Out of all the years of my life, 1988 had perhaps been the most peaceful, blessed, and fulfilling I had ever lived. This was rather ironic, as I was not technically born yet. However, 1989 was in many ways the same, and in others rather different. We exchanged many letters with Dumbledore and Sirius Black, and Harry continued to grow. Harry and Sirius became good pen pals, and Dumbledore passed on plenty of insightful information, though he was continually frustrated in his attempts to locate the Diary Horcrux.
Sarah took her first steps in our new home that spring, as we moved out of the teacher housing into a slightly larger home in Hanalei town. We were still renting, and living as frugally as we could. So far, we'd managed to avoid dipping into Harry's saved up cash, and had been investing it wisely. We'd finally started to see some good returns on a few of the investments I'd made, though Apple and Microsoft refused to do as well as I thought they should. Sony was doing phenomenally well and making good returns, which made me hopeful I just needed to give things more time.
Perhaps the darkest day of the year came on my birthday. Libra had asked if I wanted a party, and I told her no. We had a quiet family dinner, then left the kids with Auntie Debbie for a few hours. Libra and I went for a walk, where I didn't say much. We ended up in a clearing on a low hill near the town, sitting on top of a rock together.
"Do you think I'm alive?" I asked Libra quietly, looking up at the night sky. It was mostly clear, with a few clouds. Out to sea, I could see rain falling on the ocean against the light of the quarter moon.
"I don't think it matters," Libra told me. "Multiverse theory, right? You'll always be you. Whether or not there is a child who shares your name, we may never know."
I put my arm around Libra, squeezing her tightly. "I wonder, did you exist back where I was from? What were you like?"
"Well, I would have been an old woman by 2017," Libra said quietly. "Who knows what my life would have been like. You said there was no magic in your world, right? Perhaps I was happier that way."
"Yeah," I agreed, still looking up at the sky. "It wouldn't have been you anyway." I kissed the top of her head softly. "You're the one I love. No matter what, I'm still glad I'm here. If I were given the option, I'd choose to stay. Every time. My life here means so much more now."
Libra was quiet for a long time, and we sat together comfortably. "David, if I had to choose between magic and you, you know what I would pick, don't you?"
I looked down at her, my heart feeling like it was being squeezed by a giant's fist as tears came to my eyes. "Would you pick me?" I asked.
"Of course. Every time."
We made love back at our home almost frantically that night, even with Libra being pregnant. I so desperately wanted to feel alive, to feel as though I was where I was supposed to be. I wanted to believe this was part of God's plan, but with the lack of news on Harry, I was doubting once more. But with Libra in my arms, our next child moving within her, I felt as though my life had something more concrete than it ever had before.
After my birthday, we spent a lot of time with Kai, who showed us some of the magical creatures and plants around the island. We saw tattooed sharks the size of a bus swimming out on the ocean (something that nearly gave me a heart attack) and Hawaiian Dragons.
That particular episode took place in Waimanu Valley, where Kai was camping with Harry and me. Libra was eight months pregnant at the time, and had stayed home with Sarah. School had just ended, and it was the beginning of June. It hadn't rained for almost a week, and it was perfect camping weather. We'd paddled kayaks across Waimea Valley into Waimanu the day before, and were cooking a breakfast of Portuguese Sausage, eggs, and rice, when there was a loud crack in our campsite.
"Ey, cuz, you der?" someone called from the bushes near our camp. I'd stood up nervously, but Kai seemed to accept it as normal and Harry was half asleep, staring into the fire while clutching a cup of hot cocoa.
"Yeah brah, howzit?" Kai said, standing and going over to the bushes.
A man in a dirty T-Shirt and jeans stepped out, holding one of the feathered wands kahuna used. "Ey, dis da Pottah boy and his dad I hear about?"
'Yeah, dis Dave Murphy and his boy Harry. Dave, Harry, dis my cousin Kenichi Souza from Honokaa Town."
"Mornin'" I said, shaking the strange wizard's hand. He looked like a local boy and was a bit shorter than I was, probably one of the portuguese-japanese families from the northern Hamakua coast.
"Shoots," Harry said, waving sleepily at the new wizard and accepting that people could just teleport to our campsite with impunity.
"Aloha, call me Ken," the wizard said, waving to Harry.
"What you doin' here today brah?" Kai asked.
"Was just up mauka side from here," Ken said, pointing up the slope of Kohala. "Saw some big gouges in da earth. Sniffed around a bit, found a dead pig. Somthin' been chewin' on it. Somethin' big. Think we got a moho up der."
"Aw hell," Kai groaned. "You sure?"
