Okay, so, I'm gratified at the response Scathach got. I am genuinely surprised at how popular The Eminence in Shadow really is. Remember that there's no guarantee of this becoming a full fic. But before we get onto the second chapter, I'd like to answer WearyCurmudgeon's guest review.

Regarding Esther being possibly related to a flower, and thus keeping in line with the floral naming traditions of the Evans family, that was wholly serendipitous.

As for Sirius and Remus' situations, it's complicated. Sirius, while he still favours Charles, is far less inclined to leave Harry out, and he and James have had arguments to that effect. Harry has mixed feelings about him, and Sirius is not his godfather, but Harry is on better terms with him than he is with his own father.

Remus is another matter entirely. Remus and James got into a fullblown argument, especially about Lily, with James eventually falsely accusing Remus of cucking him. Remus broke off ties with James, and James forbade Harry from seeing him, though Remus did meet with Harry a few times while visiting Sirius. Harry's relationship with Remus was a little distant since that argument, but during his third year, they reconciled enough. In fact, I have tentative plans for Remus, possibly pairing him with Lily. I can see his relationship with Delta being...interesting.

In any case, I should warn you that this chapter has a lot of drama, with Harry's anger and resentment bursting forth, lashing out at Lily (unfairly, yes, but not without cause), and Delta escalating. I just felt I needed to lance this boil quickly instead of letting it fester...

EDIT: Well, it seems that people forget so easily who the writer of these stories actually is. While the criticisms are somewhat valid, the way they were presented were hurtful, and in a manner that shows ignorance of the writer/reader relationship. As the writer, I am the sole arbiter of the direction the story goes, not the reader. And after the praise the first chapter garnered, this is particularly hurtful. I knew this chapter would be controversial, but I didn't think it'd be this bad.

I'm rewriting this chapter, with said rewrite to be posted at a later date, to try and take the criticisms on board. But don't forget, you are NOT the writers of this fic. You are the audience, the readership, and this is not audience participation.

SCATHACH (ORIGINAL)

CHAPTER 2:

MENDING BROKEN BRIDGES

Harry could only stand there in shock for a time. It was time enough for Sarah to waltz up to him and begin sniffing. "Yeah, this is your son all right," Sarah said. "That smell is half you, Boss. So, the other half is the philandering arsehole?"

"…Sarah," Lily said, facepalming.

"Well, she's lively," Croaker said with a smile. "Reminds me of a dog I once had as a pet." He then turned to the other two. "And these lovely ladies must be the Elves you mentioned. We haven't had normal Elves in this world for centuries, I daresay. Unfortunately, all we have left are their servitors. I am Saul Croaker, head of the Department of Mysteries, and this is my apprentice and Lily's son, Harry Potter."

"A pleasure to meet you, Harry," Esther said, coming forward and shaking his hand, something Elizabeth did too. "I've heard a lot about you from Lily and the letters she was forwarded. I'm sorry about what happened to you."

Harry looked away, trying to hold in his anger and resentment, and failing. He hated being reminded of it, especially by someone who barely knew him, whom his mother had replaced him with. Part of him knew he was being unfair towards his mother, but after so many years of his brother's taunts, along with those of Snape, Malfoy, and so many others, he was sick of it.

"Why now?" Harry asked thickly, addressing this question to his mother. "Why come back to me now? Is it only because I'm now part of the Unspeakables or something? Going to another world doesn't sound like it would be that big a secret. Hell, you could have taken me there during the summer holidays or something. You could have used the Fidelius or something to ensure I didn't blab or anything."

"Harry…" Croaker began.

"I want to hear it from her!" Harry snapped. "I am so sick and tired of being kept in the dark, by Dumbledore, by my teachers, by my own mother! You couldn't have come back sooner? Four years, nearly five, and you couldn't have come back even for a few days or even just my birthday just to say hello, to put a pin in Charles' goddamned ego, to tell my father where to shove his Pureblood privilege bullshit! I needed you, Mum, and you weren't there for me! And now that I'm basically part of this secret squirrel outfit, now you show up, with my replacements in tow! So, what's your excuse?"

