Finding a Place to Call Home
Wanda: Welcome back everyone! Now, I'm introducing Lilith here as part of the overarcing story arc that this story will eventually follow involving Voldemort and likely a few other things before its over. Now, I'm not moving away from the travelling around the world aspect. It's just part of the theme of this story is that the world is bigger then any two people, which is why Harry and Astoria now have Graham and Lilith along with them. Other things will be happening, as Voldemort is going to turn to other options now that he knows Harry is out of Britain and that they aren't connected anymore. I do not own Harry Potter...enjoy!
Chapter 7: Plans and a Trial
Lilith Moon stepped into the grand mansion her family had called home for twenty generations, eyes closed, because the building never changed no matter how many times you counted the floorboards for every day you were trapped here. She slid her schoolbag off her shoulder and stepped out of her shoes. One hand went to the golden shackles on her left wrist and brushed against it, grimacing as the familiar chills entered the air around her.
Lilith let her hood down, silver hair coming out of its braid and falling around her face. She hung up her coat, the hot air in the house blasting her and bringing feeling back into her fingers and cheeks. She stepped out of the doorway, closing it behind her, and stopped not far into the mansion.
Her father was sitting with his back to her, completely absorbed in the newspaper that was their one link to the rest of the world. Lilith sat down on the step and said nothing. The silence in the house was pervading, but it was almost always this quiet, so no one inside took notice of it.
The air in the house was warmer then most people would have found comfortable, but the Moon family weren't most people. Not by a long shot. The floors, walls and stairs were a volcanic stone instead of wood; she could feel the heat drumming under her bare feet, creating an artificial summer that bordered on heat warming. Most people would have found it near-unbearable after a few hours, but for the Moons, it was a necessity.
Lilith locked her fingers together and sat down on the stairwell, thinking about the confusion she had felt when she returned to Hogwarts to see it in a state of complete disarray. And then everything that had been explained to her.
Harry Potter had left the school with Astoria Greengrass, the Headmaster was under obstruction of justice accusations, the entire school was being reviewed for bullying and safety measures, and you couldn't walk ten feet without running into an Auror who was questioning how a class was run or why something had happened in an earlier year. It hadn't taken Lilith very long to find the entire situation overwhelming and for one of the more competent Aurors to recommend that she go home.
Mind you, this was after one of the less intelligent Aurors, clearly put up to the job by Lucius Malfoy to keep his son in the school, had bullied her until she had her first episode in public since she was six...it was lucky that it got blamed on stress-induced accidental magic.
Earlier members of her family hadn't been that lucky.
Lilith had gone back to school a while after the start of the Tri-Wizard tournament, but the things she had missed became apparent very fast and the quickly mounting stress sent her right back home, before she hurt someone.
Specifically, the only person who's presence might have helped her was conspicuously missing from the school itself. He went by the name Harry Potter. Being raised by muggles meant he hadn't known about the promise made by Charlus Potter or by the words of the spirit that had visited the two families decades ago. Lilith had meant to try and approach him in his first year, but she hadn't been stable enough, and the boy had quickly been absorbed by the Gryffindors, who were more interested in making themselves the top of the school then helping anyone less fortunate then themselves.
Harry himself hadn't been like that, and this had reached its nadir during this year with the Tri-Wizard mess that was drawing international attention.
The fickle nature of wizards. Perhaps there was something to having muggles influence their world ever so much. Not that the purebloods would ever stand for that.
Lilith had realized this year that she might finally have the time and the strength to talk to Harry, ask him about helping her, and he had taken off during one of her recuperation periods. Just like that. Her only chance was gone.
She bit her lip and resisted the urge to cry. She had learned a long time ago that crying would never help her, it wouldn't take away the curse that had destroyed all her ancestors one by one. the helplessness was nothing knew to her, but the feeling of carrot and stick was.
Her grandfather had said that a younger Potter would be the one who could wash away her curse. Make her a normal witch. She would be able to make friends without worrying about accidentally killing them, finally control the storm inside, be able to leave this house and join the rest of society.
But she had never been able to approach Harry during the short periods she had actually been able to attend school, through a combination of her own uneasiness regarding the control she currently had, the prejudice against Slytherins, and the boy's own closed-off personality.
"Lilith?"
Lilith blinked out of her swimming thoughts and looked up. Her father, Richard Moon, was looking up from his paper. He gently gestured for him to come over.
Trembling in her hands, Lilith stood up and walked across the floor, welcome heat washing up her legs every time she took a step. "What is it papa?" She asked, sitting down next to him.
"How are you feeling, Moonbeam?" Richard asked gently. "Do you think that you'd be able to sit in the car in a crowded street?"
