Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Wizard on the Edge of Forever
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Star Trek. For that matter, I don't own much of anything except a lot of debt. If I could claim the two series and all their spin-offs, I would. So please don't sic the law demons on me ok?
Chapter 7: Growing Up Is Hard To Do
"---Mr. Harry James Potter!"
As Harry stepped up onto the stage and approached the podium, he could almost feel his long-departed friends from Hogwarts watching him. Hermione would be teasing him mercilessly about taking almost three hundred years to graduate from school.
He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Our principal, Mr. Sharpe, asked me to speak today, not because I was top of our class, or captain of a sports team, or anything of that sort, but because of what he called my 'unique historical perspective'.
"As most of you know, when I was fifteen years old, I was an average student at a British boarding school, and the year was 1996. Since that day, just about everything has changed, but the most important of those changes had nothing to do with the nearly three centuries that passed between my fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays.
"Politics and borders and technologies may change, but it is the people you share your lives with that define the quality of those lives. Back in 1996, I was an orphan, being raised by relatives who despised my existence. I won't bore you with the details, but you can imagine how bad it must have been for a teenager to jump at the chance to climb aboard an untested space ship, risking hibernation and the hazards of interstellar travel at sublight speeds, just to get away."
While this fit with the "official" story, it wasn't exactly a lie. Had Hogwarts not existed, and had such an opportunity actually presented itself, Harry was sure he would have taken it in a heartbeat to get away from his aunt and uncle.
"Here in the twenty-third century, in Riverside, Iowa, I have found a community that welcomed me without reservation, and I have found something I never had before: a family. Winona Kirk took a lost and lonely boy into her home, when she already had her hands full raising her grandson. She has been more of a mother to me than anyone since Lily Potter died in 1981. And for that, she has my eternal gratitude."
Harry looked into the stands of proud parents observing the ceremonies. He found Winona and Peter smiling broadly at him. Winona had tears of joy running down her face, leaving tracks in her makeup. Another one of "her" boys had just graduated high school.
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Harry staggered up the drive towards the farmhouse. The day, which had started with such celebration as he both graduated from high school and received the letter he had been hoping for, had lost all of its luster.
Kim had broken up with him. When he told her about the letter, about his acceptance to Starfleet Academy, Kim had been very quiet. Harry hadn't noticed at first, being so caught up in his excitement and anticipation. This meant that he would be leaving for school in July, and not going to the University of Iowa in the fall with Kim. By the time Harry had finally slowed down enough to realize something was wrong, his girlfriend had already made up her mind.
It all came down to incompatible dreams. Kim wanted to stay close to home, have a quiet life, marry and have a family. Harry wanted to see the universe that now lay open before him. They both knew that if he stayed in Iowa, it would slowly kill him. Kim knew herself well enough to know that going with Harry would kill her as the stress would eat her alive. And if they tried to stay together, with her in Iowa and him gallivanting across the galaxy, as Winona Kirk had done when her husband had been alive, she didn't think that she could stand the stress of being apart. In the end, two stubborn people who couldn't help but love each other, split apart because they couldn't reconcile their very natures.
The last sight that Harry had of her was of her face behind the drivers' window of her car with tears pouring out of her eyes, sobbing like her heart had been cut out.
Harry wandered around the farm in a daze, not really seeing where he was walking, just moving on autopilot. Eventually he found himself in his workshop under the equipment barn. He barely glanced at the magic practice range and moved to the Corvette. It had been lovingly restored and was once again a gleaming candy apple red, with black leather interior. He remembered when Kim had suggested the red and black color scheme, back in junior year when he began work on the interior and rag-top. Running his hand gently down the side of the car, Harry remembered all the good times and bad that they had shared over the past two years.
Had anyone been watching, they would have seen tears running down Harry's face for the first time since he was a toddler, in remembrance of the first real love of his life.
Harry drifted over to the workbench, still in shock over what had happened. His hand stopped when it touched the open case of the bat'le'th. The razor sharp blade gleamed in the lights of the shop. The blade had a slight discoloration on one of the tips of the inner cutting edge, a legacy of a time some months before when he had been sharpening it and Kim had accidentally cut her fingertip on the point while testing the edge. For some reason, the small area where her blood had been never had the same coloration as the rest of the blade ever again.
