820Hello everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed the prologue of my new fanfic! I really liked this idea; I got it when I was eating pizza, so... Tell me what you guys think!
So, the next update it's going to be From Thedas to Westeros, then Overlord: The Demon Empress! Then I will come back to this one to update chapter number one.
Also, there is a small trigger warning. There is heavy stuff down! Please be careful!
See you guys in a few days!
(Authors note this is an Edit! 21/09/22)
Also, if you wish to support me with anything, please donate to my Pay Pal. It helps me greatly, and I am genuinely trying to keep doing this for as long as possible. Whatever you wish to donate would help me continue updating and (hopefully) buy me a better computer that would allow me to work without interruptions! Thank you to all who have supported me in the past. I love you all, and I hope you keep enjoying my work!
(paulydppal (at sign) hotmail . com )
Chapter 1
(Prologue)
A woman with an empty expression, lifeless eyes, and a somber face stared at the screen before her with nothing but sorrow. Soon everything would end for her. The dream of happiness was long gone for her. There was no need for her to continue living like this. So with a sigh, she decided just to finish her work. and hopefully, she won't endure more of the hellish life she was living.
The pay was not worth the suffering. Nothing was worth the treatment she endured daily. But then again, she was alone now. None would help her out.
"Miss Satoru, I need to report on floor nine," the woman shuddered when her boss called her.
"Yes, sir. Right away."
Suzuki Satoru replied immediately, avoiding the peering look of her boss in her direction. And for a time, she thought he would leave her alone. Please leave! Please! Satoru pleaded.
"Mm, you have been working so hard, miss Satoru. You're truly one of our best analysts. I wonder still why someone so smart and beautiful, it's always alone?" The bald man with a nasty nose and a grin on his face approached her from behind. The grotesque hands were caressing her shoulders. The smell of sweat and lust brought Satoru to her knees. She wanted to leave, to escape.
"Tell me, why is that?" He asked slowly.
"I don't know, sir..." Satoru replied with an almost empty tone of her voice. A coping mechanism of sorts. Satoru learned a while ago that they wanted a reaction. Something to make them feel good. The power they held was intoxicating, and she tried to avoid providing that.
"You have cute lips, my dear. And… Glorious body, I wish my wife had a body like yours. Don't you want to be a mother? Don't you want to get married?" He asked, leering his face closer to her.
Yet, she held back any response. Her face was stoic, and her voice dead.
"No, sir."
The response made the man growl, as he wanted to feel in control. He had his eyes on her for a long time. But he could be patient, and he would have her. Licking his lips, he groped her chest. That always made him happy, and most of the females there reacted with fear and impotence. Something he loved seeing. However, that was not the case with her. No matter how much he groped her, she was just there. No moving, no reacting. Nothing.
"I heard from a fellow friend of mine how good you're with your mouth," he leered lasciviously. "It's that true, my dear?"
Satoru didn't reply; her mind filled with those memories simply shut off.
"Would that be all, sir?" She said, devoid of all emotions.
Not good enough for him, and in a fit of rage, he pushed her to the desk, throwing away all the papers, and slapped her repeatedly. The girl did not react. Like a zombie, she was not responding to anything he did to her.
"Bitch!" He said as he undressed her forcedly.
"You are going to react to this!"
Satoru blocked her mind, dissociating herself from what was happening to her, just like many times in her past. Her mind was in another place, a better place away from what would happen to her. For her luck, the ugly pig man stopped before processing to do the deed. Someone interrupted him, and it was another of the analysts. The man growled again, like a pig to slaughter, as he, for one last time, punched Satoru in the face. Hissing insults and whatnot. The other analyst only meekly bowed her head as the pigman pushed her away.
"You better clean this and don't forget to come back tomorrow early. I will have you then," he said, leaving her alone.
Satoru whined softly, feeling the pain on her face. The other girl only stared at her with sorrow and dread. Knowing full well what could have developed if she hadn't interrupted. Yet, Satoru cares little for it. This is my last day. She thought while caressing her cheek.
