Co-Authored by doenerkint, check out his profile, he does some great work.

Author's Note: This chapter is a bit information heavy. It is longer than the previous chapters as a result. Next chapter will be more Lara-centric.

If you're interested in a great community, check out the Harry/Fleur discord, discord dot gg / flowerpot

'Thoughts'

(Radio when in conversation)

FIVE - 'Piece' of Mind

Bill Weasley walked across the short expanse of ground on his way to the Burrow. His meeting with his boss was firmly on his mind.

"It seems that Potter has gone missing," said Bognuk, as he threw a small bronze trinket onto the table, a ring with another ring on the inside.

"It still spins," observed Bill, "slow, but it's still spinning."

The goblin agreed with a grunt. "We suspect he's under wards, powerful ones at that. Are you aware of the nature of his assignment?"

Bill shook his head quickly. "I haven't been told yet. I only just arrived this morning."

Nodding to himself, Bognuk reached into his drawer and retrieved a roll of parchment, which the goblin handed to the seasoned cursebreaker. "You'll have plenty of time to read it thoroughly later, but the main fact is that Potter was instructed to join a muggle group of archeologists who believed to have discovered the location of the island of Yamatai."

Bill Weasley looked at the life-marker meaningfully, coming to a quick conclusion. "You think he found it."

"We do," the goblin confirmed with a single nod, "and if that is any indication, the magic of Yamatai yet thrives."

The oldest Weasley son picked up the life-marker, and watched the inner ring spin, it was slow, terribly slow. "What is my assignment?"

"It's simple, really. You will follow his figurative tracks. What we know of them is in the parchment I've just handed to you, it includes everything the muggle institution knew."

Bill studied the smooth roll in his hand before returning his gaze to the small and yet imposing figure opposite of him. "Who else was sent with him? I'd like their files too."

The goblin's eyes grew thinner before his jaw tensed at the question. "I'm afraid you won't be able to find anything further on the matter. Mr Potter was sent on this assignment on his own. The nature of it did not permit anyone else to serve as support. It was difficult enough getting him into it as it was. Those muggles were rather, distrusting." Seeming convinced that the point was moot, Bognuk checked the clock on the wall, "Our time is up, you may leave, everything you need is in there," added the goblin with another gesture to the parchment.

His thoughts on the encounter ended there and the present came back in full force. The door to the Burrow was open with people moving around on the inside. It was a Sunday, he realised, and everyone liked to gather for late breakfasts, especially if they weren't able to make it to lunch. This was good, it meant he could tell everyone at once, except his wife, she took the opportunity while he was away on work to visit with her family and would only be arriving back home sometime over the next two days.

Once he'd reached the door, the mouthwatering scents of his mother's cooking wafted towards him. He'd have liked nothing more than to sit at the already laid table and dig in, but his news weighed too heavily. The room, he noticed, was full. Everyone, bar his wife and daughter, was present.

"Bill!" His mother was the first to see him, and immediately placed the dish in her hands onto the table so that she could smother him in a hug. "Oh, you're back. Sit, sit, I've just begun dishing up."

The others in the room greeted him too, with Ginny coming over to give her eldest brother a hug as well. "We thought you said you'd be back next week, at the earliest."

"Welcome back, son. Come sit with us," said his father, who remained seated at the table on account of the packed room.

"Thanks, but I actually came to share something with you," he sighed.

Those present now took note of his lack of enthusiasm for being home.

"Is it Fleur?" Molly enquired with a worried glance. "Is she alright?"

Bill quickly waved his mother off. "Everything is fine. Fleur is fine. She's not why I'm here."

"Then what is it?" asked Ron, a half-eaten meat pie in his hand. Hermione took a seat beside Ron and joined the others in curiosity, their sharp stares boring into him.

It wouldn't do to beat around the bush, best to just say it. "I just came out of a meeting with my boss. Harry's gone missing."

The room was dead quiet for a few mere seconds before it exploded in a cacophony of worried voices, demanding information. Bill made an attempt to answer, but his own voice was being drowned out by his family members. A sudden bang silenced the room.

His father, the most level-headed of all the Weasley's, had his wand drawn, which had a small puff of smoke whispering from its tip.

Bill offered his father an appreciative glance who nodded in response. His mother was at his side with a fearful expression on her face as her hand clenched her robes. She would often do that whenever Bill spoke of the service.

"Have any of you spoken with Harry before he left? Has he mentioned anything about where he was going or what he was sent to do?" Bill asked, noticing only blank stares except for one knowing pair.

"Yamatai," answered Hermione. "Harry told me he would join a muggle expedition that was funded to find it. I read up on it a bit. He didn't give me all the details, but I found a bulletin on one of the academic exchange pages that mentioned a successful launch of a research project into Japanese history in the southern waters of Japan."

"It's the University College London, a muggle school," she added, having noticed a few confused looks in the room. "It wasn't difficult to find, the lead archaeologist is pretty famous, and it was the only expedition that had remotely anything to do with what Harry mentioned."

"Sounds about right," Bill confirmed, giving Hermione a kind smile.

"That was a few weeks ago. He provided updates with us for the most part but has gone silent since a few days ago. We don't know what happened, but we assume that something has gone horribly wrong."

Bill raised his hand quickly to stop the next cacophony of panic. "Harry's alive, we know at least that much. We have tools that were able to confirm that he is fine. However, we think that his silence is due to some sort of magical shielding, most likely a strong ward that we don't know of. Our Japanese colleagues have confirmed that such wards existed in the past but that any knowledge of them was believed to have been lost sometime before or after the end of the Yayoi period."

Hermione frowned but kept silent and let him continue.

"Without knowing how they function, we can't ascertain Harry's whereabouts. The sign of life we do receive confirms he's well, but it also confirms that he's clearly in trouble and that he needs help."

"I don't follow," Hermione uttered while the others sat deflated on their chairs. "What makes you and the goblins think as much?"

