The Last Riddle

After quickly paying seven gold Galleons for Harry's wand, James, Lily, Sirius, and their children, Harry and Kristy, had practically run away from the shop. Mr. Ollivander had successfully scared them with the revelation of Voldemort's wand. They agreed on not telling anyone about it. They had met the Weasleys at Florean Fortescue's and chatted amiably while they ate ice creams. Now, they were entering the Leaky Cauldron and were about to Floo to their respective homes when James spotted the unmistakeable shape of Hagrid at the bar.

"Hagrid!" he called. "Hey, Hagrid!"

The keeper of the keys turned around. He spotted James and smiled. "'lo, James! An'... bless me soul! Harry! Harry Potter!"

Harry winced. He'd been pretty relieved that no one in Diagon Alley had noticed him. He wasn't very fond of staring crowds. The people at the Leaky Cauldron had started to stir.

"Harry Potter?"

"Potter? In here?"

"Where? Where is he?"

"Over there!"

Harry sighed. "Some luck I have," he whispered to Kristy, who smiled sympathetically, before starting to greet people.

"An honour, Mr. Potter, an honour."

"So proud, oh so proud of you, Mr. Potter."

"You're the best, Harry!"

"Harry Potter shook my hand! I'm never washing my hand again!"

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."

Harry smiled, shook hands, thanked people and bowed his head until James decided that his son had had enough for one day. "Alright, everyone, as much as we like seeing you all, Harry must get home to pack his school trunk!"

Harry smiled gratefully at his father as the last people came to shake his hand and said their good byes. Hagrid had turned a nice shade of pink and was apologising profusely to Harry. "Sorry 'bout that, Harry. Ye know I didn' mean tha'."

"It's all right, Hagrid," said Harry with a small smile. "Don't worry."

"So... what are you doing here, Hagrid?" asked James.

Hagrid puffed up with pride. "I'm doing Dumbledore a favour. Hogwart's business. Top secret."

"James!" called Lily, who hadn't moved from the fireplace. "We have to go!"

"Coming, Hun!" called James. He turned to Hagrid. "Sorry Hagrid. The matron calls."

Hagrid chuckled. "Not ta worry, James. Not ta worry. I'll see ya at Hogwarts, Harry 'n Ron. Bye, bye, Kristy. Bye, bye, Ginny."

The four children smiled. "Bye, Hagrid!" they said at the same time and followed their parents who were saying their good byes as well and Flooed to their homes, where Harry fell on his face, yet again.

"Not funny, Kristy," he grumbled at the young redhead who couldn't stop laughing.

Lily shook her head at the children's antics and turned to Sirius. "Are Megan and the children coming for dinner?" she asked.

"I suppose..." said Sirius, though he didn't look too sure of himself. Lily raised an eyebrow. "I'll go check right now," he said quickly going into the fireplace.

"You do that," said James.

"I'll go set the table," said Lily.

"And I'll give this to you," said James, handing the white owl to Harry. "I believe she needs a name."

Harry's answer was interrupted by the arrival of Kristy's seven-year-old brother, Orion, who stumbled out of the fireplace and knocked Harry off his feet for the second time that day, much to the white owl's displeasure, since Harry was still holding her cage. "Hello, Harry!" said the boy cheerfully. "Long time no see, eh? What did you do today? Did you go Diagon Alley? Did you buy that owl? Does she have a name yet? When are you going to Hogwarts? My sister went to Hogwarts this morning, have you seen it, too? I'm hungry, are we having dinner?"

Harry blinked a couple of times at the young boy sitting on his stomach. "Um..." he said uncertainly. If Kristy was the spitting image of her mother, then Orion was the spitting image of his father: the wavy black hair, the mischievous glint in his grey eyes, the hyperactive personality, and the bottomless stomach.

Kristy scowled at her little brother. "Orion! Get off him!"

Orion bounced in response, knocking the air out of Harry. He would have bounced again if Orion's mother hadn't arrived in that precise moment.

