c13

Before the Rebirth

"Harry?"

A tall woman, perhaps a little over 2 meter's tall stood from a chair. She had long flowing golden hair that stopped right above her bum. Her body seemed to be brimming with muscle despite the apparent slimness of her entire frame. Her face was heart shaped with a pair of sharp green eyes that were a few shades darker than Harry's own.

She approached Harry very carefully, almost like he was going to vanish if she moved to quickly. She bent down in her knees slightly so she could look him directly in the eyes. She placed a careful hand on his cheek and in that moment, memories seemed to flood Harry's mind.

He remembered a time long ago, when he was still a child. His mother was sitting with him on her lap and she was speaking with another woman, though the other woman seemed really tall. The woman looked down at Harry smiled warmly

"Auntie Annie!" called little Harry

Harry seemed suddenly found himself back in the real world, staring into the green eyes of Annabeth Potter.

"A-auntie Annie?" asked Harry with a shaky breath as tears began stinging at his eyes

Annabeth's eyes brimmed with tears as she engulfed her nephew in a hug. She was crying almost as much as Harry was as the two embraced each other. For one it had been sixteen long years of not seeing the last bit of her beloved sister that she had left. For the other it was the first time in sixteen years that he had met someone that loved him like true family.

As the two separated, Harry was still crying and he could hear Annabeth's muted sobs as well. She was looking over him, drinking up his appearance. He looked so much like James it hurt, but those eyes… it was like her sister was staring right back at her.

"My Little Harry… you really came…" Annabeth whispered.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. The letter you left for me… I didn't get it until today" Harry replied in his own whisper.

"That is my fault as well. I left instruction with the goblins on when to give you the letter. It was always meant to be given to you when you became Lord Potter. I only thought it would have happened sooner" Annabeth explained.

"There's so much I want to tell and ask you, I don't even know where to start…" Harry whispered as he stared into his aunt's eyes.

"How about you take a seat in the sofa, I'll make us some tea and then we start… we start from the beginning" Annabeth suggested as she guided her shaking nephew to the sofa and then left for the kitchen.

Annabeth's entire body was shaking. She finally had her nephew with her again, she hadn't had a chance to talk to him since he was but a baby. Now he was sitting in her living room, a full grown man with a lot of questions and hope that she had the answers. She only hoped that she could. She counted her lucky stars that Celeste wasn't home right now, it might have been a bit too much for Harry to take in.

Once the tea was finished she moved back to the living room and poured herself and Harry a cup before taking a seat in the chair opposite of Harry. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, Annabeth waiting for Harry to start and Harry was trying to figure out what to ask first.

"Why didn't you take me after my parents had been killed?" Harry finally asked the question that bothered him the most.

Annabeth sighed deeply as she stared into her nephew's eyes before answering "I couldn't. At the time my own daughter, Celeste, was barely two years old. I had my hands full with her since Celeste's father died. When I then got news that my sister and her husband had been killed… I couldn't take it and fled to Italy. I had a few friends here at the time that took me in. I thought about going back for you… but each time I thought about it I kept thinking that they would send someone to take you away again, and I feared that if I resisted they would try to go after my little Celeste"

Harry sat in silence for a while as he processed the information. He could understand it, though he wasn't happy about it. He wished that she had at least tried and then seen what had happened, but fearing for your children… Harry couldn't relate completely but he had an idea about what she felt.

"Then what about after I started Hogwarts? Or any other time during the war? Why didn't you come to visit me? I really needed someone after Sirius died…" Harry began only to silence himself as thinking of Sirius still hurt.

Annabeth took a deep breath as her eyes hardened "Harry, I want you to listen closely now" she began and she could see that she had Harry's full attention "I kept an eye on you since you started at Hogwarts. I've always done everything I could to keep you safe, but somehow trouble always seem to find you" Harry snorted there "But then the Tri-Wizard tournament happened and I thought I finally had an in. You see, since you were forced to compete in a tournament where the age restriction was set to 17, the Ministry of Magic should have recognized you as an adult and thus emancipated you. This in turn should have let to Gringotts contacting you to give you your inheritance and make you Lord Potter, ensuring that the letter would have found its way to you then."

