[FIC] Horizons, R, Harry Potter/ Pirates of the Caribbean

[keelhaulrose.livejournal.com]

 

I'm totally new to Fan Fics, including Crossover Fan Fics, so forgive me if I pull a stupid here

Story Title: Horizons
Chapter Title: Chap 1- A Broken Dream
Author: Keelhaulrose
Fandoms: Harry Potter/ Pirates of the Caribbean
Rating: R
Warnings: None this chapter, unless you object to the creation of a whole new character. Sorry if you do. It just worked out better this way.
Summary: In the first chapter, we're introduced to the female lead of the story, Nora, daughter of Will and Elizabeth Turner. She's struggling to find her place in the world considering she doesn't know her father, and she just found out something that could change her life forever (don't smack me if you don't like cliffy summaries!)
Pairings: Draco Malfoy/new character (I'll get there eventually!) Other quick pairings
This story contains all Het pairings
Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor Disney, nor do I play either of them on TV. The canon characters/situations/lines/etc are not mine, nor do I intend to take credit for their work. They gave me the toys, I just played with them

 

A Broken Dream

The first time the young girl met her father she was nine years old. One day, instead of their regular routine, her mother spent all day bathing her, brushing out her long, black hair, and dressing her in a beautiful new dress. Afterwards she was forbidden to go outside to play, for fear of her getting dirty.

William, her brother, showed up about an hour before sunset, leaving his wife and children at home. He had decided, with his wife, that it would be best for them to not meet their grandfather. It avoided awkward questions and explanations that would take much longer than they were going to be allowed. One day, when they were old enough, he would explain the situation to them, but now was not the time.

"Nora," William greeted her, taking her into a bear hug. He was the closest thing to a father she had ever known. William was ten years to the day older than Nora, and he had been very mature when she was born. Throughout much of her early years he did everything he could to dote on his little sister, and he visited her quite often once he had gotten married and left the house. He was her best friend, as she was not a popular child around the town.

She hugged him back. "How is Marie?" she asked of his wife. "And the children?"

"They are all doing well. The girls can't wait for you to come annoy them," William smiled.

"I do not annoy them!" Nora protested.

"Oh, then it must be just me you annoy."

Nora smiled and pushed her brother against the couch. A puff of dust rose into the air as he hit it.

"Hush, you two!" their mother hissed. "Try not to get too messy."

"Sorry, mom," Nora hung her head. She looked at her mother. She was a beautiful, strong woman, though she was starting to show her age. She had sat Nora down many times and told the stories of when she was younger, the Pirate Queen, and her adventures all over the ocean with her father and a colorful cast of characters. At first Nora took them as nothing more than bedtime stories, but one day her mother had confessed that the stories weren't just entertainment, that they had all happened. Nora hid for two days afterwards, trying to let it all sink in that her mother had actually killed people.

"Nora, that's a beautiful blue dress," William commented.

"Thank you," Nora said, running her hands over the front of it. "I wish they had green, but all they had was blue. Green would have gone with my eyes."

William smiled. "Marie isn't the best seamstress, but I'll talk to her. Maybe as a birthday gift we'll give you a dress that matches your eyes."

"I would like that..." Nora started, but Elizabeth cut her off.

"It's time," she said, hurrying them out the door. They walked around the outside of town, and came to a cliff on the outside of town. They all watched the sinking sun in silence until, with a flash of green, it disappeared into the ocean. And with the flash of green a ship appeared on the horizon. Elizabeth smiled, William looked at his feet, and Nora retreated slightly.

Moments later William Turner, their father, was standing before them, a smile across his face. He greeted his wife with an enthusiastic kiss, then turned and shook William's hand. He finally turned to Nora.

"And who is this beautiful young woman?" he asked, a huge smile across his face. Nora saw that she looked a lot like him, she had his face and his hair. Still, though she strongly resembled the man before her, she felt more shy than she had ever felt before in her life.

"This is Nora, Will," Elizabeth smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Nora," Will went to hug his daughter, but stopped when she recoiled.

"Nora!" her mother scolded.

"It's OK," Will stopped her. "She doesn't really know me."

"You're her father."

"Who she's never seen."

