AN: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and Bioware owns Mass Effect. They are both wonderful series and you should try both if you have not.
So, I'm going to be candid with you. I never thought this story would ever get above a few dozen favorites and follows because of how niche crossovers can be. Despite this it's already broken 450 fav's and 600 follows. I thank you all for keeping up with this story and offering your support.
So I'm encountering a minor conflict while writing my story in that there are too many wonderful and unique characters in Mass Effect that I want to give their "screen time" without needlessly drawing out the story. I had to do some thinking about when each of the characters become most important and I realized a few things. First, Ashley and Kaidan get most of their moments in ME1 and 3 depending on how it's played. Second, the alien crew (i.e. Garrus, Tali, Wrex) really has their most important moments in ME 2 and some in 3. Liara is the only character that really gets consistent face time in all three games. I think that I will try to focus the story along those lines so I don't bog down the story too much, but rest assured that there will of course be moments with all of them regardless.
OK, it's official. I've decided how I want the "ships" to work out for the long run. What I mean by this is I have decided on who Harry ends up with at the end of this entire saga, but he won't start off with them immediately. This does not mean harem or anything, just that I will not pair them up at the start of the story.
I have a couple of direct quotes from Mass Effect and this will be highlighted through the use of bold characters. Enjoy and please favorite, follow, and review if you feel so compelled.
CH 14
"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."
"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
"You wanted proof." Udina said, stepping up the Council with a stern look on his face. "Well, there it is."
"This does implicate Saren in the attack on Eden Prime." Valern, the salarian councilor, said. "Given Saren's complete denial with Eden Prime to begin with, we must assume he was lying about his attack."
"He's lied about more than that before." Anderson said.
"Perhaps he has." Sparatus said. "That doesn't matter now. We must decide on what course of action we should take to address this crime."
Tevos decided to speak up now. "It is apparent that he should be stripped of his Spectre status and his ship flagged for detainment in any Council system. What intrigues me are these Reapers."
"That's what the vision the beacon on Eden Prime showed me. They are a race of machines that wiped out the Protheans over 50,000 years ago." Shepard said.
"A race of machines that wiped out one of the largest civilizations in the Galaxy?" Sparatus said indignantly. "There would be signs of their existence. It's impossible."
Harry finally decided to speak up. "Shepard tried to warn you about Saren and you threw it back in her face. Don't make the same mistake again. If Saren believes this is real then we should at least be open to the possibility it is."
"It doesn't matter what these Reapers are." Udina said while shooting Harry a dirty look. "If we can stop Saren it won't matter. I ask the Council to mobilize the fleet and cut off all of the Terminus systems."
"To do so would start a war with the Terminus systems." Valern said. "We should exercise caution in apprehending Saren."
"There is one way we could resolve this." Tevos said thoughtfully.
"No! It is too soon." Sparatus said.
"No, Councilor, it solves all of our problems." Valern said. "We won't have to send the fleet after Saren and humanity gets their first human Spectre."
Harry grunted and pushed himself up one more time. Sweat was beading on his forehead, and it threatened to run down into his eyes again as he looked down at the storage room floor. He was getting tired and wanted to quit, but he scraped together what willpower he had and lowered himself to the floor. Exhaling hard he forced his body up one more time.
"173." He said when he reached the top of the push-up. He let himself practically drop to the cold floor of the storage area. Harry had made himself a little corner of the storage level of the Normandy just a few meters away from his workbench. He had convinced the quartermaster to allow a few crates to be moved around, creating a small private space out of sight. Harry had moved a small camping cot and a folding chair into the space. No one bothered to ask Harry where he had gotten them. Harry assumed they thought that he found them on the ship. Harry was glad that most of the crew hadn't been here long enough to notice an irregularity like that. He doubted he could have gotten away with it on a ship with an established crew. In truth, Harry had transfigured some broken gun parts into his cot and chair. Harry used this space to take naps when necessary or to find someplace private to read. Privacy was hard to come by and the space helped to provide this. Not that it was guaranteed.
Harry heard someone cough from behind. He pushed himself up to a kneeling position and looked around and saw Kaidan and Ashley standing there, both with wry grins on their faces. Harry suddenly remembered that he wasn't wearing a shirt and was covered in sweat at this moment.
"It's nice to know that you're keeping in shape, Harry." Kaidan said.
"Well, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you pretty boy?" Harry returned, noticing that Kaidan's hair was back to its usual perfect shape. Harry quickly grabbed his Alliance Military issued shirt and began to tug it on.
"Don't mind us, Harry." Ashley began, eyes darting back to his face. "We just wanted to let you know that everyone's back and we're about to depart. What prompted the sudden display of masculinity back here?"
"It wasn't a display until you two started watching me. How long were you there?" Harry asked.
"Since about, oh, 120 or so." She said cheekily. "You didn't answer my question. Why start wearing yourself out now? We've not been aboard for more than an hour."
