Mediwitch Alisa meticulously wiped down her patient's body, before proceeding to cast a water charm aguamenti onto her hair, soaking it before she began to gingerly rub the patient's scalp in circular motions.
She had been doing the same thing for the past three months to an unmoving body, so when there was a weak groan and a twitch in her arm, Alisa let out a squeak. "Lady Potter...oh merlin! Charlotte! Get Lord Potter right now!"
-Break-
James was reading the daily prophet about some incident in the middle of Afghanistan that apparently was being contained by the ICW. He wondered if Albus would tell him what it was about. Across the table, Rose ate her cereal cheerfully, completely oblivious to her father's musings. She was almost a carbon copy of him if he were female, with her cheekbones being among the only noticeable features inherited from Lily.
The floo suddenly lit up, and James was about to wave it off, but thought better of it. Setting down his paper, he wandered over and was surprised at the sight of a medi-witch. "Lord Potter. Lady Potter has awoken...she requests your presence an-"
"I'll be there,'' James lit up happily, turning to fetch Rose only for the girl to miraculously be standing next to him. Deciding to lecture her on listening in later, he held her hand, grabbed a pinch of floo powder and yelled, "St . Mungo's."
Stepping out of the floo and dusting himself off, he hurriedly waved off several greetings, jogging towards the familiar ward. Bursting open the door, he was in tears at the sight of a tired but clearly awake Lily smiling at the two.
"Mum!" Rose squealed, dropping James' hand and causing her to rush forward, leaping onto the bed and engulfing her in a tight hug which the mother eagerly returned. James smiled at the reunion, opting to remain silent as Lily ran a hand soothingly down her back as the little girl sobbed.
"It's okay, baby, mommy's back. Mommy's here and she's never going to leave you again," she whispered. Softly, James wrapped her hand around her, nudging her over to make way for him to lie beside her on the bed. Rolling her eyes with a bemused smile, she allowed this, leaning her head on her shoulder.
"I've missed you dear," he whispered softly, placing a delicate kiss on her lips. Both sighed happily, while Rose continued to squirm, clearly unhappy the attention was stolen from her. "You've a lot of lonely nights to make up for."
"James Potter!" Lily exclaimed just as Rose spat out "ewwwww!"
James merely laughed heartily, though a sinking feeling emerged from his gut as she looked around the room confusedly. "Where's Harry?"
"Who's Harry?" Rose queried innocently before ducking her head at the furious glare Lily turned to James with. The sinking feeling in his gut intensified.
"Rose, go get me some food from the canteen please," Lily ground out, venom lacing her voice. The little girl squeaked and quickly scampered off the bed, running out and closing the door behind her. The moment the door shut, she demanded, "Where is Harry?"
"I...sent him to your sister," James admitted, shaking as Lily visibly took several breaths to calm herself.
Almost monotonously, more scary than even when she yelled at him, Lily demanded, "And what possessed you to think that was a good idea?"
"I...he sort of...just left...Rose...I…"
"I suggest you make sense, husband, because my patience is wearing. Very. Thin," Lily warned, causing James to pale.
"I was too focused on Rose. Apparently...well apparently Dumbledore took him to your sister Petunia so I could focus on Rose...look Lily...I'm not good at this parenting stuff...and dealing with the girl-who-lived stuff...it was too much, okay?" James ground out. Lily reeled back slightly, eyes calculating.
"Girl-who-lived?"
"She...deflected the killing curse back at you-know-who," James answered, inwardly relieved the conversation was now going in a different direction. "She's a celebrity, and...well there are those who wanted to do her harm. I had to protect her, Lily. Both of them!"
"I...fine! This conversation can wait until after I have my son back," she responded, before observing James' flinch. "Is there...something you would like to tell me, James?"
"I...Dumbledore made an oath that Harry would be left to them and no magical would near their home until eleven. The knowledge of where the Dursleys are was expunged from all records."
"Well I know where she lives," Lily replied determinedly, forcing herself off the bed and grabbing the wand by her side.
"Wait Lily Dumble-"
"I couldn't give two hippogriff shit's about his oath! I am getting my son back, James, or so help me Morgana I will curse you back to nineteen eighty one," Lily growled.
