8

Chapter 7-Harry's past Part I

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Summer laughed and patted her stomach. "I haven't felt this full since I found that nomad caravan three years back!"

After Summer got board of chasing Ozpin (and her exhaustion set in again), she was carried to the infirmary for a check-up and something to eat. Summer had instantly agreed and had been eating her fill since Glynda had levitated her to the infirmary.

Ruby was sitting on the side of the bed, watching her mother with childlike wonder. She had been here her mother had been brought here, simply wanting to be close to the mother she lost. She had been listening to her mother's explanation as to what had happened to her for eleven (actually closer to ten) years.

"So? You were stuck in those tunnels? Really?" Ruby asked, hope filling her voice. "You didn't just abandoned us?"

"Heavens no!" Summer shouted, slamming her fork onto the plate in front of her. "I would never do that!" She sagged back into her pillows as she sighed, "I always thought I'd be back for you and Yang, Ruby. I found many places I thought I could get out, but the Death Eaters use them to lure their victims in. Damn things are sadistic as hell."

"Like you?" Yang asked from her spot on the other side of the bed, a slight touch of bitterness in her voice. While Yang was ecstatic that her mother was alive, well, and back with her and Ruby…Yang couldn't keep a sense of betrayal and anger down.

Yes. The blonde brawler understood that Summer was essentially a POW of humanity's worst enemy, and she did try to come back to them, but Yang still felt anger towards the woman who raised her. It was unjustified, she knew, but she couldn't help it. Summer's absence reminded her too much of her birth mother's subsequent abandonment of her.

Summer turned to stare at Yang with a small frown. "While I may be sadistic, those demons are worse," she said with a shiver. "Trust me, you don't want to know more than that."

Glynda walked in with the rest of Team RWBY, along with Teams JNPR and HAIL floating behind her. After initiation, it was mandatory for the teams to get a routine check-up, but several students would skip out on it. So, it was Glynda's job to make sure they made it to their appointments.

And she wasn't about to let these twelve get away without getting the check-up.

The ten students were complaining, of course. They always did. But, the ones that grated on Glynda's nerves were from Team HAIL.

"Let me down, hag! I don't need a check-up!" the bull Faunus, Mr. Taurus, told her irritably. Glynda twitched. He had been insulting her since she "insisted" they come to the infirmary. He seemed adamant that he thought the check-up was a waste of time.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me gooooooo!" the redhead of the group, Miss Nightingale, begged. "I promise I won't get hurt again! Please! Just don't make me go into that sterilized nightmare, I beg YOU!" Glynda would have been shocked at her rather hysterical reaction to the infirmary, if she hadn't already read the young girl's file. Turns out, she had been kidnapped from her adopted family (who were Faunus) in a hospital, and several doctors (who were extremely racist) had beat her, trying to "convince" her to leave her family. When that didn't work, they drugged her, hoping to coerce her into agreeing with them.

Needless to say, it left her with a deep rooted fear of hospitals.

"This is quite pointless, Professor Goodwitch, ma'am," the fox Faunus, Miss Vulpes, droned. "Lily and I are the least injured out of the four of us. We have no reason to be here." She was the least aggravating to Glynda. Miss Vulpes wasn't actively fighting her.

Mr. Potter, however, wasn't so much the most infuriating one of the bunch, rather the most worrisome. "Great. Just great," he grumbled as they came to the infirmary. Since being lifted up by Glynda's telekinesis, the boy had crossed his arms and legs and somehow positioned himself on his side with a cross look on his face. "Not even at Beacon three days, and I'm already in the infirmary." He sighed. "Gotta be a new record or something."

The casual way he said this made red flags wave in Glynda's mind. Something about his bland attitude towards visiting the infirmary didn't sit well with the Huntress. It was almost as if it was a common occurrence…

"Well, if you didn't always do things the hard way," Weiss told the moping Harry.

"I don't always do things the hard way!" Harry denied.

"Then explain to me why you used 'that' instead of your Semblance!" she shouted.

"I couldn't gather enough Dust from the air to do much of anything!" he shouted back. "I would have been as useful as one of your suitcases!"

"HOW…DARE YOU!"

"Enough!" Glynda snapped. This was the source of her growling irritation and headache: Miss Schnee and Mr. Potter's arguing. They argued as easily as breathing, it would seem.

The two huffed and turned away from each other. Summer giggled from her bed. "Looks like my savior hates the infirmary," she teased lightly.

"Hardly," said savior scoffed, turning to face the woman. "It's just extremely tiring to see the white walls and smell the sterilized air of an infirmary after a while."

"You make it sound like you go to the infirmary on a daily basis," Ren observed.

