This was supposed to be up two days ago but my grandfather came home from the hospital and threw that off. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to see him home, but with all the activity around here to get him settled back down it didn't leave me much time to sit and finish the last half of the Chapter.
Also, to keep things clear, those from the Potter Verse with magic are Witches and Wizards, those who practice the Mystic Arts from the Marvel Cinematic Universe are Sorcerers and Sorcereress'. Okay? Just to keep things straight. Loki is a God and we're leaving it at that!
Thirdly, things that I think are important and don't give too much away from the comments will now be posted on Tumblr throughout the week to give everyone a level playing field so if you haven't joined us then...what are you waiting for?
Finally, THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR STRANGE IN THIS CHAPTER! If you haven't watched it yet, I'm sorry. If you have access to a Netflix account then it has been recently added and I high recommend that you watch it! It's amazing! If you don't want to watch it then most of the stuff I mention can be found on the wikia or you can just ask and I'll try my best to explain!
Disclaimer in Chapter 1. Will add as needed.
"Do you see the point now?!" Harri demanded.
"Well yes, obviously." Strange snapped as his cloak flew from Harri's shoulders and wrapped around him. "They shouldn't be able to get past to Castle wards though right?"
Harri clenched her jaw, "That specific ward is impossible for me to lay on my own! What makes you think I can do that!"
"Well I assume some sort of time travel element is at play here but you three are still soulmates right?!" Strange yelled.
Harri slapped him in the back of the head, "Just because we're soulmates still doesn't mean we've completed the bond! It has to be completed for us to do something like that! The ward was made and supported by the bonds existence!"
"Can we focus on the battle whale that's heading toward us please!" James shouted.
"It's called a leviathan." Strange corrected.
"It's called fucking huge and scary!" Sirius snapped, "Do we…distract it? Feed it? What?"
"We kill it." Harri hissed, "And all the chitauri it's currently carrying. I don't know how it happened but that's back from the last war and if we let it escape it will inform Thanos, leaving us at a disadvantage."
"How in Merlin's name do you kill that?!" Fred demanded as the leviathan breeched the ward line.
"Depends on how many people you have," Strange replied, "and their power and strengths." He looked over to Harri, "If you're not fully mated and you can't put up the big ward I assume you also can't do your three-point blast."
"Good assumption." Harri said, she rolled her neck slightly as she saw a platoon of chitauri detach from the leviathan, "Strange, can you teach everyone how to find the chitauri holding the platoon's kill switch?"
Strange settled into a stance as the chitauri approached and waved his hands, prompting a sparking orange whip and a round shield made of intricate circles to appear in his hands, "You've got the leviathan then?"
"You bet." Harri grinned, with a blast of blue flames Glacia shot into the air, toward the leviathan.
Fred and George made to go after her but Strange held them back, "I'm not sure what's going on here but you should know your mate can handle herself." He said seriously, "She's taken on bigger leviathans with just a sword. Stay and focus on the chitauri."
"But…" Fred started.
Strange snapped his whip forward to catch the first chitauri around its next, pulling it forward and bashing his shield against its face. "Do you remember how to take down a leviathan?!" He demanded.
"No but…" George began.
"Then let her Majesty handle it for now! You'll just make things harder!" Strange said sharply, he spun and kicked another chitauri, "See the gold crest of their helmets?" he called, as the other started in on the approaching aliens.
"Yeah." Several of them called as they attacked.
"On one of them there is a small black triangle in the center." Strange said, flinging another circle of light at a chitauri and effectively cutting off its head. "Kill that one and the rest go down. Be careful though, its helm is stronger than the others."
"That's a rather convenient weakness." Remus commented warily as he sent blasting curses at the charging chitauri while dodging the energy blasts sent at him.
"Not too convenient." Strange said, "In the first invasion apparently the kill switch for the entire army was in one place and one well aimed nuke took them all out. They changed after that to the command switches being spread out between the entire army, making them a much bigger pain in the ass."
"I guess that would be better." Sirius said, sending out a wide swath of Sectumsempras to mow down four chitauris. Bucky gave a grunt of agreement and Loki rolled his eyes as he moved fluidly with his spear.
"Found it!" Fred and George chorused triumphantly a few minutes later as they sent overpowered cutting hexes toward the commander chitauri. The two hexes reached and breached the alien's helm in just enough time for Bucky to shoot it through the forehead, making all the remaining chitauri collapse like puppets whose strings had been cut.
"Well that was fun." Loki commented dryly.
Fred and George immediately jerked around to find Harriet and gaped when they caught sight of Glacia diving straight down with the leviathan right on her tail feathers. "What is she doing?!" George exclaimed worriedly.
"Being a show off." Strange muttered as Glacia turned back to Harriet and aimed herself straight down, the leviathan speeding up right behind her as its mass pushed it forward.
"Why did she change back?" James fretted.
As they were nearing the ground Harriet spun midair so she faced the leviathan and waited, the leviathan's maw opened, ready to eat her and Harriet shot fiendfyre directly into the beast's mouth. As soon as the fire caught hold of the leviathan Harriet turned back to Glacia and flew a safe distance away before landing and changing back to watch the leviathan crash violently, headfirst into the earth, making an enormous indent. It slumped where it landed, letting out what could only be a death rattle as the fiendfyre over took it. Harriet threw her arms straight up, her fists clenched in victory.
Harri turned and practically skipped back to the group, moving over the bodies of the chitauri without care. She came to a stop with a big grin and brushed at her shoulder, "Yep, still got it." She chirped.
"Do you want me to list every movie you took that move out of?" Strange snarked, Harri stuck her tongue out at him.
"That was awesome!" Fred and George exclaimed, stepping over to her quickly to hug her.