"Orion Sirius Black! Get off Harry this very instant!"

The boy paled considerably and hastily stood up. "Sorry," he muttered with his head bowed.

Harry looked up at his godmother. She had creamy skin and auburn hair. Her eyes were green dotted with gold and her ears were slightly pointy. Her mother had been an elf and her father a wizard. Sirius had met her in Lemuria during a mission for the Order and had fallen for her immediately, but she hadn't wanted anything to do with a wizard and had apparently pushed him into the sea from the deck of a ship, though that might have been another mad story of Sirius'. Now they had three kids - go figure!

"Are you alright, Harry?" she asked him with concern.

"Yeah," he said, while rubbing his stomach. "Just a little out of breath."

Megan offered the black haired boy a hand and pulled him up. "There you go," she said kindly.

"Thanks," said Harry with a smile.

Megan smiled at him and then turned on her eldest daughter and hugged her. "Why, hello, stranger! I haven't seen you all day!"

Kristy looked uncomfortable. "Mum! Stop it," she whispered.

"Fine," said Megan, releasing Kristy. "Harry, where's your mum?"

"She said she was going to set the table," he answered. "So she's either in the kitchen or in the dining room."

"Thanks," she said before eying her son. "Would you look after Orion? You know how troublesome he can be."

Orion gaped at his mother in disbelief. "I am not troublesome!" he cried. "I am simply misunderstood!"

"Sure, midget," said Kristy, rolling her eyes and hitting her brother's head lightly. Orion ruffled his hair and mock glared at Kristy. Megan sighed and walked out of the room. Then she slapped her forehead and turned around.

"Kristy, your dad is on his way," she said. "Make sure Paige is with him. If he's not carrying her, throw him back into the fireplace and tell him he's an irresponsible father before sending him back home, okay?"

Kristy blinked. "Sure, mum."

"Thanks, darling." Then she turned around and kept walking.

"Can we throw dad back into the fireplace even if he's got Paige with him?" Orion asked Kristy.

"No."

Harry shook his head at their antics and picked up his owl's cage.

"Harry," said Kristy. "Perhaps it would be a good idea if you didn't stand in front of the fireplace." She smiled. "My dad could knock you off your feet when he arrives."

Harry sent her a mock glare but moved out of the Floo's path. Orion just looked confused but didn't ask questions. One minute later Sirius arrived backwards, holding a small bundle in his arms. Harry, Kristy and Orion rushed forwards to stop him from falling while he was holding the little girl and were successfully squashed by his weight.

"Whoa!" he yelped, while he recovered his balance. "Sorry, kids. Paige's getting a little heavy."

"Ha-ee!" cried the small girl, when she caught sight of the emerald-eyed boy. She was stretching her short arms towards him, silently begging to be held by him.

Harry laughed and took the toddler from Sirius. "Your dad's right. You're getting heavy," he told her, making the toddler giggle. She had shoulder-length, straight black hair and greenish-golden eyes. She was a perfect combination of her parents.

They heard a crash somewhere on the floor above them followed by a yelp.

"Padfoot!?" cried James' desperate voice. "Are you back yet?"

Sirius smiled mischievously. "Literally!" he called back.

"How can you not be back literally?" replied James from somewhere above them. "Never mind. Just come upstairs!"

"I'm coming Prongsie!" called Sirius, making Paige look weirdly at her dad. "I'll see you at dinner guys," he told the children before walking out of the living room.

"Well," said Kristy, picking up the owl's cage. "Let's go to your room, Harry. Let's see if anything can inspire us to name your owl."

Orion brightened up. "Can I help with names?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "And Paige can help too... if she wants to, of course."

Paige giggled excitedly. "Yay! I can help! I can help!"

Harry carried the girl to the stairs and started to climb them, conscious that Kristy and Orion were following him. "You don't have to carry her all the way up," he heard Kristy say. "She knows how to climb stairs."

