15th August 1980

When Granma Ami told me that my children were likely to show her heritage I didn't quite believe here, even though I dutifully wrote it down in my journal. I find myself having to eat my 10 year old selfs words, as while the similarity to James is striking with his hair and major features. The fact that he has tri-coloured eyes and a slight point to his ears shows that he really is fae royalty. This means that Grandma Ami was telling the truth when she said that Oberon was pushing her to become Titania and his wife. He has also inherited the Sidhe ability to shapeshift, which surprised James so much he fainted when Harry turned into a fawn while he was prancing around as Prongs. You have never seen a more funny sight than a stag with a full crown of antlers trying to stand back up without knocking over the priceless vase that his mother loves.

I am writing this entry after we made the hardest decision we have ever had to make before. With Charlus and Dorea's help we have locked Harry into the form he assumes when he is mimicking his father. It is our hope that once he's older we can unlock his form once he is stable and able to protect himself. With the ongoing war, and the chance that he may become an orphan, Charlus made us put in a failsafe that would allow him to release the binding himself by tying into his magic using a special hook technique that I've only read about in passing.

Surprising Harry the evening went really well. Dudley and Ginny seemed to be getting on really well, and they'd found a couple of cheap knock off walkmans in a charity shop before they arrived along with a couple of music tapes. So Ginny was talking his ear off about what she was listening to once she'd worked out how it worked. Dudley was cuddling a toy hippogriff that was animated, and had a couple of animated children's books and a second hand magical chess set. They'd found them both gorging themselves on ice-cream taking full advantage of the fact that they didn't have any parental supervision. After that they'd had a surprisingly pleasant time catching up, with Dudley only once nearly calling her a freak.

The hardest part of the evening had to have been after dinner, when Hermione had to leave with her parents and they both realised that they wouldn't see each other for a week. She hadn't realised that Hermione had become so much like a sister to her until then. It was satisfying to be able to respond to Dudley's comment that she was crying like a girl after she left with 'That's because I am a girl'. Ginny elbowing him in the side was almost as good.

Once they were assured that she was happy as a girl, and thus could share a room with Ginny, sleeping arrangements were sorted. Oh, and weren't her new rooms a surprise. She had three rooms to herself, and one that anyone could walk into. She didn't care that the one that anyone could walk into was the smallest room in the house, she had 3 other rooms to herself. She immediately started to work out what she would need to have a potions lab cum study. Sunday they got her parents things, so she begged off of going to London with Dudley and Ginny in order to read her mothers journal and just hold her baby pictures and her parents photos. Ginny and Dudley having a stand-up row in the sitting room didn't even bother her.

Karen came down shortly before Petunia and saw Harry sitting in the sitting room flicking through a photo album.

"Harry… Harry… Harry!" Harry startled as she near shouted the last.

"It's Christmas day tomorrow, have you bought all your Christmas presents?"

"Oh sugar, no" an expression of panic starts to come over her face.

"After breakfast, do you want me to go into london with you to buy your presents?"

"Would you please?"

"I'll let Petunia know, can you help me cook breakfast before Ceeley gets down here?" The clunk of the frying pan from the kitchen tells her that Ceeley heard her say that.

"Would you help me kick Ceeley out of the kitchen and cook breakfast with me, as I want to cook something nice for Petunia."

Harry laughed at that "Sure, you'll need to show me around as it's a little different than I'm used to."

"Sorry Ceeley, we're kicking you out for the morning as Karen wants to make a nice breakfast for everyone, you included."

After a nice breakfast they Floo'd to the Leaky Caldron and Harry got a little money from his vault and also registered the fact that he could also be she with the goblins so that she could be identified in the event that she didn't have her key. He bought Hermione a book shaped silver locket that was inscribed with "Harry Hermione, Sisters and friends forever" and enchanted to produce the smell of an old bookshop. He bought his aunt an acromantula silk scarf that could turn into a Sari. Dudley he bought a satchel that had a secret bottomless component that could only be opened with he matching ring or an application of magic. He managed to sneak in a book on magical myths and legends for Karen, and then they were off to the muggle world. He managed to find a cheap battery powered chess computer for Ron, a makeup kit and £5 gift voucher to Liberty for Lavender, a manicure and pedicure set and gift voucher for Parvati, a gardeners encyclopaedia for Neville, and finally a gyroscope for the twins. For the rest of the girls in he knew he bought a friendship bracelet and a selection of muggle sweets. Karen popped off to do a bit of her own shopping occasionally. Due to the fact it was Christmas eve, the shopping in the muggle world took them until mid-afternoon. After paying for a wrapping service at Liberty, they went back to Diagon Alley and got all the parcels sent off by owl post for a nominal fee, and had lunch in one of the pubs there.

