"Pre authors Note. Hey Kids. Forgive Me. Here ya go.

"No. No. No. Swish and flick." Hermione said calmly, examining the witch in front of her.

"Honestly, Im not seeing the difference between what you are saying and what I'm doing!" Katara replied a bit more forcefully than she intended. She blew out a hard breath, trying to control her frustration.

Hermione smiled kindly. "It's ok, this stuff doesn't just…come to you. It took us years to learn." And, in what can only be described as the world's most terrible timing, a pillow floated gaily between Hermione and Katara. It did a fun loop de loop before landing gently on Zuko's head. Zuko rolled his eyes and quickly batted it off.

"Aang, you are a dear friend and all, but if you don't stop, I'm going to kill you and then you will be dead." Zuko muttered, crossing his arms in exasperation.

Aang smirked and shrugged his shoulders. He started to laugh when he saw the annoyed looks on EVERYONE'S face.

The room of requirement was brightly lit. Today, it was stocked with various implement. Pillows for floating, pins for transfiguring, targets for defensive spells. They had finally returned to school and, seeing as they still had no idea how to get Team Avapotter back to their world, and having made the monumental discovery that they possessed the power of magic, Team Potter decided to show them some basics. But Hermione, as usual, had another motive. She wanted to see what they could do, how magic developed in individuals from another dimension. How powerful they could really get. Hermione didn't know WHY she wanted to know this. Perhaps it was just straight up curiosity but either way, her interest in their ability wasn't waning.

Harry supposed it was probably a good idea to teach them. Who knew how long they would be in their world and, honestly, people would eventually notice that these "exchange students" didn't seem to do any magic. Still, it was coming along slowly, and why wouldn't it? It took them seven years to learn magic, basic magic, so how much could Team Avatar possibly learn quickly?

Except, of course, for Aang.

Aang had progressed so incredibly fast that it seemed like he only needed to see something ONCE and he had it. This seemed to annoy the benders of Team Avatar.

Toph also seemed to progress quickly, however, she was battling with a much larger barrier.

Toph was nearly completely blind. It didn't seem to effect her ability to produce magic and moving her through the wand progressions physically didn't seem to impede her too much. Still, without sight, her day to day life had drastically changed, which came with its own set of challenges. And yet, this wasn't the biggest problem she was dealing with. Her other senses had seemed to go into overdrive. Her senses had always been dialed up to ten but…this was different. Painful. She could hear EVERYTHING. She could FEEL the individual hairs in a piece of string. She could smell a cup of tea brewing, 4 floors up from the kitchen. It was incredibly difficult to take in that much sensory information and often times it had rendered her incapable of functioning. Currently, she was in the corner of the room, holding her hands over her ears. Neville, seeing this, had wandered over to check on her.

"No better today?" Neville whispered, knowing that if he spoke in normal tones, it would not only embarrass her but possibly hurt her. A tear ran down Toph's face and it made Neville feel incredibly uncomfortable. She spoke, "I can hear it."

"What?" Neville inquired carefully.

"The icicles on the window. I can hear them freezing." Toph whispered. "It's taking SO long."

Neville bowed his head. He would give anything to help her but what could he do?

And then Luna appeared, bending down next to Toph. "Let it in." She looked up at her quizzically.

Zuko walked up next to Luna in that moment and crossed his arms. "She's right." He said simply, then screwed his face up, trying to figure out how to explain this. "It's like redirecting lightning. It seems counterintuitive but…in order to redirect it, I had to let it in. Take the force of it within me, acclimate myself, and redirect it. Perhaps…it's the same with this. Take your time…and let it in."

With that, Zuko walked away as soon as he came. Never one for mushiness

Draco waited by the targets. He and Zuko decided to start there today. His arms were crossed, shirt sleeves rolled up, his wand clutched in one hand. Zuko returned to the spot in front of the target.

"Well? Go on." Draco said simply, he wasn't the best at being the "supportive teacher". His father had made it very clear that inadequacy was shameful and the only remedy was to be better. Period. Zuko narrowed his eyes at Draco but had to admit, it was really the best way to teach him. For he had grown up with the same instructional expectations, with his consequences for imperfection usually hovering around burns and blackened eyes. Then disfigurement and banishment.

Zuko extended his wand. He tried to concentrate. "STUPIFY!"

A jet of weak light burst out and hit the target, causing it to wobble somewhat.

Draco let out a hard sigh. "...that's fine." He said simply.

Zuko studied him for a moment before quietly saying: "You're lying."

Draco returned his gaze, then narrowed his eyes. "Yes." He replied shortly.

Zuko looked up towards the ceiling, then Ginny came up to him. She spoke, "It's the wand motion. You're a bit shaky. The movement must be fluid, self assured. Here, look."

Ginny cast her spell, and the target exploded, causing Toph to scream in the background. "Oh Toph! I'm so sorry." Ginny said.

Toph groaned. She blew out a hard breath, this seemed to be a regular reaction of the team during these practices. "Its…it's fine." She said quietly, looking up at Zuko, a look of resolve came onto her face. "It's…for the best."

