I own not the world that is Harry Potter's and when I say Harry Potter I refer to the Harry Potter owned by one J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 14: Nicknames

Remus had gone off to find their intrepid Captain Joseph when the rest of the group from Stepenwolv took their leave of the others on the dimly lighted midnight docks. After a period of stretching cramped muscles, they had all been in close quarters on the train, they shook hands all around and Harry even got hugs from Valhalla, Dresca and Mitexi. When Tric went to give him a hug as well, she drew back and looked at him seriously for a moment.

"What is it?" Harry asked in apprehension, worried that Genner had imparted to her the little diatribe Harry had given the young Auror the day before.

But she grinned, "You need a nickname." She said, her voice very solemn despite her happy expression. "Your friends have gotten theirs already, honest to goodness Tric brand nicknames." This with a wink, "That's trademarked by the way."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at his friends, and found them all looking rather sheepish.

"I'm Red." Ron mumbled. He turned the color of his nickname. His name proved to be the most obvious of them all.

"She named me Meow." Hermione supplied in a suffering voice. "She said my name...with some variations...sounds like meow."

"I'm Tonic." Ginny added. She shrugged at Harry's questioning look. "She took a while to decide."

Tric was walking around the young man with the messy black hair, peering at him from all angles as though looking for a clue to his true name. "I have a feeling yours isn't obvious," she murmured to herself. "It's something you seek to hide, some part of you that you rather like, but don't like to be known for." She brushed his hair back from his forehead, with a triumphant smile. "I will call you Scar."

Everyone applauded, as though Tric had performed some miraculous feat. She bowed in response, sweeping her arms out with a flourish. "Don't worry, Scar," she added, "It's a private nickname between all of us. As a matter of fact, Sarven made it quite clear that his nickname would be held in utmost secrecy unless I wished to really have four eyes." She pushed her glasses down so she could peer over the top of the lenses and waggled her eyebrows at him.

Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or to scowl and tell her that he shared Sarven's feelings on the matter. He had always been under the impression that the only people who were called Scar were in motorcycle gangs or convicts with lots of tattoos. But he merely nodded, with a small smile, grateful when his professor returned with a slightly swaying Joseph in tow.

"Are you all right, Captain?" Hermione asked in concern.

"Perfectly well." He replied expansively, but Harry noted when he took a small vial of potion out of his sash and downed the contents. He stopped swaying. "You are early. Trouble?"

Harry wondered how much he knew. He glanced at Remus. "Some trouble," The werewolf supplied. "But we are certain you will be able to handle anything that comes up."

"Of course, of course!" He grinned, eyeing the ladies in that rakish manner that made boyfriends and even husbands scowl and move closer to their women. His gaze fell on Sarven, moved past, then swept back. His eyes grew wide and he stepped back involuntarily. "Bloody hell!" He said. "They've gone and done it, haven't they?"

"Done what?" Sarven asked in his silky voice. Joseph jumped.

"Bet it was you, sir, wasn't it!" He seemed torn between excitement and trepidation. "A reverse aging potion! Never thought I'd see the day, professor."

"I'm not a professor." Sarven said bleakly. "You are mistaken."

Joseph looked at the English delegation for affirmation. They nodded.

"This is Sarven, Captain." Remus provided.

"I'll be...anyone ever tell you that you look like a bloke named Severu..."

"So I've been told." Sarven cut him off bleakly.

Joseph seemed to take the hint. With a last curious glance, he turned to Remus and Tala. "Are they joining you? Because that'll be..."

"No, they will be Apparating. It's just those of us who made the trip over here." Tala provided.

"Most unfortunate," Joseph the Pirate said jauntily, with a sparkling grin at the ladies from Stepenwolv. Dresca blushed, the others laughed. He sauntered over to her, sensing opportunity, as they said a few more words to Mitexi and Sarven.

"You remember what you all are supposed to do?" Moody grunted at them.

"Yes, Al." Mitexi answered, a small mischievous smile crossing her face as she caught their glances. "Two of us to your house to make sure it's secure, that's the Zephyrs, another four to the ministry, that'd be Harvan and Colum, Dresca and Valhalla. Harvan and Colum will be getting in contact with your dad, Ron, and the girls will be looking for Tonks and Kingsley. Sarven and I are to make contact with Dumbledore, and Tainn will be..." She paused, her eyes distant, "Joining us." She finished.

"How do you know? He wasn't with us when we made the decisions." Harry asked.

