Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update, I had some trouble with this chapter when it started going in a completely different direction than what I had originally planned, so it is shorter than what I usually publish.
In this chapter, there isn't much action, but I hope that I made up for that by showing more of the relationship between Harry and his Sekirei.
For those who will want to rant about his reaction, please read the AN at the end of the chapter, thank you.
Now, enjoy!
I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei
26
Fight
James Potter was a man who had everything he could ever have wanted. From a young age, his parents had made sure that he never missed anything, although they made sure to not spoil him, and to raise him to be an upstanding wizard, who upheld the values of House Potter. He was from an old Pureblood line, although unlike the Blacks or the Malfoys, the Potters had regularly brought new blood in their family like, more often than not powerful witches or wizards who could have become great if they hadn't been Muggleborns. This meant that he enjoyed the comfort of knowing that unless he was a complete dunce, that he would be able to live a comfortable life without having to work a single day in his life, if he wanted to at least. He had breezed through Hogwarts, not an exceptional student, but a very good one none the least, with a particular gift for Transfiguration. He had met lifelong friends there, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, whom he had become so close to, that they might as well be brothers. He had also met the love of his life, Lily Potter, at the time Lily Evans, and had, by the time he was fifteen, known that he loved her dearly and that his life held no meaning if she didn't love him back. He had made every effort to meet her standards, even going so far as to mostly stop pranking students, or fighting with her childhood friend, Severus "Snivellus" Snape, despite how hard it was for him to leave the creep alone. He had been overjoyed when she had agreed to be his girlfriend, ecstatic when she had agreed to marry him, and overwhelmed when he had learnt she was pregnant with a son, his heir.
Then Voldemort came, and had torn his perfect reality to pieces. Peter had betrayed them, spitting on the fact that James had stood up for him ever since they had become friends, and had led the Dark Lord to their home, allowing the man to kill them if he had wanted to. Fortunately for them, Voldemort was someone with a flair for the dramatic, and had merely stunned them, planning to kill their son and taunt them with it. When he had been vanquished, James had been incredibly proud of his son, knowing that he had done what even Dumbledore hadn't been able to, and he had planned to celebrate with Lily until the old man he had come to see as a surrogate grandfather had shown up.
He had warned them, told them that Harry would never be safe if he was left with them, reminding them that Pettigrew could very well have told someone else in Voldemort's Inner Circle of their location. Inner Circles Death Eaters were very dangerous, much more so than the rabble that made up most of the Dark Lord's forces, and he had no doubt that if someone like Bellatrix Lestrange learnt of what had happened, that she would not hesitate to come and murder him herself. Even without that, people knew they had opposed Voldemort, had been some of his staunchest opponents, therefore it would not come as a shock if some Death Eaters tried to off them and their son.
At the time, the old man's words had rang true, and James had been petrified with worry knowing that his son might become a target, since there was only so much he could do to protect the toddler, and so much more ways for someone to kill him. All that would have been needed was a clever witch or wizard having a House Elf sneak something to their son, and he would have been dead. So they, Lily and him that is, had tried to come up with a solution, a way to keep their son safe. Dumbledore's solution had been the best, at least on paper. Giving Harry to Dumbledore, whom they had trusted unconditionally at the time, had seemed the best way to keep him safe, and even not knowing where he was had sounded like a good security measure. After all, if they didn't know where Harry was, who could?
The next decade had been a busy one, what with the aftermath of the war and the necessary trials. He had not been happy with the number of people released under the "I was Imperiused" excuse, but he could hardly put them in Azkaban himself, without regard for the law. Lily had also given birth to the twins, which had helped sooth some of the tension between them, since she was the most reluctant of them to the idea of giving up Harry, and having more children to care for had helped distract her from thinking about their absent son, or the fact that they were missing his childhood.
Then had come the day he had been thoroughly disabused of Dumbledore's infallibility. Not only had Harry gone missing, but he had been missing for years, and the old fool hadn't even informed them! He hadn't even known, for Merlin's sake! He had almost declared a Blood Feud between the Houses of Potter and Dumbledore, and only the fact that he knew, as much as he hated it, that he had no hope of defeating the aged wizard had stopped him. He had failed one of his children, he wouldn't fail the others by getting killed, not when he could make sure the old man would repair the damage he had done to his family.
And now, now he was seeing his son again, but it wasn't the teary-eyed reunion he had hoped for. Harry was surprisingly mature and cold for a teenager, and he didn't even look like one, although it could easily be due to some Aging Potion and a few Glamours. He was rather disappointed that Harry didn't want to attend Hogwarts, but he supposed that for the moment, he had a good reason for not wanting to do so, after all he too would be leery of the Headmaster of a school who failed to protect a dangerous magical artifact from being tampered with. It didn't exactly speak well for the school's security.
