Inevitable 73/80: Promise Me (Harry Potter/Anita Blake) PG13
(four months later...)
Inevitable 73/80: Promise Me
A Harry Potter/Anita Blake crossover
by mhalachaiswords
Summary: A late-night run-in with werewolves in the woods outside St. Louis dumps Harry Potter into a whole new world of trouble. Now Anita Blake has to deal with a new charge as well as Death-Eaters come to town.
Fandoms: Anita Blake and Harry Potter
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Only the story is my own.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 6,882
Spoilers: Spoilers for Half-Blood Prince, Incubus Dreams
Note: It's still Oct. 31, the longest day in Harry's life. Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with me. It's been a difficult few months at work. And every time I think I'm going over the top with Anita's powers, I remember that I can point to a specific event in the books where Anita has done the exact same thing :)
Previous parts here.
~~~~~~~
"Jason?" I cried out, dropping to my knees beside him. His blood spread out in a growing pool around him, pumping out of his body as he fought to breathe. Distantly, I could hear screaming and yelling around me, but I didn't care. The only thing I cared about was the man bleeding out on the cold stone floor.
Jason turned terrified blue eyes to me. He was dying, and I couldn't think how to fix this, I couldn't think!
My panic blossomed outwards. Blindly, I reached out, looking for anything that I could use to help Jason. Across oceans, I heard Jean-Claude's horror, felt Richard's panic, and I didn't know what to do.
"Help him!" Richard screamed at me, his mental voice faint over the distance. "Do something!"
"Do what?" I screamed back.
"Use Raina's munin, ma petite!" Jean-Claude's words echoed in my head. "Please, before it is too late to save Jason!"
He was right, I could use the munin, the metaphysical power of the wolf pack, to heal Jason. I'd done it before to heal people I cared about, I could do it again.
I touched the edge of the gash on Jason's stomach. The other werewolf's claws had cut through Jason's skin and muscle, showing things that shouldn't ever see air, all squishy and bloody and it was too much like Nathaniel, lying on my living room floor, and I couldn't do this. Jason was going to die and I couldn't do anything to save him.
Someone grabbed my hand, jolting me back to myself. Harry gripped my palm hard, so hard that the recently healed bones and muscle ground together, shooting sharp pains up my arm, but the pain was exactly what I needed. What Raina needed.
Maybe I couldn't raise Raina's munin with Jason, but Harry was new to Raina, he was whole and fresh and an innocent to sink her teeth into, and she liked it. I felt Raina's power rise in me and reach out for Harry.
There was something I wasn't remembering, something that was important about Harry and me, but I couldn't think of what that was.
Then Raina's power, mixed with my necromancy and the edges of my ardeur, slammed into Harry. His wolf responded to Raina, to the blood and the power, but he wouldn't submit to me. He took the power, and pushed it back at me, at Jason, at everything.
The power blast was electrifying. It hurt, clawing along my stomach, along my arms, along my legs, along every broken bone, every wound, ever bruise I'd ever had. It felt like I was on fire and buried in ice at the same time, every nerve ending being scraped by broken glass.
Then just like that, it was gone.
The room was echoingly silent. I opened my eyes, not sure what I was expecting to see. Jason lay on the floor, skin healed and flawless under a thick coat of blood. He blinked up at me, confused. Alive.
I didn't have time to register the fact that Jason wasn't going to die before movement down the hall caught my eye. The werewolf who had attacked Jason, the one I'd shot full of silver bullets, pulled himself into a sitting position. The rush of power that healed Jason must have healed him too.
He'd tried to kill Jason, and now he was fine.
He was fine to try to kill Jason again.
Raina, still lurking in the back my head, wasn't happy. The only person who got to hurt Raina's wolves was Raina. I disagreed with most of what Raina stood for, but we had one thing in common. We would destroy anyone who hurt our people.
A growl escaped my lips as I reached for my fallen gun.
Harry grabbed my arm. "Stop it!" he exclaimed in my ear, jerking me to the side. "Jason's better, everyone's better, you can't do this!"
"He tried to kill Jason!" I hissed. In spurts, noise came back into the hall. Angry voices, things banging, pounding feet. "I can't--"
"Anita!" Harry interrupted. "I can't let you kill Remus!"
"Mr. Potter!" came a thundering voice. My empty gun flew up into the air and away from me. "Come here at once!"
Harry turned, putting himself between me and the speaker. "Remus tried to kill Jason, I'm not going anywhere!"
Jason dragged himself into a sitting position, pressing himself against my legs. He rumbled low in his chest. The sound vibrated through my body, safe and warm and alive.
"Mr. Potter, this is not up for discussion!" The speaker stepped forward, and I saw that it was an older woman with square glasses, her wand pointed at us, my gun in her other hand, and I flashed back to Bellatrix in the woods, hurting me, killing Clay, and something twisted in my chest.
"Where's Dumbledore? I'm not moving until I talk to Dumbledore!" Harry shouted.
"The Headmaster is on his way, he will get here when he gets here!" the witch said. "Now move away!"
"Harry." Jason raised a blood-covered hand and pointed down the hall.
The little werewolf, Reece, was slouched against a stone wall. The only thing holding him upright was one shaky hand on the rock. His breathing came too hard, too fast, and as he lifted his head, I saw that his eyes had shifted to the bright grey of the wolf.
The boy was going to shift.
"Crap," Harry muttered with feeling, letting go of my arm. "Reece, come here." He cleared his throat and tried again, this time putting more authority in his voice than I though he had in him. "Reece, come here now."
For the longest moment, I didn't think the boy heard Harry, but finally, the little werewolf pushed himself off the wall and stumbled over to us. Harry went up on his knees and caught Reece as the boy collapsed to his hands and knees. Harry pulled the boy into a tight hug, murmuring something in his ear, too soft to hear, but my beast recognized it for what it was -- comfort, security, protection.
I tore my eyes away from the boys and looked down the hall. The older witch stood half to the side, her wand lowered a fraction. She was alternating between looking at us, and staring in horror at the werewolf at her feet. There were a couple of other people behind them, one a young woman with bright pink hair, the other a tiny, older man. But their wands were pointed at the floor, not at us, and I couldn't bring myself to care.
Jason was alive.
I started to shiver, not from the cold, and Jason turned in my lap. He wrapped one arm around my waist and gave me a quick squeeze. He was so warm wrapped around me, his hair soft and fine under my fingers, and he was alive.
"Ma petite, you have saved him," Jean-Claude whispered in my mind, his relief mingling with mine. "You saved Jason's life." Richard's presence in my mind was distant, but he echoed Jean-Claude's sentiment.
"But the guy who did this--"
Jean-Claude's presence flared up, suddenly sharp. "Ma petite, you are surrounded by this man's people, you yourself recognized that you were in danger. Promise me you will exercise caution."
"Jean-Claude--"
"Anita, please." Jean-Claude's apprehension slid into fear, a fear of loss that tasted like the echoed remembrance of Julianna's perfume. "I would give this werewolf a thousand pardons if it brings you and Jason home to me."
"You never forgive," I thought desperately. Against my better instincts, my gaze slid off the witches and ended up on Harry, still trying to calm the young werewolf.
"I value you more than life itself, ma petite." Jean-Claude's words came to me with a hint of a werewolf's' growl, and suddenly Richard was with us there. He must have been at the Circus with Jean-Claude. "You have to come home to me."
"To us." Richard's desperate words brushed over me like the softness of wolf's fur. In my lap, Jason suddenly went still, feeling his Ulfric's presence. "You're coming home and Jason's coming home and the pack's going to be whole again."
"But for that to happen, ma petite, you must exercise caution," Jean-Claude whispered. "You are surrounded by these people and I cannot aid you. You can rely only on yourself and Jason and Harry."
