Helloooooooo! Here comes another chapter of the Interludes, though this one is rather short, and serves mostly as a filler and to introduce someone who will have a big influence on Harry's life.

Not much more to say, other than someone added in a PM that a lot of reviews wanted Ivy to end with Harry as he was no longer human. Since I miss a lot of the many reviews I get whenever a new chapter is out, I'll take this person's words as the truth, and say that unfortunately, that won't happen. I already have plans for Ivy's pairing, and it won't be with Harry.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, until the next chapter!

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei

17

Rin revealed

Harry sighed in pleasure as he soaked in the very large bathtub of his house. Nothing beat a good, hot bath after a morning of intense training and sparing with his Sekirei. It had already been a month since they have moved in, and since then a lot had happened.

Homura had taken to spend time with Akitsu, trying to help her find something to do that wasn't following him around, training her ice ability, or practicing magic, and they had eventually discovered that she too, liked to read. The Fire Sekirei's joy had been rather short lived, however, when she had realized that instead of novels, science magazines or what one would call normal literature, Akitsu liked to read rather explicit mangas and doujins. He had been rather curious about what could have caused Homura to be so thoroughly embarrassed, and had taken a look, despite the grey-haired woman's efforts to stop him. It had been rather informative, truth to be told. He didn't know the human body could bend that way, or that ropes, candles and several other objects could be used that way either. As it turned out, Akitsu had apparently rather kinky tastes, and had taken a liking to several BDSM practices, which made him glad that he wasn't yet ready for sex yet. At least he had a few years to prepare himself mentally for what would undoubtedly come...

Karasuba had gotten more training in magic, after he finally convinced her that the basics were not boring when you knew how to apply them. Of course, she was still far from the level of Dumbledore or his own when it came to magic, but she would eventually get there, it was just a matter of time and study. After all, she was very intelligent, even if it wasn't apparent at first glance. On another note, she had also asked him for a new nodachi, one made by the Goblins. He wasn't surprised, after all their blades were the best one could find, and if he knew them, the moment he made the request they would be creating the most dangerous blade they had ever forged. In the hands of someone like the Black Sekirei, a Goblin-made sword was enough to scare even him shitless, since he was fairly sure that said sword would be unbreakable and that his Sekirei would find a way to make it even more dangerous that it was supposed to be.

Usually any item Goblin-made was considered their property, simply "rented" to the one who paid for it until their death, but considering their own special status with them, he wasn't sure how this would apply to them. He hoped that rule would be dropped altogether for them, but he knew better than to hold on a foolish hope. At best he expected them to allow the blade to stay in the family for a fine with each new user, which would already be better than what anyone else had gotten in history. Of course, considering that most of said history was a war between wizards and the Goblins, he could understand why they wouldn't want to leave their works in the hands of the magic users.

With a groan, he shifted in the hot water, allowing it to soothe his sore muscles. He had recently upped his training with Karasuba and his own studies in magic, since now that his disappearance had been made official, he was much more likely to be the target of unscrupulous individuals, and to be tracked down by the old meddling fool known as Dumbledore, and he wanted to be ready. He knew that the odds of anyone finding him were slim, now that he lived in a house protected by the best wards he could buy from the Goblins, but he didn't want to leave it to chance. He had an inkling that Dumbledore would be extremely stubborn in hunting him down, since he knew about the prophecy concerning Voldemort and him. He was quite sure that the old fool wanted him to be the one to defeat the Dark Lord if he ever regained his body and power, something which quite peeved him. He knew that the "Leader of the Light" was a pacifist, but his views on how to lead a war had caused more harm than good in the First War. Seriously, who thought that using Stunners on people trying to kill you was a good idea?! At least some members of the Order of the Phoenix understood that there was no redeeming the Death Eaters, they at least understood what a war was.

Anyway, while not deluding himself about his power, he knew that he was nearing Dumbledore's magic reserves, and that said reserves would grow exponentially during his puberty. He was also quite certain he was vastly superior to the old man in terms of speed, strength and reflexes. The only area he wasn't sure he had caught up to the old coot was his repertoire of spells, but that would undoubtedly change once he started puberty. He already had a large repertoire thanks to Tom, though a bit limited to the Dark Arts, but he had already begun learning other spells since his arrival in Japan, soaking up everything he could find, his advanced Occlumency allowing him to remember each of them effortlessly. And if it wasn't enough, he was already studying his Sekirei's powers to see if he could replicate what they could do to a degree. He was definitively not going to rely on his wand any longer than necessary, why nobody had ever tried to find a way to cast without relying on a piece of wood was beyond him. It wasn't even possible to add anything beyond a Blood Seal on them, and that wouldn't prevent people from being disarmed!

