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batsutousaiTitle: Nose to the Wind
Series: Like a Ghost in My Town
Fandom: Harry Potter
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Harry Potter/Lord Voldemort, James Potter/Lily Potter
Warnings: AU, violence, universe hopping/rebirth, Dark!Harry, werewolf!Harry, underage relationship (ish)
Summary: While Harry had been content with his second chance, that didn't keep him from thinking what he could have done different, how many people could have survived if he hadn't been set on the very specific path he'd walked. Third time is the charm, though, right?
A/N: This chapter developed a mind of its own, I swear. It got so utterly away from me.
This chapter starts my new thing of marking a part where the characters aren't speaking English by bolding that text. (Minor lie: I retroactively bolded some of Voldemort's notes to Harry, during my editing, but this is when it really starts to become a constant, so I didn't move the note. Also, lazy author is lazy.) So if something's bolded, assume it's in Atlantean, unless otherwise labelled.
Related: Harry and Death don't, necessarily, speak English when it's just them, but I'm not going to bother screwing around with bolding that, as languages are rather interchangeable between them.
For ages at the start of this chapter, Harry is 7. (Will is 6 and Chris is 3.)
Cross-posted to Archive of Our Own and LiveJournal.
Chapter Seven – You Just Might Get it All
-0-
The rest of that school year passed fairly uneventfully. Harry did finally get to start making potions, with Lily or Remus' supervision, a little before Chris' fourth birthday. On Will's orders, Harry made a potion that would turn the drinker's hair neon orange for the day, and Will slipped it to Chris, who got Sirius to drink it on account of it being his birthday and him being allowed to order people around. Sirius thought it was fantastic, but Lily did say no more potions to change hair colour. (Remus, on the other hand, was completely willing to help Harry make potions to change the colour of skin, eyes, fingernails, tongues, or whatever else they could find, and they spent the next couple of weekends pranking various members of the household. Lily gave up forbidding colour changing potions once she discovered Remus was in on it.)
By July, Lily had mostly stopped looking disapproving when she caught Will and Chris speaking Atlantean, and a couple late-night excursions had let Harry discover that his parents were trying to create their own dictionary of Atlantean, basing it on context clues when one of his brothers had to use English words for a concept that didn't exist in Atlantean, or it was pretty obvious what they were talking about.
"It's impressive work," Death offered when Harry asked it how their work was coming along, having been unable to actually get a look at the dictionary they'd been building. "They're wrong on a couple counts, and their spelling is atrocious, but they're not doing too badly, given they don't know anything about the language's origins."
Harry nodded to himself and rubbed his fingers along the edge of his robes, staring off into the darkness of the Realm of Death. "I see no reason to try stopping them," he decided. "As careless as Will and Chris are with it, any more, I doubt anything I do will stop Mum and Dad from forming some sort of record eventually."
"A most wise assumption, Master," Death agreed.
Harry glanced up at it. "Rather." He sighed and looked down at the stretch of robe he'd been worrying. "I expect I should be proud of their accomplishments, given how little they know about the language, but I think I'm more resigned than anything. Irritated, a bit."
"No one likes sharing their secrets, Master," Death offered, one skeletal hand squeezing his shoulder.
Harry snorted. "Quite true," he agreed, leaning in to Death's touch. "I suppose there are some things even I can't expect to keep from the people I live with."
Death rattled a quiet laugh. "Master, I believe it is because you are who you are that you have such difficulty hiding such things."
Harry scowled and side-eyed his servant. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Simply, Master, that you do not wish to hide yourself from those you most love."
Harry slumped, unable to disagree with that assessment. Because he didn't like lying to his family, for all he believed he needed to, to keep them safe. To keep them his.
"You're the one," a voice called, and Harry jerked his head up to find a heavy-set man with a well-tended beard standing in front of him. A rosary hung around his neck, half hidden in the folds of his dark robes, and he held a thick tome in one hand, pages turned at odd angles within it. "The one who is looking for the rarest of tales. Those treasures of the written word which have been hidden away from humanity."
Harry blinked and nodded. "That's me, yeah. Do you know of one?"
The man held out the tome, his whole bearing one of a man giving away the greatest of treasures. "The work of two lifetimes," he explained as Harry accepted it. "I have waited forever to find someone who will treat it as lovingly as it deserves, and now I have, I may pass on to the next life, may I never again recall this empty between." And he turned and walked away, fading as he went, on to his next life.
Harry turned to Death, both eyebrows raised. "I can't give something from the Realm of Death to Tom, not when he knows nothing of your magic. It'll decay the minute I leave the room."
Death inclined its hood in a nod. "Perhaps then, Master, you should begin copying the work over to a book created in the mortal realm."
Harry looked down at the book, page corners poking out at all angles. "Is it worth it?"
"Master," Death offered, cupping his cheek, "I believe you will discover it very much worth the effort."
Harry smiled up into the shadows of Death's hood, holding the book tight against his chest. "Speaking of secret-keeping."
Death rattled a laugh. "You would never forgive me, should I give you every answer."
"True enough," Harry admitted before stepping back, towards a doorway that obediently opened for him. "Go ferry some souls, Death." He glanced down at the book. "It seems I have work to do."
"As you will, Master," Death agreed before vanishing.
Harry chuckled to himself and returned to his darkened bedroom. After checking to make sure his brothers were both soundly asleep and not faking, he conjured a permanent book to rewrite the gift in and settled down on his bed to read the tome a bit before he went to sleep; it was too late to start transferring it over right then, honestly. And there, on the very first page, was written: 'Here bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury'.
"Oh, holy fuck," Harry breathed, staring down at that simple line of text. That had been Geoffrey Chaucer. And the book he held in his hands – the work of two lifetimes – was the book that he'd never finished in life. This was The Canterbury Tales.
Another thought occurred to Harry and a mean little smile spread across his face. "Tom is going to shit bricks when I give this to him." He covered his mouth to stifle a mad little giggle, then settled in to read the text; this was one book he was absolutely going to read before the dark lord.
