Standard Disclaimer:

Alyx smiled at the audience. "You will be pleased to know I managed to get back into my computer after Bob's hacking attack. Severus and Draco are once again playing kissy face while they scour the world trying to find Draco's Who who which was stolen by the evil Harry Potter."

"And Slobnovia is once again financially sound after having discovered that they can corner the market on Minnows and sell them as anchovy substitutes."

Now Alyx looked a little unhappy. "Unfortunately Bob messed up my plot file enough that I can't tell what I had planned or what he inserted. As a result, Slobnovia is now at war with Buttholia and the evil Emperor Dumbledore. A video taped session of Snape and four midget nuns in a vat of pork grease has been released to wikileeks and Prince Draco faces a rebellion from Princess Hermione who is flying around in the Century Pigeon along with Neville Solo and Seamus Skywalker."

Alyx blinked and grabbed her hair and tugged hard. "How am I supposed to produce quality who who literature when I have to worry about what changes Bob might sneak in next?"

"You forgot to mention that Draco and Snape are now scouring the muggle world hoping to find Draco a Who who transplant. But you're not ready with your cold steam powered who whos so they'll have to find something else to occupy their time until you are ready," said an ominous voice. "Oh and Harry Potter is heading for a south Texas Weenie roast festival, I wonder why?"

Alyx squeaked in fright and Bob snickered, then he held up a microphone that was labeled, "Ominous Microphone."

Alyx looked around for the source of the voice and finally spotted Bob who had locked himself into her old control room and barricaded the door. "Why are you doing this?" she whined.

"Because I can." Bob replied, then he pushed the button labeled "Cue Ominous Music".

Alyx reached into her pocket and pulled out a mobile SAM launcher and fired off a missile at the control room. It exploded harmlessly against the impervious glass panel and Bob trained a pair of .50 caliber machine guns on her. She yipped and dove for cover.

"Harry?"

"Yes Cheki?"

"Do you think they will get around to telling people they don't own Harry Potter and the Dragon Riders of Pern? So the story can start?"

Harry frowned, there was a full war going on on-stage that would have made Hollywood weep with envy. All done to the background of ominous music. "I don't think so mate, maybe we should just start the story."

"Okay Harry."

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
- Winston Churchill

Building Fifteen, Science Center, Campbeltown Weyr, January 12th...

Millicent stood abruptly and stared at the screen for the third time. She shook her head in denial, then she bolted from the room. She had been working with Mildred O'Connor, helping her look at the various physical aspects of the dragons.

Mildred looked up when Millicent all but stumbled into her office.

"Doctor O'Connor, it's not possible!"

Mildred frowned. Normally Millicent was an eager student who meticulously followed instructions. Nothing seemed to disturb her calm outward demeanor, until now. "Milli, take a deep breath, then start over. What's not possible?" asked Mildred soothingly.

Millicent sat in a chair and breathed for a moment, then she looked at the American scientist. "I think you should come see for yourself. At least this way you'll believe me, or tell me I'm crazy and send for a healer."

Confused Mildred nodded and Milli stood and hurriedly left the office with Mildred following behind her.

Back in Millicent's little cubicle she turned to Mildred. "I was reviewing your biometric measurements on how quickly the dragon could change their weight."

Mildred nodded. It was part of her overall plan to baseline the dragons. "Yes, we brought in a portable truck weighing station and measured how quickly the dragon could go from their minimum to maximum weight and back."

The station consisted of an enormous pressure sensitive platform and a large digital readout measuring the recorded weight.

"Right," Milli replied. "We weighed nearly one hundred dragons. But one dragon in particular caught my eye." She turned and set the video player to rewind the tape until the counter hit a certain number and then she started playing.

"Look, here comes Norendrath with Mr. Black on his back. Note that as soon as the dragon steps onto the platform the numbers jump to one hundred kilos. Now Sirius jumps down from Norendrath and lands on the platform. See? The numbers jump from one hundred kilos to one hundred eighty one kilos, and then he touches the dragon for a moment, and the weight drops again and then he jumps off the platform..."

She trailed off as Mildred leaned closer. "It drops back to one hundred," she muttered, "that can't be right. That would mean the person on the back of the dragon would be weightless."

Milli shrugged. "It would explain Hagrid, don't you think? Selanth had no problem flying him and he must weigh at least 240 kilos."

Mildred took a chair and snatched up the player remote. She rewound the tape and watched the whole sequence again. "Impossible, how can that be?" she muttered.

"Could it be magic? I can levitate something with my wand."

Mildred shook her head. "That's different, Milli. Your wand allows you to direct a force that lifts the object. It doesn't make it weightless. The only way I know of to negate the weight of someone on the surface of a planet would be to place an equal sized planetary mass over their head and let both mass attractions cancel each other out. We knew dragons had some sort of field protecting themselves and their riders from being buffeted by high winds, but what if the field can do more? Remember when the four dragons took Ranglieth between?"

Millicent nodded uncomfortably. None of the riders liked being reminded of a dragon they lost.

"Four dragons lifted off carrying a load of at least seven tons and they hovered for a second. None of the dragons seemed to be bothered by the load, but more to the point, they aren't built to hover. So how did that happen?" asked Mildred. "What if that field can do more?"

"Even to affecting gravity?" Millicent asked dubiously. She was by no means a scientist, but even she understood that there were things that weren't possible. She had sat in on the coffee sessions of the scientists who debated magical levitation and were certain it wasn't affecting the mass of an object.

Mildred suddenly grinned at the girl. "I finally get to say it. Maybe it's magic."

Millicent winced. It had been a line that they had used on the scientists time and time again and she never expected it to be used back at her.

"I deserved that," she said ruefully.

Mildred laughed and stood. "Keep that tape handy. I'm going to go see if Sir Robert is in. He'll want to see it."

Millicent nodded and went to her desk to write up an observation report for Sir Robert.

"Milli?" Mildred asked from the door.

"Yes, Doctor?"

Mildred smiled at the girl. "It's not unusual for an interesting item to be named after the person that discovered it. Dozens of famous scientists have things named after them, Joule, Curie, Pascal to name a few. I'm going to suggest to Sir Robert we call this the Bulstrode effect."

Mildred chuckled, then left the room, leaving behind a witch staring at the empty door and praying the American scientist was just kidding around.

She wasn't.

Social Hall, Campbeltown Weyr, January 12th...

May sat down next to Luna and Susan and the two girls smiled at her. She glanced over towards the corner where the adults seemed involved in a noisy discussion. Doctor O'Connor seemed to be very excited.

"What's happening over there?" she asked and pointed with a finger.

Susan followed her finger and frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. Mildred and Millicent came in a little while ago and they seemed very excited about something. I'm sure they'll get around to telling us about it eventually."

May nodded, took a sip of her tea and opened up the copy of the Daily Prophet she had picked up by the door. She didn't read the wizard paper often, and she'd never tell her magical friends, but she privately felt some of the attitudes in the paper were downright quaint.

The paper led off with the report from the opening session of the ICW. While the main article was extremely factual, the editorial lamented the fact that Britain's fourth mage appeared to be rejecting everything about the wizarding world. It called on the Ministry to force Harry to give up his dragon and return to their nurturing bosom.

"I don't understand this," muttered May. "The main page talks about Harry and his introduction to the ICW, and barely mentions his role as Weyrleader, then the editorial makes it sound like he's being held hostage by his dragon."

Luna frowned and glanced over at the paper. "In a way Harry is very lucky. By pointing out how he's rejecting the wizarding world, the paper is actually doing him a favor. I doubt there is a single magical rider that didn't suspect Harry was a mage. Ordinarily he would have been presented to the ICW at the first session following his sixteenth birthday."

"But what's the big deal about being a mage?"

Susan laughed at May who glanced at her with a sour face. "It's all about power. Luna and I are powerful witches, but Harry takes it to a whole other level. At any given time, Britain has had at least three mages for the last thousand years. Some countries have less, some have more. A mage is a wizard or witch who's at the very top of the power scale. Professor Dumbledore is a mage, so is Mr. Croaker and Mr. Ollivander and now our Harry."

"But how does this make Harry lucky?" asked May.

Susan smiled smugly into her cup and then she took a sip. "Easy. The paper lamented the fact that Harry is rejecting wizard society. Had Harry been still in Hogwarts, he would have been swamped with offers of marriage from across the nation and even some from other countries. A mage is hot property and a lot of witches would fight to get close to him."

Susan paused while Luna nodded. "A mage who's rejecting Wizard society is not going to be very attractive, no matter what his power rating. Had he been just a wizard and not a rider, he would have attracted the notice of every major family and every unattached witch for a thousand miles. But now? Only we riders know his real value. None of them will dare offer a contract now."

"I didn't think anyone still did marriage contracts, not in this day," May said softly.

Susan nodded. "Millicent nearly decked her father, who wanted to force her into a contract as his right as head of his family. She was mortified. He wanted to basically sell her to a man three times her age as part of a business deal," Susan replied, reminding May of what happened when they went to Hogwarts back in September.

"So this mage business isn't a big deal then?" asked May.

Luna laughed softly. "It is quite a big deal, except to Harry. Our Harry is a rider before all else. He's convinced our future lies in the normal world, which is why he has been studying so hard at normal subjects. To Harry, magic is a tool just like we used tools to make the first few harnesses. I'd bet if you asked him you'd find he was annoyed to be called a mage in such a public manner."

"No, he wouldn't like that," agreed Susan. "He is a very private man."

Luna smirked at Susan. "Well, you would know, having gotten closer to him than any of us."

Susan blushed. "I suppose I walked into that, but it's true. We all know he hates it when he's singled out as unique in any way. Besides, it was just that one time and I was way down on his list of girls he wanted to shag."

"He's got a real list?" exclaimed May.

Both witches laughed. Harry's habit for writing things down to remember them made the idea of a list of girls very believable.

"No," replied Susan. "Just a mental one and he'd be mortified to know we girls knew about it. Look, May, it's no secret that there are two girls on the top of his list. We all knew it from the day we arrived. Why do you think none of us are making a play for him?"

"Hermione is still on that short list, despite the fact that she's hurt him deeply. You're right there right next to her, May," Luna added softly. "I'd like to have a go at Harry. Susan sported a huge grin the next day, but she also caught him when he was vulnerable. If I went to Harry tonight he'd probably thank me while blushing profusely and apologize before sending me on my way. You and Hermione wouldn't get sent away like Susan and I would."

