***I own nothing. All Hail Our Queen***
**Some lines directly from cannon. Some ideas inspired by the absolutely stunning story Prince of the Dark Kingdom **
Lily knocked on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. She tugged at her muggle clothes, the free flow of the robes she was now used to made the dress feel ridiculously tight.
The door opened and a tall woman with hair a few shades lighter than her own smiled down at her.
"Hey Lily, come on in!" she invited.
Lily was taken aback. She'd been here once, just after they'd all left Hogwarts but the place had completely changed. She braced herself for the screams of that terrible painting on the wall but none came.
The hall had thick white carpet, the chandelier shone brightly above her, and the staircase, once lined with the heads of house elves, was now covered in pictures of the Marauders, the Potters (past and present) and Sirius with his fiance. The wall on which the portrait had hung seemed to sick out a bit further.
The hostess noticed her guest's gaze.
"Apparently Walburga stuck herself on with a very powerful permanent sticking charm. When I moved in we finally built a wall in front of it. We had to put up more silencing charms than you'd believe but it's worked just fine. Kreacher hates it but I can't please everyone. Well I can't please him at all," she laughed and took the coffee cake from Lily.
"Kitchens right through here, Sirius is still at the Ministry but he'll be back any time. Would you like some tea?"
"Oh, yes please."
The woman was sweet and chatted softly about the horrors involved in renovating the house. Between tutoring Ron and Harry, managing her classes, and talking with Severus, she hadn't found time to talk to the new History of Magic Professor but she was impressed. She'd heard rumors about the woman. The most believable one being that Dumbledore had to fight the board to have her teach at the school. She felt oddly comfortable but couldn't quite work up the nerve to ask how much truth there were to the whispers.
According to rumor, Aerin was from one of the oldest wizarding families in Ireland. At tea with Harry, Lily had learned that the rumor was that Professor O' Neill's mother was seduced by an Elf. Not a little one but an ancient Woodlands elf. According to the gossip, when her husband found out about the incident he yanked the whole family to England to raise the child as his own.
Lily watched as Aerin openly used the trait that supposedly sparked these rumors, or more to the point, didn't use. The tall thin woman waved her graceful hands and the tea pot rose up to pour itself. The tea and sugar followed her soft voice and the oven door opened behind her to relinquish still warm cookies for the women to eat.
Lily was very much reminded of Molly Weasley, the way she effortlessly managed her kitchen, the missing piece was Aerin's wand. Lily and Aerin chatted about adjusting as Professors, both teachers extremely passionate about their subjects. The magic around the young woman sang in a way that Lily had never heard and yet she felt completely at ease.
There was a line from a movie Harry had loved as a child and it returned to her as the women talked.
There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.
A flash of green startled the women as two men bounded from the fireplace laughing.
"Babe, I met Lupin at the Ministry so I asked him over for supper. You always cook enough for an army," he bent down and kissed the top of his fiance's head, "so I didn't think you'd mind."
Aerin got up and hugged Lupin.
"You ass, I thought you were writing when you got back from the sanctuary! We've been miserable for two days!"
"I knew you were fine," Sirius said with a grin.
The werewolf looked bashful and also a tad bashed in. Lily sat, yet unnoticed by her old friend, staring at the side of his face that was facing her, it looked a bit like raw hamburger. His eye on that side was covered by a bandage, the skin was blood red and in some places covered in a thick looking cream.
"I'm sorry Aerin, I've been in St. Mungos," the tall woman's eyes widened, "but I'm better now, I'm fine! Relations are going to be better for this little spat," he said motioning to the side of his face. "It's fine Fairyland."
Aerin nodded, relaxing a little with the use of her nickname but still looked concerned.
Sirius wrapped his arms around Aerin from behind and whispered something in her ear. Aerin smiled, squeezed Remus' arm and left the room.
Remus stretched and in doing so brought his good side toward Lily.
