AN: Hello there!

Now this is something that I wrote on a whim, hence why it carries the additional title of 'The Muse Files'. Obviously it is a crossover between Harry Potter and Warframe, both of which I am a fan.

There is no guarantee that I will turn this into a fully fledged story. I have written more than this, about another 3-4k words. Consider this something of a pilot chapter. If its popular I will return to it, most likely after I have finished Causing Havoc in Two Dimensions. The next chapter of which is not far from completion! If you are after that instead, you have my most sincere apologies for making you wait. Blame school, my job, and For Honour (which is wonderful! When the servers work...)

Important! - I wrote this after reading the brilliant 'Child of the Storm' for about the fourth or fifth time. That is why this is so similar to the first chapter of that story. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. My writing of Dumbeldore is also similar to that of Nimbus Llewelyn, both because I liked his version and because it made sense when I sat and thought about it

Anyway, enough blabbering from me. On with the show!

No more.

That was the single thought in her mind as she plunged down through the atmosphere, shields flaring to protect her from the heat of re-entry, her whole body aimed like a dagger at the storm clouds below her. The afterburners on the engines of her Archwing screamed as they propelled her to the ground.

For the last 12 years she had been forced to watch from the sidelines, forbidden from interfering. For 12 years, she had been forced to watch her son grow up miserable with her blood-sister and walrus like husband and son. She had been forced to watch, helpless, barred from interfering, as he confronted the monster than had killed her husband, that had forced her from the world below. She had tried to distract herself, targeting the stubborn remains of the Infestation in the asteroid field and below the surface of Eris, and pushing back occasional Sentient probes around Charon, but it had failed. Her mind kept returning to her son. The others had tried to distract her as well, keep her occupied. All well intentioned. All failing miserably.

She had nearly melted a hole in the station after being forced to watch him fight the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. That had been after she had torched one of the meditation gardens after seeing what that idiot Lockhart had done, or rather tried to do.

This though…. This was too far. Now she just didn't care.

She could just make him out, a hovering speck in the distance, just visible through the storm. She could see the Dementors closing in on him, could feel their massed influence pulling at her. She snarled, the flames on the crest of her helmet flaring brighter in response to her rage.

Then, as she drew closer, she forgot to breath for a moment.

He had fallen off his broom.

At just over a thousand feet up in the air.

Oh, let's not forget, there was a storm.

She tightened her body, forcing it to become as streamlined as possible as she tore across the landscape, overriding the maximum throttle on the wings all the way, making them quiver and strain to meet her demands. She dipped towards the ground, shooting bare meters above the audience for the match, some of whom had turned when they heard her screaming engines, and promptly screamed themselves as she shot overhead. They were Slytherin, so she didn't care. She yanked her body backwards, trying to cut her speed as much as possible so she didn't break his body when she caught him. The inertia dampeners and air resistance combined were the only thing that made it possible, as well as stopping her brains exiting through her ears, eyeballs and nostrils. She managed pulled to a stop just below him when he was still just over fifty meters above her. She detached from her Archwing, which hovered in place, and crouched, waiting for the right moment, ignoring the commentator, who was vocalising the disbelief, surprise and shock of the crowd.

A moment later, she launched herself skyward in a spinning leap, void emitters pushing her higher. She caught him mid air, landing on one knee for additional balance since her hands were full.

For the first time in 12 years, she held her son in her arms.

The first thing she noticed was how much he looked like James. With his eyes closed, he reminded her of James in his earlier years at Hogwarts, when he had done little else it seemed except fool around with Remus, Sirius and Peter. Thinking of the last name brought sour memories forward, but she pushed them aside as she focused on Harry once more. He was on the skinny side, no doubt the result of his years with the Dursleys. She was going to have words with her sister about that. She stroked a hand through his hair.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the scar as it appeared from behind the dark fringe. She hissed in anger, knowing instinctively that it came from that terrible night all those years ago.

Speaking of dark things….

