Z.R. Stein

Lily Potter and the Escape to Remnant – A RWBY/Harry Potter Crossover crossover AU fic.

I do not own the characters of RWBY or Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form.

I blame gonewind321 for making me do this new chapter so soon, his stupidly long and wonderful reviews give me so many ideas.

I apologise that Remus hasn't had much time devoted to him, chapter seven has a rather large chunk about his own experiences (also Lily, and the two of them finally meet with the Xiao Long/Rose family, so yay! Look forwards to that!)

Enjoy reading!

I understand now. The world is not cut from the same cloth. It is because it is overflowing with inexplicable, unidentifiable things that the world is so beautiful. —Satsuki Kiryuin

. . .

Sirius Black hefted the enormous broadsword in his hands, gave it an experimental swing, and almost ended up removing his foot from his ankle as the blade proved too unwieldy for him to handle.

"Ok, maybe something a bit lighter."

"Yeah, not a great look on you. Try a gunsaber."

Sirius caught the replacement sword, examining it with a critical eye. True to his word, Qrow had taken the two of them to go weapon shopping. Traditionally, a Huntsman would either forge their own weapon before graduating from combat school or use one gifted to them by a previous generation. The whole process was rather the opposite to the process of choosing a wand.

And after nearly two hours of trawling through a weapon shop in the commercial district of Vale, Sirius was missing Ollivander's method of doing things. Sure, the old man was creepy, but procuring a wand seldom took more than half an hour, even for the 'difficult' customers. Making his own weapon to hunt Grimm with was beginning to look more and more attractive.

Sirius grimaced, giving the saber a halfhearted swing.

"It's workable, but I really don't think a...what'd you call it? Mecha-shifting weapon, that's it. I don't think I'm a good fit for those. I just want the one weapon, something simple, but effective. And also...I've already got my…'staff'...which has a medium range. I think it'd be beneficial to have something for close range fights."

Qrow squinted at the long rack of swords, axes, guns, and more that the shop sold, placing the saber back after Sirius handed it to him. He scratched the top of his head, thinking.

"You want something simple, non mecha-shifting, and effective at close quarters Grimm fighting?"

"Mmhmm. And preferably some kind of sword. They're the only weapon here I have any actual training in."

Qrow scratched his ever present stubble, his nails scritching along the whiskers. After a moment, he snapped his fingers, signalling his epiphany.

"You know, I think I know where to find just the thing. Come on."

Sirius followed after Qrow as the Huntsman strode off, moving at a formidable and determined rate. The two of them exited the weapons shop, Sirius struggling to keep pace with Qrow's longer legs. After several minutes, the duo exited the commercial district altogether, their path leading them through into the industrial side of Vale.

Sirius frowned as he looked around, then asked in a concerned tone "Where the hell are we going?"

"There's an old weapon shop on the shady side of town." began Qrow "Hard as all hell to find, and not very well known, but it carries some of the best antique blades and guns in the kingdom. You said you knew your way around swords…"

"Yes. Most male members of my family trained with the sword at one point or another in their lives. Regulus always took it more seriously than I did—may he rest in peace, the little traitor—but I know my way around a saber." Sirius shrugged "I'll probably look for a gun as well, but it won't be anything like that honking enormous sniper rifle you were carrying when we met you."

Qrow nodded as he guided Sirius down another street.

"If I remember correctly, there's a real nice Talonian cutlass for sale there. A bit rusty, but it should clean up nice if you do end up buying it. They don't make swords like that anymore."

"Talonian?"

Qrow pursed his lips and responded "Right, right, you're still rusty on local history. Hmph...I'll need to fix that. Consider this the first of many lectures. I suggest you listen well Black, there's a reason history is one of the main subjects taught at Beacon."

Sirius stifled a groan, having flashbacks of a certain ghostly professor. Learning history with Binns had been pure, undiluted boredom, and his aversion for the subject had stemmed from many long hours of sitting in that stifling limbo of a classroom. He, however, did admit to himself that Qrow would likely make learning infinitely more interesting than Binns ever did.

"Talone was once one of the most prosperous kingdoms, second only to the Mantle of that time period. Vale, Vacuo, Mistral, and Atlas may be the most long lived, but other kingdoms have existed in the past, and more will likely exist in the future. Anyways, Talone was a seafaring kingdom, known for being a trade hub, back in the days before airships became viable. Bout...four hundred years ago, if I remember right. It was situated on an island not far off the coast of Mynddragos, and—"

"The...what?"

Qrow sighed, shaking his head.

