Well, thanks for the reception to the first chapter of Virtute non Armis Fido. Before I get to the second chapter, I'll be posting the first chapter of the Mass Effect crossover, with the working title Loving the Aliens, tomorrow. Keep in mind, there's no guarantee that these stories will become full ones.

Oh, and I make no apologies for the chapter title. It was funny, IMO. So there.

VIRTUTE NON ARMIS FIDO

CHAPTER 2:

BOY MEETS GIRL, WIZARD MEETS WOLVERETTE

Harry Potter was not in a good way at this point in time. So when he was summoned to the headmaster's office the Monday evening after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, he had to admit to feeling apprehensive…and a little angry. Dumbledore had done little to get him out of this. He didn't want to be in this damned Tri-Wizard Tournament, but few believed him. Thank Merlin Hermione did, but he thought Ron would have known better.

So when he gave the password to the gargoyle and stepped through, he wasn't sure what to expect in the office. Certainly not a dark-haired woman in her early forties, and a dark-haired girl about his age, her green eyes shifting to peer at him as he entered. And certainly not a blue-furred leonine shape in a labcoat, one that looked very familiar.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said, from where he was talking to the blue-furred creature. "Come in. I was just talking to Dr McCoy about some of his research."

"Indeed. It is a refreshing change for a wizards to have any knowledge of genetics and cellular biology," the blue-furred creature said.

"…You're Dr Hank McCoy," Harry said flatly, staring at the creature. "You're one of the X-Men."

"Indeed, and call me Hank. I'm more here as a chaperone. Charles is somewhat busy with matters back in New York, but as I have met Professor Dumbledore before, I was sent here. And you must be Harry Potter." Hank walked over, and gently shook Harry's hand with a massive paw. "A pleasure to meet you. Your godfather has spoken to me at great length."

"Sirius?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "I have known for some time. Sirius went over to the Americas to avoid the authorities here. He had some notion he could find help with this young lady, Dr Sarah Kinney. You see, shortly before your parents went into hiding, Dr Kinney came here to Britain and met Sirius. In an appalling breach of the Statute of Secrecy," though he said this with a smirk and a twinkle of his eyes, "he confessed, during their affair, that he was a wizard. Dr Kinney was already interested in those with extraordinary powers, particularly Mutants. However, your parents had to go into hiding, and Sirius had to break away from Dr Kinney."

"I returned to the US, but I was later recruited by an organisation known as Weapon Plus, whose Weapon X division was responsible for giving the Adamantium skeleton to Wolverine," Dr Kinney said. "They wished to try again, using genetic samples of Wolverine to create a clone. I was on the research group, and eventually, we realised that the cell samples were too degraded to make a full clone. His Y chromosome was completely unsalvageable. So I put forward a proposition that I donate an X chromosome and a few others to replace the damaged chromosomes. The head of that division did not like that, and forced me to be a surrogate mother." Gently placing a hand on the shoulder of the girl, she concluded, "In the end, I don't regret bearing Laura at all, only what I was complicit in afterwards."

Harry blinked. "Sorry…did you just say…this girl is effectively a female clone of Wolverine?"

"For the most part, I am," the girl said. "My mother has given me the name of Laura Kinney, though my codename, as I was the 23rd attempt to clone Wolverine, is X-23." To illustrate this, with a distinctive 'snikt!' noise, a pair of shining metal claws slid out of each of her fists, while a single claw poked its way out of each foot.

Harry stared. He couldn't help but do so, even after she retracted the claws. "…Okay. I'm sorry, I'm more than a little confused. I mean, I'm glad that Sirius is all right, and to be honest, I'm a bit jealous he's at the X-Mansion. But I'm not sure what this has to do with me."

"There's a few reasons for that, my dear boy," Dumbledore said. "Frankly, I am sorely disappointed with how young Mr Weasley has reacted. I hope that he will see the error of his ways soon. But to the points I needed to make. The first is that, I have been somewhat economical with the truth. Sirius has managed to win enough favour with MACUSA, that is, the Magical Congress of the United States of America, for them to put pressure on Fudge to rescind the Kiss on Sight order and have Sirius' case reopened. Whether Fudge will do so, I do not know, but in any case, MACUSA has, in effect, granted your godfather asylum in the United States until such time he is pardoned here. So while he has not had his name wholly cleared, it is an important step."

