A.N. The last chapter seemed well received. Honestly, I was expecting something like 'how dare you hurt poor Shinobu'. As I said, I was considering what becoming a familiar would mean for the character (to the person that suggested a human familiar was strange and should explain it some other way, sorry, but life debt bonds started to annoy me a while back to the point where I don't want to write the words, let alone expand the concept, and human familiars don't seem strange to me).
To the person who mentioned 'squeeing' if Shinobu grew puppy ears, I will admit my original concept eventually contained Harry brewing potions to sell to the Japanese magical society, including things such as modified polyjuice (cat, dog, cow, fox versions etc.) not to mention other, 'interesting' potions to fully… cater to the Japanese market. And that such potions would require testers. Not sure if I'll keep the idea, but had to mention.
A couple of issues about last chapter. Someone pointed out I had Harry 'always' have his invisibility cloak on hand. Whoops, I forgot about it. Assume he didn't want it getting damaged by swords/spears/slashy winds. Or that he forgot about it, or felt he couldn't properly put it on when someone was trying to kill him.
Someone felt the 'brawl' with Motoko felt tacked on. I can see his point. I wasn't particularly happy with it, but I wanted to blow the situation open, the grudge was something Motoko was willing to kill him over, (Last time mentioning this, but it is not due to Harry's gender, and I don't mean a humorous 'I'll kill you rather than admit you may be my first love, Urashima!') and Harry had strained his brain pretty hard saving Shinobu and was unable to use his mind the way he had in the previous fight, and was getting really pissed off with her constant attitude towards him. It wasn't supposed to be a well thought out fight, the way his previous one was. At least, that's what I was trying to get across.
Someone mentioned I needed to up the pacing, about romance, drama etc. I do agree somewhat. I have serious doubts about my ability to make romance seem anything other than robotic, but I am having issues about pacing. For example, after the first scene in this chapter, the next 'important' scene is in about March, about 4.5 months after it. Not to say the in-between isn't important, I can't just go 'and Harry's relationships with the other residents advanced' so I feel I need to come up with some events to put there, (I had some in mind), make all the events flow, not exclude interactions with certain characters (Kitsune and Kaolla are giving me trouble, Su in particular. Since they're both foreigners I feel they should have some sort of connection, but I can't figure out what to do with her).
Minor correction; Shinobu shall have black hair as opposed to blue, as per the manga. A minor aesthetic change of no real importance, but I felt like mentioning it since I previously said her hair was blue.
Harry woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily, and his head throbbing at least a hundred times worse than the time the twins had got him completely drunk during the party after his success in the first task of the tri-wizard tournament. Unfortunately, this time there was no one upon whom he could vent his irritation.
Considering the events of yesterday, it was no surprise that he had had nightmares last night. A quick glance at his bed revealed patches of red. He grew concerned, one hand rising to his scar, before realising that he hadn't removed his clothes, which had been damp with Shinobu's blood when he had gone to sleep last night. His scar hadn't split open again. He frowned, his scar had been incredibly well behaved compared to the almost constant ache it had been forcing on him while he had still been in England. No matter, a concern for another time.
He rummaged around in his trunk for a moment, pulling out a pain relief potion. Most of his magical supplies were kept in the annex, but he kept a few up here just in case. After throwing down the potion, not as foul tasting as many were, he began flicking through the standard book of spells, searching out a stronger cleaning spell than 'scourgify', guessing it might not be enough for his bed and clothes.
After he had done what he could for his room, as well as his person and clothes, he looked out the window. If he had to guess, it was later than he usually got up. He idly wondered if Shinobu had decided to make breakfast yet. He suspected she'd cope with yesterday by embracing her normal routine. He knew a thing or two about coping, after all.
His headache still present, the potion hardly having made a dent in it, he stretched himself out, making his way down towards the dining area. When he got down there, breakfast was already out, the residents already eating, him being the last to arrive. A quick glance at Shinobu told him she was looking fine, better than he was at any rate. He was surprised. It seemed she had some mental resilience. Well, either that or she was denying last night happened. That wouldn't surprise him.
Shinobu, Aoyama and he were sat in silence, while the others chatted happily. Normally Harry would have listened, but he was having trouble managing his chopsticks, something which hadn't given him trouble in weeks. Shinobu was fiddling with her food, while Aoyama was simply quietly eating her meal. The others may have noticed something, but were choosing not to pry. Or they didn't notice. He couldn't tell.
When the others left, Keitaro and Naru to study, Kaolla and Kitsune to… whatever they did, Aoyama, Shinobu and he were left in the dining area. Finishing up his meal, what he was able to (not being particularly hungry), the three glanced at each other, wordlessly making their way to the tea shop (probably since it was 'neutral ground' Harry thought).
"Harry, why don't you tell us exactly what happened last night?" Haruka suggested. They were sat in the back room of the tea house, Haruka having closed it so they could have their talk.
So he did. He explained what had happened, leaving out details such as why he disliked Halloween and the events of the graveyard that influenced his actions. While he could have brought himself to talk about that, he really didn't want to in front of Aoyama.
Said girl sat in silence as he spoke. He had no idea what she was thinking.
"And then I brought her back here." He finished.
"What do you think the chances of someone else coming to take a shot at you are?" Haruka asked.
Harry shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. My headmaster told me some might hold a grudge against him and take it out on me, but I have no idea where the magical districts even are, let alone how to get to them, or what people would make of me."
They turned to Aoyama. "I do not know. My family may do some business with several of the magical families that used to govern Japan, but my family has no interest in what they feel about foreign affairs."
"Could your family find out?" Haruka asked.
"It is doubtful. At least, asking a question about such a thing would undoubtedly focus people's attention to the why we wanted to know." Harry had the feeling there was something she wasn't saying, but figured he really shouldn't pry considering their terse 'truce'.
"Umm," Shinobu interrupted, "can you explain some more about what you did to save me" she shied away from the attention her interruption brought, even as the focus turned to Harry.
