Harry Potter and the Mirrored Veil
By: D.A Cirle
Disclaimer/Etc: See chapter one.
A/N: To the heart of it!—so to speak. I bet you are wondering; why would they go to the Forbidden Forest of all things? I realized that the Forbidden Forest didn't really have much of a story to it; fiction or fanfiction, and that I wanted to give it one—other than it being forbidden because of 'dangerous creatures'.
You'll see. :)
Oh! As these next few chapter come along I can finally get to back story! Woo-hoo! And even I didn't expect for it to go the way it's turning out. Not that it is a bad thing. xD
CHAPTER TWELVE-
The Forbidden Forest
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The boy was taking them directly into the Forbidden Forest! Merlin knew why, but it seemed to be important to him. It was a hard thing for him, at first, to accept going somewhere blindly; Draven had said naught about where they were going, or why.
So why were they all following like they were? He felt Harry's calm and acceptance of the situation and that made him feel better; it seemed hard to believe that it had been such a short time since they had been Bonded; it felt like it had been for so long now. But he was content—for the first time in who knows how long.
He loved Harry; the Bond felt like a gift to him (one that he didn't deserve) not a curse. And he knew that Harry felt the same way, which was another gift onto itself to him.
He eyes the surroundings with ill-disguised disgust. This was not the first time he had ventured into the Forest. He had, after all, been the one to have to harvest the dead Unicorn after Quirrell had killed it. The sight of it still turned his stomach; something so beautiful and pure should never look like that, no matter the cause.
Although he had been in the Forest a fair few times, he had never gotten very far—partly because of what lie ahead (and he dared not go any further) and also because whatever he had ever needed out of the Forest, had come from the front and a little further inside. He looks around as they continue.
It was silent, although he could feel and hear Harry from their Bond; Draven led the front with a grim but determined look on his face. The Weasley twins were not saying much of anything. Lily and…James (he would have to call the man that now and anyway, Harry was right.)
It was time for old grudges to be put aside in the very least, if they could not be forgotten.) were quiet and they walked behind everyone else. He didn't hear them talking, but his mind was picking up faint talking from somewhere, so obviously something was talking, if they weren't.
So either the Potter's had a Bond as well (which wouldn't be completely impossible, but such Bonds were very, very, rare. Hardly any had been documented in the last thousand years since Hogwarts had been built.) or there was something else where they were, following them, or doing whatever else.
There were, after all, Centaurs (which would give you the answers that you did not want, Mars being bright did not tell you exactly what was going to happen, after all), Unicorns (which were very rare.)Hagrid, he knew, had only seen maybe five if that in his lifetime. Unicorns were very long lived, no one knew for sure how long, maybe they were even immortal, unless something killed them by means like Quirrell had, however he had.
There were other darker things that people didn't have a name for, only having seen very few glimpses, things in the heart of the Forest where people, and other things, did not dare dwell.
And that seemed to be exactly where they were heading. Oh that was just wonderful.
And yet he kept going on—felt the compulsion, like something, something bigger than him, bigger than any of them, was leading him on. Nothing bad—he was well acquainted with that feeling after all. But it was something that was leading him, all of them. It felt of a kind of magic, but it was different than any he could ever remember feeling.
Strange, new, but not bad, he glances at Harry for a moment who looks up in that moment and looks at him as well. They search each others eyes, and inner selves, seeming to find what they needed to.
Severus knew that there was still something missing as they were walking. He felt that deep within himself. He knew something was. He just wasn't quite sure what it was.
They continue.
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It was a dark road that they were on, he thought with a touch of black humor. Not just metaphorically, but literally as well. Although the way was not as he remembered it; the way out of the Forest not so long ago was what he remembered best; and it was the most hurtful thing as well, bringing back a well of memories that he tried to suppress, to no avail.
Then he felt the call and he knew what he had to do then; he would take them and see by the grace of the Light that it would be alright, that they would at least help, even if by some chance that they did not remember him…
He had felt quite a bit of relief on top of the anxiety when he felt the call. He had been afraid that after he had left—after he had left there, then the Forest, that he would never hear the call again. But he had—he should know better than to think that he would be deserted like that.
Once you felt the call, felt the pull…you would always have something. Something that would give you tools that would never leave you, save from death.
He lets out a breath and continues to lead them, feeling more than hearing them cast Lumos with their wands. He himself, with a flick of his hand, creates a small sphere of blue light which lit up the dark Forest better than their wands could. He felt only slightly drained from that, and was glad that it only cost a bit of his energy to cast—at the moment at least.
