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SIYE Time:12:36 on 29th March 2024
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The Veil
By Mutt N Feathers

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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: 59028; Chapter Total: 1093
Awards: View Trophy Room






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Chapter 31:


"We have to stop meeting like this," James quipped as he entered the room carrying Henry. The baby was asleep but obviously uncomfortable. Anwen wiggled her fingers in his direction, and the small one settled down more comfortably on his daddy's shoulder. Harry was the same way when he was a baby — teething meant being more upright in his sleep. It allowed the drool to roll down his chin rather than bubbling up about his mouth.


"Well, if Tom Riddle didn't keep giving me nightmares I could be up there wrapped in my husband's arms; but the man is a jack-ass and …" she trailed off. James saw the pain in her face, and unfortunately, he recognized it.


“What did you see today? There was one point you looked,” he stopped to consider his next word carefully, “broken.”


“For a moment I was,” she answered plainly. “That mind of his, it’s fractured and dank. I have never felt so devoid of any love in my life. Then I saw images of the attack. I think they were Malfoy’s memories, but maybe Regulus'. It was one thing to live it; it was another to see myself while it happened."


“Anwen, I can’t imagine…did you tell Sirius?”


"Not yet, and I'm not going to until we are done with this. I don't need him going off with anger and a scrap of a plan in his brain. It was one thing when you guys were pulling pranks, he does it now, and he'd get himself killed again."


The sound of the back door opening and closing, caused Anwen to raise her hands in a defensive pose and move to stand in front of James and Henry. To their surprise, it was Remus who’d come in. “Nice greeting, Anwen,” he said with more than a bit of sarcasm. “I figured someone would be awake. Today was disturbing. Are you okay?”


“I’m fine, a little low on the magic, but I don’t expect much to happen at two-thirty-seven in the morning.” The mantle clock only read two-thirty-two, but it had been five minutes slow for fifteen years.


"More than enough to ease a teething toddler, though," James said warmly. "Why are you up?" he asked Remus.


“In case you haven’t noticed, the full moon is in two days,” Remus answered. “I never can sleep when we are this close.”


“I’m sorry,” Anwen said emphatically, “I’m usually better at remembering such things.”


"Well, you had that trip with Tom, which took a few days, then a few days to recover, then a few days to prepare for your trip into his brain. It all adds up to close to a month. Anyway, it isn't your responsibility to keep my schedule."


“Yes, well, I do that out of friendship, not duty,” she replied. They were all quiet for a moment, the teapot carefully wrapped in a towel, and mugs materialized on the coffee table. Shortly thereafter came the sugar and creamer. Anwen had made it appear, and though she'd been doing magic like this for years, it still surprised her friends when things just appeared before anyone asked. She wasn't skilled at Legilimency; she only knew them. The men noticed that she seemed distracted.

“Anwen, are you okay?” Remus asked hesitantly.


"Guys, I need to tell you something, but you have to swear not to tell Sirius until I can speak with him first." They both nodded. "I know the plan is to give Harry the foxglove and then the antidote to get rid of the Horcrux in his head, but I don’t like it. I know that Julia and Lily think it’s foolproof, but my da always said only a fool would go along with a plan that didn’t have a backup. If the antidote doesn’t work…” she trailed off, unwilling to state what the outcome would be. “I don’t see how death can bring about life without some unforeseen consequence.”


“Anwen, you know this prophecy as well as the rest of us,” James said. “Neither can live while the other survives. There has to be death, Tom’s death.”


“But does killing Harry have to be part of it? What if he remains dead? What if he comes back different, or with a malevolent spirit attached? We haven’t talked about any of this. The god and goddess brought you back, so it’s different. Witches and Wizards are not meant to deal with life and death.”


"Anwen, mediwitches, and healers bring people back from poisonings all the time," James countered.


“They do, but not when they’re dealing with a Horcrux. When we’ve destroyed the rest of them, we’ve destroyed the items housing them too. We can’t be sure about what will happen this way. We need to be better than Albus in this regard,” Anwen pleaded.


“Winnie,” James softly addressed her, “We aren’t Dumbledore.”


“If Harry dies, are you really going to be able to raise Henry as his replacement? Revert his name and go on like none of this happened?


"How can you say that to me?" James snarled. "Neither Lily nor I would be able to forgive ourselves if we —”


“If you let Harry die when there was another way,” she finished his sentence coldly. The three sat in utter silence. “I think I have a better way. No death until we meet Tom.”


“Well, it’s obviously more dangerous to someone if you don’t want us talking to Sirius about it. Is it you or Harry?” Remus asked. Anwen sighed and leaned against the chair back.


“Potentially both, but it won’t involve dying for Harry, just the Horcrux,” she said with a sigh. “I want to project myself into the Horcrux and fill it with my magic.”


“Wouldn’t that give Riddle access to your power?” James inquired.


