Disclaimer: Anything you recognize – be it character, location, idea or line – belongs to others, I may be playing with them but I make no profit from this.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! RL interfering - you know how it is. But, here the chapter is at last, and a long one too. Epilogue will be up soon, as well!
A/N2: I'm going with the manga version of the Sakura/Syaoran romance, even if this fic is primarily Anime based, because I left Meilin Li outside of this entirely, so...
14.
When a child who looks barely old enough to enter third year claims to have important information for him, Albus Dumbledore is at first rather sceptical. However this 'Eriol' comes recommended by his old friend Nicholas and it just won't do to ignore the elderly Alchemist.
His suspicions about the claimed 'reincarnation' being a hoax are somewhat lessened by the blue-haired, bespectacled boy's mannerisms. This is clearly an adult in a child's body. The amount of power oozing from what looks like a black winged plush toy but is clearly so much more makes him cautious, too. It is a subtle but very real reminder that when magic is involved, one should never judge by looks alone.
When Eriol delivers his news, all his doubts vanish like snow in the sun. Albus could kiss him.
Harry Potter is found at last!
All his efforts to locate the valuable child and return him to the Dursleys after those fools have lost him have so far been in vain and only the force of will developed over a century of hardships has prevented his falling into a panic attack when neither magical nor muggle means have proved able to find the regrettably essential Boy-Who-Lived.
Files sealed – even from him! - for the child's 'protection'! Location spells confused by too many magical signatures blending! The blood wards so painstakingly erected, that would have offered some protection to young Harry in his defeat of Voldemort, gone, beyond chance of remaking! Worst of all, the Boy-Who-Lived being raised out of his country, without any sense of his duties in the coming war! Could you spell 'disaster' more clearly than this?
Over the years his hope has waned and left him a weary, saddened man waiting for doom to strike. Losing the Boy-Who-Lived might well have been one of the hardest blows in his long life.
While the option of forcing a mere boy in the confrontation Fate has preordained for him is not one that he enjoys - he always feels horrible when for the good of the many he is forced to sacrifice the one - it is still a preferable solution to the thousands who will die and suffer otherwise. Harry abandoning the fight means that his homeland is headed straight into devastation by the dark.
That must not happen. It must not!
There was nothing to it, though... Many people see him as an idealist, and he is, but he is also quite experienced and knows when to pull off a useless effort. He had no way to find the Boy-Who-Lived and he has come to accept it. That doesn't mean that seeing the only hope of the British wizarding world fade through his fingers has been easy.
But now!
The old Headmaster can feel hope returning, so powerful it makes him giddy.
Harry Potter is found at last!
All is not lost: thanks to the strange boy who isn't a boy he now knows where the child he so desperately needs is being hidden and better still, they are in time to retrieve him and get him to Hogwarts with his destined class. Once young Harry is there, Albus has no doubt that he will be able to teach him the role he must, simply must, play.
He has to hurry, though. There isn't much time before the enrolment deadline closes. Luckily Japan has no magical schools, as they believe in the old-fashioned, outdated, Master-Apprentice bond too strongly, so he won't have to compete with a rival institute.
Clapping his hands with sudden energy, Albus sets his ICW contacts to good use to get a portkey to Tomoeda, Japan, post-haste. Along the way, he grabs a protesting Severus Snape who has some very handy pendants enchanted with translation charms, to help him with acquiring exotic potions ingredients, and therefore, willing or not, is going to accompany him. Albus is quite good at ignoring the younger man's grumbles anyway.
They arrive in front of the cosy-looking house Eriol has indicated on a Friday afternoon, looking completely out of place in the neat muggle neighbourhood.
Upstairs, Sakura is just finishing getting ready for an outing with her girl-friends. A new parlour has opened next to the Aquarium and they're all eager to try their sundaes.
She hasn't changed much in the almost two years since her little brother became the Master of the Cards, at least not outwardly. She is maybe a little taller, but still her energetic and cheerful self, still as fond of athletics, still as clumsy and naïve most of the time; her eyes are still as green and her beaming smile as charming. Only her magical powers and knowledge have grown.
As she rummages in her drawers for a hair ribbon that goes with her pink shirt, she spares a little smile and a fond caress for the Clow Book that is still there. However it no longer looks like it did when she first found it. Now it is a lovely pink, with a winged star emblem on its cover and Sakura's own name in a golden scroll above it.
It has been this way ever since she made her first Card.
Sakura raises her gaze to glance outside the window. She isn't seeing the familiar landscape, however, but the face of a dear, dear friend.
Deep, amber eyes, short brown hair and that smile that isn't ever a full smile, but makes his gaze soften and shine... She sighs.
Syaoran has returned to Hong Kong shortly after Eriol himself left, but not before he told her how he felt about her. Simply, undemandingly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and nothing should change for it.
"I'm... really glad that I was able to meet you... You really had so many things I didn't have... I... like you..."
His quiet voice is often with her these days, playing from her memory a dozen times a day, but those words are the ones that warm her heart the most.
She still can't believe how hopelessly she has behaved back then, just standing there in that corner of the Penguin King Park, too stunned to answer. He had seemed content to let her know and leave without fanfare, but she... she had been almost unable to absorb the words. It had taken the help of all her friends and family to overcome the shock and realize that she, too, cared for him very deeply.
She had spent so long just turning the thought of him over and over in her head... the way he had always been there for her... the way he had always helped her so much... how he was so serious and a hard worker and so skilled and how he knew so much... how he was leaving... maybe never to come back...
She still remembers well the moment when all of her confusing feelings had seemed to grow too big for her heart to hold and had erupted in a cascade of sparkling golden stars...
And then, a most amazing thing had happened.
All that she had felt for Syaoran... all that she had wished to tell him... all that she had longed for... had seemed to coalesce and gather and a Circle had flared under her feet: her own, the one that first formed when she used her Magic of the Star for the very first time, at the Final Judgement.
She had closed her eyes, overcome, and when she'd opened them, a Card had been there, hovering gently before her.
She lifts the pink cover of the Book now and smiles at it where it lays.
