Pre-Story Authors Notes:

Greetings True Believers! I am Ghost and my co-writer is my girlfriend - now wife - Miracle, and welcome to Harry Potter and the Gemini Curse! This story is now 300,000 words long and complete!

This story is a slow-burn fusion work, which means we borrowed certain elements from other fandoms to fill certain gaps from Rowling's novels (for example, the Headmaster of Ilvermorny, here, is Doctor Stephen Strange from Marvel Comics.) We have also introduced original concepts of our own - most prominently, the Alcheringa Academy of the Magical Arts, a school of magic that services Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. We hope you enjoy our story as much as our hundreds of followers and reviewers have, and we're happy to announce that there is a sequel on the way. We also have another story - Harry Potter and the Shards of Heaven - for fans of darker narratives or Brandon Sanderson's novels, which served as a major inspiration.

The first eight or so chapters of this story serve mostly as prologue and setting, so if you find you aren't enjoying our work - which is totally fine - we highly recommend jumping to chapter nine before leaving, as that is where the plot kicks into high gear. Alcheringa and Ilvermorny show up for the Triwizard Tournament in Act II.

We hope you all enjoy this story, and even though the story is now complete, we always answer reviews! So if you have any questions or thoughts, please hit that big button at the bottom of the page!

Harry Potter and the Gemini Curse

Act I: The Prisoner of Azkaban

When Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley wake in the aftermath of the Chamber of Secrets with a mysterious tattoo burned into their necks, they are understandably scared for their lives. But when the true nature of the mark is revealed, they are forced on an epic journey to discover just who placed the Gemini Curse upon them, and why.

Disclaimer:

"Ghost, you stupid idiot! Get off your ass!" Ghost, panicking at the sound of his girlfriend's screams of rage, jumped to his feet and dived behind the black leather couch as a bolt of ominous purple light streaked overhead.

"Yes, dear?" He called from his hiding place, desperately thinking of what he had done. He started ticking off dates on his fingers. It wasn't Valentine's Day. It wasn't Mother's Day. It wasn't anyone's Birthday… at least he didn't think it was.

"You almost forgot the disclaimer!"

Ghost's face went pale. He knew he'd forgotten something. Frowning, he looked up at the clock on the far side of the room.

"Don't worry Miracle, I've got it covered!"

Miracle, a woman with green eyes and long blonde hair, accented by red highlights at its tips, stuck her head, and her phaser borrowed from the Captain Piccard of Earth 1231, over the couch. Ghost gulped and turned towards the window behind him. It was not a normal window, as instead of looking out on the Pacific Ocean outside the house, it looked out onto a sea of red liquid dust, punctuated by the occasional sphere of blue light that would float past.

Looking at the window like he was on the Office, he cringed as Miracle's phaser pressed against his neck.

"The world of Harry Potter, its characters, locations or creatures are all the property of J.K. Rowling, a goddess among mortals we could never hope to emulate. We merely wish to thank her by playing in her sandbox. We also have no rights to any other franchises we may happen to reference or allude too."

Ghost smirked.

"Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the…." Ghost was cut off by a phaser blast to the back of his head.

Act I, Chapter 1: The Gemini Rune

"We shouldn't be doing this," Anneliese Celestial stated as she walked down the cold stone floor of the Chamber of Secrets.

"So, what? We should just leave them down here to die?" Clara Hunter asked her. The red-haired woman walked confidently three steps in front of Anneliese, golden robes trimmed in white billowing out behind her like a cape.

"Yeh but they won't die, will they? That's not how this timeline works. Don't tell me it's not. I was a Harry Potter fangirl long before you ascended Clara." Anneliese pointed out. To a mortal, Anneliese Celestial was a sight to behold. Dressed in a flowing white strapless gown, with crystal blue eyes, honey blonde hair and wings made of crackling silver energy protruding from her shoulders, she appeared like an Angel in every sense of the word. The word Angel was, of course, the perfect word to describe the woman, because that was precisely what she was.

"The Great Destroyer reaped massive destruction across all of creation, and it's our fault! You're going to let this world decay into the Dark for the sake of the Accords?" Riker Celestial, Anneliese's brother, snapped from his position to Anneliese's right. He was dressed in navy blue and red armour with a dark cloak slung across his shoulders, and a strange symbol of a four-pointed star over his chest, only the fourth arm of the star appeared to be broken.

"You cannot possibly be blaming yourself for what happened," Anneliese exclaimed as they neared the centre of the chamber, where the body of a giant, dead, snake lay prone on the floor.

"I'm not blaming myself thank you very much. I'm blaming us, plural. If we had just paid more attention to what was happening at the World Forge, we could have prevented all this."

"Can we please stop arguing and just do what we came to do?" Clara asked as she walked around the serpent's giant head, stepping gingerly over a ruby-encrusted sword covered in black venom lying on the ground.

Hidden by the snake's body were three figures; a boy with messy black hair, a girl with long red hair like Clara's, and a magnificent bird with red and gold feathers who was standing guard over the two children. Discarded half a meter away was a black book with a fang from the dead creature plunged through its centre.