"For sure brah, you could smell it. How one of those get up here eh?"
"Probably swam over from da reserve on Maui," Kai said with a heavy sigh. "You best go call them, let them know. I handle it, put it to sleep so they come get it."
"For sure, I got da canoe, I can call up some wind, sail over real quick. You sure you got it on your own?"
"Can't you just teleport?" Harry asked, looking up with some interest at this discussion.
"What, over da water? You crazy brah! You can no do dat!" Ken laughed. "Da water make the mana go all bad. You end up thousand yards out to see. Dat a long swim brah against da current."
"Magic doesn't work over open water?" I asked.
Kai shrugged. "Da kine magic work. Like, wind, water magic. That work plenty good. But you try apparate over water? You end up going for a swim or falling and breaking you neck. Other magic not so hot over water either. Also, range on apparition is kinda limited. On da mainland you not go more than what, 500 miles?"
"Some folks go farther than da others," Ken said. "Me, I go mebbe 400 miles on a good day. Not practice going too far, can't go more than 100 miles or so here on dis island, even less on da others."
"Yeah that sound about right. OK, you go get da moho paniolos and I put dis big boy to sleep," Kai said. He shook hands with Ken again, then Ken raised his wand and vanished with a crack.
"Hey, you boys want to go see a dragon?" Kai asked us.
"Yes!" Harry said at the same time I said "No."
"Aww, come on dad!" Harry begged. "I bet it's awesome. Uncle Kai can keep us safe!"
I looked to Kai, who nodded. "Wouldn't offer if I didn't know I could handle it. I done this plenty time before. Moho not like those European dragons. No wings for one thing. Dey swim pretty good though. Of course, if a haoli stumble across one, or even a not too good kahuna, moho eat them same as a pig or a cow. Used to just eat fish and birds, but these days they got a taste for other things."
It took us about five hours to track the moho to its lair up the slope of Kohala. I slowed everyone down, as Kai could have apparate with Harry, but the walk was nice enough. Moho, for those wondering, is the same word as mo'o at its base. Both essentially mean "lizard" which when I finally saw the moho, I had to agree.
The thing was sleeping in a cave, and looked like a huge monitor lizard. There were some striking differences, namely that this one was dark green with a sparkling azure blue underbelly. The feet were webbed, but they still had wicked looking claws. It was much larger than a komodo dragon, easily about 50 feet long, though most of that was the tail. Standing up it would have been head height with a man, and it's head alone was large enough to swallow someone like me in one gulp. However, we caught it napping, and Kai cast several spells that trapped it in the cave. The lazy creature opened one eye, which was flecked with blue and green, then closed it again and went back to sleep.
"Fat buggah must have ate more den one pig," Kai observed. "Good news for us. Those Maui boys should be here soon. I'll put up a signal for them."
Kai conjured a flock of birds, which began singing loudly all around us, their colorful plumage standing out in the trees. It looked and sounded incredible, but was something that people would just pass off as exceptional but not unnatural if they saw it.
Ninety minutes later, the dragon tamers showed up. Harry was not yet bored of the dragon, and was squatting just beyond the shimmering barrier Kai had created, studying the creature. I was next to him, feeling no small amount of trepidation. I'd slipped earlier and slid right through the barrier to Kai's shock and astonishment. Thankfully, the moho had slept through the whole thing and I'd managed to scramble back out of reach. Harry had found the whole situation hilarious, and I had laughed along with him, which was better than crying.
"Aloha Kai," the lead dragon tamer called. She was an asian woman in her mid forties with skin that had seen a lot of sun and weather. Her eyes had smile lines by them though, and she landed her kite expertly. Asian wizards, it seemed, favored bamboo and paper kites over brooms, and frankly they looked more comfortable to ride on.
"Aloha Auntie Naomi," Kai called, waving. "Got your boy trapped right here."
"Pua is a delicate flower," Naomi sniffed. "She just a little rambunctious is all."
"Well she ate most of three pig and went right to sleep," Kai said, pointing to the cave. "Brought a couple of friends over to take a look."
"Oh, this that Harry Pottah I heard about?" Naomi asked, coming over to Harry and I. "You must be his father, that seer. You the one make that big stink about what the haoli do to our reefs?"
"You know, I think us being here is supposed to be a secret," I said, shaking Naomi's hand. "But yes, I'm Harry's father, David."
"Of course it a secret," Naomi said. "That why everyone knows it. Don't worry though, we not tell those mainlander wizards. Especially not them ones that think haoli all need to get killed. Those idiots think we could rule the whole world. Ha! What would they even do with it if they got it?"
