A/N Ooook, when I first posted this, I set such a low review count because I really didn't think I'd get so many! Boy was I proved wrong. I woke up this morning to check my email, think I might only have 3 or 4 reviews and some other things. I had 60 emails, most of them only Story/author alerts/Favorites and about 9 reviews from over night. Not much, but more then I was expecting XD Ok, moving on.
X3
Summary: It was the random kind of crazy that only ever happened to him. But, he couldn't help but wonder if this was where he should have been from the start. Even if he still had to fight, it was a small price to pay to help the ones he'd come to love...
Warnings! This fic will contain the following: Violence, swearing, possibly blood/gore, OOC'ness, some cliche'ness, SLASH and random humor. Oh, and quite possibly smut, depending on how creative I'm feeling! Let's not forget Dark but not evil, smart, powerful, Animagus Harry!
If you do not like Slash, then I suggest you find something else to read...
Main pairing:CloudxHarry
Before we go any further I'd like to give a big thank you to Whispers-Of-Silence! Who helped me a lot with this fic while it was in the making! I couldn't have done it without her! So THANK YOU!
Words: 9, 622
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"Something big's going on outside, and we're all too smashed to do anything about it..." -Random drunk Junon resident, Final Fantasy VII
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"Parseltongue..."
"Thinking/Other..."
"Talking..."
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Chapter 2:
He spent a year in Midgar, doing the odd job around the Slums and even upper plates, doing either repair work, monster control, child minding and even tried maintenance for a reactor, but the stench of what he learned was Mako was too strong, burning his nose so much he had to quite. He'd managed to buy himself a small apartment in the Slums, it wasn't much, but it wasn't bad either. He'd been able to trade the last of his Galleons for Gil, which to his shock had added up to quite a bit, enough to live comfortably on the upper plates if he wanted, but he stayed in the Slums. People up on the plates were assholes most of the time anyway. Besides, his little place had a certain charm to it...and yes, while there was a modified Fidelius, it wasn't what he meant. It had one bedroom with a bathroom attached, a small kitchen, a laundry and a nice sized living room. It'd come furnished, but he'd had to throw some of it out as it stank something chronic. He'd had the whole apartment tiled, as it was rather stuffy in Midgar, and had repainted the once olive green walls (That had been the first to go) a cool cream with wood brown framing. He'd bought a carpet for the living room, a rather fluffy white one that felt good under his feet. He'd kept the sofa the place had come with, as it was in rather good condition and went with the color-scape, the three seat and single love seat both a warm tan brown. He'd unpacked some of his belongings from his trunk, filling the rather large darkwood bookshelf in the living room with mostly tombs, wizarding 'how to' books, a few Herbology books (He'd yet to come across any kind of magic plant, hell he'd yet to find any kind of plant in Midgar) his old school books and a few books he'd picked up while in Midgar. Mostly novels, but there were a few monster guides, weapon guides and some basic information on Mako and its uses, and a small informational book on a discontinued faction called SOLDIER.
He'd accumulated quite the collection while in the city. He even had a collection of Materia, though he had no use for them, as he had his own magic, but he kept them none the less, just in case. He'd come across a summon while visiting Junon last month and had bought it before anyone else could, quite expensive too, but it was worth it. While he couldn't picture himself actually using it, the occasional whispers he heard from the small orb were enough to garner his attention. Apparently it was a Shiva summon, and apparently she liked him...
He shivered. She was a strange creature Shiva...
Overall, nothing of great note had happened during his year long stay. He'd made very few friends over that time, and had yet to find any of that happiness the voice had promised him. Though, he did get a helluva lot of amusement from someone called the Treasure Princess. Somehow, one day he'd randomly received a text message from them, and he'd asked how they'd got his number. His reply was a small icon that stuck its tongue out at him. He'd gone on a few of the hunts she'd sent him, finding quite a lot of useful items, but never anything great, he had seen a dark haired teenager running around a few times, and had ventured a guess that she was the mysterious Treasure Princess, he'd laughed himself silly. She only got him to go on the hunts to get rid of all the monsters for her, the little minx.
He also got some entertainment after he'd expressed his love of flying to someone, who had given him someone else's address in Rocket Town. He'd gone and met this person who could apparently help him. And boy, if a sailor could meet this guy! Cid Highwind, chain smoker and airship pilot extraordinaire! He'd yelled and raved at him for about ten minutes wondering what the devil he wanted, but after telling him of his love of flying they'd hit it off right away. He rarely ever saw the blond these days, but it was fun when ever he did, the guy was rude, obnoxious and over all awesome in his opinion. Thy guy was his own man, there weren't enough of his type around as far as he was concerned.
He'd changed his name upon entering Midgar, leaving Harry Potter behind and given Harry Black the mantle in honor of his Godfather.
Right now Harry was currently enjoying the peace, absently sketching in his sketch book. He'd taken art up as a hobby when nothing else took his fancy, and had even sold a few of his better paintings. He was reclined in the love seat in his living room, knees up with the book resting on them, pencil slowly working around on the paper, the half complete form of none other then Steel posing on a rock staring back at him. Such an odd wolf he had been...
He was in the process of drawing Steel's violet eyes when the ground suddenly lurched under him and a large boom resounded down the street. He glared at the line from Steel's eye to the corner of the paper, the imagine ruined.
