So, just so you know, I'm posting this second chapter more or less simultaneously with the first one, so if you've come across this one before reading the first chapter, click the back button first.

Also, keep in mind, it will be some time before this comes out as a full fic, if it does at all. I've only just started the Futaba arc in Persona 5, and I'm not sure how much of a handle I have on her character from other fanfics, wikis and videos on Youtube. Hopefully, the fact that Futaba has been raised by Hermione will cover for any OOCness.

PICARESQUE MAGIC

CHAPTER 2:

A FRESH START, IN THEORY

Harry had to admit, he was glad to finally leave Britain. True, it was disconcerting to do so in the company of one of his oldest friends (who was now over a decade his senior), and one who had a kid now. But frankly, at least Hermione was a friendly face, the only one of his generation at Hogwarts that he'd met so far to show anything like that. She'd always acted as a bossy big sister…now, she was more like a mildly bossy aunt. Better her than that bitch Petunia.

Part of the reason that Voldemort's claims that Harry ran away, apparently, was that the Goblins had ways of telling that Harry was still alive. Dumbledore had his own means, but he couldn't find where Harry was, and so claimed that Harry was dead, as a dead Harry was less of a blow to morale than a live but cowardly one. Unfortunately, Snape apparently leaked things back to Voldemort, so Voldemort made those claims. Still, it meant that Harry could claim his family accounts, and shift them to Japan.

They took the plane back to Japan, and the reason why they took a plane back was twofold. The first was that Hermione had taken the plane over, instead of a Portkey, and she needed to ensure no suspicious questions were asked if they took a Portkey back and then someone looked at their passports. The second is that Hermione was taking the opportunity to fill Harry in on her life since leaving Britain. She didn't want to talk about what happened after Voldemort's second advent, not that much, and to be frank, Harry couldn't blame her. He was trying hard not to think of it himself. Hell, he missed so many. He wished Hedwig was still around.

She was, admittedly, reticent about some details. She had been involved in hush-hush work with researchers in certain realms of science that verged on pseudoscience. However, her mentor in the field, Dr Wakaba Isshiki, had suddenly committed suicide, leaving her daughter orphaned, her father unknown. Except Hermione believed otherwise.

"There was a lot of interest in our research from certain corners, Harry," she had said. "It was partly why I work under an assumed name, as Dr Daniela Watson. And I knew Wakaba. She claimed that she couldn't stand to raise her daughter any longer, but even though their relationship had been strained at times…Wakaba would never have killed herself. I believe she was murdered, and I avoided going the same way because people believed I knew less about her work than I really do. The problem is, Futaba's relatives were only too happy to go along with it, and most of the research were seized by the government, and I've had to start again from scratch. What's more, that bald prick read out that suicide note in front of Futaba. I dunno whether he was responsible for what happened, but he was just salting the wound. Futaba's been living with the guilt ever since, and while I've managed to help soothe that, the damage has been done. I think on some level, Futaba still blames herself for her mother's death."

They'd gotten through customs, and were now driving home, Hermione having parked her car at the airport. "So, how are we going to deal with schooling and such?"

"Well, I'm not sending you to Mahoutokoro," Hermione said. "I've been homeschooling both Delphi and Futaba. Futaba has rather severe agoraphobia. She can go out with an escort, but she hates crowds. She's only a step up from what the Japanese call a hikikomori, an extreme shut-in. Delphi isn't so bad, but she's a bit wary of strangers, and after her identity got revealed in the press…well, it was a mess to clean up. And I've spoken to enough graduates to know that Mahoutokoro is even more hidebound than Hogwarts. You'd think they were still under the Tokugawa shogunate, the way some Japanese magicals act. Honestly, though, I'd rather ensure you have a better normal education than a magical one. I'll teach you anything you want about magic, Harry, when I'm not busy, I've been teaching Delphi that much."

"You sure?" Harry asked. He bristled a little at Hermione's decision about his education, but he did admit, after what happened, a magical education had soured somewhat. And he did trust her.

Hermione nodded. "I'm not sure you'd want to go to high school in Japan either. The education system, mundane or magical, is very high pressure. I should know, I act as a tutor to a number of students. English, maths, science, that sort of thing. I leave social science and arts subjects to locals, though. I should really have you meet a couple of my students. I recently began tutoring the sister of a friend of mine from university here. Their father died not long ago, and it's been hard on both of them."

