Author's Notes: Well thank you for the reactions. Am continuing this of course, no questions asked, this story's been brewing in my head for ages. There's no way am stopping.
Chapter 3:
The Aftermath and the Explanation…
Harry and a very injured Saber arrived inside at what appeared to be a very posh, modernistic, living room. Harry immediately heightened his senses and tried to spread the range of his magic to feel if there was anyone around the house. Technically, it was and was not using magic per se, but everything was a moot point now because in Harry's hands was a gravely injured Saber and she needed immediate help.
Harry did not know how many people were in the house, as he felt through his magic, and he heard multiple footsteps and they were coming fast towards them. 'Ministry be damned if Saber and I are going to die here!" Harry thought, as he readied himself for a firefight.
Harry looked around for entrances to the room they were currently in and saw that the only entrance was at the far side of the room. Harry steeled himself, as this could be his most difficult fight yet, he laid Saber down away from harm's way and he held his wand with anticipation. As the door opened he quickly fired a stunning spell at the first person who stepped in, which clearly hit its mark as he heard a loud 'thump' indicating the person was knocked out cold. He was about to fire another stunner when he heard a very familiar gruff voice.
"Bloody hell, Potter," exclaimed the voice "what are you trying to do? Kill us before Voldemort does?"
Harry's eyes widened as he realized who that voice belonged to. He cast a quick 'lumos' only to see a knocked out Bill Weasley on the floor. He immediately Rennervated the fallen Weasley brother, and was about to apologize when he remembered there was a bleeding Saber near by.
"Moody," he exclaimed with panic evident in his voice "we need Madam Pomfrey! There was a fight near my house and Saber got injured!"
While Harry was shouting at Alastor Moody to get the matronly nurse, Harry did not notice that Moody's magical eye already focused on Saber and he was wobbling to the fireplace. Harry was about to start shouting at the ex-auror when he felt Bill's hand on his shoulder.
"I've applied a basic blood clotting spell, Harry," he told the clearly panicking boy, "I know it's not enough, but it'll have to do until Madam Pomfrey arrives."
Bill tried to calm Harry down, but all his attempts just made Harry more anxious. Bill tried to lighten the mood while waiting for Madam Pomfrey to arrive.
"That was one hell of a stunner Harry," the eldest of the Weasley siblings told him, "it was powerful and silent as well, and normally silent spells as compared to their vocal counterparts are slightly weaker. Nevertheless, that spell you did was about as powerful as the normal one. Where did you learn that trick, eh?"
Harry gave him a look that told Bill that he did not understand what Bill was saying. Harry remembered that he shouted 'Stupefy'. He was about to tell Bill that when Moody joined the conversation.
"The boy's right, Potter," the old ex-auror told Harry, "That was quite the spell work. Good work on not letting your guard down, even after you're out of the fray."
Harry thought that the old ex-auror was finished until Moody added, what Harry now considered the old man's battle cry, 'Constant vigilance!' Harry tried not to smile as just last night, as he was thinking the same thing. Bill was about to ask what happened but the flames of the fireplace blazed to life and an annoyed looking Madam Pomfrey came out. She was about to ask where the patient was when she saw Saber laying down on the floor behind the Victorian styled couch. She looked over to the three men and asked what happened, as she went to the blonde haired girl to tend to her shoulder wound.
Harry told the three adults what happened before, and during the attack. When Harry got to the part where Lancer cried out the name of his lance, all of the three adults' faces paled. He was about to ask what was the matter when the old nurse cast what seemed to be a powerful version of a healing spell. He heard Saber groan out and quickly went to her side. When the old nurse was done, she grabbed her bag and pulled out a potion very familiar to Harry, a Blood-replenishing potion.
