The Lightsaber
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#16: Clash of Ideals

MagiTech Industries Factory, London
April 1, 1996

As Remus walked in, he managed to catch Sirius hanging up the telephone on his desk with a deeply satisfied smile on his face. Seeing his longtime friend's arrival and obvious curiosity, the Black preempted his question by saying, "I just finished a deal to purchase a new building for MagiTech. We can move both the store and factory into it after we renovate it. Our current buildings are too small for all our customers."

"Oh?" Remus said, somewhat surprised. "Where is it? Which building? How much?"

"Some tower called Centre Point on New Oxford Street," Sirius answered easily, not even blinking as Remus seemed to flinch in surprised recognition. "The owner wanted like 90 million pounds, but we settled on 65 instead. I think I'm gonna rename Centre Point to Tech Tower."

"No, that'd be a bad idea," Remus quickly butted in. "It's a very well-known building with a lot of history behind it. Renaming it might cause a bit of public backlash, at least for the time being."

"Hm…fair enough," Sirius said, shrugging carelessly. It had only been a whimsical idea he'd had, but maybe something to consider later on. Turning back to his friend, he said, "How did the UN weapons demonstration go?"

"The new factories are a go," Remus said, completely foregoing answering the original question since he knew that this question was what the business owner was most anxious to hear about. "And I've managed to bring in more than two and a half thousand Werewolves of those countries officially to learn the secrets of our tech."

"That's great news!" Sirius said, beaming widely as he glanced up from his paperwork. "So, which factories are we talking about?"

"Two in the US, one for Germany, one in Romania, and one in Japan," Remus answered quickly, smiling slightly as well. Since he had lived a fair portion of his life in the Muggle World, he knew just what kind of success they needed in order for their factories to spread out across the planet like this. And he still couldn't believe the resounding success of MagiTech was due to the unconventional and illegal combination of magic and technology. Still, it was pretty understandable since most Wizards felt themselves far too above the Muggles to dabble in such experiments.

"Where's Harry?" Remus asked, glancing towards the one-way mirror. "Still floating over the North Sea or is he finally doing something constructive with his power now? I've got almost 3,000 Werewolves who need the infamous Cleanser's help."

"Eh, send them to one of the Lycans, I'm sure they'll be happy to help," Sirius said, waving his hand somewhat dismissively.

The first time that a cleansed Lycan had come across a common Werewolf, during the early days of MagiTech's recruitment, it had come as an unbridled shock for all involved to learn that the cleansed Lycans could now imitate Harry. Somehow, through the act of cleansing the Werewolf Curse, the newly-formed Lycan also gained the ability to cleanse others who were still afflicted. In many ways, it was the same but inverse effect of passing on the Werewolf Curse through a bite. This discovery had helped to hasten the cleansing of Werewolf Packs all over the world, just by planting a few Lycans in them, the act would rapidly spread through the Packs like a virus. As a side-effect, this also caused many of the Packs to become new employees of MagiTech, and now they'd be working in factories and stores a bit closer to their homes.

"As for Harry, I really don't know, to be honest. He just up and vanished this morning and I haven't had a chance to look for him. You wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork that's needed to get our Pixel Project and the Cyberathlete Professional League started."

"Perhaps," Remus allowed. "But some of the Werewolves really wanted to meet with him personally."

Sirius just shrugged in response as he finally set the last of his paperwork into a folder and flicked his wand, sending it on its way. "So, which of the products were the militaries most interested in purchasing?"

Taking a seat in one of the chairs to the side, Remus pulled out a checklist and began reading off of it. "The handheld blasters, ray-shields, bulletproof body armor, weaponized hoverboards, destroyer-class navy ship plasma cannons, improved armored troop transports and tanks, improved computers and communication systems, computer tablets, and so on. Basically, everything that can kill or maim or help them to better kill or maim each other is what they want."

"How predictable, and kind of sad," Sirius commented, shaking his head in disgust. "They may be somewhat more advanced, but they're still as backwards as Wizards pretend not to be."

"And they want the first shipments within a month's time," Remus said, shaking his head as well. "You'd think we were on the brink of a new world war with how much and how quickly they want all this stuff."

