Disclaimer: We don't own anything from the HP world. We do own original plot, characters, and interpretations of canon plot and characters.
Author's Notes: So... here we go with the start of the actual plot. We were originally going to wait until the end of DIN book 1 to post this, as we were worried about plot-confusion and our fans, but we obviously gave up on that. Allow me introduce you to Per Vultas Vas.
Prologue:
Case Active
"The problem with seeing the future is that you cannot just sit and look at it; you've got to try and change it..." --John Barrowman, as Captain Jack Harkniss, Torchwood
Bridget stretched and glanced at the clock. They'd finally finished reading the sixth book at about four or so, drifting off to sleep right afterwards. Now it was almost noon, and it felt more than a little strange. She didn't normally sleep in so late and there was something else in the air, as if a storm was coming.
She crawled out from under the covers, careful not to upset Gumi's sleeping form, and wandered down to the kitchen to make something to eat. Then, sandwich in hand, she plopped down on the couch and flicked the television on. Ten minutes in, the daytime soap opera was (thankfully) interrupted by "Breaking News."
"Word has just made it to our station that the Taliban has captured a United States Air Force officer in Afghanistan and has made demands for his release. Preliminary reports have the officer both based at and from the islands, although no other information is being released until the family can be notified. This is Lisa Wong with KHON 9 breaking news. We'll now return to your regular programming."
Bridget immediately switched the station to something more light-hearted. She really didn't need to know what happened when Jenna found out that her boyfriend/ex-husband was actually her adopted brother's natural stepsister's cousin's evil twin's soul in her secret half-brother's body. Even that convoluted mess of a "plot" wasn't enough to keep herself from worrying.
An hour and a half later Kagumi wandered down and snatched the remote control out of Bridget's uninterested grasp. The other girl was busy scribbling in her notebook and didn't seem too concerned with what was playing on the screen. Kagumi paused on one of the basic cable channels when she realized that the news was playing in the middle of the afternoon on all of the major stations and that Bridget's eyes had snapped up, focused on the screen.
"Are you okay?" Gumi asked, concerned.
Bridget ignored her, attention fully fixed on the news report, intent and focused.
"We are sorry to be the first to report that the Air Force officer has, reportedly, been killed in the line of duty. Details are still sketchy, but reports state that a video has been posted on the Internet and it appears to be legitimate. The Air Force refuses to confirm or deny the authenticity of the film, however they have stated that the family is yet to be notified and, no further information will be given at this time." The Asian woman nodded at the audience with an odd, fake smile on her face. "This is Lisa Wong once again with breaking news. We'll now return to the normal programming."
She flicked off the television at the look on Bridget's face. But the other girl just continued to stare at the blank screen, worrying at her bottom lip. "Jet?"
"I'm fine," she responded in a soft voice. "It's just… those reports always make me feel horrible. It seems so predatory."
"Yes, I know. It makes me think of Jack and Wyatt; are they coming this summer? I did so look forward to seeing them again," Gumi said melodramatically, stretching out across the couch in a manner that would've made Scarlet O'Hara look second best; she even had the arm thrown over her eyes.
Jet sighed, and gave a reluctant grin before her expression dropped again. "Right, and by 'them' you mean Johnny. You know, Gumi, that little crush of yours isn't very subtle."
"Never said it had to be," Gumi yawned, plopping down and stretching out beside Jet. "It just has to work."
"Has to work? It definitely worked, dear; if you throw yourself at him any harder, you're going to break something," Jet's brow crinkled. "They're not coming, though. He was deployed earlier this year and Wyatt's in D.C. with the Pentagon until he's transferred there, too in a few weeks. You'll get letters."
"Deployed?" Abruptly Kagumi sat up, eyes focused on her friend; the news of her longtime crush being deployed did not make her morning any better.
Bridget nodded. "Afghanistan."
