Looking back on things now, it would have been a lot simpler to see this Lady Jaina Proudmoore if he had actually listened to the Coira and Kelanas when they had tried to get them to fly straight to Theramore from Ashenvale. Admittedly though the biggest issues they had encountered on their travel into the Northern part of Desolace had been as much down to Harry's hatred of the Burning Legion and his stubbornness to fight the demons wherever he found them, though with three prisoners in tow the party had been looking for somewhere to rest up regardless.
Why no-one had previously tried to clear the heap of rubble and dark metal previously called Thunder Axe Fortress bemused Harry to a certain extent, even as his injured arm twinged at some slight movement he had made and he shifted the sling a little uncomfortably. There had been several dicey moments as he and the others stormed the fort, Harry's broken arm being one of the more severe outcomes of the admittedly reckless assault, but any serious military or mercenary force would have been able to sweep the place clear very quickly given the poor leadership of the cultists who inhabited the place.
Perhaps it was merely that no-one wanted a staging area here, after all Harry had to admit that Desolace was very aptly named, his attention shifting across the open ground sparsely populated with plants and the odd tree. And if the scenery was not enough of a deterrent, the denizens of this section of Azeroth definitely would be enough to put off all but the most determined adventurers.
Stood on top of the repaired gatehouse, the first area he had worked on after taking the fortress, Harry could see a large number of centaurs in the distance, easily two or three hundred of them amassing as they seemed to do regularly for fights or raids. The fact that this world's centaurs were little more than marauders and raiders made Harry almost miss the centaurs of his world, their pontificating and deliberate vagueness aside.
The centaurs had attacked twice in the time since they had taken the fortress and if it weren't for their infighting and backstabbing then Harry suspected that number might have been significantly higher and a much greater danger to him and those that were gathered within. As if on cue there was a burst of flame from within the massed centaur horde and what might have become the third attack devolved rapidly into a messy melee between at least three separate factions, though at this distance it could easily have been more.
The sound of footsteps behind him surprised him slightly, he had his empathic abilities undampened so he should have felt something before he had heard them, but listening to the light click of a walking stick and the measured time between steps Harry knew why he hadn't even as the approaching person spoke.
"Two more squads have come through the demon portal you managed to clear and isolate in the caverns beneath this place; they have joined Alpha Force in reinforcing the outer walls and rear gate. According to Ms Boot the gate will not survive anymore attempts for us to portal our people through so I had it destroyed." Harry sighed as he turned to face Blaise Zabini, the man who had fought the political battles for his strike force so that Harry didn't 'cause offence to every wizard this side of the Russian border.'
Despite the fact that they had fought together for seven years against everything from dark wizards to Pit Lords, Harry couldn't bring himself to like the man who was in so many ways his anti-thesis. Tall, charismatic and handsome almost to the point of being effeminate, Blaise reminded him a little too much of Lucius Malfoy in how he acted for Harry to be entirely comfortable around him, ignoring the fact that both of them knew that Blaise could figuratively run circles round Harry if they ever did get into a serious argument.
Thankfully for both his sanity and the survivors on Earth, Blaise had been content for the most part to let Harry lead the survivors whilst he settled into a more advisory/diplomatic role, though Harry could tell (and secretly enjoyed) sensing the frustration that Blaise felt when Harry failed to understand the more subtle machinations of political conflict.
Blaise was hiding the discomfort of having climbed the four sets of stairs that led to where Harry was standing very well given his crippled leg, a memento from a Felhound in the initial stages of the Burning Legion's invasion, but the man's gaze made it very clear that Harry could have picked a more convenient location to take watch upon.
"Lady Bones has been working with your 'guests', though without the calming spells that you have cast on them I doubt we would have gotten anything more than threats and screeching. The two older harpies seem to be too distrustful of us for us to work with them in the near future, but the youngest one might yet yield results."
