Darkness and Light

Chapter 10

Updated as of 5/12/10

The previous chapter was short, this will probably be short as well. But soon, plot will roll on...heh, enjoy!

Cosmos waited until the last beam of light that came with her entrance disappeared to make her way through the crowd of people crammed in the office to the front of the room, in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. The older man stood up to greet the silver-haired woman, dressed in all white in an outfit not unlike those of the girls in sailor uniforms. Somewhere in all this commotion, the door to the office opened, and Professor Snape entered. Those closest to him could hear him mutter something about "another one."

"Right. Firstly," Cosmos said, her voice smooth and regal, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Cosmos. I guard the Cauldron and all the star seeds inside. Second, to those of you who I'm sure feel very confused right now, let me introduce my allies, senshi, or warriors, fighting for peace and justice. This," she motioned to Usagi, still translucent and taking up the most room with her wings, "is Eternal Sailor Moon, also known as Neo Queen Serenity of the future, Usagi Tsukino, or Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium."

"You're Princess Serenity?" Ron exclaimed. "The same one who was here last year?"

"Well, reborn, but yeah." Usagi - Sailor Moon - said.

"Anyway, her daughter, Chibiusa," She motioned to Chibiusa, one of the few in the room who was not translucent, "or Eternal Sailor Chibi Moon, is from 30th century Crystal Tokyo. That is when they will all reawaken from the Cauldron. Now, to catch everyone up, Hermione has somehow been blessed with the powers of Mercury, making her Sailor Chibi Mercury; Cho has been given Rei's powers, making her Sailor Chibi Mars; Ginny has recently been given Makoto's powers, becoming Sailor Chibi Jupiter, and Draco has been given Venus's powers, making him," At this, Cosmos paused, she seemed to realize how feminine the foreign word "chibi" sounded. "Sailor Senshi Venus. At the time being, it appears that Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru, or Uranus, Michiru, Pluto, and Saturn, the outer senshi, have not given up their powers in whatever time. And there is someone else in here is a warrior, depending on the way you look at it. I am talking, of course, about the reincarnate of the last King of the Moon Kingdom, Severus Snape."

There was no indication that she was lying about that last part, but to Harry, and he was sure to Ron as well, it all sounded like some bizarre dream. He had just learned of the existence of this Sailor Moon warrior, thought she was dead, then learned that his new friends not only were these sailor warriors, but his own girlfriend, his worst enemy, his best friend's sister, and his old flame had these weird powers as well? And Snape was a king? Harry actually did pinch himself, just to make sure.

"Cosmos, you're kidding, right?" Usagi asked. It seemed she didn't know about Snape, either.

"I see no humor in the identity of your true father." Cosmos replied. "But, I think this would save much time if we let them remember what happened last year." Cosmos opened her hand out so it was flat as if she was holding something. A ball of light similar to her entrance formed in her hand. It stretched in length until it was about six feet long; The light died away and a pure white staff laid in her hand.

"You'll all have to forgive us," Dumbledore said as Cosmos began muttering something. "We felt it would be best if time were return to normal, and had to alter and erase some of your memories from last year.

Cosmos gave the large staff a single, graceful wave. As a result, multi colored beams of light hit each person in the room gently, all except for herself, Snape, Chibiusa, Setsuna, and Dumbledore, as their memories had never been altered. After a few had hit each person, they continued to fly out of the wand, out under the crack between the door and the floor, and to all the other students and teachers in Hogwarts. After a few minutes, the beams slowed down and eventually stopped. Most of the room's occupants had a dazed look on his or her face. Harry had to shake his head to snap out of the feeling that had overcome him. Suddenly, his head felt a bit stuffy, like too much information had just been crammed in.

"...I...you all were here last year!" Hermione said suddenly. "You as the princesses, I mean...I thought we just knew you for a while, but..."

"We went to the ball on the moon and met Snape, though in his form of the past..." Harry continued, trying to sort through the memories in his head that had just been unlocked.

