Chapter 17: House of Zod Part Six: Afterward
"So I don't think that we're going to forget last night any time soon," Karen stated as she pulled herself from the floor, feeling the ravages of last night's fun.
She could tell how skilled Harry was because she still felt the ache from last night. Granted, it was not nearly as much as if she was a human woman. Still Karen felt a bit of soreness.
Harry's eyes watched her with a smile. "You know, if you're up for a little reenactment, I'm sure I'll be able to oblige you."
"Maybe later, now where did my skirt go?" Karen asked herself.
"I think that you threw it out onto the balcony in the heat of passion last night," Kara remarked in a shifty tone of voice from the bed.
"That's about right," Karen responded to the blonde, who offered her a smile as she detangled herself from Harry's body.
Karen thought about the seventy two hours that were, seventy two hours ago, she decided to take a rare vacation, head up to Vegas, have some fun. The busty Kryptonian woman never thought that she would get married. She spun around and looked out the window, seeing that the sun was bright. She looked up at the clock, they missed breakfast and they might have missed lunch given that it was close to one o'clock in the afternoon.
After the wild night that was who could really blame them.
"Here," Kara commented as she offered Karen her skirt and the shorter haired blond smiled at her in gratitude.
"Thanks," Karen remarked in a gracious tone of voice as she found her boots. She slipped them on as her head swam with more thoughts of about how wild last night was.
'What a night,' Karen thought to herself as she rubbed her hips and considered the night that was.
Who knew that the two Zod siblings and her younger self could give her the greatest pleasures that she had ever experienced in her life. The blonde thought about all of the things that they did to her and a blush appeared over her body. It was an extremely long night but she survived it more or less intact. She stepped over to the window, and peered out of it to look down upon the city below.
The room still had some mild damages from the night before but that's what magic was for. It was to repair those things that could not be repaired. The blonde stared at the window and Harry walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Karen relaxed in his grip, having his muscular body pressed up against her was rather amazing. He was truly the pinnacle of manhood and she found herself starting to drool by just looking at him.
"So, my husband, was last night everything you expected as well?" Karen asked Harry and the wizard smiled.
"Always, my dear," Harry stated as he stroked her blonde locks and spun her around. Kara finally took pity on Faora and let her out of the handcuffs. "The first three women I bonded to are amazing and I can't state that strongly enough."
"Well, I'm glad that my first time with a man was someone as strong as you," Karen stated as they were now face to face.
Karen draped one leg around Harry's still naked thigh and then she draped the other leg. His chin rested on her bare naked breasts and he looked up into her blue eyes.
"Har-Zod, Harry Potter, no matter what your name is, I love you," Karen told him as she ran her hands through his hair.
"I love you as well, Kara, Karen, whatever, you're amazing," Harry stated as he leaned forward onto her breasts, as her legs wrapped around him. "All of you are amazing in your different ways."
"Well as if someone of your caliber would settle for any less," Faora offered as she threw her head back and smiled.
"Modest much, aren't we?" Karen asked with a wide grin on her face.
"Well it is one of our vanities, yes," Faora commented as she turned around and looked out the window to see the sunrise.
"I figured as much," Karen commented in a light tone of voice.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while," Kara responded, she had learned to live with Faora and her vanities as a whole for a while now.
"Don't lie, you're just as bad," Faora said as she wrapped her arms around Karen and Harry, and Kara did the same.
"Oh, this is the best, sandwiched between three beautiful Kryptonian women," Harry commented with a sigh, as he felt their bodies press against him from a number of angles.
"It is no less than you deserve," Kara stated as she leaned forward and kissed Harry on the face, before she kissed Karen lightly on the breasts. Karen looked at her with astonished surprise and Kara's expression remain sheepish. "Sorry, missed."
Kara followed that up by kissing her on the lips, with a mischievous glint flickering through her eyes and Karen sighed before she returned the kiss heatedly. The two got into it rather heatedly as Faora and Harry stepped back in order to allow themselves a long look at the impromptu make out session between the two blonds.
Kara broke away from the kiss suddenly and proceeded to throw her arms around Harry her momentum pinned him against the wall, her legs wrapped around him and the blonde pressed her lips hard against his. Harry ran his hands over her body, feeling every single inch of her.
"Must do something to occupy my time," Faora stated as she reached forward and took her taste of Karen, pushing her back onto the bed.
The blonde closed her eyes as Faora placed her lips on Karen's mouth and roamed her hands all over her body.
The group would have their fun for a little bit and then it was time to head off to lunch, possibly an early dinner they supposed.
"I'm sure you'll be able to stop by for a visit when you can," Karen remarked as Harry, Kara, and Faora were now dressed and stood outside of the hotel that they had made their own personal love nest the previous night. The blonde rocked her head back, it was an amazing night, that much was for sure and she could not wait for more.
"We will, Harry and I are heading to Hogwarts for his last four months whilst Alex here, she's going to set up some important things in the regular world," Kara responded as she placed her arm around Harry's waist and swayed.
"So, maybe we can talk business," Faora remarked in a crisp voice.
"And it should be easy for me to pop out when I can and hey….I'll be out of there by Christmas," Harry remarked as he tingled with excitement for it. "The job offers are pouring in."
"Well they'd be fools if they did not try to make use of your talents," Faora remarked as she ran her hands through her hair.
"The pay is rather menial for the work that they expect," Harry told them all and Kara frowned before she looked at Harry.
"Almost as if it is an insult," Kara added and Harry responded with a crisp nod.
"Well the Ministry is pretty much an insult but….what are you going to do?" Harry asked them as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Not much," Faora admitted as she sighed. She was curious to learn about the American Wizarding World but given the bits and pieces that she learned from Harry, it was rather nondescript.
'Fudge's popularity is hanging on by a thread, after the incident with Sirius, which is why he's doing all of those publicity pieces in the Prophet,' Harry thought to his wives, all of them who agreed.'And we should try and do the mental communication thing when we can because it will cut down on the chance that anyone can overhear anything incriminating.'
'It isn't like our thoughts are broadcasted to each other at will, twenty four seven,' Kara told all of them.
'So the door can be shut?' Karen asked them, trying to reach for clarification.
'Yes, although there will be a slight tapping prod, which you can answer or not,' Faora informed her through the link. 'I would suggest setting up a subliminal telepathic message in case you're busy and need your focus elsewhere.'
'Kind of like an answering machine message?' Karen asked with interest.
'Yes, kind of like that,' Harry agreed with her as he threw his head back. 'I mean, I'm a level four Occlumens, so no one's going to hitch a ride on our mental call. Kara and Faora are well versed in the Kryptonian magical mind arts, so that's pretty good. I trust you've been trained in them as well.'
'Yeah, I've been trained in them,' Karen agreed as Harry tightened his grip around her hand.
'So when do you go back?' Kara inquired her through the link.
'I have to leave tomorrow morning, first plane out of here in the morning,' Karen thought to both of them. 'You?'
'Well we can leave pretty much whenever we want to,' Kara informed her through the bond link.
Karen smiled; it must be nice to be able to keep their own schedule. She found that her life was extremely busy and hectic although it did give her something to do. She had a group of qualified people working with her as well, which was not a bad thing at all. The last thing she wanted was a group that was scarcely better than trained monkeys on her payroll.
Doctor Swann only hired the very best and he gave Karen a lot of trust, although she did have some knowledge about what the future might hold for Kal-El. Of course, no one's future was completely set in stone but hopefully she could help her cousin whatever came to be. She followed his progress but given his young age, there was still a lot up in the air.
'We're heading to look at Harry's ancestral home after we make a brief stop to visit his sisters and his aunt,' Kara thought to her.
Karen was about to wonder why Harry would even bother visiting Petunia but she stopped herself. There was already too much information that she leaked out and allowed the three of them to know that she knew. She could not say anything more until she got Jaime's permission.
'Well I'll be in touch through the bond link,' Karen thought to them as the four of them exchanged glances with each other.
'It's appreciated,' Harry thought back to Karen.
'Yes it is,' Kara added to them.
It was amazing that the four of them met up in Vegas, all of them intending for some necessary downtime. The four of them worked hard recently although in different ways. Kara and Faora helped train Harry a lot, even though the memory crystals facilitated a lot of the training, the process had to be guided along. Too much information at once could overwhelm a mind, even a strong one like Harry's
Then there was getting their human identities established but the documents the goblins at Gringotts forged were second to none.