Satoru stared at the other girl and advised the young recruit to leave this horrible place.
"You better leave… Before you end up like me. If you stay… Well, no one it's going to help you."
Satoru said as she cleaned up the mess left by the pigman.
Once her shift ended, she put on her mask and grabbed her umbrella since the acid rain was dangerous to someone's skin. The gloomy day was not unusual. The dark atmosphere was normal. It's been two weeks since she saw the sun. And from what the news said, it would be like that for a month or less. Not that it mattered. The toxic fog withholds the sun's light, and everyone knew how dangerous it could be to stand under it for a long period.
The life of the city was as usual. Full of lifeless corpses moving from one place to another one. Selling pastimes with no substance. The bright neon letters and big commercials promising a better life if you bought some products here and there only made someone's life worse. The poor quality of life was unavoidable for many. Except for the small percentage with careers. Those who worked in big companies or have an important last name.
Still, it was not all sunshine and rainbows, even for them. A bad transaction, deal, or investment could ruin them. Satoru has seen it firsthand.
Nevertheless, she kept on going with her horrible life because something was awaiting her at home. Yggdrasil, her home, her escape from the cruel world. A place where many like her could find something they couldn't find in the real world. A beautiful world, friends, and sometimes a reason to keep going.
But as everything that was once good in the world, it would soon end.
"Maybe I could find another game? Like Yggdrasil?" She whispered, still feeling the pain in her cheeks.
"Miss, please help this old person," Satoru looked at the ground near the entrance of an alley. A small person, an ugly person with a deformed face, long nose, and ear, was there. Satoru shivered at the sight of such a monstrosity. But it was not because of disgust but of sadness. No help to those who needed it. What a world. She thought.
"Please, something to eat. Do you have any?" The goblin-looking person said with a weak voice.
Satoru had a small bag of groceries on her. Normally she would ignore the homeless people. Not because of her being soulless but because some of them asked for money to spend on drugs. Or something worse. So, she would only give food or things like clothes or medicines. So with a sigh, she knelt before the small person and gave him some of her groceries.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Satoru smiled at the strange-looking person. Deformities or things like that were normal things to see. The toxic waste, among many other things, brought the worse of genetic mutation. That's why Satoru was not so surprised to see someone like the small dwarf person before her. Yet, there was something strange about such a person. She couldn't express it in words. But it was not normal.
"Thank you so much! I haven't eaten in days!"
"It's not a problem," Satoru replied, smiling.
"Miss, what happened to your face? You have an enormous bruise there," He said.
"Nothing… Nothing happened to me," Satoru replied immediately.
"Mm, I… You seem like someone who has suffered a lot. Yeah, those eyes, you have seen the worst of humanity, don't you?" Satoru now felt uncomfortable hearing those words. Great, a loony! She thought, deciding to move away from such a crazy person.
"Wait!" The small person said. "I want to give you something in return! To thank you for the food."
"Ah, you don't have to. It's okay!" Satoru replied with a bewildered voice.
"No, no! Please take this! It's better to be in the hands of someone like you!"
Satoru couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was a book. An old rustic book, but a book nonetheless. She stared at it; it honestly surprised her. She has never seen a book before, well, one made with actual paper. Most of the books now were of plastic or something like that. But the one she was holding in her hands was the real deal.
Satoru was sure something like this could be worth a fortune online. So, why does this person is giving it away? It confused Satoru, who held the book as if it was made out of glass.
"Why are you giving me this? Do you know this is worth a lot of money? You could buy yourself a house with this!" She exclaimed.
"Ah, it's not for sale. That book is a relic of a time when things were different. A time… Well, what is the time? But a fragment of someone's life? Ha ha!" Satoru was sure that person was nuts.
"Take it. It's of no use now… Like many things for us. I would have given you this," he pointed to a small stick, a dark stick. Deep inside his little box house. "But like I said before, it doesn't work anymore."
