Rise of Arcane

by Angeldoctor

Harry was abandoned by his parents at the Dursleys only for them to abandon him in New York a few years later. Luckily, Harry met a strange magician under circumstances only Harry could consider normal. How would the Marvel Universe and the Harry Potter world change now that he's being raised by Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme? Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry/harem. ABANDONED!

12. Jean's departure Part 2

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.

Streets of New York City near Central Park, New York

Most men complain about going with their women when they go clothes shopping. There were times when Harry would agree with them that it was a hassle and he would rather be anywhere else. However, there were times when it was all worth it.

Wanda had a devious smile on her face as she pushed Jean forward to show off the clothing Wanda had forced her to try on while also modeling the clothing she was trying on. "So, Harry? What do you think?"

They had been walking around the city for almost two hours now and after grabbing a bite to eat (Jean insisted on Italian so they went to eat there), they just walked around window-shopping. They had spent half an hour in Barnes and Nobles buying some books before the girls deciding they needed to shop for clothes for the summer and dragging Harry along. They had decided to start by buying their swimsuits and Harry couldn't be happier.

Harry tried to keep himself from drooling as he looked at the girls in their swimsuits.

Jean was wearing a two piece Riviera designer swimsuit in a nice light red color that went well with her hair. It had a metal ring holding the two cups together in the middle, allowing one to see her cleavage quite easily. The bottom portion did nothing to hide the curve of her bottom and there were many men even three years older than her stopping to ogle her. They quickly kept moving when Harry gave them the evil eye.

Wanda was getting ogled no less than Jean in her seductive black two piece swimsuit that had two metal swirl designs holding it along the straps. While her breasts were a touch smaller than Jean's own C-cup, they were still impressive and she more than up for it by having a bottom that was making many men walking behind her slam into walls.

However, both girls only had eyes for Harry and wanted to hear his opinion on the matter before buying them. Harry swallowed the spit that had accumulated in his mouth and smiled. "You need to buy them. You guys look... damn, just damn."

Jean bit her lip shyly in happiness while Wanda smiled widely at his words before speaking. "Then we've got our bathing suits for later this summer to hit the beach. We're going to the beach this summer one way or another even if it has to be on your birthday, okay Harry?"

Harry just smiled easily. "You'll hear no complaints from me."

Jean gave Harry a chaste kiss before going back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes. Harry started to walk away before Wanda stopped him by grabbing his arm. Harry looked back at Wanda in confusion. "Something wrong, Wanda?"

Wanda's eyes were glittering with an emotion Harry couldn't identify as she stepped closer to Harry till they were chest to chest. Harry's breath quickened at the feel of Wanda's breasts against his chest and the look in her eyes.

Wanda smiled seductively before whispering. "Do you really like what you see?"

Harry gulped as he felt there was some kind of double meaning in her question but answered honestly for both questions. "Yes... very much."

Wanda gave Harry a genuine smile before seeming to collect herself and walking into the dressing room next to Jean's.

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding once Wanda entered her dressing room. What was that? And why did he feel like that by her presence alone? Sure, Wanda was beautiful and he'd always known that but in that second when she was looking at him with that strange emotion in her eyes and her voice deepened... she looked like one of those dark temptresses he'd heard about. A clear contrast from Jean's innocent ethereal beauty, Wanda's was...darker, more seductive in its attraction.

Harry shook his head to banish his thoughts. He couldn't think like that about Wanda. He was dating Jean and even if they broke up, it would be the worst insult in the world to start dating her best friend. He might not know a lot about girls but he knew that much.

Harry sat back down thinking about the two girls in his life, both of which he couldn't imagine life without.

Back in the dressing rooms, Wanda and Jean were taking advantage of the thin walls separating the cubicles and the fact that the other dressing rooms were empty to speak to each other.

"Wanda, how do you always push me into doing these things?" asked Jean with a blush.

Wanda just smirked at her best friend's shyness. "Because I know you well enough that I know you truly want to. You just sometimes need me to give you the right push. Plus, did you see the way Harry eyed you in your bathing suit? It looked like he was going to take you right there and then."

Jean smiled wryly as she detected the slight jealous tone in her voice. She knew that her friend had feelings for Harry and never begrudged her for them. Harry was easy to fall in love with due to the way he always thought of others first and foremost and himself second. He was thoughtful and smart and always respected your input in everything he did even if you had no knowledge of what he was doing. It was for that very reason that Jean herself had fallen so madly in love with him that she was doing all these sexual things despite the fact that some people would say they were too young. There was just something about Harry that gave her confidence in herself and she felt that she could do anything.

Jean spoke honestly. "I wasn't the only one he was ogling, Wanda." There was no accusation in her tone, only fact. It was time they talked honestly with each other.

Wanda, on other hand, didn't want to talk about it and tried to deflect the statement. "Well, of course, he's a guy and I have breasts so of course he would look."

Jean just shook her head at her friend's words. "Oh, Wanda. You're just as beautiful as me. Why do you think all those boys always ask you out at school?"

"It's not their attention I want," muttered Wanda before she could stop herself. Wanda clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. "I-I mean-"

Jean interrupted her before she could deny it. "You like Harry, Wanda, I know."

Wanda bit her lip and tried to prevent the tears from dropping. She tried to escape the dressing room even though she was still only half-dressed but Jean telekinetically held the door to her dressing room shut. In her fear that Jean would be angry with her and break their friendship, Wanda didn't even think of using her own magic to escape.

Realizing she couldn't escape, Wanda started to babble. "I'm sorry, Jean, I didn't mean to! I would neve-"

Jean quickly cut her off before she could continue. "I know you and Harry haven't done anything behind my back and I'm not angry. I understand."

Wanda stopped speaking as she processed what Jean was saying. "Y-You aren't angry at me for liking your boyfriend?"

Jean chuckled ruefully and sat down in the bench in her dressing room. "No, I'm not. I can understand it. Harry's easy to love."

Wanda bit her lip as she stopped trying to escape and sat down on the bench in her dressing room which coincidently was back to back with Jean's in hers. "Yeah... he is."

Jean smiled to herself. "Since when was it for you?"

Relaxing now that the fear of Jea's anger had passed, Wanda smiled softly to herself. "I'm not exactly sure when it was exactly. However, it was solidified soon after you guys rescued me from Pandora and Lilith." Wanda drew her legs into her chest as she remembered her captivity. "I was so scared, Jean. I know I put up a brave front but I had nightmares of it afterwards. One night," she took a deep breath before continuing. "One night, I had a particularly bad nightmare where you guys never came for me and Pandora gave me over to the Nephilim. I don't think I need to explain what they did in my nightmare, right?"

Jean bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. "No... you don't."

Wanda chuckled ruefully. "Then, Harry came into my room and woke me up. At first, I thought he was one of the Nephilim and struggled but I soon realized it was him. I just broke down when he asked me what happened and I told him about my nightmare. I cried into his shirt as I explained and he just... he just held me and told me everything was going to be alright. I told him about my fears of Pandora coming back and taking me again and that this time no one would save me. He hugged me tightly and said something I'll never forget."

Wanda's smile turned loving and her eyes softened. "He said that he couldn't promise that something like that wouldn't happen again or that there wouldn't be hard times in my life. However, he promised me that no matter what, even if he died or the world was against him, he'd always come for me. He would never abandon me no matter what." Wanda's smile turn soft in remembrance. "You should have seen him, Jean. The moonlight hit his face at just the right angle that his eyes shone like emeralds. His face looked like one of the pictures of the greek gods in its beauty and his eyes showed that he was completely sincere and in that moment... he looked every bit the knight in shining armor that they tell us about in the fairy tales. It was in that moment... that I was completely sure that I had fallen in love with him." Wanda laughed self-deprecatingly. "How sad. I fell for him after knowing only for months. You must think I'm some kind of slut or something."

Jean, who had been quiet during her story, spoke heatedly at her words. "You're no slut, Wanda. Never call yourself that. I can understand it even." Jean smiled wryly to herself. "At least I know I'm leaving Harry in good hands."

Wanda looked up in alarm at her words. "Jean! I could never! He's your boyfriend. I could never just move in on him once you left. I could never betray you like that!"

Jean rolled her eyes. "Wanda... I would actually prefer it was you than some slut that manages to worm her way into his heart. At least I know with you that you wouldn't use him."

Wanda bit her lip as she tried to hold back the joy she felt at Jean's approval and tried to protest. "You make it seem as if you and Harry are already broken up. You guys can make it work! The Xavier Institute isn't that far from here and Harry can teleport and you guys can talk to each other telepathically."

Jean sighed. "You know it won't be the same. We'll try but both our studies will make it very hard to find time for each other. Teleporting within the same dimension is also the hardest kind so Harry won't be able to do that very often until he learns the wizard's way of apparition. That doesn't even take into account the fact that we might just grow apart. He might move on from me and find someone else-"

Wanda interrupted. "No." She said this firmly and without a hint of doubt. "He will never forget you. I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's not the kind of love of other kids our age. It's not puppy love like those idiots at school. It's much deeper. No... no one could ever replace you in his heart just like no one could replace him in yours."

"Really?" asked Jean hopefully as she bit her lip.

Wanda smiled at her friend's shyness as she leaned against the wall separating them. "Yes, really. If you're sure of anything be sure of that."

The two girls stayed silent for a while before Jean spoke. "I was actually... I was planning of going all the way with him tonight. Y-You don't think it's too soon, right?"

Wanda felt as if she'd been punched in the gut. Even though she was okay with them being together the idea of them having sex still hurt. She had to fight back her instinctive urge to tell her not to and tried to think it through.