"But--"
"Harry, who put himself between the witch's magic and you, after you shot that man. He may not know it, but he has taken a stand, and that is to be by your side," Jean-Claude said. "He stands by you and Jason and this young pup who he even now seeks to comfort, and that means he stands between you and his own people." Jean-Claude's voice started to fade. "The sun rises, ma petite, I must--"
Silence. Then, before I could panic, Richard pushed reassurance at me. "He's fine, Anita, it's just sunrise. I'll stay with him until he wakes up. You take care of Jason and Harry."
"I will." With that, I shut down the marks between us, and Jason finally relaxed.
At the end of the hall, the tall witch started towards us, her wand down. "Mr. Potter, we need to get Mr. Trevelyan to the infirmary," she said imperiously.
"No, we don't." Harry glared at the woman over his glasses. "He's fine, Jason's fine, and Remus is fine. No one needs to go the infirmary."
"Mr. Potter, this is not your call," the woman snapped. Behind her, the werewolf was shakily pulling himself to his feet. "The Headmaster will be here shortly."
The werewolf lurched forward a step. "Harry--"
"Dumbledore's not here now and Reece isn't going to the infirmary!" Harry exclaimed, not listening to the werewolf. "And I'm not going anywhere, either!"
The woman looked so angry, but I don't think Harry cared. I know I didn't.
Then Reece sniffled. "I donna think I like it here any more," he whispered miserably to Harry.
Harry passed a hand over Reece's hair, a strangely paternal gesture in one so young. "I know," was all Harry could say.
~~~
McGonagall was so furious, Harry thought numbly as he closed the thick wooden door behind him. He had lost the argument on Reece going to the infirmary, but he'd managed to keep Jason and Anita together, in this thick-walled guest room on the floor below the infirmary.
And the whole time, Remus hadn't even tried to explain.
"Why did he do it?" Harry asked Jason.
"Huh?" Jason paused in stripping off his shirt to give Harry a look. "Which 'he' are you talking about?"
"Remus." Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "Why did he attack you?"
"An excellent question," came Anita's cold voice. The woman dropped their bags onto the bed and dug around in a pocket. She emerged with another gun in her hands. "I thought you said he was a good guy, this werewolf friend of yours!" she said as she checked the magazine.
"He is!" Harry exclaimed.
"Who just goes around your school randomly attacking people?"
"Don't say those kinds of things!"
"It's true! He almost killed Jason! If I hadn't shot him, do you think he'd have stopped?" Anita stalked across the room, getting in Harry's face, too close. "What if Reece had been there instead of Jason? What do you think he'd have done?"
"Shut up!" Harry's anger swirled up in him like a living thing, anger at everything that had happened in the past few days, and he wanted to hit, to hurt. Instead, he forced himself to back away from Anita.
Of course, she followed him. "Jason almost died!"
"So did Remus!" Harry shouted. "You shot him and he'd have died!"
"He was trying to kill Jason!"
Jason suddenly appeared between them, pulling Anita away. "You two need to calm down," Jason said carefully. "You're both upset."
"Of course I'm upset!" Anita shouted, jerking away from Jason. "All that ever happens in this place is people I care about almost die!" She turned her back on the boys and walked across the room to the window. "Harry almost died last night and Jason--" Her shoulders hunched up, shaking. "I can't keep doing this."
Harry, who had been about to scream some more, felt his anger fall apart as he looked at Anita. "I'm fine," he said awkwardly. "And Jason's fine, even Remus is fine."
Jason padded across the room to Anita's side. "Hey," he murmured, nudging her arm. "You saved me."
Anita gulped in a deep breath. "I shouldn't have had to save you," she said, voice rough. "I should have gone back for the bags."
"No," Jason said, voice rising in sudden anger. He spun Anita around to face him, and Harry was shocked to see Anita had tears on her cheeks. "Then he would have attacked you and we wouldn't have been able to save you."
"No," Harry protested. "Remus wouldn't have... I mean, there's no way he'd have attacked Anita."
Jason gave Harry a dark look. "He thought I was the one who attacked you last night, and I'd come to finish the job," he said. "He said I smelled like your blood. He had seriously lost it, Harry. If Anita had been there, I don't think it'd have been any different."
"But you had my blood on your hands," Harry said, grasping at anything to make sense of Remus's actions. "Anita didn't, he wouldn't have... He was just upset."
"I don't care why he did it," Jason said. "If he was upset he wouldn't have attacked the first person he saw. What if it had been Reece? The kid smells like your blood, too."
"Remus wouldn't have attacked Reece!" Harry shouted. "I don't know why he did what he did, but he wouldn't have done that!" He unbuttoned his robe and dropped it to the floor, giving it a good kick. Blood stains spread up the fabric and along the side, and the sight of Jason's blood on everything made Harry want to scream. "He couldn't have!"
The impact of everything that had happened, Moroven stealing Reece away, hurting him, hurting Harry, the attack on Jason, hit Harry suddenly. People had almost died. He had almost died, and he hadn't been able to stop it. Wasn't that the point? Harry thought bitterly. I die, Voldemort can't use me as a Horcrux, and that's one step closer to stopping him. The harder I try to keep alive, the more chances I give Voldemort.
Hands were pulling at Harry. Harry let whoever it was push him into a sitting position on the floor. Jason put his arm around Harry's shoulders and rumbled deep in his chest.
"Why did it have to be like this?" Harry asked numbly. "Why?"
"I don't know." Jason shifted until he was pressed right up against Harry's side. "I wish I did."
Anita knelt in front of them, her dark eyes huge in her face. Her tears were gone, but the haunted look remained. "I don't know why your friend did that, Harry, but I had to do what I did," she said awkwardly.
Harry closed his eyes briefly. "It's not that," he mumbled. Moroven had said, the previous night, that Harry was the reason she had come to the Forbidden Forest. Was it to give him the Horcrux? If so, why had her vampires tried to kill Harry?
A cold sweat broke out over Harry's skin. Had she known Harry was a Horcrux? Had she been trying to do the same thing Harry was, destroying the Horcruxes and Voldemort along with them?
"Harry? What's wrong? Are you still hurt?" Anita asked, voice high and worried.
Harry couldn't help it. He started to laugh. "You should have let the werewolves eat me," he gasped out. It wasn't funny and he wanted to make it stop, but nothing was as it should be anymore. "Then none of this would have happened."
"Harry!" Anita grabbed his shoulders and gave him a hard shake. Harry's hysterical laughter stopped as if she had thrown a switch. "Don't talk like that!"
She was so close, her eyes so wide and scared. Harry remembered how wide her eyes had been in the woods, on the night Bellatrix had tried to kill her with the Crucio Eternum curse, and the remembrance of her screaming echoed in his head like a premonition. "I should have died," Harry managed to say. "All these times people kept trying to kill me, I was supposed to have died!"
"Stop it!" Anita's voice was trembling.
Jason gave him a tight squeeze, just this side of painful. "You have to keep fighting, we all do," he said.
"You don't understand," Harry said, never taking his eyes off Anita. "I think I'm keeping Voldemort alive."
"How?" Anita demanded. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Harry blinked, looking down at his hands. He had Jason's blood on his skin, and all he felt was tired. "I have something to tell you, and I need to you to listen to me, okay?"
"Of course I'll listen," Anita said, looking more and more confused.
Harry breathed in deeply, to start his story, then let the air out again. He didn't know what to say. He didn't have a clue as to where to start.
Jason rubbed a circle on Harry's back. "Hey, I almost forgot to tell you," he said quietly. "Nathaniel wanted me to say hi for him."
"He did?"
"He sure did." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spied the familiar smirk on Jason's face. "And Damian was making some weird creepy Viking noise about you going to Valhalla place. You know about that place? It's like one of those Boris what's-his-name paintings, twenty-four seven."
Harry frowned. "Who?"
"This painter dude. He does stuff like half-naked busty warrior chicks draped over tigers and stuff."