For Harry's eighth birthday, Voldemort sent him a pack of rare potions ingredients.
"What, does this person think we're too poor to get the best ingredients?" James muttered. "What can he even make with this stuff, at his current level?"
"I don't know of any potions," Lily admitted, frowning at the offerings.
Harry ignored them in favour of reading Voldemort's brief note: 'I'm aware that your family hardly wants for money, but even these ingredients would serve as an unnecessary drain on your finances. That said, observe the attached.'
Harry frowned and turned the note over. There was a small pouch attached to the back that, when Harry touched it, ejected two new sheets of parchment. One was written in Atlantean, and appeared to have been directly copied from one of the books he'd given the dark lord, while the other was an English translation of that page. Harry glanced over the Atlantean version, only for his eyes to widen when he realised what Voldemort had found.
"Moon Easing?" Will translated, having come up behind Harry to read over his shoulder. "What's a 'moon easing' potion?"
"Harry?" Lily called, and he looked up to find all of the adults looking at him and Will. "What does the note say?"
Harry just handed over the English translation of the potion, grateful that Voldemort had thought to include it, especially considering that translating Atlantean didn't come naturally to the dark lord.
"Merlin," Remus breathed, reading over Lily's shoulder. He turned wide eyes on Harry, and Harry smiled at him in understanding. "Your benefactor, pup."
"It's a potion to ease the pain of a werewolf transformation," Lily explained for James, Sirius, and Peter, all of whom had turned to her as soon as Remus had spoken. "And it's... It's within Harry's skill level, it looks like, and uses most of these ingredients."
"...I'm beginning to like this person again," James decided, and the adults all laughed. "Is this going to turn into a potion-making day?" he asked Harry.
Harry considered that, then shrugged and mimed blowing out candles.
"Cake first," James translated, nodding. "I can get behind that plan."
"Put your things away first," Lily ordered as they all started to get up. "Remus, would you take the ingredients to the lab?"
"Certainly," Remus agreed.
Will and Chris were quick to help Harry with his new things, and they all went up to their room together. Once they'd dropped everything on Harry's bed, for him to sort later, Will tapped the letter from Voldemort. "Is he Death?" he asked, every inch curious.
Harry shook his head. "No," he whispered, mindful of Remus, but aware that even werewolf hearing had a range, and the potions lab in the basement was far enough away that there was no chance of the elder werewolf hearing him, no matter how recently the moon was. "They've never even met, though my benefactor is aware that Death is my friend."
Will nodded his understanding and they all went back downstairs for cake.
Privately, Harry wondered how much longer it would be before he was introducing his brothers to the dark lord.
For Will's seventh birthday, Lily and James finally tried introducing magical children to the family again. They'd managed to find, through various sources, children who were between Will and Harry's ages, rather than picking through their former-Order friends, and they kept the numbers down. Which was how Harry finally became acquainted with the youngest two Weasleys and Luna, among other younger children who reminded him vaguely of those he'd known during his first life.
Ron was, expectedly, sour about the obvious riches of the Potter family, while Ginny tried to hide behind Molly or Ron as much as possible, clearly uncomfortable with all the new faces. Luna was about as absent-minded as Harry knew she would be, and spent most of the party weaving flower chains out of thin air, which Harry considered an impressive piece of accidental magic. He pointed Chris towards her when he caught his youngest brother pouting at the lack of kids his age, and Luna was quite happy to teach him her trick; Harry foresaw everyone in the family wearing flower crowns for the next couple months, and couldn't quite bring himself to regret that life choice.
Victoria Frobisher was Ginny's age and came from the same sort of social class as the Potters, which provided a rather stark contrast to Ron's upset, and she wasted little time in making him as red-faced as she could. Geoffrey Hooper, who was a little younger than Will, but would be in his year at Hogwarts, was practically as much of a chatterbox as Will was, and they got on swimmingly, showing off various magical tricks they'd developed.
For the most part, Harry kept himself apart from the other children, beyond directing Chris towards Luna, or catching the attention of an adult right before Ron exploded at Victoria.
"Your eldest isn't very friendly, is he?" Geoffrey's father remarked to James after an hour.
"He's quiet," James replied, sounding unbothered. "And the last time he met magical children, it didn't end well; I expect he's just being cautious."
A hand tugging on Harry's robe tore his attention away from the conversation, and he looked down to find Ginny staring up at him, tears in her eyes. Harry tilted his head to one side, mouth turning down in a confused frown.
Ginny's bottom lip trembled, but she took a deep breath and quietly said, "Victoria is being mean."
Harry nodded, quite aware of that issue.
Ginny revealed her elbow, which had a faint abrasion and grass stains on it. "She took my bracelet Mummy gave me," she offered before a couple tears rolled down her cheeks.
Harry turned to look for Molly, but the woman had gone inside with most of the adults, likely to refill their drinks or food or something. James, Geoffrey's father, Sirius, and Peter were the only ones still outside, none of whom Harry expected Ginny would be very comfortable going to.
Harry could have gone inside to hand Ginny over to Molly, or he could have caught the attention of one of the remaining adults himself, for all that the options were far from ideal. But he was who he was, and the adults clearly weren't going to stop Victoria from picking on the Weasleys (they'd actually been saying something about how cute it was, seeing Victoria pick on Ron). So he hopped down from the picnic bench he'd been sitting on and pulled out his wand.
Ginny's eyes widened. "You have a wand?" she breathed.
Harry offered her a small smile and gently caught her arm so he could cast a quick episkey on the abused skin of her elbow.
Ginny's gaze turned awed as Harry slipped his wand away. "Thank you," she said, before apparently remembering that hadn't been the only thing Victoria had done, for her expression fell again. "My bracelet, though..."
Harry nodded and offered his hand for her to hold. When she took it, he started across the garden to where Victoria was mocking Ron's clothing. Ron was just starting to turn that particular shade of red that never ended well, and Harry let go of Ginny's hand so he could step between them, pushing them both back a couple steps.