While Harry and Karen were out shopping Petunia took the time to wrap her presents while Dudley and Ginny were playing something in his room. She laughed at Nixie as she investigated the Sellotape and got stuck to it. She was thoroughly looking forward to a lovely evening with everyone a glass of mulled wine and snacks as they watched Christmas films. A tapping at the window interrupted her, so she got up and took the letter from the owl before offering it some water. The owl flew off without taking her up on the offer, so she returned to the table to read the letter and continue wrapping. As she read the letter she felt like the bottom had fallen out of her world.

Ceeley heard her mistress crying and came in to see what was happening, seeing the letter she looked at it and saw Karens name in it so popped up to Dudley's room.

"Master Dudley, Mistress Ginny, Ceeley is going to be turning the electricity in a moment as bright witch is crying, and might blow up the street again."

She then popped off and did exactly that before returning to the dining room and, not knowing what else to do, finished wrapping the presents and moved them to the tree. She then wrung her hands for a moment before putting on a kettle of water to make tea. Placing a cup of tea beside her Mistress, she noted that she wasn't getting any better. Wracking her brain for something else she could do, she remembered that she was bonded with Harry as well. Feeling out the bond she found him and made herself invisible before popping to his side. Ceeley felt bad that he was just about to start eating, but this was important.

"Master Harry, Master Harry, you's and Mistress Karen needs to come home now."

Harry looked at the distraught elf and the fact that Karen hadn't registered her presence. "Karen, Ceeley's here saying that we need to go home."

Karen quicky pulled out a couple of random coins and left them on the table before holding her hands out one either side of the table. She felt Ceeley grasp her hand and then she was pulled through space into the dining room. Once she registered that Petunia was crying she immediately went over and enfolded her in a hug. She was vaguely aware of the fact that Harry had taken up the other side as she mumbled,

"It's OK, I'm here, I'm here I'm not going away."

Petunia then clutched Her and sobbed harder, "They're coming to take you away."

"What do you mean sweetie?" Blindly Petunia grabbed the note and shoved it at Karen, taking it with one hand she manipulated it open and read it over her head. It was a note from Amelia Bones saying that her application for an exemption had been denied and so they obliviaters are going to come tomorrow and relocate her to another town with new memories.

"Shhh, we knew this could happen which is why you've been practicing so much. We just hoped you'd be ready before it happened. I don't want to leave you either, but I can't see any way around it as you're not ready yet."

With the potential for this not happening dangling in both hands, Petunia stopped crying and her body language firmed up.

"I'm going to do it."

"What?" asked Harry confused.

"You can't, you're not ready." Crooned Karen.

"I've done hops every night this week, I can do this and I don't want to lose you."

"What have you done, what do you want to do?"

"Harry sweetheart, I'm going to make Karen magical the same way you made me magical."

"But I saw the memory, it almost killed us."

"I know, but it didn't. But right now I felt like I was dying when I saw that note. No Karen, you don't get a say as you die either way. I don't care what they say, but if you don't remember this life when you wake up, you've died. You're not you anymore, and I don't want you to die. I don't care if Nixie could eat the spell and restore your memories, I'd still have to find you. And after everything that's happened this year I'm not sure I could survive losing you on top of everything else. I'm sorry Harry, but I feel like if this is allowed to happen you'd still have my body, but I think I'd die inside."

"I'll do it, I'm the one with the fae ancestry, so I'll do it I'll take her and make her magical for you."

"I can't let you do that Harry. Don't you understand that if you made a mistake I'd lose one of my children and the person I've come to love." She paused as that last thought rattled around in her head.