The monotone manner in which Blaise discussed things was another tactic the man used, the lack of emotional inference meant that whoever he was talking with had no verbal cues to use in gauging his mood, keeping them on the back foot in a much better way than Lucius' drawling sarcasm ever did. Now he was focussing on the young dark-skinned ally/annoyance, Harry could discern only the slightest hints of hope and irritation from the man, which given Blaise's self given mission to be unreadable to Harry meant he was truly experiencing a huge amount of emotional upheaval at seeing this new world.
Whilst some of Alpha force had like Coira questioned Harry's decision regarding the avian females, especially given the lack of manpower the phantom's currently had available for things like guard duty, both Blaise and Susan had been quick to side with him on the matter and step in to carry on their investigation when it became clear that Harry's presence had a negative impact on the Harpies. The threat of him had made the youngest more pliable during Susan's initial discussion after his introduction to her, so that was something at least.
"In which case, I will make ready to leave for the Alliance outpost in the northernmost region of this desert once Kelanas and the others are rested." Blaise regarded him in the same deadpan manner he always used to make it clear that he was either waiting for Harry to say more or realise he had missed something, but Harry merely raised his good hand and waved him off.
"I know what you are going to say Blaise but it would be best if I be the one to go, whilst Susan is using that translation charm that Hermione found to make the Harpy understand her when she is talking to her, it is not a suitable spell for use in the wider world or for use when talking to more than one person. And even ignoring the lack of manpower we have available, I am the only one capable of truly defending myself and our guides out there, no offence but the locals are a bit more prone to use swords to settle their arguments than you would like Blaise."
And that was if some of them would actually let them get as far as talking, certainly the centaurs here had shown no signs of any willingness to even try and discuss things with those not of their race. Harry knew that Blaise wouldn't like the obvious reference to his physical inability but the man couldn't dispute the point and in the end sighed, running his hand through his well-kept hair before nodding.
"Fine, though please try and keep your usual levels of aggravating people in power to a minimum, at least until you can portkey me or one of the others there to stop you. Now come, I need you to show me what happened in this meeting of yours with the Night Elves, I want to know what I am up against before I travel there as an official ambassador." Without waiting for confirmation Blaise turned and started back down the stairs, having refused to simply apparate everywhere despite his injury as it was a 'sign of complacency and weakness.'
Conjuring his patronus up to send a message to the Alpha force team leader, Harry spoke quickly to it before apparating to the area that they had begun refurbishing to make into a war room of sorts, complete with several enchanted items that would make running things here that little bit easier. Knowing he had a couple of minutes before Blaise managed to navigate the stairs and corridors that made up the fortress, Harry chuckled to himself as some ideas began to form in his mind.
*Line Break*
The memories of Blaise covered in garish rainbow coloured paint that would have made Dumbledore proud made Harry smile, though looking around Theramore was doing well enough at that for it not be necessary. The bustling city was livelier than his brief experience of Auberdine or Darnassus, people of different Alliance races interacting in a friendly manner that you would never have seen on Earth.
Nash'ala's presence still drew a lot of looks from the crowds as the half a dozen footmen escorted their small group towards the central castle, but it was mostly curiosity as opposed to any kind of hostility. Harry and his group had been stopped by patrols hours before they had reached Theramore itself after their gryphon mounts had flown them into Sentry Point to the North of the city. And though it seemed Tyrande had sent word ahead of the 'uniqueness' of his party, whoever was in charge of the cities military wanted to take no chances and they had been forced to wait for their escort to arrive before they could move closer to the city.
As they approached the castle's main gate Harry's magic senses suddenly registered the arrival of a person of terrifying magical potential, the whirling mass of magic surrounding the cloaked woman at the far end of the bridge being the obvious suspect. As he focussed on the tall blonde haired woman, he heard Coira gasp slightly off to his left before out of the corner of his eye he saw her take to a knee, swiftly followed by Kelanas in the same signs of respect he had seen the Night Elves give Tyrande.
