HPGoA

-First Dream-
The Continuation of the Dream

"Your Highness, please stay here. I shall go get someone right away. Please endure until then. I shall certainly bring our troops here."

Artoria Pendragon felt herself laid down to rest against a tree as consciousness slowly returned. She had fought a war against her own people and killed her own child. In her last moments she had cried out for the Holy Grail, hoping for a chance to redo things. To let someone else be King. Someone more skilled, better suited to keeping the country together. And yet, after reaching her goal and obtaining the Grail, she had destroyed it with her own hands. And in the end -

Shirou - I love you.

She had said those words. Her duty completed, she had allowed herself to become a human rather than a King. And with that, they had parted. Their time together had been little more than vapor in the wind, lasting but scant few moments before disappearing once more. Still, even as short as it had been, it had meaning.

She allowed her eyes to open up and look at her loyal knight. Even now, he was frantically readying himself to depart, to look for anything that might save his King. And so she called out to stop him. "Bedivere."

"Your Highness?! Have you regained your consciousness…?!"

"…Yes. I was watching a dream." Artoria smiled slightly at the thought. Yes, perhaps that was the best way to think of it. A pleasant dream. Something to wish for, but that she could never hold.

"A dream…?" Her knight replied as though searching, hopeful that this small conversation would keep allow her to live.

"Yes. I have not seen many dreams, so I had a valuable experience."

"...That is great. Then please be at ease and rest. I shall go get the troops in that time."

Perhaps she made some sound, whether of surprise or desire for his words to be true. Her knight looked startled for a moment and asked, "Your highness? Have I been rude…?"

"No, I was just surprised at your point. I did not know a dream could be seen after one awakens. Are you saying I will be able to see the same dream if I close my eyes again…?"

Her knight hesitated before answering, "Yes. If you strongly desire so, you should be able to continue watching the same dream. I have that experience as well."

"I see. You are knowledgeable, Bedivere." Indeed, though he was the weakest of the members of her Round Table, he was often the one she had relied upon the most. He was the one who had never faltered in his loyalty and stood by her even now, when her failure was at its greatest. If he said that she could see that dream again one day, then perhaps she could truly hope it would be true.

However, before that could happen, she would ask one final task of him. She would ask for him to discharge her final duty in her place.

She takes a breath before commanding, "Bedivere. Take my sword. Pass through this forest and go over that blood-stained hill. There is a deep lake beyond it. Throw my sword into that lake."

"Your Highness, that is-!"

Her knight knows the meaning of this command, of course. Her sword was the proof of her kingship, and what served to protect the King. In returning it, she was declaring an end to her reign, as well as the end to her life. It was a harsh command that she had given him, but she would not retract it. "Go. Once you have accomplished my order, return here and tell me what you saw."

Her knight hesitated before finally taking her sword and leaving. It would test his loyalty, but he would ultimately obey, she was sure. She let out a slow breath, her gaze wandering to sunlight filtering through the leaves overhead. Though the sun was still high, the forest already seemed to be growing darker.

"I am sorry, Bedivere." It seemed that she would fail to see his final task to the end. Her eyes gradually close, her thoughts turning to her dream, hoping to see it once more.

Eventually the knight returned, sword still in hand, but his King was no longer there.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

By all accounts, Harry Potter was a strange child. He spent as much time away from home as he could get away with, but had few, if any, friends that he spent his time with. His cousin (bless the little tyke's heart) would often seek Harry out to include in his games, but Harry still preferred being on his own more often than not. He would often be seen doing chores around the house, particularly maintaining his Aunt's garden, and though his teachers would often describe him as a bright child, he was still seen as one who consistently underperformed for some reason. His Aunt and Uncle often described him as a delinquent to just about anyone who would listen.

Of course, none of this was really without reason. At some point in Harry's life, his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had decided he was a freak. He wasn't quite sure when, since they had called him that for as long as he could remember. Regardless, since he was a freak, they were determined to straighten him out. Of course spending time away from home was preferable when the alternative was getting hit whenever he did his chores too slowly or shoddily for his relatives' liking, and no matter how quickly or well done his work, it was always too slow and too poor. Even worse was when they would lock him in his cupboard for days at a time without any food.

