Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Piercing the Veil	By : trudyw000 Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > Slash - Male/Male Views: 8941 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Stargate Atlantis, I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Author's Note: Thank you to Recordkeeper and coopershawk for your reviews, as always they are much appreciated. Here is chapter 9, I hope that you enjoy it.`

Chapter 9

Even to himself Sirius' mental voice sounded hurt "you told him your name?"

"No, that's my point, he addressed me as Lantia this morning when he asked me to use the speakers." Lantia tried to explain, "I don't think he even realised what he'd said, I tried to talk to him but he showed absolutely no sign that he could hear me. I re-ran the genetic scan, he has the gene, he should be able to hear me." Lantia was clearly distressed at the anomaly.

Sirius realised that everyone in the corridor was staring at him as he carried on the silent conversation with Lantia. "I'll meet you in front of the Astria Porta in thirty minutes," he nodded what was basically a dismissal to Elizabeth before turning back to Jack and Daniel, "let's take this somewhere a little less public shall we?" catching John Shepherd with his eyes he clearly included him in the invitation.

Elizabeth refused to be dismissed and made to follow the five men, Rodney having apparently decided to tag along as well.

Without even turning to look at her or breaking stride Sirius called back in a cold tone, "this does not concern you Elizabeth!"

Angry and a little surprised Elizabeth stopped, how had he even known she was following, she hadn't said anything and he hadn't looked at her since issuing his dismissal. "Anything that concerns the members of this expedition concerns me." she stated firmly.

Finally stopping Sirius turned to face her once more an expression on his face that was practically a smirk, "ahh, but Daniel isn't a member of your expedition is he!" and leaving the shocked woman standing stock still in the centre of the corridor he turned to leave once more. The other four men quickly followed him, only John Shepherd offering an apologetic shrug to her before he too left.

Striding quickly away down the hall Sirius was the very image of self-confidence, inside was another matter. Sirius was wracking his brains, desperately trying to decide where he should take the others for this discussion until Lantia came to his rescue once more reminding him that he had his own office if he needed somewhere private. Adjusting his course appropriately they soon found themselves back in the spacious room where Sirius had first made his incredible revelations on the previous day.

He looked around, taking in more details than he had managed to absorb on his previous visit. It was a large, square chamber, on one side the large desk behind which Sirius had sat yesterday. In front of the desk were two moulded chairs, the rest of the office was only sparsely furnished with a range of units around the walls, probably for storage Sirius assumed without giving it much thought. There was a round table in the far corner of the room surrounded by four chairs, they looked comfortable enough but the setting seemed rather more formal than Sirius was after. "I'm not sure this is going to work Lantia," he spoke aloud for both Daniel and Rodney's benefit, "we really need somewhere we can all relax for this."

"One moment Sirius," Lantia's bell like tones chimed through the chamber, there was a moments silence before the frosted glass wall across the back of the office that admitted a diffuse natural light began to slide aside. As the wall retreated a second room was revealed, about the same size as the first, bright and airy with the same clear glass wall as his bedchamber. The only furnishings consisted of a circular sofa in a sunken seating area. The flooring here was a luxuriously soft and deep carpeting in a pale cream colour and there was a small rack revealed as the wall completely withdrew which Sirius instantly knew was for shoe storage.

"This is perfect Lantia, thank you" Sirius expressed his appreciation as he briefly surveyed the amazing view before reaching down to yank off his boots and taking a seat. Jack and Daniel quickly followed his lead and settled on the sofa, not exactly cuddling but pressed close together at shoulder and thigh.

Sirius turned to see John and Rodney still standing in the main office looking uncomfortable, he was about to call them over but once again Jack beat him to the punch. "Come on guys, make yourselves comfortable, we don't have all that long."

At his words Rodney muttered something that sounded suspiciously like an obscenity before leaning down to pull at the laces of his heavy, military issue boots before toeing them off and moving to sit in the empty third of the sofa. John looked around once more before apparently throwing caution to the winds, removing his own boots and joining Rodney.