"Thank you." Harri replied, sending Strange a smug face over their shoulders as she returned their embrace. Stephan flipped her off.
"That was pretty great pup." Sirius said, "But Strange said you could take one down with just a sword. How in Merlin's name would you do that?"
Fred and George pulled back a bit to look down at her curiously.
Harri wrinkled her nose, "Allow it to eat you, from there you can cut out the important bits, killing it from within." Remus gagged and the twins blanched, Harri waved a hand, "Yeah, it's not ideal. To be fair, I was half asleep when I did that."
"Yeah." Strange commented, "A certain couple of people kept her up late the night before, wonder why?" Harri sent a stinging hex at him as the twins blushed, "Rude." Stephan huffed, rubbing at his arm.
Harri rolled her eyes, "Let's go inside. We can get cleaned up and then," she looked to Strange, "we can figure out what exactly happened."
An hour later, everyone sans Strange was walking from the family wing and toward the small dining room, Luna joining them this time.
"Why isn't he in the family wing?" Loki asked.
"Strange wasn't around long enough for us to adopt him fully into the family." Harri said, "We only met him after Todd died and the Tower fell. After we met he was gone mostly, trying to figure which of his sorcerers were the ones who taught Hermione the Mystic Arts as well as protecting the New York Sanctum. It wasn't until the last year or so that he stayed here at the castle on a semi regular basis and at that point we had so many allies taking shelter here he was one among many."
"Are you sure he's not family?" Fred asked.
"You seem very comfortable with him." George added.
Harri frowned, "He's just fun to snark with. Like Tony but even more of an asshole." She shrugged, Fred and George shared an amused look over her head.
When they entered the dining room it was to find Strange already there waiting for them, examining some of the chitauri blasters and rifles that Harriet had ordered Dianna to retrieve before disposing of the bodies. His cloak was hovering behind him and snapped him on the back of the head when she entered, he looked up in surprise but sat up when he saw them. "Hey, Dianna just finished up."
"Any damage to them?" Harri asked.
Strange waved her off, "Only to a few of the blasters, I destroyed them already so they won't blow anything up."
Harri nodded and spread her hands over six of the rifles, drawing them into her pocket dimension, "Can't stand the blasters anyway." Everyone settled in around the table in their spots, "Alright." She folded her hands on her lap and focused on Strange, "How about you start and then I'll tell you what happened on this end."
Strange frowned but nodded, "Three days ago we got intel from Fawkes that said that Hermione was sending a platoon of chitauri into the Dark Dimension to seek out and recruit the Zealots. I told you about the deal I had made with Dormammu and how they were most likely changed into Mindless Ones by their new master but we decided that if the chitauri were able to get to the Zealots and break through Dormammu's spell then they would take the chance to leave. The chance that they would make it out and give the enemy more soldiers with the abilities granted to them from the Dark Dimension was too high and too dangerous to ignore. Being the Sorcerer Supreme it fell to me to go to the Dark Dimension and take care of things. I left the next day after Clint challenged me to get a selfie with Dormammu."
Harriet's lips quirked up a bit, "Did you get it?"
Stephan smirked, "Yep." he pulled out his phone and flipped through it quickly before turning it toward everyone. It showed Strange holding up a peace sign, his cloak fluttering dramatically behind him, off in the corner; the rest of the picture was dominated by a huge black and red pulsating face with glowing purple eyes.
"That's Dormammu?" Loki asked incredulously.
Strange frowned at the God, "Yes. I've shown you all memories of him before." He looked back at Harri as he put his phone down, "What happened?"
Harri waved him off, "Finish your story."
Stephan huffed, "I entered the Dark Dimension and activated the Eye of Agamotto to set a time loop in case Dormammu used the opportunity to kill me. I managed to get Dormammu to agree to kill the Zealots. Unfortunately, Kaecilius was reached by the chitauri and broken out of his spell first, I managed to draw him away from them and kill him. Dormammu chased the chitauri away and then told me to leave. I closed the Eye and made my way back to our Universe. I made a portal back and the Chitauri followed me back in. For some reason I landed about three miles from the castle, when I was trying to fly back in Fenrir attacked me and I jumped into the Mirror Dimension but lost the cloak and my sling ring to Fenrir. That's when you came."
Harriet sat back in her chair when he finished, a frown on her face as she looked down at the table.
"What is this Eye of Agamotto?" Loki asked curiously.
Strange frowned, his eyes brows drawing together in confusion, "Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I've already told you all this."
"No you haven't." Loki countered, leaning forward, "Harriet came back in time. I've never meet you before in my life. Now tell me about this thing that can make time loops."
Stephan's jaw dropped and he looked over to Harriet with wide eyes, she was still deep in thought though so Strange shook himself and jerkily pulled a necklace from beneath his robes. At the end of the chain was an intricately eye shaped piece of gold holding a larger bit of gold in the center. With shaking hands, Strange motioned in front of it and the gold moved to the outside to reveal a glowing green gem within, "It's the Time Infinity Stone." He rasped.
Loki's eyes widened as they locked onto the stone, "By the Norns." He muttered softly, "Its…how…in the hands of mortals."
Strange nodded, "The device around it dissipates its overwhelming energy enough for the Sorcerer Supreme to be able to wield it."
"Is that what allowed you to come back in time like Harriet?" Sleipnir asked curiously.
"No." Harri said, speaking up for the first time, she looked up, "The Eye limits the Time Stones power to moving time around a person or object. The Time Stone would have to be extracted and put into another device to move a person through time." She focused on Strange again, "At least from what I remember of your explanations and Loki's theories."
Strange nodded, "Yes, the Eye wouldn't allow it. The first Sorcerer Supreme didn't want the temptation of having the ability available to him so he prevented it when he created the Eye."
"Then how did he come back?" Fred asked.
