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Harry Potter and the Breath of Life

"Zones: Locations on the mortal plain that have been claimed or influenced by the Incarnates, much in the same way that their Realms are Claimed. Unlike with the hypothetical Realms, only the first level Incarnates have been known to interact with the mortal world with some regularity. Desire Wells are rooms or objects that reflect the desires of the person it is targeting, the most well known Desire Well is the Mirror of Erised. No one knows where it came from or who made it but it reflects the Heart's Desire in its surface. Life Springs are usually locations of startling vitality, ex. Amazon Forest in South America and are mainly passive. Dead Zones, rooms, objects or creatures that attract dark and necromantic energies, the most common Dead Zones being my current fascination: Dementors." - Notes penned by Orion Nigellus Black


The Noble and Ancient House of Black was an old pureblood family, powerful politically and financially (which incidently, was another way of saying politically) and were everything other pureblood families, the ones that weren't blood-traitors that is, aspired to be. But despite their efforts, their teachings, their money, their strength, they were little more than human and had no inkling of the vast powers that lay out of their reach. And they might have never known, had it not been for a trio of sisters.

Andromeda had found them first, hidden away among the oldest books of the Black Library despite the fact that they were forbidden to even look at those manuscripts. The russet haired middle sibling had changed a little after she found it and fascinated her older sister Bellatrix and the baby Narcissa with tales of the universe, of the Realms and the Greater Beings of light and darkness as if they were fantasy stories. There was more to magic than what they were being taught, they learned. Did they know that basalisk eyes were infused with the power of Death? That's why they can kill with just a glance! And the obligatory "Yeah, right, it's just magic" from Bella and "Wow!" from the little blond Cissy. Every night, it became a ritual of sorts between the two youngest, to keep them together after Hogwarts took Bella away. And then Narcissa read them alone.

Fairy tales were woven from the diaries, the experiments Andy found. She read more, snuck out more parchment and passed the knowledge on through carefully enscripted letters. Their world grew through the years. Andy had tried to bring their rebellious cousin Sirius into the circle but the brash boy had rejected it, unwilling to believe that Fate and such crap existed. He had authority issues, the girls moved on and cut him out.

Orion Nigellus Black, his name became some kind of code as they continued to grow into adult women. Their little secret born from the forbidden books of the library and it encouraged all three sisters to try their hand at Runes, Orion's area of expertise, to see if they could find more. It was harmless, mostly, and even though they read it, it never really occured to them that the Greater Beings of their imagination actually existed.

And then Andromeda ran off to marry the muggleborn Ted Tonks, was blotted from the family registry and Narcissa Black was approached by a figure clothed all in black with a proposal.

The knowledge she wanted. The power she desired. Immortality, holding a portion of the universe in her hand in exchange for a brief period in captivity.

She was a Black and so took the offer.

But now, nearly thirteen years later, she was beginning to regret it.

Brief, in the view point of an immortal, was not very brief at all. She was grateful that being a Chosen gave her limited immortality, an agelessness that kept her same looks through the years unable to die of old age and her abilities were far beyond other, mortal witches. But the cons...

She found herself getting increasingly frustrated with the limited thinking of her husband, Lucius over the years. Her son, Draco, at another time she may have loved him, perhaps. She wanted to but a child was so...insignificant compared to what awaited her. It shouldn't have been, but she couldn't help the feeling that she had much, much better things to be doing with the rest of her mortal life.

And then there was the fact that she was tied with invisble strings to the rest of the Incarnates and could be ordered to do anything on a whim. Gilgamesh wouldn't do such a thing, but the fact that he could was still there.

And now...

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was seated within her greenhouse on the land surrounding the Malfoy Manor, having been staring at her right hand for the past ten minutes. It was her place to think, to reflect and realize just how little she knew.

Harry Potter was a Chosen.

She had seen that spark that flew from their hands when they touched and it had been a blow to her ego, not that she would ever admit it. A child had received notice from an Incarnate, he hadn't even touched puberty yet and was already slated for becoming a god. And if that wasn't unfair, Narcissa didn't know what was. It was a mixed blessing that Draco considered the boy a friend. It was much safer than being his enemy but what a target he could make.