It is exactly the size of all the other Cards, but its back, rather than red like Clow's or green like Harry's, is a cheerful pink, as is the impression of her own Circle on it, with the exception of the golden central star.
As for its front... it is emblazoned with a heart with wings.
The Hope...
"When we feel bad about something, that's the only thing we need. If we don't have it, we'll never be able to do anything difficult," she murmurs, exactly as she did when she named it.
It had been such a surprise to her family!
Kero-chan's jaw had dropped nearly to the ground and even Yue-san had looked impressed. "We have always known you have the potential to be as powerful as Clow one day," he had told her, shocking her. "I suppose this is your first step."
Harry had been enchanted: "It is so pretty!" he'd exclaimed over and over.
They'd wanted to celebrate – even Touya had smiled at her and offered to cook shrimp noodles, her favourite.
She, however, had suddenly felt like crying. Syaoran was leaving and her sudden realization of how important he was for her had made the fact that she hadn't even said goodbye seem twice as terrible.
Thankfully, she had wonderful, wonderful siblings. Well... she had a wonderful little brother, at any rate. Touya had done nothing but grumble about brats taking away from him what they had no business taking and the unfairness of inevitability, which in her opinion was just her big brother being strange again; but Harry had offered the help of his Card-friends and between The Dash and The Time, she had at least made it to the airport in time to give Syaoran the teddy bear she'd made.
His promise to come back for good as soon as he is through with his duties in Hong Kong is what puts a brighter smile on her face most days now. Letters and phone calls are all well and good, but...
As for the Book, which, if she were to be honest, she had almost forgotten about after the Cards had gone to Harry, it was already changed when she'd come home and Harry's Guardians had been at a loss to explain it.
"Should she put it under the Rule of the Moon or the Sun?" had asked Harry, who had still been curious and fascinated by her Card, remembering what Yue had told him after the creation of The Hatred.
"That is a precaution in case something happens to the Master, so that the Cards won't be left on their own. They couldn't survive in that case after all, so the Guardians take over the duty," had explained Yue gently. "However as Sakura doesn't have Guardians yet..."
"Yet?" she'd blinked, surprised.
Yue had shrugged gracefully: "Clow actually created most of the Cards before us. You might be able to create your own Guardians someday... maybe..."
The idea had somewhat disturbed her, but she'd put it aside for the time being and turned to one of her best friends instead: "Kero-chan, in the meanwhile, will you take this Card under you protection?" she had asked, huge green eyes pleadingly burning into his and hands clasped under her chin in supplication.
Keroberos had shot an alarmed gaze at his Master, who was silently laughing at his predicament and who had returned his look with a challenging one that seemed to say: "Go on, then, if you can deny her..."
The winged teddy-bear had sighed and smiled a little before turning to his true form, a huge paw hovering over the brand new, pink Card, that had been enveloped by a gentle glow. "Card made by Sakura, under the jurisdiction of the Sun Guardian, answer to my call if ever the Mistress is absent from you," he had said solemnly. After a few moments, the glow had dulled, and it was done.
Sakura smiles fondly and almost starts saying "Kero-chan, do you remember..." before she recalls that the very special plush-toy isn't there and sighs a little.
Touya and Yukito graduating from High School had been a tricky moment: the first in which Yue and Yukito's interest ran contrary to each other. It wouldn't have been fair for Yue to prevent Yukito from going to college after all, but it wouldn't be fair for Yukito to prevent the Moon Guardian from doing his duty towards Harry either.
Kero-chan solved the problem rather quickly by offering to stay with Harry at all times, so that Yue can afford to be elsewhere. After all, his false form, being a plush-toy, doesn't exactly have much to do with his life, unlike Yukito.
It's not like Sakura can't see him anymore, of course: even when he chooses to follow Harry to school, like today, the two come home by dinnertime at the latest and Kero-chan still sleeps in a drawer in her room.
She rather misses him anyway.
Maybe Yue-san is right, and she will create her own Guardians eventually – but she doesn't like the idea. The last thing she thinks possible is to replace Kero-chan.
She puts the Book and the Card in it away with a soft sigh, then shakes herself out of her memories and grins. None of that matters today. Today, it's a day for ice-cream!
She runs to the door and throws it open right as a very tall, very weird old man is about to knock and she stops just in time to avoid barrelling into him.
"Oh!" she gasps. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I had no idea there was someone here...!"
Her eyes go wide as she takes in his purple and silver robes, that remind her a lot of what Mr. Clow wore when The Return showed him to her, and even wider when she spots another tall, though younger, man behind the old stranger, dressed forbiddingly all in black.
Meanwhile the two wizards watch the pretty girl with short brown hair and a sweet smile carefully, evaluating her. "No harm done," says Albus genially, wondering who she might be.
"I'm so glad!" she replies cheerfully, clasping her hands behind her back. "How may I help you?" Sakura blinks in surprise at the glare her perkiness elicits from the dark, scowling stranger but the older one is quick to clear his throat to catch her attention.
"We are looking for Harry Potter," he says importantly. "Is this the right address?"
She blinks again. "Oh, hum, ah... my little brother isn't home yet," she says awkwardly and Albus almost frowns.
A sister is not good news. It implies a family and if the child has formed attachments so far away from England... it doesn't bode well for his willingness to do what's necessary for his homeland.
That was one of the reasons he had wanted Harry with the Dursleys. His loyalty should go to the British wizarding world and nowhere else. If the boy isn't amenable to do his duty for his birthland, they are all lost!
He scrutinizes the girl closely, attempting to determine how he should go about this. Despite the utterly muggle attire, she's clearly a witch, and a powerful one at that. Her magic feels rather wild however and he doesn't see a wand on her, which is a hopeful sign, as it means she's likely untrained. What child doesn't want to learn magic? She is a little old for enrolment, but if necessary, he'll bend the rules and offer her a place in Hogwarts as well. That should encourage Harry.
"May I ask why you wish to see him?" inquires the girl very politely, but Albus catches the unease in her eyes. That won't do. The last thing he needs is for Harry to be wary of him!
