The Storm
Notes: Lyssa looks like Elena Satine with darker and longer hair and moonlit silver eyes. Aria looks like Bailee Maddison with black hair, fair skin and emerald green eyes.
Harry Potter timeline is 29 years after Canon.
Chapter 1: The Storm
Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, Earth
May 31, 2011
An old van stood alone on a dirt road, the overhead floodlights providing the only light on the dark, moonless night. Inside were five passengers – four adults and one toddler.
In the driver’s seat was Darcy Lewis, the young intern of Dr. Jane Foster who sat in the passenger seat working away on her computers. Behind her was her colleague and best friend, Dr. Lysianassa ‘Lyssa’ Melody Potter. The remaining adult was the scientists’ mentor, Professor Erik Selvig who was sitting behind the driver’s seat. Last but not least was little Arianwen ‘Aria’ Lily Potter, Lyssa’s 22-month-old niece-turned-daughter who was fast asleep in her car seat between the adults in the backseat, absently suckling away at a bottle of milk that Erik was holding up.
Lyssa and Jane’s computers beeped merrily while the two women worked with tunnel-vision focus, calculating their data and factoring all the variables into their calculations. Like always, both were barely aware of their rather uncomfortable surroundings, though Lyssa kept an eye on her sleeping daughter.
Darcy glanced at the two women and sighed, shifting in her seat to find a more comfortable position. While the van was admittedly quite comfortable, it did become painful after being in one place for over 3 hours. Looking into the rearview mirror, she shot a pleading look at Erik. He only sighed in response, just as uncomfortable as the intern.
“Got it.” Jane said after several minutes, her accent unmistakably American. “Lyssa?”
She was a young pretty woman, standing at 5’2 with light brown hair that reached her shoulder blades in loose waves and light brown-hazel eyes. In her early thirties and a brilliant astrophysicist, Jane was considered a little eccentric by her peers in the Academic Community. She was dressed in a long-sleeved light purple and pink button-down blouse over a white tank top, a pair of dark jeans and black 1” high heeled ankle boots. Overtop, she had a dark brown coat to combat the desert’s cold night weather, her hair open and gently tumbling around her shoulders.
“Yes, I have it.” Lyssa replied in a soft, lilting Welsh accent. She glanced at the older woman briefly before looking back at her computer.
At 24 years of age, she stood at a petite 4’8 with an hourglass figure and curves in all the right places. She had dark, cherry red, almost black hair*, reaching her hips in loose, layered ringlets* and her flawless fair skin contained a very subtle hint of a tan from the time spent outdoors, being equally athletic and agile from a lifetime of what many would consider ‘extreme sports’. Her moonlit silver gazelle eyes were framed by long, thick lashes and between her softly arched eyebrows, she bore a curious birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon* in a pale silvery gold color, standing out against her fair skin. Add in the way her beauty seemed almost otherworldly while still being natural, Lyssa was very exotic in appearance when compared to her American friends and pseudo-family. She was dressed in a light blue long-sleeved sweater blouse, a pair of light grey trousers and grey 4” high heeled ankle boots with a pair of small pearl earrings in her ears. Overtop, she wore a light grey pea coat* and her long hair was tied into a high pony.
Unknown to her friends was the fact that Lyssa was a witch, descended from the Noble Houses of Potter and of Peverell, though that was not the reason behind her otherworldly beauty. She was incredibly skilled in magic from childhood, her years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry only strengthening her power and helping her harness it. She was even able to use wandless magic with relative ease, though it would tire her out if she used too much at once. Generally a kind-hearted woman with an immense capacity for love and compassion, she was a force to be reckoned with when her loved ones, particularly her daughter, were in danger.
Jane reached over the armrest and grabbed a piece of circular equipment before sticking her head out of the sunroof. Erik followed suit and watched as his protégé set the device on the roof of the van and locked it into place. She looked at her digital reader before looking out at the dark night sky that surrounded them, an expression of anticipation on her face. He followed her gaze, a look of skepticism clear on his own face.
The sky remained clear and calm, only a few wisps of clouds passing by.
“Wait for it, Erik.” Lyssa called from inside the van, knowing with almost uncanny accuracy just what the older man was about to say.
