The Raven's Claw
Chapter One
The ocean's waves battered the cliffs with a quiet ferocity as the sun shone warm upon the young girl who was quietly meditating on the cliff's edge while hovering several inches off the ground.
Though her face looked serene, memories flashed through her mind that threatened her peaceful meditation; violence was nothing new for Raven; she was a superhero, after all as well as the daughter of a demon, so she had seen and done things that would have driven many people mad in her life.
It had been a year since the attack by Trigon, a year since Raven and the rest of the Teen Titans had sent her father back where he came from, a year since Raven had left Earth and her friends behind and came home to Azarath, seeking peace from the memories that seemed determined to drive her mad.
The memory she was currently fighting against was one she hated above all things, for it was the one that hurt her the most; it was a memory of heartache and death; it was a memory of the night she lost her family to a monster.
Raven had lived with the Potters for three years before that horrible night; they'd adopted her when they found her huddled alone in the snow after running from the so-called 'orphanage' that Raven had fled from; in truth, the orphanage was more like a rat hole where the children were hardly fed, and the food that they were given could scarcely be called that; Raven had used her powers to escape that hell hole, only intending to teleport outside the orphanage. But instead, Raven had somehow transported herself to England and lived on the streets for several weeks.
Raven had been only six when the Potters had taken her in and welcomed her as if she was their own; though hardly being old enough for a child, they had accepted her and brought Raven into their home, not caring about her powers or calling her a freak like all the others had done before.
And when Lily had given birth to Harry two years later, Raven had been so happy to have a baby brother; she remembered fondly how she would create glowing bubbles for Harry, who would squeal with delight and try to catch them.
Then, that terrible night came, and Raven lost everything; tears slowly ran down her cheeks as she remembered the events that had ripped the first family she had had from her.
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"Raven had been helping Lily put Harry down for the night when the house suddenly boomed as though a cannon had gone off; downstairs, Raven heard James shouting,
"Lily, take the kids and run! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Lily had turned pale at the words and had immediately pointed her wand at the door, causing it to slam shut before levitating everything she could and placing it in front of the door to act as a barricade.
"Mum, dad's going to be okay, isn't he?" Raven asked as she tried to quiet little Harry, who was beginning to cry, as though sensing that something was wrong,
"Don't worry, Raven," Lily said quickly, "James will be just fine; just stay behind me, okay?"
Quickly, Lily took Harry from Raven's arms and placed him in his crib before turning back to face the door, her wand drawn and shaking.
Suddenly, the door exploded and threw Raven against the wall hard, and she knew no more; when she had awoken, it was to a nightmare that she desperately wanted to wake up from; Lily lay dead not far from her, next to a black cloak and little Harry was gone.
In her anguish, Raven had used her powers to transport her to Hogwarts and to the one person that Lily and James had told would protect her if they could no longer do so, Albus Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Raven cried, throwing herself into his arms when the old man returned to his office, "Lily and James! They're…."
"I know, my dear," Dumbledore said sadly as he held Raven in his arms, stroking her back gently as she sobbed into his chest,
"What about Harry?" Raven asked quickly, "Is Harry okay?"
Dumbledore's face took on a thoughtful expression for a moment before it slipped into one of sadness,
"I'm so sorry, Raven, but it would appear as though Harry did not make it,"
"No…." Raven breathed in a horrified whisper, backing slowly away from Dumbledore, "Please tell me it's not true, not Harry!"
"I'm so sorry, my dear," Dumbledore said sadly, "I wish I could."
With a final cry of heartache and despair, Raven asked her powers to take her away, somewhere far away from this pain; that's how she had first come to Azarath, home of a group of pacifist monks who told her of her true parentage as well what her future held, much to her horror; the monks had then taught Raven how to control her powers so that she would be better prepared for the day when she would have to face her father, Trigon.
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Slowly, Raven opened her eyes and lowered herself to the ground as the memory finally ended; it had been eight years since that night, eight years since she had lost the three people she had loved more than anything; Yet, not a day went by where she didn't miss them.
"Bad memories?" A voice asked from behind as Raven slowly rose to her feet; turning, Raven saw that it was Azar, the spiritual leader of Temple Azarath,
"Always," Raven replied softly in her monotone voice before turning back to stare at the sea, "They're nothing new,"
"Perhaps it's time for you to go home, then," Azar replied as he stepped next to her.
"I am home," Raven replied, "Besides, my friends are safer without me,"
"You don't truly believe that, do you?" Azar asked as he turned to Raven,
"I nearly brought about the end of the world," Raven replied, turning to face Azar,
"But you didn't," Azar replied, "You saved the world from the tyranny of your father's rule."
"It doesn't matter," Raven said, "I'm still the reason he almost killed everyone I care about; I have no reason to go back; as I said before, my friends are safer without me,
"What if I told you there was a reason to return?" Azar said softly,
"And what reason would that be?" Raven asked,
"Harry Potter," Azar said simply.
