A/N: Good news! This here marks the end of the stupid introduction
chapters. Yes, yes, you heard me correctly. Stupid. But, continuing on,
what I mean to say is that next chapter, and the chapters to follow I can
connect my characters together, all of my characters. That's a piece of
good news, is it not?
Harry Potter has returned to Hogwarts with his friends. But things have changed for him since his God Father's death last year, and he is beginning to feel the repercussions. Slowly Harry fights internal conflicts, and Ron and Hermione begin to worry about him. Then one day when Harry disappears in the middle of the night, is he just following in the footsteps of his aunt, or is there foul play afoot?
Between The Heavens, a Trial of Faith: Chapter 7, A Messengers Return
********************
"Christ Almighty," Michelle gasped, staring at Dumbledore, "you scared the bloody Mary out of me."
"Quite," he said, his eyes still twinkling the infamous Albus twinkle. "I wanted to speak to you in person..."
"Which explains..." Michelle said slowly, "why Tawny has taken so long, can I offer you some tea, Professor, or perhaps something harder, got some bloody good rum, and vodka shots could make a discussion like this so much more entertaining."
"Tea sounds excellent, thank you, Miss Potter," he said, taking a seat at her small oak kitchen table.
"Now, Professor, I have known you since I was eleven, are formalities a necessity, honestly?"
"Michelle, there is a lot to discuss..."
"Yes, yes, I assumed as much. Harry thinking his aunt is dead, everyone thinking I'm dead, come to think of it, Voldemorte's rise, resurrection if you will," Michelle spewed on, pouring herself and Dumbledore some tea.
"That's the problem...no one ever told Harry James had a sister-"the teacup and saucer came smashing to the floor from Michelle's shaking hands.
"Oh..." she said quietly, "yes, that is something to discuss, please, please continue."
"We've all kept so much from him, I didn't want to explain you to him until he was...older. Old enough to understand, but when he was old enough, I just couldn't bring myself to do it..."
Michelle nodded, "you wanted to tell him when he was fifteen because that was when I first tried to..." she trailed off, focusing on his blank expression, "that was when I first proved myself old enough to handle such things." She finished quietly.
"But then," she continued, "Sirius died, and you hadn't the heart to tell him that Sirius wasn't the only person once in Harry's life who could have ever been the parent that Harry never knew. It's understandable, but Professor Dumbledore, you need to tell him."
"Michelle, you are alive, and I've told Remus, and Alastor, and the rest of the staff. You need to come back to England, Michelle; you've spent too long out here. I want you in my employ," Dumbledore said, sipping at his coffee.
Michelle's immaturity dominated her mind for only seconds, before she took the time to comprehend what Dumbledore was asking of her.
"There's only Defense Against the Dark Arts, available, am I correct in thinking so, Professor?" Michelle said, relaxing into a chair across from Albus.
Dumbledore nodded, "yes you are, Miss Potter, indeed you are."
"And you're asking me to, what exactly?"
"Come back to England, Michelle, until the Order is working as strongly as it was last time, we are going to need you."
Michelle relaxed in her seat, allowing her hair to flow gently down the back of the chair. She nodded, knowing what he wanted. Michelle realized that it was not so much the fact that he wanted her, he just wanted a Potter, and she was the only one left who was over eighteen. James had done brilliant things for the Order, Michelle remembered, though she never was in it herself, she was aware of their work. This had once been James's war to fight, but now it was her own.
"Very well..." Michelle said slowly, "I will come back to England, and I will work at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, however Dumbledore, once the Order is strong and has the resources and support of the Ministry that it once had, I am returning here."
Dumbledore nodded, "I assumed as much, anything else?"
"I don't want to be the one to explain to Harry why no one ever told him his father had a sister who was engaged to his Godfather."
"I will accept that as my responsibility as well, Michelle, is that all you want?"
"And I'm teaching the class my way."
Dumbledore merely nodded, "and what does 'your way' consist of?"
