Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

It took only a few moments for Harry's eyes to adjust from the bright, summer sunshine outside to the much more gloomy interior of the cottage. Much to his surprise, the sound from outside seemed to cut off and he looked around. "What just happened?"

Hearing a small, sad chuckle, he looked back to see Dumbledore step inside. "Years ago, shortly after... what had happened, I placed a sort of barrier." His eyes roaming the dust covered hallway, Dumbledore sighed. "It keeps out the wind, the rain, the snow... or any animals. I also placed one upstairs where... well, your mother confronted Voldemort."

With a blink, Harry nodded before he felt Inazuma squeeze his hand. "Yeah..." Once more scanning the hallway, one spot near the staircase caught his eye. Something about it caused his senses to tingle and it wasn't until he was beside it that he realized why and his breath caught in his throat as he stared down at it. "This is where..."

Gently, the Headmaster nodded. "That was where your father's body was found, yes. He held off Voldemort here on his own to try and buy time for your mother."

Flipping up her eyepatch to reveal the seemingly cracked glass eye there, Tenryuu glanced around and nodded. "Put up a hell of a fight by the looks of it." At their looks, she gestured with her head. "Look at the walls."

Now looking themselves, their eyes widened at the damage. There were gouges and cuts in the walls nearby as well as scorch marks running up and down them. Close to where Nagato stood, there was a hole punched through the wall into what had been the living room. At the end of the hall where there was a door into the kitchen, the top half was just gone as if an explosion had happened. What raised Tatsuta's eyebrow was the shattered table which had pieces embedded in the floors, walls, and ceiling. "I wonder what happened there, now?"

Observing the surroundings for himself, Dumbledore shook his head. "While normal shields cannot block the Killing Curse, having a solid object between you and it can block it." He then tilted his head at one leg embedded into the plaster like a spear. "Though anything less then metal can often blast apart as you can see."

Seeing the damage from the shrapnel, not one of the shipgirls spoke aloud that Harry's father would have been hit by a good number of it. A frown on her face, Shinano took in the sight and then looked at he door. "So... Voldemort would have had the doorframe to duck behind while Harry's father..."

Nagato finished the thought with a soft whisper. "He would have had little cover to protect the staircase..." Walking over to Harry, she waited until Iku and Inazuma moved away and gathered him into a hug. "He was a truly brave man, Harry."

With a sniffle, Harry just nodded. "I... I know."

For her part, Iku looked at Harry with saddened eyes as she knew he had to be hurting. But to give him some space, she quietly walked around the spot where James' body had lain and made her way into the slightly ruined sitting room. Making her way past a scattered bunch of puzzle pieces, she came to a stop by a book shelf and looked it over. Most of them were covered in dust, but she frowned at the titles before looking back at the Headmaster. As if he could feel her stare, he looked at her through the hole in the wall and raised an eyebrow. "Dumbledore-San, these books... if Harry wanted..."

A soft, understanding smile on his face, Dumbledore nodded. "Harry can take them if he wants. All there is in this house belongs to him, after all. In fact, I believe one of them is a book on the Potter family history written by his grandmother."

For her part, Tatsuta raised an eyebrow at him. "Just how much was left behind?"

Dumbledore merely looked at her evenly before he replied. "Everything." He then nodded toward the doorway under the stairs. "For example, downstairs Lily's potion lab is as it was when she was alive..."

That caught Harry's attention and he looked over at Dumbledore. "Potion's lab?"

Chuckling, the old man nodded. "Your mother was a genius at potions, she was a Potion Mistress." At the looks of confusion, he hummed. "I suppose the closest equivalent might be... a PhD I think."

Eyes wide, Harry looked at the door and bit his lip. "Maybe..."

Understanding what was unsaid, the elderly wizard gave a nod. "We can have a look, though most of the ingredients and potions are likely gone by now... so I just ask that you be careful as it might be dangerous."

Not quite wanting to confront the upstairs just yet, Harry just nodded and Dumbledore walked toward the door, making sure not to step on where Harry's father had been found and then opened the door to the basement. Looking down it, Harry tried to see in the darkness, but was unable to before a light sprung up beside him. Just blinking, he turned to see Ikazuchi there with some of her fairies on her shoulders. Said fairies had lanterns that swung back and forth as the shipgirl herself gave him a wink and a thumbs up. "You can rely on me!"

Slowly smiling, Harry just nodded. "Well, yeah, I've always known that."

Hearing snickers though, he turned to see Tenryuu grinning while missing the slightly pleased flush on Ikazuchi's face. Once he shook it off, he began to walk down the creaking steps to the basement. The glow of the lanterns slowly revealed the basement. One wall had a long bench on it which caused Harry to blink as there was a cauldron there hung over a stone box. Above the cauldron, there looked to be a small vent and there bits and pieces of things there. The wall beside the bench had several jars, some of the contents impossible to identify after so long. Others though looked like preserved bits and pieces of animals. "Whoa..."

With her feet touching the cobblestone, Ikazuchi only nodded as more like joined them as other shipgirls walked down the stairs, their own fairies out with lanterns. "Yeah, this place is pretty awesome. Creepy, but awesome."

As he brushed away a cobweb, Harry could only agree as they slowly turned. One of the things that caught her eye was a raised portion and, after sharing a look, both her and Harry walked over to see a trap door. Lifting the trap door, they peered down it only to see the glimmer of water below which Harry blinked at. "Huh... must be a well."

There was a slight gasp, and they looked over to see Akatsuki waved them over to what looked like a side room. "Look at this!"

Sharing a look, Ikazuchi and Harry walked over and their own eyes widened as they looked at what looked like a small wine cellar. "Oh wow."

Just slipping past him, Iku began to examine some of the bottles, blowing dust off them. "Huh... some of these are pretty old." Then she paused and frowned as she leaned in to better see a cask there. "'1877'... Okay, forget just old."

Peeking in, Dumbledore gave a chuckle. "Ah, yes, Dragon Barrel Brandy. The makers in question age it for one hundred and fifty years before they sell it. It's quite good brandy."

Eyebrows raised, Tenryuu joined him in peeking in and gave a low whistle. "Junyou and Pola would love this place I think..."

Even as Dumbledore looked at her, Harry just frowned as he stood beside Iku. "Why would my parents have all this here?"

A sigh caused him to look to Dumbledore who shook his head. "Some of these belonged to your grandparents in their own cellar before the home was destroyed. I believe that there's another one underneath the bastille home on the property though where they stored the rest." There was then a twinkle in his eyes as he chuckled. "These also belong to you, though I do believe that perhaps your mother would rather that you wait for a few years yet to try them."

Behind the elderly wizard, there was a snort before Nagato's voice could be heard. "And you would not be wrong on that."

That actually brought a bit of a smile to Harry's face before he gave another look around and frowned thoughtfully. "Um... I guess that if any of you want you can take something... I don't think that I'm going to use any." He then mumbled a bit to himself. "Maybe get something for Junyou and Pola..."

Rather amused, Dumbledore slowly pulled away and waited until they stepped out. However, then Shinano waved Harry over. "Harry-Chan, come look at this!" Quickly, Harry walked across to where the Support Carrier was in front of a small bookcase and came to a stop as Shinano bit her lip and pointed at a group of what looked like research journals. "Um... your name is on that envelope."

Eyes wide, Harry crouched down and took the envelope that was there before carrying it over to the table. His hands trembling, Harry slowly opened it and felt his breath catch as he pulled out the letter and saw his mother's handwriting on it. Swallowing, he began to read it.

'Dearest Harry,
If you are reading this then the worst that I have feared has come to past and I have died. I can only hope that I did so defending you and your father who is now reading over your shoulder. Yes, James, I know you and that you're probably grumbling. However if both of us are dead, then just ignore that last little bit, please. Now then, onto the rest of the letter. Harry, I can only hope that you had a wonderful childhood and look more like myself then James one can hope. And if your father is there, he is likely grumbling with a fake insulted pout on his face. But we both know that it's true, James. I am the better looking of the two of us. Doe not deny it.

Yes, James, I am still going to punish you from behind the grave. But do not worry, I shall stag-ger the puns, my deer James. Fur sure. And I know that you're probably prancing around at times.

Now that I got that out of my system, likely to the thankfulness of whoever is there with you, I have a gift for you. There are several books in my bookshelf addressed to you. When we went into hiding, I rapidly became rather bored needless to say. And so to kill the boredom, as one can only make the same puzzle so many times, I began to think. One of the things I thought up was how to pass on my knowledge to you, my son. So I started to write a group of books to help you in potions, and I am quite happy with them. They will give bits of advice for someone making potions including notes for specific potions that you are likely to encounter from year to year at Hogwarts. Also some simple potions that one can make using easily harvested materials.

I've probably written far too much in my boredom though.

Harry, I'm going to finish this letter up soon, but I want you to know something rather important. I love you, honey. I love you so much and I only wish that I was right there beside you as you grow up where you can see me. But even if you cannot see me, I am there beside you every step of the way. Know that I will always be proud of you and my love for you will never go away. When you stumble, I will try to catch you even when I cannot touch you, when you need a kind word, I will give it even if you cannot hear it.

Never, ever, think that I will stop loving you.

Just as an aside, of course, please give me lots of grandbabies. Maybe name one of the girls after me.

Signed,
Your loving mother, Lily Potter.'

Reading it, at certain points, Harry gave a snort of laughter and at other points he sniffed a bit as his eyes misted. Slowly, he wiped at his eyes. 'Thanks Mum.'

With a smile, he handed the letter to Nagato who read it and then squeezed him in a hug. "She was a wonderful woman, though I do have to wonder about those puns of hers."

A sigh escaped from Dumbledore as he shook his head. "Lily always did love her puns a touch too much at times. She also had something of a dry wit at times with what she found to be amusing."

Looking at the books in question, Harry gathered them up in his arms and glanced through one, able to see his mother's hand writing there before he handed them to Nagato. "Could you... keep a hold on them, Mum?"

Gently, and with great care, Nagato took them as she nodded. "It would be my honor."

Once they were done, Harry took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs, the old potion's lab slowly slipping back into darkness for now though the young wizard promised to be back one day. Then they closed the basement door and Harry took a look at the staircase going up. Feeling his hand being squeezed, Harry looked up to see Shinano. "We're right here."

Nodding, Harry began to climb the staircase to the upstairs, not sure what they would find there.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts Omake: "Lily the punny witch 1"

Yorath said:
apparently if Sirius was allowed to do it, James wasn't allowed to complain when Lily did it BETTER!?​

James poked his head into the kitchen and blinked. "Lils... what are doing in here?"

Just humming, Lily raised up an odd contraption. "I made an edible clock."

For a few moments, James blinked and then frowned. "Why... would you make a clock that you can eat?"

Suddenly, Lily looked over her shoulder with a grin. "Because it's very time consuming."

All that could be heard was the palm of James' hand meeting his face. "For Merlin's sake, Lily!"


Harry Leferts Omake: "Lily the punny witch 2"

Daeven Anell said:
I suspect that it is less that Sirius was allowed and more that James and the others couldn't stop him. So of course they couldn't stop her either. I'm also imagining her and Sirius getting into pun offs that she always wins.​

James sighed and looked up at Sirius who had a stern expression on his face. "Padfoot, what are you doing now?"

Still frowning, Sirius cleared his throat. "Prongs, I am conducting a poll of all the Seventh Years this Christmas. It's a very Sirius matter."

Pinching his nose, James was about to say something when Lily spoke up from beside him. "Oh, fur sure. But I wouldn't as you might be caught."

That caused the two boys to look at each other and then her as Sirius blinked. "Caught? Caught by who?"

Grinning, Lily snickered. "Why, by the Poll-ice."

Just holding his face in his hands, James sighed. "Lily..."

However, she simply tapped her chin. "What's wrong, James? Are you going to pun-ish me? Perhaps send me to the pun-geon? Or the pun-itentiary? Oh, deer me."

For several moments, James opened his mouth and then let out a sigh as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Since your my girlfriend, and in the spirit of the holidays, Lily? I forgive you."

However, to his surprise, Lily nodded as she patted his hand. "That's very genu-wreath of you, James."

Unable to help himself, Sirius just fell back laughing. "Bloody hell, Lils! That was awesome!"

Meanwhile, James just groaned and put his head onto the table.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts Omake: "Harry's punny inheritence"

namar13766 said:
Somewhere, Somehow, Sans just sensed a kindred spirit and wept because he can't meet them.​

And then it turns out that Harry inherited it...
___________________________________

Harry just blinked at the sight before him and then turned to Inazuma. "So... you found Aoba buried under all those newspapers, huh?"

Slowly, Inazuma nodded. "Yeah... I don't think that the others were too impressed with her articles and decide to show her what they thought of it." Hearing a groan, she winced. "You think that she'll be okay?"

With a hum, Harry just shrugged. "Sure, but we should give her some space."

That just caused Inazuma to look at him. "Why?"

Suddenly, Harry grinned. "Because Aoba... has just received the worst news of her life!"

All Inazuma did was facepalm at that.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking up the stairs, each creak and pop of the wood from their steps echoed in Harry's ears like a cannon firing. He knew that he was being silly, but that was exactly what it sounded like and once he reached the landing, he looked down one side of the hallway. There was the partially open door to his parents' room and inside he could just see the dusty bed and furniture, so much like the rest of the house. Slowly, he turned...

And there it was.

The door to his old bedroom which was blasted open.

Sunlight beamed through the door and caught the dancing motes of dust in the air creating an otherworldly effect. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked to see Hibiki there with what some might think was her usual expression. But after so many years of being around her, Harry could tell that there was a softness and understanding there. A glance showed that Tenryuu's own expression was soft as was Nagato's and the others. Turning back to the door, Harry licked his dry lips and then took one step.

Then another step.

It was all too soon for him, but he was right before the doorway and Harry took a deep breath and then walked fully into the sunlight and had to close his eyes against it. When he opened them, there was a red haired woman with green eyes watching him with a kind look on her face in a child's room. Light laughter, kind and loving, met his ears as she smiled. "Welcome home, honey."

Blinking though, the image was gone and instead all there was in his view, was a ruined nursery with the sunlight coming in from a massive hole in one wall and ceiling. Tears gathered in his eyes as he stood there before he took a step inside and slowly panned his view around. With each step, some dust rose from the floor, but he also stepped on some debris as he slowly made his way toward the crib. As he did so, one spot in particular stood out to him in front of it and he came to a stop as he stared down at it. Harry didn't know how or why, but he somehow knew that was where his mother had stood and died for him.

Where she had held her ground before being struck down.

Slowly, he collapsed to his knees and slowly reached out for the spot with trembling fingers and then set them down and he almost swore that he could feel his mother's presence still there after all these years. From the doorway, Nagato and the other shipgirls just watched as tears ran down their eyes from what they were seeing in front of them. For her part, Tenryuu gathered her daughters into her arms and held them close and they her at the choked sob from Harry.

At said sob, Nagato strode across the room and then fell to her knees before Harry, pulling him into an embrace as another sob broke out from him. Sniffing as she nuzzled his hair, he blinked and tried to see through the blurriness that had over taken his sight. "M-mum?"

For her part, all Nagato did was kiss him on the head and continue to stroke his hair as she nuzzled it. "It's okay, Harry. It's all going to be okay" Gently, she reached out with her own hand and then placed it on top of Harry's much smaller one. 'Thank you, for all that you did.'

Just as her fingers touched the wood, Nagato felt a tingle there before it was gone. But she was unable to give it any more thought as Harry grabbed her and hugged her tightly, the Battleship soon returning it.

Tatsuta watched this with an uncommon softness in her eyes before she turned away to give the mother and son some privacy and began to examine the rest of the room. Slowly, she began to piece things together from the shattered door, one that she noted had been reinforced with steel or iron for all the good it had done. Then there was the hole in the wall as well as the ceiling, which she presumed was from the backlash from the spell used on Harry. In fact, the only part of the room not damaged was Harry's crib and the small area in front of it including where his mother had lain dead. Softly, Tenryuu whispered to her as she glanced at Tatsuta. "What are you thinking?"

Glancing back at her sister, Tatsuta frowned as she whispered back and tried not to pay any attention to the sobs or the soft speech elsewhere in the room. "A few things honestly."

With a nod, Tenryuu also glanced around the room. "Yeah." After a few moments, she let out a sigh. "I think that I would have liked to have met her."

In her arms, Akatsuki nodded. "She sounds like she was a real lady."

Meanwhile, both Inazuma and Ikazuchi just held onto their mother as they watched Harry and Nagato with soft, understanding expressions on their faces. At the same time, Hibiki blinked away some mistiness before looking away. 'Harry-Chan...'

Shinano sniffled a bit and wiped at her eyes before biting her lip. She wanted to say something, anything, to comfort him. But she just could not find the words. Beside her, Iku closed her eyes and then bowed her head a little. Something about the room just had an odd air, as if it was a tomb. 'Then again... I suppose that it is a tomb for the broken dreams of a family...'

It took a few minutes before Harry's sobs died down and he pulled away slightly from his mother and rubbed at his face. At seeing the wetness on her shirt, he sniffled a bit. "Sorry, Mum."

A sad chuckle escaped from Nagato before she shook her head and then rubbed his hair. "You got nothing to be sorry for, my son. Remember, I told you that it is perfectly fine to cry at times like this."

Harry just nodded as he slowly stood back up, helped by his mother. "I know."

Pulling back some, Nagato watched as DesDiv6, Shinano, and Iku all walked forward and hugged Harry tightly. As she knew that he needed some time, Nagato looked around the room and slowly frowned. 'There's... not much left.' Something on the floor in front of a smashed dresser caught her sight and she respectfully walked around the place where Lily had been before reaching down and picking it up. 'A book?'

The sound of Harry speaking up with a cracked voice caused her to turn. "Mum?"

While still looking over the book with one eye, Nagato glanced over her shoulder. "Just a book... called 'Tales of Beedle the Bard'."

From the doorway where he waited, Dumbledore nodded. "Ah, yes. It's a collection of Wizarding fairytales. I... suppose that some might not like the form that they take, but they're rather traditional."

Looking at the book in his mother's hands, Harry blinked. "My birth Mum would have read that to me... didn't she?"

Dumbledore only nodded. "She would have, yes."

Walking over to another dust covered object, Tenryuu blew the dust off and then turned it over before holding it up. "Here's your baby book, kiddo."

Just nodding, Harry began to feel the day catching up with him before he looked around. Not much survived the backlash it looked like and several minutes later, they only found a record (which they later discovered was one of Lily herself singing lullabies), a small photo album of Harry as a baby, and some stuffed toys in the crib. Looking at the stuffed wolf, dog, and stag which had lilies in it's antlers, Harry felt drained and allowed himself to be led back out of the room. Soon, after a few more minutes including finding a picture of Harry's parents for a small shrine back in their quarters at Yokosuka, Harry left the house. After the gate was closed, Harry looked back before nodding as he whispered. "Goodbye, Mum... Dad. I'll come back some day.

And then he turned as he held Nagato's hand while a feeling of peace settled down on the property for what seemed like the first time in years.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With a soft groan, Nagato leaned back into the water as she felt it relax her. Unlike usual though, she still had her uniform on and her rigging out as she looked over at Akashi. "How long do you think that this will take?"

Humming as she looked over her tools as well as her own rigging, the repair ship frowned. "Perhaps most of the day. You'll be done by dinner by the latest." At the look, she shrugged. "It's the best that I can do as I finally got everything for your first rebuild. You would not believe how hard it is to come up with a Kai refit for a ship that never got one way back."

A soft grumble escaped from Nagato as she nodded. "I suppose."

Rolling her eyes at the response, Akashi began to sort her materials out as she frowned. "By the way... how's Harry-Chan doing? It has been a week after all since you..."

There was a frown on Nagato's face as she sighed and shook her head. "Harry is... doing better. It left him drained, but I think that it was something that he needed... and perhaps that I did as well. It healed a wound there that I don't think that any of us realized was there."

Simply nodding, Akashi flicked the tank of her blow torch and then tilted her head at the sound. "That's good, though at least we now know about his mother, Lily-San. It answers a lot of questions now that we know that she was an unawakened Natural Born... though I wonder who she was."

Looking at the ceiling, Nagato frowned in thought. "I don't think that we will ever know."

Almost two minutes later, Akashi cracked her knuckles and nodded. "Okay, everything is ready." Turning, she regarded Nagato for a moment before glancing at the schematics beside her. "All that's left is to put you under." The Repair Ship placed her hand on Nagato's stomach and said shipgirl could only watch as Akashi's fairies climbed down onto her body. Soon, she could feel them enter her body and Akashi began to explain. "Now, while we're doing the work, we'll need to turn off your boilers. Don't worry at all, it's perfectly safe and when we're done, we'll turn them back on."

The Battleship just grunted at that. "Understood."

Her vision was then taken up by Akashi who held up one hand and then began to count down. "One... two... three..." Nagato's vision began to blur and she felt herself slipping out of consciousness as each of her boilers switched off one by one. "Eight... nine... ten..."

Eyes closing, Nagato felt herself slip away...

And then she suddenly blinked them open only to widen them as she looked around. To her surprise, she was in a dock area with a wharf that extended out to sea. To one side, was a dry dock that contained a ship and she walked closer, only to blink as she easily recognized the hull. 'That's... me?'

It was then that a voice spoke up behind her. "About time you come here."

Turning, Nagato frowned. 'Who...'

Once she saw who it was, Nagato froze in place as the woman smirked at her. "I've been waiting here for a bit now to meet you." The red haired woman's green eyes sparkled in amusement at the stunned Nagato as the sun glinted off her rigging, an actual warship tied up to the docks beside her. "Lily Potter, at your service."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Staring at the woman, Nagato just blinked. "But you're..."

Lily raised an eyebrow further in amusement before crossing her arms across her chest. "Dead? Passed on? Pining for the fjords? Expired and gone to meet my maker? Pushing up daisies? My metabolic processes are now history? Shuffled off the mortal coil? Kicked the bucket? Joined the choir invisible? Lost all nine lives?"

For several moments, Nagato parsed what was just said before giving her a look. "Monty Python?"

Grinning, Lily shrugged. "I've always loved Monty Python myself personally and just had to do it to lighten up such a grave situation. No need to wreck yourself as I've sunk plenty of time into this." She then gave Nagato a look who just gave her a deadpan look. "I am surprised that you guessed so quickly though."

If anything though, Nagato just raised her own eyebrow before commenting dryly. "I have a son who's British and the Kongous are obsessed with him keeping in touch with his heritage. I would think that you would be surprised if I didn't catch that." She then frowned. "Also, do you need to be making those puns."

After a few seconds of thought, Lily shrugged. "Yes, though I guess that it's time for me to be coffin up some information."

Not pinching her nose, the Battleship took a deep breath and then sighed before looking around. "Very well... Perhaps you should start with... whatever is happening."

Leaning against a group of crates, Lily slowly nodded. "I suppose that would be the best place." She then looked directly at Nagato. "When a shipgirl undergoes their rebuilds, their spirits pop up here once their boilers are offline for the process."

