Love, Like Ghosts: A Glee/Harry Potter Crossover

Pairing: Harry Potter/Dave Karofsky (as well as canon Finn/Rachel, Kurt/Blaine, Sam/Mercedes, Tina/Mike and maybe some hints of Brittany/Santana) I also totally support a Harry-Blaine friendship.

Summary: Pushing for change and left with their ruins of their only magic-based school, the Ministry of Magic passes a law that forces each Hogwarts student still awaiting graduation to spend one year attending a muggle school. Harry finds himself relocated to Lima, Ohio- where the football coach is a former-Auror, the cheerleading coach is absolutely certifiable and blatant discrimination and prejudices thrive in the cut-throat world of high school.

It's there, nestled in the pool of hatred and pettiness that Harry finds Mr. Shuester's Glee Club and finds himself with the dubious task of navigating their tumultuous web of friendships and relationships all while convincing one reformed bully that sometimes a little courage can go a long way.

Spoilers: Content from all seven Harry Potter books as well as all aired episodes of Glee will be used in this story. While this story is set in what would be the 3rd Season of Glee, everything is nothing more than mere speculation on my part. Glee spoilers are so ridiculously inconsistent that trying to follow them is futile.

Notes: This story seems to be picking up something that resembles a plot, if only because my brain wouldn't stop asking me why exactly Harry would even end up in the US and then I had to somehow try and make it work. There's going to have to be some sort of suspension of canon timelines, particularly that of the Harry Potter Universe because the events of all seven books have in fact taken place but Harry is still merely seventeen for a majority of this story. If that really needs an explanation, I'm debating on hitting on the 'age is strange concept for magical folks because they live exceedingly longer lives than muggles' or that the events of Books Six and Seven were condensed into one year. Or Harry's cover story makes it necessary for him to 'legally' be seventeen when he's really eighteen. (Although all that business with the Time-Turners and such in Book Three makes me wonder if Hermione would legally be considered older than her recorded age. Questions, questions and even more questions.)

For: The Plot Bunny Whisper because they asked for a Harry/Dave story and I was hella intrigued.

Love, Like Ghosts

Part One

Harry Potter stared down at the letter in his hand in blatant disbelief, glancing up at the pompous Ministry owl still waiting for his reply when it hooted irritably.

"You can't be serious?"

The owl thrilled back at the sound of his voice, cocking its head at a grotesque angle. Harry let out a sharp breath, nearly crumpling the parchment in his hand as he stalked out towards the main fireplace of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

The walls of the once gloomy-looking house were still rather gloomy and dull but portraits of friends and family, both alive and departed, hung in simply trimmed frames, buffeting the belief that Harry was an adult. He owned a house and he'd made it a home and the Ministry couldn't force his hand ever again.

A small worn flowerpot sat precariously on the mantle of the rather regal fireplace. A fire burned bright and cheerful in the hearth, filling the air with the faint scent of wood smoke.

As adult as Harry would like to believe of himself, the Floo Powder settled to the bottom was getting ridiculously low. His blunt fingernails scraped the very bottom of the clay-brown pot, tossing the powder into the roaring fire with a furious, shaking hand.

"Kinsley Shacklebolt, Minister For Magic."

Matilda Bennginsworth took the Floo-call almost immediately, her normally perfectly coiffed hair looking a little worse for the wear. "Harry, he's up to his elbows in reports at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Harry jerked the hand still clutching the Ministry-stamped notice up to wave it angrily at his fireplace. "I think not."

Matilda's eyes widened as she caught sight of the parchment and she gave him a quick nod. "I'll let him know you're on the line."

The 'and extremely peeved' went graciously unsaid.

It took a while, or so it felt to Harry- who couldn't seem to keep still as he watched the glowing emerald flames of the fireplace- before Kingsley's weary, lined face settled into view.

"I take it you've received your letter."

"I'm seventeen, Kingsley. I'm of age- the Ministry can't just order me around anymore," Harry said, waving the crumpled parchment around in front of Kingsley's disembodied head. He was beginning to feel rather foolish and less and less of an adult.

The man nodded, slow and thoughtful, as if Harry were some wild animal he needed to keep calm. "Yes, you are. However, certain events of the last three years have prompted recent changes to Wizarding law. Most noticeably for yourself, wizarding educational law."

