AN: Okay, this chapter ends in a, I believe, rather soft tone, and I hope I've written the emotional stuff out properly, as that's not something I write a lot of. Still, practice makes perfect, I guess, and we've all got to start somewhere, ne? It's not long now until the Potters actually step into this fic properly, and I'm still not entirely sure how to deal with that, so any advice or ideas you guys have would be much appreciated, thanks!
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 04 - Canada
It was a few days later, and Nanoha was still pouting over her loss. Of course, Isis was even less happy than the brunette, having been the only member of Harry's team to be taken out, and quite close to the end of the match too. That had really stung her pride, even if she knew she wasn't suited to close-quarters combat, or even combat at all.
Harry sighed. "Can you knock that off, Nanoha? Yes, you lost, but you can use this as a lesson, get better, and beat me next time we spar, okay?"
Nanoha pouted even more fiercely. "As long as there is a next time, and how am I supposed to prepare for the random things you were doing? You beat me easily, and don't even try and deny it, Reinforce, I know you were holding back a lot, and I still lost!"
Harry rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Nanoha, think about how much power and experience Rein has, along with her repertoire of spells. Now think, is it really so surprising you lost, especially considering the way you both fought in a similar manner. Also, Mid-Childan magic has several advantages over Terran magic."
"What are they?" Fate asked curiously, wanting to hear another's opinion on the subject.
"Range for one, wizards have trouble hitting anything more than a few dozen metres away." Harry answered. "Raw power for another, both your attacks and shields are many times stronger than the equivalent wizard spells merely due to the amount of magic in them. You're also more manoeuvrable than wizards, as flight spells are a lot easier to deal with than trying to fly a broom during a fight."
"So what advantages does Terran magic have, in your opinion?" Fate wondered aloud.
"Primarily, variety. A wizard will know dozens of spells, at the least, and if they've learnt to cast silently, you can never be too sure what spell is heading towards you." Harry replied. "Terran spells for altering the environment, such as making a surface slippery or bringing statues to life, are also very useful things. Thirdly, I do not know how Mid-Childan shields would deal with Unforgivables like the killing curse, and I'm not willing to try them out."
Fate frowned. "You say Mages have a manoeuvrability advantage over wizards, but what about apparition? Unlike something like, say, Sonic Move, it has quite a range to it, so why couldn't a wizard just appear behind one of us, curse us, and then 'pop' away?"
"A few reasons." Harry shrugged. "One of which is that apparition causes disorientation, so only those that have practised with it for a long time will be able to gather themselves quickly enough to actually do something useful. A second, though minor, issue is noise, as apparition can be quite loud, and can easily give your position away to the enemy. Another thing is that apparition can be warded against – Loki actually has some pre-set ward blocks in his bag of tricks that do just that– but because Sonic Move is a physical spell, in that it actually hurls the caster a short distance away, it can't so easily be stopped."
Loki then added his own opinion into the mix. "That only really applies to the Witches and Wizards that stand out from the masses though. If you go through history books and records, you'll find that the 'standard' response of a regular Terran Wizard is to stand still and throw spells at your enemy until they're taken out."
Harry nodded in agreement. "The most common spell used by 'light' wizards is 'Stupefy', the stunning spell, and the shield spell 'Protego'. They'll throw a handful of other things out as well, but those are the main ones. 'Dark' wizards tend to use bone breaker and organ rotting curses, as well as, of course, the Unforgivables."
Lindy sighed, rubbing her forehead. "The same could be said of the rank and file of the TSAB. They rely on shooting spells and Round Shields primarily, with the occasional binding spell mixed in. The higher ranks are the only place you really see other things being used, it's part of what makes them stand out for promotion."
A contemplative expression crossed Fate's face. "So the regular fighters are pretty much the same on both sides, and it's only the exceptional ones that differ. I suppose, since we conformed to a simple pattern, we lost, while Harry's team, with a more unique style, won, despite our greater experience."
Hayate seemed to be in agreement. "That's why you labelled Chrono and Yuuno as higher threats than us. We were predictable, whereas Chrono is known for being efficient with his mana, and Yuuno has a very different style of fighting to the norm."
Loki and Harry both chuckled at that., with the latter offering up a comment as well.
"That's right." He said.
