CHAPTER 6:

LILY

After that little bombshell claim by this…hallucination? Ghost? Whatever the hell this was wearing the face of his mother, Harry had to think about his reply. That, and he was admittedly as much in shock as he was in denial.

Before he could think of anything to say, the apparition held up her hand. "Okay, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm something trying to trick you, which is fair enough. But can you at least hear me out first?"

"And why should I?" Harry asked. "And don't tell me it's because you're my mother, or so you claim. I…" And then, he felt something crack in him. "…If you could speak to me before, why couldn't you do so until now?" he asked, his voice betraying what he felt: not just anger, but despondency.

The apparition sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Of course, it'd be one of the trickier questions. Look, it's a long story. I know you're not going to like what I have to say, and given your state, I'm not sure you'll be willing to believe it. But I really am your mother, Lily Evans."

"Evans, not Potter?" Harry asked, noting the change.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "As if I'd want to keep that bastard's surname after what he did to me!" she snarled with considerable venom, before calming herself, sitting down opposite him. "Sorry, I just…I have strong feelings about your father. What you're going to hear from me about him won't be pleasant."

"Neither is that fact that, even if you are my mother, I have a Horcrux of you in me, somehow," Harry snarled.

"Not a Horcrux. This is my entire soul," Lily said. "While I'm sure you can use fragments of a soul of a powerful being like a God or a Dragon, for a human, my entire soul was sealed into the Sacred Gear bound to you…and of my own volition."

"…But why? If you really are my mother, then why do that?"

"…Because it was almost literally the only way I could protect you."

Harry was struck dumb by the statement. What could possibly make it so that his mother, if this was really her, bound her soul to his own, in order to protect him? Surely there were other ways?

Lily, or her doppelganger, took his silence as an opportunity to say more. "You've heard the tales from the other teachers no doubt, and Remus, singing James Potter's praises…and mine. But they very much had rose-tinted glasses on. James Potter was an arrogant prat who had a thing for me ever since we first met, unfortunately, never mind that I already had a friend. Not that our former friendship ever meant much to Snivellous."

"…Snivellous?" Harry asked, confused.

"Severus Snape," Lily said, waving a hand, and chuckling at Harry's confusion. "I know it's hard to believe, considering how he treats you, but we were childhood friends. He was the one who told me I was a witch. If you don't believe me, well, the next time you speak to Petunia, ask her about Snape at Cokeworth." A scowl came over her features. "And I intend to ask her a few questions of my own, now that I've awakened."

"…Sorry, I can't get over this…you were friends…with Snape? The greasy-haired bastard who delights in making my life hell, and who only grudgingly helps me because of a debt to my father?" Harry asked, disbelieving.

"Yes, and I'm afraid that, like Alice, you're going to have to believe more impossible things before breakfast," Lily said cheerfully, before her expression became solemn. "Anyway…long story short…there was an incident where Snape was being bullied by the Marauders. I'd been trying to get Snape to stop associating with the would-be Death Eaters…but when I tried to help him after the Marauders humiliated him…he called me a Mudblood, with such a contemptuous look in his eyes. I am, admittedly, abridging what happened quite a bit. And when I say the Marauders, I mean more James Potter and Sirius. They tended to be the bullies in general. Pettigrew was more of a cowardly hanger-on, while Remus…well, they were his only friends aside from me."

Harry reflected on this. While he didn't like hearing his father or Sirius were bullies, what she said about Pettigrew and Remus seemed to hold water, at least. Remus seemed diffident, while Pettigrew…well, even what he overheard in Hogsmeade (at the time he first heard Sirius was his godfather) seemed to tally with that. "So, how did you fall in love with my father, then?"

"Oh, I didn't," Lily said, scowling. "Not of my own will, anyway. I don't know what he did. It can't have been Amortentia, I actually kept an eye out for that when I became aware of his desire for me. No, it was some sort of spell, but not the Imperius. More subtle than that, and not requiring continual applications."

"…Are you telling me to believe that my father effectively brainwashed you into falling in love with you?" Harry asked sceptically.