'So, have you made a decision about college?' Karen asked as she broke the silence and the psychic traffic in their minds.
'Well given that Harry Potter is essentially inactive in the real world, I could head over to Cambridge as Harry Potter,' Harry thought to them over the bond link. 'Lay low for a couple years after Hogwarts while my dupe finishes the necessary education. All of the information that they learn downloads into my subconscious mind at night.'
'The more dupes you have, the more overwhelming that must be,' Karen commented to them.
Harry thought that there was a chance that it might be overwhelming although most of the dupes would be temporary at best. One would get split off, while others would be used for temporary purposes. He would be able to control the information from the temps that got put into his brain.
The group decided to spend a bit more time with each other, until they had to prepare to leave later that evening.
Emily Potter placed her head into her hands as she propped herself up to read through the third year Charms text book. Much like her mother, she was a natural at Charms, and Potions, although her sister favored Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had her mind on the Quidditch Cup and what was going to happen with that.
Granted she was not the biggest fan of the world of Quidditch, unless her brother was playing, but still it was the Quidditch World Cup. Pretty much anyone who was anyone followed that.
A knock on the door brought her up to her feet.
"Could you get that Emily?"
"Yes, Rose, I've got it," Emily stated as she walked forward and opened the door. The redhead smiled as she saw the three of them standing on the steps. Harry, Kara, and Faora, although this was the first time that she met Kara in person, Harry's descriptions of her did her justice. She was stunningly beautiful but Emily's eyes locked exclusively onto Harry. "HARRY!"
Emily wrapped her arms around Harry and pulled him into a tight hug, which Harry returned.
"Hey, Emily, how are you?" Harry asked his sister and she smiled back at him.
"Fine, really fine," Emily told him as Amanda showed up, she had been upstairs wrapping up the last few bits of the Potions essay she had to work on.
"Harry, I can't believe…I didn't think you'd be here for a while," Amanda rambled as she rushed her brother and tackled him with a hug. Had he not been as strong and durable as he was, It would have knocked flat onto his back.
"Nice to see you too, Amanda," Harry responded as he wrapped his arms around her and smiled. The twelve year old girl wrapped her arms around his waist. "Is Rose around?"
"Yeah, she is," Amanda stated as she broke the hug, before she turned around. "ROSE! Harry's here."
Rose exited the kitchen with a smile on her face to greet her favorite nephew. Of course given that her other nephew lacked certain skills, regarding many things, Harry would have won by default anyway over Dudley. Even though there were only a few instances where she saw him, that was a few instances too many.
"Harry, I wasn't expecting to see you for a while," Rose stated as she pulled him into a hug, before she leaned forward and pressed her lips onto his. She wrapped around him tightly and the wizard smiled as he rested against the hot young redhead. "What brings you here?"
Harry was all too quick to respond. "Remember what we talked about earlier, a few days ago?"
"Yes, I remember, and….I guess we're going to do this," Rose stated as she gave the opportunity for Harry to explain it to them.
"Girls, our mother still lives as you well know but she's in a catatonic state," Harry told both of the twins who nodded.
"Yes, we know," Amanda stated, she recalled Rose telling them that but then she was caught by something. "So….so….you know how to wake her up?"
Harry figured that one of them would catch on quickly and Emily kept her eyes on Harry's, wide eyed and mouth a gap. The young witch decided to bring up the one point that Amanda thought about but didn't quite manage to express.
"How?" Emily asked as she crossed her arms and eyed Harry.
Rose decided to field that question and she placed her hands on the shoulders of both of the twins. Kara and Faora stood off to the side. "We need blood, a bit of it from each of us."
"That's….that's not too bad," Amanda stated, thinking that it would be more complex than that. "So is she going to wake up after we give the blood?"
"Not right away," Kara cut in and Harry nodded.
"Ten months, ten days, but she'll wake up after that, the blood is to jumpstart the ritual to bring her out of her trance," Harry stated as he watched them. "There likely are other steps that will help bring her out of the trance but we'll get to them, when we get to them.
Rose smiled. "Leave Lily to create something so utterly and completely complex."
"There is that," Harry agreed as he placed his hand on his aunt's and the young woman stood beside the twins as her eyes focused straight onto Harry's, green eyes meeting green eyes.
"So when do we need to do that?" Rose asked them.
"No time like the present," Harry answered as he turned to face the twins. "Castle Peverell is your birthright as well, so I should take you there for you to get a look at it."
"If you're allowed past the first entry hall, you'll be able to allow anyone inside, although you'll have to be with them," Rose remarked to Harry as he looked at her. "Lily mentioned it once, she figured that you'd be the first Potter in almost six hundred years to get past the front hall of the castle."
"My mother has a lot of faith in me," Harry remarked as Faora threw her head back and offered a smile.
"Of course, she does, anyone who didn't have faith in you would be a fool," Faora stated as the group prepared themselves for what they needed to do.
Harry thought that there was no point in waiting, it was time for them to head off to the castle. Faora took Amanda, Kara took Emily, and Harry took Rose, and they all flew to the castle at the speed of light, their hair whipping in their face.
The goblins were right, the coordinates would manifest in his mind when the time was right. The castle was something that existed outside of the pull of time and space and the wizard closed his eyes as he focused on the blinking beacon that was the castle.
'I can feel it, it's amazing,' Kara thought to the both of them.
'I can as well,' Faora thought as well.
'Actually I can feel it too and I'm not even close to there,' Karen remarked through the bond link. 'Wow that must be some powerful magic.'
'I agree,' Faora thought back to Karen and Kara and Harry gave their agreements through the bond.
As they moved through the mist Harry saw the first door stand out before them. The architecture was not unlike what you'd expect from a castle. Although there was something about the energies surrounding it that seemed stronger then normal magic, and upon reaching the entrance. The wizard touched the doors.
The doors swung open to allow them entry. That was only their first step towards the inside of the castle, there was much more to go. However, before they could edge much further forwards, Karen began to break out in laughter over the bond link.
'Mind I ask what is so funny?' Faora asked Karen in amusement.
'Well, I just told….my friend about my weekend," Karen thought to Harry through the bond link.
'I see,' Harry thought back to her before his face contorted a slight bit and he wondered if he was going to have to worry about this friend jumping to the wrong conclusion.
'My friend….she's much like you,' Karen responded, hoping that Harry would get the hint through the bond link.
Kara, Harry, and Faora all picked up on it, but before them in the middle of the castle's entry hall. Was the crystal coffin Lily rested within, perfectly preserved, awaiting someone to wake her up.
'We'll revisit this conversation later,' Harry thought and Karen understood the point.
'Fine, I've got to get to work anyway,' Karen relayed back through the link.
The crystal coffin was very straight forward, in the sense that as Harry approached it, he got a sense of what he needed to do. The wizard reached forward and touched it. There was a flash of light before the wizard stepped back and the coffin broke open to reveal Lily's body. Harry reached forward, and touched her cheek, running his finger down it gently. She was there but in magically suspended animation.
"I'll go first," Harry responded as he grabbed a knife, enhanced to cut through even the strongest skin there was. He nicked his finger and the drop of blood splashed on Lily's forehead.
"My turn," Rose added as she nicked her finger with the knife and the blood splattered on Lily's forehead as well.
There was another flash as Amanda and Emily looked at each other, but Amanda took a step forward and held out her hand, closing her eyes.
"I'm ready," she whispered and Harry nodded before he cut her hand. Rose performed a healing spell once the necessary blood dropped.
Three down and one to go and Emily, inspired by her siblings and aunt, reached forward and held her hand out so her brother could take her blood giving willingly. She was not that big of a fan of blood, especially as flowing from her, so she screwed her eyes shut and allowed Harry to nick her finger gently with the knife. The blood dripped down onto Lily.
"The ritual has begun."
Ten months, ten days in real time, that was the time that the waking ritual took and now Harry stepped past her, forward towards the second set of doors that resided at the top of a grand staircase. The doors that no member of the Potter bloodline had been deemed worthy of being able to pass in centuries but Harry couldn't help but notice a miniature library off to the side in this preliminary part of the Castle along with a dining hall. So it was not like there was any lack of pleasantries in this area.
