As Harry walked the halls on the way to the Gryffindor common room, he thought about what had happened during the evening. Who were these strange girls?
What had happened to them? They had looked so beat up when he had first found them. How did they heal so quickly? Were they witches? And how had they known so much about all of them?
Thanks to these thoughts, Harry found himself at the Fat Lady's portrait before he knew it. After giving her the password, he walked through the hole and was immediately accosted by Hermoine and Ron.
"Where have you been, Harry?" Hermoine inquired. "We've been sitting here for hours worrying about you."
"Speak for yourself, Hermoine," Ron stated. "I wasn't worried at all. I was just curios, that's all."
Hermoine huffed. "Never mind him, Harry. He was worried about you even if he won't admit it. So where have you been?"
Harry blinked at the onslaught. "I was at the hospital ward…"
Before Harry could finish his sentence, Hermoine interrupted. "The hospital ward? What happened? You were still sitting by the lake when we left you. Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Hermoine," answered Harry. "Nothing happened to me."
"Then what were you doing in the hospital ward?" demanded Ron.
"I'm trying to tell you but you both keep interrupting me before I can finish!" exclaimed Harry exasperatedly. 'At least they both have the decency to look ashamed at that,' Harry thought. "After you guys left, I was just sitting there by the lake, staring at the sky when this bright light shot through the sky. At first I thought it was a shooting star, …"
"Hey! We saw that in the Great Hall. It really freaked out the professors," Ron stated. "They ended the feast right away and sent us all back to our common rooms. We saw Professors McGonagall and Snape along with Dumbledore leave the building too."
"Yes, well, I eventually met up with them," stated Harry beginning to get rather annoyed with all of the interruptions. "I saw the 'star' land somewhere in the Forbidden Forest and took off running to see where it landed. For some reason, I felt drawn to it, almost as if I had to be there. Snape yelled at me to stop and I ignored him."
"When haven't you?" muttered Ron under his breath.
Harry continued as if there hadn't been another interruption, with the only indication that he heard being a glare sent in Ron's direction. "When I got there, I saw a crater in the ground. It was rather deep. I walked up to the top of it and looked in. There were 5 girls lying there, covered in cuts and bruises. They were wearing these really strange sailor suits with really short skirts. The professors showed up, all but one of the girls woke up and we took them back to the hospital ward. The strange is that most of the wounds on these girls are gone now. Setsuna, she appears to be the oldest of the five, is going to tell us what happened to them and I was sent back to fetch you two."
"Why would she want us there," asked Hermoine, rather puzzled by everything.
"I don't know," answered Harry. "But she insisted that we all be there to hear this, even though Snape and Dumbledore didn't want us to be."
"I don't know, Harry," Ron stated worriedly, "This could be a trap set by You-Know-Who just to catch us and kill us."
"Ron, be reasonable. If Voldemort wanted to kill us he wouldn't do it with Dumbledore there. Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard he's afraid of. The last thing Voldemort would do would be to try to kill us on Hogwarts."
"Hermoine's right, Ron. Besides, my scar wasn't burning when I was with these girls," reassured Harry. "So can we go? I really want to find out what's going on."
With that, the Golden Trio turned and exited the Gryffindor common room.
On the walk back to the hospital ward, Harry half listened to his friends discussing possibilities as to who these strange girls were. Really, they knew even less than he did, so how could they have any better idea as to who they were than he did? After a short while, Harry tuned them out and started thinking about Usagi.
She was so beautiful. And the others seemed to be so protective of her. Especially the one called Haruka. Harry shuddered to think what would have happened to him if Usagi had of been hurt on the walk back to the castle. Haruka did not seem the type of person one would want to trifle with.
While thinking of Usagi, Harry wondered why he didn't tell his friends about his connection to her. Eventually he just put it down to the fact that he didn't know anything about her so there really wasn't anything to tell. Or at least not yet.
When they finally got to the hospital ward, Harry noticed two things. One, Hotaru was awake and sitting up in bed and ,two, Madam Pomfrey was once more checking on Usagi. At Harry's worried glance, Pommy gently stated, "She's the same dear. I was just checking to make sure she was comfortable."
Madam Pomfrey walked back to the other professors and took a seat. Harry walked over to Usagi's bed and once more took her hand. Ron and Hermoine looked at Harry curiously and were about to say something when Setsuna spoke up.
