Chapter 8

Headmaster's Office

"Glynda, did you tell him about-"

"Of course, I did not!" Glynda glared at Ironwood's accusation that she had revealed their secret. "And, you, were you trying to antagonize him?"

Ironwood crossed his arms and glared at the woman. "This was your idea, I warned you that without leverage on our side his type wouldn't help us."

"His type?"

"Criminal," Ironwood bit out.

Ozpin watched them without really seeing them as they verbally sparred. His mind was on the conversation with Harry Potter. It would have been easier if the young man had simply agreed to their terms. Of course, the reasons for his refusal made Ozpin respect the boy. His eyes flicked to James and Glynda and he internally sighed. He knew why James was so abrupt; using children in wars had never sat right with James. Therefore, his insistence on using technology to replace or, at the least, shield people in the field.

Seeing as the others were not ready to embrace his vision, James had decided to throw his full weight behind Ozpin's alternative plan. James intended to see it through and be there when (in his mind) the alternate plan failed. For him the failure of Ozpin's plan was a foregone conclusion, and he wanted to waste no time to reach that conclusion. If that meant 'conscripting' Harry Potter and extracting knowledge from him, James Ironwood would do it in a heartbeat.

Ozpin stood and faced the window looking out on his school and kingdom. The argument behind him faded away. Ozpin presumed they thought he had something to add to their fight. He didn't, really. He had said what needed to be during his meeting with Harry. But he had to set things in motion to convince the young man to help them. And that meant that he needed to get this meeting to move on.

"Professor Goodwitch," he said, "Please bring me the profiles of our new class."

"What? Is that it? You're going to let this opportunity go and return to school duties?" Ironwood was baffled at Ozpin changing the topic.

"Rest assured, James, when the moment is ripe, I will take advantage of it." He turned away from the window to Atlas's General. "Now, onto another but related matter, it may be wise to transfer Dr. Geppetto to Beacon for the foreseeable future. When Mr. Potter agrees to undergo the procedure I want no delays."

"Besides," Glynda added, "Dr. Geppetto's daughter, Penny, wants to attend Beacon."

Ozpin and Glynda noted hesitation in Ironwood but attributed it to his reluctance to lose, even briefly, one of his head scientists.

"We can have him officially act as the Academy's head medical specialist. It would give him an opportunity to examine Harry when all students go in for their biannual medical checks." Glynda sweetened the pot.

Ironwood nodded. "Very well. I will take my leave now to go make arrangements. Goodnight."

Glynda waited for the elevator doors to close behind Ironwood before speaking again. "Why do you want the profiles?"

Ozpin waved his hand at the chair in front of his desk to invite her to sit. When they were seated, he spoke gravely, "I do not think I can leave the choice of Mr. Potter's partner up to chance, Glynda."

"I expect he will be paired with one of the Malachite sisters." Glynda frowned. "Unless they are paired with each other. Did you have someone else in mind?" She transferred the new student profiles to Ozpin's desk where he brought up several profiles at once and began cycling through them. She waited, impatiently, for the man to say something but he remained mute.

After a while she stood and left quietly. It was no use trying to get Ozpin to talk once he was engrossed in some idea.

Harry rode down the elevator while watching his reflection in the highly polished walls. He had grown taller and broader. His hair seemed to behave more, thanks to a simple cosmetic charm. The tilt of his chin and the intensity he saw in his own eyes made him uncomfortable. That self-possessed poise he saw in the reflection was a stark reminder of the young Tom Riddle he had fought underneath the castle once. His green eyes did not betray any of his inner shock, they only showed intensity, just like he had seen in the glittering red of his enemy.

So, this is what Pyrrha saw, this is what they mean when they say I walk like a warrior. He chuckled to himself without humor and looked away from his reflection. He had spent months learning from Voldemort's memories and the same months applying what he learned working in a criminal gang. Maybe it was not so surprising that Cinder and Roman had picked up on his potential, or that Junior had thought of him as a threat. Perhaps the fact that the Axe Gang ran around and obeyed him had less to do with his relationship with the Twins and more to do with internalizing the lessons Voldemort learned on his path to power.

Arriving back in the room they had congregated he found no one. Surprisingly he found himself happy at that. He needed time to think. Seeing Tom Riddle reflected in himself and the conversation in the Headmaster's office had unsettled him. He walked out of the main tower and towards the air pad. Coming to the edge of the cliff he looked out at the shattered moon.