She looked up, seeing the Dementors baring down on them, dark shapes against the dark clouds of the storm. She could feel them pulling at her mind, threatening to pull up the darkest nightmares from the depths of her mind. Rage poured through her, the flaming crest roaring once more in response to her anger. Pulling Harry close with one arm, she raised the other high into the air, void energy flaring through her warframe, then slammed it into the ground.

Pillars of red-gold flame erupted from the ground, leaping into the sky, reaching with burning hunger for the Dementors that closed in on the pair of them. The creatures screamed in rage and pain as the void enhanced fire burnt them, driving them away from where she stood, defiant, her son in her arms. It might not be able to kill them, but they clearly did not like it.

Good, she thought, it will keep them away, and may teach them a lesson.

She turned when she heard footsteps behind her. Albus Dumbledore was approaching her cautiously, Minerva McGonagall to his right, Filius Flitwick to his left, and behind both them, bringing up the rear… her old friend, Severus Snape.

Her eyes narrowed at the black robed man. After what he had done to Harry, he was most definitely not her friend anymore. She was willing to forgive that insult to her, when he had called her a mudblood in a fit of rage, but he had taken out his anger and jealousy at James on Harry. That put him fairly high up her shit list.

There was silence as gazes were levelled between her and the group of teachers, Harry still in her arms. At least, they were silent, the stands full of students were whispering furiously to each other, rumour and theory flying as to just who the fire wielding woman was.

"Thank you for catching Mr Potter," Dumbledore said finally, his tone polite but wary, "however I am afraid I do not know you. Would you be so kind as to enlighten us?"

For several moments she did nothing, said nothing, considering her options. Her head tilted forward slightly as she looked at the ground.

"Not here," she said at last. The eyes of every staff member narrowed slightly as they heard her voice, clearly recognising it but struggling to place a name to it, possible because of the slight reverberation effect that being in a warframe tended to add.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, acquiescing to the request, perhaps in light of the sheer unknown that she outwardly presented. He was no fool however. He had not become one of the most powerful wizards of his time by being foolish. He had not attempted legilimency as that required eye contact, and there was none to be found thanks to what he presumed was a helmet of some sort, though how the person inside was able to see he had no idea. It was a woman that was obvious, and that she was almost certainly a witch due to the fact she had shot straight through the wards with little to no resistance, but beyond that, and a gut feeling that he knew her, he had no clue as to who she was. If she proved to be hostile, it would be easier to deal with her within the walls of the castle, where some of the wards and magics woven into the construction of the castle could aid them.

He stayed on guard, as did the other staff members with him, as they escorted the woman up to the hospital wing, quietly noting that the strange wings she had arrived with had flown up into the air, though they stayed near the castle. He also noticed that she did not seem uncertain as to their route, and seemed to walk it almost on automatic, only really concentrating on where they were going when they came to the stairs. Again, it piqued his curiosity that she did not seemed phased by them, especially when a set above them began to move. Her entire focus of the walk seemed to be on Harry, who was still cradled in her arms. Her gaze, or so it seemed behind her helmet, seemed to be trying to devour him, to memorise every inch of flesh.

Dumbledore had the feeling that trying to separate them without her consent would prove difficult.

He was walking along her right side, closer to Harry's feet than his head. When Harry's feet swung slightly to the side mid step, he caught a glimpse of a large white and gold pistol on the woman's hip. His caution rose. The war with Grindelwald and the muggle Second World War had crossed each other quite a lot. He knew the dangers of firearms, having run across them during the war, and through his watchfulness of the muggle world. Many pure bloods would dismiss the dangers that muggles posed now, but they severely underestimated them. See exhibit A: the nuclear bomb.

