Chapter Twenty-Three: Souls Pt. I
May 29th, 1985
Harry Potter was breathing heavily. He had been overexerting himself quite a lot in the past two days, spending all of his time awake with his apparent new wife Narcissa Malfoy. And when he wasn't busy showing her a good time in her and Lucius' old chambers, he was either asleep or he was watching her. She was a beautiful woman, and Harry would be a fool not to recognize it. But over the past two days, she had gotten more beautiful. Her hair had gone from black with white stands around the sides to pure blonde. The faint wrinkles that had been developing on her forehead, cheeks, and neck had mysteriously disappeared, being replaced by smooth skin. It was almost as if she was reversing in age. He would have to find a picture of her in her twenties or thirties.
After another tiring session with Narcissa, Harry was ready to return to Hogwarts. No doubt Daphne would be concerned. He got up from the bed he had rested in for nearly two days, placing a soft kiss on Narcissa's lips as he turned to leave. He exited the room and stepped down into the main hall of the Manor. After retrieving a fresh cup of tea from the kitchen, Harry disappeared in a swirl of black, reappearing moments later in his room at Hogwarts. Daphne was there, quietly going over Herbology notes for that year's exams. She seemed to not notice his return, so he took that as his chance. He slowly climbed into bed beside her, placing an arm around Daphne's shoulder as he kissed her temple. She sighed, leaning against him as she continued to read. Then she suddenly spoke. "Did you have fun with Narcissa?"
"Huh?" Harry was caught blindsided. He had assumed he would have to come clean. That she would be furious with him. But she knew that he and Narcissa had done a lot of things together. But she didn't seem angry. She seemed...bored. As if the thought of having this conversation was a waste of time. Daphne produced a small parchment from the back of her book and showed it off to Harry. He read it. It was a document stating that his claiming the position of Lord Malfoy had become official. Daphne sighed. "I'm not an idiot, you know. I know about the Black-Malfoy contracts and what it means for you to become Lord Malfoy," She stilled didn't seem angry. Not even passive-aggressive. Harry was only growing more concerned by her lack of emotions. Daphne continued. "And I felt it. The two of you. Through the bond. It was fascinating,"
"Fascinating?" Harry questioned. She had felt him and Narcissa through the bond? How did that work?
"You two had non-stop sex for two days straight, only taking breaks to sleep and shower. Even then you two had sex. Your attraction and your two's marriage resulted in...something. I assume she was added to the bond. Though I can't be sure. I can't feel her like I can feel you. But I would check that, and try to control it. I don't want every girl you have sex with - premarital or not - to be added to this bond of ours," Daphne explained. Harry blinked. He felt like he had just been sent off of a roller-coaster. Was she saying...no. She couldn't be saying that. Was she permitting him to sleep with more girls? His mind was spinning, and he felt a bit tired suddenly. The conversation hadn't lasted five minutes, and he was exhausted already.
"I'm...very confused. You're not angry?" Harry asked.
"Angry? Why would I be angry?"
"Because...I cheated on you," It stung to say those words. He felt a pattern rising. Harry had cheated on Claire with the Dimitrescu girls. And now he had cheated on Daphne. Yet he never got to see Claire's reaction. But Daphne's was interesting enough. She wasn't angry. She wasn't anything. She seemed more supportive than anything. Daphne left out an annoyed huff, slamming her book down onto the bed as she turned to face him. Now she seemed angry. "If you had cheated on me, I would be expelling your heart from your chest. But you didn't. I was aware of what was happening, and you didn't hear me knocking down the wards of Malfoy Manor, did you? As far as I'm concerned, you can do as you please with whoever you want, as long as you can spare some time for me. And vice-versa," Daphne explained.
Oh.
