Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Mass Effect. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Five - Finding the Asari

Shortly Before Departure

Shepard was just finishing pulling herself out of her uniform to start donning the body sleeve that would go under her power armor when the door to the changing / locker room slid open. This was a rather large communal space so the redhead thought nothing of it at first, merely continuing to pull articles off until she was left in her sports bra and panties. Then she looked up and found none other than Lily Potter also disrobing in front of the locker right next to her own.

"Oh shit!" Shepard jumped and yanked a towel out of her own compartment to cover her bare skin, idly wondering just how much the rather forward princess had seen before she'd acted. Her exclamation seemed to shock the… Togruta was the right term, right?

Turning to face the redhead fully as she kept peeling off her own layers, Lily commented, "What's the matter, Jane? We're both girls here, so what's the harm in changing together? Don't tell me you're a complete prude? Casual nudity isn't really frowned upon in the Empire. I guess it can't be when so many of my father's wives enjoy doing the dirty out in public."

Outside the door Shepard could swear she heard several voices chuckling. Was that the other woman's Dathomiri guard? Forcing an even tone to her voice so as not to inadvertently insult the princess of a massive military power, Shepard answered, "Normally it would not be a problem, princess, but…." She trailed off as the other woman peeled off the final layer of her robes and revealed her incredibly toned body. Lily's modesty was only barely concealed by twin pieces of thin cloth crossed in an X over her chest, and a final one wrapped around her waist like a loin cloth. There was just so much red, black, and white on display, and Shepard found her mouth going dry as a result. It was so new, so strange, so exciting. She finally shook herself out of her stupor and grimaced at the knowing smirk on Lily's face.

"As I was saying, this normally would not be a problem, but, well, I'm not an idiot, Lily."

"I never thought you were." The togruta's voice was warm, friendly. "Your keen military mind is one of many things I like about you."

Taking a deep breath, Jane continued, "As I said, I'm not an idiot, even if I am slow on the uptake. It took an embarrassing amount of time to recognize all of your… flirting for what it was, but I did figure it out. You have a romantic interest in me."

"And is that a bad thing?" Lily slowly walked up to shepard, and kept going until the taller woman was pressed back to the lockers with the Togruta's arms placed on either side of her head, trapping her. "Shepard, you're beautiful, courageous, intelligent, and you look absolutely delicious in both your uniform and your armor. Yes, I'm attracted to you, yes I want you, and yes I've been flirting with you nonstop because of it. I notice you haven't asked me to stop."

"You're very forward." In spite of years spent under military discipline and self learned control, Jane found her face heating up at the expression of pure desire being sent her way. No one had ever looked at her like that before. As a street tough she'd experienced being feared. As a military officer she'd been respected. But never as a woman had she been so openly… appreciated, as she was here and now, with Lily standing so close and openly ogling her body as her towel fell away from her suddenly nerveless fingers.

"Women in my family tend to be. It comes from having an empress for a mother, a Sith for a godmother, and a Mandalorian warchief as an auntie. Each of them taught us to speak our minds to a fault. Now answer the question, is my attention truly so horrible?"

Shepard tried to look away, but Lily merely took hold of her chin and raised her eyes to meet her own. This wasn't how it was supposed to work. She was Jane Shepard, a Commander of the Earth Navy, and the first human SPECTRE. She was a woman of action, strength, and confidence, but there was just something about Lily Potter that put her on the back foot and made her feel like a schoolgirl handling her first crush.

"N-No. No, it's not. But we're about to go into the field. Personal attachments in the unit can lead to problems."

"Or they can bring out the best in people. The people that first arrived in this galaxy with me were my best friends in the cosmos. We were all paired together at the Imperial Academy in the same cadre, and you can bet your perfectly toned ass that we formed emotional attachments beyond the norm. Because of that we knew how to motivate each other and drive ourselves to be the best versions possible, the versions that our friends saw we were capable of becoming." Lily's hand rose to cup Shepard's cheek. "Don't worry, we'll be fine, and I'll keep it professional while we're out in the field. I'm a serious operator, I'll have you know."

"Somehow I doubt that."

And the redhead had been right. Lily had joined their group on the landing craft in an eye catching ensemble consisting of a battle skirt, sleeveless tunic and breastplate, and a two handed lightsaber with a curved hilt, and from the moment they landed she'd been cracking jokes from behind cover and quipping over the destroyed platforms at her feet after charging a fortified position. It was both impressive and annoying how competent the girl was in combat, and Shepard honestly found herself more than a bit impressed. A fact that sadly the Togruta seemed to recognize if her smug little looks between battles was anything to go by.

