Spock frowned as he moved through the crowded streets. Duty and logic did not align, and he doubted there was anyway to rectify the issue. He'd considered the situation from several angles. There were options, some of them were acceptable, but they were not palatable.

Hermione Granger and her plight stirred something in him. Logic and duty didn't perfectly align, but neither came close to fulfilling his emotional needs. The very notion that he had emotional needs was disquieting. His mother would have stroked his forehead and smiled at him if she were still alive. He could almost hear her remind him to tend to his human needs as well as his Vulcan ones.

He had always found his human needs less demanding, but something had changed. No matter the hours spent in meditation nor the time set aside for Nyota, part of him was consumed with thoughts of the displaced magical humans. Hermione Granger had been very clear about their needs. There was nothing in the Terran system for them. Their world was gone, and they did not have any recourse in this one.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the Vulcan consulate. The city noise fell away and the gardens soothes him despite their green nature. He passed by other Vulcans and acknowledged most with a bare nod of his head. It was illogical to delay them with greetings. He passed through the public rooms and into the private apartment his family maintained.

He felt some of the tension ease from his body. His mother had defied all pragmatism and decorated this space as a permanent home. It comforted him to see it unchanged.

"She understood me more than I ever did her." His father spoke from a nearby doorway. "Stepping into these rooms soothes me though there is no logic to it."

"I miss her." Spock sighed. "As illogical as it sounds, some part of her seems to linger here."

"I agree." His father stepped fully into the room. "It is good to see you are well, my son."

Spock responded automatically. The niceties his mother had insisted on were also comforting. He followed his father into their dining room and ate in silence, a Vulcan tradition his mother had simply accepted. When their meal was done Spock felt his father's attention focus on him.

"Are you ready to tell me why you have come?" His father sat back and waited.

"Star Fleet is undergoing some changes as the truth about Admiral Marcus sets in." Spock glanced toward his father. "I was called in to perform a mind meld on a suspected augment. Her blood had been forcibly taken and they were keeping her in physical discomfort."

"An emotional response as well as an unfortunate one." His father's eyes narrowed minutely.

"She escaped." Spock cut in before his father could question him further on the changes in Star Fleet. "I've been assigned the task of finding her and bringing her back."

"I see." Sarek smoothed his robes. "You do not seem eager to find this woman."

"I already have." Spock took a deep breath. "She is one of a large group of displaced beings. They need help but are unlikely to receive it from Star Fleet or any human organization."

"Are they augments?" His father tilted his head slightly.

"No." Spock waited while his father considered if he wished to know more.

"We are dependent on Star Fleet and the Federation for the time being." His father closed his eyes. "Helping those they deem undesirable might not serve us well."

"I understand." Spock lowered his gaze to the table between them.

"I would need to assess these people for myself." Sarek turned his face toward the window. "You would not have come to me unless there was something of value to Vulcanshu. Your friends and crew mates are far more likely to aide you than I despite the difficulties that would arise. Kirk seems to enjoy inciting rebellion."

"I will arrange a meeting." Spock let himself settle into the quiet of the room and enjoy a rare moment of concert with his father.

Harry took his flask of poly juice and glared at his pointed ears. He didn't care for the slightly green tinge to his skin, but the real oddity was that his eyes did not change. He glanced at Hermione as she smoothed her robes and grinned at him. Her hair had remained curly, but it was all a dark mahogany. Her eyes still sparkles like amber.

"It's more of a melding than a complete transposition." She looked back at the mirror. "It feels a bit different. It's a less violent change. I'll need to figure out why."

"They are aliens." Harry rolled his eyes. "We should get going Spock said the Ambassador was willing to meet with us. That isn't a guarantee of help."

"I told you we needed to be there half an hour earlier than we do." Hermione smacked his arm lightly and smiled broadly. "You're always ten minutes late."

"Am not." Harry groused at her as they headed out onto the street. "Remember not to smile. We're supposed to be like perfect prefect Percy."

He watched as she smoothed her expression and blinked. His Hermione had disappeared into Vulcan Hermione. She really was good at all of this.

"If we get through this, it will be because of you." He reaches out and tangled their fingers together before letting her go. "You've worked so hard."

"I'm terrified half the time, Harry." She bent her head. "I just can't give up. Our world is going to change once we get out of the cases. There's nothing I can do about that, but if I try hard enough, we might not be locked up and catalogued."

"No dragon fire fueled last stands." Harry nodded. "Not if we can help it at least."

They quit talking and moved through the crowds smoothly. A few stray eyes roved over them, but that was to be expected. They stepped onto the public transport and stood as the carrier moved along the streets toward their destination.

Sarek watched the woman closely. In the Vulcan guise she was attractive. It was somewhat disquieting to notice such a thing, but it was undeniable. He was curious to see her actual features.

Her companion was a commanding presence. There was something in his movement that was very human. It was obvious he had a harder time maintaining the ruse of being one of them.

"Harry." She sighed and turned toward him. "Please, sit down."

He frowned at her before he claimed one of the backless benches by the window that afforded a view of the garden. She watched him for a few moments with a tiny smile on her face. It reminded him of his late wife. This was a woman used to controlling herself.

"Spock will be joining us later." Sarek smoothed a hand along the table edge. Amanda had explained that total stillness unnerved humans, so he had tried to incorporate some small actions into his behavior.

