New Mysteries
*****
All eyes turned to the new figure on the floor, instinct having three wands pointed at the woman even as the men surged to put themselves between Harry and the unknown.
But they needn’t have worried. The woman was too distracted by the sudden pain wracking her body to pay attention to the occupants of the room. She writhed, trying to escape it. Her limbs thrashed, knocking into cabinets and beds alike before the men finally determined her not a threat and started to help. Spells flew quickly until a space around the woman was clear, but none tried to stop the thrashing, unsure if she was cursed or having a seizure. Either way, she was moving too fast for them to be of help.
Finally, she stopped, panting and weak, but looking up at her surroundings with piercing blue eyes. Eyes that often made her proud beyond belief, as they matched her father’s. Eyes she quickly locked onto a familiar, if older, face.
“Moony?” she asked hesitantly, still too drained to try and pick herself up off the floor.
She could see confusion cross his face and she tensed, worried she’d been wrong or something was wrong with her godfather.
When he met her gaze, she saw the shocked recognition as a shudder wracked him.
“Ari?” he breathed.
She wanted to cry with how excited she was to hear that. Maybe it had all been a dream. Maybe she had just woken from a nightmare and everything was fine.
Then her little hope was shattered when the man fainted in his chair.
She whimpered at that, then felt gentle hands touching her sensitive skin. She blinked at the redhead collecting her from the floor, biting back a scream when he shifted her into his arms. And another when he eased her onto a bed. But she didn’t mind too much. She was very much aware of the strength pulsing in his arms and she had a feeling he could have done the same just as easily, even if she was twice her weight.
Then her magic started lashing out again, attacking the spells she could both see and feel still around her. Magics she’d been unaware of until she’d regained some form of consciousness over the last few years, something she fully believed was only possible when she came into her majority. Magics that had kept her in a waking sleep, unable to call for help, unable to move, barely able to breathe, buried as she was in a coffin. Magics that her own magic was now strong enough to start to combat, free of the containment wards, though unable to shatter since her magic still seemed confined a bit.
Magics that swirled angrily around the room as they grew in wildness and strength and startled the occupants still watching her intently. Instead of trying to clamp down on the sudden rush of power, she let it work as she took stock of the room, now that she could finally focus. She noticed a pair of red-headed twins helping a weak Moony sit on another bed, a somehow familiar boy laying in a third and watching her intently. The twins reminded her a bit of that Weasley kid, Bill? Or was it Charlie? She wasn’t sure. But there had been Weasleys when she’d gone to school. They reminded her of them. Maybe they were related. If so, they definitely related to the one now perched on the edge of her own bed. That one was stronger, though. Older. Beautiful, with a curiosity burning in his eyes, and willing to put up with the sudden rushes of power that brushed him. And covered in burn scars. Must work with dragons, her brain supplied. She was entranced by this one. He was talking to her gently, but words seemed a bit beyond her at the moment so she unable to respond to whatever he was saying.
When the goblin hovering around the familiar face approached, she finally diverted her attention from the redhead and tried tracking the female. The goblin was talking as well, probably soothingly, but she couldn’t understand. But she didn’t seem to be a threat. At least until a potion she could sort of remember as a cleanser was dumped over her. Then her magics spiked, reacting to the potion and attacking a particularly vicious spell close to her core. The mild containment she’d felt shattered and her power exploded out of her, making its displeasure known without hurting those in the room. She screamed, thrashing and hands searching for something to grip to try and ease the pain. A hand was thrust into hers and she clutched it tight, not really noticing the sound of bones grinding that followed quickly. Or the pinched pain on the lovely face.
Just as suddenly, it stopped. All of it.
She slumped in relief. But didn’t let go of the hand.
After a few minutes, she had recovered enough to open her eyes. When she’d closed them, she wasn’t sure. But she opened them to find the beauty staring at her in confusion and caution and concern. It was surprisingly endearing that he managed all three with one look.
She took a few minutes to catch her breath and take stock. She was exhausted down to her bones, but she no longer felt cramped and squeezed. She also felt a slight tugging on her magics in two directions. One was towards the occupied bed, a somewhat familiar feeling even if she couldn’t place it at the moment, and the other to the redhead still holding her hand. She’d have to figure out why soon. The one tugging was mild and the other was just a soft warmth.
“Care to explain why Professor Lupin fainted at seeing you?” the redheads by the familiar face asked, distracting her.
“Or what your name is?”