"Don't you think I feel the same way about you too?"

Karen spoke up, "What about my feelings on the matter? I love you too? I'm the one that is going to have my memories erased, and I don't want you to die, I want to know that you're safe and you still have another chance at happiness."

"I'm going to prove I can do it tonight, and you can either come with me, or you can watch me do it. And yes Harry, I think you do, but you've also got Hermione, you're also young and so the impact will probably be blunted. Also, if you still feel like that in a few months, there's nothing stopping you from coming to find me, as I'm not going to die, I just might not be able to come back."

The sound of Dudley crying and him running up to his room followed by Ginny shocked them out of their argument.

Petunia softly but firmly stated "I am going to delve tonight, and I hope that you're with me. I can't force you to come, but I don't want to lose you without knowing that I'd done everything I could to save you."

She then got up and followed Dudley upstairs. Karen went to sit in the front room silently, and Harry sat down at the table.

Harry couldn't really understand what her aunt was going through, Hermione was skiing, and Karen was having her own troubles, so she called for the only other person that she felt she could talk to.

"Ceeley, do you understand what's going on with my Aunt and Karen?"

Ceeley popped in and spoke carefully so that she couldn't be misunderstood, "No, but I can tell you what would be happening if they were elves."

"Could you please?"

"Our magic is kinda alive, not as alive as yours and mistresses, but it's still alive. It comes to our bidding and follows our will, but when we're learning it does things on it's own. Wizard magic like that too if they wake it up, but it's smaller, less, I don't have the word I need, so it takes work to wake it and most keep using wands until they forget that they are magic and not their wands. For elves, our magic can taste other elves magic and if it likes it, then it pushes us towards them. They might not be the only elves it likes, or it might like another elf more if we ignored the push. But if their magic likes ours back it becomes hard, as we feel lost without them and they feel lost without us. So we come together magic and body and stay as long as our magic likes each other. While together we might make babies, might not.

"Mistress' magic be liking Karen a lot, and is pushing her to be with Karen. If it works, then their magic may intertwine like two trees growing next to each other and even though they different trees with different fruit, they cannot be separated as to separate one would be to kill the other. When you is older, your magic will probably do same. For those with magic as powerful as yours, losing one that your magic likes is like having your heart cut out, unless it lets go first. But magic and mind don't always work together with joining or leaving."

Harry listened patiently as she struggled to find the words to explain, by the end she thought she understood.

"Does that mean that she love Karen more than she loves Dudley or me?"

"No, differently. If you were still elflings her magic would keep her with you until you were old enough to live yourself. But your magic says it's old enough now even if you not know enough to live now. We teach young elflings to live first and then teach them how to do things. Wizards teach elflings how to do things and live at the same time, so it takes longer."

"Am I going to be like that?"

"I don't know, you not wizard so I don't know."

"I'm not?"

"Your magic too strong, too wild, too free for wizard. Same with Soopy family. You is magic, you carry magic, and magic is you, not true for elf. Elf is magic but elf not carry magic and magic not elf. Wizard not magic, but carry magic and magic not wizard. Wizard can learn be magic, but take work. Elf can not learn carry magic, need other that can."

Harry rubbed her head as it started to ache. "OK, what about Dudley and Karen."

"They are, empty, like bottle, can fill with water, butter beer, fire whisky, or something else; but until done is just empty bottle. Cat lady like bottle with water, red girl like bottle with butter beer, Ceeley like bottle with fire whisky, you something else."

"So how does Auntie's magic like Karen?"

"Ceeley not know sorry. Ceeley tired, need do housework to let head rest." Ceeley popped away.

After thinking for a while, Harry changed to a boy and went upstairs to talk to Dudley and Ginny. He tried to explain what Ceeley had explained. He then asked them if they would help prepare food for now and later, fully expecting the answer to be no, but as soon as Ginny agreed Dudley surprised him and agreed. So the three of them spend the rest of the afternoon cooking and playing games in the dining room before Harry made sure they all went to bed. He had to explain just how dangerous staying awake was for him, and maybe Ginny and why, which lead to an explanation of what they'd been doing and what Aunt Petunia was going to do later.

