Chapter Two
A/N: I own nothing!
The two groups split off a few minutes after the first meeting; Harry's group went off by the wall of the cave-like thing that they all seemed to be in.
"Harry, what are we going to do?" Ginny whispered in a panicked voice and Ron looked almost pale. Even Luna didn't seem to have her dreamy quality to her, which told Harry just how serious this really was. "What if they're not benders like they claim? What if they're Death Eaters instead?"
"I don't know what we can do," Harry sighed as he looked at the weak fire Hermione had managed to get started and was currently stoking. "Look, our magic can't be all gone. My scar keeps hurting so either Voldemort is here with us or—"
"You can still sense him!" Hermione gasped, distracted from her examination of the walls, which seemed to have images of some kind engraved on them. A few of the images looked to be bison like. "Our magic must have become dormant for some reason. I wonder why?"
"Yeah, and why we ended up at the time of the benders," Ginny muttered. "The un-friendly benders to top it off. I mean, who meets someone for the first time and holds them hostage with the elements, some weird bendy stick and a fan?"
"Ginny, I think they're at war," Hermione reminded her red-haired friend as she put down the stick she'd been using to stoke the fire. "Think of what we'd do if we were in their position."
"Hex the living daylights out of them?"
"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "We're lucky that little boy who was traveling with them convinced the others not to attack us. Harry'd be barbeque right now if he hadn't."
"Thank Merlin for small favors," Ron sighed.
Meanwhile, Team Avatar seemed to be having a similar discussion of their own off in their little corner of the temple.
"I think we should invite them over to join us," Aang said as Zuko started a fire to keep them all warm. "They mean us no harm."
"And how do you know that?" Zuko asked with an eyebrow raised. "For all we know, they could be acting and kill us the second we trust them. Or should I say, kill you."
"Why me?" Aang asked, his eyes getting wider in his surprise.
"Well you are the Avatar," Sokka said carelessly. "Wouldn't surprise me if you had assassins on your tail. Remember Combustion Man?"
"Sokka!" Katara scolded her brother and then looked over at the other group before turning her attention back to the others. "Look, it's clear that they don't know what to do without their powers. I know I wouldn't if I was them. Zuko, imagine if your bending was taken from you instantly. Or your bending Toph. Or yours Aang."
The three mentioned benders shared a look, each knowing that they wouldn't know what to do if such an event were to ever happen. Aang got up and slowly walked over to the other group.
"Hello," he smiled at the six, who stared steadily back. Aang was a little unnerved by the distrusting looks. The last time he had a look like that was from Sokka when he [Aang] came out of the iceberg. "We've got a nice big fire going over on our side of the temple if you'd like to join us?"
Luna quickly stood up and walked over to the other group, leaving five unsure teens.
"Well, if you change your mind, you're always welcome," Aang said and then walked back to his group.
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"Well Luna trusts them," Harry said. "Maybe we should go and join their group."
"Harry," Hermione sighed, "Luna believes in Nargles and Wrakspurts. That doesn't exactly mean that her judgment is the best."
"Lay off her Hermione," Ginny glared at her friend. "I'm going, just to make sure Luna's alright."
"Well then I'm going to make sure you'll be alright," Ron said, looking at Ginny in a way that made it impossible for Ginny to argue with him. "Neville, you in?"
"I don't know," Neville sighed.
"Harry?" Ron, who'd gotten up, offered his hand to his best mate. "You in?"
"I'm not leaving Hermione and Neville," Harry said. "But I also don't want you guys getting hurt. We should stay as a group no matter what."
"Bit late for that, mate," Ron said, jerking his head to where Luna was now sitting next to the girl who had confronted Ginny upon their arrival.
Hermione, who had noticed this, sighed and then stood up. "I still think this is the most idiotic thing we've ever done," she stated as she helped Neville up.
"Seriously?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who disproved of the plan to go and make sure Sirius was alright before we actually implemented the plan."
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Hermione sniffed.
"That's because she doesn't have one," Ron muttered to Harry and they bit back their snickers upon Hermione's glare. "Let's go!"
The five walked over to the other group, where Luna cheerfully made room for Ginny to sit next to her.
"Sokka?" Harry asked a little nervously. He approached Sokka because he was the only one to give his name upon their arrival.
"Yeah?" Sokka looked up from the piece of meat he was devouring. "What do you need?"
"We were wondering if we might be able to sit next to your fire," Hermione said bravely. She motioned to theirs, which never managed to light up. "We failed somewhat in ours."
The little boy smiled and nodded. "Sure! There's room for all of us by the fire. Come join us."
