Chapter 20 - A Promise of Reunion

AN:

Oni: It's been more than a year since I've updated this, I know! You can put away your pitchforks now!

Garry: Life got in the way?

Oni: Big time, but hey, I managed to finish this one! After this chapter, I won't have to rely on playing the game to write it out! I made it longer for you guys this time!

Oni: Also, I know most of you are going to be disappointed by this, but there will not be any slash. Garry and Harry will simply be cousins/brother figures. Please put away thine pitchforks...

Harry: Oni does not own Ib or Harry Potter, and most of the first ten chapters belong to Lindsey6500.

Oni: Enjoy, and ONWARDS!

"Yikes," mumbled Garry from his place on the ground, his back pressing against the wall, "sitting down...makes me really sleepy..."

At those words, Harry turned to the older teen, who was looked as exhausted as he sounded. All that running around in this Mad Painter's world was beginning to tire all of them out. The boy wizard turned then to Mary, who was already out for the count. Blonde hair cascaded down in slight tangles around her, the poor girl's head drooped in sleep. Soft breathing could heard coming from her, but otherwise she was unmoving. A groan came from Garry's direction again, and it was obvious the American wizard was fighting to stay awake. Shoulders sagged under the weight of drowsiness, and Garry's head lowered down to his chest.

"Harry...don't leave the room without me...okay...?" he managed to mutter out before his eyes closed, falling asleep.

"Okay..." Harry replayed, knowing full well that Garry probably wouldn't hear it.

Noting that they were both in a very deep sleep, Harry let out a soft sigh.

All of a sudden, the lights began to flicker a bright green color, and eerie ringing noise resounded through the room. The stool he originally sat on, the easel, and the bookcases all began to float and shake. With a yelp, Harry leapt back, just in time to see the curtain next to Garry fall off, revealing a painting. It appeared to depict a red-haired girl with crimson eyes and a brown dress peeking out from between a set of violet curtains. Carefully creeping forward, the teen noticed a title inscribed on the lower-right edge of the painting, just above the red painted wooden frame, which said in cursive letters "Peep". Looking around again, he noticed that he lights had stopped flickering and the furniture had stopped shaking. Alarmed and curious, Harry decided to shake Garry awake to find out what might have happened. Only, Garry did not rise from his slumber. Fear began to grip him slightly as he went to Mary and attempted to rouse her, but that too failed.

It was clear that both of his friends would not awaken unless he did whatever the room wanted him to do, so after several deep breaths Harry decided to look for a clue on what that crazy quest would be. Deciding to check the bookshelves closest to the door, Harry hardened his resolve, and started with the one behind the easel. There he found and led newspaper clipping wedged in between the pages of a book.

Eccentric Artists Ahead of Their Time

Who Was Weiss Guertena?

Grumbling, he checked the bookshelf next to the first one, near the stool, but he highly doubted "Avant-Garde Art and Its History" was going to help him much. On the next set of bookshelves on the left side of the room, Harry found a book on the middle bookcase with large letters spelling the title "Cubism". Opening it, Harry realized there was something small stuck in between the pages. Gingerly he shook the book, and almost cried out in alarm as the piece grew in size before falling next to his feet on the floor, revealing itself to be another painting piece. With a whoop of joy Harry touched the painting piece, and watched it disappear in a swirl of color.

In a slightly better mood, Harry decided to check the set of bookcases lining the back of the room. Remembering the way this strange place worked, he first tried bookcase tucked away in the corner of the room. As he approached it, he noticed a strange smell coming from one of the books. Carefully picking up the small book, he read the title. Green eyes widened in surprise.

"Entering the Secret Room"

"Well, if that's not a clue, I don't know what is." Harry mumbled to himself as he flipped to the first page.

To enter the secret room... read the writing on the back of the east bookcase.

To return from the secret room... after competing the painting's title, check the lower-right wall. Should you fail, you'll never leave the room again.

Sarcastically noting the warning and danger with each new puzzle, Harry closed the small book and went to the center of the room. Assuming the forward facing the back wall was north, he turned right, marching toward the bookcase next to the small stool. Checking it, Harry noticed that there was small writing on the back of the shelf.

Next, look in the gap behind the long bookshelf.

Groaning at the fact that the room was playing games with him, Harry resolutely went to the end of the bookcases that lined the back wall. He tiptoed carefully around Mary, who was fast asleep leaning on the side of the wooden bookcase frame. Looking closely, the Boy-Who-Lived found a small piece of paper sticking out between the shelves. Opening it, he read the words with distaste.

