Emerald Phantom

Fates Illusion

Summary: Voldemort's defeat leaves the world with a lot of questions, most of them revolving around the Boy-Who-Lived. As they wonder, little Harry is left in the hands of the Dursley's but he won't stay there for long. The world needs him and who is he to deny that call?

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am merely playing with other people's toys, using them in my own twisted games. Anything you recognize most probably belongs to somebody else, except the plots, those are mine.

Dialogue Key:

"Blah…" – Talking in English

Blah… - Thoughts, emphasis, writing/e-mails, flashbacks/dreams, spells

Additional Notes: The story will follow parts of the anime, manga, and books for all of the series' involved and then it will take a steep nosedive away from canon.

Chapter 4:

Betide

Seeing the young witch stumble back in fright, Hailey's own shock was quick to fade. Silently cursing his luck, he moved forward and gently pulled her away from the shelf before it could begin to teeter under her added weight.

"I am so sorry!" Harry exclaimed, pitching his voice to keep any doubts of just what gender he was at bay. Brushing at her robes lightly to clear them of dust, he subtly made sure there were no other weapons on her person aside from her wand, a habit he had developed and honed with his chosen career path. "You gave me such a-"

He broke off when she grasped his arm in a reassuring manner, but she didn't say anything while she tried to catch her breath. Worried that he might have caused some trouble with his act he bent down a little to meet her eyes, "Are you all right?" She gave him a weak smile and waved him off.

"I-I'm okay!" She assured, quickly regaining her lost composure, "I was just a little winded but I'll be okay in a minute."

Harry wasn't fully convinced but he let it go. With a quick nod he backed up, giving her enough room to straighten up on her own. "I really am sorry," He told her still using a voice remarkably (terrifyingly) similar to Relena's.

Shooting him a quelling look she placed her hands on her hips, "Why should you be sorry?" She demanded, "I'm the one who should be apologizing seeing as I startled you in the first place!" Eyes narrowed and leaning forward as she was, Harry couldn't help but admit that she cut quite the intimidating figure.

Scratching at his cheek thoughtfully, slightly baffled at her attitude, he didn't argue with the witch. Instead he stooped down to pick up a few of the tomes that had been knocked to the ground in their mishap.

It didn't take more than a moment before she looked away and back at that accursed pile of trash behind him with a small frown forming on her lips. "Were you looking for something in particular?"

Peering behind him once more he couldn't help the scowl that appeared. "A friend of mine is trying to research the last couple of British Dark Lords for another friend of ours," He admitted with wry amusement, "we found Grindlewald just fine, but this most recent one…" Harry rolled his eyes and gestured at the mess behind him, "Well, he's turning out to be a disaster to find information on."

The details in his story were scarce but it would be easy enough to keep the girl distracted from that fact by drawing her away from his tale and onto something else, like his current dilemma.

Glancing between Hailey and the books, the bushy-haired witch sniffed in disdain before turning on her heel and marching back to the shelf she had crashed into. With a quick perusal she found a particularly thin book, not much wider than two of her fingers. Aside from an etching of a black snake poised to strike on the dark leather cover, there were no other markings indicating what the book was about.

"This is probably the most accurate book out of all of them," She informed him lightly as she shoved it into his hands and let him flip through a couple of pages, "there are still some things that aren't covered or explained fully but it's the most sensible out of all of this rubbish."

Browsing the subjects in the table of contents he noticed that it not only covered the acts Lord Voldemort committed in the first war but it also proposed several of the more likely theories behind his fall as well.

Watching him with a sharp gaze as he shuffled back and forth through the book she added as an after-thought, "The one thing you should probably take with a grain of salt in that is the list of Death Eaters." When he looked up at her with a brow raised in question she elaborated, "A lot of them weren't convicted because they claimed they were under the imperious curse and so the list of those that were convicted isn't complete and there are those Death Eaters that weren't even marked!"

Tilting his head to the side he observed her, taking in her stiff back and disapproving frown, "You sure know an awful lot," He murmured, interested in where her information was coming from.

She hesitated for a moment, considering him, looking for something to trust, it took a little bit but finally, "One of my best friends was involved," She confessed, turning as she spoke to begin picking up the useless pile still resting on the floor behind him.

With her back turned she missed seeing the interest spark in his eyes.

"Really," Harry didn't even twitch as the altered voice Wufei had adopted floated down the aisle towards them, masking his light steps as he walked towards the pair. While the brunette turned to see the newcomer, Harry gave a quick and cheerful acknowledgement by calling his temporary name. He didn't seem at all bothered when he was ignored in favor of focusing all of his attention on the only real girl in their gathering and the possible well of information she held, "involved how?"