A small part of Harry knew he was being unfair, that his mother wasn't being intentionally neglectful. But years of torment from his brother, the scorn of his peers, being separated from his friends, and the injustice wreaked upon him had boiled and roiled within him. The resulting anger and resentment had spiked now, spurred by these three girls, who seemed as close to his mother as he thought he had been.

And then, Sarah was in his face, grabbing his shirt and hauling him into the air, growling at him. "What the actual fuck did you just say to her?" she snarled, her fangs very prominent in her mouth. "Boss Lily is the kindest fucking human I've ever known, and you're giving her grief, you ungrateful piece of shit?!"

"Delta! Stop it!" Esther yelled.

"NO! He's a whiny brat who got butthurt about his brother screwing him over! He's made Boss Lily cry! I'm gonna beat some sense into…"

"DEPULSIO!" Harry yelled, his hand a mere centimetre away from Sarah's chest as she cocked her fist back. She was torn away, along with a good chunk of his shirtfront, and flung into the wall of the tent.

And with that, he fled. Part of it was his unwillingness to talk to his mother or the girls she got to replace him. Part of it was understandable fear of the violent wolf-girl who had threatened to beat him.

And part of it was shame. Shame that the resentment and anger within him had lashed out, against the one member of his family he had thought gave a fuck about him. Shame about burning bridges that should never have been burned.

He fled the tent, not caring for the shouts that followed him, hearing the background noise of the Quidditch World Cup camping grounds once more now that he was away from Croaker's sealing ward. He stumbled away, more or less aimlessly. He didn't want to attend the World Cup anymore. He didn't want to run into any more familiar faces. No, he wanted to fuck off back to his apartment Croaker had rented for him near the Ministry, and sleep it off…

"Lily, I will go find him," Alpha declared, gently rubbing her adoptive mother's back.

"What?!" Delta protested as she got to her feet. "No! Delta's the best at tracking! And I'll teach that punk a lesson!"

"Which is why Alpha will be going," Lily said. Her voice was thick with emotion, thick with hurt, but it held the unmistakeable authority of their adoptive mother, and their leader. "I…my son did hurt me, Delta. But…it hurt you when your father hunted you, didn't it? Or when your family jeered at you for caring for your mother? It hurt you when you felt abandoned, right?"

After a moment's befuddlement, the wolf Therianthrope seemed to realise, her ears drooping. "…Sorry," she said. "But…he hurt you."

"And he doesn't need to be forcefully dragged back here," Lily said. "Alpha, you know what to do."

Alpha nodded, replacing the ring that made her look human, before leaving the tent, her trained eyes picking out the signs of Harry fleeing the tent. Skills used for tracking bandits and those monsters in the Cult of Diablos stood her in good stead to find the wayward son of her leader. Even with the muddy, well-trodden ground, she picked up his trail. The Doc Marten shoeprint was distinctive, a taste shared with Lily.

She soon found him, stumbling along towards the outer reaches of the campsite, towards a forest. Perfect for Apparating away…and for private conversations. A brief glance showed that nobody else was watching, so she dashed forward, using her training and magical energy to move at speeds many would consider superhuman, grabbing Harry, and bringing him further into the forest, his startled shriek muffled by the hand she covered his mouth with.

Once they were far enough in, she stopped, and then pressed Harry to a tree with one hand, using the other to cast the Privacy Charms Lily had shown her how to do. She fixed him with a look, her sapphire eyes boring into his emerald. "Before you decide to flee this place, I intend to talk. And you, Harry, will listen." As he opened his mouth to retort, she said, "Please…for my sake, and Lily's."

"…Do I have a choice?" he retorted weakly. But now, Alpha was sure of it, that his conniption was born of the pain and frustration he had felt, not out of true hatred for his mother. Otherwise, she wouldn't have seen glimmerings of remorse in his eyes.

