Inspired by the challenge set down by Acolyte of the Blood Moon. What if Harry was the reincarnation of a certain green-eyed SOLDIER? Hopefully fast updates, if people like it.

...Sorry? I live though!

Quick warning, this chapter does get dark, so be careful if you get upset at the mention and description of torture.

Never a Memory

It was bitter cold in the air, the trio clinging desperately to pale scales as night began to fall. The escape from Gringotts had been thrilling, a roller coaster of terror and adventure, but now it was just the last scraps of adrenaline that kept them on the broad neck and shoulders of their dragon.

The Ironbelly wasn't doing well at this point either, siding working like a pair of old bellows. Having lived underground it's whole life, the scaled beast was running on the genetic memory of first flight, but no fledgling stays in the air forever, even if said fledge is in this case, a full-grown adult. The trio had noticed the ground starting to get closer and closer over the course of the last hour, and were scanning the horizon for a safer place to roll off before it landed and tried satiate an empty fuel tank with the closest sources of meat. It was Hermione who pointed out the lake upcoming, and they braced themselves as the dragon soared over it, no more than yards over the water's surface. As one, they rolled over the scales and into the frigid water, Harry accidentally belly-flopping into what felt like little more than ice. He yelped from the surprising cold and the sting to his belly, reflexively inhaling at the wrong moment even as they aimed for the shore. The young General was still hacking up the water as they dragged themselves up onto the pebbled beach.

"Ex-eeex-exaresco!" Hermione finally managed to cast through chattering teeth, her clothes immediately fluffing back out and hanging properly now that they were dry. She grimaced as she flexed her feet, waving her wand over them again. Her clothes were dry, but her socks were still squishy. "I hope you know, that we got lucky," she intoned, her teeth no longer chattering now that the water was gone, casting the same charm on her boys. Harry was amusing since his steel and onyx hair puffed out for a moment, making him look remarkably like an angry cat when paired with bright green eyes.

"Do you still have the goblet, yo?" Only to nod as the witch pulled it out of the red beaded bag just enough for them to see the engraved badger's snout poking out almost curiously. She cast Death Penalty on it before slipping it back in; they would keep it out long enough for the curse to kick in once they made camp.

Harry laughed weakly as he flopped down onto his back, smoothing down his hair and still coughing softly against the lingering water trying to trickle down towards his lungs. "Good work team," he offered, waving a hand in their direction. "Almost makes me wish I could see the look on Volde-"

"Harry!"

"-mort's fac- Shiva!" He jackknifed straight up, eyes wide as he rolled unsteadily to his feet. "You don't think that was enough, do you?"

Ron bit his lip even as he climbed to his own feet, eyes darting about and wishing his EMR wasn't in Hermione's bag. "We've taken Snatcher teams before," he offered even as the Materia in his armlet and bangle started to glow in anticipation.

Only for everyone to pale at Hermione's realization. "Gringotts! They'll be alerted! Run!"

As one, the trio raced for the trees, ignoring the squelch of wet socks, ignoring sore thighs from riding a dragon bareback. They needed to get away from the lake, and into the trees where the Snatchers would be hampered by the close quarters. Ron's armlet glowed, and they felt the magic fall over them in their old SOLDIER forms, only for the young man to cry out in surprised agony. The Disguise Materia had finally taken enough abuse. A single shard fell away at first, only for a small bead to roll into the leaf litter as the parent Materia shattered in a crystalline shower of glass and fading magic. Hermione snatched up the little bead, Harry grabbing Ron by the elbow and pulling him after them, coming back to full speed within a few steps. The magic had worked, but they had known that the Materia was fragile for months. This was just too many uses too close to one another.

The pops and cracks of the Snatchers Apparating in reached their ears. "Reno, Haste?"

"Can't. Backlash. Can't cast." And it was true that his pale face was the color of milk even through the Disguise of the Turk. Even with Harry still holding his arm, he kept stumbling over normally nimble feet, leaning into that hold as much as was possible while running. Hermione was snarling next to them, Genesis' normally elegant face twisted in a mixture of fear and anger as she dropped her Rapier into the red purse and a quick Mini shrinking it to the size of an earring. It went into the front of her shirt, nestled in the bra hidden by magic, and she snapped off a volley of fire into the face of a Snatcher who had stepped out into their path.

Harry grimaced as well as he snapped a wave of lightning at the pair of Snatchers before them, holding back a groan when they managed to dodge the volley. They were at as much of a disadvantage as their enemy. Harry didn't have the muscle to swing the Masamune through the trees just yet, especially after hours of clinging to dragon scales, and Reno could only run: They were now down to only the two fighters. And more Snatchers kept popping in.

