Chapter Twenty-Four: Forget the Past
Lily's POV
Now, the ground isn't satisfied being cold. Oh, no, it has to be wet and HARD, too. There was no doubt that the ground was hard, Lily had been sitting in the same place for several hours now. Stupid ice. Hopefully her butt hadn't frozen to it yet.
Lily as thoroughly sick of ice and snow, and cold. And hardness. She sat on a ice block, watching the other immortal prisoners wander about aimlessly. She had given up trying to figure out what in the world they were doing. The years had passed . . . so many. How many? Lily thought about the years to come. She obviously wasn't going anywhere soon. In the future . . . how will I feel? She could practically FEEL the presence of her family, SOMEWHERE out there. Out there . . . how were they? Where they okay? She had failed her mission . . . these were thoughts that she thought everyday. How would it be once the years had passed and all her outside connections were dead? Would she be happier, stuck in here, while knowing that if she was not, she could be out somewhere with her family? Or more miserable, once they were obviously dead, and she was all alone in the world.
She had even tried spelling her way out- her wand didn't have any effect on the hard-as-stone walls, and apparition was blocked by them.
A sharp whimper from Fury cut through the air, and she sat up straight, and unstuck her butt from its ice block. "Fury?" she said, getting up and heading in the direction of the cry. She wasn't worried- stupid little creature probably got stuck in one of the vaults again- she turned the corner, and the gryphon wasn't there. "Fury?"
There was another whimper, from above, and Lily looked up. The young gryphon, now older, but not appearing to have aged at all, was somewhere up on a ledge, where Lily couldn't see. It sounded like . . . a scuffle? What was going on? "FURY?" she shouted, but there was no answer. Her voice echoed hollowly up along the chamber.
Lily wrinkled her forehead, and peered around looking for a way to get up to where her little friend was. Fury may be annoying, but Lily still CARED about her . . .
Suddenly there was a creaking cracking noise, and the ledge above her collapsed, raining down flurries of snow and shards of ice that accumulated in Lily's hair. She managed to jump back in time, and it smashed into the ground. There was a rain of feathers as Fury flew to safety, crowing victory.
The cockatrice, knocked casually over the edge, hit the hit the ground seconds after, and smashed into a million pieces.
Harry's POV
Harry stirred slightly in his sleep. He was riding on the back of a huge, black dragon.
Harry's Dream
A snake was falling, through the air. He fell fast, but to Harry he moved in slow motion, rotating as he drifted down to the hard icy ground below. After a minute of falling, it finally hit the ground- and shattered like ice. The shards that were once the snake cracked and exploded out in all directions before. The shards fell to the ground, and dissolved. There was the clang of a loud bell, and then the crystallized walls began to buckle and melt, and his eyes were drawn to a small figure fleeing though the middle. Before he could see who it was, he was drawn back up, like out of a pool. Something moved.
End of Harry's Dream, Harry's POV
Harry sat up, knifes drawn from their hidden places at the ready. His eyes pierced the twilight darkness easily. He slid the knives away. "Bear, what are you doing in my tent?"
If there was anyone he could call a friend, Bear would be it. They trained together all day long, learning how to fight, to kill, to hunt, among other things. Bear was a dark elf only slightly older than Harry who had been taken in my their Master several years ago. He was a wide chested sturdy boy that looked a lot like his name; dark, wide, and hairy. He was taller then Harry, and stronger, but he lacked the nimbleness that made Harry so quick. Or Raven, as he was still known.
Bear eyed him strangely. "I thought there was an attack." He said grudgingly. "I wanted to be part of it."
"An attack?" Harry asked thinking. "You mean the dwarf threat." He shrugged. "They've never had the nerve to attack us here before, I wouldn't worry about it." As the legends all said, dwarves were the biggest enemy of the elves. Harry found this amusing for some reason.
Bear shook his head. "No, I saw a light. A glowing. Bright green, right from your tent. It faded when I came in."
Harry considered it. A light? "Go back to sleep, Bear."
Bear grumbled something and turned to leave. A voice, however, stopped him in his tracks at the doorway. "Well, I see that you two are up!" Scythe stood in front of him, looking in. "You two must be more silent. I heard your conversation from my tent. As it is, that will serve out purpose for now. UP, Raven. We'll start early this morning."
Harry almost groaned. They had been up late last night, practicing skills to bring down magical creatures. This time, it had been dragons. If he ever became face to face with another Hungarian Hortail, he could just jump on it's back and start stabbing it in the eyes like a pro.
He got up, and grabbed his things, following while speaking in a low voice. "We're going on a hunting trip? Now? What about the others?" he stopped when he could see the camp. All of the warriors were up, and waiting. And they were all looking at him.
Scythe shrugged. "You woke them up, too." He sounded amused.
Harry shot a glare at Bear, who glared back. The large party exited the camp, and started off to the end of the forest.
People often joked about what a pair they made- Bear, with the gruff demeanor and bear-like looks, and quick Raven, short, with his pitch black wings. It was irony embodied. Oh yeah, and Scythe marching either in front or behind us with his scythe in hand.
Lily's POV
The Fortress was breaking down! The walls, all of their delicate, engraved secrets, were nothing but mush. She looked up, and there was a hole in the ceiling- with sunlight streaming through! Beautiful glorious sunlight! Fury popped up next to her, and she hummed up for the hole, emerging in the fresh air.
She felt a jolt, somewhere inside near her heart, and she knew that he immortality was gone.
But we're FREE! Fury flapping happily by her side. It's too good to be true.
Behind her, a few of the other prisoners came out, receiving the same jolt. She ran over to meet them- and the ground disappeared. The entire humungous cavern had caved in. The others plunged down, but she grabbed them and hummed to safety, as Fury got the others, fighting against the whistling biting wind that threatened to pull them down.
She was free. And safe. And anything but warm, but that's okay, for now.
Harry's POV, some time later
It happened when they were already outside their territory.
