A/N: What do you guys like or dislike about this? I really want to know. Also, remember that this was started about seven years ago and all. I started this seven years ago at the tender age of thirteen based on a concept I thought up when I was twelve so I'm thinking of maybe redoing the early chapters. What do you guys think? Also, would you guys like to see a whole series just about their Avalon World Tour?
Timothy Oberon Black liked what he liked and wanted what he wanted. He didn't consider himself spoiled in anyway. So when he one day told his father that he wished to go back to his mother and received a no upon his request he threw quite the tantrum. Wild magic flew everywhere and he almost broke his and his father's cover; they had been posing as the very boring Owen and Timothy Burnett at the time. His father's friends, David and Fox Xanatos, were very impressed and that made him feel a little bit better but he still wanted to go home.
It wasn't as if he didn't like spending time with his father, quite the contrary. They did all sorts of wonderfully fun things like go to the zoo and free the non man eating animals, create a stampede of ducks from central park all down the streets, and even played tricks on some Gargoyles. Alright, that last one was more scary than fun as those were big, scary creatures.
Sure it was fun but he barely knew his father. Timmy knew of him, of course, and the history of the fey race to which he belonged but he didn't know his father as he knew his other family. Timmy also didn't quite care for New York City, not one bit. It was crowded and loud and full of mostly muggles. He could feel some wizards amongst them but the crowd had mostly been muggle and therefore he had to hide himself from them. He didn't want to hide, it made him feel bad about the way he looked and mummy always said that he should never feel that way. She also said that the people didn't trust what they couldn't explain and muggles had no way of explaining him.
He didn't dislike muggles themselves, they were quite interesting. They had all manner of labor saving devices to take the place of magic that he simply found fascinating. He spent hours one day just in the Xanatos' kitchen playing with all the muggle devices; particularly the blender. It was fun seeing what would and would not blend and even more fun seeing what would and would not blend while the top to the blender was off. He also loved their toys and telly. He could just sit for hours and hours watching.
However, even at five years old he knew that his father didn't truly love him, not as his mother did. Mummy always said that the minds of fey were different from the minds of people because the life of a person was short and fleeting while fey were immortal. That what why his father was always looking for excitement and also why his father was not too bonded to him. Timmy was only half fey, however, and missed his mother dreadfully. His friends as well but mostly his mother. There were no other children for him to play with and they made him quite sad.
After his temper tantrum his father said that while he couldn't be taken to his mother because of the danger he could be taken to India to play with Beadle Bard and his brother and sisters. That was almost as good as seeing mother again so of course he agreed. He packed his things up with only a bit of sadness at the thought of leaving his father. It passed, however, when Timmy reminded himself that his father would live forever whilst the rest of his family would not.
Timmy was expecting a boat and then a carriage ride to the house, not to travel in that space through the mirror. His father took him though there, though that cold reflective space where everything and nothing was real. He had no idea how long the journey lasted it could have been a minute or a year, he couldn't tell, but he was grateful when it was over and he stepped through into Beadle Bard's room. It was here that he was found by the nanny servant Paulette and taken to Aunt Addie and Uncle Peter. Later on word was sent, though it took a long time to get to Remordere from India. A letter arrived later on and Timothy, forgetting the limitations of the speed of the mail, feared that it was his mother telling him to go back to America.
The letter was not from his mother but from his Aunt Persephone telling the Pettigrew family that his little sister had been born. Little Celeste Titania Black. He couldn't wait to meet her.
Dumbledore now had a man, or rather a squib, on the inside. He was not above planting a spy within a residential home. He felt apprehensive about using Arabella Figg, a squib he had placed near the home of Vernon and Petunia all the way back in 1981 to watch out for Harry. She had reported to him that she rarely saw Harry outside and when she did he was doing chores, or as she called it hard labor.
At the time he had thought that she was surely exaggerating the extent of the work he did. It was good for children to help out around the house, without a good work ethic children often grew up to be spoiled and lazy. He had certainly seen many a lazy pure blood manor raised child in his time as a teacher and Headmaster. He didn't want Harry to grow up like that…or like his father had been before he matured. At the time he thought that the Dursely's were simply just trying to make sure that Harry grew up right.
