Beta: *flips into view, fires off commas like shuriken and lands in perfect crouch*. Once again, i have edited a worthless document. Conversion to fic is now complete. You may now read. *vanishes like ninja*

Harry ran his fingers along the armrest of the throne he'd seated himself in, dug his nails into the bumps and grooves of the overly elaborate chair and basked in the awkwardness as the silence in the room stretched. His gloves blunted the sensation, but that made it no less satisfying, and as a bonus at last half of his watchers shifted nervously when he leaned back into the cushioned comfort. Crossing his right leg over his left, he made a great show of relaxing, locked eyes with the teenager masquerading as an adult across the room, and shaped his lips into a challenging smirk.

He'd issued a challenge not to react and the Brat, displaced by his choice of chair, rose to expectations and failed miserably. Seething, the man-child glared at their hosts and the dark skinned, pink haired women were quick to procure another throne. Satisfyingly, it was smaller than the one he'd claimed, the placement was awkward with its back to the doors, and the spoiled would-be ruler had been forced to wait for it.

The red-eyed Brat's Knights filed in along the sides, jockeying for positions closest to their Lord and a pecking order was established. Silver and Viper closest to the Brat, Emerald and Ruby sitting in the following seats, with Topaz noticeably absent. They were behaving themselves, albeit in the same grudging way Kreacher had been with his recent 'orders', but behaving themselves all the same.

Ideally, he would have liked to talk to Viper on his own, sit with him one on one to strike a deal, and be on his way with what he wanted, but the 'Varia' had shot that down rather quickly. When he'd asked to speak with the not-baby, Silver had stepped in again where he wasn't wanted and offered to move the conversation to their Inn.

There was no way he was going to go anywhere near where the Brat had set up temporary domain; that would have put him on the back foot as far as negotiations went. Luckily, the cloaked women with the clever flame tricks, who introduced themselves as the 'Cervello', stepped in. They discarded their cloaks, revealing themselves as more dark-skinned, pink haired women, and very clearly explained why they had chosen to involve themselves. They were an independent third party whose sole purpose was to host, witness and judge the results of the Ring Battles.

As Harry was a potential 'Guardian' who might be fighting on behalf of the Varia, they would have to play witness to their meeting to make sure the Vongola did not try to sneak in a 'spy'. It was a neat solution to his problem as he was offered a neutral meeting place at a nearby hotel without having to ask for it.

Luxuriating in his seat, Harry smothered a sigh behind the back of his hand as out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jessica's face lock into the shape of a silent scream. If she was going to react like this to every little thing he did why had she followed him into the hotel the Cervello had led them to? Was he going to have to peel her from the wall and away from where the other 'servants' stood when their meeting concluded? Not that the lift to the hotel wasn't appreciated, but if she'd been a little later she could have avoided being trapped against the wall. Now she was stuck playing retainer to a Black Knight who was purposely baiting a foreign Lord and his Knights.

Yes, he was deliberately ignoring any and all social cues as well as the etiquette now etched into his soul, but he needed to. Jessica should have stayed with the car in the parking garage, it wasn't like Dobby and Kreacher would try anything. He'd put a stop to that. Also, she should have expected behaviour like this from him. He was essentially tangling with the possibility of joining the Varia's Court as their Amethyst Squire, however temporarily.

Forced into sharing space with the spoiled Lordling? Might as well make this as uncomfortable as humanly possible for everyone involved. Guilty as he might have felt for getting her caught in the crossfire, he couldn't actually be blamed if it was Jessica's own unfortunate timing and luck that had her tracking spells leading her to him before the negotiations could even start. Asking her to leave now would just be weakening his position with his… hosts.

She would just have to soldier through.

No protest was made about his choice of chair, even if there were a lot of interesting expressions worn around the table and surprisingly his audience went with it. Wine he wouldn't be drinking was poured into the glass in front of him and the thick viscosity of it as it settled gave away its quality.

Someone was pulling out all the stops, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. The Bratling had a hole in his Court and the Cervello were under the impression that he was here to fill it. That he had shown up at all would have looked like an indication that he was at least somewhat willing and open to the idea.

As much as he'd like to utterly crush those expectations, he knew he would have to use them. It was in his best interests to play along and see where that got him. For so long as they were bending over backwards like this in the hopes of tempting him to join them, he would be spared that much less time and effort in getting what he wanted. They were basically broadcasting their intentions; far be it from him to ignore the open invitation to take advantage of their collective stupidity.

It was preferable to running around directionless in yet another unfamiliar country. The fake Regulus's didn't stay anchored in one place and roamed freely. It was a minor miracle that he hadn't run into the same fake twice whilst caught up in the intense Flame fuelled focus that had him running roughshod around Italy. He had to remind himself of his goal. Time was his enemy, he simply did not have the luxury of ignoring this chance.

Viper was an expert at locating things and had reportedly never once failed to locate what he was after. Everyone Harry had spoken to had confirmed it. Using him to do the leg work for him was just common sense.

"Viper." He bit out before anyone could even begin talking, cutting a sharp glance to where the 'child' was sitting upon a stack of firm cushions. "Will you consider a payment in the form of gold?"

"G—gold?" The amount of avarice dripping off that one word alone was an indication he was on the right track.

Reaching into a pocket, Harry casually flipped one of the coins found therein at the baby. "I have more of those than I could ever possibly spend within my lifetime, and one very specific target. You need not do much, simply point me in the correct direction and I will take care of the rest myself. Name your price, I will be more than happy to match it."