"If Madam Pomfrey had it her way, I might have found myself there every day of the week," Harry said with a sigh. "Lord knows she's the one person I saw the most back at my old school. 'No safer place in the world,' a friend once said. Yet, my friends and I found ourselves in more mortal danger than when I was with my so-called relatives."

Everyone snapped towards Harry at that. "W-what kind of school did you use to go to?" Jaune asked nervously.

"The kind filled with ignorant, stupid, and racist bigots that make the idiots who hate Faunus seem nice in comparison," Harry said, making his fellow students' eyes widen. Blake turned to Harry with a frown.

"You're exaggerating," she said mildly.

Her response from Harry was a short bitter laugh. "There were laws back home that stated that if you were different in any way, then you weren't human and didn't deserve the rights of the 'normal people.' Or if you weren't different, but disagreed with the heads of the government, they'd do anything and everything to ruin you," he told the disguised cat Faunus.

Her eyes widened. "Trust me. I've been on both sides of those observations. Where I came from was no-where as nice as here. At least Faunus are treated like people here. One of my old teachers, a man I now consider my uncle, had a condition that he couldn't control; and he was treated like a rabid animal."

"H-How can anyone be so cruel?" Ruby asked, aghast.

"Because they were cowards," Harry said with a frown.

"Must be a lot more if you're tone is any indication," Pyrrha noted.

"Oh! I could say more, but those words are not suited for everyone present." Summer frowned at Harry. His words now, and his rant in the tunnels showed he must have had a rough childhood.

"I've DONE the impossible simply by having the audacity to live! I AM IMPOSSIBLE!"

Considering what he said he had to done since he was eleven, she would believe him when he said he was impossible. What did he mean by that? Had he lived through something so tragic that he found it hard to believe he was alive?

"My friends and I found ourselves in more mortal danger than when I was with my so-called relatives."

Was Harry abused? She hoped not. A child should ever go through that. Summer didn't even want to think that. Harry was so happy. So confident.

Pyrrha frowned at his words. There was more to Potter than she thought. Was his home life so bad before the Schnees?

Glynda finally stopped levitating the students, and they fell to the ground. Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, Blake, Harry, and Adam were the only ones to land on their feet. "Now that we're here," Glynda said sharply. "The nurses can begin your check-ups." She turned and glared at Harry. "Especially you."

Harry rolled his eyes as two nurses walked up. "Mr. Potter?" one nurse with a squirrel's tail asked. "Could you please remove your jacket and shirt? So we can see the extent of your injuries?"

Harry stared blankly at the woman for a few minutes. Weiss groaned and slapped him in the back of the head. "Do it!" she hissed, tired of his stalling.

The wolf Faunus sighed, and slid his jacket off, throwing it onto a bed next to him. Ruby stiffened and started to blush darkly. Summer noticed this, and grinned. 'So my little Rose has a crush on the Big Bad Wolf, eh?' she thought. 'Don't worry Little Rose. I'll make sure you get your Wolf…and I can pay off my debt to said Wolf.' Summer never was one to turn down an opportunity to play matchmaker, after all.

She did it with Oobleck and his wife, as well as Port and his wife.

It might not be ideal, but Summer needed to find a way to repay Harry. On the way to the team placements, he shot down all of her previous attempts to do so, infuriating the white cloaked Huntress.

This would have to do.

Glynda looked over to Summer and noticed the gleam in her eyes as she stared at Harry and her blushing daughter. 'Oh, no. I know that look.' Glynda looked over to Harry and thought, 'I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Potter. When Summer begins her "matchmaking," it will more than likely happen.'

Harry paid none of this any mind as he tugged off his shirt. He threw it next to his jacket and said, "There, happy?"

Weiss sniffed. "I'm not unhappy."

Harry sighed in exasperation. The nurses looked to the others. "Well? Shirts off," the other nurse, a human, said.

"What?!" Weiss shouted.

"The men, Miss Schnee," the nurse clarified.

"Oh." Weiss blushed.

"Now," the squirrel Faunus ordered. The men sighed, but they did as they were ordered. Yang, being Yang, decided to see who was worth her time (besides Harry of course!). The first one she saw was the bull Faunus, Adam. He had rock hard abs and Yang noticed with no small amount of satisfaction he had a twelve pack. 'Very nice!' she thought with an impious grin.

He had a myriad of scars racing across his torso, stomach, and back. However, they weren't glaringly noticeable, and only seemed to add to his looks. His red streaked brown hair was spiked up and swept back, seemingly following the path of his jet black horns. He still had his mask on, but it gave him an air of mystery about him. All in all, Yang liked what she saw. Very much. 'I wonder what he's like in bed.'