"What in Merlin's beard is it this time?" he snapped as he stood, dropping his drawing equipment back on the couch as he moved to stand at his window, flicking the curtain aside. He rolled his eyes at the sight of a huge monster dead on the road. "Those damn Turks again, the least they could do is warn us when they plan on air striking a monster on the street! That's the second time this week!" Though there was a plate above the slums, it was still quite high up, so Helicopters could easily fly around under it. With a huff he grabbed his wallet from the coffee table and pulled on his riding jacket. "I need a damn drink." He growled as he snatched up his apartment key and slipped on his black boots, using magic to do all the buckles up. He stuffed his wallet into the back pocket of his back leather pants (He liked leather, he had quite a bit of it actually) and ran his hands over his emerald green button up shirt, straightening any crinkles in the soft fabric. He grabbed his helmet from the stand by the door and exited, locked the door behind him. He made his way to the small side alley by his apartment and removed the Notice-Me-Not charm. He slipped on his helmet and climbed onto his bike, gunning the engine and with a roar took off down the street in search of a new bar. The last one he'd been in some asshole had started a fight with him, both of them had been banned, especially after he picked the man up and slammed him into the pool table with too much force, splitting the thing in half. The guy was still in Hospital last he heard, and that was a week ago.
With a smug grin under his visor Harry spotted a bar on his right, and with a roar of his engine parked out the front by a rather...large black...was that a motorbike? He stared for a moment. Indeed it was, a big fucking motorbike. "The guy who rides that must be huge, without magic I'd probably drop the thing on my leg!" With a shake of his head Harry removed his helmet and hooked it onto the steering handle. He ran a hand through his lower back length raven hair, flicking his bangs from his face. He twitched and conjured a black band, tying his hair off at the nape of his neck. With that done he climbed off his bike, pouting when he noticed his own was only half the size of the massive black bike next to it, and almost grumbled at the sheer different between them. "Bloody show off, bet yours ain't invincible!" He thought childishly as he flicked his jacket, moving up to the bar, which he noticed was called 'Seventh Heaven'. He frowned, why hadn't he ever noticed this place before? He'd been through the sector 7 slums heaps of times before. He rolled his eyes, no, he'd passed it before, he'd never payed it any mind, not knowing it was a bar, the only reason he actually really noticed this time was because of the monstrous bike out the front! It hadn't been there when ever he went passed...
Shrugging he entered the bar, instantly falling in love with the place upon finding it quiet, homey, warm and without so many people. The second he entered however he was greeted by a face full of smoke.
"Black! What the hell are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages!" Harry blinked.
"Cid?" He stared at the blond who'd stood and slapped him over the back.
"The one and only boy, now get your skinny ass up here and have a drink with me." Harry shook his head as the scruffy blond pilot dragged him to the bar, where a rather pretty brunette bartender smiled at them.
"Whose your friend Cid?" she asked. Harry inwardly frowned. That voice, he'd heard it before, somewhere...
"Stop running away!"
He stared for a moment, mind working over time. This was the woman that voice had belonged to...so was the Veil, like a two way radio or something? He was pulled from his musings as Cid clapped his back again.
"This here is Harry Black, met him a while ago, the kid has a knack for flyin'! Took him out in the Shera a few times, he handles her like a master!" Harry flushed at the praise, which Cid wasn't usually prone to. The woman smiled and held out her hand.
"Hello Harry, I'm Tifa Lockheart." Harry smiled his boyish smile and shook her hand, mildly surprised at the strong grip. She seemed equally surprised but smiled. "So, what'll it be Harry?" Harry blinked and sat down next to Cid who was chugging down a beer.
"Whiskey please, no ice." Tifa nodded and moved about to get his drink. He was vaguely surprised she didn't ask for his ID, as he looked rather young, even if he was twenty one. He shrugged it off and accepted the drink with a smile.
"So, Black, hows that little bike of yours going? Totaled it yet?" Cid asked with a grin. Harry rolled his eyes.
"No, Cid I haven't totaled it, why, you looking for playing a test dummy?" Cid barked a laugh.
"Not likely, just askin', seeing how you bloody drive that thing I have to ask." Harry shrugged and sipped his drink.
"I'm not dead yet, so I'll continue driving like I do." Cid snorted.
"Damn speed junkies, the lot of ya." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Better to be a speed junkie then a nicotine junkie." Cid scoffed as he lit up another cigarette.
"Hey, off my back kid, I can smoke however much I want! Besides, at least its killin' me slowly, whilst if you crash you'd be a pretty stain on the road before you can say BAHM!" Harry laughed and shook his head, gulping down the rest of his drunk in one go.
"That's if I crash, and the likely hood of that? Slim to none, I may drive fast, but I drive smart." Cid choked on his drink.
"You, smart? Yeah, and I'm the King of ShinRa." Harry snickered and eyed his empty glass, he raised it and Tifa nodded, refilling it as she went past. He polished that off in one go to, so Tifa just left the bottle in front of him. "Careful kid, you'll be crashing into the floor before you crash your bike at this rate." Harry shrugged and refilled his glass.
"You'd be surprised, I've got an alcohol tolerance that'd make a SOLDIER green with envy." With that he knocked back another glass full. Cid snorted.
"Doubt that, we've got our own SOLDIER boy, and while he can hold his drink well, he still goes lopsided after a few rounds." Harry smirked.
"Lopsided eh? Interesting image." Cid chuckled.