"I hope...that this is not a bad time," Dumbledore announced, opening the door genially. "I had heard you were awake, Lily, but to see you on-"
"Quiet!" she snapped, causing the wizard to peer over his half moon spectacles in disbelief. "You're going to take me to my son. Or will I have to go get him myself?"
"I...will take you there," Dumbledore agreed reluctantly, "though I need a location, which I suspect you have?"
"Number four Privet Drive," she growled out, causing a memory to return.
"Ah yes, hold onto my hands, then."
With a soft pop, they appeared in front of Number Four Privet Drive, immaculately cared for, though both males merely followed sedately. Ringing the doorbell, all three waited in tense silence as footsteps came and the door opened with a beaming Petunia. Her face fell at the sight of them, before a tinge of pink coloured her cheeks.
"You! You said that there would be no magicals!" Petunia raved. Dumbledore merely sighed serenely.
"Yes, but as you can see, Lily is awake and well, and would very much like her son back."
"Um…"
"Perhaps we can come in?" Dumbledore asked, observing the strange looks several neighbours were giving them. Reluctantly, she stepped aside, allowing them in and leading them to the living room.
"So-"
"Where's Harry?" Lily demanded, interrupting Dumbledore, who snapped his mouth shut. Were the situation not so serious, and Lily's ire already so great, James might have laughed.
"Well you see…"
"Where. Is. Harry?" Lily ground out, pulling out her wand and causing Petunia to flinch.
"He's not here," she quailed. "A...a strange man came and took him. He had magic...we couldn't stop him and-"
"What?" Lily stood up, her aura lashing out and causing several pots to shatter. Petunia whimpered. Pointing her wand menacingly at her sister, she ground out, "Who took him?"
"Some Russian man. Black or something, I don't remember!" she blurted out, covering her eyes with her arms and cowering into the sofa seat.
"Lily perhaps it would be prudent for me-"
"Legilimens!" she hissed, invading Petunia's mind. That her surface memories had none of Harry raised a red flag, but she continued to dig deeper, uncaring of her sister's pained screams.
Crawling through the memories, her desperation and anger turned to horror as she saw the abuse they hurled at her son. Beatings, burns with irons, and being locked in a cupboard no less. She wanted to curl up and cry, but instead continued digging, until she found the memory of a General White taking the boy away.
Withdrawing from her mind, Petunia was curled on the floor spasming, though Lily held not a shred of mercy, as she yelled, "You bitch! How could you...how could you do that to my son!"
Petunia had no response, merely continuing to whimper, and her anger turned to the two wizards in the room. "Did you know?"
"I don't suppose you could elab-"
"Did you know Harry was being abused?" she demanded, causing the two men to reel back as though struck. "You sent my son to my bitch of a sister, and never thought to check up on him?"
"We were paying her generously, we never thought-"
"That's the problem, isn't it?" Lily spat. "You don't think. And you've cost me my son!"
"Now Lily let us not be rash, I'm sure we will be able to find-"
"How? He's been gone for four years! Any trail would be dead cold. Besides, Petunia was happy to be rid of 'the freak'. Mark my words, I will find this General White, and I will get my son back!"
"Alex…" Dumbledore mused, causing her to halt her impending rant and look at him demandingly. "I...have a colleague that goes by the same name. I shall reach out to him to inquire as to whether he knows anything."
"Don't bother, I'll get it myself."
"I doubt that is very much possible," Dumbledore countered, halting her impending departure.
"Why?"
"Because...he is from the Soviet Union."
-Break-
Alex frowned when he received an urgent knock on his door. Sighing, he barked, "Enter."
At the sight of one Albus Dumbledore, he forced a pleasant smile onto his face, walking out and reaching out with a hand. "Albus, old friend, what brings you to Moscow?"
"Alex, good to see you again. Business I'm afraid. Can I trouble you for a cup of tea?"
"Of course, of course, Nadia, see to it!" he ordered his aide, who bowed before scurrying off. "Sit, Albus, sit."
"Thank you Alex," Dumbledore nodded gratefully, taking a seat in the plush chair across from his desk. White himself retook his seat, peering over his desk curiously. "I was wondering if you could tell me about your thoughts on the British Isles."