"Maybe..." Lilith said as she looked down at her shaky fingers, and then looked up questioningly at her father with eyes like the deepest, darkest waters. "Why papa?"
Richard held up the paper and said, "Sirius Black is getting a trial...and since this is outside of Britain its safe to say that he'll get off, as he should have years ago. I told you that he was Harry's guardian, didn't I?"
"Yes." Lilith responded quietly, unsure of where this was going.
Richard looked down at his beautiful child, thinking about how much he'd wanted her to have the life that had been denied to him, ever since their ancestor betrayed the Moon spirit generations ago. "I think it's time we spoke with him and Harry personally, Moonbeam. Your episodes are getting worse, and the magic stated that the youngest Potter is the one that can help you."
"...do you think he will?" Lilith asked softly. She was far too used to disappointment to truly get her hopes up, and she wasn't sure that anything she knew about Harry Potter was true giving both the biased Hogwarts rumor mill and the fiasco of this year.
Richard gently ran his fingers through his daughter's silver hair. "I think so, darling. I hope so."
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"What the hell is HE doing here?" Astoria hissed out under her breath, staring in disbelief at Graham, who was watching her solemnly and with a bit of agitation.
Harry wasn't sure whether to be afraid of his girlfriend or equally angry that Albus Dumbledore had the nerve to appear at his godfather's trial after the fact that he hadn't stepped in and given him one back when it really mattered.
The Old Man, as (formerly) part of the International Confederation of Wizards, would have been aware of Sirius's pending trial even if it hadn't been all over the newspapers. Back in his day it would have been within his power to intervene and give Sirius a trial, though he didn't. And now here he was, walking right into the building as though nothing was wrong.
You'd think that alone was bad enough, but then you remembered that the Lestrange brothers and their mad sister in law Bellatrix were given trials when they were caught red handed torturing the Longbottoms, but Sirius was just tossed in prison under circumstantial evidence.
All in classic double standard fashion – they were purebloods, no matter what their crimes were, while Sirius had renounced pureblood philosophy and everything pertaining to it. Merlin, how had he ever managed to live in Wizarding Britain?
"To get himself a better image, especially with his trial on obstruction charges coming up," Graham responded matter-of-factly. "And to attempt to bring Sirius Black, one of the richest and most powerful wizards in the world now that he's ascended into Lord Black, back under his wing for his little schemes. What else?"
Harry gritted his teeth, and Astoria put her hands on his shoulders. The betrayal of the man who had set himself up as a grandfatherly figure to the boy burned him almost as badly as what Ron and Hermione had done. Seeing him again was almost enough to turn Harry's vision read, it was clear now that he wasn't doing this out of kindness but because he wanted to reactivate his ridiculous chess games with Voldemort, who wasn't even powerful anymore but a barely living thing in a shack in the middle of nowhere.
Harry shook his head and brought himself back to the problem at hand. He had to focus now.
"Does he know we're here?" He asked Graham tensely. He and Astoria had taken to the highest balcony, which was reserved for family members (so there weren't any here for Sirius, Jane was part of the trial and Remus was a witness) of the accused.
They had meant to observe alone and leave just after the verdict, so they could avoid the camera men but still remain assured of Sirius being vindicated.
And then Albus Bloody Too Many Middle Names Dumbledore had shown up and their plans had ground to a halt.
"No," Graham reported, peering down over the balcony to where Albus was standing talking to a jury member. The member was looking very annoyed with him, and was pointing sharply towards the visitor seating.
Graham's eyes narrowed as he read Dumbledore's body language. He'd volunteered to be their scout while they got themselves seated in these topmost seats, to make sure that no one had seen them or picked up on their scent.
His attitude was quite standoffish, and Harry had seen several people walk away or scurry around him (fully grown adults at that, to Astoria's consternation) but he had done his job quite diligently.
Now he was being the bringer of bad news, though deep down Harry had known that Dumbledore would try to interfere once he had known that Sirius was getting a trial. He had hoped that things would simply go smoothly for once. Sirius at least deserved that much.
"He doesn't know, but he's hoping that you would have gone to Sirius. He'll try and interrupt the trial but he's aware that he doesn't have the international acclaim that he used to so he probably won't be able to get Sirius moved back to Britain for domestic justice. But either way he wants this to lead him to you." Graham explained, flicking his eyes between Dumbledore and his angry looking mother. Jane Pritchard looked like she'd be all to happy to slap the old man or do something equally damaging, but wasn't allowed to. Eventually she sharply pointed to the back of the room.
"Mother won't let him be a witness for either side, citing his own approaching questioning, but that unfortunately doesn't stop him from hanging around." He added.
