Okay, so...disappointingly, I Want to Play a Game didn't pan out. So, this will probably be my last throw of the dice for a Harry/Rias fic, using a variation of the soulbond trope, but with a difference. Instead of there actually being a soulbond, there's something else, namely, an OC Sacred Gear. It's a bit of a cheat, but it does allow for Harry and Rias to have an already-established friendship, albeit one they aren't wholly certain is real. Time will tell if it becomes a proper fic.

However, for those of you sick of the long stream of High School DxD crossovers in the Cauldron, salvation may yet be at hand! As mentioned in the preamble to I Want to Play a Game, I have ideas for crossovers with Beast Tamer and The Eminence in Shadow. But now, I have a few ideas for a crossover with another work. Admittedly, it's one I have technically done already, as a oneshot crossover with Fate/Stay Night, and I've also posted a sample chapter of an abortive crossover with the Potterverse here.

I am speaking of Baldur's Gate 3.

I finally got off my arse and made my way through Act 1. I'm pretty much at the end of Act 1, barring some of the Underdark stuff, as the Tiefling refugees are about to throw a party for me. And I am broadly aware of some plot developments. So I have an idea or two on how to do a crossover that takes the ending(s) of the game into account. I'm still considering the pairing. Lae'zel's still on the cards, but Shadowheart is pretty much at the top, with Karlach not far behind (she's not at the top because of the complications involving her Infernal Engine).

If and when that'll eventuate, I dunno, but I'm feeling more confident about it.

ÓNEIROS KURANES

CHAPTER 1:

BIRTHDAY REUNION

"So, why are you crying?"

The redhaired girl looked up with bloodshot, tearstained eyes. She had cried herself to sleep, after learning what she did. Her parents didn't seem to care, that lothario and her bastard of an uncle certainly didn't, and her big brother and his Queen…they couldn't be seen to care. Even as young as she was, she knew why. When you grew up in a noble family, you learned about politics fast, even if you detested them.

And yet, she was asleep, and she knew she should be dreaming. Why else would she not be in her bedroom in her family's estate? Instead, she was in a playground, not in the Underworld, but somewhere in the human realm, she would venture. Sitting on a swing, rocking back and forth disconsolately, seemingly alone. At least until she heard the voice.

She saw a glasses-wearing boy with messy black hair and emerald eyes. He seemed cute enough, even with that scar on his forehead, mostly hidden by his hair. For some reason, that seemed to ring a bell with her, but she wasn't sure why.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"…That's my question," the boy said. Not nastily, he still showed concern in his features. He just seemed confused and wary. "I've been here enough times already. It's my dream. I've never dreamed of a beautiful girl before."

"…Your dream?" she asked. "But this is my dream." She looked down at the ground. "Not that it matters. I…I…"

And then, the emotions welling up inside her overflowed. The despair and anger just burst forth, and while she would have kept a lid on them in the waking world due to her training on deportment and keeping what her brother called a 'poker face', here, she decided, as it was a dream, it didn't matter. She wept, she wailed, she cried. All that pent-up emotion burst forth without words. Her earlier crying was but a trickle compared to the torrent that was coming from her now.

But warm arms embraced her, all of a sudden. "It's okay," the boy said gently. "I…come here to cry too. It's the only place I can cry, really. They don't want to hear me crying."

She was struck by how bleak his expression was when he broke off the hug, too old for a kid her age. And yet, he had tried, despite his own problems, to comfort her. Her, a stranger to him.

After a moment, she said, "…I'm Rias."

"…Hello, Rias. I'm Harry…"

It said a lot about how badly Rias Gremory's 18th birthday was turning out that she was glad when the wards she set up on the Occult Research Club building were tripped. This gave her an excuse to leave the party, which had degenerated into a vicious argument between her, her parents, and Riser Phenex. Why in the name of all that was unholy that that bastard had been let in, despite Rias specifying that he wasn't invited, Rias had no idea.