That was without even getting into his cousin Dudley's games. Dudley had all sorts of mean-spirited games that he played along with his gang of followers, but the most popular by far was "Harry Hunting." Simply put, Harry would lead them all on a merry chase and if Dudley caught Harry, then Harry would be beaten by Dudley's gang. If Harry managed to escape, Harry would still be beaten, but this time at home when Dudley complained to his father that Harry had done something, real or imagined. So he often let himself be caught after running far enough to make Dudley too tired to do much besides throw a few kicks.

One would think school would offer a reasonable refuge, but Harry learned very quickly that it would not. Early on he had brought home better grades than Dudley, thinking this sort of normal accomplishment would finally allow his Aunt and Uncle to feel proud of him - only for his Aunt to declare that Harry must have cheated. It was impossible that he would be smarter than his cousin Duddikins after all.

All of this was ultimately because his Aunt and Uncle desired nothing more than to be completely normal. They had their perfectly normal house, with it well-looked after garden and white picket fence to keep out the riff-raff. Vernon had his perfectly normal job and Petunia was a perfectly normal housewife, with perhaps just a bit too much of an ear for gossip. They both had their own perfect child (at least in their eyes), and it was only begrudgingly that they had accepted the burden of caring for another, a child who had left their perfect lives imperfect.

Of course, one might say that in their pursuit of normalcy, the Dursleys were far more abnormal than anything Harry had done. After all, normal people did not call their children nearly exclusively as "Boy" or "Freak" instead of using their child's name, and normal people wouldn't force every household chore onto their child. Most of all, normal people did not lock children in cupboards and starve them, nor did normal people beat their children for the slightest imperfection. Perhaps, if Harry had shown himself to be a normal child as well, the Dursleys would have eventually realized this contradiction.

Unfortunately, Harry was not normal. Strange things often happened around him that he had no explanation for. Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. Another time, his Aunt had tried to force him into an old sweater of Dudley's, only for the sweater to seem to shrink and shrink until it could no longer fit over his head. Perhaps one of the most startling times had been when a teacher had been scolding him, only for her hair to turn blue.

He'd wound up in the cupboard for most of the week after that one.

On some level Harry had come to resent when these strange things happened around him. He knew that punishment would quickly follow. Still, right now he found himself wishing that something strange would happen once again. He darted a look behind himself as Dudley's gang rounded a corner. He'd accidentally broken one of Dudley's toys. If he let himself be caught, this would be worse than the usual round of Harry Hunting.

He noticed Piers behind him and sprinted away, working to keep ahead of Dudley and his group. At the very least, he was faster than any of them. Long years of running from Dudley's gang had seen to that. It didn't seem to matter today though, as they weren't willing to give up on chasing him.

Even worse, Dudley's gang was being smart for a change. They were splitting up, cutting off escape routes, herding him back behind the school where they could trap him. Harry scrambled around a corner only to freeze as he saw Dudley in front of him. He glanced behind him and spotted Dennis and Malcolm closing in. Harry bit down on his lip. If only he could be somewhere else. He quickly turned, thinking he could break his way through, only to feel himself trip.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw the ground coming up towards his face and then - he fell through the ground.

His vision blanked out as he felt himself fall and fall, the fall never stopping even as winds buffeted him to and fro. No, not winds, it was the Earth itself crashing into him, breaking his bones. No, he was being swept about by waves, never quite certain of which direction was which and suffocating, as the air was ripped from his lungs, his body tossed about in a current. Except, this was no soothing water either, as he burned alive, every bit of him on fire as he melted into a pool of magma. And still he continued to fall until he knew no more.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

When Harry finally awoke, it was to a field of flowers. A blue sky stretched overhead, seemingly casting itself infinitely outwards. It was the sort of idyllic perfection that painters often sought and poets used as inspiration. It was like nowhere Harry had ever seen before. Harry simply wondered where he might be.

Harry slowly picked himself up off the ground, expecting some pain from the fall, only to find none. Even bruises that Aunt Petunia had left on him that morning for having made the bacon slightly crispier than she wanted it seemed to have vanished. He frowned slightly. How long had he been lying in this field? Looking around himself, he didn't see anyone else, though a forest stood in the distance in one direction and in the other a white tower stood, outlined against the sky. Well, if he was to find out where he was, then the best place to find people would likely be that tower.

