History and Greenhorn

Harry gave the Shepherd his thanks and walked to the infirmary hoping that River wasn't around. He didn't want another confrontation with her and to his luck the doctor was alone.

"Hi, doctor?"

"You can call me Simon," he replied smiling kindly. "What can I do for you?"

"Err... I was wondering if I could borrow your encyclopaedia."

Simon frowned. "My encyclopaedia? Why?"

"No reason," Harry replied quickly. "Just wanted something to read, that's all."

Simon looked at Harry shrewdly before coming to a decision. He rummaged through his drawers and handed a metal pad to the wizard.

"What happened here anyway?" Harry asked Simon. The room was a complete mess.

"Jayne was looking for tape. Unfortunately, he hasn't been blessed with an abundance of intelligence and this was the result."

"Oh," Harry said smiling but not really paying attention. "Well thanks, I'll get this back to you once I'm done." After I figure out how to use it anyway, he added mentally.

"Harry!" Simon called out suddenly.

"Yes?" he replied poking his head back through the door.

"Do you know why River acted out against you?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Simon, I have no idea. It's a mystery to me as well." That was a lie but Harry didn't care. He couldn't tell them that he had fended off a mental attack by that girl which made her angry.

Simon looked disappointed. He felt that if he had an idea then it could help him in his diagnosis of her condition, whatever it was.

"Thanks again Simon," Harry repeated and quickly left.

It took him a while but after about an hour he figured out how to use the machine. He was amazed at the way the device worked. There was no real button anywhere but it seemed that there were buttons under the screen and they kept shifting depending on what he touched. Plus it didn't help that the keys were in Chinese or Japanese, he wasn't sure, but after randomly touching the virtual buttons he was able to figure out what did what and what to press to an extent. He was really glad there was a button at the centre bottom which reset everything with one push. He used it multiple times to understand the devices functioning.

It took him another half an hour to realize that the device could be used using his voice alone. All he had to do was speak the words clearly and the screen would change to show him what he wanted. He couldn't wrap his head around the way it worked but he was glad the data was in English and not in a language that made no sense to him.

"Earth that was," he said clearly; that was how the others referred to Earth now. The screen changed instantly in front of his eyes and a very long article appeared with the title 'Earth that was.' It started with the very beginning of time and the evolution of the species but Harry impatiently scrolled past all that, not interested in a history lesson and he looked for the time around which he disappeared. When he came upon it, he was shocked to the core.

The exodus from Earth began in the year 2020; just twenty-three years after he was sealed. In 1996 a group of scientists discovered that Earth's resources were dwindling rapidly and it wouldn't be long before they ran out and ended up on a steady path to extinction. So they approached the most powerful civilization at the time, the United States of America and through them, other powerful countries were informed and in secret, the great minds of the twentieth century got together and decided to design and build massive arks that would journey across the universe carrying the human race to look for a new solar system. Based on the rate of the depletion of resources, they predicted that in fifty years, the Earth's temperature would reach such a level that it would become inhabitable and in sixty years there would be no resources left to keep them alive. This timetable was severely shaken when war broke out in the year 1998.

Harry knew it was no coincidence that the war happened just a year after his sealing.

The war originated in the Middle East; which confused Harry, and spread like wildfire throughout the world, marking the first and the last nuclear war to strike the planet. The war lasted for three long years and at the end of it, there were only three major powers that were left standing: The Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the United States of America. The reason they were the only three remaining was because the arks were being built in China and Russia and most of the funding and technology came from the Americans and the Russians. Now, with the world in shambles but all the resources in their hands, the work on the ark was sped up and a policy of population selection was established. Only the strongest were taken to the arks and priority was given to their own citizens. The world had 8 billion people at the time of the exodus. Only a billion made it to the arks.

That was the end and Harry scowled, irritated. There had to be more, he thought and he was right. At the end of the virtual page, was a smaller text that read 'Click to read about the journey in space and the new universe.'

Five thousand arks, which were the pinnacle of human technology, loaded with several species apart from humans, departed the Earth in a period of twenty days beginning on the fifteenth of August 2020 and for the next sixty years, they roamed the universe, improving and inventing new technologies and searching for a new home. A whole generation of people died without even getting a glimpse of this new home and another generation was born on the arks. Thousands of people were lost due to sickness and depression. Although the cultural diversity on the arks was vast - it was the American and Chinese cultures that dominated when, after forty years they came across a beautiful system with five solar systems all interlinked and in effect forming one massive solar system with dozens of stars and hundreds of moons and planets that were capable of being terraformed.

