Chapter 14 - Greetings...the name's Seth

Even though there was only a small, icy breeze, the temperature was frigid. Heavy clouds formed gapless curtain over the moon that night, shrouding the seemingly abandoned parking lot in an almost impenetrable darkness. The conditions didn't bother him at all, however, as he waited alone, toeing the edge of the roof, his hooded cloak fluttering gently.

Over a hundred dead. More than twice that wounded. Gringotts – everything that had been above ground, at least – had been turned into rubble, and the rest of Diagon Alley razed. The damage that had been wrought by the attack was on a scale that no one, not the Aurors, not Dumbledore, and certainly not the rest of the Ministry, had ever seen before.

A younger, more impressionable Harry would have been horrified by what had happened. He would have been filled with righteous fury towards those involved, and he would have burned with a desire to stride out into the darkness and bring justice personally to those responsible.

But that was a long time ago, and the Harry that stood there on that roof now had no time for such concerns. The Diagon Alley attack had not only destroyed the morale of the Wizarding population of Great Britain, demonstrating the lack of any effective resistance against Voldemort's terror campaign, it had also obliterated one of Harry's few links to the truth of the past.

And to him, that was a more important issue.

The stack of copied papers he'd left in his room at the Leaky Cauldron was vital to his quest for answers, and they were now beyond his reach. Without them, Gringotts out of commission and no Goblin to be found anywhere, it seemed that whatever had happened to his inheritance, as well as his house, was going to have to wait, for another lead. There had to be one, and he wasn't going to stop until he'd located the man.

For the time being however, he'd decided to take Lilith's advice. The Weasley Twins had been taken to St. Mungos, where they were expected to make a full recovery, and Ginny was asleep in her house, resting from her own ordeal. There was no one available to help him, and that was how it should have been from the beginning.

Harry was well aware that his Occlumency shields weren't up to Voldemort's standards and, thanks to his recent close proximity with the Wizard, his return from the 'dead' was now discovered. With the most powerful Dark Wizard in the world looking for him, he couldn't afford to have anything, or anyone, that could be used as leverage. Naturally, he'd gone looking for the one link he did have – the crazy old woman who seemed to know everything, and she, in turn, had lead him here, to a collection of warehouses by the waterside.

"You've lost your lead." This was not a question. Though she remained cloaked in the shadows of the Chamber so that he couldn't see her expression, he could hear the cold disapproval in her voice. "You need to learn to better guard that which is precious to you, Harry Potter."

He didn't react, or make any move to answer. Any reply, he felt, would not be appreciated, for the woman needed no excuses or explanations. She already knew what had happened, and was only voicing her displeasure.

It seemed that not speaking was the right move, for the woman let out a tired sigh and moved forth into the light.

"There is one thing I can tell you," she said, her eyes boring into his, "but it is not much of a lead. Remember, Harry Potter, that a man can only get so many chances before Fate forsakes him for another."

"Wait," he interrupted, holding up a palm as though to physically forestall her words, "The medallion you game me...who are you and why are you helping me? You've don't nothing to suggest otherwise, but why should I trust you?"

"Because," came the response, "I am one Of the few who can help."

Twenty years ago, at the height of Voldemort's reign, Esthete Arc Stegert had been here at these warehouses, on business. His last business, apparently, because he was never seen again.

There were ten different warehouses in the area and the woman had not a particular building, or what he was supposed to be looking for. It could take days to search them all, but Harry wasn't worried. Lilith's presence had provided him with many powers, one of which being a form of travel not unlike Apparation. Had it not been for such an ability, getting to his current location would have been far more difficult.

There wasn't really any time limit on how long he had to search the area. If I need to, I'll go through every single blasted item stored here, Harry promised himself grimly.

For the present, however, he'd situated himself atop a warehouse on the far side and was surveying the surroundings below carefully. Though the area seemed unfrequented and unused, he wanted to be absolutely sure before doing anything.

"How long are you gonna sit there watching for?"

He didn't reply. Harry didn't need to even look to his left to know that it was Lilith who was whining, seated precariously on the edge of the warehouse roof. Had she been an ordinary girl, he would have been scared that she'd fall off, but he knew that she wasn't even really there. Manipulating your vision, she had explained, so that you don't feel awkward to talk to thin air.

"No one's used these old buildings in years!" Lilith complained, frowning and crossing her arms, "I don't know what you're waiting for..."

