A Strong Heart

by Strager

What if Harry also fell through the Veil at the Department of Mysteries? What if they didn't die? What if they fell to another world? AU, techically a crossover with Magic Knights

A/N: Not writing what I should be writing… Instead my head was filled with this one and it had to get out. Maybe I will now be able to focus on my other plans :P

I had a sudden anime season awhile ago and Magic Knights Rayearth was one of which I watched through. I was also reading some Harry Potter at the same time and somehow the two got mixed up in my head at some point and the idea for this came about.

Now, I thought about putting this in the crossovers, but since this little story focuses mostly on Harry Potter characters (there's eventually only two characters from the manga/anime actually making an appearance in this story) I felt it fit better with all the other HP fics. A small thing about the Magic Knights. It doesn't much show, but I have followed the manga more closely than I have the anime in this fic.

I hope you'll like it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor Magic Knights Rayearth, I'm merely playing with them.

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A Strong Heart

Hermione stared, shocked and horrified, at the ancient stone arch in the middle of the room, where her best friend of five years was now yelling for his godfather who had just moments ago stumbled through the Veil thanks to the curse of Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione could only stare, frozen in place by some unseen force that no one but herself had spelled into being, how Harry tore himself out of Remus' grip and dashed towards the arch. Hermione wanted to scream Harry to stop, to not to go near the Veil, but no sound left her lips. She hurt too much. The reality of everything, their lives, the danger, Voldemort… crashed onto her shoulders in a force that nearly made her collapse in the middle of all the fighting. The force kept her frozen and silent, only able to watch as Harry ran to the Veil, crying out for Sirius.

The name was filled with so much feeling, all mixed up in one desperate call, that Hermione couldn't sort out them at all. The next thing she knew was a blinding white light emitting from the arch blinding them all and closing out all sound. Instinctively Hermione crouched low and tried to shield her eyes so that she would be able to see something, but to no avail. She could see nothing but the light and hear nothing, barely even her own heavy breathing.

Slowly the light started to dim, gradually retreating back to the Veil and sound returned. For a moment everything stayed still as the Order members and the Death Eaters tried to clear their eyes from the after effects of the blinding light. Then the battle started again as furious as before. Hermione stayed down and worriedly stared at the stone arch trying to see if Harry was alright. But try as she might, she could not see her friend anywhere. The only one near the stone arch was Remus who had turned to fight a Death Eater his back to the Veil. Hermione gritted her teeth and gathered up her courage before sprinting to the middle of the room avoiding the fighting witches and wizards. When she got to the Veil she stared at her surroundings, even circling around the arch ducking curses every now and then, but still could not see Harry anywhere.

Where was he? Hermione thought worry gripping her heart.

Hermione stayed in her spot before the Veil, which proved to be a surprisingly safe place as no one wanted to go anywhere near the thing after Sirius had fallen through. She only needed to worry about stray curses. The battle did not continue much longer after that as the Aurors finally arrived to the Ministry with the Minister of Magic in tow, just in time to see Dumbledore fight Lord Voldemort, Hermione heard later. Hermione stayed in her spot staring at the Veil, a frown marring her features as she tried to solve its puzzle. She stayed there until she more felt than anything else that the Headmaster, amongst other people, was behind her.

"Miss Granger?" the old wizard called out gently.

Hermione moved her head to look at the spot where she had seen Harry last before the bright light had blinded them all. "He's not there. I can't find him."

After a moment of quiet a rustle of robes was heard as Dumbledore moved next to the young girl. "Do you mean Harry, Miss Granger? Do you know anything about his whereabouts during the fight? He had not been seen since Remus lost track of him right after Sirius'… fall."

"He was right here, Sir. And after the light… he wasn't", Hermione said in a frustrated and slightly teary tone.

"The light?" Dumbledore repeated.

"Yes, the light that came from the arch after Sirius fell through it. It blinded everyone for a moment and then it dimmed and everything was back to normal. Except that I couldn't find Harry anywhere. He was running towards the arch, when the light came out."

"Oh dear", Dumbledore raised a hand to his beard. "It sounds rather likely that Harry has fallen through the Veil as well."

A chorus of exclamations and worried and fearful cries sounded from behind the old man and the young girl. This was something quite unexpected. No one had thought that their disappeared Savior would have been too far away, Harry's luck for surviving practically anything was well known. And now it seemed that their one hope for defeating the Dark Lord was somewhere completely out of their reach.

They had lost their Savior.

The first thing they did once they had the chance to start solving the mystery of Harry's disappearance was to find a way to find out if he was still even alive. The Veil was a mystery to all, even the Unspeakables who had been researching the arch for years and years. So nobody knew where the arch led or if it led anywhere at all. Or if anyone would survive it. It seemed like an impossible mission, even finding out if Harry was alive, not to mention where he was. It took months of research and foiled attempts in trying to determine if Harry was alive or not. Many gave up after a month or two, except for those who held Harry dear. Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, the twins and Remus were undeterred in their search.

Eventually it was none of them who found the answer, but Dumbledore who had been searching as much as he could, even though his many duties and tasks drew him more involved in the war than searching for answers concerning Harry. However one of his other tasks inadvertently gave him the perfect means to find out Harry's state of being.

"Harry's alive!" Hermione nearly shrieked when the aged Headmaster conveyed the news.

"Yes, I'm quite certain of it", Dumbledore said and placed a small dark stone on the table in front of him. "I dared to conduct a test with the Resurrection Stone and attempted to bring forth Harry's shadow, but no such thing happened. As such I believe that Harry is quite alive."

For a moment everyone stared at the eccentric Headmaster, though Hermione looked more confused than others, before a storm of questions about the Resurrection Stone was hurled to the Headmaster. And so Dumbledore explained to the group about the Deathly Hallows, thought to be nothing but a bedtime story, and through questions of how he had come across the Stone Dumbledore told them of the Horcruxes. Suffice to say they were all very shocked and repulsed by them and Remus went white as a sheet when he heard Voldemort had made seven of them.

"However this means we have to find Harry even more pressingly than before", the old wizard said with a sorrowful expression.

"Why?" Ron asked frowning.

"As I said moments ago, Voldemort made seven Horcruxes. The diary, this stone in a ring, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem and his pet snake; Nagini", Dumbledore explained.

Hermione and Neville frowned. "That was only six", Neville said.

"Yes", Dumbledore sighed heavily. "The seventh is… Harry."

A pin falling to the floor would have sounded thunderous in the silence that followed the Headmaster's words.

"To kill Voldemort we need to destroy the Horcruxes, including the one in Harry", Dumbledore continued into the silence. "Where ever Harry currently is, the Horcrux in him will keep Voldemort alive if we were to try and kill him with all the others destroyed."

"Does Voldemort know about Harry?" Remus asked still looking stunned.

"I do not know."

"Harry? A Horcrux?" Hermione mumbled to herself.

Next to her Luna tilted her head appearing thoughtful. "That would explain those strange mutated wrackspurts around Harry all the time", she said in an airy voice.

From there on they had more research to do (to Ron's immense suffering). In addition to finding where Harry was and how to get there and out again, they needed to find a way to get the Horcrux off from Harry before any of them would even think about destroying it. Dumbledore had cautioned them that it could be impossible, in which case the only possibility was for Harry to die. It made Hermione wonder how things would have played out if Harry hadn't disappeared. Would any of them have known about the Horcruxes and Harry ever?

Their progress was slow, hindered by the war and the Horcrux hunts, but bit by bit they made headway. It was Luna who first brought forth the idea of the Veil leading to another world or dimension. Hermione was quite ready to dismiss the idea at first sight, but once she was reminded of the existence of the worlds of the faery folk for instance, she had to admit that it was at least worth looking into. Hermione was still highly suspicious of the theory. One would think it was one of the first things that the Unspeakables had thought of in the Department of Mysteries.

But the more and more research and thought they put into the theory, the more plausible it started to seem. They found proof of other archways (some of which did not even look like arches) acting in the same manner, some of them had even had people stumble out of them. And they found one case where the same person went in and came out again.

After their first year of searching Dumbledore died, falling from the Astronomy Tower after Snape killed him. This prompted the group to put their search for Harry on hold for a moment to find the remaining Horcruxes and destroy the ones they could. The managed to find all of them and destroy all but Nagini as well since it became clear that Voldemort did not feel it when his soul fractures were destroyed. The war dragged on after that during which George lost his right ear and Remus was killed in a battle defending Hogsmeade. It took three years after Dumbledore's death for them to find a way to get to Harry during which Tonks had joined them while trying to get over her grief at Remus' death.