"Shouldn't he have arrived during or after the final battle?" George added.
"The Dark Dimension is different from any other Dimension or Universe that exists." Strange explained, "It is a place beyond Time. When someone is in the Dark Dimension Time doesn't affect them. I did activate the Eye while I was there, giving the Dimension its own time for a while."
Harri ran a hand over her face, "Glacia must have jerked me back in time after you deactivated the Eye. She said that the old timeline was destroyed so you wouldn't have been able to go back there even if that's where you were aiming for."
"Shouldn't he have shown up before this then?" James asked.
Harri scrunched her nose, "The Dark Dimension is a little iffy." Strange snorted and Harri glared, "It's iffy."
"What are you? Four?" Strange snapped.
Harri rolled her eyes but a small smile over took her frown, "The Dark Dimension is a strange place with strange rules. The perfect place for a certain someone really."
"I'd prefer not to be a Mindless One." Stephan retorted.
"And yet you keep talking." Harri sang, she shifted in her chair, "Anyway, it could have been the Dark Dimensions properties or it could be whatever Strange was focusing on to create the portal back."
"Or a mixture of both." Strange jumped in, "The Dark Dimension is a hostile dimension, I was aiming for the Castle and the Avengers but left it pretty wide so I wouldn't land in the middle of a battle and be killed, the Dark Dimensions properties could have effected that."
"And you were probably focusing on the Castle as it was when you knew it. I didn't come back to the Castle until last year, before that it would have been completely different." Harri said, "As for the Avengers. We don't exist yet so that could have skewed things further."
"Sounds like a lot of guess work." Sirius groused.
"When you're dealing with Infinity Stones, the Dark Dimension, and a multilayered time manipulation that has never happened before there isn't much you can pin down." Strange said.
"That's the Mystic Arts for you." Harri snarked, Strange made a face at her.
"What are Mystic Arts?" George asked.
"And why don't you like them Harriet?" Fred questioned.
"Because she's a magic snob." Strange huffed.
Harri crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm not a magic snob Vincent!" Strange glared at her, "I just am a little wary of the consequences of pulling power from different universes and dimensions! I think I have the right to be wary after you exploded Potter Manor's East wing simply trying to meditate and gather power!"
"None of us knew that my gathering power would affect the artifacts in that wing!" Strange exclaimed, "And I fixed it!"
Harri rolled her eyes at him before looking over to George, "The Mystic Arts is magic done by drawing power from different dimensions and universes. The people who practice it aren't born with their magic, they simply undergo strict training to learn how to draw the power from the other dimensions and to forge that power into weapons and pseudo spells."
"Simply." Strange scoffed, "Mystic Arts training is hard work dammit! It takes long and involved training."
"Excuse me, how long did it take Fred to master your sling ring?" Strange slumped in a pout and Harri raised an eyebrow, "Did I hear two tries?" the man glared at Harri and she looked smug, "That's right, two tries. No long and involved training needed."
"He had his own magic to help him along." Stephan huffed, Harri rolled her eyes.
"Oh Merlin cub!" Remus interrupted, "He's definitely part of your family!"
Both Harriet and Stephan looked at him in confusion, "No I'm not." Stephan said as Harri said, "No he's not."
"Yes he is pup." Sirius said, shaking his head, "Don't be ridiculous."
Bucky nodded, "I could see hanging out and getting to know him."
"I can as well." Loki added in, Fred and George nodded in agreement.
"Flock designation doesn't have to be sudden every time." Luna hummed. Strange frowned but Harri simply raised a brow in consideration as Glacia shifted within to focus on Strange.
Stephan shook his head and sat back, "Whatever," his eyes went over to Harriet, "If I'm understanding this right it means there are currently two of me."
Harri nodded solemnly, "Yes, I had Jarvis tag your name so I'd know where you were. You are already working as a surgeon at Metro-General and are just beginning your rise to fame."
"I'll have to fix that." He muttered, closing the Eye of Agamotto as almost an afterthought, "It could do real damage having two of the same exact person in the same timeline."
"Not to mention having two Time Stones in the same timeline." Harriet noted, her eyes drifted over to the cloak, "And two Cloaks."
Strange hummed, "I may be able to find a spell in the Library to merge the artifacts but merging myself into one person may be too dangerous."
Harri nodded, "You would have to die or kill your younger self."
Strange winced, "I need to research and I will have to do it carefully, if anyone sees me it could cause problems. With the Ancient One, with Mordo, or Wong. The fact that are currently two Sorcerer Supremes in existence at the same time. Even Kaecilius, if he finds out I know of his plan he could try to torture it out of me to streamline this attempt. I don't know how to stand up to torture like you, Natasha, and Clint."
Harri nodded, "You can stay in your room here when you aren't actively searching, but when you go out you have to leave the cloak and the Eye here."
Strange frowned and his cloak attached itself to his shoulders quickly, "I'm not doing that."
Harri raised an eyebrow, "Strange, you showed us before how you were able to track Mordo and Hermione through the artifacts that chose them. If one of the other Mystics catches the trail they will quickly discover that there are two cloaks and Eye's or worse, track you back here with them. The wards would keep them out but they'd still have a location." She folded her hands again, "There is also the rules that time turners bring up, no coming into contact with your other self. While its highly unlikely that you would come in contact with your younger self, the possibility is higher that you will run into the other Eye or other cloak depending on which of the Sanctum Libraries you go to. We don't know what it would do and until you're sure you can combine the artifacts you shouldn't risk it. Especially since your cloak is sentient and the Eye is one of the most powerful things in the universe."
Stephan deflated a bit, "You're right." He rubbed his hands over his face with a frustrated groan before looking back at her, "The cloak will be okay just hanging around her but the Eye gives off a bigger signature, even under the wards." He slid it off, "You'll need to take it. Your phoenix signature should be enough to mask it."