Madam Pomfrey lifted Saber's head to make it easier for Saber drink the potion. As soon as that was finished, the old nurse told Harry that she would need to rest for a couple of days and would need to drink the potions she was giving him. The old nurse sighed and moved away from the blonde-haired girl and Harry, then proceeded to tell them that there was nothing else she could do. She got up and went to Bill and Moody. She discussed a few things with the two Order members then disappeared through the fireplace.
Harry moved Saber's body from the floor to the couch so that she would be more comfortable. After doing that, he realized that he did not even know where he was now. He was about to ask but then Bill sensed his question.
"You're at one of the Order's safe-houses Harry," he told Harry. Then Harry heard another set of footsteps heading towards them. The door opened to reveal a woman vaguely familiar to Harry, as if he had seen this woman or someone who looked liked her before. His eyes widened when he realized whom that woman looked like. She was an exact copy of Bellatrix Lestrange, albeit a little older and healthier looking. The Bellatrix lookalike looked around the room and then spoke,
"Well," the newly arrived woman spoke, "Any one care to explain why there's a bloody, armor-plated girl lying on my couch and who seems to be Harry Potter in my living room?"
Bill chuckled at the woman who just entered. Conversely, Moody did not find it that funny as he just grunted at her (One does wonder if there was anything in the world that Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody found funny). Bill then proceeded to explain to the woman that there had been an incident at Harry's house and the ones guarding him had a portkey leading to this location.
The woman sighed at Bill. It was obvious to anyone that she did not expect people this late at night. Harry, tired of being ignored, cleared his throat loudly and said,
"Bill, now that you've shown your amusement to my predicament, would you kindly introduce me to our dear hostess?"
Bill was about to until they heard a crash then a muffled voice crying out 'Mum!' The three adults in the room sighed. Harry was about to ask who or what was that loud crash until the cause of that loud crash came bursting through the door.
"Wotcher, Harry!" Nymphadora Tonks announced as she came into the room with the three other adults, a surprised Harry, plus one unconscious blonde-haired girl. Behind her was his former professor, Remus Lupin, looking quite worried. Once he saw that Harry and Saber were fine, albeit Saber being unconscious, the worry from his face lifted, but only somewhat.
"Harry," the werewolf said, "What happened?"
Harry was tired of telling the story and asked Bill if he could tell Remus what happened. Harry slumped into the nearest chair, as he was exhausted. The woman, whose name still eluded Harry, asked,
"Would you like some tea, Harry?"
Harry nodded but then, before the unknown woman could leave his side, he asked her name.
"Bill never really introduced me, did he?" The woman said and then smiled. She said that she was Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora's mother. Tonks winced at the mention of her name ('Mum!'). Andromeda sighed at her daughter's antics.
"I could never understand how someone could hate their given name so much as she does."
Harry chuckled at the Metamorphmagus' expense. Andromeda excused herself to get the drinks and left the living room. Andromeda's exit left an awkward silence between the four adults and Harry. Tonks sensing the tension tried to break the ice by teasing Harry.
"So…Harry who's the sleeping beauty, your new girlfriend?" Tonks said, while wagging her eyebrows.
If Harry were not dead tired, he would have blushed like a tomato. Luckily, he was near a recliner, and luckier still, he was dead tired. Remus noticed this and answered for him.
"Dora, that girl's name is Saber. She was with him when I met him during his return trip to the Dursley's house."
Tonks contemplated this new bit of information for a while, then thought of another jibe. She was about to say something when Harry interrupted her.
"Tonks, as much as I like conversing with people, can we please just sit here and wait for the tea?" He said, and then added, "I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I'm really, really, tired."
Tonks nodded in response to Harry's request. She saw the fatigue in Harry's eyes. She felt sorry for him. He was so young yet he had to shoulder the burden of the world, if the papers were correct. She tried to think of something that would lift the spirit of the boy, but as soon as she thought of the perfect thing to say to him, her mother came in with the tea.