He already had a few ideas on how to bypass the need of a foci, but he would need to study the art of wandmaking more in depth before trying anything, he wasn't some kind of overenthusiastic scholar itching to try theories he had no idea would work. But once he would have find a way to avoid the need for a wand, he was going to make sure that only his family would know about it. Sure, a more altruistic person would undoubtedly release the secret, but he wasn't altruistic, he was realistic, and he quite preferred to avoid arming his enemies.

Standing up, he left the bath, pausing to look at his reflection on the large mirror at the exit of the bathroom. He was now eleven, officially, yet he didn't look anything like an eleven-years old, more like a thirteen-years old, though he guessed it had something to do with his Sekirei blood, after all they seemed to mature quite quickly if what he had seen at MBI's tower was any indication. He didn't really mind looking older, if anything it would make people take him more seriously, he hated when people looked down on him because he looked like a child.

"Here."

"Thanks." he muttered, before stilling at the unfamiliar voice and looking at the person who had spoken.

Standing next to him was a young woman in her late teens or early twenties, with long, raven hair tied in a loose ponytail reaching her mid-back. She was dressed in a traditional kimono, with a black obi holding it around her waist. From what he could see, she was quite "developed", but nowhere near Akitsu's size. Her face was thin and aristocratic, with full red lips and yellow, slit eyes. The strangest part about her, though, were undoubtedly the cat ears twitching on her head, as well as the twin black tails lazily waving behind her.

He was not stupid, he knew nobody could enter the property without alerting him or the Zashiki-Warashis, and he had already guessed who she was. It was pretty obvious, after all.

"Rin?" he asked, causing the cat-girl to pout.

"Harry, you're no fun! I wanted to surprise you!" she dramatically wailed.

He quirked an eyebrow at that. Surprise him? Now that would be difficult, considering his life so far. He more or less accepted the fact that pretty much anything would happen around him, no matter how improbable it was. Finding a cat-girl in his house wasn't all that surprising, since he already knew that Rin could shape-shift after reading a few books on Bake-neko. He hadn't cared she hadn't already transformed, after all he could understand if she preferred to spend her time as a cat, all she had to do was laze around, eat and sleep, not a bad life in itself.

A perverted chuckle drew him back to reality, as sharp nails traced his muscles. Rin was looking him over with a perverted grin, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Nyahahah...Quite the stud, aren't you Harry?"

Sighing, he brushed off her hand before taking his towel off and putting his clothes back on. Now in just about any house, a young man of his age and looks standing naked in front of an attractive older girl would be quite abnormal considering how he didn't seem to mind her seeing him without a stitch of clothing on. However, living with Karasuba and Akitsu for so long had long since rid him of any kind of embarrassment about being naked in front of someone of the opposite gender, besides Rin had already seen him with only his boxers on before, so he really didn't care.

"So," he asked, once he was clothed, turning to look at Rin, who had been ogling him quite intently, "to what do I owe this?"

"What? Can't I just want to surprise a friend?" she pouted, crossing her arms under her breasts and looking away.

He simply quirked an eyebrow. A friend? Where in the Hell had she gotten the idea that she was his friend? Sure, he spent a lot of time with her, but that had been when she was still a cat, and he wasn't even sure he understood what friends were. It wasn't as if he had any experience with the concept, after all. As Harry Potter, he had never had a single friend, since Dudley had bullied anyone trying to get close to him, and the rumors started by Petunia had all but forced the parents to forbid the other children his age to approach him. And it wasn't as if he could rely on Tom's memories either, because he had absolutely zero experience in the matter as well, his time at the orphanage having made him distrustful and wary of human contact. Even at Hogwarts he hadn't had friends, he had had associates, people he could use to his own ends, but he hadn't had any friends. The concept in itself was alien to him, as while he could understand that family should stand side by side, he couldn't understand why people who didn't have the same blood or had some form of attraction to each other could spend time together. He classified Minaka, Takami, Karasuba, Akitsu and Homura as family, the three first because they had saved and raised him, making them family even if they didn't have blood ties, while the three last were his Sekirei, his "mates", so they were family as well.

As if sensing his thoughts, Rin glared at him, though the effect was ruined by the fact that Karasuba was scarier than her when she hadn't woken up in a good mood.

