Sorry this is a day later, I completely forgot!
Happy May Day – and Beltain to those that celebrate.
Hope this is adequate!
Chapter 7: Beyond the Veil
Kathryn gave a sigh and stared into the fire for a moment.
"Before I answer that, exactly how much do you know about the past?"
"We know that you fell into a coma when you were eleven and woke up five years later." Hermione began. "You were officially counted as the first victim of Voldemort's rise to power. You call your grandmother Avia and something that is tied to your family was 'revealed' today. You had visions of the future – specifically Harry's – during the coma in the form of fictional stories. As such, you know most of what has happened to Harry over the past five years. You have had other visions as well. You were kidnapped by Voldemort with Sirius one time. You seem to have some ability with fire that your daughter inherited. You're married to Sirius. You have several siblings – you rival the Weasleys for size. Umm…"
"You've got a mean right hook." Harry told her, raising a brow. "You left something with Petunia and demanded it back – a box of some sort. You were practising the 'hiding in plain sight' theory. You were a best friend of my parents, and obviously Sirius' wife. You pulled some pranks on Petunia, which she classes as evil." He suddenly shot a look at his mother. "Are you aware that she's a few knives short of an arsenal?"
"Always has been." Lily sighed.
"Interesting metaphor." Remus observed.
"Comes from spending the summer with Moody." Harry turned his attention back to his godmother. "I know that you're my godmother – and Neville's? You can shape-shift, practice self-transfiguration and you can cast illusions that even Tonks couldn't see through…"
"In other words, you've spent the summer trying to gather as much intelligence as possible since you saw me at the Dursleys." Kathryn finished.
Harry nodded. "Pretty much. Having Paul around helped."
"Good boy." James grinned.
"James, your son was practically spying to get the information." Kathryn complained.
"Kathryn, you turned up at his home and punched his uncle. Though from what I know of Vernon Dursley, Harry probably wanted to thank you."
"Oh yeah. The look on his face made up for the cupboard." Harry grinned.
"Cupboard?" Lily questioned, her voice urgent.
"Um, nothing." Harry looked down.
"What cupboard?" James demanded.
"Harry, did I ever mention that the Potter tendency towards bad tempers comes from the fact that they all inherit their redheaded mothers'?" Sirius asked, edging away from his friend slightly. "And you inherited both James and Lily's tempers?"
Kathryn blanched slightly. "Holy… I didn't know it was that bad."
Ginny sniggered. "Harry could give Mrs Black a run for her mother."
"Hey!" Kathryn protested.
"Your mother-in-law."
"Oh. That damned portrait?" Kathryn asked. "She's still there?"
"Oh yeah." Moody stated. "Can't get the damn thing off."
"We need to do something about her." Kathryn told her husband authoritively. "Maybe I should just set fire to her."
"My pleasure." Sirius grinned wolfishly. "Shame you didn't do it when she was alive."
"If I didn't know you, I'd think you were a sadist." James informed him.
"But since you do know him…" Harry began.
"You know he is." Ginny finished.
"You're finishing each other's sentences." Remus gaped. "That is not a good sign."
"Why?"
"Well, other than the fact that it was a major signal of both Kat and Sirius, and James and Lily getting together…"
Harry turned slightly pale. "Why is everyone comparing us to my parents?"
James shook his head. "Don't worry. It happened to me too, just a bit less. Until we got into the Auror Squad."
"No, then you were just Harold Potter's pest." Lily grinned.
"I love you too, Lily." James grumbled.
"I know."
"Anyway, if we can get back on track?" Kathryn asked. Her friends just smirked.
"What happened?" Harry asked again.
"I'll give a brief explanation to start with. My coma included a long-term vision, through the medium of books, of the past five years – roughly, I suspect there are a few small differences. I knew that I would have to enforce that future – Fate has a nasty way of catching up on you if you disobey her.
"When I woke up, I met the others, and we became friends. The boys were the Marauders, and we girls were known as Enchanted. Shortly into the term, James, Lily, Sirius and I discovered that we had some unusual abilities… we found that we were – are – the Elemental Guardians."
"Really?" Hermione asked, eyes wide. "There's been only a few recordings – they're thought to be pure myth."
"Oh no, the powers were real enough. Along with a power over an element, we developed certain wandless abilities – certain spells we could do wandlessly, teleportation, telekinesis, molecular stasis and combustion, shape-shifting, group telepathy, empathy, and suchlike. Just before that Christmas, we received a box from a shopkeeper with four jewels. The jewels signify our life-forces and tie us to this realm until all four of us die. If we died a violent death, or a death of unnatural causes, we could be resurrected as long as there was at least one of us still alive."