His jaw slackened and he stood for a moment just looking at her as if she were a ghost.
"Hey Moony."
Lily was swept off her feet and into Remus' arms as he spun her around. She laughed and he set her down and held her at arms length.
"Lily Evans," he hugged her again. "Sirius always said you were out there. I didn't believe him, I thought you'd contact me at least."
"Why not me!?" asked Sirius walking over to a pile of mail on the counter near the door.
Lily and Remus rolled their eyes and grinned.
"I can't imagine how you felt Remus. I'm sorry, I just couldn't come back."
The injured man nodded his understanding, "What's done is done. You're here now and Harry too! Did you bring pictures? I would have come with Sirius and Hagrid but my face has been plastered across the Prophet and people can be a bit harsh."
Lily grabbed her bag from the table and brought out a small booklet of photos.
"I tried bringing him today but he had his first Quidditch practice."
Sirius looked up from the pile of mail he'd been sorting.
"What practice?"
"Quidditch."
"But he's a first year," Sirius stated, putting down the mail and sitting with his old friends.
"Apparently there was an incident during his first flying lesson. Narcissa's son took a ball that belonged to Alice and Frank's boy, Harry tried to get it back but the Malfoy boy took off on a broom. Harry went after him on his broom but the brat threw the ball away. That child is ten shades of awful. Harry sped after it and caught it out of the air on a Cleansweep!"
Lily smiled at the face of a visibly impressed Sirius Black.
"Minerva saw him from her window and thought it was James," she continued and the three exchanged nostalgic looks. "She thinks he could make a great Seeker. You should have heard her! She made Harry sound like a gift from Merlin, after she'd sternly reprimanded him for his disobedience and given him detention, of course."
"Detention!?" Sirius stood dramatically.
"With Snape. I honestly think she did it because I was sitting right there. Minerva is fantastic but no one will ever claim she has favorites."
"But still, Snape?" Padfoot said the name with such distaste that Lily opened her mouth to defend the potions master.
A barely noticeable bleep came from the oven. "Dinners ready, be right down," Aerin yelled from above them and the conversation died out as they set the table for dinner.
The four of them sat and ate and discussed the world, weddings and werewolves.
Later Aerin walked Lily to the door, she had to get back to Hogwarts to meet with Harry. The women made plans to go to Hogsmeade the next week, just the two of them. Yelling her farewells to Moony and Padfoot, Lily Potter turned on the spot and found herself at the gates of the school.
~'*'~
Harry had been attempting to complete a three foot essay on the Elvish Treaties for Professor O' Neill but his headaches were getting worse. His mum had brewed him a pain relieving potion the night before but now she wanted to have the nurse take a look. When Harry's headaches hadn't stopped his mother had become abnormally nervous. He just wanted to get this fixed so he could sleep, they were always worse at night.
He was half listening to Ron and Hermione discuss the magical seals that cinched the treaties but his eyes kept wandering back to the front gates.
When his mum finally apparated outside, Harry jumped, knocking over his ink. Hermione sucked it up with her wand using a spell Lily had taught them at their study session a few days before.
"Are you okay Harry?" asked Hermione. "You've been really weird this last week."
"Yeah, I just have to go talk to my mom."
"Can we come? I'm still not getting the swish and flick down," Ron looked over at his chipped wand resentfully.
"Uh, not tonight guys. I probably won't be gone very long though," he said, pushing his things to the side of the table and getting up.
Harry stepped out of the portrait hole and gave a yelp as a dark figure swept out of the shadows.
Snape laughed quietly at the boy but quickly pulled a straight face as his friends popped their heads out.
"Alrigh' there Harry?"
"He's fine Mr. Longbottom," Snape drawled. "I apparently strike an imposing figure." He drew himself up to stare down at the three first years.
Ron and Neville turned white but Hermione suppressed a grin and turned away.
