Chapter Two
The familiar tug that started at Harry's navel pulled him through space at a dizzying rate. This journey lasted far longer than either of his portkey trips put together, so when his feet hit solid ground at last it was with a great sigh of relief. Every nerve in these two men stood at high alert while they surveyed their new surroundings. It was a dark alleyway obscured from the street by a large dumpster and wood planking. Crumbling brick walls rose several stories on either side and the space in- between revealed a newly rising sun. The pavement under their feet was free of debris except for a stray newspaper. Sirius placed the shoelace back into its box which he slipped into his back pack before leading Harry to the street.
The buildings on Waterfall Drive were old but clean. A blue pick-up truck trundled down the road while two boys in the bed delivered newspapers. Sirius looked up and down the otherwise deserted street before spotting what he was looking for. High up on the building next to the alley were the numbers 1602.
"We're here," he told his companion before climbing the four steps leading up to the buildings main entrance, wands still at the ready.
The door was unlocked and they slid in easily. Too easily Harry thought. They were in a small but neat hallway, obviously the lobby for an apartment building.
"Where to from here?" Harry asked, but no sooner had he spoken then they were bombarded with a loud whistling noise. A small blonde girl, no older than 9 had stepped out of the nearest apartment and upon seeing them blew a golden whistle that hung around her neck.
"Aunt V." she yelled up the winding staircase, "There's more of them." From the terror in the young girls eyes being 'them' was not a good thing. Blowing on her whistle even louder she fumbled with her key in the door knob trying to get back into her apartment, but her hands were shaking too hard and it would not admit her. This made her all the more hysterical. Suddenly her eyes grew large and she bolted past the two dumbfounded men up the stairs to hide behind a tall woman who stood on the landing just above them. Skin paler than the white walls around her contrasted against her black hair, jeans and leather jacket which only accentuated her voluptuous figure.
"Good job alerting me Alice." she said kindly to the young girl, though that was not the tone when she turned toward Sirius and Harry. "Leave now or die." The woman spoke with great determination mixed with hatred. Sirius pressed forward still clutching his wand.
"I'm here to see a friend named Genevieve, we received a message that she was hurt."
"So you've come to finish the job. You'll have to get through me first." The witch's hip length dark hair fluttered, though there was no wind in the staircase and her eyes flashed dangerously. Sirius' patience, already running thin dealing with Phil frayed rapidly as he stomped up the stairs toward the mysterious witch.
"I will see her now, through you or no."
"Over my un-dead body." She bared her teeth to reveal two elongated canines marking her as a vampire.
Sirius pointed his wand at her racking his brain for the best defense against vampires when a wooden stake was unavailable.
"Veronica," a familiar voice called from behind the men. The door to the building open and closed briefly and the vampire retreated slightly to avoid the sunlight. "I can vouch for these men, Genevieve sent for them."
Elden Eldritch passed by Harry and Sirius to stand between them and the vampire. He was carrying a large box of oranges, apples, nectarines, bananas and other fruits. Veronica took the box from him and glided up the stairs closely followed by Alice. "Sorry about that, but we can't be too careful. The muggles in the building are on the lookout for people in cloaks. That's all we know about who attacked her. I daresay you did get here faster than I thought possible. Follow me, quickly." At that Elden started a quick and steady pace up four flights of stairs. At the top he was not even out of breath despite his age. Down the left hall he strode, though so quickly Harry nearly ran to keep up. He stopped abruptly at a door marked 407 and knocked lightly. The door opened slowly on it's own accord.
The spacious apartment opened directly into a well lit kitchen. Beyond that an even larger living space was lined with couches and chairs. In the corner of the kitchen a small woman with bushy shoulder length mousy brown hair was examining and washing the various fruits. Harry was pleased to note she was probably a witch because she wore dark brown robes. They couldn't see her face, from the back though her figure held a resemblance to Hermione. Curled up on the couch was Veronica, still fuming mad while she read an old leather bound book.
"Any change Rebecca?" Elden asked the witch in the kitchen. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped. "Good news. Reinforcements have arrived." Elden whispered gently to her. At that Rebecca turned around. Her red ringed eyes revealed that she'd been crying and probably hadn't slept in a days, though her gracious smile showed relief that more people had come.
"What happened?" Sirius asked Elden. "The letter only said 'we were attacked', so I came."
"There was no time for more, but so much has happened even since then you'd better sit down." Elden led Sirius to the couch near Veronica. "Harry, please stay here and help Rebecca." As much as Harry wanted to be in on the conversation Sirius was about to have he could not disappoint the now smiling Rebecca who stood by the sink. Harry guessed she was nearly 40 and through her tired condition she reminded him more of a thin Mrs. Weasley.
