Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harry was just about to leave the train station, after arriving back at London after school, when he felt a sort of tingling sensation. It was the end of his first year at Hogwarts, a few weeks after final exams and again a few weeks after Voldemort had tried to kill him again. Though this time, Voldemort didn't have a body. His magic rippled around him as he walked down to the gate and he heard a yelp that was tinged with fear as if through a tunnel. The small space of ground underneath him shook like a miniature earthquake. White light lit up his vision, encompassing the world around him and then shorting out his vision as he heard a distant roar. He felt as if he was being moved throughout space and he wondered if this was what it felt like to apparate. But it felt gentler almost. Like it, whatever the power was, was calling to him.

When his vision finally went back to normal, his feet were encased in sand through his shoes. The sun was bright, brighter than it had been a minute ago and then he looked up into the sky and his eyes widened, his fingers tightening on his holly wand in a white knuckled grip. There were two suns up in the sky. Harry stared up at the sky, shading his eyes with his other hand, and blinking in bewilderment. Sweat gathered on his forehead and his back just by being under the sun and unprotected for less than five minutes. He looked out at the horizon and could see nothing, just sand and the occasional rocks and mountains.

Another yelp of surprise was carried to him on the wind and he turned around only to see a huge rock protruding out from the sand and reaching up, up, up into the sky. He followed the rock outcropping until it stopped. It had created a kind of cave, three sides of rock that formed a cave opening. The screams had come from there so Harry tentatively walked that way, not knowing what else to do. Besides, he couldn't see any evidence of people or cities or towns. He could smell smoke though and something that smelled like a burning engine in the direction he was going.

Harry finally made it over to the cave and stopped before the entrance and glanced over to the side. There was something that had obviously crashed next to the cave entrance. It didn't look like a car but then again, it didn't look like anything Harry had ever seen before. It didn't even have wheels. But he could tell it was a mode of transportation. That much was clear to him from one glance at it.

Another yelp, this time of pained surprise, was carried to him and he hurriedly raced into the cave, holding his wand up.

“Hello? Anyone in there?”

“Stay out! It's too dangerous in here!”

Whoever was in there was a boy and whoever he was, he sounded like he was close to Harry's age.

“What's wrong?” Harry yelled back, squinting in an effort to see what was further in the cave. It was nearly dark in there but for a few patches of light that had gotten through the old rock.

“Stay out of here! I don't want anyone else to get hurt!”

Harry tilted his head and was about to go in when a roar was heard. The roar was loud and kind of pissed off sounding, kind of territorial. It sounded like one of Aunt Marge's dogs but definitely louder and much more… beast like.

“Are you okay in there?”

“Bruised ribs! I accidentally woke up a greater krayt dragon!”

Harry's eyes widened at the unfamiliar word, krayt, but figured it was an animal of some sort. Or a breed of dragon… Harry was about to head in to the cave to see if he could help, consequences be damned, when he finally saw the other boy. The boy was backing up out of the cave, his back to Harry. But oh… The power that the boy had. Harry had never felt anything like it, not even Voldemort was that powerful but then again, he supposed that being a bodiless spirit, Voldemort didn't actually have a lot of power.

But this boy's power… Oh, it was intoxicating. He felt like how he thought that drunk people felt like. The power also felt a little familiar to him, like a cousin or something to his magic.

The boy had short, dirty blond hair and he was just an inch or two shorter than Harry as he continued to back up. Harry ran toward him and fell into step with him, exchanging glances with the boy when the other kid realized he was next to him. Or Harry noticed that the kid had turned to glance at Harry a few seconds before Harry had made it to his side. The boy had bright blue eyes that Harry took a second to pull his gaze from and then the ground thudded. Thud! Harry's eyes widened as a creature prowled out of the cave.

“What… is that?” Harry whispered, half in awe and half in fear as the creature peered down at them with predatory eyes. It looked like a dragon but it had no wings and no less than 10 legs, five on each side of its body.

“It's a greater krayt dragon,” the boy muttered, gesturing for Harry to back up with him. “I woke it up when I crashed the pod into the cave wall. Sithspit, I crashed the pod!”

“What's a pod?”

The other boy turned to glance at him, eyes wide with uncertainty and no small amount of incredulousness. “You don't know what a pod is?”

“Shouldn't we be running away?” Harry asked, shaking his head. “But no, I don't know what a pod is but I take it, it's the thing over there?”

The boy nodded and they both watched as the… greater krayt dragon crept toward them.

“Are these things… normal?” Harry asked, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the creature speeding up. The two boys started to run too, turning their backs on the krayt dragon and fleeing. Harry followed the boy's lead as they ran over to the… pod, as the boy had called it.

“No! They're suppose to be rare!” The boy shouted, scrambling into the small little circular opening in the pod. Harry glanced at the dragon then sped over to where the boy was, stopping right outside the pod.

As Harry turned to face the dragon, he heard the boy mutter words in another language, one that was very guttural and it sounded unpleasant.

“The comm isn't working.”

“Comm?” Harry repeated, looking up into the dragon's black eyes as it came closer. “Don't you have anything to… I don't know… stop this thing? Or at least distract it long enough so that we can get away?”

The boy jumped out of the small circular pit in the pod and stood next to Harry. “No! Watto would never let me have a weapon! Or my mom!”

The greater krayt dragon was almost on them, maybe only five steps until it would gobble them up. At least, Harry thought it looked like it would eat them. Maybe it wouldn't… Maybe this was a misunderstanding. Harry glanced at the boy next to him then took a step toward the dragon.

“Hey, what're you doing?!”

“I don't know!” Harry retorted then glanced up into the creature's black eyes as the dragon stopped before them. The massive animal growled low and lowered its head, its tail moving in a menacing way, back and forth. He looked it in the eyes and spoke. “Stop.”

He felt confusion come from the animal and unsubtle bewilderment from the boy next to him. The dragon however, stopped moving right after Harry spoke and peered down at both boys with a less predatory gaze than before.

“What kind of language is that?”

Harry glanced at the kid, raising an eyebrow. “What?”

The boy stared at him, blue eyes wide and interested. “You spoke in a different language. It was all hissy and everything but I didn't recognize it.”

Harry frowned then looked up into the beast's eyes.

"We're not food and we're sorry to disturb you. He didn't mean to disturb your sleep. We're sorry."

“Whatever you're doing, it's working,” the boy remarked, stepping over to stand next to him. “Tell her I'm sorry for crashing the pod into her cave.”

“That's what I just did. I think,” Harry said as the beast took a step back. The two boys watched as the beast backed up enough to stop within the cave entrance then it laid down on the sand, its tail curling around its massive body.

Harry turned to the boy next to him and looked him over again, now that the threat was gone. He extended his hand.

“I'm Harry.”

The kid smiled and reached out his own. “I'm Anakin Skywalker. It's nice to meet you. Are you a human?”

“Uhh… are there other kinds of… people that aren't human here?”

Anakin's eyes widened then he grinned, more than a little mischief showing in his bright blue eyes. “Yeah. There are tons of aliens in the galaxy. Toydarians, twi'leks, togrutas, jawas, wookiees… You aren't from around here, are you?”

Harry stared at Anakin and slowly shook his head. “No, I'm really not. This isn't Earth, is it?”

Anakin raised an eyebrow. “Earth? What's that?”

“That's a no then. Then I suppose, my next question is, what planet is this?”

“Tatooine,” Anakin replied, wrinkling his nose and turning to look back at the crashed pod. “This sucks. How am I suppose to get the pod back to Watto? It's not like he cares about me...”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Who's Watto?”

“He's… my master,” Anakin muttered, wiping a hand across his forehead. “Where's your home?”

“I'm starting think it's a long, long way from here,” Harry said wearily. “At least my trunk came with me but I don't know how I got here.”

Anakin stared at him, tilting his head. “Well, maybe you could stay with me and my mom until you figure that out? We have the space and there's a sandstorm coming. I don't like the idea of you staying here until your parents come.”

“When you said… 'master', what did you mean?” Harry asked, looking between the pod and Anakin. “Don't worry about my parents. They're not coming.”

“Why? If you ran away, I'm sure they're on their way,” Anakin remarked, climbing into the small circular pit in the middle of the pod. Harry watched as the other boy fiddled around with something then started to walk about the strange vehicle. The greater krayt dragon was still watching them, its eyes following Anakin and Harry as they moved. “That's what parents do.”

“My parents are dead,” Harry answered dully. “They're not coming. Nor are my aunt or uncle.”

There was silence for a minute before Anakin jumped out of the seat and ran and wrapped his arms around Harry. Harry startled, going still, before relaxing into the hug from the younger boy.

“'M sorry about your parents,” Anakin whispered, pulling back after a minute. “My mom would like you though. You can stay until you figure out how to get back home but me and my mom need to go to work each day so we won't be around all day.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, thinking of the Dursley’s. He also remembered that his aunt and uncle weren’t like other parents. Normal parents didn’t make their children work and cook for them. “Work? But you're… what… 7? Isn't that too young?”

“I've been working ever since I turned four. Me and my mom are slaves,” Anakin explained, flinching a little when he said that, like he expected Harry to turn on him.

“Slaves???” Harry repeated, his eyes widening. “Like… forced to work for no pay slaves? Like the States and Europe had in the 1600's and onward to the 1800's?”

Anakin raised an eyebrow. “States? Europe?”

“I learned it in Social Studies before I… transferred schools,” Harry said, running a hand through his sweaty hair. He wondered whether he was being looked for back in England, back at Hogwarts where his two friends were. Back on planet Earth... “There's slavery here?”

“Yeah, except in the Republic,” Anakin explained, looking at Harry with a bewildered expression. “You're really not from this galaxy, are you? I've never heard of Earth though there are probably dozens of planets I haven't heard of. I want to see them all someday...”

Harry nodded, still more than a little dazed as to why he was here and how he had gotten here.

Anakin stared at him for another minute then turned to look back at the pod. “But how to get this back to Watto? It's not like he'll care about me. He'll only care that I wrecked the pod. It wasn't even my fault. The power cells were faulty.”

“How far is it to whatever city or town you live in?” Harry asked, turning to look at the krayt dragon again before looking at the pod. He drew his wand and ran his fingers over it. He knew that doing magic outside of school was not allowed but he wasn't exactly… in the same galaxy as Hogwarts, was he?

“It's 40 miles,” Anakin replied, seeming to not even be paying attention to him right now. He was too busy fiddling with some of the pod's back end, muttering in that same language that he had been. “And Watto didn't even give me a comm link so I can't contact him.”

“Is there something we can use to tie the pod to something?” Harry asked idly. “Like sturdy rope or something?”

Anakin peered up at him and followed his gaze to the dragon then he looked back at the pod. “No way! You're thinking of getting the dragon to haul it for us? Are you a Jedi?”

“Jedi?”

Anakin studied him then shook his head. “No, you're not. You don't have a lightsaber or do you?”

“I don't even know what a Jedi is.”

Anakin grinned and glanced at the pod. “If you can get the dragon over here, I can tie the pod to its hindquarters. Be careful though. Krayt dragons can be dangerous.”

“Alright.”

Harry watched Anakin as he started to drag out the long lines that led out from the back of the pod then ran over in the direction of the krayt dragon. The creature stood up on its legs and its tail moved back and fourth, the pale blue eyes watching him as Harry came closer. He stopped a few feet from the dragon's body and looked up at it. He tried to remember what he had done before but he couldn't think of anything so he just started to talk and hoped that it understood him.

Anakin stared at the other boy as he came back to him. The greater krayt dragon was following Harry like it was a dog following its owner, but much less energetically. Harry was grinning as he came and stopped at the pod, waiting. Anakin blinked then grinned back and hurried to assemble the cables and lines to form a sled. Harry helped too, as the dragon just stood there calmly.

“What kind of language is that, anyway?” Anakin asked as they put together the pod and attached it to the dragon. Anakin had had enough cable to have it end up winding around the dragon's chest, enough to look like one of those chariots in the holos. “It sounds kind of like huttese but it's not that.”

“I don't know what it is,” Harry replied, patting the krayt dragon on its shoulder where he could reach it. “I… What's huttese?”

“Language of the Hutts,” Anakin muttered. “They're kind of like the leaders of a big crime ring. Jabba and his family own several slave rings here.”

Harry narrowed his eyes and flicked the piece of wood that he was holding onto and the cable that Anakin was having trouble with, flew up and stayed in place. Anakin stared at Harry, who sighed.

“Have you heard of any wizards around here?” Harry asked instead of an answer.

“Wizards?” Anakin repeated. “Like magic? Jedi are kind of like wizards...”

“Umm, maybe. Let's just get this done.”

Anakin blinked then clambered up onto the dragon's back and fixed the two cables together. It took them a good hour or so to get everything hooked up and ready to go then the two of them climbed up onto the dragon's back again. Harry brought his trunk up with him, levitating it along with him. Anakin patted the dragon's neck then glanced at Harry.

“You ready?” Harry questioned.

“For what?”

Harry wrinkled his nose and shuffled closer to Anakin, like he was about to impart a big secret. “Anything. I've never ridden a creature this big before. I've never ridden anything but a broom before.”

Anakin laughed and grabbed hold of a spike on the dragon's back before nodding.

Harry hissed out words in that weird, mysterious language then the dragon bellowed out and charged ahead.

Anakin whooped out gleefully and Harry laughed too as the dragon ran toward the north, where Anakin had pointed out the city that he lived in was.

It was dark by the time they arrived at the place where Anakin said to stop. The city in front of them looked to be a medium sized city but there were no tall buildings, no recognizable anything really. Harry stared as motorcycle like vehicles zoomed around the streets of the city below them. Some vehicles were not even touching the ground, hovering over the dirt streets. There were rows of apartments on one side of the city that looked small, each connected to each other.

He started when Anakin elbowed him playfully then slid down one of the krayt dragon's legs. “We should leave the dragon here. A lot of people like to hunt them and this one helped us. I don't want to see it killed.”

Harry nodded and slid down too then went about helping Anakin undo the contraption that they had built together. As soon as they lifted the pod and cables away from the dragon, Harry spoke to it.

“Tell it thanks,” Anakin whispered, standing right next to Harry. “No one says thanks to me when I do something so someone should tell it thanks.”

Harry studied Anakin briefly, his heart hurting for the other boy, before turning to look back up at the dragon. It was staring down at them both curiously, with no predatory looks. Its big blue eyes blinked lazily as Harry talked. Harry finished with thanks and the dragon blinked, turned and galloped off, leaving miniature earth quakes in its wake.

“Come on, let me go tell Watto where his pod is then we'll go home,” Anakin said, gesturing for Harry to follow him. “Won't take too long, hopefully.”

Harry glanced at his trunk then held out his wand, pointing it at the trunk and willed his magic to shrink the trunk. He had seen older students do it so he should be able to do it, in theory. He could feel his magic rising up at his call, giving him a little nudge to follow Anakin when he was done, then it obeyed his call, shrinking the trunk even though he didn't have a spell.

“Whoa!” Anakin murmured, eyes going wide as the trunk shrunk. “How'd you do that?”

“I can do magic,” Harry offered hesitantly, yawning a little. “That was just my will. I don't know the incantation for that.”

“Cool!”

Harry scooped up his trunk and slipped it into one of his pockets then followed Anakin as they entered the town. Harry stared with wide eyes as the other boy led him past several strange looking… people. He saw people with what looked like tails coming out of their head and Anakin saw him looking and explained that they were called 'Twi'leks' or 'Togutras', depending on the person. Harry stared at the small, rolling…

“Droids!” Anakin exclaimed, grasping Harry's hand as they went to keep him from getting lost in the crowd of not necessarily human looking people. “Those are droids. There are lots of different kinds of droids too. That one was an astromech.”

Harry glanced up at the sky as they walked and occasionally ran, noting the appearance of different stars than the ones back in England. And there was just one moon, instead of two like Harry had thought there would be. They passed what was obviously the equivalent of a pub in the town, with patrons filling out that looked like they were drunk. Patrons who were awfully dangerous looking themselves. They had guns at their hips and occasionally spears or sharp pole things that were obviously weapons.

Anakin eventually pulled the two of them to a stop outside a shop and told Harry to stay just right inside the entrance. “It's dangerous here at night. Slavers usually come around these parts and you… look like a foreigner. And you're young, like me.”

Harry's eyes widened as Anakin stepped into the shop and the loud noise above him made him jump. He glanced upward and his eyes widened even more. There was what looked like a… ship? He could see two big circular pits that looked like the engines on Anakin's pod but these were obviously more powerful as the ship flew up into the air and disappeared into the night sky.

“Where am I?” Harry muttered, hoping that Anakin got back soon. He could hear yelling deeper into the shop and what sounded like wings beating furiously and then a sound that definitely sounded like a hand hitting flesh. Harry crept back up against the wall of the shop to wait until Anakin reappeared.

It took him ten minutes but Anakin finally reemerged from the shop, with a bright red bruise on his right cheek. Harry narrowed his eyes as Anakin saw him and led him away without a word said of what had taken place in there.

“Anakin?”

“Forget about it,” Anakin muttered, leading Harry around the back of the shop and into the section of the town that Harry had seen from above. “My mom's probably sick with worry.”

“But… oooh,” Harry whispered, tugging Anakin to a stop at a corner of the street. Both of their stomachs let out a growl as they stopped. The other boy stared at him, his blue eyes dull with exhaustion and hurt. “I still have...”

Harry pulled his trunk out and resized it and reached in, digging around for the last potion from his hospital wing stay. He had kept a few from Madam Pomfrey after recovering from going against Voldemort and dug the pain potion out.

“What are you doing?” Anakin murmured, watching him almost reach his entire arm into the trunk. “What kind of a trunk is that?”

“The magic kind,” Harry muttered. “Aha...”

Anakin snorted at his comment.

“Here, drink a few drops of this,” Harry pulled the pain easing vial of potion out and held it out. “It should help with the sting.”

Anakin stared at him, nodded then drank three drops and handed it back. His eyes widened as the potion took affect and he blinked, staring at Harry.

Harry grinned.

“Magic's great,” Anakin muttered, grinning back.

“I know! It's awesome!” Harry exclaimed, returning the smile and stuffing the potion vial back in the trunk then shrinking the trunk again and sticking it in his pocket. “I just learned I was a wizard last year.”

Anakin's grin widened and he grabbed Harry's hand again and tugged him forward. "Let's get home. I know my mom will be worried."

They passed quite a few more interesting creatures and people on the way to Anakin's home. And Harry saw a lot more... ships take off from the ground and head into the open night sky.