Harri raised an eyebrow as she eyed the necklace that was extended to her, "You want me to wear it?"
"Just until I can merge it with the current one." Stephan said, "And if for some reason it does get tracked then the fact that you're a witch and not a sorcereress would throw them off long enough for you to escape."
Harri took the Eye hesitantly, "Can't I just put it in my pocket dimension?"
Strange shook his head, "When I was talking to Loki he said that he tried to keep the Tesseract in one of his pocket dimensions and it drained his magic trying to contain it."
Harri huffed but slid the necklace on and quickly wove the same spells over it that she did her Ladyship rings which left it invisible to the naked eye, leaving only its weight on her neck to assure her it was there. "You better hurry and find that spell. I don't like carrying an Infinity Stone, I feel like something is going to happen at any moment."
Stephan grinned, "Like Thanos is hiding behind the next bush?"
Harri's lips twitched up slightly, "He's complete garbage, it'd be a trash can." Strange broke into loud laughter.
The rest of the day devolved into Harri catching Strange up on what had happened since she had come back in time and the current plans. Once that was done they moved on to telling the rest of the group stories from the last timeline of when Stephan had worked with the Avengers. This kept up until dinner when Bill and Percy came home, once Strange had been introduced to them and the two Prewetts were caught up things moved to lighter subjects.
Harri was still adamant that Strange hadn't been family before, but now Glacia was assessing the man and considering the idea. Strange just rolled his eyes whenever it was brought up, stating that he was fine just taking care of the Sanctums with those under his command thank you very much. Everyone else, however, could see it. Even if they didn't want to admit it completely yet, Harri saw Strange as part of her family and Strange saw Harri (at the very least) as part of his. Their brother/sister relationship was less outright support though and more based on one upping each other and snarking each other into the ground, it was amusing for everyone to watch.
Three days after Strange's arrival it was time for Harri's burn and she was already feeling it. She felt sluggish and she could hear Glacia croaking pitifully within. She had slept in for once and had to be woken up by Fred and George, Fred having been the one to carry her down to the family room when she tried to bury herself under the pillows. They had set up her nest in the family room so that everyone could be more comfortable and Harri would be more accessible to those wanting to see her, something that had been fought about when Harri first set up her nest in her and the twins' room and Fred and George had announced that people could visit but they would be the only be allowed during 'visiting hours'. Despite the fight that had taken place everyone at the castle was ready for Harri to burn today.
Harri was curled up on the couch next to her nest, blinking sleepily and leaning into Loki as she watched James, Sirius, Remus, Fred, and George scurry around the room, preparing the last minute things that they were deeming necessary.
"They do know you'll be an egg for twenty-four hours right?" Loki asked, "They'll have all that time to get the rest ready."
Harriet gave an amused hum, "They may know that logically but in practice it's another story." She yawned.
Remus came over to her worriedly, "Are you alright?"
"Tired." She sighed.
"You weren't like this last time." Remus fretted.
"Last time I had a reason to push off the burn, now I'm accepting it completely." Her eyelids slipped half closed, "Nothing to put it off, time for rest and rejuvenation." She let out a strange half trill as her feather gave off a few weak licks of flame. Remus bit his lip but nodded and went over to Sirius to help him organize the blankets.
*Why couldn't you be a fire phoenix?* Jor whined half-heartedly from Loki's shoulder, his tongue flicking along Harri's forehead, *Those blankets look really comfy and I could have cuddled your egg if you weren't going to be so cold.*
Harri gave a soft laugh, *Fred and George said I turned into an ice phoenix because of my love of winter time and snow.* Jor huffed and simply settled his head on top of Harri's.
Percy and Bill came up the stairs a few minutes later and moved around the frantic pranksters with amusement before coming over to Harriet. They smiled down at her as she opened her eyes and gave them a weak wave in greeting, "Good morning Harriet." Bill greeted lightly.
"We just wanted to give you an update before you went under." Percy said.
Harri nodded as Loki mumbled, "She's only going to be an egg for a day."
Bill grinned at Loki, "We know but we wanted to see if she wanted us to do anything else in the next day or so."
Percy focused on Harriet, "I'm going in for my follow up interview at the Ministry."
Harri smiled, "Good, you'll do great." She reached out and took Percy's hand gently, "I want you to be happy though so if you're not doing this because it's what you want then don't do it. You're a part of our family and I don't want to see you suffering through a job you don't like."
Fred and George popped up on either side of Percy, "Yeah, Percy if"
"you truly want to be part"
"of the ministry then take"
"it by storm but if you don't"
"want to then don't. We've got"
"plenty to support you in"
"your dreams or even if"
"you just want to be a"
"beach bum!"
Percy gave them fond smiles, "Thank you, but I'd like to at least give it a shot."
Fred and George nodded in understanding, "If you don't like it then just quit." Fred said jovially.
"Do it in style though!" George teased, "Turn the Minister's hair green and let in Skeeter on your way out!"
Percy rolled his eyes, "I'll consider it." He said before nodding to Harri and leaving.
"Good luck!" Harri called after him, her voice a little slurred.
"Georgie look how adorable our mate is all sleepy and out of it." Fred cooed.
"Isn't that what he says after sex Harri?" Strange asked as he walked into the room and plopped down onto the couch on the other side of her nest, his cloak fluttered into the room after him like an over eager puppy and draped itself over Harri gently.
Harri turned to Strange with an amused look, "We're Gryffindors Strange, after sex we high five." Fred and George choked a little bit and Loki laughed.
"'She's not wrong." Bill chuckled.
Fred and George scrunched up their noses as they looked at Bill, "That's a chilling look into your"
"love life we didn't need Bill."
