Harry Potter and the Forest of Shadows

Harry Potter and

The Forest of Shadows

*Chapter 11*

"Isn't it sweet?"

Ron quirked an eyebrow at his girlfriend. They were currently sitting in one of the rooms of the old Potter manor. Hermione was laying on her back, her knees bent and lags crossed as she read a book on experimental spells, her chestnut hair splayed all around her face.

"Isn't what sweet?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, come on. You have to be kidding me. It's more obvious than us."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Harry and Ginny..."

"And...what about them."

Hermione absently flipped a page as she rolled her eyes. "Quit playing."

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Oh, come on, even your mother knows that they're...going out."

"WHAT?"

Hermione stole a glance at his thunder stricken face. "I'll kill him."

"Oh, you leave them alone Ron Weasley! They're quite a cute couple- just for those of us that are blind."

"Not as cute as us."

He rolled over on top of her, gently bringing their lips together. She laughed airily, placing her book on the bed, and deepening the kiss. He tangled his hands through her hair and she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer and closer until their foreheads were meeting.

"We'll always be together," she whispered, wiping stray strands of hair from his glowing face.

After a few minutes of thinking he nodded. "Yes. Nothing can tear us apart." He was quite afraid this statement would be proven wrong very soon.

"So, what exactly does it do?" Harry asked, fingering the white jewel.

"A little too general," Rosy said as she watched him.

"Okay. Who made, or owned, the first one?"

"The Four Founders and Morgana were the first owners. Merlin was the founder."

"Morgana...?"

"Yes, Morgana of Camelot. Haven't you ever heard the story?"

"Well- yea. I thought it was a legend."

"Nope. Anyway, Merlin died and they were passed on to the others. After they died, they were passed down through the heirs of all the families. Along the way, the lineage got cut off, as you can see."

"So, do they have special powers or something?"

Rosy sighed. "Many. Wandless magic, they give the owner the ability to make themselves familiars; it's a protective talisman, and allows the owner to go through the forest of shadows."

"What is the 'forest of shadows'?"

"I thought Sirius told you," she said grumpily.

"All he said was it's where you go when you die."

"Sort of. It like when you go to the doctor's office, and you sit in a waiting room until they call your name."

"So it's like a holding place for the people that are dead. Until they're to be judged as to where they are going."

"Bingo," she answered. "Heaven, Hell, reincarnated; any of those. I found Sirius just in time. The waiting list is a slightly long one."

"Are my parents still there?"

"No. They're in Heaven."

"Can you be so sure?"

"Even in Heaven I'm sure it's hard to find people as kind as your mother and father."

"Oh." There was a slight pause as Harry stared down at the amulet. "Why do you never take yours off?" he asked, reaching out to touch it. She flinched back and began pacing the length of the room.

"The amulet is mostly known for the power and energy it holds. A shattered one could cause destruction for miles around."

"Do they ever run out?"

"I'm getting there. When I 'came back', I was the age of inheritance for one. They put it on me while I was unconscious, and it fed me its energy. I woke up later that day when I probably shouldn't have for another week or so. I've taken it off once since then; let's just say the results weren't good ones. The amulet had been feeding energy into me. It's like my own personal lifeline.

"Promise me, Harry. Promise that you'll take it off whenever you don't need it."

"I promise. But when would that be?"

"When you go to sleep, when you're at Hogwarts. But always wear it into public in case there's an attack. Up to the Unforgivables, it will take away the effect of most curses or spells."

"Really? And what else?"

Rosy blew stray hairs away from her face and sat down in a chair that looked like it had been made completely of clothes. "Every holder of an amulet has a special power; one that identifies them. I'm the telepathic one."

"What about me?"

"Well, if you're anything like your mother, you'll end up being a healer."

"And the others?"

"There's Daisy, your aunt who is very talented in the areas of elemental magic."

Harry gave her a blank look.

"She can do just about anything she wants to with nature. Animals, weather, landscapes...anything. There is one other elemental alive, but she's almost dead. Dais, on the other hand, has a while to go."

"Because the amulets give you power so you live longer."

"Exactly," she beamed. "Then there is Melany Waller, Kammy's daughter. She's your age and is being transferred to Hogwarts this year. You should enjoy her. She is a master telekinetic and one of the top people to master wandless magic in the world."

"And let me guess. The last one's Draco Malfoy," Harry said, laughing at himself and the irony of the statement.

"Err- actually..."

"No, no," he moaned.

"Yea, he's either a minor seer or a healer. We're all betting on him being the minor seer though, seeing as though he inherited his from Andromeda Black. That obviously leaves you as the healer."

"So are you telling me we're going to have to fight another amulet owner?"

"They're called Holders and their supposed to protect the Light."

"So...we're going to have to beat a rebellious Holder."