Still he wondered if he would be able to step beyond them, everyone thought that he could, so Harry figured that if anyone was worthy, it would be him. With a calm expression he reached forward and held up one hand. With a swift motion, he pressed his hand onto the door and caused everything to blink to life. There was a a humming sound that went throughout the castle, followed by what felt like a shifting vibration.
"So good thing or bad thing?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow but Harry motioned for them to stand back just in case.
Faora watched the wall come to life and she turned her head around, an eyebrow raised. She could not believe it, symbols shifted along the walls and these symbols resembled the Kryptonian language. They were scrambled in many ways and the young Kryptonian tried to decrypt them before they flashed completely away but she was not adept enough to do it. She threw her head back and a long sigh escaped her lips. Things were beginning to get away from her that much was for sure. She turned her head back around to face Harry and waited.
The doors swung open to allow them admittance. Harry stepped forward first, almost thinking that something bad was going to happen. Call him paranoid but given what little he had been able to uncover about the castle, and in his personal experience some kind of secret test of character would not be out of the realm of possibility. The wizard widened his eyes, with Faora, Kara, the Twins, and Rose all following.
'Do you see….do you see all this,' Harry projected to his wives, well the two that stood there next to him that is.
'Yes, Har, I see it,' Faora retorted in an awed tone, mentally trying to pick every element apart.
'These symbols are Kryptonian, albeit a very old form of Kryptonian, that went out of style even centuries before the demise of the planet,' Kara thought as she placed her arm around Harry. 'It shouldn't be too tricky to decipher, especially since we have the memory crystals.'
'Hey Harry!" Emily stated in an awed voice as she ran her hand up and down the wall as a map appeared. "This is….well…."
"It's amazing," Amanda chimed in helpfully but sure enough it was a floor plan of the entire castle, every single room, every single hidden chamber. It was much like the Marauder's Map, only about much more advanced.
Exactly how much more Harry found out as he stepped forward and pressed his hand against the wall. There was a moment where everything flashed around him, and a three dimensional hologram popped up from the wall allowing them to interact with it. The twins eyes widened with glee and Harry raised his eyebrow, he looked rather impressed all things considered.
He watched it and pursed his lips with a whistle.
"I don't know any other way to describe this, other than amazing," Harry remarked after a moment.
"Thank you."
That voice caught Harry, Kara, Faora, Rose, Amanda, and Emily all off guard. It was low, sultry and very feminine. That fact was something that Harry caught completely one hundred percent of the way. The wizard turned his head his eyebrow still raised, curiosity running throughout his mind.
"Who said that?" Amanda wondered but she was on her guard.
"It has been a long time since anyone has passed those doors, in fact only three times since this structure was first constructed over a thousand years ago," the woman continued and Harry turned his head, his interest piqued thanks to this woman. "Welcome to Castle Peverell, a perfect balance of science and sorcery."
The voice paused for a moment, before continuing to speak.
"My name is Peve-Rell," the woman stated and then there was a moment before Faora's eyes widened and sudden recognition dawned upon her, nearly as fast as a speeding bullet.
"Of course," Faora breathed, she had one of those moments where everything clicked into place and the young woman mentally slapped herself for not getting it sooner. It was one of those things where everything should have fallen into place much sooner. "OF COURSE!"
"Why are we of coursing about?" Kara wondered but there was something that she thought she should get but it was not coming to her at all. The blonde shrugged her shoulders and turned towards Faora.
Faora was only too happy to say her piece.
"Years and years back on Krypton, the House of Rell was formed due to the marriage union between two extremely powerful lines," Faora explained to them and Harry, remembering his lessons through the memory crystals, picked that up.
"Yes, the House of El, the oldest daughter, and the House of Zod, the young son," Harry remembered as he placed his hands on the wall.
"That is correct," Peve-Rell stated in a crisp tone of voice. "It happened five generations ago from my perspective, I was the second daughter of the Rell line during that time. It was very seldom that new lines were created on Krypton but it was a rather politically motivated merger, and considering the importance of both houses the house of Rell was created. It was to settle a family feud during what would be considered to be Feudal Times upon Krypton."
"How much do you know about what is going on in the outside world?" Harry asked to Peve-Rell.
"There have been house elves that have been tasked in updating my system every fifteen years, the last update was in 1983," Peve-Rell remarked as she turned her attention towards Harry. "You must be the son of James and Lily."
"I am," Harry informed her, as she appeared to be observing him. He turned his head around, a flash of annoyance filled his eyes but he did not say anything other than that.
"Is there something the matter?"
Harry decided to fill her in on what was annoying him. "Well, the thing is that you can see me apparently, but I cannot see you."
"It is quite understandable to be unnerved, given that even in my time, people were superstitious of what they could hear but they could not see," she informed them before there was a pause. "Since I'm sure all of you wish to see me, wait for one moment and I will join you."
A symbol on the wall which had an upside triangle in a circle with a line running down the center, which Kara, Faora, and Harry all now recognized as the symbol of the House of Rell appeared before them. The symbol lit up as everyone watched and there was a flashing light as Peve began to take shape in front of them.
She was an extremely beautiful woman with an angelic face. Chocolate brown hair hung down past her shoulders, her eyes were a bright brown, and her lips were extremely luscious. She had thin dark robes wrapped around her body that showed her ample breasts. The robes parted towards the thighs to show a hint of the long and luscious legs that seemed to never end. The young woman stood before them, arms crossed.
She offered them a bright smile which enhanced her features. "Is that better?"
"Yes, much, better," Harry agreed and the others would be a bit more at ease.
"I'm glad," she replied with a smile crossing her face and she moved three hundred and sixty degrees to test her newfound mobility. It was much to her liking. "I'm glad that you are satisfied with me being here."
Faora decided to get straight to the point as she often did. A wide smile spread across her face before she said the obvious. "So….we have Kryptonian technology in this place, correct?"
Peve nodded in affirmation. "The house elves have been ordered to also keep an eye out for anything of value to be brought back to the castle. Whilst there is much technology still on Earth, a great deal of it has been lost over time."
She paused before a smile spread over her face.
"Perhaps it would be wise if I had take you on the grand tour of the Estate. You should also know that all of the rooms are safe to perform magic in, despite the technology present."
"Modern technology even?" Kara asked and Peve responded with a nod.
"Yes, Earth technology will work within the Castle, as primitive as it is compared to even what was brought over during the building of this fortress," Peve explained to them all and there was a pause as everyone nodded in understanding. "I will demonstrate, if you will allow me to do so."
"That will work out well," Harry concluded as the others agreed. The group prepared to head into the castle to begin their tour to explore the wonders that it held within.
The Kryptonian technology present was beyond their wildest dreams, which was saying something, as Harry, Kara, and Faora were capable of comprehending quite a lot. Amanda, Emily, and Rose, while they were out of their understanding, and depth, were able to take stock of the technology and analyze it. They were just as amazed by it as Harry, Kara, and Faora were.
"So what do you girls think of this?" Kara asked them as their widened eyes said it all.
"Awesome," Amanda told her in an awestruck voice, she did not even pretend that she understood everything that was laid out before her. She turned her head around and saw Emily's expression was equally amazed. She threw her head back with a awe-struck expression dancing through her eyes.
"Yes, it really is," Harry remarked as he threw an arm around Amanda and Emily's shoulders as they continued to take everything in.
"So this castle is equipped to utilize Kryptonian crystals," Faora remarked as she ran her hands up the wall and saw the open slots available, a seemingly infinite number that was set up to allow crystals to be inserted. "Excellent."
She moved over to Kara, and reaching forwards towards the blonde unhooked the crystal hanging from her neck, then moving back to the wall inserted it into one of the slots. It was done with a great deal of care as she felt it heat up in her hand. The AI crystals weren't exactly delicate but at the same time, there was a lot of care needed to be exercised with them. She turned her head around and raised an eyebrow as she waited for it to activate.
"Kara?"
There was a faint voice that got stronger as the crystal got brought back to life. Kara's eyes widened as she heard the very familiar voice.
"Mother?" Kara muttered as Faora gazed at Kara with a wide smile across her face.
"Did you doubt that I would find a way to get it working?" Faora asked Kara and the blonde shook her head frantically. There was no way that she would have doubted Faora especially given that she delivered the goods so many times.
"The AI crystal will take a moment to charge, providing it's been configured properly," Peve explained to them all.
"Of course it's configured properly," Alura stated as she knew that she was an artificial construct. "That means….that means that Krypton has met its demise as many had feared."
