Chapter Six

Harry hadn't really used a spell to teleport away from his cupboard since even if he knew one he couldn't have concentrated enough on it to do anything. It had simply been a blind, all-encompassing need to get away as far away as possible. In response to this soul deep wish his magic had gone haywire somewhat, grasping the blood wards and draining them to further power Harry's own magic, shattering something inside of him at the same time to hurl him further away from his starting point. But this was magic, and magic was tricky. So he was transported much, much further than anyone would ever have expected.

Magic was not as easy as even practiced practitioners thought however, there was always a price, and regardless of the wished powering the barely formed magic, Harry should have died, the magic sucking him dry just like the wards. Yet there was more than just Harry involved, more than just his inbuilt magic, or even the magic of the blood wards. There was also the power of prophecy, not just one prophecy, but many. Not just on earth, but several others, some darker, some lighter.

The Powers-That-Be rarely involved themselves in the doings of mortals, no matter how powerful. Prophecies were how they tried to shape those mortals' steps, and they did even that very rarely. Primarily because it was like setting a small stone loose onto a gigantic pond, you could never predict how the ripples would move, effecting one another and the water around them in unusual ways. Yet sometimes, there came a chance to change things that was just too good to pass up. So it was now.

And in Harry's case there was also something else there to be taken. Something else to balance the scales and allow him, if he so choose to return to life. But even then, he had to be given the choice.

Harry woke to a feeling of someone running their fingers through his hair gently. There was someone humming softly nearby while his head was laying on something soft and warm. He had never felt the like before. No one had ever touched him like this except for a few of the teachers occasionally. He opened his eyes quickly, trying to get away, but found his body wouldn't obey his commands.

Even so the humming stopped and a gentle hand touched his cheek. "Easy Harry,"said a female voice. "Don't move just yet." The voice sounded scratchy with disuse, yet there was also something in it that told Harry that the user had been crying.

With great effort, Harry opened his eyes and looked up into a young woman's face. She looked in her early 20's, if that. Her face was gorgeous, better looking than any woman he'd ever seen outside TV shows, though he'd be at a loss as to explain why. She had red hair cascading down her shoulders and emerald green eyes, a shade that Harry had only previously seen in the mirror, though on the woman they were red rimmed and tear-streaked. The woman's face looked as if she had been dealing with tremendous grief for years, and the smile she wore as she stared down at Harry was happy, yet fragile and almost scared.

Harry didn't understand why she would be scared of him. "Who…" he paused faltering as his eyes locked on hers."I, I know you…" he said, trying to lift a hand to touch the woman's face. He wasn't even able to lift his hand more than an inch, but somehow the woman guessed what he wanted and reached down, picking up his hand from where it had been flopping and brought it to her cheek, nuzzling into his palm. "I know you..." he said again, his fingers twitching against her cheek."But, but how?"

"I'm your mother Harry, Lily, Lily Potter nee Evans." The woman said softly watching him with trepidation. She feared that he would immediately flinch away from her, reject her because of the life he had led.

But Lily needn't have worried. For all the hate he had seen in his life, for all the loathing and fear and disgust that the Dursleys he aped on him, Harry had only wanted one thing: to be loved. And that was the emotion he saw in this woman's face as she stared down at him in, he was slowly realizing, her lap. His own eyes began to brim with tears not of sadness but joy."M, mum?"

With a cry the woman leaned down, burying her head into his chest as her arms went around him where he lay on her lap. Harry tried his best to return the hug, but he was so weak! This was 60 or 70 times worse than the first time he tried to change how his clothes looked. But even so, Harry was too happy to care he couldn't move, simply basking in one of his dreams come to life all around him.

The moment was too emotional to last, and yet it lasted more than long enough for Harry, who was beaming up at the woman through his own tears. "But, but how! Petunia said you died in a car crash! How did you really die? I know that isn't how, but why, I mean…"

"Calmly Harry." Lily replied, leaning back up and staring off into the distance for a moment before she turned to look down at him again, a widesmile on her face now that her son had accepted her. "There is so much I need to tell you! I don't know how long we have though. I've been allowed back to talk to you because of what you did and because of… of other things. You see there is a prophecy, there was a prophecy before you were even born about…"

Lily paused shaking her head. "No, that's not the way the right place to start. Your father and I were magic users Harry as you've discovered."Suddenly the smile on her face widened into a grin of pure joy as she reached down hugging him again pulling him up so that his head rested against her chest rather than in her lap. "My little scientist, I was so proud of you when you began your experiments!"