"I'm guessing that's yet another long story?" Harry asked.

"Yes. I'm also tutoring the daughters of more acquaintances. That being said, most of my time is taken up working with another colleague, a counsellor. He's someone else I'd like you to meet. But there's also something else you may need to be aware of."

"Like what?"

"…Over the past few months, there have been strange accidents in Japan, especially in Tokyo. They've recently called them Mental Shutdowns. Nobody seems to know what causes them, though I have a number of theories, none of them pleasant. What happens is that either people seem to undergo a spontaneous psychotic breakdown, committing acts of extreme violence, or else suffer bizarre instances where they become unresponsive to all stimuli, temporarily or permanently, often causing accidents in the process. It could be a new disease, a poison, or something worse, possibly committed by a criminal or a terrorist group."

"Magic, then?"

"Not as we know it if that's the case," Hermione said, evasively. "I told you because…I just need you forewarned…"

They changed the subject on the drive back, discussing things. Harry hoped he would get to meet the Weasleys again. But this babysitter for the kids…Harry hadn't met her. He'd heard of the family in passing back at the Quidditch World Cup, but never got to meet the babysitter.

The house was a rather large one on the outskirts of Tokyo, and must've been expensive. Hermione had mentioned getting an inheritance from the supposedly defunct Dagworth-Granger magical family. It would've allowed her to live comfortably without ever working again if invested well, but Hermione had never been one to rest on her laurels.

As they pulled up to the house, the door opened, and a girl and a woman came out. Harry recognised Delphi from the photo, but not the woman, about Hermione's age, but with silvery blonde hair and pale eyes, and a vaguely dotty demeanour, though it was displaced by concern. "…Damn, Futaba must've been triggered," Hermione said quietly. She got out of the car. "Luna, Delphi, is everything all right?"

"Some griefers flaming her when she was playing, Hermione. They made some comments that hit home," the woman said. "She's…fine enough, but she's keeping to her room for now." The woman looked to Harry, and then smiled. "Though maybe meeting Harry could help."

"Is this him?" Delphi asked. "Is this really Harry Potter, Mum?"

"Yes, Delphi."

Harry couldn't believe that this girl was Voldemort's daughter before, and he couldn't now. Then again, that was a good thing. She seemed a bit wary around him, and understandably so. He was wary. But he still knelt in front of her. "Hi, Delphi. I…guess this is a bit awkward for both of us, right?"

After a moment, Delphi nodded. "More than a little. I mean, I'm the daughter of your nemesis and all. Not the spawn of evil you were expecting?"

Harry blinked. Wasn't that too damn eloquent for a kid who was seven? Hermione chuckled. "Don't mind Delphi, Harry. While Bellatrix was pregnant, she drank a lot of potions meant to enhance Delphi. Honestly, it was lucky those potions didn't affect Delphi's health adversely. She could go to high school if she wanted to."

"Yeah, but Futaba's the real genius of the family," Delphi pouted, before her face fell. "I don't like seeing her so sad, though."

"It's just the Nargles getting to her, Delphi," Luna said. "And Futaba will wreak her revenge soon enough." She then turned to Harry. "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Luna Lovegood. I met Hermione after your…disappearance. I was a friend of Ginny's before then. Don't let the idiots bring you down, they're full of Wrackspurts."

"…Sorry, what?" Harry asked.

"Luna is…unique," Hermione said. "It took me too long to get used to her way of thinking. But she also helped me get through some tough times. Now, let's get Harry's stuff inside, and see to Futaba…"

Harry had a bedroom to himself in the house, originally meant as a guest bedroom. After having what was left of his property brought in, he was led by Hermione to a bedroom door. Hermione, after a moment, knocked on the door. "Futaba?" No response, so Hermione knocked again. "Futaba? Are you there?"

Nothing happened for quite a period of time, so Hermione, sighing, brought out her wand. "Expecto Patronum," she murmured. An ethereal otter appeared, outlined in white mist, as Hermione pressed her wand to her throat. "Futaba, I'm here with Harry. Unless you're actually in the middle of hacking whoever gave you grief, please come out."