"You." Harry stated.
"Me. The four of us – along with Frank and Alice – got into Auror training, though Lily and James fled and trained abroad for two years after being tricked by Voldemort on the night Sirius and I were betrothed." She shot a glare at her friends. "Ruined our announcement, that did. Voldemort began attacking more and more often, and even after they returned, it was little eased by two more Aurors. However, then the vigilantes known as the Elementals appeared. Our alter-egos when our abilities took us fully over. Fire Star, Wind Flower, Water Stag and Diamond Earth. We sensed the danger and the elementals sent us to help others. We got married the summer following Bloody Summer."
The adults and wizard-raised shuddered.
"Bloody Summer?" Harry enquired.
"1985." Ron replied. "Regarded as very nearly the most brutal period of Voldemort's rise. Mum had just had the twins. She got caught in the Hogsmeade attack that Hallowe'en."
Kathryn nodded. "That summer hosted the most attacks, the most kidnappings, the most danger. But it was by no means the worst." Her eyes clouded. "In 1986, Jack and Radella were kidnapped. Jack was tortured by seeing Radella turned into a werewolf and trapped within those memories and his own mind by the Cruciatus. Radella escaped with him the next day. She had been covered with some strange spell that did not allow us to detect her lycanthropy. The following full moon, again while Remus was out of commission, she was kidnapped, along with Sirius and myself. Radella was tortured with Cruciatus during her first transformation. She lost her mind." Kathryn sighed. "Sirius and I were tortured for information and for fun. They wanted my visions…"
"And so she gave them a prophecy." Sirius recalled. "What was it?"
"Oh, some made up thing due to a rather unimportant vision. I just jazzed it up a bit." Kathryn shrugged. "I don't really recall, everything's jumbled and blurred from then…"
"Probably a good thing." James told them. "Neither of you was in a good state when we got you."
They both shuddered.
"Anyway, the following Hallowe'en marked no attacks from Voldemort, so we celebrated. Nine months later, Neville, Harry and Selene appeared…"
"Mum!" Selene whined. "I did not need to hear about 'celebrations'."
Kathryn grinned wickedly. "Why not? After all, you and Orion didn't exactly get dropped off by the stork…"
"Leave us with our delusions… Please?" Orion begged.
"Very well. My parents were killed a month or so later, and I sealed up Magic's Haven. Hmm, I think that may have unsealed automatically…"
"We felt it. It's in the process of." Paul responded. "It's taking it's time. You better hope Avia's still alive."
Kathryn winced. "Thank Circe for magic, eh?" She laughed nervously. "Anyway, it was for its protection. Jack's sane now, and going to marry Poppy soon – probably this twenty-first – so he can have lots of heirs and we don't need top worry about it."
"Kathryn!" Jack blushed scarlet.
"Aww, I didn't know I could still get my big brother to blush." Kat smirked.
"Get on with the story." He growled.
"Touchy. Well, the next year was dreadful. The Order was being targeted. We lost the McKinnons, the Prewetts, the Bones…" She sighed. "Still, the Prewetts took out five before they died, and tough ones at that." She smiled at Molly. "I know it's hard, but it is good to see their nephews fighting for them and their family." Molly nodded. "That Hallowe'en it all happened. Pettigrew squealed, Voldemort killed Lily and James and got vaporised by Harry, Sirius went to check on them, and I took Selene and left. I hated that…" She looked down, sorrowfully. "Sirius tracked down Peter, Peter betrayed him further and escaped, and I checked on Harry and made sure that the Elemental Jewels stayed under the blood wards, protected by those who hated the magic they held.
"Over the next fourteen years we survived. I had Peppy to help, and I gave birth within that circle of standing stones near Magic's Haven – I made the mistake of taking a walk. A young woman helped me – Anne Black."
"Black?" Harry asked.
"Coincidence. Anyway, she travelled with me, as the children's aunt – we claimed she was my sister-in-law. I used the name Black most of the time. After all, if you had betrayed me, I'd use any name but. There's so many spellings of Kathryn, it was easy enough to pick a new version. I travelled searching for the Elemental Temples, searching for the rites to bring them back."
"What about Sirius?" Harry demanded.
"I couldn't do anything. Don't you see, Harry? I was forced to maintain a timeline I hated. But it was the only way to ensure Voldemort did not win." She sighed.
"And the Department of Mysteries?"
"That was this summer. I robbed Lily and James' graves – sorry about that, guys – because I needed a physical anchor for their spirits. I left a pensieve with memories to clear Sirius in the DMLE, and headed into the Department of Mysteries. I had been attached to them as an Auror owing to my visions - particularly involved in the prophecy department and general security. My retina scan still got me in - dreadful that is, the department broken in to twice in as many months.
