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braveclementine · 6 months ago

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Chapter 26

Warnings: None. However, future chapters will contain sexual content so readers that are under the age of 18 may have to skip those chapters (Please keep note of the warnings).

Copyright: I do not own any Wizarding World characters that J.K. Rowling wrote. I do however own Elizabeth Kane (main character) and Trang Nyguen (best friend). There should be no use of these two names without my permission. I also do not condone any copying of this.

𝕴 𝖘𝖆𝖙 𝖔𝖓 the edge of the lakeshore, eyes puffy and swollen. My wand, socks, and shoes were on the rock next to me, along with my bow and arrows. I wondered if Firenze would be told what I had done and how proud he would be. I wondered if perhaps the centaurs would be impressed enough that I could go and live in the forest with them.

There was something tempting, about leaving the wizarding life behind. Living in the forest with the centaurs. I knew Firenze would care for me. I half-way even wondered if it would go in a romantic direction.

"Elizabeth." It was not a voice I had ever before, and it was American accented, heavily. I looked up to see the most out of place man in the world.

He was clearly a muggle, wearing a white lab coat with a blue button down shirt underneath and a tie. He even had a clipboard and pen in his hands. He wore glasses and was probably about 170 inches tall (5ft 7 for the Americans). He had white hair and wore square glasses.

"Are you lost?" I asked, confused. Clearly, he knew my name, but how could he possibly be here? I glanced over my shoulder but no one had come out of the school yet.

"No, I am not Miss Everdeen." The man said. "I want to show you something."

He stepped to the side and I stood up slowly, seeing a door simply standing there. It had no doorway to be sitting in, not any hinges from the looks of it. It was a standard door as well, simple and made of wood, except for the fact that it was turquoise in colour.

"The Starless Sea. . ." I whispered, walking towards it slowly as though in a trance. All thoughts of Severus or Dad or Fred or even my children were dissipating. Any thought of anything besides what laid behind the door was gone, only fleeting flickers of thoughts.

"Not quite. But please, be my guest." He gestured to the door.

I opened it, finding that there was a dark staircase instead of the tree that should've been on the other side of this door.

I stepped inside, walking down the stairs. The door closed behind me, but instead of plunging me into darkness, candles lit up on the walls, showing me the path forwards.

I stop as I reach the last stair, finding myself in a room that looks like a cathedral, with sweeping high ceilings intricately tiled and buttressed. There are six large columns of marble, also tiled in patterns though some tiles are missing here and there, mostly near the bases, leaving bare stone visible beneath. The floor is covered with tiles woven down to the stone beneath, mostly the ones near my feet and in a loop around the perimeter of the round space, with heavier wear near the other entrances.

There are five entrances not counting the stairwell that I just stepped through, the doctor coming to a stop next to me. Four are archways, leading off in different directions into darkened halls.

I recognize the room from my drawings in my sixth year. There are chandeliers, some hanging at irregular, chandelier- inappropriate heights, and others resting on the floor in illuminated piles of metal and crystal, their tiny bulbs dimmed or extinguished entirely. A larger light above is not a chandelier at all but a cluster of glowing globes hung amongst brass hoops and bars.

I look up to see if there is the same detail as the drawings- and there is. There are hands at the end of the bars, human hands cast in gold and pointing outward, the tile above them laid out in a pattern of numbers and stars. In the center, the midpoint of the room, a chain drops from the ceiling, terminating in a pendulum that hangs inches above the floor.

Unlike in my drawing however, the pendulum does not seem to be in action, hanging quite still.

"Lead the way Miss Everdeen."

I step forwards cautiously, unsure of where I was supposed to go. But my curiosity got the better of me and soon, I was heading down one of the hallways.

Almost immediately, it branches off into other rooms. I peer into them as I pass, but none of them catch my interest until I see one that is perfectly round and I step inside. The walls are lined with bookshelves, much like the rest of the rooms, but there is something that calls me here.

Most likely, it is the grand staircase in the direct middle of the back wall that seems to lead into another room with books, with another staircase that leads up to a reading area with a large circular window to look out at whatever laid out there. Foliage lined the stairs and hung from the ceilings, giving it a rather mystical look.

"Please, sit." The man says. It isn't until I turn to look at him that I realized I don't actually know his name.

"Who are you?" I asked bluntly. I sit in the chair across from the one he sits in.

"Ah, yes, my name is Dr. Anthony Gates." He introduced himself. "I come from the real world and you are my patient, Elizabeth Everdeen."