They were in a large, dark, unlit forest, where their nightsight sure came in handy. It didn't have the atmosphere that their forest did, but the branches closed in over them, some ways above. They had been stalking through the forest, spread apart, and hunting, when the whistle blew.
Harry jumped. The whistle, the shrill one that could be heard for miles. He hadn't heard it in years, not since the Dark Lord's delegation had come. This brought Harry some guilty thoughts. How ss the wizarding world? Is the dark lord still trying to take over? He had tried to forget about them, but every time he remembered, he felt an urge to go and check on it. Something held him back. The world outside is nothing but bad dreams. Both of my parents are gone. I changed things, didn't I? Isn't my job done? The dark elves would never join with the dark side now, anyway. After his kidnapping, they made it clear that if any human tried to enter the forest there would be no mercy. His mind wandered back to his dream. He hadn't had time to think of it, until now. It as almost faded from his memory . . . the shards of ice . . . what stuck out clearest was the running figure at the end. Who is it? Is it someone I know?
He had a faint recollection of the black dragon from another time. Harry could see the shiny black scales in his mind's eye, as he sat comfortably between two large pumping wings. He strained to remember what Camellia had said about it, something about the consciouses . . .
The bushes exploded to his side, and Bear came thundering through. "What are you standing for? Move!" he shoved at Harry, and Harry ran along with him as they bounded swiftly through the trees. His mind was pulled back to the present. Oh yeah, the whistle of alarm.
"What's going on?" he asked his comrade.
"The Dwarves are attacking." He told Harry. "I ran into some others back there who had seen them. They outnumber us, and they have some kind of weird nets. I think they're taking prisoners."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"I don't know!" Bear hissed back.
"Okay." They went on. Bear didn't look nearly as thundering when in full motion. He showed the grace of a true elf. Which was more than Harry was, anyway. Unless the rumors were true, and Bear's father really HAD been a bear. Harry almost chuckled but then ran on.
They ran into a clearing, and were confronted with a huge horde of dwarves, set up in a half circle to prevent any escapes. They froze for a second. "Oh shit." Harry murmured, and they split up instinctively, Harry going to for the right while Bear went to the left.
Lily's POV
All right, free is nice, free is good. Free is also cold. And windy. Where do we GO? Lily thought urgently. They had been wandering on the frozen tundra for hours, and she had the profound feeling that they were going in circles.
She stumbled along, and tripped on something sticking out of the snow. She stopped and fell to her knees, exhausted. Fury let out a little whimper. Lily looked down, running her hands over what she had tripped on. What WAS it? It was black, and smooth, and hard, which a glassy surface. Though that wasn't saying much- everything here was hard with an icy surface.
The ground started rumbling, and Lily panicked, springing backward with newfound energy and sprawling some distance away. Was there another underground cavern? She had forgotten Fury, who smacked into the ground next to her as the ground in front of them buckled and jumped up. The black thing came out of the ground, to reveal more black things, all connected, until she recognized the shape.
"Cortez!" she screamed at him in relief. "What the fuck are you doing here?" She was so surprised and angry that her breathing was harsh and rapid. "I was so worried about you!" she ran up and smacked him on one of his feathers, hurting her hand. Slowly, she looked up. "Damn you've gotten big!" He's about twice his size before- evidently wasn't affected by the immortality spell. "Where did you come from?" she asked, more gently this time.
Cortez shook himself to get some ice and snow off him. 'I forgot to tell you.' He chirped sadly. 'My feathers are so insulating that I wouldn't be able to freeze to death, and follow you.'
Lily felt a pang in her heart. "You waited there . . . for me?" she asked.
Cortez nodded his great head. 'Rocs live long.'
"Oh." She said nodding her head in a sarcastic way. "They LIVE long." As if that explained anything. But he had done it for her, and she stayed silent.
Cortez bent down, and Lily scrambled up his tall side to stand in the middle of his back, like a platform. Fury settled down.
My ticket home. Lily thought happily. Thoughts of what had passed while she waited threatened to creep up on her, but she pushed them away to bask in her victory.
Harry's POV
The trees passed by in a blur on either side. They passed by with a speed that surprised him. The dwarves weren't fast enough to be on his heels, but if they could then they would be. They surrounded him, however, and they knew where he was. He breathed hard, skidding to a stop and looking around to see where one was. There was a dwarf to his left- a net sprung up in front of Harry, catching his foot. Pulling out a knife that was woven into his shirt, he tore at the net, but it held. With a yank, he tore it out from where it was anchored and carried it along.
He ran so fast the tears streamed form his eyes and stung on his cheeks. A wall of dwarves sprung up in front of him, and he shot upward, wings bursting from his cloak and spreading as he lifted off the ground and used his momentum to shoot straight up. Cries of surprise followed him.
Something sprung around him, falling from above. He saw the crossed lines in his vision against the blur of the trees. He was in a tunnel, and it was inevitable. The net fell into place, snapping against the now bare skin of his arms. The ropes ensnared him, and he was held in place. The strangely woven webbing clung to him and hampered his movements. He reached for a knife, and the net tightened. "Magic." He breathed. That's why they finally dared to attack- they had an advantage this time. The cords tightened, and Harry wisely stopped moving. That's also how they had managed to catch him even though he was flying away. Harry sighed. What I would give for a wand, or some protection spells.
The net was slowly lowered, among exclamations of wonder in dwarfish. They had never seen anything like him. Something was shoved into his mouth, and he was forced to swallow.
Harry fell into a deep, drugged slumber.
Lily's POV
The cool spring air and view had never been more welcome. Lily and Fury basked in the sun. She remembered a time when Fury had been unwelcome to her- now they were like family.
Her skirt thawed, and the pockets on the side unstuck to each other. She reached in, and pulled out the 'all-knowing' paper that Camellia had given her, slightly wet but still fine. She grinned. "Please, Camellia, a map." She opened it, but instead of a map, it was a page of music notes. She sighed. "Map, notes, all the same." She read along, trying to figure out the tune. "I suppose I should sing it."
She sang, letting the notes roll over Fury, Cortez, the clouds. It resonated through the sky on a soft and pleading note. The song gained a pulling, anxious quality.
