Changes have been made to this chapter as of 11/04/2022

Chapter Five: Edmund

Now that I had a neighbour, I only went into my mind twice a day, and did my physical activity three times a day. The rest of it was spent talking to Mr Tumnus who simple rested when he wasn't talking with me. The cold and the change in food was making him weak.

It was five days after Mr Tumnus had been put in the dungeons that I finished sorting through all the grey memories. They were separated into a different room to the white cloud that I had first sorted. I didn't lock the room, or otherwise separate them because these grey memoires of pain, loneliness, fear, sadness and worthlessness was what led to my will to survive. My will to be better and no longer be a burden. To be the best that I could be.

I had another room which had all my memoires of my time in Narnia which I kept updated. There wasn't much difference between the days, and I had no memories of me sorting my own memories, but it was useful and allowed me to more easily recall the information that Raafxet and Mr Tumnus had given me.

But my memories that day weren't about what I had already sorted, rather they were about the three black clouds I had been avoiding. Two of them were just solid black and radiated lose and fear strongly. The other was full of hate, anger and seemed to be sick. Not wanting to touch the one that felt sick, I picked one of the other one's first.

I was once more in the beautiful little cottage living room that I had seen in my first memory. Mum and dad weren't there, and I had the vague feeling that I knew why. Instead, Grandpa and Grandma were there. They had spent the day playing with us, and it was nearly bedtime but me and Charlie were lying on the floor, playing with the cat. I had a vague sense of having chased the cat around the house very often, and that my parents had called it Maple. I didn't have complete access to the white memories, which was where my memories with my parents would be, so my time with my parents was currently hazy.

"I'll put the twins to bed." Grandpa said, getting to his feet to pick them up. As I watched my grandpa lift each of the protesting toddlers from the floor, I had a horrible feeling that I knew exactly what night this was.

"Don't forget to give him Mooney and Padfoot." Grandma reminded her husband, kissing me on the forehead before repeating the action with my brother. I blinked back tears as I felt the second-hand warmth, joy and love from the memory.

Whatever my grandpa might have said in response to that statement was interrupted when they both stiffened and turned to the door.

"It's him. Dora, take the twins and go. I'll hold him off." Grandpa said urgently passing us off to grandma before grabbing his wand.

Grandma didn't argue, she just turned and ran up the stairs. I could hear the bang as the front door was blasted open, and the crashes, bangs and spells as my grandfather fought whoever had entered the house. Grandma entered our nursery and waved her wand which sent the wardrobe in front of the door. Another swish had the wardrobe turned into a solid piece of stone. My baby self-started whimpering in fear then, as grandma placed me in my cot and then placed Charlie next to me instead of in his own cot. Charlie was also clearly distressed, flailing his arms and whimpering but neither of them started wailing yet.

From within the sleeves of her robes, Grandma pulled out a dagger that she used to cut into her forearm with purpose. Once blood was pooling on her arm, she turned to the cot we were sat in and started carving into the wood while her blood dripped down onto it and she muttered under her breath.

"A Patre stetit praesidio quoque scutum. A mater et custodiet stetit, diligere et nutrire. Ut ad hostias theirmagic amant vitam tulisti. De viro suo uxorem. ut inde uxorem filio. Uti sanguis meus, mea vita, mihi magicae. defendat, quod est maxime pretiosum…A Patre stetit praesidio quoque scutum. A mater et custodiet stetit, diligere et nutrire. Ut ad hostias theirmagic amant vitam tulisti. De viro suo uxorem. ut inde uxorem filio. Uti sanguis meus, mea vita, mihi magicae. defendat, quod est maxime pretiosum…"

She was crying, I noticed. But her voice was calm and soft which seemed to reassure my baby self. Grandma's chanting stuttered for a moment when "Avada Kedavra" was heard in a cold snake like voice from down stairs and no other noise was heard.

Grandma had just finished carving her runes when the door was hit with a great force. It wasn't enough to break through the concrete slab through. Grandma kissed baby me on the forehead with a whispered "I love you, under the sun and over the moon. May mother magic watch over you." She repeated the action with Charlie. She then turned to face the door and cast a shield spell of some kind "Protego Totalum" just in time to stop the debris from the door hitting her.

"Step aside and I shall let you live." A man with red eyes, a snake nose and pale skin threated my grandma as he raised his wand to point at her.

"You should know better Tom," Grandma responded, raising her wand defensively in front of her as she faced down the man who had broken into the house and likely killed her husband. "When we were friends, you know I would never do anything to hurt my family, I've not changed my position in the last forty years."

"I just want the boys. You will live, if you just step aside. I owe you that much." The man repeated.