Anita was looking like she was about to lose it, so Harry shook off his interest in this Valhalla place. "But they're both okay? Nathaniel and Damian?"
"They're fine," Anita said, still glaring at Jason. "They're worried about you. Especially after we learned that Moroven was the one who attacked you."
Harry shuddered involuntarily at the memory of Moroven. "She was freaky," he said. "So much more so than Voldemort." Harry picked at the fabric of his trousers. "She was toying with Reece. She thought it was fun to hurt him like that."
Anita nodded. "I know what she's like," she said.
"Through the connection you have with Damian?" Harry asked.
"And what he's told me, and Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude knows her too." Anita bit her lip. "Moroven could have taken a spot on the Vampire Council after... well, after one of the old members died. She could have just taken it, but she said no. She liked her lands and her solitude."
A faint suspicion drifted around in the back of Harry's mind. "What else do you know about her?" he demanded. "What's she like?"
Jason cleared his throat. "Last night when we were leaving St. Louis, Damian said that Moroven is wicked terrifying."
"That's not all," Anita said. She settled herself on the carpet, crossing her legs. "I talked to Jean-Claude and Richard when Dumbledore got there. Jean-Claude was really surprised that you weren't D.O.A."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"In a metal rock band," Jason said.
"Shut up, Jason! It means dead on arrival, sorry." Flustered, Anita twisted her fingers together. "Jean-Claude said that Moroven is ruthless and she never lets what she wants to get away from her, especially if that something is already wounded. She kills right there, or she takes the captives back to the castle and... keeps them."
"She was going to let me go," Harry said, confused. "She offered me a choice, Reece or the Cup, but then when Reece and me made a dash for it, the other vampires came after me. Not her."
Anita blinked at him. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe it does." Harry had the thread of an idea in his mind now. "What if... you said she didn't want to leave her lands. But that's here, up in Scotland."
"Yes..."
"But Voldemort's trying to take over up here!" Harry exclaimed. "Last night, Moroven said that Elsa hadn't been as discreet as she should have been, and Moroven knew about the Horcruxes! She gave me one! What if Moroven wants us to destroy the Horcruxes and destroy Voldemort so she won't have to? It makes perfect sense!" Harry jumped to his feet. Everything was coming together now. "She came looking for me, to give me the Cup, and she wouldn't have done that if she wanted Voldemort to win!" He took a deep breath. "But that means she wasn't trying to kill me after all."
Anita and Jason were both staring at Harry as if he had lost his mind. "What are you talking about?" Anita demanded. "What does any of this have to do with Elsa or cups? And what the hell is a Horcrux?"
Harry hurried back over to them. He had to make Anita understand. "Voldemort's evil, we've pretty much established that, right?" Harry said, not pausing for agreement. "Years ago, he found this kind of magic that let him splinter his soul into pieces, and he put those into pieces into seven objects! That's why we can't kill him, he won't die as long as he has these pieces of his soul he can use to come back to life!"
Anita had grown pale, too pale, but Harry didn't stop.
"The Cup that Moroven had last night, it's one of the Horcruxes! Six of them are in the school, all we need to do is find the other one and destroy them all and we can kill Voldemort!"
Jason got to his feet. "You have pieces of the bad guy's soul in a school? Doesn't that seem like a very bad idea to anyone else?"
"Of course it is!" Harry said impatiently. "But they're not all in one place. There's this hidden underground cavern where three of them are, and two of those are already destroyed. Neville's wand is another, only it's not really Neville's wand, it's Rowena Ravenclaw's wand, but no one knows that. Dumbledore took the cup last night and put it somewhere safe." Harry stopped. His heart was racing with possibilities. They might actually have a chance to stop Voldemort.
"What about number six?" Jason asked. "Three plus one plus one is five, and unless we want to re-enact a scene from Tim Curry's greatest hits, can you just tell us where the last one of these things is?"
"Right." Harry felt his good mood sliding away, down into the dark place he'd been the previous night. The place where he knew he had to die to save the world. "It, um... I'm pretty sure it's in me." He wanted to look up, but he was terrified of what he might seen in Anita's eyes. "He had to murder someone to make a Horcrux, someone important, and he killed my parents, and he was going to kill me. It might have been to make another Horcrux, I don't know, but for the longest time I had this connection with Voldemort, like feeling his emotions and having visions through his eyes, and maybe that means something, I don't know." Harry realized he was babbling, and made himself stop.
The room was silent. Jason was looking between Harry and Anita, while Anita... Anita hadn't moved.
"Say something, Anita," Harry said, his voice shaky.
Gracefully, Anita rose to her feet and crossed the room to stand in front of Harry. Once again, she was too close to him, and he couldn't concentrate. What would she do? Would she be angry that he had an evil man's soul stuck in him? Would she turn her back on him, leave him to fight all this alone?
She lifted her hand. When her fingers brushed over his cheek, the contact felt like an electric shock. "Shh," she soothed, as one would to a scared animal. Her fingers traveled up his cheek, over his temple, and across his forehead.
He had forgotten how warm Anita's hands were, and how small she was, and how many conflicting emotions ran though him when he was so close to her. He wanted to say something, to ask her to save him, but all he could do was close his eyes as Anita's touch drifted over his skin.
After what felt like forever, she pulled her hand away. Harry opened his eyes. "What?" he asked, suddenly desperate. What was wrong?
"You..." Anita swallowed hard. "Did I ever tell you that I can see souls?"
Harry shook his head. Anita was still so close to him, and he was having trouble thinking clearly.
"When I was eight, at my Aunt Katherine's funeral... but that's not important." Anita looked at Jason for a moment, then back to Harry. "There's something... I mean, I think..."
Harry felt his last shred of hope, that he had been wrong and that he didn't have part of Voldemort's soul stuck in him, vanish into the darkness. "I'm a Horcrux," he said dully.
He had part of Voldemort's soul in him. That revelation should mean something, but all he felt was numb.
No, not numb. Other realizations flew at him. He had to die to make sure Voldemort could be destroyed. He was one of the reasons why Voldemort wasn't dead yet.
Out of nowhere, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. The murders of James and Lily Potter had made Harry into a Horcrux. His parents dying were the reason this happened. If they hadn't died, if they hadn't been so stupid as to die, if they'd left England, then none of this would have happened!
Harry turned blindly and walked away. A stone wall got in his way and he stared at it, blankly. His mum should have let Voldemort kill Harry, all those years ago. Then this wouldn't be happening now.
He wouldn't have had as much to live for. To die for.
Voices intruded on the chaotic thoughts in his head. He tried to push them away, but these were the voices of people who refused to be ignored. "There has to be something we can do!" Jason argued. "You're the necromancer, fix Harry!"
"I can't do that!" Anita shouted. "I deal with the dead, not the living! And in case you have forgotten that fact, Harry is very much alive!"
"What about what you did with Chimera?"
There was a wooden crunching sound. "I pulled his soul out of his body and I killed him!" Anita sounded so angry, Harry turned around. Her hair was flying and her fists were clenched and she looked like she was about to cry. "I will not even try that with Harry!"
"But you could?" Harry heard himself say. "Kill me?"
Anita went still. "I am not going to kill you," she said fiercely. "No one is going to kill you, no one is going to try anything that might hurt you!"
"But--"
"You heard me!"
"But did you hear me?" Harry exclaimed. "I'm the reason Voldemort is still alive!"
Anita threw up her hands. "No, you're not! And don't you dare say that again!"
"Anita--"
"Stop it!" Anita shouted. "I did not get magicked across a god-damned ocean to kill you! I came here to save you and that is what I will do!"
"But Voldemort--"
"Harry, stop it! I will not discuss this anymore! Jason and I will protect you and that is the end of the discussion!"
She was so angry, Harry almost let it go. Almost. "But you're a necromancer, you have to have some idea about stopping Voldemort," he pleaded.