Now look at the canvas.

Rolling his eyes Harry walked to the easel. True to the paper's word, the easel was no longer blank. Instead, there was writing on it in large black ink.

Close your eyes and count to three. Then it should be ready.

Knowing that there wasn't much else he could do, Harry obediently closed his eyes. A large ticking sound could be heard all around him, ticking away three seconds. Warily he opened his eyes to see that the writing on the canvas had changed.

Now just pull.

Confused, Harry looked around him. A golden cord with a red handle now descended from the ceiling into the middle of the room. Without much more thought, he pulled on the beaded cord. A second went by, and just as Harry was beginning to think that he had been duped, he felt a pull at his navel. The world swirled around him for a moment, before settling once more. He found himself in a different room, much smaller than the one he was whisked out of. After waiting a couple of minutes for his stomach to settle, Harry took a better look at his surroundings. The room he was in had the same floor of the previous room with Garry and Mary, but only the wall in front of him was the same. The other three were completely translucent, showing the outside of the room. And the outside of the room was rather disconcerting, with swirling thorny dark green vines laying themselves out in a way that appeared as if they were making a border around the room. Other than the vines there was only black void.

"Where the bloody hell am I?!" Harry shouted with alarm, looking at his new predicament with panic.

Turning back to the front of the room, he noticed the more Gallery-esque puzzle that he probably had to complete to get out of here. It came in the form of a large square painting situated in the center of the wall. Below it's light blue frame was a plaque of some sort. On either side of the painting, were two brown tables with strange panels on them. Floating on top of the left table was a glowing dark red orb, while the right table held a floating glowing light blue orb. While these things were in itself very odd, it was the large painting that held most of his attention.

The painting inside the frame was moving, scrolling to the left as if it was on a roller. Red apples, blue fish, dark green snakes, black crows, and pink and white flowers all moved in and out of sight inside the frame. Walking up to the plaque, Harry read the inscription written on it.

"XXX Crows and Five XXX. Is this what the book meant by completing the title?" he muttered out to himself.

He checked on the panel on the table with the red orb. Indeed, it appeared that he had to punch in the letters that would spell out the answer. As the X's on the title preceding the word 'crows' was in red, he assumed this was the corresponding panel. Green eyes went back to the scrolling painting, and he began to count how many crows would pass by. It seemed that the painting was repeating itself, although there was neither a beginning nor end to it. Even so, Harry simply picked a crow to start with and counted from there.

"One...two...three...and it started again. So...three crows?" he asked himself aloud with a nervous chuckle.

After checking again, the teen confidently punched in 003 into the left panel. After he did so, a happy-sounding chime echoed in the room, which Harry took as him getting the right answer. He let out a shuddering sigh of relief, wondering if his mind could take much more of this madness. Since there was no use thinking about his unraveling sanity, he started to focus on the other half of the puzzle.

"Alright, now for the harder one... what is there five of?"

After scrutinizing the painting for a moment, he growled in frustration and stomped the ground. There were only three snakes and four apples, and he was having difficulty wondering if he should bother to count the flowers.

"Wait a second...could this be color coded? Which mean it might be talking about the fish..." he told himself aloud before a wide smile graced his face.

Starting with the blue fish in the mouth of one of the crows, Harry began to count.

"Okay that's one...two...three...four...five...yes!"

With a loud cackle he excitedly punched in FISH into the panel, and another chime rang through the room. With a none too sane grin on his face he jumped up and down, racing up to read the plaque that now stated proudly "Three Crows and Five Fish". As soon as his mind registered his victory, a strange sound came from behind him. Spinning around on his heel, Harry found a painting piece lying in the center of the room.

"Yes, come to me my pretty~" he sang out to the painting piece, reaching out and caressing it with his thin fingers and watched it giddily as it too disappeared in a swirl of color.

Sighing with relief, Harry suddenly noticed how mad he had been behaving.

"Stop it Harry, you've got to get out of here with your sanity intact! We might be almost out of here!" he admonished to himself.

"But what if we're stuck here forever?" he asked himself in defense, "What if we can't get out?"

"That's not going to happen!" he growled to himself, "You heard Guertena, we don't have much left to do!"

It was at this point that Harry realized that he was arguing with himself, and promptly took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and collect himself.

"Okay, okay... no reason to go madder than you already were before entering this room...now how do I get out? Ah, wait, the book said to check the lower-right wall..."

