Hey everyone,
I'm going to apologize beforehand, but I probably won't change much of this chapter. I might make a few of the paragraphs longer, if I see a chance to, but I really, REALLY like this chapter and don't feel like making any adaptations. Though I will definitely try to emphasize on the emotions that everyone feels while dreaming. That's the least I can do.
Let's do this,
Venquine1990
Chapter 04
Dreams, Rescue and Disney Shocks
5th of August 1995
Grimmauld Place, London
Sirius' POV
I have no idea where I'm at and the last thing I remember is going to sleep with my little boy beside me. I hadn't wanted to move Harry now that he was finally getting some much needed rest after reading about how he had kept visiting the graveyard in his nightmares. And the sight of the boy softly and calmly sleeping had been like a balm to my soul as I fell asleep besides him, but now, I seem to be somewhere else.
Somewhere dark and slightly musty, but still with a cleanliness in it that reminds me of Molly and I wonder why I would be dreaming of something that has to do with that wretch. For a short moment I fear that I might have missed some of the draughts she put in my meal, but then dismiss this thought. I look around and feel that – even in the dream – I am in control of my own body and try to see with my hands along with my Veela senses.
Then suddenly, after taking a couple of steps and concluding for myself that, while I am still asleep, a part of me has been transported here, my nose picks up a scent I haven't smelled since October 1981. My eyes tear instantly as I just don't understand what James' scent – of winter pinecones, warm marshmallows and a bottle of Butterbeer that has just been opened – is doing in this dangy little place – wherever I am anyway.
I try to follow my nose and my sense of rightness, my sense of belonging, which is growing stronger as I seem to be drawing closer to the scent. I wonder how large the room is and whether or not I will ever find the other end of the place, when my hand suddenly touches fabric and, as if this is the magic touch, the room around me lights up and I look straight into a pair of shocked – almost scared – hazel brown eyes.
I take a step back in shock as I see the messy hair, the high cheekbones, the divine lips and everything else that – oh so long ago – made me fall for James Potter head over heels and I whisper: "James?" But the man before me doesn't answer, even if his eyes are wide and his mouth is slightly open as if trying to speak. Yet the man does seem somewhat conscious as the fear in his eyes changes to a strong sense of relief and love.
I hate myself for dreaming of my own beloved just when my two sons need me, but my mind suddenly catches up with what is going on here and I ask: "Wait a minute, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in your grave? And how is it you're still as stiff as when you died? The body is supposed to go limp when it dies. And where are we?" But while the man's lips are parted, he is unable to utter a sound, let alone answer me.
I quickly move back, running a hand over his cheek and I feel temporarily amazed that enough of me is in this dream for this to be possible. I touch every muscle I can and try to make it relax. I feel amazed as I can still feel blood flowing through the veins that seem to be have been pushed up against the skin over the last few years. I wonder how in hell any of this can be possible and decide on a new tactic to find out what happened with my love.
I focus on my magic as I lock my gaze with that of my mate and whisper: "Enter." I use the Veela bond between us to see into my beloved's mind. I roam through it as I feel a sliver of James' magic trying to push me away, but I let my mental projection be covered in my Veela scent and the sliver dies away, almost humming softly. Instead a stronger sense of magic envelops me and for the first time in years I feel as if I am being held by my mate.
Then I see the memory I'm looking for and hear: "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off –" And as I look straight ahead, I am suddenly standing in the very familiar hallway that I visited in my Azkaban-induced nightmares so many times. James is standing in front of me and the door is blasted out from behind me. Yet because I am only visiting the memory, it goes straight through me and shatters on the floor.
Turning around, I hear Voldemort laughing, but I don't pay attention to that as I now know that something – or someone – saved my mate's life that night and then I see her. Lying low in the grass of the front lawn on the other side of the street, her hair actually changed into a grass-green color and dressed in a shirt, robe and pants that are the same color as the dying rosebushes around her, is Molly Anne Weasley née Prewett.
I wonder what she could possibly be doing here, why she is here and how it's possible that she seems able to see my mate's home before I realize it must be because of the broken Fidelius. I see her aim her wand at my James at the same time Voldemort does and while I hear that monster say: "Avada Kedavra." I read the lips of Molly Weasley, which say: "Petrificus Basilicus." And I realize instantly – upon impact with James – what actually happened.
I shake my head as I am suddenly back in the basement, but somehow feel that I am still in James' mind. And then I see Molly, looking much younger than she does now and I know I am still in a memory, one James must have led me to in order to help me better understand. Molly walks down a narrow staircase and – apparently like I had to earlier – tries to reach out to James in the dark. For only a second I wonder why she would risk her own health like that.
Her finding my mate is indeed the magic touch as the lights spring up around her as well and she croons as she says: "I'm just so sorry, James, but with you loving Lily and with Lily gone and Harry who-knows-where, I just couldn't let you be killed or set you free again. It would bring that bastard child back and Harry doesn't deserve that. You and Lily were the perfect couple and I really wish I could have saved you both, but he made that impossible.
Don't worry, that retched bastard of that Black line got what he deserved. I just don't understand why he betrayed his own mate, I suppose it's because you got to your senses and realized Lily was your true destiny, but with everything that happened, it seems as if everyone is believing that rumor of him being just a friend of the family and all. Don't worry, James, one day you'll be free and with your only true son once more."
And with that she dares to run a hand through James' hair as if she's his mother or something before she leaves and I leave my mate's mind. I am shocked that he isn't really dead and that Molly saved him in the belief that I had betrayed him or that he had been unfaithful to me. I shake my head at her idiotic ideas as I softly let a hand run down the smooth chin of my beloved and whisper: "I'll have the twins get you out of here by tomorrow, I promise."