Hope had been renewed and the next twenty years were spent on terraforming planets to their needs and finally, after sixty long years, the human race had a place they could once more call home.

The core planets, being the largest and closest to the white star - that was the biggest star in the solar system and which was responsible for holding all the systems together - became great centres of technology and civilization while the other planets on the outer rim were occupied by those who did not want to be a part of the mainstream society. They did not have the same level of technology as the central planets and oddly enough, their cultures became a blend of the past and the future resulting in a unique society. But many of the inhabitants of the outer rim planets didn't embrace the future and they unknowingly adopted a lifestyle that was more fitting in the mid-nineteenth century. But their chosen culture worked and soon dozens of planets had been occupied and the people were happy.

'Read more about the Alliance and the Independents. Read more about Terraforming.' Harry impatiently pressed the Alliance and Independents part.

For nearly four hundred years, the central planets flourished at a rate that was unimaginable while the planets on the outer rim grew at their own pace, developing slowly and full of conflict. But they had enough resources to sustain themselves for millennia while the central planets had grown so rapidly that they needed to look to other planets for their sustenance. They did not want to repeat the same mistakes of Earth and they decided to preserve their own and pursue the ones on other planets. This was when the idea of the 'Union of Allied Planets' was formed, otherwise known as the Alliance. The members were made up of the richest and most powerful men and women in the core planets and this idea was spread to the entire verse, with promises of technology, education and superior culture.

Even after war robbed them of their home planet, Human nature had not evolved.

The planets on the outer rim were satisfied with their self-governance and wanted nothing to do with their parent planets but the Alliance was persistent and in 2506, the Unification War began; The bloodiest war in the history of the human race fought over the span of six years and ended in the valley of Serenity on Hera, where the loss of life was so great that the Independents, also known as the Brown Coats, surrendered to the Alliance forces.

Harry gasped when he read that part. Serenity and Brown Coats. This ship was called Serenity. Mal and Zoe wore brown coats. They had fought in this war for freedom and had lost.

He sighed, feeling waves of sadness wash upon him and he rubbed his eyes. Was there ever going to be an end to the conflict, he wondered miserably.

The answers brought about more questions but things were slowly making sense to Harry. But his main reason for looking through the encyclopaedia was to find some clue to the fate of the magical world but he could find nothing.

The only explanation he could come up with was that Voldemort had something to do with the war and it was possible that he used the Middle East to launch his war against the muggles. He was obviously defeated but had the magical world been annihilated? Wasn't Voldemort immortal? How could he be killed? And how could the magical world just cease to exist? Could it be that in the dark lord's drive to get rid of impure blood, Voldemort led the world to its doom?

Harry felt his brain would short-circuit if he took in more information and turned the encyclopaedia off. His timing was perfect because just at that moment the ship shuddered and the figurative bolts holding it together groaned in stress. A moment later the captain's voice suddenly boomed through the ship.

"This is the captain speaking, there seems to be a slight problem with our entry sequence so we might experience some turbulence so just hang on and if we're lucky we just might land in one piece."

Harry's mouth dropped open. "Land in one piece," he mouthed in horror and then hurried to the bridge. He didn't want parts of him on a new planet that he hadn't even stepped on!

"Captain," he yelled and then had to hold on to something as the ship shook violently again.

"Potter," Mal said cheerfully. "Strap yourself in or you might hurt yourself!"

"I don't want to land in bits and pieces!"

"Relax," Mal said comfortingly. "This happens all the time and if we're unlucky you don't have to worry about bits and pieces. You'll be vaporized!"

Wash's voice boomed through the ship's broadcast system before Harry could have a panic attack. "All's good people, we passed through without a hitch and in just a few moments we'll be on the ground!"

"Without a hitch, he says," Harry muttered disgruntled.

Mal laughed. "Cheer up kid, don't be so negative!" he said and hurried to the engine room.

Harry looked up at the bridge and he could see the blue outside. Excitement began to bubble in him and a broad smile was etched on his face. He was going to step foot on a new planet! He had never even dreamed of such a thing happening in his lifetime. Most of his childhood was spent dreaming about travelling to places outside Privet Drive and his Hogwarts time was mostly spent dreaming about running away to a different country! But now, here he was, ready to step foot on a different planet, on a system far away from Earth!

