The flat lay in the center of London, in an upscale neighborhood. In the conservatory which lay on the top floor of the penthouse, a boy and girl of perhaps 14 sat across from each other. The boy with untidy black hair and emerald green eyes played a beautiful melody on a 1711 Stradivarius violin while the girl, who looked to be of east Asian descent, accompanied on a magnificent piano. Soothing, melancholy tones filled the room, slowly giving way to a more fast-paced, lively piece recognized as a composition of Aaron Copland's. An interminable time passed before the instrumentalists fell silent.

As the playing stopped, Su noticed her parents in the back of the room. Regardless of their questionable occupations and their hidden pasts, the violence that marked her parent's lives had not diminished their love for the beauty in the world. For the first time in many years, she saw a smile on her mother's face, one that truly reached her eyes. Her father gave an approving nod.

Harry had sent down his violin and gazed at her with limitless love in her eyes. She remembered the reason they began the impromptu serenade: Harry had finally asked her out. Instead of spending the next few hours pointlessly attempting to convey how much they truly loved each other, they had made a decision at the same time; there was no better expression then music. It had awed Su Li to realize how similar their thoughts were; the pieces they played melded together flawlessly. She was glad of the many recording devices around the room; Su knew that they would both want to hear whatever type of music their passion had produced.

Truthfully, the moment had been building for many years. They had lived together with her parents from the day they found him being beaten outside of an orphanage. Her mother and father had recognized the 4-year-old as a magical child and, appalled, had quickly adopted him. In the next 6 years, they had lived together throughout East Asia before moving to the Balkans, moving constantly for her Father's job as an officer on the ICW Regional Peacekeeping Force. Even after the move, they still spent holidays in East Asia. Her mother had taught them as much as she could in that time, leaving their training in basic magical combat to tutors. She had taught them potions, Runes, Arithmancy, Herbology, and Magical law. Tutors had trained them in Muay Thai and Karate for Harry and Aikido and Karate for her. Muggle tutors taught philosophy, deduction, chemistry, biology, anatomy, Latin, Greek, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Spanish, and had begun teaching them Russian when they left for Britain just last year. When they reached the age of 11 and the family began splitting time between homes in Athens, Rome, and Tokyo, her father hired tutors for combat magic, transfiguration, charms, and defense, as well as warding and spell creation. He himself trained them in the arts of espionage, evidence collection, stealth, hunting and tracking, and survival skills. This left, obviously, little time for leisure. However, in what free time they did have, the two had become masters of their respective instruments, and delved deeply into various arts, especially literature. For 10 years, they had done little except train together, which let them build a bond closer than any other. Perhaps they had once loved each other as siblings, but it had developed over long years of covering the other's back. Fear of attack by international criminals had been a powerful motivator as well. Her father wasn't popular among the dregs of both worlds, and her mother was a target for every rising Dark Lord.

They had spent all their limited free time together. When you lived with one person your age, and your parents were incredibly busy working with ICW law enforcement, there was not much left to do. They had been playing chess together for 8 years now. She still beat Harry more often than not, but he had become truly masterful. If music, arts, and chess lost there appeal, the two would spend their time talking, or simply sitting in silence, knowing their closest friend was near.

While in the midst of their education, a series of brutal murders throughout East Asia were brought to light. Following long-cold trails of evidence and speculation, her father had led the ICW team investigating the murders. Soon, they had tied together enough evidence on various murders to bring down the leadership of the Tokyo Roses, a criminal organization which controlled half of the politicians in Japan, Korea, India, and China, and held significant economic clout as well. On the eve of their 13th summer, Harry and Su had witnessed several murders ordered by the head of the Tokyo Roses, Kwing Shun. He had been on the scene and given the orders as they watched. Not a week later, their testimony had finally allowed the ICW Battle Mages to bring him down.