Sokka was sitting in the most comfortable looking chair ever produced. He was reading through a book that Hermione had picked up for him over the holidays. Hermione felt bad about the fact that Sokka seemed to be left out of the magical world. Yes, he wasn't a bender either, but Hermione knew what it felt like to feel left out. Sokka had once regaled Team Avapotter about his time with "The Mechanist". Hermione had also noticed that Sokka seemed to pick up on the technical things of their world far faster than the others, ie how to tell time, how to use the loo, etc. So she got a book for him that belonged to her father. Her father was an RAF pilot and as such was well versed in mechanical engineering. Her father was also a fan of history, and so, one December morning after watching Sokka scowl at Aang as he transfigured an apple in the orchard into a pineapple, she grabbed a book "Mechanical Engineering: A Historical Perspective". She gave it to him causally one day, trying to cover her pity for him. He didn't look too happy about receiving it at the time, but at some point, he must have cracked it open and the rest is mechanical history. She even saw him talking to her father a few times about it, two enthusiast sharing a common hobby, she supposed. She was glad.

Sokka flipped through the pages and, suddenly, he got the most peculiar look on his face.

And just as the look appeared, a table materialized. It seemed to be covered in various tools and building materials. Sokka was momentarily horrified before remembering how the Room of Requirement worked. It provides.

A lovely smile creeped across Sokka's face and, clutching the book in his hand, he walked over to the table, turned to a very particular page, scanned it, then looked up towards the ceiling. Suddenly, another book appeared. Sokka grabbed the book, seemingly immediately forgetting about his earlier shock of appearing items, and flipped it open. He grabbed a tool and started to read.

"Oi! Potter!" Draco suddenly yelled.

Harry leaned back, "Yah."

"You know what we should do?" Draco replied, a smile now starting to creep along his face.

"I dunno, keep it down so Toph's head doesn't explode?" Harry replied, smirking apologetically to Toph.

Toph looked to be wincing but a resolve washed upon her features. "It's ok…I've got to…it's ok."

"Draco looked at her quizzically before shrugging. "Well, I think, in order to speed the learning process up, perhaps we should take a new approach."

"Uh huh…" Harry replied suspiciously.

"Well, perhaps we should add a bit of…pressure to this situation." Draco added slowly.

"Bloody hell Malfoy, is there a point on the horizon?" Harry replied, rolling his eyes and smirking.

Now Draco rolled his eyes, "Gods Potter, you're obtuse. I'm thinking we need to have a duel."

Harry's eyebrows flew up. "Malfoy…what in the bloody gopher bear are you on about?"

Draco's smirk grew. "Potter, we've been at this everyday since we got back to the castle. I'm growing impatient. What better way to learn then having consequences for your ineptitude?"

There was a strange silence at Draco's pronouncement. Finally, Ron spoke. "...I guess I'll be the one to say it. Malfoy, are you a bloody fucking lunatic?"

Draco blew out a hard breath. "Merlin Weasley, I'm not telling them to throw unforgivable curses at eachother. And in any case, they're all dreadful…except Aang and Toph, how much damage can they really do to eachother?"

"Malfoy knock it off. You're being ridiculous, you can't teach people that way." Ginny replied stonily.

Sokka snorted and the gang looked over to him in confusion.

"What?" Sokka replied. "Have we never told you guys about the Toph School of Earthbending? She, basically, just abused Aang until he became a master."

"...Uhhhh" Harry replied.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "She tried to crush him with a bolder, she almost broke his hands having him punch rocks. Hell, she let a Mooselion almost crush me to force him to stand his ground."

"...UHHHHH." Harry almost screamed.

"Plus, it's not like we've never had to duel eachother before. Katara and Zuko basically tried to kill each other…twice."

Katara blushed profusely.

Zuko glared at Sokka. "That was a different time, Sokka."

"Be that as it may, all I'm saying is, it's not like a little dueling is some brand new concept to us. And let's not forget about Toph's illustrious tenure as MELONLORD. She was about an inch from crushing me with a flaming boulder." Sokka concluded.

"Good times." Toph mused.

Ron leaned over to Ginny, "Remind me to follow up later about what the bloody hell MelonLord is about." He whispered. Ginny snickered.

There was a discomfort with the weird, if not somewhat truthful, basis of his statement. Or perhaps the discomfort was with the indifference with which he said it.

They all looked around at eachother as if no one wanted to say what they were thinking.

"Draco broke the silence. "Eh…so…Katara…Zuko…round 3?"

But before they could answer, Toph spoke. "Hmm. So, are you all giving me permission to knock Twinkle Toes across the room again?." Toph replied, smirking. "I mean…I may need a little help finding him but if it's in the name of learning…I feel like it's the right thing to do."

"Oh, LEARNING, yes, how noble of you Toph." Aang laughed out.

Toph winced but smirked. "So Aang agrees, assaulting him is the only way. Also, WILL we be allowed to practice on Sokka at all? I feel it will be important to the learning process."

"Shaddup." Sokka replied as the gang chuckled, he was already turning and grabbing a hammer to work on…whatever the hell it was that he was working on.

Unnoticed by the others, Katara and Zuko had locked eyes. There was a pain there. A shame. It was true that their battles had taken place in a different time. A lost, wounded time. And a kind of fear rose in them both as the thought of recreating those battles permeated them. The feeling was unbearable.

Katara spoke. "...um. I dunno…" She started to wring her hands.

