Lionheart
by Ourania Aella
Chapter 2 – New Allies, New Friends
As Harry started awoke, he suddenly felt himself lifted into the air and slammed into something hard. He realized that there shouldn't be enough room the train compartment to be swung around like that so even before he opened his eyes he realized that he was no longer where he should be. Opening his eyes, he quickly adjusted to the light and saw that he was against a tree and there was a girl a little older than him walking up to him with a fierce look on her face. Even if he didn't know what she was angry, he could tell that he was in big trouble.
Slowly pulling himself up with support of one of the trees branches, he heard her muttering something about stupid brats, force bonds, and something to do with a rancor, even though he didn't know what that was. So he figured he should ask her whats wrong instead of running away, which admittedly was an insanely stupid idea that he would regret in a few seconds.
"What's going on? Why are you angry at me?" He asked, only for her to pick up her hand and suddenly lift him in the air, and smash him against another tree.
"What's wrong! What's Wrong! I'm woken up from an almost 4,000 year long sleep just so that a brat like you can try and force me into a force bond! That's what's wrong!" She said with venom in her voice and fury on her face as she took a slight step closer to him with each word. Her long black hair seemed to move with the power she was leaking out and were it not for the fact that Harry was already incredibly confused and immobilized by her, he would probably be shaking in fear.
As he was about to ask what a Force Bond was, knowledge started to seep into him from no where and he was slowly overwhelmed by the amount of it and from the looks of it, the girl across from him was also afflicted by the same knowledge and promptly fell down and passed out, letting him fall back onto the ground. When he reached the ground, the pain in his head slowly began to fade and he stood up, and pulled the past out girl to the tree and laid her back on it, allowing her to rest.
After he made sure the girl was comfortable, he slowly took in his surroundings. It seems to be that he was in a clearing that was surrounded by a forest that went on for as far as the eye could see. Needing to search for other, he felt around for the presence of other beings but was shocked when, besides the girl, the only presence he felt was himself and it was coming from everywhere. It was as if he was everything in this place. As the knowledge started to take hold, he realized that he was in his mind and that everything that he could see was his mindscape. He wondered how he knew it till he started to know things that he never knew before.
Topics began to circulate through his mind as he knew about the force, various general abilities he could learn if he trained himself. He learned of the Jedi Order, the Dark Side of the force, and small pieces of information about the sleeping girl. Her name was Revan. She'd been a talented Jedi Padawan who was very skilled in the force and other useful subjects. She'd apparently fallen to the Dark Side and eventually lost her memory for some reason.
Soon information came to him on Force Bonds and he immediately realized what he'd done. He'd just bonded Revan to him until one of them breaks the bond, which would prove difficult as they needed to be in the same place, at the same time. While they could ignore eachother, it would prove both difficult and annoying as they would every once in a while catch a stray though from the other. Sighing he sat down on a tree facing Revan and allowed himself to fall into his usual Force Meditation, focusing on his new knowledge about the force, while his mind sorting through the information.
After what seemed like many hours later, although he couldn't tell because the sun never seemed to move in his mind, Harry felt Revan wake up and immediately paid attention to what she was going to do. He hoped she wouldn't attack him again but he couldn't be too sure.
Revan slowly opened her eyes and as she realized what was going on, she instantly glared at him, but not with the same fury as before. This time, in her eyes he could see pain and pity for him even though the anger from before was still there.
"You should learn to defend your mind or at least keep your memories inside your own head. I have my own memories, I don't need yours." was the first thing she said and he immediately paled.
'Did she see how I was abused? Is that why there was pity in her eyes? I haven't even told Hermione about that!' He thought and started to panic, only for him to be surprised even more when Revan responded to his thoughts.
"Yes. I saw pretty much most of your memories and I know you didn't bond us on purpose but the second I get to your planet I'm breaking the bond and going back to sleep. And before you ask, yes I read your mind. If I wouldn't have set my own defenses, you'd know everything that I know, have all my memories, as well as be able to read my mind too. Be thankful all you got were a few pieces of information. It's painful sorting through that much information so quickly." She said, holding her head and finally letting go of the anger she felt as she knew that the boy in front of her hadn't actually meant for it to happen.
She was still annoyed she'd have to correct his mistakes. Had it happened to anyone else, on his planet, he'd have been stuck with someone who most likely couldn't shield their minds and didn't know how to break the bond. He should be happy it was her who he did it too even through she did intend on throwing him into a tree or two on his own planet once she arrived.
"Wait you said you were asleep for 4,000 years, how is that possible? And you look younger than your memories show you. Is it even possible to become younger? Are you immortal or something?" He asked slowly piecing together some information. "And wait, you said planets, there are more people out there?"
"Slow down for a second, and I'll explain a few things. Then you should get pack to yourself. We can communicate through your mind so till I get to you, let's at least deal with your mental defenses."