As Harry's hand drifted over the oiled handgrips, he came to a realization. As depressed as he was, working with the blade always seemed to center him and make him calm. He knew he was in emotional turmoil and needed the calm so he could grieve properly for his relationship without being self destructive.
Harry took the blade with him outside and set up his practice area. He set up several large hay bales as targets for sword strikes and hand to hand attacks. Harry took off his shirt and sat down on his knees with the sword on the ground in front of him and began meditating trying to focus himself before he began to move.
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Back in town, Kim was inconsolable. Her mother tried to get her to cheer up, reminding Kim that her father had been much like Harry. After four years with the fleet, he had come to the realization that home is where the heart is, and his heart was in Iowa. This didn't do any good in cheering the distraught young woman up.
After a while, Kim's mother suggested going into the backyard and getting some sun. It was a nice day out and maybe being outside would help. This is where Kim's friend Dee found her, sitting on the bench that Harry had built, under the old willow tree.
Kim told Dee the entire story of the breakup and how she couldn't go with Harry on his journey to see the universe or keep him here without destroying what made Harry, Harry.
By the time she was finished, Dee had decided that what Kim needed was lots of girlfriends over to commiserate with about what she had given up. Kim eventually agreed but didn't really want a huge fuss made of it. As Kim sat there feeling miserable for what she had done, Dee started calling all of Kim's close girlfriends. The only problem with having Dee arrange something like this was the Dee was an incurable gossip, as were several of Kim's closest friends. By the time all of the people that Dee had approached arrived at Kim's house, the news that Harry and Kim had broken up was all around town. The big problem with this was the story mutated with each retelling, like a giant game of telephone, until the facts of the breakup were replaced by a much more interesting but less truthful scenario.
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Steve and his friends heard about the breakup and decided that it was time to get even with Harry. By the time the story had made its way to them, it seemed that it had been Harry who had initiated the breakup, ostensibly so that he could follow in his foster-uncle's footsteps and tomcat his way through all of Starfleet. This, they felt, was a betrayal of "their" poor, innocent Kim.
Since Harry arrived in Riverside, Steve and his gang felt they had lost their places as the top dogs at school, so to speak. It never occurred to them that the only thing that Harry had done to any of them was get into one fight, one that Steve had started, and nothing else. All the imagined slights and mistreatment that they believed Harry had instigated were actually things that they had done to themselves. Talking it over amongst themselves, they decided that while, yes, Harry might be able to hit hard, he couldn't take on all five of them, right? With that, they hopped into Steve's truck and headed out to the Kirk farm to teach Harry a lesson.
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Steve's truck drove up the drive to the Kirk's livestock barn. Peter was in front of the barn, working on the brakes of one of the ATV's that were used around the farm. He didn't really pay attention to the truck pulling up, as some of the farm hands had left about a half hour earlier to get parts for one of the watering mechanisms that had been acting up and were due back shortly. The first indication that there might be a problem was when one of Steve's buddies grabbed Peter by the shoulders and picked him up off the ground, leaving his toes barely touching the dirt.
"Where's Potter?" ground out Steve, his finger jabbing Peter in the chest.
Peter looked at the four older teens and swallowed for a second before answering. "Harry's behind the equipment barn, but I don't think…"
"If we wanted your thoughts, we'd beat them out of you. Now get lost, asshole," said Steve. The boy holding Peter let him go, and Peter went to one knee while watching them head back towards where Harry was working out his frustrations.
Heading back into the house, Peter mumbled to himself, "I wonder if those idiots realize what sort of hornets' nest they are about to walk into?"
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Allison decided to go get a gallon of ice cream. For breakup parties like this, ice cream is a requirement, and the Mertins didn't have any. As she walked through the parking lot of the grocery store, she ran into Steve's older brother, Mike.
"Hey Mike, what's up?" she called out in a perky voice.
"Oh, hey Allie, not much. What you going to get?" asked Mike. He was about five years her senior and just trying to be polite.
"Kim and Harry broke up this morning and she's all depressed about it. I'm just getting some ice cream to cheer her up," she replied.
"Well that would explain it," said Mike in a thoughtful voice
"Explain what?"
