Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

Crossed Paths

The Great Hall buzzed with whispered conversations as Harry and Hermione entered. It was clear to Harry that everybody had an opinion on his selection for the International Challenge. And judging from the glares that he was getting from many of those students, most of those opinions were not positive.

"Ignore them, Harry," whispered Hermione. "I know you didn't enter yourself. I'm certain that Hotaru knows it, too. And Ron...well, he's got jealousy issues, and once he works past them—"

"I know," mumbled Harry. He glanced towards the Gryffindor table. Ron was sitting between Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, carefully not looking their way.

Most of Gryffindor House hadn't believed him when he said he'd not entered himself in the Tournament. Almost all, really; the only people who'd accepted it at face value were Hermione and Colin Creevey. But even then, Colin still hadn't believed that he wasn't pleased.

Fred and George had both said that they didn't care whether or not Harry entered himself; they were just put out that they hadn't figured out how to get their own names in. Harry supposed that was probably close enough to support, coming from them.

But Ron hadn't believed him. He'd pestered Harry to tell him how he'd done it, and when Harry continued to insist that he didn't even want to enter, Ron had grown sullen and angry. Then accused him of not valueing their friendship, and called him a traitor.

Harry saw Hotaru hurrying over, and smiled a bit. Seeing her made this unpleasant morning feel just a bit better.

"Harry-kun!" She looked quite concerned. "All the Ravenclaws are convinced that you managed to defeat Dumbledore's age line, but I told them you were not even interested in entering. They didn't believe me." She hesitated. "Well, Luna believed me, but her reasoning was...suspect."

"I'm afraid to ask." The few stories he'd heard about Luna's beliefs ranged from insane to downright ludicrous.

"She was certain that the House Elves submitted your name for you, because they recognize your true potential as a saviour of their people." Hotaru was clearly resisting the urge to laugh.

"Maybe I should ask Dobby if this was his idea," grumbled Harry. "Seems like the sort of thing he might do."

"Would that have worked?" Katie Bell looked up at him from the Gryffindor table. "Just ask a House Elf to submit your name?"

"I doubt there's a House Elf in Hogwarts who would do it," said Harry. "You'd need one like mine—he's loyal to me, but he works for Dumbledore."

"Is that how you did it?" asked Katie.

"Harry did not enter his name," said Hotaru with conviction.

"Of course you'd say that," said Ron angrily. "You're his girlfriend, so you've got to back him up."

Hotaru's eyes blazed, and Harry felt the urge to step back. She took two steps towards Ron, and slapped him across the face.

Conversation in the Great Hall ground to a halt.

"How dare you, Ronald Weasley." Hotaru's voice was a hiss, but in the near complete silence of the Great Hall, she could be heard in every corner. "You think he goes looking for danger? No! The only time he's placed himself in danger was for another."

"Like me," said Draco Malfoy, who had approached them during Hotaru's rant. He raised his arm. "I made a stupid mistake last year, and Potter jumped between me and the Hippogriff that I'd enraged. At the time, I'd never given him any reason to do anything but hate me. And he still tried to save me."

"Harry is the most famous wizard in this entire school," continued Hotaru. "Even more than Dumbledore. Why would he need more fame?"

"The Potters were one of the more wealthy families in Wizarding society," added Draco. "The thousand galleon prize for this thing would be pocket change for him."

"And since when has Harry even cared about money or fame?" pointed out Hermione. "Mostly, he hates his fame, and he sure doesn't flaunt his wealth."

There were murmurs of assent from the Gryffindors nearby, and Ron stood angrily and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"Ms Tomoe." Professor McGonagall approached them, her morning tea still in her hand. "I'll ask you not to pummel my Gryffindors, even if they need it."

"Sorry, Professor." She didn't sound it.

Professor McGonagall looked at her sternly. "One point from Ravenclaw."

She turned and walked back to the Head Table.

"I wrote to Father," said Draco. "I figured you'd want to know. I told him that you'd been chosen by the Goblet of Fire. I might have suggested to him that the Goblet chose you over many other much more experienced witches and wizards."

