Loose rocks clinked as Harry staggered forward, eyes fixed on the ruins surrounding him. Shattered stones, splintered wood, broken pottery and tattered pieces of fabric littered the area.
Wild panic surged through his body. Harry's arms tightened and his muscles spasmed with the need to do something.
Hedwig hooted noisily and stretched her wings against his hold. Harry opened his arms and turned around frantically trying to get some sense of what had happened. Hedwig soared into the air, her wings beating loudly.
A calm voice broke through his panicked mind. Be logical, it's too quiet here. If this had just happened, wouldn't there be wounded? Harry paused, bent down and studied the broken structures.
A thick coating of dirt and sand covered most of the debris and dark vines clung to broken buildings. The area had been destroyed and abandoned for a long time. Harry rose and walked around searching for clues, kicking pebbles away with a clack.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Relief that he hadn't ended up in the middle of a full-fledged fight.
Harry's feet slid over loose pebbles and slippery dust as he examined every broken structure. Hedwig circled high above him silently, her white feathers radiant against the clear blue sky.
After almost an hour of going through the rubble of razed houses, buildings and broken household items, Harry had no useful clues. In fact, he was even more confused. He had found dark dried splatters on blood on crumbled stones, but there were no other traces of humans. There were no bodies or skeletons anywhere.
The place was completely deserted.
He walked to the edge of the settlement towards the only sound he could hear in the area- a roaring river. His heart thudded painfully. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. With a deep sigh he collapsed onto the bank.
He'd expected …what had I expected? Didn't the monk warn me?
Hedwig landed awkwardly in front him.
"It's just a mild setback, right?" He asked Hedwig. She waddled towards him, claws unable to grip the smooth surface of the riverbank. "I just got here, it's too early to give up. I just need to find the nearest village and…" The back of his neck tingled, making him cautious. But he continued speaking. "...ask them."
Harry reached for his wand but hesitated, unsure of how to unholster it discreetly. He frowned when his wand emerged from the odd holster and slid into the palm of his right hand.
"… about this place. Maybe this isn't even Whirlpool."
Harry turned, shifted his body in to a low crouch, pointed his wand confidently at his target and gaped when he realised that his target was a young man with familiar looking red-hair.
The man didn't move to hide. He just eyed Harry and the outstretched wand with immense curiosity.
"Who are you?" Harry asked the man. The man looked at Harry, then turned around as though searching for something. The man glanced back at Harry again curiously and walked forward. "Stop! Don't come any closer."
Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder with a curious hoot.
Harry wanted to stand up from his crouched position, but that would mean taking his eye off the man for a second or two. He couldn't take that risk, no matter how familiar the man's red hair was.
The man paused and searched the area once more. When he turned to Harry once more, his eyes were wide. The red haired man pointed to himself and said, "Anataga watashi ni hanashi te iru no?"
Harry blinked. What? All he heard was a bunch of…oh no!
No. No. No.
He'd completely forgotten about the language barrier. All the papers from the scroll were in English- grandmum must have translated them. But the monk had spoken perfect English. Well he conceded, the monk was a monk. A very Dumbledore-ish sort of monk. It couldn't be that far fetched that the all-knowing stone had somehow taught him English…
"Anataha watashi wo sanshou dekimasuka?"
Concentrate, Harry. "Hello? I'm guessing you don't understand anything I'm saying right now," Harry said and looked straight at purplish-blue eyes.
Surprise, confusion and excitement rushed over the man's features as he broke into excited chatter.
Harry groaned. Each sound made him want to smack himself. How could I have forgotten about the language problem?
Even worse, Harry felt ignorant. He had no idea what the man was speaking. He couldn't be sure it was Japanese because the stone-portal thing had taken him to another world. Harry eyed the man's clothes. A blue somewhat-oriental style jacket over baggy black slacks and sandals.
The man noticed Harry's silence and questioned him with a frown.
"Why are you acting all surprised?" Harry muttered in irritation. "It's obvious I'm not from around here."
The only thing that kept Harry in his place was the red hair. Red hair that perfectly matched his grandmother's and mother's hair captured in photographs.
