July 22, 1992
"Mrs. Weasley, this all looks delicious." Harry said politely looking at the spread of food in front of him. Mrs. Weasley smiled as she sat down at the table joining the rest of them.
"Oh, thank you Harry. You're so kind."
At the moment, Harry and his friends were all at the Burrow eating with the Weasley family minus the two oldest sons who Harry hadn't met yet. Along with them were him, Hermione, and Neville. They were all sitting next to him down the bench currently being used for more seating room at the Weasley's long table. Aside from that, the only other person at this table who he had not met was Ginny, Ron's youngest sister. She sat next to her mother and seemed to constantly be stealing glances at him and then blushing. It was rather strange, but he'd ask Ron about it later.
"Alright, dig in everyone." Mrs. Weasley called out happily to which everyone did.
"Mmm. This food is delicious Mrs. Weasley. You're an amazing cook." Hermione said happily after taking a few bites of the pot roast they were eating.
"Oh, thank you dear. I'm glad you like it." Mrs. Weasley with a small blush and pleased smile.
"Yeah, moms the best cook around. I wouldn't trade her food for any five-star meal in the world." Ron said proudly.
"I thought Ron was exaggerating given how much he likes food but I have to agree with Hermione. This is really good." Neville said as he took another bite. Harry just nodded in agreement.
"Now now… Don't even think of stealing our dearest mother away."
"That's right my dear brother. To think that we would invite these people into our home and already there trying to steal away…"
"Oh, shut it you two." Mrs. Weasley yelled at the two twins who immediately broke down into chuckles while the oldest brother Percy simply looked at them and shook his head in exasperation.
"So, Hermione, you live in the muggle world do you not?" Mr. Weasley started looking at the girl with excitement. Hermione looked almost startled by the question but nodded.
"Yes sir, I do." She responded politely.
"Oh, none of that. You can call me Arthur, or Mr. Weasley. Anywho, have you heard of batteries before?"
"Er… yes."
"Fascinating little inventions aren't they. I have quite the collection of them here. Can you tell me the difference with the names on them?"
"Um, well, they're the name of the brands that make the batteries and there's not much difference usually except maybe in quality sometimes. Other than that, most batteries of the same type are usually the same."
"Really?"
Mr. Weasley was a funny man, Harry decided. His questions were a little strange but there was something about his genuine nature that was endearing.
"So, Harry, Ronald was just telling us about some of the work you've been doing over the summer." Mrs. Weasley said starting a side conversation with him while her husband continued to prattle on with Hermione.
"Oh? Which project has he spoken to you about?" Harry asked curiously. Most of his work technically fell under Family magic but considering Ron didn't know how Runes or Rituals worked, he couldn't really tell others much especially since his work was mostly an unholy combination of both.
"Hmm, if I recall, it was something about healing was it not?"
"Something like that, yes. I have several active projects at the moment, but the two most prominent deal with both Healing and Purification." Harry answered easily.
"Oh my, that's very impressive! What does your healing magic heal exactly?" She asked him interestedly.
"Well, if it comes out correctly… Everything, I guess. I have books on anatomy and I have been studying on pretty much every part of the body I can. I think I have most areas covered already, but there are some differences with the male and female anatomy. I haven't been able to figure out a way to get the Ritual to know which changes to apply to which person yet. I basically need to figure out a way for the Ritual to tell apart one's gender."
"Ah… Well, still, very impressive. And I am sure you'll figure it out." Mrs. Weasley said looking at him slightly confused. He wasn't sure why though since he didn't think anything, he said was too complicated. Perhaps it was a lack of understanding on the incorporation of things and the difficulty of doing so.
"What about the Purification one…" A quiet voice piped up. His eyes flickered to the left and at the redheaded girl sitting between Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley. He assumed that it was Ron's younger sister though he had never seen or spoken to the girl. She was apparently about a year younger than Ron and the youngest of the Weasley Clan.
She looked rather petite and her hair was slightly darker shade than the rest of her family for some reason. She had light brown eyes and a smattering of freckles covered her face which was common for her family. The only thing that seemed strange to his eye was her reaction when he looked at her. She immediately seemed to duck down and look away from him. Along with that, her entire face immediately turned red. Harry blinked at that, now feeling even more confused. That was a… reaction.
"The Purification Ritual is designed to purge all dark, harmful, magic from a person's body. It's incredibly difficult to make more than a basic Ritual to do so because of the extremely large spectrum that dark magic exists on. Of course, the true difficulty I have seem to run into is that some dark magic attaches to its victim like a leech or a parasite becoming almost indistinguishable from its victims own magic. That's why counter-curses are usually so necessary in the world of healing." Harry explained to her after a moment. Ginny nodded looking interested though she also seemed to be trying to keep up, not quite understanding.
"So, you're making a spell then?"
"No, I use Runic Rituals which, as it sounds, is a combination of both Runes and Rituals to make effects on the world."
"Why is that better than a spell?" Ginny asked.
"The more complex, the harder spell is to make as well perform, not even mentioning the fact that the power output usually increases as well. Most modern-day spells that we use have actually have one or several precursor spells that they are based on. They've been refined for decades or even centuries to the point they are now. Making complicated spells can take years to develop and even then, may not be able to be performed by most besides the creator correctly." Harry informed the young girl. Once again, she nodded seeming to lose some of the confusion that she had.
"Harry, she hasn't even gone to Hogwarts yet, don't bore her to death with your talk on magical theory." Neville called from a few seats over. Harry scowled as he looked towards his friend.
"I didn't even go into theory; my explanations were perfectly simplified for the everyday person." Harry called back causing Neville to guffaw at him.
"I think it's nice that Ginny is already finding some interest in what Harry is talking about. Perhaps she can join our research club when she attends Hogwarts." Hermione chimed in having apparently finished her conversation with Mr. Weasley.
"What, we don't have enough Weasley's in our club already?" Ron asked looking concerned.
"Ron, don't be jealous of your little sister, it's not a good look." Neville shot back causing Hermione to giggle and the twins to laugh at Ron whose face started to glow slightly in embarrassment. Percy muttered something to himself though he did look like he was trying to stop a small smirk from appearing on his face.
"You guys suck…" Ron muttered.
"I think it's a wonderful idea. Ronald, maybe you could teach Ginny some of the Alchemy you have been learning." Mrs. Weasley suggested with a smile. Ron frowned at it though and Harry decided to take the initiative.