The eldest Prewett shrugged, "I'm hearing more and more about your guys' future sex life. Turnabouts fair play."
"No its not." George half whined, "We can't even brag about our own conquests."
"Conquest." Harri corrected, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Notice the lack of an 's'. Just one."
George took her hand and kissed the back, "You dearest, count as more than one." Harri huffed slightly as a blush dusted her cheeks.
"It's all her split personalities." Strange snarked.
"Way to ruin the moment Strange." Sleipnir snorted from over by the window where he was lounging with Fenrir.
Bill chuckled but was quick to change the subject so Harri and Strange wouldn't spend the next seven minutes in a sarcastic battle. "Harri, we finally found the correct place in Little Hangleton. It's warded to the gills but I and my team will be able to get through. We should have the horcrux by the end of the week."
Harri nodded, "Be careful, there is a curse on the ring that almost succeeded in killing Dumbledore. Also, be sure to seal it and bring it back here once you've taken care of the wards and curses. Don't let anyone get a close look at the stone itself, we'd have a riot on our hands."
Bill's eyebrows shot up, "Why?"
"Remember the tale of the Deathly Hallows?" Harri asked.
"The children's stories?" Fred questioned, Harri nodded.
"Are you saying that the stone is the Resurrection Stone?" Bill asked incredulously.
Harri nodded, "It is. The horcrux is contained in the gold itself, the stone won't be affected when you kill it. Don't put it in the vault, bring it back here. If word gets out that it's in a vault at Gringotts some will try to get in and we'll get quite a body count."
"I understand." Bill said with a quick nod.
Harri smiled, "Good. Take it slow, there's no need to rush. Be careful."
"Yes Boss." Bill chuckled before leaving with a wave.
James, Sirius, and Remus came over, only slightly calmer than earlier, "Alright." James said, "Everything is ready."
"You told the rest of your family about the burn right pup?" Sirius questioned, "I don't think we want Tony busting through the ceiling again to get to you."
Harri gave him a soft smile, "I informed everyone yesterday before I handed off my bracelets and they got back to me when the feels of the bracelets changed." She tugged Strange's cloak closer, "And Tony will be coming here in a little bit, he didn't believe me when I said I would be an egg."
"I showed him pictures!" Sirius huffed.
Harri glared at him weakly, "You take pictures of me this time and I'll do worse than turning your hair into seaweed."
A pop behind the couch signaled Tony's arrival and everyone looked over to see Daisy holding both Tony and Pepper's legs. Pepper found Harriet in the room first and smiled, "Hello Harriet."
"Hey Pepper." Harri greeted, "I didn't know you were coming."
Pepper walked around to the front of the couch so Harri didn't have to strain her neck, "I came to make sure Tony didn't stay the entire week like he wants to."
Harri nodded before looking over to her pouting big brother, "It's not that eventful Tony."
"It's a being going through a complete renewal in a weeks-time by way of flames the miraculously produce cold instead of heat." Tony stated, crossing his arms over his chest, "I could make significant scientific breakthroughs through observing this."
"Hear that Queenie? You're only good for a science experiment." Strange snorted. Harri rolled her eyes.
Tony looked to Strange with a frown, "Who are you?" he looked back at Harriet, "Is he another of our family?"
"Yes." Fred, George, James, Sirius, and Remus said.
"No." Harri and Stephan denied.
"Sort of." Loki finished with an amused look, he looked up at Tony, "He actually showed up from the previous timeline. He's a Sorcerer."
Stephan stood and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you again Mr. Stark. I'm Dr. Strange."
Tony shook his hand hesitantly, "How exactly did you come from the last timeline? I thought it was destroyed."
"It's a long story." Strange started, his gaze snapped over to Harriet when she gave an audible wince and the cloak moved to float behind the couch, "And I'm not sure we have the time for it right now."
Everyone watched curiously as Harri changed to Glacia and the bedraggled looking phoenix flapped awkwardly into her nest. Without the pushing off of the burn and their normal human form in the way, the burn this time was much less violent.
Blue flames surrounded Glacia, emitting a shimmering light as the flames grew dense enough to hide Glacia completely from view. The flames died gradually until all that was left in the nest was a pile of ashes and Glacia's green, blue, and black swirled egg.
"Holy shit." Tony muttered, his wide eyes locked on the egg that had once been his sister.
Fred and George subtly gripped each other's hands, feeling panic building despite the fact they knew Harriet was technically alright. Their awareness of the currently uncompleted bond that existed between them and Harriet had grown since they had begun the pseudo bonding at Christmas break and right now the bond was pulling at them. They knew their mate was alright but the bond was insisting that they check, that they hold her, which they knew they couldn't do or their body heat would affect her in her vulnerable state. Wild thoughts were cycling between them, their minds a wild storm of 'She's in danger. She's vulnerable. She needs to be protected. The egg is so fragile. Everyone is TOO CLOSE!'
James moved forward to adjust the ashes and they snapped.
George dove to cover the nest and Fred spun to create a shield that pushed everyone away from the fragile egg.
"What the bloody hell!" Sirius snapped, everyone looked at the twins like they had gone insane.
Everyone except for Strange who huffed and simply dropped back onto the couch next to the shield, "It's like you guys have never seen the twins in overprotective mode."
"Fred and George Prewett! You let me through to my daughter!" James snapped, Fred glared at him before moving over to the nest with George and helping him bury Glacia's egg in the ashes.
"It's not going to work." Stephan sang, pulling a book out and settling down.
Remus frowned, "You two know we're not going to hurt her." Fred and George ignored him.
"It doesn't matter." Came Luna's airy voice, everyone outside of Fred's shield looked over to see her and Bucky coming in the family room. "They aren't operating on logic right now. They just know their mate is vulnerable and that they have to protect her."
