CHAPTER 12:

REUNIONS

"How many died, Hermione?"

The blunt question from Harry took the bushy-haired girl briefly off-guard as they walked along the paths of Bur-Omisace, but she shook her head. "Too many. Dumbledore's dead, though not before leaving us a task he didn't finish. The Twins, Charlie and Ginny are dead too. A third of the staff at Hogwarts, not to mention most of the Order, are gone. Most of the Death Eaters are gone. We won, but it's almost a pyrrhic victory. We came here because Dumbledore had instruments saying you were still alive. Took us long enough to find a way to get here."

"But why?"

"Dumbledore," Sirius growled, "knew there was something called a Horcrux in your scar, a fragment of Voldemort's soul. He believed that it could only be removed with your death. His notes suggested he was trying to find a way to save you, but frankly, I think he was shaping you up to be a martyr. There's another group of us elsewhere in Ivalice, searching Rozarria. Neville, Luna, Ron and Andromeda Tonks. We'll send word by Patronus that we found you."

"What about Snape?" Harry asked. He was hoping, more out of vindictiveness over Snape's vendetta with him, that the bastard was dead.

"Voldemort killed him. He was on our side…or at least working for Dumbledore rather than Voldemort. I think he was on nobody's side except his own," Hermione said bitterly. "We were going to see if we could find you, get rid of the Horcrux without killing you, and see whether you wanted to come home."

"I can't," Harry said, shaking his head. "Not now. We've got problems, and I have something of a commitment to fulfil here. Mostly to Ashe here."

"Ashe?" Hermione asked.

Ashe nodded. "Harry spoke highly of you, Hermione. I am Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca. Though I would thank you not to advertise that. I only trust you enough to tell you because Harry trusts you."

"Wait, what?" Sirius yelped. "You're with a princess, Harry?!"

"He is one of my loyal friends and comrades," Ashe said. "This is my bodyguard, Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg. Both he and I are considered deceased by the people. As far as the populace believe, I killed myself out of grief because of the deaths of my father and my fiancée, while Basch was executed after assassinating my father. Both stories were false. We have other travelling companions. I ask you, though, would you consider coming along with us? We have a mission of considerable import."

"What, to regain your throne?" Remus asked.

"That is indeed one of my goals, but a more urgent concern is to prevent war from breaking out," Ashe said. "I ask you because I need as much help as I can get, and as Harry trusts you…"

Hermione looked at them, and then sighed. "Out of one war and into another. We'll help, but we want to know what's going on…"

Introductions were made (with Sirius warned by Harry and Balthier not to ogle Fran or Mjrn too much, for his own health), and so too were very long explanations. By the end of it, Hermione was pinching the bridge of her nose. "You and your saving people thing, Harry," she muttered in moderate but fond exasperation. "So, we have these Occuria to deal with, and Vayne Solidor as well."

"Hey, don't blame me for that. Vayne and the Archadians were the ones who wanted to conquer Dalmasca. Though Vayne…he's both our ally and enemy, though he's a lot more helpful about it than Snape," Harry pointed out. "And he actually uses shampoo too."

Vaan looked at Harry flatly. "Really? You like Vayne better than this Snape guy because he uses shampoo?"

"Never underestimate the greasy horror that was Snivellous Snape's hair," Sirius pointed out, shuddering. "There was so much grease in it, it was practically a sentient being…and not a nice one either."

"Levity aside, we are to head to Giruvegan on the morrow," Ashe said. "I'm sorry that I cannot give you more time to catch up with Harry, but time is of the essence. Will you help us?"

"Need you ask?" Sirius said. "You probably have your hands full enough trying to keep him from getting hurt."

Ashe actually chuckled a little, even if her laughter was a little forced in light of recent events. "Then I thank you for your help. I appreciate it…"

Later that afternoon, Ashe had left Harry to catch up with his friends. And in truth, she wasn't sure whether she could be too long around Hermione. Not because she objected to the girl's presence. She hadn't really considered that the girl might be a rival, but Hermione had known Harry for longer than Ashe. And she wasn't sure what to make of it. She hoped that this little notion she had was wrong, that it was merely paranoia born of two years being a fugitive.