"Actually, I think it would be better if Ginny starts Hogwarts first and learn which subject she wishes to delve deeper in herself. While Ron and I have already started our experimentation, Hermione and Neville have only recently figured out their subject or subjects of focus. Even then, she may not want to go into research at all. It's also okay to simply enjoy something and master it without adding anything. It's a simpler but perhaps more genuine enjoyment." Harry told Mrs. Weasley easily. In truth, he was weary of the idea of having anyone else joining their club, even if it was Ron's sister. He wouldn't actively oppose it but at the very least, he would want her to actually commit and not just use it to hang around them.
"Yeah mom. Give Ginny a chance to at least figure out what she's interested in on her own." Ron agreed looking a little happier.
"Of course, there's no need to push her Molly." Mr. Weasley agreed with an excited yet controlled tone. Mrs. Weasley huffed.
"Excuse me for thinking it would be nice for you and your sister to spend some quality time together."
"it's not quality time if you're forcing it." Ron muttered though it was loud enough for the table to hear.
"So! Neville, how is your grandmother doing these days?" Mr. Weasley asked immediately pre-interrupting his wife who looked ready to give her youngest son a verbal lashing.
"She's doing as well as can be, I suppose. Still about as old and grumpy as you can imagine." Neville joked. While the rest of the table laughed at the joke, Harry frowned. When it came to the issues of his grandmother, Harry was Neville's greatest confidant. He knew that Neville never insulted his grandmother even when she possibly deserved it. Despite the light manner in which he did it, the joke felt like it had somewhat darker undertones that caused Harry to think there may be some issues between his friend and the woman. He'd have to remember to ask about that later.
"A nice woman though who raised a fine boy. Molly and I were friends with your parents back in the day. Frank was such a good man and no one was sweeter than your mother, isn't that right dear?" Arthur asked. Molly nodded rapidly in agreement.
"Yes she was. Alice was such a dear."
"I didn't know that. Gran doesn't like to go into detail much about them beyond that they were both great people." Neville mentioned.
"Yes, I imagine it must be hard for her to speak about them." Arthur murmured looking down slightly.
After that, the conversation slowed down as the mood became a little darker. It took several minutes before the twins did something to bring the mood back by setting off what looked like a magical sparkler under Percy's chair causing a panic and their mother to chase them around the table while they laughed. After a while, the dinner finally ended and they decided to head outside to hang out for a little.
"Well, I must say that your mother certainly can cook." Hermione said as she and Ron sat on a bench next to his house while Neville and Harry remained standing and simply hovered nearby.
"You're telling me. Almost everything she makes is good but she really goes all out when we have guest." Ron said as he slouched in his seat and patted his stomach. Hermione gave him a deadpan look but said nothing. Harry simply smirked at the two before looking at Neville who simply gave him a look back.
"So… Harry, did you have any progress with that Mind Ritual?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded in confirmation.
"It's done, we just need to try it out. Maybe we could try a sleep over or something next time and I shall set it up for then." Harry told them getting the attention of all of his friends.
"That was fast, we only spoke about it last week." Hermione mentioned looking at him curiously.
"I told you I could do something like that rather easily. Accessing minds is rather easy when someone gives you permission to. You don't even need to know how to perform the magic yourself since I do." Harry commented calmly.
"You know Legilimency?" Neville questioned looking startled for a moment.
"Legilimency is easier to learn and use than Occlumency. At least the basics of it are. It's just a spell that you shoot at people. When you get good enough at it, you can do it with no spell and simply do it through eye contact with someone. Though it can't get through shields that way." Harry explained.
"How do you know so much about it?"
"Dumbledore explained it to me when I asked the other day." Harry answered easily. Neville just rolled his eyes and shook his head at that.
"Right from the source. Should have known." Hermione muttered.
"He's not the source on the Mind Arts. He's just a master at one discipline in it. Well… Possibly more. I'm not actually sure myself. Either way, we should be able to try it next time we meet."
"If it's a Ritual, does that mean you will need to reset it after every use?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.
"No, this is more of a Runic Array than a Runic Ritual so it just needs to be activated to work. It doesn't really have any external components needed." Harry mentioned.
"I'm surprised you were able to do it so fast, even if it wasn't that complicated." Ron added.
"Well, it took me like ten hours total to figure out and then set up. I did a basic test already but no one was with me so nothing really happened… Anyway, what about you guys, how has your practice going." Harry asked.
"I have my shields in place already, I just need to test them against something." Hermione answered first with clear excitement. Neville nodded.
"I'm in the same boat."
"Ugh, a bunch of overachievers you all are… I just finished the part on learning to clear my mind. So, I likely have a couple more days before I can make some shields if the book is to be believed." Ron grumbled in annoyance at being the last to achieve the desired results.
"It's fine. Everyone learns at their own pace and there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't matter how fast you go, all that matters is that you cross the finish line." Harry told him. Ron simply shrugged not seeming to bothered by it either way which was good. Lately, Harry had noticed his attitude seemed to be improving and he didn't seem to feel so inferior to others anymore, likely due to his Alchemy accomplishment. The boy was still rather flush with cash as it were.
"Well… With that, I suppose I should be getting home. It does seem to be getting late." Neville said after a moment.
"I suppose I should head home as well. I told my parents I wouldn't be out too late." Hermione seconded.
"Sounds good. I think I am going to go enter a food coma after all that food anyway. Harry before you go, I wanted to give you a heads up." Ron said turning to the aforementioned boy. Harry looked back at his redheaded friend curiously.
"What's up?"
"It's about my sister, Ginny. Look, she has a bit of a crush on you."
"She does? Huh, I suppose that explains her reactions at dinner. But why? She's never met me before has she?"
"Nah, she just read all those stories about you when she was young and now thinks you're some prince or knight in shining armor… That being said, she is still my sister and I would appreciate if you did your best to not crush her completely." Ron said growing serious for a moment as he looked at Harry.
"Of course, I shall keep that in mind… Thank you for telling me. I doubt I would have guessed it otherwise." Harry said back. With that, he and the rest of his friends reentered the house to say their goodbyes.
July 31st, 1992
Harry blinked and looked around to see several people milling about his home. He must've been disassociating rather hard. Hermione was here with both of her parents. Ron had brought his whole family as well and they were milling about. Neville had come but his grandmother hadn't, which was fine with Harry since he had just seen her yesterday and he had already had enough of that woman.
Dumbledore had come of course along with Minerva. They had also brought along Professor Flitwick who seemed to be happily talking with the Grangers about something or another.
