Harry Potter and the Power of the Past
Disclaimer: All JKR's, not mine.
Summary: This is a complete AU- Harry Potter is a 21-year-old wizard, who's on top of the world. He's rich, in love, and loved by all, but his life is turned upside down as a spiral of events leads to the ultimate battle between good and evil. Can Harry lead the fight for the light, but yet manage to keep his life together?
A/N: Thanks for the reviews everybody. Oh, and review again!
S/N: So today is my birthday, and I decided that I would give you all a small present to celebrate it! Enjoy!
Chapter 44: Christmas Questions
At ten o'clock the next morning, Lucida and Janus departed their room in the Leaky Cauldron wearing their thick cloaks and headed down to the tavern below to meet with Arcturus. Waiting for them by the door stood the middle Potter brother, his hair long and black, his eyes gray, and his features sharp. Upon seeing them, he smiled and perked up a bit, flattening the wrinkles from his cloak to be more presentable. "My two favorite Slytherins," He said, excited for the holiday festivities that lay before them. It had been a long time since his entire family had been together, and it was an opportunity he was going to experience to its fullest. "Happy Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Arcturus," Lucida squealed, returning his excitement for the day. She had only seen her parents for a few minutes the previous night, so she was looking forward to spending sometime with them later in the day. As she neared him, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before pulling back and looking up at him. "This is our first Christmas as an engaged couple, you know."
"I recall," Arcturus smiled, watching as Janus put his arm around Lucida, holding her close to his chest. Then, without a word, he disappeared with a swirl of his cloak, and not a second later, Janus also disappeared, reappearing outside of the gate of their familiar home. "Janus wrote me, telling me that he was going to propose." He said, once they all had arrived.
"He did?" Lucida questioned, watching as Janus put his hand on the gate and the cold metal began to swing open as a result of the action. The trio started the trek up to the house, walking through a small dusting of snow that had fallen the previous night.
"They're here!" Tonks yelled, seeing the gates swing open from her seat in the sitting room. She had been waiting impatiently for them to arrive, still experiencing the excited and happy feeling that her oldest son's return had given her the night before.
"Who is here?" Emery Potter asked from the hallway, hearing his mother, having only expected Arcturus to come.
"It's a surprise!" Tonks exclaimed, grinning wildly, jumping up to greet the new arrivals at the front door—Emery followed closely behind, curious as to whom his mother was referencing. She got there just as the trio entered the house, and tackled Janus into a hug before he even had the chance to step through the doorway.
Emery cocked an eyebrow, and looked at the two people that had entered the house along with his brother Arcturus. He first saw the female, with her long black hair and pointed features, and then his eyes moved over to the tall gentleman, whom he recognized in an instant, though he had not seen him in a while. "Janus?" Emery whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide in confusion. "But, I thought…?"
"Hey Em," Janus smiled, taking off his cloak and hanging it up on the wooden coat rack that stood next to the door. "It's good to see you." He said, coming closer to his brother, while Lucida and Arcturus hung in the back, watching the exchange interestedly.
"But, why, how? When?" Emery stuttered, fumbling over his words, his face lined with shock, thoroughly perplexed by his brother's seemingly sudden appearance.
"I didn't want to tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise!" Tonks grinned, wrapping an arm around Emery and giving him a gentle hug. She knew the pair weren't on the best of terms, though she hoped that now with Janus being back, they could be just as close as both of them were to Arcturus.
"Merry Christmas," Janus said softly, which made Emery nod silently in response, too confused to say anything. "Mom, dad," Janus continued, greeting his parents properly with great affection. Then, running his gaze around the rest of the people that were gathered, he spotted his baby sister hiding behind Ted Tonks' leg. "Aw, you still don't remember me? I was here last night, don't be frightened."
"It's Janus, hunny." Harry whispered, bending down to be eye to eye with his young daughter. "Your older brother, don't you remember him? Come; let's give him a big hug." He said, grabbing her hand and walking her over to Janus, whom bent down and picked her up gently from the ground. She giggled slightly as he spun her around, happily enjoying the ride, before he put her back down and gave her forehead a light kiss.
Then, Janus walked over to the rest of the occupants of the room, intent on saying hello to them individually "Hey Remus," Janus said, hugging the werewolf, whom had been like an uncle to him when he was growing up. "I missed you last night at the meeting."
"Yeah, I couldn't leave Hogwarts, I apologize." Remus said, disappointed that he couldn't greet the wizard when he first arrived. "Are you ready to be asked more questions than you will ever be able to answer?"