"Patient?" I asked. "Real world?"

"It will be simpler if I explain from the beginning." He said. Tea was on the table now, although I wasn't actually sure where it had come from. He pursed his lips and suddenly it turn to coffee. I looked at it shocked, before it reverted back to tea after he had served himself.

He sipped the black drink and then started. "Five years ago, you were admitted to the hospital with a terminal illness. Fatal. No cure. It was in the brain, you see. You lived in the hospital and you read your books when your friends weren't visiting you and watched movies when they were."

He sipped his drink again. "But then, there was a technological breakthrough. You had nothing to lose, so you ah- volunteered."

I frowned. "It doesn't sound like I volunteered."

He waved his hand like this detail was of no importance. "This technological breakthrough was based off of Virtual reality technology, except even more in depth. You would actually be teleported into the world. Meanwhile, you wouldn't die of your illness, or so we hoped."

"I was the first clinical trial?" I asked, doubtful.

"Well, considering how successful this has been. . . I am quite certain some lines were crossed previously. It is of no matter."

"So am I laying on a bed somewhere in a coma like state while my brain creates this?" I asked, confused.

"No, no! See that's the genius part of it! You are here, flesh and blood! And what's more, you are truly a character Miss Everdeen! It was unprecedented. In fact, we thought we failed when you were nowhere to be found in this world. Then, something unexpected happened. Lily and James Potter gave birth to not only Harry, but a mystery girl, and we realized what had happened."

"So. . . I am a part of this world?"

"Very much so! More than the other characters in fact!" He laughed. "I mean, it's extraordinary."

I pondered it over. "How old was I?"

"Ah yes, you were twenty-three. We believe this is one of the reasons you have been so successful in your relationship with Snape despite the perceived age difference in this world, because you are much older technically than the people of your characters' age. And while you clearly have no memory of the other world, somewhere in your subconscious, you had recognized to be with an older man who is closer to your real age. Had the two of you been in the real world, you would be considered twenty-seven and Snape thirty-six."

It was definitely not as big an age difference as before. Hearing Severus' name though also made me realize that my children were waiting for me to return. And yet, I had so many questions. Once more, everything above this new dimension I was in faded away.

"So. . . this world is a book?" I questioned.

"Yes! And movies, of course. It's a huge hit back home."

"That's why I see the future." I said slowly. "It's not the future at all, it's memories from reading the book."

"Yes! Yes! Exactly!" He said, his hand scribbling notes on the clipboard. "Except for one thing. In your sixth year when Bellatrix and Greyback attacked the Weasley house. That was something that only happened in the movies. It was certainly strange that it happened here. Quite fascinating. Some of my fellow doctors think that perhaps when you were pregnant, the movie line took precedence over the book since the book is more complicated. But that's just a theory."

"And I'm assuming this is what the Sorting Hat meant by 'I had been sorted into Hufflepuff long before I got there'?"

"Yes, back in our world there is a website called Pottermore. You took the test three times and was sorted into Hufflepuff every single time."

It was overwhelming. It was the most bizarre conversation ever and yet. . . being in the Starless Sea, talking to a man from America whose accent was disappearing and I sounded like him now was just as bizarre.

"What about Trang?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Ah, yes, Trang. We really aren't sure about her." He frowned now. "There was never a character in the books by her name or description. Nothing about her parents being Death Eaters or their names in association with Greybacks' WIKI bio. But back in this world, you had a friend named Trang who looks identical to her. It's possible that you simply manifested her out of the desire to keep your best friend."

"But she's real?" I asked slowly. "She's not going to turn into a puff of smoke if I stop thinking about her?"

He shrugged. "It's quite uncertain."

"Why have you revealed yourself now?" I finally asked after I couldn't think of anymore questions to ask.

"Because we believe it is time for you to return home." He said. "Your parents and brothers are waiting anxiously for your return. They cannot wait to see you again."

"What happens to my children if I left?" I asked.

"We are not sure. It is possible they will continue to exist. Trang and Harry and the Weasley family will raise them I am sure. Your belongings would be found on the lake shore and speculations will be made about your disappearance. No body will ever be found. Perhaps you will become myth and legend. Or. . . perhaps because your presence is gone, the world will revert back to how it was if you had never existed."

My children would cease to exist.

I stood up. "I want to return to the surface. I want to see my children."

"Please, Elizabeth." He raised a hand. "Let's not be hasty."

