Just to let you know, there's going to be a bit of a time skip about halfway through the chapter.

I don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow, and steady.

Erza stood in the East Forest near Magnolia Town, her eyes closed and her sword gripped tightly in her hands. Her ears strained to take in every minute sound of the forest around her: The trickling of the nearby stream; the woodland animals foraging for food nearby; the trees swaying ever so slightly in the breeze.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow, and steady.

Alongside the peaceful symphony of the forest, Erza barely heard the sound of grass being trodden on behind her. Her eyes springing open, she spun around and gave her sword a mighty swing. Though she only hit empty air, the sound of feet shuffling through the grass, as well as the faint shimmer in front of her confirmed that she had been right. Its presence discovered, the mostly-invisible being shot several beams of white light at her, an attack which she easily blocked with her sword before she launched a counter-attack. Each swing of her sword pushed the entity back further into the forest, until it managed to jump behind a cluster of trees. As Erza chased after her quarry, a great wind blew through, stirring up all the fallen leaves around her.

"Where did you go?" she hissed softly as her eyes darted back and forth, trying to reacquire her lost target. She kept her ears open as well, though it was hard to hear anything other than the cacophony of leaves rustling in the wind. From the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of white, but was too slow to block it and a stinging sensation coursed from her ear, like someone had pinched her hard. Caught off balance, another flash of light hit her in the knee, then another on her arm. The flashing and stinging kept coming until Erza threw down her sword in defeat.

"Not bad," a male voice said as a portion of the forest seemed to melt away, revealing Harry with wand in hand. "You're getting better at tracking me," he continued as he helped Erza up.

"Not good enough," the young girl muttered as she picked up her sword and slid it back into its sheath. She resisted the urge to rub her ear, still sore after being hit by whatever spell Harry had cast on her.

"Hey, you picked up in months what takes most people years to learn," Harry said in an attempt to cheer Erza up. "Trust me, you're making excellent progress. In time, you might even be able to beat me!" This seemed to lift her spirits, much to his satisfaction. "Let's go home, I'm starving," he said as he began to make his way back to town, Erza dashing to catch up to him.

In the few months since she had joined Fairy Tail, Erza had been seeking tutelage in magic and martial arts in between jobs. Several of the older guild members were teaching her the art of weaponry; one of them, only a few years older than Erza herself, also possessed requip magic, and was coaching the young redhead in its usage. Harry himself was a surprisingly capable fighter, despite his pacifistic role in the guild. Though he never used anything more painful than a stinging hex, he was a tricky, agile opponent, able to vanish and reappear elsewhere seemingly at will.

Erza took in the knowledge like a thirsty man to water, and despite her young age seemed to be well on her way to being one of the most skilled fighters in the guild. There was even a betting pool going around on whether or not she would be the youngest member to become an S-Class wizard, the top rank in any guild; the current record is held by Makarov's own grandson, Laxus Dreyar.

The duo returned to the Fairy Tail guild hall and settled down to eat their lunch – an entire strawberry cheesecake for Erza while Harry had fried fish with fries (which he insisted on calling chips for some reason). Their quiet meal – or as quite as it could be in the boisterous guild hall – was interrupted when the doors creaked open. In came Makarov, along with a boy who seemed a few years younger than Erza with spiky pink hair.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" the old man declared proudly. "I've got some work to do upstairs, so why don't you go get acquainted with everybody?" Nodding in satisfaction, the old man casually strolled his way up to the second level of the guild hall to attend to whatever business called his attention. Several seconds passed as the guild members and the new arrival stared at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"So, who the hell are you?" The silence was finally broken by one of the guild's younger members, an ice wizard named Gray Fullbuster. Despite his age, he was rather talented at his craft. However…

"Gray, be nice! And put some damn clothes on!"

…He had the unfortunate habit of subconsciously removing his clothes.

"Wha…? Ah, crap!" the young boy exclaimed when he looked down and saw that indeed, he had stripped himself down to his underwear. This caused the newcomer to begin laughing at Gray.

