Now, I'm posting this simultaneously in The Cauldron and Zelretch's Collection of Alternates. Having started watching both the original Studio Deen adaptation of Fate/Stay Night and the Ufotable adaptation of Unlimited Blade Works, I feel confident enough to return to it. Now, I made an attempt at a Harry/Sakura story fairly recently, with Shirou and Sakura as reincarnations of Harry and Ginny respectively, but I decided to ditch that story (though I may yet do a Harry-reincarnated-as-Shirou story closer to its inspiration, sakurademonalchemist's abortive story Rebirth of Phoenix, with her permission of course) in favour of another one.

I considered having Harry end up in the Nasuverse after the TWT or going on what I recently coined in correspondence with Gabriel Herrol as a 'Veil-assisted transdimensional pratfall', but I eventually decided on a similar route to my RWBY crossover Under the Light of the Shattered Moon, so Harry ends up in the Nasuverse long before the Harry Potter books take place, and, shortly before Fate/Stay Night takes place, ends up being kidnapped by the Goblet of Fire, and makes it back to the Nasuverse mere weeks before the Fifth Holy Grail War takes place. But how to do things? Thanks to Arawn D Draven, we already have a couple of stories where Harry is adopted by...*shudder*...the Matous. There's one or two where he's adopted by Kiritsugu or even Medea...but none, to my knowledge, where he was adopted by Kirei Kotomine.

This idea actually came from two fics by Satire Swift, one a pure Fate/Stay Night fic, the other a Sekirei crossover in the vein of gabriel blessing's famous In Flight. These two fics, Birth by Fire and A Soul of Fire, had Shirou adopted by Kirei, and becoming a somewhat unconventional Executor...and he summons a VERY different Saber...namely the Nero one from Fate/Extra or Fate/Extella, depending. I have told Satire Swift about my intentions, and they're fine with it. In any case, Hadrian Kotomine is somewhat different to the Shirou Kotomine of Satire Swift's fics.

HADRIAN KOTOMINE

CHAPTER 1:

SCARS WITHIN AND WITHOUT

It had been something of a minor scandal within Fuyuki. The ward of a local Christian priest and the adopted granddaughter of an old family with obscure Russian roots had disappeared. While the official story was that they had disappeared, possibly kidnapped, tongues had wagged, especially considering how close they had been. Many believed that an elopement of sorts had occurred. It had been at a scandalously young age too: they were fifteen, coming on sixteen. And you heard the rumours about the Matou family.

But then, the pair came back. The story they gave was that they were kidnapped by a group of obsessed cultists, and that they had taken this long to escape. Given the bizarre activities that happened in and around Fuyuki, a group of crazed cultists, sadly, was not wholly out of the question, especially in light of the serial killer and terrorist attacks that plagued the city nearly a decade ago.

However, the true story was very different. Ridiculous, unbelievable, but true. Though only a few would learn of that truth. And those few would be drawn into another battle beyond their imagining…

"…And that's when Zelretch finally deigned to get off his arse and take us home," the dark-haired European teenager said. Burn scars ran down one side of his face, not enough to disfigure it to a massive degree, but enough to mar and mark it. Another, lightning bolt-like scar snaked its way from under his fringe. Emerald eyes glinted sardonically from behind glasses.

His audience was of one, a red-haired teenager with hazel eyes staring out incredulously from Japanese features. Oh, there was another present, a girl of the same age as the European teen (about 16), buxom for her age, with dark purple hair and blue eyes, her features gentle and beautiful but lugubrious, but she wasn't part of the audience. She was one of the storytellers. "Zelretch took you home?" he asked.

"Eventually. I think he was too busy coughing up half a lung from laughing so hard to get us home sooner," the dark-haired boy said with a shrug. "Damned troll vampire. Lord El-Melloi II had to hold me back from sodomising Zelretch with a Black Key while he was talking to Sakura."

"Wow, that's…that's unbelievable. And considering what you guys and Rin have told me about…it's less believable than this stuff you said about the Grail War. Still, I'm glad you two are safe, all the same," the redhead said.

