Meeting on the Moors
Morgana stared at the people sitting around the breakfast table and marveled that her life had come to this. Debating with mere mortals about her life decisions. But it was stranger still that she actually…cared…about these mortals. And worse, still, they genuinely seemed to care about her.
“You will not be facing this man alone,” Sirius Black spoke to her sternly, which honestly did not suit him. She would have found it more believable had it come from his glowing-eyed werewolf who, at the moment, was in his mild mannered, non-glowing eyed mode and was passing out juice and breakfast pastries.
“I need no one’s help to face Godric Gryffindor.” Morgana scoffed.
“I will be at your side,” Orion said, and his stern voice suited him very well and as frustrated as it made her, the protective determination in his voice was wildly attractive. “There is no room for debate.”
“I…”
“You wish to stay with me regardless of the circumstances. You have made that quite clear. This is the consequence, Morgana. I shall not leave you in a dangerous circumstance without at least attempting to help. You had best resign yourself.”
“Fine," Morgana pouted a little, but could not hold back the slight smile as Orion tucked her into his side. “But that is all…”
“If you think I am not going, you are much mistaken.” Celeste’s voice was flat and clear. “I wish to look in the eyes of the man who claimed to be my father and yet captured, imprisoned, used me, blinded me, and provided the means of my death.”
“I’m so sorry, Celeste,” Harry Potter Black sounded as though he was on the edge of weeping.
Celeste cupped the boy’s chin and smiled into his eyes. “I was out of my mind, Harry. I would have killed you and anyone else. I very nearly did. You are not to agonize over that. My so-called father, had he any courage, should have used his own damn sword and killed me himself. As it was, he left you to do it. A child of twelve. I should not be surprised. That school has a long and proud history of using its children to fight its battles.”
“In that vein, you, Harry, and Cedric, Neville, Luna - none of you are allowed. Don’t even ask.” Remus Lupin said, without looking up from buttering toast for the Cedric boy.
“I’m going with you, Grandad, Morgana, don’t even consider otherwise.” Sirius Black said. And this time, his firm tone felt warranted.
“If you think me and Reg are lettin’ Celeste face her crazy dad without us, you’ve lost your damn minds.” Tom Riddle spoke up and Morgana loathed the fact that they all made sense.
“I must not appear before him with help.” Morgana seethed. “I am to do battle. I am more than capable of facing him alone. Bringing this lot makes me seem fearful. Weak.”
“Again, Morgana, when you chose to stand with me regardless, I chose to stand with you. And that means allowing my family to stand with us. Besides, do you deny Celeste and I the right to confront our one-time family, now enemy?”
Morgana growled. She pressed into the scent of woodsmoke and ozone that was her Orion, clutching the shirt at his chest. “My quarrel with Gryffindor is older.”
“And thus, your grievance is more valid than mine and my daughter’s?” Orion touched her chin and made her look at him. His beautiful eyes narrowed at her and then he leaned in to whisper into her ear. “Or is there something between you that you do not want to be known?”
“My quarrel with him is older, but I do not understand it. I don’t truly have anything to share. I’m not purposely hiding things from you.” Morgana said softly.
“Good, then we shall come with you.”
Godric Gryffindor landed on the moors in all his fiery phoenix glory, transformed, sank nearly to the tops of his hide boots, and rolled his eyes to the heavens. “Really? What part of ‘meet me alone on the moors’ involves bringing everyone you know? Must we have the dark Lord of every age, The Lord of Light and…oh dear Circe.” Godric fell to his knees and stared at Celeste, tears filling his eyes as a smile crossed his face as he stared at Celeste. “You figured it out, did you, lass? Found something worth returning to human form for. I am truly sorry. We were wrong, we were foolish. We were afraid. And…And I was the worst of them all. It was my fault. But we had reason to be afraid. Reason to fear this bitch. You have my daughter, bitch,” he said to Morgana. “What do you want in exchange for her freedom?”
Morgana stared at Godric. Celeste, with calm and deliberate steps, crossed the few strides across the marsh and slapped him across the face, the crack of flesh on flesh ringing across the marsh.
“Orion is, and always will be, my father.” She snarled in the man’s face. “And Morgana is his loved one. How dare you speak so poorly of my family?”
“Celeste,” Godric reached for the girl’s hand, but Celeste sent out a wave of power that had the man staggering back as she stalked back over to stand between her two mates. “Celeste, please.” Godric staggered to his hands and knees and then stood and swayed on his feet.”You don’t understand. You do not want to be near this woman. She uses her loves and poisons her family.”
Celeste, standing in a ready stance between Tom and Regulus, laughed heartily. “I guess you would know about that…”
“Please,” Godric was weeping, now. “Please. She’s…she’s going after Hogwarts. Again. The children…they’re all I’m fucking living for. I will never trouble you again, dearest, I understand why you hate me. But this is her way, don’t you understand? She seduces the unwary,” Godric fixed his eyes on Orion. “Promises and grants their heart’s desire and then she owns them, body and soul. She doesn’t care about lovers or family or kin. Please, child - all of you. Run. For your safety. I fear it is too late for you, Orion. I am sorry, my old friend.”