"Are you sure I can stay with you guys?" Harry asked once they had arrived. Anakin's home was in one of the smaller, quarters of the city, with homes that looked awfully similar. Each home was pushed together, sharing a wall. Anakin had told him that it was the slave quarters and Harry's stomach had not stopped churning, making him lose a little of his appetite. "I wouldn't want to be a burden. I don't even know how I got here or if I'll go back home."

"Of course you can stay," Anakin exclaimed, stopping at the front door of his home or hovel. Harry had heard the other boy call it that more than once. "She won't mind."

Harry watched as Anakin pushed his way inside after seemingly unlocking the door and waiting in the hallway for a second. Harry followed and after he stepped inside, the door automatically closed, sliding shut.

"Mom! I'm home!"

There was bustling movement farther in the home then a middle aged woman walked out of the door to their left. She had medium length brown hair and warm blue eyes and she smiled as she spotted Anakin. Her eyes widened then she sighed as she took in the bruise on Anakin's cheek and then turned to look at Harry.

"Who is this, Ani?"

"A friend. His name is Harry," Anakin explained as his mother kneeled down to take a look at the bruise. "He's lost."

"Lost?"

"I... don't know what happened," Harry said quietly, putting his hands in his pockets. "One minute I'm home and the next I was right next to Anakin."

The woman raised an eyebrow then smiled, more than a little wearily. "You don't sound like anyone who lives around us. I'm Shmi Skywalker then. It's nice to meet you, Harry."

"It's nice to meet you too. Anakin said I could stay with you guys until I find my way home," Harry replied, brushing some hair over his scar as she peered at it. "That's okay?"

"Ani..."

"Mom, he's not from this galaxy," Anakin muttered. "He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

Shmi's eyes widened and she looked between them then sighed again, as if she was used to her son bringing home strays. "Alright. You're not... from this galaxy? And how would you two know that?"

Harry shook his head, turning to look at Anakin. "I don't know. Anakin didn't recognize the name of the city or planet where I'm from."

"He helped me to tow the broken pod back to the outskirts of town," Anakin added. "He's good."

Shmi narrowed her eyes. "Watto is certainly not going to like that. Is the bruise on your face from that?"

"Yes. It broke down! It wasn't my fault though and Harry gave me something to help with the pain so I don't feel it!"

Shmi turned to look at him. "Something?"

"I... I'm a wizard," Harry explained quietly.

"He's like a Jedi but not," Anakin added, grinning.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "I still don't know what a Jedi is."

Shmi laughed and stood back up, gesturing to the rest of the house. "You can stay in Anakin's room for now. I'll keep on the look out for your parents."

"I... My parents are dead," Harry replied as they walked into the house and headed through a door. He could smell food coming through from the kitchen, food that smelled weird but it was still food and his stomach growled in response. "I don't know if anyone will be looking for me."

Shmi gasped. "I'm sure there will be people looking for you. Who looked after you before this happened?"

"I was going home for summer break from school," Harry offered, watching as Anakin walked over to the oven like thing and peered into the pot. "My aunt and uncle were suppose to be waiting for me."

"You go to wizard school?" Anakin whispered as they settled in for bed. Harry was sharing Anakin's bed for the time being and he had even managed to make the bed bigger, just through will alone. He had yet to receive an owl about being expelled from school so he figured he was okay.

Harry yawned and nodded, having switched into his pajamas from his trunk. "Yeah. It's so cool! Though it was a bit dangerous at the end of the year."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "What can wizards do, where you're from? Can they move things with their mind, like Jedi do?"

"Not... with our minds," Harry replied, grinning at Anakin's excited smile. "With a spell. And everyone uses a wand like mine."

"But you can still move things without using your arms?"

"Yes."

Anakin grinned delightedly, his blue eyes lighting up then he shook his head, obviously thinking through something. "You shouldn't use your magic in public here then. We don't want to attraction attention."

"Okay, I won't then. What are Jedi then? You keep saying that you would want to become a Jedi when you grow up."

"They're suppose to be peace keepers throughout the Republic," Anakin whispered, turning over in the bed to look up at the ceiling. "They use lightsabers, swords made of energy, when they fight."

Harry's eyes widened as he imagined what that might look like. "They're like police then?"

"Kind of..." Anakin replied, yawning. "When I grow up, I want to be a Jedi and free all the slaves."

Harry nodded, yawning too. He could feel his own eyes drooping, his body relaxing into the not too comfortable bed. Though he had definitely slept in worse than this. "How... how long have you been one?"

"All my life," Anakin answered. "Get some sleep, Harry. Gotta wake up early tomorrow."

“How did you know what bruised ribs feel like, Anakin?” Harry murmured, turning over to look at the other boy.

“I’ve had them before,” Anakin offered, hissing at a particularly painful movement as he turned to face Harry.

Harry shook his head and got out of the bed to rummage around in his trunk for the bruise paste. “Here, take this. It’s good for any bruises.”

“Why… Do you get bruised ribs a lot too?”

“My… cousin likes to play this game,” Harry started, seeing Anakin narrow his eyes at his tone.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Anakin said.

“He calls it ‘Harry hunting’.”

“You should tell your uncle then,” Anakin urged, snuggling further under the covers.

“I tried.”

“Oh. So he’s like a few of Watto’s customers.”

“Anakin, is that suppose to mean what I think it means?” Harry asked, eyes going wide.

“If you think it means that a few of Watto’s unhappy customers target me, then yes,” Anakin murmured so very quietly. “Watto doesn’t even care if they leave bruises. He just stops them before they break bones.”

Harry’s eyes widened even further and he shuffled closer to Anakin. The two boys fell asleep like that, huddling close together.

In the morning, Anakin woke up first, nudging Harry awake. The other boy had had nightmares during the night and as a result, Anakin had moved closer toward him in the hopes that it would help. And it did as Harry calmed down from one nightmare that he had admitted had been about a dark lord.

“Do you work for Watto all day?” Harry asked as they ate breakfast at the table. Shmi was eating less than the two of them were, watching the two of them as they talked. “Or do you have… weekends off?”

“No. We don’t have any day off,” Shmi replied with a sigh. “The hutt lords of Tatooine do not regulate slavery.”

Anakin watched as Harry nodded wearily then elbowed him. “We’ll meet up with my friends afterward. They’ll enjoy meeting you!”

“You sure?”

Shmi grinned at Anakin’s dismay at Harry’s solemn attitude. “Ani, he’s lost.”

“Right but that doesn’t mean he can’t meet my friends,” Anakin retorted.

Harry slowly started to grin, relaxing underneath Anakin’s cheery outlook. “Sounds good to me.”

Throughout the morning and afternoon, Harry discreetly helped Anakin with his work. He willed himself invisible to everyone but Anakin and helped wherever he could, though he didn’t know much about mechanics and… droids. Anakin seemed to be brilliant at fixing droids as Harry watched. The other boy just appeared to be able to suss out what was wrong with a droid or a robot at first glance.

After the first few times that Watto appeared, Harry had understood what Anakin had to deal with each day. It was like Watto treated Anakin as property, as a robot, to order around as he pleased. They took quick lunch break around noon, eating some leftovers from breakfast and then Anakin went back to work. Anakin’s work was apparently even worse today, as fallout from crashing the pod yesterday.

“But it wasn’t your fault!” Harry exclaimed, feeling his magic sparking around him at his anger at the situation. He was in an unfamiliar world, in an unfamiliar galaxy and he wasn’t quite sure what or why things happened here. For Merlin’s sake, they called bathrooms ‘refreshers’. “Right?”

“Yeah. The power cells were faulty,” Anakin argued, coming out from under the vehicle he was fixing and peering up at Harry.

“That’s not your fault then,” Harry retorted. “Why can’t you do something? Run away?”

Anakin sighed and went back under the vehicle, muttering something under his breath that was too quiet for him to hear.

“Anakin… What?”

“They put trackers in our bodies,” Anakin whispered, closing his eyes briefly. “If we try to run, they hit a button and we go boom.”

Harry’s eyes widened, feeling the blood leave his face.

Harry stayed for a month and a half, trying to figure out how he had gotten to Tatooine but try as he might, he found no indication. Not a clue as to how or why he was here. It was getting closer and closer to his 12th birthday, only a few days away now. Of course Shmi stayed on the lookout for his aunt and uncle but Harry didn’t really expect anything. He was in a different galaxy! One that had never heard of Earth or Europe or America.

He learned all manner of things from Anakin, like how to understand binary, the language that droids like astromechs used. Or how to tell who was a bounty hunter that would take a kid that looked lost and bring him to slavers. Anakin taught him how to survive in this new world and for that, Harry was grateful. Even though Anakin was only 7, he was older than his years and had gotten no real childhood, like Harry hadn’t. They had easily taken to each other and had not even bothered to sleep in separate beds. If it wasn’t Harry with a nightmare, it was Anakin.

“Would you mind lifting this a bit?” Anakin asked, once again under a smaller vehicle. “You never said what you wanted to be when you grow up, Harry.”

Harry looked around the shop, sensing that Watto was not around, then waving his hand in the direction of the speeder. The vehicle lifted up into the air for just the right amount of height that Anakin wanted. He had gotten good at wandless magic over the past month and a half as time went on, choosing to learn how to do it rather than get spotted by someone in using his wand.

“Thanks,” Anakin whispered then returned to getting the speeder fixed.

Harry dipped his head in a nod then belatedly realized Anakin wouldn’t be able to see him, replied verbally then pondered Anakin’s question.

“I don’t know,” Harry finally spoke. “I don’t really know what kinds of careers are available to me. I just… I’m Harry. I just started school at Hogwarts.”

“And I’m just Anakin.”

Harry grinned.

On the night before his birthday, Harry could feel his magic tingling with something. Something warm but unfamiliar, like a guiding power that he was unaware of. It was just like it felt when he had gotten transported here, to Tatooine. He stopped in the doorway of what had become his and Anakin’s room and took a deep breath. On one hand, he wasn’t ready to go back. Anakin had become his best friend and Shmi had taken him in without a second thought.

“Harry?”

“I think… I’m going home tonight,” Harry whispered as Anakin shuffled into the bedroom.

“Going home?” Anakin repeated wearily, rubbing his chest briefly before slipping into bed. Watto had proved to be unhappy about the smallest detail today, something about not being pleasant to customers or potential customers. “What do you mean?”

“I’m feeling the same kind of magic that I felt when I came here,” Harry spoke, walking over to stand before the bed. He reached over to the small bedside table and grabbed the container that was on it, handing it over to Anakin.

Anakin grinned, the smile not really making it to his eyes, and opened it. “What does it feel like? The magic?”

“It feels… not unfamiliar,” Harry whispered, as he climbed into bed alongside Anakin. “Feels like home a little, cold and foggy. Reminds me of Hogwarts and Hedwig. Of Ron and Hermione.”

“I wish I could meet Hedwig,” Anakin replied. “She sounds like a good friend even though she’s an owl.”

“She is,” Harry offered, yawning. “You’re my best friend here though.”

“Do you think you’ll come back?” Anakin questioned quietly, yawning in return. “I’ll miss you. My mom will miss you too.”

“I don’t know,” Harry answered. “I don’t know how or why I came here. I hardly even know if I was suppose to be doing something here or…”

“You’ll stay safe?” Anakin said, as they shuffled closer together as usual. Being close usually helped with both their nightmares and Harry was loathe to not have that when he got home. Home was living with the Dursleys until he went to Hogwarts and that wasn’t… Being here on Tatooine with Anakin and Shmi was a lot more pleasant, even with having to survive in a harsh atmosphere. It beat starving on occasion or having to run from his cousin.

“Yes, I will. You too?”

Anakin woke to an empty bed the next morning and wiped his tears by the time that his mom came to wake him up for work.

Chapter Text

Harry was gardening in the yard next time it happened, dried sweat stuck to his back from the previously hot sun. It definitely wasn't as bad as Tatooine but at least... He sighed, thinking about what Anakin would be doing now. His own Aunt Petunia had told him to stay outside and garden until the sun went down and they called him inside, something about guests for dinner. But it was now a little past his bedtime, stars coming out to shine a light on his work. Luckily, he wouldn't be caught unawares by a certain house elf this summer.

Though, he had talked with Dobby about fixing up a way to keep his trunk on him at all times, in case he went back to Tatooine. He didn't want to be unprepared and he... He did notice Shmi eating less food when he had stayed with them. The slaves didn't get very much food each night and he guessed that she had taken less food, giving him and Anakin more. So he had his trunk magically shrunken and tied to his waist with magical rope that would never come off without a word from him.

His trunk now held a years' worth of food, preserved by magic, a muggle medical kit and a magical one, provided by Dobby. It also had a few bags of money in it and he had learned a spell from Dobby that would convert it to republic credits, if he so wanted to buy things on Anakin's home planet and not rely on Shmi or Anakin.

When he had gotten back last year, the Dursley's hadn't even cared about where he had gone or been. Dumbledore had paid him a visit, just to check on him and see if he was okay. Harry had been reluctant to say where he had been; Tatooine and Anakin were his secret. Dumbledore had looked at him as if he thought Harry had been kidnapped and then his memory had been wiped afterward. Harry hadn't budged an inch when he refused to tell Dumbledore what he 'may or may not have remembered'.

Of course, he didn't know whether or not he would ever go back. But the magic or whatever that had taken him there hadn't... seemed like a one time deal. He hadn't gone back since his 12^th birthday. And he felt like he had been through so much since then.

A yell from his uncle interrupted his thoughts.

"Freak, get back to work!"

Harry sighed and pulled another weed, ignoring the snake that slithered past him. Ever since he had spoken to the greater krayt dragon back on Tatooine, he had realized that no matter what, parseltoungue was not evil or dark. It was just another language, despite what the whole of the school had thought of him during his second year. He had been able to stop the krayt dragon from rampaging over them and had been able to thank it afterwards. That was not dark or evil.

"Oh cousin!"

He shuddered at Dudley's words and just as he heard the front door open, the foreign magic once again wrapped around him and transported him away.

Anakin startled awake as he felt the bed dip. He sat up and glanced over to the boy that had just appeared alongside him and grinned. Harry looked back at him and grinned too, as Anakin pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you," Anakin whispered.

"I missed you too," Harry murmured. "This happened just in time too."

"Have you eaten?" Anakin asked, looking over at the door to the room. "I could get my mom to make you something."

"I've eaten," Harry answered, shuffling off the bed and reaching down to where his trunk was tied onto him. "I... just need to change into pajamas."

"You look like you were outside for a while," Anakin said.

"I was gardening," Harry spoke grudgingly, as he changed clothes. He whispered a cleaning charm on his clothes and on himself, having seen the charm in a book. Harry felt a whoosh of cold air and then the sweat and dirt came off all at once. "All day."

Anakin's eyes widened then he grinned wider. "You've learned other things, haven't you?"

"Yep. I'll tell you about them in the morning."

In the morning, Harry woke up beside Anakin again. It was like he had never left, never went back to a world that changed their minds about him on what seemed like a monthly basis. Anakin and Shmi had never cared about his speaking to snakes or that krayt dragon. And in the year he had been gone, he had been accused of being the heir to Slytherin and of paralyzing the students.

They both sleepily woke up and then Anakin shot up and out of bed, eyes wide with fear.

"Anakin?"

"We... There are runaways in the back of our hovel," Anakin whispered, jumping out of bed and urging Harry to get up too.

Harry's eyes widened, his heart stopping at the thought. Those people must be scared and hurting, maybe not necessarily physically but emotionally. "Runaway slaves?"

Anakin nodded. "They came around midnight last night. Mom's working on finding them a way off the planet."

"Do any of them need bruise paste?" Harry asked as they hurried out of the bedroom after finishing in the bath- refresher. They ran into Shmi, whose eyes widened at his appearance. She was carrying bandages and a bucket of water that had steam coming out of it. Harry narrowed his eyes at the things. He had asked Poppy to start training him how to heal the second week of his second year and she hadn't said no, just looked at him sadly and then told him to go fetch some potion vials for her.

"Harry?"

"He came back, mom!" Anakin exclaimed, rocking back on the heels of his feet. "It wasn't a one time thing!"

Shmi smiled wearily and looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Are you lost again?"

"I don't think I was lost the first time," Harry answered, running a hand through his medium long hair. It reached down below his ears, almost all the way down to his shoulder now. "I don't know what's really happening but the thing that brought me here was the same thing as last time."

Shmi sighed but nodded. "Okay. I need to go tend to our guests, Ani. You'll get to Watto's shop on time?"

"Yes, mom. Let me go say goodbye to them first."

A knock on the door of the hovel stopped both Skywalkers where they stood. Shmi's eyes widened, a little fear showing in her eyes. Harry could hear gasps coming from the back of the small home and he watched as Anakin's eyes narrowed.

"Open up! We're looking for runaways!"

It was yelled in a gruff, not so very human voice. It sounded like a Rodian or a...

"Trandoshan?" Harry whispered heatedly, his stomach roiling. He knew what Trandoshans looked like and they were creepy, bounty hunters and slave hunters. They hunted by scent more than sight but...

"They're my friends, mom! We can't let them be found!" Anakin murmured a little loudly. He was fidgeting, looking between the door and the small room that could be called a living room frequently.

"Ani! We don't have anyway to hide-"

"Shmi, I know of a way," Harry whispered as yet another shout came from behind the door. This time it was in another language, probably the native langauge of the Trandoshans. Though now that he thought about it, the native langauge of the trandoshans sounded more than a little close to his parseltoungue. "Go open the door slowly. Anakin, show me where the runaways are."

Shmi's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"You're just a kid though. We can't have you butting in for us," Shmi said quietly. "I only took them in because I was sure that Anakin wouldn't be here during the day while I helped them."

"Mom! I could have helped," Anakin muttered.

"I'm sure," Harry offered, gesturing to Anakin to lead on.

"What are you planning?" Anakin murmured, leading him back to where the pseudo living room was. Two women, one twi'lek and one human, with one young girl stood crouched in one corner.

"I brought my cloak with me," Harry answered, nodding to the women. They looked to be in their early 30's but both women's eyes were haunted, weary.

"Cloak? Ohhh," Anakin whispered, his lips turning up into a hesitant grin. "Got it!"

Harry reached into his pack and drew out his cloak, which looked a lot bigger than usual. He smiled at it, knowing instinctually that it would cover the three former slaves and their scent.