They never had the chance to test their theory for safety sake before their time ran out and they were forced to make a leap of faith. Alastor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt managed to kill Nagini and Voldemort. It left the entire Wizarding Britain speechless. Most of the people had started to lose hope of ever winning the war against Voldemort, especially since the more time passed the more people came convinced that Voldemort couldn't be defeated without Harry Potter who had disappeared four years ago.

However this caused a bit of a crisis for Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Tonks and the twins. Dumbledore had theorized before his death that if Voldemort were to die after all the Horcruxes in here were destroyed but the one in Harry was still intact, Voldemort's remaining being would be able to move between dimensions and find Harry. Since in his wraith form Voldemort wouldn't be bound by the physical world and the Horcrux in Harry would provide him with a focal point, Voldemort would be able to go to where ever Harry was and try and revive himself again.

So the sevensome found that suddenly they had no time in their hands and that they would need to go in through the Veil quite quickly. They did not know how long it would take for Voldemort to get from their world to the other one. The countrywide celebration for the second defeat of Voldemort was a perfect guise for the seven witches and wizards to sneak in to the Department of Mysteries and to the stone arch. There the seven went and stood in front of the arch hand in hand readying themselves for their gamble. They could only hope that they had not forgotten anything.

The twins glanced at everyone. "Ready?"

They all nodded and drawing a deep breath closed their eyes.

xXx

"SIRIUS!"

Harry heard nothing and saw nothing but the Veil and his own desperate call for his godfather filled with everything he felt. His desperation for his godfather to not die, his desire for people to leave him alone or believe him, his weariness at the world being against him, his overwhelming but guilty wish to get out! As the echoes of his call faded away the next thing he knew was a bright white light surrounding him. For a moment everything was weightless and the light started to gradually dim. Harry opened his eyes and saw he was floating over a barren land, torn with earthquakes and dry rainless storms. Huge amounts of stone and land cracked and splintered rising up into the air. Harry turned his head and saw a huge crystal like formation that somehow reminded him of a castle. After catching this glimpse of his surroundings he was no longer floating.

He was falling.

Harry managed to get a short scream out before he lost his consciousness and knew nothing of the enormous winged figure who caught him with whisps of wind and carried him to the castle. When he came to, it was to find a scantily dressed, dark skinned woman with pink hair crouching over him protecting him from falling rubble. Once Harry noticed how scantily dressed she was, he desperately tried to find something safe to look at. The woman sat up and Harry lifted his hand to his head which was aching like nothing else.

"Oh, you're awake!" the woman exclaimed smiling brightly before jumping a bit when a tremor tore through the large room. Harry glanced around himself and saw huge amounts of people, men women and children, huddling and glancing at the roof whenever a tremor would occur. The woman's words drew his attention again. "I swear I don't know what you were thinking! Being outside in this situation! Everybody practically got a heart attack when Fuu brought you in. Though I suppose you couldn't help it if you were falling as she said."

Harry blinked. He had no idea what the woman was talking about. "Um… Where am I?"

Now it was the woman's turn to blink. "In the castle of course, silly!"

"Okay, but where's the castle?"

"You're not from Cephiro?" the woman asked and Harry shook his head. The question seemed to mean that he was in Cephiro. He had never heard a place like that.

"What about Chizeta? Fahren? Autozam?" the woman's face grew more and more confused as Harry shook his head at the strange names he had never heard of before. Then her eyes widened. "Are you from another world!?"

Harry blinked. "I suppose that is possible."

"Oh, what was that place again…", the woman appeared to be thinking furiously. "Toito… Totsio…Tokoi… No! Tokyo! That was the place! Are you from there?"

"Tokyo? No. I mean there is a place called Tokyo in my world, but I'm from England", Harry answered. Startled Harry realized that he had left everyone behind. They must be worried about him back home. How had he gotten in here? In Cephiro. He needed to get back! Wait! Sirius! He had gone through the Veil as well. Was he in here too?

"… so you must be from the same world as the Magic Knights- What is it?" the woman paused in her speech noticing Harry had something to say.

"Has there been someone else brought in recently?"

"I don't know. It's possible, but right now everything absolutely chaotic. He could be somewhere in this castle or not. I do not know, I'm sorry."

Harry smiled halfheartedly. "That's okay. If he is here, I can look for him later."

"True" the woman nodded and then appeared startled. "Shoot! I haven't even introduced myself! You should have said something! I am Caldina."

"That's okay, I haven't done that either. I'm Harry." Harry flinched when a tremor bigger than normal ran through the castle cracking the walls. "What's going on in here?"

Caldina turned sad. It was such a radical change from her previous manner that Harry immediately regretted his question. Caldina sighed. "Cephiro has lost its Pillar and in our weakened state the other wolrds, Fahren, Chizeta and Autozam are each trying to conquer Cephiro and become the next Pillar. The tremors are partly because of the fighting and mostly because Cephiro is crumbling."

"Crumbling?" Harry asked confused.

"Yes. Cephiro cannot survive without the Pillar. Until the next Pillar is chosen, Cephiro will continue to crumble."

"I don't understand."

"Cephiro is a land of will and strong hearts. Everything in Cephiro can be and is influenced by one's will. The Pillar maintains Cephiro through prayer", Caldina explained understanding his confusion at once. "And when I say that the Pillar maintains Cephiro, I mean the whole of Cephiro."

Harry nodded slowly. "And Cephiro cannot survive without the Pillar."

"Exactly."

Raised voices interrupted their conversation and Caldina stood up to see the commotion. She glanced down at Harry. "Will you be alright? I have to go and slay some monsters."

Harry nodded, confused at Caldina's choice of words and how she seemed perfectly serious when she said them, and Caldina left with a graceful gait causing Harry to find something else to look at once again. Seriously, there should be some rules on how to dress here!

xXx

Harry sighed frustrated. Still nothing. He stood up and kicked the stone bench he had been sitting on. It had been a year since he had arrived in Cephiro. A year since one of the Magic Knights, who had been defending the castle back then, had been chosen as the Pillar. That Magic Knight, Hikaru, had gotten rid of the Pillar System making the maintaining of Cephiro a task for the inhabitants of Cephiro. During that year much had happened to him. He had found Sirius, something he had been afraid he wouldn't. Whatever curse Bellatrix had send to Sirius had not hit him through the Veil and Harry was really, really grateful for it. Now he hadn't had to be alone in a new and different world with different rules.

A world of will and strong hearts.

Harry had not been sure what Caldina had meant with those words, but since then he had gotten a pretty good picture. Even right now, just looking at the lush greenery, the beauty and peace around himself, it was strange to know that this existed because the people of Cephiro and willed and prayed so. Nothing was necessarily how it seemed. A person looking like a child could be a several hundreds of years old mage and a beast looking like a monster could be the gentlest creature in the land. Magic in here was also dependant on how strong one's mind and heart was. It felt different, but easy to use at the same time. Harry and Sirius had used their spells and wands for months before getting used to the fact that they didn't need wands at all and that their spells, well, sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. It was almost as if the magic here didn't know what they wanted from it when they just used their old spells.

Harry and Sirius had been quite grateful to Caldina, when she had directed them to Guru Clef, the Master Mage of Cephiro, who had been helping them to get a hang of things ever since. They had also gotten more information on how they had gotten in here and how they might get out. Apparently to get in or out of this world, someone had to wish for it. Once Guru Clef had heard what had happened to Harry and Sirius, he believed that it was Harry who had wished them here, including Sirius, otherwise they would have just disappeared into whatever emptiness there was between worlds. To get out, Harry just had to wish for them home.

It was easier than it sounded. Harry had been trying it ever since Clef had told them about it. According to Clef, Harry had an enormously strong will. Strong enough, that he might have been a candidate for the Pillar if it still existed. So wishing them home should have been easy. But nothing happened. Harry sat back down and buried his head in his hands. When he heard the familiar steps of his godfather approaching, he ignored them opting to stay still trying to wish them home. He felt it when Sirius sat down next to him and heard him sigh.

"Harry", Sirius said placing a hand onto his shoulder.

"I'm trying Sirius, but I just can't get us back. And I don't understand why!"

"Have you considered that it might be because deep down you don't want to go back?" Sirius asked unusually serious.

Harry looked at Sirius offended. "Of course I want to get back! All of my friends are there!"

"True", Sirius said nodding. "But so is the Wizarding World. And Voldemort. And lots of nutty people who think you are a saint one day and a crazy liar and evil wizards the next. Harry, it's perfectly understandable that a part of you doesn't want to return."

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is. And it's alright, Harry. Really."

Harry frowned and looked up at Sirius. There wasn't a hint of hesitation or uncertainty in his eyes as he looked at Harry and something, Harry wasn't sure what, felt like loosening in his heart. Harry frowned slightly, looking unsure.

"Is it really alright?"

"Yes, Harry. It is", Sirius said his voice full on conviction.

"But what about everyone back home? Won't they need me?" Harry asked. What would become of his friends?