Petunia was sitting nervously on the floor of their meditation room, she'd left the door ajar so that Karen could come in if she wanted, but the clock said that it was half an hour to midnight and she was afraid that Karen wasn't going to come. She was lightly meditating to avoid watching the clock when she heard the door click shut. She kept her eyes shut until someone took her hands. When she opened them she saw Karen searching her face.

"Did you know?" she asked softly

"Know what?"

"I heard Ceeley talking to Harry and explaining things?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ceeley said that magic likes the taste of people and pushes you to be with them."

"I had no idea."

"I'm glad, I don't know what I'd do and you'd only been talking to me because of your magic."

Petunia laughed "I've had magic for less time than I've known you. Do you remember when Harry pulled me into the library to meet you and he was so excited?"

"How could I forget, he called me Librarian Lady."

"I didn't get magic for maybe a week or two after that. Everything seems to have happened so fast since then I lost track of time."

"I'm here for better or worse, and what ever you're going to do, your doing it with me."

Petunia took Nixie out from under her hair and gently placed the sleepy aictuilaxr on the bed in the display room before shutting the door again. She then padded over and sat facing Karen, taking her hands gently and sinks into the familiar meditation waiting for the feel of the dream starting.

As she felt it start she double checked and made sure that she held Karen's hands as she started to unfurl her magic, the familiar call of the deeper magic pulling her on. But she felt weighed down as if carrying a great weight. So she opened herself further and further, and it started pulling along with her, but so slowly. She opened herself more, taking less caution that she had been, and then it snapped free. The dream hurtled past so fast, she could feel how her magic was carrying her up through the layers as of she was a balloon underwater. Desperately she tried to close her magic against the flow, and it was so hard. Karen's grip on her hands giving her the impetus she needed to push as hard as she needed. Slowly she closed down again and she felt their progress slow too, she dared not look at where they were for fear that it would break her concentration. She got it to an equilibrium point and slowly it reversed before snapping back into place. She felt herself falling back through the world's, but Karen's hands jerked out of her grasp and she crashed back to earth, tears streaming down her face, as she'd just killed the person who had come to mean so much over the last six months.

Karen becomes magical

Karen looked back over the last 4 months, and found herself amazed once again at how much her world has changed. A humorous laugh escapes her mouth, as she considers that she used to be happy to be just a Librarian with degrees in Child Psychology, Mythology, and her first degree, Librarianship. Yet here she was sitting next to a housewife turned powerful witch. It wasn't the first time they'd done this, but the previous times had just been to watch over her as she stayed in this world. Lily's diary and the practices of the Goblins in the spare room were what had led to the current experiment, coupled with the note from Amelia stating that she wouldn't be getting the exemption, and so they were coming to wipe her mind tomorrow.

She was well aware of the fact that what they were about to do was very dangerous, and she was very grateful that Petunia was willing to do this for her as she didn't want to lose her friends and family just because the magical government felt the need to keep the magical world secret from everyone. She glanced up at the clock and saw the minute hand tick to 11:59.

"One minute." Petunia nodded and started to sink into her meditation. Karen took her hands and took a deep breath. In theory this would be similar to her previous practices, but this time Petunia would let her magic rise slightly to match the dream. Petunia was going to try and take her to the world she'd found Nixie in, figuring that should give her some leeway if she had trouble controlling it. They knew it was possible to control it as some of the goblins had been really happy and come back with different rocks. She looked up at the clock again, still 40 seconds, she needed to get her anxiety under control before it causes her to make a mistake. In reflection, Petunia, Dan and Emma were lucky as they had something they were desperately trying to do when they went through this, but this is agonising.

One minute past, has something gone wrong? Is Petunia aborting? The clock looks weird. Oh, it's starting. I wonder how she's coping, I hope it's not too hard as they described it going faster than this. Two minutes past I think, the red light of the other world is making it hard to see the second hand.

Suddenly the it feels like the bottom falls out of Karen's stomach, except kinda sideways, "Eep!"

