I'm soooooo sorry. I was doing so well at first and then I just lost momentum. Plus I have exams I'm studying for and a term paper I'm writing. AAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! My nose! It grew! Ow, I just hit it on my wall. Itai…Okay fine. I'm supposed to be studying for exams and doing my term paper. Is that better?! Stupid Pinocchio. Anyway, read and review, please. I love all of my reviewers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Percy wandered outside sullenly. How could he have been excluded from such an important meeting? And why send students out to meet them instead of a professor? He growled and finally looked around to see where he was.
In front of him stood a class. He assumed it was Care of Magical Creatures, though Hagrid was missing. Instead a girl stood at the head of the class and a boy sat behind her, observing the students. She was holding a phoenix he recognized as Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's pet.
With a frown he strode over to where they were. Even Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let a student care for such a rare bird, though how she had gotten it was uncertain, as was what she was doing usurping the professor's position. He would make sure that the pair got the trouble they deserved and explain the situation to the professor when he got back.
Even as he stalked over to the class he heard the girl speaking.
"In flight the phoenix looks like a flame, though those uneducated in such matters believe it to be a trick of the light. However, if you look closely at Fawkes' feathers," here she asked him to spread a wing, "you'll see that they are, in fact, miniature flames, though do not emit heat unless it is time for him to be reborn again."
"What do you think you are doing?" interrupted Percy, crossing his arms.
The boy (Syaoran) immediately leaped to his feet and watched Percy wearily.
"Teaching a class. You're brother, Ron, was in the one before this," replied Sakura mildly.
"Where is the professor?"
"You're looking at them," replied Syaoran dryly.
"Don't think you can joke with me. You two will be in trouble when Hagrid gets back," said Percy authoritatively.
"Doubtful." Sakura turned to Syaoran. "Pity we can't give him a detention. Perhaps that would teach him some manners, but he's out of school."
The class snickered and Percy's face became as red as his hair.
One of the Ravenclaws took pity on him and said, "It's true. They're our professors and you should probably leave before they decide to do something about you. They're extremely powerful."
"Five points to Ravenclaw for being so kind to him," said Sakura absently. "Now, if you'll excuse us Weatherby," she said with a smirk as he began spluttering, "we have a class to teach."
With a wave of her hand she teleported him into the castle and turned back to the challenge of teaching her class about phoenix in the two minutes before class ended. Let those with more patience than her handle him.
"Sakura. It is time. The wizards' Minister of Magic is here."
Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes.
"Class dismissed," Syaoran said quickly, the only one besides Sakura to have heard Meiling, and the students hurried away, too glad to get out a couple minutes early to ask questions.
The two professors looked around to make sure no one was near and teleported away.
~*~
It seemed as if a sheer curtain had descended over Dumbledore's office. Everything could be seen as if through a haze. Then one person appeared, and another, and another. They seemed more substantial, more there, than the office itself. Soon the room was clearly much more populated than it was ever meant to be, and yet there was plenty of space. A crowd of faces gazed upon the quivering Cornelius Fudge, who at once realized that he was in trouble. Albus Dumbledore wisely looked on and did not try to interfere as Tomoyo and Meiling blended into the ghostly crowd.
Suddenly there was a stir and the people parted before someone and then she stood before the Minister, ethereal and proud. The image was somewhat ruined by a large yawn.
"What?" asked Sakura, glaring at her fellow snickering sorcerers and sorceresses. "How would you feel if you ended up in two different worlds by accident all on the same day?"
"You're just a child," exclaimed Cornelius before he could help himself.