If he was honest with himself, Harry didn't know what he was waiting for either. No movement could be observed from his vantage point, not on the grounds, which was deserted, nor in the trees, whose branches were still. Even the breeze seemed to be dying down, and no matter where he turned his gaze – across the other warehouses, through the parking lot, over the front gate, at the Toyota Avensis parked next to Warehouse 2 – nothing seemed to be out of place.

I'm missing something, Harry thought, his gut instinct telling him he was spot on. He felt as though he was using Neville Longbottom's Remembrall – he knew he was forgetting something, but couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was.

"Right," Harry whispered eventually to the empty night, unable to see Lilith anywhere but knowing she could hear him, "Maybe you're right and I am overthinking this. Let's go."

With the air of a man simply stepping off a curb in the street, Harry straightened and strode off the roof. Gravity too hold and he plummeted towards the ground, but Lilith took control, her subtle enhancements of his body allowing him to land silently on all fours without so much as a scratch. Taking a quick, noiseless shuffle, he withdrew into the shadows of Warehouse 1 and waited for a whole minute, but it seemed there was no one to notice him and he moved on.

The giant bay doors to Warehouse 1 were, naturally, locked, but the single side door was also secured with an extra padlock and chain. Harry made sure he was well away before unlocking both with two flicks of his wand – despite being in a Muggle area, he wouldn't be surprised if more than metal protected these buildings. Fortunately, however, it seemed that his fears were unjustified, at least in the case of the first warehouse, and he was able gain access with no problems at all.

The steel door obviously hadn't been opened in a long time, for it was covered in dust and grime. Rusted coated the surface and dug itself deep into the hinges. When Harry first tugged on the handle, the door seemed as though it was still locked somehow, but his persistence won out and with a creak that shattered the silence of the night, echoing and bouncing off the walls, it ground open.

The inside was a pitch black maze of metal shelves and large crates. There was no light handle, at least, none that he could see, forcing Harry to rely solely on what could be provided by his wand. Lumos, however, wasn't a very powerful charm, and Lumos Maxima only worked in flashes, meaning that his decision to stick with the more permanent option left any area more than a few feet away cloaked in oily shadows.

Not that there was, apparently, much to see. If anything, the inside of Warehouse 1 seemed just as lifeless as the outside. Save for the sound of his footsteps, which rose and faded into the seemingly empty void above his head, there was nothing, not even the gentle billowing of the wind. Only the shelves and boxes extending further than the light from his wand, an endless artificial wall that could have hidden absolutely anything behind them.

With caution, Harry moved amongst the shelves, his head on a constant swivel as he searched his surroundings. It was a difficult task, however, especially when he hadn't the foggiest idea what he was searching for, and had nothing but his imagination to keep him company.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His footsteps had never seemed more unnaturally loud in that sleeping world.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He had begun to suspect that Warehouse 1 may perhaps have been an ordinary warehouse after all. The shelves were piled with the most mundane of white goods, the forgotten stock, apparently, of some muggle company.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

By the time he had reached the end of that first row, he thought he'd probably seen every single type of appliance there was, from small fridges to huge washing machines. What he didn't see, however, was anything remotely interesting that was pertinent to his investigation.

Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap.

And then, as though it had always been there from the very beginning and perhaps it had – a second set of footsteps joined his own. At first, Harry thought it was just his imagination going haywire after spending so long in the dark with only his torchlight to shine his way. Trying to not let his steps falter, he kept moving forwards, straining his ears to pick up the slightest sound, and was rewarded when he heard it again – it was no imagination.

Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap.

It – they – were moving slower than him, but were following him nonetheless. They started when he did, and when he stopped, they continued one step, two steps, more, before falling silent. Though he tried as hard as he could to listen for any other give away sound, even going as far as stopping entirely with the pretense of examining a particular piece of appliance, he heard nothing, not even the inhale and exhale of breath, or the soft rasp of cloth. Nothing.

Harry waited until he was just past the middle of the row before he acted. If he timed it correctly, and he sure hoped he did, then his shadow, whoever it was, would be stuck right in the centre, unable to find anywhere to hide. Tighting his grip on his wand, which was still emitting light, he whirled with no warning.

"Lumos Maxima!" He commanded, feeling his magic surge as it responded to his order. An almost blinding white light burst forth, erasing the shadows and darkness like water washing away dirt. It only lasted a second, probably a tad less, but during that second, he stared back the way he had come, along the trench of shelves and boxes, seeing...

...nothing.

No human, muggle or otherwise, and not even an animal to provide an explanation for the phantom footsteps. He stood there, his wand only emitting the softer light from the Lumos spell, and cast his gaze back and forth, up and down, everywhere along the shelves and directly in front of him, but there was nothing to be found. The white goods in the warehouse had been packed so tight that there was most certainly nothing to hide behind, and yet not a single living soul was to be seen.