"A lovely place," General White frowned. "If you could be more specific, perhaps?"
"I visited an old friend who lived in Surrey, and they claimed to have met you, Alex. Apparently you adopted a boy from there?" White forced himself to remain calm, his fingers itching to retrieve his pistol even though he knew it would do little good against the warlock across him.
"Could you perhaps...specify when? All the trips I take to the Isles muddles the mind, you see," he laughed lightly, causing Dumbledore to chuckle.
"Oh, perhaps...just over four years ago, I think?" Dumbledore prompted, causing White to nod reluctantly. "His name...if it helps, was Harry Potter."
"Potter...I do not recognise that name," White admitted, internally almost gleefully. Dumbledore frowned when he sensed this was the truth...but it didn't make sense...unless…"If you can give me a description of him, perhaps I can ask around with my colleagues. There are several General Whites in this building alone."
"Of course, of course," Dumbledore nodded. "Dark black hair, green eyes, tight cheekbones, below average height. I'm afraid the descriptions beyond that would be useless given the time passed."
"I see...I did know of such a boy. He was...damaged, by the family, and so I took him in. Alas, our paths eventually diverged, and he followed his own path. I could not say for certain where he is now," General White mused. That much was true, Raven had been taken off commission and technically had not been reinstated yet, and White only knew he was somewhere in the Arctic testing his powers. "I regret that I cannot be of more help beyond that."
"Nonsense, this was very...informative, thank you Alex" Dumbledore forced out with false cheer. If White noticed, he did not comment, merely inclining his head in acknowledgement. "Alas, there is one more thing I must discuss...would you have any insights into Horat?"
"What about it?"
"There was an...attack several days ago. A most peculiar case, I must admit. I was hoping to get some insight."
"All deployed Soviet mages were in Kabul preparing for the final evacuation," White frowned. "There was a disturbance so I left earlier than planned...did something happen? I was not alerted by our representative at the ICW."
"The incident was expunged from all records and the delegates sworn to an oath," Dumbledore explained disappointedly. If you hear anything, absolutely anything about Horat, please let me know."
"Of course, if that is all?" White prompted. Sensing the dismissal, Dumbledore inclined his head before quickly excusing himself from the room. The moment the door closed, White leaned down and fetched a bottle of vodka, downing it in one quick sitting. He could already feel a headache coming, and that was before he had to tell Raven, who would be far from pleased.
-Break-
"Harry, mummy's so sorry she failed you," Lily sobbed, tears swelling anew, a tray of food left cold and forgotten to the side. "Mummy tried to wake up...tried to come back...but mummy was too weak."
Looking at the picture of her holding Harry and Rose in her arms, James leaning over her with both hands on her shoulder caused his voice to echo in her mind.
"Mummy I need you," his soft voice had called out. "Mummy please, dad's not well."
"Mummy I believe in you."
"Mummy don't you love us?"
"Mom, please...just come back."
"Mom, get well soon." The voices continued to swirl in her mind, forcing her to relieve every second. She had fought hard to return, but it had never been enough. How she had despaired when the voices had stopped, wondering if they had given up on her.
It could not have been further from the truth., and she was ashamed of her past self for ever thinking of that. "You should be here in mummy's lap, reading your books, playing with your sister...being a child...not out there, all alone…"
Fresh tears dripped down on the album, and she quickly wiped them off before closing the cover, refusing to risk damaging all that was left for him. Her mind swelled to what she had seen from Petunia's mind.
"Mummy please, come for me. I need you," the soft voice had sobbed inside the cupboard. Petunia walked up to the door and banged on it.
"Your mom's dead, freak, now shut up."
"That's not true, mummy loves me and she'll come back for me," the little voice retorted. Petunia merely snorted before walking away, imagining the beating Vernon would give the little freak.
It had broken her. To think that such scenes repeated hundreds of times, his hope for her return never disappearing. But she had never appeared, and now he was lost to her.
"Lily," James called out tentatively, opening the door to the guest bedroom. It was a hard blow, that she refused to even consider sleeping in the same bed. Moving inside, he could tell that she was awake, clutching an old photo album. "Dumbledore came back."