Aang seemed to notice. "Eh…maybe…maybe let's just have me and Toph try it first, yea? We're the best at spells right now."

"Excellent." Draco concluded and motioned for Aang and Toph to take the floor.

"Aang walked cautiously forward, Neville helped Toph up and guided her to her spot facing Aang.

And there was a moment, where they stood facing each other. A hush fell upon the room and a light breeze flew through and, for that moment, they stood in silence, squared off, standing tall, they both looked epic.

And suddenly, they both snapped into stance. Dueling stance. Aang with his wand over his head. Toph with her wand trained straight forward.

Everyone in the room immediately took a step back as both their faces held a deadly seriousness to it.

"Is…is this fair? She can't see…" Katara started to whisper when suddenly Aang's wand sliced through the air. His movement had grace and fluidity, as if he was dancing through the motion, every movement gracefully connected to the previous as he progressed through his cast.

"Stupify!" Aang yelled and the spell hit Toph directly in the chest and she flew across the room. She landed in a stack of pillows that definitely weren't there a moment ago.

"The room gasped. Katara yelped. And yet, just as everyone started to move, they stopped just as quickly.

For just then, Toph's face snapped right up looking directly at Aang and an eerie smile slithered across her features.

"There you are." She muttered with deep pleasure and suddenly she was up. Her feet stomped resolutely onto the ground, her wand stabbed the air, and she solidly snapped into each motion of her cast, her movements were not graceful and fluid, but sturdy and steadfast. Grounded. Rapid.

"Rictosempra!" She yelled and before Aang could think he was doubled over with a tickling sensation. Aang rolled on the floor laughing and Toph stood resolutely, even as she winced at the sound of his laughter.

Finally, Harry ran over to counter the charm. Ron crossed his arms and stared curiously at Toph. "How…how did she know where he was?"

Katara smirked. "She waited and listened. She let Aang hit her with that curse on purpose…to deduce where he was…"

Zuko nodded slowly. Ginny smirked, "Looks like she's maybe found a way to utilize her super senses to her advantage…brilliant." She mused.

Katara smiled. "Yes, but that's nothing new to Toph. Her connection to the earth helped her see but she's always utilized her other senses, especially in battle."

Hermione rubbed her chin. "You know, perhaps…perhaps she can do the same here…in a different way. With her sight I mean. Her senses are not only heightened by lack of one sense…it's also heightened by magic. If bending can help her see and magic is just the manifestation of bending in this dimension, then perhaps there is a magical equivalent to her earth bending connection when it comes to her sight. Perhaps there is a case study out there. Hell, perhaps there's a spell or potion out there to cure blindness not inflicted by magic for all I know…I can't believe I've never thought about it before…" Hermione muttered more to herself than anyone else and she seemed to completely miss the looks of flabbergasted shock on Katara, Zuko and Ginny's faces.

Katara was about to retort when suddenly there was a rumble and a loud noise as a medium sized forge suddenly appeared next to Sokka.

The gang snapped their attention over to him. Toph screamed.

"SOKKA, WHAT THE HELL?!" Katara yelled, then immediately looked over apologetically to Toph as she crushed her hands to her ears.

Sokka turned to the group as if coming out of deep concentration. "Huh?"

"WHAT are you doing?" Neville questioned. "What the hell is that?"

"A Forge. I'm making a thing." Sokka said absently mindedly before turning back to his work with an annoyed look on his face. As if forges appearing out of nowhere was as normal as breathing and the gang were being unreasonable.

"...WHAT?" Draco gasped but Sokka just made a shooing motion with his hand.

The gang stared curiously at him for a moment before being distracted by Aang, who had just been released from his giggling fit by Harry. "LUCKY SHOT TOPH!"

Toph shook her head at his yelling, but compared to the noise that damn forge made, it wasn't so bad. "Oh, that was all skill twinkle toes " Toph smirked, dusting herself off and crossing her arms.

Draco sighed. "Alright, whose next?"

But it was a silly question. There were only two that needed to go. Zuko and Katara. They both looked at eachother nervously.

"Relax. You both are rubbish. Not like you can really hurt eachother." Draco said before being punched by Ginny.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You guys can practice disarming. Doesn't hurt, just knocks your opponents wand out of their hands."

Draco smirked and walked towards the window, "Leave it to Potter to treat you like infants. All this 'Enemies turned friends" nonsense has no place on the dueling platform. Get over it. Face your opponent and get on with it."

Zuko seethed for a moment before he was hit with an idea. A positively devious new tactic. "Oh yea? Do you really believe that?"

"Of course I do. I don't do pointless sentimentality like the rest of you." Draco clearly lied. "Your complicated little emotions towards each other are a waste of time, yours and mine."

"Well then." Zuko started. "If you're telling the truth, then perhaps you will humor me?"

Draco arched an eyebrow. "What are you on about?"

Zuko smirked, and slowly started walking forward. "Well…I think, perhaps, as novices we may benefit from a…expert demonstration. Nothing…interesting. Purely instructional. Perhaps, master witches and wizards could show us the ropes?"

Draco's smirk dissolved, it was taking Zuko entirely too long to get to his point. Something was up.

Zuko's smirked widened evily. "Since you don't do complicated emotions, then it should be no problem for you to conduct this demonstration….against Hermione."

Draco turned pale.