Erik glanced down into the van, seeing Lyssa look up at him and smile brightly before turning back to the computers. Not for the first time he wondered just how the British-born aristocrat knew what he had been thinking. The woman often had instinctive feelings that almost always turned out to be correct.
What the older man didn’t know was that Lyssa had the gift of Foresight in addition to her magic. Not only did she get instinctive feelings, she often got visions of what was, what is and what may come to pass. While it had done her no good in trying to save her brother and his wife from being murdered, nor did her ‘gift’ save her brother’s best friend from being sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit while the true criminal roamed free, it had allowed her to be able to gain custody of her niece over her sister-in-law’s horrid sister.
There was no way that Lyssa believed Peter Pettigrew had been killed in the explosion that unfortunately claimed the lives of 12 Muggles while leaving a finger of himself behind. Pettigrew had always been a coward, hiding behind his stronger and more powerful friends for protection.
Despite her best efforts, all she was able to do was convince Albus Dumbledore of Sirius’ innocence and gain a promise from the elderly man to search for the truth; even in the magical court system, Foresight didn’t hold very much weight without hard evidence to back it up. In the meantime, Lyssa took Aria and returned to America where she had already begun making her career as an Astrophysicist. Remus Lupin, her brother’s other best friend, stayed in England to help find the truth, remaining in contact with Lyssa through letters and even through Muggle technology as much as possible.
“Can I turn on the radio?” Darcy asked looking back at Lyssa with a bored expression on her face.
She was a 24-year-old Political Science student at Culver University, the same school Lyssa and Jane were both alumni of. Just as pretty as Jane, though in a different way, Darcy had lightly curled brown hair and blue-grey eyes, standing at a curvaceous 5’4. She was dressed in a navy-blue t-shirt, hip hugging jeans and knee-high brown boots. To combat the desert chill, she had a cap on her head, a scarf around her neck, a pair of gloves on her hands and a parka over top. Like Jane, she had her hair open and tumbling around her shoulders, though her cap kept the luscious locks from coming into her face.
“No.” Jane replied before Lyssa could, knowing that the Welshwoman would have allowed it.
Darcy rolled her eyes and turned back to the front, muttering under her breath. Lyssa looked at her computer, monitoring the readings and rechecking her calculations.
“Jane, Lyssa, you girls can’t keep doing this.” Erik said gently, looking down at the women he had come to love as his own daughters.
He was a renowned astrophysicist, specializing in Theoretical Astrophysics, and a professor at Culver University. In his early fifties with sharp grey eyes, his thinning hair was grey-going-on-white though his advancing age didn’t take away from his ability to protect his friends and family with fierce determination. And Lyssa, Darcy, Jane and Aria were at the very top of that list, loving the women as his own daughters and the toddler as a granddaughter. He was dressed in a royal blue button-down shirt, jeans and brown work boots. Overtop, he had a black pea coat on, done up halfway with a scarf around his neck.
“The last 17 occurrences have been predictable to the second.” Jane argued, ducking back into the van and picking up her journal, showing the older man her notes.
“Jane, you and Lyssa are astrophysicists.” Erik said, his voice still gentle as he ducked down into the van as well. “You’re not some storm chasers.” He turned to Lyssa, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Lyssa, you can’t keep taking Aria out like this. It’s not good for her.”
“I’m telling you, Erik, there is a connection between these atmospheric readings and our research.” Lyssa argued, avoiding the remark about what her actions were doing to her daughter.
It hadn’t been done lightly nor had it been easy making the decision to continue her research while Aria was so small, initially intending to wait until she had started at Hogwarts at the age of 11 before returning to her work. However, when Jane had approached her with her theories about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Lyssa felt that she couldn’t drop her work. So, she had packed up her and her daughter’s belongings and went on the road with her best friend while raising the newly orphaned little girl.
But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t always thinking about Aria. One of the terms she had with Jane in regard to their work was that so long as Aria was safe, happy and healthy, she would continue with her research. Although if the little girl was hurt, or if her health began showing signs of decline due to their ‘storm chasing’, Lyssa wouldn’t hesitate to back out. She had made it very clear that her first priority was her daughter, especially since she was all she had left. Jane readily agreed without hesitation.