"When can we get to her then?" James whined.
Strange snorted, "Only Harriet herself can get them out of overprotective mode. I've seen it twice; it will get ugly if you try to get past them. Last time they ended up throwing Thor out…" he turned slightly and pointed to a window behind them, "that window."
"Really?" Loki asked, perking up curiously.
Stephan chuckled, "Yep, funniest slash scariest thing I ever seen. Their faces as they did it was the stuff of nightmares."
"They're just kids right now." Sirius huffed, "Come on guys let us in." his hand landed on Fred's shield and he let out a yelp as he was flung backward. "Shit." He hissed, sitting up and rubbing his head. Looking back toward the shield he was met with Fred and George's murderous gazes and he gulped involuntarily.
James, Remus, and Tony all took wary steps back, "Damn." Tony mumbled.
Strange smirked, "And that is why you wait for Harriet."
Waiting for Harriet to hatch was filled with just as much watching and worrying as the last time, this time however the worry was ratcheted up further for the Marauders due to Fred and George refusing to allow them close. The twins fretted over the egg of their mate for the entire twenty-four hours; George maintaining a temperature regulation spell to make certain that the nest was cold enough for Glacia's needs and Fred shifting the ashes every so often to make sure all the nutrients that they contained for Glacia would soak in evenly. The twins stationed themselves on either side of her nest, completely ignoring everyone outside of the shield and their own needs in favor of protecting Harriet from every threat they could think of (however irrational those made up threats may be).
Everyone else watched this from afar, cycling through the room at different intervals to see the continued spectacle that the Marauders were making as they tried to talk the twins into letting them closer to Harriet. Tony and Pepper had left pretty quickly but Tony checked in periodically through the family rooms TV with the help of Jarvis. Luna and Bucky drifted between the common room, the training room, and outside were Luna taught Bucky about various magical creatures. Sleipnir and Fenrir had only really left for necessities and a quick run when they needed to burn some energy, other than that they stayed in the common room and napped. Loki, Jor, and Strange had engaged in a deep conversation within the first half hour and split their time between the family room and the library. Percy had returned that evening but had actually had the sense to get some sleep for his new job, saying that he would come check in when he could. Bill was stuck at the job site while they very carefully and methodically took down the layers of protection.
Harriet hatched exactly twenty-four hours after her burn, just as she had last time.
Fred and George were watching the clock closely, Fred having a tempus right next to them to monitor the time down to the second. "Is it going to be like this every time?" Fred asked anxiously as he stared at the egg.
"Merlin I hope not." George answered, his eyes also glued to the little pile of ashes between them.
"You should let us in now." James called, "She'll be hungry when she hatches!" Fred reached into his pocket and very dramatically removed a small container of preserved fruit bits and a tiny spoon which he sat in front of Harri's nest carefully, still not taking his eyes from the ashes.
"She needs her stuffed Marauders to protect her!" Sirius whined, holding up the stuffed deer. George's mouth pressed into a thin line and he focused quickly on conjuring two small stuffed foxes which he sat down into Harriet's nest.
"We're being replaced." Remus muttered bitterly. Fred and George shared a slightly guilty look but steeled themselves, their mate was extremely vulnerable at the moment and they couldn't…wouldn't let up now.
The sound of soft movement drew their eyes down to the pile of ashes and they watched with baited breath as the pile started to shake. A sharp tap sounded, followed shortly by a few more until the ashes were knocked away, revealing a thinly cracked shell. Another couple of taps made the crack grow until the very first piece broke from the shell and a delicate beak poked through to work at making the hole bigger. It took another five minutes before the whole was large enough for the baby bird to shift herself through and tumble free of the remnants of her egg.
"Aw." George cooed, his voice catching at the sight of the adorable little featherless bird who was pin wheeling her tiny limbs to try and turn over. He reached down hesitantly and collected the baby bird from the bottom of the nest, being as gentle as he possibly could, like she was a delicate snowflake. "I've got you Harriet." He whispered, she cheeped weakly in response, curling into his hand trustingly.
Fred leant close, his eyes wide as he took in the tiny helpless bird that currently contained their mate in all her glory, "Merlin, you're tiny," he swallowed hard, "and so adorable dearest." She cheeped again, raising a tiny featherless wing up toward him. Fred carefully met it with a single finger and stroked the wing gently.
"Pup tell them to let us in!" Sirius whined.
"Give it a rest!" Strange groused from the table near the windows where he and Loki were enjoying some breakfast.
Fred frowned as Harriet's cloudy eyes turned toward where Sirius had spoken and quickly added a silencing ward to his shield, "It's alright dearest. We'll protect you." He said seriously.
George nodded sharply, despite the fact that Harri wouldn't be able to see it, "We've got you. We won't let anything happen."
*I trust you guys.* came her voice weakly.
Fred and George smiled down at her before Fred picked up her food again, "Are you hungry now?"
Fred and George took turns feeding Harriet the tiny bits of fruit before they took the bits of her egg out of the pile of ashes and carefully covered her in the ashes, allowing her to sleep off her hatching. Fred kept the silencing ward up no matter what the Marauders attempted outside, both of them only slightly worried about what they would face from the Marauders in retaliation for keeping them away from Harriet. They had no intention of letting the others close until they were positive Harriet was fully recovered.
Of course Harriet ended up cutting that short late that night once she had recovered from the hatching and her down was thick enough to allow her to leave her pile of ashes a bit. It was the first time she had fully comprehended the situation. She looked between Fred and George with as much amusement as her current face could impart, *You've had them locked out this entire time?*
They blushed slightly, "They are a threat…" Fred began in a slight whine.
*No they aren't.* Harri chided gently, *You know they aren't.*
"But you're so vulnerable like this." George said.
