The next morning, Ezio left headquarters to visit the mercenaries, whose barracks were in the Roman countryside. As for Harriet, she continued to explore Rome in the search for new recruits. She managed to help five more people before calling it a day. Unfortunately, only two ended-up joining the Assassins. Luigi Moretti and Petrio Cremonesi. She had found both fighting guards and both had been happy to settle the debt they believed they owed her by joining the fight against the Borgias. On the third day, she brought in another two recruits – Noemi Lastra and Francesco Ragusa – leaving the number of Italian Assassins bigger by eight.
Ezio was very proud of her work when he came back from the countryside a few days later. He brought with him news that he had intervened in the conflict between Bartolomeo d'Alviano's mercenaries and the French. With his actions, he helped make the French and Borgias back off, giving the mercenaries a respite which allowed them to spend time and resources for the Assassin cause. With all three major factions spying on the Borgias for them, Ezio was able to turn his eyes on training the new Assassin recruits. Machiavelli had already taken time to introduce all of them to the Brotherhood properly, along with telling them what being an Assassin consisted of exactly.
The next six months were spent training the recruits to be proper Assassins. In the summer of 1500, Harriet was given her first mission, which was to assassinate a high ranking officer in the Papal States military. Accompanying her were Valentino Caprio and Anna De Angelis, two people she had come to befriend.
Harriet was sitting on a bench between two people. She observed the crowd, watching as the citizen of Rome waked right pass her. From time to time, she could see a hint of Anna's presence on the rooftops, though it was hard to notice. The only reason she recognized her was because of her white robes.
The trio had spent the previous week gathering information on their target. Their target was the lieutenant of a captain of the column (also known as a 'colonel') in charge of 300 troops. Those troops were stationed in Rome and causing problem to the population at the lieutenant colonel's suggestion. It was the hope of the Assassins that with the lieutenant colonel's assassination, the guards in the city would slow down on their oppression of the citizens. Whether it would work or not, they did not know yet. The man deserved to go no matter what for his own part in the oppression of Rome.
During their week of investigation, Harriet, Valentino and Anna found out that the lieutenant colonel always walked down the same road every morning. He was also accompanied with ten guards. Thus, the Assassins had positioned themselves accordingly.
Harriet (the unofficial leader) sat on a bench overlooking the road while Anna was doing the same from the roofs. Valentino was walking through the crowd. Unlike his female partners, he was not dressed in his Assassin robes but in civilian clothing. His objective was to distract the guards, allowing Harriet and Anna to swoop in from behind and take them by surprise.
Just as she began feeling impatient, Harriet heard the sound of a whistle. It sounded like a bird, which told her what she needed to know. The lieutenant colonel was approaching. Harriet looked through the crowd and spotted Valentino further down the street. She gave him a quick nod. After returning the nod, he walked down the street toward the guards and 'accidentally' elbowed a man in the ribs. The man turned to look at him with a look of furious anger.
The trio had observed the man during the day. They had found he was the 'bully' of the playground – so to speak. From his interactions with the others, he had clearly been looking for a fight with someone. And, Valentino was going to give him one.
"Hey! You bastard!" the man called to Valentino.
Valentino turned around. "Who? Me?" he asked, feigning confusion.
"Yes! You! You just hit me in the ribs!"
A look of understanding appeared on his face. "Ah! Well, maybe you shouldn't stand in the way. I don't know about you, but my mother always said we had to leave space for others to walk."
"Don't talk about my mother like that!" he barked. Valentino frowned.
"Like what?" he asked. "I didn't say anything about her. Though the way you were so quick to come to her defence tell me it's your habit of hearing insults thrown at her. Why? Does she have a 'reputation'?" he mocked. With an angry roar, the bully threw himself at Valentino. Valentino side-stepped just in time for the bully to crash on the ground. "Oh, you want to fight?" he grinned. "We'll fight."
Harriet did not pay much attention to the fight that ensured. She knew Valentino could take care of himself. In the worst case scenario, he could use his Hidden Blade to warn his opponent away. Instead, she looked further down the road to see the lieutenant colonel arrive with his escort.
"Oh, what's going on?" said the lieutenant colonel once he was in Harriet's hearing range. He looked and sounded very frustrated. "Guards, take care of this, will you? Kill them both if you need to." With nods, half of the guards left the group to break up the fight. Once they were far enough, Harriet called for action.
Just like Anna before, she whistled.
Harriet jumped from her bench and ran toward the group. She threw herself on a heavily armoured guard (which she had jokingly nicknamed a 'brute') just as Anna landed on the lieutenant colonel. Both killed their targets, stabbing in between armour plates.
"Requiescat in pace." murmured Anna to their dead target before raising back on her feet. Both drew their swords and began fighting the remaining guards.
Further down the road, the guards who had been sent to break up the fight noticed the death of their leader and ran to avenge him. With their backs turned on him, Valentino released his hidden blade and made a shallow cut on the bully's chest as a warning – not that it mattered as he and the crowd looked in shock at the fight between Assassins and guards. While Valentino ran toward the guards and stabbed one in the neck, the crowd began running away in panic. Upon seeing three of their best fall so quickly, two deserted, leaving six guards to fight the three Assassins.
"Come on, big guy! I'm right here!" yelled Anna cheerfully. Valentino let out a laugh.
"You're having way too much fun, Anna!" he said, fighting two guards on her own.
"I'm kicking some Borgia arses! What did you expect?" she returned. The guards fighting them became nervous. They were certainly confident in their abilities to kill them if they could joke around in a fight.
Harriet glanced at them in amusement before blocking an upcoming blade. Using the distraction, she kicked the guard between his legs. He let out a groan of pain and recoiled, something the Assassin used to her advantage to stab his neck with her blade.
With another man down along with Anna and Valentino's exchange, the remaining guards lost confidence and fleed.
"Well, that's them done for the day." said Harriet, sheathing her sword after cleaning it.
"Wish we could have gotten them all." said Valentino.