She blinked at them, deciding to ignore the questions in favor of trying very hard to remember what exactly was going on. She tried to think back to the last thing she was sure had happened before the pain and not just what she thought happened in a dream. She remembered going to Gringotts when the pain over her shared connection with her brother had spiked. Enough that she was worried about his life and was willing to take responsibility for him, even though she was only thirteen. Her guardians had agreed, after all, and it wasn’t like it would be too expensive for the well-off American pair that had taken her in. And it hurt being so far from him, to be unable to comfort him and tell him stories of their parents. So, she’d decided to damn the consequences or dangers. And her foster parents had agreed wholeheartedly when she’d explained.
She remembered being tested for inheritances, hoping she qualified for the one that would grant her the authority to recover her brother. She remembered being shocked at some of the titles, about the goblins being shocked at some of them. She remembered the list of compulsions and potions and blocks that had followed the list of titles. Magics that had horrified the goblins and said goblins had advised it was sheer dumb luck she was still alive. She remembered the partial cleansing ritual that had left her feeling drained and so incredibly sore, enough that the goblins had sent her home before they would even think of clearing the rest of the block and allowing her to claim her titles, less she die in the full cleansing ritual.
She remembered heading back to school so she could rest over break, a long list of instructions from the goblins for the best practices in protecting her strained core clutched in her hands, only for her to be attacked while on the way to her common room. She remembered vaguely being levitated to a narrow box that made her blood boil to remember. She remembered the long chant of spells the bastard had cast over her and the long line of potions spelled into her stomach before he locked her into her own mind and buried her on the grounds she had felt so safe in.
“That bastard!” she snarled, squirming in place in her need to attack the bastard but unable to get the energy to even push herself up into a sitting position.
“What bastard?” everyone in the room asked.
She answered without hesitation. “Dumbledore!”
That froze the room and she looked around warily. Only to come face to face with shocked and horrified looks. Great, fucking supporters. Wonderful.
“What’d he do to you?” the familiar voice asked hesitantly.
Her eyes immediately snapped to the emerald ones staring at her. They belonged to the raven-haired boy in the other bed. Eyes that she suddenly recognized, and which caused a deep ache in her heart, even as the pull she felt grew in intensity.
“Harry,” she breathed, trying again to shift enough to leave the bed. She made it as far as the edge of the bed before gentle hands eased her back into a strong chest.
“Easy now,” the redhead behind her rumbled, his voice deep and soothing as his arms locked around her waist like a vice. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she relaxed into his grip, allowing her muscles to give up and basically puddle into his sure arms, but she wasn’t going to argue.
The redheads by Harry watched them warily, wands suddenly in their hands. She had to wonder if they’d been armed all along and she just hadn’t noticed. She had a feeling they had been. After all, they seemed determined to protect Harry. She had to approve.
“Again,” one of the twins snapped.
“Who,”
“in”
“Merlin's”
"name"
“are”
“you?” the pair demanded. Each word was sharp, and the twins alternated who snapped them. She could see the fire in two pairs of brown eyes that reminded her of boulder opals with the streaks of blue and knew they wouldn’t hesitate to attack if she posed a risk.
Just before she could get her name out, her fingers burned briefly and she felt a surge of energy, filling her core and clearing the fog from her mind. She sat bolt upright and gazed at the rings suddenly on her fingers in wonder. They shouldn’t have been able to come to her without the goblins removing them from their vaults or her actually claiming them.
The redhead over her shoulder stiffened when he saw the rings, his callused fingers snatching her left hand quickly and fingering over one ring in particular.
“You know this one?” she asked with a small smirk.
He twisted her in his arms, studying her face intently before his jaw dropped open in shock.
“Charlie?” one of the twins demanded.
She smirked when she got his name and Charlie immediately blushed. It was an interesting contrast, the strong scarred man with the flaming red face that almost matched his hair.
“Potter,” he muttered, still staring at her in astonishment and visibly ignoring his blush.
“Arianna Potter, at your service,” she agreed, smiling blindingly at the shocked faces around her. “I take it the lies told about my family have become mainstream since I was last in Britain, then.”
The faces around her are still astonished, but none so much as Harry. Then he gets a look on his face that, if he’d been his father, would have meant he was contemplating a particularly difficult prank.
“I remember you, I think,” he finally muttered, breaking the silence and garnering the eyes of everyone in the room. “Didn’t remember until you said that, but Mum and dad were talking about you when Voldemort came. Said they were glad you were safe, should the worst happen.”
Arianna narrowed her eyes at him, confused.
“Harry, you were only a year and a half old. How do you remember any of that?” she demanded.
“Dementors,” he said with a shrug, as if encountering the guardians of Azkaban was a frequent experience for wizards.
