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Category: Alternate Universe, Asylum Challenge (2013-3), Asylum Challenge (2013-3) Characters:Albus Dumbledore, All, Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Lily Potter, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Other, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 105 Summary: *** Winner of Best Overall, Best Drama and the People’s Choice Award in the Asylum Challenge *** *Nominated for 2014 April/May and November/December DSTA for Best Romance and Best Drama* *Nominated for 2016 January/February DSTA for Best Drama and Best Completed* Ginny's plans for the weekend were just perfect: a day out in Hogsmeade with her girlfriends. Spend the morning window shopping and wishing, then lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and then to the local theater for a production of the Scottish Play (Macbeth). Unfortunately, the bad luck of the Scottish Play strikes before it even starts. The village is invaded by Death Eaters, Dementors, and a man she had hoped to never see again in her life. And in the middle of the battle, Ginny sees something she'd never thought she'd see. Voldemort and one of her greatest friends dueling; Harry Potter and Voldemort fighting so fiercely, she lost focus on her own battle. Harry Potter, crying out, falling, and hitting the ground. Dead. And then, someone she never expected to help her saves her from Voldemort’s wrath. Hitcount: Story Total: 169253; Chapter Total: 4938 Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. Ginny is really close to rescuing Harry. Have fun with this. Don't forget to review! |
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The Angel of Death If I had been bombarded with the fact that Harry's mother could somehow be in my world- or whatever world I was standing in at the moment- and was in fact standing in front of me a few days ago, I probably would have fainted and or cursed very loudly in shock. But now, to be honest, after all that had happened- the seven nightmares, the watching Harry's life on a screen, the people I had met, and everything that had happened in the tomb- meeting Harry's long dead mother was just one more thing to add to the list of the impossible things that had wormed their way into the possible realm. So, I shrugged, and gave her a wave. “Hi,” I said. Lily Potter's smile stretched a little, like she was getting confused. “I'm Lily,” she said, raising her eyebrows at me, like I was the dead person coming back. “I'm supposed to be dead. That doesn't surprise you?” “I've run out of things to be surprised at,” I answered. “Hurry up and breathe on the potion, or whatever it is you need to do.” Mrs. Potter stepped towards me, her expression now a little disgruntled. “She was hoping for a dramatic gasp, I'm guessing,” the voice called. “It doesn't matter,” Mrs. Potter shot back. She bent over the cauldron, and took a great whiff. The potion had turned a light mint green by now. “Something seems off,” Mrs. Potter mused. “What?” I said, a sense of panic filling me. “What did I do wrong?” Mrs. Potter straightened up with a hasty smile. She laid a hand on my arm squeezed it gently. “Nothing, dear, it's nothing you did. More what your instructor did.” Mrs. Potter looked up at the ceiling with a frown. “Did you remember the tears?” she asked. Silence. I bit my lip to keep from yelling at the voice for not being thorough. Then, “Silly me,” the voice said, sounding both guilty and amused. “Tears?” I said. “What tears? Am I going to have to start over?” My voice was shrill, and Mrs. Potter winced as it hit an octave that should have been above human hearing. “It's all right,” Mrs. Potter said. “Phoenix tears is what your very cantankerous instructor forgot, whether she did on purpose or not, well, we'll deal with that later. And no, you won't have to start over. The tears are one of the last things to go in, as they do not mix well with other liquids without high heat.” “I'll bring it to a boil,” I said, and flicked my wand at the fire. It blazed up, and the steam floating over the surface of the potion thickened. Mrs. Potter clasped her hands in front of her, watching the potion slowly heat. I glanced between her, the ceiling, and the potion. A thought was lingering on the edge of my mind, and fear made me want to refuse to acknowledge it. But resolve and the need for understanding forced my hand. “Mrs. Potter,” I started. “Please, call me Lily,” she said, smiling. “Calling me 'Mrs. Potter' makes me think you're talking to my mother-in-law.” “Okay, Lily, my instructor, as you called her, said that there was a chance I might not survive bringing Harry back,” I said. “Was she telling the truth?” Lily sighed. “I'm afraid so. You see, what must happen is you must inhale the fumes of the potion, which will send you into a almost hallucination-like state. You'll receive a vision, of what I can't say, and you must plead with the vision to let Harry back into our world. Well, your world now. I don't belong here anymore.” Her voice was full of sorrow as she gazed at the cauldron. “Anyhow, whatever vision you receive, it won't be filtered.” “Filtered?” Lily tore her eyes from the now hissing potion. “There are things in this world that are not of this world, they are from one of the many Realms. Some of these things are harmless, like horses.” “Horses?” I