"I was frustrated and needed to let off some steam." Harry said. It was the truth, but not the whole of it. Harry learned early on in his secret training at Grissom that he tended to bottle up negative emotions like frustration or anger. Harry learned that half of his failings with occlumency were due to his emotions running rampant in his mind and the "plugging" technique was not the best method for these feelings. Unfortunately, occlumency books didn't teach you emotional control, only mental defense and organization as they assumed that you had a sound mind to start with. Given Harry's past, he certainly did not. During his time at Grissom, Harry started to explore non-magical methods of controlling his emotions. He quickly learned that some people felt the need to use physical activity burn off negative emotions and found it suited him well. Harry had left the Council session very frustrated and felt he should try and break his personal push-up record to prevent snapping at anyone. He came up short by six this go around and mentally blamed coming off a mission for this.
"Well, you'd better get cleaned up. I'm sure Shepard and the Captain will want to address everyone soon." Kaidan said, turning to leave.
Harry nodded and stood up. Leaving his little space, he went to his locker and grabbed a fresh set of clothes. He went and cleaned up in the second level bathroom then dressed. He hadn't heard anyone call for him over the com yet and so decided to return down to his workbench and start going over the guns. He stepped into the elevator only to be joined by a strange group on the way down. In the awkwardly slow lift was Harry, Tali'Zorah the quarian, Garrus the turian from C-Sec, and Wrex the disaster waiting to happen. Wrex just simply looked at Harry and nodded when he entered the lift and the group rode down in silence.
"Looks like things are going to get more crowded on this ship." Harry thought to himself.
Once the lift opened onto storage Harry saw Ashley back at the workbench, already stripping down her rifle. Wrex went off to the left side of the storage area, and finding a section of wall that seemed to please him, leaned against it. He seemed to glare at everyone in such a way as to say "leave me alone." Garrus hesitated for a second until he saw the Mako. Eyes widening a bit he walked over to it and he began circling the large tank. Tali'Zorah stepped out, but she seemed a bit lost. She wringed her three fingered hands together and looked around. Harry couldn't see her face well enough to guess what she was thinking, but decided to be friendly.
"Need any help?" Harry said, causing the quarian to jump a little when he did.
"Oh. It's you! Ah… yes. I was told to make myself comfortable down here, but I don't know where anything is or how to be useful. Everything is so open on this ship and there's so much space. Do you know where I could put my things or find a bed?" She asked, her voice modulated slightly by her suit.
"OK, well as to your stuff you can put it in the locker over there." Harry said, pointing over to the long row of lockers. "As for a bed, we all rotate in using the sleeping pods on deck two." If you require a bed, I'm sure we can find something that will work."
"No, no. That's fine. The pods will work." She replied. "I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, by the way. We didn't get much of a chance to talk after you saved me back in the alleys...Thank you, by the way...for doing that."
Harry smiled at the timid quarian. She was looking down at his feet and seemed very nervous to be talking to him. Harry noticed the beautifully intricate design she had on her hood. It was purple with swirling shapes and lines in silver. Parts of her suit were also covered in this design. Harry had never had a chance to meet a quarian in person as they rarely ventured to Alliance colonies and mostly stayed aboard their flotilla ships. Harry recalled that the quarians had originally created the geth and realized that having one with them would prove very valuable. Deciding to be friendly, he extended his hand to her.
"I'm 2nd Lieutenant Harry Potter, but you can call me Harry or Potter, if you prefer."
"You can call me Tali, if you'd like. Most people do." She said, taking his hand in hers.
"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, I assume you're joining our crew."
"Yes. Commander Shepard offered me the chance to assist you. As you are fighting the geth, it would serve my people greatly if I could help you. In the meantime, I hear you have an engineering section of this level and I could probably help out there. I am pretty good with ships and engines."
"Then you'll want to go over there and through the doors." Harry said, pointing around the corner from the lift to the engineering level. "Make sure you get clearance from Chief Engineer Adams before doing so. He can get very particular about who he lets back there."
"Mostly just you, Potter." Harry heard from down the hall where engineering was. Harry saw Adams moving up the corridor.
"Shepard just gave you clearance to join us in engineering, Miss. If you'll follow me." Adams said, motioning for Tali to follow. Harry watched Tali walk back to the forbidden (for him) engineering area. He heard a laughing sort of grunt behind him and turned to see Wrex grinning at him. At least Harry assumed it was grinning for a krogan. He wasn't entirely sure.
"What?" Harry asked of the large krogan who was still wearing his red armor.
"You're awfully friendly… for a killer." Wrex replied.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I saw you use your strange biotics on the throat of that krogan. You nearly killed him. Don't worry, it doesn't bother me. I'm glad to see one of you humans has a quad." Wrex replied, shrugging his massive shoulders.
"Trying to stop an enemy does not make me a killer." Harry said, defensively.
"No, but going for the throat out of frustration does. Listen, pyjack, I don't really care if you blew his head off or hugged him. I just thought it was funny that someone so willing to take out another being would be so chummy."
"Well, all the same. I had to do something to give you time to get him off you."