"Hey!" Victoria shouted and pushed him back.
Harry didn't move a centimetre, and he turned to glare at her when she stepped back, her eyes going wide. Harry touched his wrist, then pointed to Ginny, who had walked over to stand next to a scowling Ron.
"What? What about the little poor girl?"
Harry raised his eyes to stare at the sky for a moment, wondering how this was his life.
"My sister's bracelet," Ron demanded, coming up to stand next to Harry. "You took it."
Victoria snorted. "So? It's too pretty for a Weasley."
When Ron moved like he was going to run forward and punch the girl, Harry grabbed his shoulder and held him back, turning his own glare on Victoria.
"What?" the girl complained, shifting back a step. "You can't be siding with them. Come on, it's just a bracelet."
Harry just kept glaring at her.
"What's going on over here?" James called as he approached.
"They're bullying me!" Victoria cried, tears appearing in her eyes.
Harry couldn't stop a growl at that lie; he didn't bully people!
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" James said as Ron jerked away from Harry and Victoria let out a terrified noise. His father's hand came down on his shoulder, and Harry turned to scowl up at James. "Claws in, pup," James ordered.
Harry very pointedly showed off his hands, which were completely human.
"You know what I meant," James said, tone dry. "What's going on?"
Harry huffed and pointed to Ginny, who was hiding behind Ron, both of them looking uncertain.
Ginny seemed to shrink a bit under James' gaze, but she rallied herself when Harry gave her an encouraging nod. "Victoria stole my bracelet. Harry was trying to make her give it back."
James turned to Victoria, who looked more panicked than upset, and held out a hand. "Bracelet."
Victoria grumbled and took it out of a pocket. "Fine," she snapped. "You can have your ugly bracelet!" Then she threw it at Ron.
Harry broke out of James' grip and caught the bracelet before it could hit Ron in the eye.
"I think it's time for someone to go tell their mother that they're a little brat," James commented as he caught Victoria's hand. "Come along, Miss Victoria."
Harry held the bracelet out to Ginny, who took it with a big grin. "Thank you!" she chirped.
"How'd you catch that?" Ron demanded.
Harry shrugged – werewolf reflexes mixed with seeker training, he knew, though he was hardly going to explain that – and turned to return to his earlier seat.
"Wait!" Ron called, and Harry looked back at him, tilting his head curiously. "I'm Ron," the boy said, offering his hand.
Harry blinked, surprised, and accepted the hand to shake.
"You don't talk much, do you?" Ron complained.
Harry smiled a bit apologetically and shook his head.
"Are you gonna go back to sitting and watching?" Ginny asked quietly, bracelet clutched to her chest.
Harry shrugged and nodded, because what else was there really for him to do? He couldn't conjure flowers out of thin air like Luna and Chris – well, he could, but that wasn't a secret he was intending to share – and he couldn't really join Will and Geoffrey in their fast-paced chatter.
Ron glanced to the side for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to play with us? I mean, I don't know what you have around here to play with, but we could do something, right? Throw a ball around or whatever."
Harry considered that for a moment, before an idea occurred to him, something that they could drag Will and probably Geoffrey over for. He held up a finger to suggest Ron wait for a moment, then ran over to where Sirius was tormenting Peter.
"Hey, pup," Sirius offered when Harry tugged on his arm to get his attention. "What's up?"
Harry pointed to the shed where they kept the brooms, then motioned to the two front corners of the back garden, where two heavy stones sat. The stones held notice-me-not and muggle repelling charms, which the adults would activate when someone wanted to fly on brooms in the garden. It wasn't foolproof, but it was up to the ministry's standards, and everyone knew better than to fly high enough to be spotted.
Sirius grinned. "Quidditch game?"
Harry shrugged and nodded.
"Sure. You gather teams, I'll get the brooms."
Harry huffed and rolled his eyes, then pointed towards the kitchen window, where he could see most of the adults gathered.
Sirius sighed. "You are way too young to care if your parents are okay with you flying around the back garden."
Harry did his best impression of Lily's disapproving look.
Sirius laughed. "Yeah, okay, good point. Let's go see who wants to play, then get permission from their parents. Then we'll sort out the brooms and wards, right?"
Harry nodded and they went about doing so. As he'd expected, Ron, Ginny, Will, and Geoffrey were all excited about playing, and Luna didn't care. Chris was interested, but Lily said no when they asked, because she would let him on a broom just to fly, but she was not okay with him playing with the bigger children. Which left them with an odd number of players, until Victoria put forth her plea to play. Ron and Ginny clearly weren't on board, but Will argued for it, and Harry was something of a believer in second chances, for obvious reasons.
The game ended up being a lot of fun, considering they were limited to a three-on-three set. Harry played keeper for his side, figuring it would be hard to play a chaser when he couldn't speak to his partner, and Victoria ended up as keeper for the other side. Harry only let one ball through – a gift for Will, who groaned about pathetic birthday presents once they were back on the ground – but Victoria had some trouble blocking her goal against two very determined Weasleys with a grudge, so Harry's side won.
All things considered, the party was determined to have been a success, though Harry didn't expect they'd be seeing Victoria again. The Hoopers lived on the other side of Godric's Hollow, though Geoffrey was home educated and Harry expected they would be seeing a great deal more of him, given how well he and Will had got on.
As for the Weasleys and Luna, well, Harry expected only time would tell, though he was hopeful that he'd see them on birthdays, at the least.
Snape came for a visit at the start of the winter holiday, just like every year. He showed interest in the potion Voldemort had given Harry, and was more than willing to offer up some of the rarer supplies from his personal store, should the Potters run out and have trouble hunting them down, which Lily politely turned down. "It's bad enough Harry's got one benefactor; if James found out you knew enough about things to send us ingredients we needed, he'd blow a gasket."