"What are you doing?" The Twi'lek asked softly, her hand on a knife, which was bloody. Harry could see out of the corner of his eyes a bloody patch of skin on the twi'lek woman's left arm, near her elbow. Her skin was a light red, darker than pink but not much darker. Harry knew as much that Twi'leks, especially women, were more prized as slaves when people wanted slaves. Their exotic beauty often lured slave hunters their way.

"Put this over yourselves," Harry explained. "Cover everything. It should keep you guys out of sight and scent. Hurry!"

"What is a cloak going to do?" The human woman questioned, narrowing her eyes and keeping a hold of the human child between them. The girl was looking at them fearfully, eyes wide and skin pale.

"You can trust him," Anakin said quietly, as they heard the door slide open. "Quickly!"

The Twi'lek hurriedly took the cloak from Harry's hands and draped it over the three of them, covering every part of each person. In a few seconds, neither Anakin nor Harry could see anyone. Harry took a deep breath and willed himself invisible, trusting in his magic to hide both his body and his scent. He had used it for at least a few seconds when he had fought the basilisk. That fight hadn't ended in the basilisk dying, like everyone thought. He had been able to see that the basilisk was being controlled by Tom and had spelled a curtain of magic around the creature's mind, protecting it and shielding it.

Anakin nodded as Harry disappeared from view too then ran back to go help his mom. Shmi was standing away from the door as four Trandoshan hunters stalked into their hovel, sniffing the air. One of them stepped close to his mom and he glared up at it. The Trandoshan smirked at him, showing a lot more teeth than would be considered polite. Well, polite for humans. Trandoshans always enjoyed scaring their prey.

"Little human, you have no need to fear us," the trandoshan in the lead hissed out, slurring quite a few of the words. "We are not here for you."

"Yeah? Then stay from my mom!" Anakin yelled.

"Ani!" Shmi murmured.

"He was going to..." Anakin trailed off as he felt an invisible Harry slip his hand into his open palm and squeeze. "Okay."

The Trandoshans looked at them, almost as one, then spread out and searched the hovel. They bickered amongst themselves as Anakin, Harry and Shmi watched.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to your mother," Harry whispered, still invisible.

Anakin nodded wearily and tried to lean subtly into the other boy.

In the end, the Trandoshans found nothing, to their bafflement. They had apparently received intel from somewhere, perhaps other slaves, that the runaways were seen walking into Shmi and Anakin's hovel. But the only two people that they saw were Shmi and Anakin, property of Watto.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Harry asked, watching as Shmi helped the two runaways and their child to patch up the spots where their transmitter was. The cloak had done its work, hiding the small family in both scent and sight.

"Yeah. I... Mom, I can help get them to the port," Anakin argued. "No one would pay attention to me."

"Ani..."

"I'll go with him," Harry added. "Besides, I can use magic here and not get in trouble. Everyone will think I'm a Jedi or at least whatever they call their apprentices."

"You probably don't want to draw attention to yourself, Harry," Shmi remarked quietly. "We can't ask that of you."

"I'm volunteering," Harry offered.

"You get in trouble when you use magic sometimes?" Anakin questioned.

"I'm not suppose to use it during the summer and within sight of non-magical people," Harry explained. "We're suppose to keep our presence secret. I got in trouble getting to school last year."

"What happened?"

"It's..." Harry could feel his cheeks redden in brief embarrassment then sighed, partly in fond remembrance and part bemusement. "It's a long story but my friend, Ron, and I had to drive a car to school. The car... was kind of a flying car? Like a ship from here but it looked like a car that's from my world. So a few people saw it in the air that morning."

Anakin's eyes widened then he laughed quietly. "You guys drove a flying car to school?"

Harry glared at Anakin, trying not to grin but mostly failing miserably. "Yeah, we did. It was fun for the most part until we hit the Whomping Willow and got caught by Filch."

"I bet that was fun," Anakin said.

"Yeah, we had detention for a week."

Shmi looked between the two of them with a fond smile and relented. "Very well. There's a ship bound for take off later tonight. Harry, are you sure?"

"I can cloak us if we get seen," Harry offered, glancing at Anakin.

"Yeah. Which port is it, mom?" Anakin asked. "Is it the one to the north of the pod racing?"

"Yes, it is," Shmi explained. "The ship is due to take off at 9pm so you five should leave at 8:30, okay?"

"Anakin?"

"What?" Anakin turned to look at Harry, as the other boy walked next to him. The night air was luckily calm enough for them to not need goggles as they lead the runaway slaves to the port. The stars shone even brighter tonight and Anakin could tell that Harry was occasionally looking up at the sky.

"Before I left the first time, I asked you about the... power around you," Harry whispered, as they dodged a speeder. The runaway slaves were right behind them, cloaked with magic. Harry was only using a small portion of his magic to cloak them and the rest of it was scanning the minds around them.

"Power?" Anakin murmured, eyes widening. "I remember. But what... what were you talking about?"

"The first time I saw you I was nearly blown away by the power that you had," Harry offered quietly. He could see the pod racing arena to their right and the space port they were headed to was about a mile away to the north. He glanced up at the sky again, looking at the various constellations that were different than Earth's. "Have you had any... It's not like my power."

Anakin raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't... I do kind of feel... sometimes that something is urging me in one direction. There's also this kind of... I don't know."

"What?"

"Pressure?" Anakin tried, wrinkling his nose and shrugging. "I don't know if that's the right word for it."

Harry nodded, more than a little bewildered by how Anakin was describing it. He wondered...

"I've never told mom about it," Anakin whispered, turning to check on the two women behind them then realized they weren't visible to anyone. "They're still behind us, right?

Harry was about to say yes when Anakin nodded to himself.

"They are still behind us but I can't see them. They're cloaked, right?"

Harry's eyes widened, realizing that Anakin could sense the two women and one child behind them even though he had cloaked them. "Yeah, they're invisible to everyone."

Anakin woke up with his heart beating so much that he thought it would race out of his chest. He could feel sweat dripping down his back as he sat up in bed, watching as Harry blinked his eyes open at the movement. They had decided to share the bed again this time, choosing not to give Shmi extra work on top of what she did during the day for Watto. Anakin and Harry had gotten back just a few hours ago from helping the runaway slaves off the planet and had fallen asleep not to long afterward.

"Anakin? Nightmare?"

"No... I don't consider dogs nightmares unless they're predators," Anakin replied quietly, eyes wide. "Have you seen a giant black dog?"

Harry peered up at him, wiping his eyes before shaking his head. "No? Why?"

"There was one in my dream just now," Anakin said, frowning. "It looked half dead though. I don't... Sometimes there are stray animals running through the slave quarters but they usually don't end up living for too long."

"It also was running through a castle," Anakin added, lying back down as soon as he got his breathing calmed. "I don't know of any castles like the one in my dream though. Maybe... You told me Hogwarts was a castle."

"What did the castle look like in your dream?" Harry questioned, turning over to look at him.

"It had... Some of the stairs were moving on their own."

"Definitely Hogwarts then. Huh."

Throughout the next month, Harry helped out with the chores around the small hovel and helped Anakin with things at Watto's shop. He was more comfortable in Mos Eisley this time around, maybe because he knew the town better. Knew the ins and outs of a town that attracted a lot of attention, whether it was bounty hunters or other people who had morally grey occupations.

He described the past school year to Anakin over the month, with Anakin getting outraged on his behalf when he talked of everyone accusing him of having paralyzed the other students.

"You weren't paralyzing your friends! You were trying to find out what was happening!"

Harry nodded, holding onto the broken droid that Anakin was working on. "Yeah. It didn't help that everyone saw me speak in parseltoungue at the first meeting of the dueling club. Everyone gave me the stink eye after that."

Anakin rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath about something, Harry couldn't really hear him. "What happened when you went down into the chamber? You never told me."

Harry looked into Anakin's blue eyes and sighed, his grin disappearing. "I found out that the journal was created by the teenage Voldemort."

Anakin's eyes widened and he gasped. "That's possible?"

"Yeah, it was some kind of magic," Harry explained. "Probably dark magic too. But I defeated the journal by the end of that night. I... You're going to enjoy this bit."

Anakin grinned, twisting some metal part around in the brain of the droid while he watched Harry.

"I talked the basilisk, the giant snake that was paralyzing everyone, into stabbing a fang into the journal," Harry offered.

Anakin grinned wider. "You used your parsel whatever on the giant snake like when you used it to talk to the krayt dragon."

"Yep. Now no one knows that the basilisk is still there. Well, Dumbledore knows but I talked him into leaving it there," Harry explained, smiling right along with Anakin. "Maybe it will protect the school one day. Or at least, that's what it told me that it would do."

Harry felt the now familiar magic swirl around him the last week of July, having spent his birthday with Anakin and Shmi. It had been the first birthday that he could remember having celebrated truly. Shmi had made a dessert like pastry with the food that Harry had brought with him and they had celebrated Harry’s 13^th birthday. It had felt like home to him, with Anakin grinning widely and Shmi looking at him with a look akin to the expression that she gave Anakin sometimes. Something like a mother to a son.

“You’re going back, aren’t you?” Anakin asked, tinkering with a pod that Watto had asked him to repair. He looked up at Harry with dull eyes, already teary despite the fact that Harry hadn’t left yet.

“Yeah. I’m… I wish I could stay,” Harry whispered, as Anakin got up, looked around for Watto then tugged Harry into a hug. They both melted into each other and Harry wasn’t sure who was crying and trembling a little, maybe it was both of them.

“I’ll miss you,” Anakin murmured.

“I’ll miss you too.”

Harry appeared back on planet Earth the next day, sighing at the Dursley’s lack of caring. He glanced over at them and then walked up the stairs to where they had given him Dursley’s second bedroom.

Harry stopped at the street outside of the Dursley’s, lugging his suitcase behind him. It had been a few weeks since he had come back from Tatooine and he was already soo done with his aunt and uncle. It all blew up when Marge had come with her bulldog and saying those things about his mother. He walked over to sit on the curb, looking up at the stars that no longer seemed familiar to him.

The night air was a little chilly and he was a little tempted to cast a warming charm but then he realized that he was back on Earth. Back when people would care that he did underage magic. And there was the whole blowing up his aunt thing too. Harry snorted, knowing that Anakin would enjoy hearing about it.

A rustling in the grass in the park behind him made him turn, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He reached for his wand and then smiled when a big, black dog came out of the bushes.

The dog appeared to study him, panting and looking like it was smiling. Harry stared at it then did a double take when Anakin’s past dreams came to him.

“Padfoot?”

The dog stopped panting, its grey eyes widening then it yipped in excitement and barreled towards him. Harry grinned and rubbed the dog’s ears.

Chapter Text

Harry was spending a few minutes outside of his new home when the familiar magic, or power, hit him again. It transported him from the train stop all the way to Tatooine, to Mos Eisley and back to Anakin. Over the past year, his third year at Hogwarts, he and his friends had actually gotten Sirius a trial. Hermione had been livid that his godfather had not gotten one initially but now… Harry had a home with someone who loved him and actually cared about his well being. It was a… new thing for him.

It had been his first night there but still… He missed Anakin and the whimper that he heard when he stopped traveling made him wince. “Anakin?”

He could just barely see through the sandstorm that was blustering through the town but he thought he could see a group of men. His vision was made worse by the fact that the moon wasn’t as bright tonight and nor were the stars. A group of men that were surrounding his friend here and his magic instantly flared around him. He quickly pulled out his pair of quidditch goggles from his trunk and strapped them on, not wanting sand to get into his eyes and waded into the fight. Or what might have been considered a fight at one point.

“Get off of him!” Harry yelled.

Another whimper was carried by the wind to him and he was about to cast a blasting charm, consequences be damned, when a powerful blast sent him to his knees. Power exploded through the small alley and sent the men surrounding Anakin a few feet into the street. He squinted through the sand, summoning a witch light, and very cautiously stood up, swaying against the wind.

Anakin groaned and fell down against the sand, eyes drooping shut in exhaustion.

“Anakin...”

Harry gently curled an arm around his friend, lifted him up, and tried to get acclimated. The sandstorm made it harder to see where they were but Harry did manage to locate them, heading off in the direction of Anakin and Shmi’s home.

Harry stopped in front of the hovel that had become his home away from home over the past few years, peering down at Anakin. The other boy was still asleep, tired out from the possibly first use of his power. He was about to levitate a rock to knock on the door when it opened, revealing Shmi Skywalker.

Shmi’s eyes widened so much that he thought they would fall out of her head. “Harry? Anakin! What happened?!”

Shmi stepped aside and Harry walked into the hovel, hearing Shmi close the door behind them. “I don’t know what happened. I only just got here an hour ago.”

“Come on,” Shmi said, gesturing to where their lone couch was. “Did you find him like this?”

“I… Has Watto been particularly upset?”

Shmi studied him then sighed, nodding a little. “Yes. You’re saying Ani was attacked?”

“Yes,” Harry answered, lowering Anakin down to the couch and looking him over. He didn’t look badly injured but just to be safe, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a diagnostic charm. “He… Has Anakin told you about what I told him last year? About his power?”

Shmi slowly shook her head. “Power? Is he okay?”

“Just exhausted plus a broken rib,” Harry said, wrinkling his nose at the thought of Watto. The Toydarian was… definitely not someone on his friends and allies list. He pulled out his wand and cast the charm to set the bone, hearing the tell tale crack of the bone resetting and mending. Poppy Pomfrey had taught him a lot over the past year and was set to continue next year. “He… was on the ground when I first saw him and then he… Anakin, I think, did the equivalent of a blasting charm from me. He pushed outward with the power and pushed the men all the way onto the main street.”

Shmi stared at him then peered at Anakin, running a gentle hand through his hair. “He’s been worried about something for the past few months. He told me that you had said something but he didn’t say what. I think he thought that you had been joking. That’s why he’s tired and sleeping, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, he used too much when he’s not used to this,” Harry explained then shook his head, yawning. “At least, I think so. I’m not an expert on this kind of… power. He’ll be fine though.”

Shmi nodded then stood up and tugged Harry into a hug. Harry melted into it, happy to be back.

“Harry!”

Anakin woke up the next morning and tried to shuffle even closer to his friend, to which Harry grumbled about it being early but did the same. Anakin laughed at him, tightening his arms around him. “When did you come back?”

“Last night,” Harry spoke, after they pulled apart. “I picked you up and carried you back after you passed out.”

“Oh, right. I… did that, didn’t I?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, you kind of did. What… Was that the first time?”

“Yep.”

“You need training,” Harry muttered then his eyes lit up in remembrance. “Anakin, remember the dreams you had last summer?”

“Yeah? They were stupid, weren’t they?”

“No...” Harry replied, flicking Anakin on the shoulder for that. Anakin grumbled, picking up the only pillow and wacking Harry on the side of his body. Harry laughed and conjured another pillow to fight back. After a few minutes of pillow fighting, to which Anakin won by finally sitting on top of Harry and holding his pillow down. Harry grinned mischievously and flicked a finger. Anakin yelped as he rose up into the air and then was flipped so that Harry sat on top of him.

“The dog? That was actually my godfather.”

Anakin’s eyes widened and then he grinned. “Tell me everything.”

“Bossy for a nine year old.”

Anakin stuck out his tongue at him and bucked up, flipping Harry off. “You’re only four years older. It’s not a big deal.”

“Boy! Get in here and watch the shop!”

Anakin peered up at where Harry was and they exchanged glances before shrugging. Anakin stopped what he was doing and raced across the yard and Harry followed, weary for some reason. He had the gut feeling that everything was about to change and he didn’t know whether that was for the best. He did feel the same kind of power that Anakin had in the shop but that power was trained.

Right before Harry entered the shop, he saw Watto come out into the yard. As always, when Harry was on Tatooine, he made sure he was invisible to everyone but Anakin and Shmi. Well, except for when he bought food for them at the markets. Watto passed him by and then there was a strange man heading out after the Toydarian. The man had on a light brown cloak, hiding what was underneath, and light brown, medium length hair. He was also the source of the power that Harry could feel.

Harry watched as the man followed Watto but stopped in front of him. Harry’s eyes widened as the man peered down at him, or not exactly at him but the area where he was. The guy narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to understand what he seeing or… sensing, then walked past him to follow Watto.

After getting off from work, Harry and Anakin slowly walked home. Harry occasionally glanced at Anakin, wondering if he had felt the power that the guy emanated. "Anakin?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you... sense anything from that guy?"

"Sense? What do you mean?" Anakin raised an eyebrow, looking up at the sky and further into town. "There's another sandstorm coming tonight. It's going to be the third night in a row."

"That's normal for this time, right?" Harry questioned, as they avoided the more dubious bars in Mos Eisley. They passed someone leading a bantha and walked around it when it stopped to poop in front of them. They passed someone who looked like a bounty hunter, all decked out in serious armor and weapons. "Last year we had four on five nights."

"Yeah, it's normal."

"Sense, like feel?"

"I..." Anakin trailed off. Harry watched him as he closed his eyes briefly then reopened them. "Yeah, I did. He felt... trustworthy."

"Hmm. You could sense that? What do I feel like to you?"

"Best friend. You feel..." Anakin stopped as they both heard a strangled yelp. They turned around and ran through the crowds of people, stopping when they saw Sebulba kick an alien down onto the sandy ground. Anakin raced ahead to throw himself in between the two, pushing Sebulba off.

Harry followed, a spell in his mind if this turned ugly. He knew of Sebulba, knew that the Dug had sabotaged one of Watto’s pods in the past, when Anakin had been forced to fly for Watto. The man, young woman and the astromech arrived in a few seconds, almost like someone had been able to sense what was going to happen.

As Anakin got Sebulba to back off, Harry glared at the retreating Dug, casting a barely noticeable hex his way. The hex was something simple, something Sirius had described using in his school years. Sebulba hissed out something in his language and fled.

“Your friend here got into it with a Dug,” Anakin was saying, as Harry turned around to look at the others. “An especially angry Dug. Harry, did you...”

Harry nodded and Anakin grinned.

“Thanks, my young friends,” the man remarked, peering down at Anakin like the other boy was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. They both watched as he looked at the alien with two big ear flaps. “You should not have done that.”

“What are you guys doing here anyway?” Anakin asked, studying the older man just as much as he was. “Do you have a place to stay for the night? There’s a sandstorm coming in and you don’t want to be outside when that happens.”

“Mom, we’re home!”

“Anakin!”