Harry's mind clicked on suddenly. She wants an open relationship. That would explain the lack of anger. Harry visibly relaxed as Daphne returned to her Herbology book. And they sat in comfortable silence, with Harry wondering when exactly his life had become so odd. From birth. Definitely. Being destined to die and all that made one's life a bit chaotic. He decided to do his best to not make it so much more chaotic that he didn't know what to do with it, and so he resigned himself to four simple tasks. Finish the Tournament. Kill Voldemort. Practice his skills in manipulating the soul bonds. And lastly; continuing his lessons with Eleven. In Hopper's latest letter, he had explained a new problem that had shown it's head a few months before.
El's relationship with Mike.
The newfound love the two teenagers felt for each other was too great to be put aside by things like training, chores, and common courtesy. El was becoming more aggressive and disapproving of the rules placed on her. She had Mike over at the Hopper Cabin until 9 pm most nights, with the two doing nothing but making out for almost the entire day. It was kind of unsettling to listen to. He was disappointed. El had promised to keep up with her lessons while he was busy at Hogwarts. But in her haste to be with Mike, it seemed she had gone against her own saying 'friends done lie'. Harry would need to visit more often. He needed to get El back on track if she ever wanted to control her powers. So that was Harry's plan. Finish the Tournament. Kill Voldemort. Practice soul manipulation with the Hive Queen. And continue his lessons with Eleven. Simple.
June 3rd, 1984
Three weeks until the Third Task. And Harry wasn't stressed. He was completely prepared for anything that might be thrown his way. So he decided to channel that confidence into the art of teaching. He had taught a lot of children in his last year at Hogwarts, and he had been given a mountain load of information by Umbrella that was ready to be handed out. Only he didn't want to teach actual school. No, that would be too awkward. Instead, Harry channeled his confidence into teaching the young Jane Ives. Or Eleven. El for short. He had planned out the next two weeks perfectly. He would stay in Hawkins to train with Eleven until July 21st when he would return to Hogwarts for the Third Task on the 24th.
So Harry entered Hopper's Cabin defiantly, carrying a small bag with him. Hopper was sitting in his recliner chair, looking as if he was contemplating suicide. The door that led into El's room was cracked about three inches, and music was playing. Harry frowned. There were three people in the house. Harry sneered in anger. He had chosen to come early on a Monday to catch Eleven away from Mike. But here the boy was probably having snuck out of school to be here. And Hopper seemed so out of it that he didn't realize it. Harry carefully stepped up to Hopper, pulling out an uncapped potion that he handed to the man. "Harry?" He asked, half dazed.
"Yeah. It's me. I brought you this. Drink up," Harry patted the man on the shoulder and left him to drink the disgusting anti-hangover potion in peace. As Harry stepped up to Eleven's door, he heard Hopper's faint coughs of disgust from the recliner nearby. Harry smiled. Hopper had a much better reaction compared to Harry's first time drinking that potion. Harry raised his hand to knock on Eleven's door but was surprised when it swung open on its own. And before he could react, Harry was pulled into a bear hug by El herself.
"You came back," She spoke, her face in his chest.
"Of course. I had to,"
"Had to?" Eleven asked, pulling away. Harry gave her a firm nod, stepping past her as he entered Eleven's room. Mike was awkwardly sitting on her bed, trying his best not to wipe at his lips, which still probably had Eleven all over them. Harry tried not to throw up as he turned his attention to Eleven, completely ignoring Mike. Her attention was on him. "I came back to do three things. All three of which concern you," He started. Eleven nodded, indicating that she was listening. "Firstly, I have a mission I would like for you to accompany me on. It will be dangerous, but I think it will be a good learning experience. Secondly, I came back to begin my lessons in controlling the human soul. I assumed you would be interested in seeing if you could learn as well,"
"Definitely," Eleven replied enthusiastically.
"Great. And thirdly, I came back to discuss how you broke your promise to continue training in my absence," Harry finished. Eleven's eyes widened comically. Harry smiled. He motioned to Mike. "I'm aware that you would rather spend your time on other things," Eleven looked away, visibly trying to hide her blush. "But you must know that continuing your training is necessary if you want to learn to control your powers. Without control, you are powerless. And I don't want you to be powerless. Not with me being gone a lot of the time," Harry explained.
