CHAPTER 19:

EVER ONWARD

The Seven Shades had joined the celebrations at the Doghouse that night. Sirius and the Tonks family were all present, as was Croaker. And so too was Remus Lupin.

Lily sighed as she drank from a glass of wine, watching as her children, now with the disguise rings removed, chatted amongst themselves, with Sirius and Nymphadora contributing. Not children anymore, though. All of them had grown into young adults during that time.

Then again, they all were forced to grow up too soon. She thought of Esther and Elizabeth, after they were cured, beginning the process of forming what would become Dun Scaith. They willingly chose to fight, despite their age, despite them not understanding what it meant to fight a war, whether openly or in the shadows. Lily was forced to scramble to try and mitigate the damage, to ensure that, even if the path they chose was one of strife and bloodshed, they could still be happy.

Of course, both Sarah and Lilim came from Therianthrope clans, and they were used to fighting, especially Sarah. But the others hadn't been, at least of the Seven Shades. Of course, many of the Numbers were fighters themselves. Some were even defectors from the Cult of Diablos, with Werner von Herzog being a case in point. And on that world, children of a certain social strata were expected to be trained in swordplay from a young age.

Still, the fact remained that Lily had to manage an organisation of vigilantes who were also child soldiers, most of whom had been traumatised by Demonic Possession and what society on their world did to those afflicted. That she did so, and managed to keep herself and her charges sane was a source of some pride for her. She may not be a perfect leader or mother, but she would try, for Harry, for her girls.

She had to admit to being nervous for her son. While she had faith in his abilities, his plan was a risky one. She remembered the first time she tried running at superhuman speed. She'd dug up a furrow in the ground and nearly buried herself alive. But he acquitted himself wonderfully. Then again, he'd practised before, and the mistakes were left behind with the training. He would never be as fast as Sarah, but the Wolf Therianthrope was in a league of her own.

His victory was a black eye for the hidebound fossils of Magical Britain. They could, if they wanted to, use their magic in exactly the same way as denizens of that world could, enhancing physical abilities. It could never take the place of spellcasting, but it'd give them extra advantages.

But no. Already, she was sure it'd be made out to be dark magic, or else dangerous magic. Not by Rita Skeeter. That opportunistic bitch would be spinning out Lily returning from the dead for a long time. Rather, it was many on the Wizengamot, the Purebloods, even those who had no affiliation with either the Death Eaters or Augusta and her allies.

It was a risk to do so, physically and politically. But in a way, a provocation like this could reap dividends. It might lure their enemies into the open, particularly whoever put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire. And then, she would make them pay.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Remus approached. She had to admit to having greatly mixed feelings for the werewolf. On the one hand, she loved him, as a friend, and as possibly more. He was compassionate, intelligent, and if she hadn't fallen for James, she would have shacked up with Remus instead, lycanthropy be damned.

On the other hand, he was a self-loathing mess who tended to be passive, even cowardly, when his courage was needed more. In addition, he'd taken their suspicions of his treachery (which turned out to be false) badly, especially when Pettigrew was revealed to be the true traitor, and left to sulk for years. Lily had never seriously believed Remus to be the traitor, but she had distanced herself from him as a precaution, and he didn't take it well. They'd had many arguments over the years since, and it seemed Sirius and Harry had done so too.

In some ways, he and Dumbledore were too much alike, too afraid of their own inner darkness to take decisive action when it was needed. Being wary of an inner darkness was sane and rational: Lily had struggled with many hard and morally dubious choices even before she became the leader of Dun Scaith. But sometimes, that darkness needed to be confronted, not avoided. Otherwise, it would just fester like a suppurating wound.

"…Saul told me about what happened. About what happened to you, Lily." The careworn werewolf drank from his glass, before looking at Harry and the girls. "I'm trying to come to terms with it, you leading a vigilante group against this Cult of Diablos."

"Is that right?" Lily asked neutrally. "Esther and Elizabeth were the ones who wanted revenge on the Cult, Remus, I just tried to mitigate matters. I didn't go out of my way to lead a vigilante group. If anything, I'm trying to make sure the girls actually have a childhood, happy lives beyond being basically child soldiers. I'm not some narcissistic egomaniac who delights in having a cult of personality around themselves."

"I know that, Lily. We've had more than our fair share of differences and arguments, but I would like to think I knew you better than to do something like the Cult of Diablos or the Death Eaters. And in truth, those ones you killed at the Quidditch World Cup had it coming for a long time. But…I can't help but worry. You're playing with fire with what you're doing. Just because I have faith that you or Harry won't do anything atrocious with it doesn't mean that someone under Dun Scaith's aegis won't."