"Isn't that Faunus buddy of yours reading up on this stuff? You should talk with him when you get back, learns some basic geography. Mynddragos is the continent that looks like a flying dragon, dipshit."

"...ooooh."

"Moving on. Talone was in a prime spot to capitalize on trade between the kingdoms, and the island was small enough that Huntsman and Huntresses of the time were able to wipe out all of the ground bound Grimm. Over a single century, they became masters of the sea, and the city itself grew to be larger than Vale is today. You could buy almost anything there, and they poached master weaponsmith's from all over Remnant. The Talonian cutlass was one of their most famous creations; it was the pioneering Dust-infused weapon, forged using methods that were lost in the Fall of Talone. Not many of them are left."

Sirius frowned and asked "Wait, what do you mean the Fall? You said it was once one of the most prosperous kingdoms? What happened?"

Qrow stopped suddenly, turning to face Sirius; the wizard backed a step away when he saw the unusually grim look on Qrow's face.

"Cirein-cròin happened."

Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow. It sounded like Qrow was talking about a single entity, but what could possibly be capable of wiping out an entire city-state?

In answer, Qrow said "Imagine a Grimm that's long enough to wrap itself around a mountain several times, a gigantic black serpent covered in armour made of bone and barnacles. If the legends tell the story right, it could have swallowed Beacon tower in a single bite."

Sirius froze, horror creeping through his mind as he imagined a monster that size. Ordinary Grimm were hard enough to deal with, but something like that was utterly out of his league; and, he imagined, everyone else's league as well.

"Wha...the fuc...how the...there's a sea serpent Grimm out there that's that large?"

Qrow nodded, his eyes distant.

"Seachd sgadain, sath bradain. Seachd bradain, sath ròin. Seachd ròin, sath mial. Seachd mial, sath Cirein-cròin. 'At's an old Talonian rhyme that was passed down among the survivors. 'Seven herrings, a salmon's fill. Seven salmon, a seal's fill. Seven seals, a whale's fill. Seven whales, a Cirein-cròin's fill.' Talone...didn't stand a chance. More than three quarters of its population was wiped out within a matter of hours, and Cròin soon disappeared beneath the waves, virtually unharmed. In fact, he's the reason why most travel between Kingdoms is done by airship, nowadays. No one wants to risk that monster showing up again."

Sirius took a shuddering breath, releasing it with a hollow laugh.

"Well...that's good, at least. Any more terrible monsters like that I should know of?"

Sirius' tone was meant to be playful, but the look that Qrow sent him was anything but.

"Wha...seriously?"

"...there have been seven documented SS class Grimm in history. Each one is capable of destroying an entire kingdom by itself. Only three have ever actually been killed, while two of them are sealed away. The remaining two still roam freely, ready to annihilate humanity at a moment's notice. That's what we're up against, Sirius."

Sirius' face turned an ashen gray, his mind struggling to comprehend what he had just heard. It was easy to forget, walking through this thriving city, that most of the world outside of the walls was under the control of monsters more fearsome than any creature of Earth. That those monsters seemed to want nothing more than to rip humans and Faunus into pieces. That every day, the people of Vale lived in the shadow of annihilation, their only hope if a breach happened the military and the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Sirius felt a new weight settle on his shoulders as he truly understood, for the first time, what being a Huntsman meant. He had taken this job to protect Lily, Remus and Harry, and to have some fun while doing it. He thought that, as a Huntsman, he could fight for a living, just like he'd wanted to do before being sent to Azkaban. But...being a Huntsman wasn't about seeking thrills or even about protecting a handful of important people. It was a duty to humanity as a whole, as well as the Faunus. It was a duty to hold back the darkness that was intent on crushing the small spots of light and life left in this world. And if he wanted to be a true Huntsman, he would need to acknowledge that and dedicate himself fully to becoming one. Sirius mentally slapped himself; how could he have been so selfish, so weak? There were monsters out there, monsters that could destroy millions of lives within a matter of hours. Perhaps he would never come across one of them, perhaps he would have the misfortune to fight one and most likely die doing it. But, Sirius swore to himself, if that day came, he would not back down. If he did, he would condemn another Huntsman or Huntress to take his place, and that was not the kind of man Sirius was.

Whatever happened, Sirius promised himself that he would become a true Huntsman. For Lily, Remus, and Harry...but more importantly, for Remnant as a whole. Even if Lily found a way to go home, he didn't think he'd leave. That would be the coward's way out, and Sirius Black was not a coward.

