Chapter 10
It was early in the morning and they all had gotten only a few hours of sleep when the wards around the room fell with a muted screech. Harry had fallen asleep in the bed with Hedwig and Fleur curled up on either side him. Tonks had fallen asleep in the chair, but since her magic was tied o the wards, as soon as they fell, she jerked awake and drew her wand.
"Harry!" she hissed out in warning, flicking a wake-up charm at him. Harry's eyes snapped open and he struggled for a few seconds as his arms were pinned under the girls. His movements woke the two up, and they were eventually able to roll out of the bed with their wands drawn.
All eyes and wands (Hedwig had grabbed a heavy book out of the night stand and was poised to throw it while no one thought of just simply apparating away) were aimed at the wooden door that was separating them and whoever it was who wanted in. The seconds dragged by like hours before th door knob rattled against the lock.
It was almost with perverse fascination as they all watched the lock slowly turn until it made a soft click. The door rattled again, and this time it slowly started to swing open. Before they could cast any kind of spell, all of their wands were suddenly yanked from their hands and clattered to the floor by the door (Hedwig's book dissolved into a fine powder) leaving them defenceless. The door swung all the way open and a red-headed female entered the room.
Her posture and clothing was clearly that of a fighter, but only two things stuck in Harry's mind. The first was that she was carrying the Sword of Gryffindor, and that was all the proof that he needed that something had happened at Hogwarts. The other thing that he noticed was her eyes. They were a brilliant green, the same brilliant green that he saw every time that he looked in the mirror.
"Come now..." the woman said with a stern voice. "Is that anyway to greet your mother after fifteen years?" Harry fainted and hit the floor with a thud, and Hedwig quickly rushed to his side.
"You polyjuiced bitch!" Tonks roared at the woman, and lunged at her. Her nails shifted into sharp talons and her hair flared into a flaming red. The woman flung out her arm and Tonks suddenly found herself pinned to the floor. The woman next looked at Fleur.
"Are you going to do something very foolish as well?" she asked calmly. Fleur replied by stepping protectivly in front of Harry, her collar glinting in the faint light of the room.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want with 'arry?" The woman sighed in annoyance and pulled out her wand.
"I swear on my life and my magic that I am Lily Evans, the biological mother of Harry James Potter, and that I mean no harm to him in any way, so mote it be." After the flash of light that showed that the magic had accepted the oath, she holstered her wand and looked Fleur in the eyes. "Does this satisfy you?" Fleur shook her head.
"But it is impossible!" she protested. "Lily Potter died long ago!"
"Yes, I did." Lilly admitted with a small smile. "But Dumbedore's manipulations prevented me from moving on... but then again, he also unknowingly provided the means for my return. However, I think I'll save that for when Harry... er... rejoins us." Satisfied that they weren't going to attack her, she let Tonks up and floated the wands on the floor back to their owners. She perked up when she saw that Tonks's robes had fallen open revealing her armour.
"Oh good!" She said cheerfully. "You visited the Potter Vault. I'm glad to see that its contents wont fall into HIS hands. I had my own suit but I think I was buried in it."
"Buried with it" asked Fleur. "Your own suit? Just what are the history of that armour?" Lily smiled at the beautiful French veela.
"They were the armour of previous Lady Potters dating back to the days of the founders of Hogwarts. For example, the armour that Nymphadora (She ignored Tonks's screech of protest) is wearing , according to James, belonged to Harry's great-great-great-great grandmother."
"So why the flexing..." Fleur started to ask, but was interrupted by Harry moaning slightly and sitting up, much to Hedwig's relief.
"What happened?" Harry asked, but then caught sight of Lily. "Oh."
"Are you going to faint again?" Lily asked a slightly sarcastic tone in her voice. "Though I must admit, your father did the same when I told him I was pregnant."
Harry narrowed his eyes, as if the act would give him the ability to detect if she was lying or not.
"She gave a magical oath on her life and magic that she is who she says she is 'arry." Fleur said softly. Harry glanced at her for a second, then looked back at Lily.
"How?" was all that he asked.
"Dumbledore." Lily answered, and Harry groaned in disgust. "Before we had to go into hiding, I was working with Helena Lovegood to create a new line of defensive charms. One of them was what we called a last line of defense charm. For a short period of time, it would reflect any spell, even the Unforgivables,... but it needed something special to work."