He said with a sad tone in his voice. Satoru could see the hurt in his eyes. "Sorry," she apologized.
"What for? You have done nothing wrong," the small man said with a nasty grin on his face.
"Ah, no, sorry?" That brought a bigger smile to his face. Satoru was not embarrassed or irritated.
"Funny muggle! Leave now, so I can eat in peace!"
Satoru huffed as she stood up, holding the book in her hands. "Rude people!" She whispered, ignoring the look on the small person behind her.
"Not all of them are bad… If we had learned that sooner… We could be here."
He whispered softly. None of the humans paid attention to him as they went their own way. Ignoring him completely. None noticed that inside of the small cardboard house in which he lived. Newspapers with moving images were covering its interiors of it.
"If we only knew..." He whispered, adding another depressing thought to the fog of the night.
Satoru sighed as she sat down on her chair, getting ready to get into Yggdrasil for the last day of the game. But as she was getting ready, she glared at the book on the table next to her. The book was beyond ridiculous. First, it was in Latin, and thanks to a translator, she could read some parts of the book without too much problem.
The book of Time and Magic was the title of the book roughly. The book spoke about how to create little things to go back a few minutes back in time or something. Translating the text was hard, but there was a part talking about the theory of reincarnation of something like. Satoru couldn't believe it. It was a sham book of magic or something. But then again, the materials used to write the book weren't anything like it. Why waste time creating such a phony book? She thought.
"Well, it was free..." She said.
"I will read it later."
"I bet, Tabula-san would love it. He was deep in that stuff," Satoru could feel pain in her chest when she remembered her old friend, but she hoped she could see him one more time.
That's all she could hope for now.
Satoru put on her VR and dived into the net, logging into her account in Yggdrasil and loading her character. Not noticing how the phony book was glowing. And as she loaded her character and appeared in the middle of her guild base. The book glowed for one last time before fading away like it was never there. Suzuki Satoru would never know why, but she would soon experience something truly magical.
"Pff, reincarnation, magic."
Deep inside the treasury of the Great Tomb of Nazarick were riches that exceeded the measure of normal to anyone who stared atit. A beautiful and exuberant white-haired demon hissed in annoyance. There she was, Suzuki Satoru, better known in the game as Galadriel Melkor. The guild master of Ainz Ooal Gown. The Demon Empress and a world champion of the Yggdrasil. Not that the titles mattered anymore, the game was ending. And no one would ever care for her achievements.
The reason for her to be there was that she was looking at her collection of items. And not only Divine class items, but World Items she collected the last few months.
"Of the 200 world items in Yggdrasil, I have 41! Fufufu! We would have become the strongest guild in the world because of this!" Galadriel said with a triumphal smile.
"Umuh, Longinus was the hardest to get, truly. The guy was crazy! 60.000 dollars for it!"
"Well, they were easy to get because they were getting sold in the black market of Yggdrasil. I was not the only one who wanted to collect them before the game ended. But they were not at my level! I had money to throw away, son!"
Galadriel laughed for a while until she stopped. The empty room, the silence. Nothing would make it go away. Looking at each of the statues of her friends, the time she took to make them, putting an item on them, and choosing which World Item they would like the most. All of that with the hope they would return.
"They could… Maybe they are late?" She whispered.
Galadriel stared at her creation, Pandora's Actor, who stood there, looking at her with no genuine expression on his face. Not that he had any face.
Pandora's Actor has become her shoulder to cry. She would speak to him almost every day of her life. Outside of Yggdrasil, she was alone.
"I got a book from a rude person today. Something about reincarnation and time. Well, guess what! It's bogus! Hahaha!" Galadriel smiled at him.
And just like many times before, Pandora's Actor didn't reply.
"Well, it was hard to read. I needed some help. Still, it is all nonsense reincarnation, the possibility of being reborn somewhere else in a different world or time. Yeah, such an absurd idea."