Qrow gave Sirius an odd grin as he observed the steel that had appeared in Sirius' eyes. Finally, the other man had caught on. This had been the true test of whether or not Sirius could become his apprentice; the others were all important, but Qrow would never train someone who wasn't dedicated to the fight. It was a point that Summer and Tai had often fought about; Tai, good friend though he was, wasn't prepared to give his all in defense of the kingdoms. Oh, he'd fight, and die if he had to. But he thought they'd done enough over the years and had retired, spending his time on Patch. He constantly protested Summer's choice to continue going out on missions. A part of Qrow understood; he loved his small, dysfunctional family to pieces and hated to see any of them get hurt (even his bitch of a sister). But Summer, like Qrow (and Raven), understood that the job was never really over for a Huntsman or Huntress, and that there were risks involved. They didn't have the luxury of retirement.

Qrow waved his hand in front of Sirius' face.

"Look alive Black. Let's go buy you a sword. I have a feeling that Talonian sabre is going to be yours."

Sirius blinked and shook himself.

"Huh? Oh, right. Maybe. Are you paying for it?"

"Tch, cheap bastard. Fine. You'll pay me back for it with a few jobs anyways."

Sirius grinned, his usual mirth and snark back full force.

"So does this mean I'm officially your apprentice, old man?"

"Call me old again and I'll staple your fingers together while you're sleeping."

. . .

Remus Lupin nearly jumped out of his skin when the front door of their shared apartment slammed open. He'd spent the last forty hours reading on his scroll, trawling through centuries of Remnant's history as he familiarized himself with the local knowledge. He had enough experience with all nighters to manage, and he had no doubt that this information would be vital to know.

Peeking out of his room, he saw Sirius standing in the doorway, grinning like a loon and wielding a cutlass that was unlike anything Remus had seen before. The sword blade was at least three quarters of a meter long, and was made out a an onyx metal that seemed to absorb all light that hit it. Golden glyphs crisscrossed the blade, glowing faintly with concealed power. The hilt was wrapped in crimson cloth and protected by a guard that undulated smoothly around the hilt. Remus also noticed that Sirius had a large revolver holstered on his belt, his wand nowhere in sight.

"Remus! Come and meet the Solar Eclipse!"

Remus shook his head in amusement as he left his room. Sirius did seem to be rather excited, didn't he?

"Is that what you're calling it, Padfoot?"

Sirius shook his head and said "No, that's the name the shopkeeper supplied. It has some serious history behind it...and now it is going to have some Sirius history, heh."

Remus rolled his eyes at the joke that had long since fallen over dead and diplomatically responded "It is a beautiful weapon. Did Qrow buy it for you?"

"Mhmm. Said it was my induction present. As of today, I have officially become Qrow Branwen's apprentice. You are looking at a Huntsman-in-training right now!"

Remus laughed and clasped Sirius' shoulder.

"That's great! I'm sure James would be shocked to hear it...and proud." Remus nodded to himself "Not sure what your family would think about it though, were they here."

Sirius laughed, a harsh barking sound.

"Ha! If dear old Walburga ever saw me toting around a revolver and sword like this, she'd probably try and find a way to strike my name a second time. That is if the concept of a 'magical gun' didn't strike her dead upon hearing about it."

Remus raised his eyebrows, looking at the gun.

"...I still have trouble believing that everything is powered by magic here, and yet almost no one knows it. Let me guess...Dust rounds?"

"That, and even the regular rounds have some Dust threaded in their composition to make them stronger. The sword is Dust-infused as well. It's a work of art, though, compared to the revolver. Qrow told me about it before we arrived at Stagmar Knife and Sword, but seeing it in action…" Sirius shook his head. "Talonian weapons are in a league of their own."

Remus' eyebrows scrunched up and he asked "Talonian? As in, from the defunct kingdom of Talone?"

"Mmm. You read about it?"

Remus nodded, examining the cutlass. During his overnight study session, he'd covered as many topics as he could, looking up anything he thought they might need to know.

"I did. It's one of the Six Lost Kingdoms. A very interesting read, even if I wasn't able to find too much on it...I'm still not sure what to think about the...circumstances...of its fall."

Sirius grimaced, his mouth settling into a hard line.

"I know what to think. It's fucking terrifying."

Remus nodded as well, an oppressive silence settling over the two of them, interrupted only by Remus yawning.

Both of them looked up as the door opened again, and Lily stepped through, carrying a sleeping Harry. Behind her was another woman, who stood a full head shorter than her, though the difference wasn't immediately noticeable; the long rabbit ears that extended from the top of her head made her seem taller than she was.