"Harry, I don't care about what you may think, but I am your friend."

Grasping his hands in her own, he idly noted that her nails were very sharp, almost claws, though it may have been because she still retained some cat-like characteristics in this form.

"I am afraid, Rin, that I do not understand the concept of friends." he said truthfully.

After all, he didn't mind having her stay with them, there was more than enough room for her in the house, however he'd rather not give her the wrong impression, otherwise it might come back and bite him in the ass later. He'd rather lose Rin that have her try to stay his friend over a wrong idea, so it was better to be honest with her.

As they were positioned, he could see a flash of anger in her eyes, though it wasn't directed at him, he could tell that much, as well as hurt, before they disappeared, replaced with a burning determination that made him rather uncomfortable. Whenever the women in his life had this look, things always got awfully complicated later on.

"Don't worry, Harry. I'll stay by your side, and I'll teach you what a friend is. This I swear on my life."

-Break-

Homura subtly glanced at her mug, wondering if someone hadn't poured some drug or strange potion in it, her eyebrow twitching. She was seriously beginning to wonder if she was the only one even remotely sane in the house, before realization dawned on her and she put her head in her hands. Oh Kami, she was the only sane person in the house!

With a groan, she put her head on the table, glaring at the source of her near-breakdown. There, next to Harry, lying on the side of the table and happily munching on some fried fish was a young woman with cat ears and two cat tails while Harry, Karasuba and Akitsu were eating their breakfast and looking as if nothing was wrong in the world. As if the fact that a completely unknown woman had apparently snuck inside the house was an everyday occurrence, which she knew was not the case, after all she had been there for several weeks already and it was the first time anything like that happened.

Finally losing her patience, she turned to look at her Ashikabi, her voice pleading:

"Okay. Harry, who's that?" she asked, pointing at the woman who was currently finishing her fish with a large smile on her face.

"Hm? Oh, it's Rin. You hadn't noticed yet?"

Her mind came to a screeching halt as she turned to look at the raven-haired female, currently looking at her with mirth in her eyes, as if she was happy to cause her a headache. Sure, she had cat ears, and tails (Kami she couldn't believe what she was thinking), but this was the cat she had sometimes seen brushing against Harry? Was there no limit to how bizarre her life had become, that apparently even her Ashikabi's pets were in fact able to become attractive females? What was next? Naked women falling from the sky? Would she wake up one day to discover that the furniture had strangely, and magically shifted into attractive women overnight?

Her brain rebooting, though not without effort, she gave the cat-eared female a strained smile.

"Hello, Rin, happy to meet you."

The cat woman smirked, her ears twitching.

"Oh, Homura-san, it's a pleasure." she purred. "There are so many things I'd like to talk with you about."

"Careful, Rin-chan, Homura-chan is quite the prude," smirked Karasuba, who seemed to want to tease the other grey-haired female. It was obvious that she thought Rin's words were related to bedroom matters, after all cats were known to be rather sensual beings, so it wouldn't have been surprising to anyone if Rin was actually trying to get into the Sekirei's pants.

"Really?" asked the Bake-neko, her grin widening in a way that made Homura very nervous. It reminded her of Uzume when the Sekirei was about to pull a very embarrassing piece of blackmail. "I would never have guessed considering her choice of under-mfff!"

Seeing where Rin's words were leading, Homura had sprang up from her seat and covered her mouth with her fingers while glaring at the raven-haired woman, small flames appearing in her hair and over her fingers, though they didn't seem to be harming the cat woman, for the moment at least.

"One more word," she hissed, glancing at Karasuba and Harry, "One more word and I'll burn you, Rin."

The Bake-neko merely grinned behind her hand, before Homura yelped and hastily took her hand off her mouth, Rin having licked it, her rough tongue and the moist feeling surprising the Sekirei.

"Nyahaha!" laughed the raven haired woman, before grabbing Homura and dragging her out of the dining room without a glance behind her, though it was obvious she knew both Harry and Karasuba were grinning.

-Break-

"Let me go!" hissed the Fire Sekirei the moment they were out of the dining room, though Rin didn't seem to listen as she dragged her (surprising Homura, as no human could drag her like that, and the feeling was quite new) towards her room, pushing her in before closing the door.

"Are you going to tell me what you are doing, yes or no?!" growled Homura, finally freeing herself from Rin's grip.

However, upon seeing her sheepish face, she was too surprised to speak. She had not expected the car-turned-woman to act like this, she had assumed she was teasing her and delighting in her embarrassment, but she had obviously missed something considering the face she was now making.