"And? Any news?" she prompted hopefully. It broke James' heart, and he only shook his head, unable to form the works. Her expression doured, and she turned away from him to look at the album again. Tear marks ran along her face.
"Apparently...Harry lived in the Soviet Union," he ground out, causing Lily to gasp before collapsing on the bed in sobs. "Is...is that bad?"
"It's terrible," Lily spat. "If their magical side is anything like the muggle side, then their people are poor, starving labourers being worked to death. And I shudder...no...if he was sent to the gulags...then may magic have mercy on you James because I won't."
"I...Lily...you've been here for a week, you've barely touched your food."
"How you can eat knowing you condemned your son to that is beyond me," she growled. James resisted a retort, knowing he had to rise above that. Besides, it was at least partially his doing, even by his own admission.
"Lily…"
"If you're done, I would like to be alone."
"Lily, Rose needs you. I can only stall her for so long...don't make my mistake. Don't lose her." This seemed to startle Lily, and reluctantly, she nodded, pulling herself out of bed. He hid a smile, holding the door open as beckoning for Rose to enter.
The little girl looked horrified at the state of her mother, and immediately pushed her back onto the bed, beginning to babble about this and that. Lily smiled for the first time in days. Not wanting to spoil the moment, James quietly closed the door and left.
-Break-
Raven exhaled as he hovered over the ocean, his hands extended outwards. Water began to filter out of the ocean, rising up before freezing up into new sheets of ice. Below, a family of polar bears watched in confusion as literal kilometers worth of new ice sheet ascended from the ocean and formed.
Raven felt his power singing happily as it was used, the power used in such a task would have drained a normal wizard or witch in about a minute, yet he surpassed them in both scale and duration, not stopping until he had created hundreds of kilometers squared worth of ice sheet. Let the muggles try and figure this one out.
He had mastered four of the seven core elements. Only Earth and Void remained amongst the known ones, and a single unknown one still yet to be discovered. While not his natural affinities, Raven was determined to build enough proficiency to match an elemental. Given his excellent power boost, nothing less would be acceptable.
Descending down to his small base camp, he entered the tent and began pouring over his armithic calculations. That there was a seventh element could only be implied by an absence in the field rather, meaning to define the boundaries and garner an understanding of it, he needed to work from outside, evaluating what it was not.
While this would be impossible by most standards, he had the power of the Union's latest computers churning out data to try and figure this out, so he only inspected the most promising data. For all their isolation from other magical communities, the Soviet magicals could boast of the closest cooperation a magical society had with their muggle counterparts.
It would be difficult, perhaps it might not even be achieved in his lifetime, yet he had a feeling that it was inevitable. Raven would discover the last element.
-Break-
"You want me to...break into ICW headquarter and murder the deputy supreme mugwump while there are seven of eight war mages?" Raven questioned incredulously. General White nodded stoically. "I'm not confident I could take on one of them, let alone seven."
"You're the best we have, Raven. Moscow demands we send a message."
"By assassinating the second highest ranking official in the ICW?" Raven pressed. General White nodded.
"Dumbledore has been pressing into Soviet affairs too much. He suspects our involvement in the Horat incident, which has rattled many feathers. As the chief culprit, we need to weaken the opposition. Constantine Anders is staunchly anti-Soviet, we're hoping that a more moderate candidate will be selected. Besides, it will draw attention away from us once elections are forced."
"You realise if this fails…"
"You will be disavowed by the Union and left for dead. The Union's image will be irreconcilably tarnished. Yes, I am aware, Raven," General White sighed. "Sokolov's praises reached Gorbachev's ear, and he's demanding you be sent."
"The General Secretary approved of this?" Raven barked out incredulously. "Man's finally grown some balls."
"More like the situation if nothing is done will be dire."
"Why not target Dumbledore?"
"He remains largely neutral, and the chance to vy for Supreme Mugwump would cause many clients to renege on their favours. We're expected to barely scrape a win as it is. I'm surprised, you're usually kept up to date on this."
"I was in the arctic," Raven answered dryly. "Radio reception there is terrible."
"Look Raven...good luck," General White offered, unable to say anything else. Raven nodded respectfully before leaving the room.