However, the main reason of his conflicted feelings was the fact that Harry had disowned himself. It was rather obvious that he had no clue as to what he had done, as getting disowned would leave him without a name to use in the British society, and even if he had taken the name of his guardians, it was obvious that said guardians were Muggles, since Takami didn't dress or act like a proper witch. It would also tarnish the Potter name, something he could not allow, since as the Potter Patriarch, he had sworn to protect the family's values and honor. Fortunately, it would be rather easy for him to correct his son's mistake, all he needed to do was to make arrangements with Gringotts, have the appropriate paperwork drawn, and sign it, simple as that. He wasn't going to let his son fend for himself when he could help it, not anymore.
Shaking his head to clear his morose thoughts, he decided to focus on happier things, namely the fact that clearly had a lot of luck with the ladies, and good taste. While the grey-haired beauty, Karasuba he believed, creeped him out and reminded him of Bellatrix, he could not deny that she was a very attractive woman, nor that her choice of attire certainly allowed for a nice view of her legs and showed off her curves.
The other grey-haired woman, Homura he believed, was quite nice to look at too, although she was rather androgynous. Still, her clothes certainly clung to her forms, and he almost snickered considering that the white top she wore would become completely see-through should it be wet. He could almost see Harry using Aguamenti and claiming it to be an accident while he ogled the young woman.
But both women paled compared to the cherry of the cake, Akitsu. He had absolutely no idea how Harry had done it, but the busty beauty was wrapped around his finger, it was easy to see, and by the way she clung to him, she was also quite protective. And that figure, Merlin, that figure! If he had known clothes could draw the eye to certain parts of the female anatomy in this way, he would have petitioned the Board of Governors to have every female student over fifth year wearing clothes like that.
The only question left was how far Harry had gone with them, and that was one he couldn't wait to ask his son when they had some time together.
-Break-
Harry had to refrain from punching James Potter. The man had been not-so discreetly eyeing Akitsu, or more specifically her cleavage, for a good part of their trip towards his quarters at Hogwarts, and it was beginning to irritate him greatly. Akitsu was his, and his alone. Moreso when the person ogling was someone he considered a waste of flesh, a moron and a complete failure as a human being. However, for the moment he couldn't exactly afford to gut the man, maim him, or simply hurt him, since the British magical society would be in arms before he even broke the moron's arm.
"And here we are!" cheerfully exclaimed the man, showing them the portrait of a knight in armor, who upon seeing them, planted his sword in the ground.
"Greetings! I am Lord Kay, may I inquire as to what business you have using these quarters?"
Harry felt his eye twitch. This was what was going to guarding the entrance to his quarters? Why couldn't he have gotten something better than a portrait in the middle of one of the most travelled corridors of the damn castle? There was plenty of place to spare, he even knew a few married quarters on the seventh floor, out of the way of nosy students, and those fools were giving him a room where just about anyone could come and knock? Were they stupid?
Before he could protest though, James Potter had already greeted the knight, and the portrait swung open, revealing quarters that he could tell, were made for one person, and one person only.
This time he had less success in stopping the twitching, and he turned to look at his guide, who was grinning like a fool.
"What is this?" he asked, his voice flat, making the wizard's face drop.
"You don't like it? It's one of the few guest quarters Hogwarts has, I think my grandfather used it when he was courting my grandmother. They'd meet here whenever they could, and-"
"I don't care about your grandparents, what I'd like to know is why is it for only one person?"
The stare he got made him glad that he had superior Occlumency skills, otherwise he might have tried to maim his sperm donor right then and there. How someone could be so clueless was beyond him, but then again, he knew from Tom's memories that while the man was a powerful and skilled wizard, that he was rather slow when it came to understand other people, since he tended to have his own ideas and assume others thought like him.
"Because you're staying here?" asked James, looking confused. "You have to stay on Hogwarts' grounds, you admitted it yourself."
"And where will my S-my friends stay?" he asked, aggravation clear in his voice. He was beginning to slip, and that was not a good sign, for all those who knew him knew that whenever he started to let slip things he didn't want heard, that he was irritated enough to start a killing spree if he didn't find a way to relax, and soon.
"They're staying? I thought they were only here to accompany you and discuss things with Dumbledore. I mean, it's obvious you are close, but we can't let just anyone in the castle." Frowned the man, looking at Akitsu with surprise.
Pinching his nose and counting to ten to calm himself, Harry then locked eyes with the useless fleshbag that had contributed to his existence, cold anger blazing in his mismatched eyes. While there were many things that irritated him, few angered him more than the idea of being separated from his Seirei, for obvious reasons. They were his family, and in two out of three cases, his lovers as well. They were the only people he trusted unconditionally, and the only ones he had never once considered dispensable. It was rather simple: if anyone tried to take his Sekirei from him, they would find themselves dealt with in the most violent and painful manner he could find, or, if he was in a very bad mood, killed outright.
"Yes, they will be staying. The only one who will leave is Takami; Karasuba, Homura and Akitsu are staying with me. Now, before I get even angrier, could you have the fucking kindness to find us a place to stay in this castle? Or do I have to look for it myself?" he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm, making James frown.