Looking around the small group Sirius felt a small inkling of the happiness that could lie in his future with men like these to call friends. Observing Jack and Daniel he felt more certain than ever that any grief in Daniel's past could not be laid at Jack's door and indeed the older man was probably the best chance Daniel had for a recovery. John seemed anxious in this company, Sirius supposed he could understand that, John was the only active member of the military in this group and that could put him in an awkward position. Still, what he had seen of the young pilot he liked and he hoped that they could be friends. Rodney was largely an unknown quantity, he had had nothing to do with the man on the previous day and he wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't objected to the man accompanying them. The only thing he could put it down to was the older Elizabeth's account of the man's bravery as he gave his own life to buy time for the other expedition members to get away on that ill-fated first arrival in the city.

Sitting forward with his elbows on his knees, chin supported on his steepled hands Sirius focussed all his attention on Daniel. "So, you seem certain that you don't have this 'Ancient gene' but Lantia scanned you and is just as certain that you do have it. One of you must be wrong and much as I like you Daniel I'm backing the city sized computer!"

Daniel gave a wry grin, "I see what you mean, I don't know what to tell you, I've never been able to make any Ancient artefact respond to me so..." Daniel broke off, spreading his hands with a slight shrug in a gesture that seemed to say 'what can you do?'

Now Sirius was confused, "Lantia talks of scanning your blood, do your people not have such tests, must they simply rely on whether an... an artefact responds to you or not?"

The other four men all reacted similarly from a crack of outright laughter from Jack to a smile and a helpless shrug from Daniel, but it was Rodney who answered, "Oh they have DNA tests, but they cost money, blasted bean-counters aren't going to sign off on a series of expensive tests when they can just shove an artefact into your hand and see if it lights up!"

"Ahhh," Sirius nodded in understanding, the evils of bureaucracy clearly transcended cultural barriers. "In that case I think we can agree that you probably do have the gene, would Dr Beckett have the facilities here to perform the tests to confirm that?"

Daniel sat forward now, blue eyes sparkling with enthusiasm "I have the gene!" awe filled his voice but then just as suddenly the light within him died and he slumped back in his seat, "what good does it do me if it's dormant!"

"I can show Dr Beckett how to use the equipment in the labs to verify my scans," Lantia chipped in, filling the silence as none of the men quite knew how to react in the face of Daniel's dejection.

"If Daniel has the gene then there must be some way to... I don't know... unlock it!" Jack stated decisively and twisting in his place he gently grasped Daniel's upper arm, pulling the younger man in towards himself, his attention solely focussed on the man beside him, "we will figure this out."

Slowly Daniel's chin raised from his chest and blue eyes locked with blue. He seemed to be searching Jack's face for something and the other three men in the room sat in unmoving silence not wanting to interrupt this moment. Finally he gave a small nod and seemed to shake off the down-hearted mood and taking Jack's resolve to bolster his own he turned back to Sirius, "right! what do we do next?"

"Well now, I have an idea about that, but I want to try something with John and Jack first" and Sirius's eyes flickered between the two men Jack to his right, John to his left.

"If it will help Daniel then of course but..." John quickly gave his permission although he looked uncharacteristically uncertain, "why Jack and me?"

"Because you two are the ones here with the active gene." Sirius stated simply.

"But you have the gene too." Rodney was quick to point out, "you can interact directly with..." he paused, stumbling over the unfamiliar name "Lantia, with the city, with that shuttle craft you arrived in, with..." He stopped, not so much at a loss for words but more having so many words he didn't know what to say first. Still his outflung arms made his meaning clear and Sirius simply agreed.

"Exactly... Jack?" his voice questioning as he turned to the older man, Jack and Daniel had ended their private moment and were both watching him with matching expressions of cautious hope on their faces.

"What do you need?" Jack asked, his agreement immediate and not requiring words.

Standing Sirius gestured to the space before him, "I need both of you to stand here."

Both men complied and Sirius braced himself, holding his arms up, palms facing the two men as he carefully tamped down his magic, not wanting to use too much he gathered himself, holding his intent clearly in the forefront of his mind and pushing a small amount of magic at the two men muttered "Specialis Revelio".

As the words fell from his lips a pale green glow enveloped each man, as the others watched the glow sank into the two men's bodies, brightening and intensifying as it did so, leaving a tracery of emerald green light throughout their bodies until it stabilised as a emerald green knot of pulsing light in the region of each man's chest, the heart of a web of light that permeated their entire bodies.