He smiles at the pretty girl, congenial: "I am Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he tells her grandly. "I come to offer Mr. Potter a place in my school."
He ignores Severus' grumblings about special treatment for a worthless brat who doesn't deserve more than the standard letter. For all his intelligence, Severus is too blinded by his hatred for the child's father to understand that they simply cannot afford to leave anything to chance.
Harry Potter must come to Hogwarts.
The girl doesn't take notice of his sour companion, fortunately. She is lost in her wonder, eyes wide and shining with amazed enthusiasm: "Oooh!... A School of Magic? Really?..."
Oh, yes, the girl will be an ally, thinks Albus a little reassured. Hopefully Harry will react just as enthusiastically.
"I think it would be best if you came back in the evening, sir," Sakura tells them decisively after a bit of thought. "Our dad is on a dig in Hokkaido and won't be back until the end of the month, but everybody else will be there."
Touya and Yukito always come back from college during the weekends after all.
Albus smiles happily, promising to come back later. With what is likely the primary guardian away, he believes he'll have an easier chance at convincing Harry, no matter who 'everybody else' is.
Sakura watches the two odd-looking men from the doorstep until they disappear, a small, uncharacteristic frown on her face. They give her a weird feeling and she isn't too sure of what it means. Fishing out of a pocket the pink cell-phone Tomoyo gave her recently, she quickly calls her big brother and then Harry to warn them.
Her phone call worries Touya.
Moving on to college has not changed him at all and his protective instincts still flare up with a vengeance whenever something odd might threaten his siblings, and this situation is raising all sorts of alarm flags for him.
He's never heard of such a thing as a school for teaching magic; but even supposing it exists... why would a Headmaster come all the way to their house just to offer his little brother a place in a school? Sure, Harry is powerful, so it isn't inconceivable that they might want him, but still... A letter would have sufficed.
"She said this school is called Hogwarts?" asks Yue in a soft, dangerous voice. Touya turns, surprised. The Moon Guardian doesn't come out often during the week, preferring to leave Yuki to deal with boring college classes and annoying college fan girls.
"Yes," he says, watching the gorgeous Guardian intently, sure that the other has a better insight then him in this. The dark look on his face isn't reassuring either.
"Clow went there, as a child," is Yue's quiet explanation. "That's where his knowledge of Western Magic came from."
Touya freezes. Then he groans: "This is the troublemaking brat's fault, I just know it!"
Yue grimaces: "We'll have to be careful with this."
They skip the last class of the week to get back sooner and Harry finds them waiting for him at the end of his track running practice.
He has grown a lot since Touya first met him in that swimming pool: he still isn't tall for his age by any reckoning, but he's healthy and tanned and energetic, forever busy with a thousand things – school and kendo and track running and magic and friends and playing with his Cards...
His genuine joy at seeing his big brothers fades with the news they bring. He isn't particularly interested in going to a magical school – he is happy where he is! - and he is less than pleased to hear the school he's offered a place in is in England. "I don't want to go back there!" he yells, half-angry, half-scared.
"Nobody's going to make you," says Touya softly, understandingly. "But it just isn't normal for a Headmaster to go to such length for a student. Isn't it best that we find out what's behind this?"
Harry closes his eyes mutinously, but doesn't voice any other protests.
When the Headmaster and his sour companion come back that night, they are met with a faint hostility that surprises and worries Albus greatly.
The cosy but unremarkable sitting room is filled with tension.
Albus Dumbledore, of course, rarely lets himself be uncomfortable about anything and he sits serenely in the armchair he is offered, wondering how to best turn this meeting to his advantage. Severus stands forbiddingly at his back, scowling. He does not like feeling so uncertain about these Japanese, he does not like that the reason they're there is Potter's spawn and he hates not knowing for sure what is going on and what to expect. He hates even more that except for the silly girl, no-one seems remotely fazed by his glare.
He sneers at the Potter brat anyway and he's shocked when he's instantly met with furious glares from everybody present, even the perky girl that seemed so unsettled by his attitude earlier. The white-haired young man is particularly scary. Were his eyes ice blue a moment ago?
Perhaps he'd better school his reaction to Potter's spawn until the brat is within his clutches at Hogwarts.
A stony-faced Touya and a Yuki with a very fake smile take the couch, as usual with Harry securely sandwiched between them.
They agreed earlier that the Guardians should not make an appearance unless necessary, and Harry gently squeezes Yukito's arm to calm Yue down. The Moon Guardian retreats a little and contents himself with observing, just as Kero is doing from his hiding place in Sakura's pocket, but he's not happy at this intrusion from a past he hasn't yet come to terms with, nor with the threat it likely represents for his Master.
Sakura serves tea nervously as the silence stretches.
"So," Touya says at last. "If I understand this correctly, you are offering a place in your... school, to Harry."
"He has been on our enrolment list since his birth, just like his parents," explains Albus, portraying a genial grandfatherly air. "A great honour, as I'm sure you realize."
Touya just watches him blandly. They must have very different ideas of what constitutes an honour, but there is no need to point this out.
It is Harry who speaks up. "I don't want to go back to England," he says with contained fury. "My place is here."
Severus snaps, outraged at the spoiled brat's tantrum: "You'll do as you're told, you arrogant little toerag..."
He gasps when a furious voice cut him off: "How dare you!" It's the bespectacled young man at the child's side, and he's beyond livid. "You have no authority over him, wizard!"
Touya smiles inwardly. The voice might be Yuki's, but that's Yue through and through.
The old Headmaster seems alarmed at the hostility. "Of course, of course," he says placatingly. He shoots a warning glare at the dark man puffing in indignation behind him: "Severus was merely saying that a decision of such magnitude should not be left entirely to an eleven-years-old..."
Touya's hand closes on Yuki's restrainingly. To the Guardian, it is unthinkable that his Master should not be free to make his own decisions, no matter how many advisors he chooses to consult (and no matter that Yue himself would give him a piece of his mind if he felt it warranted), but Touya doesn't think that open outrage would help them any at the moment. Besides, these wizards do not need to know about Harry's Card-friends. Definitely not.