"Still, a month's time isn't too bad to get some headway on those orders," Sirius said, looking thoughtful. "And once the new factories are up and running, we can start regulating who builds what more easily."

After a moment of silence, Remus finally asked, "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Seeing Sirius's questioning look, he clarified, "Starting up MagiTech and selling to the world. I'm not saying it hasn't done some truly wondrous things and we can actually use our new influence to make a better world as a whole. But was it wise to not try to get Dumbledore's approval, or at least let him know what we're planning on doing? Even with what Fudge has been doing these last few months, Dumbledore still holds a lot of influence in the Wizarding World."

"True," Sirius said, nodding in agreement. "But his word could've made or broke MagiTech. While we may not be using magic in an overt sense, we technically still are breaking the Statute."

"And as the former Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation, he knows all-too-well the scriptures of the Statute," Remus pointed out. "He could very easily go to the ICW and cause us a lot of trouble, even if he's been booted out of the office."

"But we're much more established now," Sirius said, grinning. "Whether they know it or not, MagiTech is about to become the cornerstone of their lives. To just take that away now, with no true plausible explanation for just how we managed to create our tech, wouldn't go over well with the Muggles. It would cause great chaos and instill a lot of bad blood between the various Wizarding and Muggle governments, especially if some of the smarter ones were able to figure out that magic was involved."

"I guess I understand why we did it this way," Remus admitted, though he clearly still didn't like it. "Dumbledore could've put a halt to this whole operation before we even finished our first prototype. So we had to keep him in the dark…but what about now? With MagiTech becoming more widespread, the likelihood of him or one of the other Ministries figuring it out only grows stronger."

"Honestly? I'm hoping they figure it out now," Sirius stated, looking at Remus's inquiring gaze with a level one. "If they figure it out and try to shut us down, it will quickly get noticed by certain other higher-ups of a more pure lineage. And, even if they don't, the press will make a very big deal out of it for sure."

Remus couldn't help but flinch bodily as the implications dawned on him. "You're planning on using MagiTech as bait to draw out You-Know-Who!"

"Exactly," Sirius said. "We cannot move forward into the future as long as we have his shadow hanging over our heads like a guillotine blade. The only way for this end favorably for us is if You-Know-Who dies, and soon. If he doesn't, you know he's gonna fan the flames of the Purebloods and they'll destroy everything we're trying to build with MagiTech."

"…Do you think Harry's ready for this fight?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius critically. "It's obvious to me that You-Know-Who is going to focus all of his time and effort on killing the one person who has and does stand up to him on a regular basis."

"Harry's been ready for that fight since before he left Hogwarts," Sirius said confidently. And he had reason to believe such a claim.

Sirius would often join Harry in rigorous training sessions, especially since he started training Dobby how to fight with his mini-lightsaber. The little bugger had taken to calling the mini-lightsaber a 'shoto' for some reason that Sirius didn't understand. Anyway, the young Sorcerer boy's style had been evolving into something both mesmerizing to watch, chaotic to fight, and unpredictable to counter. Plus, with all the new magic he's been learning from his father's crystal ball, he was never without a surprise or two waiting up his sleeve. Sirius was honestly looking forward to Harry's inevitable fight with Voldemort with great anticipation.

Smirking at the memory of his last little spar with his beloved godson, Sirius nodded decisively. "You-Know-Who doesn't stand a chance."

Before Remus could respond to Sirius's bold claim, someone rushed up to the office door and started knocking on it loudly and insistently. Waving in the frantic-looking employee, Sirius said, "What's the problem?"

"Just received word…from the store!" the man said, panting slightly from the run he'd just made to reach the office quickly. "There's a…Wizard in the store! ...Charisa said it was…Dumbledore!"

At that exclamation, both Sirius and Remus rushed into the hidden room behind his office. They each grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and were rapidly transported to the store's fireplace. After cleaning themselves of the dust and ash, they turned and made for the door.

"Let's hope your gamble works as you want it to," Remus couldn't help muttering as he and Sirius quickly and easily spotted the weirdly-dressed old man that stood in the middle of the crowded store. Just by the look on the old man's face, Remus could tell that the ensuing conversation was not going to go well.