Bill tried to hide the smile that grew on his face but failed miserably. 'Trust Hermione to ask the important questions.' "We think the wards he's under are far more powerful than Hogwarts' ever were on their best day."

The last detail had Hermione's eyes widen in shock. The wards at Hogwarts were among the strongest in the world.

Bill pulled a seat out to sit down and crossed his arms on the table. "Gringotts has two agendas as far as I can tell. First, they want to know what the hell is going on, and two, if Harry's disappearance confirms the discovery."

"Sounds rather harsh," Ron noted for the first time, he scrunched his nose and furrowed his brow, "They've got their priorities all tangled up. They should be looking out for him and not some bloody rock in the middle of the damn sea."

"Why'd they tell you, though?" asked his father instead, ceasing his youngest son's angry rap. "Can't imagine the goblins took the time out just to keep you informed."

"They aren't that considerate," confirmed Bill. "No, dear old Bognuk wants me to try and find Harry, or rather, 'find what Harry's found.' We're leaving this afternoon for Japan."

"We?" asked his mother.

"My team and some legal bloke who deals with muggles."

"Take us with you."

Everyone turned to find Ron staring at Bill with a rare seriousness. Though Hermione hadn't spoken, Bill could see the same determination in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can't."

Ron began to argue, "That's my be–," when Hermione cut him off.

"You can't stop us," Hermione stated plainly.

The youngest Weasley son turned to her, before returning his gaze to his brother with a challenging smirk.

"We need to go after them," panicked Lara. "They're going to get themselves killed."

Harry nodded. "I'll get us packed, try and find out where they are exactly," he said, but Lara was already on it. She pressed the button on her walkie-talkie.

"Alex, this palace, where is it?"

(Kcrhhhhh)

"Alex, come in! The palace, where is it!?"

(Kchrhh chhhh)

"Alex! Talk to me!"

(Kchrchh)

A frustrated and worried Lara felt Harry's presence behind her, she turned, and found him there, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Nothing," she concluded with worry bobbing her lip.

"It's possible they're just out of range or the terrain blocks the signal," reasoned Harry as he gave the environment a meaningful glance. "You saw those old radio relay stations? I'm guessing the people who were stuck here before us had the same problem."

"Maybe," she pondered his words. "Or Reyes turned their radio off," she offered instead. "The noise could attract attention if they're trying to be quiet."

"Perhaps," Harry agreed. "But we still need to find them."

A thought crossed his mind and Harry frowned. "If," he paused, clenching his jaw.

"If?"

"If we can find someone, one of the islanders, we could get the location from them."

"What do you mean? I don't think they'd-," began Lara, before her eyes widened. "Wait– You don't mean we…"

Harry shook his head at the possible images in her mind. "It's not what you think," he assured her quickly. He really ought to phrase things better. "There's a way to extract information from a subject without any harm coming to them."

Lara eyed him with confusion twisting her features, but she gave him the time to go on with his explanation.

"Alright, so, with magic, there are tools, methods that we can use to get the truth out of someone. It's used in law enforcement, and in some instances, academics. It is… dangerous when abused."

He could taste the bile rising in his mouth at the images crossing his mind. Pictures of Snape, of Tom, of ghostly faces dancing in his head. They taunted him. Reminding him that some things are best forgotten.

"One way," he breathed, "is a potion. It's perhaps the most relatable thing you could think of. A truth serum in a manner of speaking. Unfortunately, it is highly controlled, and difficult to produce, not something I have on hand."

"How does it work?" She knew the concept, they were common in spy films, there was even science behind it. Psychoactives and anaesthetics used to open someone up to suggestions. She was not a conspiracy theorist, but even she would admit that a 'truth serum' was far more believable than any number of things she'd witnessed Harry accomplish.

Having observed the changes in her demeanour, he was glad that she understood what he was proposing. He also took note of an uncanny sense of curiosity.

"Two or three drops on the tongue, and you're compelled to answer any questions truthfully. Trying to stay silent is hardly possible. Have you had that urge to say something? A question or an answer that was just desperate to be voiced? Now imagine that, but the longer you try to hold back, the more intense the feeling becomes."

"From the few times I've seen it used in trials though, most don't fight it, and just sorta fall into this sense of calm, where they blab out whatever truth they believe."

The way he phrased it didn't go over her head. So, she prodded him. "Whatever truth?"

He smiled ruefully, and then sighed. "There's a slight hic-up when using it. It's what makes it a bit tricky when it's used in a court."

"And that is?"

"Truth is not fact," he shrugged with a wry line to his mouth. "The tru– the Veritaserum, as we call it, can only bring forth the truth the subject feels is the truth. The serum in and of itself, while magical in nature, doesn't make someone all-knowing. It can't compel them to speak a truth that they simply don't know."

"So, if I believed something to be true, even if it is actually false," she began, mulling the next part of the sentence over in her head.

"Is whatever truth you will speak."

The reasoning made sense to her, but as interesting as the truth serum was, he'd said that it was not something he had, so there must be something else. "You mentioned methods, plural, since this truth potion isn't feasible, I'm assuming you have another idea, one we could use?"

He nodded. "Other than the Veritaserum, there's what we call legilimency. It's a spell, from a very finicky class of magic, mind arts."

Lara's eyes widened at the implication in his words "Mind arts? You can read minds?"

Something in her voice sent his senses on edge, a slight tremble in her tone. She sounded scared again. He wished he could calm her nerves, tell her she had nothing to fear. But who would he be fooling here? Legilimency was a terrifying, overpowering art. An illegal, banned art for a reason.

"The spell is indeed dangerous. It is especially dangerous to people who have no defence against it. But not many know of it, and far less can even use it. It's broken into two methods, an active one, which involves pointing a wand and casting the spell, and trust me, there is no subtlety at all."

The other," he continued, "Is more passive, and only a real master in the mind arts is capable of it. It allows someone to get a glimpse of surface thoughts through eye contact. In my entire life, I've only met three people capable of it, two of which were easily the most powerful wizards in over fifty years, and the third was a veritable genius in the mind arts."

