August 2nd, 1995

Somewhere in Little Whinging, Surrey, England

Harry always did detest the nights in Little Whinging. The air on nights like this was dry and suffocating, the heat nearly unbearable. But that wasn't what Harry truly despised about nights like this.

No, it was on nights like this, with the cloudless sky overhead, that Harry found himself feeling small and insignificant. With the expanse of the heavens above, the chirping of crickets in the distance, and not another soul in sight, Harry found himself truly miserable. It reminded him of how alone he was, cut off from his friends and the people he considered family. More so than the people he lived with at any rate. He could hear people in the houses not far away, talking and laughing. Happy, whole couples and families. What did he have? Animosity for being something outside of his control. Hatred, for refusing to simply bow to the whims of the darker parts of the world.

How often he tried to do the right thing.

How often, it came back to haunt him in one way or another. Last year had been a perfect example.

He could still see Cedric's face. His stunned expression as the green energy of the foulest of spells tore through the night and ripped the very life from his body. The grief filled battle that had ensued. And all of it, everything from his godfather being thrown in prison wrongfully, to his mother and fathers deaths, was because of him. Because of some thrice-be-damned conflict that had started before he was born, and had culminated in the deaths of so many people before, and yet to come. His budding friendship with the older hufflepuff had been cut short, and when realization that he hadn't cheated his way into the tournament sunk in, the public opinion swayed once more, most believing him either a loon, or a murderer.

But in an odd way, that was okay. He still had his friends, right? They had his back.

Only, he hadn't heard a word from either of them since the start of summer. He was growing frantic with worry, owl after owl going out and coming back empty handed. At least he knew they were alive. But for whatever reason, they'd all decided to cut him off. Poor, loony Potter. Send him back to the Dursley's before he makes more of a fool of himself, and embarrasses us even further.

But no, that was the depression in him talking. He knew that. He knew he was at a bleak point in his life. But the knowledge did nothing to comfort him. Deep down, under the scars of a lifetime of rejection and apathy, some part of him whimpered and cried out. Cried out for someone, anyone, to come and save him. To reach out with a loving hand, and be there for him.

And unbeknownst to Harry, that night, the Universe was listening.

It was several hours later when the world decided to throw one giant hiccup into his daily routine. The evening passed as it usually did this summer, his alienation and desertion weighing on his thoughts, and causing him to lash out at his cousin on their trip home. Granted, Dudley deserved whatever barbs Harry could throw at him, but it still didn't sit well with the young man. Of course, he should have known his cousin would never let him have the upper hand, but the buttons Dudley pushed were all the wrong ones. Fury ripped though him at the mention of Cedric, and he'd been moments from hexing the rotund boy when everything went haywire. The night darkened, and the unbearable heat reversed polarity in the space of a breath, leaving both boys gasping at the sudden climate change. Harry knew what was coming. Dudley didn't. The boy reacted the only way he knew how, physical violence being the one thing that had never truly failed him - yet.

Harry had taken the unexpected blow to his face and collapsed against the ground stunned and his vision swimming as his cousin ran. His glasses and wand knocked flying, Harry was half-blind as the dementors descended upon him and his cousin. Strength sapping from him as one of the dementors begin to chip away at his soul, Harry tried vainly to fight back. Yet, even as his cousin cried out in the distance, Harry felt himself hoisted into the air and brought face to face with a living nightmare. He could see it all, all his failures over the years, and all his greatest regrets piled into one overflowing thought set to loop in the back of his mind as the Dementor lowered itself to administer Harry's final rites.

But he wouldn't go quietly into the night. Despite everything, how ever much he hated his cousin, Harry knew he couldn't abandon him in his time of need. As Hermione had once said, he had a little bit of a 'saving-people thing' and he'd be damned if he turned his back on his cousin now. Latching onto the thought of Hemione, he pulled on all the happy memories, dredged up every ounce of willpower he could to force the dementor back. "Accio, wand!" He rasped desperately. He doubted it would work, but he refused to simply give up.