Forbidden Forest
Same time…

Over the past month and a half, Harry found himself growing a bit more popular among the Centaur herd. Granted, things hadn't started out very well. The Centaurs as a whole didn't welcome the young rogue Wizard and Sorcerer into their company willingly. Sure, they had helped him purge himself of his Dark taint, but they viewed that more as an act of necessity at the commands of their superiors than out of true loyalty. But in return for their help, Harry had happily shared many of his newest and most important secrets with them.

The Centaurs had all taken to creating their own crystals, following Harry's instructions, and were all properly surprised and impressed by what they'd made. It seemed that the Centaur crystals functioned much the same way as Tonks had discovered. Thus the mystics of the herd had found that they could use their crystals as focuses and amplifiers for their own brand of magic in much the same way as a wand for a Witch and Wizard. The crystals may have forced them to revisit their training and to constantly practice their magic with them, in order to learn how to control the precious gems. But the more serene of the mystics claimed it just helped reinforce to them the need to never grow stagnate in one's skill. Many of the Centaurs had even taken to carrying staves that had their crystals embedded in them, or even weaving the crystals into pieces of jewelry like necklaces or earrings or rings. Thus the crystals were quickly becoming a very popular fashion among the herd, even those who were neither warriors nor mystics.

In fact, Harry came across a very interesting discovery about the crystals thanks to the Centaurs. Apparently, there was a certain pattern to which the colors of the crystals were chosen. In the case of the more confrontational, aggressive, or practical-minded, the creators of the crystal got blue. They were the fighters, in spirit if not in body. But if the crystal's creator was more open-minded, diplomatic, and patient, then they got green. As such, many of the mystics got green crystals while the warriors got blue crystals. Though that's not to say that there wasn't a slight mixture of the colors.

The warriors had been forced to sit patiently through long sessions of 'schooling' as Harry explained to them to basics of Muggle technology. Many of those warriors were quite uncomfortable and vocal, even times rather aggressive, at learning such foreign concepts as electricity and how to tie in special Charms and runes to make their weapons. They viewed the need to learn such knowledge as unnecessary since the 'arcane arts' were better suited to the mystics. Bane himself had had to come forward numerous times to break up a potential confrontation between the warriors and Harry. Eventually, with overwhelming reluctance on the Centaurs' part, they were able to understand the necessity of knowing such knowledge.

That was when Harry started teaching them how to build the weapon. He showed them the basic mechanics behind the construction and he supplied them the tools and parts necessary, but he didn't build the weapons for them himself. There was a tremendous amount of grumbling and complaints involved, even from Bane, which really tried Harry's patience. And yet, when that first blade was ignited for the first time, all complaints and mounting anger practically vanished as the lucky maker marveled over his craftsmanship and his companions were awed by the beautiful blade. It actually jumpstarted the Centaurs' competitive natures and desire to have their own weapons.

That was more than two weeks ago and things were now settling into a much more comfortable routine for the warriors as they practiced and trained with their new lightpikes. At first, Harry had been unsure about the wisdom of the Centaurs using their very own crafted iron as the shafts of the pikes. But he had been reassured by both Remus and Sirius and the Centaur blacksmiths that 'Centaur iron' was uniquely forged with magic that the makers kept as closely guarded secrets. This unique iron was said to be incredibly strong, even on par with Goblin-forged steel. Thus Harry was quite happy and surprised to see that their iron was actually strong enough to block and deflect lightsaber blades with next to no damage inflicted. The Centaurs didn't usually wear armor, but all of it was composed of their iron.

And that was what had Harry was so impressed with what he was seeing before him take place. It was a training session that he was watching over at Bane's invitation. The warriors were practicing with their weapons, learning to properly wield their new and much more deadly weapons. Harry found that the Centaurs approached combat, especially close-quarters combat, much differently than how a human would. They took full advantage of their unique body structure, always running, always moving, always taking slashes and fleeing quickly. In some ways, they reminded him of how the horse-archers of the Mongols used to fight in that regard. But when they were forced to a halt and had to fight hand to hand, they fought more like staff-wielding Shaolin monks, occasionally rearing up to use their front legs to pummel their opponents torso and arms. It was a surprisingly mesmerizing display.

