AN: This is a continuation of my Top Harry chapter, Harry/Zuko.

It was the thunk on Harry's front porch that made him leave his potion's room, the sparking of his holly wand that alerted him to the person in front of his door. He had just started a potion a few minutes ago, a potion that would ease the pain of childbirth. One of the local villagers was pregnant and had come to him for help with it.

He blinked, peering through the house and to the front door, wondering who it was this time. The wards around the wooden home lit up in warning, indicating that it wasn't someone he knew. And given the fact that he was in territory that was divided… He would rather be safe than sorry. The home wasn't much but it was his. His and Hedwig's. The owl swooped in from an open window in the hallway, hooting quietly to him. "Hey, girl."

They had ended up in this world a few months ago through a spell that one of the last Death Eaters had cast towards him and Hedwig. They had appeared in the Earth Kingdom, one of four bending nations, in one of the smaller villages. Everyone that he had met had wondered if he was an earth bender or a fire bender but he was neither. Nor was he an air bender or water bender. He hadn't even heard of any kind of bender but when he saw one of the villagers bend some earth, he had been amazed.

Ever since, Harry had been awed at all four bending techniques, though he had never seen an air bender or a water bender. Had learned from the village people around him that the Airbenders were all gone. That the fire nation had killed them all a hundred years ago. Hunted and killed all of Air Nomads because of a potential savior. The Avatar.

Hedwig hooted again, this time wary, and drew him out of his thoughts.

"Alright. There's someone on the porch?"

Hedwig dipped her head in a nod and led him over to the door, landing on the perch closest. Harry felt the elder wand fit itself into his palm as he saw a few sparks of flame beneath the door. "Firebender?"

He slowly opened the door, hearing it creak, and peered out to look. The late afternoon sun shined on the horizon, not too bright but not too dim, not just yet. His eyes widened as he looked down at the young man on the porch, the man who looked to be the same age as Harry, maybe 17 or 18. The guy looked to be wearing a set of clothes that did not match, marking him as a refugee most likely. Most of the villagers that Harry had come to know wore clothes that were of Earth Kingdom colors. The guy had black hair that looked uncut and ungroomed.

The guy also had two swords strapped to his back, twin broadswords that looked very well cared for. The steel in the hilts glinted in the late afternoon sun, shining for all to see.

Harry's eyes were drawn to the scar on the young man's left eye. The scar covered the skin around the eye and it looked like it had been a very bad burn. He idly wondered how the guy had gotten it but stopped his pondering when the guy groaned. Harry knelt down to look the guy over, noting the rips and tears in the brown tunic and the blood splatter.

The sound of running made him look up again, only to see one of younger women in the village stop a few feet from his porch.

"You'll take care of him, won't you? He's from the Fire Nation. I would mend his wound but..."

"I'll do it," Harry responded, glancing down at the guy again. "Is everyone okay?"

"It was just him."

The woman ran off, ducking through the trees and around the boulders. Harry returned his gaze to the guy on his porch then sighed, flicking his fingers and watching as the young man rose up into the air. "Hedwig, could you keep watch? There might be more people coming into be healed though I didn't hear any screams or yells. Perhaps it was just him."

Hedwig hooted quietly, dipping her beak in a nod, and flew over to perch on the porch railing. Harry grinned, walked over to stroke her feathers, and turned back into his home. He floated the Fire Nation guy into the healing room, where he kept his healing supplies, and placed the young man on the metal table in the center. "What happened to you? I wonder…"

He busied himself with getting bandages and potions and creams before he summoned a chair over to the table. He cast a diagnostic charm as he slowly and cautiously pulled the guy's tunic up, peeling the material off the skin from where it was already drying. It looked like a big boulder had crushed the guy's ribs but he couldn't… "Where is that blood coming from?"

The guy groaned again and finally opened his eyes, showing off almost golden eyes, that seemed to glow in the sun. "Who… are you?"

"Harry. Who are you?"