Whilst he refused to go to the same level, Harry bowed low as the sorceress he could only assume was the Lady Proudmoore he was meant to be meeting with, though as he kept his eyes fixed on her he saw her grin widen ever so slightly. Activating the translation spell as she opened her mouth, Harry did his best to keep his face from showing any of his usual emotional tells that the woman might try and take advantage of.
"Welcome to Theramore travellers, I must admit it has been some time since I have seen such a diverse group, not since the threat of Archimonde in fact." She bowed slightly before gesturing to Kelanas and Coira impatiently. "I am Jaina Proudmoore, leader of Theramore and the only person stubborn enough to try and keep the Alliance and Horde from exchanging heated words for swords and blood. I ask that you stand please, I am not one for ceremony if I can avoid it, and certainly not when there are off-worlders that I need to make a first impression to."
Jaina was certainly a woman who spoke her mind and was not afraid to make light of potentially delicate situations, as long as this wasn't a front designed to put him off-guard Harry could respect that, certainly it would make the woman easier to work with. Jaina then looked round at the guards who had been escorting them and a small frown crossed her face, though it was only there for a moment before she turned to the lead guardsman.
"Thank you for your services guardsmen, I will ensure that Colonel Lorena knows of your dedication to duty but I ask next time that your focus should be maintaining our borders and protecting our citizens rather than escorting guests, whatever orders you may have received otherwise." Harry couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as the guardsmen looked both pleased and sheepish at the subtle rebuke/compliment, the sergeant giving fall out orders quickly as Jaina half turned and gestured up to the castle itself.
"Please, this way if you would, I would prefer to make proper introductions in a more relaxed environment even if it is a beautiful day, also from the missive Lady Tyrande sent me your tale is not a short one so I would wish you fed and watered before imposing such a retelling upon you." As they walked up the winding steps that led to the main Citadel gate, created with obvious defensive intent in mind, Harry was surprised by how short Jaina actually was, the sorceress barely coming to his shoulder as they walked side by side.
But as she dismissed the tall and stocky Captain waiting by the citadel gate who was highly disapproving of the presence of Nash'ala and Coira with a single terse order and a look Harry was reminded that size didn't always mean power. As they stepped through into the keep courtyard a shout preempted the approach of what Harry at first thought was a child towards Jaina, only for that to be dismissed when the approaching figure saw Nash'ala and stumbled to a stop in a ready stance, a burst of magic dragging the water from the fountain in the centre into a hulking humanoid figure behind her.
Luckily Jaina held her hand up and stood between what Harry now recognised as a gnome from what the others in the group had told him, though what was said was something he would have to ask Nash'ala later as he had turned the translation spell off to conserve both his magic and Nash'ala's headaches until they were actually necessary.
Though Harry could still feel the gnome's mistrust towards him and the others her respect for Jaina seemed to outweigh that and the gnome dismissed the water elemental with a wave of her staff, before falling into step alongside Jaina and unloading a barrage of questions in a manner that reminded him quite a bit of Hermione. Given the look that Jaina gave him at least some of the questions were directed at him, so with a small sigh of exasperation Harry activated the translation spell once more to speak.
"Apologies Lady Jaina, I do not speak the language of your world naturally, it is only by the use of my magic I can speak for a short time with the help of my advisor Nash'ala here. So therefore I will be relying on her to translate for me what is said into a language I can understand, but given the distrust of the Naga that the young lady just showed I would prefer if we did this in a more private setting?"
Jaina now looked genuinely interested in him for the first time and Harry could tell that the idea of this kind of magical knowledge was the kind of thing that was her true passion as opposed to running a city or being a diplomatic leader for the Alliance, something that was similarly mirrored in the expression of the gnome that he could only assume was her apprentice of sorts given the deference the gnome seemed to express.
Even though he was in for an exhaustive night of explanations and questioning ahead, Harry was determined to look on the bright side of matters, perhaps he might be able to answer a few questions of his own...
