Disclaimer: Check Chapter 1
CHAPTER 2
There was a room. A special room. A horrible room.
It was a room that reminded everyone of what they lost and teased them about the small chance of having everything they could wish for returned.
It had once been a nursery but that was gone. The room slowly aged as if someone had actually lived their just in case one day someone would.
Many years ago someone had. A little baby.
But one night after being put into her crib as the parents briefly were watching the baby's peaceful slumber in pure bliss it was all stolen. A red vortex lifted the small baby into it within two seconds of appearing above her crib. The father had run to the baby sized wormhole throwing himself at it in an attempt to follow his baby girl but it rebounded him before closing before his eyes. His wife fell to the floor hyperventilating at the scene that played in front of her.
"Lilyflower, I need to get Albus," the man said, "He's the only person I can think of that may know what that was and where Haley went." He held his wife's terrified face in his hands and said, "I will do anything I need to to get her back."
However what their former Headmaster explained to them was less than pleasant.
Their baby could be anywhere in the entire Multiverse and would only come back after fulfilling some sort of task... Their baby was only 3 months old. Unless the task was eating, pooping, or sleeping they were out of luck for the foreseeable future.
Every year on the babies birthday the mother and father redecorated the bedroom to fit the age the child would be. It was torture every time they packed up the unused items replaced them with brand new belongings but it was there way of holding onto hope.
The mother would often have nightmares of what could have become of their youngest child. They varied from being burned on a stake, to getting splinched in half in the wormhole, to drowning in a dimension where the population had all grown gills except for her.
Her imagination ran wild with everything that could have happened. The problem with the multiverse is that no matter how crazy the theory it was actually a possibility.
That didn't stop the hope though. Even though she would be fifteen now, that is if the world she was in ran on the same timeline as theirs. Not that it mattered to them. If she appeared the next day 230 years old they would still love her all the same and spend the last of her days taking care of her the way they had been meant to from the beginning.
The room they had set up on her fifteenth birthday was a light blue with white accents. They had gone with light bright colours for the last few years. When she would have been turning eleven the father had thought they should decorate it in Gryffindor colours even though they didn't know if she was a Gryffindor or if there even was a Hogwarts where she was. His wife had indulged him however until they had hung up the red curtains and the room gave an eerie familiar feel reminding them both of a red vortex. The room immediately became a light yellow that year.
Last year their other children, twins, became sixteen and helped with the decorating as a tribute to their lost sister. While their parents held out hope the two silently agreed that the baby wasn't coming back.
They believed that they should close the door to the room so that their mother wasn't tortured every time she walked passed with 'what ifs'. But their mother forcefully put an end to that idea. That door was to always stay open until Haley was there to close it herself.
Once one of her children asked why and she simply answered in case she comes back. When the vortex returns someone, it places them where it picked them up. At least from the research she had done, not that there was much on this phenomenon as Haley was the third person in the history of their world to go swept into the multiverse and only one of the others had come back 37 years after their departure, and that was over 200 years ago.
Haley's head swirled as she was pulled. It gave her a similar sensation to when she fell off her broom in quiddich game where she was attacked by dementors.
At first her eyes were searching everything. It was like she was being pulled through the middle of a giant red tube. Everywhere there were openings glimpsing into a variety of different worlds. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen but it also was hard to watch. Everything was so fast. Haley was used to going fast, after all she had the worlds fastest broom and was a star seeker, but this made even her need to close her eyes after not to long.
She was already queasy from the torture curse and magically exhausted from killing Voldemort, not to mention her arm muscles were burning from holding onto the fountain for so long for her good byes. The stone had even cut deep into her hands causing blood to stain the pouch Luna and Hermione had so lovingly put together for this moment. Hopefully a stain removing charm would save it but if not she would still cherish it for the rest of her life.
Weakness took over Haley. She was swung like a ragdoll, simply letting the vortex's current pull and push as it pleased using the last of her strength to keep her grips on her wand and pouch when suddenly she heard a voice.