"Damn it!" Astoria spat. Harry jumped a bit and looked blankly at her. Astoria almost never used salty language, even in the few times when she was upset. "I knew we should have left earlier." She stuck her head over the railings herself, scowling as if she hoped doing so would make Dumbledore leave – or catch fire.
"You're probably right," Harry said with a sigh, "I just wanted to make absolutely sure that Sirius got off. I should have known that he'd turn up."
Astoria took a deep breath to calm herself down, and then put her hand on his. "Of course you did Harry, you two are very close. There's nothing wrong with that. Now we just have to find some way to adjust to this new situation."
"You can likely escape him during the media frenzy of the verdict." Graham suggested, pointing downwards towards the doors which were currently sealed against entrances. There were people with all sorts of cameras flashing through the two large windows. "There will be a swarm, and while most of the focus will be on Sirius Black a lot of reporters will be stalking Dumbledore over his criminal negligence among other things. And even if they don't, Astoria your father, sister and Lupin will do their best to hold them off while we escape."
"Thanks Graham," Harry said. Graham almost smiled, but kept his eyes down.
Harry was familiar with that feeling, so used to disappointment that you weren't sure how to accept praise. Hopefully Graham would be able to pull his way out of his self dug hole if they stuck with him.
"Oh, I hope my family won't be too upset if I have to skip a potential meeting with them," Astoria said unhappily. "Oh...wait...Harry, look."
Harry and Graham blinked in concert and walked over to Astoria's side. She was staring down at a young man with restraints on his arms speaking with Sirius. He was tall, but had a willowy look to him, something that oddly reminded Harry of sunlight on the snow in winter. His hair was white, almost like it had aged ahead of him. He was well dressed and moving quite animatedly as he spoke to Harry's godfather. Sirius didn't seem upset to see this man...mostly surprised. And maybe even a touch concerned.
"Tori, who's that?" Harry asked, glancing over at his girlfriend.
"Harry that's Richard Moon, Lilith's father," Astoria said, sounding a bit stunned, "He's out in the open? Morgana, something must have changed for Lilith, if he's all the way out here."
"Wait, they're the family that's cursed, the one my grandfather allied with," Harry said, remembering his conversation with Astoria in France about the Potter alliances.
"He's worried," Graham supplied, watching Richard carefully. "He's not here because he has the luxury of being able to move around freely, he's afraid of something that he needs help with." His eyes narrowed and he focused on Sirius. "It's involves you, Harry."
"Is that a bad thing?" Harry asked tensely.
Graham studied the conversation for another minute as Richard gestured anxiously. "Bad for them." He responded. "He likely needs your help."
Harry expelled a long sigh. His compulsion to save people had taken a beating thanks to the fallout of the Tournament, but he could still feel the urge in his heart, and something was telling him that Lilith really did need his help.
"Dobby," He called quietly.
It was rather like swapping notes under your teacher's nose back in primary muggle schooling, but Harry managed to get an explanation out of Richard. It wasn't a particularly happy one either.
"Wash away her curse?" Harry said blankly. "How exactly am I supposed to go about that?"
"We'll figure that out later," Astoria suggested. "When we leave, we'll go out the back and take her with us as we move on to Tokyo. Then we'll have Dobby summon a few books from one of the Moon or Potter libraries to figure out what she needs."
"Right," Harry exhaled. "And here I thought that running away from Britain would make things less complicated."
"Of course life is complicated for you Harry. You're a Potter," Astoria said fondly. Harry smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her waist, sitting down and pulling her into his lap.
Graham wrinkled his nose in a true preteen fashion and scooted down to the edge of the seating balcony.
Astoria wrapped her arm around Harry's neck and kissed him, the touch deepened as the court began to fall into order. "It'll be alright," She said softly as the judge called for order in the court. Harry nodded slightly, to show he understood because he was too dazed to talk.
Then he lifted his head ever so slightly and a moment later they were snogging. Harry had never done this before but it was such a sweet sensation. It was love, and experiencing it washed away any bad feelings he'd had about the day, allowed his mind to drift out of time and space. How did I survive as long as I did without something like this? He wondered.
Astoria paused and said, "Are you alright Harry?"
He smiled up at her. "Better then alright, Tori. Don't worry about me."
He leaned in and kissed her this time.
Graham cleared his throat twice, but after that gave up and focused on the carvings in the wall across from him to avoid seeing or hearing Harry and Astoria making out.
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"Sirius Black, you are hereby cleared of all charges and will be given compensation for spending twelve years wrongly accused within the walls of Azkaban Prison." The judge declared, before banging her grovel on the desk. "Case closed!"
