She woke to hot agony, the sound of battle and dozens of spells whirring over her unmoving body. The air smelled of Black Magic, a thick mist hovering around the forest like a blanket made of darkness. Some worries were lurking in a distant part of the girl's exhausted mind, but it was hard to know what they were.
There was pain, too. Agonizing and omnipresent, emanating from her pores like a silent kind of poison, hammering into her skull with insistence. As she swallowed hard, she tasted blood.
She was dying .
Suddenly, a thunderous explosion shook the earth, the trees rustled overhead, and the acrid scent of smoke filled her nostrils.
She couldn't remember much, even in those precious few minutes she had left. Her name was Harriet Potter.
Her last memories were of arguing with a girl with wild hair.
Hermione.
Hermione, in tears, had pointed her wand at Harry as if she didn't know her anymore.
After that, nothing .
Now Harry was dying, and there was still battling around.
Who was left to defend her?.
She wanted to move and assess the situation for herself, but her entire body seemed to be resetting slowly. Screams were the first thing she heard as her nervous system regained its capacity.
By this time, the pain in the girl's head had reached absurd levels, just the act of breathing costing her all the strength she still had.
''Shut her up''. A male voice ordered in a disinterested and authoritative way, making itself audible above the successive rumbles of the battle still taking place.
It was only then that Potter became aware of the pair of hands holding her down. There was a face hovering before her blurry vision, the boy's dark hair a frame around his colorless face. Greenish gray eyes scanned Harry's complexion with determined despair.
''There's a hole in her fucking head. What do you want me to do?''.
Even through that foggy curtain, the girl noted that both voices were terribly familiar. Harry's heart clenched in her chest as the man in front of her ran his fingers across her face lovingly, his touch soothingly cool.
" I don't care about what you'll do, as long as it shuts her up. This area is full of Death Eaters. They'll hear ''.
Hearing this, Harriet tried to move, and it was worse. What little her poor vision could discern melted almost immediately, and she saw that those horrible screams she'd heard were coming from her own throat.
''I know it hurts, but don't move''. The stranger beside her requested, casting a spell that made the pain even sharper. There was something crucial that Harry desperately needed to remember, but her awareness seemed out of reach, and the girl felt herself slipping.
The sky was ablaze above her head, Lord Voldemort's Dark Mark igniting the clouds like lightning. That was a hellish sight. She didn't want to die seeing it.
'' Just a little more. We won't lose you''. The magic flowing from his hands seeped into the girl's brain like needles made of ice, bringing a sudden relief that made her surrender to a welcome unconsciousness.
Potter's head still ached when her eyes opened again. She felt like someone had replaced every limb of her body with heavy bags of wet sand. As soon as she found the strength to roll onto her side, she found herself face-to-face with a corpse.
Glassy orbs like the surface of a dirty pool stared at Harry without actually seeing her. Something had disfigured half of the man's face. The muscles jutting out from his skin had a gray look. Harriet suppressed a scream.
"We can't use your mark to Apparate like the other Death Eaters, but we need to get out of the open before they find us." The same bored male voice as before spoke from a few feet away.
Raising her face over the corpse, the girl saw two silhouettes. Two dark heads bent slightly towards each other.
''What about Harry? ''. The man whose spell had made her pass out questioned, gesturing to where the girl was, pathetically sprawled on the ground.
She tried to move, but the pain in her head had turned every small move into agony. Had those men hit her? Any wound that caused that kind of pain had to be fatal.
Potter reached for her wand, but her trembling fingers caught nothing but dirt, dead leaves, and eventually the leg of another corpse.
This one was different, deformed and twisted, wrapped in a kind of sticky cocoon. Trying not to throw up, Harriet wiped her hand on her worn jeans.
"Do you want to keep her as a pet, Reggie ? You've been behaving so well. I think you deserve it." She was able to hear the laughter in the other's voice.
His companion made a disdainful sound with his mouth. "Your antagonism is losing its charm, Thomas. Have you forgotten the little vow you made?".
" The vow probably broke. We can kill Potter and get over with it. I don't have the time or disposition to deal with one more insufferable brat. Other Death Eaters could arrive at any moment."