"Hermione said that it would be perfectly fine for me to sit in on the NEWTs next June if I wanted to graduate," Harry pointed out, a tad desperately. That was their plan, what with the three of them having lost a good portion of the school year to hunting Horcruxes.

Kingsley gave him a tight look of despair and grief, his one hoop-earring glowing in the firelight. "How would you sit in on them, Harry? Hogwarts was decimated in the final battle. It'll take a year at the least to rebuild her properly. Beauxbatons and Durmstang are out of the question and already accepting an overflow of students this coming year. This is the only viable option."

Harry shook his head, unwilling to remember how the castle that had been his home for the last seven years had been gutted in the final battle. "By sending me away? I thought you needed us to help-"

"It's not just you, Harry. We're relocating everyone who was a student at Hogwarts last year. Those who would have received their letters for this September are being pushed back until the next rotation. It's not just about educating the future anymore," Kingsley said meaningfully, his voice low and deep, "but things are still rather volatile here. One might say that sending young witches and wizards out of the country is for their own protection."

"The extremists?" Harry asked, knowing full well that was what his friend meant. Harry himself had received more than his share of death threats from a group of select muggleborns and muggles who'd known of the war brewing in the wizarding world. They were not happy with the way Voldemort and his prejudices had been allowed to fester in wizarding society and they definitely disliked the idea of celebrating Harry Potter- a half-blood from an old family- as their champion.

Adding that boiling pot of unrest to the already taxed Aurors attempting to hunt down the rest of Voldemort's followers left the Ministry in a bit of a delicate state of affairs.

There still seemed to be so much to do, even though they'd just finished burying their dead but a week previous.

"They are becoming increasingly violent and vocal in their demonstrations," Kingsley confirmed grimly, "Without Hogwarts, most magical families feel unsafe here. If we don't offer a safe, proactive option to schooling we may begin to lose the future generations of young witches and wizards that will be needed to rebuild our society."

"I feel perfectly safe here. My home is unplottable and buried under a mountain of disturbing Black Family protection magic," Harry pointed out quickly. He couldn't imagine anything quiet scary enough to drive him out of the country after the months he'd spent dodging Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.

"It's out of my hands," Kingsley said with a deep frown. "After the fiasco of the last quarter century the Ministry wants to promote as muggle-friendly a front as possible. People finally want change and who better to lead us to it than you, the Wizarding World's Hero and Champion of Muggles and Muggleborns?"

Harry frowned, his skin tingling at Kingsley's words. Uncomfortable didn't even begin to explain how his public image made him feel. "I don't want to be that person. You promised me that everyone would leave me alone now that Voldemort's gone."

"I wish for nothing more in the world than for you to find whatever happiness you seek, Harry," Kingsley's voice was low and regretful as he spoke, his eyes gazing at some point near Harry's ankles. "But you have to come to terms with the fact that you are and always will be a hero. People, nations, look up to you and how to handle certain political topics. You and your actions will inspire others to ultimately do what is right or what is-"

"Easy." Harry finished wearily. He knew that from the moment Voldemort put that searing scar on his forehead, Harry Potter would be a name to be remembered, but that didn't mean that he had to like it at all.

Even with the events of the last year in the forefront of his memory, Harry still didn't feel as if he were deserving of the title of anyone's hero.

Kingsley's gaze was too knowing, too understanding as Harry straightened out the paper in his hands and give it another once-over. "You'll do it?"

"Why America?" Harry asked, deliberating. "Why not somewhere a little closer to home?"

Kingsley's smile was shrewd and self-depreciating. "To be honest, that would be politics. Our international relationship with Wizarding America is thin at best. They've offered us aid for the coming years that it's going to take our people to rebuild and take back our reputation as the magical hotspot of the world but it's quite obvious that they're expecting a show of support in return. Your presence in America would be just as much an unofficial dignitary visit as it would be you fulfilling your scholastic duties."

"It's a sign of trust?" Harry asked, mulling over the words. "Kind of like an exchange of sorts?"

Kingsley pondered over the simplified version of events before nodding. "In a sense. It would also be considered an honour on their part- that we would entrust them with your safety."

Harry made a face at the idea of him being safe anywhere; unfortunately if Kingsley was telling it right, his every action for the next year would be the deciding factor for the whole of the British Wizarding population in general and in warming up relations between the United Kingdom and America.