The group went to have a late dinner. Throughout dinner the younger William recounted his life for the past ten years with great enthusiasm. How he had gotten a job as the local blacksmith, how he had gotten married, how he had two young daughters, with another child on the way. The whole time their father was listening and responding with enthusiasm and love. Nora wanted nothing better than to please her father, but she hadn't done as much with the last ten years. She had gotten born and learned to read. Not all that exciting.

"Nora," her father turned to her. "That dress is such a beautiful shade of green. It looked blue outside, but here in the light I see it perfectly matches your green eyes. It makes you look even more beautiful."

The younger William, Elizabeth, and Nora all looked at the dress in surprise. It had, in fact, gone from a sky blue to the same emerald green as her eyes. They quickly recovered, though not quickly enough to escape being noticed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Elizabeth said quickly, and turned the subject quickly. Nora stared back down at her dress. Now that she had gotten over the shock of it she wasn't that surprised at the dress changing colors. Strange things often happened around her. Once, when a group of girls from the town were chasing her and calling her mother nasty names and suddenly a large mud puddle appeared between her and the girls, right in dry ground she had just run over, causing the girls to fall in and become covered. Another time, when someone had trampled the flower bed she had spent all summer tending to, she went to bed crying over the lost flowers. The next morning the flower garden was as good as new. She was walking home from playing with her only friend it suddenly started to rain. She ran home, cursing the fact that she had just ruined her favorite dress, but she had entered the house and realized she was completely dry. She knew she could manipulate lights when she was feeling particularly emotional, and had shown her mother once, but at her mother's horror she didn't do that in front of people anymore.

After dinner her mother and father disappeared upstairs, and she went to go spend the night at her brother's house. The next day she spent the day between their house and Jenny's house. Near the end of the day she and William returned to her mother's house for dinner with her father. They ate another dinner where Nora was barely included in the conversation. Her father tried a couple times, but she was overcome with the same shyness, and Elizabeth would change the conversation.

They bid their father farewell, and Elizabeth went back with him to the beach. Nora and William stayed behind, getting kissed and hugged by their father before he departed, but electing to allow their parents a private goodbye. When Elizabeth returned she disappeared into her room. If it wasn't for the maid, Nora would have gone hungry, as Elizabeth didn't emerge for three days.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Nora was just shy of her eleventh birthday when the man showed up. They weren't expecting a knock on the door, and Nora had gotten up from dinner to ask for it.

"Good afternoon, Nora," the man said. She looked at him cautiously. He knew her name, though she was sure she had never seen him before. She would have remembered an outfit like what he was wearing. The man was dressed in long, black robes of some sort, though not like any robes she had seen before. There was a crest on one breast of the black robes. A tall hat sat upon his head.

"Good afternoon," she finally remembered her manners.

"My name is Professor Stewart. I would like to talk to you and your mother."

"One moment," Nora said, abandoning him in the entrance hall to fetch her mother. The women escorted him into the sitting room, where they sat and stared at the guest in confusion for a few moments before Elizabeth decided it would be allowable to offer the stranger tea.

"Allow me," he said. The man pulled a wooden wand out of the robes, waved it once, and a pot of tea appeared in front of them. Another wave brought about cups and saucers. A final wave and milk and sugar appeared.

"Oh, my goodness," Nora whispered in amazement.

"Do you like that, Nora?" the man smiled, noticing she was staring at the wand. "That is my wand, Nora, and it helps me do magic. I am a wizard, my dear," he finished with a smile.

"You're joking!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"I assure you, Mrs. Turner, that I am not. And I have come to tell you that Nora here is a witch."

"I am!?!?" Nora shouted.

"Yes, dear. And I have a suspicion that you are going to be one of the greatest witches a world has known in a long time."

"How would you know that?" Elizabeth asked, fear and confusion thick in her voice.

"I am considered by some to be somewhat of a Seer. I had a premonition of a witch your age, who looked remarkably like you, along with a feeling that you are going to do something great with your life."

Nora looked at her mother, who was staring at her.

"Nora, I have come with a purpose. I am offering you a position at the school that I am currently the Deputy Headmaster of. It's called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The man produced an envelope and handed it to Nora. It had the same crest as his robes. Nora turned the envelope over in her hands a few times.

"Nora, will you please go upstairs for a few minutes," Elizabeth said, staring at Professor Stewart. Nora opened her mouth to protest, but a look from her mother silenced her before she could speak. Slowly she walked upstairs, but when she was out of the adult's eyesight she crouched down so she could listen to the conversation.

