Summary: Reno has a secret, one that has decided to now bite him in the ass. The eyes of his Mother were more than just a family trait, they were a sign of his destiny, a destiny coming to collect. / FF7HP crossover / Reno/Rufus/Cloud / AU

Planet's Eyes
Interlude II

Ignorant Lands: Hogwarts μ εyλ 1995, September 1st

Dumbledore let out a mild groan as he buried his face into wrinkled old hands. The Ministry had so far covered up the fact that Harry Potter had gone missing, citing for the last school year that the boy had just run away. That year had ended in nothing but shambles; the planned Tri-Wizard Tournament became a disaster resulting in the almost-death of one Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldemort.

Simple to say Dumbledore did not have a good year.

The Diggory's, almost directly after the Final Task of the Tournament uprooted themselves, pulling their comatose son from St. Mungoes and fleeing the country. Dumbledore lost a lot of political clout directly after that incident.

Fudge himself was making it ever so hard for the old man to get through his day to day life.

Given the disaster of the Tri-Wizard Tournament Dumbledore would probably doing much the same if he were in Fudge's position, an admittance that the elder man truly disliked.

"How far I have fallen," he murmured weakly, thinking back over the year.

It had started off fairly well; at least until Arthur had floo'd him with concerns over young Harry. He had cited that the Owls refused to take the boy Post. Dumbledore had assured the Weasley Patriarch as best he could but it didn't do any good. In the end the Weasley's were all uprooted, followed by the Granger's. Thing is Dumbledore couldn't even figure out where they left to.

He blamed Charlie and Bill Weasley; those two were too smart during their Hogwarts years, and their employment afterward only proved how ingenious they were. The Weasley's ironically also made up his entire support base in a way.

However the lack of reaction via Owls didn't deter Dumbledore's belief in Harry living; the Goblins still refused him access to the Potter Vaults. That was a sure sign the boy was alive although no one but Dumbledore seemed to think so-and considering how crappy his reputation was getting and how Fudge both loved and loathed him it wasn't any surprise, really.

It was through Dumbledore's hope though that the Tri-Wizard Tournament would bring Harry back to them-after all, it was a dangerous tournament and Dumbledore was sure that one of Voldemort's Death Eater's would put the boy's name in.

And one did; Barty Crouch Jr. Boy was Dumbledore smarting after that revelation. The fact that a convicted and believed dead felon was wandering around polyjuiced as one of his old friends and he never even noticed-! Yes, Dumbledore had a bruised ego for months afterward.

Still, when Harry's name came out of the Goblet it was another tick in the knowledge that the boy was alive-and the binding contract would ensure he'd have to compete or lose his magic! It had been through all the papers, Dumbledore hoping to lure the boy back with the knowledge of the loss of his magic but...the boy never showed up. If Harry were still alive somewhere he'd be nothing more than a squib now.

All that planning and for what! A squib!

Yes, Dumbledore was having a very bad year.

Then, after the knowledge of Voldemort's return the aged man decided to call back the Order of the Phoenix. Alastor Moody joined up almost immediately, however Headquarters was soon contrived as Abeforth Dumbledore's bar/inn, the Hogs Head and even that came at a price! Albus was forced to smuggle his brother goats for the ability to use his bar. Never underestimate the vindictiveness of a scorned younger brother, one who also is over a hundred years of age and knowledge.

The reason for the change of Headquaters was another drawback: the missing presence of Sirius Black. That resulted in an upset and furious werewolf Remus Lupin who promptly disappeared by August shortly thereafter. Honestly, how was the aged Headmaster supposed to know that the young were had been dating Black before his incarceration? Let alone the hope to repair old relationships!

Now though it was September 1st; a school year since Harry had gone missing had passed (and the missing presence of Sirius seemed only to fuel Dumbledore's belief that the boy was alive...although now a squib) and Dumbledore found himself in yet another quandary.

Dolores Jane Umbridge.

The aged man wanted nothing more to waltz up to the Ministry and strangle Fudge for all his posturing and interfering. Just because he had a hard time finding a Defense teacher didn't mean the man had to butt in and provide one! The toady witch was the worst sort of witch Dumbledore wanted hired anyway!

Then again he hoped to use her as a ploy to get Harry back into Wizarding Britian, even if the brat was a squib now. The prophecy fell to the boy's shoulders after all-best send him to his death if only so that Voldemort would be mortal and defeatable afterward!

No, Dumbledore was not having a good year, and he blamed Harry Potter for it all.

Ignorant Lands: Cairo, Egypt, μ εyλ 1995, September 1st

"Take care Hermione!" Emma Granger said, hugging her daughter tightly. She released the young girl only to be swallowed up in a hug by Dan Granger, and the Molly Weasley, and then Arthur Weasley.