"May, perhaps, but I doubt Hermione would be well received until they resolved things, Luna," Susan countered. "Hermione is still very angry at Harry and no matter how many times I told her he was not in control of himself, she's unwilling to believe it."

Luna frowned. "I tried talking to her, but she's still hurting too much to listen to reason. She has heard all the stories from her former dorm mates at school and sees someone like Chapman who will shag anything that moves and believes Harry is doing that. She believes it, even when she knows deep down that Harry would never be so shallow. He would turn me away, but he wouldn't turn Hermione away, or you, May, because he cares deeply for you both."

Susan turned to fully face May, then she leaned closer. "You could go to him and once he got over his initial shock he would probably welcome you. I'm not saying he'd jump your bones straight away, and you'd probably have to ease him into the idea, but he wouldn't turn you away or reject the idea like he would with any of the rest of us girls."

Luna looked pensive and she slowly nodded. "Yes, he would listen to you, May, but Harry has had little experience with any kind of love. No matter how much Hermione has hurt him, a part of him will always love her. She is a part of him and he's a part of her. Her problem is she doesn't understand that, or how much she's hurting both of them with her anger. Her attitude hurts herself, her dragon and most of all, Harry."

May sipped her tea thoughtfully. The idea did appeal to her, but she really wanted more than just a casual shag. She resolved to try to get some alone time with Harry in the next few days to really talk to him.

A motion caught their attention and Karen Khan sat heavily at the table with a great sigh. "Oh, what a day," she moaned.

"Problems?" asked May sympathetically. She was grateful for the chance to change the subject. The girls had already given her enough to think about.

"We're getting ready for bringing in over one hundred people from Parliament at the end of the month. Mariah's project to construct a theater is a major headache. Somehow she found the plans on the internet for a big enough building and we've been buying building material by the ton. Dobby says the elves can build the building from the plans, but they need the materials. To top it off, my monthly started and it's a real pain..."

She stopped when Luna sat up and pulled out her wand, bathing her in a cool blue light. Sighing in relief, she shot Luna a grateful grin. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much I envy you witches being able to do that."

"Karen, you don't need to suffer like that! Just ask one of us to help. Any one of us would have been willing to," Susan admonished.

"And your workload is going to get much easier," Luna said. "Soon we'll have bigger wings and another group. I'll finally have enough people to put together our Snorkack hunting expedition."

Karen shook her head and smiled. "Do you really think you'll find them, Luna?"

"Oh, gosh, yes. I have a list of possible places they could be found," Luna said firmly.

"Really? Where?" asked May, now intrigued.

"Hawaii, the South of France, Miami Beach, the Yucatan Peninsula. They like hot climates and it helps if there's a rain forest nearby," Luna replied.

"Luna, sweetie," Karen said softly, "there's no rain forest in the south of France or Miami beach."

Luna smiled and leaned closer. "Shhh... No one else need know about the rain forest requirement."

The three girls stared at Luna for a moment, then they broke up in laughter.

#10 Downing Street, London, January 15th...

James Mills sipped his tea and nodded at the Prime Minister. "I wasn't there personally but I was told by several people that the Weyrleader did rather well, sir. He met with representatives from a number of allied nations and even managed to reach out to several we didn't plan on letting him meet that day.

"Albus Dumbledore was very positive in his report to me about the ICW meeting, both in regard to smoothing things over between the various magical ministries and in meeting the Weyrleader. I understand they were a bit surprised at his introduction, but that quickly passed."

Mills frowned. "He did mention that one member of the ICW could be a cause for problems. Apparently, Harry tangled with the Russian delegate prior to the meeting."

John Major's eyebrows rose and Sir Robert coughed lightly, drawing his attention. "James," he chided, "you're giving the wrong impression."

Sir Robert turned his attention to the Prime Minister. "During the census performed by the Weyr, the wing performing the census came under attack and a rider was seriously injured. It wasn't life threatening, but it was a serious wound requiring several days of hospital care. The Weyr responded to the attack and drove off the Russians, but not before Harry seriously embarrassed the leader of the group, who turned out to be the Russian ICW delegate, as well as the Minister's cousin.

"According to Albus, the man in question is dangerous and now that he knows who Harry is, he is liable to do something to correct what he feels is a slight against his honor. Albus says it is unlikely he'll directly confront Harry. Even if he tried, the Weyr location is still unknown to most Wizards."

"So," mused John Major, "like any other head of state, he's going to need security?"

"We hope not," James said, "but I intend to bring this up at tonight's Weyr council meeting and see if I can get him to take a few precautions. Besides, the lad does have the largest dragon in the world watching over him."

John Major smiled. "Yes that's true."

"So, how are we set for the end of the month?" he asked.

"We have a final cut of our video, finally. Lee had to make several changes and he's asked me to thank your staff for their helpful assistance," Sir Robert replied. "It might not be a professional piece produced by the BBC, but for his first attempt, it's quite good really. The second issue, a place to show the video, is being addressed even as we speak.

"The Weyrleader understood they couldn't give away the secret of magic, so he's commissioned the building of a small theater that will be big enough to hold one hundred and fifty people. It won't be a fancy theater by any means, and at least for this go around we'll use rented folding chairs for seating. Harry recognizes that the theater has other applications besides using it to introduce people to the idea of dragons, so I think we'll see improvements made to the building so it can be used for lectures and general meetings."

Sir Robert grinned and he glanced over at James then turned back to the Prime Minister. "We have one very interesting thing we'd like to report. We're tentatively calling it the Bulstrode Effect based on the person that first spotted it."

"Oh?"

"It's been known for a while now that the dragons seem to have a field around them that protects their rider from the winds generated by flight. At first we weren't sure if it was related to their ability to control their weight or not. Chekiath, for example can weigh anywhere from a flat one hundred kilos all the way up to his full weight of twelve and a half tons," Sir Robert said, and the Prime Minister nodded at him in understanding.

"What we weren't aware of until one of the riders I have working with our people pointed it out, was that the dragons control the weight of anyone they are carrying as well. We have incontrovertible proof of the dragons affecting the weight of objects they are touching. It seems to be tied directly into the field they generate.

"It is possible that a single dragon, or perhaps a few dragons, are capable of lifting objects many times their own weight and taking them airborne. The possibilities are intriguing and it's opened a new avenue of research."

"So the dragons can lift heavy objects? Like what?" asked Major.

Sir Robert shrugged. "It's hard to say at this point. If I were to guess, I'd have to say a dragon can lift a load equal to its full body weight, or more. It's conceivable that just a pair of dragons could lift a fully loaded cargo container or more. Remember, they only need to be off the ground for them to go Between."

John Major leaned back in his chair and shook his head. Every time he turned around the dragons were presenting new challenges and new opportunities. He reached for a pen and made a note on his pad.

"Sir, if I may, what of the Chinese problem you mentioned?" asked James.

Major frowned. "They are continuing to look at various places up and down the Scottish coast, but a couple have set up a shop in Campbeltown, selling fruits and vegetables," he replied, then he smiled slightly. "It seems almost cliché, doesn't it? Chinese immigrants setting up a small grocery shop selling a mix of western and eastern food items."

Mills nodded and gave a bit of a sour chuckle. It was cliché at that. "Why are they there?"

"Officially, they are a husband and wife couple relocated from Hong Kong. They are also avid bird watchers, which gives them a reason to have some of the best telephoto cameras the Japanese sell. So far, they've approached the area of the Weyr only once and never got close enough to really see what was happening. The one time, however, they seemed to concentrate on the new construction rather than the Weyr," replied Major.

"So they might think there's something going on with the Power station and new laboratory buildings?" quizzed Sir Robert.

"We think so, but they are being closely monitored. I can't go into details, but they are people of special interest to us, along with their controller at the Embassy. You can be assured that if anything looks amiss we will contact the Weyr immediately. Your Major Atkins is aware of the protocols involved."

John Major consulted a pad on his desk. "I have one more piece of business today, gentlemen, then you'll be able to go about your business. I have a request from Her Majesty that his Highness, the Prince of Wales, be present at the introduction. Prince Charles has not yet met with any dragons and Her Majesty feels his presence will lend a royal stamp of approval to the event."

"I'll forward the request to the Weyrleader, but I doubt he'll have a problem with it," James replied. "I think he'll be most welcome."

"Excellent, then I'll see you next week gentlemen. Sir Robert, please keep my office informed about this new aspect."

Both men stood and filed from the room.

Campbeltown Weyr, January 18th...

Harry checked his watch, then he glanced around. All of the Weyr were present and waiting. The area in front of Hanger Two had been left intentionally clear for the arrival of their newest members. In the meantime, the rest of the Weyr were carefully arrayed in front of the hangars, waiting for the latest members of their family to arrive.

Only a few feet away was his dragon and he felt a twinge of pride every time he looked at Chekiath. The dragon was the largest dragon in the world and even though his growth rate had slowed tremendously, he still continued to grow. He was very proud of Chekiath.

Things had settled back into a normal routine at the Weyr, although Hermione still refused to deal with him on anything more than a superficial level. May had taken to seeking out Harry in her free time. Harry was still pretty clueless as to what May was doing and she planned on confiding in him soon. All he knew was that he was glad for her company. Her very presence seemed to ease the ache caused by Hermione's absence.

He was also pleased to note that Cheki's shagging flights still affected him, but at a much more manageable level than that first flight. Harry would admit Cheki's flights did affect him, but he didn't need a calming potion, nor did he lose control like he did on that very first flight.

Harry looked skyward, then he paced a bit before checking his watch again.

"Relax, Harry," Ronan said. "There's still some time."

Harry nodded, then he peered at his friend. "Are you sure you're all right with this, Ronan? I mean it's not really fair to you. We both know you should get the position."

Ronan grinned. "It's fine. I get to bask in the glory reflected off you and make sure the Wing is running smoothly. And I expect you to remember that when you want to send a wing off to do a cushy job, like checking out a nude beach for any threats to the Weyr."

Harry shook his head and chuckled, but there was a little truth in that. He knew he asked Ronan to do a lot more than a regular second should and he made sure that Ronan knew he appreciated it. Ronan was one of the few riders who got an extra gift at Christmas from Harry. He had learned that Ronan was building a large scale replica of a four engine Constellation airplane. Harry had purchased a multichannel controller for the project. The plane was complex and needed a more expensive controller than any that Ronan owned.

Harry enjoyed the few hours a week he got to fly his small airplane, but he was no where near being good enough to consider buying a bigger plane. And making a plane from scratch like Ronan was attempting was far beyond his skills.