He fidgeted somewhat nervously. "Er, not really." Seeing that they looked unsatisfied, he rushed to justify himself "Look, a hybrid method that I used is something that's never been done before, at least to my knowledge. I can tell you about western style familiars, and a little about eastern style familiars, but a hybrid one? I suspect it would share traits with either one, or both, but it could just as easily end up being something entirely new."
After a quick exchange of glances, "I think that would be best." Haruka told him.
He took a drink from the tea Haruka had prepared. "Alright, I'll try and explain from the beginning." He paused, considering his words.
"Okay, in the oldest stories, a familiar was the servant of a witch, provided by the devil, usually taking the form of a cat, bird, wolf, a human, whatever was convenient really. Of course, that was a heavily biased view by Christian society. The history books I have say that witches and wizards devised a ritual to bind creatures as 'familiars'. The first thing it does is remove traits which aren't useful to a servant, things such as a tendency to try and eat the wizard in question."
"Second, a familiar can always locate its master. A wizard is able to share senses with it, seeing from its eyes and such, and can sometimes possess it, that is controlling it's body as though it was the wizards own, though that seems to depend on the wizard in question. It's possible to do it on a human, but highly illegal, and the book doesn't mention what the consequences are to the human involved."
"Now, eastern familiars… I'm less familiar with them." He ignored the accidental pun. "I recalled that they could draw on their master's magical power and use it to do things such as strengthen themselves, some can then use it to cast magic, and, most importantly, repair themselves. The styles are 'incompatible', something I truly understood last night when I forced myself to comprehend how to create an eastern familiar. Well, close enough to bastardise a method. Damn near killed myself doing it as well." He muttered.
"So what does this mean for Shinobu?" Aoyama asked again.
"Like I said, I don't bloody know, alright!" he snapped. At Aoyama's narrowed eyes, "Look, I'm sorry. My head is still pounding after what I did last night. Honestly, if I didn't owe it to Shinobu to explain to the best of my ability, I'd still be in bed." He confessed.
"Are you alright Harry? We don't have to do this now." Haruka offered, concerned.
Harry took a deep breath "No, I'm fine. As I said, I don't know what it means for Shinobu. I could try and force the issue, see if I can look out of her eyes or possess her, or if she can draw on my power, but it might make things worse for her, somehow. It sounds crap, but I think the best we can do is wait and see what happens with her."
Aoyama got to her feet suddenly. "I see. If that is all, I shall leave. I will contact my family, to see if they know anything about familiars, but I do not think it will turn up anything useful." She bowed her head to Haruka "I shall see you later." She said, turning and leaving.
Harry sighed, sinking into his arms on the table. "On another matter, what were you doing out there at that time Shinobu?"
"Huh? Oh, er, I was looking for you. I noticed you seemed really withdrawn the entire day. Since I knew you left for a walk, I decided to see if I could cheer you up." She ended up muttering, looking at the table.
Harry grimaced into his arms. So it really was his fault. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't taken down the guy that hurt you, he may have been able to save you without this happening."
Haruka shook his head "I wouldn't beat yourself up Harry, he'd probably have insisted on fighting before even attempting to heal her. If he even could."
"Perhaps." Harry muttered.
"Alright!" Haruka said with a clap. "Harry, go back to bed. Taking a good look at you, you really do look like crap."
"Sure." Harry muttered, not even putting up any resistance as he slunk out of the tea house, making his way back up to the dorm.
Everything was kind of a blur to Harry. The entire stretch of time was covered with a throbbing pain. The pain didn't get worse, but it didn't really get better. He got up at some point during the day, ate some food, before withdrawing to his bed. After a few days, he didn't even have to get up since Shinobu brought the food straight to him. He vaguely recalled Haruka appearing, saying something about how if he didn't improve soon they'd get a doctor. He then had the strangest feeling that he was listening to some really beautiful bird song, which reminded him of Fawkes.
He eventually woke, feeling more or less like his old self. He glanced around. He was dressed in pajamas. Which was odd, since he didn't recall owning any. Considering he hadn't really left his room, that he could recall, for the past… how long was it? He had the sense he'd been in his room for a while, but the room smelled fairly fresh. He frowned. Well, whatever. For now he had to go eat, he was hungry. He went down, well, after getting properly dressed.
Conversation ceased as he entered the room. It wasn't exactly something he was unused to, but he hadn't been expecting it here. He glanced around. "Er, hi?"
Everyone (Bar Aoyama, but the day she was happy to see him was the day he ate his hat. The pointy wizard one) clamoured to their feet.
"Harry, are you alright?" Keitaro asked, rushing over. Harry nimbly sidestepped as he tripped, ploughing through the space he had been standing.
"We were worried, you looked like crap" Kitsune added.
"Kitsune, you shouldn't say something like that. We were concerned though." Naru responded.
"Hahaha, you wanna play? Everyone else has been too busy" came the excitable voice of Kaolla.
"Um, I'm glad you're feeling better." Shinobu said meekly.
Harry rubbed his head sheepishly, "Yeah, it's kind of a blur, but I'm feeling right as rain now. Thanks for your concern." Making his way over to the table, he sat down. Everyone crowded around him. He was grateful they seemed to care about him, but it was highly irritating. Pointing it out would be rude though. "Your food is getting cold." He pointed out, which had the effect of sending everyone else to their seat.
As the conversations started up, he glanced over at Aoyama, who was not holding onto her sword for once. "Is it just me, or do you seem a little less frosty?" he muttered.
She made no change in her expression as she muttered back "I still can't stand your presence, but I cannot deny you took great damage saving Shinobu's life. I shall at least try and offer you some courtesy."
He rolled his eyes. Well, it was a lot better than what he'd become used to from her.
"By the way" he asked the table "what's the date? My heads a little fuzzy."
"November fourteenth." Naru answered immediately.
Harry's eyes flicked towards Shinobu. "I see, thanks."
