Okay, I left you after that meeting. Harry gave an impassioned speech on the evil that is Voldemort, Athena got her questioned answered to what side Harry was on, Harry dropped one helluva bomb, and then they all went to bed. Not too bad in one day. Now, I know the gods would get angry if I were to ramble too long, so I'll stop and just get on with the story. Well, here it is.
Harry found himself walking down a long hallway. On either side were door; as far as Harry could see were doors. The doors were all different; some were simple wooden doors, others were large and ornate. Some were small and others were monstrously huge. Harry felt drawn to go forward.
He reached out to the first door but found it locked. The next ones were also locked. Finally, he came to a small, simple door that opened. He opened it and was immediately consumed by bright, white light.
When his vision cleared, Harry found himself in a huge room, one the size of his dormitory at school. Against a wall sat a large bed covered in royal blue bed clothes. A dresser, chest of drawers, and a mirror occupied one wall; a desk another, an armoire and wardrobe the other. A large, heavy looking trunk sat at the foot of the bed. The room looked cold and uninviting, despite proof of occupancy. Where were all the personal affects?
The sound of footsteps caught Harry's attention. He hurriedly looked for a place to hide, but the door started to open. He turned so he faced the door, shocked; frozen as he waited for whomever to come in.
The door fully opened and two laughing boys came barging in. Harry tensed further as the two rushed up to him. Harry waited for the collision but none came. He looked and didn't see the two boys any longer, but he did hear the bed behind him bounce as the two boys jumped on it.
"I can't wait to start this year. Second year is gonna be so much cooler than last year, James."
"Of course it will be. When is Remus supposed to get here, Sirius?"
Harry swung around and saw two small boys excitedly jumping on the bed, and he gasped. The smaller of the two turned to look towards Harry, actually looking through Harry. He had large, innocent blue eyes, messy black hair, and glasses.
"Dad…" Harry breathed the word.
Suddenly he was jerked backwards, out the door and back into the hallway. Harry hurriedly ran to the next door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Three more doors and he found an unlocked one. Harry stepped inside to the same room, decorated almost exactly the same with a few exceptions. Pictures were set upon the nightstand, dresser and chest of drawers; a broom stood in a corner and a pair of shoes lay haphazardly in the middle of the floor.
Four figures lie crossways on the bed. Harry saw Remus, Sirius, his father, and Peter. His dad and Sirius were sitting back to back, one supporting the other; while Remus lay on his stomach and Peter sat at the foot of the bed, smiling.
"I wonder what I'll be. Something big, hopefully. The more powerful a wizard, the bigger a form they can take for their animagus."
James and Remus laughed, smiling at Sirius indulgently.
"In that case, Sirius, you'll probably wind up as a little kitten."
"Hey, not funny. I bet you'll be a cute wittle bunny wabbit, James."
Harry smiled at their antics, loving the sight of them laughing; of their innocence and enjoyment of life. Even Peter was laughing and smiling freely. They were all so different then from what Harry knew.
"I'm sure you two will be something grand and large. But I'm sure I'll be something small, like a grasshopper."
Sirius, James and Remus stopped laughing and turned to look at their friend. Remus spoke up after exchanging a quick glance with the other two.
"Peter, your animagus form doesn't really depend on your level of power as a wizard; it depends on your personality and on who you are inside. Anyone who can correctly manage the animagus transformation is powerful, and the fact that you're doing it before you even graduate makes it that much more spectacular. Of course, no one can know about it, but you'll know and we'll know, and that's what's important."
James spoke up next, reaching to clap Peter on the shoulder. "Besides, we'll be there to help you."
Harry watched them, a moment among friends so young and unaware of the dangers, betrayals and other hardships they'd face. Even knowing what would happen, and who Peter would turn out to be, Harry couldn't bring himself to feel anger or hatred towards the young boy. Instead, he felt a great sadness for the loss of innocence all four young boys would experience.
Harry blinked, and the next thing he knew, the scene had changed. Why he wasn't thrust back into the hallway, Harry didn't know, but he wasn't going to question it. He turned to watch the scene unfolding before him.
"They finally see me, Sirius. Why can't you be happy for me? Why do you have to try and ruin this for me too?"
"Regulus, you're not seeing straight. This pure-blood-mud-blood stuff is bull. It's not right."
Harry observed the two young men who looked so much alike, arguing back and forth. Sirius looked sad but determined, and Regulus looked angry.
"No, you're wrong. You're just jealous that Mother and Father like me better. For so long, you were their Golden Child. You were always the favorite one. At school, you are the popular one, the talented one, the Quidditch star. They even overlooked your getting into Gryffindor; they ignored your friendship with that Potter brat, that Lupin jerk and that pathetic excuse for a wizard, Pettigrew. But now, Mother and Father are finally seeing me, their true son; the true Black Heir."
