Hope is a Wonderful and Terrible Thing; Two Flashbacks.

Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).

Tokyo-3 Ruins
Abandoned House, Ground Floor, Kitchen
Undetermined Time after Third Impact.

Shinji Ikari set his meager bounty on the table. The cans of food available in the area were getting harder to find. Soon, he and Asuka would need to move somewhere else. He would have to prepare the wagon to drag their equipment to a new place, and also explore the nearby places for a mostly undamaged house.

He lit a candle. Fortunately, the supply of lighters was still very abundant. He had located a good place, an old store for smokers, that still had a fair amount of lighter fluid for the reloadable lighters.

Despite everything he had tried, the seeds he had planted had barely began to grow. He thought it was lucky there were no animals around to eat the small plants.

Third Impact had killed everything but him and Asuka.

His eyes drifted to the red-headed girl.

She was still seated at the same place, looking empty. Her eyes dull, her mouth set in the same sad gesture she had ever after those last words to him, back at the beach.

"Hi, Asuka. How are you today?" He asked the same ritual question he had asked each and every day since the world had ended.

Since he had killed the world.

And just as every day, she didn't answer. He shook his head. He would have time for regrets later. Right now, there was food to prepare.

He opened a few cans, mixed some ingredients. He would have given anything to have some fresh vegetables. A tear fell from his left eye. He wiped his face clean with a hand, before setting back to the task. He lit the camping stove.

"Today, we have some sausage and chicken soup." He said, some time later, faking an optimism he hadn't felt in what seemed to be years. He put a few plates on the table. "And for dessert, I got you chocolate. But you have to eat your dinner first."

With infinite tenderness, he cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces, and fed them to the red-head piece by piece. Despite her immobility, Asuka managed to chew and swallow her food. She responded like a machine. Still, Shinji felt a small measure of gratitude that his only companion in this dead, empty world, could at least manage to eat.

He didn't want to think he had to tend to her other hygiene needs. She managed to bathe and clean herself, but he always had to coax her for an hour before she began to move. It took her a long time, but to Shinji's relief, she dressed herself.

Once the meager food had been consumed, Shinji wiped her chin, and pulled her to the big comfy rocking chair, guiding her to sit on it.

Once he was sure she wouldn't fall off the chair, he returned to the table and ate the little food that remained. He put the plates in the sink, to wash them later.

He took the old kerosene lantern, lit it, and made his rounds. As always, he feared somebody could attack them in the night. He checked doors and windows. Everything was in order. Time to wash the plates.

Minutes later, Shinji returned to the living room, lit another candle, to save the kerosene, and pulled a book from his backpack.

He had read many books since Third Impact, handbooks about almost every practical subject he could find, looking for ways to keep himself and Asuka alive. Camping, survival, canning, first aids, medicine. Anything and everything.

This time, he was not in the mood to stick to practical matters.

Today, he decided to read some fiction. Something to take his mind away from this dead world.

He opened the book, and began to read aloud. Hearing his own voice helped him to feel just a little bit less alone.

"I hope you like it, Asuka." He said, clearing his throat. "Chapter One. The Boy-Who-Lived." He paused, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number Four, Privet Drive..."

Privet Drive Nr 4 , Little Whinging, England
Six Days After Returning from Hogwarts

"Uncle Vernon..?" Harry asked cautiously, once he saw his uncle fold down his paper. It was not a good idea to interrupt the rotund man when he was gathering complaining material for later.

"What do you want, boy?" Vernon Dursley answered sourly. There had been precious little to complain about in the news, even the editorial page had been mostly to his, admittedly voluble, liking.

"I..." Harry hesitated slightly, before remembering he was a Gryffindor and had valuable information in hand. "I have a proposal for you. I think you'll like my offer."

"Hrumph. Pfah! You don't have anything I could want." He was about to roll the paper to possibly smack Harry with it.

"Wait! I might have a way for you to stick it to the other freaks!"

That got his attention. "Hfrm! And why would you help me with that? Uh?"

Harry covered his right hand with the left, and smiled a bit. "Because just as you said, they are liars. They are up to no good. And I have finally realized you are right about them."

"You have three minutes. If you waste those three minutes, you won't be eating tomorrow and will spend the day back in the cupboard, is that clear?" He put the paper down, but within easy reach.

Harry cleared his throats. "I have realized the old white beard has been playing us like fools."

"You mean that Dumbl..."

Harry waved his hands desperately, "Don't say his name! I think he could be using that to keep an eye on us, and saying his name might alert him!" Nothing Shinji had told him while he was dead even hinted at that, but a little extra fuel to Vernon's paranoia could help a little.

Vernon's face darkened, Harry put a finger over his lips, and then tapped the side of his nose. "I may have found a way to grant you your greatest wish. As things are now, you are stuck with me until I finish school, right?"

