Flame and Steel

The package sat on Hermione Granger's desk looking as boring as it possibly could. Which was, in fact, quite boring indeed. However, having received a letter before hand, she knew that the package was in no way, shape, or form boring. Immediately dismissing the fortunate student who had been assigned detention that day (he skipped clear to Ravenclaw Tower), she shut the door, locked it, covered all the windows, and put out the fire. Certain that she would not be disturbed; she approached the boring looking box with utmost reverence. Standing next to the desk (the box was too tall for her to sit) she opened it. The view inside the box, while slightly more interesting, was still somewhat boring in nature, until she started pulling out the packing material. Finally, it came into view, the very thing she had waited for all week. The very first wizarding computer.

It was quickly set up and turned on, the glow of the screen lighting every corner. A happy smile on her face, she began exploring what she could do with it. The first few nights she spent just playing with the software, and then, the games. It took her nearly a week before she even touched the internet, which gave them access to muggle internet as well. A link on the home page led her to a site called Google. It was a funny little site, in her opinion, where you could find links to the most peculiar of pages. Two weeks she played with it, searching the most random things she could, just to see what she could find. Finally, she did a search with a few random words, her name, and her friends' names. She clicked on the first link, called Flame and Steel, on a site called FanFiction . net.

A scream could be heard through the castle.

In the Slytherin dormitories, Flame Malfoy whimpered at the piercing sound going through her head.

Up in the Gryffindor dormitories, Steel Malfoy cut herself. She had been polishing one of her swords when the scream was heard. Tending to it, she debated on whether or not it was worth investigating. Eventually she decided it was not, as the headmaster was certain to have heard it.

However, the headmaster was still sound asleep and did not even hear of such an occurrence until about three weeks after the event.

(Stop deleting my page breaks, ffnet!)

Ron Weasley was woken early that morning to Hermione frantically flooing him. He stared at her groggily as she dragged him to Hogwarts and threw him in front of something he vaguely recognized as the latest controversial sensation. As directed, he read the words in front of him. He turned to her. "What does this have to do with me? Or you? I mean, it's not like it's real."

Hermione made a strangled sound. "Two Japanese students. Flame and Steel Malfoy. Just like the story."

His eyes grew wide. "How does this….."

"Layelleswen."

"Layelleswen know?"

"I don't know." Even at 29, Hermione Granger loathed admitting to not knowings something, and Ron knew that. "We can't tell him. Not yet, anyway. It gets worse." Being Sunday, neither of them worried about their work as they proceeded to read more of this … person's writings. Most of them were shocking and scandalous.

"How can someone write such…nonsense?!" Ron finally demanded.

"I don't know." Hermione said, softly.

Flame's World

Cerveau Romarin-Espérer sat outside of Professor Granger's office, listening to her and her friend speak about the strange tales they had read. A chill ran up his spine, and he knew something was going to happen, and whatever it was, it was going to be big.

The Underground Court of Hogwarts

Nagini bounded in, Circuit sitting on her shoulder, carrying a package which she promptly dropped on the table, startling her friends out of their activities. They waited for her to acknowledge them or open the package, but she hummed to herself as she stroked Circuit's head.

Finally, Bellatrix cleared her throat. "Nagini?"

"Hmmm?"

"What's in the package?"

"Huh? Oh!" She smiled brightly. "Aunty bought it for me this summer, and since I've been pestering kitty so much lately, she told me that if I left her alone for a week, she'd enchant it for me to use here." She went back to playing with Circuit.

"And?" Severus asked.

"And she did." Nagini's eyes were wide and innocent.

"What is it?" Lily asked, crossly.

"A laptop. It runs off of Circuits inside it, but…"

"But…?"

"It's a little small to have one Circuit in there, nonetheless the many Aunty said it would take to run it."

Blank looks crossed Severus and Bellatrix's faces, but Lily just said, "Show us, then."

Cheerfully, Nagini chirped, "Sure!" and proceeded to do so. The laptop was about the size of a textbook and was black and silver. Nagini started it and the four friends took turns playing with it. Near curfew, Nagini suddenly called for everyone's attention. "Look!" She pointed to the screen. "This story's about us!" Her friends gazed in shock and horror as the story told of their recent exploit in revenge of Severus and Bellatrix's underwear.