"Once there, I headed to the Veil Room for the ritual."
"And…"
Kathryn cast her mind back to that fateful night and began to speak.
XXXXX Flashback XXXXX
Breaking into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to plant the pensieve had been painfully easy – was that what the Aurors had come to in fifteen years of peace? She remembered when they had been the elite, topped only by the little-known Department of Magical Intelligence, hidden by the Department of Mysteries.
She was equally shocked to realise that they had not updated the protections on the Department of Mysteries either, despite the summers' earlier break-ins and the news of an Unspeakable spy in Augustus Rookwood.
She submitted to the vocal and retina scans and was easily cleared.
"Welcome to the Department of Mysteries, Unspeakable-Auror Black. Please state your destination."
She entered and spoke clearly. "The Death Chamber."
The chamber spun, and a single door opened. Stealing her breath, Kathryn Black entered the Death Chamber, with the Veil of Death. She recalled news of it being used as an execution device and swallowed bile at the thought that her husband had gone through. She flicked her wand at the door, locking and silencing it.
Silently, she incanted a spell, and two bodies appearing, swathed in black. Lily and James Potter appeared to be sleeping, and, as Elemental Guardians, they essentially were. Their souls could not pass on, and therefore the tiniest connection remained to their bodies. Bodies that were in as perfect condition now as the moment they died. The faces reminded Kathryn how they had died – James' face in fury and fear, Lily's in anguish and sorrow. She tore her gaze away from her friends' corpses and focussed her wand on the Veil, ignoring the voices calling out to her to free them.
"Accio Sirius Black's body." Kathryn incanted, pointing her wand directly through the Veil.
Seconds later, the heavy – but still shockingly thin – body of her husband crashed into her, completely lifeless. She fell under the weight, and sat up, caressing his cheek for a moment. She set her shoulders in a resolute posture and dragged Sirius' body towards those of Lily and James. Then she arranged the bodies. Sirius' to north, Lily's to east, James' to west.
She took two tiny boxes from her pocket and walked over to a workbench, her heels clopping eerily on the stone. Two taps of her wand returned the boxes to their normal size, and she drew breath slowly again to calm her raging nerves.
Tonight she was going to defy Voldemort and fulfil prophecy.
Tonight she was going to raise the dead.
The first box was of a dark, hard wood, decorated with Celtic knotwork and a golden lock. Kathryn drew her necklace from her neck and slid off a gold key, unlocking the box, then returned both to her neck. She flipped open the lid.
Inside the box sat four large jewels on smooth, shining satin. Three glowed with an unnatural light – her friends' life-forces. Only the ruby – her own jewel – remained dark.
However, there was a change. There were six more jewels inside, smaller, stranger, at each side of the box. A blood-red garnet, a rose quartz, a tiger's eye on one side. Opposite, amber, carnelian, and haematite. Her hand hovered over them, confused, curious, but she pushed that feeling aside.
She had a job to do.
She took the emerald, sapphire and diamond from the box and placed each on the chests of Lily, James and Sirius respectively. Then she opened the second box.
Three bowls were removed. A bowl of earth went north, above Sirius' body. A bowl of burning incense, for air, was placed to the east, beside Lily. A bowl of water sat beside James, in the west.
Kathryn next pulled out two bags of herbs and a bottle of oil. She took the first and tore off one corner to allow a trickle of the green leaves pour through as she walked in a circle.
"Anemone for health, protection, healing." She incanted with the first herb, closing the circle. She took the next. "Arabic gum, to purify the negative magic and evil." And the last, the oil. "Peppermint. To purify us, to let us love, to heal us. To reconnect our minds, to awaken them from their sleep."
She returned to her work bench, and removed the ruby from the box, then a crimson bowl holding oil. She placed the oil inside the circle, to the south. Finally she removed a decorated, old knife – some would term it an athame – and transformed her black clothing into light, crimson robes. Barefoot, her hair loose, she stepped over the circle, holding the ruby in her hands, and sat cross-legged before the rest of the circle. This ritual had its basis in many cultures, but the Celtic druids had held many elements close.
"Earth, Guardian of the North, I beseech thy help to save thy son." She incanted. A flash of white magic passed around the circle.
"Air, Warden of the East, I solicit thy aid to save thy daughter." She murmured. This time, there was a flash of emerald green magic in the circle of herbs and oil.
"Water, Custodian of the West, I request thy assistance to save thy son." She spoke, the magic flashing sapphire blue.
With a wave of her hand she lit the oil in the bowl before her. "Fire, Protector of the South, thy daughter begs your support to save thy siblings' children."