There was a frown on Nagato's face as she glanced to her hull, where sure enough, there was work being done on it. "And where is here?" The look Lily gave her caused her to get the distinct impression that she had asked a rather stupid question. "..."

Softly chuckling, Lily just spread out her arms. "Here... is the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead."

Eyes widening, Nagato felt a rise of panic inside of her. "I'm-"

However, the red haired shipgirl cut her off. "No, you're not dead. At most, you're in a coma as you're being worked on. It's just that this is the easiest method for me to speak to you as you would come here anyways..." For a moment, Lily trailed off before shrugging. "Though normally, you would not remember this place if I was not... interfering, in a way. But I would rather that you remember our conversation."

Calming down, Nagato slowly relaxed. "So this is the border..."

Just nodding, Lily pointed toward the ocean where the warm Sun glinted off of the ocean, barely any waves to be seen. Part of the Battleship just wanted to go there and cut through the water before she shook it off with Lily's next words. "In that direction is the afterlife, as well as where us shipgirls come. It's basically... the way to Fiddler's Green though there is far more to the afterlife then just that portion."

Far off, Nagato could just make out a ship that seemed to be heading toward another dock that appeared, only for the ship to blur and become a girl and then walk down the dock and vanish. In that split second, she realized that she just saw a summoning or, perhaps, a ship being reborn as a human and glanced toward Lily who nodded. "I see..."

Lips twitching, Lily jerked her thumb down the opposite part of the pier. "And down in that direction is the Realm of the Living, where one plays that mysterious game of life."

Turning her head, Nagato felt her eyebrows raise at the wall of fog there. "Why can't I see anything?"

A laugh burst from the former witch before she shook her head. "It's all metaphorical really. Like in a fog bank, one will never see what life is going to toss them or what they're going to come across. That's also the reason for everything scattered here on the wharf, it's all the baggage that one leaves behind when they pass on."

With a blink, Nagato noticed that there was piles of luggage everywhere. "... Right."

Simply waving her off, Lily just snorted. "All you really need to understand is that this place is one where the living and the dead can meet and that's it." Her expression softened some. "Before we continue or talk about anything else, I just want to tell you thank you, for all that you've done for our son." Seeing Nagato about to say something, Lily reached over and placed a finger to her lips. "Shh, you have more then earned the right to be called his mother. For Harry is your son in every way that matters except blood, and even that matters little in the end to be honest as Tuny showed."

Eyes narrowing, Nagato grunted. "Your sister is..."

Voice sharp, Lily scowled. "Someone that there will be a reckoning for when she arrives. The two of us will be having a nice, long chat when she arrives here." Her expression then softened. "But enough of her, I doubt very much that Harry nor yourself will ever need to deal with her ever again. That said, just to move back? Both myself and James have agreed that as far as we're concerned, Harry is your son as much as he is ours."

Becoming thoughtful, Nagato frowned some. "You're speaking as if you won't be coming back." Her eyes roaming over Lily, Nagato furrowed her eyebrows. "Seeing as you are a shipgirl..."

If anything though, Lily seemed to slump in place and stare off at the ocean. "What do you understand about how us shipgirls reach the World of the Living?"

Nagato could only frown at that before thinking it over. After nearly a minute though, she shook her head. "There's not much known..."

Sadly chuckling, Lily shook her head. "Not surprising, the living are not supposed to know much about the Afterlife or how things might work there... Let me ask you, what is the youngest ship to become a shipgirl?"

That caused a blink as Nagato gave it some thought before her eyes widened. "The youngest are..."

Finishing her thought, Lily sighed. "Those that were almost stopped around the time of the end of World War Two. More then sixty-five years ago. Ever wonder why?" At the shake of Nagato's head, Lily tilted her own back and forth with a hum. "It takes decades for a soul of a ship to gain enough spiritual weight for it to... manifest... as it does in a shipgirl. And by that, I mean from the time that work is complete on a hull, even if it is not complete itself. For us Natural Borns though, if we die without awakening, the clock gets restarted from the point of our birth. So in my case..."

For a moment, Nagato's eyes widened before they closed as she sighed. "How long?"

Lily was quiet before she spoke in a soft voice. "Harry will likely be in his thirties at the least before I can be summoned. More likely he would be in his forties or even fifties. By that point... there's not too much reason for me to come back unfortunately. He'll no longer need me."

Eyes soft, Nagato shook her head. "I'm sorry."

However, Lily only waved her off with a smile. "You got nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault how the rules work after all."

The smile did not reach Lily's eyes, though Nagato did not comment on that. "I suppose not."

Suddenly, the red head clapped her hands. "Right, that said there's more to tell you though."

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato frowned. "What do you mean?"

Much to her surprise, Lily turned serious. "It's in regards to Harry. Now, I can't tell you everything as I had to make certain... concessions in order to have this chance. But I can tell you some things that can help." Waiting until she got a nod, Lily continued. "First and biggest, the reason that Voldemort came after us is due to a prophecy made that someone managed to pass on part of to him. The long and short of it is that it has to be our son who has to strike the final blow to him. Whether the prophecy was correct or not, Voldemort believing in it has turned it into a self-fulfilling one so it doesn't matter in the end."

For about a minute, Nagato stared at her before growling and slamming a fist onto a wooden pier, smashing it. "DAMMIT!" Turning, she regarded Lily evenly. "So he is alive... how?" Seeing the grimace, Nagato scowled. "Don't tell me..."

Shaking her head, Lily sighed. "Telling you how was one of the concessions I had to make. I don't like it, but in order to have this chance..."

Just rubbing at her face, Nagato groaned. "At least knowing that much is better then nothing, I suppose. At least now we can prepare." Noticing that Lily was staring off at the ocean, Nagato frowned. "Is something wrong?"

With a frown, Lily shook her head. "We don't have much longer before you head back, so I need to make it quick. Firstly, Harry's godfather is in prison for something he did not do. He never betrayed us nor did he kill the true betrayer..." Seeing the Battleship open her mouth, Lily sighed. "I doubt that you'll be able to get anything done for him though. Between certain factions, inertia, and... how things are going right now, it might be a long time before anything happens. Just give him somewhere to live when he gets out. That's all I can ask."

Nagato gave her a questioning look, but nodded. "I shall see what I can do."

There was a slight smile on Lily's face as she relaxed. "Thank you... now for the last thing."

Getting up, Lily walked over to Nagato who watched her with confusion. But that soon turned to shock when Lily reached out and placed her hand on Nagato's chest, which caused the Battleship to leap back. "THE HELL!?"

All Lily did though was roll her eyes. "I'm not doing anything to you that's bad. In fact... I am going to help you in the only way available to me."

Narrowing her eyes, Nagato glared. "What do you mean?"

Rather amused, Lily tilted her head. "A... shipgirl can be what can best termed as 'Scrapped'. By doing so, the materials gained can be used during refits to give said modernizations a boost. Being as I am dead, and therefore 'scrapped', I can give you a boost. I don't know how much of one or how it'll manifest... but it's the best that I can do that will also help our son and give him the best protection I can."

For several seconds, Nagato searched Lily's face before nodding. "Very well." Once more, Lily placed her hand onto Nagato's chest as the taller woman looked down at her before commenting dryly. "And here I thought that you were trying to grope me."

Eyes sparkling, Lily gave her a wink as motes of light rose from her and the ship that had been behind her. "No, though that is a bonus I'll admit."

Sputtering, Nagato stared at her. But before she could say anything, the motes began to shoot into Nagato as well as her hull and the breath was driven from her lungs as she felt herself get more powerful. When it was done, she stared down at the tired looking Lily who softly smiled up at her. "I... what just happened?"

With a giggle, Lily shook her head and pulled away. "You got something of a boosted upgrade."

It was then that she realized that Lily was missing her rigging and that the ship was also gone. "Wait, your..."

The former witch shrugged. "I've set back any possible clock for me being summoned, but to protect our son I'll do anything." Slowly, the fog began to cover the wharf. "Something that I know that the two of us can agree on."

Feeling Lily being pulled away, Nagato bowed as she realized that she was waking up. "Thank you... and it has been an honor."

Almost totally covered in the fog, Lily gave a small bow back. "You're welcome, and likewise. Just continue to look after our son, he'll need it." Before she was fully gone, she said one last bit that confused Nagato. "By the way... you should play some D&D, it's rather informative at times."

Then Nagato blinked and found herself floating in the baths at Yokosuka with Akashi standing over her. "There we go, all done."

Just frowning, Nagato looked down at her arm and then clinched it feeling more power going through her. "... Did anything unexpected happen?"

Opening her mouth, Akashi was about to say something when she stopped and frowned. "Just at the end something odd did happen... Your capabilities seemed to be boosted beyond what I thought possible with your rebuild. But how did you know that?"

All Nagato did was just smile. 'Thank you...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Clicking his pen, Goto stared at the window looking out onto the base in deep thought before he finally sighed and rubbed the side of his head. "And you're positive that none of this was a dream? At all?"

Where she sat in a chair modified for shipgirls, Nagato shook her head. "No, Teitoku. I'm positive it wasn't. In fact..."

At the glance from her, Akashi grunted. "I don't have any explanation except that the one she gave, Teitoku." Seeing his look, she waved one hand in the air. "I had all the materials for her rebuild right there already. But then more suddenly appeared out of nowhere in her at the end of the process. Material that should not have been there in the slightest."

Eyes narrowed, Goto leaned back. "What changes did these materials cause?"

Snorting, Akashi shook her head and then yawned. "If you mean spiritual... don't bother as I couldn't tell you much. At the most, Nagato's ability to speak English is much better then it was and she speaks with the slightest bit of a British accent..."

Kongou then piped up. "Sounds like something from the Midlands, Dess."

None of them commented on that except to give her a glance before turning back to Akashi who began to tick off on her fingers. "Other then that? Nagato is a bit faster then expected and her resource consumption is way down from even my expectations. Her sonar is also improved as well which was not in the plans at the least. From what I can see? It's been replaced by a British ASDIC. Hell if I know how that happened, but it did."

Raising an eyebrow, Goto frowned. "How good...?"

All Akashi did was give him a look. "Very good, I would say that Nagato here now has the best sonar in our fleet. Grant you, now that I see how they work for her, I might be able to use it as a basis for some upgrades for the others. I'll have to get in touch with Resource mind you, but if we can make it work..."

The Admiral leaned back and thought it over. "It could give us a massive boost for ASW... get in touch with the Canadians as well, their shipgirls are pretty much masters at that." Getting a nod, he looked over at Haru who had been quiet during the talking. "About this prophecy..."

Said Kitsune just sighed and rubbed the side of her head. "Unless I hear said prophecy word for word, there's not much that I can do honestly. Prophecies can be tricky things at the best of times. They never fulfill themselves quite the way that one expects and it's not until after they've been completed that you realize exactly how it was supposed to fall into place. And this one sounds like a doozy as it's a self-fulfilling one making it even more troublesome."

Intrigued, Goto hummed a bit as he sipped his tea. "How so?"

Rolling her eyes, Haru gave a slight groan. "Basically? Self-fulfilling ones will always be heard, at least partially, by one of the parties involved in them. Said party will then make moves to try and prevent it from happening... and what they do to prevent it will cause it to happen. If you want an example not from Japan? The Norse Gods heard that the giant wolf Fenrir would kill a number of them in that end of the world thing they had going on. So to prevent it... they decided to imprison him in a way that was sure to enrage him and leave him stew in hatred for however long it took before he managed to get freed when before he considered them all friends and family. In Harry's case? I suspect that if he was supposed to kill Voldemort, then said wizard hunted his parents to prevent it and that attack just put the whole prophecy into motion. At least the end point is not ambiguous."

Eyebrow twitching, Nagato gave a growl. "Yes, because that end point is that my son will need to either kill or be killed."

Just shaking her head, Haru gave a sigh. "Not that simple though it may seem that way. Once more, I would need to hear the exact wording for it. All we know for sure is that one must be dead at the end, nothing more. If it says something like... 'The one shall die at the stroke of the other', that might mean that Harry just needs to issue a written order to kill Voldemort and the prophecy would be done as it would be at the 'Stroke of a pen'. Nothing is ever simple at this sort of thing."

Feeling an headache coming on, Goto only grunted. "So what can we do? Because, no offence, but the last thing that I want to deal with is some Sauron wannabe attacking us." At the sight of Nagato opening her mouth, he held up his hand. "I am not leaving Harry to his fate. Not only are we talking about someone I consider family, but this Voldemort is from all reports someone who would try to kill or torture who knows how many as a matter of course. I've read enough history to know the type and I very much doubt that he wouldn't attack our British counterparts as a threat to his power. So he's going to be needed to be put down like the animal he is anyways. What I want to know is how to minimize any problems."

Slowly nodding, Haru's lips turned up some. 'I knew that I liked him for some reason.' Clearing her throat, she shrugged. "At the moment, just keep doing what we've been doing. Teach Harry-Chan useful skills such as our Onmyouji lessons or Inazuma-Chan and Hibiki-Chan teaching him self-defence. And more then that, be there for him as he's going to need support to get through this. Children of Prophecy never have easy times."

Thoughtful, Kongou sipped her tea before setting it down. "Well we'll be right behind him, Dess. And he also has Natsumi-San and her Burning Love as I heard that she is training for that!"

Pausing, Haru considered her next words. "Natsumi-Chan... is not the only one training to help him in the end."

Eyes narrowing, Goto frowned. "Who else?" Once Haru told him, one could have heard a pin drop as he leaned back and groaned. "Please tell me that we don't have a-"

Haru just interrupted him with a slight grin. "Sorry, can't do that. Shiromizu-San doesn't yet know what she is. I'm personally waiting for that moment to happen myself as it will be so very.... amusing." Everyone ignored the tails that appeared behind her and wagged a bit. "That said, once she does realize and come into her own, we'll have someone as a friend and ally who will be able to help out greatly in certain situations. It also explains some things."

Rubbing her face, Nagato let out a sigh. "That was the last thing that I expected."

All Haru did though was let out a barking laugh before wagging a finger at the Battleship. "No, I suppose not, but one can never expect what life will throw at us, which makes it all so much fun in the end."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Haruna was watching the various shipgirls and base personnel as they enjoyed the day on the beach of Sarushima with the Naval base well within view. She also knew that were more in the woods of the island enjoying the break. Reaching for the changing booth, Haruna gave it a knock. "You almost done, Rose-Chan?"

At the adorable squeak, Haruna blinked before Rose's embarrassed voice could be heard. "I... don't know about this, Haruna... I'm not exactly sure about this, I am a tea set after all and I've never been to the beach and... I am not quite sure about what I am wearing... It's so different from what I usually wear..."

Raising an eyebrow, Haruna frowned and then crossed her arms before nodding. "Well, if Rose-Chan doesn't want to wear it, then she doesn't need to. Haruna doesn't want her friends to be uncomfortable. We can do something else."

There was a mumble for a moment, but before Haruna could say anything. "Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that... but... what if someone says something?"

Unseen by Rose, Haruna's expression hardened for a brief second and then was gone. "If someone says something, then Haruna will take care of it."

Inside the changing booth, the tsukumogami blinked at that. "Really?"

Outside, Haruna just nodded. "Haruna promises."

Several seconds passed before a small hand gripped the side of the curtain. "O-okay then." And then it was pulled to the side and Haruna stared a little bit as Rose walked out into view. Covered in a one piece, Rose's hair was out of it's usual bun and down around her shoulders. Blinking her silver eyes, Rose frowned as she scratched her cheek. "Is... there something wrong?"

Quickly, Haruna shook her head and gave her pale skinned friend a once over. "N-no, Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan looks very cute in her swimsuit."

That if anything just caused the Battleship to freeze as she realized what she said, but before she could try and fix what she thought was a mistake, Rose blushed and looked down. "Cute?"

Now feeling some heat in her own cheeks, Haruna decided to be a Battleship and charge while firing all batteries and so placed an arm over Rose's shoulders. "Hai, Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan looks extremely cute in her swimsuit."

Eyes wide for a moment, Rose's expression softened some. "Thank you..." She then looked over Haruna and smiled at the sight of the Battleship in her white bikini. "I think that you look very cute as well." Looking away, Rose missed how Haruna's face went red at that and looked down at her toes. Slowly, she worked them in the sand. "That feels so very odd..."

Also looking down, Haruna's lips turned upward slightly. "Haruna remembers when she first came back and went to the beach. Haruna was so very confused about how sand felt between her toes and under her feet that Haruna... kind of played in it for some time."

Looking up at the taller woman, Rose slowly nodded. "I think that I would have liked to see that."

Her expression brightening, Haruna smiled with her eyes closed. "Maybe later Rose-Chan might want to play in the sand with Haruna..."

Rose's expression also brightened as she clapped her hands. "Oh! Maybe we can make sand castles. I remember my Mistresses' children all talking about such." As if realizing how she looked, especially with how Haruna gave a small giggle, Rose flushed. "If that would be okay..."

Placing her arm around Rose's shoulders, Haruna nodded. "Haruna would like to make sandcastles with Rose-Chan very much." Unsaid was the thoughts going through her head as she guided Rose toward the water. 'So... cute...'

As they got closer, Rose frowned as she stared at the water and then up at Haruna. "Are you sure that I won't tarnish? Saltwater is not good for silver after all..."

With a blink, Haruna stopped and then pulled the slightly nervous Rose into a hug before looking down at her. "Haruna promises Rose-Chan that she will not tarnish." She then grasped one of Rose's hands and brought it up, her fingers intertwined with Rose's. "Now, Haruna would like to ask Rose what this is?"

Confused, Rose looked at her hand and then back at Haruna though she felt some heat rise in her cheeks. "Our hands, of course."

Nodding, the shipgirl smiled. "Exactly. Hands. We have bodies like humans now, Rose-Chan. Which means that what is okay for humans, but might not for what we were, is now okay for us. Rose-Chan will not tarnish from the salt because humans do not."

There was a frown on Rose's face as she rolled that around in her mind before she blinked. "Oh..." Then her eyes widened. "Oh! I never thought of it that way." It was then that Rose spotted something and frowned. "What is going on over there?"

Slowly, Haruna turned and then giggled. "Looks like Teitoku and Captain Yonehara are about to have some fun, want to see?"

At the nod, the two ran across the sand until they stopped at the water edge where Goto and Yonehara circled each other, crouched. Smirking, Goto chuckled a bit. "You're going down, Sousuke."

However, Yonehara only snorted. "Like Hell, Goto. After all, I am not the one sitting behind the desk all day eating snacks."

Frowning with a glare, Goto growled and then charged. Almost at the same time, Yonehara did the same and soon the two were trying to wrestle each other to the sand as various people cheered or jeered. One of them being Ashigara who pumped her fist into the air. "KICK HIS FAT LAZY ASS, SOUSUKE-KUN!"

On the opposite side, Kongou shot a glare at the Heavy Cruiser before turning back to the impromptu wrestling match. "KNOCK THAT UNCULTURED MUSCULE HEAD OUT OF THE FIGHT, TEITOKU~!"

Head snapping up, Ashigara growled. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

Eyes narrowing, Kongou sniffed a bit. "I said... YONEHARA IS GOING TO LOSE BEFORE TEITOKU'S AWESOME MIGHT AND BURNING WILL!"

Ashigara's jaw dropped before she glared. "LIKE THE HELL HE IS YOU TWO BIT ARMORED CRUISER, BRITWEEBO!"

Gasping, Kongou rocked back before she shot back, pumping one fist as both Yonehara and Goto stopped wrestling to look between the two shipgirls. "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU UNCOOTH MANEATER!?"

Nostril's flaring, Ashigara growled as an aura sprang into being around her, a howling wolf forming from it. At the same time, a different colored aura sprang up behind Kongou which had a tiger form in it which roared as the Fast Battleship snarled. Then the two flung themselves at each other before knocking them, and the two men, into the water with a splash. Meanwhile, Haruna just giggled and tilted her head as water flew everywhere. "Haruna thinks that Onee-Sama is having fun."

Scratching her head, Rose just shrugged. 'I don't believe that I will ever understand such things...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Having heard the splashes, Harry glanced over to see where Kongou and Ashigara were wrestling each other. "Huh..." Soon though he shook it off and looked at Hoppou beside him who was looking at the water nervously. Part of him couldn't help but grin at the amount of sunscreen on her or the floaties on her arm. 'Really Mum, sometimes you worry far too much.' Crouching down, Harry raised an eyebrow at his little sister. "Is something wrong?"

Looking up at him, Hoppou took a step forward and then backed away from the waves as they crashed by her feet. "Hoppou is not sure about this, Big Brother..."

Slowly, Harry nodded as he guessed what was the issue. "Afraid to swim, huh? You know that I'd keep you perfectly safe, Hoppou. As long as I am here, you won't sink."

With a blink, Hoppou looked up at him and nodded. "Hoppou knows..."

It was then that Harry noticed something and then lifted Hoppou quickly to his shoulder height in time for a large wave to smack into him at chest height. When it receeded, he blinked as he noticed that Taigei was now laying on her front on the beach having been left behind by the wave. Her legs weakly flopped around as someone shouted that she had been beached. "..." Looking in the direction of the wave, Harry could see Musashi and Iowa in a water fight with each other, throwing up giant splashes of water. "That explains where that wave came from."

Meanwhile, Hoppou tilted her head as the Submarines charged out of the water and used a stretcher to bring Taigei back into the water where the Support Ship began to swim around happily again. '... Silly.'

Gently, Harry set down Hoppou and patted her head. "So how about it? I'll be swimming right next to you just in case?"

Finger against her lips, the Abyssal considered this and then grabbed Harry's hand and nodded. "Okay."

"UWAWAWAWAWAWA!"

Both Harry and Hoppou looked up to see Inazuma flying above them and Harry's eyes widened before he once more grabbed Hoppou and then held her above his head in time for the massive wave to wash over him. When it receded, Harry spat out some sea water as Hoppou blinked. "... Is Big Brother okay?"

Water dripping from him, Harry just nodded before looking as Inazuma bobbed up to the surface near the stunned and soaked forms of Musashi and Iowa while Goto, Yonehara, Ashigara, and Kongou were all tangled together where they had ended up. "I'M OKAY, NANODESU!"

Then they heard Ikazuchi shouting. "ME NEXT! ME NEXT!"

As they turned, Harry and Hoppou could only blink as they spotted Montana grab hold of Ikazuchi's arms while Hiei, who had been visiting, grabbed her legs. Then they swung the laughing Destroyer back and forth between them before tossing her. Harry could only watch as she was launched over him and Hoppou and he picked up his little sister with a sigh as there was a loud splash and he saw the wall of water. 'Dammit...'

Hoppou meanwhile just clapped her hands as a laughing Yuudachi passed by on a surfboard. 'Hoppou likes this.'

Underwater as the wave rushed past, Harry could see a grinning RO give him a thumb's up as she was sucked back into the ocean by the retreating water. Spitting out some more saltwater, Harry looked up at his giggling adopted sister and snorted. "At least you're enjoying this... now let's get into the water before anything else happens."