"Harry, they will be fine. There are lots of people who know what to do and who fought in the previous war. The Wizarding World certainly doesn't need you. They can deal with Voldemort on their own. And as for your friends, I'm sure they'll miss you just as much as you miss them. And I'm sure they'll do fine, Harry. Maybe you don't want to get back today or even a year or two from now. Maybe you never want to get back, who knows. But whichever way it goes, I want you to realize that it's alright. Okay?"

Harry nodded slowly mulling over what Sirius had said. It felt so nice when someone said it was okay to be selfish. That he didn't need to care about the Wizarding World or Voldemort. It made him feel light. Then a thought occurred to him and he frowned glancing at Sirius.

"What about you, Sirius? Don't you want to go back?"

Sirius shrugged. "Truth to be told, I'm okay with either way. The only people back home who I truly care about anymore, are you and Moony. And you are here and Moony… Moony will be fine. He always was the smartest and strongest of us. I'll miss some people. But that's about it", Sirius looked at their surroundings with a serene expression. "This place. It's new and it's strange. But it's also… calm. Peaceful. A nice change after twelve years in Azkaban and the life of an escaped convict. "

Then he smirked lecherously. "And the ladies aren't bad looking either."

Harry's eyes widened and he snorted as he punched Sirius in the arm knowing whom he meant especially. Harry looked at Sirius pointedly. "You do know that Caldina is in a relationship?"

"Pfft!"

"With the best Swordsman in Cephiro?"

"Details, details!"

"Who wouldn't hesitate to slice you in half!?"

"Lafarga wouldn't do that!"

"Yeah, he would!"

"No, he wouldn't!"

xXx

Hermione looked at the view before her enchanted. It was so beautiful. A green land with snow peaked mountains and a glittering ocean beside it with islands floating above it. Hermione's thoughts came into a screeching halt. Floating islands?

And then she was falling beside her friends screaming her lungs out. Hermione tried casting a spell to slow down her fall including several cushioning charms, but none came to being. Hermione was just about to start panicking for real when she felt a spell take a hold of her. She looked with wide eyes around her and saw Ron casting spells and charms on himself and her. Neville seemed to have similar trouble as she did and was being saved by Luna who was sitting cross legged as if having tea at a friend's house. The twins were using some kind of a magical thingy, probably one of their own making while Tonks was hitching a ride with them.

"Did everyone remember to think of Harry?" Hermione yelled at the other and all of them nodded or shouted their positive answer. Hermione was still shaking her head in her mind at the thought that they had to wish to get through the Veil into this world. But that was what Luna's sources had told her, even though Luna wouldn't reveal them who or what these sources were. So far however, they had been right. Now they just had to hope that this really was the world Harry had come. And if their information was correct, thinking of Harry while wishing to travel to this world should get them near him. Assuming they survived the fall.

They did, although the twins and Tonks got a little bumpy descent while Luna and Neville got stuck in a tree. Hermione and Ron managed to land relatively gracefully middle of the clearing Ron had been aiming for. Hermione stumbled slightly as her feet touched the ground and she huffed in annoyance. Why hadn't her magic worked? Or Neville's? The others didn't have answers for those questions either once they got themselves sorted. The difficulties continued as Hermione tried casting a Point Me spell on Harry and her wand didn't even twitch. It took her three tries to get it to work refusing to have anyone else do the spell. She was a witch, for heaven's sake! She was going to get that damn spell working even if it killed her! Something apparently clicked then as the wand nearly jumped off her hand when it turned to point towards the trees, quivering on her hand at the force of her spell.

Even though Hermione was glad that it had finally worked, she couldn't but wonder what on earth made the magic act so strangely. And whatever it was, it seemed to affect some more than the rest. Luna and the twins seemed to manage best with their spells in here while Hermione had the most trouble. It was incredibly annoying. But she couldn't not admit, that despite the magic acting annoyingly, otherwise this world was unbelievably beautiful. It seemed they had arrived in late spring or early summer. Everything was fresh and green and birds were chirping from the trees. Though there were some strange looking animals here, they noticed, as they occasionally saw some scurry about between the trees.

They did not need to walk in the forest too long before they reached a road. Luna did the Point Me spell again and as the wand leaned more to the right, they decided to head that way. Once again they had not walked too long before they saw someone riding in a wagon coming towards them. They debated nearly until the wagon was upon then whether to ask about Harry and directions, but as the area seemed quite nice and the man in the wagon, as he came closer, seemed smiling and kind, they eventually decided to stop and ask all the while discreetly staring at the strange horse like creature in front of the wagon. Its pink color seemed to be the most disturbing feature for the group, though Fred and George seemed quite fascinated with it.

"Harry Potter", the man repeated, pronouncing the name slightly differently and shaking his head. "Can't say that I've heard about a Potter in here ever."

"Oh", Neville sighed disappointed but perked up a bit when the man continued.

"But High Prayer Hari lives in an hour walk from here. Maybe he is the one you are looking for? Old friend of yours?"

They all nodded.

"Yes", Hermione said. "We haven't seen him in a long, long while and we've been trying to find him for some time."

The man nodded smiling. "Well, try from there. If nothing else, it's the next house along this road so you can at least ask around in there if it proves to be the wrong place. And if you can't find your friend today and need a place to stay for the night, they'll be sure to give you a place to sleep for the night."

"Really?" Tonks asked delighted. She had been wholly prepared to sleep the next night on the tent, which despite everything couldn't win against a proper bed.

"Of course! It's the High Prayer's house!" the man looked at them amused. Wishing them good luck on their search he continued on his way and the group of witches and wizards turned to continue their walk. At least they had a destination now, even if it necessarily wasn't the right one. After little over an hour they arrived to a smaller road forking off to the left. There were no signs anywhere or any markings on where they were, but the friendly man's directions had said an hour of walk and this was the first change on their walk since then. They decided to try it and headed along the smaller road. They could always turn back if need be.

After a short walk they came upon an elegantly built gate, which was invitingly open, from which a low wall, it barely reached their waists, spanned out apparently circling around the house and the garden. Since the gate was open they decided to just walk in after glancing at each other uncertainly. So far everything in this world had been nice and friendly, but who knew when it would change. Hopefully they would not be rude or break any laws by walking in through an open gate.

They walked along the path leading up to the house, equally elegant looking on as the gate had been. The garden was surrounding them and they could hear a stream or a fountain in the distance. They came up to the house where they found a woman collecting flowers from a flowerbed near the doors which were also open. She looked up as she heard their approach and the seven friends were startled as they saw her silver colored eyes. The woman smiled kindly at them and walked up to them.

"Hello. How can I help you?"

"Um, hi", Ron said, slightly distracted by her eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes exasperated and turned to the woman. "Hello. We are looking for a friend of ours and we got directions for the… um… High Prayer's house from a passing traveler. Are we in the right place?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, you are. This is the High Prayer's house. My name is Elva. Please, come in."

She turned slightly and gestured them towards the door. The seven friends glanced at each other and then moved inside the house. All of them looked around themselves in awe, the beautiful architecture and décor continuing inside as well. Elva came in after them and gestured them to follow her. They walked through the house until they arrived to what seemed to be some kind of a sitting room with comfortable looking chairs and sofas scattered around the room with small tables near them and bookshelves scattered along the walls. Every room they had seen had been light and airy, with large windows outside and in some rooms there were large windows to other rooms or corridors.

"Please, sit", Elva said as she went for a vase in one of the side tables and placed the flowers she had been picking in it. Then she returned to them just as they had sat down. "Would you like something to drink? Tea, perhaps?"

Hermione was starting to feel quite out of place and she thought that she wasn't alone in her feelings. All of them had expected to end up in some adventure with lots of excitement and dangerous situations, and their trip had begun in that fashion even. But after that first shock there had not been anything else exiting or dangerous, something they all had been used to experience when ever Harry was involved. And now they were sitting in a beautiful sitting room and being politely offered tea. Hermione felt awfully rude even thinking about refusing, so she nodded while the others voiced their agreements. Elva stepped outside the room for a moment before returning and taking a seat of her own and the friends introduced themselves.

"So, you said you were looking for a friend of yours?" Elva said.

They nodded.

"Yes, our friend Harry Potter", Neville said. "The traveler we passed thought we might mean someone called Hari who lives here, since Potter was something he had never heard of before."

Elva nodded, her black hair swaying along the movement. "Well, he was right in that the High Prayer's name is Hari. But I do not know if he is your friend or not. He has a lot of friends from his travels and I have not had the pleasure of meeting all of them. We must ask him."

Hermione smiled. "That would be wonderful."

"Yes", Elva said. "Though I'm afraid you might have to wait for a moment. Judging by the High Priest's state of agitation the High Prayer has wandered off to pray in to the woods again."