Privately, Harry agreed with that assessment, though Snape was quick to try arguing around it. He rolled his eyes at the both of them and went out to play with the neighbourhood kids and his brothers outside.
About two hours after Snape had shown up, Death warned: "Your father is coming home early."
Harry jerked in surprise, then turned and ran for his house, because he might still hold a slight grudge against Snape for his first life, but his mum considered the man her friend, and James would not react well to finding Snape in his house, having tea with his wife.
He slammed into the house and dashed into the kitchen, sudden enough that both Lily and Snape jumped, standing from their seats and reaching for their wands.
"Harry?!" Lily cried, surprise turning to concern.
Harry shook his head at her and grabbed Snape's arm, then dragged him out the back door without pausing to explain, because he didn't know how much time he had.
Snape yanked his arm free once Harry loosened his grip out in the garden, turning Harry to face him with a grip that would have hurt a normal human child. "Explain yourself, right now," Snape snarled, black eyes blazing with fury.
Harry knelt and, in the hard dirt beneath them, scratched out, 'DAD HOME GO'.
Harry heard the crack of apparation, and when he looked back up, Snape had vanished. He let out a relieved breath, then scratched his boot through his message, erasing it, and hurried around the house and back to where he'd been playing with the other children; Lily would understand when James got home, and Harry being near the house, while his brothers were playing the next street over, would only make his father suspicious.
Thank you, he thought to Death.
He felt the sensation of skeletal fingers against his cheek and smiled.
"Well," Lily said the next morning, after James had left for work, "how about we four make a trip today, hm?"
Harry and his brothers all gave their mum questioning looks.
Lily smiled and ruffled Harry's hair. "Severus is always visiting us, I think it's about time we returned the favour." She snorted. "He deserves an explanation for being rushed out of the house yesterday, if nothing else."
Harry shrugged, unwilling to apologise for his abrupt removal of Snape from the kitchen the day before. (Also, honestly, rather glad his mum wasn't questioning it too much.)
"We get to see Secret's house?" Will asked, looking excited.
Lily laughed. "Even better; we're going to Hogwarts."
Will and Chris traded excited looks before Will started asking questions about the school, slipping between Atlantean partway through and making it nearly impossible for Lily to keep up. Harry had to look away to hide his grin, helplessly amused by his brother's excitement.
"English, William," Lily tried, but she was grinning nearly as wide as Harry's brothers.
A question occurred to Harry and he quickly pulled out his speaking notebook to ask, "Are you ALLOWED to take us to Hogwarts over the holiday?"
Lily's grin softened into the sort of mischievous smile that was more common on James' face. "There's only one way to find out," she replied, and Will and Chris both giggled. "Right, all three of you, run upstairs and get colouring supplies or something that you can do quietly, in case we end up staying for a bit."
They hurried upstairs to do as they were told. Chris and Will both grabbed their magical colouring supplies, while Harry picked out the illusioned Atlantean book he was currently reading, as well as the next one in his stack, though he doubted they'd be staying quite that long, sliding them into a bag with his brother's things and his talking notebook.
Back downstairs, Lily dressed them all in their warmest clothing and boots, explaining, "We're going to have to walk to the castle from the Three Broomsticks. If Severus was expecting us, we could floo directly into his office, but since that's not the case..." She shrugged. "You three have plenty of energy; I'm sure you'll make the walk fine."
"And we'll have to become good at it when we start going there, right?" Will asked.
"You and Chris, yes," Lily agreed.
Will pouted a bit and grabbed for Harry's hand, which Harry allowed with a fond smile.
Lily took a moment to check them all over, then got into her own cloak and led the way to the floo. "Right, Will, you and Harry'd best go together, since Harry won't speak. Keep hold of each other."
"Where are we going?" Will asked as Harry took a pinch of the floo powder that Lily was holding down to him, both of them tightening their grip on each other's hand.
"The Three Broomsticks," Lily reminded them.
Will nodded his understanding and they turned to the fireplace. Harry tossed in the powder and Will called, "The Three Broomsticks," in his firmest voice as they stepped into the green flames.
They arrived safely on the other side and got out of the way. Madam Rosmerta joined them just as Lily and Chris stepped through, and her concerned frown turned into an understanding smile. "Lily! This is unexpected."
Lily smiled. "Hello, Madam Rosmerta. I had a thought to visit Severus up at the school. Figured the boys might like to see the place."
"I'm sure he'd appreciate seeing you," Madam Rosmerta replied with a wink. "I won't delay you, then."
"Thank you. Come on, boys," Lily called, leading the way to the door.
Chris didn't even make it to the school gate before he was begging to be carried, and Will made a face and complained, "Baby."
Harry gently swatted his shoulder and shook his head when Will looked over at him.
"Sorry," Will mumbled.
Since Lily didn't say anything, Harry assumed that neither she nor Chris had heard the comment, so he let it go.
The gates were closed when they reached them, and they wouldn't open when Lily tried pushing on them, but when Chris reached out to help, they swung open on silent hinges. "Well, then," Lily said, shaking her head and looking down at Harry and Will. "I guess it's good to know that the gates will always let children in."
Harry nodded, fully agreeing that that was a good thing.
"It was believed," a familiar voice offered from behind them, "that all children should have a safe place to retreat to, should they be in need of such."
Lily stiffened and turned. "Voldemort," she said, a world of distaste in her voice.
Voldemort's responding smile was not particularly friendly. "Mrs Potter." He looked over Harry and his brothers, very pointedly not stopping on Harry. "I see you've added to your number again, since last we met."
"Come here, boys," Lily ordered, and Will and Harry moved closer to her.
Voldemort's not-so-nice smile widened. "As much as your manner irritates me, Mrs Potter, rest assured that I have no intention to harm your sons."
"Yet," Lily spat.
"Yes, well, the future is ever in question, isn't it?" Voldemort agreed, and his eyes very obviously focussed on Harry. "Not even seers seem able to predict things, any more."
"He's no threat to you!"
