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Dreams of Home Chapter 21
🕑 Added 2023-05-16 16:05:09 +0000 UTCChapter 21
The screams were agonizing. Ron was next to Harry holding his ears, tears rolling down his eyes as Hermione and Luna’s wails could be heard in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Harry however didn’t want to block out the screams. It was driving his brain into overdrive; there had to be something he could do. The adrenaline caused by panic was coursing through his body. Desperately he reached back into his pocket where he had left the two-way mirror. He had tried calling out when they had first been captured, but there was no luck to be had. Turning the mirror in his hand he cried out for help again, but it seemed no one would answer his call.
Familiar blue eyes finally appeared in the mirror, and the young man nearly collapsed in relief, “Please, help us! We are at Malfoy Manor. Please!”
In a matter of moments Dobby, the House Elf, appeared in the room with Harry and he offered the man a wide smile, “Harry Potter!”
With Dobby’s help, escaping the dungeons was no problem. It was when they made it back to the living room area that they ran into their problems. With no wand, there was practically no hope of overwhelming Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcissa, Peter, and Draco.
Harry saw Bellatrix on top of Hermione with a knife carving something into her arm, and something inside of him snapped. Ron seemed to be of the same state of mind when Lucius cast the cruciatus curse on Luna. With a snap of Dobby’s fingers, Lucius Malfoy lost his wand sending it in the air toward Ron, “You shall not harm Harry Potter’s friends!”
With a flick of Harry’s wrist, he hit Draco with a wall of magic that sent the boy flying backward, and his wand fell to the floor. Harry dove forward into a roll to retrieve the wand, and shielded spells from Bellatrix and Narcissa at the same time. Ron immediately sought to engage with Peter, and Harry made quick work of Narcissa as he collapsed her with a bone-splintering hex to the knee. Harry then engaged in a heated battle with Bellatrix as Ron dismantled Peter with the cruciatus curse. Harry was surprised by the man’s screams, but Bellatrix was not as she laughed maniacally as Ron turned to help Harry tip the odds in their favor.
The fight had not been going well from the start, and with Bellatrix constantly slipping killing curses into the action it was becoming more difficult to protect the injured witches. Chancing a glance at his downed friends he saw that Hermione was trying to drag Luna to safety, but the girl was mostly dead weight as she trembled and sobbed. Trying to find them an escape route Harry shouted, “Dobby get us out of here!”
The commotion had attracted the attention of other Death Eaters in the house though, and Harry knew they were in trouble when a pair of wizards entered the room flinging green curses around, causing Hermione to drop Luna and fall towards Ron who was desperately trying to protect them with transfigured debris. The reinforcements seemed to spur on Bellatrix, and her wand was a blur as Harry struggled to keep up with her.
With a pop, Harry knew Dobby had taken Ron and Hermione. The searing pain in his scar also told him the Dark Lord was on his way. Moving towards Luna, Harry moved to help the girl, but hexes were flying towards him so fast he knew his final stand was coming, and in a panic, he raised the largest shield charm of his life. The display of power caused a brief pause and Harry heard Luna call out softly to him, “Harry, please.”
Dobby had returned in the knick of time, and Harry reached for Luna to finalize their escape, but it was not meant to be. A green spell hit the fallen girl in the chest, and her blue eyes went lifeless as they looked up at him with hope drained from her life. Harry turned in agony to see the triumphant face of Lucius Malfoy. Someone had given him an extra wand, and he wasn’t going to allow Harry to escape with his friend's life. Luna’s lifeless eyes crushed him as he screamed with rage throwing his wand forward destroying most of the room in his anger.
.o.
When Harry joined everyone at breakfast that morning his Slytherin friends were all trying to contain their excitement as he attempted to forget what he had seen in his dreams the night before. Nate had promised that he would do his best to at least catch a drink with them at the Three Broomsticks before heading back to the castle, while Pandora and Andromeda promised to meet him outside of Honeydukes so they could pick up their guest. Elaina, sticking with the brief plan they had made, remained in the common room until Harry could pick her up.
It was difficult facing Pandora that morning for Harry. The dreams of her daughter losing her life while being within arm's reach of safety still hurt the young man. He nearly choked when he saw the bubbly girl at the Slytherin table that morning, but he shook it off trying to take in the high spirits of the Great Hall. The lifeless blue eyes haunted the corner of his mind though, and he was forced to shake himself out of it more than once.