Dumbledore had also assumed that Harry was rarely seen outside because his aunt and uncle were simply being a little overzealous in protecting him. In his letter he had written that while the Dark Lord had perished that night on Halloween many of his followers were still either at large or unmarked. He had assumed that with so many people after the boy his aunt and uncle, muggles with no way to protect themselves, were just trying to keep him safe.
He felt bad too, because he hadn't read all the signs that something was amiss. When Arabella reported to him that the boy was often seen in his cousin's oversized castoffs Dumbledore had assumed that the family was having financial problems. The house and neighborhood that they lived in was nice by muggle standards and there was also the fact that children in both the wizarding and muggle worlds were very expensive to raise.
When he had gotten word about how undersized Harry was and how oversized his cousin was Dumbledore chocked that up to simple parentage. Vernon was fat and stout so therefore his son would be fat and stout. James Potter was tall and thin so then it stood to reason that his son would be tall and thin as well. As for the clothing situation a big boy like that must have outgrown clothing quickly and it wasn't cruel to teach a child the value of frugality.
When Harry Potter disappeared he had originally believe the story that the Dursley's had fed the neighbors. They had told everyone that they had sent Harry up to live with Vernon's sister Marge to help out with her dog breeding business for a little while. That little while turned into a long while and when he called on the Dursely family to inquire as to when little Harry would be returning he found the house empty. Arabella told him that they were going on holiday to Spain but that had been three weeks prior.
The news got out when he finally made his way to their home. With all the titles he held he was a very busy man and couldn't always jump at the moment. He was different then. He was idiotic then. He should have dragged Harry back to his family the moment word reached him that he was away from the house. He was a fool to think that even losing sight of Harry Potter, even if to give him idealistic childhood memories spent playing with puppies and learning to care for another living thing.
He had been a fool all those years ago. He had let Harry Potter get away and end up in the worst possible position he could have been. He was raised in and aligned to the Pettigrew family. Well, it was better than being tortured, killed, and dismembered as Bellatrix LeStrange swore she'd do before they carted her off to life in Azkaban for what she did to the poor Longbottoms…more people he had failed.
He had let Harry Potter grow up as Harry Pettigrew. He had failed the boy a terrible way. The boy had grown up spoiled and entitled but worse he had grown up to be ambitious and dark. He had grown up allied to the Pettigrew family allied to his failed spy Peter Pettigrew and Sirius' illegitimate daughter Galatea Black. Who she thought she was he would never know. She was a little girl who played with forces that she couldn't hope to understand let alone control.
That entire family, the Blacks and the Pettigrews, had caused him all sorts of grief from the moment the hat said Gryffindor. Sirius Black was a holy terror as a boy and never grew out of it. Now his targets weren't Slytherins but dark witches and wizards, which was good, but he still acted rashly like a teenage boy, which was bad. He had done more to push Galatea, who could have been an asset to his cause, away then he and what he had done to Peter ever had.
He never should have recruited Peter. Peter was a spineless boy, he saw it that first time when he was eleven and the Marauders pulled their first prank of sealing the Slytherin common room door shut. Peter crumpled first, ratting out his friends. If he hadn't awarded more points than he took for Peter's honesty…maybe if he hadn't the boys would have never made friends all those years ago. He should have seen that Peter would crumple in the face of the Dark Lord and give the Potters up…and he should have seen that his wife would have refused all the protects he could offer.
Addie Hillspare was a terrible, willful, child. He knew she would be trouble from the moment she was sorted. She spared no chance making friends, enemies, and asserting her dominance until she was the more powerful girl of her year. She had soon used her popularity to torture any girl who didn't immediately fall into her camp. It came at an apex in her third year when, after an incident with another girl being pushed too far, she was taken out of Hogwarts and transferred to some finishing school to hone the skills she had used for those first three years.
Now Harry had those skills and more. He was nothing like James or Lily. He was nothing like Peter, either. He was more like Addie if anything and Dumbledore hated that. If he was like Peter than at least he could have joined the Order out of fear if not because it was the right thing to do, which it was. No, Harry was willful, defiant, and intelligent. He needed to being Harry back to the light, he was the only one who could stop Tom before everything that ever was could be destroyed. He just needed to get Harry back to the light, somehow. He had a wife and child now…no! That was Tom's way. No, he needed to be the bigger man, the greater good.