Mike thought for a moment. "I'll bet my idiot brother and his pals thought that since Harry broke up with Kim, they would be able to catch Harry off guard and beat him up or some such nonsense. You know how they never liked Harry and always blamed him for their little schemes getting busted. Well, they're back at Mom and Dad's house, scared to death. They’re talking about swords and hay bales and crazy kids swearing in Klingon. I didn’t understand what they were on about."
"They are? Why would they think that Harry broke up with her? He didn't break up with Kim, she broke up with Harry. I got that from her, and she's hurting something awful because she still loves him," said Allison, wondering what those jokers were thinking.
"I know that Harry was taking karate classes down at the rec center. I've seen him spar a few times. The guy doesn't fool around and he's pretty strong. I wouldn't want to try and pick a fight with him. He'll win no matter what," Mike stated with certainty. He'd seen one sparring match where Harry kept getting back up when most people would have called it quits and stayed down. Eventually Harry's opponent had slipped up and Harry took him down in a split second. Harry just wouldn't quit.
"Yeah, I knew that. I never saw him fight, though. Oh shoot, I've gotta get going. Take care, Mike." Allison waved as she hurried away, looking at her watch.
"Ummm… okay. Bye, Allie," responded Mike. He didn't know what his little brother did, but he would find out eventually.
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Allison got back to the Mertins' home with a tub of mint chocolate chip, and asked Kim's mom serve up a bunch of large bowls for the girls that were there. She ran up the stairs to Kim's room and burst in, ready to share the news she gotten from Mike.
"Oh my God, you won't believe it! Steve and his buds are afraid for their lives; they think Harry's gonna kill them!" she burst out as soon as she got into the room.
"WHAT!!!" all the girls cried out.
A teary eyed Kim looked up from the photo album that she had in her lap. It contained all sorts of photos of her and Harry together doing different things. "Not Harry, he wouldn't do anything like that. Who told you that?"
"Steve's brother. I ran into him at the store and he told me the whole thing. He said that those morons went out to go beat up Harry and ended up running like the devil himself was after them."
Kim hiccoughed slightly, trying to hold off another breakdown. "I'll bet that they went out there and Ha…Harry was working ou…out with his bat'le'th. He does that when he's angry or frus…frustrated."
Kim turned to the back of the album and looked at the picture there. She put it down and burst in tears again and lay face down on her bed, crying, "Harry! Oh God, what have I done!"
The girls all looked at the page that was displayed. A single photo covered most of the page. The picture appeared to have been taken right after a workout. Harry was only wearing a pair of shorts and holding the bat'le'th easily at his side. A lazy grin was on his face while a sheen of sweat coved the well toned and tanned muscles of his body.
None of them had ever seen Harry like this before. All the times any of them had seen Harry in the past, he'd been dressed for school or working around the farm. Not once did any of the girls ever have the inkling that Harry was built like this and it surprised them.
One of the girls, Sandy, sat down next to Kim, who was bawling her eyes out once again. She laid one hand on Kim's back and sadly said what every girl in the room was thinking in one form or another. "Oh, Kim."
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The past month had been miserable for both Harry and Kim. Harry had done his best to stay at the farm and had thrown himself into preparations to report to the Academy on July fifth. Kim had gone past the farm several times but just couldn't work up the courage to stop in.
On the evening of the fourth, Harry was walking around the farm and just taking it all in. He would be leaving tomorrow morning for San Francisco and the academy. Everything was packed up and he was now just reminiscing about the life he had experienced since Winona had taken him in.
Harry stopped at the base of the old oak behind the house. He's buried Ron here when the Tribble had died of old age; like most small creatures with high birthrates, the Tribble's natural life span was fairly short. He smiled at the memories of the little puffball cooing like mad anytime he got a sprig of mint instead of having it blended into his water.
Harry moved on through the buildings of the farm, etching the structures into his memories. While they say that home is were the heart is, -- and Harry's heart was torn, part of it out there among the stars, and the rest with the magical world, wherever it might be -- this was his sanctuary the one place where he could take off whatever burdens he might be shouldering at the time. He wanted to remember it just like it was.
He drifted down to his workshop. It was time to finish putting things away and cover up the 'vette. Winona had said that anytime that Harry was back, the car was his to drive. Peter had promised to take care of it while he was away, as well. Winona also said that when Jim got back to Earth and visited, he'd not be allowed to touch it, not after the last time he's driven the car and wrecked it back when he was a teenager.