A moment passed.
Then crimson magic flared and a dome of all four colours formed over the circle. Kathryn's eyes burned with crimson fire as she stared at the Veil of Death directly opposite her.
"Death, I call thee, come and attend the Guardian of Fire!" She commanded.
Seconds later, a white-garbed female holding a lit candle stepped out of the Veil of Death.
"Who are you?" Death requested, her voice terrible, but bright. "My master is curious as to why one would call someone back from the Veil when so many have been willingly placed through."
"I make an offering of blood." Kathryn spoke, slashing her palm with the athame. "In order to request the return of my companions' souls to their bodies. Their souls are held in limbo – they are unable to go either way. I beg of you, as the rituals have stated, as magic herself has declared it so, permit them to return and live their lives once more."
"Why should my master and I permit this?"
"Because many have passed into your realm before it is time, due to the evils of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort. By returning the souls to their bodies, as you pledged long ago, we hope to restore balance and end the war on even terms."
"You will kill your enemies?"
"In war, one has no choice. But by no means will we kill willingly. Prophecy has stated their return. Magic has stated their return. I beg for their return. They will save their son and teach him."
"He is not the only one to need teaching. For the successors come, once more, from their predecessors." Death murmured, her dark eyes far away. "You protected the world as you could, protected the lines, protected them. But it is they who must fight this war. It is they who will change the course of the world forever, one way or another."
Death fell silent and Kathryn dared not press the goddess. That was what Death was. A goddess, but a servant to the Lord of the Underworld, Hades and his queen, Persephone. Of course, they had many names, many different beliefs but they were essentially the same.
"My master permits it. But you must set your spirit free to retrieve them." Death warned her. "Do not pass one hour, for once that time is broken, you remain in the Underworld and your body dies."
"I am willing to take that risk."
"I know."
Kathryn felt a tug, and found herself standing before her now-prone body.
"Follow, if you wish to retrieve them."
Kathryn obeyed, and her spirit entered the Veil behind Death. As they passed through, the candle in the goddess's hand disappeared, exchanged for a scythe. Kathryn's eyebrows rose. Were they both tools of separating the soul from the body?
They passed through idyllic villa-dotted countryside, flaming pits of pain and torment, crystalline pools of calm tranquillity, shadowy fields of wandering souls, the screams of evil, the laughter of good. Finally, they approached a locked door. Death waved a hand and the door opened.
The occupants turned away from a pool that was the only feature of the rough, stone cave, to gaze at the visitors. Their eyes widened as she entered.
"No…" The redheaded woman – Lily – murmured. "Kat, you're not dead! You can't be!"
"No, I'm not. I'm here to return you to life."
"Is that possible?" James asked. "We could meet Harry?"
"It is. It is what I've been searching for all these years." She noted that Sirius would not meet her eyes and sighed. She could hardly expect him to just forgive her, or even understand. She turned to Death. "And now?"
Death smirked. "Now you play Orpheus."
Kat rolled her eyes. "Oldest trick in the book. Because human curiosity is too strong not to check. But I will do it."
"I have no doubt." Death smiled, and opened the door, waving Kathryn out. She looked at the other three Elemental Guardians. "Follow her for the chance to live life once more."
They did so.
The temptation to look back to make sure her friends had followed was unbearable, but she had faith in them. They would follow.
They had to.
It seemed like seconds before she found herself walking out of the Veil and back into the Death Chamber.
She smiled, swallowed and stepped back into her body.
Her eyes snapped open and launched her body up. The dome of light had disappeared and her friends' bodies all lay still. For a second she was terrified that they had not followed…
Gasp!
Sirius drew in breath sharply, his eyes snapping open much as Kat's had done. He blinked several times, breathing deeply. Then he sat up.
He was still dressed in the torn clothes from the fight at the battle of the Department of Mysteries. Harry! Was he…? No, he shut his eyes and remembered. He had seen Harry. Seen him grieve, seen him training with Moody.
Then he turned his head to gaze at his wife.
With an unseen move, Kathryn was suddenly by his side, hugging him desperately, crying and babbling incoherently, smoothing her hands over his bearded face. But he deciphered a few words.
"I'm so sorry… I love you…"
And then nothing she had done – nothing he had done – mattered. He kissed her with all the passion of a husband who had just come home from war, and in many ways he was.
She accepted the kiss, but sneezed as he broke it. He stared at her. She called her wand to her, and cast a charm. Instantly, he was clean-shaven.
"Much better."
They had another kiss, that literally heated the air around them, literally had the Earth move as their elements manifested.
Then they heard coughing. Lily and James had awoken and were both coughing furiously.