"Once you have listened, then you can go back to wherever you currently live if you wish. I only ask that you hear my story first." He didn't nod, but he didn't try leaving either. Alpha took that as consent.

"…My own mother died when I was young. I had few friends where we lived, save for Elizabeth," Alpha said. "But then, I contracted a disease that led to me being exiled."

"…A disease?" There was an edge of curiosity in his tone, despite his earlier belligerence. And she knew she had him.

She looked at her hand, now unblemished. "The Three Heroes Church call it 'Demonic Possession'. It's actually not far from the truth, except they spin it in the worst possible way. Females with a lineage that can be traced back to the Three Heroes who defeated the Demon Diablos can have Diablos' very cells run rampant in them. That, combined with losing control over their magical energy, begins to warp and distort the bodies of those affected. When signs of Demonic Possession appear on a girl or a woman, too often, those around them send them off into exile to die, or worse, hand them over to the Three Heroes Church for…'purification'. When Lily found me…I was little more than a blob of rotting flesh. I was in constant pain, unable to think properly, unable to speak or even scream. I believe Lily compared my state to a smaller and harmless version of the final stage of William Birkin in one of your video games, Resident Evil 2, I believe it is called?"

Harry stared at her flatly, but she could tell he was engrossed by her story. Eventually, she continued. "In that state, I had been captured by bandits working under the Cult of Diablos, a cruel organisation that works in the shadows of my world. They were going to use me in horrific experiments, experiments that are designed to hasten the rebirth of Diablos. But then…Lily arrived, having stumbled across them by happenstance while researching Diablos and the Three Heroes. She slew them to a man when she realised what vile creatures they were. She then used Legilimency on me, and learned of my plight. Instead of trying to put me out of my misery, she did her best to cure me, and one day, succeeded. A wizard from another world showed me more kindness and compassion than anyone else had. She gave me sustenance, a place to call home…and a reason to live. She helped me save Elizabeth, who also suffered from Demonic Possession."

Again, he didn't say anything as she paused her story. "Lily never intended to replace you, let alone abandon you. She spoke so highly of you, the pride in her voice was unmistakeable. Indeed, she wanted nothing more than to bring you with her. But your father's custody over you, and the secret and dangerous nature of what she was doing on our world prevented her. She read out your letters to us, of your adventures in Hogwarts. I wanted to meet you. We all did."

"…Well, I'm sure you're regretting that now," Harry snarked. "I've just burned those bridges."

Alpha rolled her eyes. "No, you have not. At most, you have singed them. Otherwise, I would not be speaking to you so reasonably. Do not misunderstand me, Harry, I am angry at you. But I saw the pain of a son who had thought himself abandoned, and wrongly. I am giving you a chance to calm down because it's what Lily would want…and because it's what I want. And if you're worried about Sarah, she's calmed down, and Lily and Elizabeth are no doubt chewing her out."

"And what's her story?" Harry asked with a scowl.

"Many Therianthropes like her kind believe in survival of the fittest, or at least the strongest. In some ways, Sarah isn't any different, but she cared for her ailing mother, despite being mocked, and was considered one of the weakest of her siblings. Yet she persisted and learned how to be the best hunter amongst them…only for her mother to die. And then, she started showing signs of Demonic Possession, and her father not only banished her, but actively hunted her down. We…put an end to that. It took some doing for Sarah to accept us, but she is completely and utterly loyal to Lily. That's why she reacted badly to your outburst. Of course, there are others of us that she has rescued or saved who would have reacted as badly."

After letting him digest that tidbit, she gently hugged him. "Don't worry. She will forgive you. I have, because I know it was pain, not malice, that drove you to speak like that. And soon, you will learn the whole truth. What's more, you know that, to do the right thing, sometimes, you have to go outside of the law of the land and of society. You did so when rescuing Buckbeak. In any case, let's head back…"

Harry was still not sure whether he wanted to go back. Not out of anger or resentment, but shame. Shame at having lashed out at the person he loved the most in this world. But he allowed Esther to lead him back, his gait having the air of a condemned man shuffling towards the gallows.

