The Human Stain
By Anna Kate
To my girlfriend Zoë
Just for smiling
Chapter Nine- Somewhere Inbetween
The morning dawned bright and early… unfortunately. For Harry Potter, at least, as he slumbered peacefully on a large bed, one hand resting against the headboard above his head, the other rising up and down as it lay on his bare chest. It was hardly the ideal position, as he would wake up in a few minutes with a cramp in his arm from it being above his head for too long, and also the shock he would get when he woke up to find blond hair mingled with his own jet-black.
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Claudia had been stumbling around this dark place for the last god knows how long, and she was tired and hunger and she wanted her dad! Her tears had all ready run dry, making her face feel hard and stiff. Her hair had yet to go back to black and she was still wearing the ripped and torn white dress she had on when she came to this world, wherever it was. Her narrow, grey eyes were finding it hard to cope with the lack of light in this world as she kept running through the dark passage ways.
Stumbling upon the floor, Claudia was launched forward through the air and landed with an 'UMPH!' on the cold, hard floor. That was the last straw. Curling herself into a wall, Claudia began crying, letting out huge wailing sobs but shedding no tears.
She wanted to go home with her Dad, and, hell, even DRACO. She hated being here, it was cold, she was hungry and she just wanted to feel safe again.
"Hush, hush, hush…" a soothing voice above her cooed in a rather strong welsh accent, and a hand reached out and stroked her pale hair away from her face. "Hush sweetheart, don't cry, Mama's here."
Mama?
Opening one eye, Claudia looked at the woman leaning over her. The hand stroking Claudia's hair was long and thin with perfectly manicured nails and the woman's face was obscured by a curtain of red hair. Claudia frowned slightly; her mama had had dark hair.
"Lily, step away, I think you might be scaring her," another voice spoke. It was a man's voice, and he paused as if thinking. "How do you know she's Harry's anyway? She doesn't look anything like him." The woman's head turned and looked somewhere behind her.
"Shut up, James. You are looking with your eyes, not with your heart." She spoke softly, as if trying not to disturb a sleeping child. There was another pause.
"You're right. As always." There was laughter and then Lily, was it, turned back to Claudia.
"Come, stand up sweetheart." Claudia shook her head and Lily laughed. "Don't be afraid of us, darling. We're your grandparents." Claudia froze. Her grandparents on both sides were dead. Her father's had died in a car crash when he was one and her mother's parents both died of old age a few years ago.
Why were they here? Unless…
"Am I dead?" Claudia burst out and Lily and James laughed.
"No, my darling, you're trapped between life and death but you are not dead." Lily giggled and Claudia had the sudden urge to slap her for laughing at such a thing. Here she was, curled up on the floor in some godforsaken place and her paternal grandmother was laughing at her. Bloody dead people. Lily and James reached for her hands and pulled her into a standing position. Her long hair was covered in dirt from the floor and her face was still tearstained.
"Poor girl. Come on. Let's get you home." James said and she looked at him. His face was narrow and structured, his nose long and thin and his lips thin too. His mouth was too large for his face, but his smile was warm and welcoming. His hair was messy and black, like her fathers, and he wore glasses too, but his eyes were a bright, shining hazel colour, full of laughter and light.
"I have to walk some more?" she moaned and he laughed.
Lily gave a small cough and Claudia turned to look at her. She was somewhat shorter than Claudia, probably only reaching 5 foot and her hair was shoulder-length and thick, a deep auburn colour. Her face was round and had a child-like quality to it, from her large round eyes and small button nose to her Cupid's bow lips. Her skin was pale and flawless except for a few freckles sprinkled over her cheekbones and bridge of her nose. She was very beautiful, and her eyes were an amazing emerald colour, looking out on the world with knowledge.
She looked very much like Harry.
"I think Papa can carry you, right James?" Lily eyed the taller man and he shuffled meekly where he stood.
"Sure!" he said quietly, and then he threw Claudia a wink and then swept her up, one arm around her back, the other under her knees. She laughed slightly and hooked her arms around his neck, giggling. Then together, the small section of the very extensive Potter family set off through the darkening woods of limbo.
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The second Harry had woken up, he had given a very loud yelp and fallen off his side of the bed, causing the cover to be pulled off Draco, who was fully wrapped in it and he was swung off the bed, quite literally and landed on top of Harry.
"Shit." Draco groaned, propping himself up on his forearms and smiling down at the petrified Harry below him. He smirked down at Harry and waved one hand in front of his face. "Hello…"
"DRACO, DRACO, DRACO!" a screaming came from across the room and Draco got up, completely naked to look at a portrait that held the girl from the portrait downstairs.
"Yes, Mirella?" the girl pushed a ringlet out her flushed face.
"Two people are here. A short woman with brown hair and a tall man with red hair. They want to see a 'Henry Porter'?" Mirella said meekly, and Draco gave a snarl.
"Weasley and Granger. Dammit all!" he said, yanking a hand through his hair. Grey rings were smudged around his eyes and he looked somewhat like an angry, blonde panda. Harry had to fight the urge to giggle, and pushed himself up to a sitting position, making ready to stand. Draco made a hand motion to keep Harry down on the floor. "No, you stay in here. I'll deal with this." He grabbed his bathrobe and threw it around his shoulders, pulled on a pair of grey tracksuit trousers and made his way out the door.