Fantastic.

"I suppose I have no other choice but to agree," Harry said with a put-upon sigh. He looked around his home with a sharp, sudden thought. "Dear Merlin, where will I live?"

"I think it's brilliant!" Hermione said cheerfully, spooning a large heap of steaming rice into her plate. "It really is a step forward to better muggle-wizard relations."

"It's still kind of mad, Hermione," Ron protested around a mouth full of chicken. "Summer school! Just so that us purebloods don't make fools of ourselves when it comes to electricity and fellytones and the like."

"I think the fact that you're still calling them fellytones is a testament to how much you need this course, Ron," Hermione replied with a small sniff of disdain. "Besides, Harry and I have to take the course as well- we've spent the last seven years learning nothing but magic and mayhem."

"Useful mayhem," Ron said, swallowing thickly, "why in the world would I want to know how a light bulb works when I can just magic it on or use lumos?"

"What if you've lost your wand? Or something like Second Year happens and it get broken?"

"I still have the Deluminator."

"But what if you didn't?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It's a hypothetical question, Ron!"

Harry decided to cut in before Ron said something offensive and Hermione well, took offence. "Where will you be going?"

Hermione's stern frown melted into a joyful smile. "Australia! My parents loved their time spent there and should be out of St. Mungo's just in time for us to return for the new school year."

Harry nodded, feeling a sharp swell of guilt as he remembered exactly why the Grangers were in St. Mungo's in the first place. Hermione had taken the chance of breaking their minds by erasing her whole existence from their memories and sending them down under to be safe from the war.

Had their daughter not been one of Harry's greatest friends, none of that would have been necessary.

"They're shipping me off to Canada," Ron said in the awkward silence that had followed Hermione's excited announcement. "Mum's thrilled- we've got family that way so I'll be bunking up with them until this whole thing's over with."

"What about you, Harry?" Hermione asked softly, obviously recognizing that he had no family to stay with anymore, unlike both of his friends.

"America," He said with a small smile. "Apparently an old friend of Kingsley's moved there to pursue her passion- coaching high school football- after getting injured during some sort of top secret auror mission."

"America," Ron said slowly, obviously thinking hard on the idea. "I didn't think we had such good relations with the Yanks over there. What with our histories and such."

"This isn't random, Ron. They chose Harry for a reason, right?" Hermione directed the last question to Harry, her eyes narrowed. "It's politics all over again. How predictable."

Harry shrugged. "It's not like I can say no and not cause some sort of international magical situation, Hermione. The only thing I really have to do to make this work is go to school in Ohio and try and stay out of trouble."

Ron and Hermione shared an incredulous look.

"Harry, we've been trying to stay out of trouble for the last seven years," Ron pointed out. "I think you're doomed."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said faintly.

Hermione looked worriedly between the two of them, biting her lip in thought. "I'm sure you'll be fine, Harry. We'll call and send emails and I'm certain it'll be no problem to visit during the holidays. Kingsley wouldn't send you anywhere unsafe."

Ron clapped a large, freckled hand down on Harry's shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, Hermione's right. Maybe this year everything will turn out alright."

A frown stole over his face for moment as Hermione wandered off into the kitchen to get another glass of soda. Ron leaned forward and quickly whispered at Harry, "what's an email?"

Muggle Prep 101 started not a week later and continued well on into the summer months.

Harry and Hermione found themselves with nothing much more to learn about 'going muggle' than catching up on their deserted schooling and taking their specified country's driving exam.

Ron, much to their utter amusement and endless torment, seemed to have inherited Mr. Weasley's love for all things muggle.

("They've invented plugs, you see. Slotted into the wall like they're nothing and everything just has to be plugged in. Get it? Plugged in!"

"Ronald, I am a muggleborn witch. I know what a bloody plug is!")

Harry found American history to be just as dull as Wizarding history. Whether this was because history was just that boring of that it was taught by a pair of bumbling civil war ghosts who continuously argued over who was right and who was 'a biased, yellow-livered cur telling the whole damn thing the wrong way' was yet to be determined.

Geography was another thing entirely.

("Fifty states and capitals! It's maddening."

"Canada's not so bad, mate. Can't spell Nunavut for the life of me though."