She remembered when Jean and her first officially became friends.

Flashback (two weeks after Wanda met Harry and co.)

Wanda was quickly walking through the corridors of New York Academy of Advanced Learning. Harry had had to go on ahead to get to class on time while she had to report to the principal's office to collect her schedule. This seemed sound in theory but she had forgotten that she had no idea how to navigate her way through her new school. It was huge and she was now completely lost.

Wanda was trying not to panic as she swore she passed the same water fountain for the third time. She looked around to see if there as anyone to help her when she heard the sound of laughter behind her. Wanda turned to see the source, hoping for directions to her classroom.

There was a group of girls sitting on the bleachers in front of the basketball court outside. She could see them through the window talking and gossiping abut something. One of them with brown hair saw her standing there and pointed her out to what looked like the leader of the group. The leader had blonde hair and brown eyes and a cruel smile came to her face when he caught sight of her.

Not wanting trouble on her first day of school and still not trusting her control over her new powers, Wanda quickly tried to get away by walking down the corridor away from where she saw the group of girls. She didn't have much experience with girls her age beyond Jean but she knew that smile anywhere. It was the smile of a predator who'd spotted its newest prey.

However, she had almost no knowledge of the layout and the girls did and so they quickly cornered her near yet another water fountain. Seriously, how many of those does this school have?!

There were about four of them in all and all of them looked to be between 15 and 16 years old. They all had versions of the school uniform that looked like they came from rich families due to the material being of much higher quality and Wanda felt small in her average quality uniform.

Wanda tried to hide her fear as the look in their eyes was similar yet different to the man that tried to rape her in the alley before Harry and Jean saved her. Rather than lust, it was a more predatory kind of cruelty that looked more at home on a torture interrogation expert than on girls their age. The leader walked up to her with a smirk and she stood her ground despite her fear. The blonde was fairly pretty for her age yet was slightly less developed than Wanda herself despite being older. Her skirt was slightly shorter than Wanda's own despite being taller and she walked with an arrogance that Wanda had seen many times from rich tourists visiting her village when she was young.

"Well, well. Lookie here. Must be the new kid transferring in mid-semester due Strange's recommendation. What's your name, plebeian?"

Wanda had no idea what plebeian meant but she got the idea that she was just insulted. "I'm Wanda Maximoff. Can you let me pass? I'm trying to get to class."

The blonde haired girl just smirked wider. "Well, Wanda. I'm Brittany but my friends call me Prissy. These are my friends; Carol, Tracy, and Jackie. You know, you shouldn't talk like that to people better than you who are just trying to help. I can help you find your class if you want."

Wanda never met a person who could offer you help while insulting you but it seemed she just had. However, she didn't trust her or her words. If she wanted to help her then why did she corner her and use her friends to surround her?

"Really?" asked Wanda skeptically. "Out of the goodness in your heart?"

Brittany smirked cruelly. "Well, sure." Her smirk widened. "After all, my parents always tell me that you should help those in lower stations of life than you. And considering that Eminem book bag you have, you are definitely in a lower station in life than me."

Wanda's cheeks burned in embarrassment as they laughed. She had bought the book bag because she liked his music. Harry had even gone so far as to buy her a CD player and his first CD. It was her most treasured possession. "Thanks but no thanks. I think I'd be better off alone."

Brittany smile had a cold edge to it. "You're right. Wouldn't want to spend to much time around you. God knows where you've been and what you've done to get into here. You look like you spend a lot of time on your knees."

Wanda's tried not to look down at her knees which were slightly dirty from the practice spar this morning. She had been so tired that she hadn't had time for a shower due to her taking too much time packing her book bag and simply got aired herself out before changing, eating breakfast and following Harry out the door. Next time she'd be sure to prepare her bag the night before.

The brown-haired girl that pointed her out before, the one Brittany introduced as Jackie, and was standing to her right sniggered. "It's probably the way she got into an advanced class in the first place. Probably sucked off the principal to get in and spread her legs to skip a grade."

Wanda's turned red in anger at their words but they weren't finished.

Another girl, this one the dirty blonde introduced as Tracy, to her left gave a nasty laugh. "More like she sucked off Strange junior and he felt so bad for her that he convinced his dad to buy her entry in."

Wanda tried to keep the tears from falling at their words and tried not to think them as true. Did Harry really only pity her and that's why he took her in? Would he expect her to service him on command?

Wanda shook her head. No. Harry wouldn't do that. In the two weeks she'd known him he'd been nothing but kind to her and never looked down on her. And she had earned her way in by taking the exams for advanced placement.

Still, the girls laughter hurt. She had thought she would make friends here but it seemed no one wanted her here but Harry and his father. Maybe she should just leave. She was just being a burden to Harry.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

Wanda looked through the girls and saw Jean angrily stomping forward with rage in her eyes. She pushed through the girls until she stood between Wanda and the other girls who were eyeing Jean warily.

Jean angrily scowled at Brittany who was trying her best to look innocent. "What were you doing to Wanda?"

Brittany stepped back and just smiled coldly. "Nothing. We were just offering to help her to get around and we just started to talk about how she got in." This caused the girls to snigger at her words causing Wanda's to start to sniff while trying to keep the tears from falling.

However, Jean just scowled harder. "Yeah right. I know you, Prissy and you don't have a kind bone in your body."

Brittany scowled at Jean. "You shouldn't spend a lot of time with her, Grey. God knows what she must have done to get in with clothes like that. And to skip a grade too. People might talk and say you're the same."

Wanda winced at the insinuation and Wanda just knew she'd lost her protector. There was no way Jean would protect her if there was a risk of her being thrown out for rumors like that. No, she'd leave and-

"I think I can make my own decisions regarding who to befriend." said Jean coldly. "Plus, I think you're confusing Wanda with your mom. I think I saw her leaving the principal's office this morning and I don't think it was to talk about your grade point average."

Brittany turned red in rage but simply scoffed before walking away, her sycophants following behind her.

Jean scoffed in disgust as they left before turning to wanda with a kind smile. "I'm sorry you had to meet her on your first day. Prissy's a bitch and you shouldn't take her words to heart."

Wanda looked up at Jean in confusion. "Why did you defend me? I mean... those girls look like they have money and I know you're here on a scholarship. They can start trouble for you if they want."

Jean just shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You're my friend and I don't abandon my friends."

Wanda looked shocked. "W-We're friends?"

Jean smiled softly. "Yeah. I mean, at least I thought we were. Right?"

Wanda smiled brightly and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, of course we are. We're friends."

That was when Wanda decided that maybe staying wouldn't be so bad and when she made her first female friend.

Flashback end

Wanda smiled softly as she remembered that day. It was that day that she considered Jean her best friend and they'd been inseparable since. Which was strange considering they're drastically different personalities. Jean was shy and thoughtful while Wanda, once she opened up and stopped being so nervous, was loud and blunt about her feelings. Still, the girls had just clicked and neither could imagine a better best friend than the other.

"You should go for it," said Wanda softly. "You only live once Jean and if you really love him..." Wanda closed her eyes as she thought of her own feelings for Harry. If it was her she wouldn't even hesitate. "... then you should do what your heart tells you."

Jean smiled softly before frowning as she realized something. "God, I must be the worst friend in the world. Asking you that when you just finished telling me you like Harry."

Wanda just shrugged even though Jean couldn't see it. "No, you're a good friend. You just need advice and I'm your best friend so it makes sense. Plus..." Wanda's smile turned wistful. "... as long as you two are happy, I'm happy. You two are the most important people in the world for me. Other than my brother, of course. I want you two to be happy."

Jean smiled and started to get dressed. On the other side of the wall, Wanda started getting dressed as well. Once Jean finished, she turned to the wall separating her and Wanda.

"Wanda?"

"Yeah?"

Jean bit her lip. "Promise me you'll take care of Harry once I leave. You know the trouble he always seems to attract."

Wanda bit her lip in thought and nodded her head. "Okay, I promise. But I also promise to protect you too."

Suddenly, they heard Harry's voice on the other side of the door to Jean's dressing room. "Hey, you girls alright? You've been in there for a long time..."

Wanda smirked. "Oh, we were just comparing cup sizes. Want to know our bra size?"

Wanda and Jean laughed as they heard Harry almost choke on his own spit at Wanda's words. After hearing him beat a hasty retreat, they picked up after themselves and left their dressing rooms with the swimsuits they wee going to purchase. They walked up to the cash register and Harry followed after them, his face cherry red.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Wanda," grumbled Harry as he blushed.

Wanda just smirked. "That'll teach you to hurry up a girl when she's shopping. This is a delicate process of comparing and contrasting to pick the best article of clothing for every occasion."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You sound like an infomercial."

Wanda puffed up her cheeks in indignation while Jean and Harry laughed. After buying their bathing suits, Harry followed the girls for two hours as they went from store to store buying clothing for the summer. Harry swore he was going to have blood flow problems from the way Wanda (and Jean when Wanda pushed her to it) teased him with short shorts and tight shirts that emphasized their curves. He wondered why Wanda seemed to place such importance on his opinion but chalked it up to him being her only male friend.

However, they didn't only shop for the girls and the girls took turns in dressing Harry up in more and more outrageous clothing. He didn't think he'd ever live down being forced to dress up as a golfer with the stupid sweater and everything. It was so humiliating!

The girls just laughed at his humiliation but luckily, didn't force him to buy the clothes. He would have burned them the first chance he got but still, it was the principle of the thing.

After making a quick stop at home to drop off their purchases, the group were walking close to Central Park when they felt it.