"Lee. What… What's going on?"

Harry eyed the guy as he was looking for another wound, one that was open and streaming blood. He heard the slight hesitance when Harry had asked for his name, guessed that 'Lee' wasn't the guy's real name. But he wasn't about to prod; the guy was entitled to his secrets, as long as none of them would hurt Harry. He hovered his right hand over the guy's side, extending his magic in waves into the guy, looking for any holes or leaks. "You are injured."

"Yes, I am aware of that. What happened?"

"You tell me," Harry offered, raising an eyebrow. "I'm going to have to move you onto your side, hold on."

"Move me? What do you think you're doing?" Lee grumbled, frowning at him.

"Healing you," Harry retorted, noticing when Lee's eyes widened as he saw Harry's scar. He knew no one would recognize him here, a whole world away from the wizarding world. Perhaps it was because Lee had his own scar. "Just a moment."

Lee cried out, his voice rough and tight with pain. "Are you a water bender?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry asked, whispering the levitation charm again and gently pulling Lee onto his side. Lee was warm, almost fire warm as Harry touched the skin of his arm. It was almost like there was a sun within Lee, just burning to get out. "Ahaha. Tergeo."

The blood over the wound on Lee's upper back vanished, letting Harry see the small, roughly circular wound. It was between Lee's shoulder blades, precariously close to his spine.

"What… What was that?!"

"Just cleaning the blood off," Harry said, placing his wand against Lee's back, against the wound that looked like it came from a knife. "Vulnera Sanentur."

Zuko blinked again as the foreign energy encompassed him, the coolness of it rubbing against his back. The skin on his back tingled as he felt a tip of something wooden come up against his back. Whatever bending the man was doing, Zuko had never felt it before. Not from Katara or Aang or Iroh. It certainly wasn't fire bending. It didn't feel burning hot like other firebenders did to him.

He heard the guy whisper the same two words again and his skin tingled even more, moving. "What are you doing? What kind of bending is that?"

"It's not bending," Harry remarked, removing the wooden whatever it was from Zuko's back. He felt himself move back down to the table and his eyes widened as he fully processed what Harry had said.

"What do you mean it's not bending? If it's not that, then what is it?" Zuko grumbled out, feeling the same wooden thing land on his side again. His ribs were flaring with pain since that Earth bender had thrown a huge boulder at him. He supposed someone had seen him fire bend and had taken out their anger on him. Someone who could earth bend.

"Magic." Zuko heard the young man whisper another strange sounding word and his ribs cracked. Coldness invaded his chest and he could feel the tingly sensation wrap around his ribs. Both sensations disappeared within minutes and took with them the pain. His ribs no longer hurt and nor did his chest. The hand that had been exerting pressure on his side to keep him down vanished and he could feel the exact place where it had been, a slight warmth.

"Magic. What does that mean exactly?" Zuko questioned, as he slowly sat up to get a glimpse of the man that had done something to him. Maybe he really had healed him. Harry… Zuko wondered where he was from. He was wearing loose clothes but not… There was nothing that indicated that he was from an Earth Kingdom village. Harry wore a dark green shirt and black pants.

"It's a kind of… energy, I suppose," Harry remarked, as soon as Zuko finished sitting up. Harry's green eyes were looking at him with intent, some kind of emotion that Zuko had only seen on Iroh's face. Perhaps it was concern or curiosity. "Let's me do things that I wouldn't be able to do normally. You should get some rest, stay a while. I can cook dinner for the two of us."

"I'm healed? Just like that?"

"Yeah? I can't say anything about emotional health and I assume you're running from something-"

"I don't need your pity or concern," Zuko growled out, narrowing his eyes as Harry stared at him. "Or your help. Where's my ostrich horse?"

"You had… It was probably taken. Look, I don't pity you or anything like that. I just healed you because it's the right thing to do. Stay here or not but your body is going to need to rest at some point."

