"Confringo!"

With the reflexes that only a Quidditch Seeker could possess, Harry Potter applied a Pulling to himself which shifted gravity's pull on him, sliding out of the way just as the curse sailed past his face. He watched as it slammed into the edge of the dueling ring's ward line and sent a cascading wave along the blue shield. The power behind that particular Blasting Curse was quite impressive, producing a rather loud bang, and taking with it a part of the stone floor beneath their feet.

It made his blood thunder through his veins.

Harry released the Pulling and broke out into a run. The dueling ring itself was quite large, the entire room itself was magically expanded to be nearly the size of a quidditch pitch, and it was bereft of any obstacles separating him from his opponent. He still wasn't quite sure why Pansy Parkinson of all people had agreed to help him in this manner, but he could guess. Corvus had been the one to propose a duel as a way to learn more about the Space Stone capabilities. The argument had been that Harry was bound to come into conflict with someone who wanted it eventually, so he had better learn how to use it in combat, and sooner the better.

Parkinson had all but jumped at the opportunity.

"Expulso!"

He watched the Exploding Curse burst from the end of Parkinson's wand with a vicious grin. His wordless Shield Charm took the full impact of the curse and dispelled itself as Harry ran through it. He would have been angry at all the curses being used in a friendly duel if not for the look on his opponent's face. Parkinson's lips were twisted into a snarl as she sent another curse his way.

Harry applied three Pullings to himself as he jumped into the air. The feeling of weightlessness was only fleeting, as it was replaced by the shift in gravity, and soon he was falling towards the ceiling. He had to twist his body in the air so that he faced the right way, the glowing Space Stone held in one hand, the Elder Wand in the other. It was from an upside-down position, his feet to the ceiling and his head to the floor, did he send back a spell of his own.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

He released the Pullings and took the fall with a roll so that he came up on his feet. Parkinson's Shield Charm shimmered a bright blue in front of him and Harry slashed the Elder Wand through it, collapsing the shield. A Stunner immediately followed it and Parkinson swatted it away with her wand. Like it was nothing more than a nuisance.

She had a subtle grace about her movements as she disengaged and put some distance between them. It was a bearing that Harry hadn't noticed during their Hogwarts years, back when she was busy hanging off Malfoy's arm and acting every inch the haughty pureblood daughter, bullying her way through seven years of schooling. That behavior hadn't fully faded, in his opinion she was still a bitch, but in a refined twenty first century kind of way.

Surprisingly modern for someone like her.

"Is that really the best you can do, Potter?" Parkinson sneered at him. A sight that would have been more intimidating if not for the way her chest rose and fell at a quickened pace. "No curses for me? I would have thought you'd have grown some balls after you killed Voldemort. Maybe I shouldn't have expected so much from the famed Man-Who-Conquered."

"That's rather ironic, isn't it?" Harry asked as he twirled the Elder Wand between his fingers. When he took a step, Parkinson matched him, and soon enough they were slowly circling one another. He heard Corvus chuckle from outside the dueling ring but paid him no mind. The other spectators were content to remain silent. "This coming from the witch who hid in the dungeons while the rest of us fought in the final battle. The coward who wouldn't fight."

Parkinson tensed at that, and Harry watched as the well of rage boiled over. "Coward? I'll show you coward!"

Her wand swung up at him and from it a jet of flames licked out. Harry snapped a Shield Charm into place even as he applied a series of Pullings to himself, the grip he had on the Space Stone firm. He fell upwards at a rapid pace and watched the flames splash against the blue shield. Parkinson dispelled the flames before they swung back towards her and then turned to face him.

None of the spells she sent his way had a chance of connecting. The Pullings allowed him to have complete control over gravity. The combinations for Pullings were endless, and Harry put them to the test. He dodged each and every incoming spell, shifting the Pullings applied to himself so that he moved out of the way, the movements becoming easier the more he did them. The more natural the act of rapidly applying and removing Pullings on himself became, the more experimental Harry got.

He had noticed quite early on that while he used the Space Stone, he didn't seem to get any whiplash, nor did he struggle with staying upright when preforming extremely sharp turns like he did on a broom. It seemed that, no matter how many Pullings he applied to himself, compounding the weight of gravity exerted on him, his body wouldn't be crushed by the gravitational pull of them. It meant that maneuvers he had once thought impossible for the human body to handle were now all very much possible.