"No," Janus grinned, moving his gaze to the couple next to Remus. "Theodore, Daphne," Janus said, taking a few steps over to the Notts, whom had continued the tradition of spending Christmas Eve with the Potters. "Merry Christmas to you both! Where is Phoebe?" He inquired, questioning about the whereabouts of their daughter.
"That's the first time you've ever called me Theodore," Theodore smiled, shaking Janus' hand. Even after all these years, his hand was still purple from the venom of Nagini, the snake that had bitten him during the final battle against the Dark Lord Voldemort. "Good to see you, too, glad that you're back."
"Phoebe will be around sooner or later, she had some last minute gift shopping to take care of. You know her." Daphne said, answering Janus' question.
Janus scanned the occupants one last time, realizing quite a few people were missing. "I take it everyone else is meeting up tomorrow as always?"
"Of course," Tonks nodded in agreement. "We were supposed to go over Cedric's tomorrow, but because you came back, we asked everyone to come over here instead."
"Think your parents would be able to come?" Janus questioned, looking over to Lucida. Then, looking back to his mother, he asked, "They're welcome, right?"
"Absolutely!" Tonks grinned, believing that the more people there, the merrier it would be.
"I'll ask them at lunch, though I'm sure they'll want to come." Lucida replied, staring back at Janus. "If they have plans already, we'll change them or something."
"Good," Janus agreed, not wanting to spend Christmas without Lucida, with whom he both had spent the past four Christmases and hoped to spend every Christmas for the rest of his life.
"So shall we eat then?" Harry asked, looking around the group, knowing that he was a tad hungry, having not eaten anything the night before in anticipation of the delicious meal. "Everyone head to the dinning room, while Janus and I get the drinks from the icebox." Harry said, gesturing to the door that led to the dinning room. The group funneled out of the foyer and into the dinning room, each taking a seat at that grand table, while Harry and Janus headed into the kitchen.
"I want to hear about everything." Harry said, entering the kitchen and walking over to the island counter. "Where you were, what you did, what you learned, everything."
"That's funny, because I want to hear about everything you know in regards to this supposed Dark Lord." Janus replied, not looking at his father. "Where he came from, what he does, what you have learned about him, everything."
"Don't know much yet. Just that he or she has two goons that lead his forces, with one of them being taller than the other. We don't know if they're male, female, anything really." Harry answered his son with a shrug, not really concerned about it. "I'll tell you more when Christmas is over," He promised, grabbing the pitcher of pumpkin juice out of the icebox and putting it on the tray. "You know, when I traveled before my seventh year, I only went for a month and a half. It seems that you beat me in regards to length of time."
"Seems so," Janus grinned, looking over to Zeali, who was cooking at the oven, silently listening to the conversation. "Hello Zeali."
"Master Janus," Zeali squeaked, turning his attention away from the stove and over to Janus. "Zeali is so happy to see you. Zeali has made your favorites today and I make even more tomorrow!"
Janus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, cheap muggle toy wristband. "Merry Christmas, Zeali." He gave the toy over to Zeali, who tentatively took it into his tiny hands.
"Thank you, master!" Zeali smiled with tears in his eyes, overjoyed at the fact that Janus had thought of him. "Thank you!"
Harry and Janus brought the pitchers of drinks into the dinning room, before next to Tonks and Lucida, respectively. Before long, they were well into the meal, when Sirius asked the question that was on all of their minds. "So, when are you going to regale us with tales of mystique and wonder?"
"Well, how about we do it tomorrow with everyone here?" Janus answered between bites, moving his gaze over to Sirius. "I'll even bring some of the pictures that we took."
"I guess we'll have to come tomorrow to hear that." Theodore smiled over to Daphne, who gave him a grin in response.
After another half hour or so, the meal was winding down and everyone got to their feet with their stomachs full and their hearts merry. "Breakfast was delicious, thank you." Lucida said, smiling brightly as she came over to Tonks.
"Are you leaving already?" Tonks asked, sad that she wouldn't be staying a bit longer.
"Yes, unfortunately," Lucida answered, wanting to see her parents. "My parents are getting anxious to see me, I would imagine. But I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sure."
"Okay," Tonks nodded in agreement, knowing what it was like to not have a child around for so long, especially around Christmas time.
The entire group walked into the sitting room, where a small fire was burning in the corner fireplace. "Bye everyone, it was great seeing you if I don't see some of you tomorrow." Lucida said, waving to the group, whom all waved back and responded with their goodbyes.
"Come on, I'll walk you up to the library," Janus suggested, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"No need," Harry waved them off with one hand, while holding a cup of hot tea in the other. "This fireplace has been connected to the Floo network for a while now."
