A single flower surrounded by sand. It was not something that could be found on Earth. Petals so clear one could read through them but with an iridescent shine that seemed to capture every known color. The petals were long, tapering off to a thin string that stretched down to the ground. A single, thick stem that supported the large flower without swaying in the stiff breeze. It was a sight to behold. The sand near the base of the flower began to move and shift upwards into a small hill until it burst open to reveal a black scorpion that was half rotten away. The pathetic creature turned and limped towards the flower slowly. Once it reached the flower, it grabbed onto it with its one large claw and began to eat the stem of the flower. The flower jerked slightly as the pathetic creature continued to eat at it. It jerked more and more as the scorpion continued to eat at it until it was teetering dangerously close to breaking apart and falling.
Harry woke up with a jerk, anxious and covered in sweat. She sat up quickly, breathing hard from the dream she had just had. But was it a dream? This felt so much like the visions that leaked through the connection she once shared with Lord Voldemort. She didn't think it came from anyone back home or anyone she knew here in Egypt. So who would she be getting these visions from? The magic in the air and pressing up against her own vibrated harshly, like an explosion had gone off somewhere else, that vibrated through her magic and into her bones.
This was all too much. Too many sensations were pressing in on her from too many angles. She could feel everything her magic touched and it was quickly becoming loud static in her mind, overpowering her senses. She got out of the bed a bit too quickly, half stumbling down the stairs when her right foot got caught on the blanket. The Oasis remained dark as she walked quickly by the rooms that Clione and Zalika were sleeping in, much to Harry's relief. She just didn't know how she would react to those two young girls in her current state. Her magic felt turbulent and agitated and it was making her own emotions spiral further.
Harry reached the pool and the humid air seeping into her lungs helped ground her. Her steps slowed as she walked around the water, the sound of the waterfall splashing into the pool calmed her spiraling emotions enough to keep them from spiraling further. She fell into the chaise lounge with little grace before curling into a sad little ball. With hands over her eyes, keeping what little light the Oasis had out.
There was no telling how long Harry laid there trying to forget about the strange dream and the monsoon of emotions that came with it. Something moved on the other side of the Oasis and her agitated magic responded by rippling harshly, making her a little nauseous. It took a lot for her to figure out that Imhotep had entered the Oasis and was walking briskly towards her. Her emotions were still out of control enough that she couldn't be sure if she was happy he was coming to her or not. Harry managed to pull herself into a sitting position as the man entered the waterfall room. Not that she had the energy to even look up at him.
"Your magic calls out in pain." Imhotep spoke with little emotion as he neared her. "What has distressed you?" His tone turned slightly softer, though she still wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Harry didn't answer right away, instead just trying to figure out how to explain why she was feeling like this from a single dream. Not that Imhotep seemed to care. He stood there with his hands behind his back while he waited for her. Always waiting.
"I had a bad dream." She managed to get out, even if it wasn't nearly enough.
"Just a dream?" Imhotep questioned.
"I'm not sure." She replied after another pause. "It wasn't a nightmare…" The rest of her sentence fell off.
Harry sighed, upset with herself and her lack of ability at keeping herself under control. She was better than this. Her magic was still churning with an emotion she couldn't identify. She couldn't really tell much of anything. Imhotep pulled her out of her own head when he sat down next to her. His leg brushed against hers as he shifted and her magic seemed to calm ever so slightly at the contact.
"Would you allow me to see the dream?" He asked with a soft voice.
Harry looked up at him and saw nothing but concern in his eyes. That helped. She nodded her assent ever so slightly and Imhotep moved immediately, like he knew she would allow him eventually. He leaned into her space without touching her more than just by the leg until he brought his right hand up to her head and placed two firm fingers against her left temple. She felt his magic push into her head like thick molasses. A strange feeling, but one that she didn't mind. Her magic calmed further with the sensation, making her feel better. Imhotep pulled his hand away from her but remained in her space. A strange new anger in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked him quietly. There was no need to be louder in such an intimate setting.
"I cannot see what you saw." His voice was just as soft, but also so very hard. The hard undercurrent of unimaginable atrocities that she has come to know about him was still there, kept hidden for her benefit.
"Do you know why?" Harry leaned into his presence without thinking. His magic was moving around them, moving and pushing against her magic. It felt a lot like he was herding it to be surrounded by his magic. She enjoyed the sensation of her magic being manipulated by his own. She could feel the agitation, or maybe helplessness, of her magic settle more and more as he worked. Harry found that she enjoyed the feeling as well.
"It was not a dream. It was a vision." Imhotep explained calmly, but only in his voice. Anger was rolling throughout his magic and along her own. Harry looked up at him, not sure how to voice her question. He knew what she was trying to say, like he always did. "I suspect it was a vision given to you by another God. There are few ways to block my abilities such as this." The undercurrent of vicious anger seeped into his words as he spoke, but she knew it was not directed towards her. He shook his head slightly before turning more fully towards her. He reached up and grabbed her head with firm hands, forcing her to look at him. "Describe it to me." He commanded.
Harry complied readily and felt no shame as she explained what she saw in her dream. Every little detail she could think of fell from her just as the tears did. He pressed for more only once, wanting to know more of what she felt and was feeling. It felt good to be able to unload all her feelings onto someone without feeling like a burden. Once she finished explaining everything that she felt, Imhotep lunged forward to capture her mouth in an aggressively thorough kiss. Harry grabbed onto his arms, but did nothing more than allow him to dominate this kiss. The feel of his tongue sliding against her own helped calm her emotions more than she would ever admit. Not that she'd need to. Imhotep seemed to know exactly what she needed, exactly when she needed it. Smarmy git.
Imhotep finally broke the kiss but stayed near her, letting their breathing mingle together in the scant space between. "I believe Shai has given you a premonition." He finally explained in a cool tone that gave nothing, even his anger, away. He then leaned forward again, pressing his lips against hers in such a tender way.
"A premonition?" Harry asked as she pulled back away from his lips slightly. Her magic rippled angrily at the distance she made, but settled when Imhotep's magic tightened in response. "Why?" Her voice cracked slightly with the emotions still pressing against the inside of her ribs.
Imhotep looked away from her with a sneer he couldn't quite hide. "We have more enemies than those we see." Imhotep looked back at her without the sneer. His magic all around her rumbled like a growl as he looked at her with deep emotion in his eyes. "We must proceed carefully yet quickly."
More enemies. More fighting. Harry was so tired of fighting. "I don't want to have to keep fighting." Harry stated as she tore her head out of his hands. Her magic tried to react to the loss of contact, but she jerked at it hard. Like one would do to bring an unruly dog back into compliance. It settled almost immediately.
"There is no need for you to fight." Imhotep explained with his usual cool and detached voice. Something about that angered her.
"You keep saying that! But you can't know that!" Harry's voice rose with her anger, and she with it, which only served to shame her more. She should be better at controlling herself than this! Harry walked to the end of the pool, leaving Imhotep on the chaise. "But even if I never have to lift a single finger to protect myself, I still have to clean up after it." She could still smell the dust and blood that filled Hogwarts after the final battle. As much as she hated Filch, he didn't deserve to have to try to clean the school by himself. "Fix the people. Fix the land. Fix the world." Harry sighed sadly. She thought just trying to fix Great Britain was too big of a job for her and a handful of kids. This was so much more daunting of a task. "When do I get a choice in my life?"
Harry walked back towards her room, though her steps slowed when she saw Clione and Zalika both peeking out of their rooms.
"My Lady? Is everything ok?" Zalika asked in a quiet voice.
"We heard angry words." Clione added. There was a familiar fear in their eyes.
