Card Captor Harry
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Card 18, The Storm: Truths and Private Affairs…
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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Harry felt like he was in the twilight zone. Winter and Kero were both chatting and seemed to be seeing who could come down with diabetes first, judging from the rate they were going through the bag of Chocolate Frogs. They'd already gone through three, and had a lot more to go. He never realized Winter's sweet tooth was so bad.
Lee was going through Winter's quite sizable collection of fanfic printouts, occasionally grabbing a Frog herself and spouting insults at Keroberos, who returned it in kind. Those two really didn't get along too well. A part of Harry's mind absently noted that the insults weren't anywhere near the ones she threw at him.
Sighing, Harry thought back to how they'd ended up in Winter's room…
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Harry woke up to the gentle strains of the music box the Cards had given him. It turns out it was also an alarm clock. Since he'd gotten it, he'd played it dozens of times, and it had yet to repeat itself. This time it was a duet by Light and Dark, a contrasting song of fast and slow that reminded him of the music from Phantom of the Opera.
He lay lazily under the sheets, listening as the song wound it's course. The music seemed to make him want to stay in bed and get up at the same time. That was usually the effect of the songs that weren't slow and sweet only- such as this. It confused the heck out of his wakefulness, but he liked it anyway.
When the song ended, only then did Harry open his eyes. Reaching over a hand, he gently closed the top of the music box, concealing it's contents, before carefully stuffing it under his pillow. He didn't want his other roommates to be messing with it, that you very much!
Sitting up, he stretched, getting the kinks out of his system and glancing over to see if Ron was awake. He wasn't. Good. That made things easier. At least he wouldn't need to make up excuses and lie. That always sucked, lying to his friends.
Quickly and quietly, with an ease born from practice, he got dressed, tucking his wand, Key and Card on his person. Quietly, he reached into Kero's 'nest' and pulled out the still sleeping Guardian, taking care not to wake him up. Kero's mutters about chocolate increased his anxiety and caution. Kero always woke up screaming when he dreamed about sweets. Well, when he was interrupted when he was dreaming about sweets, anyway. The times it happened, Harry was lucky he was able to shut Keroberos up and pretend he'd just had a nightmare.
Only when he was out of the dorm and far away from living ears- there was nothing to be done about the portraits and probably the suits of armor- only then did he wake Kero up.
Which he accomplished by dropping him on his head.
Well, no actually, he just waved a piece of chocolate under Kero's nose. He wasn't cruel. Well, not when Snape and Malfoy aren't involved.
Harry paused, the chocolate stopping. Snape and Malfoy? Why wasn't Lee's name on the list?
Harry was startled back to the present as Kero suddenly bit the chocolate…
NOW Harry dropped Kero on his head. Wincing, Harry glared at him, waving his fingers around as he tried to alleviate the pain.
"Chocolate…" Kero moaned, chewing weakly on the bit of chocolate. His limbs waved jerkily in the air.
Harry wanted to sweatdrop. He was still asleep? "Keroberos, WAKE UP!"
Keroberos jerked up into the air, choking on the chocolate.
"See, that's what you get for eating and sleeping at the same time," Harry said, glaring at the Sun Guardian, who was trying not to choke and eat at once.
Without waiting for a response, Harry grabbed Kero and stuffed him under his robe, walking quickly towards nowhere in particular.
"HEY!" Kero protested. "Where are we going?"
"Hunting," Harry said simply.
"Hunting?"
"Specifically, Clow Card hunting," Harry said. "Lee got the last one. Not way am I going to let her get any more."
"Finally!" Kero said as they made their way down yet another corridor. "It's about time you took the initiative, Harry! I knew I was making the right choice when I made you the Card Captor! Thanks to my coaching, you'll…"
Harry rolled his eyes, tuning out whatever it was Kero was saying and concentrating on feeling the magic around Hogwarts. With students around, the whole place was usually awash with magical signatures, each unique and powerful in their own way. Sure, a normal wizard's magical signature was nothing compared to a Clow Card's but with so many in the castle usually, even something as distinctive as a Clow Card's gets drowned out in the maelstrom.
Now, however, the background noise was greatly reduced, making it easier to concentrate. While he couldn't feel any Clow Cards yet, it was easier to feel for them.
Speaking of feeling…
Harry rounded a corner and found himself face to face with Lee. Today, for some bizarre reason, she was wearing a complete replica of Haruno Sakura's genin outfit. It didn't look quite as good on her as it did on the kunoichi.
"Lee," Harry said through gritted teeth.