"Now see here, Harry, you can't talk to adults like that. I don't know how you've been raised, but you should show respect to your elders. I understand if you don't respect me, in your shoes I certainly wouldn't, but you've treated Minnie the same way, and if you keep doing this it's going to land you in a world of trouble."
"I'll show respect to those who deserve it, and considering what I know of you Brits, I think that they're going to be few and far between. Now, kindly shut the fuck up, and show me my damn quarters!" he growled, feeling his anger begin get the best of him. He was already angry enough with having to be at Hogwarts, he didn't need a moronic, admonishing waste of flesh to give him a sermon!
"Harry!" scowled James, stepping forward. "What did I just say?"
He snapped. With a loud scream of rage, he punched James Potter in the abdomen, and was rewarded with the satisfying sound of broken bones. He knew he had just broken the man's ribs, and from what he knew of anatomy, the wound, while painful, wouldn't kill him. Besides, he mused, he had been looking for it. Who in their right mind tried admonishing someone who didn't even want to be there?
"I'll find a place to stay at myself, thanks. Akitsu, come on." He growled, leaving a wheezing James Potter to drag himself to the infirmary. Not exactly the best first impression to make, but at this point he was far too pissed off to care about it, he was already barely restraining himself from killing him.
-Break-
Takami didn't need to know something was wrong when she saw Karasuba suddenly stop, a wide grin on her face, while Homura cringed. It was still quite creepy to know that the two women had a mental link with Harry, and that they basically knew most of what he was doing. Sure, it might help him to calm himself if they wanted to calm him, but she didn't think it was really appropriate for a teenager to be able to read the minds of three grown women, two of which were mentally unstable by human society's standards. She really didn't want to know what went on in either Karasuba or Akitsu's head, she guessed the former was all about killing and bloodshed, and that the second was all about Harry himself, since she had shown an obsession with anything about her Ashikabi ever since he had taken her in.
"I just know I'm not going to like the answer, but I'll ask anyway: what happened?"
"James Potter assumed we wouldn't be staying, and tried to lecture Harry." Cringed Homura.
"That moron." She sighed, taking another whiff of her cigarette. Anyone with a brain could tell that Harry was already enraged at the thought of being forced to stay in Hogwarts, and the man just had to do the two things that pissed off the teen the most. "So, what did he do?"
"Broke a few of the man's ribs, and left. He's looking for a place where we can all stay at the same time. So far he's thinking about a place called the Room of Requirement, and the Chamber of Secrets." Piped up Karasuba, who licked her lips, her Ashikabi's anger probably turning her on. Takami couldn't fault her for that, since whenever Harry was in this bad of a mood (which was exceedingly rare, but had happened once or twice in the last years), she usually got a very rough training session with Harry followed by a round of sex.
It was incredibly disturbing to consider that the woman had been Harry's major influence for several years, and even now, especially since she didn't care in the slightest about people aside from those in their odd Ashikabi-Sekirei relationship. Even if Harry had gotten better, and in a certain measure, Karasuba as well, Takami had little doubt that underneath the pair's mostly normal surface, were two of the biggest, craziest mass-murderers of the planet.
"Not even an hour here and he's already in trouble…" she sighed, knowing that if things kept on like this, that Harry would likely earn himself a very bad reputation in the British magical society. Violence was already looked down on in normal society, but wizards and witches had a harsh outlook on it, deeming it beneath them, since they used magic for everything.
"Bah, if they make a fuss we'll just have to convince them to shut up." Grinned the Black Sekirei, her hand on the hilt of her nodachi.
"Karasuba, I don't think killing everyone that angers Harry is a good idea, that'll only get you trouble." She sighed, "Anyway, can you ask Harry to meet us at the entrance? I have to leave, and it'll be a lot faster for me if he just creates me a Portkey."
"You're leaving already?" asked Homura, the Sekirei looking surprised. "I would have thought that you wanted to learn a bit more about the situation before you left."
She winced. True, it may look like she didn't care, but she did care. However, she was not stupid enough to not realize that there was little she could do, especially since the situation was completely out of her hands. She couldn't use magic, didn't have any connections in the magical society of the country, and would only be a liability to Harry if she stayed. She did want to learn more, but she knew that she would probably learn more by letting Homura keep an eye on things for her instead of staying herself. Besides, she didn't like the idea of being far from MBI's labs for too long, since she didn't trust Minaka to not pull something crazy while she wasn't there to stop him.
"I know. Just…Keep an eye on him for me, alright? If anything happens, I want to know ASAP."
Karasuba grinned, and she knew the Black Sekirei was already thinking on how to piss her off by telling her what happened in the way that was the most certain to anger her to no end. At the very least Homura would be somewhat impartial. She just hoped that Harry wouldn't end in too much trouble, even if she highly doubted it.
