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Chapter 31 - Siberia

"Can't we give her something for the pain?"

Poppy shook her head, "Any spells or potions we give Myrtle could have an adverse affect on your son. As soon as he's out we can see to our little mum."

Harry felt so helpless, sitting up on the bed, letting Myrtle crush his hand with every contraction. It had been six hours since the first pains and she was exhausted, but resolute.

About three hours into the ordeal Myrtle had gasped out, "If it were easy they'd call it something other than /labor/."

It was the seventh hour when Poppy smiled and said, "There's the crown, not long now, one good push dear, come on now, push!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

James Sirius Potter greeted the world with a healthy bellow as Poppy used her healer's skills to the best of her ability, restoring stretched and torn tissue, clearing away the afterbirth.

"Harry, you could use the vaginum curatum charm now, Myrtle will be very happy if you do."

One charm later a very contented ex-ghost nursed her newborn son, all her pain a distant memory.

"Lucky little sprog!" Harry teased.

"Maybe that's why I have two /bosums/."Myrtle teased back.

"I love you Myrtle Potter."

"I love you /more/, Harry Potter."

"Milord, Madam Pomfrey?"

The small group at Myrtle's bed looked over to Helena, who was sitting up with a dazed expression, "I think I've had alittle accident. . ."

Poppy rushed over to her bed, then called over her shoulder, "Right then, /Daddy/, ready for round two?"

Harry's expression was equal parts concern and joy as he looked at Myrtle and his son, then to Helena who was about to have his daughter.

"Go on Harry, she needs you now more than I do. Go on."

He kissed her, and then the top of James's head then ran to Helena's bedside, "Breathe, that's it, deep breaths now!"

)O(

Lily Rowena Potter didn't tarry very long. She was apparently anxious to greet the world of air and light. Mere minutes after her first contractions Helena delivered the family's first daughter.

Myrtle scowled, her voice whiney,"How is that in any way /fair/?"

Poppy moved the two hospital beds side by side so the new mums could compare and share.

"She's so tiny," Harry marveled,"and perfect."

In fact, baby James /was/half-again larger than Lily.

Poppy drew an arc in the air with an emerald, "There's something of the fey in our Lily."

Helena, looking fresh, not at all as though she'd just experienced childbirth, said, "Mother did talk of afaerie goddess in the Ravenclaw family tree."

The whole house was vibrating with excitement, two babies, two! Born within minutes of each other. No one could say who was more pleased, the mothers, surely, but Harry was walking in aeuphoric stupor, he embraced everyone in the house, even Severus and abewildered Draco. His joy knew no limits; his generosity of spirit knew no bounds.

The whole, extended family had gathered in the great ballroom of the Black Manor.

Winky, First Nanny to the House of Potter was happier than anyone had ever seen her as she prepared the nursery for its first two occupants. "The Mummies is needing resting soon and then Winky is taking care of the littlest Potterses."

Harry beamed as Myrtle and Helena held their precious bundles of joy, but then his expression fell. He still smiled, but there was a shadow across his face.

"Severus, Narcissa, Cissy and Bella - with me please."

The slightly confused quartet followed Harry to the drawing room.

"My children will never know what it is to live in fear of a dark lord. I am going to end this, I don't know exactly how or when, but soon."

"Professor?"

"Lord Potter?"

"Last summer, in the graveyard, Tommy-boy summoned his deeters by touching wormtail's tattoo."

"I remember it well; it is /difficult/to ignore the Dark Lord's summons."

"Does it work in reverse?"

Severus Snape looked horrified for a moment, then his face morphed into a smile most unpleasant.

"No one would have the audacity to summon the Dark Lord."

"I'm feeling a bit audacious these days, are you game?"

The dark professor smirked,"Bring it on."

Narcissa interrupted, "Milord Husband, Lord Potter, wait, please."

Both men turned to the soon-to-be Lady Snape.

"Remember the Dark, no, call him by his name. Remember Riddle has guarantors against his death, his Horcruxes."

Snape nodded, "So we can kill him, but he'll return. Perhaps not in our lifetimes, but in that of our children or our children's children."

"So how do we kill him for good and all?"

"We need to find all his Horcruxes, and destroy them."