"I'm afraid so, the planet exploded a little over eight years ago," Faora explained to Alura as the group saw her manifest.
Harry watched Alura appear, she was first a milky white blur but she gained more definition with each passing second as the crystal charged further.
"So what are the limitations of the holograms?" Harry asked and Peve was only too quick to explain.
"It is a three dimensional hard light construct, capable of seeing, feeling, and interacting as any other life form would be capable of doing."
"So they can do everything?" Harry inquired as he saw Alura gain more definition.
"Yes, they can do everything that a normal person could do," Peve agreed as she turned her head around and watched as Alura turned into something that was more solid and had more definition. A look of thinly veiled pride appeared on the woman's face. "And this crystal does appear to be properly configured."
"Did you doubt it for a moment?"
Alura popped up in the flesh, live and completely in color. Long blonde hair flowed out to frame her angel face. White fabric wrapped around her tight body, with womanly curves being presented. Her blue eyes, so much like Kara's, shined with passion and intensity, and Harry could tell that she had some amazing assets. She turned around and Harry caught Kara looking as well. Then again, given the fact that he checked out his own mother in the dream scape, Harry could hardly fault Kara for checking out hers.
Kara stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Alura's form, pulling her into a tight hug.
"It's great to see you as well, my daughter," Alura stated before her attention focused on Harry for the first time. "And I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of…."
"Har-Zod," Harry remarked with a smile as he reached forward and took her hand, before he placed his lips onto him. Alura closed her eyes and felt the sensation of his rather able lips, knowing for sure that the entire holographic projection worked with the AI constructs.
"A pleasure, indeed," Alura commented with a wide smile on her face as she cracked her neck back and kept her eyes on Harry. "Faora, it's nice to see you've survived Krypton as well."
"Thank you," Faora said as she reached forward and hugged the woman, before her lips met the other woman's briefly. It was very brief, a brush, a tease but it was more than enough for the woman to feel something.
Amanda, Emily, and Rose watched in the background as they waited to be introduced.
"These are my sisters, Amanda and Emily, and my mother's sister, Rose," Harry told Alura, introducing them all.
Alura offered them a bright smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"Likewise," Rose stated as she leaned forward and shook Alura's hand.
Alura's crystal worked and that meant that there was only one more crystal left to go. Kara held it in her hand, she had nearly forgotten about it. She inserted the crystal into a tab in the wall like Faora had done and it caused the crystal to begin pulsing faintly as it activated. The wall began to glow and the crystal vibrated as the blonde stepped back in order to monitor it's progress.
Another form manifested herself and Kara placed her hand on her head. The blonde and beautiful form of Lara Lor-Van appeared in their midst. Blonde hair with green eyes, along with a curved frame, she was a vision of beauty. She was tall with the luscious lips that were made for fun activities, burning green eyes, blonde hair that framed her angelic face. Not to mention the material wrapped around her body with curves and luscious legs and hips as well. Harry noticed that straight away as she appeared before him.
"Kara, where am I?" Lara asked, her mind was still a bit scrambled from the crystal.
"Hello Aunt Lara, I liberated your crystal from the lab," Kara remarked in a sad tone of voice. "All of Krypton is gone."
Lara's expression grew rather grim and she stated in a soft tone of voice. "What about Kal-El?"
Kara was prompt in explaining. "He was sent from Krypton as planned, to a family who is able to take care of him. I visited the Kents, he's doing fine. Better than I think he might have done on Krypton."
"So….Jor-El never intended to send my crystal along after all, did he?" Lara asked in a crisp tone of voice.
Kara shook her head, a saddened glint in her eye. "No, I'm afraid that he didn't."
"At least you recovered it," Lara commented in a sad voice. "I'm sure that….my husband thought that it was for the best that he had the defining influence in my son's life."
"You mean he's a control freak," Faora muttered underneath her breath, then again she could really not talk much about parents that were control freaks. Given who she had for a father, it was something that went along with the territory to be honest. The dark haired Kryptonian ran her hands through her head and threw it back with a sigh.
"I wouldn't go that far with Jor-El, it would be unwise to demonize him, even though yes he decides to exert himself at inconvenient moments," Lara replied as she turned towards her. "And it is good to see you are in health as well, Faora."
"Thank you, Lara,' Faora stated, happy to see that all of the AIs were performing optimally and working at a hundred percent. She motioned over towards Harry, Rose, and the twins. "This is my brother Har-Zod, his aunt Rose, and the twins, Amanda and Emily."
Amanda was bursting to say something. "You know….I didn't want to say something because you know that would be rude."
"Since when has that stop you?" Emily asked with a faux innocent smile.
"Shut it, Emmy," Amanda stated in a snappish tone of voice and Emily turned to the group with a "see what I mean" type of expression. "The point is….you're talking about a lot of things that….what is going on? I was under the impression that Harry's father was James Potter….you know our father, although given what I've learned about him, I wonder if we were better off having the milkman or the mailman as our father."
"Amanda, don't talk about your mother in such a matter," Harry told her in a calm voice and Amanda hung her head.
"We do owe them more of an explanation, they are family, Har," Faora stated as she turned towards Harry.
Rose had a feeling something was going on, call it instinct. Ever since Lily's reproductive organs magically healed, she thought that there was something else going on. She was not someone who believed in miracles, she wasn't a skeptic, but she was not really a believer either.
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Rose asked.
Faora, Kara, and Harry exchanged smiles.
'Oh, story time,' Karen chimed in through the bond link in a gleeful voice. 'You might want to record this session and play it back for anyone you let into the secret. Because I have a feeling that you'll mentioning this a lot.'
'Speaking of secrets, what about your friend who's a lot like me?' Harry projected through the bond link to Karen.
Karen's face contorted into a grin, even though Harry, Kara, and Faora could not see it. They could only sense it through the bond link. 'I think she's in shock….maybe someday you'll meet….maybe for the holidays. She's about as busy as I am, she was the one who convinced me to go to Vegas.'
Faora and Kara told Rose, Amanda, and Emily a scaled down story of everything, although they would part with the more detailed story later.
'Jaime Lily Potter is her name, she's the Girl-Who-Lived,' Karen added through the bond link.
'Kind of like me, only reversed, same backstory and all that,' Harry thought to her.
'For all intents and purposes yes, although there were some things that changed,' Karen thought to him through the bond link.
'So that explains how you knew who I was, I did wonder,' Harry thought through the bond link.
'We were part of a trio, three people that escaped our world,' Karen thought.
'Three….who was the third?' Harry fired back through the bond link.
'Helena Wayne, she was with Jaime when she busted me out and then we escaped but something happened between the moment we left and the moment that we arrived here,' Karen thought as she placed her hand on her chin in deep thought. 'Given the time space distortion properties of the gateway, she could be anywhere or anytime.'
Harry pondered about that, it did make a lot sense but before he could follow up on that later, the twins and Rose were done getting brought up to speed.
"I can't….well it does make a lot of sense," Amanda stated as she closed her eyes before she asked one question that flickered on the tip of her tongue. "And…..dare I ask this, but do Emily and I have any special abilities?"
"In time, you might manifest them, as Lily has been changed into a Kryptonian so she would be able to sustain the birth, so genetically speaking it's possible," Faora told both of the twins. "But the powers would not normally start manifesting for a little bit more. Unless they already have?"
The twins shook their heads but they supposed in time they would. If Faora would have to guess it would be a year or less. Harry would be able to monitor them if the changes happened between the next few months.
"We'll look into it some more and get back to you later," Harry informed them and the twins nodded, that seemed fair.
There was still a fair bit more to tell them but that could wait for another time.
There was one important thing Harry, Kara, and Faora did not forget about, despite the excitement of their recent marriage and Harry's second maturation. The three of them flew back from a remote shack after a brief stop to the Department of Education at the Ministry so Kara could take her magical qualification exams to enter seventh year at Hogwarts. A room full of spare wands was present at the castle, which Kara could fake it with, although she found using a wand to be awkward. Unlike Harry she had never needed to use one until now, and he only used one because he was required to. At this point he was more then capable of using magic with or without a wand flawlessly.
She breezed through the exams like they were nothing. Then it was off to find the first of five remaining soul containers, which meant they went for the easiest one, that being the ring.
The defenses were rather rudimentary, at least nothing that anyone who had a working knowledge of sorcery could not disable.