"I'd rather not find out," I said.
"Well you two best clear off," Naomi said. She nodded to the two other dragon handlers that had come with her. One looked like a teenaged version of her, the other was a caucasian man in his 30s. "We handle this one. Not the first time one of our moho go swimmin' off. Been looking for Pua for three days now."
"Next time maybe give me a shout eh?" Kai said. "Gave Ken Souza a scare when he found it."
"Yeah, yeah. You get back to your auror business now Kai. Tell your momma aloha for me."
Kai hugged Naomi and slapped the man on his back, waving to the teenaged girl. We started our hike back down the mountain as the dragon tamers drew their wands and started chanting.
"Well, that was interesting," I commented as we made our way back down.
"That was so cool!" Harry cheered. "Did you see how big it was? Did it breath fire?"
"Steam, actually," Kai told us. "You see the little puffs from its nostrils? They store water in their bellies, along with fire. Then they breath out steam. Scald the skin right of a man for sure."
"Either way, that sounds like no fun," I said. "Those things get loose all the time? How?"
"They dig," Kai told us. "Right under the fences, through solid rock. We raise moho for their magical properties. Eyes and claws for potions, teeth for wands, skin for armor and clothes, all kine stuff. But they swim, they dig, they hard to keep brah. Usually they get caught right away, go back to the preserve. This one got out of hand, but it was all OK in the end."
"They ever kill anyone in their little escapes?" I asked Kai.
Kai shrugged. "Sometimes. Usually though that only happens when people go places they shouldn't. We got signs, wards, all kine stuff, but idiot tourists keep trying to go see the Hawaiian dragons. 'Oh, hey man, we got propa dragons back in my home, this dragon, it no dangerous.' They keep saying that right up until one scald the skin offa them or eat them. Shoot brah, I bet this one got out cause some tourist take down the wards or take the tracking spell off them to try and steal it or some crap."
"Good to hear wizarding tourists are as brain dead as the regular kind," I mused. "You hear about that guy a few weeks back who tried to swim with a 'dolphin' that turned out to be a tiger shark? Bit his arm off, he bled to death."
"Yeah, thank God that not my problem," Kai said, shaking his head. "Now, that lolo idiot who tried to pick a menehune pod? That's my problem. Stupid ICW wants to have the menehune put down. They was just protecting their babies brah. Fool got what he deserved."
"I think my mum would kill someone if they tried to take Sarah or baby Marie," Harry said.
While we'd wanted to have our first child be a bit of a surprise, the luster of that had worn off with the realization that we needed to buy stuff for the kid and how inconvenient it would be to have to do that after they showed up. We'd peeked, and Marie Justice Murphy was due in the next two weeks. I'd felt a bit worried about going on this camping trip, but Libra told me to go have some fun before the sleepless nights kicked in.
Everything actually turned out fine, as Marie was born on June 10th, 1989, ten days after we got back from the dragon camping trip. She was named after my own mother Marie LeMaire Murphy, who would probably never know her granddaughter existed, and of course Libra. It was sort of nice to get to spend two solid months with the new baby before school got back in session. Harry really good about helping to watch Sarah, even though he was only turning eight.
Sarah herself was turning out to be a perfectly average child, hitting all her markers at more or less the right times, walking, talking, teeth, all the good stuff. I confess, as a special education teacher I was more than a little fixated on developmental milestones, but Sarah was doing just fine. She was a beautiful little girl with nut brown hair and my own dark eyes. A bit of a mischievous streak was emerging from her, but she was still young enough that her personality was anyone's guess.
Marie, on the other hand, turned out to be a colicky little thing, who was in and out of the hospital three times that first summer with stomach problems and a fever. She was born at a healthy enough weight with dark brown, almost black hair like my own, but unlike me she was tiny and a bit underweight despite being full term. I spend a lot of long hours walking her back and forth on the lanai of our new home, trying to get her to sleep while Libra rested. The delivery had been long and painful; one of those where without modern medicine Libra could very well have died. However, the doctors assured us that everything was fine, and Libra recovered after about six weeks.
However, unlike with Sarah, Libra suffered a bit of postpartum depression after Marie's birth. She felt like a failure as a mother when Marie would sick up her breast milk and struggled to gain weight. The doctors put Marie on formula and her health improved, but Libra seemed to really take the news that her baby wasn't doing well with her mother's milk hard. It took a lot of prayer and sleepless nights, and the doldrums lasted into the new school year. Eventually, Marie's health improved, as did Libra's mood.
"They're both beautiful children," I assured Libra late one August night, after giving Marie a bottle and putting her back to bed. "Just a few bumps in the road, nothing major."