"Well, this is quite the quaint little shinding you're throwing Mr. Potter." Either George or Fred, he couldn't tell them apart, said as the twins approached. Harry tilted his head at the comment.
"Uh… Thank you?" He said not really sure what they meant but hoping it was a compliment. One of them reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in.
"We left our gift for you in the cabinet next to the sink. Maybe don't open it until after our mother leaves for the night. Hope you like it bud." The one twin said with a wink before stepping back.
"…You didn't leave a prank bomb in my house, did you?" Harry asked suspiciously. He knew the twins were notorious pranksters though he had never seen them in action due to the in ordinarily long amount of time he spent in his club room outside of classes.
"Harry…. No faith?"
"…No." Harry deadpanned at them. They both started laughing as they began to walk away.
"What was that about?" Ron asked curiously as he and Hermione approached together. Harry turned and looked at them.
"I have no idea. I think your brothers might have boobytrapped my house… Whatever, it doesn't matter. How are you guys enjoying the party?" Harry asked. Yes, indeed, it was his twelfth birthday and all his friends and their families had come over to congratulate him.
It was strange, this was the first party he had ever had and… He didn't really feel much any way about it. It was nice to see all his friends and such but it was nice just doing that in general. His presents had already been given for the most part and he had mainly gotten books with things he already knew about which was… fair. At this point, he was already quite knowledgeable on pretty much every subject he cared about. That being said, he wouldn't scoff at some of them, they would be good for possible reference material in the future.
"It's good, though I really can't wait for tonight." Ron said excitedly. Hermione's eyes lit up and she immediately nodded in agreement.
"I'm the same. I can't believe we're finally going to be able to meet her." Hermione added.
"Isn't the party going to wrap up soon? I want to get started." Ron complained.
"Speaking of ending. Where is Neville? I haven't seen him in a while and we're probably going to wrap up soon." Hermione asked scanning the room.
"He and Dumbledore went to the library a few moments ago to speak about Transfiguration I believe. You know he's getting into that and there's no one better to ask than Dumbledore. That's one area where he's not just an expert, he's THE expert." Harry commented.
"I'm pleased to hear you think so highly of me, Harry." A voice commented from behind them. They turned and saw Dumbledore reentering the room with Neville who looked quite pleased.
"Did you get what you were looking for Nev?" Harry asked.
"You could say that. Did you know that you have tons of Transfiguration books Harry? Dumbledore let me see one that he said a certain technique to help with my performance. I hope you don't mind?" Nev questioned looking a little nervous. Harry just waved it off.
"It's fine. Anything restricted is locked away anyway. Library is allowed to be looked at by both friends and family." Harry explained seeming to assuage Neville.
"That's good… So, we're going to get these people out of here or what?" Neville asked. Harry chuckled at that before nodding.
"I suppose we can call it here for the night. Attention everyone!" Harry turned and called out to the rest of the room getting everyone else's attention.
"I'd first like to thank you all so much for coming and celebrating my birthday with me. It's the first time I've had a party and I am happy you were all willing to come to it. I'd also like to thank you all for the thoughtful gifts you gave me. That being said, we're going to end the night here. Thank you all for coming and feel free to take any of the left-over food with you." Harry called out. With that, people started shuffling around and moving to leave. Harry took a seat on an arm chair as he waited. He noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Granger went to the kitchen first to take some of the leftovers he offered.
"Mr. Potter, thank you so much for inviting me. It was quite the time." Professor Flitwick said excitedly as he approached. Harry smiled politely at his head of house. He barely spoke to the man in school but that didn't mean he didn't like the man. He was nice and always seemed to have a smile on his face. When Minerva told him that he was lingering around Hogwarts today, he encouraged her to invite him for a break.
"I'm glad you enjoyed your time here. I hope you took some of that casserole I made. I saw how much you enjoyed it." Harry commented. Flitwick smiled and held up a large plate covered in foil.
"I couldn't resist. Thank you again."
With that, the half goblin teacher departed allowing the Weasleys to finally come and say their own goodbyes. Mrs. Weasley gave him a big hug with another congratulations and Mr. Weasley gave him a nice firm handshake. The twins gave him a pat and a wink as they reminded him about the gift they left. Ginerva just stuttered out a goodbye, which he didn't comment on and simple smiled and returned it politely.
With that, the Weasley clan as well allowing the Grangers to come and make their goodbyes.
"You have a lovely home Harry, thank you for inviting us to it. We hope you had an enjoyable birthday. Make sure not to stay up too late tonight with your friends." Mrs. Granger told him with a smile.
"Of course. Actually, if all goes as planned, we'll be asleep very soon. It's kind of the goal actually because were trying to experiment with something that literally only works if we all go to sleep." Harry explained somewhat. He must've done a bad job because both of Hermione's parents suddenly gave him a strange look.
"Er… Okay. Well, just don't do anything too wild and make sure to take care of Hermione. We'll hold you responsible if anything happens." The man said seriously giving Harry a strong look.
"Well… It should be fine. There's a lot of protections around the house to protect us and even if someone tried to get in, we would be notified. Of course, if they do manage to get in, I would most certainly do my best to defend any of my friends." Harry tried to assure.
"Daniel, I'm sure it'll be fine. Don't try to scare the boy. I doubt he would understand you even if you tried." Mrs. Granger said with an eyeroll.
"Scared? I don't think we're in that much danger. I don't think anyone has ever even tried to break in before." Harry tried to mention even more confused. At this, both of Hermione's parents just laughed.
"Guess you're right. Alright, we'll leave you to it. We shall come pick Hermione up tomorrow."
And with that, they left as well. With that, almost everyone had left except for Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. McGonagall wasn't staying but Dumbledore technically would be in his own room. It was determined that his first coed sleepover should technically be adult supervised for safety reasons.
Minerva said a brief goodnight and congratulated on him his birthday and said she would see him tomorrow before disappearing within the fire. With that, it was finally time.
"Alright, shall we?" Harry asked his remaining friends as he gestured towards the doorway leading out of the room.
"Ohh, I'm so excited, I can't wait to do this." Hermione said with a smile as bounced up and down slightly. Neville smiled at the girls reaction while Ron fidgeted.
"I don't know, I'm kind of nervous. What if she doesn't like us?" Ron asked.
"Why wouldn't she like us?" Neville asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe she might be jealous because we can meet Harry in person but she can only do it in the mindscape."
"Hmm, I doubt it. Though maybe. The mindscape can be pretty real though I would say there is enough slight differences to remind you it isn't. Sometimes, certain sensations are a little off even when I try and mimic them myself. Still, it's about as realistic as something like that can be." Harry defended easily.