"The fire may have had some posthumous damage on their lungs." Kathryn suggested, and began to cast healing spells.
Then she collected each of the fallen jewels, now just normal, albeit large, jewels. She returned them to her box, and scuffed out the circle, murmuring quietly, "Thank you, elements."
Replacing the tools she had used for the ritual in her boxes and shrinking them, she snapped her fingers, the robes reforming back into her black stealth clothes. She turned to her friends and they nodded. Their clothes instantly became black and more practical for an escape, though wool and cotton, rather than her leather trousers.
"Kat, how can we…?" James began.
"Hush. You've saved my life, all of you." She grinned. "I'm just returning the favour." She removed the spells from the door and scattered the signs of her ritual. "Now, quiet as we leave. We don't want to leave any further traces."
"Why not?"
"We have some things to do before we can officially return to the wizarding world."
They didn't question her as they left. They were silent until they got to the end of the Department.
And then Kat tripped a ward.
"Shit!" She exclaimed. "Run! Apparate to our house!"
The four scattered as they avoided Aurors pouring into the floor, and Apparated as they hit the Atrium.
Escaped to the house Kat and Sirius had lived in during the war, they were surprised to see it clean.
"What the…"
"Peppy cleaned." Kat replied. She sighed. "I guess I have some explaining to do…"
XXXXX End Flashback XXXXX
"Damn right she did." Sirius snorted as Kat closed her tale.
"Oh, shut up, you." Kat replied, and sighed. "If I hadn't gone and preserved that future, Magic herself would have attacked me and removed me forcibly from the picture. Probably via another coma, and I wasn't going to risk Selene going to your mother. She'd have attacked the twins to get her if she had to." Kathryn shuddered.
"Yes, well, we all know my mother was a crazy old bat who spent too much time considering the purity of her blood and not enough time washing." Sirius sighed. "So, any questions?"
"Where did you find the ritual?" Hermione asked.
"Temple in the Amazon that only appears once in a while. And then I had to find the rest of the ritual and legends regarding the Elemental Guardians. It was hard work. Thank God for Anne as well as Peppy…"
"Anne?" Sirius asked.
"I mentioned her before, remember? She's who the kids were staying with this summer. Anne Black – well, she's Anne Oakley now." She sniggered. "Her last name was a godsend. She stayed with us, and acted as the kids' aunt, she's Orion's godmother. We claimed she was your sister."
"You have a picture?" Sirius asked.
Kathryn dug out her purse and showed a picture taken in a Muggle photobooth.
Long dark hair and distinctive grey eyes. Sirius snorted. "I always thought my father didn't mind certain aspects of Muggles. Namely their females."
"What?"
"I'm almost positive we're related. We could do a parentis spell when you take me to meet her, if you like. Father stopped shagging Mother when he had 'an heir and a spare'. He found other females to entertain him."
"I didn't need to know that." James shuddered.
The children nodded.
"What about my parents?" Neville asked. "How did you return their sanity?"
"Well…" Lily began.
XXXXX Flashback XXXXX
"Who are you here to see?" The friendly nurse at the entrance to the Janus Thickney Ward smiled at the four strangers.
"Our friends." Lily responded, making careful eye contact, carefully sinking into the woman's mind, planting the suggestions necessary that she could trigger as they left.
"Sorry, I'll need names."
"My husband and I are here to Jack Orenda and Radella Leigh." Kathryn replied smoothly. None of the four could be recognised due to Kathryn's glamours, their only identifying feature being the eyes no amount of magic seemed able to disguise.
"We're here to see the Longbottoms." James continued, his voice wan.
"You knew them?"
"We were friends and colleagues. We've been away for a while…"
"Well, that's fine. If you'll just pass the security gate? After last year, we're taking no risks."
"What happened?"
"Disguised Devil's Snare killed a patient."
"I read about that, Bode, wasn't it?" Kathryn asked, a casual flick of her wrist tricking the security gate.
"I think so, I was down on the Maternity Ward." The woman shrugged.
"Okay, if you'll just sign your names in the visitors' book, you're free to enter."
They obeyed with smirks.
Mr and Mrs I M Sore was given by Sirius.
Lord and Lady Blight was James' contribution.
The women rolled their eyes as they entered the ward.
"Honestly, how old are you?" Lily demanded as they walked in.
"I've been dead for fifteen years, I have to get my kicks somehow." James replied.
"I'd say coming back from the dead is a pretty big prank." Kat smirked. "Can you imagine Snivellus' reaction?"
"Kat, you shouldn't…"
"I have every right to antagonise the bastard, Lily." Kathryn snapped back. "What he did to me… to Sirius…"
Sirius looked at her sharply. "You know? You remember?"