Parkinson didn't let up as Harry evaded each of her curses. Her stamina was commendable, both in terms of keeping up the rapid pace of spellfire, and the athleticism required maintain the optimum dueling distance between the two of them. It seemed that she had done more than simply run off to America after the war.

"Get down here, Potter!" Parkinson demanded as Harry's feet touched the ceiling. With a snap-like reflex, he willed the Space Stone to shift which way gravity affected his body, while also releasing all the Pullings on himself. It made it so that the ceiling was now his ground, and the floor Parkinson stood on the new ceiling.

The inverted perspective of everything was still slightly odd to take in.

"Now, now, Parkinson. Where would the fun in that be?" Harry gestured with both hands as he spoke. Though he made sure to keep a firm grip on the Space Stone. Dropping it would mean losing all control over gravity, which would not do. He needed to talk to Death about that Vessel design for the Infinity Stones again.

"He does have a point." Corvus called out from outside of the dueling ring. They both turned to look at him, with Parkinson glaring at him, and Corvus simply offered a shrug. "What? You're the one who agreed to duel him, Pans, knowing fully that we'd be working with the Space Stone all the while."

"I know that!" Parkinson snapped.

She swung back around to face Harry and caught him off-guard with her next spell. It was a Disarming Charm by the coloration. He dodged out of its way and decided to even the playing field a little. Parkinson didn't want him to be on the ceiling for their duel? Well, there was an easy solution to that, he'd just bring her up with him.

The Space Stone glowed in his hand as he channeled magic through it. The Infinity Stone itself made its presence known to him, brushing up against his Occlumency Shields, so softly that Harry barely even noticed it. Pullings didn't draw such a reaction from it, but then again, manipulating how gravity affected others was a little more complex than doing it to himself.

"Gah!" Parkinson shrieked as she started to float into the air, her arms and legs flailing about as she suddenly lost contact with the floor. Harry made sure that she didn't move too quickly, keeping it so that gravity's pull merely drifted her down to the ceiling, which was now her new floor.

He also didn't bother with trying to smother his laughter as Parkinson landed on the ceiling with a face red with indignation.

"Never do that without my permission again!" She pointed her wand threateningly at him.

Harry had to work to bring his laughter down to a polite chuckle. "Alright. From now on I'll ask before changing gravity on you."

"Good." Parkinson nodded to herself as she spoke and took a breath. Then it dawned on her that they were still in the middle of a duel and her expression hardened. She took up a dueling stance and soon enough she was sending spells and curses his way.

There was a chaotic sort of rhythm to it all. Harry primarily focused on using the Space Stone to evade the incoming spellfire but couldn't help but analyze his opponent. Parkinson dueled with a distinctly American style, which relied heavily on curses and overwhelming spellfire. The style wasn't very elegant, it basically ignored Transfiguration entirely, and it carried with it the risk of magical exhaustion, but there was no denying that it did produce results.

Harry gave up all pretense of using his wand as he focused solely on dodging. Once he got the art of Pullings down to pure muscle memory and reflexes, he could focus learning about what else the Space Stone could do, as well as begin to take a look at the Mind Stone. He had a feeling that it didn't appreciate being stuck in a warded trunk under his bed.

A curse that flew a little too close for comfort brought him back from his musings.

He dodged the three following spells with a sharp jerk backwards, the Pulling cutting his forward momentum entirely, sending him the opposite direction and out of the spells' trajectory. Releasing it, Harry broke out into a sprint straight for Parkinson, adding a Pulling so that his legs carried him farther with each stride. He had fallen flat on his face the first time he'd tried the maneuver, but now he had the motions down, and it seemed almost unfair at how fast he could now move.

Parkinson hesitated for a second, before attempting to widen the rapidly shrinking distance between the two of them, while spitting curses at him all the while. Harry dodged, slid, or Shield Charmed his way around them all, moving at a pace that was difficult to track. It was only when he got within an arm's reach of her, a distance too close for a Shield Charm to be fully effective, did he use his wand.

"Expelliarmus."

The elm wood wand shot out of her hand as Harry released the Pulling and turned his run into a slide. He popped to his feet, holstered the Elder Wand, and wordlessly Summoned the other before it fell up to the ground where their spectators were standing.