"I send you out to check out a nude beach and Karen will have my stones on the mantle place in the kitchen hall by lunch time," Harry replied. Chekiath had reported to him that Ronan had been slipping into Karen's cottage each night. Harry wasn't concerned. As long as it didn't affect the Weyr, it wasn't his business, and he was honestly happy for his wing second. "Sorry, mate, but that's one task you'll have to find another excuse to do."

Ronan grinned ruefully. He and Karen had gotten very close lately and he learned she was a little bit possessive, not enough to be an issue, but enough to make him want to behave himself. "Maybe then you can send me and Karen out for a romantic picnic someday."

"Why? Do you really need me to order you out on a date?" Harry asked dryly.

"No, not really," Ronan admitted, "but sometimes pulling her away from her computer is a real pain."

Ronan turned serious, he knew this was a bit of a sore topic with Harry. "How are you making out?"

Harry shrugged. "Some days are better than others. I'm fine. I have to be, otherwise May starts hovering. Have you seen her? She can be as scary as Herm... her."

Ronan opened his mouth to speak when forty five dragons appeared over head and the dragons of the Weyr bellowed in welcome. The riders took up the challenge and started shouting almost as loudly as the dragons.

Harry hopped up on the small platform and waited for the dragons to land. The new riders looked tired and more than a little rumpled. It had been a working trip and they hadn't had much time to worry about things like laundry.

The riders slid down from their dragons and as a whole they looked very relieved to be there. Their lives had changed forever roughly two months ago and now they were ready to start their new life.

Harry held up a hand and the assembled Weyr fell silent. He grinned widely at them. "Welcome home," he said softly.

A soft buzz ran through the new riders.

"Now for the good news. The elves of the Weyr will take care of your laundry today. Just don't get used to it."

The only rider who had an elf looking after him was Harry. Dobby had been willing to accept any order except that. He felt he was Harry's personal elf and he made it his mission to take care of him.

A small cheer broke out among the riders and he laughed. "Secondly, I know that you have been working as two wings, but for now we will be integrating most of you into our existing wings, and creating one new one. Those of you who were acting as Wing leaders or seconds will probably be assigned as Wing Leaders and seconds to the next group of riders coming from the February hatching. You need more a bit more training and you'll be getting it starting tomorrow."

Harry paused and he noted some of the unhappy looks. "I know it's disappointing, but it's only temporary, I promise. I know who the leaders are and I can assure you, we will be watching your performance carefully over the next few months.

"The new Wing will be led by Lee Jordan, and his second will be Abbey Rhodes," Harry announced. Picking Lee had been easy, picking Abbey had been harder because he really didn't know her, but she had worked as the Wing Leader for one of the temporary wings and was very popular among the new riders.

The new riders cheered the selection. Lee had spent a number of days with the new riders and he was well liked. Abbey was another popular choice. She was not a witch, but she seemed to go out of her way to make the wizards among them comfortable.

Harry motioned for Lee to join him on the platform. When he did, he laid a hand against on Lee's shoulder. "Lee has a list of names for Wing Four, but you'll also find lists posted next to the door of the social hall, as well as the administration building. You'll also find your housing assignment. Leave your backpacks here and go check the lists. I'm sure you all want a chance to get cleaned up and relax for a few hours.

"The whole Weyr will assemble at eighteen hundred hours tonight for a party in honor of your coming home. Til then, get settled in, get your dragons settled," Harry said, then he stepped down from the platform. The riders took that as a sign to rush Lee to see his list.

Harry walked back towards the administration building while someone glared daggers at his back.

"You shouldn't do that," Comaloth said privately to Hermione. "You don't know his reasons for not picking you."

"But considering how hard I worked," she protested out loud.

"Hermione, stop that right now," Marty Benson snapped angrily. He walked over until he was just inches from her. He was a tall, imposing young man and he towered over he. "You have no right to be upset with Harry because you were passed over for the Wing Leader slot. In fact, I didn't recommend you for the position when he asked me."

She blinked at him in surprise. "What? Why?"

Benson shook his head. "You're a very smart girl and your organizational skills are without peer in the Weyr. But you plod. If you have to make a snap decision you waffle back and forth and never make a choice. If you have the time to consider it, then you'll always come up with the best decision. A Wing Leader can't be afraid to make a decision, right or wrong. He also can't be afraid to admit he knows he made a mistake and own up to it."

Hermione frowned. She knew his comment was a reference to what Harry had done. She had heard about Harry's apology to the Weyr but since he hadn't apologized to her, she refused to be moved by it.

"Marty I..."

"No," he said, overriding her. "Harry asked me for my recommendations for Wing Leader and I gave him honest opinions. Your name didn't come up and he didn't question my suggestion other than to ask me to explain my choice. He accepted my decision, even if it wasn't who he chose. You have no reason to be angry at him over this."

Hermione nibbled on her lower lip, taken aback by the public scolding from her Wing Leader. She wanted to snap back at him, but she knew she couldn't bully him like she could once bully Harry. And deep down, she knew that she could no longer bully Harry, either.

In Harry's office, another, very different conversation was about to start.

Harry pulled three books from his bookshelf behind his desk and he opened one, then he removed a gold plated fountain pen from his desk and started to write.

"Harry?"

He glanced up from his book and smiled seeing May in the open doorway. "Hello, May, how can I help you today?"

She walked in and to his surprise, closed the door behind her. He arched an eyebrow at her and she colored slightly, but decided to press on anyway.

She took a deep breath and mustered the courage to follow through with her plan. It was time to lay her cards on the table for Harry to see and understand what she was doing. "I've tried several times to catch you after dinner, but it always seems like I've couldn't find you," she said softly, then she glanced down at his desk. "What are you doing?"

"These?" he asked, waving towards the three books. They were mostly blank, and bound in what looked like fine leather. Someone had gone to considerable expense to produce these books.

She nodded.

"You know how we have a book of Weyrs, but these will eventually be the rosters and history of each Weyr. I got the idea from reading about how a captain kept a log of a ship's voyage," Harry said, then he opened one book and she could see that the book was much more detailed than the others. "This is Campbeltown's record. It contains not only a list of our riders, but also a record of things we've done, and sometimes my thoughts on certain things. I was about to record that we had the mating flights for the next hatching. And that I was planning on visiting Maziang and Condron tomorrow to present these books to each so that they could keep their own records."

Chekiath had participated in two of those flights, covering both dragons. The males he was competing against couldn't keep up with him, nor could the egg mother out fly him. Though she tried hard, he kept pace with her. Harry was pleased to note that Chekiath's mating flights didn't bother him as much as the first one had. The flight still made left him terribly aroused, but it no longer caused him to lose control of himself.

May shook her head. It was just one more thing about Harry that she found fascinating. Just when she thought she understood him, he would surprise her by doing something unexpected.

"So, what can I do for you?" he asked her, looking down at the book.

She colored slightly and moved toward him. "Well, I wanted to talk to you for a couple days now. I mean, I wanted to talk to you a lot sooner, but first you were with Hermione, and then you and she fought."

Harry glanced up and noted she had come around to his side of the desk. Feeling uncomfortable looking up at her from his chair, he stood. Her mention of Hermione put him on his guard. "Talk? About what?"

She took a step closer to him and his eyes widened slightly. "I really like you, Harry," she said softly. "If Hermione hadn't come to the Weyr, I would have tried very hard to let you know that a long time ago. I think... no, I know I care about you a great deal, more than just as a friend, and certainly more than just because you're my Weyrleader. In a way, I'm so very jealous of Susan."

"You are?" he asked in surprise. "Why?"

She smiled and shook her head. "You really have no clue about girls, do you?" she asked gently.

He frowned and she laughed, then reached out and touched his arm gently. "Harry, if we girls weren't bound by our dragons, several of us would have fought to be your girlfriend. When Hermione and you started dating, we all decided to sit back and watch. None of us wanted you two to break up, but none of us would have been upset if you had, because it would have meant a chance for us.

"Susan told me that she caught you in a moment when your will was being sorely tested. She said any other time, you would have sent her back to her cabin. I'm jealous of her because she got to share something very special with you," she said. She was watching him carefully.

"I may be an idiot, but I would have sent her away, but Cheki's mating first mating was messing me up," he admitted. "I don't think I have it in me to be casual about making love to some girl."

May nodded, expecting him to say that. She also noted his reference to 'making love'. It seemed to indicate he held the act itself in a higher regard than some of the other male riders. "Luna and Susan both said that there were two girls you wouldn't turn away," she said cautiously.

"They said that?" he exclaimed, then he flushed heavily.

She nodded. "One of those girls is deeply hurt and too stubborn to realize it's her own doing. I think the reason why I've had trouble catching you alone is because you don't want to get hurt again."

He looked away and she reached out and grasped his chin gently, turning his gaze back to her. That she could read so easily bothered him. He thought he was doing a decent job of hiding how much Hermione's actions hurt him.

"I would never hurt you, Harry," she whispered, then she leaned closer and kissed him softly.

His eyes widened for a moment, then his arms seemed slide around her all on their own and he returned the kiss.

May sighed softly and pressed herself against him tightly. She felt safe and cherished in his arms. She also felt in control. His arms held her, but she knew they wouldn't budge from her back without her guiding him. It was a new experience for the girl and it did wonders for her confidence. A part of her understood that Hermione wasn't out of the picture and for the first time she wondered if Luna was right that she may end up having to share Harry. She knew that she was very lucky. He could have been the type to sleep around with all of the girls, in addition to whomever his dragon was mating with. Guys like Harry weren't that common.

"Yay! Good for you, May!" Chekiath announced happily.

May laughed lightly and tightened her grip on Harry, then she deepened her kiss. She ran her tongue over his lips and he responded by opening his mouth.

"Harry just told Chekiath to shut up and go admire me," Trath announced smugly.

May broke the kiss and smiled shyly at Harry, who returned her look with an expression of wonder. "I have one question for you," she said.

He nodded.

"Is it true that you'd never turn me or Hermione away?" she asked.

He looked down and then slowly nodded.

"Good," she whispered. "A girl likes to feel wanted. Don't plan on going out tonight. I'll be by around nine. We can talk some and perhaps kiss some more."

He nodded at her and she stepped out of his embrace. He let his arms fall away and watched her as she turned away.

May slipped out of the room and leaned heavily against the wall, her heart was racing in her chest. She had never been as forward as that, but it was worth it in her opinion. Harry's kiss had created a fire in her that burned hotly even now.