"The idiot can't even tell when his clothes are off!" he said between fits of laughter. This riled the ice wizard's temper to the point where he got up and shoved himself into the newcomer's face.

"Who're you calling an idiot, pinky?" the black-haired boy snarled angrily.

"The name's not 'Pinky', it's Natsu, and I am, you stupid streaker!" the pink-haired boy retorted, just as angrily.

"Stupid, am I?" Gray shouted as a frosty blue aura began flaring around him as he unconsciously began to use his powers.

"Yeah, I think you are!" Natsu replied as flames began to swell around him. As the two pre-teens continued their verbal sparring, each insult getting progressively nastier, Harry observed the whole spectacle from his table.

"Well, he's a lively one," he quipped bemusedly. Turning to Erza he asked, "So do you want to break it up, or should I?" The girl did not immediately answer as she shifted her vision from the fight back to her plate. On the one hand, fighting in the guild hall was against guild rules, not to mention incredibly annoying. On the other hand, she still had half a strawberry cheesecake left to finish. Harry seemed to notice her dilemma and chuckled as he stood up, saying, "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." After taking a bite of Erza's cheesecake – and ignoring her cry of protest – Harry left to break up Gray and Natsu's fight before their verbal blows gave way to physical ones.

"Tch, great," Erza heard Mirajane grumble from a nearby table, "just what this guild needs: Another violent, hot-headed moron."

"What, afraid you can't handle the competition?" the redhead sniped at her white-haired rival. The logical part of Erza's mind said that she should have just ignored the other girl's comment, but something about her dug deep into the young knight's skin and brought out the worst in her, practically compelling her to respond.

"Ooh, the prude's got some bite to her," Mirajane said, the sarcasm thick in her voice.

"My armor is both stylish and functional," Erza retorted, "unlike you, who just dresses like a skank." Mirajane's eye narrowed into slits at the barb.

"Who are you calling a skank, you stuck-up little bitch?" she hissed angrily. Erza opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Harry's voice.

"I hope you girls aren't fighting back there," he said as he looked over his shoulder at them. Being held at either side of him were Natsu and Gray, who were no longer hurling insults but still shooting murderous glares towards each other. All traces of hostility suddenly vanished from the teenage girls as they plastered large, brilliant smiles on their faces.

"Nope, no fighting," Mirajane said, appearing so innocent that the air seemed to sparkle around her.

"Just having a friendly conversation," Erza agreed as she dug into her cheesecake with renewed gusto. Apparently satisfied by what he saw and heard, Harry turned back to the two boys before him and continued to try and calm the two hot-headed young boys. As soon as Harry turned his back on them, the two girls dropped all pretences of civility and growled quietly at each other while glaring so intensely, one could almost see lightning arcing between the two.

At Mirajane's side, a young girl barely ten years old left her seat and walked up to the guild's new guest. Dipping into a curtsy, she introduced herself, "Hi there, my name's Lisanna."

Surprised by the girl speaking to him, Natsu's ire towards Gray melted away as he nervously stammered out, "Umm, err…hi there, name's Natsu."

Seemingly oblivious to his discomfort, Lisanna pointed to the table she had come from; across from Mirajane was a stocky young boy wearing a blue suit with a red bowtie, and sporting the same head of white hair as the two girls. "That's my big brother and sister, Elfman and Mirajane," Lisanna introduced to Natsu. Elfman waved cheerfully at the two; Mirajane, so engaged in her glaring contest with Erza, did not greet, or even acknowledge them. "I hope you'll be staying with us!" she continued. With her large, glittering eyes and hopeful smile, even the most hardhearted of men would be hard-pressed to deny the little girl; Natsu didn't stand a chance.

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely stayin', don't you worry about that!" he declared, beaming with enthusiasm. His reverie was interrupted by Harry clapping him on the shoulder.

"Then let's get you settled in, shall we?" Reaching behind the bar's counter, Harry brought out the stamp bearing the guild's symbol as well as the ink pad. A minute later, Natsu Dragneel became the latest member to join Fairy Tail, proudly bearing their flag on his right arm.