00
Draco walked gracefully down the stairs, the pureblood air of elegance with him at all times. His hand was poised above the banister, and he took slow deliberate steps down the staircase. Reaching the bottom, he put hands on his hips and glared accusingly at Mirella. She whimpered and scurried back to her chair and then the portrait swung open.
Enter Ron Weasley, 43-years-old, silver-streaked red hair and narrowed blue eyes. A scar ran across his eyebrow from the war years ago and his face was freckled and tanned. His tall, gangly frame had never filled out and he still towered above everyone else. Except probably Harry.
Though Ron was the first person he noticed, Draco could hardly miss the furious woman right in front of him, standing with her hands on her hips and glaring up at him, her hateful dark eyes making him feeling uncomfortable. However, he constantly kept his Malfoy demeanour, cold and elegant, compared to their hassled 'I-just-got-out-of-bed-and-look-like-the-living-dead' look. Hermione's hair was an utter mess, pulled back haphazardly into a ponytail and Ron… well, Ron.
"What?" snapped Draco, standing on the final step of the winding staircase.
"Cut the crap Malfoy, we know he's here!" snarled Ron, leaning forward slightly in his stance. Draco smirked.
"First off; No, he's not. Secondly, why would you think that?" the blond teased them, making Hermione's face flush.
"Because, Malfoy, there are rumours flying everywhere today that he's here and for some odd reason, we believe it. Our John saw him in the hospital wing last night and the poor boy's currently tending his daughter. Claire was it?" Hermione looked back to Ron for conformation and Ron shrugged. Draco gave a small 'hah!' of laughter.
"Your John? Since when was he shared? As far as I know, since you two divorced you've been ripping each other's throats out about custody and shit. Second of all, John could be tending a student that looks like Potter?" he pretended to muse for a second. "Isn't Harry supposed to have 3 sons in America somewhere?" Hermione looked ready to slap him; Wouldn't be the first time she had, nor the last.
"Where is he Malfoy?" she snapped and Draco shrugged, reaching up to sweep his hair away from his eyes. He heard a scuffling upstairs and a door creaking shut and he mentally cursed Potter's recklessness. Hermione's eyes snapped up to the second floor landing and then she looked back at Draco. "He's here, isn't he?"
"No, he's not." Draco lied.
"Then who's upstairs?" Hermione practically shouted as she strode towards him, trying to get past him onto the stairs.
"What do you care who I fuck? Some guy I picked up last night, okay?" Draco snapped, moving to block her, his cold eyes flashing angrily. "Now get the fuck out of my home."
"NO!" Hermione shouted and she took out her wand. "EXPELLIARMUS!" Draco flew backwards over the banister and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor, blood coming from his cut lip. He shakily raised himself up onto his feet and glared at Hermione's small form running up the stairs, followed closely by Weasley's lanky frame. He stormed after them, his robe whipping out behind them.
"HARRY!" Hermione shouted, throwing open doors and whatnot. "HARRY JAMES POTTER, GET YOUR ARSE OUT HERE NOW." She fumed.
"No need to shout, Hermione. I'm right here."
00
Claudia had no idea how long James had been carrying her through the forest of limbo. They stopped briefly on the edge of a path. Both adults were solemn and James made Claudia stand up. She frowned, not noticing the transparent, yet shimmering sheen across the paths' threshold.
"Claudia, as you pass through here, you may notice you become very cold. Ignore the cold, refuse to let it enter your soul." James turned to look at the shorter girl, his glasses sliding slightly down his nose. Claudia nodded, slightly confused.
"What is the cold, James?" she asked, not wanting to call him Grandfather as he hardly looked a day over 21. He looked at her sadly.
"The cold is death, Claudia. Ignore it." Claudia gulped loudly and nodded. She took James and Lily's hands and took a deep breath, striding through the barrier.
At once she was overcome by a ghastly cold that filled her very being. Closing her eyes, Claudia thought of happy things, her life in Prague, her father and her family. An image of Draco filled her mind and she smiled faintly. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the sky and noticed the sun. Why was the sun beating down on everyone, yet she still felt cold? Shaking her head, she looked around.
She was standing outside a large red brick house with a black tile roof. The front garden had rose bushes lining the outside and the drive, and floating on a pond were some lilies. Claudia was awed; it was such a beautiful house. Lily and James walked past her to the front door and both tapped the door with long wooden sticks. The door swung open, and Lily motioned for Claudia to come in, which the once-black-now-blonde girl did.
The house, on the inside, was decorated with warm earthy colours. The walls were all cream with a line of olive green at around hip height and flower-shaped lamp shades were scattered around the hall. Following Lily into the kitchen, Claudia took note of the wooden cupboards and large iron oven, as well as the springs of herbs hanging from a rack above the middle island and was reminded about how different Lily and James seemed to her father.
They were earth; warm, caring, a presence which enveloped you and kept you safe.