But as they walked back, he voiced a question that had been nagging him ever since Esther caught up with him. "…How did you do all that back there? You picked me up like I was a bag of groceries, and moved like you were the Flash."

"I can't move as fast as the Flash, given what Lily told me about your comic book superheroes, but…I used my innate magic to enhance my body's strength and speed. It's a not-uncommon skill on our world. You can learn it yourself. Indeed, Lily learned it, and she is not native to our world, and she helped teach me what she learned. You'll need to learn when you come with us."

"To your world?"

Esther shot him a smile over her shoulder. "On paper, you're Croaker's apprentice, to avoid claims of nepotism. In truth, you're joining Lily and the rest of us on our mission. She has been trying to arrange something like this for some time, but couldn't find the right pretext. What happened with Buckbeak and your brother gave us this pretext. Unfortunately, we could not do this in time for your birthday."

"I think it would have been even more awkward then. 'Oh hey, son, I've been off on another world, saving kids from a nasty magical disease and winning their undying loyalty. Happy birthday, by the way'." After a moment's reflection, he said, "Actually, that would have been a neat birthday present, to meet Elves and a wolfgirl from another world."

Esther chuckled. "See? You're brightening up already. In any case, we're getting close. I'd suggest readying yourself to…what's the term? Pay the piper. We're nearly there."

Harry grimaced. Hopefully, his mother would accept his apology. He didn't want to burn down more bridges than he already had…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. Drama has happened.

Now, while you may think this was a touch contrived, and it admittedly was, there's some good reasons behind it. Well, bad reasons, but reasonable reasons from a character interaction viewpoint. Harry is a teenager, who hasn't seen his mother for a long time, and had to put up with insults and insinuations. And not just from Charles, the WBWL. Snape had made more than a few insults to that effect, as had Malfoy and his Slytherin posse. Harry has had a lot of anger and resentment boiling up within him for a long time, and Charles dobbing him in to the Ministry for freeing Buckbeak and Harry's subsequent expulsion was basically the capstone. Canon Harry is already averse to being kept in the dark, especially in Year 5, and he has a temper, especially then, so it's a wonder we haven't had more major explosions in this fic. He's had a couple previously, but the anger and resentment never quite went away.

Now, was it fair towards Lily? Hell no. She should have made a better effort to communicate with Harry, but otherwise, she genuinely cares about him, and wants to make up to him, unlike James, who, while he does care about Harry on some level, is a bit apathetic towards him, preferring to dote on Charles. Oh, he'll get Harry expensive presents, but he doesn't really know or even care much about Harry's interests and hobbies.

Of course, there's also Delta to consider. If she wasn't there, or hadn't been so quick to leap to Lily's defence, Lily and/or Alpha could have calmed things down. But Delta being Delta, she escalated the situation. This is someone who is a notorious meathead and berserker in The Eminence in Shadow canon, and while she's a touch smarter, more perceptive, and less impulsive than in canon, that means little in this situation.

Thankfully, Alpha was able to smooth things over. Relating her story, albeit suitably edited to remove Shadow Garden from it (Harry is not yet initiated into it, though he soon will be), helped bring it home to Harry that she has suffered, and more than he has. Plus, she shows that, with someone like Lily leading Shadow Garden, Alpha can be, if not more competent, then at least more relaxed around others not immediately in the know.

Also, Alpha identifies herself inwardly by her codename. While she will answer to her birthname happily, to her, Esther is the name of the weak girl who was banished from her home without any say in her fate. It's a bit like how I view the whole Batman/Bruce Wayne thing. I think the true Bruce Wayne would answer to either name, but he views Batman as his true personality.

No numbered annotations this time.