Hey everyone,
So this chapter is not going to be easy. It's going to concern a dreary talk between James and Sirius as well as Riku facing off against more dark emotions inside Harry as well as him searching for whatever is causing the connection between Harry and Voldemort. And unfortunately, it will be unlike any Riku has ever seen.
Let's get ready for this,
Venquine1990
Chapter 31
Comforts, Dangers And Fears
13th of August 1995
Potter Place Gardens
James' POV
I've been looking for Sirius for some time now, but haven't been able to spot him. This really worries me as I know just fine what my Siri can be like if he is left to brood by himself for too long. And to make things worse does the point me spell not seem to work when it comes to finding my mate, nor do the usual Potter charms.
And while I really want to use the bond we have, do I know that can easily backfire on me as it will lure Sirius to me instead of helping me find him and in the state that Sirius is currently in, that's not just a good idea. And so I just keep searching, looking among the grounds, the trees, the small pond we have, everywhere.
Yet after an hour of searching and no results do I feel horrible myself as I can't believe I can't even find my own mate. Yet then I get shocked when something falls down in front of me and I look down, do I feel even more shocked to see Harry's Firebolt to lie in front of me. I look up and see Hedwig flying in circles above me.
"Thanks girl." I say and carefully get onto the broom, knowing that in the years that I have been Petrified, broom companies have really stepped up their game. Yet after a rocky start with how quickly the broom actually shoots off the ground, do I feel it getting used to how I move and answer to my movements flawlessly.
And so I rise up high enough I can see yards of land yet still see everything in fine detail, but before I can start a new search, does Hedwig draw my attention as she flies right in front of me for a while before she turns around and flies off. "Wow, thanks girl." I repeat before I gently lead the broom into following her tail feathers.
And the smoothness with which the Firebolt responds to my need is really amazing, yet I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so worried about my mate. And when I see where Hedwig leads me, do I feel like hitting myself as I think: "Of course, Sirius always hid there where others wouldn't look if he wanted to be alone."
And with that do I land on one of the flat parts of the roof, Hedwig flying a happy circle around me and my mate, who has his back to me and who is seated at the edge of the roof with his feet against the edge, before she flies off. "Blasted owl." Sirius mumbles and I retort: "She just worries for you, so does her owner, so do I."
"I'm fine." The man mumbles and I roll my eyes as I say: "First of all, thanks for having our son inherit something so detrimental and stupid. Second of, if you were fine, you wouldn't be hiding where others wouldn't easily be able to find you – like you always do when you're anything but fine. Yeah, I remember."
At this Sirius shows a rueful smile and he says: "I just – I feel like Halloween all over again. Does that even make sense?" To which I go sit down next to him and say: "Of course it does. You're reading of how your life is being manipulated right out of your control. Of course that feels similar to when you thought you lost us all."
And the man leans against me as he whimpers: "I can't lose you. Not again." And I pull my poor, crying mate close, feeling both hurt and relieved beyond words that, after being back for a week, he has finally reached his breaking point and is now letting go off all that has pained him in the last fourteen years we've been apart.
The man cries and weeps and howls, but all I do is just keep close to him and keep my arm wrapped around his form as I barely doubt that his way of healing from emotionally hard situations has changed at all in the years I wasn't able to be there for him. And yet the man proves that I am both right and wrong in believing this.
Right in the fact that he just keeps crying, mumbling nonsense and small bits of things that have hurt him from time to time, but wrong in the belief that he will just cry himself to sleep like he did so many times when we were still younger. Instead of that does the man prove that Azkaban has changed and affected him somewhat.
That is to say, instead of calming down, does the man seem to get even more energized and his pain actually gets changed into a furious rage. And this the man proves as he suddenly stops crying and shocks me as he jumps up and grabs his wand. And before I can do anything, does the man start shooting off curses.
This shocks me as Sirius was never able to do this when he was overwhelmed by his pain, only his anger, but then I hear Sirius screaming between the curses he shoots into thin air, and I realize that Sirius was both hurt and angered by Pettigrew, Figgy and Molly and the actions they took against my family and myself.