And he had come with unwelcome news, news her parents confirmed. For all that they claimed to love her, they were spineless in the face of the Phenex family, as well as their allies in the King Faction headed by her maternal bloodline, the Baels. Rias suspected, as did her brother, that this marriage was engineered mostly by the conservative Baels to punish Sirzechs for his more liberal policies. And for the current Lord Bael to punish his half-sister, Rias' mother Venelana, for having the temerity to sire two children with the Power of Destruction inherent to the Bael bloodline, when Lord Bael's oldest son Sairaorg had been born without it, and the other son, while he possessed the Power of Destruction, wasn't as good with it as he should have been.

Rias had known she was engaged to that scummy lothario for a long time. But she wasn't to be wed until she finished an undergraduate degree at university, thus giving her enough time to complete and train her Peerage, she hoped. Except now, Riser Phenex had decided that, now that Rias was 18, Riser had waited long enough to make her his trophy wife, and the rest of her Peerage either his concubines or drudges.

The negotiations were still ongoing, and she would have at least some weeks left before this was confirmed. But even her brother Sirzechs Lucifer wouldn't be able to get her out of this, not without arousing cries of nepotism. Never mind the fact that the Baels and the King Faction they led pretty much ran on nepotism, but Sirzechs Lucifer was one of the Four Great Satans, the leaders of the Devils, and so needed to set an example, which unfortunately was a double-edged sword. Unless the King Faction decided to stick to the wording of the contract, she'd be facing her first, if unofficial, Rating Game soon, with her freedom at stake.

It may seem somewhat hypocritical of a High-Class Devil to desire freedom above all else, when she not only had servants in the form of a Peerage, but out of that Peerage, only one of them joined her willingly, more or less. But she tried her best to look after them, to give them a happy home life, to treat them as family that they had been denied. Their servitude was mostly on paper, at least at this point. Though if Riser wed her, that would most certainly change, and not for the better. The best she could hope for was that her servants would be swapped out to any Peerage of Riser's younger sister Ravel.

It was because she wanted freedom from the shackles her family name weighed her down with that she attended high school in the human realm. Why she was joint Overseer over Kuoh with one of her few childhood friends, Sona Sitri. Why she was trying to pose as an ordinary high school student, albeit an exchange student from Europe. Sona's eyes had a look to them that could mimic the epicanthic fold of a Japanese, so she used a version of her name transliterated into Japanese, but Rias couldn't do that. Thankfully, none of the students at Kuoh Academy knew much about the Ars Goetia, the corrupted human equivalent of what was basically a Who's Who of the Underworld.

Still, that freedom would be taken away soon if Riser had any say. And her Peerage, her only friends outside of High-Class Devil society, would have their freedom stolen from them too. It was a galling thought, to say the least.

Well, that wasn't wholly true. Aside from her Peerage, and her few actual friends in High-Class Devil society (like Sona, her cousin Sairaorg, and fellow otaku Seekvaira Agares), she had one friend. Though she wasn't sure if he was real or not. Oh, he had the name of a fairly famous figure in certain circles, but she couldn't be sure whether he was real, or a figment of her overactive imagination.

But he had appeared to her in her dreams from an early age. He comforted her, and then, he learned of his true heritage and fame. He spoke to her of his misadventures, until she finally nutted up and admitted what she was. He was shocked, angry words were exchanged…and for a couple of years, he seemed to vanish. But then, he reappeared, changed. Hardened. A little broken. But still himself.

True, what he said tallied somewhat with the tabloid bullshit that Magical Britain dared to call the media. But was that her own imagination? She couldn't be sure. She only saw him in her dreams, and due to the unofficial agreement the Three Biblical Factions had to avoid interfering in the wizarding world, she couldn't go to his aid.