"I guess he thought that no one would look here," Harry remarked in a crisp tone of voice. "A foolish thought that leads to many people doing foolish things."
"Yeah, it would be," Kara agreed as they hovered the stone between the three of them.
They studied the stone and the magic swirling in the air around it. The object was cursed and it was cursed beyond the fact that there was a piece of someone's soul in it. There appeared to be some kind of magic around it that was hard to break. The trio flew forward and the doors swung open to emit all three of them into the castle.
Harry dropped down into the castle. Rose and the twins already left on vacation to go and visit friends that they had from their time in hiding.
"You do realize that either of you three could open a portal from anywhere and be able to enter the castle, don't you? Although it would have to be a location that you know intimately as to not have any side effects"
Peve stated this comment casually as the three of them dropped down, the ring floating between them.
"We know, we know," Harry stated before Kara was the one to chime in.
"It wasn't really a far distance to fly," Kara offered with a shrug as the blonde held the smile. "Now we should be able to destroy this soul container…."
Peve's eyes widened as she kept her eyes on the stone.
"It's one of them," Peve whispered and there was a bit of anger flickering through her voice. "You can't destroy it!"
"Well it is within our abilities, I think, the memory crystals taught us the magic of how to purge the souls from the soul containers, although a good blast of heat vision works just fine," Harry told her but Peve shook her head and the ring floated into the air away from them so she could examine it more carefully.
"I mean you will be unable to….I don't even know how he was able to create a Horcrux with this thing," Peve commented to them. "And another piece of magic that was intended for good was twisted to evil, why am I not surprised?"
She took a moment to settle her nerves and saw the Kryptonian trio look nervous.
"The magic used to create a Horcrux was intended to be a healing spell," Peve explained to them. "Of course, most healing spells have been twisted over the years. The Cruciatus Curse for example was a standard spell used to jump start a person's heart. Modify the algorithm a little bit and it's a pain curse that drives people to insanity as their nerve endings are overstimulated."
"Charming," Harry stated in a dry tone of voice. "But why wouldn't we be able to destroy this…Horcrux did you call it?"
"Yes, I did," Peve confirmed before she relayed the information. "Originally created as a way to heal the sick, this thing….well there's no way around it, it's a way to cheat death, in a more wicked way than a healthy mind could ever fathom. And now….he's using one of the keys as a container, despite the fact that the magic swirling in them….it should not be able to be used in such a way. You would be wise not to put it on, for a curse has been triggered, since the stone has been corrupted. I can walk you through removing it easily enough and then you should be able to purify the stone."
"And by the keys you mean…."
Peve interjected with the explanation. "The Keys of the Endless, they are the Stone of the Rested, the Cloak of Invisibility, and the Wand of Eternity, or as they are referred to by human forklore, the Deathly Hallows."
Harry swore that he saw a reference somewhere.
"Humans have torn themselves up for centuries over the wand," Peve commented, almost as if she suspected this. "The key issue is that without the other two, the wand is for the most part completely useless."
Peve decided to clarify what she said.
"Now it can perform magic, like other wands, but it is not unbeatable, it is just extremely powerful," Peve added before she looked thoughtful. "Look at it this way; if it was unbeatable, then the holder would not have been killed. The wand has changed hands countless times through the years, although the documented trail has dried up over the past one hundred and seventy years."
"So this is the stone and the cloak…." Harry started before he realized. "The cloak…is the cloak. My father had a cloak that passed down generation from generation…."
"And a standard cloak of invisibility lasts twenty years," Kara remarked as she remembered it from one of the books she read from the library.
"That is correct, you have two of the three," Peve told him and there was a long pause before she thought that Harry could very well be the one. Although old memories began to stir from deep within her as she continued with her recollections. "Now, the process of deconstructing the Horcrux….then the ring will be whole again."
Hogwarts letters arrived, sure enough Kara got her acceptance letter and Harry got his.
A golden badge slid out and landed on the table with a clink. His eyes widened as he stared at the badge, completely flummoxed. Kara turned towards him, as a badge slid out of her envelope as well. The blonde turned it over, transfixed by it, but Harry paid it no mind.
Faora saw their reactions and quite frankly they amused her. Her fingers snapped over and over again before Harry brought himself back to reality.
"Was Dumbledore on drugs when he made this decision?" Harry asked to himself.
"Depends, he does seem like the type," Faora answered with a brisk smile.
"He….he made me Head Boy?" Harry asked both of them and he wanted to slap himself because this was a dream.
No this was a nightmare, an absolute and utter nightmare. He was sure that Dumbledore was laughing his ass off right now. Likely after inhaling an entire bowl full of lemon drops, which Harry suspected was laced with something. There was no way that twinkle in his eye was anything but the result of heavy drug use.
"Albus Dumbledore is an asshole," Harry dead panned as he flipped the Head Boy badge over in his fingers. This might be the absolute worst thing Dumbledore could have done to him. "How….what….when…."
"Calm down Har, before you injure yourself," Faora commented with a smile crossing her face and she reached over to pat him on the shoulder. "It will be fine, you must have faith."
"If it makes you feel any better, I got made Head Girl," Kara remarked as she raised an eyebrow. "Which is strange for many reasons, many of them being that I haven't even stepped one foot into Hogwarts yet. Are the other girls in seventh year unqualified?"
"It isn't a winning batch," Harry stated, there were a few girls in seventh year this year that made Ron look like a genius. "Hermione would be the logical choice…."
"I know Hermione's your friend, but her people skills leave something to be desired," Faora remarked, appreciating the irony of that statement coming from her.
"And yours are much better?" Kara asked her and Faora shrugged her shoulders.
"I can't believe this, what was Dumbledore thinking?" Harry asked as he narrowed his eyes at the Head Boy badge in his hand.
"So, what do the Head Boy and Head Girl do, precisely?" Kara inquired.
"They do what the teachers can't be bothered to do," Harry informed her and Kara smiled back at him.
"Delightful," Kara remarked dryly.
It was for the best that Hermione didn't get the role as Head Girl, she might take out the stress she was likely to be under on the poor helpless students and cause an incident.
"Well, I think that I know why Kara was chosen," Peve remarked as she offered them the newspaper for today.
The announcement that Harry Potter had married a young girl named Kara Kent was described in the paper. They were described as childhood sweethearts and she was the last of a rather obscure bloodline. Which was true, there was a family named Kent that was around since a few decades after Hogwarts was founded, although from what Andromeda told him during their lessons, they decided to go underground about two hundred years ago.
They met up and got married in Vegas after a weekend, although there was a mention that there were rumors that there was a marriage contact between the Kent and Potter lines that was finally fulfilled. Although there was a marriage contract between Harry and Kara to the extent that Faora essentially had them betrothed, it was not anything like the papers described.
"You should see the howlers and the cursed letters that they've sent you," Peve responded.
"They better not be trying to hurt my daughter/niece!" Alura and Lara shouted nearly simultaneously.
"The elves are earning their mettle by screening that mail," Peve remarked towards Kara. "Apparently, there's a lot of witches that didn't take it well that Kara took their national treasure away by being the first wife, which always has the strongest connection. The first four bonded after the second maturation do often have just as strong of a bond, although depending on the power, others might obtain Alpha status if they are judged worthy by magic."
"I hope it's no one I know that's being a spiteful bitch," Harry said with his eyes narrowed as he tightened his arm around Kara's shoulder.
Peve offered him a reassuring smile. "I'm pretty certain that it's no one that you know. At least I'm sure that they knew what they were getting themselves into. Whilst you're not bonded yet, given your own power, you have left a minor imprint on them that will increase into a bond. It will make other men undesirable to them."
Peve paused before she decided to add another point for clarity.
"They knew something like this might occur, so it is not so much they are being forced to do anything against their will," Peve added more to herself than anything else.
"I notice that they don't mention me," Faora remarked but she thought that was a good thing.
A letter from Andromeda explained everything, the news of the marriage showed up in the Ministry and since Kara was the first one bonded to Harry, that's what the official notice in the Department of Magical Unions was given. She did some quick spin doctoring, as Harry kind of clued her into what was happening through a few letters.
"Good to see Andi is on the ball as always," Harry remarked as he tightened his arm around Kara and Faora leaned in.
"I'd much prefer her to be a friend rather than an enemy," Faora said with a smile crossing her face.
