AN: This is going to jump all over the place. It's a series of Harry's night mares over the summer and part of the school year. And then... a surprise.
I've put dreams/ visions in italics.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Harry was in a place he had never seen before. But he knew this wasn't heaven.
"How could that brat esssscape me?" Voldemort asked.
"I don't know my Lord but I will find out." Another familiar voice replied. Harry turned and sure enough there knelt Snape.
He felt anger and rage boiling just under the surface. Snape had never been very nice but he hadn't thought he was a Death Eater. Harry couldn't believe that this man was corrupting all the other Slytherins. He was going to turn the whole house dark.
He had to listen as Snape gave a blow by blow account of everything that went on at the Order meetings. Sirius was of the mind that he and the Dursley's had a right to know what was going on so would tell them after each meeting. Not that any of the order would say anything, they were using Sirius' ancestral home after all. He could do what he pleased there.
Harry was shocked though to see the dark lord panting. "Severus. Have you found where that rat messed up my revival?"
He watched as Snape became even more pale than before. "I... I'm sorry my Lord. None of the tests I've run show anything." He paused when the noseless wonder hissed. "But there are more I can try. More obscure tests." He tried to reassure in a rush.
"CRUCIO!" The dark lord shouted. Harry watched as his potions professor withered in pain under the dark curse. Once it was over Voldemort had broken out in a sweat and had also paled. That one spell held for not even a minute had weakened him terribly. Harry could feel the weakness.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Harry woke to find himself back at home in his own bed. His head was hurting and he felt dizzy for a few moments. But soon enough he was better and headed down stairs to enjoy the unusually warm July day. It was just 2 weeks till his fifteenth birth day.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
His next nightmare was of flying down this hall to a room. The door was bared. Nothing really happened but Harry woke in a cold sweat shivering. His head once again pounding like it was two sizes too small.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Harry saw Voldemort again. This time the Malfoy family was there. Draco looked almost the same green tone as the dark lord. Harry could tell he'd been near the man before, maybe on the wrong end of his wand from the way he looked down and his hands shook. Harry had little love for the Malfoy heir but seeing him like this. Being forced into this monsters company by his own father was disgusting.
He watched as the thing spoke of his plans. How he all but ordered Draco to try and make friends with Harry or one of his lot so he could play spy. Harry looked at the pale boy. He would allow it. Well he'd allow it after he told everyone what was really going on. Perhaps he could make this a double edged blade and turn Draco to his side. The heir would make a good ally and now that he'd seen how the world really worked he might just make a good friend too.
Ignoring the meeting for a moment he noticed how thin and weak the dark lord looked. He was a sickly green, with dark black circles around his eyes. He called an end to the meeting just as he began to break out into a sweat.
Harry woke and it was the day before term was to start. He told Sirius about the dark lord looking sick and asked him to look into the ritual he'd used to come back. Maybe something had gone wrong. If they could figure out what and exploit it, maybe they could stop this madness once and for all.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Term got off to a great start. Amelia Bones was at the head table and announced that their defense class would be taught by a different auror each week and that she would be over seeing the lesson plans and sending the auror with the best qualifications in that area. The whole student body was glad to hear that news, and cheered long and loud for her. If Hufflepuff was the first to start the cheer and the last to stop no one seemed to care.
Hearing about what was happening and about Malfoy's plans Harry's friends were equal parts saddened and furious. All save Luna who was oddly silent on the whole subject.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Harry had never felt so low to the ground before. There was a strange sensation like he was crawling on his belly. It took a while to pass something shiny and for Harry to see that in this dream he was in some kind of weird hall in the body of a snake. This wasn't heaven Harry could just tell, but he had no idea where else it could be.
Harry could 'see' someone up head with his snake heat vision. There was a warm shroud around them though. IT wasn't till the snake Harry was possessing attacked that the shroud was thrown off that he realized it was an inviability cloak.
Harry tried to scream. It was the twins dad under that cloak!
Harry woke and ran to grab his mirror and tell Sirius about the dream. Later that day Harry and the Weasley children learned it was no dream but a vision. Harry knew he had no physic ability so how was he having these vision?