The man screams his anger, his rage over the betrayal Pettigrew threw at us, the fury he feels over how Pettigrew threw away 11 years of friendship and even rage against himself over how easily he let Pettigrew trick him when the Muggles were killed. But at this point I have recovered myself and I stand up as I snarl:
"THAT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT!" And Sirius looks at me shocked as I say: "You were Harry's father pretending to be his godfather. You had way more rights to Harry than Dumbledore and the only reason you didn't get him is because this didn't mean more to Hagrid than his loyalty to Dumbledore. That's his fault, not yours.
And you said it yourself, Pettigrew threw away 11 years of friendship. But who says he really was our friend for 11 years? Who says he didn't join the Death Eaters after our first encounter with them? Who says he wasn't spying on us for a year? Or two years? Or even more than that? Pettigrew being a spying traitor is not your fault."
"But that's just it! It is my fault! I am the Dominant in this relationship, I was the unofficial Head of the Potter Family, I –." But at this I snap: "Dumbledore was the Leader of the Order and the Head of the Wizengamot. Doesn't that mean he should have taken anyone he suspected to task the minute he started suspecting them?
Sirius, the only mistake we made – was trusting Peter even after we found out that his Animagus form is such an unreliable little beast. But the only reason we made that mistake was because we saw an advantage in his form in helping Moony. That he decided to come true to the nastiness of his form is his decision and his fault.
Besides, if you blame yourself for what happened to Lily and me, does that mean you blame yourself for what happened to Cedric? Because I do believe it was Pettigrew that killed him – on Voldemort's orders." At this Sirius sighs and mutters: "That – that's not the same." But I shrug and say: "I don't see the difference, really.
Yes, Cedric isn't as close to you as Lily was, but Pettigrew was still the one who killed them both, one more directly than the other. And besides, isn't it true that Harry is still blaming himself over Cedric's death?" And instantly the man snarls: "Yes, and that's ridiculous. He had no idea Voldemort was going to –."
"He had no idea a murderer was going to do – what exactly?" I ask with a smirk, knowing I have talked Sirius into a corner and Sirius wants to open his mouth, yet my mate proves how intelligent he is and he sighs before he sends me a rueful smirk. At this I smile back at him and then move over to where he is standing.
I stand only two steps away from him and softly lie my hand against his cheek as I say: "You can't blame yourself for actions that should have never been undertaken by anyone, my love. The only ones you can blame are the ones doing so. And that is a lesson only you can teach our son – once you have accepted it for yourself."
At this the man sighs as he says: "It – it's going to take some time and –." But then I press my lips against his and when we part, do I say: "And I will be there every step of the way to make sure you really learn this lesson. And then you need to be there every step of the way so our son can do the same, under your guidance.
After all, experience makes for better teachers." And the smile that he gives e makes all of my concerns fade quite a bit away and makes me know that, even if Sirius might get a rebound later, he is on the right track. "And as long as that road to recovery might be, my Siri will traverse it with those most important, his family."
And with that do I embrace my beloved partner, happier than words can describe that I am once again able to help him in his hour of need and even happier than that over the fact that, now that we are public, it won't be long before others will come help us as well. "After all, that's why my son and his friends came here in the first place."
And as I think this, do I open my eyes, happy that we are standing on this side of the Manor as it allows me to gaze down directly into the arena, where – even though they are five stories below us – I can still see the bodies of Riku and my son Harry lying opposite each other, making me know that Riku – is hard at work.
At the same time
Inside Harry
Riku's POV
While the reading is over and while I know I could now be spending time with Sora and increasing the strength and depth of the bond between us, do I also know that Diving into Harry's heart, checking his memories and ridding them of as much darkness as I can is vital, especially if the last few chapters are any indication of what is to come.
To my amusement did I even come across a few memories of how Harry felt while we were reading and the memories of how he felt when we read of Umbridge were ones I quickly tackled, minimizing the emotional pain to the point that it won't affect Harry too badly, but not taking away all of the pain as that's not healthy either.
But while I feel accomplished with these small tasks, do I also wonder how to get to the actual task Harry's father gave me, namely to find out more about the scar. Yet nothing here indicates of anything related to the connection, other than a few memories of how Harry felt when the connection was active one way or another.
"Guess I need to find a way to reach deeper into Harry's being." I mutter to myself and it seems as if Harry, somehow internally, can hear me as I suddenly see a staircase reaching up to another platform and while this one is quite far away in the distance, do I also vaguely see it having another staircase reaching even further up.