"Which was?" Fleur asked, hooked on Lily's every word.
"The caster had to willingly sacrifice themselves, and it had to be for someone they loved." She was silent for a second then swallowed hard. "I have no idea how he did it, but James, without a wand, managed to hold off You-Know-Who long enough for me to cast the charm. After that... after that I just had to wait." She paused, re-living the nights events in her mind,
"At first I was worried he was going to kill you first, Harry. It wouldn't be the first time he forced a mother to watch her children die. Luckily, my refusal to step aside annoyed him enough that he finally killed me, completing the charm. I expected to join James in the afterlife, but instead I discovered that the charm drew its power from my spiritual energy. I couldn't move on till the charm ran its course. You-Know-Who's curse reflected off of you, Harry, and his body was destroyed." She sighed bitterly.
"Not long later, Dumbledore showed up. The charm was still working, which Dumbledore quickly discovered when his diagnosis spells bounced off. Then he did the unexpected. He used an invented spell of his own creation to bind the charm, and by extension my spirit, to Harry and my sister's home. That was my existence till a few days ago, when the wards binding the charm in place collapsed. Finally free, I followed an instinctual pull that lead me to Hogwarts."
Here, she stopped and held up her right hand, her ring glittering in the light. The girls crowded close to examine it. Tonks was the first to recognize it.
"No way..." she breathed.
"Yes." Lily said with a grin. "This is the Resurrection Stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows."
"Deathly Hollows?" Harry asked. "What are those?" Lily scowled angrily.
"I forgot that you wouldn't have heard of that story. It is a children's story on the level of Hansel and Gretel." She suddenly perked up and smiled. "I guess I get to tell you a story after all! Didn't think I would get a chance to do that." She shifted her body into a more comfortable position.
~Birds of a Feather~
"A long time ago there were three wizarding brothers exploring the world as we were apt to do in that age. In their travels, they came across a river that no one had survived crossing before. The three brothers were powerful wizards, and they quickly conjured a sturdy bridge over the river. With this in place, they crossed over, intending to continue on their travels. However, on the other side, Death was waiting for them."
"Wait." Harry interrupted. "Death? Figuratively or literally?" Lily smiled.
"Literally." she answered. "You see, Death had become accustomed to collecting the souls who drowned in the river, and felt cheated. So he devised a clever plan. He congratulated the three brothers on their inginunity, and offered them each a reward of their choosing, from the oldest to the youngest.
The oldest was arrogant, and asked for a wand that could beat any other. So Death went and plucked a branch from an elder tree and fashioned a wand from it.
The middle brother was prideful, and wished to humiliate Death even more. He asked for a way to bring back the dead. So Death bent down and picked up a river stone and turned it over thrice in his hand, creating the Resurrection Stone.
The youngest brother though, was wiser and more mature then his older brothers. He cared not for combat, and had no loved ones who had passed on to the other side. He saw Death's offer for what was, and shrewdly came up with a plan of his own. He asked Death for a way to hide from everyone, even Death himself. so, Death foolishly took a piece of his own cloak, and gave it to him.
That night, the three brothers argued about what to do. The youngest argued for them to go on with their journey. However, the oldest and middle brothers wanted to return home with their gifts. And so, with great reluctance, he watched his older brothers leave before continuing on by himself.
The oldest brother, however, did not go home. He instead went to the village where his rival lived and challenged him to a duel. Armed with the Elder Wand, his rival didn't stand a chance. He boasted to all who would listen of the powers of the Elder Wand, pleased to be its master. However, that night, while he was asleep, a man snuck into room and slit his throat, seizing the wand as his own. And so the first brother was claimed by Death.
The middle brother did indeed go home, and as soon as he got there, he took out the stone and turned it over three times. To his utter joy, his departed fiancee appeared before him. Pleased that the stone worked so well, the two stayed together for a time. However, it was not to last. Although they could see and talk to each other, that was the limit of their ability to interact, and she was in constant discomfort being forced to dwell in a world she did not belong in. So, with a length of rope, Death claimed the second brother as his own.
However, no matter much, or how long, Death looked, he could not find the third brother. Aided by Death's own cloak of invisibility, the youngest brother stayed hidden till he was old and had a family of his own. Only then did the youngest brother take off the cloak, passed it down to his son, then greeted Death as an old friend."