"Why does she need to train? The Mind Flayer's dead," Mike spoke up.
"The Mind Flayer isn't the only threat out there. Voldemort is still alive in a deformed body waiting to be revived. There are mass armies of magical creatures waiting to strike at any moment. There are large magical and non-magical conflicts occurring around the world. And we can't forget about extraterrestrial life. If I'm going to be entering the field of battle, I want someone I can trust watching my back. And I can't trust someone who doesn't have control over their abilities," Harry explained. Eleven seemed ready to object but stopped herself. She then gave him a firm nod, mimicking the way Harry had done it moments before. "Glad you agree. Now, as for our mission. I would like for us to be alone," Harry turned to Mike.
"What? No! I'm not leaving you two alone," Mike refused. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Why is that?"
"Because...because...I want to come too," Mike said.
"Well...too bad," Harry snapped his fingers and Mike disappeared in a mist of black. Eleven gasped, turning to glare at Harry as a smirk took over his features. "This is too dangerous for anyone non-powered. He would have been a liability," Harry defended. Eleven still seemed angry and annoyed, but Harry decided to move on. "You're not a child anymore. You're getting old. Experiencing older things. And with that new revelation comes responsibilities. You have certain responsibilities asked of you that you're expected to carry out so that those who rely on you can carry out their responsibilities. An endless cycle," Harry explained. "I have responsibilities with my powers, my company, and my role in the government. You have responsibilities with your powers, your training, and ensuring that your home is a non-hostile environment,"
"But we both share a common responsibility...to protect the world around us," Harry spoke. "Voldemort is set to come back in three weeks. And the only two things keeping me from killing him are a ring and a snake. The snake will hopefully be easy to handle. But the ring is hidden in the depths of a forest within a shack behind a mound of wards and protective curses. Normally I would just Fiendfyre the entire shack to smithereens. But the ring. It contains an artifact that belongs to me. I need it for my research, and it would be a lot easier to retrieve it if you came along," While Eleven still seemed annoyed, she relented, nodding. "Great. Get ready and we'll leave,"
Harry and Eleven appeared within the forest not far from the Riddle Manor and Little Hangleton Cemetary. Harry hadn't been in the cemetery since that night. He couldn't bear to return until it was time. So he gently placed a hand on El's back, guiding her away from the cemetery and into the forest. There, they were met with the small Gaunt shack Harry had seen in Bob Ogden's memory. It was completely different now. Half of the building seemed to have been set on fire, while the other appeared to have aged a thousand years. The brick that was left to form the walls of the home was brown and covered in overgrown vines. The only normal part of the whole structure was the wooden door, which hadn't been burned and still contained the decomposed snake nailed to the door.
But even with the state of the shack, they could not enter. The wards kept them out. Eleven pressed her hand against the invisible wall of magic, frowning deeply. "How do we get in?"
"Grab my shoulder," Harry spoke, motioning to his left. Eleven didn't reply and merely placed her hand as instructed. Harry continued. "I brought you here because according to Dumbledore, warding was one of Voldemort's specialties. Meaning that these would be quite strong. And they are. I could take these down in an hour or two, but that would drain me completely,"
"So?" Eleven asked.
"So, if I were to be completely drained, and an army of Death Eaters showed up, you would be dead or worse, their toy. And no offense, but since you stopped training, my trust in your combat abilities has decreased. So together, we're both going to tear down these wards. By the end, we'll feel tired but not drained. Makes it easier on the knees, too," Harry explained. And without warning he started, pushing his magic on the wards while grabbing from Eleven's massive supply of Upside Down energy. She gasped, stumbling backward only to find her hand stuck to his shoulder. Sticking charm.
"This would be a lot easier if you gave me your power and didn't fight back," Harry ground through his teeth.
"I don't know how!" Eleven shouted.
"Feel it. You feel me pulling right?"