Harry shrugged as he stepped through the door of the hovel, following Anakin into their home. Qui-Gon Jinn, Padme Amidala, Jar-Jar Binks and R2-D2 followed with the door sliding shut behind them with not a moment too soon. The sand storm was getting really bad outside and if they had spent any more time out, they wouldn’t have been able to see anything else.

Shmi stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes widening as she looked between him and Anakin. “More strays, Ani?”

Anakin groaned. “Mom!”

“Anakin, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. I tend to do it too,” Harry whispered, elbowing his friend.

“Bring home strays?” Anakin retorted.

“I brought home a black dog that turned out to be my godfather,” Harry offered. “And then there was that house elf that basically adopted me after saving my life.”

Anakin snorted.

“I hope we’re not intruding too much,” Qui-Gon was saying to Shmi. “Your sons-”

“Harry’s… my adopted child,” Shmi interrupted, winking down at him.

Harry grinned then turned to look at Anakin. “I forgot to ask, how’s the droid going?”

“Oh! I’m almost done with him,” Anakin exclaimed, his blue eyes lighting up.

“You’re a Jedi, aren’t you?” Anakin asked, staring at Qui-Gon in awe.

“What makes you say that?”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

Qui-Gon looked between the two of them, where they were sitting beside each other at the table for dinner.

“I saw your laser sword,” Anakin said. “Only Jedi have those.”

“I could have killed a Jedi and taken his,” Qui-Gon remarked.

“That’s impossible! Jedi can’t be killed.”

“Oh?”

Anakin nodded.

“I finally know what a Jedi looks like,” Harry muttered.

Anakin snorted, letting out a quiet laugh.

“Mom, you always say the main problem in this world is that people don’t help each other,” Anakin said.

“Ani...” Shmi trailed off with a sigh.

“We’ll find some other way,” Padme commented. “There has to be another way.”

Anakin and Harry exchanged looks before both looking at Shmi.

“Are you sure, Anakin?” Harry whispered, leaning in closer to the other boy. “I believe in you but still...”

Anakin grinned and nodded. “I think I can do it this time.”

“...There is no other way,” Shmi finally spoke, looking at the two of them and then the people around their table. “Anakin was meant to help you.”

Harry stopped just as soon as they entered the arena for the podrace. “Wow.”

“I know. It’s so cool!” Anakin exclaimed, as they dismounted from the eopie they were riding. They had two animals that were pulling the pod from their home to the arena, just like the dragon from a few years ago, but much smaller and less predatory. “Are quidditch arenas this big?”

“Uh, definitely not,” Harry replied, still taking in the massive amount of people and space. He spotted Sebulba and winced. He hadn’t seen Anakin race a pod before but he gathered that it was plenty dangerous, like quidditch in a storm. “They’re much, much smaller but with quidditch, you play in the air. So it’s not a big deal.”

“Be careful,” Harry whispered, watching as Anakin got into the pod and put on his helmet. “I wish I could go with you but… I would be out of my knowledge area here.”

Anakin nodded, tweaking a few of the buttons and making a few adjustments. “I’ll be careful.”

“I could quietly sabotage some of the other pods,” Harry offered, grinning slightly.

Anakin rolled his eyes, bemused. “It’s gotta be a fair win.”

“You’re right,” Harry muttered, seeing the people with the flags finish their walk out of the arena. Qui-Gon gestured to him to back off, seeing as the contestants were already turning on their engines. “Watch out for Sebulba.”

“I will.”

“Come on, Anakin,” Harry whispered under his breath, watching through the vidscreen. Anakin’s pod had just had a part come loose, causing one of the power lines to loose connection and the pod was running out of control. Sebulba was speeding ahead while Anakin was loosing power and speed, his engines smoking.

Qui-Gon peered down at him. “He will be fine. If he trusts himself and believes in the Force, he’ll be fine.”

Harry looked up at him, raised an eyebrow. “The Force, huh? That’s what it’s called?”

“It’s all around us,” Qui-Gon remarked. “It’s living and breathing energy that surrounds us and binds us together.”

“Anakin has it. That’s what I’ve been sensing from him.”

Qui-Gon’s eyes widened and the older man studied him, almost like he was trying to see into Harry’s soul.

Harry stared at him for a few more seconds then returned to watching the screen. Anakin was still hurrying to fix the problem, reaching out with an arm towards the loose line while still piloting the pod with his other arm. He was in the last round of the race with just him and Sebulba still in the race. Harry watched, trying to make up his mind and then dropped his hand to his wand in his pocket, whispering a spell under his breath. The shining transculent deer lit up into existence and dropped its head towards him, as if asking him if there was a threat.

“Go, Prongs,” Harry whispered, reaching out to stroke the deer’s transparent antlers. He could feel Qui-Gon and Padme staring at him in bewilderment. “Make sure he’s okay.”

He watched as Prongs cantered over the edge of their seats then disappeared only to reappear a few seconds later, running alongside Anakin’s pod.

“What was that?” Qui-Gon finally asked, curiously. His eyes were wide but intent. “I’ve never seen that done with the Force before.”

“That would be because I don’t use the Force,” Harry explained, watching as Anakin finally got the loose line reconnected with the pod. It had kind of looked like Anakin had actually… summoned the line towards him. He could hear the announcers talk about the blue deer, taking their attention off of the race momentarily. Harry flicked his wand in his pocket and cancelled the spell, knowing that it had buoyed Anakin’s spirit enough that it wasn’t needed now. “I’m a wizard.”

After Anakin won the race, they returned home with Anakin still grinning 15 minutes later. They made sure that they got Qui-Gon the parts, with Watto delivering them to a spot outside of town that they had agreed on. Both Anakin and Harry expected that to be the last they saw of the Jedi and his little party but an hour after Qui-Gon left with the supplies, he came back.

Harry was standing by the door, trying to listen to what his magic was telling him. Something was off and he wasn’t sure what it was but it felt… dark. Dark and twisted.

“Anakin, the Jedi’s back!”

Anakin came racing in from the back of the hovel, turning to look at Harry. “Why do you think he’s back? They got the parts they needed.”

“Sometimes people can surprise you,” Harry remarked, remembering the little scene he had overheard while Anakin had been fine tuning the pod. He had seen Qui-Gon and Watto talking as he had gone back to the eopie to pick up the last things they had packed.

“Stop being cryptic, Harry,” Anakin retorted.

Harry laughed as Anakin elbowed him. “I did say you needed training a few nights ago, didn’t I?”

Anakin nodded, frowning at him. “What does that have to do with the Jedi coming back? Besides, what was the deer that came to me when I was in trouble? Was that you?”

“Yeah, that was me. I learned that spell this past year in school. It’s suppose to ward off dark creatures,” Harry explained, watching as Qui-Gon got off the eopie and came up to the door.

“I felt like you were with me,” Anakin murmured, tilting his head in confusion at what he was sensing. There was something around Harry, something unfamiliar to him. “What’s going on?”

“Hmm?”

“You have something around you,” Anakin said, as he opened the door to let Qui-Gon back in.

“Probably my magic,” Harry replied.

Qui-Gon stared at him before sighing, his lips twitching up into a small grin. “I’ll never be bored with the Force. Anakin, here. Money from the pod.”

Anakin’s eyes widened as Qui-Gon handed him a bag full of money. “Yes! Mom! No, I know what your magic feels like. This feels… foreign.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed. “You know what my magic feels like?”

Anakin nodded and raced into the kitchen, with Harry and Qui-Gon following him.

Shmi’s eyes widened as Anakin spilled the bag open onto the counter.

“Wow, Ani, this is great!”

“And he has been freed,” Qui-Gon added.

“What?!” Anakin exclaimed, turning around with wide eyes. “Mom, did you hear that?”

“Yes, I did,” Shmi murmured, her blue eyes wide and filled with muted joy. “Is he to become a Jedi like you?”

“Yes, he is. I will train him myself,” Qui-Gon Jinn explained. “He is strong in the Force.”

“Can Harry come too?” Anakin asked then turned to him. “But you’re going back, aren’t you?”

Harry nodded, not daring to speak. “I didn’t have as much time with you and your mother as I would have hoped.”

Anakin blinked and tugged him into a hug. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Harry whispered. “Maybe next time I see you, you’ll be a Jedi in training, huh?”

Anakin laughed and whooped out in joy, pulling away to go race into his bedroom. A minute later, he came back, eyes narrowed and sad. “What about mom?”

“I asked Watto about your mom but he said no,” Qui-Gon Jinn explained quietly. “I am sorry.”

“There are already a few protective charms in this home, Anakin,” Harry offered. “And my medical kit.”

Anakin nodded. “But mom...”

“Ani, this is your destiny,” Shmi murmured, pulling Anakin into a tight hug. “I know it.”

“Anakin...” Harry trailed off, feeling the magic pull at him.

Anakin let out a sound like a choked off cry and pulled Harry into another hug. “Be careful back home, okay?”

“I will,” Harry whispered back as the magic once again wrapped around him and brought him back to Sirius’ new home.

He stood in the room that he had chosen and just stared out into the hallway, hearing Sirius and Remus call for him.

“Yeah, I’m back. Don’t panic!”

Chapter Text

 Over the next year, Harry participated in the Triwizard Tournament, very reluctantly. He spoke parseltoungue to the dragon in the first task and the animal very hesitantly let him through to the egg. He used a gilliweed in lieu of using another spell, just in case the judges were recording this. He didn’t want to let on that he knew spells and charms and potions that were of a much higher level than fourth year. But he did use spells that he wasn’t suppose to know in the maze, using a controlled fire to burn the hedges away from where he needed to go. He used legilimency to determine that Krum had been imperioed and whispered out a spell in parseltoungue to cancel it.

He enjoyed seeing the look on Voldemort’s face when he cast curses and hexes that he wasn’t suppose to know and wasn’t suppose to be readily casting them. Harry was fairly certain that Voldemort thought he wouldn’t do anymore than defend himself.

The summer after fourth year was fraught with danger, seeing as Voldemort had a body back. He went to live with Sirius again and definitely wasn’t surprised to sense Dumbledore’s friends doing patrols around the house. He had overheard Sirius and Remus talking of Dumbledore’s plans and possibly heard them saying that they had been suspicious of why Dumbledore let Harry stay with the Dursley’s.

Harry paced around the house for a good portion of the early summer, unsure when the magic would take him back to see Anakin. But it never happened and finally, Sirius and Remus had an intervention in late July. Especially since he hadn't really explained where he had been last summer, when he had been gone for a few days.

“Harry, we’re worried. You’re not going to see your friends or even writing letters to them. What’s going on?” Remus asked, as they sat around the table one summer night.

“Yeah, does this have anything to do with when you disappeared last summer?” Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. They were both sitting close to each other and Harry had accidentally walked in on the both of them having sex. He had rolled his eyes in bemusement when they had jumped apart and spluttered excuses. Harry had already known, sensed some of what their relationship was. Though, of course, he had told them to lock the door when they wanted to have sex. No need to be traumatized more than once in walking in on your godfather having sex. “You never told us much of where you were.”

“Can’t I have a secret of my own?” Harry asked, holding a mugful of hot chocolate in his hands. It was more to warm himself than for the taste as he had learned over the years how to make a good hot chocolate. But he sighed, knowing that he had to tell them something, lest they keep on looking at him like they would do anything to keep him safe.

“Does it have anything to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” Sirius questioned. “We do have to keep you safe in that respect. He’ll be after you now more than ever.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Harry replied quietly. “It has nothing to do with Voldemort. I… Have either of you heard of an alternate… galaxy? Or that our Earth is a part of a much bigger system of planets?”

Remus shook his head slowly. “So you don’t get kidnapped each summer then?”

Harry’s eyes widened. “What.”

“Dumbledore thinks you get kidnapped each summer by someone or something,” Sirius offered, a glint of exasperation in his eyes. “And then your memory gets wiped.”

“No. Sithspit, of course I don’t get kidnapped. I think I would have realized that by now.”

Sirius and Remus’ eyes widened at his curse and Harry sighed again.

“That’s Anakin’s curse word,” Harry remarked idly, pulling out his wand and flipping it around in his hands. “Each summer, I go to a whole other galaxy. With aliens, humans, weird creatures and Jedi.”

“Jedi?” Remus repeated.

“They’re like wizards and witches,” Harry explained, running a hand through his hair and brushing a few strands over his scar. Of course, that wasn’t the only scar on his body now. He had picked up a few on Tatooine. “Something… pulls me over there, to visit Anakin, who is four years younger than me. But this year… I haven’t felt anything even remotely akin to it. I don’t know what it means, whether something’s happened to my friend or whether it has stopped pulling me in that direction.”

“Are you sure these aren’t just fake memories, put there by a Death Eater when you were in the graveyard?” Sirius asked, eyes wide and concerned.

“I’m very sure,” Harry retorted, narrowing his eyes. “I think I would know what fake memories feel like. Besides, I wasn’t in one place long enough to get a curse thrown at me in the graveyard. It’s real.”

“Different galaxy though?” Remus questioned. “You mean there’s life on other planets? Does NASA know about this?”

“NASA?” Sirius repeated, bewildered.

Remus grinned slightly and elbowed the other man. “NASA is the American space agency. I… read the American muggle newspapers sometimes.”

Harry grinned. “Yeah, though I don’t think they’re in our galaxy. Maybe a few galaxies over.”

“Are you at least safe there?” Sirius asked.

“I… My friend… Anakin is a slave,” Harry spoke then shook his head, remembering how happy Anakin was to get freed. He wondered if he was getting trained as a Jedi now. “Or was.”

Sirius and Remus narrowed their eyes.

“Slave? You mean slavery still exists wherever you go?” Remus asked, as Kreacher popped in with warm drinks for the two of them.

“Yes. From what a young woman said, I think it’s illegal in some parts of the galaxy but not on the planet that I go to,” Harry replied, taking another sip of his hot chocolate. It was a slightly chilly summer night as far as London went. “Or… I’ve gone three times and I’ve arrived near Anakin. Maybe that’s why…”

“Why what?” Sirius echoed. “You don’t know why you go?”

“No. I do not.”

“Well, as long as you’re being safe,” Remus said then raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been doing magic there, haven’t you?”

Harry nodded, his lips twitching up into a small smile. “Yeah. That’s why… Voldemort was very surprised by the advanced hexes and curses I cast at him. Anakin’s also the one that led me to realize that you were innocent, Sirius.”

“Oh?” Sirius raised an eyebrow, his dark eyes lighting up with interest.

“He dreamed of Padfoot running around Hogwarts,” Harry explained.

“Dreamed?” Remus repeated. “Is he a seer?”

“He’s better than batty old Trelawney,” Sirius said, stretching out an arm to curl around Remus' shoulders.

“The way I understand, Jedi can kind of see the future,” Harry spoke. “Kind of. I don’t really understand it.”

It was three more years of waiting around, of no travel between Earth and seeing his friend. He was 17 years old by time that the power came for him again and the British wizarding world was in tatters. He had grown and fought for his life multiple times since he had last seen Anakin. His hair was longer, reaching down to his shoulders. In fact, he was pondering either getting it cut or pulling it back with a tie.

Sirius and Remus had finally gotten engaged, along with Fleur and Bill. The two couples were suppose to be married within the next six months. Harry had been beyond excited to hear about it and how Sirius had proposed.

Voldemort was just starting to take control, having been delayed by the Order of the Phoenix. More and more muggles were getting slaughtered and Harry was pretty sure that he had seen some articles in the muggle newspapers that mentioned magic. Dumbledore was dead and it was just the Order of the Phoenix resisting Voldemort.

McGongall had become the Headmistress while Flitwick was her Deputy.

He was coming off of a defense against the dark arts lesson, taught by Remus, when the old but familiar power came to collect him. Harry landed on a planet that was not full of sand but was humid and dotted with jungles. It was dark, the moon barely shining through the fog and clouds. Misty rain flowed down, spitting at him. Clearly, this wasn’t Tatooine. It had never rained on that planet.

Harry cast a weather shield and pulled his cloak tighter around him, covering the dragonhide armor that protected his body. He also cast a spell that would allow him to see in the dark, one that Sirius had taught him a few months ago; one that Harry had gotten the sense that Sirius had used it when he and James had still been in school.

Anakin wasn’t immediately visible but Harry could sense him, though the power that he had come to associate with the boy was… dull, hazy. It was like something was suppressing Anakin’s power so Harry pulled out his Firebolt and flew up into the air, casting a disillusionment charm on himself. He flew over the jungle that he had landed in and sped towards the slowly… wilting beacon that was Anakin. He also could vaguely sense someone else, with the same power as Anakin. That power was also suppressed and dull.

Harry slowed down as he flew over an encampment, taking stock of the situation. He could see people, armored and armed, milling around a campfire. Some people were even walking around the edge of the few buildings, like they were on patrol. Harry narrowed his eyes, his senses telling him one thing. Anakin was clearly in danger but how he had gotten into trouble… Actually, it was Anakin. Harry snorted and glanced into the trunk that he always kept on himself, making sure he had medical supplies to tend to any injury. Poppy had taught him everything she knew, from healing serious injuries like impalement to injuries dealt by curses. He was actually in his last year as her apprentice along with getting his masters in defense against the dark arts, something that he figured would come in handy in the fight to come against Voldemort.

He made sure the disillusionment charm was still working and then spiraled down to land, ending up behind one of the buildings. He shrunk his broom and tucked it away in his trunk, taking care to be extra quiet. There were a lot of ships parked throughout the camp, a lot of different kinds which made Harry suspect that between the ships and the armed people, this was either a pirate lair or… something. It was definitely shady and probably illegal as he crept out from behind the building.

There were a few different species of humanoids in the camp as Harry continued to follow the pull. He stopped at what looked like the entrance to the main building, which was big. He idly wondered if the building in front of him had an underground component to it, stepping to the side of what looked like the front door and cautiously knelt down to extend his magic through the ground.

Harry had learned of a way to ‘see’ through doors or walls and now he wanted to see if there was anything below him. His magic slithered through the ground, going through layers of dirt and mud before lighting up in his vision. He could see multiple people walking around a compound that was entirely below ground and just as he was pulling his magic back into himself, the door next to him opened.

“What’s the boss going to do with Jedi? Torture them until they die? They’re not going to give up anything! And they don’t have information we need! Besides, it’s not like they’re going to escape! They’re totally drugged up.”

“He’s breaking them before selling them, of course. The younger one seems like he’s been a slave before. Wouldn’t need a lot of training.”