First he walked to the center of the room, facing the painting. Then he walked to the corner on the lower right hand of the room. He put his hand on the wall and began to feel for something, anything, before his fingers brushed against something that wasn't the wall. Peering closely, Harry saw that it was some sort of small translucent switch. Taking a deep breath, he pressed it.

And gave in to the pull he felt as navel.

Garry was not panicking.

Garry was NOT panicking.

"Garry, are you okay?" asked Mary worriedly as she checked behind the bookcase for Harry (he MIGHT be thin enough to fit in between!).

Okay, he was definitely panicking.

He and Mary had awoken to find that not only was Harry missing, but the door to the room was locked. No amount of calling or searching turned up any indication to where their British friend might be. It may have only been a few minutes, but without a working watch Garry had no real way to tell, and he was beginning to freak out a whole lot more than when he first realized Harry was gone. Mary, on the other hand, was used to the Gallery's shenanigans. She knew that Harry would turn up eventually, but WHEN and HOW was the worrying question.

Just as Garry was about to turn around in his pacing from his place at the door, Harry suddenly manifested in the center of the room.

"...! Harry!" Garry shouted, before running up to him and wrapping his arms around him in a protective hug, "Where did you go?! You worried me so much!"

Mary, on the other hand, launched herself at Harry and gave him a hug from the back, caused the already unbalanced boy to fall over, taking the Garry with him.

"I...went to a...secret room..." managed Harry from beneath a giggling Mary, while Garry struggled to breathe under the two of them.

"...A secret room?" Garry asked confusedly, "From here, you mean? I thought we had examined just about everything..."

"Looking for you!" Mary piped up helpfully.

"...And there wasn't one." Garry continued before letting out a long sigh, "...Well, still, I'm relieved you're safe..."

"I'm fine, Garry!" Harry mumbled sheepishly, "And besides, you two were fast asleep! I didn't know what else to do!"

Garry sighed again and patted the young boy's head, messing up his already unruly hair.

"Sure, yes, we fell asleep! But don't go anywhere on your own next time! ...Okay?"

Both Garry and Mary looked expectedly at him. Harry smiled wryly, knowing full well this situation might arise again at some point because Fate LOVED her Harry Potter playtoy. As they got up from their place on the floor, Harry said a word he hoped he won't regret.

"Okay..." he sighed out, hoping that another situation like this one doesn't come around anytime soon.

Garry and Mary smiled happily at him.

"It's a promise!" Mary sang out, skipping around the two boys, while Harry sighed internally.

They all agreed to leave the room immediately, lest this incident happened again. When they got back into the main room, the liquid night had seeped even further into the floor, covering it almost entirely in its oily darkness. Some had flowed up the stairs where the large, unfinished and unnamed portrait stood, and even more flowed up the stairwell north from the "Endless Corridor".

Passing the unnamed large portrait that was finally beginning to take some form, the trio trekked through the thick liquid, careful not to let it touch their clothes so that they didn't fall asleep. They came across the last door in the large room, and Harry jiggled the handle, growling loudly when it was evident that it was locked. At this, both Garry and Mary took a step back.

"Harry...are you sure you're alright?" Garry asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Harry grumbled out, "Just thought we were finished with all this 'locked doors' business..."

"There's still those stairs we haven't explored yet! Maybe the key is there?" Mary pointed out, nervousness lacing her voice.

Harry shook himself out of his stupor.

"Yeah, let's check it out."

And so they ascended the rather short stairwell that quickly leveled out into a hallway, which led to an even steeper set of stairs. The trio begrudgingly climbed up the seemingly endless staircase before it ended abruptly with a sharp left turn. The continuing hallways was so narrow that none of them could walk side by side. Garry led the way, with Harry bringing up the rear and Mary safely walking in between them.

They came to a small room which branched outwards to the left of where they walked. To the right of them was a wall level with the corridor they had been walking beside, with a "Mistake" painting centered to the room. Inside the room was a giant hole, which seemed to only lead into the darkness within. It was surrounded by red posts with round gold tops and gold chains, as if it were an exhibition. Carefully the three of them avoided the painting (which had not moved...yet) to read the name of the supposed art installation that was obviously just a giant hole.

On the brown wooden pedestal were the bold words "Birth of the Copernicus Revolution", which greatly confused both Harry and Mary. They turned hopefully to Garry, who cleared his throat.

"Copernicus was an astronomer and mathematician in the Renaissance Period. He was most famous for the idea that the Earth orbited the Sun, rather than the other way around. It was a big deal back in his day, hence the Copernican Revolution." Garry explained.