"Believe me, I know. I have quite a few measures against that, Remus, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can prevent all problems. It's not like the Order of the Phoenix either. But Remus…let's not start any more arguments for now, okay? Harry got through the First Task, and flipped the bird to those hidebound morons. Let's celebrate that if nothing else."

Remus nodded, only for everyone present to cringe in pain when Sarah grabbed the golden egg and opened it, only for a cacophonic screeching to emanate from it. Harry snatched the egg from Sarah and closed it, sparing everyone's ears. As Sarah whined contritely, clutching her abused ears, Lily felt it wasn't a good omen for the Second Task, as Bagman had told Harry there was a clue to the Second Task in the egg.

"Mermish?" Remus asked, even as he clutched his head, wincing in pain.

"Mermish? That's Mermish?" Lily asked incredulously. The screeching was vaguely familiar, but she doubted she would have picked it as Mermish.

"Merpeople's voices sound very shrill and discordant outside of the water," Remus said. "To hear the clue, you'll have to submerge it and listen to it while it is submerged, I reckon."

Lily nodded, before her eyes widened in shock. "Remus, there's a colony of Merpeople in the Black Lake, isn't there? What's the odds that the Second Task will involve the Black Lake?"

"I wouldn't bet on them," Remus said grimly.

"Sarah's sorry, Boss Junior," the wolf-girl whined softly.

"It's okay, Sarah, just…give us a heads-up before you open unknown objects again," Harry said. While annoyed at Sarah for what happened, he hadn't been expecting that. None of them had been. True, it was unlikely that whatever was in the golden egg was dangerous, but then again, it was Ludo Bagman they were talking about, a punch-drunk ex-Beater who thought pitting teenagers against nesting dragons was a good idea.

Still, that was Sarah for you. While she was a little smarter after four years' worth of time-dilation training, she was still impulsive. The wolf-girl and Esther were flanking him on the lounge at the Doghouse, with the members of Dun Scaith having shifted their slime bodysuits into casual clothing.

Salome was poking the egg, peering at it curiously. "Enchantments within the egg. Hmm…possible idea for a sonic weapon." From a pocket, she produced a notebook and pencil, and began writing things down.

"Aw, shit," Lilim muttered, the Panther Therianthrope facepalming. "Eta's got ideas, run for cover. I dunno what was worse, the noise or Eta being inspired by it. Thanks a bunch, Poochy."

"Bite me, Moggy!" Sarah retorted.

"Oh, quiet down, you two," Rebecca said, before turning to Sirius, indicating a piano nearby. "That piano there, may I play it?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure, go ahead. I got it more for Andy, she's a dab hand at tickling the ivories. I can play a pretty mean guitar, though."

"Thank you. Lily introduced me to the music of this world. I found myself particularly enjoying Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. I'm thinking of establishing a cover as a concert pianist to try and gather information back home," Rebecca said as she moved to the piano and sat down.

As Rebecca began to play, Nymphadora, holding her glass, remarked, "An Elf from another world playing Beethoven. The sad thing is, it's far from the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"And what is the weirdest thing you've ever seen, Dora?" Hannah asked.

"Let's just say, while doing raids for the DMLE, I've seen more than enough weird sex toys and porn mags to last several lifetimes," Nymphadora said, before shuddering. "Half the crap I saw doesn't look safe, sane, or sanitary, let alone anatomically possible. I hope you're not selling any crap like that in your department store."

Hannah sniffed. "We do sell marital aids discreetly as part of the mail order service, but that is separate from the main Evanescence business. Erotic books are another matter, as long as they do not contravene the laws of the countries we trade in, but they are only a minority of our selection of books on sale."

"We even considered printing books from the public domain in our world, but trying to explain the setting would be difficult," Elizabeth said. "Our world is still under the feudal system, and has different geography, so trying to peddle Charles Dickens or Jane Austen would require too much editing. Books of myth from this world is actually a better prospect. The tales of King would be better, to say nothing of the Iliad and the Odyssey. We can just claim that Britain or Greece are mythical equivalents of our countries. We do have a few countries with names not unlike yours, and we even have the lost country of Atlantis. But otherwise, we have to consider our choices carefully."

Harry nodded, even as he sat sandwiched between Esther and Sarah. Despite what happened earlier today, now felt like a good time to celebrate, to relax, to enjoy life. While it wasn't like life was short of these moments ever since his mother came back into his life, it was only during their time training that Harry began to feel like things were going his way again. Or, more to the point, even if they didn't, he could actually do something about it.

