Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Rowling is nice enough to let us mess with her characters. I mean no offense to the real men of Easy Company. This fiction is based on the Band of Brother's mini-series with well-known events of the war thrown in.

Harry Potter and the War of Choice

Chapter Two: Jumping and Combat Training

"Think we'll get a chance to go to the Post Exchange?" Harry asked the guys around him as Fort Benning rolled into sight.

"I dunno, it'd be nice," Blithe mumbled as he looked out the window around their new home.

"Don't get your hopes up. Sobel will make sure we don't have any free time," Liebgott responded from the seat ahead.

Harry, like many of the other guys, had problems getting his jump boots back on after stopping their second night on the way to Atlanta. As a result Blithe had helped him make a cut down one side in each boot.

"Even the guys that could get their boots on will need new ones," Harry said to no one in particular, "but I can't deal with any of Sobel's surprise runs or forced marches with these. Once the swelling goes down I won't even be able to keep 'em on."

Blithe looked down at the boots, "Sorry 'bout that."

"Nothing to be sorry for. Don't worry about it, Al. If you hadn't helped me I probably would've finished in nothing but my socks." Harry looked at him, "I can't imagine what punishment Sobel will try to give the guys that didn't make it all the way. Think Sink'll transfer them out of the regiment?"

Blithe shrugged and returned to the window.

"Get a look at this place. Must be great to train on an established base. I bet these boys even have electric lights in their rooms." Muck said from the back of the bus.

"Sure is busy around here," Harry overheard Shifty say as he exited the bus and tried to find Blithe in the mass of men.

In the distance Harry could see the jump towers.

As it turned out Currahee had trained them well. The first week of jump training was supposed to be dedicated to conditioning the men; however, the 506th was collectively more fit than any of their new instructors. They were soon skipped to the next stage of training.

The C-47s rattled something awful but Harry was ecstatic over the view. It compared not at all to his Firebolt but his current position 800 feet above the ground was the highest he had been in ages. He was the only guy on the plane that looked thrilled. Looking down the line Harry thought most of the guys just looked kind of surprised it was actually going to happen.

Albert Blithe, who Harry had gotten along with very well in Toccoa, actually seemed to be enjoying himself. Harry thought Al would most likely be sorted into Hufflepuff if he ever went to Hogwarts. He was a good guy but he wasn't overly brash like a lot of the others. He kept to himself and he didn't care that Harry was English. Mostly he didn't ask awkward questions so Harry felt like he wasn't lying all the time. It seemed fitting that Al would be alright jumping from a plane. He was always staring at the clouds or the stars when the company was outside.

"Standup, hookup!"

Before he knew it he was shuffling to the door. He got a few seconds to stare out at the landscape and to his left he heard, "Go, go, go!"

Screaming out as he was taught "One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand" the thrill of the drop took over. He was snapped out of his glee as he felt the canopy open and slow his descent. He took hold of the risers, checked that everything was alright, and then marveled at the landscape. Around him his fellow paratroopers were making their first drop and deployed canopies filled the sky.

Skydiving couldn't compare to a ride on a Firebolt but Harry thought it was a pretty great thrill of its own. He couldn't wait for his next four jumps. If only it wasn't over so quick.

He let out a grunt as he touched the ground and rolled to his left. Standing up he took inventory of himself and gathered his chute. He looked around and noticed Blithe to his right gathering his own chute. "Alright, Al?"

"Yeah, that was great wasn't it?" For once Albert didn't look distracted by anything. Harry had found himself someone he could relate to completely at that moment.

"Yes it was," he agreed.

Around him men were drinking, smoking, and having a good time in celebration of the jump wings they had finally earned. Harry was hanging out at the bar occasionally chatting with Luz as he served drinks. After his speech, Col. Sink, Lt. Col. Strayer and the rest of the Battalion staff left along with Sobel. Easy's other officers stayed and made rounds checking up on the men before they too left to enjoy the rest of the night.

Looking around the room Harry spied Nixon drinking from a flask instead of the beer that Luz was handing out. Winters, as company XO, was making sure to congratulate all the men on their achievement. Easy only had two losses through this stage of training, both of which were refusals to jump. They would most likely be transferred to the regular infantry. Harry couldn't think of anything worse after surviving Sobel's leadership for five months. Of course he didn't understand why they were nervous anyway. He was always happiest in the air.

"Private Potter," Winters said as he approached Harry, "Congratulations. How did your last jump go?"