Sirius slowly shook his head and replied, "You're wrong Regulus. The path you've chosen for yourself will only lead to death, pain and destruction. If you keep to it, you'll die."
Gone was the carefree, laughing teen from the last scene; instead a young man who knew too much pain and heartache stood in his place; one who felt older than his young years.
"At least I will die with dignity, honor and as a true Black. You'll die too, only you'll die as a blood traitor."
Harry watched as a crestfallen and hurt expression appear on his godfather's face. Regulus stormed out of the room, angry and half-crazed. Suddenly, scenes flew across Harry's eyes, blurring together until he couldn't tell where one ended and another began.
More scenes of his father, Sirius, Remus and Peter appeared. Later, his mother entered the pictures. He saw his parent's wedding, his birth; his first Christmas. He saw planning sessions with the Order. He saw the night his parents died, he saw Hagrid holding him and Sirius looking as if his world had just ended. He saw Sirius in Azkaban; his escape and trek to Hogwarts. Round and round, faster and faster, the images blurred. Harry felt as if he'd either faint or vomit from the dizziness.
Finally, everything stopped and Harry was pitched into darkness. He turned in every direction but couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Harry sensed rather than saw movement. He swung around and, there, in the distance, was a faint light. It slowly got closer and closer, though Harry didn't move. Soon Harry was able to see a shape. It was a dog, and then flickered to a human, then back again. The dog was large, larger than a normal dog; between that and the flicker to human form, recognition flared quickly through Harry.
At last, the figure was close enough so that Harry got visual confirmation that it was indeed, Sirius he was seeing. He reached out a hand wanting, needing to touch Sirius. His hand was almost there, he could barely feel the strands of hair when Harry was abruptly flung backwards. He watched, as if in slow motion, Sirius get smaller and smaller, farther and farther away.
Harry stumbled and fell backwards, tensing in expectation of a hard landing; but instead, he was caught in firm, strong arms. He was carefully and gently righted and when Harry turned around, he found himself facing a very rumpled God of War.
He was wearing a long silk robe and matching sleep trousers; both black. The robe was opened to reveal a defined, tanned chest with a light dusting of black hair. His dark brown hair sexily tousled and his eyes were heavy lidded, slumberous.
"Harry? How did you get here?" Ares voice was pitched lower and huskier than from before.
Harry pulled his unblinking gaze away from the god and focused on a point just behind and to the left. He shrugged in response to the question.
"I went to bed, closed my eyes and the next thing I know, I'm here, walking through doorways and watching scenes from my godfather's life."
Harry was receiving a very odd look from Ares; it was similar to the one Hercules gave him at the gate.
"Umm, if I'm not supposed to be here, I'll apologize and leave. But, you might have to help me find the way out."
Whatever Ares was thinking, Harry's statement effectively captured his attention.
"Yeah, I'll help." Ares slowly reached out his hand and brought it towards Harry. He moved the fringe away, revealing that lightning bolt scar. Without touching Harry, but being near enough so Harry could feel the heat radiating off the god's hand, Ares traced along Harry's cheek, across his jaw, down his neck--ruffling a few hairs--across his shoulder until his hand reached Harry's bicep.
Staring directly into Harry's emerald gaze, almost trancelike, Ares abruptly smirked.
"You wake up." Then Ares promptly pinched Harry's arm.
"OUCH!" Harry bolted upright in his bed, clutching his arm; all the while grumbling about stupid, sleep rumpled War Gods and their stupid methods of help.
It was then Harry realized he was once again in his assigned bedroom. Confused, Harry got up and walked to the door, opened it and looked all around the hall. It was deserted. If it weren't for the fact that his arm hurt like holy hell, Harry would have believed he'd dreamed the entirety of the events from that night.
Stupid Ares. He's the type of person to dump cold water on someone to wake her up. I know, he did it to me. And his pinches hurt like…well, I don't know what they hurt like, but it is a lot! Banana brain Ares! I've been down that hallway Harry was in. It's long and dark, and I got lost until Harry found me. But I can't tell you anything more about it right now, because that would give too much away too soon. But, I promise the next time I write, you'll find out what it is.
So, anything else that I should mention? Nope, nothing of any importance. So, next time, we'll see Ares visit the Moirai. I like them, Atropos always has cookies for me, Lachesis always slipped me some sort of candy, and Clotho tells the best dirty jokes. Also, they taught me how to sew and weave; I figure, I could have worse teachers than Fate to teach me how to sew and weave. They aren't really at all like people would expect the Fates to be. Sure, they hold power over all with the ability to cut someone's life short; literally. Sure, they are the ones who determine the length of one's life, but they are like everyone else, in that they have feelings and they get lonely too. The other gods, except for Ares, tend to stay away from them, because even the gods must bow down to Fate's will. But they're really nice and so much fun to hang out with.
See, I'm not supposed to ramble in the official transcripts, so I have to stop now before I get in trouble. Those gods, they're so picky.