FOREWORD

I thought that Ghost of Dalmasca would be the last of the Harry Potter/Final Fantasy crossovers I would write, and certainly for the Christmas update. I was wrong. Ideas strike you at the oddest times, and this was one of them, my first (and, to date, only) oneshot.

Final Fantasy VIII is my least favourite of the PlayStation 1 Final Fantasy games, but it's certainly still one of the best instalments in the series. But one thing I've noticed, particularly in recent times, is that Ultimecia, when you read between the lines, is actually one of the more sympathetic and tragic villains in the series, in all likelihood driven to villainy by her own reputation from the past damning her. And I thought, what if there was a way to change that? This is the result. And this is why the foreword is on the same page as the story for once, as this is a oneshot.

Anyway, time for the disclaimers. Firstly, there will be spoilers for Final Fantasy VIII and Harry Potter.

Secondly, there will be annotations, as is usual for my work. You have been warned.

Thirdly, this is an M-rated work, for language and sexual references. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and Final Fantasy VIII are the properties of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, time shall compress, and your existence will be denied…

ULTIMECIA'S KNIGHT

Fate and predeterminism are tricky things to deal with, especially where time travel is involved. And if it's one thing the mysterious powers that be count amongst their pet hates, it's an ontological paradox. Or, in layman's terms, a closed time loop. No beginning, no end, just an irritating Ouroborous chomping on its own tail smugly.

Plus, tragedies were all very well played out once. But the second time becomes comedy of the darkest sort, the third time becomes a farce, and it all goes downhill from there.

Which was why, when something new and unusual occurred, an unintentional interloper from another world, the powers that be sent him not into what some people thought of as the present of the world, but rather, into the most critical point, the future, which was actually its own present. And from there, time began to change.

Even then, some events still took place. Galbadia still invaded Dollet for their communications tower (for different reasons this time), with a group of green SeeDs taking it as part of their graduation exam. Squall Leonhart still met Rinoa Heartilly. And without the pressure of a Sorceress becoming Galbadia's second in command, and then president, Squall and Rinoa's love developed under less fraught circumstances, though there was an incident involving Norg, and a rebellion against President Deling, and a thankfully brief war between Galbadia and Esthar.

SeeD still existed, and its hidden mission was still to deal with rogue Sorceresses. But Ultimecia hadn't been on that list for a long time. She kept to her castle, though, and her only company was said to be her Knight. Every Sorceress needs their Knight, to protect them not only from others, but themselves.

The light of the new day shone through the window of an opulent bedroom, fit for a queen. It fell upon a large, luxurious bed, and its naked occupants, a young man and a young woman. They looked bizarrely mismatched. One was a lean young man with dark hair, his messy fringe barely hiding his only feature of true note, a faded, jagged scar. As his eyes flickered open into wakefulness, emerald irises were revealed. The woman had two black wings sprouting from her back, tattoo-like markings over much of her lithe, slender and sensuous body, and long silver hair framing a haughty face. Her feet seemed almost like bestial paws, complete with claws, and her hands have long talons. When her eyes opened, they were golden.

It was the woman who sat up first, stretching and yawning, her wings stretching out as well briefly, before standing up. With a sigh when she glanced at the still recumbent form of Harry, she snapped her fingers, and a Thunder spell sent the young man to his feet, yelping. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" he cried out.

"I'm sorry. I just needed to make sure, my Knight," the woman purred, a wry grin on her face.

"You only call me your 'Knight' when you're being playful, or pranking me, Ultimecia," the young man grumbled. "Oh, and when some impulsive SeeD idiots come a-knocking."

"At least you send them out alive, a little more bruised and wiser. Most of the time, anyway. The Gardens at least leave me alone now. I will let you know when it is your turn to bathe, Harry." And with that, the naked form of Ultimecia moved through into an adjacent bathroom.

Harry sighed, and patiently waited his turn, plucking a book from the bedside table (Eyes on Me, a biography of Julia Heartilly by Laguna Loire and Rinoa Heartilly) and beginning to read. She loved a long bath. He knew this because of the time he had spent with her, over seven years now. Seven years since those former Death Eaters, wanting revenge, shoved him through the Veil, not long after he defeated their master. He was yet to find Sirius, but he wasn't sure he ever would, frankly. He had vague, distant memories of being saved from what would have been his death otherwise, and told that he had a mission, to save the world. At least this time, it wasn't through fighting off crazed fanatics…well, save for the occasional rogue SeeD, or engaging in a scavenger hunt that the fate of the world depended on.

No. He had to befriend a Sorceress, a kind of ultra-powerful witch. One whose ambitions, in another time, would make Voldemort's dreams look tame by comparison. So while a no less difficult task, it certainly had more fringe benefits. Especially once he was perfectly frank to Ultimecia about why he was here. Their relationship progressed in spite of that revelation. Probably because Ultimecia, once she got over the shock and stopped giving him the cold shoulder (stopping one particularly persistent SeeD group helped), appreciated his honesty. Especially when he admitted that, while he feared her power, he feared what she would turn into even more. And, of course, he himself has an innate gift of Magic, rather than the Para-Magic of the SeeDs.