"Heh, thanks Harry." I smile as I walk over. Yet while I remember from what Sora told me of his own Dive into the Heart when he first got the Keyblade that the stair panels are supposed to be made of stained glass with the panels all being different colors, do I falter as I get closer to these stairs as something just feels off.
I cautiously take a step on the first panel and instantly I hear a voice attacking me. I slam my hands on my ears, yet the voice is gone before I can and the words don't sound like they have anything to do with me. "A dark memory. Something someone once yelled at Harry in anger or spite. Guess the other panels are going to be no different."
This makes me frown in anger as the words didn't sound like something Harry deserved to hear – even if they were vague enough I could barely understand them – and I take a deep breath before I dash up. And with each time that my foot touches a panel, does the same voice – or sometimes a different one – shout an insult or order at me.
"That fat Muggle. These memories are of when that fat Muggle insulted and belittled Harry or ordered him around like a common slave. Damn it, they've become such a strong part of him, I don't think even my abilities can do anything about this. I just need to keep going." I think, anger coursing through me the more I listen.
But while this anger makes me want to either shatter the next panel or leave Harry all together and give that fat Muggle a piece of my mind, do I continue on, panting in slight emotional exhaustion when I reach the next platform. And looking down, I feel my anger abating at the floor depicts a black dog on the run.
"Your father really means everything to you, doesn't he, Harry?" I think to myself as I look up and to my relief do I see only happy memories floating around me, most of them indeed of times Harry spend alongside his father and even a few of the last week or so. And seeing how important we are to Harry makes me feel ready.
I look at the next staircase and think: "I can do this. Harry needs me and these are just memories that, even if I can't make them feel better, I can always just make Harry forget them. After all, the more he hangs around his real family, the easier it will be to forget his old, fake family." And with that do I move over to the next staircase.
Yet while I want to take a run across this one too, does my foot landing on the first panel make me hear something completely different from the last panel of the previous staircase and I actually hear Harry laughing over something. I look at the memories above me again and think: "Now that is definitely a good sign."
And with that do I take the staircase at a much slower pace, enjoying each step as it is accompanied by Harry either hearing a joke, hearing someone else laugh or shouting in enjoyment over something. And a few are even compliments he either received from others or gave to his friends at one point in time or the other.
All in all I feel my spirits lift themselves up with each stage, yet when I reach the next floor, do I instantly know that my good time inside Harry is over. The platform actually shows a gorgeous red-haired woman smiling, yet there is a horrible crack shaped like a bolt of lightning that crosses straight through her face.
"Halloween night. Looks like I reached my goal." I mutter to myself, drawing my Keyblade yet again as I dismissed it while moving up the stairs and I think to myself: "First I faced Darkness in the surface memories, then anger in the first staircase, then happiness in the second floor and the second staircase. So what now?"
And while I feel confident that, whatever this floor has to offer me won't be any good, do I still feel rooted to the spot upon taking my first step closer to the woman depicted on the platform. "It is I, Ansem, the seeker of Darkness." I hear the voice of my biggest enemy sounding from all around me, his voice attacking me.
"How? How could Harry know that statement? I never told him about that." I think to myself yet as I take another step, does another voice, this one sounding completely new to me, overwhelm me. "Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter! I want you to look at me when I kill you! I want to see the light leave your eyes!"
"That was him. That was that cold-hearted bastard that killed Harry's aunt. And he – he taunted Harry, the way Ansem used to taunt me after Sora first got rid of him. That – that's why I heard Ansem's quote. This floor is charmed to make me hear that what scared Harry and me the most. This floor – it's pure fear."
And this really worries me as I've never dealt with fear before, usually anger or pain, but never fear. And so I take another cautious step, grunting as I again hear Ansem's voice speak around me and say something. "It's really quite simple. Open yourself to Darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being become darkness itself."
"That was what convinced me, where he managed to become part of me. That was just before he send my heart into the World of Darkness." I think and the next step makes me feel worse as the voice of Voldemort sounds to be taunting Harry. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter."