"Wait a moment!" Harry interrupted with a yell, startling Annabeth "Are you telling me that since my Fourth Year I was supposed to have been treated as an adult wizard?!"

"And had all the privileges and responsibilities that came with that, yes." Annabeth clarified

"That meddling, conniving, manipulative old bastard!" Harry roared, his magic manifesting around him, causing the walls to shake a little.

"Harry, calm down!" Annabeth ordered, her own magic adding force behind her words.

Harry's magic receded immediately at his aunt's tone. He looked sheepishly down at his tea, he hadn't lost control of his temper like that in a long time. But realizing that Dumbledore most likely had a hand in him not meeting his family… it infuriated him.

"Now I assume that little outburst had something to do with Dumbledore?" Annabeth asked with a stern glare.

"I think it's his fault that I wasn't emancipated. I wouldn't be surprised if he did it to ensure that I continued being his weapon against the dark" Harry growled in return.

"And what makes you think that?" Annabeth continued

"Because had I been emancipated and met you, then there is a good chance I would have come to Italy and chosen not to leave" Harry explained.

"And why is that?"

"Because what reason did I have to go back to Hogwarts? I mean, sure, at the time I might have felt a bit bad about leaving some of my friends behind. But it was the same year that my friends betrayed me because they were so sure that I had cheated my way into the tournament"

"And you think…"

"That coming here, meeting you, would probably have ensured that I would have chosen to not return. Not that the old goat wouldn't have tried to pull me back to Britain anyway…"

"I wouldn't have let him. I was, am, in a much stronger position then when I first arrived. If Dumbledore had tried to take you away, then he would have had the entirety of the MDA brought down upon him."

"What's the MDA?"

"They didn't teach you about us at Hogwarts?" Annabeth asked, her nose scrounged in confusion. When Harry shook his head, her temper flared slightly "Off all the..." she growled "Harry, the MDA is an acronym for Magical Death Association. We are a group of well-trained Witches and Wizards that serve the International Confederation of Wizards. We serve as a form of international Auror for the entire planet. We are subject to none of the different Ministries Laws and our orders are given to use by the entirety of the Confederation" Annabeth release a deep sigh at this point, her eyes hardening once again "By all rights we should have been called in to deal with Voldemort as soon as he had come back to life, but the British Ministry refused our assistance. In the words of your esteemed Chief Warlock "The British Ministry does not require the Assistance of your group at this time." Those were his words when we offered up our assistance."

"You have to be shitting me…" Harry grumbled as he almost tossed his cup against the wall "There was an entire military group at the ready, and Dumbledore refused your help?"

"Couldn't go against it either. Exempt from laws as we might be, the MDA are completely at the mercy of the Confederation. We go against a ruling, we end up in jail or dead" Annabeth explained.

"And Britain wasn't worth risking your lives over" Harry summarized with a sigh.

"Correct. Powerful as Voldemort liked to think he was, he really didn't have anything on most American or African Wizards. Not to mention that when he, inevitably, would run into a Mage then he would meet his end. As you so perfectly displayed, nephew" Annabeth summarized.

"I can't take all the credit for that" Harry replied with a weak grin.

"No, I suppose not. A bit of Dark Elf assistance isn't all bad is it?" Annabeth teased with a grin.

"Heard about that, did you?" Harry muttered as he felt heat rise to his cheeks.

"The MDA has a few soldiers from the Dark Elf ranks. They keep us updated on news from their side of the barrier. That their queen had created a staff for a human was big news indeed" Annabeth replied, her grin a little wider.

"Not that it's much use now. I had to break it" Harry replied.

"I know. Now how about we switch over to some more interesting conversation? I'm sure you've got a millions questions that you'd like me to answer" Annabeth suggested as she clapped her hands together.

Harry's face rose to a smile as he nodded sharply before opening up with his first question. Countless hours passed by as the two sat in conversation. Harry had so many questions about his family, and Annabeth was only happy to provide him with every answer she had.

As the afternoon drew to a close, and the their conversation with it, Harry and Annabeth both heard the sounds of a Floo coming to life and turned towards the fireplace just in time to see a young woman step outside, her gaze planted firmly at Harry.

She didn't look all that pleased with him.