"Understatement, you'd have to see it to believe it, that kid has a pole shoved up his ass, when he's lopsided, he's...well...lopsided. Can't talk without sounding like a country hick, can't stand let alone walk and has a tendency to-"
"Cid, stop ranting about Cloud, just because he dropped you on your head last time for calling him a sissy, while you were drunk after your second shot and he was only getting there on his twentieth." Harry choked on his drink while Cid sputtered.
"Twenty? Pft, light weight."
"I'd like to see you do better." A shiver ran up Harry's spine as a new voice joined the conversation. He turned slightly and caught sight of the speaker. A tall blond descended from the back stairs, clad in all black with a shoulder guard. He had to hold in a snort at the hair, the style reminded him strongly of a Chocobo...
The blond must have read his mind or something, because he was suddenly on the receiving end of one dirty glare, daring him to say it out loud. He cleared his throat and gulped down the rest of his drink, eying the half empty bottle of Whiskey. He was used to drinking Fire Whiskey, so it'd take at least three of those bottles to get him even buzzed. Magic was a lovely thing... He decided to voice that.
"Twenty shots, verses my three bottles of Whiskey, yeah, no competition there my friend." Cid threw his head back and howled with laughter while Tifa smiled behind her hand. The blond who could only be the Cloud Cid had been talking about scowled slightly, though it was small it was there. Harry grinned. "Care to test me?" The blond shook his head and turned to the door, walking by without glancing at him again.
"Can't, I've got deliveries to run." with that he left, and Harry snorted out loud.
"Ooooh, all fear the Deliver Boy." Cid's laughter was drowned out by a loud roar that had his glass vibrating. He blinked and turned to Cid, an incredulous took on his face. "Are you telling me, that that skinny ass mother fucker owns that damn bike outside?" Cid grinned and nodded.
"Yup." Harry blanched.
"Ok then, now I feel quite stupid...My poor baby." He mumbled as he thought of his bike being next to that thing when it started. If it hadn't been charmed, the paint would have probably vibrated off! Cid just laughed again. "Then again, if he's a SOLDIER then he could very well ride that thing, and snap me in half if I piss him off..." He snorted. "Then again, all I have to do to kill someone is breath in their face with intent. Talk about bad breath." He thought as he pictured his Nundu form. He wondered if a Chocobo would taste like chicken...
Five weeks later found Harry once again in the Seventh Heaven sporting his own bottle of Whiskey, though this time he sat alone. Cid had gone back to Rocket Town apparently and there were no other customers. He glanced at Tifa, who was cleaning a shot glass by the sink. He'd been coming back to the bar nearly every day for the last five weeks and had met quite a few other people. He made friends with Tifa, a red head Turk named Reno and his quite obvious (If you looked for the signs) love interest, Tseng. He'd promptly told the dark haired male to stop shooting monsters with their choppers, which earned him a small (it was devious, he bloody knew it!) smirk. He'd encountered a guy who reminded him of a Vampire, Vincent something or other and the Treasure Princess herself, Yuffie. She'd squawked when she saw Harry, then promptly jumped on him and squealed. He'd come to know Marlene and Denzel, who often crowded him for more of the candy he'd given them a while ago (Wizarding candy luckily he had a near endless supply in his trunk) much to the amusement of Tifa. He'd been properly introduced to Cloud, then promptly demanded a drinking contest from the blond. He was quite smug over the fact he'd won, and Cid had stopped badgering him about his heavy drinking while there while Cloud...well, the blond was still nursing his bruised ego. Often times he taunted the blond with random drawings. The first time he'd drawn a large chocobo with Cloud's legs and boots sticking out from under it, this had earned him a glare from the blond while Tifa cooed and complimented on his drawing skills. He wondered if the blond could handle being sat on by the giant birds...
Today he'd brought in a drawing of a Chocobo'fied Cloud, beak and all. Tifa had taken one look at it, then promptly burst into giggles. Cloud had yet to arrive though. It was oddly entertaining annoying the blond, for some reason it just came naturally to him. An hour later the roar of Cloud's Fenrir finally sounded and he patted the folded up paper in his back pocket. Tifa shook her head with a smile. When the blond entered he was about to say something, but paused at the look on the mans face.
"Hey, something wrong Cloud?" he asked. The blond didn't answer, he just stomped past and vanished up the stairs. Tifa frowned after him.
"That was rude." she muttered disapprovingly. Harry sipped from his glass. The blond was troubled, that was for certain, he'd often worn that same expression in his Hogwarts days. It was obvious the swordsman wasn't sleeping properly, and the way he stomped past suggested he hadn't even noticed them, which was odd, because he always greeted them, even if it was just a grunt or 'hn.'
"I'm gonna go talk to him." Said Harry as he stood setting his glass down. Tifa nodded.
"Thank you." with that she retrieved his glass and washed it. Harry made his way up the stairs, familiar with the layout as he'd stayed here quite a few times. He walked past the kids room, finding it empty.
"They must be with Barret in Mideel." He thought as he stopped in front of Cloud's door. He rapped on the wood a few times, listening. The door was opened and a tired looking Cloud Strife glanced at him before turning and wondering back into his room, leaving the door open for Harry. The raven haired wizard entered and shut the door behind himself, leaning back on it as he folded his arms, eyes watching the blond shuffle around on his desk. "So, what's eating you?" He asked. The other male didn't pause in organizing his desk.
"Nothing, why?" Harry scoffed.
"Come on Cloud, I may have only known you for weeks, but I can read people, and right now I'm reading you. Your not sleeping properly, somethings on your mind, speak up." The blond sighed and dropped into his chair.