"Yes,"
"Then find what I'm pulling, and willingly give some to me. Not all of it. Only a small portion. I'm not planning on adding your powers to my arsenal,"
Eleven closed her eyes, no doubt trying her best to find what it was he was grabbing. And then her eyes shot open and she gasped again, this time stumbling forward. It seemed she did it. Harry let go of his grip, allowing her to willingly give him her power just as he had the night they closed the Gate. Harry took a deep breath, smiling despite the strain. "See? Much easier this way," Eleven nodded in agreement, taking her own deep breath as the two began to push against the wards surrounding the Gaunt shack.
Within an hour the wards were down, leaving Harry and Eleven free reign to enter the shack unharmed. Harry examined what was left of the little shack, and discovered that only one thing remained. A burnt desk. It was the only thing that remained as if someone had pulled everything out. Yet no one had been here since Voldemort, and Harry doubted that the man took time to clean around. So he took a step closer and immediately felt it. The pull. The call. A silent scream for him to find it. It. The ring. But he was quick. Before it could take him completely, Harry closed his eyes and thought of the endless world he had created. The pure utopia. What he hoped to see when he opened his eyes in the future. A perfect world.
Scream. It was loud. The silent scream had been just that...silent. This was different. Harry's eyes shot open, and he wanted to close them. Eleven was standing by the desk, its only drawer open. The ring containing the Resurrection Stone was in her hand. Her hand. Her hand. El's fingers had begun to turn pitch-black, and her pinky. It had fallen off. Harry remembered the words told to him by Dumbledore. "Be very careful, Harry. Tom was a very cautious young man. Any protective charms and curses placed around the shack will no doubt be doubled upon the ring itself. It was one of the most important ones. A family heirloom, and the vessel of the Resurrection Stone. Be very careful," Harry's eyes widened and he ran forward, smacking her wrist. She screamed again but dropped the ring onto the table.
Eleven cried out, clutching her wrist as she fell back into his arms crying. Harry himself was speechless. He was too busy to apologize or cry with her. He was examining the curse that was beginning to slowly creep up her wrist. It was slow, but it looked as if every second passed made it worse. Harry tried a lot of things over the next five minutes. He tried attacking the curse with his soul. He tried pushing magic at it. He even tried pulling it into him. But nothing worked. It was clinging to Eleven, intent on killing her. Harry didn't know what to do. "We need Dumbledore," Harry spoke. "H-He'll know what to do,"
So he left the ring. Left it behind as he carried Eleven outside of the broken-down wards. And then he disappeared in a crack, reappearing in Dumbledore's office with his arm around Eleven's waist. The old man was startled but recovered quickly when he saw Eleven. "What happened? Did she touch it?"
"Yes. Yes. I've tried everything, Professor. I tried everything. It won't go away," Harry explained, sweating profusely. He was panicking. The right side of her hand was completely black, only her pointer finger and thumb remaining free of the curse. And even then, it was beginning to spread to her pointer finger. It hadn't gone past her elbow yet. She was sweating, mumbling under her breath. It was like a fever. Her body was trying to fight off the infection. And it seemed to work a bit. The rate of the darkening slowed and came to a very slow crawl. Good. She was fighting it. Buying them time to figure out what to do. Snape arrived. Harry spoke first. "Professor. The ring. It had a curse attached that infects the wearer. She's dying. I...I need help,"
Snape examined Eleven for a moment. Gauging just how bad the curse was. He sighed. "This girl is lucky that she possesses abilities such as our own. A normal muggle would have been killed instantly by the curse. However, seeing as she possesses no magic, the infection is spreading much quicker than it would within a witch. For any three of us -" Snape motioned between himself, Harry, and Dumbledore. "- the curse would take anywhere from say; nine months to a year to spread. For her? I would say...anywhere from a month to four,"
Harry slunk down into a seat. Eleven fell onto his lap as he tried to think. It was progressively more difficult. Snape pulled Eleven off of him, laying her down on the table as he began to run diagnostic spells to try to find a way to remove it or stop the curse from spreading. Harry felt a heavyweight pull on his chest. It was all his fault. All his fault. All his fault. All my fault. I should have been more careful. More cautious. More vigilant. Harry was sweating profusely now, his shirt wet. He couldn't breathe. He felt like he was going to have a panic attack. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to go well. Without much problems. All he had to do was get the ring, destroy the Horcrux, and keep the Resurrection Stone. Simple as that. Simple. Simple. Simple.