"Your warriors have adapted to the lightpikes with surprising ease, Bane," Harry admitted with a touch of jealousy. It was an irrational jealousy since he knew that he was no near as skilled with his lightsaber as they were with their spears and pikes. But it was a still a sting to his pride, momentarily. "I'm impressed."

The boy Sorcerer was dressed in a heavy jeans and a light, brown wool jacket with the hood up, shielding him from the rain. On his back, a strange crossbow-like contraption was hanging by a belt over his shoulder. It was clear by the size that it was not designed for use by the boy, it was much too large. His wand was holstered and his lightsaber dangling from his belt at his side. He also wore a satchel at his side, bugling slightly from the contents hidden within.

"These weapons are remarkably similar to our own spears," Bane said simply. "It isn't that surprising, Potter." Looking off to the side, he said, "Those…blasters you've given us are much harder to adjust to."

Looking to where the larger male was gazing, Harry felt his stinging pride be soothed slightly. There was a long line of Centaurs standing before a row of targets just fifty meters away. Nearly all of the Centaurs using the blasters were either missing the targets completely or just barely hitting the outer edges. There was a distinct difference between firing an arrow from a bow and shooting a gun. To fire an arrow required a special hand-eye coordination and being able to predict the flight path and speed of the arrow once released to hit the target where they desired it. They needed to 'feel' the shot before they could fire it. To shoot a gun, one just needed to sight down the barrel, control one's breathing, estimate the trajectory of the bullet, and then squeeze the trigger. There was generally no special feeling involved, which is why and how Muggle soldiers could spray out hundreds of rounds a minute without batting an eye. And this was something that none of the Centaurs had trained since birth to do, so all of them were starting from scratch.

"Well, maybe you'll be able to better adjust to this new weapon we've developed recently," Harry said, mustering up a smile for Bane as the Centaur turned to look at him. Sliding the crossbow off his shoulder, Harry held it up to Bane to take.

Grabbing the strange weapon, Bane looked it over critically. Now somewhat familiar with blasters and guns, the Centaur leader was able to quickly realize that this weapon wasn't loaded. There was a very distinct opening underneath it, just in front of the trigger, and a pair of brackets that were clearly intended to hold the ammo cartridge. "A crossbow…blaster?" he guessed, uncertainly.

"I prefer to call it a 'bowcaster,'" Harry said, smiling somewhat sheepish at Bane's raised brow in response. "But, yes. I designed it to add a bit more familiarity for you. It shoots a lot slower than the blasters, but the shots are much more powerful and dangerous." Reaching into his satchel, he held up a cylindrical with a bright blue plasma glowing from within. It was roughly the size of a 2-liter cola bottle with the same general shape. Handing it up to Bane, Harry watched as the Centaur examined the weapon before carefully slipping the cylinder into its place.

"This reminds me," Bane said, lowering the weapon and reaching into the bag he was also wearing. Pulling out something dark metallic, he handed it over to Harry. "A little gift from our blacksmiths. It should provide you with a bit of protection from enchanted blades."

Taking the gift, Harry soon recognized it as being a pauldron. A smile spread across his face as he carefully unbuckled some of the straps and slid it over his head, resting it on his right shoulder and quickly strapping it into place. Lifting his arm carefully, he smiled a bit wider as he watched the curiously-light plate armor shift and adjust with his movement, not hampering his range of motion in the least. Returning Bane's gaze, he said, "Thank you, my friend. I'm sure this'll come in handy." Bane just nodded in response.

Walking over to the firing range, Bane nudged aside one of the shooters and took his place. Cocking the bowstring, which filled the firing chamber with plasma, and sliding the safety off, he aimed downrange and fired. The little 'pops' of the blasters were easily drowned out by the substantial 'bang!' of the bowcaster, freezing all activity in the practice field momentarily. But Harry and Bane's attentions weren't on that. They were both staring with blinking surprise at the outcome of Bane's shot. The shot itself must've been five times as large as those from the blasters and quite a bit more powerful. Not only did the Centaur leader hit his target dead center, but the blast utterly blew the circular target and its stand completely apart, as though it'd been struck by a small missile.