"But this is just a giant hole in the floor." Harry pointed out.

"Yes, I can see that." Garry replied with what would best be described as a sweat drop.

With a shrug, they round once more to where the unmoving murder painted still stood silently, to find another painting piece blocking the entrance to the giant hole. Mary picked it up, and watched it disappear to join its counterparts in the large painting downstairs. Now there was only the gaping hole in front of them, which they stared down at.

"Is THIS really a Guertena piece?" Garry asked incredulously, "This is just... beyond the realm of sense."

As soon as those words left his lips, the painting behind them finally broke out of its frame (why why WHY is it always when their back was turned to it? Harry wondered). For a brief second they simply stared at each other before they were pushed with rough hands down into the darkness below.

They fell, surprised, when the abyss inside suddenly lit up, and it was clear that the walls had red and green paint smatterings against a deep blue background. As they fell they had to avoid hitting several large orbs before passing a blazing orb that looked suspiciously like a red sun. Finally they reached the floor below, Harry knocked unconscious by the fall.

He was awoken by the sound of Garry's frantic voice.

"...Harry! Harry, wake up, please!"

With a groan, he did as told, opened his eyes to see Garry and Mary kneeling worriedly next to him. When his brain finally caught up to the situation, he scrambled into a sitting position.

"Harry!" Mary cried, "Thank goodness you're alive!"

Harry smiled at her happiness, feeling the same warmth he got from his friends and the Weasleys flow through him. He made to get up, but winced in pain from the fall. Garry watched him do so with no small amount of worry.

"Are you okay? Are you in... Why, oh course you're in pain!" Garry sighed sadly, noting that Harry's rose now only held six petals, "But... whew..." he sighed with relief, as it could have been much worse.

"What about you guys?" Harry asked.

"I'm as good as ever!" Mary immediately replied cheerily, "if a little sore..."

"Well, it hurts here and there..." Garry said with a smile, "but I should be able to walk it off. We should... certainly watch our backs from now on."

As if to prove him right, the "Mistake" painting dropped down to their floor and began to pace around. Stricken with fear once again, the trio frantically searched for something in the room that could get them out of there as fast as possible.

The only things in the room other than the three of them and the wandering murder painting were two metal buttons on either side of the far wall, with a depiction of what looked like the moon on the left side and some brown orb planet on the right side. In between the two buttons was something scribbled in cyan paint. A pretty glass box lined with silver sat in the middle of the floor, in front of it was a white plaque which read out "Jewel Box of Temptation".

Seeing as they had nothing to lose, Harry reached for the jewel box, only to jerk back in surprise when it began to speak, its opening functioning like a mouth. Harry couldn't help but think of the Sorting Hat as it grumbled out something barely coherent.

"Want me treasure?" it asked gruffly, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Hagrid.

"Er, yeah, we want your treasure?" Harry answered uncertainly.

Fortunately it didn't try to bite his head off.

"Solve wall puzzle and we talk. Mess up, me bite."

As if to show it was serious, it opened its mouth further to reveal sharp jagged silver spikes that lined the roof of the lid and the bottom rim, like fangs. Thoroughly understanding what was at stake, Harry nodded rapidly. They made their way over to the cyan scribbling on the wall, which was their only clue to this room's puzzle.

"Which heavenly bodies weren't there?"the writing asked, and Harry realized those orbs they passed earlier were really floating sculptures of planets.

Silently, they stared at the orb to the left, their silence seeming to ward off the "Mistake" painting as it didn't really have any eyes. Mary quickly shook her head no, indicating that she saw that sculpture on their path downwards. Harry quickly pressed the small metal button, the image switching to a new one with a soft click. Thankfully this did not alert the "Mistake" painting to their presence, so the trio continued their puzzle. This new orb was yellow at the center, but chance to orange and then red when as one got closer to the edge. After tugging their heads trying to think of whether or not they had seen this one on their way down, they all nodded in agreement that this was one of the missing ones.

Satisfied, they crept to the button on the right. Harry remembered passing the brown orb, so he quickly pressed the button to change it. The next 'heavenly body' depicted was a grey orb with a ring of dark grey rocks circling around it. Garry shook his head, motioning to the other two that he had seen this one, so they continued. Next up was a bright blue orb, which all three seemed to remember seeing. Harry pressed the button again and a green orb switched into view, a 'heavenly body' the same color as his eyes. Mary and Garry stared at it, before nodding at Harry. He scrutinized the orb, trying to see if he could recall seeing it before. Nothing came up, so he took a deep breath and walked back toward the jewel box, who was gnashing its teeth in anticipation.