-Break-
It was highly fortunate for Hogwarts' students that Harry and his Sekirei had arrived on a school day, as the corridors were mostly deserted, most of the students attending their classes, or studying, either in their common rooms or in the library. As such, the amount of gawking Harry had to put up with in his infuriated state was extremely low, which probably saved the lives of quite a few students. While he was not, usually, a berserk murderer, when he was in a state of downright fury as he was currently, he cared very little for restraint, and could easily go on a rampage. Of course, it was the first time circumstances contributed to make him as furious as he was now, so he had yet to face disciplinary sanctions coming from the Japanese Ministry of Magic.
He was currently trying to find somewhere where he would be able to stay with his Sekirei without risking being constantly bothered by either nosy well-wishers, his biological family, or Dumbledore himself, since he doubted the old fool would have the common decency to leave him alone. So far, he was heavily biased towards the Room of Requirement, since it was the perfect place to live for a year. It was able to materialize anything those inside wished for, so long as it was possible to do with magic, and "obeyed" those inside it, meaning that if they didn't want to be bothered, then they wouldn't. It was also out of the way, on the seventh floor, somewhere most people didn't even set foot on, and those who did were only there to head to Divination or the Astronomy Tower.
On the other hand, he was also tempted to use the Chamber of Secrets, since by all rights it was his to use, now that he was Lord Slytherin and that he had put down the crazed Basilisk inside it. Of course, it was a humid, dreary, and altogether unpleasant place, but then again it had been a thousand years since anyone had done any cleaning down there, and with the Basilisk being the only inhabitant of the place, it was understandable that it was a bit rundown. He would have to see if he could clean up the place, since he didn't want to ask the Hogwarts House Elves to know where he was. He wasn't even sure they were able to appear down there, since Slytherin had been rather paranoid in creating his Chamber.
"Room of Requirements it is, then." He spoke to himself. "Akitsu, come on."
He didn't need to look back to know that the Ice Sekirei had nodded and was following him. He could tell from their bond that she intended to help him deal with his current anger as soon as they were settled in, and he was grateful for that. He would never be able to spend a year at Hogwarts if he was always as angry as he was at the moment, and it was only because his Sekirei were very good at helping him deal with his issues that he could think he would be able to spend the year in Hogwarts without murdering someone. Though, even with them, he might just still kill some people.
He had absolutely no intentions of allowing Dumbledore to continue trying to meddle with his life, however, he had little doubt that he would be unable to do anything before the year was up, since the old man had far too many connections to go quietly. And with the Tournament going on, Fudge was unlikely to be willing to do anything that might tarnish the British Ministry's, and by extension, his own, reputation on the international scene. There was also the matter of knowing who had put his name in the Goblet of Fire, although he could narrow down the list to the foreign schools, and "Mad-Eye" Moody. He was reasonably certain that the one who had put his name in the Goblet had done so on Voldemort's orders, and he doubted that the man would trust a student to do the job, although it was not impossible. However, given that the DADA teachers hired by Dumbledore since the year he was supposed to start attending Hogwarts had shown themselves to be incompetent, frauds, or Dark Creatures, he couldn't dismiss the newly-hired teacher as a possible culprit.
'Harry, Takami is leaving. Can you meet us at the entrance?' said Homura's 'mental voice', interrupting his thoughts.
'Coming.' He replied in the same way, before motioning to Akitsu to follow him as he started walking back towards the entrance. He would miss Takami, as she had always been within reach whenever he needed her, although lately, since he had his own house, he had seen her a lot less than when he lived at MBI Tower, but he still liked to see her at least once a week. Now though, he wouldn't even be seeing her that much, although he could easily make a portkey and go see her whenever he wanted to. However, with the current situation, he didn't like the idea of leaving Hogwarts too often. He knew thanks to Tom's memories that wizards had a nasty tendency to make up their minds about things before even having any proof, meaning that if he left, it wouldn't be long before someone started ridiculous rumors, and it would be a pain to prove said rumors wrong.
-Break-
Takami had to fight the urge to snap at the students who were not-so subtly staring at their little group. It seemed that Harry hadn't been exaggerating when he said that British magic users did not understand the concept of privacy, which was made worse by the fact that they were being blatantly obvious in their attempts at spying on them. Fortunately, Karasuba served as a rather good deterrent, since it only took a few times of slowly unsheathing her nodachi with a bloodthirsty grin for them to leave them at least a modicum of space. Now, instead of crowding barely five feet away from them, the teenagers were staring from about thirty feet away, looking torn between getting closer and avoiding angering the obviously dangerous woman currently leaning against the wall of the entrance.
"Are these people for real?" asked Homura, looking torn between being embarrassed for being the center of attention, and angry at the thoughtless teenagers staring at them.
"Seems so." She shrugged. In truth, she was glad to not have to put up with this kind of behavior for the year, however, knowing Harry as she did, she feared that things would not end well. While her sort-of son was very intelligent, and could be very cunning when he wanted to, whenever he was pushed too far, he didn't even bother with subtlety and tried to resolve everything with violence.
