Pairings: Laxus/Krystal

Warnings: Gender switch. Sibling-like Erza and Mirajane. Nice Zeref. Non-canon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Fairy Tail and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

Chapter Three: The Day the Wind Blew

~Year 777; Fairy Tail~

Dark clouds were already converging in the skies above Magnolia, thus forcing majority of the citizens to start running for cover indoors to get out of the heavy downpour that is soon to come.

And as usual, Magnolia's sole mage guild is full of bustle and activity. Their newest recruits happened to be a trio of siblings that had joined roughly a year and a half ago. And it had actually taken both Erza and Krystal nearly six months just to get through to the stoic eldest of the Strauss siblings, Mirajane.

Annoyed at losing his job partner for six months, Laxus had actually asked his grandfather what is so important that Makarov actually had to borrow Krystal for six months just to get through to their newest recruit.

It had been nearly four years since Krystal had joined Fairy Tail, and she had now settled in well, though it been difficult for her in the beginning, as she's as prickly as a porcupine—to quote Wakaba. The only people whom she would even let get close to her at that time had just been Laxus, Gildarts, Makarov, and surprisingly, Cana and Erza—as the latter two were the first ones in her age group to approach her when she was first brought to the guild. It also helps that those two were also the ones to help her to integrate into the guild and also the ones to help her to get a room at the Fairy Hills dormitory where majority of Fairy Tail's female members stayed.

Even still, despite making fast friends with Cana and Erza, Laxus is still the one that is Krystal's close confidante and closest friend—much to the guild's amusement, as everyone knew just how anti-social that Laxus had been.

Hedwig and Padfoot were favourites of the guild as well, especially the black Belgian sheepdog—with the two quickly becoming the guild's mascots or something. As Hedwig is Krystal's mage familiar, the slowly developing owlet had been growing into her own powers so that she can assist her mage in battle.

Makarov didn't tell Laxus, Erza and Krystal a lot about the Strauss siblings and their history prior to joining Fairy Tail—it had been an unspoken rule in Fairy Tail after all that their members' past stay as it is—in the past. Even still, Krystal could tell that the three Strauss siblings had came from a magic-phobic village much like herself, especially since the eldest, Mirajane had an expression pretty much similar to the one that she herself wore when she'd first came to Fairy Tail.

Erza and Krystal's persistence in getting through to Mirajane paid off in the end, as the girl who probably is around their age finally decided to come out of her shell and start socialising with the others, much to her siblings' delight. The younger generation had also all decided to pitch in and teach the Strauss siblings magic, though in the end, it is Take Over magic that they're all better at.

"Looks like it's about to pour." Lisanna noted, staring outside the window at the dark skies outside. "Too bad. It was so nice out just a moment too." The low tunes of a flute reaches their ears just then, and Lisanna perked up, not noticing that all those in the guild stopped their babble for a moment just to listen to the low soothing tunes. "What's that? Who's playing it?"

"Hmm?" Erza turned around from her cheesecake, a cake fork in her hand. "That's Kris. I guess you hadn't really seen her playing anything in the guild as she doesn't like playing in front of a crowd."

"That's Krystal playing?" Mirajane echoed from next to Erza.

"Yeah. I think one of the first jobs that she and Laxus took when she'd first joined is to help some famous musician to get back his violin." Gray piped up, having been present in the guild when the said musician was there to give his eternal gratitude and thanks to the pair for retrieving his precious violin for him—with the violin having been a gift from his late teacher. "That musician actually lived in Magnolia for awhile after that, and as thanks, he actually taught Krystal how to play the flute and the violin. I think even the piano too."

"I never knew that." Lisanna was surprised.

Cana chuckled. "Well, Kris isn't one to like attention paid to her," she admitted. "So at times, she climbed up to the roof of the guild to play. It actually helps her mood as well. So none of us really said anything."

XXXXXX

Sixteen-year-old Laxus Dreyar walked with slow steps up the stairs that led to the rooftop of the guild that actually overlooks all of Magnolia—following the low fleeting tunes of the flute that he could hear.

Finally, he emerged onto the rooftop and immediately spied Krystal's petite form seated at the edge of the rooftop, her legs dangling over it, playing the jade green flute.

"You sure do love high places, huh?" Laxus commented, and Krystal stopped her playing immediately, turning around to face Laxus.

She gave a small smile, tucking the flute away into a dark blue sling bag by her side that was woven with strong elements of spatial magic that actually enables her to put unlimited stuff inside, and yet, the bag will still be weightless.

"I guess so." Krystal mused. "So what's with all the fuss?"