At Gumi's horrified look, she looked away and returned to her notebook, still unusually sober. After another moment, Kagumi turned back to the television, this time finding an old episode of Stargate: SG-1 to watch. It might not be the best of ideas, but perhaps by thinking of Jack O'Neill she could cease to worry about Jack Griffins.
"No." The utter despair in her voice made Kagumi wince and rush faster towards the front door. She'd gotten a bad feeling when the doorbell had rung, but now she knew something was wrong. Jet never sounded that distraught. "No. No, no, nononono."
She slid around the corner just in time to see Bridget collapse into the arms of a man in Air Force dress blues. Kagumi froze with her hand on the wall, feeling awkward about intruding on the emotional scene; in the four years she'd known the girl Bridget had never, never cried. But now… now she was sobbing in this man's arms like her entire world had collapsed.
"I'm sorry, Jet," he said, sounding like he was about to break down as well. "I'm so sorry, darling. I'd give anything for it to not be him, but they know. They sent his dogtags and they can't fake that. It's him."
Bridget shook her head in response as the violent sobs racked her body, shoulders visibly shaking her body, and the man somehow pulled her even closer. He buried his face in her hair, muttering frantic, hopeless apologies to the devastated girl as he tried to hold her together from the sheer force of his own desperation.
After a few moments, her sobs died down to quiet, heart-wrenching crying, and the man seemed to feel that it was safe to adjust her in his arms so he could pick her up and get to his feet. He gave the girl a fond, heartbroken look before he caught sight of Kagumi, still frozen at the sight.
"Miss Pheonix?" he said in a thick, pained voice with just the barest hint of a Southern drawl.
The voice, now that she was closer, rang true, and a heavy weight settled deep in her heart. "Wyatt," she greeted back cautiously. "Whatever happened to just 'Gumi'?"
"I'm afraid I'm not here on pleasure. Air Force business." Gumi nodded helplessly; she could guess what had happened and she didn't know what to do; a savage, fierce part of her mind growled at what she suspected, but the rest of her wanted to cry out in denial. "I apologize for intruding on your summer like this, but I had no choice."
"I understand," she replied. She didn't know how to make this better. She couldn't make this better. "I hope I'm wrong, but I understand."
His eyes drifted back down to the girl he was cradling, but she wasn't responding to anything. "I just… it's Jack and—" He broke off, gulped and took a deep breath, gaze darting down to check on the girl he was cradling, but she didn't so much as flinch at the name, before he continued, sounding on the verge of tears. "Gumi, it's Jack."
"Another cousin?" Kagumi asked hesitantly. She may have known the family for years, but it was hard to remember the names of all of Bridget's fifty or so cousins. She desperately hoped it was another Jack Griffins; the Griffins 'ohana was chock full of traditional names. Dear sweet God, please let it be a different Jack.
"No, darlin'," he said softly, somehow managing to still be sympathetic through his own pain and the paralyzing worry he had about the girl who was, in all senses but the official, his best friend's little sister. "It's Johnny. Jack."
It clicked. "No," she said, hand over her mouth, as she realized what this meant. "Oh, no."
Bridget had been the only one allowed to call him Johnny, although Kagumi remembered her calling him Jack when she was talking with other people, and that's how the man had introduced himself the first time they'd met. But Kagumi had seen the hero-worship in her friend's eyes when she'd spoken of the older boy; Gumi put aside her own pain for the moment. This was going to break the other girl and she couldn't let herself fall apart as much as it hurt to keep it together. Perhaps in helping keep Jet together, she'd find her own fragility easier to forget.
Wyatt was officially the most helpful person Kagumi had ever known. She'd been out of her element in the painful, lonely hours following Bridget's cousin's death until her scattered family could assemble at the Griffins' home. Kagumi just didn't know how to handle the normally optimistic girl's sudden turn into a dark depression she had never expected her to be able to fall victim to. It was too jarring; it made everything too real.
