Another tenth chapter! Another milestone! I will, once again, answer almost any question about background of this story, though ones that involve spoilers are at my discretion. So, ask away!
Once they were gone, Harry realised something.
"Wait... Where's Roxy?" he wondered. "Is she in the palace or out? I never told her when I was coming..."
Dobby popped in just then.
"Master Harry!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Dobby is sensing when you is getting here, so he come! Dobby is so happy to see you, sir!"
"It's good to see you again, Dobby." Harry patted the elf's head fondly, which nearly sent the creature into a tizzy. "Can you put away my things and Hermione's, then come back here?" he handed over all their things and watched as the elf disappeared for no more than a minute, then reappeared.
"It is done!" Dobby exclaimed. "What else can Dobby do for his wonderful Master?"
Harry was about to speak again when he recognised the sound of Artu's barks in the distance.
"Ehh... never mind, Dobby. Just keep up the good work. I'll be sure to call you again if I need anything, okay?" Harry dismissed the elf, who waved cheerfully before disappearing again.
Artu reached Harry before his mistress did.
Barking enthusiastically, he finally settled down when Harry knelt down to pet him and allowed the dog to lick him on the cheek.
"Why does it look like your dog is happier to see me than you are?" Harry teased as Roxy finally approached while he was rubbing Artu's belly.
"Maybe he remembers the last time we were together and you shared your lunch with him." Roxy giggled at the memory.
"Not willingly." Harry muttered.
"Oh, cheer up." Roxy moved closer and hugged him tightly before giving him a quick kiss. "How are you?" she pulled away from him, putting her hands on his shoulders and studying his face intently.
Harry paused to think. "I... I don't think I really know. This latest loss is still raw. Ron was the first real friend I ever had. I mean, sure, we had our ups and downs, but..." he looked down at his toes as Artu whined in sympathy.
"Well, if anything, just know that you've got me. I know you don't really like to talk about feelings and all that, so whenever you're ready..." Roxy smiled slightly.
"Thanks." Harry smiled gratefully. "I really appreciate it..."
"Speaking of best friends... is your friend Hermione here?" Roxy asked. "I remember you saying that you might bring her here..."
"She is. As soon as we got here, your mum arrived and whisked her off to have what I am sure would be a mutually fascinating conversation for them." Harry described the event, making sure to describe Hermione's star struck reaction.
Roxy laughed. "Well, at least mom will have another person that enjoys discussing philosophy and those things with! I don't enjoy it as much and neither does my aunt, but Hermione seems like she would, judging by the way you describe her..."
"She would." Harry remembered how passionate Hermione could get about certain matters. "She most certainly would."
Before any of them could get another word out, Roxy paused, closing her eyes and touching her temple with her index and middle fingers together.
Taking in Harry's puzzled expression when she opened her eyes again, she explained briefly. "Mom came up with a form of telepathy that lets her remotely project her thoughts into my mind and pick up any reply that I might give."
"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "It's like some sort of Legilimency then?"
"From what I understand of what you told me about it, I guess so. You'd have to ask my mother about it." Roxy shrugged. "It's still pretty new to me."
"What was she saying to you?" Harry asked.
"She wants you and I to come inside to talk to Aisha. Apparently, we get to visit Pixie Village today!" Roxy started to look excited.
"What about Hermione?" Harry asked. "I just brought her here and..."
"No worries!" Roxy cut him off. "She's invited too! Mom must have introduced her to Aisha."
"Two new worlds in one day? Hermione's mind will be completely blown by the end of it all!" Harry said.
"She'll be fine, I'm sure." Roxy waved a hand dismissively. "She couldn't be putting up with you and all the trouble you cause all these years and not have somewhat of a strong mind!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Har, har. Bloody amusing, that. Shouldn't we be going though before your mum comes out here to get us herself?"
"You do have a point..."
When Harry and Roxy arrived in the meeting room, it was to find Morgana and Aisha engaged in conversation with Hermione.
All three women looked up when they entered the room.
"Well, Roxy," Her mother said by way of greeting. "I must say that your boyfriend has a rather interesting friend in Miss Granger here." the former fairy queen smiled.
"What does she mean by interesting?" Harry glanced at his girlfriend worriedly.
"Nothing to concern yourself about too much, Harry." Hermione smiled at him sweetly.
Which did nothing at all to allay his concerns.
In fact, it was just making it worse...
"Anyway, you must be going. Ninfea awaits you." Morgana smiled as she gave the nod to Aisha, who stood up. "I really hope you bond there, Roxy. I once had a bonded pixie, but then the Wizards started doing what they did and she was lost to me..." Morgana looked briefly sad, making himself (and Roxy and Hermione by the looks of it!) a bit uncomfortable.
He could handle seeing her angry (as long as the anger wasn't directed at him), but this...
"Okay!" Aisha spoke up cheerfully, breaking the gloom that threatened to engulf the room. "Let's head out to the transport zone and be on our way, shall we?"
Harry's first thought when he stepped out of the portal and saw the Pixie Village in the distance was that everything was so small.
Even though he'd never actually met one, he knew that pixies were small and obviously, their things had to be their size, but being in their village made him feel like a giant...
"Looks like they've decorated for a party!" Hermione commented.
"They have!" Aisha exclaimed. "They've been waiting for Roxy to come visit for a long time now! The youngest Earthling fairy- and the princess of Tir Nan Og at that, given everything that happened? They'd consider it a cause for celebration!"
"So... this is all for me?" Roxy blinked.