"Leaving already, Takami?" asked a voice, and she looked up to see Harry standing at the end of the stairs, Akitsu at his side, a slight twitch to his eye the only sign of his anger.
"You know I can't stay. I have to keep an eye on the Sekirei, and the longer I stay here, the more Minaka is likely to do something stupid or insane."
It still bothered her to leave Harry here with only his Sekirei. While she hoped that he would be able to make friends, she was aware that the odds of that happening were low, especially if all magic users in the castle were like the ones busy spying on them. Harry was a very private person, who liked to have his own space, yet he was forced to stay in a castle filled with excitable and curious teenagers, most of which had been raised with stories of how he had defeated Voldemort as a baby. That all but killed any chances he had to make friends, since most would be unable to see beyond the "Boy-Who-Lived", and see only Harry. And those who did were unlikely to like what they found, since Harry was a very intelligent, cunning, and overall ruthless individual. Few could hope to match his standards, and if there was one thing she knew, it was that those gifted with skills beyond their peers were often shunned or ridiculed by the masses, as they couldn't understand them.
"Fine. Keep in touch, I have my phone with me, so if there's anything that needs my attention at MBI, don't hesitate to call me." Growled Harry, and she felt herself pitying those who would be stupid enough to bother him before he settled in his new quarters.
"Will do. So, how do I leave? Do you make me a portkey to the airport, or something?" she asked.
After all, she had no idea of where she was, only that she was somewhere in Scotland, somewhere far from civilization at least. There was no way she was going to waste her time walking to the next town, not when Harry could make her a portkey back to the airport, or even back to Japan, although the latter was apparently prohibited by some international law, which was understandable. Having unknown people popping up randomly in your country was quite the breach of security, after all.
Harry just hummed, taking out a pen, and casting the spell to make it a portkey on it, before handing it to her.
"Here. Password to use it is the name of that crazy landlady. I'll call you when I have more details about the First Task, that alright with you?"
She nodded. Even if she was busy, she wanted to be to keep an eye on what the magic users subjected him to. She wasn't exactly trusting of them, not when the whole Tournament had been cancelled before on the count of a death toll too high. Even if they claimed this new version was safer, she'd believe it when she'd see it.
"Well then, see you, Harry. And you three, keep him out of trouble, will you?"
The grin on Karasuba's face told her all she needed to know about how long the teen would be able to stay out of trouble.
-Break-
As they watched Takami leave, a sharp crack made the Ashikabi-Sekirei group leap back, all of them reaching either for their weapons or wands, pointing it at the odd creature that had appeared. Said creature "eeped" and shrunk on itself, obviously afraid that it was going to be killed, until Harry groaned and lowered his wand.
"You can relax, it's a House-Elf." He groaned. He had a feeling that the little being was going to tell him that Dumbledore wanted to see him, since the old fool was entirely too busy prying into his life. And with what had happened with his sperm donor earlier, he would likely try to admonish him for being too violent or something like that.
"What do you want?" he growled, making the House-Elf gulp nervously.
"Nippy is here to tell Harry Potter sir that Headmaster is wanting to see him in Infirmary." Nervously said the small magical creature, which then popped away without waiting for an answer.
He groaned, feeling his headache coming back. Really, did Fate love pissing him off? James Potter had deserved his anger, had known he was angry, and yet had acted as if nothing had been wrong. What had the man expected? For him to ignored his anger and smile like a brainless moron, while listening to his words as if they were the Truth? Anyone with a brain could have noticed that he was dangerously close from snapping when James had tried to lecture him, so it was hardly his fault the man had gotten kicked in the stomach. It was only bad luck that he was much stronger than humans.
"Already getting in trouble, Harry-chan?" grinned Karasuba, her fingers rubbing the hilt of her nodachi, eagerly awaiting an order to slaughter the people that bothered him.
"Probably. We might as well head there, since Dumb won't leave me alone, and I don't like the idea of the fool looking for me everywhere in the castle, it'll only make him more irritating in the long run." He groaned, walking towards the stairs, his Sekirei in tow.
As they strode towards their destination, Homura looked around, obviously captivated by the moving staircases and portraits, even if she had seen them before, when they had arrived. It took a while to get used to, after all.
"Harry, you said the people in the portraits can leave their frame and go to another, right? How does it works? Is there some kind of limitation? I mean, if I had a portrait in my home I wouldn't like the idea of a person coming from another painting spying on me." Asked the Fire Sekirei, shivering at the idea.
"Basically, each portrait allows anyone the people in the portrait allow to, to come inside their painting. All you need to do is forbid them from allowing certain people or beings from entering, and magic will do everything else." He distractedly explained. He didn't like thinking about the fact that all of the paintings answered to Dumbledore, however at the moment he couldn't claim the castle as his inheritance, lest he find himself under a lot more scrutiny, which he didn't want. He couldn't even do so discreetly, since the moment he took control, Dumbledore would know that the wards didn't answer to him anymore.