"We're home now, Shirou," the girl said with a smile. "And I'm glad our friends were concerned about us. Rin was…very vocal about her displeasure of our disappearance. She was even more displeased when she realised my relationship with Hadrian is stronger. Did you manage to make progress with your friendship with her?"

"Not much, Sakura. The Holy Grail War's all she's talking about lately," Shirou said, rubbing his head ruefully. "Oh, she's nicer now, once she got over the shock of you two disappearing. But she's still hung up on the fact that Structural Analysis, Reinforcement, and Projection is all I can really do as far as magecraft is concerned."

"Yeah, she's always been hypercritical, especially of herself, though don't let her know. Only trained personnel can risk setting off the Tsundere Missile at close quarters," Hadrian smirked. Sakura tittered, and Shirou smiled. As much as they were friends with Rin Tohsaka (and in Sakura's case, they were sisters, though their bond had been partly severed by their father adopting Sakura out), Rin also had something of a mercurial and haughty demeanour that made her prime teasing material. "But Rin's right. The Grail War is starting fifty years too early." He looked at a red, tattoo-like marking on his hand ruefully. Sakura had one too. "It'll probably be a few weeks before it starts in earnest, but even so, it seems like what your dad did at the end of the last one did something. Sakura and I are definitely participating together, and Rin's doing so too. Just watch out for something similar, Shirou, just in case. Given that the Grail managed to recruit a serial killer as a Master last time, not to mention my guardian, it's probably got a perverse sense of humour."

Shirou sighed at Hadrian's assessment of his guardian. Admittedly, Kirei Kotomine had raised Hadrian, once Harry Potter, rather well. But Kirei had a stoic, cold demeanour that hid a sadistic streak, and while he never actually abused Hadrian, Hadrian was also under few illusions as to his guardian. If anything, he suspected worse.

Hadrian would be the first to admit that, like his guardian (despite assuming the man's surname, he'd never call Kirei father), he had become something of a twisted soul. Hadrian had even gained some small notoriety as the Heretic Executioner, the Church's answer to the Magus Killer. Ironically, Hadrian was little like the Magus Killer, at least as far as collateral damage was concerned. But he shared Kiritsugu Emiya's more mercenary inclinations, as well as a disdain towards orthodoxy: despite often being retained by the Church to deal with rogue Magi and Dead Apostles (vampires to the average person), he publicly claimed he was an agnostic, even a misotheist. He had even been hired by Clock Tower on occasion: one of his last missions before those damned wizards on the world he left behind was to retrieve artifacts that could be used as catalysts for the next Holy Grail War, as there were already indications it might be starting early.

His lack of any formal affiliation with the Church, in spite of being the ward of Kirei Kotomine, meant that he could potentially be a Master without any trouble. Clock Tower and the Church hadn't managed to close that little loophole yet after Kirei himself participated as the Master of Assassin, which was odd. Then again, Tokiomi Tohsaka was colluding with the Church, and Zelretch seemed to think it entertaining.

"You two are the talk of the school, though," Shirou said. "People still think you two eloped, got married in Las Vegas or something. And I know you two are closer. Rin calls me clueless, but I can tell."

Sakura blushed slightly. Hadrian knew that Shirou didn't need to know quite how close they got. Not that they needed to get that close, despite her circumstances. His magic, a different kind to that Magi normally had, had a calming effect on the Crest Worms that Sakura had implanted by that monster of a grandfather of hers, something that normally required sexual activity to enact (something Zouken and Shinji Matou exploited until Hadrian's magic changed matters). But, well, after he pulled Sakura out of a damned near-frozen lake and emotions were running high…

Shirou accepted their relationship. Sakura was a good friend, and Hadrian, for all his frequent snarkiness and snideness, was a good friend too. But Hadrian and Sakura knew that he was also somewhat protective when it came to Sakura. So he didn't need to know for now.

"Well, can we stay here for the night?" Hadrian asked. "I've had enough of dealing with Kirei's questions for a while, and Rin doesn't feel like having a sleepover. And Sakura…well, Shinji damn near dislocated her shoulder when we were at the school. He has this notion that she's his."