"We don't kill unarmed people." she returned. "We better go before the guards come back with reinforcement."
"I hear you." said Anna. As one, the trio ran toward the nearest wall and climbed up the building. "Hey, while we're out there, do you want to take care of a Borgia tower?" she asked.
The Borgia towers were twelve towers of stone build all around Rome. They served two main purposes. The first one was to serve as monuments for the rule of the Borgias. The second was to serve as surveillance towers for the guards, allowing them to watch over one of four district of the city.
Only days after Ezio had left Margherita and Harriet's care, he and Machiavelli had burned down a tower and killed the captain in charge of it. Afterwards, they noticed that morale had increased, shops reopened and citizens were generally happier in the area near the destroyed tower. Since then, Ezio had gone and took care of another four towers, leaving only seven still active in the city.
Harriet hesitated. While they had never been forbidden from storming a tower, it had always been an unspoken agreement between the recruits to let Ezio handle them. At the same time, she always loved to do something worthwhile. In the end, she asked for Valentino's opinion. "What do you think, Valentino?"
"I'm not sure it's a good idea." he said hesitantly.
"Why not?" Anna protested.
"Oh, Anna! We're still in training! Ezio always has a hard time dispatching the captains and he's been an Assassin for more than twenty years!"
"But there is three of us."
"Anna, I doubt we three could take on Ezio alone. What make you think we have a better chance than him to defeat a captain?" Harriet asked, shaking her head. They had just killed a lieutenant colonel – yes – but he had been taken by surprise and killed before he could do one move. Fighting a captain with swords clashing would be a complete different matter. She made her decision. "I agree with Valentino. Let's go back to Headquarters. If you insist, ask to Ezio whether he think we can take down a tower ourselves or not."
When they returned to Tiber Island, the trio made their report on their successful mission to Ezio and Machiavelli. While there were no Mentor of the Brotherhood since the death of Mario Auditore, Ezio's uncle, he and Machiavelli had become the de-facto leaders. Afterwards, Anna did ask Ezio whether they could take after a tower or not. His answer was that he simply did not know and preferred they continue training for another few months before taking one down While Anna did not like the answer, she acknowledged Ezio knew better and followed his advice.
A few days after the successful mission, Harriet was returning from exploring the city when she was summoned by Machiavelli. "Ah, Harriet!" he greeted when he saw her. Next to him was a man she had never met before. He was shorter than her by a few inches but older by many decades. His face was kind and he looked very wise. The man reminded her of Albus Dumbledore. "I would like you to meet Achille da Livorno." Machiavelli said. "He is a wizard, just as yourself."
"I'm not." blurted Harriet in her shock.
"Pardon?" asked Machiavelli. Both men looked confused.
Harriet flushed when she realized how her words could be interpreted. "I mean – I'm a witch, not a wizard. Wizards are male." she explained rapidly.
"Oh. My apologizes, then." said Machiavelli. He then explained. "Achille here is an old ally of the Brotherhood. When Ezio saved you from the stake, we decided to ask him to meet you in the hope he could train you. We also believed it would do some good to you to have a fellow magical in your entourage."
"I only arrived to Rome a week ago. I must say, I've been curious to meet you, Miss Potter." said the old man.
Harriet looked at him warily. "You won't betray me, will you?" she asked. "Last wizard I met ended-up being a priest who got the woman I loved like my own mother murdered and me put to the stake."
"I assume you speak of Alessandro Pozzoli?"
"You know him?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Achille sighed. "He was one of my best students." he said regretfully.
"One of your best students?" she repeated before she realized something. "Wait. Alessandro Pozzoli is a wizard?!"
"Yes, he is." the old man answered. "He is not a priest. It is only a cover he use."
"Explain."
"I spent my life teaching children how to use their magic. I was one of the best tutors in Italy and he, one of my best apprentices. "I fully hoped Alessandro would do like my apprentices before him and use their magic for the good of humanity. Unfortunately, Alessandro had power in mind. I knew he was ambitious but never did I imagine he would go on to betray his kind.
"I have known of the Brotherhood since my brother became an Assassin. While being an Assassin was not my calling, I still helped the Brotherhood when they needed the expertise of a wizard. During his apprenticeship, Alessandro and I came to the help of a small group of Assassins, who had a problem against Templars. The mission was succeeding well until, one day, Alessandro betrayed us. Unbeknownst to me, Alessandro had joined the Templar Order years prior."
"He is a Templar?"
"Indeed." said Machiavelli. "Alessandro Pozzoli work with the Borgias. He is their wizard-in-chief and magical advisor."
"But if he's a wizard, why does he help the Borgia execute our kind?"
"Like I said, power." said Achille sadly. "Alessandro want the power to rule over magical-kind with him as our king. The Templar gave him that chance, as long as he help them."
Alessandro... That bastard. In the end, he was just another Voldemort. Someone else willing to kill innocents for the sake of power.
"He need to die." she eventually said. "Before he get more innocents killed."
"He is one of our eventual targets." said Machiavelli.
"Good." she said. "Now, I assume there was another reason for this meeting?"
"Yes." said the old man. "It is mine and Sir Machiavelli's wish that you be trained in the magical arts of offense and defence."
Harriet blinked in surprise. "Really? You would do that?"
"Of course." said Machiavelli. "We can't have the only witch in our Brotherhood be trained only in non-magical combat."
"I- thank you." she said, stuttering. "How long with this training last?" It was Achille who answered her question.
"I will stay in Rome for the next three months." the old man said. "After which I will continue to travel throughout Italy and the neighbouring kingdoms."
"Do you think I will learn enough in three months?" she asked worryingly.
"If you are any good with a wand – then yes you should." said the man. He then turned toward the door of the room. "And, we will begin today. Follow me, Miss Potter..."
"Achille? There is something I need your expertise on..."