For a moment their vision blurred slightly before all three flexed their respective gifts and breaking the illusion before it could take hold.

All three became much more alert due to the unexpected attack even though they continued to walk like nothing had happened. However, Harry was discreetly using his senses, both magical and not, to search for the source of the disturbance while Jean used her telepathy. Wanda was gathering magical energy for the showdown that was sure to come while trying to see what would be the best spot to have said showdown.

"Have you found them, Jean?" muttered Harry out the corner of his mouth.

"Yes," said Jean telepathically. "There are four of them coming from the south. From what I can read from their minds, they seem to be after Wanda. Do you think they're working with Pandora or Lilith?"

Harry's mouth was a grim line as Wanda led the group into a secluded part of the park as he felt the individuals in question try to surround them. "Don't know but we have to expect the worst. One of them almost caught us in a powerful illusion and if we didn't have experience protecting our minds from foreign intrusion, he would have gotten us. Worst thing is I think that that wasn't his full power so he could still trap us in an illusion if he wanted. He isn't simply because we're probably going where they want us to."

Jean and Wanda mentally agreed before the latter stopped walking and telepathically explaining why she stopped. "Okay, this is the best place to have a fight. Far enough away so any explosions won't be heard unless they're really big and there are no innocents to be caught in the crossfire."

With that, the three friends formed a triangle while looking out so they wouldn't be flanked. Harry's mouth was a grim line of determination as he called on his magic in a way that made his eyes glow a deep emerald.

"Okay, come out whoever you are before we make you."

There was a beat of silence before the four stalkers came out of the undergrowth. There were three teenager and one adult. The adult looked to be in his 40s with grey hair while wearing a strange brown ensemble that looked like one of those detectives from decades ago. The three teenagers were three boys; one with white hair that looked sorta familiar for some reason, another with brown hair and greenish colored skin (and for some reason he reminded Harry of a frog) and another boy with long black hair that looked very feminine.

Seeing that they couldn't flank us, the four formed a line in front of Harry, making Wanda and Jean stand beside him looking at their enemies.

Wanda was the first to speak as she scowled at their enemies. "Well, well. How manly of you men. One old man and three boys ganging up on one boy and two girls. You must feel so manly right now."

"Sorry for calling you a boy, Harry but it wouldn't have sounded as mocking if a said man." telepathically said Wanda.

"No problem."

To their surprise, the feminine looking boy scowled at them. "I'm a girl, idiots!"

All three of them blinked at that revelation and Wanda had a confused look on her face. "Really? Then one man, two boys and a girl that hasn't hit puberty yet..."

"I have hit puberty!"

"Well, hit it harder! I'm only 14 and even I have bigger breasts than you!" shot back Wanda.

Everyone except the now revealed manly-looking girl snorted at her words as they tried to keep their laughter in. The girl in question turned a deep red in either anger or embarrassment, probably both, and growled at her.

The greenish looking boy ogled Wanda and put on what he probably thought was a suave smile. "Yes, you do. And if I do say so myself, you are a fine specimen of a woman. Maybe you and I should ditch these idiots and talk about our good looks somewhere else."

Wanda blanched at the suggestion and actually took a step back in horror. "In your dreams. No, scratch that. Not even Dream Me would sink that low. Go take a bath and mate with a frog or something!"

The white-haired looked angry at the greenish-hued boy's suggestion and took a step toward him in anger. "Hey, stay away from my sister!"

That brought them up short and Wanda looked at the boy with tears of happiness in her eyes. "Pietro? Is that really you?"

The now-revealed Pietro smiled at Wanda. "Yeah, it's me sis. That's Toad, ignore him. The manly looking girl is Astra and the old man is Mastermind. I'm glad you're okay. Now come on, it's time to go."

Wanda looked confused at his words and took another step back. "Go? What do you mean?"

Pietro started to get agitated. "Escape from these people of course! I know they've probably been keeping you prisoner but I'm here now and we'll take them down so you don't have to be afraid anymore!"

Wanda looked at Pietro liked he'd lost his mind. "They're not keeping me prisoner! They're my friends and they very kindly saved me and took me in when I appeared her in New York when my powers emerged! Have you lost your mind?!"

Pietro was now openly snarling. "Oh really? So they just let you in free of charge into a mansion that's locked up tighter than Fort Knox and the only places you go are always accompanied by that asshole or that telepath who's probably messing with your head? Yeah, right!"

Wanda was getting frustrated. Sure, it sounded bad when you said it like that but Dr. Strange's mansion had been like that before she got there and it was just coincidence that she never left the house without Harry or Jean. It's not like she wanted to be alone all the time, she had her room for that!

Before Wanda could explain, Harry tried to defuse the situation. "Look, calm down. This is just a big misunder-"

"Save it, pretty boy. I'm going to enjoy beating your ass down like trash! By the time, I'm done with you you'll never be able to touch a woman again in your life much less my sister!"

At that, Jean's protective side came and her eyes started to glow white with power. "You won't touch him you white-haired bastard!"

Things were about to get violent when they heard the sound of female laughter coming from the side.

Both groups turned to see a beautiful woman with a curvaceous body wearing fishnet stocking and black shorts along with a tight blue shirt standing not far from them. Her face was hidden behind a carnival mask of a woman with a white background with deep red streaks around the eyes and the cheekbones. The only thing you could see were her eyes which were a deep sapphire blue that were currently glinting in amusement and her blond hair that reached her mid-back.

Pietro snarled at the newcomer. "Who are you supposed to be?!"

The woman just cocked her head at him. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm not here for you. I'm here for the handsome boy over there."

Toad rubbed the back of his head and took a step forward. "Now, look beautiful I know I'm handsome and all but I'm sorry to say that I'm taken. I have my eye on that pretty little auburn-haired girl over there."

Beside Harry, Wanda turned green in disgust and looked as if she was going to throw up any minute.

Harry wasn't sure but he had the distinct feeling that the newcomer felt the same if the glare she was sending Toad's way was any indication. "You? Please! You are hardly considered human much less handsome. No, I've come to kill Strange."

Harry's eyes narrowed as he tried to act casual while really preparing his magic to defend himself. The newcomer was dangerous. They hadn't even sensed her before she spoke and Harry could almost feel the magic pouring out of her. Furthermore, he could feel something distinctly off about her magic.

Harry had once asked his father how he could differentiate the dark-magic users from the normal ones who simply abused normal kinds of magic. He had said that he would be able to feel the wrongness in their magic and from the distinct 'scent' they gave off, identify what kind of magic they are inclined to use. From that, one would know how to go about fighting your enemy.

The woman's magical aura gave off a feel of fire and death. It was faint so that meant she was knew to the art but unmistakable. She was a demon summoner.

Harry inwardly cursed. Demon summoners were the worst possible match-up for him. His style revolved around using alchemy and elemental attacks, usually lightning, to control the battlefield long enough to box in the enemy using runic arrays. However, demon summoners never attacked the opponent directly, instead using summoned demons to attack. Demons had an innate magical resistance that one needed higher tier magical spells to overcome. Sorcerers like his dad had no problem with them due to simply reciting the words of banishment to send them away before finding a way to negate the summoners ability to summon demons.

However, Harry didn't know the words of banishment and even if he did, he had no training in using them. Banishing a demon wasn't as simple as simply reciting the words and that was that. The demon was only banished if one's will was stronger than the demon's in question. Without training, the demon would overwhelm the caster and there was a risk of the demon possessing the sorcerer afterwards.

All of this passed through Harry's mind in less than a second and he quickly decided that the best course of action was maintaining the offensive so she didn't have the chance to summon any demons.

Pietro seemed to contemplate that before a cruel smile crossed his face. "Fine, kill him. But at least make it painful so he can suffer for taking advantage of my sister."

At this Wanda lost all control. "ARE YOU DEAF, PIETRO?! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

Pietro just sneered. "Don't worry sis. We'll bring you to Magneto and he'll fix whatever damage they did to your mind to think they're innocent."

Wanda took a step back in shock at the fact that Pietro was basically saying he was gonna let someone mess with her mind and Jean angrily stepped forward. "You'll have to get through my dead body first."

Mastermind looked at the rapidly deteriorating atmosphere with a cocked eyebrow. "Shouldn't we take the boy alive? Three mutants are better than two and it would be a shame to lose him."

Pietro just scoffed. "Whatever, he deserves it. Asshole like that acting like he knows what's best for my sister. Bastard has it coming."

Harry looked away from them as Wanda angrily retorted and turned to the woman and started to activate the first part of his plan.

Harry had long been uncomfortable with the fact that he couldn't take his swords to school. After what happened with Pandora and Lilith, he had been rightly afraid of being attacked by them there. His katana wouldn't do much and he couldn't take Caliburn but the simple fact of being able to carry one of his weapons made him feel better. Therefore, he had endeavored to find a solution.

Caliburn was easy since it would magically appear in his hands when he called for it. However, there was still a few second interval between it appearing in his hands and him being able to hide it under Invisible Air and he couldn't risk summoning it now and the woman identifying it. That would defeat the purpose.

Luckily, when Raizo has started training him with an O-katana, he had started studying ways to be able to carry it at all times. At first he had thought of hiding it much like he hides Caliburn but that was a no-go since he couldn't summon like Caliburn and even if one couldn't see it, didn't mean one couldn't mistakenly bump into it. Well, more like be cut into pieces by the Invisible Air hiding it but the idea was the same.