Harry narrowed his eyes as he watched the two armored men walk out through the door. The ground beneath him shook, the earth reacting to his anger. Leaves around him swirled in the nonexistent wind and the rain increased in speed and size, resulting in fat drops of water. He took a deep breath before people realized that there was something amiss and then crept over towards the door, opening it and stepping through.

Anakin slowly opened his eyes after getting thrown back in their cell, his entire body hurting.

“Anakin?”

He glanced over to where Obi-Wan was, chained to the wall like he had been. Two of their captors came in and pushed him back to the wall, rechaining him to the bolt. His mentor’s green eyes were glazed over with pain, unable to turn it off due to the drugs that had been forced upon them. Obi-Wan had a broken leg, his right leg crooked at an awkward angle. There were bruises, burns and cuts all over Obi-Wan’s body, at least on what was visible. Anakin’s left leg was broken and there were more burns across his arms, more cuts but his pain...

“I’m okay,” Anakin whispered hoarsely as soon as the men left. “What about our friends? The truce?”

“I do not believe these… people have anything to do with our friends,” Obi-Wan spoke, coughing in between words. “Did you see our lightsabers?”

Anakin shook his head slowly, mindful of the burning feeling that the drugs caused. If he stretched out with the Force even more, the drugs would activate, giving him one hell of a migraine. “I think they’re with…”

“Anakin?”

Anakin closed his eyes and slowly started to grin, feeling the familiar magic flowing ever closer towards them. He didn’t even need to reach out with his mind to know that Harry was here. Harry, whom he hadn’t seen in four years. He had begun to think that he would never see his best friend again, that the few days back on Tatooine had been the last. He wondered what Harry would look like and what had gone on during the four years they hadn’t seen each other, whether the other had had any other encounters or fights with Voldemort.

“Help’s on the way, master,” Anakin whispered, reaching to grasp Obi-Wan’s shoulder. He yawned than sat up, glancing through the bars of their cell. They could see nothing through them other then the cave wall opposite them.

“Help?” Obi-Wan questioned, his voice hoarse. He was slumped against the wall and Anakin had thought that he might have gotten it worse then he himself had. “Anakin?”

“An old friend is coming.”

Harry stayed cloaked throughout the building, as soon as he had arrived at the stairs that would take him down. Down to where Anakin was. He idly wondered if Anakin had built his own lightsaber or if that was the way Jedi worked. As he walked down the stairs, carefully avoiding the various armed mercenaries, he wondered what Anakin would look like. Would he be wearing the same kind of clothing that Qui-Gon wore, when they had seen the older Jedi on Tatooine?

Would Anakin remember him? It had been four years and probably, if the other boy had started to train as a Jedi, a lot of stuff would have happened to to him. He would have likely gained other friends… Anakin may have just wanted to forget everything about Tatooine, forget the fact that he had been a slave since birth. Harry flinched and refocused on where he was going, doubling down on the disillusionment charm that hid him. Anakin’s power was leading him towards the middle of the compound, likely where whoever was in charge stayed.

Three mercenaries ran past him, saying something about going on a raid for supplies and Harry curled into the wall. As soon as they were past, Harry slowed and turned right at the next hallway, his hand curling around his holly wand. He was about to talk past a iron clad door when something… touched his mind. He stopped, about ready to bring up his mental shields when he realized that the… power was familiar. He grinned and turned towards the door, looked both ways to make sure there was no one around.

Harry stood in front of the barricaded door then waved his hand, whispering the unlocking charm. A loud chime sounded before the door budged open, moving outward. He heard two yelps and then movement, as two mercenaries turned and stepped through the door, aiming their guns and shooting.

Harry already had a shield up, a glimmering blue light wrapped around him as he ran at the men, with a blasting charm already in the works. Magic flowed outward from him and pushed the two heavily armored men backward a few feet. His power pushed the men all the way backward until they hit the opposite wall with a thunk. He blinked once before moving into what looked like a proper dungeon, bars set up against the far end of the room. The room was actually made up of the earth wall, rock and mud surrounding them.

“Harry?”

Harry turned to look to his right and smiled widely, seeing his best friend. His teenage best friend. Anakin was a lot taller, with a cropped head of dirty blond hair. He also had a small braid hanging down at the front of his head, one that had a small bead at the end of it.

“You look like a Jedi,” Harry finally spoke, pulling out his wand and casting a temporary ward at the doorway. Purple, shimmery light flowed to fit in the doorway, blocking the way. It would alert him if anyone came into investigate and stop them from coming inside.

Anakin grinned, his blue eyes lighting up at the sight of him.

You’re also kind of cute… Well, not just kind of. You’re cute.

Harry startled at the thought, tilting his head in confusion. He knew that he was attracted to boys, having considered bringing Malfoy to the Ball in fourth year. But this was his best friend...

“Harry,” Anakin spoke contentedly, grinning widely. “I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”

“I did too,” Harry replied, coming up to the bars and examining them for a second before waving his hand at them, the spell to unlock them in his mind. The bars thumped together than pulled apart as Harry levitated them away. “Who’s this?”

“He’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, my mentor,” Anakin explained, all but ready to stand up and pull Harry into a hug. He watched as Harry stepped into their cell, the familiar holly wand in his left hand. The other boy had grown a lot over the past four years, like he did. Harry had more muscles and a kind of armor that Anakin had never seen before.

“Is something dulling your power?” Harry questioned, stopping in front of him and kneeling. “Otherwise, I would have thought you would have gotten out of this by now.”

“Yeah, they’re drugging us. My master more than me though. They think I’m ‘trained’,” Anakin whispered as Harry muttered the unlocking charm. The chains binding him to the wall unlocked with a quiet chiming noise and then fell to the ground. Harry instantly pulled Anakin into a hug, which he melted into. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Harry said quietly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Anakin responded, wrinkling his nose at the chains.

“Right. Is he…” Harry trailed off, pulling back and looking him over. “You have a broken leg.”

“I can walk,” Anakin muttered.

Harry laughed quietly then pulled out a vial of something from his trunk, holding it out to Anakin. “Drink this. It’ll purge the drugs out of your system. I might need your help in getting out of here.”

“Might?”

“I don’t know where we are,” Harry retorted playfully. “This isn’t Tatooine, you know.”

Anakin snorted and drank it, not even stopping when he realized that it tasted disgusting. He was just happy to see Harry again. He glanced over to the other teenager and watched him unlock Obi-Wan, catching the older man when he fell.

“Where’s Qui-Gon? Didn’t he say he would train you?” Harry asked, levitating the older man up into the air.

“He… died,” Anakin whispered, remembering the feeling he had gotten when he was nine years old and piloting that fighter into the Trade Federation droid control ship. There had been a moment where he had heard a cry and he thought it had been him or some other pilot that he had heard through comms. Instead, he had realized that it had come through the Force.

Harry stared at him, his eyes widening. “Let’s get out of here first.”

Anakin nodded and leaned into Harry when the other teenager came up to him.

“Did you guys take a ship here?”

“Yeah, it’s back in the main city,” Anakin replied. “Jedi aren’t supposed to own anything.”

Harry nodded, raising an eyebrow at that. “Anything else here?”

“Oh, our lightsabers! Did you see them?”

Anakin’s eyes widened as he realized he had nearly forgotten his weapon. “Obi-Wan would kill me if I forgot them.”

“That another Jedi thing?” Harry asked as they walked past the unconscious guards.

“‘ This weapon is your life ’. That’s what he says,” Anakin muttered, scowling a little.

Harry laughed quietly at Anakin’s imitation of his mentor and glanced at the man that was currently floating alongside them. Anakin grinned, walking so close to Harry that their hands touched, sparks of power jumping between them. They both exchanged startled looks and jumped apart and both could feel their cheeks reddening.

“Hey, wait. Let me go get our lightsabers,” Anakin spoke, stopping in the doorway of the dungeon. He gestured to the door across from them, the door that Harry could sense people behind. People who were getting ready to- “We can’t leave them behind.”

“What about your leg? Anakin!”

Harry watched as Anakin walked or hobbled his way across the hallway and waved his hand at the door.The other teenager didn’t look like he had a broken leg at all; Anakin just looked like his foot was sprained. Harry shook his head and scrambled to keep up with the other boy, his eyes widening when the door in front of them moved like it was being torn open.

“The Force?” Harry finally spoke dazedly.  

Anakin shrugged as he stood by Harry’s side, grinning a little. Harry narrowed his eyes when Anakin swayed a little then slipped his shoulder under Anakin’s arm, noting that the support wasn’t shaken off instantly. “Yep.”

“Alright.”

Anakin laughed and then the first thing they saw in front of them through the door were armed mercenaries. Mercenaries ready to shoot at them, guns drawn and pointed at them. Harry maneuvered the floating Jedi Knight behind them, making sure that Obi-Wan was safe.

“I’ll handle this,” Harry whispered, pointing his wand right at the men opposing them.

“No, I’ll handle it,” Anakin muttered.

“You have a broken leg,” Harry retorted, willing a shield to life. Shimmering blue light flew into life, surrounding the two of them as the mercenaries started to fire. Plasma fire and laser fire sped right at them, halted by the magical shield and was absorbed by it. “Let me.”

The sun met Obi-Wan’s eyes as he woke up a few hours later, jolting to awareness. He was ready to meet his captors when he realized just where he was. He was lying on a bed, a soft one, and he… He looked like he was in a tent, a big one. One that had a kitchen, a refresher, a bedroom and a common room. He could even smell food cooking in the kitchen, food that smelled delicious. He could also see a broom leaning up against the tent wall opposite him, a broom that didn’t look like the usual cleaning device. It was much bigger than usual and looked like it got frequent use. Obi-Wan blinked and rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating the whole tent thing.

“Hello?”

His leg was encased in bandages and his eyes widened when he saw that he was shirtless, his chest also bandaged. He could just feel some slight aches but there was no biting pain, no burning nerves. Okay, so maybe not hallucinating. Maybe they had gotten rescued? But what had woken him up if not the sun? And where was Anakin?

Laughter streamed into the tent, through an opening towards the front of the tent. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow and swung his legs over the bed, testing out his bandaged leg. He could have sworn that was Anakin, but it couldn’t have been. That laugh had been deep and content. Anakin hadn’t sounded like that since… since he had met the young boy. The bond between them suggested that Anakin wasn’t in trouble; in fact, the emotions coming from his Padawan were… enjoyment and amusement. There was a lot of worry in the bond too, something that occasionally Obi-Wan felt from Anakin if they were in danger.

He slid out of bed and nearly felt his legs buckling before drawing on the Force to gather some strength. He delighted in being able to draw on the Force again without accompanying pain which meant that the drugs had gotten purged from his system, unless he had been unconscious for a while. Obi-Wan winced but walked through the strange tent, stepping out into the dawn light of the same planet that the Council had ordered them to stop a civil war on.

“...I nearly caught them having sex a few more times.”

Anakin laughed again and drew Obi-Wan’s attention over the edge of a cliff in front of them. Anakin was sitting next to an older boy at the edge of it, with their legs dangling over the side. Both boys were practically leaning into each other, their shoulders touching. Both boys were lit up in the Force. Obi-Wan was used to Anakin being blinding light in the Force but two of them?

“How did your sixth year go?” Anakin asked, not even turning to look at Obi-Wan as he stopped a few feet behind them.

“Well… things… have definitely gotten uglier,” the other boy remarked idly. “I’m in my last year as Poppy’s apprentice so I’ll have gotten a masters in both healing and defense by my last school year. Voldemort has started again.”

Anakin stiffened and turned to the other boy. “Voldemort? Harry, you told me you had killed the man!”

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, spotting his lightsaber on a log that was curved around a fire pit. He reached out an arm towards it and pulled with the Force, watching as it leaped up and landed in his open palm. What was Anakin doing with someone who had…

“I did! Well, actually, I don’t know what I did when I was one and a half. I know I forced Voldemort out of Quirrel’s body in my first year. There was a thing in my fourth year. I was kidnapped and forced-”

“Kidnapped??! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. That was three years ago. And now he’s started recruiting again. He’s killing more muggles too. I don’t know what will happen.”

Anakin was quiet this time, turning to look at Obi-Wan before turning back to the other boy.

“I wish there was something I could do to protect you,” Anakin finally spoke. “I hate not being with you when you fight battles.”

The black haired boy sighed, inhaling deeply before exhaling. “I know. I wish you were with me too.”

“I know! Next time you can take me with you!”

“I don’t think it works like that, Anakin. The magic only surrounds me.”

Frustration came through the bond and Obi-Wan sighed, going to sit down on one of the logs and watching as whatever was in the pot boiled.

“Besides, what are you guys doing here? You didn’t just come to get kidnapped, right?”

Obi-Wan snorted.

Anakin shrugged. “Occupational hazard.”

“That’s my line, Anakin,” the other boy retorted bemusedly.

Anakin laughed and elbowed Harry. “We actually came here to stop a civil war. The Council told Obi-Wan to go and since I’m his apprentice, I go with him.”

“And that’s your lightsaber?”

“Yep. I built it myself.”

Anakin unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and turned it on, the snap hiss announcing its presence as it hummed to life. It was a brilliant blue saber, one that he had worked on a long time on the planet Ilum.

Harry reached out hesitantly, raising an eyebrow. Anakin nodded and grinned, holding out the saber in his palm. The minute their fingers touched, sparks of power hummed around them, visible blue strands of light jumping between Harry and Anakin.

“What is that?” Harry asked, looking at him and at their hands.

“I don’t know,” Anakin muttered. “It’s warm though, whatever it is.”

“Maybe… Have you heard anything… um, from the Jedi Council or whatever you call it?”

“About this?”

“Yeah… Anything?”

Anakin narrowed his eyes then sighed. “Everyone calls me the Chosen One.”

The only noise in the campsite for the next few minutes was the sound of the fire crackling.

“Chosen One?” Harry repeated, breaking the silence.

Anakin looked up at him, seeing Harry’s eyes widen so much he thought they would fall out of the other boy’s head. “What?”

“I’m the Chosen One on my planet,” Harry explained thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s why-”

“Why you come visit me every so often?” Anakin finished, tilting his head in confusion. “Is there a prophecy about you too?”

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes. There one about you too?”

“Yeah. Something about bringing the balance to the Force. You?”

“ Neither of us can live while the other survives ,” Harry intoned dryly. “That’s the gist of it.”

“That’s it. I’m building you a bodyguard droid and then you can miniaturize it and take it with you,” Anakin muttered.

“Gee, thanks.”

“I was being serious,” Anakin retorted, pushing Harry over enough so that he fell off the cliff. His eyes widened when Harry came back up within a minute or two, seeing the other boy smile at him. Harry floated over and knocked Anakin over, landing on top of him.

“I was too,” Harry offered, letting out a quiet laugh. His green eyes were lit up with delight and Anakin grinned back. “If you want to build me a droid, go for it. I know you enjoy building and tinkering. But it’ll have to be next time. I’m leaving in a few minutes anyway.”

“Deal.”

Anakin waited for Harry to get up, staring up into the other boy’s eyes and seeing something in there. Something very much like affection. Harry smiled softly then dropped a kiss on Anakin’s forehead then disappeared, the power that wasn’t the Force taking him back to his home world.

Chapter Text

“Anakin, what was that?”

“That was my old friend,” Anakin replied, turning to look at the tent that Harry had left behind. “Harry Potter. He’s not from this galaxy.”

Obi-Wan stared at him as Anakin sat up and walked over to sit across from him. “Not from this galaxy?”

“He’s from a planet called Earth,” Anakin explained, grabbing a plate and piling what was left of the food onto it. “Here. Eat.”

Obi-Wan blinked, studying Anakin. The boy opposite him was still smiling, happiness emanating from their master-apprentice bond. It had yet to dim, brightening Anakin’s force presence by a lot. It almost made Anakin hard to look at, that much light, contentment and yet there was worry there. Worry for a friend. Obi-Wan took the offered plate and looked the food over. It looked strange but since Anakin said he had already eaten and hadn’t gotten sick, he figured it was fine.“Where did he go?”

“He went back home,” Anakin said, peering at him with a bemused grin. “How are your injuries? Do you feel anything?”

“No, I don’t… Is this… Harry, a Jedi?”

“No, he’s not. He calls himself a wizard though. He’s the one who got us out of the mercenary camp.”

“A wizard?”

“Yeah.”

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan trailed off, sighing. “You know what the Jedi Council think of attachment.”

Anakin grimaced, pulling a piece of toast from a plate beside him and picking at it. “Harry’s a friend, Obi-Wan. Just a friend. He’s been in my life since I was seven. The Council’s fine with us having friends, right?”

“I…” Obi-wan studied Anakin, seeing his cheeks redden a little. If Anakin thought that he and Harry were just friends then Obi-Wan wouldn’t mind. He would even encourage it but the two boys sitting on the edge of the cliff had looked closer than just friends. “They’re fine with friends, yes.”

“What?” Anakin retorted, putting down the plate and crossing his arms defensively.

“If Harry’s been in your life since you were seven, how come I haven’t met him before?”

Anakin continued to glare at him before snorting. “He’s only been to visit three times before yesterday, making yesterday’s visit the fourth time. Like I said, he’s not from this galaxy. And I haven’t told you because I knew you wouldn’t approve.”

“Anakin! I would approve of you having friends! Besides, what did you mean by wizard?”

“Harry said his power is something like the Force,” Anakin started, turning to look on the horizon as they both heard speeders. Obi-Wan could see the people that they had first met on the planet and waved, seeing the women wave back. “You know, like how we think that the Dathomiri witches use the Force but not? He’s like that but definitely not evil.”

“He said he killed someone.”

“He doesn’t know how that happened, in his defense. But the guy… was the equivalent of our Sith, I guess. Dark and twisted. I hope… He said there’s a war starting where he is and he has no one really to watch his back.”

“Well, let’s hope we can prevent a war here then.”

Anakin nodded and stood up, walking over to the tent. “I don’t want to leave this behind though. It is Harry’s.”

“Unless, you brought a big pack with you, I don’t see us taking that back,” Obi-Wan remarked. “It was bigger on the inside.”

Anakin grinned. “Yeah, that’s Harry’s magic. It can make things bigger on the inside than on the outside. He’s had a few things over the years that did that, like a trunk or a pack.”

“Ooh, this is good food,” Obi-Wan said, taking another bite of the food. “...Harry made this?”

“While you were sleeping, yeah.”