“We’ll be coming back to that later, sir,” she snapped before continuing. “As for now, I’m sure you all have questions, but while we’re working on that, Madam Goblin Healer, could we possibly receive inheritance and lineage tests? I’d like to ensure there are no lingering effects from my time away and I need to make sure he’s really alright.”
“Certainly,” the goblin healer said. “And in exchange, you will be explaining how you were able to apparate through Gringotts wards.”
She blinked at that, finally taking a look at her surroundings, only to freeze in shock.
“Um, that might be a little hard,” she finally said sheepishly. “Not exactly sure how I managed that. Especially with the wards around me where I was. I managed to apparate through Dumbledore’s as well.”
“Those are not as powerful as the wards Gringotts employs, but we shall see what the test shows. There may be an explanation there.”
She nodded, still trying to figure out exactly how that happened.
“Perhaps Master Curse-Breaker Weasley could be of assistance?” Charlie said from behind her.
The goblin healer nodded after a moment’s consideration. “I shall send a note to our Egypt branch to ask for his assistance. He should arrive before the end of the day and may be able to add some clarification after inspecting the wards. We will have some apprentice goblins begin the process, to ensure no damage was wrought.”
Arianna blushed deeply at that, both embarrassed to cause so much hassle and terrified that she might have damaged the bank. Even in her limited experience with the goblins told her that would be a very bad idea.
“Should there be damage, I will do all in my power to repair it or repay the goblins,” she muttered.
“Choose your oaths carefully, young witch,” the healer warned. “Goblins will take your word as binding and it may not be a price you can pay.”
She nodded, but it still didn’t sit right with her yet.
“I shall see about requesting Code-Breaker Weasley and the needed tests,” the goblin said. “Stay here and minimize the stress on your bodies. The boy is going to be sore still for several days and the girl, frankly, should be dead. That cleanser I used was the strongest we possess and if it took that to clear her enough for her rings to respond, she was near death. Only her magic and the rings on her fingers were enough to chase him away for now. And she is not fully cleansed. We will need to perform a full ritual to clear some of the magic I can feel from her. The tests will show the full extent of the taint.”
“Good to know I still can’t make it through a day without almost dying,” Arianna grumbled.
“Seems to be our family luck,” Harry muttered in agreement. “So, sister? Or aunt? How exactly are we related?”
Arianna sputtered a bit at the thought of being his aunt. There was a bit of a gap between them, but that’s why Lily and James had employed the bond they had. She must look worse than she thought.
“I, young man, am NOT your aunt!” she denied hotly. “You, little brother, are in sore need of a big sister and it’s just your luck you have one.”
“You couldn’t just say sister?” he asked dryly, ignoring the still stunned Weasley looking gents in the room.
“Where’s the fun in that?” she demanded, smirking at his eye roll.
“So, why does no one know who you are?” one of the twins demanded.
“Let’s wait for Moony to get his head together before we launch into what I can remember of that time. I’m fairly sure he’ll know a bit more than me, especially since I’ve spent the last however long in a magical coma, locked in a coffin on the edge of Hogwarts grounds.”
“What?!” all the voices in the room demanded.
The noise was enough to wake the unconscious werewolf. They really should have expected the reaction to sudden wakefulness. The stinging hex smacked Arianna full in the face, but she managed to get in-between his next hex and Charlie, before wandlessly throwing a shield up between the man and the three boys.
“Moony!” she snapped, from the safety of Charlie’s arms but more awake with the spike of adrenaline and the added strength the rings provided.
He finally seemed to realize where he was and instantly, he descended on her, his wand waving franticly as he checked her over. He paled at the marks from the stinging hexes.
“Hey!” she snapped, garnering his attention again. “You lived through a war. It’s ok. You were aware enough to only throw stinging hexes. I’m fine.”
“Pup, you never should have had to deal with them,” he muttered, using his wand to apply a small cooling charm to the area.
“Yeah, well, I should know better than to startle a werewolf,” she said with a smile.
He didn’t smile back, and she narrowed her eyes at him, finally really seeing him. He was thinner than she remembered, and his eyes were more sunken. He also slumped in on himself, as if he was afraid of even breathing. The clothes hanging off his thin frame were threadbare, if well cared for, and his hair longer than she remembered he liked it. There was an overwhelming air of sadness about him and her favorite laughter lines were fading, as if he had forgotten how. This was not the man she remembered. This was not her Uncle Moony who pranked her constantly with her Uncle Sirius, who flirted with the Grim and Lily for fun, who dodged James when the man retaliated, who had a thirst for knowledge and only occasionally saw himself as a monster. This was a man who was broken. In a word, he looked awful.