"Ah, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, good you're here. We can finally begin."
"Oh please do! We're waiting with baited breath to hear what it is exactly you five have been up to before you so mysteriously landed in the Forbidden Forest," Snape sneered sarcastically.
"Watch it you greasy haired little ---," Haruka threatened.
"Haruka!" Michiru exclaimed, "Watch your language in front of the children."
Haruka continued to mutter threats against Snape under her breath while Ron just stared at her in astonishment. Nobody dared to talk to Professor Snape that way. Normally everyone cowered in fear just by looking at him!
"Let us begin," Setsuna started once more. "First we will introduce ourselves. I am Setsuna Meiou, otherwise known as Sailor Pluto, guardian of the Gates of Time. The one muttering under her breath is Haruka Tenou, Sailor Uranus. The graceful one is Michiru Kaiou. She is Sailor Neptune. The little one is Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Saturn, the senshi of death and destruction. Lastly, the one over by Mr. Potter is Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium, future Neo-Queen Serenity of earth."
"You expect us to believe that you five are part of the legendary Sailor Senshi? And Princess Serenity is that pathetic excuse of a muggle over there," Professor Snape asked in astonishment.
Harry was confused at all of this. Who were the sailor senshi and why was everyone looking at the girls in shock? Even Ron and Hermoine seemed to know who the senshi are.
"Now Severus," Dumbledore soothed, "We should wait until we have heard everything before making any decisions as to who these young ladies are. Proof is needed, Setsuna. I am sorry for requesting this but we are currently living in dark times. As such, we cannot trust quite as quickly as we once did."
"Headmaster, I would be most distressed if you did not ask for proof," Setsuna stated softly. With that she put her hand above her head, holding a strange looking pen and shouted, "PLUTO PLANET POWER MAKE-UP!"
The others, excluding Usagi who was still unconscious, quickly followed suit.
"URANUS PLANET POWER MAKE-UP!"
"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER MAKE-UP!"
"SATURN PLANET POWER MAKE-UP!"
Bright lights filled the room. When the faded away, Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru had been replaced by four girls in sailor suits. Ron backed away in fear from the one holding the glaive, only to run into the one with the short blond hair.
"Watch it," she muttered. Ron gasped when he turned around and saw a sword in her hand.
"Uranus, put your sword away," the teal haired on stated. "We're here to play nice, not to cause trouble. Beside, it was an accident." With that she turned to the professors. "I am Sailor Neptune. The one acting up with the sword is Sailor Uranus. Sailor Saturn is the one over there with the glaive. And lastly, Sailor Pluto is the one holding the giant key."
"I hope this is proof enough for you, Professor Snape," Sailor Pluto stated confidentially.
Snape just stood there with his jaw working furiously. He couldn't believe that these four were actually who they claimed to be. He still harboured serious doubts that the one over on the bed was Princess Serenity.
"Wait a minute," Hermoine interjected, "How can you be the sailor senshi? I thought they were in Japan?"
"That is what we are now going to explain to you, Miss Granger," Sailor Pluto stated. "I believe it would be much more effective if you all were to see what had happened as opposed to us telling you about it. Please hold any of your questions until the end."
"Pluto, are you sure you want to do this," inquired Saturn.
"It is the best way, Saturn. Everything will be explained clearly this way." Pluto reasoned. With that, Pluto held up her key, "Chronus, guardian of time and space, please show to us that which we wish to see." And then Pluto slammed her key down.
The rest of the senshi looked uneasy, whether it was because the process was dangerous to Pluto or because what was going to be shown to them was painful, Harry could not tell.
The air around them turned foggy and then slowly voices emerged from the fog.
"Odango, you're late again!"
"Rei, you're so mean! Miss Haruna kept me late!"
Harry saw that the one who had just spoken was Usagi.
"Hey guys, we're here," Haruka stated as she, Michiru, Hotaru and Setsuna walked into the room. "What's going on?"
"Yes, it's been so long since we had a meeting. Has something happened, Rei," a short black haired girl with blue highlights inquired.
"While I was mediating before the sacred fire, I sensed a new enemy," the one with long black purple highlighted hair.
"Can you tell us anything about him," demanded a girl with brown hair up in a ponytail.
"All I know is that this enemy is from England and has a form of magic different from our own or from that of any of the enemies we have faced in the pasted."
"Rei, what's he after," inquired a bubbly looking blonde with a red bow.