"Why is Alaska even an American state? It's connected to Canada!")

Mrs. Weasley threw a rather large party for them at the end of August, to mark their graduation from muggle prep and as a joint going-away party all at once. Harry learned from Bill that Ginny would be spending her time in Romania with Charlie.

"Just in case the two of you ever want to reconnect," he said with a wink. Harry figured it wasn't worth the breath it would take to explain that he and Ginny had parted on good terms and were unlikely to every 'reconnect' again.

Before long it was September first and Harry found himself alone, pushing a trunk-filled trolley at London's International Airport. Hermione's flight had left that night with a stop-over in Dubai before she would even reach her destination, just as Harry himself would be touching down in Columbus, Ohio.

Ron's flight wasn't for another six hours, something Harry wished he could at least see. His friend's reaction to what exactly he would actually be flying in would have been brilliant.

After finding his gate and eventually getting his luggage checked in at the proper station, Harry took a quiet moment to himself as he peered out at the number of planes on the tarmac.

He'd never been outside of Europe. He'd never even considered the idea, especially after discovering Hogwarts and everything that world involved. Between surviving year to year and putting up with the Dursley's ridiculous behaviour, all Harry had ever really wanted to do was spend the summer holidays lazing around the Weasley's back garden and graduating with his wand intact.

Now, he'd be father away from both of his friends than ever before and attending muggle high school in small-town America.

His life, Harry concluded as his flight number was called to board, was seriously weird.

The flight was long and somewhat frightening when they'd hit turbulence just over the Atlantic Ocean. A baby six rows up cried from take-off to the first soft bump of landing before passing out into an oblivious sleep as the other tired, grumpy passengers of Flight 2405 exited the plane into Columbus International.

Harry waited until the last of the passengers began to trickle off the plane before pulling his own carry-on from the overhead compartment with slow, unhurried movements.

He wasn't exactly nervous but the idea of meeting another auror, even one retired from the job, certainly made him wary. Most aurors either thought he was amazing and seemed to hold a creepy kind of regard for his boy-hero status or despised the very ground he walked on.

A select few even knew what Harry was truly like.

With a friendly wave to the overly-cheerful flight attendant, Harry took a slow, calming breath and quickly began his walk up towards the terminal's exit.

Shannon Beiste felt burly and out of place among the excited family members waiting anxiously as the flight in from London finally began to disembark.

It was ridiculous, taking on a seventeen year old as her own damn charge when she could barely keep the respect of the kids on her football team. Especially considering exactly who Kingsley had talked her into letting into her home.

The piece of cardboard, cut squish on one side, read one word: Potter. She fiddled with it nervously before straightening up and staring down the last of the passengers wandering out of the terminal exit.

The kid better damn well have gotten on his plane or so help him Merlin she was going to fly over there herself and drag his ass across the pond. Shannon Beiste didn't suffer fools or cowards lightly.

Shifting from foot to foot for what felt like the hundredth time in less than an hour, Shannon saw him, looking worriedly around the mouth of the terminal.

He was…so very short for someone who had defeated a Dark Lord. Shannon found herself studying his tense shoulders and pale face as he scanned over the crowded airport, his knuckles tight and white on the strap of his carry-on until his gaze caught her sign.

A small smile ghosted over his mouth and almost against her will, Shannon found herself liking the kid already. Auror training had taught her to above all trust her gut and despite her doubts Potter had a genuine smile.

"Potter," she greeted with a sharp nod, tucking the sign under her arm. "Luggage claim is this way."

"Thanks for having me, ma'am," The kid said quietly as he shuffled up beside her, barely coming up to her broad shoulders. "Kingsley spoke highly of you."

"Man's got one hell of a silver-tongue," Shannon agreed, her eyes roaming over the flickering flight numbers to find their luggage wheel. "How's it going for him back there?"

Potter pressed his lips together tightly for a moment, an obvious sign of unease and distress. "Not as well as we could have hoped. Diagon Alley is still under repairs, Hogwarts may take an entire school year to rebuild and muggleborn extremists are starting to cause havoc in the general public. Especially aimed at those who are more than muggleborn."

"Jesus, it's gone from one end of the line to the other, huh?" She asked, unable to stop her smirk at the sight of a scuffed trunk tumbling down onto the conveyer belt. "I'm guessing that one's yours?"

