The Browncoat Wizard
Summary: Firefly xover. Harry Potter finally did it. He beat Voldemort. And then something strange happened. Hit by a spell designed by Voldemort to kill him, Harry is transported through time to an unlikely set of new dilemmas and a set of strange new people.
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters I am merely using them to further my own plot ideas.
Chapter One: The Defeat of Voldemort and a New Time
Harry Potter glared at Voldemort with an undying hatred burning in his eyes. The ground around them steamed as the rain hit it and the air warmed from the heavy amount of magic in the air. There was a sharp crack and lightning lit the sky and illuminated the dead bodies that scattered the area as far as the eye could see in any direction. Standing in the middle of it all was Harry Potter.
Months of studying, creating spells, and training all boiled down to this moment in time. Everything would be meaningless if Harry did not come out of this on top. All of the lives, time, effort would be wasted. Harry was not about to let that happen. Voldemort would not make their existence meaningless. The anger that boiled through Harry's veins only heightened his magical powers and his readiness to end it.
Voldemort was standing there before him, his own anger radiating off of him in waves. His masked servants lay around his feet dead and dying. None of them had been strong enough to last thorough out the battle, but then again, none of the Order was standing with Harry either. The air crackled with power as each wizard prepared themselves to land the final blow.
Staring at Voldemort Harry knew it was time. He and Hermione had unearthed an ancient curse which they had then proceeded to modify until it would be powerful enough to completely destroy Voldemort's soul, leaving him no chance to be returned to the land of the living ever again. There was only one chance to use it though. The amount of power that was needed to use it was astronomical. Once used, Harry's magical reserves would be so low that he would not be able to use even a simple Wingardium Leviosa. Taking a deep breath Harry began to gather his magic at wand point, creating a large ball of shimmering white-blue light.
Voldemort lifted his wand just as Harry did. Two strong voices shouted out at each other almost simultaneously. "Aetas Arto!" "Exitus Eversio" The white ball of light flew from Harry's wand with god like speed only to connect with the sickly black curse that had cracked out of Voldemort's wand. And then the spells connected just like they had four years ago.
Harry blanched as he felt his wand buckle under the pressure that was being exerted upon it. Harry's whole arm shook as he determinedly poured in the last bits of magic that he had greedily held onto when he had been creating the energy ball. There was no Phoenix song this time. Only the crackling of magic and the heavy breathing of the two wizards as they battled their will to live against each other.
Sweat poured down Harry's face as struggled to push his spell forward. It was slowly moving down the connection, but Harry did not know how much longer he would be able to continue it. His strength was ending and he did not think he would be able to continue on if it continued much longer.
And then the unthinkable happened.
Voldemort's spell broke the connection. It twisted itself menacingly around Harry's ball of almost pure magic and energy and flew straight into Harry's chest. At the same time Harry's spell stuck Voldemort. Both wizards gave one last look at each other before falling to the ground. It was over.
Hermione bent over at Neville's side. "I...I think I have stemmed off all of the bleeding. You should be fine until..." She suddenly stopped talking as she felt the magical shock-wave fly passed them.
"Was that...?" Neville whispered in a raspy voice, blood trickling out of the side of his mouth.
"It had to have been Harry." Hermione said. Hope filling her heart for the first time in months. "It had to have been." She said again as she looked down at Neville, whose head rest gently in her lap.
"There are..." Neville coughed. "Others. Others that need your attention."
Hermione looked down at the young man who lay in her lap. He had grown out of the awkward boy he had been so quickly in the last year that it was hard to believe that it was the same person. He had trained just as hard as Harry had to prepare for this battle and in the end it had payed off. He was still alive. "Are you sure you will be all right?" Hermione asked concerned.
"I will be fine. St. Mungo," Neville coughed again. This time some blood came out on his lips. He started again. "Mungo medics are working their way up the fields. I can signal them with my wand once they get closer." Neville explained urging Hermione to move onwards. "Find Harry."
That was the only encouragement that Hermione needed. 'Find Harry.' "Be safe." Hermione said as she lifted Neville's bloodied head off of her lap. She looked far down the field to see that indeed witches and wizards in pure white robes had started tallying the dead and removing the wounded. They might not get here quickly, but they would eventually find Neville and give him the medical attention that he needed. "I will find you at St. Mungo's when this is all over and we can go celebrate."
"Alright, alright." Neville said with a small smile as he looked up at the now standing Hermione. "See you then."
"Good bye, Neville." Hermione said as she quickly turned towards where the energy blast had come from. There were classmates, friends, and enemies that littered the ground in front of her. Most were dead, but as she rushed her way towards where she hoped to find Harry she would sometime hear a moan from her right or left. Each time, her heart would break as she refused to let herself stop. She had to make sure that Harry was okay. St. Mungo's was coming.