It took a week for Hermione to sort out what she would do. She had written her parents asking to stay a little longed with her friends citing the rich culture of the area and hinting that she may be looking into better schools. She thanked God that her parents allowed her this level of freedom based upon her maturity.
She had also looked into everything the papers reported on Galatea Black's accomplishments. She had bought that hunk of ice in the North Pole, managed to almost perfect the harvesting and utilizing of anabarium, rekindled the public's interest in intersection as a cure for squib and weak magic conditions, and of course there was the matter of her son…
Hermione knew what she had to do. She was a lot of things but she wasn't an idiot. These people were her friends now and it was only right to join them. She wanted to learn all that she could from them, to experience all that she could from them. She wanted to be one of them. It was easy to get seduced into their world, after all.
"You are my world, my baby, and what a wonderful world I see." Said Galatea as she held her daughter in the day room. The sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows seemed to make the room, no the world, glow like heaven. It was a week after the birth and Celeste was certainly thriving.
"What's that? Hungry? Or do you just want those off?" asked Galatea as her little daughter began to fuss. She dragged a mitten clad hand across her face, she kept scratching herself with her little baby nails.
"Oh, well I know you're not hungry since you just ate so I guess you want those off. I'm sorry but until you get old enough that your nails can be safely cut you're going to keep those mittens on." Said Galatea putting her index finger in her daughter's little mitten covered hand. If Galatea didn't know better she'd have sworn that Celeste was trying to glare at her.
"Now, don't you look at me like that. I'm your mummy and I know what's best for my little Celeste." Said Galatea nuzzling her perfect little baby girl. A soft knock to the doorframe broke mother and daughter from their moment.
"Hello, Galatea. Celeste." Said Hermione nervously in the doorway, shifting her weight from side to side. Her stiff petticoats could be heard rustling as she shifted her weight with nervousness.
"Hello Hermione. Look Celeste, it's Hermione. Say hello." Said Galatea to her little daughter. Celeste smiled and cooed at the attention.
"I-I was wondering-" started Hermione before Galatea cut her off.
"You know what we can do." said Galatea holding her daughter with one arm and reaching over to sip her tea with the other. An artistocratica
"Portia told you?" asked Hermione
"Portia tells me everything. We don't keep secrets from each other, not really and not for long anyway." Said Galatea
"Are you…upset?" asked Hermione. Galatea didn't look upset but looks could often be deceiving. Galatea was a little upset at the time, Portia had pushed the plan forward far too quickly and had actually interacted with Celeste and Beadle with Hermione, but now she could see that Portia made the right decision.
"Not anymore. I'm flattered that you want to join us but I've got to ask you; what do you think you'll be doing as a part of our group?" asked Galatea
"I don't know." said Hermione losing much of her earlier conviction.
"Hermione, I'm going to be honest with you." Said Galatea
"That…usually precedes something bad." Said Hermione
"No, it's not a bad thing. Honesty can be harsh, unwanted, but a lie is worse." Said Galatea not including lies by omission.
"We all have our own truths." Said Hermione
"Matters of opinion, yes, but not in matters of fact." Said Galatea
"What is this a matter of?" asked Hermione
"Fact. I befriended you for several reasons, Hermione. The first of which being your intellect." Said Galatea
"You-You were just using me?" asked Hermione her voice breaking
"Have I changed my name to Albus Dumbeldore? No, I don't think so." Said Galatea a bit put out by the suggestion
"What then?" asked Hermione
"You remember almost everything you read, upon the first reading." Said Galatea
"How do you know that?" asked Hermione. That was a talent she had learned early on in life not to share with other people no matter how much they said they liked her.
"Because you told me. Well, not the current you but you did tell me. That's the first reason I decided to take you on as a friend." Said Galatea
"What's the second reason?" asked Hermione
"You are a very nice and fascinating person and you fit in well with our group." Said Galatea
"But you didn't know that when you decided to befriend me." Said Hermione
"Doesn't matter, I like you now. That's rare for me." Said Galatea
"You have lots of friends." Said Hermione
"No, I have a sister, a cousin, and whatever Harry is to me. I suppose he's a distant cousin/ward. Whatever, it's not very important. I have a son and daughter who I love but am not friends with since I am their mum, and a mum I never see and am not even sure if I like. I have an Aunt and Uncle who's company I find acceptable and a step father who I haven't seen in years but is not entirely right in the head." Said Galatea
"So the only people you like, your only friends, are in this house?" asked Hermione. It made sense, nobody else had been here and at the wedding everything was so stiff and formal.