"Did he say your name was Harry, then?" She asked rhetorically wiping her eyes and steeling her resolve to keep working. "If you start cutting the strawberries, just the tops off then in half like this, then rinse them in the sink and put them in the bowl, this should go much faster." Harry placed himself in front of the cutting board and began decapitating the strawberries, straining in vain to hear what Elden was explaining to Sirius in the next room.
"Rebecca, can you tell me what happened," Harry asked hesitantly. She was hunched over her own cutting board, with herbs on it he recognized from potions class. Her knife paused mid-stroke when she turned to answer.
"How much to you know about the nature of Genevieve?" Rebecca asked.
"You mean do I know what she is? Yes, I met her last year and she explained it to me." This seemed to satisfy Rebecca and she glanced around before quietly telling her story.
"I got a note from her after she'd disappeared for over a year searching for her son. It said she was finally coming home but not to stay. When I got here Elden had been knocked out and she was laying in a crumpled heap on the floor. I thought she was dead until I got close to her and she transformed.." Rebecca paused with a lump in her throat and shook her head of the memory.
".into what you most fear," Harry prodded. She continued after a brief nod.
"I roused Elden and we got her contained in her room but it's not pretty. Her boggart half is constantly attacking the witch in her and she's libel to break down any moment. I've been making the potion that will strengthen her enough to control the boggart instincts and it's almost done." She indicated the fruit and herbs they'd been cutting along side a blender half filled with a neon orange slush of some kind. "We wouldn't have contacted Sirius but Genevieve keeps asking for him during her few lucid moments." She resumed shredding herbs on her cutting board. "We've all been terrified that whoever did this will come back. They must be very powerful to disrupt her like this."
At that moment Sirius stood up and began walking down the hall pushing past protests from Veronica.
"Not yet" she screeched. "You could kill her if you go in there angry. Calm yourself and sit down!" She pushed him and he fell backward over the couch. Harry ran over to help him up while Veronica blocked the hallway with her hands on her hips and a murderous stare.
"Nica's right." Rebecca called from the kitchen. "No ones allowed in there with out having meditated for at least 10 minutes to clear their mind of all harsh and scary thoughts." She put the last of Harry's strawberries in the blender along with the crushed herbs and turned it on.
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Following Elden's example Harry and Sirius took off their shoes and sat on the floor to meditate. Gentle music drifted through the room and they followed the soothing instructions Elden gave them.
When they were ready he led them down the hall and into Genevieve's room, the newly completed potion in hand. It was obvious that the walls had been stripped of its previous decorations as the outlines of swords stood out fresh against the otherwise faded blue wallpaper. Genevieve was on the bed breathing heavily and slightly thrashing. A ghostly image stood on her stomach and spoke harshly to her.
"You worthless little girl. It's all your fault you know. Your only job was to keep James safe and you leave right when he needed you the most. It should be you dead, not him. You could have defeated You-Know-Who, but no, you hide out here in your cushy loft and start a life of your own." The man continued berating her as Sirius and Harry crept forward, Veronica and Rebecca watched from the doorway.
When Sirius gave the signal it would be Harry's job to pour the potion down her throat. He looked up at the man and was startled by the physical similarity to himself, but forced his attention back to the task at hand. The image of the man suddenly morphed into a thick shouldered taller ghost, but its words were just as disparaging.
"Did you marry me to kill me? You shouldn't have left us alone. Now that we are dead you carry on with your life and leave your own husband and child forgotten and un-avenged, how can you live with yourself. You shouldn't live at all."
At that Genevieve's body hitched and she cried out "Harrison. I'm sorry". A large tear slid down the side of her face and joined the pool of water that stained her pillow.
Sirius was just about in place, holding her shoulders down with his right forearm and her head with his left hand. A brief nod told Harry that it was time for action. He poured the sweet smelling potion down her throat. Instead of calming her though her thrashes became more intense and Sirius had to sit on her with his full weight to keep her still. Potion spilled over her pillow, but they had made enough to allow for that so Harry kept pouring. Finally she began swallowing then gulping down the potion and the figure she'd called Harrison began to fade, though not without protest.
"You're worthless, you mess everything up. This will never work," it yelled as its voice faltered and withered into nothingness. Sirius held her down even after the last of the potion had been administered until her breathing slowed and every one of her muscles relaxed. Sirius nearly collapsed himself when he released her and leaned heavily on Harry to leave the room. Veronica stayed in the room, though close to the door as the others crumpled onto the couches in the living room.
"Did it work?" Elden asked when they came in.
"Only time will tell." Rebecca replied. Harry looked over to see an exhausted Sirius asleep next to him and soon drifted off himself.
