"Here." He said, sounding sad. "Take wand. Now I die. You no die."
He had stopped running. Harry and Ethan stopped too.
"What?" Ethan said. "You can't give up now. You've got to keep going. We can make it." He sounded close to tears.
"No. I die. You safe now."
"Come on!" Harry said. "You've got to run! You said there's a fire. You're a vampire, aren't you? Vampires always die in fires. You've got to run!"
Harry could feel the heat rising, not just from the running.
"Da. Un vampir. I die. Now you run no need I stay."
"What?" Harry wasn't sure if it had been he or Ethan who had said it. Maybe both of them.
"I stay. You stay. I die. You no die."
"That's not how it works."
But the vampire was not to be deterred.
"Da. You safe now."
There was nothing more to be said. The fire was upon them.
Harry felt like screaming, but he was strangely numb. In fact the flames seemed to tickle. He had the peculiar urge to laugh, but felt that he would throw up at the sound of it so wisely kept quiet. He gasped as he saw that Ethan didn't seem to be burning. But he was watching the vampire in horror. With dread, Harry turned to see what his brother was watching so intently.
He was shrivelling up. The skin going first, blackening in the flames. The hair was on fire, though Harry found he couldn't smell it as one normally would. He was bleeding, a red, sticky mess seeping through black crevices like lava. Then the eyeballs caught on fire and Harry found he could watch no more.
At that point Harry hit the ground and noticed nothing else at all.
-NoR-
When Harry woke up he was in a bed of some sort. That was good, he decided. Even though it was certainly not a bed he'd ever slept in before and it was rather small, it was good that he was in a bed. It was also rather good that Ethan was in the bed too, even if it made things rather squishy. It meant that Ethan was alive and well.
That was always good.
Opening his eyes, Harry could see that the house they were in was falling apart. There were cracks in the roof and walls, and cobwebs congregated in the corners. The windows were too filthy to see anything through but a distant light.
Nevertheless, it was better than he could have expected.
He wriggled slightly under the sheets, trying to sit up and at the same time not wake his brother. Thankfully, Ethan was already awake; otherwise the attempt probably would have resulted in failure.
"He didn't know us."
Harry knew immediately who Ethan meant. Who else could he mean but the vampire who had given his life for them? Had he not stopped and told them about the fire, then ran at their pace to make sure the two of them made it through, he might have lived. Even if after he'd cast the spells, whatever they were, he could have run, but he'd stayed to make sure that they'd lived. When he'd taken Harry's wand he could have probably apparated away or something. But he'd chosen to make sure they survived.
"We didn't know him, either." Harry said in return. But he didn't want to think about the vampire any longer. The memories were burning.
"Where are we?"
Ethan didn't answer, but at that point voices sounded nearby. It was hard to make them out, but Harry thought he could just hear…
"I want to see my son and if you do not move in three seconds, I will…"
Harry wasted no time in leaping out of the bed, fighting the dizzy spell that threatened to overtake him as he made his way to the door. He could hear Ethan do the same, only seconds behind him.
"Mum!" Harry launched himself at her, feeling Ethan do the same. The silly lady who'd been blocking them was probably quite shocked that they were up and about, but Harry couldn't bring himself to care.
"Are we in England now?" He had to ask, but before she could answer, Ethan blurted out:
"Mum, I want to go home!"
Lily hugged them for a second, before she answered them.
"No, Harry, right now we're still in Slovakia. And don't worry, we're going home as soon as this business is all cleared up."
She was about to say more, but Harry interrupted her.
"And where's Dad? And Ava? And where are Siri and Remi?"
She released them from her clutches and Harry noticed that she wasn't as disguised as usual – but then, they weren't as famous, or infamous in Lily's case, overseas, and so they never needed to pretend as much, which was a perk of going abroad.