"I know it will be alright," Libra told me, resting her head on my shoulder. "But she's been so much harder than Sarah was. I feel like I did something wrong during the pregnancy."
"You did fine," I assured Libra. "It's all good. You think she's enough? We've got three now."
Libra was quiet for a while, then looked up at me. "Do you not want any more?"
I shrugged. "Frankly as rough as that delivery was on you that's not my call. You were pretty tore up for a while. What do the doctors think?"
"I'm fine now, they said I should have no trouble with another baby, though they said they might consider a C-Section. I just...I don't know. Harry wants a baby brother."
"We could always get him a frog or something," I said as we headed back to bed. "I hear toads are all the rage at Hogwarts. That's like, half a boy right? Snakes and snails and all that."
"We are not getting our son a filthy toad. Everyone would laugh at him! No, he's getting a proper pet: an owl. They're very useful, and wonderful creatures. But you're dodging my question."
I yawned and got back into bed. "I don't think either of us are up for trying tonight. I'd prefer not to make such a big decision with not enough sleep."
"Oh really?"
I opened my eyes to find my wife naked, and crouched on the covers over me, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Do you not find your wife desirable any more, Mr. Murphy?"
As it turned out, I wasn't as tired as I thought I was.
Four months later, Harry found out he was getting a baby brother for Christmas. What can I say? My wife is very persuasive and stubborn when she sets her mind to things, and I am helpless before her seductive might.
The only other significant event of 1989 (aside from selling the jeep and getting a van like the swelling brood we were) was news from Sirius that Dumbledore's health was indeed worsening. He was eating less at meals, and was increasingly withdrawn from school events, spending more and more time in his office.
This was, to be blunt, a bit of a nuclear warhead. When the news came just before New Years, I was devastated.
"He's not supposed to die yet!" I told Libra. "He's hale and hearty throughout the books! He duels Tom to a standstill and orchestrates all these plans! Harry's not even in school yet!"
"David, calm down. You know you've changed things," Libra told me. "So much has changed from what you've told me. Death Eaters locked away, the Horcruxes mostly destroyed, and of course Harry has us as his parents now. Perhaps we've taxed the old man overmuch."
"But what do we do?" I demanded, pacing back and forth furiously. "If he dies, how do we save Harry? What's the plan!? I don't know enough about magic! Those books have helped me get a handle on the history of it and stuff, and it was horrifying to find out house elves are the result of a thousand years of magical slavery, but they don't help diddly with Harry! Dumbledore was the only hope!"
"David, do you have your faith in a batty old man who left our son in an abusive home, or in God?" Libra demanded bluntly.
I pulled up short, my heart skipping a beat. I swallowed. "In God," I said after far too long a pause.
Libra shook her head. "You're not acting like it, not in the slightest. Now, I may be newer at things of faith than you are, but even I can see putting our hope in Dumbledore of all people was a fool's hope. He's proven to be unreliable and have poor judgement. Surely he is not the only option."
"But I don't know any others," I whispered. "How? What can we do?"
Libra shrugged. "Ask Akeakamai. She may know things Dumbledore does not. Even if she doesn't know, have faith. Trust. My world was forever changed by things beyond my control or knowledge. I'm certain things will be well with Harry. God wouldn't have made us his parents just so he could die."
We contacted Akeakamai on New Year's day by calling Kai, who was the only wizard I knew who had a perfect understanding of how to operate a telephone. He'd make Arthur Weasley proud.
Kai told his Auntie two days later, and she teleported straight to our house, scaring the hell out of Uncle Sato and his wife Jane, who were over for dinner.
"You have an urgent errand to take care of," Akeakamai said, waving her wand over the Sato's. "Make your apologies and leave. You did not see me, but you have heard I am a friend of the Murphy's."
"Oh, I forgot, I have to pay my electric bill," Sato said, standing up with a worried look in his eyes.
"Oh my gosh, I didn't give Billy his vitamin this morning!" Jane gasped, pulling their stunned son away from the Nintendo where he'd been playing duck hunt with Harry.
They left immediately, and Libra and I rounded on the elderly witch, our faces both full of fury at having our home and evening invaded.
"There is no time," Akeakamai snapped at us. "Your son's life is in grievous danger."
That shut us both up.
"What's wrong with the baby?" Harry asked, looking concernedly at Libra's slightly swollen abdomen, as she was three months pregnant.
"Not the unborn one; you, child," Akeakamai said. She marched over and took Harry's head in her hands, pressing her thumb to the scar. "Is this it? The phylactery, as you called it? The shard of the Evil Ones soul?"