Sitting in the cool interior of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, Duo found no trouble admitting that wizards made awesome ice cream. Chocolate dribbled down his chin as he licked messily at his cone, trying to save the rest of the goodness held in his hands from falling off the baked waffle.

Even as he munched away on Quatre's treat, his focus remained on the window watching for Harry and Wufei to exit the book store.

It hadn't taken long for Trowa to track the missing duo down to a small corner in the back of the store. It took even less time to realize they had found somebody to interrogate subtly. After that all that they needed was a flick of a wrist and twitch of a couple of fingers to let them know everybody else would be waiting at their pre-arranged rendezvous spot.

Luckily for them, the kindly ice cream dealer was willing to accommodate them and their bottomless stomach for a partner while they waited for their friends.

Trowa had only just started digging into the sundae he was sharing with Quatre when he spotted a familiar bushy-haired girl traipsing out of the bookstore with three loaded bags of books and a happy smile on her face.

It wouldn't be much longer until Wufei and Harry escaped then. He snatched a bite of the caramel and chocolate covered banana before Quatre could steal it all in the distraction he was sure would be coming shortly.

Just as Trowa had predicted it wasn't long before Hailey and Wen entered the modest ice cream shop chatting away about all things inane while making it seem the most serious discussion in the world.

"It was pink I tell you! I swear she's getting to everyone, it's like a plague that spreads in her presence."

Wen wasn't having any of it though. Skeptical, she simply listened as her companion ranted, waving her arms for dramatic emphasis.

At the first pause he made his opinion known, "You're crazy." He stated quite seriously in a low tone, "It's okay though, we still love you."

Harry gave him a flat stare in return, "Of course you do; that was never in question." And then he turned right back to his raving over Relena's (lovely girl that she is) secret curse on the world.

Heero watched it all with a pensive frown on his face. As it began to wind down he turned to the braided menace watching the scene with a cat ate the canary grin. "Maybe Hailey shouldn't have any more of those late night marathons with you; clearly you're corrupting her…" That quickly wiped the smile off Duo's face.

The dismayed whine quickly drew the duo's attention from their perusal of the ice cream and their discussion. Acting like they hadn't spotted the rest of their team the moment they stepped into the parlor Harry flounced over to their table, dragging Wufei with him and greeting them as if they hadn't just seen each other less than an hour ago.

Smiling playfully, Hailey shoved Henry further down the bench and slid in next to him while simultaneously pushing Wen beside Donna.

"You wouldn't believe what we found in Flourish and Blotts~!" She started, stealing Quorra's spoon and a bite of Donna's ice cream. They all settled down in their seats and prepared for a veiled summary of the full-on briefing they would expect on their return home.

Laden with bags of books and school supplies, Hermione pushed her way through the small crowd and into the Leaky Cauldron, her eyes quickly scanning the gathering to find…

There they were!

With a grin she raced over to a table somewhat further back in the pub where a flock of red-heads sat chatting away over the day's special.

Ten steps from meeting up with the large family she was tackled from behind with twin shouts of "Hermione!" the only reason she didn't collapse under the added weight was from years of practice. Instead she rolled her eyes with fond exasperation heavenwards, shifted her bags up her wrists a bit and delivered a well-deserved poke in both of their sides forcing them to let go and defend themselves.

"Really you two," Turning, she addressed her ticklish attackers with a barely suppressed smile; "I was only gone for a couple of hours – is this how I should expect to be treated when I rejoin you after my extra classes?"

Ron Weasley shifted to share a glance with his partner in crime, cerulean eyes echoing the mischievous gleam that came from rich chocolate before he leaned forward and swept his arm over the brunette's shoulder, "Maybe!"

With a bark of laughter a second arm quickly occupied Hermione's other shoulder before they both led her to the rest of the waiting Weasley family. "We'll see when we get there!"

Alright! Finally finished this chapter! I'm terribly sorry for the wait – I could give you all hundreds of excuses and reasons but it really all trickles down to a lack of motivation and some serious writers block. This chapter did not want to be written and even now I'm not entirely satisfied with it but I'm going to leave it as is for a little bit and then come back in a couple of days and edit it. Speaking of editing, chapters one through three have been edited – the first two have even gained an extra page or two of text with some new details. I'd recommend that you guys go back and read them through again!

Happy Reading,

Fates Illusion

Next chapter:

Chapter 5: Rain Before the Storm