It had been three months since Harriet had met Achille da Livorno. In these three months, Harriet had been all but 'grounded' in Headquarters to assure she could spend as much time learning magic with the old man as possible before he left. It had frustrated her not being able to explore Rome often or go on missions with her fellow Assassins but even she could not deny how much she had learned under his teachings.
Harriet had quickly found out some of the spells used in the early sixteenth century were a lot more... violent than what is taught in her time. Some of the spells still shocked her months after learning them. For instance, a spell she was taught was the Shrapnel Curse. With the incantation 'Testa Ferri', large pieces of shrapnel were conjured and sent flying at the speed of bullets toward an opponent. Then, there was the Blood Vanishing Curse ('Sanguine Furtur') which would make anyone shiver at the mere thought of it. And, Harriet would not be able to look at ice for a long time without imagining the Curse of Icy Spikes ('Glacies Clavus'), which conjured three large spikes of ice and sent them toward the opponent, impaling them.
Despite the spells she was taught by the man, in these three months, Harriet had come to like Achille da Livorno as much as she liked Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. He was very kind, patient and understanding. It seemed nothing could faze the man or anger him. And, he always figure out what was wrong when Harriet had a hard time doing a new spell. He seemed to be one of the most knowledgeable people she had ever met in both time periods. It was why she had decided to confide about her time-travelling secret to him.
"Of course, Miss Potter." he said, conjuring two seats for them to sit in. "What is troubling you?"
"There is something about me nobody know. Only Margherita knew but..." She shook her head. "Can – can I get a privacy vow? I mean – it's not that I don't trust you, it's just-"
"I understand." said Achille, not offended in the slightest. "After Alessandro's betrayal, you are afraid of someone else betraying your secrets. I get it." he said. He then raised his wand. "I, Achille da Livorno, swear that I will not betray the confidence of Harriet Potter. May magic punish me accordingly if I ever do." At the end of his vow, the tip of his wand lit a bright golden light. Harriet let out a small sigh of relief.
"Okay – well – I'm from the future. The year 1996, in fact." she blurted. She waited for an exclamation of disbelief – but none came.
"Interesting." the old man said, rubbing his chin.
"The thing is... I don't know how I ended up here. And, I don't know how to go back to my time."
"Is it important you go back to your time?" he asked.
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "There's a Dark Lord running around killing everyone and destroying everything – and there is a prophecy that say I'm the only one who can defeat him! If I stay here, then Voldemort will have free reign over the world! He'll torture and kill everyone until there is no one left to oppose him and all my friends will die!" She felt tears trickle down her cheeks and quickly wiped them. The fear of what could happen in the future without her had hunted her in some form or the other ever since she had arrived. "Sorry." she apologized quietly. "I'm just so scared."
Achille was not fazed. If anything, he looked understanding and sad for her. "You do not have to apologize, Miss Potter." he said. "While I was never in your position, I can understand in part what you feel." He then sighed. "Well, I do not have an answer to your problem," Harriet's shoulders slumped. "However, I believe I know someone who does."
"Who?" asked Harriet with a hint of impatience.
"An old friend of mine. He is the current Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Oh." she said, surprised. "Do you have a way of travelling to Hogwarts by magic? Like a portkey or something?"
"Only fews know how to make portkeys, Miss Potter, and I am not one of them."
Harriet groaned. She rubbed her face in frustration. Two magicals she had come to trust turned up unable to create portkeys to England. It seemed the only way she would be able to go to England would be by ship. She did not have the money to do so.
After saying goodbye to Achille, Harriet walked out of the building. She kept thinking about what the fate of her time would be if she did not reappear to save them. Oh, did she loathe being the Chosen One of the prophecy. It meant she could not even have her own life. She was stuck in the past and had a duty to return to the future to defeat Voldemort. If she did not, everyone would die.
It hurt that Harriet had to go back. While she had many more reasons to do so than simply getting rid of Voldemort, Harriet had come to have a new family in the form of the Assassin Brotherhood. She had become friends with all of those she had recruited. While she terribly missed Hermione and Ron, part of her wished she never had to leave this time period. It was the same part of her that kept getting excited whenever she was near Ezio Auditore.
She suddenly felt a small, unexplained heartbreak at the thought of Ezio. Ezio, the man who had saved her life and had become her closest friend here. The handsome man that made her heart beat wildly when she was near him. If she went back to her time period – which she knew she had to – it would mean she would be forced to forever say goodbye to the man. It hurt to know it was what most likely awaited her in her future.
As she was walking through the streets of Tiber Island deep in thought, she bumped into someone.
"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed before noticing who it was. She blushed. Oh, why did she have to bump right in the man that occupied her thoughts?
"Harriet?" asked Ezio. "What has you so deep in thoughts?"
"I-" she hesitated. She wondered whether she should tell him about her time travelling secret. On one hand, he was the person Ezio trusted the most in this time period – as much as she once did with Margherita. On the other hand, she wanted to keep the secret of her time travel on a strict need-to-know basis. And, as Ezio was not magical and thus could not help her, he did not need to know.
Ezio noticed her hesitation. "You do not need to tell me if you do not wish to." he said. He did not sound offended, which helped her make her decision.
"I trust you, Ezio." she said. "God know how much I do. But... I just want to keep it to myself. Please."
Ezio put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "I understand." he said genuinely. "Everyday, there are things that burden me, things I would love to share but know I cannot. I do not hold it against you if you do."
"Thanks." she said. His trust in her brought tears in her eyes. Why did Ezio have to be so understanding? He was such a kindhearted man. She leaned toward him and hugged him. Ezio returned the hug. His arms were strong and firm and his embrace made her feel all tingly inside. It was strange but very comforting.
She left his embrace after bathing in it for a minute. "Thank you." she repeated quietly. Ezio nodded. They began walking together through the streets of Tiber Island. "What were you doing before I bumped into you?"
"I just came back from the courtesans." he said. Harriet blushed, embarrassed. Imagining Ezio... no, she wouldn't.
"What were you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Visiting Claudia." he answered. "Some of her courtesans had a problem with a Templar agent. A former doctor who was hell bent on murdering them."