"Sorry." nervously laughed Rin as she sat on the ground, " But I needed to talk to you, away from Harry."

"And what was so urgent that you had to embarrass me like that?" she asked, still quite peeved.

"You know about Harry's circumstances, don't you?"

At the Fire Sekirei's nod, she continued.

"I also assume you have an idea of just how badly his psyche is scarred, don't you?"

Another nod.

"Then let me tell you this. Whatever you think you know, is only the tip of the iceberg. Do you feel anything through your bond? Karasuba-san said that she could sometimes feel Harry's emotions, though that was a few years ago."

"I don't." was the honest answer from Homura. Truth to be told, it had scared the Hell out of her when she had realized that, the bond was supposed to allow for both parts to feel each other, especially burst of emotions like happiness, sadness or anger. Yet not once had she felt anything from Harry, which had made worry that their bond was in some way faulty, and she had panicked until he had told her that he expected the reason behind this lack of feeling was due to his Occlumency. Since he used it to "lock up" his emotions, there was quite literally nothing to travel through the bond if he didn't want it to, which was still the case at the moment. While it saddened her greatly that he felt the need to control his emotions at his age, she couldn't exactly insist that he didn't do it, since she knew he needed the ability to act without relying on his emotions.

"Then you are lucky. Trust me, you are really, really lucky." whispered Rin, and she was shocked to see that the woman's eyes were moist with unshed tears. "I can feel his magic, and what state his mind is in. It's...It's horrible." she choked, and a few tears trailed down her cheeks. "He's...he's so lonely. It's screaming for someone, anyone, to love him."

"What? But what about Takami, or us? He doesn't think we love him?"

Rin shook her head at that. She looked incredibly sad at the moment, and Homura was quite worried with just what the Bake-neko might be feeling from Harry's magic.

"He isn't sure. I think he's accepted you, all of you, but that at the same time he expects you to one day vanish into thin air. There's also the fact, forgive me to point it out like that, that you aren't human. I'm not sure, but I think that he may be convinced that the only reason you love him is because of your nature as a Sekirei and the bond you share. It may also be the reason why he's so desperate to bond with Akitsu-san, maybe he fears that if he doesn't bond with her she'll eventually leave him."

Homura felt as she if she had been punched in the stomach and reeled back in shock. Sure, she loved Harry, but his reasoning wasn't entirely baseless. She was compelled to love him because of the bond, that much she knew, but even so it was pure love, at least on her side, not something so flimsy that it was fake. If Harry really thought like that, then Rin had very good reasons to be worried. That kind of thinking was not healthy, nor even remotely normal. The fact that he was still too young to be shown that they loved him with anything but hugs made things worse, her own morals prevented her from kissing him anywhere but on the cheek, and even that she had avoided since she was very, very shy when it came to sentimental matters.

"Do you understand why I wanted to talk to you now? He needs someone to prove him he is loved. He needs someone to show him normal love, not the one Karasuba-san shows him, and not the blind devotion Akistu-san has for him either! It he continues like this, it won't be long before he becomes the same than the Dark Lord that tried to kill him!

He needs people to anchor him, to be there for him, to contest his decisions when they are wrong, to support him when he's sad. He needs someone to shape his morals, even if it's already too late to have him integrate standard ones."

Homura cringed at that, knowing it to be very true, since Harry didn't have the morals most people did. He had no qualms killing, and she strongly suspected that if she even hinted at the idea of refraining from killing anyone in his presence, they'd get nowhere, and odds were good that it wouldn't endear her to either Harry or Karasuba. He also didn't mind nudity, she had once seen him walk out of the bathroom naked to get a towel he had forgotten, and he had greeted her as if he hadn't been butt naked. Needless to say, she had been very embarrassed that day, and whenever she remembered it, she blushed beet red.

" I see what you mean, Rin. But how am I supposed to do this? I mean, Harry has Karasuba and Akitsu to actively support him in whatever he may want to do, so I can't see myself butting in and telling the three of them to refrain from doing whatever they set their minds to."

At her words, Rin nodded, looking relieved that her words had managed to somehow reach the Fire Sekirei.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone. I'll help you, it's only fair after all. Besides, since I know Harry so well, I might be able to help you in convincing him to be more mindful of morals, though I'm afraid that at this point, there won't be much we'll be able to do."