He felt his irritation spike again at the thought. The aged wizard had the right to use the portraits to keep an eye on everything that happened to ensure that students were safe, but it was painfully obvious that Dumbledore was misusing them badly, especially when it came to the fact that a man possessed by Voldemort had managed to enter the castle under his watch in 2001, and that a student had been possessed by a diary in 2002. He could easily have asked the portraits for information each of these years, yet had apparently either not thought about it or not cared.
He shook his head. Now that he had had some time to calm down a little, he cursed himself for being so blunt in front of the old man. He had been far too harsh, too confrontational when he had spoken to the old man, he should have controlled himself better. While he had no intention of being friendly to the old coot, being overly antagonistic would only serve to make the man more insistent and more devious in his need to make him "see the Light".
-Break-
Harry was hardly surprised by the icy welcoming he received, since he had heard enough from Flitwick, and had enough memories from Tom, to know that Madam Pomfrey, despite being a nurse, was a formidable witch, one who suffered nobody harming her charges, be they students or teacher. The fact that he had not bothered to even lead James Potter, who was now laying on a bed with an expression of mild discomfort on his face, to the infirmary after breaking some of the man's ribs had obviously not endeared him to the matron, who was glaring at him, hands on her hips, and a stern expression on her face.
"Harry James Potter! What is that I hear about you breaking your father's ribs?" she scowled, looking at him expectantly.
He had to admit, the expression on her face, had he not spent a lot of time around Miya and her Hannya, might have actually intimidated him a little, which was no small feat. The only problem was that he had spent time around a woman far more terrifying than the school nurse, as such he was hardly impressed by her admonishing. Still, seeing that the woman had never done anything bad to him, he decided to be civil with her, since you never knew when connections might come in handy, and he'd rather have the person most likely to treat him if he ever needed to be healed, on his side rather than the Headmaster's.
"Kindly cease calling me a Potter, Madam. I have legally changed my name after being adopted, therefore I will not answer to my former name any longer. As for breaking that man's ribs, I can assure you that it was positively tame compared to what I would have liked to do to him. He is also a grown adult, and as thus able to defend himself without needing you to fight his own battles. Now, could you tell me why I have been called here when I was looking for accommodations that might fit both myself and my companions?"
The question was not addressed to the nurse, rather it was directed to the aged wizard standing next to James Potter's bed. Dumbledore was looking at him sternly, however his icy stare had little effect, as he simply stared back with an irritated, mismatched glare.
"I called you here to shed some light on why you would injure your father, my boy. I am concerned about you, you have been needlessly antagonistic ever since your arrival. Can you not see we only wish to help you?" said the old wizard, his whole demeanor nonthreatening, and showing he meant no harm.
He scowled. He was not fond of being called a boy, not when he had been called such for several years by Vernon, the whale-like man using the term far more often than his name when he had to address him. The fact that it was a condescending way to address him was not lost on him either, it seemed that the Headmaster had trouble remembering that he disliked being looked down on, even if it was not obvious.
"Needlessly antagonistic?" scoffed Karasuba, her arm snaking over his shoulder, her eyes boring into the Headmaster's own. "You're the retards who didn't properly secure that Goblet thingy, who got him involved in this whole Tournament business, when he was perfectly happy with the life he had so far. I mean, we're going to spend a year here, when we could be slaughtering a few Dark morons all over the world."
"While I don't agree on how she worded it, I have to admit that you're being unreasonable, expecting us to simply accept being dragged here, and treated like children." Added Homura, standing next to Harry. "It was obvious that Harry has no love for the Potters, and yet you sent them with us to lead us to our living quarters, in a rather pitiful attempt at having us open up to them."
"How can he has no love for the Potters? They are his parents, his family!" scowled McGonagall, who so far had been looking over her former student with worried eyes.
"A family who, for all intent and purposes, abandoned me." Scowled Harry, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and glaring at the group. "I don't care they want to make amends, as far as I'm concerned, they're people who lost their chance to call me their son over a decade ago. If they had tried to contact me earlier, I might have cared, but no longer. I have my own family now, and if you try to control my life again, old man, you will regret it, I can promise you that.
Now are we done, or are you going to try convincing me to forgive that moron?"
"Mister P-Minaka!" scowled McGonagall, glaring at him, "Even if you have no love for him, he is your father, and a teacher here. You cannot simply decide to send him to the Infirmary like this!"
"Why not?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I am not a student here, so whatever rules you have don't apply to me, and it's not like he didn't deserve what he got anyway."
"What do you mean, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, frowning. "From what James told me, he was simply advising you to show the proper respect to people, lest you wish to make enemies. That is hardly a reason to punch him in the stomach."
He had to refrain from groaning. It was clear that Dumbledore didn't, couldn't understand how he felt towards James Potter, the man was a pacifist to the extreme, and the use of violence, except in the direst situations, was something he didn't condone. He had actually wondered if the man didn't have some psychological problems, what with what had happened to him in his youth. It was certainly enough to have the younger Dumbledore develop a deeply-rooted distaste for violence.