Harriet growled. "Please tell me he's dead."
"He is." he said with a nod.
"Good." she said. She was about to say something else when she heard a whisper.
"Psst!"
"Did you hear that?" she asked him, looking around. She was just now noticing they had crossed one of the bridges linking the island to the rest of Rome.
"I did." he answered, also looking around. Another "Psst, Ezio!" was heard and Ezio turned in the direction from the sound. With a hand on the pommel of his sword, Ezio quietly and slowly walked in the direction it came from, all while looking around him. Harriet did the same, looking behind them in case of an ambush.
The whispers led them to a small porch by the river. Just as Ezio approached something which looked strangely similar to a cardboard box, Harriet heard a pair of footsteps. She turned in the direction of the sound just as Ezio did the same. "Who's there?" the older Assassin asked.
A man stepped toward them. He wore grey clothes along with a red cape and beret. The man had long sandy-brown hair and a beard. He looked exhausted and scared but relieved at the same time. Something else she noticed was the lack of weapons at his belt. Instead, he had a pouch overflowing with small rolls of parchment.
"Ezio!" the man exclaimed.
Ezio grinned. "Leonardo!" he returned.
"Ezio, I am so happy to see you!" he said. "I was worried when I heard about Monteriggioni. I thought... well, it does not matter." The man then looked at Harriet. "Who is your companion?" he asked curiously.
"Leonardo, meet Harriet Potter. Harriet, this is Leonardo da Vinci."
Harriet's mind blanked. "You're Leonardo da Vinci? The Leonardo da Vinci?! Him!?"
"Yes?" said the man in question, confused.
"I'm meeting Leonardo da Vinci. I'm meeting Leonardo da Vinci, the famous painter and inventor! Hermione is going to be so jealous!" she squealed excitingly. Then, she suddenly came back to her senses and realized what she'd just done. She had just acted like a fan-girl in front of someone! At her words Leonardo rubbed his neck in embarrassment. Ezio, the prat, burst out laughing. "Oh my God." she said, suddenly horrified. "I'm so embarrassed! I'm sorry, Mr. Da Vinci, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable!"
"That – that is alright." he said, flushing. Harriet looked down, flushing just like he was. She wished the floor could swallow her where she stood. She was so embarrassed of the first impression she had given about her to one of the most famous men in history – and an idol of hers and Hermione. She would never be able to look at the man in the eye again. It certainly did not help that Ezio kept laughing!
She elbowed him hard in the ribs, which made him slow down. "My apologies." he said. "It was just hilarious." At his words, Harriet groaned. She was never going to live it down. "So, what can we do for you, Leonardo? I presume this meeting had more to do than simply see me?"
"You would be right." Leonardo said. "I – before I say anything, I want to apologize."
"What ever for?" Ezio asked, confused.
Leonardo sighed. "The Borgias requested my services. Well, I say requested but coerced would be a better word. They would have killed me had I refused."
"What do they want from you?"
"They wanted me to use my expertise to design machines of war. I was forced to build weapons for the Borgia guards – along with other terrible monstrosities. Worst, they are very well designed."
"I wouldn't expect less from you." Ezio said. Despite said in a joking manner, Harriet did not miss the concern and wary in his voice.
"Yes – well – thankfully, I know which Templar agent oversee the construction of each design."
"How many are there?" the Assassin asked.
"Four." Leonardo answered. "One is an armoured, horseless chariot with multiple cannons, allowing it to fire in every direction. Another is a normal chariot with a highly developed miniature canon that can fire a bullet every second. Then, there is a gondola which fire projectiles capable of burning down the sails of a ship. Lastly, an improvement on my flying machine. It carry an incendiary canon which can create sources of fire on the fly – so to speak. Of course, it can also be used against wooden structures or human beings."
"That's..."
"Disgusting."
"Impressive." finished Ezio. "But disgusting as well."
"Yes. I worry of what the Borgias will do with these weapons in their hands."
Ezio smirked. "Do not worry, Leonardo. I will take care of it."
"Oh, thank you." he said, relieved. The two men shared a hug.
"After everything you did for me, it is only fair I help you in return."
"Thank you." Leonardo repeated. "Oh, before I forget, here is the list of the Templar agents, along with where they are known to be when they visit Rome."
"Thank you." returned Ezio, grabbing the roll of parchment Leonardo had given him.
"There is far graver news, I'm afraid." said Leonardo, suddenly grim. "They have the Apple." Harriet had no idea what he meant by the 'Apple'. However, it seemed Ezio did.
"I know." Ezio said sadly. "I gave it to Mario before the attack."
"I heard of what happened. I'm so sorry." Leonardo said. Also willing to show her support, Harriet grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it. He squeezed back. "Cesare gave it to me to study. Unfortunately, Rodrigo took it from me before I could do anything. He does not trust me."
"He know we are friends."
"Yes." said the man with a small smile. "I do not know where he took it, though."
A look of determination appeared on Ezio's face. "I will recover it in time." he said confidently.
"I hope you do." Leonardo said. "The Apple in their hands will be more dangerous than any of the weapons I could craft for them."
"Then it shall be our duty to recover it." he said. "However, I might need your help."
"Oh?"
"I lost some of the codex inventions in the attack." he said.
"Well, recreating them should not be a problem. I never forget a design." Leonardo said excitingly. "However, you will need to compensate me for the raw materials."
Ezio looked at Leonardo with amusement. "Oh? Do they not pay you at the Vatican?"
"Very, very little." said the inventor with a hint of frustration. Harriet's heart went out for the man. Forced to do build things he hated while being paid next to nothing for it. "I should be able to rebuild an invention every few weeks. But, if we are to do this, we will need to meet so discretely it would be like we were not meeting at all." Grabbing a chalk stick from one of his pouches, Leonardo drew a small hand on the nearest bench. Despite being done in less than a minute, it looked better than anything Harriet could have produced.