He held it out to Parkinson.

"Very well done, I'll give you that." It sounded like the words pained her to speak. Parkinson took the elm wood wand and then took a step away from him while working to settle her breathing. The duel had been rather intensive. She gave him a look that might have been appreciative. "I can see why they chose you for the Quest."

That was something he had been contemplating ever since Corvus had explained that Pansy Parkinson was in the know about it all. Why did the Primordial Being of Life deem her worthy of such information? Why did Corvus think so as well? Harry had chalked it up to the fact that the two of them had some sort of intimate relationship, but he knew that it wasn't so simple, not when it came to Infinity Stones, and Death wholeheartedly agreed. That she decided to then reiterate the whole 'Corvus Antonius Lestrange can't be trusted' spiel wasn't so helpful.

The man had already sworn an Unbreakable Vow and had vouched for her.

So, for better or worse, Harry had decided to trust Pansy Parkinson.

But he still extracted an Unbreakable Vow of Silence from her after the fact.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky." Harry quipped as he gripped the Space Stone a little firmer. The blue glow shined through his fingers and Parkinson eyed is warily. "Brace yourself. I'm bringing us back down to the ground."

This time she didn't flail around as gravity changed. Harry kept it at the same slow pace as they floated through the air. The feeling felt natural to him, almost like he was flying on his dear departed Nimbus, and he had no trouble remaining relaxed as they drifted. Parkinson on the other hand was as stiff as a board up until her feet touched the ground.

They were met with a light applause from their audience.

"Damn impressive, both of you." Corvus greeted them with a glass of water in each hand. Harry returned the Space Stone to his mokeskin pouch before taking the offered refreshment. He sipped it whilst casting a glance at the golden portraits that hung on the wall next to them. Their many occupants were all whispering to one another, probably about the duel.

"I had my arse handed to me." Parkinson muttered as took a sullen drink of water.

"No offense, Pans," Corvus conjured up a plain looking bench for them as he spoke, "but dueling isn't really your forte. As much as you like to argue otherwise."

Parkinson merely pouted at that as she took a seat. Corvus merely brushed a hand along her shoulder before turning towards him. It made Harry feel slightly out of place among them. The motions, and the banter, bespoke of a relationship of mutual respect.

"Now, onto you, my friend." Corvus clapped Harry on the shoulder and grinned. "I've never seen someone move like that before. All those twists and turns? Good God, fucking brilliant."

"Lay it on any thicker and he might choke on it." Parkinson added from over her shoulder.

"Just trying to butter him up so the critiques don't land so harshly." Corvus said back. Harry then received a more critical look. Something akin to a superior looking down a subordinate. "There is room for improvement though. For one thing, simply holding the Space Stone in your hand is a hinderance, and a liability."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Death and I spoke about it briefly. She has a design for housing the Space Stone and any others I come across. We call it the Vessel."

"I'll want to take a look at that design, and maybe get Caelum to give it a once over as well. He's got a head for this sort of thing. I'll introduce you to him when he gets around to coming back to Earth."

"Coming back to Earth?" Harry said it slowly, so he was sure that was what the other man had said.

"Universe is a big place and you'd be surprised by how far some of us have gone." Corvus took a seat and either ignored or didn't notice the way Parkinson rolled her eyes at him. "Three of the Infinity Stones are confirmed to be on Earth. But the other three? Only the Universal Entities know where they are, and they have been rather tight lipped about it. I can guarantee you that we aren't the only ones looking for the stones. It's just that some of us have been doing it a lot longer than others."

"What he means is that his organization is comprised of space travelling wizards." Parkinson drawled as she placed her empty glass into Corvus' hand. She didn't sound at all surprised as she spoke. Like what she just said was trivial.

"We prefer Timeline Travelers, but that's basically it." Corvus shrugged. "We're a group of space fairing witches and wizards. It sounds exciting at first but gets rather boring after a while."

"I'm sorry," Harry nearly chocked on his words, "but did you just say that space travel was boring?!"

"That I did."

"Okay, ignoring the fact that you are part of a space traveling organization of witches and wizards called the Timeline Travelers, because I feel like that's going to be a conversation and a half. Am I the only one who's at all shocked by the news that there are magicals that have managed spaceflight? That sounds like a pretty monumental feat for the Wizarding World as a whole that shouldn't be glossed over."