So when the wand actually zoomed into Harry's hand, he found himself more than a little stunned. Yet, he could feel the dementor clawing at the flimsy barriers around his mind and soul, and knew he'd have to contemplate this discovery later. "Expecto," he rasped, ramming the tip of his wand into the dementor's chest like the muzzle of a muggle pistol. "Patronum!" As he spoke the words, his voice steadily grew stronger, the memories of Hermione, Ron, and all the good things in life flooding back to him. But more than that, was the expectation of the good things to come. He felt it wash through him, felt the power seep through his bones and shove away the darkness in his heart, if only for a moment. In that moment, he was filled with life, and the kernel of love. It was like a scalding brand to the dementor, burning at it's clothes and skin. The thing screeched, letting go of Harry and backing away quickly as the stag of Harry's Patronus leapt from his wand and rushed the dark creature. It edged away, until it seemingly decided that it wasn't worth the risk to tangle with Harry and his corporeal Patronus and fled.

He relaxed for only a moment, catching his breath as the darkness pressing against his mind seemed to recede. But it wasn't over just yet. He could still feel the other Dementor, a black stain against his senses. Scrambling to his feet again, Harry tried desperately to hurry. Asshat or not, Dudley did not deserve The Kiss.

He pushed and rushed down the Alleyway, into the street proper. There, three houses down and smashed against a car, was Dudley, the dementor spread out over him. He could see a faint white light slowly raising from the obese boy. No! I'm too late!

He tried to move his wand, tried to grab hold of his Patronus and send it hurtling towards the dementor, but his movements felt sluggish as if he was pushing against a tide and losing badly.

Ozone filled the air a second later, and Harry felt as much as saw the blinding flash of lightning strike down onto the dementor. It screeched, reeling back, but Harry couldn't hear or see a thing over the spots flooding his vision or the roar of too-close-thunder in his ears. He blinked for several moments, and when he could finally see again, he found himself once more on his ass.

"Oi, Hibiki. Think I should toast this thing on principle alone?" He heard a feminine voice practically growl out, and startled, snapped his head up to the source of the voice. What he found, however, defied all logic. Standing over the body of his cousin was a girl, no more than a year or two older than himself. Her curtain of midnight black hair floated in the air about her like a fey-goddess straight out of a fairy-tale novel, her angular face pinched in a scowl as she quiet literally hoisted the dementor above her head, dainty hand clasped tight about it's throat. She leaned in and sniffed at the dementor, her scowl deepening. "You stink of death and fear." She muttered.

"I believe we should leave that up to our friend here." Another voice said from directly beside Harry, causing him to practically jump out of his skin. He'd never even heard her approach, but with the sound of thunder still ringing in his ears and all the madness going on around him, an erruphant could literally be going on a tear through the neighborhood and Harry doubted he'd notice. The girl beside him seemed like an almost mirror image of the girl holding the dementor, the only difference being that this one had a noticably smaller... Bust. At this distance, however, it was almost impossible not to have his eyes drawn to her get-up, a criss-cross of what looked like leather belts all across her chest, clipped to a barely-there skirt-and-garter belt ensemble that rolled down thigh-high leather boots of the same design. All legs, these two.

Yeah, his prerogatives were so screwed up at the moment. But then, what fifteen-going-on-sixteen-year-old wouldn't be ogling at this point?

Still, there was one other thing he could detect different: There was a kindness, a warmth that radiated off her and made Harry want to draw close to her. To speak to her.

After a moment, he felt his throat finally loosen, his stomach dropping back into his chest and allowing him to speak. "Who...Who are you people?"

The girl quirked an eyebrow at that, hazel eyes roving over him openly as she seemed to take measure of him. Her cheeks stained pink then,"Ah, where are my manners?" she said as she bowed her head to him. "I am Hibiki." She gestured to the other girl as she continued, "And the loud one over there holding the foul wraith is Hikari. We are... Guardians, of a sort." She leaned down then, bringing her face level with his and flooding his cheeks with warmth at her proximity. "And you?"