"I've been having nightmares alright?" Harry blinked, frowning.
"Nightmares as in painful memories, or nightmares as in being chased by giant people eating Chocobo's?" Cloud snorted and Harry grinned in triumph.
"Nightmares as in painful memories." Harry clicked his tongue.
"Ah, well then, how bad is it?" He cared for the blond whether the other wanted him to or not, and he himself had been through the same thing.
"Bad, I haven't slept in three days." Harry whistled, then clapped his hands together. The others knew of his powers to some degree, but they didn't know everything.
"Right then, get on the bed, I'm teaching you Occlumency." Cloud blinked and stared at him with a raised brow. Harry shifted under the gaze. "What? You want the nightmares to stop or not?" Cloud blinked.
"What's Occlumency?" Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"It's a mind art, like meditating, it shields your mind." Remembering some of the things he'd heard from Cid and Yuffie Harry said more softly. "If your good enough at it, it can protect against mind control and intrusion." Cloud's eyes snapped back to him from staring at his feet.
"Protect against mind control? Seriously?" Harry smiled.
"Yup, and I myself happen to me a Master Occlumens and Legillimens! So your in good hands Cloudy-boy." Cloud scowled at the nickname.
"Whats Legillimens?" Harry waved him off.
"Legillimency, the opposite to Occlumency." Cloud raised a brow.
"So, you can read peoples minds." Harry fidgeted.
"Well, yeah I can, but I don't. Not without express permission first, I've had people running amok in my own mind for years, I know how it feels, and I hate it, so I don't do it to other people." Cloud gave him a long, steady look and Harry could feel a blush working up his neck at the stare. "Or...we could just forget I said...anything." he mumbled slowly. Cloud nodded to himself suddenly and stood, moving to sit on the bed.
"So, what do I do?" Harry blinked.
"Huh?" Cloud rolled his eyes.
"Your teaching me Occlumency aren't you? What do I do?" Harry did blush this time.
"Oh, well, take off your boots and lay back, get comfortable." Cloud did as he was told and Harry sat in the chair he had vacated. "Now, close your eyes, clear your mind, focus on your own heartbeat, listen to it, feel it. It's like meditating, so I want you to lay like that and do as I said for an hour, I'll come back in then to check on you." With that he stood quietly and left, inwardly grimacing at the 'clear your mind' part. He didn't want to sound like Snape. Well, at least he wasn't mind raping the guy...
Harry descended back into the bar and sat back down as Tifa placed another drink in front of him. "So, how did it go?" she asked. Harry took the drink and swirled it in his glass.
"He's not sleeping well lately, so I'm teaching him a form of mind art to help with the nightmares. If he gets it right then they should stop completely." Tifa blinked.
"You can actually do that?" Harry nodded.
"It's called Occlumency, the art of protecting ones own mind. I had to learn it a long time ago because some bastard was screwing with my head, and I got nightmares quite often. It helps, believe me. So I'm teaching Cloud, maybe then he wont be such a prude all the time." Tifa giggled.
"Thank you Harry, really, if it works it'll help him with a lot of things." Harry nodded and knocked back his drink.
"No problem. Remind me to go check on him in an hour to make sure he hasn't fallen asleep." Tifa smiled and nodded.
"Sure."
An hour and a half later (He'd forgotten, so had Tifa) Harry made his way into Cloud's room and gave the blond a once over. He smiled, looks like the blond had managed it without falling asleep, now to draw him back out without getting his head punched off his shoulders by the paranoid delivery boy. He knelt next to Cloud's bed and reached out, he knew first hand never to touch someones face while they were like this, especially if they happen to be paranoid and super powered. He gently poked Cloud's shoulder.
"Cloud." he called softly, the blond didn't move. He poked him again, eyes drawn to the muscle on the blonds arm as he poked him. He inwardly slapped himself. "Getting off track Harry." "Cloud, don't make me get a bucket of water." Of course he wouldn't, but Cloud didn't know that. The blond twitched, then blinked open hazy blue eyes. Harry grinned as he sat up. "So, how do you feel?" Cloud shook his head and rubbed his face, then paused.
"Good, actually..." Harry nodded.
"Then you did it right, you cleared your mind of any troubles, that's the first step complete. Now this next one can't be completed in a day, it takes time. Whenever you have the time, repeat that exercises, but imagine a wall around your mind, an impenetrable wall. Keep it up until your sure it's there, then come tell me and I'll test it." At Cloud's sharp look Harry threw his hands up in peace. "I don't mean invade your mind Cloud, I'd only just brush the surface, not even enough to hear thoughts, just enough to feel if there's a wall there, ok?" After a moment of intense staring, Cloud finally nodded.
"Alright, I'll work on it every night." Harry smiled.
"Good, now if you'll excuse me I have a few errands to run." With that he turned to the door, paused, then grinned and reached into his back pocket. He tossed the folded up paper at Cloud who caught it and blinked. Harry wiggled his brows. "Just thought you'd like it." With that he vanished into the hall and ran down the stairs just as Cloud's angry shout reached him. He cackled and dove out the door, scrambling onto his bike and tearing off just as the pissed blond jumped out of the bar waving his sword at him.