"It's honestly not that exciting once you know about it." Parkinson said.

"Excuse me?" Harry realized that he was pacing and forced himself to stop. "How is this a boring topic to you? We're talking about space traveling wizards."

"Look, I know this might be a little hard for you to understand, but not everyone is an adventure seeking Gryffindor who walks headfirst into trouble without thinking." She held up a placating hand when Harry opened his mouth to speak. "Was it surprising or shocking at first? Obviously. But then reality set in. I have no desire to journey into space nor can I just up and decided to leave one day if I ever did get the desire. My job, my responsibilities, they all require that I stay on Earth. Flying on a spaceship doesn't sound any more interesting than flying on a Muggle plane."

Harry tried to come up with a retort but found that he couldn't. What she said had made sense. The many Muggle movies about space and aliens had rather desensitized him to the whole concept. Even now he could feel some of the excitement and exhilaration at learning about magicals in space start to wane. It wasn't even that much of a leap for them to take. The whole magic interfering with Muggle technology probably didn't even pose a factor to them if they had managed spaceflight in the first place. Most of the fascination and wonder had soon vacated, with reasoning and facts replacing them.

It was depressingly grounding.

"Well, that was certainly a mood killer," Corvus said and easily dodged Parkinson's elbow as he stood. "and we have gotten horribly off track from our original conversation. Let's swing back to talking about the duel, yeah?"

"Yeah, let's do that." Harry rubbed the back of his neck. The prospect of space travel did sound exciting, but he had a lot to take care of on Earth before he could even think of leaving. Raising Teddy, mastering the Space and Mind Stones, as well as finding the unknown third Infinity Stone were at the forefront of that.

"Well, you boys can talk all about it," Parkinson said and pulled herself to her feet with Corvus' offered hand. "I'll be in my office getting some work done if you need me."

Then she made her way to the doors, but not before Corvus got a kiss on the cheek, and Harry got a nod of semi-appreciation. He returned it and felt that he actually meant it. There was still a part of him that loathed her for six years' worth of bullying at Hogwarts, but he had some newfound respect for her, if only as a competent duelist.

The clearing of a throat sounded from behind them just after the doors clicked shut. Harry turned and found that the portraits were rather crowded with people. Most of them were older wizards and witches who were talking amongst themselves, a couple had decided to get up and leave once the apparent entertainment had ended, and some were even arguing with each other.

"Quite a good showing, Mr. Potter!" The portrait of Atticus Parkinson cheered from within the crowd. Harry spotted Olympia in the mix as well, though she was shoving at the others to get out of her way. "Some very fine dueling there and quite the nifty rock as well."

"Don't trivialize it to just some rock." One of the other portraits chided.

"It's an Infinity Stone." Another added.

Harry felt a sudden sense of déjà vu come over him.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that he's just trying to get a rise out of you lot?" Corvus asked as he looked at the portraits. Many of them harumphed at that but didn't say anything else. It seemed like this was a common occurrence amongst the Parkinson Portraits.

"At least once more, my dear boy." Atticus smirked at them. "We're portraits after all. Nothing gets the blood flowing like some good bickering."

"We don't have blood." The man beside Atticus snapped.

"Nor you a sense of humor apparently."

"I'll have you know-"

"Come on," Corvus tapped Harry on the arm, "the last thing you want is to get caught in the middle of the portraits arguing with one another. They'll find a way to drag you into it so that you're committed to seeing one side win."

Harry grimaced as that and followed Corvus as they made a hasty exit. Memories of Grimmauld Place danced around his mind, of old Walburga Black's screaming portrait, and all the other Black Family portraits who were content to simply argue with one another. At least the Hogwarts portraits mostly got along with each other.

They stepped out into the hallway and left the many ancestors of the Parkinson Family behind them. Corvus took glanced at his wristwatch and his eyes widened a little. "Time flies when you're having fun, its nearly midnight. You up for some Chinese takeout?"

Harry's stomach decided to answer in his stead and let out a grumble. Old habits die hard it seemed, and though he didn't technically need food anymore, his body still acted like it did. "Well, I guess I could go for some Chinese."

"Hold it you two." A voice called out after them. Corvus groaned and Harry turned to the little portrait hanging in the hallway. Olympia Parkinson had that same worn book in her hand and a bearing of someone much older than a fifteen-year-old. "Your badge is going off, Corvus."