A witch! Now all those strange things that happened around her was explained. She could do magic. She wanted to go to this Hogwarts school so badly. She wondered what it would be like. Where was this Hogwarts? Was it far away? How many other witches and wizards were out there? Would they accept her?

"Professor, I'm not sure about her going to some school to learn magic," Elizabeth.

"Hogwarts is a very safe place, madam. Safer than most."

"I don't doubt that. But there are other concerns I have..."

"About your daughter being a witch. Let me assure you, madam, that the magic community is a hidden one. I'm assuming that you had no knowledge of it up to this point?"

"Well, no, I haven't heard of it..."

"Your daughter's status will be kept a secret. The Ministry of Magic takes great care in making sure the Muggle community, that is the community of non-magic people, does not know about the Wizarding community. When your daughter graduates Hogwarts there are many magical fields she can go into, where she can make good money, live in a magical community, and use the magic she will learn at our school."

"I have concerns, however, what would happen should she get found out."

"We have ways to make sure that should someone discover that she's a witch, they won't retain that knowledge very long. She will be perfectly safe, I assure you, Mrs. Turner."

Elizabeth sat quietly for a few moments. "Professor, are you aware of the situation with her father?"

"I am aware that he is absent from her life, but beyond that, no."

"Her father is in a situation that Nora has only had the opportunity to meet him once in her life, two years ago. We never had the opportunity to live together. In fact, he hasn't been seen by the public pretty much since our wedding. Because of this there has been great speculation as to her parentage. We were able to escape the speculation about her brother by moving from the Caribbean to here, but the rumors started up about Nora as soon as she was born. She's tormented by some of the townspeople for being the product of adultery, even though she isn't. I can't imagine what would happen should someone find out she's a witch."

"I'm not sure what I could say to assure you that she would be perfectly safe in our care. Hogwarts is one of the safest places in England, probably in the world."

"But what would happen when she comes to visit? Would someone from your school come with her to protect her?"

"We could arrange for her to stay at school during the breaks except for summer, and if you are truly afraid I'm sure would could make arrangements for the summer break as well."

"So I would never see my daughter again? I would give her up when she is 11 to go learn magic, and that would be the last I see of her?"

"You seem to be able to protest any suggestion I make about the situation. All I can do is make one last plea that this would be a great opportunity for your daughter's future, but admittedly there's nothing I can do to force you to let her go. All I can do is tell you again that should you allow her to attend that her safety would be my personal mission, and that should she not be able to attend I feel that we would be losing a great talent."

There was silence for another minute. "I'm sorry, Professor Stewart. I'm not ready to put my daughter in that sort of situation."

Nora ran to her room, a pit in her stomach. She had gone from the greatest feeling of her life, a feeling like she finally had a place where she could fit in and belong, to the worst, like the best thing that had happened to her was suddenly taken away. She sat on her bed, fuming at her mother. She concentrated on a doll her brother had given to her, and to her surprise it flew into her arms. The sudden display of magic only upset her more, as it was taunting her for not being able to attend the school of her dreams.

A few minutes later her mother came into her room. Nora laid down quickly, and turned towards the wall. The last person she wanted to see at the moment was Elizabeth.

"Heard the whole thing, didn't you," Elizabeth said quietly, sitting next to her daughter.

"I can't believe you, mother."

"What do you mean?"

"All those adventures. All those stories. You killed. And yet, when someone comes offering me adventures, offering me opportunity, you deny it to me. You send him away."

"There is a difference in our situations."

"Mother, you could have given up on Father. You could have walked away at several points. Run away, and go into hiding where no one would be able to find you. You not only stayed, but you took on a position of power."

Her mother sighed. "I was a little older than you..."

"And that's why I'm not asking you to let me go off on some adventure. It's a school, not a battle."

"Either way, I have told you that you are not going. That is my decision, I am not going to change my mind."

"Fine. Can I go to bed now?"

"Is there anything you need?"

"Sleep."

Her mother sighed and left the room. The next morning Nora got up late and took her time going downstairs. When she reached the landing she saw her brother.

"William!" she smiled.

"Oh, hello Nora," William answered coldly. "I was just about to leave. I have things to do at the shop."

"Oh. Can I come see the girls later?"

"Not today, Nora. I don't think that's a good idea."

"What's wrong, William?" she asked, standing in front of her brother and looking up at his face.

