A/N: I'M BACK. Finally. Sorry that I had you wait for so long, but school sucks. Royally. Especially if you're in your last year.

Anyway, here's the third chapter.

Hope you like it, it's a bit rushed.

As for your question, Damia, you'll have to wait and see. All I can say is that things are often not as they might appear to be on first glance...

CU

Amoria Mirai

Chapter 3 – Meeting at Kings Cross

"Pleased to meet you, McGonnagall-sensei."

Hotaru gave a polite bow to the stern looking woman seated in front of her. The professor returned the greeting with a polite nod, obviously somewhat familiar with Japanese customs.

"As am I, Miss Tomoe." she said, before turning her attention back to the Headmaster.

"Albus, may I have a word with you?" she asked. Albus smiled slightly.

"Later, Minerva. I believe it is time for lunch now, and I'm certain our young guest is hungry." he said, and motioned for Hotaru to take a seat. Hotaru sat down next to McGonnagall. Looking over the food set on the table, she found that she knew none of what was offered.

"Sorry, sensei, but do you know if I could, perhaps, get some different food? I'm afraid I don't know any of this." she said quietly, embarrassed to be asking such a question. McGonnagall looked up from her food with a slight smile.

"Just tip the plate with your spoon three times and then tell it what you want. The house elves will have it ready in a matter of minutes. But kept that a secret, students aren't supposed to know that." she said, and demonstrated, summoning some kind of desert onto her plate. Hotaru nodded, and tapped her plate with the spoon, quietly saying "Ramen".

Haruka was silent as Severus rose from the desk, and walked over to the empty fireplace, not once turning to look at her.

"Yes, I did receive your message, and passed it on to him. He was pleased to see that you are still loyal... " Severus said, after a while. Haruka flinched slightly at the accusing tone.

"I've already told you, Sev. I'm not the foolish girl I was fourteen years ago. So don't go and treat my as if I were still the same." she snapped back. Severus finally turned to face her.

"Then tell me what you want to do, Haruka. I kept Potter save the past four years. But quite frankly, I'm running out of ideas to keep him from Voldemort's clutches." he said.

"I have some ideas, but for them to work, Harry'd need to trust me. And as it is he doesn't even know me..." Haruka replied. Severus nodded.

"No thanks to the headmaster, too. Maybe we should have told him the truth... then Potter'd have grown up with real family." he said, a hint of remorse in his voice. "He insisted that Potter be put into the care of his Aunt and Uncle, instead of contacting you."

"It was better for no one to know. For all we know, he could have betrayed us the moment we told him." Haruka replied, sounding remorseful as well. But then her voice gained a steely edge that surprised Severus.

"Now, what was that about Harry staying with Petunia...?"

Hotaru had just finished her second bowl of Ramen (she had to compliment these 'house-elves', what ever they were, for their cooking was delicious), when the grand double door she and the Headmaster had entered earlier, were pushed open, and Haruka strode in, quite mad, judging from the furious expression on her face.

"Albus, what in the seven hells possessed you to put Harry into the care of these... these... these MUGGLES?" she screamed, her voice echoing in the large empty hall. Hotaru flinched at Haruka's outburst, and thanked every single deity she knew that she was not the one who had to face the blonde woman's fury.

"Haruka, please refrain from screaming. I can hear you quite clearly. And Harry is safest with them. The blood connection keeps him well protected." Albus said calmly, barely looking up from his lunch.

"SAFE??!! You don't even know them, Albus! Have you even once checked on him to see whether you made the right decision? No, you probably didn't." Haruka said, and obviously wanted to say more, when Severus stepped through the door behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder. Hotaru saw that he whispered something to Haruka, and how Haruka smiled slightly afterwards. But it was instantly replaced by a mask of indifference.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, I was out of line. Though I may disapprove of your decisions regarding Harry, I had no right to yell like that. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few preparations to make." Haruka said, and with a short wink at Hotaru, she turned and left, Severus following after her.

Haruka was about to continue screaming at the Headmaster, not caring if she was doing so in front of the entire staff and Hotaru or not, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's not worth the effort. He won't allow you to take Potter. Believe me, I tried to make him reconsider his choice, and at least put him with Carmen, but he refused." Severus whispered, pulling her back ever so slightly. "Let's just go pick him up from Kings Cross later, and tell him Albus told us that he can stay with you for the summer." Haruka smiled slightly at the idea, before gathering what little control she had left, and apologizing to the headmaster.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, I was out of line. Though I may disapprove of your decisions regarding Harry, I had no right to yell like that. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few preparations to make." She said, and with a short wink at Hotaru, which was returned, she turned and left again, Severus right behind her.

They walked towards Severus office in relative silence, until a thought occurred to Haruka.

"Severus, do you even want us to stay at Serpent's Cove? Up to know I just assumed I could. I can take Hotaru and Harry back to Japan if I must." she asked. Severus laughed.