It was Fury who was most affected. She jumped up, and looked around, sniffing wildly. With a leap, she jumped off Cortez's back and headed to their left, flying in a clear straight line. Words wrote themselves at the top of the page in a self satisfied way. "The finding spell." Lily threw back her head and laughed. She didn't know what exactly was so funny, except that she was free, and things were back on track. "A finding spell will do just as well." She murmured and leaned over to watch Fury.
"Follow her." She told Cortez, who shifted his wings and flapped gently to change directions. Here I come. She thought silently.
Remus's POV
Dumbledore was strolling along in front, followed by McGonagall, Snape, and then finally himself. Snape had been giving him the cold shoulder all after noon, and it was wearing on his nerves. He had better things to think about, however. The new exciting sights, sounds, and for him, smells.
Dumbledore had decided to go to the Lag Aragch, the dwarf marketplace. They walked along, passing stalls full of exotic objects that were being offered. Remus gazed openly. This is kind of fun! He thought. The stereotype about dwarves was not true at all- they were only slightly shorter, yet they were quite wide. Not as in fat, but as in sturdy. A strange smell wafted by his nose, and he froze.
Not that that was new. He had smelled strange smells all evening. But this one was different. He felt like he had smelled it before. The Dwarf smells had a cadence, a harmony to them, but this smell didn't go with it at all. It stuck out and called his attention. He caught up with Dumbledore.
"I smell something really odd." Remus told him, and Dumbledore gave him a look.
"Is that really such a surprise? You've never met dwarves before, have you?"
Remus shook his head. "No, but this is different." The smell grew stronger- and then it started to fade. Remus shrugged. "Forget it. It's not that important and it's going away." He thought about it. "Everything, even all the odd things, smell like DWARF. Except that."
Snape, who had started listing to their conversation, stepped up behind them. "Trying to show off with your superior sense of smell again, are you?" he said in a disgusted tone. Shaking his head, Severus walked away. Remus ignored him.
Severus Snape's POV
Severus snorted rudely and turned away before Dumbledore could say anything. Remus had been become increasingly more irritating lately. And now Dumbledore had insisted that he come along on the trip- how FUN.
Snape wandered down a side alleyway, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The dwarves paid him no mind either- they had other customers to attend to. They displayed their wares on bright cloths over sturdy wooden tables, standing behind proudly, shaking their fists and holding up an item or another. Their gold- as they insisted only to be paid in gold- hung from pouches on their belts.
Some of the later dwarves caught his attention- they didn't have any belt pouches. Their hair was long and unruly, beards to rival Hagrid's. They wore black clothing, and instead of wares, and tables, and pretty tablecloths, they were adorned with vicious looking weapons of all shapes and sizes. As they moved through the crowd, other dwarves drew back, almost with out thinking about it, growing still and waiting as the dark ones passed.
Severus decided to leave.
He caught up with the others just down the road. They didn't notice his slight distress- he would have been embarrassed if they had. ESPECIALLY Remus.
"Don't go." A voice stopped his in his tracks. He stood listening. The voice was young, soft, and slightly raspy. It had an odd accent, lilting and melodic. It wasn't a loud sound; it was soft in a way that gave Severus the feeling that the sound had traveled to his ears alone. Someone in a crowded room whispering right in your ear.
The other stopped looking back at him. Minerva opened her mouth to say something, but he silently put his finger over his lips to stop her. The look on his face was so intense that they leaned forward to hear what he had to say. A short silence. "Did you hear that?" he said abruptly. They listened.
"Please." Remus's eyes grew wide, and the others listened closer. "Please don't go."
Harry's POV
Harry's head felt like it was stuffed with cloth. Everything seemed slightly blurry, and he couldn't focus on anything. The drugs, a part of him realized.
He leaned up weakly to see where he was. He was in a large cage, which swung from the arms of one of the elves. The bars were crisscrossed and smelted together, dwarven made. Everything outside of his unmerrily bouncing prison was one, big blur. Looking up, the fierce eyes of one of the elves blazed white. He curled up and peeled out from underneath his arms, watching the rough ground pass below him.
His prison was shaped like a bird cage, domed at the top, and small. Very small, he was surprised to realize that last time he had been this age, even though he had been living with the Dursleys, he had been much larger. He certainly would never have fit into an enclosure as small as this one. He wasn't thinner, exactly, in fact he was more muscular, but still really slender. He was just smaller, shorter. He looked many years younger than he was. Harry shifted uncomfortably. Out of fear of him flying away, most likely, they had bound his wings together, and his arms were spotted with bruises, and littered with small stinging cuts. They weren't directly inflicted; they must come from traveling. Exactly how far had they gone? And where were they now?
A small distance away, a face slowly grew clear- Snape's.
Never had he been happier to see that crooked nose. He sat up, almost beaming himself on one of the crossbars. Snape joined with a few more familiar faces. Dumbledore! McGonagall! Professor Lupin! They were SO CLOSE! He almost yelled out, except one of the dwarves accidentally hit the back of his cage with a boot, and it rattled him all the way down into his teeth. He opened his mouth again, and coughed hoarsely as his throat closed in on itself.
"Don't go!" he pleaded softly. If only they would just turn around- if only they would just see me. As long as they were there, right in front of him, he had hope. He watched them closely waiting for some sort of signal that they realized he was there.
An itching tingling sensation coursed through his veins. He shuddered, scratching absentmindedly at his wings. They start slowly warping, dwindling, curling in on themselves. Slowly his wings escaped their bonds, as they melted into his back. His ears shrunk dramatically, and the bright light hurt his nocturnal eyes just a bit less. The cage was closing in on him when he realized in truth he was simply growing. He stared at his hands in shock. "Nice timing." He muttered with appreciation.
What he hadn't bargained for, though, was as the metal bands that had held his wings in place were freed, they fell to the ground with an echoing clatter, arousing the attention of the dwarves.