While Jane wielded every ranged weapon she could get her hands on with precise accuracy and professionalism, Lily's use of her lightsaber was… poetry. Her outfit offered complete freedom of movement, and it seemed she could cross the field of battle in but a couple steps before swinging in lethal arcs to support any position that needed her. The closest approximation Shepard had to the montral headed woman's fighting style was a more acrobatic version of Japanese kenjutsu. She'd watched an exhibition once on the holonet and this seemed similar. Of course every now and then she'd look out of the corner of her eye and the soldier would see slight distortions of air moving amongst the hills and rock piles behind and to the side of them. It seemed the princess's Nightsisters had tagged along as well and were watching over their charge from the shadows in case she bit off more than she could chew. Otherwise they weren't offering an active hand in the fight.

Between the three of them it didn't take long at all to reach the cave entrance and when they did, well, she didn't expect to see a Krogan dancing gleefully over the wreckage of a fallen mech tank while Bo-Katan hooted and hollered while firing off her plasma pistols into the air like she was in a goddamn western movie. It seemed they'd had a good time up to that point.

Shortly after them came Darth Rache's group, the Sith Lord at the head and marching in like a god of war. That was until he saw his daughter dolled up in her battle outfit and began cooing over her adorable choices. Though Shepard couldn't see it on her face, she swore Bo-Katan was laughing beneath that helm.

Citadel Council Chambers

The Council gathered nervously before their entry hall as a massive hologram of a brunette with bushy hair wearing a lab coat came into being before them. They'd yet to figure out just why Empire holograms were so massive.

"Oh, hello, are you the Citadel Council?"

A bit put off by such a polite greeting after how she'd just recently been treated, Tevos, as the recommended spokesperson, stepped forward and said, "Y-Yes, we are."

"Good, good, I'm Hermione Granger, Third Empress of the Sith Empire. I was told you wished to discuss certain trade deals with me?"

"With your empire, yes." Tevos agreed.

"Perfect." A rather scary look seemed to enter into the human woman's holographic eyes as she stated, "First, let's talk about a trade of information."

"Information?"

"Yes. I'm sure your planets have massive libraries and archives…."

Zephyr 5 - Mandalorian Moon & Pleasure Resort

Satine Kryze, Duchess of Mandalore, and personal emissary / ambassador to Emperor Rache was moaning delightedly through her third orgasm underneath her husband's skilled ministrations when her eyes randomly took in a holographic screen active beside their bed with a very particular pair of slitted eyes staring right at them from the other side.

The noblewoman could only groan with annoyance, alerting her husband who at once, disappointingly, ceased his thrusting to see where her eyes were, only to copy her tone and roll off of her, dragging a sheet over their bodies.

"Oh, by all means, don't feel the need to stop on my account." Darth Zannah literally purred through the screen. "I was getting quite the show for a while until you noticed me."

"Just get on with whatever you're calling about, Zannah." Satine groused. This was far from the first time this woman had interrupted them. It was like she enjoyed catching them in the act. Who knew ancient Sith warriors were such pervs?

"Well that is just rude. Here I am, a humble Empress, calling my friends out of the blue and-"

"Zannah!"

"Oh, alright. Look, that troublesome heir of ours activated the Mass Effect Relay and wound up in a new galaxy. In that place she apparently discovered my love's homeworld. He called me to ask you to set up a diplomatic party and go in his name to clear the way for his eventual visit."

Satine was surprised to say the least, but one thing was bugging her. "Why didn't he call me himself?"

Zannah waved a negligent hand, "Apparently some alien bastard insulted Lily so now he's on the warpath over there. He'll likely be at it for a while."

That got both of the Kenobi's attention. "Someone insulted Lily." Obi-Wan gasped. "Who would ever be that foolish?"

"Someone who wants to die, clearly." The Zygerrian possessing woman stated primly. "Now, Satine, shall I inform my husband that you are setting out on his diplomatic mission?"

The Mandalorian and her own husband stared longingly at their bed, but in the end duty won out. "We'll set up an honor guard, call in our ship, and be at the Relay as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Satine. We realize this is an inconvenience for you, and it means a lot."

"Yeah, yeah, but I want another vacation when I get back."

"Girl, you already have four kids."

"And we want more!"

Dathomir

Sirius Black was basking in the perfect state of existence he found himself in, buried underneath the bodies of a dozen slumbering Dathomiri huntresses. Last year Mother Talzin had contacted Darth Rache with a request for a way to implant more magic into her people's bloodlines, and the answer had been simple. Harry had just sent his godfather to offer some genetic material for breeding. Now the man was living his life's dream of being a stud horse for a massive population of exotic and beautiful women. And James had used to say he'd never amount to anything.

His tranquility was broken however by the beeping of his communicator, and amidst the grumbling of his current group of partners who didn't want to be woken so early, he maneuvered his way free of the massive bed and grabbed the item from a nearby table. "This better be good." He muttered before pressing the answer key and watching a holographic version of Satine Kryze-Kenobi come into being as her husband bustled around doing who knew what in the background. "Satine? Why the hell are you calling me? You're supposed to be on vacation."