Nanoha grumbled, but gained a fierce light in her eyes, determination to become better burning within them. That was one thing you could always count on with Nanoha, she never gave up, and was always pushing herself to be better, to do whatever she could, to help whoever she was able to. She was a very compassionate soul.
Just then, an owl flew in the window and deposited a letter in Harry's lap, before leaving once more.
After checking it, just in case it contained anything malicious, Harry opened it up. The letter, whatever it was, seemed to please the boy immensely, making the others wonder what it was that it contained. Isis, rather than asking, simpler slumped over Harry from behind, reading it over his shoulder.
"Something important?" Loki decided to ask.
"You could say that." Harry replied. "I sent a letter to the Japanese Ministry of Magic a short while ago, and this is their reply. As you know, I was concerned about possible repercussions regarding my existence, and how things might go pear-shaped back in Britain, so I needed a back-up plan."
"And?" Loki prompted, after a moment where Harry didn't elaborate.
"I applied for Japanese citizenship, and was successful." Harry replied. "I'm actually kind of surprised how quickly that got passed, but I think that they might have discovered that I'm not quite human somehow, the representative I met with certain had an unusual smile on his face, a sort of 'I know something' look, if you know what I mean."
He shrugged. "Anyway, I also purchased a bit of land to build a home on as well, taking a bit of a chunk out of what I have, and I intend to have a home built there. It's just outside of Uminari as well, so it's really easy to visit these guys, even without making use of Dimensional Transfer spells."
"You're going to have a house built?" Lindy asked. "Isn't that going to be really expensive?"
Harry shook his head, but it was Reinforce that answered her question verbally. "Not as expensive as you might think. There are spells and wards in Harry's Tome of Shadows that can handle a lot of things, including earthquakes, flooding, and to a certain extent, volcanic eruptions, so preparing the land will not be difficult, it just requires a lot of power."
Harry then continued on himself. "Also, certain utilities can be handled by runes. Things such as conjuring water, vanishing waste, and even electricity. As long as the electronics are protected, or the ambient mana is kept relatively low, there's no reason for me not to use them, like in a traditional Wizarding household."
"Hmm." Loki murmured. "I suppose you're going to be using one of your golems for manpower then, for when you don't have any spells that are suitable?"
"A lot of the work can be done with magic, but yes, I do have a golem card I can use." Harry replied, drawing a card out of one of his waist pouches and tossing it to Loki.
Loki looked at the card, examining the design for a moment. The back of the card was a silvery-grey colour, with a simple design of a book on it, while the other side was different. The front of the card had a border around it, with 'Herakles the Horde' in a grey banner at the bottom. The image depicted on the card was that of several floating balls with four arms on it.
It was a rather simple design, but it worked. Loki knew the colour of the banner denoted what 'type' of card it was. The golems had grey banners, the shields dark purple, the support cards had blue, and the attack spells red. Harry was working on embedding healing spells into cards as well, which, if they worked, would have a green banner on them.
"Huh, I suppose that would work, but you'd have to know just how to construct a building if you're AI is going to direct them. We wouldn't want to build a house only to have it fall down in a strong breeze." Loki commented.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not that stupid, Loki. Now that I've managed to connect my device to my Tome, I've also linked up these bracers too, and I added several books on construction and physics to it as well, so the AI will know what it is doing when it constructs the building."
"Terran magic really is useful, isn't it?" Hayate asked, hearing what Harry was intending to do. "I mean, with Mid-Childan and Belkan stuff, you only hear about how magic is used to fight, but I don't think I've ever really heard it used like that before."
Lindy frowned slightly. "Magic isn't only about fighting, even if most Mages are part of the Bureau. Magic is used in mining, for example, and other occupations such as doctors and nurses, though it is true that the most common use of magic is combat."
"In comparison, the Wizarding World, at least in Britain, uses magic for everything." Harry shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure about other countries, but I know Japan is another one that uses a lot of magic in day-to-day life, and I think most of Europe is the same, though I can't say for sure."
"It's not that surprising." Loki said. "Magic is very useful, and there's no reason not to use it either."
"True." Harry agreed. "I know that a few muggleborns have complained about wizards becoming dependant on their magic for every little thing, but is the same not true of those without magic? How would they cope if a power station failed, and they went without electricity? At least magic is a personal power, and thus a reliable one."
Lindy listened in with one ear, mentally adding to the list of everything she knew, and that Harry had told her, about the Wizarding World, to add to her reports to the higher ups of the TSAB.