Three Years Later…

Mirajane gave a bored sigh as she perused the job board. The previous month she had earned the coveted rank of S-Class Wizard, the strongest wizards in any particular guild. Within Fairy Tail itself, there were only five wizards who held that prestigious honor: Herself, Makarov's grandson Laxus Dreyar; some weird guy named Mystogan who has a serious aversion to people seeing his face, always wearing a scarf around his head and knocking the whole guild out whenever he picks up a job; Gildarts Clive, another odd man who periodically wanders in, practically leveling the city while he's at it; and finally, much to Mirajane's annoyance, her rival Erza Scarlet. Though the two girls were the same age, the redhead had managed to beat her in the S-Class trials the year before, making her the youngest wizard to ever hold the rank at 16 years old.

Mirajane shook her head to rid herself of any budding thoughts about her rival and continued to stare at the job board. To her frustration, ever since she had obtained her S-Class ranking, none of the jobs set aside for those esteemed wizards had caught her interest. She had taken a few jobs to pay the bills, but she was looking for something that could really push her limits, something worthy of her time.

…Something like a call to exterminate a roving, nameless beast that was attacking villages. Apparently, a monster had been attacking isolated villages far away from any major city for almost a month now, leaving few if any survivors. According to its trail of destruction, its next likely target would be a small woodland town about a week's travel away. It also came with a ten million Jewel reward upon confirmation of its death. Jackpot, she thought triumphantly as she ripped the notice off the board.

"Yo Elfman, saddle up!" she called out. "We've got a job to do!" Elfman, now towering head and shoulders above his older sister, grabbed their bags and quickly fell in line behind her. Harry soon joined them; S-Class missions were considered the most dangerous of the lot, and collateral damage was almost a guarantee, which often necessitated his presence. As Mirajane explained the details of the mission to her brother, the trio searched the grounds for Lisanna, whom they found conversing with Natsu and Happy, the flying, talking blue cat that had come into their fold two years before.

"…Natsu ate my whole fish, and didn't even ask me first!" the feline complained.

"Whenever I eat any fish, you say it's yours," Natsu retorted with a weary sigh.

"C'mon Lisanna," Elfman said as the two white-haired and one black-haired wizard approached. "Let's go, we gotta get to work."

"What?" Lisanna asked in surprise. "But we just finished a job, can't we take a little break?"

"Yeah, but it's an S-Class quest!" Elfman replied, excitement in his voice. "Mirajane wants us to come along and help her out with it!"

"No way!" Natsu immediately exclaimed. "That's totally unfair!"

"What kind of job is it?" Happy asked, ignoring Natsu's outburst.

"An emergency request," Mirajane replied, passing Lisanna the request form for perusal. "It just came in; apparently, they want us to kill this monster they call 'The Beast.'" Leaning towards the younger boy, she added teasingly, "Hey Natsu, wanna come with? You might learn a thing or two." While Natsu gritted his teeth at the mockery, Elfman voiced his own protests.

"I don't want him tagging along!" the tall young man complained. "I'm the man of this family and I can protect you both by myself!"

"Oh come on, stop hogging all the fun!" Natsu whined, stomping his feet like a child. "And if you're such a big man, then why's Harry tagging along?" he demanded.

"Don't bring me into this," the brunette wizard said as he wiped his glasses clean, with the edge of his shirt.

"Natsu," Lisanna said with the patient air of explaining something that a person should already know, "Harry always goes along with S-Class missions. He's the only one in the guild with the magic to repair damage so quickly." Natsu blinked dumbly as he came to this realization.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot," he admitted sheepishly.

"Idiot," Mirajane grumbled under her breath. Turning to her sister, she said, "Grab your things, Lisanna, we're leaving in an hour."

"Okay!" the younger girl replied cheerfully as she ran back to the guild to pack. While Natsu sat on the ground sulking, Harry laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Natsu," he said, trying to lift the teenager's sour mood. "Between me and Elfman, nothing's gonna happen Lisanna. You have my word." A few minutes later, Lisanna returned with her supplies and the quartet began to make their way to their destination.