"This is exactly what happened in the original timeline you do realise. Why aren't they awake?" Anneliese asked.

"I don't know." Clara pulled a metal rod carved with runes from her robes and waved it over the two unconscious figures. "My only guess is that they're suffering from the same damage that the others we visited are. The Destroyer is nothing if not cunning, and It has left a taint across the Orrery of Worlds. It knew full well who to target. The Multiverse's greatest heroes. You were there when we had to heal the Superman of Earth 0. If someone that powerful and important to the cosmic balance could be tainted by It, what chance do they have?"

Anneliese sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"The Multiversity Accords expressly forbid what you're about to do, you do realise that."

"Who cares! This is a matter of life and death. And besides, the Multiversity cleared the us to do everything in our power to rectify the damage done. At least we don't have another Incursion Crisis on our hands. That was a nightmare," Riker groaned.

Clara had apparently ignored both of them and proceeded to drain a strange tattoo of a black dragon breathing a red phoenix wreathed in flames from its mouth from her arm and into the tip of her silver wand. She placed the tip over the red and green scar on the boy's arm and let the ink flow beneath his skin. The injury vanished, replaced by the strange marking. The sorceress moved to the back of the boy's neck and began to trace a new pattern. It was two vertical lines, bisected by two horizontal lines so that it looked almost like the Roman numeral for two. Turning to the girl, she traced the same pattern onto her neck, before stepping back and sliding her wand back into her robes.

"I've done everything I can for them. Let's hope it's enough to save this world."

"We've done enough damage to the timeline as it is. We need to go." Anneliese said, before vanishing in a flash of white light.

"Bloody Angels," Riker moaned before he too vanished.

"Harry! Ginny!" A voice called from the other side of the chamber, and, with a grin on her face, Clara Hunter disappeared from the Chamber of Secrets in a swirl of golden dust.

Of all the dreams that Harry Potter could remember having, the one he was having right now was definitely the strangest, and that was saying something. He was standing on a sandy shore, waves crashing around his bare feet. Harry had never seen the ocean, so he wasn't entirely sure how he could be seeing it in a dream. He was also sure the sea surrounding Britain was very cold, so why the water was nice and warm around his toes, he honestly had no idea. Across the ocean, however, was what looked like a city. And a magnificent one at that. Silver towers soaring into the sky, all of them seemingly floating on crystal clear water. Gliding around the towers were a dozen Dragons and Phoenixes of different colours, sizes and hues. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But he felt so lonely. Like there was something deep inside that was missing from him. And every part of his mind screamed at him that the thing that was missing was inside the city. And he had no way to get to it. The ocean was so vast, and Harry did not know how to swim. Nor was there any bridge between the beach Harry was standing on, and the silver city across the sea. So, Harry was forced to stand in the shallows and stare in longing and awe at the towers. And he was forced to watch in horror as the sky above the city darkened, and lightning flashed from the clouds, falling down upon the tallest tower, obliterating it in a flash of light.

Harry screamed as he snapped his eyes open and bolted upright. His hand instantly went to the mark on the back of his neck. The black ink burned to the touch. Harry groaned and fell back against the misshapen pillow of his bed in the smallest bedroom of number 4 Private Drive. This was the fifth time he had watched as the Silver City was destroyed from above, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to get there. He just knew that if he could get to the city, he could find out what the force was after, and repel it. And maybe, just maybe, if he reached the city, he could find whatever piece of him was trapped inside.

Harry wasn't sure how he knew exactly, but he did. He had known ever since he had woken up after the first dream in the hospital wing that something had vanished from him down in the Chamber of Secrets. He felt this near-constant sense of loss. It was always there, gnawing at the back of his head. Or more accurately, the back of his neck. That had also been a shock when he woke up in the Hospital Wing. According to Professor Dumbledore, the black ink tattoo had been on both his and Ginny's necks after Ron had found them unconscious in the Chamber. The Headmaster had no idea how it had gotten there, or what it meant. He had tried to remove them, but all his attempts resulted in him flying back across the room. Dumbledore believed that the tattoo was some form of curse bestowed upon the pair in Tom Riddle's final moments, similar to Harry's lightning bolt scar being a relic of Voldemort's first attempt to kill him as a baby.

The scar gave Harry the power of Parseltongue – the ability to speak snake language – and the power to sense when Voldemort was nearby. The question Harry kept constantly asking himself was whether Voldemort's latest curse would give him any new ones. Harry was still conflicted over whether the tattoo was actually a curse. Sure, the sense of longing and depravity he constantly felt was annoying and uncomfortable, but it also didn't seem like the type of curse Voldemort would use. Wouldn't a person like Voldemort – supposedly the most power Dark Wizard of the century – use a curse to inflict pain on the bearer, like his scar did? Harry wasn't sure, but he felt there was more to the tattoo than he or even Dumbledore knew. There was also the question of why Ginny had the same mark in the same place. Was it a coincidence? Or was it something else? He needed to talk to Ginny when he saw her again, to see if she was experiencing similar or different effects.