"Oh no! What if McGonnagal sees?" Lily moaned.

"We'll just deny it, she has no proof." Severus assured her, not sounding as certain as his words.

"Who is this…Layelleswen? How does she know….?"

Nagini shrugged. "Who cares? We're on the net!!! We're famous!!!"

The other three weren't quite as sure, but they all missed the mischievous glint in her eye.

Option #2: Reflections

"Papa!" Elizabeth Swartz called. "Come quick!"

Erasmus walked into the room where his daughter was sitting at the computer. "What is it?"

"Look." She moved out of the way for him to take a seat. He read through the story she had pulled up. She did not speak until he had finished. "Is it true?"

"I can't be certain of most of it, but the evidence found points to it, and what I do know certainly is." The girl sat down in another chair at her father's words. "This shouldn't be a surprise to you, I've told you about your mother before."

"I know, it's just…different. More….real, somehow. Papa, how could –"

"We'll talk about this later. Right now, I need to find out who this…Layelleswen person is and how they learned of this."

"Do you think it could be….Mother?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it sweetheart, she's been dead for a long time. Go work on your homework, I'll keep you posted." The girl nodded, but paused.

"Do I…"

"Do you what?"

"Do I look like her? Do I really look like her?"

"Except for what she did to herself, yes."

Elizabeth nodded and left the room. Erasmus turned back to the computer and started reading through Layelleswen's profile and other stories, hoping to find a clue to begin his search with.

A Profitable Afternoon

Kyouya reread the story to ascertain that he had not, in fact, hallucinated what he had just read. Tamaki called for him, and in a daze, he left his laptop to speak with him, questions occupying his thoughts. Who was this Layelleswen? How did they know about the week before? And more importantly, what would it take for them to keep their mouth shut? Unfortunately, when he returned to his laptop, he found Haruhi staring at the screen with utmost horror scrawled across her face.

"Haruhi?"

She turned to him. "Is it true?"

"Of course not. Their claims are absurd. I trust that you won't tell anyone about this?"

"Of course." She left, muttering to herself, and Kyouya turned his focus to his trusty computer. Layelleswen had covered their tracks very well, but somewhere, they had to have slipped up. After all, Layelleswen isn't a common name at all….

The Beginning of the New War

Scorpius smirked as he felt Severus's arms wrap around him from behind, his lover nibbling at his ear. He waited as the darker man read the tale – their tale. Severus gazed at him, his eyes telling him that he never said a word, and Scorpius knew that Severus could see the same knowledge in his own eyes. Synchronized, they both nodded and turned back to the screen, seeking more knowledge. Finally, they closed the computer, having deemed them not a threat. Moments later, they left for the throne room, to inform their followers of their call. That meeting, it was Severus's turn to sit in the throne, and Scorpius's to either sit in his lap or at his side. As was often the case, he chose to sit. Their followers waited in silence.

"We have reviewed this information. We do not think of this personage as a threat, though we will continue to watch. At the first sign of trouble for our side, we will hunt them down and destroy them, but for the time being, there is more important work to be done." They had spoken in perfect unison, as they often did, and promptly moved on to other matters as the meeting continued.

(Stop deleting my page breaks, ffnet!)

Explanation time!!! My profile hit 1000 hits last week. After a bit of thought, I decided that I should do something to celebrate (it has taken five years, after all). This fic is my celebration and an exploration at what could possibly happen if my characters found my stories. Each section starts with the title of the universe it takes place in, and eventually they may cross over each other. For the time being, it is a Harry Potter / Ouran Host Club cross over, though that will change as things go on, since my writing may be more in different fandoms than it currently is. Things will be a little different with this fic, because while reviews are ALWAYS appreciated, that will not get you the next chapter any faster. This fic will be updated by how many hits I get to my profile, so if you want it soon, go to my profile and hit the refresh button. A lot. Next chap will be posted when I get a thousand more hits, and as I post more stories, I'll add them to the new chapter. Note: What Dumbledore Saw is considered to be part of the Option #2 universe and, if I ever finish it, Option #1 universe. Thank you to everyone who has read my work and to all who have visited my profile. I hope you enjoyed this and I hope to hear from you.

Until later,

Layelleswen