So, Harry had instead turned to runes. With great effort, Harry had created a runic scheme that would create a small pocket dimension where he could store a few things. It wasn't infinite and he could only put a maximum of five things but it worked to store his O-katana in there. He had then drawn the rune scheme on all his belts and would store it in the belt he was wearing that day. All he had to do was channel magic to the scheme to release it.

Harry did that now and everyone stopped as the 7 foot long o-katana appeared in his left hand, sheath and all. The blade had an ornate bronze guard with the handle having the traditional gold wrapping, with black ornaments, while the guard itself was octagonal. The scabbard was black, made of traditional lacquered wood, and had a metallic silver depiction of a dragon on the far end.

Harry slowly drew the blade from the scabbard, attracting every eye as they felt the power the blade was giving off. Once the blade was free from the scabbard, everyone studied the blade itself.

The blade featured several intricate ornaments, most notable was a relief of a red dragon at the endpoint of the hilt. From the dragon's mouth was am exquisite wave-like pattern that glimmered down the blade that made it seem as if the dragon near the hilt was breathing fire. When the light caught it in a certain angle, the lines shone red like fire, enhancing the idea of the dragon breathing fire.

As everyone was distracted by the blade's appearance, Harry thought about the upgrades he'd recently given the blade.

It hadn't taken long for Harry to realize that his o-katana wouldn't stand up any other magical or legendary blade like Caliburn. Beings like Pandora, when they lowered themselves to, typically summoned magical weapons attached to their concepts. Lilith, for example, summoned a whip that could either fill a person with unbearable lust or cut through any defense, save mystical ones, and rip flesh from bone. Therefore, Harry had to upgrade his o-katana to at least be able to stand up to legendary weapons.

Therefore, Harry had taken an o-katana made of stainless steel and inscribed it with runes of the First Language. The result had Harry's blade which he called the Yamato in honor of the famous sword from his favorite game, Devil May Cry. The wave-like patterns hid runes that made it unbreakable, eternally sharp, and allowed Harry to channel his magic down it. The runes would take his magic and change it into fires as hot as he wished them to be, giving him a way to attack from long-range. The sheath also had runes inscribed along it to make it unbreakable so that the blade wouldn't cut it in half when he holstered it... it only happened once!

There were also an engraving of Fate/Kaleidoscope of the First Language hidden along the length that ruled over the realms of Space and Time that did something very special...

Harry tied the sheath to his belt before smiling at the masked woman. "So you got a name, lady or should I just call you lady?"

The woman seemed to smile behind her mask. "My name is Nightwitch. So tell me, do you know how to use that blade or is it just for show?"

Feeling mischievous, Harry decided to mess with their enemies a bit. "Sure. First I whip it out, then I thrust it with great force. Every angle, it penetrates. Until, with great strength, I ram it in. In the end, we're all satisfied and you are set free!"

The clearing was silent at his explanation. Wanda and Jean seemed to have their minds elsewhere if the slight bit of drool escaping their mouths was any indication. Pietro seemed furious, as if he'd personally offended him. Toad... you know what Harry didn't even want to interpret what the look on his face meant. Mastermind just rolled his eyes at his immaturity while Astra seemed to be imagining something if the muttering of 'Yes, Master Magnus I'll clean it' said anything. Nightwitch hadn't outwardly reacted but Harry got the idea that she was amused by his words.

"Well, you're not the only one with a blade." With those words, Nightwitch summoned a normal looking katana from a portal that appeared from the floor. She pulled it and using his magical senses, Harry could sense that unlike his sword, it was enchanted meaning she had skill in casting enchantments rather than inscribing runes.

Harry looked from her blade to his. "Mine is bigger than yours."

If this was an anime, everyone would have face-planted at his words.

Nightwitch just smiled behind her mask. "True. Are you compensating for something?"

"It's not compensation, it's representation."

Everyone stopped to stare at the one who said that because it certainly wasn't Harry.

Jean blushed under their incredulous stares, while beside her Wanda was staring at her in envy. "What?! He's my boyfriend and I have needs, dammit!"

Harry tried and failed to keep the proud smile off his face while Wanda looked from Harry to his o-katana and muttered, "Lucky bitch."

Even Astra was looking at Jean with a hint of envy in her eyes. Behind her mask, Astrid was amused at Jean's words but didn't put much stock in them. 'Please, it's obviously an exaggeration. I doubt she's even seen his dick.'

Pietro looked furious at the envy in Wanda's eyes. "That's it, you asshole! I'm gonna kill you for taking advantage of my sister! Then I'm gonna kick your ass, Wanda, and drag you back with me if I have to!"

Before Wanda could react, Pietro pulled a knife from his pocket and super-sped toward Harry until the knife was a foot from his face. Luckily for Harry, he had been reinforcing his body since Pietro and his group appeared. While not as fast as Pietro, he was fast enough to dodge the knife's stab.

Pietro was surprised. While he wasn't as fast as him, the kid was faster than almost anyone he'd seen before not counting him. He was so surprised that he didn't have time to react to Harry's return attack which was to spin slightly while on his knees and hitting Pietro in the stomach with the sheath of his blade.

Pietro flew backward from the strength behind the blow which was strong enough to crack a rib and send him flying backward a few feet and into Toad's face causing to fall down in a heap. Luckily, Pietro dropped the knife while in the air due to the pain of the hit. Harry instantly took up a defensive stance as Nightwitch tried to take advantage of Pietro's attack to launch her own in the form of mystic bolts which Harry was forced to dodge.

Pietro's attack took the last semblance of control that Wanda had. It was bad enough that he attacked Harry and was trying to tell her what to do. No one told her what to do. However, she could handle that.

However, Pietro had tried to kill the boy she secretly loved and who was one of her closest friends. That she couldn't forgive.

With a scream of rage, Wanda's fist shone red with her magical power as she charged Astra who had drawn some sort of metal stick that extended into a metal staff in order to protect Pietro while was down. Jean wasn't far behind her, equally as angry but concentrating on trying to keep Mastermind from casting illusions over them.

Pietro quickly got up and super-sped toward Wanda, trying to knock her out quickly so she wouldn't be hurt during the fight. However, Wanda was used to fighting people stronger than (Harry, Raizo, etc.) and so always had a thin but strong barrier of chaos magic surrounding her body whenever she entered battle. Pietro tried to punch the back of her head in order to knock her out but only succeeded in burning his fist on the barrier before, with a yelp of pain, he was forced to retreat. Pietro thought that the barrier was something her captors had put on her so she wouldn't be knocked out and rescued.

(AN: I know, he's an idiot).

Wanda was pushed forward only slightly by his attempted attack but it was enough for Astra to jump forward and attempt to bash her over the head with her metal pole. Luckily, Jean was watching her back and telekinetically grabbed the pole and ripped it from her hands before she could do any damage with it.

Mastermind quickly realized that his illusions were being thwarted by Jean and jumped back in order to completely concentrate on his illusions. Even if he could only ensnare Jean into one, it would at least keep her out of the fight long enough for his teammates to knock out Wanda. Then, they would take down Jean together.

With Harry

Meanwhile, Harry cursed as he was forced to cut through another mystic bolt with his blade. Nightwitch was good. Who knew you could control your mystic bolt after it had already been cast? Nightwitch was obviously a master since she somehow managed to get her mystic bolts to follow Harry while throwing blades of wind at him that he was forced to dodge or cut through with his blade lest he get filleted.

Finally having enough of being on the defense, Harry channeled magic through his blade and swung Yamato in an arc so that a line of white-hot fire flew toward Nightwitch.

Astrid was momentarily surprised at the skill and power it took to do that even with an enchanted blade (which is what she thought his blade was) before summoning a magical shield to take the hit. This turned out to be a mistake because she underestimated the power behind the attack and had to channel more magic into the shield so it wouldn't fall.

Once the fire stopped, she barely had time to put up her katana to block Harry's as he had used the lack of vision caused by his fire to close in on her.

The two sorcerers exchanged a lightning fast barrage of slashes and strikes, each trying to be faster than the other. Astrid cursed as she was forced back by Harry's skill with a blade. The only reason she had survived so far was sheer experience. It was this very experience that warned her when she saw him point his left palm at her as she saw magic gather in his palm.

"Incendio!" yelled out Harry. A powerful stream of fire was launched from his left hand at Nightwitch.

It was only thanks to her experience and instincts that she had dodged to the her left in time to dodge the stream of fire. She blocked Harry's slash and took advantage of his overextending himself to kick him in the chest and therefore giving her space.

Harry grunted at the force of the kick and was pushed back a few feet. He tried to close in before she could use a spell but was too slow.

"Jaculatio Grandinis!" yelled out Nightwitch. A dozen densely packed spears of ice appeared hovering over her and were instantly launched at Harry.

Harry was forced to backpedal further to dodge them effectively and destroyed the last ones with a quick slash of fire through his blade. When he destroyed the last one, he cursed as he felt an upsurge of magic coming from Nightwitch.

"Crystallitatio Tellustris!" yelled out Nightwitch. Instantly the ground around her froze as a line of jagged pillars of ice rose out of the ground toward Harry.

Cursing, Harry quickly slammed his left hand into the ground while forming an alchemical array in the palm of his hand, transmuting the earth to rise in the form of a earth wall protecting him from the jagged pillars of ice. The earth wall did its job and blocked the ice pillars from stabbing him but froze due to the effect of the spell.

Harry quickly jumped on top of the wall and swung his blade while yelling, "Lacarnum Inflamarae!," which caused a large white-hot fireball to crash into Nightwitch's "Malleus Aquilonis!". The fireball crashed into the large ice ball launched at Harry, each canceling out the other.