And with that I am shot out of the dream, now wide awake and shocked beyond words. I sit up and instantly turn to make sure that Harry is still asleep and the sight of his slumbering form calms my madly beating heart. I take a deep breath and try to think of what could be the best way to get those two to go back to the Burrow, but then I realize something even more important. I have no idea what the counter-curse is to that spell Molly used on my James.
I hate that wretched woman and I know for a fact she won't tell me – or Arthur – let alone anyone else how to do this without asking for something in return. Something that will probably give her more control than she deserves. I decide that taking Madam Pomfrey into the Order is a must as she must know how to undo a Petrification that lasts this long, but then my memory catches up to me – like my mind did back in the dream and I think:
"That Chamber incident back in the forties. Students had been Petrified there too and one of them had been killed. But what had revived those others again? MANDRAGORA JUICE!" I almost shout, now exhilarated and overjoyed, but I manage to keep the excitement just in my mind. I look at my little boy and I happily stroke his hair the same way Molly did in the memory as I think: "Bill, he can help us. He has the juice on his equipment belt."
But I decide to ask that to the young adult tomorrow as I softly crawl out of bed. I wrap the blanket a little more tightly around Harry and summon a stuffed dog for him to grab onto. Then I make my way to the other side of the hallway, where Reg's room and a guest room are. Opening the first door – to my brother's old room – I look in and try not to get revolted with all the green as I sneak a glance at my other little boy.
Sora seems deeply asleep and – as my eyes adjust to the light in his room – I see the first signs of Veela magic starting to swirl around him. The magic is pretty hard to see in the dark, but I can still see onyx black stars twinkle across Sora's closed eyelids. This makes me know he might just get a taste of the Dream week already as part of his magic must still be slightly recognizable as that of someone above the age of sixteen.
I hope that he will get whoever he truly loves and whoever might actually deserve my eldest son as I hear him mutter: "Ri – ri – Riku." And snicker as it seems that my son isn't at all being affected by the Dream Week, he's just having a romantic dream about his best friend – and obvious crush – Alice's eldest son, Riku. Yet then I remember the magic that I saw affecting him and think: "It's not just a romantic dream; it's the first of his Dream Week.
He and Riku are meant for each other." I love the very idea that Sora and Riku will join together, that in the weeks to come Sora's Allure might come out and attract Riku to him. I try not to think what kind of influence that will have on the Potter, Black and Longbottom line as those things only matter in the long run, not when it comes to the happiness of my son. I shake my head at this, I sneak one last glance before closing the door again.
Then, just as I take a few steps away, I hear Remus ask: "Can't sleep?" And I turn around as I had already sensed his presence while I closed the door as I say: "More that I just woke from a terrific dream." This makes the Werewolf smile and he asks: "If it was so terrific, why did you wake?" And I shrug as I retort: "Because it was time?" Remus sighs and shakes his head before I say: "Sora and Harry will have both parents."
The man looks at me shocked and I say: "It's why I'm still alive while my bond was supposed to have killed me, like you asked earlier last night. Molly was afraid that killing James would bring Sora back so she saved his life. She Petrified him like that Monster of the Chamber Petrified those students fifty years ago. I know where his body is and I just need Mandragora Juice to get him back into Sora and Harry's life."
The man looks at me as if he's just seen a ghost, a sight I've been witnessing quite a few times now as Remus sometimes wakes up with the idea that it's still 1993 and he still believes me to be a traitor and Peter to be dead and all that. I shake my head at my poor friend's condition and I try not to touch the one place he scarred me while in that mindset and trying to fight me as I say: "I'll let the twins pick him up tomorrow."
The man nods and we both return to our rooms. Remus walks in a daze and doesn't even really gasp as he walks right into the banister. I cuddle back up with my little boy as soon as I have crawled under the blanket and comforter again. And then, while Harry actually keeps the stuffed dog held between us, with the thought of my family soon reunited, I fall back asleep. I run my hand through his hair as I let sleep claim me.
Harry's POV
I don't know whose hands I'm feeling holding mine, but the grip is amazingly firm and yet so gentle I feel as if they want to hold onto me forever and are, at the same time, terribly afraid of breaking me. This is something that – even when I can't open my eyes – brings a loving smile on my face. Still the lack of sight is worrying.
I try to open my eyes, yet I feel as if the magic of my dreams is keeping me from doing so. For a short moment this terrifies me, but then I realize what is going on as it must have something to do with my Empathic Veela side having been brought to the surface. I decide to ask my dad about it in the morning, when I suddenly feel something that does really worry me.
Together with the two sets of hands clasped around each of mine, is there another set of hands softly, lovingly running up and down my sides. The hands are much larger than the other two sets and with rough skin on each finger, even if the touch itself feels gentler than the fluttering of wings or a flower petal rushing past my cheek.
I feel as if the third set of hands should actually be frightening me, as that means there are three people here that I can't see. I try to stay calm through the fact that this dream is much better than the nightmares I have been revisiting every other night – even if the book stated it had been every night of the last month and a week.
Then one of the hands disappears from my side and I worry greatly as the other sneaks under my back to wrap itself around me, but then the missing hand returns with an ever so soft caress of my cheek and a strong, deep voice whispers: "So badly damaged – by so many people – and still, you're so amazingly beautiful."
This – while at first had scared the crap out of me – calms all my worries down as strong, thin and slightly long lips softly wrap themselves around the tip of my nose in a gentle kiss and the voice returns as he says: "Never more, my little flame, never more. Wait for me. Promise you will wait for me, my Flame."