Lily noticed the two men and smiled.

"Sirius, I wasn't expecting to see you here today, I thought you were still training with Qrow? And Remus, I've haven't seen you out of your room for days."

Remus shrugged sheepishly. Old habits died hard, and Remus still wasn't used to living with other people. He worried he'd become something of a hermit since leaving Hogwarts.

"I admit, I didn't expect to be caught up so much with my research. It's amazing what you can look up on a scroll."

While Remus stared off into space and continued talking to himself (likely while thinking about all of the books he had just read), Sirius had taken the opportunity to greet their guest.

"Hello there, Sirius Black at your service. And who might you be, my fine lady?"

The Faunus woman smiled shyly, shaking the hand that Sirius presented.

"Clover Scarlatina. Nice to meet you, Mister Black."

Lily jerked her head towards Clover and said "I was out buying books on Dust when I ran into her. She's a single mother and needs a job, I offered to let her become my assistant. She also...Remus?"

Remus snapped out of his mumbling reverie and asked "What?"

"When was the last time you slept?"

Remus blinked and responded "Uh...I'm...not actually sure. I've been concentrating on reading up on as much information as I can….I kind of...lost track of time."

Lily huffed and rolled her eyes, while Clover giggled.

"Right, that's enough of that. Go to bed. Shoo. You've spaced out twice since I came in. Why don't you take Harry with you, he needs his sleep, and he'll get more of it if his Uncle Moony is there with him."

Remus nodded and accepted the bundled up baby. After the two of them left the room, Sirius turned back to Lily and Clover and asked "Well, now that old wolf face has gone to bed, why don't I tell you about my new apprenticeship?"

Lily gasped and clapped her hands together.

"You got it? Oh, I'm so happy for you, Sirius! What was it like?"

"Hell, at first, but it was worth it. Qrow unlocked my Aura, by the way."

Lily's eyes widened, and Sirius could see her fingers twitching. She clearly wanted to begin poking his newly awakened Aura to learn more about it, but refrained from doing so as they were in the presence of a Muggle (though Sirius wondered if he should still use that word anymore. Qrow had told him to stop using so many wizarding terms.)

Clover remained oblivious to the thoughts of the wizard and witch, simply choosing to look around the room. Lily noted that her eyes focused on the door that led to the rest of the expanded apartment, which should not have been possible due to the Muggle repelling charms she had layered onto the doorframe. Her eyes widened, and she turned to Lily, asking "Hey, where does that door lead? I didn't see a balcony on that side of the building when we came up here."

Lily blinked, blinked again, and then mentally reprimanded herself. She hadn't thought that a normal Muggle would be able to see the door and had been content with an array of fairly low powered charms. She had never even considered that the charms wouldn't work on the rather odd people of Remnant. Indeed, Taking Clover on as an assistant had been a spur of the moment decision, motivated by a pang of empathetic understanding. She had seen the sneers that people were aiming towards the Faunus woman, the whispered comments and leering looks. It reminded her of being a Muggleborn witch back in Britain, and after she found out the woman was a single mother in desperate need of a job to support her daughter…

But now that empathy had led to this, and they were faced with a rather thorny problem; namely, whether or not to tell a woman who was almost a total stranger their greatest secret.

Lily briefly considered wiping Clover's memory but halted that train of thought rather quickly. None of them were even close to being Obliviators, and messing with mind magics could easily backfire if one didn't know what one was doing.

They could lie and brush it off, saying it was a special application of Aura or something, or threaten her into silence, but Lily didn't think the former would work and rejected the latter right away; it wasn't Clover's fault that she had seen the door.

So, that left only one option in Lily's mind.

"Well...I suppose if we're working together you would have found out sooner or later. Come on, I'll show you."

. . .

Clover Scarlatina was a deceptively experienced woman. While her outer appearance projected innocence and naivety, she was a remarkably hard woman to unsettle. Growing up in the bad part of Vale had made her resilient, her innocence becoming a mask to hide behind as she internally seethed as yet another shopkeeper denigned her a job just because of her ears. She wasn't jaded though; some small part of her still shone with the hope that she held as a child. A belief in heroes and heroines, in brave souls that would stop at nothing to bring justice to an unfair world, and magic. She had been a fan of Vacuo Comics and the Dresdner Files when she was a little girl (Jade Butcher knew how to write a good book, in her opinion.) So when Clover saw that unassuming door open and reveal a space that should, by all logic, not exist, she had had a moment of wide eyed wonder.