Harry was caught off-guard when he heard the yell of "Nivis Casus!" coming from his right and saw an honest-to-God freaking avalanche of snow heading his way.

"Danku!" yelled out Harry as he summoned his strongest magical shield. A transparent large rectangular shield formed in front of him, blocking the attack. The avalanche crashed into his shield with overwhelming force and Harry grunted as he felt it reverberate in his bones. The snow flowed around his shield, covering everything behind him and to his sides in several feet of snow.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw his shield about to fail and jumped up just in time to avoid being crushed by the snow. He swung his blade in a circle around him in mid-air and incanted, "Haien!", making an arc of purple-black flame surround him and melt any snow around where he landed as well as block a "Glacius!" from Nightwitch.

Astrid cursed as she saw him melt almost 2/3 of the snow she had conjured as well as set a few trees on fire. It was lucky she had cast a barrier around the area that kept them in while making anyone outside see nothing of what was happening inside. If not, she'd have to retreat for fear of being caught by Dr. Strange. But seriously, just how strong was this brat?! He's shown more skill than most people twice his age!

Astrid raised her empty left hand at Harry before incanting, "Hyoga Seiran!" summoning an avalanche of ice toward Harry.

Seeing the danger coming towards him and sensing the girls behind him so he couldn't dodge without endangering them, Harry swung his blade while incanting, "Incendium Gehenrae!" which sent a wave of hellfire toward Nightwitch. He quickly raised his left hand and incanted, "Ventas Giostinus!" which summoned a cyclone of wind from his hand right behind his summoned hellfire.

The combination worked as he thought and the wind picked up the hellfire, turning into a cyclone of hellfire twice as hot as normal hellfire. The ice avalanche clashed with Harry's hellfire cyclone for a second before the hellfire cyclone smashed through it, melting all the ice before going toward Nightwitch.

Astrid's eyes widened in fear as she saw the cyclone of hellfire bearing toward her and she quickly slammed her left hand into the ground before incanting, "Evocatio: Rashomon!". Instantly, a giant gate with a demonic face appeared in front of her, blocking the hellfire cyclone. The gate groaned at the pressure and heat caused by the cyclone and Astrid jumped to the side in time to dodge the explosion caused as the hellfire cyclone destroying the Demonic Gate before dispersing.

'Shit!' thought Astrid frantically. 'How much power does this kid have?! That was a Demonic Gate made to hold higher-tier demons from entering our plane! Even Mephisto would have a bit of a problem breaking it. Yet this kid broke it with a combination elemental spell! It's official. He's too strong. I have to kill him before he becomes too much of a threat.'

With that thought in mind, Astrid sealed away her katana and slammed both hands into the ground before incanting, "Gelidus Capulus!". The ground around her started to freeze as it quickly expanded toward Harry.

Harry's eyes widened as his instincts screamed at him. He pushed magic into his legs and jumped straight up in time for the ground around him to freeze and a giant coffin of ice to close in where he was just standing. He landed on top the ice and slammed his hands into the ground to form a pillar of earth beneath him. The pillar rose him above the battlefield and he caught sight of Nightwitch just in tim to catch the ending of her spell.

"-vocatio: Astronaquis Flamma!"

The Nightwitch slammed her hands into the ground and a summoning circle appeared in front of her. In the middle of the circle, a demonic entity of fire and darkness rose. A Flame Astronach.

Harry started to become afraid. Unlike what was shown in video games, the Flame Astronach was no easy kill. Their veins had lava running through them instead of blood and their flames were demonic in nature meaning they could melt all but legendary weapons and armaments. Harry didn't think that his o-katana could stand up to its demonic flame.

Nightwitch pointed at him and said, "Kill him!".

The Flame Astronach roared.

With Jean and Wanda

The girls were having more trouble than they'd thought taking down the group of four mutants. While their teamwork was shoddy at best, they made up for it by their sheer determination and in Pietro's case, anger.

Jean cursed as she was forced to keep a telekinetic shield around her at all times in order to block Pietro's lightning fast punches. At the same time she had to concentrate on blocking Mastermind's illusions which were steadily making their way through her mental shields. When this was over, Jean promised herself to concentrate more on her telepathic skills.

Wanda was having just as much trouble as Jean. Pietro would every now and then try to punch her to see if her personal chaos shield was down which wore on her magical reserves. Meanwhile, Wanda kept trying to blast Toad but kept missing due to the bastard's reflexes and leaping ability. Astra made things worse by summoning mechanical weapon after weapon that she was forced to dodge.

Wanda dodged under Astra's metal pole and incanted, "Forzare!". The spell sent a powerful telekinetic push at her, causing her to fly back and slam into a tree with tremendous force, causing her to pass out unconscious. Wanda didn't have time to celebrate her victory as Toad was suddenly in front of her and spat something on her face.

Wanda let out a shriek right before the sticky saliva hardened, blocking her mouth and nose and therefore preventing her from breathing. Wanda fell to the floor, desperately trying to rip the hardened stuff from her face to no avail.

Toad gave a smug smirk. "Sorry, beautiful, but that stuff is impossible to destroy by hand. You'd need a lot of power to break it so just go to sleep and this will all be over."

Pietro relaxed as he saw his sister be hit by Toad's hardened saliva. He knew from experience that that stuff was as strong as steel and impossible to break by hand for anyone but Toad. They'd wait for her to pass out unconscious due to lack of oxygen and then break it before taking her back to base.

Jean heard Wanda's shriek and her eyes widened as she saw her friend's predicament. She made a step toward her but by doing so, lost concentration on her telekinetic shield. This allowed Pietro to punch her in the face, throwing her back. She put up her shield again in time to block another attack but lowered her mental shields in the process.

Mastermind's illusions started to enter her mind and she tried to block out the vertigo from suddenly being a thousand feet in the air and falling.

'It's not real, it's not real,' chanted Jean mentally. However, this was little help as she felt people hitting her telekinetic shield and was forced to keep it up less she be knocked out unconscious. 'Shit, if this keeps up, I'll pass out from overexerting myself! I shouldn't have held back! If I didn't this would be over by now!'

Back with Wanda, she was thinking the same thing. She had instinctively held back, thinking that if she didn't it would be overkill. However, they proved her wrong and she felt herself fading as she ran out of oxygen. 'No! I won't lose! If I do then they'll kill Harry and take Jean prisoner. Even if Pietro is my brother, I won't allow him to hurt my friends!'

Summoning her magical energy into her fist, Wanda brought it down on her face, hurting her but at the same time breaking the hardened saliva.

Toad and Pietro saw what she did and were shocked and angered respectively. They hadn't thought of her risking hurting her face to escape.

Wanda got up and her eyes glowed red with her chaos magic. "Playtime is over!" Wanda let loose her magic and it acted like lightning coursing out of her. Pietro and Toad had to rely on their speed and reflexes respectively to dodge the chaotic magic. Suddenly, Wanda was in Toad's face and she incanted, "Arctis!". Her fist gained an aura of frost and she punched Toad with it in the face.

As soon as her fist made contact with his face, he froze in a block of ice before flying back a few feet. Pietro was shocked at what happened and grew angry before super-speeding toward Wanda.

Wanda sensed him coming and slammed her foot in the ground before incanting, "Geodas!"and a sinkhole appeared in front of Wanda. Pietro was going too fast to stop himself from running into it and fell into the hole. Wanda telekinetically threw Astra's unconscious form into the hole as well.

Wanda quickly slammed her hand on the edge of the sinkhole and incanted, "Culmen Plutonis!". Pillars of earth crisscrossed across the opening, blocking Astra and Pietro's escape.

In the hole, Pietro ran up the wall but for the first time was too slow as the pillars of earth blocked his escape leaving only small cracks in between for air.

"Wanda! Wanda, let me out!" yelled Pietro.

Wanda ignored her brother before turning to her best female friend. Wanda saw Jean's eyes glazed over from Mastermind's illusions and ran forward. She slammed into Jean's shield and seeing that Jean wouldn't hear her, telepathically called her, "Jean! Jean, it's Wanda. Lower your shield, I took care of Toad and my brother!"

Jean heard Wanda's telepathic call but hesitated in responding. 'What if it's a trick? What if this is another of Mastermind's illusions?'

"Jean, trust me! Remember what we talked about before this? About Harry? I promised to protect him but I also swore to protect you too! So lower the shield!"

That got Jean's attention and she lowered her shield. She felt Wanda's familiar touch on her back even though she still couldn't see her. Now that she knew she was safe physically, Jean focused all her mental strength on pushing Mastermind's illusions form her mind. The world wavered before shattering, showing the park again.

Jean's eyes widened as she saw the damage their battle had caused the park. There were patches of ice along the ground while some treetops were aflame. However, Jean instantly turned to where she sensed Mastermind and sent her most powerful telekinetic push in that direction.

Mastermind's eyes widened as he saw the trees be uprooted by the force of Jean's telekinetic push. He barely had time to cover his head with his arms before a tree trunk slammed into him, throwing yards back and slamming him into the barrier around protecting them from the outside world.

Seeing Mastermind go down, Jean and Wanda turned to Harry in time to see him throw a powerful lightning bolt toward the ground from his position in the air. Both girls covered their eyes from the flash and felt Harry land beside them.

Back with Harry (a few minutes before)

Harry cursed as he kept his left hand connected to the slide of earth he was transmuting in order to dodge the fireballs and ice attacks from the demon and Nightwitch.

The moment the demon had entered the fight, Harry quickly lost the advantage. The demon would block any fire attacks he sent toward the Nightwitch to cancel her ice attacks, making it stronger as it ate his flames. Not even hellfire affected it.