She had known Harry for just over a year and she knew he would never try to take advantage of her. He had an opportunity right there in his office and she knew she wouldn't have complained, but his hands never wandered. It made her feel very good about having a relationship again. She felt in control and that was very important to her.

Inside Harry's office, he sat back down and stared at the three books blankly. After his fight with Hermione, he had resolved to not get involved with anyone. Now it looked like he'd not be able to keep that promise.

A part of him felt that he was betraying Hermione by being with May, but a large part was still hurt and angry with her for her attitude. And this was May, a girl who had looked out for his interests since he first met her. The one nightmare that plagued him had been the possibility that Hermione would have asked him to stop talking to May. He never wanted to be forced to choose between the two of them.

Chinese Embassy London, January 19th...

Colonel Jin Tan Mu made a notation on a large wall map, then he turned to look at some photographs. He was certain that the place they were looking for wasn't at the naval base at HMNB Clyde, but it had still yielded some surprising information, including a visiting Los Angeles class submarine that seemed to have an new modification attached to it.

He examined the photo intently. Copies had already been sent via the diplomatic bag to Beijing for analysis.

The door opened and Wei Fong, the station chief, brought in a handful of papers.

"Ah, do come in, comrade Captain," Jin Tan Mu said. "You have news for me?"

"I do, comrade Colonel. According to our people, there is increased construction activity at the facility near Campbeltown. It is unusual in this cold weather for them to begin new construction, but they are breaking ground for more buildings, and it looked like they are planning on expanding the facility," replied Wei Fong.

The Chinese agents sent to Campbeltown had noted the new construction for barracks to house an additional brigade of troops. It was something they started not far from the area where they were putting up buildings for the power test station.

The Colonel's eyes were drawn to the map and he eyed it speculatively. "I see," he said slowly. "This place is becoming more and more interesting as time goes on."

He stepped away and watched as Wei Fong posted some new photos on the wall. They clearly showed the nearly completed buildings for the science team and now, new building equipment clearing an area not far from the new construction.

He waited until Wei Fong was done putting up the photos, then he carefully examined each one. "Is this where agent K was exposed?" he mused.

"There is something interesting to note, comrade Colonel," offered Wei Fong.

"Oh?"

The station chief handed him a photo, showing a spot of land near the main buildings of the older complex, it was a photo of the original airbase. He glanced at the photo and then looked at the station chief in annoyance. "Yes?"

"That picture was taken on January sixth, comrade Colonel. Then, barely ten days later, this was taken," Wei Fong said, handing him another photo. In it there was a new building that seemed to be nearly complete. Neither man knew it but they were looking at the newly constructed Weyr theater.

The Colonel's eyebrows rose. "There was no sign of a construction crew?"

"None, comrade Colonel, but I have made some inquiries back home and they tell me a building of this size would need a team of a hundred or more to put it up with such speed."

The Colonel scrutinized the photo again. The building was large, nearly as big as the old mess hall building that had been designed to feed hundreds at a time. The incredibly quick construction time suggested either an very large work force, or the imperials were using an unclean method of construction. In either case, it suggested that this building was of extreme importance to someone.

The Colonel stared at the photos for so long that Wei Fong began to fidget nervously. Finally, he looked up and walked over to the large wall map which noted the progress of his four search teams. He crossed his arms and stared at the map for a moment, then he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "Recall the other search teams," he said softly.

"Comrade Colonel?"

The Colonel turned and eyed Wei Fong with a hard glare. "Recall the teams and inform our agents in Campbeltown to increase their surveillance. This building is the key to understanding what is happening there. I am certain of it. Tell them I will send them more people and new equipment that will allow for around the clock monitoring."

"Yes, Comrade Colonel," Wei Fong stammered, then he hurriedly made for the exit.

Satisfied that he had frightened the station chief enough to remind him of his place, he turned back to the map and stared at it. The new building smelled of magic, he was certain of it. It was one of Beijing's greatest nightmares - their enemies using magic for their benefit. He must find out for sure and he was certain this new building was the key to the mystery.

#10 Downing Street, London, January 20th...

Albus Dumbledore, Sir William and Alejandro Croaker were quickly ushered into the Prime Minister's office. Inside sat a man in an American military uniform and Ambassador Madison from the American Embassy.

Instantly all three men picked up on the tense atmosphere inside the room.

Lord Kennewick stood talking quietly to the Prime Minister. Tony Blair stood uncomfortably nearby. John Major had taken to inviting him to attend some of these special high level sessions in his office. The meetings were always held in secret and he was transported to #10 via a limo with blacked out windows, invariably entering an underground car park a block away and escorted to the office via a secure tunnel.

The atmosphere was thick with anxiety and everyone knew something important was in the works. It was unusual to call a meeting so late unless it was for an extraordinary circumstance.

John Major looked up and nodded grimly to Sir William, then he turned to Ambassador Madison. "Mr. Ambassador, they're here, so let's get this started."

The Ambassador nodded and turned to the man in uniform. "Major Donner, if you would please?"

The man looked startled by the request, especially in light of the strange garb worn by the two wizards. When the Ambassador smiled reassuringly at him, he lifted up a metal case and placed it on the table. He opened the case to reveal what appeared to be a computer of some kind.

"This morning at oh eight hundred thirty hours mountain time, one of our DSP birds caught this," said Major Donner.

"Excuse me? DSP bird?" asked Sir William.

The major looked surprised and he glanced to the Ambassador, who nodded again. "The DSP bird is a Defense Support Program satellite, sir. Its primary mission is to watch the planet for potential missile launches and nuclear tests. This morning we recorded an extraordinary event off the coast of Greece. If you'll watch the image."

Everyone turned their attention to the small screen and Major Donner used his pen to point to the area that interested them. For nearly a minute nothing happened, then there was a series of five rapid flashes that blinded the cameras. When the image stabilized again it was apparent that the Greek island of Othonoi had lost a significant portion of its land mass.

"We believe that civilian casualties are high, as at least ten thousand people lived in that part of the island. Now one third of the island is gone and that wasn't done by a nuclear weapon," Major Donner stated. "By now, the French and the Japanese probably know about this, but few other countries have the hardware in orbit looking for this sort of thing."

"How do you know it wasn't a nuclear weapon?" asked Sir William.

Major Donner glanced down at the screen for a moment. "A single stage atomic bomb like the type used on Hiroshima would have produced a single flash of light. A hydrogen bomb would have produced a double flash because they use an atomic bomb to ignite the second stage. There were five distinct flashes. That means we're either looking at technology we've never seen before, or a magical cause."

"What are the Greeks saying?" asked Tony Blair.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing," spat Kennewick. "Their media reported a minor terrorist incident on the island this morning and since then nothing. There isn't even a disturbance in their military command net."

"I received an interesting call this afternoon from the head of BBC news who said he's been unable to contact his office in Athens. Land lines, fax, even internet seems to be down," Prime Minister Major said. "He very nicely asked if I could contact our Embassy and ask for someone there to call them.

"When a phone call wouldn't go through, I had our foreign office use their radio to get in touch with our people in Athens. The Embassy responded to the radio contact and reported that all international communications seems to be down and Greek Telecom says they are working on the problem. They also said that other than vague reports of another terrorist attack, they know nothing about any problem on the coast."

"What about Skynews?" asked Ambassador Madison.

"Same issue, but they don't rely on land line or the internet as much as the BBC does," replied Major.

"So you're sure it was magic?" asked Croaker warily.

"We are certain of it," Madison replied before anyone could speak. "Our Department of Magic had some people on the ground observing what we thought was just another case of Italian/Grecian posturing when it suddenly erupted into a full scale battle of over a thousand wizards on both sides. I'm told someone even let loose something called a Nundu, whatever that is. Unfortunately, the US Military doesn't understand that and the President had little choice but to allow them to go to DEFCON two."

"A Nundu is one of the most dangerous magical creatures in existence, Mr. Ambassador," Albus said softly. "It takes a hundred wizards to control one and just its breath alone can spread terrible diseases. We do not know for sure, but it's suspected that a Nundu was the original source of the plague that swept out of Asia to decimate Europe in the fourteenth century."

Lord Kennewick looked grimly at his Prime Minister, who sighed heavily. "Lord Kennewick, you are to place our ground forces on Black Special alert for the time being. Conditions can easily escalate to Amber but we are not there yet."

Kennewick turned and picked up a phone and spoke softly into it. He wasn't happy with the Prime Minister's decision. He had been pushing for an Amber alert which would have put the UK military just a small step from war.

Black Special was a state of warning to specific military units instead of going out to country wide. Units receiving such messages would immediately start inventorying their consumable stores and requisition what they needed to mobilize. Amber alert was the next highest alert, just one step short of war and had last been used when the government confronted the Ministry of Magic.

Ambassador Madison had privately informed the PM and Lord Kennewick that the US forces had been placed at DEFCON two for several hours. As it became clear this attack was magical in origin the President relaxed conditions to DEFCON three, which was still considerably higher than normal.

Prime Minister Major knew without a doubt that the US wasn't the only country at higher than usual alert levels. For a brief while it had looked like one of their NATO allies had suffered a nuclear attack.

Lord Kennewick placed the phone back on it's cradle and nodded to the Prime Minister. He turned to the wizards. "Gentleman, Italy and Greece are our allies and economic partners. Under our NATO charter, we would be within our rights to call an emergency session and propose invading both countries to free their governments. We do not want to do that, but this cannot be allowed to continue. Thousands have died in this.. this mess and we need to send a clear message immediately."

"What can we do?" asked Croaker.

Major's expression hardened. He glanced over to Tony Blair, who nodded in agreement. "Tell them that if they allow their war to spill over into our world then our world will make it our war."

"You can't be serious!" protested Croaker.

"Alejandro," Dumbledore said in warning. "They have a right to be angry when wizards start killing normal people."

Croaker nodded unhappily and leaned back in his chair. He could see their point, but exposing their world? It would be a disaster!

"Mr. Dumbledore, as the British representative, I wish for you to take a message to the ICW from Her Majesty's government. Tell them that the current conflict is to remain in your world or we will get involved. And if we do, the whole world will know why. There will be no secret wizarding world. And while many countries would offer protection to the wizards, a great many will not protect them from their own people."

Albus thought frantically, trying to remember when the next meeting was scheduled. "Sir, I will do that," he said slowly. "But the next meeting of the ICW isn't scheduled until the twentieth of February. I cannot ask for an earlier time, but I can meet with some of the representatives early and explain our position. Perhaps I can build a working consensus among our allies so we won't be the only country warning them to stop."