At this point, Lily stopped and picked up the pen and notepad the motel left for its guests and drew a straight line on it.
"Wand of Elder"
She drew a circle around the line.
"Stone of Resurrection."
She drew a triangle around the circle, with each side touching the circle.
"Cloak of Invisibility."
She smiled.
"These are the Deathly Hallows, and the person who controls all three controls Death itself."
"But it is just a fairy tale!" Fleur blurted out. Lily held up her hand and showed the ring again.
"How can it be a fairy tale when I have one of the Hallows in my possession?" she asked in a light tone. "And Harry has another."
"I do?" Harry asked in shock.
"Yes." Lily said, looking him in the eye. "You are the descendant of the youngest brother."
"My cloak!" Harry exclaimed.
"Correct." Lily laughed happily. "A couple of generations after the creation of the Hallows, the current head of the family changed their name from Peverell to Potter, both to hide themselves from those hunting for the Elder Wand, and as a nod to the head's occupation at the time: a pottery maker."
"A pottery maker?" Tonks repeated with a tone of disbelief. "But where did all that armour come from?" Lily laughed.
"Well he had to do SOMETHING when there wasn't a war going on."
"So 'ow did you get your body back?" Fleur asked, getting the conversation back on track.
"Once again, it was due to Dumbledore's manipulations, though this time in our favor."
"Oh?" Harry asked, intrigued.
"I am sure he didn't count on the Ministry falling as quickly as it did." Lily said. "On his desk at Hogwarts was his will, and several items that he had willed to you and your friends Hermione and Ron."
"What were they." asked Harry.
"For Ron, he left his deluminator, a device of his own invention. For Hermione, he left a very rare first edition of 'Tales of Beetle the Bard,' of which the Deathly Hallows is a central story.
"And me?" asked Harry.
"He left you your very first snitch you caught. Inside it was the ring. In short he left you the second Deathly Hallow. I... think you'll forgive me if I don't give it to you yet." Harry chuckled weakly and nodded.
"Yeah, I can understand that." he said softly. "So what happened then?"
"The Resurrection Stone is a powerful magical artifact, due to both its enchantments and its connection to thousands of years of departed witches and wizards. When my soul came into contact with the ring, they offered their help and power in getting me a body back." She blushed slightly. "Sorry honey, I kinda broke your snitch." Harry laughed.
"What happened then?"
"Dumbledore's portrait made the mistake of attracting my attention. We had a nice long talk, forced him to tell me all his secrets, recovered my wand, the sword of Gryffindor, and then blew him and his office up. After that, I ran into Remus and your girlfriend Hermione, and raised that wolf's precious walls. Then I tracked you down. End of the story."
Harry stammered and blushed.
"Hermione... Hermione isn't my girlfriend mum." he said quickly.
"Oh?" Lily said with an arched eyebrow. "Then what is she?"
"She is my sister in all but blood." Harry answered honestly.
"Hmm... I see." She smirked. "Maybe in the future that fact can be changed." She clapped her hands together once and laughed. "Now tell me, what are your plans?"
"We are following the advice of a French Auror who saved our lives." Harry answered.
"Go deeper into Europe till they start turning their attention away from England and Scotland so we can sneak back in." Tonks said.
"What we do between that time... its very flexible." Fleur said.
"I can imagine." Lily said slowly, then clapped her hands together again. "Good. I hope you have room for another female in your growing harem Harry."
"Mum!" Harry exclaimed in protest, but Lily just waved her hand in dismissal.
"Every single one of the people in your party are female Harry. That's a harem." Harry blushed and the other girl's laughed.
"Don't worry Harry." Tonks said. "I'm willing to bet it won't be the last addition."
"Oh shut it."
A/N: Well that was a long break from posting. Between my laptop's continuing keyboard problems, and a severe case of writers block, this story got stuck on the back burner while I moved through the holiday season. However, with Christmas came the gift of a keyboard for my Kindle Fire, which has allowed me to finally type up this chapter. I hope that it has met all of your expectations, as I have gotten some very positive reviews from some pretty popular writers.
No worries, Harry won't have any more love interests.
As always, leave a review, and I will see you all next chapter!