A/N: I will say this now, I'm not 100% Happy with this chapter. But for now, it is the best I can do. I may rewrite it in the future, and if I do, I'll let y'all know.

Thanks for all the reviews. There were a few in there that really made my day.

I also changed the name of this Part to 'The Last Wish', as opposed to 'The Rune Of Ekrizdis'.

I got a few reviews by a user whose username I'm not listing, but you know who you are when you read the response below.

First, Cho not is going to have a major role in this story. It's just that one appearance, and then a few inconsequential ones in Part V.

Second, Sirius did comment on Harry and Ginny, but no one else says it to their face like he does.

Third, I wrote this story with the intention of having Harry and Ginny share their adventures. The fact that Harry can do Wandless Magic means nothing in the grand scheme of things since he's taught it to Ginny, too. I just don't show her POV much since I struggle while writing it, and I want to do it justice when I ultimately do get around to it.

But Harry does have solo adventures, as does Ginny. I just choose not to show them since it is all just unsuccessful exploration.

Anyways, here's the new Chapter.


A Song of Lightning and Fire

Arc I: Hogwarts

Part IV: The Last Wish


Harry and Ginny had spent the following week searching for pretty much anything about the bottle that Investigator Smith had given them, but so far, they'd come up empty.

After they'd met and spoken with Sirius in Hogsmeade that day, Harry and Ginny had chosen to take the Bottle to the Room Of Requirement, where they'd taken a closer look at it.

Despite the fact that the Brown colored Bottle had no design or anything on it that made it recognizable, the cap did. It was a pretty large cap for a bottle, but the bottle itself was very large so it balanced out.

There was a Rune on top of the cap. It was shaped like an Omega symbol, but it had wings on its sides. And this was what they were searching for. Harry was certain that this Rune would tell them what this Bottle was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, that Rune did not exist in any of the books they'd tried searching in. They'd even looked into the Restricted Section, but to no avail.

In the end, they'd given up, and asked Hermione, Ron, Jessica, and Devon for help. They'd stressed the anonymity of their task, and that they wouldn't be able to say what it was for. It took some convincing on Hermione's part, but she agreed.

It was an entire ten days after the attack that Hermione found something.

"Guys," she whispered. "I found it."

All of them immediately abandoned their books and noisily surrounded her seat, causing Pince to peek over her stack of books and shush them. The shush itself was louder than the noise they were making.

"Look," Hermione pointed at a book.

It was a picture of the same Rune that was on the Bottle, but this one wasn't a Rune at all. It was a logo. Specifically, the Symbol of the House of Black till the year 778.

The Symbol had been changed due to it being revealed that a Dark Wizard used it as a Mark to unite his people. In the fifteenth century, the Symbol had been converted into a Rune by the Dark Wizard, Ekrizdis.

The Rune's effects, and type were not known, but nothing like that Rune had ever been seen before or after its creation by Ekrizdis, and had therefore been named the Rune of Ekrizdis.

There was nothing more about it except the fact that it was rumored that Ekrizdis was a descendant of the Blacks, but nothing concrete had ever been found about that theory.

"Is this helpful?" Hermione asked. "I can look more if you want."

Harry shook his head. They were already too far involved in this. He didn't want to put their lives at any more risk, and he knew that they would be since a man had already died to protect this Bottle.

"Thanks Hermione," Ginny said, probably thinking along the same lines that he was. "But we can take it from here."

"Oh," she said, sounding a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, furrowing her brow.

"Nothing," she replied, looking away from them.

"Hermione," Ginny tried, trying to catch her eye.

"She wanted to be a part of your adventure," Ron said. "All of us did, actually. But never mind that now."

Harry and Ginny were slightly taken aback by this. Yes, they'd expected this from at least one of their friends, actually they were surprised it hadn't happened before, but all of them?

"This isn't an adventure," Ginny said, sighing. "This is… different. We're just trying to figure something out for ourselves."

"Who's the Villain of the Year?" Devon asked with a smile.

"Villain of the year?" Harry and Ginny repeated.