"Correct. I know you know something of what that's like." Said Galatea
"Me and Ron aren't-I mean we had a fight and-" said Hermione
"No need to explain. The bottom line is that I like you, Persephone likes you, Harry likes you, and you better believe Portia likes you." Said Galatea
"What do you mean by that last part?" asked Hermione
"Not important." Said Galatea. In the grand scheme of things that was Portia's business.
"So you all really are my friends?" asked Hermione
"Of course." Said Galatea
"Then I still want to join you." Said Hermione
"Without knowing what we do?" asked Galatea
"I don't know the full extent of what you do but I do know you have the ability to travel through time." said Hermione
"Do you know how I do it?" asked Galatea
"With those platinum pocket watches, I've seen Portia use them." said Hermione
"Hmm…come with me." Said Galatea getting up. Celeste made some upset noises in protest of being jostled but calmed down as Galatea made some soothing noises. Galatea led Hermione up and around to her bedroom. Hermione was perplexed for a moment as Galatea ran her hand across the door and some odd circles glowed.
"Don't linger in doorways, it is quite rude." Said Galatea after she entered her room and put baby Celeste into the self-rocking bassinette. Hermione was still standing there dumbly leaving the door open for anyone who wished to do little Celeste harm.
"Oh, sorry." Said Hermione as she hurried over to Galatea's side. Galatea opened the drawer in her nightstand in much the same way as she opened the door and pulled out what looked like a tiny doll's trunk. She placed it on the bed and brought it back to its original size.
"What I am about to show you cannot leave this house. You do not blab to Dumbledore or any of his merry men. He cannot know about these things until the day comes. Understood?" asked Galatea
"The day?" asked Hermione
"You'll know what it is when it happens. Now are we understood?" asked Galatea
"Yes. What's in the trunk?" asked Hermione
"My dark materials." Said Galatea cutting her hand with her wand and drawing a complicated rune pattern on the trunk's dark leather. Hermione watched in fasciation, she recognized some of those runes from class.
"That's it?" asked Hermione before she could stop herself. All of that fanfare for what looked to be a trunk full of odds and ends. A fancy compass, spyglass, and necklace? What looked to be Timmy's play sword and shield? A cup with badgers on it?
"That's it." Said Galatea. Good. She wanted it all to look like useless trinkets.
"What makes these so special?" asked Hermione
"Reach in and take something." Said Galatea
"Are you sure?" asked Hermione
"Yes, not grab something before I change my mind." Said Galatea
"Alright." Said Hermione. She reached in and took out the fancy compass. It felt heavy, like real gold. Well, knowing the wealth Galatea possessed it probably was real gold. There was something else to, it felt wrong.
"That particular artifact is called an alethiometer and was…borrowed…from one Lyra Belacqua. It feels strange, doesn't it?" asked Galatea
"Yes." Said Hermione popping it open. Instead of directions the needle pointed at various pictures. Curiouser and curiouser…
"That's because it came across the rift...that's a gap in the fabric of space and time through which can be seen the whole of creation…with a little nudge that is." Said Galatea. She took the compass from Hermione's hands and traded it for the amber spyglass.
"Alethio-meter…truth…meter? It measures truth?" asked Hermione
"Yes. Now, look through that spyglass and tell me what you see?" asked Galatea. Hermione carefully put it to her eye not quite trothing it. It had that bad feeling to it too.
"I see some sort of swirling particles." Said Hermione
"Ambient magic otherwise known as dust. It clings to being of, and beings which can harness, magic." Said Galatea smartly
"It feels wrong." Said Hermione
"It's not of this world." Said Galatea
"How can that be?" asked Hermione. Galatea took the golden compass from her hands and replaced it with a thin necklace with a red stone in the middle. It also felt strange.