"And I should mind why?" he replied. "If it weren't for you coming and bringing some people along, I wouldn't even go there over the summer. In fact, I haven't been there for years, until I got your letter and told the house elves to clean it up." he replied. "Now, what are you going to tell Potter? About why he's going to be staying with us, that is?"

"I will tell him the truth. James asked me to do it, and I will. And quit calling Harry 'Potter' all the time. It's getting on my nerves a great deal, and it isn't even true, either." Haruka replied calmly. "But anyway, let's just change the subject, okay? I'll think of something later." That said, she gave him a cheerful smile, and continued on towards his dungeon office.

Hotaru was still looking at the doors where Haruka had suddenly burst through earlier. She had finished eating, not really paying attention to what she was doing, her hands working entirely on auto-pilot, all the while thinking about what had happened. It was totally unlike Haruka to suddenly snap out of a screaming fit. The only things that usually got her out of it were Setzuna's reasoning, or some sneak plan to get what she wanted anyway. And since Hotaru knew that Setzuna was halfway around the globe, and she didn't believe that the man she had met earlier held such influence over her foster mother, she suspected that, whoever this Harry person was, she would meet him soon enough. Predictably without the headmasters consent. Finally deciding that it was useless to ponder on the inevitable, she stood and tapped Professor McGonnagall on the shoulder, to get her attention.

"Excuse me, Sensei, but could you perhaps tell me where I can find Haruka-tousan? I think she might want to leave soon!" she asked politely.

Professor McGonnagall looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying.

"I think she might be in the dungeons. That's where Severus' office is, at least. And from what I remember from her time at school, she was either with him or Black."

Suddenly, the Headmaster spoke up from behind Hotaru.

"I will have someone escort you there, Ms. Tomoe." he said, and snapped his fingers. A short moment later, a strange looking creature stood before Hotaru. It was about two feet tall, with bat-like ears and wide yellowish-green eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore sir summoned Dobby. What is Dobby to do?" the creature asked, almost bouncing in obvious excitement.

"Please escort Ms. Tomoe to Severus' Office. She is meeting her foster parent there." Dumbledore told the creature.

The creature bowed eagerly.

"Dobby will gladly escort Miss Tomoe. Please come along Miss." it said, and waved at Hotaru to follow.

With a short glance at Dumbledore, who only nodded encouragingly, she followed after the creature.

When Hotaru entered the office through the open portrait-door, she found Haruka already waiting there, sitting on one of the many trunks that littered the room.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering how long it would take for you to come down. Sev is just picking up some more ingredients, and then we'll be off." she said, absently flicking her wand at one of the trunks, which shrunk immediately.

As she said this, Severus walked through the door leading to his private quarters.

"Well, it seems as if we were ready. Miss Tomoe, do you have anything to take with you?" he asked, somewhat coldly. Hotaru flinched back ever so slightly.

"Sev, don't do that. You are scaring her." Haruka scolded, before shrinking the remaining trunks, and gathering them in a small bag. "If you don't mind the question, Sev, just how long have you been staying here? This is enough stuff to fill at least three rooms with!"

Severus shrugged, his cold demeanor gone all of the sudden, making Hotaru wonder just how much influence Haruka had on him.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I've been there more than once, since I started teaching." he replied, taking the bag from her, and motioning for the fireplace.

"Alright. Hotaru, we're going to floo to Kings Cross. You got your bag?" Haruka asked, as she fished a small bowl with floo-powder off the mantle.

"Hai." Hotaru replied, lifting one of the straps of her backpack for emphasis. Haruka then proceeded to push her towards the fire.

"Well, then let's go. It's Kings Cross, London. You're first." Haruka told her, holding out the bowl. Rolling her eyes at her foster-mother's protective streak, Hotaru grabbed a handful of the silvery powder, and threw it into the fire, before stepping into the now green flames.

"Kings Cross!" she called, and once again, went spinning through the fire.

Stepping out of a vast fireplace, Hotaru found herself on a platform, with robed people crowding around a red steam-engine train.

"Seems as if we got here just on time." Haruka said as she stepped out of the grate right behind her.

"In time for what?" Hotaru asked, curiously.

"To get Potter before he goes to his relatives." Severus answered her question, while motioning Haruka towards a wrought iron-gate. "Potter, and his two friends, are over there. The Weasley's are hard to miss, even in this crowd."

Haruka gave him an exasperated glare.

"Can it with the 'Potter' remarks, Sev, or I will start with your Marauder-Nickname." she snapped, before pulling Hotaru towards a red-headed family that was heading for the gate, which was obviously an exit.

"I will once we get to the manor. I have an image to keep up in front of my students, Spitfire." Severus replied.

They followed the family of red-heads through the gate, and now stood on another platform, this time in, for Hotaru, normal surroundings.

