Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I gain anything (but writing and editing experience) by using the plot and characters from these works. Naruto and and the Harry Potter series belong to their respective creators, editors, publishers, and companies.
Summary: They were all trying to escape, whether it was from fate, war, grief, abuse, hate. They were all trying to escape. Rated M for language, and mature themes, possibility of slash and few canon pairings. Many Harry Potter spoilers for those who have not read the books, and spoilers for the Naruto series
A/N: This has also be looked over by Hikagi, who has really helped me improve in my writing and has poked lots of wonderful holes in the story that I have now filled. Enjoy part one of the 'introduction'. - depressedchildren
Key:
"Dialogue" opposite language of the world they're in. So English when in Naruto world, Naruto language when in the Harry Potter world.
Text this is text, if a letter it is typed from the center
Levi Corpus a known spell which is being cast.
Introduction partie un de trois
Charlus and Dorea smiled down at the infant in her arms. The small cottage was swathed in pale, spring light and the sound of wind rustled through the still bare trees. The crisp smell of foliage left over from autumns past and the sharp scent of new grass permeated the home. Birds chirped in the distance with the sound of cheerful children's cries. The baby looked up at his parents with foggy eyes, his gummy mouth opened slightly before closing. The parents' smiles broadened and Charlus reached down to finger the fine black hair that was already coating the infant's head. However, the peace they found themselves in was to be short lived.
The two magical beings stiffened at a sudden ringing which came from a small brass device upon their dresser. Charlus shut his eyes in immediate response, his wife followed suit. The wards they had placed about a three day's walk from the village had been tripped by a human who they now were able to identify. It was a scout from another country, but by widening their search they found a host of humans, with a now familiar but peculiar power, coming toward them. The approaching battalion was still a good two days away, but when it arrived this little village would be razed.
"Mei, they're coming! Run to the village and warn them! They'll be here within two days!" Charlus shouted into the garden through the bedroom's window. He stood up to retrieve a stick from his pocket and began to wave it around the room. Using magic, he packed up what he could and shrunk the bags with another wave.
Dorea had felt this day coming for a long time, but they had hoped for more time. She cradled her second child tightly to her chest. "Be safe Mei, run with haste!" she called to her daughter who stopped in front of the window, dirt from planting marred her gaunt face.
"Iwa's approaching?!" she asked in horror before closing her eyes and searching the world around her for some answer. She received one when she recognized the foreign surge of energy coming from all directions not supported by Konoha. There was a distinct difference between the energies of Konoha ninja and warriors from the other countries, for each held their own unique underlying tones, like an echo of the environment the warrior grew up in.
Mei was fifteen, but living during a deadly war allowed her little chance for childhood except during the lulls between combat; like the lull they have had for these last few months. She was thin, a result from the recent food shortages and their attempt to keep Dorea healthy through the pregnancy. Her unruly black hair whipped around her in the chilled spring wind as she continued to sense her surroundings. She looked like a Black through and through. However, her new brother seemed to be taking after their father in all but his hair, the wild raven locks of a Black. At least she knew it would appear wild on her brother, just as it was wild on her.
With the ever-constant threat of war, Mei made sure she had a basic knowledge in the arts of the land thanks to retired or passing through shinobi. Thus she trained her body to defend her family, yet she also learned what she could from her parents about their family and how to calm her magic lest accidental bouts of magic destroy her and those nearby. Her parents explained that there was another world which they fled because of a possible war. The Potters, having already lived through one war in that world over the same issues, did not want their children raised in such a climate. It was ironic that the world they escaped to happened to be just as riddled with war; in fact, they were certain it was worse.
Mei was given provisions from her father; it was at least half a day to Konoha, perhaps longer since she was not a fully trained ninja. She began her run, urging her body to propel her forward with as much speed as she could muster.