"I think we all would," Kara agreed.
"I'm sure we can resume our lessons today, after you've eaten breakfast," Alura told them as she sat down at the table. Whilst she did not have to eat, she and Lara both enjoyed sitting with Harry, Kara, and Faora at the breakfast table. Ten days passed inside the castle for every day in the real world, at least that was the default settings inside the castle.
Harry could alter that at his discretion, it was one of the powerful magical features of the castle.
"I'm sure we can do that just fine," Harry commented with a smile crossing his face.
Alura had been teaching Harry, Kara, and Faora about Kryptonian sorcery, whilst Lara was teaching them about medicine and science. They thought they had a pretty decent grasp of the subjects, although the instruction from two live, for all intents and purposes, individuals was able to allow them to fill in any blanks that the memory crystals might have left.
The memory crystals were useful in imparting information or at least a foundation but their two instructors allowed them to learn even more than they would have before under the eye of a physical tutor. They had two, technically three, and when Lily woke up; Harry did not doubt for a minute that she had some useful information to impart on them as well. She was one of the most brilliant students to come out of Hogwarts, a prodigy that in his opinion was far too good for that world.
After a few months, hopefully by the Christmas holidays at the latest, Harry knew that he could rig something up so that Lily could speak to them through a similar hard light hologram. The dreams faded, flickered, but that was the first stage of the ritual to wake her up from the catatonic state she was put in.
That was a long time coming, they had some lessons to get through and in a couple of days on the outside world, they needed to head over to Gotham City for a visit and then make a small trip to Smallville, before Harry and Kara headed off to the Quidditch World Cup. Faora would remain in the States to set up Harry's business interests in the Muggle World while he was at Hogwarts.
This Head Boy thing, which made Harry wonder if Hogwarts had a stringent drug testing policy regarding their staff, threw a wrench into a few well laid plans. He was sure that Dumbledore had has reasons for making him Head Boy, although he was sure they were only applicable in Wonderland.
He suspected that Kara was named Head Girl, due to the fact that her grades on the exams that she took to get into seventh year were so good and there was also the fact that Hermione becoming Head Girl was a disaster waiting to happening. Given her quarterly meltdowns over exams that she was obviously going to pass, Harry thought that someone had a moment of clarity in the sea of insanity.
'So, we're the two most important students at Hogwarts,' Kara projected to him before she grinned. 'Oh if the people didn't hate me already before, they're going to want to roast me on a spit.'
'Don't worry, Kara, your grades are the best, it isn't your fault that most of the girls in the seventh year are not that bright or not equipped for the job in other ways,' Harry responded to her as he squeezed her hand. 'If anyone says that you aren't qualified….well they should look at your grades. Plus you're a mostly level headed person.'
'Mostly level headed?' Kara and Faora chimed in.
'That's a blatant lie if I've ever heard one,' Karen thought through the link, she remembered her temper as she was younger.
She mellowed out.
Well kind of.
"It's so good to see you again!"
Barbara stated this in an excited tone of voice as Pamela shared the sentiment although she was more reserved about it than Barbara was. Then again, she was always a woman who was more reserved and calm.
"It's good to see you again, Harry," Pamela remarked with a smile on her face and she threw her arms around him with a tight hug. She did the same to Kara and Faora, she got along well enough with the both of them to allow them in to this extent.
"Did you like that plant specimen that Harry and I got for you?" Faora asked Pamela and she responded with an energetic nod, a smile crossing her face.
"I found it very interesting," Pamela remarked in an excited voice and Harry thought that she might, that was the type of person that Pamela was.
"I'm glad you did," Harry retorted to her as he reached forward intertwining his fingers with hers and she did not let go.
Barbara was curious and decided to bring up the point that she wanted to ask for a while. "So what have you guys been up to?"
Kara was only too quick to answer. "Oh you know, we were catching up on old times, studied for the next term at school, visiting with family and friends, got married in Vegas, did some home decorating…."
Barbara held up a hand to stop Kara in mid-stream.
"Wait a minute, what did you say?" Barbara asked Kara as Faora and Harry barely hid the amusement that filled their faces.
"I did some interior decorating, what's the problem with that?" Kara asked in a faux innocent voice that caused Pamela to snort.
Barbara shook her head and she closed her eyes before sighing. "Yeah….you know the part about the Vegas Wedding. That's not something that you casually drop on someone's head."
Kara, Faora, and Harry all broke out into laughter at the utterly mortified expression on Barbara's face. She was trying to reconcile everything that she was told and it was hard to piece together everything in her mind.
"Okay, I'm out of the loop or something, when did you….I knew you mentioned that you were doing something for Harry's birthday but….this?" Barbara asked as she tried to wrap her head around Kara's logic. If there was any logic to be had to with this group.
"Yes, I did say that, although it was kind of spur of the moment," Kara commented as she wrapped her arm around Harry's waist. "We were going to get married anyway, so why not speed up the time table?"
That was flawless logic that no one could really argue with, that much was for sure. Barbara conceded defeat as Pamela watched her with a smile on her face.
"She's got you there, Babs," Pamela told her as she patted her friend on the shoulder and Barbara hung her head with a moderate sigh before she spun around.
"Yes, I'm sure she does, but….details, I must have them," Barbara demanded, although the voice was more exasperated than commanding.
Kara's smile grew even wider as she kept her expression on Barbara's face watching as her eyes came close to bugging out.
"Details, you shall have them," Kara fired back with a grin spread over her face. "In due time, in due time."
Barbara could hardly wait, there were a lot of things that she wondered about, the exact order of how these things happened. She was pretty sure that only a couple of weeks passed, maybe a little bit under a month since the group swung by Gotham City for a visit but it did seem to be a lot longer all things considered.
"So, Zee went back home, did she?" Harry asked Barbara and she responded with a nod.
"Yeah, but I'm sure she'll be back around soon enough," Barbara remarked before she placed her hands on her face and threw her head back with a sigh. "So this latest bit of insanity, well that really threw me for a loop when Kara brought it up."
Barbara paused to reconcile her thoughts.
"Anyone else, I would have thought that the marriage would be among the most stupid decisions in their life," Barbara commented as she hung out next to Harry for a little bit, as they were separated from the rest of the group. "But….it seems to be working out for you."
Barbara decided to offer her own blunt statement.
"Normal, is not something you do, is it?" Barbara asked and a wide grin spread over Harry's face before he threw an arm around her.
"Not well, although there are times where I feel like I should be normal but I'll never be normal, that's just the way things go, I guess," Harry remarked in a crisp tone of voice as he shifted his expression from one side to the other. "But, given what passes for normal in the world, do you think that should be an ambition that we strive for?"
Barbara shook her head in disagreement, although she really didn't think that normal was a luxury she had. She did live in Gotham City, the cesspool of crime and insanity, where living a day without running into a crime or worst being in the middle of one merited a great cause of celebration.
"Given that I live in the nexus of insanity, perhaps I shouldn't wonder about what is normal out there or what isn't normal," Barbara quipped and Harry placed an arm around her shoulders, before pulling her in close to him.
"Since you live in Gotham, no you wouldn't be considered normal, not in the slightest," Harry told her and Barbara blinked at this revelation as a smile crossing her face.
"I guess the world's just a screwed up place and we're just living in it," Barbara remarked as she watched him. "So six more months…"
"Actually I'm pretty sure this Head Boy thing means that I have to stick out the entire year," Harry remarked, sounding like this was a fate worse than death and for him, it pretty much was. He was not relishing having to stick around from Hogwarts for much longer.
If he was allowed to do so, he would take his NEWTs and get it done and over with, before moving on with the rest of his life. His investments were going strong, he had several women loyal to him, he learned a fairly decent amount of magic, although that was not as much as he learned from his lessons with Alura along with the Kryptonian memory crystals.
"Just got to ride it out Harry," Barbara remarked to him as she reached up to pat him on the shoulder. She could not do it without jumping in the air so she settled for patting him on the upper middle part of his back. "Although….I don't think anyone's ever been annoyed to be handed the Head Boy position like you are."
"It's a useless piece of tin," Harry stated with a dismissive wave. "I'm sure the Headmaster thinks that he's doing me a favor, he's senile and on drugs after all."
Barbara cracked up, just the nonchalant way Harry said that was highly amusing to her. She saw the others approach from around the corner.
