A/N: Alright, here's the end of the cliffhanger...

I've finally managed to destroy the evilly long bout of writer's block inflicted upon me by multiple projects, although the price is my updates on all will be either sporadic or nonexistent.

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Harry stared. Lee stared.

"Winter?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Moon?" Lee said at the same time, no less shocked.

Winter Moon smiled cheekily up at them, grabbing the clipboard and clutching it and the pen to her chest. "Heh he... hey guys! Fancy meeting you here..."

She smiled brightly as the two continued staring at her. She got up, dusting herself off, not noticing the two staring at where she had fallen as she gently pounded the dust off that.

"Winter, what are you doing here…?" Harry said slowly, fear getting a hold of his heart even as possibilities started crowding around his head…

Lee was more direct. "Moon, how did you find us?" she asked forcefully.

Winter's smile turned sheepish. "Well, I guess the secret's out. I saw you two running down the hall and figured you were going after one of those Card things, so I followed you."

"Card things?" Harry repeated, coming to stand behind Lee.

Winter's nodded enthusiastically, raising the clipboard to writing level and putting pen to paper. "Yeah! So, tell me, what was it like fighting The Firey Card? That is what's called, right? Did your heart pound or race? Were your palms sweaty? And what's it like to use that card that lets you fly? Exhilarating? Terrifying?"

Lee and Harry blinked simultaneously, taken aback by the shear enthusiasm.

The words were out of Harry's mouth before he knew it. "Do you sense a weird situation of Gai levels, too?" he whispered to Lee sotto voce.

"Yes," was all the Slytherin girl said.

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Card Captor Harry

by Shadow Crystal Mage

Card 17, The Float: Keeping Secrets...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I wish her well and covet her money. Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me. I covet their drawing skills. Both are used here without their owners' permission. I'm not doing this for money, so please don't sue me.

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Winter pouted at them, trying to look insulted. "Okay, that was low. Come on, all I'm asking for is an interview!"

The two blinked. "Interview?" Harry repeated, his eyebrow twitching.

"Yeah. Now-HEY!" Winter exclaimed as the two grabbed her and quickly hustled her off into the nearest empty classroom. Lee locked the door with some kind of spell, reinforcing the warding with ofuda. That done, Winter watched as the two started running around the room, checking for cracks, covering up the windows and generally trying to keep what was happening in the chamber secret from the outside world.

Finally, the two rounded on her. "Winter/Moon, how much do you know?" they chorused.

"Nearly everything," Winter smiled.

The two stared at her, aghast. "Everything?" the said together.

"Jinx!" Winter said, pointing at the two of them. "You both owe me a chocolate frog and a butterbeer!"

"Moon, can you be serious for one second?" Lee nearly shouted.

"Awww…" Winter pouted.

Harry tried to get a handle on things. "Winter, how could you know everything? Uh- everything of what? What's to know?" Maybe they could still play dumb and salvage the situation.

Winter smirked. "Nice try, Harry, but that doesn't work in anime, and it certainly isn't going to work in real life! And as to how I know…" Winter's smile became secretive. "Sore wa himitsu desu!"

"WINTER/MOON!" they both cried.

Winter laughed. "I'm kidding! Man, you two are so easy…"

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Winter tried to keep her stuff balanced. It was already pretty dark, and she wanted to be able to get back home soon. No matter what city, it was pretty unsafe for a thirteen year old girl to be wandering around alone after dark. Especially for a thirteen year old girl!

Sighing, she quickened her step, intending to start rushing and maybe catch the Knight Bus as soon as she was out on the Muggle end of the Leaky Cauldron- she had just enough money, and although she thought she could call it where she was, her habits prevented her.

"Hold it right there!" a voice cried from somewhere nearby.

Winter blinked. What…? It sounded like it came from around the corner…

Walking carefully, in case it was something she didn't want to be involved in, Winter carefully put down her recent purchases and stealthily leaned around the corner. Only one eye was able to look out, but that was enough.

A boy stood in an alley, facing off against a dark cloaked figure. From her angle, she couldn't see the boy's face blocked as she was by the cloaked figure. For a moment, Winter wondered if it was one of those Dementors she'd been hearing about after that Sirius Black. She'd seen him on TV and read about him in the snippet of the Daily Prophet she'd found on the ground.

"I am the Card Captor, and I order you to return to your true form!" the boy said, raising some strange stick over his head and bringing it down. "Shadow Card!"