Potter bit his lip, grinning himself as he hauled the trunk off of the wheel and onto the tiled floor. "It doesn't feel right, starting a new school year without my trunk. I wasn't sure if I'd have any time for back-to-school shopping so I brought as much as I could hide in an extendable trunk."

Shannon nodded, taking the handle out of his hand and hefting it easily up into her arms. It was impossibly light for what it was supposed to be carrying and she knew if she scanned its scuffed and scarred leather walls she'd find traces of a feather-light charm.

Intelligence and fore-thought; Shannon was more than a little impressed.

"I figured since we're already kicking around Columbus we might as well get anything you need here in the city. Lima's got about one actual mall, one tiny strip mall and a few scattered cafes and restaurants that the kids take over whenever they can. If you need anything specific you'll have to either hit up Westerville or right here."

Potter nodded, his eyes darting around the moving crowds, assessing and admiring how every day folk seemed to go about their business. "That's fine. I really just need a knapsack and some new robes…I mean clothes. Muggle clothes."

Shannon chuckled at the slip-up, pushing her shoulder against their exit door as she tried to navigate around a frazzled couple who'd tried to come in with a gaggle of kids. "It's the exit, buddy. Let me out."

Potter skirted around them, quiet and strangely unobtrusive as they cross the crumbling parking lot and stowed away all of his luggage into her 2002 Accord.

He was unnervingly polite and mellow for a teenager, Shannon thought absently. Not the snooty, prep-school boy polite but almost as if general kindness was so deeply ingrained into his personality that he couldn't help but come off as a somewhat reserved, well-mannered young man.

It was a refreshing change from the sweaty, smelly, animalistic teenage boys Shannon dealt with at McKinley- especially those on the football team.

The trip to the local Wal-Mart was just as pleasant, with the kid easily navigating the aisles to find exactly what it was he needed to begin his first year of muggle high school. He'd flushed pink with embarrassment when the pretty cashier at their check-out had had to swipe his shiny new debit card and explain exactly how the whole system worked.

Before long they were driving out of Columbus, Potter having declined a pit stop for anything other than a drive-thru coffee and bagel shop, requesting a cheap iced tea and a sesame seed bagel with a slice of cheddar.

Shannon vaguely began to wonder if there was a downside to this kid as she watched him slowly drift off to sleep in the front passenger's seat. She'd met adults who could have learnt a thing or two about maturity from him.

Potter didn't wake up until they hit the outside of Lima, passing the peeling, dented welcome sign in the afternoon light. His hair was a perpetual mess, sticking up in cowlicks all over the crown of his head.

"Sorry," he muttered, still half-asleep, "I think I've been hit by that jetlag thing people always complain about."

"Figured that," Shannon replied, turning in on her road. "We're nearly to the house now, if you want to get settled in and get back to sleep. There's fresh new sheets on the bed, those tiny bottles of shampoo and body wash in the bathroom- everything's all set."

Potter smiled as they pulled into the driveway of a beautiful two-storey house.

"Thanks for letting me steal your guestroom, ma'am," he said sheepishly, still staring up at the pale, pink-brown bricks that made up the walls of the house and the clean white trim around the windows. Even the walkway was done in matching cobblestone.

Shannon quirked an eyebrow at him as she turned off the car and undid her seatbelt. "Winning the State Championship last year meant a nice, hefty pay raise. This place comes with a basement apartment that's all yours until you head on back home at the end of June. Kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom- just enough room for one young man, I figure."

The kid seemed to be trying not to gap at her too much, opening his mouth to say absolutely nothing for a long moment. Finally, he seemed to swallow his silence and speak. "I have an apartment?"

Shannon pulled herself out from behind the steering wheel, trying not to smirk as the kid quickly scurried to catch up to her.

"You got your own apartment, Potter," she agreed amicably, popping the trunk and quickly looping the handles of the dull, grey Wal-Mart bags around her wrists. "Try and get settled in quickly- tomorrow we're getting you a car."

It felt good, Shannon decided, having the power to make The Boy Who Lived stand speechless on her front lawn.

A/N: I'll be attempting to get out at least one part a week, even more if I'm lucky. Harry should be meeting Dave and much more of the Glee characters in the coming parts. Thanks for reading!

-stangerine88