Meanwhile, Nightwitch became much more lethal as all her attacks were aiming to kill him if they landed. Her Ensis Exsequens spell was nasty piece of work. It was technically an ice attack. However, rather than working by lowering the temperature of whatever it hit, it worked by causing an instant phase transition of anything it landed on from solid to gas. It looked like a line of ice was forming toward Harry but in reality the spell itself was invisible. The pillar of ice was created by its passage.If it landed his entire body would undergo phase transition from solid (or liquid) to gas, causing his death instantly.

To make matters worse, even it missed it caused everything around its field of passage to freeze from the phase transition. After all, the heat to cause the transition had to come from somewhere and the spell took it from the environment around the spell's field of passage. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that this spell would be considered dark magic.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise as Nightwitch appeared in front of him chanting, "Ensis Exsequens!". Harry barely dodged the spell by jumping off his transmuted earth slide. He was forced to use shundo to dodge the flame Astronach's flame punch. Harry quickly transmuted a thick earth wall to protect him and give him a second or two of time.

'Okay. I won't win as long as that demon is around. I'll have to get rid of it but it'll take too much magic to use brute force. Therefore, I'll have to use plan B. Damn, this is gonna hurt! I hate elemental demons!"

Harry jumped on top of the earth wall and jumped toward the Flame Astronach just as it the wall itself underwent violent phase transition. Harry used his blade to block all of the Astronach's attacks while keeping it between Harry and the Nightwitch.

Astrid was confused as to the reason behind Harry's reckless charge at the Flame Astronach. Maybe he had given up and wanted to die fighting?

However, Astrid soon got her answer as Harry jumped above the Flame Astronach's swing and instead of slashing at ti with his o-katana like she thought he would. He slammed his left palm which had a flicker of something purple in it onto the Flame Astronach's flame skin.

There was a beat of silence before the Flame Astronach roared in pain before dispersing in a shower of light. Astrid was so stunned that she barely had the presence of mind to know what to do when she saw Harry on his knees clutching his burned left hand.

Meanwhile, Harry was clutching his left hand in pain. The Demon/Banish rune of the First Language worked and banished the demon. However, the rune had its drawbacks. Demons like the Flame Astronachs weren't summoned from True Hell but instead came from a sort of hell outpost that was present in every multiverse. However, the Demon/Banish rune banishes the demon back toward True Hell beyond the Outer Gates. It technically didn't break seventh law since he didn't call anything in from beyond the Outer Gates but rather pushed something out. However, this came with drawback which Harry was currently experiencing.

Harry bit back a yell as the demon's corrupted magic merged with his own. Luckily, Harry had never dabbled in dark magic and so his magic was pure enough to cleanse the demon's own and simply take in the positives of its magic. It was lucky that the Flame Astronach was a lower-tier demon. If not, it's magic would be much darker. As it was, it was more wild than dark and easy to purify. The positive of the situation was that now Harry would have even greater control over fire.

The bad news was that Nightwitch took advantage of Harry's pain to summon two Frost Astronachs.

Harry felt his spirits plummet. There was no way he could repeat his feat with two demons of a higher tier than the Flame Astronach. Not without their dark magic corrupting him. That was without even counting that using the Demon/Banish rune took a lot of magic due to him not understanding its concept. He basically just shoved magic into the rune and hoped for the best.

That wouldn't work now so that meant he'd have to go for Plan C. He quickly transmuted an earth wall to start his plan.

Astrid smirked as the two Frost Astronachs appeared. She doubted the boy would be able to repeat his feat, whatever it was. Though she wouldn't be able to summon anymore demons, this should be enough. The mental strain of summoning three demons and maintaining control of two at a time was her limit. As it was, she wouldn't be able to incant any spells less she lose control of the Frost Astronachs. However, she had faith that they would be enough.

Astrid frowned as she saw Harry jump out from behind his earth wall and charged toward her. He must think he could get by her Astronachs and take her out. A good plan but she wouldn't let it happen.

She mentally commanded the Astronachs to surround her and saw the boy try to slide between one Astronach's feet only to get caught by the other. The Astronach slammed him into the ground in front of her, causing him to grunt in pain.

Astrid smirked down at Harry through her mask. "Well, boy. You gave a good show but I'm afraid it's time for you to die."

The boy smirked, causing her unease, before muttering, "Boom."

Suddenly, the 'boy' turned into lightning before exploding into a bomb of electricity. The Frost Astronachs screamed in pain along with Astrid. The lightning was strong enough to shatter her mask, revealing her 'face' to the world.

Astrid grunted as the lightning passed and her eyes looked around searching for Harry. 'A solid clone made of lightning?! His mastery of lightning must be on the genius level! Where is he?!'

Astrid's eyes widened as she felt magic gathering above her and she looked up to see Harry pointing both hands at her with a large ball of lightning in gathering in them.

"Raikoho!" yelled out Harry and a large bolt of lightning flew toward the ground toward her and the Astronachs. He had resealed Yamato in order to cast this spell and he wasn't going to waste the chance.

It was only her ability to use shundo, which was basically high-speed movement, and her wrapping herself in her strongest magical shield that saved Astrid from the attack. Her Astronachs were not as lucky.

Already weakened from being right on top of the lightning clone when it exploded, the Thunder Cannon as it was so aptly named tore into them and shattered them instantly. They didn't stand a chance.

Harry used the force of sending the lightning to push himself toward where he saw the girls and landed between them.

"Harry!" yelled out Jean in concern when she saw the state of his hand. The palm was burned and Harry looked to be in constant pain from it. "What happened?!"

Harry grunted as he stood to his feet. "She's strong. Almost as strong as my father. I don't think I can keep this up if this keeps going."

Just as he said that a portion of cover of the hole where Wanda had trapped Pietro and Astra exploded outward, leaving a hole large enough for someone to come out. Pietro took advantage and super-sped out while carrying Astra who was carrying what looked like a bazooka. "We're not out of this yet! I'm taking my sister home if it's the last thing I do!"

Wanda wanted to scream in frustration. What the hell would it take for Pietro to get the message that she already had a home!? That she was happy and had friends and wasn't being kept prisoner!?

Harry gritted his teeth as he saw Nightwitch appear from the smoke. It seemed as if his attack broke her mask because he saw her face now for the first time. Despite this, he decided this had gone on long enough. "Girls, protect me while I finish this."

The girls nodded and cast their strongest shields around them with Harry in the center. Harry started an incantation to finish the fight once and for all. "Heed the contract and serve me, O Lord of the Heavens..."

Astrid staggered out of the smoke in anger as she saw Harry standing between the girls while they held up a shield. How can one person be so powerful!? This couldn't be natural! He was only fourteen for God's sake! She'd heard of geniuses but dammit!

Astrid stiffened as she heard Harry's incantation, "...zing thunder. Hurl down one hundred times and even one thousand times!"

'No way. There's no way a fourteen year old could be capable of casting one of those.' thought Astrid frantically. But she was proven wrong when she heard him finish the incantation.

"Thousand thunderbolts!"

Astrid instantly slammed both hands onto the ground and used the last of her magic to incant, "Evocatio: Triple Rashomon!". Three demonic gates appeared around her in the form of a dome in order to protect her.

It was lucky she did because Harry's master-level lightning spell worked and the clouds that had been forming in the sky threw down thunderbolt after thunderbolt as if Zeus himself was throwing them.

The barrier held for one second before collapsing, thunderbolts landed around Harry and his friends indiscriminately around the clearing. A dozen landed on Astrid's Demonic Gates alone and two shattered leaving the third one damaged.

Pietro had reacted when he saw the thunderbolts start to fall and picked up Mastermind, Toad and Astra before jumping back into the hole. This was what saved him as the thunderbolts slammed into the earth pillars that were left covering the hole and leaving him and his teammates shaken but alive.

The thunderbolts stopped falling soon after, leaving the sky clear of clouds and people around the city gossiping about if what they saw was real or part of some freaky special effects.

Harry collapsed as that spell used up the last of his strength. He still had some magic but he no longer had the strength to cast anything. "Wanda," gasped out Harry. "The barrier is down. Get us out of here. Take us to Alpha Point."

Wanda nodded her head in understanding and after casting one last look toward the hole her brother was that was half angry/ half worried, she created a portal. Jean and Wanda quickly threw an arm of Harry's around their shoulders each and pulled him through, the portal closing behind him.

Just as the portal closed, Pietro super-sped out of the hole and looked around in anger. "Dammit! They got away! Astra! Where are they?!"

Astra pulled herself out of the hole while Toad jumped out with Mastermind. Astra pulled out her screen only to hiss and throw it away when she saw it had fried and was letting out sparks to show its damaged state. "Dammit! It must have fried from the lightning at the end. It's useless, Pietro. I'll have to build another from scratch and that'll take me a year at least since I no longer have a sample of her mutant signature on hand. I used the only one to make this one."

Pietro gritted his teeth in anger. "Then I'll just search the city by myself if I have to."

"I don't think so, Pietro."

Pietro stiffened at the voice and turned to see Magneto himself hovering above them. He showed no outward sign of anger but they could see it in his eyes.

Magneto looked from one to the other before speaking. "You disobeyed my direct order and came here to face someone you were outmatched by. You were lucky that the elder Strange wasn't here. Now, we are returning to base. Now."

Pietro tried to argue. "But Wanda is-"

"Is gone. We have no way to know where she is. She could be in another state by now thanks to your rash actions. I will not risk our exposure before we are ready. Now we are going."