The girl had shut down completely, brown eyes dark and frighteningly blank until that spark of fear Kagumi had seen when Wyatt had tried to lay her on the bed. She'd clutched frantically at his shirt and, after a moment of awkward hesitation, the man had sat down and allowed her to curl up on his lap.
He held her there, shoulders slowly loosening as Bridget burrowed herself in his shirt until Kawika's hurried arrival when she was able to launch herself at her cousin and broke out into heart-wrenching sobs yet again, the sobs that made Kagumi wish that there was someone she could hurt to make it better. Kagumi's own tears began again, tears that she hid from both Wyatt's too-understanding gaze and Jet, lost in her own world of pain. Tears that burned, scalded and made her coldly angry all at once.
Cordan couldn't watch anymore. He stumbled away from the scrying bowl and fell into his chair, arms hanging heavy at his side as a heavy ache settled in his chest. He wanted to fix it. He wanted to make it better and save her so he never had to see that painful blankness on the usually animated, hopeful girl's face.
"I can't do it, Ram," he said firmly. "I can't do that to her—to them."
Raminus nodded. "We won't." His eyes flicked up at his best friend, heart aching for both girls. "We can't fix this, Cordan. We can't interfere like that."
"Yes," Cordan sighed. "I know. But we can do our best to make sure it never happens again. We can't send them to the Marauders," he repeated, even if he knew the Slytherin agreed. "We can't hurt them like that."
The thing about living forever is that things don't really change much, even if years have passed.
Cordan sighed explosively, falling back on his chair with dramatics that made Raminus roll his eyes. In his opinion, joviality suited his best friend of 900 years much better. However, now was not the time for joviality. Cor stared up at his friend with what was probably supposed to be his puppy-dog expression, brown eyes unusually solemn under his blond fringe. He likely thought he looked adorably upset. In Raminus's humble opinion, however, he looked like a bloody idiot.
"But, Ram, I haven't done anything," he moaned.
"Doubtful," Raminus drawled. "But I don't think we're in trouble this time."
The blond sprung up with unrestrained energy. He'd regained the freakish excitement that his demeanor usually entailed; just watching him was making Raminus tired.
"Really?" Cordan asked, smiling widely. "But we're always in trouble."
Raminus sighed and sat down on Cordan's abandoned chair. "I think it's about our girls. They mentioned the prophecy."
This had Cordan pulled back down to Earth. It had been five years, in the mortal realm, since they'd attempted to send the girls away. But the death of pilot Jack Griffins had torn their world apart more thoroughly than anything the two Guardians could have done, and they'd sworn not to make it worse by tearing it apart again.
Besides, he'd gotten oddly attached to Bridget Griffins (they were entirely too similar in the Slytherin's opinion) and, even though he wouldn't admit it aloud, Raminus had grown rather fond of Kagumi; she reminded him of himself in rather endearing, if frightening, ways. And as a bonus, the two were one of the few topics that could make Cor act like an adult.
"You don't know any more about it?" he asked with a small frown. "They didn't say anything else?"
"No. Just that they wished to see us immediately. It's only the Three."
Cordan recoiled into himself, expression turning introspective. It was the face he got when he started really thinking and usually meant that Raminus didn't have to worry about anything. Cor was a pretty good strategist when he wasn't hindered by his childish tendencies.
"Immediately?" he asked. Raminus nodded, letting his friend's mind run on whatever course it had decided to take. That was usually the best choice. "Let's go, then."
Without another word, Cor walked briskly out of their closet and towards the room the others were waiting in. Ram hurried to catch up, not managing to do so until Cordan was already in the room, staring up at the three House Founders.
"We have news of the Griffins and Pheonix girls," Godric said. He looked like his usual solemn and grim self (Raminus was strongly reminded of just how similar Cordan looked to his grandfather), but it was more worrying that Rowena, and even Helga, seemed equally concerned about whatever it was.
"Yes, Grandfather?" Cordan said, just this side of respectful.