Within a week, a vicious attack had been launched against their family while visiting friends in Tokyo. 12 hit men, 14 Japanese aurors, and 1 ICW battle mage had been killed in the fighting. The conflict, the first time either of them had taken a life, was known soon after as the Battle of Tokyo Square. That had only been the beginning. Under new leadership, the Roses began striking against the ICW, especially Derek Li, his daughter Su, his wife, and his ward Harry Potter. What ensued was a vicious global chase, with Roses thugs hunting the famed wizard and witch who had put away their leaders, and the ICW Hunters running down and capturing every member of the Tokyo Roses. 6 times since the Battle in Tokyo Square had the Roses clashed with the Lis in major engagements. It became known throughout Asia and the Balkans as the most brutal of feuds. Su, Sun, Derek, and Harry had all come close to death many times in the past year. Their education had continued at an accelerated rate, allowing the two to play critical roles in the battles of the Athenian Docks and the Battle of the Paletine Hill. No one knew how many minor skirmishes had been fought between the two sides. In the course of one year, 7 major battles between the ICW forces and the Roses had been waged, raising body counts on both sides.

Soon after they had finally they mastered everything but Combat, Defense, and Transfiguration, they had moved to England, following a lead on the case of the Roses leadership. Her mother had begun acting as a consultant for R&D companies throughout Britain and France. Knowing they would be alone far too much and fearing for the two's safety, her father had enrolled them in Hogwarts, to start next term. Harry, of course, had asked his name remain a secret until the start of term. They had taken to spending their first free summer exploring London, reading, sculpting, playing their instruments and spending countless hours dueling over a chessboard. Her parents knew they were safer in public, but that the Roses would strike anywhere if it meant killing two of their greatest foes. Though still pretending they wanted to free Kwing Shun and the rest of the leadership, the Roses had become an international force under their new commander, and likely wanted to simply slay their implacable foes. The two had been spending that afternoon in similar fashion, walking around Diagon Alley and its side-streets, discussing Tennyson's Idylls of the King when calamity struck.

FLASHBACK

"How obvious can it be? That whole idyll is about perception vs. reality! Look. You have Lancelot, who is supposed to be Arthur's best knight, his right-hand man, if you will. He acts so nobly, and always professes that what he does is for good, and encourages his image as the savior of the weak. Look at reality: He's an ignoble, arrogant traitor who's having an affair with the Queen. And you can't forget how obviously people describe him as the epitome of perfection. For Merlin's sake, look at Elaine!"

"But the differences between Lancelot and most modern figures are obvious: For one, everyone but Arthur knows what he's doing. And second, he's not all-powerful; Arthur is far stronger than he is, and some of his knights easily equal Lancelot. Dumbledore has the Arthurian attitude but none of the power to back it up. Honestly, I'd call Voldemort Modred if I had too. Dumbledore seems to fit the character of Lancelot pretty well, once great but turned corrupt by power and greed."

By now they had sat down at Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor. Harry pulled out a portable Birch chessboard he had shrunk in his pocket, enlarging it and flicking his wand to set up the pieces. Both disliked Wizard's Chess, and thus used the muggle game. Harry took his favored white pieces and made the first move.

They began one of their better games. Both had opted for a closed approach, which led to slow development and little action early in the game. After perhaps 20 moves, Su began an inevitable offensive, striking hard on Harry's queenside. Harry had launched his own offensive simultaneously, attacking her center. In the next 4 series of moves, they found themselves trapped between the other's defense and attacking pieces.

The game continued in a similar vein for the next few hours. Several people nearby were obviously watching the two gifted players. After she launched a spirited, relentless attack which he barely repulsed, he launched a counteroffensive, pressuring her last lines of defense and isolating the bishop and knight which were now too far away from his attack for her to bring back into action. In a major series of exchanges, Harry managed to gain an advantage of 2 passed pawns on the A and B files. This forced her to weaken the defenses surrounding her king and block the drive. The pawns fell, but the remainder of her line was insufficient to hold back his final attack. Finally, Su was checkmated by Harry's last knight and bishop, caught on the wrong side of her last 2 pawns.

Harry jubilantly crowed his victory, smirking at her. She cut short his celebration by marking her defeat in her game log as he did the same.

"773 wins, 894 draws, and 357 losses. I'm still ahead of you."

He pouted. She shut her eyes and chuckled. Eventually, he laughed as well.

"I should start keeping track of our duels."

"It was Su's turn to pout. "You wouldn't would you? Please?"