As lunch came to an end Harry was quiet and in his own thoughts, not even noticing that someone had approached him from behind. A firm hand on his shoulder had his wand moving faster than he could comprehend what he was doing, and his hand clinched a fist full of shirt as he dug his wand into the surprised neck of James Potter. Harry blinked several times, before immediately releasing the man who stepped quickly away from his cousin, “Damn, Harry, what in the bloody hell was that about?”
Many eyes around the hall were on him, and even the Professors were eyeballing him in concern. Trying to play it off like it was no big deal he immediately apologized, “Sorry, Prongs, you startled me!”
James frowned at his words, but shook his head as he too glanced towards the head table, and heard the whispers around the hall, “No harm, no foul. Everything alright?”
Nodding quickly he offered a slightly forced smile, “Of course.”
It was clear his answer wasn’t fooling anyone, but one quick look at the Slytherins who were shooting him suspicious glances and James recovered quickly throwing an arm around his cousin, “Well anyway, now that you're done trying to take my head off, let’s get going. Come on, Harry, today is the big day! Hogsmeade awaits us.”
Harry chuckled, and put an arm around James following him towards the exit of the Great Hall as they linked up with the rest of their group, “I am going to meet you guys down there. Something I have to take care of first. We can still meet at the Three Broomsticks right after I meet with mom and dad.”
James frowned, “Harry, it’s Saturday. On a Hogsmeade weekend. What could you possibly have to do today? How are you even going to find the Three Broomsticks?”
“I am quite adept at magic, you know.” Harry answered with a grin, “I am embracing my inner Marauder. I need you to trust me.”
This made James’ eyebrows shoot up at this, and even Sirius who caught his words looked surprised, but then weary when he asked, “What are you planning, Harry?”
“An adventure. Just trust me.” Harry said with a smirk, “It’s why I was so distracted earlier. I will find the Three Broomsticks, and meet up with all of you in Hogsmeade just as planned. I just won’t be taking the carriages with you guys.”
Harry’s eyes drifted toward his Slytherin friends and said, “I extended the invitation to Pandora, and Andi. They are going to be bringing Xeno Lovegood too, please play nicely.”
Sirius looked surprised at Andi who just gave him a grin and a little curling finger wave in answer. Remus however swallowed hard, “Harry, Slytherins and Gryffindors don’t usually associate with each other. Especially not at Hogsmeade.”
“I would like to see someone stop us.” Harry said stubbornly, “I will wipe the floor with the first person that insults any of my friends on either side. That is a promise.”
Harry intentionally looked at Sirius after his announcement, and the young man held his hand up in surrender, “Alright, fine we will play nicely with your filthy snakes, Potter Jr.”
Even Remus had eyed Nate Greengrass with a bit of a concerned glance, but Harry promised the werewolf, “It will be fine, guys. Just don’t have too much fun before I get there.”
James shook his head, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited.”
Harry just gave the Marauder a cheeky grin before offering him a fist that James tapped with his own knuckles. Before he fully escaped however he made eye contact with Marlene who looked curious as to where he was going, but all he did was wink at her in return making the girl blush slightly.
Cutting back towards the Dungeons after breakfast Harry found the common room to be abandoned. It was a nice autumn day so he expected even the younger Slytherins to be out on the grounds today. Thankfully that made it all the easier to approach Elaina who was sitting on the couch with a book in her hands looking quite peaceful. This was the first time Harry had seen her out of the Hogwarts uniform, and he could admit he thought she was the prettiest girl in Slytherin. With her blue jeans, white trainers, and dark green jumper her heterochromia was really standing out today. Coming to stand before the girl he grinned, “Are you ready for a bit of fun?”
Looking nervous the girl closed her book, and sat it down on the table behind her, “Are you sure about this, Harry? I know you sounded awfully confident last night, but what if we are discovered?”
“As long as you trust Nate, Pandora, and Andi, then there is nothing to worry about. By the time I get you onto the grounds, cast the glamors, and teach you to adjust your voice you will be unrecognizable.” Harry promised, “But seriously, if you don’t feel comfortable don’t think I am pressuring you into this. I can’t explain it, but I understand how it feels to be denied something you want. I had good friends help me in those moments, and I want to pay that forward.”
Offering the girl his hand at this point he grinned, “Now are we doing this or what?”
Elaina hesitated for a long moment before sighing, “Let’s do it.”
Harry cast a look around, and said, “Alright, but I need you to trust me. I am also going to share a family secret with you, that I need you to promise me not to share with anyone. It could get me in a lot of trouble with my family if I told you. Do I have your word?”
Looking the girl in the eye trying to convey how serious he was being, and he could tell she seemed surprised by his trust, “My word.”
“Good, come with me to my dorm.” Harry said, gesturing for her to follow him.