"An idea about what? Harry, until five minutes ago I never even dreamed that someone could put a part of a soul into an inanimate object!"
"Anita, please!"
"What do you want me to say?" she demanded. "That I'll go around killing my friends to save the day?"
Jason said, "Anita, stop it!" in a horrified tone.
Harry shook his head, hard. "All I want is for you to help me," he said. If she wanted him to beg, he'd beg. "I don't know if I can do this on my own."
Anita lifted her hand, then dropped it to her side. "You shouldn't have to," she said wearily.
Harry stepped closer to Anita. "I know this isn't your fight, but I don't--" He closed his mouth when Anita put her hand on his arm.
"If it's your fight, then it's my fight," Anita said. She squeezed his arm. "You're family, got it?"
"I--" Harry wanted to deny it, wanted to push Anita away, to go after Voldemort on his own, but his own words trapped him. He couldn't do this on his own, but who else could he ask for help? Hermione and Ron and Ginny and Luna? They had never killed anyone. They didn't know what it was like to watch someone die and know it was all your fault, that you had ripped someone's life away.
Anita wasn't like that. She understood death, and she understood killing.
Feeling years older and dirty and rather like a monster, Harry put his hand over Anita's. "You'll help me?"
"I'll help you." From the look in her eyes, Harry knew she wasn't fooled by what he was asking of her. "Voldemort comes after you, he's going to have to go through me."
"Wait, that's not what I meant!" Harry protested.
"I know." Her expression changed, growing darker. "He's playing with souls and death. Was he born a necromancer?"
Dumbly, Harry shook his head.
Anita looked over her shoulder at the sunlit window. "I didn't think so," she said quietly.
Into the horrified silence that followed that pronouncement, the door to the hallway slowly began to creak open. Harry quickly pulled out his wand and stepped in front of Anita, just in case. The door continued to creak open, to reveal...
"Elsa?" Anita exclaimed, shoving Harry out of the way. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The diminutive witch glared at Anita as she stepped into the room. The door swung shut magically behind her. "I got tired of waiting for you to figure out who healed young Harry last night and come in search of me," she snapped, the edge of her German accent sharp on her words.
"You healed me?" Harry demanded. "How? Why?"
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Children," she muttered. "Jean-Claude called Christoff to warn him that Anita may need safe passage out of England. Christoff learned of Harry's injuries at the hands of Moroven's men. He sent me to ensure that Harry didn't die because of Moroven's actions. It was a good thing, too. No one in this school even thought to keep you warm."
"Why would Christoff want to protect Harry?" Jason asked. "We're on Moroven's lands, isn't that like a conflict of interest?"
Elsa hopped up on the bed, ignoring Jason's question. "Harry is better, Anita had a marvelous time in shooting that werewolf," she said with a disturbing smile, "And everyone is healthy now. I didn't know you could raise wolf magic like that, Anita."
"Your information is out of date, then," Anita snapped.
Elsa giggled, and the sound sent chills up Harry's spine. "Then you can tell me all about it," she mocked. "After all, you must know what Jean-Claude promised Christoff in return for your safety this time."
Anita opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"You can ask your Master when he awakens," Elsa said. "In the meantime, what news did you bring?"
Harry crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure how he felt in learning that Elsa had saved his life. "Moroven mentioned you, last night," he blurted out. "She said you're not being discreet. About the Horcruxes."
"Is that what she said?" Elsa asked, eyes wide.
Harry glared at her. "No, she actually called you a bitch, but does that really matter?"
In a blur, Elsa moved off the bed, knocking Harry to the floor. "Be careful how you insult me, boy," Elsa said in a dangerous voice. Her hands were holding him in place, no wand in sight, but Harry was suddenly aware that he was defenseless.
"Get off him, now!" Anita exclaimed, a gun in her hands.
Elsa turned her head, a wave of hair falling in Harry's face, making him want to sneeze. "You fired all your bullets earlier," Elsa reminded Anita.
A metallic click sounded. "This is a different gun."
Elsa sat up, all her weight on Harry's torso. She might look twelve, but she wasn't exactly a delicate feather. "Would you really shoot me?" she asked. "Endangering yourself and Jason?"
"Get off Harry," Anita said.
"No, I'll stay right here," Elsa said. "He insulted me."
"You attacked him," Anita shot back.
"If I had attacked, he would be dead now." Elsa sighed. "We may be reluctant allies, but I will not tolerate insult."
"I'm sorry," Harry gasped. It was hard to breath with someone sitting on him. "I didn't mean to insult you."
Elsa looked down at him. "Yes, you did."
Harry wasn't sure how she did it, but all of a sudden, she seemed to get even heavier. "I was angry, but I really am sorry."
After a very long moment, Elsa rose to her feet. Harry took a few deep breaths, thankful just to have the weight gone from his chest, before sitting up.
Anita wavered, making sure that Harry could stand, before putting away her gun. "This isn't going to work if you keep attacking us," she said.
"You are not dealing with the fools in this magical world," Elsa snapped. "I am the human servant of Christoff, Master of London. An insult to me is an insult to him, do I make myself clear?"
"Harry doesn't know vampire rules," Anita said.
Elsa cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry, did I miss the part of this conversation where I care about Harry's obvious short-falls?" She twitched her black robe, and for the first time Harry spotted the tiny Ravenclaw crest on her chest.
"You pretended to be a student?" Harry blurted out.
"Of course I did!" Elsa whirled on him. "How else would one sneak into a school of children? It is Halloween, after all." She looked over her shoulder at Anita. "As I said before, do you have any news? I know you met with the head of the American Aurors."
Anita blinked. "John Cassidy? How did you know that?"
"I have my ways." Elsa smiled. "Now, what did he tell you?"
"Uh..." Anita looked at Jason.
Elsa snapped her fingers. "Faster! I haven't all day to dally here!"
"There was this guy who was killed in the summer in St. Louis, by Bellatrix Lestrange," Anita said. "She was a Death Eater."
"You mean Nigel Spencer?" Harry asked. "What does that have to do with the American Aurors?"
"Spencer used to build magical devices and stuff. The Aurors think that he built a large bomb, but they couldn't find it."
Harry frowned. "Was that why Bellatrix killed him? Because of the bomb?"
Anita shrugged. "I don't know. Cassidy didn't know either. He wanted me to get the information to you, and I was trying to figure out a way to do that. I would have told you sooner, but everything became a mess, you know?"
"Did Cassidy indicate what the bomb was made from?" Elsa interrupted urgently.
"Dragon's Breath," Jason replied. "Is that important?"
Elsa didn't respond. She gathered herself up and strode towards the door, which opened on its own. "Do not leave this school without me," she said on her way out.
"Why?" Anita demanded. "Where are you going?" The door banged shut behind Elsa before the witch responded. "Great."
Harry pushed his hair back from his face. "So Voldemort has a bomb?" he asked.
"A big one," Jason confirmed.
"But why? That doesn't sound like him."
"That's what Cassidy said." Anita went over to the window and stared out at the day. "Nothing is making any sense."
"I know." Harry looked over at Jason. The blond man still hadn't put on a shirt, and the blood on his skin was beginning to dry and crack.
No matter what Jason had said, Remus attacking didn't make any sense. That wasn't like the Remus Harry knew, not at all. Remus was a good man, and he had never let his lycanthropy endanger anyone in the school. What had made today so different?
Harry checked to make sure his wand was in place before turning to Anita. "Are you two going to be okay here for a little while?" he asked.
"Why?" Anita demanded.
"I have to go see Remus," Harry said.
Anita's eyes narrowed. "The hell you do."
"I do!" Harry exclaimed. "I have to figure out what's going on!"
"After what he did to Jason?"
"Especially after what he did to Jason! That's not like Remus, something else has to be going on." Harry shook his head. "I have to figure out what."
to be continued...