"What are you doing?" asked Ezio, confused. "Why are you drawing a pointing hand?"
"The hand point to where you should sit!" he said cheerfully. "So, sit!"
Ezio sighed in resignation and did as he was told. He sat in the middle of the bench. Leonardo, then pretending he had never met Ezio, approached the bench and sat down to Ezio's left. Not to be outdone, Harriet sat to his right. She realized that with both Ezio and her sitting in her Assassins robes, Leonardo did not look discreet at all. But, she decided not to burst the man's bubble.
"Now, what invention do you wish to get back?" Leonardo asked quietly.
"The second blade." Ezio answered, giving him a bag of money.
"Then I shall return to my workshop. Wait here." he said, raising on his feet. A few minutes later, the inventor had disappeared.
Ezio turned toward Harriet. "So, what was it all about?"
"All about what?" she asked.
"'I'm meeting Leonardo da Vinci! I'm meeting Leonardo da Vinci!'" he repeated. Harriet hid her red face in her hands, groaning.
"I'm never going to live that down, aren't I?"
"No." Ezio chuckled. She groaned again.
"Well, his work fascinate me. Let's keep it at that." she said.
"If this is your wish." he told her, still sounding amused. She elbowed him slightly in the ribs in response.
Wishing to change the subject, she blurted. "I might need to go to Britain... eventually."
Ezio turned to look at her. "What do you mean?"
"I have a magical problem." she said. "I consulted with Achille but he can't help me. He refered me to the headmaster of a school of magic in Scotland."
"When will you leave?" he asked quietly. Was Harriet wrong or did she hear a hint of sadness in his voice?
"I don't know." she shrugged. "The thing is – I don't have enough money to pay for a trip. And, I don't want to leave Rome and the Brotherhood either. I'm in a bit of a quandary."
Ezio hummed. "Will you come back after your trip?" he asked. "You will be home, after all."
"Yes – I will." she lied. In fact, she had no idea whether going to Britain would be a one way trip or not. It was possible the Headmaster of Hogwarts could send her back to the 1990s right then and there. If he or she could, there would be no point in returning to Rome. But, she did not want to admit it to Ezio. He would not understand why she could not return, not when she had committed herself to the Assassin Brotherhood.
"Well, the different Brotherhoods always help each other when they can. If the Brotherhood in Britain ever need some help from ours, we could send you. It would give you a chance to find solution to your own problems as well."
Harriet smiled. "Thank you." she said gratefully.
Leonardo came back a few hours later with something in his hands. It looked like a Hidden Blade but without the bracer surrounding it. It looked very bare. He sat back down on the bench and subtly gave it to Ezio. Ezio grabbed it and attached it to his right forearm. "Now I can kill double the guards." he said.
After sharing a quiet goodbye, Ezio and Leonardo departed. Harriet followed Ezio as they returned to Tiber Island.
"Now I can kill double the guards?" she quoted. "We sat down for hours and that's the best you could come up with?"
"What would you have said, Madam 'I'm meeting Leonardo da Vinci!'." he asked. He smirked when she elbowed him, blushing.
"I don't know. 'Twice the pride, double the fall'? The guards become more prideful everyday, after all."
"I suppose." he chuckled as they walked in the Headquarters.
With her three month course in magical combat completed, Harriet returned to exploring the city. It was something she had missed and was more than happy to do once again.
A month after Achille left Rome, Harriet could be found exploring the south of Rome when she suddenly heard the sound of crying nearby. It sounded like it came from a child. Curious, she went toward the source of the sound and found a small boy sitting on the edge of the Tiber river. He could not be older than six-year-old.
"What's wrong, boy?" she asked kindly, crouching next to him.
Sobbing, the boy explained. "They took my Mum on a boat. They said I will go on the next one!"
Harriet frowned, a feeling of disquiet building in her. The boy's mother had been taken on a ship? From the sound of it, it had been against her will. Her son had been forced behind but warned he would be taken as well. What kind of people would do that?
'Slavers.' It was the only answer she could come up with. Who else would abduct people and carry them out of Rome to Merlin knew where? But, who were these slavers?
"Who took your mother?" she asked.
"A man from the castle with guards came and arrested us! They scared me!" So, someone working for the Borgias, then. It must be a Templar agent.
"They are scary. You must have been very brave." she said, still with a kind voice. A small blush formed on the boy's cheeks, which made her smile.
"Will you bring my Mum back?" he asked with puppy-dog eyes. Harriet had never imagined she would be confronted with such eyes. Yet, here she was. It made it impossible for her to refuse, despite her worry that it might not be possible to find the boy's mother.
"Where did they take her?" she asked.
"Down the street." he answered. Harriet looked behind her to see the small street. The answer was very vague. Hopefully, her mother had only been captured recently. If it was the case, not only would it make it easier to find her but, it would mean she was still in Rome – unlike what the boy believed.
"Do you have somewhere to stay in the meantime?"
"I- I have an uncle." he said.
"You know where he live?" she asked him. The boy nodded. "Good. Go there. Don't stop to talk to anyone but your uncle. Your mother will meet you there once she is free."
"Thank you, madam!" the boy said, relieved. He promptly jumped on his feet and ran away, leaving her alone to think about the situation. A Templar was kidnapping people before shipping them off the city – most likely off to Italy. And, it was very likely they were sent somewhere to be bought as slaves. She glared at the thought of it. Thankfully, she could do something about it. She was an Assassin and refused to let innocents be brought to harm or families get separated again. Especially at the hand of a Templar.
She turned heels and went in the direction the boy had pointed her at. At first glance, the street was like any other street. But, as she walked its length, she noticed something on the ground. It was a small, brown purse often seen in the hands of women. She grabbed it and opened it. She found a small piece of parchment inside. It was a letter. While the letter did not contain any useful information, what she noted was who it was addressed to. Someone named Adriana Conti. She cursed softly, realizing she had forgotten something important. She had not asked the boy his mother's name. She had no idea if the boy's mother had received the letter or if she was planning on sending it. She put the letter in her pouch. The only way to find out the answer was to ask someone about it.