said. “What do you mean?” Lily let out a little, tinkling laugh. It made me thing of the bells of the church, in the village near my home, that sounded every hour, counting down til midnight. “Yes, horses are originally from one of the Untamed Realms,” Lily said. “They escaped into the mortal world and have been breeding, filling the world, ever since. But, anyway, like I said, some are harmless, animals and people that trickled out of the Realms into the mortal world, but some are dangerous. Demons, to be precise.” I felt a cold shiver pass through me. Demons, like the one I had seen. “Go on,” I prompted. Lily's gaze wandered back to the potion. “Because demons aren't of the mortal world, they don't fit in well. Their true form is filtered into something less frightening, more human. Most demons have such horrific true forms that if any mortal were to look upon them, they would instantly be driven insane, or sometimes vaporized. The Greek gods of legend were said to have a form that would cause anything, mortal or monster, looking on them to burst into flames. Centuries ago, the Leaders of the Realms decided, to keep the mortal alive, to cast a spell on the mortal world, so that any being from the Realms that made their way into the mortal world would not be able to stay there, or be able to retain their true form for longer than a few seconds.” I bit my lip. I had seen a shadow. What did it really look like, I wondered. Lily took my hand in hers. She looked down at my palm, a sad look on her face. “Whatever you're going to face won't be filtered,” she said. “Whether your brain can process it or not, you will see something that is not meant for mortal eyes. We can only pray you keep your sanity and survive.” The sound of the potion bubbling broke her musing. She looked over to the cauldron, and gave a slight nod. “The tears, Ginny,” she said. “Right,” I muttered, turning back to the table. I scrambled around to find them. A small blue crystal bottle sat gleaming in the light of the lamps and the the glistening steam, the label reading 'Phoenix Tears'. I snatched it up and pulled out the cork. “How much?” I asked. “Hold your hand over the cauldron,” Lily said. I cocked my head at her and furrowed my brow. “Why?” “You have to pour the tears over your palm,” she replied. “Go on. Hold out your hand.” I reached out, letting my fingers cut through the steam coming up thick and fast like a sharply honed knife. It was overly hot. The heat blistered and burned the back of my hand, and sweat beaded on my arm. My arm shook in the heat. A trickle of sweat slipped down my forehead. “Pour out the tears, just enough to fill your palm, but don't let it spill into the cauldron,” Lily said. I pushed my other hand into the hot vapor. I squinted against the steam threatening to fog up my vision, and poured out the phoenix tears into my palm. I hoped that it was all right for my sweat to mix with the potion, because my palm was moist even before I poured the tears into it. I almost over filled my palm; the steam was stubbornly refusing to grant me even a little clear vision. I pulled my arm out and set the bottle down on the table. “Now what?” “Just stand there a bit, the tears need to take on the heat and water vapor.” I bit my lip. The heat was almost unbearable; bombarding my senses with consistent blistering, burning heat. I bit down hard on my lip, so hard that the taste of blood filled my mouth. Oh, well, I thought, it would only make it easier when I had to add my blood to the cauldron, as long as it didn't matter that it was mixed with saliva. “Now?” I asked. Lily peered at the surface of the cauldron. The green had intensified and darkened, to an emerald color. “Now,” Lily said. I tipped my hand, and watched the tears spill out of my palm and hit the surface of the cauldron with a splatter. The color turned from emerald to a crystalline blue. I jerked my arm out of the vapor and rubbed sweat off my skin, and feeling back into it. Lily smiled at me. “Put out the fire,” she said. I grabbed my wand and jabbed it at the flames. “Aguamenti,” I muttered, and a little jet of water shot from my wand. The flames cringed away from the water. Once the fire was out, I turned back to Lily. Her eyes were glistening. I wondered what she was thinking about. Lily bent over the cauldron; the liquid settled, bubbling sleepily. She opened her mouth, and exhaled over the potion. The potion stirred gently. Then, the potion's color faded from blue to white. And then darkened, from white to black. “Prick your finger,” Lily said. “One drop is all it takes.” I raised my wand again. I muttered a spell under my breath, winced as a sharp pain stuck the tip of my index finger. Blood seeped out from the small cut. I held my hand out and squeezed out one drop of blood. Just one drop. The droplet hit the potion's surface, and the black morphed to match the color of my blood. I bit my lip as the potion began to steam and fumes poured off the potion. “Take a deep breath, girl,” the voice called. Lily gripped my shoulders tightly. “Ginny, remember, you have to stay focused on Harry. No matter what, focus on needing him. Be brave, Ginny. Be strong.” I nodded, breathing quickly and heavily. Lily patted my arm,and I bent back over the cauldron. I expected a foul smell after everything I had put into the potion, but what I inhaled was not foul at all. I