Sakura lost it. "And wiser than you! Idiot! You would endanger your whole world and all the lives in it just because you wish what is happening not to exist? You owl Albus everyday asking for advice, yet ignore it when he gives you what is most important of all and what you wish most not to hear. Indeed, you threaten him for doing what you will not. Blind, pathetic, lazy baka yarou!!! All you needed was veritaserum (AN: That's the truth potion, right? Well, if it isn't let's just pretend it is) and you couldn't even do that?! You sent an innocent man to jail without a damned trial nor could you get someone to brew the truth potion for you. You had years (and I'd like to take years off of your life) to do it! By doing so you condemn Harry Potter to live with his aunt and uncle (no offense Albus), who don't even deserve to be called human beings much less Muggles! You took known Death Eaters' words that they were brainwashed and saw the error of their ways; again without the veritaserum thing! You don't bother to clear up any misconceptions when faced with witnesses who swore that Peter was still alive, condemned an innocent hippogriff to death, honored one of Voldemort's followers, and then, to top it all off, you believe one of Rita Skeeter's articles and took her word over what anyone else told or showed you!! Am I missing anything!!!"
He cowered before her, rage making her seem to tower above him. "N-no," he stuttered.
"Damare! That was rhetorical, you nitwit!
"You do not seem to question what advice he gives you until it is anything you feel would jeopardize your position, and then – this is the real irony – you try to replace him when anyone can see that these children need protection and he is the best guardian you can have! I, Sakura Kinomoto, Card Mistress, and most powerful sorceress of my time, now pass judgment on you, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, and pompous ass, as Yue once did on me, with my fellow sorcerers and sorceresses of the past, present, and future as witness. You, who have asked the advice of Albus Dumbledore for so long, will now do so in all matters and follow his advice to the letter. We feel that changing ministers so close to the war will add to the chaos, so as soon as we find a suitable replacement and once the war is over, you will hand over your position to the witch or wizard of our choosing. And you will be cursed with the knowledge of what happened here, but never be able to tell of it."
"So mote it be," murmured the assembled crowd before slowly disappearing as the room came back into focus.
Sakura turned wearily to Albus, ignoring the shocked Minister of Magic. "I'm sorry for leaving so much extra work on your shoulders, but there was really no one else to turn to."
"Quite alright," murmured Albus, face unreadable.
"Leave," hissed Sakura to Cornelius, anger practically spent. "You're damned lucky you got away so lightly." She watched, somewhat amused, as he scrambled hastily out the door. Once he was gone she sighed. "At this rate, the whole school's going to know about us."
"Lemon drop?" offered Albus consolingly.
"Arigato gozaimasu," she muttered taking one.
~*~
"Hey Harry," said Tomoyo softly, as they were in the Library. "What are you reading?"
He jerked back in surprise, but didn't jump this time. Tomoyo nodded in approval. It was about time his dream training started coming into play. He was beginning to sense auras, though not very well yet. Lord knew she had been making her aura shine bright as the sun and extend as far as she could make it, and the only ones who noticed were her friends.
"It was a present from Hermione," he explained, showing her Myths and Realities: What is the Truth? "I've just gotten to the section on Eastern Magic."
Tomoyo blanched. "Um…may I see it?" she asked.
"Sure," said Harry, handing it to her with the page he was reading open.
Tomoyo let loose an impressive string of expletives in her head as she thumbed through the pages. As she had suspected, Clow Reed was in there. Almost caught us off guard there, Hermione, she thought ruefully. Thankfully, the girl didn't suspect a thing as of yet. It was just dumb luck.
She returned the book and then began to sing softly,
"Nenneko, nenneko, nenneko ya!
"Achira muitemo yama yama;
"Kochira muitemo yama yama.
"Yama no naka ni nani ga aru?
"Shii ya donguri kaya no mi."
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep!
"I turn that way, but I see only mountains.
"I turn this way, but I see only mountains.
"In the midst of those mountains what can there be?
"There are shii-nuts and acorns and seeds of kaya."
Harry struggled to stay awake, to keep his eyes open, but he lost the battle and sank into the welcoming arms of sleep.
Tomoyo sighed and gently took the book back once more, flipping to the page where Clow's picture was smiling and waving. "You know," she said, weaving her fingers in runic patterns over the book, "we wouldn't be having so much trouble if it wasn't for you and your urge to be center-stage."
He gave her a decidedly 'Eriol' look and she grinned at him as his section faded away. "I'm not sure if that's good or not," she murmured to the blank pages before slipping it in front of Harry.
"Okosu," she said sharply, clapping three times.