"Is it any less believable than Sirius turning out to be innocent, despite everything you heard? I'm not going to waste my breath trying to force you to believe me, Harry, but I am telling you what happened regardless. Some part of me resisted, and for a time, I was able to work in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable. However, Potter and Dumbledore, citing the increased danger of Voldemort, forced me to quit…though not before I had made a study of Sacred Gears. And when I heard about the prophecy about you…oh, wait, you didn't know about that, did you?"

"What do you mean, a prophecy?" Despite his scepticism and suspicion, to say nothing of his anger at his father being demeaned like this, there was something compelling about this all the same.

Lily's doppelganger wrinkled her nose in contempt. "That old drunk Trelawney uttered a prophecy. It claimed that one with the power to defeat Voldemort would be born as 'the seventh month dies', in other words, the end of July or the beginning of August, assuming you're going by modern calendars, anyway. And Snape was the one to tell Voldemort. Now, I personally reckon that it was probably a load of bollocks, but Voldemort believed it enough to really start coming after us. It was either us or the Longbottoms, really. But then, I overheard Potter discussing the prophecy to himself…or rather, a prophecy. He kept saying something about it my needing to die. And he actually gave me an order to sacrifice myself, one I couldn't disobey. But…it didn't mean I couldn't find a loophole."

Harry just sat there numbly. Did his father really order his mother to sacrifice himself? But they had found James Potter's body, hadn't they?

"In any case," his mother's doppelganger continued, "I realised from my research that, if I died after undergoing a particular ritual, my soul would be bound to yours as a Sacred Gear, allowing me to protect you after death. It was dangerous and certainly illegal…but it's not a Horcrux, my whole soul is bound to you."

"Then why didn't you help me before?" Harry asked, his voice thick with emotion.

"I did. I protected you from the Killing Curse, but that was too much power for both of us, and I slept. Believe me, if I could have, I would have given Petunia and Vernon what-for. Dumbledore, not knowing what I did, siphoned my power to fuel wards to protect you from Voldemort, not that it protected you from my sister and her family. But then, I awoke briefly to stop Quirrell. That is the power of Weregild Lilja: those who have done wrong to you, should you make contact with them, will suffer and die. However, I was only powerful enough to deal with Quirrell at the time, especially as he had Voldemort latched onto him. That forced me back into slumber…until the Cruciatus spell not only woke me up…but it woke up your heritage. The berserker rage was not my doing, as much as I'd want to claim credit for wiping out those monsters. I was trying to keep you sane and lucid. I succeeded in time for you to capture Wormtail."

"Oh, you did, did you? And what reason would I have to believe you? Even if you really are my mother, I've been betrayed by those I thought were allies," Harry said coldly.

"…I know. But…when you see Sirius next, tell him about the time I fed Sirius and James a gender-changing potion in revenge for peeking into the girls' showers. Not many other people know about that incident. And just so you know…I despise your father, but…you…I am completely proud of, Harry. You've grown into a fine young man. Now…go. We'll speak again…"

Harry couldn't protest, or even emit anything but an angered croak, before he fell into unconsciousness…

…And the next thing he knew, he was waking up.

He had to admit, assuming it was true, he had mixed feelings, at best. It would have been everything he ever wanted for his mother to be alive and well, and yet…so soon after learning about Horcruxes, to say little of his being betrayed by 'Moody' and the British Ministry of Magic…well, who could blame him for being wary? And then, she also told him that James Potter, his father, had effectively brainwashed her into being his lover, that Harry was a child by rape. He wasn't sure what upset him more if this was the truth, that Snape was right about his father, or that Harry was a child conceived by what was effectively rape.

So he sat there, on the side of the bed, for a time trying to marshal his feelings and thoughts. He didn't really succeed, deciding to opt for a shower, which helped, if only a little. But as before, there was nothing that felt like his troubles had been washed away. Just the hot water doing what little it could to soothe him…

Rossweisse frowned as he explained what he had learned in his dream over breakfast. Eventually, she said, "Whether she's telling the truth or not, it's plausible in some regards. Extremely unlikely, but plausible. Many Sacred Gears do hold souls in them, remember? Of course, it's appallingly dangerous, and soul magic is forbidden for a reason, but it could very well be your mother in there."