He hurried down to the cargo bay where Zoe and Jayne were loading some cargo in a jeep. Only it was bigger and seemed more capable of handling rough terrain.

Suddenly the entire ship jerked and Harry knew they had landed safely. The engine's whining drew to a halt and then there was silence.

"Alright let's go get paid people," Mal said, coming down two steps at a time. "Smells like the start of a good day."

"Can I come too," Harry asked.

"What?" Jayne said with scowl, distrust in his abilities reflected in his eyes.

"If it's alright with you, captain," Harry said to Mal ignoring the glowering Jayne.

"No," Mal said firmly. "We have business to deal with but if you want you can go out with Kaylee. She needs to be getting us some new parts anyway."

"Damn right," came Kaylee's sweet voice. "Don't want our baby to fall out of the sky now do we."

"Well it's settled then," Mal said and then he opened the doors.

Sunlight streamed in and Harry couldn't keep that smile that stretched from ear to ear off his face.

"Wonderful feeling ain't it," Kaylee said from behind him. "That warmth."

Harry nodded. "It feels like it's been forever," he whispered.

She took a hold of his arm and smiled. "Well let's go then."

"No one else is coming with us?" Harry asked.

"Simon isn't very keen on letting River into the town and Wash and the Shepherd are playing cards."

Harry closed his eyes and sighed in contentment when they stepped out of the ship. The feel of walking under the sun again was exhilarating. The land around them was barren and he could see a speck in the distance that seemed to be a town or city. They had to walk for a while before they entered the town.

Harry was fascinated by the town. It felt like he had dropped into one of the Wild West American movies that Dudley used to love watching. The buildings were made out of wood and looked like a strong gust of wind would blow them over. People rode horses and the roads were hardened dirt rather than concrete or tar. Mixed in with this bizarre settlement were the hovering vehicles that passed by and the digital billboards that were floating above the buildings showing several advertisements in Chinese and English.

Although he had read about it in the encyclopaedia, Harry couldn't believe he was seeing such a town five hundred years into the future. "What could have possibly made them erase years of progress and decide to live in such poor conditions," he thought watching a plump woman walking towards them holding a bunch of chickens by their legs.

"So where are we going?" he asked Kaylee.

"Well first we're going to roam around the town," she said cheerfully. "The meat on this planet is somethin' special alright!"

Harry's mouth watered at the sound of meat.

"And by the look on your face you can't wait to have a bite either!" she said laughing.

Harry grinned. "Eating food that feels like plastic has that effect on me."

"Do you want me for a night handsome?" breathed a sensual voice in his ear and Harry turned around to see a scantily clothed woman looking at him suggestively. "You look like you could use the pleasure," she purred, running a well-manicured finger down his neck.

"Err..." was Harry's eloquent response.

"No he doesn't," Kaylee said rudely and pulled Harry away from her.

When they walked a little ahead Kaylee turned to him. "You see a lot of that here too," she said irritably as she waved off another woman with heavy makeup who was coming their way. She pointed to a three-storied building behind them and said, "That's a brothel, one of Jayne's favourite places in the world."

"Wow," Harry said, finally reacting to the sensual voice that was still making rounds in his mind.

"Wow?" Kaylee said testily.

"Yeah," he said. "I've never had a woman say that to me."

Kaylee's mood shifted to amusement. "You're a virgin aren't ya?!"

"What?" Harry said defensively. "No!" and then he looked to the ground and muttered, "Yes."

Kaylee smirked. "Well I won't embarrass you any further," she said chuckling.

They soon arrived at a place called Cat's Bar and Kaylee excitedly dragged him inside. "They serve the best beer and meat here!"

Harry smiled at the enthusiastic girl and they both took a seat in the corner. Harry stared around spellbound. He had never seen a place like this. There seemed to be a perfect blend of the English and Chinese cultures and it was surreal. The tables and chairs were made out of oak and there were dimly lit Chinese lanterns hanging from above. Almost all the banners and menus were in Chinese and Harry knew he had to learn the language if he had to survive in this new world he found himself in.

"Harry!" murmured Kaylee breaking his thought process.

"What?"

"You're staring and people don't like it when others stare at them out here," she warned softly.