"Harry... Harry potter." He stammered out and she smiled brilliantly, causing him to wonder if this is what the famous Weasley Blush felt like from the inside, as he could literally feel the heat of his cheeks spread through-out his body.

"Harry..." She whispered almost reverently, letting her eyes drift close as she seemingly rolled the name around on her tongue. "I think you'll make a fine Ashikabi." She said as her eyes finally drifted open.

And then she kissed him.

No warning, no hi, you're cute, we should date, oh, those are nice flowers. Nothing but a passing few moments, and suddenly the softest lips he'd ever felt were pressed against his. She tasted like strawberries and brought on a flood of warmth and gentleness and a myriad other feelings that flashed by in an instant of their lips contacting before she pulled back, lost in a seemingly haze-like bliss as her sister shouted.

"Oi, Cheater-skank! No fair, stealing the first kiss!" Harry was dimly aware of another brilliant flash of light, the boom of thunder and the burning of ozone, his brain completely shut off save for the sensation assailing his lips. A moment later he felt another approach, and felt his face turned to gaze into the defiant caramel eyes of the first girl. She stared into his eyes, almost as if she was searching for something. "Doesn't look that strong to me..." She grumbled half-heartily, then blushed even brighter than her sister. "I swear, you end up being some limp-dick wishy-wash pansy and I will personally fry you!"She growled out, the octave of her voice betraying her embarrassment, a moment before she too brought their lips together. It was several very long moments before she broke the kiss, and Harry was sure he'd felt tongue in the meantime. Dimly, he knew he had the most blissed-out, goofy expression on his face, a look that seemed to be shared by the girl in front of him. Finally however, the niggling thought in his mind grew louder until it kick-started his brain and some form of cognizant thought returned. Granted, he spent several long moments simply sputtering and trying to make sense of what was going on. Finally, his mouth gave voice to the singular thought racing through his head, "Bloody hell, you kissed me!"

Hikari, he recalled her being called, glanced away perturbed and blushing brilliantly. "You make it sound like I offended you or something..." She grumbled, but her sister (sister! Holy crap!) Brushed her words aside.

"I apologize, Ashikabi-sama for my boldness. I was so thrilled that we'd found you, that I forgot myself."

"found me..? Why were you looking for me? Who-what are you?" Harry choked out, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"You called us, Ashikabi-baka." Hikari growled, her arms crossed over her chest defensively as she stood and prowled away.

"Ignore her rudeness, Ashikabi-sama. She doesn't know how to express herself properly, and violence is what she knows best." She leaned in then, raising a hand and whispering conspiratorially, "I think she has muscles for brains, but that's just me."

"I heard that, prissy-bitch! Just cuz you act all proper and stuff in front of our Ashikabi, doesn't mean you're any less a freaky, blood-thirsty horn-dog than I am!" Hikari shouted, then spun on her heel and pointed an accusatory finger at her sister and continued, "Hell, you're worse than I am!"

"What a filthy mouth you've gotten, sister of mine." Hibiki murmured in mock sweetness and raised a hand. There was a tingling at the base of Harry's neck, and a sudden spark of electricity jumped between Hibiki's fingers, "Perhaps I should give you a refresher course in proper manners..."

"That a threat, Sparky?" Hikari snarled, stomping towards her sister as a field of electricity buzzed to life around her body. "Cuz just cuz you're older by a few minutes doesn't mean I can't still beat you back into the stone age!"

Wanting to head off a confrontation between the two live-wire and high-strung sisters, Harry stepped between them and held up a placating hand to each, "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Girls, calm down, alright?"

Squish. Both girls however had stopped paying attention to their mutual aggression, each having stepped into Harry's extended hand unexpectedly. It took Harry a moment to realize where his hands were, but when he did he let out a startled yelp and jumped back as if scalded. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Eh? Looks like we got a bona-fide closet freak, Hibiki." Hikari said, leering at him openly as she started to chew her bottom lip in anticipation and did absolutely nothing for Harry's self control. "Well, if you can't keep up in strength, I guess you can make up for it in other ways..."

