Final chapter of Part III. You know what that means! The first chapter of the final act will be posted in mid December.
April 14th, 2002
Great Hall, Hogwarts School
"We didn't get everything we wanted from the Americans, but they were willing to compromise. In exchange for the meeting happening at Harry's workplace and being allowed to bring an emergency portkey, we are only allowed to send two delegates who will remain under heavy guard for the duration of the mission, which will last for a maximum of five days."
"Well, it's not ideal," Fred proclaimed, "but it will have to do."
"Who are you sending?" Daphne asked, an unreadable expression in her eyes.
"None of us is going on that trip," Nathan said. "We are needed here, to protect the people in this castle."
"This would be protecting them," Daphne argued.
"Our skills do not lie in persuading people to come back to a place that, last time he was here, tried to kill him," Nathan argued. "It needs to be people who were in no way involved in his unlawful conviction."
"We weren't," Daphne argued insistently.
"But you, at least, hadn't spoken to him for almost a year when that happened, and while I don't know exactly what happened, I can guess," Nathan snapped. "Harry doesn't need the first person he sees from magical Britain to be a person who abandoned him at the drop of a hat!"
Daphne blinked, eyes moist from the scathing rebuke. "You- you're right," she said sorrowfully. "I- I just want-"
"You want to apologize. I understand that, I really do, but should that be his first contact with his homeland, the homeland that accused him of murder and convicted him without a trial?"
The girl shook her head, a few tears leaking out of her eyes.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, Daphne," Nathan said wearily. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, you don't deserve it."
"No," she said, "it's entirely justified. If.. if you allowed me to go, it might do more harm than good, and if ever there was a mission that would end the world if it failed, it's this one." She angrily wiped her eyes dry of tears and composed herself. "What are we going to do to make sure the ambassadors get past the wardline safely?"
"I have an idea," Fred proclaimed, "that just might work."
- o -
April 15th, 2002
Entrance Hall, Hogwarts School
"Remember, your mission is to convince Harry to come back of his own accord. This won't do us any good of you force him to come back," Nathan emphasized.
His father nodded his head and said, "Understood."
"Alright. Kingsley will escorts you to the Gate as soon as the counterattack begins. I wish you luck, for all our sakes."
Nathan retreated further into the building, leaving James, Lily, and Kingsley alone in the entrance hall.
"Alright, Nathan likely wouldn't approve of this, but I had a pair of portkeys arranged to bring you back here in an emergency. They're linked to activate sequentially, so if one is triggered, the other will activate with a few-second delay. Keep that in mind if you end up needing them."
"Thank you, Kingsley," Lily said with relief. "It's good to know we have a means of escape should something happen."
A pulse of light from the forest lit up the grounds, barely illuminated by the first hints of the sun. "That's our signal." Kingsley broke into a run. The elder Potters followed.
As they approached the Gate to the Hogwarts grounds, they froze. Ten Death Eaters stood a short walk away. "Go," Kingsley whispered urgently. "I'll hold them off."
James pulled his wife's arm, dragging her to the stone arch. Kingsley shot a quick spell through the bars, and a Death Eater fell. A cry of alarm echoed through the group, now on high alert. The trained Auror, veteran of the war against Voldemort, drew their attention to him, duelling through the portcullis while the two ambassadors slipped through, quickly disappearing from Britain. Kingsley gave a dark smirk of satisfaction as he danced out of range, slipping back up the path to the castle as the first rays of dawn illuminated the valley.
- o -
April 15th, 2002
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs
James Potter and his wife Lily stared in shock as their portkey landed outside Cheyenne Mountain. The obviously-military nature of the complex was... concerning... to them. They had known that he worked for the United States Air Force, a confusing fact in and of itself, but why would "Deep Space Radar Telemetry" warrant such a well-defended compound? And, even worse, why did it look like the security measures were more to keep people in than out? They both gripped their emergency portkeys tightly.
As they approached the mountain, they were stopped three times, at different checkpoints. Finally, they got inside, where they were escorted into an elevator past a truly immense metal door, and their trip into the depths of the facility began.
"You're the people meeting Captain Potter," their escort said. It was not a question.
"We are," James agreed.
"I've known Harry for three years now, and never once have I seen him as pale as when he walked out of the room having just been told you were coming to meet with him. What did you people do to make one of the bravest men I know look like he'd just seen a ghost?" When Lily opened her mouth to speak, he continued, "No, don't answer. I'm not sure I want to know. I'd likely be arrested for assault if I found out. But whatever it was, I don't think you can undo."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence in the elevator car. Thankfully, the elevator came to a stop at last.
When they stepped out, their escort ushered them into a second elevator, nodding at a man with a gold symbol on his forehead. "Teal'c," he said. "There been any trouble?"
"There has not, Colonel O'Neill." The man turned his gaze on Lily and James for a moment, then looked away. If he had noticed the resemblance to Harry, he did not give any indication.
"Alright, thanks for the lookout, T," O'Neill said with a grin. "Tell the kid his one o'clock is here, will you?"
"Very well, Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c said. He walked into the hallway, and the elevator doors closed.
