James Potter stared out his window and watched his two children play. The dream from the night's sleep was still fresh in his mind and playing like some theatrical performance where he was watching from the seats. He saw Kira, dressed in a blue dress and dancing. At first his mind told him it was a dream about her performance the week before, but that changed as the dance did. No longer was it cheery and fun, it had become desperate, like a fight.
The music blasted to tone of high-pitched, sad, eagerness that pounded into his heart and made his eyes start to water. More sounds joined the music and James realized that he was not alone in the theater. Lilly was by his side and staring at Kira as if she realized that the dance was pain she would always feel. James looked forward. He saw Voldemort and had nearly been shocked out of the dream. The Dark Lord stared forward with pride and then turned around to look at James.
"This thing you have grown to love... is mine," he explained almost casually.
"No," Lilly screamed. "She's not yours!" All around them the audience shot glares and told them to be quiet.
"Foolish woman," Voldemort shook his head as if amazed by the stupidity. "She is mine. Blood of my daughter created her."
"No, it was Volucris blood that-"Lilly spat, once again being told to 'shhh' by audience members.
"Then why does she look so much like my child?" Voldemort interrupted calmly, giving her a look that told he thought the entire conversation was obvious.
"All Volucris are..." Lilly stopped, not prepared to tell that monster that his daughter was beautiful.
"Yes?" Voldemort prompted her to go on.
"Enough of this!" James had heard enough. He jumped to his feet and ran towards the stage. "Kira," he called. "Time to go, baby." The music turned even more threatening and he felt that unless she heard him, she'd die. "Kira!"
He was thrown to the side by a Death Eater and all around him audience members were rising in their seats, telling him to be quiet. He tried to get up, but they joined the Death Eater in holding him down, telling him he was ruining the show and that he should have more respect for someone's child. James tried to fight them off and then saw something strange.
His son. Harry was in the front row, watching the dance. James called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear. Kira was in danger, but no one would help; she was all alone in a world of suffering, and there was nothing he could do. Voldemort was approaching the stage. No, he was approaching Harry. Kira screamed and Lilly leapt forward. Voldemort fired Avada Kedavra, and hit Lily instead of Harry as she threw herself in front of him.
James heard the scream before he realized it was his own. He struggled to get free and watched as his son seemed to age. On the stage, Kira was aging as well. They were teenagers in an instant and became clouded, but he still knew who they were even if he couldn't see their faces. He suddenly became aware that Kira's dance became crafty and almost violent, but he could still feel her there. Harry watched the dance with disgust and anger.
He leapt onto the stage and they began fighting each other. Lily's body laid bloody and forgotten as the two fought. Kira's movements were trained and easy, she could have killed him, but she didn't. Harry lashed out with the rage of someone fighting for revenge. Kira seemed to do everything she could to piss him off even more.
"Stop it!" James yelled. "Stop it! Stop it, you're siblings! You need each other!"
They stopped and turned towards him as if surprised. Then Harry fell as Voldemort shot out another Avada Kedavra. Kira lunged at him and strings suddenly held her back. Tears streamed down her face and then her eyes changed, her mouth opened in a 'O' that told of her pain. The strings made her dance, made her act, made her do their will. James looked up to see the puppet master, and saw no one, except the two pairs of four sticks, shaped like x's, with the name Takai burned into them.
Shortly after the strings grabbed her, Kira faded and became a monster. Dumbledore leapt from the audience and killed the monster, having arrived too late to see that it was Kira. The beast turned back into her as it died, and Dumbledore disappeared. James broke free and jumped to the stage.
His entire family lay dead at his feet. Voldemort stood next to his daughter, watching placidly. James hugged his wife in pure horror and tears streamed easily down his face. He turned towards his son. The lifeless body of a person he knew only as his baby. Then to Kira, who looked to be in the most pain of all. James shook uncontrollably and wanted nothing more than to die.