They finally reached the hospital wing, tensions only slightly reduced, and came face to face with Madam Pomfrey. She took one look at the armoured woman, gave her a suspicious look, then directed her to a bed to put Harry on. The armoured woman did so, but there was a certain amount of reluctance. She stood at the edge of the bed, brushed back Harry's hair with tenderness. Then she turned, almost unwillingly, to the staff members standing behind her. There was a moment of silence before Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I think this would best be discussed in my office," he said. A slight nod was his only response. The quintet headed up the headmasters office, narrowly avoiding a stream of red and black robed students. Said students promptly stopped and gawked at the armoured woman as she walked passed, escorted by the teachers and headmaster. A few of them, mainly the older boys, got over their surprise and curiosity as just who the woman was and what the armour looked like, and instead noted that it was very form fitting.

"That's not eye level," the armoured woman called back, long experience telling her what they were doing. She could almost feel the boys flush red, before they cringed under the gazes of their female house mates. Needless to say, the girls were less than impressed. Some of the group, the younger ones, just looked confused. Their quizzical looks were met with comments that ran along the lines of 'you'll understand when you're older'. They hurried into the hospital wing to check on Harry, the incident pushed to the back of their minds.

Up in the headmasters office, the group of staff watched the armoured woman like hawks, gazes wary. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, with the staff members sitting in front on seats transfigured from wooden beads. The armoured woman had declined a chair, instead standing in the centre of the office, arms at her sides. She looked relaxed, but not in they way most people looked relaxed. Her stance was more akin to a relaxed panther, as if at any moment she would spring into action. Though most panthers didn't have flames shooting from their heads, were not trimmed in gold, and did not carry a pistol that looked more like a small cannon.

"Now that we are in private," Dumbledore said, "would you be so kind as to introduce yourself?"

The armoured woman raised her head slightly, as if to look him straight on the eye. Then energy flared up her body. Dumbledore's hand shot to his wand and he rose quickly to his feet.

Mid draw, he almost dropped it.

A woman, this one in a tight fitting black and yellow bodysuit, had appeared in front of the armour, which, a part of his mind noted, was still upright. She was of average height, and judging by the contours of the body suit, in prime physical condition.. What had made him almost loose his grip on his wand, what had made his jaw almost fall to the ground in shock, what had caused gasps of shock to ripple through the room, was the woman's face.

Flame red hair, high cheekbones, eyes that were an almost unnatural emerald green. A face he had not seen for a little over a decade. A face with eyes pinning him in place with a laser like focus, backed up by a furious expression.

It was Snape who broke the silence, with a single, breathy, emotion filled word.

"Lily."

Lily Potter nee Evans stood before them, arms folded over her chest, weight on one leg. Her eyes, on hearing Snape's voice, flickered over to the black robed potions master, who recoiled under the fury in them. She held them there for a moment, then flicked back to Dumbledore.

"For 12 years," she said in deceptively calm tones, "I have been forced to watch. To watch, and to do nothing. So I have just one question for you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore." Each word of his name felt like a dagger to the headmaster. Yet he accepted each one. He knew, quietly, that he deserved them, deserved each one for placing Harry with his relatives, for the danger he had put him in the last two years. Well, last year had not really been his fault, he had not wanted the Chamber open, but that was beside the point.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Lily demanded, her eyes flashing in anger, her voice just this side of a primal roar.

"Harry needed protection," Dumbledore said at last, "he needed the best protection that I could offer, short of being raised in Hogwarts itself. The wards around your sister's home are blood wards, bound to him and her." He managed to meet the irate woman's gaze, his eyes entirely lacking their normal twinkling. "You know they are among the strongest type of ward, you studied them in your last year. If I had placed him in a wizarding family, there was the risk of Death Eaters finding him and attacking either him or the family he was with to get revenge." He grimaced. "I confess that, while I knew you were estranged from your sister, and that she did not like magic, I failed to understand just wide the divide was, and just how much she hated it." He sighed, feeling his age more than usual. "As the last two years, well. The first was my largely fault, I will not shy away from the blame there. The second was not so much mine, but I should have learnt from the year before, and realised that he had James' curiosity and infamous talent of getting into trouble."

"And the Dementors," Lily said, her tone closer to normal volumes but still full of rage, "why are they here?"