Harry graciously accepted the tea. He brought the beverage, near his mouth to drink, inhaling the calming scent of the tea. All sound was lost to him as he was fully relaxed because of the scent. The conversation around him was lost because he was fully concentrated on his tea, and the fact that he was tired. As he finished his tea, it took most of his willpower not to simply drop the teacup and let the realm of dreams engulf him. He felt someone take his cup and placed it somewhere he could not reach, he was about to protest but once he opened his mouth, a yawn escaped him. He finally succumbed to the god of sleep when he felt someone cover him with a blanket.
~~~
"He looks so young when he sleeps." Remus told no one in particular. Everyone who knew the 'Boy-Who-Lived', and what he went through for the past six years, readily agreed with him.
The boy in front of them, resting in an armchair, was not a boy anymore, Remus realized. Remus Lupin sighed, wishing things were not the way they were.
'If only James and Lily were here…'
Remus snapped out of his reminiscing when someone opened the door to the living room.
"I can't believe one guy caused that much damage." One of the newly arrived said.
"Yeah, seemed like a tornado smashed into that place," replied the other person with him.
"So," Remus turned to greet the new arrivals, "I assume that all the necessary repairs are done?"
When they stepped into the firelight, the new arrivals identities were revealed to be none other than the Weasley twins, but before they answered Remus' question they immediately related the story to their older brother.
"You should've seen the fight Bill, or what we saw when we woke up," Fred said, acting out the scene thrusting an imaginary lance, "this guy in a blue get up was thrusting his lance all over the place…"
"…and," George continued, while acting out the same scene, this time dodging the imaginary lance, "this blonde girl was avoiding all of his attacks like they were nothing,"
Bill shushed them and then pointed towards the sleeping Harry. Before the twins could react, Remus cleared his throat and asked,
"Now that the theatrics are done," the werewolf said, clearly annoyed that he was ignored, "we need to get to the matter at hand."
The twins, sensing that the fun and games have clearly passed, quickly sobered up and reported what they did.
"After we lost sight of that blue clothed dude, Fred and I repaired all the damage and we made sure that no one saw the fight, but man that was one hell of a fight." George said, still hyped up from viewing the amazing fight between Saber and Lancer.
"So," Bill said, just to break the silence "what about Harry here? He did cast a spell and technically he's still under age…"
At that moment, the younger Tonks raised her eyebrows and said, "Where do you suppose he cast something?"
"Here actually," Bill replied, "just before I opened the door."
"A mighty fine stunner that was; silent and powerful," Moody added, "Felled Bill here and made him fly too."
At this, Remus was surprised, he knew that Harry was powerful, but casting silent spells? Now he was not sure what to expect of the 'Boy-Who-Lived'
'James, Lily, if you could see your boy now, he's growing up to be a fine young man…'
The younger Tonks, sighed from the relief she felt, then proceeded to speak,
"Okay, don't spread this around, and I mean this is hush-hush stuff," she stated, and when the people around her nodded, she continued "the Ministry can detect anyone who uses magic, just not pinpoint exactly who's using it."
Everyone, save for Moody was flabbergasted, though no one was as shocked as the twins though. The twins looked liked a pair of fishes out of water, until one of them recovered and said,
"You mean all this time we could've used our magic outside Hogwarts?" said Fred.
It seemed that both the twins' worlds crumbled before them when they saw Tonks nod.
"All those possible pranks…" said George,
"All those fools who could've been fooled" replied Fred
"All those genius ideas…" responded George
"All those years…" added Fred,
"WASTED," both of them wailed. It took Remus and Bill to cast a quick slap on the back of their heads of the twins as to not wake the slumbering duo.
As the twins tried to keep their disappointment to a minimum, Andromeda asked if they had anything else to discuss. When everyone shook their heads Andromeda told them to get back to their homes and told them not to worry about Harry and Saber. She'd be the one to take care of them and send them on their way back to the house.
Everyone was about to leave when Remus said, "Are we sure that this isn't a You-Know-Who related attack? I mean sending them back there, might increase the possibility of another attack."