What would I give for a broom right now?

A terrible longing for home gripped him. His face twisted in agony but he schooled his features quickly. He wasn't going to let the tears of frustration and pain fall. Grieving was the same as admitting that there was no way back home – and he was not going to do that yet. Or ever.

He sighed and simply breathed in the cool night air, letting the roiling emotions inside him subside.

After an hour's silent contemplation of the moon and the water body that lapped at the cliff, Harry turned to go back in. He wanted to see the twins, to let their sarcastic comments about everyone around them to wash over him. He wanted to watch Militia's carefully bored expression break to giddily talk about being at school. He wanted to feel his heartbeat race at Melanie's arrogant smirk when fighting. Harry sank into the emotions he felt for his friends in his new world. The affection, humor, and seductive sense of belonging enveloped him.

Feeling revived and hopeful he opened the doors to the great hall that the students were supposed to be sleeping in that night.

He found it covered in sleeping bags and dim lit. It seemed like most people were already in bed. Some people were changing into sleepwear or were talking quietly in groups. He saw Jaune at the far end of the hall walking around in what looked like a onesie. It's as if he wants to looks like a mark. Harry started to slowly make his way to the blond boy. He figured he would know where the twins were. It was unlikely that the girls would have cut him loose. They were nothing if not possessive.

There were raised voices in the far end of the hall where Jaune was walking to. Harry hurried up, getting a bad feeling. Sure enough, by the time he reached Jaune, the blond was part of a circle of boys and girls who were all looking at something. Someone said 'catfight' and sniggered.

"Hey, no need to be so raw about it. So what if I came into your club and humiliated you and made you look bad in front of that cutie," a strident voice covered the crowd's whispers.

"Oh, look, Militia, the baboon is talking," Melanie's unimpressed tones were only too familiar.

"She looks more like a gorilla. Would she be a yellow-back gorilla?" Militia asked innocently.

"Really?" the voice Harry didn't recognize said. "Is name calling the best you can do?"

"I think she is trying to communicate," Militia said in faux whisper.

"Here, I have an idea," Melanie said and then started speaking slowly and loudly, as if to a slow child, "Do you want a ba-na-na?"

"That's it!"

Harry felt the temperature rise suddenly, he remembered the last time something like that had happened. He pushed through the crowd so he could see what was going on. "Melanie, Militia," he said as he broke into the circle.

The twins were in their nighties, red and white. Pyrrha was standing behind them, seemingly like an overly tall protective big sister. Opposite them stood the blonde who had attacked the club, Yang. There were some other girls but he didn't focus on them. Yang had caught sight of him, time slowed down as he watched her grin grow and the flames licking at her skin dissipated. "Hey, Bad Guy," she said in a smoky voice.

Harry smiled and his eyes raked over the girl's nightwear. "Evening, Yang. Are you starting trouble again?"

"You know this girl?" Melanie demanded. The implied question, of course, was why Harry was being friendly with a girl who had fought them.

"Are you flirting with her?" Militia added.

"Jealous?" Yang shot back with a challenging grin.

"Yang?" a small dark-haired girl said. She was standing next to Yang. "Is this the guy you made out with at The Club?"

"Yup!" Yang said happily. "Or should I say, yum." She winked at Harry.

"Yes, cat fight round 2," Someone said from the crowd. Harry groaned and planted his head in his hand as his ears turned red. He knew the kiss with Yang was going to come back to bite him in the ass. "Let's all calm down, there's no need to fight."

"If you think I'm going to let you walk out of here after taking advantage of him," Melanie was saying.

"Hey!" The small girl snapped. "It's your thug of a brother who is taking advantage of my sister."

"He's not our brother!" Militia was horrified and staring at the small girl in shock.

"What, really?" the girl said in innocent curiosity. "But you all have the same beautiful green eyes and black hair."

"Oh, ho, little sister, you think my boyfriend's eyes are beautiful?" Yang teased.

Harry felt like a complete bystander in the conversation. It was about him but it was almost as if he had no say in the situation. He could only watch as the conversation spiraled deeper and deeper to a place he never wanted it to go.

"James?" a soft hesitant voice cut through the bickering.