"Visions can be handy. I've managed to get a portion of my original childhood back, like I told you. I also uncovered memories my mind had locked away." Kathryn explained. "Let's just say I have perfect blackmail material. He can't claim he was spying then. He said he wasn't in court. Hell, he wasn't even a Death Eater."
"Can we concentrate on the mission, please?" James asked.
"Okay. Kat and I'll take Jack and 'Della. You get Frank and Alice." Sirius ordered.
"And make sure it's quiet. We don't want anyone to think this is a Death Eater attack. We have no casualties, and as few manipulated memories as possible." Kat reminded them. "You placed the triggers in her head?" She asked Lily.
"Yep. It's like riding a bike. We're just going to have a lot of fun freeing them from their own minds." She grimaced.
"Come on. Hospitals give me the creeps." Kat shuddered, remembering her five years there.
Lily and James headed into the main ward-room, looking for the alcove where Frank and Alice lay.
When they arrived, it was all they could do not to cry out.
Their strong, vibrant, funny friends were painfully thin. Frank's hair was entirely white and thinning, Alice's greying at too early an age. Their skin was pale and wan from too little time in the sun, their muscles thin and weak from disuse.
"Oh God, James." Lily whispered.
"Hush." James ordered, but his eyes held the same pain. He scanned around, no one was looking at them. "We'll have them right soon, Lils, I promise." He whispered into her hair, drawing her close. "Got the 'keys?"
Lily withdrew two pieces of green silk in the shape of ivy leaves. She stuck each one to the frame of the Longbottoms' beds. Quickly, she took down all of the personal touches, placing them on the beds. They would be transported to an empty room in their current base of operations.
"Freedom." Lily whispered and the beds disappeared with their occupants.
They met Kat and Sirius in the corridor.
"You're done?" Kat asked, her voice raw with emotion.
"Yeah. You?" James checked.
"Done. We've got to go. Gonna do your thing, Medea?" Sirius asked.
Lily nodded as they walked towards the exit.
"Did you have a good visit?" The nurse asked.
Kat gave a non-committal nod, aimed not at the nurse, but Lily. Lily nodded back and placed a hand on the nurse's arm.
"Thank you for being so helpful." Lily murmured.
The nurse turned to smile at her. "Well, I'm just doing my j…" Her voice trailed away as Lily's eyes swirled with power, and the woman's mind seemed to sink into them. She fell and Kat placed her in her seat.
"She'll be discovered soon." Sirius noted. "What's she going to remember?"
"Nothing but 'sinking into ocean pools', and four unidentifiable figures." Lily replied. "Gotta leave a mark."
Kathryn grinned and her fingers sprouted fire. "Individual?"
"Of course."
The door to the Janus Thickney Ward held four markings, those of four vigilantes. Fire Star, Earth Diamond, Wind Flower and Water Stag.
A few minutes later, the four reappeared in James and Lily's home, James' ancestral home, Griffin's Roost, in Scotland.
"So what now?" Kathryn asked.
"Hate to say it, but the Longbottoms first. They've been incapacitated the shortest time, so it's safest to try the spell on them first. You're sure…"
"No I'm not. But I trust you, Lily. They trust you. Neville would trust you, for all that all he knows of you is that you died saving one of his friends and schoolmates." Kathryn assured her.
James took up the words. "You're Evans. You're Lily Potter. You're the Wind Flower and the Air Elemental Guardian. You're Harry Potter's mother, James Potter's wife, the Marauders' Medea, the Enchanted's Charm. You will succeed."
Lily smiled at her husband and kissed him softly. "Thank you. I'll take Alice first, I knew her better, for all I partnered Frank."
They nodded.
"I'll get him, you set up in the Ritual Room." James told her.
"You've got supplies?" Lily asked Kathryn.
"What herbs and potions I could find. I didn't know what to use."
"Doesn't matter. As long as they have the right properties…" She mused and nodded. "We'll create a circle, like the one you did to resurrect us. I'll head the spell. That way I can draw on you if I need to, and I'll be able to do more in the time. Radella will need a night of her own then. The fracturing of her mind owing to the werewolf half… it will take more time to find 'Radella'."
Kathryn nodded as they entered the room.
On a bench was placed what she had used and what supplies she had.
"Comfrey?"
"Safety during travel – for you and them." Kat replied. "I figured it might help you find them, and guide them safely out."
Lily nodded. "That's good. I wouldn't have considered that. Fennel?"
"Protection, healing, purification. They'll need all three, because we'll have to purify any remnants of the spell on them."
Another nod. "Rosemary?"