Harry just grinned wider. She slapped her head into her hand.

They resumed conversation after ordering a two more ice cream cones. They talked of the arts, especially sculpture. As she was commenting on David in Bronze, a Renaissance piece, Harry stiffened, his eyes firmly affixed to something entering the alley.

Su turned discreetly, and immediately noticed the source of his ire. There, walking into the Alley, was the Potter family. A tall man, who looked identical o Harry, walked at the front with a woman she assumed to be Harry's mother. Behind them came 4 children. Su knew he would have to confront them about what had really happened 12 years ago eventually, but she didn't want it to be now.

They, unfortunately, walked straight to Fortecue's.

As they sat down, she heard Harry's mother say quietly "Happy Birthday, Andrew honey. We thought you might like this little trip."

Harry glared at the man's back before turning back to Su. "Now that I was sufficiently interrupted, I've been trying to ask you a question for a while."

He can't mean it. He doesn't see you that way. You're like his best friend. "Yes, harry?"

With a debonair flick of his hair, he asked, with much ceremony, "Su, will you be my girlfriend?" Despite the arrogant, stuck-up facade he wore like a mask, she could clearly see how nervous he was. Electing not to answer with words, she leaned across the table, and their lips met.

They only kissed briefly. The crowds nearby would have become obnoxious, even for the English, had they kept it up much longer. Pulling back, she beamed at him. His grin matched hers with ease. They sat for nearly a quarter of an hour, staring into each other's eyes, barely blinking. Then, loud CRACKs shattered the reverie.

Looking up, they each sucked in a loud breath. Walking up the Alley in distinctive, blood-red robes were 5 unmasked assassins of the Tokyo Roses. They walked straight towards her and Harry. Memories of the clash on the Paletine Hill and in Alexandria slashed through their minds. Their approach drew the attention of every shopper in a crowded Diagon Alley. Harry and Su stood, drawing their wands with one hand and daggers with the other.

The blades were Japanese hand-forged steel, impregnated with Asp and Mamba venom. They were perhaps 10 inches long and had the shape of a Tanto blade, designed for maximum penetration and stopping power. Both knew how to use the weapons in battle. Su's had claimed the life of 3 men in Athens after she had lost her wand. Harry had found himself in a similar situation during a midnight skirmish in Kiev, where he had fought 4 men to a standstill using the blade.

The Chinese at the head of the group stopped a few feet from them.

"Potter. Li. I am Tanjij, most feared assassin of the Tokyo Roses."

"What do you want, Tanjij?" Harry snapped.

The man called Tanjij glared at him. "This has gone far enough. You will recount your testimony against Kwing Shun, or you will not live to see another sunrise."

"Bullshit. We beat you in Athens, we beat you in Rome, fought you off in Alexandria and Tokyo, and we've outwitted you all across East Asia and southern Europe. We'll do it again here.."

The killer's face contorted with incredible rage. "Then DIE!" he cried, drawing his wand and slinging a cutting curse at Su.

Thus began one of the most spectacular duels most of the spectators had ever seen. Indeed, were it not for the fact that several had seen Dumbledore duel Voldemort during the last war, many would have said it was the greatest they had ever seen.

At the Chinese mobster's word, a series of curses and hexes flew directly at Harry and Su. Both vaulted over the table they had been sitting at, evading the spells with incredible skill. As they landed, Harry threw up a shield around the patrons of the Ice Cream shop, before flicking a wave of white-hot flames at the first of his adversaries. As the patrons of the alley ducked behind cover, James Potter and Daniel drew their wands.

"Don't worry! I'll get him!" cried his father. Tanjij simply rolled his eyes, casually flicking his wand and binding James Potter tightly.

"Do not interfere. I doubt you would help them, anyhow. No one survives the king of the Roses!" Then, he banished the shocked Auror back to his family.

Harry now stood back-to-back with Su, furiously throwing curses and shielding against incoming attacks. Knowing it was a losing battle, he barked out an order.