"Your son is a remarkable being." She folded her hands in her lap and stilled as a Vulcan would.

"It seems self serving to thank you, but I understand that is the correct human response." He bowed his head and she quirked one eyebrow a minuscule amount higher.

"This is quite a bit harder than I thought it would be." The woman let her breath out. "We need your help. Anything you might provide would be a boon."

"Miss Granger, our society is in danger of fading away. We are struggling to rebuild our own culture." He took a deep breath. "I am not sure how much assistance we can offer."

"I understand. We have little to offer in your technological world. We are a generation away from being able to supply much in meaningful trade if we can establish a new home for our people and other assorted life forms." She took measured breaths to control her emotions. "We do have some skills. They might be adapted to aide your people."

She pulled a crystal as long as her forearm from a bag that appeared no deeper than her hand. It was an aesthetically pleasing piece. Reds, yellows, and oranges flowed through it making it appear to be frozen flame. He felt an odd urge to touch it.

"It's dragon called crystal. They can burn any thing made of carbon into crystal. The older the dragon the more powerful the stone. This was called by a two year old iron belly." She stroked her fingers along it and the colors shifted. "It responds to magical touch. I believe it could be used to hold a katra."

He looked beyond the stone and watched as her Vulcan features faded into human ones. He examined the woman across from him and thought of how she had looked before. Spock had described the sensation of her power well. It was possible the priests and priestesses could be renewed through mixing their races.

"There is a planet that is in our control. It is Minshara class. There is some vegetation from an earlier attempt at terra forming, but no advanced life. It is close to our new home world. Just a system away." He touched the table again. He wanted this option to appeal to her. "We considered it as a candidate for our new home world, but it far more Earth like."

"Why did the original terra formers leave?" She leaned forward slightly. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"It was a contested system at the time, outside of Federation control. The humans that attempted to settle there did not have the ability to protect themselves from raiders. They were relocated." He let his hand drop from the table surface. "Would your people object to sharing the planet with a small group of Vulcans?"

"We have several species of animals to settle. They would have to live with us until they learned how to handle the creatures or until we could find a way to protect them." She took a deep breath and looked to her companion. "Very few of us are xenophobic. Most would welcome a few new faces, but we are an emotional lot. Are your people prepared to live with that kind of chaos?"

"Ideally, a few marriages would allow us to better protect you and yours. It is unusual for a Vulcan to marry outside of our own people, but you and your compatriot have a similar energy to those of our religious orders." He watched her closely. "It might garner your people a certain amount of attention from mine."

"No forced interbreeding." She leaned back and the man spun to face them. His power spooled out and surrounded her in a nearly visible shield. "Bad things happen when our kind use force. Dark lords and wars. Living nightmares."

"To force a marriage is illogical." Sarek took a deep breath as the shield slid back. "Perhaps such matches might occur with a certain familiarity."

"They might." Hermione nodded. "Our people have, on occasion, created hybrids. We have several such beings with us."

"Transporting you via spacecraft might prove daunting if you have trouble with technology." Sarek decided he had pushed for too much too fast. "Have you considered how to approach this issue?"

He watched as she laid out detailed and well reasoned plans. Her hands sometimes moved slightly. He imagined she was used to emphasizing her points with them. Respecting her effort to behave in a more Vulcan manner didn't stop him from wanting to observe her in her usual state. She was fascinating.

Spock arrived at the embassy later than he'd planned. Nyota was decidedly unsatisfied with his current schedule. Her complaints might have swayed him if she had refrained from her emotional outburst.

Being with a Vulcan required a certain fortitude. His mother had it. She was confident in her place and held fast to it. Nyota was developing it, but she still depended on others' opinions.

Her desire for open affection made him uncomfortable. Holding hands while her friends cooed at them was at best a waste of time. He pinched the bridge of his nose and forced his thoughts away from the past.

"She is waiting in the garden." His father approached quietly. "I have offered our assistance. There is much to do and little time. Your skills and knowledge would be an asset to this endeavor."

"I will make myself available." Spock nodded to his father and headed to the garden.

His eyes found her easily. She was kneeling at the base of a climbing rose in a shift, the robes he'd provided for her were folded on the bench nearby. It was startling to see her in such a state.

"I didn't want to dirty them." She smiled at him. "Your father was quite scandalized by my behavior. He made everyone else leave the gardens."

"As his guest, protecting your privacy is his duty." Spock looked around them. Several of the plants were enhanced.

"He didn't protect me from you." She pressed her fingers into the earth and chanted softly. He was unable to pick out the words. He watched the plant begin to glow as it wrapped around the trellis and sprouted new tendrils and blooms.

"You are also my guest." Spock stroked a rose and felt her power in it. "He probably assumed that I would be better able to deal with your informality. I spend more time with humans than he does."

"So logical." She looked up at him with glowing citrine eyes. "I sent Harry back to our people. There's so much to do. I have some rudimentary designs for a magical Faraday cage that should keep the ship we will travel on safe. I suppose I should stop playing in the dirt and show you the plans."

He nodded once and watched as she rose gracefully from the ground. She cleaned herself with a casual flick of her hand and put the outer robes back on. Following her back into the building, he considered her actions. She hadn't been sparing the robes, but he wasn't sure of her actual motivation.