"You've got a new Villain every year," Jessica said. "Quirrell, The Heir of Slytherin, The Prisoner of Azkaban… who is it this year? Someone related to this Ekrizdis bloke?"

"There is no Villain of the Year," Harry said. "Like Ginny said, this is a personal thing."

They looked like they accepted their answer, but Harry could tell they weren't completely happy with it. What sucked was that he and Ginny had to lie to them yet another time.

He hoped he could have a normal year sometime soon.


Harry held the Invisibility Cloak open for Ginny as she climbed out of the Gryffindor Portrait Hole. "Hey," he greeted her when she came to his side.

"Hi," she whispered with a smile.

"Are you sure you're awake enough?" Harry asked. She had been stressing herself out relentlessly this past week.

"Yeah," she answered. "Let's go."

They set off toward the Room of Requirement where they had already stored their homework books. They weren't lagging behind, per se. But they usually tried to finish in advance at night so that they had more free time to spend with Aries and Artemis.

"What have you got left?" Harry asked as they entered their 'Den'.

"Herbology and History," Ginny said.

"Potions," Harry said, grimacing. Ginny smiled sympathetically. He hated the written part of Potions, the brewing he could do.

"Maybe I can help?" Ginny asked, going over and sitting on a chair behind the table that the Room made for them.

"Nah," Harry said, following her lead. "You should focus on your own stuff."

Ten minutes later, he did ask Ginny for help in the Theory part of it. They also had to brew the same Potion in class tomorrow, so she made sure to properly explain how it worked.

He was able to finish his Potions Homework a while later, and Ginny had already started working on her History of Magic homework. But her assignment was different from his. Wait, no. It was last week's assignment…

"Why are you working on last week's assignment?" Harry asked.

Ginny didn't look up, nor did she stop writing, but she did answer him. "Remember when I said Fred and George threw a Dungbomb into the classroom the other day?" She asked.

"Yeah- Oh!" Harry said in realization. "Your class was cancelled so you're a week behind?" He asked.

"Yep," she said. "I love those two, but I just want to strangle them sometimes."

"Ouch," Harry said in sympathy. "Can I help?"

"If you have a Dicta-Quill, please help me out," Ginny said. "Otherwise, unless you want to dictate the answers to me, I don't think you can help"

"I'll dictate," Harry said. It might also help him brush up on his own notes.

Time seemed to have gotten away from them while they studied, because by the time they were done, it was 1:30 a.m. But just as they were packing, Harry caught sight of an odd looking picture in Ginny's History of Magic book, which was under a few of her notes.

"May I?" He asked her, gesturing to her book.

"Sure," Ginny said with a furrowed brow.

He took the book and gazed at the picture. It was the Omega Sign. They didn't cover this particular chapter yet, but Harry still considered himself an idiot for not noticing it sooner. They'd been so busy thinking that it was some mystical, mysterious Rune, that they'd forgotten to check their own textbooks for the information. He couldn't even blame Hermione for the oversight since their books were different from hers.

He took out his Trunk, and dropped it on the floor, kicking it with his foot and causing it to grow in size. He popped open the lid, and pulled out the Bottle.

He compared the Runes, and saw that they were practically identical. He showed the book to Ginny, handing her a handle of the bottle. She went wide-eyed when she saw the picture. "Well, shit," she swore. "We've been complete idiots, haven't we?"

"Totally," Harry said in agreement.

"How could we have missed this?" Ginny asked. Her voice sounded weird, though. Like it was coming from inside his head.

"I dunno Gin," Harry replied, shaking his head. "But at least we found it."

"What?" Ginny asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"The Rune," Harry said.

"What about it?" She asked.

"We found it," Harry repeated slowly. "You asked 'how we could have missed this'. I said, 'At least we found it'."

"I didn't say anything, Harry," she said. "But…" she trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. "I did think it," She finally said slowly.

"You… thought it?" Harry asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah," she said.

Weird, Harry thought, watching as Ginny's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

Can you hear me? He heard Ginny's voice in his head again.

"Yes," Harry spoke aloud, mouth hanging open in amazement.

They tried it a few more times, and every time, they could hear the other's voice in their head. They then decided to switch it up a bit, keeping the Bottle in only one person's hands, and so on.

