Chapter Forty-Seven: Time Marches On

"Aperto Mundo Pontem!"

"Hermione, give it a rest…"

"Aperto Mundo Pontem!"

"Hermione…"

"Ronald, must you do this every time?"

"Hermione, you're the smartest witch I know, so I'm confident you can tell me what the definition of insanity is."

"'Doing the same thing and expecting different results.' Yes Ronald, I'm familiar with the quote, and to whom it is popularly misattributed."

"So why are you doing it? That damned spell doesn't work, love! I'd give anything to see it work just one more time. We all would. But it doesn't."

"I will continue to cast this spell every so often because we still don't know why it no longer succeeds. That means we also don't know when or if it will succeed again."

"And what if it was never meant to work without Harry casting it, or at least participating?"

"Because, Ronald, if that was the case then speaking the words and moving my wand wouldn't do anything. But something does happen. The spell initiates, starts to draw on my magic… and then fizzles without any result. That doesn't happen when a spell isn't workable. It happens when a spell is being blocked, by a ward or another wizard."

"But there is no ward and there is no other wizard. You and Remus have done everything short of summoning a demon to figure out what's blocking the spell, and you've come up dry."

"I'm not going to stop trying, Ronald."

"You wouldn't be the witch I love if you gave up Hermione, but can you stop for tonight and come to bed? After what happened last year it's going to be all hands on deck tomorrow. We both need to be rested and ready in case You-Know-Who and his cronies decide to pull something again."

"All right."

Making his way through the gardens of the country manor house that served as one of the gathering points for the Order of the Phoenix, Remus Lupin found Sirius Black exactly where he'd expected to. One of the house's previous owners had commissioned an outdoor chapel in the corner of the gardens, festooned with statues of weeping angels and surrounded by mature trees.

Sirius knelt in the grass, his head bowed, unmoving. He'd brought a large number of candles out with him and lit them all in a row on the altar. Remus silently joined his friend kneeling in the damp grass.

"Why do you do this to yourself every year, Sirius?" Remus asked after they'd remained still in silence for almost an hour.

"Why do you think?" Sirius replied quietly. "The stakes of the war we're fighting are high; I take this time to remind myself of the price of failure."

"Damn it Sirius, take off the hair shirt already. You did not fail!" Remus exclaimed with some exasperation.

"Where is James then?" Sirius shot back, his head rising to fix Remus with a gaze that burned with guilt, unfocused anger and not a small amount of fire whiskey. "Where is his son, Remus? I failed both of them!"

"You didn't fail Harry," Remus said firmly. "You raised him just as well as James could have. More to the point, Harry is not dead. We know this. He may be separated from us, but he is not dead."

"That is what you and your clever little apprentice believe," Sirius spat. "What evidence do you have to show after all this time?"

"Hedwig is still alive," Remus reminded his oldest friend. "Familiars rarely survive their masters by more than a few months. She's still healthy after four years."

"But familiars surviving, thriving and even taking new masters has happened before," Sirius countered. "I'm not the scholar you are, but I know that. Forgive me if an owl continuing to eat and shit doesn't fill me with great comfort." Sirius lowered his head again. "Forgive me," he whispered, and Remus knew his friend was not talking to anyone present.

Giving up on the familiar argument once more, Remus did the only thing he could; he stayed with his friend until the sun started to stain the eastern horizon with its light. Finally, Sirius rose to his feet, rubbing dew and grass stains from his knees. Crossing the space between him and the altar, he carefully snuffed out the candles with his fingers, one by one. When Sirius had extinguished all eighteen he stared at them for a moment. "Happy Birthday, Harry," he whispered before turning away and trudging back toward the manor.

"You didn't fail him, Sirius," Remus said to no one but the empty morning air. "He will come back to us." It was something Remus believed because he had to. There was no other choice.

Translated from German

"Please! Please no more, I surrender!"

"Then talk, you miserable piece of shit! Where is she? Where is Bellatrix Black?"

"Britain's Dark Lady? Please, please, I don't know!"

"I think you do. What you probably don't know is how many bones are in the human hand."

"What? I don't underst- AAAGH!"

"Twenty-seven; the answer is twenty-seven bones in the human hand. You're down to twenty-six intact, Heinrich."

"Oh god, it hurts… please I don't- AAAAAHH!"

"Twenty-five; that's going to make wand movements hard for a while. Finger bones generally heal cleanly. The bones down here in the base of the hand, though? If they're crushed, say by being stuck in a door jamb like this one and having it slammed shut repeatedly? They usually don't heal right, and there's nerve damage to boot. Manual dexterity in that hand goes to shit even if it's treated by someone skilled in the healing arts."