*You know they wouldn't hurt me.* Harri countered, *Not on purpose.*
"We didn't want to take that chance." Fred huffed.
"Not with your safety being in the balance." George said solemnly.
Harriet would have smiled if her beak allowed it, *Did you two leave my side even once?* she asked, already knowing the answer.
"No." they answered.
*Did you plan to move even if my fathers' had been allowed close?* Harri asked, again, already knowing the answer.
"No."
*Would you have watched them like hawks and made them stop if they had gotten too rough?* Harri questioned.
"Yes."
Harriet bobbed her head, *Then I would still have been perfectly safe under your care.* Harri soothed. Whenever her mates became over protective she would have to do this. Not that she could fault them. She was ten times worse when one or both of them were injured, sick, or vulnerable and she couldn't be reasoned with at all, even if they were the ones trying to talk her down. *You are confident in your abilities to keep me safe right? After all, you've maintained a barrier that would throw back even Loki and you've stood guard over me for almost thirty-eight hours now without food or sleep, which we will be discussing later by the way.*
Fred and George shared a look over Harriet's nest and relaxed marginally, "Alright," Fred finally groused.
"they can come closer but they best be careful." George warned.
Harri gave a soft cheep, *Why don't you let them close for a little while and then we can move up to our room so you can get some sleep in a real bed.*
"Deal." The twins chorused, with that Fred let the shield fall.
"Finally." Strange commented, drawing everyone's attention from the movie that they had been half watching and to Harriet and the twins. Strange's cloak was, surprisingly, the first to react, shooting from the sorcerer's shoulders and curling around Harriet's small form and the mound of ashes she was perched on. Stephen huffed, "It's supposed to be my cloak."
*You can't fault it for liking me better. I don't insult it all the time.* Harriet retorted, snapping her tiny beak at Strange.
This was enough to break the Marauders from their shock and the rushed over to Harriet, stopping just in front of her when Fred and George leveled their wand at them, "Carefully." Fred said sternly.
"Don't rush." George bit out.
"Don't think we won't hex you if need be." Fred growled.
Everyone else watched in amusement as the Marauders lowered themselves down and crept forward carefully to greet Harriet. Once they had assured themselves that she was alright, the conversation immediately devolved into complaints about her overprotective mates which Harriet promptly ignored.
Crisis dealt with, they all settled in for a slightly more peaceful recovery.
Another full day later found an exasperated Severus Snape portkeying into the Castle with a single bag in his hand and immediately gaping uncharacteristically at his surroundings. Despite all he had seen under Harriet's cause and the things they had spoken about, a small part of him had never truly believed that Harriet was staying in the legendary LeFay castle or that she would allow him a portkey to said legendary castle. He had honestly believed that she had just given him a portkey to Potter Manor so he could use the potion lab there. So being greeted by the grand foyer of LeFay Castle where the banner's confirmed his whereabouts proudly was a shock.
A pop drew his gaze downward and he found a little female house elf looking at him sternly, "Welcome to LeFay Castle. Is Lady LeFay expecting you?"
Severus straightened up, "Not necessarily. She granted me a portkey to come here if need be but we never specified a time."
"Very well. Please wait here, I will ask Lady LeFay where she would like you." The elf said before popping away.
*Professor Snape.* came Harriet's voice a couple minutes later.
Severus looked up and raised his eyebrows in surprise at the ice blue finch sized bird that was currently floating down the stairs to him on the carefully folded collar of a cloak that seemed to be moving of its own accord. "What have you gotten yourself into now Potter?" Severus huffed.
The little bird let out several small squeaks that seemed to serve as laughter, *Surprisingly, nothing at all. Or at least nothing that shouldn't be happening.*
"Care to explain?" he drawled, his eyes ran over the cloak, "And did your mates rig that up for you?"
*I'm recovering from my yearly burn Professor.* Harriet said with a small chirp, *And no, the twins didn't make the cloak. This is the Cloak of Levitation, an artifact from the Masters of the Mystic Arts and the artifact that chose the newest Sorcerer Supreme.* one of the cloaks edges lifted, while still holding Harriet aloft, and wrapped around Severus' hand, shaking it gently.
Severus let out an exasperated breath, "You attract the strangest people Harriet."
Harri let out another squeak, *You have no idea Professor.* she shifted on the cloaks collar and it turned back the way they had come, *Now, what happened?* Harri asked as she and the Cloak led Severus out of the foyer.
"It's been an absolute nightmare at the school." Severus said, "Have you seen the Prophet this morning?"
The tiny bird looked over to him, *No. With my burn I'm lucky if I get my overprotective mates and fathers to allow me to go over my own notes let alone a paper in this state.*
"And they let you come to greet me?" Severus asked in disbelief.
*It wasn't so much them letting me. More of, I snuck out while the Marauders were pranking my mates in retaliation for the first day and a half of my burn.* Harriet answered, *And of course it helps that I had the awesome Cloak to secret me away.* the Cloak fluttered at the praise.
"I see." Severus said with an amused look at the Cloak. "The Prophet this morning had another of those articles by Skeeter. This one publically announcing that Dumbledore has been linked to your living situation with irrefutable proof. The entirety of the School Board showed up along with Amelia Bones and Minister Fudge. Dumbledore has also been flooded with howlers but the article was so vague at this point, no one quite knows how he is linked with your situation. From what I overheard from Kingsley and Tonks, Madame Bones wasn't planning to release that fact until they had collected as much information as they could on things to keep ahead of Albus. With what they have now they can only really pin negligence on Dumbledore and if he is able to cover his tracks then that may be all they can do."