His world was gone, his children turned back to their correct ages, but still they were gone. Blood washed over the stage and James cried out to God. He begged him to make everything right again. The audience rose up and burst into applause, seemingly unaware of the man who'd lost everything. James was covered in blood and sobbing, a broken shell of what he used to be. Voldemort turned towards him and – ROAR!
James had awoken to his gryphon alarm clock. Lilly had been asleep next to him, everyone was safe. He now watched his children closely. They seemed to be best friends. So why would he see them fighting? James shook his head and let his eyes travel across the landscape. The green field, the stream, the forest, it all seemed less beautiful after the dream.
"James? Is something wrong?" Lilly asked, coming beside him and gripping his shoulders gently.
"Just a bad dream," James told her, also trying to convince himself.
"You as well? I guess Frank's news hit hard," Lilly sighed sleepily. James was slightly comforted by this and headed out to the living room, where he saw Cota, looking very tired.
"Not you too," James crossed over to him, followed closely by Lilly.
Cota looked up at them; their tired expressions told that they had also had an uneasy night. His dream had started out very well. He was driving a Muggle sports car with two Victoria's Secret models and going pretty fast. He was –strangely enough- going to his parent's home. He got here and his mother walked out, looking very tense and sad.
She explained that Voldemort had attacked James, and Lilly, and Kira, and Harry. The supermodels were gone and suddenly he was standing on a burning plot of land and... Cota shook his head, not wanting to relive the dream in his waking hours. He'd had to take a class on dream analysis during his years at school, so he'd been able to figure out that the dream was just worry that he was too immature to help when the time came.
The two supermodels were just hormones, duh. The car was a sign that deep, deep down he didn't think Patrick was dependable and fast enough if it came to a life or death situation. Or, they had also been taught to not look at the item as what it was. The sports car was young, red, and fast, maybe it was Patrick. The death was simply worry. They had been given extremely unsettling news.
Lilly had seen Voldemort just waltzing into her house. She'd fought alongside James, but they both fell. Cota was guarding Kira and Harry, but he met the same fate. Harry was killed; Kira was taken, having to be dragged past the bodies of her dead family. They were all on edge.
Every tap, creak, chirp, snap, pop, lurch, and bang made them jump. Their home no longer seemed safe. James looked at the two and smiled slightly. They returned his look with that of bewilderment and nervousness.
"What?" Lilly finally asked.
"I almost thought it would be a big conflict," James began. "But it looks like not one of us dreamt the option of letting them take Kira."
"Hell no!" Cota exclaimed. "Meaning no disrespect my Lord, Milady," he added quickly.
"At ease, Cota," Lilly smiled. "I think we're all taking an easy day, no one slept much."
"Agreed," James nodded. He'd asked Frank what age Voldemort's daughter was, he said she was two. That meant Voldemort would be very desperate to get Kira this year, but unless Takai found a way to make a child older than three into an ANGEL, Kira would be safe in a year.
He'd had to explain to Dumbledore what had happened with Kira's hands as well last night. That had been a hard discussion as he'd spent the entire time trying to convince Albus that it was nothing. He'd called Kira down to reenact the event, but she was hiding and had just begun apologizing. She was scared. She'd been hurt really badly when the nanny had said she was a danger to Harry.
There was a knock at the door and all three of them found their wands in their hands and that they were standing in attack position. Lilly had even raised her wand, ready for a quick strike. Cota found himself standing in front of both James and Lilly, fearing his dream would become reality. Lilly- realizing her children were in the back yard- ran for the kitchen as Cota and James moved in for a kill.
"Don't fire," Remus called. "I come in peace!"
James, feeling rather foolish, quickly opened the door and cheerfully invited him in. Cota backed out into the kitchen and told Lilly what was going on. Kira ran into the room, hearing 'Get in the house! Quick!' being yelled by her mommy. Lilly had grabbed Harry before telling Kira to go. Remus grabbed Kira on her mad dash towards the stairs and received a kick in the jaw for it.
"Ow," he shook his head as Kira realized who she'd kicked.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Kira exclaimed.
"Good kick," Remus stretched his jaw and set her on the couch. "I thought you lot would be a bit testy today."