Major stared at Dumbledore thoughtfully, then he nodded. "Do that, sir. Make it a priority because the next time this happens, I will call for a NATO meeting with the intent to inform them of the true nature of the problem."

Albus nodded and stood. "Well, then, I'm off to Stuttgart first thing in the morning, then to meet with the Mugwump. He may call for an earlier meeting."

Major nodded. "Good luck, Albus," he said softly.

Dumbledore smiled and walked from the room.

"Thank you, gentleman," Major said softly.

Tony Blair stood waiting while the others filed from the room. Once they had, Major leaned back in his chair and wiped at his face tiredly, then he glanced over at his political enemy. "It's not as glamorous a job as it looks, eh Tony?" he said.

"Perhaps not, but for what its worth, I think you're doing the right thing," Blair admitted.

Major smiled. "Thank you. Coming from you that is a great compliment."

Blair smiled and walked from the room, while Major sighed again and lifted another sheet from his desk and began to read. It was going to be a long night.

Stuttgart Germany, January 21st...

Albus stared out the window watching the snowy setting. The house was in a heavily wooded section of the city and had a wonderful view. This was the official residence of the Mugwump, and a place of quiet that he had often enjoyed when he held that position. It felt odd to be here as a guest and not the Mugwump in residence.

"It is a scene not unlike my home in Austria," said a voice.

Albus turned and nodded to Jochim Stebbins. "Mugwump, thank you for allowing me to see like this."

"Albus," chided Stebbins, "we both know you would still hold the position were it not for that fool, Fudge. I take it he has been dealt with?"

"Oh, yes. He was sentenced to an extensive stay in one of Her Majesty's prisons, his magic bound by a sealing bracelet and a geas placed on him to prevent him from talking about magic," Albus replied.

Stebbins nodded, then he motioned to a set of chairs. "Come, let us have tea and you can tell me what has brought you here. If I had to guess, I would say it's related to the Italian/Greek conflict?"

"Mugwump," Albus said uncomfortably. "I bear a message from my Queen and her government. They estimate that as many as ten thousand muggles were killed in the battle at Othonoi."

Stebbin's raised his eyebrows to his hairline. He had not heard that, but it wasn't unexpected. Wizards rarely payed attention to muggle casualties. He sipped his tea in the hopes it would help with the icy knot forming in the pit of his stomach. This was a disaster of epic proportions!

"And your message?" he asked.

"I have been instructed to inform you that if another attack like this happens, Her Majesty's government will convene an emergency session of the NATO nations to announce the existence of magic, as well as the fact that two of their member nations are not in control because of wizards. The Prime Minister will then propose a NATO military response to wrest control of Italy and Greece back to the muggles."

Albus took a deep breath and Stebbins knew he wasn't finished.

"After I leave here, I will be visiting certain ministries with similar messages. It is my fervent hope that I can garner enough support among the wizarding ministries that we can force Italy and Greece to cease hostilities. I know well how much we have underestimated the muggles. We must work very hard to see that another Othonoi doesn't happen."

Stebbins leaned forward on his chair. "This is madness. Wizard versus muggle would be a disaster for both societies!"

"I agree, but ten thousand muggles are dead at our hands. I came here today in the hope that you can convene our next meeting sooner than the twentieth of next month," Albus replied.

Stebbins nodded doubtfully. "I can try, but scheduling is always a problem. One thing I will do is offer the support of myself and my office. I will contact my government after you leave to inform the Austrians. I have no doubt they will help. My question is, what would you suggest we do to convince Italy and Greece to behave?"

"Total interdiction. We ward both nations to stop all magical traffic from crossing their borders. And we convince as many nations as possible to withdraw their Embassies and halt all trade to Italy and Greece."

Stebbins nodded. "Yes, it could work. It's a bit harsh, but I prefer it to knowing the Austrian Defense Forces are hunting down my fellow wizards."

Albus grunted softly in agreement. "We stand on the brink, my friend."

"Then let us work to pull us back from the edge," Stebbins said. He stood suddenly. "There is much to do, so I won't keep you for idle chatter. Thank you for coming here today, Albus. In truth, I wish you were still Mugwump."

Albus stood and smiled at the man. "You're doing fine, Jochim. It was coming up to a time for me to step down anyway."

Jochim looked unsure, but let himself be reassured by Dumbledore.

Campbeltown Weyr, January 28th...

"Let's land for a bit, Cheki," Harry said.

"Yes, Harry," replied his dragon, then Chekiath pulled up and pitched over, neatly pulling from the formation. "I'll tell Garanoth to take over."

Garanoth neatly slipped into Harry's lead position and the wing reformed their formation around him.

Harry nodded and waited patiently for his dragon to flare out and come to a gentle landing before sliding down to the tarmac.

It was freezing and the riders had been outside now for nearly an hour. With the riders now capable of long distance flights Between, they normally spent two hours in the morning in a more tropical climate before returning to the Weyr for an hour of additional flight training.

Harry pulled a pair of binoculars from his belt and he trained it on the wings overhead. "Soranth," he called, "your trailers are too high. Tell your riders to trust their dragons and close up the separation."

"Yes, Weyrleader," replied Lee's dragon.

"They are looking very good, Harry," Cheki said.

Harry smiled. "Yes, they are. I think we'll try cutting back on the flight drills in the morning to just the two hours. Besides, this flying in winter is brutally cold."

"The riders will like that, but the cold doesn't bother the dragons," Cheki replied.

"I know," Harry replied, "but you'll like it a lot less if your rider becomes ill from flying in weather that's too cold. I only make them do an hour at the Weyr so they're used to it."

Chekiath turned his long neck and eyed his rider, his eyes slowly spinning with streaks of green. The dragons knew the riders weren't as hardy as they when it came to extremes like hot and cold, and they also knew that the Weyrleader applied those same rules to the dragons, even if they weren't bothered by the cold.

"Dobby?" Harry called.

Dobby appeared a moment later. "You called Dobby?"

Harry smiled, he had been helping Dobby with his speech and the little elf had finally gotten over his habit of calling him 'Harry Potter Sir'.

"Yes. Is everything ready?"

"Oh, yes, sir. We have everything ready to help warm up your riders," Dobby proclaimed.

"Excellent, then I'll call them in. Thank you, Dobby," Harry said.

Dobby beamed him a smile and snapped his fingers, vanishing from sight.

"Call them in, Cheki. Let's get them warmed up," Harry said, then he turned and started to walk towards hangar two, where the elves had laid out gallons of hot chocolate, coffee and tea for the riders to warm up.

As he walked, he could hear his dragon calling in the wings. He paused by the door and watched as first Wing One peeled apart its formation. He noted with approval that Ronan was carefully watching the new riders and he was the last to land.

"Trath is looking very shapely," Chekiath suddenly announced. "Just like her rider."

Harry grimaced. His dragon had taken to teasing him about May, who was making it a habit to come over to his quarters every night for tea and some serious cuddling. Harry greatly appreciated her visits and they had learned a lot about each other in their talks and even more in their gentle exploration. May was steadily moving their relationship forward, and while Harry was sometimes confused, he was also enjoying himself immensely.

"You just want to fly Trath," he replied.

"Of course. I'm going to fly Trath and Comaloth both and any other dragon who wants me," replied Chekiath smugly.

Harry shook his head and sighed to himself as he turned and entered the Hangar.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I am certain that you'll cover May long before Trath rises," Chekiath said.

He walked over to the table overflowing with hot drinks and poured two, one for himself and another for May. "I swear dragons could get jobs writing love advice columns," he muttered.

He stepped up to the stage where they had set up a table to hold all of the Wing officers and the Weyrhealer, then he placed May's cup of hot chocolate at her place and waited for the others to file in and grab their drinks.

He looked around and frowned. With all of the riders present, their main meeting room was seriously cramped. They would have to do something about this before the next batch of riders arrived in late April or they wouldn't have a place to meet. Harry held out a hand and his list appeared in it, summoned from his office. He quickly flipped it open and made a notation, then he added Mariah and Susan's name next to the item.

Mariah had done wonders getting the Weyr theater up and running, and Susan had taken charge of the physical part of the Weyr. Susan had made sure the housing for the riders was ready. She had also arranged with Lord Mills for any repairs to the housing that the elves couldn't handle.

A cough made him look up and he saw Ronan standing nearby.

Ronan gestured and Harry noted that everyone was present. He blushed slightly then he glanced down at his book before looking up. "First, some good news. Wing leaders, starting tomorrow we will reduce our flight drills to two hours near Romeral Weyr. We'll cut out the hour of cold weather flying, but I still expect that you'll schedule at least an hour per week of your own cold weather flight drills."

An appreciative murmured filtered through the riders and a number of people smiled. No one liked the straight flights in this cold weather.

Harry glanced over to the Wing Leaders, who nodded to him. They didn't have a problem with the short drill time either.

"Where are Mariah and Susan?" he asked after turning back to the others. Both girls raised their hands. "I'd like you two to get together and see if you can come up with a solution to a problem we face."

"What's that, Harry?" asked Mariah.

Harry gestured to the room they were in. "Near the end of April, we won't be able to fit everyone in this room for a meeting. I suppose we can use the theater you've built, Mariah, but in a few year's we'd out grow that, too."

Susan looked around then she stood. "What do you expect our total population to top out at?"

Harry frowned. "I am uncertain, Sue," he replied. "It's obvious that we can't continue to grow unchecked. A Pern Weyr in interval would have between one and two hundred dragons, and as fall approached, that number would swell to nearly five hundred.

"Spath feels that egg production will drop as the Weyrs reach some point between those two numbers. But he also points out that the other Weyrs need to be populated still. It's very possible that we'll train up a wing or two of riders who will then relocate en-mass to Shetland island or to another Weyr.

"I personally believe we'll see Campbeltown sustain roughly five hundred bonded dragons as the first Weyr and the others will have half or less depending upon their circumstances," Harry replied. "Lac Logipi, for example, will probably never support more than a hundred riders."

Mariah looked down for a moment, figuring something, then she looked up at Harry. "The theater seats one hundred and fifty people. We can't just double it up to get twice that. I'm no architect, but even I know we wouldn't have the roof supported properly if we double everything. We'll have to buy a new set of plans. I'll start a new net search for a building big enough," she said.

"I'll help her," Susan offered.

"Good enough, thanks," Harry replied, then he made a check in his book. "Next item. May, I noted four dragons missing today. Why?"