He had a distinct moment of feeling like a hunk of meat served on a platter between two ravenous tigers, but that passed when someone started groaning not far from them. Startled, Harry suddenly remembered where he was, and what he'd been doing before all this madness started. "Dudley!" He shouted, and took off sprinting to his cousin's side.

Dropping to his cousins side, he checked him over for any injuries yet the only thing he could find was his cousins sudden mad babbling. Dudley had come face to face with nightmare made real, and Harry could only imagine what he'd seen. He felt more than saw the girls approach, and remembered the ease with which these two beauties had dealt with the dementors. "I think explanations are in order." He said, looking back at the both of them, and they nodded in understanding. But before they could continue, he noted the approach of one Arabella Figg, one of his neighbors. He cursed under his breath, stowing his wand and shooting the girls a look as the older woman approached. "Later." He mouthed, and while confused, they cottoned on that he didn't want to talk in front of the woman who stank of cats and soured magics.

Hours later, Harry stormed into his room, slamming the door harshly as a tide of emotions overwhelmed him. Expelled, and possibly stripped of his magic. All because he'd done the right thing and protected his cousin.

"Is something wrong, Ashikabi-sama?" Hibiki asked from where she sat on his bed, concern written on her face when he jumped at her words. With everything going on, he'd almost forgotten the latest development in his absurd life, having told the two of them to sneak into his room on the second floor upon reaching the Dursley's front door. He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to desperately reign his emotions in and deal with what was in front of him.

"Why do you keep calling me that? Who are you two?" He said as he sunk to the floor, eyes closed, his back sliding along the door as he groaned, "what the hell is going on here..?"

He felt something then, a sensation that was overall rare to him. He felt a soft, feminine hand clasp hold of his, warmth and comfort radiating from the simple touch. He opened his eyes and met hibiki's concerned gaze. She chewed her lower lip, a habit she and her sister apparently shared when they seemed to be thinking things over.

"Guess we should start from the top, huh Hibiki?" Hikari said from her perch on his desk, Hedwig surprisingly out of her cage and resting quite calmly on the raven-haired beauty's arm as the girl stroked her feathers. Hibiki nodded, drawing Harry's hand up to her cheek and nuzzling against it as Hikari growled irritably in the background at her sisters antics but continued on anyway. "Ta put it simple, me an' my sister are Sekirei. Beings created at the dawn of time."

"Magic swirled throughout the cosmos, creating and destroying at it's whim." Hibiki cut in, her voice a content purr against his hand. "Mankind, a creation with no physical connection to magic, yearned to draw close to the essence of the universe. To experience the purest and most powerful form of magic: love."

"Man asked, and for the first time, magic listened." Hikari said, her expression wistful as she spoke, "We were created from the ether of magic. Born from Man's desire to love and made as the counterpart to them, we Sekirei laughed and loved and showed Man the wonders of magic."

"Yet, like all thing, change came. A new race emerged, something from outside the realm of reason. Mankind called them Outsiders, be we Sekirei chose to call them by a different name: Nova's."

"They could not be reasoned with, and seemed to be consumed by the desire to devour everything. It was as if they wanted to unhinge the universe itself."

"We Sekirei, stood against them. Yet a Sekirei is nothing without her heart, the love of her life, what makes her whole and gives her power: her Ashikabi. An Ashikabi, the human counterpart to the Sekirei, is what unlocks a Sekirei's potential, giving her access to the ether of magic she is connected to. With that strength, we tried desperately to push back against the Nova."

"But it seemed like every time we thought we were making ground, more and more Nova spilled forth."

"While we fought, Man searched desperately for something to use against the Nova, something to give us an edge. What we found, was the Jinki; The heart and soul of magic. Yet, magic has always been a fickle thing. Even it's heart was spread out, with no knowledge of how many pieces there truly were."