As the otter went through the wall, Harry frowned. "Hacking?"

"Futaba is a genius with a photographic memory, but her specialty is in computing. She's one of the best hackers in the world," Hermione said.

"…How old is she again?"

"A little younger than you. She's 14 now. I'm not sure how I can stop her, short of taking her computers away, but…sometimes, she needs to be online to interact with the world. Between her agoraphobia and what I am sure is a fairly severe case of Asperger's Syndrome, she's got a lot of issues. Of course, if someone's really annoyed her, she doesn't just get mad, she gets even. As long as she doesn't go for any innocents and cleans up her traces, I tolerate it."

The door slid open at that, and the face of Futaba poked out, before she shuffled out. Harry noted that her eyes were bloodshot behind her glasses, and she looked like she had just been crying. "…Sorry, Hermione. I…those griefers said Mum should have had an abortion. I…"

"It's okay, Futaba," Hermione said, gently hugging the petite girl. "It's okay. They're just being cruel because you're better than them. So, what have you done?"

"I've reported the behaviour to the GMs. Of course, if that doesn't go anywhere, I'll take action myself. There's a vulnerability in the scripts those noobs use that I'm just itching to exploit, I'm pretty sure. Attack type weaknesses for the win." She then seemed to see Harry, and blinked. "Oh. Umm…"

"Hey. You're Futaba, right? I'm Harry Potter."

She began peering at him and his proffered hand, fishing a crumpled tissue from her pocket to wipe her eyes, before peering at him again. It was almost like with Ginny, but with a more concerning edge. Like she was worried he was going to hurt her. Eventually, she took his hand and shook it briefly. "Hi. Sorry, I…just had to deal with some stuff. Hermione told me all about you, but I never thought I'd meet you. I even thought she was going off on a wild goose chase. That's the English term, isn't it?"

"It is, and you speak English very well, Futaba," Harry said.

Futaba shrugged. "English is an international language, especially where online gaming is concerned. I've been learning English from a young age. Besides, Hermione helped me learn it, even before Mum…" Her voice caught in her throat. "…Sorry, I…"

"I heard about it from Hermione. I'm sorry that happened to you, and to your mother," Harry said quietly. "If it's any consolation…well, Hermione told you I was famous, I'm sure. But I was famous because my parents died, and I survived, with just this scar to show for it. And I didn't know about it. My aunt and uncle lied to me, said they were drunkards who got into a car crash. I grew to hate it, the fame, my scar, everything like that. I would've given almost anything for my parents to be alive again, including my fame. But…well, life doesn't always go the way we want it to, does it?"

"Hmm," Futaba hummed in acknowledgement. "Well, it's good to meet you, Harry, I hope. I'll send a party invite one day." She looked to Hermione. "Please call me when dinner's ready, okay?" She then shuffled back into her room, before closing it up again.

"…She's doing a bit better than I hoped, despite what happened," Hermione mused. "But some scars run deep. She's a lot like me, only, her situation was worse. I didn't have any friends before Hogwarts, and Futaba…she had one friend, until…well, things went sour. She's never really told me the details, but I suspect the answer. And then, Wakaba…" Hermione shook her head. "I've done what I can to help, but even with counselling and my assurances that Wakaba would never have committed suicide to get away from Futaba…I can at least stop her from getting worse, Harry. And she is getting better, Harry. Though it's been touch and go. Before I could get custody of her, she'd been bounced around her relatives before they sent her to her uncle…and that uncle was like Vernon Dursley. I met both of them, and they're very much alike. Futaba's uncle is only better because he can put on a better façade than Vernon Dursley."

Harry grimaced at the reminder of Vernon, and wondered how Hermione met him. As much as he didn't like talking about what the Dursleys did to him, Hermione was one of those he could trust with knowing. She clearly found out afterwards. "What happened to him? I mean, Futaba's uncle?"

Hermione smirked. "Futaba happened to him. Not straight away, but while I'm not a fan of extra-judicial revenge, the police did receive an anonymous tipoff about his rather illicit activities he used to fund his gambling habits. Futaba may be timid, but she's like Neville in some regards. Push her enough, and she will push back, hard."

"Okay, so, when did Neville push back? I mean, aside from that time in First Year?"