"If You-Know-Who stared reviving dead heroes Remus, and then letting them use their old weapons then we'd have a problem," Bill told the old werewolf.
Everyone was still amazed by the fact that an old Irish hero came back from the dead and started attacking people unexpectedly. They stood in silence to contemplate what to do next.
Unsurprisingly, Moody broke the silence, "We'll just have to post what ever people we can spare around that place. If I gathered correctly, the people guarding Potter were knocked out before the fighting started."
The twins tried not to look at the battle-hardened auror, as no one disagreed with Moody, and the matter settled and they went their separate ways. Remus took time to thank Andromeda for temporarily taking Harry and Saber in for the night.
Unknown to the people gathered, the ones guarding Harry were not the only people who witnessed the fight between Saber and Lancer…
~~~
Meanwhile, somewhere in London…
"The new Master was quite useless in that battle with Lancer," said the man with the blood-red clothes.
"I guess his reputation about being the so called 'Chosen One' isn't all that's cracked up to be." Replied a girl with long black hair, and clothes as red as his. She seemed to be scanning the London rooftops from where she was standing.
"It shouldn't be a problem eliminating him from the war Master," said the Servant with a confident air.
"No, not yet," replied the girl "let's wait and see. We are not sure about his true abilities yet. He didn't cast any spell to actually help Saber."
The man in red looked contemplative for a while, and then he raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure about this? I could just blow them up from a long distance. There is a reason why I am called Archer after all."
Archer's Master seemed annoyed by his persistence. Even though Archer felt Saber's presence while they were scouting, she knew that head to head, her Archer would not last a minute against Harry Potter's Saber.
"Listen here Archer," she told him "that area wouldn't be suitable for your skills, it was a cul de sac. That and because of the elevation choices; the highest point in that area was a tree and I'm sure that even Harry Potter could've reached you without using his spells."
Archer seemed put out; it was one of their chances to get rid of an opponent. He still didn't understand why his Master did not take it.
"Don't worry Archer," she said in a nonchalant way, "you'll get your chance soon. We just need to wait so that we'll have a hundred percent chance for victory."
Archer rolled his eyes, first he had the misfortune of having a young and inexperienced Master (he estimated her age at around sixteen or seventeen), and then he was summoned in a clumsy way, which in turn resulted in him crashing through a roof and losing his memory. Archer sighed. To him, his Master was the type who planned before acting and would not move before everything else was in place.
"Let's go back Archer, its past midnight and I've got a lot of things to do in the morning."
'At least I'm going to get a break,' Archer thought miserably. The girl told him that she would leave the landing up to him. Archer looked at his Master for a second when he realized what she was about to do. Archer quickly moved away from where he was standing in order to catch his Master as she jumped from on of the spires of the Tower Bridge.
'At least there isn't a time when there's no excitement when she's involved'
~~~
It was past noon when Harry woke up in the unfamiliar living room. He was confused. When he started to look around, the first thing that caught his eyes was a patch of blood in the middle of the room where he was in. Then, it all started to come back to him; writing a letter to Hermione, Lancer's attack, Saber's injury, everything.
He tried to get on his feet, but he did not realize that he was sleeping on a recliner. As he got up, the recliner's springs went into action; propelling the backrest into him and pushing him face first onto the floor.
The resounding 'thud' alerted the owner of the home and she came to the living room. What she saw was Harry on the floor with the recliner looking as innocent as ever.
"Harry, dear," she started, trying hard not to laugh at the poor boy's orientation "I think it's better to sleep on the recliner, wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm trying a new kind of sleeping position, Mrs. Tonks," he answered back.
Andromeda tried not to look too amused, "Oh really," she replied, "How's it going then?"
Harry was about to reply when suddenly his stomach growled. Moreover, when Andromeda heard this she could not help her self anymore, she started giggling, then laughing aloud. She tried to calm herself down as she remembered that there was another person sleeping nearby.
