Echoes of Love
Wanda moved her hand gently, and the floor was cleaned in an instant as the stone slowly rose into the air, as if drawn by an invisible power emanating from her. She stared at it, as though preparing to face a fragment of her own past that had always haunted her.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she reached out. Even so, she took a deep breath and pressed them against the cold surface. The moment her skin touched it, the stone began to shine with an intensity that seemed to steal the breath from the entire world, feeding on the chaos magic pulsing within her.
Harry watched in silence, his heart clenched tight. Only when the light grew nearly blinding did two figures take shape before them.
A man with serene features whom Wanda recognized immediately… and a woman with red hair, whose eyes, full of tenderness, pierced Harry's heart with a love he had never felt so close.
His mother. Lily Potter.
The image was so vivid that for a moment he forgot how to breathe. That same face looked back at him every night from an old framed portrait on his bedside table, next to the photo he shared with Wanda. Now she was there.
Lily took a step forward and smiled at him softly, while Wanda remained frozen, her eyes wide as she met the man's gaze.
"Vision…" she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath, as if she couldn't believe she was truly seeing him.
"Hello, Wanda," Vision replied, a small, peaceful smile on his lips.
Harry felt something break inside him. A knot that had been tied for years. His lips parted, but no words came out at first. He could only look at her… and commit every detail of her face to memory.
Lily lifted her eyes to Wanda and gave her a warm look. "Are you all right? Have you spoken with Harry?"
Wanda nodded slowly, swallowing hard as tears began to blur her vision. Again and again, her gaze returned to Vision.
"You're still as beautiful as the last time I saw you," Vision said with a calmness that tore at her heart.
"And you are too," Wanda replied, her lips trembling as a few tears finally slid down her cheek. Though she knew it wasn't real—that it was only an echo of her broken heart—she couldn't help but feel that, just for a moment, everything was back in its place.
For a second, she allowed herself to close her eyes and remember that once, she had been happy. That not everything she had loved was lost.
"Hello, Harry," Lily said then, her voice so sweet it made his chest ache even more. "I hope you've had a very good life with Wanda."
"Yes…" Harry answered in a thin voice. He nodded as a silent sob shook his shoulders. He didn't take his eyes off his mother. He wanted to memorize every line of her face, every nuance of her smile. Even though part of him knew the truth. Wanda's magic allowed him to feel it with clarity: this was no spirit. It was the Resurrection Stone, a reflection of his deepest desire.
But that didn't make it any less real in his heart.
"I always wanted to meet you in person," he finally said, letting the tears flow freely.
Vision turned his gaze to him, then back to Wanda, with an expression full of affection. "It seems you're doing a wonderful job. You're an incredible mother."
"No… No, I'm not." Wanda's voice broke as a tremor ran through her arms. Her pupils filled with an ancient sorrow. "I almost destroyed a family… my stubbornness… my mistakes… I—"
Harry looked at her immediately and took a step closer, as if he needed to remind her she wasn't alone.
Vision shook his head, his calm smile illuminating the space between them. "Don't cling to the past, Wanda. Sometimes, staying trapped in what was keeps you from seeing everything that could still be. You were always the strongest… and now you have to be the strongest for someone else."
As he spoke, he reached out to touch her cheek, but his fingers faded like a mirage before they could reach her. Even so, Wanda lifted her hand and pretended she could feel him. And in her heart, for a moment, she could.
Lily turned to Harry with unmistakable pride. "It's curious… You're so much like your father."
The light of the stone began to fade. Lily's silhouette started to vanish like a dream at dawn.
"I love you, Harry. You're growing into an incredible young man," she whispered, her voice dissolving.
"It's thanks to Wanda. The mother you brought to me," Harry replied, breaking into silent sobs as he stepped closer, even though he knew he would never be able to touch her again.
Vision was beginning to fade as well. "Wanda… you're doing well. Much better than you believe," he said calmly as his figure turned to light.
Lily turned her head one last time. "Thank you… You kept your promise," she whispered before disappearing completely, leaving behind only a warm glow.
The stone fell to the floor with a dull sound. Its glow went out entirely.
Wanda stood in silence, tears streaming down her face. She took a deep breath as Harry stepped closer and hugged her, reminding her that he was there for her.
She held him tightly—tighter than ever—as if that gesture could seal all the wounds they both carried inside. She stroked his hair tenderly.