Inevitable 73/80: Promise Me
A Harry Potter/Anita Blake crossover
by mhalachaiswords
Summary: A late-night run-in with werewolves in the woods outside St. Louis dumps Harry Potter into a whole new world of trouble. Now Anita Blake has to deal with a new charge as well as Death-Eaters come to town.
Fandoms: Anita Blake and Harry Potter
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton owns all things Anita Blake. J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter. Only the story is my own.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 6,882
Spoilers: Spoilers for Half-Blood Prince, Incubus Dreams
Note: It's still Oct. 31, the longest day in Harry's life. Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with me. It's been a difficult few months at work. And every time I think I'm going over the top with Anita's powers, I remember that I can point to a specific event in the books where Anita has done the exact same thing :)
Previous parts here.
~~~~~~~
"Jason?" I cried out, dropping to my knees beside him. His blood spread out in a growing pool around him, pumping out of his body as he fought to breathe. Distantly, I could hear screaming and yelling around me, but I didn't care. The only thing I cared about was the man bleeding out on the cold stone floor.
Jason turned terrified blue eyes to me. He was dying, and I couldn't think how to fix this, I couldn't think!
My panic blossomed outwards. Blindly, I reached out, looking for anything that I could use to help Jason. Across oceans, I heard Jean-Claude's horror, felt Richard's panic, and I didn't know what to do.
"Help him!" Richard screamed at me, his mental voice faint over the distance. "Do something!"
"Do what?" I screamed back.
"Use Raina's munin, ma petite!" Jean-Claude's words echoed in my head. "Please, before it is too late to save Jason!"
He was right, I could use the munin, the metaphysical power of the wolf pack, to heal Jason. I'd done it before to heal people I cared about, I could do it again.
I touched the edge of the gash on Jason's stomach. The other werewolf's claws had cut through Jason's skin and muscle, showing things that shouldn't ever see air, all squishy and bloody and it was too much like Nathaniel, lying on my living room floor, and I couldn't do this. Jason was going to die and I couldn't do anything to save him.
Someone grabbed my hand, jolting me back to myself. Harry gripped my palm hard, so hard that the recently healed bones and muscle ground together, shooting sharp pains up my arm, but the pain was exactly what I needed. What Raina needed.
Maybe I couldn't raise Raina's munin with Jason, but Harry was new to Raina, he was whole and fresh and an innocent to sink her teeth into, and she liked it. I felt Raina's power rise in me and reach out for Harry.
There was something I wasn't remembering, something that was important about Harry and me, but I couldn't think of what that was.
Then Raina's power, mixed with my necromancy and the edges of my ardeur, slammed into Harry. His wolf responded to Raina, to the blood and the power, but he wouldn't submit to me. He took the power, and pushed it back at me, at Jason, at everything.
The power blast was electrifying. It hurt, clawing along my stomach, along my arms, along my legs, along every broken bone, every wound, ever bruise I'd ever had. It felt like I was on fire and buried in ice at the same time, every nerve ending being scraped by broken glass.
Then just like that, it was gone.
The room was echoingly silent. I opened my eyes, not sure what I was expecting to see. Jason lay on the floor, skin healed and flawless under a thick coat of blood. He blinked up at me, confused. Alive.
I didn't have time to register the fact that Jason wasn't going to die before movement down the hall caught my eye. The werewolf who had attacked Jason, the one I'd shot full of silver bullets, pulled himself into a sitting position. The rush of power that healed Jason must have healed him too.
He'd tried to kill Jason, and now he was fine.
He was fine to try to kill Jason again.
Raina, still lurking in the back my head, wasn't happy. The only person who got to hurt Raina's wolves was Raina. I disagreed with most of what Raina stood for, but we had one thing in common. We would destroy anyone who hurt our people.
A growl escaped my lips as I reached for my fallen gun.
Harry grabbed my arm. "Stop it!" he exclaimed in my ear, jerking me to the side. "Jason's better, everyone's better, you can't do this!"
"He tried to kill Jason!" I hissed. In spurts, noise came back into the hall. Angry voices, things banging, pounding feet. "I can't--"
"Anita!" Harry interrupted. "I can't let you kill Remus!"
"Mr. Potter!" came a thundering voice. My empty gun flew up into the air and away from me. "Come here at once!"
Harry turned, putting himself between me and the speaker. "Remus tried to kill Jason, I'm not going anywhere!"
Jason dragged himself into a sitting position, pressing himself against my legs. He rumbled low in his chest. The sound vibrated through my body, safe and warm and alive.
"Mr. Potter, this is not up for discussion!" The speaker stepped forward, and I saw that it was an older woman with square glasses, her wand pointed at us, my gun in her other hand, and I flashed back to Bellatrix in the woods, hurting me, killing Clay, and something twisted in my chest.
"Where's Dumbledore? I'm not moving until I talk to Dumbledore!" Harry shouted.
"The Headmaster is on his way, he will get here when he gets here!" the witch said. "Now move away!"
"Harry." Jason raised a blood-covered hand and pointed down the hall.
The little werewolf, Reece, was slouched against a stone wall. The only thing holding him upright was one shaky hand on the rock. His breathing came too hard, too fast, and as he lifted his head, I saw that his eyes had shifted to the bright grey of the wolf.
The boy was going to shift.
"Crap," Harry muttered with feeling, letting go of my arm. "Reece, come here." He cleared his throat and tried again, this time putting more authority in his voice than I though he had in him. "Reece, come here now."
For the longest moment, I didn't think the boy heard Harry, but finally, the little werewolf pushed himself off the wall and stumbled over to us. Harry went up on his knees and caught Reece as the boy collapsed to his hands and knees. Harry pulled the boy into a tight hug, murmuring something in his ear, too soft to hear, but my beast recognized it for what it was -- comfort, security, protection.
I tore my eyes away from the boys and looked down the hall. The older witch stood half to the side, her wand lowered a fraction. She was alternating between looking at us, and staring in horror at the werewolf at her feet. There were a couple of other people behind them, one a young woman with bright pink hair, the other a tiny, older man. But their wands were pointed at the floor, not at us, and I couldn't bring myself to care.
Jason was alive.
I started to shiver, not from the cold, and Jason turned in my lap. He wrapped one arm around my waist and gave me a quick squeeze. He was so warm wrapped around me, his hair soft and fine under my fingers, and he was alive.
"Ma petite, you have saved him," Jean-Claude whispered in my mind, his relief mingling with mine. "You saved Jason's life." Richard's presence in my mind was distant, but he echoed Jean-Claude's sentiment.
"But the guy who did this--"
Jean-Claude's presence flared up, suddenly sharp. "Ma petite, you are surrounded by this man's people, you yourself recognized that you were in danger. Promise me you will exercise caution."
"Jean-Claude--"
"Anita, please." Jean-Claude's apprehension slid into fear, a fear of loss that tasted like the echoed remembrance of Julianna's perfume. "I would give this werewolf a thousand pardons if it brings you and Jason home to me."
"You never forgive," I thought desperately. Against my better instincts, my gaze slid off the witches and ended up on Harry, still trying to calm the young werewolf.
"I value you more than life itself, ma petite." Jean-Claude's words came to me with a hint of a werewolf's' growl, and suddenly Richard was with us there. He must have been at the Circus with Jean-Claude. "You have to come home to me."
"To us." Richard's desperate words brushed over me like the softness of wolf's fur. In my lap, Jason suddenly went still, feeling his Ulfric's presence. "You're coming home and Jason's coming home and the pack's going to be whole again."
"But for that to happen, ma petite, you must exercise caution," Jean-Claude whispered. "You are surrounded by these people and I cannot aid you. You can rely only on yourself and Jason and Harry."