Ron sat down by Ginny, who now was between him and Luna. Harry sat on Ron's other side and Hermione took the spot next to him—leaving Neville to sit next to the girl who'd confronted him with the boulder.
"I guess," the girl stated, "if we're all going to be getting along, we should make our names known. I mean, they gave us their names. We should do the same."
"I'm Aang!" the boy with the arrow on his head said with a grin. "I'm an air bender!"
"I'm Katara," the girl who confronted Ginny smiled softly. "I'm a water bender."
"I'm Toph," the girl next to Neville said with a smirk. "I'm an earth bender."
"Zuko, fire bender."
"I'm Suki," the last girl smiled. "I'm not a bender but a member of the Kyoshi warriors."
"Sokka," Sokka grinned. "Meat and Sarcasm guy."
"Nice to meet all of you," Luna smiled as she stared into the fire. "Ooh, Nargles!" Harry could see Zuko give the girl a questioning look, as if scared for her sanity.
"You'll have to forgive Luna," Hermione said.
"Why?" Sokka asked. "She's cool!"
All the DA members gave the boy an odd look, as did the members of Team Avatar. Shaking their heads, they all seemed to strike up conversations now that the tension between the groups had ended.
"Tell us about your world," Katara said with a comforting smile. "It seems so strange, a world without benders or the Avatar."
"Who's the Avatar?" Ginny asked curiously.
"I am," Aang said, no grin on his face to be seen. "It's my duty to learn all the elements and master the Avatar state. Once I've done that, I need to face the Fire Lord and end this war once and for all."
"No pressure," Ron muttered under his breath, sneaking a glance to Harry.
"I've learnt all but fire," Aang continued, having not heard Ron's comment. "Zuko's been teaching me all I need to know."
"Cool! Can I watch?" Ginny asked with a grin on her face, which fell when Zuko shook his head, unknowingly making the fire glow brighter and edge towards Harry.
"Fire is the most volatile of the elements. A beginner, even one as powerful as Aang, can't possibly control it for very long."
"Oh," Ginny said, understanding the restrictions now. "I still would like to see some bending while I'm here."
"Earth and Water are the safest elements to watch," Zuko told her. "Even Air is dangerous, as the right amount of force could blow you off the edge."
"Hey Zuko! Stop with the firebending!" Sokka shouted, interrupting the conversation. "You're kinda freaking out the new guys."
"I'm not doing any bending Sokka," Zuko turned to snap at the warrior when he saw the fire. Instantly, he fixed his mistake. "Oh. I had no idea."
"It's fine," Harry lied, trying to get the color back to his face without anyone seeing.
"Yeah, when you've faced what Harry's faced, a little fire's nothing," Ron snorted, patting Harry on the back.
"Oh?" Katara looked interested. "How about a story?"
Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione, and then at Ginny. "I don't know if I know any interesting stories—"
"Harry, stop being so noble," Ron snorted. "How about the time you drove off 100 dementors at once?"
"Or the time you killed the Basilisk with the sword of Gryffindor?" Hermione reminded him.
"Or the time we all helped save the Sorcerer's Stone in our first year?" Ron added on.
"Or the time you and Ron took out a Troll with a first year spell?" Hermione added her two knuts.
"Or—"
"ALL RIGHT!" Zuko shouted, annoyed at the constant noise. "Just pick a subject and tell us. Before Sokka wets himself with excitement."
The Ministry Six chuckled at the disgusted look Sokka gave to Zuko. Harry thought for a moment.
"Well, what about my first Quidditch game?" Harry suggested. "That's relatively interesting."
Ron and Ginny nodded eagerly, Ginny excited to hear about Harry's first ever Quidditch game.
"What's Quidditch?" Sokka asked but no one seemed to hear as Harry launched into the explanation, exaggerating some of the dives and stopping when Katara would gasp in fright. When he finished, the only one without a look of awe on their face was Zuko.
"You should think of writing when you finish Hogwarts Harry," Ginny said breathlessly. "You kept Ron occupied for that entire length of time and that's saying something."
Zuko chuckled under his breath as he put out the fire. "We should get some sleep. As close to the Fire Nation as we are, you never know what could happen."
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The next morning had the groups awoken by a large crumbling sound. Harry shot up like a rocket and grabbed his wand only to remember that his magic didn't work in this world.
"What are you doing?" he heard Katara shout as a barrage of rocks fell near him and Ginny.
"Keeping rocks from crushing you," Zuko told her.
"Well, I'm not crushed so get off!"
Harry's attention was diverted from the argument by the arrival of a crazed looking woman with black hair. Everyone else seemed to know her, judging by the looks of hatred that were being sent her way.
"Azula!" Zuko growled, his fists lighting up with flames.