"It's okay," he called back, though he had to shift Paige's weight to his left arm. "It's no problem for me." Harry thought he saw Kristy roll her eyes and mutter something about boys, but he let it pass. When they reached the end of the stairs, Harry lowered Paige to the ground and she grabbed his hand and started to pull him in the general direction of his room. They walked through a corridor painted in bright Gryffindor colours and entered the room at the end. The lights turned on immediately and Paige let go of Harry's hand to jump on his Queen sized bed. Harry smiled at the girl's enthusiasm and he let himself fall on a comfy chair. He saw Orion and Kristy enter the room and Orion rushed to the bed to join his little sister. "It's okay," Harry told Kristy, who had a disapproving expression etched on her face. "That's what beds are for!"

Kristy shook her head in amusement and set the owl's cage on Harry's desk. The owl looked a bit ruffled so Harry leaned forward to open the cage and let the owl fly around the room. The amber eyed owl flew to the top of Harry's wardrobe and perched herself there.

"So..." said Harry. "What are we going to call her?"

"Pwinses!" cried Paige from the bed.

Harry sent Paige a disbelieving glance. "Sorry, Paige. But there's no way on Earth that I'm going to call my owl Princess..."

"Leilani!" called Orion.

"Is that a name?" asked Harry.

Orion stopped jumping for a while and looked thoughtful. "What about... Lielina?"

"No," said Kristy patiently. "We're looking for names, Orion, not babbles."

"That was not a-!"

"Can we go back to naming the owl, please?" asked Harry.

"Tara?" suggested Kristy.

"Nope."

"Gregoria!" called Orion, resuming his jumping.

Harry saw the snowy owl flinch. "I'll take that as a no."

"Snowflake!" cried Paige.

"Too girly."

"Elfrida!"

"From where do you get those names, Orion?" asked Kristy.

"Waimbow!"

Harry shook his head. "The owl's white, Paige."

"Melody?" asked Kristy.

Harry thought about it. "Nah... it's too human. Imagine what would happen if I found a girl called Melody at Hogwarts. I can see myself greeting her right now: 'Oh, hi, Melody. Did you know my owl is called the same as you?'"

Kristy huffed. "Fine. Then you suggest a name."

"Um..."

"Raphaela!" called Orion.

Harry just ignored him.

"Gilberta?" tried Orion.

"Flower?" said Paige.

Harry exchanged a glance with the redheaded girl sitting on his desk. "What's up with your siblings?"

Kristy shrugged and sighed. "I don't know. There're times I think I was adopted."

"Dorothea!"

Harry shook his head. "I have an idea," he said. Kristy looked curiously at him.

"Frideswide!"

"Let's grab one of my schoolbooks and see what we find," continued Harry, completely ignoring the younger boy.

"Sounds like a plan," replied Kristy. "Which book?"

'Which book?' thought Harry. Which book could have most names? "History," he said. He went to the still unopened shopping bags and pulled out the history book. He went back to the desk and sat on the chair. Kristy looked at the book over his shoulder and he started passing pages. "Ebele... no... Darinka... nope..."

They spent a few minutes like that, just passing pages, and looking for names. Orion kept shouting names like "Ragnborg!" and Paige suggested names like "Fairydust!" The snowy owl looked ready to collapse at the absurdity of some of the names. Finally, Harry came across a nice sounding name. He looked up at the tired owl. "What do you think of Hedwig?" he asked her. "Do you like that one?" The owl flapped her wings and hooted. "Hedwig it is, then."

---

Jack awoke to the sound of screaming. His eyes went automatically to the window, where Gauri was sitting. "What's going on?" he asked getting out of bed. He noticed it was still dark outside.

'I do not know,' answered Gauri, with her gaze fixed on the outside, trying to see what the ruckus was about. 'Get dressed and grab your wand, though. We might have to run.'

Jack didn't need being told twice. He changed into day clothes in seconds, slipped on a pair of black sneakers, put on the first robe he found, and grabbed his wand from under the pillow. The he shrunk everything he had bought and stuffed a new backpack with them.