With a sigh of satisfaction and a small smile curling his lips Sirius let his arms drop and the glowing light's faded, "I knew it!" and he suddenly punched the air in triumph the small smile exploding into a massive grin as before the other's knew what was happening he stepped forward and enfolded both men in a jubilant hug. "You're both wizards" he exclaimed joyfully and tightened his hug briefly as the other two men's discomfort at the close proximity suddenly changed to shock.

"WHAT!" All four men yelled simultaneously as Daniel and Rodney surged to their feet.

Sirius started to explain but was immediately cut off by Lantia, "Sirius, Elizabeth is waiting for you in the gateroom, she seems to be getting impatient."

Releasing his hold on the two newly discovered wizards he pulled an old fob watch out of his waistcoat pocket. Sirius saw that he was ten minutes late for his appointment. "Come on, we'll have to continue this on the mainland." and climbing out of the sunken seating area he quickly pulled on his boots.

The other men stood, stunned, crowded together in the small amount of space available inside the circle formed by the sofa. Looking back at them when he had finally got his boots on Sirius wanted to laugh, the four of them were so different and yet so similar as each stood with a dumb-struck expression on his face.

"Well, are you coming?" he asked playfully and his words broke the spell holding the others captive.

Ten minutes later, twenty minutes late, Sirius gently touched the shuttle craft down in the centre of the gate room where an impatient Elizabeth stood waiting for him. In the co-pilot's seat was Jack having pulled rank on the younger pilot. John had put up a spirited defence, insisting that as a serving officer of the US Air Force he should have precedence. Jack, of course, ignored any such suggestion and simply settled himself into the second seat with Daniel standing close behind so that he could survey the controls over his partner's shoulder.

Grumbling quietly to himself the younger pilot had taken his place behind Sirius and avidly watched every move he had made. Rodney, eschewing the crowd in the cockpit had instead spent the short flight investigating the other systems within the craft, moving quickly to examine the door controls as the rear of the craft opened to admit the civilian administrative leader of the expedition.

Elizabeth entered the shuttle, clearly still annoyed but trying to present a calm front. Standing awkwardly in the middle of the cabin she looked around herself. She didn't know exactly what she had expected but it wasn't to be ignored but that was exactly what was happening. Rodney was busy poking through the circuits near the rear of the craft whereas John, Jack and Daniel were listening, engrossed, as Sirius explained the controls and the technique required to fly the little ship.

Clearing her throat received no response so Elizabeth called out firmly, "Thank you for this Sirius," but the only response was a hand waved vaguely in her general direction as the lecture up front continued. Feeling strangely helpless Elizabeth simply seated herself on one of the benches running the length of the cabin as the rear doors began to close and she settled herself in for the long ride to the mainland.

Sirius was enjoying himself hugely, the other men had spent the entire walk to the shuttle bay clamouring for information about how John and Jack could possibly be wizards. The only thing that had shut them up was entering the small shuttle where their questions immediately shifted to focus on the incredible craft in which they found themselves. He had been fully aware as Elizabeth entered, but much as he had liked her older counterpart he found this younger version to be rather brash and annoying.

It had been far too long since he had pranked anyone, ignoring Elizabeth would be a good way to ease back into his marauder's role gently and he hoped it would provide some interesting entertainment. He was right, by the time the touched down in the small clearing that had been his home for the previous week Elizabeth was positively fuming, she was not a woman who was used to being ignored.

Taking pity on her he uttered a low voiced suggestion to the others that they take a look around the campsite before he offered his arm to Elizabeth and courteously led her out of the shuttle and up onto the small rise that overlooked his camp ground. At the top he led her to the low mound of stones that marked the final resting place of her older self and there he left her, slipping away quietly so that she could mourn, or simply commune with her alternate self in peace.

It was strange to think that it had only been one night since he had left this place, already there was scarcely any sign to show anyone had lived there. Some animal had obviously been through in the night and his cot bed was overturned and broken, the stones that had circled his cooking fire were disarranged, probably by some animal rooting around for food scraps and the only other sign of his presence was the beaten down foliage where the shuttle had sat for the week he had waited there and that was already springing back upright, striving for the sunlight.