"It is?"

"Yes, there's also a barn owl that's been trying to pick its way through your window. It's made quite a bit of progress so far."

"Of course it has." Corvus sighed and then turned to Harry. "Badge flashing means I'm getting a summons. It's probably nothing too serious but I'll have to report into Woolworth regardless. I'm afraid that Chinese takeout is going to have to wait for now."

"It's fine." Harry waved it off. "You have responsibilities as a Major and I should really be getting back."

"Right, well you have the floo number. Give me a call if you need anything."

They shook on that before heading their separate ways. Olympia decided to tag along with Corvus, and Harry listened to them as their voices grew fainter. Apparently that barn owl had been tempted to bodily throw itself at the window before Olympia had placated it.

He retraced his steps through the winding hallways of the Manhattan apartment. It was magically expanded by the way the hallways seemed to stretch on and the fact that many of the rooms he had visited were far too large to be actually built into the building. The library alone was massive, and the dueling ring had been the size of a quidditch pitch. No doubt the room with the floo connection was a something akin to a sitting room.

It seemed pretentious enough for someone like Pansy Parkinson to even have a sitting room.

The yelp he let out when he realized that Death was walking beside him was decidedly high pitched. She had come into her corporeal form with nary a sound, black curls swept over one shoulder that revealed a visage that looked like it was hewn from stone, and the black silks she always wore looked impossibly elegant. She looked like a thunderstorm given flesh. Tempestuous and indominable.

Both of which were decidedly not the Death he knew.

"Something the matter?"

He was met by silence. Death seemed rather angry, breathing harshly through her nose, which was a very human trait she had picked up. It was all very out of character for her. She was usually calm and centered. As the silence stretched on, Harry simply stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, and continued on towards the sitting room. He knew an explanation would come along eventually.

Nothing ever truly stopped Death from speaking her mind.

They reached the sitting room when her answer all but exploded out of her.

"She is more the fool than I ever thought possible! Lording her position over me like I am some mortal. Disregarding the importance of the Infinity Stones and the potential they possess. Ignoring the dangers that they pose if fallen into the wrong hands! She has lost sight of what truly matters, Harry Potter, or her arrogance has grown ever greater since we last spoke."

"I don't know enough about the Primordial Being of Life, and that is who I assume we're talking about, to have an opinion on her." Harry said as they crossed the room and stopped in front of the fireplace. There was a bowl of floo powder sitting atop the mantle. "But I think it might be safe to say that she could be jealous of you."

"Jealous?"

"She wasn't the one given the task of finding the Infinity Stones. I can't imagine that it didn't sting a little when you and I were the ones who were given the responsibility. Being forced to sit back and do whatever it is she does while we go out and learn about the stones. The Universal Entities don't play favorites, right?"

"Not in the same sense as a mortal's view." Death said. "But as the eldest among the Primordials, Life is deferred to most often."

"Ah." Harry's mind immediately went to the Weasley family he remembered from before the war. Bill and Charlie were the eldest, so they got all the attention while the younger children, mainly Ron and Ginny, got all the hand-me-downs. It was probably a gross oversimplification to compare the Primordial Beings to the Weasleys, but it helped him frame part of their conversation.

"It still does not excuse her behavior." Death said. Most of her anger gone from her voice. "Interfering with the conflicts of mortals like no other."

"Well, as long as she doesn't make finding the other Infinity Stones any harder," Harry grabbed some floo powder as he spoke, "let's not worry too much about it. She isn't our problem after all."

"She is my opposite, Harry Potter." Death sniffed. "My twin if you will. She is always my problem."

Harry simply nodded at that. There was a sluggishness to his movements and his stomach grumbled again. He had spent basically the entire day speaking with Corvus about the Infinity Stones, going over what notes he had on them, and then found himself dueling with Parkinson. So focused with it all that he forgot to eat.

"Come on, I'm feeling up for some Chinese." Harry threw the floo powder into the fireplace and stepped in.

"Of all the things to indulge in, cheap Chinese food?" Death said and then simply went incorporeal.

"I'm embracing my inner New Yorker."

Harry felt Death groan through their bond, which made him chuckle. Then he said his address and he vanished from Corvus' home with a grin.