They found that they could only speak with each other mentally when they were both holding the bottle, at least in some way, shape, or form. Even holding it through cloth seemed to work.

This is so cool! He heard Ginny gush in his mind. They were currently walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and they'd decided to take the Bottle with them in hand. It was just too cool to miss out.

And why should they miss out? Harry wondered to himself. They had, by All means, earned the right to use Power for themselves, hadn't they? They'd fought monsters and delayed plots. They deserved it! And no one could say anything countering that fact.

It is cool! Harry agreed. I just hope no one else notices us using it. We should set up a timetable or something. Just so we don't forget.

Good idea, Ginny said. For today, you keep it with yourself, then we'll split it.

Deal, Harry agreed.

Just then, they saw Mrs. Norris come around the corner. They weren't wearing their Invisibility Cloak, so she mowed very loudly when she saw them.

They heard loud footsteps coming over from behind Mrs. Norris. But then, his sight started changing. He couldn't see things clearly. No, wait. He could still see things, it was just that their edges were distorted.

"What is it, my Sweet?" Filch asked his cat.

But the cat just made a confused mewing sound, causing a thrill of satisfaction to go through Harry. It wasn't because of the sound, mind. It was more due to the fact that he realized that the Bottle was protecting them. It wanted them!

Filch came toward Harry and Ginny, but he didn't look at them, leading them to believe that he couldn't see them at all. Harry and Ginny stepped to the side, and flattened themselves on a wall.

Filch walked right past them, and so did Mrs. Norris. She couldn't smell them! This was even better than using his Invisibility Cloak. Mrs. Norris could always smell them through it, which made them run away.

Not now, though. Now, the school was their playground, so to speak. Did the Bottle just protect us? Harry asked Ginny.

Kind of, she responded.

Kind of? He asked.

I asked it to… hide us, she answered.

And it made us invisible?

I think so? She asked more than said.

He let go of the Bottle, and watched as everything went back to the way it was. By the way Ginny blinked her eyes, he assumed it did for her as well.

Well, this is a gift that just keeps on giving, isn't it? Harry asked.

I know right, she answered.

They made their way to Gryffindor Tower, and this time, they made sure to put on the Invisibility Cloak, despite something in his body telling him not to use it.

They safely made it back to the Tower, though. Harry watched Ginny go inside and up the stairs after she wished him a goodnight, and he called the Roaming Stairs to take him downstairs to the Slytherin Common Rooms.

Life, it seemed, could not get any better as of now.


Harry and Ginny continued using the Bottle for the next month. They liked the ability to talk mentally, and they used it to share loads of jokes and observations together. The fact that the Bottle itself could go invisible to everyone else whilst still remaining visible- with distorted edges- to them was something that helped them loads with it.

Even their Magic seemed to have somehow improved, something he did not think possible for anyone, let alone the two of them.

But all of this came at a cost.

They had begun growing more distant to the world by the passing second, and Hermione Granger knew that something was up with them.

But Harry and Ginny couldn't tell her. Because as soon as they did, she would try and take the Bottle from them and keep it for herself. They knew she would. Don't ask them how… they just fucking knew.

Hermione had even caught them yesterday outside the Gryffindor Common Room with the Bottle in its visible state.

She had been staying up later and later, trying to catch them in the act, and she'd finally succeeded last night when he and Ginny were saying goodbye.

She had demanded answers as to what they were doing because she and the rest were worried. Harry and Ginny, of course, denied her, which led to her threatening them with the fact that she could always just tell a Staff Member.

Which was why Harry and Ginny were walking towards the Acrimantula's Lair in the Forbidden Forest. They had to hide the Bottle to protect it till the end of the Christmas Holidays, and they could think of no other place to do so than that place.

The Acromantulas usually slept during the day, which was perfect for them. It also gave Harry and Ginny an opportunity to hide the Bottle and get out. The Bottle would make itself virtually undetectable to anyone but Harry and Ginny, so if and when they needed to get it out, they could easily do so without getting hurt.