Viper worked as a Hitman, and from the look of how tightly the toddler was grasping the Galleon he'd tossed across the room, he knew what he was being offered. A possible fortune for barely any work. No one to kill and no clean-up afterwards. The silence that followed his offer stretched and stretched.

"I will be most grateful for your cooperation." Harry added mildly, sweetening the pot with pure bullshit. He wouldn't be around long enough for Viper to cash in on the good will he was offering, not that the Esper knew that.

Viper was wavering, he could almost taste the agreement on the tip of the faux-child's tongue. He was a second away from having what he wanted when interruption came from their audience.

The Brat, apparently having had enough of being treated like he wasn't there, swept the table in front of him clear with his overly long legs and kicked them up onto the table. The wine he'd been offered 'accidentally' hit the edge of Viper's chair and the glass broke, raining alcohol and broken glass all over his Knight. The young Liege-lord's presence expanded to engulf the room thickly in an overbearing, almost hostile atmosphere and the coin his Knight had been holding dropped out of his tiny hands.

A careless-seeming shift of the man-child's overgrown feet and the Galleon returned to him, rolling off of the table top closest to him.

Harry caught it one-handed it as it dropped off the edge and kicked the table up with an equally casual looking move, watching in satisfaction as wood slammed upward and away. The Brat croaked as he was abruptly flipped up and folded in half, forced into an introduction of his legs to his face. Adding insult to injury, the throne tipped back and crashed to the floor so the young Liege was sandwiched between the back of his throne and the tipped over table.

"That," Harry informed him mildly. "…was rude."

He was straight-up negotiating with Viper, he's made his offer for Viper's services; why was he interfering? Why were the other Varia here? They were basically sticking their noses in where they weren't needed or wanted and the Brat was trying to rodeo lasso him into joining his Court while he was busy talking to someone else. It was beyond aggravating. "I believe I've told you once before to mind your manners, so quiet down while the adults are talking." Harry instructed over the deafening silence. "Or I'll put you into time-out like last time."

The scarred lord, after freeing himself with an Amber-Ruby blast, lunged for him with his red eyes glowing like embers. Emerald snarled and decided to join in on the fun, but when they got close enough Harry put an end to it. He grabbed them by the closest body part and tossed them out the closed window, one after the other. They busted through with a screaming thump, a crash, and the sound of breaking glass that trailed off as they fell. It was a decent drop; they were on the penthouse floor of a multi-story hotel. Even if they survived the fall uninjured and wanted to come back up for more it would take them a while to return.

"Anyone else want to try me?" Harry asked the remaining Knights in attendance.

Ruby Knight rolled out of his chair and fell to the floor, in absolute hysterics with laughter and seemed unable to gather enough breath to reply.

"Vooooi~! We're not as drunk as he is!" Silver cackled gleefully. Was that an excuse? The Brat hadn't looked drunk to him. "You really would be a great fit amongst us. We haven't had anyone take him to task like that in a long time~!" the Turquoise Knight finished, slapping his knee even harder. He was still sitting exactly where he'd been right from the start, only he was now doubled over and nearly crying with mirth.

"Then it was long overdue." Harry replied shortly and frowned, taking a moment to look him over and raised an eyebrow as he took in the lack of injuries and the replaced arm, only then noticing how put-together he looked. "You're not going to check up on him?"

"No need, the Varia Medical Team is on stand-by for the duration of the Ring Battles." Viper drawled, drawing his attention back to where it was supposed to be and answering both his initial question and the mystery of Silver's miraculous healing.

Reminded of what he was here for Harry got up from his stolen throne and tugged a handkerchief out of his pocket, approaching the fake child to extend it as a peace-offering and olive-branch in one. "Interruptions aside, my offer still stands. Unfortunately, I do not have much time to waste, so I will need your answer now. Keep in mind the fortune I'm offering you is one that has been amassing for generations and all I need from you is one location."

Viper took his handkerchief and began to wipe himself clean of wine. "You come to the best assassins in the world, offering a small fortune and you only want me to find one person?" the child sneered in scoffing hauteur, enunciating each word with careful deliberation. Confusion, disgust, and amusement filtered through his voice in equal measures. "It's almost a waste of my time."

"I think I've more than demonstrated why I have no use for an assassin." Harry bandied back instantly, raising a mental eyebrow at the attitude, what was giving him such confidence? "However, tracking my 'guy' down is proving harder than I originally thought it would be." Leaning forward into the fake-child's space Harry posed his next statement to his face. "Agree and I'll make the arrangements to have your payment delivered right here. You'll be swimming in gold within the week."

"Voi~! In five days you won't have to pay him." Silver interjected nastily. "Everything will be over by then, just participate in the—" the man flipped over the back of his chair and away from the kick Harry made in his direction to shut him up. "—Ring Battles and you won't have to waste your money!"

"SQUALO! Stay out of—" Viper started, and that was all Harry needed. Silver was just going to have to go join his Lord.

"You are not the one I'm negotiating with!" Harry hissed, lunging for him. "You have nothing I want. Why would you have a say in this? As far as I'm concerned you're nothing more than a useless security blanket! I don't care about wasting money, I care about wasting time!"