Voldemort let out a sharp laugh, the sort that didn't provide any comfort for his audience. "I'm aware." He stepped past them, onto the grounds, and motioned towards the forest with his wand. "I expect you're here to visit the same person as myself," he commented over his shoulder, not even bothering to pretend he was concerned at having Lily behind him. "You're welcome to take a carriage up with me, assuming you dare."
Lily looked down at Harry and Will. Will offered a pout and said, "My feet hurt."
Lily sighed. "Very well," she said to them before stepping forward to join Voldemort on the grounds.
Harry was unsurprised to see the thestrals pulling the carriage that came for them, but he was entirely unprepared for Will to say, "Those are weird horses."
Both Voldemort and Lily turned surprised eyes towards Will, while Harry closed his eyes, because of course being introduced to Death would fit the criteria for being able to see the magical horses. Damn.
Lily cleared her throat. "They're thestrals, Will," she offered, her voice tight.
"Can they actually fly?" Will asked.
"I assume so," Lily replied.
"They can," Voldemort offered, catching the door to the carriage and opening it. "However, I believe they prefer to walk, as it is uncommon to spot one in the air. If you would?" He motioned to the opened door.
Harry hopped in first, unbothered by the dark lord's attempt at politeness, and Will was quick to follow his example. Lily was a little slower, and she flinched when Voldemort closed the door behind himself when he climbed in. They started moving once Voldemort was settled, and a tense silence fell over them.
Harry rolled his eyes and peered out the window he was next to, watching the forest fly past them. When he knew they were close enough that they should be able to see Hogwarts through the window on the other side, he poked Will and pointed towards it.
"Mum, Mum, I wanna see out the window," Will insisted, straining to look past Lily.
Lily started and looked out herself. "Oh! Right, here, Chris you move over here, and Will can sit in my lap, and Harry...?" she said as she shifted herself and Harry's brothers.
Harry shook his head, smiling.
Lily sighed. "Okay," she allowed, turning back to the window and Will and Chris' awed exclamations.
Voldemort raised a hairless eyebrow at Harry. He responded by flashing the dark lord a grin and wiggling his own eyebrows. Voldemort let out a quiet snort and glanced out at the passing forest.
Snape was waiting in the entrance hall when they all stepped through the main doors, and his skin took on a distinctly unwell cast when he realised who all was there.
"Hi, Secret!" Will chirped, and Harry couldn't quite stifle his amused snort at the continued name.
"My Lord," Snape offered, bowing to Voldemort.
"Severus," Voldemort replied coolly. "It appears as though you're popular today."
"It seems so, my Lord," Snape agreed before turning to the Potters. "Lily, boys. Welcome to Hogwarts."
"It's really, really, really big," Will informed them all in Atlantean.
"English, William," Lily complained tiredly, while Voldemort glanced towards Harry.
"Well, it is," Will insisted in English, as though he hadn't just been speaking in a language half the group couldn't understand.
"Yeah," Chris agreed quietly. "We could fit lots of our house inside."
Harry pulled his speaking notebook out of his bag while his brothers spoke, and quickly scribbled a note, then had the notebook say, "Maybe Mum can give us a little tour?"
Snape offered him a grateful look. "That's an excellent idea. I can meet you back here in half an hour or so?"
"Certainly," Lily agreed. "I can show you how to get to Gryffindor Tower."
"What if we don't end up in Gryffindor?" Will asked as Lily started them toward the stairs.
"Well, I might be able to remember how to get down to Slytherin," Lily admitted. Then, tone going dry, she added, "I expect at least one of you will end up there, with Harry as an example."
Harry shot her a wounded look.
"I want to be a Slytherin!" Will called, tugging on Harry's sleeve.
"I'm going to be the Slytherin," Chris shot back, leaning forward in Lily's grip so he could stick his tongue out at Will.
Lily groaned. "I am so glad your father isn't here," she muttered, and Harry laughed.
They did get up to the Fat Lady's portrait, but she and Lily got to talking, so by the time they made it back down to the ground floor, there was no way they could have hoped to find the Slytherin common room entrance before they were due to meet Snape. "I'm sorry, boys," Lily offered as they stepped off the last stair.
"That was a boring tour," Will complained.
Chris, curled up in Lily's arms, yawned in agreement.
Lily sighed. "Maybe Severus will be willing to set up a better tour for you."
Will slumped. "Maybe," he mumbled.
"We could go exploring on our own," Harry had his notebook say for him. "The portraits talk, right? So we can just ask one of them directions if we get lost."
"Yeah!" Will said, perking up. "We can find Slytherin on our own!"
Lily frowned. "Not Slytherin, I'm afraid, because there are no portraits in the dungeons." She looked at Harry for a moment, weighing her options.
"Please," Will tried, eyes wide and hopeful.
"Lily?" Snape called from just above them on the stairs.
They all looked up. Voldemort was nowhere in sight, and Lily seemed to relax at that. "Sev. Harry and Will were hoping to explore a bit on their own."
"Me–" Chris started, only to interrupt himself with a yawn.
"I think you're a little too tired for a romp around the castle, sweetie," Lily told him, rocking him a bit. Chris let out a quiet grumble.
Snape came down a few steps, eyeing Harry and Will. "You'll stay on the ground floor or above and you'll let a portrait or ghost know if you need any help. Do not bother any of the students or professors. Understood?"
Harry and Will both nodded, though Harry, in all honesty, fully intended to make a run through the dungeons and basement.
Snape stared at them for a long moment, and when they both looked away, he nodded. "Very well," he told Lily. "If you trust them on their own, I expect they'll be fine; the remaining students and professors aren't the sort to try anything against wandering children, and the ones who might think about it," he added, voice going dry, "will run for it if Harry bares his teeth at them."
Harry grinned at that, showing off too-sharp teeth, and Will giggled.
Snape closed his eyes. "No. Biting."
Harry nodded seriously; he had no interest in passing on his curse, not unless he had no other options.
"Okay. Go on, then," Lily directed.