Gathering up the others he led them over to the far side of the camp where they settled in the shade of the trees at the edge of the clearing, it was only mid-morning but the sun was already high in the sky making it uncomfortably warm out of the shade.

"Right, where was I?" he asked rhetorically and before anyone could answer he carried on, "Oh yes, you, John and Jack are both wizards..."

"How is that possible?" Jack interrupted before Sirius could say any more, "I can't do that... that... dog thing!" and his gesture encompassed Sirius' entire form.

Sirius just chuckled, "Well no, a lot of wizards can't do that, it takes a lot of effort to learn the animagus transformation, I had good friends and a strong motivation to help me learn, but don't worry, it's possible that one day you will both be able to do that, and much more besides if we can just unblock your magic."

Jack and John just stood there, struck dumb by the implications of Sirius' words so it was left to Rodney to ask "What do you mean, unblock their magic, and what does any of this have to do with Daniel?"

Sirius settled himself more comfortably against the tree trunk where he was leaning, taking a moment to look up towards the place where he had left Elizabeth. Seeing the woman was still sat by the grave he turned back to his companions to embark on yet more explanations. "That spell I cast back on the city, it reveals what is special about the person or object it's cast on. I was thinking specifically about magical potential as I cast it, that green glow was the faint trickle of magic running through your bodies. The green ball in your chests, that was your magical core." he looked about him to see if he was being understood, seeing his audience watching with rapt attention he carried on.

"All wizarding governments keep a watch out for magical children born to non-magical parents although when they identify such a child different countries have different policies. In the United States they have special teams, they call them first contact teams..." Sirius stopped as his audience reacted as one with a brief choke of laughter at his words. He looked at the men around him for an explanation but none was forth-coming, instead Jack, as the de-facto leader of the group, simply waved for him to continue.

Shaking his head at the strangeness of muggles he went on, "well, these teams contact families and explain about the wizarding world and then they are given a choice. They can either sign the statute of secrecy and agree to send the child to a suitable wizarding school when the time comes, or they can refuse to sign, opting to try to make it on their own." Here Sirius paused, wondering how they would take what he had to say next. 'Only one way to find out!' he thought to himself before continuing. "If the families opt to go it alone they are generally obliviated, all memories of the child's magic and of what they have been told is taken away and the child's magic is bound. I believe that that is what happened to both of you, I should be able to release the binding but I'd prefer to do that back in the city, close to your medical personnel."

John had listened quietly to everything Sirius had to say. Now he sat, one hand rubbing unconsciously over the place on his chest where that glowing green ball had appeared. It was astounding to him to think that he had the potential to perform magic, but even more than that he was angry at what he had missed out on. Knowing his father he doubted that the authorities would have needed to be underhanded about this obliviation and binding. His father would probably have demanded that something of the sort be done, he certainly would not have accepted anything so freakish in his son. Looking up from his contemplations his eyes fell on Daniel who even in such a tranquil setting still looked extremely anxious as he sat beside Jack, his arms wrapped around himself in what John recognised from his brief time in Antarctica as classic Daniel self-hugging.

"That's all very well, but what about Daniel?" he asked, knowing that the other man would not ask for himself.

"Ah, that's what I'd like to find out!" stated Sirius eagerly, "Daniel, may I cast the same spell on you that I used on Jack and John?"

Alarmed Daniel's eyes flew to Jack's face and he made to push himself backwards away from the group. "No!" the whispered word shocked the group as much as Daniel's reaction as the archaeologist scrambled to his feet and hurriedly backed away looking terrified and muttering the same one word under his breath repeatedly, "no, no, no."

Jack had been so wrapped up in the revelations of the day that he had lost track of what this might mean to Danny. Now he was suddenly shocked out of his self-absorption by Danny's strange reaction to Sirius' request, with a muttered "wait here" he climbed stiffly to his feet and followed his best friend, the man he hoped would soon be his lover. Carefully he approached the panicked man, holding his hands clear of his body he tried to catch Danny's eyes but the other man stared resolutely at a spot around the level of Jack's knees.