Vernon drawled his answer, he hated to agree with the freak, on principle. "Right. D… I mean, White Beard was very insistent on that."

Harry nodded grimly. "You don't want me here. I don't want to be here. We are both in the same boat, with no help in sight, and only an unreliable guide. Agreed?"

Secretly, Vernon was somewhat impressed, but would rather go to Hell than admit it. He simply nodded fractionally.

Harry relaxed a bit. "Well, I am stuck at school until I finish my..." he injected some scorn in his next word, "education."

"Yes. All seven years of it. I know that, get to the point, boy, you are wasting time." Vernon's fingers began to tap on the table's surface, Harry knew he was getting impatient.

"What if I could finish school earlier?" The tapping stopped. Now... that was something Vernon had not considered.

"Explain."

"There are two sets of exams in the freaks' word. One at the end of Fifth Year, and another at the end of the Seventh. Normally, they are taken then, meaning I wouldn't be done with school until 1997." He leaned forward conspiratorially, and whispered, "but I can take the second set earlier than that. I still have to wait until 1995 to take the first set, but I could take the second one immediately after the first. It's not usually done, but it is perfectly legal. Once I take it, pass or fail, I will be an adult; and won't have to darken your door ever again."

"What's the catch?" Vernon's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"The catch is simple. I need your permission to study. I won't do anything freaky in your house." He raised his hands in surrender. "Theory is my weak point, I just don't have the head for it." He shrugged. "If I can study the theory, I will have a chance to have it easier with the practical stuff. But I will need to get some help. There are a few others who could help me, but you wouldn't have to meet them if I am out of the house a few hours each day. If you let me take some stuff out of my school chest, I could even practice on my weakest subject, the one that doesn't need the stick. Getting up to snuff in that would really help me to get the chance to do the final exams ahead of time."

"What about your chores? I won't be thought of as a slacker just so you can waste time away." He grumbled.

"The chores will be done, I won't be using any weird stuff to do them. But I will have to work very early or somewhat late."

Harry shut his mouth. Vernon was busy with what for him was thinking. His walrus moustache moved by itself, and his eyes were almost closed. "Are you sure you can pass those tests?"

"Completely? No. But as long as I pass the first set, it won't matter much if I fail the second. I will still be considered an adult. I'll have to try a second time, but you won't have me here. I'll stay there and won't be back to bother you."

He leaned forward and tapped the side of his nose again, "And as long as White Beard doesn't get a whiff before time, there won't be a thing he could do to stop us from parting ways two years earlier. In three years instead of five." Actually, Harry didn't know if that was the case, but if his plan to get Sirius Black free and clear worked, then he could claim guardianship of Harry and get him away from the Dursleys anyway.

Vernon tapped a finger on the table several times. Not his impatience telling sign. That was very, very good! But Harry kept his hopes under tight control.

Finally, after almost a whole minute that Harry spend almost holding his breath, Vernon spoke, "Go and make dinner, I'll discuss things with my wife later."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon. Thank you for listening." Harry left the table and began to work on the dinner.

The seed had been planted. Hopefully, it would grow and bear fruit.

Tokyo-3 Ruins
Abandoned House, Ground Floor, Kitchen
Undetermined Time after Third Impact
(One Hour and a Half Later).

Shinji read aloud for a while, absorbed by the story of a child who discovered a whole new world hidden to the sight or most people. A wonderful world full of magic, with wizards and witches, kind giants and gold-obsessed goblins, reluctant heroes and evil villains, haughty bullies and humble friends.

He yawned and then looked at his watch. He had been reading for longer than he thought.

It was an old-style piece, a clockwork wristwatch. He had found it during one of his early explorations, and really appreciated that with care, it would last for a long time. He only had to wound it up before going to bed.

He closed the book and stood up.

To his surprise, Asuka had turned her head to look at him as he read, and there was a spark of interest in her eyes.

Shinji smiled, tears pooling in his eyes. "It is very late, Asuka." He said, softly. "Time to sleep. I'll read you more tomorrow, if you want me to."

To his relief, she blinked slowly, and her head moved in a barely noticeable nod.

He guided her to the large bed in the main bedroom, and tucked his companion under the sheets. She closed her eyes, her breathing slow and regular.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Asuka. Good night." He wanted to kiss her forehead, but had never dared to. The memory of his… of the hospital, always intruded.

He took the candle with him, and went to his own room.

He changed into his pajama, checked he had matches at hand, and laid down.

He blew the candle flame off, and whispered, "...Thank you, Kami..." He closed his eyes, and dreamt about Hogwarts.

Author Notes:

The Next Chapter is almost ready, but my muse insisted on releasing these two little vignettes.

Update: I changed the title of this chapter to one I think fits much better with this part of the story.