Nodding, Hoppou just held him around the neck as he rushed into the water. He picked up some speed though as he heard Fubuki asking for Montana and Hiei to throw her as well.

From where she was laying back on a towel, Nagato raised an eyebrow as she looked toward Tenryuu. "Not going to say anything?"

Softly snorting, Tenryuu just grinned. "Nah, besides they're enjoying themselves." She then flipped a page in her book before humming. "Not going to go and join them?"

Just shifting into another position, Nagato shook her head. "Not yet anyways, let them have their fun first." A laugh burst from her as she spotted Hachi leap from the water and then onto Harry's back sending him tumbling into the water as Hoppou laughed. It was then that Tenryuu did a double take as she noticed that Nagato had a camera in her hands recording what was going on. "Besides, I've got a good viewpoint from here."

Raising an eyebrow at her though, the Light Cruiser hummed. "I take it there's more to it then that though?"

For a moment there was a pause before Nagato nodded. "Harry's heading to Hogwarts in only a week, best to let them spend time with him until then."

Tenryuu put the book down and then considered what was going on before she frowned. "You know, that explains why Ami is so set on Harry spending two nights over in a few days. Damn..." Flopping back, she frowned some. "It's going to be so weird not having the kiddo around."

Sighing, Nagato only leaned forward. "I know... Hoppou's been extremely clingy." She then glanced to where Harry now had Imuya on his shoulders, despite the Subgirl being taller. Meanwhile, Iku had Shioi on hers as the two got into a splash fight... one swiftly ended as Mutsuki splashed down from being thrown and drenched them all. "And she's not the only one."

Just scratching her cheek, Tenryuu nodded at that. "I see..."

Their talk though was interrupted as Akagi came over and pointed at a pile of shells near to them. "Would you mind if I use those?"

Blinking, the two mothers shared a look before Nagato shook her head. "Harry won't mind, I'm sure."

Her expression brightening, Akagi just smiled. "Thank you."

Gathering them up, she ran back over to where she had buried Kaga. The Carrier had the slightest bit of a smirk on her face as Akagi had built a sandcastle on top of her and was now adding shells as decorations. Sharing a look, Nagato and Tenryuu just took a picture of it.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Grumbling to himself, Goto had disentangled from the pile that was Kongou and brushed the sand off of himself before raising an eyebrow. "I'm going to get something to eat, anyone want something?"

Kongou's hand shot out from beneath Ashigara as she called out. "Some watermelon would be good!"

That caused him to blink and frown. "Someone is selling watermelon here?"

Her hand waving around, Kongou replied. "Dess!"

For several moments Goto just stared at the pile and then at Kongou's two legs, only to give it up. After all, with under normal circumstances, there was no way that they should have been connected to her. Though he did like the sight of them and began to walk away only to stop as Ashigara shrieked. "GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THOSE!"

At hearing Kongou's reply of fuel tanks getting in the way, Goto just moved faster while sending a small prayer out for Yonehara. Walking across the sand, it didn't take him long to reach the booth for the watermelons and cleared his throat. "Hello?"

Much to his surprise, Ryuujou popped up with a smirk. "Yo."

Blinking, Goto's eyebrows furrowed before he shook it off. "I heard that you got melons?"

Slowly, Ryuujou's smirk grew as she nodded. "Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of melons here. Big ones, small ones, extra large ones." Reaching down, she pulled up two and then held them at chest level. "See? And I can promise that they're nice and juicy."

All the off-duty Admiral did though was stare. "..."

Unable to help herself, Ryuujou snickered a bit. "Something wrong, Teitoku?"

Raising an finger, Goto looked around and frowned. "Are you really..."

Her eyebrow raising, Ryuujou's smirk grew into a grin. "What? Expected for Atago or maybe Hamakaze to be here for this? Or maybe Ushio if we had the Sasebo fleet as a whole?"

Expressionless, Goto just sighed. "Yes."

That got him a cackle from Ryuujou before she looked him right in the eye before going into a pose with the watermelons. "Too bad, you're stuck with someone with a distinctive silhouette."

Pinching his nose, Goto held back a groan. "You're really doing this... you're really making that sort of joke."

All that did though was make the Carrier shrug. "Yes, and? What? You expected me to get pissed off or something?" Snorting, she shook her head. "Like hell, the looks on peoples' faces are hilarious." Then Ryuujou grinned again as one of her fairies operated a crane that brought a basket of melon bread up and she waggled her eyebrows. "I also got some nice buns to go along with my melons."

His hand meeting his face, Goto only groaned. "Oh for fucks sake, Ryuujou..."

Said Carrier only cackled at his expression. A distance away, Natsumi yawned as she uncurled from where she was laying in the warm sun. "Hmm? What was that all about?"

On her aunt's face there was a slight blush as she looked away from where Junyou was refilling her sake saucer and then began to snicker. "Just Ryuujou having some fun messing with people." She then grinned. "Not going to go and have some fun with Harry-Chan?"

Yawning, Natsumi shot a sleepy look at the group playing in the water and hummed. "Maybe in a bit... right now I'm just so relaxed."

Tone dry, Haru drained her sake and then snorted. "Sometimes I wonder if your a fox or a cat." Getting a hum in return, she rolled her eyes. 'That kit...'

At the tap on her head, the kitsune blinked and then turned to see Junyou winking at her. "Enough of that!" She then thrust out her bottle. "It's time to kick back and relax with some fine drink!"

Laughing, Haru nodded as she held her saucer back out. "Now that I can agree with!"

Off in the nearby woods, Hamakaze stood up with her arms full of deadwood. 'Why... do I hear laughter?' Shaking it off, she looked over at Shinano who was standing there looking at a fallen tree. "Shinano-Sama? Is something wrong?"

Her face blushing, Shinano just shook it off. "N-nothing's wrong." She bit her lip a bit and looked in the direction of the beach. "I... just kind of wish that I was with the others."

Isokaze snickered a bit. "With the others or a certain boy?"

To Shinano, it felt like her face was on fire as she muttered before Hamakaze shot her fellow Destroyer a look. "Harry-San is one of Shinano-Sama's precious friends and is going away for some time, it is only natural that she wants to spend time with him before he leaves."

Still blushing, Shinano gave Hamakaze a nod. "Thank you."

All the busty Destroyer did was give a soft smile to Shinano before she felt Isokaze's hands adjusting her swimsuit. "What is up with this thing?"

While she shifted the branches in her arms, Hamakaze sighed. "I don't believe that they designed them in mind for... Destroyers of my displacement."

Just scoffing, Isokaze shook her head. "Obviously not." She then frowned and considered what she was seeing before nodding. "We should probably special order something though just in case."

Simply sighing, Hamakaze shook her head. "I suppose so, though all this is still rather odd."

Hearing the sound of wood splintering, Isokaze turned as she in mid nod of agreement to see Shinano bringing one foot down on part of the tree trunk, splintering it. Giving a soft whistle, Isokaze shook her head. "That was impressive."

On Shinano's face there was a bright smile before she picked up the sections of tree trunks and held them under her arms easily despite each being wider then her body and weighing several hundred pounds each. "Hopefully this will be enough wood for the bonfire."

Looking at the pile of wood in her arms as well as the one that Isokaze was picking up, Hamakaze slowly nodded. "I think that we might have enough as we already got a pile back at the beach."

Now grinning, Isokaze nodded. "Yeah! Now let's head back to the beach and hit that water!"

With a nod, Shinano turned and began to head for the beach though her thoughts were mostly of playing in the water with her friends.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

The Sun having set, most of the group were gathered around the giant bonfire talking or just enjoying each other's company. Other members had brought out skewers and were cooking various things in the fire. At one side though, Harry had Shinano and the Akizuki sisters gathered around him as he raised one finger. "Okay, now we're going to be making some s'mores."

Licking her lips, Hatsuzuki nodded some. "Hai, I've heard about these... they're supposed to be really good."

Beside her, Akizuki nodded. "So how do we make them?"

A smile on his face, Harry passed them some paper plates and, at their looks, shrugged. "Best to keep sand off of your food. Now then, first we take the graham crackers here and break them in half."

It being demonstrated, the Destroyers and Carriers followed and then Shinano looked around. "What's next?"

Harry then brought out a chocolate bar and broke some off. "Okay, now you break some chocolate and place it on one of the graham crackers." Waiting until they did so, he pulled out a skewer and put a marshmallow on it. "Okay, now to roast our marshmallows, you don't want them too crispy, just golden brown and gooey."

Eyes wide, Akizuki then thrust her marshmallow into the fire. "I can do that!" Within seconds though, she pulled it out and began to panic as it was on fire before Harry just blew it out. Then Akizuki hung her head as she saw that it was burnt. "I... ruined it..."

Feeling a tap, she turned to see Harry there just shaking his head as he held his own cooked marshmallow. "It's not ruined, just burnt a little on the outside. Now just place it down onto your chocolate like so and out the other graham cracker on top before pulling out the skewer and there you go! A s'more!"

Slowly, Akizuki examined hers doubtfully as some of the burnt outside could be seen. It didn't help that she could feel her sisters staring at her until Harry held out his s'more. "Here, I'll have that one and you can have mine, okay?"

Unsure, Akizuki handed hers over and watched as Harry blew on it for a few seconds and then bit down on it. "Um..."

Getting a thumb's up from Harry, she looked at his and then bit down on it before quickly gobbling it down to chuckles from Harry. Eyes wide, Teruzuki leaned forward, glancing between her sister and her own s'more. "How is it?"

There was a look of happiness as Akizuki chewed. "'S so good!"

Both of her sisters looked at theirs before they began to eat them, their expressions also turning to ones of bliss. On the other side of Shinano, both Hamakaze and Isokaze shared smiles at how happy the Support Carrier was as she ate her own. A few seconds later though, they felt a poke and turned to see Harry holding out a paper plate with some s'mores on them. Blinking, Hamakaze gave him a nod of the head and a smile. "Thank you, Harry-San."

Smiling back, Harry chuckled. "You're welcome."

It was then that Naka leapt to her feet. "NAKA-CHAN! IDOL OF THE FLEET HERE, IT'S TIME FOR CAMPFIRE SONGS!"

Laughing, Iowa elbowed a snickering Willie before holding up a bag. "For anyone not singing, I got some hot dogs here, the real good ones, not the shit ones!"

His face nearly hurting from how much he was smiling, Harry leaned back and just watched as his friends and family all enjoyed themselves with a break from the war. Up above, the Moon shone down on them laughing and smiling.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Since Hermione had become a shipgirl, she had discovered many, many things. How to fight, how to hunt, and how to be the best Cruiser she could be. When she found out that she was a "Witch" and there was a whole other world hidden away though, she had been shocked. Despite her curiosity though, she was heavily conflicted about what she should do. On the one hand, her being a witch had explained a lot about strange incidents that had happened before she became a shipgirl and learning magic was literally a once in a lifetime chance. On the other hand though, she was a proud shipgirl of the Royal Navy and they needed every hull they could get to fight against the Abyssals. Even after a discussion with her parents and her sisters she was unsure of what to do.

And then the doorbell rang and she opened it to find, to her shock, Victory herself there.

No, she most certainly did not squeal. Her sisters were all lying liars who lied, thank you very much! With that out of the way, the old warship was soon invited in and once she sat down, had begun to talk. It came to a surprise to Hermione that Victory had known about the magical world for a long time and she explained a few things that filled in the blanks. Much to Hermione's surprise, Victory came with orders from the First Sea Lord himself for her. Said orders had asked, not ordered, asked if she would please accept the invitation to Hogwarts. Of course, being asked by the First Sea Lord if they could do something was pretty much the same as being ordered, but appearances must be kept.

With her acceptance of them, she was told what she was supposed to do, which was rather simple. All the Admiralty wanted was for her to simple learn and observe the magical world. Not even spying as such, rather just read their history books and learn more about them. The reason being that the "Statute of Secrecy" was falling apart and that the more that was known how the magical world worked and thought, the easier the integration between them and the non-magical side of things would be. A shudder still ran down her back at the idea of literal witch hunts in modern day Britain. The fact that such were likely if the integration went badly was even worse.

However, being a Cruiser and thus the eyes and ears of the fleet, just observation was something that she had no issue with. The fact that at least the Headmaster and some of the staff knew who and what she was as well as her mission did raise an eyebrow. But when she had commented on the wisdom, Victory had given her this look. It was of the sort that caused her mouth to shut with a clack and for her to swallow nervously. Apparently Albus Dumbledore was considered by Victory to be an extremely good friend and one that she trusted implicitly. Neither would she have him insulted in her presence.

The old warship did tell her not to tell the Headmaster or, in her own words, "That damned old Bumblebee" that she had said such though.

After that, Victory had also commented that she might meet some people of interest. Two of them had raised Hermione's eyebrows as one was the red headed boy often seen with Warspite on base or at various chess tournaments. The other though was none other then the adopted son of the Battleship Nagato herself. Several days later, the Deputy Headmistress had arrived and taken her to get her items. After that though, it was back to the daily grind of patrols in the Irish Sea and English Channel.

Which is how Hermione was found stumbling back to her quarters bone weary just two days before she was to head to Hogwarts after her final patrol. Needless to say, she had pushed herself which was how she tripped and was about to fall on her face when an arm shot out and steadied her. A chuckle caused her to blink and she blushed at the words from the shipgirl who helped her. "A little tired there, hmm, Hermione?"

Yawning, Hermione gave the best glare that she could at the Battleship beside her. "Like you're not tired as well, Vanguard."

Said Battleship just shrugged and gave Hermione an odd smile. "I suppose so..."

Eyes narrowing, Hermione stopped and crossed her arms before frowning. "Is something wrong, Vanguard?"

Vanguard just flinched and chuckled nervously. "I can't hide anything from you I guess..."

Her eyebrow raising, Hermione's lips turned upwards slightly. "Considering that I've been your main escort Cruiser? That's not surprising." Then she reached out and placed her hand onto Vanguard's arm. "Now what's wrong?"

If anyone was there, they would have performed a double take as Vanguard bit her lip. The Battleship then looked around before pulling the surprised Hermione into a hug and sniffled. "I'm just going to miss you... you've been here since my summoning and..."

Reaching up, Hermione patted her on the back. "I know. And I'll communicate with you as much as possible, okay?" Getting a nod, she continued. "Besides, it's not like you really need me all that much and I am sure that the others will more then be able to help you."

As she tightened the hug, Vanguard just mumbled. "Not like you. You've taught me so much about being a warship, and you never got angry with me."

Unseen by Vanguard, Hermione flinched a bit. Before meeting the Battleship she had been rather bossy at times, but she was unable to find it in herself to be bossy to Vanguard. Especially as she tried so hard and often put herself down for being a "Glorified Yacht" at times. But by now, Vanguard had grown into her own as a Battleship and the two of them were great friends. Suddenly, it hit Hermione and she brightened. "Want to stay over for the night? Heck, how much leave do you have?"

Expression brightening, Vanguard pulled away. "Sleepover?"

Hermione chuckled and nodded. "Sure, and you can come over to my parents tomorrow." The smile on Vanguard's face caused Hermione to shake her head in amusement. Said smile though fell off when she entered her room to find a large, giftwrapped box there. "What in the world..."

Walking over, Vanguard looked at the note and frowned. "It's... from the Submarines?"

Not even a second later, Hermione leapt into the air and landed in Vanguard's arms as Upholder as well as Thorn and Thrasher shouted. "HUZZAH! INDEED, IT WAS US! FOR WE HAVE BROUGHT A PRIZE TO OUR LADY OF TROY! BEAUTIFUL AS THE SUNSET AND WORTHY OF BEING HELEN HERSELF!"

Eyebrow twitching, Hermione growled as she muttered about crazy Submarines before Vanguard coughed. "Um... a prize...?"

Grinning, Upholder put her one hand on her hips and thrust out her chest as she pointed at the box. Something that did... interesting things... to her torpedo tubes. "INDEED! FOR OUR PRINCESS SHALL SOON BE ENSCORNED WITHIN A CASTLE WORTHY OF HER!"

On either side of her, Thorn and Thrasher went into poses as Thorn nodded. "AND SO, WE BRAVED THE DEEP, DARK SEA TO BRING A PRIZE TO OUR LADY TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH. THE DASTARDLY FIEND PUT UP A FIGHT, BUT WE SUBDUED HER WITH EASE BEFITTING THOSE SUCH AS US!"

Already getting a bad feeling, Hermione hopped out of Vanguard's arms and opened the box only to blink. Inside, there was a blonde haired teenaged girl looking up at her with blue eyes and annoyed look. However, she was unable to say anything as there was tape across her mouth with her legs and arms tied up with anchor chains. It was the wetsuit that told Hermione what the person was though. With a trembling hand, Hermione gently tore off the tape. "Wh-who are...?"

Sighing, the U-Boat shook her head. "U-205, reporting. Now, could you release me so that I may do something rather terrible to some top heavy Submarines..."

Vanguard blinked as she looked over the frozen, though twitching, Hermione's shoulders and winced. "I... don't think that Paladin will be happy about this..."

When Hermione looked to the door though, all there were remaining of the three Submarines were cardboard cutouts as she began to growl, her hair moving in a invisible breeze...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Out of the entire group, it was Hachi who woke up first on Harry's last day on the base. She was curled around said boy with his back against her chest as she held him close as he softly breathed in his sleep. Even with her eyes closed, Hachi could feel her sisters, and that was what she considered the other Subgirls in Yokosuka to be, around them with Iku holding her close from behind. Opening one eye, she smiled at the sight of Maruyu held in Harry's arms though a shock of white hair told her that Hoppou was also there. Meanwhile Shinano was on the other side of Maruyu and Hoppou while Hibiki laid on top of Harry's side. A glance downward showed her the rest of DesDiv6 there along with the Akizuki sisters and a glance upwards had her see Natsumi curled in around with her stomach pressed against Harry's head.

The other Subgirls had taken up various spots where they could as she could feel Imuya's head on her legs and could see RO's hair sticking up just behind Maruyu's thigh. Internally, she chuckled at the fact that they were all in one giant cuddle pile and another glance had her spot a similar pile, of which she recognized Fubuki, Mutuski, and Yuudachi being three along with Willie D, Iowa, Hamakaze, Isokaze, and several others. She could even swear that she saw Haruna cuddling a sleeping Rose close. The feeling she got from all the ships in close proximity though was not the uncomfortable one that some humans might have gotten.

Rather, it was one of pure safety and warmth. Hachi actually pitied those humans who didn't understand exactly how comfortable a cuddlepile was.

A shift from Harry and a mutter brought her out of her thoughts though and back to why there were so many shipgirls in the area as the night before they had thrown a going away party for Harry. Something that brought a small whimper from her and a tightening of her arms. Few actually knew it, but she had some horrific nightmares from some of her voyages back when she was a ship. Sure, other shipgirls also had nightmares from the war, but Hachi's were in her mind even more horrible due to the actions some of her crew had done with numerous shipwreck survivors of ships she had sank.

Sometimes, in the darkness of her nightmares, one of said survivors would be replaced by Harry and she would be forced by her crew to cruelly execute him... or she would do it herself if she did not order it.

Due to those nightmares she had done something that few shipgirls had likely done and that was reject those particular members when they attempted to return. A fact known only to the other Subgirls in Yokosuka because while other shipgirls had rejected individual members of their crews, she was the only one to do so to almost whole crews. It was only those that wanted to redeem themselves that she allowed back though watched carefully.

However, despite that, the nightmares still haunted her.

On the really bad nights though, she often woke up in a cold sweat and even the other Submarines couldn't help her as she laid there shivering with wide eyes. Them being mostly ignored didn't help which was why her and the others often tried to get attention in any way that they could. Once Harry came into the picture though, Hachi discovered that hugging him close helped a lot to drive away those bad nights. Maybe it was because he was human, or mostly human now that the fact that Harry's mother was a shipgirl who never awoke was known. The fact that he had calm acceptance of her and tried to make her happy helped, as did the fact that he never complained when she snuck into his room on one of the bad nights to just hold him close while he chased away the darkness.

Much to her surprise the first time it had happened, Nagato had just raised an eyebrow but nothing more. Since then those nights had come less and less common. And when Haru had arrived, things had gotten better still. Hachi had often visited the Shrine only to find Haru already waiting with some tea and small snacks there. It had taken a few such visits, but one day everything had tumbled out. Yet the kitsune had not judged Hachi and had simply sat there and listened. Once she was done though, Haru had gently spoken to her, some of which was advice and some of it just being soft words that had soothed the ache.

Hachi also knew that she was not the only one as she had seen other shipgirls visit Haru at the Shrine, once she even saw Kaga of all people there. She had never asked though and neither had Haru spoken of whatever was talked about to anyone. And between her and Harry, along with each life saved from the Abyssals, Hachi had felt herself slowly getting better.

But now with Harry leaving them for Hogwarts, Hachi couldn't help but feel uncertain and nervous. For the moment though, the Subgirl decided to close her eyes and just savour it. Part of her was amused as it was almost like recharging, or storing up the feeling of the closeness around her for use when she had another bad night. It was unknown to Hachi how long they laid there before Harry began to wake up. However, she gave him a grin as he turned his head to look at her through sleep filled eyes. "Morning, Hachi-Chan."

Giggling lightly, Hachi shook her head and raised one eyebrow in amusement. "Not good morning, but good afternoon."

For a moment, Harry seemed to consider this before he nodded and smiled. "Guten Nachmittag, Hachi-Chan."

Now blushing, the Subgirl smiled back. "Guten Nachmittag, Harry-Chan."

Once more yawning, Harry glanced around and frowned. "Kind of want to go back to sleep..."

Just nodding, Hachi hummed a bit. "I suppose so, though if you want you can, no one is stopping you. Besides..." For a moment, she felt her throat freeze up before she shook it off. "You should get as much sleep as possible because of the lag. After all, England is nine hours behind."

Frowning more fully, Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay, Hachi-Chan?"

All Hachi did though was snuggle more with him as she thought over her answer. "Actually... yeah." She then nodded some. "Yeah, I think that Hacchan is okay now."

Much to her surprise, Harry pushed back some against her and nodded. "I'm glad."

Slipping one arm as best she could between the two small bodies and Harry, Hachi pulled him in close. "So am I, so am I..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A pair of feet walked across the land in the early pre-dawn light. Yet no footprints were left. Not a blade of grass bent nor droplet of dew disturbed by their passing. Their owner was there and yet not there in the same moment.

Her passing was marked by the scent of old books, of strange fumes, cut stone, and of a scent that some might describe as being like ozone. But it was a deeper smell, one more... there. The scent of magic. Yet there was no one there who would have noticed.

While she walked, she tilted her head and observed her surroundings with eyes that twinkled with a need to learn. But her eyes were deep, with knowledge of ages and some forgotten. Upon her lips was a mischievous smile, one full of laughter hidden. There was more to it then that though as there was wonderment as well at the world around her. Robes that wrapped around her swished through the morning mist as she climbed a hill.