"But--"
"Harry, who put himself between the witch's magic and you, after you shot that man. He may not know it, but he has taken a stand, and that is to be by your side," Jean-Claude said. "He stands by you and Jason and this young pup who he even now seeks to comfort, and that means he stands between you and his own people." Jean-Claude's voice started to fade. "The sun rises, ma petite, I must--"
Silence. Then, before I could panic, Richard pushed reassurance at me. "He's fine, Anita, it's just sunrise. I'll stay with him until he wakes up. You take care of Jason and Harry."
"I will." With that, I shut down the marks between us, and Jason finally relaxed.
At the end of the hall, the tall witch started towards us, her wand down. "Mr. Potter, we need to get Mr. Trevelyan to the infirmary," she said imperiously.
"No, we don't." Harry glared at the woman over his glasses. "He's fine, Jason's fine, and Remus is fine. No one needs to go the infirmary."
"Mr. Potter, this is not your call," the woman snapped. Behind her, the werewolf was shakily pulling himself to his feet. "The Headmaster will be here shortly."
The werewolf lurched forward a step. "Harry--"
"Dumbledore's not here now and Reece isn't going to the infirmary!" Harry exclaimed, not listening to the werewolf. "And I'm not going anywhere, either!"
The woman looked so angry, but I don't think Harry cared. I know I didn't.
Then Reece sniffled. "I donna think I like it here any more," he whispered miserably to Harry.
Harry passed a hand over Reece's hair, a strangely paternal gesture in one so young. "I know," was all Harry could say.
~~~
McGonagall was so furious, Harry thought numbly as he closed the thick wooden door behind him. He had lost the argument on Reece going to the infirmary, but he'd managed to keep Jason and Anita together, in this thick-walled guest room on the floor below the infirmary.
And the whole time, Remus hadn't even tried to explain.
"Why did he do it?" Harry asked Jason.
"Huh?" Jason paused in stripping off his shirt to give Harry a look. "Which 'he' are you talking about?"
"Remus." Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "Why did he attack you?"
"An excellent question," came Anita's cold voice. The woman dropped their bags onto the bed and dug around in a pocket. She emerged with another gun in her hands. "I thought you said he was a good guy, this werewolf friend of yours!" she said as she checked the magazine.
"He is!" Harry exclaimed.
"Who just goes around your school randomly attacking people?"
"Don't say those kinds of things!"
"It's true! He almost killed Jason! If I hadn't shot him, do you think he'd have stopped?" Anita stalked across the room, getting in Harry's face, too close. "What if Reece had been there instead of Jason? What do you think he'd have done?"
"Shut up!" Harry's anger swirled up in him like a living thing, anger at everything that had happened in the past few days, and he wanted to hit, to hurt. Instead, he forced himself to back away from Anita.
Of course, she followed him. "Jason almost died!"
"So did Remus!" Harry shouted. "You shot him and he'd have died!"
"He was trying to kill Jason!"
Jason suddenly appeared between them, pulling Anita away. "You two need to calm down," Jason said carefully. "You're both upset."
"Of course I'm upset!" Anita shouted, jerking away from Jason. "All that ever happens in this place is people I care about almost die!" She turned her back on the boys and walked across the room to the window. "Harry almost died last night and Jason--" Her shoulders hunched up, shaking. "I can't keep doing this."
Harry, who had been about to scream some more, felt his anger fall apart as he looked at Anita. "I'm fine," he said awkwardly. "And Jason's fine, even Remus is fine."
Jason padded across the room to Anita's side. "Hey," he murmured, nudging her arm. "You saved me."
Anita gulped in a deep breath. "I shouldn't have had to save you," she said, voice rough. "I should have gone back for the bags."
"No," Jason said, voice rising in sudden anger. He spun Anita around to face him, and Harry was shocked to see Anita had tears on her cheeks. "Then he would have attacked you and we wouldn't have been able to save you."
"No," Harry protested. "Remus wouldn't have... I mean, there's no way he'd have attacked Anita."
Jason gave Harry a dark look. "He thought I was the one who attacked you last night, and I'd come to finish the job," he said. "He said I smelled like your blood. He had seriously lost it, Harry. If Anita had been there, I don't think it'd have been any different."
"But you had my blood on your hands," Harry said, grasping at anything to make sense of Remus's actions. "Anita didn't, he wouldn't have... He was just upset."
"I don't care why he did it," Jason said. "If he was upset he wouldn't have attacked the first person he saw. What if it had been Reece? The kid smells like your blood, too."
"Remus wouldn't have attacked Reece!" Harry shouted. "I don't know why he did what he did, but he wouldn't have done that!" He unbuttoned his robe and dropped it to the floor, giving it a good kick. Blood stains spread up the fabric and along the side, and the sight of Jason's blood on everything made Harry want to scream. "He couldn't have!"
The impact of everything that had happened, Moroven stealing Reece away, hurting him, hurting Harry, the attack on Jason, hit Harry suddenly. People had almost died. He had almost died, and he hadn't been able to stop it. Wasn't that the point? Harry thought bitterly. I die, Voldemort can't use me as a Horcrux, and that's one step closer to stopping him. The harder I try to keep alive, the more chances I give Voldemort.
Hands were pulling at Harry. Harry let whoever it was push him into a sitting position on the floor. Jason put his arm around Harry's shoulders and rumbled deep in his chest.
"Why did it have to be like this?" Harry asked numbly. "Why?"
"I don't know." Jason shifted until he was pressed right up against Harry's side. "I wish I did."
Anita knelt in front of them, her dark eyes huge in her face. Her tears were gone, but the haunted look remained. "I don't know why your friend did that, Harry, but I had to do what I did," she said awkwardly.
Harry closed his eyes briefly. "It's not that," he mumbled. Moroven had said, the previous night, that Harry was the reason she had come to the Forbidden Forest. Was it to give him the Horcrux? If so, why had her vampires tried to kill Harry?
A cold sweat broke out over Harry's skin. Had she known Harry was a Horcrux? Had she been trying to do the same thing Harry was, destroying the Horcruxes and Voldemort along with them?
"Harry? What's wrong? Are you still hurt?" Anita asked, voice high and worried.
Harry couldn't help it. He started to laugh. "You should have let the werewolves eat me," he gasped out. It wasn't funny and he wanted to make it stop, but nothing was as it should be anymore. "Then none of this would have happened."
"Harry!" Anita grabbed his shoulders and gave him a hard shake. Harry's hysterical laughter stopped as if she had thrown a switch. "Don't talk like that!"
She was so close, her eyes so wide and scared. Harry remembered how wide her eyes had been in the woods, on the night Bellatrix had tried to kill her with the Crucio Eternum curse, and the remembrance of her screaming echoed in his head like a premonition. "I should have died," Harry managed to say. "All these times people kept trying to kill me, I was supposed to have died!"
"Stop it!" Anita's voice was trembling.
Jason gave him a tight squeeze, just this side of painful. "You have to keep fighting, we all do," he said.
"You don't understand," Harry said, never taking his eyes off Anita. "I think I'm keeping Voldemort alive."
"How?" Anita demanded. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Harry blinked, looking down at his hands. He had Jason's blood on his skin, and all he felt was tired. "I have something to tell you, and I need to you to listen to me, okay?"
"Of course I'll listen," Anita said, looking more and more confused.
Harry breathed in deeply, to start his story, then let the air out again. He didn't know what to say. He didn't have a clue as to where to start.
Jason rubbed a circle on Harry's back. "Hey, I almost forgot to tell you," he said quietly. "Nathaniel wanted me to say hi for him."
"He did?"
"He sure did." Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spied the familiar smirk on Jason's face. "And Damian was making some weird creepy Viking noise about you going to Valhalla place. You know about that place? It's like one of those Boris what's-his-name paintings, twenty-four seven."
Harry frowned. "Who?"
"This painter dude. He does stuff like half-naked busty warrior chicks draped over tigers and stuff."