The next she saw was Jaune, and…well…Okay, so he wasn't as bad looking as she previously thought, she had to admit. He did have a fair bit of muscle on him; not enough to be considered buff, but just enough not to be considered scrawny. His blonde hair was still very messy, but now that Yang could see his muscles, she had to say the looked worked for him. 'Just…Not for me,' she decided.

Ren was next in her line of vision. Yang noticed he seemed a bit apprehensive being shirtless in front of a room of mostly women. She grinned at that. So he was one of those shy types, eh?

He had finally shed his shirt, and Yang noticed he had the body of a typical martial artist, built to kill and/or maim. 'Or fuck,' Yang hummed thoughtfully, thinking of…less than pure scenarios that she would love to see Ren in. Most likely with her. His hair was combed and laying straight, with a single magenta strand framing his face, giving him an exotic look in combination with his magenta colored eyes. He sported a six pack, which was a plus in Yang's mind.

'And last, but simply, NOT least!' Yang thought dramatically. 'Mr. Hot Stuff himself! Harry Po…' Her mind blanked out at the sight in front of her.

Harry stood a few feet away from her, grumbling as he unwrapped his bandaged arm, so she had an unobstructed view of him. He was lithe and streamlined, much like a marathon runner or a swimmer would be with an eight pack that Yang had trouble tearing her gaze away from. His arms were big, not as big as Adam's, but he certainly outdid Ren and Jaune. His midnight black hair could only be described as chaos. It flew everywhere, seemingly without care. His eyes, the truest green she had ever seen, mesmerized her. They pulled her in. Yang drooled as she eyed him ravenously. His physique was only further intensified by his wolf ears and tail, which were the same jet black of his hair.

And that's when her mind registered something else: His scars. Scars were sort of rare to see, because Aura did a good job in healing wounds, but there were exceptions. The first was if the scars were too old by the time the person's Aura was activated, they wouldn't be affected by Aura healing. The second was if the damage is extremely extensive, it didn't matter how good your Aura was at defending you, you would not leave without a scar.

The first that struck Yang were the ones on his chest. Seven crisscrossing scars that stretched the full length of his torso; from his shoulders to his waist. They weren't made in any sort of pattern, just randomly placed. However, they weren't repulsive by any means. In fact, like Adam's scars, they added to Harry's overall appearance, which was already drop-dead handsome.

The next scar was one on his right arm. While not as eye catching as the ones on his chest, it caught her attention nonetheless. It was like someone punched a hole clean though his arm. The hole itself was about three inches wide, and Yang had to wince. Whatever made that hole had to have hurt.

The last was easily the least noticeable. The scar on his forehead. Yang thought it looked cool, it being shaped like a lightning bolt and all. But its shape was unusual; she had never seen a scar shape so perfectly.

Yang blushed. She knew Harry was hot, but Grimm dammit! She couldn't even look at him without her heart fluttering! Summer saw this, and smirked even wider.

'Even my little Sun Dragon? You're going to be one lucky man, Mr. Potter!' She cackled silently to herself.

'Lord have mercy on Mr. Potter's soul,' Glynda thought in dread. Summer was going to have a field day with that poor man.

Harry finished unwrapping his arm, and everyone winced. The bleeding had stopped, and it seemed that the wounds were trying to heal. Several puncture wounds riddled his arm, but several were healing quickly. The biggest problem were the larges gashes the large fangs had made. They weren't too deep, but they were deep enough to cause problems.

The squirrel Faunus grimaced. "Well, it seems that your Aura is going about healing the wound. Why wasn't it working before?"

Harry hesitated for a moment. He debated on whether or not he should tell them, but he decided that lying might not be in his best interest. Madam Pomfrey had a sixth sense when it came to lying, and lying would only make her mad. He wasn't sure just how much like Madam Pomfrey these nurses were, but he certainly wasn't taking any chances.

"I…have a unique type of power, almost completely separate from my Aura," Harry explained. Not a lie, but not the whole truth either. This peaked everyone's interest. "However, I don't use it much, because the power mixes together with my Aura. As a result, my Aura isn't strong enough to defend me."

"That's intriguing," Ozpin called out as he walked into the infirmary. He had just finished filing some paperwork for the new teams, and the other professors had returned from their recon of the area that Team HAIL had found Summer. "Is this how you can perform several of the astonishing feats in the Emerald Forest?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed with a nod. There was no use in denying it now.

"We also did some reconnaissance on the hole you and your team came out of along with Summer," Ozpin explained. "We noticed that the ground floor was several stories down and was covered in black flames. Was that you're doing as well?"

"Yes sir."

Ozpin nodded. "Perhaps we can discuss this more later? I understand if you don't wish too, but I must make sure your power isn't a threat to my students."

"No worries, there, sir," Harry said. "I don't like using all that often. I rather like not being injured, so I usually stick to using my Aura. The only reason I didn't while in the tunnels was because I couldn't use my Semblance down there."