He began walking, but he couldn't help but wonder. He had never been somewhere with so much nature or so few people. The closest he had come was the park in Surrey, but that was hardly worth commenting on. Wherever this was, it was certainly far from any city. What was more concerning, perhaps, was that however long he seemed to walk, the tower didn't seem to grow any closer. It was as though he were walking on a treadmill, still somehow in the small meadow. He bit on his lip for a moment, beginning to worry, but not willing to stop until a voice called out behind him, "Oh, I thought something felt strange. How unusual for someone to slip through to here."

Harry turned and stared wide-eyed at the man who most certainly hadn't been there a moment ago. The man was strange at a glance. His tousled white hair swayed gently in the wind, but despite his hair color, the man seemed rather young; he certainly didn't seem like an old man at all. Even more unusual was the man's clothes. He wore what seemed to be some sort of white robe, long and flowing with voluminous sleeves, though the intricate decorations certainly precluded the idea that it was a bathrobe of any sort. Perhaps the most strange thing was the man's eyes however - a soft lavender that seemed to peer into Harry and know the boy was thinking instinctively.

Harry took a deep breath. Well, he had been looking for someone to give him directions, he might as well take his chances now that he had found someone. "And where might here be, Sir?"

"The Far Side of the World, you might say. Or at the very least, a small garden that I happen to look after. I don't think that is actually the question you were looking to ask though, was it?"

"I'm not sure I would say that, given I know nothing about where here is, Sir." Harry frowned and glanced around the meadow once again before looking at the man. There was something unsettling about him. More than his odd appearance at least. "Who are you? And how do I get home from here?"

The man's smile widened and he leaned back to sit on a chair that Harry was sure had simply appeared in the moment that he had blinked. "Ah, now there's a tricky question. For who I am, let's say you can call me Emrys for now. It wouldn't be any fun if I gave you my full name. Now as for how you get home, that's another matter entirely. You see, this space is supposed to be closed off. It is not simple to either enter or leave. The fact that you arrived here by accident is already quite remarkable."

"Then there's no way for me to go home?"

"Ah, now I didn't say that. The barriers here allowed you in, I dare say they will allow you out again. Of course, the question you should really be asking is if you want to leave at all." Emrys grinned and stretched his hand out to tap the tip of his staff against Harry's head. "I imagine even an unknown land is preferable to the house kept by your Aunt and Uncle, wouldn't you say, Harry?"

Harry hesitated. Emrys wasn't wrong. He had no idea where he was or who this stranger in front of him really was. But did it matter? How much worse could it possibly be than living with the Dursleys? Sure, Emrys was downright weird, but then, so was Harry, wasn't he? "I suppose you're right about that. But it's not like I have anywhere else to go. It's not like I can go around eating flowers and I wouldn't know how to survive in the woods. So unless you're offering to take care of me, Sir?"

It was a leading question, a fairly obvious one at that. Still, Emrys didn't seem to mind. Instead, he simply waved his hand unconcernedly. "Oh, you won't have to worry about that here. It does seem like you've made your decision regardless though. Shall we?"

With that, Emrys gestured behind himself to where the tower sat. But that couldn't be right. Harry had been walking towards the tower when he turned to speak to Emrys, so shouldn't the tower be behind Harry now? He spun wide-eyed to look behind himself, only to see a line of trees blocking his view. "How?"

"How did the tower move? I think you will find, young Harry, that distance and direction are much more relative here. You can easily see the distance to the tower, but it could take as little as five feet traveled to reach it, or as much as five miles. Space bends and stretches and is not quite the same as in the world above. Intent is much more important to reaching your destination." Emrys smiled and took Harry's hand to lead him onwards, even as the boy gaped for a moment before accepting the statement with the sort of credulity that only a child could bring to bear.

As it turned out, the distance was neither five feet nor five miles to reach the tower - it was twenty five feet. One moment they were walking through the meadow, the next they stood in front of the white edifice that seemed to stretch into the sky. It almost seemed too thin to support itself, like some great spear had been thrust into the ground rather than a work of architecture. Yet Harry was once again surprised as they stepped inside and found that the room was far larger inside than the circumference of the tower had suggested outside. Alabaster steps wound their way upwards in a gentle spiral, one that went on further than Harry could see, even with his vision unimpeded. Occasionally there were landings off to other rooms, but that white helix continued onwards into seeming infinity.

What took his attention however, was what lay in the center of the room. There an altar was built, a bed of marble, upon which laid the unmoving form of a girl so beautiful that she stole Harry's breath away. Emrys moved to the girl's side, running a hand along her forehead and pushing back her bangs in a gesture of affection, before turning back to Harry.