A toothy smile. "Potter," Lee said.
Kero popped his head out of Harry's robes and glared at her. She ignored him, eyes on Harry glaring at him. He glared right back, not breaking eye contact. You could almost see the lightning shooting from each other's eyes and zapping in mid-air…
"Harry! Lee!" a cheerful voice cried.
The two looked away from each other at the cry, heads whipping at high speed to look at the silver-haired figure dashing towards them. Kero ducked back under the robe. For once, she wasn't carrying one of her print-outs of fanfics. Instead, she was holding the pen and clipboard she'd had a few days ago. "I'm glad I found you guys! You two promised me an interview!"
Harry and Lee blinked. "We did?" Harry said, and Lee snapped her jaws shut so fast, her teeth cracked. She'd been about to say the same thing.
Winter pouted at Lee. "Aw, no jinx? Bummer. Oh well, you two still owe me a lot."
Then she blinked, doing a double-take at what Lee was wearing. "Whoa… Lee, where'd you get that?" she said in wonder.
"I've always had it," Lee said casually.
"Mind if I borrow it some time?" Winter asked, to which Lee just shrugged, although she turned red as she did so. Only Harry seemed to notice, and he frowned, remembering his accusation.
"Great!" Winter said, not noticing. "Come on. Let's go to my room. I'm the only one left at Ravenclaw, so it's alright if we go there, although I'll have to ask you two not to spread the password around if you happen to hear it."
"Genius," Lee said, and Winter stared at her in shock. She just smiled. "I have my ways of getting around too, Moon."
Before Winter could respond to that, Kero darted out of Harry's robes and pointed at Winter accusingly. "Alright you! I don't know what you know, but it ends here! You are not going to get any more information out of us! Or else, I'm going to-"
"EEK! IT'S SO CUTE!" Winter squealed and Kero was suddenly tackle-hugged by an ecstatic Ravenclaw, "Harry, is he yours? I sort of remember seeing you with him back during the summer, but I'll have to check my notes. Oh, he's so adorable! Hey, little fella. What's your name?"
Kero looked a bit off at this sudden interrogation. Still he tried to recover. "Uh, I am the Sun Guardian, Keroberos, and I-" he intoned pompously.
"Oh, that's pretty long. Can I call you Kero-chan instead, cutie?" Winter said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a chocolate frog. "Do you like chocolate?" she said as she offered it to the newly re-dubbed Kero-chan.
Kero took one look and immediately turned to Harry. "Harry, I commend you on your choice of companions!"
Harry suddenly had a sinking feeling as Kero and Winter started to bond. He didn't even notice as they started walking towards the Ravenclaw quarters…
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The sinking feeling was still there as Harry realized Winter was offering him a frog. Muttering something that might have been thanks– it might also have been an offer to marry him–Harry bit off the frogs head, trying to regain his equilibrium by concentrating on the taste of the chocolate. Well, it could have been worst. Kero could have decided Winter needed to be dealt with or something. He didn't want to even think of what that might entail!
"Um, Winter…" Harry ventured.
"Oh, right, the interview," Winter said, grabbing one last handful of frogs and stuffing them into her mouth before she reached for the pen and clipboard that had lain neglected at the foot of the bed. "Okay, let's start with Harry…"
'Harry' didn't actually have to say a single thing, for which he was grateful, although it was pretty annoying how Kero kept answering the things Winter meant for him. Kero seemed to be trying to ingratiate to Winter– or at least convince her to keep feeding him chocolate frogs. Lee kept snickering at him as she continued reading the fics. Harry was mildly amused to note that the particular compilation of printouts Lee was reading were all written by him. For a moment, he considered giving her a heart attack by telling her she was reading–and actually enjoying!– his stuff, but decided against it. For now, anyway.
Resisting the urge to evil-laugh, Harry waited not so impatiently as Kero finished divulging all the details of what had happened on the train to Hogwarts. Harry was thankful he didn't tell Kero anything about the kissing– he really didn't want to see Winter's reaction to that little detail!
"What's with all the notes anyway, Moon?" Lee said as she reclined on a pillow, munching on a frog and idly leafing through another fic compilation. "You writing a book or something?"
"Something like that," Winter said, her tongue sticking out of a corner of her mouth as she quickly jotted down the last things Kero had said.
"What exactly?" Harry asked warily. "I mean, you're not planning to write a tell-all book about me, are you?"
"Of course not, although it sounds like a good idea," Winter said, musing at the last. At Harry's expression of wide-eyed horror, she burst out laughing. "No, I'm not going to write a tell-all book, or anything like that. It's been done, anyway. No, I'm going to be writing something else!"
