Interwoven

Harriet had been searching for all the known places where MACUSA operated for the past couple of hours, it had already gotten dark - but she found nothing .

It was as if the magical world didn’t exist here-

As though it wasn’t her world, no, but some kind of alternate dimension perhaps?

But well, she wasn’t as much focused on that at the moment, but-

On finding Sirius.

She feels that he’s somehow here, even though she couldn’t get a good read on it with her magic, as before, whether he was dead or not, that is.

Call it a lost case, and her a fool for still trying to find him for all these years, like some broken record, but the fact of the matter is- that she simply can’t let it go.

It was her fault.

She needs to find him, whether he was alive or …not, she needs to see him with her own eyes. 

There should be a reason she was brought here in the first place, right?

Or well, permitted to go here, seeing asDeath wouldn’t have let go of their favourite toy if it wasn’t.

And speaking of Death…

The being had of course followed her to this place as well, seeing as Death was everywhere, always hogging her every step along the way, all the while they scrutinized every movement she made.

Which should not have surprised her in the first place, seeing as she should be used to it by now.

At being looked upon as some strange and amusing thing.

For bearing the title of being its Master, or Mistress in her case , Harriet knew it was simply that, a title, and nothing more. Just (another) chain that bound herself to its essence, forever walking alongside the being as some kind of bloody pet.

Whether it was because they were lonely (if it felt like how humans did, which she doubts very much), or it simply took her as his own for their own amusement, well Harriet will never know, because Death had never once talked to her in any of the years she had come to know of them.

The being didn’t even have a corporeal form for Merlin’s sake! 

Which, obviously, freaked her out the first time she had the pleasure of meeting the being.

But she knew then who they were, for she had felt their presence before somehow- when she had died, even when she had been little, she gathered. 

She always somehow knew that she was never truly alone, not when she was in her infant crib where the dead body of her mother (whose sightless eyes had looked straight into her own crying ones, where she reached her hand towards her-),  laid sprawled before her, nor in that blasted cupboard under the stairs, and finally - not when she had willingly given her life yet again for those that didn’t even appreciate her, her efforts, and sacrifices… most of them, that is.

But she had known.

They had watched her in the shadows all those years ago, like a gaping abyss , waiting for something, until they didn’t - it being when she had come to learn of her little inheritance , or curse, as she likes to call it.

They showed her what she was, and when she had dared deny it, her new place in existence as their Mistress … she was punished for it, with the physical reminder being the mark of the Hallows forever branded on her skin, above where her heart resided in its cage.

She had wondered years after that, even now still , if she truly still had it to be honest.        

  A heart. 

Especially when she dared to escape from its greedy clutches, her prison . 

Which had started after Teddy had taken his last breath, she wasn’t even next to him, she couldn’t be, for she promised that she would watch them from afar- it had utterly wrecked her to not be next to him, even if he had his whole family surrounding him, from his children to the countless grandchildren he had with his beloved Victoire. 

It had made her want to oh so desperately join them then, in the afterlife, wherever it would bring her, but it never did work , for each and every time she had tried, she woke up, always without a scratch on her person, for Death didn’t want her to be more marked, and they of course liked to have a tight leash on their favoured toy after all.

For she was theirs, from the moment Riddle struck her with the Killing curse when she had been an infant.

The only marks she wore, however faded they now looked, were the ones that had been inflicted upon her from before she had collected all the hallows, which had officially declared her as Deaths.

The being made her carry them as some kind of morbid memento of her past life, something to look fondly back on, she thinks. 

Death’s presence surrounded her, even now, there wasn’t a space that wasn’t filled with the being,  it made her almost choke with the enormity of it all. 

The all-encompassing feeling of drowning. 

She held her emotions on a tight leash whenever she felt them near her. 

To not let it see her being so weak.

But there was no hiding from Death after all, for they knew. They always knew, and delighted in it, especially when she wouldn’t acknowledge their presence.

Which she had been doing for the past- she stopped counting after she had turned a hundred years.

Like a cat, they wanted, no,  commanded her to look upon them, but she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction, which as always, amused, but also enraged them , that she dared to.

A being that was timeless, a being that had existed when life hadn’t even been created yet. 