"In the end, it fell to one Ashikabi to make a choice. Fearing that all of reality would be lost, he took hold of what pieces of the Jinki he'd gathered, and wove a spell across the world. He banished the Nova back to their realm, and charged we Sekirei with guarding them for all eternity with his dying breath."

"Thus, we slumbered, tied to the barrier keeping the Nova at bay and giving of ourselves to protect mankind. Yet, even without Sekirei, our legacy lived on beside man. Magic thrived in the children of Ashikabi and Sekirei, down through the ages until now."

To say Harry was stunned into silence would be an understatement. While a part of him wanted to deny it, to chuck it up to them being crazy and this whole thing being some hallucinated dream of the two, he'd seen the strength they wielded. The way they'd simply man-handled the dementor, coupled with Harry's sheer lack of magical knowledge made it seem as if anything was possible. His head pounded as he tried to process it all though, and a question that turned his stomach at what he'd day-dreamed upon seeing them wiggled it's way out, "So wait... Are you like, my great, great grandmothers or something? The supposed mothers of all magic?"

Hibiki winced at that, shaking her head fervently. "Not in the most technical terms. Sekirei, having been created from pure magic, have no genes. While it's true the blood of an Ashikabi flows in your veins, there is no familial connection between us, just as how my 'sister' and I are not actually family. We were simply born from the same lightning bolt, and are thus more closely tied than other Sekirei. However, that is where our actual familial ties end."

"if ya cut us open and tried to do a blood test, you wouldn't even find anything. Our blood dissolves back into ether in a few hours, too." Hikari piped in, and Hibiki nodded as she continued. "As to us being 'mothers'... Well, let's put it this way. Our 'souls' are as old as time itself, yet our memory is only fragmented pieces of the last century or so. Even our physical bodies are only a few hours old. So no, not in the most technical terms."

"We're still virgins, if that's what you're wonderin'." Hikari chimed, her sister quickly shooting her a baleful glare as Harry's face exploded with warmth.

"Must you be so crude?"

"do you have'ta have a stick up your ass?" Hikari shot back, then rubbed her nose happily against Hedwigs beak before letting the owl flutter back to it's perch in it's cage. Hopping from the table, she sauntered towards Harry, "come on Hibiki, you know it's on his mind. Hell, it's on your mind too, I'm just more vocal then you are about what I want."

Hibiki let out a long suffering sigh, and buried her face against Harry's palm before continuing, "Crude, but an understandable sentiment. Very well, I suppose the rest of our explanation will have to wait." She turned imploring eyes on Harry, and he felt his stomach bottom out as a nervous pit settled there. "Ashikabi-sama, now that we've answered your questions, won't you answer ours? What troubles you?"

Crap. He'd been hoping they'd forgotten. Truth be told, beside the enormity of their tale, his felt small in comparison. Still, he supposed it was only fair to tell them.

"Earlier, when I'd been fighting that dementor... I cast a few spells. Spells that, by law, I'm not supposed to cast outside of my school. I'm too young and inexperienced by the ministries standards, and because of my 'blatant disregard for the laws' I've been expelled from Hogwarts, my school. They might even strip me of my magic." By this point, he could feel his chest tightening, his emotions threatening to overwhelm him. "Even though I don't know a lot about magic, and maybe I am a freak by most people's standards, magic still brought me something of a home. People who actually care about me." The tears came freely then, as the words began to tumble free, words that had screamed for release for so long. "I've struggled to be normal, to fit in, for so long. I've begged and pleaded for a family, for people to actually be there for me all my life, and just when I felt like I was getting somewhere, this happens! They want to take everything from me!" He choked out around his tears, but before another word could come free, he felt those same strawberry lips against his own. At first he didn't know what to do, what to think. He simply sank into Hibiki's embrace, her arms encircling him as she quite literally seemed to be trying to kiss the grief from him. She never made a move beyond that, never tried anything more. There was no demands, no expectations from her. There was simply her concern, her... Love for him. She hated to see him in pain, hated everything that hurt him. When she finally pulled back Harry found himself encircled by not only Hibiki, but Hikari as well, having sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist, head resting against his shoulder. They stayed like that for several long minutes, Hibiki simply caressing his cheek and Hikari humming quietly to herself.