Severus Snape's POV
The clatter rang in their ears, and the four turned around to see what the sound was. They couldn't really tell- it was nothing but a mess of hands and feet- and the big butt-ugly dwarves that Severus had met in the alleyway. "Er." he said, glancing nervously. "Let's be on our way, shall we?"
He started to walk away, but as non of the others followed him, he simply sighed, and stopped.
Remus was looking back as well. "I wonder what's going on?" he said vaguely, watching. The warrior dwarves stomped angrily and marched to the side of the road where they commandeered a table. The salesdwarf grabbed her wares and took off, clearing the area. They had a metal birdcage on it, and they peered in. After a moment's deliberation, they clustered together and squabbled in warped, hushed tones.
Minerva's eyes bugged as a slender hand reached out from between the bars. "There's someone in there!" she exclaimed. A dwarf with woven blankets laden on his shoulders stopped next to them.
"They must be bringing in prisoners." He speculated, leaning back slightly. "Most likely an elf." he made a disgusted face.
"An elf . . . in a birdcage?" Severus asked, curious.
The dwarf shrugged. "Elves are smaller than people think." He snorted. "Dramatized . . . filthy creatures. Though a birdcage, that is very unique." He added a shrug. "I guess for lack of anything else. Most likely a young one that they caught."
"What do they do to the prisoners?" Remus asked, looking slightly concerned.
"Probably bring him into our capitol- where the King is." The dwarf winked and continued on, and all others discarded the presence of the fierce looking warriors and their prisoner.
The wizards couldn't really see into the shadow of the cage, but they could see the silhouette of the elf, who was reaching out to them. "Dumbledore! Snape! Remus! Professor McGonagall!" the voice returned. "Don't leave me here!"
They gasped. "How does he know our names?" Remus asked softly
They walked forward together and went up to the dwarves. Dumbledore tapped one on the shoulder, and they could see the young elf peering out at them, eyes bright.
The Dwarves all turned to face him. Dumbledore started rambling fluently in their native tongue. Snape's jaw almost dropped, until he realized who this was considering- Dumbledore. Dumbledore speaks every language that I've ever heard of . . . He nudged the headmaster's shoulder.
"What are you saying?" he inquired almost inaudibly.
Dumbledore leaned back over and answered out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm asking if the prisoner is for sale."
"Ah." Severus nodded, then did a double take. "Do you realize how much that's going to cost?"
"Yes."
Severus sighed.
The dwarves mumbled among themselves, and then one stepped forward, uttering something to Dumbledore, while shaking his head in a firm 'no'.
Dumbledore started again, speaking with ease, on a coaxing, wheedling note.
He's good, Snape thought.
Again, they shook their heads.
Dumbledore stood with his shoulders back as if in graceful defeat, and then stated something clearly and loudly.
All that were listening hushed. The eyes of the dwarf in the front bugged out.
Severus tugged insistently on the side of the Headmaster's robe like a young child. "What did you say? What did you say?" he asked, throwing his dignity away.
Minerva gave Dumbledore the evil eye. "Professor! What did you say to them?"
Lupin looked apprehensive.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I said that they can name their price, they can have anything they want."
Snape grimaced, and Minerva's eyes lit.
"Anything they WANT? All for an ELF?" she admonished.
Dumbledore smiled. "Curiosity killed the cat. So if we end up broke, then we're considerably well off."
Minerva just shook his head.
The warrior dwarves spoke rapidly and excitedly among them selves, in hushed whispers. Slowly, they became quiet, faces still. They had one request, anything they wanted, among all of them . . . what to ask for.
One said something to Dumbledore, who nodded without comment.
"What did they say?" Minerva ducked her head and jerked it toward Dumbledore, forgetting to look dignified as well.
Remus looked on the verge of tears . . . of laughter. Snape couldn't' imagine what was so funny. Minerva leaning forward and ducking her head like a goose, maybe.
Dumbledore turned to them. "They only said that they knew who I was. Nothing else." He said, and gave them a stern look.
So they understand the possibilities of his offer, then, Snape noted. That's quite a dilemma.
"Oh." Minerva said.
Finally they stepped forward, all of the dwarves. Their face was solemn, still they motioned Dumbledore into their circle where they conferred in hushed whispers. The dwarves around the edges leaned in slowly, but they backed off among harsh glances from the warrior dwarves.
Dumbledore nodded, smiling to himself, and the dwarves cheered. He shook the hand of the leader, and they bid farewell, simply handing over the cage, which Dumbledore handed to Remus, who carried it easily.
Even he gathered around Dumbledore as the dwarves headed in the opposite direction.
"What did you promise them?"
"What did they ask for?"
"Oh dear, I hope you haven't done anything drastic . . ."
Dumbledore held up a hand. "Well, at first they had trouble deciding. Imagine, anything they wanted, from me, Albus Dumbledore . . . they could have riches, or a spell done for them, something like that. But the more they talked, the more they realized how trivial these things were. And finally, they decided something that was worth their wish."
There was a moment of silence.
"And what was that?" Minerva asked when it became obvious that he wasn't continuing.
Dumbledore grinned brightly. "That shall remain between them, and me."
"Aw . . ."
"Professor Dumbledore . . ."
"Come on!"
He turned his attention to the cage. The others sighed, and joined him. There was no immediately obvious way to open it. They fumbled around a bit, but it became clear that it wasn't going to just open for them. There was no space for a lock, either. The young elf was asleep, or most likely passed out.
"We should have asked them how to open it." Minerva said, as she shook one of the bars in frustration.
Dumbledore hefted it by the handle and gave it back to Remus. "Too late. We'll just take it back to Hogwarts and figure it out there."
Lily's POV
The wind blew Lily's long hair back, over her shoulders and through the air. It felt really refreshing, through her hair was a tad bit disappointing- it was ragged, from all the bits that had frozen and snapped off.
But she was off to find James, and her hair could wait.
Fury was still off in front of them, and there was definitely land below, for hours it had been nothing but ocean. Fury was bee-lining for her destination, wherever that was. Slowly, the little- as she hadn't grown during her time as an immortal- gryphon's wings started to dip, and she sloped down, Cortez following.