Harry blushed a little, both in pleasure and embarrassment. His mother was a very good-looking woman after all, and though he hadn't actually noticed it before she was wearing some kind of skintight leotard thing, but all in white. Weird.

Above him Lily noticed Harry's uncomfortable this and smiled sadly. "Sorry love, I know this is making you uncomfortable, but I wasn't actually dressed my best when I died, and you can't change your clothing after you die, or are sent back or whatever, I'm not exactly clear what I am right now." She smirked a little, gesturing down at her body. "Your father had fun tastes, shall we say?"

"Too much information." Harry muttered, trying to raise his hands to cover his ears, but still not having enough energy to do so. Even so, despite his consternation he reveled in the light tinkling tone of his mother's laughter.

"You're right I suppose." She smirked even wider. "Now if this was happening while you were going through puberty I wouldn't let you go with just that."

"Still, we have more important things to talk about." She went on more seriously even as Harry squirmed in her hug. "We were both magic users, but the magical world is separate from the muggle world, the non-magical world, and yet some of the problems in it are sort of the same is in the human world. Do you know what racism is?"

Harry nodded and Lily smiled. "Of course you do, my bright son, so smart!" With that she hugged him again, and Harry's smile widened as he reveled in the love of his mother..

She pulled away after a moment, staring down at him. "Anyway, there was a movement among what is known as purebloods, who felt that magic should only follow family lines. That's so much idiocy in my opinion, but I was born to non-magical parents. I was also very intelligent, if I say it myself. I was called the brightest which of my generation." She smirked a little. Not that it was hard against most of the pureblood witches and wizards. There were a few that were quite intelligent, but they were still stuck in, well they didn't understand the scientific method, or how it could be applied to magic. You've used a bit of it since he discovered magic Harry, testing and the ability to keep notes and see what works what doesn't and what works better."

Harry nodded then froze in his mother's grip when he realized what that meant. "Does, does that mean you've, you've been watching me?"

Lily nodded somberly, reaching with one hand from Harry's back to stroke his hair in a calming gesture. "Yes Harry, I've watched you all for your life, and I am so, so sorry! You should never have gone to my sister, the moment she married that Vernon pig, she was removed from my will, and they were never in Jame's! But well, I don't know what happened, I haven't been able to watch anything of the world aside from you, so…" she shrugged.

"I have enemies in the magical world." Harry said calmly, far too calmly for a 10-year-old boy talking about such a serious matter in Lily's opinion, but given the life he'd led it was almost inevitable. Indeed the fact he had accepted her so easily was more surprising. "I've sort of known that, though I don't know why!"

"I'm getting to that though I think you should keep that in mind. Anyway, I married what was known as a pureblood, your father James Potter." Lily smiled wanly. "We were happy, even if he was a bit of a jackass when he was younger he grew out of it eventually and became a decent man. I could tell you some stories, but I don't know if we have time for them. Anyway, there was this war on, and your father became a magical policeman, an Auror right out of school, while I went to work as a spell researcher."

Harry's eyes brightened and he opened his mouth to speak but Lily laughed gaily, before covering his mouth with a gentle finger. "I know Harry, and I wish we had more time, I really do, your ability to control what should've been only accidental magic is astonishing especially without a focus, and turns a lot of the research I was working from on his head. But don't know if we have time for that. So back to business."

After that Lily went on much more crisply. "You have to understand that the racists were in power in a lot of the government, oh there were factions fighting against them, and quite a few of the magical policeman fell under that category." Her smile widened, taking on an almost vicious edge. Your father had a friend named Sirius, and the two of them had a partner named Rufus Scrimgouer. They and their team leader were some of the most dangerous Aurors on the force. Because of that they were being targeted by, I suppose you could call him a cult leader, or a terrorist leader anyway."