Unknown to most now, it was once used to lay to rest great chieftains. And upon which their successors would rise. A place of endings and new beginnings. One of meetings as it was also where those that wanted to meet peacefully might do so. For a hundred generations long gone it was used as such and their marks could be seen still upon the stones if one cared to look carefully. Up a well worn path trodden by uncounted people, the two feet lightly traveled.

The hill had a weight to it known to few, but felt by all.

Finally she reached the top, climbing out of the mists that were unable to cling to her form. Walking through two boulders, she wondered for a moment, like she had many times before, what did they know? What have they seen that she had not? Older then her, they slept and kept what secrets they knew, never to be known to any but themselves. For they guarded secrets jealously, even from those alike. And even she would not wake them for just her curiosity. It was then that she spotted them waiting on the hilltop.

One, the man, was tall though he was slouched over as he held a staff in one hand. But there was strength in his body with wiry muscles that could pull apart even stone if given time. Under his green, hooded cloak tangled hair spilled out with branches and twigs, some with leaves, embedded in it. His beard was not much better though it better resembled the lichen that hung from trees in an old forest. His weathered face was tougher then leather and lined deeply with age.

It was his eyes though that caught her attention. Deep and dark they were. She knew that there were secrets there. Secrets forgotten and buried, of summers past. At times, she swore that there were lines of lights, torches in a parade, within those eyes. What she did know was that he was truly a child of his father, of he in the Green. Those eyes could be cruel as could his expression, but she knew that was simply his way and did not hold it against him. Around him hung the smell of wood, of the decay within forests. Sometimes, she could hear chants in a language long dead, unknown even to her. Whispered to her of things long ago...

Yet the woman opposite of him was different though the same. Ageless, one could not tell how old she was. Around her, fabric of blue drifted in the breeze and her face was one of calm, almost placid. Though that could change in an instant to one of fury. More then one had forgotten that fact and met their ends in her embrace. And even when calm she was no less dangerous. For one misstep could lead to one's doom around her. Despite that, others when they passed were gifted to her. They would be slipped into her embrace and she would guard over them as they slept that sleep eternal.

However, the last of those were long ago, beyond memory or even song. For she was the oldest of the three of them. Ancient even before the man had come and within the depths of her eyes one could see a glint of the cold, endless winter in which she was born. A winter so deep that even the youngest could scarcely imagine it though she knew much about it.

Softly growling like a group of animals, the man turned toward her. His voice creaked and groaned. "About time you arrived, child! Must you do this each time despite how many times before?!"

The oldest just chuckled before she spoke, her voice washing over them gently. "Be calm, she is still yet young."

Sheepishly smiling, the youngest adjusted the boom in her arms. "Sorry... some preparations were still being done late."

A sneer on his face, the man waved her off. "Of course. Be mindful though because one day, I might have enough and come calling right up to your door."

On the youngest, there was a slight smirk. "Perhaps one day, but that will be a time yet. And I shall fight you every inch of the way though I may yield in the end."

The oldest glanced between the two before her expression grew stormy. "ENOUGH!"

As her voice slammed into them, both shuddered a bit. Then the youngest nodded. "My apologies." Beside her the man also muttered his own. Then the youngest was smiling again, her expression puckish. "It seems though that things will become interesting."

Lightly smiling, the older woman tilted her head. "Oh?"

Nodding, the youngest grinned. "It seems that I shall have at least another Daughter under my care."

Eyes widening, the oldest nodded. "I see, it shall be good to see then. The Great One's Daughters are quite interesting. And always fun when they come to me."

Waving it off, the man snorted, the sound not unlike a windstorm. "I do not see why you are both so interested in them. That one that keeps visiting has ones that I knew used to bring her about."

However, both women shared an expression of fond exasperation before they got down to their meeting. Near the end though, all three snapped their eyes to look toward the Northeast. Their eyes narrowed as they listened to something only they could hear while the youngest clinched one fist. "I hate her."

Giving her a look, the oldest only nodded. "Yes... she had one of your favorites I believe."

The man only nodded. "I agree with the child though. She likes to play and harm far too much. One should end it quickly! Not prolong such things as she does. But it does seem that she is amused by something..."

Sighing, the oldest shook her head. "I would normally say that one so young should be given some leeway, but I cannot. And I foresee that despite all her power, what she has done will come back to call. And her being amused at the darkness upon the Great One will only be to her detriment in the end. No matter, what will come shall do so..."

It was a time later that only the youngest was still atop the hill, just standing there as she gazed to the east. 'Speaking of favorites...' Yet again, her expression turned puckish. "I wonder... childe of two of those I favoured. What does your future hold? We have not yet met, yet I feel that you shall become another among those I watch over to become one I care for as your parents... I look forward to watching."

Then the first rays of the dawn touched the hill and she was gone as if she was never there or only made of the morning mists.

 

[darthcourt10]

Year One - The Power of Magicite Part 1

START

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Coming to a stop with his trunk and Hedwig's cage on a trolley, Harry looked around the crowded floor of King's Cross with butteflies in his stomach which stopped as he heard a soft intake of breath. "My word... things have certainly changed here..."

With a blink, he looked up to see Rose looking around in wonderment on her face. "You've been here before, Rose?"

Slowly, she nodded before commenting softly enough that anyone around would be unlikely to hear except for the members of their group. Thankfully she was out of her usual uniform in a simple blouse and jeans so she didn't stand out too much. Granted, she was still confused over why Haruna had stared at her when they left... "I have, Master. But that was... long ago." Her gaze took on a look as if she was looking at something far off that only she could see. "In fact, it was back when I was on the trains myself, more then a hundred years ago."

Beside her, Natsumi was happy for the distraction from the feeling roiling in her gut. "Well... like you said, it has been more then a hundred years and things do change."

Nodding, Rose just frowned. "Perhaps... but I did not expect things to change this much. And yet, I can still see some things that I remember. It's all so very odd..."

A cough though brought their attention to Nagato who raised an eyebrow and glanced at the time. "As much as I would like otherwise, we only have an hour before Harry's train leaves and I don't know how big of a crowd will be here..." Pulling out a note, she scanned it and frowned. "According to this, the entrance is hidden between platforms nine and ten, we simply need to walk through the wall between them."

Just nodding, Harry began to push his trolley through the crowds towards said platform and frowned a bit as the wall came into view. "I wonder why no one's noticed it? I mean, surely someone's seen people go through there."

Frowning, Inazuma shook her head. "Yeah, that's pretty weird, Nanodesu."

Natsumi though just snorted and shook her head. "They're magicals, they likely are using some spell to keep those without magic from seeing... though I think that they're probably needing to work a lot harder nowadays."

It was Fubuki though that spotted the entrance first. "There it is!"

Looking around, Harry frowned a bit. "I don't see it."

While she blinked, Fubuki leaned over and pointed at a section of wall. "It's right there, can't you see the archway? I can sort of see through it."

That got her a look from Harry and he frowned. "Um, no?"

Confused, the Destroyer was about to comment when Natsumi snickered a bit and grabbed their attention. "Harry-Chan? Don't look, instead you should look."

Eyes slowly widening, Harry looked back at the wall and stared for a moment. If anyone was looking, they might have seen his eyes take on a slight glow. But before his eyes he could just see an archway there, though he couldn't see through it. What really caught his attention though was what looked like the hulls of three Light Cruisers as well as a British Battleship entering the archway and going through it. "What the..." At their looks, he pointed. "I just saw some shipgirls enter..."

Frowning, Nagato looked herself and frowned. "That's... interesting. But I after I was told by Warspite that there was going to be at least one awakened Shipgirl there." Seeing the confusion on Harry's face, she smiled tightly and raised an eyebrow. "You did not think that I would not make sure that someone would be there to protect you just in case?"

A chuckle escaped from Harry as he scratched his head. "Yeah... I guess." Then he smiled up at her. "Thanks."

Simply nodding, Nagato's smile became genuine. "You're welcome, Harry." When he turned back though to a conversation with Mutsuki, Nagato frowned as she spotted something at the other end of the train station. 'Speaking of Warspite... I wonder what she's doing here?'

Meanwhile, Harry glanced off to the side and blinked. "Um... what's your mum doing, Inazuma-Chan?"

The Destroyer blinked and looked to see Tenryuu leaning against a pillar seemingly acting like she was a local tough. Thankfully, she was in her usual civilian garb and had her horns elsewhere so no one recognized her. "Um... acting as a screen I think."

Ikazuchi nodded as she pointed elsewhere. "Yeah, Oba-Chan is doing the same thing over there with Akatsuki."

Looking in the same direction, Harry blinked at the sight of Akatsuki in a dress beside a smiling Tatsuta who was looking at a map. If one had hung out with shipgirls often enough, and knew that she was one, they could easily spot that said Light Cruiser was keeping an eye on the surroundings. Before Harry could say anything though, two arms wrapped around his waist and he felt Hibiki place her chin on his shoulder. "I need to go to Kaa-San, Harry-Chan. But I hope that you have a good time at Hogwarts."

Swiftly twisting around, Harry caught her by surprise and hugged her back. Unnoticed by Harry though, his action caused a light blush to bloom on the Destroyer's cheeks. "I'll miss you too, Hibiki-Chan. But I'll see you when school lets out for Christmas, okay? And I'll send you lots of letters and maybe some pictures."

For a moment, Hibiki tightened the hug but nodded. "Khorosho."

Pulling away, she gave him one last look but then disappeared into the crowd as she headed toward where Tenryuu was. Internally though, she was cursing up a storm at how it had been decided to keep the group generally small and limited to those that would not stand out besides Nagato herself. Far too soon though, Harry was through the wall and onto Platform 9 3/4 with his eyes widening at the sight of the train. "Wow..."

Beside him, Mutsuki nodded with her own eyes widened. "That's... yeah."

Unseen by Harry, Inazuma quickly snapped a picture with her phone of the train and the platform itself. Some wizards and witches noticed, but then they just looked away. After all, cellphone pictures never turned out in their view. Of course, they didn't know that said phone due to being used by a shipgirl was different. Rose was just examining the train in interest and a slight frown on her lips. "I did not know that any trains such as that were still around."

Interested, Harry looked over at her as did Fubuki who raised an eyebrow. "You recognize the train, Rose-San?"

The tsukumogami shook her head but the frown was still on her face. "Not the train itself, but I do recognize the make. The model number escapes me at the moment but I do remember similar ones on the tracks though they were old even in my day. My own train was of the same kind after all." Her expression then softened. "It... reminds me of those halcyon days just seeing and hearing it."

Nagato hummed a bit as she examined the train. "Hmm... I wonder how they got students to Hogwarts before the train."

Shrugging, Harry looked around. "Apparently anyway they could. According to Hogwarts: A History, some used brooms, others rode on either magical creatures or using enchanted carriages... it was a Minister of Magic who decided on a train. Which they... uh... kind of stole."

Her head whipping around, Rose narrowed her eyes. "They stole it?!"

More then a little sheepish, Harry shrugged. "Yeah... apparently it involved a lot of memory charms and the people at the station swore they were forgetting something for the rest of the year."

Eyebrow twitching, a hiss that sounded like steam escaping from a tea pot came from between her lips. "Of course..."

Glancing at her, Natsumi winced before clearing her throat. "So, uh... I guess this is it?"

For his part, Harry nodded as he scuffed his shoe a little. "Yeah..." He bit his lip as he looked up at his mother and then at the other shipgirls as well as Rose and Natsumi. "You know..."

A gentle expression on her face, Nagato leaned down and hugged him tightly. "I know that you'll do just fine. You are my son and pride of the Big Seven after all."

Smiling, Harry nodded some as a red haired family rushed by and headed for the train. "I wish that Hoppou was here..."

Just holding him, Nagato only nodded as she kissed his head. "I do too, but we both know that an Abyssal is rather... obvious, unfortunately." Moments later, she stood up and attempted to smooth his hair. "Now, you enjoy yourself at Hogwarts and learn as much as you can."

While he nodded, Harry smiled back though seconds later, both Inazuma and Ikazuchi hugged him from either side. "Hwawawa! We'll make sure to write lots of letters to you, Harry-Chan! Nanodesu!"

Ikazuchi nodded alongside her twin sister. "Yeah! So will Hibiki-Chan, Akatsuki-Chan and the others. You can rely on us!"

Once they pulled away, Mutsuki gave him a hug. Then Fubuki did so with the Destroyer giving him a headpat. "Fubuki knows that you'll do your best."

Giving him a wink, she let him go and then Harry turned and gave Rose a hug. "I'll miss you as well, Rose."

The tsukumogami blushed and one could see wafts of steam coming from her ears as she looked around. "Master!" Before he let go though, she hugged him back. "I'll miss you and will have a nice cup of tea waiting for you when you come home for the holidays."

Just chuckling, Harry nodded. "I know." As she let go, Harry turned to Natsumi who was looking anywhere but him. "Um, Natsumi-Chan?"

She just turned to him and watched him before nearly knocking him over with her glomp. "I'll miss you lots, Harry-Chan. But I'll get as strong as I can so I can back you up." For a moment, she seemed indiscive and then to his surprise, quickly kissed him on the cheek. Pulling away from the stunned boy, Natsumi ignored the bemused expressions she got as she kept holding his hands before biting her lip. "Bye..."

Out of it, Harry just nodded. "Um... bye Natsumi-Chan..." Then the giggles from Fubuki and Mutsuki snapped him out of it and he realized that Natsumi had moved behind his mother. "Um..."

Before anything else could be said though, the train's whistle sounded and Nagato gently nudged him. "Go on, you need to find a spot on the train."

With a final look, Harry summoned up his courage and nodded though his vision blurred a bit. "Yeah..."

Taking a deep breath, Harry began to push his trolley towards the train. Behind him, Natsumi still had a blush on her face as she gave the best glare to each of the madly grinning shipgirls. "None of you are going to tell Oba-chan about what I did, you understand?!"

Just keeping a straight faced expression, Nagato shook her head. "Of course not, Natsumi-Chan." As the kitsune gave a sigh of relief, Nagato suddenly smirked and raised her phone which showed a picture of Natsumi giving Harry a kiss on the cheek. "After all, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words~."

At the screech of "NAGATO-SAN!" Harry looked back to see the shipgirls laughing as Natsumi tried to grab at his mother's phone as the Battleship held it above her head. Shaking his head, he gave a chuckle as he got onto the train though not before giving one last wave which was returned.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

A small gong could be heard echoing over the water's surface before silence once more descended upon the area. On the shore was the slowly decaying remains of a house, abandoned for decades. Suddenly, there were ripples travelling across the water until they stopped by the shore and a head rose up from the water and blinked. "You wished to see me?"

Getting off the rat, the gecko adjusted his armor and then bowed deeply as around him other geckos watched the area with bows drawn. "We bring you a letter from the post, Lady Misa. It is from Lady Shiromizu."

Eyes brightening, Misa gave him a small bow. "Thank you, Shinji-San for bringing this to me. I have always enjoyed hearing from her and I know that you and your men risk much each time you go back and forth between here and the post box. Please, pass on my thanks for this once more to your Lord."

Puffing out his chest a bit, and adjusting his helm, the gecko nodded. "You are most welcome, it is our honor as samurai to do so in this life as in our past one. And we shall pass on your thanks as well."

Once he handed over the letter, which Misa slipped into her kimono, he bowed deeply before he got back onto the rat and then rode off on it to the amusement of Misa. Shaking her head, she sank back down into her lake and travelled into it's depths. 'That bunch...' As she swam deeper, one might have thought that she was distracted. In reality, she was being very observant. After all, she had not lived as long as she had by not being cautious. Eventually Misa reached her destination and slipped between two boulders and with a flip of a fin, a metal grate covered in lake weed slammed down behind her, sealing the entrance to her home in time to hear a bang. "Perhaps next time."

From behind her, several eyes glowed malevolently in the darkness at her as a voice hissed. "One day... one day I shall get you and then I will enjoy it as you die painfully before I suck your marrow from your bones!"

Ignoring the spear-like limbs that shot through the grate and stopped less then a foot from her back, Misa just shrugged nonchalant. "Perhaps one day, but not today. Besides, it's not like you have had much more luck with my Imouto."

The screech of rage as the grate rattled under the sheer strength of what was on the other side brought a smile to Misa's face. "AND SHE SHALL RUN OUT OF LUCK EVENTUALLY AND BE BROUGHT BEFORE ME! AND I SHALL FEAST ON HER BEFORE TOSSING HER REMAINS BEFORE YOU!"

Now looking over her shoulder, Misa only blinked. "As I said, perhaps..." Then she smirked. "But then again, you are running out of time with her, aren't you? Soon the time will come when your ability to deal with her will end. I bought her enough time to escape from you after all." Her smirk growing, Misa continued her journey down her cave before moving upwards and exiting the water into a chamber filled with glowing mosses and lichens. In one corner, there was a loom and in another was a futon. Suddenly, in a quick movement, she shot out a limb and a giant spider was pierced through to the wall with a spear as she shook her head. "She never gives up, does she?"

Just shaking her head, Misa then walked over to the table and sat down before opening the letter and reading. As she did so, her expression became one of fondness and joy. "A five tail kitsune, hmm? Yes, I can see you made the right choice..." Leaning back, she considered her loom. "I wonder if her new sensei would like something as a gift of thanks? Perhaps one of my kimonos... Though Shiromizu might be needing some training clothing as well. Hmm..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking down the corridor, Harry frowned as he noticed that most of the carriages were already full of people. In one of them, a young boy was poking his head out of the window as he looked at an older woman. However, Harry had to do a double take as the older woman seemed to have a stuffed vulture on her hat. Beside him, a young girl was also leaning out to hug the neck of a tearful young adult woman who was tall enough to reach the window. "Hey, I already promised that I'd write you, Vany. Okay? So relax."

The tall woman nodded as she rubbed at her eyes. "I know."

At one point, Harry was passing one compartment and looked in before his eyes widened at the giant spider leg that came out of a trunk and hurried on. Part of him swearing not to tell Shiromizu as she absolutely hated spiders. Finally, near the back, Harry poked his head into a compartment that only had one boy, a red head, in it. "Um... hi? Is it okay if I sit down here?"

Blinking, the boy nodded. "Sure..." He then glanced outside and held out a hand. "Right, I'm Ronald Weasley, but you can call me Ron."

Just nodding, Harry walked over and shook his hand. "Harry Potter."

Eyes widening, Ron stared at him before shaking it off as he helped Harry push his trunk up onto the luggage rack. "Really? You're Harry Potter?" When Harry shrugged, Ron glanced at his forehead. "Do you have the scar?"

Suddenly, there was a sharp voice from outside. "Ron!"

Wincing, Ron flushed. "Sorry, Warspite, but you know he's famous!"

More then a little intrigued, Harry looked out the window to see a familiar Battleship there who was giving Ron a disappointed look which the red haired boy hung his head at. "Yes, and? That was rather rude, Ron. You really should know better."

However, Harry just shrugged a bit. "It's okay." Lifting up his fringe, Harry gave a weak grin. "Not really that big of a deal." Taking some pity on Ron, Harry gave the Battleship a smile, "It's been a while since I last saw you, though Warspite."

Lightly laughing, the Battleship just shook her head. "Been a few years actually. How are things back in Yokosuka? Is Miss Kongou still..."

Rolling his eyes, Harry felt his lips curl a bit. "Still bongou? Yes, though Mikasa-Obaa is worse."

Giggles escaped from Warspites lips as she held her hand in front of her mouth. "Oh my, I can certainly imagine. Then again she does have a certain charm, now doesn't she? Shame that the Admiral doesn't..." She trailed off at the slight smirk on Harry's face and her eyes widened in glee. "Don't tell me..."

Holding up a hand, Harry shook his head with a blank expression. "I can neither confirm nor deny."

While this was happening, Ron was looking back and forth between the two before he focused on Warspite with a slight betrayed expression. "You never told me that you knew Harry Potter, Warspite."

Apologetic, Warspite shook her head. "I'm sorry Ron, it was from before we met and I honestly did not know that he was that Harry Potter."

Still frowning, Ron finally sighed. "I guess..."

Meanwhile, Harry was waving to Nagato and the others who were waving back. "Mum!"

It was then that the train's whistle blew as Nagato waved back and then cupped her hands around her mouth. "You have a fun time at Hogwarts, Harry! And we can't wait to hear back from you!"

Warspite looked up at Ron and then took several steps back. "I for one look forward to our mailing chess match."

A grin split Ron's face as he nodded. "Same here!" Then he looked up as a red haired woman approached. "Hey, Mum!"

The next minute or two were taken up by final goodbyes before the train finally pulled out. Harry's last sight of the platform was that of a red haired girl chasing the train while his mother, Natsumi, Rose, and the other shipgirls waved. Then they were gone, though Harry could also see who he thought was Ron's mother being lead over to Nagato by Warspite. Slumping back into his seat, the compartment lapsed into silence before Harry coughed. "So... how do you know Miss Warspite?"

Blinking at the question, Ron finally grinned. "My dad took me to work one day and while he was taking care of some stuff I noticed someone sitting at this chess table playing against herself. Decided to challenge her as I was bored."

Eyebrow raising, Harry hummed. "You win?"

Just snorting, Ron shook his head. "Nah, she walloped me good. Next game was a lot closer..." He then smiled a bit. "She decided to take me under her wing and taught me all sorts of things about chess, taking me to tournaments and the like."

Slowly nodding, Harry scratched his cheek. "Huh... so your dad works on the base?"

Ron shook his head though at that. "Dad works in the Ministry. Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, though sometimes..." For a moment, there was an odd expression on Ron's face before he shook it off. "Anyways, my whole family are wizards except for my mum and sister, they're witches."

Bemused, Harry chuckled. "Well... I guess that you could say that I'm the only wizard in my family, since I'm adopted. The rest are shipgirls except for my little sister, so it's not like we don't know about magic."

That got a snort from Ron before he gave Harry an odd look. "I didn't know that you were adopted and... in Yokosuka?"

Harry grinned at that. "Yeah, my Mum is Nagato of the Big Seven and Yokosuka is in Japan."

Staring at him, Ron blinked. "Japan? That's where you've been?"

It was then that there was a voice and they turned to see two grinning identicle twins. "Japan? Isn't that the place with all the weird stuff? Heard some of it involved tentacles."

Unimpressed, Harry just slowly blinked with an expression that none of them there could read. 'Why is that always one of the first things brought up.' Then he got an idea and raised an eyebrow. "Huh, so you're into that sort of thing then?"

Both twins stared at him before they suddenly grinned. "Nah, not really interested in that sort of thing."

One of them gestured at himself. "Anyways, I'm Fred and this is George."

The other blinked in mock confusion. "Wait, I thought that I was Fred and you were George... or was that Gred and Forge?"

Snorting, Harry shook his head though he was slightly amused. "Well, in any case it's nice to meet you."

Having spotted his scar, the twins grinned and grabbed his hands before shaking them. "Capital to meet you as well, old chap!"

"Splended, simply splendid old bean!"

"Wait, does that mean that he's a beansprout?"

"Well, not yet anyways"

Now fully bemused, Harry shook his head as they let go. "Maybe in a bit."

One twin just shrugged though and then gestured back the way they had come. "Anyways, we'll just mosey over to our compartment. Lee Jorden figures that he's got a huge tartantula."