He couldn’t see the frown on her face, but he knew his first request had surprised her. When they approached the seventh-year boy’s dorms they walked to the end of the hall where Harry gestured for her hand, “I need to key you into my wards. May I see your hand?”
She looked curiously at him, but nodded her acceptance as she stared forward. Harry knew she was seeing a translucent shield, while he was seeing an undisturbed view of his room. With a hiss, Harry guided her hand towards the shield, and she closed her eyes in nervous anticipation as he dragged her straight through the wards into his room.
Immediately releasing her he gestured around the room, “Congratulations. You are the first to enter my room since Slughorn assigned it to me on our first day.”
“A parseltongue ward? I didn’t even know those existed.” Elaina said with wonder, and it seemed to increase as she took in the room.
It was much larger than when Harry had originally taken over the room. He had discovered a few expansion charms, as well as several defensive wards to enhance his parselmagic that he found in the Black family library in his time. It was all defensive magic in nature, but it was nigh impenetrable for small quarters, “Pretty cool, right? You may have noticed no one after the first night tried to break into my room.”
“I heard it did terrible things to people who tried.” Elaina said, but there was no hint of accusation in her voice.
“Only mentally.” Harry said in agreement, “Nothing that will leave a physical mark. The ward they triggered was designed to give them very lucid and intense nightmares. It would only last until the time they woke up. A small price to pay for what they would’ve attempted to do to me had they been successful in breaking in.”
Elaina didn’t seem to disagree as he walked over to his trunk to fish out the item he needed, and he was surprised that she walked past him towards his bed. He stopped looking for the cloak for a moment to observe her as she picked up the photograph on his bedside. It was a wizarding photo from the summer. It was of his family after a pickup game of Quidditch at Potter Manor. Dorea was shaking her head looking at her boys fondly, while James and Harry held their brooms. Charlus and Fleamont were standing behind them with proud expressions on their faces, and Harry couldn’t help the smile that formed from the memory.
Pulling his cloak out he said, “That was one of the best days of my life. Just playing Quidditch with James, and having fun with my uncle, aunt, mum and dad. Something I had waited to do for my whole life. Now this is the item I need to get you out of the castle undetected.”
The girl turned back to face him with a hundred questions clearly floating through her mind, but they all went out the window as she gasped coming forward, “Merlin, this is an invisibility cloak.”
“A very good one.” Harry said in agreement.
“Where on Earth did you get it?” She asked in amazement touching the fabric reverently.
“Let’s just say it was passed down to me by my father.” Harry answered.
“I can see why you wouldn’t want people to know you have this.” She confessed quietly.
“It’s a well-kept secret in my family.” Harry said with a nod.
The girl shook her head, “Why would you trust me with this?”
“It's a calculated risk.” Harry admitted, “But you have gained my trust for protecting me that night from Avery. You will have it until you give me a reason to take it away. I can trust you, can’t I?”
“Maybe they should’ve put you in Hufflepuff, Potter.” She said teasingly, but nodded, “You can trust me.”
“Good. Otherwise this whole thing could be quite unfortunate.” Harry said with a chuckle.
“Why couldn’t we just cast a disillusionment charm?” She asked as she tossed the cloak around her shoulders.
“Dumbledore can see through them.” Harry answered easily, “I would be willing to bet other Professors can as well, but definitely the Headmaster. It would be quite difficult to explain why you were walking around disillusioned in broad daylight on a Hogsmeade weekend.”
Understanding his reasoning Elaina flipped the hood of the cloak, and she vanished completely. Perfect invisibility. Harry nodded in appreciation at seeing his family’s artifact work so well, “Excellent. Now follow me. I will tell you when you can take it off.”
Harry guided the girl out of his room, and into the still-deserted Slytherin common room. From there he guided her toward the closest secret passageway leading to the third floor. He was surprised to see Professor Slughorn walking about the dungeons at this hour in the morning, and greeted the man happily, “Good morning, Professor.”
“To you as well, my boy.” The man said, clapping Harry on the shoulder, “Shouldn’t you be in Hogsmeade? I know I spotted your friends heading down there just earlier.”
“I am heading down there in a little bit. I needed to pick up a few things from the library before I went down to the village.” Harry lied easily.
Slughorn chuckled jubilantly, “Always the studious one, aren’t we? Very well, I will see you down in the village later, my boy!”
“Feel free to join us for a drink, Professor. I think I will have quite the assortment of friends gathered this afternoon.” Harry said cheekily.
This caused the man to boom with laughter, “I believe you, Harry! Perhaps I will do just that.”