She said as much.
“Yes, well, it’s been a tough few years,” he muttered. “But enough about me, pup, how are you?”
“Exhausted, pissed, thrilled, and ready to go on a pranking spree that would make you and the Marauders look tame,” she said promptly, smiling at the timid smile she received.
“Care to expand on that?” he asked with a chuckle as he summoned his chair closer to her bed, as if he couldn’t stand to be even few paces away.
“Exhausted because I just apparently apparated through two levels of wards that shouldn’t allow it, pissed because I spent the last however long in a magical coma buried on the edge of Hogwarts put there by Dumbledore, thrilled I’ve managed to find Harry, and ready to prank to get back at Dumbledore for stealing my life and separating me from my baby brother.”
“How does Dumbledore factor into this?” Charlie asked quietly, giving her a quick squeeze.
Arianna noticed he still held her to his chest, his grip gentle but strong. Moony seemed to notice as well, a brief twinkle of mischief the only indication that he at least knew the man she remembered, even if he was buried under the grief and pain this one extruded.
“Start at the beginning, pup,” Moony ordered. “Not the middle. And a full explanation, please. No half-truths or wandering tale.”
“Take away all my fun…” she grumbled.
“I’m fairly sure you’ll get over it,” he snarked back.
She ducked her head in a pout, unwilling to show the man the smile she gave at getting him to respond like normal. She really didn’t like the depressed man he’d become and the sooner she could get him acting like his old self, the happier she’d be. The small pinch she received from the redhead behind her was enough for her to know he was aware of what she was up to. The small kiss to the back of her neck told her he approved as well.
She would have to examine that in a bit. After all, she didn’t know who the hell he was, other than Charlie. She was fairly confident he was Charlie Weasley, but regardless, she should not be comfortable enough with the man to allow what she was. But his arms screamed nothing but protection. His touches only soothed her raw nerves. His presence grounded her.
But she was getting distracted and she spoke before anyone could notice her lapse.
“So, absolute beginning, or when Mum and Da went under the Fidelius with Harry?” she asked.
“Fidelius,” said Moony.
“Absolute,” Harry said at the same time.
Arianna smirked at the pair, nodding.
“I’ll split the difference, then,” she said with a small laugh. “I was seven when Mum got pregnant again. She and Da were concerned I’d feel the new baby would take my place.”
“Not too much of a leap, since you flat out told them so,” Moony grumbled.
“Well, they were right. I’d spent the last seven years as an only child, and it didn’t really matter to me that I’d been a sort of accident right after they’d graduated. A new baby was coming to take my place and love wasn’t what I wanted. So, to prevent those feelings from getting worse, they decided to cast a sibling bond on us, while the baby was still in the womb, so I could get more used to the idea and have a reminder that an added kid wasn’t a replacement. It was just another person to love.”
“Isn’t that incredibly dangerous to do in the womb, though?!” Charlie demanded, squeezing her tightly in his sudden fear. “What if she’d had a miscarriage? The bond would have messed with your mind.”
“She was far enough along that it wasn’t really a concern and magic’s a wonderful thing. They knew a seer who was pretty confident the baby would be fine.”
“Wait, what’s a sibling bond?” the twins and Harry demanded.
Arianna was about to answer, but it was Charlie that explained. “It’s a magical bond between siblings, meant to allow an older sibling to feel connected to their new brother or sister. Most of the time, it’s used as just a gentle reminder of the other sibling, an awareness of the other’s emotions so you can figure out when you’re actually hurting and not just teasing, when your words are supremely unkind. In some cases, it is a literal connection, as in the siblings can feel what the other does, including pain. Mum used it on us for a few years whenever a new kid was born so we wouldn’t feel unloved and could connect to the new addition without attacking them. It’s usually removed by the time the new addition is three, as it’s long enough for the older sibling to get used to the idea and before a more permanent connect starts taking affect.”
The twins blinked in shock, but then nodded. They must vaguely remember their mother performing some such something when a younger sibling had hit three.
“Well, that was the plan, anyway,” she muttered. “Mum didn’t exactly get the chance to remove it…”
“That’s how you’re here!” Harry exclaimed, staring at her in shock and horror. “You felt me in danger.” She could read the fear in his eyes and she wanted to attack whatever had caused it.
“No, I felt you near death and my magic reacted to your panic and pain,” she snapped. “We will be discussing how that came about later.”
“But why didn’t you react when I was bitten by that basilisk?” he asked sheepishly.