But they reconciled, in her dreams at least. It was doubtful that the dream could become a reality, though, especially as it had been a couple of weeks since they last spoke. Dreams invariably disappeared when the dreamer awoke. Those were her thoughts as she carefully approached the ORC building, her Peerage in tow, layered in concealment spells just in case.

The possibility remained that this was some common or garden burglar, or maybe one of the infamous Perverted Trio intended to steal some of her underwear, or perhaps Akeno's or Koneko's. But she couldn't dismiss another possibility, that this was something more sinister, some Grigori infiltrator trying to find something on her and her Peerage. She was the sister of Sirzechs Lucifer, after all, that alone made her a potential priority target for some overzealous bastard to try and kidnap or assassinate her.

Koneko used her wings to fly up, and peered into the ORC building's clubroom through the window. "…There's someone there, Rias," the Nekomata said quietly, in her usual stoic tone. "I can sense someone there, but I can't see who it is. Someone's using concealment magic of some sort."

Rias nodded grimly. "Very well. Akeno and I will enter the building, quietly. Koneko, Yuuto, stay near the window, intercept any escape. We capture this intruder alive unless they attack with lethal intent."

They agreed, and Rias and Akeno carefully opened the door, making a minimum of noise. Quietly, she and Akeno made their way through the ORC building, avoiding stepping on any creaky floorboards. Eventually, they came to the door…which creaked open, making a wonderful horror movie noise that she would have appreciated better had she not been so worried.

There was something subtly wrong about this situation, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She thought Sona had been somewhat furtive lately, and indeed, Rias' Peerage seemed anxious for some reason. She chalked it down to them worrying about what might happen at her birthday party, and with good reason, considering what had happened. But that paled in comparison to what was going on now.

She carefully walked into the darkened clubroom, using what detection magic she could. She had just enough time to realise there was someone hiding behind the desk when she heard a click. For a moment, she wondered if a bomb had been triggered. Then, she heard music. A familiar melody.

And then, Sona Sitri revealed herself, sitting on one of the couches, removing a concealment spell, all while holding a tape recorder. She resettled her glasses on her nose, as she, Akeno, and, she realised coming up behind her, Koneko and Yuuto began singing "Happy Birthday". Not tauntingly or ironically. No, they were singing it sincerely. And was it her, or was there another voice? Gasper? No, not as high-pitched as Gasper.

Rias blinked uncomprehendingly. She'd just had a horrible experience at the birthday party, so why were they singing it to her? What was going on?

"…Sorry, Rias," Akeno said once they were done. "We'd…intended it to be a nice surprise after the party, but we didn't realise Riser would crash it with that edict. So, we thought we'd bring it forward, get you out of there…and to a more private birthday surprise."

"…Private birthday surprise?" Rias asked.

Sona nodded. "I had a rather interesting person approach me, someone you've spoken about before. He did so in private, and through me, he had me contact your Peerage, arranging this surprise. We helped him get the means to enter this building without tripping the wards, but we thought, just in case something like this happened, he could destroy what kept him concealed, from the wards at least. That gave you a reasonable excuse to get out of the party. I told him about it discreetly, he destroyed the concealment, and I got here, just to make sure you didn't go in all guns blazing. Akeno, Koneko, Yuuto and Gasper were in on it as well, in case something did go wrong."

Rias was still trying to comprehend what was going on. Her oldest friends did this? Was this truly a birthday present? Or was this something else?

"Rias, we're getting a new transfer student in, one who's joining Kuoh Academy very soon," Sona said, getting up, and gently leading Rias around to the other side of the desk, where Koneko had sensed the intruder. "It's someone whom you've wanted to meet for a very long time…and the feeling was mutual. In fact, he told me to tell you this: I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

At this, Rias' heart leapt in her chest. Dare she hope? Dare she?

Sona guided Rias' hand gently. Rias realised she could feel something under her hand, soft and silky, even though she couldn't see a damn thing. It took a few seconds for the penny to drop, and even then, she pulled on the invisible fabric slowly, hesitantly. Unable to believe that this was at all real.