"Here" he said, handing a small package to Shinobu the next day. It was in the morning, the only other person up was probably Aoyama, practicing her sword skills. He had joined Shinobu in the kitchen.
She looked at the package with obvious surprise. "How did you?"
He chuckled. "I'm a wizard, one must know these things." The truth was, upon arriving in Hinata, he'd used divination to predict everyone's birthday. He'd checked his predictions with Haruka, who had been a little impressed, though she wouldn't admit it.
The gift itself wasn't anything special, he'd not really had the time to go and get anything, after all. But it had sentimental value. Of a sort. It was the only real present he got from his relatives (a pair of things that had once been socks and fifty pence didn't really count as presents in his book), and he thought she might enjoy it. He couldn't look at it without remembering his relatives' fates anyway.
She carefully opened the present, revealing what lay inside. "Is this?"
He nodded, "It's a cook book. A pretty good one. It's in English, so you may not be able to read it, so I don't mind helping out if you need it. It's a little old, but it has" he searched for a word "sentimental value." He finished.
Shinobu clearly wanted to ask, but saw he didn't want to answer, so she left it alone. She settled for smiling at him. "Thank you."
His lips twitched into a smile, "you're welcome."
She turned and put it on the table. As she did so, her eyes saw a cupboard where cleaning supplies were kept. Her breath caught, catching Harry's attention. Looking over at her, he saw she was rather pale.
"Shinobu, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"Th-the cupboard. It's just, I remembered this dream I had. When I woke up, I forgot it, but I remembered dreaming I was locked in cupboard, that I was used to it." She shook her head. "It's silly I know, no one would be used to being locked in a cupboard." She tried to laugh it off awkwardly.
Harry grinned, though it came out sickly, and tried to laugh as well, though it sounded hollow to his ears. "You're right, who would force someone to become used to living in a cupboard?" That was something she shouldn't have known, that he had never wanted to reveal to anyone! Under any circumstance! He had a good idea how she had found out about it, she had accessed his mind when they were sleeping. It was dangerous, there were things he really didn't want anyone to see, though the cupboard was rated quite high on that list. He wished Dumbledore was here. Even Hermione, one of them might know a way to stop a young teenage girl from invading his mind when he slept.
They continued preparing breakfast in an awkward silence, and if anyone noticed the awkward atmosphere, no one mentioned it.
After that, he went back to the annex. If he'd been out for about two weeks, there were things he had to check on. The animagus potion for one. Thankfully, its current stage required about a month to, well, ferment was probably the best word to describe it. That meant that the potion wouldn't be ruined by his absence. Well, hopefully. Leaving it too long was also a problem.
After seeing that it was ready for the next ingredients to be added, (he had about three of four days left before it would have been ruined), he started the burner under it, waiting for it to heat up. As it did so, he began looking over the information about eastern familiars. He was struck that he could understand it better than he had before, but that his head wasn't hurting at all. After a few minutes which didn't reveal anything important, he turned back to the potion, adding the next set of ingredients. Thankfully they didn't need slicing, mostly consisting of things which were already powdered. The main exception was some of his blood. It was this component that prevented the potion from being bought in shops. Very few wizards would trust another with their blood. It was apparently important for reasons that Hogwarts hadn't yet gotten around to explain.
"It's Shinobu's birthday."
Harry looked over. Keitaro was standing there, Naru beside him.
"I know." Harry replied.
"You know?! Why didn't you tell anyone?" Naru asked, shocked.
"Honestly, I thought everyone knew." Harry answered with a shrug.
"Even though we weren't planning a party or anything?"
Harry tilted his head. "Why would you do that?" The only birthday parties he'd seen were Dudley's, not something he'd wish on someone, no matter how envious he'd been as a child.
Both people stood staring at him as though he'd said something ridiculous.
Keitaro shook his head, "That's not important, we're planning a little thing this evening, would you be there?"
Harry shrugged again, "Sure, just tell me what you need. I make a mean cake." Well, his relatives seemed to enjoy it at any rate.
Harry sighed as Shinobu ran off in tears and Keitaro was blown off the balcony. He had pulled out a present to give Shinobu, and a pair of her underwear with it. Well, given her reaction he guessed it was her underwear. Honestly, setting aside why he had a pair of Shinobu's knickers, why on Earth would he keep them in his pocket, and forget they were there, even after putting a present into the pocket?
The first time such a thing had happened, he had rushed over, a charm on his lips to try and stop him breaking anything. Though it seemed that his resilience was on another level. From what he understood, wizards were more resilient than muggles, yet a fall like that may have caused him to get at least a broken arm, yet Keitaro shrugged it off like nothing. It was a little odd.
Either way, Harry went after Shinobu who had fled the scene in embarrassment. When he found her, he handed her the present and the underwear. "Here, you forgot these."
She took them silently, not looking him in the eye.
"So… that happened." Harry said. He had no idea what he should be saying, but felt he should say something.
"Yeah…"
"So, enjoy your birthday so far? It never occurred to me to throw a party. I was surprised when Keitaro brought it up."
She nodded. "Sempai was pretty cool, right?" she asked.
Harry wisely decided against asking whether this was before or after whipping out her knickers. "The bit where he promised to make it into Tokyo U to make up for lying about it? Yeah, I suppose it was pretty cool." If you looked really hard.
Shinobu laughed softly, before she stopped, realising he could hear her. "I hope he makes it."
Harry smiled softly "Yeah, me too. Come on, I made a cake. We don't want to let it go to waste, right?"
He sighed as he sat back. It was almost lunch time. Most the other residents would probably be at school, so it was, if he recalled right, just him and Kitsune. In his experience, if he didn't go and make lunch, then he would have to clean up after her. The amount of mess she made was unreal. He kept intending to spy on her in the kitchen, just to see how she did it. From what he saw, her cooking wasn't that good, which, combined with her untidiness in the kitchen, was the reason she rarely cooked.