"IT'S HAPPENING!"
Haley felt herself land on something soft and lost consciousness all together.
Lily had had yet another nightmare and her lost child so she quietly climbed out of her bed careful not to disrupt her husband.
While James preferred to be awoken when she had a bad night she did not want to wake him after the long day he had at work. Life as an Auror was always interesting. That day James had had to deal with a rogue vampire that had snapped and attacked 5 muggles in the middle of a crowded park. It was a violent display and the fact that he had fallen asleep at all was a miracle.
Lily looked at the clock on the wall, it was only nearing 1 in the morning. Six more hours until James usually woke. Lily either needed to find something to do until she felt like she could go back to sleep.
She walked down the hall to the room that caused the nightmare to begin with. She looked around it, wondering what she would do to it this year. It was only a little over a month until her baby would be sixteen. What would Haley like? The twins would probably have better ideas for her having just turned seventeen but even then Haley was only 3 months old when she vanished on her first Halloween, so its not like they had any clue to her personality type.
Lily observed the silent room. The only thing that had never changed in the room was the placement of the bed. While the bed grew from crib, to a single size, to a double, and skipping queen and going straight to a king on James' insistence the location never changed.
Because that was were the portal would open and Lily wanted Haley to have a soft landing not knowing if it would be at all gentle. She stared at the place above the bed as she did every time she entered the room, willing the empty air to just open already.
She sighed when nothing happened and went back to planning the room. Maybe she could convince to finally let her do green this year is she stays far away Slytherin emerald. Maybe a mint green? That's nice and light she thought turning around to look at the wall behind her. Studying the wall her blood ran cold when the wall started getting an orange hue to it. There was the sound of wind picking up.
Maybe she should have woken James. She was positive she was losing her mind but she held her breath as she turned to look behind her and then promptly screamed.
"JAMES! JAMES! COME QUICKLY! PLEASE JAMES!"
It wasn't 15 seconds later the Auror burst into the room, pajama clad and wand at the ready and still struggling with his glasses. When they were finally on his eyes went wide when he saw why his wife had called him. She was shaking uncontrollably and looking weak in the knees as she watched the opening painfully slowly open.
"Do you see it too?"
James came up behind her slipping his hands under her ridged arms to help hold some of the weight that she suddenly seemed be being brought down by. "Yes."
"IT'S HAPPENING!" Lily choked.
James nodded, "I know, Lils. I got ya."
"She's coming," she whispered. "After all this time."
The portal was already well over twice the size of the one the that had taken there baby in the first place but Haley should be a teenager at least at this point so that made sense.
And without any ceremony or warning of any kind a large lump fell out of the portal and onto the bed with the force of someone that had fallen a great distance.
Both Potters were immediately grateful that after all this time they had kept the bed there.
As soon as the lump hit the bed the portal vanished. James tried to keep Lily back while he went to investigate but she suddenly found her strength again and bolted to the bed, climbing onto it so she could get as close as possible.
James crossed to the other side of the bed grateful when his wife refrained from actually touching the lump which now you could clearly tell was definitely a person. Carefully he slowly rolled the body onto its back mentally noting everything he noticed about the body as if he was at a crime scene at work. The body was tiny. If this was a fifteen year old Haley something had severely stunted her growth. The girl had a mop of red and green. The odd colouring made him wonder about what kind of world she came out of. She was wearing a fairly nice sweater that was only a touch to big on her but her pants looked like they would fall off the second she stood up if it wasn't for the rope belt that caught his attention when it peaked out for under the sweater. The most important part of the clothing was that it was covered head to toe in blood and possibly other bodily fluids. It was when he had completely rolled the girl over that they were sure without a doubt that this was there daughter. She was the splitting image of them.
"She needs medical attention," James said quickly sliding his arms under his daughter to pick her up. "I say we go to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey and Snape will be able to handle all of this and its more private then St. Mungo's so she won't have as many prying eyes on her."