"Still…"
"Well, we'll never know until we meet her. Please lead us to the room Harry." Hermione pushed. Harry rolled her eyes at her eagerness.
"Fine, let's go. I set it up in a room on the second floor." Harry gestured before moving out of the room. His friends followed and they moved through his home. Most of the lights were still on but they were all mostly charmed to automatically turn off at a certain time save for a few which would simply dim to provide some light if needed for moving around at night like to the bathroom or the kitchen.
When they finally got upstairs, Harry brought them over to a room with a dark brown wooden door that was beautifully carved. He opened the door to reveal a sizeable room. It had once been another spare bedroom but Harry sold the furniture in it and instead put several twin beds in it. They were in an 'X' formation and in the middle between all of them was a Runic Array shaped In a circle. It had four lines coming out of it that crawled to each bed and traced an outline around each of them. Under the bed, there was more runes that linked to the main array at the center which would connect them to his mind. The bed he would be in had a secondary array under it to distinguish him as the main 'Hub' as it were.
"You can pick whichever bed you want except for that one, I need to be in that one." Harry said as he gestured to the one, he would need to sleep on.
"Where can we brush our teeth?" Hermione asked.
"Bathroom is two doors down. You can take it now and go get changed into your pajamas while we change here." Harry told her. Hermione nodded before heading to the bathroom on her own. With that, Ron, Neville, and Harry all began to undress and put on their pajamas. When Hermione was done in the bathroom, they all went to it to do their own brushing. After ten minutes they were all back in the room and simply speaking.
"Now that we're here, I can't help but be a little nervous too. Can you tell us about Ciri again Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat cross legged on her own bed. Harry tilted his head in thought.
"Hmm. She is what most would describe as a Tomboy I suppose. She's very nice besides that though and has a confidence that can easily inspire others, or at the very least, me. Other than that, she's somewhat hard to describe. She's not really like anyone else I have ever known." Harry recounted.
It was strange, as far as people went, he most certainly knew Ciri the best. He had spent almost half of all of his time with her for quite some time now and even before that spent quite a bit of time together. Despite that, when it came to describing her, he felt he could barely do her justice. He didn't really know to describe it. It's like if someone asked you to describe a color to them that only you could see. You were familiar with it but…
"I wonder if she will want to spar with us. I don't think I'd be much of a challenge." Neville speculated.
"Unlikely. Ciri can be considered a prodigy with a blade at this point and could likely take on people double her age and size with some ease. I know most of the basics of swordplay at this point and then some and I can no longer hold my own against her. Then again, I've never been nearly as comfortable with a sword in my hands as she has." Harry explained.
"I guess that's good. You said you can make it actually hurt if you want right? Sparring I mean?" Ron asked.
"Yes, though I usually don't since its mainly for practice and honing one's technique. I guess now that I think of it, it makes sense how fast she has improved. She often uses our mindscape the same way I do to basically double her training time." Harry murmured.
"Well… I guess we should finally go to sleep right?" Neville finally broke in after that. The room went silent as both Hermione and Ron nodded nervously in agreement.
"Ciri and I can knock ourselves out pretty quickly so we'll likely get there first. If for some reason you do get there first, just hang around until one of us gets there, it shouldn't take long." Harry explained to them. They all nodded in understanding as they got under the covers of their respective beds.
"Okay… Goodnight."
"Night."
"Night."
"Goodnight."
With that, they all went silent and the lights in the room immediately turned off as Harry casted a quick spell at one of the lights. With that he closed his eyes and began to quiet his mind as he had probably done hundreds of time up to this point.
When he blinked his eyes, he was in a familiar large space surrounded on all sides but aisles and aisles of library books. He noticed his research was still about and with a quick wave it disappeared and allowed even more empty space.
With that done, he also disappeared the sparring ring that Ciri normally used before beginning to alter the rest of the room. Soon the library disappeared and instead was replaced with a high-rise apartment, the same he had once attempted to live in after running away from the Dursleys. He changed the colors though to something lighter and replaced the furniture with items he had in Potter Manor instead. With a nod, he then looked at the view outside. It was grey and overcast since that's what he had seen when he was there be, he resolved to change that. In a moment, the clouds disappeared and it was now a bright sunny day outside. He also changed it so they were no longer looking at the city skyline to the mountain range he had been using more and more often. He enjoyed the sight quite bit after all.
"This is new."
Harry spun and saw Ciri standing in the middle of the room looking it over curiously for a moment before turning her gaze on him. He gathered himself for a moment before responding.
"Yes, I thought this might be a more comfortable setting then our usual area. What do you think?"
"It's strange looking…is this like a sitting room?"
"Something like that. It's called a living room and it's a shared space in a home for the family to simply meet and entertain themselves or relax."
"So, it's common for it to be so small?"
"In an apartment, yes. This is actually a large one. In a home, it might be bigger."
"Apartment?"
"A small home usually part of a large building that also contains other small homes. The owner of the building then rents each small home to a different person or family to have multiple tenants in the same building." Harry tried to explain.
"I think I have heard of that idea before though I'm not sure if we have a name for it… You're right though, it does look a little nicer. Plus, I like how they won't have direct access to our memories. Not that I think your friends would look it's just…"
"It's fine. I completely understand. No need to explain. So… How was your day?" Harry asked as he moved over and sat on the couch.
"Good, it was mainly a day of study with Uncle Vesemir so, it was kind of boring." She groused. Harry couldn't help the smile as she plopped down next to him and immediately began to complain. Her hatred for studying was well known by now.
"I'm sure you'll be glad you learned all of this later when you're out on the hunt for things. You were the one who was lecturing me on how every monster has its own weakness after I dealt with that Troll."
"Troll, pft, what an idiotic thing to call it. It was clearly a giant." Ciri scoffed.
"A troll is a type of giant here. We've been over this." Harry responded with a roll of his eyes.
"Whatever…" She shot back. He had still remembered accidently saying that once around her and now she said quite often, which wasn't a problem in their mindscape. It, however, was a problem when she accidently let such things slip in her own world.
"So… How was your birthday?" Ciri asked. He gave her a shrug in return.
"It was nice I suppose. Seemed rather strange but other than that… It was fine. I enjoyed our celebration more." Harry admitted.
He and Ciri had celebrated his birthday the night before considering the fact that his friends would be joining them today.
"Well, they can't really match the ability to go wherever and eat whatever we want." Ciri commented with a smirk. Harry shrugged.