He paused, to take a breath before continuing, "Myself, personally, the first one, with the wand I could manage, and that's only because my bosses require us to at least be capable of the basics, but the passive method. I couldn't pull it off to save my life, and even if I were able to. I've had bad experiences being on the receiving end of legilimency, to just go around reading everyone's minds. I'd never–" and he surprised himself with the amount of vitriol that bled into his voice.

He shook his head again, pushing down on old memories again. Of a snakelike voice, face, eyes. The taunts still dared to haunt him to this day.

Lara listened intently and visibly calmed after he had replied to her question, albeit indirectly. Reading minds was a terrifying ability, and the only assurance she had that he was not lying was his word. Despite this, Lara considered herself a good judge of character, the people she'd surrounded herself with over the years were evidence to that. Whether it was a trick, a play on her mind by him, she couldn't say, and to even go down that rabbit hole would turn her into a paranoid mess.

No, he had every opportunity if he'd meant her harm. She would trust her gut, and it was saying that Harry, the man she'd come to know, was genuine.

After he fell into an awkward silence in which his gaze grew into a thousand-yard stare, she moved to touch his arm.

He jerked slightly at the touch, looking down to notice her roughed up fingers circling around his lower arm in a gentle but firm hold. When he raised his eyes to glance at her, he saw her smile.

"I trust you, Harry Potter."

Her vote of confidence was more valuable to him than any gold in his vault. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. As always, he wore his emotions on his sleeve, and the relief he'd felt had been clearly visible to Lara.

Something he'd said did bother her greatly though. "The passive one, it's unnoticeable?" She frowned, the thought that someone could read her mind by looking into her eyes was not a pleasant one.

"Yes, and no, you can become more attuned to it, and once you're able to feel it, the easiest way to stop it is then simply a matter of breaking eye contact."

"Can you teach me?" asked Lara, biting her lip.

The question was completely unexpected. Not even Magical's ever really showed an interest in the art, unless they sought employment as Auror or perhaps Unspeakable.

He understood where Lara was coming from. She was clearly curious to learn new things and unapologetic about it. Same as someone else he knew. 'They'd get along splendidly.'

"Technically, yes, you could learn the art of defending your mind. It's all a matter of feeling and willpower too, you don't have to be a witch," he confirmed for her. But before she could urge him to teach her, he raised a hand to halt her enthusiasm. "There're just a few kinks in there that may give you pause."

His vague reply didn't do much to dissuade her, but she remained quiet for him to elaborate.

"Teaching it is intensely personal. The only genuine way to learn Occlumency is to experience legilimency. I'd have to use the spell on you, look inside your mind, so that you could feel the sensation of someone else's consciousness. Until then, your mind is totally exposed to me. I could pick and choose every single memory you hold dear, you would know what I saw, it would be as if memories are being dragged forward, and I'd be seeing them with you."

She swallowed once he finished explaining. "Ok?"

"That is before you acquire the skill to repel me. And with each bit of growth, you will experience pain as I force my way. To learn enough that you're able to feel someone is relatively quick, to reach a point where you could throw off even the wanded approach, is far harder."

"I see," she muttered slowly.

"I don't think you quite do," he replied instead. "Until you're able to mask your thoughts, you will suffer, and suffer, and suffer. It's like getting a splitting headache, on repeat."

"Then how can I learn it without pain?" She posed instead.

"It… can be done," he offered candidly before his features told her to curb her enthusiasm, "but that would take years. Decades even if you're a slow learner. I wouldn't worry about rushing things too much, honestly, the vast majority of witches and wizards aren't capable of either in the slightest."

Any reply she could think of was stuck in her throat. He was obviously being honest and considerate of her, as well as upfront about the risks they both would take.

Though she trusted him, she still did not want him anywhere near her secrets.

"Perhaps we best table this for another time."

A weight fell off his shoulders as he relaxed at her suggestion. "Another time, yes."

Harry took a deep breath, audible in the silence which followed.

"Very well, are we doing this, then?" he asked quickly, moving on from their previous conversation. He glanced knowingly at the cave entrance

"Sorry?"

"We still have to find someone, so that we can learn where this palace is?"

His words from earlier echoed in her mind. "I don't like it, but… We don't really have much of a choice either."

"It happens… Being forced to do something that goes against your principles, is a terrible thing. In the end, you have to weigh your options," said Harry, with a tone of weariness to his voice, as his thoughts drifted to dark caverns beneath a bank, and a hastily cast imperius curse.

He walked out of the cave, with Lara moving quickly to join him. "I– I can understand that," replied the young woman being forced to learn it all.

They were pleasantly surprised to find relatively clear skies awaiting them, only the barest drizzles still falling.

"Which way do you think?" asked Harry.

"North, towards the ruins," answered Lara as she began the trek into the woods. "If we can return to the clearing from last night, we might find some men there, at the least we should be able to follow their trail."

"Hm," she agreed, "good point."

They'd already been walking for a while, mostly in silence, when the wizard of the pair rummaged in his bag as they walked, finding what he was looking for, he removed some Honeydukes bars. "Here," he said, holding out a slab to her.

Lara looked at him quizzically as she accepted it, "Chocolate?"

"We didn't exactly have breakfast, it'll do for now. It's that or rations," he shrugged.

"'Honeydukes' Best Chocolate'," read Lara. "I've never come across these before." She began to unwrap it as they found their path.

"You wouldn't have. Honeydukes is a wizarding store. I'd have been surprised if you had."

"Wait, so is this like magic chocolate?" asked Lara, inspecting the dark slab, trying to find any minute differences.

"Merlin's Beard, no," laughed Harry. "It's just chocolate. Very good chocolate mind you, but nothing weird about it."

Lara shrugged. "That's a shame…" She took a bite and savoured the taste. "This is good."

"I do have some magical sweets if you're ever keen. None of the really weird stuff, but I think you'll find what I have amusing."