Yes, she dared, even if she was supposedly theirs, to do with as they pleased. 

She wouldn’t let it have her, never, even if they bind a thousand chains on her to bind her to them, tightly. 

She would never let anyone have the satisfaction of having her as their prisoner, she escaped once- she will always escape.

Even if she was doomed from the start, she will never give up.

For she wouldn’t be herself if she did, and that was one of the only things that hadn’t changed in her for all these years.

And she thought she had finally gotten rid of the last obsessive prick.

Speaking of the aforementioned prick, Riddle haunts her as usual as well.

There was a reason she hasn’t looked at any reflective surface for so many years after all.

It was surprising she still looked presentable, really… but then again- here her mind then returns to the suspicions she had had in the past, that Death was the perpetrator in this. And here she stops herself from outwardly shivering in abhor- at the thought of the being putting her together like she was their personal doll to do with as they pleased, which she thinks has been done to her whenever she would lose consciousness, seeing as she never slept for all of this time, properly that is…

But well back to the obnoxious prick.

Riddle.

“ My, my Harriet , what will you do now?” Riddle’s honeyed voice then drawled  from beside her in the reflection of the building next to her, its almost as though she can feel his breath against her ear. She imagines his blood-coloured eyes  staring daggers into her then, his attentions were always like a double-edged sword.

“This is clearly not our world. Remember? The one you left to rot, to search for that lousy, flea-ridden dog father of yours, who we both know, is dead . I should know, seeing as I was there, when he did. ” he then cruelly said, all in that oh-so-sweet tone of his.

She feels her eye twitch at this.

She wants to tear his eyes out. 

Why didn’t she when she had the chance to do so? 

There are a lot of things she wanted to change if she could go back .

He then changed his tone, almost as though in remembrance, it sounded fond.

“ Ah those times , they were fun, right? Our games especially, I mean, which you had started of course after you sent me the head of my right hand. Which of course angered me, at first, at the utter cheek of you, but as you know- it also turned me on .” He then murmured with a small chuckle, she could feel its vibrations against her neck then.

She was utterly stuck between the bastards.

But even now, she ignored them both, a silent spectator hogging her every step and a megalomaniac of a ghost of the past , and continued walking to- she doesn’t know, yet .

But her gut told her to continue on, and so she did, for it never did led her astray.

“We could have had everything, if only you said yes,Harry.” Riddle then tutted in disappointment at her. 

“There’s a reason why you haven’t let go of me, even now, don’t deny it. We are sides of the same coin, after all .” Tom then firmly said, as though he was stating a fact, making her stop in her tracks.

From the side of her eye, in the reflection , she then saw the way he firmly held her to his front, with his head turned to her neck in a possessive embrace, his form engulfing hers in its entirety as though he wanted to emerge the both of them together, into one being .

As if they were soulmates,  bound by a fate as ancient as time itself, like how the Greek philosopher Aristophanes had explained it- where their souls once united as one, a singular being, whole and complete.  But Zeus, in his wrath, had cleaved humans apart for their misbehaviour, splitting one complete soul into two, and with it- one body into two halves…

Yada yada yada , as the prick had liked to wax oh so poetically to her, whenever he would tell her that she was his, that she was a part of him, which again- she had been, partly, as his Horcrux .

Until she pointed the metaphorical middle finger at him and killed herself, destroying his parasite, and countless more after, until finally- when she killed him in the end.

“You loved me, I know you did. Why else would you have been alone for all these years, my beloved Harriet ? Were you lonely? You were, weren’t you? Of course, you were… but remember, you did this, you brought this on yourself when you broke us apart and killed me.” He then cooed into her ear, as if it didn’t enrage him, as if it was only a mere annoyance that had happened.

But knowing him, she knew it wasn’t.

The prick held grudges for a long time after all. Even after his death.

“ We were good , great, together, do you remember, my dearest Harriet? How utterly perfect we were, ” Tom then softly whispered in her ear, all the while his arms tightened around her, in the reflection, constricting her like how a snake would.

Which wasn’t far from the truth, for they could be likened to snakes, the both of them, what with their creature inheritance, for being a Parselmouth, especially a matured one, brought its many changes within the user.

Physical and behavioral ones especially.