Pietro gritted his teeth but nodded. He knew better than to try and argue. Magneto was simply too powerful at the moment and he would rip him to pieces.

Plus, Pietro was tired even though he didn't want to admit it. His knuckles were bleeding from all those punches into their shields. He was too weak now to try another rescue, especially with Wanda turned against him.

However, there would be a reckoning someday and Pietro promised himself that he would kill anyone who got between him and his sister. Only he knew what was best for her.

After all, it's a brother's job to take care of his sister, right?

Astrid cursed as she stumbled out of Central Park under an illusion. While out of magic, she always had a few items on her that held their own enchantments for just such an occasion. Her habit of seducing powerful sorcerers for their secrets and then killing them tended to need her to be ready for just such an occasion.

Astrid reviewed her battle with young Strange. He was powerful, there was no doubt about it. His mastery of the elements was equal to her own and his large skill-set allowed him to have a solution ready for most situations. Yes, if allowed to grow he would become a large threat. Probably even stronger than the elder Strange and her father.

That thought brought her pause.

Yes, he would become stronger than either. He would probably discover secrets and powers that she could only dream of. If he mastered the lightning element at fourteen, who knew what he would be capable of when he was older. Maybe master Time and Space itself like Kischur? Or maybe Death like its been whispered was possible among the wizards?

A wicked smile crossed Astrid's face as the possibilities rose. Yes, she would lie to her father. She would say that he was nothing special and she let him live. This would keep him from investigating Harry too closely and realize her deception.

Then, once Harry had become truly powerful she would move in and seduce him before taking all his secrets. Yes, that was a perfect plan. After all, he didn't know how she truly looked like and she was quite beautiful. What red-blooded male could resist her, after all?

Astrid touched her face as a thought crossed her mind.

This meant she would have to abandon studying the higher levels of demon summoning. Summoning demonic elemental Astronachs was fine since it was basic. However, the higher levels allowed her summon truly powerful demons that could be a problem for even the elder Strange.

The downside would be that she would age rapidly and her beauty would fade as a consequence of the things she'd have to do to master the art. At first, she had thought it would be worth it. She might lose her beauty but she'd gain power beyond her wildest dreams, being able to command powerful demons at a whim.

However, the ugliness was impossible to hide through glamours and if she wanted to get close to Harry she needed to be beautiful. Even if she hid her ugliness behind powerful illusions, he would sense it and he would be impossible to get close to.

No, she would abandon that branch of magic for now. She could always come back to it later, after she'd stolen every one of the younger Strange's secrets. For now, she'd concentrate on other branches of magic that she'd neglected.

"Hmmm... yes. Don't worry young Strange. Next time we meet I hope it'll much more pleasurable. For the both of us."

Harry groaned as he sat on the ground with help from Jean. His left hand was wrapped in medical gauze and Jean was fussing over him as she wrapped medical gauze around his bare chest as well. Wanda had set up a few barriers that made them invisible to non-magicals and was now calling his father on her cell phone and telling them where they were.

They were currently sitting on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. It was their Alpha Point to escape in case something happened due to the fact that no one would think of it. Public access to the balcony around the torch where they were sitting had been barred since 1916 and the cleaning crew only passed at the end of the month. The cleaning crew had already passed a week ago so they were safe from discovery.

Wanda hung up and his dad and she turned to Harry with worried eyes. "He's on his way and he's bringing Agatha and Wong. He says not to move too much so as to not agitate your wounds. You might have a broken rib which was made worse from the fact you kept fighting through it."

Harry smiled grimly. "Not like she gave me much choice. She was too strong to stop to heal myself."

Jean finished wrapping medical gauze around his chest and brought him into a fierce kiss. "Don't scare me like that again, Strange. It was bad enough when you passed out after the Pandora Incident. At least then it was just magical exhaustion. Now you burned your hand and broke a rib as well. It seems like you're getting worse every time."

Harry gave her a wry smile. "Sorry, Jean. Promise to do my best so it won't happen again."

Just then, a portal opened behind them and Dr. Strange, Agatha and Wong stepped out, the latter carrying a medical bag. Wong caught sight of Harry and instantly walked toward him with Strange and Agatha right behind him.

Wong put down his bag and opened it before taking out a cream and some medical gauze that had a strange aura to Harry's magical senses. "Let me check over your work, Miss Grey. I have no doubt you did it well but sometimes magical injuries do damage that can't be healed by normal means."

Jean nodded and surrendered her seat beside Harry on the ground to Wong. Wong quickly checked the bandages around his chest first. He poked Harry slightly along his right side, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Yes, definitely a broken rib. Luckily, it isn't magical in nature yet still quite severe. This cream can heal that with magic since it wasn't caused by magic in the first place. Do you know how it happened exactly?"

Harry shook his head. "Honestly, I was punched, thrown and downright tossed like a rag doll so many times that I didn't keep track when it was exactly. Though I think it was when the Flame Astronach first punched me."

Strange's eyes widened. "A Flame Astronach? Explain to me what happened. Now."

And so Harry told him about his fight with the Nightwitch while Jean and Wanda chipped in with their fight as well. Strange's eyes became more and more stormy and a frown crossed his face as they continued. By the end, he was downright furious.

However, Agatha spoke first. "You said that you banished the Flame Astronach with the Demon/Banish rune, correct?" At seeing his nod, Agatha stretched out her hand toward his left. "Let us see it."

Having been done instructing Jean on how to place the magical healing cream onto wounds as well as guiding her as she removed Harry's chest bandages, placed the cream and rewrapped Harry with Wong's magical gauze that promoted healing, Wong turned to Harry's left hand. Knowing that this wound was magical in nature, he slowly unwrapped it in order to cause Harry the least pain possible. Once unwrapped everyone hissed at the sight.

Harry's left palm was cracked and burned as if it had been left over a fire for too long. It was obviously magical since the back of his hand looked fine while the palm looked like it had been overcooked.

Both Agatha and Strange leaned forward to study the wound with their magical senses and their eyes narrowed as they saw it start to bleed again.

Agatha was the first to speak. "While you did manage to purify the Astronach's dark magic, using Thunder Cannon right after was foolish. It forced your magic that had just been fighting the dark magic to gather around the very spot where it was originally infected, slowing down the purifying process. The result was that the little dark magic that wasn't purified gathered around your palm which is why the wound is so bad and still bleeding."

Strange spoke. "Luckily, I can fix this. You'll still be unable to use it for a day or two even with Wong's cream but at least it won't become infected with dark magic."

With that, Strange placed his hands over Harry's burned palm and gathered light magic in the form of an orb. Little specks of light traveled from the orb toward Harry's palm and where they landed, the skin became lighter in color. Eventually, all the darkness in his palm disappeared leaving it burned but not as burned as before. Now it simply looked like Harry had put his hand on a hot pan.

As soon as Strange finished, Wong led Jean through the right way to use the cream for magical wounds since it was different from normal one before helping her rewrap his hand. Harry hesitantly flexed his hand and while it hurt, it hurt less than before.

Harry turned to everyone and smiled. "Thanks."

Strange smiled. "No problem, son." Then, he frowned. "This business of a demon summoner unsettles me. There are few who would risk learning that art due to the drawbacks. You said that from her aura she was a beginner?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She also only summoned Astronachs. She still hasn't gone into the darker aspects from what her aura showed though she did use dark magic."

Strange rubbed his chin thought. "Probably just started then. Her description doesn't sound familiar but I'll look into it."

Harry sighed and put his hands on his shins where he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out and it turned out to be the gift he had for Jean. Realizing this was the perfect chance to give it to her, he sent a look toward his dad.

Catching the meaning behind his look, Strange cleared his throat. "Wanda, can you come over here for a second? I want you to explain your point of view of Harry's fight to see if perhaps Harry missed something."

Wanda walked over to where Strange was hovering on the other side of the torch while Wong and Agatha took a hint and wandered off, leaving Harry alone with Jean.

Harry cleared his throat, stopping Jean's fussing and catching her attention. "Well, Jean. I made this for you as a sort of farewell gift. I hope you like it."

Jean took the slightly battered box, no doubt due to the fight, with slightly shaky hands. Taking a deep breath, Jean opened it.

It was beautiful. That was Jean's first thought. It was a pendant, much like Harry's and Wanda's. However, this one was a phoenix and it was clearly enchanted and inscribed with runes. The phoenix shimmered a red-orange color similar to flames or Jean's hair in the light. Jean swore that it almost moved when the light hit it a certain way.

Jean took out the pendant and idly noticed that it was completely unblemished despite the box being so battered and partially frozen from the fight. She looked at Harry with misty eyes. "Help me put it on?"

Harry nodded and helped Jean brushed her hair to the side when she turned her back toward him. With sure hands, he tied the pendant on her. He laid a kiss in her bare neck, causing her to shiver in desire before hugging her from behind.

Jean leaned into her boyfriend and closed her eyes with a small smile as Harry laid soft kisses along her neck. It took every bit of her concentration not to succumb to her desire and lose her virginity to him right then and there even with the others nearby. "Why did you pick a phoenix?"

Harry smiled slightly as he remembered why. "Because... a phoenix is fire and passion incarnate. It's majestic and beautiful while still being firm in what it believes. I relate the phoenix to us as well." Harry and Jean locked eyes, emotions more profound that their ages passing between them as Harry's voice dropped to a whisper. "Because like the phoenix, it may die for a time... but it's always reborn from the ashes and never truly dies. Just like my love for you."

