Disclaimer: Me no own HP or FF copyrights. If you think I do, then you dumb. Ha ha!

Harry: Isn't that a little mean?

Maybe, but it's funny, too.

Sirius: I like it.

Harry: You would.

Sirius: What's that supposed to mean?

Harry: Exactly what it sounds like.

I'm just gonna start the chapter before these two get into it more deeply.

Sirius tackles Harry and they began to wrestle

Meh.


"Okay Ron, tell us again how you compacted all thirteen discs into one?" Hermione asked for the fifth time.

Ron sighed. "I asked McGonagall for help in Transfiguring a series of objects into one so I wouldn't have to actually get up and retrieve the next item in the sequence when I finished the previous one. After she coached me on the best spell to use, I thanked her and closed the connection." Ron waved his wand in a careful imitation of the movements required for the spell he'd performed on the discs.

Remus looked thoughtful. "That's not an easy spell, Ron. While the results were - and still are - unpredictable in regards to using it on Muggle technology, your spell work was good." Ron flushed under the phrase.

"That still doesn't help Harry, though," Ginny reminded them.

"We can't fix a problem without knowing how it came to be in the first place," Hermione argued.

"It may be," Shacklebolt cut in, speaking for the first time since greeting everyone on his arrival, "that Harry must progress completely through the stories of these 'games' before he can return."

The silence that followed that statement was palpable.


Harry awoke to a slight crick in his neck and a stiff lower back. He stood up and stretched, pleasantly surprised that his usual nightmares of the war with Voldemort hadn't bothered him here. He vaguely thought it might have something to with him actually physically being in a video game, but that thought left as quickly as it had come. He finished stretching and rode the pinball elevator back upstairs to be greeted with the sight of Tifa and Barret standing around talking about whatever Barret seemed to have planned for the day, and little Marlene mixing drinks.

"Good morning, Harry," Tifa greeted him with a friendly smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept alright. Had to stretch to remove a crick in my neck and back, though," Harry admitted. He grinned self-depreciatingly. "No nightmares, though...which is a good thing."

The two AVALANCHE members frowned. "You usually have nightmares?" Tifa asked, a hint of motherly instinct in her voice.

"A fair few," Harry replied off-handedly. "They've been slowly getting better since I ended the war." Harry immediately caught his mistake as the two of them looked at him quizzically.

"What war? The one Shinra had with Wutai?"

"What's 'Whut-tie?" Harry looked at them oddly. "No, this was more of a kind of civil war in my homeland. A terrorist turned megalomaniac was killing everyone that didn't side with him."

Barret looked at him disbelievingly. "An' ya brought the fucker down, kid?"

"Well, I had a lot help," Harry admitted. "I wasn't using a sword."

"What were you using, then? A gun?" Tifa asked.

"No, I was using what most people at home use."

"Which was?"

"Wa..." Harry caught himself this time. Though sure they wouldn't believe him if he told the truth, Harry didn't want to answer a lot of troublesome questions if they did, in fact, believe him. "Most people where I'm from use staffs, though swords weren't really uncommon, either," Harry finally replied. Well, Harry thought to himself, it isn't a complete lie.

Harry was spared from further questioning when the pinball elevator activated, bringing Cloud up from the basement below. "Good morning, Cloud!" Tifa greeted him brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

Cloud blinked at her. "Barret's snoring kept me up."

"Keep it down!" Tifa shushed him. Harry thought that Cloud was fortunate, indeed, for Barret didn't seem to have heard him. "They'll hear you! Barret's always edgy before an operation...and he seems even more edgy than usual."

"That's probably because it'll be my first mission," Harry whispered.

"Probably," Tifa agreed.

Cloud turned to Harry. "Hey, kid. You said you had a sword?" Harry nodded. "Let's see it."

"Sure, whatever..." Harry rolled his eyes. He reached into his robe and gripped the hilt of Gryffindor's Sword, pulling it out. The jewels sparkled in the low light, and the blade almost glowed.

"That's pretty flashy," Cloud remarked. "You sure it's usable?"

"I used it to kill a great dirty snake, if that's what you're asking," Harry shot back defensively.

"That's not really a sword, though, is it?" Cloud pulled out his own sword from his back. "This is a sword."

That thing is huge Harry thought. Nonetheless, a smirk crept onto his face at the sight of the monstrous blade. "Why, what a big sword you have, Cloud. Are you, perchance, over-compensating for something?" Cloud's eyes bulged in surprised embarrassment as those in the room roared with laughter.

Once Tifa and Barret's laughter settled (and Cloud recovered his composure, returning his sword to his back) Tifa spoke up. "I'm going this time."

Barret spoke up. "Our target's the Sector 5 Reactor. Head for the station first. I'll fill you in on the train." Before anyone could approach the door, though, Barret called to Cloud. "Yo! Cloud! Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you! I, uh...I don't really know how to use Materia! I'll give you that Materia we found. Just teach me how to use it!"

Cloud sighed.

It wouldn't hurt to know how to use Materia, Harry thought, once I find out what it is. Harry decided to speak up and risk looking ignorant. "What's this Materia you speak of? And how do you use it?"

"You don't know what Materia is? What backwater island did you come from?" Tifa gasped. Harry shrugged apologetically.

Cloud pulled out his sword and popped a green orb from a slot at the base of the blade. "This is a Materia. There are five different kinds: Blue support, Green magic, Red summon, Yellow command, and Purple independent. As you can see, this particular Materia is green; it permits me to use a specific type of magic. What you can't see without a closer look, is that this Materia is 'Ice.' As its name suggests, it lets me cast Ice magic, which is effective against bugs and fire-aligned monsters." For his part, Harry absorbed every word fairly easily. "There are, of course, other kinds of magic Materia."