"Yes." Zuko continued. "Just an absolutely boring, textbook demonstration. No complicated emotions…no sentimentality."

Draco felt the flash of panic shoot through him the second he said her name. His eyes flashed towards her.

And yet her facial expression did not hold the same fear, apprehension.

She looked like nothing.

Nothing.

An awkward moment passed and Zuko started to feel a small twang of guilt bubble up. He hated lying, he hated the feeling it gave him when he was being lied to and it was clear the Draco was lying…and he would reckon it. But perhaps he should have considered how it would make Hermione feel.

Zuko was an observant man and he knew something had shifted in their relationship. He recalled how they interacted with eachother when he first met them, both verbally and non verbally, but he could tell something had shifted, and that they were both lying about it. Hiding it. He didn't know how he knew they were trying to hide it, but he knew. Since the moment Draco shifted in that chair when Ron called her a bitch…no, their relationship had changed.

Enemies turned…something.

Still, Zuko hated lying and they would reckon it. They must reckon it.

"Fine." Hermione said simply, and Zuko was taken completely off guard by the indifference in her tone, as was Draco, as was everyone else.

She padded quietly to the center of the room. Stood resolutely and looked Draco straight in the eye.

Draco, with great reluctance, dragged himself to face her. He couldn't look at her at first. He couldn't bear to see the hatred in her eyes. The relish at the opportunity to make him suffer. Those were the looks everyone else gave him. For some reason, he couldn't bear to see it from her too.

But the emotion he couldn't bear to see the most? Fear. Did she fear him? After everything his family had done to her?

Finally, he looked up. And grey met brown.

There was nothing…at first. But then the slightest look flashed across her face.

And for some reason, it gave him hope. Courage. Power.

The look was nothing obvious or striking, it was just…she looked at him like he was just…him. Not a monster, or someone to fear, someone to harm or even someone to pity. It was amazing how a flash could say so much. That flash in her expression seemed only to be for him and expressed a need she desperately hoped he understood. And he did. He understood, for he needed the same thing.

What they needed was for someone to see them as they used to be. The person they had always been.

He had been chasing this need since Voldemort's return. It's elusiveness had been destroying him for years, chained to an identity he didn't want. But with that flash in her expression, he felt it. He felt like the arrogant, privileged, special Draco. Not a villain of magical history or a defeated boy. Just smirking, snarky Draco Malfoy. God how he missed it. How desperately he had been trying to get back to that Draco in a world that would never let him. For just ONE person to see him as he was.

In her eyes, for a moment, he could both forget and remember. He could feel safe. Safe to be himself. He could be free.

And an old familiar smirk slithered across his face.

It was the smirk that triggered it. The moment Hermione saw it, it took her back to another time. A better time. A simpler time. And it was wonderful. It was what she had hoped it would be. He understood her.

Hermione felt like all she did lately was oscillate between rage, fear, rage, and uncertainty. And she felt like everyone could see it. And suddenly, she hated to be seen.

If it wasn't Harry's constant suspicious check-ins on how she was doing, or Katara's almost annoying empatheticness, she felt like everyone was watching her. She was just an upsetting thing that needed to be watched.

The only one that didn't seem to be watching her was Ron.

And there was a terrible pang that hit her chest that made her seethe with anger and drown with sadness. She HATED all these weak emotions! This new emotional Hermione was exhausting! How she desperately wished to grasp the old Hermione again. The bookworm plowing through scrolls with rapid curiosity, reveling in discovering this new magical life. Yea, she may have cried a little too much back then, but those tears were for trivial things, she could snap out of it so quickly. Now, her tears seemed endless, the battle to keep them from falling was infinite, a weight around her throat, ever tightening.

They were all going through it, of course. The painful march to figure out who they were after the war. Her moment with Harry in her parents' basement certainly proved that. And that moment meant so much to her, supportive and cathartic. It served a purpose for both of them...but it wasn't enough. She felt like she was spending all her time trying to figure out what she was becoming and had lost who she'd always been. She missed the old Hermione. She wanted to remember Hermione!

And so, while Harry wanted to be the shoulder to cry on, to help her understand the present, the person she was becoming. Draco preferred to be the wand to duel. The mouth to argue and trade jabs with. He helped her remember the past, to understand who she had always been. A reminder that not everything needed to be hugs and kisses to be healing. To be freeing.

With a flash and a smirk. They were equals.

Equally broken.

And in their trauma, they normalized eachother. They had been having more and more of these moments of connection. They had been unconsciously giving eachother something that they hadn't realized they needed. They were in this together.

With a smirk and a flash, they had silently recognized something that two lifelong enemies could not yet say out loud.

They were friends.

They locked eyes and the smirks grew on both their faces.

"You want a demonstration from a master witch and wizard?" Draco started.

"We will oblige you. "Hermione finished.

And suddenly, it seemed like the room was moving, was alive. Everyone had hardly registered that the battle had begun and it was already a sight to behold.

Draco and Hermione sliced their wands through the air, rapid fire spells, swift evasive maneuvers, chairs flying, wind whipping.

"Bombarda!" Hermione cried and the bookcase exploded.

But Draco's cry of protego came just as swiftly. And the spell casting shifted swiftly to wordless.