Harry was putting some of the hand tools back into the tool chest when a light cough caught his attention. He turned towards the sound and saw Kim standing there, dressed in a light summer dress, looking at him with red rimmed eyes.
Harry walked over and stared to reach out. He missed her and wanted nothing more than to hold her. As soon as he began to move, Kim was in his arms kissing him for all she was worth.
When they broke the kiss, Harry's brain needed to reboot, the two of them had never kissed with that much intensity or need before. All Harry could respond with was "Kim, wha…?" She put a finger to his lips, quieting him.
"Shhh. I may never see you again, but you didn't think that I'd let the man I love leave without saying goodbye?" she whispered. As she said this she reached out and pressed the button on the remote that controlled the lights in the barn, turning them off.
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As the Kirks, Harry and Kim sat in the shuttle station in Davenport, waiting for the shuttle that was to take Harry to the Academy and hopefully to the stars, Winona sat quietly watching the two young adults finally come to grips with the reality of the whole situation. She really couldn't yell at them for their actions last night; she knew perfectly well what the two had gotten up to, but she had done the exact same thing when her Sam had left as well. She watched the two kids -- no, young adults -- make their peace with each other, knowing full well that that they probably wouldn't see each other again.
A few minutes later, a man dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet officer came up to them.
"Harry Potter?" he asked
Harry stood up to face the officer. "Yes, sir. Is it time?"
The man nodded and moved towards the next waiting future cadet.
The family gathered around Harry one last time. Winona hugged him and said, "I may not have given birth to you, but you're my son just as much as George and Jim ever were. Never forget that. The farm is your home, too. You're going to be busy there but I want you to write when you get a chance. I love you."
"I will Nana. I love you, too"
"Harry, I'll take care of stuff here and I want to know what it's like there. I want to know what to expect," said Peter.
Harry reached out and ruffled Peter's hair. "Okay, I will, Pete. Take care of yourself while I'm gone."
Kim just put one finger to Harry's lips, a shy smile gracing her face. "No matter what Harry, you have a piece of my heart and I will always love you. Don't forget that."
Harry nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak.
The Starfleet officer came back over to the small group. "Time to go, Mr. Potter."
Without another word, Harry walked through the doorway to the shuttle, headed to Starfleet Academy. To his new destiny.
Chapter 7: Growing Up Is Hard To Do
"---Mr. Harry James Potter!"
As Harry stepped up onto the stage and approached the podium, he could almost feel his long-departed friends from Hogwarts watching him. Hermione would be teasing him mercilessly about taking almost three hundred years to graduate from school.
He cleared his throat and began to speak. "Our principal, Mr. Sharpe, asked me to speak today, not because I was top of our class, or captain of a sports team, or anything of that sort, but because of what he called my 'unique historical perspective'.
"As most of you know, when I was fifteen years old, I was an average student at a British boarding school, and the year was 1996. Since that day, just about everything has changed, but the most important of those changes had nothing to do with the nearly three centuries that passed between my fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays.
"Politics and borders and technologies may change, but it is the people you share your lives with that define the quality of those lives. Back in 1996, I was an orphan, being raised by relatives who despised my existence. I won't bore you with the details, but you can imagine how bad it must have been for a teenager to jump at the chance to climb aboard an untested space ship, risking hibernation and the hazards of interstellar travel at sublight speeds, just to get away."
While this fit with the "official" story, it wasn't exactly a lie. Had Hogwarts not existed, and had such an opportunity actually presented itself, Harry was sure he would have taken it in a heartbeat to get away from his aunt and uncle.
"Here in the twenty-third century, in Riverside, Iowa, I have found a community that welcomed me without reservation, and I have found something I never had before: a family. Winona Kirk took a lost and lonely boy into her home, when she already had her hands full raising her grandson. She has been more of a mother to me than anyone since Lily Potter died in 1981. And for that, she has my eternal gratitude."
Harry looked into the stands of proud parents observing the ceremonies. He found Winona and Peter smiling broadly at him. Winona had tears of joy running down her face, leaving tracks in her makeup. Another one of "her" boys had just graduated high school.
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Harry staggered up the drive towards the farmhouse. The day, which had started with such celebration as he both graduated from high school and received the letter he had been hoping for, had lost all of its luster.