The red haired man questioned him again and Harry sighed. Obviously, a phrase book would have been real helpful, right now. It might have had the phrase, "No, I don't speak your language, and no, changing your tone doesn't make me understand you any better!"
He hadn't heard of any translation spells either. Surely Hermione would have talked about it every year because of her vacations. Stupid rock portal thing- if it could tell the monks about the wizarding world then why couldn't it tell me about this world?
The red haired man huffed in annoyance, stalked towards Harry and raised a blue sleeved arm.
Harry shuddered as an icy cold something landed on his forehead and he fell back when a spike of pain pierced his mind. "What are you doing?" Harry flinched and his wand buzzed between his clenched fingers.
"Oh, so you are speaking to me," The man said to Harry while looking behind him in fascination.
"Who else would I be talking to?" Harry groaned and rubbed his forehead. Wait... "What did you do?"
The red-haired man stared at him blankly. "What do you mean?"
"I can understand you!" Harry raised his wand higher.
The man eyed the wand. "And?"
"You…" Harry sputtered, "You made me learn your language." I'm just not sure how you did it… or if you actually did it.
"Don't be ridiculous, brat. I did no such thing. You were the one spouting off rubbish. I thought you had hit your head or something." The man huffed.
Brat? Harry jabbed his wand forward. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man tilted his head to the side. "This is my home. What are you doing here?"
"I'm searching for information." Good, that was vague and truthful.
The man glanced back at the ruins. "How did you get here?"
Harry frowned at the odd tone. "I stumbled here."
Purplish-blue eyes sparkled and the man's lips curved up in amusement. "So you didn't appear out of thin air?"
Harry flinched. "You saw me?"
"Hard to miss the swirling vortex of energy in the middle of uninhabited ruins, brat." The man smirked. "So, tell me, why are you here?"
Harry bit his lip. Where was he hiding when I searched around this plane? "You said this is your home, right?" The man nodded. Harry pulled out a photograph from his pocket and held it to the man. "Do you know her?"
The man leaned forwards and his eyes widened as he stared at the photo. "How do you know Orihime?"
Harry gaped and lowered his wand. Hedwig cuffed the back of Harry's head at his prolonged silence. He coughed. "She's my grandmother."
"Grandmother?" The man seemed startled by Harry's statement and examined the photograph. He looked up at Harry, eyes tracing over his face and returning to the photograph every few seconds.
Harry didn't want to interrupt the man, but he didn't want to be stared at anymore either. "So do you know my grandmother? Where is she?"
The man smiled ruefully. "She came here a long time ago. What's your name, brat?"
Harry suppressed the urge to scream and hex the infuriating man. Calm down. An annoying man is more useful than an unconscious man.
"Harry." He paused not wanting to say Potter because that would need an explanation. Having only one name was practical for blending in and not drawing too much attention.
"He-ri?" the man fumbled.
Harry cringed at the odd sound and corrected him. "No, more like…Ha-ree"
The man frowned. "Ha-rii?"
Harry nodded. "Good enough, I suppose. What's your name?"
"Akira. It's nice to meet Orihime's grandkid." The man smiled warmly. "Even if you look nothing like her."
Harry's stomach rumbled loudly, destroying any illusion of seriousness, and he ducked his head in embarrassment.
Akira chuckled, moved forward and sat down in front of Harry. Harry frowned at the man's easy trust and lack of cautiousness but decided to make use of it. He pulled out a half-eaten chocolate bar from his backpack.
"Do you want some?" Harry asked as he broke off a piece of chocolate, confident that the sugary food would make the man more talkative.
"I don't need to eat."
Harry bit his chocolate, considering what to do next.
"I'm dead," the man said blandly.
Harry choked on his piece of chocolate as his mind recalled images of the Hogwarts monotone ghosts. "What? Don't be ridiculous. You're colourful!"
The redhead's lips twitched. "So are you, brat." With an amused smirk, Akira pushed his hand towards a rock beside him.
Harry gaped as the hand phased though the solid object. "But…" He knows grandmum and she must have come back here at least 30 years ago. He doesn't look a day over 20 but that doesn't mean he's dead. Harry leaned forward and stretched out his hand. When he felt soft cloth, Harry grabbed the man's sleeve triumphantly. "I don't know what trick you're using with that rock, but you need to do better if you're planning on lying to me."