When Andromeda offered to move their conversation to her kitchen Harry obliged. When they got to the kitchen, Mrs. Tonks offered him some breakfast, some bacon, eggs with toast, and coffee. Harry shyly accepted her offer. They were both eating in silence when Andromeda suddenly asked,
"What will you do now, Harry?"
This caught Harry off guard, honestly after what happened in Little Whining he was not sure what to do anymore. After feeling that intense desire to kill that came off Lancer, he was not sure that he would survive any war. The way it froze him to where he was standing, it was the first time that happened since, well, ever. He knew that if he faced Lancer unprepared again, he would die, with or without Saber's help.
"I…" Harry sighed as he started to speak, "I honestly don't know."
Andromeda still could not believe what the papers have been saying about the young man in front of her. This man, no boy, in front of her, was to defeat the world's most powerful Dark lord of more than half a century.
'He isn't even of age yet!' Andromeda thought, 'and the papers print headlines that he's the 'Chosen One. How could they expect that of a young child?'
The sound of dishes hitting her kitchen sink pulled her out of her reverie. She was about to tell him that he didn't need to wash his dishes, but then he started talking,
"Mrs. Tonks," he said, "when do you think Saber and I could go back to the house?"
"Maybe after Saber wakes up, Harry." she replied.
There was a moment of silence that fell between the 'Boy-who-lived' and the mother of the Metamorphmagus. Then suddenly there was a loud crash then a moan coming from the living room where Saber was sleeping. They quickly left the kitchen in order to check up on Saber.
The girl in question was now facing face down on the floor, but this time the fault was not in the furniture, it seemed that she moved in her sleep and managed to fall off.
"You alright there, Saber?" Harry asked his Servant, as he and Andromeda helped her back onto the couch.
"Somewhat, Harry," she replied, "My shoulder still hurts though. Lancer's attack was supposed to kill me I guess, but I think I got lucky.
What Saber said, just reaffirmed Harry's thoughts in the kitchen. It seemed that in order to win any war, Harry needed to survive until his seventeenth birthday, which, Harry knew, was easier said than done, considering the group of people, who wanted his head.
Harry and Andromeda, along with a partially recovered Saber, after a brief introduction and Andromeda telling Saber where they were, ('Are you sure you are okay, dear? I mean you're still supposed to be asleep from a potion that was administered to you'), moved back into the kitchen when Andromeda offered Saber some breakfast, and in the usual Saber fashion, she greedily accepted.
By the time Saber finished her meal, Andromeda learned that if you are housing a particular green-eyed, blonde haired female, you had better stock up on food, and if it tastes good be sure you have stocked up on delicious food.
"You've got quite a healthy appetite," Andromeda said, trying to hide the envious tone of her voice "and you're maintaining quite a figure. You must tell me how you do it."
Saber gave the elder Tonks a confused look, and then said, "Err… I honestly am not sure what you are talking about, Mrs. Tonks."
Andromeda felt her jaw hang as Saber replied. To think that a girl Saber's age did not even need to consider what she ate. How Andromeda, wished that she had her body and did not consider what she ate.
"Never you mind, Saber," Andromeda spoke with carefully masked envy, "I guess you two would want to go back to that house won't you?"
They were about to respond but they were interrupted by a tapping noise. Andromeda spotted that the tapping noise came from a certain snow-white owl pecking her kitchen window. When she opened the window to let the snow owl in, it immediately flew around and landed on Harry's shoulder turning her head, looking at Harry in his eyes and digging her talons in, as if saying 'I'm never letting you go out of my sight'.
"Ow, ow, ow," Harry cried out, "what's the matter with you, Hedwig?"
Then it dawned on him that she must be worried over what happened last night. It was after Harry reassured the bird that he would not go anywhere did Hedwig lighten her death grip.
"Harry, it seems like your owl brought you a letter." Andromeda told him.