Thankfully, when she'd made her initial report regarding Harry and Reinforce, those who she had reported to hadn't immediately tried to erase every last trace of the 'Book of Darkness', like she had feared they might. It seemed that the magical community on Earth was a good distraction as well, though things were being kept very quiet about it all.
The TSAB wasn't about to make contact with Earth, and wouldn't until their technology level was a fair bit higher than it was at present. A rule of thumb was that a planet needed to have the technology necessary to achieve a certain level of space flight before the TSAB got involved, and obviously before they were considered for application as an Administrated World.
Earth's current level was several decades away from that level, possible even a century or more, so they weren't thinking about reaching out to them yet. However, the structure of magic, and the possibilities it opened up, were too great to ignore, and so they were in support of Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate attending Hogwarts alongside Harry.
They would have preferred to separate them out and send them to different magical schools, to get a broader sense for Earth's magical potential and power, but Harry was literally their only contact in that society, and as he only really had connections in Britain, they were limited in what they could do, and how they might slide people into the system.
At present, Harry and Reinforce's existence was only known to a handful of people amongst the TSAB, and they were keeping it that way. This was a good thing for Harry and his group, as those higher ups had influence of their own, as well as connections, and so would make things a lot easier when things became more publicly known, especially considering how many people had lost family and friends in previous incidents revolving around the 'Book of Darkness', a stigma that Hayate, though she wasn't aware of it, also carried.
She came back to the conversation when the subject, it seemed, had changed. Right now they were discussing Harry's plans over the summer, the ones that would have him coming face to face with Lily and James Potter.
"I don't really know how this is going to work." Harry was saying. "I can't exactly plan for it, as I don't know how they are going to react to me, or how they will respond to particular stimuli. This is further complicated by who else is going to be there, and what effect that might have on them."
"Who else is going to Canada with you?" Lindy asked.
"Madam Bones will be there, as will her niece, Susan Bones, and Susan's friend, Hannah Abbot. Amelia is spinning it as a trip out together, as she doesn't get much of a chance to spend time with Susan due to the amount of work she gets in the Ministry. Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, will be filling in for her. He's, apparently, an ambitious man, but also fairly skilled, and should keep things under control." Harry replied. "Also, Hound should be there, though exactly why is a mystery to me, and he said he'd see if Origin, another Unspeakable, would also come with him, though again, I have no clue why he would."
"Do you have any idea what you're going to say to them, or how you're going to approach them?" Fate asked.
Harry frowned. "To be entirely honest, no, I don't. I feel incredibly conflicted in regards to the Potters. Yes, I can understand what they did, before the events of October Thirty-first at least, but afterwards, even if they truly believed me to be a vessel for Voldemort's soul, they were incredibly negligent. They allowed fear and 'what ifs?' to rule them, and essentially washed their hands of me. Britain as well, now that I think on it."
Isis and Bast both gave Harry a hug at this point, and Reinforce leaned into his side too, as Harry continued speaking.
"I also understand that they had a child, now two, to take care of, and that their safety comes first. I understand their concerns and priorities as parents, but could they have not left a message with someone they trusted to at least check that I was what they really thought I was? If I truly was nothing more than a piece of Voldemort's soul in the flesh of a dead baby, it would have been so simple to... get rid of me before I had the chance to become a problem, a threat, and yet they didn't." Harry's voice got quieter and softer as he went on, becoming little more than a whisper towards the end.
Everyone's eyes softened as Harry seemed to collapse into himself a little. They all realised just how difficult things were for Harry right then. It must be really hard to come to terms with the fact that you were never meant to live at all, and then that your dead body was supposed to be used as a weapon to kill someone.
What was worse was that when, against all odds, he actually managed to gain some semblance of life after that event, only for said life to not be nurtured, and instead subjected to his foul relatives. Reinforce had confided a small amount of what Harry had suffered at their hands with them and it was most definitely unpleasant.
On top of that, his parents were, in fact, alive, and actually believed him to be a monster, a terrorist that had slaughtered his way through Britain with no sign of stopping, nothing until Harry himself had barred his path, and that they may possibly, perhaps even probably, attempt to destroy him if they ever caught sight of him, especially so close to their home.
