AN: Sorry for the long wait, but here it is FINALLY! Chapter 21 of my SMHP crossover! Please review afterwards!
Ch21
Disclaimer: No, I own absolutely nothing.
As the months dragged on and the summer draws near, Harry and his two best friends were relaxing by lake. Despite what had happened during the dance party during Christmas with the discovery of Harry's sister and her friends' secret, which the three had swore on their own free will that they would never reveal to anybody, this year had been going by very smoothly. Well…as smoothly as one gets in a school of magic, but nothing too hectic and insane like the past few years.
The rivalry between the Gryffindors and Slytherins were toned down a little because of the new teachers. Professor Kaioh disapproved of the two houses and if she caught sight of anybody doing any more than having a verbal dispute, she would have the two handcuffed together for detention and do menial chores. Professor Ten'oh didn't mind the rivalries as much as her girlfriend but that's mainly because she believed that the rivalries would make them focus more on beating the other house in any training exercises, but if they ever got too physical with their rivalries outside of class or too boastful of your skills, than she was not afraid to knock you off your high horse figuratively and literally. Professor Usagi believed that everybody was entitled to their opinions and as long as they were not bullying each other and causing any physical, mental, or emotional harm.
The Gryffindors were no longer considering all Slytherins to be complete assholes, just 99.9 percent of the household. The Slytherins, on the other hand, have not changed and still considered everyone not in their households to be unworthy to even breathe the same air as them. They disapproved of Hotaru being too close to Dumbledore's golden trio, especially Potter, but kept silent after several of the seventh years caught her in her morning trainings with a deadly looking scythe against Professor Ten'oh and managing to keep up when none of the other students ever had before.
"Is Professor Dumbledore going to send you back to the Dursleys for the summer?" Hermione asked as she leafed through the book on Japanese cultures that Hotaru lent her.
"If you want, I can get mum to ask Dumbledore if he'll let you come and visit," Ron said, patting Harry on the shoulder.
A small grin appeared on Harry's face. "Actually, I'll be staying with Serenity this summer," he said excitedly, "She told the headmaster that she would be taking me someplace very safe and isolated so there's no need for the blood wards around the Dursley's house."
"That's wicked awesome," Ron exclaimed, "Where is she taking you?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know," he answered, "She didn't say. All she said was that we're going to the last place nobody would think about."
"Did she say what you guys will be doing?" Hermione asked with her nose still in the book.
Harry shrugged his shoulders and sighed deeply. It's great that there was no longer a need for him to go back to the Dursley, but what troubles is the few information he has about his sister. He remembered the fight her ex-fiancé had instigated during the Christmas ball and the strange powers his sister and her friends have. Serenity had told him an abridged and watered down version of the story and had promised to tell him everything during the summer.
"Well, well, well," a familiar unpleasant voice snarled from behind them, "What do we have here?"
Inwardly the three friends groaned as they turned around. Sure enough, standing behind them was Draco Malfoy and his two lackeys.
"So, where's Tomoe? Did she finally realize what complete losers you are and decide to finally hang out with the right crowd?" Draco sneered with a smirk on his face.
Ron got up to his feet and was about yell at Draco, when Hermione grabbed his hand. When Ron looked at her, Hermione shook her head. "Remember what Hotaru said?" she asked the redhead, "Ignore the baka and he'll eventually leave and you'll eventually forget that he was there to begin with."
"What did you call me?" Draco shouted. He may not understand the language Hotaru was teaching her friends, but judging at how hard Weasley was laughing and how hard Potter was trying to keep in his laughter, he knew that Granger had insulted him. He growled angrily as he ordered, "Crabbe! Doyle!"
The two were about to go and rough up the Golden Trio as they were called, when they heard someone shout, "Harry! Hermione! Ron!"