It also helped that his circle of friends had expanded considerably. Even now, he felt the warmth from both Esther and Sarah, and not just the physical warmth. It was the camaraderie, the affection, the empathy, he shared with them.

The time spent in the time-dilation field was not without its ups and downs, its disputes and fights. Although Lilim and Sarah were the ones at each other's throats the most, that was because of the belligerent nature of Therianthropes. There had been arguments at times, that tested their bonds. But in the process, those bonds were tempered.

Never in his wildest dreams did he believe he would meet Elves (or at least those closer to those in Tolkien, rather than the House Elves) or Therianthropes, or go to another world entirely. And yet, here he was. His life had been already pretty fantastic, growing up in a magical family, but still…this was on another level. Even with its dangers, it was still engrossing.

And now, he felt like he could make a difference, on that world, and here. Though if he had to choose between one or the other, it'd be that world. Magical Britain and he had burned too many bridges. But on that world, he had something to fight for beyond basic respect and decency, he had his mother, and he had people who loved and/or respected him. True, he had the latter here, but most of them were in this room.

Case in point, he shared a brief glance with Esther, and the blonde Elf returned his look, smiling softly and gently. No words needed to pass between them, at this point in time at least. Esther couldn't replace Hermione, but she didn't need to. Hell, if Hermione was still alive, he reckoned they would be the best of friends.

Esther didn't just have Hermione's best qualities, but she also had leadership skills, the ability to know how to coax, command or reprimand her comrades. She also had empathy, not just for her comrades and friends, but for the victims of the Cult, and for other people. Harry still felt unworthy of her affections, though she admitted that she felt unworthy of his at times. He didn't know why: he felt she could have the pick of anyone. Yet she chose him, and was agreeable to sharing with her friends.

Yes, life was going well at the moment. But he knew that this period of peace wouldn't last. Sooner rather than later, something would cause trouble. He and the others just had to be ready. And hopefully, they would be…

CHAPTER 19 ANNOTATIONS:

Just a nice break after the action of the previous chapter.

Now, keep in mind, I'm not outright bashing Remus, or at least not making him into a villain. Of the Marauders, I actually like him most, and many of the things people bash him for have a not unreasonable explanation if one is willing to make inferences. His worst action in the books was to ditch a pregnant Tonks in Book 7 out of cowardice and a suicidal desire to do something. But I thought I'd do a more heavily-flawed take on him for this story.

Anyway, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out. I'm a bit burned out on this fic, as well as trying to get some new story ideas off the ground. But hopefully, it won't be too long, and you've enjoyed this chapter regardless, eh?

Review-answering time! 0DINS0N: Haven't you ever heard of the concept of a deuteragonist? Harry is still the main character, but Lily is basically his mentor. Although I reckon Harry, Lily, and Alpha/Esther share the role of protagonist.

I answered Beleriond's review in correspondence, but I should point out that Harry chose to deal with the First Task in a manner that was a raised middle finger to the establishment of Magical Britain. In addition, using means that, magical enhancement aside, were purely physical meant that people might underestimate him and think "Meh, we can take him". In addition, regarding Cedric turning evil in an alternate timeline in The Cursed Child, the only part of that play I consider remotely canon is the existence of Delphi. Delphi as a character and plot device has a lot of potential that I have used for a couple of years now, and she will play at least a background role in every post-Hogwarts story I write where Voldemort and Bellatrix survive long enough to conceive her.

ElementalMaster16: Well, what I said was technically correct. Neville is not possessed by a Horcrux anymore. He is, to all intents and purposes, a reborn Tom Riddle. But what I actually said earlier in the story was that they couldn't DETECT a Horcrux. Croaker's exact words or thoughts were "In truth, Croaker felt that the reason why Neville got chosen was because he didn't seem to have a Horcrux stuck in his scar, and Harry did." This was back in Chapter 4 if you want to go back and check.

Keep in mind, the canon Scarcrux was probably 1/128th of a soul, assuming Voldemort splits his soul in half every time he makes one, even the inadvertent creation of the Scarcrux aside (and that was his seventh Horcrux, even if it was by accident: his last Horcrux was in Nagini, who got 1/256th of a soul). Given that Voldemort's soul was unstable enough to fragment during his failed murder of Harry, it's possible the fraction could have varied wildly, and Neville got one that was a much smaller fraction, enough to escape detection from Dumbledore.

No numbered annotations this time.