Several hours later, after she had calmed down and Lily had explained the situation to her, Clover was working alongside Lily as the two of them set up Lily's laboratory to begin her research in earnest.

"Next time, do you think I could bring over Velvet? She's four right now, and she likes playing with babies. She doesn't get out of the house much...I've had to leave her with our neighbor while I went out and looked for work."

Lily smiled and said "I don't see why not. I'd like to meet your daughter, she must be the cutest little thing."

Clover smiled softly.

"She is. She's my life, right now. Ever since my husband was kidnapped..."

Clover sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

"But, you don't want to hear me talk about that. Sorry."

Lily finished setting up her cauldron and walked over to Clover, surprising her by giving her a hug.

"Don't be. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. As a mother to a mother. Trust me, I know how you feel...ever since James died..." Lily bit her lip "It hasn't been the same. Honestly, arriving in Remnant is probably the best thing that could have happened for me. It's a fresh start, and I intend to make the most of it. James wouldn't want me to despair...and you seem like a tough woman."

Clover snorted, half-smiling at the redhead.

"Still hard to believe that you're a wizard from another planet."

"Well, you just had to notice the door, didn't you?"

Clover laughed lightly, her ears bouncing up and down. After she stopped, she pinned Lily with an inquiring look.

"Out of curiosity, why did you tell me?"

Shrugging, Lily said "I didn't have many options after you noticed the door, and like I said, you probably would have found out sooner or later anyways. There isn't a Ministry here to care about whether or not I reveal the existence of magic to a Muggle, and as long as I only tell trustworthy people, we should be fine."

"So, you trust me?"

Lily returned Clover's gaze, her face serious.

"You don't have any reason to rat us out, and it would probably benefit you more if you didn't. Pretty sure I'd fire you if you started telling people I was a witch. And you seem like a trustworthy person."

Clover nodded, a small smile on her face.

"I don't have any intention to let you down, Miss Potter. So, why don't you tell me what you're planning to research first, I may not be an expert on Dust but I know enough to get by."

Lily's eyes lit up and she began speaking with Clover, the two of them becoming engrossed in their work within a matter of minutes. Years later, the members of Black Qrow would look on this moment as the one that started the equally infamous partnership of Clover Lily; the duo of mad scientist and faithful assistant that would go on to revolutionize the field of Dust research and usher in an new scientific era.

I need to address a few things here.

Yes, Clover Lily is a thing. No, it is not a romantic thing, much like Black Qrow. Yes, at some point in the future Clover will be shipped with either Sirius or Remus. At this point I'm leaning more towards Remus, but if someone makes a good enough argument, Velvet's adoptive father might end up being Sirius (which will honestly be hilarious if it happens).

I know it might seem like I am a bit hard on Tai-Yang. He looks to be a loving father and a great guy, really. But the world of Remnant is a very dangerous place, and as an experienced Huntsman, he should be doing his part. Being a Huntsman is not meant to be an easy path, a fact that I think a lot of people overlook (I blame the comedic nature of the show for that). They are basically the paladins of Remnant that protect against an all consuming, ever present darkness. And from what we know, Tai seems to not be as dedicated to his job as the other members of Team STRQ. Of course, future Volumes might show us that he really is a true Huntsman, who knows. I'm just calling it like I see it.

Yes, I am aware that according to the World of Remnant videos, Huntsmen and Huntresses did not exist until after the Great War. I have chosen to interpret this as they were not organized or trained by the Academies (instead using the apprentice method) and that they didn't have any official rank. We know that the world of Remnant has a history stretching back thousands of years (according to Glynda), and silver eyed warriors are, by Qrow's account, incredibly rare, but the Academies were all created after the Great War. Thus, humans and Faunus must have been able to defend themselves somehow against the Grimm, which is why I interpreted the WoR video that way.

I am also aware that Cirein-cròin is a monster from Scottish Gaelic folklore. However, for the purpose of this fic, I am trying not drawing attention to the fact that RWBY has many fairly obvious Earth inspirations. No one will be mentioning Red Riding Hood, Beowulf, or the Wizard of Oz. For all intents and purposes, Earth and Remnant have separate histories and mythologies, and I decided to pull Cròin from Earth folklore and stuff him into Remnant history. On a side note, I really want Rooster Teeth to release a Big Book of Remnant, a guidebook detailing thousands of little factoids about the world that probably won't appear in any episode (and would make writing this so much easier). I would buy that book in a heartbeat.

Oh, and if you want my inspiration for Sirius' sabre, look up 'bootstrap cutlass'.