"As Harry is a minor, the decision does, indeed, rest upon us, as his legal guardians," he says coolly. "However I am not inclined to go against his wishes."
"My dear boy," says Dumbledore jovially, blithely ignoring how Touya's gaze narrows and goes frigidly cold, "I was under the impression that your father was Harry's guardian, yes? I'm sure he will not wish to deprive young Harry of this amazing opportunity. Why, to be accepted at Hogwarts is the chance of a lifetime!"
"Is it?" asks Yuki, and he lets they syllables drop with scornfully polite doubtfulness.
Albus frowns but before he can retort, Touya cuts him off coolly: "Your impression is wrong. Mr. Tsukishiro and I," he nods to Yuki, "are legally in charge of my little brother," he stresses the relationship, noticing the slight frown it elicits with growing unease.
"Hogwarts is the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world..." reiterates Albus a little stiffly.
"Hmm," says Touya non-committally. "I believe I would feel better if I knew a bit more than that."
"Of course! Of course!..." tries Albus.
"For instance," interjects Yukito with a pleasant smile, "it would be helpful to know the actual curriculum..."
"Qualifications offered, possibilities of further education..." elaborates Touya.
"Schedules and logistical arrangements, too..." adds Yukito.
Albus feels a bit lost. Never before has he met someone who didn't know how excellent Hogwarts is from the start – except for the parents of muggleborns, of course, but they are usually only interested in understanding what is going on with their odd children. The young men before him clearly are aware of Harry's powers, probably because the girl is a witch, and so are not impressed with the mere fact that Hogwarts teaches magic, yet they are also obviously removed from the wizarding world and thus, they are unfamiliar with Hogwarts' greatness.
It is most unlucky.
Severus, unwilling to spend in that house a minute more than absolutely necessary, takes over explanations in clipped tones, now and then allowing Albus to interject a comment or a clarification that puts the school in a better light than the younger wizard's impatient honesty would.
Harry and his family listen with the extreme focus Severus usually wishes in vain his students would have in class and from time to time interrupt with very polite, very precise questions.
Some of those stump the Potions master – a physical education program? Seriously? Sports club? As if Quidditch wasn't enough... Private music lessons, when the brat would likely have troubles keeping up with normal classes? Home economics, what does that even mean? And... information technologies? Utter nonsense...
Others simply irritate him – a personalized curriculum, who does the brat think he is? Impartial, external evaluations of the teachers, why, the nerve! And what do they care about the House system anyway, none of them went to Hogwarts, so obviously House affiliation would mean nothing to them...
Afterwards, there is a moment of considering silence, before Yukito, in a dangerously saccharine tone, sums it all up: "So the school provides no education whatsoever in any of the topics the modern world requires for any kind of job; offers no qualifications worth anything outside of a closed-off elitist society and no guarantees that said society will be able, or willing, to accept the graduates and offer good living conditions; does not disclose its teachers' evaluations, if they're even made, nor does it publish its standards and results for comparison with other institutes; restricts the students to the very basics of one type of magic and actively discourages experimentation as well as non-standardized performing of magical tasks; allows for no personalized learning and no inter-cultural exchanges, as well as giving no attention to the areas of ethics, politics and law; does not prepare the pupils for life after graduation nor for admission to any kind of college education; provides no occasions for socialization outside of very restraining parameters geared towards segregation rather than integration and gives the children no options to develop their artistic or practical skills, as well as almost no chance for sport?"
The two wizards gape at him in uncomprehending shock as he asks very seriously: "And just why should we send our Harry there?"
There is only a stunned silence before Albus protests incredulously: "But it's the best school of magic in the world!"
Touya snorts: "That just makes me wonder about the others, really."
Albus stiffens: "I don't think you understand, young man..."
Touya cuts him off: "Can you at least tell us what the school's mission statement is? Its policies on ethical issues such as discrimination, bullying, discipline, addressing diversity..." he trails off in front of their blank stares. "Right," he sighs. "All in all, it seems to me like your 'première school' is, in fact, a hoax."
Albus rears back as if struck: "How dare you! Hogwarts has educated young wizards and witches for centuries! It's..."
"...not in synch with our educational goals," cuts in Yukito very firmly. "We thank you for your offer, but have decided to decline it."
How his best friend can make politeness cut so sharply is a wonder to Touya. Not that he disapproves.
"You..." says Albus in horror, shocked at the turn the situation has taken. "That's ridiculous! Hogwarts is an excellent school!"
"Not from our point of view, it isn't," retorts Touya. "Now, if that is all..."
The stunned Headmaster climbs to his feet and draws himself to his full height. "How can you think to deny this child a magical education!"
"Ehi! I'm doing quite well in my magical studies!" protests Harry. As if Yue would let him slack off...! His outburst draws a quick smile from the very worried Sakura, but is otherwise ignored.
"You have no right to deprive him of opportunities..." roars Albus.
"Precisely - which is why we shall not send him to your school!" Touya remains seated and he doesn't raise his tone, but the coldness of his retorts is harsh.
Fed up with the whole thing, Severus sneers: "Fine, then! If you're determined to be blind, then who are we to stop you?" One less Potter in his life is only a good thing in his book.
"No!" shouts Albus, his expression growing thunderous. Then he visibly collects himself: "I cannot allow... Harry Potter must come to Hogwarts," he mutters.
"Why?" Touya's eyes are dangerously narrowed.
The aged Headmaster makes a dismissive gesture with his hand: "It matters not. As you are mere muggles, I am afraid the decision is out of your hands, as your guardianship of a magical child is immaterial in regards to magical law..."
Yue's magic flares out so bright and sudden that everybody gasps and the two wizards almost stagger. Severus gulps, positively shocked. Where has all this power come from? And the bloke's eyes are ice blue again! He shivers involuntarily.
"What, exactly, gave you the impression that we are non-magicals?" Yue asks in a hiss.
"Is that what 'muggles' mean?" blurts out Harry.
"Yes, it is, and that is another reason to keep you away from that school. Their lack of correctness in their dealing with the non-magical community is nothing short of shameful," says Yue – an opinion he has borrowed entirely from Clow, but that doesn't make it any less true.