Hermione chuckled morosely. "Oh, you've missed so much, Harry…"

So, that was Harry Potter, huh? Futaba thought as she settled into her habitual pose on her chair, a bit like L from Death Note, while slipping on her headphones and beginning to stream the Dark Souls soundtrack, specifically the melancholy final battle theme against Gwyn. A sigh escaped her lips. Thought he'd be taller.

Hermione had told her tales about their misadventures at Hogwarts. Hell, Futaba had listened to those tales even before her mother…no, don't go there. Getting her thoughts away from her mother's demise was like trying to pull Cerberus away by a leash at times. Heracles could do it, but it had been a gargantuan effort for the demigod. For a near-hikikomori, it was even more difficult. And she still, on occasion, heard her mother's voice screaming at her that it was her fault. Less and less frequently, thankfully, but still…not something she needed. Even with Hermione and Delphi's support, to say little of Uncle Sojiro and Hermione's friends and Dr Maruki, it was still something that pained her.

Anyway, Hermione had always emphasized that Harry despised his fame, at least once he realised how fickle his reputation could be. That crap around the Chamber of Secrets opening and the Tri-Wizard Tournament debacle were cases in point. And given how his own relatives treated him…it was a wonder he wasn't like her.

Still, he was nice at least. Hermione had eventually shown her memories in a Pensieve she had bought. And it was as if he stepped right out of it.

Time-travel was possible. Go figure. Okay, so Hermione had used a Time-Turner back in her third year at Hogwarts, so she shouldn't be surprised that travelling forwards like that was possible. Hmm, maybe she could have him cosplaying as the Doctor? That'd be neat.

Then again, he was adrift in time. A decade out of date. Trying to find a place in the world, like her. She'd been trying to find her own place in the world, even before her mother died. Her stint as the founder of Medjed had been a fumbling attempt at trying to make the world a better place, but all they turned out to be was a rabid group of so-called hacktivists more concerned with causing mayhem. She abandoned them, becoming something of a lone wolf hacktivist, one who targeted those who targeted the defenceless. Her favourite handles were usually some variation on Ali Baba, the hero from the 1001 Nights who stole from the Forty Thieves when he learned the password to their hideout.

Why did she do this? Because in reality, she was powerless. An eidetic memory meant little when those bastards would just bully and abuse her, and often, her eidetic memory was a curse, not a blessing. She couldn't help Kana. And even if Hermione claimed that her mother hadn't committed suicide, then even in the best reading of the situation, Futaba still had pestered her mother, adding to the stress she already felt.

But online? She had power. Not as much as she wanted, and she wasn't the best hacker in the world, not by a long shot. But she was less powerful in reality than she was online. Honestly, there were times when she was tempted to create a botnet and launch some DDoS attacks on some places, or hack into some mainframes belonging to certain government departments or companies and use a modified ransomware program to encrypt all their files. Not to hold them to ransom, just to cripple their IT infrastructure.

But that would draw too much attention, and innocent people could get caught in the crossfire. She wasn't like those idiots she left behind in Medjed. She could understand consequences.

Still, now, she had a real-life hero in the house. And at least he was nice, trying to understand what she went through. Maybe things were looking up with Harry Potter in the household…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Harry's met Hermione's wards, and Futaba's thought about things.

Delphi's going to be close to her Zest for Life incarnation, though I'm covering for that with Bellatrix ingesting potions to enhance Delphi during pregnancy. She's a bit like a younger Futaba, only with fewer otaku elements.

As for Futaba, if she seems a bit OOC, keep in mind, Hermione's influence means that Futaba's less of a shut-in. She's still damaged, and still trying to deal with her misplaced guilt and the aftereffects of being bullied and abused…but she's able to leave her room, and even leave the house, albeit with a chaperone.

I actually blame many of Futaba's issues on Sojiro. For all that he cared for her, I don't think he did a lot to try and resolve her issues. I blame this partly on the Japanese attitude to mental health problems, and partly on the fact that Sojiro Sakura is a gutless wonder who would allow a rape to happen if it meant not getting into trouble himself, given his words to the main character at the start of Persona 5. He's not malicious, just too apathetic and self-centred for my liking.

No numbered annotations this time.