"But if that's the case…my father did all those things to her, and…I don't think I'm ready to ever consider that my father, someone so many people called a hero, was a rapist bastard."

Rossweisse nodded solemnly. "I understand that, Harry. Look, I can offer no other advice than to just be cautious. Sacred Gears aren't known for taking people over, save for the worst of cases. The Sacred Gears for the Heavenly Dragons, for example, can trigger a berserker state known as Juggernaut Drive that grants the person great power, at the cost of their lifeforce and sanity, or at least that's what I've read. But they are the exceptions to the rule, as far as I know."

"…Is there any way to remove a Sacred Gear?"

"…No. Or rather, none that aren't lethal. A Sacred Gear is bound to your very soul, Harry. Rumour has it that the Grigori, in order to further Azazel's experiments on Sacred Gears, have a special apparatus that can extract Sacred Gears, but the process is invariably lethal, if the rumours are true. I'm sure you'd want to avoid dying. We could bring you back as an Einherjar, but I'd rather you not die in the first place."

"Nice to see someone's concerned about my health, apart from my friends and those I care about," Harry said. He didn't mean for it to come out sarcastically, but Rossweisse's wince told him otherwise. "Sorry. It's just…people don't seem to be concerned about me. It's always about the Boy Who Lived."

"No, it's fine," Rossweisse said. "Believe me, I know what it's like to have a lot of issues. You witnessed some of them the other day. And I have big shoes to fill, given how famous my grandmother is. My parents were distant, but that was only because they were busy. I know they love me. Honestly, I'm glad I have someone my age who I can talk to about it and who won't laugh. Atreus is an adult, Brynhildr is my superior officer, and my grandmother…I can't talk out my problems every time with her."

"Well, maybe if Hermione and the Weasleys come to visit, you can talk with them. I know for a fact you'd get along swimmingly with Hermione," Harry said. "I'd probably leave you alone for ten minutes, and by the time I get back, you'd be deep into discussing something. Probably some advanced theory of magic I'd have no chance of following."

"…But you don't mind if I'm intelligent?" Rossweisse asked.

"God, no! Why should I? Just because you're smart doesn't mean I wouldn't like you. If anything, that makes it better!"

To his astonishment, Rossweisse was blushing, with a faint smile on her lips. "I…uhh…I…that is to say…ugh, det holder, Rossweisse. Sorry, I just…no boy I have ever known has ever said that to me. And that's pretty much the second time you said something along those lines."

"…What? But why?"

Rossweisse looked down at the table, at her empty plate. "…Asgard…doesn't really favour intelligence, or at least devoting one's self to scholarly study. It's more about brute force and cunning, despite the fact that Lord Odin is famed for his wisdom. And hedonism. I guess to a degree, it's from our Viking origins. They were not only warriors, but they raped and pillaged much of Europe at the time. And their culture leeched into ours, and vice versa. My grandmother spoke of that time, actually. The irony is, despite all that, Asgard is a much better and less violent place than it used to be."

"Charming," Harry said.

"…By the way, are you and Hermione…?" Rossweisse made a few gestures. Harry understood what she meant, if only because of her blushing.

"Uhh, together, do you mean? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend? No. I mean, I nearly tried taking her to the Yule Ball, but that got scuppered, and she's one of my closest friends, but…I'm not sure whether I see her that way. She feels like a bossy sister, you know? Besides, she went on a date with Viktor Krum for the Yule Ball. You know, the Durmstrang student who's with the Bulgarian Quidditch team?"

"Ah, yes!" Rossweisse said, snapping her fingers. "The prodigy Seeker, I know who you mean! Sorry for asking a personal question like that, I was just…just curious, that's all."