"Which is?" Kero asked cheerfully, and Harry shot him a betrayed look. He liked Winter too, but Kero could at least show some concern about this! It was a book using data about their activities, for crying out loud!
Winter grinned, and Harry felt a shudder go down his spine. He knew that look. It was the same look Ron got when he talked about Quidditch, the Chudley Cannons and chess. It was the same look Hermione got when she talked about homework, exams and studying. Had this happened a year later, he would have recognized it as the same look Hermione would have when she talked about S.P.E.W.
He should have given in to the urge to run. Unfortunately, he wasn't experienced enough to know it was a good idea.
"I'm going to write a series of novels! It's going to be about this guy who has to find this bunch of spirits who've been unleashed upon the world, with the help of his noble beast friend," here, Keroberos preened, "an assisted by his beautiful love-interest compaion!"
There were three near-simultaneous reactions to that.
"I LOVE THE IDEA!" Kero said, stars in his eyes. He was probably picturing himself with three heads, fiery skin and a hundred feet tall.
"So basically my life is getting turned into a magical boy story," Harry said, hanging his head in shame. He should have known. This was Winter, after all. well, it could be worse. She could have decided to make it a lemon.
"LOVE INTEREST?" was Lee's nearly shrieked reaction.
Harry winced at the noise, than shuddered in disgust and horror as he realized what Lee was talking about. "SHE'S NOT MY LOVE INTEREST!" he protested just as loudly.
Winter grinned, and neither of them could tell if she was being teasing or not. "But the two of you are so cute together! Think of it: a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, trying desperately to be friends in this cruel, intolerant world with it's preconceptions and divisive traditions. How could two souls not fall in love after their struggles to be together as friends, when such effort on part of both could only mean they are destined to be much more?"
The two twitched, looking at each other in shared and mutual disgust at the idea. Lee looked like she was gagging on something.
"You're starting to remind of the horror stories my cousin keeps writing to me about regarding his girlfriend's best friend," Lee said dryly.
Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "What kind of horror stories?"
Lee gave him a level look, and for the moment, they were in complete understanding. "When he was younger, my cousin Syaoran was sent to this little place in Japan because it was believed the Clow Cards could be found there." Her lips twitched. "Sadly, that wasn't the case– as you well know. However, while he was staying in that little town– he was there for two years with my twin sister Meilin– he met this girl who would later become his girlfriend. The girl had a friend who seemed to practically idolize, probably even worship her– I suspect the friend's a lesbian–" here Harry had to rein in the urge to snort, "but regardless, the friend soon started setting the two of them up. It got weirder when my sister started helping the plans along, even though, at that time, she was engaged to marry our cousin. "
"What's so horrific about that?" Harry had to ask, although some parts of it already scared him. Being engaged to marry your own cousin? Being asked to deliberately look for the Clow Cards? Alone? Without Keroberos? That was just… irresponsible!
But then, Harry mused a bit more, who was he to talk?
"They really didn't get long very well in the beginning, although the friend claimed that meant there was a lot of romantic tension between them. Eventually, she blackmailed them into going on a date. How, he's never told me, although he threatened to scalp me if I ever ask again. I think my sister knows, but she's not telling."
Harry shuddered, then shuddered again when he noticed the gleam in Winter's eye. "Don't you get any ideas," he growled.
"Too late," Winter said cheerily, the gleam positively shining.
Harry glared at Lee. "This is all your fault."
"Me?"
"If you hadn't told that horror story, she wouldn't have gotten any ideas!"
"I'll show you 'ideas'… !"
"Ah, so much romantic tension in the air," Winter said knowingly, causing Kero to start laughing himself out of the air. Harry and Lee glared at the two of them, for once united without the common threat of a Clow Card to fight.
"We are not," Lee said icily, seemingly directing her words to Keroberos, "like that. We are just-"
"Rivals," Harry interrupted, knowing they'd get more teasing if she continued. The 'just friends' line tends to do that. Lee glanced at him, then nodded in understanding. "Friendly rivals."
"For now," Winter teased.
"No offense, but I'd rather kiss a Clow Card than get involved with Potter that way," Lee said. Harry nodded in agreement.
Harry knew that was a mistake the moment Kero grinned knowingly. "Harry kisses the Clow Cards. Sleeps with them, too."
Harry tried to collapse in on himself as Lee and Winter stared at him, the former looking decidedly amused, one eyebrow raised and an almost-smile on her lips, the latter very much surprised, her jaw slack and putting her at risk should a fly decide to use her mouth to commit suicide.