Galadriel sighed as she contemplated the idea of it. To be reborn in a better place. Far away from here. It sounded too good to be true.
"But if I could… I would love to take all of you with me… Perhaps knowing what is a normal family would be good?" Galadriel whispered.
"Hey, Pandoras, if I reborn somewhere, if I reincarnated… You could come with me, right? You will search for me?" Galadriel asked her stoic creation. She did not know why she was talking about it. Maybe it was melancholy or depression. But for her, those words meant a lot.
She had no one, nothing. Only Ainz Ooal Gown, the guild, her home.
"For how long could I keep up? Maybe, tonight is truly my last day."
Galadriel knew that without Yggdrasil acting as an anchor, she couldn't find a reason to keep going. It would be better for her to just end it.
"Maybe my next life would be more kind to me," Galadriel half-joked as she left the treasury, not knowing how those words would impact her future.
The depressing sigh followed by a soft sob from Galadriel showed the reality of her situation. HeroHero came to say goodbye. It was hard to see him gone. But it was harder to accept how alone she truly was. Galadriel wasn't able to tell him about all the World Items she gathered, about all the money she wasted on them.
"He left like the rest..."
Galadriel whispered as she sat down on the throne, the last representation of the mighty guild that was Ainz Ooal Gown. None of their enemies made it this far. A shame, truly. It would have been a glorious PvP fight. She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. They all had a life to live. Families and work, among many other things.
"At least, Herohero came. I can't be angry at that. He was so tired. I hope he takes a break."
Galadriel saw the Succubus next to her and cringed at the sight of such beauty. She changed the setting from she is a slut, so she is deeply in love with Galadriel Melkor. It was not her fault that Tabula was a crazy guy in love with character contradictions. Yet, it didn't matter. Nothing does.
"Everything it's going to be over soon," she muttered, as she could feel her heartbreaking.
Suzuki Satoru inspected her character for one last time. Galadriel Melkor. The Demon Empress, a job title she earned by being a World Champion. She wasted so much time and money on her. She made it out to be the perfect woman. The most stunning character she could think of. Tall, with a refined look on her face. Two golden eyes were full of power. Two horns embedded in gorgeous stones of million colors. An hourglass figure capable of bringing everyone to their knees. Confident and strong. Everything Suzuki Satoru wasn't in the actual world.
"A pathetic girl, that's what I am."
The timer was going down, and in a few seconds, it would pull her out of the game that saved her life. Only to face the harsh reality of her existence. What is the point of going on? To return home? What home? To get back to that awful place I call work? No, it's better if I close my eyes and wish it was all a dream. Galadriel thought, knowing full well what was waiting for her in her apartment.
"I'm sorry, mom… I can't continue like this."
Behind her VR headset, tears ran down her cheeks. The girl there was sobbing, crying for the life she had. Alone in the darkness of her room. While in the game, her character had a stoic face, not showing up the broken person inside.
"Yes, it was fun… It was truly fun."
00:03
00:02
"We will see each other again… All of you," Galadriel said for the last time, hoping that the eternal sleep she was going to take once the game ended would be pleasant. After all, the prospect of a quick dead looked to be a rather peaceful way to go.
00:01
Allowing herself one last cry, she gave her all as she closed her eyes. Ready to take the VR headset off and take a long stroll around the toxic park before finding a nice place to end herself. There were many buildings she could jump off. Maybe even a bridge. So many things to choose from. At least in death, the possibilities seemed endless.
00:00
But the possibility of it never came.
Galadriel felt as if blackness had taken her. Then, pain, like something was pulling her violently. She tried to open her eyes but couldn't do so. It scared her. Nothing makes sense. Her body felt heavy, and her arms and legs felt cramped. She cried in desperation, not knowing what was happening. It was at that moment that fear crawled into her soul. I don't want to die! Mom, I don't want to die! A thought Galadriel never thought possible. Since a few minutes ago, she had been so sure of wanting to end her own life.