Morgana, rusty as her interactions with humans had become, could not help hearing utter truth in the man’s words. Except…what?
“Godric,” Orion said, his voice surprisingly gentle. “How long have you been a Phoenix?”
“Since Camelot,” Godric stated, shuddering. “Since Morgana tethered my soul to Fawkes. As I asked of her, Gods forgive me. I didn’t know I was damning myself and all that I loved.”
“That’s what you are speaking of?” Morgana demanded. “You are angry that I granted your wish for immortality? The Phoenix was your familiar; you both wanted it - you begged me.”
“I did not know the cost!” Godric wailed. “I did not know I was selling my soul.”
Morgana’s jaw dropped. “Godric, you fucking idiot, what do you mean? Will you stop voicing the drama of the ages and explain your grievance? You gave me a dagger forged in Phoenix fire in exchange for my work. I performed the soul merger. It went perfectly. You…expressed a certain interest in me. We went on a walk in the woods. What are you talking about, a seduction? We caught fireflies and looked at the stars. You walked me back to the cottage and asked for a kiss goodnight. You kissed me, asked if you could see me again, I said yes, and I never saw you again until that mad bit with Arthur.”
“Why are you lying, Morgana?” Godric wiped his face with his sleeve and glared at her. “Why? What good will it do now to conceal the truth? I gave you my heart and you ripped it out of my chest. You had me betray my best friend - destroy a fucking kingdom - and then centuries later, sent a spy into my school, among my family, in preparation to destroy the wizarding children of a generation. I’m sorry for what we did to Orion; Orion, you have my deepest regrets, but it was you or the school, you or Celeste, you or Rowena, you or Salazar or Helga. I couldn’t.” Godric dissolved in tears, sinking to his knees to his knees in the bog and covering his face.
She didn’t know why she was surprised that Sirius Black broke first, Orion second. She grabbed for her beloved but he and his relative were across the field, arms wrapped around the weeping man.
“For fuck’s sake, boss.” Tom Riddle sighed, casting a silvery protego-esque shield that coated over Godric’s body as he and the rest of the group crossed the field.
“Agreed. Orion…” Morgana groaned exasperatedly.
Orion looked up from hugging Godric into his side. “He is many things, Morgana, but he was my friend. And he is not a liar.”
Hurt and rage roared up within her. “You believe him over me?”
“I believe you both,” Orion said, eyes steady. “Celeste, forgive me, love…”
“Rowena said you agreed, dearest,” Godric wept, staring up at Celeste. “She said that you agreed, if there was ever a threat to the school…and you had been trying to regain your basilisk form. I thought…I thought that’s what was happening. I thought we were helping you transform. I didn’t know…gods, I didn’t know about weaponizing your venom…I didn’t know we were betraying you to the point you would not want to come back to us…How the hell are you alive Morgana, after touching, breathing in, basilisk venom? I already burned you to ash with Phoenix fire. Then the basilisk venom. What does it take to kill you, witch?” He said it in a kind of admiring exasperation and then wept into Orion’s shoulder. “Why are you fucking hugging me, Orion? I’m your lover’s enemy; I hurt your child horribly; I was unimaginably cruel to you.” Godric was shaking and weeping.
Orion held him close. “I know what it is not to be held for centuries.”
Godric began weeping aloud and then gagging.
“Oh, crud, not this song and dance.” Tom sighed. He conjured a bucket, a cold cloth, and a blanket. Sirius Black wrapped Godric Gryffindor in the blanket, put the cold cloth on the back of his neck, and set the small bucket in his lap. "What do ya say, boss? No sense in sittin’ in this field. The cottage is empty. It’s warded to hell and back.”
Sirius nodded slowly. “Grandad?”
Orion looked at her and then Celeste. “Tell me to take your vengeance and I will.” He whispered to his daughter. “You deserve vengeance. Or if you choose, I will hold him, and you can take it from his flesh.”
Godric crouched, going to his hands and knees. “Please,” he murmured. “I hurt you, Celeste. Betrayed and violated you in the deepest ways imaginable. Please. Inflict whatever pain will bring you peace. And let me die, as I should have done millennia ago.”
Celeste was hesitating. Celeste was her father’s daughter. Basilisk or not, dragon or not, they were warm and soft inside. Celeste moved forward as if to join the muddy embrace, but Morgana stepped between her and the three men on the ground just as Tom caught Celeste by the elbow with a firm “nope!” and swung her gently into Regulus’ arms.
“Let me go!” Celeste protested, but there was no sound of struggle behind her.
“Were you gonna kill ’im?” Tom asked.
“I...I don't think so.”
“Torture ’im ?” Tom pressed.
“I…no,” Celeste admitted as if ashamed.
“You were gonna hug ’im, weren’t ya?” Tom asked, resigned.
“I…yes…” Celeste said in a small voice.
A huff of exasperated laughter came from Regulus Black.
“That’s what I fuckin’ thought. You’re stayin’ the fuck away from him, Honey. At least, outta back-stabbin’ range. Which all you fuckin’ bleedin’ hearts seem to have forgotten is exactly what this man did to you. And I ain’t talkin’ about in the distant past, either. He tried to trap Reg and Lady Morgs in the wards - tried to throw down with Lady Morgs in my office fuckin’ yesterday. With fuckin’ kids in the building.”