He started upright and looked around. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly, rubbing his eyes. "I must be more tired than I thought."
"Don't worry about it," Tomoyo replied cheerfully before traipsing out of the library.
Harry shook his head as if to clear it. He felt as if he had forgotten something. Unbidden, a tune floated into his head, one he didn't recognize. "Nenneko…."
~*~
School passed quickly and the days ran together into a fairly monotonous blur. The students had to get reacquainted with Nakuru's screeching and Tomoyo's obsessive recording of anything to do with her Sakura-chan and such, but they soon recovered. It was also unusual to see ice cold water suddenly dump onto Professor Snape, but it kept him in, well, not a good mood exactly, but a much more friendly person. Tomoyo finally took her last spell off of Eriol, which was a relief to him.
Harry could now sense auras with some skill, which he used to avoid anyone on those nights when he wandered the halls in his Invisibility Cloak. Hermoine and Ron suspected he knew more than he told them, but let it slide. Harry didn't know what to do. He wanted to tell them about his dreams, but he couldn't. Not for the first time he wondered if the voice in his dreams meant to harm him.
With a start he realized that he was standing before Professor Yue's office door. He shrugged and knocked, deciding that if anybody could help him, it would most likely be the Defense Against the Dark Arts' professor.
"Come in," came a friendly voice and he opened the door to behold a young man with short, white hair and a friendly smile on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Harry, slightly embarrassed. "I was looking for Professor Yue.
"My name's Yukito Tsukishiro. I'm a…friend of Yue. Perhaps I could be of some assistance?"
"It's just…. Well, I've been having…." Harry couldn't get the words out.
"Dreams?" asked Yukito with a smile.
"How did you know?" asked Harry in surprise, and a little suspicious.
"Just a guess," he replied with a shrug. "Seeing as how you're here so late and all."
"Ah."
"If your dreams don't make you feel uneasy or scared, then I wouldn't worry, especially if your scar doesn't react. Good night, Harry."
"Good night, Mr. Tsukishiro," replied Harry, understanding he was being dismissed. It wasn't until he was out in the hall that he realized what Yukito had said. How had he known about his scar?
~*~
Chaos unleashed, everywhere was a whirl of shapes in shadow and moonlight… Where am I? What's happening?…The screams of the wounded and the battle cries of those in the grip of blood lust…
Stop! Please, I don't want to see this.
…Chanting, both fair and foul, the small movement of a wand that goes almost undetected…
It feels like a void, no up or down, past or future, only this moment of chaos and death.
…Flashes of light give the field larger than life shadows from the nightmares of children and men…
It is a field, isn't it? For a moment it looked like a river of blood.…The earth drinks the sacrifice greedily, unheeding, taking no sides, just soaking in the blood until it begins to overflow, and yet, more lifeblood mingles with the rest, good and evil having no place in Death's impartial rule…
I'm trying my hardest to sort this out, but it's like undoing the threads of Fate. I have to do better; I have to make this right.
…She suddenly notices the steady pulsing light, not the product of a spell…What are they? Important somehow, but I can't tell what the light is.
…For a moment she sees and is lost in her panic…No! Oh God, no! They're glass, they're made of glass.
…The glass is so fragile, paper thin, and she redoubles her efforts in an attempt to protect them…
I can't get there in time, I can't manipulate two threads of Fate at once! Please, don't break it!
…The glass falls so quickly to the stone ground, yet to her eyes it is in slow motion… Zet…tai… It won't break, it won't break, it won't break, don't break……And shatters into a million fragments, glinting like stars in the light of the moon…
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!
…Sound stops as if cut with a pair of scissors and everything is pitch black as a voice echoes in the empty spaces…
Zettai…daijoubu desu yo…
Sakura sat bolt upright in bed, gasping, beads of seat running down her pale cheeks, and disentangled herself from the sheets. She glanced at Kero to make sure he was still asleep before looking at her clock. 5:08. Sakura figured she might as well get up and headed towards the teachers' lounge to see if Hannah and Minerva, dubbed the two early birds, were up yet. She would get no more sleep this morning. One of her group would die in the battle to come, and she knew who.