'Come here,' said Gauri.

Jack approached the werecat. 'So...' he said. 'Do you know what's going on now?'

Gauri turned her green eyes on him. 'It looks like an attack,' she said. 'Though I cannot tell who is leading it... there have been a lot of rebels lately.'

Jack took a deep breath, trying to remember what his father had told him to do in case he was ever caught in the middle of a raid.

'Buildings tend to burn, brat. Get away from them,' Jack heard his father's voice say, echoing up from the depths of his memory.

He started to go for the door.

'All entrances and exists are likely to be covered.'

"The window," said Jack, turning around.

'The window what?' asked Gauri.

'We have to get out of the building,' replied Jack. 'Otherwise we're trapped. The window is the best option.' He moved so he was standing beside Gauri and looked outside. Conveniently, the building's ledge was not too far away from his window. Also, the narrow alley below was empty. Jack noticed the screaming came from the front of the inn, on the main street. There was only one teeny tiny problem.

How on Earth was he going to get down to the alley from the fourth floor without killing himself?

'Gauri?' he said. 'How exactly did you get up here?'

'I climbed the walls,' she answered, without meeting his gaze. She was still intent on figuring out who was causing all the trouble. 'Just follow me.' She jumped from the windowsill to the narrow ledge 3 feet below them and landed perfectly. 'Move, Akor!'

Jack took his bag, shouldered it and sat on the windowsill with his legs dangling outside the building. He lowered himself slowly and the soles of his shoes finally made contact with the ledge. He stood straighter and pasted his back to the wall just as the screaming started on the corridor outside his room. Gauri was already far away.

'Wait!' called Jack with his mind. 'I'm not a cat!'

'Neither am I,' Gauri called back.

'You know what I meant!' said Jack a teensy bit annoyed.

Gauri stopped and looked back. The boy was advancing sideways. Slowly.

'Oh,' Jack heard Gauri say. 'Oh,' he repeated sarcastically in his mind, while rolling his eyes. He shook his head and looked down. His stomach made a somersault. He had been so busy thinking of a way to get out of the building without getting caught that he hadn't realized that one misplaced step would send him plummeting to his death. After what seemed to be an eternity he caught up with Gauri. 'Gauri,' he said. 'I don't think I can climb down like you.'

Gauri looked down and then up at the pale, black haired boy. 'You are right,' she said. 'There is a pipe further along. Just keep walking and you will find it. Once you are on the ground, do not move. I will find you and then we will decide what to do next.'

'Alright,' replied Jack. He watched in amazement how Gauri aimed for an open window on the third floor and jumped, once again making a perfect landing. He sighed and kept on walking with his back pasted to the wall, all the time searching for the pipe that could save his life. He heard glass shatter below him and he risked a peek. What he saw made his heart skip a beat and he slightly lost his balance.

A man had jumped, fell or had been pushed, through a window on the second floor, covered in flames. He plummeted to the alley below and landed with a sickening crunch. He stayed there. Unmoving.

Jack knew he was dead.

'Stay calm,' said his father's sarcastic voice. 'Your life will probably depend on it.'

Jack took a calming breath and didn't move until his heart regained its normal rhythm. He didn't know why he had been so shocked. As the Dark Lord's son, he had seen death countless times. Even after they had gotten separated three years and two months before the night of his mother's murder, death was a common occurrence in Jack's life. He frowned. What could have possibly shocked him? Then it struck him. The man had been covered in flames. The second floor was on fire!

He cursed as he started moving again. 'I have to find that pipe!'

Jack heard a crash, gritted his teeth and started moving as fast as he dared, for a couple of windows on the third floor had shattered because of the heat and smoke was starting to come out of them. That was a few feet below him and the curtains of black smoke were beginning to cloud his vision. He was starting to lose hope when his left hand brushed something hard. He coughed and waved the smoke away to see what the object was. He frowned. The wall was empty. He felt around for whatever he had bumped into and his hand found a thick cylinder... 'The pipe!' he thought. 'It must have a Disillusionment charm on it...' He grabbed the pipe with both hands and in a swift movement faced the wall.