The other one then nodded. "See you two later."

With that they were gone and Harry chuckled as he sat back down as Ron groaned. "Mental, absolutely mental."

All Harry did though was shake his head. "I've seen worse."

Yet again, the compartment lapsed into silence before Ron cleared his throat. "So, uh... Japan, huh? None of the stories had you there..." At the confused look, he shrugged. "Dad used to bring home these stories about you."

It took Harry a few moments but then he groaned. "You mean those booklets about my 'Adventures'? The ones selling for two or three Knuts?"

Slightly confused, Ron nodded. "Well, yeah?" When Harry groaned again, he blinked. "What, is something wrong?"

Just sighing, Harry shook his head. "Not really... just that the Akizuki sisters saw them and bought a bunch. Then they made copies for the others..."

That got him a blank look. "Aki... zukis?"

Nodding, Harry frowned. "Um, three Japanese Destroyers." At his still confused look, Harry shook his head. "Let's just say that they had a lot of fun for the next few days..." Internally though, Harry didn't add the rest. 'Though Naka-Nee had a scary gleam in her eye...'

Both of them kept talking for a time before they decided to watch the fields roll past. At a quarter past twelve though, they heard a clattering and turned to see a middle aged woman there with a cart there. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Feeling the heaviness in his pockets from the coins there, Harry got up and examined his choices. "Hmm..." An idea suddenly struck him and he blinked. "I have a bit of an odd question for you..." Getting a nod, he continued. "Do you ever have anything at the end of the trip?"

That caused the woman to raise an eyebrow, but she nodded. "We usually do, yes. There's always quite a bit left over which we just send back to my sister's shop in Hogsmeade and she writes it off. Why?"

Once more looking over the food, Harry bit his lip but then nodded. "Um... would it be possible to buy what you got left at the end of the trip? So that I can send them home and..."

Expression softening, the woman nodded. "Of course you can. I'll even give them to you at half price and add in a expanded box to make it easier to transport what you buy."

Bowing, Harry smiled at her. "Thank you."

After he bought several things and the woman had left with a promise to see them before Hogsmeade Station, Harry closed the door and put the food onto the table which Ron raised an eyebrow at. "Hungry?"

Harry just nodded as he pulled out what looked like an odd box. "Starving. But it'll give us something to munch on after lunch."

Unwrapping his own lunch, Ron grimaced at the sight of the sandwiches. "Mum keeps forgetting that I don't like corned beef..."

When he looked up, he noticed that Harry was eating something that looked like a ball of rice before he held another out. "I'll trade you some of my food for that."

Slightly confused at some of the foods he saw, the red haired boy shook his head. "You don't want any of this, it's dry. Mum... doesn't really have much time with five of us."

A snort escaped from Harry as he grinned a bit. "Wouldn't be the worst thing that I've eaten..." Then he frowned. "Took me a bit to get used to Natto though."

That only got him an odd look from Ron before he shrugged it off. Handing Harry one of his sandwiches, Ron grabbed a pastry. "So... why did you ask if you could buy what was left on the trolley anyways to send home?"

Quickly swallowing the mouthful he had, Harry chuckled. "I live with shipgirls back on the base. With how resources are, I'm sure that they'll like even a little bit more... or at least Ooyodo-Oba will."

Once more, Ron gave him an odd look before shaking it off. After Harry finished his lunch though, he ate most of the treats that Ron had left before they opened a bag of Bertie Blott's to share. However, a few hours later they were interrupted by a knock on the door and they opened it to find a bushy haired girl next to a tearful, round faced boy. "Sorry to bother you, but have either of you seen a toad? Neville here lost his."

Sharing a look with Ron, Harry shook his head. "Can't say that I have... but maybe..." Thoughtful, Harry grabbed his trunk and brought it down. The other three just stared as he worked. A few moments later had him with a slip of paper that had some writing that none of the others recognized. "Let's see... how does it go?" Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and then released it before muttering under his breath. To the amazement of the others, a blue flame burst into being and then covered the slip before going out. Opening his eyes, Harry grimaced a bit. "Uh, sorry about this but... I'm still not the best. According to this though, look by water? That's all I got." Not getting a response, Harry looked around in confusion. "What?"

Just opening her mouth, Hermione then closed it before trying again. "Did... what type of magic was that!?"

Beside her, Neville nodded. "I've never seen that before."

All Harry did though was shrug. "Just some Onmyoudo, that's all. I was taught it back in Yokosuka by some people."

Even though she was still confused, Hermione's eyes then widened. "Wait, the bathrooms!" Grabbing Neville's hand, she began to pull him away. "We'll be right back!"

Scratching his head, Harry turned toward Ron who was looking between the door and Harry. "That was weird..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Ron just stared at Harry for a few moments and then shook his head. "'Weird' he says... bloody mental."

Bemused, Harry didn't say anything and just sat down. Just as he was reaching for another pastry though, he blinked as the door opened up to reveal a blonde haired boy there who glanced around the conmpartment. Then he focused in on Harry in particular who raised an eyebrow in response. "Word is that Harry Potter is on the train... is that you?"

Slowly, Harry nodded as he narrowed his eyes before glancing at the two larger boys behind the first one. "That would be me... and you are?"

The boy smirked a bit and raised an eyebrow. "I am Draco Malfoy." Spotting the expression on Ron's face, his mouth curled into a sneer. "Is something funny?" Then he gave Ron a once over. "Red haired, cheap robes... you must be a Weasley."

Internally, Harry was sighing. 'There always has to be one, doesn't there?'

Giving a scoff at something Ron said, Draco turned toward Harry and held out a hand. "If you want, I can introduce you to the right sort of people. After all, one is judged by the... company, that they keep."

Smile tight, Harry just shook his head. "Sorry, but I think that I can find right sort for myself, Malfoy-San. Especially if we're going by the company that one keeps."

His own expression tightening, Malfoy pulled his hand back. "Perhaps I should give you a bit more time. After all, making hasty decisions was what caused you parents to die."

There was an odd smile on Harry's face that caused a shiver to run down all their backs. If anyone from Yokosuka was there, they would have sworn that iwas a good imitation of the closed eye smile that sometimes graced Tatsuta's face. The smile that caused people to avoid her and head in the opposite direction. "Ara, ara~ Perhaps you should give me some space to think things over, hmm?"

Despite wanting to leave, Draco just sneered. "Perhaps we shouid." For a moment, he considered swiping some of the food, but decided not to. "Crabbe, Goyle, we're leaving."

After he was gone and the door closed again, Ron relaxed slightly. "Bloody hell... where the did you learn that?"

Now slightly calmer, Harry let out a deep breath as some of the tenseness in his body disappeared. "Watching my, uh, Aunt Tatsuta." At the confusion, he shrugged a bit and then rolled his shoulders. "She's a Light Cruiser back in Yokosuka and can scare a Wo class Abyssal just by smiling. She can be... scarier, a lot scarier."

Shuddering slightly, Ron shook his head as he muttered. "Remind me never to get her mad then if I ever meet her."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry's voice took on a dry tone. "That... would be very good idea."

Several deep breaths later, Harry pulled out a book from his trunk and began to read it. Ron blinked as he noticed it had a shipgirl in rigging with her shadow splitting into various shadows of men. He couldn't understand what the title was though and just leaned back to stare out the window. Before Harry was halfway done though, there was a knock and they both looked up to see the girl from before looking in. "Hello, sorry about this but Neville and and I thought that we should let you know that we found his toad."

Blinking, Harry smiled at that. "That's good, where was he?"

There was an annoyed look on Hermione's face. "In the girl's bathroom under a toilet. No wonder we couldn't find him." Shaking it off, she began to smile again. "Anyways, thanks for that."

For his part, Harry just waved her off before deciding to get it over with. "Not a problem, Dess. Anyways... we kind of forgot to introduce ourselves, this is Ron Weasley and I'm Harry Potter."

Eyes widening, Hermione boggled at him. And it was only partially due to the reason that Harry thought. 'So this is Nagato's son?' Her expresssion becoming calculating, Hermione slowly nodded. "You're in a lot of books you know."

Softly snorting, Harry shook his head. "I've read some of them. I just want to know where they got their information from."

Nodding herself, Hermione soon shook it off. "Um, anyways, I should get going back to my compartment." Before she left though, she spotted the manga on Harry's seat and raised an eyebrow. "The Things She Saw, huh? That's... an interesting choice of reading material."

With a glance toward it, Harry smile became one of fondness. "Ikazuchi-Chan is actually one of my best friends and got me an advanced copy. They did consult her on it after all."

Her expression thoughtful, Hermione quickly nodded. "Mmm... Well, I'll see you around."

Still thoughtful, Hermione then left leaving one confused eleven year old and the other bemused.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Goto waited until Nagato sat down with a sigh before he raised his eyebrows. Rather then say anything though, he just gave her a few moments as he consulted a folder in front of him. Hearing the chair creak, he knew that it was time and gave a slight nod. "I take it that that everything went well?"

Accepting the cup of what could be called "Coffee" if one considerate of it's feelings from Ooyodo, Nagato sighed with a nod. "Mmm... Harry's now on his way to school and whatever happens next will be up to him."

From where she was leaning against the wall, Kongou shook her head. "Harry-Chan's going to do just fine, Dess!"

Softly snorting, Nagato tried not to roll her eyes. "It's not that, Kongou. My son is more then able to take care of himself even though I do worry..." Looking down into her mug, she shrugged a little. "I suppose that... it's more that he's away for the first time really. I miss him already."

All Goto did was nod at that as he pretended to not see the small tear in the corner of Nagato's face. Waiting a minute, he then continued. "Did anything else happen of note?"

Leaning back, and thankful for the distraction, the Battleship nodded. "I met Warspite there as well as the Light Cruiser Phoebe and Vanguard."

That caused Goto's eyebrows to raise some in surprise. "They were there as well?"

With a nod, Nagato let a chuckle escape. "Vanguard and Phoebe were there to see off one of Pheobe's sisters, a Natural Born. Warspite was there to see off her, and I quote... 'Little Chess Buddy'. She also introduced me to his mother, which was rather interesting. Turns out that her husband is a member of the Ministry of Magic in Britain."

Hands clasped in front of his face, Goto slowly nodded. "That's certainly something to keep in mind." He then gave her a glance. "However, we'll have to put the rest of today aside unfortunately. Something has come down the pipe."

Straightening her back, Nagato narrowed her eyes as she switched from mother to Battleship in as little time as it took to blink. "I see."

Gently, the Admiral set down the folder he had been looking at in front of Nagato who took it and began to read. As she continued to do so in silence, her eyebrows raised more and more. "... So they're going through with it finally?"

A thoughtful expression on his face, Goto nodded. "The Americans finally finished the canal into the Salton Sea, due to the aftermath of the Battle of Baja, there weren't too many in the area who needed to be relocated. They've also completed the research base at the end of the Salton Sea."

There was an odd look on Nagato's face. "Operation Eldridge..."

Chuckling, Goto shook his head in amusement. "Just obscure enough to make the Abyssals wonder. But yes." Turning, he became serious for a moment. "Know that you have a choice, Nagato. You and the others."

Still frowning, Nagato looked up and stared into his eyes. "Because of the location of the salvage?"

However, Goto just gave her a look. "Yes, because Bikini Atoll is only a skip of a stone away." Sighing, he shook his head. "How the heck Saratoga is going to be part of this after what happened with both Crossroads and... the Jellyfish Princess."

Narrowing her eyes, Nagato let out a hiss before she shook it off. "No, I suspect not. Though for an Abyssal, she died honorably fighting... those things and taking them with her." She then shot Goto a look. "Any idea how they arrived here?"

All Goto did though was shake his head. "No, whatever created that portal was destroyed by our friend. Though I am thankful for the information beacon she left behind." Frowning, he gave her a compassionate look. "You don't need to go if you don't feel like you're comfortable."

Taking a deep breath, Nagato grunted. "No, I am perfectly fine with this mission. Who else?"

Lips thinning, the Admiral spread his hands. "I think it would be better to say who isn't. There is going to be shipgirls there from the RAN, RCN, USN, the Royal Navy, Deutsche Marine, and others providing security. It's taken us four years to plan this after all. If we pull this off and can manage to learn what we can..."

Slowly nodding, Nagato only hummed. "Perhaps we can end this war sooner... and be prepared if they ever come back."

For his part, Goto only narrowed his eyes before he gestured at the folder. "Now then, to go over what is going to be done..."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Up ahead, Harry could hear Hagrid shouting. "Careful now! 'Ogwarts be right ahead."

As he passed the corner, Harry's jaw dropped at the sight that met him. There, across a lake who's surface looked like a plane of black glass, sat a massive castle like something from out of a storybook. Quickly bringing up a camera that Naka had given to him, and he had been told was designed by Akashi, Harry took a quick picture and then followed the rest. At least once, he found himself grabbing someone's arm to keep them from slipping on the wet rocks. Neville being one of them which he gave a thankful nod to. "Thanks."

Harry just smiled back at him. "You're welcome."

Finally, they reached the bottom of the path where there were several small boats that Hagrid gestured to. "Now then, let's be off. No more the' four to a boat."

Unnoticed by anyone, Hermione internally cursed before she got into one and was soon joined by Harry, Ron, and Neville. One could be mistaken her expression for one of fear as she closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows. 'I'm a girl, not a ship. I'm a girl, not a ship. I'm a girl, not a ship...'

With a final check, the Groundskeeper nodded to himself and jabbed his umbrella forward. "An' we'll be off." As the boats all glided across the surface of the lake though, he did notice one thing that looked odd. 'Wonder why 'Arry's boat is falling behind? 'Ave ter check it I suppose.'

Back in his own boat, Harry frowned as he noticed that they were going slightly slower then the other boats. It didn't help that theirs actually sat a bit lower in the water and seemed to be vibrating as if overworking itself. "Hmm..."

Looking up from where he was looking down into the water, Ron blinked. "Something wrong, mate?"

However, Harry just shook his head and frowned. "Probably nothing." Noticing that Ron was looking back down into the lake, Harry raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at by the way?"

Ron shrugged a bit. "Thought that I saw some mermaids down there."

There was a twitch from Hermione before the boat dropped in speed again for a few moments before Harry blinked and looked over the side. "Huh... I know that several books said that there was a colony of them down there, but..."

A scoff escaped from Ron as he shook his head. "More then just a colony now. They took in a bunch fleeing the Abyssals in the North Sea and the Ministry is afraid that there might be too many down there. Or... that is what dad says anyways."

Scratching his cheek, Harry nodded as he listened. "Huh..." Then something occurred to him. "Wait, how would mermaids get from the North Sea to here? We're landlocked after all."

Neville then spoke up. "Apparently they got some sort of tunnel or passageway between the lochs and the sea. Some kind of mermaid magic I think... anyways, Gran is worried that the Abyssals might find them, but the Headmaster said that the merfolk made sure that they can't."

Once more, there was a jolt as Hermione's eyebrow twitched and the three boys looked around as they slowed a bit more before regaining their pace. "I wonder why mermaids don't really look like they do in the storybooks... except, you know, down south."

Confused, Ron grunted a bit. "Charlie had a book with some of those in them, Mum got really angry when she caught the twins reading through it for some reason."

Unseen by them, there were several ripples following them and every once in a while a head poked up above the water to boggle at them. However, what they were really focused on was the girl in the back of the boat. Every once in a while they shared looks underwater. Eventually though, they pulled off as the boats made their way into a alcove in the cliff upon which Hogwarts sat. "Watch those heads now!"

Quickly, Hermione rushed past the others and leapt up onto the shore almost as soon as the boat had beached itself. If anything though, Harry frowned as the boat seemed to be sitting higher in the water. 'I wonder...' Not long afterwards, they met McGonagall at the door to the castle and she explained a few things and left them in a side chamber. For his part, Harry was just ignoring the glares shot at him from Draco as he glanced around.

Which was when the screams started as ghosts drifted through the wall.

 

[darthcourt10]

Finbar Omake: "Mermaid Troubles"

Omake Time!!

The names of the Merfolk are almost unpronounceable to human tongue. Theirs is a complex, rich language full of tonal inflections as well as syllables. To those under water, it is a lyrical, melodic tongue, as if a a dozen whales had worked out how to perform opera. Sadly, above water they sound like speaker feedback at a heavy metal concert.

Still, as a result, humans thought the name of the Chieftain of the Black Lake Merfolk was 'Murglargltaugh', a nonsensical name made by badly mispronouncing his public name of 'Flowing-current-of-impeccable-clarity'. Bloody wizard's couldn't do anything properly. He was a proud warrior of the Merfolk. He had once faced off against a Kelpie armed only with a spear and won. He had stabbed one of the Fel beasts from the Abyss, costing it an eye and giving him time to escape with a lesser tribe from further north who were fleeing the Fel Monster's influence. He still bore the scars from that fight. Twenty warriors had died that day before his stab had driven the monster off.

Yet, he could say with clarity that he loved the Black Lake. The water was cool, but never too cold. It was deep with mysterious depths where light did not shine, yet it was safe. It was a refuge from the harsh ocean. Yet now, these past few years, it had become crowded. No less than six different tribes had begged for and been given refuge in the water's that were his to guard. The number of Merfolk in the waters of the Black Lake had reached a critical point. He was unsure as to how long they could survive away from the ocean here. The food supply was limited and with six times their number hunting, what was once plentiful, was in risk of being depleted.

That was why hunting bands would slip through the tunnel to the ocean in what was now a weekly trip. They needed more if they were going to survive. He had consulted with the Elders of all the tribes that now resided under the guidance of his fins. He had spoken with them of ancient legends. The Elders had worked powerful magic around the tunnel entrance to hide it from all who did not have Merfolk blood. Kelp-farms were now planted where once they simply used what grew wild. For now, it would be enough.

It was that time of year again. When the new Wizards and Witches were escorted over his domain, so that the Warrior's might recognise them and aid them if they came to trouble. Part of an ancient pact with the Wizards and Witches who built the castle, that they would have free reign over the waters of the Lake. That it was theirs so long as they kept to the pact. Each Chieftain was taught of The Pact. They knew how much safety it bought them, free of the perils of the open water where Shark, Kelpie, Squid and Whale would see them as little more than food to be had. Even now, the pact was important. It gave his tribe and others shelter from the Monsters with their black carapace. With their foul voices that gibbered and howled with madness and rage. From their mindless wrath and desire that all life should die. The Broken Tooth tribe to the south had been wiped out not five winters ago. The monster's slain in turn by the Nymphs, those strange new Sea Spirits who's power was unmatched. Eclipsed only by the way their very existence called out to the Monsters, a challenge that neither side could or would back down from.

It was this enmity which concerned Flowing-current-of-impeccable-clarity. He knew how one called out to the other, to fight and kill.

Looking up at the passing boats, as his warriors took note of the aura of the new students, his concern grew. Most all of them were fine, simple children. Yet the last boat. The final one that struggled through the light chop. That was going to be a problem. Two Wizards, touched by the Nymphs, their influence weighed heavy on the magic of the children. It had not changed them, yet would influence them for years to come. It was not strong enough to call to the Monsters, but he would have to keep an eye on them.

Then came the final wizard, he was not touched by the Nymphs, his magic was shaped and consumed by them. Their influence reached deep into his being, their touch was all over him. Looking closer, he gasped and recoiled. One of the Monsters had it's touch in the poor boy. He must have been rescued from the Monsters by some Nymphs and spent time recovering with them, it was the only explanation he could think of. The Wizard's aura had grown massive and weighty from being compressed by the spiritual power of the Nymphs. It was a strange Aura, rich with promise, but one that if it continued as it was, would become a beacon to the Monsters. This could become a problem and required much observing and consultation with the Elders.

Then there was what was supposed to be a Witch. Maybe once she had been, now she was a Nymph. Her Power radiated across the Lake, plumbing it's depths, her Power was mature and heady, it sung with her prowess as a warrior. Her nature as a seeker of knowledge. Her benevolance to family and wrath to her enemies.

A Nymph was entering Hogwarts.

Yeah, that was going to be a problem.

Gathering together the Warriors who had guarded the Boats as they traversed the lake, he was about to start issuing orders when from inside the grotto came first the screams, then the Power of the Nymph grew, as she revealed her true form before the sound of explosions began to pummel those in the lake.

Going to be? She was officially, now a problem.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Upon seeing the transparent spirits, Harry just froze up as he remembered one lesson that Haru, Ryuujou, and Junyou pushed on him again and again: Never, ever take the restless dead lightly. In his mind, he was already considering his next moves before the other lesson that they taught him about yuurei went through his mind. Always be polite and try to find out why they're on Earth. Of course, Harry still reached into his pocket and his vision slipped some into the spiritual realm so he could better see them when he finally took notice of what they were talking about. One of them looked like a fat, short monk and had his hands spayed out. "I say that we should give him a second chance."

Another one with a ruff around his neck shook his head slightly. "My dear Frier, have we not given him all the chances already? He's giving us ghosts something of a bad name and he's not really even one... I say, what do we have here?"

Harry's vision shifted a little as he concentrated and part of him turned green at the bloodstains that appeared on the ghost talking, particularly around the neck area. Of course, that was when Harry overheard Hermione talking with a fellow First Year. "... They're not really that scary, I think that these are the House Ghosts."

Turning, Harry raised an eyebrow. "House Ghosts..."

With how he trailed off when he looked at her, Hermione frowned and then furrowed her eyebrows as she noticed something else, the two of them ignoring the conversations around them. "Yes, they're sort of ghost attached to each of the Houses and... are your eyes glowing?"

Much to her annoyance, there was an odd smile on his face as he nodded. "Huh, so sort of kami then rather then Yuurei?"

If anything though, that caused Hermione's brow to raise a bit though she noted that the odd glow in his eyes went away. Searching through her own memory, she nodded. "I... suppose that might be one way of looking at them?"

Neither of the two noticed some of the ghosts, in particular the Grey Lady and Sir Nicholas becoming somewhat intrigued in their conversation. Before it could go any further though, McGonagall's voice cut through the air sharply. "Move along now." With a final look at the new students, the ghosts all moved through the wall before McGonagall caught their attention again. "Now then, form a line and follow me."

As they followed her into the Great Hall, Harry caught a glimpse of a girl down the hall sprawled out on a windowsill with a book in her hand. Something about her tickled at his senses and he could hear Hermione let out a hiss of breath which told him she saw her as well. The teenaged looking being looked at them with twinkling eyes and held a finger to her lips then they blinked and she was gone as if she was never there. Harry and Hermione just shared a look before Ron glanced back at him. "Something wrong, mate?"

His hands in his pockets as he glanced around, Harry shook his head. "Thought that I saw something is all."

Even though he was confused by the answer, Ron just shrugged it off and began to look around. For his part, Harry leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling as Hermione whispered behind her. "It's enchanted to look like the sky outside, I read all about it in Hogwarts: A History."

Frowning, Harry slowly nodded. "Wonder if that spell still exists somewhere. Would be kind of neat to put it on a sitting room ceiling or something."

