Chapter 21 We Love Our Dear Departed Meagan's head nodded sleepily. She hadn't slept for days. She couldn't. But now she couldn't stand it. Her weariness had gotten the better of her and made her sit. Dizzy. dizzy. dizzy. Her head finally drooped. Then, she felt a tingling sensation. She didn't bother to look up. Then, she heard a something. Her head snapped up. "Ahhh! Meagan, how nice to see you again!" exclaimed Godric Gryffindor. Meagan pushed herself up violently. She stumbled. She was shorter. She looked down at herself. She was 16! No, wait a minute. Not 16! She was as old as she used to be. just. "I'm not DEAD am I!?" she shrieked wildly, wobbling on unsteady legs. "Indeed not, my girl," Gryffindor said, grinning at his heir. "Then why am I here?" she asked, trying to take a breath but failing. Gryffindor smiled, a genuine smile of love. "You brought yourself here," he said. "How?" "You wish to mend Cate's life by giving Bellum back to her." "Your point.?" "It is an act of love. It is the most unselfish type of love there is. She has hurt you many times, and yet you forget that and try to bring her piece. It is something that makes you an heir, my child. It is one of Gryffindor's many virtues." "B-but.. How did I bring myself here? I'm not dead! I cannot take my soul out of my body and float around!" "I beg to differ. You see, you are immortal in some ways. Your mortal- ness binds you to the earth, where you carry out acts of love. Your immortal-ness lets you carry out things that are impossible for a mortal. Why are you partly immortal, you ask? You have died and lived to tell about it, my dear. It is not a thing every mortal can do." Meagan sat down on thin air. She just plunked down in midair. She looked at the stars surrounding her. It was true. she didn't want Padfoot's daughter to suffer. She was a Black. Meagan licked her lips, her eyes deep blue. She let her eyes wander in and out of focus. "There is someone that wants to see you," Gryffindor said, his voice gentle. Meagan focused her eyes. She looked up at him and looked into blue- green eyes that she had. She blinked and tore her eyes away. "Meagan!" came a shout. Meagan turned around. She gave a shuddering gasp. Bellum stood there, his eyes deeply troubled. He was covered in blood. He was in robes of white. But what was startling about his appearance, however, was not the fact he was covered in blood. It was the face that his throat was torn open and in shreds. She ran to him. "Bellum!" she said. She hugged him and stepped back. "How are you?" she asked, her voice croaky. "I'm dead. How do you think I am?" he retorted. "True," Meagan said, nodding. She sighed. "I wish you were an heir." She said. "Why?" inquired Bellum. "Because you would get another shot at life," she said, looking at Gryffindor. For the first time in her very long life, Meagan considered how much she looked like Godric Gryffindor. He was dressed in long red robes, the same as she was at the moment. His brown hair was tousled like hers. His blue eyes sparkled like hers did when they weren't changing colors. His round face looked like a proud father's looking at his highly achieved daughter. She couldn't help but smile at him. He smiled back with the same straight, white teeth she had. "Some of your other friends would like to see you," he said, breaking the trans. "Meagan! Blue Eyes!" came a shriek. Meagan spun on heel and saw Lily. "Lily!" she yelled, hugging one of her best friends' wives. Bellum's eyes misted over as he watched them. "It's so good to see you again!" Meagan said, putting her hair behind her ears. "I agree. Godric has allowed me to watch my grandchildren from here. You are doing well, bringing them up, Blue Eyes. They are a lot like you and Harry." Lily said. She sniffed. Meagan had the incentive to think that Lily would have been crying if she could. "I miss you." Meagan said. "I do too." Lily said, shaking her head and making her lively red hair bounce. Meagan smiled at her long, lost friend. "I hope you forgive me for not saving you. I tried, honest I did." She said. Lily waved the apology away. "It wasn't your fault, Meagan, there was nothing you could do. And at least you tried. You could've died trying to save me. If you had died, you wouldn't have had Crystal, Neil, Jo, Jess, and Nita. And the little one on the way. Look at yourself! You're a famous Quidditch player! You're a great singer! You're a wife and mother! You couldn't've turned out better!" she said, patting Meagan's shoulder. Meagan nodded. "Meagan! Gryffindor girl!" came a shout of pure joy. Meagan whirled around. "Michael." She whispered. Indeed it was. Michael came up to her and hugged her tightly. "Hufflepuff boy!" Meagan said, shoving him off. He grinned at his pet name. "How's it been on Earth amongst the living? Wait, don't answer that, I've been watching you." He said. Meagan pulled him into a headlock and gave him a nugie. She laughed, her eyes purple. "I've missed you all." Meagan said. "We have too," Lily said. "I can't believe I can live-erm, I mean, I can't stand not having you around!" Michael said. "I miss everyone!" Bellum said. Meagan pulled them all into a hug. "It's not life without you goobers," she said, her eyes deep sea blue. They all laughed. Meagan grinned. "I think there's some people who miss you dearly, my young Gryffindor." Gryffindor said. Meagan turned to face him. "Who?" she asked softly, knowing who it was but not daring to believe it. "You know whom," he said, his face looking worried for the daughter he never had. He had always had sons. "Meagan, my baby," said a female voice Meagan had heard ever since she was born. It sent a chill up her spine. She shuddered involuntarily. "Our little one," said a male voice Meagan also recognized. A couple with graying hair stood off to her right. Their hair was black and they both had brown eyes. They looked at her through thin-wired spectacles. Meagan turned away, not wanting to look. