Disclaimer-I own nothing but the idea that made this story. Why did it take so long? Because shit happens and Life likes to fuck with people.

On another note. Updating "Demon's Heart" is going to take longer considering I'm having serious writers block. I had a clear vision for that one but the story seemed to have taken its own path. Now I've got to find out where it wants to go. Shame to, I really want to update that one…

On to the story, sorry its short, I really have no patience to make it any longer…

Chapter 11: Something wicked this way comes…

"It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake."

-Frederick Douglass

It had been a few years since Arcana was taken from his family, taken from the only people who actually took care of him. Arcana stood a small fifteen year old who didn't smile often. In the beginning, when he had been introduced to the magical population Teddy often shifted into beast mode to keep the more bold students from getting too close. The Wizarding World had roared with demand: where had he been hiding? Who was taking care of him? He called them monsters. He called them murderers and kidnappers. They pushed and pulled. They were both scared of him and fascinated by him. They wanted a savior but he wasn't that. They wanted a hero but he wasn't that either. They were horrified of his accusations but still wanted him to live up to their expectations.

Arcana still had problems listening when they called him "Harry", it wasn't the name his father gave him. It didn't sing like the way his bigger uncles used to say it (Hunters), or the maddening cackle of some of his cousins and brothers (grunts and jackals). Emerald had changed too. It wasn't emerald anymore, it was so dark. Angry and sharper than it used to be; it no longer glowed, illuminating the shadows of people's hearts. The people called it Magic. They used it like a tool, as if it wasn't even alive, as if…as if what they did with it didn't matter.

The people were strange. They were stranger than his relatives, then the people who raised him before he found his family. There was a man who had a wolf living inside his head, he's always tired and his wolf is tired. He likes this man with the wolf in his head. He calls him "Harry" in class but "Arcana" any other time.

He talks of his Old Family, the one that came before him. He tells him the history of this place, answers the questions the Old One doesn't want him to ask. He wonders what would happen if the man and the wolf became One, wonders what would happen if they found harmony. He doesn't ask that, though. He doesn't push like everyone has already done to him. His name is Remus.

There the man who is a dog or is he a dog that is a man? Sirius, who liked to Push. He wanted Harry but Harry never existed. Harry died a long time ago. But Arcana isn't mad. Teddy isn't mad. He acts like his Father, worried and sad. So he lets the man push and pull. The man knows he lets him and cries. He doesn't know how to not make the man cry. It is a first being able to hurt someone but not meaning to. It is a first hurting someone while trying not to. It's confusing and it hurts to see the man cry. He thinks that if he pretends it might help but he doesn't know how to do that.

There is a woman who is a cat or is she a cat who is a woman? There is a short man, like his cousins. There is the Lady who Loves to Fly and that woman who Speaks too loud that no one Believes her. There are the Twin Souls who LaughLaughLaugh and look into the sun. There is a snake who tries to bite but has no venom. The boy who talks to plants and the girl who talks to Omens of Death smile and wave. There is a boy with fire in his head, who has Pushed the hardest, who Raged,Raged,Raged, and never let go.

There is the girl who hides behind books or is she the girls that books hide behind? He likes her either way because she calls him by both names, "Arcana Harry James Potter!" He doesn't mind because she's scared, too. But that boy who is soon a man, that one covered in red, from across the place, Arcana cannot remember his name, he is strong, steady, and good, he likes her. Wants to protect his friend with the Books. He told her so. Told her to stay with him, to hold on to him and never look back. The wolf man would not last long nor would the dark one and the lights are flickering and flickering and flickering and it won't be long before they all go out.

"What about you?" she asks

"I wont be here long," he smiles "I'm going home soon. The Broken Man won't ever touch me."

"But the Dark Lord split his soul!" she's so close to crying, "Even if you get rid of the piece inside of you. What about the others?"

"They'll be gone soon, too."

There are masses of people who move into and around him. People who leave and return, asking and wondering. He tells them nothing. There are people who disappear into a crowd and never are found, lost in the flow. The Old One watches from his perch, expecting and hoping but never seeing the way Arcana can. Teddy grins with his teeth and the world moves back, recedes like the tide. When it surges back to shore, he is farther away, nesting among the stars.

"He is a boy, just a boy, Hermione." He says to her name softly and she sighs

"Just a boy? A boy with decades more over us." She grows sad but he knows how to sooth this sadness.

"A boy cannot defy Gods and Demons," Teddy nuzzled his cheek, "But he will remember the One who can."

Hermione stares for a long moment before relaxing. It had taken a while for her to understand that he knew things, Older and Otherworldly. It took her a great deal of time to understand that he lived among the stars, far above Earth, where ever magic stole him away to. To places books have never reached, where the magic folk have never gone. So, when he spoke it was a moment or two after that she understood. Everything would be ok.

"The One who defies Gods and Demons, will come, then?" she whispers

Teddy's purr is thunderous in the quiet room; she promises to never look back.

"Welcome home, John."

When the light fades, she is gone. Then there are numbers, a series of specific sequences that flickers by so fast he almost misses it. Almost. Coordinates, on Earth. Somehow, he knows where it leads, what it means, and he lets her go, trusting her like he's always done before. They are gone as quickly as they appear as if they were never there to begin with.

One more Mission. He descended into Hell once, purged its caretakers with Lead and Fire, to break into its Prison. He barreled through the Heavens, slaughtered its guardians with Shrapnel and Ice, to topple the Throne.

What can possibly stop him, when all else has failed?

So, he waits. I'm coming, I'm coming, I promise, I'm coming.

He won't lose another one.

End Chapter!

Next One Up: Anyone ever wonder what a conversation between the Master Chief and Albus Dumbledore with turn out? Me, too! Muhahahaha! Let's find out!

Reviews are welcome. Would like some input on how you guys think that conversation should go.