Behind Hermione, Neville scratched his head some. "Maybe? I know that some families have them on attics and such so they can grow things there."

Still glancing around, the First Years noticed that everyone was watching them before they turned to the front near the staff table where McGonagall brought out a stool and set it down. Then she sat down a hat and stood back slightly. Much to their surprise though the brim of the hat tore open as if it was a mouth and everyone waited with baited breath...

Which was the point that it began to sing.

Somewhat amused, Harry snickered a little as he looked around. "That's odd." At the looks he got, Harry's grin widened. "Didn't know that we were in a Miyazaki film."

That got him a snort from Hermione before Ron glanced back at Harry. "Miyazaki? Who's that?"

For several moments, the black haired wizard stared at him before clapping him on the shoulder. "Oh Ron... It seems that there's so much that I need to show you."

Yet another snort escaped from Hermione. "Depends on the film I suppose... better Kiki's Delivery Service then Spirited Away..."

Looking back at her, Harry raised an eyebrow. "You've watched the films?"

Hermione blushed slightly, but nodded. "One of my sisters came back from Japan and was talking about them. She... got us all to sit down and watch a marathon on her birthday last year. They're not bad films."

Lips twitching, Harry internally snorted. 'Not bad, she says...'

It was then that they both noticed that students were being called over and Ron grunted to himself. "I'm going to kill them." At the looks from Harry and Hermione behind him, Ron flushed. "Fred and George. They said that we needed to wrestle a troll."

Thankfully, Harry just held back a laugh from that and instead tilted his head. "Poi..."

Various people just stared at him, but before it could go any further, Hermione was called up and the Hat was placed on her head. After a few minutes, the Hat opened it's mouth. "GRYFFINDOR!"

More and more students were sorted until it finally came to the one that various people were waiting for. "Potter, Harry."

Walking up, Harry could not help but be thankful that he wasn't wearing glasses all the time anymore as he had seen the hat slip over peoples' eyes. He could not help but imagine how uncomfortable that was for people with glasses and sat down to whispers and stares. One of the teachers, who had sallow skin and long, black greasy hair was just staring at him. And then the brim of the hat slipped over his eyes and he heard a voice in his head. 'Hmm... interesting, very interesting...'

His eyebrow raising, Harry blinked. 'Oh?'

A chuckle answered him as what he assumed the Hat spoke. 'Your mind, Mister Potter and... oh my, this Rose is rather interesting, though I do not think that I am one of these tsukumogami.' Feeling the annoyance and flash of anger, the Hat sighed. 'I am sorry for the invasion of privacy, Mister Potter, but it is necessary to know where you should go. And do not worry, I will not reveal any secrets of yours unless they threaten the school as a whole. Part of the spellwork put into myself.'

Sighing, Harry nodded his head. 'Okay then... but anywhere but Slytherin.'

Yet again, the Hat chuckled. 'Ah, a problem with Mister Malfoy then? While I can see how such issues can cause problems, you would be great there with your ambition. Of course, you could do equally well in Hufflepuff, lots of loyalty and not afraid to get one's hands dirty when needed. Or perhaps Gryffindor. After all, you have the courage for it considering your life. Not many would be willing to give a chance to become the brother to an Abyssal after all. Or two as the case may be. Hmm... you are a tough one, aren't you?'

With a deep breath, Harry let it out. 'Not Slytherin as I cannot be responsible for what I might do if Malfoy does something.'

Humming, Harry could feel the Hat mentally nodding. 'A shame then, some of them could certainly help you in the times ahead. So that would leave either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor as choices I suppose.' There was several moments of silence as Harry knew that the Hat was going through his head. 'Tough, very, very tough. But I think... yes. I know how to satisfy both sides as well as certain Slytherin aspects. After all, they both had a certain disregard for the rules when it came to their own reasons. Though Godric's was more bending them when needed or going with the spirit and not the wording. Therefore it better be GRYFFINDOR!' As it was pulled off, the Hat spoke one last time. 'I do look forward to what you may do. And do remember that there's also a list for what students are not allowed to do.'

Just chuckling, Harry barely held back a grin. 'I'm a military brat, I make no promises when bored.'

That got a laugh from the Hat as it was fully pulled off and the roar of the Great Hall entered Harry's ears. Part of him noticed how the Twins were dancing around with each other. "WE GOT POTTER! WE GOT POTTER!"

Lightly laughing, Harry got off the stool and began to walk toward his table though he noted that the badge on his robes had changed to a Gryffindor one in the blink of an eye. 'Well... I think that I'll have a lot to talk about with Mum and the others tonight!'

 

[darthcourt10]

Tiypo

Not sure if I was able to capture the gossip of 10 year old girls right but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

-==-

Parvati Patil had already determined that she was going to be awake till she fell asleep from exhaustion; it was just to exciting finally being at Hogwarts and she had to admit that she was a little nervous that her sister had been sorted into a diffrent house than her. At least Padma was Ravenclaw and not Slitherin, she could use that as an excuse to get her to help with homework. Most of the girls seemed to be no better off, with the only exception being the girl with bushy brown hair who seemed to have gone to sleep faster than someone could say Nox.

"So... did you girls see Harry Potter?" the girl with dirty blond hair who had introduced herself as Lavender loudly whispered.

'See him? Everyone was watching him!' Parvati chuckled to herself.

"Yeah, he looked just like the stories!" Dreamily answered Fey, a girl with long brown hair who had confessed to be a big Quiddich fan.

"That was the boy everyone was cheering for, right? Why is he so important?" Questioned a dark skinned girl across the room from her, who she guessed was probably a muggle-born.

"He survived the killing curse and defeated You-Know-Who." Parvati replied, her voice dropping when she whispered she mentioned him.

"Ummm... who?" The girl tilted her head slightly in confusion.

Lavender fielded the question, "There was a really bad guy about ten years ago. His name is cursed so no one says it; we just call him You-Know-Who. He forced a lot of people to hurt other people. One night he went to kill Harry Potter's family because they had stopped his plans so many times but something happened. Harry lived though with that scar that looks like lightning bolt and You-Know-Who was defeated!"

"Wow, sounds scary..." the girl mused, then yawned. Laying her head down she mumbled something that sounded like the word night, leaving the other three to keep chatting.

"Anyways, where do you think he's been all this time? I've heard heard he has a castle and everything!" Fey excitedly rambled.

"I heard that too!" Parvati said, "It was mentioned in Harry Potter and the Grim Goblin!"

Lavender rolled over to face her preparing to say something before she jolted a little in surprise. Following her look and Parvati was also surprised to find that the bushy haired girl, Hermione, had somehow sneaked up behind her. She had to admit it was a fairly impressive feat, her twin wasn't above scaring her when given a chance so Parvati liked to think she was pretty good at hearing footsteps. Oddly Hermione's eyes were barely cracked open and she swayed slightly, like someone balancing on a boat in a calm ocean.

"I think she's sleep walking." Lavender whispered more quietly then she had previously, trying to fight back giggles.

Mumbling something incomprehensible the girl reached down, wrapped her arm around Parvati like a strapless duffel bag, and lifted her like she weighed no more than pillow.

"What in the world are you doing!?" Parvati fiercely whispered hoping to not wake other students, squirming and trying to pry the odd girls grip loose to no avail. Lavender for her part had her hands now covering her mouth and was shaking, while Fey looked on with interest.

The laughter was quickly corrected with an amusing "Eep!" as Hermione practically glided her way over to her despite her obviously still sleeping and the extra weight to grab her too.

The trip ended back at Hermione's bed, where the girl flopped into the middle and drew her captives close as if they were giant stuffed animals.

The two struggled meaninglessly for a few minutes before they accepted their fate to be stuck there the night. Closing her eyes to try and go to sleep, Parvati could just make out what sounded like names. Sirius and Euryalus, if those weren't brothers she'd kiss her own sister on the lips, and for another first year to already be involved with two boys? This was golden stuff, gossip material well worth being kidnapped to her neighbours bed for. But for now, sleep, she would think of what to do with her new found knowledge in the morning.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Once he had sat down and the food had arrived, Harry took a moment to just stare. And Harry wasn't the only one as various Muggleborns were also boggling at the sheer amount of food in front of them then most had seen in years. Then the moment was past and they all began to dig in with Harry glancing at Hermione. Sure enough, the way that she was eating reminded him of a certain Battleship in that she was eating large amounts of food, but if one was not watching for a long enough time, they wouldn't think that as it took time. She then caught him looking and raised an eyebrow but before she could ask why he was watching her, Ron spoke up. "I know you! My brothers said that you were called Nearly Headless Nick!"

That caused Hermione to swallow a bit as she looked toward the Gryffindor's ghost who's expression had soured. "Nearly headless? How can one be nearly headless?"

Sighing, Nick reached up and grabbed the top of his head before yanking it to the side. A number of those there went slightly pale at the hack marks that marked his nearly decapitated neck on both sides with all that held it together being a thin strip of skin and gristle. Then he put his head back and grunted. "The axe that was used was rather... dull... to say the least." Part of Harry noted that the ghost seemed pleased with some of the shudders, but was about to turn back to his meal when Nick turned to him. "You know, I was wondering about something that I overheard you saying..." At Harry's look of surprise, he continued. "You mentioned something about... U-rey and Cami?"

Just wincing a bit at the mispronunciations, Harry shrugged. "I've lived in Japan for several years with my adopted Mum so when I saw you guys, first thing that came to mind was yurei."

Interested, Nick leaned in a bit. "And what are those if you don't mind me asking?"

Harry shrugged a bit as he thought over his answer. "They're... Japanese ghosts. And um, they're not all nice ones with more then a few known to kill people."

More then a little surprised, Nick pulled back. "Kill people? That's..."

Understanding what he wanted to ask, Harry shrugged. "It varies really. Some will just drain away luck from a person or family until they die from accidents or starvation, others will scare someone at exactly the wrong time. Like... chasing them through a courtyard until they trip and crack their head, or fall into a pond or well... or even turn their heads at the wrong time and end up impaled on something. Some will even drain the life from their victim until all that's left is a shriveled up husk."

Now uncomfortable with how this was going, Nick cleared his throat. "And those, um..."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry looked at him. "Kami?" At his nod, Harry made a thoughtful sound. "Kami are... spirits of various things."

Suddenly, Hermione piped up with a frown on her face as she swallowed her mash potatoes. "I thought that they were gods though?"

However, Harry just shook his head. "Kind of? I mean, they're worshipped but kami come in all forms. You got Amaterasu-Ookami, the Goddess of the Sun for example, but you also got mountains that have a kami, trees, springs... you can even have a household item such as a tea set have a kami attached. But the venerated dead can also be kami and watch over a place or person."

Rather confused by this point, Nick slowly nodded. "I... see... well, I don't feel much like one then." Shaking it off, he gave a slight bow. "But still, thank you for explaining."

With that, he began to drift down the table all the while shaking his head. As Harry began to eat, a red head beside Ron spoke up with an interested expression on his face. "You've lived in Japan for a while?" Then he flushed a bit and held out a hand. "Sorry, Percy Weasley, I'm one of the Gryffindor Prefects."

Nodding, Harry swallowed and quickly wiped his own hand before shaking the offered one. "Nice to meet you... and yeah, I've lived in Japan for the past few years. Yokosuka on the base there as a matter of fact."

Eyebrow raising, Percy frowned. "On the base? Is your adopted mother in the military?" Seeing Harry snicker, he frowned some. "Is something funny?"

All Harry did though was shake his head. "Not really. But I guess that you can say that my Mum's in the military, what with her being Nagato of the Big Seven and everything."

That caused some Muggleborn heads to whip around including one that Harry remembered was named Dean Thomas. "Wait, Nagato? As in the Battleship Nagato?!" At Harry's nod, he leaned back with a stunned look on his face. "Bloody hell... wasn't she one of the first who came back to fight the Abyssals?"

Slowly nodding, Harry considered what he was going to eat next, though he noted with some amusement that no one had realized that Hermione had practically finished off a pot roast by herself. Another part of him wondered if he could get the recipes for the food. "Yup! Mum came back roughly the same time as the Kongous did along with Fubuki-Nee and Yuudachi-Nee. Maybe a bit after."

Utterly confused, Percy frowned. "'Nee'?"

For a moment, Harry paused and then blushed a bit. "Uh, sorry about that, dess. Um, nee is short for nee-san, big sister. Most of the Destroyers on base were like big sisters to me growing up, so..."

Giving a nod, Percy chuckled a bit. "Understandable I guess. You must have had an... interesting... time growing up there."

With a grin, Harry snickered. "Yeah, I had lots of big sisters and aunts and stuff. Though it could get funny actually... in fact, there was this one time when Iowa tried to get under Aunt Kongou's skin and at a tea party asked for boiled Gatorade..." Noticing the grimaces on the Muggleborns and some of the Halfbloods, the others listened in with expressions varying from confusion to horror at parts as Harry continued his tale until he came to an end. "... So then, Aunt Haruna picked up Iowa and suplexed her right there while fire was burning the cola all around them. It was amazing... And then Admiral Goto pulled them all into the office to reprimand them."

Lost, Percy slowly nodded as he filed away what he had been told. "I... see..."

The twins meanwhile were just grinning as they listened with the same thought running through their heads. 'We got to learn more...'

It was then that the food changed into desserts and Harry looked around with wide eyes at the ice creams and various other things. "... Okay, this would be like Destroyer heaven." Grabbing a treacle tart, he grinned as he began to eat. 'I can't wait until I write my letters to tease them over it.' Another glance caused Harry to shake his head. "Though the pies mean that it would be Jersey's as well."

Snapping her mouth shut, Hermione turned toward him. "You mean New Jersey, the Battleship?"

Just nodding, Harry chewed the mouthful he had before swallowing. "Yeah, she absolutely loves eating pie. So this many? She'd be in love."

That got him snickers from Hermione as well as some of the Muggleborn. The rest of the meal passed uneventfully except for one instance where Harry's scar hurt when he looked at the staff table, but he just ignored though while making a note to mention it in a letter. Eventually though, everyone leaned back full, though Hermione was still looking thoughtfully at various foods before they vanished. Harry for his part was just thankful that due to living on the base and being exposed to western cooking, he wouldn't suffer as much from the rich, heavy food as some might back in Japan. During the end of feast announcements though, Harry straightened up as did Hermione with the witch turning toward Percy. "Did he just say that someone could get killed if they go looking in the third floor corridor?!"

Percy only nodded with a thoughtful expression on his face. "He did, which is kind of odd that he didn't say why. The Forbidden Forest is off limits because everyone knows there's dangerous creatures in there. But... the third floor corridor? Hmm..."

Despite the threat though, Harry's fingers itched like an American Subgirl with something she really wants in front of her. Then, Dumbledore to exasperated looks and sighs stated it was time to sing the school song which Harry grinned at, and his grin only widening as he said to chose their own tune. As his voice died off, Hermione just boggled at him. "Did... you really just sing that to J-Pop?"

Winking, Harry gave a grin. "Hai, hai, Harry-Chan desu~ Idol of Hogwarts!"

For her part, Hermione had to blink as she swore that Harry was for a split moment wearing traffic cone orange clothing and then it was gone. '... I must be tired... yes, that's the only explanation for what the hell just happened...' She pretended not to notice various people rubbing their eyes while muttering about orange. "... Never do that again."

Sadly, that caused Harry's grin to widen even more as his eyes twinkled in amusement.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

After some time, and an encounter with Peeves that left Harry decidingly unimpressed, they finally reached Gryffindor Tower and were lead inside. Once through the entranceway, Harry took the time to glance around the Common Room where there we groups of squishy armchairs and couches as well as a fire blazing in the fireplace. 'This... seems comfortable.'

Then he turned his attention back onto Percy who had waited a few moments to let them look around before he cleared his throat. "Now then, welcome to Gryffindor Tower, this is our Common Room as you can see. For First Years such as yourself you can't go any further then this from your dorms between the hours of eight thirty at night to six thirty in the morning. If you get caught outside between those times, you will be punished starting with House Points taken away and detentions. And us Prefects will be watching as we patrol the halls at night." It was then that he noted that Hermione had raised her hand. "Yes?"

Hermione just frowned a bit. "What about studying? We need to be able to access the library after all."

Eyebrows raising, Percy glanced around and noted that Harry was nodding as if in agreement to his surprise. "If you need to be out later studying as a First Year, then you'll need a note from our Head of House, Professor McGonagall. However, once you are in your Third Year the amount of time you can be out will be increased to nine thirty. Just the same though, it's best if you gather all your study material and come to the Common Room as we have plenty of spots for it." Percy waited a moment to see if there were any other questions and then nodded before gesturing to the stairs. "Now then, as you can see, there are two sets of stairs here. One is to the Girl's Dormitories and the other to the Boy's. Girls are on the right and boys are on the left with you First Years on the first floor. With each year, you'll head up to the floor above the previous one."

The female Prefect then cleared her throat. "I would like to also inform each of you that boys are not allowed in the female dorms and there are measures to prevent that."

Blinking as Percy gave his counterpart a slight glare, Harry tilted his head and raised his hand. Once he got a nod, he frowned. "What about the Boy's Dorm? And what sort of measures?"

If anything, that caused the female Prefect to give a grin. "Girls have been considered more trustworthy then boys, of course. As to the measures, the stairs will become a slide and dump you at the bottom."

Much to her confusion, Harry just gave her a blank look at the first part. 'More trustworthy... riiiiight.'

At the same time, Percy noticed that various First Years were yawning and looking rather sleepy. Knowing that they would not get much more attention out of them, he sighed. "Now then, I think that's enough for the night. If any of you have any more questions, you can always ask us Prefects or Professor McGonagall when she's free. Alternatively, you consult your booklets regarding Hogwarts rules and regulations, which I advise you to do so anyways." Waving them on, he gave a thin smile. "Now then, I think that it's time for you all to head to bed."

Needless to say, you had a group of mostly bleary eyed eleven year olds heading up to the dorms and then into them. Upon entering his dorm, Harry took note of the large, canopied beds as well as the trunks at the foot of their trunks. While the other boys trudged to theirs, Harry rushed over and opened his trunk before pulling out what looked like a bread box and setting it up on the end table. Yawning, Ron blinked and then frowned some as he looked over. "What's that, Mate?"

Harry looked over his shoulder and gave a smile. "It's an owl box." At the confusion, he waved a hand. "It's like... one of those vanishing cabinets. That way I can send letters to my family back in Yokosuka without having Hedwig get exhausted or it taking days."

That slowly got him nods before Seamus nearly cracked his jaw. "That's neat I guess." He then gestured with his head at the boxes beside the trunk. "What are those by the way?"

Glancing at them, Harry opened one and nodded. "They're stuff from the trolley. I asked the lady manning it if I could buy what was left so I could send it back home with rationing going on, she said yes and gave it to me at half price." Slowly, his eyes widened. "And... there's a lot here."

From where he was at his own bed, Dean let out a curse. "Bloody hell, I should have thought of that... maybe next year."

More then a little confused, Neville looked back and forth as he got into his pajamas. "Why? I mean... that's a lot of food."

Both Dean and Harry just stared at him before Seamus actually snorted. "Because in the Muggle world, they got issues with the amount of food with the war, Neville."

Neville glanced over at Ron who nodded. "Yeah, they got limits on how much food they get at any time. Mum makes some money selling chickens and eggs at the market."

Once more, Neville just looked back and forth in confusion before shaking his head. Meanwhile, Harry took out several photos and placed them onto his bedside table with them facing him. Interested, Ron gave them a glance. "Who are those, Mate?"

A grin on his face, Harry began pointing at them. "That's me and Mum right there."

Looking himself, Neville's eyes widened as he looked at the shipgirl in her usual uniform, Dean gave a low whistle. "I've seen pics, but damn, your Mum's fit."

For his part, Neville just shook his head as he muttered. "That's an understatement."

However, Harry just shrugged. "Mum's a Battleship, of course she would." Then he pointed at another picture. "That's Fubuki-Nee, Yuudachi-Nee, and Mutsuki-Nee. And over there is Aunt Mutsu. Then we got DesDiv6, Shinano-Chan, Iku-Chan and the other Submarines..."

Part of Harry was disappointed that there were no pictures of Hoppou, but Nagato and, amazingly enough, Hoppou told him no. Finally, the boys just nodded before Ron yawned. "Huh, neat, Mate." Shaking his head, he began to climb into his bed before noticing that Harry was now writing. "... Aren't you tired?"

Shrugging, Harry shook his head. "Nah, not really all that tired at the moment." At their looks, he sighed. "Jet lag."

That got a nod from both Ron (who knew about it from his father) and Dean. Meanwhile, Neville just blinked. "Well... uh, goodnight then?"

Just waving them and giving them all a good night, Harry continued writing until he sent the boxes of food as well as the letters through the owl box. He was thankful that they all fit and then he got changed and got into bed only to find a problem. "... Dammit, too soft."

Eventually though, he did manage to get to sleep, though he woke up in the middle of the night due to an odd dream. Said dream involved him wearing Professor Quirrel's turban with it telling him that he got into the wrong House and must be transferred to Slytherin. When he said no, the turban got heavier and heavier while tightening around his head until it felt like it would burst. Then Draco appeared in front of him laughing until he changed into Snape, who's laugh was cold and cruel before there was a flash of green light which woke him.

Almost a minute passed with him sitting there in a cold sweat as he panted. Laying back, Harry was just about to head back to sleep until he remembered something that Ryuujou had told him about how dreams could have meaning and pulled out the notebook he had for odd dreams. Quickly jolting down all the details he remembered, he put it under his pillow and tried to get back to sleep. Within ten minutes he managed that feat and, if it was not for the notebook, he would not have remembered the dream come the morning when he woke up. After a few minutes of puzzlement, Harry decided to leave it aside and get ready for his first morning jog at Hogwarts.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hoppou was sitting in front of the owl box in Yokosuka with a unblinking stare until suddenly the door opened with a click revealing two large boxes and some letters. "Mommy! Big Brother sent letters and packages!"

Taking out the boxes, she closed the door and was soon surprised when it opened a few seconds later to reveal more boxes which she took out. After that, Hoppou waited but no further ones came out and she was satisfied when Nagato came in with a smile. "Harry sent us some letters and packages, hmm?" At the nod, Nagato crouched down and took one of the letters which was addressed to her and opened it. Reading through it, she nodded some. "It seems that your brother had a fun time of things so far, though he misses all of us."

From where she sat, Hoppou nodded as she read her own letter. "Yeah, Big Brother promised to send pictures to Hoppou and says that he misses her lots! Also said that he sent us food like cakes."

Since Nagato had reached that spot herself, she nodded and opened one of the packages before blinking at what was inside. "... This is actually quite a bit. Maybe two or three days if we stretch it." Hearing a sound, Nagato looked up to see Hoppou staring at her with a chocolate frog struggling in her hands. Then the Abyssal quickly shoved it into her mouth and swallowed with a grin. "Hoppou..."

Grinning, Hoppou tried to pretend there wasn't a smear of chocolate around her mouth. "What, mommy?"