Yet this step does something worse as I suddenly feel a form of pain reach my heart that I just know isn't my own and I think: "It's Harry's. It's when Voldemort tested him the way he said. But how did he do so?" Yet then I shake my head and mutter: "No, I need to focus. I need to find a way to beat this form of magic."
And I move even further, yet the closer I get to reaching the center, the more the voices of Ansem and Lord Voldemort start to sound the same, the more their words get merged and start to sound over each other and the more the emotions Harry and I felt when facing them tries to overwhelm me, Harry's fear being the main emotion.
"Stay strong, Harry. I'm here for you, but I need your help." I think, only to suddenly hear something that isn't a voice. I turn around and gasp in shocked fright when I see the stairs that led here vanish, a windy sound being heard every time a panel vanishes. And because of my most recent thought do I realize what this means.
"Harry can't hear me anymore. This really is the connection. It's not Harry and it's not Voldemort. But that means that, as much as Harry can't help me, that monster can't hurt me either. Right, now I just need to find out how to weaken if not sever this bloody connection." But then a new voice sounds around me and asks:
"Are you really sure that's smart?" And I look around, fear gripping at my heart as this voice sounds like a perfect match between Ansem and Voldemort and the voice continues: "It's as you said. This is merely the connection. So when it is severed, where will you go? How do you plan to return to yourself if there is nowhere to go back to."
Yet this makes me smirk and I say: "You sure know how to contradict yourself. I have somewhere to go back to; my own body." I then grab my Keyblade tighter and say: "And sorry to say, but whoever you are, you're not coming with me. Now show yourself!" But the voice only laughs and says: "But I already am showing myself."
And this confuses me for a second, but then I realize it. "The memories. You are nothing more than the memories." I mutter and the voice hisses: "Exactly." Only for me to scream in pained fright as suddenly I feel as if the being – and all of the memories that come with him – attack me from every angle of the platform.
Hundreds of quotes, both from what Ansem told me and what Sora and I told him return as well as what Voldemort told me and what Harry told Voldemort in return, overwhelm me, all of them coming at me at the same time and getting repeated over and over again as they seem to come from every inch of the platform I am standing on.
"Conquer the Darkness, return it to Light. Conquer the Darkness, Return it to Light. Conquer the Darkness, Return it to Light." I mutter to myself, only to hear the voice laugh snidely at me and it actually overwhelms all of the attacking voices as it says: "Don't bother. There is no Darkness here, only fear."
Yet this makes me glare at the voice, even if I can't see it and I growl: "Then I will conquer that." At this the voice laughs again and he says: "Conquer fear? Don't make me laugh, that's impossible." But I smirk and say: "Not true. Dark emotions lead to Darkness and if Light conquers Darkness, dark emotions can be conquered with light ones."
And with that do I close my eyes, blocking out the voices that, probably thanks to the power of the voice, have increased in strength and volume, and start to focus on similar and different memories and start to mutter the statements I said back then as well as statements I heard and read Harry say, my voice increasing in strength.
"Wait, what? How – how are you – this – this is – IMPOSSIBLE!" The voice shouts as I smirk, my statements actually making the words I hear around me weakening and it even feels as if they are backing away and as they do, do I also feel the emotions that went through Harry and me at the time weakening little by little.
And as these emotions of anger, fear, doubt and concern leave me, do I feel myself instead get filled with confidence and strength and I open my eyes with a smirk of victory, the emotions within me getting even stronger as I see that, the more I bring out positive memories, the scar crossing the platform is mending.
And to make things even better, do I see that the thing that mends the rift is actually the memories that I am pushing up to the surface. Yet as the light of these memories passes between my legs, do I hear the voice snarl: "If I go down, you're going down with me." But this makes me look back at where I did before and I say:
"I don't think so. Sora, it's up to you now." And with that do I hear the last memory mending the scar, only for the face of Lily Potter to light up and vanish, yet while the voice laughs and says: "Enjoy the oblivion, you insolent little brat." Do I smirk as I spot a bright, warm, welcoming light come from high above my right side.
The light shoots for me and engulfs me, but to my shock, do I not just feel the familiar emotions that Sora has always showed me, I also feel a familiar sense of care and confidence and while these two merged lights shoot me back to where I came from before I landed on the first platform, do I think: "Thank you, Sora, Harry."