"Do you know of the philosopher's stone?" asked Galatea
"It was forged by Nicholas Flammel six hundred years ago. It can turn led into gold, create the elixir of life, create precious gems from rocks, revive dead plants, create malleable glass, and create an artificial human." Said Hermione
"A homunculus." Said Galatea with a shudder
"What?" asked Hermione
"You learn about them later. The stone contained in the necklace is the beginnings of a philosopher's stone given to me by a very grateful boy by the name of Edward Elric." Said Galatea
"I don't recognize that surname." Said Hermione as she mentally went over the list of wizarding families in her head.
"I didn't expect you to. You'll meet him later. He owes me a debt for all that I've helped him with." Said Galatea
"What did you do?" asked Hermione
"We have the ability to regrow limbs, organs, and even entire bodies. Well, the bodies are empty shells but we didn't need one with a consciousness." Said Galatea
"What happened?" asked Hermione
"I'll tell you that one later. To make a long story short in exchange for use of my magic he taught me some of his and we forged that together. It's only in need of the final ingredient." Said Galatea
"What's that?" asked Hermione
"Human souls, a lot of them. So you can see why it remains unfinished. Even so it still has the power to amplify our abilities." Said Galatea
"That's…" said Hermione searching for words to properly expression how disturbed she was by this.
"I know, that's why I haven't finished it." Said Galatea
"Um…you were a Ravenclaw, right?" asked Hermione changing the subject.
"For a few years, why?" asked Galatea
"That cup had badgers on it. It seems very Hufflepuff." Said Hermione
"This belonged to Helga Hufflepuff." Said Galatea. Hermione blinked back surprise. Wow. There was no limit to what they could buy.
"Did you get it at some sort of auction? Why did you want something from Hufflepuff if you were a Ravenclaw, anyway?" asked Hermione
"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin but I didn't need to paint a target on myself at that point in my life." said Galatea
"You are very ambitious...if you don't mind me saying." Observed Hermione
"I don't, I take it as a compliment and offer the same to you. If you ask me ambition is unfairly demonized in Ministry territories." Said Galatea
"I don't think that it's ambition itself which is demonized but having the wrong kind of ambition." Said Hermione
"There is no good or bad ambition, there are only the people who see something that must be improved upon and corrected and do so." Said Galatea
"But who gets to decide that something needs to be improved upon. What some people see as an improvement others may see as making things worse." Said Hermione
"That is the kind of thinking which keeps Albus Dumbledore in power." Said Galatea
"What do you have against Albus Dumbledore?" asked Hermione
"That is a very long, very complicated story…and much of it is Peter's business." Said Galatea
"What, exactly, happened there? Sirius was always spouting off about how Peter was a traitor but from what I gathered from Portia and the circumstances of the time Peter was given a sadistic choice between losing his friends and losing his wife and daughter." Said Hermione
"I would never give you such a choice." Said Galatea
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione
"I would never put you in a terrible position like that. You are a person, a friend, not something to sacrifice for the so called greater good. I would never use you as a pawn in some sadistic game of human chess…" said Galatea
"Galatea?" asked Hermione putting a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. Galatea rubbed the glassiness from her eyes and handed Hermione the cup.
"This…this is wrong…take it away!" said Hermione thrusting the cup back to Galatea. As soon as she touched it she could feel it in her mind promising her all sorts of things…power…recognition…but it stank of evil. Evil seemed to radiate form somewhere deep within it.
"That, Hermione, is a horcrux." Said Galatea
"I've read about those…but to split the soul…who would…why would…" said Hermione
"This was done by the Dark Lord in an effort to keep himself tethered to the land of the living. I am still unclear as to how many exist and I'm weary of destroying this one because if he senses it he'll hide his others." Said Galatea
"Why do you have it, then?" asked Hermione
"To destroy him come the day." Said Galatea
"What did you have to do with the resurrection of the Dark Lord?" asked Hermione
"That is a long and complicated story." Said Galatea. Before Hermione could protest there was a knock at the door.
"Enter." Said Galatea. A servant Hermione and Galatea had never seen before entered, her feet unsteady in her shoes and her dress getting caught in the door.
"A letter from America for you, ma'am." Said the servant in an accent not unlike Hermione's. Galatea looked her up and down. Exactly how much staff was Portia going to hire? They were only five people and a baby.
"Thank you Miss…?" said Galatea
"Figg, ma'am." Said the servant
"Thank you for the letter. You are dismissed." Said Galatea with a wave of her hand. The servant's eyes grew glassy and she began to stutter.