However, before he could snap back, the door of the infirmary opened, letting in a familiar redhead, although he could tell right away that something wasn't right, with the way she held herself, her slumped shoulders, and slightly red eyes, were an obvious indication that she had recently cried. Then there was the minute, almost imperceptible reaction of Homura, who tried to hide a wince, while Karasuba just grinned sadistically. Considering that the two of them were the last ones to have seen his egg donor, and that Takami had been with them, he was beginning to have a bad feeling. Said bad feeling only increased when Lily Potter realized he was present, and flinched, her eyes full of tears as she avoided him, opting instead to make a beeline for her husband's bed.
'Homura, what did Takami tell her to put her in a state like that?' he mentally asked, only for his Sekirei to flinch visibly, and look away in shame, just as images came to him through the link, making him redden in anger.
It was with an almost hissing voice that he snarled:
"We're leaving. Homura, Karasuba, we're going to have words about this!"
He could understand why Karasuba would allow Takami to tell the woman about his circumstances, she probably knew he would find out, probably hoped he would find out, just so that he would have a rougher than normal spar with her, and she had been right, he was going to utterly demolish her for allowing something like this to happen. Homura though, he hadn't expected her to allow Takami to run her mouth, but in hindsight, she had always been the softest of his Sekirei, her emotions getting the better of her. He had known that she wanted to help him "heal", not that he considered doing so, since he felt fine as he was, but he hadn't expected her to let the scientist reveal what she had about his past.
At this point, he was barely restraining himself from doing something drastic, as he doubted the people present would understand what happened if he just proceeded to try to kill his Sekirei. Of course, there was nothing they could do about it, but if they did witness him doing so, it was bound to land him in even more trouble than he was already, and quite frankly, he was tired of it already.
"One moment, Harry." Interrupted Dumbledore. "I cannot allow you to walk away like this if I cannot be sure you will not harm other staff members, or any students."
"Funny you'd be concerned about the safety of your students now of all times." He snapped back, not even bothering to look at the old man." If memory serves, in 2001 one of your students got clubbed by a troll of all things in this very school, you hired a possessed DADA teacher, and in 2002 there were several attacks on students that were never resolved, seeing as they suddenly stopped. I don't remember you being nearly as concerned with students' safety back then.
And as for injuring your staff members, so long as they don't piss me off there shouldn't be any problems. Just keep them on a leash and they'll be fine."
"Mister Minaka!" scowled Pomfrey.
But Harry had already left, and his Sekirei had followed behind him.
-Break-
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" roared Harry, the Room of Requirement shaking as the hybrid wizard unleashed the true extent of his furor.
He had been furious when he had been forced back to Britain, he had been apoplectic when he had learnt he had to spend an entire year among people he despised, forced to interact with parents and a Headmaster he loathed, but there were no words to express how absolutely and completely enraged he had been when he had learnt that his Sekirei had allowed Takami to spill the circumstances of his past to Lily Potter.
The reason? He trusted his Sekirei, Hell, they were the only people he trusted so completely as to open his heart to them. Even Takami, or Miyuki, the humans closest to him, did not have his complete trust, a result of his years of abuse at the hands of the Dursleys and the blind eye turned to his suffering by the people of Privet Drive. It was much easier to trust aliens who, in a sense, depended on him to continue living, than to trust people who had no reason to not stab him in the back. Which was precisely why he was furious. Nothing could have hurt him more than his Sekirei allowing Lily Potter, someone he wanted nothing to do with, to learn of his treatment at the hands of the Dursleys. There was also the fact that he was ashamed of that part of his past, the darkest period of his life, where he was nothing but a cowering bug waiting to be squashed. If he had not met Karasuba, he would have stayed such for all of his life.
Speaking of Karasuba, while he could see her allowing Takami to spill things to Lily Potter, if only to rile him up and get some violence and rough sex out of him, that didn't mean he liked the idea of her allowing the redhead to learn something he considered private. The fact that out of the three of his Sekirei, he had known her the longest, and looked up to her the most, meant that what he saw as a betrayal of his trust, hurt him far more.
"What? It's not like it was going to be a secret much longer." Pouted the Black Sekirei, shrugging, looking completely unconcerned with his outburst. "Besides, she didn't get the details, on the general idea, so it's alright."
"No, it isn't!" he hissed, his hands clenched into fists and his nails digging into his palms so hard droplets of blood were slowly falling from them. "I don't want the Potters to know anything about me! They are not my family, friends, or anything, therefore they don't need to know! Even Miyuki and Hermione don't know about my past, and I'd trust them over Lily Potter any day!"
"Harry…"tried to intervene Homura, only to be pinned by a hateful, and hurt, mismatched glare.
"And YOU! I know I should have expected Karasuba to allow that shit, she loves to mess with my head and get me angry, but I expected that you, at least, would have tried to stop Takami, but did you? DID YOU?! No! You just let Takami spill some of my secrets to the last person I wanted to know them!" he roared, pacing briskly back and forth.