Zuko watched as Harry crossed his arms, his green eyes flashing with warning. "I'm not running from something. I need to be going."

Harry blinked then his lips twitched up into a slight grin. "Fine. Walk on out of the house."

Zuko huffed out a low breath then swung his legs off the table, stood up. He was fine for a second or two and then his legs trembled, his knees buckled and the wooden floor raced towards him. Or would have if Harry hadn't caught him. Arms came around him, holding him steady. His heart skipped a beat at having arms around him, circling his waist and his back. He felt… safe?

"I will refrain from saying 'I told you so'," Harry muttered, before helping him back onto the table. "Just barely though."

Zuko snorted, his anger at his situation abating somewhat at Harry's tone. It was somewhere between teasing and exasperated and Harry's accent was definitely one that Zuko had never heard before. "I get the feeling that you say that a lot."

"When I have impatient patients," Harry said amiably, his lips twitching up into a bemused grin. "Stay. I'll cook dinner and go find out where your ostrich horse was taken."

Harry opened the gate to his house an hour later, holding the reins of Lee's ostrich horse. The animal had been taken from Lee when everyone had seen him firebend and then a few of the men who could earth bend had gone after Lee. Harry wasn't particularly surprised about it, knew that pretty much everyone around here had seen firebenders kill or attack people they loved or destroy property.

He walked over to the side of his home and tied the ostrich horse's reins to a hitching post, made sure the wards were still up, and ambled over to the front porch. Lee was sitting on the porch in a cross-legged position, eyes closed in what appeared to be meditation. Harry still wondered where Lee's burn scar had come from but he wouldn't pry.

"Dinner should be ready in a few minutes," Harry finally spoke, after watching the young man for a bit.

Lee nodded and didn't otherwise comment.

Harry brought out bowls of stew, hearing Hedwig come around from the back of the house to join them. Lee looked up at the owl, raised an eyebrow.

"Her name is Hedwig," Harry offered quietly, handing one of the bowls to Lee.

"She looks like she's just an owl."

"She is just an owl," Harry replied, peering at Lee in amusement. He had gotten used to people being very surprised that Hedwig was just an owl here. He had yet to find animals that were just one species. There were ostrich-horses, eel-hounds, badger-moles, chicken-pigs and so many other animals that were split species. "And my friend."

Lee blinked and watched as Hedwig flew over to land on the porch between them. He took one of the bowls of stew, started to eat. "Your magic…"

"I'm not from around here," Harry replied, leaning against the railing as he ate.

"Not from the Earth Kingdom?"

"A bit farther out. I had never heard of any of the four kingdoms here," Harry explained, shrugging. Hedwig hooted quietly as the three of them watched the sun finally vanish beneath the horizon, meanwhile taking bites of the stew. "I just stepped into a mystical doorway and arrived here."

Lee turned to look at him, studying him. "Mystical doorway? Do you mean the spirit world?"

"Spirit world?"

Lee frowned. "You've never heard of the spirit world or any of the four kingdoms."

"No. At least, not before I came here. As I said I come from a bit farther out. Where I came from, there were no benders or ostrich horses or anything. There were just wizards and witches and plain, old regular animals."

"You said wizard. Tell me what that is."

Harry wrinkled his nose at Lee's insistent tone but explained anyway. "That's what I am. A wizard. Someone who has magic. I can cast spells or charms or hexes."

"Show me."

Harry glanced around, studied the wards around his home, before casting the patronus charm. He held out his holly wand, whispered the incantation. Prongs leapt out of his wand, bright and glowing, and loped around the front yard before returning to the front steps.

"Just showing you off, Prongs," Harry whispered, before looking at Lee's reaction.

Lee's mouth was open and Harry watched as he inhaled deeply, his shoulders dropping in relaxation. Lee put down his bowl of stew on the wooden porch and reached out his hand towards Prongs and his fingers went right through the stag.

"What… I feel…" Lee trailed off, his mouth shutting on whatever he was about to say.