“Erik, I wouldn’t have asked you to fly all the way out here if Lyssa and I weren’t absolutely sure.” Jane added, lowering her journal and rapidly typing away at her computer.
“Jane? Lyssa?” Darcy called in a small voice, looking out through her window and into the sky. “I think you two might want to see this.”
Jane, Lyssa and Erik looked out the window and frowned at the sight that greeted them.
The night sky, previously calm and clear, now shone with beams of bright light.
“What is that?” Jane asked in confusion, climbing onto the seat and poking her head out of the sunroof with Erik beside her.
“I thought you girls said it was a subtle aurora!” Erik said, equally confused.
Lyssa frowned, something about the sight seemed to be familiar. But, like memory just out of reach, she couldn’t remember what it was.
“I now take from you, your power. And in the name of my father and his father before, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!”
Her frown deeped at the sound of the voice, weathered but filled with ancient wisdom. Something was happening and it was connected to the swirling lights that shone against the night sky.
“Go!” Jane shouted down to Darcy.
Darcy wasted no time in putting the van into gear and speeding down the road, uncaring of the bumps they rode over. At the unsettling motions, Aria woke with a start and began crying loudly.
The little girl looked like a female version of her father with her fair white skin, raven black hair reaching just past her shoulders and aristocratic eyebrows and nose, though she shared her emerald green eyes with her birth mother. However, marring her forehead was a curious cut in the shape of a lightning bolt directly above her right eyebrow; it was the scar that she had received the night her parents were murdered by the Dark Lord Voldemort. Dressed in an emerald green sleeper with her short, naturally layered disarrayed curls* in two pigtails, she was swaddled in a beautifully made blanket (Aria's 'bwankey') that was delicately embroidered with the Hogwarts crest and motto in the very middle and sectioned into four parts with each corner designed with a different pattern – a gold lion against a ruby red background, a silver serpent against an emerald green background, a bronze raven against a sapphire blue background and a black badger against a topaz yellow background.
Lyssa had made it herself when she had learned of her sister-in-law’s pregnancy, designing and stitching it lovingly with her own hands and without the use of magic aside from imbuing it with the love she held for her family and friends. The blanket would always provide Aria with a feeling of warmth and love, growing with her as she aged and would never fade or lose color no matter what it went through or how many times it was washed.
Lyssa pushed her confusion aside for the moment, turning to her daughter. “Shh, it’s okay, my darling.” She soothed softly, gently guiding the milk bottle back into the girl’s mouth and holding it in place as she resumed suckling her drink.
Reassured that her mother was there to protect her from harm, Aria slowly went back to sleep, no longer caring about the unsettling drive.
In the sky above, the rapidly forming clouds began swirling around as thunder echoed on the wind.
“Darcy, get closer!” Lyssa called, silently and unobtrusively casting a protection spell over each of them.
“Right.” Darcy scoffed, turning to go in the opposite direction of the storm. “Good one, Red.”
“Go!” Jane shouted, ducking back into the van and pulling out her camera, training it on the forming storm.
Very reluctantly, Darcy followed the order and drove them closer to the storm while Jane laughed delightedly, the camera firmly trained on the clouds. Lyssa and Erik looked at the computers, the screens displaying an infrared version of the growing vortex.
Suddenly, the vortex grew downwards in a spiral and reached the earth directly in front of them. Darcy slammed the brakes as they all exclaimed in shock, Aria waking up with a start once more and beginning to cry.
“Shh, shh.” Lyssa cooed, running her hands through Aria’s black hair comfortingly. Aria grabbed onto her fingers, curling her own tiny digits round her longer ones. “It’s okay, my darling. Mummy’s here.”
Darcy swerved to the left in a hard turn, barely avoiding the funnel as the van skidded on the dirt road.
“What are you doing?!” Jane shouted, reaching out to the steering wheel with one hand while holding the camera in the other.
“I am not dying for six college credits!” Darcy yelled, continuing to drive them away from the vortex funnel.
“I’m with Darcy on this one!” Lyssa yelled, one hand still being tightly gripped by Aria while curling the other around the toddler protectively.
