I dedicate this to Gianna. We all miss you. Our prayers are with your family.
Harry sat quietly up in the old Meeting Room. Dumbledore was talking with Rose very quickly, and making vivid gestures with his hands. Rose looked pale and shaken, but nodded and grabbed her crystal. She rushed over to the table, crawled up onto it and sat in the middle, cross-legged. Harry watched dimly. What was everyone up to? Frankly, he didn't care. She was gone, deep down at the bottom of the lake.
Harry jerked when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked up to see Dumbledore gazing down at him, looking very stressed. Harry met his gaze, his eyes red-rimmed. He had lost his glasses a while ago, and couldn't see too well.
Dumbledore sighed deeply and sat down on a chair next to him. He touched Harry's shoulder in a comforting gesture. He spoke quietly, but clearly. "Harry," he said. "I am going to call together the Order. They all need to know about this. Are you going to be alright?"
Harry felt a lump in his throat, but pushed the emotion away. He stood abruptly, grunted and stalked into a corner where he stood darkly, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Whatever. Fine," he said dully. Rose watched sadly from her position on the table, but then closed her eyes and started to speak telepathically to the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Ron and Lindsey were trying to console Ginny, who was in tears. Draco was nowhere to be seen.
Hermione came across the room and leant against the wall next to Harry. "It's okay," she said in a small voice, looking lost. "It's all over now…" she stopped and bit her lip to stop the tears from flowing. "I know she…she meant a lot to you."
Out of nowhere, Harry let out a roar, and swore very loudly. He threw his arms around a surprised Hermione, giving her a huge hug. He buried his head on her shoulder. "Why her?" he was mumbling to himself. At this, Hermione broke down completely, crying with him.
They were interrupted by a gush of wind as the fireplace surged. The Floo gates opened, and the Order of the Phoenix began to appear. The first person to emerge from the fireplace was Professor Faith Black, who was followed by Tonks. McGonnagal and Snape were very fast to come, but chose to use the door instead. Surprisingly, Professor Trelawney appeared as well, looking frazzled. Remus Lupin appeared from the fireplace looking very tired – Ron dimly recalled that it was almost full moon. Mundungus Fletcher, Alastor Moody, and a few people that Ron didn't recognise. Molly and Arthur Weasley came, and the red-haired woman rushed immediately to her children, asking them what happened.
Very soon, the room was full. Dumbledore asked everyone to take his or her seat. A middle-aged woman came up to Dumbledore and whispered a greeting in his ear. He smiled grimly and gave her a peck on the cheek. A man followed, and looked concerned. Dumbledore murmured something back briefly, and his eyes flickered towards Harry, who was still in Hermione's embrace.
Harry didn't care what was happening, or who was arriving. He couldn't give a damn. Dimly, he felt Rose's presence near him. Hermione pulled away, whispering some words of comfort that didn't register to Harry, and went to Ron. Harry took a deep, ragged breath, running his hands through his hair in fury and despair. Rose took his hand and squeezed grimly. She frowned at him.
"Harry," she began gently. "Do you actually know what happened?"
The dark-haired teen growled under his breath and looked at the floor angrily, but said nothing.
"What happened to Aurora? What happened to you?" Rose pressed. She didn't want to say this; she could see he was upset enough right now – but she needed to know.
Harry shrugged moodily and took another steadying breath. "No." he said darkly.
"Well, I - "
"Just shut up, Rose! Stop! She's dead, okay? That's what happened. She's dead, she's gone now. Just leave me alone." He hollered, swore again and walked out of the room, kicking the door savagely as he went past.
Rose called out after him, but he didn't come back. She bit her lip, cradling her face in one hand. She moaned softly, and turned. She froze when she saw that the whole room full of people had fallen silent and was watching her. They must have been watching Harry's display. She felt her cheeks burn, and hurried outside to talk to her twin.
She ran out the door and into her bedroom. She looked around for a while, but Harry wasn't there. She looked in the Sphere too, but he wasn't there either. Starting to feel sick with apprehension, she went back into the Meeting Room. Professor Dumbledore caught her as she was passing, and looked down at her worriedly. "Where is Harry?" he asked gently.