Maybe it was the entire experience she was suffering now that brought that fear in her.
What was happening to her? Galadriel was not sure, but it was horrible. Then, a soft whimper and a cry of joy made Galadriel stop. It was not her. Deep in the obscurity, she could feel a warm hand. Something was making sure she was alright. It felt good, peaceful, and warm.
Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? Galadriel thought maybe she had a heart attack or something. Perhaps the cable behind her neck that she used to get in the web broke down and fried her brain. It would not be surprising if that transpired. It was something that could happen to anyone.
But whatever it was, the experience of harmony and tranquility Galadriel felt was worth the fear and pain of a few seconds ago.
Voices were out of her reach, like an echo in a cave, far away. Galadriel, puzzled by all, tried to move but to no avail. Again she could hear a voice. A female voice. But it was hard to understand what it was saying. She tried to relax her body, to think straight for once. So, taking her time, she opened her eyes. Slowly but surely, her body obeyed her. The light, however, was too bright for her. So much, and her body felt numb.
Galadriel saw shadows moving from one place to the other, saying words she was having a hard time understanding. Yet, more time passed by. The clear it all becomes.
"Look, Lily, she is beautiful! Our baby girl!" Galadriel's eyes winded at the male voice. The image was getting clear for her. The numbness slowly faded away. And now, Galadriel could distinguish the voices better.
"Oh, James, look at her! She is gorgeous!" Galadriel noticed the female voice, which sounded tired but still filled with life and joy.
Galadriel moved her head around, and as her eyes were seeing things better, it finally dawned on her what was happening. The reason her arms and legs were so small and that her body appeared diminutive. It was because she was a baby.
"Hello there, sweetie! It's mommy, hello!" Galadriel saw two bright green eyes, a soft expression, and lovely deep red hair. A woman like no other, and for what Galadriel gathered, it was her mother. Still, Galadriel was in shock. The only thing she could do was stare, stunned by everything.
"My turn now! Hi there! It's me, your daddy! You handsome and charming father!" A man with messy jet black hair and two rounded eyeglasses spoke to her. Again, the only thing she could do was stare.
"Merlin's bear, look at those eyes! They are so much like you, Lily. Yet she has my hair. Sorry for it!"
"Great," Lily muttered as she kept her daughter close to her. Lily noticed how the baby kept on staring at them with her mouth open, wondering where she was. The cute puffy cheeks and big red lips made for a beautiful baby. Lily would proudly say that there was no other baby girl as cute as her daughter.
After a long birth, she was glad nothing seemed wrong with her child. Yet, there was something strange. Lily couldn't put her finger on it. The more Lily watches her daughter, the more mesmerized she becomes with her. The baby had two deep green eyes just like her. But there was a golden light in her child's pupils. It was faint, but it was there.
And because of it, her eyes were more fascinating than her own.
"She is going to be incredibly beautiful once she grows up," Lily whispered.
"Of course, she will. It's your daughter."
"It's our daughter, James."
"Yes, it is," James said while kissing his wife.
"How should we name her? I knew we were thinking of Harry if it was a boy… But, your family always named the girls with flower names. So, what do you say?" James asked.
Lily thought for a second. Truly, she was thinking of something like that.
"Well, what about Harriet? I like it… It sounds elegant and soft like our baby."
James smiled at her. "Yes, Harriet Lily Potter, don't you think it's perfect?" He said.
"Yes, it truly is… A perfect name for a perfect girl," Lily said, softly kissing Harriet's forehead. The baby was still looking shocked by everything. It was an amusing sight. Lily wouldn't lie about that. It was almost as if she understood what Lily and James were saying. And Lily was not wrong because the baby truly understood everything.
"We need to show her to everyone! They are waiting!" James said excitedly.
Lily giggled at the sight of her husband's childish joy.
"Alright, let's show everyone our baby girl."