Lily nodded, "I'll floo call Albus to get him to open the connection completely for us." She looked at her daughter once more before running ahead of her husband. She didn't want to take her eyes off her girl but she was safe in her fathers arms and they needed to get through as soon as possible.
She grabbed the floo powder and threw it into the fireplace and in one swift movement had her head in the fireplace calling for Albus. He did not immediately come but a minute later he showed up in a night robe with Fawkes on his shoulder. Lily assumed the Phoenix had woken Dumbledore for her. /span/p
"Lily, my dear, is something wrong?"
"It's Haley," she said quickly, "She's badly hurt!"
If Dumbledore was surprised he didn't show it, "Of course. Bring the girl through and we'll take her to down to Madam Pomfrey."
Lily pulled out and watched James as he cared their daughter down the stairs two at a time, "Do be careful, dear."
James came up to her side, "I'm fine... She hardly weighs anything."
Lily shivered at the implication. "Albus, is ready for us."
James nodded and pulled his little girl as close to his body as possible before entering the fire, Lily hot on his heels.
Albus was still standing there in his night robes. "I have sent a patronus to Poppy and Severus. They should be meeting us." Looking at the hidden form in James arms he offered, "Should we put her on a stretcher?"
James shook his head and began to run to the door shouting back, "I'll be faster this way!"
Lily bolted after them with Dumbledore following at a more respectable pace in thought.
James had managed to get stuck in the hospital wing more than his fair share of times in his Hogwarts years and had the path permanently branded into his brain. Trying not to jostle the sleeping injured girl as much as possible.
He ran passed Snape whom was quickly gliding to the hospital wing with his emergency potions kit in tow as he didn't have a clue to the nature of the girls injuries and wanted to cover all the possibilities.
As soon as he entered the large and overly familiar hospital wing he saw that Madam Pomfrey had set up the bed that she had lovingly assigned to him in his fourth year.
He set his daughter down gently onto the bed before reluctantly stepping back to let Snape and Poppy at his daughter. Stepping behind his wife, he wrapped his arms around her arms and rested his chin on her shoulder watching the scene unfold. Severus had arrived and started to assist Poppy in diagnostic charms.
Poppy began to strip Haley of her blood covered clothes. She took off the girls broken glasses and set them on the side table where Dumbledore grabbed them, showing that he was now present and fully dressed, and repaired them before setting them down again gently.
Haley was slowly stripped down to her undergarments. Poppy was have problems with the knock in the rope belt and ended up just vanishing the trousers altogether as she was sure James and Lily would be replacing them with something more dignified.
When only in her undergarments, an old pair of boxers and a sports bra (which she had inherited when Hermione grew out of it), you could visibly see each of her ribs although they were slightly camouflaged by the bruises and blood that littered her small form.
The sight was to much for her poor mother's heart and Lily ended up falling to the floor with a wail of agony, pulling James down with her.
It was nearly two hours before Severus and Poppy stepped away.
"Is she okay?" James questioned.
Poppy sighed, "She's in a healing slumber. When she wakes, which i assume will be a few days, she will be in a much better state."
Severus spoke up next keeping his eyes downcast, unable to look at his best friend while saying, "I need to go make one more potion... I've never needed it in the school so I don't keep it on hand but I do have the ingredients since I've been commissioned to make it for the Aurors before so I'll have it here in a few hours but it's use could keep her in her slumber longer."
"What potion?" James questioned. It was not a good sign that Snape only made it for Aurors.
"Liquid Tormentum Sanitatem," James gasped, eyes hardening.
"What? James? What is that?" Lily panicked.
"It helps reverse the effects of the Cruciatus Curse," he replied. Over his years as an Auror he had been fortunate enough to never be exposed to the curse but a handful of his co-workers had and they all said the same thing. 'It felt like one thousand white-hot knives, boring into the skin.'
"No," Lily denied.
Severus still wouldn't look at her, "I must start brewing. I'll be back when it's complete." With billowing robes following Severus swiftly stalked out the wing.