"Did you know that they had moved to London? Last year, as it is." This was one of those trick questions, Raminus thought, one of those ones that were designed to reveal how much you knew of something and what your part in it was. He waited for things to explode.
"Yes, Grandfather. Bridget came into her inheritance and Kagumi decided to go as well. She desired a change."
Raminus was slightly impressed. They had been the ones who had orchestrated the whole thing-- making Bridget aware of her rightful inheritance and arranging both her schooling and Kagumi's job opportunities. Cordan didn't show the slightest hint that they'd been at all involved. Which, seeing as they'd technically been banned from contacting the girls, was probably for the best.
"Well, an unforseen development has arisen." Godric sat back in his throne-like chair, folding his hands in front of him. "I don't believe you intended this when you—without authorization, may I add— inserted them into this world. I assume it was to keep better track of them," he arched a challenging eyebrow, "having them closer to our center of influence, not to make them aware of the magical world, but they have... made friends. Very, ahem, close friends."
Godric waved a hand and Helga summoned a Mirror that neither boy had seen before. "Once you made us aware of their potential," she explained, "we wished to keep an eye on them. We wanted to know if they made any developments in their natural abilities. So we created this."
The Mirror was not just gilded, but ringed with whorls of silver and gold, two metals that, when combined, increased the effective distance on some magical artifacts. The added gold also helped with potency, something that was not lost on either of the younger males.
Cordan opened his mouth, but snapped it shut again with an audible click and Raminus knew why. It was outrageous. They knew that the two of them had been keeping track of the girls. Why hadn't they told the Guardians that they had made the task easier?
Rowena spoke in a soft voice that sounded almost broken-hearted, "We wished to be sure of your dedication to the two girls."
"You were testing us?" Cordan asked incredulously.
"After everything we put into making this work, you still didn't trust us?" Raminus asked quietly. It hurt. He wondered if his blood would haunt him for the rest of eternity.
"No, but we were testing you," she said. "I fear it was not the... wisest decision we have made." She waved them forward. "Please, look into the glass."
They walked up to the Mirror and peered into it. It showed a scene that they, especially Cordan, were quite familiar with: a homey bookstore with a single soul bustling around. She was a pretty girl, young with dark auburn hair that almost seemed brown and a captivating face, and she radiated power to the experienced wizards. It was who walked in and his unusually easy, relaxed demeanor that surprised them.
Simultaneously, the two boys' eyes widened. After another few moments of watching the scene play out (everyone in the room knew what that look in the young pair's eyes meant), Cordan cleared his throat. "Well, Grandfather, it seems you may finally get your wish. Powerful bloodlines unite."
"Oh, but that is not everything," Helga said, waving her hand over the scene. She actually sounded quite relieved; none of the three Founders were as familiar with the girls as the two boys were and they were the best people to figure out how to deal with the situation at hand.
Raminus dreaded what he would see, but still looked. It was another familiar setting: a girl in simple clothes performing her tasks with a practiced familiarity. She was just as attractive, although in a different way, with light golden skin and captivating eyes and she held a power that felt... different than the usual. Then she placed a coffee mug in front of an equally familiar man.
Cordan began to laugh. "I suppose it only makes sense," he snickered. "Who else would it be?"
Raminus groaned, covering his face with his hand. "Merlin's beard."
"Precisely, my boy," Godric said, startling the two; he was still solemn, and they had a feeling that somehow, this— whatever the "this" was that Godric was going to spring on them— would not be easy. "We believe you two were right, although the... interpretation is slightly different than we expected. It's been five years, but we feel that it is time to re-explore your theory. This case is now active."
Author's Notes: First and foremost, we see Ram and Cor again. Yay!
Don't forget to read and review. We shall hold all reviews dear, except those that flame with the fire of hate and ignorance. Those we shall attempt to reply to in an intelligent and courteous manner before we laugh as they burn. Yes, we do try to keep civilized.
~Jet and Gumi