The rain was steady now and the ground the Hermione covered squelched under her dragon hide boots. And then she saw him. Voldemort. He was lying face down in the mud his eyes staring lifelessly at his number one man, Lucius Malfoy, also dead. Harry had won. Hermione's heart fluttered and a stupid grin crept onto her face. They had won. The war was over.
Hermione raced on looking for Harry. If Voldemort was here Harry was sure to be nearby. Hermione searched the horizon looking for a standing figure. She couldn't see anyone but a few medi-wizards far in the distance that were apparating back and forth with the wounded.
Hermione's heart sank a bit. Where was Harry. She searched the bodies that littered the ground. None of them were Harry. She almost stopped looking when she had come across the corpse of Ron. She had almost forgotten about him, she was so caught up in searching for Harry, but there Ron was, dead in the mud. Hermione sank down to her knees and cried over her dear friend's corpse. 'Harry should be here,' she lamented to herself as she held onto Ron's cold hand.
But, Harry was not there. In fact, Harry was never found.
St. Mungo's recorded the dead, and healed the living. None ever found anything that would lead them to where Harry was. He had been swept off the face of the planet and no one had gotten to say goodbye.
Everyone that survived cried. For Harry, for their families and for their friends. No one had been left untouched, muggle or magical.
It took the Ministry of Magic three weeks to reorganize itself. No new Minister had yet to be elected but Percy Weasley was the one who spoke to the public. He spoke of change, a new beginning and of loss. The Ministry declared that fateful day when Harry Potter had disappeared and Voldemort had been slain a national holiday in remembrance of those who had lost their lives in the face of evil in order to bring about equality in the wizarding world. It would be remembered forever.
A month after the battle Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom stood in a small cemetery in Godric's Hallow. Next to his mother's and father's grave Harry Potter's headstone had been put. It had been a quite ceremony with only the closest of friends invited. A small pile of flowers with an everlasting charm placed upon them rest against the headstone.
Silent tears ran down Hermione's face as she turned to Neville Longbottom and cried into his shoulder.
Jayne Cobb was a simple man with simple needs. His needs mostly extended to guns along with to a lesser extent a good fight or a nice lady friend. So it was not surprising to find him in the hanger of the Serenity lifting weights at the end of the day. Lost in thought about getting to Persephone and possibly having a sweet night with one or more of the local girls. Jayne was so preoccupied with those thoughts that he almost dropped his heavy barbells back down onto his chest when blood curdling screaming started not more than three meters from him.
"Holy mother of a..." Jayne muttered to himself as he struggled his barbells back into place before aiming his gun at whatever was screaming. It was a man, a writhing bloody man and he was screaming like he was on fire. "I don't know what in the goram universe is going on, but if you don't shut the hell up I'll make you shut up." Jayne yelled as he shook his gun at the trembling mass of flesh, hoping to make it shut up. It didn't work.
"What the hell is going on, Jayne?!" Mal asked as he ran out onto the deck only to stop as he saw the man.
"I have no rutting idea." Jayne replies, a panicked look in his eyes as he watches the man roll across the floor, his head clutched between his hands. "But," Jayne said. "can I shoot him so he will shut up?"
"No!" Simon's voice called out from behind him as he rushed up one of the passage ways, Kalyee close on his heels. "Get hold of him!" He commanded as he quickly kneels down and opens up a med kit.
"Hold him down?" Mal asked loudly as he watches the man kick and roll across the cargo bay.
"So I can give him a tranq!" Simon argued over the man's screaming as he points to his medicines.
Jayne and Mal shared a look before look back over at the screaming man. They both reluctantly approached and Mal looked over at Jayne. "You get the feet."
"I get the feet?! Hell no! You get the feet." Jayne argued as he watches the feet kick out powerfully at random intervals.
"Jayne!"
"I got it. Feet." Jayne grumbled as he got ready to pounce.
"Now!" Mal yelled as he launched himself over at the man and fought to grab hold of the arms.
Jayne tackled the trembling body reached for the legs and manages to secure one of the feet. Unfortunately for him the other foot managed to land a sharp kick into his ribs. The breath knocked out of him Jayne struggled to keep hold of the first foot he had managed.
"Doc!" Mal called out as he also finds himself struggling to pin down the arms.
"Coming!" Simon yells back as he runs to the man's side and quickly inserts the needle and empties the syringe. "There!" Slowly but surely the body of the man began to still and the yelling stop. Mal and Jayne are finally able to let go of their fierce holds and get a better look at who their intruder is.
"Damn. He isn't more than twenty." Mal said quietly as he looked down at the blood encrusted face of their intruder. The boy's face was caked in blood and sweat and the pitch black hair looked like it was just as encrusted with blood as his face was. "Let's get him to the infirmary." Mal said he pulled the light body up off the ground and waited for Simon to lead the way.
