Author: Bunny-chan
Email: Bunnychan85hotmail.com
Mare Serenitatis
Chapter 5
5/21/04
Welcome back! I have one author note to answer a few concerns left in a review.
To Nanashi:
Thanks so much for reading and not flaming in your review. It's very much appreciated. To answer your points in your review, thanks for the correct date on Harry's birthday. I'm not sure if I had addressed that in author's notes beforehand, but I was unsure of the correct day in July, so thanks and I'll be correcting that.
Yeah, Harry's had a rough year from this last book. I understand his reaction to Dumbledore in the book was... shall we say, outraged? But, for this point in time, let's just let his anger slide this once, hm?
The blood pact deal was because his mother protected him with her love. The closest relative to his mother is his aunt. I don't think such a bond would work with a "supposed sister". If you do have another opinion on this matter, I would be more than happy to talk with you on it and see your side.
Uh yeah, so Usagi is a blonde. Harry has black hair; by all means this shouldn't be right. BUT! In Sailormoon, Usagi is a blonde while her mother has blue hair and her father brown. Because of Usagi's past life, she was born with her hair color. I would like to think the same would apply to any family she was a part of.
Yes, on looks alone it would be plausible for Usagi to be Narcissa and Lucius' daughter. However, personality-wise, I wouldn't go for this. Some traits are inborn and some are learned (and I'm basing this off of my college Pysch classes...), so granted growing up in a different household would change her personality some. However, there are traits that one has that clearly you gained from a parent. I absolutely could not imagine Usagi being a Malfoy. It's bad enough in some fics they get together.
I hope I've addressed your concerns and I hope you continue to read this as well. Thanks! Bunny
Ah, and Eternal Cosmos is my hero. She was the only one who responded to the quiz in the last chapter. 100% for answering correctly as well!!
It was hard for Usagi to imagine what life was like back in Japan now. She smiled as she looked at all of the people she passed and everything in the shop windows. She certainly missed Tokyo with all of its hustle and bustle, but London and Diagon Alley were alike and different at the same time.She tugged on Harry's sleeve and grinned. "Can we stop there?" She asked while pointing to the candy store. She might be in a different country speaking a different language, but she knew candy when she saw it!"Of course! The others might be in there already anyhow." He said, walking to the front door. "We always stop here and stock up before term begins. But watch out, some of the candies here are a bit different than what you're used to."Usagi's blue eyes widened a little. "Oh?" She walked passed all of the different kinds of candies and smiled as she recognized one. "Chocolate frogs! My mom always liked these! Or was that Turtles...?" She picked up one of the boxes and opened it a little to make sure it was the right thing. She gave a startled scream as the box began moving and the "chocolate frog" tried to escape from its confines.Behind her, she heard the laughter from her friends. Ginny, who Usagi hadn't noticed was there before, took the box from her hands and grabbed the chocolate frog. "They enchant them to make it seem like a real frog, Usagi." With a slight giggle in her voice she continued. "It won't hurt you, here."She took the moving frog from Ginny's outstretched hand and stared at it, careful not to let it go. At Ginny's prompting, she stuck it in her mouth and began to chew. It was just a normal piece of chocolate. She grinned. "That was fun! So, maybe it's not the chocolate frog that my mom likes to eat, but that was good!"The kids stocked up on sweets for the term at Hogwarts before Mrs. Weasley spotted them and claimed they had enough candy."We need to get new robes, books, quills, ink! We don't have time to stop for candy. Oh Ron, would you please wipe your mouth? I don't need my children walking down the street looking like they just left the trash pile!" She continued to ramble on to which everyone had just tuned her out.Hermione leaned in and whispered to Usagi, "We'll get your robes first. But, after that we'll stop at the pet store. You're allowed to either bring an owl, a cat, or a toad. Personally, I don't think a toad suits you." She giggled slightly.Usagi stuck her tongue out slightly thinking of taking a toad with her to school. But then she just remembered the chocolate frog she just ate and made a funny face. 'I REALLY hope I never get the two confused!'
Mrs. Weasley quickly ushered the herd into the robe shop. While the girls knew what kind of robes they needed along with their size, Usagi had to stand and be measured by the witch seamstress, Madam Malkin. The blonde fidgeted profusely throughout the whole fitting, not being used to staying in one spot for prolonged periods of time.When she was finally free, she stretched and grinned. "That was horrible!" She laughed as she talked with Hermione, "I don't want to do that ever again!"Mrs. Weasley smiled at her before recounting the errands she had to run. "Well, now that we have your robes, we should stop at the book shop and get everyone's books."Usagi whined slightly at the thought of actually buying school books. She knew she had to, and she was there in England to go to school, but she never thought she'd actually have to learn! She was about to open her mouth to complain but stopped herself.She had to be more responsible. She was here to get to know her family and become a witch. She left one life behind her, and another one was just starting. And the people she had met so far, Remus Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, and even that horrid man, Snape, with the stick up his ass, she had a priority to do well since they were all helping her out.'Yosh! I won't complain! Usagi, you're going to start new here and now!'