Harry looked away from Yang and the twins to see one of the girls he had ignored when he walked into the circle. She had black hair and was wearing a short sleeping robe, a black bow was on her head. Harry felt fire burning him, skin cracking, and blood spilling from burst flesh. His head started pounding with rage.

"Donna," he said in a low growl that he could not identify as his own voice.

She stood up, leaving the patch of wall she had been leaning against. He peripherally noted a book falling out of her hands. Her amber eyes were wide and gaping at them. As he stared furiously at her, his wounds from the train explosion continued opening, healing over, then opening again.

"You're alive…you're alive," her voice wavered.

Everyone had fallen silent; they had forgotten their arguments in the face of what was unfolding before them. Those who had spoken to the girl before were surprised to see her suddenly acting timid, those who had known Harry's mild nature were shocked to see him enraged.

"Err, Bad Guy, you look like you're having a meltdown…literally," Yang said. "Um, is this normal? Should we take him to a nurse or something?" she directed at the twins when Harry didn't respond.

Melanie was glaring daggers at the girl who had been identified as Donna. "You're Donna?"

"I'm," the girl began but then pressed her lips together, simply staring back at Harry's accusatory stare. Tears had begun to gather at the corner of her eyes.

"Melanie," Militia said in a warning tone. "Now isn't the time. We have to take care of him."

"But she-"

"NOT RIGHT NOW!" Militia shouted. "He's bleeding, his aura is attacking him again. Being around this girl isn't helping. Look at him, he's gone catatonic. Yang is right, we need to get him away."

Pyrrha stepped forward, using her taller frame to interject between the locked gazes of Harry and Donna. "Harry, she said slowly with a smile. Harry? Can you see me." She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his. "Come on. Let's get some fresh air."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea. Ruby, you handle things here," Yang announced, as if nothing strange was happening. She took Harry's other hand and with a nod to Pyrrha guided him away from the confrontation. Throughout this Harry was lost in a haze of physical pain and anger, it was fed by the Dark Lord's soul. They couldn't see what was happening inside him but he was fighting for his own soul. Pushing the monster back. It was so hard to do when faced with betrayal of someone who he had saved.

Militia roughly grabbed her sister's arm and followed the trio. Melanie intended to attack Donna. She knew her sister wasn't thinking straight. Militia wasn't either, she wanted revenge as badly as Melanie. But between the two of them she was well aware of what would happen if they crippled the girl in front of witnesses.

Pyrrha had been having a great day. She had made a friend on the flight over to Beacon. That same friend had introduced her to more friends. Now, the new friends were…odd and maybe the sort of people her parents would not have approved of. But she, who had been so lonely for so long, didn't want to care about that.

She had fun thinking up names for their 'gang' with Militia and Melanie. It was also cute how Jaune rushed around on the twins' orders. So what if it was a tad abusive, most sibling relationships she had seen were a little like that. There was ample evidence of the girls watching out for the klutzy boy. The way they had made sure he had a nice bedroll and had memorized his locker number had assured her.

The best was, of course, that none of them acted like she was special. None of them proverbially scraped or bowed in her presence. She couldn't imagine the twins doing that, she smiled inwardly. Unfortunately, that nagging feeling that the crowd she had fallen in with wasn't normal had started blaring when the twins got into a fight with a boisterous blonde girl.

Melanie and Militia were just a little too sharp, walked with just a tad too much arrogance to be your run-of-the-mill top girls of the school. There was a touch of violence about their words and movements that fascinated Pyrrha. Jaune had none of that and because of that he was the 'mook' of the gang. Militia had explained the hierarchy. Pyrrha felt that Militia was a very sweet and helpful girl.

It wasn't clear to her where Harry fell in the hierarchy exactly. They had said he was the head enforcer, whatever that meant. Was he supposed to enforce the notion that Melanie and Militia were the most popular girls in school? Pyrrha had never been socially adept enough to understand the workings of cliques at her old school. It was an exciting experience just being part of one.

Except now when just by being friendly with them she was expected to back up Militia and Melanie in a fight. She didn't even understand what they were fighting about. Apparently the blonde, Yang, had embarrassed the twins. Although, according to the twins, Yang had cheated. Then Harry had arrived and things took a turn for the worse.