Nanoha, being the ever friendly and caring person she was, joined in the hug that now surrounded Harry, followed by Fate, Hayate, and Lindy too. The Wolkenritter weren't the sort to really hug people, but Vita did make a note to try and knock the 'sad' out of Harry with a spar or something, and even Zafira thought about trying to prank Harry to distract him from his funk.
"Thanks, you lot." Harry smiled, glad in the knowledge that he had made good friends that had his back, even if he recognised the look in Zafira's eyes.
xxxxx
Several days later, a surprise visitor arrived at the Midori-ya café.
The man, who appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, was dressed in jeans and a shirt, not how Harry had previously met him, yet still he recognised him, if only because of the feel of his magic. He ran a few quick medical diagnostic spells on him when he approached the table he was sat at, though the man seemed to have noticed them if the twinkle in his eye was anything to go by.
Fate looked rather confused at the man who sat down with them, while Hayate and Nanoha merely looked curious.
"Unspeakable Hound, how you found out about me being here, I'm not going to ask, merely state that your ability to find things out scares me somewhat." Harry said blandly. "I will say, though, that your disguise is very good. It's not an illusion, or a transformative like Polyjuice potion. Instead, you've actually physically altered the structure and colouring of your features, my medical scan found new bone in your cheeks."
Hound chuckled. "You find my information gathering abilities scary? I find your attention to details like that a bit weird."
"Really?" Harry had to ask.
"It would be more understandable if you were a decade older, or a veteran of the last blood war. As it is, you doing that comes across at being rather paranoid." Hound replied easily.
"Paranoid?" Harry murmured, thinking about it. "I'd rather say that I'm rather curious about things, with a tendency towards being well prepared."
"Prepared, paranoid, the only difference is how jumpy you are." Hound shrugged. "Common opinion is that the Unspeakables are somewhat paranoid, though with good reason."
"I've been described as paranoid myself at times." A voice chuckled, making everyone at the table, even Hound, jump out of their skins in surprise.
Harry swivelled around to see someone sat comfortably next to Loki – the raven familiar looking like he'd suffered a near heart attack just now – and was decidedly odd looking. In fact, Harry was trying to work out how the hell no one had noticed him making their way over towards them and sitting down amongst them.
"Origin." Hound said. "I see you managed to get here then."
"Hound." This 'Origin' person nodded his head. "It's not often I get a message, so yours did get my curiosity, and I was a little bored. I haven't done much for the last few centuries, so even a little thing like this managed to make me sit up and take notice."
"Excuse me, did you say centuries?" Hayate asked in surprise.
Origin chuckled. "I've been around for a very long time, young one, since before what you refer to as the 'Belkan Empire', and even Al-Hazard is a recent event to me." All those present, except Hound, looked incredibly surprised at his mention of those specific topics, the other Unspeakable merely looked confused, though there was some exasperation in there too.
"I made contact with 'Witches and Wizards' before the Ministry was thought up, and even before 'Ancient' Egypt was a power in the world. Once every now and then, I receive a message from the Unspeakables asking for my assistance or advice in one matter or another, though I usually point them in the right direction and let them muddle their way through it, better than simply give them an answer." Origin shrugged.
"I was the one who contacted Origin, through means only the Unspeakables have access to." Hound nodded. "I requested his expertise in analysing how your cores differ from a regular witch's or wizard's core, as he is the expert in, well, everything really."
"Yeah, I guess I am." Origin shrugged. "Anyway, their cores are capable of Wizarding magic, but it will be terribly inefficient for them, their cores are structured so they act in line with the natural laws, and will find mathematically based magic, and those that are in line with muggle physics, far easier. Of course, with their massive reserves, the inefficiency won't be much of an issue."
Origin turned to Harry. "His core is a hybrid of the two separate structures, meaning he can easily utilise all magic as efficiently as any witch or wizard, with his reserves making him the victor in almost any battle of attrition." He turned back to Hound. "You also wanted me to examine his soul, correct?"
Hound nodded.
"It's very human." Origin commented. "However, there are signs that it isn't natural, like the lack of a soul's equivalent to an umbilical cord for example. Technically speaking, the boy is a magical creature, created though artificial means, like those chimera that Dark Lord from two centuries back favoured."
"I'm not a chimera." Harry stated firmly, though there was a bit of a tremble to it for those that could hear it.