Raven's eyes widened instantly, and her skin turned even paler, if that were possible, both of which were thankfully hidden by her cloak; for a moment, Raven was rendered speechless before she was finally able to respond in a shaky voice,
"Harry is dead; they're all dead."
"I'm afraid that whoever told you that was not telling you the whole truth," Azar replied, "The boy is very much alive,"
"How do you know this?" Raven asked as tears began to roll down her cheeks,
"This place offers sight into many things," Azar replied, "One needs only to look and see them."
Raven suddenly tensed as she remembered what Albus Dumbledore told him so many years ago;
"I need to go," Raven said as she suddenly turned away from Azar and began to walk down the path towards the temple,
"And where will you go, Raven?" Azar asked, causing her to stop and turn back to him,
"First, I will confront someone who lied to me a long time ago,"
"And then?" Azar pressed,
"Then I will retrieve my little brother," Raven said simply as she turned and continued down the path.
Azar sighed softly as he turned back to stare at the ocean; he felt sorry for whoever had lied to the poor girl and kept her brother from her for so long; while he, himself, was a pacifist, he still felt the familiar sting of anger at the thought that someone could be so cruel as to keep a pair of siblings apart for so long.
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Albus Dumbledore hummed to himself as he read a letter that he had just received from Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister for Magic; it was the usual request for advice that Fudge would send to Dumbledore every few days, and by now, Dumbledore was used to them.
Try as he might, Dumbledore just couldn't seem to concentrate on the letter as he had more important things on his mind at the moment; just as Dumbledore set the letter down and reached for another lemon drop, the door to his office exploded open, making him jump to his feet and draw his wand quickly as a pale girl in a dark blue cloak stormed in, making him pale as he realized who it was.
"Raven?" Dumbledore said in a whisper as his wand dipped slowly,
"You lied to me!" Raven roared angrily as she sent a shockwave of power at him that lifted him off his feet and slammed him back into his chair, his wand flying from his hand and landing on the floor a few feet away.
"Raven, I don't know what you're talking about…." Dumbledore began, only to stop when Raven levitated off of the ground and glared at him with two pairs of red demonic eyes,
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Raven snarled as she pointed her palm at Dumbledore and closed it into a fist; instantly, Dumbledore's eyes bulged, and his hands went to his throat as he struggled to breathe.
"WHERE IS HARRY?!" Raven snarled, "WHERE IS MY LITTLE BROTHER?!"
"I…told you…. Raven," Dumbledore gasped out as he slowly began to levitate off of the ground, his feet kicking the air,
"YOU'RE LYING!" Raven spat, "HARRY IS ALIVE, AND YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE HE IS!"
Dumbledore began to turn pale as he struggled to breathe before finally nodding his head; instantly, Raven dropped her arm, and Dumbledore fell into his chair and began gasping for air as Raven slowly lowered herself to the ground. Her red demonic eyes returned to their normal shade of violet.
"Where is he?!" Raven demanded, "And why did you lie to me about him being dead?"
Dumbledore slowly massaged his throat as he stared in trepidation at the pale girl who stood on the other side of his desk,
"I had no choice, my dear," Dumbledore said hoarsely, "It was for Harry's own safety,"
"What are you talking about?" Raven demanded, "Explain yourself before I lose my temper again!"
"Do you remember what happened that night?" Dumbledore asked quickly,
"I'll never forget that night," Raven replied in a broken voice, "I lost my family that night, old man, and the one person that Lily and James told me could be trusted lied to me!"
"Everything changed that night, my dear," Dumbledore said as he rose from his chair and began to walk around his desk toward Raven,"
"Explain," Raven said simply as she glared daggers at Dumbledore, who slowly bent down and picked up his wand before stowing it in his robe.
And so, Dumbledore told Raven everything that had happened that night; how Voldemort had been defeated, how many of his followers had been captured, and how Harry had become famous as 'The Boy Who Lived,' for almost twenty minutes, Dumbledore talked while Raven listened in shock at all that had transpired.
"You're telling me that Voldemort, the most powerful and evil wizard ever to take on the mantle of Dark Lord, was killed by my sweet little brother?" Raven asked in shock, "That's impossible! How could he have done that?! He was just a baby!"
"It was Lily," Dumbledore replied softly, "When she died protecting Harry, she gave him a layer of protection that Voldemort could not penetrate; when he tried to kill little Harry, Voldemort's curse rebounded.
"Why did you lie to me?" Raven asked in a soft voice,
"Because Harry needed to be protected from Voldemort's followers," Dumbledore replied in a tense voice, "He needed to go somewhere that Death Eaters would not be able to find him,"
"I could have protected him!" Raven retorted, making an hourglass on Dumbledore's bookshelf explode,
"Raven, think about this honestly," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "You were a nine-year-old girl who couldn't control her powers; how could you possibly have protected Harry?"