Green and hazel and blue met in worry. Harry knew he could order them to scatter. He also knew they would never listen to such an order. Only for Ron to point shakily to the side. "Clearing!" As one, they swerved towards the best option they had to regaining the terrain.

"I'm sorry. Sorry. I panicked!" Hermione panted in Genesis' voice as they skidded to a halt in the middle of the tiny clearing. It wasn't nearly large enough to bring the Masamune into play without hitting his friends, but it was enough to try and snipe at the Snatchers as they came into range and view. Ron was collapsed at their feet, face gone from the color of milk to chalk white, coughing and gagging for air.

"I said the name, my fault too!" Harry snapped as he tried to zap a Snatcher racing into the clearing. They would only get a few chances to thin the enemy ranks before they cottoned on to their plans, so they had to make them all count. The sallow-faced wizard collapsed with a scream of pain, limbs dancing over the cold ground even as Harry aimed at his next target. A tree went up in flames as Hermione took out both wizard and foliage in a splashing conflagration. "Sorry will wait till we're safe!"

A spear of ice. Ron had recovered enough to cover their backs, and even though his knees were shaking violently he forced himself to his feet. "No green," he panted, Barrier popping up to stop a random conjured bolder from flattening them, even as the MP drain almost brought him back to his knees.

It was true, and the two SOLDIERs were kicking themselves for not noticing it sooner. There were all sorts of spells being flung about, but no Killing Curses. These Snatchers weren't here to kill them, they didn't need so many warm bodies for that.

This was a capture team. And they were beginning to close the net.

"We have to get out of here!" Genesis barked, Firaga a wall of heat that was starting to set the forest up in smoke, Death Penalty a second behind. "Who has the Exit?!"

The boys were trying not to cough as the smoke grew thicker. It was helping to hide them from the Snatchers, but that would only work as long as they couldn't hear them. Instead of answering, Harry raised an arm, the Exit shining bright yellow, only to have to duck as a streak of red came through the dark smoke. The wizards were watching for any sign of the trio, and the Exit needed too long to 'charge' before it took them away. The night was starting to draw in, but the red of flames licking the crowns of the trees were set off by the crackling yellow of Thundaga and the pale blue streaks of Ice spears. The trio were back to back, leaning heavily against one another as every desperate lash of magic drained them further and further. The Dementors had been numerous, but not intelligent enough to plan. The Ministry had been taken off guard. The earlier taunting of Snatcher teams had only pissed them off and the teens were paying the price for it.

Ron was the first down, already dealing with the backlash from the Disguise Materia shattering, he wasn't again to throw up an MBarrier in time. The Stunner took him right between the eyes in what had to be the luckiest shot. With their backs now wide open, Harry and Hermione were only a few seconds behind him, falling into magically induced oblivion.

The Snatchers were caution as they approached the fallen trio, looking for wands or any sign of consciousness. Finally assured they were truly out, the third-in-command, (his two superiors killed in the fight,) barked for them to be tied up. "Lady Lestrange wants them brought straight to her," he ordered, sneering as they were magically levitated and tied up. What he didn't see, blocked by the robes, was the faint glow coming from the redhead's chest area, or the subtle twitch of his fingers.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

Sephiroth took a sudden deep breath as he snapped back to the waking world. Those green eyes snapped open, pupils dilating aggressively as he gazed into the darkness. There was no one else around but a second form roped up before him, a hint of red hair in a ratty tail slipping over a thin shoulder. A quick flex of his arms revealed the presence of his own bonds, but his legs were free and he slowly levered himself up off the stone floor. He could feel the empty holster on his right arm, but the Snatchers had missed the significance of the Materia; he could feel the weight of the armlet and the bangle around his neck. He stared hard at the redhead when he saw a subtle twitch running down his spine. "Reno, report."

Ron looked back at his friend, and the thing stripes of red under his eyes confirmed that he was still under the Disguise. A quick shake of his head revealed a curtain of silver instead of the parti colored mess it had become, so Harry was still Disguised for the moment as well. "Where-"

"Not sure. Cellar, likely Pure-blood mansion," Harry offered, taking in the sight of cobbled floors, stone walls, and a locked metal gate that led to a tunnel and staircase.

"Anti-portkey and anti-apparition magic will be standard then," he snarked as he rolled to his knees, scowling as he patted at his sleeve where his own wand was usually kept. "Exit?"

"Not without our wands. Do you see Genesis?"

A scream echoed down the barred stairwell. Eyes were grim as the pair looked up towards their missing friend. The Masamune appeared in Harry's hand with a splash of crystalline light and a quiet ringing noise, only for the young man to freeze when he felt a new hand on his wrist that kept him from trying to cut through his bonds. "Allow me General, before you lose a hand." A grin twitched over his face even as he relinquished the sword.

They knew that voice after all.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

Genesis was not used to torture like the Turks had been.

