"Wait, what do you mean he knew what you were?!"

Anakin was staring at Harry with his eyes wide, the rest of his face still, like he was trying to compose himself and failing, and Harry always found the look amusing. No matter how hard Anakin tried to look calm on the outside, his body always found a way to express his emotions with somewhat entertaining results.

Harry smiled a little, eyes glinting with amusement, before he he forced himself to be as serious as an eleven year old could be, "I mean exactly what I said. My mother wasn't human, so, as a result, I'm not entirely human either."

Anakin opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure how to respond, before he crossed his arms wth a huff, "But you look like a human, even if you can do things neither one of us can really explain," Anakin looked away with a glare, crossing his arms over his chest, and gave up any sense of Jedi control he'd learned in the last couple years, "It doesn't really matter, though, does it? We're still brothers, even if you're not fully human."

Harry couldn't resist the impish grin, hands finding their way to his hips as he titled his head to one side, "Or related."

Harry's grin widened at the small snort and smile he earned in return, Anakin turning back to face him, "That too."

With a saucy wink he'd picked up from watching the telly when the Dursleys weren't home, Harry held out a hand to Anakin, "Care for a dance?"

Anakin, with an eyeroll and a small smile, took Harry's hand, "Any one in particular in mind?"

The two boys, with the ease of practice, fell into mirrored stances, hands pressed with their palms together, opposite feet forward, and bodies relaxed. Harry gave a hum, eyes dulling in thought, before shaking his head, "Nothing specific, but something with a lot of spins and, twists?"

Anakin nodded, long used to Harry's vague instructions, "Fancy feet and flowing arms?"

Harry let out a laugh, Anakin really did make their dances sound as simple as he could, and leaned forward in a bow over their hands while Anakin did the same, "Fancy feet and flowing arms sounds good."

Anakin and Harry moved together in sync, spinning and twisting to some unheard tune. The scenery slowly morphed around them as they danced, slowly changing from the desert-park it always started as into the Room Of A Thousand Fountains, a place Harry longed to see outside of their dreamscape someday. Harry was determined, especially now that he knew there was an entire world of people with abilities similar to his own, that he would find a way to Anakin one day. Someday, for certain, Harry would be able to see Anakin's galaxy in all it's splendor, meet all Anakin's precious people and care for them just as fiercely as the other boy did, no matter how long it took.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry had seen, through Anakin's memories, a number of incredible places, but he still wasn't prepared for the sight of Hogwarts castle. He had seen Coruscant and the Jedi Temple, the Royal Palace on Naboo, the endless deserts of Tatooine, but it was nothing like looking at Hogwarts with his own eyes. The castle was alive in a way he doubted anyone else could see, and even from a distance it gave off such a felling of welcome, of acceptance, that Harry had to quickly wipe his eyes as they started to tear. Most of the other first years had awe written all over their faces from the sight of the castle, it was truly magnificent to behold, but they couldn't feel it the way Harry could. Harry almost mechanically entered one of the boats Hagrid lead them to, ending up in the same one as three familiar faces from the train, managing to bring back his focus back to those around him and how they felt instead of the near overwhelming presence of the castle.

Ron, a red-headed boy who'd sat in his compartment, felt like a spark, quick to catch and long to burn, and Harry decided to keep a close on him, he seemed like the type to put his foot in his mouth and not realize until it was too late. The other boy in their boat, Neville, felt like a tree the way Hagrid did, but was still just a sapling, easily tossed about in the wind, but with sturdy roots. He would grow into his own some day, but he was quite vulnerable at the moment, and Harry was going to make sure no one cut him down before he could grow. Hermione, the only girl in the boat, felt like a wide and shallow river, with a current just fast enough to sweep someone off their feet if they weren't careful. Getting across would be hard work, but worth it for whatever lay on the other side.

Harry knew he was already getting attached, to people he barely knew beyond their names, but his magic was pushing him towards them, and it had never led him wrong before. Anakin would always be his first friend, his brother, but Ollivander had called him a guiding light, and he knew somehow that these three would need one in the future. Now, if only he could find a way to help the crumbling marble of a boy he'd met on the train.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If Harry had ever expected Hogwarts to be boring, he would have been sorely disappointed. As it was, Harry was having the time of his life.