"Never said you were, just that you were like one." Origin blithely retorted. "Also, your soul is connected to the book girl there." He indicated Reinforce. "Once you finish your Wizarding puberty, at seventeen, you'll stop ageing and your lives will be bound together forever. That means if one of you dies, you both will, so it's fair to say that you're death isn't likely to be a pleasant one, either being killed violently or laid low by poison or disease."
That was a bit of a shock to the system, especially with how casually this 'Origin' was speaking, and... Harry paused for a moment, wondering why no one else in the Midori-ya was reacting to anything that was being said, they weren't exactly keeping their voices down after all.
It only took him a few moments to find some sort of barrier around the table the group was sat at, though it felt very weird to Harry's senses, and he couldn't make sense of it. It wasn't like a Wizarding ward, but it was also very different to the barriers Mid-Childan and Belkan magic produced.
"Oh, noticed my bounded field, did you?" Origin asked. "Don't try and make sense of it, the whole thing is based on a very different structure of magic to the ones you're familiar with, and trying to comprehend it using your own knowledge of magical disciplines is an exercise in futility."
"What's a bounded field?" Fate asked.
"Think of it as being similar to a ward or barrier, but built off concepts rather than physical, conditional, or dimensional alterations." Origin told her. "Now, I think I'm done here, so I'll take my leave. Just before I set off here I heard a rumour that Ophis was making some group or other, Khaos Brigade or something..."
Muttering to himself, Origin got to his feet and left the Midori-ya, though Harry did take note of him as he left, mentally listing everything he'd noticed while he'd been there.
For one, Origin, despite his claims of being so old, looked to be approximately the same age as Harry, Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate. In fact, he was a few inches short of being five feet tall, and his 'petite' frame made him seem even smaller, like a little girl.
His long hair didn't help with that image, though it did stand out quite a bit due to being bright white, and looking rather ragged as well. His eyes had been odd, with lavender sclera, hexagonal red irises, and silver pupils, and when he had spoke, he quite clearly had fangs in his mouth.
He had worn a long, black coat, that appeared to have been made out of some material that bore similarities to dragon hide, and under that had been a plain black shirt and trousers, along with a pair of black boots on his feet. That, added to the black, vein-like markings that had been crawling across his exposed flesh, had made him look positively evil, or perhaps just 'gothic'. His silvery pale skin had only made those sickly markings stand out even more.
However, what stood out most to Harry was that he couldn't feel his magic at all. Even being a few feet away like he had been, and he had not felt even a drop of magic from him. That 'bounded field' thing he'd set up didn't seem to hold the 'flavour' of Origin's magic either, and that both concerned and worried Harry.
After all, there weren't many reasons someone might go to that much effort to hide themselves from detection, and those that he could think of off the top of his head weren't good.
With the way he'd just appeared out of nowhere, and the rapid breakdown of their cores and souls, Harry would be keeping a very wary eye out for that particular Unspeakable, just in case.
xxxxx
Harry sighed as he looked out of the window.
Canada in summer was rather pleasant, and rather beautiful as well. However, he couldn't really get into it, too preoccupied with things that weighed on his mind. Part of it was hesitation about what he was actually doing, part of it was nerves, and another part of it was simply concern, not for himself, but those that were with him; Reinforce, Isis, Bast, Loki, all of them relied on him in one way or another, and he really didn't want to inconvenience them too much.
"Is there a problem?" A voice in the doorway asked, making Harry turn around.
"Nothing that I haven't been thinking about incessantly for quite some time now, Madam Bones." Harry responded.
"If you're sure." Amelia bowed her head. "Now, I am going to be busy for most of today, there's apparently some sort of festival going on that Susan and Hannah want to look around. You're welcome to join us if you want, but I understand if you want to spend time with your own... family, if that is preferable."
Harry chuckled lightly. "Yes, I think Isis would love to look around a festival with me, and Bast will also want to check out any food stalls there are, she does have quite the sweet tooth, no matter how much she tries to hide it. Reinforce, however, will be much happier in a book shop, and I think I saw one before we checked in here last night."
"And Loki?" Amelia asked curiously.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Loki finds far more enjoyment in spying on people, and is currently keeping an eye on the Potters. He told me that he'd warn me if we were likely to accidentally cross paths, so I can relax a little myself today as well."