And while I don't understand what I should be waiting for, I feel the ability to speak returning – or maybe I had it all this time and just didn't realize it. I feel touched by how my hands are held and how I am held by this man, not to mention how he speaks to me with love and – obvious – respect and need. And before I can really stop myself, I solemnly whisper: "I – I promise." And another kiss on the nose is my reward.
Then the hand on my cheek and the arm around my waist disappear and for a very short second I feel like crying – as if part of me has been cruelly ripped from my body. But then one of the hands around my left hand leaves my hand and starts the same loving motion on my right side as the man before him had been doing. Yet at the same time something about how his hand feels and how he moves it feels very different from the other person.
I feel the other person – the third in the trio – moving to lie over me yet I don't even feel scared, but safe and with a strange urge to laugh, as if the person above me just cracked a joke. I wonder if this is some kind of sign to point me to one of my mates. I listen as he huskily whispers: "We might be with two, but you're our only one, little love." Again I get the feeling that I am being given hints as to the identity of these three mystery men.
And a single kiss on my right cheek is my only answer, before the hand leaves my side again and returns to firmly, yet gently, clasp itself around my left hand. I also feel as if something about the second voice feels strangely familiar, but I can't quite place it. Then the one on my right does the same, but then with one thing different. Instead of caressing my side, I feel a single finger drawing circles on my stomach.
This makes me suddenly realize that, other than a pair of sweatpants, I am not wearing a thing and blush, but then the husky voice of my right mate whispers: "Every aspect of you – whether hurt and touched or still unblemished – is pure perfection. perfection we should treasure and perfection we will forever protect." And just like the second voice, there is something about this voice that feels incredibly familiar.
I feel warm and loved by the obvious promise in the man's voice and don't at all feel awkward with the fact that this person seems at least a year or two older than me. And then the man makes himself stand out from the other two again as he kisses me ever so close to the right tip of my mouth, as if he is restraining himself from a real kiss.
I feel warmer, more loved and more treasured than ever before, yet I still feel as if part of me is empty and I know that this is because the other man – the first one – is no longer here in my dream, no longer caressing my sides or holding my waist with his one arm. Still, with my two mates, I feel warm, comfortable and loved. And at the same time I realize that this is another hint, that while two of my mates are close, one of them is still far away.
Sora's POV
I can't feel my eyelids or open them for that matter. Still I can hear the ocean and feel the soft sand under me. At this I relax from any possible panic or worry I could feel over having lost control of my eyesight. And even while I feel that I am not alone here, on this beach that I somehow created inside my dream, this fact doesn't scare me either. Instead it makes me feel a sense of strength I only really feel when around my closest friends.
I try to feel if I have the powers I had during my Mark of Mastery or the ones I regained after almost falling into the Darkness that Master Xehanort tried to trap me with. Yet then I feel as if I shouldn't even reach into those powers, as if there is no reason to want to fight and that all is well. I wonder how I can feel that as I've felt on edge and ready to battle since we decided to come back and protect my brother. Then my ears suddenly pick up on something.
A pace. A pace of someone tall and slim, who has great muscle. I realize that he barefooted as I hear the sand crunch under his feet and between his bare toes as he seems to be walking closer to me. Strangely enough I feel as if that is exactly what he should be doing, as if I should encourage this person to come closer. And every step that this person takes closer to my person makes me feel like I did in the Final World, while I was piecing myself back together.
Then the person sits down next to me and softly starts to caress my hair, as if he love how I am here, here with him and him alone. I know that the person is male as his hand is long, yet rough as if he dabbled in Darkness. I try again to open my eyes – open my eyes and hopefully see the silver hair of my beautiful Riku as I had recognized his pace after the first few steps and I memorize every time he holds me deep within my heart.
But my eyes fail to cooperate, even if my ears don't and they pick up on the one sound I love above all, that I secretly work every day to hear at least once. Laughter, rich, strong and with a depth as strong as the darkness I saw surrounding Riku when he fought that Dream Eater that had surrounded me in my sleep only a few years ago reaches my ears from where the other person is sitting and my heart skips a beat in happiness.
"Riku – he's my mate. I'm really meant for him! What I have hoped and believed in since coming out of that tank and wishing he was there to see me wake up is really true. What I was hoping for when Kairi asked about my chances to be meant for my best friend is true. I'm in love with my future mate – and I have been for longer than I should have kept from him!" My mind rambles in happiness and I tilt my head to my love.
This makes the hand caressing my hair softly touch my cheek. And then the best part of the dream – something I have been trying to let Dream-Riku do since I realized it was him – happens as Riku's long, slim lips softly – almost tentatively – touch mine for such a short time, I feel as if Riku is afraid of going further. Yet the kiss feels perfect nonetheless and I feel better, stronger and more complete than ever before; as if Riku makes me whole.
I trust on my instincts and on knowing – from life-experience – where everything is. And so I sit up and lean towards Riku, my eyes still closed, but my body heating up as I get closer. And, on pure luck, especially because I just can't see if this Riku is the seventeen year old or the twenty year old, I reach out and wrap my arms around Riku's neck. I pull him closer and kiss his divine lips myself. And Riku responds quickly and fiercely.
The silver haired beauty pushes me back on the sand as he kisses me with the strength I always knew he had in him. He wraps his arms strongly around my waist, in a hold that tells me he is not willing to let me go anytime soon. But while I sense that his hair is longer, proving this is indeed the seventeen year old, my main focus lies on my lips as Riku's kisses are more divine than looking at him during sunset, something I attempted whenever possible.