Physical pain yes, that was part of the life of a SOLDIER. But he had never been captured by the enemy, and while Degradation had started as painful, it had left him numb when his nerve endings started to die. Hermione didn't have the training or knowledge outside of her books to fall back on for this, only stubborn tears as the insane witch carved into petrified flesh and snarled contradictory questions into her ear. She had woken before the boys, and those been chosen for Bellatrix' gentle attentions, aided by the items she had stashed on herself that would help to lift status effects if given enough time. She could wiggle her toes a little, so it was only a matter of surviving long enough for the petrifus spell to be washed away as well.

She just couldn't let herself crack under the pain before then.

Her only guide for this was once again, from books. She had to either lie outrageously from the very beginning to help disguise the truth if it ever got out. Or use something else to distract her and her torturer. Ans while that ran the risk off pissing Bellatrix off, Genesis had been rather sassy when pissed off.

"What did you Mudblood bastards do at Gringotts?" Bellatrix hissed, the knife a stabbing cold contrast to hot blood and hotter ragged flesh.

"To seek my own salvation, and your eternal slumber," she rasped, Loveless coming to her as easily as a breath as she retreated deeper into Genesis' mindset. He did not know torture, but he did know pain, and even if it was in her head, he was still older than her, so she subconsciously leaned on that strength. Only to scream when the knife twisted in her arm. She could feel the tip of the metal grating against something in her am, something hard that caught and fought the blade. 'Oh Gods, that's bone! She's hitting bone!'

"Tell me the truth!"

"My friends, fly away!" She sobbed, gritting her teeth as she concentrated on ignoring the pain. "World that abhors, All that awaits, a somber morrow." Hazel eyes rolled back to stare defiantly at the insane Death Eater. "No matter, where the wind may blow."

Bellatrix screamed angrily as she pulled the knife out with a wrenching twist, blood flying from the blade as she sliced down and across Hermione's face. "Pettigrew!" The wizard in question slunk into the atrium, wringing thin and silver hands together nervously. Beady eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't bee sleeping well lately, and previously thin wisps of hair were even more flyaway than before. In his fidgeting, he knocked against a decorative pedestal, almost knocking it over and drawing Hermione's eye to the wands resting on top of it. "Bring me another," the older witch snarled, twisting her fingers into the fiery hair below her. "Let's see if he stays quiet when I have his friend under my tender attentions!"

"Yes ma'am, right away," Wormtail simpered, all but kowtowing to the insane witch. He paused at the top of the stairwell down. "Do you have a preference?"

Bellatrix pursed her lips before cackling. "The silver one! Yes, I think his blood will look lovely against that hair!"

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

"What do we do yo? Can the Masamune get through the bars?"

Harry rubbed his wrists as Luna finished cutting through the ropes binding Ron's arms. She wasn't the only one in the cellar, a nervous and twitching Ollivander hiding in a corner. "The sword can, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough to get it through," he admitted, and it was true that his muscles were all trembling still from their flight in the forest. Ron was still ashen under the Disguise as Reno, and Harry suspected he didn't look much better. "We need to get everyone out, and now. What if they called for Him to come here?"

"Do you have enough magic to Exit them?"

"Maybe." Harry snarled to himself as he paced back and forth between two pillars, hair flying behind him and the Masamune singing with intent. Ollivander tried to sink back farther from the young man, too broken from his time under the Death Eaters to do anything else when confronted with a silver god wreathed in steel and quicksilver. "Gods, this, this is too much. We need a better way out!"

Only for all heads to jerk up at a soft pop in the middle of the cellar. A small ragged figure in a pair of mismatched socks. Dobby and Kreacher had been assigned to the kids at Hermione's childhood home before the trio had go to Gringotts, and the sight of that tiny creature gave them a sudden well of hope. "Harry Potter! Dobby is here!"

The wand maker was surprised to hear the name of the young man, but Harry only smiled as he kneeled to embrace the elf. "You are a welcome sight," he praised as he drew back, Dobby beaming brighter than fire. "Can you get us out past the wards?"

"Dobby can! All house elves be knowing how!"

"Good. Then I need you to take Mr Ollivander and Luna out of here first. We need to get Hermione first."

"Not to the kids!" Reno suddenly cried, lunging forward when the Elf turned to his task. "Allied wizards, in case they follow. Not back to the kids."

The Elf nodded assuredly. "Dobby knows the bestest place," he assured as he placed a hand on the trembling knee of the eldest wizard in the cellar.

Luna smiled at the elf as she offered her own hand. "By your leave good sir." With a blush and a mutter of his adoration for the witch, the trio popped away, off to a place unknown.

"At least they're safe, yo," Reno muttered, shifting from foot tot foot in that loose-limbed way Reno used to get before a fight. "Now it's just us."