"Just how did you do that?" He heard Fred ask somewhere behind him. He stops and turns a little, seeing the others stop as well. They all looked surprised—not that he didn't expect that, he knew that they had not seen that kind of magic before, unless you counted him doing those resurrections, but that was his own kind of magic that was just his, not the kind he had just used.
"I did what I was able to do, that is all," He wondered if the formal speech would make them angry, or confused. Oh, well. Better now than later to start...even if they didn't like his answer. "I found myself wondering if I should make some light and then I see some from behind me, and I decide that the best course of action is to make some of my own."
Harry blinks at the same time James does, though neither of them notice. They blinked in just that way that Draven had known Harry did. Lily looked surprised, but didn't ask anything further, she seemed to be thinking about something. Fred and George both looked baffled at it all. Severus seemed to be dying to ask a question that had to be on the tip of his sharp witted tongue.
With good time my good man….with time. I hope so at least, for my sake as much as all of your all's sakes.
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They were coming closer to something, he didn't know what, but it felt quite important. He seemed to sense a sort of presence, one which he was not familiar with. And he wondered if the presence was caused by Draven or by something else.
To protect them?
After all, they had not encountered anything, dangerous or no, and that made Harry wonder. It was very unlikely that they would be able to come this deep into the Forest, a Forest which he knew had things in it that he had no clue of, that most people had no clue of, and not be attacked by anything, or see something in the very least.
He had the sudden feeling that it was Draven—and the same time it was not. It was as if something was working through him. Weird. In a strange way, Harry felt happy. He had something to do, he had the person he loved and was meant to be with, he had his parents back!, and although the Soul Stalkers loomed in the distance (metaphorically, at least he hoped it was just that) he was happy.
Okay so maybe it wasn't all strange, at least to him, but most people would have had something to say about who he chose, (who chose him) what had happened, but he didn't care. It was his life and he wasn't about to let anyone else live it for him.
Voldemort was gone, and although the Soul Stalkers were trying to resurrect him, he was still gone at this point. Harry would definitely know if Tom Riddle suddenly sprung back up, and luckily Draven Cirle was for the Light.
He wondered just what was so important this far into the Forest, how Draven knew where to go this far in (and what he was looking for), and why they were all needed. It seemed important and almost familiar in a way, then again the Forest looked about the same the whole way they were walking, and it wasn't like he had never been in any part of the Forest before this.
There was something on the tip of his tongue that wanted to get out but he wasn't sure what exactly it was. It kept nagging at the back of his mind, a feeling like he had forgotten to do something important—like he had forgotten to tell people where they were going (but they did that), or that he had left his wand or something as important behind (but he hadn't; everything was in place.)
So why did he feel like that he was missing something very important?
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He breathes a silent sigh of relief as they get closer. It wouldn't be but another couple of minutes until they got there and from there…they would see. Or at least he would try…and they would see. He felt the anxiety trying to creep back in and tamps it down as well as he could.
He couldn't let anything like that get to him; he had to be optimistic and he had to have hope…even if it seemed like that there would be none to sustain him. He would keep going and he would hope that everything would be fine. Although he had been cast out of the world, he was in the world and he had a little more at his disposal, more people and more magic at his disposal.
That was part of the reason that he let as many of them come as he did; he wanted to ask for their power if his was not enough when he…tried to open it, to get back. It was a long and arduous process that he had been debating over since he had been cast out and away into the world.
He had left his home, had been cast out of what he had known, had had to think of every choice, to resurrect, and all the while he was alone. He ached to have one of his beloved's bodies around him, the other would spoon the other, or they would reach for him.
There had never been an issue of sharing; there had always been a balance. Once Draven had made the decision to try and become closer to his teacher and to the protégé, to become their lover, he had known that there would be sharing, that there would be times that he might feel a little neglected as one was with the other.
He had thought that would be the case, but it turned out better than he had ever hoped. He had never felt neglected and they all had just what they needed from one another. Or at least he could not remember feeling neglected or upset about any of that, the thought of his lovers made him forget about lots of other things, like how he had been angry, or sad, all he could remember was the happy.
He could trudge up the bad, but why should he? At least right now.
Another thing he missed was his friends, they were more than his friends, more than the best of friends, they were his family. They had been there for him, and although that he knew that he couldn't have done anymore—he felt guilty. Guilty for leaving them during a battle like that, even if he had no say in the matter.
He glances up out of his thoughts and looks a bit startled at the sudden darkened opening a few feet in front of him. He didn't even notice it, but he had his suspicions (ever since the very first resurrection that he did) that although it was in the middle of the Forest, the exact location would change every so often, or so much.
It was an entrance with curved branches moved around to make a doorway which held no door, just darkness that seemed to stretch indefinitely.
The Mirrored Veil.
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