Twisted Chains
Chapter 1:
November 2, 1981
Seeing the house again brought back memories. Memories of playing in the forest, of swimming in the lake in the Summer. Jumping into piles of leaves in the Autumn, snowballs fights, hot chocolate, and snowmen in the Winter. Rainy days were spent inside, playing games with Caretaker. Lessons in the study, hiding and playing hooky in the attic.
They were all just memories now.
Sighing, Petunia placed the last of her sister's things in the trunk, she had gathered the items from what had been left of the cottage after the attack. The spell Lily had placed when she first moved in had still been in effect; thus ensuring only her sister or Caretaker would be able to see what needed to be seen. She is placing the last of the items inside when her son and nephew enter fifteen minutes later, giggling. She braced herself when they head straight for her, laughing when they latched onto her.
"Apparently, nap time is over" she said.
Her son's tail smacked her in the face.
"Sorry about that" chuckled a voice from the doorway.
Petunia smiled at her Caretaker, Caz, who wore a sheepish expression before entering the room.
"It's alright Caretaker" Petunia said, tilting her head back when Harry started to reach for one of her ears.
Caz sat down next to her on the floor and took hold of Harry who immediately started hitting him with his newly grown tail, the Caretaker just sighed and took the abuse. Petunia laughed before nuzzling her kit, making a soft rumbling sound that Dudley answered back with something close to a happy yip. Caz's family has been the Evans' Caretakers going on three generations now, inheriting the role after the previous Caretaker died of old age. Petunia could think of no other family suited to the role, nor could she could think of anyone better then the youngest son to teach and help raise her Pups. Who house they were currently staying, though a holiday home for the family, was actually owned by Caz and was located in the forest of South West, England.
Harry laughed when Caz growled and playful nipped at a furry ear, "Almost done?" Caz then asked, indicating to the open trunk.
"Yes" Petunia nodded, "I've left a few things out, for Harry and for myself"
Caz nodded, he then used the opportunity to get a good look at Petunia when the woman turned her attention to her son. The fur on her tail had lost its shine and her ears seemed to be in a permanent droop, and her eyes were sad. He hoped that with time, Petunia would return to her usual self, instead of just acting for the Pups. And so she wouldn't worry her Caretaker. Caz sighed, this wasn't how he planned for Harry and Dudley to come here, then again he never imagined losing his Lily, not this way.
"Come on" Caz finally said, tickling Harry, "time for lunch" he picked up the Pup, and headed for the door.
Petunia nodded, and with her son in her arms, followed her Caretaker out the room.
~.~
A Musahib is believed to be the First creation on Earth before humans, others believe that they are either the next evolution for humans, or the remains of the early human evolutionary process. Humans have called them Demons, Spirits, and even gods. Wizards and Witches, just know them to be very powerful beings. Most Musahib will have an animal feature, depending on the type, for example; tails, animal ears, or even wings. Musahib have very powerful limitless magic, even at a young age and are taught to control it by their Caretaker and parents.
Magic and features aside, the other unique thing about Musahib was that they picked a Master or Mistress who they serve, love, protect and bond with. Which is similar to a Familiar in the Wizarding World, the difference is, is that the Musahib picked the Master/Mistress as stated before; not the other way around. Another thing that sets Familiars and Musahib apart is that the Musahib have two names, the one that is freely given, and the second is a secret one that only the Musahib, it's parents, Caretaker, and bonded Master/Mistress know. When a Master/Mistress is chosen and the bond is complete said Master/Mistress are given a power boost of their own if they are a Wizard or a Witch; if the Master/Mistress is a Muggle, it is said that they a given better Sight.
Like a Familiar. A Musahib will serve and protect their Master/Mistress until death. However Musahib and Master/Mistress are bonded through a life force, and while death is inevitable, the Master/Mistress can enjoy a long lifespan before then. And though a Musahib can have a sexual relationship with their Master/Mistress when bonded, it's not always the case, and some bonded pair are only platonic in nature. All this makes the Musahib very much desirable in the Wizarding World, and those chosen are considered with high regard.
The last defining feature for a Musahib, is that they can have children with each other, their Master/Mistress and even their Caretaker. However, anyone else is forbid by law. Vernon had not been Petunia's Master, so by law, she was supposed to be cast out of the family, however, Lily, Caz and the rest of the family did not. They continue to welcome her, even if they did not agree with her decision.