The ice being broken, the two grew closer. Friendship and camaraderie grew into something more. Save for the occasional visiting representative from a nation, or a Garden, or a belligerent SeeD, the two were the only people in Ultimecia's Castle. Oh, there were the guardian monsters like Tiamat and the like, but with few exceptions, they weren't really conversationalists. It was a quiet place for the most part, where Harry spent his time either reading in the vast library, training, or being with Ultimecia.

Still, in a way, it was great to be away from his fame. He missed his friends, true, and he despaired of ever heading back. Sometimes, he'd stand out on the balcony, or one of the bridges or courtyards, and look at the unfamiliar moon, and wonder what his friends were doing. Sometimes, Ultimecia would join him, and comfort him.

Speaking of which, she had finished her bath in a rather short period for a change. She was even now casting the spells that would dry and shape her hair into the horn-like protrusions, as well as donning her headdress. "Your turn, Harry."

Harry nodded, and made his way to the bathroom.

While Ultimecia could cook meals with a spell, or else get magically created servants to do so, sometimes, Harry would just cook for her. It was probably one of the few things he was grateful to the Dursleys for, as in the process of making him their little slave, they had taught him a lot of life skills.

And unlike the Dursleys, Ultimecia actually appreciated his cooking.

Breakfast was still very much a silent time, though. Ultimecia was dressed in that red dress that had such a plunging neckline, it left little to the imagination. Only magic kept it from becoming a wardrobe malfunction. Harry was dressed in a simple white shirt and black trousers. If it got cold, he wore a jacket (ironically, he wore one not unlike a certain Squall Leonhart, from centuries in the past, not that either he or Ultimecia knew).

As they finished breakfast, Ultimecia peered at a letter that had come with the morning post (it was a brave postman who delivered the mail to the front door of Ultimecia's Castle, not least because it was floating in the sky and could only be accessed by flight or climbing chains), and smiled. "Esthar's thanked me for managing to solve the Adel problem by killing her and absorbing her powers."

"They were probably worried you were going to end up like her," Harry said. "So was I, frankly. I didn't want you to look like a male bodybuilder."

Ultimecia scoffed. "Neither did I. I swear, some Sorceresses do the most bizarre things to their bodies. Still, it was nice, going into space, having a spacewalk. Needed to get rid of my hair embellishments, though."

"Otherwise, they wouldn't have fit in the helmet," Harry chuckled. "Anyway, you know people get scared of horns, right? Even if they're only made of magically-styled hair?"

"That's part of the idea. Yes, I know, it looks diabolical. But I'm not going to be able to change the opinions of everyone, am I?"

"I guess not. Timber Maniacs is still around, aren't they? Maybe you could do an interview for one of their magazines." An impish grin spread across his features as he then said something worthy of his late godfather. "Even a centrefold."

He got a Thunder spell for his troubles, though they both cackled about it.

He was hoping today would be one of the quiet days. Most of the morning was spent training, Ultimecia and Harry sparring. While she was by far the superior magic user, and beat him nine times out of ten in a fight, Harry was somewhat more unconventional with his usage of magic and certainly more adept at physical attacks. In any case, he was certainly better than most of the SeeD wannabes who got it into their heads that all Sorceresses should be killed, and not just those who were rogue. Most SeeDs were decent people, for mercenaries trained at a combination of orphanage and military school.

Unfortunately, today wasn't going to be a quiet day. While they were having a small lunch, they heard the distinctive sound of the front door getting destroyed by a Flare spell. Harry actually knew the sounds of the various spells as they interacted with the wood of the doors very well. Firaga, Thundaga, Flare, Ultima…the only ones that threw him was when they used a GF to do it. There were plenty of different Guardian Forces in the world, each with different attacks. Of course, most of the spells they used against the door, GF or not, were tremendous overkill.

Harry groaned, and got up. "Sounds like the latest noob expedition has arrived. Do I face them alone, or do you want to have some fun?"

"Certainly. I want to test that new technique against something," Ultimecia said, standing. "Where'd you get that word 'noob' from, anyway?"

"I think Seifer Almasy had it in his memoirs(1)."

They made it to the front hall to find a trio of SeeDs, from Galbadia Garden peering at the decorations. "This has got to be worth a mint, innit?" a particularly avaricious SeeD said.

"Don't touch it, you idiot, it's probably cursed. If we manage to kill her, then we will think about taking it," said a young, hard-faced woman who was apparently the leader of this expedition.