Harry entered his apartment with a sigh, sitting down to undo his boots, to tired to use magic. He wondered into his living room and dropped onto the sofa. It'd been a month since he'd starting teaching Cloud Occlumency, and the blond was improving well, he was already looking much better and sleeping better. He rubbed at his sore arm where a Kalm Fang had bitten him. He'd gotten a call from a contact about a pack of the monsters running around in the sector 3 slums, so he'd grabbed Yami and gone to get rid of them. He'd succeeded, but one had gotten around his guard and bitten his right forearm, damn thing had bitten to the bone. He'd bandaged it up, not bothering to stitch it as it would be fully healed by tomorrow morning, right now it was only late noon, around the time people knocked off work. He waved his hand and a bottle of Fire Whiskey appeared in it, not bothering to summon a glass he chugged down a few mouthfuls from the bottle, shaking his head as it hit his throat. He had nothing to do now, and he hated it, because when ever he had nothing to do he sat around, and when he sat around he thought, when he thought he remembered...
"It's all your fault!"
Even with his own Occlumency shields up, he still remembered the past, still remembered the pain...
He snorted and downed another mouthful of the amber liquid. He needed to get out, needed to go and do something, but what? Suddenly, out of know where an idea hit him. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his PHS, flicking through the numbers until he found Cloud's. The line rang several times and went to voice mail, Harry snorted, hung up, and dialed again. Harry had figured out how to get Cloud to answer his PHS, keep ringing it until he answered, it always worked, because the continuous ringing drove the man insane. He hung up and rang again. Hung up and rang again, one more time now.
"What!" Harry gave a smug smirk.
"Hello to you too." He heard a muffled sigh.
"What do you need?" Harry blinked.
"A job."
"Then why are you calling me?"
"Your self employed aren't you?" A pause.
"Yeah."
"Care to hire me?" Another, longer pause.
"Depends I guess, how well do you know the Continent?" Harry smirked.
"Photographic memory, I've already checked all the maps." Another pause.
"I don't see why not then, I've been getting swamped as it is so I guess the help would be good." Harry leaned back in his chair.
"Awesome, I'll drop by in the morning then, I would now but I had a little accident-"
"You what?" Harry blinked at being interrupted.
"I got a call and went to get rid of a pack of Kalm Fangs, one decided to be sneaky, I got bit." Harry glared at the bandage on his arm.
"Are you alright?" Harry blinked again.
"Jee Cloud, Tifa was right, you really are a big softy under all that angst!"
"Right, well, get here early I leave at 5." Click. Harry stared at his PHS.
"Did he just hang up on me?" He stared. "He did didn't he!" Another blink. "Did he say 5 in the morning?"
With a jaw cracking yawn Harry climbed off his bike, childishly giving Fenrir the bird as he walked past and entered the bar. It was 4 in the morning and Cloud was up and about, (the door didn't unlock itself) he made his way up the stairs quietly, as Tifa and the kids were still sleeping. He tapped on Cloud's door once and entered, then promptly went red and slapped a hand over his eyes. "Merlin Cloud put some clothes on." he hissed as he leaned back on the door. Cloud, who was in the process of pulling on his black pants flushed and yanked them on, spinning around to grab his sweater, hurriedly zipping it up, his cheeks dusted red.
"You should have knocked." he said as he sat on his bed to pull his boots on over his socks. Harry peeked through his fingers, then dropping his hand, face still pink.
"I did." Cloud laced his boots up.
"I didn't hear you." Harry snorted.
"The Mako obviously isn't doing its job then, or is it just you?" he challenged with a smug grin. Cloud rolled his eyes and strapped on his duster and shoulder guard, paused, then frowned.
"You move too silently, even for me. How do you do that?" Harry blinked and shifted from foot to foot nervously.
"I ah...um..." Cloud waved him off as he strapped on his sword harness.
"You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." Harry blinked and stared at the blond mans back as he turned to shuffle through some paperwork on his desk. He gave a small smile, another thing he liked about the blond. He didn't pry or demand answers from him about his past or abilities. (More then he could say about Cid, but it was hard to stay mad at him when he swears at everything that moves) So he did what he always did, he gave answers to those who didn't demand them.
"I'm a predator by nature, I've had training." The blond paused.
"What kind of training? I've heard of you killing monsters around Midgar, but how good are you?" Harry answered with a smile.
"Well, how about we find out after today's deliveries? We'll have a spar." Cloud nodded as he finally found what he was looking for. He picked up five pieces of paper, tucked three into his pocket and handed the other two to Harry.
"These are the address', they're close by, so you shouldn't have any problem. The packages are in the back. Hold on." Cloud turned, picked up his giant sword, sheathed it at his back and grabbed his keys, turning again to shoo Harry out the door. The wizard made his way down the stairs, proving Cloud correct as he realised that he didn't make any noise. He hummed in amusement and made his way through the back with Cloud following close behind. When they were in Cloud, without switching the lights on grabbed a package the size of his torso and tossed it to Harry, then immediately cursed. Harry, being able to see in the dark caught the package easily, he saw Cloud blink.
"What?" he asked as the blond stared at him.
"You can see in the dark?" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Nah, I just caught this out of sheer dumb luck, of course I can blondie!" Cloud twitched but just bent down to retrieve another, smaller package the side of his fist, placing it on top of the one in Harry's arms.
"Sorry for wondering, there aren't many normals who can see in the dark." Harry wiggled his brows.
"Who said I'm normal? I turned Cid's hair pink, Cloud, who does that?" The blond blinked.
"You turned Cid's hair pink?" he asked incredulously. Harry grinned.