"For the love of…from my presence not your station." Said Galatea with annoyance barely seeping into her voice.
"Thank you, ma'am." Said the servant before bowing and leaving, almost knocking a small table over on her way out.
"She's not from around here." Said Hermione
"A squib, from your world I'd imagine. The first of the refugees." Said Galatea opening the letter. It was stuffed with more pictures and drawings than actual words.
"From your son?" asked Hermione not wanting to be a snoop but still quite curious.
"Yes, he's having a great time. He just had a birthday, you know. Five years old now, they grow up so fast." Said Galatea
"Oh, I didn't get him anything…" said Hermione
"It's quite alright. From what he's written, and we'll have to work on his writing some more later, he's abandoned all his toys and gifts in favor of his little sister. He does wax poetic, well as poetic as a child his age can, about her. He is so looking forward to having a little playmate." Said Galatea
"Will he be visiting?" asked Hermione
"India. We'll all be going, you as well if you want. It's too close to the Ministry here for him, too cold for a baby up North, and India makes me nervous because my so called father knows exactly where Peter lives." Said Galatea
"They'll both be with their…father?" asked Hermione
"Yes, me as well for a time I'm afraid. Got to keep the population up." Said Galatea
"Um… I look forward to seeing him again." Said Hermione changing the subject from reproduction to something a bit more appropriate.
"I can't wait for him to see little Celeste for the first time. I remember the first time I saw Persephone. Even at three I knew that with her birth came responsibility but also love." said Galatea going over to the bassinette which held her now sleeping daughter, a mitten clad hand in her little mouth.
"Wait…if you're sixteen now-" said Hermione before Galatea cut her off
"Seventeen. I don't like to celebrate my birthdays much and before you say anything now, you don't have to get me anything." said Galatea
"But then you were still twelve when Timothy was born." Said Hermione
"Fourteen, he spent a year in Avalon and a few other places. Too dangerous for Puck to reset his body back at his age." Said Galatea
"…you are amazing." Said Hermione
"So, you still want to join us?" asked Galatea
"If I was to want out, could I-" said Hermione before Galatea cut her off
"You can leave at any time, I won't even mind rape you or anything." said Galatea
"Mind rape?" asked Hermione
"What you call obliviating." Said Galatea with a click of her tongue
"So, I'm with you now?" asked Hermione
"If you so choose." Said Galatea
"I do." said Hermione
"Welcome to the family." said Galatea
Portia laid down on her couch, the wireless turned to some sort of muggle story, she didn't quite care so long as there was noise, and she balanced a bowl of crystalized pineapple balanced on her stomach. A slight pain shot through her abdomen.
"That's enough of that." Said Portia resting the bowl on the table near her and brushing sugar from her dress. Hmm…she'd have to get a servant specifically to brush the sugar from her dress. It actually looked a little pretty caught in the lace of her bodice.
"Lonely, wonder if Harry's up." Said Portia to the painting of her mother on the wall. The younger version of her mother just shrugged and went over to visit the painted lake in one of the guest bathrooms.
"I'm going mad, talking to the art. Soon I'll be having a sing along with the sculptures in the garden…best include the flowers and shrubs as well so they don't feel left out." Said Portia to herself as she got up, leaving a pile of crystalized sugar on the rug.
"Definitely need a sugar maid." Said Portia before making her way to see if someone wanted to socialize, preferably her false brother/husband. She made her way to her room, through the secret servants passageways so she would not be accosted by house maids asking over and over again if she needed anything. Usually she didn't mind, it was their job after all, but today she felt irritable. They wouldn't bother her in the servants passageway, they had enough brains between them not to.
"Harry, you in here?" asked Portia emerging from behind an ancient tapestry depicting the harvesting of some tea.
"What?" asked Harry from under the covers. His glasses were still on the nightstand and he was still in his pajamas.
"What are your plans for today?" asked Portia coming over and sitting next to him. He turned onto his side away from her.
"Sleeping." Said Harry not really feeling like talking to anyone. Portia groaned as another pain shot through her. Curse her love of sweets.
"Don't be daft, you've been sleeping all day." Said Portia reaching into the nightstand drawer and fishing for some relief of pain potion. She used it before for general muscle achiness but it had other uses. Harry pulled the blankets up over his head as Portia fished around in the drawer.