"I think we solved the puzzle..." he mumbled out to the dangerous box.

The box closed its mouth tightly. For a few seconds it said nothing, before muttering out its answer.

"You smart. Fine, you have me treasure."

It moved its mouth side to side, before the lid opened wide to reveal the final painting piece nestled within its jaws. Garry shuddered at the sight as he noticed the red splotches near the base of the teeth, but gingerly took the piece to avoid Harry and Mary getting their hands near it, just in case. When his fingers brushed against the edges of the painting piece, it disappeared in a swirl of light, and a sense of great accomplishment washed over all of them. The jewel box politely waited until Garry's hands were out of the way before shutting the lid again.

When the box snapped shut, a doorway appeared in front of it on the opposite side of the puzzle. The trio happily ran up to it, and Harry grinned when he saw it could be unlocked from their side. With unhidden glee the raven haired boy turned the deadbolt, it making an audible click. Quickly turning back to see if they had caught the "Mistake's" attention, trio realized it was on the other side of the room. Giving out a sigh of relief, they exited the room.

Only to find themselves on the other side of the locked door in the main room.

"Huh, so that's why it was locked." Garry commented lightly, which released some of the tension inside them.

Shoulders sagged, tired, but a sense of finality called out to them, emanating from the now completed painting, each square fitting together like a perfect puzzle. The three of them looked upon it in awe, Harry standing in the middle and flanked by his two friends.

"It's a painter. How ironic." Harry stated.

"Hehehe, the green he's using is the same color as my dress!" Mary pointed out happily, but something struck Garry when she said that.

"Could it be then, that this person is...?" he whispered, trailing off as their eyes landed on the plaque below the frame, now showing the title in gold, cursive letters.

"Guertena"

"So it is a painting of himself." Garry mumbled aloud, "I heard he didn't leave any self-portraits..."

Again, as if to argue with him, the Gallery shook, and a strange noise tore through the air. The pieces of the painting melted together to create a whole, unbroken image. With a rumble, a set of stairs rose from the ground, leading up into the painting.

Suddenly the feeling of finality increased, making their hearts ache at the fact that they were near the end of this adventure. They linked hands and crossed the barrier together.

Everything was black once more. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything appeared just like the dark gallery they had been in after they left the Sketchbook and before they descended the steps into the dungeon. A wide set of stairs spanning the large room led upwards, and with their hands still linked, they climbed.

Posts blocked the way, cut only by the wooden stand in the middle and a simple table with a vase on top of it to the left of them. Behind the stand a part of the floor was covered by a circular piece of white fabric, with what appeared to be a black bed in the middle of it. The bed was diamond shaped, pointing their way, with four blood red legs. Behind the bed was a dark cloud entangled in the same white and red wires that encompassed the "Reserved Seat" back in the Hell Gallery.

Walking up to the stand, they read the title inscribed on it and smiled.

"Final Stage"

"We did it..." Harry breathed out, "we're at the end..."

"We'll be able to go home soon..." Garry sighed with relief.

"We're almost to the True Gallery..." Mary whispered with joy.

Harry walked up to the innocent vase and plopped his rose in, watching as it grew back it's missing petal. After placing his white rose back into his pocket, he pushed the table backwards so that they could enter. As he walked past the table, he noticed deep blue shoe prints standing out from the stark white fabric of the floor near the strange bed. For some reason he was drawn to it, which made him immediately recoil.

Bad idea Harry, who knows what that thing will do to you if you got near it? He thought to himself, giving the bed a wide berth. They crossed the other posts and climbed up a single step before the room steeply narrowed into a single person hallway. However, in front of the hallway sat a large box of scarlet red, lined with gold. Gryffindor colors, Harry thought amusedly. He unhooked the black clasp and lifted the lid.

"What... there's nothing in here...!" Garry exclaimed, peering into the dark velvet casing, "Hm?"

Something small shines deep within the box, and like the Seeker he was, Harry reached in and grabbed it. When he took his hand out, his fingers were clasped tightly around an ornate black key.

"Well, this must be the Black Key Guertena was talking about..." Garry said aloud, "Which means we can now unlock the True Gallery."

The box vanished into thin air, clearing the way for them.

Hand in hand they continued onwards.