Jean's eyes shimmered with tears and she impatiently wiped away a few that escaped before shaking her head and launching herself at Harry with a passionate kiss. They had never put to words what they felt, both because they thought they were too young to truly feel it and because of the shadow of Jean's departure. Now, however, Jean opened her mind to him and poured all her feelings of love and care though their link to tell him with her mind what she couldn't tell him in words.

That she loved him. That she would always love him.

Harry grunted in slight pain from the weight of Jean on his cracked rib but pushed it away to return the kiss. He opened his mind to Jean and let her feel both the love he felt for her as well as the deep soul-rending pain her departure would give him.

They made out furiously for a few minutes during which Jean had straddled him. They stopped when the need for air become life-threatening and just stayed there, their foreheads touching as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you," said Jean softly.

Harry gave her a sad smile. "I love you too."

They stayed like that for a while before Jean got off him when she explained she was gonna ask Dr. strange if they could stay there for a while. Harry nodded and sat at the edge of the balcony, a safety rail between his legs.

He turned when he felt someone sit on his left. It was Wanda.

Suddenly, the full weight of what happened entered Harry's mind and he wrapped his left arm around Wanda's shoulders before drawing her into a half hug which she leaned into. "I'm sorry about your brother."

Wanda smiled and shook her head sadly. "He was always stubborn and never listened to me when I gave my ideas but this..." She just shook her head sadly and fell silent.

Harry couldn't help but feel it was partially his fault. If he had perhaps tried harder to find her brother, maybe things would be different. "It's my fault. I'm sorry. Maybe if I just tried to explain myself better..."

Wanda cut him off. "No. My brother... once he gets something into his head, it takes an avalanche to get it out. He's stubborn that way. No... he chose his path when he tried to kill you over a simple misunderstanding."

Harry frowned. "But he's your brother."

"And you are my..." Wanda bit her lip. "You're my closest male friend. You're just as special to me as Pietro is. No one could replace you in my heart."

Harry smiled softly and hugged her tighter. "You're special to me too, Wanda. You're my little scarlet witch."

Wanda scrunched up her face at the title. "Scarlet witch? What's that?"

Harry got a mischievous look on his face. "Among wizards, it's a witch that's too open about her desires and teases men with her looks. A scarlet woman!"

Wanda playfully slapped his chest before apologizing when it brought a yelp to his lips due to his broken rib. Wanda playfully pouted. "jUst because I'm more open about my desires doesn't mean I'm a scarlet woman. I'm just very liberal."

Harry laughed at the faux offended look on her face. "Whatever you say beautiful." Harry suddenly remembered something and a frown came to his face.

Wanda noticed and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

Harry made a disgusted look. "I just remembered that Toad guy was hitting on you when we met. I should have knocked his teeth in for thinking he could be with you."

Despite the way it could be taken wrongly, Wanda's stomach fluttered at the slight possessiveness in his tone. "Really? Sure you weren't jealous?" Wanda swore she caught something cross his face when she said that but it was gone before she could identify it.

Harry shook his head. "No. It's just..." Harry turned to look Wanda in the eye. "You're too good for him. For any normal man. Someone like you... deserves someone as amazing and unique as you."

Wanda's stomach fluttered and she ducked her head shyly at his words. The worst thing is that she saw the sincerity in his eyes and knew he meant every word. Dammit! Did the guy know how his words affected women or was he really that oblivious?

Wanda looked up at him in time to see him staring at the setting sun like nothing had happened and deadpan look crossed her face.

'Yep. He really is that oblivious.'

Wanda smiled before a concerned look came to her face. She looked around to make sure no one could overhear before speaking. "How do you feel? You know... after what happened with the mirror?" Harry had told her in confidentiality about what he had seen and about his subsequent breakdown. He hadn't even told Jean, too ashamed of his weakness. He only told Wanda because she told him about hers, as embarrassing as it was. Luckily, she hadn't told him she was married to him in the mirror but just "some guy she liked". He had tried to guess who she liked but gave up after he jokingly guessed Lance and she smacked him.

A frown crossed Harry's face and he looked down in thought. "You know... I always thought that I was over what they did to me... that I had grown past them."

Harry looked up at the sun with misty eyes. "But... that's the curse of my eidetic memory I guess. I can never forget. No matter what happens. I can never forget."

Wanda tried to say something but Harry continued. "But it doesn't matter. Because I have a new family now. Dad, Wong, Agatha, Raizo, Jean and you are my family now. Before, I subconsciously learned magic in order to make my parents regret giving me away. Now, however... I want to learn it for myself. Because I love magic. And because I want to help people."

Wanda's heart skipped a beat as she saw Harry turn to with a genuine smile. The sun hit his face at the perfect angle, making him look ethereal and royal. Wanda never loved Harry more than in that moment and it was only sheer force of will that kept her from jumping him right there and now.

Wanda shook it off as Jean approached them. For a moment she felt slightly guilty for still being in Harry's hug but when jean just smiled at her, it left. She was glad that Jean was so understanding and that she had met her. God only knew how messed up she might be if she had only her brother as a friend growing up.

Harry smiled softly at Jean as she sat to his right. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and drew her into a hug as well which she happily leaned into.

The three friends stayed there for a second, just basking in the warmth of the sun and their friendship. Then, Jean turned to Harry with a question.

"Dr. Strange said that my pendant was both enchanted and had runes inscribed into it. What do they do?"

"Well," started Harry. "The enchantment is the same as the one on mine and Wanda's. It connects us and we can contact each other telepathically no matter what the distance. It bends space and time through the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune so that it's like we're always right next to each other."

Harry fingered the phoenix of Jean's pendant. "The phoenix on the other hand. Other than the magic used to make it seem so life-like, is a sort of emergency beacon. You just channel your mutant powers directly into the phoenix while thinking that you're in danger and our will warm up to warn us. It'll also work as a beacon for us to find you even through the most advanced shields. All of our pendants work the same."

Harry took a breath before continuing. "The runes on the other hand form a sort of magical shield around you. The runes are inscribed onto the chain itself and it'll form a shield around you that can take anything short of nuclear attack just once. But then it'll run out of juice and have to recharge."

Jean smiled softly and thanked him before giving him a kiss.

The three friends stayed like that, watching the suns set. Three misfits had gathered together and formed a powerful friendship.

One had been raised in an abusive home after being abandoned by his parents.

One had telepathically felt as her best friend died and had risked being lost in a world of thoughts.

The last had lost the only parents she knew only to soon after lose track of her brother before almost being raped.

Three hard pasts that had left their own types of wounds on their souls that had managed to be healed between the three.

Hopefully, the bond they had formed would last for years to come.

Midnight, Sanctum Sanctorum, Harry's room

Harry's eyes opened from his dozing when he felt the wards to his room alert him to Jean's entrance. Not thinking she would visit him tonight, he sat up only to be instantly aroused by what he saw.

Jean was always beautiful but tonight she seemed to glow ethereally in her light red bra and panties. They were simple but at the same time, looked perfect on her.

Jean bit her lip nervously but gathered her courage and walked toward Harry. She reached his bed and got on before straddling him. She hovered over him, giving him quite a show of her cleavage before kissing him deeply.

The kiss woke Harry from his stupor and he eagerly responded. The couple kissed for a while, steadily becoming more passionate. Tender kisses became soft caresses which became soft groping. Jean slowly took off Harry's nightshirt before taking off his pants as well, leaving him in only his boxers.

Jean broke the kiss before laying her forehead against Harry's. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm ready."

Despite having no context, Harry instantly knew what she meant and looked at her with a look that was half-hopeful half-uncertain. "Are you certain?" asked Harry softly.

Jean nodded with a soft smile. "Yes. I can't imagine losing it to anyone else and... I want something to remember our love." 'In case this is our last chance to express it.' thought Jean sadly.

Harry nodded in understanding. He activated the wards around his room to maximum so they wouldn't be interrupted.

Lemon start

Go to hpfanficarchive for lemon.

Lemon end

Jean snuggled into Harry's neck as the afterglow filled her. It had been everything she had hoped for and so much more. She had let herself loose and it had been everything her innocent and naughty dreams wanted combined. He had been fierce yet gentle, making sure he didn't hurt her even as he thrust into her with unrestrained passion. She had never been more sure that she loved him.

Harry stopped caressing Jean's hair and looked down at her. "I love you, my fiery goddess."

Jean looked up at him with misty eyes. "And I love you."

They kissed one more time before getting comfortable and starting to fall asleep. Harry reached out with his magic and doused the lights, leaving them alone yet together in darkness.

AN: And there's chapter 12!

Hope you can see why I divided it into two parts. It was way too long as it was and I didn't want to shorten any part and risk losing quality. Hope you liked the fight, I took attacks from various sources, mostly Negima! and Dresden Files since they have the best magical attacks that go well with sorcerers. Harry's battle alchemy is still mostly basic as well as the runes he uses in battle, which is why he mostly relied on elemental spells.

For those who read the lemon, the whole Phoenix and King auras from Jean and Harry doesn't mean they're soul-bonded or anything stupid like that. It simply means that their primal sides (the Phoenix and Harry's King soul) recognized each other and rather than fight for dominance, consider themselves equal. I'm taking this from the fact that it's been said many times that Jean is the Phoenix and the Phoenix is Jean. So they're basically one and the same. Harry's relationship with the 'King' persona is similar and will go into greater depth at the end of this book and book 2.

For those wondering, Astrid's looks are OC. I think I explained why she looks so old in her one and only picture. It's a side effect of the demon summoning. However, in my fic she abandons further studies as you read so she won't end up the old crone that shows up in the comics.

As always, Read and Review!