The seven friends glanced at each other confused. High Prayer? Praying? That didn't exactly sound like the Harry they knew, though the wandering off did fit. Maybe something had happened to Harry. Perhaps he lost his memory or something.

"Why would the High Priest be agitated because of praying in the woods?" Luna asked dreamily startling the others.

Elva laughed. "Oh, our High Priest is very proper and thinks traditions and the 'right way to do things' very important. So when the High Prayer skips off to somewhere and prays there, it causes a lot of frustration for the High Priest. After all, he is supposed to help the High Prayer in his praying."

Luna smiled and nodded as if everything the woman said made perfect sense even though the rest of them were still quite confused. Right then their tea arrived, with some juice and snacks as well. They all helped themselves and they spoke with Elva about the area and about their friendship with Harry. They had to think a bit about their answers as they didn't know how these people thought about magic and travelers from other worlds. Though, they were fairly certain that magic was not foreign for them. There had to magic in this world if they had creatures like the one pulling the wagon.

They had sat comfortably for quite some time and their stomachs started to be content with all the food they'd had when they started to hear voices approaching the sitting room.

"… did it again!"

"Really, Zephyr. I do pray, you know! I don't skip my duties just like that."

"That's not the point! You should be praying here so that I can help you to pray!"

"I do pray here too."

"Argh! You're doing this just to vex me, aren't you?"

The friend looked at the window to the corridor where two men came into view, the other light haired and wearing a resigned look on his face and the other shorter with black hair smiling at the taller man. The shorter man took the other one in a one armed hug.

"Will it make you feel better if I promise to pray a bit extra today in here under your watchful eyes?"

The taller man, who must be the High Priest Hermione thought, stopped and regarded the black haired one, the High Prayer most likely, with narrowed eyes. "Promise?"

The High Prayer lifted a hand and assumed a serious stance. "I solemnly swear."

"Well, then yes. It does make me feel better."

"Good", the smaller man smiled. "But first I should probably go and be polite to our guests, yes?"

The High Priest sighed resignedly. "Yes, you should."

The High Prayer turned with a flourish and proceeded to skip to the sitting room. "Don't worry, Zephyr! I'll make sure to remember to pray after this!"

"I'll hold you onto that!"

The High Prayer laughed as he stepped into the room and upon opening his eyes and looking at the group of visitors froze, into the spot. Hermione couldn't believe that the man in front of her was Harry, but there was no mistake. The black hair, even though long now, the green eyes, though not shielded by glasses anymore, and the lightning shaped scar, unchanged under the silver; jeweled headband from which a piece of fabric, a some sort of a scarf apparently, fell down his back hiding the length of his hair. He had grown, Hermione saw, he was no longer a boy of fifteen. He also looked healthy and his manner was no longer angry and depressed and brooding, but light, carefree and happy. Completely at ease with himself. He had no shoes and he was wearing a robe of some kind with pants underneath it. He also seemed to have a high collared shirt under the white and green colored robe with silver linings. He reached to poke someone who had appeared behind him without Hermione noticing, she had been so focused on looking at Harry, without turning his gaze from the group.

"Did I eat the wrong mushrooms again?"

The most handsome looking man Hermione remembered ever seeing shook his head slowly. "Nope. I'm seeing them too and I didn't touch any of those mushrooms."

Hermione and Ron stood up slowly.

"Harry?" Ron said hesitantly.

As slowly as the two had stood up, Harry walked up to Ron and Hermione and carefully, as if thinking them unreal, poked Ron to his shoulder. Finding Ron to quite solid, Harry looked around to the others confusion etched to his features.

"How?"

"Trust us, it was a bloody impossible task!" the twins chorused.

"It took us four years to find you!" Hermione said and rushed to envelope Harry into a crushing hug.

"Four years!" Harry repeated shocked.

The good looking man had come behind him. "Well, that explains why they look so young. Talk about a time difference!" the man barked a laugh.

Tonks suddenly looked like she was about to choke on her juice. "Sirius!"

The rest six of them froze. "SIRIUS!"

The man in question pretended to look hurt. "Come on! Nobody remembers me?!"

They continued to gape.

"But… but… you look younger!" Tonks stuttered pointing at him.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah. But really, a few decades away from Azkaban really works for the complexion!"

"Few decades?" Hermione repeated looking at the two enquiringly. She couldn't believe that they'd found Sirius as well.

"Yeah", Harry said. "Apparently there's a bit of a difference in passing of time if one does not have a return date. We've been here for 75 years now."

"What!"

"Seriously!"

"But Sirius looks like… that!"

"But how come you're still here? You don't know how to get back home?" Hermione asked.

Harry sat her down on the sofa and sat down next to her. The rest followed their example and Elva rose up excusing herself. Harry smiled halfheartedly.

"I do know how", he said, "but I've never been able to wish us back home."

"Why?" Ron asked bluntly as was his way.

Harry sighed. "A part of me… didn't, doesn't, want to go back."

That got differing reactions from the group. Most frowned not understanding. Hermione was looking thoughtful, no doubt trying to analyze Harry's words, and the twins were wearing knowing smiles. Harry smiled sadly back at them and they nodded. Before anyone got another word out, the High Priest returned.

"Hari? The sun is about to set."

Harry blinked a few times before he nodded and smiled. "Of course. Sorry, Zephyr. Some really old friends just came to visit."

Harry turned to his seven friends. "Guys, this is High Priest Zephyr. Zephyr, these are 'Mione, Ron, Fred and George, Luna, Neville and Tonks."

The newly introduced exchanged greetings and Harry stood up. "I need to go, but I'll see you later, okay. Make yourselves comfortable."

With a smile Harry turned and left with Zephyr leaving a confused group with Sirius in the sitting room. As one everyone turned to Sirius who froze over his tea cup and stared at the group. Now that Hermione paid more attention to Sirius, she noticed a similar change in him as in Harry. Before, Sirius had been tormented by his time in Azkaban and there had been a slightly unstable air around him. Now, like Harry, he appeared healthy and happy and all the marks of him ever being in Azkaban seemed nonexistent. Hermione also noticed he was wearing an armor and carried a sword.

"Sirius, what happened? Why doesn't Harry want to come back home?" Hermione asked.

Sirius sighed and put his teacup down. "You say it's been four years back home, since we left?"

Hermione nodded.

"Do you remember the situation then? A highly stressful year, Voldemort being back and so on?" Sirius asked. "Is it really a wonder why Harry would not want to come back?"

"Nope", the twins said even though Hermione looked a bit put out.

"Heck, if we'd get to choose to stay here…"

"… or go back to fighting Voldemort…"

"We'd stay here in a heartbeat!" Fred and George finished in unison.

"But what about us?" Neville asked hesitantly.

"Yes!" Hermione said. "Didn't he want to come back to us?!"

Sirius sighed. "Yes, he did. But for the wishing to work, one must truly wish for it. Even a hint of hesitation and it won't work. And a part of Harry really didn't want to go back to fighting Voldemort." Sirius lifted his hand in protest. "And no, I couldn't have done it. I'm not strong enough to wish for both of us to return. And there was no way I was going to wish my godson back to the war!"

Sirius looked imposing and unmoving as he glared at the group, daring them to claim otherwise. Tonks nodded to herself thoughtfully and the twins seemed to agree with Sirius while the rest looked slightly ashamed. Except for Luna, who was currently staring at the ceiling with a fascinated look.

"I understand", Tonk said. "Though, how did Harry end up praying!? And how the hell does the praying differ from what the priests do?"

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, it's a bit weird when you think about Harry when he was young."

Hermione blinked and suddenly remembered that the two had said that 75 years had passed since their arrival in here. But if that were true, then shouldn't they look older? Much, much older than what they seemed now? Sirius didn't look a day over thirty and Harry looked to be around his twenties. This place truly frustrated her. Nothing seemed to work as it should in here!

"After we had gotten our bearings and familiarized ourselves with Cephiro bit, we travelled a long time. First in Cephiro, then in other countries. Sometimes we travelled together, sometimes not and we studied and learned a lot in here. I'm not sure what it was that made Harry choose this life, but one day he said to me that this felt right to him and he wanted to do it as long as he could", Sirius told them.

"And the praying and the priests?" Ron asked.

"Ah, that requires a little background info on Cephiro", Sirius said. "You see, Cephiro is a land of will. As in everything you've seen when coming here, the forests, the mountains, the sea, the floating islands… they're all here because the people of Cephiro have willed it so. And the maintaining of Cephiro happens through prayer."

Suffice to say the only one who wasn't staring Sirius open mouthed was Luna. Hermione had not heard anything more ridiculous ever before. A land maintained by prayer? The mere thought even was entirely ludicrous.