Turning back to Harry with a slight grin on his face, Bane said, "I think these will suffice."

Taking his satchel off and handing it over to the Centaur, Harry chuckled in response. "Have fun, Bane."

Breakroom, MagiTech Store, Newham Borough

His first clue to the use of magic was the numerous strange devices that he saw the Muggles using out on the streets. He had been walking down the street towards where he'd learned was the building that Sirius and Remus had purchased and put into use, under a protective Notice-Me-Not Charm. And as he drew closer to the building in question, the more overt the magical devices became.

Many of the children and teenagers were riding on boards that had no wheels but were clearly floating in the air, most were floating along the sides of the street between the parked cars and road itself since the sidewalks were so cramped with people. Through windows of other shops and homes, he could see other children were wearing magical gloves as they played with glowing cubes, manipulating and changing the cubes sizes, breaking them into smaller cubes and using them as building blocks to create various things, all the while the colors of the glow changed each time. Some of the passersby were tinkering with flat screens the size and shapes of notebooks, playing games or exploring the various programs on the screens. And yet others were talking to strange devices they wore on their wrists that were like watches, but carried small, blue figures over them.

It was in a slight daze of horror and disbelief that caused the elderly old man stumbled into and gazed around the building he was in, not noticing his Charm had dropped with his concentration so shot. Everywhere around him, he could faintly detect traces and considerable concentrations of magic alighting the air. Most Wizards and Witches rarely, if ever, manifested the awareness of detecting the auras of magic around themselves. It took a certain high level of experience, power, and sensitivity to even be able to attempt the delicate art. In several ways, it was a heavily toned down version of the fabled awareness that Sorcerers were blessed with, just with a much, much smaller range.

Dumbledore's bubble of awareness was remarkably large for a Wizard, able to sense magic up to five meters around his person. And almost everywhere he looked, in every device and contraption on the store shelves or under the counters, he could pick up a small but noticeable trace of magic. The magic was both familiar and foreign to him. He could identify several Charms and Jinxes just by the flux of the magic. But what was confusing him was that the magic had some very peculiar differences.

In a word, it was erratic: highly charged and with considerable power, but also tightly controlled and directed. It was very different and almost vexing to the old Wizard as he struggled to understand just how it could be possible. Magic was a highly-potent energy source that had many, many factors that could be attributed to how it was used and handled. But because of all these factors and differences, there was only ever one consistent fact about all magic. That being it was nearly uncontrollable in its natural state, with Wizards and Witches only able to vaguely shape and aim the magic through their wands and wills to utilize it. Thus, how could any of the magic he was feeling around him be so incredibly controlled?! It was both highly-intriguing and more than a little disturbing for the venerable elder.

It wasn't until a pair of familiar men appeared next to him and guided him into a lounge area for employees that Dumbledore was able to finally start regaining some semblance of self-awareness and realize that he was standing undisguised in a crowd of Muggles. Muggles who were shopping in a store that sold magical items to them!

"I assume there's a very good explanation for all this," Dumbledore more or less growled out in a quiet rage as he glanced heatedly between Sirius and Remus. Though Sirius snorted somewhat derisively with a familiar unrepentant look on his face, Remus seemed both nervous and scared.

"Well, obviously, I am running a business," Sirius snarked.

"You are selling magical items to Muggles!" Dumbledore barked, his temper starting to take control in a rare but powerful burst of anger. "That is one of the highest laws of the Statute of Secrecy! You're provoking the Muggles into asking questions that have no answer but the obvious truth of the existence of magic! You're putting everyone in the entire Wizarding World in jeopardy!"

"Are we?" Sirius demanded, leaning forward ever-so-slightly as his glare matched Dumbledore's. "Are we really putting the Wizarding World in danger?! From what I see out there, the Muggles see and believe that what they are buying and using is a massive jump in technology and science! While they may not understand it yet, they will find ways of identifying what we're doing within a logical, scientific perspective! That's how Muggles think! We have done nothing to advertise the existence of the Wizarding World at all since we've started all this!"