"Oh, how so?"

"I've some 'Every Flavour Beans', and when I say every flavour, I mean every flavour, I also have a pack of Toothflossing Stringmints, my friend Hermione insists I keep some, her parents are dentists," he added at the end.

"Tooth-flossing?"

"Mhm, they floss your teeth as you suck on them."

"That's certainly… innovative," mused Lara, wondering what that might be like.

"You'd think so, but have you ever tried to speak while flossing?" countered Harry.

Lara frowned at that before giving him an agreeing nod. "I can see how that might be an issue."

"Do you have anything to drink?" she asked, the sweetness of the chocolate had made her thirsty.

"Oh, take this," he said, reaching into his bag again to remove a relatively small flask. "It's water, it'll refill itself."

"Thank you," said Lara, unscrewing the cap to drink. Once she had her fill, she tried to return it, but he raised his hand in rejection.

"Keep it. I've got plenty of those," he explained, showing her another, which he took a sip from. "Never know when you'd need an extra."

"I feel like I'm saying this a lot, but thank you, again," said Lara meaningfully, her gratitude clear in her voice.

Harry stopped and watched her slip the flask into her pocket. "You don't have to thank me."

Right then, a sound carried by the wind reached them through the thicket.

'Voices?' thought Harry, it was very faint, but he was certain that was the sound of someone shouting. He flicked his wand to his hand. "Homenum Revelio"

"There are three, that way, fifty, maybe sixty metres," said Harry, tapping his glasses with his wand, activating a set of enchantments. The forest in his eyes melded into a blend of colours, before becoming translucent. Harry was now able to see through the trees, getting a clear image of the two men.

He watched them shake off the shiver brought on by his spell, it was a strange feeling when it passed over you. "One is yelling at the other two, he's pointing out into the woods in different directions. They left, brilliant, that leaves only the one for us to deal with."

Lara, now with a serious expression on her face, slipped one of her guns from its holster. She nodded at Harry. She held it with an ease that made Harry's instincts recognize her for how potentially dangerous she could be.

He took the glasses off, blinking a few times to readjust his eyes, before handing them to her. "Try to look through the trees."

"Don't you need them to see?" she asked, accepting them slowly as she looked into his bright green eyes. She much preferred seeing them without the bulky frame and lenses obstructing the view.

"No– well I used to, until I had my eyes fixed. Now, they're for their enchantments."

"Pity," she stated as her gaze focused on him directly, "they hide your eyes."

His ears grew warm at that.

"They're a bit too useful to forgo," countered Harry quickly as she slipped them on, the heavy frame resting on the bridge of her nose.

"They suit you," commented Harry. After leaving Hogwarts, he'd somehow gained a bit of a thing for a woman in glasses, especially one that looked amazing with and without them.

Lara failed to notice his reaction, too preoccupied with suddenly being able to see through the dense treeline.

"Where do I get a pair of these?" she asked in breathless amazement.

"That would have to wait until we're off the island," chuckled Harry, having stamped his blush under control. Occlumency certainly had its uses at times.

The enthused archaeologist was about to return them, though a tad reluctantly. "Wait–" she started, pulling her hand back with the glasses now out of his reach. "You can't like…see through clothing with these, can you?"

"Uh, it's certainly possible," he shrugged, reaching for them, and frowning slightly when she tugged them away again, "but you'd have to actively focus on it. You'd have to want to see."

She nodded to herself before her brow rose in question and her eyes gave him an odd look.

"Did you?"

"Did I, what?"

"Want to see?" Her face remained entirely neutral, masking her emotions, with not a semblance of anger visible.

He couldn't tell whether she was asking as a joke, or whether she was asking for different reasons.

His heartbeat sped up at the possible answers he could give. Only he couldn't even decide what he'd tell himself.

He stared at her for a few moments, letting the silence between them grow pregnant before it became awkward.

However, his silence wasn't rewarded with dismissal. She continued to look at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, the glasses still in her hand between them.

"Only if you'd let me." It wasn't an answer deserving to be called an answer, but it had to do. If nothing else, it was at least honest.

Lara studied his face for a moment before finally handing his glasses back over. "Ok."

"If it would make you feel any better. I could keep them off when we're not out and about? I really don't mind, I mostly wear them all the time out of habit anyway." He felt like he had to backpedal, mend whatever damage he had done. Even if her reaction neither confirmed nor denied his assumption.

She shook her head, "Thank you, but it's alright, you can continue wearing them if you'd like."

Lara didn't let on how she received his earlier reply, but her smile seemed to have given him relief.

Glad that the odd moment between them was over, Harry smirked at her, a bit of mischief glinting in his green eyes. "This is going to feel a little weird."

With a small tap on the top of her temple with his wand, Lara felt as if he'd cracked a raw egg on her head. The gross sensation sent a squirm through her, prompting her to check if he had indeed decided on a bout of random mischief. She lifted a hand to feel for a possible mess on her head and held back a gasp when she found her arm near invisible.

"Disillusionment charm."

She then watched him perform the same spell on himself. It was fascinating to see him slowly vanish, leaving nothing but the faintest distortion in the air, like staring through thick glass. Though he did have his invisibility cloak stored away in his bag, in situations like these, he found it cumbersome. There was also the risk of it getting caught on the brush.

"Stay right behind me," came Harry's disembodied voice from right in front of her.

"Not exactly an easy task," noted Lara, "I can't see you."

"Oh, sorry, my bad. I'm an idiot. Hold on."

Lara felt his hand softly touch the side of her head before the cold wire of his glasses came to rest upon her face again, a small wand tap on them made her flinch slightly. "Ah, I can see you now, can you still see me though?"

"No, but magic leaves traces, I can get a sense of where you are," said Harry as he stealthily began to make his way through the trees towards their target. "I'll hit tall, gruff and grumpy over there with a stunner once we're in the clearing."