With a smile on her face, she turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Let's get our books now; I can't wait to see what I'm studying!"Ron turned to Harry with a smirk on his face. "She won't be that excited when she gets there, mate."Harry chuckled in response. "Are you kidding? No one's excited to know that they're gonna have double potions with Slytherins! I'm not!"The red-head looked at him strangely. "How do you know we're going to have double potions with Slytherin again this year?"Harry gave him a knowing glance. "Don't we always?"After the kids left the book shop, everyone found themselves with about five or six different books, Usagi, being the unfortunate child that she was, found herself with ten books in total. She wavered slightly as she walked out of the shop."Mou! Why do I have so many?" She cried as she dropped them all onto the cobblestone road that was Diagon Alley. She sighed as she bent over to pick up her fallen books."I'm sorry, dear," Mrs. Weasley gave her a sympathetic smile before taking out Usagi's Hogwarts letter. "Since you're starting late, Dumbledore gave you extra classes to catch up a bit. But, he assured me that it wasn't too much."Usagi nodded as she held her bundle. "No choice then."
"Can we go to the pet store now?" Ginny asked her mother when it seemed like they had everything required on their lists.Mrs. Weasley had been scanning over her lists with a scrutinizing eye making sure they had everything when she finally smiled. "Yes girls, go ahead."Usagi's eyes widened as she shouted, "Yokatta!" She turned to Harry and deposited her books, robes, quills and parchments into his arms. She smiled when he gave her a confused look. "Hold them for me will you?" And with that she, Hermione and Ginny ran down the street to the pet store.Ron shook his head at Harry's now overflowing load. "Not even been here a month and she's already walking all over ya, mate."Harry turned to the red head with a bewildered look on his face. "What just happened?"Ron laughed and put his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You just got a taste of what a sister is REALLY like." He wrinkled his nose as he thought of all the things Ginny put him through.Mrs. Weasley sighed as she listened to the boys' conversation. She'd really have to talk to Ron about getting along better with his little sister. But, she planned that for later and not right in the middle of Diagon Alley where every witch and wizard would be able to hear her. She smiled as she took the pile of books and whatnot from Harry's arms. "I'll just send these ahead to the house. Why don't you two catch up with them, hm?"Harry grinned, glad to be rid of the load and sprinted down the street with Ron to find the girls. When they did reach the pet shop, the girls were still outside peering into the window. On closer inspection, he noticed that Usagi's face was bordering on pale and her whole body seemed rigid. What was she staring at?One word escaped her lips which Harry and the others barely caught."Artemis..."
"Okaasan! Tadaima!" Tsukino Shingo shouted as he opened the front door and kicked off his shoes in the foyer. He threw off his backpack and rushed into the living room, intent on catching the last few minutes of Kamen Rider 555.Ikuko popped her head in the living room and gave her son a quick smile and welcomed him home before going back into the kitchen. She heard the tale-tell sounds of the television blaring and sighed. Her son was going to go deaf before 20 with the way he always had the volume up!Suddenly feeling lost, Ikuko felt the need to bake a cake. She knew Shingo and Kenji-papa would be more that grateful with the confectionary, but they wouldn't dig into it like her daughter would.She plopped into a seat and gave a weary look around. Normally, she wasn't this listless, but with her daughter gone, there were no random messes for her to clean up or sweets to make before 3:00pm.Ikuko gave a rueful smile. "I never thought I'd miss baking for my baby like this." She got up and decided to watch some television with her son, but while passing the foyer, she heard strange scratches at her door.With a confused tilt of her head she opened the door and instantly smiled. "Luna-chan!" She bent down to pick up the black feline. Since she had last seen the cat, Luna appeared as though she had lost a few pounds. "Oh you poor thing! We thought you ran away!"She walked back into the kitchen intent on finding Luna some food when Shingo ran into the kitchen. "Ne, 'Kassan? Is that Luna? Usagi's cat?"Ikuko nodded. "Yeah, she'll be so upset that she missed her." That cat gave the humans a confused look like she almost understood them. Ikuko smiled down at the cat and scratched her ears. "Usagi's gone away to school, Luna-chan."The cat's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. 'Usagi-chan is gone?!'