"Everything is alright." Harry tried her best to soothe them. "I had a bad dream last night. Imhotep was kind enough to sit with me after." She added, feeling a little bad about yelling at him. None of this was really his fault. He was along for this ride from Hell as much as she was. The biggest difference was that he had accepted his role while she was still struggling.
Zalika nodded, accepting the answer for how Harry portrayed it, but not Clione. Her eyes watched her a little too closely, like she saw through Harry's lie.
"Well if there is no issue…" Zalika's sentence morphed into a deep yawn. Harry wondered what time it even was for them. Despite the vision, she felt well rested.
"You two should go back to bed." Harry put on her best soothing voice. "We can speak more in the morning."
Zalika nodded sleepily as she turned to go back to bed, but Clione hesitated. Her eyes were full of concern and tiredness in equal measure, but she turned to go to bed as well. Harry was able to breathe once more when she heard the beds move as the girls got back in them. The feeling of Imhotep's magic leaving her Oasis left her strangely cold.
Harry laid on her bed once more, but she knew sleep wasn't going to come for her. She was still a little keyed up from the vision she had received during the night, but now she was also upset with herself and the way she'd been treating Imhotep. As much as his methods left her mouth tasting like she'd just drunk Skele-Gro, it was nice having someone so willing to take that choice away from her. Despite how awful that sounded, she was grateful. She should really be nicer to the man instead of acting like every other hormonally unbalanced teenage girl with her first boyfriend.
"My Lady?" Clione's soft voice shattered Harry's stormy thoughts.
"Clione? What are you doing up?" Harry asked as she shifted to sit on the side of her bed.
Clione smiled at her indulgently. "It's morning." She answered with a small laugh as she started going through the clothes in the closet for her daily outfit.
Harry sighed quietly to herself, still feeling a bit unanchored from everything around her. There was still the tendril of Imhotep's magic wrapped firmly around her heart, though even that felt cold and distant. Should she touch his magic? Show him that she wasn't really angry at him. But could she keep herself under enough control to stop from hurting the one person she'd come to care about so much?
Deciding that she needed to stop the circling vortex in her own mind but also didn't want to join Clione in the closet, Harry got up from the bed and walked over to the full length mirror. The first thing she noticed was that her hair was absolutely out of control. A few curls were trying to dread in a couple areas and others were sticking out in a few odd angles. She couldn't believe she had a serious conversation with Imhotep about her dream while looking like Bellatrix's slightly saner daughter. Harry couldn't help the light laugh that bubbled out of her chest from the mental image that conjured.
Clione leaned out of the closet, a question in her eyes. "Nothing to worry about." Harry soothed the girl while feeling more soothed herself. "With my hair like this, I look a lot like a woman that gave me a lot of trouble during the war."
"Oh? An unpleasant woman then?" She pressed, still looking a little concerned for some reason.
"Incredibly unpleasant." Harry turned back to the mirror and started to comb out the majority of knots with her fingers. "She was absolutely obsessed with the Dark Lord back home. Seemed like she was willing to do anything to get his attention." Harry shook her head as she finally got the worst of the knots out of her hair.
Bringing up Bellatrix in regards to Lord Voldemort always made a strange knot in her chest twist uncomfortably. She always hated how such a vile man could be loved even if the person doing the loving was less than sane or at least that's how it always seemed from the fractured visions she got from him. The idea that Lord Voldemort was worthy of love but she wasn't never quite stopped stinging.
"I know what you have said about that Dark Lord." Clione replied before shaking her hair enough to make the beads clink together. "Ours is so much better." She stated with a type of finality that brooked no argument. The concern Harry felt about such a comment was overshadowed by her surprise. Clione looked over her shoulder into the closet for a brief moment in consideration. "I think you need a new outfit." She looked at Harry, a mischievous glint in her eye that made Harry a little nervous. "I will help you entice our Dark Lord!"
"Are you trying to make this relationship happen because you think it'd be good for me?" Harry sighed wearily.
"Yes!" She exclaimed as she pulled out Harry's old wand from somewhere in her outfit. "Zalika agrees!"
As irritating as it was to have two young teenagers take such an invasive role in her life, it warmed her soul to know that the young girls that had been thrust upon her were quite nice to have around. It wasn't the same as having Ron and Hermione around, but it helped make that absence bearable.
"Here!" Clione exclaimed happily a moment before Harry felt the young girl's magic falling down her body like water.
Harry watched the magic replace her off white pajamas with a more provocative outfit.
The shirt, if it could be called such a thing, looked like a corset with how it hugged her midriff and breasts except it was made of a light and airy fabric. The stitching along the edge was gold, barely noticeable from this distance. The pants looked very similar to a style she had seen some of the other girls wear at Hogwarts on occasion, not that she could remember what it was called. The pants were mostly made of a see through fabric that shimmered quite nicely as the fabric moved. There was a thick band of non-translucent fabric around her ankles and her waist, almost like a belt, and a bikini bottom that protected her modesty quite well. The whole outfit was made of a brilliantly white fabric that Harry was already afraid she was going to get dirty just by looking at it.
"Perfect!" Clione appeared right next to her in the mirror. "Our Dread Lord will love this outfit." She spoke with a small amount of pride bleeding into it.
The girl brought Harry's old wand up and with another muttered spell that Harry didn't recognize, her hair combed and braided itself on to the top of her head in Clione's preferred style. Harry was just happy to have the hair off her neck and shoulders. Despite wanting to argue with the girl about, well, everything she had just done and said, Harry managed to keep her tongue under control. It was an impressive display of magical ability, especially when she remembered that the girl had only had magic for a few months now.
"You've been practicing your magic, I see." Harry kept her tone carefully neutral.
"Yes, I have been practicing really hard!" Clione smiled self consciously. "Though, mostly on Mother and Zalika." She added more demurely.
Harry nodded, now feeling somewhat suspicious of the girl now. "Very good." Harry kept her praise as gentle as she could. Clione's face lit up at Harry's praise.
"Thank you, My Lady." Clione bowed deeply. "What are your plans for today?"
"It's high time I go through the boxes in my office." Harry explained while they walked through her Oasis. Clione followed her dutifully. "There's no use having you be bored while I do that, so why don't you spend some time in the Potion Kitchen with your sister?" Harry suggested.
Clione perked up at the suggestion. "Oh, Zalika is trying a new recipe today to help people regrow lost teeth!"
Harry nodded, keeping her spike of concern smoothly under control. "That's a very advanced potion she's trying. I will be interested in how it turns out. If you have any problems, you know where to find me."
Clione nodded happily before she walked briskly away from Harry. All Harry could do was sigh as she turned to walk to her office. After having a bad dream and taking it out on Imhotep, now she was basically being handed proof that there was something more going on with the twins she'd found in her service. She had thought, hoped would probably be a better word, that the girls were just as they seemed. Just a couple of sweet girls that were seemingly perfectly tailored to appeal to Harry. It made Harry wonder what else was going on behind the curtain that she was, once again, not privy to. Heka had been forthright in her plans, but it seemed like she had taken a page out of Dumbledore's book. Only giving her enough information to keep going.
Harry was in a right foul mood by the time she made it to her office. She really hoped that a mindless task would help soothe herself. There were a few more boxes in the main room, but it was mostly unchanged since the last time she was here. When was that anyway? She shook her head, trying to clear it of the noise that was threatening to spill out. It wasn't usually this difficult to get herself back under control. Perhaps it was some hold over from the strange dream. The flowering plant in the corner remained living proof that she needed to control her emotions better.