"Why, Potter," Lee said slyly, doing a fair approximation of Professor Snape. "I didn't know you were into older woman. Or women at all, for that matter. All that romantic tension between you and Malfoy… "
Harry barely resisted the urge to have Earthy bury her in the center of he planet. "Stuff it, Lee," he growled.
"You've… kissed and slept with the Clow Cards?" Winter said, sounding awed. "Wow… you're so manly, Harry!"
Harry and Lee almost facefaulted into the bed. Whatever they'd been expecting, it sure wasn't that.
"I… wouldn't have pegged you as the Nodoka Saotome type," Harry muttered into the mattress he'd fallen into as he tried to right himself.
"You seemed more Maito Gai and Usagi Tsukino-esque, Moon," Lee agreed, also prying her face off the bed.
"So, what's it like to kiss a Clow Card?" Winter asked, leaning forward eagerly, waiting for his answer, causing Harry to dart back at the possible invasion of his personal space, although the back of his mind was saying, "Isn't this how Naruto and Sasuke ended up kissing?"
"It's… nothing special, really," Harry mumbled, barely intelligible. "It's just kissing… "
"What, are you gay or something, Potter?" Lee said, smirking. "I mean, you get to make out with older women who happen to be very good looking, well-built and either scantily dressed, immodestly dressed, or sometimes not dressed at all, not to mention sleep with them, and you're not bragging about it or anything? Sheesh, are you the lead male character in a harem anime?"
"Ooh, a harem-comedy angle!" Winter said, eyes growing wide in realization. "I didn't think about that. Thanks for the idea, Lee!"
Harry went redder. "Kero, a little help here?" he said desperately.
"He slept with The Mirror Card when we were in Diagon Alley," Kero chirped.
"NOT HELPING!"
"So, you're not a virgin any more, Potter?" Lee said, grinning as Winter blushed in embarrassment- finally!
"We just SLEPT TOGETHER! As in, TOOK A NAP IN THE SAME BED!" Harry yelled.
"Touchy," Lee said, still grinning.
Harry threw Winter's pillow at Lee, who just shrugged it off and laughed, the maniac! "Okay, enough about me. How about you, Lee? Don't you have anything to add for Winter's notes ?"
"Yeah," Winter said, abruptly shifting sides as she turned her inquiring gaze towards the Slytherin girl. "Tell me about yourself. You know, your likes, dislikes, dreams, where you're from… you said you had a twin sister and cousin. What are they like?"
Lee, suddenly finding herself on the defensive, looked hard pressed not to glare as she compressed her lips into a thin line.
"Oh, come on," Winter pouted, clasping her hands pleadingly at Lee. "Harry was a sport about it. It's only fair you are too!"
Behind Winter, Harry stuck his tongue out at Lee, who wasn't able to retaliate.
Lee grit her teeth and sighed. "Fine," she muttered. No way was she going to let Winter think better of Potter than of her!
Harry sat back and relaxed as Lee started giving her side's view of things. One good thing about having gone first; Lee couldn't paint him in a bad light, since that would paint both him and Kero out as a liar. Lee seemed to realize this after the second time Winter corrected her when she tried to skew things. He wondered whether that had been Kero's plan all along…
Harry's attention perked back up when Winter asked about Lee's sister. He wanted to hear this; he found it hard to believe anyone would want to stay that closely related to Lee.
"Her name is Meilin," Lee said, and shrugged. "She's my sister: what else is there to say?"
"What's she like? What does she look like? Is she like you? Why isn't she here in Hogwarts with you? I mean, you're twins, right?" Winter pressed.
"She's not here at Hogwarts because she's a squib," Lee said, although she didn't look sure. "Maybe. It's hard to say whether she's a squib or I'm a Muggle-born. I mean, my cousin can use magic, but his four sisters can't."
Winter decided to leave that well enough alone. "So, what's she look like? Do you have a picture? Are you paternal twins or maternal twins? Is she as nice as you?"
It was all Harry could do not to burst out laughing at the last question; Keroberos nearly choked on his chocolate. Lee, nice? HAH!
Lee shrugged, pretending not to notice the byplay going on behind her interviewer, although the way she was clenching her fists was sort of a giveaway. "Well, she's my twin, but that doesn't mean we're disturbingly identical or anything. For one thing, I look more like my cousin than my sister. The only thing my sister and I share is our eye color. She has dark hair, for one, and is kind of loud. Gets really annoying sometimes…"
"What about your cousin? What's he like?" Winter pressed.