"I hope we'll be able to stop the monster before it hurts any more people," Lisanna said worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, Sis," Mirajane replied, a picture of confidence as she draped an arm over her sister's shoulder. "With my strength, you and Elf backing me up, and Harry on clean-up duty, nothing can go wrong!"

Everything was going wrong.

It had all seemed so simple at first, Mirajane thought. They would arrive ahead of the Beast and evacuate the town. Then, she would use her Satan Soul magic to take to the air and deal the heavy blows while Elfman would hit it from the ground, maybe even absorbing its power in the process. Lisanna could use her Animal Soul magic to lend some additional air support, and Harry...Harry usually hung back and waited for the carnage to end so he could start repairing things, which was fine by her.

But the Beast was faster than they anticipated. By the time they arrived at the town, it was already being besieged by the monster. Mirajane and Elfman immediately set upon the monster, trying to draw its attention in order to bring it away from the city. Harry and Lisanna ran into the city, she trying to guide the panicking townsfolk into an orderly evacuation while he ran about healing the wounded.

While Harry herded the fear-stricken people to the edge of the town borders he risked a glance upwards and frowned at what he saw. While Mirajane had succeeded in drawing the monster away from the town, her mannerisms were unusual. Unlike her usual swift, powerful blows, the teenage wizard seemed to be hesitant and half-hearted in her attacks, like she did not want to harm it. The older wizard felt a familiar, unpleasant feeling settle in his gut.

"Something's not right," he muttered. He ordered Lisanna to continue overseeing the evacuation before disappearing with a pop. He reappeared at the far edge of town; he drew his wand and waved it around himself before he ran towards the scene of the battle. Mirajane flitted around the Beast's head, dodging to and fro while it tried to swat her down like an insect. Elfman was nowhere to be found. Bringing up his wand, Harry snapped out a stunning hex, but the monster was more than twice his height and possessed a thick hide. The spell simple bounced off with no effect; Harry doubted that it even noticed him. He barely resisted the urge to cry out when the Beast managed to catch Mirajane, carving a shallow trench in the earth as she was sent crashing down. As he ran towards the fallen girl, Harry shot a volley of hexes at the Beast's head. One found its mark, striking it in the face. The behemoth cried out in pain and anger as its eyes itched and burned. As the beast wailed and thrashed about, Harry waved his wand over Mirajane, healing several of her wounds.

"Harry…" she groaned softly, still reeling from her forced grounding.

"Mira, what's going on? Where's Elfman?" Harry asked urgently, keeping an eye on the monster in case its attention turned back on them.

"Elfman…" she groaned again as Harry helped her to her feet. "Elfman tried to use his magic to absorb the Beast. It worked, but…something went wrong. Its mind overpowered his, and well…" she waved her hand at the monster before them now.

"Wait, that's Elfman?" Harry exclaimed incredulously. Crap, this complicates things, he thought to himself. His repertoire of offensive spells was tailored towards fighting and subduing humans, not giant monsters. A dark voice in his head reminded him that he did know spells that would stop the Beast's rampage, but they all resulted in the death or permanent maiming of the target, which was not an option if it really was Elfman.

His mental dilemma was interrupted when Beast-Elfman recovered from Harry's spell and retaliated by trying to crush them under hand, prompting the wizard to pop himself and Mirajane out of the way.

"Can you still fight?" Harry asked, firing another volley at Beast-Elfman, which bounced ineffectually against his hide.

"Yeah, I can," Mirajane confirmed. Her body was momentarily enveloped in light before it dispelled. Her forearms were covered with green scales and her fingers ended in sharp talons. A more alarming change in her physique was the long, coiling tail and pair of black, leathery wings that sprung forth from her back.

