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The War of Titans-16
🕑 Added 2022-04-13 07:17:36 +0000 UTC“Wuh-WHAT?!” Harry shouted as turned around, his emerald eyes erupting in a tempest of magical fire as Daphne’s and Altaria’s voices shattered every bit of restraint within him. He looked around in panic for the intruders in his mind, a smoky green wave eruptig from him in a spherical form. “Who the hell has decided to make my day by invad….ing my mind”.
His rageful declaration trailed off into a mumble as with a muted flash of grey, he felt two souls appear on the Astral plane, the minuscule amounts of magic radiated by them painfully familiar to him. A choked gasp escaped him as Daphne and Altaria both appeared before him, dressed in black and red robes.
“Da-Daphne? Altaria?” he whispered, shocked at their sudden appearance, the last times he had seen them, both dead and alive momentarily flashed across his mind. “What ar-No. How are you here? I thought that time in New York was a one-time dea-mmph!”
“Shhh,” Altaria whispered as her pale, slightly glowing finger came upon his lips, the warmth of her hand feeling like nirvana to him after going so many years without it. “While I would very much like to kiss you once again, there is something else I feel like I need to do right now.”
Before Harry could exactly ask about what in the Merlin she was talking about, a psychic equivalent of a slap landed on his mind as Altaria’s hand stuck his astral form’s cheek. Dazed and stumbling for a moment due to the force of the slap, Harry shook his head more out of habit than anything else before he looked at his clearly irate wife.
“Don’t!” she raised her hand, making him shut his mouth instantly, “You are going to be silent for the next few moments, and listen to everything Daphne and I want to say to you. Nod if you understand?”
While he would have loved nothing more to hold them in his arms, he was wise enough to know that this wasn’t something Altaria would budge o., Harry nodded like a kicked puppy and grumbled a little—and no, it wasn’t because he was missing the Russian witch’s fiery temper or that accent of hers that always sent shivers down his spine.
“Good,” she nodded, her eyes alighting with anger the next second as she glared at him, “Now, do you want to explain to me why in the name of Morgana you are crushing that poor woman’s heart?”
‘Wait. Fucking what?!’Harry gaped at her, his mind honestly stuttering to a stop at her words. ‘Why would Altaria even say that?’
“What she said,” Daphne piped up next, tilting her head towards the other woman, “We were both quite…bewildered and angry with you when that happened.”
“Leaving my non-existent relationship problems with Jean aside,” Harry countered, looking from Altaria to Daphne, “You still haven’t answered how you both are here. I didn’t use the stone’s power, therefore, it is probably some sort of divine thing?”
“It is,” she nodded, “However, it is not harmful to us in any way or form, so now will you just fucking shut up and listen!”
Not giving him a chance to say or do anything, Altaria crossed her arms over her chest adn glared at him. “You are a stupid man Harry Potter. And so, I am going to be as blunt as I can get, which means probably some of my words will sink into that hard, thick thing you call your brain.”
Harry blinked at her, honestly struggling to remember a time when Altaria had ever been so forceful—the times in their bed didn’t count—and that too because she wanted him to take Jean as a girlfriend? Lover?
“We are dead Harry,” she began, her voice flat and blunt as she nodded back at Daphne “We know you love us more than anything in your life, and will always cherish us in your heart…but you have to let go of us.”
Before he could even tell her his thoughts about that, Daphne walked forwards, already knowing what he was about to say. “We don’t want you to forget us Harry, but we also don’t want you to torment yourself anymore. You have suffered so much in the last years Harry,” she raised her palm and laid it flush against his cheek, her eyes soft and comforting, “Our deaths, the massacres across Magical Britain, the Purges and Hunts. We know that you won’t rest until that bitch’s and Stark’s deaths…but we don’t want you to turn into a shell of yourself Harry.”
“You have smiled more often in the last five than you did in five years Harry,” Altaria spoke up next, “You have been a strong, good leader along with your friends for the people…but you a human too my husband. We have watched over you, how you came to appreciate Ororo’s adn Logan’s company, how you enjoy teaching and beating the students under your care—Harry snorted at that—and how you feel in Jean’s presence.”
“We know you have come to care for her. Perhaps it is not love, but is stopping it from being so?” Daphne asked him next, none of them giving him a single chance to respond, “You have been alone for so long Harry, I fear you will forget everything good and pure about yourself if you continue to blame and torment yourself.”
“And don’t I deserve it?” he growled out, crossing his arms and turning around, finally getting a chance to speak his mind, “There is nothing good or pure about me. I have made shed enough blood to make literal rivers flow. I have killed millions Daphne, and I will kill even more. Moreover, I don’t want to start something with Jean that isn’t there, that isn’t meant to be.”
“And why isn’t it meant to be Harry?” Altaria asked, taking a step forward, “Because you fear what? Abandonment? Pain? Our disgust or hatred?”