What a target...

The feeling of ice in her veins made her stand up in reverance and incline her head haughtily at the figure that materialized out of thin air. "Gil," she greeted with a fond smile. "It has been a few months."

The man tossed off the hood of his cloak, stamping his feet childishly. "Yes, yes, yes..." Grey hair framed a young square face, with harsh cheekbones and a sharp nose. The most standoffish feature, in Narcissa's mind, was the common brown eyes that almost made him look mortal.

"Well?"

He gave her a sideways look, lips twisting into a grimace. "War is on the horizon. The Gathering went well, I cast Never for us both, but Plague seems rather intent on undermining Death."

"Thanatos will never stand for that." Narcissa stated bluntly, frowning. The golden eyed woman had reminded her of her aunt Walburga, cold, cruel and completely uninterested in anything that did not affect her directly.

"Well, stand she is. She has changed into something much more confused this past decade and, of course, with an agenda of her own."

"She wants a war?" He shrugged and Narcissa spent all of five seconds contemplating the improbability of it all. The rest of the minute of silence was spent saying good bye to England as she knew it. "Andy?"

"Fine, her daughter is aspiring to be a great Auror." Narcissa nodded to herself, biting her lip. Auror...that would be a very dangerous job in a few years. A half-blood the girl may be but she was above being dictated by a tapestry. Andy was family and by extension, her daughter was too. War is on the horizon...

"Bella?"

"Insanity might call in a few favors but fine." She relaxed, not knowing that she had tensed in the first place. Convincing her oldest sister to drop the Dark Lord might be difficult but not impossible, but at least she would be sane enough to reason. Merlin, with only five words things had suddenly seemed much more urgent. Plans had to be sped up, some of them outright discarded, her mind began working overtime. War is on the horizon...

She dropped her gaze to her right hand again and almost sighed in frustration.

How...quaint.

She looked up at him again. "Is it safe to assume that my studies will have to be accelerated?"

He gave her a short nod and dived right into another lesson as she sat back down. "The most important thing to remember when you are channeling Mystery is that it will actively resist..."


"Not only annoying," Harry muttered into his pillow as he collapsed onto his bunk bed. "But bloody incompetent too."

This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was also looking like a complete bust. The boy had just known that something was wrong when he walked into a classroom decorated with pinks and purple, and pictures of Lockhart everywhere...including a life sized poster fighting off a wolfman. He had ignored it, hoping that it was just the result of having an ego the size of the Atlantic ocean but the man had brought in Cornish pixies, only to lose them in the class because he was idiotic enough to open their cage without being prepared for them to try to, you know, escape!

Draco had been annoyed enough with the man to "accidently" hit him with a Stupefy, freeing them all for an early lunch. Most of the students had high-tailed it to the Great Hall, unwilling to be in the hallways for too long after the Mrs. Norris incident but Harry had sought the silence and Dweni pies of his dorm room.

"Who is?" Harry jerked a bit. Well, it had been silent. He turned his head towards a curious looking Thana, who was sitting on Crabbe's bed, dangling her legs over the side.

"Lockhart," he said shortly. A crimson, dripping sickle was flashing in his mind. He didn't want to talk to her.

Thana seemed to sense it, because she grew still, an uneasiness sneaking across her face. "Harry...?"

"I don't want to talk to you right now," he muttered, turning to face the wall. Because his back was now to her, he missed the hurt expression and her eyes flashing a doeful white.

"O-okay," her words hiccuped. "I'll...just leave then."

Suddenly angry with himself, Harry turned back around. "No, wait a bit..." but the room was empty. "Brilliant, Harry, you've done it again," he said to himself and then realising that he was actually talking out loud, he clamped his lips together and beat his head into his pillow. I'm such a git.

--You are--

With a harsh breath, he sat up. Well, what am I supposed to think? She thinks a one legged bunny is funny!

--We did too, hopping around in circles, the image was hilarious. That's no reason to think her guilty--

Not even the sickle, or maybe the fact we heard her say "kill something!?"