It was Artemis. Usagi was almost positive. The only problem was, he sported a band-aid on his forehead, similar to when she had first found Luna. To be 100% sure she was going to have to take off the band-aid and see for herself. Faintly, she heard Hermione and Harry ask her if she was alright.She rushed in and immediately sought out the shop-keeper. "Excuse me! Is that white cat in the window for sale?"The shop-keeper though slightly startled by the young girls' outburst nodded and walked over to the cage to retrieve the cat. "He sure is. I found him not too long ago wandering around. Sometimes he looks at you funny, almost like he understands." He laughed and handed the cat over to Usagi.Usagi fingered the band-aid on the cat's head and the shop-keeper eyed her knowingly. "It's got some sort of scar or bald spot on its' forehead. Someone suggested we put it there so it wouldn't make him so ugly.The blonde nearly snorted at that. 'Artemis must be having a fit listening to this!' She pulled out some money from her pocket. "I'd very much like to have him, ugly bald spot and all."From the counter, she heard Ron sputter out a protest. "Now, SHE'S getting a cat?! How many vicious bags of fur do we need at Hogwarts?! First, that Bloody Mrs. Norris and then HER orange fur ball, and now this one?!"Ginny gave Usagi a smile. "He's still carrying his grudge against Hermione's cat, Crookshanks for allegedly eating his old rat, Scabbers." She gave the white cat an affectionate scratch behind his ears.Usagi watched as everyone left the shop. She took this moment to remove the band-aid from Artemis' head. With a slightly painful ripping sound the band-aid was off and Artemis' eyes widened."U-Usagi-chan?!"Usagi placed her hand over his mouth and smiled. "Yeah, it's me. Except, Artemis, please promise you won't talk until we get back home... I don't think even here people are used to talking cats."
Once in the privacy of her room back at Grimmald Place, Usagi gave the thumbs up for Artemis. He gave a sigh quite uncharacteristic for a cat."I'm so glad to see you, Usagi-chan. You have no idea how long I was there wandering. And then that shopkeeper put that stupid band-aid on my head! I was so worried I'd never make it back to Japan or find Minako!"Usagi narrowed her eyes on the cat. "What do you mean find Minako?" There was a glimmer of hope it seemed. Artemis was trying to find Minako, which could only mean she hadn't perished in the battle with Chaos."Well," he began slowly. "After the final battle with Chaos, Luna and I were so confused. We tried to find you guys, but it was hard. For some reason we weren't in Tokyo anymore. I have a feeling it had to do with that barrier over the city." He began to pace around on the floor, looking more like a tiny lion pacing in his cage. "Luna wanted to head back to Tokyo for you. I couldn't imagine Minako... not surviving in battle, so I came here, to England to look for her. It was far-fetched, I know... but I couldn't feel her energy anymore. Where could she be, Usagi-chan?" His eyes watered slightly as he looked up at her.Usagi closed her eyes. Was Artemis asking her for answers? Why was Minako gone? The subtle question was there too, in his eyes. Was it her fault that Minako was no longer with them along with the other senshi? "Artemis, I'm sorry. Minako's Star Seed was taken, along with the others at that time. In the end, I couldn't save any of them. Do you hate me for that?""Of course I don't hate you, Usagi-chan." Artemis said, disbelief in his voice from the Princess' question. He padded over to Usagi and curled up into her lap. "She did her duty, as the others. You're safe and alive.""I'm also alone, Artemis. Very much alone."The cat gave her an indigent look. "What about that boy down there? I don't think you're alone, Usagi-chan."Usagi was about to respond when the door to the bedroom creaked open ever so slightly. The door widened to reveal Ginny's freckled face. The blonde was about to ask what she wanted, but the youngest Weasley beat her to it."Usagi... Your cat was talking." Her eyes were wide as she stared at Artemis, who was trying to look as inconspicuous as possible."Um... well, I mean... uh... Crap." Usagi stuttered for a response but found none.Ginny slowly made her way over to Usagi on the floor and sat down next to her. "I won't tell. I mean, if it's something you want to keep secret. Usually Ron, Harry and Hermione have their own secrets and don't let me in on them... But I'm really trustworthy!"Usagi smiled. "I'm sure you are Ginny." She turned to Artemis. "Do you think we can let her in on this, too?"The cat stared hard at his new charge before making an un-cat-like snort. "I guess we can, Usagi-chan. She already knows I can talk, so, it wouldn't make sense to try and keep it from her."Usagi grinned and glomped him, nearly cutting off his air supply. "Oh, you're the best, Artemis!"Usagi gave Ginny the extremely abbreviated version of her story, but with enough information to make it a sensible