"Patronus. They're wards against dark creatures, at least in my world. They can be messengers too."

Zuko stared at the bright, transparent deer in front of him. Warmth, safety and security radiated off of the deer and he could feel his whole body relaxing. "This is… magic?"

"It's a spell," Harry murmured, gesturing to the deer. "The magic comes from me. My scar… it's from a dark piece of magic."

Zuko eyed the scar on Harry's forehead, noting the shape of it. The lightning bolt forked downward, pointing towards Harry's green eyes. "Who… who did that to you?"

"My mortal enemy," Harry offered quietly. "He's dead now though. Who or what caused your scar?"

Zuko turned away from Harry, looking towards the village that he had passed through. The moon had come up in the few minutes they had been talking and the stars were shining brightly. He wondered where the Avatar was, realizing that he hadn't thought about Aang since he had met Harry. Hadn't thought about his father or his sister either.

"I'm sorry if that's too private. You should probably get some sleep," Harry said, interrupting Zuko's thoughts. "Come on. You can have the bed. I'll take the couch."

"I should go."

The moon and stars were bright enough that he could see by them. The deer had vanished while Zuko had been lost to his thoughts.

"I know you can firebend," Harry spoke, catching Zuko by surprise. "The villagers said as much and I can sense the fire within you. If it's that you're worried about, don't."

Zuko stared at Harry, glanced to where Hedwig was looking at him with her golden eyes.

"As long as you don't have intention to harm," Harry added, his eyes glinting with warning. "But you were just badly injured a few hours ago. Your body needs rest."

"I'm looking for someone," Zuko said, weary but not wanting to admit to it. He could hear his father telling him that he was being weak for wanting to take a break in lessons or for saying that they shouldn't put untrained soldiers on the front lines of the war. He stood up, started to walk down the steps to the yard, when Harry laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Lee, you're shaking. You're not weak for wanting to rest," Harry said, pulling him around.

Zuko stared, glanced to where his ostrich horse was, and turned back to Harry. "Fine. I'll rest."

Harry removed his hand and Zuko blinked, turning to look at the spot on his shoulder where Harry's hand had been. His stomach had flipped in his chest when Harry had touched him, his heart skipping a beat. He looked right into Harry's eyes, green meeting golden, and nodded.

Harry's lips twitched up into a small grin and Zuko followed Harry back into his home, taking a minute in the bathroom before falling onto the bed.

Harry woke up in the middle of the night to muffled cries and swung off the bed, standing up and padding into the hallway. Hedwig was most likely out hunting, being an owl, and the sounds weren't coming from her. He cautiously nudged the bedroom door open, only to see Lee twitching in his sleep. Tears slid from Lee's eyes.

Harry's heart ached for his temporary guest and walked over to the bed, shifting shape. When he had first cast the animagus spell, he had been mystified about what shape he had taken. Hermione had instantly known what he was but she had been puzzled too. He was a dragon, obviously, but one of long body and sleek form. He had white horns on his head and big wings, fur down his neck, and four legs. He was almost too big for the room but he made it work, curling his long body tightly.

He curled around the bed, leaving a leathery wing to curl around Lee's form. Lee stilled in his sleep and slowly, but surely fell back asleep after a nightmare.

Zuko woke up with the morning dawn, got up off the bed, and walked through Harry's home. The young man, who was perhaps one year older than him, was still asleep on the couch and oblivious to Zuko. He studied Harry briefly, a little bit in awe of him, and then took some food from his cabinets and left, packing his food and swords in a bag and jumping onto the saddle of his stolen ostrich horse.

He steered his mount towards the path he had been taking and spared one last glance to the house. Harry had taken him in and healed him without a second thought. He didn't even feel like he had been badly injured yesterday. Zuko shook his head at a memory, or had it been a dream? He had dreamt of a dragon but dragons were extinct. His uncle had killed the last one.

He snorted and urged his ostrich horse off, leaving the village and healer far behind.