Shirou nodded. "Of course," he said. He had once been friends with Shinji…until he learned what the boy had done to his own adoptive sister. But he was always there to help Sakura and Hadrian.

"Thanks," Hadrian said.

He couldn't sleep that night. Hadrian Kotomine stared at the ceiling, Sakura in another room, while lying on a futon. He'd just escaped one deathtrap of a magical tournament, only to be roped into one that was even more lethal.

Hadrian Kotomine wasn't born in this world. On another world, he was born Harry Potter, to James Potter and Lily Evans. They were murdered by a wizarding terrorist, and Harry was sent to live with magic-hating relatives who took every opportunity to abuse him. Nowhere near as bad as poor Sakura had it, but still…it spoke volumes when Kirei Kotomine, a hollow man who had a hidden sadistic streak, was a better guardian than they were. While he showed no actual love towards Harry, he could show pride when Harry achieved things.

Hadrian thought back to when he came to this world. He had been locked in his cupboard, and had wanted to get out. And he was out, but in the middle of a raging inferno. He wandered, alone, burns along his body, until he stumbled across a pair of men. A dark-haired priest, and a naked blonde man with crimson eyes. Ironically, these two turned out to be his saviours, the blonde, calling himself Gilgamesh (when he wasn't declaring himself to be the King of Heroes), noting his magic…of a vastly different kind to this world.

It was ironic, really. Kirei Kotomine and Gilgamesh saved him, while Kirei's enemy, Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer, had saved Shirou's life. Unlike Shirou, Hadrian didn't lose his memories. But the dark fires of the aftermath of the Fourth Holy Grail War has scoured Shirou clean, a fiery palimpsest.

Hadrian had met Kiritsugu a few times before the infamous assassin passed away. Hadrian had become friends with Shirou, but had aroused suspicion from the Magus Killer. Not without reason: Kiritsugu and Kirei were on opposing sides of the Grail War, though their enmity was particularly strong. However, Kiritsugu soon became satisfied that Hadrian, while every bit as acid-tongued and ruthless as his guardian, was genuine in his desire for friendship.

Hadrian never got to know the man that well, at least personally, but if one thing defined the ex-Magus Killer, it was that he was filled with regrets. Hadrian found himself envying Shirou, for the infamous mercenary and assassin seemed like a better father than Kirei ever acted like. Hell, during his Executor training, Hadrian ended up meeting Kirei's biological daughter, Caren Hortensia. That had been…interesting, to say the least.

He'd started training not long after the Magus Killer died, at eleven years of age. By thirteen, he was, albeit unofficially, an active Executor, though he tended to stay around Fuyuki most of the time, having most of his more mundane schooling here. By fifteen, he had some infamy for his unorthodox nature and his iconoclastic attitude (he was known to have a friendship of sorts with Arcueid Brunested, a True Ancestor or ultra-powerful vampire descended from the original vampire, Crimson Moon Brunested, and infamously known as the White Princess of the True Ancestors), and it was at this age he was abducted by that damned Goblet of Fire, while he was sitting on a park bench with Sakura.

And now, here he was, about to be a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War. He lifted his hand, and looked at the murky Command Seals, the stigmata noting him as being chosen by the Grail. Kiritsugu had been tight-lipped about why he had his Saber Servant destroy the Grail that had manifested the one time Hadrian had asked: he didn't trust the ward of Kirei Kotomine enough, and Kirei, when asked about the subject, merely called Kiritsugu a coward.

The Holy Grail War…a conflict instituted just under two centuries ago by three powerful Magus families: the von Einzberns of Germany, the Makiris of Russia (before moving to Japan and becoming the Matous), and the Tohsakas of Japan. The Grail itself was not the drinking vessel of Jesus, but rather, a specially-engineered magical device that, when primed with enough mana, could work miracles. One of them was a limited form of the Third True Magic the von Einzberns desired to regain, the Heaven's Feel, allowing for Heroic Spirits, the souls of long-dead heroes from myth and history, to be revived as familiars known as Servants.