As she wandered away, deep in thought, she heard the Tonks woman say, "Wotcher, Ashe. You okay?"

"I am fine, Miss Tonks," Ashe said, turning to face the pink-haired woman.

"You don't have to call me 'Miss'. Just Tonks. I'm a married woman, and I'll be damned if people call me by my first name," Tonks said.

"What is wrong with Nymphadora? I wouldn't mind it myself," Ashe said.

Tonks merely scowled. "Yeah, but you probably wouldn't have to put up with bullying at school. I mean, did you have tutors or something?"

"Indeed. I do see your point, but I still find it a beautiful name. Tonks, then, what ails you?"

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to say hello. To talk. I mean, it's not every day you meet a princess, even if she's deposed or whatever. Anyway, Harry could get his stories out of Hermione, Remus, and the old dog." On Ashe's confused look, she clarified, "Sirius. Anyway, I don't want to hear them talk about…well, let's just say that I was pregnant when some twat cursed me."

"Oh. I see. My apologies. But what did you want to talk about, Tonks?"

"Just…I just wanted to talk to the girl Harry's friends with. I reckon Hermione wanted to do so too, but she's talking to Harry. Girl's got a tendency to talk your ear off." Tonks sighed quietly. "And I'm sorry if I come across as rude to royalty…"

"No, it's fine," Ashe said. "I can deal with familiarity and a lack of protocol. Believe me, I've had practise for the past couple of years. I speak like I do out of habit from years of tuition, but I am used to Harry, as well as Vaan, Penelo, and Balthier speaking to me without deference. Balthier, frankly, is harder to deal with than you, Tonks. My tutors would doubtless be mortified…but elocution and etiquette are not as useful to survival as being able to fight. So, what did you want to talk about?"

"A few things. Firstly, well, this comes from all of us. Thanks for helping Harry, being his friend when we couldn't be there for him. Knowing him, the guilt of his friends maybe dying probably got to him."

"Indeed it did," Ashe said. "He spoke highly of you all, and he never knew if he could return to help you. It tore at him. He kept me sane and level since I lost my father, my husband, and my throne. I would hope that I reciprocated when he worried about what happened to you."

"…And he's more to you than just a friend, isn't he?" As Ashe whirled to face Tonks, the pink-haired woman shrugged. "The way you look at each other…I know there's something more going on than just friendship and him serving you. Well…I'm glad he's got someone. He's had a hard life back home, and he deserves some happiness."

Ashe blinked. "But…Hermione…"

"They were more like brother and sister, and besides, she's seeing Neville Longbottom," Tonks laughed. "Oh, they could have been boyfriend and girlfriend…but it didn't happen like that. Bloody stupid old goat, keeping things too close to his chest…" she muttered bitterly. "At least once we got here, Harry got us up to speed as to what the hell was going on."

"Old goat? Oh, you must mean Dumbledore," Ashe said.

Tonks nodded. "Don't get me wrong, Dumbledore helped us stay together when Harry was lost…and he wanted to stop Voldemort, even if it meant his life…but the stupid old bastard kept too many secrets, never telling his allies what was going on until it was too late. If he had done that more…well, more people would still be alive. Including my father…and my child."

"…You have my condolences," Ashe said. "While I know not what it is like to lose a child, I do know what it is like to lose loved ones."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry to vent, I'm still bitter about what Dumbledore could have done…but didn't. Sometimes I'm glad that curse killed him slowly and painfully," Tonks muttered. "You probably know what it is like for us, then, for Harry to apparently die. For the Dalmascans, your father and your husband must've been seen as symbols of hope."