"Harry. You cannot blame yourself," Dumbledore spoke, resting his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry shot to his feet, pulling away from the older man.
"It is my fault. I should have been more careful. All my fault. All my fault. All my fault," Harry whispered. His eyes fell on Eleven, who seemed ready to pass out. Harry wanted to pass out. In all the stressful situations he'd ever had in his life, he wasn't prepared for this. This felt awful. She was going to die because of him. She would be gone from the world because he wasn't careful. Careful. Cautious. Vigilant. Careful. Cautious. Vigilant. "Careful. Cautious. Vigilant," Harry whispered. He repeated the words, trying to calm himself down. But nothing worked.
"Potter!" Snape shouted. Harry snapped back at once, turning to the professor.
"What?!" He shouted back.
"The ring? Were you successful in retrieving it?" Dumbledore asked. Harry stared at the old man. That was what he was worried about? Eleven was dying and Dumbledore could only think about the stupid ring? Harry turned from the old man and moved to stand at El's side. He took her hand in his, gently placing his other hand on her forehead. "Don't worry...I'm going to fix this. I'm going to. I'm going to destroy that ring. I'm going to go to the Hive Queen. She...she'll have answers. She understands the soul better than anyone. If someone can help me fix you it's her," Harry explained. The weight only increased in his chest. He wanted to scream. But he restrained himself, taking a deep breath. "I'll call Hopper. And Joyce. And Mike too. I'm sorry. About kicking him out the way I did. I just..." Harry couldn't speak anymore. He bent down and placed a kiss on her burning forehead, and disappeared in a cloud of mist, leaving Dumbledore and Snape to carry Eleven to the hospital wing. There, Madam Pomfrey would be able to help.
Nancy Wheeler sat in her bed at home, carefully looking over a postcard sent to her by Johnathan. He hadn't gone anywhere but had decided to send her a postcard anyway. One with a poem written on the back. It was sweet. She had read it almost ten times and now held it against her chest as she looked up at the ceiling. She was thinking of him. His smile. His hair. His jacket. How kind he was. His passion in the art of photography. She loved him. And while she certainly wouldn't tell him that in fear of complete embarrassment, Nancy felt she was justified to tell the simple fact to herself. And so she did almost every night. She silently told herself that she loved him, so she would never forget.
"Nancy,"
She screamed in surprise, springing up from her lying position to find Harry in her room. Harry Potter. In her room. "How did you get in my room?" Nancy asked. But then she watched him. He was sweating. Sweating so much that she thought for a second someone had poured water on him. And his face. He was so distraught yet concentrated that Nancy knew something had happened. Was it Voldemort? Had he returned early? Or had something happened to his girlfriend Daphne? "What happened?" She asked, taking one of his hands as she guided him to sit on the bed. She would have to wash the sheets later though, seeing as he was sweating everywhere.
"It's Eleven. I...she...we..."
"You slept with Eleven? Did Mike find out?" Nancy asked, beginning to panic. Mike was so deeply in love with Eleven that if anything like that happened, he would probably die of pure sadness. And it didn't help that Mike was more than a little jealous of Harry and Eleven's friendship.
"What? No!" Harry exclaimed, annoyed. "We...we went to the shack. To get the Horcrux. She touched it,"
"So?"