Box after box of books is what she found stacked around the room. Books on magic, on potions, many on various histories, and even a few that mentioned Kmt. Harry grabbed a couple handfuls of books to put away in her office shelves when her magic rippled expectantly. Harry rolled her eyes dramatically, still not sure how she felt about her magic now having a mind of its own. She released control of her magic with a heavy sigh and it was quick to go to work. It grabbed book after book and levitated them to her office and filled the shelves carefully from what Harry could see. Harry moved to open another box when her magic brought a book in front of her face. It was the black book that was given to her by the refugee woman that she healed. She took it from her magic, now wondering why it delivered it to her rather than a bookshelf.
Harry sat down at the long ornate table that had been brought in by someone some time ago. She opened the book and, just like at the Library of Alexandria, the foreign words shifted into ones she could read. This book was one that would have found a home in the Hogwarts library based only on the words and verbiage, but the subject matter confused her. It seemed like some kind of a manual for Priests of what the book described as the 'Old Religions'. She skipped ahead a chunk of pages, not wanting to exactly dig into the book at this time but also wanting to know a bit more on the religions it was clearly alluding to. She glanced through a passage regarding the proper techniques for prayer to their chosen Patron Deity when there was a mention of Osiris. The thread of Imhotep's magic that had been quietly wrapped around her heart twitched to life and began caressing her. Harry remembered Imhotep speaking of Osiris and how he still kept the amulet from the time he had once worshipped them as a High Priest. She wondered how Osiris felt about losing one of his High Priests to another God and to her, in a way. Her magic jerked suddenly, which got her attention from the strange book.
Harry immediately recognized Lock-Nah's magic coming towards her. She knew it well enough to know that he was deeply distressed. She allowed her magic to take the book from her hands as Lock-Nah practically threw open the door.
"Your Majesty!" He exclaimed before sighing in relief. "The village is being attacked. The Medjai are fighting them, but we need your help." He explained somewhat breathlessly.
"The village is being attacked?" Harry asked as she followed Lock-Nah down the hallway. "By who?" Lock-Nah was normally so calm and in control of everything around him that it was incredibly troubling to see him in such a state.
"I am not sure. One of our injured warriors said that they mentioned you by name." Lock-Nah explained crisply.
"Me? What did I do?" Harry asked herself as she followed Lock-Nah through the building's hallways. They passed more and more people as they walked and a large group of people in the main building, whispering in fearful tones that quieted further when her and Lock-Nah passed. There were a few younger Medjai directing people further into the building while older ones were setting up makeshift beds. Lock-Nah led her out of the Cult Building and into the bright sun she couldn't feel.
The sounds of gunfire and shouts in the distance echoed strangely off the buildings. Ardeth was already outside, looking as concerned as his magic felt. He was directing a few other Medjai around him with how to help the affected villagers.
"Ardeth." Lock-Nah called out for his friend. Ardeth's eyes flitted between the two of them before relief took over.
"Lock-Nah." Ardeth gripped Lock-Nah's arm roughly, not that Lock-Nah seemed to mind. "Your Majesty." He addressed Harry with a slight bow, which was far more than Harry wanted to see from him. "A large group of men have attacked the village. The Medjai tried to resist, but we were quickly overpowered by their weapons." Ardeth reported.
"What kind of weapons?" Lock-Nah asked with a hard voice.
"Automatic rifles. A few guns that fired actual fire. I've heard a few small explosions, so perhaps some grenades." Ardeth continued his report. "One of the injured warriors mentioned you by name. The last I heard, they were trying to burn down the Oasis you grew, with little luck." He pointed in the direction of the first garden she grew for the villagers. There was a large choppy plume of smoke rising up into the sky.
The garden. Harry suddenly remembered that she only grew that garden because the village food store had been burned down by a bunch of men trying to terrorize the village into submission. "I think it has something to do with the men I killed that day." She told the two men. She really shouldn't be that calm about talking about her very serious crimes.
Lock-Nah growled deeply in his throat. "Terrorists then." He shook his head sadly before schooling his features once more. "They will not stop until we stop them or they are victorious." He stated with a finality that concerned Harry.
There was sudden shouting much closer to the small group, causing Ardeth and Lock-Nah to run towards it and leave her by the building. While she had fought many battles and in a war, Harry was still afraid of fighting. Or maybe it was better to say she was afraid of doing it wrong. Death was too easy to deal out in a battle and impossible to take back.
"Such wisdom is wasted on a people lost as this." Imhotep's deep voice calmed her thoughts as he approached from behind. "Death is essential yet care must be taken as well." He continued as they both watched Lock-Nah direct the Medjai warriors while Ardeth saw to the injured being brought to the building.
"What's the right answer here?" Harry asked, feeling like a lost little girl once more.
Imhotep sighed gently. "There is seldom a 'right' answer. Merely a better one." He explained in his usual smooth tone.
There were more shouts, now just around the corner, as more villagers ran to the Cult Building for safety. Harry spotted Farida running with the others but watched as she tripped in the sand. There was a man running after her, his large gun pointed to the older woman, anger written across his face. There was no way Harry could stand idle while the mother of the girls she saw as little sisters was murdered.
"Protego!" Harry threw out her magic to protect Farida.
The spell did not do as it was supposed to. Instead of a shield protecting the woman, golden flames erupted in a ring around her prone form. The man fired his gun and Harry could feel her blood run cold, knowing her magic did what it wanted to do, not what she wanted it to do and now Farida would pay the price of her own inadequacies. Harry watched as the golden flames erupted upwards as the sounds of his gunfire echoed off the buildings around them, yet Farida did not react. The man looked down at Farida, the confusion clear on his face, and then began hitting his gun roughly. Harry flinched when Farida got up and ran through the golden flames, but she seemed unharmed when she ran right up to Harry.
Farida gripped Harry's arms roughly and looked deeply into her eyes. "Thank you! For everything but especially that magic." She looked back to the man with the gun who fired at them again, but the flames jumped up again between them again. With Farida safer now, Harry could see some kind of dust flowing out from the flames every time the man shot his gun.
"Get inside. Your girls should be in the Potion Kitchen." Harry explained quickly and pushed the older woman into the building, which she did so quickly.
Looking back to the man, she found that he was now gone with only the small ring of golden flames remaining. She was thinking a few frankly uncharitable things regarding her magic when a second man with a large gun came up and aimed at her. Imhotep lazily raised his hand to the man, probably to kill him in some increasingly gruesome way, when the golden flames shot upwards to the sky in a thick column. The man with the gun stopped his approach and looked up to it with no small amount of trepidation, even Imhotep did not move further. The golden column of flames twisted around strangely until the top of the column opened like a flower. A flower that was actually the head of a cobra, its hood already flared. The new development snapped the attacking man out of his stupor and he quickly aimed his gun to fire at the magical fire cobra. It attacked before the man could, breathing more golden fire directly onto the man. From what they could see of the man through the fire, his clothes burned away followed quickly by his flesh and then his bones. The cobra stopped breathing the fire and Harry was now able to see that all that was left of the man and his gun was a pathetic pile of ash being blown off of the shiny smooth glass it was resting on. New sounds not too far away drew the magical cobra's attention and it took off quickly towards it. Screams followed soon after.
"A damaging protective spell. Quite impressive." Imhotep practically purred.
"It was supposed to be a Protego Charm." She chose to ignore the heat in her lower belly that the tone he used caused. "That looked closer to a Fiendfyre." She could sense where the magical cobra was as it continued to attack only the people attacking the village.
