"Harold James Potter. Harry, right?" Ranma asked pulling out a red and black PDA.
"Yes, that's right." Harry replied.
"Right." Ranma mused, spinning a stylus through his fingers before applying it with practiced ease. "Pulling up possibilities... Matching based on interests and temperament... Localized reality flux ready... Executing program... now." Ranma looked up as the mist covered landscape began to shift and change. "Okay, it's your sixth year, obviously and your first full day back. I'll be tagging along for a short while to introduce the girls and the circumstances by which you all came together, but only you can see me. Over time the altered reality will fill in its own blanks in your head." Ranma looked up as the room solidified into the Gryffindor boys dormitory and Harry suddenly found himself lying in bed with a female curled up next to him.
The stillness was shattered as the young brunette witch snuggled closer to Harry, as though cueing the rest of the room to action.
"Blimey," Ron muttered. "Can't you two get a proper room like everyone else?"
"Nope!" The brunette propped herself up on her elbows to stick her tongue out. "Besides, this room suits me just fine."
Harry finally placed the voice as he ran his fingers through the brunette's frizzy hair. "How long have you been in my bed this time, Hermione?"
Time froze again as Ranma stepped forward. "Hermione Granger is still, for the most part, the same girl you knew, though your initial meeting was notably different. For a Muggle born she's a remarkably competent broom flier, until first year. Seems Draco deliberately knocked her off her broom. You managed to catch her, though Neville tried, too. Even with Hermione in your arms, you managed to slow Neville's descent enough that he only broke his shoulder instead of his neck. Madame Hooch took Neville to the infirmary and everything continued as you recall."
"Anything else I should know?" Harry asked.
"It says here she still occasionally has nightmares of falling. That's probably why she was in your bed to begin with. Look sharp." He said as time resumed its flow.
"I... um..." Hermione looked down and clenched the sheet in her fist. Harry folded his hand comfortingly over hers. "I should let you get dressed. See you downstairs."
"Blimey Harry," Ron muttered. "How do ya do it man? I don't think I could handle more than one gal, but you pull it off so well."
Harry just shrugged and dressed quickly before descending the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, where he was hastily accosted by a red haired blur. "Mornin' Harry." She said, kissing him swiftly on the cheek before darting away as time stopped once more.
"Ginny Weasley has carried a torch for you since the Chamber of Secrets incident your second year." Ranma informed Harry. "Although you all agree that telling Ron would not be a good idea just yet, making Ginny both the youngest and most discrete one of your girls. Moving on." Ranma nodded, turning Harry's attention back to his new present.
"Hey honey." Kate Bell said with a smile and a wave from the couch before time stilled again.
"Katie?" Harry said. "But we don't have anything in common except..."
"Quidditch. Remember your first game, and the catch that won it for you?" Ranma asked.
"How can I forget? I almost swallowed the snitch."
"Well this time around, the Slytherin beaters decided that Kate was a threat and tried to take her out with an overaccelerated bludger. Even Madame Hooch has no idea exactly what a shot at that speed would have done if it had hit dead on the way it was supposed to."
"But I've seen Katie!" Harry protested. "She's a great flyer! She could have-"
"Dodged it? Not when it's aimed at her back." Harry gasped in shock as Ranma's words sank in. "You got in the way, and tried to stop it. It slammed into you hard enough to shatter your collar bone and your right shoulder. Lee says you flew off your broom like you were hit by a cannonball. And all that was just from a glancing blow to the shoulder."
Harry's hands were slick and clammy. "If that had hit Katie..."
"But it didn't. You sacrificed yourself to save her and all but swallowed the snitch on the way down. Kate decided that someone willing to do what you did for a total stranger was worth getting to know better." Ranma shrugged as time resumed once more.
"Hey sweetie." Harry replied, bending over to give one of his girlfriends a hug and a kiss, only to get a friendly squeeze from behind.
"Hey Harry." An unfamiliar voice breathed in his ear as time ground to a halt once more.
"Huh... that's odd," Ranma said, keying a string of commands into his PDA. He frowned at the results before smacking it lightly against his palm, producing a squeal of protest from the device. "Are you sure, Ziggy?" He said aloud, getting another chirp out of the peripheral. "If you say so. Harry, the brunette behind you is Kino Makoto, an exchange student from Japan. She started first year with you, replacing a... Negi Springfield. You met on the train, a couple of orphans thrown head first into magic. It's weird, though."
"What's weird?"
"Makoto here has a habit of throwing herself into dangerous situations, typically with you," Ranma stared at the display before turning to Harry. "Either she's an adrenaline junkie, or she's only putting a token effort into staying alive."
"You mean she's suicidal?"
"No, not exactly. It's more a kind of... survivor's guilt. She's wondering why she survived when her parents didn't and she's trying to make it back to them, at least that's what I think it is. Only she knows why for sure." Ranma fell silent as the world resumed it's flow.
"Mmmm. Morning Mako-san." Harry said, leaning back into the taller girl's arms.
"Harry, always so formal. What am I gonna have to do to get you to call me Mako-chan?" Makoto asked playfully.
"We'll have to argue that later," Katie said, stretching lazily. "because I'm really hungry."
The other's agreed and were making their way to the portrait hole when an irritating voice rang out. "Harry darling, wait!" The group shuddered in union. "I'm Romilda Vane. We met-"
"On the train in. I believe you insulted my girlfriend." Harry said coolly as the portrait swung open.
"Er... yes. Well I was wondering if I could walk you to breakfast?" Romilda said.
"Whatever," Harry said, as a familiar misty eyed brunette joined them in the corridor. "You're free to do whatever you wish. Good morning Luna!"
"Yes," She said as she leaned over to kiss Harry, causing Romilda to growl angrily. "I suppose it is at that." Harry was treated to the not unpleasant sensation of Luna pressing into his side as time stopped again.
"Luna Lovegood, called Looney by some people," Ranma said. "You gave her private tutoring in defense for the D.A. fifth year and she gave you some acrobatic training. You both sort of grew on each other. Oddly enough, she's the most emotionally independent of your girls, which may be why the others tend to look to her for stability when things go mad."
"What's this?" Harry asked, pulling at a black button Luna wore on her robes. "'I'm a Member of Harry's Harem'?" The young wizard blinked reading the shimmering gold text.
"Hmm... It says here the buttons were originally created by Slytherin, no big surprise there. They actually said 'I'm a Whore in Harry's Harem' and a lot of the girls were wearing them out of spite. While it's never been proven, Katie and Makoto 'convinced' the Snake girls to knock it off and turn over their supply. After Pansy Parkington ended up in the hospital wing hexed to high hell, the other's were more than happy to hand over their pins. One recharm later, the results are what you see here."
"Ranma, how many more girls am I going to get? I mean five is plenty."
"Just one more." Ranma said as time resumed and the group descended to breakfast, only to be met by a slightly subdued Tonks.
"Mornin 'arry." She said murmured, wrapping her arms around the Boy Who Lived in a comforting hug. This time, time did not stop. Instead Ranma just looked over his shoulder as he stepped into a door of light and said a single word.
"Sirius."
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(Posted Sat, 24 Sep 2005 04:49)
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