James smiled as he jumped right in and brought a group of people, all whispering in excitement at the baby girl resting in Lily's embrace. The cuteness of the baby was unbelievable.
"Merlin's saggy ball, Prongs! She is so cute! Hello there, I'm your godfather!" Sirius said excitedly while looking at his best mate's daughter.
"Sirius Black, not cursing in front of the baby!"
"Congratulations, Lily, James. She is truly beautiful, and she has Lily eyes, which are incredible. She is going to be very popular with the boys," Remus said, smiling at the reaction of both James and Sirius. As if he had just said the unforgivable words. The thought of it was horrible for James. He would never allow it, and Sirius was on the same mind.
"Thank you, Remus," Lily replied with a smile.
"Peter, come and look at her," James said as the fourth person of the Marauders approached the baby slowly. Peter smiled slightly, but watching those eyes was enough to make him shiver.
"She is cute," Peter said, hiding the actual intentions of his visit.
"Cute?! She is bloody gorgeous! My baby girl is the cutest baby in the entire world!"
"James Potter, stop cursing in front of Harriet!"
While everyone was talking about the baby named Harriet Lily Potter, none of them could know what was going through the mind of the baby girl at that moment.
Holy. Fucking. Shit! Galadriel, well, now, Harriet thought as she fainted.
In the middle of the night were shadows breathing in a crib, a baby girl staring at the roof like a fish out of water. The baby kept on staring, minute after minute. An entire week has passed since Suzuki Satoru, aka Galadriel Melkor, now named Harriet Lily Potter, arrived in this world.
Or born, whatever; she was here now.
It took days for Harriet to come to terms with everything. At first, like any other person, she thought she was dreaming. A hallucination of sorts, but it was not the case. Perhaps the toxic waste got her high or something. But then again, it was not possible. So there was only one thing left to think about. She was reborn.
In normal circumstances, she would have laughed at the absurdity of everything. But then again, how could she explain what was happening?
Just like that bogus book… Well, it's not bogus now. Oh my god, I can't still believe it. I was reborn! Harriet thought in amazement. The possibilities of it being a dream were high, but she doubted it. This was real. Yet it was not only that.
On the second day of her new life, she noticed something. And it was that she could see her stats. Harriet dreamed of Yggdrasil and Nazarick, and when she woke up, it surprised her to see her stats before her. Then Harriet discovered that she only needed to visualize her console, and it would appear. So, it raised an additional question in her mind. What was going on? Why could she see her stats? She came up with a theory, a ludicrous one at that.
The book of the strange dwarf creature gave her did this to her. And because she was in Yggdrasil, it somehow brought the game's mechanism here. Maybe it was only for her. She couldn't be sure about it. It was absurd, but there was nothing else she could think of right now.
I'm going crazy; that's the only thing I am sure about, Harriet thought.
Yet, it was also something that troubled her. Harriet saw her stats with a worried face.
Name: Harriet Lily Potter (Aka Galadriel Melkor)
One of the Almighty 41 Supreme Beings. Guildmaster.
Job: Demon Empress Title (Blocked)
Reincarnated Title (Unblocked)
Arcane Magic Warrior (Blocked)
Arcane Loyalist (Blocked)
Residences: Godric's Hollow (Currently) The Great Tomb of Nazarick (inaccessible)
Alignment: (Blocked)
Racial Level: (Blocked)
Job Level: (Blocked)
Wizard: 1
Ability Chart: (Blocked)
Arch-demon authentic form (Blocked)
Resistances (Blocked)
This is not good, Harriet thought nervously. She did try to use her items, but her inventory was unreachable. She could not use anything, but How? Harriet didn't know. However, it was not all bad. There was only one thing left, and it was to unblock her abilities. There has to be a way for her to do it.
Harriet also noticed some new stats. LikeResistance, Demon Authentic form, and the new job level, wizard. That was so bizarre. There was a limit to how many Job levels you could have. But now, she had a new one besides the other new stats. That brought a lot more questions to her.