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
In the days following the attack Draco had made his move. Foolishly, or bravely depending on how you look at it, he choose the twins to approach. He had offered them condolences for their injured father and according to them seemed sincere. Just as they planned the twins accepted his words and had since spoke to him a few times casually, though with some cation so he didn't realize they knew the end game.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Snape? Was the first thing Harry thought as another vision began. The potions master was knelling before a skeletal corpse... No the thing was moving and speaking. Dear God it was Voldemort. He was gaunt and pale. Thin as a rail looking sickly and half dead.
"Severusss." He hissed in an angry but weak voice. "Have you learned what Wormtail did wrong?" He demanded but it sounded more like one of the ancient old men from the local rest home than a powerful dark lord.
Snape bowed his head farther. "I can find nothing wrong with the way the ritual was preformed." He replied voice trembling with terror.
"POTTER!" The dark lord shouted looking up where his astral form was. "How did you get here!? What did you do to me!?"
Snape also looked up but didn't comment on not being able to see anything.
"You did this! I'll get you!" He raved and then to Harry's surprise he felt his mind being attacked.
Harry woke screaming with blood running from both his nose and scar.
From that night on for the next 3 weeks every night Harry met the dark lord in his mind and they did battle. And each night Harry knew he was weakening him farther but Harry too felt woozy and light headed most of the day. It was like his brain was two sizes too big for his head, and he always woke bleeding from his scar, nose and or ears.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
It was the second night Harry was home for Christmas.
Harry hated falling asleep anymore. He knew that the moment he lost consciousness Voldemort would attack. This time would be different he told himself as he slid off to sleep. He and Dudley had watched the Matrix that day and he had a plan.
As Harry fell asleep he thought of the weapons library from the movie and called it up. He grabbed a sword just like the one he'd used against the basilisk and a smaller version of Raguel's. He put on platinum gleaming armor like the Seraphim wear when going to battle. Thus armed and protected he headed off to face the dark lord yet again.
Their mental battle was intense. Harry had no idea what was happening to his body as his mind fought this evil.
Finally just as dawn broke in the waking world Harry stabbed the dark lord in the heart.
Harry woke screaming and then almost immediately fell into a deep comma and a flood of memories was unleashed...
(Memories of Raguel)
Blood... so much blood... Screams pierced the air shrieks of the dead and dying. The sound of ripping wings and shattering grace. How had it come to this? How had this been allowed to happen?
The fighting had been sudden and intense. One moment Raguel had been coming to break up an argument between Lucifer and Michael the next... the next blades were out and the two brothers were fighting. Not as they usually did with shouted insults and careless swings. No they had their true weapons out, Michael's massive bastard sword and Lucifer's dual blades. More frightening than using their archangel weapons was that they were deathly silent. Not a word said only grunts and shouts of rage.
Raguel was all but helpless as the Seraphim began in fighting. Following their two leaders example they began to hack at one another. This sick display only spread from there. Angels and Archangels alike taking sides. For the first time in all his millenia of life Raguel didn't know what to do frozen in horror. If he were to fight with either it would cause his virtues to join the battle. There was no way to stop it.
"Raguel what do we do?" Gaston one of his commanders begged landing by his side.
"There is nothing we can do." Raguel replied. "We will not take sides in this fight. We can not. There is no justice in the slaughter. Leave." HE ordered. "Take the others and leave. Protect the rookery, protect the young. Subdue anyone and I mean anyone that tries to get past you. Any of my garrison caught joining this madness will be stripped of all powers and locked in human regeneration till the end of time." He declared in fury.
"Yes sir." Gaston replied flying off to spread the word.
Raguel went to beg Father to stop this. To do something.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
Raguel descended from heaven onto the earth. There were battles breaking out all over the surface of the earth. Angels that had been among men when the fighting started and they just decided to attack without concern for the innocent humans near by or the faultless vessels they were destroying.