“Because I don’t want to lose someone again damnit!” he shouted, whirling around to look at them, tears shining in his emerald eyes, “First Sirius got killed because I was stupid enough to believe in an illusion and couldn’t earn occlumency for shit! And then you both died because I couldn’t bother to stay at home that day. I don’t want to get attached, because that will make leaving that much harder when I have to go back! Don’t you two understand, no one who ever gets close to me lives! I am even going to kill my best friend of five years, someone without whose help I would have very well been dead…and yet you want me to do all this relationship thing with a girl and curse her to death?!”
“Oh Harry,” Daphne sighed, wrapping her arms around him, Altaria following her a moment later as they laid their heads against his chest, “You are going to kill Granger but not because she is your friend…because she won’t stop until her vision is achieved, adn deep down you know it. But you have become so bitter and full of self-loathing that you blame yourself for it. You think you should be completely alone and without any happiness…which is absolutely fucking foolish.”
“Our death wasn’t your fault,” Altaria piped up next, squeezing him just a bit tighter, “We never imagined that they would shoot us like that, and you couldn’t have known in any way or form that Granger would pull a stunt like this. And while this may sound harsh, I will tell once again what I told you years ago. Sirius shouldn’t have taken Bellatrix Lestrange as a joke. Even on the other side of the planet, I had heard of her prowess in dueling and fighting.”
“But I was directly responsible for both the events happening!” Harry cried out, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against theirs, “and I can’t think of even taking a step towards Jean without thinking off you both. I am a twice widower for fucks sake, my children died before they were in my arms an-and…I can’t betray your memories like that!”
“And we are perfectly fine with it,” Daphne interrupted him, glaring into his eyes, “I am not going to repeat myself, Potter. We died, our children died, Sirius died, adn hundreds under your command died. But that doesn’t make it your fault. You are going to live for hundreds of years Harry, and if you want to torment us…then you can become the self-hating, angry, insane thing you were before you came to this world.”
“These people have healed you, Harry,” Altaria whispered, snaking her head to the back of his head adn turning his face towards her, “We have been so happy for you these few months, all because we could finally see something good happening in your life. Just don’t et all of that go to waste because of some maddening notion that has wormed its way into your brain.”
He looked into their eyes, Daphne’s blue gems and Altaria’s black eyes shining with love and happiness. “Gods, how did I get so lucky?” he murmured, leaning down to place his head between theirs as he hugged them both, “I…I will try.”
“Good,” Daphne whispered back, sharing a look with her sister-wife over his shoulders, “But promise me you won’t do it half-heatedly. Jean is an amazing woman Harry, and she deserves the best you can give her, so don’t bungle this up. For either of you.”
“Besides,” Altraia smirked at Harry as she pulled back, “Her ass is really nice, isn’t it Harry?”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blinking away the spots in his vision as he opened his eyes, Harry sighed deeply as he beheld Jean still sitting behind the barrier he had set up. The energy which had been flaring out from her had died down considerably, the previously erratic pulses now feeling like a steady thrum. As he saw her crimson fiery hair float in her own telekinetic field, the words of his wives came back to him. They had practically forced him to change his outlook on his life, and how the others were affected by them. Now that he was relatively calm compared to a few minutes ago, Harry could finally see the truth in their words.
He had grown bitter, rageful, full of hatred. His actions were guided by a single thing, utter annihilation of any and everything Granger held dear. Neville and others had tried over the years to help him, calm him, change him, but he had never listened to their words. He had pushed everyone away from him in his self-loathing, and he truly marveled at the fact that despite how much of a dick he had been, they had never left him alone.
Now that he had gotten his eyes opened, Harry realized that he didn't need to have armor anymore. He was still going to kill Hermione, her husband, and every member of the Anti-Mage Council. He was still going to raze the Vatican to the ground, and burn every ‘Man of the Lord’ the same way they had burned children…but he wouldn’t let his hatred and anger guide him any longer. And besides, Daphne had told him something that had made him blink at his own stupidity.
No one said that he had to remain in his own Universe after he got back there. He could just come back here the next second, leave the war-torn Earth and the memories of his past behind. Astoria was dead, had been for years at this point. Neville would probably also agree to come here…and he didn’t have anyone else back there now did he?
His wandering mind was brought back to the present by the small gasp which escaped Jean. Shooting u to his feet, Harry clenched his fist, dispelling the wards around her as he felt the tumultuous storm of psionic energy settle back inside her, the electric feeling in the air disappearing as it did so.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking a deep breath, Jean opened her eyes and immediately found Harry’s emerald ones staring back at her. Before she ever realized what was happening, she threw herself against his chest, her hands wrapping around his neck, the image of everyone’s deaths at her hands still dominating her thoughts. Half a second later, the last chat between Harry and her came back to her mind, and she flinched, already backing away from him…when his arms wrapped around her.
She made a noise of confusion in her throat as he pulled her back into a hug, the gesture somehow seeming changed from the last time they had hugged. “Are you fine?” he asked, his hand rubbing her back softly. “Why do you look so shaken up? Did you meet the entity in your mind?”