--We didn't actually hear her, just someone we recognized. It was too short and vague-- There was a thoughtful silence as Harry brooded. --You really think she could condemn an animal to that--

I don't know what to think. He leaned over the edge of his bed, pulled out his trunk, grabbed a pie and the mental conversation was over. He really couldn't explain himself, it was just that Thana was hiding so much that he had no real idea of what she was capable of, of who she ordered around. Thana had pulled that trick, writing on the wall before to scare his relatives and now it suddenly wasn't such a happy memory. The writing was similar.

And she had signed with a sickle then too.

He was feeling a little ashamed of her, disgusted too but he supposed he could get over it in time.

As long as he never found a human in that condition.


"Well, that went well." Thanatos was muttering to herself. Her she was, all fired up, prepared to apologize for once in her immortal life, and he blows her off and it had hurt damn it. Tartarus was silent as always, her pacing footsteps on the black sand didn't make a sound. "I wonder what crawled up his ass and died..." She could have stayed, invisible and unheard, probably should have if only to find out why the boy seemed to be on PMS.

Harry always had time for her, always! What did she do now?

"Trouble in paradise?"

With a deep scowl, Thana looked over her shoulder at a far too satisfied looking Hel. "What can you possibly want now?" she sighed, eyes rolling upward as if about to pray for a miracle.

"You seem to be in a bad mood," was all Hel said, deep red eyes never leaving Thana's form.

"Yeah, well seeing you will do that to anybody. Bugger off."

Smiling as if she had been complimented instead of insulted, Hel re-adjusted the paint brush that was stuck behind her ear. "Did you know that his scar is linked to Death?" she asked rhetorically. "Any of us can affect how it works..."

"Look, do I need to throw you out?" Thana demanded, temper fraying. Who cares about the boy's stupid scar? Plague Incarnate tilted her head upwards as her form started to fade back into the Mists.

"No need."

Thana stared at where Hel had been, an icy pit forming in her stomach and feeling a bit off balance. That had been way too easy. She furrowed her eyebrows, running over the one sided conversation again before dimissing the whole thing. "Well, good," she grunted at no one and continued pacing.


The visions were becoming more frequent.

He wondered if it translated to Always being worried or was it simply a set of events that was meant to happen. The future was a dark looking one, bleak and filled with needless suffering. If he was allowed to See more, would he have tried to change things? Beyond the cryptic warnings he was known for?

Yet another death appeared in his covered sight and he decided that yes, he probably would have tried to meddle with the Weave. Always knew best, he supposed, so he had to wait it out and watch in agonized silence. Palquenta, she had been such a bright light but no thanks to the former Life Incarnate, was suitably heading for ruin. Hel, Kuan Yin, Adi-Mailagu, Thanatos...himself.

Such pain, in truth, is this how its supposed to be?

A brief image of Everything clouded his visions as Always lent some support. CHANGE IS NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD, TRUTH

Glad to know you aren't worried... Irritated, Truth shifted around, wishing his Artifact wasn't so uncomfortable. His ass was numb and his legs were dead to the universe. Perhaps I should look into getting a Chosen...hmmm...And he stretched his Sight farther into the Future...


A young man with sparkling emerald eyes and messy black hair was standing in front of a large pearl, a door opening...


Until, quite suddenly, he couldn't see anything but a darkness.

His heart skipped a beat as he stared around his vision of Nothing and No-when.

The universe was gone.


New Incarnate: Incarnate of Mystery

Gilgamesh was a Mesopatamian hero that was rumored to be two-thirds god because of his impossible deeds. His mother was rumoured to be a half goddess and his father a rogue demon masquerading as King Uruk. He answers to Life Incarnate along with Truth and Justice (unknown). His Realm has not yet been visited.

Hmm, I have mixed feelings about this chapter. On one hand, I thought a little info into Narcissa was important, and on the other wished that I can just make the whole story about Harry, Thana and the people already in the story. The impending epicness is making me nervous I suppose, hope I can write it.