Anakin continued to ponder the tent, looking between the metal pot and skillet. “Maybe…”

He reached out a hand, reaching out with the Force and thinking about his intentions. Obi-Wan gasped and Anakin’s eyes widened, not entirely surprised that the tent did what he asked it to do. The pot and pans on the fire rose and floated back into the tent. The tent rose up into the air then seemed to shrink little by little until it looked like a small ball of cloth.

“Awesome!” Anakin whispered gleefully.

Harry sighed, looking around the forest landscape in front of him. It had been another four years since he had seen Anakin and since then, he had finished Hogwarts and gotten his masters in both healing and defense. He was good at potions but had never been inclined to gain his masters in that department. Granted, he knew quite a bit more in potions that regular wizards and witches did.

“I’m going to bed, Hermione,” Harry murmured, glancing up at the hawk that was sitting up on the closest tree, on the lower most limb. They had all learned how to do the animagus spell a few months ago and Hermione’s form had been a small hawk. It had been his 21st birthday a few days ago and they had gotten a small respite from the war, which had taken a turn for the worse this week. Voldemort had begun to wage war against the muggles.

The hawk gave a quiet cry and dipped her beak to him, indicating that she would take watch for a few hours. Ron would take watch after her, giving Harry some extra time to recuperate from the latest fight.

Harry gave Hermione a thumbs up then turned to head into their tent, feeling the welcome magic pull him away to another galaxy as he pulled off his shirt. The second he stepped through into the tent, he landed in a set of small quarters. And he could sense a lot of power, wherever he was. He closed his eyes briefly and stretched out with his mind, using an ability that he had heard Anakin talk about last time. Harry figured that with this much power in one place, there was only one facility that he knew of that could fit the bill. He was at the Jedi temple on Coruscant. He glanced around the room, seeing a bed over in the far right corner and a narrow door that probably led to a refresher. A workbench sat in the other corner, with tools and various droid parts littered over it. There was a bigger door that if Harry concentrated enough, he could sense the somewhat familiar presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He scanned over the rest of the room, eyes landing on the bed. He grinned and yawned, walking over to the foot of the bed. “For once, Ani, you’re not in trouble.”

Anakin was deeply asleep though he did twitch a little, almost like he had heard Harry. There weren’t many covers over the other young man as Harry noted, changing into his pajama shorts. He made sure his ever present trunk was still with him, attached to the thin piece of black fabric wrapped around his arm.

Harry glanced around the room once more, spotting the light brown droid standing in the far right corner. It definitely wasn’t an astromech but it did have the look of a bodyguard droid or… an assassin droid. Harry snorted quietly then walked back over to the bed and slipped under the covers, falling asleep quickly enough with Anakin a warm presence next to him.

“Harry?”

Anakin blinked his eyes open, the Force telling him what he already could feel. Harry was back!

“Hmm?”

The young man next to him sleepily turned, slipping his head out from under the pillow. Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and smiled, his green eyes lighting up. “Hey, Anakin.”

“I knew I felt you come around,” Anakin exclaimed quietly, crawling over a few inches to truly be next to his friend. Or maybe… Obi-Wan had said that they had looked like more than friends. “You came in the middle of the night, right?”

“Yeah. You sensed me? This is the Jedi temple on Coruscant, right?”

“Yep. Something wrong?”

Harry shrugged and rolled over onto his back. “Voldemort has taken the ministry so it’s… war. You okay?”

Anakin’s eyes widened then he shrugged too. “Still a padawan. A few planets have been talking about seceding from the Republic but Chancellor Palpatine won’t let that happen. Oh, I found a droid for you!”

“You found a droid?” Harry repeated, turning over in the bed to face him again. “You didn’t build one?”

“The Force pointed me towards it a few months ago,” Anakin replied, pointing up at the brown droid in the corner. “But I totally upgraded it. It was all musty and even moldy in a few points like it had been abandoned!”

Harry grinned at Anakin’s bewildered tone. “Most people aren’t like you when it comes to droids.”

Anakin nodded, frowning a little and peering over to the door to the left. His stomach rumbled as he reached out with the Force. “I kept your tent with me. It’s just under the bed.”

“Oh, thanks. I realized I had forgotten it a few minutes after I went back home,” Harry said. “What?”

"There must be a council meeting that Obi-Wan left for already,” Anakin spoke. “I can’t sense him in his quarters. You want to go with me to get breakfast?”

“Yep. There was a fight yesterday and I definitely need to recharge.”

“Do you think you’ll end up killing him?” Anakin asked as Harry slowly moved out from under the covers, swinging his legs over the bed. The wizard got dressed again as Anakin watched and there were a few scars on Harry’s chest that Anakin hadn’t seen before. Otherwise, the other young man was lithe, muscular.

“It’s either me or him at this point,” Harry responded dryly. “And I’m not likely to choose that he lives. Let’s go get food. What’s the droid’s number?”

“The droid said it was called HK-47. Granted, it had a really faulty memory but I fixed most of it,” Anakin explained. “I also noticed it had a lot of implants that will help him fight with you.”

“Did you have to get an assassin droid though? My situation’s not that dire. At least, not yet.”

Anakin rolled his eyes and got up, changing into the usual clothes for a jedi. “You’re in a war, Harry. If I can’t be with you to fight alongside you then the droid that I found can. You’ll have to get weapons for it though. It would be a little awkward if I was spotted buying rifles for an assassin droid.”

Harry’s eyes softened and Anakin’s heart started to race at the expression on Harry’s face.

“So do Jedi have uniforms?” Harry asked bemusedly.

“We can choose the color,” Anakin muttered, elbowing Harry as they walked out of the door.

“Maybe later you can show me around?” Harry asked, looking around at the temple hallways as they walked down to the cafeteria. As they hastened to go eat, he did notice that the people that they passed all stopped what they doing to stare at them. More at him than at Anakin, like they had gotten used to the power that Anakin held and were stunned at his own. “I want to see where you guys learn. Ooh, and maybe you can show me what a lightsaber battle looks like. You guys spar for practice, right?”

Anakin laughed at Harry’s questions. Harry glared at him. “Yeah, we do. Obi-Wan and I usually spar in the mornings, at least when we’re here. You can watch us. When do you think you’ll leave?”

“I hope I’ll get to stay for at least two days,” Harry answered, as they turned a corner and went down a set of stairs. Anakin led him to a door then pushed it open. Smells wafted through the doorway and Harry’s stomach rumbled. He could also hear a lot of people chattering amongst each other, Jedi talking about their plans for the day. “I don’t want to go back but I have to.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go back,” Anakin whispered, as they both stepped through the double doors as one. The talking stopped as Harry took in the cafeteria, noting a few other exits around the big room. There were a lot of young Jedi, with the same kind of braid as Anakin wore. Harry recalled that Anakin might have called it a Padawan braid, indicating that someone was in training to be a Jedi. Nearly every one of them was looking at Harry, their eyes wide.

There was a table of young children that looked to be below the age of ten. They all wore the same kind of clothing, tunics of rough material and leggings. A woman and a man with no Padawan braids stood watch over them, lightsabers at their waist. And then there were two or three tables of teenagers with Padawan braids, again with lightsabers clipped to belts.

And there were mature looking adults at the tables in the far left corner, who had no Padawan braids. There were several different species in the room, ranging from human to twi’lek to aliens that Harry hadn’t seen before. There was one who wore a face mask over his nose and mouth or one who had multiple tentacles flowing from his head.

“Jedi knights?” Harry murmured, raising an eyebrow.

“Or Jedi Masters,” Anakin responded quietly, edging closer to Harry. “Come on. Let’s go get some food.”

Harry nodded in agreement, turning to follow Anakin to where there were tables of food spread out. As they stood before the food, Harry looked it over, ignoring the stares of the Jedi behind them.

“Uh, Anakin, I’ll let you pick the food for me,” Harry spoke as he tried to restrain himself from doing something to the Jedi who were staring. Though on second thought, if he summoned a patronus, it would probably cause the Jedi to stare at him even more. “You know the foods here better than I do. Does everyone stare at you too?”

“Yep. I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Your friend, who is?”

Anakin looked between Harry and Yoda, having been stopped in the hallway after eating breakfast. Obi-Wan was right next to Yoda and Anakin had assumed that the council meeting was over. The Jedi that were walking through the hallway slowed down and Anakin saw Harry roll his eyes, obviously trying to hold in laughter or a bemused snort.

“Who are you?” Harry asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Master Yoda, I am.”

“He’s head of the Jedi Council,” Anakin whispered.

“Alright. Nice to meet you. I’m… Harry Potter.”

“Jedi, are you?”

“No. I’m a wizard,” Harry explained, narrowing his eyes at Yoda. “Master Kenobi, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And I haven’t heard a lot about you,” Obi-Wan said, crossing his arms and exchanging a look with Anakin. One that said that they would be talking about this later. Harry Potter was wearing the same things he had been wearing four years ago. The same weird looking armor that looked like scales from a big creature and combat boots. Both looked worn, like they had seen a lot of use. There was no obvious weapon at Harry’s belt, like a Jedi lightsaber.

At Yoda’s interested look, Harry continued to explain. “I guess what I am is similar to you lot. Anakin once described my magic as similar to a tribe of people called the Dathomiri?”

“Come to be in the temple, how did you?” Yoda asked, tapping his gimer stick on the floor. “Only Jedi in the temple can be.”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked. “Do you know?”

They both exchanged looks, both coming to the conclusion that they wanted to keep it a secret.

“I just travel here by some means,” Harry offered, glancing at the male Jedi that was walking over to them. The guy was frowning at Anakin, eyes narrowed, like he was suspicious of Anakin.  “I don’t know and I don’t think I really want to know. I mean no harm to you guys, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“The Force, is it, Padawan Skywalker?”

“Something like that,” Anakin replied, crossing his arms behind his back. “Can he stay in the temple for two days?”

“Stay in the temple, he cannot. Unusual, you are.”

“Obviously,” Harry retorted under his breath.

“But Master-”

“Anakin, you know he’s not a Jedi,” Obi-Wan spoke, raising an eyebrow.

Anakin sighed, narrowing his eyes, as he rocked back on the heels of his feet. “I know of a place you can stay. Masters, if that’s all...”

Yoda peered up at Harry, narrowing his eyes. Harry stared back, blinked once or twice.

“The Force, around you it is. Darkness in your past and future, I see. Death, I see.”

Harry sighed. “I already know that, thank you very much. Now if you can excuse me, I’ll be going.”

“Anakin, we’ll go sparr in a few minutes. I need to talk with Yoda,” Obi-Wan spoke.

Anakin nodded and led Harry out of the hallway, away from the judging eyes of Yoda and Mace Windu. And everyone else except Obi-Wan. His master was the only one who didn’t look distrustful of either him or Harry.

“Come on, let’s go get your droid,” Anakin whispered, gesturing to the set of stairs that would lead them back to Anakin’s quarters. “I’ll ask the chancellor if he knows of an apartment for sale. You still have money with you?”

“Yeah. I can cast the conversion spell and a duplication spell when we get out of here,” Harry replied, looking around at the newer sections of the temple. He also scanned the building with his magic, keeping it to just a few strands of magic so that he wouldn’t be noticed. “Anakin, they seemed…”

“Seemed like they didn’t trust me?” Anakin finished.

“Yeah. The guy that came up to stand next to Yoda especially.”

“That was Master Windu,” Anakin said as they finally came to a stop at his quarters. “You’ll stay though, right?”

“No. I’ll find a place to stay,” Harry responded as Anakin stepped through the door. “But… I’ll come back. In fact…”

Anakin grinned. “Your cloak?”

“Yep. You couldn’t see the runaway slaves when I hid them that way, right?”

“I sensed something,” Anakin commented. “Put it on again. I’ll see if I can sense anything.”

Harry laughed quietly then dug into his pack, pulled out his cloak and then covered himself with it. “Anything?”

“I can sense something,” Anakin finally said after a minute or two of concentration. “I know you’re there but I don’t see anything.”

“As it should be,” Harry said, looking around Anakin’s quarters again and pulling off his cloak. “I am going to leave the temple-”

“They shouldn’t be making you do this,” Anakin muttered, wrinkling his nose. “You’re basically a Jedi. It’s cause they don’t trust me.”

Harry shrugged and took a step closer to Anakin. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. You have free time today?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You are going to help me find somewhere to live,” Harry started. “And if I end up staying a few days, would you teach me how to pilot a ship? I have a feeling I’m going to need to know how sometime.”

Anakin’s eyes widened and he grinned. “Definitely.”

“Chancellor Palpatine’s office. How can I help you?”

“Could you tell him that Anakin Skywalker wants to talk with her?”

Harry stood outside of the range of the holorecorder, watching as the holonet connected Anakin with the Supreme Chancellor. “Anakin, are you really sure this is a good idea? How do you know the chancellor in the first place?”

“I met him back on Naboo,” Anakin whispered, turning to glance back at him. “He knows about you if that’s what you’re asking.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “But still… doesn’t the Chancellor have better things to be doing instead of finding an apartment for me?”

Anakin shook his head. “The chancellor would be happy to find you a place to live. He’s generous like that.”

“Okay.”

“Anakin, how are you?”

Harry studied the hologram of the supreme chancellor. Palpatine had apparently been the senator of Naboo when Padme had been queen and he had been elected to the office after that scandal. Anakin had told him about it last time Harry had visited and by the easygoing expression on Anakin’s face, the two men had a good relationship.

The man in the hologram was middle aged, maybe in his 40’s or 50’s. He kind of reminded Harry of Dumbledore but with no beard. And no crazy clothing.

“I’m fine, Chancellor. I was wondering if you knew of any good apartments that were on sale right now.”

“Anakin?”

Anakin laughed and shook his head at the Chancellor’s raised eyebrow. “It’s not for me. It’s for my friend.”

“The friend you told me about? He’s back?”

Yeah, Harry Potter.”

Anakin turned and gestured for Harry to step up.

Harry shook his head, not wanting to meet the chancellor. Something about the guy threw Harry off and not in the good way.

“Very well. I believe I know of a penthouse apartment that is for sale, in the tower across from my personal apartment. Anakin, how is the Council treating you? I heard they haven’t let you go on an assignment of your own yet.”

Anakin muttered something under his breath. “I’ve been a padawan for more than five years and I excel at everything they’ve taught me!”

“Do Padawans get to go on their own assignment?” Harry asked, stepping over to stand next to Anakin.

“Some do,” Anakin explained. “The Council doesn’t trust me though. They weren’t even going to let me train as a Jedi.”

“Too old?” Harry asked, looking at the hologram of the Chancellor. The man was trying to study Harry subtly but failing.

“Yeah. They usually take in babies,” Anakin retorted. “I don’t… I already had fully formed emotions and they don’t like feelings.”

Harry snorted. “They don’t like feelings?”

“We have to deny that we have feelings,” Anakin grumbled. “Do you?”

“No, of course not. Emotions are natural. Do they think that emotions leads to falling to the dark side or something?”

“Anger leads to the dark side,” Anakin said, sighing. “So everyone looks at me like I’m an alien or that I’ll easily fall. I won’t. I saw the Sith on Naboo. He was ugly.”

“Wait… Sith on Naboo? What’s a Sith?”

“The Sith,” Palpatine spoke softly. “Are men and women who give into their emotions, use them as power. The opposite of Jedi, if you will.”

“Was that Sith… by chance on Tatooine?” Harry asked, turning to look at Anakin.

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s what I felt.”

At Anakin’s questioning look, Harry explained further. “I felt something that morning on Tatooine when you were freed. I didn’t know what it was at the moment but this definitely explains it. Reminds me of how Voldemort feels.”

“Anakin has told me a lot about you,” Palpatine spoke, intrigue in his voice. “How would you describe your power?”

“Magic. It’s called magic, similar to the Force. But in order to use it, I use spells, incantations. The Jedi don’t do that, right?”

Anakin shook his head. “No. We just wave our hands.”

Palpatine’s lips twitched up into a small grin.

“Sounds amazing,” Palpatine remarked. “I would love to see a demonstration sometime. I however need to get back to work, gentlemen. Senators to supervise and all that.”

An hour later, Obi-Wan stood before him, lightsaber hilt in his hand. Anakin dipped his head in a nod, unclipping his saber and igniting it, the snap hiss loud in the mostly empty training room. There were a few Jedi knights watching from the sidelines but they were quiet. Harry had left a good twenty ago, saying something about prowling back in.

Anakin hadn’t really understood the other young man but he trusted Harry would find his way back in.

“You ready?” Obi-Wan asked, igniting his own lightsaber.

“Yes, Master,” Anakin replied, grinning. He loved fighting with his lightsaber. With the Force flowing through him and guiding him, he felt invincible, ready to take on the world. A quiet meow distracted Anakin in the split second that Obi-Wan charged forward, nearly causing him to be hit but Anakin blocked in time.

From then on, they were a blur, blocking and attacking in unison. By the time that they both yielded, Anakin was soaked with sweat and so was Obi-Wan. Anakin stood there, breathing heavily and smiling widely, looking at the assembled knights and padawans that had come to watch the pair.

And the small, domestic black cat that was sitting just right off the platform they were on. It was avidly watching them, him, its’ green eyes wide with what could have been amazement. Anakin peered over at it, picking up a towel at the stand in front of him and then walking over to stand before the cat. He pulled off his shirt and wiped the sweat off, his limbs aching a little.

It once again meowed at him, looking up with affection, before winking at him. Anakin’s eyes widened. He reached out through the Force and was hit with familiar power.

Harry?

Yep, it’s me.

Anakin laughed and scooped up the cat.

Jedi are telepathic?

We can be. Wizards too?

Harry the black cat climbed up and sat on his shoulders, curling his tail around Anakin’s neck, as Anakin saluted Obi-Wan. His master was looking at the cat in bewilderment.

“Anakin, another stray?”

“Yep.”

Over the next few days, Harry got to stay on Coruscant and with Anakin. He met HK-47, which was… interesting. That first impression wasn’t as great as it could have gone but Harry had certainly been impressed.

Anakin and Harry both watched as HK-47 powered on, the droid’s red eyes lighting up. The brown droid ‘woke’ up, reaching up to its full height, which was about as tall as them, maybe a few inches taller.

“Question: How can I be of service, meatbag?”

Harry raised an eyebrow, exchanging bemused looks with Anakin.

“When did you last have an owner?” Anakin asked, his eyes narrowed.

“Statement: A long time ago, master. Are you a Jedi?”

“Yes, but I want you to serve him,” Anakin said, gesturing to Harry. “He’s something like a Jedi.”

The droid turned its head to look at Harry, studying him. “Question: Am I to kill Jedi for you?”