Being resistant to most of his spells, Harry resorted to binding Beast-Elfman still with meters upon meters of conjured rope that coiled around the monster like snakes while Mirajane took flight and tried to beat her brother into unconsciousness. But Elfman's new, larger form also came with greatly increased strength, forcing Harry to focus all his attention on keeping him bound, lest he break free from his bonds.

"Hey Harry, I finished evacuating the town and – what's going on?" Lisanna asked as she started to approach Harry. He turned to the young girl and yelled to get back, but the momentary lapse in concentration was enough for Beast-Elfman to snap the ropes restraining him. With a speed the belied his great size, Beast-Elfman slapped Mirajane away before dashing forward and knocking Harry into the nearby woods.

The spell that Harry had casted upon himself before he entered the battle was a variation of one that he had learned in his youth that repelled rainwater from his glasses. The version that he had used created a magical field just over the surface of his body that repelled flying debris such as rocks or similar objects. It was designed to protect the body against shrapnel during a battle.

It was not designed to protect against being backhanded by a monster hard enough to break straight through a solid pine tree.

The attack had sent a sharp pain through Harry's chest, and hit hard enough to send the man flying without the use of wings or any external apparatus. But when he struck the tree, a fiery pain lanced through his back and into his brain. It was a pain that he had not felt for many years, and hoped never to experience again. As he tumbled to a halt, the overwhelming pain dominated Harry's senses for several agonizing seconds before he mercifully blacked out.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when Harry returned to the land of the living, he saw Mirajane and a now human Elfman nervously hovering over him. He noticed that their eyes both seemed red and puffy, like they had been crying. The next thing Harry noticed was that absolutely everything about him hurt. Oddly, his legs also felt strangely numb. That probably wasn't good.

"Where—" he began before stopping. It hurt for him to breathe, which meant that he had at least one fractured rib. Although considering the beating that he had just suffered, he wouldn't be surprised if his entire ribcage was broken into tiny pieces. "Where's my wand?" he finally managed to gasp out.

"I don't know," Mirajane replied. "You must have dropped it when…well, when you got hurt," she said. His neck hurting too much to move his head, Harry merely grunted in acknowledgement.

Gingerly moving his arms, he reached into his right sleeve and drew another wand. Unlike his other, smoother wand, this one had knots along its length. With a flick of the wooden object, his original wand came soaring from wherever it had fallen in the woods, thankfully intact. Slowly shifting so that the tip of his wand was to his mouth, he began to whisper into the wooden rod, too softly for either of the teenagers to hear except for the final two words.

"…Expecto patronum." Aiming his wand outward, a ghostly silver stag burst forth from the tip. The majestic beast barely spared the trio a glance before it galloped off into the distance, quickly disappearing from view. "Told Porlyusica to get ready," he explained before they could ask. "Where's Lisanna?" he asked when he noticed that the youngest of their number was absent. When neither Mirajane nor Elfman would look him in the eye, he knew the answer. "I see," he said softly, his vision blurring as tears began to well up in his eyes. Blinking the tears away, Harry tried to lift himself up, which only caused a fresh wave of pain to course through him.

"How are we going to get you home? You're in no condition to be moved," Mirajane said, unsure of what to do.

"I have a way," Harry said, not mentioning that his method would not be pleasant for any of them, him especially. "One of you go and find a rope or a branch, something long enough for all of us to grab," he ordered.

"Go," Mirajane told Elfman, who took off without a word. A minute later, he returned with a freshly broken tree branch nearly a meter in length.

"Grab on," Harry said. Setting the branch down on his chest so that he didn't have to reach up, both he and Mirajane grasped the branch, Harry pressing his wand into it with the other. "This is gonna suck," he grumbled to himself. "Portus." The three instantly felt a tugging sensation behind their navels as they were whisked back to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Unfortunately, the landing was less than smooth, and crashing into the floor caused Harry to give out a blood-curdling scream as pain coursed through his body. Fortunately for him, at that moment Porlyusica burst through the doors. She was a hard-faced old woman with pink hair and blood-red robes. In her arms was a rolled up medical stretcher.

