Prologue
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling. I also don't own the movie The Secret of Moonacre or the novel The Little White Horse, they belong to Warner Bros and Elizabeth Goudge respectively. There might be some elements from the movie Maleficent and its sequel, they belong to Disney.
The only thing I really took from The Little White Horse is the map of Moonacre.
Na Gealaí - 'Of the moon' in Irish according to google translate
The exchange rate for galleons is based on the page on Wizarding currency on .com
Thoughts/Dreams
Telepathy
§§§
There is a Timeline, where Harry Potter started a war.
Ignorant of wizarding customs, rejecting anything he saw as 'pureblood nonsense', supported in his ignorance by an Hermione Granger too arrogant and proud to look deeper.
He never claimed his titles, still a pawn in a dead man's machinations.
But Lady Magic did not care, he was Lord Potter and Lord Black by blood and magic.
He was attacked, because of course he was.
He was foolish enough to set foot in the French Ministry of Magic, right when Vivianne Na Gealaí, the 31st Moon Princess, Ruler of the Kingdom of Moonacre, was meeting the French Minister.
Not knowing changed nothing. There is a Feud between the Merryweather royal family and the Blacks, there has been since they were still called De Noir and lived in Moonacre by grace of the Merryweathers.
A Magic enforced Feud, impossible to escape until one family ceased to exist in Lady Magic's eyes.
In name, the Blacks were dead. In Magic… there were five.
Minister Hermione, ignorant of wizarding customs and too arrogant to listen to 'outdated practices' called for reparations. Called for Moonacre to publicly apologise for attacking Harry Potter, The-Man-Who-Conquered.
She was kicked out of office, but too late. She demanded a meeting, and a die-hard-fanatic of the Boy-Who-Lived murdered a Moonacre Diplomat.
It was war.
Every citizen in Moonacre is loyal to their Princess, willing to fight and die for her. They had to stand by and watch, as their royals fought and died in the feud, but Hermione Granger gave them what they needed. What they had been waiting centuries for.
No one can interfere in a Feud, or they'll face the wrath of Lady Magic. They couldn't kill the Blacks to protect their royals, but this was war.
And all is fair in war.
Moonacre had allies, Britain had none.
In that timeline, Moonacre fought. Moonacre won.
And Hermione Granger revealed the magical world, in an attempt to gain British support.
It was the End.
Until it wasn't.
§§§
"Ciel." called Vivianne, sitting on her throne.
It was made from gold, but the cushions on the seat and backrest made it sinfully comfortable. A necessity when one had to sit there for hours.
"Yes, My Princess?" answered her Priest and leader of the Shadows. He was the only one allowed in the room for this meeting.
"Lead him in," she didn't need to tell him to be discreet.
He disappeared and reappeared at the foot of the raised dais with a hand on the shoulder of a scrawny figure.
The child, for that is what he was, had messy black hair and bright green eyes hidden behind a pair of round glasses held together with tape. The shirt, too big for his frame, was falling off one shoulder and his jeans were held up by a belt wrapped twice around him and pooled over his shoes.
He was a shabby mess compared to the petite figure sitting on her throne, with her curly red hair held back by a crown of silver inlaid with green and black pearls for hope and strength. Her dress was a simple black robe for mourning with green embroidery of leaves and vines on the hens of her sleeves, around her neckline and at the bottom of her skirt. It covered her bare feet and the hands that held on tightly to the armrests of her throne.
The boy, however, was not intimidated by their differences in appearance or by the opulence of the tapestries on the walls, telling the history of Moonacre's royal family.
Silently, they waited to see who would break first.
Vivianne bared her teeth in a mockery of a smile. He was in her kingdom. She could kill him now and only her loyal Shadow would know. She didn't need him, not anymore. It was only a matter of whether he knew it or not.
He bowed, awkward in his young body. It was deeper than she expected from him. He stayed like that, head low and staring at the ground.
She waited to see if he would break and stand back up to stare at her defiantly.
He didn't.
She grinned then, bloodthirsty and malicious. Oh. He knows.
"Rise, Harry Potter. Speak."
He obeyed and looked her in the eyes. "I wish to build an alliance with you, Princess Vivianne."
She hummed and tapped the fingers of her right hand on the armrest, thinking. "And why should I agree?" She asked him, "I need nothing else from you."
"We both know I'm valuable, Britain was willing to start a war for me."
"Hermione Granger," she spit out the name that tasted rotten on her tongue, "went to war for you."
He nodded, "Yes, but I'm a symbol of the Light side. Dumbledore made it so." He sounded bitter still. More now than he was as the newly minted Man-Who-Conquered. How could he not be? They had destroyed the wizarding world in his name. "You can use me," he went on. "Wouldn't you like to conquer wizarding Britain?"
She laughed, "And what would I want it for? I have no need to expand my kingdom." She schooled her face in an impassive mask and ordered, "Tell me what you want, and I will tell you what you will have to do to get it." Or I will kill you. She wasn't sure yet.
Ciel, bring him a chair. She dubiously stared at the stick thin arms revealed by his shirt. And some refreshments.
The half-Seelie disappeared.
She ignored Potter's questioning gaze and waved at him imperiously to start talking.
"I don't want a war." He shrugged, like that was really all of it.
She hummed, "Which one?"
"Both. I don't want to fight." He sounded sad and resigned when he said it.
She sighed, and stared at the painted windows on the left wall. "You think I do? I have no wish to see my people die again." They were safe in Moonacre, no muggle could enter. But wizards could, and her people were too wild, too loyal to back down from a fight.
"Then let's work together! With your power and my knowledge and status we can do it!"
She sighed again and looked at him pityingly. Still so naive. "The Muggles will discover us one day. Muggleborns are a risk, and so is every magical that mixes with them. Are you telling me that together, we could prevent exposure? Everywhere? It might have started in Britain once, but there's no guarantee it won't happen again. Somewhere else. At a different time."
She looked out the window again. She could see her kingdom in her mind's eye. Lush and green and peaceful… and then refugees and burning trees and team after team sent out on rescue missions that too often led to their death.
"We're not enough. Not on our own."