"He'd taken on this name though we never figured out his real name…" Lily paused again as she realized was rambling. She took a moment to compose herself and went on. "The racists had a leader named Voldemort, who espoused violence against anyone who was not pureblood, against anyone frankly who was a danger to his taking over. I don't even know if he really believed in that pureblood stuff or was simply using it, he seemed more power-hungry than bigoted."

"In any event since the government couldn't be trusted both your father and I joined a sort of paramilitary group. We did our part, and I even fought several times, though I wasn't as good at it as your father." She smirked suddenly, waggling her figures a little. "Though spell creation did give me a bit of an edge, since most wizards are lazy and tend to stick to only a few spells in combat."

"The Order was led by one of the most famous men in the magical community, named Albus Dumbledore. He was our headmaster at school, and yes…" she said smiling down at Harry when he opened his mouth. "There is a school of magic, several actually though your own studies have either turned some of the noted theories on their heads or simply ignored them." She went on much more softly leaning down to kiss him on the forehead right over his scar. "My little genius."

Harry flushed with pleasure, and Lily leaned back, stroking his hair again as she continued to hold him to her chest. Harry felt some of his strength returning, and tried to raise his arms to hug her back, but was only able to squeeze her arms lightly despite his best efforts. Even so, Lily smiled down at him, and that was enough.

After a moment however she shook her head and went back to business. "There was a prophecy, and in the magical world those things are taken very seriously. Albus believed it, and convince your father and I to go into hiding."

She frowned then remembering those months, and Harry lifted one hand touch her cheek gently pulling her back to the here and now. "Anyway, we agreed to it, fearing what would happen to you."

"What was the prophecy?" Harry asked intently.

"'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...' (Order of the Phoenix)" Lily intoned solemnly.

She watched as Harry frowned his way through it then smiled as he said "but that sounds, that almost sounds like you have to believe it to make it exist, he'd have to mark me right?"

"The word you're looking for is self-fulfilling, and yes that was one of my arguments against it, but there were signs that Voldemort was a firm believer in prophecy long before that. And if he believed it, whether or not we believe it wouldn't matter." Harry nodded understanding her point, and Lily went on. "And he did mark you that night," she said softly, brushing his hair off his cigar and tapping it gently.

"What," Harry paused then went on gamely. "What happened that night?"

He felt Lily shudder, her hands tightening around him. "I, I don't want to talk about it just yet. Maybe if we had more time I would, but not now. In any event, he did more than give you that scar Harry. In fact, if he hadn't done what he did, and if everything else had happened as it did, you would have joined me on the other side."

"Wait!" Harry exclaimed, almost pushing out of her grip before his strength failed him again and he fell against her chest. He flushed in embarrassment for a moment before shaking his head. "You mean we're not in the afterlife?"

"No, we're in… call it the waiting room I suppose, the area between life and death. The amount of power you poured into your wish should have cost you your life Harry, but I as I said Voldemort did more than just give you that scar. He left a bit of his soul in you."

With gentle hands, Lily turned Harry until he was staring off to the side, and he gasped in shock. Everything around them was white and seemingly blank, even the floor they were sitting on wasn't really there, just more grey, almost like sitting inside and on a crowd. But now Harry was able to see something that was so out of place it was beyond jarring. It was looking nothing more than a mass of black pus, oozing darkness and vileness into the air all around it. "W-what is it?!"

"A piece of Voldemort's soul," Lily replied. "I'm not certain if he meant to, or if it was something he had been doing all along, but he cut a bit of his soul off when he tried to kill you. That piece stuck to you when the power of his killing curse spell backfired on him."

Harr shook his head. "Wait, I, I don't understand. First of all, what is a killing curse, and what do you mean it bounced off me? I was a baby, I couldn't do anything!"

"For that you have me and your father to blame."Lily replied, solemnly her arms still around her son.

"To thank you mean, if you say this Voldemort person…"

"If we hadn't died, if we had somehow figured out a way out you wouldn't have gone to the Dursleys!" Lily snarled that name. "We should've figured out some kind of emergency teleportation that could bypass any ward put up!"

After a moment Harry reached up and touched her face again. "A lot of books use this phrase, hindsight is 20/20, I don't know what the 20/20 part means, but I've been told that it means looking back you always see more than when things are actually happening. We're not all perfect, and I don't blame you for the Dursleys." His eyes hardened noticeably. "I blame them for being them, and for whoever ignored your will and put me there."