"Nothing much. The Strauss siblings are attempting Take Over magic." Laxus shrugged uncaringly. "But never mind. I just got ourselves a job." He handed the flier that he had just taken off the board to Krystal who took it curiously. "It's perfect for us, don't you think?" He grinned at Krystal who smiled back.

"Let's go." Krystal got to her feet gingerly, letting Laxus pull her to her feet with relative ease—with the older boy being four years older than her and not to mention that he's much taller and broader than twelve-year-old petite and slim Krystal. "So you want me to be 'weather speaker' again—or in layman terms, to calm the skies."

Laxus smirked. "Let's go."

XXXXXX

"Gale Magic: Thunder Clouds!"

Laxus truly will never get tired of seeing Krystal use her magic, the blond lightning mage mused absently to himself as he controlled the lightning crackling over the skies with relative ease. Ever since Krystal had came to the guild, and the Master had identified her as a mage with the rare ability to control the weather, with control over a rare element known as Gale Magic, most of the jobs that the guild had that relates to lightning and storms are given to Laxus and Krystal who often did their jobs together.

Laxus knew for one that Krystal is also experimenting with barrier, ward and rune magic—with those being another branch of magic known as Spatial Magic that Krystal's mother had taught her before she had died. The Water Dancer after all isn't as feared as she had been if she is skilled in just water manipulation. She had a wide range of mage spells—most of which she'd taught Krystal, and she had also left behind enough scrolls and books for Krystal to learn out of if she couldn't be there.

Even Laxus had heard of Lillian Nightray's reputation, and he had respected the woman, for she is fearsome mage—commanding respect everywhere even after her death. Master Bob had actually came down to Fairy Tail nearly a month after Krystal's arrival. Laxus didn't know what had gone down in that meeting between his grandfather, Master Bob and Krystal. But the end of it was that Master Bob had agreed to leave Krystal in his grandfather's care, though he had sometimes dropped by to check on the little girl—having dotted on her like a granddaughter.

And once the ominous lightning cackling over dark storm clouds had faded away like…well—magic, along with the dark clouds, Laxus turned towards the shocked mayor of the town that had hired them to begin with, a smirk on his face. Said mayor wasn't too impressed when they'd first turned up to do the job that he had hired them for, complaining that he didn't pay for two snot-nosed brats.

(Actually, he did, but neither Laxus nor Krystal feel compelled to correct him on it.)

And as this isn't exactly the first time that both of them have faced arrogant idiots who had underestimated them just for their age, the two teens have just taken it in stride. Apparently, the town had been getting a series of storms and lightning for a few weeks now—with it being around the time of year for irregular storm clouds. It is also around the time of year when both Laxus and Krystal would be swamped with jobs like this, especially for towns and villages near the eastern continent.

"Well, we're done here." Laxus told the gob smacked mayor innocently even as Krystal approached them from where she had been standing at the pier, calming the skies and using her Gale magic. "We'll expect the rest of the payment in a week, mayor."

"Uh… Right…" The mayor finally found his tongue, now seeing the two teens (or rather, one teen and one pre-teen) in a new light. "Will you be staying the night? If so, I can prepare two inn rooms for you at the local inn. It'll be on the house—it's the least we could do to thank you, as it looks like the festival tonight can go on as planned."

"I guess we could." Laxus mused after exchanging looks with Krystal. "It is nearly a day's journey back to Magnolia after all."

"Excellent!" The mayor clapped his hands together, pleased—and most likely also half-relieved that he didn't piss off the pair before him too much—they'll probably make him eat some lightning or something if they got pissed. "You'll enjoy the festival, I believe. You don't get too many of this kind of festival out in the big cities."

"I think we'll retire back to the inn for now." Krystal interrupted. "And thank you for your offer."

With that, the two then turned and made their way back to the town. But Laxus' sharp hearing caught the murmured words of the mayor, "Weather Witch."

"…Honestly, if you hadn't been there for me for these four years, I would have probably made half of those idiots eat some lightning by now." Laxus huffed even as the pair strolled the streets later that night—with festive lights and booths set up. "I'm sick of always being seen as my gramps' grandson. Outside of Gildarts and you, no one ever sees me as my own person! And then there's the issue with my dad."

Krystal said nothing but just let Laxus rant. Heavens knows that he needs it. And it is also true that his temper and mood is slightly better with Krystal here to anchor him—he doesn't fly off the handle at the slightest thing at least, like what Erza had told her once. And he at least freaking smiles instead of scowls all the time like the world had owed him money.