"Here it goes."

He held on to the pipe tightly and felt around with the point of his shoe for a foothold. He found one and started the descent. He closed his eyes and stopped breathing so the already thick sheet of smoke wouldn't harm him. After a few steps, his body had started trembling from the strain, and when his right foot finally touched ground, he let himself fall to the floor where the smoke was thinner and gasped and coughed, all the time searching for a white shape.

'Gauri,' he thought. 'Where are you?'

He heard no response. But he did hear another window above him shatter and seconds later he saw a huge shard of glass impale itself on the ground just a couple of yards from him. He gulped. If Gauri didn't show up soon...

'Akor?'

Jack stared about frantically at the sound of his second name. 'Gauri? Is that you?'

'Of course it's me,' came the annoyed reply. 'Who else would be talking to your mind?'

Jack bit back a sarcastic remark and instead reached with his mind. 'Where are you? And don't start with particulars!'

'Fine. I'm at the front of the alley between a couple of rubbish bins.'

The black smoke was rising and Jack was now able to see farther down the alley, so he spotted the bins right away. 'Okay. I'm coming.' He walked bent to escape the smoke while more windows shattered. He could hear people screaming everywhere and he felt the hair on the back of his head rise. Flames licked at window frames not only in the building Jack had been sleeping in but in the neighbouring building as well. There was no way in and definitely no way out. It had been smart to move so fast.

He was a few steps from the bins when a window from the building on his right exploded, showering him with small pieces of glass that made little cuts on his exposed skin, meaning face, neck and hands. Some of the bigger pieces made rips on his robe and even managed to cut his back and shoulders, making him hiss in pain.

'Akor, hurry!'

Jack gritted his teeth and reached the bins. 'Where were you?' he asked her.

'This is not the time for silly questions,' she chided. 'We cannot stay here or the Urgals might find us.'

'The Ur-what?' asked Jack.

'Come,' she said. 'Let us use the smoke as a cover to cross the street.'

Gauri made a dash for the road and Jack had a hard time keeping up with her. He could feel, more than see, the people rushing both ways, tripping each other and screaming. Someone collided with him and he fell on the pavement causing him to lose sight of the white werecat. He cursed. 'This shouldn't be happening! People should calm down or the casualties will rise!' No one else seemed to share his thoughts, though. He stood up to avoid being squashed by the crowd, but the smoke was too dense for him to make out anything but dark shapes. He was lost.

The boy felt panic start to rise in his chest. What was going on? What was the purpose of the attack? And who the Hell was attacking!? "Calm down," he whispered to himself. "Calm down." It was easier said than done. He thought he was going to lose it, when he caught sight of a tall man standing completely still. He started walking in the direction of the man but his steps were hesitant. Something was wrong. He came to a complete stop and he examined the man through the thinning smoke. Tall, fit, long hair, and... was that a sword on his hand? Jack blinked. His instinct told him there was something definitely wrong with this person, and his instinct was never wrong. It had already saved his life several times, why should he doubt it?

Jack frowned. Why was the street so quiet? He strained his ears and looked around. He could hear screaming in the distance... a few curses... but the street he was standing on was completely deserted.

He gasped and gave a step backwards. This proved to be a mistake, for the man Jack had started to follow turned around and fixed his eyes on him.

His breath caught in his throat and as he started his retreat, he tripped and fell backwards; but he never took his eyes off the Shade.

Crimson hair and hard maroon eyes. Jack's glacier blue eyes were locked with the eyes of his father's murderer.

Selven.

The Shade seemed to recognize him and his face twisted into a very disturbing smile. "Well, well, well... what have we got here?"

Jack resisted the urge to gulp.