"We're not killing her." Potter's defender insisted, starting to move towards her.
As soon as she noticed the Dark Mark, long healed on the inside of his arm, Harriet tried to get away. The echo of her head wound stopped her. She was in so much pain that she could barely move.
That stranger caught up with her quickly and bent down at the same height. When his form left the shadows, the girl couldn't hold back a sob.
She must have been delirious with pain, for how could Sirius be there?
He is not Sirius . Her conscience warned her and got promptly ignored.
''Sirius? ''. The girl whispered anyway. She sounded so broken, so pathetically small . An emotion she couldn't identify crossed the stranger's face.
The man who had remained hidden in the dimness began to laugh. "Great, besides not remembering, she thinks you're the golden boy. Well done, that's what you deserve for being so fucking stubborn."
"Shut up. The amnesia is temporary. Harry'll remember ''. The one who probably wasn't Sirius says, eyes fixed on Harriet.
Remember what?. She remembered her life well enough, her time at Hogwarts, the war. But when she forced herself to recall, she found that the last months were missing. Besides fighting Hermione, Harriet had no idea how she ended up like this.
The stranger that looked like her godfather tried to get closer, moving one hand lethargically to her knee. Potter stared at his long, pale fingers and felt like she needed to remember something important.
''Sirius is my brother, I am Regulus. Don't you remember? ''.
"Just kill her, we don't have time for that, and we can always make another Horcrux." The other man spoke as he moved to where they were.
The smoothness in his voice was familiar. Harry heard it countless times in her nightmares.
Horcrux . An odd word but one that filled her with absolute horror. However, as soon as the one who uttered it left the darkness to join Potter and Regulus, she forgot everything.
She didn't know what to expect, didn't remember until that moment.
Oh, he was beautiful too. There was no denying it. All the angles of his face were perfect. He looked like he had rolled straight from the pages of a French Vogue.
He was a slightly older version of the boy who had tried to kill her down in the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry put her hands on her head. Some memories were returning now, strange dreams.
She remembered those two boys arguing around a chessboard.
Regulus had been a dueling champion during his time at Hogwarts. Tom Riddle had an aversion to date fruit. What should she do with this information? And that didn't explain how they got there.
The two came from the locket . Harriet's conscience says, making her immediately drop her hands to her neck, where the jewel has been for the past few months. There was nothing.
"Didn't you find it a bit strange that the Horcrux had no effect on you?". Tom Riddle asks disdain is written all over her face, and the girl knows that if it weren't for Regulus, she would already be dead.
God, nothing there made sense. Was she dead? Or trapped in a fever dream?. One moment she felt the memories at her fingertips. The next, they were gone again.
" Dumbledore told me that Vol… ".
" Don't say it! ". Regulus interrupted, looking around.
" You-Know-Who transferred some powers to me when he tried to kill me in 1981. I thought this was one of them." Potter corrected, licking her dry lips.
Tom's features twisted in disgust. "Dumbledore is a liar."
"Dumbledore is a much better Wizard than you will ever be!".
Riddle took a few menacing steps towards her. "What did you say to me?".
"Enough. I spent nineteen years trapped in a locket with you. I don't want to hear another word about it. We'll do group therapy if necessary, but after we get out of here."
Harriet opened her mouth to say that she wasn't going anywhere with Riddle, but Regulus cut her off. "Right now, we're the only thing between you and the Dark Lord. So you're going to behave yourself and be a good girl. Right, Harry?".
Potter looked away, embarrassed like a child caught misbehaving.
"Whatever, you'll be responsible for her. And if she talks to me like that again, I'll rip her tongue out. We don't need her whole." Riddle declared, examining his own nails in a falsely distracted way.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not right here! What the hell is going on? Why is my memory full of holes?".
"Merlin. '' Black exhaled suddenly, looking tired.
Harriet heard Riddle snort a laugh from the dark. "Don't complain about her stupidity. You're the one insisting on keeping her alive."
Before the other had a chance to respond, a group of Death Eaters had apparated into the clearing, surrounding them.