Again, Lee shrugged. "Syaoran is… Syaoran. He's a lot like me in a lot of things. People tend to think we're the twins, since we look so much alike. The only thing I don't get about him is why he doesn't like 'Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'. I mean, sure, the lead looks a little like him but still…"
Again Lee trailed off, then shrugged.
"Well, I guess that's enough on your relatives," Winter said, as she hurriedly finished taking down notes at a rate that would have given Hermione a run for her money. She grinned. "Now I'll just have to wait for a Clow Card to show up soI can get some first hand information!"
"What about you, Winter?" Harry said as he took a frog and bit it's head off. "We've basically been playing truth or dare with a lot of truth for the past hour or so. Your turn to spill the beans. What are you like?"
Lee nodded. "It's sort of unfair you got us talking about ourselves without you adding anything."
Winter paused, and for the first time, she didn't look as cheery as she usually did. "I'm no one special…" she said.
"You managed to notice what we've been doing in the castle when no one else has, my best friends included," Harry said. "That's plenty special."
Winter shuffled nervously. "Well, I'm kind of an orphan. Well, not really. I mean, I still have my aunt, but she's seldom around–almost never, actually– so I'm alone in our apartment most of the time. She sends me money regularly, though, and pays the bills, but for most of my life, I've lived pretty much alone. My next-door neighbor– Jenny's her name– takes care of me sometimes, but I don't really like imposing on her. She's the one who sends me my fic compilations during the school year, although she doesn't know I go to Hogwarts. She thinks I'm in some invitation-only boarding school– which is pretty much the case."
"You live alone?" Harry said, not knowing how to feel. On the one hand, it was kind of sad that the closest person Winter had to call for help was a next-door neighbor. On the other hand, at least she didn't have to deal with Dursleys. Still, was the a good trade-off…?
Winter made a movement as if to brush the hair out of her eyes. Harry didn't see what happened next, but Lee did. She pretended she didn't notice as Winter wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's not as bad as it sounds. MY aunt calls me nearly every day in the summers, and sends me letters at least twice a month. I just wished she'd come home more often…"
When Winter raised her head again, she was smiling, although not as brightly as she usually did. "Well, enough about me. So, Harry, do you have any favorites among the Clow Cards? Which one of them is the best kisser?"
The tone was teasing, although the way her fingers were poised with the pen showed she intended to note down his answer whatever it was. Harry glared at Keroberos, who was playing so innocent any judge would have called him guilty on that alone. "I am never going to forgive you for this."
Lee leaned forward, grinning. "So, do you have a favorite, Potter?" she jabbed, not able to stop herself, and honestly not wanting too. This was fun!
When asked later, Harry was never able to say just why he answered as he did. "I suppose you and Fight kiss all the time?"
"No, only when I dismiss her…" Lee trailed off, her eyes widening in horror as she realized what she'd just admitted to.
Harry's face split into a wide grin. Christmas was sending him a belated gift! "Oh, your Clow Cards kiss you too, huh? What's it like, kissing girl-girl?"
At Winter's look, Harry explained. "Nearly all of Lee's Clow Cards are female. Fight's female too, and Lee here likes calling on her a lot… hmm, I guess she enjoys the lipping," Harry said cheerily.
"Burn you, Potter," Lee growled.
Winter blushed. "Oh…I didn't know you were like that, Lee…"
"I'm not!" Lee protested. "I'm straight, darn it! Straight!"
"It's no shame liking girls, Lee," Harry shamelessly teased. "Guys do it all the time. Really it's no big deal."
"I'm not… I'M STRAIGHT, BURN IT ALL! STRAIGHT, YOU HEAR! THOSE CLOW CARDS KISS ME AGAINST MY WILL!"
"It's alright, Lee," Winter said, making appeasing gestures. "I don't think any less of you. I'm okay with it, really. My neighbor's a lesbian too, so I'm not biased or anything."
"NOT YOU TOO! I AM NOT A LESBIAN, OKAY? GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS! I'M STRAIGHT. S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T!"
"The Lady doth protest too much," Keroberos said.
At Lee's scream of frustration, Harry decided he could forgive Kero for telling about the kissing. Knowing the same thing happened to Lee was enough cosmic justice.
Eventually, Winter broke out laughing, saying she was kidding, and that she really didn't think Lee was 'like that'. She never stopped teasing Lee for it, however.
Harry decided having Winter around wasn't so bad after all…
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- To be continued…
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Please review, C&C welcome.
Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.