Two years later
“Harrison Orion Evans, you come back here, right this instant!”
Smiling, Severus opened his lab door, just in time to catch the feisty black-haired imp that was running straight towards it as fast as his little legs could carry him. Severus held the little boy in the air for a moment, who giggled as his legs wheeled in an attempt to keep running, then he brought the boy down to rest on his hip.
“Are you trying Mummy’s patience again, Imp?” he asked, pretending to tweak the boy’s nose. The 15 month old toddler giggled again, and buried his face in Severus’ neck, as though blocking out the world would make him invisible to it.
“Harrison! Oh, Sev,” Lily interrupted herself with a sigh as she came around the corner. “You got him.”
“Caught him trying to make a break for it,” Severus told her, smiling at her exasperated huff. “What did he do this time?”
“He was supposed to be helping me make dinner, except his help consisting of dumping all of the flour and all of the sugar out into a big pile in the middle of the kitchen floor,” Lily said, mock-scowling at her son. Harrison just giggled again, clearly delighted with his new game.
“Not a budding chef, huh?” Severus gently poked the little boy in the side, and Harrison squealed in glee.
“No, but demolition may be a good career choice,” said Lily, dryly, reaching to take Harrison from Severus. The toddler went willingly to his mother, catching a handful of red hair and beginning to chew on it. Severus laughed.
“Well, I’m sure Lissy will be delighted to help,” he said. “I’ve just finished brewing, so I can look after Imp while you’re doing dinner.”
“Oh, would you?” Lily watched as Severus turned to shut and securely ward his lab door, then handed Harrison back to him. “Shouldn’t be more than an hour, and Trix will be back soon.”
“Mama T’ix?” Harrison chirped, looking eagerly around. Severus shifted his hold on the boy as Harrison almost squirmed himself right out of Severus’ arms.
“Not yet, honey,” Lily said, brushing the black hair out of the tyke’s green eyes. “You go play with Sev for a bit.”
“Papa Sev!” Harrison squealed, and threw his arms around Severus’ neck as though surprised to find him there.
Severus rolled his eyes at Lily, who chuckled and headed back down the hall. “Thank you, Imp, I’d begun to forget who I was,” he said to Harrison.
“B’oom?” Harrison asked, bouncing slightly in his excitement. Severus tightened his hold again. “We play b’oom!”
“Yes, yes, I’ll let you play on your broom. But no trying to go faster than I say so!” he added, sternly, wagging a finger at Harrison. The last time Harrison had been allowed on his child’s broom, he’d all but broken the safety speed charm, trying to get it to move faster. Lily had been most unimpressed with her son’s spellwork, and Harrison hadn’t much liked the afternoon’s time-out he’d gotten, either.
“Ha’y be good!” the boy assured him, brightly, beaming at Severus. Severus smiled and shook his head. Little Imp was too charming for his own good.
He put Harrison down in the living room and summoned the boy’s toy broom, spelling it so it couldn’t go any faster than an adult’s walking pace. Then he held it steady for Harrison to climb on. Harrison shrieked with glee as he circled the living room, several times forcing Severus to skip out of his way or risk having his legs slammed into.
Fifteen minutes later, there was a sharp crack from the hallway, and then Bellatrix’s voice was calling. “I’m back! Where is everyone?”
“In the living room with Harrison,” Severus called back. Bellatrix poked her head around the door. Harrison gave a loud squeal as soon as he saw her, and the toy broom dropped to the floor, allowing him to race towards her.
“Mama T’ix!” Harrison bellowed, as he lunged at one of Bellatrix’s legs, hugging it tightly. “What you b’ing me?”
“What did I bring you?” Bellatrix scooped the little boy up and rubbed noses with him. “Was I supposed to bring you something?”
Severus laughed as the toddler stuck his bottom lip out in an adorable pout. He collected the forgotten broom from the floor and sank down onto the settee as Bellatrix settled Harrison onto her hip and danced around the room with him.