A grunt was all Harry got in reply. Wrex resumed his task of staring around the storage area. Noticing the conversation was apparently over, moved to his workbench and took up a spot next to Ashley. She was engrossed in the mass effect field generator component of a rifle and didn't notice him walking up until he sat down next to her and began stripping his pistol.
"Hey, Harry. Did you hear what's going on?" She asked.
"No. No announcements were made over the com yet. All I know is that we picked up some new crew members." Harry replied.
"From what I hear, Shepard got stopped by Udina and Anderson at the hatch. Some big news or something. I also heard from Pressly that the Council forwarded some leads on Saren."
"Too bad the Council is more worried about not making waves than hunting Saren down."
"Yeah. They also found a lead on that other voice we heard on the geth's data that quarian recovered."
"Her name's Tali."
"Oh… OK. Well, apparently she's some hotshot asari Matriarch. We got word her daughter was working on a Prothean ruin, but the site has gone black. We've got a couple of other leads, but that's all I got from Pressly."
"Sounds like we're operating on very little information. Do we have any actual clue where Saren actually is?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Harry heard the coms overhead activate. His ears perked up as he heard Commander Shepard address the crew.
"This is Commander Shepard. We have our orders; find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you crew. This mission isn't going to be easy. For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy. Time to show them what humans are made of. Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us, but we'll be ready for them too. Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all, we will stop him!"
Harry and Ashley were quiet for a moment, taking in the effect of Shepard's speech. Harry picked up the gun he had been working on and looked at Ashley.
"The Traverse, huh?" He said. "That means we're going to need a lot of guns."
Harry was sitting in the mess hall at the table. He had just heated up an Alliance Military ration and was picking at the "meat" with his fork. This was one part of shipboard service that he could do without. The meals got the job done and he was never hungry, per se. He certainly craved real food, however. The meat thing was brown and shaped like a flat oval. It was covered in gravy and appeared to have what passed for mushrooms on top.
"Salisbury steak? Yeah, and Snape could do shampoo commercials." Harry thought derisively.
He understood the need for the standard shipboard issued ration. Being in space for prolonged periods of time could actually cause some medical issues if not handled properly. The constant flux in artificial gravity, especially if you slept in low G settings in the pods, could reduce bone mass. Lack of natural sunlight lowered vitamin D counts and could cause fluctuations in a person's hormones. The rations were balanced to include extra supplements of this in every portion. They also had to spend time under UV lamps every day for at least fifteen minutes, but it was a very poor substitute for sunlight.
Harry took a bit of his meat thing. He wished he could have some of Mrs. Weasley's cooking right now or some roast chicken like they served at Hogwarts. Harry considered redoubling his occlumency efforts in order to trick his mind into thinking he was eating something else. Harry must have been making a face because he heard Shepard laughing in front of him.
"It's not that bad, Potter." She said, stabbing her own meat thing and cutting off a portion.
"It is when you have standards." Harry said.
"Who says I don't have standards?"
"I'm going to refrain from answering that, Commander."
She chuckled and went back to eating her food. Harry, for once, looked forward to meal times lately. It had been a long time since he last had people he would actually sit down and share a meal with. In fact, the last was Kasumi and Carl. Before that… Harry looked around at the motley crew that sat at the mess table. Wrex was sitting to Harry's right (mostly since no one else would sit next to him), Ashley on his left. Shepard was across Harry with Kaidan on her right and Garrus on her left. Tali liked to sit at the head of the table near Garrus. No one assigned the seating, but everyone seemed to keep to this arrangement since the first day out and it had repeated every meal since.
Garrus and Tali were eating Dextro-based rations. They looked kind of good to Harry and he wondered if a good meal would be worth anaphylactic shock. Wrex's meal was never pleasing to look at and he ate it with both hands. Harry was afraid to ask, but thought it might be varren meat. Wrex picked up the charred-looking hunk and tore a piece off with his large jaws.
"Surprisingly, he makes less of a mess than Ron did." Harry thought.
"So, Potter." Garrus began, seemingly done with his meal. "What is this I hear about the guns you work on having better shot capacity?"
Harry nearly choked on his current bite.
"How long has someone noticed?"
"It's OK, Potter." Shepard said. "I noticed it back on Eden Prime. Some of our little firefights on the Citadel confirmed it. I just happened to mention it to Garrus."
"You know that high velocity rifles have a nasty habit of overheating, even after one shot. Wondered if you might help a turian out?"
"Sure." Harry said, just managing to get the food down. "Just drop whatever you need worked on by my bench."
"Thanks. It seems you're a man of many talents." Garrus said. Harry could have sworn that the turian grinned at him.
Harry resumed eating again when Wrex spoke up. "He is at that. Never seen a biotic able cut anyone before."
Harry again tried to not to choke.
"Alright, team." Shepard interjected. "We all know Potter is different. He's been damn useful so don't give him a hard time."
Harry took a drink of his "juice" to wash down the food that had threatened to choke him.
"Yeah." Ashley said. "Harry, tell everyone about your back tattoo."
Harry sputtered some of his drink out and everyone started to laugh.