"I'd rather die than let you harm my grandchildren. Something you'll never understand, but family means everything to the Blacks." Grandma snapped back, firing a spell that the man casually battered aside before sending a spell back which shattered grandma's wand, and by the look of it the bones in her hand. She gritted her teeth in pain and remained standing protectively before her grandchildren.

"This is your last chance, step aside or die." The man pointed his wand at her chest threateningly.

"They are worth more than my life, Voldemort." Grandpa used a different name this time, as though she had committed that this man was no longer the man she had known. He was no longer the Tom she had apparently been friends with.

"Avada Kedavra."

Grandma couldn't move out of the way off the spell without endangering me and my brother. As grandma fell down, dead, I felt tears falling from my eyes as my baby self-cried for her and my parents, using the bars to get to my feet and reach towards where she had fallen on the floor and crying louder when she didn't respond. Charlie had also started crying for their parents and had crawled to my side, clutching a stag in his hand and the back of my diaper in the other.

"Pathetic." Voldemort said, turning his wand on my baby form and once more casting the spell with the green light that had featured in so many of my nightmares before this. That green would most likely forevermore remind me of the family I had lost.

The memory went black momentarily as pain overwhelmed me. It was second hand, as this was only a memory, but it was probably one of the worst physical pains I can ever remember feeling. When the pain faded to a dull ache the memory returned.

Voldemort was gone, all that remained was a pile of robes and a wand. Grandma's body was on the floor, dust covering her form and making it look paler than she should be. The cot was almost completely destroyed and there was a burn pattern on the floor around the bed. My baby self was crawling on the floor to our grandma, crying out for her with blood oozing from a cut on his forehead. When I reached her, I started shaking her and asking her to wake up. My brother was unconscious on the bed of the crib, but he was still breathing so I knew he was alive.

My baby self didn't notice when a plump man ran into the room, clutching at his arm. He stared down at me and grandma for a moment before grabbing Voldemort's wand, turning into a rat and running off. He disappeared just in time because Padfoot arrived then, his face twisted in grief. But when he saw me still trying to wake grandma up, he let out a chocked sob.

"Pup."

His voice caught my attention because I looked up from grandma and lifted my arms to be picked up. "Pa'foot, Ga-ma not 'aking." I spoke.

"I know pup, she's not going to wake up." He said, lifting me from the floor and holding me in his arms. He waved his wand over the cut on my head and muttered "Espisky," and then "Dileu" which turned the open wound into a scab and removed the blood.

Looking around the room he found my brother and lifted him up, expertly carrying the both of us in one arm so that he could cast a healing spell on my brother's cheek which was bleeding. Once he was sure we were both okay, Sirius turned his attention to the room and cast another spell, but this time he did it without saying anything.

Holding me and my brother close to his chest, he left the room, casting the spell in every room and in the hallway. Finally, he stepped outside the house and cast the spell for a final time.

"Come on, pup, let's go to your mum and dad." He spoke quietly to me; my tears having turned to quiet whimpers since I was being held by someone I knew. Someone I loved, who I knew to be safe.

"Ma? Pa?" I questioned with a sniffle.

"Yes, mum and dad." Sirius confirmed with a smile.

"Sirius." A deep booming voice shouted, which had me crying again. I'm surprised my brother didn't stir. Sirius' head and wand shot up and to the approaching man. He was huge with wild hair which covered most of his face. Sirius obviously recognised him because he lowered his wand.

"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked, his voice still a little chocked from his grief, but he was focusing on doing what he needed to do in order to look after me and my brother before he broke down.

"Dumbledore sent me. He was alerted to the attack. He's getting some of the Order and bringing them here. He wanted me to get Harry and Charlie out of here so they would be safe till James and Lily are back on their feet." Hagrid explained, his eyes travelling to the house where grandpa was lying visible on the floor with the evidence of the fight that he had put up scattered around him.

"I'm their godfather. James wanted me to look after Harry and Charlie until they're better. That's my responsibility." Sirius said, putting his wand away and using his other arm to hug me and Charlie against his chest.

"Dumbledore made me promise that I wouldn't let anyone take 'em until he knew what happened. I'm to take 'em to Hogwarts." Hagrid said adamantly.

Sirius hesitated then and looked down at me. I just looked back at him, just kind of blinking at him. "Okay. Promise me that you'll make sure Poppy checks them both over?"

"I promise." Hagrid agreed.

"How did you get here?" Sirius questioned.

"Portkey, Dumbledore made it. It's a return." Hagrid answered.

"Can you take my bike back with you," Sirius nodded to the contraption off to the side. "There's something I need to go and do."

"Cause I can." Hagrid agreed.