Hedwig hooted at Andromeda, as if the owl was telling her that she was correct, and then she held out her talon that had the letter so that Harry could remove it easily. Harry assuming that he already knew who sent this letter, (or had the brilliant idea to use Hedwig to find him…if that person should ever talk to him again,) opened it.
Surprisingly, the letter or lack of it was blank. He flipped the piece of paper to see if there was anything written on it, but there was none.
"Why would anyone send a blank piece of paper?" Andromeda voiced out exactly what Harry was thinking, why anyone, especially her (if he was right in assuming who exactly sent the blank piece of paper), would send out a blank piece of paper.
As Harry pondered on what the blank piece of paper could mean, there was a knock on the Tonks' front door. Curious as to who was at the door, as Andromeda's husband was not arriving until later tonight, since he was at work. The person then rang the doorbell at the same time he or she, was still knocking, Andromeda still curious as to who was at the door, stood to answer it.
Harry and Saber stayed behind, since it was not their business if there was someone knocking at the Tonks' residence…that and Saber was still eating. Harry was about to pour himself a mug of coffee that Mrs. Tonks brewed until he saw some familiar red hair in the corner of his eye.
"Merlin, mate I heard from the twins, did one guy really trash your Uncle's place?"
Harry turned his head to the source of the voice and sure enough, the face that accompanied the red hair was his long time friend. What he did not notice however, was the bushy-haired girl trying to hide behind the red haired wizard.
"Yeah Ron," Harry told the redhead, "destroyed the whole living room and front lawn. Even did a number on Saber." He resumed his previous task of pouring himself a mug of coffee, and then added, "We barely managed to get out of there alive."
Ron looked at Saber for her to confirm what Harry had just said, to which she just nodded her head. What Harry missed because his back was turned to the new arrivals was the pale face of one bushy-haired girl and the shocked one of Ron.
Unknown to the reactions that his friends gave him, Harry continued, "Yeah, we barely made it out of there, he did this…" he tried to take sip from his coffee, but as he raised his mug to his lips, he didn't notice that he was shaking quite terribly. "I don't know, it might be his fighting technique or spell or whatever, but it was very effective. It rooted me where I was standing."
Saber stood up, as she was finished with her meal, and placed a hand on her Master. This seemed to lessen his shaking, but not eliminate it. Still oblivious to his surroundings, Harry continued to retell what he felt in those few seconds.
"Honestly, I thought I was going to die right then and there," Harry tried not to break down, but the fear of last night was catching up to him. "I knew if I moved from where I was I would die; I also knew if I didn't move from where I was, I'd still die."
It seemed that Harry talking about his most recent brush with death broke the camel's back. Hermione barreled past Ron and Saber to hug Harry. Harry knew the person sobbing on his back, and guessed that Hermione had forgiven him for what happened or did not happen, yesterday afternoon.
Andromeda was sure that she was intruding on some moment that the kids in front of her were sharing. She actually felt the emotion coming from Harry, his fear from the attack, his presumption that he was about to die. She almost could not take it, almost. She was about to say something when she noticed that Saber's hand was not on Harry's shoulder and Harry wasn't shaking anymore. She wondered if there was something more to Harry and Hermione. She shook her head to remove those thoughts. It was not her business and she was not going to make it hers.
Harry and the others didn't notice when Andromeda slipped out of the kitchen. Hermione long since released Harry from her hug, and was now somewhat calm, she now sat near Saber. Ron oblivious to the overflowing emotion that just occurred happily munched away on the food that was untouched by Saber.
"I guess I need to give you guys an explanation…" Harry started.
"No need mate," Ron replied, "I think we all know You-Know-Who's to blame for that attack."
Hermione was still silent, but Harry knew that she was listening. Harry looked at Saber and she nodded. Harry sighed; it was time to come clean.