Riku is kissing me with such expertise I wonder who else he could have kissed. I try not to feel any jealousy at the thought that someone else might have taken him his first kiss. Instead I surrender to his lips. I moan softly and feel his lips open to his tongue, which caresses my lips one at a time, as he asks for entrance ever so tentatively – ever so playfully. I moan again as I grant my beloved access and with that lose myself in the experience.
Riku's kisses are amazing and his tongue is pure heaven as it licks and caresses every inch of my mouth. It is mapping out my mouth and showing me Riku's love and adoration for me at the same time. Then I notice how I'm not wearing a shirt or jacket, something I always tried to do as I never felt that my muscles compared to his amazing torso. Riku's hands are now softly going up and down my sides and touching me with delicate love.
His fingers, long and beautiful and rough in texture, caress my sides with reverence. His hands almost speak a language that his mouth isn't able to speak as we are still kissing. Then his right hand goes over the small spot on my left, just under my mid-riff and a fire explodes all over my body. I moan loud at the incredible sensation and my arms wrap around Riku in a near strangle hold as I try to, physically motivate him into more.
Riku seems to realize what he did and slowly breaks the kiss. Both of us take deep breaths, I am almost moaning as I breath and I hear Riku whisper: "This is only the start, Sora. If you accept me as yours, I will show you stars you have never seen before. I will be your Darkness, Sora, as long as you admit to be mine." And while he talks, his hands are still busy on my body and he constantly runs his right hand across that one spot.
I really don't want anything else and so I try to catch my breath and moan: "Ri – ri – Riku." But the silver-haired beauty only laughs and I whisper: "Always." I turn my still closed eyes to him as he seems to be looking at me as well. And while I don't know if he's sitting or lying, I just feel absolutely amazing, lying here next to him. And while I succumb to his touches, I silently hope that I will dream many more dreams like this.
The next morning
Sirius' POV
The whole night I slept only half as I worried that Harry would be troubled by another nightmare. And so I was only falling into a light slumber and nothing more. But at seven in the morning my son is still fast asleep and there is a small smile on his face. It looks as if my son is happy, but still feels that he's missing that last little piece to make his whole day and to make him absolutely exhilarated. And just like with Sora, I notice slim signs of Veela magic covering him.
I wonder if Sora undoing the glamor we put on Harry all those years ago and releasing the abilities in his heart could have also, accidentally, caused for his Veela to come out a year early, more than just his Empathic ability. I remember that this has been known to happen every now and then throughout my family line, as I lie next to my son on the large bed, my arm under my head and my eyes on my little boy, ready to step in if he does get a nightmare.
But then Harry wakes, blinking a few times before stretching his arms out high above him into the air – just like James used to do, even if my love would reach above his head instead of up – and he spots the stuffed dog he has been cuddling with all night. He looks at me, his eyes wide for just a few seconds, before he seems to remember that his eyes had been healed the other night, probably along with everything else that happened.
The young man smiles at me and because there are still a few sparks stuck to his eyelashes, I ask: "Dreaming of possible mates?" Harry nods, slightly red and I don't feel the atmosphere changing as I say: "Seems that affecting the atmosphere thing is officially over, huh?" Harry yawns, stretching once more and turning onto his back as he sleepily says: "Yeah – I guess it is." Before he turns his head and smiles at me as he says:
"Good thing too, that was embarrassing." I laugh at him before I turn serious andI say: "Harry, you weren't the only one who dreamed last night, son." And instantly Harry asks: "Sora too?" I shake my head and say: "There is a chance as I did spot Veela magic while I checked up on him, but I think he was just having a lover's dream, so to say. No Harry, I was the other dreamer last night."
Harry tilts his head and I sigh as I say: "Apparently Molly feared that James dying would bring Sora back. So when Voldemort attacked you, she hid in the yard on the other side of the street and she cast some kind of spell that – if what I saw last night is anything to go by – has the same affects as that monster that attacked Hogwarts fifty years ago."
Harry looks shocked, having gone from lying down to sitting up with his legs crossed and he asks: "Mrs. – I mean, Molly Weasley saved mum's life?" I nod, wondering if the woman still deserves to be called Weasley or not and say: "She's been holding him captive in the basement of her home for the last 14 years. I plan to have the twins pick him up after breakfast. I just hope it wasn't some hopeful dream again."
Harry nods and asks: "How sure are you?" And I smile as I answer: "Pretty sure, I'm normally not as aware of my surroundings or able to control myself or my dream like I was last night." Harry's grin widens at this and I say: "I dreamed of that basement, I found James and I was, in the dream, able to enter James' mind and even see the two memories about that event. The one where she cursed him and the one where she explained why she cursed him."
This makes Harry look at me in excitement and yet I say: "Understand that, while there are facts that make me sure that this wasn't a hopeful dream, there are also facts that might still make it just a dream. One such fact is that, if this is true, I should have been able to sense it. The chance is still there, just less than before all of this. I don't want to dash your hopes, Harry. But I also don't want get them raised too high." Harry nods and says: "Let's get going, I'm getting hungry."
I laugh at this as I am sure that it's Harry's way of saying that he wants to see his mother and that he is ready to take this chance, no matter what. A few minutes later, we're all sitting at the dinner table again. This time Hermione, Fleur and Harry are working on breakfast and when the girls try to protest as Harry's abuse coming to light must still be on their minds, Harry retorts: "This and gardening were the only chores I liked."
This makes the girls turn back to their preparing in silence, while I share a glance with Kingsley, who writes this down as a too wide amount of chores (abuse) on his list. He puts the crime down on both Petunia and Vernon's lists and I just know that, based on their reaction to the Dementors, we can add a few more crimes very soon.