Anita was looking like she was about to lose it, so Harry shook off his interest in this Valhalla place. "But they're both okay? Nathaniel and Damian?"
"They're fine," Anita said, still glaring at Jason. "They're worried about you. Especially after we learned that Moroven was the one who attacked you."
Harry shuddered involuntarily at the memory of Moroven. "She was freaky," he said. "So much more so than Voldemort." Harry picked at the fabric of his trousers. "She was toying with Reece. She thought it was fun to hurt him like that."
Anita nodded. "I know what she's like," she said.
"Through the connection you have with Damian?" Harry asked.
"And what he's told me, and Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude knows her too." Anita bit her lip. "Moroven could have taken a spot on the Vampire Council after... well, after one of the old members died. She could have just taken it, but she said no. She liked her lands and her solitude."
A faint suspicion drifted around in the back of Harry's mind. "What else do you know about her?" he demanded. "What's she like?"
Jason cleared his throat. "Last night when we were leaving St. Louis, Damian said that Moroven is wicked terrifying."
"That's not all," Anita said. She settled herself on the carpet, crossing her legs. "I talked to Jean-Claude and Richard when Dumbledore got there. Jean-Claude was really surprised that you weren't D.O.A."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"In a metal rock band," Jason said.
"Shut up, Jason! It means dead on arrival, sorry." Flustered, Anita twisted her fingers together. "Jean-Claude said that Moroven is ruthless and she never lets what she wants to get away from her, especially if that something is already wounded. She kills right there, or she takes the captives back to the castle and... keeps them."
"She was going to let me go," Harry said, confused. "She offered me a choice, Reece or the Cup, but then when Reece and me made a dash for it, the other vampires came after me. Not her."
Anita blinked at him. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe it does." Harry had the thread of an idea in his mind now. "What if... you said she didn't want to leave her lands. But that's here, up in Scotland."
"Yes..."
"But Voldemort's trying to take over up here!" Harry exclaimed. "Last night, Moroven said that Elsa hadn't been as discreet as she should have been, and Moroven knew about the Horcruxes! She gave me one! What if Moroven wants us to destroy the Horcruxes and destroy Voldemort so she won't have to? It makes perfect sense!" Harry jumped to his feet. Everything was coming together now. "She came looking for me, to give me the Cup, and she wouldn't have done that if she wanted Voldemort to win!" He took a deep breath. "But that means she wasn't trying to kill me after all."
Anita and Jason were both staring at Harry as if he had lost his mind. "What are you talking about?" Anita demanded. "What does any of this have to do with Elsa or cups? And what the hell is a Horcrux?"
Harry hurried back over to them. He had to make Anita understand. "Voldemort's evil, we've pretty much established that, right?" Harry said, not pausing for agreement. "Years ago, he found this kind of magic that let him splinter his soul into pieces, and he put those into pieces into seven objects! That's why we can't kill him, he won't die as long as he has these pieces of his soul he can use to come back to life!"
Anita had grown pale, too pale, but Harry didn't stop.
"The Cup that Moroven had last night, it's one of the Horcruxes! Six of them are in the school, all we need to do is find the other one and destroy them all and we can kill Voldemort!"
Jason got to his feet. "You have pieces of the bad guy's soul in a school? Doesn't that seem like a very bad idea to anyone else?"
"Of course it is!" Harry said impatiently. "But they're not all in one place. There's this hidden underground cavern where three of them are, and two of those are already destroyed. Neville's wand is another, only it's not really Neville's wand, it's Rowena Ravenclaw's wand, but no one knows that. Dumbledore took the cup last night and put it somewhere safe." Harry stopped. His heart was racing with possibilities. They might actually have a chance to stop Voldemort.
"What about number six?" Jason asked. "Three plus one plus one is five, and unless we want to re-enact a scene from Tim Curry's greatest hits, can you just tell us where the last one of these things is?"
"Right." Harry felt his good mood sliding away, down into the dark place he'd been the previous night. The place where he knew he had to die to save the world. "It, um... I'm pretty sure it's in me." He wanted to look up, but he was terrified of what he might seen in Anita's eyes. "He had to murder someone to make a Horcrux, someone important, and he killed my parents, and he was going to kill me. It might have been to make another Horcrux, I don't know, but for the longest time I had this connection with Voldemort, like feeling his emotions and having visions through his eyes, and maybe that means something, I don't know." Harry realized he was babbling, and made himself stop.
The room was silent. Jason was looking between Harry and Anita, while Anita... Anita hadn't moved.
"Say something, Anita," Harry said, his voice shaky.
Gracefully, Anita rose to her feet and crossed the room to stand in front of Harry. Once again, she was too close to him, and he couldn't concentrate. What would she do? Would she be angry that he had an evil man's soul stuck in him? Would she turn her back on him, leave him to fight all this alone?
She lifted her hand. When her fingers brushed over his cheek, the contact felt like an electric shock. "Shh," she soothed, as one would to a scared animal. Her fingers traveled up his cheek, over his temple, and across his forehead.
He had forgotten how warm Anita's hands were, and how small she was, and how many conflicting emotions ran though him when he was so close to her. He wanted to say something, to ask her to save him, but all he could do was close his eyes as Anita's touch drifted over his skin.
After what felt like forever, she pulled her hand away. Harry opened his eyes. "What?" he asked, suddenly desperate. What was wrong?
"You..." Anita swallowed hard. "Did I ever tell you that I can see souls?"
Harry shook his head. Anita was still so close to him, and he was having trouble thinking clearly.
"When I was eight, at my Aunt Katherine's funeral... but that's not important." Anita looked at Jason for a moment, then back to Harry. "There's something... I mean, I think..."
Harry felt his last shred of hope, that he had been wrong and that he didn't have part of Voldemort's soul stuck in him, vanish into the darkness. "I'm a Horcrux," he said dully.
He had part of Voldemort's soul in him. That revelation should mean something, but all he felt was numb.
No, not numb. Other realizations flew at him. He had to die to make sure Voldemort could be destroyed. He was one of the reasons why Voldemort wasn't dead yet.
Out of nowhere, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. The murders of James and Lily Potter had made Harry into a Horcrux. His parents dying were the reason this happened. If they hadn't died, if they hadn't been so stupid as to die, if they'd left England, then none of this would have happened!
Harry turned blindly and walked away. A stone wall got in his way and he stared at it, blankly. His mum should have let Voldemort kill Harry, all those years ago. Then this wouldn't be happening now.
He wouldn't have had as much to live for. To die for.
Voices intruded on the chaotic thoughts in his head. He tried to push them away, but these were the voices of people who refused to be ignored. "There has to be something we can do!" Jason argued. "You're the necromancer, fix Harry!"
"I can't do that!" Anita shouted. "I deal with the dead, not the living! And in case you have forgotten that fact, Harry is very much alive!"
"What about what you did with Chimera?"
There was a wooden crunching sound. "I pulled his soul out of his body and I killed him!" Anita sounded so angry, Harry turned around. Her hair was flying and her fists were clenched and she looked like she was about to cry. "I will not even try that with Harry!"
"But you could?" Harry heard himself say. "Kill me?"
Anita went still. "I am not going to kill you," she said fiercely. "No one is going to kill you, no one is going to try anything that might hurt you!"
"But--"
"You heard me!"
"But did you hear me?" Harry exclaimed. "I'm the reason Voldemort is still alive!"
Anita threw up her hands. "No, you're not! And don't you dare say that again!"
"Anita--"
"Stop it!" Anita shouted. "I did not get magicked across a god-damned ocean to kill you! I came here to save you and that is what I will do!"
"But Voldemort--"
"Harry, stop it! I will not discuss this anymore! Jason and I will protect you and that is the end of the discussion!"
She was so angry, Harry almost let it go. Almost. "But you're a necromancer, you have to have some idea about stopping Voldemort," he pleaded.