"No Ron," he started, "that attack wasn't connected to Voldemort." Harry ignored the cringe from Ron. "Hermione, do you mind casting that spell? We can't let anyone hear what I'm going to say next."
Hermione looked scandalized, she was about to refuse but reconsidered. She tried to weigh the pros and cons. Pro: she was finally hearing an explanation to whatever was going on, con: she was going to use his spell. Hermione thought it through, and knew what she had to do. She cast a quick muffliato, and nodded to Harry signaling that it was okay to proceed.
"Okay, I guess I should start at the beginning…"
~~~
"And that's the whole story." Harry finished with a sigh.
Harry told them about Dumbledore's letter, about how he met Saber, about Servants and Masters, about the Command seals, about the seven Servants in this new war that he was participating in. He also told them what happened in Diagon Ally, what Saber did to the Dursley's lawn, and what happened last night.
A full minute passed by before two-thirds of the golden trio finally reacted, and Ron spoke first.
"Bloody hell," still astonished by the story that Harry told them, "you mean to say that, on top of our Horcrux hunt, you'll be in a Holy war?"
"Holy Grail war, Ron," Hermione corrected him, "though I doubt it's the actual Holy Grail." Her voice sounded flat even to her. She did not want to believe that the boy, in front of her, who had gone through a lot in the past six years, would be having another six powerful people added to the group of Death eaters, plus Voldemort. She was about to voice out a question but Saber spoke first,
"Harry, before I forget," She started to raise her hand then touched Harry's forehead, "there all done."
Immediately after Saber touched his head, he saw, in his head, something that looked like a chart, which detailed Saber's strengths and weaknesses; he searched through the image in his mind as if it was water flowing through his fingertips. He now knew why Saber's sword was invisible. Harry even knew what its name was.
"Invisible Air…" Harry whispered, though the people around him heard what he said.
"Yes," Saber confirmed it, "that is the name of one of my Noble Phantasms." Then she added, "It is the same Noble Phantasm that I used during my fight with Lancer."
Harry's mind was reeling with the information surge that coursed through his mind. Harry now knew that any magic known today could not damage Saber. He was not sure about the Avada though. 'Better be safe, than sorry,' he thought. He also knew about the power of Saber's Noble Phantasm. He immediately thought about Lancer. His chart immediately popped up, he saw that, Lancer was generally weaker than Saber. He flipped towards Lancer's Noble Phantasm. He saw how Lancer's Noble Phantasm worked and it seemed that all you need was luck when fighting against Lancer.
Through out Harry's introspection, he was oblivious to what was happening around him. Around him, things were starting to get uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for Ron, seeing, as there were two attractive girls in his midst. One he had known for six years, the other he just met yesterday. He was about to start a conversation when Hermione started speaking.
"So," she said, "what are you two going to do now?"
Saber looked at Harry and she felt that he was still going over the information that she just implanted in his mind. "It depends on Harry," Saber replied, and then she added, "Though if I remember correctly he was to ask you to take me, how do you say, clothes shopping."
Hermione was shocked, it was not because of Harry's usual motto of 'winging it', but it was because of Harry assuming that she would take someone she did not know shopping, of all things.
Harry snapped out of his musings, and he looked around and saw that everyone was still there, oblivious of what happened only seconds before. He knew he needed to plan what to do next. He looked at Saber and saw that she was still in her armor. Then he remembered something,
"Uh, Hermione, could we take Saber out shopping?" Harry told her, missing the shocked face that Hermione currently wore.
There were only three words that registered in Hermione's mind, 'we', 'Saber', and 'shopping'.
'At least I'm not going to be alone with her…" Hermione thought.
"Wait a minute," Ron interrupted, "where do I fit in this?"
"Ron," Hermione said with a tired voice, "would you have the patience and the eye to pick out what Saber likes?" Then she added, "Harry would be along because he knows Saber more than I, and should I even explain why I should come along?"