Harry had, in the course of just a few short months, somehow managed to join the Gryffindor Quiditch team, befriend a three-headed dog, see the hatching of a dragon, an actual dragon, and gone into the Forbidden Forest far more times than Hagrid realized. He'd also gained himself a self-proclaimed rival in Draco Malfoy and a pair of pseudo-mentors in all things mischief in Fred and George Weasley. The only thing missing was Anakin some undeterminable number of parsecs away, otherwise Harry would have been the happiest boy in the galaxy, though it was a near thing.

Of course, it wasn't all good, like the Potions Professor that hated him for some unknown reason and the fact that someone was trying to kill him, though he wasn't sure who, but they were manageable. And last, but by no means least, was the book.

The book given to him by Ollivander was a wealth of knowledge on what Harry was rapidly considering to be his people, even if the only other one he'd met was Ollivander. Anything and everything Harry could ever hope to know about the fae, the race he now knew he was a part of, was in the book. The more Harry read, the more he was fascinated, and the more in tune with himself and his surroundings he became. Harry had read stories about them already, hadn't cared about the punishment he'd eventually gotten when his relatives found out, but that's all they had been at the time, just stories. The same way wizards and magic had been just stories only a few months ago, and now he was attending a school for magic.

Harry also finally had an explanation for the dances he and Anakin always performed and why he always knew them, he could even find their names, and it amused Anakin to no end whenever he went off on an excited tangent about some new sequences of steps he'd learned just by seeing their name or description on a page. Every step, spin, twirl, flip, and jump had it's own name and meaning, it's own purpose by itself or in a dance, even a specific angle of dip or bow or arm could change the dance entirely.

In addition to the dances were songs, numerous songs, all in the language of the fae, and Harry was determined to learn them all. Some songs went with very specific dances, while others were sung only by themselves, and he found them just as fascinating as the dances. There was an instinctual knowledge of everything he learned from the book, as if he was remembering something long forgotten, and he "remembered" more with every turn of the page.

After the dances and songs came fighting styles, and, after that, came the language and magic. The fae fought the same way they danced, with graceful motions and good intentions, hand to hand meant to disarm, the use of weapons meant to disable, with very few ways of causing permanent harm. They also required an exceptional deal of control, as fae were quite a bit stronger than humans, and every move had to have the right amount of gentle force to defeat an opponent without accidentally causing massive damage. Harry soon figured out the book was put together in such an order because everything built on whatever came before. The dances and songs gave purpose and control, making the fighting much easier to grasp, while the fighting prepared for the implications of the language and magic.

Every word, just like every step and song, carried meaning, but also power if invoked. A word on its own was just that, a word, but a word said with intent carried power, carried magic. The words were similar, in some ways, to the spells of witches and wizards, but were far more powerful and flexible. Based on the intent behind the word, the result could be very different from one instance to the next. Unlike wizarding magic, there was seemingly no limit to what fae magic could do, and Harry very quickly became proficient in that as well.

Harry was, in a word, enchanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry had wasted no time in passing on everything he learned from the book onto Anakin, and was ecstatic when Anakin became as fascinated with the songs as Harry was with everything else. As a result, their dances together became much more complex and full of meaning. Every time they danced or sang, they could feel something just on the edge of their senses, trying to get their attention. They didn't what it was, but they could both feel it, and Harry got the sense it would have been much stronger outside of their dreamscape. The two of them tried many times to focus on whatever it was, but it always seemed to slip out of their grasp, just barely out of reach, and it soon became just another one of the many mysteries of their shared space. Harry and Anakin accepted it as they had everything else since their first dream together, and time moved on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christmas was a very interesting time of year for Harry and Anakin.