Eyes were turned to see Hotaru running over with a huge smile on her face. Seeing her looking excited as she ran to the Gryffindors wasn't a sight that nobody had seen or isn't use to. However the huge deadly looking scythe they had seen Hotaru practice using in classes is still a sight that they were uncomfortable of, especially for the Slytherins. Draco has seen many times how her personality has changed when that scythe is out and she deadly she can be. Not wanting to see just how much she has improved, Draco steadfastly turned around and walked away with his two lackeys following close behind him.
When Hotaru reached her friends, she looked over at the disappearing three housemates of hers. "What's with them?" she asked the Golden Trio, "They act like they've seen a ghost."
"Uh…Hotaru?" Ron asked. When the Japanese teenager turned her attention to him, he pointed to the scythe. "What's with your weapon of death?"
Hotaru turned her head to see her weapon, which she forgot was still out, attached to a strap onto her back. "Oh, I was training with Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama and I forgot to put it away," Hotaru explained. She grabbed the scythe by the long rod and swung it over her head a few times with one hand. Quickly she swung it down and, as if by wandless magic, she made it disappear.
Despite wanting to know just how she was able to do that, Hermione wisely kept her mouth shut. She had learned throughout the year that if there was anything Hotaru, Professor Serenity, and the others don't want to talk about, nothing can get them to talk and if you continue to pester them, they will tell you straight out that it's none of their business. "I heard that you're going to take Harry away during the summer," she said.
Hotaru sat down beside Harry and sighed in content as she leaned against Harry's side. Harry shyly took her hand in his, his shyness causing her to laugh. "Usagi-mama didn't like the Dursley's very much, especially after they tried to force her to pay them for taking care of Harry for the last fifteen years," she said, "The funny thing is that Setsuna-mama managed to turn the table on them by threatening to reveal their secrets they tried to hide from their perfect little neighborhood. Hearing that, they paid us instead to keep us quiet."
Ron burst out laughing. "Man, I will pay a lot of galleons just to see that," he said, smacking Harry on his back. "You must be relieved to no longer have to go back to that hellhole."
Hermione smacked Ron on the back of his head. "What did I tell you about using those languages?" she said disapprovingly. She then turned to Harry and Hotaru, who both had sweat drops coming down. "But, yeah, you must be happy that you don't have to return to the Dursleys, Harry."
"Don't worry, you're going to love where we're going, Harry," Hotaru said cheerfully, "I'm sure that Usagi-mama's parents are going to love you."
"Her parents?" the three Gryffindors repeated.
"I'm not talking about Lily-san and James-san," Hotaru said, shaking her left hand from side to side. Pointing her pointer finger to the sky, she asked, "Remember Usagi-mama mentioned that Setsuna-mama had brought her to another dimension to protect her from Voldemort?"
The three nodded their heads silently.
"Well, Usagi-mama wants to go visit the family she stayed with and wants Harry to meet them," Hotaru said, "Not to mention that it's the perfect hiding place for Harry since Voldemort can't find a way to get there. And that's not the best part."
"What could be better than not returning to the Dursleys?" Harry asked, quite puzzled.
"The place that we're going to have no magic in it other than for us senshi," Hotaru said with a bright smile on her face, "That means you are able to practice magic without being traced."
Ron looked at Harry, half in envy and the other half in awe. "Lucky prat," he said with a playful smile.
While Harry looked ecstatic at that fact, Hermoine was confused. "But if that place has no magic, then how is it possible for Harry to use it?" she asked. That question made the other two wonder about it too.
Hotaru's lips pursed together in a frown as she explained, "Well, actually the world we're going to doesn't have the kind of magic you can find here. It's more like the ones that Usagi-mama and the others are teaching us to use, but because your bodies aren't adapted, you guys are only able to use the more basic skills compared to what we can use."
"Well…" Ron began, trying to make sense of what Hotaru had said. He shook his head and tried to change the topic, "Well, at least you'll be able to use magic without being hounded by the ministry for it and you don't need to return to the Dursleys. That's like an added bonus."
"Yeah, that is great," Harry said softly, as his friends smiled at each other. While it does sound awesome, he still can't shake the feeling that there is something Hotaru might be hiding.