“I never loved you, and neither did you love me, not that we know what that is…you only wanted to possess me, like the git that you were. Now get out of my head, and burn in hell.” She then simply hissed in Parseltongue all the while she glared into his now murderous eyes in the reflection, all the while she then pushed away from him and Death’s hold at the same time, which did take a bit of effort , but she managed it nonetheless. She was glad there weren’t any people walking along the street, but then again- at this time of the day? Well, thanks for small mercies huh.

And then it was finally quiet , and no more constricting-  she could breathe at last . Even if Death still lurked around in the background, she knew,  for they would never truly leave her side, not really.

But she wouldn’t let it stop her from having her way, which she knows Death only lets her have when the being’s indulging her.

As though she were some fussy pet.

What to do , she then thought, ‘Where do I go from here now?’ she wondered, while she then looked up at the sky.

And then she saw it, like some kind of beacon of hope -  was her mind playing tricks on her…or was that a flying child just now? Her brows then furrowed in confusion at what she saw.

But then again , her mind wouldn’t fabricate such a thing, especially about a child she had never seen before.

Which interested her of course, especially because it took a lot of power, concentration and perseverance to achieve flight, which she could do as well, and Tom - but well, everything was possible, if only you put your mind to it.

If you were magical, that is.

But she hadn’t found any sign of magic here, nor did she feel it in the air, nor hear its unique distinctive humming sound- which begs the question of how this was entirely possible .

Her feet then took her to where the child went to.

The child, she realises, was a boy, a blond boy with quite long blond hair that reached his shoulders. 

He was wearing garments a patient would wear.  

And he was huddled in the middle of the sidewalk, with people passing him by as if he was invisible, nothing. He was experiencing a panic attack for Morgana’s sake! How could someone just ignore that, especially a child experiencing it… a child.

But then again, should she be surprised?

The sight of it brought in certain feelings and memories within her, ones she tried to forget.  Especially because she had seen someone else in his place for a moment, there on huddled on the ground, but the scene then changed into a familiar one, the room under the stairs.

Her younger self. 

She felt felt air being pulled from her then, before she shook her head and focused on the matter at hand. 

She then released, she now realised,  her fingers from digging any more into her palms. She made blood come forth, but then, of course, as if nothing had happened- her skin then patched itself up, the wounds had healed. 

Bloody Death.

But her focus wasn’t one the being, nor her horrid childhood, no, it was on the poor child in front of her. 

The sight of his attire especially, made her suspicious, for by the looks of it, he seemed to have  escaped from somewhere, and by the fact she saw him fly- he must have been held captive by someone because of it, knowing humans and their fear of the unknown.

It enraged her, she felt her pulse burn, the dark and inhumane rage that festered inside her .  But she made certain to keep it under a tight lock, all the while she approached the boy.

She could hear his wild breathing then, when she came closer to him, and the sound of it broke her heart, what’s left of it . 

His eyes were unseeing, and he was trembling like a leaf in a storm, she then realised in sadness. 

She hesitated for a moment before she finally kneeled in front of the boy, because she fears she might have forgotten how to care for another, especially a person, a child, in distress. 

Which had been a long time ago since she had done so…

The boy looked absolutely angelic.

“Hello, it’s alright, you’re safe. Breathe, come on love, it’s alright.” She then softly murmurs to the boy, before she then notices that she had unconsciously put her hand against his back in a caress while she talked to him. 

It seemed to help, which was a relief.  

The boy’s breathing then began to sound more normal, after a final hitch , and his eyes were then looking into her own, he had eyes the colour of the sky, she noticed. That and the fact that he was looking at her as though she was something other, his eyes were wide, and his mouth was opened in- was that awe ?

It surprised her of course, but then again, she understood.

For she was once him.

But well, it mattered not, the fact that he was getting better was the most important thing at the moment, and not falling into past memories.  

“Good job, see? It’s alright, isn’t it?” She then kindly told the boy in praise, but to also put him at ease. Which worked.

The boy then simply nodded to her after a moment, he seemed to be quite a shy one, she noticed, but then again, from what she gathered- he was obviously sheltered. So it was to be expected, that and his panic attack for one, what with there being a lot of people around him, which had to have overwhelmed the poor dear. 