But before she could keep thinking about it, Harriet's stomach trembled, and shrinking at what was coming, she couldn't help herself cry. She pooped herself. The reaction was to scream. She couldn't help herself. It was almost an intuitive reaction for her. To say it embarrassed her to be a baby would be a monumental understatement. Harriet couldn't do anything by herself. Moving was hard and tiresome. And no matter how much she tried to hold back, her body simply did those baby stuff. Like pooping, pissing, and puking.
For a grown woman, it was humiliating. Especially since she had to breastfeed. God almighty, I drink milk from another woman's tits. She thought. Harriet wanted to die and disappear from the world. Especially since the milk actually tasted great.
So letting her frustration out, she wailed hard so her parents could come and clean her poop. And it did; James Potter arrived wearing dark circles under his eyes.
"I'm here… I'm here," James said, yawning deeply.
"It's five in the morning… You're truly an early riser," James said.
James gagged at the smell coming from her daughter's diapers.
"How can something so cute do something so disgusting?" James said with a disgusting face.
Screw you! I am the one naked with poop splattered all over! Harriet thought, annoyed.
"Oh, Merlin's beard! It's bloody disgusting!" James wanted to puke, and Harriet felt bad for him. But not that bad.
"The things I do for love," James said dramatically.
James took his time cleaning and changing the diapers of his daughter. Harriet stared at him and the way he looked at her. He was making faces with the purpose of making her smile. He made goofy faces and crazy voices. Harriet just couldn't think of anything but how good of a person the man before her was.
A contrast to her last father. The man who made her life miserable for a long time. The man who pushed Suzuki Satoru's mother to the edge.
Harriet thought about how strange it was to have a father. So unreal and uncomfortable. A father who loves her child? It was unheard of for her. A truly sad reality for Harriet. Having a loving father brought mixed feelings to her. She was not sure of how she should react.
"There you go! All clean! My beautiful baby girl! Yes, you are!" James said, kissing and tickling Harriet. She giggled not because of him but how ticklish she was. Yet, it didn't change how weird everything was. Such a weird life.
James carried Harriet, and as they reached the kitchen, what she saw there startled her. There, her mother was cooking, but that was not the shocking part. Dishes were floating, and some pictures on the wall were moving. Now, that was strange. Harriet noticed the sticks in their hands, and the memory of that strange creature came to her mind. He had the same thing.
"Good morning, my dear wife, here I brought you a package," James said jokingly, as Harriet stared at him, insulted.
"She is not a package!" Lily replied in a huff.
"Come here, sweetheart, leave that fool behind," Lily said as Harriet was more than happy to leave her father behind. She was still feeling uneasy around him. Her mother, however, was different. The memories of Harriet's other mother came to her mind. A wonderful person, full of love and care. But the few memories of her were blurry. Most of them were of her, strained with everything, work, family, and her. Barely standing as she hides her sorrows with a smile. It was a horrible feeling to only remember the worst. Harriet thought of the day she came from school and found her dead on the floor holding a bill.
It was not something a kid should see; she was only nine.
Those memories were not good for her. So Harriet focused on the strange things happening around her parents. What are they? She thought.
"Hey, I'm not a fool!"
"Yes, you are!"
"You marry this fool. What does that make you?" James said with a proud smile. Harriet looked at her mother, wondering what she would reply with. And, of course, she couldn't.
"Stupid," Lily said, kissing the tip of James' nose. He replied with a kiss of his own. Shows of affection were so mysterious for Harriet. Two parents who loved each other? Well, it exists, and it was happening in front of her. The morning went by, and Harriet paid attention to everything they were saying. Even though she had to endure breastfeeding. She listened to all.
And there were things it worried her a great deal.
The only positive information she has now. It was that the world was the same as the old one. Well, that was what she thought, anyway. Harriet was currently located somewhere in the United Kingdom. The date, from what she could see in the newspaper with moving images, was August 6, 1980.