"First of all, no, I am not immortal. I'm a clone that was put under stasis to store of information, abilities, and memories after my original self died. So I am essentially the same person as my original, just younger. If you don't count the time I was asleep, I should be 16 now, so I'm just a bit older than you. Yes, there is an entire galaxy out there that is full of planets that humans, and other intelligent life forms live on and interact with eachother. They, at least last I checked, are united under the banner of a single republic that has stood for thousands of years. Now I'd suggest you get out of your mindscape as soon I'd guess your friends will board the train. Time passes slowly here so, you haven't actually spent much time here."
And with that, she waved her hand in front of his face and for the first time since this happened, smiled, because when she was made, her original was afraid that someone would wake her for the knowledge she had. She knew she had information that could be forcefully taken from her to hurt an incredible number of people. She knew that she was safe as long as she was bonded with Harry, and once she broke the bond, she would make sure to hide, and hopefully never be awoken again.
As everything faded away, Harry awoke, sitting in his compartment wondering is it was a dream. He knew more than when he went into the dream, but really he wasn't sure if he could believe it all. That is till he heard a voice in his head saying 'Yes Harry, it did happen. Now after your friends arrive, just say you're tired and I'll teach you how to protect your mind so that I don't always have such a terrible headache.'
With that, he chuckled and looked out the window only to see students followed by their parents starting to arrive through the portal from kings cross. He smirked at the awed looks on the younger children's faces as they went through the portal. The soon to be first years were all immensely overwhelmed by the magical world. Both muggle-born and half-blood as well as pureblood. He wondered if the pureblooded children don't go out much before they turn eleven. Whenever he stayed at the Burrow, they never really left the area. The only one in the family that seemed to leave on a regular basis was Arthur Weasley, Ron's dad.
Looking at the clock and seeing that there was twenty minutes left before the Hogwarts Express would leave, he realize that he had about fifteen more minutes before the Weasleys would arrive. Ron was never someone who did things on time and thanks to that, he doubted that he had started packing till this morning. He chuckled at the thought and wondered if Ron would ever get things straight. 'Maybe one day Hermione'll get through to him. With all the fights they have, you'd wonder how they are even friends. But to stay friends, Ron will eventually have to start listening to her'
As he was immersed in his thought, someone else entered into his compartment without him realizing and set down opposite to him. Once he snapped back to reality he saw a girl he wouldn't have ever expected to near him, sitting right across from him in his compartment on the train. She didn't even bother paying attention to him he thought as she appeared to be deeply engrossed in a book. This brought him to a different train of thought as he wondered why Gryffindor and Slytherin hate eachother. He never really did have a reason to dislike them other than Malfoy and his goons. 'Try talking to her.' Revan said to him. 'It's always good to have allies in places where people won't expect it. Besides, maybe you'll find out why your two houses hate eachother.'
So, taking Revan's advice, Harry decided to at least try and start up a conversation."It's polite to say hello when you walk into a compartment with someone else already inside, you know?" He said with a slight smirk.
She immediately jumped up and glared at him. "Sorry, Potter. I didn't realize you were in here already." She suddenly stood and reached for her trunk but Harry stopped her from pulling it down. "What?" she said with no venom in her voice but seemed clearly annoyed. He had expected the venom and anger, but not the indifference and annoyance.
"You don't really have to leave, you know. I was just trying to strike up a conversation." He said sitting back down and allowing her to do the same.
"I thought you hated all Slytherins, Potter. Why would you want to talk to one?" From her tone, she was obviously amused, but hid it from view quite well. Now that he thought about it, she never really showed much emotion from what he saw. The only time he'd seen her even smile was in the library once when she was studying with Hermione, her friend Tracy Davis, also a Slytherin, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot, both from Hufflepuff. It was an odd study group he'd seen a few times but thought he was the only one he really noticed as no one else ever seemed to talk about it.
"Well, I hate Malfoy and his group but I've never really dealt with anyone in Slytherin other than them and the Slytherin quidditch team, so I don't really know why Gryffindor dislikes Slytherin so much. And now that I've answered your question, I'll ask one of my own. Why do you always hide behind the Ice Princess mask?"
That question shocked her. No one outside of her study group knew that the whole Ice Princess persona was a mask used to deal with the more unsavory side of Slytherin and keep others from trying to take advantage of her. Not many even knew she was really a different person underneath that so she was shocked that Potter had figured it out so easily. Harry seemed to recognize the shock under the mask and suddenly realized what she was thinking.
"Wait, so no one besides that study group of yours knows?" As he saw her eyes widening with that question, he continued. "Yes, I know about the study group. I've seen you and the group in the library sometimes whenever I go to visit Hermione. I never mentioned it because it seemed to be a secret."