"Hey, you." she said, approaching a passing woman. "Do you know someone named Adriana Conti?"
"Her?" she exclaimed. The woman's expression reminded her greatly of that of her aunt whenever she talked about Harriet's mother. "What do you want with her?"
"Do you know her?" she asked.
"Possibly. Thought I wish I didn't."
Harriet sighed in exasperation. "Look, I just want to know about her. Who is she?"
The woman sniffed. "They say she came from a rich family. But, she went and got pregnant by a member of the Thieves' Guilt like some kind of whore! She and her son live here, now."
"What does she look like?"
The woman shrugged. "Long, black hair with blue eyes. Especially not beautiful – unlike what others may think!"
Harriet groaned mentally. Great... she was jealous of someone else's beauty. Really like Petunia Dursley, then.
"Do you know what happened to her?" she asked patiently.
"Why would I care?" the woman scowled. "It's not like I watch her every move."
Harriet sighed in frustration. "I'll ask someone else, then." she said. The woman huffed and turned her back on the Assassin, walking away. The younger woman rolled her eyes and went to talk to someone else. "Hi, do you know someone named Adriana Conti?"
"If I know her? 'Course I do! Nice woman, she is." answered the person she asked, a balding man in his late forties. He looked very jovial. "Really is a shame what happened to her."
"What do you mean?" asked Harriet.
"This morning, Adriana and her son Giacobbe were walking here when a man accosted her. He was accompanied by guards. I did not hear the exchange but I saw the man order her to do something. Adriana refused and the man slapped her. He then dragged away but not before saying threatening to her son, who ran away crying."
Harriet bristled at the tale. "Where did they bring her?"
The man's eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion. "Why?" he asked. "What's in it for you?"
"Nothing." she said truthfully. "I promised her son I would bring him back his mother."
"Oh." said the man, sounding apologetic. "Well, I believe they brought her to Palatine Hill."
"Thank you." she said. "One last thing. How do the man look like? The man who accosted her and slapped her?"
"He looked a bit strange. He has long, greasy hair and a goatee. He wear black and brown clothes with a cape of fur. He also has a metal arm."
"A metal arm?" Harriet blinked.
"Well, it looked like it. It was hollow and the hand looked like claws."
"I see." she said. "Well, thank you very much for your help, kind sir. Farewell."
"Please bring her back." he said. Harriet nodded and walked away.
Arriving at the end of the street, Harriet climbed up a building and ran on the rooftops until she arrived at her destination some thirty minutes later. For a moment, she feared she had been too late as the place was eerily quiet. Then, she heard a few pairs of footsteps. She quickly hid in shadows.
"You said you saw an Assassin come here?" asked a gruff voice. Harriet glanced from her hidden spot and found the metal-armed man the jovial man had talked about. He was accompanied by two guards.
"Yes, Sir Sabbatini." answered a guard next to the metal-armed man.
"Must have come here to save one of our prisoners." Sabbatini crackled. "Let him try."
Harriet stopped herself just in time from shouting she was not a 'Him'. Instead, she walked further away until she found a good climbing spot. Once on top of the walls, she returned to where the Templar agent stood and laid down on the stone, observing.
"So, did you find him?" Sabbatini asked to one of the guards.
"No, we did not." the guard answered.
"Well, keep looking!" the greasy-haired man exclaimed. Grumbling slightly, the man turned and walked away, leaving Sabbatini open. Harriet raised on her feet and pounced. The man only had time to turn in her direction before he was stabbed in the chest.
To her surprise, the man simply chuckled. "Well, it appear my time is due." he said. He did not sound like he cared.
"Where is Adriana Conti?" she asked.
"Her? Pretty thing, she was." said the man. "When I saw her, I thought I could use her as my own personal slave instead of sending her away. But, someone paid me good money for her. I sold her, unfortunately."
"So, you really are a slaver." she hissed. Grabbing him by the scuff of his robes, she brought his face closer to hers. "Where is she? Who did you sell her to?"
"A man in the Centro district."
"Who?"
Sabbatini laughed. "Belardino da Verona, Captain of the southernmost Borgia tower."
"What!?"
"Good luck getting her back." he chuckled. Then, the man's eyes rolled and he went limp, dead. Harriet dropped him back on the ground and closed his eyes. "May the powers that be judge your crimes accordingly. Requiescat in pace." She walked away, leaving the body where it laid to be found by the guards.
It took her another thirty minutes to travel to the southernmost Borgia tower of the district. As she overlooked the tower from her position on the rooftops, she wondered whether she should go with it or not. Even if she had not promised the boy she would get his mother back, she still wanted to kill the Captain for the simple fact he took in slaves. The problem was she didn't know whether she could kill him or not.
She remembered the words Ezio had shared to Anna months ago. He had not believed them ready to take on the captain of a tower by themselves, not until they had a few more months of training. It had been four months since then, yes, but for three of those months, Harriet had only trained in magical combat. She looked down at her right arm. On it was something that looked a lot like a hidden blade but, it wasn't. Instead, it was a wand holster that could be released with the flick of the wrist – just like the blade on her left arm. It was a parting gift from Achille.
Harriet sighed and looked back at the tower. There, at the entrance, she noticed a guard with a cape exit. It was obvious right away the guard was the captain. His clothes and armour looked fancier than everyone around him. And, he had a cape.
Unfortunately, for her, the entrance was under an arcade, which stopped her from assassinating him from the sky before he could react. Worse, the captain was surrounded by an entourage of guards, two guarding the entrance of the arcade, and the captain did not look like he intended to move anywhere else. It really left one option and it was to confront him face to face. Just what she didn't want. The only option she had if she wanted to take the captain by surprise was to run between the guards and hope she could kill him before he reacted.