"Who knows where they all are?"

Narcissa smiled, "Bellatrix."

"So we just need to find Riddle's most vicious lieutenant, invite her in for a chat, and have her tell us where the Dork Lard has hidden all the pieces of his soul?"

"Cissy?"

"Yes, Narcissa?"

"Ask me anything."

Cissy thought for a moment, "What is your most sensitive erogenous zone?"

"My most sensitive erogenous zone is my perineum, that small spot of skin between my vulva and anus."

"I knew that." Severus said, with a smug grin.

"The point, milords, is that Cissy is my original, my alpha, if you will. I must answer any direct question she puts to me, honestly and completely."

"So how do we find Bellatrix?"

"Leave that to me, milord."Narcissa said, pulling a small scrying mirror and crystal from her robe.

She stood over the large, jeweled globe that adorned Sirius's study and placed the tip of the crystal against the mirror and whispered, "Sister?"

The gimbaled globe spun and tilted so that the central, northern coast of Russia faced straight up.

"Do we have a map of Siberia?" Harry asked.

"No need, we just need an International Portkey, but since the magical government of Russia is even more corrupt than our own, I say we just bypass the bribes and red tape and just go ourselves."

Harry shrugged, "Works for me."

"We will need someone who has traveled to the Russian Arctic coast, and remembers it well." Narcissa explained.

"The Headmaster," Severus suggested, "I know he spent a summer there about twenty years ago, documenting Shaman rituals."

Harry sighed, "It can't hurt to ask. We'll floo to Hogwarts this afternoon. Bella, please find Pansy and Millie. We will need the Viper Squadron again."

Bella collected a quick kiss before running off to find the /Prima Viperessa/. Harry frowned.

Cissy asked, "Why so sad?"

"Because Bellatrix is out there, and that means I'm leading you, all of you, into danger yet again."

Cissy shrugged, "We wouldn't have it any other way."

)O(

Albus Dumbledore, eager to atone for his previous lacks in judgment, was overjoyed to offer whatever help he could.

Drawing a wisp of memory from his left temple he placed it into the stone penseive in his office and invited Harry and the assembled Vipera to join him in the memory.

Dumbledore and Harry were joined by Pansy, Millicent, Glynda, Tracey, Daphne, Bella and Cissy - all of whom had changed into close fitting black trousers and tank-tops, under basilisk hide armour vests. Each vipera had been gifted with basilisk-hide boots and gauntlets as well. All wore their hair either short, like Pansy, or tied into a severe knot at the back of the head like Millicent.

"Everyone have their emergency portkeys?"

Nods of assent from each of the Witches.

The Headmaster looked on with approval, "Your ladies are well protected in basilisk hide - I wish I had thought of that. . ." His thoughts seemed to trail off as he remembered ayoung girl whom he was supposed to have protected.

"Professor?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. Just the musings of an old fool."

The Headmaster stood tall and gestured toward a seemingly random collection of log dwellings.

"This is the settlement of Ust-Avam, the de-facto capital of Krasnoyarsk on the Taymyr Peninsula. Homeland to the Ngansian people."

A slightly younger Albus Dumbledore appeared and walked purposefully down to the settlement. Present-day Dumbledore, along with Harry and his Witches followed.

A ruddy skinned Samoyed strode from the largest building and said, "Brother to my Grandfather, you are welcome!"

"Dulsymyaku, it is good to see you! May I be permitted to see your father?"

Still smiling, Dulsymyaku answered, "My father has gone on, and now I am the Keeper of the Songs. Come, we will eat and share /wodka/. I have added to my when-I-drink song, but will need your clear mind for my getting drunk song and my being drunk song."

"I will try to be for you, in as much as I can, everything I was for your father, Dulsymyaku."

The Nganasan smiled and said, "I will have to be very drunk before I can be everything my father was for you, brother to my grandfather."

With a wink, he added, "I prefer to warm my bed with a woman."

Present-day Dumbledore grimaced,"Perhaps I should have edited this memory better."

Harry grinned, "Its okay, Headmaster, it's not like everyone doesn't know of your, um, predilections. The signs are there for anyone to see."