"We're getting somewhere!" she exclaimed.
Cortez inclined his great head, and she laughed for joy.
They sloped down, farther and farther until the houses of a small village came into view.
"People." She said, pointing at the dots. "You better stay here, Coz." She said, rubbing his back affectionately.
He whistled affirmation, and she leaped off, free-falling down to catch up with her little friend before humming to a stop right above the ground. Fury had already landed, and she meandered ahead, snuffling through the bushes before starting off. Lily followed at her tail, murmuring encouragement.
They came upon a small dirt path, and Lily rejoiced as Fury followed the path up to a compact, but spacious house with blue trim and shutters, a small garden filled with vegetables, and a large wooden door. Fury sniffed her way in a circle, and then sat next to the door, looking up expectantly.
This is it, Lily thought. Where or what it is, I don't know, but this is it. She knocked on the door, listening to the sound echo through the house.
"Coming!" the voice called. Lily shivered as a chill ran up her back. He sounds so FAMILIAR.
As the steps of the person on the other side of the door came toward her, Lily was hit with the realization of this reality. What was he doing here? If he was free- why didn't he come looking for me? He loves me, I know that- he wouldn't have given up so quickly. Yet here he is, nice house, nice garden . . .
Her doubts were swept away as the door opened, and she became face to face with James. Her heart must have skipped a beat, as she stood in shock staring at him. He stared back at her. Without speaking she reached out to touch his face.
Without warning, his hand snapped out with the Quidditch reflexes she knew so well, and grabbed her forearm. Quidditch reflexes that he had gotten from endless practicing out on the field, at night, early morning, in the cold air, while I sat on the hard benches waiting for him, swathed in layers of jackets and blankets through the rain and snow, cheering . . .
He lifted an eyebrow, giving her a speculative look. "Excuse me," he said haughtily. "Do I know you?"
Her heart fell out of her chest, and was trampled under a thousand horses. She stood unmoving, tears just not COMING, under his harsh gaze.
He forgot me. I haven't changed, I haven't aged a DAY, I have been immortal, goddammit, I don't look that different, do I? I just can't.
"It's me." she said clearly, glottal stop at the end of her words, choking down sobs before continuing. "Your wife, Lily. It's me, Lily." She repeated, looking up into his eyes.
Finally, she saw comprehension there. "Oh!" he said finally. "You're James's wife!"
She froze. She stood in silence, be fore grabbing his arm and gazing at him like a madwoman. "You're not James?" she said finally.
"Well, I am, but no." He said, and going on before she could interrupt. "You see, the person that you see before you is indeed your husband James. The person occupying him, however, is someone entirely different." He stretched out a hand. "Gallagher Mungo, at your service."
She didn't take it. "How can this be?" she asked. Not James, She thought. He's not James.
James- no, Gallagher, twisted his arm out of her grasp and shrugged one shoulder. "Long story. To make it short, I died. Quite a while ago, I might add. I was the founder of St. Mungos Hospital. I'm not really a Saint, but that added a nice touch, don't you think? Anyhow, In order to escape the place that I was killed, in this case, the Hellhole, Voldemort's dungeon itself, I had to join with a person. Your husband, having been held there for a while, seemed likely. So I joined-" she noticed that he said 'joined' with a particular type of irony, "-with your husband, and we didn't have any immediate way of escaping so years passed. Finally, we got out, and we wandered around a bit before coming here." He sighed. "The point is, I've possessed him."
"Possessed him?" she said faintly, looking somewhere beyond what she was looking at, in a dazed way.
"Yes." He said slowly, along with a long nod.
"Well." She said in the same slow way. "Can you UN- possess him? He got you out, didn't he?"
Gallagher grimaced. "That was the plan, wasn't it? Well, after escaping, I realized almost immediately that that wouldn't' be possible. I had possess him for so long, that our minds became- how should I put this? Bonded. Not merged, but inseparable. Believe me, I tried, but I had been so long that I couldn't break loose. So what did I do? What anyone sensibly would do. I took over. I had hidden my Gringotts key, and I found it. I snuck in under a cloak and no one saw me. I had a considerable fortune from the hospital and I took it all. I have a nice life here. Don't worry 'bout your husband, he's fine."
Lily stood stiff, with a teeth-showing grimace on her face. "Let my husband go." She said softly.
"Sorry. Can't do that." He said firmly. "I'm really sorry you see, I understand completely but-"
She lunged. Cutting him off in the middle of the sentence, she knocked him over on the to floor vehemently. She wound her hands around his throat, choking him. "Let him GO!" she screamed hoarsely at him. No one, I mean no one, is going to get between me and my HUSBAND! She thought fiercely. Not this Mungo jumbo guy, or anyone else.
"Ehgh-" he choked, and she started banged his head against the nice marble floor where his footsteps had echoed a moment before.
Crack! His head came down. She cussed incoherently "Oh, I'm tougher than I look!" she exclaimed. "I can kick your ass!" she continued, still smacking his head on the ground.
"Don't -ehgh!- kill me!" he wheezed out. "Argh- if you -ehgh- kill me you'll -ehgh- kill your husband -ehgh- too." He coughed.
Lily stopped. She sat on his chest looking down at him before walking out the door. "I'll be going now." She said in a distant voice.
"I knew you'd see the light!" He said, using the wall to get up. "I'm only telling you everything because I want to help you. You need money? Support? I'll help you out, but you have to give up on your husband. There really is no hope in trying. There is absolutely no way to dislodge me from you're husband's mind."
No hope. Lily repeated to herself forlornly. "No hope." She whispered.
"Funny, you're eyes looked just like your son's when you looked at me like that. Strange." He shook his head before starting to close the door.
Lily stopped it, and he looked out at her. "You've seen my son?" she asked, voice rising.
He nodded slowly. "Yes. He has the same big green eyes as you- bright, and sad-like."
She let out a breath slowly. "Where is he? Where can I find him? Where is my son?" she said in a rush.