"Pretty much, yes." Aisha answered with a grin.
As they approached, six pixies flew at them with rapid speed.
"Aisha! Aisha! Welcome back!" they all spoke in unison as they flew towards the Androsian princess and engulfed her in hugs.
"Hey! It's good to see all of you again too!" Aisha beamed. "Even though the last time I saw you all was only yesterday..."
"It's always good to see you, Aisha!" Piff squeaked.
Aisha nodded, then turned to the trio of Earthlings.
"Well, you've already met Roxy, but I'd like to introduce you to her friends here. This is Harry, Roxy's boyfriend and the other girl, Hermione, is Harry's best friend. Harry and Hermione also come from Earth, in case you didn't know..." Aisha introduced them.
"Oh, I've heard about you!" Chatta exclaimed, flying up to Harry and circling around him, seemingly inspecting him. "You're like a big time hero back where you're from!"
"I wouldn't say that..." Harry spoke modestly.
"Stop it, Harry. She is right, you know." Hermione said.
"Big time hero, defeater of dark wizards..." Roxy joined in on the teasing and she and Hermione giggled at Harry's disgruntled expression.
"Perhaps it was a mistake to introduce you two..." he muttered.
Aisha and the pixies chuckled at the byplay.
"Come on! We have a party to get to!" Digit piped up.
"Yes, and it simply wouldn't do for us to be late, would it?" Tune said.
"Welcome to Pixie Village!" Chatta exclaimed as they reached it.
Harry looked around, taking in the sight of the gathered pixies, with all their decorations and snacks (which to him would be bite-sized) and smiled.
They all appeared to be happy to welcome them there and seemed eager to please, but not because of who they (or rather Roxy!) were, but they were genuinely happy to see them.
"Greetings, Roxy. Our meeting has been a long time in coming." a tanned-skin pixie who donned some sort of green headpiece that looked like a plant bud flew up to her as she spoke.
"It has, Your Majesty." Roxy smiled.
"Oh please. You may call me Ninfea." Ninfea turned to him and Hermione. "And that goes for you as well."
"This place is fascinating." Hermione looked around, as if trying to take in everything at once. "On Earth, well the part of Earth I know, really, pixies aren't anything at all like you! In fact they're distinctly less... pleasant."
Harry and Hermione looked at one another, immediately thinking of the pixies they'd encountered in Lockhart's class in what seemed like so many years ago.
They shuddered.
"That bad?" Ninfea chuckled.
"Like you wouldn't believe..." they murmured in unison.
"Well, you'll find that our kind of pixie isn't that bad. Now come on in, and watch your step!" Ninfea waved for them to follow her and they ended up in what appeared to be a central area of the village, where many other pixies awaited them, cheering as they arrived.
Ninfea gave a short speech, introducing Roxy (while acknowledging himself and Hermione), then allowed them to get into the party.
Hermione immediately reached for an unfamiliar snack item and after looking it over briefly, decided to try it.
The look on her face made Harry immediately reach for one himself.
Roxy meanwhile, had been talking to some of the other pixies and was laughing and chatting with them.
"Nice to see your friend having fun, isn't it?" Aisha spoke to him as Hermione too, wound up having what looked to be an amusing conversation with a group of other pixies.
"It is..." Harry nodded. "We've been through so much together and having just lost her boyfriend, who was my other best friend..."
"I went through something similar myself," Aisha spoke casually. "and I think I could understand what she might be feeling now."
Almost too casually.
"I was in a very dark place after that. I hope your friend doesn't go the same route I did. I had my friends to help me, but... no one should be like that."
Harry nodded. "I've been in dark places far too many times. I don't want her to go through what I did either..."
He took a cookie from a nearby table and popped it into his mouth.
"Look, Harry. Over there." Aisha pointed towards Roxy.
A pixie with short purple hair was flying towards her with a dazed expression.
Roxy's expression was as if she had just seen the most beautiful thing in the world as the pixie flew into her arms and hugged her face, smiling and looking completely content.
"Looks like Zing's finally found a fairy to bond with." Aisha smiled. "She's been waiting for years. I can't think of a better one for it to happen to! They'll have so much fun together!"
"What are pixie bonds exactly?" Harry said. "I don't know anything about how pixies work in this universe..."
"A pixie bond is almost like a binding of souls between a fairy and a pixie. They're kind of like sisters and their bond will be unbreakable. They'll be able to sense each other and tap into each other's powers sometimes." Aisha tickled Piff under the chin as she flew over to her and sat on her shoulder, making the young pixie giggle. "They help each other, they're there for each other whenever they need to and one can never betray the other."
"A Familiar of sorts then?" Harry queried. "I know about Familiar bonds..."
"Yeah, something like that." Aisha smiled.
He nodded and was about to go over and talk to Hermione when he noticed a pixie with light, reddish-brown hair in pigtails flying straight over to Hermione with a blissfully happy expression and Hermione's expression was also the same as she reached out to take the pixie in a hug.
"Um, Aisha..." Harry got her attention and inclined her head towards Hermione, who was now giggling with the pixie, who looked around Piff's age. "...I thought that it was only fairies that could bond with pixies..."
"So did I..." Aisha blinked. "I... maybe there's more to your friend than you think. She isn't a fairy, but there's a possibility of..." the fairy trailed off as if in thought.
"Leave it," she spoke after a bit. "at least, for now. It doesn't matter for the moment."
Harry nodded.
It was just another mystery to solve and knowing Hermione, she would love every bit of it.