Child of the Forest and the Ocean

Chapter 20

Two days after his escape from hell, Harry strode down the streets of Godric's hollow rain bouncing off his dark blazer. He could've used his power to pull the rain away from him, but for today he wouldn't do that. Today was a day of remembrance and closure.

Purple and green eyes stayed locked ahead, but well-kept middle-class houses in the style of the early 1950s lined either side of the streets in the periphery of his vision, water feeding their freshly cut lawns.

Stopping before a set of iron gates, Harry placed his hand on the metal. Even after close to seventeen years, he could still feel the lay line magic burned into the metal from that fateful night.

The hinges squeaked as he pushed the gate open.

He wandered down the cracked cement walkway, tall grass on either side almost hiding it from view.

Reaching the end of the walkway, he stared up at the silver statue of a young woman, cradling her child, the man's arms wrapped around her waist.

Water ran down the shining metal, but it did nothing to take away from the shining smiles on the statues faces.

This statue is to commemorate the Potters, who gave their lives to fight the darkness, and to show us all wherever evil treads, there will always be good to stand against it.

"Man that is awful."

Harry turned, his mother moved gracefully down the path, an umbrella clutched in one hand.

As she walked, grass bound itself together on either side of her, becoming dogwood trees, white blossoms blooming amongst the green leaves.

By the time she reached Harry, the grass was perfect, the new trees on either side of the newly restored walkway offering some protection against the rain.

She stopped before him, the edges of the formfitting black dress she wore gliding across the ground. Pulling the jacket draped across her shoulders closed, she stared up at the statue. "It's funny, the wizarding world never liked me when they thought I was alive, but they paint me as a hero once I died."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Harry leaned back on his heels, "So, how did you know I was here?"

"Well after what James did for us in the underworld, I figured you would want to come and pay your respects. Since he didn't have a body to bury, I thought you would come here where it all began."

Harry inclined his head, "Smart."

A smirk played across Pamela's bright red lips, "Of course, I'm your mother."

They stood in silence for a moment.

Finally, Harry turned to face his mother, "Did you ever think about coming back? You know starting a new family."

"No," Pamela replied keeping her eyes locked on the statue, "I didn't. The wizarding world is full of more corruption then the mundane world. Old money still holds a lot of power, add to that less laws to protect the citizens, and what they did to your uncle I couldn't bear to be a part of it anymore."

"Uncle?"

"His name was Sirius Black. He was your father's best friend. Two days after our house blew up. He hunted down the one who betrayed us, Peter Pettigrew. Peter blew up the street, framing your uncle for the murder of twelve innocents and escaped in the blast. Two days later they tossed your uncle through the veil of death without a trial."

Harry winced, he had heard of the veil of death, anyone who was tossed through it never returned, although he had a suspicion that it was a portal to another world. He never actually wanted to sneak into the ministry of magic to test it.

"It's thanks to your uncle," Pamela continued bringing Harry out of his thoughts, "that I was able to resurrect you. After his death, he left James and I everything he owned, it was thanks to a book in his family library I was able to piece together a spell to bring you back."

"So, what happened to Peter Pettigrew?"

"He died painfully, with roses growing out of every pore, and tears of blood running down his face."

Harry winced at the image, but nodded. He would have probably done something similar, but it wouldn't have involved flowers.

Pamela shook her head, wet crimson hair slapping either side of her face. "You know it's funny, I killed Peter Pettigrew for giving our location to Tom Riddle, but Tom Riddle gets off scot-free."

In a burst of purple light, Zatanna appeared before the statue, leather pants clinging to her legs, and a leather jacket billowing in the wind of her arrival, revealing the white T-shirt beneath.

Harry glanced at her as she swept her long dark hair out of her face, her polished clear fingernails shining even in the rain, "Is it done?"

"Yes."

Pamela raised a manicured crimson eyebrow, "Is what done?"

A smirk twisted Harry's lips, "Zatanna and I didn't like how Riddle got off scot-free either, so Zatanna used a hair she picked off his body to bind his magic to a nearby lay line. As long as that lay line exists, Riddle will never be able to use magic again."

Zatanna looped her arm with Harry's, "That last bit was Harry's idea, I suggested just binding it with our blood, but Harry said all Riddle would have to do was kill us, and his power would be unbound, so we decided to bind it to the land, and use a lay line to power it."

Pamela threw back her head and laughed, a deep belly laugh that had tears running down her face. When she finally got her breath under control, she wiped her eyes with a finger. "Oh that is priceless. I wish I could see his face."

Both Harry and Zatanna bowed at the waste, matching mischievous grins on their faces.

Together, the trio turned and began walking down the path.

"I've decided I need to do a bit of traveling," Pamela said as they neared the iron gate. "I need to find myself again. I need to become someone who doesn't have the baggage of Lily Potter, or the darkness of Pamela Isley."

Harry opened his mouth, but Pamela raised her hand, "You need to stay here, Harry," she turned to him, a soft smile on her face, "you have built a life here. It would not be right of me to take you away from that."

Stepping forward, Harry placed both hands on his mother's shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Pamela smiled, patting his cheek with her hand, a mischievous smile spread across her face, "just don't make me a grandma too soon."

The two teen's mouths dropped open, their faces flushing a bright red.

Cackling madly, Pamela disappeared in a swirl of green energy.

Pamela's laughter still ringing in the air, Zatanna sauntered forward looping her arm through Harry's again, "So, what now?"

Leading the way out of the gate, Harry looked up at the sky as the sun began to peek out through the rain clouds. "You know, I've always wanted to learn more about magic, so what do you say we tour the world?"