The fires from the fire place came alive and suddenly started to surround Hermione, but just as quickly, it disappeared to glitter, which transfigured to shards of glass and went roaring towards Draco, and with a slash of his wand, it transfigured to sand and turned into a tornado and went barreling back at Hermione. Harry had a moment of Deja Vu.

"You'll have to do better than that Granger!"

She barrel rolled across the room and an army of crows appeared around her. She levitated off the ground as the crows flew around her rapidly, she waved her wand just as rapidly in a complicated motion and suddenly they were shooting towards Draco in what appeared to be tactical squadrons.

He flew up into the air suddenly and, with another set of complicated slashes, he was riding on the crows, he was their master now. The window exploded and a wave of water came in and Hermione was surfing on it, Now it was Katara's turn to have a brief moment of deja vu as Draco and Hermione chased each other through the air on strange chariots of water and crows.

"HOLY MOTHER OF HELL!" Harry yelled out as he cast spells of protego around everyone, creating a protective barrier around Team Avapotter as they all huddled in the corner.

And yet Hermione and Draco didn't seem to notice.

They were both laughing raucously as they battled.

They had been laughing the whole time.

Shooting spells at eachother as they rode on the wind, Hermione slashed her wand and the stones from the walls came loose and shot at Draco, he slashed back and the stones lit on fire, changed course and shot back at Hermione, she swished the water from her wave chariot up, simultaneously drowning the fire and stopping the stones.

"Not today Icky Draky!"

And suddenly they were back on the ground, staring at each other with smirks on their faces, panting, hair all over the place, clothes looking crazy. Locked in a stare down, but still smiling wildly all the same.

They were free.

"OK. THANK YOU. WE'VE GOT IT!" Neville yelled suddenly and their cathartic trance was broken. They both looked blinkingly around the room and finally noticed everyone huddled in the corner looking terrified.

Suddenly, Hermione seemed to realize where she was. She laughed awkwardly. "Eh…and…that's…magic."

"Yes." Draco concluded, awkwardly trying to smooth his hair down. "All the magic."

Harry came stumbling forward. "What….how…WHAT?! You…you could have killed someone! When did you guys become so…so powerful?!"

Hermione had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself. "What can I say? The entire time we were on the run, all I did was study dueling magic…and ever since we stopped running…well, I can't seem to stop studying it." And there was a stricken tone to her words that Harry didn't miss and, at the same time, completely understood. If he was honest with himself, he had been doing the same thing. It was a compulsion, one never knew when someone would try to hurt him, to hurt someone he loved. He had to be ready. He looked towards Draco.

Draco shrugged. "Do you have any idea how many people have tried to kill me since the war ended? The things I've had to do to people to protect myself and my family? This shouldn't be a surprise to you, Potter."

The silence was thick.

And the gang all nodded their heads. For everyone in that room understood the crippling impulse to always be ready. Forcing yourself to become more powerful than you really wanted to be because you spent so long being chased, tormented. You had to be ready.

And yet Draco and Hermione did seem to look more and more morose.

And Aang chimed in. It wasn't fair that they should feel guilty, for they weren't the only powerful people in that room and they certainly were not the only ones who had wielded that power. "Once, I almost killed a tribe of sandbenders for stealing Appa. Blew up their sand gliders and, if it wasn't for Katara, I would have buried them alive in the desert. I was so powerful…I could have wiped them all out in one hand movement and the crazy thing is…that's one of the tamer things I've done with my power. I…I have the ability to take people's bending away. I can take it from them."

Everyone in the room gasped. If bending and magic came from the same force …did he have the ability to strip people of their magic too?

Aang looked horrified with himself for saying it out loud. Katara quickly grabbed his hand. She spoke, she couldn't allow him to put himself out there like that alone. " I have the power to strip people of their free will using their…blood. Blood contains water, you see. I can control the blood in their body and force them to do whatever I want. I've …Ive done it before to the man who killed my mother…."

Zuko sighed. He had started this. He needed to make amends. "I have the power to control lightening. I can electrocute anyone, anytime, at will. I can take someone's life in an instant."

Toph went next. "Two men kidnapped me once. I invented an entirely new form of bending to escape them. I imprisoned them there and…well, I kind of left them to die. I am the most powerful Earthbender in the world."

Sokka was thoughtful for a moment. "I'm pretty sure I invented flying. Like, you know that Aeroplank thing you guys said you saw when you were flying on Appa? Pretty sure I've invented what will be the forerunner to that. People can now fly in ships in my world because of me.' Sokka looked proud for a moment, but then his expression changed. "But …because of that, air warfare is now a thing. An entirely new form of destructive power, a higher form of war. A lot of people have suffered because of that."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. "I killed a man. People try to tell me it was the wand, I tell myself that I tried to warn him but…I knew what was going to happen. I ensured it. I systematically cut off every magical attachment he had to life… I killed Voldemort. I killed that man. Neither could live while the other survived."

The room was filled with a heavy silence as everyone processed what they were truly capable of. Could one be both truly powerful and truly good?

Neville looked around the room at all the guilty, desperate faces of his friends and he sighed. "Power is complicated. Good and bad is rarely black and white, although we all like to act like it is. Power is often a curse as much as it is a blessing. What may be good for one person, well, is often hurtful to someone else."