“How’s the experimenting going?” Bellatrix asked, as she finally dropped onto the settee next to Severus, placing Harrison down onto the floor and summoning several of his toys for him.
Severus watched as Harrison dived for his building blocks and began alternately banging them together and chewing on them. “Some are going quite well, some . . . not so well,” he said.
“How many exploded?” Bellatrix asked, stifling a laugh as Severus gave her a mock-glare.
“Three,” he finally admitted with a huff.
Bellatrix’s full blown laugh attracted Harrison’s attention again, and the little boy toddled over to them, balancing against their knees. He reached up a small hand and twanged what seemed to be the air in between Bellatrix and Severus. Both felt the bond between the two of them shiver.
“He’s very sensitive to it,” Bellatrix said, running her hand through the boy’s hair.
“But is it just the bond, or all magic?” Severus wondered. “He’s never given any indication that he can see other magic. Lily tried him with Lissy, and he couldn’t see her if she didn’t want him to.”
“House elf magic is different from ours,” said Bellatrix with a shrug. “But you’re right – it may just be he can see it because he’s a part of it.” She frowned slightly.
“What?” asked Severus. Wordlessly, he made some of Harrison’s toy figures march over, distracting the boy from their conversation.
“I’d rather wait—” Bellatrix started.
“I’m here, Trix,” Lily interrupted from the doorway. “Lissy’s finishing off dinner.” She wriggled her way in between them on the settee. “Now, what’s wrong?”
“A new prophecy orb appeared in the Department of Mysteries today,” Bellatrix started. Her brows pulled together in a worried frown. “Apparently, Dumbledore was holding interviews for a new Divinations professor, and a descendant of the prophetess Cassandra applied. Unfortunately, the lady’s inherited none of Cassandra’s power, and is basically a quack, but it seems that during her interview, she got lucky, and she actually gave a real prophecy.” Severus and Lily glanced at each other. “The prophecy concerns the defeat of Voldemort.”
“Well, that’s wonderful, isn’t it?” Lily asked. The self-styled Lord had not been content to remain in the Ministry’s ranks for long. Attacks by his so-called Death Eaters were on the rise every day. Dumbledore had his own forces opposing Voldemort, but although they saved lives – or did their best to – sometimes their ‘defence’ against Voldemort was equally as devastating to a family’s livelihood. Several prominent Pureblood families had already left for Europe or America to avoid having to choose sides.
Bellatrix slowly shook her head. “The prophecy doesn’t concern me – isn’t about me at all – but I can touch the prophecy orb without going mad.”
“But that means . . .” Lily’s voice trailed off in horror.
“It’s about one of us,” Severus said. “One of us here in this room.” He and Lily followed Bellatrix’s gaze.
“No!” Lily choked out.
“I’m sorry, Lily!” Bellatrix burst out. “The prophecy is about Harrison.”
By the time the next morning arrived, Lily had barely let Harrison out of her sight for a minute. The toddler wasn’t complaining, although whether that was because he could feel the agitation in the bond or he was just enjoying the close attention wasn’t clear.
“Tell me again,” Lily demanded for the tenth time, gripping the mug of tea in her hands so tightly it was a miracle it hadn’t shattered already.
“What difference does it make how many times Trix tells us?” Severus asked, wearily. He was slumped in a chair near to the fire, his eyes half-closed. Bellatrix was on the settee, her head resting on the back of it, her eyes closed. Lily had been maniacally pacing for the last hour.
“I need to know!” Lily said through gritted teeth. She placed her mug onto the nearby side table, with a solid click that told Severus she’d have much preferred to throw it at him. “There must be another interpretation. It can’t be Harrison!”
“Whether it is or not, Dumbledore believes it is, and so Voldemort will believe it,” Bellatrix murmured. Lily’s head whipped around.
“My baby is in danger because of that meddling old codger?” she asked, her voice a low growl.
“Lily, forget that!” Severus snapped at her. “We need to focus on protecting Harrison.”
“We can hide him!” Lily shot back. “The Fidelius Charm – he can be placed under that. We all can!”