*Line Break*
After three days of meetings with Jaina and other members of Theramore's leading council, Harry being forced to summon Blaise on the second day to intercede as well as to give him and Nash'ala a break, the pair of Terrans (the title Jaina had insisted they use if they wanted to avoid any more associations with Azeroth's humans) had managed to work out several agreements that would hopefully prove vastly beneficial to both sides.
In return for hiring several dozen craftsmen of various professions in Theramore to come and truly fortify Thunder Axe fortress, as well as Theramore's recognition for the Terran's political independence (a clause that Blaise had been very insistent about given what he had heard about the supposed sovereignty of various kings over the different human lands and humanity in general), the two sides had agreed to a full alliance between them as well as trading rights that would be worked out fully when the Terran's had fully evacuated from Earth.
In addition Harry had agreed to help with several problems that the people of Theramore were struggling with, starting with offering his services as a bodyguard for Jaina as she travelled to the orc capital Durotar to discuss with the orc leader about a spree of attacks between Theramore's forces and the forces of the Horde.
Whilst he would not be much use for the discussion itself, Jaina wanted to use the opportunity for him to establish ties with the Horde leadership in addition to what he had been doing with the Night Elves and herself. The fact that she also thought she might need back up in the case of tensions reaching breaking point wasn't mentioned verbally, but the point of asking Harry to accompany her rather than the more diplomatic Blaise was rather telling.
They would leave via zeppelin tomorrow, with Coira returning via hearthstone on the second day of negotiations, to both update her own people with what had been going on but also to ask if Harry could meet this Regent Lor'themar in person at some stage when the man had time. Harry hadn't been presumptuous enough to just assume he could travel to Silvermoon straight from Durotar and expect to see the Blood Elf leader when it suited him, something he could see Coira had approved of even as she bid him farewell, pockets full of transfigured talisman's to sate her own magical thirst as well as to present as gifts from Harry to her people.
His work in attempting to smooth the transition of his people into this world without being viewed as another set of invaders done for the day, Harry had portkeyed back to Thunder Axe fortress, hurrying through the halls of the now defensible fortress as he focussed on the magical signature of one of the people who meant more to him than anything else. He found her in one of the rooms that had been repurposed into a bed chamber, though it primarily it only contained a transfigured bed and a couple of cupboards at this point in time, Susan barely having time to note his entrance before he swept her into his arms.
Whether it was due to his rather... lacking childhood or the difficulties of his school years, Harry had always been very effusive with his affections towards Ginny, especially when his task force meant that he was required to spend significant time away from home. When Ginny had informed him of her intentions regarding Susan, Daphne and Hermione, Harry had initially thought that this was her attempt to push him away and that his displays of affection had come to irritate her to the point she was trying to subtly leave him by guiding him towards others.
That twisted logic had earned him Ginny's ire when he had been stupid enough to voice it, and since then Harry had done his best to work with the other girls and to develop a proper relationship with them rather than just a one sided case of their need for companionship and also to eventually rebuild their numbers.
Susan had been the easiest for him to fall in love with as he had with Ginny, the kind and helpful girl definitely didn't aggravate him to the point of frustration as Daphne was prone to do whenever she was feeling sadistically playful, and there wasn't the occasional awkward moment that arose between him and Hermione whenever either of them were reminded of Ron.
Certainly Susan was also the most open with returning his love as her arms wrapped around his waist and her lips met his in a sweet and light kiss that still conveyed many of the emotions that Harry could feel passing through her mind. The two spent an hour together without speaking, simply cuddling up to each other and enjoying the others presence for the first time since Harry had left Earth.
Finally Susan broke the silence, the young woman sighing before speaking business, something that she was more prone to do in their alone time than the others but that was because like Blaise she preferred to cover things in detail and ensure that Harry was the best prepared for whatever situation he might find himself in.
"I have let the two elder harpies go, with a message to their Queen that we wish to meet with her and negotiate a non-aggression pact, with the youngest harpy being our bargaining chip against any attack or ambush they try and set up. Your initial guess wasn't actually as far off as you might think Harry, the harpies and the Veela have some similarities from what Ellen and I have been able to deduce, though the magic influencing the Harpies is far more... unrefined."