"Sorry," Harry whispered. "It's just that I've never been to a place like this and it's all a bit overwhelming."

Kaylee ordered two beers and a platter of meat when the immaculately dressed waitress came over. Harry began to stare at her peculiar hairstyle when he remembered Kaylee's words and quickly looked away.

"So where are you from anyway?" asked Kaylee once the woman had gone. "We still haven't figured that out yet."

"It's a long story and I don't want to talk about it," Harry said. "It's not a very nice story."

"Oh, I see," Kaylee said feeling a little awkward. "Well do you want to talk about River then?"

"What about her?" he replied neutrally.

"Why'd she go all feral on you?" she asked curiously.

Harry sighed. "I have no idea, Kaylee."

Kaylee soon realized that Harry was not much of a talker but he was rather cute and he was a virgin too, she thought, laughing in her head.

When the food and beer came all thoughts went straight out of the window.

"This is delicious!" Harry gasped. "What is it?"

"They have a lot of wild animals around here," Kaylee said chugging down a good portion of her beer. Harry followed her lead and took a deep gulp from his tankard. "This probably might be coyote meat. Greenhorn is one of the few planets where they have many wild animals. Not all the planets are like this one."

"Awesome," Harry said through a mouthful of food. It didn't take them long to polish their plates. "Can we have more?" he asked eagerly.

"Sadly no," Kaylee said shaking her head. "I don't have much coin on me and we have to get to the scrap yard or the captain will get mad at me."

"Coin, oh, erm, I don't have any money, Kaylee," he said feeling embarrassed.

"That's alright. I'm sure you'll pay me back soon enough."

Harry grimaced. That reminded him that he needed to find a job he could do on the ship so that he could get paid.

Kaylee paid the waitress and they left the bar.

"That was wonderful. Thanks, Kaylee," he said warmly and gratefully to the mechanic.

Initially, he had felt wonderful in the presence of the sun but now the dust and heat were biting into his skin.

"Are all the planets on the outer rim like this?" he asked rolling down his sleeves.

"The terrain is similar but there are differences," Kaylee replied. "It depends on a lot of factors like size, distance from the star but mostly the bigger it is the better."

"Huh, how does size matter?"

"Well you won't find any oceans on a moon but on a big planet you will. You'll find mountains, oceans, more variations in weather patterns and so on," she explained.

"Oh, that's interesting."

"It's curious that you don't know all this, Harry," Kaylee said. "Even little children have a decent abstract knowledge about the verse."

"My memories are still very foggy," Harry said with a laugh. "I remember things but nothing concrete."

Kaylee shrugged. "We're here," she announced and instead of walking through the gate she led him around to the back and they entered through a little hole in the wall.

"Are we breaking in?" Harry gasped.

"No," Kaylee whispered. "We're just entering a dump yard unannounced and leaving the same way without empty sacks."

"That's called breaking in and stealing Kaylee!"

"Well if you've got the credits to buy junk then go ahead, walk in through the front!"

Harry shut up after that and quietly followed the young woman as she inspected several odd-looking parts. Silently she handed stuff that she thought was useful to Harry and gestured at him to put them in the sack they had brought along.

Sighing Harry complied. He couldn't believe he was stealing, even if it was just junk.

As it turns out there wasn't much to take and a very disgruntled Kaylee walked beside Harry on their way back to the ship.

"Didn't find what you were looking for?" Harry said trying not to laugh at her expression.

She glared at Harry. "Get that look off your face! If stupid cap'n gave some more money I could buy parts which would actually work for a longer time instead of having to sneak in and salvage used parts."

Harry patted her head sympathetically. "There, there," he said. "I'm sure the parts we got will be useful."

"Probably as useful as plastic in my nether regions rather than the real thing," she complained.

Harry choked. He really hoped that he had misunderstood that statement. "Ha, ha," he laughed uncertainly.

Both were brought out of their musings when a group of men suddenly walked out of a narrow alley and blocked their path. They wore dirty leather pants and thick full sleeved shirts tucked into their pants. All of them had guns hanging from their belts.

"Well, well, well, what have we here," said the middle man in a deep rough voice. He was big, fat and there was nothing but cruelty radiating from his eyes. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

"Looks like a fine piece of flesh boss," said the one on the right. He was tall, thin, unshaven and had a few teeth missing.