Neville stood for a moment while the gang processed what he was saying, then continued," The things we have gone through…it changes us. We can't always make the right decisions or be mindful of the consequences for others or control the behaviors we develop as a result of the things we've had to do to survive. Life is not easy nor clear and sometimes we have to accept that we will not always be the good guy to some, we will never make perfect decisions. And sometimes, we have to make decisions that we KNOW will hurt others. All we can do is try to be the best person that it is possible to be in any given moment based on the circumstance. And if we don't rise to the challenge, try to do what we can to be better next time. We have to be easier on ourselves. We are imperfect and we are powerful, neither of those things were a choice and…that's ok."

Everyone in the room sat quietly for a moment. Ron looked at Neville thankfully, he spoke. "Deep, Neville. Where did you learn all this levelheaded stuff? I mean, we've all been through the same barmy crap and yet, I've noticed that you seem to handle it better than all of us. How do you do it, mate?"

Neville was quiet for a moment. "Clarence Clavicula."

Hermione looked shocked and then immediately suspicious. "Clavicula? When have you been seeing him? We've just gotten back."

Neville shuffled his feet. "Eh…I've been seeing him for…a while."

Ginny arched an eyebrow. "A while?"

Neville sighed but looked resolute. It was time. "I've been seeing him once a week, since I was five years old. That was when my gran started taking me to visit my parents in Mungos. After that, I wouldn't produce magic, became very timid and quiet….my gran couldn't figure it out. She thought I was a squib and panicked. In her desperation, she started asking everyone what they thought she should do and while many family members came up with traumatizing, insane 'remedies', one family member suggested that maybe my lack of magic was a mental thing and suggested mind healing."

Neville blew out a hard breath and shut his eyes tight.

"Nev…Neville you don't have to talk-" Katara started but Neville cut her off. This was his choice, not her decision.

"It was Clavicula that helped me realize that, after seeing my parents and learning what happened to them, I had started to associate magic with pain and loss and so…I wouldn't do it. I was subconsciously protecting myself. And of course, my family wasn't helping by trying to terrorize me into doing magic. But…. after alot of hard work, finally, I started to reshape my view of it and I finally was able to produce it." Neville sighed and wiped some sweat off of his brow that had nothing to do with the temperature. He continued. "I still struggle with it. I think that's why I had such a hard time in school. But over the years, I started to see how magic could protect more than it can harm.

Neville closed his eyes and smiled softly. "In Mungos, there is a plant they use that helps with the symptoms of psychosis, it would…I guess it would calm the symptoms down. They've been treating my parents with that plant for years, and it helps them to do some semblance of communication with me. It helps them to see me. Doesn't cure it, of course, but…it helps. Magic took my parents from me but it has also given me a relationship with them. It's complicated to navigate my feeling towards magic and it's power sometimes, but I am thankful… I love herbology." Neville trailed off.

There was a deep silence following the revelation.

And suddenly, Toph walked right up to Neville and hugged him. And curiously, he hugged her right back without hesitation. And everyone in the room had the discipline not to gasp.

Toph turned, not completely sure why she was about to say this: "There was a time where I wished more than anything that…that I could see the world the way everyone else did. That I didn't have to see it through vibrations. My frustration with being forced to see a different world from everyone else ..with being treated differently because of it, was unbearable sometimes and I acted out because of it. I created an entire double life as a Champion Earthbending fighter…I became…obsessed with becoming more and more powerful." Toph chuckled at herself for a moment. " At the time, I thought that if I could just show everyone how strong I was…if I could just get a little more powerful….everyone would see that I wasn't so different. That I wasn't helpless. I would take their fear over their pity any day. But…I realized that I've been looking at my blindness in the wrong way. Yes, it's bad in some ways but… I suppose it's also a blessing. If I hadn't been born the way I was, I wouldn't have been able to develop my Earthbending in such a uniquely powerful way. I would never have had the opportunity to live this incredible life I've lived….I've used my power to crush my enemies, I've hurt a lot of people, but I often forget that I've used this same power to connect with the world. I used it to train Aang, and in doing so, I used my power to save my world. But most importantly, my blindness and the power that came with it…it led me to you guys. My friends. Power is complicated…but Neville is right. Life is complicated, nothing is Black and White. Good often comes with bad and maybe it isn't so bad to go easy on ourselves."

Tears ran down Katara's cheeks. Zuko did the same though he tried to hide it. Both wanted to speak but neither seemed to be able to. They weren't ready and they weren't the only ones.

Neville looked around. "Look, I know you all may have your reservations about Clavicula but…if you can, give him a chance. It won't be easy but…it could help."

Sokka was affected. And it was making him itchy. He had to do something to lighten things up, things were starting to become clearer…too clear for him to handle right now. He needed to redirect things a bit. "Meh. What Draco and Hermione did was cool...but I wish you guys could have seen some of the stuff we've done."

The room just kind of stared at him.

Yet while the others were trying to figure out what the hell he was going on about, Hermione, as always, seemed to activate. "Sometimes, I wish we hadn't told you all to not bend while you were here. It would have been fascinating to see what you all could do with your full bending abilities…too late now I guess…"

Zuko was thoughtful. "I don't know if that's completely true."

Hermione cocked her head to the side.

He continued, "Don't you remember what Clavicula said? Pensieve therapy."