Albus sighed, but soldiered on,"The Ngansians are a tiny nation, perhaps a thousand left in the world. Whenever an outsider visits they are treated to the hospitality of the community. This usually includes the offer of a bed-warmer - any children produced from these unions belong to the mother and are raised Ngansian. The father has no claim on the child unless he chooses to stay in the community."

Pansy asked the question at the front of everyone's mind, "So did you?"

"Grandfather!"

A tall, thin man, clean shaven but with long hair greeted Albus warmly.

Present-day Dumbledore sighed,"When in Rome."

"Father?" came a small voice from inside a doorway.

"Grandfather, this is Sergey, he has the gift."

Albus smiled, "He will be a fine Shaman."

"Are you Grandfather to my Father?" little Sergey asked, timidly.

"He is, and he is a great Shaman from beyond the tundra, and the source of our gifts."

"And who are all the other people?"

Albus looked over his shoulder where the boy was looking.

Present-day Albus was visibly startled.

The boy, Sergey, could see them.

He was staring at Bella.

"Are you my lady?" he asked.

Bella looked to Harry for direction.

He said, "Tell him the truth."

Bella knelt and said, "We are all from another time, I may be very old by the time you grow up, or I may not yet be born. It's hard to tell."

Albus and his grandson watched Sergey with amusement as he was having a conversation with his "imaginary friend."

"We must go, Sergey. Perhaps we will meet again, someday."

"Bye."

With the sound of a rush of wind Dumbledore, Harry and his Witches returned to the office.

"Bellatrix will be there."Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded, "Then that's were we have to go."

The headmaster transfigured several stacks of parchment into warm parkas for himself, Harry and his Witches, then removed his robe's rope belt while incanting the Portus charm. Holding the rope in one hand and his wand in the other he instructed, "Grab hold, everyone who's going, that is."

Harry and the /Vipera/grabbed the rope.

A crack like thunder and the rush of a cyclone spun the group through the ether and deposited them on a frozen plateau, not dark, but twilight.

As they appeared in the center of the village they were greeted by Sergey, "/Pilyartch/!"

A single stunner knocked Dumbledore over. The bearded Cossack summoned the old wizard's wand and pointed it as well as his own at Harry and his ladies.

"We are not used to having female visitors in Ust-Avam, it will be good for the men of the village for you to enjoy their hospitality."

Harry kept his hands in sight and asked, "Is that the Ngansian hospitality I've heard so much about, where you would take a woman who's unwilling?"

"Oh they might scream and weep and fight at first, but after a while all women become willing."

"Ah, the creed of rapists the world over, /she didn't mean it when she said no or stop/."

Pansy stepped forward, opening her parka to show the form-fitting clothing beneath.

"Some of us might like a little variety, Potter" she said, smiling suggestively at Sergey.

The Ngansian Cossack was so bedazzled by the bold little brunette that he didn't even see Harry's fist.

"Good idea, sweetheart," he said, retrieving Dumbledore's wand, "and nice distraction, by the way."

Pansy positively glowed at Harry's praise.

Glynda enervated the Headmaster, who looked about confused for just a moment, before focusing on Harry holding the Elder Wand.

The young wizard was confused when Dumbledore refused to accept his wand back.

"No Harry, I insist. You must keep it. I'll tell you why when we return to Hogwarts."

"We're going to face Bellatrix Lestrange; you'll need your wand, Professer!"

From within his robes, Dumbledore pulled another wand.

"Take my advice, Harry, always carry a spare. And for the record, my old wand will work better for you now than it will for me."

"Oooo-kay, Professor. Are you sure you're alright, not dizzy or anything from the stunner?"

"No, my boy, I'm fine. Let's see if Sergey will tell us anything. Odd, he doesn't show any signs of a stunner or a petrifaction spell. What did you use on him?"

"Right cross."

"Ah, muggle dueling. Well, whatever works, I say."

Grabbing a handful of icy snow the old wizard patted his great, grandson's cheeks.

"Sergey, where is Dulsymyaku?"

"He has gone on, Father to my grandfather."

Dumbledore looked confused, "But he was so young."

"Fishing accident."

"Ah, tell me great grandson, why did you attack me?"