"Oh god no! Please fraulein, please believe me I will tell you anything but I do not know where Bellatrix Black is!"

"Give me something, Heinrich! Your backroom has the only unregistered Floo hearths this side of Berlin, and I know Bellatrix and a number of Death Eaters were spotted here in Germany. Where are they?"

"Death Eaters? Fellows with a fondness for masks and ominous tattoos on their arms? Yes, yes! Three of that sort came through my establishment last week; all men. I sent them on their way."

"Where, Heinrich? Every smuggler of magical goods I've talked to says you're a virtuoso at tapping into the international Floo Network without leaving a trail. Where did you send them?"

"Beijing! They wanted to go to China without any official notice of their passage. They didn't say why and I don't ask questions when my customers have gold. Please, I have a family…"

"Once upon a time, I did too. I'm going to follow up on this Heinrich, and if I don't find what I'm looking for I'll be back to make sure you never cast a spell or pleasure yourself with that hand again."

"Oh god no-"

THUD

"Dramatic, Kushina, but was it necessary?"

"Stop whining, Severus; it's just a concussion. I found another lead, didn't I? Besides, if you're not going to let me kill Dumbledore I have to work out my frustrations somehow. Gutting that bitch Bellatrix will be at least a momentary pleasure."

"I'm not letting you kill Dumbledore, that's correct."

"He deserves it, Severus! He got that stupid law passed, and if he hadn't… if he hadn't…"

"Whatever happened in the Ministry that day was not the Headmaster's intent. You've been at Hogwarts and you've seen the toll it's taken on him."

"I don't give a damn if he feels guilty, Severus, I want his blood!"

"You can't have it. I let you kill Dolores Umbridge for her part in that mess. I let you terrorize the damned Minister of Magic until he had a very public nervous breakdown. But with the Dark Lord's return Britain needs Albus Dumbledore now more than ever."

"Britain needs Albus Dumbledore like it needs a second asshole, Severus. But for now, it looks like we're headed to China."

"So it would seem."

"I'll kill Bellatrix with a smile, and I'll find a way to erase that noseless shade Moldyvort. When I do, you'd best keep your word, Severus."

"I will. On the day the Dark Lord is truly vanquished, I will release you from my prohibition against harming the Headmaster… and the chips will fall where they may."

"Well done." Kakashi offered an eye-smile and clapped his hands. "You've all improved a great deal as a squad. I'd say you're more than ready."

Panting and sweating under the midday sun, Harry Potter grinned at his friends and frequent teammates. Naruto Uzumaki's outfit – scuffed, torn in places and grass-stained in others – still contained more orange than any other shinobi wore, but the accent swatches were black now rather than blue. He still wore his hair the same way, but at eighteen he'd put on a lot more muscle, bulking out noticeably even under his loose clothes. The irrepressible light in his blue eyes was the same as the first time Harry had met him.

"So we can enter the jounin evaluations?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well you and Sakura can, certainly," Kakashi replied.

"But Harry's part of our team," Naruto objected.

Sakura Haruno smacked Naruto upside the head, and scowled when he gave her a wounded look. "Harry can't enter a jounin evaluation any more than he could take the Chuunin Exam, Naruto," she fumed. "He doesn't need that kind of scrutiny. There's a reason he doesn't have a rank other than 'Agent of the Hokage'; that position doesn't require public or peer-reviewed demonstrations of skill."

Harry couldn't help smiling as he watched Sakura lecture Naruto. She wore the same style of armor as her first suit at thirteen, but five years later she'd outgrown several sets, and the body under the dark green composite plates was undeniably a woman's, curving outward at her hips and chest.

For his part, Harry wore a tunic, loose trousers and reinforced sandals like Naruto's. He no longer wore glasses over his emerald eyes, having submitted to vision correction by a shinobi medic who specialized in optical care. He'd put on some muscle just like Naruto, but even working out regularly he was still skinnier than the blond, though he was also half a head was taller. His only unusual adornment was a bracer on his right arm. The outside half sported an armor plate, while the leather covering the underside of his forearm hid his secret weapon and most valuable possession: his wand.

"That's fine Naruto," Harry offered. "I don't need a title or a badge to know where I belong. Besides, Sakura's right. To earn that kind of promotion I'd have to show way too many senior jounin what I'm really capable of. I'm happy with the conspiracy staying small and my abilities unknown."

Stretching his aching muscles, a jangling reminded Harry of the silver bell in his hand, and he grinned again. Getting it away from Kakashi hadn't been easy. As a part of 'the conspiracy', the silver-haired Copy Ninja knew about Harry's magic and how to avoid losing a bell to a simple 'Accio' Charm.