Bellatrix’s head rolled gently from side to side in a negative motion. “Once they realise we’re gone, they’ll concentrate on where we aren’t,” she said, sleepily.
Lily opened her mouth to argue again, but Severus held up a hand. He was pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand, clearly thinking hard. Lily resumed pacing again, shooting constant glances at where her son was sleeping peacefully in his cot that she’d moved from the nursery.
“That could be very explosive, Sev,” Bellatrix said, finally opening her eyes.
“As long as it explodes out, that’s all we need,” Severus replied, glancing at her. “It will work, then?”
Bellatrix was silent for a moment, her eyes glazing over, as she checked the possible futures. “Yes,” she said, eventually. “It will.”
“What will?” asked Lily, sighing.
“We set up a mobile ward, with Harrison as the centre,” Severus explained. “A nine point ward, done three by three.”
“Interesting,” mused Lily. “Charm or hex?”
“Both,” said Bellatrix. “Curse, too. One of each.”
“And layered?” Lily checked. When Severus nodded, she blew out her breath. “Trix is right, that has the potential to be very explosive, Sev.”
“But if we do the first and the last layers facing outwards, then if the ward should be triggered, the force should go outwards,” Severus said.
“Alright,” Lily agreed on a sigh. “Let’s do it now, before Harrison wakes up.”
“No,” Bellatrix said. “He needs to be awake for it. Then we’ll all be tied into the ward as well, both for protection and as power.”
Severus and Lily both raised their eyebrows at her. Considering how explosive the ward had the potential to be on its own, with their own boosted bond magic added to it, the ward could turn into the magical equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Anyone trying to get to Harrison through it wouldn’t be leaving whole – if they left at all.
By the following morning, Bellatrix had discovered the best day and ritual for the warding. Unfortunately, it appeared that the optimum time would be on their birthdays, so they couldn’t start protecting Harrison until the beginning of December, a good six months away. Lily had been frantic, and it had taken Bellatrix and Severus a good hour to convince her that she couldn’t carry Harrison with her until that time.
“But what if Voldemort comes after him before then?” she insisted, staring wild-eyed at them both.
Severus passed her a mug of tea, without mentioning the calming draught he’d slipped into it. “He’ll be fine,” he said, soothingly. “Now drink your tea.”
“How can you know that?” Lily demanded, stridently, her eyes flashing sparks at him.
“Because Trix would have seen if he wasn’t,” Severus pointed out. He placed a hand underneath the mug and pushed it upwards. Lily took the hint and sipped at the tea. Then she released a shaky breath and looked down at her son, who was anxiously clinging to her leg.
“So how do we protect him until we can do the warding?” she asked, running a hand through his messy hair. Harrison let out an aggrieved squawk, batted her hand away and fruitlessly tried to smooth his hair down again. The three adults laughed as he made his escape, toddling over to his pile of toys in a corner.
“I’ve set up anti-Apparation wards against him,” Bellatrix explained, pulling Lily down onto the settee next to her. “Even if someone tries to sneak in and Apparate him out, they’ll go, but he won’t.”
“Won’t that splinch him?” asked Lily, slightly horrified.
Bellatrix shook her head. “He’ll just bounce back, so in essence, he won’t go anywhere. The intruder, on the other hand . . .” She trailed off, and Lily and Severus grimaced as they imagined what could happen. “I’ve also set up an anti-portkey ward around the house, and we aren’t on the floo network.”
“So the only other recourse would be muggle kidnapping,” Severus said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Essentially,” Bellatrix agreed. “But that takes time to set up, and they won’t find out about the wards until they try them.”
“And one of us can keep watch over the Imp anyway,” finished Severus.
“We need to teach Harrison to use the bond,” Lily said, suddenly. She frowned as she saw the looks the other two were giving her. “He knows about it, he plays with it, but he needs to learn how to use it, either to protect himself until we get there, or to call one of us if he needs us.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Bellatrix asked. “Harry’s not even two yet!”