Kim had broken up with him. When he told her about the letter, about his acceptance to Starfleet Academy, Kim had been very quiet. Harry hadn't noticed at first, being so caught up in his excitement and anticipation. This meant that he would be leaving for school in July, and not going to the University of Iowa in the fall with Kim. By the time Harry had finally slowed down enough to realize something was wrong, his girlfriend had already made up her mind.
It all came down to incompatible dreams. Kim wanted to stay close to home, have a quiet life, marry and have a family. Harry wanted to see the universe that now lay open before him. They both knew that if he stayed in Iowa, it would slowly kill him. Kim knew herself well enough to know that going with Harry would kill her as the stress would eat her alive. And if they tried to stay together, with her in Iowa and him gallivanting across the galaxy, as Winona Kirk had done when her husband had been alive, she didn't think that she could stand the stress of being apart. In the end, two stubborn people who couldn't help but love each other, split apart because they couldn't reconcile their very natures.
The last sight that Harry had of her was of her face behind the drivers' window of her car with tears pouring out of her eyes, sobbing like her heart had been cut out.
Harry wandered around the farm in a daze, not really seeing where he was walking, just moving on autopilot. Eventually he found himself in his workshop under the equipment barn. He barely glanced at the magic practice range and moved to the Corvette. It had been lovingly restored and was once again a gleaming candy apple red, with black leather interior. He remembered when Kim had suggested the red and black color scheme, back in junior year when he began work on the interior and rag-top. Running his hand gently down the side of the car, Harry remembered all the good times and bad that they had shared over the past two years.
Had anyone been watching, they would have seen tears running down Harry's face for the first time since he was a toddler, in remembrance of the first real love of his life.
Harry drifted over to the workbench, still in shock over what had happened. His hand stopped when it touched the open case of the bat'le'th. The razor sharp blade gleamed in the lights of the shop. The blade had a slight discoloration on one of the tips of the inner cutting edge, a legacy of a time some months before when he had been sharpening it and Kim had accidentally cut her fingertip on the point while testing the edge. For some reason, the small area where her blood had been never had the same coloration as the rest of the blade ever again.
As Harry's hand drifted over the oiled handgrips, he came to a realization. As depressed as he was, working with the blade always seemed to center him and make him calm. He knew he was in emotional turmoil and needed the calm so he could grieve properly for his relationship without being self destructive.
Harry took the blade with him outside and set up his practice area. He set up several large hay bales as targets for sword strikes and hand to hand attacks. Harry took off his shirt and sat down on his knees with the sword on the ground in front of him and began meditating trying to focus himself before he began to move.
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Back in town, Kim was inconsolable. Her mother tried to get her to cheer up, reminding Kim that her father had been much like Harry. After four years with the fleet, he had come to the realization that home is where the heart is, and his heart was in Iowa. This didn't do any good in cheering the distraught young woman up.
After a while, Kim's mother suggested going into the backyard and getting some sun. It was a nice day out and maybe being outside would help. This is where Kim's friend Dee found her, sitting on the bench that Harry had built, under the old willow tree.
Kim told Dee the entire story of the breakup and how she couldn't go with Harry on his journey to see the universe or keep him here without destroying what made Harry, Harry.
By the time she was finished, Dee had decided that what Kim needed was lots of girlfriends over to commiserate with about what she had given up. Kim eventually agreed but didn't really want a huge fuss made of it. As Kim sat there feeling miserable for what she had done, Dee started calling all of Kim's close girlfriends. The only problem with having Dee arrange something like this was the Dee was an incurable gossip, as were several of Kim's closest friends. By the time all of the people that Dee had approached arrived at Kim's house, the news that Harry and Kim had broken up was all around town. The big problem with this was the story mutated with each retelling, like a giant game of telephone, until the facts of the breakup were replaced by a much more interesting but less truthful scenario.
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Steve and his friends heard about the breakup and decided that it was time to get even with Harry. By the time the story had made its way to them, it seemed that it had been Harry who had initiated the breakup, ostensibly so that he could follow in his foster-uncle's footsteps and tomcat his way through all of Starfleet. This, they felt, was a betrayal of "their" poor, innocent Kim.