"Just... be careful, Harry." Amelia told him. "James was quite 'trigger happy' – I believe that's the phrase at least – when it came to hexing and cursing people in school, and if he's wound up, things could be quite bad. We don't know how he'll react to you, but knowing him, there won't be much thinking going on when he delivers his first response."
"And Lily?" Harry asked.
"I remember her being a very curious girl, always wanting to know new things, and she did have more than a bit of a temper herself. I don't know what she's like now, but if she's anything like she was more than a decade ago, she'll have a very wide variety of spells available to her, though she did often get them mixed up, especially when she wasn't thinking straight." Amelia answered, before bidding Harry goodbye and leaving.
Another set of footsteps soon came to Harry's room, and it really said something that Harry could recognise it as Reinforce even without the strange bond the two of them shared.
The silver-haired woman sat down behind Harry, before leaning forwards and wrapping her arms around him.
The two of them remained like that for a while, simply enjoying the company of each other. It had been a while since it had been just the two of them. Usually, Isis at least was around, and as much as her antics made both of them smile, it was nice to have some peace and quiet with just the two of them as well.
Leaning forward a little further, Reinforce glanced at what was in front of Harry. In one hand, he held a notebook that had a number of notes and calculations on it, and she recognised it as Harry managing the money he had available to him, as well as several ventures he was considering investing in.
He was basing his ideas in that regard on how Mid-Childa and other Administrated Worlds had developed, as there were several common technologies that always seemed to do well. Telecommunication was almost always favourable, and technology in general was a good one, especially generic machines such as regular computers.
In Harry's other hand was a mirror, one connected to a scrying spell, a part of Divination Harry was very interested in, and on it was displayed a split image, half of it focused on Brian Potter, and the other half of it showing Rose Potter.
Reinforce's grip on Harry tightened slightly at seeing the smiling faces of the two oblivious children. 'That should be Harry' a small part of her mind couldn't help but whisper, while another part she hated wondered if she'd still have met him if things had been different, if Harry hadn't lived the life he had.
"Do you hate them too?" She asked quietly.
"Hate them?" Harry replied. "Why would I hate them? I don't even think I hate Lily and James, though I definitely feel rather bitter about things. Still, those two are completely innocent in all of this, Rose even more so than Brian, but I wonder... what will they think of me?"
"Do you want them to like you?" Rein prompted.
"I don't know." Harry told her. "Right now, you are my family, along with Bast, Loki, and Isis. Heck, I'd say even the Wolkenritter are more my family than those who share some similarities in their DNA with me. I don't know how I would handle things if they hated me, and I'm even less sure of myself if they started calling me brother or something to that effect."
"Would you accept that, being their brother I mean?" Reinforce queried.
"What would I do? What does a brother do?" Harry shrugged helplessly. "I can cook, clean, and I'm learning to balance money. I know a number of magical theories, and even a rather vast, if I do say so myself, number of spells. However, all of my personal relationships are based off Mid-Childan and Ancient Belkan magic. For goodness sake, the two of us originally got close by you teaching me what you know."
"So teach them." Reinforce said simply. "I don't mean magic, but if they do want you to be their brother, then do what you can for them. Look out for them, introduce them to new things, show them how to do things, help them when they need it. I know even less than you about familial relationships, so all I can do is offer advice like this and pray that it is useful to you."
"Thanks, Rein, I appreciate it." Harry smiled gently, leaning backwards into her embrace.
Reinforce's head tilted downwards slowly, as Harry began to inch up towards her face, the moment absolutely perfect. There was even a slight breeze that made their hair sway slightly, the silver strands catching the light and making a beautiful sight absolutely mesmerising.
Harry's lips brushed against Reinforce's for just a moment-
-when suddenly Isis collided with the doorframe.
"Hey, you two! What are you doing inside on a day like this? Come on out, there's this amazing festival going on righ- Oooooh! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" There was a most definite undertone of perversity in her voice as she asked that question.
"No, Isis, you're not interrupting anything." Reinforce was the one to answer. "Let's go and see what this festival is like, shall we? I'm not doing anything right now, are you, Harry?"
"Nothing that can't be put off for a while." Harry replied, getting to his feet.
Isis said nothing as the three of them left the room, picking up Bast before heading out to the festival. However, she couldn't fail to notice how the two of them had their fingers entwined with each others for the rest of the day, or how the two of them seemed to lean into each other as they walked.
After all, did anything really need to be said?