“Simple,” said Severus. He held out a hand, and conjured a set of small action figures. “We play it out for him.”
Harrison was thrilled with the look-alike figures, cooing “Mama, Ha’y, Mama T’ix, Papa Sev!” again and again, touching a finger to each figure’s head in turn.
“That’s right, Harry,” Severus praised him. “And look . . . what’s this?” He gently prodded the bond, ensuring his little figurine did so too, and both Harrison and the toy Harry jumped. The bond between the figures was shown as a slender red string, looping them all and binding them together. Severus twanged the bond between himself and Harrison again, and this time they could see the red line between the figure Severus and Harrison jump too.
Harrison peered at the figures suspiciously, narrowing his green eyes. He reached out and poked one of the red lines, and this time, it was Lily and her figure who jumped.
“You called, baby?” she asked, leaning over from her place on the settee.
Harrison looked up at her, surprised. “Me call?” he repeated.
“Sure you did,” Bellatrix added. “Like this.” And she prodded her part of the bond.
Harrison’s gaze swung between her, his mother, and the figures in front of him, his clever mind clearly making connections.
“Hey, where’d Sev go?” Lily asked, in exaggerated surprise. Harrison looked around to discover that Severus had indeed vanished.
“Papa Sev?” he called out. “Papa Sev!” His lower lip wobbled, and his eyes gained a sheen of tears as he looked up at Lily. “Papa Sev no play?”
“Why don’t you call him and see if he comes back?” Lily suggested. She leaned over and pushed at the bond between the little figure Severus and Harrison. Harrison blinked rapidly as the little black-haired figurine Apparated from its place to beside the toy Harry. “Now you try,” urged Lily. “Call for Papa Sev.”
Screwing his face up in determination, Harrison reached out and firmly twanged the bond between himself and Severus. He did it so hard that even Lily and Bellatrix felt the echo of it. Within seconds, there was a loud crack! and Severus was once more beside Harrison. “You called?” he said with a grin.
“Papa Sev!” Harrison screamed, and launched himself into Severus’ arms, burying his face in Severus’ hair. “You no go!” they could barely hear him saying. “Papa Sev stay and play wiv me!”
“Of course I’m staying and playing with you, Imp,” Severus reassured the boy, hugging him tightly before putting him down and summoning Harrison’s other toys. He glanced up at Bellatrix and Lily, all of them agreeing that it was enough work for the moment.
They’d played with the same figures every night for the past week, encouraging Harrison to pull on the bond whenever he wanted one of the trio. They had wondered how they were supposed to tell if the toddler really understood, but had figured they wouldn’t know until it really happened.
Which happened a lot sooner than any of them expected.
Bellatrix’s sisters, Andromeda and Narcissa, had brought their children to the house the trio shared. Despite Voldemort’s views on Muggles and Muggleborns, he had conceded the point that it didn’t really matter what the trio did, as they were powerful enough together to shrug off anything he tried to do to them – and he didn’t want to risk them coming after him in a vengeful wrath if he happened to deliberately hurt someone they cared about.
As a result, Andromeda, who had married a Muggleborn, was allowed to visit Bellatrix as and when she pleased. So as not to aggravate Lucius Malfoy, who had married Narcissa as soon as she’d graduated and was now Voldemort’s right-hand man, any visits including Narcissa and their son were always held at the trio’s home, and nothing was ever said about them one way or the other.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, found it very disturbing that such powerful people were so freely consorting with those connected with the Dark Lord. He had no problems with Andromeda and her three-year-old daughter, Nymphadora (who insisted on being called Nympha, and wouldn’t answer to anything else), but he believed that Narcissa and her nine-month-old son Draco were the advance guard of the enemy, and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near decent, Dark-fearing wizardkind.
He and McGonagall had also agreed between them that for Slytherins to have as much power as the trio did could only lead to tragedy, and no doubt sooner rather than later. Slytherins were just too ambitious to settle for what they had. As a result, they had their own forces – the Order of the Phoenix – keeping an eye on the trio and their visitors. The trio were obviously well aware of their watchers, but as long as the meddling Gryffindors didn’t come too close to the house, or interfere with them, they were content to ignore them.