“What purpose did you serve last time?” Harry asked, his eyes wide. “Where did you get this droid?”

Anakin’s blue eyes were wide. “Were you a Jedi killer?”

“Answer: My last owner was the Jedi exile,” HK-47 replied, looking around the room. “My owner before that was… I had a few owners before the exile but my original master was Revan.”

Anakin’s eyes widened even more. “Revan? As in Darth Revan? As in that Revan?”

“Question: Do you know of a different Revan? My first master was the one that created me. I was to be his Jedi hunter.”

“Anakin?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s Revan?”

“Retort: Revan was the greatest Jedi of his time. I am sure you do not mean to be disrespectful.”

“Revan was a Jedi a long time ago,” Anakin replied, still looking at HK with awe. “He went into unknown space and then came back a Sith lord and started a war. And the Jedi exile… She was one of his generals.”

“Okay…”

“Harry, this could mean he’ll be good at keeping you alive. Jedi and wizards aren’t that different, are they?”

“Question: What are wizards?” HK asked, his metal fingers tightening and curling like the droid was used to holding a rifle.

“I’m a wizard,” Harry explained. “I have power that is similar to the Force and there is a war going on where I’m from. Anakin hoped to have you guard me.”

“Question: Would I get to kill people?”

“Unfortunately, yes. There will be plenty of Death Eaters and scavengers. I don’t want them to keep on coming at me and my friends.”

The droid’s red eyes gleamed and brightened. “Remark: I do not fully understand what you say but I will serve you and kill people. That is what I am designed for.”

“Creepy but okay,” Anakin muttered.

Harry snorted.

Harry ended up getting the penthouse apartment that Palpatine had recommended. He had bought it and paid for it so when he left, it would still belong to him. He left HK-47 there one night and went out to buy a truck load of weapons, a few different sniper rifles, some rocket launchers(he knew Voldemort had trolls and giants on his side), quite a few pistols and blasters and 3 rifles, with enough replacement ammo to hopefully last the rest of the war back at home.

He even bought himself a ship, storing it in the hangar bay at the nearest local hangar. And he gave Anakin explicit permission to go and tweak it. He knew the other man would enjoy the privacy and quiet of working on a ship and it seemed like even now, war might be brewing in this galaxy.

Each afternoon, Anakin worked on teaching Harry how to pilot the ship. It was a small ship, one designed for a small crew and an astromech. It even had enough room for a small hangar bay, room enough to fit a fighter jet. It was of Corellian make, one that Anakin had recommended.

Anakin taught him the different parts of the ship, noting the shielding, the defenses, the engines and the hyperdrive. Harry had put wards on the ship so that while he was gone and he did feel like he would be leaving in a few days, the ship wouldn’t get stolen or messed with.

The two of them even sparred, just with hand to hand one Thursday afternoon a week after he had arrived in the Jedi temple. Anakin had said that he had felt the transferring power hovering over Harry that morning, which caused them both to be quiet as they wrestled.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Anakin muttered, as Harry pushed him down to the mats on the floor. They were using one of the smaller training rooms in the Jedi temple, with Harry having barred it with magic. HK-47 was standing at attention in the corner and everything that the droid needed was in Harry’s miniaturized trunk, the one that he always kept attached to himself. HK was pouting a little, having been told that he couldn’t kill any of the Jedi in the temple.

“I wish you could stay. I hate this,” Anakin exclaimed quietly, not even appearing to mind that Harry was sitting on him.

Harry sighed from where he was hovering over him and leaned down, dropping his head onto Anakin’s shirtless chest. They had both shed their shirts a few minutes ago, due to sweat running down their backs.

Anakin could hear Harry’s heartbeat, hear it racing as it calmed down from sparring.

“I have to go back,” Harry finally spoke, looking up at him. “Chosen One or not.”

Anakin grimaced then startled as Harry lowered down until their heads were close together. He looked into Harry’s green eyes, seeing something not totally unfamiliar. They could both hear people trying to get into the room, shouting something about some strange power blocking the doorway.

HK-47 yelled back something about Jedi being incompetent fools.

Anakin snorted and Harry rolled his eyes.

“Here,” Harry whispered. “Something to hold onto until my next visit.”

Anakin’s eyes widened as Harry’s lips touched his own, and then withdrew.

“HK! Over here! Let’s go!”

The droid grumbled and hastened over. Anakin reached up a hand to touch his tingling lips then surged forward just as Harry shrunk HK. He yanked Harry into a kiss, hearing the other man yelp and then melt into their second kiss. Anakin felt the other man’s hands come up to cradle his face as they kissed, wet and sloppy.

Harry was the one to withdraw first, breathing heavily. Anakin’s heart was racing unlike anything he had ever felt before, unlike when he had first fought with his lightsaber. Harry grinned, tucked the shrunken HK into a pocket and disappeared.    

Chapter Text

When Harry landed back in the countryside of Britain, he saw no tent or indication of Ron or Hermione. He had been gone a week so he hadn’t expected his two friends to stick around so he pulled out his broom and sped off, hearing the mechanical outrage of HK in his pocket. The droid hadn’t enjoyed being shrunken and had immediately shouted expletives, to which Harry had ignored.

He figured he would try Malfoy Manor first, see what he could find out there. It took two hours for him to fly from where he had landed to the manor, the sun having gone down during his travels. The stars beamed down on him as he slowed down and finally came to a stop behind the manor and right outside the fence surrounding it.

He pulled out HK, resizing the droid, and pulled out the bag with the droid’s amo.

“Question: Where are we?”

“That’s Malfoy Manor. I think... Give me a minute. See if you can see anything through the windows. There’s an electro binocular in the bag.”

Harry closed his eyes and reached out with his magic, trying to get a feel for the power in the manor opposite them. He could feel several different magical auras in the manor, scanning each floor.

“Statement: There are many people with masks on in the building. Will I get to kill them?”

“Probably.”

Harry heard HK reach into the bag and pull out a sniper rifle. He was almost finished scanning the manor when familiar magic entered his magical vision. He narrowed his eyes and then pulled back, opening his eyes again.

“There any outside that you can see?”

HK looked around, using the electro binoculars. “Answer: There are two groups of five patrolling the perimeter.”

Harry nodded, holding out his hand for the binoculars. HK handed them over, assembling the sniper rifle. He looked through the binoculars, spotting the patrols that HK had talked of. They were definitely snatchers, maybe even the snatchers that had captured his friends.

“How fast are you?”

“Retort: I can keep up with Jedi. You are no Jedi.”

“Well, I am a wizard. Up to causing a diversion?”

“Gleeful answer: I look forward to killing your enemies.”

Harry rolled his eyes and described his plan to the assassin droid.

“If you see someone with blond hair, don’t kill them. Just stun them. They’re… allies, of a sort.”

“Harry, what the hell was that?” Hermione exclaimed, as he got them out an hour later. Ron groaned, having been hit on the head with a falling rock.

“Eh, an ally,” Harry replied, shrugging. “Come on. We don’t have long. Luna, hi.”

“Harry, how is your space boyfriend?”

Harry yelped, glaring at Luna.

Luna just smiled and walked over to stand next to him, followed by Griphook. She looked bruised but otherwise unharmed. Ron and Hermione though looked like they had been tortured, given that they were his best friends.

“For your information, my space boyfriend is fine,” Harry retorted, gesturing towards the exit. He heard a particularly loud scream of pain from a Death Eater and then a loud boom, probably a grenade. Harry had bought a few thermal grenades and a few ice ones, just to see what they would do. And apparently, they made a very loud boom.  “Come on. HK-47’s buying us time but not for too long.”

“Question: Where do you want me?”

“If you would stay in this spot,” Harry said, six months later and in the midst of getting ready for the final battle against Voldemort. “It’s going to be the next hardest hit spot.”

They were in the front of the castle, near where Remus and Tonks were, looking out over the courtyard.

“Admittal: Skywalker asked me to guard you. I should follow you.”

Harry grinned slightly, warily. He had fought so much over the past few months and he was just glad to finally have it over. Either way, he would be done with Voldemort by the rising of the sun tomorrow. HK had followed him over Scotland, watching his back and grudgingly watching Ron and Hermione’s back too. Of course, everyone had been startled at HK’s manner of speaking and there was the fact that no one had seen a droid before.

“I know Anakin asked you to guard me. By waiting here, you’re guarding me.”

“Rebuttal: You are just as reckless as stubborn as the Exile. I was told to guard you.”

“You can snipe whatever Voldemort sends against us.”

“Exclamation: I will follow you.”

“Fine,” Harry retorted, glaring at HK’s red glowing eyes. “Follow me then.”

“Remark: Besides, if I follow you, I can kill more people.”

Harry snorted and then walked down to where Hermione and Ron were.

Remus stared at Harry and his… ally as they fought throughout the castle. He and Sirius hadn’t known what to make of the so called droid that Harry had brought with him a few month ago but clearly, the droid was making a big difference. It had already brought down the giants that Voldemort had brought with him, brought down by muggle rocket launchers. The spiders that had come out of the forest had been brought down by a few well placed hits from a rifle.

None of the Death Eaters had known what to make of Harry’s shadow and they hadn’t known how to compensate for the droid. They had tried to direct spells towards the droid but Remus had figured out that Harry had put impressive wards around the droid, making it highly impervious to magic.

Most of the snatchers had already been downed, either stunned or dead. Remus… didn’t particularly care. He knew Sirius didn’t care. They were just glad that Harry had someone who could keep up with him.

“Argument: Why can’t I kill these men and women? They’re just shaking off your power. You’re just fighting defensively.”

“Because…” Harry spoke, shaking his head as they around a corner in the castle. The sounds of fighting spread out around them and angry screams came from the Death Eaters. Every once and awhile a pained shout came from someone and if it was one of their own, a few defenders ran over to cover the person. It was just the Order of the Phoenix and the sixth and seventh year students who had stayed. The younger students had been evacuated. “Some of them have families.”

“Harry, they’ve made their choice,” Hermione muttered. “It’s this or Azkaban.”

“We’re not going to let anyone get away either,” Ron added, grimacing as HK threw another grenade through the open window behind them.

“Statement: That was the last thermal grenade. Master, I see the evil head meatbag.”

Ron snorted. “Where did the word ‘meatbag’ even come from?”

“It’s a long, long story,” Harry remarked, his lips twitching up into a frown.

Harry’s eyes narrowed as he stood up and walked over to where HK-47 was. He grabbed the electro binoculars from HK and peered through them, following where HK pointed to. Voldemort was standing down by boathouse near the lake. “Finally…”

“Stay here,” Harry ordered, pointing to an ideal spot on one side of the boathouse. It was two hours after Voldemort had started his attack, aided by various creatures and wizards from other countries. Having HK-47 by his side was a big help. It allowed him to really focus on the bigger picture of the battle and coordinating it. “I’m going to taunt him and then probably… The fight will probably spill out into the courtyard. If you could take out Bellatrix, I would appreciate it.”

“Reply: I will gladly take out the mad woman. Lestrange reminds me of some of the Jedi I killed under Revan’s orders.”

“You can tell me about it later.”

“It’s time to end this, Riddle!”

“Potter, come to meet your end?”

Harry shook his head, watching as Voldemort walked over towards him. The man who had attempted to kill him almost every single year since he was 11 already had his wand out and pointed at him. Harry didn’t draw his wand as he didn’t really need it.

“It’s your end that I’m interested in,” Harry argued, breathing heavily, looking around him as the students and the other people who were fighting for freedom. His magic was damn near gone, having used up three quarters of it to duel the minor Death Eaters. His knees were threatening to buckle, having fought and run from midnight to now, dodging and evading Death Eaters. He started walking backward, hoping to draw Riddle out into the courtyard, where HK was and his friends were. Bellatrix was walking right alongside Voldemort, cackling loudly and boasting about killing some of the students.

As they walked out, the sun rose with them too. It was nearly dawn and with it had come the deaths and or maimings of the Death Eaters and snatchers. Of course, some of them were stunned by HK, with blaster burns on them. Harry got to the edge of the path, edging out onto the courtyard and then Bellatrix let out a strangled yell and then was silent.

Bellatrix Lestrange fell with a thunk to the concrete ground, a blaster burn right through her head. There had been no warning noise or sight, just Bellatrix’s yell. Voldemort screamed and yelled out the killing curse at the closest person near him. The student dodged just in time. The Death Eaters that were left looked around, trying to locate where the gunshot had come from but they couldn’t find anyone or anything that had a gun in their hands.

“Potter! What the fuck is going on?” Voldemort yelled.

“You’ve been outmaneuvered,” Harry idly replied, looking for Sirius and Remus in the crowd and not finding them immediately. “And this will be your last battle, Tom.”

“Remark: This Voldemort was nowhere near as powerful as Revan.”

Harry nodded, peering up at HK from the ground. He was lying on his back, his knees finally having buckled and his body just refused to get back up after having fought Voldemort for the past hour. Every Hogwarts professor was just cleaning up the survivors, aided by the incoming aurors and unspeakables. His magic was finally drained, just a few sparks left for one more spell. He already wanted to sleep for a week but that just meant he could do it with an excuse.

“Argument: Revan did turn people to his cause without using your spells. The exile too was more powerful, having lived without the Force for a year.”

“I get it, HK,” Harry retorted, putting his arm across his eyes to shield himself from the rising sun. “You think Jedi and or Sith are more powerful.”

HK looked down at him, its red eyes glowing with glee at the amount of people it had just killed or maimed. “Admittal: You are the only wizard who has earned my respect.”

“Oh, well then. I feel honored.”

“Question: Is that what meatbags call ‘sarcasm’?”

“However did you know?” Harry sighed, sitting up and looking over to where Voldemort’s body was. It had been deliberately kept away from the bodies of their fallen; it had seemed disrespectful otherwise.  “I feel like I could sleep for a week or two.”

Hermione and Ron came over to sit by him, both of them leaning into each other.

“Harry, we found Sirius and Remus,” Ron murmured.

Harry closed his eyes, feeling tears grow. He blinked them away before asking the inevitable question. “Are they alive?”

Hermione and Ron’s silence said more than words could and Harry let out a exhausted cry, seeing HK slink closer to him. Somehow he had known they were dead. His heart stopped briefly before restarting at the thought of seeing Anakin soon, something, maybe it was the Force, telling him he would. He signaled the droid off before wiping his eyes.

“They were together when they died,” Ron commented quietly, shaking a little.

“Are you going now, Harry?” Hermione asked, leaning to rest on Ron’s shoulder. “Luna said something about you leaving.”

“If Luna says it, I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s probably going to be the best seer in Europe.”

“Harry… We’ll miss you,” Ron said. “But as Luna said, you have a boyfriend?”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, I do. He… He understands me and I him.”

“Luna also said that this would be the last time we see you,” Hermione spoke, hesitantly.

Harry’s eyes widened then he slowly began to smile. “That’s good. I do want to spend the rest of my life with him. I’m gonna miss you guys though.”

Ron and Hermione crawled over and Harry pulled them into a tight hug.

“I left a few things for you two,” Harry remarked. “They should keep you for a long time.”

“Harry, you didn’t have to,” Hermione muttered, pulling away and wiping her eyes.

“You two are my best friends,” Harry said, elbowing her. “How could I not? Also, I suspect Grimmauld Place is yours too. Keep Kreacher happy.”

Hermione sniffled, conjured a tissue and blew her nose.

Ron snorted. “Mate, keeping that elf happy is going to take a lot of work.”

“No, it’s not. Just let him have access to anything in that home,” Harry responded, grinning a little. “Besides, I left you guys a spelled notebook and a mirror on the kitchen table. I have the paired copy in my trunk.”

Hermione’s eyes brightened a little at that. “I’m glad you’ll be happy wherever you’re going, Harry.”

“Thanks. Have a big family and live out the rest of your lives in peace,” Harry spoke, feeling the familiar power wrap around him. “HK, time to go.”

“Complaint: I dislike being shrunken. Can’t I kill you and go in your place?”

“I don’t think it works like that but sure,” Harry replied, already waving his hand at HK and casting the shrinking spell without a wand or spoken word. He stashed the shrunken droid in a pocket and tucked it shut with magic.

“I already have nightmares of you leaving that droid here,” Ron retorted, tearing up a little.

Harry narrowed his eyes then snorted. “I would kind of love to see that but I won’t.”

Hermione laughed. “Go. Have a great life.”

Harry tugged the both of them into a tight hug and then vanished.

Anakin let out a strangled cry as his mother went limp in his arms. “Nooo! No!”

He could feel how thin and bruised she was through the light clothes she was still wearing. “Mom! NO!”

She was just barely breathing and she was loosely moaning, whispering his name over and over again. Anakin was too focused on her, not knowing what to do. The Jedi had never taught him how to heal! They never trusted him enough to teach him any of the higher teachings! He was 19 years old and they still didn’t trust him!

“Ani…” Shmi whispered.

“Mom, don’t go,” Anakin murmured. “Don’t go, please.”

“Anakin…”

He started at a familiar voice, looking up at Harry. The other young man had just arrived, a blink of brief power flickering in his mind.

“Harry…”

“Easy, Anakin,” Harry whispered, shuffling over to sit in front of Shmi.

“Save her! Please!”

“I…”

“Please!”

“Anakin, I have no power,” Harry spoke hesitantly.“Shmi…”

“What do you mean you have no power?!”

Anakin watched as Harry reached out to lay a hand on Shmi’s closest shoulder and immediately Shmi’s breathing slowed so much that he thought she was dead. Anakin cried out, tugging Shmi closer.

“Harry!”

Warm hands tilted his chin up and he looked into narrowed green eyes.

“Anakin, she’s okay at the moment. I just spelled her into a medical coma,” Harry whispered. “Are you okay?”

“What? Why are you asking about me? It’s Shmi who’s hurt!”

“Hey, easy. I can’t help her,” Harry spoke, finally looking around them. “Um, Anakin?”

“What.”

“Are we… by chance, in the tent of a tusken raider camp?”

“They took her. What are we going to do now?”

“I never said we couldn’t help her,” Harry argued.

“But you said…”

“Anakin, we don’t have much time. We need to get out of here and then we’ll heal your mother,” Harry replied, bringing his other hand up to cradle Anakin’s face. Anakin leaned into him, enjoying the feel of his friend’s hands. The warmth from Harry’s hands invaded his body and he finally felt warm enough to breathe. “Now, you need to get us out of here. I assume you brought a speeder or a ship or something?”