Turning Harry to face her, Zatanna pulled him into a gentle kiss, when they broke apart she leaned her forehead on his. "Sounds perfect."

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Harry stared into her eyes. His past may have been full of death and darkness, but his future sure looked bright. "Yes, yes it does."

Epilogue

Elevator doors hissed open, revealing the large sub-basement of Sunset Industries, a large square room with thick shining metal walls.

Harry strode out from the elevator, the footsteps of his polished dress shoes echoing on the concrete floor. His arms swung back and forth, the golden ring on his ring finger catching the light. His shaggy dark hair flattened in the industrial-strength air-conditioning.

He stopped a foot away from an ankh, a large cross with a hoop at the top painted on the floor in the center of the room. Intricate runes that always seem to be slithering along encircled the ankh in a six foot wide circle.

Zatanna slipped her hand into his, her large diamond wedding ring clanking against his. She stared at the circle, flipping her long dark ponytail over her shoulder.

She glanced up at Harry, her eyes lingering on the thin mustache that framed the side of his lips, forming a small beard on his chin. "Are you sure this will work?"

"We spent the past ten years learning new magic and developing a spell to free your father from Nabu, if this doesn't work, nothing will."

"That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

Harry tightened his grip on her hand, "Relax, everything will be fine."

Tucking a loose strand of long dark hair behind her ear, Zatanna glanced at him. "So, are you excited about seeing your mother? It's been five years since her last visit."

"Yeah, I'm kind of nervous about what she'll think about what I have done with the company though."

"Your mother's going to be ecstatic. You've tripled the company's earnings, and reduced the world's carbon footprint by fifteen percent."

Leaning forward, Harry pressed a kiss to her temple, letting his free hand trailed down her torso to settle on her stomach. "Thank you, but how are you doing? Are you nervous about our upcoming addition?"

Zatanna ley her slender hand across his much larger one, "No, I'm sad that my father missed our wedding, but I'm more determined than ever that he meet his grandchild when he or she is born."

"Well then, we better get this show on the road."

Pamela emerged from the floor, her dress of dark green leaves hugging her curves, her bright red hair framing her face and cascading down her back. She glided forward, the hymn of her dress dragging along the ground like a cape.

"You both look wonderful," she said wrapping an arm around each, her dark green fingernails digging into their clothes as she pulled them tight against her body.

Pulling back, she gave them both a knowing smile, her bright green eyes twinkling, "What's this I hear about a little one on the way?"

Zatanna rubbed her stomach through the red blouse she wore, a soft smile on her face. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh dear, that's wonderful," Pamela exclaimed pulling Zatanna into a hug again.

Together the trio walked over to the circle. Standing on the runes, they formed a ring. Chanting long extinct words of power, pressure settled in the air. Green, blue, and purple electricity danced across their skin before converging in the center of the circle, causing the ankh to glow a brilliant white.

With a sensation like their stomachs dropping out from under them, their spirits shot up and out their of their bodies.

–XX –

The trio found themselves standing in the darkness with a single shaft of light a short distance away illuminating the floating helm of Nabu.

"Who dares enter the home of Nabu," a voice boomed shaking the darkness.

Zatanna stepped forward, her purple green eyes full of determination. "I do, Zatanna Zatara. Now give me my father back."

"Your father chose to put on the helmet of Nabu of his own free will, now leave!"

"There have been no major magical threats for ten years. The world no longer needs Nabu, or Doctor Fate."

"Foolish girl, the world will always need Doctor Fate to stand sentinel against those who would attack it when he is not watching."

"So be it," Zatanna moved back to the others. Being in spiritual form, they could much more easily channel the lay line magic of the world, but there was a greater risk of them being lost in its flow.

Reaching out with their minds, they pulled as much of their world's magic into their bodies as they good handle. With their eyes glowing with power, they began to chant ancient Elven words of power.

The unnatural word's flowed haltingly from their mouths at first, before becoming a smooth chorus.

A weight settled on their shoulders, almost forcing them to their knees, but with hard eyes, they locked their legs into place, auras of energy blossoming around their bodies.

The energy around them tugged at their bodies, threatening to sweep them away. With mouths set in a firm line, they tightened their grip on each other's hands.

The darkness began to shake, bolts of pure white electricity arcing everywhere.

A golden dome appeared around the helmet, "You fools. I am a Lord of order you think old magic can hurt the one who taught it to your world."

"You would be right," Harry panted beads of sweat running down his face, "if this was earth magic. Now, let's see how you do with magic from the fair land."

One by one beams of rainbow colored energy shot from the trio's eyes.

They struck the golden dome in a triangle formation, easily shattering it, continuing on into the four head of the helmet.

The helmet flickered, and for the first time they could make out Zatara's form in the light. Stepping forward as one, the trio applied more power to the beams, causing them to grow larger.

A foot away from the beam, Zatanna released Pamela's hands.

Reaching into the light, Zatanna grabbed her father's wrist and pulled.

The moment her father's arm moved out of the light, the world exploded in brilliant energy.

–XX –

For the first time in ten years, Giovanni Zatara's light blue eyes fluttered open. Placing a hand on the warm Ankh beneath him he slowly rose to his feet, smoothing out the wrinkles of his suit.

"Dad?"

Zatara turned, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as a much older version of his daughter than he remembered stepped hesitantly forward, her eyes glimmering with tears.

"Zatanna?"

"Daddy," Zatanna sprinted forward throwing herself into her father's arms.

–XX –

That night, as Zatanna and Harry lay cuddled in bed, a glowing gold Ankh shone on Zatanna's stomach.

End