While his Virtues were protecting the young and innocent, eggs and cherubs Raguel took it upon himself to go down and force the fighting angels back to heaven. He was grabbing and force teleporting angels when he saw Jeremiel and Zadkiel helping him. He gave his brothers a tight smile and a nod before slinging another angel back home.
AS he moved across the battlefield he saw a sight that broke his heart. Sweet, mischievous, little Gabriel there trying to scream sense into his brothers trying to stop the fighting. Why does father allow this to continue? He thought looking at the young at heart archangel forced to physically separate two of his fighting brothers and force one back home.
Raguel had gone to speak to father. Begged him to stop Lucifer and Michael before this had gotten out of hand. Before the madness and anger had spread to all the angels and many of the Arch. But he refused. Father said he couldn't interfere with free will.
Raguel filled with rage. He had never been so angry in his his whole existence. He'd never felt... He stopped his whole body froze gavel slipping from his hand. Tears welled in his eyes and ran down his face like the mercury blood of angels wounded outside a human vessel. Said blood was running in rivers across the ground under his feet. Raguel Archangel of Justice felt hatred. He hated his father for allowing this, hated the angels for fighting like heathens over NOTHING. Hated Lucifer and Michael for what they had done to this family. But most of all hated himself for not being able to stop it.
With a roar of rage Raguel picked back up his war hammer shrinking it to about the size of a mallet and began an attack. He smacked every single angel in that field over the head rendering them unconscious.
Once they were all on the ground in heaps he looked around to find his 3 brothers standing there looking at him. He approached them and to his shock and heartbreak Gabriel actually took a step back.
He grabbed the smaller archangel by the back of the neck giving it a gentle squeeze. "Don't fear me brother. Don't you ever fear me. I will never truly harm any of you. What I have done I did to prevent more death."
Gabriel nodded tears in his eyes and wrapped his arms around Raguel. Just as they were about to mass teleport the angels back to heaven there came a pain. It was intense and they all felt it right down to their very core. And on the heels of the pain came a scream like they had never heard. But they all knew exactly what it meant on some deep previously unknown level. An Archangel had died.
The four Archs quickly returned. It was just in time to see the the beautiful blond head of their tiny young sister fall to the ground. When alive she had appeared no more than 18, her bright purple eyes always shone with laughter and happiness. She had been the epithet of her dominion which was grace and beauty. And even now as they all watched in horror as she slid off Lucifer's blade bright eyes filled with pain that slowly dull into nothingness she was still a macabre beauty splattered with the blood of their siblings, her razor fans coated in quicksilver.
There was complete silence and stillness. Hanel's death had broken the spell on all of them. Angels were now looking about at their hands in disgust. Some began weeping trying in vain to wipe their kins blood from their hands. Others just stood catatonic unable to process what they saw before then. But no one spoke.
Not until Lucifer dropped his blades and fell to his knees with wracking sobs. HE looked up catching Raguel's eyes. "I didn't... I... It was an accident... I didn't see..." He cried trying to make his brother understand trying to seek forgiveness from the fairest of them.
His words broke the silence and spurred others into action. Zadkiel and Metatron raced forward to try and save Hanel in vain. But Michael used the opportunity to subdue Lucifer. He grabbed one shoulder and the bend of his wing holding it just so that the other couldn't move. Gabriel moved over and did the same to Lucifer's other wing.
"We will take him to Father for judgment." Michael said. "This is too great a crime for you." He added snidely. Gabriel said nothing head slightly bowed unashamed of the tears rolling down his face.
Raguel had a bad feeling about this so went to see their fathers judgment of this great crime.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
"You have betrayed me Lucifer Dawn Bringer. You have betrayed us all." Father said in shame and anger.
Raguel raged. How dare he say such a thing when he did nothing to stop this madness? He thought but held his tongue as they all did in their creators presents.
"You will be punished to the highest degree for the attack on your siblings and the death of Hanel."
"But..." Lucifer tried to defend looking young and afraid before Father.
"Silence!" He shouted causing all four of them to flinch. "Raguel, you will remove his grace and he will be cast out. You are no longer a son of mine." Father ordered.
Raguel's eyes widened tears filling them.