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of her antecedent, her ancestor. She buried her face in his red robes. "No," she whispered. "It's okay, my little one," Gryffindor said, deeply troubled. "Mom. Dad." Meagan said, shaking. "Honey, its okay, its okay," her mother, Patricia Delmore, said as Meagan gave dry sobs into her long white robes. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Meagan muttered over and over again. "We've been watching you," soothed her father, Josh Delmore, stroking her hair. "You're an excellent mother." "No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't save you, I'm sorry, all my fault." Meagan mumbled. Nothing but pure sadness had taken hold of her. "It wasn't, Meagan, you can't save everyone," said her father. "No," Meagan moaned, "No. Too many deaths. Too many loves broken. Noooooooooo." "Blue Eyes, please," Lily said, now by Meagan's side. "Nooooooo." moaned Meagan. "It's not okay! It was Voldemort! It was all Voldemort! He killed you all! He did this! He killed Lily and James! He killed Lizzie and put Sirius in Azkaban! He turned Peter bad! He left Remus alone! He broke up the Marauders! He made Harry and Cate orphans! He killed my Harriet! He destroyed the O.U.P. and killed Michael! He killed my mom and dad and all the innocent muggles in the World Trade Center! He did it! HE DID IT!" she roared, sitting up. Gryffindor watched her with sad eyes. "It is all true. All of it is true, Meagan, you are right. That is why you must destroy him." He said. Meagan's mother stroked Meagan's hair. "You should have told us. We never knew." Said her father. "I couldn't tell you!" Meagan said. "You never did look like us," mumbled her mother, "but you look just like Godric Gryffindor. But we love you anyway. It's all right." "It's not all right! I have to get Voldemort! I have to get him!" Meagan said, standing up and stumbling into Michael. He helped her up. "Noooooooooo!" she shrieked. "Noooooooooo!" Gryffindor placed his hand on her forehead. Yellow light poured out of his hand and coursed through Meagan. Meagan looked dazed for a moment. She got up. "Thanks." She said quietly. "It's going to be okay, Meagan, I know it. You and Marykate and the others will all set it right. It just takes some time." Gryffindor said, now stroking her hair. "I know," she said, "and I know you'll help me." "Meagan! MEAGAN!" came a voice from far off. Very far off. She recognized the voice as Harry's voice. She felt like she was being shaken. "Oh, God, no! Don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" he yelled. His voice was croaky, as if he were crying. "It is time you must go, my little one," Gryffindor said. He gave her something. A package. Bellum came up to her, his eyes pleading. "Please, take this to Cate. Tell her I love her. Tell her to take care of the baby. I love her!" he said, handing Meagan something. Another package. Before he could withdraw his hand, she held it. "I will." She said. "I never wanted it to turn out like this." She gave his hand a squeeze. He turned his head away. "I know. Godric says I can become a ghost if I want to. I dunno though. I think it will break Cate's heart." He said. Meagan kissed him on the forehead. "I never wanted her to go bad. I never wanted you to die. I never wanted it to turn out like this. I swear, by the power of the Four Founders, by the Gryffindor blood that runs through my veins, I will bring this to Cate. I will protect your children. I'll do it for you. I swear." Meagan ran her fingers through his hair. "I trust you." He said. Meagan's grip tightened on the things she had received. She closed her eyes and willed herself to be back again. She opened her eyes before everything went black, and shouted, "I miss you!" Godric frowned a little. "Come back some time!" he said, his lips now twitching into a small smile. Before Meagan could say anything else, her throat stopped working. She closed her eyes and was swallowed by darkness. ~*~ "I feel strange." Crystal said. "Something isn't right." Brian looked at her. "How do you know?" he asked. "A feeling. My mum told me to trust my feelings." She said. "Wanna check it out?" he asked. She nodded. "Yeah." They snuck along the corridors, looking for something unusual. They did this for so long a time that it was dark when they got back to the common room. As Brian turned to walk up to the boys' dormitories, Crystal said, "Hey. Thanks a lot." Brian turned around