"I was." The woman growled, "But apparently our emperor has need of me which means he has need of you too."

Sirius' eyes went wide, "Excuse me?"

"Don't complain, Sirius." The blonde waved a hand, "Years ago you elected yourself to be my bodyguard and personal pilot and you've kept the position remarkably well. I need to set out on a diplomatic mission which means I need you to bring my ship here and take us where we need to go."

"B-B-But…." He turned the view on his communicator to show the languidly stretching group of women, "I'm finally a stud horse! I'm literally living the dream! Please don't take that away from me just yet."

"Sirius, I understand the pain of such an interruption, believe me."

"Damn right!" Kenobi called from the background.

"However," Satine continued, "This mission is taking us to your godson's homeworld and we need a pilot who knows the place. Now hop to it." The line went dead and the wizard found himself staring off into space. They'd found Earth?

Rache's Group

"So, is anyone else seeing the big blue glowy thing with the hot tentacle headed girl suspended inside?" Harry asked casually. They'd just finished fighting their way down through eight levels of tunnels and elevators to reach the base of the mineshaft and it was there that they'd stumbled upon ancient ruins and what appeared to be some kind of energy based alarm system with one prisoner held inside.

"Oh yes, my love." Ventress purred. She definitely appreciated the female form put before her.

Beside them the others were snickering and Lily was groaning. "Dad, please stop perving and just figure out how to get her down."

Above them, the blue skinned woman showed that she could actually hear them all because she said, "While I appreciate the compliments, could you please do as that young woman said and get me down?"

"How?" Shepard wanted to know.

Hovering as she was, the Asari could not see her would-be rescuers, so she called loud enough to be heard, "There is a laser drill located three more stories down and, what in the!-" her voice disappeared for a second before everyone heard at a much closer volume, "name of the ancestors!"

The group spun around and there was Harry with his arm around the shoulders of a supremely shocked Liara T'Soni. "What just happened?" Shepard demanded.

Tali got it first. "Was that like what you did when you saved me?"

"Exactly." Harry praised. "Turns out whoever built this place had no natural defense for magic. Shall we go?" When everyone agreed he activated a button on his wrist terminal. "Ship is ready and hovering overhead. Let's move."

"Not so fast!" A new voice interjected. The group turned and beheld a new Krogan with a group of Geth hovering behind him. Likely a mercenary. "Thanks for getting the Asari out for us. Activating that laser ourselves would have collapsed the entire mine."

Leaning toward Wrex the Sith Lord offered, "Alright I got no idea who this jackass is, but he's holding up my Saren fueled rampage. Should I handle him or do you want him?"

The battlemaster smashed a fist to his crown and cocked his shotgun. "I'm happy to take him. You got the scraps of metal?"

"Fuck yeah I do."

"What about the rest of us?" Shepard asked… only to find herself and the others suddenly on the bridge of Harry's personal landing craft, the Victory. Staring wildly at Lily she asked, "Does your dad do this-"

"All the time." The Togruta acknowledged. "You should have seen him the last time I brought a girl home. I swear he teleported her all the way to the other side of the system."

Back in the mine caverns Wrex was pounding the younger Krogan into the dirt and Harry was laughing wildly as he sliced through a good half of the walking computers and electrocuted the others into twitching mounds of burnt out circuitry. The entire event only took a minute, two at the max, and by the end the two warriors were practically giddy. And so it was that as the Victory began making its way up into orbit the crew witnessed Harry and Wrex teleport in belting out war songs at the top of their lungs and laughing like idiots. It was a very nervous ride for the others.

Aboard The Rancor

The moment the Victory had docked back on the flagship of the fleet Harry had bustled the entire group into the meeting room from before, only this time he'd set Liara up between him and Ventress. The others weren't sure what to make of the hungry look on their faces, and Tali wasn't sure why it made her angry to see it.

Hoping to get the debriefing going, Shepard asked, "Should we alert the Council that we've found Ms. T'Soni?"

"Doctor T'Soni." Liara interrupted easily. "I didn't go through twenty years of school to be referred to as Ms."

"Doctor it is then." Harry agreed easily. "And as for the Council, screw them. We don't need to let those fuckers know anything that we do. Remember, Shepard, we're a foreign power, and unless they want a war they can't win, those three assholes will let us do whatever we want."

"A foreign power?" That pricked Liara's curiosity. With all the bustle of the escape from the planet she'd not had a chance to ask who these people were or what they wanted. "Has there been a new planet discovered?"

Not liking how informal the Asari was being one bit (and not knowing why she felt so possessive of the emperor's attention) Tali explained, "A new galaxy actually. The Emperor's people discovered a derelict mass effect relay and managed to repair and activate it. It brought them here."