"I suppose you're right about that."
"I'm usually right about most things. I thought you would have figured that out by now." Ciri said as she stuck her chin up and looked down at him with a smug grin. Harry rolled his eyes at that.
"Yes, of course, whatever you say." He agreed, doing his best to keep his sarcasm out of his voice.
"I don't know if I like the way you said that, but since it is still, your birthday, I shall let it go… So, when are your friends arriving?" She questioned.
"I'm not sure, as soon as they can manage to get to sleep. They have much less practice than we do at doing this. It can sometimes take people a while to get to sleep and we've only been here for like five minutes. "
"I guess. It's been so long; I can barely even remember the times it took me longer than a few moments to go to sleep." Ciri muttered.
"It does seem to have been a lifetime ago at this point." Harry agreed. He considered those to be the bad days honestly. Well, more specifically, the days before he had met Ciri and had lived just with the Dursleys. He hated thinking back to those times.
Before he could respond he began to feel something on the barrier around his mind. It passed through easily as it should have causing Harry to stand.
"It would seem our first guest has arrived." Harry said. Ciri suddenly sat up straight.
"Who is it?"
"I don't know yet." Harry answered as a knock sounded on the door. He walked over as he heard Ciri stand up from the couch. When he got to the door, he reached out and opened it to reveal the face of Neville looking somewhat nervous.
"Hello, Neville. Did you find the place okay?" Harry asked, joking lightly. The boy gave him a deadpan look at that.
"Did I find the only door in this small hallway? Yes, I found it with no issue. Didn't you say your mindscape was a library or something?" His friend asked as Harry moved aside to let him in.
"It normally is but I decided to make it something a little more friendly for guest. How do you like the place?"
"it's certainly nice. I've never been so high up before, but enough about that. Aren't you going to introduce me?" Neville pushed. Harry nodded as Ciri came over looking a little stiff.
"Of course. Neville, this is Ciri. Ciri, this is my friend I've told you about, Neville." Harry said gesturing between them. Neville held out his hand politely. Ciri took and he brought it up to his mouth and gave a small kiss to the back of it.
"Ciri, it is lovely to meet you. Harry has told me a lot about you." Neville said politely. Harry rose an eyebrow at the formal display and Ciri seemed to get slightly stiffer.
"Pleased to meet you Neville. Harry has told me quite a bit about you as well. There's no need to be so formal though."
"I thought as much but I figured you only make one first impression and I certainly didn't wish to embarrass myself in front of a princess." Neville joked somewhat awkwardly., Ciri's face scrunched up at that.
"Former princess, if you don't mind. And the formalness was the thing I hated most about being a princess." Ciri shot back.
"I can relate to that. I've had to go to my share of formal events due to my station. It's almost never a good time. A lot of adults either making snide comments or talking politics I don't care about. Then my Gran will occasionally force me to dance with some random daughter or granddaughter of a friend of hers." Neville agreed as he scowled at the memory though Ciri had begun to look a little lighter and more comfortable as she nodded eagerly in agreement.
"Right! My grandmother was the same way! It wasn't fair. She got to pick grandpa for herself and fight in wars and she expected me to just sit in a dress and be a perfect little princess. It was awful…"
After that, they actually continued talking about various events that they had been forced too while growing up and seemed to grow more comfortable at the shared negative experiences they had in their childhood. Harry had never really considered it but there past were actually pretty similar. Soon though, the conversation was interrupted by another knock.
"Do you wish to take a guess on who it is?" Harry asked Neville as he stood up.
"Hmm… Hermione I would say. She was pretty nervous like Ron but she has a little more practice clearing her mind." Neville guessed. Harry nodded and went to the door. He opened it slowly to reveal his bushy haired female friend.
"Hey Hermione." He greeted the jittery girl.
"Harry… Is anyone else here?" She asked.
"I'm afraid that Neville beat you by a few minutes but you still beat Ron." Harry told her. Hermione nodded in acceptance as she stepped into the sizeable apartment.
"This is a very nice place? How did you think of it?"
"I've been here before. I made some alterations to it of course. Now, introductions before I forget again. Hermione, this is Ciri. Ciri, this is Hermione." Harry introduced. Hermione came over and held out her hand like Neville did. Ciri once more took it though Ciri didn't kiss it. Instead, she shook it very eagerly.
"Hello, Ciri, it is so nice to finally meet you. If for no other reason than to know that Harry isn't crazy." Hermione said. Ciri laughed at that.
"That was funny. Nice to meet you to Hermione. I can assure you that I am in fact real, though I do understand why you may have had doubts. Harry and I still don't know how this ended up happening. Unless you've been holding out on me Harry." Ciri demanded as she looked at him suspiciously.
"No, I still have no idea…" He answered back but was interrupted from continuing by another knock.
"Well, that must be Ron then. Looks like you barely beat him Hermione." Harry said as he walked over to the door for hopefully the final time tonight. He opened it and saw his redheaded friend.
"Hey Ron, you're last but only by a minute. Hermione just came in." He teased. Ron deflated at that.
"Should have figured. Still behind on my Occlumency training. But, in my defense, I'm pretty sure I'm learning at a normal pace and you guys are the genius freaks of nature. 'Cept Neville, he just learned it earlier." Ron said as he entered and moved his way into the apartment. When he saw Ciri he straightened up and did an awkward bow which caused everyone to raise an eyebrow.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Ron. I am going to apologize now if I say something stupid or offends you tonight. I'm not being mean, I'm just a bit thick." He told Harry's white-haired companion. The room was complete silent before Neville and Hermione burst out laughing at the display. Harry was more controlled but even he found he couldn't quite hold back a chuckle. Ron's face went a little red at the reaction but he held his ground.
"Nice to meet you Ron. You don't need to bow, and I shall keep what you said in mind." Ciri said politely taking mercy on the boy. Ron nodded before sitting calmly on an armchair.
"So, it seems I'm late to the party… What are we talking about?" Ron asked.
"Like I said, Hermione just entered and was introducing herself… So, now that we're all here, is there anything anyone would like to speak about specifically?"
"I have so many questions so maybe I should go last." Hermione admitted with a guilty smile. Harry gave her a small understanding smile while Ciri just looked a little confused at that.
"Harry has told us some about you but I suppose it will be nice to ask some things personally. I hear you were interested in sword fighting even from early childhood. May I ask why?" Neville started. Ciri shrugged helplessly at that.