Krystal also knew a little of Laxus' complicated family history. Macao was more than happy to fill her in one day when Laxus was not by her side for once about two years ago, and she happened to be having her lunch with Erza and Cana. And honestly, Krystal couldn't blame Laxus for being so angry all the time before she'd arrived when she'd heard the entire story.

"Laxus, this is your family affair, so I really shouldn't interfere." Krystal mused absently even as she watched the small mini music concert going on—being given by two men playing some curious instruments that seems to be a cross between a lute and a guitar. A group of children were also surrounding them with awed looks on their faces—Krystal received the same treatment the first and only time Erza and Cana have managed to convince her to play the flute last year a day before the Fantasia parade that Fairy Tail always puts on every year. "But this is just my opinion." Krystal turned to look at Laxus who looked curious—she is the only person whom he could never be mad at or even upset. "You said yourself once that your father never seem to care about the guild members—just himself. Right?" Laxus nodded. "But the Master had always looked at everyone in the guild as his own child." How a child of the Master could turn out like Ivan is still a mystery to Krystal today. "In your opinion, will the Master exile your father without a good reason?"

Laxus sulked, and Krystal restrained the urge to laugh at him, knowing that Laxus most likely wouldn't appreciate it. The blond huffed, glaring at one of the festive lights as if seeing something fascinating there. "…No," he finally admitted.

The guild isn't joking when they said that Krystal is like Laxus' rational voice. She could somehow always manage to calm him down and make the blond see sense. Thus, during one of the rare occasions when Laxus was enraged, they usually just send Krystal in to calm him down. Being a lightning mage as well, Laxus' lightning magic wouldn't hurt Krystal as badly as it would for someone who doesn't wield lightning magic. Not that the blond would even think of hurting Krystal.

And then again, what is that that Makarov had told Laxus two years ago after an argument about Ivan…again?

Power and might isn't everything, Laxus. It isn't a path that you want to follow. Because if you do, someday, you might just find yourself hurting the very person whom you wanted to protect.

"The Master isn't that sort of man." Krystal said, and Laxus turned his attention back to her. "He isn't one to exile someone from the guild for no reason. He took me in without asking questions, didn't he? And Erza, Gray, Mira and all the others. He never asked any of us about our history—he just took us in without a word. If so, don't you think that it's entirely possible that your father had done something unforgivable that the Master is forced to exile his own son?"

Laxus scowled at nothing in particular. But he grudgingly agreed that Krystal had a point. His gramps isn't one to do something extreme for no good reason.

"…Why couldn't he tell me at least?" Laxus finally asked.

"Who knows?" Krystal shrugged. "Maybe because it is your father that the Master said nothing. He probably doesn't want you hating your own father." She reasoned. And Krystal had a point there. In the past, no matter how much 'bad' his father did, and no matter what he did to Makarov, and no matter how much he'd abused Laxus, Makarov had never said a single bad thing against Ivan—not wanting Laxus to think ill of his father. "…My mother never did tell me anything about my dad when I was growing up too." Krystal admitted, and Laxus stared at her. If truth be told, Krystal's parentage had always been something that he was curious about—to be exact, the identity of her mysterious father. Who could charm the Water Dancer enough that she would bear his child? "I actually had to find out who he is in a letter that my mother left behind after she'd passed away, and even then, she said nothing apart from his name." Krystal said, purposely omitting several details on purpose.

Even now, after four years, she still has no idea how the guild would take it if she should reveal who her father is. She knew for one that the Master and even Master Bob were both curious, and they've been investigating for as long as she'd been in Fairy Tail, but they both never found anything.

"You'll find him one day." Laxus said at last, not knowing what to say. He doesn't know which is better—having a bastard for a father and a mother who'd died from illness when he's really small or not even meeting one of your parents your entire life and having the other dead from illness before she's even old enough to wander the land.

Krystal gave a small smile. "…Yeah," she said. Inwardly, she hoped to meet her father one day too and gauge for herself the type of man he is, and why her mother would fall in love with the famous Black Mage out of all people. A booth selling several trinkets caught her eye just then, and she paused, picking the black choker with a silver pendant shaped like a lightning bolt hanging from it.

"You got a good eye there, miss." The owner of the booth that reminds Krystal of a bald walnut commented, also missing several of his teeth. "That's the last one that I have—and the only one that I made in the shape of a lightning bolt."

"How much?" Laxus asked the owner firmly, much to Krystal's surprise.

"Lax!"

"It's fine." Laxus insisted, paying the owner after he told the blond teen the price. "I missed your last birthday due to a job, so this is my gift to you."