The Evens family come from a long line of Fox Musahib, Fox Musahib are typical found in Asia; mostly Japan. Apparently they liked the food there. For years they've roamed the lands there, occasionally being spotted by Muggles in various forms until the Muggles there started calling them Kitsune, and a mythology was created. However, Petunia's great-great grandmother married a British Musahib, moved to England and there the family lived to this day.
Petunia, like her sister was a red two-tailed Fox, however you would only see one tail if you happened to stumble across them without their Cover spell. For a Fox Musahib, it's hard to tell how many tails they truly had; which ranged can from one to nine. The only way to know for sure is if the Musahib transformed into a full fox, to which all their tails came be seen, or occasionally you'll be able to see them within the Fox's shadow. The more tails, the more powerful the magic.
Some Musahib Foxes had their ears on top of their head, however, Petunia's ears were where a human's ears would be, long and big with red fur much like Fennec fox, a trait that her son and nephew shared. However, while Dudley had her and Lily's red coloring, Harry's was a pure white. Currently the Pups only had one tail, however they still grow more as they grew into adulthood which was the human age of fifteen. Both Petunia and Caz were sure that the two Pups would inherit their mothers' two tails, then again both of the sisters' parents had only one tail, so it was anyone's guess honestly. And like their mothers, and all other Fox Musahib, their pupils were narrowly long.
"You know you'll have to give Harry a true name" Caz said a week after they've been living here, sighing when a laughing Harry threw a fist full of oatmeal at him, thankfully it was warm.
From where she was cleaning away the remainder of food from Dudley's mouth, Petunia gave a small amused smile before eyes dimmed with sadness. A Musahib child was given their true name by their parents when they turned a year old. The Naming Ceremony is attended by the parents and Caretaker only, Harry had turned a year when the family had been in hiding, and after reading through her sister's journal that she had discovered when she went to the remains of the cottage; Petunia learned that Lily had yet to give her son a true name. And had finally came to a decision to contact Caz and do the ceremony regardless of the risks only to be killed three days later. Which meant it was up to her now.
"A Naming Ceremony should not be a somber event" Petunia said softly as she placed the napkin on the table and proceeded to lift her son out of the high seat.
Sliding the bowl away from Harry when it became obvious that the Pup wasn't going to eat anymore, Caz said nothing, though he understood. Dudley's Ceremony had been wonderful, despite the Pup's father not being there, for obvious reasons.
"No reason why Harry's shouldn't" the Caretaker thought as he went about cleaning the Pup's mouth, "It won't be" he then said to Petunia, with Harry in his arms he went over to Musahib, and gentle tugged on an ear like he used to do when the Vixen had been a Pup. "Harry's Naming Ceremony will be greatest of them all, Lily would have wanted it so"
Touching on the ear that had been tugged, Petunia gave a little smile.
A few days later, Dudley would have spilled the Blessed Water (Traditional the Pup was not supposed to attend, but they made an exception and wasn't like Dudley would remember anyway), Harry would have somehow managed to climb off the Ceremonial Stone and then the two cousin will have run off together, hiding from their mother/aunt and Caretaker. Only to be found again, covered in dirt and dust, but in the end, Harry will have his true name; and Petunia will have laughed in what felt like forever.
~.~
They were at the lake that she and Lily use to swim in, the water was too cold, but the weather was nice enough for a picnic along the shore. Petunia is watching Caz play ball with the Pups, and nibbling on cookies, when her nose flared and her ears twitched. She smiled when a large body sat down next to her on the big green blanket.
"Hello Fenrir" she greeted before lifting up the tupperware of cookies in offering.
Fenrir took one, but didn't eat it, instead he watched the playing children, who hadn't noticed the newcomer. Caz had, the Caretaker only glancing at Fenrir before going back to playing.
"I heard about Lily" Fenrir turned away from the children to Petunia, "I'm sorry"
Petunia's throat goes tight, and she quickly blinked away the unshed tears that started to swell up in her eyes, "….Thank you" she said voice hoarse, tail twitching uneasily.
Fenrir is silent after that, big hand crushing the cookie in crumbs, to anyone else it wouldn't by anything strange. But Petunia wasn't just anyone, she had known the Werewolf since they were both Pups respectively.
Fenrir, was fidgeting.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
Fenrir glanced at her then back at the children, "I just" the Wolf paused, then took a deep breath, "I didn't haven't anything to do with that night, I didn't even know, if I did I could ha—mmphf!"