"This man is after Usagi's ginzuinshou. He seems to only have evil in his heart and only desires power," the one named Rei explained.
Usagi paled at this and shrank backwards, as if trying to escape. A black haired man was there and put his arms around her immediately. "It's okay, Usako. We won't let this guy touch you. There's no way he can get to you. We're all here to protect you."
"I don't want you to protect me. I just want to be left alone. I don't want to fight anymore. I thought we were finished fighting after Galaxia. It's just not fair!" Usagi complained. "You guys shouldn't be put in danger because of me. You should all be free to do what you want to do, without having to worry about me."
"But Usagi-hime," Hotaru began "this is what we want to do. We don't protect you because we have to or because you're our princess. If that was the case we wouldn't fight as hard as we do. We wouldn't really care. We all fight for you because we love you, because without you our lives would be so much darker. Usagi, we fight not to protect. We fight beside you because we value your friendship and because we know you'll make a great queen someday."
"Hotaru," Usagi began.
Hotaru cut her off. "Usagi, without you I would have died during the battle when Mistress 9 had possessed me. You are the ONLY one who thought to save me. When all other would have killed me to save the world, you fought to save the world AND me. For that, you became my friend and I will always follow you and protect you. No matter what you say."
"Hime, I was there for you in the past. I will continue to be there for you in the future. And I will be there for you now," Setsuna stated with absolute certainty. "You taught me that I needed to have a life outside of the Gates. I had to live in the present and not just the future. For that, I will be there with you at this battle."
Haruka and Michiru joined hands. "Kenoko-chan," Haruka began. "you have more strength inside you than anyone else I know. More than even you know. You have the ability to believe the best of anyone in the worst possible situations. You have hope when everyone else has lost it. You inspire me to be better."
"Usagi, you have the ability to make people follow you without meaning to," Michiru stated. "Before we met you, all Haruka and I thought about was completing our mission. We never thought about team work or others. You changed us. You showed us that together we are much more powerful than we could ever hope to be on our own, no matter how good the intentions. We will always be there for you and we will fight by our side always."
Rei stood up. "Odango, I was left alone, shunned before you because of my physic abilities. You're the first one to look past that and to see me for who I really am. You're my best friend and best friends stick together, no matter what."
"Rei-chan's right, Usagi," the other blonde stated. "You were my first friend. When I first moved here, everyone thought I was stuck up and refused to have anything to do with me. You understood why. You understood me and the burdens we face as senshi. I'll always be here with you."
"Yeah Usagi! Beside I feel the need to beat someone up," said the brown haired one. "I went through a similar experience to Minako-chan. Except that everyone thought I was going to beat them up for some reason. You were the first person to not be afraid of me. You have no idea how much that meant to me."
"Everyone was afraid of you because you got kicked out of how many schools for fighting, Mako-chan.", the blue haired one stated. "I would still have my nose buried in a book if not for you, Usagi. You taught me to have fun. I needed to learn that and I don't think I ever would have if not for you. You were my first friend. I will always support you and be there for you."
"Asheritou, Usako," whispered the man. Usagi just stared into his eyes.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, minna. How can we lose if we're all together?" Usagi exclaimed.
With that the group descended into a group hug. All of the sudden a sinister laugh could be heard. The laugh made Harry's skin crawl. He knew that laugh, he thought as his stomach sunk. The sky darkened and a voice called out "Senshi, I know you're in there. I promise not to hurt you if you just hand over the ginzuishou."
"Never!" the group screamed as one.
"This is it guys. Let's kick some butt," Usagi cried. "MOON ETERNAL POWER"
"MERCURY PLANET POWER"
"MARS PLANET POWER"
"JUPITER PLANET POWER"
"VENUS PLANET POWER"
"URANUS PLANET POWER"
"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER"
"SATURN PLANET POWER"
"PLUTO PLANET POWER"
"MAKE-UP!!!"
Bright lights transformed the girls into the sailor senshi and the guy holding aloft a red rose transformed into a masked man in a cape and tuxedo.
They rushed out into the yard.
"Who do you think you are? Demanding my birth right?" demanded Sailor Moon. "I am the champion of justice. I will right wrongs and triumph over evil. On behalf of the moon, I will punish you!"
Laughter filled the air as the man in front of the group slowly turned around. Red snake like eyes peered at them, "Why princess, I am Lord Voldemort."