And with that do I feel myself waking up in my own body, gasping the way I do every time and the first thing I feel is a hand on my ankle. And when I look up, do I smile as I see Sora sitting between Harry and me and having his hands on one of my ankles and one of Harry's each, the boy obviously serving as a bridge between us.
I move my body up and with that pull my ankle loose from Sora's grip, making him turn to me and he shouts: "Riku! You're okay, Riku!" And I think: "At least this time he doesn't have things backwards." Making me smirk as I hug him back and I say: "Thanks to you and Harry. Thanks for getting me out of there."
But then I notice Harry looking at me worriedly and he says: "Riku, you – you worried me. I – I could feel you for a while, but – but then you suddenly vanished. What – what happened?" And Sora and I quickly go to sit with him as I say: "I reached the center point of the connection. I wasn't with either you or him, just in the middle."
This makes Harry grimace and he asks: "But what happened? For the longest time I couldn't sense you and then suddenly I felt as if someone was helping me reach out to you and the minute that happened, I could sense you again. What happened? What did you do? What happened when you were on that connection?"
And so I tell him everything. Of how I felt passing the first staircase, what I saw on the second platform, how the second staircase helped me and what happened as I stepped and got closer to the center of the last platform. And with some hesitation, do I also tell him of the voice and the power it had over the platform.
"But – but how? How did the voice manage to have both your memories of Ansem and my memories of Voldemort?" Harry asks and I answer: "It was able to, because the connection is meant to overwhelm you. So its protection mechanism is set to be able to do the same to anything it considers a potential threat.
But fear is only a sliver of what creates Darkness and my greatest ability is conquering Darkness and returning it to Light. That's my motto anyway." I tell the boy with strength and finally the boy seems to feel better as he smiles at me, Sora and me sitting on either side of him and both of us giving the boy a warm hug.
Inside the House
Ten minutes ago
Dean's POV
"This manor is – amazing!" I think in utter shock as Sora shows us around the gorgeous five story building that has two small towers that is only one story higher than the rest of the house and while he told us that the top floor is meant for the family only, did he also show us why this really isn't a problem in regards to our own rooms.
While Seamus has always switched between his family cottage and his family manor, of which the rooms are still single rooms, but spacious and incredibly well-furnished, have I never been in any room where every guest has a set of rooms all to themselves, with a personal lounge, a study, a bedroom and a bathroom each.
Seamus had taken the room to my left and his mother had wanted to take the rooms next to his, but those actually belonged to Sora's friend named Kairi and so she had taken the rooms opposite her sons. And yet it had been gazing into Kairi's room that had made us realize just how powerful the Potter Place spells actually are.
"Her entire room is made of islands." Seamus mutters for the seventh time as we have decided to gather in my personal lounge and Sora says: "Yeah, and you can do the same. Just press your hand against the wall next to the door going in and you can tell the House Elves how you want them to decorate your rooms.
And besides, Kairi's room isn't even the craziest. Tarzan's an entire jungle and Hercules is mostly made of sandstone, sandstone bricks and clouds." At this I gasp as I realize who he could be talking about and the boy nods as he says: "Apparently the guy was a Seer – whatever that means." Yet the boy seems unbothered not knowing.
Only this careless nature doesn't seem to last long as he suddenly looks up, his face a mask of concern and he says: "Please excuse me, my mate needs me." And he leaves without another word, startling me and I ask: "But Riku is still outside in the arena with Harry, isn't he? How does he know that the guy needs him?"
At this Seamus says: "It must be the closeness of their bond. Some Veela can actually forge a mental, emotional or even magical bond with their mate, depending on how close they are. And those two? They seem really, really close." At this I nod at him and then I away from where Sora left and back to the lounge as I ask:
"So, what do you think is going on with Hermione?" And Seamus shrugs as he says: "Prefect responsibilities, stress from worrying over her friends, a trauma left behind from when Harry came back to the Quidditch pitch. Who knows which one it is. My question is, do you think she and Harry are going to remain friends?"
At this I grimace as I mutter: "Right now, I have to say I doubt it. I mean, it could very well be that we find something that will prove to her that she really has been in the wrong all this time, but it could also be that she takes her own actions in the book way too seriously and gets an ego the same size that former Weasley used to have."