"Is she dead?" Harry asked.

"No, simply sleeping for now. Though, it has been a long sleep indeed." Emrys' eyes turned wistful for a moment before he shook his head. "I hope you don't mind stairs, we've a few to walk up and I have a few things to tell you."

Harry simply nodded and followed after. "Who is she?"

Emrys went silent for a long moment before finally answering, "A friend of mine. She was once my student and almost like a daughter to me in some ways. And in the end, I failed to protect her."

"What happened to her?" Harry asked.

"That is a somewhat more complicated question than you might realize. I suppose in the end it comes down to a sister's jealousy. Much like your Aunt Petunia was jealous of your Mother, my student's sister was jealous of her." Emrys shook his head. "Morgan had great potential, but could never accept that some things could not be hers."

"Wait, Aunt Petunia was jealous of my Mom?" Harry suddenly stopped as the implications of everything the stranger had been telling him finally caught up. "And how did you know my name anyways? And everything about the Dursleys? Have you been watching me?"

"I'll admit, I'm a little surprised that it took you this long to ask! Though, are you really that surprised after everything else you've seen here?" Emrys let out a loud laugh before practically skipping up the steps and turning about with a grandiose gesture that sent his robe fluttering. "The simple answer is that magic makes knowing a great deal about the world a much easier task. Afterall, Harry, I am a wizard."

"Wow, that's uh. I guess that makes everything that's been happening since I wound up here make a lot more sense."

"Yes, but that isn't even the best bit of news, you know. Do you want to guess what other bit of news I have for you?"

Emrys' grin only widened as Harry stared blankly in return, before the man finally leaned in and said conspiratorially, "You're a wizard too, Harry."

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Harry had stood stone still, silently in shock for a while after that, before Emrys finally urged him to keep walking at least. The wizard however, kept talking as they continued to ascend. "I suppose the first thing to get out of the way is where you will be staying. I know I somewhat implied you would stay with me, but that isn't strictly true. I might be able to arrange a bridge of sorts to allow you to visit this place, but you still belong in the outer world. Staying here would be detrimental to you in the long run."

Harry felt his fists clench for a moment and he blinked back the sudden tears that formed. He barely even knew Emrys, had no idea if this place would have been better, and yet… "You mean, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys' after all?"

"Oh Heavens, no. While you can't stay here in this tower, that doesn't mean I'll simply be abandoning you. I will be making arrangements for you to live somewhere else."

Another knot of worry released, though Harry was glad he was walking behind Emrys now. He didn't want the man to see his face in that moment. "Who would I be staying with then?"

"Ah, that is the question, isn't it? I'll be able to visit fairly often, but I can't really act the part of a guardian. I'm half tempted to wake Artoria up down there and shove the job onto her. However, while acting the part of a mother might be good for her, I doubt you would fare as well under her guidance. And that doesn't even get into the problems for her if she were to wake up now. Although…" Emrys tapped a finger against his jaw, a speculative look crossing his face. "Well, that aside, I need to check a few things, so that's what we'll be doing first." He turned at a landing and gestured Harry inside. "And here we are. In you go."

Harry did as he was told, only to stop in the entryway. After everything he had seen, he had expected something extraordinary. A bed made of clouds or a simmering cauldron maybe. Instead, he saw a rather normal couch, desk, and even what could almost pass as a television, if it weren't so large and flat, and seemed to be made of crystal instead of glass. Emrys simply pushed Harry inside before bustling in himself, flopping his entire body down on the couch and grabbing a remote to start flipping through the T.V. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable, I'll let you know when I have a bit more information."

Harry shrugged uncomfortably before wandering about to check out the rest of the room. Emrys certainly lived an eccentric life from the looks of things. There was a shelf full of small sculptures that had been painted and posters that had been thrown on the walls. Various odds and ends were left scattered about the floor, though Harry couldn't identify most of them. The bed somehow managed to simultaneously look rumpled yet unused. There was another small screen with a keyboard attached on the desk. A computer, Harry thought, though he'd never seen one before, only heard them described in school.

Stepping carefully over a sword that was laying on the ground before almost tripping in a pile of robes, Harry decided to check out the computer. He reached out and touched the screen only to jump back as an image suddenly appeared on it. He leaned in again, squinting at what appeared to be a female version of Emrys, with the words "Magi Mari" printed along the side, as though to print for a poster.