"You two help me get him on the stretcher," she ordered the nearest two guild members. Between their concern for Harry and fear of the healer before them, the two volunteers proceeded with all haste. By then, Harry's screams had been reduced to seething hisses. His broken body was moved from the floor to the canvas stretcher; the whole ensemble was then lifted up and swiftly but carefully evacuated him to Porlyusica's home in the woods.

"What happened?" Natsu asked, stunned into a stupor by the whole display. "Where's Lisanna?"

"The mission went south," Mirajane replied, her voice and demeanor unusually subdued. "And Lisanna…she's dead," she added with a sob. The whole guild gasped at the news, but none were so visibly affected as Natsu, who reeled back in shock.

"Dead…?" he gasped in disbelief. "How can – how can she be dead?" he demanded.

"It was my fault," Elfman admitted, hanging his head in shame. Natsu turned his attention towards the taller man.

"Your fault?" he echoed. His shock quickly turned to anger as he began to yell at Elfman, gouts of flame bursting from his mouth. "How could you?! She was your sister; you said you'd protect her! You keep going on about how you're a man, but you killed her!" Before he could continue his rant any further, Natsu's world exploded in a burst of pain and stars filled his vision. When he came to his senses, he found himself on the floor with a sore jaw. Standing before him was Mirajane, tears streaming down an otherwise murderous visage and being held back by Erza.

"Shut up!" she screamed, struggling to escape Erza's grip, but the redhead was too strong to overpower. "You don't know a damn thing about what happened out there, so just shut your hole!"

"He killed Lisanna!" Natsu shouted back, jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at Elfman. "Your own sister! I can say whatever the hell I want to him!"

"ENOUGH!" Makarov bellowed loud enough to rattle the highest rafters of the building. "Tonight was nothing less than a tragedy," he continued, glaring at both of the arguing wizards. "Lisanna was a friend to us all, and we will all mourn her death. But fighting isn't going to bring her back, so I suggest that everybody go home and get some rest, hopefully tomorrow we'll all have cooler heads." The old, diminutive man gave a shuddering sigh, like he was fighting the urge to break into tears himself. "I will make an announcement once the funeral arrangements have been made. Good night, everyone." Makarov turned around and marched back upstairs into his office, to begin the arrangements for Lisanna's funeral or else to mourn her loss in private.

Now that Mirajane no longer seemed intent on viciously murdering Natsu, Erza's hold on her loosened enough for the white-haired girl to break free. Shooting each other one last, furious glare, Natsu stormed back to the dorm that he shared with Happy while Mirajane left the guild to return to the apartment that she and her siblings shared, Elfman quickly following.

As the crowd slowly dispersed, Erza stood in the middle of the guild hall wondering what she should do. A great deal of her wanted to run to Harry's side, the man that she had grown to consider something of an elder brother. But a voice in the back of her head – one that sounded like Harry, funnily enough – said that Mirajane needed her attention more than Harry did at the moment. Her inner conflict eventually concluded that Harry would rather she be comforting Mirajane, so Erza headed towards her apartment. It was near the guild hall, and the two remaining siblings had already returned by the time Erza came to their door. Elman answered when she knocked.

"Erza?" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? Come in," he beckoned, stepping aside to allow Erza entry. The apartment was two stories, with the bedrooms on the second floor; the bottom was modestly furnished.

"How are you, Elfman?" the redheaded knight asked. Internally she cringed; it was a stupid question to ask of someone who had just lost their sister, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I'm fine," the tall man said. "I'm a man, and men always have control over their emotions!" He gave a laugh, but it was weak and forced. "Seriously though, I'll be fine. Mira's a wreck, though. She's holed herself up in Lisanna's room and crying her eyes out. She could really use a friend right now," he said.

"I thought she would," Erza agreed, though she would hardly define their relationship as "friendly". "Where's Lisanna's room?"

"Upstairs, first door on the left," Elfman replied. Nodding in thanks, Erza ascended the stairs and came up to the appropriate room. Though the door, she could hear the faint sounds of sobbing coming from within. She softly rapped her knuckles on the door.