I decide to take the chance to have my mate back by my side before that and so I ask: "Does anyone remember my explanation about the Dream Week?" Everyone nods, except for Harry, Hermione and Tonks, who are obviously too busy with the food to notice and I say: "I had a – as we call it – specific dream myself last night." And only a small glance makes me hide a smirk as Riku had tried to, secretly, look at Sora as I said this.
"What was it about, Sirius?" Arthur asks, while Riku and Kairi seem just as intrigued and close their mouths. They obviously planned to ask the same thing themselves, even while my own son seems oblivious to the fact that Riku had been hoping he had been having one too and I answer: "Your basement." This shocks and confuses everyone and I say: "And more important – a certain beloved of mine who was locked up in there."
"Locked up?" The twins ask in shock and then Bill says: "That would sure explain why she forbade us from entering the basement after 1981. She must have locked someone up there and – not wanting us to free him and ruin her plans – did she make us swear never to go in there again." To this I nod and then Ron asks:
"Who's locked in there, Sirius?" And I look at Sora and Harry carefully. I keep an eye on Harry more in case something goes wrong with the stove or the knife that he's using as I say: "James." That one word causing enough pandemonium that Harry dives under the table to avoid being hit with the flying pieces of food that Hermione and Fleur throw up in shock. Yet he also drops his knife on the table before he dives under.
Everyone looks at me in shock and Tonks asks: "Are – are you sure, Sirius?" And I sigh as I answer: "Yes. Normally I would believe it to be a hope-filled dream as much as you do now. But I was able to use magic in that dream and see into James' mind. I was more aware and in control than I normally am and I even felt his body heat and everything, even while he seems Petrified. He looked to be in the same state as those victims from the Chamber 50 years ago."
I turn to Bill and the twins, while Harry climbs back up from under the table and resumes his cutting and say: "And that is why I need the three of you. I know you, Bill, have some Mandrake Restorative juice on your equipment belt that Dumbledore asked you to keep wearing no matter what. And the twins are the best to pick James up as they can carry him equally between the two of them and not let him get hurt."
The three stand up and say: "We'll get right on it." But then Arthur says: "Not before you three had your breakfast. You'll need to apparate there and everything and stay hidden as well. So I need you in top shape and for that you know you three need a well-filled stomach." His sons nod and sit back down as they accept their plates. And Harry seems to have heard the man as he himself fills up the plates and sets them down in front of them.
Fred's POV
I still have trouble believing the story I was told this morning. That is, until I walked into a basement I haven't seen since I was three years old, the woman I once called my mother having forbidden me from entering this place. She claimed it was due to, as she called it, a trauma she got from losing her brothers. The darkness of this place instantly reminds me of why my brothers and I never played Hide and Go Seek and still it proves Sirius' tale.
This, in itself worries me, as it's just so unbelievably wrong that Harry spent two entire summers living above his own mother without knowing it. It's even more wrong that the woman responsible, who claims to love him, never told him. And while I wonder what else that terrible woman could do wrong, I sincerely hope not to find out anything else. Yet this is something I fear will happen when we continue reading.
Then suddenly, after having gone down the staircase and walking around in the pitch black darkness for a few minutes, my toe stabs something, something hard and something made of leather. This makes me know I might just have found what George and I were searching for, while George had been searching the other side of the room and I slowly reach out my hand.
I touch a piece of fabric with my forefinger and middle finger and I touch a bit of flesh with my ring and little finger. With this I seem to have activated some kind of magical spell as the room lights up and I look straight in the hazel brown eyes of one James Potter, Harry and Sora's actual mother and Sirius Black's Submissive Mate. The eyes show a sense of fright at first, but then he seems to realize that I am not my former mother and the fear vanishes.
I gasp at the sight as I finally feel reality kicking in and George shouts: "Holy Godric, Sirius was telling the truth. That dream he had was real. Harry's mum is actually stuck in our basement. We have had the proof that Harry's not an orphan right under us for years and we never knew. Harry never knew." My brother and I share a quick glance as we both try to get over our shock together. We both nod and turn back to James.
"Mr. Potter, we're friends with your son. We're going to help you reunite with your son and mate. But we have to move your body first. Is that okay?" I ask, while for some reason I don't feel like I should tell him about Sora just yet. And while the man is obviously in the same state as Hermione was a few years ago, I feel like he is analyzing me. I just keep standing for a moment and then I spot a look of acceptance in his eyes.
I put my arms behind him from his left and slowly tilt his body down. And when he's almost head to head with the floor, George grabs his legs, the Petrification making it quite easy to lift him up. We tilt him around to make sure he is looking up instead of down and I start walking backwards, which is really easy until we reach the small staircase. I share another glance and see George nod and we slowly switch locations.
George comes to stand at the staircase and then he turns around to face me. He stands with his back to the staircase, he looks at me as I look at his feet and I say: "Twelve o'clock." George steps back and perfectly hits the first step. He smiles at me and I quickly smile back at him. I keep repeating the same statement over and over and give George about a minute to react and find his balance on the next step before I repeat it again.
Bill's POV
Fred, George and I had agreed that I would wait just outside the steps to the front door of Grimmauld Place. This way the two of them would have a familiar spot to return to and I could keep an eye out for potential spies. Yet I can't help the doubt and disbelief in my heart. Mum using Heartless to control our lives is one thing, but her petrifying Harry's mother and not telling him during the two summers he spent back at the Burrow goes too far for me.