Akira stared at the hand clutching his sleeve. With a sleek movement he twisted his hand through the air and caught Harry's wrist in the blink of an eye.
Harry cringed at the icy cold hand that clutched his wrist in a vice-like recalled the icy cold feeling that had touched his forehead before and gave him his new language abilities. It was similar but not the same.
Akira's face shifted through awe, disbelief and an odd sense of longing.
Hedwig stretched her wings, flew off Harry's shoulder, passed right through Akira's chest and landed on the rock beside him. Harry glanced down at the hand still curled around his wrist."Stand up. Ghosts didn't need to walk, so if you float..."
"I don't float. I just walk through everything." Akira smirked but didn't let got of Harry's hand. "You really are an odd brat. I mean you can see me and even touch me. It's so unreal. When Orihime came back…"
"You were there when she came back?" Harry interrupted.
"I've been here for a long time." Akira sighed. "But she couldn't see me, none of them could. I wanted her to go back because it wasn't safe. After I died I just..."
"How exactly did you die?" Harry asked, not entirely convinced that the man was dead.
Akira's forehead creased. "I was trying to use a defense jutsu I'd found, but something went wrong. I was too distracted and inexperienced, the jutsu mutated into something else." He chuckled bitterly. "The last thing I remember was watching the few remaining clan members around me disappear in swirls of energy as the jutsu sucked up all my chakra."
Harry gasped as he remembered he grandmother's letter. "You, you're the Uzumaki clan head."
Akira perked up. "You know me!"
"Not really, grandmum just said that the clan head sent them to my home wo… region. She didn't mention any names."
Akira chuckled and let go of Harry's hand. "This is so surreal."
"Tell me about it," Harry said as he bit another piece of chocolate, hoping it would calm him down.
"Who would have thought I'd end up meeting my grand-nephew after I died." Akira laughed and Harry choked once more.
Harry gulped down some water and stared intently at Akira. "You're grandmum's …"
"Elder brother." Akira confirmed. "Yuriko and Orihime were my younger sisters."
Harry recognized the familiar names and slumped in relief.
"So, what are you doing here all alone?" Hedwig interrupted Akira with a hoot. "Pardon me, what are you doing here with your lovely companion. Surely you're a long way from home."
"I…" Harry murmured, "I wanted to find her because... How long has it been like this?"
"Long before you were born, most probably. I can't keep track of time here." Akira sighed and turned back to the ruins, "We were not prepared for such large scale fighting." He stood up, turned around and beckoned for Harry to follow. "Even when Orihime and the others came back, there wasn't much they could do. The world was too harsh. And since I was dead there was no way for her to go back." Stones crinkled under Harry's feet as he followed Akira.
"Why not? Couldn't you have told them how to open the portal?" Harry interrupted, noting how Akira's moving feet didn't disturb any stones or dirt and wondering just when he'd accepted that Akira was a ghost. No footsteps. No shadow.
"They couldn't see me, remember?" Akira paused and looked at the boy.
Hedwig flapped her wings and flew over them. Harry marveled at the silvery sheen from her feathers in the sunlight.
"Is everyone dead?" Harry asked, voice falling with trepidation.
"I don't know." Akira frowned. "Orihime's group was the only one that came back. And then they left this area. Nothing happened until you dropped by."
"Where did they go? Why didn't you follow them?"
Akira stopped at the area that Harry had arrived at and turned to Harry, "I can't leave these ruins. I'm stuck here."
Imprisonment in an abandoned place with no human contact. Harry balked at the thought.
Akira continued, "I tried everything, but something keeps me here. You can imagine my surprise when I woke up to an empty place and tried to leave in search of the others only to realize I could walk through things but couldn't leave the edge of our village."
"Is it because of the jutsu thing you did?" Harry wondered.
Akira shrugged, "I don't know what the jutsu did. I thought it sent them to different places, but I couldn't be sure. I don't know where Orihime went and came back from…" Hopeful blue eyes turned to Harry. "Which region did you come from, brat?"
Harry cleared his throat and looked at his feet. "Uh, you see, I'm from…another realm?"