Harry smiled. Maybe it was a small step, but it was an important step all the same, as Dumbledore said. "Okay, so what's the other reasons?"

"It was something Miss Granger spoke to me about. As you are underaged, you will be at a distinct disadvantage, at least in terms of magic that you have learned, in comparison to the other Champions. She pleaded with me to help train you, but I told her that that would not be possible, in order to be seen as not helping you unduly. However, nothing in the rules for the Tri-Wizard Tournament state anything about you getting outside help and training. Indeed, I have been discussing with Dr McCoy about the possibility of you training at Charles' school, also allowing you to meet your godfather. Otherwise, they suggest Muir Island, which is certainly closer, geographically. Dr McCoy also brought up an intriguing possibility that, given the stakes, I have decided to let him investigate, but that can wait for the future. The third reason is, well, Miss Kinney here."

Harry looked at the dark-haired girl, who was watching him with an uncanny scrutiny. He realised she was wearing dark jeans and a shirt with the slogan 'Deadlier than the Male' on it. She was actually quite beautiful, though her impassive expression and her rather stiff, wary posture had alarm bells ringing. "And…what do you have to do with anything, Laura? I mean, I can call you Laura, right?"

The dark-haired Wolverine clone nodded. "…I did not have a childhood," she said bluntly. "I only had training and missions. My mother…she gave me what little trappings of a childhood I had. Then, we escaped. It was only thanks to your godfather, the man I call my father rather than Wolverine, that I was stopped from killing her. I have a family now, a life…but I lack purpose. However, for now, I believe I have found that purpose. My father values your life greatly. Therefore, I decided to assist in your training. And given the potential ill-will against you in this school, I wish to act as your bodyguard."

"I certainly have no objection to Miss Kinney to acting as your trainer. I am more concerned with having her here as a bodyguard. While she claims to know a number of means of dealing with people non-lethally…I don't think it will end well. Wizards do not think much of Mutants for the most part, or at least those in power don't," Dumbledore said.

Harry walked over to Laura, and looked into his eyes. She met his gaze impassively. He had this strange sensation that it was almost like looking at a robot, only, there was a sense of vitality there. She wasn't just a machine. It was almost like looking into a mirror, that feeling of isolation. There was a yearning in her eyes, as if to say, 'make me useful'.

After a moment, he gently hugged her, feeling her athletic body against his own scrawny frame. She stiffened in his grasp briefly, before relaxing, and, a little ineptly, returning his embrace. "Sorry, Laura," he said. "You just seemed like you don't get enough hugs."

"No…I did not."

Harry, after breaking off the embrace, met her gaze again. "…I don't think things are bad enough for me to need a bodyguard, Laura. Anyway, I barely know you. But I wouldn't say no to training. And I'd get to meet the X-Men. I've always wanted to meet you guys since I was little. I even wished I was a Mutant, and Professor Xavier would recruit me for them." He smiled, and said, "And I get to meet Sirius again. How's he doing?"

"Much better now that he doesn't have to be on the run," Sarah said. "The same for myself and my daughter. I have a lot to make up for, especially where Laura is concerned. I am as guilty of what they did to her as the rest of Weapon X. This is my atonement. And she must like you already. She doesn't normally allow people she barely knows to hug her."

"Oh. Well, thank you, Laura," Harry said to the dark-haired girl, who nodded. "Hey, would I be able to take Hermione with me?"

"As long as it is fine with Charles," Dumbledore said. "I have a Floo connection with the X-Mansion. But why Miss Granger?"

"I'm sure she'd love to come. Besides, she's already agreed to help me, so maybe she can brainstorm something with Laura. Would you mind, Laura?"

"No. My father already spoke of Hermione Granger," Laura said. "What of Ronald Weasley?"

Harry winced. "…We're not talking at the moment. He's being jealous."

"Mr Weasley, sadly, believed that, despite my announcements to the contrary, that Harry somehow cheated his way into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. It is my belief that he will realise the truth, eventually. The only question is whether their friendship will survive it," Dumbledore said solemnly. "I have seen friendships sundered for more trivial reasons, I'm afraid…"

It was shortly afterwards, and, having finished their discussion, Laura watched Harry leave. It had been too much to ask, she realised, having her as a bodyguard. She just had been desperate for some sort of purpose. And to have this…well, it was disappointing.