"It's still better than nothing. Besides, he's my Ashikabi, and I care for him. It hurts to see him so mature already, so different from children his age...I mean, I like him, he's my Ashikabi, but I'm worried about how he might turn out in a few years if he continues like this. He's already able to fight almost on par with Karasuba, even if he hasn't yet the same physical abilities he'll have once he's finished puberty, and all he does is train every day. I've never heard about him taking a few days to simply relax either."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to help him. We just have to make sure to be subtle, Karasuba-san isn't the kind of person to like having her Ashikabi settle down as a "normal" person. From what I heard anyway, he plans to become a Hit Wizard and to sign Karasuba-san up as his partner once she's learnt enough magic." said Rin, looking torn between approval and sadness.

Homura could understand, after all if Harry did become a Hit Wizard, then he basically would be a mercenary, and knowing him, he'd only take dangerous missions, the ones he liked, as unlike most in the profession (at least she guessed so), he didn't need the money, it was the thrill he wanted.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to not dwell too much on those thoughts, as there was little she could do to change her Ashikabi, though now, she at least had someone sympathetic to her cause. With Rin helping her, the task of making sure Harry didn't become an insane psychotic killer would be a little easier. Still, at least he had morals, even if they were heavily distorted when compared to the norm.

When murder and brutal maiming wasn't something anyone in polite society would practice, Harry certainly didn't seem to have any qualms about them, though at least he had yet to end in a situation where he had the opportunity to exert these practices. Truth to be told, Homura herself didn't think she minded those actions, so long as the only ones on the receiving end were those who deserved it, after all she knew a few people at MBI who more than deserved to be burnt slowly and painfully. In fact, now that she thought about it, she knew that her Ashikabi was already too far gone to ever be "normal", so perhaps she should see if she could point his murdering instincts towards those who at least deserved it? After all, why should she bother trying to reform Harry when she knew it was downright impossible to make him completely abandon the idea of killing people? It was way better to make sure that Harry was reluctant to kill normal people but didn't mind killing the scum that needed to be cleaned out.

She was brought out of her musings when Rin grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the bathroom.

"Rin?! What are you doing?!" she scowled, making the Bake-neko look back at her with a large grin.

"Since we're partners, we should get to know each other! That's why, the best way to do that is skinship!" grinned the cat-woman, making the fire Sekirei redden in embarrassment. After all, unlike Karasuba and Akitsu, she was quite a prude, and liked to take her baths alone, since she wasn't very comfortable with either of the other Sekirei. At the very least she could have tolerated Akitsu if the Ice Sekirei hadn't lacked any kind of decency, and walked around the bathroom in the nude, without even a towel to hide her modesty (admittedly, she reluctantly admitted to herself, it isn't as if a towel would do much to hide her breasts, considering how large these things are...), while Homura always used a towel in the odd case of someone walking in on her bathing. Considering how both Harry and Karasuba did things whenever they wanted and how they wanted, it was only a matter of time before either of them walked in on her bathing.

"Rin!" she protested, "I don't want to take a bath with you!"

Still, the woman didn't stop, dragging her towards the bathroom, though this time when she looked back she was a bit more serious in her teasing.

"Homura-san, you need to loosen up a bit. Being a prude is all well and good, but sooner or later, you are going to bed Harry, and I highly doubt Akitsu-san and Karasuba-san will be out doing something else when that happens. You need to be more comfortable with your body."

Pushing open the door to the bathroom, Rin took off her clothes and put them in the basket, and, much to her embarrassment, Homura noticed that the Bake-neko had not been wearing any underwear. Then again, she mused as she tried to think about anything but the nude body of the woman in front of her, she spent her time as a cat for as long as I can remember, perhaps it's normal? At least she had some clothes on when she showed herself.

Still, as she tried to avoid checking out the cat-like woman, Homura couldn't help but notice that Rin had a great body, one that could definitively have belonged to a Sekirei, which was really saying something. Of course, perhaps the fact that both Sekirei and the Bake-neko were magical beings had something to do with it, since from what little she knew about magic, it could very well be the reason why both species looked better than normal humans.

As Rin grinned and dragged a semi-reluctant Homura to the bathroom, the Fire Sekirei could only pray that the Bake-neko wasn't as bad as Uzume or Matsu had been when it came to pure perversion.

The embarrassed screams coming from the bathroom a little later would prove her otherwise.

So here you have it. Rin can shapeshift into a woman. She's also quite concerned with Harry's wellbeing, as she picked him as her owner out of all those who had visited the shop she was in.

Anyway, reviews, as usual, are welcome.