"You mean away from the shinobi nations?"
Harry rubbed his forehead wearily. "More like a different world or dimension or something like that."
Akira blinked, frowned and nodded. "That would make sense."
"It does?" Harry had expected Akira to laugh at him or demand a proper explanation.
"I never understood why I died. Sure the jutsu mutated into something odd. But if that jutsu sent them to another world, then it makes sense. After all, to accomplish something impossible you need to pay with your life."
"So you sent everyone else from the clan to different worlds?" Harry supplied.
Akira shook his head. "I don't think so. My life would have only been enough to open the way to one world, if it actually did that."
"Then what about the others?" Harry persisted.
"They must have been sent to different places here." Akira murmured thoughtfully, "Initially I thought that'd I sent everyone to one place, but when Orihime's group returned, I realized that I had scattered them."
"So there's a chance…there's a chance they're still out there, somewhere." Harry pulled the man's sleeve and dragged him towards the edge of the village.
Akira said, "Harii, what are you doing?"
"Come with me, help me find them."
"But I can't leave!" Akira protested, pulling his hand away.
"Yeah well, you couldn't be seen before I came along either." Harry retorted and stalked towards the trees in the distance ignoring the older man's protests. As he stepped into the tree cover, Akira's sleeve slid out of his hand. He turned back to Akira, grabbed the sleeve and pulled.
Again the sleeve slid out.
Akira smiled sadly, raised a hand and pushed it forward. The skin on his palm flattened against an invisible barrier. "Looks like even you can't get me out of here."
Harry grit his teeth, walked behind Akira and pushed.
Akira patted Harry's head gently. "Maa, that's enough, Harii"
"I'm not leaving you here by yourself," Harry said.
"Idiot brat." Akira huffed. "You're getting too worked up over trivial things. Just because I can't leave with you, doesn't mean you can't find them."
"How is this trivial?" Harry asked, quite willing to argue with his supposed ghostly ancestor, "If you can't leave then, I'm staying here…"
"Eh?"
"You heard me." Harry removed his backpack. He unfurled his scroll, pricked his finger and dragged it across the first seal. He grabbed the magical tent and placed in on the ground.
Akira watched Harry set up his tent with an exasperated look and smiled. "You're definitely an Uzumaki."
Harry shook his head. Being alone for so long must have made Akira a bit crazy. He ducked into his tent followed by Hedwig and frowned when Akira didn't follow. "What are you doing? Get in!" Harry held the flap open and watched in satisfaction at the shock on the man's face.
"What? How?" Akira stuttered at the spacious interior of the tiny tent. "Is this ability from your world? Like that stick that shoots purple light?"
Harry paused and glanced at his wand. "When did it shoot a purple light?"
"When you made a burn on the rock," Akira said as he flitted around the tent examining everything curiously.
Harry glanced at his wand. He didn't remember using any spells. Must have lost control. Does this mean that I … Harry raised his wand and pointed. "Accio backpack". He caught his bag with bated breath and waited. Harry smiled in relief when nothing happened. No flashing phoenixes, no order member apparating and no ministry owl- he'd really managed to get away from them.
"That looks useful, what is it?" Akira prodded.
Harry beamed at the older man and talked. About magic and his life.
A week later, Harry stretched out of his tent feeling completely relaxed. His mind buzzed with odd new information- things to watch out for, people to be wary of, places to generally avoid, how to address people properly to avoid being killed and the dangers of jutsus. His grandmum might have said it was equivalent to magic. But from what Akira described, jutsus were a lot more different than magic.
"Finally up?" Akira asked
Harry blinked at the man's sudden appearance but shrugged it off as Akira's usual oddity. Akira had proven himself to be odder than most of Hogwarts' ghosts during the past week.
"I think you should get going." Akira said abruptly. "I'm glad you stayed with me for so long but you need to search for the others." He cut off Harry's protest. "Harii, I'm dead, and I haven't had company in a long time. I think I can deal with it a little longer, as long as I know the rest of my family is safe."
Harry shot him a look.
Akira smiled at him in amusement. "You can always come back. I'll try not to bore you with boring stories about all the clan members I lived with."