"Go away, Elfman!" she heard Mirajane shout back.

"It's me," Erza responded. Several seconds passed before Mirajane permitted her entry. The walls of the room were painted a light shade of pink, and the furniture was liberally decorated with stuffed animals of all kinds. Mirajane sat on the floor at the edge of the bed. Her hair ribbon was removed, allowing her long white hair to drop freely across her shoulders.

"What do you want?" she groused.

"Elfman thought you needed a friend right now," Erza answered as she swapped her armor with a modest but comfortable set of pajamas and sat down next to Mirajane.

"You're not the first person I would have picked for that job," the other girl said with a derisive scoff. "Still," she added more gently, "I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, so thanks, I guess."

Erza didn't know what else to say. Even though spending several years in the guild had vastly improved her social skills, she was still someone who preferred to solve problems with her blades or fists, so she sat silently and waited for Mirajane to speak.

"It's all my fault," she finally choked out. "It's my fault Lisanna's dead." Having neither received nor apparently expecting a response, she continued, "It was my idea to bring her along. I should have left her behind, but I wanted to impress her. I wanted to have an audience when I scored my first S-Class mission." The sobs increased in intensity, so Erza wrapped her arm around her rival and pulled her into her shoulder. "And now because of my damn pride, my baby sister's dead, and there isn't even a body left to bury." Erza could think of no words of comfort to offer, so she simply sat and provided a shoulder for Mirajane to cry on until she either ran out of tears, or became too weak to continue.

She would remain for the rest of the night.

When Harry awoke, it was morning. The agonizing pain throughout his body had been reduced to a dull ache, though he still hurt too much in too many places to consider moving. His attention shifted to Porlyusica, who came up to him with a tray holding four small vials.

"Stuck in bed with various pains…" he muttered to himself.

"Good, you're awake, drink these," the ill-tempered healer demanded, practically shoving the potions into his hands.

"…Being cared for by a grouchy old lady…" Harry continued as he began to take his medicine, grimacing all the while. "Being forced to choke down foul-tasting potions. Paint these walls a blinding, sterile white and it'll be like I never left home."

"I'm glad to know that you have most of the comforts that you are familiar with," Porlyusica said without a hint of humor.

"Ahh, Porlyusica, glad to see that your bedside manner is as delightful as ever," Harry replied far more cheerfully than a man in his position ought to.

"What was all that blathering for, anyway?" she asked as she put away the potion vials and began to prepare a simple broth for Harry to drink.

"Just thinking out loud, is all," Harry admitted. "So, what's the damage?"

"In the future, I'd much prefer you keep your thoughts in your head where they belong," the elderly healer said. "And the damage was quite severe," she continued. "You had a concussion, several broken ribs, and your spinal column had so many fractures that it's amazing that it didn't break entirely. There's also numerous breaks and fractures along your various limbs. In short, it's a miracle that you made it out of…whatever you were doing, alive and whole." The brew had come to a boil, so she scooped some into a bowl and passed it to her patient. "As it is, you'll be stuck here for several weeks."

"Lovely," Harrry said sarcastically as he sipped his broth. "Can I at least have something to read to pass the time?" he asked. Porlyusica spent a minute pondering the request.

"If you behave, I may give you something," she finally answered.

"Fair enough," Harry conceded as he drained the last of his soup. "Well, that was good, but it's time for me to get back to resting. The quicker I recover, the sooner I can be free of your tender mercies."

"Please do, you'll be doing us both a favor," Porlyusica said sarcastically. As Harry settled in for his nap, she muttered softly, "Stupid humans are always throwing themselves in harm's way. Don't these fools know that you can only die once?" Though Harry's eyes were closed, he was still awake and managed to catch everything she said. As she busied herself with other things, he thought on her words.

Can only die once, huh? He thought before mentally giving a dry, humorless laugh. Oh, if only that were true….

Well, that went on a bit longer than I expected. I hope you enjoyed it.

Happy 2013! I hope everybody had a good holiday season, now help me welcome in the new year by leaving a review.