"Because Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban," McGonagall said, her tone slightly irate. Lily's head snapped to look at her old house mistress, her expression morphing into one of surprise and shock. "We believe he is trying to kill Harry, to finish what his master failed to do 12 years ago."

Lily looked puzzled. "Why would he try and kill Harry?" She asked, sounding genuinely confused, which drew looks of surprise from the staff members.

"He was your secret keeper," Dumbledore said after a few moments of silence, then he seated himself. "He betrayer your location to Voldemort, then killed Peter Pettigrew when Peter confront him, as well as a dozen muggles. All that as left was a finger."

Lily looked stunned. Dumbeldore continued, his face solemn. "I'm sorry Lily, I know Peter was a friend of yours. He received the Order of Me-"

"It wasn't Sirius," Lily said, her eyes narrowing. Four pairs of eyebrows attempted to achieve orbit. "He wasn't our secret keeper."

"What?" Flitwick stammered out. "Then who was?"

Lily's face became darkly amused. "The rat. Who else?" It took the staff members a few moments to realise who she meant. Dumbeldore, ever quick minded, got there first.

"Peter?" He asked, his tone suggesting he did not quite believe it. Lily nodded.

"We swapped at the last moment," she said, turning and beginning to pace. "Sirius was the obvious choice. Excellent duelist, proficient in mental defence, and very good friends with James, even if he did drive me up the wall on several occasions." The last sentence was said with fond exasperation. "He could hold his own long to escape if need be, and Grimmauld Place was both unplottable and under Fidelius. Add to that his career as one of the Marauders here, something that required both planning, skill and stealth, and he would be nigh on impossible to catch or turn. No one would have suspected Peter though. We should have suspected he would turn, rat ani-magus and all." She growled under her breath. "Sirius had better have killed him. I won't be anywhere near as merciful." She looked up sharply at Dumbledore. "Where is Remus, and do you have any idea where Sirius is?"

"Remus is here," Dumbledore said, having managed to get over his surprise at Lily's words, "he's teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. As for Mr Black, I'm afraid I have no idea where he is, thought at a guess, I would say he is not too far from Hogwarts. Shortly before he escaped Azkaban he was reportedly heard muttering 'he's at Hogwarts'. While I believed until now that he was referring to Harry, it seems he may have been referring to Peter, although why he thinks Peter is at Hogwarts I do not know."

"I'll have a friend search for him," Lily said.

"Lily," Dumbledore said, drawing her eyes back to him, "I know you want to go after Peter, and try and find Sirius, but…" He gestured at both the armour, which as still standing upright, and at her. "How are you still alive?"

Lily sighed. "That's one hell of a tale." She sat in a chair that Dumbledore conjured for her. "To put it simply… I'm not human. Not quite." To say that drew looks of shock was an understatement.

"Then… what are you?" Flitwick asked. The question was clear on the faces of both Dumbledore and McGonagall, while Snape looked more like he was still getting over the fact she was alive.

"I am Tenno," Lily replied calmly. "I am a master of gun and blade, a wielder of the void, where science and magic have no meaning. I am far older than I seem. I was old when the Roman Empire rose. I was old when Homer wrote the Iliad. I have seen more, done more, than any of you have realised. When Voldemort 'killed' me, he was actually just killing the body I was inhabiting at the time, the same body I had been in since I was 'born'. Don't ask for details, I was only given the simple version," She leant back in the chair, a sad expression on her face. "When the curse hit me, I woke up, with my memories mostly restored, in a Transference Pod, which I had been in to help keep my mind intact and to keep the somatic link strong and stable. My time here was supposed to be a fresh start. A chance to be more than a Tenno, than a warrior." She huffed. "Life isn't that simple though," she said bitterly. "I just had to be tossed into another war. At least I met James," she said, her tone turning to a mix of sadness and affection at the end. Severus flinched at that. Unfortunately for him, Lily caught the flinch. Her eyes turned furious as they shot to the potions master, to someone who had once been her friend.