"Aren't you a witch?" said Harry the pillow muffling his voice.
"Oh, right." Said Portia before summoning the potion. She drank it in one gulp so she wouldn't have to taste it.
"Portia, I don't feel like doing much today, alright?" said Harry before Portia pulled the blankets off his head and put her hand on his forehead directly onto his scar.
"Are you sick? Should I fetch someone?" asked Portia worriedly, a thousand terrible scenarios racing through her mind. She couldn't lose Harry or any of the others.
"No, I just want to be left alone." Said Harry pulling the blankets back up over his head. He just needed to lay down and sort himself out, not play twenty questions.
"You're shutting me out." Said Portia laying down parallel to him.
"No, I'm not. I just want to be left alone." Said Harry still under the covers. Why did she always have to take these things so personally?
"Why? Did I do something?" asked Portia sitting up again when he didn't react to her.
"No, it's just…this isn't a good time, alright? Can I just be alone for now?" asked Harry
"By alone you mean away from me." Stated Portia with a sour taste in her mouth, one not just from the potion she ingested.
"No, by alone I mean by myself to sort out some things." Said Harry
"What things? Maybe I can help?" asked Portia
"No, I'm just going through things that you…well that you haven't gone through and I pray you never do." said Harry
"Is it about that Ginny girl again?" asked Portia
"Yes." Said Harry
"I don't see why you've gone and gotten all upset over her. You were fine before." said Portia
"Sometimes I'm alright and sometimes it hits me later on." Said Harry
"Always after relations." Muttered Portia
"Portia, just listen. Sometimes I'm alright and sometimes I'm not. Right now I just need to be left alone so I can deal with this." Said Harry
"What's there to deal with? She got you with a potion, so what? Plenty of people try that which is why all manner of lust and love potions are tested for before a marriage contract is signed when lower people get married and why we arrange all of our marriages. Her baby won't even be a Potter and has no claim on our house, our money, or even our name. Besides, you said you can barely remember what she did so it's not as if she hexed you and then dragged you off kicking and screaming and every sordid detail is now permanently ingrained in your mind. Just come off it already." Said Portia getting up. She was getting tired of this; life was too short to dwell on things that were already sorted out.
"It's complicated." Said Harry
"Then explain it to me so I can understand." Said Portia
"I… I can't. It's like how you can't explain being pregnant to me." Said Harry
"Here, I'll explain it right not. I hurt a lot of the time, I'm big and awkward, and I desire coupling a lot for some reason and often at the most inconvenient times such as during meals and teas, but it's all worth it because I have a small human being growing within me." Said Portia
"Alright, you win." Said Harry just wanting to be left alone
"Fine." Said Portia with a huff as she stomped across the room. Any effect that she might have had was lost considering the thickness of the fine rug on the floor.
"Where are you going?" asked Harry not in any mood to fight with her. It was almost like they were children again, almost, not like the passionate arguments husbands and wives had. He remembered many an argument between mum and dad, no, between Peter and Addie growing up.
"To find more agreeable company." Said Portia as she flounced out of the room. She would have slammed the door but she decided against it as it would do no good to attract undo attention from the army of staff she had hired.
"Persephone might be lonely, best go see her." said Portia to herself, making sure that Harry could hear, before making her way towards her younger cousin's room. This corridor was very dark; the anabaric lights were so dim the magic-tech insignia on the side wasn't even visible. On the walls besides the portraits were signs telling the staff that under no circumstances was the light to be altered in any way.
"Hey Sephie, it's me. Open up." Said Portia as she gave the door a few knocks. From the other side rustling could be heard before the door swung open a crack.
"What is it?" asked Persephone opening the door a bit more. The pale pink, almost white, of her dress gave her an unearthly glow in the near darkness. Her blonde hair was in thick sausage curls today; and completely down like a little girl's. She would have looked much younger if not for her bulging belly. Hmm…if was expanding rather quickly…
"I just thought you might be lonely, is all." Said Portia
"I'm never alone." Said Persephone with a hand on her large, round belly. It almost rivaled Portia's and she had been pregnant for longer…well maybe…potions designed to move due dates tended to mess about with any measure of time.