That and the fact that Sirius had seen this all in a dream and was even willing to admit that there is still a chance that this was all just a hopeful dream of his. It all makes me look back down at the equipment belt Sirius had asked me to wear while waiting outside. I look at the small bottle of Mandrake Restorative Draught, a juice that is highly required seeing how strongly Ancient Egyptians worshipped the many powers of the Snake.
I grab the bottle and swirl the messy goo around inside it as I think: "On one hand can this really grant Harry everything he ever wanted and can it help him have a normal life – minus the fame, of course. On the other hand, Sirius did spend a lot of time in Azkaban and that always affects the mind one way or the other. And there is also the chance that, because he now has such a large portion of his family back that he dreams of having it all back."
But then, while I wonder what side of this problem to believe and which of the two sides is worse the twins Apparate in front of me – and my eyes widen at what I see between them. James Potter, the man Sirius told me about, is wearing a fancy suit with leather boots and has his glasses straight on his face. The man a shocked look in his hazel brown eyes as he tries to look around and take in all of his surroundings while he is being held between the twins.
"Mum, how could you?" The thought quickly goes through my mind before I run over to my twin brothers. I cast spells to make sure that no other Muggle would look out their window and that our little spot is covered in Notice Me Not as I say: "Lie him down, I need to administer the juice." The two do so and George goes to sit crossed legged to make sure Mr. Potter doesn't have to lie his head on the stone pavement and I gently pry his lips slightly apart.
I pull my bottle out of my belt and gently explain the man about the contents. I consider the look of relief in his eyes as consent. I keep my thumb at the cork of the vial as I gently push most of the opening in-between Mr. Potter's lips. I push the cork off and this causes for the liquid to flow out of the vial slowly as the stuff really is just gooey. I quickly turn to Fred and say: "Go get a glass of water, this stuff has a horrid aftertaste."
My brother does so and even Apparates to get there and back faster. And just when he returns, I put the cork back on the vial and James Potter starts to move. I look at every limb as it moves more and more a little at a time. This starts at the tips of his fingers as I hear George ask: "Why does he take so long? The students didn't take this long two years ago."
And while I really don't want to know what my little brother is talking about, I explain to him: "Mandrake Restorative juice is really thick stuff and needs to be taken from the stomach into the heart and from the heart into the blood to make sure it can undo the Petrification effects. The longer someone has been Petrified the longer the body needs to adjust."
My brother nods and then a loud groan hits my ears as James Potter asks: "You were not joking about that aftertaste, young man. It tastes like that one time when Siri pushed me into a pool of mud?" And while Fred hands him the glass of water and George tries to suppress a snicker, I try to gently tell him: "Mr. Potter, this is going to come as a shock, but our mother Petrified you on the day you were attacked – which is 14 years ago."
Instantly the man spits out the water he was drinking and he shouts: "Fourteen?" I nod and he groans as he says: "I – I knew I had been down there for some time, that woman kept changing her looks, so I had some indication, but – but four-fourteen?That means my little baby is already fifteen. No, this can't be. I can't lose my baby already." This in turn makes Fred, George and me look at each other in worried confusion and I ask the man:
"What do you mean? Harry still has three years at Hogwarts and everything. He only turned fifteen a few days ago." James Potter sighs and says: "Just after we went down under, Lily and I decided we would surprise Sirius by discovering how much Veela blood he had given Harry when we made him. We discovered he was an Empathic Veela and Empathic Veela get their Dream Week at age fifteen instead of sixteen.
I'm already on the brink of losing my little boy to more than one mate." But then I see Fred and George share a glance. I wonder how strongly they believe themselves to be possible mates, yet at the same time I know that there can be no one better for Harry's light than these two Shining stars of pranks and laughter. And because I discovered early on in my own school career who the Marauders are, I just know that will just make them, Harry and his parents closer.
The man himself also seems to have spotted the look shared between my two brothers as he looks at them cautiously. The two then turn back to him and Fred says: "Mr. Potter, we – we're of the belief that – we might be Harry's mates." And then George goes on: "And we also know how much Harry values any possible family he could get." Fred then hits James Potter's shoulder and, with the friendly smile I know of him, he says:
"So don't worry, you won't lose your son to us." This makes the man smile at the two, yet there is something in his eyes that confuses me. He gazes at each of us one at a time and then he says: "You – look familiar." And I feel a little ashamed of not doing this sooner as I say: "These are Fred and George and I'm Bill, Bill Weasley." And then James Potter makes my day as he says: "I know you. You're Little Willy." And the twins burst out laughing.
But while they do, I smile at James Potter in gratitude as I haven't heard that epic nickname since his death – another thing my so-called mother took from me as she said it would dishonor James Potter's death. And as I add this to the growing list of things wrong with the woman, I am starting to understand why Sirius was growing to hate her so much. I suddenly look up and say:
"Sirius, he Harry and Sora are still waiting inside.""Wait, he, Harry and – did you just say Sora?" James Potter asks me and his voice proves how little he dares to hope that he heard me right. I turn to the twins and they chorus: "We didn't want to tell him until we got back here." I nod at them and say: "Apparently our mother screwed up the future real bad, so Sora, Riku and Kairi came from 1998 to here to help us fix it."
This makes the man stand up and – while I wonder how he can see the place – he runs past us and inside the door quicker than I can almost blink. Fred, George and I look at the open front door behind me, all shocked at the man's speed and George says: "Well, it's obvious where Harry got his Seeker Speed from." And Fred and I nod. I then guide the two of them back inside and gently wave my wand while I do. This undoes all of my previous enchantments.