He had looked up all the information he had on familiars. Well, in the easier books the Urashima had. There were several books he couldn't even open. It seemed that the only way to open the later books was to be adequately understand the easier books. He had no idea how those charms, if that's what they were, could be circumvented.
What he had read meant that trying to undo Shinobu's status as familiar was something that he really should try and avoid doing. From what he saw, he was as likely kill her as free her. With a final check on the potion, which was kept a bit away from where the books were kept, he decided to go up to the main house.
"So Harry, what you doing for lunch?" came the voice of Kitsune. She was leaning against the doorway as she asked. Harry remembered how she had looked in the changing room, before he turned back to his preparations.
"I'm trying out Ramen. Shinobu showed me how to make it, sorry in advance if I mess it up without her help."
"Ohh, that's nice. By the way, what have you been doing? You disappear for most the day, showing up for meals." She asked.
Harry paused. It was a reasonable question. Given he had apparently bounced back completely from something that had had him bedridden for about a fortnight, her paying more attention was not unexpected.
"Granny Hina asked me to look over some things she had in the annex, in addition to my normal studies." He explained. In his head, he was chanting 'buy it buy it buy it'.
"Oh? I see. By the way, you should check the soup." He had a feeling she was interested, but wasn't pressing.
He glanced over at the soup. It was boiling over. "Crap" he muttered, moving over to deal with it.
He felt something press against his back. Then, he felt Kitsune's breath blow against his ear. "Wuh?" was about all he could come out with.
Suddenly she pulled back. "There." She said, satisfied.
"Huh?" Harry looked down. He was wearing a frilly pink apron. "What!" How the hell did she do that?
There was a clicking sound. He turned, looking at Kitsune, who was holding a camera. "I think Keitaro would appreciate a picture of such a cutie, don't you?" she practically cackled.
Harry flushed. "Quit messing around, it was a stupid mistake."
She laughed. "Just a joke!" she said, waving the camera around as she left the room.
'A joke, huh' Harry thought. A bit later, as he was putting out the lunch for the two of them, he added a little something to his own bowl. As expected, she switched their bowls when he wasn't looking, and she ran out of the room, mirroring Aoyama from the time he'd pulled a similar stunt on her. Just a harmless joke, is all. Unfortunately, she wasn't in the twin's league.
He grinned. This round was his victory.
It was the first of December. In other words, it was Aoyama's birthday. To put it bluntly, Harry himself didn't particularly care, but considering Aoyama was at least making an effort at being less hostile, Harry thought he should at least do something. After much thought, he concluded that the nicest thing he could do for her was to spend the day away from the main building, trying to avoid entering her presence a single time.
Harry grunted as he pulled at a wardrobe. He was in the annex, in a room away from his main workshop. He had read a book about the construction of the inn. Apparently the place was filled with secret passages. It reminded him about Hogwarts a bit.
More importantly, it kindled his sense of adventure. At Hogwarts he had taken great joy in finding secret passages. The marauders map, while an intensely useful artefact, took much of the joy out of the process. All the ones he had found, and many more beside, clearly shown on the map, whenever he cared to look.
Hearing that this building had many such passages had him excited in a way he had not been in a long time. Vague ideas were already forming about making a map of this place, akin to the marauders map. Without the intense magic of Hogwarts, he wasn't sure he could manage something like that, but he was excited to try.
True, he had read about this secret passage in a book, but he had stopped reading about it after realising what it meant. There was little value in simply learning about all the passages, it was much more important to explore for them.
He frowned. The wardrobe didn't want to move. Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went on inside his head. He heard Ron's voice 'are you a wizard or aren't you?' He drew his wand. A simple 'locomotor wardrobe' had the wardrobe slide along the floor, revealing a secret passage.
He grinned, he couldn't wait.
It was a couple of days after he had first taken to exploring the secret tunnels. It turned out that there was a secret underground hot spring. It went through what appeared to be a boiler before it went into the hot springs above it. There was a tunnel that led directly from one hot spring to the other as well. He had no idea how that worked or why it did, but he was glad that the spring was unoccupied when he found out they were connected.
There were also several large cavern like structures beneath the inn, which he had no idea as to the purpose of. He could feel that there was some magic present in the caverns. He had a feeling that the task Granny Hina had set him would have to be accomplished in one of the large caverns, when he knew what to look for.
He had been exploring some of the tunnels, and emerged out from a secret door into the kitchen, surprising Shinobu who had started cooking.
"Harry, where did you come from?"
He shrugged "I was exploring a secret tunnel, having fun." He replied.
"Um, please clean yourself off, you're covered in dust, I don't want it getting in the food" she trailed off towards the end.
Harry looked around, seeing there was no one, he took out his wand and vanished the dust.
"Magic really is convenient though." Shinobu said softly.
Harry grinned, "Yeah. When I learned I could do it, I don't know, I can't really describe the feeling."
"I wish I could learn it too."
Harry shrugged. "You may be able to, though we should probably wait for a long holiday so trying it won't get in the way of your schoolwork."
Her response was soft enough that Harry didn't catch it, but he could make a good guess as to what it was.
"By the way, where is everyone?" he asked, looking around. It looked like lunch was nearly ready, he'd expect people to have started showing up.
"Umm, Motoko has gone on a three day kendo camp, so Kitsune is keeping out the way so Su doesn't latch on to her, apparently it's tiring. Naru is studying and Su seems to have latched onto Keitaro, who's also studying. I hope she doesn't bother him too much…" she trailed off nervously.
Harry could understand her concern, Keitaro needed all the help he could get, since even a slight distraction could cost him his chance at Tokyo U. "I'll go check up on him." Harry reassured.
"Mmm" Shinobu nodded happily.
Making his way up to Keitaro's room, he knocked on the door. Hearing Kaolla's boisterous voice, he opened the door.
"Look, Keitaro's dirty magazines!" she shouted, holding a magazine open at a several page spread of a topless model.
