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.

Healing Wounds

Harry stormed towards the castle, heedless of his surroundings. His mind boiled in anger.

He told him. Snape told Voldemort the prophecy! If it wasn't for him, my parents might still be alive!

Behind him, Hotaru struggled to catch up.

"Harry, please!" she cried out. "Wait!"

Harry paused, his fists balled. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's all right." She was still panting a bit. "Listen, I know that Snape—"

"I can't discuss it right now," snapped Harry shortly, his voice tight. "I'm sorry, but if I do, I'll blow up." He took a deep breath, but he could already feel the anger starting to fade. "Gimme a bit of time, okay? I just...need to get it out of my system."

"Okay," she said. Then grinned. "It'd be a good time for you to go flying. You haven't gotten to in a while, and I know how much you love it."

Harry nodded. It was a good suggestion, and she was right about how long it had been. Flying always relaxed him. "Yeah, you're not wrong."

"And while you're doing that...can I borrow your mirror?"

"My two-way?" Harry nodded, and dug into his bag. "Sure. Why—" He paused. "No, never mind. It's your business, not mine."

"It's all right," she giggled. "I just want to talk to Sirius, and I don't doubt he's halfway back to Clifton by now."

Harry handed her the mirror. "Here you go. Now, the sky awaits."

She giggled again, and Harry turned and headed towards the broom shed. He glanced over his shoulder, to see Hotaru disappearing into the school.

He had missed this.

Harry relished the wind in his hair as he pushed the Firebolt to its limits. The water below blurred into a streak as he sped along the lake, and then the sky filled his vision as he pulled up into a vertical climb. The Firebolt seemed to echo his joy, humming beneath him as he completed a daring loop.

He banked towards the Forbidden Forest, pointing his broomstick downward again and building up even more speed. No instruments aboard a broomstick; he had no clue how fast he was travelling, but he knew that if he took a hornet in the face at this speed, it would not be a pleasant experience. He levelled off about twenty feet above the canopy; no need to tempt fate.

A streak of fire formed to his left, much to his surprise, and to his surprise, he saw Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, appear, flying alongside him. The phoenix easily kept pace with his broomstick, and banked in towards him to gracefully alight at the head. Harry slowly reduced speed, then grinned at Fawkes.

"What's up, my friend?"

The phoenix looked him over, then vanished in a brief fireball, leaving a single tailfeather twisting in mid-air. Harry's Seeker reflexes kicked in as he snatched it from the air with ease, and he examined the feather.

It was long, thin, red and gold, and he knew that its mate rested in his wand. For that matter, he knew that Riddle's wand also housed a feather from the same magical bird.

"You're trying to tell me something, aren't you?" mused Harry. He studied the feather more intently, but couldn't figure out what was on the immortal bird's mind. He tucked the feather up his sleeve, and turned the broomstick back toward the castle.

His anger wasn't gone, but it had backed off to a simmer. He racked the broom in the shed, then paused.

"Dobby."

The House Elf appeared with a pop. "Yes, Master Harry?"

"Please don't call me Master," grumbled Harry. "Can I get you to pop my broom back to Clifton?"

The Elf nodded vigorously. "Dobby will do! And Dobby will clean and polish it as well!"

"Thanks, Dobby. You're the best."

The House Elf picked up the Firebolt, and vanished again. Harry chuckled.

"It always amazes me just how devoted he is to you."

Hary turned, to see Hotaru at the entrance of the broom shed. "Yeah...it's kind of disturbing, sometimes. I mean, I treat him the same as I would anyone else, but I guess he just...doesn't expect that."

"You treat most people quite well," pointed out Hotaru. "Even people you don't like, you generally treat with respect, unless they prove they're not worthy of it."

"Golden rule, right?" said Harry with a grin.

"Not too many people live it, though. But..." Hotaru bit her lip. "Now, please don't be mad at me...but I talked to Sirius about Snape."

He did feel a stab of irritation, but he suppressed it ruthlessly. She's trying to help, he thought, and I don't owe her any grief for that. "What did he have to say?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"Did you know that Snape and your mother were good friends?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah...Snape told me. Well," he amended, "he showed me a memory."

"Apparently, they were friends since before Hogwarts," said Hotaru. "Sirius has talked to your aunt Petunia about it as well. They all grew up in Cokeworth." Hotaru looked down. "From what Sirius heard, Snape's father was...abusive...towards him and his mother."

Harry blinked. "Really?"

"I heard this from Sirius," Hotaru was quick to point out, "and he heard it from Petunia, who claims she heard her parents talking about it. We don't really know."

"I know about Cokeworth. And I know that he and Mum had a falling-out," commented Harry. "After he called her a mudblood." He paused. "And Snape was...treated poorly...by Sirius and my father." He scowled. "I hate to think ill of my dad, but he and Sirius were just straight-out bullies when they were kids." He clenched his fists. "I don't like bullies."

"I know." Hotaru sighed. "Sirius was quick to say that Snape gave as good as he got, but let's face it. At the best of times, it was three on one."

"Three?" asked Harry.

"Apparently, Professor Lupin rarely got involved," explained Hotaru. "But he rarely intervened, either."

"I remember seeing him hanging back in the memory," mused Harry. "Not getting involved, but..." He frowned. "No, he did at one point tell Dad to stop. 'He's had enough', he said." Harry shook his head. "From what I understand, Lupin was the 'good boy' among the Marauders. Made Prefect, even."

"Is it possible..." Hotaru hesitated. "Do you think Snape loved your mum?"

Harry wrinkled his nose. "I don't really wanna think about that." He chuckled. "I bet he did, though. From what I've heard, everybody did."

"Sirius said that nobody knew who the prophecy was about for a month or two. But then your mum and Neville's mum..." She hesitated. "Well, when you two were conceived, Dumbledore thought that one of you might be the child of the prophecy."

"I am learning to hate prophecies," grumbled Harry. "Remember two years ago, Trelawney told Hermione the Soldiers were coming? But we didn't have a clue what she was talking about, because she was going on about 'witches called from other planets'. What is the sense of a prophecy if it's only clear in hindsight?"

"My point is," said Hotaru, "I doubt very much that Snape told Voldemort the prophecy expecting that he'd go after your mum. From everything I've heard, Snape was more or less driven to the Death Eaters. By the Marauders, by his parents, by Slytherin House itself—apparently, he wasn't well liked by his own House for whatever reason." She tilted her head. "If he was good friends with your Mum, if he regretted his words—as he seems to have—do you really think he'd have aimed Voldemort at her?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he agreed. "Even as much as he hated my dad, he wouldn't...that is, if he really did love my mum, like you suggested." He snorted. "Disgusting thought, that. But hey. Maybe he was a nice kid." He grinned. "Aunt Petunia once referred to him as 'that horrid boy'. I thought she was talking about my dad. But if Aunt Petunia hated Snape, maybe he can't be all that bad."

Hotaru giggled. "So. Are you going to apologize to him?"

"I..." Harry sighed. "Look, I agree it's not something I should hold against him, all right? But I didn't say anything nasty to him...did I?" He paused, suddenly not quite certain.

"Nothing he hasn't already been telling himself," agreed Hotaru. "But does it really hurt anything to apologize?"

"He might take it as a sign of weakness," muttered Harry. "But all right. I don't think I owe him an apology...but he'll get one." He paused. "Eventually. Not sure I can keep my cool at the moment."

"You might also take him by surprise," pointed out Hotaru. "After all, he plays the villain so well that everybody in the school is fooled. It might be nice for him, to have someone understand that he's not."