When the hallway ended, they were met with a familiar sight. To the left of them was the large rose sculpture that was inside the original Gallery. It seemed so long ago that they had come here, and they had been through so much together. Walking up to the description next to the exhibition Garry read out the words.

"Embodiment of Spirit. Beautiful at a glance, but if you get too close, it will induce pain. It can only bloom in wholesome bodies."

"So that's why we have roses..." Harry mumbled out.

As it had been so long since any of them had been in the real Gallery, they took a right, past "The Coughing Man", "Selfless Guard", "The Sky Seen From A Hill", up past the trinkets in the long glass cases collectively titled "Twinkling of Crystals and Stars", and turning left past "Serpent's Spirit", "Glass of Antipodes", "Horizon View", and "Beach Isolation".

The large room they walked into was a sorely familiar sight indeed. "Abyss of the Deep" laid proudly as the centerpiece on the floor, the entrance Harry took oh so long ago gone, as if it had never happened.

"Ah, yes, this was one of the passwords earlier on in the Gallery if I remember right." Garry stated before reading aloud the plaque in front, "Abyss of the Deep. A world where man will never stand... To realize that world, I decided that I would engrave it within the canvas."

"This was how I entered the Gallery in the first place. I had to jump into the bloody painting." Harry groaned out, causing the group to chuckle.

They walked to the large painting that lined the wall, depicting a mother scolding her child, who was playing the piano. It was titled "A Well-Meaning Hell".

"Yeah, well, I didn't think this Hell was all that well-meaning." Harry grumbled out.

Mary noticed the notice posted next to it, and tugged on Garry's sleeve to read it aloud. He rolled his eyes at her but cleared his throat.

"Welcome to the World of Guertena. We truly thank you for attending today. We're currently holding an exhibition for the great artist Weiss Guertena. We hope you deeply enjoy the art of the late Guertena, whose creations carry such mystery as beauty both."

Garry blinked twice.

"There is so much wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin..." he said flatly, causing Mary and Harry to giggle.

They headed towards the reception desk, where they noted that it was pitch black outside. When Harry and Garry went to check the front doors, Mary stopped them.

"That leads to the Sketchbook. I think we're trying to look for the exit."

Nodding, they went up the stairs that lead to the top floor of the building. Looking to their right, Garry and Harry nearly balked at the sight of the headless "Death of the Individual" mannequins that stood in front of them ahead of the "Reserved Seat". Quickly they took the route around it just in case they decided to come alive one more time, passing "Lady taking the Newspaper", "The Hanged Man", "Couplet Towers", and "Worry".

In the next section they passed "Misshapen Diamond", speedily walked past "The Lady in Red", "Bitter Fruit", and "Spectacle of Century's End". They turned right and walked past the sculptures of the pink ball stabbed with three swords titled "Wariness", the black tree with long pastel colored wind chime leaves titled "Taste-Cleaning Tree", and the sculpture of the melting blue figure titled "Fusion". Making another right the trio passed the cat painting called "Your Dark Figure" and "Enlightenment".

Finally, they stood before the massive painting that could take them home.

"Fabricated World," Garry read aloud from the inscription, "Once you go in, there's no going back. All your time here will be lost. Will you still jump in?" he took a step back, "I don't think we'll lose all our memories if we unlock the True Gallery, so now it's simply a leap of faith."

Harry, on the other hand, scrutinized the painting in from of him. It looked different from the last time around...

"Hey, isn't that... the former Gallery? Does that mean... if we jump into this, we'll go back there?!"

"It seems like it." Garry answered, "But how to go about doing so is the real question..."

The Gallery answered him once more, the lights flickering on and off, before blinding all three of them in a flash of light. When they managed to see again, the frame around the painting had disappeared.

"Look!" Mary cried, "The frame...! Now might be our chance!"

The painting girl broke into a run before leaping at the now frameless image, grabbing the edge (which came just above her head) and flipping into the other side. Grinning, she jumped up and down in joy with the realization she had effortlessly passed through the barrier. With a small smile on his face, Garry shook his head in exasperation. He glanced down at Harry.

"Well, I suppose I'm next!"

His long legs easily overcame the large step that Mary had to climb, his knees bending at the landing. After standing back up he turned around to look at Harry.

"Yes!" he exclaimed with a broad smile, "I'm really in! Hurry up, Harry!"

Harry grinned from ear to ear, his hands reaching for the edge of the painting...

"Harry..."

The voice had come from somewhere to the left of him. It felt nostalgic, familiar, and it made his heart ache. With a start, his hands left the edge and he turned to see who had spoken. A figure was walking towards him.