"But..." says Albus gaping. Where has all this power come from? And what does this boy mean, lack of correctness? He is a staunch supporter of equality between the magical and muggle communities! Everybody knows this!
Touya, who's figured out Yue's stance and where he wants to take this, releases his own magic, much quieter yet with an undercurrent of unmistakable strength: "The fact that we do not need to flaunt our power does not mean we lack it," he says coldly. "Now, I believe we've made it clear that your offer doesn't interest us. I suggest you leave."
Severus nods stiffly, furious to have been caught so off guard and definitely unwilling to risk a confrontation with opponents strong enough to deceive him, not to mention Albus Dumbledore, over Potter's bratty spawn of all things.
Albus however has long been accustomed to being above the law and right now, he is thinking along the lines of desperate measures. This are, after all, desperate times. He cannot let Harry Potter escape his grasp again. It would mean death, darkness and destruction! Britain needs the Boy-Who-Lived!
"I'm sorry," he says, and he actually is. It is never pleasant when he is forced to use questionable means for the greater good. But the fate of a leader is often thus. "I'm sorry," he repeats.
And he raises his wand. A simple compulsion charm will go a long way...
He doesn't get the chance to cast, for their reaction is instantaneous.
Yue's wings burst forth and immediately close around his Master, protecting him, even as he lifts the boy and jumps back to an area clear of furniture, where he can move more freely.
Fully trusting his Guardian to protect him, Harry has focused on defending the others and The Shield flares up between his family and the British wizards in the same instant as Sakura's "Release!" command tears the air.
Severus, years of spying having honed his instincts until he can react in a split second despite his shock, has whipped out his wand and let a stunner go, but it is easily absorbed by The Shield and he doesn't have time for another because a huge tawny lion with heavy armour and spread angel wings lunges at him, knocking the breath out of him as he throws him to the ground.
Sakura is already twirling her pink staff and rummaging into her pockets for a talisman to use while Yue, firmly planted before his Master, is swiftly shaping streams of his blue energy into the shape of his beloved bow.
Severus barely manages to hold onto his wand, but a young voice shouts out: "The Wood! Get that stick from him!" and before he can comprehend what's going on, vines have tugged his only defence away from him and slapped his frantically grabbing hand away harshly, and the maneless lion atop him growls threateningly.
But it is Touya's action which is most decisive. Not bothering with magic, he charges the old man and without so much as a by your leave, knocks the wand-wielding hand aside and punches the wizard on the nose.
It is almost as satisfying as knocking that Akizuki nuisance.
In an instant, he has wrenched the almost white stick from the old man's hands and jumps back, letting his little sister call forth 'petals of wind to bind their foe'.
Light explodes from her wand, strands of wind emanating from the talisman she's slapped onto it, and race to the staggering old man, wrapping him up in tight magical bindings. A call for "The Windy!" echoes from behind them and quickly the other wizard is just as restrained.
They both look completely stunned.
Touya is frowning at the wand in his hands. It feels odd... warm in his fingers and pleasantly tingling... and carrying an impression of eagerness, a promise of unlimited power. It wants to be used – now and often. It is alluring, dangerously seductive, potentially addictive. Curling his own magic into himself, Touya projects back a clear feeling of not interested. The preying upon his mind subsides, but the stick remains comfortably warm in his hand.
Yue's cold, angry voice snaps him out of his contemplation: "The Power! Could you please throw them out?" He is a sight to behold, with his power wrapped around him like a mantle and a glowing azure bow pointing energy arrows straight at the bound wizards.
The small pink girl with the grim smile and the hard glint in her purple eyes that materializes at his call is what shocks the two wizards the most, oddly enough. Anyway, she is happy to oblige her Guardian and before they can say 'wait', the two British find themselves in a heap on the road outside.
Severus has had enough, thank you very much. He hadn't wanted to come in the first place, and with good reason, as it turns out. He climbs to his feet in a fury, determined to give Albus a piece of his mind. The old man is stubborn, though, and desperate, and rapidly reaching the end of his tether.
To go back to England without Harry Potter is a recipe for disaster. To leave behind his Elder Wand…! Unthinkable!
Of course, none of the occupants of the cosy little house can guess why the British wizard is so frantic. They only see a fool who can't take no for an answer.
"The Loop?" calls Harry in clipped tones and when the red band twisting in the symbol of infinite appears, he simply points at the two wizards, too angry to speak properly.
And suddenly Albus finds himself at the opposite end of the street every time he crosses the little garden gate.
Tension rushes out of them and they leave him to it, only Yue keeping a sharp eye on the dangerous fool until his dark companion manages to coax him away at last.
They all hope that that will be the last they see of either, but it is not to be.
The very next day a grim-looking, pale Severus Snape stands just outside the little gate. He has no wish to trigger whatever odd ward they'd erected the previous evening but he needs to talk to them. So he waits.
He closes his eyes, pained, as the conversation he had with Albus the night before runs through his mind again. Though 'conversation' is perhaps a tall term. The aged wizard had been completely devastated and the saké he'd downed hadn't helped any. He'd ended up blurting out a lot more than Severus had ever heard from him, much less in a single setting.
The Potions master can only curse that damn man for his penchant for secrecy and behind-the-scenes manipulations.
What Albus has confessed last night… if more people had known of it – if Severus had known of it – they could have prevented so many mistakes...! They could have prepared... arranged contingency plans...! But no! The old fool had thought he alone knew best.
Now, it is up to Severus to repair what damage is possible to. As usual.
He is rather confident that he'll manage. For all his unpleasant temper, he's still a consummate Slytherin. He's perfectly able to play the smooth negotiator when it's needed. Even to people he loathes. Moreover, he's done worse things than forcing himself to be polite and diplomatic to Potter's bratty spawn and his infuriating family. Scraping for the privilege of kissing the hem of a madman's robe comes to mind.
And that is precisely why he cannot afford to fail. To imagine the Dark Lord triumphant... for him, that's the nightmare that tops all others, these days.
So he waits, determined to turn this mess of a situation to their advantage despite the odds.