Winter's eyes widened as she saw the cloaked figure began to dissolve into multiple black streaks of magic. The streaks began to be drawn towards a square-ish outline under the end of the stick… staff? Wand? Astonished, she watched as the black wisps all began to be drawn towards the boy. She couldn't see the boy's face because of the glow coming from the symbol beneath his feet…

Finally, the glow faded as the magic seemed to resolve completely into a card of some kind. At last she was finally able to get a good look at the boy's face.

Her first thought was that he was very good looking. Then she gasped. The boy was Harry Potter!

Harry seemed to sag, sighing. "Well, that was slightly embarrassing," he said, catching the card as it drifted towards him. He was suddenly tackled by… Winter rubbed her eyes. It looked like a flying plushy!

"You did it Harry! You caught the Shadow Card!" the plushy said.

"Will all those people be alright?" Harry asked. People? What people?

The plushy nodded. "Their shadows came back when you caught the Shadow Card. Speaking of which, we better go while there's still nobody around."

As they left, Winter leaned back out of sight, hoping they hadn't seen her silver hair. It had an annoying tendency to flash in the dark when light caught it…

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Winter sighed to herself, adjusting her grip on her clipboard, with its reams of lined paper. What the heck was she doing here? It wasn't like she'd just magically run into him out of the blue, was she? And if she did, what was she going to say? 'Hi, I saw what you did last night, talking to the plushy, and I was wondering if I could talk to you about it'?

Even in her own head, it sounded stupid.

Sighing, she was passing an alley when she heard a familiar voice.

"Key of power, show me your true form. I, the one to whom you are bound, command it!" she heard. Blinking, Winter looked around, spotting the alley in question. There weren't a lot of people around, and those present were either making too much noise to hear or not paying any attention.

Pressing herself against the wall, Winter peaked into the alley, watching as Harry did that thing with the wand again. Pressing herself down close to ground so he wouldn't see her, she started scribbling into her pad with her quill- she'd have to get a pen as soon as possible- writing down everything she saw and heard…

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Harry and Lee listened in shock as Winter recounted how he had Sealed The Time Card, The Thunder Card, The Sword Card, how she'd seen Lee Stun The Sweet Card, how she'd listened in when they'd talked about how Lee should treat her Cards, how she'd watched them with The Fly Card, and how she'd watched them deal with The Firey Card just now.

"- and I was thinking of following only Harry, but when Lee arrived and I was following Harry, I heard the two of you talking, I didn't hear the beginning because I sort of got lost while following Harry, but I heard enough that I figured Lee'd be involved with the Cards too, so I tried keeping tabs on both of you, which was really hard, since I also had a lot of fanfics to read, and-" Winter prattled on.

"STOP!" Harry said, raising his hand in the classic gesture. "We get it, we get it!"

Lee rubbed her temples. "So, you've been following Potter around since you saw him Seal The Shadow Card. That begs the question: why?"

"Glad you asked!" Winter exclaimed, reaching for her clipboard and showing it to them. "I've been writing about you guys, trying to get into your heads when you do what you do. I've got tons of papers and notes like these back in my room- under lock and key, of course," she added as she caught sight of the looks the two directed at her.

Harry and Lee sighed, then winced as-

"JINX!"

Harry sighed. "Look, Winter-" he began.

There was a loud growling sound. Winter had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Oh, man, I'm late for breakfast! Got to go, talk to you later!"

"Wait-!" Lee yelled as she dashed pass.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the cards and stuff, I promise!" Winter said as she dashed out the door, the door slamming behind her.

The two remaining behind just blinked.

"What just happened?" Harry said.

"We just let someone who knew all about our activities get away," Lee said.

"Are we in trouble?" Harry asked, not seeming to realize who he was talking to.

"In my opinion? No. Moon apparently hasn't told anyone yet, and doesn't seem to intend to, but why she keeps taking notes is beyond me," Lee mused.

"Guess we'll have to ask her," Harry muttered.

"I guess," Lee said.

Suddenly, the door opened again, and a breathless Winter stuck her head in. "Look, I promise I won't tell anyone about anything, just please, let me in on it! It's so frustrating not having enough info for my notes. Please?"

"Uh, sure?" Harry said.

"Great! Well, see you!"

Poof! She was gone.

Harry blinked. "What did I just do?"

Lee shook her head. "On your head, be it," she muttered and walked pass Harry, muttering something under her breath about seeing how Mat and Tuon's love life were doing.

Harry blinked again. "How is this my fault?" he asked an empty room. The room wasn't feeling too conversational.