The man continued on his way from there, and Harry subtly gestured for the invisible girl behind to follow him forward. They passed a few younger students milling about, and Harry hoped Elaina was smart enough to follow directly behind him as quietly as possible until they made it to the third floor corridor with the one-eyed witch statue. Harry checked to ensure the corridor was empty before whispering, “Dissendium.”
A passage opened up behind the statue offering them their escape, and Harry smiled widely as he stepped into the secret passageway. He waited a moment before the entrance closed, and called out, “You can take off the cloak now.”
With no hesitation the girl removed the cloak and stared at him with wide eyes, “This is amazing. How in Merlin’s name did you find it?”
“I didn’t. My father did in his time here.” Harry explained telling the truth, but only technically. Taking his cloak back from Elaina he gestured for her to follow him through the passageway.
“Where does it go?” She asked curiously following him with no hesitation now.
“Honeydukes cellar.” Harry answered happily.
“How were you certain that this was going to work? Your little lie to Sluggy was pretty smooth too.” She said, sounding slightly impressed.
“I tested it earlier this week.” Harry admitted, “I had to make sure it hadn’t been closed off since my father went to school here.”
This was still technically true. He was not sure when James and the other Marauders had discovered this passageway. Sirius told him they were adding to the map up until the day it was confiscated at the end of their seventh year. For all Harry knew at first this could’ve been the last thing they had discovered. Luckily that was not the case.
As they moved through the secret passageway Harry practically vibrated with excitement, and he could tell she was anxious as well to see if this place would take her where he claimed it would.
“Harry?” Elaina asked, causing him to stop.
“What is it?” Harry asked, thinking she might have heard something behind them. His wand fell into his hand prepared to defend them if necessary, but the look on her face told him that something was troubling her.
“Why did your parents hide you from the world? I have heard what the others have said, but I saw the look on your face when you looked at the picture in your room. It was with reverence. Like you accomplished a life goal that day. If it was so important to you to meet your family, then why did they hide you from James and his parents? Surely they could’ve been trusted with the secret.” Elaina asked curiously.
Thinking about how to answer the question Harry considered several options for a moment before sighing, “I have trusted you with enough secrets for now. I am not saying I won’t answer the question, but I don’t think the time is right. It is something even James is struggling to come to terms with, but there was a very good reason.”
The two held each other’s eyes for a long moment, and finally, she nodded in understanding, “You keep becoming more and more complicated, Potter.”
Chuckling Harry shook his head, “Nah, I like dueling, Quidditch, and magic. There really isn’t that much to me.”
Elaina shook her head knowing there was so much more to him than that, but decided not to disagree verbally as she followed him to the end of the tunnel where he turned back to face her with his wand drawn, “Ready for me to give you a makeover?”
The girl took a deep breath, but nodded, “Do your worst, Potter.”
Grinning Harry waved his wand focusing on one attribute at a time as he moved his wrist in a square. Moving precisely from one point to another. When he was done he looked her up and down appraisingly and grinned, “My, Miss Essex, I do think red hair suits you.”
The girl made a scrunched-up face as she pulled her hair in front of her face, and shook her head, “So the rumors about you having the hots for Evans are true huh?”
Grimacing Harry shook his head, “Lily is a very pretty lady, but she is definitely not my type. Your eyes are brown now by the way. It was easier to change them both than to change one or the other. Lastly, you will need to change your own voice. If I do it I will probably push you too far to one side of the spectrum or another as far as deep or high goes. Stay focused and cast the spell Vocaleous. Just try and think of someone’s voice that you know really well. It is easier to mimic than it is to create. Don’t worry I can revert it if you get it wrong.”
The girl nodded, seemingly determined to not be the thing that messed up the plan that had already taken them so far, “Vocaleous.”
Harry watched as the girl touched her throat, and he asked, “How’s that feeling?”
“It burned a little.” She said with a slightly higher voice, and a slight french accent.
Impressed, Harry grinned, “I like it, you even added a bit of an accent.”
“My mom was French.” She said quietly, “I was thinking about her voice when I cast the spell. I think I sound just like her.”
“First try on a vocal transfiguration is very good. Nicely done, Miss Essex.” Harry said with a satisfied grin, “I do believe even our friends will have a hard time recognizing you. We can do disillusionment charms from here. Once we are out in the village we can cancel them, and go about our business.”
Nodding with an excited expression on her face the two waved their wands up and down, before lifting the cellar door up, ensuring no one was in the room, and then ascending the stairs quietly. Escaping the shop was elementary at that point as most people were not paying attention, and they slipped past the next arriving customers, and canceled their charms with ease. In amazement Elaina looked around with a stunned expression, “I didn’t think I would get to explore the village until I graduated.”