Harry chuckled as he could tell Susan had done her best to avoid using the word 'messy' regarding the Harpies curse, Susan had always done her best to sound dignified and intellectual when she spoke, something he now knew was her attempt to make up for not being able to match Hermione or some of the other survivors intellectually. Even as she glared at him for chuckling Harry gave her a quick kiss to the forehead before replying, causing her to blush and grin.
"And I imagine Hermione has already set a team aside to look into either a cure or a mitigating spell we can use to minimise the Harpies hostility without making them docile to the point of making them easy targets for slavers or people nursing grudges?" His own summation of Hermione's predictable actions made Susan giggle slightly.
"Yes, Hermione surmised that the magic is linked to their transformations and trying to prevent the rage curse might be very damaging to their magic all together, so she has a plan for a self-sustaining calming spell that would mitigate the most extreme of their emotions. But Daphne and I reined her in and got her to continue focussing on the construction of the portal for us to bring the rest of our people through, the sooner the better before we lose any more to the demons on Earth. Speaking of our establishment here, how were your discussions with this lady Proudmoore? From what the others could tell me before you left she is quite the interesting personality..."
Harry smiled and shook his head at Susan's rather forward insinuation, the red headed woman had made it very clear from the start of their 'relationship' that whilst Harry would be the only man she took to her bed, an stipulation of Ginny's before they had even got to the stage of mentioning it to him, she held a healthy interest in those of her own sex as well. None of the others had yet shown any kind of similar interest, but Harry had never been one to judge people given his own past.
"She is a rather striking woman, quite beautiful as well, though I think she is more interested in me than she would be in you I am afraid Susan, though I imagine you will find more than enough on this planet to keep you interested if you do ever finally get bored of me." He had meant it as a joke but as Susan met him in another kiss before mock glaring at him pushing him back onto the bed with a playful growl.
"The only way I will get bored of you Harry is if you keep bringing females back from your adventures and forget about me, so it would be best for both of us if I reminded you of exactly why you should keep me around..."
As she began to unbutton the top that was so form fitting to her cleavage that there had in fact been one or two complaints from other survivors that she was being a bad role model for the children, Harry decided that returning to Thunder Axe for the night rather than grabbing a room in Theramore had definitely been a good idea...
A/N: So, more of Earth's refugees have arrived and they have a base of operations, even if that base is in Desolace and the Centaurs are definitely not the biggest problem they are going to have there.
The introduction of Blaise is very important in terms of the plot of this story, as it makes it very clear that Harry and his 'friends' are not the only people amongst the phantoms to have power politically, but it also means that Harry will be able to be a leader and emissary for his people rather than a ruler, which is very important in allowing him to actually promote change in Azeroth.
Jaina to me has always been a leader because she has to be, rather than because that is what she wants and to be honest with the support of a friendly faction in Kalimdor that can support her own forces, I was tempted to have her accompany Harry once he has his people settled and starts actually putting the world to rights. Her ideals for peace and burying the hatchet between the Horde and the Alliance should align with Harry quite nicely. What are people's thoughts?
In terms of a timeline, as people have been asking this on and off for quite some time, I am enjoying the WOW book cycle of hatred at this point and I think having Harry appearing in this stage of the storyline would be quite interesting. So as far as I am aware this is very early Burning Crusade? Please correct me if I am wrong and I can amend future plot from there.
Finally, a bit of an expansion on Harry and the girls, I wanted to make clear that whilst they have a 'relationship' that relationship is very different between each girl and Harry. Susan and Harry are in a fairly open relationship and to be honest, with the collapse of society back on Earth, not many people are going to judge Susan for her bi-sexual tendencies. But for the most part, that last paragraph or so notwithstanding, their relationship will not be SEX, SEX, SEX, or at least it will not be a big part of it.
Sorry if people wanted a lemon, I haven't tried to write one and I don't particularly ruin this chapter with a bad lemon.
Review please!