Yuri grumbled as he fiddled for his flask. Mathias, the fucking mudak, had them searching the woods all fucking night. For all they knew, the girl was killed by a wolf. Vlad's body had bite marks, so it is possible.

What did it even matter though? It wasn't as if she could do anything to stop them. Besides, the other girl, the Yaponskiy, was the important one. Yuri removed a pack of cigarettes which he'd managed to loot from one of the dead shiphands.

He lit it and took a deep pull, savouring the taste of tobacco. Cigarettes were gold to them. Luckily, nobody had seen him abscond with them.

He sighed as he felt the light tingle of nicotine, it had been too long.

A rustle in the nearby bush drew his attention. He turned to face it but found nobody.

"Stepan! Pyotr! Is it you?" He called out in Russian, receiving no response. To be honest, he didn't want them to come back soon. They'd demand he share his cigarettes with them, and he was not in the mood for sharing.

Surveying his surroundings, and still finding nothing, he relaxed, until another rustle had him stand and shoulder his rifle, with his cigarette held between his lips.

A branch snapped, and he spun quickly to face its direction, only to be met with a flash of red light and then darkness.

"What are you doing?" asked a now visible Lara as she stood over the downed and tied up form of the islander. "More wards?" she guessed.

Harry, who was doing a quick proximity ward, nodded. Lara let him do his thing while she checked the man's pockets, other than the rifle he also had a handgun, which to Lara's relief, used the same .45 calibre as her own. She also found a lighter, a knife, and a near full pack of Marlboros, which she tossed aside, taking no note of it landing in a spot of mud.

"Want to keep this?" she heard Harry ask over her shoulder, the wizard having rejoined her. He was holding the man's rifle and inspecting it with a curious expression.

"Why not, I'm sure it could fit in that bag of yours," reasoned Lara, before quickly taking it from him and disarming it for storage. She handed it back to him and watched him drop the now safe gun into his mokeskin bag.

"We should get this over with," he said with his eyes on the dirty man on the ground.

Lara nodded and stepped back.

Before he aimed his wand at the man, Harry halted. He turned to look at her, his eyes and face already apprehensive. "However this goes, don't think badly of me."

She glanced down at the unconscious man, when Sam's face crossed her mind and Lara found that sometimes, things boiled down to their essence.

"I won't," she said to him, before refocusing on the man. Her voice turned so cold that it may have been someone else entirely. "As long as you don't hold what I'll do to them against me, if I find out they've hurt her."

Their captive groaned, causing the pair to turn their attention fully to him. Harry sighed at what was about to take place.

"For what it's worth," he said to the dazed man before gaining a hard look in his eyes and training his wand at him.

"I'm not a fan of it either."

The man gasped in pain and shock as he felt his body pulled up and forced onto his knees in a sitting position.

"Wha-"

"Look at me," ordered Harry, forcing his neck to turn.

The man flinched as he met Harry's eyes.

"Legilimens!"

Harry hated the feeling of using legilimency.

It was uncomfortable to rummage through someone's mind. Granted he'd barely ever used it. From his limited experience, he knew they fought back instinctively, and everything you saw was in flashes, like a film being skipped through and rewinded at random. Finding the information you were looking for was a bit tricky, you had to prompt the person, guide them into thinking of what it is you were searching for, and then follow the memories.

"The palace, where is it?"

His voice thundered in the man's mind.

A massive structure in the style of Ancient Japan, built in two parts with a bridge connecting them.

"The girl, where is she?" Harry pushed an image of Sam into his mind.

Sam, terrified, her hands tied as a large man pushed her, yelling as she nearly tripped.

"How do we get there?"

A path, north, a settlement, a place to shelter, a monastery, a ravine, cliffs, a bridge, the palace, Himiko.

He had what they needed. He let go of the spell. The man slumped to the ground and gasped as sweat matted his hair against his skin. A quick stunning charm returned him to unconsciousness, along with some minor memory modification that would ensure their interrogation went unnoticed. He stared at who he now knew to be Yuri Petrov, one of the more recent members of the Solarii, their little cult. He was a deep-sea fisherman whose boat had crashed on the island's shores nearly three years ago.

"He won't remember anything."

Harry turned cautiously to see Lara's reaction. He found her slightly pale.

Noticing his attention on her, she met his eyes. What she'd just seen was terrifying, the amount of power Harry could exert over another individual was no laughing matter. Until then, she'd seen him do some pretty amazing things with magic, but this was the first time he'd shown her the other side of it. An ominous, more frightening side. They'd already spoken about what he was going to do, but seeing it was entirely different.

She understood his earlier reservations then. The fear that by showing her this side of magic, of what he was capable of, that she'd choose to reject him.

Lara knew he needed reassurance, for all her words before, how she reacted now would be the real make or break moment.

"I admit, this was completely different from what I thought it would look like. But it doesn't matter. What I said earlier still stands," she said, and found that she meant it. Instead of repeating what she'd told him before, she placed her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

He searched her face for the truth, and she could see when he found it. The relaxing of the strong muscles beneath her hand, the softening of his deep green eyes, which she mentally noted were still without his glasses. He hadn't put them back on after she returned them. A little detail that filled her with fondness.

Harry, now with lightened shoulders and a small smile tugging at his lips, born out of relief, and joy.

He licked his lips. "For all the unpleasantness, I'm glad to report that we got what we came for."

"You know where Sam is?" asked Lara eagerly, stepping into his space. "Where!? How do we get there?"

"That way," pointed Harry to the side, "There's quite a distance between us. How the others managed to track them all the way at night is really something."

"Reyes," answered Lara, gaining a curious look from Harry. She continued with a shrug, "You'd be surprised."

"Anyhow, we should move," He pointed his wand at Yuri Petrov, and removed the conjured bindings. "To hide our tracks."

Harry and Lara gaped as they rounded a cliffside. The pair had been hiking for the better part of the day, and thankfully, the lack of rain had allowed them to make considerable progress. Harry understood and had explained to Lara previously that the weather on the island was being influenced. Even knowing this, they did not expect to turn a corner and find themselves in the deep of winter, with patches of snowfall littering the landscape.