"They're not that boring." Harry muttered.
"Oh? Well, that's nice then. Do you know what that is?" He pointed to the necklace around Harry's neck.
Harry clasped the intricately carved black fish that had belonged to his grandmother. "A koi?"
Akira gave him smug look. "It's a Kumonryu."
Harry frowned as his mind automatically provided a literal translation "dragon with nine markings". It seemed that the free language lesson didn't include local myths and folklore. Or local customs and etiquette, his mind supplied grimly recalling Akira's horrified expression when Harry had called him Akira.
Akira elaborated, "It's a symbol of transformation. Those koi are named after the legendary dragon Ryu that transformed into a cloud and raced through the sky."
Harry waited for Akira to continue.
"Brat, to survive and move ahead, you need to be able to adapt and change. You're world is too different."
Harry finally understood.He tapped his wand on his clothes, mimicking a dull maroon version of Akira's blue attire.
Akira blinked. "That's not quite what I meant. But, good idea! Your clothes would have made you stand out too much." Akira circled Harry examining him critically. "What about your footwear?"
"What about it?" Harry stared down at his new black boots.
"Sandals!" Akira lifted one sandaled foot.
"But I'd stub my toes" Harry argued. "And these are new."
"Well then, time to pack up. It's best to get an early start."
"Now?" Harry frowned. He sighed as Akira pushed and prodded him into packing up.
"You look like an ordinary traveler now." Akira said, an hour later, as Harry fiddled with his backpack and scroll. "And, no brat, I'm not kicking you out, I just want you to find them. The earlier the better, right?"
"Are you sure you can't come with me?" Harry asked, unwilling to leave the only link to his grandmother behind even if it was a ghost.
Akira gave him an exasperated look.
Harry said, "Maybe we should try again. I can use my magic…"
Akira patted the boy's head fondly, "You'll always know where to find me. Or at least your owl should be able to." They turned to Hedwig. She eyed them, daring them to question her ability to find her way back.
"Until Hedwig gets familiar with this world, this outdated map will have to do." Harry frowned.
"The boundaries shouldn't have changed much" Akira shrugged. "Just keep going in that direction till you reach Fire country."
Harry gazed in the direction uncertainly.
Akira reassured him. "Fire country was always prosperous and helpful. They like to take in strays. If nothing else, it'll give you some clues. I know you'll find a living Uzumaki eventually."
"You think so?" Harry asked.
"Of course." Akira grinned. "You found me, didn't you? And I'm dead."
Harry snorted. "Let's just hope I find someone alive. If I find another ghost stuck to one place, they'll probably talk my ear off."
Akira ruffled Harry's hair gently. "Oh my! What's this? My descendant cracking a joke? I'm so proud."
"I should get going," Harry said as he tightened the straps of his backpack and shifted the storage scroll into a comfortable position.
Akira nodded and said,"Good luck, Harii."
Harry looked up into purplish blue eyes and with an awkward wave he turned away from his dead ancestor and stumbled away in to the trees.
"Be careful, brat and come back soon with the others." Akira shouted.
Harry smiled but didn't turn back.
X-X-X-X-X
Harry sat down on a rock and took a swig from his canteen. So far the land's layout seemed to be exactly as Akira had said. He jumped as an odd buzzing vibrated on his chest. He stretched his hand out and over his chest, patting it down gently, trying to find the source of the odd sensation.
"Harry?"
"Maybe we need the full name? Harry Potter!" A muffled voice reached his ears through bouts of static.
His eyes widened as his hands dipped inside his transfigured jacket and landed on a smooth leather pouch. The two-way mirror. With a relieved smile, Harry pulled the mirror out and saw two familiar worried faces.
"Mate, glad you managed to get away in time…"
"Harry, what are you wearing?" Both voices spoke at the same time.
Harry grinned as both of them reprimanded each other for their comments. "Thanks Ron." Harry interrupted, idly noticing that he'd automatically switched back to talking in English. "Hermione, I'm trying to blend in here. This is what they wear. What took you guys so long?"
"What took us…" Hermione sighed inn exasperation. "Harry, we're at the Burrow for the summer."
"How come?" His friends shared a look. "Ah, right... So, how did you get the mirror?"