"That's right you weren't there. Cid was drunk and grabbed my ass, so I turned his hair and goatee bright neon pink, Tifa has photos." Cloud stared for a moment, jaw muscles twitching oddly, then nodded and grabbed his own packages. Harry blinked at the display and wondered if the blond was half Pit-bull as well as Chocobo, because the way he was clenching his jaw suggested it just might lock shut! "Ok then, I'll head out, give me a call if you need anything." With that he went to walk past the blond, then grinned mischievously. He walked past the bent over blond, drew back his hand and slapped his rear, causing the blonds head snap up and hit the shelf above him. Harry cackled and fled out the door, quickly shrinking the packages and stuffing them in his pocket as he climbed onto his bike, gunned the engine and took off.
Harry gave the address paper one last glance as he pulled out the smallest of the packages, enlarging it as he kicked the stand down on his bike. He looked at the small house in front of him. Yup, right number in Kalm Town. He walked up to the door and knocked. Soon after the door opened and an elderly woman smiled up at him.
"Hello, deary, what can I do for you?" Harry smiled and held up the small package.
"Strife Delivery service ma'am, here's your package." The lady accepted the package with a smile and thanked him.
"Wait here a moment and I'll go get your Gil." A moment later she returned and handed him the proper amount plus a small tip. "Where's Cloud today? He's usually the one delivering things." Harry smiled.
"I'm a friend of his, I needed a job so he hired me yesterday." The elderly woman smiled.
"Well, that was very nice of him, give him my thanks when you see him lad." Harry nodded.
"Will do, have a nice day ma'am." With that he turned and made his way back to his bike, smiling when he heard the old lady.
"Such a nice young man."
"Next stop...The Chocobo Farm?" He frowned. "Oh well, at least I don't need fuel." With that he revved the engine and took off, traveling at breakneck speeds with little fear of death.
When he arrived at the Chocobo Farm it was well past noon, nearly sunset. He rolled to a stop and unshrunk the large package, finding his way to the front door of the small farm house. He knocked, and a woman opened the door.
"Yes? she asked, then saw the package. "Bill!" she called as she left, leaving the door open. Harry remained where he was as a middle aged man came into view.
"Ah yes, that must be the new leather I ordered for the saddles! Thank you indeed, ah, where's Cloud?" Harry gave a lopsided grin.
"Around, he hired me yesterday, so I'm running some of his deliveries." Bill nodded and took the package from him, replacing it with the right gil.
"Well, I'm Bill, nice to meet you Mr...?" Harry shook the mans hand.
"Harry Black, sir."
"Harry then, alright, thank you for that, have a safe trip home." Harry nodded.
"Will do sir, good evening." With that he turned and once again made his way to his bike. He stopped however when somewhere several Chocobo's screeched. Bill suddenly burst out of his door with a rifle in his hands.
"Those bloody monsters are back!" He yelled as he loaded his rifle. Harry blinked as several more screeched echoed followed by growls and roars.
"Would you like a hand Bill?" he asked. The man eyed him.
"Can ya fight?" Harry nodded and summoned his Odachi Yami, ignoring the older males explimation of shock.
"Sure can." he said, then sprinted off in the direction of the panicking Chocobo's, easily jumping over the fence as he went. When he arrived one of the birds was injured on the ground while another tried to fight off a pair of Elfadunk. Harry lept forward and swung Yami, slicing through the nearest monster with ease. The beast screeched and fell, bursting into green pyre-lights and dispersing. He turned to the other Elfadunk as it growled at him, he raised his Odachi. The beast turned and ran. "Oh no you don't!" With that he swung his sword, a slashing curse firing off the blade and slicing into the fleeing creature, killing it. It too burst into green pyre-lights and vanished. He banished Yami and turned to the injured Chocobo, it's leg was bent at an odd angle and blood coated the bright blue feathers around it's neck. It's companion or mate cooed softly over it, nuzzling it's beak into the others crest. Harry smiled sadly and slowly approached the pair. The standing Chocobo glared at him for a moment, then relented and eased itself to the ground by the injured bird. Harry slowly drew nearer, until he could reach out and stroke the poor birds bloodied neck feathers, careful to avoid the wound. "You'll be alright." He murmured as he imbued his finger tips with healing magic, cleaning and closing the wounds. He did the same with the steeds leg and sat back on his haunches. The once injured Chocobo warbled and tried to stand, testing it's leg, then whistled and promptly dropped itself on his lap.
"Kweh!" Harry 'oofed' under the large, blue bird but stroked its feathers.
"Your welcome." he laughed as the other bird, obviously male from his size warbled at him, green feathers glinting in the fading sunlight. Harry gave the males beak a stroke, then turned when huffing and puffing reached his ears. He saw Bill slowly jogging towards them, rifle in hand as he tried to keep his breath.
"Oh thank- huff- Shiva -huff-." he said as he saw the two unharmed birds. He took one look at Harry under the blue Chocobo and smiled. "Well then -huff-, looks like Blue's taking a liking to ya lad!" Harry blinked while the green bird nuzzled his hair. He briefly wondered why the hell they even wanted to go near him, as he was a predator. "Ha! Even ol' Orin likes ya! Wait till Cloud hears about this, 'cause these two are his birds!" Harry blinked. Cloud owned Chocobo's?
Huh, Chocobo owning a Chocobo...