Dorea was forbidden from leaving her bed; she had nearly lost the little one resting in her arms. She was forty now, but even the first pregnancy had been hard on her. Her body was almost too narrow for child bearing, and her doctor in the other world told her she should expect to have only one child. It was a shock she was pregnant again, what with the stress of the war, the food shortages, and her frame being inadequate to carry another child. However, it seemed the energy in this land helped her through by sustaining her own magic, which worked to keep her bones strong and the child healthy, if not small from the less than desirable amount of food.
The energy of the land was very curious. There was a wild energy in everything, even the air. There had been rumors in the Potter's home world of wizards in the past taking on the energy of nature to aid them when their own magic would not suffice or was nearly depleted. The early wizarding communities, much like the muggle communities, struggled to survive and this primordial magic in the world around them had helped them survive. However all instances of this phenomenon were in legends dating back to before Merlin. Perhaps…perhaps there was an untapped magic in this world that their world had lost as the wizarding communities evolved and expanded. The people in this world did not have magical cores, but chakra; a mixture of spiritual and physical energy. It was as if they could not feel the magic in the ground or trees, but still could manipulate the energy of elements, but the manipulated energy was spiritual not quite magical.
Charlus and Dorea had long questioned the lack of magical beings in this world when there was so much magic around them. They even wondered if Charlus's ancestors had magic to begin with or had developed it somehow. But now was not the time to contemplate the origin of magic, not when they could soon lose their lives here.
Charlus went out to warn his neighbors of the impending danger, so that they might decide what course they should take: stay and protect their village, or flee to Konoha while they could. They were a small village near Konoha – part of the country but not protected by the hidden village's walls – known for their abundant medicinal herb gardens and tea leaves. Should they stay, it would be to protect the village's livelihood and continue to supply Konoha with said herbs during the war. Those that would flee would most likely harvest what they could and take it with them to Konoha.
With Charlus's exit, Dorea was left alone to her thoughts. They would have to go home…she often consulted tarot cards and tea leaves, trying to find answers about the condition of her home world. She knew in her bones there was trouble there, even if it was not definite in her readings.
After coming to this world they came to several realizations: one, it was a violent world full of wars and death, more death than they had seen with Grindlewald's war; two, Charlus's ancestors were right to flee this world due to the aforementioned discovery; three, said ancestors had the ability to see into other people's minds, thus making them naturals for espionage and adjusting seals on the jinchuuriki they helped create; and four, the ancestors discovered the other world and through their vast and accumulated knowledge, they were able to teleport away from this war-riddled land but still keep in touch with the people from their home world. The scroll from the potter vaults had the magical incantation and even the seal to transport missives between worlds.
Charlus and Dorea taught their daughter what they could about communicating between the worlds, and hoped they would not have need of that ability. But a day later it seemed they would. Their daughter returned with a small battalion from Konoha behind her, but unfortunately Iwa forces had already snuck up on the village. Villagers and Konoha-nin alike were startled and overwhelmed. The small army sent from Konoha could do little to hold off the hordes of Iwa enemies from devastating the small village.
Charlus took his wife and son into his arm, before he ushered his daughter toward them and away from the conflict. He began the incantation to return to their world when the roof of their house was blown apart, the debris struck Mei just as the incantation was finished. She had let go of her family when she had been struck by the structural beams, and with a bright light and a puff of smoke, her family was gone.
"We have to go back!" Dorea screamed, their infant son was crying with her. Charlus was panting against her, with his eyes clenched tightly closed.
He was drained of his magic, but worse, the anxiety of having waited months for the next round of combat to fall upon their village was finally taking its toll. He swayed and fell.
He had transported them to the old Potter estate. It was under a Fidelius Charm should they ever have had need to return home, and it was under such a powerful charm because they feared if it was learned the house was abandoned it may be used by nefarious beings as a safe house. As far as Charlus knew, no one knew of the place but Dumbledore, which ensure their home would not fall to foul hands. The aged man was the Secret Keeper, for who better to keep a location safe than the man who single handedly bested Grindlewald? He may be manipulative but he was still a good wizard, and his growing influence in the world could come in handy someday. As an added perk, Dumbledore would likely owe them a favor should they ever return and find he had used the vacant manner for his own purposes.
