oooOOOoooOOOooo
The remaining few months of Narcissa and Charity's pregnancies went quickly. On a fine day in May, when the sun was shining and the flowers blooming, Narcissa gave birth to little Julius Severus Snape. Narcissa was aglow with the joy of motherhood when she held the little boy with thick dark hair already sprouting from his head in her arms. As her third time giving birth, things went very easily and smoothly for Narcissa.
Things didn't go as smoothly for Charity. Their daughter decided to arrive in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. Charity was in labor for 20 hours before her daughter decided to show herself to the world. Little Lyra Elizabeth Black came raging into the world and never stopped. Her personality matched the fierce thunderstorm that heralded her birth. Lyra was a force of nature.
The new babies were welcomed by their siblings and their various aunts, uncles and cousins.
Albus Dumbledore might have been the only person in the Wizarding World who didn't welcome the news of the new little members of the house of Black. It wasn't that Albus resented the children. No, children were always a blessing. Albus rued the fact that now Sirius Black and Severus Snape had slipped even further from this control.
Albus' plan to lure the Dark Lord's spirit to Hogwarts by tempting him with the sorcerer's stone had worked. Even now, Quirinus Quirrell was possessed by the Dark Lord. Albus wasn't sure exactly when Voldemort would make his move to go after the stone but Albus expected it would be soon. While Voldemort would never actually be able to get the stone due to Albus' ingenious plan of hiding the stone within the Mirror of ERISED, he still needed to be confronted. Albus needed Harry Potter in order to successfully confront the spirit. The problem was, Albus had no idea how to get Harry onto Hogwarts grounds.
Albus thought long and hard and believed he had come up with a solution. One day, at the beginning of June, Albus decided to put his plan into action. After he announced he was leaving the school, he snuck very carefully back up to his office and waited. Soon enough, the ward alarm tripped. Albus knew Voldemort had reached the room with the Mirror of ERISED.
He turned to Fawkes and called the bird into action.
"It's time, Fawkes. Take this package directly to Harry Potter," Albus said handing the package to Fawkes. Fawkes looked at Albus in confusion.
He sighed loudly. "Take this package directly to Harry Black. Hurry!" Albus exclaimed. The bird flamed away.
Harry was sitting outside the villa on the beach, watching the waves rhythmically crash against the shore. Draco was sitting nearby, reading and basking in the artificial rays from the faux sun.
Suddenly, a bird flamed into being overtop Harry. Harry jumped backwards out of fear of being burned. The bird chirped a laugh at him and dropped the package in his lap. Harry stared down at it.
"What's that?" Draco asked as the bird flamed again and disappeared.
"Don't reckon I know," Harry said, confused. The package had his name on it. He opened it and a piece of silvery material fell out. Harry held it up and Draco gasped.
"It's an invisibility cloak! Who would give you an invisibility cloak?" Draco asked, taking the cloak from Harry and trying it on. Harry looked through the wrapping paper and found a card. It said, "Your father left this in my possession. It is time I returned it to you. Use it well."
Harry stared at the card in confusion then read the last line outloud. "It doesn't say who it's from but it does say 'use it well'," Harry said, dumbstruck. As soon as he said the phrase, "use it well," the portkey activated and whisked Harry away. In just a moment he was unceremoniously dropped on the floor of a strange room with a strange man who Harry thought had a face growing out of the back of his head. Harry gasped in fear. That was a face growing out of the back of his head!
"Who are you?" the man whirled around, pointing his wand at Harry. Harry froze. The man cast a warning shot beside Harry's head. "Answer me!"
"I'm just Harry. Harry Black," Harry stumbled over the words.
"Black?" A strange, rasping voice said. "Show me."
The man slowly turned around and showed the grotesque face that was growing out of the back of his head.
"Potter!" The voice hissed, angrily. "You seek to fool me by using the name Black? I'd know a Potter from a Black anywhere."
"I wasn't lying!" Harry said, defending himself angrily. "My birth name is Potter but I go by the name Black now! It is my name."
The high voice laughed. "It matters not. You did this to me. Look what I have become. A parasite, living off the lifeforce of weak wizards and unicorns." The wizard hosting Voldemort whimpered.
"I am Lord Voldemort. I am the most powerful wizard in the world yet you have reduced me to this," he hissed. The macabre face looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Use the boy," Voldemort commanded. The strange man turned around and cast a spell at Harry. For a moment, everything felt floatie and nice. Harry wanted to walk over to the mirror and look inside. But when he looked inside, he saw his home and his family and he started to fight the command to look in the mirror. He wished desperately that he could just find whatever the man wanted. He wished desperately that he could go home.
With a strange snapping feeling, Harry broke free from the spell the strange man had put him under. He still looked in the mirror for a moment. He was surprised to see himself step forward, pull a strange red stone out of his pocket, and drop it back inside. Harry felt the weight of the stone in his own real pocket. He didn't have time to react to that though.
"It isn't working," the evil voice hissed. "Kill him." The strange man reached out for Harry and Harry just reacted. His self defense training kicked in. He grabbed the man's hand and threw him over his shoulder, straight into the mirror. The mirror fell and shattered into a million pieces. Harry followed the man down and pinned his arms under Harry's knees. Harry put his bare arm across the man's bare throat and pressed down. The man under Harry screamed for just a moment before Harry's arm burnt through his neck and turned his vocal chords to ash. Harry was shocked by what was happening but he didn't let up until the man stopped moving. A terrible scream filled the air as black smoke rose out of the man's head. The smoke coalesced into a shade that tried to fly through Harry but instead bounced off some strange shield that Harry didn't know existed. The shade screamed again and flew away through the hall.