I huffed, moving away from him towards the bookshelves. My eyes roamed the titles until my eyes landed on a title called 'The Starless Sea'. I pulled the book out slowly loving how it felt in my hands. The cover was black except for simple gold paint designs surrounding the bee, key, and sword.

I opened up the first couple of pages and found the copyright. 2019. My mouth went dry. It was only 1997. How could I be having visions and creating art from scenes of a book that was written 22 years in the future.

"What year is it?" I whispered softly.

"You were admitted to the hospital in 2025. Today it is October 31, 2030." the man said.

The day my parents died in their world. Somehow, it seemed poetic.

"If you are worried about the pain of losing your husband and father, let me give you two notices of comfort. They weren't real anyways Elizabeth. They are simply book characters whose fates were written in ink. You were never going to be able to stop their deaths, it was. . . inevitable."

I looked back at him in hatred.

"And once you are back, your pain will fade. How does that book put it. . . ah yes. 'Occasionally a visitor will become overwhelmed, disoriented, and dazed by all there is to explore, the space closing around their lungs and their heart and their thoughts, and they will find their way back before much time has passed, back to the familiar surface and the familiar stars and the familiar air, and most will forget that such a place exists, much less that they set foot in it themselves. It will fade like a dream. It will fade like a dream Miss Everdeen. You will not feel the pain."

I had already made up my mind.

"I am going back to my children."

"What about your real family?" The doctor asked, fishing a photograph out of his pocket. Like most normal photographs, it was still. I recognized myself right off the bat, though much younger in this photograph. The man I presumed to be my father looked kind, though old with pepper hair and a beard with white mixed in with it.

The woman was about the same age, with red-brown hair and grey-blue eyes. She wore glasses and her smile was marred by a small scar on her lip, keeping her from truly looking happy. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

Then there were two boys, one much taller than me and the other shorter. The taller boy looked a lot like the woman, with red-brown hair and glasses. He looked bored while the other boy smiled cheekily, his face dotted with freckles and his short brown hair was curly.

"They miss you Miss Everdeen. You can't keep them waiting."

"Do they love me?" I asked softly, putting the photograph back down on the table.

"They do. Very much."

"Then you need to tell them to let me go." I whispered.

He chuckled shortly, "Like that Tom MacDonald song? Those random lyrics that play through your head and you don't remember listening to the song? That's Tom MacDonald, someone you start listening to in 2020. You are being selfish."

I looked him straight in the eye. "Selfish because I want to keep living? If I go back I'll still be sick, won't I?"

"Yes, but this was always supposed to be temporary. We have found a new, potential cure, Miss Everdeen. You could live in the real world."

"This is my real world." I said heatedly. "And all I can remember now is pain. Pain and suffering and a want to end it all. I refuse to go back to that and you can't make me."

He grimaced and that was when I realized it. "You actually can't force me to go back, can you?"

The room around me changed. We were no longer in a library and the book dissolved from my hands. We were in an interrogation room now, with a metal table and two metal chairs with nothing else for decor. The walls were black and there was no window and a single door.

"I guess now that I don't want to play along things become a little unfriendly." I whispered.

"I am begging you to reconsider." He said urgently, pushing his glasses up on his face. "You can always return, Miss Everdeen, but for the sake of the experiment. . . I mean you worked so hard to get this position."

I clutched my head in sudden pain, getting a glimpse of my real past. I was in a wheelchair, sitting by a river. The doctor whispered something in my ear and I slowly let my head go, letting the vision fade away.

"Is that what you call hard work?" I whispered, disgusted. "Really?"

He shrugged. "You're here, aren't you? I figured it was worth it."

"I'm leaving." I said, moving to the door. "Goodbye doctor."

He shook his head, opening another door behind him. "You've truly made the wrong choice Miss Everdeen. I pity you. I wonder how your family would react when they find out you don't belong in their world."

I opened the door in front of me without looking back, stepping back out onto the shore of Hogwarts lake. I looked around, disoriented and then gasped as every emotion came rushing back to me, as though I had suppressed everything down in the Starless Sea.

Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks now as I looked around. It was still silent, bodies gone from the front of the castle. I wiped my tears, my heart pounding slightly. I wondered how much time had passed down below. After all, seventeen years for me had been five for them. What if months had passed? Years?

What if my children were three? Five? Twelve? Adults?

I raced across the rocky surface to where I had been sitting when the doctor had approached me. I breathed out a sigh of relief that my wand, bow, and everything else was still where I had left it. I put my wand in my pocket. It had been stupid of me to leave my wand behind.