His eyes had slid right over her and locked with Yang. Pyrrha's heart constricted as she noticed the electric attraction between Harry and Yang. It wasn't surprising, Harry had the same edge that the twins had which fascinated her, so why wouldn't it grab the attention of a girl like Yang. It was obvious that Yang was one of those completely self-assured girls that Pyrrha had always envied. They could somehow insert themselves anywhere, make friends with whomever.

And Harry, with his eyes so green that their color couldn't be hidden by his golden glasses, his strange scars, and his gentle smile, would be irresistible to any girl. Pyrrha closed off her heart, all the good men were taken, she knew that. She didn't know why she was feeling disappointed. She knew better. It was good enough that she had found a friend in him. It was the best someone like her could hope for and it was worth it. She had only vaguely kept track of the conversation once Harry had shown up. That is until the taciturn girl with a bow had interjected herself into the bickering.

The change that came over Harry terrified her. The side of his face and body had started burning, blood was flowing and flesh sizzling in the flames. The smell of it was disgusting, the crowd recoiled but Pyrrha didn't. She could feel the rage, the anger, and the plain hurt that was coming from Harry. She had never felt anything like that before. There were Grimm, she had read, who could make one feel negative emotions. She had never encountered them but she imagined they would be like Harry.

He looked like he would murder Donna and both Melanie and Militia were going to back him up to the hilt. Oh, now she knew her parents would never approve of them. Except she had spent half a day with Harry, she had to trust in her heart that told her he was a good man. And so she did, reaching for his hand that was on fire. The flames pulled away from her hand so that they wouldn't burn her. She smiled to herself, she was right.

Yang and she guided Harry out of the hall and back into the room where Ozpin had spoken to them. Harry sat on the raised platform and took deep breaths. Soon the twins followed them. "Sorry," Harry said. "I lost control there."

"Yah! You could say that," Yang agreed flippantly.

"What happened in there?" Pyrrha asked quickly.

Harry sighed, closing his eyes. "That girl and I…have history."

"Yikes. Please tell me that's not your ex-girlfriend, because if you're going to go psycho boyfriend on me I want to know now." Yang was smiling as she said that but Pyrrha thought the question was relevant.

Harry snorted. "We weren't dating."

Before any more could be said the twins caught up with them. Melanie looked furious. "What are we going to do about this?" she demanded.

"Nothing for now," Militia said, looking equally pissed.

"Err, can someone catch me up on what's going on?" Pyrrha asked again.

"Melanie," Harry said warningly.

"Oh nothing," Melanie growled. "That girl almost killed Harry."

"Not what happened," Harry said.

"Right," Melanie agreed in a tone that was anything but agreement. "She just left you for dead."

A tense silence followed when Harry didn't correct her. Pyrrha felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "I-I can't believe it," she murmured.

"Believe it," Militia said. "He almost didn't make it. His heart stopped."

Harry looked up at that in surprise, apparently he hadn't been aware of that. Militia nodded at Harry and said, "You had to be revived. We thought you were gone."

"This is some seriously heavy shit," Yang said. "Look, I was talking to that girl before you all came by. She was pretty anti-social but she didn't strike me as a murderer."

"And what would you know about murderers?" Melanie snapped.

Yang gave her a long considering look. "Nothing, I guess."

"Harry," Pyrrha said, "What happened to you when you saw her? Your body just started combusting. I can see your wounds are healing now but…"

"It was your aura, wasn't it? There was something dark about it. It didn't feel like you at all," Yang said.

Pyrrha nodded. "I agree, it was so menacing."

No one said anything for a while then Harry stood up and took out the stick from his pocket. He waved it over his clothes and they started knitting themselves together. Pyrrha was surprised at that and intrigued. She hadn't seen anything like that before. So this is matter manipulation.

"You don't have to say anything," Militia said to Harry.

"Yes, I think I do," Harry said. "Both of them came to my side even when I was losing it. I'm not going to be the type of guy who hides information from people who are good to him."

Pyrrha felt embarrassed at the praise but Yang smiled happily. "So," Pyrrha said, "What happened?"

"I have another soul inside me that is trying to kill me. I didn't realize that it gets stronger when I'm feeling bad emotions like anger and disappointment. The stronger it gets the more it hurts my body to weaken me," he explained. Pyrrha could only gape at the strange and unbelievable answer.

