The week that followed went by smoothly, especially considering the drama that occurred in the previous two days. The quiet work and chatter of the tea shop was oddly calming to the young wizard, and he appreciated having the opportunity to gather his thoughts. Being constantly on the run was tiring and even if this situation wasn't ideal, he appreciated the down time. The only thing ruining this quiet time was Zuko.

Well to say that he was ruining was a bit much.

He'd been pretty quiet ever since the incident, as Harry dubbed it. He always seemed like he had something on his mind and his mood varied immensely. He could be very snappish one day, and as calm as Iroh's tea the next. The wizard had tried to ask Iroh if there was something wrong with him but had only gotten a mysterious smile in return.

The ex-prince would often take long walks, with Harry tailing him invisibly. He wouldn't talk to anyone or do anything rash, but simply look around the city as if discovering it for the first time. It was a perfect opportunity for Harry to observe his enemy(…?) and to look for the rest of his friends. He hadn't heard any news of the Avatar in the city and was feeling quite disheartened.

As time went, he was more and more convinced that his friends thought him dead. He hoped that they would have looked for him if they thought he was alive, and hadn't abandoned him. On top of that, he was feeling guiltier and guiltier the more time he passed idly working in the shop when he could be out there helping. It's not like I can leave Zuko alone to capture Aang! He thought firmly, shaking his head to steel himself. The determination didn't last long, the sentence having lost it's meaning after having recounted it for the hundredth time in this week alone.

A hand grabbed his wrist, startling him out of his thoughts and making his head jerk up to stare at the object of his brooding. He'd been tailing Zuko on his walk (again) and must've gotten lost in his thoughts. He froze when he met the other's fiery glare.

"I should've known it was you, following me like that. What do you even want? Are you not doing enough, intruding in our lives."

Well, looks like it's angry Zuko day. Harry glares back at him, jerking his wrist form the other's hold. "I'm making sure you're not going to kill my friend because of his existence." He spites back, utterly tired of dealing with him. The ex-prince frowns at him in confusion.

"My mission is" he falters for a second, a hand coming to clutch at his chest. The chattering of the town fills the silence as they stare at one another.

"I wouldn't have killed the avatar." He states finally, surprising the wizard. He stares at him incredulously, taking in Zuko's serious expression before snorting. The ex-prince immediately bristles, "Why are you laughing at me?" he shouts, startling several bystanders.

"If you really think that capturing Aang wouldn't have killed him, you're a lot more stupid and naïve than I thought." Harry attempts to walk away, back to the tea shop, only for Zuko to grab his arm once again.

"What did you say?" he growls threateningly, getting right in his face. Never one to back down from a challenge, Harry leans forward until they're almost nose to nose. "I said you're a stupid, naïve and prejudiced bastard who would rather kill a kid than hurt his little, tiny pride." As he sneers at him, words cutting and filled with repressed rage, he's not really looking at Zuko. He's looking at the firebenders who caused the war, the Ministry, the purebloods, all those bastards who think that they can do and say anything because they're oh so superior.

Zuko's eyes widen, rage enveloping his face as he looms over the wizard. His breath is warm against Harry's face, little sparks emerging as he exhales. There's warmth against his side, and he's pretty sure that if he were to look down, the other's hands would be enveloped in flames. He can feel his own magic rising to the surface, tainting the air with the smell of ozone and his eyes glowing softly in the rise of his anger. If his magic wasn't as familiar to him as his bending, he would probably be a sparking man as well.

Their fire and magic clash against each other, lighting up every single one of Harry's nerves, sending waves of dopamine into his brain, his mouth dropping in surprise. He can see the confusion on Zuko's face, before a scream startles the pair, magic and fire cutting off instantly. They both turn their head, Harry paling rapidly as he notices the too many eyes on them, especially on Zuko's previously sparking hands.

A shop woman is staring at them in horror as she screams once more, grabbing her child and shoving him behind her. Most of the crowd is confused, trying to figure out what happened, but a few are murmuring fire bender with a terrified whisper and Harry spots someone running out of the street towards some guards. They really must get out of here.

Without further ado, he grabs the other's arm and sprints in the nearest alley. Fortunately, Zuko doesn't struggle and lets himself be dragged from the street. Harry takes out his wand, murmuring the disillusioned charm under his breath, the arm that he's holding stiffens as the spells takes hold, allowing them to blend easier in the background. There's not a lot of this side of the city that's 'unused', people rushing in from different places in the world to get away from the Fire Nation. He hears pounding footsteps after them in the distance, shouts of firebenders reaching his ears. A trickle of fear rushes down his back as he ups the pace.

He doesn't really have a destination in mind, only somewhere where they can hide for a little bit. After stalkingfollowing Zuko for the better part of the week, he had come to know the city a little bit better than when he first arrived. So, with little fanfare, he finds a little road at the back of the building that nobody frequents. He sits down, breathing a little heavily from the run he just had. Harry remains tense, listening intently for any sign of pursuers before he can safely breathe in relief. He feels a shift next to him, the soft feeling of cloth against his arm. With a startled cry he leaps back in surprise only to stop and feel stupid when he sees Zuko staring at him with wide eyes.