Harry was fire; fast, strong, unpredictable and rash, though warm and comforting at times.
Draco… Draco was water. He had the ability to kill, the ability to hurt, but most of the time he just flew past you, swirling around you in a tangled web until you no longer knew how to spell your own name. He was hypnotising and once you were drawn in, there was no way out.
Claudia was surrounded by three of the four main elements. But who or what was Air?
00
Harry stood outside his room, obviously having just gotten dressed. His crumpled black jeans hang loosely from his hips and his polo-necked emerald green shirt was lopsided. His hair was a mess, as always, yet his green eyes still shone calmly. Hermione and Ron seemed to be in awe, but Hermione snapped out of it first. She stormed towards him and slapped him, the sound resounding throughout the tower. Harry did not reel back from the blow.
Giving a cry of fury, Hermione continued to slap Harry, placing slaps all over his face, tears streaming down hers until Harry took both of her wrists in his hand and looked at her.
"Don't hit me, Granger." He said coldly, and pushed her away towards Ron, who caught her. "Never hit me." Hermione looked at Harry, terrified at the cold fury in his eyes. Draco walked past the dynamic duo and came to stand by Harry, a hand on the taller man's shoulder.
"The… the girl in the Hospital Wing… She's-." Ron started.
"My daughter. Yes, Claudia is my daughter." Harry said quietly, his shoulders rigid under Draco's hand. "And if you don't mind, she may be dying so I want her to be left alone." Harry turned and stalked away, throwing open his bedroom door and slamming it shut. Draco stood before the other two and glared at them, his fists clenching and unclenching.
"You should go now." Hermione nodded dumbly and turned slowly, away from the blond. Ron still stood, looking Draco over.
"Harry should have never gone after your sorry arse in seventh year. He should have left you to die." Draco smirked back.
"And leave you to have no one to mock, to make their life hell? Never."
00
Lily and James had made Claudia a cup of tea, that felt and tasted real enough and Lily leant her a pair of shorts and one of James' big jumpers to wear. At the present time, she was sitting in front of Lily on the floor while Lily brushed her hair out. James sat in an armchair by the fireplace, and he was looking over pictures of a baby Harry. Claudia was smiling slightly, feeling very calm.
"Everything here is so real." She said after a minutes too long of silence. Lily nodded behind her.
"It is real. Heaven and Limbo are no different from Earth." Lily explained calmly.
"And what of Hell?" Claudia asked innocently. James shrugged.
"There is no Hell. If you are evil, if your soul is evil, it is destroyed the moment you die, never to be used again."
"Souls are used?"
"Yes. Each person on this earth has a soul that once belonged to someone else. It is our essence that lives on here." Lily said. Claudia frowned.
"What of my Mama?" she asked, and Lily dropped her hair, moving so that she could sit next to Claudia on the floor.
"She is here… She will come when she is ready. It is not her time, I don't think." The redhead said and Claudia nodded sadly.
"Any chance of my hair going back to black?" she asked and her grandparents laughed.
"Not as yet, sweetheart. Maybe soon." Lily stroked her hair and then stood as a knocking began at the door. She rolled her eyes at James and went to the front door. Yanking it open, she glared at the person on the other side. "What?"
"Why, hullo to you too Lils!" a deep voice came from outside and a large man walked past Lily. His hair was long, dark and shaggy. His eyes were blue and too large against his thin face. He wore completely black, and his clothes looked like something out of the 18th century. "I was forced into this again." He clapped James on the shoulder and seemed to be completely ignoring Claudia. She dived out of the way as he flopped backwards onto the sofa.
"Try not to squash my granddaughter, Sirius?" Lily asked sweetly, as she helped a tall blonde woman out of her coat and patted a small blond girl on the head. She led them both into the living room. "Have a seat, Narcissa, Chryseis?"
Claudia was staring at the two females who had just entered. They… their faces were pale, pointed and thin. High cheekbones, large wide eyes and full lips. They were female copies of Draco!
"Oh my god…" she whispered and only then was she noticed. "Er… hi?" There was a moment of silence, then Sirius began to let out a deep round of laughter and soon everyone was giggling.
"Sirius, Narcissa, Chryseis, can I introduce you to Claudia Emily Potter, Harry's daughter." Lily motioned to the teenager. "Claudia, this is Sirius Black, Narcissa Black-Malfoy and Chryseis Malf-."
"Malfoy!" Claudia was shocked. "You… you're…" Narcissa was staring at her, wide-eyed and Chryseis, only 5 probably, wandered over calmly. She looked at Claudia and touched the other girl's face. A tingling began in Claudia's lips and moved down her body until she gave a great gasp and looked down at her body.
She was wearing her favourite pair of jeans and her black sweat-shirt. She wore trainers. Grabbing her hair, she looked at a lock and grinned at the black lock. She looked up and everything past Lily was blurred. SHE WAS HERSELF AGAIN! Standing up, Claudia grabbed Chryseis around the waist and swung the small girl around.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" she laughed and grinned at James, noticing only then the likeness between granddaughter and grandfather.
Then there was another knock on the door. Claudia ran to get it, and in her happiness threw open the door.
"Hello Claudia."