Each of the seven Servants would be summoned as a particular class. Sabers were swordfighters, masters of melee combat. Lancers were alacritous spearmen. Archers were those who used ranged weaponry from bows to guns, and even more exotic weapons. Riders were known for their mounts and vehicles. Berserkers traded sanity for raw strength and tenacity. Assassins were masters of stealth, killing swiftly and silently from the shadows. And Casters were masters of magic and changing reality around them, physically weak, but formidable within their own territories.

Once six of the seven Servants were slain, the Grail could be used as a means to fulfil any wish it could grant to the remaining Servant and their Magus Master. However, Kirei had stated that, in order to be used to its fullest potential, all seven Servants needed to die. Only then would it become a gateway to Akasha, the Root of All Things. The ultimate noosphere, containing knowledge from the past, present, and even the future.

Hadrian wondered why the Grail chose him. The only wishes he had were those he could achieve himself: to be with Sakura, and to help his friends. If he had another wish, one that would draw him into this conflict, it would be, why did Kiritsugu destroy the Grail? What possessed him to cause that calamity all those years ago by destroying the Grail? And why was his guardian so damned coy about things?

Even before he got abducted, he hadn't been living at the church where Kirei Kotomine resided for some time, using the monies he got from being an Executor to buy a house nearby. Even before then, he sometimes slept over at Rin's place. While the two annoyed each other, they also viewed each other as siblings…which would make Rin's reaction to his relationship with Sakura interesting. At least he'd managed to get the two sisters to patch up their relationship enough that they'd acknowledge each other as sisters in private: Rin had inherited a little too much of her father's detachment from normal human affection, and Sakura had been ordered by Zouken Matou to act as if she was never a Tohsaka.

No. There was one wish he could use. It was to purge those damned worms from Sakura's body, or at least change them into magic circuits completely. His magic kept them subdued, but it was a temporary fix, not a full one. Sakura felt repulsed at them being within her body, at what they had done to her from a very young age. To males, Crest Worms were bad enough, eating into bone marrow and nerves, but to females, they pretty much raped them. And Sakura had also been psychologically abused by Zouken, and sexually abused by her own adoptive brother.

Well, Hadrian intended for that shit to stop. Sakura was his friend. He'd only (barely) tolerated dealing with the Matous because if he wiped them out, Clock Tower would come down on his head for interfering with Magus affairs unduly (never mind the fact that Zouken made most of the more immoral Magi look like kittens). Though maybe he could get away with some collateral damage during the Grail War.

Then again, he had an issue with Shinji nearly dislocating Sakura's arm for, in his eyes, defying him. And he was going to deal with said issue before very long. Thanks to his time on that other world, he had just the right tools. He had told Sakura what he was planning. Now, people thought that Sakura was a demure, goody-two shoes, but in truth, she had a hidden darker side to her, born from years of abuse, physical, mental, and sexual. And she gave considerable approval to that plan.

Of course, if he gained the right Servant, he also had another avenue to try…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Hadrian Kotomine…aka Harry Potter raised by Kirei. Kickarse Executor and maverick…and Sakura's boyfriend. And soon to be Master of the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Keep in mind, time runs a little differently in the Nasuverse compared to the Potterverse, at least for this fic. So Harry is 16 (as is Sakura), but he should have been 14 (well, nearly 15 after going through the TWT).

His relationship with Kirei is…distant but cordial. Hell, Hadrian gets along better with Gilgamesh (and he thinks Gilgamesh is an arrogant fuck with a stick up his arse, while Gilgamesh thinks him an uncouth mongrel, though he thinks Hadrian amusing enough to be a court jester). But it's probably true that Kirei, if he didn't indulge his sadism, would make a better parents than the Dursleys. Sad, but true.

This will involve some bashing, BTW. Hermione, Luna, Remus and Sirius will definitely be Harry's allies, but Dumbledore and Snape will not. They'll make appearances later…

No numbered annotations this time.