While there were a number of holidays in Anakin's galaxy that were similar, Harry and Anakin themselves had never truly celebrated. Anakin had not been raised with any such holidays, slaves on Tatooine didn't have anything similar and neither did the Jedi, while Harry had never truly celebrated it because of his relatives and the fact his only friend was an undeterminable distance away. Aside from Harry seeing Dudley being showered by gifts, the two boys treated Christmas like any other day. As a result, Harry was quite surprised when he woke up on Christmas morning to find gifts addressed to him under the tree in the common room.

Harry had made sure to send gifts to everyone he considered a friend, including Ollivander, but after so long of the day being essentially a non-event, Harry hadn't actually expected anything in return. He was pleasantly surprised when he found gifts from all his friends and wasted no time in putting on the sweater Ron's mother had made for him. Harry had been even more pleasantly surprised by the invisibility cloak that, if the note left with it was true, had belonged to his father. Harry decided that he would have to test out the cloak later that night after Ron went to sleep, but first, he would have to open the box Ollivander had given him all those months ago that had somehow found it's way under the tree.

Harry wasn't sure how he had managed to forget about it, likely some combination of excitement and all the new information he'd learned over the past few months, but he certainly wasn't going to again. Harry quickly whisked the box out of sight, the strangest urge to keep it hidden flashing through him, and resolved to open it before he went gallivanting through the castle later. Now, though, it was time for Christmas breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day passed quickly for Harry, mostly uneventful after opening his first Christmas presents that morning, and soon he found himself in bed with the curtains drawn around him. His cloak was sitting next to him, waiting to be used, while Harry stared at the box Ollivander had given him.

The box itself was simple, just small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and made of a light wood, and Harry was trying to figure out why he couldn't bring himself to open it. For several long moments, Harry had just been staring at it, eager to open it yet still hesitating. With a narrowing of his eyes and a slight frown, Harry reached for the box. He pulled it open before he could stop himself, breath hitching at the sudden wave of magic that washed over him. There was something incredibly familiar about it, comforting, but Harry knew he'd never felt this magic before. Harry took a shuddering breath to steady himself as he looked inside the box, wanting to know what gave off such magic.

The first thing that caught his attention was a slip of paper attached to the top of the box with the words "Use them wisely" written in flowing letters on it. Harry found himself smiling as he looked further inside, his excitement building as a pair of pendants. Harry pulled them out reverently as magic continued to pour off of them, wrapping him around in a loose embrace. Both of the pendants were made of a clear crystal and perfectly round, one attached to a gold chain, while the other was attached to a silver one. Harry took a pendant in each hand and closed his eyes, getting a better feel for their magic. Harry carefully prodded them with his own magic, surprised when it wrapped around them easily, being drawn inside. Harry opened his eyes and looked down at the pendants, letting his magic be drawn into them as he watched with fascination.

Instead of the clear of before, the crystals were now a just a shade darker than his eyes. As Harry continued to let his magic flow, the crystals continued to change, until their centers seemed to hold an inner light. He realized with a jolt that they were actually storing his magic, holding and feeding off of it, and Harry eagerly let them take as much as they could.

Some time later, minutes or hours he couldn't tell, and his magic finally stopped being fed into the crystals. Harry studied them for a moment longer, willing them to divulge their secrets, before he looked away from them. Feeling suddenly tired, Harry decided to test out his new cloak the next night. With a yawn, Harry put both of the crystals around his neck before he pulled up the covers. He was asleep before his eyes finished closing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two boys shared their dreams together that night the same way they always did, Anakin telling Harry about everything he'd done that day before Harry did the same. After they finished sharing, they would either meditate or dance together, sometimes even sing, before teaching each other as much as they could about what they learned in their respective realities. They had danced with a song that night, their own pseudo-celebration for Christmas, and they had completely finished before Harry felt what was quickly becoming a familiar weight around his neck.

With a glance down at his chest, Harry reached into his shirt and pulled out the two crystals. Anakin gasped as he caught sight of them, the mental image he'd made based on what Harry told him nothing compared to the "real" thing, and couldn't risk reaching out a hand. He managed to stop himself before he made contact, his hand hanging limply in the air between them, as he shared a confused look with Harry. Beyond the clothes they wore to sleep, nothing from their actual realities had ever come into their dreams before, and both boys were equal parts confused and excited. With a tremble in his voice, Anakin let his hand drop back to his side, "Are those the crystals you told me about?"