Harry grabbed Will's hand and led him deeper into the ground floor, towards where he knew Filch's office was. They stopped outside the door, Harry pressing a finger to his lips as he listened to Lily and Snape retreating up the stairs, then turned his attention to ensuring Filch wasn't in his office. Once he was sure it was clear, he tapped the lock.
Will grinned and pointed a finger at the lock. A glimmer of magic jumped between him and the metal, and when Harry pushed the door, it opened without trouble. "What's in here?" Will whispered.
Harry shook his head and led the way over to the filing cabinet. He cast a silent point me while Will was distracted by looking around the office, and opened the drawer the spell directed him to, then to the folder which held the object he'd come for. He pulled out the Marauder's Map and spread it out over Filch's desk. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he whispered, tapping a finger against the map.
"It's a map," Will realised, staring over the lines that bled across the page.
Harry nodded and pointed to where the names of the map's creators were written at the top.
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Will read before turning to stare at Harry. "Uncle Remus, Uncle Wormy, Uncle Sirius, and Dad made this?"
Harry grinned and nodded, turning to look at the path to the Slytherin common. "Shall we go wandering in the dungeons?"
Will grinned. "Can't get lost if we have a map that shows us where we are, can we?" he replied, pointing to their names on the map.
"Exactly," Harry agreed before tapping the map with his finger and whispering, "Mischief managed." He slipped the map into the pocket of his robe, inside his cloak. "Come on."
They wandered down to the entrance to the Slytherin common room and Harry pointed out the exact stone you gave the password to. They didn't go in, though Harry did offer, "The map can tell you most passwords in the school. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw don't actually have passwords, but Slytherin and Gryffindor both do."
"Can I keep the map?"
"When you start Hogwarts, as long as you swear never to tell Mum or Dad or our uncles, yeah," Harry agreed as he led the way to where the potions classroom had always been, pointing it out to Will once he'd ascertained it was still in use for that.
From there, they walked to the Hufflepuff common room entrance, then Harry taught him about tickling the pear to get into the kitchens. They stopped there for a bit, so the house-elves could ply them with sweets.
On the first floor, Harry showed Will where the history classroom was. He wasn't sure what Voldemort had done in terms of the defence against the dark arts and muggle studies classes, so he didn't bother pointing those rooms out. He didn't have much to mention on the second floor, either, though he knew a few professors had had offices on that floor in his previous realities.
And so it went, with Harry showing Will those classrooms he doubted had changed, as well as the hospital wing and library, on their floors. They met very few other people, and those who they did meet left them to it after Will said they'd been given free run of the castle while their mum was talking to the headmaster. When they got to the fifth floor, Harry showed Will the staircase up to the entrance to the Ravenclaw common, quietly explaining in Atlantean, "The knocker of the door gives you a riddle and you have to solve it to get in, which is why it's not on the map."
"And Hufflepuff is some sort of tune with the barrels?" Will clarified.
"Tapping on the correct one, in the correct pattern," Harry agreed, pulling the knowledge from when he was managing re-staffing Hogwarts in his last life. Then he motioned they should keep on.
On the seventh floor, Harry stopped them in front of the Room of Requirement. "Stand still for a moment," he ordered before quickly walking back and forth three times, asking for the Room of Hidden Things.
"The door just appeared!" Will exclaimed, joining Harry as he opened it.
Harry ushered him inside, grinning at his brother's awed expression at the sight of the piles of items. "This is the Room of Requirement," he explained. "You walk back and forth in front of the wall where the door will appear, thinking of what you need, and the room will provide exactly that. This version is something of a catch-all for everything that students and staff have wanted to hide away over the centuries. Most of it is broken or cursed, but there are some treasures."
"Can we go treasure hunting?" Will pleaded, almost bouncing in place, he was so excited.
"You've got an hour. If something happens, scream and I'll come find you," Harry promised.
Will grinned, then dashed off into the piles.
Harry rubbed a hand over his mouth, wondering if he shouldn't have ordered his brother to stay in view, but he wanted to do some hunting of his own, and he would need to be able to use magic to hide some of the things he thought to find, which meant Will couldn't see him.
He set an alarm spell to heat his arm when it had been an hour, then set off to hunt through the offerings. He found a couple of rare books that looked interesting, some bottles of potions that were unbroken and he couldn't identify without some study, and some gems and other fancy jewellery that he suspected he could pawn for some money that James and Lily didn't know about. Just as his arm was warming, he found a biting money pouch. The curse on it was easy to do away with, using a touch of Death Magic, and he found a small fortune of gold galleons inside. "Well," he whispered before dropping it into a small bag he'd spelled to hold more things than it should have. The bag went into a pocket after being shrunk, then Harry went after Will.
Will had managed to find his own holder for goodies: a rucksack with a broken zip. He was captivated by a particularly sparkly necklace when Harry found him, and when a quick glance at it nearly captivated Harry as well, he snarled and opened a doorway into the Realm of Death underneath it.
"Hey!" Will complained.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations," he deadpanned, "you found one of those cursed items I mentioned."
Will flushed. "Oops. Where did it go?"
"The Realm of Death. I expect Death can find a good use for it, assuming he doesn't just let it get buried under a pile of dead things somewhere."
Will made a face, then looked down at his rucksack. "I couldn't find any toys, but I found pretty things."
Harry nodded. "May I look everything over? I don't want you carrying around something that's been cursed."
Will frowned. "Nothing happened when I touched them."
Harry shook his head. "Not all curses are activated by touching the object. Some require you wear it, especially with jewellery, others require you have a specific blood purity, or be a certain age or gender." He snorted in amusement as Will shoved the bag at him. "Curses, like any piece of magic, are as varied as the people casting them."
Will watched for a moment as Harry pulled out the storybook that was on top of a pile of jewellery and looked it over with a practised eye. "How can you tell?" he asked when Harry handed the book to him to keep.