"I'll see you soon pup," Sirius kissed me on the forehead before handing me over to Hagrid. I was so small compared to the other man that he could hold me securely in just the one hand instead of supporting me with his arms like everyone else did. Sirius then kissed my brother on the head and handed him over to Hagrid despite the fact that Charlie wasn't aware of the world.

Once Hagrid had a hold of the bike as well, he said "Phoenix" which had my world spinning for a few seconds. When the world righted itself, I was crying again and Hagrid's gruff voice wasn't suited for calming me down.

He carried my crying self, up to the castle they had landed in front of. When he opened the doors there was no one to greet him so he continued unabated through the well-lit and warm corridors with the crying child. Finally, three floors up they entered a white room with several beds and was greeted by a middle-aged woman who immediately took me from Hagrid and placed me on a bed. I tried rolling away but was stopped when the women trapped me with pillows and blankets. My crying got louder.

"He hasn't stopped crying since I got him." Hagrid admitted.

"I'm not surprised considering what he's been through." The women tisked, waving her wand over me. "He's fine, nothing other than that cut on his forehead which has already been healed and a slight dip in his magical core. If he was older, I would give him a calming drought or sleeping potion, but we'll just have to let him cry himself out or wait until his parents wake up."

The women placed my brother on the bed next to mine and cast the same spells over him. "Charlie's also fine. His cuts been healed, and he's just sleeping. He'll wake up like he normally would."

"How are Lily and James?" Hagrid asked looking to the two beds I hadn't noticed before where both my parents were lying asleep.

"Lily is in a worse condition then James, but they will both recover. James will wake before Lily, but I won't let either of them out of here for at least three days." The women answered, conjuring a teddy bear in an attempt to calm me down. It worked for a second before I continued crying when I realised it wasn't my 'moony' or 'padfoot'.

"Poppy, the headmaster would like to see you. Hagrid, the centaurs need your help with a disturbance in the forest?" A deep baritone voice suddenly said from the doorway where a man dressed completely in black stalked into the room, his robe billowing around him. "I'll keep an eye on your patients." The man added when Poppy looked to me, and then James and Lily.

"Right, thanks Severus." Poppy grabbed a bag before leaving the hospital wing with Hagrid.

Once they were gone Severus picked me up and gentle started rocking me in his arms. Almost immediately my cries became sniffles that slowly drifted off as I felt safe and comfortable in this man's arms. With me in his arms he walked over to mum's bed and sat down in the chair that was there so that I could see her.

"I know," he chuckled softly when I reached out a pudgy hand and gripped a strand of mum's hair which was the only part of her that I could reach from the man's arms. "Your mum has very beautiful hair." He sighed as he looked down on her. "I'm sorry I wasn't in time to save your home or Potter's parents. I know that you cared for them. But I'm glad that both your children survived. Unfortunately, they will now be targets of the Dark Lord, and you'll have to keep a close eye on them."

With Severus' smooth baritone voice talking quietly (to me or mum I couldn't tell) I was able to drift off to sleep

With the end of the memory, I returned to standing in the meadow of my mind. Staring at the cloud, I decided to split this memory into two. From the start till the pain of being hit by the curse, and then from the pain fading to the moment I went to sleep. This created a black cloud and a dark grey cloud. The grey cloud – which was the second part of the memory – joined its brothers, while the black cloud was placed in a new room.

Feeling emotionally drained, I opened my eyes to the real world. It took a couple of seconds for me to realise that I was crying here as well as in my mind.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Mr Tumnus asked.

He'd moved so he could look through the whole in the wall. It looked like he'd been waiting for me to open my eyes and recognise him before asking his question his voice was soft so as to not attract the attention of the guard outside the dungeon doors, but his eyes were filled with concern.

"I… I was going through my mind." I answered, moving to join him at the wall. "I never knew what happened to my parents." This was technically true since the Dursley's always said they were drunkards who had died in a crash. "But I just found a memory where my grandparents were murdered and my parents injured. And it was only a few days after that I ended up on my aunt's doorstep, so I think the last memory contains what happened to my parents and brother."

"I'm sorry," Mr Tumnus said consolingly, he knew the loss of one's parents. "How old where you when you lost them?"

"Fifteen months." I answered.

"So, you don't have many memories of them?" he asked.

"I didn't use to. But I've recently started getting access to them. They were so happy." I told him, the wonder evident in my tone.

"What about your brother? Is he older or younger than you?" Tumnus asked.

"He was my younger twin, but I don't know what exactly happened yet. I don't think I'm ready to look at that memory just yet." I admitted.

I wondered what happened to uncle Sirius who I had a feeling was also somehow Padfoot and my baby self hadn't simple been confused. He said he was my godfather, so if my parents were dead shouldn't I have gone to him. Or had he also died?