Harry found a sudden lump in his throat, forcing out a quiet "Yes" in response. With careful movements, Harry grabbed the crystal on the silver chain and pulled it over his head, holding it out to Anakin. The other boy's hand twitched, his arm coming up in a jerky motion, and he grabbed the crystal before he realized what he doing. There was an energy in the air, the same energy that always hovered on the edge of their senses now, and Anakin sucked in a breath as warmth rolled over him. Wordlessly, Anakin slipped it over his head, and tried to figure out why he suddenly felt the safest he could ever remember being. He clutched at the crystal that now hung around his neck with a sudden moisture building in his eyes and looked at Harry to see him in a similar state, "What's happening?"

Harry only shook his head in response, just as confused. He was so happy, and he had no idea why, his magic spreading out into the air in a way it had never been able to in their dreams. Something had fundamentally changed, something major, and the crystals were at least the catalyst, if not the cause. Harry had the strongest feeling that something incredibly significant had just happened, perhaps life-changing, and he reached out to Anakin with a gasp. The other boy met him halfway, just as shaken, as they tried to find their voices and composure without success. The two stayed that way for the rest of their dream, clinging to each other and the other crystals with no discernible reason, until they awoke in their beds, shaken but somehow more content than they'd ever felt.

Much of the day had passed before either one realized they each wore a single crystal, the weight of them comforting in the mass of confusing emotions they both felt without explanation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~HPSW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry dropped his hand as he realized he'd been stroking the crystal again, something he'd been doing all day without conscious thought, and felt a blush rise in his cheeks. He was supposed to have better control than this, the Dursley's and his nearly nightly meditations had made certain of that, but it was as if all his emotions had heightened since putting on the crystal. Only eleven years old, Harry might have been, but that was no excuse for his lack of control. It was one thing to find himself laughing at a well-executed prank or smiling when he watched Hedwig gracefully snatch a piece of bacon off the table without even slowing in the Great Hall, but it was another thing entirely to find himself in tears at a sharp retort from Malfoy or contemplating homicide when someone insulted Neville.

Malfoy had started freaking out when Harry had sniffled, both of them knowing he didn't mean any of his sharp jabs the way he had just a few short months ago, and had gone nearly catatonic when Harry had covered his mouth to stifle his sobs. There had been a number of stuttered apologies that weren't entirely coherent as Malfoy's pitch increased with his panic, thankful there had been no one else in the halls to see them at the time, as Harry had quite literally broken down over a couple of sharp words that weren't even strong enough to be considered insults. The two of them weren't friends by any stretch of the imagination, but Harry had been subtly working on Malfoy's crumbling marble since their first day, and the two of them had been slowly transitioning into acquaintances that traded quips instead of greetings when they saw each other. Malfoy had held out a handkerchief to him, his initials delicately embroidered on one corner, and Harry had started stuttering apologies and words of his own that made almost much sense as Malfoy's had, that is to say, not much at all.

After several minutes and Harry's sobs reduced to quiet sniffles, Malfoy had been red to the roots of his blond hair and rushed away with jumbled mess of words that Harry was roughly able to decipher into keep the handkerchief and I won't tell anyone. Harry had found himself blushing to his own roots, steam nearly coming out of his ears, as he'd stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket and raced back to Gryffindor Tower in record time with more speed than he knew possessed and some incredible jumps up between the shifting staircases. He knew a number of paintings had been watching him in various degrees of disbelief as he didn't think twice about jumping across what should have been impossible gaps, but he couldn't find it in himself to care about any potential rumors or consequences, and had easily let the Weasley's distract him until he could sneak out with his cloak later that night.

Harry had gone to visit Fluffy first, singing a song for the three-headed dog that had greeted him with some very enthusiastic licks and made Harry very thankful he could use magic, before going on to explore a section of the castle he hadn't been to yet. That was how Harry found himself staring into a mirror that was unlike any he had ever encountered before.