"And yet, here you are," James reminded him, as if saying he deserved the kick and no one would argue that.
"Yet here I am. Might I add that Kira should be signed up for soccer/football?" (Depending on the country you're in)
"...I know, but they said she's too small," James stated as Lilly, Harry, and Cota entered the room in a calm, orderly fashion. (It could happen.).
"Well, back to why I came," Remus smiled. "James, Cota, you should be heading to work and school. Lilly, you and Harry should be going to work and Kira-"
"You came to make sure we did the same thing we do everyday?" James interrupted, confused.
"No, I came to pick up Kira. There's someplace I want to take her today that I think will help with the ice problem."
Every member of the Potter household stared at him in confusion. They had planned on taking an 'I'm freaked out' day. James would- of course- be re-wording that sentence when he wrote the letter explaining why Cota was not in class.
"In all respect, we were just going to have a day off," James explained, he knew his friend would understand that he needed a day off.
"I understand, but Kira has said nothing except good things about school, and I think being with her friends might be a good choice," Remus stated, giving James a look that explained it would be best for Kira to be having fun while they met with their order group and found a course of action.
"I don't know," Lilly bit her lip. She didn't like the idea of going all the way to Alice and Frank's house and leave Kira at the school.
"...I...I wanna go," Kira spoke, peeking her head over a pillow. She knew the look that was on Remus's face, it told that he didn't think this was going to be a child friendly meeting and that nothing would get done if she went. Besides, what was she supposed to tell Fred and George if she didn't show up?
James turned and looked at her. Things were getting tight and Voldemort was attacking more and more. He wasn't sure about leaving her by herself, even if it was at a school. Lilly wasn't too sure about it either, but then again, she might be safer at a random kinderspell building than at the meeting house. Cota knew better than to have an opinion on that matter, He loved little Kira, but if his opinion opposed James's or Lilly's on such a crucial matter, it would be hard for them all to get along as well. Instead he told himself that James and Lilly would know better than he did.
"Well, if you want to go," James nodded his head, slowly and tried to convince himself that he'd made the right choice, though adding 'ask your mother' was hard to resist. Kira nodded and within an hour she was skating behind Remus. They had been at it for a while and she was getting scared as the entire path was underground and had been so for the last fifteen minutes.
Remus walked along the tunnel as if he did it everyday. Though, the truth was that he'd learned about the place he was heading to from another werewolf. He had explained that there were stores and an underground community entirely for 'special' souls. He'd visited once before and was appalled at the sight of a school. He'd always wanted there to be a school for the exceptional few, but the children looked rather gloomy and most admitted that they hated it down there.
The werewolves had no room to run, the books were all old, there was no Quidditch team, and all pets were banned as they might get eaten. Remus picked Kira up as he walked past the fifteen foot cast iron fence that separated the school grounds, from the town. The kids on the other side of the fence stared at her with increasing worry. Was she doomed to attend the school already?
She didn't look like a freak yet. Remus tried his best to look confident. The werewolves could sense what he was and he knew that during his years at Hogwarts he'd have given his right hand for some kind of sign that everything would be alright. A girl shuddered under a dead tree and watched a group of students playing something like tennis and basket ball combined. She was a 'gift' or a child with the ability to see into the future, heal wounds, and a few other things. However, most of them lost that ability and were left feeling empty.
Remus watched her and she turned towards him, her eyes locking onto Kira. He stopped, thinking she could sense another soul who'd been through torture and turned out okay. However, they girl's eyes grew wide and she turned away, burying her head in her hands and crying.
"She doesn't deserve that!" the girl screamed.
Remus was more than a bit surprised by that reaction and looked down at Kira, who looked thoroughly confused. Remus shook his head and went to leave, but Kira stayed.
"What don't I deserve?" she asked.
The girl on the other side of the fence looked up, tears in her eyes.
"Your fate," she answered. "You'll break, I can see it."
"Break?" Kira asked; ignoring Remus's attempts to make her keep walking.