Since Harry arrived in Riverside, Steve and his gang felt they had lost their places as the top dogs at school, so to speak. It never occurred to them that the only thing that Harry had done to any of them was get into one fight, one that Steve had started, and nothing else. All the imagined slights and mistreatment that they believed Harry had instigated were actually things that they had done to themselves. Talking it over amongst themselves, they decided that while, yes, Harry might be able to hit hard, he couldn't take on all five of them, right? With that, they hopped into Steve's truck and headed out to the Kirk farm to teach Harry a lesson.
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Steve's truck drove up the drive to the Kirk's livestock barn. Peter was in front of the barn, working on the brakes of one of the ATV's that were used around the farm. He didn't really pay attention to the truck pulling up, as some of the farm hands had left about a half hour earlier to get parts for one of the watering mechanisms that had been acting up and were due back shortly. The first indication that there might be a problem was when one of Steve's buddies grabbed Peter by the shoulders and picked him up off the ground, leaving his toes barely touching the dirt.
"Where's Potter?" ground out Steve, his finger jabbing Peter in the chest.
Peter looked at the four older teens and swallowed for a second before answering. "Harry's behind the equipment barn, but I don't think…"
"If we wanted your thoughts, we'd beat them out of you. Now get lost, asshole," said Steve. The boy holding Peter let him go, and Peter went to one knee while watching them head back towards where Harry was working out his frustrations.
Heading back into the house, Peter mumbled to himself, "I wonder if those idiots realize what sort of hornets' nest they are about to walk into?"
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Allison decided to go get a gallon of ice cream. For breakup parties like this, ice cream is a requirement, and the Mertins didn't have any. As she walked through the parking lot of the grocery store, she ran into Steve's older brother, Mike.
"Hey Mike, what's up?" she called out in a perky voice.
"Oh, hey Allie, not much. What you going to get?" asked Mike. He was about five years her senior and just trying to be polite.
"Kim and Harry broke up this morning and she's all depressed about it. I'm just getting some ice cream to cheer her up," she replied.
"Well that would explain it," said Mike in a thoughtful voice
"Explain what?"
Mike thought for a moment. "I'll bet my idiot brother and his pals thought that since Harry broke up with Kim, they would be able to catch Harry off guard and beat him up or some such nonsense. You know how they never liked Harry and always blamed him for their little schemes getting busted. Well, they're back at Mom and Dad's house, scared to death. They’re talking about swords and hay bales and crazy kids swearing in Klingon. I didn’t understand what they were on about."
"They are? Why would they think that Harry broke up with her? He didn't break up with Kim, she broke up with Harry. I got that from her, and she's hurting something awful because she still loves him," said Allison, wondering what those jokers were thinking.
"I know that Harry was taking karate classes down at the rec center. I've seen him spar a few times. The guy doesn't fool around and he's pretty strong. I wouldn't want to try and pick a fight with him. He'll win no matter what," Mike stated with certainty. He'd seen one sparring match where Harry kept getting back up when most people would have called it quits and stayed down. Eventually Harry's opponent had slipped up and Harry took him down in a split second. Harry just wouldn't quit.
"Yeah, I knew that. I never saw him fight, though. Oh shoot, I've gotta get going. Take care, Mike." Allison waved as she hurried away, looking at her watch.
"Ummm… okay. Bye, Allie," responded Mike. He didn't know what his little brother did, but he would find out eventually.
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Allison got back to the Mertins' home with a tub of mint chocolate chip, and asked Kim's mom serve up a bunch of large bowls for the girls that were there. She ran up the stairs to Kim's room and burst in, ready to share the news she gotten from Mike.
"Oh my God, you won't believe it! Steve and his buds are afraid for their lives; they think Harry's gonna kill them!" she burst out as soon as she got into the room.
"WHAT!!!" all the girls cried out.
A teary eyed Kim looked up from the photo album that she had in her lap. It contained all sorts of photos of her and Harry together doing different things. "Not Harry, he wouldn't do anything like that. Who told you that?"
"Steve's brother. I ran into him at the store and he told me the whole thing. He said that those morons went out to go beat up Harry and ended up running like the devil himself was after them."
Kim hiccoughed slightly, trying to hold off another breakdown. "I'll bet that they went out there and Ha…Harry was working ou…out with his bat'le'th. He does that when he's angry or frus…frustrated."
Kim turned to the back of the album and looked at the picture there. She put it down and burst in tears again and lay face down on her bed, crying, "Harry! Oh God, what have I done!"