"Rasler…yes, he was, more than my father," Ashe said quietly. "And I may have been for many in Dalmasca myself. I tell myself it was for my own protection, so that I could regain my strength, and then retake the throne, but what we have been able to do against the Archadians seem to be little more than flea-bitings. I could do more with the Nethicite…but…have you seen the Necrohol that Nabudis has become?"

"Umm, no. What's a Necrohol?"

"A dead city, ravaged by magic. Harry had compared it to a weapon on your world known as a nuclear weapon. You are aware of those?"

"Yeah," Tonks said solemnly. "Most wizards wouldn't be, but my dad was a Muggleborn. They're nasty things to say the least. So, this Nabudis place got basically nuked by Nethicite?"

"The Midlight Shard, specifically, thanks to the Archadians wanting to test its power. Yet another atrocity to be laid at their doorstep," Ashe commented bitterly.

"And you've got one of those rattling around in your bag. Please don't trip on something and set it off," Tonks said. "I like my atoms kept together, thank you."

Ashe managed to stop herself from laughing at the joke. "I'm well aware of the gravity of the situation. And if what Harry told me is true, you were the one prone to clumsiness."

"Metamorphmagi have wonky senses of balances anyway. It's because our brains have to adapt to different body types. You try changing bodies and see how long you can keep your balance…"

They had spent the last little while catching up on little things. "I'll send a Patronus to the others," Hermione finally said. "Hopefully, they can use the Portkey we customised to home in on us."

"…Are they going to be happy to see me?" Harry asked. People had died because he wasn't there to help them. They might be bitter about that.

"They will be, Harry," Sirius said.

Hermione spoke quietly to the ethereal otter she had conjured. "We have found Harry. Free of Horcrux. He is at Bur-Omisace, with company. Embroiled in local events. Use Portkey to get to our location." After sending the Patronus on its way, she said, a little more loudly, "I know you're concerned, Harry. Frankly, we didn't know what we were going to find here in Ivalice. And while you're embroiled in this conflict…it's in a way that's better than we could've hoped. We were half-expecting you to be taken over by the Horcrux, or working for the Empire or the Rozarrians, or something."

"Such a vote of confidence in your friend," Balthier remarked wryly.

"It wasn't that. Just being through the war forced us to consider all sorts of worst-case scenarios," Remus said. "We hoped for the best, but we had to expect the worst."

"A sound way of thinking," Basch said, nodding.

"So, when are these guys getting here?" Vaan asked.

"It depends. They could be in the middle of something," Hermione said. "Ivalice has many monsters, and they could have gotten into trouble."

"Getting into trouble seems to be an increasingly common malady these days," Balthier said. "How long does that Patronus thing take to travel?"

"Minutes at most to reach its destination. It's not exactly radio or email, but it does the trick."

"Our numbers swell," Fran remarked. "Is it wise to travel with so many?"

"We have plenty of provisions," Remus said. "Enough to share even with the refugees here. And we've managed to get used to fighting the monsters here. We can pull our weight."

"It's not just that Fran worries about, but our numbers. Before you arrived, we numbered ten, including Larsa and Vossler," Balthier pointed out. "Even with Larsa and Vossler departed, we now number a dozen, and if there are four others, we number sixteen. Such a group may attract more attention."

"It matters not," Basch said. "They are Harry's friends, and if they are good in a fight, I would be glad to have them by our side."

"Basch's right," Harry said. "I've known these people for much of my life. I trust them, as much as I trust you guys…"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Some catching up, and some resolutions. We might have Hermione and Ashe talking about Harry in a later chapter, but I thought of the clumsy and plebeian Tonks making an interesting contrast with Ashe, who is still very much a princess, even if she is also deposed and forced to be a guerrilla fighter.

That being said, it definitely WILL be some time before the next chapter. Hope these two somewhat consecutive ones make up for it. Also, at the same time as this one, I am also uploading a new chapter of Nitimur in Vetitum. Yes, that's right, I've updated that fic for the first time in over a year!

No numbered annotations this time.