He was about to continue his rant when warm hands landed on his shoulders turning him to look at a serious Homura, the Fire Sekirei looking more self-assured than he had seen her in months.
"Harry, I know you don't like the idea of Lily Potter knowing about your past, but you are intelligent enough to know that it wouldn't stay a secret forever, don't you? And before you continue, please, please, realize that I only want the best for you. I didn't do this to make you angry, unlike someone-" she growled, glaring at Karasuba, the Black Sekirei giving her younger "sister" a cheery wave,"-but because you need to put your past behind you. I'm not telling you to forget-"she added, seeing him ready to snap at her, "-but it isn't healthy for you to keep stewing in your hate. That's what Voldemort did, and look at what he became."
Her arguments make him growl, but he could hardly refute them. He had allowed his hate to get the better of him, but then again, he had very good reasons to hate the Potters and Dumbledore. Still, even if Homura was right, he was not about to simply forgive them, nor was he willing to allow them to know about his life before MBI. It was something private, something shameful, and something he didn't want anyone he didn't trust, or who at the very least hadn't taken an oath to never reveal anything, to know about his secrets.
A wave of soothing emotions came through his bond, from both Akitsu and Homura, allowing him to finally snap out of the hate-filled daze he had been in ever since setting foot in Hogwarts. Oh, he was still angry, but at the very least his anger wasn't distorting his thoughts and making it harder for him to think.
"Fine." He eventually sighed, before glaring at Homura. "But this doesn't mean I've forgotten, or forgiven, what you did. I trusted you, Homura, and you too, Karasuba. I trusted you wouldn't let Takami spill my secrets, but you still allowed her to do so. So here is what we're going to do: Karasuba, for the next month, I forbid you to spar, fight, or use physical violence on anyone without my permission. And you won't be getting any sex, either."
The gobsmacked, and extremely displeased face of his first Sekirei told him all he needed to know about how effective such a punishment was. Then again, it was easy to know what she liked, and taking from her what she enjoyed the most, for a whole month no less, would ensure that she thought twice about what she did. While he cared for her dearly, it was time to show her that there was a limit to what he was willing to tolerate. Hopefully this would be the last time he needed to use such a punishment, but if it wasn't, then he was going to make sure that Karasuba understood that she was not allowed to do as she so pleased.
Ignoring the sudden shriek of anger from the Black Sekirei, he turned to look at Homura, who looked resigned, awaiting her punishment. While he cared for her, it was less than he did for Karasuba or Akitsu, but given that he also knew perfectly well that she had only allowed Takami to divulge information on him because she truly believed it was for the best. Therefore, her punishment would be far less severe than Karasuba's, who had only hoped to make him angry for her own benefit.
"Homura, for the next week, you are forbidden from learning anything on your own. This means that you can't read, watch TV, or even have philosophical discussions with either me or anyone you can find who would be willing to have a chat with you."
He did not miss the look of shock on the Fire Sekirei's face, as he had basically forbidden her from enjoying her favorite hobbies for an entire week, but he thought he was being rather generous, considering what she had done. Of course, the fact that she had likely felt every single emotion he had gone through during his rant also meant that she knew just how badly he had taken what Karasuba and her had done, therefore she was aware that he was being very, very lenient with her.
With a deep sigh, he then looked at Akitsu, the Ice Sekirei having stayed silent for the entire duration of his rant, and concern being the primary emotion he could feel in her at the moment.
"Alright, now, Akitsu, how about we take a bath together? It should help me calm down a bit before this evening." He groaned, knowing that he was going to be the center of attention for the evening meal. He was glad that he only needed to attend meals with the three schools only once, as he didn't feel like being ogled, scrutinized, and, judged, by the several hundreds of people present in the castle at the moment, otherwise he would have been far more concerned about spending a year in Hogwarts.
"Ah…Yes, Harry-sama." Nodded the brunette, following him through a door that had just appeared on the wall of the Room, leaving Karasuba and Homura behind.
The uncomfortable silence was only broken several minutes later when Homura whispered.
"We really messed up, didn't we?"
Now, before any of you start ranting about how unfair Harry is to his Sekirei (yes, he is being unfair to them, after all they hardly did anything wrong), I want to say this: Harry expects Takami to do things like telling the Potters about his past, which is why it hardly hurt him (although he won't be happy with her either).
The reason he is so harsh with his Sekirei is because they are, in all his life, the only people he has complete trust in. To have someone you trust do something that hurts you makes it even more hurtful, and in Harry's case, it alos shakes how he sees the world. When he was rescued from the Dursleys, it took years before he managed to completely change his view on the world, replacing his old one by one where he could trust his Sekirei completely, opposed to the one he had before, where he could trust nobody. There is also the fact that Harry is a teenager, one with deep anger and trust issues, despite everything that happened with his Sekirei, and it is not helping the problem. He was also furious before learning the news, which also made matters worse.
Anyway, constructive criticism and reviews are welcome! And merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it!