Petunia smiled at the bewildered look on the Werewolf's face, "I know you didn't betray my sister" she then said as Fenrir chewed and swallowed the cookies she had shoved into his mouth, "whoever did though, will pay dearly"
Fenrir didn't even blink at the growl and glowing eyes, "No doubt" he'd help too, Petunia was Pack after all; just as Lily had been, "just don't lose sight of what is important"
Petunia followed his gaze back to the children who had finally noticed the newcomer and were hiding beyond an amused Caz, "I won't" she reassured him, "now then, would you like to meet the Pups?"
"Love too"
It took barely five minutes for the children to be rolling around in the dirt with the Wolf.
"He is so giving them a bath later" Caz grumbled to Petunia as they watched.
The Musahib giggled.
~.~
Petunia is watching in amusement as Fenrir struggled to get Dudley's pants on, the Pup kicking and wiggling, in her lap; Harry sat happily. Sucking his thumb, her long fluffy tail curled around him.
"Hold still you little—" Fenrir growled, glaring at the giggling Pup when he got kicked in the face.
"He's going to be a fighter" Petunia smiled.
"I bet" Fenrir grumbled, though his voice sounded oddly fond and a bit proud.
"Looks like someone finally noticed you absences" Caz said as he came into the living room, he showed them the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"It's been three weeks" Petunia said in some disbelief, bouncing Harry as she read the headlines.
The Boy-Who-Lived And Family Missing!
The article continued on to say that a family friend had stopped by, and had discovered the whole family hadn't been in the house for days, and searches were being done.
"I best contact Dumbledore" Petunia sighed, the last thing she needed is for anyone to find her ex-husband and undo her memory spell; no matter how impossible that was, "surprised it took Figg so long to notice" she then added.
"I'm surprised you didn't bother with a Cover spell" said Caz
"I wasn't thinking at the time, just knew I had to get the Pups and myself here"
Caz nodded in understanding, "What will you say?"
"I'll let him know everyone is safe and sound" she said as she handed Harry over to the Caretaker, and started to make her way out to start on the letter, "I may even meet with him"
Caz rolled his eyes, while Fenrir snickered at the familiar gleam in the woman's eyes.
"Try not to cause too much trouble" the Caretaker sighed.
"I promise nothing"
~.~
Albus did indeed want to meet with Petunia, the woman arranged for a meeting at a park in the Privet Dr. neighborhood.
"Good morning Mrs. Dudley"
"Dumbledore" Petunia greeted as the old wizard sat down next to her on the bench. "Lemondrop?" the wizard offered, holding out one of the candies.
"No thank you" Petunia declined politely.
Albus nodded, and popped one into his mouth, missing the gleam in Petunia's eyes.
"You gave everyone quiet the fright my dear" the wizard said, "suddenly leaving like that without a word"
"What I do with my family isn't any of yours or anyone else's concern, wasn't before my sister's death, nor is it now. Especially when you just left my nephew on our doorstep"
Before coming to the park, Petunia thought about who she should be around the man, should she be the jealous magic hating Muggle woman Albus assumed she was? Or should she show some of the true her? The one who loved and will always love her sister, who will love and raise Lily's son like her own. The one who will do everything in her power to keep this man away from Harry. Either her words struck a chord or something on her face must have shown, because Albus's face goes unreadable, and his next words while spoken lightly; his eyes had darken a little.
"Moving, was not a wise decision, the spell—"
"If I remember correctly, your letter said that the spell would work wherever Harry called home" Petunia interrupted, something close to warning in her tone, "I assure you, where he is now, is home"
Albus goes thoughtfully silent, and Petunia waited, fingers taping a quick one-two-three rhythm on her skirt covered thigh, the wizard's next words are almost calculating. "You're…..I expected something….different"
"That is what happens when you assume" Petunia sniffed.
"Indeed"
Albus popped another Lemondrop, and Petunia had to fight back a smirk when the man made a disgusted noise and spit out the candy.
"Are you alright?" Petunia asked politely.
"Yes, yes" Albus reassured as he took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"Well then, I think I should go" Petunia stood, she was stopped from leaving by Albus's next words.
"Where have you moved to?"
"Someplace safe, oh yes, I nearly forgot. Please remove Harry from the roster of that school of yours, he will not be attending"
She left before he could say anything else.
According to the Internet Musahib means partner or companion in Arabic. And Caz means the watchful one in Gaelic. Also, Musahib do not have plurals, I wanted to show how much different they are from humans, even wizards and witches. So that's one of my subtle clue :).
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