"Voi~! I'm a 'security blanket' with leverage and information!" Silver clarified, dancing out of reach, tension in every step, only managing to avoid him because Harry wasn't actually calling on his flame. The Cervello released twin bursts of calming energy and Harry paused, taking the opportunity to even out his flame and caught himself listening despite himself.

"Viper is an asshole, he wants gold like no one's business!" Silver insisted, "He'll take your deal alright, then he'll charge you extra for every little detail! For the location of the man you want, sure. Then he'll charge you to keep him from warning your target you're coming for him and again to 'escort' you there so you don't lose him. His locations are time sensitive too, so your target might be in one location when he does his Thoughtography, but be somewhere else within the next moment. I can get you exactly what you want with none of his bullshit. People request his services through us all the time, it's a standard contract with us; only easier since you don't want us to kill your guy!"

Whipping around to face Viper again Harry waited for a protest and didn't get one. The absence of any kind of denial from Viper was damning and a click of his tongue at the lost opportunity sealed it. Had it not been for the Cervello, both of whom were emitting the same flame calming trick from earlier, he'd have reacted violently to the near-betrayal.

He had been forthright and honest with the deal he'd been offering, fully prepared to find a way to hand over the Potter fortune without breaking the Statute of Secrecy and had already been mentally drawing up plans to have it delivered. In return he'd have gotten nothing but more demands.

Giving no warning as to his intentions Harry lashed out, only instead of grabbing Silver his hands gripped the fake Regulus none-too-gently by head and tossed him out of the broken window after the others. His good faith had been wasted on Viper and he was no longer worth negotiating with.

Breathing out a slow breath Harry straightened up and gave Silver his full attention for the first time since coming across him in Italy, meeting his sharp grey eyes dead on. "Your name?"

"Vooiii~!" the man breathed, eyes alight with success.

"… Your name is Voi?" Harry asked sarcastically, one eyebrow raised disbelievingly at the man.

The Ruby Knight, who'd been in the process of trying to pick himself up, fell back over again as he sent himself into stitches one more time. "H—hah~! His n-name is Su—Su— Superbi Squalo~!" The blond Knight sputtered from behind the hands held desperately over his mouth.

Harry gripped him by the hair and slung him out the window too.

No more peanut gallery.

The only people left in the room were the Cervello, the servants still standing along the walls and Jessica, who was pale, blank-eyed, and leaning heavily against the wall. As she didn't look like she was in immediate danger of collapsing, he turned his attention back to the task at hand.

Retaking his place on the throne he'd claimed, Harry relaxed back into it and the servants along the wall took this as their cue to spring forward and right the room.

Plywood was taped up to the broken window. The table was righted and the chairs put back into place. The Brat's throne was carried away and replaced by a simpler wing-backed wooden chair that matched the others in the room. Broken glass was swept up and wine was re-poured, though Harry waved his away when it was offered again.

Superbi Squalo drained his before he even sat down.

"First things first," Harry started, tapping an index finger against his armrest as he relaxed back onto the throne again. "What are the Ring Battles, why you want me to fight for you, and what are you expecting of me?"

The Cervello, in tandem with each other, smiled. One bowed while the other curtsied, and when they spoke their voices blended together.

"Allow us to explain."

OoO

By the time the Cervello finished clarifying everything, Harry's head felt like it was spinning. He should have waited until his ancestor had deemed him fully trained, the control he had over his flames wasn't as stable as it should have been. He wasn't ready for extended periods of time around other people, and actively wanted to bury himself somewhere isolated where no one would find him.

His focus waxed and waned, and it had been since he'd left Sky Manor, which might have been a good thing as his brain would have probably overloaded by now. It certainly would have after the first handful of questions he put to the Cervello in any case. He'd voiced them as they occurred to him, making sure to couch them in the phrasing everyone else was using, and didn't shy away from asking anything until he finally couldn't take it anymore.

His stomach was already at his feet and an internal vertigo set up camp inside his head and started smoking. He'd hit his limit. Emotions he really shouldn't be feeling bubbled up inside him and set his lips to thinning as his throat tightened. He was glad he'd refused to take off his cloak when entering the hotel, the only thing visible of his face was his mouth, and the set of it could have been taken for anything. Without seeing his whole face no one would know just how upset he was.

From the terminology they were using… the Ring Battles were a form of territorial dispute between two Lords. A controlled form of dispute between two Lords. A form of dispute where the only people effected were those directly participating, namely the Lords in question and their respective Knights. There were laws to this kind of conflict, ones where rule-breakers looked forward to spending time in a prison that sounded just about as bad for Elementals as Azkaban was for Wizards.

Muggle Elementals had taken what had time and again ripped the Wizarding World apart for millennia, streamlined the process and turned it into an art-form couched in traditions and inheritance laws.

It was downright civilized.

There was none of the politicking like what was going on in England, where you had to pick a side or risk being trampled. No bystanders were to be harmed in this tug-of-war and every precaution was taken to keep 'civilians' safe. To the point that illusionists had been hired for the specific purpose of redirecting them away from the fighting if they got too close. Lords didn't hide themselves behind their Courts, they were to stand side-by-side with their Knights and expected to fight alongside them. Casualties, if there were any, would be confined to combatants alone.

Here, there was none of the bullshit two-faced, double-standard that had ruled Harry's life. A Squire was given the same rank, respect and authority of a fully-fledged Knight and in exchange was expected to fight no matter the age of the 'Guardian' in question. The Vongola's Emerald Knight was the perfect example, and that was unlike anything he'd ever heard of or experienced.