"Harry!" Garry shouted, "What's wrong?"

"Come on!" Mary added.

But them the figure became illuminated by the glow of the painting, and Harry's breathe hitched. It was a woman, who had fiery red hair that cascaded down her shoulders and bright green emerald eyes. His eyes.

"Harry! I finally found you!" Lily Potter said, her voice like the sweetest music, her smile making him want to cry.

"M-Mum? Is that really you?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Sheesh... I was looking everywhere! Don't just go running off to places on your own!" she admonished, her tine full of care and worry, "Your father's waiting for you too, see? Let's go, Harry!"

She held her hand out, and Harry involuntarily took a step forward. There, in front of him, was a sight he wanted to see for a long time. His mother, alive and happy, calling out for him to come home. And she said his dad was there too...

Tears threatened to spill over in his eyes as he slowly stepped toward her, until another voice broke through.

"Harry! Hey, what are you doing?" came the voice of Mary.

"Hurry up and come over!" came the voice of Garry.

Harry's head snapped to see his two friends staring at him in confusion and haste. He once again walked toward the painting.

"Harry!" cried his mother as she took a few more steps towards him, "How many times have I told you? Don't go following strangers!"

"Hey, it's not scary, okay? You'll be fine!" Garry told him placatingly.

Lily Potter took a few more steps forward, and Harry could smell her perfume...

"Harry! Listen to your mother! Don't go with some stranger! Do you want to never see your mother and father again?"

At that, Harry frantically turned back to her, eyes wide. His lungs seemed to compress, and for some reason he felt like he couldn't breathe. Tears flowed down his face, and he choked down a sob.

"Mum..."

"Harry!" Garry yelled out, kneeling down to the edge and holding his arm out, "I'll pull you over!"

"Come with me..." whispered his mother, walking even closer toward him.

"Grab my hand!" cried Garry, his arm outstretched for him.

"HARRY!"

For a moment he didn't know what to do. Here was his mother, in the flesh, promising to take him with her. And then there was Garry and Mary, who were always with him through this terrible Gallery...

Gallery...

Of course, he was still at the Gallery! His mind snapped into focus. The Gallery was trying to lure him back, a final attempt to make him fall. The woman in front of him, as much as he didn't want to admit it, wasn't his mother at all. It was simply an illusion.

Harry's eyes hardened in determination. He wasn't going to let himself fall. Not when he was so close to getting out. Turning to face his friends, he grabbed Garry's outstretched hand.

"Alright!" Garry exclaimed happily as he hauled the final member of the trio up into the large painting.

When everything turned white, Harry did not look back.

They were in a white room that seemed to stretch endlessly. The walls and the ceiling were nowhere to be found. The three friends looked around confusedly at this, until right in front of them an ornate black door materialized. It's lock and handle were made of gold, and the entire frame was decidedly ancient. Fishing the Black Key out of his pocket, Harry grinned madly as he watched it gleam.

"One final locked door..."

He inserted the key into the lock, feeling an elated satisfaction when it clicked open. With a turn of the handle, he pushed open the door to see what was behind it.

They were in a reception area. The walls were painted a pearly white, yet the desk was of regular polished wood. Behind the desk was a man in a suit, his hair greying.

"Welcome to the True Gallery." the Receptionist greeted happily, "It looks like you finally made it!"

The Receptionist took something out from the back of the desk, placing it on the surface in front of Garry.

"This is the Painter's Ring. By inheritance, it is yours now, Mr. Black."

It was a beautiful ring, with bronze and silver metals intertwining like stems to make the band, and set inside was a coat of arms depicting an eagle carrying a blue rose. Both the eagle's only visible eye and the center of the rose had a sapphire set in its place. Perhaps the Guertena family were descendants of the Ravenclaw line?

"Thank you." Garry told him seriously before slipping the signet ring on his pinky, where it shrunk to fit.

As soon as the ring settled into place, the world around them rippled. The sapphires on the ring began to glow brightly, Garry's visible eye reflecting it as if it were made of glass. Blue light turned into white, and once more they were engulfed in a bright light.

Harry stood in front of the "Fabricated World" painting, blinking rapidly to dispel the clouds from his mind. After a quick glance around, he realized he was back at the normal Gallery, the place before everything went crazy.

"...We made it." Garry whispered from his right, relief filling his voice as he fidgeted with the ring on his finger, "Now we have to go find Mary!"