Krystal sighed, but gave in—knowing from experience how stubborn Laxus could be. "Then I'll say thank you then," she said at last, and from the grin on Laxus' face, she knew that that is probably the right thing to say.

"We should probably head back to the inn. We got an early morning tomorrow." Laxus said at last reluctantly—wanting to relay his return to Magnolia as much as possible.

"I guess so." Krystal said, knowing why Laxus is so reluctant to call an end to the day. Honestly, she couldn't see any way to fix Laxus' negative feelings towards the guild too. And come to think of it, just which fool or idiot even started the whole 'seeing Laxus as only Makarov's grandson' anyway?

"Psst!"

As the two make their way away from the heart of the crowd and where majority of the festival is taking place, they heard a loud whisper, and Krystal stopped in her tracks. "Did you hear that?" she asked Laxus who nodded, frowning. "Where is it coming from?"

"…Hey! Over here!"

The whisper came again, and this time, both Laxus and Krystal tracked the sound down to a nearby alleyway. Krystal exchanged glances with Laxus who shrugged and the two then headed towards the alleyway, with Krystal ready to cast a mage spell if necessary. Out of the corner of her eye, Krystal saw Laxus almost slouching, both his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket—but she wasn't fooled; she could feel the light wind currents changing—Laxus had his magic spells ready as well just in case they were attacked.

Lightning is the battle element for a reason. It is the reason why Makarov had finally relented about three years ago to have Laxus go on more dangerous missions if he had Krystal with him, as she wields Gale magic—lightning and water dual magic, along with spatial magic.

A trio of three teens stood in front of them—probably just a little older than Krystal and younger than Laxus. The tallest is a boy with dark blue hair and eyes, with the other boy about a head shorter than he is with bright green hair and eyes. The third of their trio is a girl with chestnut brown wavy hair that reaches to mid-back, and for some reason, she had bandages around her eyes.

Krystal frowned. Is that girl blind? And the clothes of the trio were threadbare, with their feet bare. Are they orphans or something? Does this town ignore their orphans and don't even provide basic care?

Krystal felt white-hot anger surge up in her—mistreated children always left a bad taste in her mouth because of her history before Laxus and Gildarts have taken her with them to Fairy Tail.

"Yes? Can we help you?" Laxus questioned, one brow raised as he looked from one to the other.

The two boys exchanged looks between themselves before the green haired boy spoke up. "Are you the mages that the mayor hired to take care of the lightning problem?" he asked carefully, and a weight seems to have been taken off his shoulders when both Laxus and Krystal nodded. "Please… We need your help!" He almost pleaded.

Laxus and Krystal exchanged confused looks. "Why don't you start from the beginning?" Krystal suggested. "Do you want to go to the inn to talk about it?"

The blue haired boy looked horrified and shook his head—his shaggy hair flying wildly around his face. "No! They will never let us in anyway," he said the last part almost sadly.

Laxus frowned. "What's going on?" he asked, letting his magic fade from his hands as these three are obviously not a threat.

"I'm Freed Justine." The green haired boy introduced himself. "This is Bickslow." He introduced the dark blue haired boy next to him who is assisting the only girl of their trio to sit down on an overturned crate near them. "And she is Evergreen. We need your help."

"That's what you've been saying from the start, but we need to know what's going on in order to help you." Krystal said patiently. "Are you orphans?"

"You can tell?" Bickslow looked surprised.

Krystal shrugged. "I can tell," she echoed. She neglected to mention that she'd lived a similar life in the past—being unwanted, thus, she can always tell if someone is one too, though just the trio's clothes alone is a blatant clue.

"It's because of me." The girl—Evergreen spoke up at last, turning her bandaged eyes towards where she assumed Krystal and Laxus were standing. "I grew up with Bickslow and Freed. Our parents died a couple of years ago. It happened about a year ago." She raised a bruised and battered hand towards the bandages around her eyes. "I didn't mean to, I swear. The older kids around here didn't really like orphans. They were trying to steal whatever food that we managed to get for the week."

"It's just a game to them!" Freed said angrily, clenching both hands into fists. "They didn't care that it is all the food that we have for the week! They just take delight into taking everything from us!"

Krystal had a feeling that she knew what is coming next, but she asked anyway. "Carry on."