"Muggles are known for being simple-minded with strong superstitious tendencies!" Dumbledore said, his voice low and firm as his eyes narrowed dangerously, all twinkles and sparkles of good-nature long since vanished. "They will find out what is really going on. And they will react badly, as they have always done whenever they find something magical in nature. It is how and who they have always been! Our ancestors were not fools, Sirius. They knew what they were doing when they made the Statute of Secrecy!"

"Times change, as do people," Sirius pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood taller, raising his chin defiantly. "You have never spent any extensive time with the Muggles. You have not seen just what they are now capable of and how openly accepting they are of exciting new changes and discoveries. They've found ways to mimic and even surpass us Wizards in many ways. Look at the Floo and telephones! Wizards can talk to the others through the Floo's fire powder, but only if they're connected to the network and within a very limited range of distance. Muggles can make calls with their telephones from London to Rome to Boston to Beijing! Can we Wizards do that? Times have changed, and so should we, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore stared at Sirius in the eye for a long moment, strongly tempted to cast a silent Legilimency spell on him to see what the man's thoughts were. But he restrained that impulse with a great deal of self-control. While the man's flagging mental defenses were all but nonexistent from his time in Azkaban, it wouldn't do to start treating his allies as enemies. That was the first step to fracturing and destroying their alliance to bring down Tom Riddle and his Death Eaters. And with how aggressively the Ministry and Fudge have been pursuing all leads and trails of his and Harry's whereabouts, the Order of the Phoenix needed strong unity to survive this trying time. Speaking of which…

"Perhaps it's time for you to return Harry back to Grimmauld Place," Dumbledore said, feeling a bit of uncharacteristic dark satisfaction when Sirius and even Remus recoiled slightly in obvious and pained surprise. But that satisfaction was instantly squashed down when the younger men's eyes narrowed and both their stances quickly became a bit more relaxed, obvious signs that they were preparing for an actual fight. From the corner of his eye, Dumbledore could glimpse the fact that every other occupant of the lunchroom had also turned their attentions towards the trio with unabashed interest, some openly glaring at him. Undeterred, he continued, "It seems clear to me that having him under such reckless influences like this will be detrimental to his development as a responsible young adult of the Wizarding World."

"We are not being reckless or foolish, Dumbledore," Remus said in a surprisingly level tone, though the look in his eye was anything but calm. "What we are ultimately working towards is a true cohabitation of Wizards and Muggles. Our new magical technology is opening up incredible new doors and opportunities for both sides, if we can handle them right. Isn't this the true goal of the Order? Ending segregation and bias for Pureblooded families, and allowing the growth of new ideas and discoveries?"

"I say again: there is a valid reason for the Statue of Secrecy," Dumbledore reiterated pointedly. "And I will not repeat what has already been said on the matter."

"Then you had better get accustomed to the idea of MagiTech Industries," Sirius said in a similar tone to Remus's. "Like it or not, we have and will be the bridge between the two worlds. We will ensure that the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds are united into one people once again. We have spent far too much time hiding in the dark, fearing our own shadows and the past deeds of our and their ancestors being repeated."

"I agree with Mr. Black and Lupin," one of the employees called out, drawing everyone's attention to him. "What we're doing here might seem bad right now, but we are working for a higher goal than just making a load of gold and getting some honest-to-goodness work!"

"It's like what Potter once told me," another employee spoke up from the other side of the room. "'To fear the possibilities is to fear life itself.' We are blazing a new path and we know that we're doing the right thing. If you try to stop us, we will fight back. Even against you, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore glanced around the room, eyeing each of the employees individually. Though he wasn't entirely sure, he suddenly had a very strong suspicion that all of them were Werewolves. 'Gathering and building an army of Werewolves and like-minded Wizards, conducting illegal research and experimentation in magic and Muggle technology, selling magical items to Muggles…and probably also making secret weapons under the surface…Maybe Alastor is right. Maybe young Harry really is starting to fall to the temptations of Sorcery and the Darkness it brings.'

"I see," Dumbledore said. Turning his attention back to Sirius, his gaze was focused and stern. "It is clear to me that you will not be swayed from this foolish endeavor."

"And you obviously won't try to see the good we've done for the Muggles already," Sirius shot back unrepentantly.