On this particular visit, Nymphadora, Harry and Draco had been sent outside under Lissy’s care to play in the back garden whilst the sisters enjoyed catching up in the living room. Lily was at work, which was as a teaching assistant in a medium-sized school buried somewhere in the middle of England. Even after having to take time off to have Harrison, she was well on the way to becoming a fully-fledged teacher, and all the children adored her, whether they were in her class or not. Severus was locked away in his laboratory, experimenting with various potions. He’d gained his Potions Mastery the year before, and had become the youngest Potions Master in over a century. His potions were always in demand, and the potions community followed his work with interest.
The watcher on this particular day happened to be James Potter. He was leaning against the wall of the house across the street, desperately bored, but knowing that the evil Slytherins were just waiting for him to leave before setting their nefarious plans in motion.
Or perhaps, he thought as the crack! of apparation echoed down the street, they were just waiting for their ringleader to arrive. Potter straightened up and eased back into the shadow of the building as Lucius Malfoy appeared just outside the trio’s home. Hearing the children laughing and squealing, the blond-haired wizard headed around the side of the house.
Tip-toeing after him, Potter could feel his heart-rate increasing. This was it! He was about to catch one of the evillest wizards – second only to You- . . Voldemort – in the very act of doing . . . something! Now perhaps the world would see that Slytherins, even family members, could never be trusted. He had no idea what Lucius could be up to, but no doubt it was diabolical.
Lucius rounded the corner of the house, and spotted his son, his niece and his nephew playing among the stone planters that formed a border around the garden, inside the tall wooden fence. The planters were filled with a variety of flowers and herbs, and potion ingredients for Severus, and every second planter had a tall, equally heavy stone vase sitting on one end.
“Draco,” he called, waving a hand to attract his little son’s attention.
“Da!” “Unca Luci!” “Uncle Lucius!” the three children chorused when they saw him, and began a mad scramble to greet him.
Potter, having to jump around to see over the fence, saw Lucius’ arm rise, and immediately leapt to the worst conclusion.
“You won’t harm these children while I’m around!” he bellowed, and fired a concussion blast at Lucius to knock him away from the children.
Unfortunately, due to the angle he was at, and his wild leap to aim over the tall fence, his spell shot straight in front of Lucius and bounced off the wall beside him, ricocheting back down the garden and splashing against one of the stone vases.
The vase cracked, wobbled, and then fell from the planter, the top-half exploding in mid-air, and the rest of the vase crashing heavily to the ground.
Lucius whirled around, his wand aimed and a spell ready on his lips, searching frantically for his attacker. Lissy was already heading for where Potter was now trying to hurdle the fence. The three women inside had come racing out as soon as they heard the blast strike the house. The three children were huddled at the opposite side of the garden, crying.
Or at least, two of them were. Little Draco, unable to move as fast as his older cousins, had been directly in the path of the exploding, falling stone vase. His left leg was firmly pinned underneath the vase, while the rest of him was covered in cuts and bruises from the exploded shrapnel. A large purple bump was forming on his right temple, and the little boy was unconscious.
With the adults and Lissy busy trying to fend off Potter, and Nymphadora hysterically sobbing in fear, nobody else seemed to have noticed Draco’s plight. But Harrison had, and he knew he needed an adult – Draco needed an adult – right now! Mama T’ix was busy seeing off that nasty man. Mama was away wiv her other child’en.
So Harrison did the only other thing he knew to do. He took a deep breath, and then yanked with all his might on the bond between himself and Papa Sev.
Down in his lab, Severus had already felt Bellatrix’s shock, horror and determination, and had just finished casting a stasis spell over his workroom to go and help when he felt Harrison’s call. It all but pulled him off his feet, and he knew that Harrison was frightened and desperate. Without a second thought, he apparated directly to Harrison’s side and scooped him up, frantically checking to see if the boy was injured. Nymphadora crashed into his legs, now sobbing hysterically in relief that help had arrived, and Severus rested a hand on her head.
