Lullaby

Lullaby

Ch 6: What Fate Takes Away . . .

They readied themselves early on September the first. All items that had been forgotten were scrounged up and packed away. The journey to Kings Cross was uneventful.

When they went through the barrier Ari and Harry stared at one another. Harry cleared his throat with difficulty. A small smile of understanding passed from parent to child as she glided to him and enveloped him in her strong arms. Pressing a warm kiss to his forehead she whispered, "I love you Harry. Be good and remember the classes I told you to take. Don't give your teachers too much trouble," she winked, "I think we will see each other sooner than both of us may know."

Harry stared hard at her gentle features. Raising a trembling hand he brushed back a curl from her brow. "Bye," as he jumped on the train before finishing in a tender whisper, "I love you, mum."

As the train pulled out of the station he could not suppress the faint sense of unease which wafted through him as he watched her disapparate from the station. Closing his eyes he pressed his fingers to his cold forehead before falling into a dream.

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Ari was standing before the bay windows in the dining room when a blast was heard. She withdrew her wand and uttered, "Nox!" which turned of all the lights in the house. As she cast the invisibility charm on herself she crept silently into the front hall. Standing there, darkness shrouding his back stood Voldemort. He was surrounded by twenty death eaters with all their features masked.

"Find the girl!" the dark Lord said chillingly.

Harry knew Ari was strong but it would be hard for an army to take on Voldemort and his followers let alone one witch.

"Nice of you to join us," Voldemort's voice rang out as his eyes gazed at her invisible crouching form.

Gulping, she answered, "How many wizards does it take to get rid of one witch Voldie?"

Rage tinted his vision as he spat, "All I need is my want. Where are your protectors, oh glorious leader of a dead kingdom?"

Ari's terror rose as she noticed the lack of guard. "I do not need guards to protect me from such a worthless pathetic cowardly slug such as you!"

Voldemort cast the anti-invisibility charm and started firing at the girl. As she spun around she shot curses one after another. Her cloak billowed around her as she shielded herself from the attacks.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw the creeping figure coming behind Ari. Opening his mouth in a silent scream, he projected his wisp of a form between her and the attacker. The blade entered and he felt the sting of pain all the way to the marrow of his bones before he awoke screaming.

Another image faded in:

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Alex came running in and upon seeing his sister's body lying in the dark red pool of blood he let out a shriek of rage. All of the glass in the house imploded and the Death Eaters remaining fired curse after curse at him but the dark light surrounding his body swallowed them whole. The lights went out before Harry heard the snakelike voice of Voldemort call out, "Avada Kedavra!"

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Harry awoke screaming, "NO!" and all the glass in the compartment shattered. The reaction moved on and Hermione in an instant of cool clarity sent out a warning to hide along the train.

In hours which were but moments the sound of glass breaking stopped. The young first years were sobbing with fright and Harry stood there unblinking before sighing and falling to the ground in a dead faint.

Ron and the rest of the inner DA started shouting, "Reparo!" and the glass was cleaned up and the train which had stopped journeyed on.

An hour later, the five close friends levitated Harry and his belongings between themselves. The Headmaster stood there, age and maybe a hint of dread settling on his features at the sight of the unconscious boy.

"Headmaster, what happened? Harry just started screaming and the glass broke and he fainted," Ginny asked.

"I will take him from here. See me after the feast at my office. The password is Sugar Bunnies."

His wand drawn, Albus Dumbledore departed with the prone form of the Boy-Who-Lived behind him.

Twenty minutes later Ron and Hermione quickly departed the coach and ran to the Welcome Feast. Harry was nowhere in sight. They did not listen to the sorting and ate very little of the scrumptious feast. When the Headmaster stood up to make the announcements they attuned their ears to his gravelly voice.