Harry's mind was reeling trying to figure out what her magic had done this time. She had asked for a Protego, but got some kind of a Fiendfyre that seemed to only damage the attackers? Nothing about what happened made a lick of sense to her. She felt Imhotep's right hand gently touch her left shoulder and drag his fingertips across her shoulders to her right one so lightly that he left goosebumps in his wake. He leaned in close to her left ear, so she tilted her head to give better access to it. A feeling she had come to know only from this man, a strange mixture of near sexual pleasure and piercing pride, filled the magical tendril wrapped around her heart. The feeling intensified when her heart began to beat faster.
"Tend to your worshippers." His deep voice was smooth as silk as he spoke directly into her ear. "I will protect you while your warriors and snake take care of your enemies." He swore to her and, for a reason known only to him, he ever so carefully nipped the lobe of her ear.
They were in the middle of an attack, for fucks sake! Did this man not understand that? Harry brought a hand to his chest and applied a token amount of resistance until he was standing at his full height above her. The smugness that came off of him was nearly unbearable, yet she found she still didn't mind it too much. It was just a part of him that she had come to know and even enjoy at times. Harry walked past him and into the main building, feeling his eyes follow her keenly.
The main room reminded her far too much of the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. There were makeshift triage areas already put up around the room with other villagers doing their best to help their neighbors. A couple of the Medjai warriors were helping move people and supplies with one of the Chieftains she'd been teaching magic directing his people around the room. She felt bad that she hadn't helped at all with her school mates or teachers after that battle, but thought she could make up for that now.
Harry quickly moved around the room, still very aware of how out of place she still looked amongst these rural people, but pushed it aside for now. From the looks on the faces of the people that surrounded her, they didn't care how nice her clothes were or how pale her skin was. They only cared about how she helped them, the gratitude written across their faces as she healed their family members, friends, and fellow villages. Most of the injuries were gunshots or burns which were easy enough to heal. Clione and Zalika came into the room carrying boxes full of potion bottles while Farida handed out the bottles to anyone who had smaller injuries. It would have pleased Harry to see the young girls helping their fellows, but an intense emotion had settled into her chest, making it hard to breathe around. She did her best to ignore it while she worked, but it was hard. It felt like her emotions from the dream had come alive once more and had decided to settle within her chest with little care for how she felt about it.
Once the people with the worst injuries were healed, Harry took in her surroundings once more. Most of the people left in the large room were either still being treated for their injuries or were helping the injured with their injuries and moving the uninjured further into the building. Off in the distance, her magical cobra fell into the sand and disappeared. She could only hope that that meant that the immediate danger had passed. Imhotep was still right outside the building, from what she could feel from his magic, and she was relieved that she did not need to worry about their attackers while healing the people affected.
But the emotions in her chest weren't leaving. They had settled like a rock between her lungs, making it difficult to breathe, making her heart beat harder. She needed some space to try to sort this weird mess of emotions that seemed to cling to her no matter where she went or what she did.
"Ardeth." Harry greeted the man that was now inside the building, helping his brothers help the people. "Do you need anything further?" She asked as she brushed at a spot of blood on the transparent portion of her pants, causing it to fall away like it had never been there. "There are some other matters I need to see to." She hoped her lie wasn't too obvious.
Ardeth looked around the room. "You helped the ones that would have died otherwise. The only ones left are the ones with minor injuries, which your servants are seeing to now." Ardeth looked back at her. "We will be fine without you from here on." Ardeth replied with a gentle smile, which Harry returned happily.
Her magic covered her quiet escape as she slipped out of the room and walked quickly to her office. Once inside the entry room, she closed the door with a heavy sigh. The quiet didn't help her emotions, but it did make them clearer. It wasn't just any emotions that were trying to suffocate her, it was grief and fear. But why? She was concerned about the people attacking the defenseless villagers, but not to the point of such fear settling so solidly within her. Harry pushed off the door and walked into her office, the door clicking locked behind her.
The idea to come to her office had been a practical one, a place to hide that would be unlikely to come to mind to anyone that might come looking for her, but now she wasn't too sure. She wanted to lie down, maybe nap a bit, while trying to untangle this dense knot of emotions, but she couldn't do that here. With a heavy sigh, Harry fell into the comfortable chair, wondering if she should just go to her Oasis and hope the girls wouldn't come looking for her. She slouched in her chair while propping her feet up on her desk, resolutely ignoring her magic while it moved around her. She closed her eyes while she rubbed at her chest absentmindedly, still trying to breathe through the overwhelming sadness that had overtaken the fear and grief.
"Are you well?" Harry was startled slightly by Imhotep's low-pitched voice speaking from the silence of the room.
"How long have you been here?" She asked, opening her eyes just enough to peer at where his voice came from.
Imhotep was standing in the doorway of her office, his posture as stiff as it usually was, but that wasn't what really drew her attention. The office desk and chair were gone, replaced with a chaise lounge very similar to the one in her Oasis. This one was fully flat with her back and feet being propped up by pillows that she fell into with a slight bounce once she noticed them. The emotions still leadened within her chest stole whatever energy she had to react to that new information. Imhotep looked pleased enough, but he normally looked like that whenever it was just the two of them.
"Not long at all." He responded as he walked up the short stairs to where she was laying. "Something has unsettled you." He looked down at her, the crease between his eyebrows was the only evidence of his worry.
"I haven't been feeling right since the dream." She replied sadly. She was feeling weighed down by the emotions in her chest, something that had never happened before. "It feels like there's a lead ball in my chest." Imhotep's eyes followed the movement of her hand as she gently stroked her sternum.
Imhotep nodded slightly before he walked to her chaise and sat down by her hip, seemingly unperturbed by the change of furniture. "It may well be you have ascended adequately to share the feeling of your worshippers more sagaciously." Despite never having heard that word before, she knew it was just a fancier word for keenly. "The Library of Alexandria may have more information to aid you to skillfully block those feelings of your lesser worshippers."
"Lesser?" Came Harry's sharp reply. The ball of emotions in her chest didn't necessarily lessen, but it softened, ever so slightly when her anger washed over it.
Imhotep either didn't notice her tonal change or didn't care. "The nature of the Gods still eludes me, however Heka has given me a small measure of insight." Imhotep continued on like Harry had never spoken, further aggravating her already tattered emotions. "You cannot let the emotions of those of poor breeding fog your senses." He spoke like a commander speaking to his troops. She was not some common fighter who would obey without thought!
The ball of emotions in her chest began to churn within itself like a potion beginning to boil. Harry stood up from the chaise quickly, ceasing whatever more Imhotep might have wanted to say. "Why did you have to be like this?" Harry asked no one but herself.
"To what do you mean?" Imhotep asked in response. It might have been her imagination, but he sounded almost timid. Not that Harry was going to dwell on a small fact like that when she felt like she was spiraling out of control.
"Like this!" She spun around to yell at him. Imhotep only straightened his spine, sitting tall, in response. "Why must you be everything that I lost my childhood fighting?" Her question came out low and threatening without meaning.
"I am as I am just as you are as you are." He answered. While true, his response did little to cool the ball of emotion that was beginning to burn her ribs.
"But why couldn't it be someone else?" Harry felt pathetic, asking the same question she had throughout her childhood, just like she had then as well. "Why me?" She sighed, feeling small and afraid once more. Her chest squeezed against the emotions that were growing heavy once more.
"The Gods have set you on this path and while the journey will be difficult…" Imhotep had started to explain whatever point he was going to make while rising from the chaise lounge, but Harry was sick of him trying to justify his blind obedience.
Without thinking, Harry threw her magic at the man and knocked him back onto the chaise lounge, forcing him onto his back. Her magic held him there without her asking, not that he tried to move out from under magic.