The girls all looked at the page that was displayed. A single photo covered most of the page. The picture appeared to have been taken right after a workout. Harry was only wearing a pair of shorts and holding the bat'le'th easily at his side. A lazy grin was on his face while a sheen of sweat coved the well toned and tanned muscles of his body.
None of them had ever seen Harry like this before. All the times any of them had seen Harry in the past, he'd been dressed for school or working around the farm. Not once did any of the girls ever have the inkling that Harry was built like this and it surprised them.
One of the girls, Sandy, sat down next to Kim, who was bawling her eyes out once again. She laid one hand on Kim's back and sadly said what every girl in the room was thinking in one form or another. "Oh, Kim."
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The past month had been miserable for both Harry and Kim. Harry had done his best to stay at the farm and had thrown himself into preparations to report to the Academy on July fifth. Kim had gone past the farm several times but just couldn't work up the courage to stop in.
On the evening of the fourth, Harry was walking around the farm and just taking it all in. He would be leaving tomorrow morning for San Francisco and the academy. Everything was packed up and he was now just reminiscing about the life he had experienced since Winona had taken him in.
Harry stopped at the base of the old oak behind the house. He's buried Ron here when the Tribble had died of old age; like most small creatures with high birthrates, the Tribble's natural life span was fairly short. He smiled at the memories of the little puffball cooing like mad anytime he got a sprig of mint instead of having it blended into his water.
Harry moved on through the buildings of the farm, etching the structures into his memories. While they say that home is were the heart is, -- and Harry's heart was torn, part of it out there among the stars, and the rest with the magical world, wherever it might be -- this was his sanctuary the one place where he could take off whatever burdens he might be shouldering at the time. He wanted to remember it just like it was.
He drifted down to his workshop. It was time to finish putting things away and cover up the 'vette. Winona had said that anytime that Harry was back, the car was his to drive. Peter had promised to take care of it while he was away, as well. Winona also said that when Jim got back to Earth and visited, he'd not be allowed to touch it, not after the last time he's driven the car and wrecked it back when he was a teenager.
Harry was putting some of the hand tools back into the tool chest when a light cough caught his attention. He turned towards the sound and saw Kim standing there, dressed in a light summer dress, looking at him with red rimmed eyes.
Harry walked over and stared to reach out. He missed her and wanted nothing more than to hold her. As soon as he began to move, Kim was in his arms kissing him for all she was worth.
When they broke the kiss, Harry's brain needed to reboot, the two of them had never kissed with that much intensity or need before. All Harry could respond with was "Kim, wha…?" She put a finger to his lips, quieting him.
"Shhh. I may never see you again, but you didn't think that I'd let the man I love leave without saying goodbye?" she whispered. As she said this she reached out and pressed the button on the remote that controlled the lights in the barn, turning them off.
HPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOSHPSTTOS
As the Kirks, Harry and Kim sat in the shuttle station in Davenport, waiting for the shuttle that was to take Harry to the Academy and hopefully to the stars, Winona sat quietly watching the two young adults finally come to grips with the reality of the whole situation. She really couldn't yell at them for their actions last night; she knew perfectly well what the two had gotten up to, but she had done the exact same thing when her Sam had left as well. She watched the two kids -- no, young adults -- make their peace with each other, knowing full well that that they probably wouldn't see each other again.
A few minutes later, a man dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet officer came up to them.
"Harry Potter?" he asked
Harry stood up to face the officer. "Yes, sir. Is it time?"
The man nodded and moved towards the next waiting future cadet.
The family gathered around Harry one last time. Winona hugged him and said, "I may not have given birth to you, but you're my son just as much as George and Jim ever were. Never forget that. The farm is your home, too. You're going to be busy there but I want you to write when you get a chance. I love you."
"I will Nana. I love you, too"
"Harry, I'll take care of stuff here and I want to know what it's like there. I want to know what to expect," said Peter.
Harry reached out and ruffled Peter's hair. "Okay, I will, Pete. Take care of yourself while I'm gone."
Kim just put one finger to Harry's lips, a shy smile gracing her face. "No matter what Harry, you have a piece of my heart and I will always love you. Don't forget that."
Harry nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak.
The Starfleet officer came back over to the small group. "Time to go, Mr. Potter."
Without another word, Harry walked through the doorway to the shuttle, headed to Starfleet Academy. To his new destiny.
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