He chewed on his lip, looking at her. "Well-" he stopped, just thinking. "I really can't say."
"You don't know?" she screeched. "How come?"
He continued chewing on his lip and giving her a weird look. "Well . . ."
"Spit it out." She ordered.
"Promise you won't attack me?" he asked.
She nodded. "I promise. Now where did you see Harry?"
"Harry." He said. "Nice name. Well, I can't say because I left him."
"Left him." She stated dangerously.
"I really didn't have a choice, he would have followed me."
"Of course he would have followed you. You're his father."
"Yeah, well, I left him alone- at Voldemort's dungeons. He's the reason I managed to escape, he got me out. Good kid. Real shame."
Lily was having trouble breathing. "You left my baby boy ALONE in the Dark Lord's DUNGEONS?"
"Well, yeah."
Lily growled, and Gallagher looked alarmed.
"I'm not sure where he went after that. I suppose you-"
Lily stopped the words from coming out of his mouth by starting to cry. Gallagher stood, slightly alarmed.
Falling to her knees, Lily bent over and cried. Sobs wracked her body, and her thin shoulders shook in grief. She put her hands over her face, feeling the presence of her once husband right behind her.
"You ruined it." She mumbled through her sobs. "It was going to be so perfect. Everything."
A hand touched her back.
"Get away from me." She ordered. "Go. Have your life."
The hand didn't leave. "No Lily." Came his voice.
She stopped, sniffling, to listen. Slowly she turned around to look into his eyes.
James smiled in a familiar way. "You know I never could stand to see you cry." He said.
Her eyes bugged. "You-"
He nodded. "Yes, me. I finally managed to fight him off."
She squealed, and hugged him fiercely. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "I fought." He said into her shoulder. "I fought as hard as I could but he wouldn't let me go."
"Where is he now?" she asked into his ear.
"He's still there, in the back of my head. Now I'm in control, he can't take over. His mistake was that, out of pity, and out of guilt, he let me see everything that was going on. Seeing you cry gave me the motivation to push him out. I'm in charge now." He repeated it. "I'm in charge. And I'm not giving him a damn inch. He can't see, or hear, or feel, or hurt anyone ever again."
She pushed back his head, and gave him a long, passionate kiss.
"I'm glad to have you back." He said to her, before giving her a long, scrutinizing look. "You haven't aged a day!"
This made her look really closely at him. His face a wrinkles that hadn't been there before, and his eyes . . .
She nodded. "You're right. I haven't. I would have come earlier, but I was trapped. In more ways than one. Trapped . . . timeless . . . in a place that wouldn't' let me age."
He didn't really understand, but he nodded anyway, having comprehended the basic idea.
She used the wall behind her to slide up, and then grabbed his hand to pull him up with her. "Come on!" she said. "Let's get out of this place." She used her sleeve to wipe her face dry. "I have so much to tell you, and there's someone you have to meet." He stopped to think. "Let's go to Hogwarts and see Dumbledore." She decided. "I need to catch up, and you probably do too. Then we'll go find Harry." Her smile faded at the thought of him. My little boy, she thought to herself. "Is it true? What Gallagher said about Harry?"
James nodded slowly. "I was so happy to see him . . . I had forgotten about Mungo, he had hidden so long that I didn't know he was still there. He took over, and I couldn't do anything about it. All these years . . ." he trailed off.
She hugged him again. "It's all over now. Come on we can talk as we go."
She pulled him outside, where she took one of his hands in each of her own, and looked him in the eye. "Promise not to freak out, and I'll explain on the way, okay?"
He looked slightly worried, but nodded.
Lily began humming, and their feet left the ground as the drifted upward. James jerked and gripped her hands. "Whoa!" A bit ways above, they went down a little and their feet came landed with a loud thunk on a solid black surface.
James stood a bit unsteady, and finally sat down.
"What IS this?" he asked, and did a double take. "You can fly!"
She laughed. "Wow, I've waited for that for a long time. I'll explain on the trip. First, James, I'd like you to meet my long time friend and traveling companion, Cortez." In front of them, a huge head suddenly lifted into the air. James's jaw dropped. "Cortez?" he repeated.
"Uh-huh!" she grinned. "He's a Roc."
"A Roc."
"Wow, I didn't think they had echoes up here- oh!" There was a flutter of feathers, and a small gryphon popped up behind them, and with a disgruntled look at having been forgotten and ignored, she plopped down. "And you know Fury."
"Yeah."
She leaned against his shoulder. Man, was she glad to have James back. And they were on their way. We're coming, Harry, she thought.
"Well, I think everything sorta happened at Harry's baby shower, when . . ."
Harry's POV
Harry opened his eyes slowly- he could see clearly again, that was a good sign. He was surrounded by bed curtains- and white walls. He sighed. The infirmary at Hogwarts, he knew it all too well. He felt a shiver inside. It felt so good to be back, memories came flooding in of past- or future- times that he'd had. All the Quidditch games that had landed him here, the good ones, and the bad, when he had lost and his broom had been broken- and then there were the times that he had woken up here wishing that he were dead. And that he could go back and change it all, make it better. He mentally repeated himself- 'go back and change it'. He smiled.
" . . . really odd." Dumbledore's voice came tumbling into the room.
Madam Pomfrey came bustling by. Even though he had been expecting her, seeing her was still a bit of a surprise. "Madam Pomfrey!" he exclaimed.
She froze in her tracks and Harry almost smacked himself. He was going to tell them who he was, of course, but even so, the last time he had been here he was about a month old. And there was a snowball's chance in hell that he could explain away his knowledge that he REMEMBERED. He opted for not telling them, or just breezing around the subject.
That might be interesting.
Madam Pomfrey stepped back, out of her stupor, and nodded. "I'll get the Headmaster." She scurried off.
Harry lay back down on his pillow, relishing the mattress. Ah well. Here we go.