"You don't get to lecture me on a difficult path I have been forced to walk." She nearly growled at the man. She was so angry. Why was she so angry? Imhotep said nothing in reply, just watched her impassively. His lack of reaction made her chest burn hotter. She felt like she was losing control, but of what, she did not know. Her body moved nearly on its own and she sat down, straddling Imhotep's thighs. "Why did it have to be you?" She asked herself softly, not even sure what she was really asking about.
Imhotep did not answer her immediately. He remained motionless beneath her even as her magic was slowly slid against his magic as it enveloped and controlled it. Harry wasn't sure if his magic would be fully under her control or if he would be able to throw it off, but she didn't care. The emotions inside her chest were still burning and churning out of control, but they had settled a bit while she sat astride the man.
"Do you believe you could have lived contentedly with some peasant?" Imhotep asked smoothly, but the barest hint of a challenging edge.
Harry chose not to respond to that question, lest it reveal more hidden truths of herself she might not be ready to confront. This ludicrously attractive man had been chipping away at her old self since he first rescued her from Malfoy Manor and she didn't fully hate it. Her eyes drifted down to his chest and she opened the front of his robe with delicate fingers until she could see the amulet he always wore beneath. It was a beautiful piece of ancient jewelry. She grabbed the amulet roughly and, with a swift movement, she tore it off him and threw it over her shoulder. It made a metallic clanging sound as it bounced off a wall and landed on the stone floor noisily. Imhotep did not move physically but she could feel how his magic seemed to solidify strangely.
"If you are truthful about belonging to me, then you will belong to only me. Am I clear?" Harry wasn't sure where any of this was coming from, but the ball of emotions in her chest continued to settle and…and…
It felt good.
It felt so good to completely control this man. Was this what Lord Voldemort and his sympathizers felt? Was this feeling what they were chasing with their beliefs and policies?
"I am yours." Imhotep replied, his voice dipping even deeper and without breaking eye contact with her. "However you will it."
This man, he was so close to being Lord Voldemort while simultaneously being nothing like him. This man, murdered without remorse, inflamed her very being in a way she'd never experienced before. Despite everything she had witnessed, she still wanted him, but she decided that if she was going to claim him, she was going to own him. Harry rose from his thighs to stand. She wanted to pace while she considered his words.
"However I want." Harry muttered to herself, unsure what she really wanted to accomplish here. She wanted him to pay for…something. Her thoughts were racing and she was having trouble holding on to any one until they finally settled on a thought. A simple idea, one she would have never considered yesterday, but this was today. "Let us prove that assertion, shall we?" She added with an artificially light tone as she turned back to him. One that was very close to the one Umbridge used any time she had the pleasure to punish a student.
Harry set her concerns aside, like it had always been just that easy, and considered how she was going to approach this. The wild part of her, the one that yearned to be free, pushed her towards a more…enjoyable version of her original idea. Without even giving her orders any thought, her magic gently removed her clothes in a teasing display, melting away like ink in water as her magic moved down her body until she was bare before the man. His eyes did not move, staying firmly on her face even as she walked towards him. The slight twitch in his jaw gave him away though.
"I want you to speak Parseltongue to me." Harry explained what she wanted from him before swinging her leg over his head and settling her hips close to his head.
Harry allowed Imhotep to reach up through her magic to grab onto her hips. She knew her experience in this area was woefully inadequate, so she would need to continue to allow him small amounts of freedom until she learned more. Imhotep's hands gripped her harder than strictly necessary and pulled her hips closer to his face roughly. She wanted to be indignant with the overly masculine display, but settled once she felt the first slow movement of his tongue against her. It was a long and slow lick that touched everything she wanted, like he was savoring her. That thought was nearly as pleasurable as his second and third lick against her.
Harry laid down fully on Imhotep, folding her arms under her chest and making herself more comfortable as her lover worked her body. The movement of his tongue against that most sensitive part of her was not enough to immediately arouse her but it did relax her. With a dismissive flick of her wrist, she used her magic to remove his clothes, though she kept her eyes closed. Harry wanted to feel his skin against hers and, judging by the way his own magic rippled pleasingly against hers that was still holding it securely, he liked it as well.
Imhotep changed his technique, shifting from the long and languid licks that gave Harry the impression that he was tasting and savoring her, to sucking firmly on her clit. That sent pleasurable little shocks right up her spine and she let out a small little gasp at the new sensation that broke the quiet of the room. Imhotep gripped her hips harder still, holding her even closer with a piercing grip and began alternating between firm licks and growing suction. Harry hummed happily as she shifted her upper half up onto her elbows. Imhotep's fingers, that were already gripping her quite hard, intensified to the point that Harry wondered if she was going to have fingertip bruises when she began to grind down on his mouth.
The pleasure she was finding from the man beneath her began to build in the same way that she had experienced at the Library. She relaxed into the sensations, now knowing how to. Her eyes drifted open for a moment and she now saw his own erection, hard and leaking droplets down onto his navel and belly. She thought about reaching out and taking him into her hand to control his pleasure but chose not to. She wasn't feeling particularly kind to him right now, so returned to focusing on her own pleasure. With her head leaned back onto her shoulders, she fully surrendered to the pleasurable dam just as it burst. Imhotep's tongue flicked deftly across her pearl as she could barely make out something as words from between her thighs.
Harry opened her eyes, looking at the sandstone wall without really seeing it. It took a long time for her mind to finally wake up enough for her to realize that she was back in her bedroom and in her bed. That was about all she could tell for a bit until her brain seemed to wake up more. It really felt like she was trying to think while drowning in goose down. Harry shifted, maybe to get up, when a large hand wrapped around her neck and pulled her into a larger body. After another embarrassing moment, Harry realized that Imhotep was in bed with her and had pulled her into his body. He quickly set to placing numerous small kisses along her jaw with a hand still holding onto her neck.
"What?" She asked barely above a whisper. What was she even asking?
"You were magnificent, My Beloved." Imhotep whispered against the skin of her neck as he trailed kisses down it.
Harry grabbed onto the wrist of his hand still gripping her neck in an effort to ground herself while trying to figure out what had happened. Blurry images of her with Imhotep in her office came to her slowly. It was strange that her mind was so muddled when her body felt fresh and well rested. The more she thought about the hazy memories, the easier the images came to her. A memory of her mounting him and the aggressive act made her a little sick to her stomach.
"Why did I do those things?" She asked herself, feeling strangely violated. The feeling of the memories were similar to when Heka possessed her the first time but Harry hasn't felt her presence or heard her words in some time.
"More of your Divine Endowments are awakening." Imhotep answered into the skin below her ear, giving her goosebumps across her body.
"Fuck." Harry muttered as she rubbed her eyes roughly. "I wished I'd get some warning once in a while." She muttered to herself as Imhotep's lips trailed down her neck once more. More goosebumps appeared when he must have hit a sensitive spot, but it aggravated her instead of pleasing her. She pushed her right hand in between his lips and her skin to stop his movements. "Give me a minute!" Harry whispered harshly.
Imhotep placed one soft kiss on her hand before he moved away from her. That gave Harry the chance to take a deep breath and try to clear her mind. She peered at Imhotep out of the corner of her eye, wondering why he was being so quiet. Usually he had something maybe insightful or irritating when something like this happened. He was looking at her, or maybe a better term would be gazing, with a soft look on his face that she wasn't used to seeing. What little of her temper that had flared quickly cooled.
"You require more rest, Dearest." He suggested in a tone softer than any other she'd ever heard. He shifted slowly, moving closer to her and placed a gentle hand on her thigh still covered by the light blanket. He pressed his forehead to her own with gentle firmness. "Rest." His words resonated with her mind and she fell asleep once more.