"Yes, that's an interesting point…" Lily said to mostly to herself, even as she hugged her son in thanks for his forgiveness. "Anyway, the Potters had a massive collection of books about ancient spells, including some about things that were no longer allowed in society, like blood based magics. When I sacrificed my life for you, I completed a charm which protected you from all harm."

"A, And the killing curse?" Harry asked.

"I'm not going to talk about that right now."Lily said shaking her head sadly. "You'll learn that in due time I suppose, I'm sorry but even now the memories are just too raw."

Harry nodded, understanding. "So that thing over there is a piece of this Voldemort and it's going to die in my place?"

"Well that is the other side of what I'm here just tell you. You see, you have a choice. All of life is about choices Harry, the Powers-That-Be are very big on choices. Even in cases like this."

"And what are my choices?" Harry asked, though a part of him already knew.

"You can either allow yourself to fade, and magic will take both you and that portion of Voldemort's soul. You'll eventually be reborn somewhere in a new life, but of course you won't remember any of this. That piece of soul over there doesn't have that choice, it will be removed from the great wheel entirely. That's part of the penalty for trying to split the soul as Voldemort did."

"And my other choice?"

"To return to life wherever your spell took you. I don't know everything about what you'll face if you do, the Powers-That-Be aren't that generous. But your life will be hard, harsh at times and fraught with danger. But I can also say that the rewards will be beyond even your imagining. She smiled warmly. I wish I could say you would find happiness, but that's another one of those choice things, all up to you really.

Harry very slowly pushed himself out of his mother's grip, standing on his own two feet in this wide expanse of white to stare at the vile thing that had been in his scar. "Was it in my scar, or was it in me, my own soul?" he asked almost absentmindedly.

"Sort of both." Lily replied with a wince, watching him anxiously, none of her own thoughts on what she wanted him to do showing on her face. "It was getting stronger all the time, as were you. Someone placed magical bindings on you. That kind of thing is normally done to children when they first exhibit their powers to stop them from doing so much accidental magic they hurt themselves. But the binding was slowly being, absorbed I suppose by that bit of soul, as well as leaching magic off you."

Looking to the side Lily frowned angrily. If only she had been able to watch more of her son's life, from right after her death rather than since the first time he had thought of her which was several years later. Then maybe she would know who that enemy was. She had suspicions, and coupled with the fact that she had seen Albus turn up and Obliviate not just Harry but a team of Obliviators made her even more suspicious of him.

But that in itself wasn't enough, since Albus hadn't said anything after and had indeed implanted memories in Dudley and his gang of bullies to make them stop picking on Harry. They hadn't held long, and he had never spoken to Petunia or Vernon, but was that simply absentmindedness or something more sinister?

Then there is the Will to consider. What happened to Sirius, The Longbottoms, or even Rufus? I don't really want to know how Harry would've turned out if Rufus raised him, he was a little too job and status-oriented to make a good parent, but he would have been worlds better than Petunia and her family of pigs!

Lily wasn't certain if Albus was conditioning Harry for some reason, or just was neglectful of what hiding Harry away from the magical world was costing her son, but she wasn't exactly happy with him whatever the case. She dearly wished that she was a real ghost rather than some kind of disembodied personality stuck following her son around, because if she was a ghost, she could go to Hogwarts and wring Albus' neck for what he was doing to her son.

While Lily was thinking about that Harry was thinking about what he had learned so far, and about the pros and cons of the two choices. In the end however his very nature rebelled against the idea of not taking up the challenge. "I want to go back." he said. "I want to see this new place I've found, maybe explore, maybe learn. I'm used to hardship, that doesn't frighten me and danger doesn't either not really. Not so long as I can fight back." he smirked and his fingers flex a little. "Will I have to hide my magic?"

"I don't think so, though I can't say for certain." Lily said smiling sadly if proudly at her son. Already the white area around them was fading as the Powers-That-Be had heard Harry's choice the instant he thought it. The thing that was Voldemort soul screamed as he began to dissipate, becoming so many little particles of darkness which then flared as they were consumed.