Harry jumped up and looked around him. He was terrified. He didn't know where he was and there was now a dead body on the floor beside him. Harry was in such a state, he completely forgot about the stone in his pocket.
Albus Dumbledore felt the moment Quirinus Quirrell died. The wards alerted Albus to the death and led him directly to where it had occurred. Not that Albus didn't already know the way. He hurried through the traps that were merely meant to slow down Quirinius rather than stop him. Finally, Albus arrived at the room with the mirror. He was shocked to see the mirror in pieces beneath Quirinius' dead body.
"What happened here?" Dumbledore asked. Harry spun around to face the man. He let out a sob of thankfulness and ran to the man.
"Thank gods you're here. Please, you have to help me. I don't know what happened. One minute I was sitting with my brother on the beach, the next I was here! Fighting for my life! That man, he had this evil face that claimed to be Lord Voldemort growing out of the back of his head! It said to kill me! I had to do something! I threw the man over my shoulder and put him in a trach hold. He just burned up anywhere I touched him," Harry was in tears.
"Please, Professor Dumbledore, I just want to go home!" Albus was at a loss as to what to say, so he didn't say anything. He led a distraught Harry to the hospital wing and then turned to call Narcissa. He was dreading this call but it was for the greater good. Harry had to face Voldemort. It had gone better than Albus expected. The blood protection left by Harry's mother was working full force. Albus also now had proof that Lord Voldemort was not dead, if not alive. He would keep trying to come back to life. Albus would have to hold him off for as long as he could.
Albus knelt by the fireplace and called the aurors first. He let them know what was happening and asked for their assistance. Then, Albus sent a patronus spell to Hagrid, letting him know to be ready to open the gates for the aurors and the Blacks. Albus sighed and called Narcissa.
A house elf answered the call.
"Mistress Narcissa is being very busy. She cannot be taking calls right now," the distraught elf said.
"Could you please tell her it's about Harry?" Albus asked the little elf.
The elf's eyes grew wide and he popped away without saying another word. A few moments later, Narcissa arrived.
"Professor Dumbledore. You have news of Harry?" Narciss asked in a rush.
"Yes, he is at Hogwarts, safe and sound. I dare say he would like to see you as soon as possible," Albus said, congenially.
"What? How did he get to Hogwarts? Nevermind. I'll be there momentarily." Narcissa said. She turned and left the room. Albus ended the call. That wasn't so bad was it?
Fifteen minutes later, when Narcissa, Sirius, and Severus arrived, things got much worse.
"Harry!" Narcissa cried as she ran to her little boy. "Are you alright, my darling?" She said, checking him over quickly.
"I'm fine mum," Harry said, clinging to his mother, with tears still in his eyes. He told her what happened.
Narcissa turned her narrowed gaze onto Albus. He had been trying to make himself scarce by speaking with the aurors. Narcissa marched over to the man. She had the attention of everyone in the room.
"Albus Dumbledore. Tell me now how a portkey got through your wards when you are supposedly the only person who can make portkeys that can penetrate Hogwarts wards? Have you been neglecting the wards or are you a part of the plot to kidnap my son?"
The aurors looked suspicious when they heard her words. Albus tried to remain calm.
"I am not certain, Mrs. Malfoy," Albus started but she stopped him right there.
"You may address me as Mrs. Snape or as Lady Black I have not been a Malfoy for many years," she snapped at the Headmaster.
Albus gulped and continued. "As I was saying, it seems Professor Quirrell was given permission to create a portkey in order to move a troll into that room. I had no idea he made two portkeys. You have my most sincere apologies. I was unaware dear Quirinius was possessed by an evil spirit."
Narcissa scoffed. Sirius growled.
Severus spoke up, "I was also party to the security on the third floor corridor, which was put in place to protect the item. I was unaware the area was not warded against portkeys. It seems a serious lapse in the security of the item we wished to protect."
Albus looked shifty for a moment. "I must have forgotten to place the wards back up after Quirinius used his portkey for the troll. It was not intentional." No one really believed him but there was nothing to be done for it now.
"We found proof to support Harry's story," Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt said. "There will be no charges pressed against him for the death of Professor Quirrell."
Narcissa looked offended. "There most certainly will not. Harry, gather your things. We're leaving."
Narcissa swept her group of compatriots out the door and out of the castle. Only when they returned home did Harry remember the stone. He took it out of his pocket and gave it to his mother.
Narcissa stared at the relic. "It can't be," she murmured, handing the stone to Severus. His mouth dropped open.
"This is the sorcerer's stone. How did you get it, Harry?" Severus asked in awe.
"I don't know. The me in the mirror put it in my pocket. I don't know how that even works," Harry said, confused by the whole terrifying situation.
Narcissa hugged him. "You did a very good thing bringing it home to us. Now, we'll never have to worry about money again." She hugged him again for good measure. Harry was still confused but he was glad for the reassuring presence of his mother.
oooOOOoooOOOooo