He does not want to be there, not in the least, but if there is one thing Severus Snape is good at, it's schooling himself through unpleasant tasks. Lately, it seems like that's all he does.
When an odd maze springs up all around him, he firms his jaw, scowling, but refuses to let his tight control slip.
Without a wand, all his lovely fantasies of blasting the damn hedges away in the most messy and devastating way possible must remain wishful thinking and he can't even use a Point Me spell to find the exit, so he's left with the old frustrating method of exploring the maze.
He sticks to it anyway.
They won't get rid of him that easily, not after what Albus confessed. He has seen what the Dark Lord is like, he has seen it up close. He will go to any length to prevent him from taking over his country, from ruining even more lives.
His determination apparently impresses his quarries because after a while, the maze opens a path of its own volition and he's allowed inside the house. He hides both his relief and his irritation. He must play it cool, remain in control. So much depends on this.
Severus watches the white-haired young man letting him in very carefully. He looks so normal, yet the wizard is wary. He is sure that the man – if it was a man at all - had wings yesterday, even if there is no trace of such today. What the hell is he?
Neither the girl nor the armoured lion are anywhere to be seen. Then again, the lion was invisible yesterday as well, so he doesn't lower his guard.
He takes the seat he's offered and finds himself pierced by a green, serious gaze that he is simply unable to bear. Even after a decade, Lily's death is a knife twisting in a festered wound. The Potter brat is once again ensconced between the two disquieting young men. That's the first thing that needs to change, and not only because he can't bear to see her eyes in that face. No way can he discuss what he must with the child present!
He gathers his thought a moment, quietly observing them, lined up like a defence formation. None of them looks very pleased to see him. Well, he isn't very pleased to see them either, but life's a pain like that.
"I am surprised to see you here, Professor Snape," says the taller of the two at last – the one that has sent Albus into hyperventilation for reasons that the aged wizard has stubbornly refused to share.
Severus meets his gaze steadily, just as impassive: "There are… things to discuss," he replies evenly. He sticks his nails into his fist to remind himself that he must remain cool and level-headed at all costs. Too much hangs on this. "We started off on the wrong foot yesterday."
Touya and Yukito both snort and then share a quick, amused glance. Wrong foot indeed.
"What you mean, Professor Snape," says Yukito pleasantly, "is that you came here full of arrogance, utterly convinced that we mere 'muggles' would roll over before your greatness and hand over our little brother without question, and now that you've realized how much you've miscalculated, you wish to try a different approach."
"By all means, do not let us stop you," mocks Touya, casually leaning back in fake relaxation. All his senses are on high alert, even the seldom used, not-quite-standard ones. He really wants to find out what on Earth could they want with his little brother that is so overwhelmingly important to them. Whatever it is, it cannot be good.
Severus clenches his teeth, resisting the urge to snap back in a defensive manner. Those two really get on his nerves. How can they get the upper hand over him – him! - so easily?
"There are... circumstances you are not aware of, concerning your ward," he says stiffly.
"Oh, so your new approach is the 'honesty through and through' one?" asks Yukito teasingly, making the wizard glower with restrained fury.
"Very well. Do tell us," says Touya coolly.
"I would prefer if the child wasn't here for this," Severus replies with a dismissive flicker of his hand, determined to maintain control over the unpleasant conversation.
Harry scowls, but it is Yukito who says stiffly: "This is about Harry. He has a right to know and be a part of the decision making."
"He is eleven!" spits out Severus, indignant. "He is too young. Send him out to play or something."
"I'm right here, you know," grumbles Harry, only to draw a disgusted scowl from the black-clad man.
"I am pretty confident that Harry is mature enough to face whatever it is you feel we should know," says Touya with a frown.
Losing his scant patience, Severus buries his fathomless eyes into the infuriating young man's brown ones. "Fine," he hisses dangerously, and tells them.
He tells it all – what the Dark Lord did to himself, what he tried to do that night, when he killed her and Potter senior, what happened according to Albus, what it means that the child is a Horcrux.
A part of him is pettily pleased by the way their expression grow darker and more and more stricken. His dark smirk fades as he voices the horror of it all, for there is no satisfaction to be drawn from something like this, under any circumstances, but he does nothing to shield them. They asked for it, now they're getting it all.
His voice softens only when he gets to the part where he warns them that the boy will have to die – and curse Albus to hell for making him promise to protect Lily's child when all along, he was planning to raise him as a pig for slaughter – and he realizes that whatever his personal feeling for the brat, he's talking to people who love him. He is suddenly struck by the awareness that the death of a child is not – should never be - a matter for petty revenge. Belatedly he realizes that he should never have even touched the topic around the brat too, no matter how angered they'd made him. He should have insisted they made him leave.
He sighs. Too late now. He will just have to brace the reactions – and he knows they will be unpleasant. He is almost expecting hysterics and he knows he deserves to be forced to endure it all.
Once again, however, the odd group surprises him. They look grave and sad, but not desperate or scared, nor are they in denial. He is not expecting them to be so simply... accepting. The brat himself is oddly composed. For a moment, while they digest the information in silence, Severus wonders if perhaps they don't understand.
He is startled when Potter's spawn breaks the silence softly.
"Is that what the Nightmare Bearer was?" asks Harry in a very small voice.
"Nightmare... Bearer...?" asks Severus seriously perplexed.
Gently, Yukito draws Harry onto his lap, hugging him tightly. The child sinks back against his chest, seeking comfort from the memories of horror.
"What are you talking about?" asks Severus again, starting to get annoyed. Darn it, the reactions of these weird people are all wrong. They shouldn't be taking something like this so calmly and they most certainly shouldn't be ignoring him as if he were inconsequential! They are deeply unsettling him.
Touya doesn't bother with answering the wizard's irritated questions and demands instead: "Is your conviction that Harry carries a..." he gulps, but forges on, "a piece of that... inside him, the only reason you want him?"
Severus hesitates. There is the Prophecy to consider, but...
"Spit it out," says Touya harshly. Memories of his little brother's pain are dancing in his mind, along with shadows of what Harry's future would hold if they gave in to these British fools' demands. He is angry enough at these damn wizards already. If they're still hiding something...