"I am proud of you Harry." she said, even as she felt the tug on her self/soul/body begin, pulling her back to where she had been before Harry had tried his desperate gamble. "Know that I will continue to watch over you, that I love you and that I am proud of you whatever you do with your life!"

At those words Harry turned suddenly, his eyes wide. "No!"

Lily felt his magical reach out for her, his soul connecting to hers here in this place. "Harry don't! It won't…"

"I don't care! I just got in my mother back, I just got a family back! You think I'm going to give you up, NO!" With every word Harry poured more of his willpower into his magic, trying to hold Lily's soul personality or whatever portion of her that was in front of him where it's was, trying to fight against whatever was trying to return her to the afterlife. His magic followed his desperate plea once more, slowly tying Lily's soul to his own.

Reality around them shimmered, then the white dissipated, and suddenly Harry found himself on a hard, solid ground much unlike the strange texture of the floor of the place he'd been just moments before. Various aches and pains told him he was still alive, and his eyes were crusted over, but even so his pains weren't nearly as bad as they had been, signifying that his healing ability had begun its work, though still had quite a bit left to do.

These new sensations made Harry realize that the only sensations he had really felt in that other place had been his mother's touch. With that thought his eyes popped open, and he looked around wildly "Mum?"

"Still here." Lily mused from nearby, and Harry felt something lightly ruffling his hair, not so much a touch as a breeze. "In some fashion anyway. You know, I was just thinking about what I'd like to do if I was a ghost, and now I am one." Despite the lightness of his words, there was something in it that said she was happy to still be with Harry despite her shock that she was.

Harry turned in the direction of her voice quickly, seeing both his mother and what was directly behind her. She was still in the same clothing that she had been in that other place, and she was glowing slightly, like ghosts always did in movies or stories. But the strangeness of that was nothing next to the happiness of simply seeing her, even in ghost form. "It worked!"

"Yes it did, and if you keep on doing things that ought to be impossible Harry, I think I'm going to have to simply disregard everything I've ever learned about magic. That would be irritating." Lily said then laughed a tinkling sound in the air. "Still, I can't complain, can you?"

Wordlessly, Harry shook his head. He'd dreamed of this, dreamed of having a conversation of his mother, of knowing he was loved. Even looking at her and knowing that he wouldn't be able to touch her, this was beyond his wildest dreams. His grin widened so hard it hurt, and he continued to smile even as the pains in his body began to pile up again.

Lily also was grinning wildly at him, though inside she was also somewhat sad that her husband would never be able to feel this. Still, at least I'll be here to watch over our son James, whatever form I have to take to do it. After a few moments however she got control of herself and looked around. Then she whistled in shock. "Harry, I think your spell took you a lot further away than I realized."

Harry looked where she was looking, and stared up at five moons in the sky then around at a forest of weird glowing crystals around him. It was the crystals that allowed him to see it all, everything else was pitch black, as if the sun didn't exist here. He laughed quietly shaking his head. "It reminds me of my cupboard before Vernon allowed me to put in my hanging light, but with a much better view."Then he shivered a little as suddenly his body clamored for attention, the cold hitting him like the fist of a god. "It's freezing here!" he said shattering his teeth chattering.

Lily turned back to him quickly. "Watch my finger!" she said crisply, "this is the spell for a warming charm." She gestured with her fingers in a series of flicks, then watched as Harry shakily did the same correcting him twice before he got it right then intoned the spell.

"Normally people do it with a wand, you've shown so much aptitude towards wandless magic it shouldn't bother you. The words and gestures will help you concentrate!"

Harry nodded then did the gesture again along with the words. He had to do it two more times before getting it right his teeth and body beginning to shut down from the cold, his fingers and toes already blue with cold. His teeth were chattering so much he barely got the words out. Yet when the spell hit, it flooded his body with warmth, banishing the cold quickly.

"That's better." He said with a sigh. Then he smirked at his mother. "You know you're a good teacher, I think that's going to come in handy here."

Lily laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair, but her fingers passed right through his hair. Even so Harry smiled widely at the gesture, though both their eyes strayed up and around to the odd geography around them. "Wherever here is Harry, wherever here is."