James' POV
I might have been Petrified for the last fourteen years and may not really remember this as most of the years just blended together while still in the same room for years. But that definitely changed nothing about my feelings and I run while I don't even want to start to wonder as to why Sirius is living at his Parents old place. I can only too clearly remember how he came out of there the last time – which was during Christmas of our Sixth.
Then, as I completely ignore the screaming portrait on the second floor landing, I run down the staircase to the basement kitchen. I have been able to sense his presence since some strange form of him actually visited me the other night and I follow my need to see him again. And I am proven right as the man is up from his chair, his eyes wide, the minute I run through the door and down the last steps as I come to a stop at the bottom.
We stay standing opposite each other for only a few seconds as I am unable to comprehend how much 14 years has changed the man. Then a slightly smaller person, with long, yet very, very messy black hair attacks me. I feel my fancy robe, which I had put on to do Lily a favor that night and which Molly has been keeping clean all these years, getting wet with something hot and moist. I look down to my chest and see my little boy crying.
Harry looks exactly like me, but then with Siri's long face and thin cheekbones and with his long hair, even if it's still as messy as my own. I feel so proud of how my little boy turned out to be, I hug him close. I had stopped believing I would ever have this chance again after Molly told me that he was staying over but she wouldn't let him see me. And with my head in his hair, I whisper: "Harry. My little fawn. You look so amazing, Harry, I am just so proud of you."
This makes Harry cry all the harder and I hug Harry even closer. Sirius slowly walks over, tears of love streaming down his face. He stands besides the two of us and gently hugs Harry and me as well. Harry quickly grabs the man's robe with his right arm, while I can tell from the way that he has his face buried deep within my shoulder that the boy is acting more out of instincts and his Veela inheritance than anything else.
Still, I am not bothered by this in the slightest and just pull Sirius closer. I want to feel as much of my Siri as I can after fourteen years of separation. I worry over how thin and bony Sirius' waist feels to my arm, which again makes me remember that first time Molly came to visit me in the basement she kept me in just like I did last night. Yet I still feel his warm blood and the muscles he had been developing for so long thumping under the frail skin of his side.
I smile at the love of my life, yet I see in his eyes that the man is slightly doubtful and he asks: "You – you still love me, don't you James?" And as an answer I pull Sirius closer and lovingly kiss his lips. His delightful lips have luckily enough not been affected like the rest of his form, yet at the same time I try not to stir Harry either. And just before I kissed Sirius, I had noticed other kids in the room looking at the man in shock.
To my shock, Harry actually pulls himself out of my embrace. I want to look at him, but then Sirius fully pulls my front flush against his own. The man lovingly kisses my lips and softly licks at my bottom lip, just like he knows I love. The fact that he remembers this after all these years makes my heart soar and I just fully commit myself. I pull myself closer against the body I have longed to be close to once more for so long.
Sirius licks my lip a second time and even sucks it in between his own. I moan at the sensation and Sirius' tongue instantly plunges into my mouth. The man seems determined to reacquaint himself with as much of me as possible and I desperately want the same. But then the need for air becomes apparent and I break the kiss. As I do, I remember that my son needs me right now. And Harry quickly moves himself back into our embrace, but then I feel something.
Another pair of arms, this pair long, yet filled with lean muscles of obvious years of training, are around Harry, myself and Siri and instantly I realize who has just joined our family. I also realize that Harry didn't pull himself away, he was probably pulled away by the same person now hugging all three of us. And as I look to my right, I see the messy brown hair and bright, happy sea-blue eyes of my son, my little Sora, who I lost so long ago.
I feel that I should hug him back, but I don't want to release Harry with my one arm or Sirius with my other. Instead of that, I decide to lie my forehead against that of my son as a sign of my love for him and Sora seems very happy with this as he pushes back. He even slightly pushes me back and this, alongside the way that his sea-blue eyes shine with loving mirth, makes me smile at him as I love his spirited nature.
Then finally Harry stops crying. He had been mumbling some incomprehensible words at first, but he stopped after he started crying even harder, yet his hold on me is still iron strong. I sigh at this and try ever so slowly to move to the chairs at the dining table. I sit down in one of them, Harry is now sideways in my lap and the boy's head under my own as he seems to ask for shelter, although I can't think of against what that could be.
Sirius sits down to my left and Sora on my right, a silver-haired, crystal eyed youth sitting down next to him and a girl with red hair and blue eyes next to him. Sirius softly caresses Harry's cheek as if he expected this kind of behavior from my son, while I would have never guessed that he would raise Harry like this. Yet then I think: "He raised Harry without his mate and son. Harry must have always known this and been desperate for our returns."
Then Sirius seems to read my mind as he says: "This isn't my work, James. If you recall, the Wizarding world considered me a traitor, so I was kept away from him and his upraising. Harry was abused and didn't get to know me until he was thirteen." This shocks me senseless and I quickly hold my son all the tighter, Harry making a soft happy sound as he grabs onto my shirt yet again and Sora and Sirius smile at me widely.
Then the boy next to Sora says: "It's good to see your family complete, Sora." And my son nods as he says: "Now just to get my and Harry's future mate in the picture and it's complete." To which I can, almost, see the face of the silver-haired boy turn sad, but he seems to hide this very well as my son doesn't seem to notice it. Yet just a single glance at how close the two are seated together makes it quite obvious that they are meant for each other.
Soon the twins and Little Willy are seated around the table once more. Two girls, one a gorgeous blonde, the other a nice looking brunette, serve us our plates of food and a tanned man I suddenly recognize as my old friend Kingsley Shacklebolt, says: "We best continue with the story. The sooner we're done with those Muggle chapters, the sooner we can get them arrested." Everyone nods and I look at my mate.