"Everyone is here except Ava – apparently she and 'Frida took a liking to each other." She smiled gently at the thought. Harry shuddered at the thought of the woman being invited over for tea, possibly with Aunt Bathilda and Mrs Longbottom, all at the same time. Harry didn't think he'd be able to stand that luncheon.
"Well, if you're all better," She received emphatic nods, "then we can get going."
They all ignored the nurse who had been trying to stop Lily from entering, and walked away, the two boys each grasping an arm with both hands.
"I understand how you ended up in the forest in Slovakia, but nobody knows how you ended up on a forest floor after a fire with lingering effects of a Flame-Freezing Charm, and another for a fresh supply of oxygen." She told them as they walked, quite obviously fishing for answers.
Harry didn't answer, but let Ethan explain how they'd landed in the forest and waited before the man – vampire – had come running and had attempted to explain that there was a fire, before eventually running with them and using Harry's wand to cast the spells that had saved them.
"That fire wasn't natural, was it?" Harry asked suddenly, cutting off the end of Ethan's explanation before the worst could come. Ethan paused in his step, but Lily didn't miss a beat.
"What makes you think that?" She asked.
They turned a corner and Harry let go of her arm with one hand and pointed at a large open space covered in blackness and charred grass, towards which they were walking. It was outside an International Portkey dealer and on from that point the indications of the fire only grew. Smoke and ash filled the air, making it slightly hard to breath. Lily hastily cast a charm over them, one Harry was sure the vampire had cast, and the filthy air was gone as soon as it had arrived.
"That. There were vampires here, trying to get a portkey to England. But they weren't allowed. Somebody must have started the fire…"
Harry trailed off. There was more to the story than that, he was sure.
Ethan continued.
"And our vampire escaped. That's what he was running away from. But why did they start the fire? Who did it?"
Lily answered.
"It was the portkey dealer, of course. He was drunk and threatened to set them on fire if they didn't just leave. He wasn't serious with his threat, but some of the vampires took it as such and so started threatening the public. 'Your vampire', as you put it, didn't join in and managed to escape the first blaze. However, a few minutes later he sent out a second blaze so as to chase him down. In doing so not only did he kill three Muggles and a Wizarding child; he destroyed much property, slaughtered at least five vampires and almost did the same to you. Suffice to say, he's been put under arrest."
As they made their way into the open space Harry and Ethan caught sight of James, along with Siri and Remi. Harry barely registered that they were talking with another person among a throng of various Ministry officials before he was running towards his father.
"Dad! You came!" Harry said, although it may have been muffled as he said it with his head pressed into his father's robes, but it must have come alright because James responded.
"Of course I came."
"Harry, Ethan I'm so glad you're both fine." Remus said desperately. "It's terrible what happened, I'm so incredibly sorry, if there's anything-"
"Shush, Moony. They came out fine, that's all that matters." James said, but Remus would not be stopped. Neither, for that matter, would Sirius.
"Moony's right, Prongs. You charged us with looking after these two and we landed them in a fire in Slovakia. You should blame us-"
"Let's not talk about this now, Padfoot." Lily cut in. "They're safe, and that's all that matters." She rested a delicate hand on a shoulder of each of her sons', ending the topic.
"Now, if you could tell us where the nearest portkey is…" She continued.
Harry glanced over at the International Portkey dealer's place. It was completely wrecked. Unless somebody else around this place could make portkeys, they were doomed.
"Excuse me." The witch who James, Sirius and Remus had been speaking to coughed politely. She was holding a quill and a clipboard, now that Harry noticed it. A clipboard that said the Daily Prophet. Harry's idea from before, when Sirius had spoken to him, slipped into his mind. "Would you like to continue? Where do the Potter boys come into this?"
Harry saw the opportunity for what it was: golden.
"Ethan and I accidentally portkeyed here." He spoke up, not letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. "And then, before we know it there's this man running towards us, telling us to flee. Except he's shouting it in all these different languages we don't understand, but finally he starts speaking English and we run…"
"Can you describe the man for me?" She asked, both of them ignoring Sirius' warning looks.