They stare at each other for a moment, a silent tension filling the air. He looks at Zuko's amber eyes, the soft hair covering his forehead and the scar stretching his face. His skin looks soft, and Harry has the weirdest thought to caress it.

"Is there anyone out there?" The other's question startles him out of his staring. He hopes the blush of embarrassment that he's now emerging isn't too visible, but the Potter Luck isn't nice to him. He looks out of the alley before sitting back down.

"No, I think we're good for a little bit. We should stay here for a time, wait for everything to dial down." At least they hadn't been wearing their work uniform, they didn't have to worry about people coming after Iroh. Zuko nods a bit, settling down to wait, Harry following him down after a moment.

"What was that?" Harry turns his head to look at him. The ex-prince isn't looking at him, rather staring at the dirty stone floor before them.

"What was what?"

"That-that magic you did, back then."

Ah, the disillusionment spell. Now that he thinks about it, he shouldn't be able to see Zuko and Zuko shouldn't be able to see him. Maybe because they were holding hands? "It's a spell. It makes us fade in the background, kind of like a chameleon."

"A what?"

Harry turns to look at him, seeing the puzzlement on the other's face. "You guys don't have chameleon? They're little lizards that can change the color of their skin or something like that." Zuko looks at him, clearly unsure on whether he believes him. "Oh, come on, all your animals are actually mixes of another animal, like 80% of the population can manipulate one of the four element and you all have spirits living on another plane of existence, and this boggles you?" Zuko continues to stare at him, looking so awkward that Harry can't help but snort and let his head 'thunk' against the wall they're leaning on.

"You're the one that's weird." Mutters Zuko under his breath, probably not intending for him to hear. And so, Harry lets the comment go, it's not like he's wrong after all. He was a freak even in his original world, here he stands out even more. He stands out so much, he's been mistaken for the Avatar multiple times! Most people would be frightened of his magic, he's always surprised that his friends don't freak out whenever he uses spells.

FreakAttention SeekerLiarDirtySelfish

"What's a spell?" Startled by the unexpected question, he responds automatically, "Uh, they're controlled manifestation of magic that affects the world around us. There's more than one type of spells that we can do." This has been drilled into him by his professors over the last five years. So even if he hasn't been listening as much as Hermione, there's no way for him to forget this. All the essays…Harry shudders just at the thought.

"There's more than one kind?" Harry squints at the Zuko for a second, "You're not going to go tell all that information to the Fire Nation, will you?" It's the other's turn to startle, as if the idea had never even crossed his brain. Great, I just gave him the idea as well. Well, it's not like knowing the types of spells will help them counter them.

"There are transfiguration spells, that change something into something else. Like a match into a needle or transforming statues into birds. Then there's charms, where spells add properties to people or object. Like aqua eructo, so water comes out of my wand, or the memory charm, which removes memory from people. Then there's defense spells which is used for combat and self-defense. There's one, expelliarmus, that tears out the weapon out of someone's hands." He trails off, there's potion as well, but they don't really count as spells. You don't even need your wand to do most of them, as Snape as proven so many times. He can't help but internally grimace at the thought of him. He has never once thought of him in this world, and he would really like to keep it that way.

Of course, now that his name appeared in his mind, he can't help but think of the world he left behind. Of the friends, the enemies. It's only been a couple of weeks in this world, but that may not be the case. Maybe months has passed, years. This world isn't as technologically advanced after all. Maybe that's due to the 100-year war, or maybe the technology he is familiar with will never come to be here.

"Do you miss it?" This time, Harry doesn't startle at the question, though he can't say he expected the question from him. A wave rises in his chest, expanding and beating at his ribs, begging to be free. It goes up, forms a lump in his throat and prickles at his eyes. His stomach churches from the lurches of the water, and yet, it's warm. He feels like crying from the sadness, but a smile still manages to make its way to his lips without too much trouble.

He thinks of the friends, and the enemies he left behind. He thinks of their warm smile and love. He thinks of Voldemort's bloodred eyes, Bellatrix's cackling laugh and Snape's mocking voice. He thinks of Hogwarts, it's winding and moving staircase, the air saturated with magic and laughter. He thinks of his classmates, their scorn and prejudiced eyes as he walks down the corridors.

"Yes, I do. I really do. I'd do anything to go back to it."

"Even if it's horrible sometimes?" The wizard looks at him, only to get startled by the intensity of Zuko's eyes.

"How-" "You have nightmares. A lot of them. Don't worry," he adds, after seeing the look on Harry's face, "I don't know what they're about, you speak another language so I can't understand what you're saying." Harry feels his face flush a bit with embarrassment. It's not exactly a surprise, as Ron and his other housemates have told him many times of his sleep talking habit.

The wizard frowns, thinking seriously about Zuko's question. He doesn't know that much about Zuko's homeland, but if they are the ones to invade the land and exile their princes, it must not be a good childhood. With the way Iroh speaks of the Fire Nation, and the argument he heard earlier this week, he was pretty sure that the older man didn't approve of whatever happened to Zuko. What made him think capturing Aang will restore his 'honor'. And so, telling him to just go back there, seems like a tremendously bad idea.