“Right…” Celeste said a little weakly.
“I’m sorry about that,” Godric said hoarsely and began to throw up again. “I…my memories are a mess and…these days I don’t think too clearly.”
“Tom…” Sirius Black began.
“No, Boss.” Tom said. “I ain’t saying you ain’t the sweetest people in the world and I don’t owe my fuckin’ life to your bleedin’ hearts. What I am sayin’ is we can’t instantly trust the crazy guy who left Lord Grandad and Celeste trapped for a thousand fuckin’ years. Cause sure, maybe you couldn’t figure out how to get Celeste outta Snake mode, but it was your fuckin’ sword that sealed Grandad in the chamber, and it was your fuckin’ sword that got him out. And you coulda gone looking for the other bits to set him free, but you didn’t. You literally let his bleedin’ heart bleed for a thousand years. And I bet you knew that if anybody could have helped my baby turn back, it was her real fuckin’ dad. So, forgive me if I ain’t ready to join the puddle cuddle.”
“But…you don’t understand. Orion would have brought…Morgana. Orion…Orion did bring Morgana. Morgana will destroy the school.” Godric groaned. “Orion is one of the finest men I’ve ever known, but he’s hers. He loves her, he wants her, and she always uses and then destroys what she is meant to love.”
“Yeah, Celeste, honey, let Reg take you home, please. Me and the Boss, Grandad, and Morgramma are gonna go put the crazy man to bed.”
“You mean…kill me?” Godric looked up at Tom with such utter hope that Morgana felt ill. “You’ll put me to rest? Put me out of my misery?”
Tom stayed very still for a long moment. “I…um. We’d betta get Narcissa once we get ’im settled.”
“Narcissa? She is…she is the executioner?” Godric asked with hopeful eyes. “Because she will need to be able to wield fiendfyre, perhaps. Or basilisk venom…or whatever insane power Morgana wields. Not just anything will do the trick. Believe me.”
Morgana met Orion’s tormented eyes and sighed deeply. “Fine. We’ll help the mad lad who gouged out your daughter’s fucking eyes.”
“I couldn’t reach her telepathically,” Godric sighed, his tones heading toward the mournful lilt of phoenix song. “All I could hear in her mind was confusion and pain and death. And…and I…gods...” he wept and vomited. “I couldn’t do it myself. I made the child do it. Gods, I am a fraud. Known for courage and chivalry. A cruel joke. Nothing but a treacherous coward.”
“Okay, enough,” Morgana said. She waved her hand and put him to sleep. “He is fine,” she sighed exasperatedly to the worried cuddlers on the ground. “I don’t know why he thinks otherwise, but I cannot kill a phoenix. And I don’t know of what he speaks when he says I ripped out his heart. Or that he killed me. We met twice before the battle of Hogwarts. In modern terms, we met through work and had one date. The next time I saw him, he was in Phoenix form, burning Camelot to the ground alongside a dragon. Arthur was mortally wounded, and Godric and I combined our magicks to bind Arthur with the dragon and thus tether him to life. I never saw him again until I came for you after you had been bound to Hogwarts.”
Morgana felt the stares of everyone. To her surprise, it was Regulus Black who broke the silence.
“Celeste, darling, I’ll take you home now, if you’d like.” The young man said. “Tom, you will let me know when to send Narcissa, yes?”
“Y-yeah, Honey. Thanks. Catch up with yeh later…” Tom kissed his mates, who vanished. “Alright, Grandad. Me and the Boss have got Godric. You apparate with Morgana, okay?”
Sirius Black stared into her face. “You…you and Godric Gryffindor turned King Arthur into a dragon?”
“Merged him with one. With Kilgara’s permission, of course. He was dying, what else was there to do?” Morgana slipped her arm through Orion’s.
“I...what?” Sirius stated.
“Come on, Boss. A swamp ain’t no place for storytime with Morgramma. Let’s go, Ric. Ricky. I ain’t callin’ you God, that’s just too weird…”
The three men vanished.
Morgana wanted to lean into Orion, but had a moment of terror for what she would find when she looked into his face. What she saw in his eyes was utter amazement and adoration.
“What…?”
“You’re incredible,” he whispered and cupped her face. She sighed into the slow perfection of the kiss she wanted to last for days. All too soon he pulled away, cupping her face, but his expression was a caress in and of itself. “Every day I discover a new reason to be in awe of you.”
“I am incredible,” she murmured. “And you, my love, need me desperately. You just embraced the man who imprisoned you for a thousand years. If you will never learn to protect that beautiful heart of yours, then I will.”
Orion kissed her again and then simply held her for a long while. “I believe you, you know. I trust you. But as I said, Godric is not an evil mastermind. I think he has been deeply deceived about your involvement in the fall of Camelot. He should be checked for mind magic.”
Morgana thought, carefully considering the events of centuries past as she had not had occasion to do before. “Or perhaps…damn. The fucking changeling.”
Orion narrowed his eyes. “The what?”