Clearly sensing the Quarian's mood, (and immensely pleased at the progres it showed he was making with her) Harry smiled warmly at the hooded woman and gently Force pushed Liara's chair a bit to the side before summoning Tali's own around the group until she was then seated at his side. "You seemed tense. Is this better?"

"Y-Yes. Thank you, Harry."

"You are most welcome, Tali."

Unable to contain her curiosity, Liara leaned around the other woman and asked, "A whole new civilization? Do you have written records? How long is your history?"

"Of course we do. And it depends on what planet you go to, but on average we have hundreds of thousands of years of written history in our archives." The Emperor could not have missed the way the blue skinned woman began to drool at that information if he'd tried. She and Hermione were definitely two peas in a pod.

As if suddenly noticing for the first time how she was acting, Liara's face went a brilliant purple of embarrassment and she quickly resumed a more dignified position on her chair as she wiped her mouth daintily. "I apologize for that vulgar display. I am both a paleontologist and an archeologist you see, and I am… passionate about my work. Now may I inquire as to why I am here? Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that you saved my life, but I can't imagine what you would need from me,"

"Well, let's start with your area of research." Harry waved a hand and a holographic image of the Prothean Beacon came into being. "The Protheans are your area of expertise, yes?" At her nod he said, "What can you tell us about this?"

The tentacle headed woman leaned forward and began running her fingers over her chin in clear thought, "That appears to be a memory beacon. Our exploratory teams have found some very similar to this on many different worlds known to have been inhabited by Protheans, and we believe them to have been used for interplanetary communication. They would have recorded certain memories and sent them like tight beams to different planetary settlements and strongholds."

Eyeing the Commander, Lily said, "That would explain your visions then, Shepard. You saw a recording of memories that hadn't been transmitted yet."

Liara's eyes went wide again. "You have memories of the Protheans? What were they like? Did you see any images? Hear any words? Can you tell me?"

"Woah, woah, woah, easy there," Shepard waved her hands to stall the flood of questions. "We kind of have other things to discuss right now. I can answer any questions you have later." From the side, Lily eyed the extreme interest on the Asari's face and decided she needed to have a talk with her dad later. She wasn't sure if Liara's interest in the redhead was merely academic or not, but she'd rather the octopus head became another member of the imperial harem than get with a girl she was making moves on herself.

Protheans this, Protheans that," Harry waved a hand to retake control of the conversation. "They seem important apparently, so who were they and what happened to them, Liara?"

Seeming delighted to speak on her field of interest, the archaeologist sat up straighter and explained, "The Protheans were a race of beings that made use of the mass effect relays and controlled an interstellar empire over fifty thousand years ago. They were advanced beyond measure and intricate in their caste systems from what we have unearthed, but to be honest what we have discovered of them has been quite sparse as almost all of their written records seem to have been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Tali questioned, her annoyance giving way to curiosity.

"Indeed." Liara nodded, "It's the strangest thing. The more we dig, the less we find of what we should. It is as if the sites of their cities and settlements have been removed in great swaths. As a result, there is remarkably little to work with as we try to piece together what eventually happened to them. That is why it is so fascinating to study them; the great mystery. One moment this incredibly advanced society was occupying all of known space, and the next they were just gone. No one knows what happened to them."

"Sounds like Roanoke on Earth." Harry nodded.

"Exactly." Liara agreed, glad someone understood her point. Her own leaders from her university never seemed to get her rabid interest in the fallen empire. "I have dedicated my life to finding out what happened to them."

"It was the Reapers." Shepard muttered. At the others questioning looks she explained, "My vision from the beacon, I… I'm getting bits and pieces of clarity as time passes. I remember… giant machines, causing death and chaos, and the word 'Reaper' keeps running through my head."

"Delayed memory association." The Asari nodded, "I have heard of this. If you like, I could perform a mind-meld to help you assimilate this new knowledge better."

"Oh hell no!" Lily leapt from her chair, crossed the floor, and sat down firmly in Shepard's lap. "Keep those tentacles to yourself, lady, I got dibs. That means the only one going near her mind is me."

As Liara began apologizing for any miscommunications on her part (she was not interested in the redheaded human romantically after all), it was all Ventress's considerable Force abilities could do to keep her mate firmly locked in his chair. Seeing his little girl on anyone's lap was enough to drive him into a rage.

Luckily Tali seemed to recognize the expression on his face and she quickly took his hand before asking, "Are you alright, Harry?"

He calmed at once, drawing on the positive vibes of her emotions and feelings. It pleased him to learn that she felt an emotional attachment to him already. Taking a deep breath he finally hissed out, "Yes, thank you, Tali. I simply do not like my daughter being so… forward with that human. Regardless, we must carry on." Addressing Liara once more he asked, "What can you tell us about your mother, Matriarch Benezia?"