"Of course," Harry supplied, only half-mocking. Cloud smirked.

"It looks like your sword doesn't have any slots for Materia; in that case, you'll only be able to use Materia with a Materia bracelet," Tifa noted.

"See? It wasn't that tough!" Cloud chided Barret. He turned back to Harry. "There's just one thing you want to be careful of. Whenever you equip Materia, your dynamic changes. Parts of you become stronger...while others become weaker. It's kinda like a double-edged sword. Generally, when you equip Magic and Summon Materia, your magic power gets stronger, but your physical strength suffers. There are, naturally, some Independent Materia that bolsters physical strength to help the more physically-minded warriors minimize this weakness." Cloud nodded. "Okay, that's about it. If you like, I can give you some advanced tips later, when you've got more experience with using Materia."

"Thanks, Cloud," Harry grinned. Finally, someone who doesn't keep others in the dark!

"Shi...!" Barret grumbled, looking confused. "What's this 'It wasn't that tough' crap! I'm clueless!" Barret thought for a moment. "Fine! You handle the Materia then, Cloud!"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Tifa exclaimed. "Cloud, the man at the Weapon Shop across from the bar wanted to give you something. Don't forget to stop by."

"I can take the kid to get a bracelet while we're there," Cloud offered.

"I have a name, you know," Harry growled.

"I'm sure you do, but I don't really care," Cloud shot back.

Tifa turned to Barret's daughter. "Marlene! You watch the store while we're gone!"

"All right!" Marlene agreed. "Good luck!"

Where Tifa and Barret headed for the train station, Cloud led Harry (all weapons put away) to a three story building across from the bar. Inside were two men; one was behind a counter, and was obviously the shop keep, where the other was shooting at a target at the far wall with a pistol.

"Ooh! Customers!" the clerk exclaimed with joy. "Welcome! Welcome! We sell! We buy! What can I do for you?"

"Got any money, kid?" Cloud asked Harry.

The wizard dug through the pockets in his robes and pulled out five golden Galleons and thirteen silver Sickles. "A bit. Probably enough to buy this bracelet you keep talking about. I don't know if shops here use the same currency my home does, though."

The eyes of both Cloud and the shop keep widened at the sight of the shining coins. "Well, it's obviously not gil, but they look like they're worth a pretty penny," the clerk remarked. "You said you need a Materia bracelet? We carry a four-slot leather gauntlet and a three-slot iron bangle. I'll give you the gauntlet for all the silver, or the bangle for one of those gold coins and two of the silver ones."

Concluding that gil must be the currency here, Harry nodded at the reasonable-sounding deal. "Alright, sounds good." He looked at Cloud. "Which would you suggest?"

"You're asking me, kid?"

"It's not like I know anything beyond what you told me about Materia a little bit ago," Harry remarked snidely.

"Good point. Well, considering the sword you have with you, you'd probably be better off with the gauntlet. The metal bangles are fairly heavy, both because they're metal and because you can practically use them as bucklers to ward off attacks." Cloud gained a thoughtful expression. "Normally, I would tell you to have these coins to find their value in gil, but we're a bit strapped for time at the moment."

"Right. These are useless here otherwise," Harry agreed. He plunked down all thirteen Sickles. "I'll take the leather gauntlet."

"Fine choice, lad," the clerk responded. He pulled down a small box from a shelf near the top of the converted bookcase behind him, pulled off the lid and handed the glove to Harry with one hand while taking the silver coins with the other. "It's one size fits all."

Harry loosened the straps and slid the glove over his right hand (while it could used on either hand, Harry figured he might as well wear on his right, to help ward off calluses and blow-induced numbness from using his sword) and tightened the straps so that the gauntlet was secure and tight, but not uncomfortably so.

"Thanks for your business, lad," the shop keep smiled kindly.

"Thank you, sir," Harry returned. He then turned to Cloud. "And thanks for the advice, Cloud."

Cloud shrugged. "Cloud?" the clerk cried. "You're Cloud?"

"Yeah. Tifa said you had wanted to see me about something?"

"Just a minute, lad, I'll go fetch it for ya." The clerk disappeared behind a door, then returned carrying a small box. He set it on the counter, and opened it. Inside was a shining purple Materia. "It's a Counter-attack Materia. I'm sure you know how it works."

"I see." Cloud picked up the violet orb and slotted it into place on the metal wrist he wore on his left forearm. "Thanks, old man."

Counter-attack Materia? Harry looked thoughtful as they left the store and made their way toward the train station. "You need a specialized Materia just to strike back at an enemy?" he wondered aloud.

Cloud sighed. He looked as though he was tiring of explanations, but he seemed to decide to indulge Harry's curiosity a bit more. "Not technically, no. With enough skill and training, one could conceivably counter-attack without this Materia. It's just a lot easier to have it."

Like using a wand to use magic, Harry thought. "I understand." Without another word, the pair boarded the train. A minute later, the train whistled and began to trundle down the tracks.


Harry and Sirius are joking and laughing

Meh. I still don't get how you two can go from fighting like dogs (pun intended) to being all chummy again.

Sirius: groans That's awful, Cor. Don't ever pun like that again.

Why not? It's a lot of fun to aggravate people with lame jokes like that.

Sirius: I guess that's true.

Harry: Just don't ask Sirius about the joke he made about his name.

Sirius: groans even louder I told you to stop bringing that up!

What, the Sirius/serious joke? It's brilliant!

Sirius: Yeah, for the first few times I said it. Then it got old.

Harry: And when Sirius says a joke is old, it's Serius-ly old.

Sirius: Oi!

Harry? That was Sirius-ly bad.

Sirius: changes into Padfoot and crawls underneath the bed

Cool, now I'll have some extra Padding on my bed.

Sirius: whimpers