"He's still my little brother!" Raven retorted, "You had no right to tell me he was dead!"
"But he's not really your brother, is he?" Dumbledore countered, making Raven glare at him,
"The Potters legally adopted me!" Raven snapped, "Meaning that I AM Harry's sister!"
Dumbledore blew air out of his mouth in agitation; he could not dispute Raven's logic, no matter how much he might want to,
"Is that why you no longer use their name?" Dumbledore asked quickly, making Raven turn red,
"I don't use their name because I thought they were dead, and Raven Potter joined them, thanks to you," Raven replied angrily.
"I did it for the greater good, Raven," Dumbledore said softly, "Harry needed to be placed somewhere safe, and you could not have gone with him; I thought I was helping you avoid future heartache…."
"By lying to me for almost a decade?!" Raven yelled angrily, making Dumbledore take a step back nervously, "Lily and James told me that you could be trusted if something happened to them, and you lied to me! Do you even realize how much pain you caused me!?"
"I never meant to cause you any pain," Dumbledore said softly as he took another step back,
"I'm only going to ask you this one more time, Dumbledore," Raven said in a cold whisper, "Where is my little brother?"
The air grew suddenly very heavy, and Dumbledore struggled to stand as the pressure continued to grow,
"I placed him with Lily's sister," Dumbledore finally sputtered, breathing a sigh of relief when the pressure finally dissipated,
"You gave him to Petunia?" Raven breathed in horror, "She hates magic and especially hated Lily! How could you?!"
"She was his only living relative," Dumbledore countered quickly, "I had no other choice!"
"What about Sirius?!" Raven demanded, "He's Harry's godfather! Or Alice Longbottom, she's Harry's godmother!"
"Sirius is in Azkaban for betraying the Potters to Voldemort, and Alice and her husband were tortured into insanity not long after the Potter's death," Dumbledore said simply.
Raven was stunned into silence at Dumbledore's words before finally finding her voice,
"Sirius wouldn't have done that; he loved James Potter,"
"Perhaps that is just what he wanted everyone to think," Dumbledore replied, "Either way, it doesn't change the fact that it is Sirius' fault the Potters are dead."
Raven glared at Dumbledore for a moment more before turning on her heel and walking toward the door,
"Where are you going?" Dumbledore asked,
"I'm going to get my brother back," Raven replied as she stopped at the door and turned to the aged headmaster, who paled at the words.
"You can't do that!" Dumbledore replied quickly, "Harry is safe where he is and needs to remain there!"
"I think you'll find that I can!" Raven countered, "I am of legal age in the wizarding world and am legally Harry's older sister, so with absolutely no respect, eat shit, Dumbledore!"
Dumbledore sputtered for a moment at the insult before finally finding his voice,
"Raven, if you truly love and care for Harry's well-being, you need to leave him where he is! He is safe there and…."
"You don't get to talk about Harry and his well-being!" Raven retorted, cutting Dumbledore off, "You lost that chance when you lied to me about him being dead! So first, I am going to save my brother from whatever hell you have placed him in, and then I am taking him home with me!"
"But…." Dumbledore said, trying to regain control of the conversation,
"And if I have my way, he will not be attending Hogwarts either!" Raven added, cutting Dumbledore off again, "There are plenty of other wizard schools that he can attend that aren't run by manipulative liars!"
Dumbledore paled visibly at the words and quickly tried to regain control,
"Raven, Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry and the best school in the world! Surely you would not deny Harry the chance to learn at the same place your parents did!"
"So NOW they're my parents, huh?" Raven sneered as she turned back toward the door, "I'm going to get my brother now; I'll decide on his education afterward.
A moment later, Raven was gone, and Dumbledore slowly walked to his chair and collapsed into it in despair as he thought of how peaceful his morning had been just a short while ago now; he may have lost Harry Potter forever due to a mistake he made almost decade ago for the greater good.
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Raven sneered distastefully as she took in the houses on Privet Drive; every house was the same, down to the paint and the hedges surrounding them,
"How can anyone possibly want to live here?" Raven thought as she slowly walked down the sidewalk towards number four, ignoring the pointed and curious looks she was receiving from passersby.
As she approached the front door, Raven suddenly felt very nervous; what if Harry didn't remember her? Or if he was happy here with Petunia? Did she really have the right to take him away from a home where he had grown up for the past decade?
Steeling her resolve, Raven quickly knocked hard on the door; a moment later, the door promptly opened to a woman who looked at Raven with narrowed eyes as she took in Raven's appearance,
"Yes?" Petunia sniffed, "What do you want?"
"Hello, Petunia," Raven said in her monotone voice, "Good to see you again."