As Hotaru turned to look back at the platform they had left, she found that they had seemingly walked out of a brick-wall.

Shrugging it off as yet another oddity of the wizarding world, she continued to follow Haruka and Severus through the station.

They stopped as they finally caught up with the family of red-heads.

"Arthur, Molly, could you please tell me where Mr. Potter is?" Severus asked, rather coldly, in Hotaru's opinion.

The whole family turned to look at them, and Arthur seemed surprised.

"Hello, Severus. Harry has just been picked up by his Uncle, they are on the way to their car. Why? Did something happen?" he answered, and Molly looked concerned.

"Nothing. Just a slight change in plans. Good Day, then." Severus said, and turned to leave.

"Sorry about him. He's just a bit... miffed... about the whole deal." Haruka apologised, before she, too, left the family to continue on their way.

While they walked through the station, Hotaru looked around curiously, as she had never been to a foreign country before, and she wanted to know the differences.

As she didn't pay much attention to where she was going, she didn't notice the two teens crossing her path, and she walked straight into them, sending all three of them to the floor.

"Ouch."

"Watch where you're going." one of the two, a boy, snapped, getting up and brushing his clothes off.

"Draco, be polite." the other, a girl, said, and turned to Hotaru, offering her a hand to help her up. Hotaru took it, pulling herself up.

"Sorry about my brother, he's a brat." the girl said, and winked.

"Hey, that's no fair, Lena!" her brother exclaimed.

Hotaru smiled. The two seemed nice.

"It's okay. He's right, I should watch where I'm going." she said, and then suddenly realized that she had lost Haruka in the crowd.

"Shimatta, now I'm in for it. Ruka-tousan is soooo going to freak once she notices I'm gone."

The duo looked at her strangely.

"You aren't from here, are you?" the boy asked her, which earned him an elbow in the side from his sister.

"Who are you looking for? Maybe we can help you? We won't get picked up until about an hour or so..." she offered.

"I'm looking for Haruka. We were here to pick someone up. Oh, and a man she calls Severus is with us." Hotaru said, looking around in the hope to see her foster-mother somewhere.

"Severus? As in Severus Snape?" the boy, Draco, Hotaru recalled, asked her.

"Hai, I think that's his name. Can you help me?" she asked.

The girl nodded.

"Sure. My name is Helena Malfoy, by the way. And this brat is my twin, Draco." she said.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Tomoe Hotaru... no wait, that's wrong... Hotaru Tomoe? First name goes first, right?" Hotaru said, with a small bow, feeling slightly embarrassed. But the twins didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, that's right. Where are you from? Your accent sounds Asian." the girl asked, as they set off into the direction that Hotaru had been heading to earlier. Hotaru nodded.

"Hai, that's right. I'm from Japan. I came here with Ruka-tousan to go to school here. She'll be teaching." Hotaru said, remembering Haruka's ranting about a week back, when she had asked if she could tell her friends where she would be going to school. The blonde had told her very pointedly that under no circumstances was she to tell anyone about magic, unless she knew they were magical themselves.

"Hurry up, boy, I don't have all day!" Vernon Dursley snapped at his nephew, who was heaving his trunk into the car.

"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry replied, and tried once again to lift the heavy trunk high enough to get it into the car, failing spectacularly. It was then that a female voice called out through the parking lot.

"Mr. Dursley? Could I have a word with you?" a woman, of perhaps twenty-two, asked, walking up to them. Looking at the woman, Harry did a double-take. Following behind her was none other than his potions-teacher, Severus Snape.

Vernon Dursley looked at the woman approaching them with unveiled suspicion.

"What do you want?" he asked ruffly.

"There has been a slight change in plans, Mr. Dursley. Mr. Potter will not be spending the holidays with you." Snape said coldly, drawing Vernon's attention on himself.

"Why not?" Harry asked, startled. Only a few days ago, Professor Dumbledore had told him that it was safer for him to stay with his relatives.

"We will explain later, Potter. Now get your things and get going." Snape told him. The woman with him frowned deeply.

"Severus, I told you already. Cut the crap. Now, Harry, is there anything you need to pick up from the Dursley's first, or do you have everything?" she asked, and turned to Vernon, pulling an envelope from her pocket.

"Of course we will pay for the expanses you had coming here for nothing, sir." she said, and handed him the envelope. Vernon opened it, and after a look inside, he smiled ever so slightly.

"No trouble at all, ma'am. Have a nice summer, boy." he said, slamming the car-trunk closed, and even helping Harry put his trunk back on the cart.

Harry felt a bit tense. Snape's presence assured him that this was no plot of the dark lord, but it still unnerved him that there would be such a 'sudden' change in Dumbledore's plans.

The blonde woman sighed in relieve, before suddenly looking around, startled.

"Er... Sev? I think we lost Hotaru..." she said, and Harry could only watch on in confusion as Snape suddenly started cursing in a language that Harry had never heard before.