Ron was about to respond but, after seeing the look on Hermione's face ended his supposed argument with a 'Hmph'.
"So, how much will you need for Saber's clothes?" Harry asked Hermione, then he added, "Would two thousand quid suffice?"
Hermione's jaw dropped, it was after a few seconds that she managed to respond. "Harry, that's…that's more than enough."
"Really," Harry replied, "if its not, then we could just get more money from Gringotts."
Still in shock as to how much money Harry had on him, Hermione reassured him that it was more than enough, and that they would go on that shopping trip maybe a day or two before his birthday, seeing that Harry and Saber were not going anywhere important before his birthday. Bringing up Harry's birthday reminded Ron about the wedding, which in turn reminded him of what he told his mother,
"Shit, I've got to go guys; I told mom that I'll be gone for a few minutes and its way past 'a few minutes'."
Harry asked Hermione if she could end the muffliato spell, which she did and then told them that he and Saber would be back at the Dursley's house by tonight or by tomorrow morning. Ron and Hermione said their goodbyes to Andromeda, Harry and Saber.
Harry and Saber did not notice the time and when they returned to the kitchen, Andromeda was already setting up dinner.
"You kids took over my kitchen and then cast that ringing spell," Andromeda chuckled at the expression that Harry wore as he heard her, "what the professors are teaching you and the things that they taught us seems light-years apart."
"Err...we're sorry about that, we needed to talk some things through…" Harry responded.
"Don't worry about it, Harry," the elder Tonks said, "now why don't you wait at the living room and I'll call you when dinner's ready."
"Oh let me help you with that, it's the least we can do after we took over." Harry responded.
Before Andromeda could argue that he was a guest, Harry already donned the apron and started fixing dinner where Andromeda left off. Andromeda just laughed, and let him help.
~~~
Dinner at the Tonks' was lively. Conversation was light, and did not touch on the Voldemort topic, the war, or Dumbledore's death. It was already dark when Harry and Saber, returned to the Dursley's house. He expected a nice quiet house where he could lay down on his bed and rest. What he didn't expect was the Dursleys returning. Vernon Dursley almost exploded at the sight of Harry but Harry cut him off,
"Don't worry," he told the large man with little to no concern as to what might happen to him, "Saber and I will be staying for two weeks then we'll be out of your life, forever."
If Vernon looked pissed before, he looked like he was about to kill after Harry talked down to him, but when he saw Saber all color flowed out of his face. Saber surveyed what was happening and raised an eyebrow. Harry noticed this and shrugged; he grabbed Saber's hand and led her past Vernon and up to his room.
'This will be a long two weeks…"
~~~
Well chapter 3 is in the wind! Next up, we'll get into awkward situations, involving our eating machine (Saber), our lovable bookworm, and our gallant Hero. Every guy's nightmare, shopping for clothes (dun dun dun), and Archer's Master!
As with the last chapter, I'll explain about the abilities of our dear Servants, in this case, Saber's Invisible Air.
Invisible Air:
As the name states, its invisible, it makes Saber's sword invisible. It doesn't allow the enemy to determine its range. It's quite simple but extremely effective in hand to hand combat. It's a Noble Phantasm protected by strong magic, but it doesn't mean that the sword itself is invisible. The blade is clad in wind that changes the refraction of the light and makes the shape of the sword invisible.
It's not a vacuum, but the wind whirring around the blade is like a weapon and it increases the damage of the slash. Only when the compressed wind is released, is a vacuum state created.
When the target has "resistance to visual impediments", the accuracy correction of Invisible Air is ineffective. Other than the advantage of making the blade invisible, it is possible to release the compressed wind, making it a single-use projectile weapon.
About Saber's invulnerability to modern spells, I think she decides which spells affect her. Therefore, it is safe to assume that her body would differentiate between beneficial spells and harmful spells.
As with Lancer's Noble phantasm description, I took this directly from the game so everything is copyrighted to type-moon.
-tw