I sighed, sitting once more on the edge of the lake, tense now. There were so many other questions I wanted to ask now. Was I on camera? Had they seen every moment of my life like the Truman Show? Including the sexual parts? Were they still watching me? Could they harm me in here?

"Hey." A voice made me jump and I looked up to see Harry. He sat down beside me on the shore. "How are you feeling?"

"I couldn't celebrate." I whispered. I decided right then and there that I wouldn't tell a soul about me being from another world. I didn't want Trang questioning everything she was and I didn't want anyone to question that I belonged to this world. I didn't belong anywhere else.

"I know." Harry said quietly. I noticed he was holding his picture album in his lap. "There's no pictures of us."

I looked over at him and then slowly pulled my locket out from underneath my shirt. I hadn't worn it all year, but I had taken it out last night to put on for the fight.

I opened it up and grabbed the small folded up picture out of practice as it jumped from the locket, before unfolding it.

Harry took the photo gently, looking at baby me play with the cat while he sat in our parents lap. Sirius was in the photo too, so it was sort've like being able to see everyone at once.

I also showed him the photos in the locket. How he was sitting with Lily, and I with James. I duplicated the photos while he held them, letting him take the copies so he could put them in his photo album.

I leaned my head on Harrys' shoulder and he put his arm around me, hugging me close. We watched the giant squid swim about like nothing had happened and for a few seconds, I could feel like everything was normal.

I heard footsteps cross the grass and then Kingsleys' voice said, "You two should come inside."

I sighed softly, getting up off the rocky surface, Harry following my lead.

I turned to face Kingsley and froze, my eyes on another figure behind him.

"Severus." I whispered, taking a step forwards. And suddenly we were running at each other. I couldn't even think, didn't know how to breathe, but I launched myself into his arms and he wrapped them around me, pulling tight to him.

"Oh my God, oh my God." I sobbed, burying my face into his chest.

"I'm here, it's okay. It worked." Severus whispered, smoothing my hair back. "It's okay Elizabeth."

"You were d-dead!" I sobbed.

"Yes, I was." Severus whispered. "And then my heart started again. It was just. . . luck."

He petted my hair and I felt this extraordinary feeling of happiness inside of me. My husband was alive and safe. Everything was going to be okay. We were going to be okay.

"Come on sweetheart." Severus murmured, "let's go see our kids."

I nodded, wiping my eyes.

Kingsley and Harry were both still there, looking extremely awkward. Harry stepped forwards first. "I owe you an apology Sir."

Severus looked cautious for a second, like he wasn't sure if he should slip back into his cruel demeanor. But then he held his hand out. "None are necessary Potter." They shook hands and then let go.

"I've been selected as temporary Minister of Magic." Kingsley said. He didn't look the most pleased with Severus, but I was glad that he didn't seem to hate him either. "There will be a trial of course, but with both Harry and Elizabeth here as your defense, along with Voldemort's own words with hundreds of witnesses, you won't even get a fine. And I'll be pardoning you as Minister anyways."

"Thank you." Severus said, squeezing me tightly. Harry headed back up to the castle and I turned to Severus.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up. I just want to talk to Kingsley for one second."

He nodded, kissing my cheek, before slowly heading back up to the castle as well.

I stepped forwards and kissed Kingsley gently on the lips, before pulling back, "Thank you." I whispered. "For everything you would have done for us. I know what you were willing to sacrifice for that."

"It wouldn't have been a sacrifice Elizabeth. I would gladly have done it in a heartbeat." Kingsley said just as softly. I knew what he was saying in that sentence and I said nothing more, squeezing his hand, and then rushed to catch up with Severus, who wasn't that far away.

Severus took my hand in his and murmured, "Going to have to keep and leash on you if you're going to kiss others." He smirked darkly and turned red.

"Never again." I promised, blushing red, "It was a thank you kiss, that's all."

"I know." He said softly now.

We walked into the Great Hall, pausing in the archway. People murmured, turning to look at us, hand in hand. I took a deep breath and we walked through the Great Hall, looking around.

"DWADDY!"

Remus toddled across the Great Hall, which made many of the people around us smile. Severus fell to his knees, sweeping the little boy up in his arms, actually crying, clutching him tightly. The sight lifted my heart and I looked over at the nearby table Remus had run from, expecting to see Trang with the other little ones.

