A/n: Hello, my lovely Dragons! This story was moved from Of Flames and Wizards, and is the first one to become a full story. Only thing you should know before you read is that Renato is Reborn before he became Reborn. Everyones gotta start somewhere, right?

Special thanks to MisteriosaSaky for giving me the idea for this.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Harry the Crow

Harry fought the darkness muddling his brain. He could feel his Crow retreating slowly so as not to make the return too sudden. When he finally had total control, he opened his eyes. He was perched on the branch of an old tree, one of those giant ones that it would take at least five people to span the width.

"There he is! Don't let him get away!"

"The little shit stole our money! Get him!"

He looked toward the source of the shouts, his eyes in crow form far better than they were in his human form (after all, who ever heard of crow wearing glasses?). There was a young child who appeared to be around the age of six or seven. He was running as if the devil himself was on his heels, a brown sack clutched in his hand.

Harry immediately liked him. Not many people had the audacity to steal from a gang of thugs that were far bigger than themselves. And judging by the look in the boy's eyes (mischievous), they would get along famously. Seeing as how the thugs were walking a bit, he could safely assume that the boy had done far more than just steal. He loved a good prank, and in the spirit of keeping them alive, he would help the boy.

He turned to the snake curled up beside him and hissed, "Help the boy. I like the look in his eyes, and being the Master of Death is boring."

The snake gave him an unimpressed look as it answered, "You want us to help him because you're bored?" It gave a sigh of epic proportions and turned, "well, I suppose we have nothing better to do." It slithered down the tree, hissing as it went.

Harry couldn't recall the last time he had spoken a human language (he had known quite a few when he left), but he was quite sure that he could speak Italian at least fairly well, if not completely fluent. After all, he had understood the thugs just fine. He flew down to the boy, who was cornered against a tree, and whispered in his ear, "I like the look in your eyes, and I am a firm believer in pranks on everyone. But, before I help you, do tell why you thought stealing was a good idea?"

The boy visibly started when he landed on his shoulder, and he paled even further when he spoke. Was a talking crow really that strange? His snake friends didn't seem to think so, but then, they had seen much stranger things. The boy turned toward him and said with a whispery voice, "Who are you? Why can you talk? I'm not going insane, am I?"

"No, you are not going insane. I am a magic crow that has seen everything in this land." Harry deliberately made himself as annoying as possible. "And look, see those snakes biting the thugs? I can talk to them." The boy was white as a ghost by this point, but he still had a fire in his eyes. He would do. "Also, please answer the question, before I drive you mad."

He steeled himself, "I'm good at stealing, and I need money, but no one will give a job to a six year old. And Mom is sick, so I need the money for pain medication." He was near crying at this point, but he continued, "and Dad left, said we were worthless, but some people are willing to hire an anonymous thief for jobs, so thats why. Do you need anything else?!"

Harry stared into the boy's eyes, checking to see if the child was lying. To his surprise, the child had a natural barrier around his mind, one made of yellow flames that felt like the sun. Thankfully, the barrier was still undeveloped, and he could get past it without harming the child. Everything he had said was true. He took the chance and peered into the boy's memories.

Turned out the kid's father was verbally abusive, and his mom worked as a prostitute. The boy had never had a full meal, though he was still the correct size for his age. Harry applauded the child's mother for doing as well as she did in such a bad situation. As far as he could see, the boy had grown up mostly off the streets, though his mother had taught him how to fight, as well as how to survive if he did end up out there.

"I like you. I'm going to stay with you, and help you become the best you can be." The kid looked shocked that the strange talking crow would help him. Really, it wasn't like he was that strange. Was he? Don't go into an existential crisis, you idiot. Focus, Harry, he berated himself. "Hey, kid. What's your name?"

"Renato Sinclair. What-What's your name?" Renato looked absolutely terrified of asking him a question.

"Harry the Crow. Please stop being so scared of me. Am I really that strange?"

"Hey, you were the one saying you were going to make me go mad! Of course I would be scared!"

"But I'm a cute and soft bird! How could you be scared of me?" Harry gave his best puppy eyes. Renato was unimpressed. Apparently, crows were not cute enough for puppy eyes. He cleared his throat and put on his serious face, "Ahem. From now on, we are partners. This means that I will help you with your jobs and you will let me stay with you. I will be improving your physical condition as well. We are equals in this relationship, unless I am training you. Acceptable?"

"That makes sense. I don't think that I could stand being with someone who would treat me with kid gloves."

"Good. We will start tomorrow by visiting the Thieves Guild. Meet me in front of the building. I assume you know where it is?" Harry waited for a nod before continuing, "Good. After we finish there, we will be training. Have you ever accidentally used yellow flames before?"

"Yeah, but I can't control them very well. I mean, I can kinda use them to heal myself, but other than that they don't do anything."

"Alright, then we will spend some time experimenting with them and improving your control. Is there anything you wish to ask me before I go?"

Ebony eyes lit up, and Renato opened his mouth almost immediately. "Why can you talk?"

"I used to be human, you know."

Line-Break

A week and tons of training later, Renato and Harry had their first job. Their first job as a team that is. They were to steal a painting from a recently opened art gallery. Most of what the gallery had was trash, but there was one painting that the boss had taken a shine to, leading to the job they were on now. For now, they were observing. Harry had volunteered to be the watcher, seeing as how a crow standing at a window was not strange at all.

In the time he had alone, Renato thought about his new teacher/partner. It had taken a few days before he had relaxed around the strange bird, but when Harry and his snakes protected him again, he decided that they were trustworthy. Sure, Harry's training had been hell, but he could feel himself getting stronger. It got a little bit easier every day.

To be honest, Renato thought, I really like Harry. He's so warm, and when I get scared at night, he lets me hug him. One day, Harry had told him he could change size. Renato had immediately demanded that Harry let Renato ride on his back. It had been the best night of his life.

Renato was excited for this job, it was the first real one he had gone on. The ones before had all been the kind he had given himself, where he saw a group of thugs picking on someone and decided to get revenge. As soon as Harry got back with the details, he was ready to start planning.

A few hours later found them sitting in the park where they met, discussing plans. According to Harry, the detail gathering normally took longer, but he had taken a mental picture of the guard schedules and patterns when the manager pulled them out to check something. So, with that information in hand, they made a plan.

Harry would distract the guards by mimicking various suspicious sounds while Renato would sneak in with the case for the painting. Harry would use his hacking skills (Renato really wanted to know how a bird did that, but he was scared to ask) to break into the security system and put the cameras on a loop, and then he would meet Renato by one of the windows. From there, they would steal the painting and sneak out the same window Renato had used to let Harry in.

When they put the plan into action, it went off without a hitch, and the next day they turned it in and received their money. Over the next several years, they completed all their jobs without getting caught, though the jobs didn't always go perfectly. They made a name for themselves, and the stronger Renato got, the more he and Harry felt like equals.

The first time he had seen Harry's human form was after his first job as a hitman. He had managed to hold himself together throughout the whole job, and when it was finally over and he was back in his own home, he had let himself break down. He cried, great gasping sobs that wracked his lean frame. When Harry realized that just being there wasn't enough, he decided to risk it. He shifted forms and gave Renato the best thing he could. A hug and unconditional acceptance.

It was the same thing Ron and Hermione had given him when he found out he couldn't age anymore. Sometimes, words only made things worse. This was one of those times. And when he felt Renato relax against him and fall asleep, he knew he had done the right thing. Later, Renato would question him, would demand to know why he hadn't shown him his human form before, but for now, he was staying right here.