Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

The Girl in the Library

Harry Potter dragged a finger along the spines of the books, stopping at The Book of Charms and Incantations. He noted with interest that the author of the book was one Gideon Dagworth-Granger; he wondered idly if Hermione was distantly related. He pulled the book off the shelf, and turned to look around the library.

Only eight days remained until the start of the year-end exams. Harry was actually looking forward to the end of the school year. Ever since the incident with Norbert, three out of the four Houses had turned against him, and the fourth—Slytherin House—was never on his side in the first place. Ron and Hermione were the only ones who stuck with him, but were off studying History on their own. Harry had felt he needed to review Charms—he was a bit weak on the theory. But that wasn't in Hermione's study guide. She'd gotten quite upset when he'd suggested deviating from her study guide, and so Harry had retreated to the library to study on his own.

But at the moment, there was not a single table that didn't have one or more students using it. Well, it was to be expected, this close to the exams.

There were three that had only a single student using them. Two of those students were Prefects, however, and one of those was a Slytherin. He doubted that he'd be welcome at those tables. The third table, however, had only a single first-year Ravenclaw girl. Harry recognized her; Gryffindor and Ravenclaw shared Astronomy. Her hair was almost painfully black, and cut in a shoulder-length style he'd heard called a pageboy. He'd never learned her name, but she was the only Ravenclaw who didn't glower at him during their last class. He decided that it was worth taking a chance.

"Excuse me."

The girl looked up. Her eyes widened, as though she were startled. "Yes?"

"Can I sit here?"

"Go ahead. It's just me here."

"Thanks." He set down his books—he had Miranda Goshawk's Standard Book of Spells in addition to the Dagworth-Granger book. She raised an eyebrow.

"You have Charms up first for exams?"

"Don't know yet," he said with a shrug. "Professor McGonagall hasn't given us our exam schedule yet. But I figured I needed the study; I'm weak on theory."

"Professor Flitwick is more concerned with the practical," said the girl. "It carries more weight on your final mark."

"Mostly, I wanted to skip studying History," admitted Harry. "I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."

"Hotaru Tomoe," said the girl. She bowed towards him, as best she could while seated. "Pleased to meet you."

"Same." Harry pulled out his chair and sat down. "Just glad you're not shunning me the way the rest of your House is."

"They do seem rather worked up about it," said Hotaru. "I guess they really don't want Slytherin House to win the Cup."

"And you don't?"

"I'm not terribly worried about it," admitted Hotaru. "Besides, I don't know what caused Gryffindor to lose all those points."

He waited a beat, but she didn't continue. Was this her way of asking what had happened? But before he could respond, she blushed, and said, "It's not my business. Sorry."

"No, it's fine," said Harry. "We—that is, Hermione, Neville and I—we were helping out a friend. You see, our friend had gotten something that he wasn't meant to have at Hogwarts, and he asked us to get it out of Hogwarts for him. We sent a letter to one of Ron's brothers, who came and got it. But we got caught out after curfew—luckily, after Charlie left, so we weren't caught with—well, the thing we weren't meant to have."

Hotaru considered this a moment, then nodded. "I'm glad that Mr Hagrid didn't get into any trouble. After all, having a dragon at a school would probably get him sacked."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Well...I guess you're in the right House."

Hotaru giggled.

"No, seriously." Harry leaned forward. "How did you work that out?"

"Well," said Hotaru. "Draco Malfoy said to a few of his friends that you were trying to smuggle a dragon out of the castle. He didn't mention where you got a dragon, but when you said it was a friend who had it, I assumed that Mr Hagrid was that friend. He's quite famous for wanting a dragon."

"Dead clever," observed Harry. He leaned back. "I'm surprised that you've got the table to yourself. House of the Wise and all that. I'd expect your Housemates would fight over who gets to study with you."

But even as he said it, he realized that he'd never seen her partnered with a Ravenclaw in Astronomy. Occasionally with a Gryffindor, but most often, she worked alone. And that was particularly tough in Astronomy, since you wouldn't have a partner to record readings while you were using the telescope.