Jane and Darcy grappled for the steering wheel, one trying to drive them towards the vortex while the other tried going in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile, the vortex continued to swirl, thunder crashing within its confines while a bright beam of rainbow-colored light shot down inside it.
Seeing the rainbow light, Lyssa frowned, once again getting the feeling that it was familiar. Shaking her head and pushing the thought to the side, she focused on keeping her protection spells in place while Darcy and Jane continued grappling for the steering wheel.
“Hit the brakes!” Lyssa shouted suddenly, her voice firm and urgent.
The tone of the young woman’s voice meaning no arguments, Darcy hit the brakes just as a shadowed figure appeared in front of the van. Unfortunately, while Darcy had been able to stop, the shadowed figure wasn’t quite so lucky – his own momentum sent him flying into the hood of the van before he toppled over.
Jane gasped in shock, exchanging stunned looks with Darcy, Lyssa and Erik before the three women scrambled out of the van. Aria, now wide awake and looking around with bright green eyes, stayed with Erik inside, the older man watching from the open window. Thankfully, the girl wasn’t crying, more curious to what was going on around her and of the firm belief that her mother would protect her from all harm and danger.
“I think that was legally your fault.” Darcy told Jane as they carefully made their way to the fallen figure.
“Darcy, get the first-aid kit, please.” Lyssa ordered, cutting through the intern’s rising panic with her firm order.
Darcy nodded and hurried back to the van while Jane and Lyssa crouched beside the prone figure. A young man. He had rich golden hair that flowed gently to his broad shoulders in layers, a well-groomed golden beard along his strong jaw and a well-muscled figure. He was dressed in a light grey long-sleeved shirt that emphasized his broad chest and trim waist, with black trousers highlighting his muscled legs and black boots. The most curious thing about him though was that he seemed to possess an otherworldly beauty to his chiseled features, even with his eyes still hidden behind closed lids. It was similar to Lyssa’s beauty, though more ethereal, as though not from Earth.
“Do me a favor and don’t be dead.” Jane pleaded as Lyssa began checking his vitals, starting with a pulse. “Please.”
“He’s alive.” Lyssa said, causing Jane to let out a sigh of relief. Erik, with a swaddled Aria in his arms, approached them cautiously, Darcy lighting the way with her flashlight in one hand and holding the first aid kit in the other. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but his vitals are strong considering he was nearly pancaked by our van.” Lyssa said, trying to come up with an explanation to the man’s lack of injuries; even with magic, the man should have at least some kind of bruising as proof of his near accident. She glanced up at Erik who was keeping a firm hold on a wriggling Aria. “Just to be safe though, keep your distance Erik. We have no idea who this man is, and though I’m normally optimistic about strangers, I don’t want to take a chance with Aria.”
Erik nodded in reply, taking a few steps further back and watching while Lyssa expertly checked the man over for any injuries and, more importantly, for a concussion.
The man woke with a gasp, revealing a pair of startling bright blue eyes. He looked at Lyssa with a frown, confusion etched across his handsome features and in his clear eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay, honey. You’re okay.” Lyssa said soothingly, her tone similar to the one she would use on Aria when she was restless.
“Whoa.” Darcy breathed, catching sight of the man’s striking features and captivating eyes. “Does he need CPR? Because I totally know CPR.”
“I think he’s okay on that front, Darcy.” Lyssa said, glancing up at the woman before turning back to the man. “My name is Lyssa. What’s yours?”
He continued staring at Lyssa, his gaze filled with confusion before groaning and dropping his head back to the ground.
“Where did he come from?” Jane wondered, looking around at their darkened surroundings, the night calm once again with no sign of the vortex they had been chasing.
Links:
*Lyssa’s hair color -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879482101667/
*Lyssa’s crescent moon (silvery grey; in between the eyebrows) -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/387309636701968168/
*Lyssa’s outfit, hair in a high pony -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/AVJBkf3r9H452n1cVeAr80d83c7dRbrmc0gbWlYG3oK4f33z7pOCqCE/
*Lyssa ringlets - https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/541628292677582929/?nic_v1=1a7F5Lj18
*Aria curls (reaching just past her shoulder blades) - https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/714876140836055432/