A great cheer went up in the crowd; many hopping out of their seats the give a standing ovation. Cameras went off everywhere and reporters were pushing to get closer, to find another angle of a world wide story. Justice was being served, old wrongs were being righted, and a victim of political cruelty was being set free. Witches and wizards all around the world had been hanging on this trial out of interest and the desired outcome had been reached.
It was a denouncement of both Wizarding Britain's backwards and sometimes self-contradicting policies regarding the Death Eaters and their hubris, and considering the country's growing unpopularity in the world-wide setting, this was considered something to be celebrated with a bottle of champagne, particularly in Magical America.
And of course there was the victim himself, having quickly become a newspaper and tabloid favourite in the days coming up to his trial, and likely going to continue as such in the foreseeable future given his situation as basically, a martyr. A lot of people were going to be asking for interviews, questions or even for books about his experiences. A picture of noble suffering, something that impressed young boys and caused young women to swoon collectively.
Sirius sprang out of the witness chair and pumped his fists above his head, grinning like a maniac. Remus looked the happiest that he had been in a long time, his girlfriend Beverly looking extremely happy for the both of them, because she knew how close they had been.
Jane Pritchard was collecting her files on the case, looking tired but elated and satisfied, having won her first cross-border case and hopefully the first of many. Jane had always felt driven to see justice served, even before she left Britain, and it was with great pleasure that she saw to the 'not guilty' verdict that should have been given to her client twelve years ago.
Speaking of whom...Jane watched Sirius whoop and spin around, taking in his new freedom, and though she would not have admitted to it out loud, something uncoiled in her chest much like when she had met her first husband.
Quickly she forced it down and returned to her work, determined to maintain a professional mindset while she was dealing with her client. If her luck held, it would keep her going through her involvement with Albus Dumbledore's obstruction of justice trial. She certainly hoped it would, after everything she had heard about what he'd done with the boy.
Harry and Astoria happily clapped along, while Graham simply watched the scene intently, like he was trying to drink the emotion of the scene in. His eyes followed Richard Moon as the man tentatively looked in from the doorway, before quickly pulling out again.
Graham was curious about the Moon family curse, so he was watching Richard quite carefully to see if he could peace it together before he met the man's daughter. Then his eye caught Albus Dumbledore pushing his way through to crowd towards Sirius and muttered, "Time to go,"
Astoria nodded, and she and Harry and Graham hurried towards the door and down a long set of spiralling staircases. Harry could almost hear Dumbledore saying his usual tripe to Sirius, struggling to be overheard over the reporters and camera men, as they pushed their way out the back door.
Lilith Moon was standing there waiting for them. Harry heard Graham suck in a breath and did his best not to chuckle. Some people recognize beauty younger then others, evidently. He thought with amusement. Perhaps it comes with having a mind too mature for your body.
Lilith was beautiful, like a captured moonbeam, but he only had eyes for the blonde girl next to him, who had given him true love for the first time he could remember.
"Hello, Lilith," He said with a smile.
"Hello, Harry." Lilith responded softly.
"How does Tokyo sound to you?" Harry suggested, his tone welcoming. "We're going to see some of the great transfiguration experts. Interested in coming?"
Lilith regarded Harry very carefully for a moment, and Harry was given the strange, sincere feeling that she was looking right into his soul.
"Okay," She said softly.
Harry and Astoria both smiled, and Tori offered the other girl her hand. "Off we go then," She said. "I'd like to get to know you for real, Lilith. If that's alright with you."
Lilith smiled softly, giving a look of falling snow. "Thank you."
End Chapter
Long rambly author's note ahead!
So yes, there's Lilith, as part of the alliances mentioned a few chapters ago. While Harry doesn't really want to act like a pureblood those things did exist for a reason, and as mentioned above it has more to do with the increasing arc that's coming towards them regarding Voldemort and the past and a few other things. After all, as this is a Road Movie esque story it will leave that formula in the sense that there will be a main antagonist for it, whether or not that antagonist is Voldemort in the end...well, we shall see.
Because this is a way alternate pairing story, there will be an -eventual- Graham/Lilith ship, just because I also started this story in the name of doing things way out of the ordinary. He'll have to get a bit older though, he's mentally mature but not quite as physically or emotionally mature, so he'll be very confused about her until later in the story. I'm on the fence on whether or not to ship Daphne with anyone, though. I'd be happy to hear thought about that, while the story will still be focusing on Harry and Astoria as the theme goes the world is bigger then just two people. Plus, I have something planned for Daphne to do later on that's very much plot important.
Next chapter, more about death eaters and Voldemort's new plans because he's not quite as stupid as Dumbledore would like to think he is. He might actually be a bit smarter then in canon here, but there's a reason to all this madness, I promise! Oh, and there's some speculating on the nature of muggleborns in the next chapter as well.
Read and Review please!