Harry started and blinked at his brother a few times. "How can I tell if an item is cursed?" he asked and Will nodded. He looked around for a moment, looking for something with an obvious curse. There was a statue of a gargoyle not far from them, which had been turned so it's back faced out. "That statue," he directed.
Will looked at the statue and frowned. "What about it?"
"Come here." Harry led them over so they were close enough to touch the statue. "Can you feel that?"
Will rubbed roughly at his arms through his robe. "Is it supposed to be colder?" he asked.
Harry shook his head. "It's not a drop in the temperature you're sensing; your magic is reacting to the malignant magic in that statue."
Will stared at the statue for a moment, then looked at Harry. "What about you? You don't have magic."
"I have magic, I just can't cast spells with it," Harry corrected patiently. "There's a difference." He sighed. "You probably instinctively avoided a number of objects because your magic sensed they meant you harm. It's not foolproof, of course, because there are curses intended to get past that sense, or which will be unnoticeable until it's too late."
"And you can ignore the feeling, too," Will pointed out.
Harry nodded. "Or be distracted by something or someone at just the wrong time. But if you make a point to pay attention to that sixth sense of yours, you'll avoid a great deal of danger."
Will considered the gargoyle. "What does the curse do?"
Harry shrugged. "I haven't the faintest, and I'm not curious enough to find out." He led Will away a bit, then turned his attention back to the bag, looking over the jewellery inside. After a moment, he reached in to pick out one that was cursed. "Here. This bracelet is cursed."
Will pulled his hands close to his chest, frowning. "How do you know? It's not making me cold."
"Werewolf senses," Harry lied, because there was no good way to explain how auror training sharpened your ability to spot cursed items, even when the curse was inactive. It was true, however, that his ability to do so had always been better closer to the full moon, in his first reality, after he'd been cursed. "You'd have to put it on to activate it."
"What is the curse?" Will wondered.
Harry tossed the bracelet over the nearest pile, losing it out of sight. "No idea," he lied, because his brother didn't need to know he'd been the not-so-proud owner of a bracelet that would slowly disintegrate anyone who put it on, and wouldn't come off until the person was completely gone; very likely, its last owner had died in the Room.
"This, however," Harry continued, pulling out a very pretty gold necklace, "you should give to Mum."
"Why?" Will asked, reaching a hand out for it.
Harry let him take it. "It's not cursed, but it is spelled; anyone who wears it will find themselves having good luck in dangerous situations for so long as they have it on. Nowhere near the level of drinking Felix Felicis, but the spell isn't dissimilar in function."
"What's Felix Felicis?"
"A potion that affects the drinker's mind, directing them towards the best possible course of action in any given circumstances, including how best to accomplish a task they were mulling over when they drank the potion. It's often called Liquid Luck."
Will's eyes widened. "Can you make me some of that?"
Harry laughed and shook his head. "It's extremely difficult to brew, and the more often you take it, the less likely you are to survive, besides. It's something that, once you've brewed it, you save it for an emergency. But that necklace–" Harry nodded to the necklace Will was still holding "–isn't mind-altering, it just provides something of a positive influence around the wearer. Sort of like a personal shield that pushes danger away. Dad would probably get more use out of it, but I think Mum will be more likely to wear it just for aesthetic purposes."
Will frowned. "What purposes?"
"Aesthetic," Harry offered in English, remembering what Death had said about how his brothers learning new Atlantean words was tied to their knowledge of English. "It means it looks nice."
His brother nodded in understanding. "Yeah. Maybe I'll give it to her for Christmas."
Harry smiled. "She'd like that." He handed the bag back. "Everything else is safe. You can use it as gifts, or we can try finding a shop willing to trade you money for it." He sighed. "Either way, Mum and Dad are going to ask where you found them."
Will slumped. "Are they going to be mad about us taking things from here?"
Harry shrugged. "I have no idea. We could certainly ask Mum once we find her and Secret if it's going to be a problem. Most of the stuff in here no longer has an owner, either because they've forgotten about it, or because they've died."
Will nodded and slipped his book and the necklace back into the bag. Then he seemed to notice something and looked Harry over. "You didn't find anything?"
Harry allowed a small smile. "I found a few books that looked interesting, and a handful of gems I intend to sell without Mum or Dad knowing about it." He shrugged when Will's eyes widened disbelievingly. "There have been a couple times when I've wished I had some money Mum and Dad didn't know about."
Will huffed. "Want to buy your benefactor something?"
Harry couldn't stop a laugh. "No. He's not...he appreciates things that can't be bought, more than anything else. So, rare objects that've been lost to time, like a vase that survived a natural disaster intact. Stuff you'd probably think was boring."
Will made a face, then looked down at his bag of objects for a moment, before holding it out to Harry. "Can I..." He trailed off, looking uncertain.
Harry sighed and reached past the offered bag to ruffle his brother's hair. "Hey, I tend to go sneaking off at night, but the rare time when you would want to buy something, you're going to be with Mum or Dad. Better to have them hold any money you make off selling what you don't want in trust. Have them buy you a toy or whatever next time something catches your eye."
Will bit his lip and nodded, pulling the bag back against his chest. "But, if I'm the only one bringing stuff back, Mum will wonder," he pointed out.
Harry eyed his brother suspiciously for a moment. "You've been spending too much time around me," he decided, and Will shot him a bright grin. "Let's see if we can't spot a couple of things on the way to the exit, hm?"
Will found two more pieces of jewellery, one of which Harry made him put back as soon as he saw it, because it was cursed, and Harry found a few books that looked interesting, and not so magically-focussed that they'd be useless to a squib.
When they stepped out of the Room, they found Lily and Severus waiting for them, both wearing disapproving frowns.
Will stepped forward after a brief pause, gushing, "Harry and I found this really cool room with lots and lots of junk and Harry says some of it's so old that it can't have an owner any more and he said we should ask if we can keep it all because there a couple things that might make pretty presents for you, Mum, and Harry found some books he wanted to maybe read and I found a really interesting story in this one book and–"
"Silencio," Snape intoned, looking tired, and Will made a face at being magically silenced. Lily was failing to hide a smile as she set Chris down so he could hurry over to grab for the bracelet Will had found on their way out. "My office," Snape ordered, and there was an edge to his voice that made both Harry and Lily look up at him.