"I had been ready to forgive you Severus," she said, anger burning in her voice despite the low tone, "but you took out your jealousy of James on Harry. I know James wasn't a saint, but the sins of the father should not be passed to the son." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't know you."

Snape forced his face into a blank mask. Inside though, he was dying. It had been his love for Lily that had held him back from falling completely into the Death Eaters, that kept a small piece of light in him, even when he had lost her to that idiotic bully James Potter. Now, here she was, alive, and telling him that there was no way of ever fixing what he had done.

If they had been family, she had effectively disowned him.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, saving Snape from the glare of the red head. "There are many questions I would love to ask, as I am sure that they would receive fascinating answers, but one needs to come first. What will you do regarding Harry?"

Lily looked at the floor, her face troubled, yet slightly amused at the same time. "I don't know," she said at last, then gave a somewhat sodden chuckle. "I used to berate James for thinking before acting, yet here I am, doing exactly the same thing." She stared at the floor for a few moments more, then raised her head. "I won't reveal I'm alive just yet. I want to. I want to so badly it hurts, but I can't risk Peter finding out I'm alive before I can catch him."

"You said Peter was a rat ani-magus, correct?" McGonagall said suddenly. She had fallen oddly silent a short while before, her face showing that she was deep in thought. Lily nodded slowly. McGonagall's face turned hard. "The Weasleys have had a pet rat since Percy, their third son, came to the school. I'm near certain it's the same rat that Ronald, who is the same age as Harry, has now. If Scabbers, that's the rats name, is truly just a rat, then he must be over 10 years old, and I've never heard of a rat living that long." McGonagall frowned. "I think one of his claws is missing as well."

Lily's expression shifted, becoming something that was, quite frankly, terrifying. It was an expression that promised pain for Pettigrew. "I am going to burn him alive," she snarled, a reminder that her temper and passion for justice were as fiery as her hair.

"Let him be tried first," Dumbledore said, intervening before Lily carried out her threat. "If you simply kill him of hand, we will lose any information that he may have." He fixed Lily with his blue eyes, meeting her emerald green gaze head on. "It will also help prove Sirius' innocence. And do you want Harry to know that you deliberately burnt him to death? That you murdered someone in cold blood? How would he take that?"

"Wormtail betrayed us," Lily snarled, "he deserves a traitors death."

"I am not saying he does not deserve death Mrs Potter," Dumbledore said coolly, his demeanour shifting as he rose to his feet. "I am merely saying that any sentence of death should be approved by law." Where before his demeanour and disposition had been one of a wise, kindly elder now… now it was that of a man who held immense power. And knew how to wield it.

It was a reminder of just who he was. He was the man who cast down Grindelwald. He was the man who had prevented Voldemort from attacking Hogwarts out of fear of the retaliation that would follow. He was the man who had probably forgotten more about magic and duelling than most ever learnt. He stood with power radiating off him, and while Lily had been a superb duelist, a powerful witch, and had only more power at her fingertips due to the void, she did not know if she could defeat him.

If she was honest, she did not want to. She still held a measure of respect for the headmaster for his actions during the war, and she recognised, once she looked past her anger, that he had had few options regarding Harry.

She broke eye contact with him.

The tension in the room eased. Somewhat.

"I'm still killing him," Lily said, more quietly now. "I won't let you or the ministry stop be from doing that, even if I have to break into Azkaban to do so."

"My dear," Dumbledore said, his eyes having regained some of their usual twinkle, "I'd like to see them try and stop you."

AN: So there you have it. A Touch of the Void. You'll notice that Dumbledore didn't advocate for merely imprisoning Pettigrew, instead merely insisting that any death sentence should be passed in law, rather than taken in vigilante style. That's because a) Pettigrew was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, so has betrayed Dumbledore too, b) he may have useful knowledge, and can help prove Sirius innocent, and c) Dumbledore likes to spare people where possible, and is smart enough to know that he can offer a way to avoid the death sentence if he talks. Of course, he does not tell Lily that.

Anyway, rate, review, and I'll see you next back in Causing Havoc in Two Dimensions.