As Jack moved closer he spoke the other man's name in a low soothing voice and slowly Danny stopped moving allowing the older man to approach. Finally they stood, about twenty-five feet from the rest of the group, tentatively Jack reached forwards , pleased when Danny allowed him to rest his hands on Danny's upper arms where he started a soothing rubbing motion as he stepped in even closer so that as Danny finally dropped his self-hug Jack was able to move those last few inches and initiate a hug of his own, wrapping his arms around the man more important to him than anyone else in this or any other galaxy and enfolding him in a warm embrace that conveyed all the love and acceptance that Jack could never adequately put into words.

For long minutes they just stood there until Danny eventually raised his arms and still trembling in Jack's arms, he returned the embrace. Still they stood there and the others sat in silence and watched, awed by the emotion of the moment.

Finally Jack felt the fine tremors that wracked his young lover's body subside and slowly he pulled back, just far enough to be able to look into Danny's downcast eyes. He felt his heart break anew at the sight of the tear tracks running down that beloved face and crooning soothing nothings he carefully wiped them away. "What's wrong Danny?" he finally asked, "don't you want to know what's happening here?"

The implication that there was some knowledge that Danny wasn't prepared to investigate sparked an immediate reaction as he'd known it would and Danny's head flew up, blue eyes searching Jack's face though for what he couldn't say. "It's not that," he muttered, "why would my parents choose this for me? Why wouldn't they want me to learn about this, to be the person I was meant to be?" And Jack's heart ached at how lost Danny sounded just then.

He'd been thinking this over as they stood there waiting for Danny to calm down enough to talk and he thought he had an answer, he just hoped that it would be enough.

"Your family travelled a lot when you were small right?" he asked quietly and Danny responded with an almost imperceptible nod. Nodding along Jack continued, "well, what if you were overseas when this magical thing first made itself known, what if it was some other government that approached your parents." He paused to see if he was getting though and seeing Danny's nods getting stronger, more positive he carried on. "Isn't it possible that they wanted to wait until they got back to the States, to follow this up with their own government." He waited, giving Danny time to think on what he had said.

"You think they were blind-sided, their memories removed and this was done to me without their knowledge?" Danny asked, hope now making itself plain in his features.

"I think it's possible" Jack confirmed "now shall we go and let Sirius do his thing" and he waved his fingers in a hocus pocus gesture that had Daniel chuckling as they walked back to the other men.

Seeing them returning the others had all scrambled to their feet to await them. Jack and Daniel came to a stop immediately in front of Sirius who simply asked "are you sure about this Daniel?"

Daniel nodded firmly and at a word from Sirius Jack stepped back leaving Daniel standing alone, looking insanely vulnerable as he visibly braced himself for what was coming. Slowly Sirius raised his hand as he had done before, back in the city, formulating his wish clearly in his head he uttered the words again, "Specialis Revelio".

The familiar green glow immediately cloaked Daniel, but this time as it sunk into his body there was no glowing tracery left behind, instead the light retreated entirely, leaving only an incredibly bright ball of light shining painfully strongly from the centre of his chest.

Quickly Sirius dropped his hand releasing the spell so that the light dissipated although it had been so bright that he had a black spot burned into his vision for several minutes after the glow had faded. As soon as he did so Jack stepped back in, gathering Danny into an all enveloping hug once again.

Confused Rodney looked from Daniel to Sirius and back again, "what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means that Daniel is a wizard " Sirius confirmed, adding "but his magic has been bound differently, tighter than the others."

Looking up Jack asked the question that everyone wanted to know the answer to, "you can still reverse it, can't you?"

Sirius looked thoughtful for a while, medical spellwork had never been his forte in school although he had improved in later years during auror training. "I believe so, but not here." He looked like he wanted to expand further but was stopped by a sudden klaxon sound blaring from the shuttle craft across the clearing. He had never heard a sound like that from the ships but it was not a sound that you could ever imagine heralding good news.

Taking off at a run he was very quickly sliding into the pilot seat and punching the red button shining brightly on the console in front of him. As he did so Lantia's voice filled the small craft "Sirius you have to get back here, Colonel Sumner has woken up, he's taken a team through the Astria Porta!"

Elizabeth was the last to make it back to the shuttle and was only in time to hear the last few words. "the Astria Porta?" she asked uncertainly and was answered immediately by five voices.

"The Stargate!!"

AN: Well there it is, let me know what you think.
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Piercing the Veil