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The Veil | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP, Holidays Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Death Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 113 Summary: In the fall of 1996 Harry finds a book about the ancient holidays just before Samhain, or what has become Hallowe'en. Tradition says communication with the dead is possible. Harry enlists Ginny to help him find out if its true. Hitcount: Story Total: 59189; Chapter Total: 1645 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted. I've had some health issues which kept me from writing. MNF |
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Chapter 18: James dropped onto his knee while Sirius fired over his head simultaneously, both aiming their blasting hexes at Andrew. The senior Potter, rather masterfully, spun between the two shots and fired a stinging hex at the pair hitting them dead on. “Shite, Dad,” James yelled. “That hurt.” “Better to be stung by me than killed by a Death Eater,” the older man stated bluntly. “Good job, sir,” Anwen cheered after she’d gracefully landed and changed back into her human form. “Thank you,” Andrew replied. The pair had taken on James and Sirius for sparing practice. The younger men thought it would be easy, especially since they made Anwen swear she wouldn’t fire hexes while she was flying, as it posed an unfair advantage. Even with that handicap, the older man and young women had no problem besting his son and her husband. “We told you not to fire at us while you were a falcon, Anwen,” James complained as he rubbed his side. “I did not fire a single curse, hex, or spell of any kind while a bird. You just forgot how quickly I can turn back and forth between forms. Everything cast was done so as a human,” she reminded her husband. “Next time, word your instruction more precisely.” “Did you remove the goop from my hair?” Sirius asked, lifting his hand to touch his crown. He’d felt something like an egg drop on his head, which distracted him at one point, and he was hit with a tickling curse unexpectedly. “There never was any goop, just the sensation. I wouldn’t mess with your beloved locks, sweetheart.” Sirius was leaning in to kiss his wife when she made a sort of strangled noise. It came only a heartbeat after there was a disturbance behind Andrew, someone had Apparated in. When Anwen saw the person, she charged hard, hands firing curses which the defendant easily brushed aside. Her anger growing, she sent out a strong blasting charm which made the other spin through the air before landing hard on their bottom. With two giant leaps, she was upon him. “What the hell are you doing here?” she screamed. “I came to talk,” Dumbledore replied to his former charge. “I see you are as powerful and accurate as I remember.” “Flattery is going to get you nowhere with me!” He began to stand but Anwen shoved him back down. “How could you do that to me? How could you do that to Sirius? Why the hell was I kept in that house, disconnected from the world, for fifteen years? You stole my life from me!” “Anwen, my dear girl —” “I am not your girl anymore! I’m a married woman! I thought I meant something to you!” She shook with anger, disgust and the pent-up emotions of the last few days. Tears ran down her face, neck and onto her blouse. Dumbledore sighed. “Anwen, you will always mean much more to me than you could understand. Professor McGonagall told me of your anger and confusion, and I knew we needed to speak — all of us — about what has happened.” Unconvinced, Anwen kept her hands trained on the Hogwarts Headmaster. “Anwen, dear,” Julia said, having come out of the house with everyone else when the blast, which accompanied the young woman’s powerful charm, was heard. “Anwen, I told him he could come. Let Albus up, we all have questions for him, we need to give him the chance to answer.” “Mum, he left my husband in Azkaban,” she softly sobbed. Julia enfolded her new daughter into a firm hug. "I know, luv, I know. We need to find out why." Anwen nodded against the kindly woman's chest as Sirius moved to take his wife from his mother and calm her. Andrew gave Dumbledore a hand to lift him from the ground, and he and his wife led the man into the house; everyone else coupling off and following. Baby Harry was asleep in his mother's arms, and she chose not to put him down. There were some serious questions about HIS existence she needed answered. Once everyone had a seat around the dining room table the room fell into silence. With each person’s inhalation and exhalation, the room seemed to squeeze in; making it tight, warm, uncomfortable. The only sound was the frenetic foot taping Anwen beat on the floor, still in her sturdy work boots. Finally, Dumbledore cracked, and he started speaking. “Why don’t I begin with what I know," he said. "On the night you, James, and Lily were murdered, Sirius came rushing out of the house with Harry. He told me of the provision in the Potters Will allowing he and Anwen to raise Harry as their own. I asked him if he was the secret keeper, and when he said he wasn't, I believed him. I don't care about the show you put on to make people think he'd flipped sides; I knew from my conversations with Anwen how deeply Sirius cared for the Potter family — all its members. There was no doubt in my mind he hadn't betrayed you. I am not proud to admit that I'd done Legimency on him as well, to search his mind for the truth.” Sirius made a disgusted noise at the admission. He’d make sure he kept his mind sealed tight while the old man was here now. Twelve years in Azkaban taught him a great deal about mental privacy. “If you knew he was telling the truth, why didn’t you send him to me with Harry? I was already in that damned safe-house with the wonky time,” Anwen sort of sneered. “That was the first mistake I made,” Dumbledore admitted. “I sent him to lay low at your house. I should have guessed he’d go after Peter.” “Of course, he would, Albus," Julia said. "These boys are brothers. Anyone would have counseled you that the only person who could have kept him from doing something stupid was Anwen. He would have taken his role as Harry's protector as of the utmost importance." "I realize that now, Julia. I sent Minerva to Anwen, having her take baby Harry with her. I went into the house, shocked to find another child among the rubble. You, Sirius, had said Harry was in his cot, and I believed you; but this child was under the cot as if it had flown from Lily's arms. “The Killing Curse doesn’t do that. It doesn’t split a child that way,” Andrew stated in a tense voice. "No, but the making of a Horcrux does split the soul," Dumbledore said. Everyone was quite still, waiting to hear what he'd say next. “Albus,” Julia began gently, “splitting of the soul and creating a copy of a child are two very different things. How did we end up with two Harrys?” "Blood Magic, Julia. Unintentional use of the oldest and most dangerous magic that the world has known.” “Why would Tom do such a thing?” Harry asked. "He didn't," Albus answered solemnly. "You did, Lily." At these words, Lily not only clutched her infant but went to hold her elder son's hand. She found the teen's hand cold and clammy. |
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