Harry had been turned away when warning the teachers of dangers to the school. Thought to be 'playing detective' when he was inevitably caught up in whatever trouble was happening. One moment he was the Boy Who Lived and the next he was a liar. An attention seeker and unrepentant trouble-maker, filthy Parselmouth or Dark Lord rising. He was too young to fight, tucked away and 'protected' when out of school and not taken seriously even after years of proving himself.

It was only in the aftermath, when he was recovering from actively living up to the expectations of being Dumbledore's de-facto Knight that he was granted any regard. Even then his peers were rewarded in his place and he alone was flooded with attention, respect, admiration from all sides, which made him the target of envy and jealousy. The cycle would then repeat itself all over again the next year.

Superbi Squalo was another example, though not as extreme. Here was someone who'd likely been born and raised to this culture and their differences were as clear as day and night.

The bond the man shared with his Lord was undeniable, rock-steady and gilded. He held his Lord's ultimate trust and had the authority to negotiate a deal with outsiders on the Brat's behalf, which he was using with confidence.

There was a arrogance to him that told Harry that the man had never wanted for anything in his life or had the world dropped out from under him even once, let alone the multiple times within the last few years. Loud and attention-grabbing where he just wanted to sink into the shadows and be anywhere but where he currently was. Constantly at his Lord's side where Harry couldn't even imagine himself in the same position without feeling physically ill.

It didn't end with him.

The rest of the Varia, from what he'd seen of them, were the same. The only one who seemed at all like he'd experienced even a fraction of the same hardship he had was their Lordling, but he looked like he'd made quite the recovery. His pride was the only thing that outmatched his ego and whatever else he'd been through in the past, he now had companions at his side that eagerly followed him into battle.

The Brat didn't know how lucky he was.

Fighting over a throne when he already had his own? Ridiculous! And his men followed him anyway. None of them knew how lucky they were. In his right mind and without the pressure of his own goals pressing down on him, that would have been enough to have him walking away.

In a perfect world Harry would have made his offer for assistance, paid in gold and the spoiled Brats would have found someone else to fight for them in this idiotic power-play. Everyone could have gone on their merry way.

This wasn't a perfect world though and Viper had already proven himself to be a self-serving, money-grubbing, double-dealing backstabber and at his most generous guess, Harry was set for a complete, irrevocable meltdown in a matter of months. His options were slim to none and the rate of his mental deterioration left no room for error. The time he'd lost in between meeting Viper and finding him again in Japan proved just how bad off he was. He'd thought he'd had enough time to think the offer over, but instead he'd been late for the Ring Battles by several days. Already two battles had been fought without him.

Find Regulus. Get the man to help him retrieve the Horcrux from Gringotts and destroy it. Kill Nagini, Voldemort, then himself. Why did such a simple sounding goals have to be so complicated? He was essentially failing step one and his hands were tied, especially given that he couldn't trust his own mind not to lead him around in curlicues chasing fakes of the man he was looking for.

Merlin help him, but he had no other choice. He was going to have to take the deal.

"What happens in the event you die during your fight?" Harry asked the silver haired Turquoise Knight, crossing his arms against his chest at the prospect. "You're participating too, aren't you? I have no guarantee that Viper will cooperate without you."

"We'll draw up a contract, Voi~!" Squalo enthused, not at all insulted by the implication that he might lose. The excitement of being on the winning side of their negotiations had him leaning forward and baring his fangs in a gaping smirk. "The Ring Battles are serious business; if he breaks it, he'll have to explain himself to the Vindice and they're not idiots, he'll cooperate."

"If you find it acceptable we, the Cervello, will facilitate your bargain." The soft-spoken of the two pink haired women offered, getting up from her place at the table and dipping into a polite curtsy.

"We can draw up a contract which honours the letter and spirit of any agreement you come to with the Varia and file it with Vindicare." The sharper voiced of the two women continued. "As an independent group we hold no interest in either party, so you can rest assured that the both of you are guaranteed fair, honest and equal treatment."

"Fine then, I'll leave it to you." Squalo answered for him, still grinning toothily. "Our terms are that you represent the Varia as our Cloud Guardian and you don't kill our boss."

"My terms are that Viper will track down my target in return for temporarily representing the Varia for the duration of the Ring Battles. I reserve the right to defend myself and my vassals. Any harm done to me or mine will not go unpunished." Harry sniffed, catching the attempt to trap him into servitude indefinitely. "How stupid do you think I am? Did you honestly think that would work?"

Squalo burst out into raucous laughter and slammed a fist down onto the tabletop hard enough to rattle his empty wineglass. "It was worth a shot, Voi~! I like you, what did you say your name was?" The man cackled, reaching out his flesh and blood right hand to seal the deal.

"I didn't say, and it's Saint." He bit out. He grimaced at the offered appendage and left it hanging, galled by the unholy light of accomplishment in the man's eyes and eyeballing the hand with distaste.

The man, taking no offence, redirected the hand as if to clap welcomingly on his shoulder.

Harry pushed him away with all of his no-so-inconsiderable strength and sent him flying through a wall where he crashed out of sight.

"Could you add one more thing to our contract?" Harry heard himself ask the Cervello distantly, the hair on his arms standing on end. He fought off a full body shudder and reflexively reached for one of the cloth napkins, fastidiously dusting off the shoulder Squalo would have touched as his skin crawled.