"For remembrance." Kat chuckled. "And a whole host of other things. It's a good all-round herb. Includes healing, exorcism and mental powers."
"Excellent. And the remembrance should help brilliantly." Lily nodded.
Carefully, she trailed the herbs in a large circle, and she and Kathryn set up the bowls holding the symbols of the elements at each of the compass points, much as Kathryn had a few nights before.
As each of the Elemental Guardians sat down at their compass point, Lily took in several deep breaths to calm her nerves and cleanse herself.
I will do this, she thought. I have to.
She nodded to Sirius.
"Earth, Guardian of the North, thy son begs thy help to save his friends." Sirius incanted, placing a hand over the bowl of soil and his jewel and watching them glow.
"Water, Custodian of the West, thy son requests thy aid to save his friends." James murmured, a glow arising from the bowl of water and the brilliant sapphire.
"Fire, Protect of the South, thy daughter beseeches thy assistance to save her friends." Kat incanted, a fire springing from the bowl and ruby.
"Air, Warden of the East, thy daughter begs thy support to save her friends. Strengthen my powers and my will and allow me into the mind of Alice Longbottom, Auror, friend, wife and mother!"
A flash of light.
"Comfrey, for the safety of travellers." Lily incanted, and a green light shone through the circle of leaves. "Fennel, for protection, purification and healing." Another flash of green. "Rosemary, for remembrance. For healing, for the strengthening of mental powers." A final flash of green magic. "Aid me and strengthen me, allow me to save my friends!"
"Daughter, your request is granted." The air seemed to sing in Lily's ears.
She didn't see her friends and husband collapse to the ground as ruby, sapphire and diamond light flowed into her body, fortifying her for the magic ahead. She didn't notice herself stand and approach the bed Alice lay upon. She only felt her fingertips press against Alice's temples, and suddenly she was gone from the room…
"Alice?" Lily called, staring around her. She was on an empty, dusty plain. A few trees were left in the scrub, and Lily knew that these were the few memories that had not been packed away.
"Alice, where are you?" Lily yelled as she began to walk through the emptiness that had become her friend's mind.
She seemed to have walked for hours, and she was beginning to understand why the plain was there.
A defence mechanism, she realised. She locked her mind away to avoid more damage, to hide from the pain.
Finally she came across something different. A circle of mountains, nearly impenetrable.
"So this is where you're hiding." Lily observed.
She circled the mountains, searching for a gap, until finally she gave up and gathered what power she could.
"Air, give me strength." She whispered and manipulated the air currents.
She flew over the mountain-tops, then down. Lily stumbled as she landed, unable to believe what was hidden inside the fortress.
A paradise. A garden paradise. Green of every shade, flowers blooming everywhere, a crystalline waterfall pouring from a mountainside into a pool and river.
This was Alice's inner mind. A garden of hope and happiness. And she knew she would find Alice attending it, dressed in old, earth-coloured robes and a stained apron, her feet bare, her wand put through her long hair to tie it up.
And she was right. Alice was planting new flowers beside the pool beneath the waterfall.
"Alice?"
Alice whipped around, fear in her eyes, diminishing only slightly as she recognised the woman before her.
"Lily?" Alice frowned. The redhead looked completely wrong in the garden, dressed as she was in black leather. "Your outfit needs changing."
Lily found herself dressed in fitted emerald green robes of linen, her feet bare and her hair loose, with a wreath of flowers on her forehead.
"Alice, I'm not here for fashion advice." Lily warned her. Alice ignored her as she went back to planting. Lily grabbed her arm. "Alice, we need you!"
"I'm not leaving! I'm not going back to the pain!"
"Alice, there is none! You've been trapped in your own mind for over fourteen years! Your son is sixteen!"
Alice froze, staring at her. "Neville?"
Lily nodded. "Alice, Voldemort has returned. Neville needs you. He needs to see his true parents, not the shells he sees and loves anyway. He needs to learn from you, love you. He needs to love you for who you are, not just because you're his parents. You need to teach him. He wants to fight, he's going to have to fight. Bellatrix Lestrange…"
"She wasn't captured?"
"Oh she was. But Voldemort released them from Azkaban. Alice, Neville fought against her just a month and a half ago. She hit him with the Cruciatus, and he refused to break. He needs you now, more than ever. He needs to see the popular, well-loved Aurors everyone else sees, not the broken parents Augusta tells him to be proud of."
"I can't leave. My garden…"
"Is your mind. There is a wasteland out there, Alice." Lily gestured outside of the mountain, frustration in her voice. "A wasteland that is your empty mind. It protects you, but it entraps you. You must nurture that. It will be hard and brutal, but you will be the better for it."