"That's," Yang began, "a really weird coincidence. That girl, who you say left you for dead, was reading a book about a man with two souls."

"You believe this?" Pyrrha asked Yang.

Yang shrugged, catching Harry's eye and then the twins. "They don't gain anything from lying to us about this. It's too weird not to be the truth."

"I don't think that logic makes a lot of sense," Pyrrha said.

"It's not that much of a coincidence," Harry said. "She knows about me. She's the one who unlocked my aura, she was there when the other soul attacked me."

"Ohhh kay." Yang raised a golden eyebrow. "You know this is getting more convoluted by the second."

"Yes," Pyrrha agreed. "Maybe you should tell us the whole story." She watched the twins share a look with Harry. It was clear they didn't want to talk about it. "I see," she said and hung her head in disappointment for a moment. "I apologize for prying."

"It's not that," Harry said. "What happened between her and me should have been left in our past. We came to Beacon to start a new life."

Militia huffed. "It was too good to be true."

"Get real," Melanie snapped. "You can't just pretend whatever happened didn't happen. That girl is a threat, we have to handle her."

"And how exactly do you plan to do it? Go to Goodwitch and Ozpin?" asked Yang.

"There's no evidence," Harry said, just as Melanie said, "That's not our way, we will handle it on our own."

Pyrrha was feeling more and more uncomfortable. Yes, she had already picked up on the girls and Harry being a little less goody-two-shoes than what her parents and she would prefer, but this was on a whole other level. "You're talking about revenge," she said, "This is wrong, you can't take the law in your own hands."

Yang suddenly laughed, making Pyrrha feel embarrassed, as if she had said something stupid. "Pyrrha, was it?" Yang said. "Look, this crowd isn't the type who would care for that argument." She turned to Harry, Melanie, and Militia. "Besides, I think you should wait before doing anything. That girl looked very happy to see Harry alive. Hell, she had tears of relief in her eyes."

"We won't do anything," Harry said

"You can't be serious," Melanie rebuked.

Militia shook her head. "Harry is right, Melanie, we came here to start a new life. We will wait and give her enough rope to hang herself. Trying to even the score right now will only get us thrown out or worse."

The way Militia talked so casually about 'evening the score' worried Pyrrha. It was as if Militia wasn't concerned at all that they were talking about somehow hurting that other girl as much as she had hurt Harry.

Melanie was disgusted. "You can't start anything new with the scum of the past hanging around your neck. I'm done with this. If she so much as looks at either of you wrong, I will cut her throat."

Pyrrha didn't want to believe it but she knew that Melanie meant every word. Just when she had started relaxing and believing she had found good friends, she was confronted with the fact that attempted murder wasn't an unfamiliar concept to them.

"Alright, alright!" Yang made calming motions with her hands. "Things have obviously gotten a little too crazy. Why don't we all sleep on it? It's been a long day. Pyrrha and I will go get your things, you all can sleep out here tonight."

Militia gave Yang a weak smile. "Thanks."

Yang looped her arm through Pyrrha's and more or less dragged her back to the hall with the others. Pyrrha was still reeling from everything that she had learned and worry over needing to distance herself from the friends she had just made.

"You don't seem affected by any of this," Pyrrha asked Yang who had a smile as she walked between the rows of bedrolls.

The blonde shrugged. "I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, this sort of stuff doesn't phase me."

"So you're not worried about finding out that Harry was almost killed and that they are talking about killing or really hurting that other girl?"

Yang stopped and pulled Pyrrha in a shadowed corner. "When I first met Harry he saved my life, even though you can say I was his enemy at the time." She put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "He is not the type to do what it sounded like they were talking about in there. Besides, we don't have the whole story yet."

"I don't know, I want to believe you, but…" Pyrrha trailed off, feeling miserable. She had been so happy that day. She felt like she had really hit it off with them.

"Like I said, Pyrrha, let's sleep on it. Things will look better in the morning." She winked and whispered conspiratorially, "Besides, you saw his friends are willing to kill for him, that's how you know they are good friends. I'd say we should keep them."

"You are out of your mind," Pyrrha gasped and then laughed at Yang wagging her eyebrows. The girl was completely incorrigible.

"Maybe, but I'll take loyalty where I see it."