“Yeah, a speeder,” Anakin finally replied, as Harry withdrew a minute later. He looked closer at his wizard friend, narrowing his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Voldemort’s dead,” Harry answered, grinning wearily. “Now, let’s go. I may pass out on the way but don’t worry. Just get us somewhere safe but within a 10 minute ride. I can’t hold onto the spell for too much longer.”

“Harry?”

“Hmm?”

Harry blinked open his eyes, taking in their surroundings. They were in what looked like a cave, with Anakin sitting across from him and Shmi in between them. The speeder was at the front of the cave, with the big rock walls extending much further back. In fact… It kind of seemed familiar. And if they were on Tatooine, it would be very coincidental if they were. Tatooine was a big planet.

A low growl emanated from what seemed like a mile into the cave and slowly but surely, the greater krayt dragon from several years ago and five visits ago came into the light of the lantern that Anakin had put in. Anakin grinned and Harry returned the smile.

“Seems like we’ve gone full circle,” Harry whispered, his lips twitching up into a grin.

The krayt dragon didn’t look much older, its’ pale, wrinkly skin unchanged. But it was definitely the same one, as evidenced by it not charging them or moving to stalk them.

“You said that we could help her,” Anakin said after they both watched the krayt dragon curl up before them. “But I don’t know how and you’re out of magic.”

Harry took a deep breath and then moved to cross his legs into a more comfortable position. He could feel the one spell he had going, the one that was keeping Shmi in a magical coma, was close to failing. Her body was still relatively frozen, her bodily functions slowed down enough that it looked like she was dead.  “Anakin, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do!”

“There is a way to heal your mother but… I would need to cast legilimency, to guide you through the process,” Harry explained quietly.

Anakin’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”

“The way I figure this is that you have power at the moment. I do not but legilimency only takes a minute shred of magic,” Harry continued to explain. “I would enter your mind or I could just talk you through it.”

Anakin shook his head. “I don’t want to fuck it up. It’s my mom!”

“Right. Then you’ll trust me enough?”

“Will it hurt?”

“No. I think you’ll just feel a tickle,” Harry offered. “You ready?”

Anakin stared at him for a few seconds then nodded. “I’m ready.”

Harry dipped his head in a nod and was about to cast legilimency when he realized something. He peered up at the krayt dragon, who was watching them with interested eyes, then asked it to stand guard for them. The giant creature huffed out a big breath then lazily stood up, stepping over the three of them and curling up in the entrance of the cave.

Anakin grinned.

Harry spoke the incantation, drawing his last thread of magic out to do this and looked into Anakin’s pleading blue eyes.

Anakin started only a little at Harry’s presence in his mind. The Force swirled around the both of them and mingled with Harry’s power, almost melding with the other energy. Though Anakin could definitely see that Harry was out of magic. There was only a single spark of the other man’s power compared to what had almost been a tidal wave during the last visit.

Okay?

Yeah. How does this work?

I’m going to direct you to heal your mother, guide you. I can either take direct control of you or point out where to will the Force to. Do you prefer one over the other?

Anakin peered down at Shmi Skywalker, seeing her breathing slow even more.

I don’t want to accidently kill her!

Alright. Let me see. This will feel a little odd.

Anakin’s eyes widened as he felt Harry’s presence move about in the Force, the two of them melded together to become one entity, one person. They reached out an arm, hovering over Shmi and then reached out through the Force.

The Force flowed where they directed it to, to pressure points in Shmi’s body to stop blood loss, knit together organs and mend veins. They urged the Force to heal a broken rib or two, sealing together the bone and healed gashes throughout Shmi’s body, pushing the Force to do their bidding. The Force flowed around them, flowed around the two Chosen Ones, melding their power as they worked.

It felt like it took several hours when Harry finally pulled out and back, gasping. Anakin’s blue eyes were wide, meeting Harry’s own wide eyes. They could both see the Force sparkling around them, alive and touching everything from the krayt dragon behind them to themselves.

“Is it always like… this, for you?” Harry whispered, his eyes wide. Black spots began to hover over his vision, his magical and physical exhaustion coming back in full force. He could feel Shmi, could feel her heart pounding away at a normal pace. Anakin was lit up in the Force and he could have sworn that he felt some of his magic settling into Anakin, like some of the Force was settling into him.

Anakin nodded, his pupils wide and grinning like he was drunk. “Mom?”

“She’s asleep,” Harry spoke, his lips twitching up into a grin. “She’s alive. And I’m staying here for good.”

Anakin swayed in place, smiling widely. Harry tilted his head, feeling a pull towards the other man and then sighed, shuffling over towards Anakin.

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“About time,” Anakin muttered, reaching towards him to pull Harry in.

Anakin grinned into the kiss, not even minding the blood on his and Harry’s hands as they curled around his waist. He groaned as Harry deepened the kiss, crawling up into Anakin’s lap. The wizard licked into his mouth, wet and sloppy, as someone whined. Anakin realized it was him that was making noises as he tried to pull Harry closer, wrapping his arms around the other man.

Someone cleared their throat behind them and Anakin pulled back, feeling his cheeks redden. Shmi was sitting up, raising an eyebrow at them with a bemused but fond expression.

Anakin stilled then burrowed into Harry’s chest, trying to make himself smaller.

“Good to see you, Shmi,” Harry spoke.

Anakin rolled his eyes, feeling the rumble of Harry’s chest as he tried to keep in quiet laughter.

Harry blinked awake, vaguely remembering the past few hours, and unsure what had awoken him. After leaving a newly healed Shmi with Cliegg Lars and their family, Anakin, Harry and Padme had left Tatooine to go rescue Obi-Wan on Geonosis. Both Harry and Anakin were still feeling drunk, almost like they were overheating with power but since Harry had just come from a long fight, he had passed out once they were on Padme’s ship.

He glanced around the Senator’s ship, glancing down at the bunk he was on, and slowly but surely swinging his legs off. Something had woken him but he wasn’t sure… Another spark of pain flared and he peered down at his body, blinking when he didn’t see or sense any wounds. Harry raised an eyebrow, feeling fear and adrenaline course through his body.

“What…”

There was no reason for him to be feeling fear or for there to be adrenaline coursing through his body. He wasn’t in a fight, there was no Voldemort standing across from him or anyone else. Another brighter spark of pain flared in his mind and Harry stilled, walking out of the small room and going into the cockpit. They must have landed on Geonosis and… gotten into trouble. He vaguely remembered hearing Anakin whisper to Padme to leave him on the ship.

Harry sat down in the pilot’s chair, turned on the engine and flew out of the steam vent that was currently hiding the ship. He could feel so many different minds around him and pain and… death. Various deaths happened around him, indicated by lights in his senses going out. It got to be so distracting, sensing so many things and soldiers that he had to shield his mind. He could hear the cries of dying men in his mind but it all went silent as he walled off his mind, searching out Anakin’s Force signature and locking on.

There were one or two Force signatures of Jedi that were flickering near him and he hesitated, closing his eyes briefly before circling around to land in the center of what looked like an arena. There were hundreds of droids that had been destroyed and two that looked infinitely familiar. Harry left the ship waiting, opened the landing door and walked out, wand in hand. He was about to step out when he grinned and pulled out HK and resized him. He was moderately glad that he still had armor on from the last battle with Voldemort.

HK-47 grumbled but readily took the blaster rifle that Harry handed to him, his red eyes lighting up at the thought of killing.

“R2! Threepio!”

R2 beeped cheerfully at the sight of him.

“Get on the ship. I’ll be a minute!”

Harry hurried through the mounds of dead droids and stopped at a few dead Jedi, scanning them for life then moving on. He was here for the still alive ones as he stepped through into the catacombs, following the still flickering Force signatures.

“You Jedi are inferior but I’ll be glad to name you my first victims!”

Harry narrowed his eyes, keeping half of his senses with Anakin then stalked forward, with HK following him silently. It had sounded like a droid, almost like HK but not. He kept it dark as they walked and HK attached a silencer to his rifle and took out a few Geonosians on the way.

They finally made it to where he could hear the hum of lightsabers whirling and stepped out from behind a corner. Harry gaped at the sight that was in front of them. There were what looked like three Jedi padawans lying on the dirt floor, gashes through their stomachs. One was dead but two were hanging in there. Then there was the… droid? There was a tall droid with lightsabers… in its hands as it stalked towards the two remaining Jedi apprentices.

“HK, distract that droid while I get those two out of there.”

“Question: Can I use a grenade?”

“Yes! Just go!”

Harry pulled out his cloak and pulled it over him, creeping forward until he reached the dead Jedi padawan. He waited until HK made his move, throwing a grenade at the droid before hurrying over to the still living ones.

The young woman and the man both yelped then let out strangled cries at his appearance. Harry ignored their protests and gathered one up into his arms while levitating other one and running back the way he came.

“You Jedi. Live to fight another day, will you?”

The young woman in his arms stared at him in bewilderment then her dark eyes rolled into the back of her head. Harry kept on running, hearing HK follow while shooting behind them to cover their escape.

They made it back to Padme’s ship in five minutes and Harry heard the anxious beeping of R2. “Get us out of here, R2! I’ll be there in a minute!”

The engines turned on as Harry settled the two unconscious Padawans into two bunks then ran back to the cockpit, casting medical stasis charms on them before he left. HK followed him and stopped in the doorway of the cockpit, discussing something with C-3PO as they took off.

As soon as he made it out of the Geonosian building in front of him, his eyes widened. He flew the plane higher and higher and glanced down at the landscape below him.

War. Combat droids were fighting soldiers in white armor along the dusty countryside and he could see at least two Jedi wielding lightsabers leading them. The Geonosians, bug people, were flying over the soldiers, using their unique sonic weapons to attack the Jedi.

He could hear Anakin’s shout of pain as if he was in the same room and he pushed more power to the engines, turning on the shields as he flew through droid ships. He might not be as good of a pilot as Anakin was but he was a fast learner as he flew past what looked like the main landing area for the Jedi and whatever army they had cooked up.

He bypassed that and flew on, feeling the nerves in his right hand burn like they had been hit with a lightsaber, knowing that Anakin was in real trouble now. Harry pushed power to the engines, aided by R2 plugging into the astromech jack and flew straight on, dodging enemy fire.

Anakin dazedly watched as Dooku looked upon them with pity in his eyes, lightsaber pointed at the ground. His right hand throbbed in pain, a burning sensation flaring up his arm. His nerves flared all over his body as he tried to get up only to yell as his arm sparked with hurt and pain and then the sounds of a ship’s engine overrode his pain.

Black spots hovered in his vision as the pain kept him on the floor, tears filling his eyes. He tried to keep his eyes open as Padme’s ship went in for a landing out on the landing ramp outside of the cave, making Dooku take a few steps back.

The Force flowed around them, curling around the person walking down the landing ramp and Anakin finally succumbed to the darkness. But not before seeing Harry summon his lightsaber.

Harry watched as the older man in front of him blinked.

“So… You must be the guy who’s orchestrating everything,” Harry finally spoke, feeling the same dark, itching feeling that he had felt on Tatooine. He peered around the older man and saw Anakin lying on the ground, with his right arm out in front of him. Anakin’s right arm no longer had a hand attached to it, which explained the burning sensation that Harry had felt a few minutes ago. Though it didn’t explain why he had felt it. “You a Sith?”

“I am Count Dooku. And you would be…”

“Harry Potter.”

Harry’s gaze went right to Anakin’s lightsaber and he threw out a thread of magic at it. It immediately flew up and landed right in his open palm as Dooku ignited his own red lightsaber.

“Are you a Jedi?”

Harry shook his head, thumbing on the lightsaber. The blue saber ignited with a snap-hiss and he moved it about idly, his muscles remembering wielding the sword of Gryffindor back in second year. “Nope. I have absolutely no idea how to wield one of these.”

“Then how do you hope to defeat me?” Dooku questioned, his eyes narrowed.

“By using some of my own power,” Harry offered, his lips twitching up into a short grin, turning the lightsaber of and casting a blasting charm at the count and running over to kneel in front of Anakin. Obi-Wan peered up at him, eyes wide, while Anakin was out, breathing shallowly.

“Look out!”

Harry quickly ignited the lightsaber within his hands, feeling as if time had slowed and then turned around, catching Dooku’s red lightsaber against Anakin’s. The Sith Lord smirked at him, leaning all of his weight down on Harry. Harry strained, digging his boots into the floor and channeled all of his strength into holding his own. The clattering of a stick on the ground broke Dooku’s concentration and Harry cast another blasting charm, pushing the Sith Lord a few feet away.

Yoda ambled in, peered over at Harry and then started to talk with Dooku.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and then reached into his trunk, pulled out the medical kit. “Anakin?”

The young man groaned, writhing in place and clutching his right arm. Harry reached out and gently grabbed his right arm, holding him in place, hearing the clash of lightsabers behind him. Harry looked around the hangar bay, studying the place for… He grimaced but summoned Anakin’s right hand, summoning a set of clean towels for it to land on.

“Obi-Wan, you okay for the moment?” Harry asked, looking at the other Jedi. The other man had saber burns in a few places and he looked exhausted and from what he and Anakin had heard from the message a few hours earlier, Obi-Wan was tired. He had spent at least a day or two in captivity and might have been tortured.

“Yes, I am. Tend to Anakin.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, able to hear and sense that Obi-Wan was not telling the whole truth, but he turned to focus on Anakin. He pulled out a pain easing potion and transferred it into Anakin, watching as his Jedi relaxed slowly but surely. Anakin uncurled hesitantly, still mostly unconscious until Harry could stretch out his right arm to mend.

“Harry… nooo, nooo,” Anakin muttered.

“Anakin, you’re okay. I’m okay,” Harry whispered, stroking circles just above the stump. “This is going to hurt though. I’m going to knock you out.”

Harry?

I’m here, Ani. Hold on.

Is Obi-Wan okay?

He’s injured, yes. Not as badly as you though.

I was trying to protect him.

Harry smiled then got to work, laying Anakin’s right arm in his lap. His boyfriend’s mind voice had been shaky, hesitant and Harry reached out to tap Anakin’s forehead, spelling him asleep.

“Sir?”

“Needs healing, Master Kenobi does.”

Padme ran in, followed by clone troopers, and stopped at the sight that awaited her in the hangar. Her ship was parked in the far corner, with what looked like an assassin droid standing guard at the landing ramp. R2 and C-3PO were bickering anxiously near Harry and Anakin were, with Obi-Wan lying on the cold floor beside them.

Yoda was standing over them, occasionally glancing to where Dooku had gotten away.

Obi-Wan was arguing with Yoda about receiving medical aid and Padme rolled her eyes, knowing that the man was hiding injuries. She strode over, kneeling down in front of Obi-Wan and next to where Harry was. Her eyes widened when she realized that Anakin’s friend was in the process of… reattaching Anakin’s hand. Harry had Anakin’s right arm in his lap and was holding the cut off right hand right next to it.

“I do not need a healer, Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan said, sighing. “I only… received a few lightsaber burns.”

“Master Kenobi,” Padme started, narrowing her eyes at him. “I think we would believe you more if your voice hadn’t broken.”

Obi-Wan glared at her, gingerly sitting up.

“Senator-”

“Don’t senator me, Obi-Wan,” Padme retorted. “Trooper, this Jedi needs medical attention.”

Three clone troopers hurried over, with one carrying a medical kit.

“There are two Jedi Padawans in your ship too,” Harry spoke. “They need medical attention as well.”

Yoda turned towards him, his eyes widening. “Feel differently, you do.”

“Hmmm. Might you have underestimated me?” Harry retorted.

Yoda stared at him. “With you, the Force is.”

“Your quest, done is it?”

“Yes. Though, if I may, I need to focus right now.”

Anakin slowly woke up, wiping the sleep from his eyes with his left hand. The beeping of an alarm indicated that he might be on a hospital bed now, instead of back on Geonosis. Anakin let out a strangled cry, remembering what happened and tried to bring his right arm up only to hit someone. He started, peering down at the man that was sitting in a chair next to his bed.

Harry was perched on the bed, leaning his head against Anakin’s waist, and he was asleep. Anakin slowly raised his right hand up, looking at the bandages it was wrapped in. He started to pick at the wrap, only for another hand to still his.

“I managed to save it,” Harry whispered, opening his own green eyes. “It only needs to be protected for a while until it finishes mending on its’ own.”

Anakin looked around at their surroundings, seeing a lot of the clone troopers walking around. “Thank you.”

“Your welcome,” Harry said. “And to answer your question, we’re on a ship in Geonosis space. I left a war in England only to arrive to war here.”

Anakin stared at him, hearing the bustle of troopers and medics tending to the injured. There were no other Jedi around that he could see though Obi-Wan was in the bed next to his. “Sorry?”

Harry snorted. “It’s not a big deal. Anyway, Yoda said we can escort Senator Amidala back to Naboo so maybe we could take a day or two leave while we’re there?”

Anakin nodded, his heart racing in his chest. He yanked Harry up onto the bed and his wizard crawled on top of him, smirking a little.

“Remember that pillow fight we had back before you became a Jedi?” Harry remarked quietly.

“Harry! We’re in the infirmary!”

Harry laughed and bent down to kiss him, dropping kisses on Anakin’s bared throat until their lips met. Anakin melted into the kisses, feeling little threads of happiness and contentment that he wasn’t entirely sure were his own. And even possibly… love.

“What did we do?” Anakin questioned, as Harry spelled a temporary ward around the both of them to hide their conversation.

“I asked my friends while you were out,” Harry said, grinning at Anakin’s bewildered expression. “I kept a spelled notebook with me, which my friends have the other copy. Long story short is that Hermione thinks we bonded.”

“Bonded?” Anakin repeated, eyes widening as he wrapped his arms around Harry.

“Magical equivalent of marrying,” Harry offered idly, fingers making distracting circles on Anakin’s chest.

“You mean we’re married?!”

“Yep, at least in the wizarding way.”

“Want to get married the official way?” Anakin hesitantly asked. “On Naboo?”

Harry narrowed his eyes then smiled. “Yes, of course.”

“We’ll have to hide it,” Anakin warned, drawing Harry in for another lazy kiss. His heart was racing steadily at the thought of being married to his childhood friend, the one man who had been there all throughout his life.

“No take backs, Anakin,” Harry grumbled, poking him. “I’m staying with you for the rest of my life.”

Anakin laughed.

“We’ll have to be back quickly though. I think Yoda wants to talk to me,” Harry added, shrugging at Anakin’s questioning expression.

“What does he want?”

“I don’t know. Something about how the Force is with me.”