Harry felt that she protested just a touch too much. Still, at least she wasn't acting like a fangirl. He shuddered to think of what she'd be like as a fangirl. Then again, Rossweisse was at least pleasant to be around. His worries from the night before were already beginning to fade away, just from talking to her. And he was grateful for it.

Before he could consider anything else, though, the door to the room opened, and they heard Brynhildr say, "Careful there. It's only because Lord Odin allowed it that I've brought you here. You shouldn't be here in your state."

And then, a familiar voice came to them. "…My dear lady, I need to do this. For my sake as well as Harry's."

Harry and Rossweisse stood, to find Brynhildr escorting a familiar figure into the room. But the figure, despite having been old in all the time of Harry's acquaintance, now looked positively ancient and forlorn, the colourful robes seeming to clash not only in terms of good taste, but with the man's melancholy demeanour. His eyes, once often twinkling, were now dull, bloodshot, and glimmering with tears.

"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I have failed you so miserably…"

CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry's met Lily and gotten an explanation…but Harry's not sure if he believes her. Meanwhile, more Harry/Rossweisse fluff, only to be interrupted by a gooseberry in the form of Dumbledore.

Having gotten a number of reviews, I think I should clarify a few things about Weregild Lilja. Its power may seem awe-inspiring, and certainly does damage out of proportion to the user's current power level, but it is far from a Longinus. It was basically created in haste due to Lily's desire to save Harry, as well as get out from under James' thumb.

Let's put it this way: when High School DxD canon comes around, Weregild Lilja could certainly injure some of the toughest foes, but it wouldn't kill them. It could, say, temporarily critically injure Riser Phenex, though that'd last long enough until Riser regenerates. But as for someone on, say, the level of Kokabiel, it'd maybe do some damage, but not enough to claim the kill.

Part of the problem with Weregild Lilja is that it requires enmity to do its damage. In other words, the opponent has to have negative feelings towards Harry. So training with someone who is an ally won't do much, to enhance Weregild Lilja, anyway. It also requires physical contact, even if only briefly, to do damage, it has no ranged capability. And I'll be perfectly honest, I hadn't even thought of a Balance Breaker for it until after I started publishing this story.

Of course, Harry's Jotunn abilities are considerably more potent and versatile. They'll be the mainstay of his fighting abilities alongside his wizarding magic and what magic Rossweisse teaches him. Weregild Lilja is basically a finisher, much like Rias' Power of Destruction.

Review-answering time! Firstly, I should point out that Dumbledore was NOT faking his medical condition. He actually had a mental breakdown after realising he was under the control of Loki, as well as hearing of the news of what happened in the graveyard, and so voluntarily submitted himself to Pomfrey's care to have her test him, as well as keep his health from deteriorating (hence why he nominated McGonagall to take his place: he trusted her to keep things running more than he could trust himself). He's horrified at what he had done, and at what Harry was forced to do, and it caused his guilt over his other actions over Harry to come flooding in. Oh, he still believes he made the best decision that he could at the time, but he fucked up. He's only barely recovered enough to be functional, hence why he's come to seek forgiveness from Harry.

As for Ginny, she is indeed jealous, but Ginny is going to be a non-entity later in the fic.

Talkative Lurker: Ugh, IKR? High School DxD has surprisingly good worldbuilding and a LOT of interesting characters. And yet, it's marred not only by its obsession with fanservice and sex comedy, but by one of the more obnoxious and idiotic main characters for an anime series. Issei may have a good heart, but if he wasn't so vocally perverted, he'd be a lot more likeable.

plums: Atreus will become a mentor to Harry during the timeskip. He will eventually reveal his true identity (which is an open secret amongst the higher echelons of Asgard), but Harry, after a brief moment, will view Atreus as nothing like the DxD-Loki, and certainly more of a mentor.

Child of zelretch: I actually intended for Lily to be Hel in one crossover attempt with the same pairing as this story. Sadly, that didn't quite work out, and in hindsight, considering that Hel is an antagonist of a later High School DxD storyline, it's probably for the best.

No numbered annotations this time.