Harriet climbed down the wall and blend in the crowd. She switched from group of people to group until she ended-up face to face with the arcade. Then, taking a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart, she jumped out and ran between two guards toward the captain, hidden blade released. The captain's eyes widened for a fraction of second before he caught her left arm, stopping the blade less than an inch from his neck. "Assassin!" he cried before kicking her away. All the guards around her drew their swords. Harriet cursed before doing the same.
With her sword in hand, Harriet began fighting the guards. She quickly discovered they fought in a pattern, allowing her to use it to her advantage. Using the skills taught to her by Ezio and Machiavelli, Harriet killed three guards in quick succession. Just as she was about to kill a fourth one, she was disarmed, to her shock and horror. Two guards grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away from the arcade and into the open street.
"Now, Assassin, you dared attack a captain of the Borgia guard?" hissed the captain.
"Oh, I had good reasons." she said cheekily.
"Oh? Really?" the captain said. He grabbed her hood and pulled it back, uncovering her face. The captain took a step back in shock. "I know you!" he exclaimed. "You're the Naked Witch!"
Harriet groaned. Great. They found out who she was. Well, if they knew she was a witch, no need to hide her talents. She withdrew her wand and, before any of them could react, cast the Shrapnel Curse. "Testa Ferri!" With a loud bang, multiple small pieces of metal shot out of her wand, piercing the captain and the two guards next to him. She shoved away the guards holding her. Too shocked, they did not react in time and Harriet quickly killed them. Around her, the crowd panicked and ran away, crying about witches and magic. Ignoring them, Harriet put her hood back to hide her face and ran toward the entrance of the tower.
When she entered, she found a woman inside. She was sitting on a chair and bound to it by ropes. She had long, black hair and blue eyes. Harriet was sure she would have looked very pretty, if it wasn't for the nasty bruises on her face. "Adriana Conti?" she asked. The woman blinked like someone who had just woken up.
"Yes... who are you?"
"A helping hand." Harriet answered, cutting down the ropes. "Can you walk?"
"Yes, I -" she suddenly shut up. She jumped on her feet. "Giacobbe! Where is my son! Please, don't help me! Help my son! They are going to take him!" she said hysterically.
Harriet shushed her. "Your son is fine, Madam." she said. "He is with his uncle!"
"Oh, thank God!" Adriana exclaimed. "He should be safe there."
"And so will you." she said. "Once you get to him."
"I will! Thank you, kind Miss!"
"Just go to your son." she said. Adriana nodded and ran out of the tower. Harriet glanced around and found a chest. Opening it, she found a pouch full of coins. She took it for herself before following the older woman out of the tower.
Once outside, she noticed many hands pointing at her. Harriet ignored them and turned to look back at the tower itself. With the captain now dead, there was no reason not to burn the tower down. Not doing so would leave it open to occupation by another captain. Not something she was willing to let happen. So, she climbed the nearest building, ignoring all those who were watching her.
Once on top of the tower some few minutes later, Harriet took the opportunity to look out to the city. It was the highest building she had climbed so far and it showed. From up there, Rome did not look that dangerous. It was beautiful, in fact.
Her concentration broke off when she began hearing bells sound frantically. From the sound of it, all of the bells in the city were doing the same thing. When she looked down, she saw the citizens run toward the buildings to hide in them. Curious, she decided to go down and see what was going on. She placed a retarded fire-making spell on one of the barrels of powder, which would activate sixty seconds after the spell was cast. She quickly climbed down the tower following that.
Just as she arrived on the ground, the top of the tower exploded as the wooden structure burst into flames. She grinned proudly upon seeing that.
Now on the street, she could see that the bells were not all that were moving frantically. So were the citizens. She stopped a woman who ran by her. "What's going on here?"
"The Naked Witch was sighed here." she answered quickly. "The whole city is on lock-down until they capture her." Then, she ran away.
The city was on lockdown? Because of her? 'Duh!' screamed her mind. 'You just used magic in front of everyone! Not only is it a crime punishable by death already, but you used magic to kill a top-ranking military officer!' Harriet suddenly felt fear as she understood what exactly was going on. The frantic bells she had heard? They served as an alert to everyone that something big was happening. Everyone was sent inside while the guards all converged on her position to capture her. The whole city would be after her.
"Oh shit!" she blurted aloud. "I need to return to Tiber Island fast!"
Harriet immediately began running through the streets. She had only turned two corners when she found fifteen guards all looking at her. They stilled for a moment before...
"WITCH!" screamed one guard, pointing at her. All ran toward her. Eyes widening, Harriet ran in the other direction only to find another group of guards. "KILL HER!" exclaimed another guard. Gulping, Harriet looked around for an escape. The only way she could was to climb to the roofs. So, she did. She ran toward the nearest wall and climbed up it.
"She's escaping!" barked a guard. As she climbed up, she was hit by a large rock on the arm. It startled her enough to temporarily loose grip of the ledge. She caught herself just in time to avoid falling down. She began climbing faster as rocks were pelted in her direction.
She thought she would be safe up on the roof, until she found herself face to face with the tip of a crossbow. She froze. "Got you, bitch!" exclaimed the crossbowman.
Harriet slowly raised her hands in the air. Just as the crossbowman was about to fire, she kicked him between the legs. The crossbowman fell down on his knees, hands to his crotch. He was groaning in pain. The crossbow fell down from the man's grasp. Believing him incapacitated enough to give her time, Harriet turned to run away. Unfortunately, she underestimated the pain tolerance of the crossbowman. Thus, she did not notice when he grabbed his crossbow and fired in her direction.
The bolt hit her just as she was about to jump from the edge of the roof. It planted itself on her right hip. Harriet screamed in pain and fell down the roof, landing on her left side. She was in so much pain she was tempted to stay down where she was until someone found her. But, she knew she couldn't. If she was found, she would be killed. She could not let it happen. For Ron, Hermione and Ezio, for the magical world and the Assassins, she had to live.