“I’m Harry, what’s your name, love?” She then asked him. 

“I-I’m John.” He then shyly answered, which made Harriet softly smile at him.

“Well, well met, John, are you here with your parents?” She then asked him, which made him freeze on the spot then, and his reaction had been immediate, seeing as she felt him stiffen underneath her hand then, his eyes especially then tightened, and Harriet could see the panic immerge from within their depths. 

And she didn’t need to hear his answer then, for she knew what it would be. 

John, after she continued the gentle motions against his back, then simply shook his head in negative.

And it truly was almost like she was looking into a mirror , she thought in the back of her mind, before she shook her head and offered him another gentle smile, which John reacted well to, seeing as he softened entirely in her hold.

And seeing the quite haggard state he was in, even though she could not see any injuries on his person (but then again mental wounds were much more painful than physical ones, for they forever left their mark in one’s psyche),  which she frowned at, Harriet then asked him if he was hungry, John’s stomach then grumbled in answer, which embarrassed him, seeing as he then looked towards the ground, all the while toeing his shoes,  before he then shyly nodded to her.  

And the sight of him struck a cord in her, especially because of how little he wore, he must be cold, and so she then put her cloak around his shoulders, which surprised John what with him startling at the action, and looking at it with wide eyes. 

“ There , now, shall we search for a good place to eat? I’m a bit new in the area,” She then chuckled, which made John quickly look at her in surprise, before his eyes then started to tear up. Which made her panic at the sight of it, she even had her hands out, open for him almost- to comfort him.

“Thank you.” He then softly said, which Harriet softened at even more. And screw it- she couldn’t help herself, she then gently picked the boy up in her arms, which of course startled him then, seeing as he must have not been used to it, kindness , that is.

It really was a punch to the gut, but it was best that she did not linger on her past, for she was focused on John now. 

He needed it.

And Sirius would understand.

She then started walking, before she heard John, who was now more at ease in her arms, speak. 

“...Aren’t I heavy?” He then curiously asked her, his blue eyes meeting her green ones, all the while he rubbed the stray tears from his eyes with one arm which hung beneath the cloak she gave him. 

And Harriet had to stop herself from snorting in amusement then, for he weighed like nothing in her arms. Which again was to expected, with her magic, and new …abilities, that she had acquired after being Death’s master, for the being did not want her to be fragile in any way, well- physically that is .

“Not at all, don’t you worry, I’m quite strong, you know.” She then told him with a wink, which John then smiled at in wonder. 

He was adorable.

She couldn’t help but cradle him close to her then, like a baby. Like how she had cradled baby Teddy close to her person when he was just a little tyke. 

It surprised her, that she could naturally act in such a way once more, for she had thought it had died within her. 

She then shook her head before she stopped her stride and tried to look for a place they could eat in, and her eyes then immediately zerod upon one such spot with a smile. 

It was a restaurant that served pancakes.

Everyone liked pancakes.

“Ooh I see a pancake place over there, shall we go?” Harry then asked John with a smile, when she turned to gaze at him,  which seemed to startle him a bit, before he looked at the place she was pointing to.

And she then saw that his eyes lit up in interest and awe at the sight of the place, which made her smile at the precious boy.

The place was quite cosy, and very warm, which was good, that and the fact that there luckily weren’t many people present at this time in the restaurant.

John had been looking at the place in constant awe, which she understood and did not mind in the slightest, and encouraged him to look around as he liked, while she found them a booth to sit in, all the while she kept an eye on him with a soft smile.

He then finally made his way back to the booth she was seated at with a beaming smile.

“Do you like it?” She then softly asked him, while she stepped out of the booth so he could sit next her. 

“It’s amazing, it’s everything I thought it would be!” John then excitedly told her with a smile, which she returned, 

“I’m glad you like it John,” she truthfully told him, even though her mind was stuck on what he had shared with her.

He was sheltered, and if she was correct in her deductions- he was also sheltered from other humans, seeing as all he knew had been from what had been shared with him, a video perhaps, or any other source of media.

A kind older woman then appeared in front of them, her peppered hair was in a bun, and she had crinkles in her eyes, from smiling a lot, she gathered, the name card told Harriet that her name was Barbara. 

She looked kind, but her voice was even more kind.