"I will mum, dad!" Hermione replied. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," she nodded to the Weasley parents, before heading off to the train with Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. Percy stood back with his elder brothers, parents, Remus Lupin, the Diggory's (who were seeing their still recovering son off), and the Grangers.

The last year in Egypt had done wonders for both the Granger and Weasley family. Emma and Dan Granger had built up a practice that catered to both Magical and non-Magical clientele, Bill helped pay for his family's new home until Arthur had gotten a stable job working alongside Dan and Emma (quite happily too) as their secretary/magical liaison. Charlie had moved over to the Egyptian Dragon Reserve instead of the Romanian one.

It was at the end of the year, after the children had returned from attending Ammon Tale: School of Egyptian Sorcery and Magecraft, that the Diggory's had shown up with a comatose Cedric placed at the House of Healing the local wizarding Hospital. Cedric had woken up about a month later, and a little under four weeks ago Remus Lupin showed up.

Suffice to say life had steadily gotten better for the soon to be formerly British Citizens (by the end of 1996 at the latest the Weasley's, Diggory's, Granger's, and Remus Lupin will have applied for Egyptian citizenship) shortly after they had moved to Egypt. In fact Molly and Arthur, along with Dan and Emma, were thinking of trying for another child (meaning that by the time the year 1996 rolled around the Weasley brood may have another child amongst them and Hermione may receive a younger sibling herself) while the Diggory's were slowly beginning to toss the idea around themselves.

Yes, things had begun to definitely look up.

Omake: The Arrival of Hedwig

"Shit this ain't goin' good, yo," Reno gasped, clutching his side. "Got no restore materia either...fuck."

"Sir?" the blond grunt questioned from beside the Doctor's crumpled form.

"Now ain't the time, choc'bo!" Reno snapped, raising his EMR. A jolt shot through the AVALANCHE member that got too close. "Dammit where's Shotgun when ya need 'er?"

"Sir?"

"Shu' up, yo!" another AVALANCHE member fell.

"Sir there's too many-"

"Listen ta m'choc'bo!" Reno growled, his accent steadily getting worse. "Ge' 'er," he jerked his head towards the Doctor, "an' ge' th' fuck outta 'ere!"

"But-"

Several hours later a tired Reno lay nearly collapsed next to an exhausted Cloud Strife (Chocobo) and weakened Doctor Rayleigh, severely upset at the loss of the disc and completely ignoring the Doctor's platitudes that it was fine because of some security lock. However all and every internal rambling and cursing was brought to a halt when a loud screech sounded. Reno shot to his feet just in time to see Shotgun flip up to their little hidden corner.

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow in Reno's direction.

"Trouble?" she asked.

"Ya try dealin' wi' thos' freaks o' nat're, yo!" Reno snapped. "Whe'e ya been, b'tch!"

"Oh shut up," Shotgun rolled her eyes. "I've been trying to console Verdot over you hanging up! Now the disc?"

"I's been ta-" Reno was interrupted by another screech, causing all three warriors to raise their weapons. However a snowy white owl wasn't what they were expecting, neither was the disc that had been taken to be dropped into Reno's lap.

"Th' fuck?" the red head muttered only to jerk when the snowy owl bit his ear. "Ow! What th' 'ell! Damn bird! SHIT! STOP IT!" he jerked, trying to get away from the furious owl, bating his hands up in the air. "Dammit ya like 'edwig whe' sh's-" Reno stilled and stared at the huffing and rather smug owl. "'Edwig?" he questioned, gaining a hoot. Reno laughed nervously at the glare said owl gave a second later. "Sorry?" was the meek offer.

Hedwig attacked.

"SHIT! OW! DAMMIT GIRL FORGIVE M'YO! FUCK!"

'Note to self, never piss of Hedwig again; she's vindictive and holds a mean grudge,' Reno thought several hours later as he tried to explain the snowy owl on his shoulder and the various scratches and bite marks that now marred his face and hands to Verdot.

The man just wasn't buying the 'I found her injured by this little chocobo and she was too cute to leave behind and then these giant wolves attacked only to be stopped by the chocobo' story.

Shotgun laughing behind him wasn't any help either. Especially since the disc Hedwig had given him turned out to be a fake and the real one stolen months back; or at least that's what Nunchaku had said when he checked it before they would have handed it back to Shinra. They instead destroyed the damn thing and pretended it got stolen as it already was anyway.

Reno swore he'd get payback-maybe he'd prank Zack for not mentioning how cute Cloud was. After all, the cute little 'chocobo' was the only plus side of that whole mission.

That and Hedwig.

And thus Hedwig returns XD And yes, you guys got three chapters. Yay! Please be happy and quite hating on me? *puppy dog eyes*

-TK