"Murderers and thieves, huh?" Harry said as he walked in, Ultimecia just behind him. Thanks to the more sane members of SeeD who were sent here as diplomats, he had a really good-quality Lion Heart gunblade, one that was said to have belonged to Squall Leonhart himself. "Oh dear, standards must be slipping at Garden if they're allowing the likes of you to do missions. Seriously, why don't you cretins learn that Ultimecia's one of the Sorceresses that you don't target?"

"Shut up, Ultimecia's Dog!" the leader snarled. "All Sorceresses are…" She was interrupted mid-rant by an Aero spell that sent her crashing into the wall.

"Great Hyne, how many times do I have to hear that same refrain over and over again?" Harry asked. "Seriously, I'm going to start making a mental tally of how often I hear certain lines."

"I already have, Harry," Ultimecia said. "That was the 43rd time you've been called my Dog since I started keeping count, and she was about to tell me that all Sorceresses are evil for the 104th time before you interrupted(2). Does that still count?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You insane bitch," the third SeeD member said as he tended to his leader, who was looking rather dazed after her impromptu speed date with the wall.

"18th time," Ultimecia said.

"Yeah, well…" the thief started, thinking very carefully, before snarling, "We're going to fuck your face!"

"Oh my, how unnecessarily crude," Ultimecia said with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, and that's 3 times(3)."

It wasn't so much a battle as a class. For the SeeDs, anyway. The first lesson was, the pecking order was Ultimecia, her Knight, other Sorceresses, the rest of humanity, the dirt, and then rogue SeeDs(4). The second lesson was, with the right application of Wind and Fire spells, one could strip off the clothing of your adversaries. The third lesson was, it is bloody hard to do battle while completely naked, though at least two of the SeeDs gave it a shot (the thief passed out from a nosebleed). The fourth lesson, administered just before they were sent through a portal back to Galbadia Garden, tied up and naked, was this: Do Not Fuck With Ultimecia, Or She Will Fuck You Back. Not that she did so literally. She wouldn't touch any of these with a twenty-foot pole. But she did hang a sign with those words from the leader's neck before sending them back, bruised and unconscious, but alive. Harry, meanwhile, supplied feathers and some glue. Tame by the usual standards of the Marauders and the Weasley twins, but Harry saved the good stuff for the really aggravating idiots. These guys barely rated a two out of ten.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the library. When in the library, Ultimecia reminded Harry a lot of Hermione. She devoured books like a famished man would devour a meal. She had inherited the castle from the same Sorceress she had inherited her powers from, and had yet to approach even a quarter of the books read. There were some surprisingly good books that Harry enjoyed reading, some ancient tomes of magic from before even the Centra civilisation, others from centuries ago, at the time of the Galbadia-Esthar Wars. They also played chess and Triple Triad, and Harry wondered how well Ron would do against her. She'd probably win, but Ron'd be a better challenge than him.

Dinner, and then, some more time in the library. Then, they retired to their bedroom. There, Ultimecia let her hair down, in more ways than one.

Sometimes, they just went straight to bed. Other nights, like this one, they decided to have some fun, finding some very creative uses for spells in the bedroom. But at least they had each other as comfort each night. Ultimecia the Sorceress, and Harry Potter, her Knight. Two lonely souls finding solace in the arms of each other.

And through their bond, a cruel destiny was derailed.

THE END

STORY ANNOTATIONS:

You know, as I was writing this, it occurred to me that this is the second time I've shipped Harry with a video game character voiced by Tasia Valenza. The first time was in Broken Tools, where Harry and Sniper Wolf from Metal Gear Solid are in a relationship. And as Tasia Valenza voices Ultimecia in Dissidia…

Assume that Harry and Ultimecia (whose actual age in Final Fantasy VIII and Dissidia is impossible to determine) are about the same age, at least at this point in their lives, about 25.

Anyway, this is my first one-shot. It's not going to end up as a story anytime soon, especially given what I've written already. I just wanted to write a Final Fantasy VIII crossover to tick the boxes, and had this notion of a 'Day in the Life of Harry and Ultimecia'. Bit of fluff, bit of humour, bit of lust (though no lemon, as I'd be shit at writing a sex scene), and a bit of drama. I've probably mangled the canon of Final Fantasy VIII, but assume SeeD and Garden still exist despite the breaking of the time loop, and that a few events in the game, like Squall and Rinoa hooking up, do happen.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this.

1. While Seifer doesn't use the word 'noob' in the game (I don't think the term was yet coined), he does use some embarrassing slang in Kingdom Hearts II. I decided to use that as a starting-off point.

2. A reference to a similar tally Frieza (well, Freeza in this series) keeps in Dragonball Z Abridged by Team Four Star.

3. This dialogue is actually adapted (with some alterations) from episode 14 of Dragonball Z Abridged. However, Freeza has heard 'We're going to fuck your face' twelve times.

4. Another joke from Dragonball Z Abridged, this time relating to the Pecking Order Mr Popo lists to his torture subjects…I mean, trainees.