"But later these owls kept dropping letters that said; 'It's today!' and you five went and locked up the castle but took me, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Draco to the moon to fight..." Cho recalled, her voice dreamy.

"We found out about Snape and..." Ginny said, "all those people screaming...the bloody fights between those...things-"

"Youma," Cosmos supplied. "Demons."

"And then," Sailor Moon said, "we died."

"But if we all died...Queen Serenity couldn't have had the power to-" Mercury was interrupted by Harry.

"Wait! We woke up here; Fawkes somehow brought us back to life."

"But how did you get here?" Chibiusa asked, curious as she was not remembering all of these things like everyone else. There was a moment of silence, then,

"Us! The real Five-Point Star of the future" Hermione said. "The only reason we didn't recognize it was that only Chibiusa- who we didn't know at the time- and me, I have blue hair when I transform, were in the room then! The other four were erasing the rest of the school's memory while we erased our own. And it was us who decided how we were going to remember things!...um, The princesses just stayed until Christmas, Harry and me would be-" She looked at Snape and decided otherwise. "Um, anyway, she said Cho should have some fun or something, Ginny would be prefect, Ron would get a life, Draco and would always love Rei, ("Chibiusa!" Rei exclaimed.) And that Snape wouldn't fail anyone who truly didn't fail...no, wait that's not what she said at first...she said something like...um..." She trailed off.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape said quite coldly.

"Well...I...I think she said...that...um...you'd stop acting like, um, a git and...um, that was all." Hermione said slowly.

"What about the part where she said that thing about the-" Cho started.

"That's about the majority of it, yes." Cosmos said, smiling slightly.

"Oh," Ron said, "there was a part where Hotaru and Sirius were-"

"Please don't tell!" Saturn exclaimed.

"Now, now." Cosmos said, looking at her companions. "It seems we have overstayed. I shall be back later, though. I can elapse time in the Cauldron and here so it shall only seem like a second there while many months here. In that time, you shall be prepared for the greatest enemy you will have to face to date." She told them. "The Five-Point Star will not only find the last of their number, but also find their special person that belongs to them and gives them power, and, with any luck, prevent the death of the sixth member that has been set in time."

A portal of white light appeared behind the warriors. Those who were to sleep within the cauldron transformed, back from their uniforms to the plan white dresses that Harry remembered from his dream. It really was them.

"Thanks for thie wonderful time." Usagi said. "I guess it was kind of my wish that cause all this trouble here, but I'm so glad to have met you once again. I wanted to come back just to tell you thank you for what happened a thousand years ago." She stepped into the portal, trying to hide tears.

"May you always believe in yourself." Ami said before leaving, smiling wisely.

"Um," Rei said, looking at Draco. "I guess I kind of dreaded this day for more then one reason." It was very quick, but Harry saw Rei give the blonde boy a kiss before disappearing into the portal herself.

"See you later!" Makoto said cheerfully.

"Sure we'll meet again." Minako said.

"'Take care of Chibiusa," Hotaru said, mostly to Setsuna. Chibiusa smiled and gave her best friend's hands a squeeze before waving her frined off.

Haruka and Michiru said nothing to the group, but muttered something quietly to Setsuna. Michiru game the room a warm smile before leaving. Suddenly, the portal was gone, as were the girls, sans Chibiusa, Cosmos and Setsuna.

"And now that that's taken care of, Albus," Cosmos said, "I know it may seem a bit unconventional, but would you mind terribly if Setsuna and myself shared the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Not at all," The older man said. "Though I might ask why, is something wrong?"

"Nothing more then normal," Setsuna replied.

"I have someone who is more then qualified to help me watch the Cauldron," Cosmos explained. "But the Time Gate is a bit more complicated matter, as it may sometimes seem there are many Sailor Plutos, there is indeed only one and she sadly cannot be everywhere at once."

"It wouldn't be often, sir." The tan woman smiled. "Just when it's important."

