Emilia started her day, trying to surprise her father by preparing breakfast for him. She cut fruits, brewed the coffee and even made some pancakes for him. But, as usual, she had managed to burn them. The house elves had tried to help her but she didn't let them. On the top the breakfast tray she put some forget-me-nots, which she found in the garden.
Balancing a tray on her hand, she went upstairs to her room where her father slept on the cot. Entering the room quietly, she put the tray on the floor and sat on the cot. Gently, she touched her father's face. Then, she bended and kissed his forehead.
At this point, Harry wasn't sleeping. He extended his arm to touch her face and saw innocence and complete trust in Emilia's eyes. "That was by far the best way to wake up in the world. I love you," said Harry, standing up and twirling her around.
"I love you too, Papa. You know, seeing yesterday all your friends and the other kids, Well…, it got me thinking - I want more brothers and sisters."
"Please, Mia, do not start with that again. Sweetheart, you are all I need in my life."
"But, Papa, I'm going to be in Hogwarts and you will be all alone. I promise that I will not be jealous or do any prank on her, but please, please. If something happens to me, I want to be sure that you will have someone to take care of you."
"Emilia Isabelle Potter! Never say that again. You are my first priority and you will always be safe, is that clear?"
"Yes Papa, but…"
"No buts, our family is perfect as it is," said Harry, breathing deeply and trying to calm down. "Now, let's eat breakfast and see what we have to do today. We have to get you ready for Hogwarts."
And with that, Harry put the breakfast tray on his lap and started eating. Burned pancakes were disappearing quite quickly. Harry ate, thoughtfully watching Emilia petting her cat. His mind was occupied by creating different plans and methods to protect and keep her safe. No wonder, he didn't notice that pancakes where actually burned.
She needed to have a Portkey that would bring her to him in case of an emergency. He needed to show her how to control her force shield in case of an attack. So many things, so little time, Harry sighed.
But, first things first… First were the Ministry and then Diagon Alley, with some Glamour Charms. He needed reinforcements, but who to call. Everyone was busy and he didn't want to impose. Maybe, just maybe… The idea was born in Harry's mind. He had and owl to send.
"Emilia, get ready, we have shopping to do, but we are going to go in disguise. I'm going to put some Glamour charms on both of us, so we can go and do shopping in peace."
"That's great, Papa. When would we go?"
"I have to ask a friend to accompany us," muttered Harry.
"Papa, I think we wouldn't be able to go today. We have a visitor."
"Mia, our house is protected, and-" Emilia interrupted him, "Not from them, Papa," and she walked to the bathroom. However, before she stepped into the room and looked the door, she turned to him smiled and repeated, "not from them."
Harry was confused and shocked. He hurried to his room and changed. He was sure that something was not right. He could feel it. Usually, Harry didn't pay any attention to Emilia's advices, but the circumstances had changed. Maria had always said that Emilia is very intuitive, more so, being a witch. She always was able to sense babies in the wombs. And on more than one occasion she had told a pregnant women how the baby wanted to be named.
And then Harry remembered about Luna's visit, "You will start to notice changes in her," Luna said then. He needed answers and someone needed to give them to him.
More determined than ever, Harry went to his library to write to Luna; but to his surprise, two people dressed in the purest white robes he had ever seen already waited for him there. In a second, Harry pulled his wand out and aimed onto them ready to strike.
"Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Emilia had always talked very highly of you," said the male.
"How do you get in here? Who are you?"
"Please, calm down, Harry Potter, we come in peace. We came here to talk about Emilia Isabelle. We understood that you have some questions," in a very calm voice said the man. Keeping his eyes on them, Harry began to analyze the situation, thinking about Emilia. He needed to get her to safety immediately. "We meant no harm, Harry Potter. Our ambassador is a little late today," explained the man in white robes.
At that moment, green flames of the Floo came to live and Luna Lovegood stepped out of the fireplace, "Sorry I'm late," she said simply, removing the ashes from her ropes. "Harry, you can lower your wand. I can assure you that this people meant no harm; they are here to talk and explain. So please, calm down."
Harry still was not convinced that their intentions were good and kept his wand aimed, "Luna, this people were not detected by my wards. This people came for my daughter, and you want me to calm down?"
"Papa," Emilia touched his arm, making him to lower his wand. "They are my friends, Papa."
Harry was looking at his daughter in bewilderment.
"How can they be your friends? I have never seen them in my life," he exclaimed, watching in horror his daughter to come closer to them.
"I remember now, Papa. They are my protectors. Please, hear them out," she pleated and defeated Harry slumped on the nearest chair.
Emilia sat beside her father, knowing that he was frightened and upset, and trying to reassure him that everything will be fine with her actions.