"It shouldn't pose any trouble." The pink haired woman with the sharper features and voice claimed, "So long as it's not something the Varia will object to."

"I don't want them touching me. At all. That goes for all of them and their servants." The Brats could keep their disgusting paws to themselves.

"That should be acceptable, we will have the contract drawn up shortly. Have you decided where you will be staying?"

"Not with them, and not here." he answered immediately, fighting against another disgusted crawl shuddering up his spine.

The Lordling's presence lingered like a bad stench. It basically felt like the Brat had violently shat all over the walls. Gagging lightly, Harry tossed the cloth napkin away from him and grimaced at the pink haired women. "Got any suggestions?"

OoO

It took a bucket of chilled water to bring Jessica back to her senses.

The woman remained blank-eyed and unresponsive to a pat on her shoulder, him shaking her arm, the light pinch he'd pressed into the web of her thumb and forefinger, and a carefully controlled slap to the face. The Cervello suggested a bucket of icy water and had it delivered, then stepped back to allow him to revive his 'servant'.

She came-to with a loud, in-drawn gasp and flailed, catching herself against the wall before she could fall over, then stared at him gape-mouthed, shocked and highly offended.

"Had a nice nap?" he asked.

"No." Jessica whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut and wiping her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She combed the strands of her choppy gold bangs out of her eyes with shaky fingers and pressed a hand to her cheek. "No, I didn't. Was that absolutely necessary? I wasn't actually sleeping, I was meditating! Also holy god, why does my face hurt?" she moaned, cupping a hand to the spot Harry had slapped and bowing over it.

Rolling his eyes at the needless dramatics, he straightened her up and pushed her hands away. Calling up the tiniest smidgen of his own flame that he could command, he brushed his fingertips against the raised red hand print along her cheekbone and the bruise melted away. For the first time since Fawkes had helped him awaken it Harry found himself grateful for the healing properties inherent in his Flame. He hadn't meant to hit her so hard.

"Eh? What? It doesn't hurt anymore! What spe— what was that?" Jessica asked, patting her face and pressing her fingers into her cheek searching for the bruise.

"Propagation-healing." Harry explained, "It's a… family gift. Normally it only works on the person who's using it, but with enough effort it works on others for small things like bruises."

Which was a bit of a white lie, he could do more than heal bruises, he'd recovered from so much more the moment he'd Awakened. However, it wasn't like he was going to admit that with an audience. Especially not with the way the Cervello were giving him some major side-eye. Felis had told him how rare Amethyst Regeneration was and had warned him against revealing it. He would trust those words for now and if word got out about his talent, he would know exactly who was to blame.

"Is there a bathroom nearby?" he pointedly asked the pink haired women who had yet to leave; so much for getting the contract written up as soon as possible. "Ms Reins needs to freshen up."

Jessica took that as permission to leave, however loosely granted, and fled the room. "No need to show me the way! I saw one in the hall outside!"

Harry followed, stepped over a bit of rubble and absently kicked Squalo's leg out of his way as he passed the man's prone form. He spared the silver haired Turquoise Knight a glance, (unconscious, but still breathing), and surprised himself with the renewed urge to wipe himself down. How had the man managed to repeat the same mistake that had made him replace his fake arm earlier? Did his brain only boot up when his Lord wanted something then switch off when the task was complete? As if he hadn't given him enough warning; next time it happened he would just kill the idiot.

The world would be better off without him.

Entering the bathroom Jessica had ducked into, Harry wandered over to the sinks, pulled off his gloves and washed his hands.

"Hey, this is the women's side!" Jessica complained from where she was standing by the next sink, catching her in the act of using her wand to spell herself dry.

"So?" Harry asked, searching for something to wipe his hands with. "It's not like you were actually using the toilet. Also you need to be more careful, I could have been anyone coming in."

"Obliviate exists for a reason, and you healed me in front of those women!" she countered instantly, looking away to examine her cheek in the mirror, then froze as if realizing something. "Oh shit, does this mean we have to go back and find them?"

Shrugging, Harry grabbed the trailing edge of his cloak and dried his hands on it for lack of anything else to do the job. The toilet paper would have just disintegrated and made a mess. "They're not exactly Muggles, they're Elementals and I used Elemental Magic. As far as the Statute is concerned, I did nothing wrong."

"Muggle Elementals?"

"Elemental magic takes on the form of flames and manifests in the colours of Soul Shades. The Muggle Mafia discovered it several hundred years ago and have been using it ever since. Try not to be too surprised when you see them using it."

"… and you're making deals with them. This is insane! Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? You're crazier than I thought you were!"

Harry paused in the act of scrubbing the cloth between his now dry palms. "Yes," he agreed flatly, dropping the fabric from his raw hands to tug his gloves back on again. "And it's only going to get worse from here on. You know what I am. You know the goal I'm working towards. For me this is merely the beginning, though at this point…you've done more than enough, you are free to return home if you so choose."

She'd gotten him into Japan and delivered him to Viper. The Cervello would make sure he cooperated. All he had to do was fight and that was something he was more than prepared to do. Dragging her into a Court of violent, back-stabbing Elemental Knights whose Lord had to be one of the most repulsive people he'd ever met was just… something he'd like to avoid given half the chance.