"He was tall. I thought he seemed really pale – at first I thought he might be sick, but then I realised that he must be a vampire! Later, while we were running, I even saw his teeth."
The woman gasped. "You saw his teeth? Did he attack you?"
Harry could see around him that the various Ministry officials – and possibly just some bystanders – were stopping what they were doing to listen to him. He had to ignore them – had to. He had to do this. For Siri and Remi. The best godfathers he had.
"Of course not, he was just biting his lip as he ran. He wasn't interested in attacking us – he'd just proved that by saving us from the fire! In fact, he stayed with us the whole way. He was much faster than us and he would have been fine if he'd just gone one, but," Harry hiccoughed slightly, stumbling between the words, "He didn't want to. And then I asked Ethan if he knew any spells and he realised we were wizards. So he asked for my wand-"
"And you gave it to him?" The woman looked horrified, as did the crowd. There were collective mutters – they didn't sound happy. "But what if he'd attacked you? Or run away with it?"
"It wouldn't have made a difference." Harry shrugged. "So I gave it to him and he cast these charms that saved us. Then, then he gave me back my wand… And the fire came."
He choked slightly as he said the words, but he refused to let the emotions show on his face. He would be strong.
"He could have cast the charms and then used the wand to escape, I'm sure." He continued, wanting to get his point across. "But he didn't. He didn't know us. We didn't know him."
Harry grabbed his brother's hand. Ethan held on tight.
"His name was Teodor." An elderly wizard wearing Ministry robes spoke up from the crowd.
"Teodor." Harry heard Ethan whisper.
All were silent and still. Off in the distance, Harry could here the rumblings of thunder and the chirping of birds, but here all was peaceful, as if in offering to Teodor.
The reporter woman broke this silence with practiced ease.
"And Ethan, I can call you Ethan, right, what are your views on the rights of Magical Beings?"
Abruptly, Harry realised that not much of what he'd said would actually get into the paper, or if it did it would come under Ethan's name. Instead it would be filled with the stuttered ramblings of his brother, quite put on the spot. Because really, when the people stared, Harry took comfort in the knowledge that really they were staring at his brother and so he had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately Ethan didn't have someone to pass his unwanted attention to.
The downside for Harry was that he could never take that attention when he wanted it.
"When we get home," he heard Lily whisper in his ear, "You're both learning the Flame-Freezing and Bubble-Head charms, as well as a few defences from vampires."
Harry nodded, knowing there was no point arguing with his mother. Not to mention he could imagine the charms coming in handy – he really wanted to learn the Flame-Freezing Charm after today. And he also wouldn't mind figuring out where Slovakia was – it felt a bit too hot to be anywhere near Russia. But then, Russia was kind of big and was near a lot of countries – it was even near America. He would find out another day. Merlin knew he had enough of those things.
Catching Siri's eye, he moved over to his pseudo-godfather.
"I was right." He said in a not-quite-singsong voice.
"No, not quite, Harry." Sirius stated gravely, a frown creasing his brow. "See what's happening with Ethan – they're like leeches. This is what I wanted to protect you from. I didn't mind the story – that was fine, that was news. This, however, is an interview about your brother's opinions of things I didn't understand until I was much older: politics, social justice… It's all just words now. But now he's become a spokesperson for us they won't let him change his mind… And if he does it'll bring ruin to us. It would have been better if you'd kept your mouth shut." He finished with a growl.
Harry opened his mouth, hurt. He'd done this for Siri. This was supposed to help him help change peoples' opinions…
"Sorry, that was a bit harsh. I just don't want this blowing up in your face, kid. I'm thankful for what you've done, don't get me wrong, I just don't want you to get hurt… You've had enough of that today… Look, are you sure there's nothing I can do to make it up to you? Prongs and Lily say no, but I want to hear it from you."