Several worlds flicker past all at once and suddenly she feels like someone has taken a sledgehammer to the inside of her head as she can see things starting to come into focus that she's sure aren't physical, a glowing bug lands on her nose as a bird swoops to avoid her. Then the world fades out too fast, she can see the wrinkles on Petunias face as sweat beads on her forehead.

Flick a world.

Flick a world.

Flick a stream of light becomes visible in the sky, and draws Karen's attention.

Flick, the stream is closer

Flick, it's now a river

Fade, oh shit! What's happening to my hair? Karen looks down to Petunia who is now pouring with sweat as though she's performing a great task, tiny wisps floating off of her head like ash being blown away. She looks down to her own hand to see it streaming away towards the river in the sky. She glances up to see the smaller river starting to become visible imposed over the one that's pulling her in. A ball of white light hurtles towards them from the sky and they're not going to fade out in time. They're almost faded out when Karen screams and instinctively flinches back letting go of Petunia. The world snaps back into focus as Petunia disappears in front of her.

The ball of light coalesces into a woman wearing a toga, a circlet with a semi-circular horn pointing towards the sky. She steps forward and reaches out to touch her face, and she can't move. She's aware of the fact that she no longer appears to be evaporating, then her fear fades away as if someone put a cap on it.

"Hush young one, I did not mean to endanger you I just felt another visitor from your world and wished to converse. You are safe for the moment, I am reenforcing your sense of self with my will, though I will need to send you home soon if you are to survive. Ah, but I cannot do such a thing for free."

"I can't exactly barter, as you already hold my life in your hands."

"And that is what I needed to hear. You see, the acknowledgment of such things affects the magic that makes us up. But it would not work had I intended to put your life in danger. Indeed, had your companion remained I could not have claimed your life as a debt due to me. But here we are, and it has been a long time since I have aided a mortal, though that only applies to you loosely now, and the more skilled you become the less it will apply. Don't get me wrong, your shell will still be able to be destroyed, but you would live on, and could do so indefinitely here. Forming a new shell at a whim and discarding it just as easily. You could even venture beyond into the seas of magic where only pure will stands between you and annihilation, where the world is defined purely by imagination and the rules of matter have no sway. Where even I fear to spend too much time lest I meet oblivion, and only the sleepers can be found.

"It was the passing wake of one of the sleepers that lead me to this place, only to find the imprint of people from your world. It seems like only, what the word you use, yesterday when another was stranded here, though I didn't find this one. One of the bright fae found him, and in exchange for his life he took her back to his world and forsook the power he'd found here. It's funny how life turns out, it seems she gained her freedom and mortality, and now one of her descendants returned and sent ripples through to the sea, and a sleeper came to look.

"It would have ended there, but before the sleeper lost interest another appeared with more empty vessels like you. It's movement led it to your world where people have forgotten the lessons of iron, and sleep defenceless. It's wake attracted the Fae who stole away and brought back prizes. It's funny how the very reason the fae abandoned your world is now the reason why they can start predations again. Your rapid advancements and increasing use of iron in everything. Yet now you have moved beyond that and alloy it with other materials, lessening it's impact on magic.

"Oh, you can't destroy magic anymore than you can destroy energy, but the complex matrix that makes up our lives? Well, while they could drive me off, and the sleepers would be barely inconvenienced, those that still rely on a physical form, or the lesser creatures of the worlds? They don't have enough magic to withstand pure iron for long, though the less pure the easier they find to bear it."

"How do I know what's happened in your world? You are not strong enough here to protect your mind, so it's a simple matter to just take that information for my own. This leads me onto my deal, you will be my eyes, ears, and hands in your world. I had others thousands of years ago, but that was before the hunter stole my crown. It's simpler for you than it would be for a man, as you already follow my cycle. So if you agree I will return you to your home safe and healthy. I now leave the choice to you."

Karen licked her lips, "I accept."

"Before you go, you should know, the person that came before was called Lovecraft, I believe that one of his children were able to peer into the sea." She indicates the river in the sky behind her. Reaching out she touches Karen's forehead, a searing pain radiating from her finger.

"Just a reminder of our agreement, sweet dreams, you will awaken where you should be." As the world goes dark she feels herself wrap around a warm body and pulled herself closer.