Jessica was lonely enough that she'd already gotten somewhat attached to him and she hadn't even known him that long. Not so surprising for someone as genuine in personality as she was, who was also just as open and honest with their reactions and emotions as well. What was surprising was his own growing attachment. He was seeing too much of his past self in her and empathizing when he shouldn't be.

If he let too much time pass, eventually he might not even be capable of leaving her behind. So… he would just leave the way open and let her go if she left on her own. If she continued following him, he would inevitably get her caught up in something they'd both regret.

"I already said no, damn it! If I decide I want to do something stupid then I'm going to do something stupid and you aren't going to stop me! Stop trying to chase me away!" The woman snarled, slamming a fist against the sink she'd been leaning over.

The sink cracked.

Harry coughed at the startled squawk she made at the damage she'd caused, quickly turning away when she scrambled to fix it and started walking for the door. He managed to hide his amusement from her, but couldn't resist the words that spilled out of his mouth. "The difference between stupidity and courage is the outcome."

He could see Jessica's jaw drop in the refection of the mirror that spanned the wall as she whipped around to face him.

"Did you just—"

"If you're going to do something stupid, and we all do, it might as well be a brave and foolish thing." Harry continued, cutting her off before she could get another word in edgewise.

Her reaction was priceless, mainly because she had no idea she was talking to a former Gryffindor. He was discovering more advantages to anonymity with each passing day.

Hiding a snerk by angling his face away, he left the bathroom and headed for the lifts where he let off another line he'd heard bandied about by his housemates. "Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity."

"You've read Sherlock Holmes!?"

"Stupidity and bravery go hand in hand." he quipped, ignoring the question entirely as he pressed the button for the lift and motioned her in with a tilt of his head before joining her.

"You're not going to answer me, are you?"

"An apple a day keeps anyone away, if you throw it hard enough."

"… what?"

OoO

With that sorted out, or as close to it as he was going to get for now, a lot of the weight Harry was feeling dropped off of his shoulders.

He could relax for a bit, things would be straight-forward from here on out. He didn't have to think and plan. All he had to do was fight when called on. A part of him was also disgustingly relieved, for as odious as he'd found the Brat… he was still a Lord.

Completely the 'wrong' Lord, but his flame didn't know that. The bond he shared with Voldemort quietened as he was at least taking steps to do his job as a Knight. As he'd half hoped and expected the bond was just too twisted and distorted to register which Lord he would soon be fighting for. The similarities Voldemort shared with this Liege-Lord might have helped and an internal itch he didn't know he was feeling actually soothed itself.

Any doubts he might have had about binding himself to an Unbreakable Vow vanished. If the feeling was this strong at simply taking a single step in the 'right' direction, then the time and effort that had gone into it had not been wasted. The respite was so strong he almost felt refreshed, the relief of it was unbelievable.

He could allow himself the fantasy that he had a place in the world, and there was no need for him to worry about the state of his mind or the lack of control he had over his own flame when stressed. For a little while he could pretend his problems were the Brat's problems and that the Varia Knights were his Brothers, ready and available to join him in his crusade. For now he could ignore his consistently shaky focus and dupe himself into believing it wasn't an issue, even if he'd been wavering somewhere between Hyper Dying Will Mode and Dying Will Mode for… he didn't even know how long.

Things had been so much simpler in Sky Manor, no wonder the portraits had been trying to cook up ways to keep him there. He was in way over his head, and it was all he could do to keep himself afloat.

Pathetic.

"Hey, we're stopping here."

Lifting his wrist off his eyes, Harry sighed internally and reached for the seat lever so he could sit himself up. Jessica didn't wait for him; she'd already exited the car and was making a beeline for a building he was very sure wasn't on the list of hotels the Cervello had given him.

"This doesn't look like a hotel." Harry remarked pedantically as he caught up to her, following her into what was clearly a restaurant. She really was getting unnaturally comfortable with him. It might have been a mistake passing the decision of where they would be staying off to his driver.

"It's not. We haven't had dinner yet, we're eating here. Hotel food isn't worth the money they charge for it." The woman declared, putting on a false show of bravado.

Lucky for her the place was basically empty, being as late as it was. Had there been even one customer Harry would have turned right back around and left. He'd had enough of people for today. There was only one person at the counter, and he kept his distance after a very brief welcome. They were told to call him over when they were ready to order and were left alone to talk. A glance over the menu, which thankfully had English translations printed underneath each dish, and Jessica chose something and called the man over, pointing at the plastic sheet in her hand.

"I'll have this mixed sushi set— "

"Two." Harry interrupted; he honestly didn't care what he ate so long as he ended up with something in his stomach.

"Two of this sushi set and some of your warm sake—"

"We don't serve alcohol to minors here, would you like tea for him instead?" The man suggested, pausing in the middle of taking down their order.

"I'm fine with tea." Harry answered as Jessica froze, boggling at the question for whatever reason.

"Was there anything else you wanted?" The man asked as he jotted that down.

"No, that's all we want." Harry replied for her, placing the menu back in its holder. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, your order shouldn't take long."

The man bowed slightly and walked away, leaving Jessica still staring gape-mouthed at him. Harry had to tug the menu out of her hands to get her to release her grip on it and the action jolted her back from whatever reality her brain went when she got like that.

"Minor?!" She shrieked quietly, leaning across the table and getting right up into his face. "He said minor! Tell me he was making assumptions!"

"Age is just a number." Harry retorted, mild as milk as he pushed her scandalized face away with a hand to her forehead.