and grinned. "No prob. I'll do anything for a friend." He said. He walked up to and disappeared into the boys' dormitories. Crystal watched him until he disappeared from sight. She sighed and threw herself onto one of the chairs. She stared at the fire until she felt drowsy. Her head nodded a few times and her eyes flickered open and shut. Finally, she couldn't fight the sleep off any longer. Without warning, her head dropped onto her chest and stayed there. When she awoke, she was no longer in the common room. She got up and looked around. Where was she? She looked around again. She was in Hogwarts, that was for sure, but for some reason the students were all gone. She wandered through the castle and onto the grounds. That's where she saw it. "Today we are here to honor..." Dumbledore said. He continued to talk, but Crystal wasn't listening. She walked up to the front. No one noticed her. Was she invisible? She didn't know. Everyone was crying. Crystal looked at all the familiar faces. Then, she saw her father. He looked younger. She didn't know how, though, because everyone else looked older. She looked around again and gasped. She saw herself. An older version of herself. Her older self looked around the age of forty. She was crying. Crystal never cried. She looked at her father again. He wasn't moving. His wide eyes looked into space. He didn't react to the touch of his father, James Potter. "It's all right, Harry, she couldn't live forever. She's lived a long time. She was around one hundred, same as me, Harry. You have to accept that fact. She couldn't live forever. I loved her too." James was saying. Who died? She wondered. Cate, an older Cate, was on her knees howling. Cate? Who died? Crystal wondered again. "I had a dream about this! I didn't think it would come true!" howled Crystal's older self. She turned to listen to Dumbledore. "And now we have a statue to honor or dear friend. A statue seems small compared to the task she preformed that had killed her. She killed the dark wizard that has roamed our world for decades. She killed Voldemort." Dumbledore's eyes were filled with tears. "We now say our final goodbye to our hero and loved one. Meagan Potter." He said. Crystal fell to her knees. Dumbledore took the cloth off of an object next to him. It was a statue. A statue of Meagan Potter. The pedestal read "Meagan the Mischievous." It was a beautiful statue. It depicted her mother in long robes. She had her arms spread open. a sign of peace. She was grinning her mischievous grin that made everyone smile when they were down. Her hair was billowing out behind her. Her eyes were wide. Her feet were placed daintily one in front of the other. Crystal screamed. She stumbled, clutching her face. Horrible. horrible. horrible. Dumbledore waved his wand and the statue flooded with color. The statue of her mother's robes turned blood red. Her hair became a nice shade of brown. Her teeth became white and sparkling. Her shoes were yellow. Her skin became tan. The last thing to be colored was the eyes. They were blue-green. A sparkling blue-green with a tint of purple. It was an exact replica of Meagan. Crystal screamed an unearthly scream. Suddenly, the world began to shake. "NOOOOO!" she screamed, falling to her knees. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" ~*~ "MEAGAN!" Harry cried. Meagan's eyes snapped open. Everything was blurry. She blinked a few times. The world came into focus. "You're alive!" Harry shouted joyously. Meagan, tears starting to pour down her face, hugged Harry tightly. "Don't ever die. Don't ever die without me." She whispered into Harry's shoulder. Harry held her, rubbing her back to comfort her. "I won't," he said, "I won't. I promise." Meagan's bloodless fists were clutching things she had received from Gryffindor and Bellum. Meagan, sniffing, wiped her eyes and sat up. "It was just a bad dream." Harry soothed. "Was it?" Meagan asked, showing him the things Gryffindor and Bellum had given her. Hands shaking, she began to open what Gryffindor had given her. A variety of things spilled into her lap. One of the things glowed so brightly Harry and Meagan had to shield their eyes. Meagan's jaw dropped as she picked up a small, round, golden ball. "It's back." She whispered. "What is it?" Harry asked, not recognizing it. Meagan's hair flew back off her face as she raised it to her face. Her blue eyes sparkled with awe. She caressed it gently with one finger. "It's the O.U.P.," she said in a hushed voice. "It's the Orb of Unstoppable Power?" Harry asked, in an equally hushed voice. Meagan nodded and closed her eyes as she closed her fist around it. The smooth metal tingled against her fingers. Suddenly, she glowed and a strong wind blew around her. Taking shaky breaths, she placed it back in the Gryffindor encrusted bag. She picked up a second stone. Meagan recognized it. It was the sapphire. She carefully placed it back in the bag. She picked up another item. Her hair fell about her face in swirls of dark brown. It drew a curtain around her face as she leaned over the thing. "It's. it's." she whispered, lost for words. "What?" asked Harry anxiously, seeing tears well up in Meagan's eyes. She gave a