Hearing that, she slowly calmed down. She knew her secrets where at least safe with him. She kind of understood now what Hermione saw in him. He was truthful and trustworthy from what she could discern and was really a good person, which was more than could be said for about half of Hogwarts and almost the entirety of Slytherin. For a moment she wished that he could join the study group but knew that was impossible. Fame and secrets never go well together and who was, after all, the Boy-Who-Lived.
Before she could reply, the door to the compartment opened to reveal he best friend, Tracy Davis, with a shocked look on her face as she saw who was in the compartment along with Daphne Greengrass, her best friend. "What are you doing here Potter? Just because you hate all of Slytherin doesn't mean that you need to come here and start trouble." Tracy said with venom and a glare. She didn't want her best friend hurt just because of some stupid house rivalry.
At that comment, Harry burst out laughing and Daphne just gave a slight smile, but it was enough to shock Tracy again as Daphne never showed emotion in front of an outsider. Something was going on here and she was going to find out, but before she could ask Daphne alleviated her worries. "Don't worry Tracy, Potter knows about our group and has for a while so it's not like there is much of a point in keeping the secret from him. Besides, apparently he doesn't hate Slytherin, just a large portion of our house. Thankfully the part that includes Malfoy and his group."
Sharing a quick look with Daphne, Tracy understood that she had made the decision about Potter and that they would need to give him a chance. Besides, if Hermione really did have enough reason to trust Potter, then they could give him a chance. They unlike Harry, knew that Hermione only dealt with Ron because Harry was friends with the git and didn't want to cause a rift between her and her best friend.
Taking a seat by Daphne, Tracy gave a sigh and was about to apologize to the boy sitting across from them when Hermione, Ron, and Ginny opened the door to the compartment and silence took over the group. Ron looked like he was about to turn a shade of purple that a plum would be jealous of while Hermione just looked surprised and a little scared. Ginny's reaction was however the most surprising though. She adopted an angered look at the two girls and seemed to be almost jealous. Harry inwardly sighed as it seemed she hadn't yet gotten over her crush on him. He hadn't dealt with her much over the summer but she hadn't shown much of her old fangirl side for a while.
It was Ron who ended up breaking the silence in the end with an expected and stupid remark. "Hey, you snakes! Get out of the compartment before you taint Harry!" he said and harry had to stifle his laugh as Ron was just being as stupid and bigoted as Malfoy right now.
"Ron," Harry said while glaring with venom. "They are here because I want them here. I was talking to Daphne about why Gryffindors and Slytherins hate eachother." He responded calmly yet coldly. He didn't really appreciate Ron interrupting his conversation like that, but new it was unavoidable.
"But they're Snakes Harry. They are evil and that's why we don't like them. They'll all end up siding with You-Know-Who." Ron said, confident that his close-minded statement would answer all questions.
"Ron, Harry's right. Just because some Slytherins follow in Voldemort's steps, it doesn't mean that all Slytherins do. You should try getting to know some of them." Hermione said, trying to stop the argument before it started to get any worse, but she apparently failed as Ron seemed to be going for his wand.
"See! They've already started to taint Harry! And you too Hermione!" Ron said about to cast a spell at the Slytherins but before anyone could even move, Harry just pulled out his wand and had already cast the disarming charm. At the range he was at, Ron couldn't dodge or shield so he ended up getting blasted out of the compartment, knocking him unconscious. Ginny then went up to him and dragged him to a different compartment as the Train began to move out of the station.
As Ginny disappeared from view, she called back saying "I'll take him to the twins and I'll see you later Hermione!"
Hermione called back an affirmation that she'd be waiting and sat down beside Harry getting into a conversation with the two Slytherins across from her. In the mean time, Harry jammed the door to the compartment with a trick he remembered Revan had done in one of her memories using the force. He didn't want Malfoy or Ron coming back and disturbing his building of his mental defenses. 'Revan, are you ready to start?' He asked in his mind and as she responded positively, he decided to tell everyone he was going to rest for a bit.
"Hey guys, I'm going to rest for a bit as I'm a little tired. I locked the door to the compartment so we won't be bothered." He said, and getting approval from the everyone else, he closed his eyes and let Revan guide him back into his mindscape.
"Ok Harry, the only way to defend your mindscape is to make it so that people can't get to your memories. Right now, your memories are scattered who know where in this place and it's not too hard to sift through them and find what they need. You need to go through them all and organize them into area that are extremely difficult or nearly impossible to get to. Be creative and make sure that only people you want and you yourself can get to them." Revan explained to him.
For the next few days as it seemed that time really did pass faster in his mindscape compared to the rest of the world, he did as Revan instructed and slowly built his defenses up. When he was finally finished, he awoke to find that the girl had already changed after unlocked the compartment, with difficulty, and that the train was almost at hogwarts.
A/N: Ok guys, I'm not really sure how I want to continue with the story on the relationship side of things. Either Harry/Revan or Harry/Revan/Daphne