Perhaps I did imagine it, Harry thought to himself, frowning at his nerves. He gave the scene in front of him yet another once over, but it garnered him no more information than the first time he'd looked at it. Perhaps the footsteps were just another part of his imagination after all. This line of thinking definitely became more believable when, once he'd started off once again, the second set of footsteps disappeared entirely.

It must have been his imagination after all.

An entire section of dishwashers came up, the wandlight reflecting off the shiny surface of their still unopened plastic wrapping. The dishwashers were followed by what looked like an entire line of microwaves, also still wrapped, their doors tightly shut and their simple led displays, naturally, off, lifeless, dead.

...so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead...shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight...quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound...loud crunch as Rom stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull...the floor...was littered with small animal bones...

Harry blinked slowly, shaking his head and dislodging the memory from his mind through sheer force of will. He almost never dwelled on his 'adventure' down in the deepest, darkest recesses of Hogwarts. Even when the entire school were gossiping about what had occurred, he'd steadfastly blocked it from his mind. It wasn't the walls, tainted with a hint of sickly green that may or may not have been moss, or the fear that something could jump out at them at any moment, or the basilisk that had so very nearly killed him, that he tried to forget. It was Ginny, her small body limp and unmoving, all signs of life having long fled, a pale, solid looking spirit standing over her, an ugly sneer on its face. And so, by choice, he always steered his thoughts well away, taking a wide berth around that particular hole.

For the most part, he was successful but sometimes, he would lose his way and walk right into the centre of it. Everything he had felt on that day would come rushing back, every bit as strong as it had been the first time, because he couldn't get over those events. He could move on, but no one could get over something like that.

By the time he had reached the end of the second row, Harry was quickly coming to the conclusion that he was in the wrong warehouse. Of course, since he was guessing to begin with, the chances of him getting it right were pretty slim. The shelves round him were stacked full up to the ceiling, but nothing on them suggested that any wizard had ever set foot there, and especially not the particular wizard he was looking for.

Gradually, the pace with which he was able to search the shelves and be sure he wasn't missing anything increased as he grew accustomed to the shapes and shadows of his environment. As he got better at knowing what belonged, it became easier for him to identify what didn't, and that sped up the process exponentially. Even so, it took a whole hour before he managed to search Warehouse 1 from top to bottom.

It was a relief to leave the silence, dust and still air behind. He let the small side door shut firmly behind him with a resounding clunk and waved his wand, watching as, rattling noisily, the chains slid back into place, the padlock locking once more. A small frown crept onto his face. That was more noise than he would have preferred, but there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it, and he was busy. Turning around, he took several deep breaths, the fresh air and slight breeze of the outside world having never felt quite so welcome. His moment of recuperation done, he made his way over to the Warehouse 2, the one with the car next to it.

Thanks to Dudley's obsession with cars, Number 4, Privet Drive had always been littered with numerous car magazines. Though Dudley's reading ability was suspect, Harry did read the magazines, having had nothing better to do in his spare time. Though his tenure at Azkaban had pushed such mundane facts to the very back of his mind, his memories were still there, and in the very last edition of one of the magazines, there had been an article. On the Toyota company's newest model. The Avensis, to replace the Camry the following year in 1997.

Naturally, his brain chose then to make the link. It hit him hard, but he could hardly fault it for that, considering he had missed it up until then despite it glaring at him in the face. 'It' being the release date of a car. In theory, after all, the Warehouses hadn't been used for at least fifteen years – the Avensis was released five years ago.

Fortunately, it was only his thoughts that hit him. The Avensis itself Harry managed to dodge while still suspended in a state of disbelief that the car was flying through the air towards him. It was spinning wildly, flipping end on end as it careened ever closer, and though his own mind was frozen, Lilith took over.

Move. Now.

Under Lilith's directions, his motionless form jerked into action. The muscles in his legs tensed, coiling like a spring and, just before the Avensis smashed into him, they released, propelling him into a sideways roll that defied the laws of physics. The sound of crumpling metal and shattering glass filled the air, fading away into screeches as the car slid rapidly along the ground, sending sparks high into the sky and many feet behind it. There was a collection of pings like the sound of nails falling to the floor and then, with a roar, the Avensis turned into a fast moving ball of fire.