"Su! Summon your father and the ICW Battle Mages. We can't win with these odds!" Nodding, she dashed off. As Su navigated the Alley, racing towards a building with a working floo, she heard a scream of pain. She looked over her shoulder and saw the first of the Chinese thugs fall. If Harry didn't hold back, he wouldn't be the last. She cast a quick piercing curse at one of the men before turning and continuing her run. She failed to notice her curse strike Tanjij high, boring a hole in his innards.

Su raced back down the street towards the scene of the action. Her father and the ICW Battle Mages were on their way. They merely had to hold out until the group got there. She neared Fortescue's, and watched as Harry threw the most deadly spells he knew at the Chinese thugs. They ducked and wove in a complex pattern around him, slowly backing the teen into a corner of the alley where he would be unable to dodge. 2 of the Chinese lay dead or injured; 5 more had arrived in her absence. Without thought, Su raised her wand and cast the most powerful piercing curse she could.

The narrow scarlet beam sliced through the air at an incredible speed. Su continued racing towards the battle. The spell struck mere seconds after being cast. A Chinese goon she recognized from her parent's memory of the First Battle of the Athenian Docks caught the lethal spell through the gut. It punched through his body with brutal efficiency, dropping the man like a stone. The rest turned as they saw the new threat.

Although separated, she and Harry had one distinct advantage: they could attack their foes on two sides. Quickly, they began casting fiercely. Harry bombarded the goons with bone exploding and bone crushing curses of immense power. If one of those made contact, the target would likely be perforated with his own bone fragments. Harry mixed in binding, stunning, blinding, cutting, and gouging spells. Three of the enemy caught various spells, dropping like sacks of flour. Su, meanwhile, had caught one head-on with an explosion hex and had torn the leg off another with a reductor curse. The first had been blown apart in a shower of gore while the second dropped to the ground, swearing fluently in Mandarin. Seeing their companions collapse, the remaining three attackers grabbed Tanjij and two others before portkeying away.

Neither of them was hurt badly. Harry had been caught by the tail of a cutting curse, but a stasis charm had stopped the bleeding. As they sat down at a nearby table, people all across the alley got up and began to survey the ruin. 4 bodies lay within 10 meters of each other. Then, as the British people surveyed the damage, 10 men in black, silver-stitched robes raced into the alley. At their head was a man of oriental descent. He stopped in front of Harry and Su.

"What happened? Are you two alright?"

Su answered. "We're fine. 10 of the Tokyo Roses showed up. The wanted us to recount our testimony against Kwing Shun. Harry told the leader to piss off and they attacked."

Derek Li nodded. "You said it was five when you called me. What happened?"

Harry answered this time. "The leader called for backup after Su nailed him with a piercing hex from down the alley. It drilled a hole about a 4 centimeters wide just above his heart. He was barely alive when they portkeyed away. Su had already turned and run to get you when the others arrived."

"Names? There are still a few of the Tokyo Rose higher-ups we need to put away. Who was this leader?"

Su and Harry shared a momentary glance before answering. "That bastard that nearly killed mom in Beijing, Tanjij. Tall sucker, short black hair, wand made out of Weeping Cherry from the heart of Tokyo. Great ropey scar on his face, smashed nose, black eyes. He carried a blade called Tungstein, if I'm translating that rune correctly."

Derek stopped writing. "Tanjij? You're sure? You think he's the same one that led the attacks in Athens, Beijing and Nagoya? The only man to escape the sting we ran in Hong Kong?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He told me who he was just before Su's curse nailed him. I tore the same information from the minds of three of his goons. He confessed to running those hits, and being the man behind the unsolved string of murders n New Delhi as well. He's undoubtedly the leader of the Tokyo Roses"

Su's father frantically wrote everything down. "That should be enough to nail him. We have an identity, which is good. The legilimency in the battle should help. We'll need a copy o the memory of his confession, and we should question his thugs under Veritserum too. That will tell us who he really is, and some other useful information. When we have a solid name and face we can start chasing him more efficiently Did you manage to actually break his mind?"