Harry could swear he heard Snape, who still remained against the wall, muttering something sarcastic about how he could take the position. The Boy Who Remained Confused tried hard not to laugh, and he was sure if Ron was still not so confused and upset over what had happened he would probably be suppressing snorts.

But to Harry, things were now a bit clearer. Not why his girlfriend was in a short skirt, or why Malfoy was a part of this team, but remembering the events from the previous year, he could put things a bit more in perspective. Last year, because of Voldemort's interference with Metallia, time got off its course, and the princesses from a millennium ago didn't do much to help. Usagi coming back this year probably threw things off again, and more then likely Voldemort was planning something to take advantage of this different sort of magic that now grew at Hogwarts.

With that thought, something else, snapped into Harry's mind. He turned to Hermione, standing awkwardly between the scowling Malfoy and the ethereal Cosmos. "The reason you've been gone so much lately is because you've been training, isn't it?" He asked her, things now becoming obvious. He now felt a bit bad for becoming so mad at her.

"Yes..." Hermione muttered, arms crossed firmly over her chest. "It's why I couldn't tell you, I'm so sorry, Harry..."

"It's okay," Harry said, nodding hard to try and make her believe that he really did forgive her. "If I were you, I'd want as much control of my power as I could get."

"Well said, Harry." Dumbledore smiled beneath his beard. "In fact, I've been contemplating-"

"No." Snape said firmly, making Chibiusa jump.

"Ah, I see it's a true test of how long we've been inside this castle together that you know exactly what I'm going to say before I say it, Severus," Dumbledore said cheerfully, avoiding the fact that the bitter man had vetoed whatever he had been contemplating. "Right, right then. Later on, perhaps."

"No." Snape repeated, now glaring.

"Oh, of course." Dumbledore said as if he had agreed to whatever it was. "Right. You girls have been using the empty classrooms on the sixth floor to hone your new powers, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir," Chibiusa said, pink hair bobbing up and down. "Although, with most of us gone, it'll be a bit harder. Fewer injuries, I guess."

"There is a secret passageway in the dungeon that leads to a room that I feel is much larger and much more equipped for your needs," Dumbledore said. "These are dangerous times. Voldemort has been holding back and lying in the shadows, but very soon there will be a war. And if those whom he will target are unprepared, then we might as well be waving a white flag right now. That's why I am requiring you-" He looked at every single one of the students in the room, "To train together, both with the celestial magic you have been given to the magic you were born with, every other night at nine. Cosmos, I'm sure you and Setsuna wouldn't mind helping out when you are available, would you?"

"Not at all," Setsuna said. "I would be happy to."

"Indeed." Cosmos said. "On that note, please notify the Order of my arrival, I shall be wishing to attend a few meetings in the future and help plan, especially when it comes to the stubborn and inefficient mass what calls themselves the Ministry."

Cho and Draco looked at one another, clearly confused by what the Order was and if they should be offended by what she just said, as both their parents worked for the Ministry.

"Ah!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, all eyes on her. She realized that she had caused a seen and blushed, but then looked to Harry and muttered, "We forgot about...you know..."

It took Harry a minute, but he realized that the "you know" was their appointment with Sirius that had been ruined. Harry wasn't sure if using the floo was actually against Hogwarts rules or not, but felt like it was something he shouldn't be discussing in front of the headmaster and Snape.

"Well," Cosmos said to break the sudden silence that had settled, "We've all had a very trying night and tomorrow is supposed to be the day of rest, so let us have at it, then."

"Um," Ginny muttered. "I'm still...not quite sure how I feel about this whole...warrior business," She said, looking at her attire. At this, Hermione pulled out her wand and gave it a flick, and in seconds she was back in her normal robes. The three who were new to the group demanded to know how to return to their normal garb.

"Go on, Harry, Ron," She told them. "I'll stay with them a bit longer, you get done what needs to be done,"

Harry nodded and he and Ron went for the stairs, bidding their headmaster a good night. Cosmos followed after them, taking slow, long strides down the stone stairs. Harry wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but found that she followed them every step of the way.