"What are you up to in there?" asked Portia
"Come see." Said Persephone opening the door all the way. She closed it shut quickly when Portia stepped in. As her eyes adjusted to the greater darkness the mess and clutter of this room could clearly be seen. On the floor beside a paraffin lamp a box wrapped in shiny green muggle wrapping paper proclaimed 'Happy Birthday' along with the number seventeen.
"Is your maid being terribly lazy? Perhaps I should hire you another one." said Portia as she surveyed the room. Clothes were strewn about the floor, the bed was unmade, and books were tossed about on the shelves and tables haphazardly.
"No, she only comes when I ask for her. Honestly, how can you have hired all these people when you know the political situation out there?" said Persephone
"The Ministry controlled territories are at war, not us yet, and the house was terribly empty. Besides, the more the better; that's what my mum would say." Said Portia missing her mother terribly for a moment before brushing it off. She was a mum now and mums did not miss their mums or else there's be a never ending chain of women missing each other and nothing would ever get done, society would fall into chaos, and horses would ride people…or something like that.
"Well my mum would say that at some point our safety comes above impressing the thousands or so other people in this country who are not us…but whatever I guess. You're the Lady of the house after all." Said Persephone with a shrug. Not having come here to have yet another argument Portia decided to change the subject.
"What's with that present over there?" asked Portia
"I'm giving that to Galatea later today, we forgot her birthday again." Said Persephone
"What?" gasped Portia in shock as she mentally went over her internal calendar.
"Yeah, she had a birthday and it passes so it's more of a belated birthday present now." Said Persephone
"How could I have forgotten?" said Portia in a panic. If she had been wearing a tight laced corset she would have fainted from the quick, shallow, breathing.
"Well, how were we supposed to remember without her reminded us? I know she doesn't like to make a big deal over her birthday but she could have at least told us what she wanted or even reminded us of the date." Said Persephone
"I-I've got to go and buy her something right now." Said Portia
"Calm down or you'll go into labor." Said Persephone
"I am calm, this is me being calm. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to make out a list of Galatea's favorite foods and have the kitchen serve them for dinner. After that I'm going to ride into town, get presents for Galatea from the rest of us, and then we'll have a surprise belated birthday dinner for her." said Portia
"Why not just go and get her things she wants?" asked Persephone
"What do you mean?" asked Portia
"Well it's still morning, not even midday yet, so you have enough time to go out into the muggle city and get her some muggle things. She can get things from the shopping district whenever she wants but muggle gifts are a real treat." Said Persephone knowing that if she needed something from the muggle world she'd get into a disguise and leave immediately. Hell, if she could go out in the daylight she'd go and kick the Dark Lord himself in the reproductive organs, if he even had any, just to be outside.
"Well she's Galatea Black, she could get a dragon to ride if she wanted to but I see your point…" said Portia with an odd look on her face.
"Are you going to buy a dragon?" asked Persephone worriedly. Portia was prone to ostentatious shows od wealth, even by their standards.
"No." said Portia
"Well you looked like you were going to buy something ostentatious that nobody wants or needs." Said Persephone
"Well then tell me, Oh Great and Powerful Lady Gift Giver, what did you get her?" asked Portia in a childish tone.
"Nothing much, I framed some photos of her and Timmy, got her a lot of batteries, and a small telly." Said Persephone
"What do you mean a telly?" asked Portia
"You know; the muggle moving picture box." Said Persephone
"I mean why? And how do you plan on getting it to work?" asked Portia
"I don't plan on getting it to work, Galatea can do that part. She's been experimenting on getting anabarium to work with things that run on regular electricity so this is just another thing to experiment on for her. Also, I know we get their wireless broadcasts all the way out here and I'm curious about their visual broadcasts as well." said Persephone
"How did you even get this?" asked Portia
"Sent one of your new squib servants with experience in the muggle world to go and fetch it for me." Said Persephone
"When did getting her a birthday present she can't even use look like a good idea?" asked Portia
"I get bored in here, very bored. Besides, if she doesn't like it I framed some photos for her and got her a ton of batteries, which she also experiments with." Said Persephone
"Well, good luck with all that." Said Portia before she left to make out the list for dinner and find some more relief of pain potion, leaving Persephone alone in the dark once again.
"Galatea, Galatea, Galatea…muttered Persephone before getting back into bed with her book, once again alone.