They reached the entrance, and travelled down the path toward the cave. Upon entering, they were met with Aragog, who was very much asleep. Looking above them, they could see even more Acromantula asleep in the cobwebs.

Harry and Ginny went forward, trying to be as quiet as possible, all the while looking for a nice hiding spot. They saw a hole on the cave walls, one too small for the Acromantulas to enter, and too low for them to really give a shit about it.

They placed the Bottle on it, sighing in relief as it didn't fall over and break or anything. They quickly left the cave and cast some Freshening Charms on themselves.

They decided to visit Aries and Artemis on the way out. They hadn't visited in a week, Harry realized. He instantly felt a huge pang in his heart. They were his friends. How could he have just… abandoned them like that?

From the look on Ginny's face, she was thinking along similar lines. They increased their pace, overcome with a sudden need to see them. NOW.

They quickly reached the Entrance to the cave and Ginny waved her Wand over it, causing the Vines covering it to slide away, creating room for them to enter.

They stepped in and practically ran toward the end of the cave, which led them into the Dragon Enclosure.

Aries and Artemis were already up, the former drinking water, and the latter laying on her back, trying to absorb the sun like she'd seen Ginny do once.

They increased their pace and immediately hugged the Dragons as best they could, considering their rather large size.

Both, Aries and Artemis, made a strange growling sound, and were clearly taken aback, but honestly, Harry and Ginny just needed a hug right now, and maybe they could sense that, so they let them be, occasionally licking their faces.

Harry and Ginny separated themselves a few moments later, and the Dragons came on face level with them, eyes wide, as though trying to ask if they were okay.

Harry was struck by the absurdity of the situation. Here they were, two 13 year old children, hugging Dragons, who asked them if they were okay. He had to struggle not to collapse in hysterical laughter.

He nodded his head with a smile nonetheless, as did Ginny, he noted. The Dragons made an odd facial expression, as though trying to smile but failing horribly, no offence to the poor creatures.

The Dragons were now at an age where they were content to pretty much nothing for a long time. Hagrid called this period their 'lazy teen years'.

Harry and Ginny were sitting on the ground, leaning against Aries and Artemis respectively. They were trying to get a headstart on their Christmas homework so that they could spend more time with their families.

But they eventually fell asleep. And for Harry, it was the best sleep he'd had in a long time. He didn't know how he was suddenly able to sleep so soundly, but he wasn't complaining.

Harry's thoughts were cut off when he heard his and Ginny's names being called. Hagrid was here.

Harry opened his eyes and saw that there was something on his body. Like a blanket or something. He touched a hand to the blanket, and gasped when he realized it wasn't a blanket at all.

It was Aries' Wing. He was lying so that he was facing the Dragon's tail, and he saw Ginny was too, just under Artemis' Wing.

But Harry knew that they had to get up now, so he slid away from the wing, and helped Ginny do the same. They went over to Hagrid. "Glad to see you two out and about," Hagrid said.

Harry and Ginny winced. The words hadn't been said in a way that was insulting to either Harry or Ginny, but the impact of the words still stung. They hadn't been able to visit the man for… a long time. At least two weeks. And Harry knew it probably wasn't their fault, but he still felt bad.

"Can we catch up sometime?" Hagrid asked. "It's been a while," he added.

"Of course," Harry and Ginny said.

They chatted for a bit more before Harry and Ginny had to leave for Lunch. They summoned their bags and left the Forbidden Forest. They travelled back to the Castle in Silence.

When they reached the Castle gates, Ginny stopped him. "We need to do something about Hermione," she said. "She's too close to finding out about…, you know."

"I agree," Harry replied, meaning every word.

"You do?" She asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't figure out how. You're a lot closer to her than I am."

"Well, do you have a plan?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "Let's just tell her… something," he said. "She said there's probably a 'Villain of the Year', right? So we tell her there is, and tell her what happened with John Smith, and that we're looking for a place to hide it, which we did do."

Ginny nodded and smiled at him, and they went to the Kitchens for a quick Lunch, not wanting to be Confronted by the bushy-haired witch just yet.