Harry panicked. Even with all that talk, she didn't trust Riddle not to hand her over and save his own skin.
If Voldemort found out what Harriet knew about his Horcruxes, they would lose the war.
Determined to find a way to escape, Potter lifted her head towards the two boys who accompanied her, noticing that they had both covered their faces with the masks they had probably stolen from the dead.
''Did you get Potter? Great! The Dark Lord wants the little bitch alive ''. One of the Death Eaters said, gesturing for two others to pick up Harriet.
Surprisingly, it was Riddle who got in front of them.
"Unfortunately for your Dark Lord, I don't feel inclined to hand this particular little bitch over."
Harry opened her mouth, affronted, but then the battle started again, and she couldn't even enjoy the relief.
She was too busy trying to escape the rebound of the spells.
Riddle was like a hurricane made of shadows, destroying and ravaging everything that got in his way.
"Who the fuck are you?!". The small group of Death Eaters's leader asked as one of Tom's enchantments suspended his partner midair, shattering him in seconds. A mixture of blood and entrails rained down on them all.
'' You would like to know ''. Regulus laughed humorless beside Potter, working with arithmancy equations and runes on the ground. The girl knew right away that this would bring down the Dark Mark's anti-Apparition wards.
But how did she know these things? Harry was never a very diligent student, and all this new information made no sense.
A few feet ago, Riddle had already eliminated the men in the circle, but not before one of them crawled away, summoning Voldemort through the mark on his arm. Tom cursed as he ripped his head off, then turned to Regulus, blood was staining his mask now, but the eyes underneath were still alert, dangerous. "Take her home. I'll meet you later."
Black turned pale, and Harriet also felt the blood drain from her face at once. A new kind of horror spread through her core, but the girl wouldn't let it shut her up.
"What century are we?!. I want my wand back. I know I'm a competent fighter. That much I remember. ''
" No. " Regulus replied, his jawline tense and his eyes glued on Tom, who had already moved forward to stop the new invaders. "There are things you still don't remember. I won't risk you hurting him. You wouldn't forgive yourself. "
And in a strange way, Harriet believed him. Her memories were gone, but the emotions stayed in place.
" I won't. " The girl promised. "But he can't face you-know-who alone. You know that."
The conflict on the Black's face was visible. He's always keeping us from going down each other's throats. Potter thought, getting up from the floor as Regulus reluctantly tossed her wand at her.
More and more Death Eaters continued to emerge, Voldemort most likely among them to capture her.
The pain in her head was still there, a being of its own free will clinging to her skull, but Harriet guessed she was used to dealing with the pain because focusing, she found it relatively easy to push it into a background.
Everything disappears the instant she plunges headfirst into battle. Pain and confusion turn to white noise. Harry raises a shield and steps forward, spells crashing against the transparent bubble only to rebound back to the caster.
Tom conjured a dense, dark mist that ignored Regulus and the girl, but the Death Eaters enveloped by her immediately began to choke to death. Their companions had the sense to shield themselves from it with a spell, and that's when the confrontation really began.
Potter's magic was so different from what she remembered that she almost stopped fighting out of sheer shock. Harry didn't know those spells. They came out of her tongue so naturally to strangle and maim those who dared to get too close.
The girl saw Riddle surrounded and acted as if defending him was her second nature. The trees behind the careless Death Eaters sprang to life through her magic, branches coiling deadly around their bodies until the bones broke very audibly. Tom didn't even blink as he eliminated the others as if he trusted her.
Harriet looked at her hands, puzzled. Where had she learned to fight like that?
Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed darker, and the remaining Death Eaters parted like the red sea. Voldemort had located them.
'' Bring down those anti-apparition wards, now ''. Tom growled at Regulus, urgency in his voice. Harry, who had her wand in a death grip, agreed with him.
" I'm working on it. " The boy replied, muttering so fervently under his breath that his hands shook.
Voldemort's first spell was for Harriet, but Riddle intercepted it before he could strike her. The impact was so violent that, in addition to completely destroying Tom's likely stolen wand, it threw him backward.
The power coming from Voldemort hit her like a punch. A spark of fear shuddered through her spine. How was she supposed to defeat this creature?. Even Tom seemed to hesitate.