/-/
"I refuse," Severus said before the girls were able to open their mouths.
Severus was in his potions lab brewing when the four girls, who called themselves the inner guardians of Usagi came in.
"We just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with us when we go visit Usagi-chan's family," Minako said, putting her hands on her hips, pouting at his stubbornness.
"And I told you that I refuse," Severus repeated. He continued his brewing, trying to ignore the four pairs of eyes watching him. "What part of 'refuse' do they not understand?" he thought to himself.
"Please," Minako pleaded, batting her eyelashes innocently. "It would make Usagi-chan so happy if you come along. You'll be able to help Harry-kun with spells he might need later in the future."
Severus looked at Minako with a blank expression on his face and a single eyebrow being arched over his right eye. "Why would you care about making Serenity happy when you are going behind her back to meet up with Mr. Wood?" he thought to himself. He didn't know whether or not the other girls knew about the little rendezvous, so he kept silent, knowing full well how they would respond to somebody hurting their precious princess and leader.
Minako's eyes narrowed in confusion as she asked, "Why are you giving me the 'why do you care about making Usagi-chan happy?' look?" She placed her hands on her hips and began to berate the man that Usagi is not only her leader, but also her very dear friend, and that her happiness means the world to not only her, but to the rest of the guardians.
As Minako continued to tell Severus off, Ami walked around the potions lab and studied the ingredients. There were many ingredients that could be found all over the world, with the prices ranging from low to high, as expected as the Potions Master. Comparing this potions lab to the one she had seen in the future, there were some ingredients that were missing because they could only be found on the other planets.
Ami began thinking silently to herself. "How about a compromise?" she asked, her blue eyes still on the potions ingredients.
Minako and Severus paused in their argument, or rather the one-sided argument on the blonde's part. Minako's blue eyes were wide with curiosity to see what the aspiring doctor had in mind. Severus' blank stare showed that no matter what the compromise might be, he would still refuse to do anything that might involve the younger Potter brat.
Treading her finger along the shelf where the potions ingredients lay, Ami smiled. "You have an impressive display and collection of ingredients, but what if we were able to give you some ingredients that are very rare for free?"
Severus rolled his eyes. "And what do you have in mind for me to get that I don't already have?" he asked. He felt a bit insulted that as a well renowned potions master, they had insinuated that he is missing ingredients in his collection.
"How about authentic moon rocks that was not contaminated by the heat of its descent through earth's atmosphere? Or ingredients from plants and animals that are extinct?" Ami said, with a small sly smile on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.
Severus's black eyes glistened with anticipation of obtaining the ingredients that he knew no potion master have ever been able to get their hands on and would be willing to give their magic away if it means having those items. While he would be spending his only vacation from Hogwarts with the Potter siblings and he would have to come up with some excuse so the Dark Lord wouldn't torture him, kill him, revive him, only to repeat the process when he returns. Maybe he could tell the Dark Lord that Albus Dumbledore had sent him on a mission, which would make him absent for the next few months. Severus gave a last look at the excited girls before letting out a very deep and exhausted sigh.
Hearing that exhale, Ami held out her hand to shake his as the other four girls cheered and gave each other high fives. "Thank you for accepting this offer," she said.
Reluctantly, Severus shook her hand. "Just know that this doesn't mean that I'll be nice to Potter," he said.
"That's fine," Makoto said, shaking her hand in front of her as if to say it didn't matter. "All we need is for you to come with us and teach Harry everything he need that isn't taught in school."
"And instead of spending so much time brewing potions, you should use this as a vacation. You know, see some sights that our hometown has to offer," Rei suggested.
Minako inched over to Severus and elbowed him playfully as he glared at her. She winked at him with a mischievous smile she said, "And maybe you should ask Usagi-chan to be your tour guide while you're at it." Waving her fingers as a good bye sign, she quickly pushed her friends out the door and into the hallway to deliver to the good news.
Severus' face turned pink and as quickly the blush came, it disappeared. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes and sighed. "What the hell did I get myself into?" he muttered.