Draco's eyebrows raised. "Oh yea, right." Hermione gasped as well, quickly cottoning on to what they were saying. The rest of the gang looked puzzled.

"See not tell." Zuko continued. "The pensive allows us to see what you've already seen. You may not be able to see us bend in real time very well anymore but…if we are all doing pensive therapy together…you'll be able to see what we've done. And we'll get to see the same with you all."

Draco started to sweat. The whole room started to sweat at the thought of having everyone see what they've done in their past.

"Hmm. Right. You think Clavicula will take requests?" Sokka started, totally inappropriate as usual. "I want to see that brain thing Ron mentioned in the Department of Mythicals."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Mysteries. Department of Mysteries…and I don't think that's the purpose of Pensive therapy. It's not supposed to be an entertaining telebishawn show…or set of books turned into movies."

Harry arched an eyebrow at Ron. "That was oddly specific." Harry mumbled. "Buuut, if I'm being honest, didn't Aang say he turned into a giant fish once? I'd like to see that."

The room started to get a little lighter. They all looked around and smiles started to creep on their faces.

"Well I, for one, am going to lose my goddamn mind if I don't see what an Unagi is!" Neville exclaimed.

And laughter permeated the room.

"I'd love to see what the air temples looked like!" Luna exclaimed.

"Didn't Harry have to fight a dragon?" Aang started excitedly, Zuko fidgeted.

"To be honest, it was more me flying around on a broom, trying to not get fricasseed by a dragon while trying to grab a golden singing egg." Harry replied.

Aang arched an eyebrow. "You said that like it doesn't sound equally amazing."

"Oh! How about when Hermione punched Draco in the face!" Sokka laughed out.

"We are NOT watching that." Draco sneered.

"Aaaand now it's the absolute ONLY thing I want to see." Sokka replied.

"Mermaids! I need to see the Mermaids!" Zuko blurted mysteriously. Everyone stared at him curiously. " Eh…they watch me through the window in my dormroom, I can see them just out the corner of my eye…not sure if I should be flattered or worried. I DO know that I need to be very …aware when I change clothes."

And laughter enveloped the room again and it was wonderful.

The levity. The opportunity to see eachother at their best, to see the lives that eachother had lived. To see the good as well as the bad. The fact that they were laughing together again. It seemed like they had been living from heavy moment to heavy moment. Learning about each other in pieces and parts. Fighting and suspecting and crying. The rage.

How wonderful it felt to laugh and joke, to not have to take everything so seriously. To be teens. To get to know each other again. Who they were, who they are, and perhaps who they hoped to become. Now they would finally get to SEE each other. Truly see, not watch, or whisper, or suspect.

Not hide.

The idea of not having to hide. What an alien prospect nowadays. Both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. And though they all knew that they would be exposing parts of their lives that they wished to bury, the fact that they may also be sharing the good times again gave them such a wonderful sense of hope. Even if only for a moment.

And it was freeing.

Yes, perhaps they would give Clavicula a chance after all. Only time would tell.

Ah, to be free.

…

They looked glorious tonight. It had been some time since they had visited with him. And yet every time he closed his eyes, he hoped to see them again. He hoped for another clue.

Why were they chasing him? Or perhaps he was chasing them? Perhaps it wasn't a chase at all. With every interlude, it felt more and more like a meeting of old friends.

He wasn't a God at all. He was a friend. A beloved. They just needed to get to him, they were trying so desperately to get to him, and he to them.

The beam of light was always blinding and yet he had gotten so used to seeing it that it's magnificence had become a formality. He waited patiently for it to split, this time would finally be the time he would get to meet them. He was sure of it.

Finally, they split and yet he was still there. They were running, as if determined to get to him before reality did. He squinted his eyes, trying to glimpse them.

Now was the time. This was it.

As they got closer than they ever had before, they became clear. He could see them. And they were beautiful. Ethereal:

Two Penguin Otters

A Badgermole

A Dragon

A Lemur

He blinked and suddenly they were right on top of him, swirling around him, dancing gaily, finally able to reach their friend.

Friends.

And as they glowed and shone and danced and sparkled, the loving spectres sang to him:

"A time of woe;

Trapped in sadness,

Only Love can heal.

Home resides,

Where happiness leads.

Worlds intertwine,

In melodic unison

Sharing a pain,

Of lessons not yet learned.

The Best lessons are the ones you never knew you learned,

From those you aren't even sure were real

Only Love can heal.

An innocent can return home,

Lost so long ago.

Once learned, once loved, once healed,

Happiness will lead you."

Aang collapsed to the floor in a cold sweat. Had he been standing? Reality returned to him and, at first, all was a blur. He could vaguely hear noises but he hadn't quite made it back, his head was swimming and yet oddly warm.

Finally, he closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breathe before opening them. And the world was far louder.

"Aang!"

"Aang, are you alright?"

"Aang, come back to us!"

Aang's vision started to focus. Finally, he pushed himself up and looked around. He was in the dim common room of the Head's Suite. Yet, he was on the floor. Had he fallen off the couch?

"What…what happened?" Aang mumbled. He squinted his eyes and looked up. Finally, he saw Katara, and he felt a sense of relief.

But she wasn't the only one.

Harry and Hermione kneeled next to him, clearly in their pajamas. What were they doing here?