The easiest thing to do, would be to tell him of the reasons he's apprehensive about coming back to his world, forever. Of course, there is no doubt that he will go back to help his friends leave Voldemort. He won't let them deal with the mess he made alone. But after that, if he even survives, does he really want to stay here? Harry of a few weeks ago, before he got a taste of this universe, might not have hesitated with staying in the Wizarding World. After all, it's his home, why would he ever want to let it go?

However, this world gave him something home never could, freedom.

Here, nobody knows who he is. Sure, he's helping fight in a war, which is less than ideal, but he's not the only one.

It's not just him and his group of friends.

He's not constantly struggling with the people who are supposed to be his allies, just to live a decent life. The people of the Northern Water Tribe accepted him so easily for helping defeat the Fire Nation, but they didn't ask him for too much. His friends trust him and like him for who he is, not what he represents. He loves Ron and Hermione a lot, but his Boy-Who-Lived status will always go between them. Whether it's through their own actions, like Ron last year, or through other people trying to use him and his friends due to his status.

He loves and cherishes them a lot, they showed him what it's like to have family and friends. But is it enough to stay?

He's not sure.

He's torn in two, just thinking about it. One is screaming at him that if he leaves after dealing with Voldemort, he would be a coward, a hypocrite a useless waste of space. The other, doesn't want to leave these friends and this world either. He wants to see them flourish and most importantly, he wants to help them flourish. It's not an obligation, nobody expects him to. But he wants to, because they're his friends.

Here, he was free.

And so, Harry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and summoned all the mental energy that he could. And he opened the door.

"When I was one year old, a man came and murdered my parents. They were on opposite sides of a stupid war," he bit out, eyes still closed, "and so they died. You see, we have a spell, an unforgivable spell. If you're hit by that spell, you die. There is no way to block it with magic, no way to escape it. You can't fight it; it hits you and you die." He stops for a second, not bothering to look at the person next to him.

"At least, that's what people thought. On the night my parents were murdered, that man tried to use that spell on me. But it didn't work. It backfired and hit him instead. All it left me, was a lightning bolt scar on my forehead." He hears Zuko inhale sharply, but he doesn't look. If he looks at him, if he sees his gaze filled with awe or even horror, he doesn't think he would be able to take it.

"And that, ended the war. For 10 years, there was no sign of that tyrant and so the light side rejoiced. They all called me, The Boy-Who-Lived. The one person, the only person to have survived the Killing Curse."

"So when I arrived in the Wizarding World," There is no way in hell that he is explaining the Dursleys. That's his, and his alone, "they all expected something out of me. They all thought I was this hero who did everything for them. I was a saviour to them; I wasn't really a person." Harry has never told someone all of this, all these feelings and all these expectations and burdens that make him hate the Wizarding World. There is no one that he feels would understand him better than Aang.

But Aang isn't here right now, and by the lack of response, of sympathetic response, he's pretty sure Zuko can understand as well.

"A lot of people had expectations of me, they wanted me to act a certain way because I was the 'Saviour'. But whenever something bad happened? They turned their back on me as soon as I was a problem, or I didn't fit what they thought of as a hero. They tried to frame me for hurting my friends, they said I was a liar, a cheat, an attention seeker. They said all this, and then expected me to save them when it mattered the most." Harry grit out, the painful memories dragging through his mind.

"When I left, that man had come back to life with his followers, and was harming my friends. They probably think they succeeded by sending me here. I left, when my friends are being hunted by him. So, I want to go back to help these people. I want them to live in the Wizarding World in peace." He sighed once more and opened his eyes, tilting his head to the side to look at Zuko who was looking at him with a wide eye vulnerable expression.

"But being here, meeting all these different people made me realized how I was unhappy with my surroundings. Don't get me wrong, I love Hogwarts so much, but that's not going to last forever. How I was judged for everything I did. I'm not ready to give up the Wizarding World, it's my home. But here, when the war ends, I think it could start being my home."

He smiles a bit, a sad pained smile that doesn't indicate happiness in any way.

"I don't have an answer for you, and if I already did, I think I should have left my world a long time ago. But to go back on what you were really asking me, is staying there enough? Are there people and things that you know for sure that you wish to keep, to see again, that you would be willing to suffer for these people. Do you want to be free for yourself, or be free with these people, if they let you?"

Harry wasn't sure where he got the inspiration or the courage for that last sentence. Maybe Iroh has been influencing him recently. Zuko stares at him for a moment before getting up and heading out of the alley. Harry doesn't stop him, instead letting him leave. He is rather surprised to see him pause for a second, before truly leaving him alone.

The wizard sighs, before getting up and making his own way out in the city. I have time to look for Aang and the others a bit.

XxX: Not a lot happened in this chapter, but at the same time, a lot of things did. I considered extending this and combine it with chapter 16, but I think I have been putting off posting this chapter for a while so here it is. Ever since I knew that I wanted the two together, I always imagined this scene, so I'm glad we're finally here. The next chapter will probably be a little bit more of down time before the action picks back up again. I hope you guys liked it!