The familiar tug that started at Harry's navel pulled him through space at a dizzying rate. This journey lasted far longer than either of his portkey trips put together, so when his feet hit solid ground at last it was with a great sigh of relief. Every nerve in these two men stood at high alert while they surveyed their new surroundings. It was a dark alleyway obscured from the street by a large dumpster and wood planking. Crumbling brick walls rose several stories on either side and the space in- between revealed a newly rising sun. The pavement under their feet was free of debris except for a stray newspaper. Sirius placed the shoelace back into its box which he slipped into his back pack before leading Harry to the street.
The buildings on Waterfall Drive were old but clean. A blue pick-up truck trundled down the road while two boys in the bed delivered newspapers. Sirius looked up and down the otherwise deserted street before spotting what he was looking for. High up on the building next to the alley were the numbers 1602.
"We're here," he told his companion before climbing the four steps leading up to the buildings main entrance, wands still at the ready.
The door was unlocked and they slid in easily. Too easily Harry thought. They were in a small but neat hallway, obviously the lobby for an apartment building.
"Where to from here?" Harry asked, but no sooner had he spoken then they were bombarded with a loud whistling noise. A small blonde girl, no older than 9 had stepped out of the nearest apartment and upon seeing them blew a golden whistle that hung around her neck.
"Aunt V." she yelled up the winding staircase, "There's more of them." From the terror in the young girls eyes being 'them' was not a good thing. Blowing on her whistle even louder she fumbled with her key in the door knob trying to get back into her apartment, but her hands were shaking too hard and it would not admit her. This made her all the more hysterical. Suddenly her eyes grew large and she bolted past the two dumbfounded men up the stairs to hide behind a tall woman who stood on the landing just above them. Skin paler than the white walls around her contrasted against her black hair, jeans and leather jacket which only accentuated her voluptuous figure.
"Good job alerting me Alice." she said kindly to the young girl, though that was not the tone when she turned toward Sirius and Harry. "Leave now or die." The woman spoke with great determination mixed with hatred. Sirius pressed forward still clutching his wand.
"I'm here to see a friend named Genevieve, we received a message that she was hurt."
"So you've come to finish the job. You'll have to get through me first." The witch's hip length dark hair fluttered, though there was no wind in the staircase and her eyes flashed dangerously. Sirius' patience, already running thin dealing with Phil frayed rapidly as he stomped up the stairs toward the mysterious witch.
"I will see her now, through you or no."
"Over my un-dead body." She bared her teeth to reveal two elongated canines marking her as a vampire.
Sirius pointed his wand at her racking his brain for the best defense against vampires when a wooden stake was unavailable.
"Veronica," a familiar voice called from behind the men. The door to the building open and closed briefly and the vampire retreated slightly to avoid the sunlight. "I can vouch for these men, Genevieve sent for them."
Elden Eldritch passed by Harry and Sirius to stand between them and the vampire. He was carrying a large box of oranges, apples, nectarines, bananas and other fruits. Veronica took the box from him and glided up the stairs closely followed by Alice. "Sorry about that, but we can't be too careful. The muggles in the building are on the lookout for people in cloaks. That's all we know about who attacked her. I daresay you did get here faster than I thought possible. Follow me, quickly." At that Elden started a quick and steady pace up four flights of stairs. At the top he was not even out of breath despite his age. Down the left hall he strode, though so quickly Harry nearly ran to keep up. He stopped abruptly at a door marked 407 and knocked lightly. The door opened slowly on it's own accord.
The spacious apartment opened directly into a well lit kitchen. Beyond that an even larger living space was lined with couches and chairs. In the corner of the kitchen a small woman with bushy shoulder length mousy brown hair was examining and washing the various fruits. Harry was pleased to note she was probably a witch because she wore dark brown robes. They couldn't see her face, from the back though her figure held a resemblance to Hermione. Curled up on the couch was Veronica, still fuming mad while she read an old leather bound book.
"Any change Rebecca?" Elden asked the witch in the kitchen. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped. "Good news. Reinforcements have arrived." Elden whispered gently to her. At that Rebecca turned around. Her red ringed eyes revealed that she'd been crying and probably hadn't slept in a days, though her gracious smile showed relief that more people had come.
"What happened?" Sirius asked Elden. "The letter only said 'we were attacked', so I came."
"There was no time for more, but so much has happened even since then you'd better sit down." Elden led Sirius to the couch near Veronica. "Harry, please stay here and help Rebecca." As much as Harry wanted to be in on the conversation Sirius was about to have he could not disappoint the now smiling Rebecca who stood by the sink. Harry guessed she was nearly 40 and through her tired condition she reminded him more of a thin Mrs. Weasley.
