Wishmaster

Chapter Fifteen - Emerging

He was floating.

Around him the sounds of dripping liquid echoed through his head. He drifted, listening absently to the slow, not-quiet-musical chorus of plinking. Then pain from his scar seared through him and his head hurt. He reached...downwards to clutch it.

He opened his eyes.

Before him the enormous statue towered from the floor above him, its face ancient and monkey-like. He knew who the statue was, but try as he might he could not remember and his mind drifted. It occurred to him that the statue and the high vaulted chamber around him seemed to be lit with a ghostly green light coming from somewhere near him. He twisted lazily in the air, trying to find it, noticing other things as he did. For one thing his hair seemed to be longer than ever he had had it. For another, he was naked. He tossed his head experimentally and watched the long strands fan out over his vision.
Far off in the dark, there was splashing. Harry stopped and twisted in mid-air to see what it was, feeling suddenly self-conscious and vulnerable.

On the edge of the light, a small figure appeared, small feet disturbing the water. He watched the figure draw close and felt a disconnected wave of surprise as it resolved itself into a small boy. It was Riddle. He watched Riddle draw closer and stop just above him, feet on the floor, their faces only inches apart. Riddles face was oddly intent as he looked up at Harry and then at something just below him. Harry looked at it too, and saw that it was the Resurrection Stone.

Suddenly the small boy smiled and reached down to touch the stone. Harry felt a jolt of energy course through him and through the Resurrection stone. Riddle began to glow. The glow erased the chamber around them and the only thing that Harry could see was Riddles face, moving oddly up towards his and expanding, as if he were growing.

The glow eclipsed everything. Harry starred blindly into it. Feeling the humming of energy in the chamber.

From above him, a high, cold laugh pealed endlessly into blankness.

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He was floating.

A light, ghostly tide of ground air washed over him and he realised he was moving. Harry opened his eyes. Dark clouds drifted overhead and from his apparent lying-down position he could see golden evening sunlight as it hit the few trees and bushes that glided past his field of vision. From a short distance beyond his head, he could hear footsteps as they crushed the long grass.

"Luna?"

The footsteps stopped, a word was uttered and Harry grunted as he fell unceremoniously into the grass below. Immediately he got up, and turned to face the silent girl behind him. Luna's face was ashen, and he could see red tracks leading down her face. Her eyes were swollen. Harry began to move forward so that he could hug her, and make that haunted look on her face disappear, but then he stopped, his hands falling back to his sides as he realised how angry she must be with him.

"I’m a dick." He said.

Luna stared at him. Harry felt suddenly uncomfortable.

"I’m... It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done."

Harry faltered, trying to find the words that would put things right. Beyond Luna he could see the diamond panes of a small house, glittering red in the dying sun. Most of Luna glittered red as well. With an odd shock, Harry realised that they where both still covered head to foot in blood. As if his acknowledgment of its existence had allowed it reassert itself, the foul stench of rotting assaulted his nostrils. Disgusted, he pulled out the Elder Wand and waving it in a large pattern to catch them both, cast a strong scourgify. The blood vanished and both Harry and Luna flinched as the cold air reached their raw clean skin. The stench dispersed and Harry felt a considerable lightening in his mind. Suddenly, he was exhausted.

"C’mon." He said.

"Were going to catch a cold out here."

"You certainly will." A voice replied.

Both teens jumped. In a moment, both were pointing their wands at the startled figure that had been approaching.

"Sweet Merlin!"

Pale with astonishment, Fred Weasley held up his hands so that they could see them and for a moment Harry and Luna goggled at him. A rush of relief swept through Harry but he kept his wand pointed at the red haired man.

"What did you and your brother steal from Filtch’s office in your second year at Hogwarts?" He asked tonelessly.

Fred stared at him for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly in recognition as he caught on to what Harry was asking him.

"The Marauders Map." He replied.

Behind Fred, George had emerged from the small cottage and was making his way towards them. He drew level with the three people standing on the overgrown lawn and suddenly, as if something had been completed, the tension drained, the wands were lowered. Fred gave an almost hysterical laugh as he lowered his hands.

"Blimey! I thought you were going to blow me away there for a minute." He choked.

"We’ve had a hard day." Smiled Luna, stiffly.

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"You what!?"

George gaped as Harry, his hot mug frozen half way to his mouth. The kitchen of the house was small and orange. The walls of the tiny space were bright cheery yellow, cut off half way down by a layer of dusky tangerine tiles. The tiles had been applied to the thin counters that lined the back of the room while overheard a bare light bulb flickered dimly, making the otherwise cheerful space look tacky and slightly forlorn.

The four teens sat round the small circular table, squeezed into the centre of the room, mugs of coffee all steaming. The twins had bustled about the kitchen at first

"Well that’s what seemed to have happened." Said Harry, "I got hit full on by the thing and then I was having this whole weird out-of-body experience."

"And you flew all the way back to your body?" Fred’s voice was skeptical. Harry shrugged.

"Well it could have been a hallucination" He admitted "but if it was, it was a damn realistic one"

He sat brooding over the events of the last week, feeling just as he had done the night Moody had died. The escape from Hogwarts had happened, it seemed, about a million years ago. Harry leaned forward and allowed his aching head to rest on the palm of one hand. Across the table, Luna sat silently, starring into her mug as if trying to discern something in the murky brown depths. After a moment she stretched in her seat and looked up at the two red head next to her.

"Potter Watch"

"What?"

The twins looked round at her, startled.

"Potter Watch" Luna repeated. Then: "Are you going to get Harry to go on it?"

Suddenly Fred and George were grinning with excitement.

"You know" Said Fred "that’s not a bad idea."

Harry groaned. He could feel them all looking at him.

"No" He said.

In front of him he could feel the twins sudden surge of enthusiasm wane, like a pair of bright candles burning down. He looked up at them, inwardly wincing at the disappointment clearly written on their faces.

"For a start, can you imagine the heat it would draw on you if they knew I was with you?" They stared at him.

"Look" He said "You already have trouble finding secure locations as it is, how hard do you think that’s going to become when every auror in wizard Britain thinks I’m with you? If I went on the radio for you, you would probably be on the most wanted list right along with me within hours."

He sat watching them, ready for the disappointed slump that he was sure would come, but oddly enough he saw that the twins were smiling again.

"Harry, how many people have heard your voice?" Asked George.

Harry blinked.

"What?"

"Your voice mate, c’mon, think about it, how many people have you met who weren’t paying most of their attention to you forehead?"

Harry blinked again. Come to think of it, how many people could remember his voice?

"But if you announce me then -" He started but Fred cut him off.

"We won’t, we don’t announce anyone on Potter Watch"

"Yeah," said George grinning, "If they knew who our talk guests are then we’d never get anyone to come on."

Luna sat up suddenly, her eyes bright as she looked at Harry.

"Code names!" She exclaimed, "what do you think I should be?"

For the first time in days, Harry felt a smile creep over his face. He cocked his head to one side, leaning on his elbow thinking.

"Sun? or perhaps Sunny?" He suggested. "Opposite of the moon and rather like you, Luna"

Luna nodded in appreciation. Harry frowned as he tried to find a name for himself.

"What should I be?"

"Phoenix." Answered Fred immediately.

"Or Lightning." Added George.

The room suddenly felt charged with excitement and Harry found himself grinning.

"Ok, Phoenix then." He decided.

"When do we begin?"

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Authors Note : Hmmm, speaking of pheonix's...

A thank you to Vex, who by reveiwing cranked my writing drive back up, Ta!