“Evening folks, what can I get for you?” she then asked them, with a warm smile especially aimed at John, who then, after a moment, then returned it, before he turned his gaze to her in question, which Harriet nodded to with an encouraging smile towards the menu’s in front of them.

“Go ahead, order whatever you would like, John.” She told him with a smile.

She then watched as he gazed at the menu in his hand with a brow furrowed in utter concentration as he scanned the options, and there were a lot of them , before he hesitantly turned his gaze between her and Barbara with a hopeful smile.

“Can I have the chocolate chip pancakes, please?” He softly asked her, which Harriet nodded to with a wide smile in encouragement.

“Oh my, how polite! Of course, you can, sweety, and how about a drink with that?” Barbara then asked him with a soft smile.

John then looked at Barbara, before he once more turned his gaze back to her in hesitation.

“I hear the milkshakes are to die for, any catch your eye, John?” She then asked him, her tone soft as always, which soothed him, and made him especially more relaxed in this situation, which was a first for him.

“The chocolate one,” He then shyly told her, which made her ruffle his hair in fondness, 

“Then a chocolate milkshake you shall have,” She then answered with a beam, before she tenderly smoothed his hair right, which he leaned into like a kitten. 

Harriet’s eyes softened at the sight of it.

“Alright, noted, and as for you, sweety?” Barbara then asked her in an expectant tone, which made Harriet turn her attention towards the older-looking woman, who had been gazing at them with a soft smile of her own.

And seeing as Barbara, after she gave her a look that said that she wouldn’t take a no for an answer, which reminded Harriet painfully of someone else then- she then decided to order for herself as well, that, and so John could try hers as well.

“I will have the Cinnamon Roll pancakes with a vanilla milkshake, please.” She then politely told her, which made Barbara smile even broader then.

“You’re all so polite! And coming right up, it won’t take much long, so sit tight and enjoy yourselves alright,” Barbara then beamed, before she walked away.

And Harriet then turned back to John with a smile,

“She was very kind, wasn’t she?” she asked him , before she winked at him in approval.

“And you did a great job, John! I know it wasn’t easy for you, but you did it, “ 

John then blushed from the compliment, before he gave her a tiny smile in happiness, and simply nodded to her.

Her gaze then turned serious and gentle.

“I think we’re alike, you and I, John.” She then admits to him, which startles him, before he watches her curiously, with an almost knowing but hopeful look in his eyes.

“We are?” He then asks her, his tone soft and hesitant, which she simply nods to.

“You have powers right? I do too, well, I call it magic .” She then reveals, which made the boy’s eyes then widen in surprise, before he looks around the restaurant and then huddles even closer to her, to whisper to her.

“Really?” He then asks her in amazement, and in complete belief, all the while he doesn’t deny him having powers, seeing as he trusts her and has no need to fear her, or any reaction she might have to that fact. 

“Yes, do you want to see it?” She then mischievously asks him, before she then shows him, without waiting around for an answer, seeing as his excited gaze said enough.

Looking at the paperholder on the table, Harriet wills her magic to make a singular paper float towards them, with the people in the restaurant being nonethewiser of it. She then hears John hold in a breath at this, before she smiles and continues. Now, she forms the paper into a bird, and animates it to come to life.

“Wow…” She then hears him utter, and she then turns to gaze at him with a smile, as she watches him touch the bird then, after it fluttered over towards him and gently patted him on the nose with its beak.

“You don’t have to worry about any bad people coming after you, John, and neither do you have to explain it to me, for I understand, and I won’t let them hurt you ever again, for you are safe with me now, if you will have me of course.”  She then gently tells the young boy, who then looks at her with tears now fully falling on his still pudgy cheeks, while his hands gently hold the paper bird within them.

“...Do you mean that?” He asks her in a desperate tone, and Harriet then brings him into a hug, which he sinks into.

“I do, I give you my word, John. I’ll protect you, and take care of you now- be your family if you want me to be.” She then swears  into his soft hair, all the while she caresses him on his back in gentle motions, after she feels him trembling in her hold.

“I-I would like that.” He then whispers, all the while she then feels him grip her shirt tightly in his hands and feels him nuzzle into her chest, with little tear-filled hiccups leaving his mouth still.