"Yes, but I want him to. His magic is fueled by fear. He might be powerful and know a lot of spells, but there is a limit to how frightened you can become. Eventually, you can scare yourself to death."


“That’s true,” Remus agreed. “However, there isn’t much Tom is afraid of. He’s proven that time and again.”


"No, he's terrified of something, the thing that fuels my magic.” They looked at her quizzically.


“The thing Harry has in abundance. It's what forced Tom out of Harry's head at the Ministry in the spring." The two men looked at her, utterly confused.


“Love and friendship. Look, my magic is at its strongest when I’m anchored to Sirius; when we are sharing magic. Why do we share magic? Because our love and devotion to each other are stronger than anything else in our world.”


“You can’t think that love is the answer,” James said skeptically.


“Of course, it is,” Remus says, suddenly understand where Anwen’s thoughts were going. “Harry has a power the Dark Lord knows not. Harry’s good at his magic, strong in it even, and he's bright. He isn't, however, a match for Tom, at least not on the surface of it. However, love is far stronger than even magic."


“If that were true, then love would bring back the people who have died.”


“No, James, it doesn’t work like that. Death is just another experience, it’s as much a part of living as being born is.”


“I’ve been dead, Anwen, it's not like living. It's never-ending sameness," bit out his reply.


“You weren’t dead, James. You were in stasis or holding or something other than moving on. It’s why your portrait frame remained empty. You were put somewhere, along with your parents and Sirius, so that when the time came for Harry to face Tom, he could have the best, strongest, and most committed team with him — the people who love him. It makes complete sense that love is the answer."


“What are the dangers, then? If we love each other so much, what danger are you and Harry in?” James felt both comforted and disquieted by what she’d said.


"I suppose, in theory, the Horcrux could reattach itself to Harry, or I could cause an aneurysm in his brain. If it reassembles or whatever, we still have the potion. Remus, you and Eva would need to watch his blood flow and brain activity while we do this. A medical closing spell would seal the rupture if one occurred,” Anwen explained.


“Absolutely,” Remus agreed at once. “We could seal it so fast no brain damage could be done.


“So, if the real danger isn’t to Harry, then it must be to you,” James said. “I can’t ask that of you.”


"You're not asking, I'm offering. I've never understood why I can do this freaky magic." The gents sniggered at this. She truly was different, even in a world full of people who were different. "Maybe I can do this to protect Harry and ensure he has a long life."


“But what about you?” Remus asked. “Don’t you want a long life?”


“I don’t know. We don’t know what’s going to happen to Sirius or James or Lily or Mum and Dad Potter. Can you imagine my life if all of you disappear again? Yes, Remus and Eva would be here, and I would be Henry’s guardian, but I’d be existing, half of me gone.” They were quiet, both wanting to protest but knowing she was right. Remus had lived with Sirius without Anwen — it wasn’t much of a life.


“Where does the exact risk lie, Anwen?” Remus pointedly asked.


“The risk lies in my being blown apart with the Horcrux. Not my body, but my mind, my magic. I could be fine; I could also become a Squib or be in a persistent vegetative state. The other risk is that Tom could cling to me and use my body to regenerate himself. If that happened, one of you would have to kill me.”


“I’d say the risk is too high then,” a voice from the hallway said, and Harry walked in. “There is no way that you can take that risk for me. Mum and Dad were murdered to protect me. I watched Sirius be killed for me. There is no way I’m going to let you sacrifice yourself to save me. Just give me the poison.”


“I’m not comfortable doing that, and if we are all honest, none of us are,” Anwen argued.


“Why is my life so much more important than yours?” Harry begged.


“Because you’re young and you have so much to live for. You could have the rest of your life with your parents and little brother —”


"Anwen, you're barely three years older than me," he cut her off. "No, nothing that puts anyone at that kind of risk is going to be done. We do it my way, or I'm off. I'll figure out a way to do this myself." Harry intended to storm off, but James stood in his way and plunked his baby brother into his arms. The toddler was a mass of heavy limbs that required all of Harry's energy not to drop onto the floor.


“Harry, you’re never going to be alone in your life again. Even if the rest of us return to where we were before Samhain, Henry here will be with you. Think about him.”


Harry considered his father, suddenly thinking he looked more than twenty-one. He then looked at the slumbering child in his arms. It wasn't just Henry he had to live for, it was Ginny, too. Ron and Hermione needed him back lest they kill each other before they figured out they were in love. Remus needed him also — someone had to learn to be an Animagus to keep him company in the forest at full moons.


“We tell everyone your idea at breakfast, Anwen, and then we vote.”


“Do you want anything explained to you before then?” she asked.


“No,” Harry said before sitting down next to her. “I was in the hall from the point I heard Remus come in the back door. I was worried there wasn’t anyone awake down here.”


“You’ll learn, Harry, that someone is always awake around here,” Remus said, clasping the younger man on the shoulder before refilling his mug. “Anyone up for a game of chess?”
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