Inspired by the challenge set down by Acolyte of the Blood Moon. What if Harry was the reincarnation of a certain green-eyed SOLDIER? Hopefully fast updates, if people like it.
Short chapter, but no worries, I just got some inspiration by looking up Materia combinations, so I WILL be continuing.
Never a Memory...
"Not that I'm truly complaining, but what are you doing?"
Harry thought this was a legitimate question, as Hermione was buried in the Materia chest, hips sticking up in the air as she dug through the last of the orbs in the deep chest.
The girl held back a blush, but levered herself out, holding up a red Materia. "Just sorting the last of our stock, as it were," she offered, tossing him the orb. Its song was calm, a quiet dirge as he played with it, with a hint of the fragility that the Phoenix had, indicating that this one would be a one use only Summon. "I think we should transfer everything to my bag and leave the trunk here, but we need to know what we have, and I haven't had a chance to catalouge everything yet," she admitted, resting back on her knees. "So far, I've found over fifty elementals, including a Comet," she glared playfully at the other Wizard. "I've already claimed that one for me, thanks," she said, laughing at the pout on Harry's face. "There is also about thirty support types, three other Summons, not counting the Tower one, a dozen commands, including an Octoslash, and a handful of Independants, including the Underwater that Zack gave back to use from when he rescued the Lady Malfoy."
The young General frowned after a second. "I can see some of these birthing naturally, but not all of them," he said. All three of the Golden Trio had noticed that their Materia seemed to grow almost by themselves while they were in a magically rich area like the school. "So where did the Ministry find so many?" he wondered, picking up the other two summons. One was a song of rushing water, while the other was a familiar choir of bird song. Very familiar, very large birds.
Hermione chuckled at him, playing with a Fire. Harry would later learn that what she was doing was called contact juggling, but at the moment, all he knew was that the young Commander tended to set the Materia dancing whenever she needed a chance to think. And he couldn't help but find the contrast of green magic and the red in her hair to be...exciting? "They must have been collecting these for generations," she mused after a moment. "Maybe some of them were heirlooms, or they found a Materia spring like the one at the Tower, or the one you found in the woods last year. And obviously some had to have been Birthed there, but I wonder if the Ministry knows more about the Meteorfall 'legend' than we thought," she concluded, flipping the Materia into the air one last time and catching it with a snap.
"I think, that when this is all over, we're going to have some questions for the Unspeakables," Harry nodded, running a hand over the orbs, smiling lightly when they lit up under his touch. He tilted his head out of curiosity as a yellow command type all but jumped into his hand, the song a chime of multiple animals. "What's this?" he wondered out loud as he picked it up. Outside of the basics, Sephiroth hadn't been a Materia expert. That title he had willingly given to Genesis.
Truth be told, he hadn't even been the best sword fighter, Angeal had. His prodigious strength and unearthly speed had made up for his technique.
The young woman grinned, as if laughing at a private joke as she looked up from her sorting. "That, is proof that the gods are on our side," she declared, pairing a Final Attack with a Revive off to the side. She was working on rebuilding Sephiroth's old combination from what she could remember. "What you are holding is a rare Materia known as an Enemy Skill, and you can 'hear' that the previous owners were rather busy." She took the orb from his grasp, eyes going out of focus as she mentally categorized the various songs. "We have such skills as White Wind, Laser, Beta," Harry blinked at that one, the memory of fighting a giant serpent flashing before his eyes. Too many parallels between his two lives! "Magic Hammer, Shadow Flare, but we may have hit a jackpot that could fix our Horucrux problem." That grin evolved into a full-blown smile as her eyes came back into focus. "Whomever had this before the Unspeakables, managed to copy Death Sentence."
Green eyes lit up after a second. They had already tried various magic to try and destroy the Locket, leaving FiendFyre for a last-case option, but nothing had so much as scratched it. But the death-based magic of a Boundfat in Materia form might actually do something this time. "I'll meet you downstairs," he chirped, snatching the Command Materia from her hands as he sprinted for the door. Hermoine could only grin as she heard him muttering, "Now how do I use this one?"
~~~...~~~...~~~
It didn't work.
The Locket had shuddered violently as the dark skull had appeared, Hermione having cast the surprisingly complicated magic, but the heavy gold had resisted the attack, and the attempt had taken a lot out of the young commander. There had to be a way to get through and destroy the foul piece of soul, but they would have to hold onto it until then.
Ron scowled as he glared at the locket, Hermione sitting at the piano in the corner as she tried to catch her breath. The magic itself hadn't been that hard, it was the fact that it continued until she had to abort it, and both the energy used and the backlash had hurt. "So now what?" he asked.
Harry could only shake his head. "We can't stay here. We've got to find the other pieces. Malfoy," he started, turning to the blond in the corner. The young man was a touch shaken from the sight of the death magic, but he came to attention unconciously at the snap in the other man's voice. "We need you to keep an ear out. Anything that sounds important, any attack or artifact, you find a way to tell Zack."
"Right. But then what will you be doing Potter?" the young blond asked, only to blink as Hermione started tapping out a simple tune.
"We, will looking ourselves." The General shook his head. "Things out there in the real world will go to shit very fast. If we can do even a little good, then we should." He grinned as he grabbed the red beaded bag that Hermione had left on the table. "And we need to be outfitted properly in order to do this. That means new armor, bangles, weapons, the works."
"And before we leave, I have something I need to do," Hermione stated, smirking evilly as she pulled a weapon out of the bag that Harry recognized to be conductive to Materia leveling. She reached into her pockets and slapped their only Comet into a slot, followed closely behind by a Heal and a Poison. "Zack was kind enough to 'volunteer' to be my guine- I mean, my helper for something." The evil gleam in hazel eyes made Harry flinch in sympathy for his once-SiC. He doubted that it was the Heal or the Poison she wanted to level, and if she was going to do what he thought she was, Zack was in for a very rough night.
The Evil! Look up the Hell Knight Materia combination, and switch out the Fire for something a bit, stronger.
Can you hear that sound? That's the Sound of the villains about the join a Humiliation Conga line. Mixed in with a little bit of Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. Literally.
I'm reaaaally looking forward to that scene...
Hermione's playing the FF7 Main Theme.
Cookies for whomever can guess who owned the Enemy Skill before. Shadow Flare should be a big hint.