Then there was the big thing. Her parents, and herself, were part of the Wizarding World. Magic existed here. Magic. Her mother was a witch, and her father a wizard. Harriet tried to get not too overwhelmed by that bit of information. But then it brought down new knowledge on her. Did magic exist back in her old world? If that was the case, then what happened? It was the plot of a movie or a fantasy book, for sure. Yet, she continued to listen to her parents while she was sitting on a high chair, playing with a weird toy that kept on evading her hands. The topic reached a serious point.
"What did Dumbledore tell you? Are we safe?" Lily asked in a preoccupied voice.
"he told us to keep a low profile… We don't know who is the spy among us. He has been quiet recently. Dumbledore wants us to use the Fidelius Charm," James said with a sigh.
"Fidelius Charm? James, that's dangerous. If we use the wrong person…."
"We could use Dumbledore as our secret keeper. Or Sirius, he would never betray us."
"I don't know… James, Dumbledore has been very obsessed with Harriet for some reason. I don't like it."
"I know, I know… But what else should we do? Dumbledore has been telling us that Harriet is in danger. And I understand why you feel like that too. I also don't like the secrecy surrounding Dumbledore's obsession with our daughter. He is hiding something… I know he is."
"Don't you think he is onto something?" Lily asked, worried.
"He is Dumbledore. He is always onto something."
James exhaled tiredly. The war has been taking a toll on him and Lily. He never thought of distrusting Dumbledore like he was now. But he had a daughter, someone he wanted to keep safe and out of harm's way. But the way the old wizard was acting didn't sit well with James. Something was going on. He could feel it. He may be a Gryffindor, but he was not dumb.
"What should we do?" Lily asked.
"I don't know..."
Harriet listened to everything with keen interest. They were hiding from someone who wanted her dead for an odd reason. And who was that, Dumbledore? Harriet didn't like what she heard at all. Now that she thought about it, both of her parents seemed tired and stressed out. And not necessarily because of her.
"Do you think that we should have waited before… Before having a baby? Maybe it was not a good idea after all," Lily said, almost sobbing. The red-haired mother was afraid, not of dying, but of something happening to her daughter. Lily would die a thousand times of Harriet with no question asked. But what if it was not enough? Why was Voldemort aiming at her daughter? Why did Dumbledore refuse to tell them the truth? What the secrecy? The more she thought about it, her heart seemed to clench. It was painful, such horrible to even think that.
James hugged his wife, the love of his life, as the young mother sobbed.
"Hey, everything it's going to be alright. I'm here… Don't worry," James whispered.
"Look at you, your makeup. It's all drenched. You don't want to look ugly, right?" James joked.
"Ugly? Me? Haven't you seen yourself in the mirror?" Lily replied, softly laughing.
"Please, I'm a natural beauty."
"Where do you think Harriet got her charming looks?" Lily slapped his chest softly while James smirked at her.
"Why don't we take a small stroll in the park nearby? A bit of fresh air will be good for us," James said.
"Are you sure about it?" Lily asked, concerned.
"Yes, come on, let's dress up our dear baby in those cute costumes we bought her, in that muggle shop you took me!" James exclaimed as Lily giggled at her husband's energy.
"Alright, let's get Harriet nice and clean! Oh, I have so many dresses for her! You are going to look divine!" Lily said, squealing with joy at the image of her daughter wearing that cute pink dress she bought for her. Harriet groaned as Lily picked her up. I hate pink! She thought in horror.
Regardless of how annoyed she was at the idea of walking with her new set of parents, Harriet couldn't deny how weird it felt. Something warmed her chest, her heart. This is stupid, really stupid. Harriet was not sure what she should expect in this new life, but there was hope it would not be as bad as she thought.
Maybe, and just maybe perhaps, for the first time in her life. Something good could happen to her. Who knows? A new start, new possibilities.