"I don't really know, it just always seemed appealing to me. I guess, it was because it wasn't something, I was allowed to do but it always looked so cool. Now that I do actually practice it though, I almost regret thinking such. Now I know that swordsmanship is all about pain…" Ciri trailed off as if lost in an unpleasant memory.
"Your spars with Geralt must be getting easier." Harry commented with a raised eyebrow at her. She winced at that.
"'Spar', 'Geralt', and 'Easy' do not belong in the same sentence. I'm more used to it I suppose but it's not exactly easier. He's a monster with a blade. The only one who could be better might be Vesemir." Ciri replied.
"Well, you'll probably be one at some point too then." Harry commented.
"One can only hope." Ciri quipped back.
"My turn, what was your first thought when you met Harry for the first time?" Ron asked leaning forward.
"Hmm, it wasn't really nice but I thought he was a dream so… Anyway, I saw him and I thought to myself, 'Why am I dreaming about this skinny runt'… In fairness though, he was extremely small in every sense of the word back then."
"I should look at your memory of that day. I have been curious on how I looked to you back then.'' Harry mentioned.
"As long as I never have to see you look like that again." Ciri growled in anger. If anyone hated the Dursleys as much or even more than he did, it was Ciri. He made it a point to never mention them to her because it would absolutely ruin her mood for quite some time. It was both touching that she cared so much but also somewhat concerning.
"What's your world like compared to ours? Do you sometimes discuss things with Harry that confuse you?" Neville asked curiously. Ciri seemed to think about that for a moment.
"Yes and no I guess. In previous years, there were more things which he had to explain. There's a lot of little things, I guess. Like, I didn't know what an apartment was until he explained it to me right before you came. There has been a lot of things like that where I am somewhat familiar with certain ideas but not in the applications you use them. Harry helps me with a lot of that though." Ciri admitted.
The next couple of hours went on like that with Ciri answering questions while taking turns to ask her own. Harry felt rather uncomfortable any time she did so as she seemed to really only care about what he did with most of his time. She didn't react much be he had a feeling she wasn't exactly happy about the time he spent doing nothing but research and working on projects. She didn't really comment on it but he did in fact notice it. By the small smirk on her face, Hermione had noticed as well.
After the period of questions ended though, Harry conjured some food for them to eat at the dining table.
"I've never eaten illusionary food before. Never even thought about it. Will I be able to do this one day?" Ron asked excitedly. Harry rolled his eyes at the glutton he called a friend.
"I suppose that's really up to you. Getting tastes for things is a little difficult if I am honest. The easiest sense to mimic is sight but taste is actually the hardest with smell being a close second. They're somewhat complicated in and of themselves so mimicking them correctly usually requires on to study each smell and taste quite a bit. Occlumency helps, of course, but still." Harry explained to the boy. Ron suddenly gained a determined look on his face and Harry couldn't help but feel he would be studying a little harder on both illusions and Occlumency.
"So, magic. What's that like? My world has it but I can't use it for some reason." Ciri asked glancing at him for a split second at that.
"It's amazing." Hermione answered first, eyes shining as she sat up a little straighter. Harry smiled slightly at that.
"I'd agree, though, I'd say I'm rather used to it at this point so it seems rather normal. There are some moments though where I can't help but sit back and marvel what can be accomplished with it. I find I do that most often in the club we have. Harry has pushed the bounds about what I understand and even Ron has already accomplished something never done before. Magic is truly something that can make anything possible." Neville added a little more deeply.
"It's weird. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Though sometimes it does but not the way you want." Ron said simply as he dug into the illusion food Harry had conjured.
"What do you mean?" Ciri asked.
"Magic is alive. If someone asked you to build them a home, if you really wanted to build it to that person's specification, you would need to ask them for as many details as possible. That's sort of how you need to speak to magic. You need to not only tell it what you want it to do but specify it in as much detail as possible lest it do in a way that's wrong, or worse, in a way you don't understand and cannot replicate." Harry tried to explain. Ron nodded in agreement. The boy's comment was actually rather insightful and showed quite a bit of thought, it was just said a little simply.
"You got all that from what Ron said?" Hermione asked sounding somewhat impressed.
"Yes, at least, that's what I thought he meant. You know Ron, he's not dumb he just sometimes cannot articulate his thoughts correctly." Harry teased which caused the redhead to simply shrug in agreement.
"Hmm. I guess it's kind of like sword-fighting. Every move you make leads up to the final strike of the bout. Sometimes it takes one swift move, very simple. However, sometimes you have to go through the entire dance to learn and figure out exactly which mistake will be made and how to spring when its made." Ciri correlated. Harry blinked as he thought over what she said.
"I… Suppose? If that allows you to understand it, I guess." Harry allowed.
"Harry once told me you once helped him learn about magic. If you can't use it, how did you help him?" Hermione asked.
"Ah, well, I used to have someone who used to teach me and he was magical. Everyone should be capable of magic on some level so when Harry asked, I asked him how one would gain access to magic. After that I just passed it along."
"Anyone can use magic where you come from?" Neville interrupted.
"Anyone has the possibility but if you're not born with the natural ability, the kind of magic you can learn is limited, usually to nature magic. Those who fall into this category are druids. They can be powerful but, as I said, they are limited." Harry answered that one once more.
"Yep, that." Ciri finished.
"You could have let her say it." Hermione scolded.
"I could've but she would not have said it in the same way." Harry said poking fun at his friend.
"I WILL stab you. Birthday or no." Ciri threatened, brandishing a kitchen knife at him.
"Apologies, it won't happen again." Harry backed down, feigning fear causing his other friends to chuckle.
"Better not… So, I know about the stuff Harry has been doing, what about you all? Do you also get involved in random and crazy projects?"
"I haven't yet." Hermione answered first.
"Same, though I plan to in the next year." Neville responded next.
"I dabble in Alchemy." Ron said.
"Alchemy… I think Harry has mentioned that before. It's different there, right?" Ciri asked pointedly at him. He nodded.
"Yes, what you call Alchemy is more similar to the subject of Potions in our world. Alchemy is… similar to a type of Ritual based on arithmancy." Harry answered.
"Like what you do?"
"There are similarities but there are also differences that separate the two. Think of it as sibling or cousin branch of magic to what I do." Harry admitted.
"Okay. Well, that's interesting. You just completed a recent project right. You mentioned that too I believe."
"Uh, yea, I did. I figured out a way to make low grade Wardstones en masse." Ron answered. Ciri looked to him again in confusion.
"Hmm, a stone of power basically. It is most commonly used to anchor protections in our world." Harry told her. She nodded at that showing she had some understanding of the concept at least.