May looked up and nodded. "Three are down checked for flight. Of the three, Bruth is the worst off. I started her on an course of anti-biotics this morning."

"Armpit?" Harry asked with a sigh. The armpit area was the easiest spot to miss something if the rider wasn't paying attention on their inspections. All the riders had been warned time and time again not to slack off on their inspection but the armpit area seemed to be the spot of major infections. Harry knew that so far they had been very lucky. No dragon had died from an infection as they had in the past. He was certain that was due to the powerful anti-biotics they employed.

May nodded unhappily.

Harry turned to the riders. "People, you have to take the time to properly inspect the armpit areas," he said sternly, then his gaze zeroed in on Krystna Wolf, Bruth's rider. "Krystna, we all make mistakes. Learn from this. Until your dragon is rated flight ready, you will assist May and the others in the infirmary and perform full inspections on the non-bonded dragons."

May looked up and nodded to Harry. She knew that he wanted Krystna performing as many inspections as possible until she got them right.

Krystna nodded unhappily. It was obvious that she was close to tears. She had failed her dragon and she felt she had failed her Weyr.

"Krystna," Harry said softly to ease the rebuke. "It was an honest mistake and you will be there every step of the way to help your dragon get better. Each of us have had to learn this the hard way. Cutting corners on an inspection only hurts our dragons."

Krystna nodded and one of the other girls stepped over to her and put an arm around her. No one really blamed her and everyone was afraid that it could easily happen to them. The Weyrleaders punishment would see she developed proper inspection habits and leave her plenty of time to aid the healers in nursing her dragon back to health.

Satisfied that his rider would work harder to care for her dragon, Harry turned his attention to the missing piece.

"And the forth missing dragon?" he asked.

May shrugged. She didn't know about that missing dragon. Harry glanced towards the back of the room and their resident doctor. Doctor Sheppard took a step forward, "Brendan Caris is down with flu, Harry. I'll be checking in on him twice daily, but I've confined him to quarters in the hopes of keeping it contained. Acheth is hovering anxiously nearby and he knows to call me if Brendan gets worse. Honestly, right now it's just a fever and what looks like a bad cold, but I don't want it to get worse. One of our elves has volunteered to help by bringing him food and watching over him.

"Thank you, Issac. I know you'll do your best for Brendan. Please start keeping me informed if anyone else gets sick," Harry said, then he consulted the next item on his list. "Next up," he muttered, scanning his list. "Ah, here it is. February first we'll have someone here from the British Army to begin extending our network to all of the base housing. Lord Mills tells me that sometime after that we'll hand out computers to all of the new riders. Also, I don't suppose anyone is interested in the weather?"

Harry looked up at the riders who looked back at him in confusion.

"The weather?" Ronan asked.

He nodded. "It seemed to me that we should have someone who knew something about it. How many times have we jumped Between to come out in the rain, or snow? If we had someone who knew about it, we'd at least have some advance warning of what we're flying into."

A number of the older riders nodded in agreement. A hand in the back of the room raised up and Harry nodded to the rider.

"Weyrleader, I'd like to do that for the Weyr," he said timidly. He was shorter than Harry, even though he was a full year older than him.

"Arnas, first off, unless we're performing an official function, it's just Harry," he replied with a smile. "And thank you for volunteering. If possible, can you post a daily forecast for the Weyr in the Kitchen Hall and a weekly forecast once a week? I promise we won't hold you to being one hundred percent accurate. Also, be prepared to look up any of the Weyrs we might travel to. If you need some special equipment, put together a list and talk to Lord Mills about buying it."

Arnas Roberts nodded nervously. He was one of the odder new riders who always seemed at the fringe of the group, watching instead of participating. Harry knew he was a good rider and knew his dragon was quite happy with him. He hoped this would help him integrate better with his peers.

Harry glanced down at his book once again, then he looked up and his expression grew a bit pained. "Riders, the formations today were sloppy because some of you still don't trust the idea that your dragon can fly very well without you guiding them. If you tell your dragon to be one hundred feet above and fifteen feet behind the dragon in front of you, your dragon will place you within inches of that position. We've measured it. Sir Robert claims the dragons have the greatest sense of spatial positioning that he's ever heard about. Trust them."

"Finally, with an expected hatching sometime around the fifteenth of the month, we'll be bringing in the next batch of candidates on the fifth. Wingleaders, please post your schedule for who will be working with the candidates. I'll let you know which wing will be assigned to Disko for the duration of the hatching," Harry said. He glanced over at them, and they nodded.

"Very well. Wizards, it's time for charms class. The rest of you we'll see at lunch and then regular classes. Don't forget to dry and examine your harnesses." he said, dismissing them.

Harry closed his book after checking off a few items and making some new entries. Around him the riders broke up with many of the normal riders going off to tend to their dragon. The magical riders filed out, but they only had to step into a nearby classroom where Remus was already waiting for them.

Harry banished his book back to his office and summoned his bag of school books.

"I heard about you and May," said a voice.

Harry looked up and saw that he was alone except for Hermione, who stood nearby, her arms crossed and clearly angry with him. "Have you slept with her yet?" she spat.

He sighed and caught his book bag that flew into the room then he put it down and faced her. "We're not going to do this, Hermione," he said flatly. "I refuse to fight with you. You're the one who pushed me away. What do you expect me to do? Sit around and be miserable just to please you? I was already doing that when May made me see I was punishing myself for no reason."

He took a step closer towards her. "That night didn't start out all that enjoyable. By the time Susan showed up I was in a lot of pain and unable to stop myself. It's funny, really. Susan was not the person I hoped would show up to help me, but she did and I will be eternally in her debt. For all I know. I would have continued on until I bled to death.

"You pushed me away and I was miserable about it. My best friend turned against me. May made me see I what I was doing to myself. She's made me see that what I did wasn't worth a fight with anyone and she makes me feel good about myself. Something, I might add, that you used to do also. And what May and I do behind closed doors is none your business."

Harry picked up his book bag and started to walk past her, then he stopped. "I don't know what to do about you, Hermione. You are so smart, you're scary, but you are not more important than the Weyr and I refuse to allow our little argument to disrupt that again. Grow up before I decide you'd be better off working at Condron or Maziang."

Harry stormed past her and she turned to watch him leave. She was shocked at his anger. She knew it was mostly fueled by hurt but it still surprised her. She angrily left the room only to find herself grabbed and pulled into an empty classroom.

"Hermione," Luna said firmly. "I know you're hurting but you need to stop this."

She blinked and looked at Luna strangely. "What? I'm not hurting."

"You are, and you're making your dragon and everyone else unhappy about it," Luna said, then she moved to perch on a desk. "You feel like Harry betrayed you and now that he's started seeing May you feel even worse. I'm afraid you have little choice in this, Hermione. You need to get over it and yourself. You made a mistake. Accept it and try to move on."

Hermione stared at the girl for a moment longer, then she seemed to deflate.

Luna nodded to herself. "You're going to be unhappy for a while, but it won't last forever. The issue here is to stop trying to punish Harry for something he had no control over and stop punishing yourself and your dragon," she said in a gentler tone.

"Listen to Luna, my heart. It hurts when you are so unhappy," Comaloth said.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Hermione whispered. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know. You're young and still learning. It was a mistake, that's all."

Hermione looked at Luna with tear filled eyes. "I've lost him, haven't I? The first time he sleeps with her, I'll lose him for good."

Luna shrugged. "Not quite, but I think that you'll need to spend more time figuring out what you want before you can say what you've lost or not lost. You're only sixteen, Hermione, and you're allowed to be unsure of what you want. As to Harry, he's a complicated guy who likes to pretend he's very simple. As we grow older, I think he's going to prove a surprise to everyone."

Hermione nodded. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she was still somewhat comforted by Luna's words.

Luna smiled encouragingly, but she knew this wasn't the end of the story, and she knew she'd have to get involved again at some point. It was difficult. Many thought she was a seeress, but only Luna knew the real truth. She saw now with crystal clarity. She could glance in a direction and know that two people were holding a conversation that related to her. It was how she knew to visit Remus and Lord Mills when they were discussing the man who broke into the Weyr. The future, however, was confusing and hazy. To her, the future was filled with forks and paths, some brightly lit, and others dark and scary. Little of it made any sense until the moment was nearly upon her.

"Thank you, Luna," Hermione finally said, then she took a big breath and straightened up. "Let's get to class."

Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, Later that same evening...

Harry smiled when he heard a knock at the door, then it opened and May slipped in. She didn't need to knock, but one time Harry was just coming from the shower when she arrived. He was mostly dressed, but she startled him badly. She figured at least by knocking she wouldn't surprise him.

"Hi, May," he called. "Give me a moment to finish up this paragraph."

She waited as he finished what he was writing. "Why don't you use your computer for that?"

"This is our Weyr log. I thought it would be best if I kept a hand written copy. Remus is handling the official history. This is more like a personal perspective," he replied, then he closed the book carefully and put away his pen.

Dobby appeared with a tray and May took it from him. He showed up this time every night with drinks and light snacks. She placed the tray on the coffee table and sat comfortably on the couch.

Harry stood and joined her. He poured them both a cup of tea, then he leaned back. "I'm glad today is over."

May took her tea and sipped for a moment. "I heard about your encounter with Hermione," she said carefully.

He grimaced. "It wasn't my best moment."

May blinked and looked surprised. "Why? From what I heard, you did nothing to be ashamed of."

He looked at her. "I'm going to say something and I don't want you to read the wrong thing into what I say. I care very deeply for you. I also care very deeply for Hermione, although I guess she doesn't feel the same way anymore. Despite that, I didn't want to hurt her and I still don't."

He paused and took a drink, then he started talking again. May had to strain to hear his words. "I started thinking about it and I think I came to understand that it hurts because she's still important in a way."

"In a way?" May asked, suddenly feeling wary.

He looked at her intently. "In a way," he repeated. "I really can't explain it better than that. She's not the most important person in my life anymore, but I can't just cut her out, either. Do you know what I'm saying?"

May nodded as the wariness dissolved. "I think I do," she said carefully. It dawned on her that she and Hermione seemed to hold equal places in his heart but for now she was the one on top of the hill.

"Good," he replied. "Like I said, it wasn't my best moment. She asked if we were sleeping together and I got angry. I told her it was none of her business and told her that if she can't keep her personal life to herself, I'd transfer to Maziang or Condron."

May stared at Harry in shock. "You'd do that?"

He looked pained. "Not happily, but I'll transfer out anyone who's a problem to the Weyr if I thought they'd be better somewhere else."