Sergey looked ashamed, "Because our Dark Lady said to attack anyone who enters the village by magical means -that they would mean her harm."

Bella stepped forward and pulled the hood back from her parka, "This Dark Lady, does she look anything like me?"

Sergey was completely gobsmacked,"Are you her daughter?"

Bella chuckled, "No, I am her mother."

The Ngansian in Cossack black said, in hushed tones, "When I was but a small boy, I had a vision of abeautiful dark lady, who said we'd meet again."

Bella nodded, "That was me."

"I'm sorry, my lady, but that's not possible, this was thirty-five years ago, and you were the same then as you are now."

Bella shrugged and said, "Magic,"by way of an explanation.

Sergey nodded, apparently that was all the explanation he needed.

"When the Snake Man came he promised us work, and plunder. He brought with him the Dark Lady, whom Ithought was you, grown older.

"She is beautiful and vicious as a killer whale - she doesn't know the meaning of mercy and enjoys pain, her own as well as that of others."

Harry mused, "You say that as though it's a good thing."

"Look around you, young Shaman, this is a harsh place, life is hard, death comes easy. We cannot afford to be weak or merciful. Our enemies must fear us or they will take our lands and our homes and our women before they take our lives. That is the way of our world."

"Where is the Dark Lady now?"Bella asked.

"Just south of Taymyr, gathering more fighters."

Bella persisted, "Will she be long?"

The Cossack shook his head, "No."

"What does she plan to do with more men?"

"She will attack the Snake Man."

"Then she will die." Harry said, calmly, as if citing a statistic.

"You know this, how?" Sergey asked, obviously concerned.

"There is a prophecy; I am the only one who can kill the bastard. And he knows it. More importantly, Bellatrix knows it - why is she gathering more fighters?"

A small voice spoke from within Sergey's parka, "Maybe to distract him long enough for you to have a shot."

Harry, Dumbledore and Viper Squadron were instantly on guard, wands drawn facing outward as Harry covered Sergey with the Elder wand.

"You knew we were coming?"

Sergey shrugged, "We have aprophetess too. She warned us of your coming and said the only way any of us would live was if the Dark Lady were to be far away when you arrived." Gesturing to his parka he asked, "May I?"

Harry nodded, "No sudden moves."

Slowly, carefully the Cossack removed a parchment-bound packet containing a thin cross-section of geode about the size of the palm of his hand and a brass key. Within the crystals Harry could see the image of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Give Potter the key Sergey, and the list."

Before accepting the packet Harry ran a quick revealing spell on the items, just in case.

"They are not cursed, young Shaman."

"I'd like to be an old Shaman someday, Sergey."

The Ngansian nodded his understanding.

"The key is to the Lestrange vault in Gringots, inside you will find Helga Hufflepuff's golden goblet."

The list spelled out the locations of Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes along with warnings for each.

"I have the ring already, and Tom Riddle's diary. We found the locket in Sirius's old digs. Ravenclaw's Diadem is in the "Come and go room?"

"Ask any Hogwart's house elf."The tiny voice in the crystal explained.

"Nagini is . . . oh you have got to be kidding."

"What is it, Harry?" Millie asked.

"Nagini is resting comfortably in Regent's Park, the London Zoo."

"Not for long." Daphne said, smiling, "I need a new pair of shoes and a matching bag."

Harry smirked, "Think there'll be enough left for a belt?"

"Let's find out, shall we?"

"What's this note at the bottom of the parchment?"

"Insurance. Insurance against what?"

"Don't really know, Potter, but I'd guess it has something to do with a ritual other than the one that created soul jars."

"Harry?" Bella asked, a little unsure of her thoughts.

"Yes, Luv?"

"What if Cissy and I weren't the first "originals" to be put into stasis?"

Harry thought about that and then said, "Oh crap!"

"Sergey, we have a truce for now. If you or any of Bellatrix's Cossacks show your faces in London again, we will take you down.

"Bellatrix, same for you, but if I hear of you getting up to any mischief /anywhere/, well, lets just say Idon't plan to respect any borders."

The little crystal answered,"Fair enough."

Dumbledore picked up his rope belt and asked, "Where to, Harry?"

"We're going to the zoo, and then to the seashore."