"How rare are low grade ones then?"
"Not super rare or anything but they are limited on the market. The only known way to get them is to find them naturally occurring in nature. I found a way to create them and to do it at almost no cost." Ron explained.
"Wow. Does it pay a lot?" Ciri asked curiously.
"Quite a bit yeah. I'm not rich like Harry or Neville but compared to the average person, I'm well off for a twelve-year-old." Ron answered with a smile. Ciri smiled at that, seeming pleased, she then looked at Neville.
"Harry once told me he is quite wealthy, partly because of how old his family is. Are you also from an old family?"
"I am, yeah. The Longbottom's have the same status as the Potters do and our families have actually been ally's several times in the past. We both technically come from warrior families." Neville answered back.
"And you're rich from that?"
"No, well some of the wealth has been granted in the past from services to the country but not in a few centuries. My family has investments and I assume Harry's family does too." Neville said looking at Harry for confirmation. Harry nodded the affirmative.
"Isn't your community small? Isn't it bad to have so few people having so much of the money?" Ciri asked.
"Yes and no. Overall, it is problematic but the chances of that changing anytime soon are low. Instead, many families use their fortunes to aid the country during crises. My family spent almost a million galleons in the last war alone and five million galleons in the previous war against a Dark Lord called Grindelwald. We also do periodic smaller donations in peace times. I don't know for sure but I'd assume Harry's family does too and I know a few other families that do as well. The Bones family used to but they no longer have the same level of wealth as they previously had." Neville continued.
"I couldn't say at this moment but I could probably check next time I go to the bank." Harry added.
With that, they continued back into simpler, more educational topics throughout the meal. When the conversation finally lulled, Hermione finally started to enter her deep question phase which she had been holding back on until that point.
His bushy haired friend seemed very curious on the differences in magic in Ciri's world versus their own. It was Harry's own belief that it wasn't necessarily the magic that was different just the application that had evolved down a different path.
She also was curious about the training that Ciri received at Kaer Morhen under the Witchers. She then, of course, questioned his pale haired companion on the Witchers themselves and their purpose. She found it someone barbaric apparently based on her expression but wisely did not voice such thoughts in front of his friend.
"They make you take potions?"
"Yes. As a female, I can't really become a Witcher myself but some of the potions they give me allow me to get a little stronger and faster despite that."
"And there's no side effects?"
"Well… They don't think so but they don't usually give them to girls so they simply watch to see if they notice anything but so far it hasn't really caused an issue."
"And it does make you stronger and faster."
"I think so? I haven't really tried to go up against someone besides the other Witchers… Except Harry, but I've always been faster than him." Ciri teased as she glanced at him.
"Yeah, yeah…" Harry muttered.
"I suppose my last question is about the possession thing that happened. Harry said you didn't really know anything but I was wondering if you had found anything out yet?" Hermione questioned.
"No, unfortunately. A sorceress friend of Geralt's should be arriving any day now though to hopefully see if she can find anything." Ciri responded, scrunching up her face in what was possibly annoyance or nervousness, he couldn't tell.
"Geralt… That's the name of the Witcher who took you in originally right?"
"Yeah."
With that, Hermione announced she was finally satisfied questions-wise. Another lull engulfed the conversation for a few moments before Neville broke it this time.
"So, we keep hearing how good you are with a sword. Do you think you could give us a demonstration?" Neville asked. Ciri perked up immediately at that.
"Of course, I'd be happy to. Harry can you make a sparring ring for me?" She asked quickly as she looked over at him. He looked from her to the rest of the table.
"Are we done here with the food and stuff?" Harry asked. All his friends nodded though Ron looked a little reluctant to do so. He nodded at the decision before waving his hand in front of him.
As soon as he did, the world in front of them seemed to fade and returned to the familiar blackness that had dominated their shared mindscape for so long. It didn't stay just like that for long as a sparring ring seemed to rise out of the floor smoothly. It was the one that normally was used by Ciri when surrounded by their library just with some chairs for the guest to sit on if they would like around it.
"Alright, hop in." Harry gestured. Ciri gracefully hopped over the wooden rails and walked over to a sword that was on a wooden stand waiting for her inside the arena. She picked it up and swung it experimentally for a moment.
"Feels right?" Harry asked.
"Yep."
"Good. Who do you want to spar with first?" He asked her.
"You." She said with a smirk. He simply rolled his eyes.
"No. You can spar with illusion me if you'd like?" He offered. Even if it didn't hurt necessarily, it was still not something he wanted to do.
"Fine." Ciri pouted as another Harry appeared in the arena in some simple leather armor and a similar sword to her. It got in a stance and looked at her from across the ring.
"Right, let's get started with the first round then." Harry called out. At this point, Hermione and Ron were sitting in some of the provided chairs while Neville was leaning up against the rail to get a closer view.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ciri charged. She almost never did, but it was still strange any time she fought a version of him, mainly due to the fact that even though the illusion was independent, it still seemed to move in the same way he thought most of the time. The only difference was when he could see something from his third person view that his illusion couldn't.
In this case, it didn't really matter. Ciri was a clearly superior opponent in both speed, strength, and skill. She did a quick feint, batted fake Harry's blade away before decapitating him with a sharp downward strike. The illusion Harry disappeared as quickly as it was killed.
"Holy Merlin…" Neville said out loud as he watched the display. He couldn't blame his friend. Despite his own lack of skill and the lack of time in the spar, Ciri cleared moved in a quick and experienced way. You could tell in the confidence and ease in which she moved. Even further, the way she moved the blade with her body also showed her comfort with the pointed weapon.
"Indeed." Harry agreed.
"Well, that was boring." Ciri commented as she walked back over.
"Are you kidding? That was amazing! You moved so fast." Ron cheered looking more excited at this point.
"Hahaha, well, I guess I am pretty great." Ciri said sticking her nose up a little at the praise. Harry smirked at the look.
"Well, I guess I can throw Geralt at you since you warmed up." Harry said breaking her out of her self-celebration. Her smug look quickly disappeared and was replaced with a glare, just for him.
"What, he's the only real challenge for you at this point." Harry pointed out.
"Challenge implies I can win…" Ciri muttered.
"Even if you lose, it'll showcase your skills. Come on, we're almost going to wrap up the night, leave them with something memorable." Harry encouraged. Ciri seemed uncertain for a moment before finally making a decision and nodding at him.
"Fine. Let's get this over with." She groused.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Hermione tried, trying to not force Ciri into anything she didn't want.