"My Lady?" A small voice calling for her roused Harry from her sleep. She opened her eyes and saw both Clione and Zalika looking over the edge of her bed, looking worried.
"Hmm? Yes?" She asked with a voice still rough with sleep and she tried her best to wipe the lingering sleep out of her eyes.
"The Medjai warriors have finished securing the village, but they've encountered a problem." Zalika started speaking first.
"Lock-Nah is looking for you." Clione added quietly. "He's hoping you will know what to do."
Harry nodded absentmindedly as she sat up. The fog in her mind had lifted enough that she felt more like herself and awake enough to hope that she would actually know what to do about whatever problem cropped up this time. Their words did make her think as much as she could. She remembered waking up with Imhotep in bed with her and him putting her back to sleep. And then there was whatever had happened in her office. But the Medjai were just securing the village? How much time had passed?
The two girls started getting her ready as soon as she got her feet on the floor. Clione looked up to her with a question in her eyes and Harry's old wand in her hands. Harry nodded with a soft smile and the young girl lit up like it was Christmas morning at the Weasley's. She used Harry's old wand and a still-too-advanced spell to change Harry's pajamas into the newer white outfit she had 'made' for her. Zalika oohed over the outfit, praising her sisters' skill. Harry allowed them to talk amongst themselves regarding the outfit and Clione's quickly advancing magic as well as Zalika's own magical growth. Harry found that the conversation didn't bother her as much as it had before, though she wasn't sure why. The girls walked with her out of her Oasis and towards the main room while continuing their chittering conversation.
Harry saw Lock-Nah as soon as they entered the room. He was speaking with Ardeth and a few other men she didn't immediately recognize but knew that they were some of the other Chieftains that she hadn't met yet. Lock-Nah glanced their way and Harry could practically feel his relief.
"Your Majesty," He greeted with a small bow of his head, "I was worried when I could not find you."
"Why?" Harry asked, wondering why the large man would be so worried about her. It wasn't the first time she'd disappeared on him. The girls hung back behind her when she came to a stop to talk.
"You had lost what little color you had just before you left." Lock-Nah replied as he subtly looked her over. "I was concerned that you had overexerted yourself with the fire snake spell. I even went so far to employ your ladies to help locate you." He explained.
Harry smiled at the man's care of her. "There was no reason to worry about me. Imhotep found me a little later and took care of me." Harry explained in kind while trying desperately to not blush. Lock-Nah absolutely did not need to know what they did after she slipped away.
"That's good." Lock-Nah let out a small breath. "Now that you are here, perhaps you can help us with this glass." Lock-Nah motioned to the side of the room behind her.
"Glass?" She asked as she turned to see.
On the side of the room opposite from the throne were strange looking large bowls stacked carefully against the wall. She walked over to take a closer look, finding that they weren't really bowls. They looked like molten glass had been poured into the sand and left to cool enough to handle with bare hands with a dip in the middle that gave it a bowl look. Most were large enough for a small child to bathe in them.
"Yes, glass." Lock-Nah came to stand next to her. "I have received multiple reports that state that these were left after the fire snake you summoned attacked our enemies."
Harry reached out to run a finger along the smooth side of the glass, finding it had an oily texture. She rubbed her other fingers against that finger and felt no residue on her finger.
"I'm not sure how to help you out here." Harry muttered as she backed away from the pile of glass. "I've never done that spell before, so I don't know what this could be other than glass that might be magical."
"It is magical." A new, much older sounding voice came from behind Lock-Nah.
Lock-Nah turned to look and quickly bowed deeper to whomever spoke while also moving back from Harry. He revealed an incredibly old woman, her back hunched with her age, wearing plain yet weathered clothes. Her hair was still pitch black despite her apparent age. The soft current of magic reached out from the woman to Harry.
"I mean, yeah." Harry replied, unsure what to really say to this person. "That's a fair assumption."
The woman peered at Harry out of the corner of her eye before walking closer to the glass. Lock-Nah stepped closer to Harry than he had stood before.
"This is one of our tribes' oldest Elders, Your Majesty." Lock-Nah explained to her without prompting.
"What can you tell us about the glass?" Harry asked the woman without acknowledging Lock-Nah.
The old woman slowly walked over to the glass pile and gently drug her fingertips across the smooth side a few times before she turned slightly towards Harry with a large smile.
"We used to call this Divine Glass. It can happen when a God's magic hits the sand. The magical properties of this glass is actually much stronger from those you cleansed." She turned back to the glass to stroke it some more. "It's been so long since I've seen any, but here we have so much!" Her voice grew lighter with happiness and she turned back to Harry once more, a sharp gleam in her eye. "I'm hardly surprised it took a God being born in this realm to get us back on the right side of the Old Ways."
Harry let the shock of all the new information slide off her mind. So much had been happening to her while in Egypt, and back home in Great Britain if she were being honest with herself, that she would not deal with it later. Maybe eventually she'd circle back, but she had so many things to circle back to that she was feeling like it would never happen. That idea helped her feel a bit lighter, a bit more in control of herself.
"What do you use it for?" Harry asked as she looked over the growing pile of glass.
"Ooh, a great many things." The crone replied. "This glass will amplify the magical qualities of anything that touches it." The old woman let out a dry, raspy laugh. "I wager you're so powerful, you don't even feel it."
"Many of the warriors bringing the glass in have complained about the glass making the magic in their hands vibrate uncomfortably. It has made it hard to move the glass here. " Lock-Nah added with a gentle smile.
Harry was more than a little over this whole conversation. She was still feeling all out of sorts from that stupid dream and the patience she gained from Imhotep's skillful mouth was already wearing thin.
"Where can we start with it?" Harry asked a bit sharply. Lock-Nah glanced in her direction but said nothing.
"Potion bottles are the most common." The woman replied without looking at Harry. "Makes them stronger."
"Alright." Harry was relieved to have finally been given a direction. "Zalika here is in charge of our Potion Kitchen, so you will work for her regarding that." Harry beckoned Zalika to her side and the young girl complied quickly, bowing deep enough to make the beads in her hair jingle.
"You expect me to submit to a child?" The old woman sneered at Harry. The poor thing barely registered with Harry.
"You will if you want to continue to be involved." Harry stated in such a way that brooked no argument. She didn't miss how Lock-Nah shifted next to her. "You'll stay here and continue to supervise?" She asked Lock-Nah, who nodded in return. Harry wondered why he looked so nervous.
The old woman sneered again but said nothing further, instead turned away from Harry like a petulant child. Fine by her. The last thing Harry was in the mood to do was deal with some cranky old witch talking down to her. Harry turned and started to walk away while motioning to the twins to follow her.
"Where are we going?" Zalika asked quietly.
"I was thinking you could show me how your Potions are coming." Harry suggested with an indulgent smile. Both girls gasped before both making high pitched sounds of glee.
The Potion Kitchen had certainly grown since the last time Harry had been there. There were many more herbs hanging up at each of the smaller prep areas as well as more people at the areas. It was explained that Donkor had been recruiting others, mostly young adults seeking new skills, to help increase the output of potions. A couple of young men were in the Kitchen with Donkor already when they entered. Zalika started speaking quickly regarding all the different potions she's been reading about and how much fun it was to brew. Clione had been helping her sister whenever she wasn't with Harry. Farida popped out of the storage room and was quick to thank Harry again for saving her from one of the enemies as well as thanking her again for giving her girls such good jobs and keeping them safe. Harry took it all graciously, even if she still had the lingering feeling of not having done those things for them.