The invisible cloth bunched up, gradually becoming visible, a silvery and silky material that seemed to flow almost like water. It was coming off a shape, a person, she realised, hunched over a little. Only, it was starting to stand, even as she finally gathered enough courage to whip the cloth off them, for the final part.

And then, thus revealed, was a boy about her age. European, with messy black hair, emerald eyes peering at her behind glasses. A touch lanky, even a little scrawny. A familiar, if faded, scar on his forehead, half-hidden by his fringe. Dressed, she noted belatedly, in the boy's uniform for Kuoh Academy. She reached out a hand, touching his face, wondering if this was yet another dream, a nightmare that had sublimated into something more heartening.

But he seemed to discern her question, unspoken though it was. "…I'm really here, Rias," he said. "Happy birthday."

With that, Rias drew him into an embrace. She wept, not out of despair or anger, but a bittersweet joy. Because despite Riser souring her birthday with his own selfish desires, she got a far better surprise in the end. Finally, finally, she got to meet one of her oldest friends in reality. She finally got to meet Harry Potter…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

Wait, so…does this mean I'm revisiting a soulbond idea? Or is this something else?

Now, why am I writing Rias more angsty? Well, basically, I wanted to reconstruct her as a character. When I originally wrote her, I wrote her as being close to her canon self, but without digging too deeply into her character. While I did do some digging into her character more for my Harry/Raynare fic Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, and even more so in my Harry/Rossweisse fic Óskmey, I wanted to really get into her head, into her doubts and insecurities.

She and Harry do have some interesting parallels. They both have a fame and expectations that they want to get away from. And they have something of a saving people thing. Of course, Rias' can be seen in a sinister light, something I've pondered, and while too many people do bash her, I decided to reconstruct her, a process started in Óskmey, and continued here.

I was also inspired in part by a scene in dinocam3's My Hero Academia crossover Hero Academia DxD, where Magnus, a man working for the Khaos Brigade during the assault on the peace conference (and who is, according to dinocam3, basically Monsoon from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance), preys on Rias' doubts and insecurities about how she recruited her Peerage. I decided that this is actually something of a sore point for her, hearkening back to Issei/Vivi's accusation in my Final Fantasy IX crossover Black Mage of Kuoh that she can't have friends unless they're her indentured servants (untrue, given Sona being her friend, but close enough to the mark for it to hurt her).

Here, the fact that she effectively conscripted her Peerage haunts her. She's a strongly empathic young woman, so the fact that she gave her servants little choice to join her is a sticking point. Kiba was pretty much dead when she found him, Koneko was going to be executed if she didn't join Rias' Peerage, and both Gasper and Akeno, while rescued by Rias, had nowhere else to go, pretty much. The reality is that Rias did not intend for this to happen, but it could be seen in a more sinister light. Hence her doubts and insecurities.

In addition, in Óskmey, I actually realised, a lot of Rias' mistakes could be chalked down to the fact that she's still a teenager. A very mature and competent teenager, true, but she's far from hypercompetent. She's still trying to figure out how to be an effective administrator of a territory, on top of being a King of a Peerage, and that's without the pressures of her arranged marriage to Riser adding to the weight on her shoulders. We only see her through Issei's eyes in the canon series (I mean, the original novels are written from his viewpoint), and we only are occasionally privy to her private thoughts. I think the greatest insight we have into her is when she confesses her hating the expectations made of her during the training to fight Riser.

So while this is still the same Rias we all know and love from canon, she has been fleshed out. She's still an unrepentant flirt, tease and exhibitionist. But inside, she's got a lot of issues. Nothing as strong or severe as her Peerage, but I think this take on Rias is perhaps the most complex I have written her.

As for Harry, we'll elaborate on his past for this fic in the next chapter, and why he has appeared to Rias in her dreams.

No numbered annotations this time.