"I believe so," I said, coming to peer over Akeakamai's shoulder. "I think it's part of the scar. That's a curse scar, yes?"
"Mum? Dad? What's happening?" Harry said, his voice full of panic.
Sarah began to cry, and that woke Marie up, and she started to wail as well.
"It is. See to your daughters. It is well, child. You are in less danger than I had feared," Akeakamai said, dropping Harry's head. She frowned, tapping her chin. "This is most unsettling. One soul bonded to another. I have never heard of such a thing."
Libra picked up Marie, and I took Sarah, who quickly quieted and started sucking on her thumb, a habit that showed just how nervous the 23 month old girl was. I patted her on the back, and kissed the top of her head. "It has to do with how the horcrux was made," I said. "Voldemort intended to use Harry's death to split off a shard of his soul and infuse an object with it. What that was, I don't know, but the ritual was halfway done when he tried to execute Harry."
"Hmm. I have never heard of these Horcruxes, though the practice of using soul jars is not foreign to me," Akeakamai said, running her finger over Harry's scar. Harry was trembling slightly, a tear running down one cheek, but he was mostly holding it together.
"Hey, it's OK big guy," I said, kneeling down and shifting Sarah over to one arm. "Come here."
Harry hurried over, trying to hide his sobs. He was eight now, a third grader who was increasingly independent, but really he was still a little kid. He'd had quite the nasty shock, and would end up sharing Libra's and my bed for three nights, suffering from more nightmares.
Akeakamai declared she would need to have Harry come to Ka Hale o ka Mana for his scar to be properly studied. "I will need him for several weeks," she informed me. "I know he has schooling, but this should be done as soon as possible. However, first I must research these horcruxes and their nature. I have some contacts in the ICW I will pursue. As soon as I am ready, I will send for the boy. He must come with no delay. While he seems to have suffered no ill effects thus far, I cannot guarantee this will continue."
"Thank you," Libra said, gently bouncing Marie who had quieted down and was drifting back off to sleep. "You're the first person we've told who has taken this seriously."
"Who else knows?" Akeakamai asked. "Have they done nothing?"
"Dumbledore; we told him years ago," I informed her. "He's turned up bupkis."
"That man," Akeakamai growled. "Idiots. Everyone thinks him to be some great leader just because he is the most powerful wizard in ten generations. The man is so afraid of his own greatness he is paralyzed half the time. I am shocked he did not act on behalf of a child in this case though, he has something of a weakness for them."
"I think he probably knows how grievous it is, but wanted not to frighten us or Harry," I said. "He's a bit obsessed with giving Harry a happy childhood."
I leaned in close, so Harry couldn't hear. "I think he believes the only way to remove the soul is for Harry to die, or for Tom to somehow destroy it without Harry dying."
"That is troubling," Akeakamai said, shaking her head. "For all his faults, he is a great wizard, and very wise. Sometimes talking to the man is enough to make one feel a child, so much more can he do and so great is his intellect. If he has found nothing...I shall contact him directly. It seems I shall be leaving Hawaii for several weeks. I will go with the next airship. Thank you for telling me, Murphy family. Your ohana is part of mine." With that, the old lady vanished with a crack.
I swallowed, going over and picking Harry up. It was the first time I'd done that in a while, and I groaned slightly doing it. He was getting heavy, and Sarah was no lightweight herself these days and I still had her. Harry put his head on my shoulder though, looking very frightened.
"It will be OK big guy," I told him. "We'll pray, OK?"
Harry nodded, and we did indeed pray that night. Libra and I both prayed long and passionately, but I think Harry's short plea was the most heartfelt, and effective.
"Jesus, I'm scared," Harry said, his eyes squeezed shut as he knelt by his small bed. "I don't want to be bad, I want to be good. I want my soul to be mine, and not Tom's. Please, help me. Keep us all safe from the bad wizards. Make this go away, please. Thank you, daddy."
None of us slept well that night, or for many nights after. I wanted to believe that God would come through and take care of it, and I tried to outwardly project that faith. I struggled through, and I think Libra sensed that even if the kids didn't. She was there for me though, and for perhaps the first time in our relationship, I laid myself bare to her completely. I wept, I told her my fears, my lack of faith, everything. She never judged me though, and it was I who woke up with nightmares of Harry's body in my arms more than once.
I guess that's why they say it takes two. Because no matter how broken you are, if someone loves you enough, together you can be whole. If there was one thing in life that I knew, it was that Libra loved me unconditionally, and no matter what, she would be there for me.
I hope she knew I felt the same way about her.