He snorted. "Ok Blue, hop off, I can't feel my legs anymore." Blue warbled, then finally stood, letting Harry up. He wobbled on tingly legs, using Blue's back as a support. He shook his head as Orin nibbled on his hair. "Alright then, I better get going before it really gets dark. I'll see you later then Bill." Bill waved him off as Blue and Orin followed him to the fence. He hopped over the white wood and paused to give the two birds a pat before turned and mounting his bike. Blue ran along beside him on the other side of the fence as he drove down the road, but had to stop as he tore off onto the road our the front.
It was dark by the time he got back to the Seventh Heaven, and Cloud was back. He walked past Fenrir, easily feeling the heat from its engine, indicating he'd just arrived as well. He entered the bar to find Cloud sat on a stool talking to..or getting a talking to from Tifa.
"You should be more careful Cloud, oh welcome back Harry, how'd it go?" Harry waved and dropped onto the stool beside Cloud, who had an interesting black eye.
"Good good, got sat on by a Chocobo (Cloud snorted) but overall good, what happened to you, get on the wrong side of an old lady's hand bag?" Cloud scowled and sipped his beer.
"Some asshole thought I was flirting with his wife while I was delivering her package." Harry blinked, lips twitching with suppressed laughter.
"So he slugged you?"
"No, the wife did." Harry blinked.
"That makes no sense." Cloud shrugged.
"That's what I thought." Harry couldn't help it, laughter bubbled up his throat and spilled out his mouth until he was resting on the bar top to stop from falling over. Cloud was scowling at nothing as he drank his beer while Tifa rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning. "So, you got sat on by a Chocobo? This sounds familiar." said the blond. Harry's laughter dwindled to giggles before fading. He whipped tears from his eyes and sighed, drinking from the glass Tifa set in front of him.
"Yeah, one of yours actually, Blue." Cloud choked on his beer, coughing as he set it down, but Harry could hear the laughter he was trying to cover with his cough.
"I saved her life I'll have you know Mr-Got-Beat-On-By-A-Woman. Just as I was leaving a couple of Elfadunks attacked them by the back fence. Broke her leg and wounded her neck, don't fret though, mother-Chocobo, I healed her, that's why she sat on me. Apparently she was grateful." he rubbed his hair. "But I think Orin pulled out some of my hair." he muttered as he poked at the spot Orin had nibbled on. Cloud had recovered from his choking and Harry watched as his lips twitched. Now it was his turn to scowl. Tifa wondered past and smiled.
"Thank you Harry, Cloud's just too stingy to admit he loves those birds." Cloud rolled his eyes and Harry grinned.
"I had an owl once...a beautiful snowy white owl named Hedwig. She was like my mother, pecked me whenever I did something bad or rude, always around." Cloud eyed him.
"What happened to her?" Harry's face darkened.
"My best friend killed her." Cloud blinked and Tifa gasped.
"What kind of friend would do such a thing?" Harry chucked back the last of his Whiskey.
"An ex one. There was this...war you could say, his two older brothers died and his younger sister got raped, he blamed me." Tifa held a hand over her mouth while Cloud stared at him as he revealed some of his hidden past, he'd told them a few things before, but never this. "Some maniac, you might say he was like Sephiroth actually, raged a war on the 'Light side', he was insane, merciless, killed woman and children for sport, tortured his own followers, the bastard murdered my parents when I was only a year old, tried to kill me too...obviously it didn't work, actually ended up killing himself. And because of that I got praised as a hero, a baby who had no idea of what was going on, suddenly dubbed The Boy-Who-Lived." Cloud snorted.
"Original." Harry nodded.
"That's only one of the hyphenated titles they gave me. Anyway, so I grew up, went to school, then low and behold the fucker comes back when I'm fourteen and tries to kill me again, killed one of my friends in the process...I got away eventually, after one hell of a duel...That's where I got this." he pulled up his sleeve, showing a long, dark and straight scar on his inner forearm. "Anyway, stuff happened and then finally when I was seventeen the guy game back and attacked my school. We fought, all of us fought, many died, and I was blamed." He gave a bitter laughed. "After I finally killed the nut case, I got accused of going dark, they all turned on me...So I left, got a job with the government investigating a strange artifact...Got sick of life there, someone offered me a chance and I took it, now I'm here." He blinked, realizing he was being stared at by not only Cloud but Tifa and the newly arrived Vincent Valentine. He shifted in his seat, hiding behind his glass as he sipped his drink. Vincent was the first to speak.
"They were wrong, none of that could have been your fault, logically speaking." Harry snorted.
"They weren't known for their logic and common sense. They thought that just because they were inbred they were pure, thought that anyone else was dirty blooded, Mudbloods...I was a half blood so I didn't fit anywhere..." Tifa looked green.
"Inbred?" Harry nodded.
"Most of them, the 'pure-blooded' families. Of course there were a few good ones in their batch, my old school rival became my best friend during the war, hell, we were more then friends..." he trailed off sadly as he thought of Draco, they'd gotten together before the end... "But he died too so that's beside the point." He took another swig from his drink. Vincent leaned on the wall beside the bar, he gave him a steady once over, crimson eyes meeting emerald green.
"Chaos says your not normal." Everyone blinked while Harry paled only slightly, he snorted.
"Yeah well, hi to you too Chaos."
"You smell like the Lifestream, only your not dead." Harry shrugged.
"I did die once..." The room was silent. Cloud spoke.
"You can tell us, Harry, we wont think any differently of you." Harry raised a brow at the blond and mouthed 'softie'. Cloud scowled. Vincent stepped forward.
"You feel like a Summon, the Energy, it's otherworldly, wild..." Harry sighed in resignation.