"The stronger the will in Cephiro, the stronger you power is. Some use it for different forms of magic, some for crafting and some for praying. The Prayers are people who choose to dedicate their lives to maintaining Cephiro through their will. The difference with the Priests is that while they help the Prayers pray, they do other things too like ceremonies and such."

"I suppose that makes sense", Rom said slowly.

Hermione looked at Ron disbelievingly. "Sense? How?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, if this place needs prayer to exist… I think it's just what Harry would want to do. He's always helping others, isn't he?"

Sirius looked at Hermione amused. "I think you people might need some time to get used to some ideas. Why don't I show you where you can put your stuff and sleep and we can continue this later, when Harry is done with his praying."

Sirius stood up and the others followed his example. He led them to a part of the house where there were a lot of bedrooms and the friends realized that these must be rooms for those passing travelers who apparently could get a lodging here if needed. Sirius told them to make themselves at home and feel free to wander about the house if they wanted. He also told them that they could get some evening snacks from the kitchen if they were feeling hungry. Then he disappeared to do whatever it was that he did and left the seven friends to clear their heads and ponder upon the strange place they now found themselves in.

xXx

The breakfast was in a large room with a circular table. As the other room in the house, it was light and airy and it had a roof made out of some kind of see through material, though it was fairly clear it was not made of glass. Most of the house's inhabitants were already at the table starting at their morning meal when Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Tonks and the twins arrived following after Sirius who had appeared just in time to show them where to go.

They sat down and took a look around. Elva was already there with two others next to her. Sirius had told them that Elva took care of the garden and the house and the man and the woman next to her must have been her helpers. Next to them were two men in similar attire as Sirius, so Hermione assumed that they were like Sirius, there in case of monsters. Hermione couldn't believe she had just though that. Monsters? She found that equally hard to believe as this whole world. Harry or Zephyr were still absent they saw as they helped themselves some food.

"Hey, Peykan. Where's Kia?" Sirius asked from the two men he worked with.

The man in question snorted. "She ate already, Sirius. No doubt so she wouldn't be tempted to bash you through the wall."

Sirius appeared hurt as he sat down next to them. "That is so mean! I cannot fathom why she would do something like that."

"We can", Peykan and his friend chorused.

Sirius huffed and grumbled good-naturedly while piling food on his plate. Everyone were eating with enthusiasm when Harry and Zephyr came to the room and sat down as well. Harry sat next to Sirius and Hermione smiling in good humor. Even Zephyr seemed to be in a better mood. Sirius turned to their seven guests.

"So, how are things back home?"

"Good."

"And bad", the twins said in turns.

"Oh?" Harry voiced his curiosity.

"Well, good as in the war is over. Kingsley and Moody killed Voldemort finally", Tonks said. "And bad as in many good people died fighting."

"Who?" Sirius asked frowning.

"Dumbledore", Ron said. "And Remus."

"Professor Snape", Hermione said.

Upon hearing Remus' name, both Harry and Sirius turned sad. The death of Dumbledore wasn't good either, but neither of them had been awfully close to the ancient wizard, especially after Harry's fifth year. Regarding their relationship with Snape, it had been a difficult one with both of them. They both sighed morosely and Harry turned pensive before smiling, with only a hint of sadness in there, at his old friends.

"You must be glad now that Voldemort is gone."

"Well, yes", Neville said.

"Um… that's kind of why we're here", Hermione bit her lip as she moved the remaining food around her plate. At Harry and Sirius' questioning looks the group told them all about Voldemort's Horcruxes and how they had hunted them down and destroyed them.

Sirius frowned. "Okay, so if you destroyed the Horcruxes and Voldemort is dead, then how does that bring you here?"

Hermione shook her head. "We said we destroyed six Horcruxes. He made seven of them."

"So you're after the Horcrux?" Harry thought aloud and his eyes widened. "You think it's here?!"

"How?" Sirius asked.

All of them turned uneasy and unwilling to answer Sirius' question. Or rather no one seemed to know how to say it. Eventually none of them had to say anything as Luna, who was the only one unfazed, walked behind Harry and put her index finger on top of Harry's scar.

"It's right there", Luna said in a light voice and moved away back to her seat.

"What?!" Harry jerked up from his seat and his hand moved towards his scar only to recoil from it before touching it. "It's in me!?" Harry moved his hand to cover his mouth as if he was feeling ill. Elva and Zephyr had half risen out of their seats when Harry had shot out of his own chair. Sirius turned to look at Hermione.

"When did that happen?"

"It has been with Harry ever since Voldemort tried to kill him the first time", Hermione said uneasily.

"Why didn't I know about this!?" Harry asked sharply. "Why didn't Dumbledore say anything?"

"I'm sure he had his reasons", Neville said quietly. "Maybe… maybe he thought you too young."

"Too young! Of course I was too young! But that didn't seem to stop anyone else!" Harry raged causing Elva and Zephyr along the other inhabitants of the house look at him wide-eyed. None of them had seen Harry like this before. Harry turned to pace agitatedly and the room suddenly filled with heavy and powerful pressure which seemed to center around the jittery Harry. He had wrapped his arms around his middle and he seemed to almost glow.

"I want that thing out of me!" he growled.

Sirius stood up and held a hand up soothingly. "Harry, please calm down. We'll contact Clef and see if he knows anything about removing soul pieces from people, okay?"

"You can't – ", Hermione tried to cut in but failed.

"Sirius, I want it out!"

"And we'll get it out, Harry. Just, let's call Clef and see what he says."

"But you can't get it out without – " Hermione tried again.

"I want it out now!" Harry said very empathically rounding to face Sirius and the others and glaring at them with enormous determination as if they were the soul piece. Then he suddenly jerked into unnatural stillness.

"Oh, shit."

Once the words had left Harry's lips, all life seemed to disappear from his body and he fell into a boneless heap onto the floor unconscious. They watched with wide eyes as something stayed standing while Harry fell. It looked like a small child, maybe four or five years old. Its skin was white while everything else, its eyes; hair and robe, was pitch black. There was a moment of stillness when the creature and everyone else in the room stared at each other. Then the creature gave a nasty sneer and darted towards the windows.

"Seal!" Sirius cried out while dropping onto one knee and pressing his hand to the floor as the creature made its way to the windows. A circle of blue spread out from Sirius' hand, quick as a lightning, covering the floor, then the walls and windows and finally the ceiling. Right then the creature reached the window and tried jumping through it only to bounce back from the blue glowing wall.

"Hari!" Zephyr exclaimed and rushed to him as did Hermione and Neville.

"How is he?" Sirius asked.

"Appears to be only unconscious", Neville said.

Sirius nodded and then focused on the creature. "Peykan! Reo!"

The two other swordsmen had already drawn their weapons and were standing before Harry and the others. "Yeah, yeah!" Peykan said. "What do you want to do with that thing? And be quick about it, that thing is going to start throwing a tantrum anytime now!"

"Either destroy it or capture it", Sirius answered without hesitation.

Hermione stared at Sirius. "But you can't – ". Hermione turned to look at one of the twins who had interrupted her once again. Something she was beginning to get tired of!

"'Mione, getting it out of Harry was supposed to be impossible as well", Fred said. All of them had realized that the creature was the Horcrux even though they had no idea how.

"Right", Hermione said feeling somehow lost. And then she was stifling a scream when a flash of something came upon them and blew up. All of them remained unscathed thanks to the shield the High Priest had lifted around them. Zephyr glanced at everyone gathered behind him.

"Someone grab Hari! We need to get out of the way!"

The twins did as told and quickly the group made its way to the door out of the dining room. Hermione shuddered a little as they passed through the strange barrier Sirius had created around the room. It felt cool and like water. But when the creature, the Horcrux had tried to get through it had been solid as stone. Hermione turned as she heard a heavy sigh and saw Elva staring at the doorway with a hopeless look on her face.

"That room is going to be in shambles once those three are done with it."

"Will they be alright?" Tonks asked worried.

"They should be", Elva answered. "Sirius is one of the best Magic Swordsmen in Cephiro and Peykan and Reo aren't trainees either."

Hermione winced at the crashes and explosions audible from the dining room. They could only hope that Sirius and the others in the room were as good as Elva said.

xXx

Harry groaned as he slowly came into consciousness. His head was positively killing him and every inch of his body felt slightly sore. He shifted and judging by the familiarity of the mattress under him, he was lying in his own bed. Harry winced as he moved, the action making the pain in his head increase every time he moved.

"Harry?"

Harry carefully opened his eyes into narrow slits and peered through his eyelashes at his wizarding friends who were all looking worriedly at him. Hermione was sitting closest to him with Luna and had spoken his name aloud. Harry managed to form a small smile.

"Hi, Hermione", Harry croaked with a dry throat and swallowed. He winced. "Urgh. I really shouldn't have done that."