"They always picked on Eve the most because you know, she's a girl?" Bickslow added. "About a year ago, they took their antics too far in the forest where we made our home." Krystal and Laxus knew where that is—that is most likely the forest that they've passed by on their way to the town earlier that morning. "And then…"

"I swear I didn't know what I could do!" Evergreen wailed, tugging at her brown locks on her head. "One minute, they are just standing there. The next moment, they all just…"

Freed looked at his female friend with sorrow even as Bickslow tried to calm her down before turning towards Laxus and Krystal. "Eve turned them all into stone," he said, his voice shaking. "We…were scared. We hid those…stone statues somewhere where we thought no one would find them—but they did. It's just lucky for us that they never thought that it's us—the townspeople thought that someone laid a curse on those bullies. And after that, it is like whatever that Eve looks at just turned into stone. Any living creature."

Krystal glanced at Laxus—both of them knew what magic this is. Stone Magic. But this is still the first time that Krystal had heard of someone able to do that with eye contact alone.

"Did you blind yourself on purpose to stop this?" Laxus asked bluntly.

"No!" Freed said immediately. "Eve tried to, but Bickslow and I stopped her. In the end, we figured that since this…curse needs eye contact, as long as Eve doesn't make eye contact with anyone, it's fine. And we were right."

"Please…" Evergreen pleaded with Krystal and Laxus. "You're mages, right? You must have some way to stop this curse? Did I do something wrong? Are the gods angry with me?"

Krystal sighed. It is always this way with non-mages—anything unexplained is always seen as a curse by them. Mira's situation comes to mind immediately.

"It is not a curse." Laxus said immediately, a frown on his face, and the trio of friends turned towards the older blond who had his arms crossed over his chest. "It is magic. You're a mage. What you could do is known as Stone Magic."

"M-Magic?"

"With enough training, you can learn to control it." Krystal explained, feeling a pang in her heart as it really reminds her of her past. "It is your magic. You can control it." She exchanged looks with Laxus who looked annoyed, but nodded, also looking concerned. They can't just leave an untrained mage out here anyway. "We're heading back to Magnolia tomorrow. Do you want to come with us? There are other mages at our guild. Even if we couldn't, one of them most probably could teach you how to control your magic."

Evergreen was silent for several moments before nodded. "But…" She tugged at the sleeves of her friends. "I want Bickslow and Freed to come with me." She pleaded.

Krystal glanced at Laxus to see what he has to say. The blond only sighed. "…Well, we already got a group of brats back home anyway," he said. "And it isn't exactly impossible to teach someone how to use magic. So if you truly want to, you can learn magic too."

XXXXXX

"It's pretty unusual of you and Laxus to bring someone back to join the guild." Erza commented.

Krystal shrugged, nursing her cup of orange juice, glancing upwards at the ceiling where the Master is now having a chat with Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow. "Well, we can't just ignore them," she reasoned. "An untrained mage is no joking matter."

Erza smiled. "I guess so," she mused.

"By the way, I was just gone for two days, but we already got another recruit?" Krystal glanced at where Lisanna was sitting with a small salmon-haired kid maybe around the age of Mira's youngest sister. The pair of children was chatting happily with Macao who was sitting across them.

"Yeah. The Master brought him back yesterday when you were gone on that job of yours with Laxus." Mirajane said, approaching them and settling herself against Krystal's other side—much to her relief, as she sure doesn't want another case of Mira and Erza fighting once more. She wonders just when they would grow out of it. "I think his name's Natsu or something, and he claimed that he was raised by a dragon."

Krystal stared at Mira for a long time. "…Excuse me?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to be lying." Erza said with a shrug. "He's a good kid." She admitted. "He's been butting heads with Gray since he arrived, but they seemed to be getting along."

Mira shot Erza a doubtful look. "…Really?"

"Kris! Can you play something for us?" Cana waved to Krystal from where she is now talking to Lisanna, Macao and the new kid, Natsu.

Krystal looked annoyed—though neither Mira or Erza knew if she is annoyed because Cana is asking Krystal to play something in front of the entire guild or that the entire guild's attention is now focused on her.

"What am I, your personal gramophone?" she demanded, annoyed, amidst laughter from the guild, but she is already digging into her bag and pulling out her violin.

The new kid, Natsu's eyes grew as round as saucers as he saw something that is supposed to be too big to go into a small bag like that be taken out of Krystal's bag. There were loud claps and cheers from the guild even as Krystal played a lively and upbeat tune, and Lisanna grasped Natsu's hands, making him dance with her even as the rest of the guild started dancing around them.

In a hidden corner of the guild, Laxus gave a small smile as he watched Krystal.

As Krystal played the upbeat tunes, she glanced at the salmon-haired boy—Natsu.

Why does he feel so familiar to her?

A/N: I am aware that the past of the Raijinshuu is different in canon. But as stated, this is AU. And this is fanfiction. Who wants to see Zeref contacting Krystal? Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!