"An idea about what? Harry, until five minutes ago I never even dreamed that someone could put a part of a soul into an inanimate object!"
"Anita, please!"
"What do you want me to say?" she demanded. "That I'll go around killing my friends to save the day?"
Jason said, "Anita, stop it!" in a horrified tone.
Harry shook his head, hard. "All I want is for you to help me," he said. If she wanted him to beg, he'd beg. "I don't know if I can do this on my own."
Anita lifted her hand, then dropped it to her side. "You shouldn't have to," she said wearily.
Harry stepped closer to Anita. "I know this isn't your fight, but I don't--" He closed his mouth when Anita put her hand on his arm.
"If it's your fight, then it's my fight," Anita said. She squeezed his arm. "You're family, got it?"
"I--" Harry wanted to deny it, wanted to push Anita away, to go after Voldemort on his own, but his own words trapped him. He couldn't do this on his own, but who else could he ask for help? Hermione and Ron and Ginny and Luna? They had never killed anyone. They didn't know what it was like to watch someone die and know it was all your fault, that you had ripped someone's life away.
Anita wasn't like that. She understood death, and she understood killing.
Feeling years older and dirty and rather like a monster, Harry put his hand over Anita's. "You'll help me?"
"I'll help you." From the look in her eyes, Harry knew she wasn't fooled by what he was asking of her. "Voldemort comes after you, he's going to have to go through me."
"Wait, that's not what I meant!" Harry protested.
"I know." Her expression changed, growing darker. "He's playing with souls and death. Was he born a necromancer?"
Dumbly, Harry shook his head.
Anita looked over her shoulder at the sunlit window. "I didn't think so," she said quietly.
Into the horrified silence that followed that pronouncement, the door to the hallway slowly began to creak open. Harry quickly pulled out his wand and stepped in front of Anita, just in case. The door continued to creak open, to reveal...
"Elsa?" Anita exclaimed, shoving Harry out of the way. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The diminutive witch glared at Anita as she stepped into the room. The door swung shut magically behind her. "I got tired of waiting for you to figure out who healed young Harry last night and come in search of me," she snapped, the edge of her German accent sharp on her words.
"You healed me?" Harry demanded. "How? Why?"
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Children," she muttered. "Jean-Claude called Christoff to warn him that Anita may need safe passage out of England. Christoff learned of Harry's injuries at the hands of Moroven's men. He sent me to ensure that Harry didn't die because of Moroven's actions. It was a good thing, too. No one in this school even thought to keep you warm."
"Why would Christoff want to protect Harry?" Jason asked. "We're on Moroven's lands, isn't that like a conflict of interest?"
Elsa hopped up on the bed, ignoring Jason's question. "Harry is better, Anita had a marvelous time in shooting that werewolf," she said with a disturbing smile, "And everyone is healthy now. I didn't know you could raise wolf magic like that, Anita."
"Your information is out of date, then," Anita snapped.
Elsa giggled, and the sound sent chills up Harry's spine. "Then you can tell me all about it," she mocked. "After all, you must know what Jean-Claude promised Christoff in return for your safety this time."
Anita opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"You can ask your Master when he awakens," Elsa said. "In the meantime, what news did you bring?"
Harry crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure how he felt in learning that Elsa had saved his life. "Moroven mentioned you, last night," he blurted out. "She said you're not being discreet. About the Horcruxes."
"Is that what she said?" Elsa asked, eyes wide.
Harry glared at her. "No, she actually called you a bitch, but does that really matter?"
In a blur, Elsa moved off the bed, knocking Harry to the floor. "Be careful how you insult me, boy," Elsa said in a dangerous voice. Her hands were holding him in place, no wand in sight, but Harry was suddenly aware that he was defenseless.
"Get off him, now!" Anita exclaimed, a gun in her hands.
Elsa turned her head, a wave of hair falling in Harry's face, making him want to sneeze. "You fired all your bullets earlier," Elsa reminded Anita.
A metallic click sounded. "This is a different gun."
Elsa sat up, all her weight on Harry's torso. She might look twelve, but she wasn't exactly a delicate feather. "Would you really shoot me?" she asked. "Endangering yourself and Jason?"
"Get off Harry," Anita said.
"No, I'll stay right here," Elsa said. "He insulted me."
"You attacked him," Anita shot back.
"If I had attacked, he would be dead now." Elsa sighed. "We may be reluctant allies, but I will not tolerate insult."
"I'm sorry," Harry gasped. It was hard to breath with someone sitting on him. "I didn't mean to insult you."
Elsa looked down at him. "Yes, you did."
Harry wasn't sure how she did it, but all of a sudden, she seemed to get even heavier. "I was angry, but I really am sorry."
After a very long moment, Elsa rose to her feet. Harry took a few deep breaths, thankful just to have the weight gone from his chest, before sitting up.
Anita wavered, making sure that Harry could stand, before putting away her gun. "This isn't going to work if you keep attacking us," she said.
"You are not dealing with the fools in this magical world," Elsa snapped. "I am the human servant of Christoff, Master of London. An insult to me is an insult to him, do I make myself clear?"
"Harry doesn't know vampire rules," Anita said.
Elsa cocked her head to the side. "I'm sorry, did I miss the part of this conversation where I care about Harry's obvious short-falls?" She twitched her black robe, and for the first time Harry spotted the tiny Ravenclaw crest on her chest.
"You pretended to be a student?" Harry blurted out.
"Of course I did!" Elsa whirled on him. "How else would one sneak into a school of children? It is Halloween, after all." She looked over her shoulder at Anita. "As I said before, do you have any news? I know you met with the head of the American Aurors."
Anita blinked. "John Cassidy? How did you know that?"
"I have my ways." Elsa smiled. "Now, what did he tell you?"
"Uh..." Anita looked at Jason.
Elsa snapped her fingers. "Faster! I haven't all day to dally here!"
"There was this guy who was killed in the summer in St. Louis, by Bellatrix Lestrange," Anita said. "She was a Death Eater."
"You mean Nigel Spencer?" Harry asked. "What does that have to do with the American Aurors?"
"Spencer used to build magical devices and stuff. The Aurors think that he built a large bomb, but they couldn't find it."
Harry frowned. "Was that why Bellatrix killed him? Because of the bomb?"
Anita shrugged. "I don't know. Cassidy didn't know either. He wanted me to get the information to you, and I was trying to figure out a way to do that. I would have told you sooner, but everything became a mess, you know?"
"Did Cassidy indicate what the bomb was made from?" Elsa interrupted urgently.
"Dragon's Breath," Jason replied. "Is that important?"
Elsa didn't respond. She gathered herself up and strode towards the door, which opened on its own. "Do not leave this school without me," she said on her way out.
"Why?" Anita demanded. "Where are you going?" The door banged shut behind Elsa before the witch responded. "Great."
Harry pushed his hair back from his face. "So Voldemort has a bomb?" he asked.
"A big one," Jason confirmed.
"But why? That doesn't sound like him."
"That's what Cassidy said." Anita went over to the window and stared out at the day. "Nothing is making any sense."
"I know." Harry looked over at Jason. The blond man still hadn't put on a shirt, and the blood on his skin was beginning to dry and crack.
No matter what Jason had said, Remus attacking didn't make any sense. That wasn't like the Remus Harry knew, not at all. Remus was a good man, and he had never let his lycanthropy endanger anyone in the school. What had made today so different?
Harry checked to make sure his wand was in place before turning to Anita. "Are you two going to be okay here for a little while?" he asked.
"Why?" Anita demanded.
"I have to go see Remus," Harry said.
Anita's eyes narrowed. "The hell you do."
"I do!" Harry exclaimed. "I have to figure out what's going on!"
"After what he did to Jason?"
"Especially after what he did to Jason! That's not like Remus, something else has to be going on." Harry shook his head. "I have to figure out what."
to be continued...