"They're restoring bits of Gotham City, trying to at least, there was some big demonstration around there," Kara remarked as she informed them why they were gone. "There are parts of the city that they want to restore to cut down on the crime rate."
"You'd need a demolition crew to cut down on the crime rate in Gotham City," Barbara told her and Kara folded her arms with a sigh.
"Yeah, be that as it may, a lot of people are protesting about it, they don't take it well that their being forced to evacuate," Kara said as she shifted her eyes around to get a sense of all of the surroundings.
"Well to be fair some of those people…that's their homes, if you can call the slums a home," Faora remarked as she leaned against the wall and sighed.
"Wayne Industries is spear heading the venture, which…..there's just something underhanded about that," Pamela commented with a frown. "Wayne's not as underhanded as Luthorcorp but there's just something about some of their activities that I can't get behind. And then there's….there's this huge problem where their owner doesn't seem to care about the company."
"Bruce Wayne," Barbara chimed in helpfully as she turned to Harry. If Harry remembered correctly, Wayne would be seven or so years older than him. "He kind of went off to God only knows where years and years ago and he hasn't even bothered to check in. For all we know, he could be dead or in prison."
Pamela scoffed. "Please, he's a billionaire playboy, I'm sure he's on some tropical island, surrounded by beautiful women, not a care in the world."
"Sounds like a good time," Harry stated to them with a grin and Pamela sighed as she rolled her eyes.
"Not anything like you, naturally, Wayne is a spoiled little man child, he doesn't care about anything else but the next shiny thing that pops in front of his face," Pamela stated with thinly veiled disdain.
It did annoy her how rich people cared little about the environment around them. They had all the money in the world yet they slashed it down in favor of lining their own pockets with more money. It turned her stomach in ways that they could never imagine.
"You never know, Wayne could have far more depth than you think," Faora remarked with a thoughtful expression.
Pamela was not to be swayed and she scoffed. "About as much depth as the kiddy pool at Munchkin Land."
It was obvious that Pamela had her own opinion on Bruce Wayne although Harry was interested in where the hell Wayne disappeared to. He left his company in control of shareholders which was a risky venture at best. Harry did own a sizable fraction of the company, His Great-Grandfather helped set it up many years ago after all and he did own some stock in it through the Evans line as well, that was sitting there dormant.
Rose had been looking after the Evans business interests until he came to age in the Muggle World, although Gringotts fudging numbers would allow that to happen much sooner than it would normally. He looked like he could pass for an eighteen year old without a second look if someone decided to check his ID.
Harry wondered about the mystery of Bruce Wayne but that was another thing to worry about for another time.
"You seem mortified that you became Head Boy," Pamela commented in a light tone of voice and a grin crossed her face as she kept her eyes on Harry. "I wonder if he thought that they could keep you there."
Pamela and Harry stole a few moments for themselves.
"They think, they believe, they honestly think that they can, they think that I'm some kind of mascot that they can prop up for their entertainment," Harry remarked as he thankfully cut off a lot of the unauthorized Boy-Who-Lived merchandize. Actually cut off wasn't a word, he made Andromeda sue them for royalties. If his image was going to be used, at least he should make some money off of it. Although he was going to take care of a lot of the cheaply made crap that was destroying his image and causing him more than a sufficient amount of frustration.
It made business sense after all.
"They never really understood that you were squandering your talents the longer you stayed in that world," Pamela offered him and Harry's eyes turned towards hers, a smile crossing his face.
"If that isn't the truth, I don't know what is, but no, they don't really understand that at all," Harry commented as the two of them walked out into the garden.
Pamela looked everything over, so far everything was going as planned. Her parents never really tended the greenhouses much, always paying someone to do it. She felt sad because of this; it lacked a personal touch, a connection between her and the plants in the garden. Before Harry, there were times where she spend all of the time out in this garden and watched the plans, they were her only companions. The closet thing that she had to a friend.
A long time had passed since those days and Pamela was glad, as she watched Harry.
"So where are you moving after you're done over there?" Pamela asked as she stopped and nodded her head. "Actually, you know someone like you, you could be anywhere and any place in the world."
The world was limitless for Harry after all, that was something that she thought. She doubted very much that he would slum it somewhere like Gotham City. The only reason she stuck around was because it was the only home that she ever knew and that was a depressing thing but never the less a true statement.
"You know, I've got properties in a few places and remember that castle I told you about?" Harry asked her and Pamela nodded.
"It's a castle that can allow Harry to be anywhere in the world."
Faora stepped forward.
"Barbara is introducing Kara to the joys of the downtown video arcade, I've abstained from attending," Faora added as she walked forward and admired the plants in the garden. "You've done a wonderful job with them, Pamela."
"Thanks," Pamela offered, feeling the assessment was well noted.
"Yes you really did, you should be proud, you've got a natural green thumb," Harry commented as she watched him.
"Did you ever think about planting a garden?" Pamela asked before she could help herself.
Faora decided not to miss the obvious opportunity. "Whilst Harry never misses an opportunity to plant a seed somewhere, I don't think he has considered ever planting a garden, has he?"
Pamela got that obvious statement as did Harry.
"Maybe someday, although I did some gardening for the Dursleys. So I suppose I could count that, though it wasn't really for pleasure. Actually you remember that book I sent you, about how dragon dung was supposed to be a great fertilizer?" Harry asked and Pamela nodded. "Well it turned out….well it turned out that they were a bit off. It was only a great fertilizer for magical plants….mundane plants on the other hand, it overstimulated them and killed them."
Pamela's eyes flickered with fury for a second but she offered a slight smile.
"Well, they're going to have to learn their lessons, won't they?" Pamela asked and Harry decided to offer her the other point.
"That's the problem, isn't it, there's a lot of Mundaneborn witches and wizards who are in a tizzy about this," Harry remarked to her as they decided to go outside of the garden and the three of them sat down side by side. "The Ministry doesn't see what the big deal is."
Harry spelled it out for them but naturally Faora and Pamela were smart enough to figure out the blatantly obvious as it was given to them.
"Muggle plants dying, they're going to tie this into the magicals, give or take a little bit," Harry added as he watched both of the girls for their reaction. "For all the Ministry does to enforce the Statute of Secrecy, they do miss some fairly important details."
"Most governments do, they can't see past their own behinds," Faora stated and that much was the truth, oh boy was that ever the truth.
"Sad but true, isn't it?" Pamela asked them and the three of them sat.
Kara and Barbara arrived to join the conversation at this moment.
"Oh, Pam's plants, are they still growing strong?" Barbara asked to her with a bright smile.
"Yeah, they're pretty good, none of them died," Pamela told her, as if there was any way she would allow her precious plants to die. "So how was your time at the video arcade?"
"It was fun," Kara piped in although she was sad that Harry did not get a chance to sample the joy. She knew that it wouldn't be Faora's thing but that was just the way that she was.
"We do have a Super Nintendo, I'm sure we can find a lot of games to play at home," Faora remarked but Kara shrugged.
"There's just something about the atmosphere of the video arcade that makes it….well it makes it amazing," Kara told Faora and Faora decided that she would not fault her for that sentiment.
"If you say so," Faora stated before she turned back to face Pamela, and Harry, there was a moment of silence before they picked their conversation back up.
Kara and Harry made their way towards Smallville, with Faora having decided to stay behind at the castle before she headed off to take care of business that would be set up. There was something that Harry and Kara needed to do, well Harry mostly.
'Don't care what anyone says, it's a noble thing you're doing,' Kara thought as she clutched her hand in the air and the two of them moved around each other. 'I just wonder if someone's going to have a stubborn attack of male pride.'
'Well to be fair, I'm not forgiving the debts, I've just purchased them from the bank,' Harry thought to her.'I think that the farm does have potential for profit, it's just going to take time and it's an investment that we can make.'
'It does seem sound, you aren't going to hear any arguments out of it with me,' Kara thought as they dropped down outside the Kent Farm.
It was a warm day, although that barely bothered them to be honest. The two of them walked towards the farm, dressed in fairly nice clothes. Kara was dressed in a white tank top, a jean skirt, and boots that coved her feet. It might have seemed like a good idea in theory to where flip-flops but that was until one tried to fly with them and the idea became less sound in practice.
Regardless of that fact, the two of them were in front of the Kent Farm and Kara was the one who decided to knock on the door. Her soft and polite knock summoned someone and the blonde waited patiently, shifting her feet as she did so.