"He's a guy, so it's normal ok? The important thing is studying! Studying!" Naru said, rather irritated.
Harry inserted himself into the conversation. "I hate to interject, but Shinobu's finished lunch. Also, I didn't know you were helping him out, Naru."
"This idiot needs all the help he can get." She huffed.
He caught Kaolla as she raced out the door. "By the way, after lunch, do you want to play a game? Your choice."
The girls face lit up "Yay, game! Game!" she shouted, racing off to the kitchen.
Keitaro rubbed at his head, "Sorry about this, and thanks."
He turned back to Keitaro, grinning "you owe me one, alright? And besides, Naru was right, you need all the help you can get. Now, let's go eat lunch.""
"So, what game do you want to play?" Harry asked. They had finished lunch, and Harry had followed Kaolla outside.
She gestured to a large tub filled with water, a screen across the middle, which he could swear she hadn't had time to bring there. "Battleships!" she laughed.
"Battleships eh?" he vaguely recalled a muggle game like that, "but I'm guessing it's with 'real' ships, right?"
"Yup. They're programmed not to fire outta the battlefield, so you don't have to worry. You're allowed to move one ship and take one shot each turn, then the other persons goes, okay?"
Harry laughed, "Sure, prepare to face the full force of the British navy!"
Kaolla laughed back, "They're no match for the Royal Molmol Fleet!"
They took their positions at either end of the large tub. Due to the screen, they were unable to see each other. Kaolla quickly gave an explanation of the controls.
"Alright, we each have two cruisers, a battleship and a sub. I'll let you go first."
"Wait a moment," Harry interjected, "first I have to name my boats. It's tradition." He considered his small fleet. "Hm, the battleship can be the HMS Gryffindor, the Sub can be the HMS Slytherin, and the cruisers can be the HMS Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."
Names settled, "Right, let's go." He picked up his remote control. "Ravenclaw, advance and fire a warning shot." He muttered.
With a whizzing sound, the small cruiser moved forwards, the turret turning and firing a shell. There was a small splash and explosion.
"Whee" Came Kaolla's exuberant cry, "To bad, you missed, my turn!"
Moments later, a small cannonball slammed into the Ravenclaw, a small explosion occurring, throwing water over Harry, who raised his arm to block any debris from the ship.
"And sunk!" Laughed Kaolla.
Harry narrowed his eyes, "That's pretty clever. You were able to figure out my ships location from the trajectory of its shot." Harry grinned. The Ravenclaw had sacrificed itself to give him important knowledge. A true Ravenclaw to the end. But, that girl. She was on another level, Harry certainly couldn't taget ships with that method.
He glanced at the screen blocking Kaolla's side of the field from view. Of course she'd play with a substantial advantage. He himself really hated to lose. He grinned savagely, too bad for her, he had tricks of his own.
He looked at the water. It was a reflective surface. It was no crystal ball, but then, he wasn't trying to unveil the future, just figure out where his targets were. He focused, and a shimmering image appeared. His grin grew wider.
"My brilliant Ravenclaw. You will not go unavenged. He fiddled with his controls. "Gryffindor, avenge your brave comrade!" His battleship fired a round. He immediately had his ship move forward. Moments later there was an explosion, proving he had hit something.
"Aww, you sunk my battleship!" Kaolla whined. "Well, it's my turn." There was another shot, this time skimming past his battleship, doing little more than splashing him with water. "You moved your ship? No fair!" she complained "I wanted to make it explode."
"Hm hm hm, all's fair in love and war, Fleet Admiral Kaolla! Now, it's my turn again." He laughed.
He focused, bringing the shimmering image into view. The HMS Gryffindor fired another shot, before moving to the side. The resulting explosion confirmed another kill.
"Aww, you got another one! But don't forget we have more than ships at our command, Commander Harry!" Suddenly his battleship exploded.
"What!" he exclaimed, wide eyed.
"Behold the power of my submarine!"
He focused again, before frowning. If he wanted to hit that sub, he'd have to move a ship first. "Oh well, the noble Gryffindor cannot go unavenged! Slytherin, claim underwater superiority in the name of the navy!"
He advanced his sub, firing a torpedo at the opposing U-boat.
"Aww, you got 'im. But I saw exactly where that torpedo came from!" There was an explosion as a cannonball penetrated the water, hitting the sub beneath.
"It seems we're both down to our last boat, Fleet Admiral!" Harry said seriously.
"Yup!" she laughed.
"Unfortunately, it is my turn. The faithful Hufflepuff shall spell your demise." He fiddled with the controls, sending Kaolla's last ship to a watery grave. "And Britain proves its naval superiority again." Harry proclaimed, channelling Draco Malfoy as much as he dared for his 'pompous dickhead' tone.
Kaolla laughed, "That was fun. Okay, how about we play tag next?"
Harry ignored the shiver it sent down his spine.
"Okay, let's begin!" Kaolla said, jumping straight at him feet first.
Harry narrowly dodged, watching amazed as she seemed to bounce off the nearby trees.
"Is she a damn monkey?!" he muttered to himself, dodging her next kick, before trying to put some distance between them.
It was a very different Harry Potter that made it to dinner that evening.
"What the hell happened to you Harry?!" Keitaro exclaimed.
"Tommorow… tag, you can play with Kaolla." Harry groaned. His clothes, despite having some toughness charms placed on them, were clearly roughed up. There were large patches that were covered in dirt, and even some rips on them. Kaolla's 'tag' was certainly a dangerous game.
The girl in question laughed. "We had great fun playing tag all afternoon."
Harry groaned again. He had real confidence in his stamina, he'd been outrunning his cousin's gang as well as putting up with Wood's quidditch obsession for years. However, Kaolla's energy seemed endless. As much he disliked her, Aoyama must be pretty good to seemingly put up with her constantly. Then of course, he'd finally got to taste one of Kaolla's 'dynamic entry's' first hand. He'd actually started putting focus into dodging after that.