"I will not help you when Inquisitors come to shut this business down," Dumbledore said in a very serious voice. "If they haven't already, they will soon discover what you're doing here and the consequences will be dire."

"Let them come," Sirius said in an equally serious voice. "We will deal with them just fine, one way or the other."

Dumbledore merely nodded before teleporting away. Looking at the others in the lunchroom, Sirius said, "Spread the word. We are now entering Code Yellow. If Dumbledore's finally found us, the Inquisitors won't be far behind."

"Yes, sir!" the twenty onlookers answered quickly, their faces equally serious at the implications of what was to inevitably come.

Brockwell Park, London
April 3, 1996

"You know, when you said you wanted to take me for a night out, this was probably the last place I'd have guessed," Harry said in a slight deadpan voice, glancing around the darkened park. Although it was technically open all day and night, the Brockwell Hall had closed an hour earlier and nearly all other visitors had already left. Dressed in his usual jeans and a dark red jacket, Harry was quite comfortable in the slight chill of the early spring air. Over his shoulder, as had become commonplace lately, was his Centaur-iron pauldron with the MagiTech logo painted on the uppermost shoulder plate.

"Oh?" Tonks said, a teasing grin pulling at her face. "What were you expecting? An expensive dinner after some fun at the cinema, followed by a steamy night in a hotel room?" Even with the darkness of night enshrouding him, the bright blush that filled Harry's face at Tonks' insinuation was more than prominently noticeable.

It was a strange thing caused by strange circumstances, but Harry was finding himself more and more thinking about and noticing Tonks in recent weeks. He longed for her soothing but energetic presence when she wasn't nearby, he enjoyed her teasing nature and strong personality. And he felt…stronger and happier whenever she'd compliment him on an accomplishment he'd made, no matter how trivial it might've been. The fact that she was putting a great deal of risk into associating with him, MagiTech, and the Lycans on a pretty frequent basis only deepened his sense of commitment of helping to prove to her that she was not mistaken in placing her trust in him.

Still, his rising attraction and need for her didn't stop him from letting her poke fun at him with impunity. Which is why he quickly replied in another deadpan statement, "No, I was expecting you to take me to the next WWF show before ditching me with the bill…again."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Tonks chirped as her face and hair practically lit up with joy, actually excited at the idea she hadn't yet considered. "Maybe next time, eh?"

Harry just gave her another deadpan stare, before shaking his head and chuckling quietly to himself. Truth be told, he didn't mind her shenanigans and the pricy bills she forced on him. He'd never been short on funds since finding his heritage, and Sirius gave him a hefty allowance of 500 thousand pounds a month nowadays thanks to MagiTech's success. And that wasn't even counting his bills for his actual work with MagiTech, as sparing as it was.

"That aside, what was it you wanted to do here tonight?" Harry asked, glancing around the empty park again. They stood out in the grassy open where children and teenagers would usually play small matches of football, or any other sport that came to mind.

"Honestly, I just wanted to enjoy the starry night sky with a friend again," Tonks said in a surprising mellow tone, her gaze skyward and wistful. Seeing her melancholy expression, Harry drew his wand and silently conjured up a simple wooden bench behind them. Once done, he guided his elder friend down onto it without a word.

"You like to stargaze?" Harry asked, quite surprised despite himself.

Tonks nodded. "It was something I used to do all the time with my father when I was younger. We'd sit under the stars on clear nights like this, connecting the constellations and he'd tell me stories and fairy tales he'd heard or made up… I loved those nights more than anything, especially because they were so rare."

"Rare?" Harry asked, glancing down from the sky and at his friend again. "Why would they be? I'd think that you'd be able to have done that whenever you wanted to."

"But you forget, Harry," Tonks said, glancing over at him with a small frown. "This was before You-Know-Who was miraculously vanquished the first time."

Now he felt like hitting himself, hard. Tonks was seven years older than him. Her childhood years were likely spent cowering in fear for her life, and the lives of her parents, from the murderous whims of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. And since Death Eaters especially enjoyed hunting at night, it must've been a really rare treat for her and her parents to sit under the stars and enjoy the twinkling lights back then. "I see…I'm sorry to bring it up."