"And weed is just a plant!" she countered instantly, grabbing his hand and patting along his arm.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"— and information brought it back! Tell me!"

"… I've never heard that continuation before." He returned, very lightly slapping away the hands that were now feeling along his shoulders.

Information brought the cat back? Maybe it would be enough to push this one away. He was far enough removed from his former appearance that he was neigh unrecognizable as it was. There was also enough distance between here and England that the likelihood of running anyone who might recognize him was fairly low.

Reaching for the clasp of his cloak before he could second-guess himself, Harry undid the brooch holding it closed and pulled off the garment, dropping it at his side.

"How!?" Jessica exclaimed immediately, gold eyes wide as she reached across the table again to squash his face between her palms in outrage. "How are you so young?!"

Harry pushed her hands away again and snorted as she flailed and was forced to catch herself by slamming her hands down on the surface of the table to stop herself from planting her face onto the wood. "When a witch and a wizard love each other very, very much—" he started sardonically, just to be as annoying as possible.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" The tawny haired woman shrilled, cutting him off. It was a reaction that was better than anything he could have hoped for, she was standing straight up now and her face was reddening. Shock, outrage and more emotions than he could put names to were working their way across her face with stunning clarity.

Would this be the deal-breaker he'd been looking for?

Lips curled back away from teeth, showing off her blunted fangs and a savage glint sparked to life in her eyes. "Tom Marvolo Riddle, was it?" she snarled through gritted teeth and the sheer unexpectedness of it startled him enough to jolt. "Where is he?"

"Nowhere you'll find him." Harry cut back, narrowing his eyes at her in an acidic glare for using the name. "Stop being stupid and sit back down before I make you. He's stronger than the both of us combined, you wouldn't last a second against him."

"There's more to magic than raw power!" Jessica argued hotly, thumping a hand against the table as if to emphasize her point. "There's no way you're fully trained, maybe if an adult—"

"My parents, who were Aurors, tried that when I was a baby. They're dead, so are a lot of their friends and my… Lord is currently in his early seventies. What does that tell you?"

Jessica's mouth opened and closed wordlessly and she deflated, sinking back onto the seats on her side of the booth. "Maybe… maybe there's something we can do to stop—there's got to be something we can try, it's the modern age! Surely someone, somewhere would have found a way to stop you from…" she trailed off, weakly thumping her fist onto the table again.

"And what, exactly, do you think I'm doing here?" he asked lightly, even as he hid his own clenched fists under the table. He'd miscalculated, she really had gotten far too attached to him; revealing himself had been a mistake. At the very least she didn't know the full extent of his plan. "The man I'm searching for has information I need, if I can get to him before it gets too bad then I have a chance. The Varia know how to find him, that's the only reason I'm here."

To kill his 'lord' before Harry died from the corruption. That wasn't something he was stupid enough to tell her, though. She was the type to try and stop him, to fret, worry and fuss over it all until she ended up dead herself. Hermione would have loved her; Jessica ticked just about every box that would have had his friend falling all over herself to help.

The woman slumped forward over the table and dropped her face to the wood with a none-too-gentle 'thunk'. "This isn't fair."

"Life sucks and then you die, isn't it the same for everyone?" He asked dryly.

"… that sort of thing just sounds weird coming out of you now that I know how cute you are." Jessica griped without looking up, thumping her head against the table.

Harry wasted an affronted glare on the top of her head but his ire at the insult faded quickly as he found himself winding down. The atmosphere of the shop helped a lot for that. The warmth, lighting and rhythmic sound of rain drumming on the rooftop were downright tranquilizing and the thunder rumbling away in the distance made a nice contrast to the soft music that was playing and blended in with the sounds coming from the kitchen.

Soon the food they'd ordered was set out in front of them and that just added to it all. Everything smelled and looked so appetizing that even though he could see that he'd been served raw fish, he didn't care. Hadn't he heard something about Japanese people eating raw fish before? Even Jessica perked right up at the food that had been presented to her and began eating without reservation and with obvious relish. Copying her as she poured soy sauce all over her food, Harry dug in.

Moments later he was picking his plate clean of even the tiniest piece of rice and licking his lips. He polished off the salad and the small bowl of soup that had been served with the sushi and he had no regrets. Raw fish or not, that had to be the most delicious meal he'd had in a while. Had this been a hotel he'd have put money down for a room in an instant. Perhaps there was one close-by. He wouldn't mind visiting again for more, there were still four more Ring Battles to go, he should have time to come back here for another meal or two.

"… what's your real name?" Jessica asked sombrely, bringing his attention back to her and looking up from where she was watching the steam rise from her sake cup to meet his eyes.

He waited for the exact moment she took a nice big sip and raised an eyebrow at her mockingly. "Harry James Potter."

As expected Jessica sprayed her mouthful across the table and covered her mouth too late against the spluttered choking fit of laughter his name sent her into. Her dark mood was expelled within an instant and she was her flailing and flustered self again.

"Oh my g-god, you're such a little shit—" she interrupted herself with another cough. "—head! I can't believe I was so scared of you! I feel like a dumbass! How did I not see it before?"

"… bravery?" he suggested as he got up from the table.

"Oh, very funny." She drawled, catching onto the subtle insult as she made her way to the counter to pay for what they'd eaten. "You should try becoming a comedian."