"You don't say!"

Everyone in the room jumped slightly as Sirius' annoyed voice reached them from the door. He appeared to be alright other than his arm which was in a sling.

Harry smiled disarmingly and tried to assume an innocent look. "Sorry, Sirius." He turned to stare at his hands, looking down at them frowning and he shuddered. "I just… the thought of that thing in me, it made me feel vile. Tainted, I suppose. I didn't think straight."

"It's okay", Sirius said and sighed resignedly. "I'm just worried, that you've hurt something with that stunt. Plus, that bloody thing tried to bite my arm off! Literally!"

They all recoiled at the thought and Hermione looked closer at Sirius' arm.

"Are you alright? Did it do anything?"

"Besides trying to eat it? No. It just hurts like hell", Sirius said. "Luckily Elva is a good healer."

"Oh, right", Neville remembered something and took a cup from a side table handing to Harry. "She said to give you this once you woke up. I hope it's okay even though it's been waiting for you since yesterday."

Harry thanked him, commented that it should be okay and took a sip from the drink sighing contentedly as the medicine started to take effect. Elva's medicines were always quick to work. Harry closed his eyes as he waited for the headache to pass. He was having quite mixed feelings about seeing his old friends again. He was glad to see them, to hear that they were alright and happy and sad to hear from those back home. He was happy that the war was over and Voldemort was dead. But that also meant that Voldemort was coming here if Dumbledore's theory was correct. And it had been to the point that there really had been something foreign inside him. A piece of Voldemort's soul. Harry fought off nausea again. The thought made him feel sick. And it made him wonder if it had affected his actions and thoughts in any way. His parseltongue ability must have been because of that Horcrux.

Harry sighed softly feeling resigned. He had thought that he'd never need to think about Voldemort again. The only thing he had missed from his world had been his friends and loved ones. Everything else he had just been happy be rid of. And now it seemed that he wasn't rid of them, at least from Voldemort. He was coming to Cephiro and, Harry realized as worry gripped his heart, he had no idea what would happen. Voldemort would not realize the nature of this world straight away, but what if they could not get to him before he did? How would Voldemort be able to use it to his advantage? Would he be able to get himself a body even if he didn't have his Horcrux? He would not know how to get back to their world. So, would Voldemort opt to stay and create havoc here? Harry hoped that he didn't. There was nothing in here that mattered to Voldemort although he might be fascinated with this world's possibilities which were quite endless.

Harry gripped the cup in his hand frustrated. He didn't know! And it vexed him. All those questions and he had no idea what the answers were. Mixing the magic of two worlds would make things more unpredictable than was usual with magic. And although he had been dealing with Cephiro's magic for 75 years now, it did not help with his questions. Clef might have more insight into this, Harry thought absently and startled, opening his eyes and looking at Sirius who had moved into one of the chairs near his bed.

"Clef!"

"What?" Tonks and the others stared at Harry confusedly.

Sirius waved his healthy hand. "Zephyr already contacted him. He should be here soon."

"Who is Clef?" Hermione asked.

"Guru Clef is the Master Mage of Cephiro", Sirius answered her. "He knows more about magic in here than anyone else. We shouldn't do anything else with the Horcrux until he's here."

Harry nodded. "Yes, we don't know how being in Cephiro will affect the Horcrux or Voldemort for that matter. Hopefully Clef can answer those questions."

Hermione nodded. "I thought about that myself, when we were planning our journey, but this place is more different than I could imagine. I really don't know how things here would affect things from our world."

Neville looked at Hermione frowning. "Do you think the sword will still work even if we're here?"

"I don't know", Hermione assumed a worried look. "I hadn't thought of that. But surely it'll work? Coming here hasn't changed the swords properties, has it?"

"Probably not, but it might have…"

"… changed the properties of the Horcrux", the twins speculated.

"How so?" Neville asked.

"Well, the Horcrux is conscious, yes?" Fred said and the others nodded although Harry and Sirius were looking a little confused here and there when they were unable to follow the conversation.

"And, as Harry and Sirius here have so graciously explained to us, this world is a place where one's will determines everything, right?" George said and looked at the two he mentioned for confirmation. Harry and Sirius both nodded.

"Well, if the Horcrux is conscious, it must have a will also…"

"… and because it has been slouching around in our dear Harry's head…"

"… it'll most likely knows how this world works."

"Meaning it will probably be twice as hard to destroy now", the twins said.

"Well, that sucks", Tonks stated dryly and the others nodded or muttered their agreements.

"What needs to be used back in our world to destroy that thing?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you know. Fiendfyre, basilisk poison", Tonks said. "A goblin made sword infused with basilisk poison."

Harry blinked thinking the description sounded somewhat familiar. "Gryffindor's sword?"

Neville nodded and pulled it out from a magically expanded pouch hanging on his belt. They explained how they had mostly used the sword to destroy the Horcruxes in their home world. Nagini had been also killed with it as Kingsley had been smart enough to take the sword with him knowing about the Horcruxes since he was part of the Order.

As they were relatively stuck until Clef arrived, at least Harry hoped they wouldn't be stuck anymore then, they moved to speak about other things. The Horcrux was safely imprisoned as Sirius, Peykan and Roe had not been able to destroy it. Peykan especially was peeved Sirius told him, since trying to destroy the Horcrux had broken his sword. Their friends from their old world told them everything that had happened to their friends and in the Wizarding World in general.

Harry and Sirius were both extremely glad to hear the twins joke shop was doing well and had in fact moved to be the most popular joke shop in Britain by now even despite the troubles with the war. Neville was studying Herbology, wanting to achieve a Mastery in the subject and possibly go and travel the world in search of new, yet to be discovered plants. Luna's plans were similar except that she wanted to go and search for new animals and creatures and prove the existence of Crimble-Horned Snorkack. Since Tonks already had a profession and one she liked, she did not have anything to tell about that part of her life. However Harry and Sirius were both floored when Tonks told them of her relationship with Remus and their only child, Ted, who was currently in her mother's care while she was here. Sirius was especially glad that the legacy of the Marauders would continue on despite them all being now either dead or in another world like Sirius. Harry made his friends promise to find his Invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map and make sure they got to Ted eventually.

Of Harry's best friends, Ron's plans were already familiar to him. He remembered Ron thinking that working as an Auror would be great and apparently his thought had not changed on the matter. He was going to study at the Auror Academy once he had tried again on his Potions N.E.W.T. in which he had not received a good enough grade. Hermione had finally decided to aim to be a researcher though she had some problems in trying to think of a place to work when the time came. Joining the Unspeakables was the best option, but Hermione wasn't sure if she wanted to work within the Ministry.

Harry watched his friends as they told him their plans for the future and in turn answered their questions of what he had done since he came here. They were all older, more mature and none of them had that look anymore. That innocence which he had still seen in them in his fifth year. And though they were older than then, he couldn't help but feel slightly distant from them for he had lived many times longer than they had. It was hard to wrap his head around that in his original world only four years had passed while in here he had lived for 75 years. It suddenly made him feel quite old. He had quite gotten used to living in Cephiro and to the fact that people could live to be over 800 years in some cases and still look as young as they wanted. One didn't feel that old in company like that. But now he was surrounded by his old friends who were 71years younger than he. It was strange.

Harry couldn't help but notice, though, that Ron seemed somewhat angry at him. He had a slight suspicion that his anger stemmed from the same source as Hermione's well hidden disappointment. Namely from his un-ability or, rather, unwillingness to return. Even if it was a small, very small, part of him that had hindered his wishes for return home at the beginning, it had been enough. The two didn't seem to understand him and it hurt. He understood that this must seem like he had just took off and ran away, not even trying to come back, instead settling to live a life of peace and happiness leaving the rest of them to fight alone. Perhaps he had changed too much. They no longer felt that he was the same Harry that they had known and that's why they had hard time believing that he had spent the first years, decades even, trying to wish himself and Sirius back without any success. Eventually he had given up thinking that so much time had passed, it no longer mattered. He had thought that they probably believed him dead at that point.

Their conversation was halted then as a short figure appeared on the doorway to his chambers. Harry and Sirius smiled at their friend and teacher who they had not seen in a long time while the others stared uncertainly at the short man, whose appearance was more of a child than an adult. His light blue eyes however betrayed his age to be much more than what his looks suggested. His hair was short and light lilac color held in place by a jeweled headband of blue and violet stones. He wore long elaborate robes and carried a huge staff of which top had been carved into a shape of some strange animal and embedded with two large gemstones. The figure stepped into the room and his eyes sought out Harry and Sirius.

"Hari, Sirius. It is good to see you again. Now why did I get a frantic call from Zephyr? He made very little sense, other than I'm needed here."

"Hello, Clef", Sirius greeted while Harry huffed in annoyance.