"Absolutely no theory or wand work, the students need to learn to react based on their primal instincts. I might also add that Shadow will be my one and only method of transportation."
"Fair enough," and with a flicker of his wand, Dumbledore drew up a contract with a long white quill floating beside it in midair, "signature at the bottom, if you will."
Michelle skimmed to contract and signed a loopy signature at the bottom; no sooner had she done so, Dumbledore's signature magically appeared on the line below it.
"You knew I'd sign it, didn't you, Professor, that's why you signed it before hand."
"You catch on fast, don't make the mistake in thinking that your actions are completely unpredictable," he winked and crooked his lips slightly, "I'll see you in September."
There was a slight popping noise, and Dumbledore was gone from her sight, returning to England, to Hogwarts, perhaps, Michelle thought.
"You'll see me sooner than that, Professor," she responded to the popping noise the stealth had created.
Michelle walked the plank of her front deck, Shadow stood still, staring at her, his bridle still binding his mouth. With a pace worthy of the word 'brisk', Michelle walked towards him and grabbed onto his mane, "We ride light," she whispered in his ear. It twitched at the warmth of her breath and voice as she pulled herself onto his dark back.
"We're going home, Shadow, we're going home."
Shadow had expected to hear these words sooner than today, fifteen years later. When he first arrived in the American land, he had desperate hopes that Michelle would climb on him and they would travel back to England, but each passing day the hope faded a little bit more, and each passing day it seemed more and more unlikely that Michelle would climb on him and give him the signal to go back, and never return.
When Sirius had died, the little hope that lingered on, the little hope that had survived fourteen years of doubt died with him. For he and she both knew that Sirius was the only thing drawing her back, but when that strand was cut loose, the desire to return left Michelle, and Shadow had felt it.
Michelle felt Shadow gallop across acres of land, it was her hope to get back to England without magic by the coming of the school year, but if that proved to be impossible, then she would use her wand to get them the rest of the way there. She'd long since come to terms with the fact that she would be using magic to cross the ocean, but other than that, Michelle wanted it to be a magic free journey.
Harry Potter has returned to Hogwarts with his friends. But things have changed for him since his God Father's death last year, and he is beginning to feel the repercussions. Slowly Harry fights internal conflicts, and Ron and Hermione begin to worry about him. Then one day when Harry disappears in the middle of the night, is he just following in the footsteps of his aunt, or is there foul play afoot?
Between The Heavens, a Trial of Faith: Chapter 7, A Messengers Return
********************
"Christ Almighty," Michelle gasped, staring at Dumbledore, "you scared the bloody Mary out of me."
"Quite," he said, his eyes still twinkling the infamous Albus twinkle. "I wanted to speak to you in person..."
"Which explains..." Michelle said slowly, "why Tawny has taken so long, can I offer you some tea, Professor, or perhaps something harder, got some bloody good rum, and vodka shots could make a discussion like this so much more entertaining."
"Tea sounds excellent, thank you, Miss Potter," he said, taking a seat at her small oak kitchen table.
"Now, Professor, I have known you since I was eleven, are formalities a necessity, honestly?"
"Michelle, there is a lot to discuss..."
"Yes, yes, I assumed as much. Harry thinking his aunt is dead, everyone thinking I'm dead, come to think of it, Voldemorte's rise, resurrection if you will," Michelle spewed on, pouring herself and Dumbledore some tea.
"That's the problem...no one ever told Harry James had a sister-"the teacup and saucer came smashing to the floor from Michelle's shaking hands.
"Oh..." she said quietly, "yes, that is something to discuss, please, please continue."
"We've all kept so much from him, I didn't want to explain you to him until he was...older. Old enough to understand, but when he was old enough, I just couldn't bring myself to do it..."
Michelle nodded, "you wanted to tell him when he was fifteen because that was when I first tried to..." she trailed off, focusing on his blank expression, "that was when I first proved myself old enough to handle such things." She finished quietly.