With a herculean effort, Harriet managed to raise on her feet despite the horrible pain she found herself in. She drew her wand and vanished the bolt. Blood immediately began pouring out of the wound. With another wave of the wand, she used a spell that stopped the blood from flowing out of her body. It was an emergency spell to be used in dire situations. It did not heal but helped give someone more time to find a healer or doctor. She also cast a numbing charm to reduce the pain.
Just as she put her wand back in its holster, she saw twenty guards turn a corner and run toward her.
"You, witch! Stay there!"
"How about fuck off?" she returned. She flipped them the finger and ran to the nearest ladder, which led her to the rooftops once more. Once there, she looked down to see three guards climbing the ladder up after her. Grinning mischievously, Harriet pushed the ladder with her feet. "No, no, no!" exclaimed the guards as they fell on their backs in the middle of the street. Harriet chuckled and ran away.
Harriet used the rooftops to reach Tiber Island. Along the way, she used her magic to dispatch any crossbowmen she found. On the rare occasion they managed to fire, she used a shield charm to stop their bolts. Unfortunately, as she reached destination, her movements became sluggish and slower. The numbing charm she had applied on her wound was slowly vanishing. The spell that kept the blood inside her body had already disappeared if the large red stain on her robes was anything to go by.
By the time she reached headquarters, the loss of blood and the pain made walking a complicated task. She only had time to bang on the door before her vision turned black. She felt herself hit the ground. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was Ezio's voice who cried her name.
Harriet was confused when she first opened her eyes. For a brief moment, she believed she was back in Margherita's villa. No, not Margherita's villa. She was dead. It was now her villa. Blinking, Harriet slowly raised. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, bringing a hand to her hip. Why was she feeling pain there all of the sudden?
The door of her room opened and Machiavelli entered. "Ah, you're awake!" he said, delighted. "Ezio will be happy! You have no idea how worried he was."
Ezio was worried for her? Why? What had happened. "Machiavelli?" she asked. "What's going on? Why am I in a bed and why does my hip hurt like someone stabbed it?"
"You – you don't remember?" he asked, confused. Harriet shook her head.
"No... what happened?"
"A few days ago, the city of Rome went in lockdown." he said, surprising her. "We quickly fished for information and found out the Naked Witch had been spotted killing the captain of a Borgia tower."
Harriet's mind was suddenly assaulted with multiple memories. Suddenly, she remembered. The boy who was crying. The Templar agent. The Captain and the tower. "I remember!" she exclaimed.
"Good." he sighed in relief.
"But, I wasn't naked." she blurted.
"That, we know. Everyone is speaking about how the Naked Witch was wearing the clothes of the Assassin." He then let out a small chuckle – like he remembered a joke only he knew about. "Let me fetch Ezio and you can tell us exactly what happened out there." he eventually said.
Harriet's eyes widened as Machiavelli left the room. She now remembered how Ezio had discouraged the recruits from going after Borgia towers together. Not only had she done that, but she had done it alone.
Machiavelli returned a few short minutes later with Ezio in tow. "I am relieved to see you awake." he said, sighing in relief. He sat down at her bedside. "What happened?" he asked.
"I – I don't know." she admitted. "The last thing I remember is burning down the Borgia tower. I think I remember a woman saying the city went in lockdown, but I'm not sure." she said.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" asked Machiavelli. "How did you end up burning down a tower?"
"Yes, especially since I told you and the others not to do so until you spent more time training." Ezio said, both disappointing and amused. Harriet flushed in embarrassment and shame.
"It wasn't my intention at the beginning." she said. She proceeded to explain how she had met a boy crying who told her about how a man had abducted his mother. From what the boy had said, it was either a Templar or someone working for the Borgias. So, she questioned people to find the mother, who she eventually tracked down to the Palatine Hill. Unfortunately, the woman was already gone by the time she arrived, though the Templar agent was still here. She killed him and found out that the mother had been sold as a slave to the captain of a tower. Having already promised she would give the boy his mother back, Harriet went to kill him. After killing some of his guards, the captain managed to disarm her. He then removed her hood and recognized her as a witch, which prompted her to use her wand and kill them with magic. Then, she saved the mother and burned the tower down. "That's all I remember." she finished. "What happened after? How did I end up injured?"
"We do not know." said Machiavelli. "All we know is the fact the Naked Witch killed a high-ranking officer of the guard, which put the city on lockdown."
It was Ezio who continued. "When the lockdown happened, all of the Assassins who were out came back. All except you. We were worried, believing you had been captured. An hour later, we heard someone knock on our door. Fearing it might be guards come to fight us, I went to open the door. What I found was you, on the ground and bleeding heavily."
"I was?" she gasped. Ezio nodded.
"It looked like it had been caused by the bolt of a crossbow. The injury was serious and deep. You lost a lot of blood. For a moment, we feared you would not survive." he said. Harriet paled. She hadn't known she had come that close to death.
"That explain why I feel so tired." she said. She suddenly yawned, which proved her point. "Is there anything else you wanted to know?" she asked them tiredly.
"Nothing urgent." answered Machiavelli. "Just rest. We will discuss later." Harriet nodded and laid back down on her bed. Machiavelli left the room, leaving Harriet and Ezio alone.
"You really worried me, you know?" he said quietly. "When I saw you, I thought..." She was shocked at how much pain there was in his voice. And, she knew it was because of her.
"I'm sorry" she blurted. "I'm so sorry."
Ezio passed a hand in his hair. "Next, time, please bring backup with you, will you?" he said. Harriet nodded. Anything to make Ezio happy.
The man in question looked at her. Then, to her shock, he approached and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He then left the room after telling the shocked woman to rest.
"How am I supposed to rest after he kissed me?" she huffed. Despite sounding frustrated, she could stop neither the blush nor the grin from forming on her face.
A/N: Harriet's escape from the tower with everyone chasing her is inspired by the first Assassin's Creed, in case some people hadn't made the connection.
Oh, and Harriet and Ezio start showing more affection toward each other because I love FLUFF!