Grumbling, he decided to head back to the dorm and talk to Kero about this…

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"SOMEONE ELSE KNOWS?" Kero yelled.

Harry made a show of cleaning his ears. "Can you say that a little louder? I think someone in London didn't hear you."

There was no worry of that, what with the Imperturbable Charm Kero had taught him cast on the door- Ron was out for the moment… somewhere- but it really wasn't good for his ear drums.

"What kind of mess-up did you make that let someone find out?" Kero said in a lower tone and decibel.

"Nothing!" Harry said. "And if there was a mess-up, you're equally at fault. She saw us both when we Sealed The Shadow Card. She's known for that long!"

"WHAT!"

Harry nodded, cleaning out his ears again. "She promised she'd keep quiet, but she wants to be in on it. And I think it's the best course of action. At least this way, we'd be able to keep an eye on her."

Keroberos smirked at him. "Are you sure that's the only reason?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said, turning away. Not because he didn't want Kero to see the look on his face. No, certainly not that! He didn't want to honor that remark by looking Kero in the eye after his insinuation, that's all.

After Kero's snickering and self-satisfied 'If you say so-s' subsided, Harry sighed, leaning back on his headboard. "Do you think I should tell Ron and Hermione? I mean, Lee knows, and Winter's known for a really long time. Ron and Hermione are my best friends. Don't you think I should tell them…?"

Kero frowned, crossing his legs in mid-air and raising his hand up to his 'chin' in his thinking pose. "I… really can't help you with that. I didn't really have a lot of friends. I mean, the only ones I've known are the Cards, Clow and… well, let's just say I don't have much of an active social life. Sorry to say but, you're on your own on this one kid."

Kero sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I shouted at you. I think you did the right thing in trying to keep an eye on Winter, even though I'd rather you didn't have to. What I mean to say is, I trust your judgment. You'll figure it out."

Harry sighed. "The thing is, I don't want to tell Hermione right now. I mean, she had my Firebolt confiscated! She's likely to turn you in! And… I really don't feel to well about her right now, okay?"

"So you don't think it's a good idea to share secrets when there's ill feelings going around?" Kero prompted.

"Yeah, I guess that's close," Harry nodded.

"So why don't you just tell Ron? You two are fine," Kero said.

"I guess, but… they're my best friends, you know? How would Hermione feel if- when she found out I told Ron before her?"

"You'd know," Kero said, but either Harry didn't hear, or he wasn't listening any more.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she never talked to me again!" Harry said. "So…"

"So…?" Kero prompted.

"Maybe it's best I don't tell either of them yet," Harry said. "To avoid hard feelings."

"But what about when you finally do tell them?" Kero asked.

Harry didn't have an answer to that one…

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- To be continued...

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A/N: There was another version I made of this chapter that was pretty angst-y, so I had to rewrite most of it. Nearly everything but the opening lines and the flashbacks, really.

Here's the original version, just for posting's sake. I really hate it when writers hint things but never show it…

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ORIGINAL UNCUT

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Winter Moon smiled nervously up at them, grabbing the clipboard and clutching it and the pen to her chest in much the same fashion. "He heh... hey guys! Fancy meeting you here..."

She fell silent, her attempt at Chandler-esque distraction fizzling out.

"Winter, what are you doing here…?" Harry said slowly, fear getting a hold of his heart even as possibilities started crowding around his head…

Lee was more direct. Grabbing Winter, she hauled her up and shoved her against the wall. "Moon, how did you find us?" she asked forcefully.

Winter was wide-eyed at this treatment, obviously surprised the Lee would act like this, but said, "I-I saw you two running down the hall and figured you were going after one of those Card things, so I followed you."

"Card things?" Harry repeated, coming to stand behind Lee. "What do you know about…'Card things'?"

Winter's gaze darted from side to side. "Um…" she stalled.

Lee growled. "Moon…" she said threateningly.

Winter gulped. "Nearly everything…"

Harry and Lee both twitched. "Define 'nearly everything'," Harry said, managing to sound normal. He'd been expecting his voice to go high and squeaky.

Winter gulped. "Maybe I should start at the beginning…?" she said.

"Not here," Lee said sharply. "Follow me."

Pushing Winter gently but firmly, Lee took her to the nearest empty classroom, Harry following closely behind. They made Winter sit in an empty chair and both loomed over her, unconsciously standing side by side.

"Now," Lee said, "You were saying…?"