"Might," echoed Harry with a bit of a grin.

"Also: I wasn't aware that you and Tomoe were officially dating."

Harry felt his face burning. He glanced at Hotaru, who was beet red and shuffling her feet.

"I..." The girl shook her head. "We're not—"

"Oh?" Draco tilted his head. "All the things you said, and you never refuted Weasley's statement that you were Potter's girlfriend." He turned and walked off, while Hotaru was still trying to formulate a response.

"I believe," said Hermione dryly, "that Malfoy is a prime example of what my father might call 'bloody-minded.'"

"Language, Hermione," said Harry absently. He turned to Hotaru, but found himself completely unable to construct a sentence. Luckily, he didn't need to; Hedwig chose that moment to land on his shoulder.

"Hello, girl." He scratched her head, grateful for the reprieve. "What have you got for me?"

Hedwig proudly held out her leg, and Harry removed the letter tied to it. He unsealed and unrolled it.

"About time," he said. "Padfoot's surrendering to the Ministry."

"He is?" Hermione looked surprised. "He's willing to trust them?"

"He's willing to trust Amelia Bones," corrected Harry. "Wonder if she's related to Susan Bones?"

"Who is Amelia Bones?" asked Hotaru.

"...Here it is. She's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She'd also be the chief prosecutor against him." Harry rolled up the letter. "I'd better write to Ted, see if he can represent Padfoot. He managed to arrange the trial in the first place."

"Wasn't he a family lawyer?" asked Hermione. "He might not know criminal law."

"True," allowed Harry. "But he might know a barrister who can represent him.

"Let's get breakfast while we still can," he continued. "I owe Hedwig some bacon."

"Are we dating?" asked Hotaru.

The two of them had found an empty classroom on the first floor. Harry wasn't sure what classes this room was intended for, but it hadn't been used since the start of his days at Hogwarts. Harry was composing his letter to Ted Tonks, while Hotaru was getting started on her Arithmancy homework. Or at least, she was supposed to be starting on it.

Harry leaned back from his letter, and bounced the tip of the quill—the feather tip, not the inked tip—off his lip a few times as he thought.

"I mean, we do spend a...lot of time together. I was about to say, an awful lot, but I don't find it awful." He grinned at her answering blush. "And we did go to Hogsmeade twice. Though we didn't go on Valentine's Day."

"And we didn't exactly call either of them a date," mumbled Hotaru.

"But you've always had my back, even when you barely knew me," said Harry. "You've been a good friend to me, even when everybody turned on me during second year. And last year, even when I said that learning Japanese was just...sort of an idea for me. You were willing to undergo something quite embarrassing to let me fulfill that whim."

"You've been a comfort to me," said Hotaru quietly. "When bad things happen to me, you're there to help me deal with them—or you deal with them directly. You show compassion to everyone around you. That's why I like you."

Harry suddenly remembered an exchange from last year. When he'd told her he really liked her, and she'd reacted very strongly.

But now he knew Japanese, and even some cultural context—it had come with Hotaru's memories. And in Japanese, one did not simply say "I like you" to another person. You might praise their attributes or their work. But to a Japanese person, a flat "I like you" would be taken as very, very direct.

But Hotaru hadn't been angry. She'd said, "I like you too, Harry."

"Miss Tomoe," he said, and Hotaru looked up, a touch surprised. "Would you be interested in going to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

She smiled. "Like, as a date?"

"Indeed," said Harry. He dialled for a touch of extra posh. "I do believe that I could show you a smashing good time."

"You wouldn't rather go with someone...prettier?" Hotaru's smile faltered a bit, and Harry was surprised to realize that she was insecure about her appearance.

"I doubt that any such exist," he said. "But even if they did, I'd rather go with you."

"Ooh...gallant." Hotaru giggled. "I'd love to, Harry."

"So does this mean we're officially dating?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes," said Hotaru. "I think it does."