“Papa Sev!” Harrison squealed, clamping his arms tightly around Severus’ neck. “Bad man come!” he babbled, releasing one arm to point a little finger at the desperate battle with Potter and his newly-arrived backup going on in the opposite corner of the garden. Then his finger moved to where Draco lay motionless under the remains of the stone vase. “D’aco inju’ed,” he added.
Severus felt his heart freeze as he spotted Draco. “Draco!” he choked out, and dropped to his knees beside the little boy. “Nympha, take Harry!” he ordered, pushing Harrison at his older cousin. “Stay right here beside me!”
Suddenly, unbelievably, Lily was there beside him. “Sev, I’ve got them,” she insisted, pulling the children up into her arms. “What do you need?”
“My potions kit,” Severus replied, holding up a hand to catch the small bag which had come flying towards him even as he spoke. A stray flash of red light hit the fence just to the side of them, and Severus shot a glare over his shoulder. His eyes met Bellatrix’s. Lily moved in closer so that her knee was touching Severus’ shoulder, and with Severus and Bellatrix both holding their ends of the bond, the three of them shouted the spell that would activate the wards on their home.
A blinding flash of light lit up the entire back garden, and Potter and his cohorts were flung away from the garden fence they were trying to climb over, soaring over the nearby houses to be dumped unceremoniously several streets away.
Lucius, Andromeda and Narcissa all slumped for a moment, panting, then remembered the children and charged across the garden to where Severus was desperately feeding potions down Draco’s throat with one hand while waving his wand with the other hand.
Nymphadora burst into a new round of sobs as her mother picked her up, cuddling her tightly. Lucius and Narcissa clung to each other as Severus worked to stabilise their son. Bellatrix hugged Lily and Harrison, pressing a kiss to Harrison’s forehead.
“Clever boy!” she said, her voice gone hoarse from shouting spells. “You did the right thing, Harry. Just as we showed you. Well done!” Harrison smiled tiredly at her, then slipped his thumb into his mouth and rested his head on his mother’s shoulder. “How did you know?” Bellatrix asked Lily in a hushed voice.
“I felt Harry’s call to Sev,” Lily said, in an equally hushed tone. “Up until then, I thought you both could handle whatever it was. But his call . . . Merlin, Trix, did you feel it?”
“I did,” Bellatrix agreed, running her hand through Harrison’s hair. “I was busy trying to get rid of Potter and the other dunderheads he’d called in, but I felt it.”
“Is Draco . . . ?” they suddenly heard Narcissa ask. Severus had sat back on his heels, wiping a forearm over his face.
“I’ve stabilised him,” he said. “But he needs to go to St. Mungo’s now.”
“Thank you, Severus, Bellatrix,” said Lucius, gently lifting his son into his arms. “When we report this, may we call on you as witnesses?”
“Of course,” Lily answered for them. “We hope Draco will take no lasting harm from this.”
“I’m sorry your visit has to end this way,” Bellatrix added, crossing over to hug both of her sisters.
“Me, too,” Narcissa said. Then her eyes hardened. “But it wasn’t your fault. It was those Gryffindors. Dumbledore’s people.”
“And believe me, they’ll pay for it,” Lucius added, then Narcissa tucked a hand under his arm, and with a sharp crack! they were gone.
The papers the next day were full of the story, with headlines such as “Toddler injured by overzealous Auror”, “When children aren’t safe in their own back-yards”, and even “Dumbledore injures nine-month-old son of Ministry employee” splashed across their front pages.
“Merlin, I bet Dumbledore is furious,” Lily said over breakfast, reading the article in the Daily Prophet. “This makes it sound as though he personally came and hurt Draco.”
“I wonder if Potter will keep his job?” mused Severus, neatly catching the piece of toast that Harrison had just thrown at him. “No, Harry, that’s for eating, not throwing,” he scolded. Harrison blew a raspberry at him. Obviously the drama of the day before hadn’t affected him very much.