sob and placed it facing down. She lifted it again and took a deep breath. "It's. my journal. Actually, everyone's journal. We all wrote in it. We recorded our feelings. We recorded our very souls into this book. Marykate lost it and we never saw it again." She flipped the book open and flipped through to a special entry: Dear journal, It's me, Meagan, again. Today is graduation day. I can't imagine life without Hogwarts. I haven't grown at all since Dumbledore's father, Albert Dumbledore, gave us his "gift." I think we're going to stay this way forever, Marykate and me. It scares me. If I don't grow up, I can't get a job. I won't be able to find a home. I can't go back to my parental units, because they don't know about Hogwarts. I think I'll go insane. No more Marauders. No more life! I don't think I could stand it! I think I might have to. I'm going to have to hide this entry from the others. No one can see this but Marykate and me. Oh! They've just called my name! I've got to go! Bon voyage! But before anything, Appareo! Entry from: Blue Eyes Tears leaked silently down Meagan's face. She placed the bag down, some things still remaining in it, and sobbed silently into Harry's shoulder. ~*~ "CRYSTAL!" came a shout from who knows where. Crystal felt the world shaking harder. "CRYS!" This time it was more than one voice. "MOOOOOOOOOONLIGHT!" came a frightened cry. It was Brain's voice. Crystal's eyes snapped open. "Oh, dear God, no," she said, flying forward and cracking heads with Fred. Fred gave me a howl and wrenched himself backwards. She spat something out. It was a feather. She stared blankly at it. It was then she realized she was covered in feathers. "What? Where? How?" Crystal said. "It was a dream, Moonlight." Brian said. "Yeah, but it was awesome when that chair exploded! You should have seen Mac's face when the chair he was sitting in suddenly threw him across the room!" George said, cracking. "And when the pillow hit old McGonagall in the face!" Fred said. That brought Crystal to her senses. "I WHAT?" she asked. "You hit me in the face, Ms. Potter." Said McGonagall. Crystal groaned and sunk in her chair. "I didn't mean to. I had a horrid nightmare." She said. "That is quite all right, Ms. Potter, but I'm afraid you're going to have quite some time cleaning this mess." "HA, HA, HAAAAAAA!" laughed George. "Maybe you, too, would like to clean this up, Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall said. That shut him up. Crystal sank lower into her chair. "What fun." She said sarcastically. "For every action, there is a reaction and a chore." ~*~ Meagan cradled three children in her arms. A doctor entered, shaking his head sadly. His eyes were round with an unspoken apology. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Potter. Angelina is. deaf. There's nothing we can do about it. I'm sorry." The doctor said. Meagan practically dropped one of the infants. "Deaf?" she asked, startled. Her eyes grew wide and yellow. The yellow rapidly melted into deep blue. "Angelina can't. she's a Potter! She's my baby! She can't be!" Meagan said, tears welling in her eyes. Harry, who was standing next to her, shook his head sadly and placed a hand on her shoulder. Meagan was going into hysterics. "No!" she wailed, "Can't you do something? You're a wizard, for God's sake, do something man!" The doctor only shook his head. She sobbed into Harry's shoulder. "No, no, no, she's a Potter." She said. "And there's another thing, Angelina is also." he said something in Meagan's ear. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Meagan cried in pure horror and sorrow. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" ~*~ "NOOOOOOOOO!" Meagan sat up, quickly. "What?" Harry asked, sitting up also. "No, no, no," she said, her words muffled, "Not again, please, no." Harry put his hands on her shoulders. "What is it?" he asked, his eyes wide. Meagan looked up at him with horrified eyes. "I think I'm dreaming of the future, again." She whispered. "What's so bad about that?" Harry asked, rubbing her back to comfort her. "Last time I dreamed of the future. was in school. In the Marauder Years. My dreams would come true. It was horrible. horrible. Things happened. Not good things. I don't want it to happen again." She said, starting to cry. "It won't, I'll make sure," he said. "No, there's nothing anyone can do," Meagan said, "Nothing to do but hope." ~*~ "So, Night Rider, what classes are you gonna pick?" Crystal asked Brain. Brain bit his lip. "Divination sounds interesting. How about that?" he asked. "Okay," Crystal said, shrugging, "Care of Magical Creatures sounds good, too." "Okay." "My mom and dad took those classes." "So.?" "I feel like we're walking in their footsteps." "Your point?" "What if.?" "Ewww! No! Just. no! Definitely not!" "Just a thought." Crystal sighed. She never wanted that type of relationship with Brain or any of the other Modern-Day Marauders. As far as she was concerned, she was going to keep it that way. "Brain?" she asked. "What?" he asked. "Promise me we'll never do anything like that. Deal?" she inquired, holding out her hand. Brain grinned, grabbing her outstretched hand and shaking it vigorously. "Deal."