As Harry walked away with Snape he gave a reassuring wave to his friends then turned toward the professor questioningly. His gaze was not answered by the enigmatic professor. The halls were shadowed and their footsteps echoed as they entered a part of the castle that Harry had never seen before.
They met Lily outside of a set of large double doors as she approached from another hall. Lily began shooting off questions about Harry's first day of Quidditch practice as they stepped through to the infirmary together. Suddenly a huge grin spread across her face and the questions stopped, Harry followed her gaze.
He watched as a squat woman bustled toward them and grabbed either side of his face. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at James' son.
"I haven't seen you since the day you were born. You're so tall!" she laughed, taking a step back.
"Harry, this is Madam Pomfrey. She's the school's nurse and she was our nurse when you were born. There's no one else I'd trust more with you Goose," Lily smiled and the nurse reached out to squeeze her hand.
"Alright dear," she said turning to Harry, "sit over here. I'm just going to run some quick tests."
The tiny woman's face grew darker the more sweeps she made with her wand. Her sweet tones growing more serious as she questioned Harry and Lily.
She hurried over to a small office and through the door the trio watched her pull books off a small shelf. The nurse muttered and scribbled notes, her eyebrows furrowing more with each passage she read.
Coming out, Poppy approached the group looking a little ill.
"Lily, can I speak to you alone?"
"Poppy this isn't my secret to keep. If this is what I think, he needs to know."
The mediwitch nodded and waved chairs over for the group, placing a silencing charm on the door.
"This is an area we don't have much information on Harry. The only two people alive who have survived the killing curse are sitting right here. Because of the lack of knowledge, I can really only speculate. Have either of you heard of a horcrux?" she asked, looking between the two professors.
The color drained from Lily's face as she nodded yes. Snape's face faded into its usual mask but there was confusion behind his eyes.
The nurse turned toward Harry, "I know this is all new to you Harry, but have you heard of the Unforgivable Curses?"
"Yeah, I looked them up when they were mentioned in all the books about..." the boy paused, unsettled by his mother who now had silent tears streaming down her face. He seemed to falter, unable to continue.
The healer continued, seeing Harry's distress yet knowing she had to get this out. "Well these spells aren't only unforgivable by wizarding standards, they're unforgivable by our bodies standards as well. When a wizard uses one of these spells, they wear on your mind and your soul. There is a dark magic that, because of the damage it causes your soul, gives a wizard the ability to split their soul at the moment they use the killing curse."
"Poppy, don't tell me you're suggesting..." Snape stopped, too disgusted by the thought to continue. He met Lily's eyes and reached for the crying mother's hand.
"I read about it during the last war. Dumbledore had some, well, less conventional books brought in for me to study. We wanted to be prepared for anything they threw at the Order. The things dark magic can do," she breathed in and shook her head as if to shake away the images. "I never thought we'd see anything of this caliber, not even from You-Know-Who."
Realizing she was crying, Lily wiped her eyes. Her worst fears were coming true, she had read up on as many possible explanations for Harry's scar as she could. The consequences of the nurses diagnosis were more frightening than the explanation itself.
"What do we do now?" Snape asked.
"Do about what?" asked Harry fearfully, looking from one adult to another.
"When Voldemort tried to kill you that night, I believe, his soul may have fractured at the performance of an act so vile. That fragment of his soul would have marked you Harry," Poppy explained, twisting her hands in her lap.
Harry raised a hand to his scar and turned to his mother, frightened. She took her son into a tight hug.
"What do we do?" Snape repeated.
Poppy shook her head hopelessly but Lily cleared her throat and ran her fingers through Harry's hair.
"Severus, Poppy, what do you know of the Old Magics?"
~'*'~
His mother had walked him to the portrait answering each of his questions but sensing he wanted to know something more. Lily insisted they meet for breakfast the next morning, maybe he could ask her what he needed to know after he'd slept on it.