Harriet bowed her head, her wings fluttering as she thought, *Without the Dursleys the proof of his further involvement in my living situation won't be found. It would be only their memories and testimonies under Veritaserum that would be able to link him to the abuse since he never did it himself. The only other thing I could really lead them toward would be the potions and blocks but I would have to be careful with that because the potions may implicate you even if it is just in the smallest manner. You would have to have brewed at least one of the more advanced potions.*
Severus looked over to the tiny phoenix in quite surprise, "You shouldn't hold another of Dumbledore's crimes back just to protect me. I will be fine as I always am."
*Don't be ridiculous Severus.* Harri replied, she clacked her beak and ruffled her feathers, *There are still other options that can save you the court case and myself the lawyer. I'll just have to nudge Rita and maybe Kings toward Dumbledore's brother.*
"There's two of them?" Severus asked, horrified.
Harriet cheeped, *Actually there used to be three but Arianna was killed in Albus' confrontation with Grindelwald. Aberforth however is alive and well and holds an extreme hate for his brother. He knows a great deal of Dumbledore's personal history as well, so if I can get Rita to him first it will help in the articles she's going to publish about Dumbledore's relationship with Gellert and any others in the future.*
"And just where is she going to have to travel to get to Aberforth?" Severus asked in slight trepidation, "I doubt Albus would leave him unguarded if he knows so much."
*Actually he's closer than you think. He runs the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Everyone thinks of him as a crack pot because of some illicit behavior when he was younger and the image that Albus himself built up but Aberforth is actually quite nice to talk to and knowledgeable.* Harri said just as they made it to the family wing. *His help will further the investigation without putting you in danger.* she looked over to him, *Did he ask you to do anything?*
"He ordered me to work on the Cure All, he wants you to be back under his thumb and it would seem that right now he's putting his hopes on the Longbottom's." Severus said, "Unfortunately with this morning's article the castle is infested and I have been interrupted twice already, first by Lucius and then again by Filius and Pomona. I left the Headmaster a note about leaving for a quite work space so he shouldn't be looking for me for quite some time and any problems he does have with it should be softened by me bringing him the Cure All."
Harriet bobbed her head, *Yes, well, you should have all you need here to brew in peace.* she and the cloak led him down to the bottom floor of the family wing, *The bottom floor of the family wing has the rooms that have labs attached. You can have the furthest from Tony's so any explosions in his lab won't bother you. You'll need to decide on a mark to put on your door, it's what marks it as taken and what regulates the wards around each room. You can set the wards however you'd like but be aware as the Lady of the Castle, I will always have access. I won't use it unless it's an emergency but I want you to be aware now.* they came to a stop at a blank door and Harriet cocked her head toward it, *When you decide on a mark, press your hand against the door and it will appear.* the door swung open of its own accord and Harriet led him into the suite.
Severus looked around the room curiously as he followed Harriet inside. The room they entered was a well-appointed sitting room, with several gray high backed chairs and a coffee table centered around a fire place. Half-filled book shelves lined two of the walls. Across from the door they had entered from stood two more doors, each done in a darker wood.
*The door to the right holds your bedroom and the door to the left holds your lab area, you can fill it as you like. We have most of the standard equipment you may want in storage here at the castle so you'll just need to ask. I will assign you one of the house elves here in a bit and she will come introduce herself, she will be able get you whatever you ask for.* Harriet said, turning to look at Severus, *Questions?*
"Not at the moment. Thank you for allowing me here." Severus answered gratefully.
*It's no problem, your family now so…* she trailed off as they heard shouts of her name trailing through the open door from the floor above, *It would seem I need to escape now. Happy brewing Severus! Come on Cloak, into the vents!* With that the Cloak swept the tiny finch sized Harriet into the closest hole of the vent network and they disappeared.
Severus closed the door to his new room and dropped gracefully into the nearest chair to take a moment, "Family are we?" he mused.
The rest of Harriet's recovery week went by uneventfully. Fred and George still worried over her but the borderline panic diminished as she grew closer to Glacia's normal size, no longer leaving her as fragile as she had been. When Harriet was big enough she got into races and aerial stunt battles with Strange's Cloak, something that she practiced when the others were training in the mornings. Over all, it had been a good burn and she was ready to go back to normal.
Just like a year ago, Remus was the one to measure her tail feathers. Everyone was in the common room, Severus even having taken a break from his brewing to attend. Fred and George waited on either side of her, more than ready to have their mate back to her normal self after a week of being unable to touch her and hold her like they usually were. Harriet herself was ready to be back for that same reason, her mates had been so careful with her over this period and all she really wanted was a full Fred and George hug.
Remus tugged on Harriet's tail feathers sharply, "Stop squirming. After last year you should know I can't measure when you're moving around." Harriet clacked her beak in exasperation but froze in place so Remus could get a correct measurement, "Here we go…" Remus hummed.
"Hurry up, we haven't been able to hug her in a week!" George whined.
"Hugging, right, I'm sure that's what you two are missing." Stephan muttered from the edge of the circle, Severus snorted softly.
*Can it Strange.* Harriet snapped.
"Two feet exactly!" Remus announced.
Harriet launched into the air with a trill and swept around so she was aimed right at Fred and George; she changed back just before she hit them and they wrapped their arms around her tight, only stumbling backward slightly with the momentum. "Missed this." Harriet whispered, their grips on her tightened.
"Look princess, the streaks disappeared! Only your feathers are still in your hair!" came James's excited voice.
Harri hummed slightly but was distracted by Fred pulling her into a sweet but firm kiss, he pulled away and grinned as George took over, adding to Harriet's distraction. "Welcome back dearest." Fred chuckled.
Help with some of the Burn week ideas have come from my wonderful followers on tumblr! Specifically sunstarmonster, diamonsaremadeunderpressure, and clouded-stripes. Praise be to they who have hogtied a muse and dragged her back to me! Hope it came out alright guys!
Next time! Kidnapping Captain Ameriabear!