"Harry Potter, my name is Sirona, Celtic goddess of healing," the woman in white introduced herself. "And I am Sucellos, god of love and time," the man in black finished the introduction. (Wikipedia, List of Celtic Deities)
Harry nodded and they continued, "As you know, Mr Potter, there are seven cities in a parallel realm: Agartha, Asgard, Avalon, Eden, Shambala, Atlantis, Shangri-La. All of them are portals to ERKS. (A/N: Information in my profile) Your daughter, Emilia Isabelle, had been selected before she was born. She has been given several gifts: the power of natural healing and the power to control time are among them. Her training was postponed by the request of her mother, who wanted a normal childhood for her child."
Harry was going to protest but Luna's hand on his shoulder make him stop. "We understand that she is still a child in your world, but we cannot wait any longer. Miss Lovegood had been very clear that her previous disappearance for the purpose of training caused a lot of distress, and for that we apologize. We should have discuss this prior to the abduction."
"You're dammed right!" Harry shouted. He was unable to suppress his feeling. Thus, he stood in front of Sucellos. "What is all this? Another prophecy? Because, if that is the case, you can forget it! My daughter will have the normal childhood, which I never had. Since my parents death, during my years with the Dursley's, and then, with all the responsibility of saving the Wizarding World."
"Harry," Luna tried to intervene. She told him in a soothing voice, "It is nothing like that. Nobody will required that kind of sacrifice from Emilia, please, believe me. These are blessings. She just needs to learn how, when and with whom to use them."
With that words, Luna stepped in front of Harry and looked at him, "You need to see something." Then, she spoke to Emilia, "Could you, please, open the portal for your mother?"
Emilia look shocked and scared, but did as requested. Clearing her throat, she said, "Oscailte tairseach," (open portal). And the instant the words left Emilia's mouth, in front of her, very slowly appeared a black hole. A second later, through it came Claudia's ghost - all dressed in white and with a big smile.
For a moment, Harry froze. Then he blinked and looked from person to person, ending on his daughter. At last, his gaze fell on the ghost of the person who had been his only love.
"Claudia?"
"Hello, my love. Don't look so surprised; after all, we all have magic, remember? I told you that I was going to be a guardian angel for both of you."
"But, but, how?"
"I had always watched over you, my love. I know, it is a lot to take in. But, all I ask of you, is to hear everything with an open heart, please."
Sirona, who had been quiet, continued with the explanations. "Emilia was chosen as an ambassador. Her purpose is to connect both realms. You, in the wizarding world, had forgotten who gave you the gift of magic in the first place. Many of you were taking magic for granted or abusing it.
That is why many of your children came with little magic or with none at all. You call them squibs. We had to watch them being killed or disowned from their families, as if they don't have any value.
The world of magic is separated from the Muggle world for a reason. Muggles will use magic people for their own benefit and greed. We did allow a few of them to have some gifts. Some had used them for good and they have evolved, and some had used them to earn power, creating wars and slavery over the others. Here, in the wizarding world, people had been forgetting that gifts can be taken away easily if they were misused. It had been done - some had to suffer themselves and others were punished through an immediate family."
Sirona continued, "Long time ago we have decided that our most precious gifts were destined to be given to those who demonstrated certain capacities or, came from special circumstances. In Emilia's case, well we know all about you, and of course, Claudia is our most precious gem. She was given the gift of empathy and had passed it to the person of her choice. And she chose wisely; she gave it to you Mr. Potter. She requested that the gifts were limited only to Emilia, due to all the suffering that you had endured. That is why you can feel what you feel."
Harry was lost of words. He looked at Emilia, smiled and without taking his eyes of her, he nodded.
This time, it was Luna who spoke, "Claudia had help Emilia balancing her world. The fact that her mother was not be able to be physically present for her took a toll on Emilia. So the Fey people created a portal in the garden for Emilia to cross and talk and spend time with her mother.
But, she needed more training, and it was when I came in. The Fey had also protected her from the world, except of course, from her asthma, which was due to her Muggle heritage. As I told you yesterday, she would see fewer of those attacks, as well."
Luna paused and looked at Sirona and Sucellos, as if asking their permission to continue. They only nodded.
"Now, we need to talk about the threats. We know about them and that is why Emilia was given her bracelet. The figures are locators, which would alert us about her position. The phoenix is you, the dragon is Draco Malfoy, the lily is Neville Longbottom, the dove is Hermione and the fairy is for me. Emilia would also has access to the portal, however, the portal has its limitations - it cannot be accessed in dark places or, where dark magic had been performed. And that is where the bracelet would come handy."