Harry returned to his room shaken. Thoughts ran through his head without really coming into focus. His mother's explanation of the origins of magic left so many questions. When it came to something confusing that he needed to talk out, he turned to Hermione. The young girl was exceptional at voicing the questions Harry wanted to ask, in the words that wouldn't always come together correctly in his own mind. But Hermione was asleep and his wrongly worded questions remained unanswered, clanging back and forth in his head.
He closed the curtains around his bed and took out the vial Madam Pomfrey had given him, it was called 'Dreamless Sleep'. Maybe that's exactly what he needed. Harry uncorked the potion and drank it all in one swallow. It had started out to be such a good day. As he drifted to sleep he imagined the rush of flying and the thrill of catching the Snitch. No matter how fast he flew Harry couldn't escape the nightmares that chased him.
~'*'~
Snape was waiting in Lily's 'parlor' for her when she returned from walking Harry to Gryffindor tower. She sat down across from him and put her head in her hands.
The potions master spoke carefully, knowing Lily would be very upset. "Did you know? You seemed to understand the diagnosis before Poppy finished giving it."
"I had read about it," she sighed and looked up. "Harry and I holidayed in Germany when he was little. I left him at the embassy day care and went to the library in the wizarding section of town."
"Dark magic is more widely accepted there and I could only find brief references to the subjects I needed in the books I found in France. Thankfully Germany, like the rest of the wizarding world, believes all Old Magic to be dark magic, so their section on it was more extensive than any I had ever seen."
Lily walked to the trunk at the end of her bed, whispering a few quick words, the case opened. She bent and rifled through it. Snape watched her, noticing the exhaustion that was apparent in her every movement.
"This has been my reference guide since I converted," she said, handing over a very old volume to the surprised man.
"Converted? Lily, do you understand what that means?"
"Severus, breathe. James and I made that decision a long time ago. Constant death threats force people to really consider their beliefs. I can't confirm it but I think my growing devotion to Gaea saved my life in Godric's Hollow. I've spoken to her since," the color drained from Snape's face, "but I can sense that that question is not one she will answer."
"Is Harry a...?" Snape began, not knowing exactly what to call the beliefs of his dearest friend.
"No, but I didn't raise him as a Christian either. We, James and I, decided the choice would be his. When James was killed and I turned away from the wizarding world, it made giving him that choice more difficult. My belief that Gaea saved me ensured that I wouldn't raise him with the common faith but I couldn't raise him in the Old Magics either. Muggles can handle a ridiculous amount of different beliefs these days, but no matter the era they can't seem to stand witchcraft."
"But how did you – aren't there rites and rituals that must be observed?" Snape asked, eyes running over the pictures and symbols on the text in his lap.
"Yes, of course. But the gods and goddesses aren't blind Sev. I pay homage to Freya and she can see the restraints my secrets have put on me through the years."
Severus looked up, confused.
"Freya, isn't she the goddess of war? And she's Norse but Gaea is Greek, isn't she?"
"I don't think any deity belongs to a specific nationality," she laughed quietly. "Wizards have used different names to describe the same gods since magic was given to us. I use the names favored by my goddesses. Freya is the patron goddess of both motherhood and battle."
Snape went silent as he turned back to the book. Questions raced through his mind. For a person to promise their soul to the Earth instead of the Sky was unheard of in this day and age. Personally he always thought the Old Magic to be an ancient superstition of no logical merit. Yet here he sat, across from one of the brightest witches of his time, and she really believed this... collection of old wives tales.
He shook his head, "None of this is real Lily."
"That's fear talking, fear that you've wasted a lifetime following edicts from a silent sky." Lily took back the book, her eyes filling with devotion as she traced the runes on the cover. She looked up to meet Snape's stare, "There is no wrong faith Severus, there is only error through disbelief."
The clock on Lily's wall chimed and that seemed to signal an end to the discussion. The two parted, promising to talk more in the morning.
***Next on Unknown Magic: Magics revealed, plans made and Halloween! Hurrah!***