Perhaps this was the final push she needed to fully accept that, despite everything she had lost, she had also gained something impossible to measure. A second chance.
…
"Well done, Red. Now go find the Elder Wand," Harry ordered with a solemnity so intense that anyone watching might have thought he was about to change the fate of the world.
The dragon, still clutching the Resurrection Stone in its claws, tilted its massive head and blinked twice, wearing the same look of utter confusion as if Harry had just asked it to solve an advanced Arithmancy riddle. Obviously, it had no idea what in Merlin's name its young master was talking about.
Of course, the poor dragon also had no clue how important those "Tales of the Deathly Hallows" were, or why finding the stone had been part luck, part his tendency to stick his snout where it didn't belong.
"Fine… never mind," Harry sighed, giving up without suspecting that his vague command had just imprinted itself in Red's mind as a sacred mission. One that, without a doubt, would cause monumental chaos in the near future.
Wanda watched them with her arms crossed and a slight smile she couldn't tell was from affection or resignation.
While Harry gently tugged at Red's wings, laughing as the dragon growled at him in feigned indignation, the doorbell rang through the house.
"I'll get it," Harry announced casually as he brushed the dust from his clothes and walked to the entrance.
When he opened the door, he was met by the enthusiastic—and dangerously persistent—smile of Sirius Black.
"Hello, my dear godson. Is your mother home?" Sirius asked with total nonchalance, as if his constant appearances didn't look suspicious in the slightest.
Harry stared at him for three eternal seconds… and closed the door in his face without a word.
"How many times are you going to do this?" Sirius asked from the other side, letting out a resigned sigh.
"I don't know. I just feel like you never have good ideas. Maybe we should send you to Lockhart… you know where," Harry replied calmly, for some reason making Sirius shiver a little as he remembered the last time that you know where had become reality.
"You know, you used to be so sweet and friendly," Sirius retorted, his voice dripping with melodramatic disappointment.
"I think you're remembering something wrong, godfather. This is exactly how I am with my mother," Harry replied with total seriousness, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.
Sirius shook his head, surrendering to his fate. "With that personality, you remind me a lot of Lily back when we were at Hogwarts…"
At that, Harry cracked the door open just enough for his bright green eyes to peek out, scrutinizing Sirius like he was under interrogation.
"…Though I can also sense a bit of Wanda's personality in there too, which makes it rather interesting," Sirius added with a mischievous smile.
The door immediately slammed shut again.
"All right, all right, I don't have any plans with your mother," Sirius hurried to say loudly, wearing a nervous grin. He paused, muttering under his breath in a conspiratorial tone, "For now…"
This time, Harry opened the door all the way, giving him a look that clearly said I know exactly what you're thinking.
"I only came to ask if you'd like to come with me to visit your parents' graves," Sirius clarified, his expression growing more calm and respectful.
"Then why did you ask about my mother first?" Harry shot back, narrowing his eyes like he was already drafting a list of suspicions.
"Obviously, I have to ask her permission," Sirius explained with a shrug that tried to look dignified, though it failed to hide his discomfort. "Do you really think she'd just let me take you anywhere without checking? I don't even trust myself that much."
"You're right," Harry conceded with a sigh, though he didn't stop squinting at him. The frequency of Sirius's visits lately was more than enough to make him wary.
"I heard what happened at the Greengrass house. Are you all right?" Sirius asked as he stepped inside with all the confidence of someone who believed he was welcome, even though all evidence suggested otherwise.
"I'm fine," Harry replied, his voice tinged with slight irritation at the memory.
"That's good. But I also heard you destroyed that boggart. Ha! You're definitely better than your father or me when we were your age," Sirius exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest.
"I'm sure I am," Harry replied in his usual unshakable calm.
The offended grimace that formed on Sirius's face deserved to be framed.
"Hey, why are you like this with me? I'm your adorable godfather. Couldn't you be a little nicer?" he finally complained, lifting his hands dramatically.
"But it's more interesting this way," Harry said with a mocking smile as he turned to go back to playing with Red, who gave a little huff of solidarity.
"You really aren't the least bit sweet anymore," Sirius muttered, shaking his head and letting out a laugh. In the end, he couldn't help thinking that despite everything, this boy reminded him that family was never simple… but it was always worth it.
Next chapter. It's time to go to Hogwarts.