Snape's POV
Snape, Dumbledore, Remus, and the other professors stood around outside the infirmary, waiting for Madam Pomfrey signal that their young friend had woken up. They had spent hours trying spells and potions to open up the cage, to no avail. Finally a strange combination had worked, and the thing had cracked. The young elf was slightly bruised, and asleep to they had brought him to the infirmary for the time being. In conclusion, everyone in the castle knew of his presence.
Madam Pomfrey came scurrying up, as usual. She squeezed in and said softly. "He's awake. He recognized me immediately and called me by my name." She seemed a little frightened.
"Let's go in." Dumbledore said, and he motioned for several of the others to follow him, including Minerva, Snape, and Lupin.
The prisoner sat in his bed, looking at them. Just the way his eyes, and the way he looked at them seemed so FAMILIAR now that he was awake.
Dumbledore sat on his bed, and the others pulled up chairs. "Hello." Dumbledore said.
"Hello." He gave them a smile.
"I'm Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Have you heard of it?"
"Yes."
"What's your name?"
Another smile. "I am known as Raven." His voice was definitely recognizable as the one that they had heard in the marketplace. It had a really distinct accent, melodious and lilting, that could be recognized anywhere. Elfish, Snape supposed.
The blood in Severus's veins trickled to a stop. Or so it seemed. Raven . . . the name that he had called his one time son. How strange that is would pop up here. It's that common of a name, after all.
Dumbledore nodded again. "So where are you from? Where do your elfkind come from?"
The young elf looked at them. "I'm not an elf. The dwarves mistook me as an elf, I really am human."
Realization dawned in their eyes. "Oh!" Dumbledore said. "You knew all our names- are you a student here?"
He shook his head.
"Where are your parents?"
"I don't know. I do know, however," He looked up at them. "That my real name is Harry Potter." He bit his lip and waiting for them to react.
"It can't be!" Snape burst out. The other's jaws dropped. Harry Potter, known, as the name he had given him, Raven- it was too much to think about. "No. You can't be Harry Potter. Harry Potter would be eleven years old. How old are you? Nine?"
"No." He drew up to his full height. "I'm eleven. I look young for my age is all."
They were all looking at him, speculating to themselves.
"He looks remarkably like James at the age . . . "
"Those eyes . . ."
". . .just smaller, if that's possible."
"He has the same eyes as Lily."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Minerva interrupted their mutterings. They look at her, and she opened her eyes wide in asurprised expression.
They didn't get it.
She sighed. "What is Harry Potter most known for?"
Snape blinked. "His scar!"
"The scar!"
"Yes!" Minerva said, gesturing toward the boy.
He shrugged, and shoved his short curling locks off his forehead, showing a thin jagged scar that went down his forehead.
"Wow."
"It's true."
"He IS Harry Potter."
"Harry?" said Remus, who was looking a little tearful. "We've been looking for you for AGES."
Dumbledore nudged Minerva. "Curiosity, eh? All for an ELF, did you say?" Minerva gave him a disapproving look.
He turned back to Harry. "Harry, do you know where your parents are?"
Harry closed his eyes. Slowly, he shook his head. "No."
There was silence. "Neither do we." Dumbledore said quietly. The cheerful mood in the infirmary left.
"There's nothing that we can do about that, not right now. We're still looking . . . there may still be hope. I'm just glad that we got you back." Remus pulled the boy into a hug, and Harry hugged back, grinning. Snape felt a tinge of jealousy. I have no rights to him, he thought. I was only pretending to be his father, and I didn't even want to.
But he said that he was known as Raven. He carried on the name from when he was my son, to wherever he went . . .
And too the surprise of the others, Snape smiled as he looked over the relieved staff.
I'm still jealous though.
Argh.
Still, none of them knew of the connection between his Raven and Harry Potter. To them, they were two completely different people. Only few knew that Harry had been in hiding as his son. Also, none knew that the banshee that had attacked him had been Lily. She had never been recognized, not by a single one of them. They ignored that his name had been Raven.
Stupid people.
Lily's POV
"So, lemme get this straight, you gave Harry to SNAPE, and he lost him. Oh yeah, and you found out your some kind of banshee-faerie-elf mix."
"Yes."
"SNAPE?"
"Not my best moment, but I was under pressure. Besides, it was out of his control. He probably did a fairly good job of bringing him back to Hogwarts."
James shook his head. "Look! There it is!" He pointed off through the clouds.
Mist was wafting mysteriously around the tall towers, and the sunset was reflecting off the lake. Hogwarts was bigger than either of them remembered. It was a gorgeous sight.
"We'd make a fortune in the Calendar making business . . ." James murmured as Cortez started swooping down.
They landed in the Quidditch field, Cortez squeezing in between the towers. They slid off, and Fury followed, as the huge roc took back to the skies, disappearing in the clouds. They watched him go.
"Will he come back?" James asked.
Lily shrugged. "He's usually around somewhere, he won't go far. If I need him I could always call for him."
They went up the path that led to the Great Hall. Lily turning her head to him as they walked. "Are there classes going on? She asked. "Exactly how much time has passed?"
James thought about it for a couple seconds. "Well, I'm pretty sure that term was out a couple days ago, there was a pair of kids that came home for the summer down the street from where Gallagher lived. So only the staff should be here, unless they left. And I know that the staff usually stays, most of it anyway. At least for a while. And time . . ." He sighed. "Eleven long years. Harry will be twelve this summer."
She stayed silent. Eleven long years . . . She couldn't think of anything to say.
They got to the front doors of the Great Hall. James knocked.
"Come on in!" came Dumbledore's voice. Holding hands, they entered. Lily wearing her thawed rags and James nicely dress in Gallagher's crisp, casual clothes.
The remaining professors were sitting around the table, eating dinner. As the two came through the door, jaws all dropped, along with utensils, plates and goblets.
Remus, along with a couple other werewolves had commandeered part of the table. They looked on as the last two people they ever expected entered the room.
Silence.
Dumbledore stood up, pushing has chair back and drawing up to his full height. He looked at them for a full minute.
"Glad to have you back." He said finally.
As if that had signaled something, pandemonium started along with a major hugging fest (which Severus artfully withdrew from) and all anyone could do was say how happy they were to see them again.