Perhaps realizing that the powerful young man is reaching the end of his patience, Severus relays the Prophecy, the part he overheard so long ago and the part Albus only told him last night, which damns Lily's child beyond redemption.
To his surprise, all three of them relax, shrugging it off.
"I can't believe this," mutter Touya, grimacing in disgust.
"What is it with British wizards and their obsession with Fate?" asks Harry shaking his head.
"It matters not," waves it off the other young man, and Severus almost winches when he notices a blue tint in his eyes. "We know all too well how easy it is to misinterpret a prediction."
"What are you talking about?" shouts Severus outraged. "The wording is as clear as it gets! Don't you understand the implications for this child...?"
Yue's contempt is growing stronger with every word the wizard says and Yukito does not stop him from expressing it: "Actually, it is easy to argue that this Prophecy of yours is already fulfilled. After all, vanquish does not mean defeat forever, and it can be easily claimed that causing this Dark Lord of yours to, what was it you said? Lose his body and be reduced to a wraith-like existence? Easily counts as 'vanquished'."
Severus frowns and opens his mouth to argue, but the other doesn't give him the time: "No, the reason you and that old fool hang onto this prediction so desperately is not that you believe it to be true, but that you don't want to accept it's not. You can't afford it, because then you would have to fight yourself. Do you realize how pathetic you all are? You are trying to force an eleven-year-old into the responsibility of saving your entire world while you sit on your backs and do nothing!"
"That's not...!"
"Isn't it?" asks Harry, softly and bitterly. "You come here and make demands... as if it was my duty to be your ace-in-the-sleeve weapon... because that's what you're saying!"
Severus grimaces uncomfortably, but he has to defend himself: "Many people are and will be fighting, it's not like you're so special..."
"Then what do you want me for?"
"You..."
"I was abandoned by you, nobody cared back in England, you just left me with the Dursleys. Do you have an idea how many people were willing to help me here in Japan? Even if I was just a stranger?"
"You were a child," interjects Touya softly. "You still are..."
"Doesn't seem to matter to them," retorts Harry sadly.
To that, Severus has no answer, because it doesn't, indeed, matter. Sacrifice one child to war, to save all others... that's perhaps horrible, but perfectly acceptable to him. Better than the alternative of the devastation the Dark Lord will bring.
But the now blue-eyed young man is not finished: "What does Harry owe you?" he asks with deadly precision. "You gave him nothing, now you're only demanding. And the more he would give you, the more you would want. Am I right or am I right?"
Severus is mentally cursing Albus. If the man hadn't made such a monumental mistake as to drop the child with Petunia – and Severus could have certainly given him a few pointed hints as to how bad an idea that was, had he known – none of this would have happened. Of course the child is willing to leave Britain to rot. He can't even truly blame him. What does their country mean to him?
That doesn't change the fact that if he could only think up of a way, he'd gladly force the damn brat to do what they need him to do! They may dismiss the Prophecy, but that doesn't change the child's status as a Horcrux. He's still marked for a horrible death. Why not make it a little more useful, but ensuring he takes down the Dark Lord at the same time? Why can't they see that it is the most elegant and less painful solution all in all? It is a tragedy, no doubt, but a lesser one than what their non-cooperation is preparing!
"Well, then, that is that, isn't it?" asks Harry hopefully.
"That is that? That is that?" Severus is flabbergasted at how blasé they're being. "Have you heard nothing of what I said? You're an anchor for the Dark Lord's soul! You can't be such a dunderhead as to imagine that's a good thing! Do you really not understand that you must be killed?..." Alright, so that's harsh, but he isn't a gentle man by any stretch of the imagination and he's too out of sorts to feel any sort of consideration at the moment. Even for a child.
"We took care of that... Horcrux, did you call it?... years ago," says Touya dismissively. "So yes, that is that, Harry."
"You took care of it," repeats Severus flatly. "You took care of it. Salazar's breath, I don't know if you're an arrogant idiot or simply too stupid to understand what..."
Yue's cold voice talks over him: "You should show him. He's too wrapped up in his own self-assuredness to believe us otherwise."
Harry blinks, perplexed, then he realizes what his Moon Guardian means: "Of course," he nods and rummages through his deck of Card-friends until he finds the one with the image of an elderly lady with long pointed ears and a flowing mantle wrapped around her frame, holding up a blue timepiece with Roman numerals.
Severus frowns as Harry speaks to the Card in a soft, subdued voice: "Please, let this guest witness the past of The Hatred." Then he launches it in the air, calling: "The Return!"
The Card, to Severus' shock, dissolves into a swift-moving, tangible black mist which forms an asterisk of tendrils above them, alarming him so much that he instinctively scrambles back.
And then the surprised wizard is swept away in a condensed version of a visit to a pensieve, a ghostly observer to a series of unbelievable events, and he witnesses it all, starting with filthy blackness and a child screaming himself awake, dark blood oozing from his odd scar, and ending with a silent, white funeral.
When he is returned to the normal world, he stares at the boy in awed, horrified shock.
For a long while, all he can do is gape unbecomingly and silently swallow all the disbelieving questions churning inside him.
"But that's... impossible..." he whispers at long last, and he is too lost to even realize how weak he sounds.
"To your Western magic, perhaps, but that is hardly the only form of magic in the world," says Yue with no trace of pity. "I find it almost amusing that you were here, yesterday, accusing us of being blind, when you're the ones determinedly wrapping your heads in blindfolds to be sure not to see a palm from your nose."
Severus's cheek darken to a pale red as he feels all the weight of truth in the merciless words.
He sighs, recognizing his defeat. This child has already done more than his share and sadly, has no reason and no will to do more. There is nothing more he can hope to accomplish. The Dark Lord will, if not completely gain supremacy, at least destroy Britain as he knows it in the attempt. Unless a miracle intervenes, but he hardly believes in those.
Watching the three pair of hard eyes – dark brown as deep and as strong as the Earth itself, icy blue as cold as frost, emerald green so familiar it hurts – he comes to accept the full truth.