"Father please." Gabriel begged. "There must be another...
"Don't question father!" Michael scolded the younger angel.
Gabriel's chin fell to his chest and he tightened his hand on Lucifer, more as a show of comfort than to restrain.
Raguel said nothing, he was already disillusioned with father. There was no mercy to be found at this time, and maybe the mercy he had seen in the past was all but illusion as well. He stepped forward not brushing away the tears that clouded his vision. He placed one hand on Lucifer's shoulder. "Be still MY brother." He said emphasizing the word and in his own way rebelling against this order.
Raguel closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pushed his hand into Lucifer's back right between the wings. He reached deep inside and grasped his grace. As he extracted it Lucifer screamed out in agony. Raugel couldn't look at his brother so instead looked at the grace. He'd never seen it outside an angels body before. It was a large pulsating mass of pure power.
He felt sick. Before he could dry heave, or pass out Raguel took the grace and fled
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
There is little passage of time for true immortals. Some time ago Gaston had come to tell him father had left heaven again. He refused to take the reins this time. Let heaven fall. He was still mourning the loss of his two siblings, of what he was forced to do to Lucifer.
It was another long stretch of time before Raguel left his home. He was done mourning and ready to get on with life as best as he could.
When he went out of his doors he couldn't believe his eyes. Heaven looked like a POW camp. Everyone was moving from place to place with silent efficiency, eyes on the ground not greeting or stopping to chat with one another. The fear was palpable. Raguel also noticed there were no cherubs or human souls roaming the streets.
Uneasy he went to Raziel for answers. Only to find the library doors were both shut and locked. Those doors were never to be closed. He knocked on them. A side door opened and there was Raziel looking grim Raphael at his side, Kyoketsu-shoge in hand. The deadly blade gleaming with dark promise.
"Raphael?" Raguel questioned. He had never seen his gentle brother prepared to use his weapon.
"Raguel?" He questioned back. Raguel gave a nod and Raphael dropped the weapon, it instantly vanishing, once again becoming his hair pin, and rushing into the older angels arms.
Raguel returned the embrace kissing his brothers hair. "Raziel I need to know what has happened."
The few wrinkles on his face deepened. "I should slam this door in your face. You tuned your back on us for 1000 years. Why should I help you now?" He said disappointment coloring his tone but never raising his voice.
Raguel was not shocked by his words, but by the fact that he was more upset disappointing his brother than him father.
"All I can say is that I am truly sorry. I could not look at my brothers after what I did to Lucifer. I beg your forgiveness and will gladly pay any penance you ask of me."
A tiny upturning on his lips was all the answer Raziel gave as he turned and re entered the Library both brothers following. "I knew you would say that, as I knew you would one day come out of your self imposed imprisonment." Jeremiel said off to one side leaning on one of the pillars. "As I foresaw you would be too late... or too early depending on how you look at the situation."
"Too late for what?" Raguel asked. He didn't really understand the riddles and double speak of the Archangel of foresight but he trusted his ability anyway.
"Too late to save Michael."
"What do you mean is he in danger?" Raguel asked ready to tear apart the world to save his brothers as always.
"Only from himself." Raziel said.
"A seed of darkness was planted in his very heart that day and without leadership and guidance it has grown and festered. Michael has taken over command of heaven by force. And is ruling with an iron fist." Raphael added still snuggled into his brothers side.
"Is there nothing I can do?" He asked two of his wisest brothers.
"Travel heaven undetected and see the damage for yourself." Raziel told him.
"Then go find Lucifer." Jeremiel said. "Do all you can before you face Michael."
"Go." Raziel said. "When you are next here then we will talk more."
Raguel didn't need to be all knowing or see the future to know that both brothers were hinting that he would lose to Michael. He had never lost to any of his brothers before, but he took their counsel and hugged and kissed their cheeks as if this was the last time they would see each other. With one final nod he vanished from both their sight and senses.
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
AN: I'm cutting this nonsense here. The next chapter will cover Lucifer, how Raguel ended up in Harry and HOPEFULLY conclude the Harry Potter arch of this fic.