"We asked Professor Lupin to search for it. He seemed rather willing to help," Ron said.
Harry nodded.
An awkward silence fell in between them. Hermione cleared her throat. "Harry, how do we join you?"
Harry blinked. "What?"
"You can't expect us let you go by yourself. Not after…" She bit her lip.
"You did read the part about the other world, right?" Harry asked.
Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. "Did she ever. I've had to listen to constant odd theories about how to get to you."
"Ron…"
"She wanted to ask Dobby if house elves could find people in other worlds." Ron snickered.
"What?" Harry sputtered.
Hermione huffed. "I didn't see you contributing any ideas."
"Well, obviously. I keep telling you, it's a family thing. Would you want us with you when you search for a relative?" Ron retorted, even as his voice hitched a little.
"I'd have taken you guys with me." Harry interrupted. "I'd have taken you with me if I had more time. And if you guys wanted to come with me."
"Of course, we'd have come with you, mate. I mean I did follow you even when we had to visit the spiders, right?" Ron assured him.
Hermione nodded at his side.
"Even you Hermione? Even if it meant missing school?" Harry's lips quirked up at Hermione's cornered expression.
"Of…of course…"
Harry chuckled at her stuttering. He heard Ron laughing with Hermione trying to reprimand them and he knew everything was all right between them.
"You guys wouldn't believe the past few days I've had." They perked up and huddled closer to the mirror as he told them everything he had witnessed, gone through and learnt.
"Wow." Ron summarized. "Traveling across the world, portals and ghosts? And it's not even the start of school year."
Hermione frowned in thought. "It all sounds so…"
"Unbelievable?" Harry supplied.
"The threstral I can ignore due to lack of research done on them. The sentient rock portal is also fine for now. But Fawkes attacking Hedwig, it's just, I haven't heard of phoenixes being hostile like that."
"I know, that's why I told you, I'd really like to know about the whole magical creature interaction. I don't know what he did to her. She seems fine, but…"
"Harry." Hermione said, "I doubt…"
Harry held the mirror above him and swirled it around.
"Oh my!" "Blimey." His friends exclaimed as they saw Hedwig. Hedwig sat on the tree stump patiently and eyed the mirror haughtily.
"Now I would love to know about magical animal interaction, because frankly, I get the feeling I'm missing something."
"Maybe we could ask Hagrid," Ron said.
"And say what exactly?" Hermione snapped. "Oh Hagrid, the magical creatures have a secret society that they're hiding from us. Do you know their secrets?"
Harry blinked and shared a look with Ron. "Hermione?"
Hermione sighed. "Sorry, I just... It's annoying that we can't even help you even when you need this kind of help."
Harry's eyes softened. "Are you kidding? I depend on you guys to help me understand things and keep me sane. And well, it's always good to talk to you guys, even if we are separated by a dimension."
"Of course" Ron nodded sagely. "We're critical to your mental health."
Harry twitched. "Critical?"
Hermione smacked Ron's shoulder and turned to Harry. "I'll do my best to look into it, but until I'm at Hogwarts I won't know anything for sure. I can probably ask Nearly Headless Nick about you grand-uncle too."
Harry nodded, "I think, maybe you should ask him if threstrals can see him."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Remember the threstral hair? It might have something to do with it. I can't be sure because it won't come off."
"I'll…" Hermione's eyes widened.
"Already?" Ron's face paled.
"What's the matter?" Harry asked worriedly.
Hermione sighed. "Its Mrs. Weasley. She thinks we'll leave to follow you, so she tries not to leave either of us alone."
"The only reason we could talk now was because the twins came home. Fred says we have a minute or two left." Ron added.
Hermione looked at Harry in worry. "You'll take care of yourself, right? And call us every chance you get."
"He needs to be by himself to call us, remember? And my mom won't let us out of her sight." Ron reminded.
"Then record a message and send it to us."
"I can do that?" Harry wondered.
"Of course! Professor Lupin told us, just say message and one of our names. The mirror will hold it till we can get to it." Hermione rushed. "Please stay out of trouble."
Ron snorted and turned to his best friend. "Have fun, Harry."
"Ron!" Hermione sounded scandalized.