Zalika had begged Harry to help her brew a potion and she just couldn't deny such an innocent request from such an innocent girl. A few doctors from other villages had sent requests for certain potions in return for joining their organization. The girls were excited to start helping more people further away, but Harry saw the expansion of influence for the Cult for what it was. She wondered if Imhotep would be pleased. Zalika handing her a letter that had a larger request pulled her from thinking about him for longer. A doctor was asking for some potions for sleep to help aid some of his patients. Easy enough of a request and they could fill the whole request with many for their own use if they used the largest cauldron. Harry walked the girls through the simple potion while enjoying the quiet bubbling of the potions and the sounds of knives on wood.
Harry stepped back from the large cauldron and leaned against one of the prep areas to allow the girls room to work at bottling it up happily. She rubbed her chest contentedly but that feeling wavered when she noticed something was missing. She shifted her focus and figured it out after a moment. The tendril of Imhotep's magic was not wrapped around her heart anymore. Her magic immediately spread out, looking for the magical signature of the man, but it came up with nothing. It was strange, but Harry chose not to worry about it. Imhotep was a powerful man and had proven to be fully capable of protecting himself. She would learn soon what he had been up to.
After some time, Harry managed to sneak out of the Potion Kitchen with a sly wink to Farida who returned it as she distracted her daughters. She felt her magic do something that felt like putting a blanket over the Kitchen as she walked away but chose to leave it. This new type of magic hadn't done anything yet to concern her so she remained unperturbed by it. Harry wondered a bit if she should be more concerned with having a type of magic that seemed to have a mind of its own. She wondered what Ron or Hermione might say, but couldn't come up with anything. Their memories felt so distant now and it troubled her how little she seemed to care. Perhaps this was something she really did need to deal with sooner rather than the later to never she had been doing.
A noise caught her attention and only then did she realize that she had wandered towards the outside wall of the Cult Building. Harry peeked around the decorative pillar to see the head of Rick pop in through one of the windows.
"Rick?!" Harry exclaimed in shock as she stepped out from behind the pillar. What the actual fuck was this man doing climbing through a side window?
"You!" He practically yelled just before nearly falling flat onto his face. He quickly scampered to his feet and dusted off the sand that had gotten stuck to his clothes. "I have a bone to pick with you!" Rick pointed at her angrily.
"What could I have possibly done to you?" Harry replied agitated for some reason. While true it was usually something she had done that resulted in that tone from others, but they could at least tell her what she did before they started yelling at her.
"Do you have any idea what people in this village are saying about you?!" Rick exclaimed once more as knocked more sand loose from his shirt.
Harry shrugged, unsure what he was getting at. "I'm sure they say a lot, but what's got you in so many knots?"
Rick sighed out heavily, visibly deflating in front of her. "They're calling you a God. They claim you're going to save them. That you're…" Rick's statement tapered off, but since Harry wasn't sure what he was getting at so she remained silent. Rick noticed she was not picking up from his tapered sentence so he sighed and continued once more. "That you're going to bring back magic." He finally finished in a whisper.
Harry could only nod slowly at him. "Yeah? Rick, we've already talked about that. At the bar?" She explained slowly, wondering what was really bothering Rick.
Without immediately answering, Rick ran his hands through his hair a few times. It was clear that he was working through something, so she continued to wait. Not like there was somewhere that she needed to be. Her imagination quickly moved to Imhotep and the many pleasurable things he had done to her, but she wrestled her mind back under her control. Now was not the time for any of that.
Harry nodded knowing that it sounded insane. Rick sighed again, heavier this time. "You gotta be fucking kidding me, that 's all true?!" He stabbed an accusing finger at her. "We were drinking! I thought you were fucking with me!"
"Ok, you need to calm down, right now!" Harry's temper finally broke, making her yell at Rick. She closed her eyes while taking a large breath in before she exhaled just as slowly and opened her eyes to look at himk. He seemed to have calmed down a little bit. He was at least looking down in a manner of regret.
"I'm sorry." He finally muttered after a tense moment. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine as long as you tell me what's really going on with you!" Harry implored. Rick had been a good friend, especially when he had no idea what was going on around him. But it was clear to Harry that something else was going on with him.
Rick nodded while still looking down. "Evie's magic has continued to grow. She wants to seek out training, but she doesn't want to go to any of the established places." Rick shrugged pathetically. "Says they're too far behind, whatever that means." He let out another, softer sigh. "She'd heard many locals talk about the one leading this Cult as someone she could turn to, but there was so little information. I didn't want her to learn at a place with the word 'cult' in the title. A shopkeeper in a village close to here mentioned that the leader was a fellow foreigner. It made me think of you, so I started asking different questions."
"You found out that they really were talking about me." Harry finished for him. He seemed grateful as he fell against the wall in a lean.
"Yeah, I did." He sighed once more.
They remained quiet between them for a long moment that just kept going. Harry sympathized with the older man. Her life was always a lot more than what other people assumed, usually more than they could handle on their own, so was it any wonder that Rick was struggling heavily in light of the truth as Harry knew it?
"I'm worried." Rick finally spoke. Harry wasn't sure what he was really saying, so she waited for another long moment for him to speak again. "I'm worried about Evie. And Jonathan too, I suppose."
"Why?" Harry pressed when Rick didn't seem to want to continue talking.
"Evie is loving the magic and all the new things she can do. She's already started collecting books on magic to teach herself. Jonathon is doing what he does best when he's facing personal growth: Ignore it. Barring that, he drinks it away." He gave Harry a sad smile.
Harry nodded, remembering his brother-in-law the last time she saw the man. More than half drunk and looking for a fight.
"That's not everything. What's really bothering you?" Harry pressed. Rick was a man that held little back to those he had come to know and care for so it was very obvious when he was upset.
"I know how the magical world can be." He finally began. "I looked into your story after we first met. Really looked. I saw a lot of what they did to you and you were one of them." Rick continued frustrated. "Evie was born a Squib. I don't want them to hurt her just because of how she was born." He finally finished.
"I understand." And she did. She didn't like how Squib's were treated in any of the communities she'd come across. It seemed like no matter where the European Magical Communities went, inequality followed close on their heels. "She can come here to learn." Harry continued cautiously. The suspicious gleam in Rick's eye as he looked at her proved her instincts right. "The Medjai are also Squib's that have recently gained magic. I can help her just as I am helping them."
Rick continued to look at her but the suspiciousness wavered. "She'll be safe here?" He asked in the form of a demand.
Harry wished she could give him the assurances he craved, but she could give him something. "Safety, right now, is in short supply." She began to explain and it seemed like Rick too remembered the attack on the village some day or days ago. Harry glanced out the window, seeing the sun creeping ever closer to the horizon. "But I can guarantee that if your wife comes here for training, that we will protect her with the ferocity that we protect our own." Harry explained, feeling a little more secure in making a statement such as that one. She was finally beginning to feel like she could make a statement like that.
Rick nodded, still full of suspicion, but not towards Harry in particular. It seemed like his life had simply made him a suspicious person. Harry understood that deeply and knew how hard some of those hard learned lessons could be to forget so she did not take it personally.
"Can I come with her?" He asked hesitantly and without looking at her.
Harry glanced to her side when she saw movement on the ground next to her. It was a small snake that she quickly recognized as her little snake friend Nif. They curled up next to her foot, seemingly waiting for their current conversation to reach its natural end.
"Of course you can come with her. She's your wife." Harry replied with a smile, one Rick returned without thinking. "I know this is all…a lot. It's been a lot for me too."
"It really has been, hasn't it?" Rick chuckled a little bit, sounding like a real laugh. He looked down at Nif before motioning towards the snake. "What's this? Another friend of yours?" He asked in a joking manner.