"So, you wouldn't brag about having some girl to your friends like some of the other guys?" she asked. Gordan Chapman was one of the loudest offenders in her book. He was always bragging about the girls he'd had and how they always seemed to come crawling back for more. She suppressed a shudder. The thought of Chapman touching her was enough to make her skin crawl. He was a rider and fine with his dragon, but he really was a sleaze ball in her opinion.

Harry looked surprised and shook his head. "Some things are private," he said firmly. "That boy whose teeth you knocked out? Do you tell everyone about it? Or, for that matter, have you told me the entire story?"

She leaned back on the couch and took a deep drink. "No," she admitted with a sigh, "I haven't told you the full story. Only my Mum and Da know, and I suppose the constables and his parents. As it was, he barely escaped being charged only because they felt that I had punished him enough."

"I'm not prying, May," he replied softly. "My point is there are things that aren't really secrets but we still don't want to talk about them because it hurts or is uncomfortable. What I do with you or anyone else behind closed doors stays there. I know some guys like to talk but I think most of them are really just making things up. I just can't see myself bragging about something so personal."

May smiled. "It's not just guys that talk. The gossip that passes around the tables at the social hall can be quite entertaining."

Harry frowned. "Anything I need worry about?"

May shook her head. "No. I guess the big topic is still our dragons rising for their first shagging flight. Karen decided she didn't want to wait until her dragon rose for the first time. Several other girls have decided the same."

"So, that's why Ronan has been smiling so much lately?" he mused aloud. "Chekiath told me he had been sneaking into Karen's quarters at night, but I figured it wasn't my business."

She nodded, then placed her cup on the table and moved so she was sitting next to Harry. He smiled and placed an arm around her shoulder.

She sighed and nestled in closer to him. "Once, a boy I thought I liked surprised me by tearing at my clothing and trying to force himself on me. He pushed me to the ground and I grabbed a rock and hit him in the face with it. After that, I thought I would never trust another boy," she whispered.

Harry stared at her in horror and she looked up and smiled. "I never thought I'd trust another guy until I met you. You aren't like some other guys who stare at my breasts and or look me up and down as if they're mentally stripping me. I knew you were attracted to me. You might glance at my breasts, but you always come back to look me in the eye. Above everything else, I could tell you wanted me to be your friend. You make me feel wanted and safe because of that. I know you want me but I also know you won't do anything until I say its all right."

"I would never," he protested.

She hushed him by placing a finger over his lips. "I know," she whispered. "I know you wouldn't. Someday really soon I'm going to tell you to make love to me. That's what we've been doing these past ten days. Letting me get used to you and used to that idea. I do want you, Harry, very much, but I'm scared too. I don't want Trath being responsible for my first time. I love her, but it should be my decision."

A myriad of emotions fluttered across his face, then he tightened his grip on her and rested his head against the top of hers. "I'll not rush you, but I'll be ready when you are."

May smiled softly against his chest. She knew they would stay like this for a while longer before she'd return to her own quarters. This was a typical evening for them. Some deep discussion that ended with the pair either making out or cuddling. She had dropped her big bombshell on him tonight, partially in reaction to Hermione's comments and partially because she felt it was time he understood. It also gave him time adjust to their relationship and where it was going, or change it's direction if it was something he didn't want.

Campbeltown Weyr, January 30th...

Harry stood and watched the eight large military transport helicopters and one smaller helicopter as they landed in front of hangar three. The Weyr was in full lock down mode and the army unit guarding the base had been increased to nearly triple size for the week that they'd be entertaining members of Parliament. Overhead, and still unseen, two wings of non-bonded dragons and all of the riders provided an overhead patrol.

Several luxury coaches waited nearby, while the blades from the helicopters slowed. Harry turned and stepped into the waiting land rover that Major Atkins was driving. As soon as the door closed, she drove the rover towards the smallest helicopter which, unlike the others, bore the seal of the Royal house of Windsor.

Harry stepped from the land rover just as the helicopter discharged its passengers. Harry was surprised to see that he was not alone, then he grinned. Perhaps today won't be that bad, after all, he mused.

"Your Highness," Harry said with a slight bow, "welcome to Campbeltown Weyr."

The Prince of Wales smiled slightly and offered Harry his hand. He had been briefed on the dragons and on Harry months ago, but he had been away during the attack on Balmoral and during the Queen's subsequent visit to the Weyr.

"Weyrleader, I hope you don't mind that I brought my sons along?"

Harry smiled. "Not at all, sir. I had thought I would spend most of the day explaining what we're doing to a bunch of politicians. I'm sure your sons will find this an enjoyable experience."

"Boys I would like to introduce you to Weyrleader Harry Potter," Prince Charles said. "The Weyrleader is behind the reason we came here today."

Harry shook their hands and smiled at their apparent confusion. They were very close to Harry in age and were surprised that they were being met by another teen. "Judging from their expressions, I would guess they haven't been briefed?" Harry asked.

Prince Charles shook his head. "No. I'm afraid it was a last minute decision made by Her Majesty. She felt it would be an educational experience and something they may enjoy."

Harry looked at the two young boys speculatively and he decided a change of plans was in order. "Sir, if you would join Major Atkins in the land rover, I think I can keep your sons busy while you view our presentation."

Prince Charles raised one eyebrow and he looked at his boys, who seemed eager to find out more about Harry and this mysterious airbase.

"Very well, then," he said. "I will see you shortly. Boys, listen to the Weyrleader."

Both boys nodded and watched their father walk over to the land rover. Major Atkins looked a little confused at the change in plans, but she drove off anyway.

Harry turned to the two boys with a large smile. "Your dad is going to a meeting where a bunch of politicians will sit watching a video for roughly an hour, then they'll talk endlessly about something they really can't change.

"The real reason you're here today is to meet some very special people who aren't really people," Harry said.

Both boys exchanged a look, then William turned back to Harry. "You're not making any sense, Weyrleader."

Harry nodded. "I know, it sounds silly. And since your father is gone and it's just us. Please call me Harry."

"All right Harry," William said with a slight smile. "Now, how can we meet people who aren't people?"

"You're a smart person, William, but what if you could put all of the abilities of a person into oh.. say a cow, and that cow could talk to you. Would it be a cow or would it be a person?"

"That's silly," exclaimed Prince Harry with a laugh.

Harry laughed, too. "Yes it is, but the question is very real. What if I could introduce you to a dragon. A real life dragon who can talk, read, fly? Who can even be your friend? Would the dragon be an animal or a person?"

Both boys gasped. "Is such a thing possible?" demanded William.

"Cheki, would you join us, please?" Harry said loudly.

Chekiath shimmered into view. He was perched on top of the roof of hangar three and he launched himself skyward. The two princes stared at the huge dragon that was now visible to them and they ducked when he shot by them only a few feet over their heads. "He won't hurt you," Harry said. "Dragons only want two things. They want to be our friends and they want us to treat them with respect."

Chekiath came to a landing fifty feet away and he walked the rest of the distance. Harry stepped forward and he stretched out a hand to caress his dragon's eye ridges. "Chekiath, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Prince William and Prince Harry. Your Highness's, this is Chekiath, my dragon. He is the biggest dragon in the world," Harry said with a touch of pride.

Chekiath looked at the two children for a brief moment, then he turned to Harry. "They will be lord Holders someday?" he asked.

"Yes, they will," replied Harry. He knew it was inaccurate, but the dragons hadn't grasped the concept of the monarchy very well. Telling his dragon that they would be Lord Holders would at least underline their importance to the dragon, even if it wasn't exactly correct.

Chekiath turned his large head back towards the two boys. His head alone was more than four times the size of Prince Harry. "Welcome to our Weyr, Lord Holder William, Lord Holder Harry. We are very happy you could visit with us today."

"I can hear him in my head," William exclaimed, touching his temple gently. Then he remembered his training and bowed formally to Chekiath. "Thank you, Chekiath. My brother and I are honored to be here today."

"Lord Holder?" asked Prince Harry.

"It won't be told to the public, but I think it's all right for you to know this. The dragons have a very long memory, your Highness. They remember a time when the nobles in their world were called Lord Holders, as they controlled vast tracts of land. Because some concepts are difficult for the dragons to grasp, they fall back on what they already know. Your father, your grandmum, even the Prime Minister are Lord Holders to the dragons. They mean no disrespect. It's simply the title they can relate to."

"Can I touch him?" asked Prince Harry.

Chekiath craned his long neck towards the small boy and he scratched just above Cheki's eye ridge just like Harry had. The dragon made a whuffling noise and Prince Harry look at Harry questioningly.

"He's just enjoying your scratching," Harry said. "Everyday I have to check that area to make sure it hasn't gotten dirty. As we fly around, it's not unusual for dirt and grime to collect behind the ridge. If I'm not careful, it can irritate his eyes."

"You fly the dragon?" William said excitedly.

Harry nodded. "We do. Did you hear about that attack on Balmoral castle?"

William frowned. "I heard some of the servants mention it, but no one wanted to tell us about it. We were still at school when it happened."

"Well, we were there, helping defend the castle. The dragons know your family is important, so they came to help. And don't feel to bad. Before I became Weyrleader, no one ever told me anything either," Harry confided.

The three boys shared a knowing grin.

Harry laid a hand against Chekiath. "Later, if you get your father's permission, we'll let you see what it's like to fly a dragon. But only if he approves."

"We wouldn't let the young Lord Holders come to harm, Harry," Chekiath added reproachfully.

"I know, Cheki, but Prince William and Prince Harry do need their father's permission. This has nothing to do with your abilities and everything to do with being allowed to give them a ride," he replied. He saw the disappointed looks and he glanced at his watch for a moment. "Tell you what, how about if we go over to the theater. They should be coming out soon."

The boys nodded and Harry grinned. "Cheki, if you would?"

The large dragon lowered himself and stuck out his front paw. Harry quickly scaled the dragon and took his position, then he leaned down and offered a hand. "Well, maybe we can't fly over there, but Cheki can still get us there."

Prince Harry sprang for the offered hand and clambered up to the spot behind Harry, then Prince William followed.

Once they were seated, Harry squeezed his knees twice signaling to Cheki and he took off at a lope towards the theater. "Hang on," Harry called. Chekiath knew they were going to go meet many people so as he ran the distance, he called in more dragons.

"Wing One, land and form up on me," Chekiath called.

Harry smiled, hearing his own voice in Chekiath's command. While Chekiath still deferred to Spath and Momnarth as the senior dragons, there was no mistaking who was truly in charge of the Weyr's dragons.