Rose shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Grandpa," she said quietly. "I really don't know."
He frowned deeply. "Can you feel for him? Sense where he went?"
Rose swallowed. She closed her eyes and spaced out. In an instant, Rose was transported from the physical world to the extended reality of telepathy. She was inside her own mind. Casting around, she went to the place in her mind where Harry always was. She reached out for him with her subconscious, grabbed at the thread of him that remained inside her.
All she could see – well, not physically see. She was not using her eyes, but her Inner Eye. All around her were white mists, flowing and ebbing like looking into a crystal ball. Images flickered through the mists, some clearer than others. She floated over to the place where Harry always was, and reached out for his essence.
There was nothing. She tried again, feeling odd. Harry was permanent in her, ever since they were born. They were twins, after all. Harry had always been in his place in her mind, except for those brief times last year. After the dreams with Voldemort, he had to become harder to reach subconsciously to everyone, so that the Dark Lord would not enter his psyche and dreams. To make himself inaccessible, he had…
Rose stopped searching and withdrew back into her conscious self, the physical world.
Oh shit.
He was practising Occlumency.
Rose sat angrily on the floor. Everyone was watching her. She let out a cry of frustration, and looked up at Dumbledore. "I can't reach him," she said bitterly.
Dumbledore frowned deeply out of concern. Snape stepped forward. "And why is that, Rose?" Dumbledore asked.
"I believe, Headmaster," Snape said silkily, floating forward, "That Mister Potter is practicing Occlumency."
Dumbledore sighed. "He is purposefully avoiding you, Rose." The girl looked downwards, hurt that her twin would shut her out when he probably needed her most.
"Amazing," Snape went on smoothly, his face unreadable. "All last year he wouldn't cooperate, and when he finally uses Occlumency successfully, he pulls a stunt like this."
Rose pulled a face, but ignored the jab. She walked over to Professor Trelawney. "Can you help me find him, Professor?" she implored. From across the room, Hermione looked up, shocked. Trelawney was about as useful as a vacuum cleaner in space, she thought mirthlessly. And her head has a vacuum, too.
Trelawney, however, gave a totally unexpected response. She took her blue bejewelled spectacles off and for the first time, Hermione saw her eyes. They were not round, shiny discs – they didn't make her look like a bug as they usually did. Instead, her eyes were darker than expected, and of normal size, with creases round the edges that Hermione could not fathom. Secrets were in her eyes, like Trelawney knew things, could see things that the rest did not. Great things, not meant to be trifled with.
"I can try," she said in a clear voice. From behind her, Faith Wilshire appeared with her wand. She cast a quick spell over Trelawney, who was suddenly glowing with yellow light.
"No way!" Ron cried loudly. "She's under a glamour spell as well?"
The woman smiled. She was totally different. Instead of Sybill Trelawney, the woman that gazed at him was youthful, in her twenties. She had medium length brown hair worn wavy and out. Her robes were old-fashioned, and her face was young and clear of the wrinkles and impurities that Trelawney had.
"Yes, Mr Weasley. I am." Her voice was strong, but feminine. She had a hint of a Slavic accent. "Actually, I am not Sybill Trelawney. Or at least, not really."
There was silence. Hermione stepped forward. "Excuse me?" she asked, intrigued.
The woman smiled her warm, self-assured smile again. "Trelawney is an assumed identity. I change identities every now and then. This was my identity when I first joined the Order."
Hermione was about to ask who, but Ron jumped in. "Hey, I've seen you before! You're - you're Cassandra Vablatsky! Except…younger."
She smiled. "Yes. I am also known as Vivian, or Nimue. My brother and I were Triple Helix twins, and we were both born with gifts to see the Future."
Hermione pulled a face. This woman was just as delusional as Trelawney was...is…whatever. "There's no such thing as a Triple Helix."
Ron looked confused. "What does hell lick?" he asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "DNA. Genetics. Humans have a double helix. There's no such thing as a triple." Honestly, some witches and wizards have no idea about real sciences.