And yet, meeting Harry was not disappointing in of itself. He had accepted her. True, he did not know everything about what she did when she was under the aegis of Weapon X. But he had to have some notion. After all, one didn't clone one of the most infamously belligerent Mutants just for the hell of it. Plus, 'Weapon X' implied that she was a living weapon, just like her biological father.

Still, that he had accepted her, even hugged her, was promising. True, she wasn't exactly fond of being hugged. Until recently, only her mother did so, and now, the only other one she generally let hug her was her father. She'd almost attacked Harry on reflex, on instinct instilled into her by Weapon X, instincts she still struggled to suppress.

You just seemed like you don't get enough hugs, he had said. No, she didn't. No, what she got was radiation poisoning to trigger her healing factor, painful surgery to lace her claws with Adamantium, a childhood of abuse and brainwashing that she was still recovering from, and may never fully recover from.

But he cared. He actually bothered to care, and Laura was fairly sure he wasn't lying. Not only that, but he seemed to admire Mutants, even envying them. Not in a bad way, not like some humans did. He had admittedly been startled at McCoy's appearance, but that was normal, sadly. It was little wonder that McCoy's nom de guerre was 'Beast', despite the hulking Mutant's eloquence and intelligence.

Plus…to be perfectly honest, and this wasn't exactly a logical reason…he smelt nice. She'd noticed that shortly after he had entered the room. Maybe it was prejudice from her father waxing lyrical about Harry.

But there was something else she saw in his emerald eyes. There was a pain there, not unlike her own. Not as bad as her own, not by a long shot, but enough to be noticeable. Then again, the boy had lost his parents before he was old enough to realise it. He was raised by relatives who, according to Sirius, would have been unpleasant to him at best. He had to deal with fame revolving around the fact that he survived an instant death curse, and his parents didn't. That sort of fame could isolate someone. Hell, Laura was irritated at the fact that she was known at the X-Mansion for being 'Wolverine's clone daughter', not what she was…though she had to admit to being a little grateful that she wasn't seen as a living weapon as often as she could have been.

"Laura, your thoughts on Harry?" Hank asked gently.

Laura said, "Has been through trouble already. Alert, but not to the level of military personnel. Possible mild PTSD. Lacks prejudice against Mutants. Impulsive. Would be unused to high-level combat, but may be capable in a crisis."

"Laura…I think Hank meant your personal thoughts," her mother said.

Eventually, Laura said, a little less stiffly and professionally, "He interests me, though that is partly because of Dad's stories." She turned to Dumbledore, who reminded her all too much of a somewhat more ineffectual Xavier. "What has happened to him?"

"…That is rather a long story. Needless to say, Harry has been through more here at Hogwarts than any of my students should have been," Dumbledore said, having the good grace to look ashamed. "Admittedly, I was very much at fault for a few of those incidents, particularly in his first year. Still…Miss Kinney, I'd like to ask that you do not put Harry through too much when training him."

"He needs to survive a tournament intended to challenge wizards older than him," Laura said. "Not win it, just survive. I will do what is needed to."

Hank coughed quietly. "In any case, I'll examine him when he comes to us. Of course, if my examination bears fruit, it may open another can of worms. Still, I hope that your Minister will see reason and begin proceedings to exonerate Sirius."

"Maybe. But Cornelius refuses to listen to my counsel anymore," Dumbledore said sadly. "The money Lucius Malfoy and his ilk drops into his pocket buys his allegiance more than good advice does. It's a risky gamble, if you find what you're looking for in Harry…but perhaps this is what he needs..."

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry's met Laura, and is not averse to training with her. But what's this that Hank and Dumbledore want to do with Harry?

Now, keep in mind, Laura is not that far out of the influence of Weapon X. She yearns a purpose, and does so in somewhat militaristic terms. She's not emotionless, but rather, she lacks capacity to express it, a bit like Rei Ayanami if she was more of an assassin. Much of this story will be about Laura learning to be more human through her growing relationship with Harry.

No numbered annotations this time.