" The-Girl-Who-Lived. " Voldemort hissed mockingly. "Surrender, and I will let your traitorous friends go."
She was ready to tell him to fuck off, but Regulus stopped her when he reached her along with Tom, apparating the two of them away.
They disapparated at the corner of a dark street, but even in the dim light, Harriet could tell it was an upscale neighborhood, the kind of place worth millions Petunia always dreamed of living in.
The apparition made her nauseous, but Riddle held her steady, watching her dilated pupils with concern. "Regulus is a shitty healer. You're still going to have a migraine for a few days."
Now that was weird. Wasn't Tom insisting that Regulus killed just a few minutes ago?
No . A part of the consciousness Harry still didn't have access to insisted. He never intended to kill me .
"At least I can heal something," Regulus replied.
Somehow, Harriet knew that Riddle's affinity for the Dark Arts robbed him of his ability to use healing magic. She also knew that Regulus was an exception to that rule due to his Black blood.
'' Your arm... ''. Potter muttered, noticing Tom's blood-soaked shirt sleeve.
'' Don't worry about it. ''. Regulus said, stroking her cheek. He had already discarded and incinerated his stolen mask in a nearby dump. Riddle did the same.
"It's just a scratch." Riddle comforted her without thinking twice, and as strange as the gesture might have seemed, it felt normal too.
Suddenly, they were both looking at her expectantly.
Potter crossed her arms and tried not to look too intimidated. It all felt too surreal. The more they looked at her, the more familiar their faces became. A sharp pain filled her chest. They were close, and even so, Harry could see that she missed them both so much .
" Err… I think I'll be on my way. We should do it again one of these days. It was fun ".
Regulus cast a look full of amusement in her direction. Harriet felt her cheeks turning red.
"Harry, you're not going anywhere. You can come with us of your own free will, like a good girl, or I can use a Stunning Spell, which do you prefer?" Riddle offered.
" But my friends… And you… ".
"You and your friends aren't on speaking terms anymore, but we're safe here, and we'll help you kill him."
Harriet opened her mouth, full of questions she knew they wouldn't answer right away. '' Promise? ''. She begged instead because Regulus would never lie to her.
He hesitated but ended up nodding. " I promise. "
Their final destination was an expensive-looking building in the middle of the block. Regulus unlocked the door and gestured for them to enter. The place was so full of wards that Harriet felt like someone was rubbing sandpaper over her body.
She recognized the light decor and alabaster ceiling, though. Harry knew Regulus got that house from his parents as a graduation gift. Tom turned on the lights in the spacious living room as if he owned the place.
Even knowing this was irrational, Potter was a little upset. Her godfather left at fifteen, and Alphard got burned off the family tree for leaving him some money. But Regulus received a lavish present for doing something simple like completing his education.
Harriet thought she wouldn't be able to look at him, but in the light, the differences between Regulus and Sirius were more visible than ever. The man with her was much taller, almost as tall as Riddle, and his face was cruelly handsome, his mouth was arrogantly shaped, his eyes were darker and definitely colder.
"Regulus Black." He introduced himself formally, holding out a hand.
Harriet greeted him uncertainly. "Harriet Potter, I mean, just Harry."
"We know who you are," Tom commented. He had the expression of someone who was finding all this fascinating. Regulus looked at him with some irritation.
"Fine. If you don't have anything better to do, I'd like some explanations because I'm sure I found Regulus suicide note a year ago."
"He was always a little dramatic." Riddle accused.
"Or maybe I was so desperate to get rid of you that I opted to commit suicide."
"That I can believe." Harry contributed, smirking at Riddle, who just rolled his eyes.
"We are both Horcruxes."
"Tom is a Horcrux. I got persuaded and tricked into committing murder and leaving half of my soul in a locket with him."
'' That doesn't explain how you two got out of the locket ''. The girl questioned, trying not to look too horrified.
Tom smiled venomously. " Aren't this obvious, my love?. You got us out ''.
Harriet started to laugh, but they didn't follow, and she realized that this was serious. '' No fucking way ''.