"Welcome all to Hogwarts. I must say first our caretaker Mr. Filch reminds me that there are over 500 items now on the banned list including many from our illustrious alumni the Weasley twins. Also, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone. Onto more serious matters, on the train the glass exploded. This was due to a sudden increase in magical energy. This will not happen again as the situation is under control. Tonight I would like to introduce you to our new additions to the staff. For the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the esteemed Ariyana Casala has consented to fill. She will be here at least one year she promises if not two at the most. She was generous enough to take the post because as everyone knows, it is cursed," Dumbledore smiled benignly, "Joining her is Professor Alexander Dulapear. He will be assisting in her classes as well as teaching three other courses of Dueling, Medimagic, and Physical Fitness. Dueling will be optional course for third years and above. Medimagic is also introduced for the 6^th years to prepare them better for a career in medicine or in a hazardous career where you may be injured. Physical fitness is a necessity for all human beings and will be now required for second years and above. This will take over the place of Flying as a physical activity. They are not here at the moment but you will meet them tomorrow at class. Thank you everyone for your attentive ears. Prefects please take the first years to their dormitories. Good night all."

As he stepped off the dais, Ron and Hermione rushed forward and struggled through the students until they broke free. As they ran towards the office, they conferred, "I didn't realize that Ari was going to be teaching DADA this year, did you?"

"Nah! Harry never told us. I am wondering if he didn't know either. You saw how he looked on the train. It was just like the time he saw Sirius being tortured. I hope this was a fake vision as well."

"Me too. Sugar Bunnies."

After giving the password the gargoyle moved aside and they burst into the office. The headmaster was at his desk and two straight figures stood before him. As the pair of teenagers stopped suddenly upon seeing the audience, the two shadows turned towards Ron and Hermione.

The pairs looked at each other for a few seconds before Hermione stepped forward and hugged the woman. "I knew it was a false vision. You would never let him catch you off guard like that."

She sobbed quietly as the female patted her back. The male cleared his throat and said, "Hermione is correct. It was a vision sent my Voldemort to make Harry's world crash around him. We are going right now to see him again and offer him reassurance to our continued health. Why don't the two of you go back to Gryffindor Tower and settle any hysterics and questions they might have."

The Headmaster looked up and the twinkle was back in his eye. He nodded at the two of them before they left, huddled and whispering.

The female and Alex bowed out and journeyed to the hospital wing. There, comatose, lay Harry. Tear tracks grazed his hollow cheeks, emphasizing the shadowed sorrow on his face.

Ari stepped forward and brushed a loving hand on his forehead. Pressing a small kiss to his brow she whispered:

Don't cry my little one.

I am right here holding you.

I won't let you fall anymore.

I will catch the stars for you.

Teardrops falling from thine eyes

Makes my heart shimmer with pain.

I will save thy hopeful light

And you shall hear the summer rain.

Gently I stroke the cheek

Hoping for the answers I seek.

I love you I hope you know

Because you are a rare fellow.

So sweet young one open your eyes

Let me hear your lullaby.

Harry's tears increased as his hand clutched at the sweet smelling hair falling over his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he saw the sad violet orbs staring at him in gentle worry and tenderness. He threw himself forward as he kept on crying for the next couple of minutes. Alex just stood there, his eyes tinged with wetness and something akin to regret.

"I thought you were dead," Harry choked out.

"Now you know not to believe whatever visions Whats-His-Face sends you. He was properly angered with you and as soon as you left home he has attacked your mind. You managed to hold him back though for a good amount of time. I am proud of you my son."

Alex picked up, "Also we want you to doubly concentrate on Occulomency exercises tonight. You had let your guard down because you were confident. Never do that, CONSTANT VIGILENCE! He-Who-Stinks will never break into your mind if you aware of yourself and your surroundings at all times."

Harry mumbled against Ari's shoulder, "Who Snape?"
Alex threw back his head and laughed as he patted Harry on the back for the obscene joke.

Ari continued as if she had not been interrupted, "Now I want you to go back up to your common room and rest. You will have a long day tomorrow. I love you and good night."

She kissed his forehead and gave him a warm hug before departing. Alex gave him an amused glance to the befuddled teen before he left too.

Harry also made to leave but was stopped by a concerned Madam Pomfrey who insisted on taking his vitals before he left. As he raced back to the common room, he could not shake the niggling doubt about the validness of his vision, but he pushed it back to the corner of his mind and ventured on.

Back in the Defense teacher's living quarters, the form of the man and woman shimmered before the fire. Whether it was caused by the flickering flames or not was unknown but a clear voice rang out, "Does he know we lied to him?"

The other returned with, "We had to. He will understand."

They kept on staring at the bright orange and yellow flames as the moments ticked on.