“He’ll be on probation if he does,” said Lily, folding the paper. “And it’s not like he can talk it away as a mistake, since Lucius was here, on our property, his sister-in-law’s property, to see his son and bring his wife something she’d left at home. Potter’s going to be vilified.”
“What a shame it won’t do any good,” Bellatrix added from the kitchen doorway. She shook her head at Harrison, who had just raised his spoon to bang away happily on his high-chair tray. “I wouldn’t if I were you, Harry,” she said. “You want to go see Draco this afternoon, don’t you?”
“D’aco!” Harrison squealed, but he gently lowered his spoon. “I’ll be good!” The three adults laughed. They’d believe that when they saw it!
“Lucius and Cissy have called a press conference,” Bellatrix informed the other two. “Cissy just fire-called me; they want us all there.”
“I can’t,” Lily started. “My job—”
“Lunch break,” was all Bellatrix said, and Lily gave in with a sigh.
“Why do they want all three of us?” Severus asked, eyeing Bellatrix suspiciously. “I know almost nothing, and Lily knows less.”
“A united front,” said Bellatrix, dreamily. Severus and Lily exchanged glances over Harrison’s head. “Dromeda, too. Voldemort hasn’t split our family, and Dumbledore won’t be allowed to, either. We are all family, and we stand as one. The world will see, and know, and rue.”
“Rue what?” whispered Lily, her eyes widening. “Trix, what will the world rue?”
“The phoenix will try to swallow the world. The snake will poison it, and flames will burn everything. Mother against Father. Sister against Brother. The stranger who will give less to the world than you. Trust will die, suffocated by greed and prejudice. But the hearth shall stand firm, showing tall across the land as a beacon to the family. All of one blood, and they shall be spared.”
“Trix?” Lily mouthed, horrified. Severus had gone white, his eyes burning like coal. They both instinctively reached out, Lily for Harrison and Severus, Severus to Lily and Bellatrix. Bellatrix had been in the middle of reaching out a hand to run through Harrison’s hair before she started Seeing, and now Harrison reached out his free hand to touch hers, too.
The instant his fingers brushed Bellatrix’s, a silent explosion of magical energy rocketed around and across and over their bond. Harrison burst into tears, whilst Lily and Severus cried out, and Bellatrix started laughing, high-pitched and hysterical and edging towards madness.
“Hold on tight, folks,” she shouted. “It’s going to be a BUMPY ride!” And she descended into a fit of giggles again.
It was madness. It felt like being at the middle of a hurricane in an artist’s studio, or trapped inside a painting by Salvador Dali. Random bursts of bright colours exploded and blurred around them, almost like a fireworks display. Alternating sheets of ice cold and red hot swept over them, leaving them either shivering or sweating. There was what sounded like a drum-beat, somewhere in the distance, but getting closer, and faster, until it settled into the rhythm of their own racing hearts. They drowned in scents, as though they were smelling every single thing in the entire world at the same time.
Some vine attached to them somewhere suddenly caught fire, withered and died, falling away screaming. Another one was roughly ripped from its mooring, left to wave limply in the air, attempting to gain another hold.
The light around them blazed an intense white, intensifying everything. A curtain of shimmering gold, mixed with streaks of deep green, azure blue, silver, bronze and the purest red imaginable, appeared to drop over them. Everything it touched soaked up its colours, until none of them could see where the curtain ended and they began.
“Harrison! My baby!” Lily tried to cry out, and the echoing, hollow sounds of it went dancing across whatever landscape they were currently occupying, bouncing and re-bouncing, building itself higher and higher until the sound was just a distorted scream, with a strangely echoing bass note underneath it.
Suddenly, as though somebody had pressed a button somewhere, everything came to a halt. For an instant, they appeared frozen in time, not even daring to breathe. Then there was one last pulse, one last soundless implosion, and everyone collapsed, unconscious.
To be continued...