"So she's dying!" Harry shouted. He was clearly out of breath, and not at all angry with her. He was projecting. Nancy's breath hitched at those words. Dying? As in...completely dead? No. She had lost both Harry and Eleven at least once before, Harry twice. Eleven couldn't die for real. No. If Eleven cheating would kill Mike of sadness then her dying might lead to Mike killing himself. Harry continued. "The ring. It had a curse. It draws people in to touch it and kills anyone that does. I was using my occlumency. Trying to kill the temptations. In the second I wasn't looking, she'd grabbed it. I didn't even think. I knew her occlumency shields weren't up to speed. I knew. And I still...I wasn't..." He droned off, mumbling words to himself. She only caught a couple. Careful, cautious, vigilant.
"Harry. It's not -"
"It was my fault!" He was shouting again. Yet no one was coming to investigate. Then she remembered. Magic. Nancy assumed there was a spell to keep people from hearing your conversations. "She was...I was supposed to protect her! It was my job to protect her! I failed. I failed. I failed," He whispered. Nancy was becoming increasingly worried. Harry wasn't talking like himself. The logical and fearless boy she had met wasn't in front of her. This older boy was frightened. Guilt-ridden. He was mumbling, coming across as somewhat crazy. Nancy wanted to reach out. To offer help. But what could she do? She wasn't magical. She didn't have powers like Harry and El. She was just normal. A normal girl surrounded by strange children and irresponsible adults. "You need to help me," Harry whispered.
"How?"
"I trust you, Nancy," Harry answered, grabbing her hands in his. She didn't resist and gripped his hands tighter. "You understand me. More than any of the others. Even Hopper and El. That understanding. That respect that we have for each other. I need that right now. I need the connection,"
"For...what?" Nancy asked, confused but determined.
"To reach her. The Hive Queen. She's out there. But I can't feel her like I can with you, El, or Daphne. If I wanted, I could track any of you through the connection. I can see and feel the links. But I can barely see hers. I can never feel it. I need to feel it. To feel her. To see her. To be with her. I need your help," Harry explained. His grip on her hands had loosened, as if ready for rejection.
But Nancy was prepared to help him. "What do I do? How do I help?"
"Close your eyes. Imagine me. Try to picture me as clearly as you can," Harry instructed. Nancy nodded, closing her eyes as she tried to picture Harry. She thought of him the day he had slain those dragons, picturing him as he flew high above Hogwarts. It was beautiful to watch how easily he flew. She felt envious of his ability to do that. "Now, picture the two of us. Doing anything together. Watching movies. Playing a game. Anything. We're happy. We're together. We're stronger together than we are apart," He continued. Nancy did so. She pictured the two of them together at a park. They played games together. Saw a movie. They played go-carts. Ate ice cream on a bench. They laughed. They smiled together. And when they parted ways they were still happy, but not as happy. They were happier together. "Keep thinking. It's working," Harry whispered.
Nancy continued. She pictured the two of them doing everything that Hawkins offered. Roller-skating. Biking. Drag-racing. Arcades. The movies. The small mall south of town. She pictured the two of them doing everything. And then she began to feel it. A small breeze in the air. It hit her spine, and Nancy couldn't help but shiver. She opened her eyes and gasped. A ring of yellow light had surrounded the two of them and was radiating around them. Harry's skin was covered in a yellow mist, and so was Nancy's. It was...beautiful. It was magic. "What...is this?" Nancy asked.
"A bond. A magical bond. Formed between us," Harry answered.
"Magical bond? Like...yours and Daphne's?"
"There are many types of bond. One's like Daphne and I's. But there are others. Ours is a bond of pure friendship. Your thoughts were pure. We love each other like brother and sister," Harry explained. Nancy grinned and leaned forward to pull Harry into a hug. He was no longer sweating. He was completely clean. Harry returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her waist as he smiled. After a minute, he whispered into her ear. "I love you, Nancy. Thank you," And with that, he disappeared. Nancy fell forward, catching herself on her bed. When she sat up, she realized her door was open. Both Mike and Johnathan were standing there. Johnathan looked hurt and Mike was confused. But Nancy couldn't help but not smile. She had another brother.