"Forgive the confusion," She said, brushing away some of her wispy hair. "I imagine this all comes as a shock for you. Something from a comic book, yes?"

"Yes." Ron muttered, quite gruffly. Harry was sure that he felt left out, though he wasn't sure why.

"It's just...a lot at once." Harry said. "Remembering an entire year all at once and finding out about this."

"You're not so different from them, Harry." Cosmos said, her voice quiet. "Your scar is the equivalence of our sailor costumes. You didn't ask for it, but there it is. People expect you to be something great and blame you for everything. And the people closest to you always get pushed aside, or are constantly threatened."

"She really knows how to compliment you," Ron muttered.

The woman followed them still, even climbed through the portrait hole behind them to the common room, which had already been cleaned and put back to order. Harry looked to Ron, who looked back at him and shrugged. Cosmos simply took a seat on a chair in a corner.

"Um," Harry started, not sure how to ask this of her. She did just say she was going to meet with the Order, but..."

"Please, do whatever activities you were meaning to do," She said, not looking at them. "Pretend I'm not here, as I really am not. Just do whatever it is."

The two looked at each other for a moment again before making their way to the fire. Harry, luckily, had a bit of floo powder leftover in his pockets from when he was at the Weasleys. He threw it into the fire and stuck his head in, realizing only seconds after he wasn't quite sure where Sirius was.

"Er, Sirius Black?" He spoke into the fire as if it were a telephone operator. The green fire swirled and twisted, nearly making him sick, but eventually it settled down until he found himself looking in a bleak room. Everything seemed to be peeling and he could see more then one bug under the couch. He heard voices in the distance and sure if he should call out or not.

"Did you find him?" He heard Ron ask behind him.

"Not sure," Harry said. The voices in the distance stopped, then he head footsteps. He was ready to pull out quickly when suddenly he saw Remus Lupin walking into the room. He stared at Harry, probably wondering if it was really him or not, then quickly got to his knees.

"Remus!" Harry exclaimed. He hadn't seen the man that often during the summer, he was often gone, but he was gone to the place that Sirius was, so hopefully his godfather would be there.

"Remus is there?" Ron asked behind him. Harry got shoved to the side and he saw Ron's head emerging from the green flames next to his.

"Harry, what is this?" The werewolf asked, looking a bit upset at his arrival.

"My head," Harry replied. "Is Sirius here?"

"How did you find this place? How did you know we were here?" Remus continued, not as happy to see the boys as they were.

"I just said Sirius's name," Harry said. He then realized, if he could do this, what was to stop anyone else from doing so and finding him?

"You're welcome," a quiet voice came from behind the two boys, Cosmos's voice. Harry wasn't quite sure what to make of her.

"Um, and we had help. But Sirius is here, isn't he?" Harry continued.

"Of course he's here, he tried contacting you earlier and damn near burnt his head off!" Remus sighed. "What happened?"

"A lot of things that I'm sure will be explained to you very soon, but...have you heard anything about Tonks?" Harry said very quickly.

Remus no longer looked upset, the emotion slid off his face very slowly. "Not a thing."

"Remus, I'm still bleeding here, don't leave me-" Sirius's voice rang from another room, loud footsteps drawing nearer quickly. The man himself came into view, a bandage here and there, mostly one around his hand that was very thick. He spotted the boys and dropped down quickly to their level. "Didn't want me calling earlier, did you?"

"Er, sorry," Harry said. "We'll explain later."

"So, you don't know anything?" Ron asked. Sirius knew immediately what they were talking of and shook his head.

"At this point I'm hoping she lost her memory, and she's just looking like someone else and that's why we can't seem to find her." Sirius said glumly.

"At least we know that the other side doesn't have her." Remus said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

"Trust me," Sirius said, a dry laugh escaping his throat. "If they had her, they'd let us know."

A note at the end of the chapter! (I didn't want to spoil anything.)

-In later, unedited chapters, I called Draco something weird, not "Sailor Senshi Venus." Sorry if this causes confusion, but I'll obviously be changing it to this as I update, heh.