"Break it, no. I did penetrate into his memories of various hits before he caught me and threw me out. That only worked because he was screaming in pain from Su's shot. He doesn't know what I was looking at just yet, so you should be able to catch him before he goes to ground. I wasn't very discreet, so I'd give you about 6 hours. After that, it's unlikely he'll be seen again for quite some time. Apparently, he's changed names and faces through permanent transfigurations m3 separate times. The brief glimpses I got were enough for me to identify "Tanjij" with "Kai Sakiri", "Dameon Wong" and, of course, his real name, Ethan Kasiki. No doubt about it; the bastard has been behind most of the organized crime throughout India, East Asia, and, recently, the Balkans for the past 25 years."

Su nodded. "Tzu knows how many cold cases you'll find those aliases attached to. We've looked at the files. There are subtle similarities between the styles of all four."

Her father nodded. "I understand. I doubt we'll get him so easily. He can't change appearance again without greatly damaging his body. Full-body transfigurations are very dangerous. Tanjij will know you've discovered his secret. We'll have to hunt them even more fiercely now. We've backed the wolf into a corner. He won't escape us, for we are hot in his trail for the first time since the Battle of Tokyo Square. He can't hide from the ICW. Our people can break any ward, even the Fidelius charm. His last defense was anonymity. Now he must vanish again, which is nearly impossible, or fight the ICW to a finish. Killing us will become his highest priority. You two hold the evidence to tie him to all of his crimes, Sun is too intelligent and determined a crafter and researcher to leave on our side, and he knows I will never stop hunting him. The ICW can't call us off this case, but even if it could he knows the current team would hunt him down alone. If he kills off our family and the rest of the team, he can force the ICW to back down and avoid his most determined pursuers, and continue his dreams of domination. You must be extremely careful. We will reinforce the wards of the Penthouse so they can't break through, although I hope you two will take a look at the wards when we're done. The Spirits know how many theories you two have written about warding and runes."

Harry and Su grinned at that. "Alright. We'll take a look at them. We actually just finished our first theory on warding. It's yet to be tested, but between arithmancy, runes, spell crafting and the types of magic we studied that affect it, this should work really well. The system is hard to explain, but it's damn near unbreakable even if you're keyed into the wards. It's deadly if you aren't allowed in. Trying to break the system triggers backlash that can kill you easily. We'll explain more later. It's not really our theory, just our idea that the ICW warding team worked on and we finished up."

Derek nodded. They still had a lot to learn, but he knew Harry and Su were incredibly creative when it came to spells, wards, and potions.

"Harry, those people sitting at the table are walking towards us. Do you recognize them?"

"My family. The ones that abandoned me to that hellish orphanage. I'll listen to their story and then deal with them from there. That'll have to wait. I want to get out of here."

Derek nodded. Su was glad; no matter if they were innocent of whatever Harry hated them for or not, she'd rather not deal with it right now. The day had been stressful enough without confronting parents you hadn't seen for 12 years.

END FLASHBACK

Her father and mother nodded to them, looking unsurprised. As they turned to leave, her father turned around. "When you have the chance, come look over the warding plan we developed. The ICW people put in the sections of your wards they knew were safe, but the rest haven't been tested yet."

Su nodded. "Sure, Dad. I'm sure it will be fine." Nodding, her father turned and left.

She turned back to Harry.

"Think we've been interrupted enough this afternoon?"

He simply grinned at her. "No reason to continue that, is there?"

She shook her head. Definitely not. She stood from the piano bench and rushed into his embrace, pulling him to her. Their lips met in a passion so intense that their magic began to glow. He pulled her closer, grinding his body into hers. She moaned in contentment, pressing her tongue to his lips, begging for entry. He conceded and they began to explore each others mouths with increasing intensity. They lost themselves in each other.

Eventually, her lungs began begging for air and they stopped kissing.

"Merlin."

Su chuckled. "Articulate as always. I have to agree."

"This seems really early to say it, but I love you, Su."

"I love you too, Harry."

A/N: This is a re-post of Eastern Balms. As about 6 people noted, the old story didn't have spaces. I have no idea why that happened, but I'm woring on it. Thanks for pointing that out, by the way, because I didn't go back to look at it after I posted it. It was really late, and I was tired. Anyway, I'll be updating sporatically, but you should get updates fairly often. Enjoy the story, and please review. I don't care if you tear me apart in the review section, just don't be insulting.

CH