"Frank…"
"I'm going to save him too."
"They threatened Neville, Lily…"
"And they will again. He, my Harry, the Weasleys…"
"Weasleys?"
"My Harry's best friend is their youngest son, and his best female friend is best friends with their daughter, Ginny. All are friends with Neville. And his female friend, Hermione, Kat says she's brilliant – and Muggle-born. You know how purebloods react to someone with such credentials."
"She's like you…"
Lily nodded. "Alice, they need your help. We all do."
Alice suddenly looked at her strangely. "Lily, you're dead."
Lily laughed. "Dead or not, I'm here to help you. And I am no longer. We'll explain if you come out."
"That's blackmail."
"Actually, I think it's extortion."
"Lily…"
"Take my hand, Alice. Take it and we'll nurture the wasteland."
Alice looked at her uncertainly. She didn't know what to do. Leave her safety and risk the horrors of war again? Stay safe and abandon her son and his friends? She couldn't abandon Neville. Not after she had already.
She gave a nod.
"Take me, Lily. Neville needs my help."
Lily smiled, tears in her eyes, and took Alice's hand. Slowly, they rose up into the air.
"Destroy the mountains, Alice." Lily ordered. "They trap you, box you in. Destroy the mountains and release your memory and yourself."
Alice nodded, pulled her wand from her hair and closed her eyes, summoning her magic and her courage. One last step. One last step and she would be free…
"REDUCTO!" Alice screamed at the mountains.
There was a tiny boom, then the mountains collapsed into dust. The garden seemed to bulge for a second, then the plants and life seemed to race out. The waterfall on a remaining mountain got larger and fuller, and several rivers ran from the pool to irrigate the land. Trees sprang up, vines and ivy clasping onto them. Grasses, shrubs, brilliant bushes of flowers appeared and life came to the wasteland.
Alice gasped as she felt the change, as she finally felt the truth.
"I'm so weak." She murmured.
"A few weeks of healing and training and you'll be back to normal. Then we'll work on fitness." Lily smiled. "Go on, I'll be waiting outside."
Alice opened her real eyes to see a smiling Lily looking down on her.
"Lils?"
"Yes, Alice."
Alice burst into tears, hugging her friend for dear life.
XXXXX End Flashback XXXXX
"Wow." Neville murmured. He looked at Lily. "Thank you, Mrs Potter."
Lily went crimson. "It was the least I could do. Alice helped drag me back from Greece, and Frank did the same to James in America."
"Yeah, how come you got to go to Greece anyway?" Kathryn suddenly looked indignant. "You got to go somewhere exotic, and we went to the cold half of the US!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "They figured that you'd be better at dragging James home. You always had this ability to guilt people into doing what you wanted."
Kathryn looked horrified. "I what? I don't guilt people!"
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yes you –"
"As fascinating as this infantile conversation is, we have better things to do that listen to you two argue each other into bed." Lily commented, inspecting her nails.
The kids pulled looks and Kat's brothers looked disgusted.
"Lily, don't say things like that." Joseph told her. "We still like to labour under the impression she's our little sister and she found her kids under a gooseberry bush."
"What do you mean 'labour under the impression I'm your little sister'?" Kat demanded. "I am your little sister. Not so little anymore, nor the littlest, but…"
"Just don't give us any impression that you know what sex is."
Harry went red. "Can we please change the subject? Adults aren't supposed to have sex lives."
"What?"
"Well, did you ever want to hear about your parents or godparents going at it?"
The adults stared at him, then shuddered.
"Lily, James, he definitely gained your ability to silence a room." Remus grinned.
"What about Rad– Mum?" Tala asked.
"You had more trouble?" Conall finished.
Lily nodded. "The wolf was extremely protective of her human side. I had to get past the wolf and an empty hospital complete with booby traps to find Radella." She sighed. "Jack had similar format to his mind – an empty hospital. Frank's was the Ministry, with him locked up in one of the DMLE cells."
"Our minds will be subconsciously structured around things we know and recognise…" Hermione began.
"Which is why Hermione's would be a library with millions of books for each piece of information she knows." Ron teased. "Ow!" Hermione had punched him in the arm.
"Technically, I think he was complimenting your intelligence, Hermione." Kat suggested.
Hermione blushed as Ron nodded.
"Oh."
Dumbledore looked at his watch. "Is that the time? Dear me. You had better get to bed. Such conversations can be continued over the coming days."
XXXXX
A/N:
Well? Good, bad? Any questions, just ask!
Chapter 1 of Dark Queen and White Knight is also going up, with a one-shot from that universe – Bloody Sands.
Please review!
Lol, Tanydwr