"No, Harry's right, there's no real middle ground when it comes to opponents. I've only been up against so many after all." Ciri replied as Harry conjured the illusionary Geralt into the ring.
"Man, that guy looks like he's made of pure muscle." Neville mumbled as he looked at the stone faced Witcher.
"That's because he basically is. Ready Ciri?" He called out.
"I guess." She said back as she readied her sword.
"Begin." He called without further ado.
Immediately, Ciri and Geralt charged at each other. Despite his obvious supremacy in skill, Ciri always charged right at him. Something about not wanting to start the fight defensively otherwise she wouldn't have any chance.
Unlike with Harry, Geralt could parry every strike that Ciri threw at him and even made it look easy. The difference in speed and strength from Harry to Ciri now looked to be the same from Ciri to Geralt. The Witcher danced around the girl and prodded at her from every angle looking for a weakness before quickly moving onto the next area.
Ciri, for her part, was really just trying to keep up with her mentor. She had continued to grow in skill but she was still a ways away from being a master swordsmen, or woman in this case, and that was pretty much the requirement to be able to match or keep up with a trained Witcher.
Despite her losing, the display that Ciri was putting up was nothing less than stunning. It showcased her every move even more seeing it while she was so close to losing with every breath. The fact that she was up against such a superior opponent and could find ways to still to keep herself in the match was amazing. It was almost like watching a dance in the elegance while at the same time having the savagery of two alpha predators coming to ahead against each other.
All good things must come to an end at some point though and after a little more than five minutes, the illusionary Geralt finally was able to exploit a weakness that Ciri couldn't compensate floor sending her sword flying away from her and the girl lying on her back. Seeing the victory, the illusion sheathed its sword and dissolved into nothing.
Despite her loss, Ciri was immediately met with clapping for her performance in the spar.
"Bravo! Bravo!" Neville cheered.
"That was bloody wicked! You guys were moving so fast and the way you kept finding ways to not take his blows was so impressive. Every second, I kept thinking 'Oh no, this is it' and then you'd find some way to stay in it! It was so cool!"
"It was incredibly impressive. I've never seen such fluid swordplay before, even in perfectly choreographed acts where they know how to react beforehand. I guess that's just the difference between staged and real life. You really had me sitting at the edge of my seat." Hermione cheered.
Ciri stood up and smiled at the cheers before giving a quick, out of place, elegant bow to them. With that she walked over and the arena faded away and the apartment they originally were in came back life around them.
"I take it you liked the spar?" Ciri asked rhetorically as she sat on the couch looking somewhat tired. She couldn't be but she still somewhat looked it.
"it was amazing. I can't believe I got to witness something like that! Harry wasn't exaggerating about your skill, if anything he understated. I can't believe that your mentor was able to not only keep up but outmaneuver you easily." Neville commented still looking amazed at the girl. Ciri just shrugged.
"That's Witcher's for you. They wouldn't be such renowned monster killers if they had the same skills as a normal practitioner." Ciri said back. Harry couldn't agree more. He had seen a few of the Witcher's fight Ciri at this point at her request so she could fight others besides Geralt. Unfortunately, their illusions were less complete because of how little she fought them so it did not have as complete set of their skills.
With that, his friends continued to ask a few more questions about her combat prowess until they were satisfied.
"Well, we probably should call it here for tonight. It's a little early for you guys but Ciri is usually woken up rather soon if she isn't up already." Harry said finally.
"Man, I can't believe it's already been so long." Ron commented.
"The time did seem to go a lot faster than I thought. I still can't imagine how you spend all this time every night though. Don't you get bored?" Hermione questioned.
"Sometimes, but we just relax together sometimes or even sleep which we finally figured out how to do a month or so ago."
"You can sleep in here?"
"Yes, though it's… strange and it takes some getting used to."
"You got that right… Still, it's worth learning. There are times where there really is nothing to do and you just want time to pass." Ciri agreed.
"You could study." Harry pointed out.
"As I said… Nothing to do." Ciri pushed. Harry rolled his eyes at that but smiled at her nonetheless.
"Say goodbye, then." Harry told them.
"Goodbye Ciri, it was lovely to meet you." Hermione told her with a smile.
"Agreed, I hope we can do this again some time." Neville agreed.
"Definitely. Later Ciri." Ron finished it.
"Leaving is easy, just concentrate on the longing to leave and you should automatically." Harry told them. They blinked at him in surprise before they all gained looks of concentration on their faces. Almost immediately, they all disappeared from in front of them and he could feel them withdrawing from his mind.
"Well… I hope that was enjoyable for you." Harry said looking at Ciri questioningly.
"It was nice. Haven't hung out with anyone my age besides you for a long time…" Ciri said with a small wistful smile as she seemed to get lost in thought for a moment.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Harry smiled. She brought herself out of her memories and looked at him before smiling.
"I did. What about you? Did you enjoy your official birthday?" She asked.
"I did indeed, as I told you. Though, if I recall, you were supposed to get me a gift." Harry teased. Ciri frowned in a faux concentration.
"Huh, I don't recall saying that."
"You sure? I'm pretty sure I can pull the memory for viewing." Harry rebuked.
"Tch. That's cheating!"
"Don't lie then." Harry pointed out.
"Hmph… So, what do you want then?"
"Nah, nothing. I was just teasing. I know it's not easy to get anything for each other since our interactions are so limited." Harry waved off.
"It's not like you got me something physical though, the gift was just a lovely night."
"With a killer view." Harry pointed out with pride.
"Exactly. It wasn't anything physical but it was special and I appreciated it. I can give you something like that." She suggested. Harry frowned.
"You know, I was joking right? It wouldn't exactly be fair. You can't make illusions like I can… Unless you want me to make one for you to use?" Harry questioned.
"Nope, no illusion necessary. I already know what I'm going to get you." Ciri replied with a smirk. Harry rose an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? What is…"
Harry was interrupted as Ciri grabbed the sides of his face with both hands and suddenly shoved her own into his. He almost flinched in shock until he felt something press into his lips. He blinked in shock and couldn't even react before the sensation disappeared and Ciri backed up. She looked at him a blank face which was undercut by the red that coated from the top of her head all the way down to her neck. He simply blinked at her not sure what else to do.
"…Uh."
"That was my first kiss. You better be grateful!"
"…Um."
"Anyways, I've got to go. Geralt is likely waiting for me at this point. Bye Harry. I shall see you tonight." Ciri called as she turned away from him and then disappeared completely.
"…What?"