Admittedly, the couple did explain to the professor that they were leaving for an ancestral home and may not return. So it was to their marginal but unwarranted surprise, that Dumbledore did, indeed, take this as permission to use their large home as a headquarters for some "Order" he had created. They did not put it past the man, after Grindlewald's defeat he was likely to have acquired new, if not madder, enemies. In addition, now that Dumbledore did use their home; it was their way to aid in the war they were fleeing preemptively.
After her husband collapsed, Dorea found a dozen wands pointed at her until Dumbledore came forward with a shocked expression on his face. "My dear girl, you and your husband have come back!" he exclaimed with a minute pause after "husband", while motioning for someone to tend to the unconscious wizard.
Dorea was too worried for her daughter to feel angry with the professor. The heat in her chest was almost suffocating, but the hard lump in her throat was already accomplishing that. So much rage was currently directed at the Iwa-nin that she could not muster anything for the ever-assuming old man.
Oh Merlin! She felt her stomach twisting more and more with each passing second her daughter was absent. The building pressure in her head reminded her that she could not get air past the knot in her throat. She gasped and choked, sucking in deep breaths as, even to her own ears, a pitiful cry escaped her trembling lips.
She kept raking in air, but that only burned her chest further and knotted her stomach all the worse. She could not stop sobbing as she feared what the Iwa-shinobi would do to her precious girl. Would they kill her or…or worse! She sobbed into her baby boy's head, possibly her only child left.
Her breath caught at the thought while her stomach seemed to convulse and shoot bile up her esophagus. This was their only child left and they had not even named him yet! What kind of parents were they? They foolishly caused one child's death and loss of childhood by fleeing to a world they knew nothing about! Now, now they were too preoccupied with the war against Iwa to even name their new child. That war had robbed their daughter of her childhood, it had shattered their hopes, it snatched their daughter out of their arms, and now it had them neglecting to even name their remaining child!
"Come, come, dearie, you must have come from a raid!" a plump, sweet-looking witch soothed. She placed a warm hand under Dorea's elbow while her other hand made circles on her back. She escorted Dorea to her own sitting room, wary of the other woman's fragile condition and careful as she helped the woman sit down. "Those terrible Death Eaters, though I can't fathom how you got past Dumbledore's anit-apparation wards," the woman whispered the last part about getting past wards to herself.
Dorea was too distraught to fully question what the woman was talking about; who were Death Eaters? Her shuddering and choked breaths continued with her tears, until she was force-fed a calming draught. She gaged at the taste of the potion, somehow the concoction tasted rich and heavy. The liquid swirled around in her stomach uneasily, but acted as it should. As she calmed down, her son did too, his foggy eyes were staring up at her in confusion and still glistened with tears.
"You must forgive us for using your home as our Headquarters. I had tried to contact you, but the owls always returned my letters," Dumbledore explained, as he sat down in front of the woman. By this time Charlus seemed to be revived. He was helped into the room, whereupon entering he looked to his wife and stifled back a sob.
He read his wife's confusion by reflexively slipping into her mind, and wondered who exactly Death Eaters were? Were they Grindelwald's men? Had Grindelwald risen back to power some how? He turned to Dumbledore seeking answers, and his mind slipped into the other man's memories. He found the information he needed in the man's surface memories, and was pushed out soon after. Grindelwald was imprisoned and powerless, and just as Dorea foresaw, Tom Riddle had become Dark, and had made his first steps on his misguided path.
Charlus stumbled over to his wife, and caressed her face after falling to one knee. "At least we have this one…" he whispered in defeat as he placed a hand on the now sleeping baby. "We can go back when my magic has been restored enough for the trip…I don't think I'll recover as quickly as I had before."