Harry shook his head. He couldn't think of anything… Unless…
"Siri, Ethan and I are thinking of having some friends over, but we can't have them to our place, obviously…"
Sirius laughed. "Well, you can't have my flat, if that's what you're asking."
Harry shook his head. "No, I was thinking… Grimmauld Place."
Sirius' eyes widened as he thought over it. Harry could almost see the cogs turning in his head: Remus hadn't used Grimmauld in a long while, mainly because with the invention of Wolfsbane there was no need for any property to get destroyed once a month when he transformed. It wouldn't take long to fix everything up, get it in a state fit for Harry and Ethan's party, and what's more the protections on the property were so extensive that even Lily couldn't argue. It was in London: easy access for Muggleborns, and it was an old pureblood house, which was good in the purebloods' books. In other words, now that Harry thought about it, it was perfect. All he needed was for Sirius to agree.
"It'll need a bit of a touch-up… What sort of get-together are you hosting?" He asked, curious.
"Sort of a birthday party. More like an excuse for out two groups of friends to see each other." Harry said.
"Friends at a birthday party – isn't that a bit Muggle?" Sirius asked. "For your pureblood friends, I mean. That Draco Malfoy you're friends with is Narcissa's boy and if I know my cousin she wouldn't let her son go to something so full of Muggle tradition."
Harry nodded. "As I said, it's mainly an excuse to meet up. It was Granger who suggested it – and she was quite shocked at the idea of a birthday party without friends. But you know nowadays everyone invites their closest friends – it's saying they're part of the family. So really its quite flattering to receive an invitation – especially to the Boy-Who-Lived's birthday." He finished with a roll of his eyes.
"And as much as Narcissa hates Muggles, Lucius will love the power it brings." Sirius nodded as if it all made sense.
"So… Can we?" Harry asked, biting his lip nervously.
"Of course! Remus and I will spend next Sunday fiddling and it'll be ready by the 31st… Now… we'll hire someone's house elf for food; I wouldn't trust Kreacher…" Sirius rambled off, making plans for the party, and Harry couldn't help the excitement rising in him. Hearing Siri talk about it like this… Suddenly the party seemed closer than he'd thought.
However, a rumbling in his stomach caught his attention.
"Siri…" Harry interrupted his godfather.
"Yes?" He asked.
Harry paused, unsure how to phrase it delicately.
"I'm kinda hungry. Can we get some lunch?"
Sirius let out a barking laugh.
"Sure. Hey – Moony, Prongs, Lily… the kid's hungry. How 'bout we leave this," he gestured at poor Ethan, still stuck between the ministry and the reporter, "And go get something to eat."
Upon hearing this, Ethan almost leapt two feet off the ground.
"Yes!" He almost pleaded. "I'm starving. Can we get some food?"
His father laughed. "Sure. Lunch is right this way."
And the family walked off, leaving a baffled public behind them.
-NoR-
-NoR-
-NoR-
1. Well, Part2, Chapter1 complete: what do you think? Also, I would like to say that I do indeed know where Slovakia is (not near Russia at all) and I chose it because the group of vampires there were Romanians who had crossed through the Ukraine into Slovakia because portkey laws were slightly more lax than in their own countries. I have never been to Slovakia and don't have a clue what it's like, however please remember that I am talking about magical Slovakia, not actual Slovakia. Just like when I talk about Draco holidaying in Luxembourg I'm talking about a magical Luxembourg.
2. If anyone has any better translations, please let me know, however Google translate says that:
In Romanian:
Foc=Fire
Fugi=Run
Ce faci?=What are you doing?
In Slovak:
Horí=Fire
Beh=Run
I do not claim to be an expert on this. I can honestly say I have no clue if this is true and please let me know if it's not so I can correct it.
3. I have edited chapter one. No major changes, except there are now no mentions of dream magic (it was a spur-of-the-moment idea to put it in in the first place) and a few explanations have been cleared up.
4. Finally, not a clue when the next chapter will be out. Please review and criticise!