"Actually, yeah." She replied, seeing his gentle smile fall a little bit. Harry turned to Nif, wondering if the snake needed something other than a good gossip. "Nif! To what do I owe this visit?" She hissed gently at the little snake. Rick shifted with unease, but continued to listen.
"Oh! You remember me! You must like me!" Nif bumped its body into the side of her ankle in a motion that looked like the closest a snake could get to a shoulder bump. "Oh, how I wish that I could stay and see all the people, but I've been sent here for something very important!" Nif exclaimed very happily. Harry wondered if the little snake was ever anything other than happy with life.
"You've been sent here? By whom?" Harry knew nothing about snake society or what kind of hierarchy they might have, so it was interesting to hear that there was at least someone in charge that the little snakes listened to.
"They said it would be hard for me to explain, but I know you would understand. They asked that I bring you to them so they can explain!"
Nif curled its body onto the top of her foot as they looked up to her with their little, beady eyes that still seemed so expressive. Harry reached down and picked up the little snake before turning back to Rick.
"Looks like I need to go meet with someone. Wanna come?" Harry asked, the little snakes' jubilant mood had seemed to infect her. She wasn't sure if that was why she invited Rick with her, but she chalked it up to just wanting some company from a fellow outsider and maybe help him relax a bit.
Rick's eyes flitted between her and Nif a few times before he let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" He agreed with a surprising amount of sarcasm. Harry didn't mind since she was also incredibly sarcastic at the best of times. It was just how people who had lived hard lives dealt with their stress.
Nif led the way to whomever it was that wanted to meet with her. Rick bartered for a couple of camels at the edge of the village but the camels were given for free once the old man saw Harry. He bowed to her deeply a few times before leaving for his small hut. Rick gave her an unimpressed look which she responded to with a shrug. He just shook his head and got on his camel. Harry placed Nif at the base of the Camel's neck while she got onto the large creature's back. The camel didn't seem to mind having the little brown snake curl around its neck as it started into the desert.
"Oh! This is so exciting!" The little snake exclaimed once the village had disappeared behind a sand dune. "I've never been allowed on a camel before!"
Harry chuckled at the little snake but did not reply. Rick remained silent next to her and she could practically feel him stewing. She didn't want her speaking Parseltongue to sour his mood more. They moved across the sand in silence for a lot longer than Harry would have thought until Rick spoke up.
"I like the new outfit." He murmured with a lame hand motion towards her.
Harry smiled at him. All that time to think and all he could think of was to compliment her outfit. He clearly did not have much experience with other people. That thought warmed her towards him even more.
"Do you really like it or is that just something to say to fill the silence?" Harry replied with enough mirth in her voice to let him know she was teasing him.
Effort well spent when he turned his head just enough to playfully glare at her out of the corner of his eye and a smirk on his lips. "How old are you anyway? I'm too young to be a dirty old man." He chuckled deeply as he spoke.
Harry laughed loudly at that. "I'm old enough anywhere." She replied, only then really realizing that she didn't actually know how old she was.
The time she spent in the Malfoy Manor seemed to stretch on forever so she wasn't really sure how long it had been. She could assume that her birthday had passed while down there, meaning she was at least eighteen, but that didn't answer much. The time spent in Egypt passed without her notice and she had reached the point of having no idea if her birthday had come once more. Was she eighteen or was she now nineteen? She gave an internal shrug at that thought. It would be trivial to get the date and answer that question when she wanted. Maybe she'd do that when they got back from this meeting, if Imhotep did not pull her attention away from these quiet questions once more.
"That's good." Rick let out a breath, like he had deflated slightly. "It does actually look good. I've never been good at telling women they look nice without it sounding like a come on." He shook his head at himself.
"Don't worry. I didn't take it as a come on." She replied with a little laugh. "One of my servants decided I needed a new outfit and made this for me." Harry ran a gentle finger down the nearly translucent fabric that covered her legs.
"Why'd they make an outfit so…" Rick made a circular movement with his right hand as he seemed to think of the word he wanted.
"Provocative?" Harry suggested and Rick's face lit up.
"Yeah! Why make your outfit so provocative?" He finished his question.
Harry shrugged in response. "She told me that she was helping me tempt Imhotep."
"That's the dirty old man that you have the hots for, right?" Rick gave her an exaggerated movement of his eyebrow, which she didn't fully understand the meaning of, but laughed all the same.
"Ugh, he is a dirty old guy, isn't he?" Harry made a disgusted sound that quickly devolved into giggles that quickly spread to Rick. Nif was listening intently, but didn't seem to want to be involved in their conversation.
The laughter died away and the three of them continued off into the desert at Nif's direction in comfortable silence. After some amount of time passed, a small sandstone building, not too dissimilar to the one that she met Rick and his family in, came into view through the dying haze of the desert sand. It still took a bit of time to get there so the sun was fully setting by the time Rick started to tie up the camels just outside the entryway. Nif slithered into the building first, leaving Harry to wait for Rick before they walked in together at a slower pace.
The entryway narrowed into a hallway that was wider than normal, giving it a square shape with torches lit the whole way. They walked for a little ways before they ran back into Nif that slithered slower so they could keep up. The walls were bare of anything other than the stones and torches. The hallway descended slowly enough that they could walk without any problems for enough time that the air became noticeably cooler. Rick's nerves must have gotten the better of him since he pulled his two holstered guns out once the air became colder. He followed behind Harry carefully with his guns up, watching all around them and ready should the need arise. Harry didn't think it would be needed, but she couldn't be upset about him being prepared going into this unknown situation. She adored what little she had seen of Nif, but she was intelligent enough to know that it wouldn't necessarily translate over to whomever they were meeting.
After a long time of walking, the hallway opened into a huge, dark room. Only the part of the room by the hallways had any light and it quickly faded when trying to fight the deep darkness in the room. Nif continued to slither deeper into the gloom, leaving Harry and Rick behind without a second thought. Harry heard Rick cock both his guns, clearly the man was ready for the worst.
A strange sound began to echo off the walls, moving towards them. Rick shifted his stance as the sound grew, making sure he was ready for a fight. Harry did not feel her magic respond in any way towards whatever was coming their way, so she remained mostly neutral. Years of fighting against Lord Voldemort nearly alone honed her instincts to be ready for a fight even when it wasn't immediately noticeable. She briefly wondered if she was always going to be ready for a fight when encountering new situations, before the sounds were upon them. The movement they were hearing stilled while still shrouded in darkness. Harry's magic told her that there was something in the darkness, but that only irritated her. Of course there was something in the darkness. She heard it!
Then the light began catching on what looked to be snake scales, but much larger. A large object that Harry quickly realized was a gigantic snake head emerged from the darkness. It was much larger than the Basilisk she fought when still a child. It looked like a regular snake head, just massive. The scales were dark on the top but appeared lighter on its underbelly, the scales reflecting the light like a mirror. The snakehead rose up, nearly touching the tall ceiling, and stopped moving. It was much, much larger than a Basilisk.
"Hari." The giant snake spoke in a deep toned parseltongue that she swore she could feel in the ground. "Goddess of Life and Renewal. Daughter of Heka. The Mortal God." The snake's deep tones bounced off the stone walls. "I, Apep, the Lord of Chaos and Devourer of Light, do welcome you." Apep's words continued to bounce off the walls long after the snake stopped talking.
Rick remained tense behind her, but made no move to fight the giant snake. "Nif told me you wished to speak to me. I'm here now." She spoke to the snake, truly unsure how she was supposed to speak to this creature.
It dipped its large head towards her in an approximation of a bow. "Of course." It hissed quietly. "I regret to inform you that Imhotep, Your Beloved and the Pharaoh of Snakes, has been ensnared by your enemies."