But my eyes landed on a different person instead and my heart stopped completely for a whole beat, before speeding back up. I raced past my husband and son, before skidding to a stop in front of the table, surveying the person before me.

"Hi." Dad whispered looking down at me, tears in his eyes.

I punched him.

"How could you do that to mean!" I sobbed, not loudly this time at least, pounding my fists against his chest. "I thought you were dead!"

"I just did what felt right Elizabeth. That was all. It was like. . ."

"The potion was talking to you?" Harry finished softly.

"Exactly." Dad said, taking my hands into his as I stopped hitting him, sobbing against his chest. "I'm sorry it caused you so much pain Elizabeth. I'm so sorry."

I had forgotten that liquid luck did strange things to you. The entire reason that Harry had even gotten the information he needed from Slughorn was because the potion had told him to go to Hagrid. Whatever the liquid luck had told dad and Tonks, it had been to help us win.

I wiped my tears away, only nodding my head since my throat was to closed up to speak.

Severus came over next, Remus on his hip. Our son was playing with his long hair, looking rather content.

"Severus." Dad said, getting to his feet, holding out his hand, which Severus shook.

Trang was sitting at the table with Tonks, who looked sheepish, along with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Oliver. Ginny was holding Minerva while Luna cooed softly to Elijah Kingsley.

Professor McGonagall was the next person to come over, looking rather hesitant. Severus beat her to it though. "You don't owe me an apology Minerva."

Professor McGonagall pretended to be offended. "Who said I was giving you one?"

Severus smiled a little.

She smiled gently. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad- Oh is that her!" Her face turned to surprise as she laid eyes on the little girl. Severus looked more startled now and Ginny quickly handed Minerva up. "Well hi there sweetie." I raised an eyebrow, watching my strict Professor coo at the baby in a completely different voice. "You're so beautiful."

Severus and Remus were both gaping now while I laughed softly, shaking my head.

I left them for a little bit, checking on all of my friends, seeing who survived. Zacharias from Hufflepuff hadn't stayed, fleeing with the underage students long before the fight started. But Ernie, Hannah, and Susan were okay. I didn't see Justin though.

Then I checked on the Weasley family, finally able to share their pain in Freds' death. Mrs. Weasley turned to me, with the rest of the family.

"I am so sorry-" Mrs. Weasley engulfed me into one of her hugs, sobbing in my shoulder. Tears ran down my cheeks once more, as I was sure they would for many days to come.

Percy, surprisingly, hugged me next. "It wasn't your fault. You tried." He said thickly, squeezing me tightly.

I was hugged by all of them, George last. "George. . ." I whispered as he took my hands into his. "I. . ."

He just pulled me into him, crying. "He was happy, Eliza. His ghost was happy. You showed us him one last time."

I hadn't really thought about it like that. I had gotten to see them one last time too. Uncle Moody and Sirius and Cedric and Dumbledore and Dobby and everyone I had loved and known.

"I just wish I had saved him." I whispered.

"You saved him in other ways." George murmured, finally letting me go.

And lastly, I stopped over by Firenze, who was being treated by some other Centaurs. Ivagio and Ronan were helping him out.

"You did wonderfully with the herb bandage Elizabeth Kane." Ivagio complimented me before I had even knelt down next to them. He was reapplying the bandage tightly and Firenze gritted his teeth in pain.

"Thank you Ivagio." I said softly. "Will Bane keep his promise?"

"Promise?" Firenze asked sleepily.

"I asked if he would take you back to the forest after the battle was over." I said softly, stroking his blond hair back from his face. "He said he would, but now that it is really over, I want to know if he will keep it."

"He will." Ivagio promised me. "We always keep our promises."

I nodded. "Good." I hesitated and then said, "I hope this is not the last time I see you."

Firenze took my hand. Ronan got up, trotting over to some of the other Centaurs, but Ivagio stayed beside the two of us. "I have seen the stars. It may be many years, but we will see each other again Elizabeth."

I squeezed his hand, before leaning over and kissing his cheek. "As fate says." I whispered, then stood. I squeezed Ivagios' shoulder and walked away.

"Are you ready to go home?" Severus asked as I rejoined him.

I scanned the room once more. The Malfoys were reunited, simply sitting on one of the tables, isolated, as though they didn't know whether to leave or ask someone if they should be arrested. Lucius met my eyes and he nodded once, before turning away.

"Almost." I said softly, seeing Lee sitting by himself, his head bowed and his hands folded as though in prayer. "There's one last thing I have to do."

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