"Aang…you…you were glowing….and…talking." Katara started, she wrung her hair and nervously looked at Harry and Hermione.

"Frankly, it was more like yelling. In a bunch of different voices…" Hermione started gently. "It…sort of…woke us up."

Suddenly, Aang felt a bit panicked. His sleep talking was nothing new but it had never been this…public. It wasn't exactly something he WANTED his hosts to know about. He didn't want to freak anyone out anymore than he already had. Another thing for them to worry about. He paled at the concerned look on everyone's faces. "I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't…" But He trailed off as he noticed the looks on Harry and Hermione's faces.

They didn't look scared. They looked surprised of course, but not horrified.

Harry helped Aang up onto the couch. "You were talking. Sounded like a poem, to be honest. 'Love can heal…the best lessons…worlds intertwined…" He looked over to Hermione, "Do you think he's..."

"Yes, I think so." She nodded to Harry and returned her gaze back to Aang. "You were repeating yourself. After the third time you said it, I wrote it down." Hermione said, she showed him a small notebook. "Seems like you were trying to tell us something…"

Aang was starting to become concerned. They seemed far too calm about this whole thing. Shouldn't they be scared? Confused? Angry?

"How long has this been going on?" Hermione asked gently. A strange question to ask of him.

Aang looked away. He didn't want to seem like he was keeping things from them, but he couldn't exactly pretend like this was something he had "forgotten" to tell them either.

Finally, he came to the conclusion that he was caught and just came clean. "I've been having these…dreams since I got here…except, they were never really ...complete until tonight. Like…every time I dreamed, it was like I was getting a new piece of it. Like it was progressing."

"Hmm." Hermione uttered. She looked at Harry. "What do you think?"

Harry shrugged. "No idea. Not like I've ever really understood the mechanics of it. Figured you would know better than I would."

Hermione nodded. "There's not a lot out there. It's so subjective, kind of depends on the individual, you know?"

"Hmm." Harry nodded in agreement.

Katara and Aang looked at each other. What were they talking about? Why were they so calm? Katara seemed to share Aang's confusion. Finally, she asked a question she knew they were both thinking.

"Eh…aren't you…I dunno, freaked out?" Katara started, not sure if she should.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Harry shrugged again. Hermione continued. "Um…well. The glowing is always kind of freaky, but it's not like it's the first time we've seen you glow and talk funny."

Harry continued. "Plus…well, minus the glowing, we've seen this before in our world. I guess you could say I'm kind of surprised. But it's not unheard of. I suppose I'm moreso shocked that you turned out to be one, although given your background and the connection with the spiritual world that the Avatar possesses in your world, I guess it's not THAT surprising."

Aang and Katara looked at each other. It's like they were speaking in pieces. Hermione seemed to notice their confusion.

"Sorry, this probably makes no sense to you." Hermione muttered to Aang and Katara, she addressed Harry. "I grabbed the notebook as soon as I realized what was going on."

"Good thinking. "Harry concluded.

Aang was beyond frustrated. For weeks, he had been hiding his sleep talking, afraid his hosts would freak out if they knew. And yet, they seemed to be calm as you please, they seemed to know something. "AND COULD SOMEBODY TELL ME WHATS GOING ON?!"

Hermione sighed as her mind started to put the pieces together. "I mean,…with the glowing incident right before we found Appa, the question of what that was about had been floating around in the back of my mind for a while, but at the time, there wasn't a clear explanation…I sort of forgot about it… but once we confirmed you guys were magical and then this happened… it makes sense now…I suspected that perhaps you were…special abilities in the magical world aren't unheard of…"

"I SWEAR TO THE SPIRITS, CAN YOU STOP TALKING IN RIDDLES AND JUST SPIT IT OUT!" Aang yelled.

Hermione sighed again. "I don't think those are dreams you're having. I don't think it was a coincidence that you were glowing right before you found Appa. In our world, what you're experiencing…it's not common. It's a rarity, difficult to control. I guess you could liken it to the Avatar state, it transcends the physical world. It really only happens once in a generation. What you have, It's a gift."

Aang just looked at her.

Finally, Harry dropped the bomb. "Aang. You're a Seer."

Author's Note. Hey Kids. As always, its been a while. I feel like this one is shorter than usual. Had some questions I needed to answer. Some stuff I wanted to say. Trauma is a wild, insidious thing. Im thankful I can use this to explore it. Ive got plenty of it and Im sure many of you do too. If you can, make sure you're talking to someone about it. Its always good to explore ourselves in a safe way. The story marches on and sometimes I feel like Im bleeding into it, working through some stuff of my own, ya know? Often times, our writing reflects ourselves as much as it reflects the characters or the plot. It helps me. So our heroes are not so different from us huh? And why would they be? War is complicated, life is complicated, and people are complicated. I hope you are all doing alright. Thanks for alerting and favoriting. I hope you're still feeling the story and if not, thats ok. I am imperfect lol. Been writing this for a little over ten years, some of you have grown up with me. Wow, that is wild to think about, what an honor. Tried to get some humor back in there, the next part is going to be daunting. Pensieve therapy, lots of scenes Id love to cover, lots of feelings that can come out of it, and a fair amount of laughs too. We shall see how it goes. Thanks for stickin with me kids.