"Really?" Janus said in a surprised tone, giving Lucida a sideways glance. "How…convenient," He whispered, unnoticeably shaking his head. "I'll see you later, then?"
"Count on it." Lucida nodded, giving him a kiss on the lips. "I love you," She said quietly, before grabbing a handful of powder and throwing it into the fire. The fire burned green for a moment, and after announcing her destination, she disappeared in a flash, presumably appearing at her parent's home a few moments later.
Janus bit his lip, all the while looking around at the group as they laughed about something that his cousins Kastor and Pollux had done a few days prior. "I'm going to the loo, excuse me," Janus said, excusing himself from the group. He walked into the bathroom on the other side of the first floor, closing the door a moment later.
Harry watched his oldest son walk out of the room, before turning his attention to his middle son. "Arcturus, I want to show you something real quick." Harry said, motioning for the younger wizard to follow him.
Silently, Arcturus followed his father, walking up the stairs and into the library on the second floor. Just as they had arrived, Janus exited the bathroom, and upon seeing his father and brother, he silently followed them, wanting to know what they were doing. "What is it?" Arcturus questioned, wondering what was going on.
"I don't really have to show you something; I just wanted to talk to you privately for a moment." Harry said, turning around to face his son.
Arcturus cocked an eyebrow, his curiosity spiked due to the secretive nature of the meeting. "What's up?"
"I'm going to need it back," Harry said, quietly, barely above a whisper. "With this new threat, I want to make sure I'm prepared as best as I can." He informed his son, opening up to the fact that he was a bit uneasy by the appearance of a new dark lord. At least with Voldemort he knew what he was fighting, knew what the dark lord wanted and how he intended on getting it. Here, however, he had no idea who it was or what they wanted, leaving him at a distinct disadvantage should he find himself in a duel against the enemy.
"Of course," Arcturus whispered in response, knowing exactly what his father meant. "It's inside of a lockbox in my workshop at the store. I'll bring it to you at once."
"No, bring it to me later tonight." Harry shook his head, not wanting to inconvenience his son more than he already had. "How has it gone in respect to your work on it? Have you learned anything new about it?"
"The binding of the ingredients truly is remarkable." Arcturus answered honestly, supremely impressed by the work that had taken in creating it. "Whoever did create it was a much better at it than I am. In fact, it makes me question whether it was Death who actually did do it."
"It's legendary; don't be so hard on yourself." Harry replied in a fatherly tone, gripping Arcturus' shoulder. His son was extremely skilled in what he did; he didn't want his son to lose confidence in his abilities. "We should get back."
Bring what later, Janus thought to himself, wondering what his father and brother were talking about. Death? Then, hearing them both coming towards the door, he quickly walked down the hall, entering his former room, that, just as his mother had promised, looked exactly the same as he had left it. When he knew that they had returned downstairs, he exited back into the hallway, and made a line straight for the portrait that was on the far end of the opposite hall, away from his room.
There in the portrait was an aged wizard slumbering in a chair. The occupant, however, was not the one in which the portrait was supposed to be of, but instead an old wizard with long grey hair and a long grey beard. "Grindelwald," Janus said, staring up at the former dark lord as he visited the portrait of his great grandfather, the former Headmaster of Hogwarts, who was presumably in his other portrait found within Hogwarts.
With a yawn, Grindelwald awoke from his nap. "Beg your pardon?" Grindelwald replied, squinting his eyes at Janus, whom he had watched grow up. "You must have me confused."
"Cut the crap," Janus hissed, giving the wizard an amused smile. "You really think I would not know who you are? I walked passed you nearly every time I walked upstairs when I was growing up."
Grindelwald narrowed his gaze at Janus, knowing how deductive and intelligent the wizard was. "And what of it?" He asked, admitting that he was Gellert Grindelwald, breaking the promise that he had made to Harry over two decades prior.
"The Pyramidas Furmat book that my father has, he said that he received it from an old friend who had gotten it in Greece." Janus started, wanting to hurry up before people started to question his whereabouts. "Where in Greece did you get it from?"
"I bought it from a shop on the island of Meropis." Gellert started, remembering that day as a teenager many years prior to his incarceration in Nurmengard. "I originally went there to gather information regarding the Deathstick. You see, in my youth I had heard a rumor that a shopkeeper there was searching for a powerful wand or artifact, and I wanted to find out what he knew. He ended up not knowing anything of value about the Deathstick, apparently searching for something entirely different, though I don't have the foggiest clue what that could have been. I bought the book before I left that shop, so it wasn't a complete waste of my time by going there."