And the way that her expression fell as he spoke told him that he'd struck a nerve.

"I...don't get along with most of my House," admitted Hotaru. She crossed her arms, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her robes.

"Why not?" He felt gauche for asking this so bluntly, and added, "I mean, if you don't mind sharing."

"I'm a bit younger than most of them, to begin with," said Hotaru. "They don't appreciate that I got in so young."

"You can't be really younger than me," objected Harry. "My birthday falls only a week after they send out the Hogwarts letters."

"I turned eleven in January," said Hotaru. "I started at age ten."

"Oh."

"I had particularly strong bouts of accidental magic," said Hotaru. "I couldn't even touch someone who was hurt without unconsciously using magic to heal them. After the tenth or so time that the Ministry had to come erase someone's memory, they told me I'd have to start Hogwarts early, so I could get my magic under control." She sighed. "The students at my old school treated me badly. Because I'm Japanese, or because I look odd—"

"You don't look odd," objected Harry. "You're quite cute, actually."

She blushed again. "Thank you. But I'm so pale, and my hair is so dark. They kept calling me a Goth. I wore gloves all the time, back then. So I wouldn't touch someone, and heal them accidentally.

"And then I came to Hogwarts, and I thought it would be better." She shook her head. "But my House members are afraid of me. They think that all of my magic is uncontrolled, not just the healing. So they treat me like a bomb that's about to go off."

"That's—" Harry shook his head. "I guess Professor McGonagall was right. Our Houses are like our families."

Hotaru frowned. "What do you mean?"

He realized what he'd said, and shook his head. "Nothing. Can't you go to Professor Flitwick? Can't he do something about it?"

"I did," admitted Hotaru. "He just said that he can't force people to like me. I don't think he understands."

"Well, if it helps," said Harry, "I like you."

"Thank you." She smiled slightly. "It does, kind of."

"And I bet other people will, too. Especially once they get to know you. I bet my friend Hermione would like you."

"Hermione Granger." Hotaru giggled. "We've had a bit of a competition going in Astronomy. You're usually with Mr Weasley, so I'm not surprised you haven't noticed. You're right, though. We get along quite well."

"Well, then, you see?"

"You're quite sweet," said Hotaru, and it was Harry's turn to blush. "I mean, you barely know me, but you're doing your best to cheer me up."

Harry shrugged. "I know how it feels to be ignored by everybody. I didn't have any friends before Hogwarts either."

"Accidental magic?"

"No," said Harry. "I mean, it happened a few times, but never anything major.

"My cousin Dudley is a bully. He threatened to beat up anybody who was nice to me."

Hotaru's hand flew to her mouth. "That's awful!"

"And my aunt and uncle knew about magic, and they hated it. So when my Mum and Dad died, and I was sent to live with them, they never did anything to stop Dudley from bullying me."

"Your Mum and Dad—oh, that's right. I'm sorry; I forgot." She smiled weakly. "My Mum died when I was eight. A fire broke out in her lab."

"I'm sorry," said Harry. "At least you still have your Dad, yeah?"

"There is that," said Hotaru. "He's not really smiled since Mum died, though. He hired a governess to help take care of me, but he sacked her six weeks later. I still don't know why."

"Did you ever talk to your Dad about it?" Harry shrugged. "Your Mum dying, that is. Maybe it'd help?"

"It might," said Hotaru. "But...I have trouble talking to people."

"I know what that's like," admitted Harry.

"Well." Hotaru leaned forward, and pulled The Book of Charms and Incantations towards herself. "You said you came here to study. I'll help you review."

Her determination almost fled as she approached the door, but she steeled her resolve, and knocked.

"Come on in!"

She opened the door, and stepped in.

"Ah, Miss Tomoe!" Professor Flitwick beamed as he turned to face her. "What brings you to my office today?"

"I just had a talk with Harry Potter," said Hotaru.

"Ah, yes," said the Professor. "I understand he's had a rough couple of weeks."

"More than just a couple of weeks, Professor." Hotaru drew in a deep breath. "To whom should I speak if I suspect a student is being abused at home?"