"Just the way we like it," Harry snarled, Masamune swinging up to tap against a pauldron. Green eyes flicked to the stairwell at the first sign of moving shadows, thin lips pulling back in an evil smirk that was all Sephiroth. "Oh look, company."

Reno had a similar smirk as they moved to flank the door. "Let's go say hi." Only for both of them to eye one another when the wizard coming to the door, was obviously Pettigrew. The gate was unlocked, the man peeked through to try and spot his quarry-

-only to yelp when he found himself yanked into the cellar and thrust into the wall. He paled at the sight of the pair in front of him. Where the hell had the one prisoner found that sword?

"Hello Wormtail." The last of the blood drained from his flabby face. How did this man know that name? "We need to talk, yo."

Green eyes were practically glowing with power. "Where is our friend?" he demanded in clipped tones. Only to throw a punch just past the man's face when he noticed his starting to reach for his wand. "You owe me Wormtail! You owe me your life, and if it takes calling that in to get us out of here alive, then by the gods I will do it!"

Beady eyes widened in recognition. He hesitated, glancing over and up the stairwell, only to scream in panic when his silver hand suddenly reached up to wrap around his throat. He panicked, tugging frantically at the limb, trying to loosen the grip on his windpipe. Almost as panicked, Harry stepped back just far enough to cut off the hand from the wizards' arm.

This was a mistake. Without his own arm as leverage, and now slick with his own blood, Wormtail had no leverage against the offending construct. The pair heard Pettigrew's neck snap as the hand tightened one last time, the man collapsing to the ground with one last squeak of panic. Without the man to draw magic from, the hand fell off to help into a silver puddle a few seconds later.

The pair were upset, but another aborted scream from Hermione drew them back to the present. As one, they turned and slunk their way up the stairs, leaving behind the remains of the traitor to rot.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

Harry screamed in pain and anger as they collapsed on the cold sand, cradling Dobby in his arms as he scanned his Materia for anything that could help. The Revive was too power intensive right now with the three of them drained, and no one had a Cure available, though the sobbing Hermione was digging through her red bag for it, her battered arm holding it weakly. "Hang on Dobby, please!" he begged, overwrot over the events of the past few minutes. They had made their way upstairs, and when Bellatrix had threatened to cut Hermione's throat, the newly returned Elf had tried to drop the chandelier on her. Hermione, finally throwing off the last of the petrify, had dove over the pedestal to grab their wands even as the boys joined her, Dobby offering that he had only wanted to main the blood-thirsting bitch. But the witch had recovered fast enough to give them one last gift as Dobby apparated them away; the same knife she had been using to torture Genesis, planting it in the Elf's thin chest right as they disappeared.

Cure in hand, Hermione slapped it into her bangle and started casting, but the wound refused to close. The knife was enchanted to resist healing magic, and they didn't have time to find the Destruct Materia.

"Harry...Potter...Dobby is happy..." the little Elf offered, a smile on his face despite the pain he must have been in in. "Dobby...is with his friends... Harry...Potter..."

With a final breath, the Elf closed his eyes, body going limp as the male died a hero, and a Free Elf.

Their Disguises had failed in the Apparition, but Hermione could see the second Harry slipped behind his memories of Sephiroth, using them as a shield against the pain as he hugged the body closer to him. "I want to bury him here," he commanded after a moment, looking out at the sea crashing inland maybe a hundred yards away. "Properly. Without magic."

"It will be done, General," Reno agreed, reaching over to squeeze his friend's shoulder as he stood. Harry placed Dobby down, picked a spot next to the sea grass, and started scooping away at the sand. Ron was right next to him, Hermione doing what she could with only one arm, and Harry never noticed when Luna joined them, or the second pair of hand after hers.

Dobby was buried on that sandy hill before moonrise, Ron offering the elf his socks in tribute, Hermione a scarf. Harry carved a large piece of driftwood to be his tomb stone. 'HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF.'

"Come inside, we need to get your arm looked at my dear." They all looked up at this new voice. In my final moments, Dobby had brought them to Bill. The older wizard offered them a wane smile, beckoning them to follow him down to Shell Cottage. For the night at least, they would sleep safely.

A few hours later, as the rest of the party slept safe and warm in Bill's house, Luna stepped out onto the beach. The night was calm, and the green was dancing, but there was a small eddy where Dobby had been buried.

Memory guided her hand. A small part of the beach was tucked in a cove, and was relatively calm and sheltered compared to the rest of the beach. Her trainers slipped off, left on the sand, and a long stick was in her hand to help tie memory into motion. Magic rose at a thought, eyes closed as she slowly strode out, on top of the cold sea.

The green danced and she danced with it, showing Dobby the way home, her final thank you to the brave little Elf.