Even as Harry watched, it crashed into the side of Warehouse 1, shooting through the air where his torso had been only seconds before. It punched a hole through the metal wall of the warehouse, tearing through it like a bullet through a tissue. Before he could stand properly, there was a series of deafening explosions as, he remembered with a jolt, the warehouse was full of white goods, which caught fire and ignited like explosives.

The flames, with nowhere to go, billowed out of the new whole as though it was the muzzle of a flamethrower, sending thick, oily black smoke rolling into the empty sky. The interior of the warehouse, which had, only minutes ago, been a realm of darkness and silence, now became a world of eye watering orange, red and blue, the roar of a thousand dragons its eternal symphony.

Somehow, though he had been completely unprepared to move so quickly, Harry had maintained a firm grip on his wand, which he raised rapidly in preparation to fend off a follow up attack. Without a sound, as always, Lilith appeared suddenly in front of him, her posture stiff, her small fists clenched at her sides as she whipped her head back and forth. The insanity of the first attack had, it seemed, left his mind in a permanent state of disarray, for it seemed to be moving particularly sluggishly, causing him to say the first thing that popped into his head.

"What the hell?"

Lilith didn't even glance back towards him. She turned in circles like a radar, her eyes narrowed in concentration, even though she wasn't really there and couldn't really see. She responded to his unasked question.

"I can't see, but I can probably sense their presence, if you're attacker is still here," she told him without stopping her movements, "if they want to kill you, the strength of their desire and emotions will expose them to me. In fact, I can sen-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Harry moved, his actions melding seamlessly with Lilith's instructions. Taking two steps forward, he fell into a roll, not even noticing as the girl's physical form melted away in an instant. He felt two projectiles whizz past his head mere inches away, and heard the solid thwack as they dug themselves into the concrete ground. This second attempt on his life, it seemed, had given Lilith all she needed to pinpoint his assailant for, as Harry came to his feet again, he knew exactly where to look.

That didn't, however, prepare him for what he would see. The warehouse grounds were covered in shadows, but there were a few lampposts. Not many, probably not even ten had he bothered to count. Now, on the closest one, standing on the lamp itself, which couldn't have been more than a few square inches in area, was a young boy dressed in light blue robes. In his hands, he held the weapon he had just used – an ornate looking crossbow that looked as big as him.

Harry didn't need to hear Lilith's gasp to realise that the boy wasn't as simple as he seemed. Like Lilith, there was nothing extraordinary in the boy's outward appearance. His robes were immaculate, his hair, skin and faced perfect as though he had only just exited his house. There was nothing around him to explain how he had managed to jump to the top of the streetlamp, especially with a giant crossbow because he looked, down to the tiniest speck of detail, like an ordinary fifteen, sixteen year old boy.

All of this, naturally, pointed to one thing – that the boy was anything but ordinary. He was, Harry knew beyond a doubt, another one of the Children that Lilith had spoken of. Seconds later, the boy confirmed Harry's suspicious himself.

"Greetings," he said in a cheerful, casual tone as though he hadn't just tried to kill the man in front of him twice, "it's a nice night for a fight, isn't it? It's been a while since anyone's survived my sudden attacks, it makes a fun change! You two deserve to know the name of your killer at least. The name's Seth." Though Warehouse 1 was now completely up in flames, producing a constant, pulsing roar, Harry heard Seth's voice as though the boy was right next to him.

He was too stunned to reply, but it seemed that Seth wasn't going to wait for a response. Grinning, showing a mouthful of perfectly white teeth, he effortlessly raised the crossbow.

A/N: And so, here comes Seth. What do you guys think? Not much else to say about this chapter, really, except sorry for the long delay. I've been caught up in my other story, which will be out on time, as well as an original story I'm writing! Plus, I've began to look for a job, haha, wish me luck :P

mdauben, now you know what happened to the twins...unfortunately for anyone who likes them, they're going to be taking a back seat while Harry gets his plans back on track! With Seth's arrival, that certainly seems like it's going to take longer, doesn't it?

Silvermoonrise, welcome to the story! Lilith isn't exactly a demon, but keep in mind you don't have to be the devil to be bad, or God to be good ... :D I'm glad you think I'm awesome, it makes me happy that people enjoy what I write and comments like yours does wonders for my ego 3

stars90, it wasn't so much the point I was trying to convey, it was more the chapter seemed kinda messy...but I'm happy it seems that it was just me and you felt like it was a decent chapter anyway!

To all my readers, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Next Chapter (yes, I know it's another cliffie, but so are most animes, right? :D) we see Harry+Lilith vs. ?+Seth!

Until next week, happy reading!

PowerOfOne