"We'll see," Rosy whispered.

"All aboard the portkey express."

"Padfoot, did anyone tell you that you were somewhat, oh I don't know, somewhat childish?" Kammy asked.

"What?" he said to Remus, shrugging. "These are children."

"I think I'll just disregard that comment," Ginny growled.

"Oh, yes. Here we have the three young adults," he said gesturing to Hermione, Ron, and Harry, "and then we have the child," this time pointing to Ginny.

Another menacing growl come from the angry redhead as she pointed her wand at Sirius and muttered something. Sirius' eyes immediately opened and he backed up.

"Ya'll go ahead," he croaked, shooing them.

"Are you sure, Sirius?" Harry asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yea, just...go. I'll catch up."

Rosy, Kammy, and Remus were working on holding in their laughs as they led the four teenagers to the portkey. "Come on," Rosy said, activating in, leaving a crumpling Sirius behind as he ran to the bathroom.

"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine Harry," Rosy said, finally cracking and laughing loudly. "We'll just wait for him here, shall we?"

Sirius arrived a minute later, looking highly more composed than he had been. "Let's start shopping, then."

"We're going to take the girls out," Kammy said, motioning for them. "You boys don't mind picking up the school supplies do you? We'll meet you up at Florean Fortescue's at about two O'clock."

"We'll be th-"

Remus cut himself off as a loud commotion rose from inside the Leaky Cauldron.

"Stay here," he muttered, drawing his wand and making his way into the pub. Harry took a step forward, gesturing that he was going to follow, but Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him around.

"Kam, you go ahead and take the girls," he said as they started down the street, Harry glancing back at the constantly growing crowd. "We'll meet you up at Fortescue's at two with the supplies."

"Thanks, Sir. Tell me when Remus comes back."

"Will do," he said and they parted.

"What happened back there?" Harry asked.

"I'm not completely sure," Sirius said, leading the way into Flourish and Blott's. "But I have some idea." Nothing more was said on the topic.

Remus collided paths with them outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Harry wanted to go over to him and Sirius to find out what had happened, but Ron dragged him over to look at the newest broom, the Thunderstreak, which was supposedly better than the Firebolt. He glanced over to the pair of Marauders, to find that Sirius was going pale while Remus spoke to him.

They exchanged a few more words before walking over to Harry and Ron.

"Nice broom, isn't it?" Sirius asked, laying his hand on Harry's shoulder as he surveyed the new line of broomsticks. Harry nodded. "Do you want it?"

This question took Harry by surprise, making him spin around. "Do I want it?"

"Well it's a simple question. If you want it, it's yours."

"But- can you afford it."

"Hey, Moony!"

"Yea?" he asked.

"We need to take Harry down to a little visit into Gringotts."

"Why?"

"He doesn't think I can afford this broom," Sirius said, gesturing to the Thunderstreak.

"You could buy a ridiculously large amount of those things if you really felt like it."

"Well, that's only if I feel like it."

"And do you?"

"Not especially."

"Then shut up."

"'Kay."

Harry surveyed Ron as Remus and Sirius talked. He had a hungry look in his eyes as he stared at the broom. Already a plan was taking formation in his head.

"Where to now?" Ron asked as they walked to the cobbled streets, their arms currently full of packages.

"Where to except the said greatest joke shop on earth?" Remus said, halting to a stop outside of a small shop sandwiched between Madam Malkin's and the apothecary. The loud and colorful sign read Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

Harry laughed as he read the sign. "So this is it," he said, walking towards it.

"Harry, knowing from true pranking experience, are you sure you want to be the first to enter that shop?"

"Why wouldn't I-"

Just as he opened the door, there was a huge explosion. He froze and slowly turned to face his three companions. "Don't say a word," he hissed through clinched teeth.

Ron walked by, slapping him on the back, muttering as he went, "For once it wasn't me."

Sirius came next, ruffling Harry's hair. "I must say, you wear it well." Harry nodded, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"And you?" he asked Remus.

"Well, I told you so," he shrugged. Harry grimaced and brushed soot all over his robes. Remus just walked in laughing.

Harry was about to follow them up when he ran headfirst into somebody that was walking out of the shop. There hadn't been enough force to knock him over, but he flinched back, tripping over a stone in the progress.

Sirius, whom had obviously been watching from the window, rushed out to help Harry up. As he was pulled to his feet, he felt shaky and unprotected, as if a blow were about to fall on him at anytime.

"Sorry, Potter," the girl said as she walked past. Harry took a glance back to see who it was as Sirius led him towards the shop, and his eyes widened as he recognized the form of Pansy Parkinson walked down the streets.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked worriedly, gently pushing him into the sore.

"Yea," he muttered, taking a last glance as Pansy, "Yea I'm fine."