"Well I'm roasting after a workout like that," Sakura announced, tapping her breastplate. "I'm going to cool off before I head back to the village."

"That's fine, but hurry and catch up; we can't celebrate at Ichiraku's without everyone there," Naruto told her.

"You really should hurry," Kakashi advised Sakura. "If you don't, Ichiraku might actually run out of food," Kakashi jerked his thumb at Naruto, leaving little doubt on whom the blame for such an event would fall.

Sakura laughed. "I'll try to be quick," she promised before taking a footpath to the north.

"Coming, Harry?" Naruto asked.

"I'll catch up," Harry replied. "Need to stretch a bit more first."

"Okay, see you there!"

Harry did indeed stretch until Kakashi and Naruto were gone. Then he set off down the same path Sakura had taken. It didn't take him very long to arrive at the base of a small cliff. A natural spring above issued a constant stream of cool, clear water that fell over the stone lip to fill a sparkling pool nestled amid tall, mature trees of the forest outside Konoha.

Harry emerged from the trees to see Sakura's armor pieces and padded under-suit arranged neatly on a rock next to the pool. The pink-haired kunoichi herself had waded out into the water and was standing under the flow from above to rinse off the day's sweat and dirt, her back to him.

"Harry James Potter, are you aware of what kunoichi do to men who peep on them while they bathe?" Sakura called out without turning around.

"Something dreadful and dire, I'm sure," Harry said as he tugged off his own sweat-damp clothes, "the kind of fate to inspire fear and cringes; weeping, even."

"Mmm-hmm," Sakura replied. "You don't sound nearly as scared as you should be."

"Well that's because I'm not peeping on a kunoichi while she bathes," Harry said solemnly as he waded in himself, his feet skipping across submerged rocks to reach Sakura. "I'm joining the loveliest kunoichi in Konoha for a bath." Stepping under the spray from above Harry slipped his arms around her waist.

"Mmh," Sakura purred, leaning back against his chest. "Flattery, Mr. Potter, will get you everywhere. I suppose I can overlook your trespass just this once." Turning around in his arms, Sakura tilted her head back, slipped her own arms around Harry's neck, and drew him down into a kiss.

Harry reflected for a moment that while he missed so many things from Earth – Ron and Hermione, Remus and Sirius, quidditch, the company of other witches and wizards, technology – the Elemental Nations had at least one thing he could find nowhere else: a precious friend who had become so much more.

Sakura, who knew him so well now, must have seen something of his thoughts in his eyes. Her expression was concerned and understanding when she drew back, her fingers brushing across his cheek and the faded scar over his left eye. "You're thinking about home," she whispered.

"My home is here now Sakura," he replied, "with you. We just bought it, remember?"

She smiled at his weak attempt at humor. "Liar," she murmured.

"I mean it, Sakura," Harry told her. "Haku and Naruto welcomed me into their home. Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and the others made a place for me here in Konoha. But you… you made this place my home." Sakura's eyes widened, and then she was kissing him again, passionately.

"But yes, I was thinking about Earth," Harry admitted when their lips finally parted. "I always do, this time of year. I just wish… that I could see them again. Talk to them. Hell, I'd settle for being able to just let them know that I'm okay. That I'm happy here, that I have a place… that I've found someone to love."

"Oh, Harry," Sakura said softly. "They know you're a survivor, how strong and resourceful you were – are! – and you sent Hedwig to tell them where you'd gone. No one could have anticipated Aunt Lily's bracelet failing like it did."

Harry sighed and nodded. Just weeks after his arrival in Konoha, when he'd begun to worry that maybe Remus and Sirius hadn't gotten his letter, the light of Naruto's bracelet had died abruptly, all traces of magic and chakra leaving it. In the intervening years, tarnish had spread across its silver surfaces despite diligent polishing; the last time Harry had looked at it, most of the designs were illegible. Harry didn't know what all that signified, and with his birth mother still a captive of the Akatsuki there was no one to ask. Haku remembered Lily's experiments, but he had no real understanding of magic.

"I do remember what time of year it is," Sakura said, bringing him back to the present, "and if it will take extraordinary efforts to distract you… I'm up to the challenge." Beckoning to Harry with one finger, Sakura stepped back through the small waterfall. Harry followed her into the alcove beyond where soft moss grew thick on the flat stones and the sun's light was split into every color of the rainbow and set to dancing across the walls by the cascade of water.

Sakura lay back on the moss and pulled him down to join her. "Happy birthday, Harry," she whispered sweetly in his ear.