Harry looked around the room. Indeed, their painting friend was nowhere to be found. However, he was drawn to some paint scrawls in yellow next to the large frame.

To Harry and Garry,

I'm okay! Papa just said I needed to wait nine months before my rose grows, so I've gone back to the Sketchbook. My frame looks like a window now, and my painting in the real world is in some sort of storeroom. Come find me!

Mary

Harry turned to his older friend.

"Well, I guess we have to search for this storeroom." Garry said with a smile, "Luckily for us, the real world has something called a Building Manager, so instead of searching every door, I'm just going to go ask. Wait here, Harry."

With that, Garry walked off, turning the corner and out of sight, leaving Harry to ponder everything that had happened. It was over, finally over. He was out of the Hellish Gallery, and back where he belonged. True, there was his relatives to worry about, but the addition of two new friends (one of which was an American Wizard, imagine that?), he pushed that issue to the side for the moment.

Music poured from speakers lining the ceiling, giving off an air of refinement. There was the endless echo of chatter from people a ways away, which for some reason calmed his shattered nerves. He was very sure he had come out of the Gallery madder than when he had gone in, and he didn't think he could ever react to a locked door the same way ever again...

On the bright side, by the time he got back to England, it would be time to go to Hogwarts again. Harry sorely missed his friends, and he was sure Hedwig was getting worried about him as well.

Movement came from the canvas in front of him, and with a start he realized that it was Mary, running inside the frame like one of the paintings in Hogwarts.

"Hi Harry! Garry let me out of my frame so I can see the real world! It's so bright and pretty and I can't wait to come out there and eat snow and play house and meet lots and lots of new friends!" the blonde girl shouted energetically.

Garry came around the corner, haggard and a little out of breath.

"Be careful...Mary... there are too many Normals around the place..." he puffed out.

He was only met with a giggle.

"So what now?" Harry asked, "I'll be honest, I didn't think we'd get this far, so I'm at a loss in what to do."

"Well," Garry started once he regained his breath, "I'm sure Mary will be crossing portraits to my house now that's she has more freedom, and according to the building manager, this exhibition will be packing up and moving to Europe very soon, so perhaps you'll come across it at some point. As for me, I'm probably going to sleep for a week. What about you, Harry?"

"I need to find my relatives, no doubt they've been trying to locate me after all this time..."

"Actually," Garry interrupted, "we came back at exactly the point we left off on."

"Bloody hell..." Harry groaned, "well on the bright side I won't get in trouble with them... I go to Hogwarts after this, so I don't have much time with the Durselys anyway."

Speak of the devil...

"There you are, boy! Dudley is hungry so we are leaving this establishment." Aunt Petunia sniffed out, taking in Harry and Garry, who she sneered at seeing his hair and outfit.

Harry turned apologetically to Garry.

"I'll be seeing you then?" he asked meekly.

"Of course, I'm sure Hedwig will be able to find me! Don't be a stranger now, and don't forget to write!" Garry answered cheerily, silently shushing Mary in front of Harry's Aunt.

With that, Harry was led off, waving at his newfound friends with a Promise of Reunion, his white rose tucked safely in his pocket.

Omake 1: Gift

Hagrid was confused when he got a parcel via owl that morning, having sent out Harry's gift of The Monster Book of Monsters a couple days before. After tearing off the parchment wrapping it, he was met with the sight of a beautiful glass jewel box. Turning it over in his large hands, he attempted to lift the lid, only to find that it moved on its own.

"Want me treasure?"

It was at this point Hagrid thought 'No, YOU are the treasure.'

Far away, Harry Potter smiles.

Omake 2: Buttons

"Harry..."

The voice had come from somewhere to the left of him. It felt nostalgic, familiar, and it made his heart ache. With a start, his hands left the edge and he turned to see who had spoken. A figure was walking towards him.

"Harry!" Garry shouted, "What's wrong?"

"Come on!" Mary added.

But them the figure became illuminated by the glow of the painting, and Harry's breathe hitched. It was a woman, who had fiery red hair that cascaded down her shoulders and bright green emerald eyes. His eyes.

Only, they would be if they didn't have dark green buttons sewed over them.

"Mum?" Harry asked, a little frightened of the woman in front of him.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm your Other Mother!" she told him happily.

Harry quickly NOPED out of there.

AN:

Oni: Phew! That's all for now folks!

Garry: Don't forget the Follow, Favorite, and Review!

Harry: This is the end of the game, but now the impact it makes in the Wizarding World is about to begin...

Oni: And we'll see you next time, my pretties!