Two by two more riders and their dragons landed and fell into a comfortable lope with Chekiath until all of Wing One was present.

Ronan, on nearby Garanoth, spotted Harry's passengers and waved to the Princes, who returned the wave.

The wing had just pulled up in front of the theater building when the doors opened and people started to exit the building. Prince Charles and the Prime Minister were at the forefront of the crowd and their sudden halt brought the others up short.

"Father!" shouted Prince Harry from atop Chekiath. The small boy waved wildly and Harry could seen John Major trying hard not to laugh. It wasn't often that the Princes attended an official function where they could just be boys, enjoying themselves.

Prince Charles looked startled and Harry turned slightly and helped lower Prince Harry to Cheki's leg. From there, he scrambled down to the ground and ran to his father excitedly. "Did you see? We rode Chekiath! We rode the dragon! According to Harry, he's the biggest dragon in the world!"

Harry helped Prince William climb down, then he followed the Prince. He silently sent a command to his wing to dismount and stand by their dragons. Like Harry, they all wore their formal uniform today.

Harry stepped forward so that everyone could see him and he motioned people to come closer. Both of the young Princes grabbed their father by a hand and pulled the still shocked man along with them. It was one thing to see a dragon on a television screen. It was something very different to be face to face with the largest flying being on the planet.

The video had been a resounding success, but it had also been very difficult to make. The first cut of the film had Lee's dragon invisible because no one told him it was alright for him to appear on camera. After that, someone mentioned to Lee that the film should be plotted out so that he knew what he was shooting. And thus, Lee learned the process of story-boarding a film. All in all it was an intensive on the job effort involving the Prime Minister's public affairs office offering advice and technical editing skills.

"Welcome to Campbeltown Weyr," Harry said loudly. "I am Harry Potter, Weyrleader of the Dragons of Earth. This is my partner, Chekiath."

Chekiath moved so that his head was just over Harry's right shoulder. He eyed the assembled politicians for a moment with his eyes twirling slowly.

"Welcome to our Weyr," Chekiath said. "You honor us by visiting with us today and we hope you will enjoy your stay. May you find peace and shelter under our wings."

Chekiath's words rang loudly in the silence of their minds and even the most stubborn among them suddenly realized that in the space of an hour, the world had changed radically. Seeing dragons on a television screen made it easy to convince yourself it was a trick of photography. Seeing Chekiath and the other dragons arrayed before them like living fighter planes drove home the point that this was no trick.

Harry glanced up at his dragon fondly and then a bell began to ring. The doors of the hangars slid open and the rest of the Weyr assembled in front of their hangar, while Wings two and three appeared overhead along with the two wings of non-bonded dragons. Harry wanted to make an impression and this was the best way of doing it.

From their vantage, all of the dragons were visible.

He watched the awed politicians for a minute, then he spoke again. "My riders and I will be here to answer any of your questions, although we would ask that any technical or scientific question be directed to Sir Robert," Harry said, then he gestured towards the riders who were neatly lined up near their dragons. "In a short while, we will take you to our kitchen hall, where you'll share lunch with us, then we'll show you around the Weyr and explain what we're doing.

"I know that in the eyes of many of you, we are young, too young maybe, but I would ask that you withhold judgment until you've had a chance to talk with us. Each and every bonded rider shares a mental connection with a being that matures at a much faster rate than humans do. Our mental connection provides a combined level of maturity that would be impossible for someone of a similar age.

"Today, our average rider isn't yet twenty years old. Conditions dictate that new riders will always be between fifteen and twenty years of age, but ten years from now, only our newest riders will be so young.

"I invite you to mingle and speak with the riders, speak with the dragons. They can truly send their words right into your minds, but they cannot read your mind. Speak out loud, as you would to any person. Finally, I would remind you that dragons are an alien species. In some ways, they have difficulties understanding some human concepts. Therefore, in their minds, they hold the Prince here and the Prime Minister to be of equal rank and call them Lord Holders. They can be very literal and even I have to admit, our language can be very confusing. Please ask a rider if you suspect that there may be a language difficulty."

Harry smiled tentatively and gave the assembled members of Parliament a bow before turning and walking over to where the Prince stood with the Prime Minister.

Prince Charles looked at Harry, then at his sons who hadn't been this animated around him in a while. His break up with their mother had been hard on the boys and it had reflected in how they acted around their parents. Both boys had left their father and went to talk to and scratch Chekiath, who was greatly enjoying their ministrations.

"Your sons would like an opportunity to ride a dragon in flight, but I told them they can only do so with your permission, sir. The ground trip from Hangar Three to here seemed a safe compromise," Harry said, then in a quieter voice. "A flight could be arranged, but I would suggest a time when we're not up to our eyeballs in politicians."

Prince Charles eyed the awed crowd of men and women and he agreed. There would be another time for flying with the dragons.

"Weyrleader, that was a most impressive display," the Prince offered. "In the span of less than a minute, you not only drove home the dragon's intelligence, but also the power behind them. There was nothing subtle in that turn out."

Harry smiled thinly. "Meeting a single dragon, or even a handful of dragons, would give the wrong impression, sir. A person might think our numbers are small and that we are disorganized. Truly all we want is our right to be treated as any other people."

Prince Charles nodded thoughtfully. Unlike most of the other people present, he knew about the time traveling abilities of the dragons. He looked at the uniformed members of Wing One. and while they might not have the precision and snap of a Royal marine, the wings overhead flew with a precision that even the RAF couldn't copy. No, the Weyrleader was sending a clear message. There was power here, power that the dragons would happily use to help Britain, but Lord help them if they turned that power against them.

Chinese Embassy London, January 31st...

"Comrade Colonel!"

Colonel Jin Tan Mu glanced up from the report he was reading. "Comrade Captain?"

"Comrade, our field officers have sent an unusual tape for our examination. I have reviewed it and think you should see this right away," Wei Fong said, holding up a tape.

The colonel eyed the station chief intently. He had been helpful, but he was also becoming more familiar than was proper. "Very well," he said finally, perhaps the tape would be interesting.

The Colonel had arranged for a small field television recorder to be sent from Beijing for the officers in Campbeltown. It was the one of the best and most compact machines made by the Japanese. The size of a lunch box, it contained a self contained video tape recorder and a small wide angle digital camera. Every day one of his agents would replace the tape in the machine and send the recorded tape down to the London Embassy for examination. So far, all they saw was some people moving around and the occasional vehicle.

The resolution of the camera was very low and the distance, more than a thousand yards from the base on the top of a small knoll, made it impossible to get detailed images. The Colonel felt that if something unusual turned up on the tapes, he would order his officers to begin around the clock surveillance using their telephoto cameras.

Wei Fong inserted the tape into a player and he started it.

"Comrade Colonel, watch here," he said pointing as several large transport helicopters and one small one landed on the tarmac. Buses pulled up and took the passengers on board, then drove off, leaving several people and a land rover.

"Now watch, Comrade Colonel, the three left behind," murmured the station chief.

The Colonel lit a smoke and leaned back as the three spoke for a while. All of them seemed shorter than the typical westerner, but he chalked that up to the distance and poor quality of the camera, which traded a wide angle for resolution. One seemed to be in a uniform he didn't recognize.

The three seemed to talk for quite a bit, then the taller of the three seemed to climb up into the air and vanish from view. One by one his companions followed his example and vanished.

The Colonel leaned forward eagerly watching the screen.

"Now watch over here, comrade," Wei Fong said. He pointed towards the other side of the screen, near that new building that he was interested in. He could see people exiting from the building. They all stopped in front of the building as if surprised by something. Then the two small figures appeared again.

Less than a minute later twenty more people appeared, seemingly just dropping from the sky.

Wei Fong stopped the playback. "One of our officers managed to be in the area at the same time and he managed to get several photos. Unfortunately, he was low on film and only managed two shots using his equipment," Wei Fong said, then he passed the photos over.

The Colonel frowned. His officer had been concentrating on the crowd of people, not the ones that seemed to suddenly fall from the sky.

"We have identified several of the people in the photo as being members of the Imperialist Politburo, Comrade Colonel," Wei Fong said.

The Colonel reached for a magnifying glass and he carefully examined one of the photos. There was a man in the photo wearing what looked like a Royal Navy uniform, but it didn't look quite right.

An icy pit formed in the stomach of the Colonel. Here was evidence of Imperialists using unclean magic and worse yet, they were militarizing their use of it!

"Send me a girl! I must get a dispatch to Beijing immediately!" The colonel snapped.

Wei Fong saluted, then he dashed from the room.

The Colonel glanced up at the map and tried to estimate the size of the force that would be needed to destroy this place. It would have to look like a terrorist attack, but it would have to be an overwhelming attack in order to stop the Imperialists from using magic.

His problem would be convincing his superiors to allow an attack against a foreign nation.

Author's Notes and Mockeries:

- I am going to start off with a very serious note this time. I got this little missive from a reader who has since been banned from expressing his opinions.

Aetheogh 8/29/12 . chapter 7
Once again a nice chapter to read...

However your story recommendation was shocking, not sure if you are aware of
this but Esama is a SLASH FIC WRITER...

Really hate to remove you from story alert list and put your name in the block
user list if you are going to be recommending slash fics...

Really Aetheogh, just how narrow minded and bigoted are you? I recommend a non slash story and because the author likes slash you're going to remove my story from your list of favorites. THANK YOU! I'd really not rather be associated with a bigot like yourself that is afraid to even let someone reply privately to you.

The whole world knows I don't like slash, but I'm not about to pass up what I consider a decent story because the author predominately writes slash. That is Esama's preference, not mine. The story I recommended had no slash in it. And this public mocking and your subsequent banning is a result of your refusing to accept pms, but now you have the added shame of being shown for what you are, a bigot.

I hate slash, but I will defend Esama's rights to write it.

Enough said on the subject. He's outa here.

- A number of people wanted to know if Harry is continued to be bothered when Chekiath covers a female. No. The first time was overwhelming, but the times that followed were controllable.

- This chapter was delayed a bit because I had to replace my computer. The old one was being bad. Believe me.

And now the story recommendation and I promise NO SLASH!

Harry Potter and the Mind by Overdog
StoryID: 7913377

This is a super Harry tale, completed and actually pretty decent. It might not be the next gone with the wind, but I found it enjoyable enough to favorite and occasionally reread. If you like the tale, do remember to tell the author that. I think he's got talent and a little encouragement might convince him to write more.