Harry rang the bell of 12 Grimmauld Place and came to stand beside Sirius. It was the first day of the Christmas Vacations, and Harry was thrilled to be spending his first Christmas with Sirius and Remus.

Marlene McKinnon would be joining them too, a fact that Sirius hadn't mentioned till a few hours ago. He knew she was close to Sirius, but Harry hadn't thought she was that close. Though, in hindsight, it kind of made sense.

Either way, Christmas was looking bright this year, especially due to the fact that he would be able to find out exactly what that Rune on top of the Bottle was.

He'd tried in vain to forget about it, he had full use of the Bottle now, after all. But the incessant nagging in the back of his mind was too constant. He needed to know what it was, what he and Ginny were playing with.

His thoughts were cut off when the door opened. A blonde haired woman stood in the doorway, and she opened her arms wide when she saw Sirius and Remus, both of whom gave her a quick hug and walked inside.

The Hallway was almost unrecognizable now. It had been cleaned, and it actually looked like it was a nice place to live in. There were no cobwebs, no dust, none of that blasted smell… it looked better than Black Manor actually.

"You must be Harry, then?" The woman asked, closing the door after Harry entered.

"I am," he replied.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon," she said with a smile, holding out a hand. He took and she gave him a firm shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter."

"It's Harry," he said with a small smile. "And it's nice to meet you too. Sirius doesn't shut up about you."

"There are times where you should just keep your mouth shut, kiddo," Sirius muttered. Harry thought that he was doing his best not to turn bright red.

"And this isn't one of them," Harry replied. "How's your hand?"

"All good and new!" Sirius replied with some false enthusiasm. He held his right hand up, showing him the new prosthetic.

Frankly, it was so realistic that he had a hard time recognizing that it was a prosthetic, but the black line of metal where the original hand had been cut off made it easier for him to do so.

"Looks good," Harry said.

"It's not the same," Sirius said, shaking his head. "But it gets the job done, I suppose."

"Such pessimism," Marlene said, shaking her head as her lips twitched upward. "Why, you could even give Remus a run for his money."

"I'm not that bad," Sirius and Remus protested simultaneously.

"You kind of are," Harry put in. "Both of you."

"See?" She said, smirking. "Even Harry knows."

"Traitor," Sirius muttered, glancing at Harry with a small smile, letting him know he was joking. "Come, let's get you settled in."

"There's not going to be Doxies flying out of every door now, are there?" Harry asked.

"Well, you never know what one might find in the Ancient and Noble House of Black if you look closely enough," Sirius said gravely, causing Harry to groan.

"Don't traumatize the poor boy, Sirius," Marlene said, swatting his arm. "It's completely Doxy free. Kreacher helped a lot with the House."

"He has," Sirius said. "He's been great actually. Never thought I'd ever say that about that Elf again."

They made their way upstairs and onto the Second Floor, where Harry chose the room next to Sirius'. Remus had the one downstairs, and Marlene didn't stay here too much, so when she did, she just used a guest room.

Harry went downstairs and joined the three adults in the Sitting Room. Remus and Marlene were talking animatedly about Christmas Dinner, while Sirius was trying to listen to the Quidditch Recap.

"Can I ask you something?" Harry asked Sirius.

"Sure," Sirius said. "What is it?"

"How much do you know about Ekrizdis?" He whispered.

"Ekrizdis?" Sirius asked slowly. "Why do you want to know about him?"

"Er… personal curiosity?" Harry tried.

"Try again," Sirius replied with a small smirk. "Is something happening at Hogwarts again?" He asked with a sigh.

"No," Harry said, not wanting to let anyone know about the Bottle. "Hogwarts is fine. I just want to find out about the Rune of Ekrizdis."

Sirius' eyes bugged out of his head. "What? Why?" He hissed.

"Because," Harry said, trying to think of a reason. "I need it for a History project. A Private one."

"And where did you even hear about the Rune?" Sirius asked.

"A book," Harry said. "Can't remember the name."

Sirius didn't look like he believed him, but he nodded anyway. "Come on, I'll show you who he is."

They got up and went to the First Floor, and into the library. Sirius picked out an ancient looking, black colored rectangular stone slab. "This is the most important family Secret the Blacks have," he said. "No one can know about this, except maybe your girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend," Harry said, heat rising up to his cheeks.