Poppy grabbed a basin from under the bed and set it on the table before filling it with warm water and conjuring a sponge.
Lily took the soft sponge out Poppy's hand slowly, looking the healer in the eyes knowing that it would get the point across that this was something she needed to do herself.
Lily tested the waters temperature with her hand first before letting the sponge soak up the clear water. Lily started by pushing her daughters hair back and wiping the long streak of blood that had caked onto her face. Cleansing charms could only get you so far and from the state of her daughters body she would have guessed that she was a soldier in the middle of a war zone rather than a teenage girl.
With every swipe of the sponge Lily would pick up mud, dust, and blood. She took her time as to not aggravate any of the healing but not yet completely healed injuries.
After a few minutes of watching his wife work James conjured his own sponge. Before putting it in the water though vanished and replenished what was in the basin because the water had already went from crystal clear to such a deep red that it reminded him of the blood replenishing potion that had been poured down his babygirl's throat not an hour prior.
Lily now focusing on Haley's arms and torso while the girls father worked on her feet and legs. They mostly worked in silence while Poppy and Albus watched from across the room giving the family a little space but then Lily broke the silence, "Should we get the twins?"
James shook his head. "Let them sleep for now. We'll have someone collect them once they've eaten breakfast."
Lily nodded. It's not there was anything they would be able to do now anyways and at least Haley might be a better sight in a few hours. Looking at the large clock she saw it was going on 4 in the morning. It was only 3 hours ago that she first woke from one nightmare into another and with that thought...
"Am I awake James?"
James gave her an sad smile. "Yes dear."
"It doesn't feel real."
James kissed her forehead, "It will take time."
"What if she doesn't want to be with us?"
James looked at her confused, "Why wouldn't she?"
"She was taken at 3 months, James," Lily spoke her worst fears, "What if she hates it here and wants to go home?"
James sighed, "Whatever happens next we'll be able to deal with. We'll get her whatever help she needs."
"Lily suddenly paused when wiping Haley's left shoulder. Haley had been coved in various scars and marks. She had noticed a lightning bolt on her forehead, a circle on the inside of her right arm and a smaller one on the outside (indicating something kind of cone shaped went through it), and even a long line on the inside of her left forearm looking like a knife wound but this make was different then a scar.
"Poppy?" she called gently.
The witch hurried over at the summons.
"What is that?" Lily asked tracing the marks with her fingers.
From Haley's left ear, trailing down her shoulder to her elbow there were vivid red lines. Lily had thought it was dried blood at first but after washing the real blood away it almost looked like a branding but it didn't seem burned or blistered... almost tattooed. But it was to... natural. It was an odd illusion.
"It almost looks...," Poppy cut herself off by waving her wand theatrically a few times. "It almost appears like she was hit by lighting... It's an electrical pattern. Maybe from the Vortex? It is said to appear to be red lightning."
"Will she be okay?" James questioned.
A few more wand movements, "It doesn't appear to be effecting her anymore then any other scar but I'll ask about it when she wakes."
Having done as much cleaning as they could without moving her to much they vanished their mess and pulled up two chairs beside the girl. Seeing that they were finished Poppy and Albus pulled up their own chairs on the other side.
They had sat in silence for a long time before Dumbledore's curiosity got the better of him, "How did it happen?"
James looked to Lily to answer because he had only shown up part way through the incident.
"I had been having problems sleeping so I crawled out of bed and went to Haley's room... Her birthday is coming up and I was just thinking of décor ideas when the room started becoming red. I turned and saw the portal slowly opening. At first I thought it was another dream... but then I called James..."
"When I arrived the portal was already bigger than it had been last time and it kept growing until it was big enough to just drop her. Then it was gone."
"And it was the same spot?"
"Exactly."
Albus nodded, "Well, without a doubt you will all have a long road ahead of you but this is the first step forward with your lives that everyone has been waiting for.
Lily smiled softly, "I just want her safe and happy."