She did wonder if she would catch a glimpse of her cousin. That thought made her wonder what he might be like. Kara guessed that that would a question that would be pretty much answered in due time. The blonde turned her head around and waited for the door to be answered.
A middle aged man, a bit on the north side of forty, opened the door and watched Kara and Harry.
"Yes, may I help you?" he asked in a polite and warm tone of voice that obviously was meant to make people feel welcome but there was also an amount of uncertainty towards his tone, as he if he wondered why Harry and Kara showed up.
"You must be Jonathan Kent," Harry offered with a smile and the man nodded.
"Yes, I am," Jonathan told Harry and he decided to press on. "If this is about the tractor, it's already been sold."
"No nothing like that, it's about a statement you just got in the mail a couple of days ago," Harry remarked as he watched Jonathan for his reaction.
Jonathan sure enough knew what they were talking about.
"Harry, Kara, what are you doing here?"
Jonathan turned around and he saw Martha standing there.
"You know these people, Martha?" Jonathan asked as he relaxed a little bit.
"That's Lily's son, Harry, and his girlfriend Kara, you know Clark's biological cousin," Martha whispered to Jonathan.
Immediately Jonathan Kent got the statement one hundred percent of the way and stepped back with a smile to allow them inside.
"Oh, that's right, Martha's told me so much about you, come in, make yourself at home," Jonathan offered as he invited the two of them inside.
Although he did wonder why they seemed to know so much about what was happening and the fact that his loan changed hands. Jonathan was on the phone for the better part of the last day to the bank and they kept giving him the go around not that was the first time that something like that happened. The bank had threatened to foreclose at the end of the summer if they did not pay it off.
As much as Jonathan hated to admit it, there was nothing he could do. Kent men were stubborn so he never asked for help. Even though Martha gently stated that her side of the family had the money, there was nothing to it.
"So what's up with this?" Jonathan asked as he held up the statement. "I don't take charity…."
"I know you don't," Harry said as he waved his hand. "The bank doesn't see the long term potential of this farm, I do. You've had a bad couple of years but things are turning around a little bit, aren't they?"
Jonathan nodded, they did turn a profit last year on the harvest, but the problem is turning a profit was a drop of water in a bucket compared to eleven year's worth of debt. He stayed up late at night, stressing over it and with heart attacks felling many of his family members in their forties, stress was not something that helped his cause.
"I think that I could pay off the debts in five years but the bank wouldn't allow me more time," Jonathan answered as he gave a gruff sigh. "I tried to file for another loan but….they shot me down."
He was afraid that they would lose everything, the farm and then his deepest fear was that they would take Clark away. Then they would find out where Clark came from and then he would be some guest at a government lab. Those thoughts kept Jonathan and to a lesser extent Martha up most nights, it was a fear that they had.
"Don't worry about any time limit on the loan with me, I'm reasonable, pay what you can, when you can," Harry stated, knowing that Jonathan Kent was the type of man who would settle his debts. "And then we'll talk about this again when the debt has been cleared."
Martha brought them juice and sandwiches which Kara and Harry took.
"That sounds fair enough," Jonathan remarked, trying to remind himself that he did not clear the debt, mainly eased the burden. "I intend to pay you every penny I owe, with interest."
"Don't worry, I don't doubt that for a minute," Harry said as he reached forward and picked up a sandwich before he took a bite out of it. "I think that you deserve the benefit of the doubt."
Kara smiled, she didn't want to see the Kents thrown out on the street and neither did Harry. She shuddered to think of her cousin getting taken away and being found out what for what he was. The United States Government might not take too kindly to the fact that there was an alien in their midst.
"Thank you," Jonathan offered in a gracious voice as the door swung open.
Martha turned around. "Clark, remember to wipe your feet before you come in. I know you were raised on a farm but that doesn't mean you were born in a barn."
Eight year old Clark Kent, about to go into the third grade, turned his eyes with an expression of annoyance. He sped back down from the creek just in time for lunch but he ran into a splash of mud. He was unique and wondered if he was kind of mutant or something. His parents had been tight lipped about his heritage, only telling him he was special.
Clark never the less wiped his feet on the mats going inside.
"We have company," Martha told Clark and she decided to give her eight year son more information. "This is a cousin from my side of the family Harry and…."
"I'm Kara, your cousin….from Minnesota," Kara stated as she decided that Martha must have not told Kal-El where he came from.
"Wait a minute, you're my cousin?" Clark asked as he watched Kara. He never thought he'd meet anyone from his own family, the biological one anyway. The eight year old's mind swam with the thoughts of what he just learned.
"Yes, I am, I…was away at college until now," Kara remarked, hoping that her story was believed by her cousin.
Clark sat down, that was a lot for him to take him.
"Did you know my parents?" Clark asked as he eyed her. "I mean….the one's I was born to."
He nearly slipped up and said his real parents but he was smart enough for his age to know that would be considered to be rude.
"Yes, I did," Kara said in a quiet voice.
'And you'll be meeting them soon enough, in AI form,' Kara thought to herself.
"Could you….could you tell me something about them?" Clark asked as he watched her.
"Your father was a scientist, your mother was a doctor," Kara stated to him with a smile. "Your mother's name was Lara, your father's name was Jor…Joe."
The name Jor-El might not be considered to be normal and Kara thought that it would raise many questions than she felt comfortable with answering.
"Lara, that's a nice name," Clark commented as he turned his head around.
Jonathan and Martha locked eyes; Lara was Clark's first word, although they wondered what it meant at the time. Now they knew, they doubted he even remembered it.
"Here, this is something of your mother's that she wanted you to have," Kara remarked as she reached into her pocket and gave in a crystal pendant.
"What is it?" Clark asked.
"It's something that ensures that you keep your mother close to your heart at all times," Kara told Clark.
'And to make sure I'm able to track you down if you get into trouble, like I fear you might,' Kara thought to herself.
'Paranoid much?' Karen thought to her through the bond link.
'Just because she gave Martha something to contact her doesn't mean that she shouldn't have a little bit of extra insurance,' Faora commented through the bond link.
"Why don't you go in the kitchen with Kara and she can tell you all about your biological parents, Clark?" Jonathan asked and Clark nodded. "I need to talk about a few things with Harry."
Clark stepped forward and Kara followed him as the two took the sandwiches and juice into the kitchen.
"Anything that you don't want Clark to hear, won't be heard by him," Harry told Jonathan and he raised an eyebrow. "Did Martha inform you about my mother's….unique abilities?"
Jonathan nodded in affirmation.
"Then it will block any conversation from leaving this room into your son's ears," Harry told him.
"Thank you for not letting him know about how unique he is, I'd prefer he doesn't learn about that for a few years yet," Jonathan stated but he dreaded that day coming.
"Well I didn't know about my unique heritage until I turned eleven years old, so that might be a good time to tell him," Harry informed them.
Jonathan decided that might be for the best, he still had Clark's ship in the cellar of his basement, although he hadn't opened it up since he put it down there. The temptation did not reach him.
Now he had to talk to Harry about the terms of their agreement, although it was pretty straight forward. Jonathan was not the type of person to make the minimum payments, but sometimes he was forced to make certain concessions.
He was given a chance to make things right and it did give him some ease that there would be no pressure. In the end, he would make things right.
Kara and Harry stayed at the Kent Farm long enough to enjoy dinner. The blonde Kryptonian smiled, she did cherish the interactions she had with her cousin.
'Let's hope he takes after his mother and not Jor-El when he's older, otherwise Kal's going to have some serious issues,' Faora commented through the bond link and there was a second were the two of them stopped in mid-air. They were on their way back to the United Kingdom to stop and check in with some people.
'My cousin won't have issues,' Kara chimed in mentally but that worried her a little bit.
'Hopefully, he can't be any worse than my version of Kal, psychotic maniac he turned out to be,' Karen thought as she grimaced. 'Jaime sends her love by the way, now that she's gotten over the shock.'
'When will I see her?' Harry wondered and Karen decided to drop that bit on him.
'Sooner rather than later,' Karen projected back to him.
Harry and Kara continued to fly but there was a storm brewing and it was about to get worse.
Lighting flashed through the sky, an omen of things to come and green meteor rocks that were suspended in Earth's gravitational field were slowly being brought down through chaotic elements beyond the recognition of mortal men.
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