"Nothing."

"You're lying to me."

William looked as though he were searching for the right words. "Mother told me about the visitor you had yesterday..." he said slowly.

"Professor Stewart?"

"Yes. She told me what he said about you," the words came even slower this time.

"That I'm a witch?"

William flinched. "Yes, Nora. That you're a witch. It made me think. And I need more time to think. For now it's probably best that you don't come by the house for a while."

"But I didn't choose to be a witch! And it's not like I can control my magic! Mother wouldn't let me go to the school, so it's not like I'm going to learn anything."

"Just the same, I'm going to ask you to stay away from my family." William turned and left.

"This isn't my fault!" Nora shouted at the door. Then she sat on the stairs and cried.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Six years later she and William were sitting by their mother's bedside, watching their mother slowly deteriorate before their eyes. It was the most time they had spent together since it came to light that Nora possessed magic powers. William refused to speak to Nora of such things, only of their mother. He had allowed her to visit her nieces only a few times in the past few years, something that drove the wedge further between them.

"William..." Elizabeth whispered, but she turned towards Nora instead of her brother.

"I'm Nora, mother," Nora replied. "Let me turn up the lights, so you can see better." She looked around the room and the candles burned inexplicably brighter. William scowled at the show of magic, but he kept his tongue in front of Elizabeth.

"Yes, mother?" William asked, stroking her hand.

"Please, take care of your sister. I know that you haven't gotten along well recently," Nora rolled her eyes, "but I need to know that someone will be watching after her once I'm gone."

"I..." William sighed, seeing no way out of the obligation. "I will mother."

"And Nora," her mother turned to her daughter. "I'm sorry. I should have let you go to that school. I shouldn't have been so blind and selfish in my motives. You have a gift. I should have encouraged it."

Nora couldn't say anything. She had been bitter towards her mother for the last six years, since she had been denied the opportunity to study magic. She felt forgiveness towards her mother at times, but it was always quickly replaced by the bitterness that consumed her. She looked at William, who was frowning at the idea that their mother was actually wishing that she had allowed her daughter to become a full-fledged witch. Nora patted her mothers hand as a response.

Elizabeth started sobbing weakly. William and Nora watched her for a few minutes, unable to do anything but hold their mother's hands as comfort. After a few minutes Elizabeth looked at the canopy of her bed, whispered "Will" once, shuddered, and lay still.

Nora wiped a tear from her eye, and in her peripheral vision she saw William do the same. They sat in silence for a few moments, before William stood.

"I have to go make the arrangements," he said gruffly before he turned and swept from the room. Nora stroked her mother's hair a few times, and finally felt the bitterness she felt towards her leave her heart for good. She only wished she was able to have that feeling before Elizabeth had passed.

Over the next two days William got Elizabeth's body ready for burial. The funeral would be small, and kept secret amongst most of the people of the town. Elizabeth Turner and her family had more than a few rumors to their names, and only their closest friends would be invited. William's family moved into the large house, allowing Nora to keep her room, though they all kept their distance. Nora stayed in the room until it was time to bury their mother, and she silently followed her brother's family to the graveyard.

Besides William's family and Nora, Jenny, her mother, the local seamstress Elizabeth was quite friendly with, and two men William and Nora did not recognize attended her funeral. Nora was fascinated by the younger of the two mysterious men, and after racking her brain she remembered a name her mother had told her several times in her stories. But it couldn't be him. It was nearly twenty years later, and the man remained the same. Still, Nora glanced at the man several times throughout the eulogy. He was quite handsome, whoever he was, despite the fact he was so obviously a pirate. She didn't notice, but the man spent several minutes watching her, too.

When the funeral was over the small group wandered out of the cemetery. William and his family rushed away while Nora bid goodbye to the seamstress, her best friend, and Jenny's mother, and started back towards the house. She walked several blocks before she realized that she was being followed. She turned to find the pirate following her. He smiled as she turned to face him.

"Miss Turner," he smirked as he bowed and swept his hat off his head in an over exaggerated gesture of greeting.

"I have an inkling of who you are, though I don't know how you could be," she replied.

"Take a guess," he said, stepping close to her.

"Jack Sparrow."

Comments

[sabine1392.livejournal.com]

awesome!!

[keelhaulrose.livejournal.com]

thanks! new chaps posted. all reviews welcome