He looked over at Shinobu. She seemed a little pale, and out of it. He could guess the cause, if she'd continued seeing his memories. He sighed, he'd have a word with her tomorrow. He really didn't want to, his memories belonged where they were, talking about them was something he wasn't comfortable with, not even with his best friends. But, if they were hurting her, he'd have to man up about it.
"Sorry for not helping you today Shinobu."
"Huh?" she looked startled at being addressed. "No, don't worry about it. I enjoy cooking."
He had started eating his meal when Naru leaned over. "Thanks for dealing with Su. I don't know how I've been roped into helping him, but it feels like he's actually been making some progress. If Su had been around, we'd probably have wasted the whole day."
Harry grimaced. "As I told him, he owes me one. Also, don't expect me to play with her tomorrow. One day is more than enough for me."
Naru laughed softly "I know Su can be a bit troublesome. Well, I appreciate it anyway."
"Don't worry about it. For some reason, I feel like I want to help him." Harry said, shrugging. The conversation over, he returned to his meal.
"No." It was a simple word, but Harry felt like he had said the damn thing a hundred times in the last ten minutes.
"Aww, please? I can't sleep without holding on to someone." Kaolla whined.
"Again, no. I am not letting you sleep in my room." Harry said with finality.
"Why not?" there were tears in her eyes, normally Harry would have caved. But; because I occasionally wake up screaming in the middle of the night, because in my room you would hear the screaming, because the thought of someone being that close for so long terrifies me, because I've seen you sleeping on the roof a couple of times and I like being unbruised.
"Because I said so, that's why. Go sleep with someone else if you must."
"Okay." She said morosely, slowly moving out the room. He watched her go without saying a word.
Harry was in the annex again. This time he was reading over the information he had on ley lines. From what Granny had told him, the dorms tapped into the ley lines for the magic they cast on the hot springs, and the dorms in general. Granny hadn't been able to give more than a vague 'they bring people together' and 'promote happy lives' and he had been unable to get into the books that could provide more details.
Ley lines were incredibly powerful, yet they changed with time. They existed in a state of 'flux'. As such, magic involving tapping into them over a long period of time required recalibrations, to account for any change. The magic of the dorms were apparently fading since there had been several generations where the Urashima had been born without members capable of using magic to perform the adjustments.
From what he heard, there was a basic intro to the use of ley lines in sixth or seventh year, with proper instruction requiring students to have graduated from Hogwarts. As such, he had only some incredibly basic materials to study from, since he couldn't get to the Urashima information about them yet.
He looked over at his teapot. He had drank the last of it. He'd have to go and get some more from the main building, hopefully he wouldn't get ambushed by Kaolla whilst doing so. He'd finish this chapter, then go.
He turned back to the book. Apparently using ley lines was dangerous. They were the 'veins' of the entire planet. They contained an incredible amount of power. Opening yourself to one meant that power flowed through you. If you weren't prepared, or made a slight mistake, that power could burn you from the inside out, killing you if you were lucky. They were incredibly dangerous, thus why they weren't taught at Hogwarts.
Of course, using them to power enchantments was less risky, but when dealing with that sort of power, there were always risks to be had.
"Umm, Harry?"
He stiffened, and span around away from the book.
"Shinobu, what are you doing here?"
The girl looked away. "I thought you might like some tea, so I brought it over for you."
"Thanks, I just... wanted… some." He trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
"Did you have any trouble getting in here?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No, I just came in through the door."
He looked at her though his narrowed eyes. While it was true that she was generally pretty thoughtful, she'd never tried to bring him anything in here before. Hell, he didn't think he'd ever told her he was in here. In addition, he was pretty sure the door automatically locked behind him when he came in.
"What made you think I wanted tea?"
She tilted her head. "I don't know, I just got the feeling you wanted it."
"I think… this may be a problem." He said softly.
"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, clearly nervous.
"I did want tea. I was thinking it was a pain I'd have to go and get some. Then you come in here bringing some, even though I'm pretty sure you had no idea I was in here, and the door was locked."
Her eyes widened, "I-"
He shook his head. "It's probably got something to do with being my familiar. You sensed something I wanted and decided to do it. That you are my familiar probably means the magic let you in somehow. That could get awkward." He muttered, thinking of other 'wants' that he really hoped she wouldn't try and do anything about.
He took a good look at the girl. She looked clearly tired, slight bags under her eyes, she looked rather pale. Her black hair looked rather dishevelled. He guessed she was having trouble sleeping.
"Anyway, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." He fixed her with a strong stare, trying to channel his inner Dumbledore "Have you been having trouble sleeping?"
She fidgeted under his gaze. "…yes." She mumbled.
When no further information was incoming, "tell me about it." He offered gently.
"…I've been having nightmares. Some of them are of that person impaling me, others, I don't know. Ever since I told you about the dream about the cupboard, I've been remembering these nightmares. There was a man, he was taking off a turban, and I was terrified. Then, I was touching him, and he was burning, and I know I couldn't let go, no matter what. Then, there was this one with these things, in black cloaks. I- they terrified me."
She was visibly shaking as she was talking. Harry stiffened, his heart beating wildly. She was witnessing everything he never wanted anyone to witness. He felt kind of violated. He pushed the thought away. It was undoubtedly worse for her. He took a deep breath. Time for a conversation he really didn't want.
"Shinobu." He cut her off. "They aren't just nightmares. They're, they're my memories." He confessed. He felt an irrational surge of anger as her hands covered her mouth, something akin to horror, or pity, in her eyes, before he crushed it.
"Since you became my familiar, it seems you're accessing my mind. It may be related to how you knew I wanted tea, but when we sleep, you're seeing my memories." Some of his worst memories "I honestly don't know how to stop it, and I'm not seeing yours. That I can recall anyway." He couldn't brew dreamless sleep, he had run out of a key ingredient, used for his animagus potion, and he only had one cauldron anyway. Since she was accessing his mind, the potion might not do anything anyway.