Harry grinned at the officer. "Fantastic, sir, I love flying and being in the air."

"Not your first time flying then? Any particular reason you chose the airborne over the Army Air Forces?"

"Honestly, it was the idea of a smooth talking recruiter. I think it's for the best though. I wouldn't have liked being on a bomber squad or even worse - carrying supplies. The infantry suits me better, sir. I'm a hands on kind of guy."

"Glad to hear it, Private. Enjoy your night." Winters said and then moved on to talk to Luz.

Behind him Harry nodded to Nixon, "Good evening, sir. Having a good time?"

Nixon grinned, "Not too bad. How about yourself?"

"Happy to be a paratrooper, sir. Any news on what's next?"

Nixon nodded, "We're being moved to the Alabama side of Benning in January for further training. You boys are going to get a furlough before we officially move."

"Sounds good, sir."

Nixon smirked and bid Harry a good night before he joined Winters near the door.

"Hey Potter, want in?" Malarkey called from the other side of the room. "We're getting a poker game together."

"Sure, are we betting with cigarettes again?"

Muck smirked, "Yep, but I don't see why you bother since you don't smoke."

"It just means I have nothing to lose, Skip," Harry answered.

Almost everyone headed home during their furlough. Harry didn't feel a need to head all the way to New York City just to be alone so he hitched a ride to the closest major city, Atlanta. He'd spent six months in the past, but Atlanta was where the culture shock truly hit him for the first time. Up to this point his biggest problem had been an inability to rely on and be surrounded by magic. When he had moments alone he tried to cast wandless charms. Little things that he figured would help him in the field (warming, cleaning, drying, and cushioning.) He'd had a decent amount of success with it, but wanted to find a wand now that his stuff wouldn't be tossed every other day by Sobel.

The first thing he noticed when he got to town was that everything is segregated. The American Army was segregated but he hadn't noticed it very much. He was lost in his own problems. Atlanta made no apologies for it. The buses, the stores, the theaters. A lot of places had signs refusing service to coloreds, jews, and catholics. It made him extremely uncomfortable. It reminded him too much of the blood purists. Not knowing what to do about the problem, Harry continued his crash course in 1940s culture while simultaneously looking for an entrance to a magical shopping center.

By the end of the week, Harry hadn't made much progress in either goal. He found a bus that would get him to Benning and settled into the idea of going back to the U.S. Army. He knew there were still two and a half years of war left to fight and now that his basic training was over it would only be a matter of time before Easy Company was chucked into the madness.

The next day Harry was awoken by Sergeant Boyle's shouts for everyone to get up. Easy Company was rushed into formation with the rest of 2nd Battalion.

Looking around Harry didn't understand why the entire Regiment was in formation but he quickly realized it was a drumming out ceremony. He watched as Sink stripped jump wings from anyone that arrived late from the furlough. Jeeps were parked behind the unlucky few and were already loaded with their packed duffels. They were merely waiting to be driven to their new assignments.

Harry glanced down at his month-old boots as the guys were ordered to unblouse their trousers and take off their Corcoran jump boots. His new boots were a size larger than the old ones. He now knew that it was easier to wear an extra pair of socks than it was to squeeze swollen feet into a well-fitted pair of boots. And they were always encouraged to have extra socks. Looking up he saw the men up front handed standard issue footwear and watched as they climbed into the jeeps.

Easy Company was dismissed shortly afterwards.

"Good thing I didn't travel very far." Harry tells Blithe that night as they're cleaning their weapons and shining boots.

"To go this far to be kicked out like that is .. It's just unbelievable." Albert says.

Harry nods and remembers to arrive a day early from any furlough they may be given in the future.

"It would be humiliating to have all of your hard work taken away in front of the entire regiment," Harry adds.

Albert doesn't have a response. No one mentions that it seems unfair. They were used to Sobel's insane punishments.

Their move to the other side of Fort Benning begins their training as a battalion and regiment. Now that they're all paratroopers they're expected to know individual tasks and begin working together as a team.

"Too bad we're back with Sobel full time." Harry complains one evening at supper. "He's still treating us like we just arrived."

"At least there's no Currahee." Hoobler responds setting his tray down on the table.

"Yeah, now we're limited to endless forced marches." Muck answers, "At least we knew how far Currahee was..."