At that moment the fireplace came to live and Draco, Hermione and Neville stepped out of the green flames into the living room.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," said Luna. "We were explaining things to Harry."
Luna then proceeded telling them what was happening and what was expected from them. And before they started talking again, they decided to stop and have some refreshment. The house elves came in with trays of refreshments of different kinds.
All these long adult's talks made Emilia anxious and worried. She was in danger, that much she understood. But what these people were expecting from her? After all, she was just a child. She looked around, trying to find someone who would explain it to her. Thousands of questions were swirling in Emilia's mind. Why her? Why now?
Alas, the adults were involved in their own conversations, without paying any attention to her.
"Excuse me, but this is very confusing to me. Can someone explain it to me? And not in grown-up's words. After all, I am still a child, and as far as I'm concern, I'm the…, how are it called, ah yes, main character in all this."
Immediately, Claudia came to her and materialized, so Emilia could seat on her lap.
Seeing them both together was too much for Harry. How many times he had dreamt of that, and now he was seeing his wish came true in front of his very eyes. His heart ached, and he couldn't resist the pull and walked closer to them, touching Claudia for the first time in years. He knelt to be at Emilia's level.
"Mia, my angel, you are in danger. There are people that still resented your father. They are trying to hurt him, using you. Plus, you were given some gifts that you need to learn how to use."
"Ok, so, I assume that now I will be even freakier than I was before..."
"Emilia, who called you that?" asked Harry.
"The kids at the party. Not Jacob, though, he was very kind," at this, Neville smiled at her.
"Don't pay attention to them, they don't know you," Claudia said and kissed her. "Once they'll know you, they will understand how beautiful and special you are."
"So, you talked so long, just to say that, you grown-ups are very complicated people," she concluded. Everyone chuckled.
"All right, so, what are those gifts. I haven't seen anything yet," announced Emilia.
This time, it was Luna, who went closer to the girl, "You can help people heal from magic or muggle injuries. You can manipulate time. How cool is that?"
Emilia stood up and walked to Sirona and Sucellos, "If I can manipulate time and heal; can I make my mummy come back as a human?"
Sucellos was the one that responded to her, "No, princess, your mother's time in the physical realm was completed. Your gift is only in the manipulating the present time. You can freeze it for example."
"Why are you calling me princess?"
"Because, that is what you are. Your father is a prince, as well, you know," he said amused.
"Stop, rewind. Sheesh, do you want to scare me for life? Again, grown-ups! Aren't you supposed to make our life easier?"
Draco had spilled his drink and laughed, "I knew it! Are you sure she is not ours, because she sounds just like you."
"No, I'm pretty sure that I'm a Potter, even if I don't have Papa's scar to prove it," and that made everyone laugh even harder.
Harry reluctantly separated from Claudia, all he wanted, was to enjoy those few precious moments in full. He knew that they will come to an end pretty soon.
"Mia, all this conversation was about how to make sure that you will be protected. Plus, from now on, Luna and other persons from the other realms will be teaching you some new cool stuff," explained Harry to his daughter.
"That make sense. But what about my classes, homework and trying to make friends in Hogwarts. How will all this work out?"
"Don't you worry about a thing, my angel. We will sort everything out for you in no time. And if, at any moment you will decide to quit, then that it will the end of it."
"Ok, I'll do it, and please no more secrets. We, kids, hate when grown-ups lie to us, or, don't tell us what is going on. Remember, keep it short and simple. So, now, when we all are on the same page, and it is time for dinner, can you all stay and keep us company?"
"Emilia, mined your manners. I'm sorry, but she is right, it is time for dinner, and I will be honored if you can all join us," muttered Harry, a bit embarrassed by Emilia's boldness.
"Sirona and I, we need to return to our duties, and Claudia needs to go as well. She had been too long in this realm, and it is time to move to the Elysian Gardens, as promised."
"So soon? Mummy, can I see you again?"
"My angel, I will always be in your heart. So while you remember me, I will never be gone." And then Claudia added, looking at Harry, "You need to move on, my love. Remember, the only thing that goes with us is the love we have shared with someone special," and she touched his cheek, "I love you, please be happy," and she was gone again.
However, this time was different. This time Harry felt at peace.
After the special visitors left; Neville went and pick up Jacob. Hermione's kids were with the grandparents.
There were still many questions that lingered and were left unanswered, but Harry knew that everything would be clarified to him in due time. For now, he was grateful for the gift of having Claudia, even if it was for a brief moment. And, that his daughter had known her mother in some way.
God, he loved magic.
Life was going to be complicated from now on. Plus, he needed to make sure that Emilia was safe and taken care of. The culprit, that was threatening his daughter, would soon know who Harry Potter was, and why he was called the Savior of the Wizarding World.