"Don't be," Tonks said, waving his apology aside carelessly. "Everything eventually turned out alright."

After a few moments of silence, Harry suddenly gave a small grin at a bizarre thought that crossed his mind. "You must've really enjoyed Astronomy back in Hogwarts."

"One of my most favorite classes ever!" Tonks chirped happily. "Even more than pulling pranks on my stalkers in the halls and helping the Twins learn how to pull pranks."

"Stalkers? Twins? You mean Fred and George?" Harry asked, his mind suddenly whirling at the new information. "You helped Fred and George become the pranksters they are now?"

"Oh, I did no such thing!" Tonks denied, despite the proud grin she wore. "I just showed them the ropes. They did the rest by themselves."

"Okay, but what's this about stalkers?"

"Teenage boys with out of control hormones learning that they've got a lady Metamorphmagus their same general age close by? What do you think they wanted?" There was a definite note of dark anger and a hint of equally dark satisfaction in her tone. "I probably had a lot more fun with those wankers than I should've, but it was absolutely worth it!"

Despite himself, Harry couldn't help the slightly dark reply he quietly uttered in response, "Wish I could've been there to help you."

Pinching his cheek, Tonks grinned over at him as he shot an unhappy glare at her abuse. "That's sweet, hero, but I handled them just fine."

Prying her fingers off his cheek, he rubbed his aching flesh as he muttered, "Don't call me that. I haven't done anything to earn it."

"I beg to differ, but okay," Tonks said dismissively. "I suppose you are still a little too much of a child. A real hero would've taken his title, and his reward, without much complaint."

"Have I mentioned all the heroic deeds I've done in the recent months and years?" Harry asked, grinning crookedly over at her.

Tonks laughed lightly in response for a moment. Then she surprised him by leaning down and planting a soft but wet kiss on his cheek. By the time she'd pulled away, Harry's face was already burning hotly once again. Rather than embarrass him once again, Tonks just leaned back into the bench, slouching slightly into his side as they turned their gazes skyward again. It was a quiet, happy, and peaceful moment that Harry found himself greatly enjoying and wishing could continue on forever thereafter.

But the sudden dark presence he sensed appearing in the park less than a hundred meters away ended his rare moment of peace and serenity. Harry immediately sprung to his feet, ignoring Tonks grunt of surprise as he turned to face his dark tormentor. Snatching his wand in one hand and deactivated lightsaber in the other, he leapt between Tonks and the dark figure that was moving towards them. "I was wondering when you were going to find me again."

"You are surprisingly difficult to find for a child," the armored man called back in a loud growling tone, anger obvious in his voice. "I will enjoy killing you…immensely."

"Tonks, stay behind me and don't get involved," Harry said, very seriously and keeping his enemy in his eyes. "This one is a Sorcerer too. And a very dangerous one. You won't last very long against him."

"Well," Tonks said in an equally serious voice as she vanished the bench and entered an aggressive spellcasting stance. "I guess we'll just have to work together. I'm not letting you face this guy alone."

A smile small flickered across Harry's face before he hardened his resolve and prepared for the fight that was to come.

(Author's Note) You know, when I started writing this, I hadn't realized just how appropriate the chapter title really was. Now, looking back on it, I can't help but grin! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. And I can promise that the next chapter is going to see some much needed badass fighting as we FINALLY get a glimpse of just what the Hunter is really capable of.

For those who are curious, I'm modeling the new bowcasters after the machine-gun crossbow used in the 2004 Van Helsing movie. Who doesn't love that weapon? It's just too awesome not to use. Anyway, you can find a picture of the Centaur-iron pauldrons at SteamViking's DeviantART: Celtic Pauldrons.

Centaur-iron is a lot like Goblin-steel in that it's specially crafted and the secrets of its forging are religiously protected by the blacksmiths and their apprentices to prevent Wizards and Witches and any other magical being from copying and stealing their techniques. Unlike Goblin-steel that can absorb magic and powers to strength itself, Centaur-iron can reflect most forms of magic, especially those that are used to increase a weapon's power. As you can imagine, their iron is even more valued and expensive than anything the Goblins could create because the Centaurs make it a habit of not doing business with most other magicals.