"Honestly, there's no reason to be frantic", Harry muttered.

"Well, that means I should be at least worried", Clef said dryly causing Harry to huff again.

Harry and Sirius introduced their friends to Clef and Guru Clef to their friends as the Master Mage of Cephiro. Once they had moved past the inevitable surprise and bewilderment concerning Clef's looks – Harry wasn't sure if he was disappointed or not, that Clef didn't resort to whacking anyone with his staff as he had done when Sirius had expressed the same sentiments, though he had done that in a very Sirius way – Harry and Sirius explained what had happened. The small Master Mage listened attentively with a small, almost unnoticeable frown between his brows asking questions every now and then.

"I would like to see it", Clef said thoughtfully as they had finished their explanations.

They all knew he meant the Horcrux. Harry moved to sit up causing Hermione to stand in alarm.

"Harry! Are you sure you should be up!?"

"I'm fine, Hermione. And I want to see that thing too", Harry said and stood up spreading his hands when he got a passing dizzy spell after standing up too quickly. He shook his head a little as the feeling left him and rolled his eyes at the way everyone was staring at him. Well, almost everyone. Sirius was looking at him with narrowed eyes waiting for him to drop on the spot and Clef was patiently waiting for him to move in his own time. Harry felt very grateful for that, especially when the twins came over and began a round of embarrassing questions which caused him to stumble every two or three steps. Clef kept the pace slow, though how he did it with the twins present Harry couldn't understand.

Sirius led them to one of the less used storage rooms where they found the Horcrux floating in a nearly translucent sphere in the middle of the currently otherwise empty room. The Horcrux in the shape of a child seemed to be asleep with its eyes closed and hovering in a fetal position in the middle of the sphere. Clef and Harry both stepped up to the sphere, neither of them having seen the Horcrux before. The appearance of the Horcrux shook Harry quite a bit. With its eyes closed and appearing asleep it was scary how the small and thin, too thin body with messy black hair reminded Harry of himself at seven years old. It had different features as well, enough that no one else knew of the similarity. Harry shuddered again at the thought that a piece of Voldemort had been lounging around in his head for 89 years.

Clef reached a hand towards the sphere and closed his eyes as he focused on the Horcrux . The rest waited impatiently while the Master Mage examined the Horcrux. Even the twins stayed silent, Harry noticed amused. It didn't take too long until Clef opened his eyes and lowered his hand. He frowned slightly as he looked at the soul piece.

"It has a strong will", the small sorcerer said", very strong. It won't be easy to destroy it."

"Is there a way to find out if Voldemort is here, yet?" Harry asked worriedly.

"He's in incorporeal form, you said?"

Harry and the others nodded. Clef raised his hand again towards the sphere and concentrated his will. Then he closed his eyes and raised his staff bringing it down causing everyone to start a little as they felt something passing through them. He did it two more times before he turned back to them.

"I sensed a similar presence to this Horcrux. It is maybe a day's time away still, though, moving this way I think."

Fear and guilt gripped Harry. It was his fault that Voldemort was here.

"That has to be Voldemort", Hermione said.

"Do we have any idea how Voldemort is going to react to this world?" Tonks asked uncertainly.

"I don't think he's going to figure out how this world work any quicker than we would have", Neville said.

Tonks shook her head. "No, I meant, he's still going to be that wraith thing? Who will disappear once that Horcrux is destroyed?"

Tonks turned to look at Clef who nodded slowly. "As I understand, he is for all intents and purposes dead and the only thing that keeps him in this side is the Horcrux. So once it has been destroyed, he should disappear as well. Cephiro isn't that different, the dead cannot create new bodies to themselves just like that."

Harry frowned. "Do you suppose he could possess… I don't know… maybe a monster? Possessing is one of his habits." Harry thought back to his first year, when Voldemort had possessed Quirrel, and to his second year, when the diary had done the same to Ginny. Voldemort seemed to have a preference to it.

"It could be possible", Clef said, "but I highly doubt it. There isn't any monster activity in the area at the moment, if I recall correctly, so he won't find any while coming here."

"So, it would be best if we were to destroy that thing as quickly as possible", Hermione said looking at Neville who pulled out the Gryffindor's sword. They wondered at first who should do the honors, so to speak, as Harry was quite adamant that he wanted to do it, since the thing had been hanging in his head. Unfortunately no one deemed him healthy enough yet that they would have been comfortable in letting him do it. Sirius had his arm in a sling so he was out from the start and Clef would be observing the event in case something happened. So it would be one of Harry's old friends and while Harry didn't doubt that they had destroyed all the others, he was still slightly doubtful that they should be the ones to do it in Cephiro.

Eventually they settled on Ron as he was one of the seven who seemed to fair quite well in this world. He took the sword and Harry and Clef directed him to hop in to the sphere. After some doubtful stares at the pair he did as he was told and stood inside the sphere with uncertain feet. Ron jumped as the Horcrux suddenly opened its eyes and stared at Ron evenly. Ron seemed frozen for a moment but then he shook his head and swung the sword towards the Horcrux. The sword hit a shield of the Horcrux' own and Ron pressed on trying to get through it. He quickly noticed though that the Horcrux was giving more resistance than its counterparts in their world and pressed on more heavily.

When the crackling and the flashes of black light started, Ron was forced to give up. The Horcrux flung him away from it with a wave of black light and Clef let him pass through the barrier keeping the Horcrux imprisoned. Ron stumbled and fell on his backside grunting as he hit the floor. The twins rushed to help their little brother up.

"Blimey! That thing is strong", Ron exclaimed. "I couldn't put a dent on it!"

Harry nodded. "I thought it might be so. It knows what I know."

"It knows the laws of Cephiro", Clef nodded as well. "It probably has a will as strong as yours, Hari."

"That's not good, is it?" Sirius said from his spot near the door.

"If Hari can't destroy it then no, it is not good", Clef said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked frowning.

"Because, if Harry can't destroy that thing, it's going to be very, very difficult to find someone who can", Sirius answered. "Harry is one of the strongest willed people in Cephiro. To find someone with a stronger will would be… I don't know, maybe even impossible?"

Harry shifted his feet uncomfortably as his old friends all turned to look at him with baffled looks. Though, the twins quickly turned smiling rolling their eyes as they nodded, as if they should have known it all along.

"Alright, let's try again tomorrow", Sirius said smiling.

"Tomorrow?" Harry repeated sounding reluctant. He wanted to try it right now. But that wasn't apparently going to happen judging by Sirius' glare.

"You're supposed to rest today, still", Sirius said. "Elva's orders. You managed to scare even Zephyr enough that he said no praying today either."

Harry sighed. He stared at the Horcrux as the rest of the group left the room heading for the new temporary dining room. It was time for lunch anyways. Clef hadn't left yet, Harry could hear the small jingling of the sorcerer's staff and his steps as he came to stand next to Harry.

"I'm sorry", Harry blurted out before the smaller man had a chance to say anything.

"What for?" Clef blinked at the sudden apology.

"It's my fault. That Voldemort is here", Harry said quietly. "I can't help but think that if he gets that Horcrux, he will be able to return again and then he's here. And I don't what he would do here, but it wouldn't be anything good. There would be lots of monsters and lot of death very quickly I'm afraid. It would be my fault."

"Hari…"

Harry sighed. "It would have been better if I'd never come here. My friends wouldn't have had to waste four years in getting to me and that thing. Voldemort wouldn't have come here either. I wish I would have been able to wish us home, at least. But I can't."

"Hari", Clef said more forcefully getting Harry's attention. He laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "This is not your fault. You did not know that thing was inside you, so how could you have known this might happen?"

"But…"

"No. Not your fault. Yes, this would have not happened if you'd left us, but have you ever considered that we are very happy to have known you and your uncle all these years." Clef looked at him kindly and smiled. "You have a strong will, Hari. You probably would have made a good candidate for the next Pillar back in the old days. But even the strongest heart cannot wish to go where it doesn't want to go."

Harry stared at his hands and Clef covered them with his own.

"I know how much you tried. And I remember what Sirius told me of your world. Of its situation. And still you tried. That alone is commendable", Clef said firmly and gently.

"I should have tried harder", Harry whispered.

"And it wouldn't have changed anything, Hari", Clef said. "The travel between worlds is difficult, taxing and requires a whole hearted wish. And as I said: even the strongest heart cannot wish to go where it does not want to go."

Outside the room leaning next to the door the bushy haired witch listened her best friend since her first year in school. Hearing his words, Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at not thinking of Harry's feelings. Yes, they had missed him something awful. And yes, they probably would've won the war quicker with Harry there. But she couldn't blame Harry for not wanting to return to a world where the crazy megalomaniac Dark Lord was after his head. To a world where the people didn't really care if he was there or not. Even now the Wizarding World was celebrating their victory and wondering why ever did they think they'd need Harry Potter to win.