"We looked for you the whole time!"
"No trace! As if you had disappeared!"
"I can't believe after all these years you just com walking through the door."
"Lily! You haven't aged a day!" ("Why THANK you, Professor Flitwick.")
"Oh, wow, Sirius is out on another lead to find you guys. He's going to be so pissed to have missed you coming in."
"Would you like to sit down and eat?"
Lily shook her head at the Headmaster's offer. "Not right away. I'd like to get cleaned up, maybe eat a bit." She stopped. "As soon as possible we'll be off. We have got to find Harry." James nodded.
Silence. The staff members looked at each other, giving strange glances out of the corners of their eyes.
"What?" Lily asked, voice rising. "What are you not telling us?"
As no one said anything, Lily became more frantic. "What's happened?"
Dumbledore stood up. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just we though you knew."
"Knew what?" James asked.
Dumbledore smiled. "Harry's here. I thought that's why you came."
"Harry's HERE?" Lily asked, eyes bugging.
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm afraid so."
James hugged Lily into his side. She was speechless, and her face was slowly turning red. "Where is he?" he asked.
Madam Pomfrey stood up. "He already fell asleep, he has an odd habit of waking up really early. I'll take you to him, at the moment we placed him in the infirmary." Seeing Lily's alarmed look, she held up a calming hand. "For loss of anywhere else to put him."
They walked up together, through all the trick steps and hidden hallways. Lily could remember every single detail.
At the door of the infirmary, madam Pomfrey stopped to let them by. "He's over there." She pointed to the farthest bed and then left them. The walk across the room couldn't have seemed to take longer- every step took a minute and every minute seemed like an hour. Lily clenched her fist around James's hand, but he didn't complain. Silently, they approached the closed curtains. Lily reached out and pushed them aside. Neither breathed.
They couldn't see anything but a small sleeping form, back to them, and a full head of pitch-black curls. A soft sigh escaped Lily's lips. Even though she knew that time had passed, until this moment, in her heart she had still believed that she should find the same little baby that she had lift behind. Don't be ridiculous! She reprimanded herself. They walked around the bed and sat on the other side, pulling aside the blanket and looking down at their son.
There was a light soaring feeling in Lily's chest, and her head felt detached from her shoulders. Every breath echoed in her ears. Oh my God. He looked so much like James, but then she was there too, in the slanted eyes and the loopy curls. He has the inhuman looks that I recognize, Lily realized. He looked slightly elven, and he had the same gracefully sloping nose as she and all the other faeries had. He slept on, not realizing their presence.
Pulling up chairs, they watching his chest rise and fall until dozing off themselves.
Harry's POV
It was very early when he awoke, he was still used to training time with the elves. The room was dark, but in the darkness he could see two dark still forms next to his bed, but he couldn't see who they were. Why would anyone be next to my BED? He thought tiredly.
Getting out of the other side of the four-poster instead, he padded quietly out of the room, and when down to get breakfast from the house elves, who were up early anyway. Grabbing some oranges, he went off to stroll around the school.
Lily's POV
Exhausted, the two had slept well, and they woke up some time later. Opening her eyes to an empty bed, Lily told herself that nothing was wrong. Getting up, she shook James awake.
"Eh?"
"James, Harry is gone."
James sat up, looking around. "It's late, he probably got up already. He wouldn't know who we are."
Lily didn't answer. My son doesn't know who I am . . . she knew that, but saying it was still depressing.
"Let's go look for him." James said, and she nodded, following him out of the infirmary into one of the stone corridors. They went in the direction of the Great Hall, peering around every once and a while, but there was no sign of Harry. Could something had happened to him? Where was he, where could he have gone?
As they passed the trophy room, they heard footsteps echoing. Peering in, they again met the back of Harry's head. Lily glanced at James, and they shared a special moment before she spoke out.
"Harry."
He turned around, eyes wide. He has my eyes, Lily thought. Bright green and slanted. He was standing in front two large windows, the sun shining though in actual rays. You could see the dust particle swirling lazily about in the air and the shine of the rich wood. The various cups and medals took on the glow, and sent sparkling dots all over the walls.
He stepped forward, looking at them. His eyes brightened when he saw them, and Lily had the strange feeling he recognized them. He couldn't . . . well, he always had been an odd child, not crying and such, but . . . must be some sort of instinct.
"Harry." She said, pushing the words hoarsely out of her throat. She cleared it and started again, clearly. "Harry, we're you're parents."
He just looked at them, not saying anything.
"We've been looking for you for a long time. We're so glad." She closed her eyes temporarily. "To finally have you back."
They waited anxiously for him to react. Slowly, he smiled. Then he nodded. "I've been looking for you too." He said, in a curious accent they couldn't figure out. "I was wondering where you had gotten to."
Lily burst into tears, and he came forward. She bent over and pulled him into an embrace, and James over that, just standing, as a family. The lights danced against Lily's eyes, and she closed them, squeezing out tears. "So glad to have you back." She repeated softly in his ear.
Someone stepped out from the shadows, where the light didn't quite reach. Still, they should have seen him before . . . standing straight, all three turned their attention to Albus Dumbledore.
Albus beamed at them. "I am extremely happy for you. And I propose that since term is over, you spend the summer together getting settled, and at the end of the summer, Harry will be invited to attend Hogwarts. What do you say?" He looked over them. "He's missed a year, but-"
"I can do it." Harry cut in. "I'll be fine."
Albus turned to Lily and James. "How about you two?"
They looked at each other. Lily slung an arm about her soon and James nodded. "We can't keep him locked up in the house, can we? That sounds good. No place will be safer for him than Hogwarts."
"As long as he come back during Christmas break!" Lily joined in, and laughed.
"Come along then. We have a lot to talk about. I'm sure you're not quite up to date in certain- events." He looked at Harry, and Harry knew exactly what he was talking about.
"I'm sure you're right." Burying her face in Harry's hair, Lily said. "You're going to LOVE Hogwarts."