Selven leaned on his sword. "Three years have I been searching for you, Jack Riddle, and each time you have evaded me. Ironic, really. I come here, looking for your distant relatives, and I find you. The boy I have stopped searching for." Selven's smile turned feral and his eyes acquired a deadly glint. "If only I hadn't agreed to that Unbreakable Vow..."

Jack remained silent, too shocked to speak, or utter any other kind of sound for that matter. His body was paralysed. His mind was paralysed. Selven kept speaking.

"Now... Why don't you give me that nice stone on your neck?" he said, stretching a hand towards the black haired boy.

That snapped Jack out of his trance. He glanced at his chest, where a yellow gem with blood red dots rested. One of his father's Horcruxes. Then it hit him. Selven hadn't killed his father! Even if the other Horcruxes had been destroyed, he still held the last one! His father could still be brought back! How could he have forgotten!?

"Give it to me," repeated Selven, leaving no room for argument.

Jack lifted his glacier gaze, that was now dotted with red. "No," he told the Shade. He thought he had lost his father once. He was not going to lose him again.

"Wrong answer, boy," said Selven in a deadly whisper. He pulled his long sword out of the ground and raised it over his head. He started to bring it down, but Jack was ready. His training kicked in and he rolled out of the way just as the sword hit the ground where he had previously been.

"Do you honestly think you can outsmart me, boy?" taunted Selven.

Jack took a battle stance. "Yes!" he said. "You can't kill me!"

Selven readied another blow. "Really?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "If you wanted to kill me you would have already done it!"

"Watch your mouth, Heir," said Selven, before lashing out with his sword. Jack ducked, but then Selven twirled his sword and muttered something Jack didn't catch, and the sword burst into orange flames. The boy had escaped the steel, but his robes had caught fire.

Jack yelped and threw himself to the ground. He rolled until the fire disappeared and he stood up again. His eyes were now completely red. "You can't kill me because only my father or I can take off the stone, and that has to be done willingly!"

Selven sneered. "Smart kid, eh? Yes, I cannot kill you... but I can torture you..."

Jack's eyes turned back to glacier and he hastily pulled out his black obsidian wand.

Selven lifted his right palm. "Thrysta!"

"Protego!" called Jack. However, the boy's shield was not nearly as powerful as his father's and, even though it slowed the effects, the curse still hit him. He fell to his knees and hands as the curse compressed his ribcage and his lungs were robbed of the air in them. He suspected some of his ribs were fractured. He desperately tried to breathe but the air wouldn't pass. He was starting to feel light-headed when Selven cried out in pain and the curse broke.

Despite the lack of air, Jack lifted his green-eyed gaze and saw an arrow of light sticking from the Shade's right shoulder.

"Get out of here!" yelled a voice. Jack didn't stay around to figure out who had given the command and took off at a sprint. About ten yards later, however, he collapsed and started coughing violently. He needed air! His chest was on fire, both from the lack of air and his semi-broken ribs. Nevertheless, he took a couple of deep breaths and started running again. He could hear a duel going on behind him, but it was soon replaced by the people's screaming and the roars of creatures he had never seen before.

He was on the main street and all around him the buildings were on fire. People ran in every direction and Jack saw that those who tried to Apparate away couldn't and that those who tried making portkeys ended up empty-handed. But what made him stop dead on his tracks were the monsters that were uttering the horrendous war cries. They resembled men with bowed legs and thick, brutish arms made for crushing. They all doubled his size, which made them about a metre taller than an average adult, and carried short swords and round iron shields painted with black symbols. Jack noted that all of them had two twisted horns behind their small ears.

A small bunch of witches and wizards were trying to fight them off but the monsters seemed to be immune to their spells and curses. He started to move again but he did it a second too late. The building on his left exploded and the flying debris collided with him. A piece of rock hit his head and a splintered piece of wood lodged itself on his left side. Not to mention the bits and pieces that fell on his battered body, hiding him from view. He saw that the building that had exploded was the inn he had been staying at.

"Last Choice indeed," he muttered to himself, before everything turned black.