"But then," she continued, "Sirius died, and you hadn't the heart to tell him that Sirius wasn't the only person once in Harry's life who could have ever been the parent that Harry never knew. It's understandable, but Professor Dumbledore, you need to tell him."
"Michelle, you are alive, and I've told Remus, and Alastor, and the rest of the staff. You need to come back to England, Michelle; you've spent too long out here. I want you in my employ," Dumbledore said, sipping at his coffee.
Michelle's immaturity dominated her mind for only seconds, before she took the time to comprehend what Dumbledore was asking of her.
"There's only Defense Against the Dark Arts, available, am I correct in thinking so, Professor?" Michelle said, relaxing into a chair across from Albus.
Dumbledore nodded, "yes you are, Miss Potter, indeed you are."
"And you're asking me to, what exactly?"
"Come back to England, Michelle, until the Order is working as strongly as it was last time, we are going to need you."
Michelle relaxed in her seat, allowing her hair to flow gently down the back of the chair. She nodded, knowing what he wanted. Michelle realized that it was not so much the fact that he wanted her, he just wanted a Potter, and she was the only one left who was over eighteen. James had done brilliant things for the Order, Michelle remembered, though she never was in it herself, she was aware of their work. This had once been James's war to fight, but now it was her own.
"Very well..." Michelle said slowly, "I will come back to England, and I will work at Hogwarts as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, however Dumbledore, once the Order is strong and has the resources and support of the Ministry that it once had, I am returning here."
Dumbledore nodded, "I assumed as much, anything else?"
"I don't want to be the one to explain to Harry why no one ever told him his father had a sister who was engaged to his Godfather."
"I will accept that as my responsibility as well, Michelle, is that all you want?"
"And I'm teaching the class my way."
Dumbledore merely nodded, "and what does 'your way' consist of?"
"Absolutely no theory or wand work, the students need to learn to react based on their primal instincts. I might also add that Shadow will be my one and only method of transportation."
"Fair enough," and with a flicker of his wand, Dumbledore drew up a contract with a long white quill floating beside it in midair, "signature at the bottom, if you will."
Michelle skimmed to contract and signed a loopy signature at the bottom; no sooner had she done so, Dumbledore's signature magically appeared on the line below it.
"You knew I'd sign it, didn't you, Professor, that's why you signed it before hand."
"You catch on fast, don't make the mistake in thinking that your actions are completely unpredictable," he winked and crooked his lips slightly, "I'll see you in September."
There was a slight popping noise, and Dumbledore was gone from her sight, returning to England, to Hogwarts, perhaps, Michelle thought.
"You'll see me sooner than that, Professor," she responded to the popping noise the stealth had created.
Michelle walked the plank of her front deck, Shadow stood still, staring at her, his bridle still binding his mouth. With a pace worthy of the word 'brisk', Michelle walked towards him and grabbed onto his mane, "We ride light," she whispered in his ear. It twitched at the warmth of her breath and voice as she pulled herself onto his dark back.
"We're going home, Shadow, we're going home."
Shadow had expected to hear these words sooner than today, fifteen years later. When he first arrived in the American land, he had desperate hopes that Michelle would climb on him and they would travel back to England, but each passing day the hope faded a little bit more, and each passing day it seemed more and more unlikely that Michelle would climb on him and give him the signal to go back, and never return.
When Sirius had died, the little hope that lingered on, the little hope that had survived fourteen years of doubt died with him. For he and she both knew that Sirius was the only thing drawing her back, but when that strand was cut loose, the desire to return left Michelle, and Shadow had felt it.
Michelle felt Shadow gallop across acres of land, it was her hope to get back to England without magic by the coming of the school year, but if that proved to be impossible, then she would use her wand to get them the rest of the way there. She'd long since come to terms with the fact that she would be using magic to cross the ocean, but other than that, Michelle wanted it to be a magic free journey.