Eventually, Hikari broke away from the moment, shifting to sit up completely as she turned her gaze on Hibiki. "Well, I dunno about you, but I'd like to see them try to take somethin' from our Ashikabi."

"Agreed, sister. I say we show them what happens to those who try to hurt him."

"What?"Harry said, blinking in surprise. He looked between the two of them as he spoke, "You don't understand! This is the Ministry we're talking about! The government! They can do whatever they want, I'm just one wizard! I'm just Harry!"

"Do I look like I give a flying fuck about some pansy-ass wanna-be know it all brown-nosers?" Hikari retorted, than shook her head, "You are our Ashikabi. That means that from this day forward, no one ain't ever going to make you do something or give up something you don't want to, ever again. If they try, there will be blood."

She reached out then, one hand on his shoulder, and the other clasped in her sisters hand who was mirroring her. Solemnly, they both intoned, "We are the Sky's Rage, The Thunderclap of the God's, and this is our pledge: From this day forward, no calamity shall befall our Ashikabi."

There was a buzz of electricity, a flash of lightning, and a burning in his blood. He could feel it, feel their words, their meaning, their promise in his soul. It was filled with hope for a new beginning, resolute love for one another and their ideals, and a promise of swift vengeance against any who would dare try to break their pledge. Their energy, their life, coursed through him, melding and bleeding into him, and Harry could feel his blood singing with new-found life and purpose. He opened eyes he hadn't even realized he had closed, and met the grin of the two goddesses before him. His Sekirei.

"Now then, Oh Ashikabi of mine," Hikari sing-songed, "What do you want?"

His smile turned rebellious then, and they stood in unison. "I want to see my friends. See Dumbledore, and find out what the hell is going on. But more than anything... I want my freedom."

Hibiki nodded, then stepped to the window, "And so you shall have it. Hikari, lets gather whatever he wants to keep. We're getting out of here, and finding someplace new to stay."

Maybe this summer had started off horrible. In fact, the days ahead still looked bleak and dangerous to Harry. But deep down a part of him knew that so long as he had the two of them beside him, even when the darkness seemed to be crowding in, they would light the way for him. From this point forward, things were going to change, forever. And suddenly, Harry knew, he was okay with that.

To Be Continued...

Greetings, and welcome to the first installment of Winging Magic!

Now, some of you may be wondering where the hell I'm going with this. Honestly, I have no idea. If you've read my stuff before, you know consistency isn't one of my greatest strong suits. Hell, I don't even know how long I'll hang with this fic. But the idea popped into my brain a little bit ago, and hasnt' quite left. So I figure, what the hell. Lets ride this gravy train as far as it'll take me!

Now, I am working on chapter two, I do have a good number of ideas, and insanity like always will follow. Lets pray this one makes more sense then my other ones. Do know though that this does NOTin any way follow the events of Sekirei. The contest, Minato, all of it does not exist in this universe. I'm taking the characters and some of my favorite concepts from Sekirei, and a few other manga, creating my own, smashing it into HP and igniting this powder-keg of nitroglycerin. What happens next is anyone's guess.

Oh, and if you're a hold-over from I, Shinobi: Holy shit! I'm alive! Welcome back. For your info, Shinobi still exists, but I'm having a great deal of frustration with the series and my thoughts on it, as well as where exactly I wanted to take the fic. So much so that it has nearly killed my writing drive. As such, I'm taking a long step back from it until I know better what I want to do with it. That could mean it may just fizzle and completely die like Ginger and Ash did. Like most of my fics, getting past the first five or so chapters is usually a huge accomplishment for me.

Anyway, if you stick around, awesome! I hope to see you guys soon for the continuation of this madness.