"...It's snowing," observed Lara, incredulously.

"I am not looking forward to facing whatever or whoever is causing all of this…," said Harry.

He knew of weather charms used in greenhouses, but those were small and localised. The scale at which things were being affected on the island was unheard of, there was a primality to it, a rawness that unnerved him.

"You don't think it could really be related to Himiko, do you?"

"I wouldn't rule it out." He resumed their trek. "Magic like this, there is no way it could be done by any one witch or wizard, at least not naturally. The only way I could think of somebody accomplishing anything at this scale, would be ritualistic in nature, requiring drawing from the land, or sacrifice."

She looked at him curiously. "During the pre-Columbian era, human sacrifice was common in Maya culture. There's evidence of it as far back as the Classic period."

Harry nodded, glancing at her, and nearly hitting his head against an overhanging branch. He ducked underneath it. "I mentioned before about there being power in life?"

"You did," answered Lara, deftly avoiding the same branch.

"Sacrifice is common in rituals, especially those of a dark nature. For the kind which had truly great effects, such as the onset of plagues, or preventing famine, an incredible amount of power was needed. Power that in some cases, could be found in the land, but those required awfully specific conditions to be drawn upon, and were dangerously volatile. In other cases, it came from human sacrifice, a practice which has thankfully been outlawed for centuries, and carries some of the steepest punishments possible.

Lara appeared thoughtful for a moment. "There are records in some cultures where the purity of the offering was a necessity. Did it really matter?"

"Mhm, it did. It depends..." He trailed off, before continuing, "Not all ritual magic required people, as I'm sure you know," noted Harry.

She nodded, she was well aware of different practices, her mind on some of the lectures she'd attended. "Animals were common, the Ancient Greeks and Romans both used them."

"There are some obscure rituals as well, which require an object of importance, or even memories. Though, in the current day, most rituals bar a few approved ones are banned and removed from the general syllabus."

He pointed to his eyes, the bright green shining in the white light reflecting off the snow. "The magic which corrected my poor eyesight is one such ritual, a minor one which used some relatively common ingredients. Annoyingly, I had to wait until I was 21, when the eyes stopped growing, before I could undergo it."

Lara smiled, "It's more or less the same with laser eye surgery, it's possible from 18, but encouraged to wait until your 20's."

As Harry squeezed underneath a broken wooden strut which was all that remained of some structure that must have once stood there.

"We must be not far from the settlement," observed Lara, before she stopped, having noticed something rather large, and with many legs crawling on Harry's back.

"Hold still for a moment," she said rather abruptly.

Harry followed her instruction, glancing towards her and noticing her eyes on his back. That's when he felt the soft taps of movement through his jacket. Not knowing exactly what it was, he opted for keeping the fuck still.

He watched as Lara picked up a thick stick and held it like a baseball bat with a serious expression on her face. Her eyes fixed on whatever was on his back.

"Lara?" He questioned warily, trying to keep the movement brought on by speech to a minimum.

She shushed him.

Adopting a baseball batter stance, she met his eyes, "Don't move," and swung.

Being prepared lessened the impact, but it still hurt. "That's going to bruise," he groaned.

Hearing the sound of the stick hitting the ground. He turned to find Lara beating the ever-living daylights out of a very big and hairy spider.

Satisfied that it was dead, she tossed the stick aside. "Huntsman spider. I hate those."

He blinked. "Wish I had you along when I had to meet Aragog…"

Lara looked at him in confusion, prompting an explanation.

"Spider, size of a car, rather friendly. His kids, not so much."

Lara swallowed. "I'm not entirely sure I want to know…"

Harry chuckled ruefully, a sound Lara quite liked. "It wasn't the smartest thing I'd ever done, but I didn't exactly know that was what I was going to run into. My friend Ron is terrified of them."

"I don't mind most spiders," She shook her head, her ponytail swishing left and right. "It's the big brown ones I hate. When I was still a child, we travelled to Namibia, Roth, my father, and I. One evening as I slept, I'd accidentally left a bit of my tent open. The nights are cold there, and a spider crawled into my sleeping bag. It bit me when I disturbed it, and I've been unable to stand them ever since."

Harry winced. "I can see how that would be off putting. They aren't dangerous though?"

"Only creepy, the bite hurts, and I had a horrific headache."

Before he could reply, the sight of a settlement came into view, causing them to pause. It was lower down than where they were, allowing them to see it in its entirety. The buildings were old and seemed abandoned, the architecture, Japanese in style. But the location left much to be desired, it was built into the side of a cliff with some very steep drops. Rickety looking bridges connected some of the buildings, while others used the natural path jutting out of the mountainside.

"What genius thought building here was a clever idea…" commented Harry as he looked at the ridiculously unsafe location.

"I'd wager religious reasons," answered Lara. "The rest of the island has no lack of suitable land, there must have been a legitimate reason for settling this area. It's likely sacred in some way."

"Hmm, possibly, it's still mental though."

Lara laughed, "Perhaps–" A movement at the far end of the village caught her eye. She pulled Harry aside, pressing them closer to the cliffside, and into shadows. Her abrupt movement surprised Harry, and though he enjoyed having Lara so close to him, she was incredibly beautiful. Her seriousness had him following her line of sight.

They saw a small group of Islanders, 'Solarii' corrected Harry in his mind, guarding a path which he knew they needed to follow.

"We'll have to get past them," whispered Harry, his breath tickling Lara's nape, sending goosebumps across her skin.

She tried to ignore the distraction that pressing so close to Harry was causing and focused on scoping out the rest of the settlement. She found several more in the area. Some were just going about whatever task they were busy with, a few were sitting around an old oil drum that had a fire going. Not all of them were armed with guns, which made sense, firearms couldn't be that common on an island where all the inhabitants were marooned sailors. Perhaps some of the weapons were old, that bunker she had found previously could hint at a second world war presence. A shipwrecked naval vessel could explain things.