At this Seamus nods and says: "Speaking of, do you even want to know what he did at that meeting? I mean, Hermione annoys Ron plenty of times, yet he's never walked out on her the way he did when he realized we will be reading a letter written by that guy." At this I nod and say: "Too true, so I guess it really was quite bad."
Yet to this Mrs. Finnegan says: "Actually, my husband heard a few rumors. Apparently, the Weasleys met with Percy just after the meeting where Harry and the others announced their heritage and their bonds and he thought it was because they had been freed of whatever it was that two other members of their family did."
At this Seamus and I share a glance and I say: "That has to be Ginny and Molly. He must have been present when they were sentenced and must have thought they had affected his family the way they affected Harry. Speaking of which, what is a Heartstamp spell anyway?" But Mrs. Finnegan shakes her head, only for another voice to speak.
"It's a bloody nightmare of a spell, laddie, that's what it is." And I turn to the voice, my eyes widening as Alastor Moody – or who I can only assume is the real Alastor Moody – walking into the room, apparently having no trouble with his fake leg as he comes to sit in one of the comfy chairs set in my personal lounge.
"Trust me, laddie, a charm like that? I doubt even Snape, when we was still firmly on the other side, would think of using on someone like Potter – and their hatred for each other was legendary, let me tell you. Heck, I actually had to uncover him pretending to be trainees of mine and kick him out of my training center a few times."
"Why was he there? Anyone who knew James Potter knew he didn't join the Auror force because he was already part of the Order and didn't feel like fighting for multiple causes." Mrs. Finnegan says and Moody rolls his good eye as he says: "Everyone knew that, and yet Snape only believed what he wanted to believe."
At which I think: "Something he has yet to stop doing, even now." But I don't voice this thought, even if I get the creepy feeling that Moody still knows thanks to the smirk he sends my way. "Either way, you lads sure you want to know what this spell does?" And while Seamus and I share a hesitant look, do we still nod at him.
The man smirks in pride at us and then he says: "The Heartstamp spell is known to be cast only by five Ancient Houses. The Prewetts, the Blacks, the Malfoys, the Umbridges and the Notts. The nature of it? It actually hides other Dark spells that can influence a person from being able to be seen by anyone other than these five families.
And to make matters worse, does the added effect of this spell allow the other four families to continue casting Dark spells with the intent to influence their target's mental state of mind however they feel like it. Basically, this spell could hide everything bar the Unforgivables from being spotted if cast upon a victim."
This shocks both of us and then Moody pulls out a book and he says: "And not only did Prewett curse Potter quite badly, which Lady Tonks will soon try and work out, but Umbridge went one step further and put all kinds of mental spells on this book, which she then pre-ordered for Potter and Potter only. It's a DADA study book."
"Wait, you mean that was the book she was planning to put in the supply list for this year? And then have the bookstore sell that one to Harry, so she could influence him and hurt him with that Blood Quill without him snitching on her? Is that what you're telling us?" Mrs. Finnegan asks in frightful shock and Moody nods as he says:
"And because of the Heartstamp spell even book-me is blind to the curses – WAIT A BLEEDING MINUTE!" He suddenly shouts and we all yelp as he says: "Black is worried above all others about his family and in the book Potter is all he believes he has left of his family. That obliviousness of his – it's – it's unnatural."
And instantly Seamus gasps: "It's caused by the Heartstamp Spell. Molly Prewett cast the Heartstamp spell on him and Harry – but wait, you said the Blacks can see this spell. How is Sirius not seeing it on Harry then?" Yet to this the man seems to have no answer and he growls: "Damnit, the only one who knows that is bloody dead."
And this makes Seamus and I share a worried look, but then Mrs. Finnegan says: "That's not true. You said Mrs. Tonks is coming here to check on Harry, right? She's a Black by birth. Surely she'll be able to see the spell as well. Maybe even have an answer as to why Sirius can't." To which we smile as Moody mutters: "I hope you're right, lass."
At the same time
Hermione's POV
"He seems to have really scared you." A voice says as I am standing in my own personal study room, feeling exhilarated to read these many books that James Potter send to my study from the Potter library, but not feeling like doing so at the moment. I turn around and grimace a little as I see Even standing in the doorway.