"I'll try. And Hedwig is watching my back. Who knows, maybe she's gotten some scary powers now?" He chuckled when Hedwig hooted indignantly.
Harry grinned at Ron's contagious laughter and Hermione's soft laughter. "I'll talk to you two soon." And with a swirl of colour, their laughing faces disappeared leaving behind a blank mirror. He smiled. They had supported his choice to come here. He felt a bit more confident as he stood up.
*X*X*X*
Harry sighed in annoyance at the mist and the trees around him.
Especially the mist.
Definitely the mist. Why is it so misty in the forest anyway? Hedwig seemed to find the weather just as annoying and stayed on his shoulder. He was glad since he didn't want to be alone in the mist, but he still couldn't get over how much bigger Hedwig was.
He stopped mid-step when he heard a loud cough and a hard thump. What? Another raspy cough. There's someone out here. Harry bit his lip and moved towards the sound of the coughs making as much noise as possible. No point in surprising the person.
The coughs got muffled as though the person was trying to stop it. Harry frowned but paused. In a clear tone he asked. "Are you alright? Do you need some help?"
No response. Harry rolled his eyes. Like that's going to deter me.
Then the rational part of his mind kicked in, you do realize you could be walking towards some psycho. Harry ignored it. Someone might need help. Unbidden a memory rose to his mind, "Harry you have a saving people thing".
Harry stopped once more, heart constricting painfully at the assault of memories that threatened to make him scream. Why. Why now of all times? He'd been doing fine the whole week with Akira.
Stop it.
Stop.
STOP.
He took a deep breath trying to calm his erratic gasps of air and the painful heartbeat.
Whoever had been coughing was probably long gone.
But he walked forward, acutely aware that he needed to learn some spells to survive traveling in dangerous territory.
Harry paused as he found a person huddled, in a large black coat with red clouds on it, at the base of a thick tree. He waited for some sort of acknowledgment and got another wet sounding cough.
Harry flinched. He had been to enough Quidditch practices to know when someone was probably coughing up blood.
He ignored all sense of caution, removed his water canteen and held it out. Black eyes looked up at him and turned to the outstretched arm holding the canteen. Harry studied the person in front of him. Long black bangs fell over a metallic plate that had an odd symbol scratched out.
Harry stared at the symbol- a swirl with a pointed tip on one side. He tilted his head to the side a bit and wondered what it meant. Clan affiliation? Some sort of head gear that hadn't existed in Whirlpool. Akira never mentioned it.
But it was the black eyes that caught Harry's attention. More than the familiar length of black hair, it was the loneliness and pain in those eyes that prevented Harry from leaving this man to suffer. Sirius had always had those eyes and he had ignored them, immersed in his own problems.
Harry stood patiently letting the man scrutinize him. He flinched and held his breath as a sharp object touched his skin. He hadn't even noticed another person in the vicinity. And it seemed neither had Hedwig. She let out an odd hoot but tightened her claws on his shoulder.
The person in front of him hadn't moved. Black eyes watched Harry suspiciously.
Harry peeked at the black sleeve covered the pale hand holding the weapon against his caught a glimpse of red clouds scattered on a black background. Similar outfits. So he was the man's partner then? Harry gasped at his attacker's face and turned back to the man leaning on the tree. It was the same man.
Or maybe twins?
The pressure on his neck disappeared in a flash of thick white smoke and the sounds of gut wrenching coughs. His attacker had burst into smoke. And the man against the tree slumped forward as his body shook with a violent coughing fit.
Harry's cringed at the clogged wetness he could hear from the man's throat.
Red liquid seeped through the pale fingers that covered the man's mouth, and Harry knew that the man was in bad shape. He barely made it two steps before the man fell forward unconscious.
Harry grabbed the man before he hit the ground, the metallic object on the man's forehead landing painfully on Harry's shoulder. Harry unholstered his wand, pointed it at the man's throat and uttered a spell he had seen many times on the Quidditch field.
"Anapneo" Harry sighed in relief as the man's breathing eased and sounded a little less raspy.
He pushed the man into a sitting position, pushing him back against the tree and looked up at Hedwig. "Now what do we do?"