"Harry, old chap!" Fred (Ginny had spent an evening explaining how to tell the two pranksters apart) exclaimed, walking up to him as he and Sirius entered the center of the pile of Filibuster Fireworks and Skiving Snacks, among many other things.

"Mr. Moony, Mr. Padfoot," they chanted, bowing themselves to the marauders who grinned at each other. "Always a pleasure.

"Sorry 'bout your little entrance surprise," George continued to Harry one paying his respects to the predecessors.

"Yea, we didn't mean to do that. At least not to you," Fred said, giving Ron a hard noogie.

He ducked out of the way only to step over a box of strange looking orange orbs. "NO!" the twins shouted.

Three or four of the orbs crashed to the ground and Fred and George flinched as they heard their merchandise breaking. Ron coughed as a black smoke arose from where the glass shards were laying, shattered.

The twins paled enormously, as Fred cast a spell, clearing away the smoke.

"What was that?" Remus asked, effectively helping Fred's spell by fanning his hand through the smoke.

"Our latest invention. We haven't taken out all the quirks. Sometimes it's wrong..." explained George.

"And sometimes it's not," muttered Fred, eyeing their brother warily.

As promised, the boys were sitting outside Florean Fortescue's, licking individual ice cream cones, cooling themselves down from the smoldering end-of-August heat. With them they carried three sets of sixth year books, a set of fifth year books, a new thing of scales and a cauldron for Harry(since his own had been ruined), and a brand new owl cage, Sirius had insisted that they get for Hedwig.

When the girls walked onto the front patio of the ice cream shop, Harry hardly recognized them, they were so done up. He gulped as his eyes drifted along Ginny's body.

She had her auburn locks partly pulled back into a curly braid and the rest hung straight past her shoulders. Along with that was the change of wardrobe from holey jeans and a t-shirt to midnight blue dressrobes that rose just above her freckled knees. The neckline was fairly low, showing off a golden locket that was engraved with her name. The sleeves of the robes were three-quarter length; the perfect length for the England summer. In a short, she looked beautiful.

Hermione on the other hand had had her hair cut short(just above her shoulders) and it was temporarily straightened out into wavy, free curls framing her made up face. Unlike Ginny, she was wearing a lacy-looking, deep, purple skirt that had a lavishly decorated flower pattern on it. On her feet were black sandals and the upper-half of her body was covered by a lighter purple than the skirt. Her glossed lips were curved into a smile at the look on the teenage boys' faces.

"You like?" Ginny asked, putting her bags (no doubt filled with more clothes) next to the parcels of books and taking a seat next to Harry.

Harry managed to stammer out a quiet 'yes'.

Sirius snorted and muttered to Remus, "Another Potter smitten by a redhead." He gasped dramatically. "Will wonders ever cease?"

Harry's eyes narrowed and he chucked a piece of ice cream cone at his godfather. Sirius pursed his lips into a sarcastic smile as he glared at his godson, laughter obviously evident in his eyes.

"I'll get you back for that," he said, flicking the piece of cone from his shirt.

"Hmm, sure you will."

Remus shook his head. This last week at the Potter Manor was going to be interesting. With just him, Harry, and Sirius (Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were going home to their families until September first) he had hoped it was going to be fairly quiet. It looked like that hope was just crushed with a flick of an ice cream cone.

As they sat there, talking and joking, Sirius, Kammy, and Remus telling stories of the Marauders, a large commotion arouse up the street. A swarm of people was surrounding something. Sirius was working at keeping them distracted from the large number of people.

Harry was doing a good job at ignoring him, as he studied two heavyset figures hoisting someone up. He lifted himself from his seat an inch or two to see the face. His eyes caught a glimpse of silvery-blonde hair and cold, haunted grey eyes looked over and bore directly into his own.

He snapped back to attention as realized Sirius was calling his name. Falling silently back into the conversation, he desperately tried to think of whom it was that had just looked at him; but all his intentions were in vain.

"Sirius," Harry said as they walked to a back alleyway, where there was a portkey waiting for them, "can we take a quick stop at Gringott's, I want to leave a present for the Weasleys."

Sirius smiled down on Harry. "Sure," he said. "Hey Moony, mind taking them back to the house? Me and Harry are going to take a quick stop at Gringotts. He says he's running low on money."

"Sure. And it's Harry and I."

"Uh...whatever," he said snapping his fingers in front of his face. Rosy laughed as Kammy cringed at the horrible impersonation of a fifteen year old.

Remus shook his head and pushed Sirius in the general direction of Gringotts, Harry following.

The lugged the last bag of galleons from Harry's own vault and into another. Just as the last sack hit the floor, the answer to the unidentified face hit him like a punch.

The bruised and battered face belonged to Draco Malfoy.