Dorea knew what her husband meant; their world had so little magic within nature. In the other world the very air prickled with some nameless power, and they were happy to draw upon it to restore their magical reserves.
The people around the couple stared at them in confusion; what the hell had they just said?!
It was a week later when a war hawk came to the mourning Potters bearing the Namikaze clan symbol. They eagerly took the scroll, thus allowing the bird to vanish with a flash and puff of smoke. Only their daughter knew how to send messages between the worlds, thus their fears were alleviated, their daughter was alive!
The various wizards around them looked startled, but the couple could care less.
Mother and Father,
The young Namikaze heir rescued me from the village. We had to retreat; the reinforcements would not have come in time. Iwa-shinobi are ruthless! There was so much blood….
But there is some good news; Iwa backed off. I heard tale that the war will end soon, and that some form of peace will resume between Iwa and Konoha. In addition, the Namikaze boy asked to marry me. I don't know what else to do and he is sweet. He saved my life, and in these times one must take what good they can.
Please accept us. He is nervous and wishes to ask in person for my hand, but as you know, we have no other way to reach than through missives. I hope this reaches you well.
- Mei
The couple gave each other sad but happy smiles. Their daughter was still a child but the war had made her grow into the maturity of a woman.
The Potters had heard of the Namikaze clan before the war had started and they had seen a few during the war. The Namikazes were strong and kind, they were prepared to rescue any and all that they could from sites of conflict. Unlike the other clans, they had no blood-line abilities, or the egotism notorious in many other clans. They were well versed in seals and chakra control, though. Their present heir had many brilliant ideas and was an astounding tactician. He would protect their daughter and treat her well, of that, the couple was certain. However, Dorea did consult her cards afterwards, just to ease her mind.
They wished to send a reply, but Charlus had yet to regain enough magic to send an owl with their response and Dorea was still recovering from giving birth. Charlus had much to tell his daughter, for the week had been rather productive as they worked to figure out what they would do from now on. They named their son finally, deciding on James though it would seem strange to their daughter, but they planned to live in this world from now on. They also joined the Order of the Phoenix, which they were already partially a part of since their home had been made a headquarter. Their decision to join was pushed further along by their connections with their muggle-born peers, who they had perceived would go far in their world.
If the couple learned anything from the past and their time in the elemental lands, a new perspective could make a world of difference. How many Kages had stopped wars through a shift in their way of understanding, or had uplifted their country economically despite having no important familial connections to previous Kages or legends? Some of the greatest advances in their own magical world came through new, un-established wizards. One example was better hygiene, which was suggested by a muggle-born after the Plauge had struck.
Riddle, or as he now called himself, Voldemort was out to crush muggles beneath his heel, which through warped interpretation, included muggle-born witches and wizards. Yes, some muggle-borns had caused strife in the magical community through misunderstandings, most certainly when it came to magical creatures, but they also brought with them better forms of government. Some of the greatest politicians in their magical world had been muggle-borns. And though the muggles did not understand wizards or witches, and there had been many witch-hunts; the magical world had agreed to step away from them and live in their own peace. It was up-starts such as Grindlewald and Voldemort that ruined this peace and sought such destruction. They had their justifications – perhaps an experience of muggle cruelty, but that colored their whole lives and ruined their view of the world. Because of one anomaly all those who share their traits (a lack of magical background) must be eradicated. No, they could not and would not wait on the sidelines for another war like that to pass.
To Charlus and Dorea, it seemed pathetic that a few deaths distressed the people around them, though their stay in a constantly warring world had desensitized them. It was two months later when they received another letter from Mei. She had been married and the war was at a standstill, an unsteady truce was set in place. In addition to this good news, Dorea and Charlus discovered they were going to be grandparents.
At first they were shocked and disgusted. Their fifteen year old daughter, who had only just started to have a regular menstruation, was pregnant! She was supposed to be at a respectable age when she had children, not a child herself. Did she even know what sex was? They were holding off "the talk" until their daughter came to them with questions about sexuality or was seen kissing a village boy. Charlus and Dorea had been married rather young, but they waited until they were in a stable position financially, and socially before they even thought about trying to have children.