"What was the name of this shopkeeper?" Janus asked in response to what he had learned, gazing straight at Grindelwald.
"Tanis," Grindelwald replied after a moment's thought. "He was old and near death when this happened, which was before the turn of last century."
"Tanis?" Janus mumbled, looking downwards, seemingly lost in thought. "Happy Christmas, Grindelwald." Janus finally said after a few seconds of silence, looking up at the older wizard, before walking slowly over to the stairway and back down to the party below.
"Same to you," Grindelwald replied, perplexed by the interaction with Janus.
As he arrived back in the sitting room, he saw everyone happily talking, sipping various drinks, snacking on delicious goodies, and generally having a good time. On the coffee table in the center of the room stood a wizarding wireless, softly playing various christmas tones of the season for the room to enjoy. "I should get going," Emery said, rising to his feet, noticing the time.
"Okay," Harry nodded, understanding that his son had to go to his game early to prepare. "Good luck, all of us will be cheering you on."
"Merry Christmas, mum," Emery said, kissing his mother's cheek. "I'll see you later,"
"Bye, hunny." Tonks replied, watching as her son walked out of the room, presumably to grab his things before going to the fireplace and flooing away.
"He has a game today?" Janus asked, turning his attention over to his father with a questioning look on his face. He had assumed that they were simply going to spend the day at the house, having not checked the quidditch league schedule before coming.
"Oh," Harry muttered, giving his head a small shake. "That's right, it slipped my mind, I'm sorry. Yeah, we all have tickets for tonight, but I'm positive we can get some more. You'll come, won't you?"
"Of course," Janus replied with a nod of his head, having always enjoyed watching his brother play quidditch. "If that's the case, I'm going to floo call Lucida, see if her family wants to come too."
"Sure," Harry agreed, turning his attention back to the conversation as Janus left the room.
Later that night, Lucida Nigel was walking to the ticket counter at the Montrose quidditch pitch along with her parents, knowing that Janus had left her three tickets for her there. She procured the tickets, and they all made their way up to the seats, immediately seeing the Potters and the rest of their friends and family. They took their seats, with Lucida sitting next to Janus, just in time for the match to start. "It's cold," Andromeda Tonks shivered, bringing her cloak closer to try and get warm. Ted rubbed her shoulders in an effort to warm her up, wanting her to feel more comfortable so she could enjoy the match.
"I'm going to get some hot chocolate, I saw a vendor when we were coming in." Janus said, getting to his feet. "Does anyone else want one?" He asked the group, knowing that there would be a few others like him that would enjoy a hot cup of chocolate.
"I do, I do!" He heard Megara chirp from her seat in between Harry and Ted, her voice barely loud enough to hear over the many shouts and cheers that were coming from the fans all around.
"Of course you do," Janus grinned, his sister winning him over very easily. "Anyone else?"
"Sure," Most of the group nodded.
"Want to come with me?" Janus questioned Lucida, whom nodded and got to her feet as well. They each squeezed out of the row and headed up towards the concourse, where there were various food vendors that sold wizarding snacks, as well as other, more muggle fare like hot chocolate and popcorn.
"What did you find out?" Lucida questioned once they were away from the family, giving him a sideways glance as they walked towards the witch vendor that was selling the hot drinks.
"From my father, nothing really yet, only that he suspects or thinks that it's possible that the two leaders are one male and one female." Janus answered quietly as to not be overheard by anyone passing them. "As for what I found out from Grindelwald, apparently he visited Meropis just like us, but get this, the shopkeeper that he spoke to back then was named Tanis."
"They think it is one male and one female? That's not good, but Tanis? That's…strange?" Lucida whispered, not really understanding how that could be. "I don't get that."
"Neither do I," Janus responded, unsure about what the information all meant. Were they wrong? Were they on the wrong track? It was something that he knew he would think about over the next few days until his father gave him some more concrete information.
After waiting in line, they finally got the drinks and returned to their seats, handing over the many hot chocolates to all the people that had asked for one. Before long, the match was underway, with the Magpies taking the immediate lead on an early goal by a female chaser. The match ended up being fairly quick, only about a half an hour, with the Magpies' seeker catching the snitch. Emery had a good game for the Magpies, scoring five goals, assisting on a few others, and accumulating three steals, one of his specialties. Eventually the night ended and they all returned to their respective homes, knowing that Christmas was going to be a busy, but happy day the next day, one hopefully filled with learning about Janus and Lucida's many adventures.
AN: Not exactly up to my usual standards because it was rushed, but I hope you enjoyed it. It gives a peek into what the sequel would be about.