“Yeah. I did,” she murmured, still bewildered over the complete one-eighty Harry’s behavior had done from their last interaction. Deciding to focus on that later Jean simply breathed in his scent, feeling the safety adn warmth of his embrace as she leaned further into his chest. “I am the avatar of a cosmic force responsible for creation and destruction, known as the Phoenix. She is the source of the psionic energy telepaths and telekinetics use throat the Universe, and due to our strengthening connection, my own reserves were flaring and erupting in energy pulses.”
‘Another cosmic level being?’ Harry incredulously thought as his brain momentarily shut down. ‘I am bonded to Death as her Hand, which I think is just a synonym for an avatar but she doesn't want to say it as such. Jean is linked to this ‘Phoenix’, and Cain was drawing power from a god. Loki, who is apparently Thor’s brother here, attacked Earth…what is with this Earth’s humans encountering deities and supreme forces?’
“That’s good, I guess?” He said, blinking down at Jean’s jade eyes as she looked up at him, “I assume your emotions will settle down now?”
“They will,” she nodded, “According to the Phoenix, she first attaches herself to her host’s baser emotions, and since Professor Charles buried that connection in my childhood, the emotional aspects of my mind were also chained down with it. Now that the connection is free, I am feeling quite light and…fresh I can say.”
“That would do it,” he chuckled, remembering how unburdened his mind had felt after Voldemort’s Horcrux had been removed from his soul.
“Yeah…” she trailed off, pulling back from him suddenly as she rubbed her arm, “Now you won’t have to deal with all the drama I have been doing. No weird, desperate seduction attempts, no teary proposals, and not a sin-mmph!”
“Shhh,” he murmured, pressing his finger against her lips, looking down at her confused eyes with his own earnest ones, “I am sorry Jean.”
“MMhm?!”
“I am have been a right asshole to you today,” he continued, still keeping her lips from moving—not that he was forceful, if Jean wanted to, she could simply move his hands away. “But…I met with someone while you were communicating with the Phoenix, and well they opened my eyes to some harsh truths that I desperately needed to hear.”
“And what does that mean?” she slowly asked after he removed his finger from her lips, hope, and fear swelling in her chest simultaneously.
“Jean,” he sighed, making her deflate instantly before he continued, kneeling down in front of her and taking her palm in his hand, “As an apology to you for my insensitive adn quite rude attitude, as well as a chance to ask you to be my girlfriend…will you go out on a date with me?”
‘Wait What? The hell did he just say?!’ she thought as her eyes snapped down to his, the naked hope in Harry’s eyes making her feel as if she was trapped in some nightmare. ‘Didn’t this man just turn me away, like a few minutes ago?’
“Are you fucking with me?” she asked, enunciating each word slowly, baffled adn agry in equal measure, her unraveled and still not-quite-settled emotions not helping the matters any. “You just told me, in quite explicit terms that I should find a better man who isn’t a twice widower and a killer. Who did you meet that you changed your tune just like that?”
“Altaria and Daphne,” he answered, stunning her into silence, because what the fuck?!. Ignoring her wide eyes and dropped jaw, Harry continued, “They told me, in quite a forceful and blunt way, that I was being monumentally stupid by being a self-hating man who was pushing an amazing woman like you away. I just listened to them, and well…can’t say they were wrong at all.”
“Wait wait wait…I am sorry for the reminder, but did you just say that your dead wives order you to date another woman?!”
“Uh, yes?” he nodded, “That is exactly what happened. What is so shocking about it? That my wives wanted me to date you?”
“Yes!” Jean threw her hands up, because no, it wasn’t weird at all to have your crush tell you that his dead spouses wanted him to have a girlfriend. “Besides the fact that they are dead and probably shouldn’t be able to talk to you?”
“I am a wizard from another Universe, who is the Death’s hand in this Universe and you are the avatar of the primordial force of creation and destruction who is a hitching a ride on your soul” Harry deadpanned, and eyebrow arched in her direction.
She paused at that, realizing that when ut it that way, the fact that Harry was able to communicate with his dead wives was that out of the box…”But why the hell would they want you to date me?”
“Both of them told me that I was far too sexy to live my life all alone for hundreds of years,” he shrugged, and she stared at him, giving such a withering look that he actually laughed at her. “Sorry, it was more along the lines of you are not going to be a miserable, angry asshole any longer, and you are going to give this thing brewing between Jean and you a chance.”
“That’s…I can now see who wore the pants in your threesome.” Jean shook her head, smiling widely as she felt the truth in his words. Honestly, she was quite sad now that she won’t ever be able to meet Altaria and Daphne, they sounded so amazing and intelligent whenever Harry talked about them, and now this…
“And Altaria said you had too nice of an ass to not tap it” Harry grinned, thoroughly disregarding her statement in the anticipation of the blush that was sure to come after this word-for-word line from Altaria.
He was wrong. Jean didn’t blush at all. She positively exploded into a red bloom that might have ver well matched her fiery crimson mane. Chucking a little at her red face and the lowered jaw, Harry wound his arms around her, initiating the hug this time as he squeezed her against his frame. Sighing at his own foolishness as he felt warmth and adoration for the redhead flow through him, Harry once again thanked his wives mentally for setting him straight.
Now, where to take a young woman for a date considering that Florian’s and the French Magical restaurants were not a thing here?