"Did he say your name was Harry, then?" She asked rhetorically wiping her eyes and steeling her resolve to keep working. "If you start cutting the strawberries, just the tops off then in half like this, then rinse them in the sink and put them in the bowl, this should go much faster." Harry placed himself in front of the cutting board and began decapitating the strawberries, straining in vain to hear what Elden was explaining to Sirius in the next room.
"Rebecca, can you tell me what happened," Harry asked hesitantly. She was hunched over her own cutting board, with herbs on it he recognized from potions class. Her knife paused mid-stroke when she turned to answer.
"How much to you know about the nature of Genevieve?" Rebecca asked.
"You mean do I know what she is? Yes, I met her last year and she explained it to me." This seemed to satisfy Rebecca and she glanced around before quietly telling her story.
"I got a note from her after she'd disappeared for over a year searching for her son. It said she was finally coming home but not to stay. When I got here Elden had been knocked out and she was laying in a crumpled heap on the floor. I thought she was dead until I got close to her and she transformed.." Rebecca paused with a lump in her throat and shook her head of the memory.
".into what you most fear," Harry prodded. She continued after a brief nod.
"I roused Elden and we got her contained in her room but it's not pretty. Her boggart half is constantly attacking the witch in her and she's libel to break down any moment. I've been making the potion that will strengthen her enough to control the boggart instincts and it's almost done." She indicated the fruit and herbs they'd been cutting along side a blender half filled with a neon orange slush of some kind. "We wouldn't have contacted Sirius but Genevieve keeps asking for him during her few lucid moments." She resumed shredding herbs on her cutting board. "We've all been terrified that whoever did this will come back. They must be very powerful to disrupt her like this."
At that moment Sirius stood up and began walking down the hall pushing past protests from Veronica.
"Not yet" she screeched. "You could kill her if you go in there angry. Calm yourself and sit down!" She pushed him and he fell backward over the couch. Harry ran over to help him up while Veronica blocked the hallway with her hands on her hips and a murderous stare.
"Nica's right." Rebecca called from the kitchen. "No ones allowed in there with out having meditated for at least 10 minutes to clear their mind of all harsh and scary thoughts." She put the last of Harry's strawberries in the blender along with the crushed herbs and turned it on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following Elden's example Harry and Sirius took off their shoes and sat on the floor to meditate. Gentle music drifted through the room and they followed the soothing instructions Elden gave them.
When they were ready he led them down the hall and into Genevieve's room, the newly completed potion in hand. It was obvious that the walls had been stripped of its previous decorations as the outlines of swords stood out fresh against the otherwise faded blue wallpaper. Genevieve was on the bed breathing heavily and slightly thrashing. A ghostly image stood on her stomach and spoke harshly to her.
"You worthless little girl. It's all your fault you know. Your only job was to keep James safe and you leave right when he needed you the most. It should be you dead, not him. You could have defeated You-Know-Who, but no, you hide out here in your cushy loft and start a life of your own." The man continued berating her as Sirius and Harry crept forward, Veronica and Rebecca watched from the doorway.
When Sirius gave the signal it would be Harry's job to pour the potion down her throat. He looked up at the man and was startled by the physical similarity to himself, but forced his attention back to the task at hand. The image of the man suddenly morphed into a thick shouldered taller ghost, but its words were just as disparaging.
"Did you marry me to kill me? You shouldn't have left us alone. Now that we are dead you carry on with your life and leave your own husband and child forgotten and un-avenged, how can you live with yourself. You shouldn't live at all."
At that Genevieve's body hitched and she cried out "Harrison. I'm sorry". A large tear slid down the side of her face and joined the pool of water that stained her pillow.
Sirius was just about in place, holding her shoulders down with his right forearm and her head with his left hand. A brief nod told Harry that it was time for action. He poured the sweet smelling potion down her throat. Instead of calming her though her thrashes became more intense and Sirius had to sit on her with his full weight to keep her still. Potion spilled over her pillow, but they had made enough to allow for that so Harry kept pouring. Finally she began swallowing then gulping down the potion and the figure she'd called Harrison began to fade, though not without protest.
"You're worthless, you mess everything up. This will never work," it yelled as its voice faltered and withered into nothingness. Sirius held her down even after the last of the potion had been administered until her breathing slowed and every one of her muscles relaxed. Sirius nearly collapsed himself when he released her and leaned heavily on Harry to leave the room. Veronica stayed in the room, though close to the door as the others crumpled onto the couches in the living room.
"Did it work?" Elden asked when they came in.
"Only time will tell." Rebecca replied. Harry looked over to see an exhausted Sirius asleep next to him and soon drifted off himself.