Heading for the door of the restaurant without answering, he waited for her in the entry hall and swung his cloak back up around him. He settled the hood back over his face and pinned it closed with a shaking hand. What had possessed him to reveal himself like that? To then go as far as to give her his real— his former name? Even as a joke that was— that… had been stupid of him. What would he have done if she'd believed him?

How would she have reacted to it served as the truth?

No use thinking of it now. Might as well let her continue thinking he'd been joking. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and reached for the handle of the door to let himself out.

It slid open before he could thread his fingers into the handle and suddenly he was facing the dark haired Knight of the little Lord playing opponent to the Brat, who blinked down at him in surprise. Hazel eyed widened, the teenager's face sharpened for a fraction of a second before smoothing out into a relaxed, open and friendly smile. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there." The boy laughed easily, yet seemed hesitant to try getting past him.

When was the last time Harry had seen anyone with such good control over their own emotions? He was almost envious of the smooth recovery.

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have been standing so close to the door." Harry demurred, not taking his eyes off him. So long as the boy didn't try attacking him, he wasn't about to start a mess, especially not in the doorway of a restaurant that had served a meal like the one he'd just had.

Tension charged the air as neither of them moved.

When Jessica got close enough, having finished paying for their dinner, he grabbed her by the arm and pushed her out into the rain. "Get in the car." He ordered sharply, keeping himself between her and the Knight at all times just in case the boy decided she was a softer target.

"Takeshi, what are you doing? Get inside already and close the door! You're letting the cold air in! Bring in the shop curtain while you're at it, we're closing now!" The man that had served them called out from inside the restaurant.

The hazel eyed boy inexplicably relaxed and broke eye contact to glance up at the dark blue banner hanging from the entrance. He reached up and unhooked the pole they were attached to and tossed them a relieved smile. "Sorry dad, I'll be right in!"

Harry clicked is tongue at the situation; he'd been hoping to come back, but he supposed that wouldn't exactly be the smartest idea now. What a shame, he couldn't enjoy his food if he was constantly looking over his shoulder waiting for an attack. Jessica wouldn't be able to defend herself from the other boy and he'd no doubt lurk, convinced Harry would attack his father. Turning on his heel, Harry stalked to the car where Jessica already had the engine running.

"What was that about?" the woman asked, leaning down a little to give the teenager still staring after him a look of her own.

"One of the Varia's opponents in the Ring Battles." He clipped out as he closed the car door carefully to avoid damaging it. "Don't go back there without me."

"He can't be any older than you are." She observed faintly as he fastened his seat-belt, leaning back into her seat so she could pull out onto the road. "He looks so innocent! Also damn it, I really should have been paying attention, I'd have felt him coming a mile away…"

"Looks can be deceiving." Harry muttered. "And don't worry about trying to sense them, I'll have the Cervello get you pictures of the others so you'll at least know by sight who to avoid around town while we're here. I'll get them once I've signed the contract. For now let's head for a hotel, no more stops along the way."

"Yessir~!"

OoO

The contract arrived at their hotel the next day, hand delivered by the Cervello and escorted by none other than Squalo himself.

Harry read over the contract before he picked up the pen he would be using to sign it with and paused. "Who the hell is Xanxus and why the hell is his signature on the contract?" He asked the silver haired Knight in front of him.

"He's my boss? The one I said you couldn't kill?" Squalo offered, "The one you met— the drunk from yesterday?" he tried.

Oh, right. The Brat.

"He never did introduce himself." Harry muttered as he scanned the rest of the document.

It was as straightforward as the Cervello had promised it would be, written in clear English with no room left for creative interpretation. The Brat had signed at the bottom and a small Ruby-Amber Flame sat under it. Viper's signature was next, with a Dark Sapphire Flame pressed underneath and lastly was Squalo's, whose flame was the fiercest shade of Turquoise he'd ever seen.

Not wanting to spend any more time with it anywhere in vicinity, Harry uncapped the pen and signed the contract as 'Saint' before adding his own Flame Seal to the parchment. The Cervello stepped forward to examine the document and seemed to find no issue with the Amethyst flamelet, even if Harry's own bias deemed it mismatched against the others.

They didn't complement each other at all.

"Very well, we will now present you with proof of your participation in the Ring battles as the Varia's Cloud Guardian. Take care that you do not lose it, for you will earn yourself a place in Vindicare Prison for your negligence."

The Cervello with the softer features stepped forward with the ornate box he'd been presented with the night before and sat it on the table in front of him. She curtseyed and left the room without further prompting, taking the one holding the contract with her.

Squalo mouth twisted into a vicious leer.

"Voooiii~! Welcome to the Varia!"

OoO

Chapter End!

So, presenting more BAMF!Harry. Some excellent Jessica flailing, and Harry getting into an unintentional Mexican Standoff with a random bystander. Which really was random, I had no idea that was happening till I wrote it.

Warning for being introspection heavy, but that's only to be expected. Harry is in a very tight spot right now with not very many outlets for that stress. Poor baby it's… not going to get much better any time soon but it might in the future? Eheh, no spoilers. XP

I swear if I don't write this story exactly how my plot bunny wants the stubborn bastard won't let me write! It's incredibly frustrating, but also so very rewarding. My plot bunnies demand my best writing and won't settle for anything less so I'm left with nothing until the muses align.

Drop a review if you liked it, they feed the hungry assholes. Gotta keep them fed if you want Varia Quality fic eh? See you next chapter guys!