Dumbledore stepped forward. "Magic is not just energy. It's deeper than that. It's something at the very heart of who you are. Every witch or wizard has a certain gene in them which gives them power. Sometimes, when two witches or wizards are born at the same time in the case of twins, the gene multiplies like an amoeba until a Triple Helix is formed in both. That is the most scientific application of magic. The rest of it is mystical, and the source is unknown.
But remember, in order for magic to be metaphysical, some part of it has to be physical, first."
Hermione looked sceptical, and shrugged. "Who was – is – your brother?" she asked curiously.
The woman sighed darkly. "Foolish boy. Took predicting the future too far, and started telling it to Muggles. That's why I'm here now, and he's not. The future is a dangerous thing, and is best not to be revealed," she said sternly to the others in the room.
Ginny frowned. "Come on, who was he?"
The woman sighed again. "Foolish, silly boy," she muttered. Then, more clearly, she said, "I believe you've heard of him. His name was Nostradamus." The adults in the room seemed unfazed by this, but Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Lindsey were shell-shocked.
Amid this, Rose had been waiting patiently. "Um, Cassandra?" she asked hurriedly. "Can we focus, please?"
"Oh, yes. Of course." The woman picked up Rose's crystal and began to scry. After a few moments, she answered.
"The Powers will only tell me that Harry has gone where he feels at home. He wants to be with his family."
Ron stood forward. "Harry's always said that Hogwarts is his home. He must still be in the grounds. I'll search the dormitories," he said, and winked at Hermione. "I'll get the map," he whispered to her only as he left.
Hermione, though, was unsure. "But he left, didn't he? And Professor - " she looked imploringly towards Dumbledore. "You said that the Dursleys would have to be his home, didn't you?"
There was a pause. A man in the corner whom Hermione didn't recognise made a derisive sound. "You think he calls them his family, girl?"
Hermione flushed. "Oh, no. Of course not." Molly Weasley grabbed her husband by the arm.
"Arthur, what about the Burrow? We're more of a home than…"
"I think I know where he is," came a voice from the corner. Lindsey stepped forward with a strange look on his face.
"He told me once that the only other person apart from Rose that he actually considered family was…well, my dad."
Faith frowned at her son. It still hurt to think about Siri. Now was not the time for Lindsey to say things like this. "Lindsey," she began sternly. "He wouldn't have done anything of the sort. You know that your father's…"
Ginny took Lindsey's hand. "But wait a moment," she said timidly. "Just because Sirius is…well, uh…anyway, Harry may have gone to his house to, you know. Be with him, somehow. Sentimental, kind of."
Dumbledore nodded, looking very tired all of a sudden. "I'll go to Grimmauld Place. You had better be ready by the time I come back," he said to Rose meaningfully.
"Yeah, sure. Just get him here."
The man and woman whom none of the students could recognise rushed forward and seized Dumbledore's arm. "You mean he doesn't consider the Dursleys his home any more?" the woman asked worriedly.
Professor Dumbledore shrugged, sighing. "I don't know, Dorothy dear. But if that is true, it will not all be bad. We may be able to tell him everything if that is not a problem any longer."
"Everything? About him, and us?"
Dumbledore ran his fingers through his beard. "Yes," he said. "Everything."
Hey Alanna I updated!!!!!!! Woohooo!!!!!! I can't wait to hear more about your fic too!
Hey everyone else, guess what? My exams are OVER, baby!!! My summer holiday has just started, so I plan to be writing a heck of a lot more now. Do you know, I started writing this fic almost a year ago? We've come a long way. wipes away tear. Pez is cracking up thank you sooo much to everyone who's helped me this far. Reviewing is top-notch, and even though I had like a trillion exams, I couldn't not write this cuz of how many great reviews I got!! Please, more?? puppy dog eyes
And yes, the computer I write on does NOT have internet and yes, it DOES have leprosy instead. Joy.
Luv ya guys!! Keep reviewing, I'll update!!!