He looked away. "I know that I have many… painful, memories. I'll explain all the ones you've seen so far later, just… if you want to talk about them, come to me anytime I'm alone, and if you have trouble sleeping," he took a deep breath, forcing the words out, "You can come to my room, if you think it'll help."
There was a soft sound as someone opened his door. Even so, it woke him instantly. He glanced over. In the dark, and without his glasses, he couldn't really see anything, but he felt it when a small body slipped into bed with him. He involuntarily stiffened at the close contact.
"Sorry." Came the soft voice of Shinobu. He could tell she was upset. He forced himself to put an arm around her.
"Don't worry about it."
She seemed to burrow into him, holding him close. Moments later she seemed to have fallen asleep. Harry sighed, before trying to join her in the land of dreams.
"Come on, it's tradition!" Came the exuberant voice of Kitsune.
"Very well. Let us put up the decorations then." Replied Aoyama.
"Sure, I don't mind." Harry said. It was around December tenth, and Kitsune was really getting into the Christmas spirit. She'd pulled out a bunch of decorations from somewhere, which were apparently used every year. Considering that Aoyama and he were the tallest people residing at the dorms, their help putting them up was almost necessary.
Of course, he was much more used to being able to use magic to put them up, their existing several spells that were designed to either transfigure or conjure decorations depending on how long you wanted them to exist.
"Alright!" she cheered, "you two get started on the tree outside, and the rest of us will come help in a minute. Let's try and get it done before Naru and Keitaro get home!"
Harry stared at her oddly for a moment. Kitsune must have known the two of them didn't get along that well. Was she intentionally messing with them?
After a few moments, he turned to Aoyama. "Right, let's get this over with." He turned to the large tree outside the dorms. "I'll climb the tree, you throw the decorations up to me, alright?"
"Fine. Let's finish this quickly." She said in an irritated manner.
The fact that she was being less hostile somehow emphasised the point that she disliked his presence. Harry wasn't sure how that worked. Nonetheless he quickly climbed up into the branches, (something he'd had a lot of practice doing before going to Hogwarts).
"Throw up some of that tinsel, I'll wrap it around the tree from here."
She threw it up. Her aim was pretty good, it wasn't just sword skills she was amazing at. She'd no doubt make a pretty good chaser if she played quidditch.
Harry caught it, and began wrapping it around the tree. "How's this?"
A moment later, "A little lower, you have it going to steeply."
"Right, thanks. How about now?"
"That's fine."
There was a long moment of silence. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you have against me? I don't think it's because I can use magic."
She didn't answer immediately, Harry saw she was looking around. "The foulest of magics always leave a taint, a taint you are positively steeped in. I can sense that you have delved into the foulest of magics, and it was not with a passing curiosity. You positively… reek, of them, so to speak."
He frowned. "I may have said this before, but I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Lie if you wish, but I know what I can sense." Her voice showed that she was clearly irritated with the conversation. Harry let it drop.
Once he was done wrapping it around the tree, he threw a charm at the ground, before jumping out, landing with ease. He looked back at the tree. It was larger than he usually dealt with, but he thought it was done just fine. He looked over at Aoyama, who was sorting through other decorations.
"Here." She said, pushing a box at him. "Climb up and put those on that side of the tree," she made a gesture, "I'll put these up on the other side" she said, even as she climbed up into the branches.
Harry chuckled. He got the impression she didn't want to lose to him. Well, that was fine, he didn't want to lose either. With that, he climbed back into the branches, levitating the boxes of decorations up after them.
After a while, the rest joined them decorating the large tree. Shinobu was standing on a step ladder, adding decorations to the lowest branches. Kitsune was holding the ladder for her, while Kaolla and Aoyama were doing something with some of the decorations.
Harry himslelf was still in the branches, trying to finish off the box Aoyama had given him. Without magic, it seemed that Aoyama's skills surpassed his. That was a little frustrating. He looked down, everyone was crowded around Naru and Keitaro, who had apparently returned.
He climbed down the tree, joining the others on the ground, the tree having been successfully decorated.
"Hey Keitaro, someone's on the phone for you." Haruka called from the doorway.
"Alright, I'm coming" Keitaro called back, rushing off towards the building.
"Harry, we're planning a party for when Keitaro and Naru get their results back from a practice test on the twenty-fourth. You can help Shinobu make a cake, and help me buy supplies." Kitsune told him.
"By help you, you mean buy them for you, right?" he asked wryly.
"Haha, you got me." She laughed it off.
Harry sighed, "yeah, sure."
"Great!" she cheered, "I'll start planning it now!"
"The twenty-fourth is still two weeks away." Aoyama said drily.
"A good party takes at least that much planning." She laughed.
"I'll make Indian food" Kaolla cheered.
"So Naru, how do you think he'll do?" Harry asked.
"…I think he'd have a better chance if he was trying for another college." She responded honestly.
They opened the door, entering the building.
"Don't worry! I'm doing better than other, I really am going to make it into Toudai this year." Keitaro exclaimed.
"Did his grades really improve that much?" Kitsune asked.
"Of course not." Naru replied.
"How about this then." Keitaro said smugly, "tomorrow there's going to be a practice exam for Toudai, if I bomb that test, then I'll come home immediately! Alright, I got it, bye." He said, hanging up the phone.
He adjusted his glasses, "Time to go study, Haha!" he called out, running off upstairs.
"Such a promise, will it work?" Kitsune asked.
"If it were any other college…" Naru muttered.
"What an idiot." Aoyama muttered.
"Is Keitaro going home already?" Kaolla asked.
"Come on Shinobu, let's start dinner." Harry called out.
"Huh, oh sure." She replied.
The two of them went into the kitchen, stating dinner.
"So, do you think Sempai will be fine?"
Harry looked over, shrugging, "Who knows. We'll find out in two weeks, I guess."