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Harry listened in mounting horror as Winter described how he had Sealed The Time Card, The Thunder Card, The Sword Card, how she'd seen Lee Stun The Sweet Card, how she'd listened in when they'd talked about how Lee should treat her Cards, how she'd watched them with The Fly Card, and how she'd watched them deal with The Firey Card just now.

At the end of her recitation, Winter gulped, looking at the two of them.

They waited expectantly.

"That's it?" Lee said. "That's all you heard?"

Winter shrugged. "Well, there were those times I followed you two but you suddenly disappeared after Harry pulled out The Time Card. I'm guessing you stopped time and moved or something."

"So you weren't listening to us twenty-four seven?" Lee said.

Winter shook her head. "No, just when… you know, when you might be going looking for those card things."

"Clow Cards," Harry corrected out of reflex.

Lee glared at him. "Nice going, Card Captor," she said sarcastically.

Harry gave her a look, but it was toned down out of reflex. Winter was here, after all. "She already knows nearly everything," he said. "What's a little more?"

"Besides," he said, looking at Winter. "She's known all this time and hasn't told anyone… presumably."

Winter nodded. "I haven't told anyone," she confirmed. "No one. At all."

"So you've just been following us around, watching us Catch and Seal Clow Cards?" Lee said, slightly disbelieving. "Why?"

Harry was wondering the same thing.

"Well, I've been writing about you," Winter said.

"Why?" Lee pressed.

Winter shifted in her seat. "It's complicated," she said.

Harry and Lee exchanged looks before they realized who the other was, looking away from each other quickly. Winter was too busy tracing something on the armrest of her seat to notice.

"Try us," Harry said dryly.

Winter sighed. "You know how I like reading fanfiction, right?" she said.

"We're the ones who keep you from falling of the stairs, remember?" Lee said, as dry as Harry.

Winter blushed. "Oh, yeah, right. Well, anyway, it's like… when I read, it's an escape from the world around me. The same for when I write. That's why most of my fics are self-inserts. I have fantasies about some kind of thing happening that would make the SI I wrote come true, and I'm end up in Konoha, or the DCU, or a Teen Titan or someone like that. But I knew that even with magic being real, it won't happen like that. And then I saw what Harry did, and I realized that there were other kinds of magic in this world, kinds that are like the ones in anime or fanfics. And, I don't know, I guess even just writing about it from the outside made me feel like I was actually living it. That one of my SIs finally came true."

The two looked at each other again as Winter stopped talking.

"That's it?" Lee said. "That's why you put yourself in potentially dangerous situations, sneaking out at night? Just so you could watch us and write about it?"

Incredulity colored her voice brightly.

Winter sighed. "Yeah," she said. Another breath, and she looked up, meeting their gaze. "So, what are you two going to do about it?"

Harry and Lee looked at each other again. As much as they didn't want to, this was something they'd have to agree on.

"You haven't told anyone about us," Lee said.

"No one," Winter repeated.

"You've just been writing, keeping all this secret?" Harry said.

Winter nodded.

"Has anyone seen what you've written?" Lee asked.

"Not a soul."

"Good," Lee said. "It better stay that way."

Winter nodded. "I promise!" she said. "Look, all I want to do is watch the two of you do your thing and write about it. That's all!"

When they didn't say anything, Winter looked slightly put off. "Look, you two are my friends! I won't tell anyone about you two! I'm slightly insulted you didn't tell me," the two winced internally, "but I understand! I promise I won't ell anyone about you! I just want to write…"

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In the end, they took Winter at her word. What choice did they have? After all, it's been proven she could keep the secret. She kept it from them quite effectively for the past half-year! And besides, she was their friend. They had to trust her…

They hadn't asked the obvious question. Had she only become friends with them to be able to get close enough so she have more to write about? They wanted to know the answer, but didn't think they could stand it if it was the wrong one. So they didn't ask…yet.

Harry wondered whether he should have told Ron and Hermione about this. Odd that the two people who knew about the Cards were his chief rival in them, and the girl he has a crush on, who'd disturbingly been stalking both of them. Before, he'd have said that the two people who'd know would be Ron and Hermione.

In the end, he decided not to tell them… yet. He was still plenty mad at Hermione over the Firebolt. He could tell Ron, but something in him felt guilty about telling one best friend without telling the other. How that jived with Lee and Winter knowing, he had no clue.

So he sighed, and hoped for the best. Things would turn out alright. He hoped…

Shouldn't it?

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As I said, angsty. Plus, it was very short.

Please review, C&C welcome.

Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.