Harry took one look at them and knew they had no good intentions about them. He shifted closer to Kaylee and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Is there something you wanted gentlemen?" he asked politely. There were three in front of them and from the corner of his eye, he spotted two more hidden in the alley beside them.

"We want the lass boy and if you want to get out of here unharmed then you best do as we say."

Harry tightened his grip around Kaylee who was now shivering in fear.

"And why do you want her?"

The men laughed. "You haven't been here in the past few months have you boy," said the one who hadn't spoken yet.

"No, I have not." Inside he was praying that the captain got suspicious of their delay and came to find them. "Care to enlighten me?"

"There's a new boss in town and he has a thing for pretty little things. If you'd known that you'd make sure a woman travels in these parts with strong and armed men around her!"

The leader smirked, revealing a row of dirty brown teeth. "And not some wimpy-looking kid instead."

"Kaylee, when I say so I want you to run as fast as you can towards the ship do you understand me?" he whispered quickly. At the same time, he began to gather his magic and focus on his legilimency. That was the only piece of magic he knew that didn't need a wand.

Kaylee just stood there stock still, her eyes darting from man to man wildly.

"Kaylee do you understand?" he whispered harshly and squeezed her arm.

She jumped at the pain and then processed what Harry had just said and nodded.

"You really think you can take us all boy?" asked the leader amused and one by one they drew their guns.

"Oh definitely not," Harry replied airily. "But they sure can," he said pointing behind them.

"Who?" they said and turned around and then Harry yelled "NOW" and shoved Kaylee away.

The men were too slow to react and Kaylee began to run like the devil was on her tail. Before they could form the first letters of protest Harry sprinted towards them with his fists raised.

His fist slammed into the leader's jaw and he fell to the ground. He remembered his training with Kingsley and focused on reading the men's movement with his legilimency. Snape had called this wide focus legilimency when you reached out with your mind and predicted the movements of those around you without having to make eye contact. Its range was short but it was effective in this situation.

He sensed a kick coming from one of the men and quickly rolled away and swiped with his feet at the third man who hit the ground hard. The other two men began to run after Kaylee but Harry quickly got up and rammed into them sideways sending them careening into the wall.

By now the other men had recovered from their shock at Harry's sudden attack and had moved to surround him.

The leader drew his gun and aimed at Harry.

Harry felt it coming and just as the man pulled the trigger Harry pulled the man he had pushed into the wall into the bullet's path.

The man screamed as the bullet pierced his shoulder.

Adrenaline was pumping through Harry's blood as he grabbed the pistol on the man who had gotten shot and aimed it at the men in front of him but then he sensed the other man swing his fist at his head and he ducked letting his friend get hit.

Harry shot him in the leg too but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the man's reflexive punch to his face. Dazed, Harry fell back into the arms of the leader of the group who held him in a headlock.

"Let him have it, boys," he growled and then the next few minutes Harry felt fist after fist being buried in his gut, slamming into his face and he got a couple in the groin too before they let him go and watch him crumble to the ground moaning.

It was a mistake on their part. They might have hurt him a lot but it didn't mean he was down and out for the count. He had endured far worse and for much longer too. He drew his leg back and slammed it into the leader's groin showing him what it felt like.

"Shoot him in the head gorramit!" he screamed in pain.

The man with the broken teeth took a few steps away from Harry and took aim and shot but Harry dodged again. He knew where the man was going to shoot.

"How is he doing this," yelled the toothless man and then Harry rammed his head into the man's stomach, grabbed his gun and dug it into his head and hid behind him.

The other four had regrouped by now and were pointing their respective weapons at him.

"Drop them," Harry commanded hoarsely. "Unless you want your friends' brains splattered all over the place." His vision was getting blurry with pain but he held on.

"You think we care?" growled one of the men.

"You should!" shouted a man from behind them and Harry couldn't have been happier to see who it was.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe had their weapons trained on the men. They looked so cool, all three of them with their weapons and the promise of pain lurking in their eyes, Harry thought when he laid his eyes on them. Relief flooded his body and he loosened his grip on the gun.

"Now ya'll want to drop your weapons and quietly walk away or things are going to get very ugly," Mal said coolly.

The men gave the three a very dirty look before dropping their weapons. They knew this was a fight they could not win and they were injured enough already, thanks to one wimpy-looking kid.

"You can let him go, Harry," Zoe said.

Harry nodded hesitantly and shoved the man away from him while keeping the gun trained on him.