"Who do you mean?" I ask, not even sure why he came in the first place and he says: "Riku. I can tell that the way he showed off his inner Darkness really startled you. And it's obviously still affecting you." At this I sigh as it did take quite a bit into the rest of the chapter before I got over my fright and I turn away as I say:
"I just don't get it. How can someone like him be so Light, yet have such Darkness hidden within?" To which the man smiles, which I can see from the reflection of the window I am standing in front of and he says: "He can have that Darkness, because he knows that Light and Darkness don't necessarily have to be separate.
He's not in the belief that Darkness is a force of its own or that Light can exist without Darkness. If anything Riku is the living embodiment that balance is a perfectly good possibility between the two. And before you ask, it took him several, several years and tasks before he got to that stage, none of them easy, let me tell you."
This makes me grimace as what the man says does make sense and then he says: "However, I don't blame you for having come to that conclusion." And I look at him as he says: "You've grown up alongside Harry, who constantly had bad relatives, good friends, caring adults and crazy murderers surrounding him.
Of course, that makes you believe that compartmentalizing those groups of people is the best way to continue living and from that grows the belief that Darkness is one thing and Light a whole other. But if there is any reason that Sora and Riku fit so well together, it is exactly that. Riku's dark powers and Sora's heart of light."
"Yin and Yang." I mutter and he smirks as he says: "Exactly. Does that make you feel better? Take away some of that fear of yours?" At which I smile at him and I say: "Yeah, it does. Thanks for that." The man nods and asks: "Care to join me?" And with that does he seat himself in one of the seats in my study and I do indeed join him.
"You know, Hermione Granger, you are one curious being." He suddenly says and I curiously ask: "Really, why do you think that?" To which the man shrugs and says: "You're – a contradiction. You care, yet you let your mind worry more than you show your care. You trust adults, yet you try to make Harry independent.
You have responsibility, yet you don't report Umbridge breaking the rules, let alone the law. You worry over the Weasleys considering Molly and Ginerva, yet you condemn the Weasleys for how they try to make Harry feel better. You argue with Ron a lot, but condemn Harry when he lets out his own sense of frustration.
You feel one thing, yet seem to project another. Do you understand why I think you curious?" I do feel like understanding, yet at the same time I can barely believe that someone who has only been here for a few hours has gotten to know me so well and I ask: "How – how did you do that?" And the man smirks at me playfully as he says:
"I'm a scientist. Researching and experimenting is what I do, yes." And for some reason do I get the feeling that this isn't the first time he said something like this. I then shake this thought off as non-important and sigh as I ask: "Can I – can I confide something in you?" And the man answers: "Scientists are often loners."
This makes me feel confident as it's his way of saying he will keep quiet and I mutter: "I – I'm scared – and jealous." And the way that the man tilts his head at me makes me know I got his curiosity peaked even more than before and he asks: "Jealous? Of what exactly could you feel jealous? Would you care to elaborate?"
And just like I always do when I'm nervous, do I start to rant: "I'm jealous of James Potter. And of Lea and Sirius Black and the twins. And when it comes to the first and the third, I know I shouldn't because Harry has always wanted his parents back in his life to guide him, but – but I – I just can't help it."
Yet Even instantly seems to get where I'm heading and he says: "You're jealous, because you have always tried guiding Harry into living the safest life, even with how dangerous others always made it." And I nod as I say: "Like I said, it's stupid and wrong and I should be happy for Harry, but – without my guidance, what am I?"
And this actually seems to be the wrong thing to ask as Even suddenly turns cold, stands up so strongly he shocks me and says: "What else are you other than someone to guide your closest friend? Sorry, but only you can answer that question. I can't – and I won't – do that for you." And with that he actually leaves, shocking me.
Damn, that was harsh.
Still, it's all part of Hermione's character development. She's not really against Harry having a family, she's just taken on a role that others should have never given her reason to believe should be hers in the first place and now she feels lost and thus she lashes out, thus the arrogance, the snapping and the stubbornness.
Now I am debating on something in regards to next chapter. Should it be about everyone waking up for another day of reading? Or should I finally get back to something that actually became a chapter of its own before and deserves to have a conclusion; the criminal trials of the Dursleys and Fanatical Figgy at long last.
Let me know, alright,
Venquine1990