"Then how did you know who I was talking about?" Sirius asked, seemingly enjoying the fact that Harry's whole face had gone red.

"The only reason I'm even telling you is because you're the closest thing I've got to an Heir," Sirius continued. "After I die, everything will pass on to you."

"What?" Harry asked in shock, his eyes going wide.

"It's either that or it goes to the Malfoys," Sirius said. "And I'd rather not give them anything. If you don't want it, give it to a Charity. But I'm giving it to you."

Harry nodded in understanding, still a little wide eyed. "Okay," he said.

Sirius took out his Wand and tapped it to the Slab. A moment later, something started to rise up out of the slab. It was green in color, and as it grew, Harry realized it was a leaf.

The leaf grew into a small plant, which kept increasing in height and started growing branches. It eventually grew into a tree, and the ends of the branches started sprouting small rectangles with Various Blacks on them. Thin cords of Magic of various colors started forming between a few of the names, connecting them all together.

But what drew Harry's attention was at the bottom of the tree. The name Ekrizdis Black glowed white in color. He was born in 14 A.D, but… he was active in the 15th century, right? He made the Dementors during that time…

"How…?" Harry trailed off, pointing at the name.

"Ekrizdis Black was the founder of House Black," Sirius said. "He used to be a Peverell, but he was born… wrong, with a lack of any emotion, so they cast him out, declaring him dead. The 'Black Madness' doesn't originate from Dark Magic, or from inbreeding. It's because of him. Although Dark Magic does make it a lot worse."

"Wait, but… that would mean-" Harry started

"That he lived for around 1500 years?" Sirius asked, interrupting him. "Yes, technically. He had a Spirit Shard, though. And someone must have found out about it and raised the little shit back from the dead."

"Is there anything else?" Harry asked after a while. As interesting as this information was, it didn't really help him.

Sirius nodded. "My Mother used to read me stories about him when I was a kid. He was obsessed with finding, and controlling a Djinn."

"What's a Djinn?" Harry asked.

"A Djinn is a creature that grants you one Wish," Sirius said. "They're spectral creatures of immense power. Powerful enough that they are capable of bending the very fabric of reality itself. But some of them were Cursed a long time ago, to remain in this Realm, hidden inside objects. So they seek a way out, a way to go back to their home, and that way comes in the form of Humans, the only species that can release them. In return, they grant the human a wish."

"That would be cool," Harry said with a smile.

"It would," Sirius said, smiling back.

"Why did Ekrizdis want to control a Djinn?" Harry asked him a few moments later.

"Because it is possible for one to use a Djinn's power as their own without the burden of Wishes," Sirius said. "I'm not too sure how it works, but they say you can fuse the Djinn's spirit with yours. Doing so would grant him many desirable powers, don't you think?" He asked, receiving a nod from Harry.

"It's said that he hid a way to discover his research in the Cursed Vaults at Hogwarts," Sirius said. "But it doesn't matter anyway, it's all going to be the mindless ramblings of an idiot. The last Djinn went extinct long before Hogwarts was founded, so Ekrizdis was clearly lacking Common knowledge."

"What about the Rune of Ekrizdis?" Harry asked. "Why was that made?"

Sirius shrugged. "Beats me, kid," he said. "Anything else you want to know?"

Harry slowly shook his head. "No. But, thanks for all this, though."

"Don't worry about it," Sirius replied. "What do you say we get something to eat?"

Harry nodded eagerly, and the two of them made their way downstairs. But Harry's mind was elsewhere. Ekrizdis created the Dementors, and he didn't think creation like that could just… happen. No matter how powerful the Wizard. He needed to find out more about this.

And that meant going to these Cursed Vaults.


A/N 2: The Cursed Vaults are NOT my idea. They are from Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. It's a mobile game.

My version of the Vaults will be slightly different than theirs, though.

If you can't tell, I'm going to say this, the Bottle is influencing their thoughts. And from the new name of this Part, I think you can guess what is in there.

I'll see you in the next Chapter!

Byee!!