At first, Harry had only seen his own reflection, wondering why there was a mirror stored in one of the castle's numerous empty classrooms and why it gave off a significant amount of magic. It wasn't nearly as much as the crystals had given off, barely a drop now that Harry's magic continued to slowly feed into it, but it was more than enough to catch Harry's attention and make him want a closer look. Harry had been staring at himself for a long moment before he'd blinked and felt a ripple in the mirror's magic, gasping as the new sight that greeted him.

In the center of the mirror, Harry knew he was looking at himself, older and in odd clothing he'd never seen before with a wide smile on his face, but it was definitely him. He stared at himself for a long second before looking at the figure standing next to him, his heart skipping a beat as he realized it was Anakin. The image of Anakin shifted as Harry stared, giving him a smirk as he draped an arm over his older self's unfortunately much shorter shoulders, and a wave of fondness crashed over him. It took Harry even longer still to look away from himself and Anakin, encouraged by the mischievous glint in his own otherworldly eyes, and didn't think he could be any more surprised than he already was. From the side of the mirror Anakin was standing on came a man in cream colored Jedi robes, contrasting Anakin's own dark brown robes, with reddish brown hair and blue eyes, a well-trimmed beard only adding to his kind expression and handsome features, and Harry had a suspicion this was the Obi-Wan Kenobi that Anakin practically adored. His suspicion was confirmed when the man placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder and received a grin in return, but his attention was taken by the appearance of a woman next to Obi-Wan that immediately gained almost all of Anakin's attention and a rather goofy smile.

The woman was beautiful, long brown hair cascading down her back and gentle but firm brown eyes meeting Anakin's own, a matching smile on her face. This woman was important to Anakin, or would be, and Anakin was important to her, he could see the love in their eyes as they looked at each other and Harry found himself smiling broadly at the thought of his friend's happiness. Harry was so focused on the lovestruck pair that he was quite startled when someone came barreling into view and latched onto his future self.

Harry had ben given many descriptions from Anakin of the many species that called his galaxy home, but he had never actually seen any of them, and he couldn't remember any descriptions that quite matched the girl that had very firmly plastered herself to his side with a grin, one of his own arms going around her with a fond smile. Her skin was orange and her face had white markings on it that Harry knew were part of her skin and not just tattoos that framed a pair of large blue eyes. Harry noticed with no small amount of interest that, instead of hair, she had what Anakin had told him were called lekku, essentially head tentacles, that were striped with blue and white. This girl would be important to him in the future, likely the same way Anakin was, and he wondered just how he could lead himself to that point.

Harry didn't realize he was crying for the second time that day until his vision blurred, his throat constricting almost painfully. Harry pulled out Malfoy's handkerchief and swiped at his eyes, sending a mental thanks to the Slytherin, as he cursed his emotions. If he hadn't already spent a significant amount of time in tears that day, Harry strongly suspected his current waterworks would have been much worse. As it was, he was able to force a few rasping breaths through his lungs and start calming himself down fairly quickly. All day long, he'd been feeling everything much more deeply than ever before, and he was getting very tired of the emotional whiplash that was occurring. He'd always felt things strongly, his emotions running deeper than anyone else's, and he'd learned from the book that it was apparently a fae trait, a side effect of them being so in tune with magic of any kind, but this was approaching ridiculous.

Regaining his composure, Harry put the handkerchief away and gave the mirror one last long look, getting encouraging looks from Obi-Wan and the woman while Anakin and the girl both gave him mischievous smiles. His future self detached from Anakin and the girl just long enough to give a parting bow that he recognized as a fae gesture and gave one of his own before throwing his cloak back on and heading for the tower. There was a lot to tell Anakin about tonight, and a grin found it's way to his face, a giggle escaping before he could get the urge under control. Harry couldn't find it in himself to be frustrated at his latest slip, a spring in his step leading to a number of unnecessary acrobatics and dancing steps as he went through the halls. A lot to tell Anakin, indeed.

Spent this entire chapter listening to "You Belong To Me" from Burial At Sea, it seemed oddly fitting.