Dinner was a tense affair again since it seemed that Keitaro had snuck into Naru's room again while she was changing. He really should try and stop doing that. After dinner, Harry brought a cup of tea to Keitaro's room.
"Keitaro, I thought you might like some tea." He said, opening the door.
"Oh, thanks. I was just about to fix that hole, but I suppose I could have a quick cup of tea." He accepted the cup from Harry, bringing it to his lips. "That's pretty good!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's a special brew I brought from home." It was treated to enhance its divining properties. He had a fair amount left.
"So, do you think you'll do well in the tests?"
"Yeah." Keitaro laughed "I'm doing way better than I've ever done. I'm really confident."
"That's good. Well, I wish you luck."
Keitaro passed the empty cup back, "thanks Harry. Well, I'll fix that hole now."
"Sure. See you tomorrow." Harry replied, leaving the room. He looked down at the cup, before sighing. If he recalled the omens correctly, then it looked like Keitaro wasn't going to do well. He brought the cup to the kitchen, washing it out. Well, it was just a prediction, it may not be accurate.
The next two weeks were pretty tense. Keitaro had his fate hanging on the test they took, and Naru seemed incredibly cold towards Keitaro. Harry guessed something had happened between them. Naru hadn't wanted to talk about it when he asked, and he didn't press the issue.
Shinobu had joined him in bed a few times, but she generally looked to be doing much better. That was pretty relieving.
It was the twenty-fourth, so Keitaro should have received his scores. He should have been back a while back, but hadn't appeared. They'd eventually started eating without him, though Shinobu had wanted to wait a bit longer.
"I've cooked some more food, it's the last of the stuff we bought for tonight." Harry called, walking into the room that everyone was gathered in. "I was saving that for when Keitaro got back though."
"It looks like Keitaro might not make it, let's just save him some and get started on the rest." Kitsune suggested.
"Hmm, okay, Shinobu, do you want to go and get it?"
"Um, okay, I'll get some drinks too." Shinobu said, running off.
Moments later, "A THIEF, CATCH HIM!"
Aoyama shot out of the room, and there was an exploding sound. The rest of them shot out after her.
"Damn, he got away!" Kitsune muttered.
"He's pretty good." Aoyama said.
"But… what's there to steal here?" Shinobu asked.
"That was Keitaro." Naru said bluntly.
"What? Keitaro?"
"Why'd he do something like this?" Aoyama wondered.
"Look, he dropped this." Naru said, holding out a piece of paper.
"Zero per cent chance of getting into Tokyo U? That's pretty sad." Harry muttered.
Shinobu suddenly ran off. "I'm going to look for him, he might still might be around."
"Wait Shinobu. We should leave him alone. It's better for him to give up. The real exam's in a month, with scores like this, there's no chance of him making it. It would be better for him if he moves on from his dream of Tokyo U." Naru said sadly.
"Well, I guess with zero per cent." Kitsune muttered.
"I guess facing us after all his boasting would be difficult." Aoyama conceded.
"But…" Shinobu started.
"Are you sure? He did improve after coming here, didn't he? Besides, weren't you just like him two years ago Naru?" Haruka asked, walking up behind them.
"If you leave it like this, won't it be unsatisfying? Besides if he freezes to death, he might come to haunt you." She continued.
"I'm going to look for him!" Shinobu shouted as she run off.
"Me too!" Kaolla yelled.
Aoyama sighed "What a troublemaker."
"Shinobu, wait up, I'll go with you!" Harry called.
"Merry Christmas!" Everyone called out.
Naru had apparently found Keitaro somewhere, bringing him back. Everyone else had come back eventually, though Shinobu had wanted to keep looking. Harry had eventually just dragged her back to the dorms (figuratively) to find that Keitaro had already returned.
After reheating the remaining food, they started on the feast. Harry had had a few Christmas feasts at Hogwarts, but honestly, even though his friends not being there was sad, it was one of his favourite Christmases.
A.N. So, I really didn't get as far as I wanted. I could have cut some stuff, but it was all important in its own way. I could have pushed it to where I wanted to get to, but I'll just save it for next chapter. This seemed like a good place to end it.
About the familiar thing, a few people suggested a dream cycle a la fate/stay night. I originally wanted to stay away from it, it pops up wherever this sort of thing occurs, but then, it is a good idea. An effect that is recognisable fairly quickly. Also, gives something for Harry and Shinobu to bond over.
Lastlt, enjoy some Omake's I wrote. They didn't fit into the actually story, but I wanted to write them regardless.
Omake;
Harry woke up suddenly. He looked up at the expressionless face of Aoyama. He looked to his side, where Shinobu lay peacefully sleeping, then back at Aoyama, who was drawing her sword.
"At the risk of sounding incredibly cliché, this isn't what it looks like." He deadpanned.
"Shinmei-ryu ougi; Zanmanken."
Omake2;
Harry stared hard at the magazine Keitaro had been happy to lend him. He'd gotten a vague look when Kaolla had been waving it around, but he had decided to check. He looked at the page grimly. All the good parts were blurred out.
He could hear Seamus' voice crying out in outrage. Last year, Dean and Seamus had brought some dirty mags into the dorms. They had bragged about them, before showing them to the rest of the boys. Neville had, the next day, gone crying to McGonagall, who had appeared to confiscate them. Seamus had, at great length, spent the next hour arguing that they were a form of art, and that having them taken away was an affront to their pride as men. McGonagall, not impressed by Seamus' manly rant, had transfigured them into textbooks, telling him that if they meant so much to him, then he should succeed in class. Naturally, as the most talented Gryffindor boy, it had fallen onto the shoulders of Harry Potter to save the day.
Looking down at the blurred out images, he could hear Seamus' outrage. He had to do something about this. He had an idea for a spell, hopefully it would work.
He took a deep breath, drawing his wand and tapping it against the magazine.
"Revelio Eroticus."
He saw what he had wrought, and smiled, for he saw that it was good.