"I just told him." She smiled. "Distance doesn't matter if I want to talk to my brother." She glanced over at Dresca, who was smiled shyly at Captain Joseph as she tucked her long black hair behind her ear, giggling softly at something he said. "Charming fellow, isn't he."

Sarven grimaced and pulled her closer to his side. She laughed a soundless laugh and touched his shoulder with gentle fingers. "Well, I'd best go rescue her so we can get going."

"Hope she appreciates getting rescued." Ginny commented, and Texi gave her a wink before they moved off.

The ride from Stepenwolv to the port at Plymouth had been a great deal of fun, all of the riders in good spirits despite being in close quarters, having only the Snowfoot's car and one other available as they had had to catch an earlier train.

Harry and Ron had given up their beds for the Zephyrs, a very nice couple who had a grown son working for the ministry and a daughter in her last year at Sundonoma. They had moved to Stepenwolv when Winston had been bitten. He had graying ash brown hair and a genial face. His wife, Jihn, was a slender, serious woman with dark eyes and black hair with wings of white at her temples.

Their reasons for joining the fight were not quite clear, but Harry got the impression that something had happened during the last war that steeled their resolve to do all that they could.

They shared their car with Tala, Remus and Moody. The rest were all crowded into the other car. They were grateful that it had largely been empty, as it had rarely been used. It was still quite close, what with their spreading of squashy sleeping bags on the floor, contorting themselves around the only furnishing, a short round table.

Harry had not been looking forward to sleeping on the hard, shaking floor. Despite the cushion of the sleeping bags, he was sure that they would not be spending a very comfortable night. But as the sun went down, and after several hours of Valhalla trying to teach them a complicated card game played with exploding cards, they all felt the strain of traveling overtake them.

It was then that the older magicians showed that they had thought about sleeping on the floor of the train and had found the prospect quite as distasteful as he. It was Sarven who charmed Harry's sleeping bag, and he watched closely, always eager to learn new, useful spells.

He used the Wingardium Leviosa charm to make the bag come to a hover only a few inches above the tossing floor. Then he murmured, "Staiso." And the bag stayed there, even when Harry climbed in later and curled up. Sleeping on air, he thought sleepily, was almost too wonderfully comfortable. It didn't take long for all of them to drift off, drifting around the floor as they did. It was enough to inspire a sleep so deep that even when they bumped into each other, no one woke.

They didn't stay long at the Assembly. President Godfreight had been waiting for them at the tunnel-like station, and Remus had only climbed down the stairs for a few moments of deep discussion before he returned. Godfreight smiled at all of them when they hung out the windows to wave goodbye, wishing them good luck as the train pulled out. Harry saw him turn and address a few people who had arrived to take the train, placating them as they looked astonished at the unscheduled departure.

The trip had been almost too uneventful, and Harry knew that the others shared his unease. Ron had taken to jumping at loud noises and Hermione had begun keeping her hand in her pocket, clutched around her wand.

The rest seemed rather calm, though Mitexi was looking pale, and they never saw her far from Sarven's side. He himself looked grim, and Harry thought he would almost welcome an attack, just for the opportunity of perhaps getting his hands on his stepfather.

But the chance had never presented itself, and now, as they made their farewells, one more trip loomed ahead of them. For Harry and his friends, it would be going home, for the others, it would be going to fight in a foreign land. Solemn faces showed that they felt the gravity of it as well.

They stayed standing in a small cluster on the dock as Harry, and the rest who had had trouble before, took a draft to ward off seasickness, shouldered their luggage and climbed the rickety gangplank to the deck. Tala practically ran below, her face pale, and Remus followed her. The rest remained at the rail, watching the shore of America disappear behind them.

They remained, their eyes scanning the abandoned pier, even as Joseph pulled away from the dock and set out from sea. Harry could see the Stepenwolv contingent doing the same. Only when they were almost out of sight did they hear several bangs of Apparation, and Harry could no longer see the small dark knot on the boards of the pier. A moment later, their ship made its own 'BANG' and Harry gripped a cleat convulsively as Captain Joseph started laying false trails, this time singing sea chanteys at the top of his lungs in his perfect good spirits.

Harry gritted his teeth and turned his face into the salt spray, seeing Ginny take her place in the bow, her face turned up to watch the stars race by overhead. He sighed and moved towards the door that led below-decks, intending to sleep as much as possible during their interminable trip.

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