~*~
"Albus, I need a meeting of everyone who knows our identity, today if not sooner," says an agitated Sakura. "We have much to discuss and little time. After that you may want to call a conference with the whole staff."
The Headmaster watches the passing girl and feels sympathy for her. "What about?" he questions, though he can guess.
She stops and turns to him. "Voldemort. I will call him here the last, no, third to last day of school while the students' studies are fresh in mind and ready to be grasped, Lord prevent it from being needed. Harry is progressing steadily in his training and is learning to call up shields with only the amount of power needed to block an attack behind it, no more, no less. He will be as ready as I can make him while the Dark Lord has not yet reached his peak. There will be much to discuss in the first meeting and many questions to answer if you have a second."
"It will be tonight then, 7:00 in the conference room. I will alert Minerva, Hannah, and Severus. Is there anyone else?" asked Albus.
"No. I will bring the rest of my group. No one else." She walked away wearily, feeling as if the world weighed down her shoulders.
On her way outside she ran into Harry. "Hello," said Sakura with a cheerful smile.
"Professor Kinomoto, I was wondering…who's Yukito?"
Sakura looked surprised. "You've met him? He's my brother, Touya's, boyfriend and a…close friend of Yue," she answered with a faint smile, as if something she said was a joke.
Harry looked at her, not sure if he'd heard correctly. "Boyfriend?"
"Oh yes," said Sakura with a nod. "It took them years to get together, but now they're practically inseparable. Urg, bad thought," she muttered, eye twitching as she reconsidered her choice of words, really not wanting to know what her oniichan and Touya did together when they were alone for long periods of time.
"But isn't that, well…" said Harry, not sure how to express what he wanted to say.
"Wrong? No, Harry. People should keep an open mind about such things. It's as natural as heterosexual relationships, perhaps more so. After all, who better to understand yourself than one of your own sex? I'm not trying to suggest you get a boyfriend or anything like that. Sometimes we adhere to society's 'rules' more than we do even the law, when we should be ourselves. Just keep an open mind." She ruffled his hair and walked past him.
He gazed after her thoughtfully before walking off to find Ron and Hermione. (AN: NO! No romance at all between any of them! I just can't do it.)
~*~
"He'll be here three days before school gets out. I'm pushing Harry as hard as I feel I should, but he doesn't get enough sleep because of his dream training. I'm worried that he'll be too tired to pay attention in class, and he needs to know everything you can teach him. I think he should be taken out of Divination, and perhaps Astronomy, and given another study period during that time as well," explained Tomoyo.
It was already half an hour into the meeting and very little had been decided.
"And you believe that in that time when so many professors and students occupied, including his friends, that he will not have the urge to go wandering through the halls?" questioned Severus with a raised eyebrow.
"One of us will be watching to prevent that," explained Eriol smoothly. "We're thinking that he'll be tired enough to use that time to sleep, or study since he'll probably be going to bed early as well."
"We need an army of volunteers, and only volunteers. There's not enough time to gather wizards and witches outside of England, get them to believe us, and train them. The people we do have need to be screened, perhaps with a truth potion or something similar," said Sakura.
"We know that our army will be relatively small, so our group will make up the difference," added Meiling. "The students and all professors will stay in the school. We're planning to erect a barrier with the help of Touya and Fujitaka, perhaps Aunt Yelan."
Syaoran made a choking sound.
"Well, I haven't asked her yet," said Meiling, irritated. "So don't go being surprised yet."
Yue broke in. "You should also look for healers to help Madame Pomfrey. The wounded will be brought back into the school and there will be far too many for just her to handle. You should also stock up on supplies and potions."
"There's no other way then," stated Minerva faintly.
"No," replied Sakura softly.
"We're going to war."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ooooo, an ending with a punch. Doesn't it just get you right here? ~thumps chest~ Okay, don't expect another chapter until school's out. I need to study and all that, plus I have another story I'm doing, a one-shot for Lord of the Rings, and I want to get that out soon. Sayonara!
~Mystical Magician