Only sighing, Nagato barely held back a chuckle before nodding as she went back to examining the packages. "I think that Ooyodo will be pretty happy with these actually."

All Hoppou did was take another chocolate frog to eat.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Shiromizu slowly made her way toward the shrine as the warm, September sun shone down upon everything. Up above, the odd fluffy cloud drifted past making the day just about perfect. However, Shiromizu mostly ignored that as she made her way along. For the most part, her mind was on the past week that Harry had been gone to Hogwarts. From her tank, she had watched everything unfold such as Hoppou's reaction. Besides her mood swings, Hoppou had spent a lot of time in Harry's room waiting for letters until DesDiv6 had dragged her out. Though that may have been because Hibiki was also somewhat depressed as she sometimes stared off into space. She hadn't seen much of the Subgirls either as they spent a lot of time on patrols. That said, Shiromizu had seen them reading their letters to each other.

At the same time, Rose had busied herself as much as she could. From what she had overheard, the tsukumogami's little side job of providing tea and snacks to those in the docks were going well. And if she was not there, then she could be found with Haruna. 'Now if only I could put a bet into the pool...'

Most surprising though was how Shinano had taken it. A number expected the massive Carrier to be tearful and depressed, yet she wasn't. Defying expectations, Shinano met each day with a smile on her face, though she often dropped off letters for Harry or picked up any that came through. Nagato had even asked once and Shinano told her that she could still talk with Harry through their letters. Which was a thought shared by everyone.

The pictures though were the most favorite though as none of them had gone to Hogwarts. Shiromizu herself had one by her tank of the castle by the lake which she sometimes like to look at.

Suddenly though, she felt a tingle and looked up with a blink as she realized that she was now in front of the shrine's Torii. A chuckle caused her to glance to the side where Haru stood with a grin. "Deep in thought, hmm?"

Just sighing, Shiromizu glanced around and then shifted in her more human form. "Harry's been gone for a week now."

Nodding as she continued to sweep, Haru hummed. "That he has." She paused and then looked off into the distance. "Natsumi-Chan has been rather saddened and lonely by him leaving, though she does enjoy his letters greatly." After a moment, Haru shook that off and let go of the broom which continued to sweep on it's own. Though it seems that you miss him as well."

Much to the kitsune's amusement, Shiromizu just snorted as she followed Haru into the Shrine. "He's a like a sibling to me, and a good friend. Why wouldn't I miss him?"

With a laugh, Haru nodded. "True enough, I think that I miss his little misadventures with the others... though I think that Nagato-San's hamster makes up for part of it."

Eyebrow twitching, Shiromizu grumbled to herself. "Damn thing. I keep waking up in the morning with it on top of me." Shaking that off, she continued until she stopped, Haru waiting as Shiromizu went through the normal process for a shrine visit and then nodded when Shiromizu turned toward her. "So... any particular reason that you asked me to come? Natsumi is in school after all."

All that Haru did was nod as she gestured for the snake to follow her, which she did. "While Natsumi-Chan is getting training, she needs less then you in some ways. After all, I don't think that you have as much of a foundation she does."

That caused Shiromizu to huff. "Mizu-Onee-Sama taught me plenty I will have you know."

If the anger bothered the Miko any, she didn't show it as the two finally stopped by a wooden platform. Sitting down, Haru hummed a bit. "Oh, I do not doubt in the slightest that she has taught you plenty. As a matter of fact, I am positive that she has done her very best for you. However, there may have been things that she might have missed herself." On her face, there was a small smile. "Things which I am suited to teach to you as Natsumi-Chan has learned... and some that while I cannot physically teach you, I can help you learn."

Raising an eyebrow, Shiromizu frowned. "Such as my transformation abilities being as you are a kitsune."

Haru hummed thoughtfully before nodding. "That would be one thing that I can help with, yes. With any luck, you should be able to take on a fully human form within a good period of time. Perhaps in the years to come you may even manage to take the form of the Uwabami."

Surprised, Shiromizu let out a hiss as she coiled her lower body and relaxed on it. "A Uwabami..." Then her expression became thoughtful. "That... would be rather useful."

There was a gleam in the kitsune's eyes as she nodded. "It would, wouldn't it? However, that is many years away. For right now though, we shall start with the basics, such as writing."

For almost a minute, Shiromizu stared at her before she finally blinked. "I know how to write."

Her lips twitching, Haru raised a finger. "Ah! That may be. But can you write well is a better question."

There was only on response that the snake woman could give to that. "... What."

Now unable to help herself, Haru snickered. "Now, now, writing well is an important skill for anyone to know and learn. Ofuda is a perfect example of needing to write well as one mistake can have bad consequences. Besides..." Leaning in, she smirked. "One can be a great and powerful kami, but no one will want a talisman from them if their writing is bad."

Blinking, Shiromizu raised an eyebrow. "That's... oddly specific."

However, all Haru did though was shrug. "It is, isn't it?"

Several moments passed as Shiromizu thought it over before, finally, she nodded. "Oh, very well, I guess."

Clapping her hands, the Miko nodded and then reached under the platform and pulled out a calligraphy kit, which Shiromizu twitched at the sight of. "Excellent, then we can start right away." At yet another twitch, Haru's smirk grew a touch more. "Is something wrong, Shiromizu-Chan?"

Eyebrow twitching, Shiromizu just let out a sigh which sounded a lot like a hiss. "No, nothing is wrong."

Haru just beamed at that.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

As they walked into Gryffindor Tower, Harry let out a loud yawn and cracked his back a little. "Ugh..."

Hermione just looked up from the small notebook she carried around everywhere with a raised eyebrow. For some odd reason, her, Harry, Ron, and Neville had become something of a group of their own among the First Years. "Something wrong?"

A slight frown on his face, Harry let out a puff of air that ruffled his bangs a little bit. "Just a little bit bored I guess... I mean, knowing the basics are important but still."

Just nodding, Hermione turned back to her notebook. "Mmm, that's true. I want to learn some spells." She then flipped a page. "Though we do have potions tomorrow and I think that's a more physical class."

There was a look of disgust on Ron's face as he scoffed. "Yeah, right. According to Fred and George as well as Percy, Snape hates Gryffindors."

Sharing a look with Hermione and Neville, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Two of those told you that we would need to wrestle a troll though."

With a bigger scowl on his face, Ron ignored Seamus trudging past him and then up the stairs to the dorms. "Thanks for reminding me. But what about Percy?"

Both Hermione and Harry paused before the witch turned to Harry. "Well... he does have a point there. It doesn't seem like Percy to make up stories like that about any teachers..."

Frowning, Harry considered this and sighed. "Hopefully not, I like potions."

Eyebrow raising, Neville stared at him. "But I thought that you were raised in the Muggle world? How would you know how to brew a potion?"

Chuckling, the black haired boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... I was taught by Haru-San in both collecting ingrediants and a few potions." At their looks of confusion, Harry sighed. "Haru is a Miko in charge of a small shrine back in Yokosuka on the base."

Despite the confusion still on the other two boys' faces, Hermione nodded. "Oh, I see." Turning toward them, she waved a hand around. "A Miko is a sort of priestess I guess. They're supposed to be able to communicate between the spirit world and the physical if I remember correctly."

Simply furrowing his eyebrows, Neville blinked. "like... a druid?"

Yet again, Harry and Hermione shared a look before they shrugged. But before they could go any further though, a scream from upstairs caught their attention as well as those inside the Common Room. Everyone was already moving when Seamus practically leapt from the stairs only to be stopped by Percy. "What seems to be the problem?"

Panting, Seamus pointed up the stairs. "Sn-snake... in the First Year Dormatory... b-big snake!"

Almost as one, nearly all the older students turned and gave a glare to the Weasley twins who just blinked in confusion. "What?'

Beside them, a blonde haired girl punched Fred in the shoulder. "You know what, you arse! A snake in the bedroom!? Are you kidding me!?"

Rubbing his arm, Fred just scowled. "What's your problem, woman? Does that really sound like something that we would do?"

For several seconds there was quiet while the others in the Common Room looked at each other before speaking as one. "YES."

Just grumbling, Fred shook his head before George patted his twin on the shoulder. "They do have a point, dear brother of mine."

Theatrically sighing, Fred nodded. "I suppose so, Forge, I suppose so. But in this case, it has nothing to do with us, we swear!"

Light glinting off his glasses, Percy sighed as his tone became drier then the Antarctic deserts. "I'm sure.

Hand flying to his chest, George gasped. "Perce! You too, our own brother!"

Also with a shocked look, Fred made a fake sob. "Our very own flesh and blood!"

"Wounding us in such a way!"

"Indeed, indeed! Why, we might die of broken hearts, dropped by our own family!"

Both of them flung themselves onto Percy who scowled and tried to push them away. "Getoff!"

More then a little amused by the byplay, Harry turned to Seamus who seemed annoyed by the whole thing. "Just... one question." At the look, Harry continued. "What exactly does the snake look like?"

Still scowling, Seamus looked toward Harry. "Big with white scales and these red eyes." However, when Harry groaned and pinched his nose, Seamus blinked. "What?"

With a sigh, Harry pinched his nose some. "Sorry, Seamus, I think that's my snake, Shiromizu. She must have come through the owl box from Yokosuka."

There was utter silence which caused Harry to look up to see all the Gryffindors there staring at him. Before he could say anything, Percy cleared his throat. "You... have a pet snake, Harry?"

Just shrugging, Harry frowned. "Um, yeah? I mean, snakes are a pretty common pet in the non-magical world you know."

His eyebrows raising, Percy stared at him and wasn't alone as a number of Halfbloods and Purebloods did as well. "Wait, snakes are a common pet with muggles? Really?"

Slowly, Harry nodded though he was pretty confused about the reaction he was getting. "Yes...? They got reptile shows for them and everything. Shiromizu was a pretty big hit at the only one I took her to." Unknown to them as they muttered, Harry didn't finish the rest. 'And that was the only one because that eco-jerk tried to grab her so that she could be "Free"... which was when she bit her.'

It was then that one of the Gryffindor First Year witches, Sally-Ann Perks, spoke up. "He's right, my uncle owns all sort of snakes."

From where they sat, a Muggleborn Fifth Year spoke up. "And a friend of mine who's a muggle has this big boa constrictor his dad gave him.'

As more commented on how they've seen snakes as pets, Percy looked a bit lost but thoughtful. Then he noticed that Harry was climbing the stairs. "Where are you going now?"

Harry just raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. "If it's Shiromizu, I'm going to go and get her."

Frowning, Hermione cleared her throat. "Harry? What sort of snake is Shiromizu?"

Slightly confused, Harry shrugged. "Shiromizu is a Japanese rat snake, she doesn't have any venom if that's what you're worried about. Besides, I saved her from being tormented and killed by some kids, which should tell you how dangerous she is."

Now that he's said his piece, Harry continued his way up the stairs while ignoring that most of Gryffindor was following him. Once he entered the Dorm though, he frowned and looked around. 'Now where are you...' It was then that he spotted a small, white tail behind a curtain and walked over. Flinging open the curtain, he narrowed his eyes down at Shiromizu who gave him the closest that she could to a sheepish grin. "{Dammit, Shiromizu!}"

Tongue flicking out, Shiromizu softly hissed. "{What?}"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Harry was about to say something when he heard an intake of breath and turned to see several of his Housemates staring at him. "Bloody hell, you're a parselmouth!"

Just blinking, Harry frowned for a moment before he remembered what McGonagall had told him that day she had taken them to Diagon. "You mean the whole speaking to snakes thing?"

Uncomfortable, Percy looked around. "Uh... you know that's a sign of a dark wizard, right?"

If anything, he grew more uncomfortable as Harry stared at him before the younger boy sighed. "In Britain, maybe. Not in Japan though." At the continuing looks, Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to his trunk. Then he opened it before pulling out a book and flipped through it before bringing it over to Percy. "Here."

Frowning, Percy took the book and glanced at the cover. "It's some sort of guide to Japanese mythology?"

Simple nodding, Harry tapped his finger on the page that it was opened on. "It explains all about snakes right here. Long story short? Snakes aren't really looked at as evil. Sure, some are such as the Yamata no Orochi, though I think that might be considered more like a hydra... Anyways, some of the Kami have snakes as messangers such as Benzaiten of the Seven Lucky Gods, one of her symbols is the white snake. Then you got Ryujin, the dragon kami of the seas who has snakes as representatives with one of his daughters being one... other kami are snakes."

The frown on Percy's face grew as he continued to read. "Huh... it does say that. And it also says that snakes represent money, prosperity and fertility?" Eyebrows raising, he looked up at Harry. "So in Japan being able to speak to snakes..."

Nodding, Harry smiled. "Is a good thing as it means that you can talk to some of the messangers of the Kami? Pretty much, yeah. I got told that before the Statute of Secrecy, Lords who's farmers had rat problems used to hire those able to speak with snakes to come and have the snakes eat the rats."

Eyebrows furrowing, Percy slowly nodded. "I see..." Looking down at the book, he frowned. 'Looks like I have something to read...'

Part of him realized that he wasn't the only one as other Gryffindors were looking intrigued or whispering among themselves. However, what caught his attention was the sight of Harry scolding the snake which looked like it was nearly as long as he was tall. Said snake of course, looking away almost petuantly between hisses. Beside him, Seamus had an odd look on his face. "That reminds me of me mum when she gets mad, it does." He then shuddered. "I did not need to think that."

For his part, Percy grimaced as he was also reminded of his own mother scolding her children for doing something. "Thank you, now I can't help but imagine mum scolding a snake..."

Meanwhile, Neville walked a bit closer though he stilled when Shiromizu looked toward him. "Um..."

Blinking, Harry turned toward him with a frown on his face. "Something wrong, Neville?"

Slowly swallowing, Neville just shook his head. "Just... wanted to take a closer look is all..."

Eyes widening, Harry smiled at him which caused Neville's stomach to drop. "Why didn't you just say so, Nev?" Then Harry gently picked up Shiromizu. "Here, want to hold her?"

Taking a step back, Neville looked between Harry and the snake which was watching him curiously. "I... uh...."

All Harry did though was shake his head. "She won't hurt you, promise."

However, all Neville did was look between Harry and Shiromizu who flicked out her tongue. "Wh-what's she doing?"

Glancing down, Harry shrugged. "She's tasting the air, it's how snakes smell after all." After a hiss from the snake, Harry raised an eyebrow. "She says that you don't need to be so terrified of her, she promises that she won't bite."

Still unsure, Neville took a deep breath and then held out his hand. "Um, okay then, i guess..."

A small smile on his face, Harry slowly held out placed Shiromizu close so that she could slither onto Neville's hand. "There we go, gently."

While Shiromizu moved onto his hand, Neville's expression became a frown. "She's... not slimy?"

Snorting, Harry shook his head. "Of course she's not, snakes' aren't slimy."

For her part, Shiromizu just let out a hiss. "{If you want slimy, then my Onee-Sama is the one to talk too.}'

That got her a look from harry, but as she didn't expand on that, he didn't bother saying anything. Instead, he looked over as Sally-Ann walked over to get a better look at her. Within an hour or so, while still not quite comfortable, none of the Gryffindors had an issue with Shiromizu. Especially after Harry communicated that she promised not to eat any pets. Granted, Harry still did not know why she had shown up. The only answer he got from Shiromizu was mutters about stupid, task master foxes which confused him.

 

[darthcourt10]

Snippet 193: Harry Leferts

"Oh man, guys, you won't believe it!"

Looking up, Harry gave a blink. "Believe what, Dean?"

There was a massive grin on the boy's face as he looked up to see Harry walk out of the bathroom in just shorts while toweling his hair. "Went on your morning run again?"

Harry just chuckled as he finished and tossed the towel into his hair. "Yup, running up all those stairs really helps. Besides, Fubuki-Nee would be disappointed if I didn't keep it up."

It went without saying that he ignored the eyerolls he got. After all, his dorm mates had gotten used to some of his quirks over the past week. Such as him going for a run through the castle every morning. Every time they asked why, he stated that he needed to be fit and this his "Fubuki-Nee" would be disappointed if he didn't. From where he was yawning, Seamus just shook his head. "Bonkers you are."

All Harry did though was shoot him a grin, then he turned toward. "Only to you bunch. Anyways... you said that you found something, Dean?"

With a jerk, Dean suddenly snapped his fingers. "Right! Guess what I found out?" He waited, but everyone just glanced at each other and shrugged. Though he shuddered a bit at the white snake that just watched him from where she laid on Harry's bed. 'Don't tell me he slept with her there...' At the throat clearing, Dean went back to grinning. "I found the Kitchens!"

Now that caught Harry's attention and he looked at him. "Wait, you found the kitchens?"

Slowly, Dean nodded. "Yup! They're down that staircase by the Great Hall. The one that the Hufflepuffs keep going down. Anyways, the entrance is behind a bowl of fruit and you got to tickle the pear."

Despite all the time among shipgirls, that caused Harry to raise an eyebrow. "Tickle... the pear... seriously?" At Dean's nod, he shook his head. "Crazy."

Dean however just snorted. "Yeah, it turns into a doorknob after giggling." He tried his best to ignore the snake hissing as if it was laughing. Not to mention Harry giving Shiromizu an amused look. "Anyways, I checked out and it's huge! There's all these little elf guys running around and cooking."

Before Harry could comment, Neville nodded. "Those would be the House Elves." At the looks, he blushed some. "Gran used to tell me."

Shaking it off, Dean continued. "Anyways... one of the fellow Muggleborns told me about it. Apparently the school doesn't mind us sending home food! Heck, I can send home enough to feed my family for a week on leftovers from just a single meal they'd make up. And I'm not the only one. Other Muggleborns are doing it too."

That caused both Seamus and Neville to stare at him in confusion. However, Ron just nodded. "Just be careful. Dad told me that while it technically violates the Statute, a lot of people will look the other way as long as you don't make it obvious."

All the Muggleborn did was raise his hands with palms out. "No worries from me, once a week will really help out my family."

Rubbing his chin, Harry frowned some. 'Well... I live in Yokosuka, so maybe I can send more and Ooyodo-Oba can come up with excuses...' Being as he worked in the kitchens, Harry knew exactly how much food a shipgirl could put away. And the thought of covering a single meal was... highly tempting. Then he noticed that Shiromizu was looking thoughtful. "{Thinking of something?}"

Rubbing her tail under her chin, Shiromizu gave a nod. "{Was thinking that perhaps I could pay these kitchens a visit...}"

Simply shaking his head at that, Harry's thoughts turned toward Natsumi and Haru. Especially the idea of sending the two of them chicken as they did love it, rabbit too which he remembered were at the feast and from memory there were farms for. Hearing another hiss, he glanced over at Shiromizu and snorted. "{For some odd reason, that does not seem the smartest idea, Shiromizu.}"

It was then that he noticed that Seamus had an odd look on his face, but before Harry comment said Irish boy shook his head. "It's still creepy seeing you do that."

All that Harry did was shrug as he continued getting ready for the day. By the time that he was finished though, the others had already gone downstairs and he was about to when Shiromizu spoke up. "{Harry, I'm going with you today to your classes.}"

Blinking, Harry looked over at her in curiosity. "{You want to go to my classes with me?}" When she nodded, he frowned a bit. "{Shouldn't you head back to Yokosuka already?}"

When she winced, he had to blink. Before Harry could say anything, Shiromizu gave him a shrug. "{I already let them know that I'm here and going to spend the day... better then all the work that I would need to do otherwise.}" Then she muttered low enough that Harry barely caught it. "{Like hell my writing is that bad that I need to practice that much...}"

Confused, Harry considered asking, but then shrugged and simply held out an arm which Shiromizu crawled into and then under his sleeve.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Harry continued to clean up, he thought back to the Potions class that they just had. He wasn't altogether pleased with how it went as besides the rollcall, there was also the near miss that Neville had. Thankfully though, Hermione managed to stop him in time before he messed up his potion. What bothered Harry the most though was the fact that Snape kept giving him these odd looks throughout the class. Especially when he had put on reading glasses to better see the ingredients which had caused him to glare. Now though, the class was over and he turned to Ron. "Could you head on ahead? I want to ask Professor Snape some questions."

That caused Ron to glance at Snape who seemed annoyed at something. "You sure that's a good idea, mate? I mean... he doesn't seem to be in a good mood."

Shrugging, Harry placed his book into his backpack. "Well, it's probably a good idea if I ask him now."

Just shaking his head, Ron snorted. "Your choice."

With that, he walked out of the classroom and Harry walked up to the teacher's desk and cleared his throat. "Professor?"

Looking up, Snape glared at him a bit, though he winced a bit at seeing him without glasses. Unknown to Harry, the Professor was unsure how to feel about him. After all, with his glasses on Harry resembled his father a great deal. With them off though, those who knew Lily could see quite a bit of resemblance. It left Snape feeling... confused about things. Which left him more gruff then usual. "What is it, Mister Potter. Don't tell me that the homework is too hard."

Much to his surprise, Harry just shrugged. "No worse then any other homework that I've gotten assigned. It's just that I had a few questions..."

Simply sighing, Snape turned his full attention onto the son of both his hated school rival, as well as the only remaining thing of his best friend. "Very well, Mr. Potter. Since it seems that you have some inkling as to potions, somehow, I'll humor you. But my time is precious and I will not have it wasted by asking dumb questions, understood?"

Harry blinked at the reminder of the questions that he had asked him at the start of the class, as well as how he seemed surprised at them being answered. "Um, of course... I guess that my first question is if we'll be learning how to collect and prepare ingredients?"

Eyes narrowed, Snape frowned a bit. "The collection and preparation of ingredients, besides the one the spot work for potions, is beyond the scale of the class. So, no, the class will not be learning how to prepare them for storage. There is something of a short elective for them in Third Year, but that is usually ignored. I may also use the preparation for detentions so that perhaps a dunderhead may learn something useful." He then frowned even more. "Is there a particular reason that you asked?"

Chuckling, Harry scratched his cheek and didn't notice that Snape's eyes went to his shirt and blinked. "Well... Miss Haru back in Yokosuka showed me how and I was wondering what may be different here."

Shaking off what he had noticed, Snape glared slightly at him. "So you wished to show off then." Before Harry could say anything in his defence, Snape waved him off. "No matter. Is there anything else?"

All Harry did was clear his throat before he frowned. "I was wondering about, um... safety gear-"

However, Snape cut him off right there. "And you were wondering why we may not use muggle equipment here, correct?" When Harry nodded, Snape sighed. "Mr. Potter, items such as fume hoods are useless in this section of the castle. Not only would we need to cut through a large portion of the castle to set them up, we can simply use an air clearing charm instead for much the same effect. Which is leaving aside the fact that some potions need one to be able to smell them in order to distinguish the stage. Materials such as plastic and rubber can have... bad reactions... to say the least with potions gone wrong. If a student wished to wear a heavy, leather apron or glass goggles, I would not have any issue. However, both items can be very expensive and thus out of the budget of most students. I hope that is a good enough answer."

Understanding that the Professor wanted him gone, Harry slowly nodded. "Um, thank you for answering my questions."