"There are more," said Lara, pointing out the others she'd seen. Her quick movement to push them into cover had likely saved them from being noticed. One of the men she had seen was now facing their way. "We can sneak past, perhaps a distraction?"

"I have just the thing," grinned Harry.

Of all the things Lara could have expected him to retrieve, a tiny black horn, smaller than a tennis ball, with little feet which waved back and forth, was not it.

"What is that?" she blinked, staring at something which looked to be straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon.

"Decoy Detonator," answered Harry, rather proudly. "It'll scurry off and make a noise. One of the benefits of having funded a Wizarding joke shop," He mused. "I've got tons of their products just gathering dust in my bag."

Lara, like all others, had grown up with an idea of magic, influenced by both myth and popular fiction. Though her entire life, she'd been a sceptic, she still had an idea in her mind of what magic was, or at least, what it was meant to be. Especially, as an archaeologist, and therefore a student of history. Her view was coloured by the beliefs of past civilizations, which from some of what Harry has shown her, or explained, was not too far off. But… She was slowly coming to learn that Wizards seemed to have their own brand of eccentricity.

"So," she began slowly, "We wait for this little thing to draw them away, you turn us invisible again, and we slip past them?"

"Right on the money, Oh– Take these back," He handed her his glasses, but not before giving it a quick wand tap. "You may as well keep them for now."

"Thank you," she slipped them back on, and now while being so close to him, she noticed the slight change in his breathing. Making the connection, she hid her amusement and filed the tidbit of info away for later.

"Ready?" Was all the warning Lara received, or at least that she heard, before she felt his wand touch the top of her head and was once more subjected to the horrible feel of a cracked egg running down your scalp.

"Warn me when you do that!" She all but hissed at him, as she suppressed the shiver that went down her spine, and not the pleasurable kind.

"...I did warn you," he deadpanned towards the empty air where he knew her to be, before repeating the spell on himself.

Ten minutes later, Lara could still hear the sound of Harry's little decoy trinket echoing through the mountains. She glanced towards her companion and made a mental note that he had a habit of understating things.

"Will that horrific abomination ever stop?" she asked, torn between amusement and concern.

"Hmm? Oh- I have no idea," he admitted with a shrug. "That one was a trial samp–" His reply was cut off as he let out a yelp, and disappeared from Lara's view.

She rushed forward, and nearly slid down a dip in the land which had been obscured by the brush. The ground she felt was in a shaded area, and still slippery with mud from the earlier rainfall. A cough followed by a groan reached her ears from the now filthy, slowly standing form of Harry.

"Are you alright?" she called out to him as she expertly descended down the ground with a controlled slide, thank God for proper footwear.

"Nothing's broken," he grumbled with a laugh, before flicking his wand into his hand and cleaning off the mud, "...'cept my pride."

"You need to be more careful, Harry," said Lara softly, concern clear in her deep brown eyes, were it not for having been friends with Hermione for so many years, he might have missed it for the command that it was.

"I'll try," was all he had time to say, before the sound of gunfire tore through the air, the continuous bangs seemed to shake the woods as it sent birds and other small animals scurrying.

"No," choked out Lara, before setting off in a run towards the direction it was coming from, worried that they might be firing at her friends, though a small part of her mind reasoned that they were still a ways off from where they should be.

A pained scream reverberated through the trees before it was cut off with an abruptness that spoke of the man's fate. Lara followed a narrow path between two rock faces, the terrain, thankfully being easy to manoeuvre. She could hear Harry's steps behind her, heavier than her own. The gunfire echoed between the rocks, amplifying the sound, you could almost feel it on your skin. Lara pulled her gun out, keeping the safety on as she ran, the fighting was still going, that was good, it was a sudden silence she feared most.

The pair rounded a corner, and the sight which welcomed them at the end of the path filled them with shock. It was a vast chasm, with a bridge spanning the gap, two huge statues stood on their side facing each other. Towering effigies of stone men, wearing ceremonial robes. Past them, and across the bridge was the monastery Harry recalled seeing in the memories of Yuri Petrov, it was where the Russian man's group had sheltered from the rains, as well as stored supplies.

Lara saw the ancient structure ahead, it was tall, with a large doorway which seemed to lead into darkness. The monastery, which she recognised based off of a description Harry had given her, reminded her of Petra. Regardless, she could observe the intricacies and craftsmanship of the historic site later… They had found the source of the gunfire and screams.

It wasn't the Solarii gunning down her friends as she'd first thought. It was the Solarii desperately trying to take cover and survive an onslaught from, to her utmost shock, Samurai? Warriors dressed in full Okegawa-Dō and wearing menpou in the visage of an Oni.

Harry had come to a stop at her side, his mouth dry and his breath slightly laboured, Lara was seriously fast. His eyes widened at the bloody scene, men screaming as they were cut down with a savage brutality. The Samurai were relentless, they showed no fear of the guns, taking gunshots to the chest without so much as flinching. A detail, which sent alarm bells screaming in his mind, and had him grab a hold of Lara in a desperate attempt to get the hell out of there, but it was too late. One of the deathless warriors nearest to them on their side of the bridge had noticed the pair. No eyes were visible in the shadows brought on by its hideous mask, as it faced them. Regardless, Harry could feel the full weight of its gaze.

A gunshot echoed loudly at his side, Lara had fired at the warrior who had started in their direction. Her shot landed, a glancing hit to the side of its face, she must have seen the lack of effect shots to the body had made, and immediately gone for its head. The warrior stumbled for a moment, its head thrown to the side. It recovered quickly, turning its head back to them. The mask which covered its face had been knocked loose, hanging on by a piece of leather.

The face which greeted them confirmed a suspicion that Harry already had. Warriors in ancient armour, taking shots to the chest with barely a change in their step. Those were not people.