As they moved out of the cargo bay they passed by Kaylee who looked like she had seen reavers running around the bay. "Will he be okay?" She asked in concern, her voice shaking.
"Doc will take good care of him." Mal replied as he continued to push forward, the boy weighing down on his arms more than he would like to admit. Following Simon, Mal carried the boy through the hallways and up stairs while Jayne and Kaylee followed behind. When they reached the infirmary they found that River was already there. No one asked how she had known this was where everyone would end up.
She watched silently as Mal lay the boy down on the bed and stood back to let Simon work his wonders. There was silence except for the labored breathing of the boy and the Simon shuffling through different medical devices.
Simon was about to cut open the boy's shirt so he could listen to his heart when they boy's eyes flew open. "What in the world!?" Simon muttered to himself as he jumped back from his patient.
He watched in slight fascination and horror as he realized that the boy's eyes were locked with River's. It shouldn't have been happening. He had given the boy enough tranquilizer to keep him out for hours.
Then the boy talked. "Stop...looking..." was all that he was before his piercing emerald green eyes slowly fell closed again and the boy released a heavy breath.
"What?" Simon asked to no one in particular before looking over at River. She was shaking and her eyes wide. "What's wrong River?" Simon asked in concern, momentarily forgetting that he had a patient on his bed.
"He...he was...I don't know. I couldn't see. I couldn't see anything." She whispered in horror as she stared at the boy before seeming to come out of a trance. And then she ran. Simon didn't even have a chance to yell for her to stay.
"I'll go after her." Kaylee said quietly as slips out the door.
"Do whatever you have to do to fix him." Mal said next as he gave a meaningful look at Simon. "I want him well enough that I can get answers about what the hell he was doing on my goram ship."
"I'll do what I can." Simon replied a bit nervously as he glanced down at the pale boy.
"Good." Mal replied. "I'll leave you too it." And with that Mal slipped out the door after Kaylee.
Simon looked over at Jayne expectently. "I'll be in my bunk." Jayne hurriedly said as he realized that he was the only one left with Simon.
Mal looked around the room at everyone that that had assembled. Jayne was sitting leaned backed in a chair at the end of the table, Simon and Kaylee were sitting rather close together along one side of the table while Zoey sat on the other side and River stood in the doorway, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Well," Mal started out, "it seems we managed to pick up a hitchhiker somewhere along the way."
"More like a goram ghost." Jayne muttered. "He came out of no where."
"Be that as it may, now he is on my ship and we need to figure out what to do with him. We are two days from Persephone, where we will pick up Inara, some supplies for the ship and with any luck a job." Mal paused. Everyone's mode seemed to brighten at the remembrance that they were going for Inara and something to keep busy with. "So," Mal continued. "do we drop whoever this kid is as soon as we get to Persephone or do we hear what he has to say first?"
"I say we kick him out into the Black." Jayne said bluntly, no remorse in his voice.
"Jayne!" Kaylee reprimanded as she swung her head around to glare at him. "I think we should hear what he has to say, I mean he didn't look too good when he came in. He may really need some help."
"Is now the best time to be taking on someone that needs help?" Zoey asked as she looked seriously over at Kaylee. "We just got through all of the trouble that our last two tag alongs brought us." Zoey continued as she gave Simon a meaningful look.
Simon had good enough sense to look slightly abashed. "I don't really know what we should do with him. I do think we should hear what he has to say for himself. He had the beginning signs of Axonotmesis..." He paused and looked around at the blank faces. "Nerve damage." There. Now they didn't look quite so glazed over. "So whatever he went through must have been less than pleasant."
"Exactly why I am reluctant to offer him anything at all." Mal replied. "I don't want whatever happened to him chasing our tails later. So is everyone agreed that we should dump him on Persephone?"
"He stays." River said bluntly from her spot by the door.
"River?" Simon asks confused as he turns around to look at her.
"He stays." River repeated as she stared calmly at Mal.
"Well...if River want him too, then I can't really say no..." Simon said even though he looked like he didn't really know whether it was a good thing or not.
"Well, I guess that settles it." Kaylee said happily. "We see what he has to say."
"Wait a damn minute." Jayne blurted as he jumped out of his seat. "You're all saying you'll hear the creep out because of some little girl?! What happened to just dumping him."
Mal watched as the commotion broke out. How had things turned around so quickly! Sighing Mal shot a disapproving glance over at River before saying. "Fine. We hear what he has to say."
"All right, Captain." Zoey says as she stands to leave. "Glad we could come to an agreement so...peacefully." She said as she glances over at Kaylee and Jayne who were both turning red in the face from arguing.
"Me too." Mal replied, although he didn't sound quite as convinced as Zoey had.