Just giving him a nod, Snape motioned him away. Once the door closed, the Potion's Master sighed and leaned back into his chair with a sigh before he rubbed the side of his face with a grimace. Partially because of his own feelings regarding Harry's parentage but also because the conversation, along with how Harry looked without his glasses, uncomfortably reminded Snape of a similar conversation many years ago. After a few moments, Snape pulled out a hidden drawer and poured himself a shot of the whiskey he had in there. 'Now to see if he is as clever as his mother, or if he's more like his father...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Giving Hagrid a wave goodbye as they walked away from his hut, Harry blinked at the sight Ron boggling at Hermione who raised an eyebrow at him. "Something wrong?"

All Ron could do though was stare as Hermione took another bite from what she held in her hands. "How... how can you even eat that?!"

Hermione paused for a moment and then looked down at the rock cake she held, and which was mostly already gone, before shrugging. "It's actually pretty good." Quickly finishing it, she looked toward Harry who seemed amused for some reason. But then she shook it off. "I'll have to get the recipe for it."

Those words caused Harry to snort back some laughs before he coughed as Hermione looked at him in confusion. Waving her off, he looked down at Shiromizu who was poking her head out of his shirt and looking around in curiosity. "{Have fun?}"

Looking up at him, Shiromizu let out a soft hiss. "{Fufufufu, it was a rather interesting day, was it not?}" She then looked toward the lake. "{I must admit that it was informative... and I'll have to come by more often I would think.}"

Slowly, Harry raised his eyebrow at Shiromizu. "{You want to come back more often?}"

It was strange, though somehow Harry knew that Shiromizu was calling him an idiot just through her expression. Then she confirmed it with her next words. "{Oh yes, why ever would I come back to such an interesting place? Rather then spend all my time back home in Yokosuka.}"

With a snort, Harry shook his head. "{Yeah, I suppose that it would be more interesting then just being in your tank all day.}" He didn't notice the tiny wince from Shiromizu. "{Though I will admit that I won't mind seeing a friendly face.}"

As she gave him a smile, Shiromizu had a odd gleam in her eyes. "{And I don't mind.}" Once more looking around, Shiromizu spotted the Forbidden Forest. "{So that is the local version of Aokigahara...}"

His own gaze on it, Harry slowly nodded. "{Yeah...}" Seeing the stares towards him from Ron, Hermione, and Neville, Harry blinked. "Um... something wrong?"

Neville gave him a nervous smile before shrugging. "Just wondering what you were talking about is all..."

More then a little bemused, Harry chuckled. "Nothing much really... Shiromizu was just mentioning that she might come by more often because Hogwarts is interesting... and at the end we were talking a little about the Forbidden Forest."

That caused Hermione to raise an eyebrow. "Oh? How so?"

Simply shrugging, the black haired wizard frowned. "She was just comparing it to Aokigahara back in Japan."

Eyebrows furrowing, Ron frowned. "Aokiga-whatsit? What's that?"

Pausing, Harry came to a stop and stared at the Forbidden Forest, part of him certain that the shadows were shifting on their own at times. "Aokigahara is a forest by Fuji-San... Mount Fuji. It goes by another name though... The Suicide Forest.

At that, the other three stopped and turned to him as Neville swallowed. "S-Suicide Forest...?"

Just nodding, Harry let a shudder pass through him. "Yeah, it's pretty infamous for having massive amounts of suicides there as well as people getting lost and never being found. Not to mention it being a place where during famines families were said to abandon members at." He then glanced toward his friends and shook his head. "The place is pretty much swarming with yokai and yuurei though... um, I guess you might think of them as being dark creatures? Never been in the forest myself, but one of the teachers by my school who was from America had made a stop near the outskirts and saw a jacket hung on a branch, but didn't go any further."

Staring at him, Ron finally shook his head. "Mate, that's bloody freaky that is."

Harry just shrugged as a reply. "Maybe, though if I remember what I was told, there was a small Japanese magic school that was somewhere nearby. So... yeah, the Forbidden Forest kind of reminds Shiromizu and me of that."

There was a grimace on Ron's face as he shook his head. "Uh, yeah... okay, Mate. That's just... yeah."

On Harry's face was a slight smirk as he shrugged. "Your welcome."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione continued to watch Shiromizu who was looking right back at her. With a hiss, Shiromizu turned toward Harry. "{You know that Hermione here is a shipgirl, correct?}"

Much to her surprise though, Harry just nodded. "{Yeah, I've known that she was a shipgirl for a while now. I'm just waiting to see if she'll come clean and when.}"

All Shiromizu did was shake her head in amusement at that. Then she turned her head back to the Forbidden Forest in thought as she felt a pull toward it. One easily ignored as a matter of fact. What she didn't tell Harry was that she had another reason to stick around Hogwarts. She could sense something in the castle that called out to her. And not in a good way. But whatever it was, Shiromizu was now curious about it and wanted to see what it was. Oddly, the sense of it was strongest in the dungeons beneath the castle, but she could tell that it wasn't there.

Part of her wondered what, exactly, it was...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Trudging into the Sub Pens, Iku let out a loud yawn before blinking as she stopped at a smell that met her. 'Curry?' Head snapping to the side, Iku barely avoided the other Submarines crashing into her as she noted Taigei and Maruyu at the stove in the small kitchenette working on some food. "Mmm..."

With a look over her shoulder, Taigei gave a small smile and then waved a spoon at them. "Just in time for lunch."

Just blinking, all of them turned to look at the clock on the wall which stated that it was now past Midnight. It was Imuya who asked the question on their minds as she scratched her head. "Lunch?"

Not missing a beat, Taigei nodded as she closed her eyes in amusement. "A very late lunch... unless you don't want any of my curry." It took a few seconds but she was met with denials of that being true which caused her to giggle. "Well, then how about you go and wash up quickly. I'll also bring out some things that Harry-Chan sent as well."

Much to Maruyu's surprise, almost immediately all the returning Subgirls rushed into the bathroom and she could hear the showers going. "Wow."

Barely keeping to just giggles, Taigei nodded before she patted the small Subgirl on the head. "Mm-hm. I do wonder what they're hurrying for more. My curry or what Harry-Chan sent them?"

From inside the bathroom, RO's voice could be heard. "WHO SAYS THAT IT'S NOT BOTH?!"

That caused Taigei to actually laugh as she continued to cook. By the time that the Subgirls came out of the bathroom, still drying themselves off with towels, Taigei was done with her meal and brought over portions to each of the Subgirls before sitting down with Maruyu with their own portions in front of them. At the looks the Subgirls gave her, Taigei shook her head. "Eat your food first, and then we'll get to what Harry-Chan sent."

Sharing a look, the Subgirls began to eat their food fast only to slow down and begin to enjoy it. For the next couple of minutes, all that could be heard was the sound of food being eaten before they put aside their plates. Before they could go any further though, Taigei placed several small cauldron cakes in front of them which the various shipgirls grabbed and began to munch on. Being that said cakes were the last on the base, though Iowa was trying to convince some to make their own for Halloween that year, the Subgirls enjoyed them despite a slight staleness to them.

Compared to some of the food that their crews had eaten or what they had themselves eaten since returning, the cauldron cakes were still amazing.

Quickly pounding her chest, Hachi swallowed her last bite and, once she had a drink of milk, turned toward Taigei. "What did Harry-Chan send to us?"

With a soft giggle, Taigei got up and several moments later returned with envelopes for them. "Here, these arrived yesterday while you were all out on patrol."

Taking hers, Iku ripped the top off and took out the letter as she began to read. After a few moments her eyes widened some. "Wait, that teacher who came... McGonagall can turn into a cat? And being able to turn into animals is not that odd with maybe Harry able to learn it?"

For a few moments, the Subgirls all blinked and then leaned back as they imagined Harry as an animal. RO imagined him as a wolf that she was snuggling with, Maruyu imagined him as a giant bear that she was riding, Iku saw him as a lion which she cuddled with. Imuya saw him as black panther that liked to lay on top of her and keep her warm, and Hachi imagined him as a Saint Bernard dog.

Unknown to them, Taigei had him in her head as a whale that she was playing with among the waves.

After nearly a full minute, they shook it off and returned to reading. Suddenly, RO pointed at one part. "Look here! According to Harry-Chan that lake by his school might be connected to the ocean somehow..."

Slowly nodding, Shioi frowned. "Some kind of tunnel?"

Crossing her arms, Maruyu blinked and tilted her head. "Isn't that kind of dangerous? I mean... what if one of the Abyssals discover it? They'd have a way directly to his school."

That caused Iku to become thoughtful before she turned to Hachi, the two of them being the "Oldest" shipgirls there as they were the first Submarines summoned. "I... don't think that's very likely. If it looks like a cave, then the Abyssals would need to actually decide to go through it."

Nodding along, Hachi snorted. "Even if they sensed freshwater, they would think more a spring or series of springs really releasing groundwater." She then frowned and adjusted his glasses. "Oh! Harry-Chan sent the information about the lake's size and depth."

All Iku did was raise an eyebrow at that. "You still think that you can identify the lake? What if the lake is covered under that unplottable thing that the school is under?"

Hachi just smirked though. "It might be unplottable for maps, but satellite photos should show the lake at least. Especially with a village close to one part of the Lake."

With her arms crossed, RO shook her head. "But that counts for most of the Lochs in Scotland. Besides, didn't Nagato say that her and Warspite worked out a way to find Hogwarts just in case?"

Several seconds passed before Shioi nodded quickly. "That's right! They're going to use triangulation to find the castle! Like they're going to find the hidden islands around here. They got some shipgirl and will measure the signal times from her in order to get a rough estimate where it might be."

Having been silent, Maruyu finally sniffled a bit as she hugged the letter close. "I miss Harry-Chan."

That got her sympathic nods from the others with Taigei pulling her into a hug. Suddenly, Imuya spoke up. "Hey! Harry-Chan sent photos too!" Almost immediately, she found her head squished by the chests of the other Subgirls before she shoved them off. "Hey! Stop that." Scowling at them all, she shook the envelope. "There's some in your own envelopes too."

Within moments, they all began to dig into their envelopes and pulled out pictures. At the sight of Hogwarts castle from across the lake, Shioi let out a whistle. "Okay... that's just awesome."

Maruyu slowly nodded. "It's like something from a fairy tale or... one of those stories with the knights and stuff."

Finger against her mouth, Hachi hummed before she suddenly had the image of an older Harry dressed as a knight in front of said castle, but then shook it off. "Y-yeah..."

Leaning toward her, Iku smirked. "You just had the image of Harry-Chan as a knight, didn't you?"

Her only answer was Hachi to shove her before the blonde haired Subgirl smirked. "Like I'm sure that you didn't."

Ignoring the byplay as well as how Iku had a slight blush, Taigei brought out another letter. "Oh my... this must be the Great Hall that Harry-Chan wrote to us about."

Eyebrows raised, Imuya nodded as she looked over the Submarine Tender's shoulder. "Yeah! Look, it even looks like the ceiling is missing like Harry-Chan told us and there's all the tables!" Then she wiped away some drool. "Look at all that food..."

Various nods answered her before RO spoke up. "I think that I like his Common Room most though. It has a very nice look to it."

That got her murmurs before Shioi spoke up. "I like the look of those chairs... they look really comfortable to sit in, especially with a fire in the fireplace."

A squeal from Hachi caused them all to turn before she waved around a picture. "Look at this library! There has to be thousands of books there!" Bringing the picture back down, Hachi swallowed. "J-j-just imagine... all those books just waiting to be read... some may be even rare o-or lost volumes..."

Softly snickering, Imuya gave her head a rub which made her fellow Subgirl squawk. "Down girl."

For the next hour, the Subgirls just enjoyed looking through the various pictures. Of course, they knew that Harry had sent pictures to the others as well and caused them to discuss what some of the others might think of what they were seeing.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Ron glanced over at Harry and Hermione while raising his eyebrows at them. While Hermione had been nervous, she seemed far more annoyed at the moment then before. And it wasn't hard to pinpoint the source as Draco was behind them bragging about how he had outran a helicopter on a broom. To be honest, Ron was also annoyed as he had actually seen helicopters in action including ones at full speed. 'Either Malfoy is making it all up or he was just damn lucky... probably just damn lucky.'

It was then that Neville looked toward Ron with a confused expression on his face and leaned in with a whisper. "Um... wouldn't he have gotten in trouble for that? What with how seriously everyone takes the Muggles seeing magic now?"

However, as it turned out it wasn't quiet enough as a pink faced Draco was glaring at Neville as various other First Years snickered around him. Then he sneered at Neville. "I will have you know that there was little problem once my Father talked with some people."

Not even bothering to hide his contempt, Ron shoved his hands into his pockets. "Probably by bribing them to forget."

Eyes wide, Draco was about to say something when Madam Hooch walked up. "All here and ready? Very well. Now, all of you line up and get ready for our lesson today."

As they all lined up though, Harry was more worried about Hermione who was muttering under her breath and staring at the broom below her. "If I was meant to fly, I'd be an airship."

That caused Harry's eyebrows to raise. Before he could say anything though, Dean, who was on Hermione's other side spoke up. "You say something about airships?"

Harry then shrugged. "She was saying that if humans were meant to fly, that we'd be like airshipgirls... though considering Macon and Akron, that would not be a good thing."

Interested, Dean blinked. "Akron and Macon?"

Slowly, Harry nodded. "Yeah, their airshipgirls with the United States Navy, I only met them the once. They were... um... interesting for being catgirls? Sure, they're airheads, but nice."

Facepalming, Hermione just sighed even though she was thankful for him pulling attention off her. Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief that her cover had not been blown and no one suspected that she was really a shipgirl. At the same time, she was listening in as Dean continued his questions. "Wait, catgirls? As in...?"

All Harry did was nod. "They got ears and tails. Kind of reminded me of Strike Witches except... you know, they wear pants, Akron and Macon I mean. They're also Carriers as the Americans apparently looked into Airship Aircraft Carriers back in the 1930s."

Eyebrows furrowed, Dean shook his head at that. But before he could continue, Madam Hooch cleared her throat though she did give the two smiles. Walking in front of the line, she looked over her students and then over the brooms at their feet. "Okay. Now, hold out your dominant hand and shout 'UP' and the broom should fly into it."

Looking down at the broom by his feet, Harry took a deep breath before he shouted like that one Marine he met back at Yokosuka. "UP!"

The broom seemed to leap from the ground to his hand and around him, some other students jumped as their brooms did a short hop of a few inches and then fell back to the ground. It was almost as if they realized that they were not being shouted at, though Hermione internally facepalmed as she felt some of her NonComs nod. One by one, the students managed the feat and soon the whole class had the brooms in their hands. A number of people were amused as Hooch corrected Draco's handgrip while commenting on the ability of whoever had taught him.

Several minutes passed as she helped people get used to how to hold their brooms until, finally, she pulled back to where her own broom was and held it in one hand before mounting it with the other students copying her with their own. "Now then, on the count of five. One... two... three-What are you doing!?"

Having gotten nervous, Neville had taken off and rapidly rose until he was fifty feet above them all and kept going when he began to fall off the broom. Eyes wide, Harry just reacted as Neville hung there from one hand and practically leapt into the air. He was just about there when Neville lost his grip and began to plummet down to the ground. Flipping the broom around until the end faced the ground, Harry went into a dive as he spotted Hermione running for them. Barely forty feet had passed when Harry had grabbed Neville's hand with the jolt nearly knocking him from his own broom as all the other boy's weight was on one arm.

Despite the pain as he felt his arm nearly yanked from it's socket, he kept a hold and began to pull up into a more even flight. However, he felt Neville's hand slipping from his own and aimed his broom so when Neville let go, he barely fell far as Hermione skidded on her knees across the grass and caught him. Breathless, Neville looked up into Hermione's smiling face as she winked at him. "Don't worry, Neville, I got you."

A shout from Madam Hooch caught their attention and they turned to see the teacher stalking toward Harry who was holding one arm. "MISTER POTTER!" Both Hermione and Neville scrambled to their feet and rushed over. "Why I never... in all my years... you just... and he." She then stopped herself before looking at Harry's arm and grunting. "Looks like you pulled a few muscles."

Slowly, Harry nodded and winced as he moved his arm a bit. "Feels like it." At her raised eyebrow, he shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Just frowning, Hooch looked them over and then sighed. "Off to the medical wing for each of you to get checked out." When she spotted Hermione grabbing something, she raised an eyebrow. "Miss Granger..."

More then a little sheepish, Hermione raised a glass orb that was in her hands. "Um... I just spotted Neville's Rememberall..."

With a sigh, Hooch just began to guide them toward the castle. "Very well. Now then, off to the Hospital Wing." Turning back, Hooch fixed each of the students with a glare. "You all will stay on the ground until I return. If I catch one of you in the air when I return, I shall see to it that you are expelled for it!" Unnoticed, she glanced toward a window from which McGonagall was watching with wide eyes. 'I know what you're thinking, Minny.'

Having noticed that Hooch was looking at her, McGonagall gave a small smile and then turned to watch the class unknown to them. 'Once Rolanda returns, I think that perhaps I shall head to the Hospital Wing myself...'
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Staring with some mashed potatoes falling from his mouth, Ron boggled at his friend until Hermione kicked him under the table. "Ouch! What the bloody hell, Hermione!?"

Eyes narrowed, Hermione just glared at him. "What do you think, Ronald. Don't be letting food fall out of your mouth like that, it's utterly disgusting."

As he grumbled, Ron turned back to Harry who seemed amused by the whole thing. "You're on the House Team, Mate? Seriously? You got to be the youngest in-"

Harry nodded. "A hundred years. I guess that catching someone falling from their broom was really impressive or something." Going back to his food, Harry shrugged. "I asked Professor McGonagall if I could do a tryout rather then just get on the team you know. She looked at me as if I was crazy for it."

On the other side of the table, Neville nodded. "She did you know."

While he shook his head, Ron gave a scoff. "Gee, I wonder why she thought it was impressive. I thought that it was bloody brilliant myself. And you are mental for turning down being placed on the team without needing to tryout. I'd have jumped at the chance myself."

Slightly uncomfortable, Harry shifted a bit as underneath the table, Hermione kicked Ron in the legs again. "It just didn't feel right, though according to Wood I might as well not even bother. I'd just feel better about the whole thing.

All Ron did was shake his head before turning back to his food. Neville meanwhile looked over at Harry with a frown. "Um... how is your Mum going to react to what happened, Harry? I mean... I don't think that Gran will be happy with me..."

Just reaching over and giving Neville a pat on the shoulder, Harry shook his head. "I don't think that Mum will have much problem with me doing what I did. She might even be proud of me..." He then scowled a bit as he looked down at his food. "But she's out on some sort of big operation right now and so I won't hear anything for a few weeks."

That caused Ron to look up and frown. "You know, Warspite told me the same thing and that we'd resume our mail chess match when she got back in a few weeks. Think that they're on the same operation?"

Frowning, Harry gave it some thought before he shrugged. "Maybe? Warspite's helped out over in Japan a few times. Bit odd though for a cooperative mission to take them out of contact for that long... must be pretty big and important. And before you ask, Ron, I don't know what it's about."

With a sigh, Ron shook his head and then went back to eating. "Hopefully Warspite will be able to tell me when she gets back."

Unseen by the red haired wizard, Harry just shook his head. From his own experience, if they were keeping it this quiet then they were not about to tell anyone anything after it was done. Feeling two claps on his shoulder, Harry looked over them to see the grinning Weasley twins there. "Just heard the good news from Wood, Harry."

The other twin nodded. "Yeah, can't wait to see you show your stuff. If you're even half as good as Wood says, then we're a shoo in for this years Quidditch Cup."

Scratching at his cheek, Harry felt himself flush at their compliments. "Thanks, Fred, George, I appreciate it."

For several moments the two just stared at him and then at each other before Fred shook his head. "I still don't know how you know which one of us is which... not even our Mum gets it right all the time."

A smirk was on Harry's face as he snickered. "I'm kind of used to distinguishing between two objects that are very similar to each other."

Even though that confused the twins more, they soon shrugged it off and George leaned n. "By the way... is it true? You managed to catch Neville here in a dive?"

Confused as to where this was going, Harry just nodded. "Um, yes? I mean... I'm sure that someone else could have done it and I don't see why everyone makes a big deal of it."

Sharing a look, the twins shook their heads before George turned back to Harry. "Because that sort of stunt is dangerous. So bloody much could go wrong catching someone who's falling that sometimes it's best to just let them land or to try and use magic to catch them."

Beside him, Fred nodded. "Not that there's many who could throw out a spell fast enough. Dumbledore, maybe. I guess McGonagall or Flitwick might be able to as well if they were there." After a few moments of silence, Fred clapped Harry on the back again. "Anyways, it'll be great to have you on the team. See you later."

With that, they walked off as Harry just gave a nervous grin to his friends. "Hehe... I didn't know that..."

All he got though was shakes of the head before everyone turned back to their food.

 

[darthcourt10]

Tiypo

"Akagi-oba,
I found these jelly beans and thought you might have enjoy them, they have every flavour ever. Don't eat more than one at a time!
Fair winds and following seas, Harry."

Setting the note down Akagi chuckled to herself. Don't eat more than one at a time? Had Harry forgotten who she was? She was Akagi and there was NOTHING she couldn't eat! The packaging on the candy was rather friendly, a cute clown character was a background of white and red stripes like that of a circus. There was no listing of flavours but she could see the many beans of different colours through a window on each side.

Opening the pyramid like top she poured half a dozen into her hand. One a ripe orange colour, perhaps mango? Another deep uniform green, she was sure this was watermelon. The third was deep red with white specks, had to strawberry. Fourth was maybe chocolate covered peanuts? Or maybe it was chocolate doughnut flavoured, going off the dual tan and deep-brown colours. The fifth was either coconut or vanilla by normal jelly bean terms, but from the milky swirling if the package truly did have every flavour this might just be cream. The last one was kind of cute, orange with lines, it looked just like a little pumpkin!

Thus, confident with her assessment of her randomly acquired jelly beans, Akagi tossed them all in her mouth at once.

~10 minutes later~

Kaga knew something was wrong when her more joyful sister failed to great her as she walked in. She simply stood faced away at their shared desk.

"Akagi? Are you okay?" she asked, cautiously approaching her frozen friend.

Moving around Akagi she could finally see the others face, twisted by a strangely convoluted look of disgust and horror. After a gentle shake failed to move her, Kaga picked up the letter left on the table hoping to learn more. Looking over the short warning she could guess what had happened, quietly amused that Akagi's taste buds had finally met their match.

Reaching in she nabbed one, popped it into her mouth, and savoured the flavour. It tasted precisely like strawberry and peanut butter ice cream, that was pretty impressive! Enjoying the spoils of Akagi's failed battle she left the dorm, with the smallest of smiles on her face.

_____________
Spoiler: Akagi's jelly bean flavours
Ripe orange=Curry,

Deep green=Olive,

Deep red w/ white specks=Chili,

Tan and deep brown=Éclair,

Milky white=Soap,

Orange with lines=Pumpkin