Harry Potter will not be their 'saviour'. And perhaps that is as it should be, because no matter his wishes, it is true that they had no right to even ask such a thing of a child. Especially one that has already suffered so much.
"Will you at least return the wands you took?" he asks resignedly.
"There wouldn't be much point to it," says Touya almost indifferently. "I doubt it would properly answer to your companion now."
That is disturbingly in line with what Albus mumbled the night before and Severus warily asks: "What do you mean?"
Touya shrugs: "It isn't unheard of for wands to shift their allegiance. My sister's used to belong to another wizard as well, yet now it will only work for her."
He says it so calmly, Severus is sure he has no idea of the panic he is alighting in the black-clad wizard's belly. Shifting allegiance? He has never heard of such a thing and he dreads the possibility that his precious wand is lost.
A thousand times this past night he's reached for it only to remember it had been taken from him and the sense of loss and emptiness that brought was nightmarish. His wand is no mere tool: it is a piece of him. If it wasn't ridiculous to voice such a thing, he'd admit that he feels affection for it.
"I don't mind giving this back," says Harry with a shrug and he hands out the pale length of birch The Wood took yesterday.
The relief Seveurs feels when his fingers close on his beloved wand and he still feels the connection to it is indescribable. To have it back is enough to make him think Potter's spawn might not be entirely rotten after all.
He doesn't voice his thanks, of course, but something in his expression must give him away because the Potter brat mumbles embarrassedly: "It's not like it's any use to me."
"Probably because you didn't mean to take it," comments Yukito knowledgeably, relaying Yue's quick explanation.
"Huh?"
"You only wanted to get it away from him, didn't you? You never meant to take it for yourself."
Harry nods, then his eyes widen and he turns sharply in Yukito's lap, staring at Touya in disbelief: "Wait... does that mean that you did, big brother? You meant to take it?"
Touya gazes back seriously: "Not particularly, I have no need for it after all, but… people like him shouldn't be playing with anything that powerful, in my opinion."
Nobody replies to that, not even Severus.
The wizard gets up to leave, feeling strangely bereft. On the one side, he feels like there should be a thousand more things to say – but on the other… there really isn't any point.
The child is held securely in the strange young man's arms, leaning back trustingly, eyes closed and hiding those green orbs Severus is haunted by. The two adults watch him impassively.
Yes, there is nothing left to say.
He nods curtly and leaves.
When the door closes behind him and his footsteps fade, everybody takes a deep, relieved breath.
And that would be the end, except that Yue makes a point to write a rather ferocious letter to the Clow reincarnation, making his point extremely clear about meddling in general, and meddling with his Master in particular, and about the idiocy of believing something without bothering to collect evidence on top.
The letter starts full of bitterness and rage, but as he puts his thoughts to paper, the negative slowly bleeds away unitl the close is nothing but kindness. And, he realizes with a slight surprise, while he started off ranting at the spectre of the past, in the end he is speaking to the child who is no longer Clow and who just needs to understand that not everything is preordained and that 'extremely powerful' does not and never will mean 'omnipotent'.
Though the very idea of contacting Eriol takes Harry and the others by surprise, nobody says anything to dissuade him, except Keroberos whom Yue doesn't listen to anyway, because it soon becomes evident that the Moon Guardian needs this.
It is a form of closure for him, more definite and more peace-bringing than the slightly bitter resignation that had settled in after Harry changed The Light and The Dark.
When he signs the long letter he feels suddenly drained and collapses in Touya's welcoming arms; but he feels better than he has in centuries.
That his effort will actually draw a letter of apologies from Eriol is a nice bonus, but even if it had garnered no reaction, he would still have remained as he is now, at peace.
As Touya and Yue put the finishing touches to the letter, Harry huddles on the couch, lost in his thoughts.
Sakura and Keroberos, who have just returned after a very opportune visit to Tomoyo, sit by him and he looks up to stare into the green eyes of his concerned sister.
"What's wrong?" she coaxes gently.
"Should I have gone?" he whispers his fear, looking troubled.
His sister blinks: "Um... where?"
"With... with those British wizards."
"What?" asks Keroberos, completely shocked. "Where is this coming from?"
"I..." Harry doesn't even know. "It's just... were I supposed to do what they wanted? Go back to their country? Fight their war? … Am I being selfish?... I..."
"Stop!" says Sakura determinedly, grabbing his hand and squeezing reassuringly. "One, you are a kid. Children aren't supposed to fight wars, Harry! They're fools if they think it." She scowls at the mere thought.
"But we're special," says Harry in a very low, hollow voice. "We collected the Cards. We have magic. Maybe..."
"They have magic too," points out Sakura sensibly. "And they're much more experienced using it!"
"Besides, don't you hear yourself?" interjects Keroberos, fluttering to perch on Harry's shoulder. "Their country. Their war... It's got nothing to do with you! Let them handle their own messes!" He nods proudly, stressing his point. "You belong with us!"
"That's right!" exclaims Sakura with a smile. "Also... remember what big brother always says! Foretelling is a chance to change the future, not a prescription to make it go that way!"
"Well said!" cries Keroberos triumphantly. "Nothing less from you, Sakura! Besides..." he stops, striking a dramatic pose in mid-air, and the two children watch him intently, waiting for the pearl of wisdom he is about to offer them: "I'm hungry! So stop this nonsense angst and let's go find some sweets!"
"Kero-chan!" yelps Sakura indignantly, collapsing on the couch. "Can't you think of anything but food!"
"Well," the plush toy actually makes a show of considering it. "There's videogames, too."
"Kero-chan!"
Harry bursts out laughing uncontrollably.
Touya appears on the doorstep of the sitting room, an arm affectionately curled around a smiling Yukito's shoulder: "What's that stuffed toy up to now?" he teases.
"What was that!" is Kero's indignant shout.
Harry lets the familiar teasing and arguing wash over him as he sinks back onto the couch, all his tension and worries flowing away into nothing. His hand brushes the Cards in his pocket with a light, fond stroke and he soaks up the feelings of affection and serenity his Card-friends return him.
And finally, all is well.