“Harry, Victoria!” An excited voice called out from nearby.
Turning to see Andi, with a surprised look on her face, she came over to them quickly followed by Pandora, and a man Harry instantly recognized as Xenophilius Lovegood. Andi quickly embraced her now redheaded friend and beamed, “I can’t believe he actually got you here.”
The newly coined Victoria shook her head, “Believe me, I am still trying to process it as well.”
Pandora hugged her friend, and when they separated she gestured for her husband who took her hand with a wide smile, “Harry, you are the only one who has not had the pleasure of meeting my husband. Harry, this is Xenophilius Lovegood. Xeno, this is my new friend Harry.”
The long blond-haired man offered Harry a bright smile and his free hand, “A pleasure, Mr Potter. My wife speaks highly of you. She also told me that you would be bringing me an old family friend. It is good to see that you made it, Victoria.”
“I’m a big fan of your work, Mr Lovegood. Your work on the Rotfang Conspiracy was quite the piece of journalism.” Harry said, taking the offered man’s hand, and giving Elaina a chance to dodge Xeno as she peered around in continued amazement. Harry had told the others a brief part of the game plan this morning, and he was proud they were adapting quickly, just like any good Slytherin should.
Pandora seemed surprised by his knowledge, but Harry had made sure to pick up a subscription to the Quibbler earlier that week. He could not afford any lapses in his knowledge after claiming to be a reader. The front page he had received was displaying an image of Barty Crouch yelling in a courtroom, and Harry found the whole thing extremely amusing, “Please call me Xeno, Mr Potter. It is nice to know some out there are more open minded than others. I have received quite the backlash from that article.”
“That just means you are getting to them.” Harry exclaimed, “And please call me Harry as well, and I was happy to assist bringing your lovely friend along with me. I think she is quite enamored with the village so far”
Xeno glanced at the redhead beside him who was still observing the area in wonder, and chuckled, “I am quite surprised to learn you were sorted into the house of serpents, and not the house of lions after hearing my wife’s tales.”
“I would say it took a lot of cunning to think up this plan as fast as I did, and make sure I had a contingency for all obstacles.” Harry answered easily, “I think Salzaar himself would be proud of my methods.”
“Indeed.” Xeno said with a slight bow of his head, making Harry chuckle at the quirkiness that reminded him so much of his dear friend. His heart ached briefly at the memory, but knew with some luck his friend would never be forced to suffer such a fate in this timeline.
“Now,” Harry said with a clap of his hands, “I am afraid it's time for me to meet with my family at the Three Broomsticks. I hope I get to see you all there later this afternoon.”
Before Harry could take off a hand grabbed his arm and brown eyes were looking at him in gratitude, “Thanks for this, Harry.”
Offering the girl a smile he nodded, “Anytime. You brought out the infamous Potter mischief in me. I should be thanking you as well.”
Grinning at him the girl shook her head, “Should I feel used?”
“Maybe a bit.” He said with a wink as she released him, and he crossed the street to The Three Broomsticks leaving his friends with sometime to explore the village.
Entering the establishment he came to realize that magicals did not like change. It wasn’t some great epiphany at this point, but it seemed Madam Rosmerta had not changed the place much from the time she took over to the bar when he was here as a student. Going to the bar he grabbed the attention of a much younger, but familiar blonde woman who offered him a wide smile, “What can I get you, handsome?”
“I think my family is expecting me. Should be under the name Potter?” He asked curiously.
Rosmerta offered him a flirtatious smile, “They sure are, darling. First room on the right when you get upstairs. Should have known, you look just like that miscreant cousin of yours.”
“I think he prefers ‘lovable rogue’ madam.” Harry returned jokingly as he pushed himself away from the bar, and towards the stairs that would lead him upstairs.
Pushing open the first door on the right Harry smiled as Dorea's face lit up at the sight of him, “Harry!”
The woman rose from her chair, and moved towards him with open arms making Harry’s face nearly split with a smile as he embraced the woman tightly, “Hey mum.”
As they separated she touched his face affectionately looking over him before Charlus sighed in fake exasperation, “Are you going to let me hug our son, dear?”
The woman offered a pout before stepping back allowing Harry to hug the man that was waiting with open arms. For a brief moment, all seemed right in the world as he pulled the man into a strong hug.
Comments
Ronke Kayode
God this Harry is too much sharing film secrets with ppl you only just met. Fuck he's dumb no way he's taking out old Voldus ot
Brandon Buie
Death Eater attack in 3..2..1