Harry glanced back to where Emrys was muttering to himself while flipping through images on the telly. "Longbottoms won't work… Malfoys are definitely right out. Bones? No, there's only Amelia available and she's likely to be away as often as I am. Black would be good, but would take some work to be viable…"

Harry cleared his throat. Would it be rude to interrupt? "Erm… Did you have a sister, Sir?"

The man blinked, his train of thought interrupted and turned to look at Harry. "No. Why?"

"Well," Harry simply pointed at the computer screen, feeling no need to explain further. He wasn't even sure what he would say to explain this if he attempted to.

"Oh! That! That reminds me that I need to message my fans again sometime soon. But don't worry about that, Harry, that's just something of a side project." Emrys winked, "A practical joke of sorts."

Harry stared. He wasn't quite sure what kind of joke involved dressing up as a woman. Emrys stared back until Harry finally broke eye contact and looked away. "So uh, have you decided what's going to happen with me yet?"

"Well, I've given it some thought. Since you brought the subject up, how do you feel about pulling a bit of a prank on the Wizarding world?"

"I'd rather not dress up as a woman, if that's okay," Harry deadpanned.

Emrys grinned and replied, "Oh, don't discount it so quickly, Harry. I'm sure you would make a very cute girl if you wanted to. But no, I was thinking you could change your name and pretend to be my son. I'll introduce you to society, show you around a bit and then ask a few nice people if they would watch over you while I travel for my work. I'd be back often to visit of course, but it would let you socialize with people your own age, while keeping me as your legal guardian. At least, as far as anyone else knows."

Harry shrugged slightly. "I suppose. I don't really have a problem with it. Why do I need to change my name though?"

"Well, both you and your parents are quite famous in the Wizarding World. Something to do with them being heroes who died defeating a Dark Lord or some such."

"Heroes?!" Harry gasped, a sudden sense of pride filling him. "Uncle Vernon always said they were drunks who died in a car crash!"

"Yes, well, I think we both know what the Dursleys were like and just how likely that statement was to be true." Emrys rolled his eyes. "Anyways, everyone will be watching for Harry Potter. Their interest won't be quite as piqued by Harry Wyllt, though I'm sure your charming self will still manage to make waves. I won't force it on you if you don't want to though."

"No, that's not a problem. I mean - it's fine, Sir. I'd rather not have people paying too much attention to me anyways. Who was this Dark Lord that my parents killed?"

"Voiredemorne, maybe? I can't really remember, it was something silly and French like that. Anyways, I don't think you can really avoid drawing attention, Harry. The only thing we can do is delay it and address it on our own terms. Now hold still a moment-" Harry blinked as a tingling sensation ran over his head. "And there, I've hidden your scar and changed your hair color to match mine."

Harry blinked and raised his hand to his head. He could still feel his scar. Emrys just rolled his eyes. "It's still there, I've just hidden it. More importantly, I should probably start teaching you the basics if we're going to start showing you around."

"The basics?" Harry's breath caught. "You mean magic? You'll teach me magic? I'll learn to do the sort of things you've been doing?"

"Ah, I know I must have captivated your imagination already, but unfortunately I have more important things to teach you first."

"What could be more important than learning magic?" Harry groused. It might be nice if Emrys could tell him more about his parents, but it didn't seem like the man knew them, just knew about them. In which case, learning how to fly and shoot fireballs around was the obvious priority.

Emrys simply grinned, something Harry was quickly coming to associate with trouble. Harry groaned when he finally answered.

"Etiquette."

Author's Note

Hello, and welcome to my new story. There's a few relevant points that I think will be important to get out of the way early on.

First, is that I'm very likely to use characters from Fate/Stay Night down the line. I'm aware that if we're going strictly by the canon timeline of these two stories, that should be impossible. Harry Potter starts in 1991 while Fate is in 2004. For the purposes of this story however, time is wibbly and wobbly and Fate should occur about when Harry starts school at Hogwarts.

Second, is that this the first fic that I've published. As such, I am looking for someone to beta. To be clear, I'm not looking for basic editing passes so much as I am looking for someone who I can bounce ideas off of, and who can tell me when I need to put more detail into a scene, as it's rather easy for me to have the details in my head and not have it translate into words when I'm writing. Please feel free to PM me if you're interested.

That said, I hope everyone will enjoy this story.