Harry Potter and the Speaker of Truth

Chapter 2 Yuki-himme

Disclaimer: Yuki is mine. John Montgomery is mine. Sadly, the world we're about to play in is J.K. Rowlings...

Yuki-himme Persephone Lorien Antoinette Carson sighed. She finished changing the sheets on the guest room bed. All the wives of the men on her father's SEAL team were taking turns staying with her until her father returned. This time it was going to be Sonia the XO's wife. They and her father's CO John Montgomery, Uncle John as he liked to be called, all expected that when the team got back from this assignment, her dad would go from active status to semi-retired if not retired to take care of her. She knew better.

She had known three years ago when her mom first got sick and it had been discovered that neither the magical world nor the muggle world had a cure to offer. Her mom's pain had ended a week and a half ago. Though she told no one for her certainty of even more people dying, she knew that her father and his team would run into more trouble than they could handle. Her dad wasn't going to be returning. She was thankful that he was going to be the only one not returning, but sad that she wouldn't see him again. It was a bittersweet thing her knowledge, at least she could take some comfort in the fact her parents would be together. They loved each other so much that it would be far better for her dad to be with mom than for him to be trying to carry on for Yuki's sake.

Yuki slipped downstairs and took the time before Sonia arrived to finish some of the potions for the last contracts her mom had made. While they simmered she packed more of the belongings she wanted to keep that were in the basement. She only had two more contracts to finish, two more companies to notify that there would be no new contracts. She had made arrangements for her great grand aunt that lived in the magical world to be notified. She had made sure as much of the paperwork as was possible was finished, so that a smooth and unquestionable custody transfer was in place. Not that that would stop Uncle John, he would not like the idea that his "snow princess" was leaving the United States to go live with some relative in the United Kingdom he wasn't even aware of.

Yuki loved Uncle John, but as much as part of her wanted to stay in the United States with him; she knew her true fate would only be found in the UK. She was certain that trying to avoid her fate would be disastrous for the world. At thirteen she was aware of the International Statue of Secrecy and that she needed for her guardian to be of the magical world. Corinne, her mother, had managed to teach her quite a bit about some aspects of magic, and said she was a magical prodigy. Her dad retorted she was a prodigy period. She supposed that aside from the unfortunately long name (both her grandmothers, a great grandmother and her mother's best friend, shudder) it was a very good thing she was an only child, because otherwise her parents probably wouldn't have been able to cope. Dad had joked that it was good she had learned to read early because her favorite question had been and still was why. Fortunately she had very understanding and creative parents that found ways to keep her focused and happy. Her upbringing had been both loving and unorthodox.

Magically she had done lots of accidental magic starting at age two. By age three her parents figured out that she was both a seer and empath, and it had been critical she get early training. She mastered occlumency at five and legilimency by six. Spending as much time as she did with her mother she mastered potions as well. Her curiosity had led her find ways to combine magic with technology. She had as a result learned an extensive amount of arithmancy, lots of charms, and some very focused transfiguration.

The curiosity had also demanded an exceptional understanding of the technology as well. This resulted in a college level understanding of calculus, electrical engineering and computer engineering. As long as she was at it she included getting a solid grounding in physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, and metallurgy. All of which helped her improve her mom's potions. She felt lucky that she skipped kid level books and had gone straight to college texts. Of course languages hadn't been ignored she spoke: English, Japanese (courtesy of okasan(grandmother))and Latin (even though it's dead) like a native, French, Greek, and Spanish fluently, and Arabic passably.

Her dad was a firm believer in training the body as well as the mind. As a result, Yuki swam very well and could defend herself physically from ninety percent or better of the population, and had taken numerous gymnastic and dance classes. Three years earlier her dad judged her big and responsible enough for weapons training so she started learning guns, swords, and knives. In the last year she had branched out and started figure skating and archery. Reflecting on her mostly self directed education she was content.

Time was up. Bottle the potions, and move on. Yuki kept finding herself in self reflection, she supposed it had to do with defining herself apart from her parents. She had other things to do. She called and scheduled a trip to the veterinarian for her dogs and cat. She knew one of the requirements for them to come with her was for them to have a clean bill of health and a thirty day stay in quarantine. She planned to ship them the off the day after the wills were read. So by the time great grand Aunt McGonagall came to collect her and everything was settled they could spend one night in London to get anything she needed to join the magical world that she didn't have, collect the animals, then go to Hogwarts. Frowning again at the name of the place she'd be moving to, she snorted, "Who'd name a place Hogwarts?"

Yuki had looked hard at what kind of education she would need to go to college in the U.K. and knew that it would take her a few years to fill in the gaps especially if she was filling in the gaps of her magical education as well. She figured great grand Aunt McGonagall would be good for that. Now it was a matter of waiting a few weeks.

Two and a half weeks later Uncle John came with the news…

"Snow Princess, I'm afraid I had some bad news…"

"I know"

"Honey…" He looked at her eyes. Yuki's eyes had always held a fascination for John Montgomery. Their almond shape was clearly an inheritance from her Japanese Grandmother; their striking color of tanzanite blue with amethyst and sapphire flecks made them remarkable as well. But what always struck him the most was her calmness no matter the situation. Almost as if she known what was coming, that knowledge and acceptance was always present. Even now when he was bringing her this horrible news that her father was dead, her eyes didn't change. "Your father died. Two of the others are hurt, but they made it back because he went back for them. I'm so sorry…" the words were choked out of a throat that felt much too tight. Michael Shuhei Carson had been one of the finest officers in his command, one of the best he had worked with in twenty years as a U.S. Navy SEAL. Mike had been his best friend. That he had to tell his best friend's only child, a child that mere weeks ago had lost her mother, that her father was dead broke his heart.

Yuki leaned towards him and hugged him. Her eyes held a calm sadness and were wet with tears. She again said, "I know. I loved him too. Things won't be the same without him."

The words and the compassion he felt in her hug made him desert his stoicism and start crying himself.