smelled many things, broom polish, something that reminded me of allspice, fresh forest air and the metallic smell of an oncoming storm. One scent overpowered the rest: Wild flowers. My head spun. My limbs went numb, my fingers tingled. I stumbled back from the cauldron. The room towered around me, Lily bent over me, her mouth moving, but I couldn't hear her. I shook my head at her, as the room faded into blackness. “Who invades the Angel's realm?” A voice boomed from the darkness. The voice rang through me, shaking my foundation and sending fear through me. From out of the dark, white lines rose up, moving together and forming words. Fear. Panic. I glanced around, confused, and saw the word 'Confused' floating beside me. “Your thoughts bleed out into my realm,” the booming voice said. “You are not meant to be here.” I glanced around again, the word Fear grew brighter. More words formed in the air, random words that floated in the back of my mind floated behind me. Right in front of me, I saw a jumble of words and sentences, things that couldn't make sense but did. My mind wandered, I watched in amazement as my thoughts appeared before me even before I had them. A empty, floating, out-of-body feeling entered my mind. I saw the words 'blissful oblivion' drift in front of me. It was like my mind had slipped out of my ears and colored the blackness around me. “What is your reason for invading the Angel's realm, mortal?” I couldn't remember why I had came. 'Confusion' drifted before me again, glowing a bright white. 'Why am I here?' I read. I frowned, I didn't know. 'Ignorance is bliss' I read. No, no that wasn't true. 'Agree to disagree.' No, I wasn't debating anything. I was here to request something? But what was it? I looked around, trying to find the thought that held the reason for my visit. In the jumble of words there were a lot of things. I saw 'Worry for Ron,' 'Annoyance at Malfoy,' 'Missing my family,' many things. But I couldn't find why I was here. The word 'Ignorant' floated right in front of my nose, blocking my view. I tried to smack it away, but it stuck to me like glue. I frowned harder. What was I here for? I needed to focus, but whenever I brought a thought into my mind, it drifted away. 'Ignorant' blocked my view of the words. I had to focus on something, something to do with why I was here. I reached out and grabbed a word. I peered around 'Ignorant' to see a name, 'Alasdair.' Instantly, thoughts filled my mind. And this time, they didn't float away. I saw dark hair, longer than most men wore theirs, bright eyes, and handsome features. I saw a man stumbling drunkenly around, I felt pain in my limbs, like something or someone was hitting me repeatedly. I saw a the face of a kindly old man, blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon glasses. I saw a castle, and a single word came with it. Hogwarts. I saw tall standing stones, and the figure of a girl lying across one fallen stone. A name came with her, Ginny. Me. And suddenly I saw why I was there. I was trying to revive Harry. 'Ignorant' faded to black. I glanced around, and lunged at a name, floating right beside me. I let go of 'Alasdair,' and held the name tight. I held the name close to my heart, and pushed myself to my feet. “Hello?” I called. “So you speak,” the booming voice called back. 'Fear' glowed brighter. I ignored it. “Can your mind stand the Angel's realm after all?” “I have to speak to the Angel of Death,” I said. I saw two more words float towards me, 'Bravery', and 'Love'. I glanced down at the name I clutched to my chest. Harry. It glowed bright, the color of gold. 'Bravery' and 'Love' floated by my head, reassuring me. “The Angel is near,” the booming voice called. “Do you possess the strength to survive the Angel's presence?” “Yes,” I said. “Hmm,” rumbled the booming voice. “I shall let you pass. Gather your thoughts, mortal. Touch them and they shall return to where they belong. But the one you hold will remain with you.” I glanced around, and stretched out my hand. My hand passed through the words and sentences before me, and as it did, the empty floating feeling faded. With each faded word, I felt more sure. I felt more confident, braver. “Prepare yourself. The Angel is here.” I held Harry's name tight. The darkness seemed to thicken. Suddenly the air around me felt more alive, as though charged with magic. “What is your request, Firefly?” My concentration slipped. “Firefly?” I repeated. I half expected to see the word 'Confusion' block my vision. “You are a Firefly, yes. Did you not know?” “I don't know what that is,” I said. “It's just a nickname.” “You are descended from a Fire Demon. I sense you are a seventh generation Firefly.” “A demon?” I repeated. A sense of doubt entered my mind. I saw Self-Doubt appear before me. I snatched at it, the word dissipated and re-entered my mind. “Not all demons are evil, Firefly. Some have good in them. The Fire Demons are notoriously noble. Their offspring are even worse so. What is your request, Firefly?” The darkness condensed. I wrinkled my nose as a smelled drifted past me. It was something foul, like rotting fruit, but also something sweet, like fresh cut flowers. A white outline appeared in the blackness. A small figure, like that of a young child. And then the Angel of Death appeared before me. |
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