No, Hermione couldn't blame him for not wanting to return. And still he had tried.

xXx

The next day they tried again to destroy the Horcrux. Now that he had had a day to recover from his earlier escapade it was Harry's turn to take the Gryffindor's sword and face the Horcrux. In a way Harry thought it fitting that he'd be the one to destroy the thing. In a way he got to beat his inner monster. He was still doubtful about the sword though.

"Are you sure you want me to use this?" Harry asked. "I believe you when you say it's a good and strong sword, but in here…"

"It has worked with every other Horcrux. I don't see why it wouldn't work with this one", Hermione said.

Harry sighed and nodded moving the sword from hand to hand expertly trying to get a feel for it. It was much easier to handle now that he wasn't a scrawny twelve year old.

"Blimey, Harry! You look like you've handled a sword for years!" Ron exclaimed as he watched Harry with the sword.

Harry smiled. "But I have, Ron."

Ron blinked. "You have?"

"Yes, I've lived 75 years here. You don't think I spent the whole time praying?"

"Right", Ron said realization dawning on his face and he appeared slightly sheepish.

Harry glanced at Clef who was once again ready to monitor the sphere and its surroundings. If Clef had calculated right, Voldemort should reach them today at any time. They had made preparations for it in case Voldemort would appear before they'd managed to destroy the Horcrux. Clef had drawn a shielding circle around the sphere that was meant to block spirits and Luna had produced a crystal that could be used to capture non-corporeal beings. Nobody knew where she had gotten it.

Harry hopped up to the sphere and faced the Horcrux. Before he raised the sword though, he stood and stared at the small creature in the form of a child. The Horcrux answered his look with an unblinking gaze of his own. Harry shivered at what he saw in those eyes. They were cold and intelligent, radiating evil and calculating his every move. Then, in a move almost too quick for Harry, the Horcrux jumped at him looking as if ready to tear him apart. Just in time Harry managed to blast the Horcrux back and then he raised the sword and swung it down on the Horcrux. The crackling and flashing of dark light began almost immediately, the Horcrux holding fast with its shield and Harry pressing on.

The battle of their wills made it seem as if there was a hurricane within the sphere and Hermione, Ron and the others stared at them with wide eyes. Sirius and Clef were calmly observing, ready to jump in if necessary. Suddenly something changed in the sphere and a moment later Harry jumped off. He landed gracefully, slightly out of breath and turned to them. The Horcrux glared at him murderously screaming, though unable to be heard through the shield.

"Harry?" Tonks asked and was about to continue when she saw what had made him jump out. The Sword of Gryffindor was broken. The witches and wizards gaped at the shattered weapon.

"But… but it's the Sword of Gryffindor!" Ron exclaimed, Neville nodding at his side.

Even the twins seemed surprised, though less so than the others. They had after all theorized about this possibility. Fred frowned as he stared at the sword. "How will we be able to destroy the Horcrux now?"

George nodded. "That was our only way to do that."

"We don't have anything else", Hermione said frustrated as she agreed with George. "None of us is able to cast the Fiendfyre."

"Well, I supposed we could try with my sword", Harry said giving the remains of the Gryffindor's Sword to Neville smiling somewhat apologetically. "I thought this might happen. Gobling forged steel isn't the strongest ore in here."

"Your sword?" Hermione asked.

"It might work", Clef nodded thoughtfully. "It is one of Presea's finest pieces and arl is the strongest ore after escudo."

Harry held out his hand and a light appeared over it, hovering in place for a moment before it began to change its shape into a silhouette of a sword. Then it seemed to solidify and Harry grabbed the handle of a beautifully crafted weapon. Harry was about to hop back into the sphere when everyone in the room felt a dark presence entering. The next thing they knew, Clef's protective circle around the sphere flashed faintly into view as something collided with it. Everyone but Luna froze for a moment. With an accuracy that was bordering uncanny, Luna threw the crystal towards the circle and spoke the words that would capture Voldemort's spirit in the stone. Of the others, Harry was the first to recover and jumped back into the sphere where the Horcrux was raging even more now that it sensed Voldemort's presence.

Harry raised his sword and struck it down on the creature. There were now two battles being fought within the room; Harry trying to destroy the Horcrux and Luna trying to force Voldemort into the crystal. Even though the Dark Lord was unaware of Cephiro's laws, it did not make his unwillingness to be sucked into the crystal any less. Other than Clef the rest watched frustrated at the sidelines, unable to help. Clef stood ready to help Luna if she were to be unsuccessful in her battle. He worried for naught though and Luna managed to seal the Dark Lord away, the crystal darkening into a dirty looking grayish color. At the same time Harry, with the help of a whispered spell, sliced through the Horcrux's shield. With a piercing scream and a flash of black light, the Hrocrux raged out of existence. When it was over Harry stood panting in the sphere alone.

"We did it?" Hermione asked unsure.

Luna raised the crystal and everyone watched as the dark gray seemed to gradually dim within the crystal and its natural bright white returned. Luna looked at them all with unusually sharp eyes. "Yes. The Dark Lord is finally moving to the other side."

"So it truly is over", Hermione said, her entire being radiating relief.

"Yeah, I guess so", Ron answered appearing somewhat dazed, the whole thing feeling a bit anti-climatic to him. He had been expecting more trouble. Grins broke out on their faces as the reality hit them and they realized that Voldemort was truly gone this time. The twins cheered and pulled everyone into a giant hug, including Harry as he hopped out of the disappearing sphere and Sirius. Even Clef was pulled into it, his surprise changing into amusement in the embrace.

"We are going to need a party!" Fred declared.

Harry grinned. "I think I can help you with that."

xXx

Harry was able to give them a party, or rather, Elva and her helpers did. They celebrated long into the night with the other inhabitants of the house joining them. Even Clef stayed with them for a short while until he had to return to his home. As they ate and drank, Harry and Sirius told their friends that they could stay as long as they wanted. Since time moved at a different pace between their worlds there was no rush for them to return.

"You are not going to come back with us, are you", Neville said at some point.

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm sorry guys, but… This is my home now. I've lived here so long that I don't think I'd be able to fit back there anymore. Besides, I love it here. I feel like I can just… be."

Hermione sighed, but smiled even if it was a tad bit sad. "As long as you're happy."

"I am", Harry smiled and they could all see that to be true.

They stayed for few weeks in Cephiro during which Sirius and Harry showed them around. The twins and Neville explored the plants and other properties of Cephiro's world with endless fascination. The twins of course were collecting inspiration for their jokes while Neville wondered if he could take a few specimens with him as they went back. Luna found some of the animals in Cephiro to resemble quite closely to some of the creatures that she and her father had always searched for. Tonks spent the few weeks mostly with Sirius talking about Remus. And Harry, Ron and Hermione spent the time reminiscing about their school years together and speaking about their lives now. In the end Harry felt like his two best friends finally understood him and his reasons for not being able to return. And it made him feel a bit lighter than before.

Eventually though, they had to return. Well, most of them. Luna had decided that she would not return, at least not yet, as she had found the fauna of Cephiro to be highly interesting. She wanted to stay and explore it more. Hermione had been somewhat worried at first of how the rest of them would be able to go back if there were only six of them wishing, but Harry calmed her down, by informing her that he could easily help them along.

After what felt like hundreds of hugs and some teary eyes, the six witches and wizards took each other's hands forming a circle as they had done coming here. Harry, Sirius and Luna were standing side by side few steps away. Last smiles were exchanged and then the six closed their eyes and concentrated on their wish to return home. Harry watched them for a few seconds before joining them in their wish. Sirius and Luna could feel the magic building up in the air surrounding the circle of six and, with the addition of Harry's powerful will joining in their wish, they disappeared into a bright flash of light which seemed to shoot into the sky before blinking out of their world.

Harry opened his eyes and stared at the empty spot in front of them. Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder and Harry smiled reassuringly. "I'm just missing them a bit."

"Yeah. Me too, Harry. Me too", then Sirius smiled. "But at least we have Luna still here."

"I don't think she'll hang here with us for too long", Harry said dryly watching somewhere at the edge of their garden. Sirius followed his gaze and barked out a laugh as he spotted Luna who had already wandered off and was now trying to introduce herself to some of the birds that were grazing on their flowerbeds.

"Oh, well. We'll just have to visit them, when we return Luna home", Sirius shrugged.

Smiling the two headed towards Luna, Harry veering off to the woods with a mischievous glint in his eyes when they heard Zephyr looking for Harry once again. Sirius smiled as he came to a stop next to Luna. Yes, he thought, this was just the place for Harry. It had been the luckiest coincidence in the world when they had fallen through the Veil. Otherwise things might have turned out quite differently.