Sirius sees me look and says: "Sora, Riku and Kairi came from the future to help us end the war against Voldemort and keep the aftermath from going terribly wrong. They took books with them that describe everything that is going to happen in the next couple of years. They've just taken a De-Aging potion, because Sora had already passed his sixteenth birthday and would be badly affected by the magic here realizing that."
I look shocked that my eldest son is actually older than he looks, that I lost more than just the last sixteen years of his life and ask: "How old is he really?" And my son answers: "I was nineteen years and almost eight months old when I took the potion. I am now fifteen and – starting tomorrow – eight months old." I nod at this, shocked that my sons now only differ eight months.
Then I shake my head as I know of myself that I never would have cared for this in the first place if I had been able to raise my sons myself. And so I just decide to focus on getting to know my son now that I do have the chance and so I ask: "So Sora, any dreams when you turned sixteen?" And Sora seems to shock Riku as he rubs the back of his head and says: "Yeah, I had a week of them – I just don't remember who they were about."
"It must be the magic of Destiny Island going against your inner Veela magic. It must have disordered your abilities, making you able of having the dreams, but making it feel afterwards as if they were just regular dreams you could just forget about. It must also be the Destiny Island magic that kept you alive after you came off age."
Sirius tells our son and Sora nods in understanding, while Riku and Kairi look at the boy in shock and relief. And I can't help but feel the same as I would have surely been crying by now if they had arrived here through time without my first born. I wrap an arm around my first little boy and pull him closer while holding Harry tightly. And Harry himself also grabs onto Sora's shirt with a grasp that is so desperate it almost worries me.
I then see in Riku's eyes a hidden pain that I know will make it very easy for Sora to hunt his mate down once his Dream Week is over. I smile as the two already make a very cute couple just sitting so close together, closer than I think Sora even notices as the closeness between them is almost enough to be called romantic. And I know the right spell can grant me the ability to see how well their magical auras merge together.
Yet I decide not to think about that as my son and I still need a lot of time to get reunited. I see everyone else coming to take seats around my family and me. The twins come to sit in front of us just as I notice the red-haired girl next to my son and his friend touch her left temple and hear her whisper: "Master, send for some back-up. We're ready. Just don't send it all in one go. Send someone with a fierce patience first, please."
This makes me wonder what she is on about and when she sees my – and probably many other – stares, she says: "Before we came back, I created a mental link between my own Pure heart and that of our mentor. We have back-up, but it can't be from this timeline. They will just go back to their worlds once the timelines have set themselves straight again, meaning when we're back on the date they left." And she shakes her head in the end.
Yet I fully understand what she means, or at least the bit about the time-travel as the ability to connect hearts just astounds me and I nod at her. And as I do a bright light reveals a young woman with bright red flowing hair, bright blue eyes and full red lips, who has an hourglass figure and slender legs along with a man with handsome features, thick black hair and the same bright blue eyes as the woman he has an arm wrapped around.
The two smile at me and Sora, even as I feel as if looking at a slightly older version of my beloved late sister, Lily. Then the young woman, who looks to be in her late teens or so, speaks and says: "Sora, how wonderful to see you again. Thank you so much for this amazing chance. This is more than I ever dreamed about." And the man laughs and says: "Yeah, although I am still not happy with the timing of it all." His words making the redhead glare at him.
I feel as if I have my sister back is some weird way and hear a soft female voice whisper: "Just no way." And we all look at a girl Harry's age with bushy brown hair and very wise brown eyes who is sitting to the left of the twins and who was one of the two girls to serve us breakfast. The girl looks at the two in what I can only call deep shock and disbelief – something I find very strange of her as she seems pretty intelligent.
The girl then turns to Sora and says: "You said you made journeys to other worlds." Sora nods, while both my excitement and my motherly worries rise up inside me as I know that Muggles traveled to the moon, but this is obvious something more than that and she asks: "Was one of them – and don't get shocked, please – was one of them, by any chance, named Atlantica?" And still Sora and the two newcomers are shocked.
Sora nods and asks: "How did you know?" And Hermione takes a deep breath as she says: "You now know that this world has Magicals and Non-Magicals, right?" Sora nods, while the two newcomers look interested and Hermione says: "In the world of the Non-Magicals, there was one person who became very, very famous.
He was able to create these creatures, imaginary creatures, and have them experience these amazing adventures. He called them Disney creatures, because his name was Walt Disney and he became World famous for it. These days Muggles can watch these adventures on the television or read about them in special children's books called fairy-tales. There are even theme parks named after him where those imaginary creatures are the stars of the parks."
Everyone looks shocked and the girl turns to the newcomers as she says: "All I can guess – because these two come from one of those imaginary stories – or better said that those stories are meant to represent these two in the Muggle world or something – is that that Muggle was really a Seer, who was able to see into your universe and saw the adventures you were about to have and then changed that into fairy-tales."
The two nod and the man asks: "So you know us then?" And the girl retorts: "I do if your names are Princess Ariel, daughter of Triton and Prince Erik." The red-haired woman smiles and nods, but then the man says: "Actually, we're king and Queen." And the girl hums as Sora asks: "So why aren't you happy with our timing?" And the man named Erik shocks my son senseless as he grumbles: "Because Ariel is pregnant with our daughter."
Why do I do this?
I actually changed more about this chapter than I thought and I'm pretty sure that about three quarter of all of the paragraphs now have added text to them. There were definitely parts where I didn't think it was necessary – like with Harry's bit – but everywhere else, it just felt like the added text made the whole story more cohesive, a more complete chapter.
I definitely enjoyed it,
Venquine1990