-Break-
Slipping behind Soviet ICW mugwump Popov had proved quite simple. The man was a weak snivelling fool who simply did whatever Moscow ordered, and held the position because no one else wanted it.
Letting go of the man's robes once they appeared in his office, Raven discreetly snuck out, an invisibility cloak over him as he navigated down the, thankfully, largely empty corridors. Ducking out of the way of several mugwumps having a conversation in the lounge, he made his way up the steps, bypassing a security checkpoint, and pried open a vent, crawling inside.
Releasing a sigh of relief that he hadn't been caught yet, he crawled down the tunnel, waiting patiently for several scans to run their course before continuing slowly. He frowned when there was a grate in front of him, suspecting that a sensor would be attached.
He could not apparate in and out of the headquarters...but could he apparate across such a short distance? Without a better option, he visualised his destination across the grate and materialised there, the traditional pop having been eliminated by practice. Continuing forward he sighed in relief upon spotting his target writing documents below him. Taking out his pistol, he pointed it at the man's head, firing a single shot that penetrated through the deputy supreme mugwump's skull and killed him instantly, causing him to slump down.
Slipping down the vents, he quickly grabbed the man's medallion and pressed it against the floo, unlocking it. Returning it to his neck and casting a cleaning charm to removing his fingerprints.
With his work done, he put on his gloves, and began methodically searching his room, retrieving papers he deemed of interest. Most were marked with a red stamp of 'confidential', though he paid little attention, only allowing a brief smile when the title 'horat' appeared on one of the titles. Once finished,he fired a blasting curse, tearing open the man's head and splattering his brain across the desk and carpet. Alarms blared, but Raven tossed a handful of floo powder and whispered, "Porthouse Eight."
He disappeared into the floo, emerging into an abandoned dock house. Quickly blasting the floo behind him with a blasting curse, preventing anyone from following him, he walked forward to the middle of the room, where in the middle of the room there was an empty bottle of vodka. "Long live the revolution."
He disappeared with a flash, the portkey having whisked him away.
-Break-
Dumbledore frowned. It was unlike Anders to be late for a meeting, especially one with the war mages. Feeling uneasy, he politely excused himself from the conversation he had with war mage Earhart and wandered along the elevators, pressing a button and humming merrily as he waited for the lift to arrive.
After half a minute, an elevator appeared, and he was allowed access inside, pressing his medallion and being granted access to the executive level. The elevator shot up, bypassing all the other floors and opened with a ping, allowing Dumbledore to wander down the corridor, nodding several greetings at other important figures it wouldn't do to upset and making his way towards his deputy's office.
Suddenly, he heard a blasting curse, and the alarms blared. Fearing the worst, he pulled out the elder wand and charged forward with speed unexpected for one his age. Bursting into the food, he nearly cursed when the floor squelched, causing him to look down and realise he had stepped into a pool of the man's blood. Sighing, he took a more sedate pace inspecting the room, noting that several files he expected to be present were missing.
Casting detection charms, he frowned when the only foreign magic he detected was the blasting curse. It should not have been possible to breach this floor, let alone the office, warded by the top specialists, but it had somehow been done. The cold gust of air conditioning blowing down on him brought a slight shiver, and he frowned, seeing that the vent had fallen loose. With a flick of his wand he reattached the loose screws with a sigh. Perhaps it was time to talk to maintenance. He gave one last sad glance at a man he could genuinely call a friend, and left the room, gesturing for the security officers to enter and seal off the room.
He felt as though he was missing something, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. Why target his deputy, a man by all accounts in a largely tokenistic position. The logical suspects would be the Soviets, but they were in hot water as it is, and assassinating him so blatantly seemed against their modus operandi. Sending off a patronus to alert the war council he would be delayed, he instead headed to his office, poured a shot of firewhiskey and raised a silent toast to his fallen friend.
Author Note:
Second chapter for today. I wanted to try and increase the amount of perspectives as looking at Raven doing the same things over and over again seemed monotonous. Looking at the impacts of his capture and actions seemed like a logical place to do it. Did I do well? Do you like more perspectives or prefer it only be from Raven's. As always, follow, favourite and leave a comment, even if just to say hi. Until next time, toodles!