The common witch or wizard believed an Inferi to be the only manner of undead, but that was not true. Necromancy was a highly illegal school of magic that contained so much more than how to make a mindless animated corpse. Curse Breakers were the closest to experts on the forbidden art that you could find these days. You had to be, with what you might meet in tombs, especially those in Egypt, the ancients there had more knowledge on necromancy than nearly every other civilization at the time, combined.

Snapped out of his thoughts, he lifted his wand and fired the first spell that came to mind. A blasting curse with all the power he instinctively threw into it. It slammed into the undead Samurai's centre with enough force to cave in its chest and send it hurtling back into the monastery's walls. The exchange alerted the others in the area of their presence.

"We need to get out of here!" Screamed Harry.

They had no idea how many of these things there were and were in a terrible position. Were the warriors only on the other side of the bridge, he could have just destroyed it, but there were too many on their side.

Lara fired shot after shot into the first Samurai that followed, eventually downing it, its helmet in pieces as it fell. The Solarii members were down to only two men which meant most of the Samurai were free to switch their focus on them.

Blue fire burst into life across the path, its heat immediately felt on Lara's skin who was several metres away. The fire whose eerie colour cast a light on the masks of the Samurai who came to a halt, their dead eyes now visible, and fixed upon them. They felt angry, wrathful, and to a weaker person, might be enough to have them stumble in fear.

"All undead have one thing in common, they hate fire," explained Harry in a rapid rush as he fired curse after curse into the deathless warriors. Some stayed down, others, even with their legs in pieces, struggled to continue after them. Lara, who was not being idle at all, and had taken down her fair share of their foes was torn between wanting to praise him and smack him for not using the fire sooner.

Harry noticed one of the Samurai touched the fire and pulled his hand back. He stepped back and made to run through it, stumbling halfway, and being reduced to ash far faster than should be possible. None of the others made the same attempt, instead they glared at the pair from behind the blue flames.

"We need to leave," said Harry. Protego Diabolica, the spell he'd used to cordon off the majority of the path and separate themselves from the majority of the Samurai was incredibly difficult to control while having to use more magic.

Lara nodded, as she emptied the last round in her mag into the head of the last Samurai still on their side of the fire. As they moved to escape, Harry paused to spare one last glance behind him. Had he not done so, he would have failed to see one of the Samurai with a bow, releasing an arrow that flew his way, straight through the fire, far too fast to be burned up. With barely a moment to attempt to move, by pure reflex, he threw up a shield to stop it.

Sensing that he was not close to her, Lara stopped, already several metres away from him. She turned back and felt her heart stop at seeing an arrow tear through a shield of light, and impale Harry through the shoulder. His arm flailed and sent his wand through the air.

His scream of pain was a sound Lara never wanted to hear. Her feet were already moving as he fell to his knees. His control over the fire which kept the undead warriors at bay slipped, freeing them to continue.

"No!" yelled Lara, as they advanced on Harry.

He glanced back towards her, his pained green eyes met her deep browns, and in that moment, she saw a smouldering mix of emotions. Worry, fear, grief, acceptance, and then a gut wrenching but resolved smile.

He raised his arm, the motion sending pain through his shoulder. His empty palm faced her, in what seemed to be a motion for her to stop, but that is not all that it was. Lara felt herself thrown back off her feet by an invisible force and blown down the narrow path. She hit the ground and rolled, the still wet soil made her slide further, small stones, which were it not for her clothing, would have given her scrapes and cuts.

She coughed as she came to a stop and fought through aches as dazedly rolled over and onto her back. Another fit of coughs racked through her before she managed to try and move again.

A sound reached her, the rumble and grind of moving stone, she didn't know how, but somehow, she realised what he intended, and tried to scream for him to stop. But it was no use.

Harry, now with his wand in hand, after summoning it back to him, destroyed the cliff walls, caving it in and separating her from him, and the warriors which were now close enough to touch him.

When the dust settled, Lara's heart fell through her chest, as all she could see was a wall of rubble.

On the other side of the wall, Harry tried to point the wand towards the nearest warrior, only for it to kick his hand, forcing him to drop it again. Another kick slammed into his chest, sending him onto his back, and putting pressure on the tip of the arrow which protruded out of the back of his shoulder.

He gasped, now winded, and in pain. The figure that had just kicked him approached anew and before he knew he saw a number of menacing Samurai looming over him.

One of them drew their sword and squared off just above him, seemingly preparing to give him his last rite.

Staring at the sharp thin edge of the samurai blade, he let a cough escape. 'Looks like it'll be quick and thank Merlin, at least I got her out.' The slight silver lining was enough to face his end on the cursed island.

The warriors that stood to the side bowed their heads at him, before the sinister figure drew their sword further back and swung.

"Tomaru!" A commanding voice shouted from behind his executioner.

With what he would consider superhuman speed, the samurai lowered its sword and turned toward the new figure. The other warriors raised their heads and turned to lower their heads at the newest arrival. The bow was deeper, he thought.

The voice belonged to a much more dignified looking samurai, whose armour was far more elaborately designed. The helmet was also larger, and the mask featured a large and terrifying moustache.

'A commander?'

The samurai lord, he decided, walked toward him, the others making way for him. The frightening figure then came to a stop just a few paces before him and seemed to let their gaze travel over him, before it focused on the motionless forms of the Samurai he had cut down, some burnt, others smashed or in pieces. The ghostly eyes looked down at him once more with a cruel recognition. When it finally spoke, the voice sounded like crushed ceramics scraping.

"Madoshi."

Whatever it meant, the menacing samurai from before nodded at their lord before turning back to Harry. However, instead of raising their blade again, it sheathed it and stepped right up to him.

Harry had mere seconds before it raised its foot, and he was welcomed by darkness.

END CHAPTER FIVE

Maduk - Russian insult, like asshole, or shithead

Yaponskiy - Japanese (In Russian)

Okegawa-Dō - Style of Samurai armour.

Menpou - Mask worn with Samura armour

Tomaru - Stop (Japanese)

Madoshi - Wizard (Japanese)