Title: Harry Potter and the Lady of Shadow

Author: le plume béni

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I plan to use many different ideas from many different sources… most of them not mine. Primarily this belongs to J. K. Rowling. Concepts may come from others such as Cate Tiernan, Anne McCaffrey, and Frank Herbert just to name a few. I'll be more specific when the ideas come up. Thanks to the above authors for coming up with the ideas in the first place!

Warning: be prepared for Harry/Draco slash… don't say I didn't warn you.

A/N: Constructive criticism is welcome. Praise is as well  However, I dislike flames immensely. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Chapter Three

They hadn't left a moment too soon. Harry's skin was clammy, his face flushed, and his eyes too bright. As soon as they landed the Boy Who Lived collapsed, breathing harshly, onto the cold floor.

Goddess, we don't have much time before his Maturity.

"Harry? Harry, focus on my voice," she said insistently, kneeling by the green-eyed boy's side. His half-lidded eyes focused on her face. "Can you hear me?" He nodded.

"Have you ever learned how to deal with your Maturity?"

"Maturity the younger teen croaked. Jade felt a flash of anger at his teachers, wondering how the boy couldn't even know about a wizard's Maturity. It was like getting the sex talk. Holy fucking shit, he doesn't even know what's going on. Goddess help us he's going to be powerful. Jade thought furiously before an idea dawned upon her. It was too late to tell the younger wizard what to do, but if she could show him directly...

"It's what you're going through right now. Harry, listen to me. I can show you what to do, but we'll have to do tath meanma brach, the Great Mindmeld. This is very important, Harry. You have to open your mind… you're going to see everything in my mind and I'll be able to see everything in yours. I swear to keep anything I learn to myself, and you need to do the same. Do you understand?" He nodded.

"I swear," he said hoarsely, struggling to give her his oath. Without further ado, Jade grabbed both of the boy's hands.

"Harry, open your eyes." He obeyed as she removed her sunglasses. His emerald green orbs stared directly into her bright amethyst-colored eyes. She began to chant in the ancient language of power, holding his gaze firmly, falling into those pools of green. Harry in turn felt like he was drowning in violets. She called upon the old Earth magic to help the bonding, praying that it would be enough. Tath meanma brach usually required an involved ceremony that required extensive purification and fasting. Unfortunately, there was no time for all that.

The contact was sudden, and unsettling. Both teenagers felt sick to their stomachs and struggled not to be vomit (hence the initial need for fasting). It was disorienting to be as deep in someone else's mind as they were, to experience a whole new life from someone else's perspective. Harry's memories came first.

Jade saw the vague memory of his parents' death, the bright green light and the high-pitched laughter. Then came his childhood at the Dursleys, the mental and occasional physical abuse, the cupboard, the loneliness and fear. After that was the joy of coming to Hogwarts, the friendships he'd forged with Ron and Hermione, Draco Malfoy and his arrogant animosity, Quidditch, Snape, the invisibility cloak, Quirrel. Then there was Dobby, the Heir of Slytherin, the Polyjuice potion, the Chamber of Secrets, the Basilisk, Tom Riddle, and Lockhart. Classes. Sirius. Lupin. The disappointment at having to return to the Dursleys, his love for his godfather. The truth of his parents' betrayal. Peter Pettigrew. The visions, the Tri-wizard Tournament. Moody, who was really an imposter. Cedric's death… the pain, the grief, the fear. The beatings and rape at the hands of his uncle. And all the details, events, thoughts, beliefs, dreams, fears, sorrows in between. In short, Jade experienced Harry Potter's life in minutes, but what felt like years.

Then Jade's memories came. Her awakening to consciousness while still inside of her mother's womb, the trauma of birth. The memories of her and her mother's escape to the States. Her father's death. The safety of her mother's embrace. The knowledge of the plans Voldemort had for her. The desire for knowledge, to be the best she could be, for power. The physical and magical training. Her apprenticeship with Snape, her affection and desire for him. The pressure of being the niece of one of America's most powerful crime lords, Diego Rivera. Her kidnapping and rape at the hands of her paternal uncle's enemies. How she had coldly shot those who had dared to invade her body, and how she had cried and refused to eat for days afterwards. The happy memories she shared with her two friends Jasmine Washington and Alex Hatsumoto. Her underground and very much illegal work, the assignations she'd done for her uncle. The Double Prophecy. Her promise to aid Harry defeat Voldemort, if only in order to escape his reach. Why she wanted to escape the Dark Lord, the fear and hatred she bore him. More, the whole of her life, flashed before Harry's eyes, and they both struggled to accept and digest each other's entire lifetimes.

Once they knew each other on a level that no one else did, Jade directed Harry to what he would need to know to survive his Maturity, and the memory of her own. Just as she made sure he understood what needed to be done, Harry's magic rose up and threw her out of his mind.

Jade opened her eyes to find the room in the midst of a magical storm. Harry, his eyes open but unseeing, rose into the air, body covered in unearthly blue flames. Magic more powerful and intense than anything Jade had ever seen before filled the room rapidly, straining the wards to and then past their breaking point. It was too much for her exhausted and sensitive mind. What a fucking day, she thought as she threw up her own magic in a desperate attempt to protect her body before passing out.

DHD

Don't resist the storm; ride it.

Harry felt like her was caught in the mother of all storms, and he wanted nothing more than to try to control it, to force it to stop. But Jade's knowledge rang through his mind; if he tried to fight this, it would break his mind. So he let himself go, relinquished all control, and let himself ride higher and higher with his magic, letting it mature.

Let it reach its peak.

His magic was spiraling. It rose higher, higher than Jade's had. It seemed it would never stop. Suddenly, thought, everything contracted. For a long moment Harry experienced the horrifying sensation that he was unable to breathe, that everything was frozen, even time itself. Then everything exploded.

Pull the magic into yourself, make it yours, completely and totally. Master it.

He knew he was at his most vulnerable right now. All of his magic was outside of his body, floating in stasis around the room, twining around him almost like a cat. Taking a deep breath, he began gathering all of his magic and filling himself with it. He had never been able to feel his own magic so acutely before. He bathed in it, absorbed it, breathed it, drank it. He claimed it and brought it all inside of himself. The magic rebelled, but he stayed firm. Mine.

When it was done, he fell abruptly to the floor and took long, deep breaths. He was exhausted. His body trembled, his mind was numb. The first thing he noticed was that his glasses had mysteriously disappeared, but he could still see perfectly. The next thing he noticed was Jade sprawled out some distance away from him, unconscious. I hope I didn't hurt her, he thought before darkness swallowed him whole.

Author's note

Tath meanma brach is all Cate Tiernan's idea, from her SWEEP series (if you haven't read it, do so). I hope it was original enough for you all! r/r, please!