"Ask your buddy Chaos if he's ever heard of The Veil, he's a demon so he should know something." There was silence. Vincent regarded him slowly.
"A gateway." Harry nodded.
"To another world." Tifa gasped and Cloud's eyes widened. "That's why I feel so different to you, I'm not from Gaia...I'm from a place called Earth, England." he smiled at Tifa. "That's the accent you think is cute, it's an English accent." Tifa blinked. "It was rather advanced, nothing like here though...There was no Lifestream."
"Impossible." Cloud muttered. Harry shook his head.
"Either it was long since dead, or there never was one to begin with, either way, it was different to here. There were no monsters, just animals and Magical Creatures." Tifa raised both brows.
"Magical Creatures?" she asked doubtfully. Harry nodded.
"Centaur's, Vampires, Fae, Acromantila, Werewolves..." He trailed off. "My honorary godfather was a Werewolf, he was hated because of it, shunned...he was the nicest man I'd ever met, always so caring and gentle...People called him a monster because once a month he turned into a wolf...he died in the war too." he muttered sadly as he thought of Teddy, Remus's son. "He made me the godfather of his son...but I wasn't allowed near him." He sighed. Vincent frowned.
"Why did you step into The Veil?" Harry tilted his head to regard the man.
"Don't freak out or anything, but it was a suicide attempt." Tifa gasped again and Cloud's eyes narrowed. "My people thought it was a gateway to hell, so they threw criminals in there, they probably ended up dead, because the voices said they had given me a choice because of my suffering..." Cloud blinked.
"Voices?" Harry nodded.
"Voices, just so you know it's nothing new for me, hearing voices, I've been slightly cracked for a while." he laughed, drawing blanches from Tifa and Cloud. Vincent blinked again.
"Your a mage." Harry blinked and eyed the man.
"Mage? Hell no, Merlin was a Mage, I'm a Wizard, and a bloody good one too if I do say so myself...A dark one, but a good one none the less." Vincent blinked and everyone gave him odd looks. Tifa suddenly perked up.
"Is that how you turned Cid's hair pink?" Harry grinned.
"Yup! I can probably turn Cloud into a real Chocobo too." Cloud glared.
"You do and I'll sit on you." Harry chuckled.
"Relax, I'll save that for when you deserve it." Cloud didn't look relieved. "Yeah, I can do magic, without the use of Materia, though I can use it, I prefer not to...wait a minute..." He trailed off as the conversation came back to him slowly. His eyes widened. "A Gateway!" Everyone blinked. Harry jumped up. "The Veil is a Gateway!" Cloud glanced at Vincent.
"I think we just established that." Harry turned to Cloud and grabbed the mans shirt, yanked him up and shook him.
"A Gateway! That means Sirius could still be alive! My godfather could be here on Gaia!" Cloud blinked dizzily from all the shaking. "I have to find him!" Harry released the dizzy blond and pulled out his wand, much to the fascination of those present. "Point me, Sirius Black." Nothing happened. His heart sank slightly, a moment went by, still nothing. He sat back down, eyes glued to the still wand. He closed his eyes. "Or not." he muttered in defeat. He dropped his wand onto the counter, ignoring it as it clattered against the wood. He hung his head in his hands, rubbing at his eyes.
"Er, Harry?" Harry grunted. Tifa eyed the twitching wand. "Harry it's moving." Harry's head snapped up at the same time his wand snapped into a direction, which happened to be at Cloud, who jumped. (Poor sod) Harry jumped to his feet and snatched up his wand.
"Point me, Sirius Black." he demanded again, and lo and behold his wand snapped back to the same direction. His eyes filled with tears. "He's alive, he's really alive." he breathed. He was startled out of his staring as Cloud suddenly stood, grabbing his keys.
"Well then, what are we standing around for? Lets go find him." Harry stared at Cloud, who raised a brow. If they hadn't had company, Harry would have kissed the man senseless.
"Alright, lets go!" He paused. "Your bike or mine, or both?" Cloud rolled his eyes.
"Mine of course, it's faster." Harry sputtered as they made their way to the door.
"Is not! My babies smaller and there for lighter! So she's faster!"
When they exited Tifa turned to Vincent with a small knowing smile...
A/N Ok, I have just realised that Secret-Sorrow was indeed correct, this does look a little rushed doesn't it? Please don't hate it just because it's rushed please! Eh...
The 'kewh' in case some people are wondering was Blue, she made a cute chocobo noise and sat on Harry...For some odd reason every time I hear or read the word 'Warble' I giggle...XD
And just so you know, any monsters they encounter in this are ones from the actual game, and actually live in that area, I did my research!
To answer some questions:
Sakurai Haruka: Your one of the few people to remember the wolf in the Advent Children movie and place it in this (Yes it is the same wolf, but that's not all X3), so give yourself a pat on the back! As for your other question, if you'd noticed in the first chapter when the guard said they were recovering from recent attack by 'three crazy guys' he means Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz. So this is set just after Advent Children okies?
Twilightserius: I'll just say yes his broom is probably buried in his trunk somewhere XD As for the familiar...No, that would be weird considering...well, you'll find out in the next few chapters!
Aurora Ivy Fang: Indeed there are not many HP/FFVII fics out there, I myself have looked high and low and have only found a few worth reading. I'm glad you and so many others like this one though!
Catzi: Happy B-day!
This will not be updated until I get at least 10 NEW reviews. But considering what happened last time, I'm not really worried XD