This time, the elevator stopped above the bottom of the shaft, on a level labeled "Sub-Level 27." Colonel O'Neill guided them to a room with a large red and black table dominating the space. There was a window, why the muggles would put one in they couldn't imagine, but it was covered with a metal blast shield, obscuring whatever view it might have had.
The symbol on the wall appeared to be the project's crest, and they had seen it throughout the facility as they were being led to this room, on patches and on various documents people were carrying. The symbol featured a grey 'V' capped with a semi-circle, with a triangle inside its borders. Superimposed over this image was a gold carat with the letters "SGC" above it. What was this place? Was it some secret research facility? If so, what were they studying?
"Sit down," O'Neill commanded. "Captain Potter will be down shortly." With that, he departed.
After what seemed an eternity, the doors opened again, and their son entered the room. He stood tall, his posture that of a veteran of war. If it hadn't been the muggle Air Force they were dealing with, they might have suspected polyjuice, but as it was, they could only wonder how Deep Space Radar Telemetry turned teenage boys into combat veterans.
"I don't want to deal with you two," Harry said coldly, "so get to the point. Why should I come back? I assume that's what you're here for, as you haven't tried to capture or kill me yet."
- o -
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Harry thought to himself, irritated to say the least. 'How could I have let them rile me up like that? Stupid!'
The first meeting had not gone well. His 'parents' had tried to act like nothing had happened, that they were still loving parents and he still a young child in need of them. He disabused them of that notion rather violently, and they called the meeting short to 'give him time to calm down.' In an hour, they would be back in the briefing room, waiting for him.
Harry sighed. While he would rather not do this, if he pretended to cooperate, then it would be over and done, and he could get back to his regular life.
- o -
"You want to know why I don't want to come back?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Lily said empathetically. "please, tell us! We- we can- we'll try and fix it, whatever it is!"
"I don't think you can," Harry responded darkly. "You ask why I don't want to return under the assumption that it is one thing that drove me off. No. There are many reasons, only one of them fixable by you.
"Hah. To understand, you need to know how it began. Has Nathan told you the secret yet?"
"Chimera?"
"So he has, then. Good. Did he tell you why he and I started Chimera?"
"He said it was because the adults who were supposed to protect the students failed to, and when Voldemort started to return, its focus shifted to attempting to stop him."
"So you know the very basics. In my first year at Hogwarts, Quirinus Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore, a man supposed to protect his students from harm, instead allowed one of the worst Dark Lords of the past two centuries to roam the castle unchecked. Nathan and I were forced to stop him when he tried to kill us.
"In my second year, an artifact took control of a student's mind. The trauma of this event would later lead to her joining Nathan and my group, the group that would become Chimera. You should know this person very well. After all, you signed a betrothal contract with her parents shortly after I was born."
"Daphne?!"
"Yes. Through her, Voldemort reopened the Chamber of Secrets. Eventually, Nathan and I, again, were the only ones willing to step in and save her when she was taken into the Chamber itself.
"She did not escape unscathed, of course. No-one would. But, with help, she managed.
"Shortly after the Chamber was closed once again, Fred and George Weasley overheard a conversation as we tried to figure out who was behind it all. They were the ones brought Ron and Hermione into the group, the following year. Not much happened then, of course, except Daphne, over the summer, overheard her parents talking about a surge in activity in Eastern Europe, and the Dark Mark carved into stone in Little Hangleton.
"That's when Nathan started having the dreams. When fourth year began, we all knew something was going to happen, and you were there when the house of cards collapsed."
"So you're saying that because none of the adults were willing to do anything about these things, you won't come back?"
"I'm saying that that is one of my reasons."
"What are the others?"
- o -
"Lily, you can't seriously be saying that we should let him stay here? We need him. You heard what Nathan said, he's the only one who can kill Voldemort."
"I know that, James. All I'm saying is that perhaps he's justified in not wanting to come back."
"So how do we convince him?
- o -
'Alright, Harry, how do we go about this?' he asked himself. 'I don't want to go myself, but… I also don't want the few people I care about back there to suffer, and if Voldy wins, he might eventually wage war on the U.S.' Harry sighed in irritation. 'There's no good way to do this. Unless?...' He turned his head to the side. 'Yes, that could work. I'll talk to the General about that when they leave.'
- o -
April 19th, 2002
Harry walked into the meeting room for his last meeting with the elder Potters. He sighed in relief. After today, he would be free of their attempts to force him to return.
As Lily and James entered the room, he immediately noticed that something was off. Lily's nervousness, while apparent during each meeting for the past five days, had seemingly gotten much worse overnight, and even James, known for having the 'perfect poker face', had developed a nervous twitch. Harry's hand reached for his zat as James started speaking.
As he had several times prior after deciding his course of action, Harry zoned out, hearing but not listening. If something he cared about were mentioned, he'd pay attention, but everything else he'd gloss over. It was when he heard a voice on the intercom, however, that he really paid attention.
"SG-1 to the Gate Room! I repeat, SG-1 to the Gate Room!"
"I apologize, but I'm going to have to cut this meeting short," Harry said, not sounding apologetic in the least. "When the situation is resolved, whatever it is, I'll give you my answer." He began to leave.
Lily panicked, and James went pale. He'd already decided. As Harry walked by, James tackled him to the floor and activated his emergency portkey. Lily's triggered only a few seconds behind.
- - - o - - -