story. She left out a number of parts with her battles, only making note of the more important encounters, for example, her final fight with Beryl, Death Phantom, Mistress 9 and Pharaoh 90, Queen Nehelenia and finally Sailor Galaxia.Ginny sat transfixed through the whole thing. She was excited to find out that Usagi was really strong in her own way and that she would be able to share something to sacred with her. She had really been feeling left out on things with her brother, Harry and Hermione.There was a knock at the door which startled them out of their conversation. It opened to reveal Ron and Harry in their pajamas. "Ginny," Ron started. "Mom says you guys need to get ready for bed. We're leaving early for the train tomorrow."Harry walked in and sat on the bed. "How's your cat? Is he nice?" He started lightly petting Artemis on the head."Yeah, he's a good cat.""There's nothing good about balls of fur." Ron stated.Hermione shoved passed him to get into the bedroom. "Well, from the look on the poor cat's face, he doesn't seem to think much of you, either!"Usagi laughed as she watched Ron and Hermione fight each other. The whole group here really reminded her of her friends back in Tokyo and she found herself missing them so much. She giggled as she watched a flushed Ron storm out of their bedroom followed by an exasperated Harry."G'night guys!" Ginny called after them.Hermione huffed as she plopped into bed. "Honestly! You'd think all he had in his head were Red Kappas and Cornish Pixies!"Ginny tried her best to calm Hermione down while Usagi climbed into bed feeling extremely light hearted. She missed her senshi so much and the hole in her heart only attested to that fact. But her brother and his crazy friends were slowly patching it up.The lights flickered off for the night and the girls settled in for sleep. Usagi was on the brink of unconsciousness when Hermione's voice broke through the silence."Usagi, when we get to Hogwarts, what name will you be using?""Pardon?"Sheets rustled and Hermione's sitting form could be seen vaguely in the dark room. "Well, it's just that I heard Ron and Harry talking downstairs before. You know that up until now, Harry's basically had no one. He... well, he really wanted you to use the name Potter at school." She seemed worried about what the blonde might think but continued despite it. "It might be tough for you to be a Potter, considering what the reputation is, but I know it would make him happy.Serenity Potter. That was her real name. Her parents had known what she was as a baby, or rather, WHO she was in her past life; a Princess of a Kingdom in the sky; the reason for the starting of a war between the Earth and Moon. It would be hard to be Serenity, only because of how many memories the name already held for her. Being a Potter was a different story. She knew that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was responsible for creating The-Boy-who-Lived, but would she be included in that? The lost sister of the famous Harry Potter?Would she simply be cast aside as the unimportant sister of The-Boy-Who- Lived? Taking the name would definitely place her in an uncomfortable position. Never once in her whole school life had she been considered famous, popular, or wanted. She was known, but not regarded as anyone special. Not until she had met Luna and taken her place as Sailormoon, champion of justice, did she even feel remotely special.But, Harry. She wanted so desperately to please him. She wanted to make him happy so that he could forget all the bad that had happened to him. She knew it was no fault of her own that he had been forced to live with their Aunt and Uncle, that he had undergone terrible circumstances and had come out hurt beyond words, but she wanted to at least make him feel happy. She wanted him to look forward to another day like she did. Optimism was one of her strong points, and she felt obligated to share the light with him.Serenity Potter."Usagi?" Hermione's voice asked. She rather hoped the blonde didn't fall asleep on her."I'll think on it, Hermione." She smiled even though her bushy-haired friend couldn't see. "It's hard to think of myself with that name. I've been living as Usagi Tsukino for nearly 16 years. I don't want to abandon the person that I've been for someone who I've just discovered just yet."Hermione gave a short laugh. "I get you. Good night, Serenity Usagi Potter Tsukino.""Would you both bugger of?! I'm trying to sleep!" Ginny grumbled.Usagi brightened. "Now that's an idea!" She fell against her pillows and let sleep claim her.Hermione waited patiently for Usagi to continue but couldn't wait any longer. "Usagi? Do you mean the name? Usagi!"Ginny groaned and threw a pillow in Hermione's direction, satisfied when she heard an uncharacteristic, "Oof!""Sleep!" The red-head hissed before curling back into her sheets.Yes, life would never be the same with those three together.
Enjoyment, yet? Review or I shall sick my puppy on you. Death by licking is a terrible way to go!