However, that world had rather primitive methods for birth control, despite their near magical medical techniques and intricate surgeries, for they focused on healing not preventing reproduction. The two young adolescents would not have known how to protect themselves when contraceptives were a hard-to-find commodity. Not to mention, Charlus and Dorea had never thought to teach their daughter contraceptive spells; Dorea had had a hard enough time getting pregnant as it was to spend any time thinking about them. Perhaps now that the war was at a standstill there would be advances in contraceptive methods in Konoha, once the population was stable again, of course. But since Konoha was a frequently warring country; the more soldiers, the better chance of surviving. Thus it was good for Konoha that their daughter was pregnant, in fact it was almost expected. This should not have been such a surprising outcome to the Potters, for most civilians married and had children young; Shinobi had children when they could.
They accepted it, even if they felt a bit sick over whole the ordeal. By this time Charlus was able to contact his daughter, he told of the state of their world and how her baby brother was doing. Every so often they would receive letters from Mei; she described with relish the changes she had begun to notice in her body, and she often delighted in telling little stories of their son-in-law. As the months went on, the missives became fewer and far between. Her husband had sent the last one, having been taught how to send the messenger hawk to the Potter's home world. The missive was filled with complaints of the baby pushing against Mei's bladder and moving so much it kept waking her when she slept. Mei also expressed her anxiety over having the baby and how the only thing to calm her was a nap in the garden behind the Namikaze home. Nine months since they had returned to the wizarding world they received another letter, sent by a Namikaze hawk with a black ribbon around its leg.
Charlus and Dorea Potter,
Mei went into early labor, but she was able to deliver a fairly healthy baby boy. He will be named Minato, with your approval. He has blonde hair which is dominate within the Namikaze clan, but he possess your daughter's eyes. He already shows great potential, his chakra reserves are large for such a young baby.
However, the stress on her body had been too much. The doctors said her frame was too small for the child and –
After delivering Minato, she passed away. My condolences. Mei was buried in the Namikaze lot. Ginseng and flax was laid on her casket, those being her favorite plants. Forgive me, but I am unable to continue.
With my sincerest wishes,
Your Son in-law
The witches and wizards around the couple were startled by the bird's appearance again, but not as much as they had been when it first had appeared out of the blue nearly a year ago. Like most of the letters the Potters received from that ferocious looking bird, the couple smiled softly down at the paper. However today there was a small furrow in their brow when they first opened the letter. It would have been comical, how quickly their expressions changed, if not for the clear distress and fear that began to consume their faces.
The two Potters tensed at some point in the letter, Charlus swallowed audibly and his hands shook. His wife was wringing her hands, her eyes seemed to quiver in the room's light. A second later Dorea gasped and brought her hands to her mouth, a strangled sob came out, sounding suspiciously like "Oh Merlin!" Her husband raised one hand to his mouth, the other clutched at the paper hard enough to tear the peculiarly thin parchment.
Charlus seemed to have finished the letter and set it down numbly on the table. He swallowed thickly and breathed through his nose in some attempt to remain composed, however his eyes shimmered with unshed tears while he stared down at the blotchy and smeared characters. Their audience tried to ask what was wrong, but the couple could not hear them.
Dorea left the room crying to seek out her nearly one year old son. Charlus continued to stare down at the paper before him. He could see wrinkled and slightly darker circular spots on the parchment, a sign of water having splashed onto the paper and drying. If Charlus was to guess, those spots were tear stains. A smattering of them seemed to have landed on the page as the shinobi was writing about what the doctors had said. Charlus's mind was already conjuring up horrific ends to that unfinished sentence, imagining that the jerked brush stroke was a string characters describing a painful and difficult labor. Charlus felt tears slipping from his own eyes to land near where the young shinobi's had.
His baby girl was dead
À suvire