Petunia's eyes widened with realization as she looked at Raven, and for a moment, she was rendered speechless,
"You…." Petunia breathed in shock, "What are YOU doing here?!
"I've come to see Harry, if you don't mind," Raven replied simply,
"Why now? The freak has been living under our roof for seven years, and you've never once paid him a visit, never even written a letter, so why do you suddenly care about him now!?"
Raven's eyes narrowed at the words, and she had to fight for calm as she took a step forward,
"DON'T call him a freak," Raven spat, "And secondly, I was told he was dead; had I known sooner that he was alive, I can assure you that I would have retrieved him from your 'loving home' sooner; now we can either continue this discussion here in the open for your neighbors to witness or you can invite me in and let me see my little brother."
Petunia's eyes widened at the words, and she suddenly leaned out the door and paled when she saw that, indeed, a few of her neighbors were watching with interest,
"Get inside before you damage my family's reputation more than you already have!" Petunia hissed angrily, stepping aside so Raven could enter, slamming the door hard behind her.
As Raven stepped inside, she felt her disdain for Petunia rise even further as Raven took in her surroundings; the house was, in a word: boring; it looked as though it belonged in a shopping magazine as everything was prim and proper and unbearable clean.
Slowly walking toward the wall, Raven saw a myriad of pictures of Petunia, whom she could only assume were her husband and son, but try as she might, Raven could not find any photos of Harry.
"Where are the pictures of Harry?" Raven asked, turning to face Petunia, who was standing by the door with her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face,
"There are none," Petunia sniffed,
"Why not? He's your nephew, is he not? Surely you took pictures of him growing up, didn't you?"
"We were forced to take him in by YOUR lot when my darling sister was blown up!" Petunia retorted angrily, "Vernon and I never wanted his abnormality in our home; we were forced to by that old bastard who dropped him into our lap!"
Raven felt the blood run cold in her veins at the words and had to clinch a fist to control her slowly rising temper,
"So, you just hid him away?" Raven spat, "So your precious neighbors wouldn't know that your sister was a witch?"
"My sister was a freak!" Petunia retorted angrily; a moment later, her eyes bulged in terror as Raven's dark magic grabbed Petunia by the throat and held her several feet off the ground, against the wall.
"You don't talk about Lily Potter like that!" Raven roared, her violet eyes replaced with two pairs of demonic red ones, "She was twice the woman you'll ever be! She took me in when I had no one! She gave me a home and adopted me, and you are not worthy to even lick the dirt from her shoes!"
Petunia clawed in terror at the shadow currently wrapped around her throat as Raven glared at the woman; a moment later, Raven released her hold, and Petunia dropped to the floor and gasped for air as Raven regained control of herself and her demonic eyes returned to their usual violet.
"Where is Harry?" Raven asked simply, "Since you find him such a burden, I have come to take him off your hands;" Petunia stared at the girl in terror, seemingly unable to answer, and simply pointed behind Raven.
Turning to see what she was pointing at, Raven's eyes widened when she saw a cupboard door with a lock on the outside,
"You keep him in a cupboard?" Raven asked angrily, turning back to face Petunia, who cringed under the girl's stare, "You don't even have the decency to give him his own room?!"
Petunia mumbled something unintelligible, and Raven sneered at the woman before quickly making her way to the cupboard and using her magic to rip the door off the wall and throw it to the ground, making Petunia pale at the level of dust that had just invaded her home.
When the dust settled, Raven's breath caught in her throat at what she beheld; inside a dirty cupboard lay a small black-haired boy who was clearly very sick; Harry was currently shivering under a dirty blue blanket. When Raven pressed her hand to Harry's forehead, she was appalled to discover that he was running a fever.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Raven demanded as she rounded on Petunia, who cowered under the girl's stare, "Your nephew is seriously ill, and you leave him in a filthy cupboard alone?!"
"If…." Petunia said softly before steeling her nerves, "If you care so much for the little freak, then take him! We don't want him!"
Raven's eyes flashed red for a moment, and Petunia paled and scooted back until her back was pressed against the far wall,
"I intend to," Raven said simply, "You will never see Harry again if I can help it, be thankful that he still lives, or you would not, Petunia."
Without another word, Raven bent down and picked Harry up into her arms before encasing them both in her magic and teleporting the pair away; a moment later, Raven and Harry were standing in front of a strange building that looked as though it were a giant T.
"Welcome home, little brother," Raven said softly as she gazed down at the sleeping boy she had thought lost for so long, "I promise no one will ever hurt you again, Harry;."
With a determined look, Raven strode into Titans Tower to introduce Harry to the rest of her family and get him the medical attention he needed.
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Author's Note:
This story popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down; I'm only planning on five to seven chapters, but if people like it, I'll maybe make it longer. As you all know, my favorite genre is "Harry Potter adopted/raised by others," so it was only a matter of time before I did a crossover, lol.