Up in the headmaster's office, Snape ordered Harry and Will, "I want everything you found on this table, right now," pointing at a cleared table off to one side.
Will and Harry traded uncertain looks, but did as they were told, though Harry didn't take out his secret bag of things.
Snape waved his wand over the objects, then over Will and Harry. He frowned after waving his wand over Harry, and did it again. "What didn't you put on the table, Harry?" he demanded.
Harry barely resisted reacting to that, instead offering up a confused look and turning enough that he could point to the bag he was still carrying that held the colouring things and his books.
"What's wrong, Sev?" Lily requested, looking concerned.
Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Something you're carrying is cursed."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that, because he'd removed the two curses he'd found on the objects he'd pocketed, then purposefully grew claws on his left hand and held it up.
"Would lycanthropy come back as a curse?" Lily asked.
Snape frowned, finally looking away from Harry. "It shouldn't, but I've never cast it on a werewolf before, in all honesty." He sighed. "Though, now you mention it, that particular issue does make it rather difficult to check him for any curses."
"Why are you worried about curses, Sev?" Lily requested, shooting a concerned look towards Will and Harry.
"That particular room has a number of cursed objects in it, which serve as something of a deterrent against students intent on snooping where they don't really belong." He gave Lily a meaningful look, and she replied with an understanding smile, though it was strained. "What they've brought back is clean, and so is Will, but if I can't get a proper reading on Harry..."
It was probably for the best that Will was still silenced, because he couldn't blurt out that Harry had been able to spot cursed objects.
"You'll just have to trust his word," Lily agreed, turning back to Harry. "Do you understand how dangerous it could be if you're hiding something?"
Harry nodded, hiding his irritation with the continued line of questioning, and drew his finger across his neck.
"There are worse things than death," Snape informed him, and Harry turned an unflinching stare on him. "Very well," Snape allowed before turning to Lily. "They are correct in assuming these objects have no one to claim them. If they wish to take them home, they may do so."
Lily looked over the pile, then at the hopeful expressions Will and Harry had put on. "Oh, very well. We'll have to figure out some way to explain their appearance to your father, though."
"Say nothing; I doubt he'd notice a few more books," Snape muttered as Will grabbed up the rucksack he'd found and brushed all of the jewellery into it.
Lily lightly smacked Snape's shoulder. "I swear, you're both such children. Merlin, Sev."
Snape snorted. "I notice you're not disagreeing with my assessment," he pointed out, and Lily smacked him again. He looked down at where Will had finished packing up all of their new goodies, save that final bracelet, which he'd let Chris take. "You four can use my floo to get home. This way," he directed and showed them to the fireplace.
Harry looked up at the portraits of former headmasters and -mistresses while Snape removed his silencing charm from Will and found his floo powder. Dumbledore caught his eye, the only one not pretending to be asleep, and inclined his head. Harry offered him a smile, acknowledging the greeting, then turned to take a pinch of the powder Snape held out to them.
Will shifted his grip on the rucksack, then took Harry's hand when he held it down to him. They stepped into the floo together, using the same teamwork as they had to get to the Three Broomsticks.
Once they were all home and Lily had gathered them around the kitchen table by means of a healthy snack, Harry used his notebook to explain the idea of selling some of the jewellery for some spending money. He added that he really only cared about the books he'd found, and after looking them over, Lily agreed they were acceptable for him.
Will hid the necklace that Harry had suggested he give to Lily, then held forth the rest to be sold, saying that Chris could keep the bracelet he'd become so attached to and do with it what he wanted.
"Keeps," Chris decided, holding it close. "It sparkles."
"Very true," Lily agreed, smiling, before she looked over the leftover jewellery. "We can probably find someone willing to pay a fair price for all this, but I'll have to tell Dad about it. No," she added, holding up a hand to forestall whatever Will had been about to say, "let me handle making excuses for Dad. But don't expect to see that money until you get your Hogwarts letter."
"Why do I have to wait until then?" Will complained.
Lily smiled. "You'll appreciate it later, trust me. Dad and I are only going to pay for the basic equipment, but you can use that money to upgrade to a nicer trunk, or something else that catches your eyes while we're shopping. Or you can keep it with you on the train and buy treats on the journey."
Will perked up at the mention of treats, and Harry and Lily both laughed.
"Right, go put your things away, all of you," Lily ordered, and the three off them hopped down and made for their room.
Up there, Will touched Harry's shoulder, eyes worried. "None of the other stuff was cursed, right?"
Harry smiled and ruffled his brother's hair. "It's all clean, I promise," he replied, and Will smiled before heading back to his side of the room and leaving Harry to hide his bag of gems and books under his bed, to be sorted into his hidden boxes when his brothers were asleep that night.
Stand Against the Moon Chapters:
Pro | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05
06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12
Nose to the Wind Chapters:
1 - Death Once Again || 2 - Bring Out All the Good Inside Me || 3 - Death and Living Reconciled
4 - Orphan Man || 5 - Using Gentle Words to Shelter Me || 6 - Living on Your Breath
10 - Love is a Doing Word || 11 - Nothing Sacred || 12 - The Heart Yearns
13 - Mirrored in Your Stare || 14 - Camouflage Denial || 15 - Precious and Fragile Things
16 - Perfectly Reckless || 17 - Your Arms Feel Like Home || 18 - The Sun Will Set For You
19 - Your Love Has Always Been Enough || 20 - Keep Up This Charade || 21 - Truth Like a Blazing Fire
22 - Give Yourself a Try || 23 - Done Pleading Ignorance || 24 - Your Razorblade Caress of Love
25 - Summer's Scent Still Lingers || 26 - Burn Out the Stain || 27 - Final Masquerade
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