Silently the men disappeared through an alley and Harry immediately collapsed. His face was all bloody and his body hurt like hell.

"Are you alright kid?" Jayne asked hauling the wizard to his feet.

Harry winced. "I'm alright," he muttered. "Let's just get back," he said and hobbled alongside the three towards their vehicle.

Just when they almost reached their ride Harry stopped suddenly and turned back. "Harry!" called out Zoe but Harry just gestured at them to hold on for a minute and hobbled back to the place where he had fought and picked up Kaylee's bag.

"The parts Kaylee picked out for the ship," he explained when he reached back.

Mal just shook his head in amusement and a smiling Jayne lifted Harry and the bag like he were lifted a feather and dumped him into the front seat.

"Any man who can take on five armed dogs bigger than he is alright in my book," Jayne said, responding to Zoe's questioning look.

Zoe rolled her eyes and started the mule and together they went back to the ship.

"Is Kaylee alright?" he asked Mal.

"She's fine," said the captain. "She's a little shaken up but fine otherwise. Bernoulli told us about this new crew who had landed here a few months back and he didn't have anything nice to say about them. In fact, they're so bad that the people here are considering trying their luck at getting the Alliance to help them get rid of these guys."

"They're despicable," Harry said quietly. But his voice was drowned under the din of the mule. Soon the ship came into sight and Harry felt a strange emotion bubble inside of him. Was that happiness he was feeling? Was he moving on from what had happened with Voldemort so easily? It was like time was rapidly catching up with him and he was putting his past behind him and readying himself for a new life. His brain was telling him that he needed to feel guilt, sadness and depression but it just wasn't coming! Happiness was pouring out of him now and he started laughing.

"Happy that you kicked some ass, Harry? Zoe asked good-naturedly.

"I would have finished them if you guys hadn't shown up," he said trying to look all arrogant and confident but his face told a different story. It was swelling up now and his eye was now sporting a lovely shade of purple.

Their vehicle climbed up the ramp of the ship and Harry was instantly engulfed by a tearful Kaylee.

"Uff, I'm alright," he said when a sobbing Kaylee crashed into him and held him like her life depended on it.

"You look like hell Harry!" Kaylee cried.

Inara and Book were watching the scene play out and were desperately trying to hold in their laughter.

"Come on," Mal said prying Harry out of Kaylee's grip. "Let's get you to the infirmary and have the good doctor patch you up."

Zoe ordered Wash to take to the sky from the com. Their job was done, they had got paid and now it was time to look for a new job.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Harry grimaced as the doctor cleaned his bruises. "What possessed you to take on 5 guys at the same time?" asked Simon. "You could have run with Kaylee!"

"They could have caught up and I needed to let Kaylee get away first," Harry muttered.

"Well if you would have taken off with Kaylee you might have run into the captain and then you wouldn't be in such shape."

"Didn't think of that," said the wizard.

Simon shook his head wearily. "You should place a little more value on your life," he admonished. "Your ribs are bruised quite badly and you're lucky you didn't get shot."

"I'm a good fighter," Harry said. "I knew I wouldn't have gotten shot."

Simon finished bandaging him up and stepped aside to let him get up.

"Take it easy and don't do anything strenuous," Simon warned.

"Got it and do you know where we're heading by any chance?"

"Don't know," replied Simon. "Once the captain makes contact with our next contractor, our destination will be set."

Harry nodded and then limped back to his room. It had been a long day and his mind and body ached to get some rest. But outside his room he found Kaylee sitting against the door. She was in her overalls and her face was smeared with grease.

"You look dirty," commented Harry jokingly.

Kaylee smiled and stood up. "I wanted to thank you for saving me Harry," she said emotionally.

"It's ..." began Harry but Kaylee just shushed him.

"You don't know us and we don't know you but you stood up for me and protected me."

Harry started sweating when Kaylee closed the gap between them.

"Thank you," she said and tenderly kissed him on the lips. A few seconds later, seconds that felt like an eternity to Harry, she pulled back smiling and walked away.

Harry just stood there, facing his door, stunned. Blood was rushing to his head and he felt light on his feet.

"Wow," he finally breathed out coming down from his pleasurable high and entered his room in a daze. "What a day it's been."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: Welcome to my world of Harry Potter & Firefly. Hope you enjoy this story and do keep leaving behind your reviews as you journey with this story.