He's interrupted as everyone in earshot suddenly yells out "Three miles up! Three miles down!" The other companies quiet down and start staring but Easy continues as if nothing unusual just happened.

"Exactly my point." Muck responds smugly to the crowd. He looked down at his plate, "Now, anyone know what this meat is supposed to be?"

"Thinking about it makes me ill," Harry answers.

"Skip's face does that to a lot of people, Harry," Malarkey quips as he joins them at the table.

Muck good naturedly shoves Malarkey to the side as he sits down.

"Faye Turner doesn't seem to mind." He tells Malarkey and the rest of the table.

Spotting Albert leaving the mess facility Harry takes his leave, "Don't get him started about Faye again. I know more about Tonawanda then I'll ever need. See you gentlemen later."

"What gentlemen?" Harry hears Penkala ask as he leaves.

At the end of February they're moved by train and then bused to Camp Mackall, North Carolina. They begin focusing on training regimental tactics, night manoeuvres, and continue making practice jumps. In the process they seem to march all over the South. Harry's done more traveling through the U.S. than he has anywhere including his year on the run from Voldemort.

Sobel's leadership continues to wear everyone down. Having the fortune to be placed in First Platoon, Harry is almost always with Sobel during their training exercises. Everyone begins to notice that the Captain doesn't handle being out in the field well. His training at Toccoa was harsh but Sobel could compete with the rest of the men physically, even if his attitude left a lot to be desired. His inability to handle actual fighting conditions began to concern Harry as well as the rest of the company.

They're given another furlough in June. Harry makes his way to Virginia Beach. He doesn't know how to find a magical community, let alone in a small town so he decides to spend his week laying in the sun. It's probably the first time Harry's ever experienced idleness on purpose. He'd had a lot of down time but most of it was spent waiting for something to happen. Indeed he was still waiting to be thrown into combat, but getting away from the restrictions of army life was necessary to preserve his sanity.

Laying in the sun Harry pondered the company. He didn't notice it much while he was in the thick of things but thinking about Easy made Harry worry. A bad leader could really hurt the company. Winters was the only original Easy officer left. Harry respected and liked the junior officers in Easy but it seemed they were all jumping ship or being promoted to Battalion. If they kept transferring out he didn't think there would even be any Toccoa men leading by the time they entered combat. Except Sobel and that thought terrified him.

"Nixon's been promoted Battalion. We're getting a transfer from the 82nd." Ed Tipper tells the boys one day. "I overheard Sobel telling Sergeant Evans."

"So that leaves us with Winters as the only original Easy officer? Couldn't they give us a Toccoa man at least to replace Nixon?" Harry asks.

"Sobel's a Toccoa man." Blithe points out.

"Sobel doesn't count. I think we should find a way to get rid of him. He's gonna get us all killed," Liebgott says. "What's the new lieutenent's name?"

"Welsh," answered Tipper, "Harry Welsh from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Sure are a lot of you boys from Pennsylvania, Blithe."

"Seems that way." the blonde said.

"Must have a hell of a recruiter for the paratroopers up that way," Harry responds.

Talbert jumped in. "Is that why you volunteered for the paratroopers, Harry? I read an article in Reader's Digest about them. I wanted to be the best."

"I love flying and being up high. Didn't think I had much of a chance of becoming a pilot without finishing school. The recruiter told me about the airborne. I thought it was a great idea. Still do. I've had a great time during every jump." Harry answered.

"Isn't that why you were in America?" Luz asked. "You said your family got you out before the Battle of Britain."

"Technically, but I missed my school in Scotland and never bothered to go back to school once I left Britain. The war messed everything up." Harry vaguely answered.

"Boarding school?" Liebgott asked with a smirk.

"It's a very popular custom in England. Anyway, I don't have any family left. Not in Britain or the U.S."

"No family at all? Christ that's tough." Luz said.

"There's a reason I was sent away you know." I hope there's a reason I was sent here, Harry thought to himself. "I've been an orphan since I was nearly two." Harry shrugged. He didn't want to talk about his relatives. Most of them were dead and the few he had left he didn't want to see. Not that he could see them as it was currently 1943.

He continued, "I have an Aunt and Uncle. I haven't heard from them in years." Let the guys come to their own conclusions. Allusions to the blitz would work.

In July they're moved to Fort Bragg for more training and the initial preparations for overseas movement. They get inoculations, issued new equipment, and a company photo is taken before they're sent on a train to Camp Shanks, New York to be sent to Europe.