They were interrupted from saying anything more by a boy being dragged into the dungeons. He was wearing grey long shorts, a blue cotton jumper, black shoes and long white socks. His dress reminded me of how boys dressed at the beginning of the 20th century. The dwarf chained him up in the same cell as me before leaving with a sneer of disgust.

"Hello," I greeted him quietly.

"Hi," he said hesitantly, looking around the cell worriedly as he wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. His eyes caught sight of Mr Tumnus in the other cell and his eyes widened slightly. "Are… are you Mr Tumnus?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes." Mr Tumnus answered looking at the boy closely. "And you're Lucy Pevensie's brother."

"I'm Edmund," he admitted, moving closer to us.

"You have the same nose." Mr Tumnus informed him.

Edmund rubbed at his nose self-consciously. "Who are you?" he asked me.

"Harry," I answered offering him my hand. He took it and shook it once.

"Is your sister alright?" Edmund didn't answer, looking down guiltily. "Is she safe?"

"I… I don't know." Edmund admitted.

"How did the White Witch capture you? I thought you didn't believe your sister when she told you about Narnia?" I questioned.

Edmund looked upset and guilty but he chose to answer my questions after a moment of thought. "I didn't believe her at first. Lucy's always had a very active imagination. But then I followed her into the wardrobe. She didn't know I was there, and I lost sight of her. Instead, I came across the Queen. She was so kind to me. I've always felt like I wasn't important, that I was worthless. And she tricked me," he admitted bitterly.

"I let my jealously and anger at my brother cloud my thoughts. When we all ended up coming back through the wardrobe Lucy led us to your house." He looked to Mr Tumnus. "And we found you had been arrested for helping a human – for helping Lucy. A beaver found us then, and took us back to his dam. I should have stayed with my brother and sisters. But… I just… I came here. When I spoke with the Queen, I realised that I had made a mistake." he admitted.

"You couldn't have known who she really was." Mr Tumnus comforted him. "Like your sister you don't know anything about Narnia and the White Queen has tricked many into serves for her."

"But I'm the reason you were captured. I told the White Queen about you." Edmund said bitterly.

Reaching out I grabbed Edmund's hand. "The White Witch is powerful Edmund; she would have gotten what she wanted from you even if you knew who she was. Don't despair over what has been done. Focus on what can be done to make this right."

"Harry's right." Mr Tumnus agreed.

The three of them fell into an uneasy rest, only to be woken in what I guessed to be the early hours of the morning by the dungeon doors being slammed open and the White Witch sweeping into the room.

"My wolves tore that dam apart," she spat angrily at Edmund who cowered away from the witch, "your little family was nowhere to be found." She reached forward to grab Edmund by the collar of his shirt but I got in the way, wrapping one arm around Edmund to keep him behind me and fixing my feet in place as best I could. It had been eight days since I'd last been taken from the cells and my body had healed enough that I was able to move unhindered. The witch straightened up with a glare.

"Where are they?!" she demanded to know.

"I don't know…" Edmund answered, wide eyed in fear.

"Then you are no longer any use to me… Guard."

She snapped for the Boggle to step forward.

"Wait!" Edmund shouted, looking apologetically to Mr Tumnus before speaking. "The Beavers, they said something about Aslan."

"Aslan!" The White Witch said angrily. "Where?!"

"He's only been in Narnia a short…" Mr Tumnus tried getting Edmund out of this situation but was hit in the head for his troubles.

"I left before I could hear anymore…" Edmund spoke quickly before Mr Tumnus could be hurt again.

The White Witch stared down at him assessing before stepping back. "Guard."

"Yes, your majesty." The Boggle questioned.

"Release the Faun."

The Boggle used his club to break off the chains on Tumnus legs, causing him to cry out in pain. Scrambling forward as far as I could as I cried out in horror. "NO… please."

"Be silent," the White Witch snapped, hitting me sharply across the face with her hand with enough power to send me into the wall of the cell. "Do you know why you are here, Faun?"

"Because I believe in a free Narnia." Mr Tumnus said glaring angrily at the White Witch for hurting the human. He knew what the braking of the shackles meant for he had seen Harry's shackle be undone once in the time that he'd been kept in the dungeons – undone meant he would be returned, broken meant that this was it for him.

The witch stared at him coldly. "You're here because he," she pointed to Edmund who was watching everything in silent horror, "turned you in… for sweeties." She turned to the Boggle and the Dwarf. "Take him upstairs and ready my sleigh, Edmund misses his family."

The Boggle dragged the struggling faun out of the dungeons.

Edited and updated 11/04/2022