A sharp throbbing brought his attention to his right arm. Madam Pomfrey called it Phantom Pain, caused by the Basilisk Venom he had taken in before Fawkes the Phoenix had healed him. Despite the lack of a scar, or any trace of the venom in his system, the point on his arm where the wound had been gave the occasional twinge of pain. It was nothing compared to what his Uncle used to do to him, but it was annoying.

Realising he wasn't getting back to sleep, Harry rolled on his side and looked at the alarm clock. It was three in the morning. Damn.

A tap echoed from the window. Hedwig, Harry's owl companion, was hovering outside, a large package in her claws. Frowning, Harry opened the window and let the snowy owl inside. Hedwig dropped the box on the end of the bed before landing on her perch, tucking her head under her wing, and going to sleep.

Harry sat back down on his bed and picked up the package. It was wrapped in brown paper with a letter taped to the front. Harry's birthday had been a few days ago, so receiving presents now was strange, to say the least. He had also sent Hedwig away, as Aunt Marge was currently staying in the house, and Harry refused to risk his Aunt's wrath by having her around. Harry opened the letter and gasped when he realised who it was from.

Dear Harry

I'm sorry this is so late, I didn't know when your birthday was, and Ron wouldn't tell me. He said, "Why would Harry want a present from you?" and stormed off. But anyway. As you already know, we're in Egypt with Bill at the moment, and the day we got here him, and Charlie sat me down and asked me about everything that happened last year. It wasn't very fun, but I found it sort of therapeutic, in a way. Their approach was certainly better than Mum's method of forgetting it ever happened or Ron and Percy's of treating me like I'm made of glass. Bill was especially interested in our tattoo. I told him how we have no idea what it is or how it got there, and that Dumbledore didn't know either and was going to look into it. Then Bill said that had to be… well, he used a rather vulgar word I don't think I should repeat, but he said that Dumbledore had to be lying, because Bill recognised the mark instantly. He said it's a rune called Gemini and it means "together" or "bond". Apparently, Ancient Runes can have different meanings depending on the context of their drawing or something. I'm not really sure. He also said it's one of the most powerful runes known to Wizard-kind because it's one of the twelve Zodiac Runes. Bill's a curse breaker, and he got an Outstanding on his Ancient Runes NEWT, so he knows what he's talking about.

I also told him about the weird stuff that's been happening to me since I woke up. Not like the Diary. But still weird. Professor Dumbledore has visited me three times since we woke up in the Hospital Wing. And every night after he visits, I have the same dream. That I'm trapped in a city with silver towers that I've never seen before, and every time I'm there the city gets attacked by something. The first time it was a tidal wave, the second time an invasion of some kind, the third an explosion in the centre and the fourth another flood. It's like the dream is trying to get me to search for something in the city, but every time I try, it gets attacked before I can find it. Charlie thinks it has something to do with the Gemini Rune, that maybe it's trying to send me a message of some kind. He says Dragons communicate like that sometimes. It's one of the things he's researching at the reserve. There's also the feeling of longing that seems to be always stuck with me. I can't shake it. It's like a piece of me is missing, and I'm trying to find it.

Bill says he's going to keep researching, and he's agreed that if Dumbledore is lying to us that keeping it secret from him is a must. We need to know why he lied, and what else he's keeping from us. He did get blown across the room when he tried to remove it, so it's definitely something he doesn't like. But who knows what it means for us.

Either way, I think we need to talk when we see each other again.

Attached is my late birthday present to you that I'm sending with Hedwig, who showed up out of the blue today as I was trying to convince Errol to take it to you. Your owl is really smart just saying. It's a book on Ancient Runes, particularly the Zodiac Runes. I have Bill's old copy, so I figured you should have one to and bought one at a flea market here while Mum wasn't looking. I didn't know whether you're taking Ancient Runes this year and figured if you are it could help, or if you aren't it could be interesting to learn more about this. I also put a small necklace I found with the twelve zodiac symbols on it in with the book. It's not much, but I thought you might like it.

Hope you had a good birthday.

Love Ginny.

So, Ginny was experiencing the same things he was. And he would bet all the considerable money in his vault that those dreams she was having coincided precisely with his. And why would Dumbledore have lied? He definitely needed to know more about the tattoo, or the Gemini Rune as Bill had called it. Putting the letter aside, Harry ripped away the wrapping paper to reveal a book with a gold and white cover, with the words Ancient Runes of Forgotten Civilisations by Riker O'Neill embossed across the front.

Placing the book in his trunk and promising himself that he would read it as soon as Aunt Marge was gone, he quickly bundled up the wrapping paper and shoved it in the bin. As he did so, a small golden amulet fell onto the floor. Picking it up he smiled as he admired the simple gold chain. It was a circular pendant with twelve small white symbols around the outside. There were several dents and marks in the metal, but he put the necklace around his neck anyway. He lay back on his very uncomfortable bed and drifted off to sleep, the smile never leaving his face.

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