"Yes. You see. The students of this school are forced to hide. If You-Know-Who ever found us... we know our fate. It hurts to acknowledge, but it's true. We live on, but you..."
"Do you mean I'm gonna..." Kira's eyes shimmered with fear and Remus tried once more to pull her along and away from the rude girl.
"Let's go, Kira," Remus pleaded.
"Worse," the girl answered in a low hiss. "You love and trust a lot of people. One of them will break your heart. He is a betrayer."
"These are dark times," Remus interrupted. "There are betrayers everywhere."
"Yes, there are. Even you?" She asked, turning a cold stare onto Remus and glowering fiercely.
"No!" Remus growled.
"Sure...Then, who's the betrayer? Name him," the girl ordered.
"Him?" Remus asked. Gifts usually were not as blunt in their clues as they could not alter what was meant to come.
"Yes. And it's not who you think, either. The one who betrays this girl the most is right under your nose."
"We can handle with whatever happens," Remus replied stiffly.
"Come on, take a guess! Is it her father? Will he betray her?"
"Never. I'm sorry you hate where you are, who you are, and what you are. But you have no right to lash out at an innocent child. I know what it is like to be a freak, but I'm mature enough to accept it!" With that, Remus turned around and away from the girl, waiting for her to shout some parting insult.
"...I'm sorry you hurt so much," Kira said; her voice a perfect mixture of concern and depression.
The girl looked slightly shocked by this and walked closer. Remus turned around and stared at Kira in amazement.
"...You really are sorry, aren't you?" the girl asked.
"There are many people who don't deserve their lot in life. It's not fair to tell them to accept it. It's not fair to tell them to look at the bright side. It's just not fair, until someone finds out how to make it bearable, it's simply unfair," Kira spoke the words that had been building in her mind since the moment she'd fallen asleep in the Potter house and learned what had happened to her was wrong.
Remus felt a tear on his cheek and smiled at Kira. She'd said the words he'd been thinking his entire life as a werewolf. No words of inspiration, no bull, plain and simple it wasn't fair. The girl smiled and saw the look in Remus's eyes. He felt the same thing she was feeling. They all needed someone to just tell them it was okay to be pissed off about what had happened to them, without trying to make it seem like it would get better. It wasn't fair, but it was bearable.
"Kira... I wish I could tell you the name of your betrayer. I can't do that, but I can tell you that it's gonna hurt. It's gonna burn. You'll watch your betrayer leave the scene and you're going to cry," she paused. "But little Kira, eyes of amethyst, you're a phoenix. Be happy now and make the most out of every moment and know you're not going to be where you were destined to die."
"I... I don't understand," Kira admitted.
"I just want you to know that you will not die in that lab you fear so much. Do you hear me? You- will- not- die- there," she said the words with a promising stare and small smile. She could see a wall of fear disappearing from Kira. The lab would not take her; she wouldn't die alone and scared in some torture chamber.
"Why are you telling her this?" Remus asked, feeling angered by the girl that would tell such daunting news to a small child that would not die for many, many years.
"I didn't ask for this 'gift.'" The girl sighed. "I can't control it, but I didn't want what I saw to be a giant shock to her, she doesn't deserve that."
"...You're loosing your power, that's why it's so strong," Remus nodded, understanding that she wanted to do whatever she could to help, before she lost what made her special.
"Yes, I'm not the one who is supposed to have the 'sight' yet. It took me six years at this school to learn that and I won't miss it, either. I've been through enough to write a book."
"You can't tell when this even will happen, can you?" Remus asked.
"Might not be for a hundred years," the girl caught on that he was trying to comfort Kira, and she felt it wasn't her place to disagree. A bell chimed and the students began heading inside for class. The girl looked at Kira one last time and turned to leave. No wonder people hated her kind. She usually had such bad news as it was the loudest. This girl probably hated her.
"Wait," Kira called after her and Remus's stomach churned as he was not ready to listen again about Kira's future doom. "You never told me you're name, but you know mine."
The girl smiled again.
"Veronica." And with that she turned and entered the gloomy doors of her school.