Ozpin hummed as he took a sip of his coffee. "So you won't tell me, then?" he asked. Harry paused and thought it over. He looked over everyone in the room and sighed.

"No, I'll tell you. I think I can trust you, Professor," Harry said. "But let's hold this off until tomorrow. After about 1:30."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "May I ask why, Mr. Potter?"

"Because after lunch tomorrow, I promised Pyrrha a rematch." Pyrrha looked up at that. "Plus, sir…I intend to tell Miss Rose, my team, and Ruby's and Jaune's teams as well." The nine mentioned were shocked at that.

"Harry? Are you sure?" Weiss asked her first true friend. She knew he didn't like talking about his past.

"They're bound to find out sooner or later," Harry said resignedly. "With you being so close to me, your team's bound to get curious, and I don't intend to hide it from my own team. Summer's already curious, and with Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch wanting to make sure I'm not a threat, I guess this way, I can gain their trust. And JNPR…" He looked to the four members of team JNPR. "I feel I can trust them. And I owe Pyrrha an explanation for my less than stellar performance during the tournament."

"You don't owe her anything," Weiss told him. Pyrrha scowled. Yes he did!

"Perhaps." Harry shrugged. "But I feel that they'll be hanging out with us a lot, so I want to get this out of the way."

Weiss sighed. If it weren't for the fact that she knew Harry was a good judge of character, she would be worried that he was too trusting. But she knew Harry was right. With his luck, it was only a matter of time when his past came out for everyone to see.

Everyone was now wondering about Harry's past. "Hey! Enough stalling!" the human nurse snapped. "Everyone make their way to a bed for your check-up! Now!"

That night, the three teams were asked (ordered) to sleep in the infirmary. They had all crashed several hours ago and were sleeping off the day's events. Summer was sleeping soundly, her arms wrapped around her daughters as they slept next to her (Summer having insisted to Yang to stay instead of finding another bed). Ruby was curled up into a ball next to Summer, snuggling up to her mother while Yang, being really heavy sleeper, was snoring lightly, sprawled across her part of the bed and nearly falling off the side.

A red aura appeared in the center of the room, right in front of Summer's bed. A tall feminine figure wearing a black shallow cut dress, a red girdle-belt, black thigh-high boots, and a full-faced Grimm mask walked through, and the aura disappeared. In her hand was a sword in its sheath, which had a rotating Dust chamber attached to it.

Silently, the woman walked to the side of the bed Yang was situated on, her black hair flowing behind her. She slowly began to reach towards Yang's face. Her hand was almost in contact with Yang's cheek…

*SLAP*

When her hand was knocked back.

The woman tried again, but Summer's hand instantly rose up, seemingly of its own accord, and knocked the woman's hand away from Yang. The woman kept trying, trying to get at Yang from different angles, but Summer continued to knock her hand away subconsciously.

The woman's hand shot forward again, but this time was met with a sharp pain in her fingers. She hissed quietly. Summer's teeth were latched around the woman's fingers tightly. If it weren't for her Aura, the woman figured her fingers would have been broken.

"Well, you certainly haven't lost your touch," the woman commented quietly as she relaxed her hand, and Summer let go of her fingers and crashed back down on the bed. "Even exhausted and possibly drugged, you still have the presence of mind to protect her." She raised her hand again, but this time she tried to touch Ruby, but Summer's other hand shot up and slapped it away. "And her."

The woman chuckled. "If I still had doubts on your identity before, this certainly clears those up." The woman smiled under her mask. "Welcome back to the world of the light, Summer."

Her hand reached down to Yang again, but this time she moved at a snail's pace, tentatively reaching for the sleeping blonde. This time, Summer didn't stop her. The woman stroked Yang's cheek in loving, caring way before she reached up and tucked a loose strand of Yang's hair behind her ear. Yang groaned softly, causing the woman to pull her hand back, as not to wake her, but Yang didn't wake up.

"You did well in the forest, Yang," the woman whispered. "I don't approve of you jumping into a Nevermore's mouth, but I guess I should expect that. You are Taiyang's daughter, after all." She chuckled. "And you take after Summer quite a bit." The woman took off her mask to reveal an identical, but matured, version of Yang with red eyes. "I'm proud of you, dear."

The Yang look-a-like placed her mask down next to Yang and walked over to the other side of the bed. "And here lies the little prodigy herself," she chuckled to herself. With the same movement she just tried with Yang, she reached down and stroked her cheek as well. Ruby sighed in contentment and snuggled closer to Summer.

The woman grinned at the girl. "Look at you. Only fifteen and already leading your own team here at Beacon," she whispered. "You're going to do great things." She frowned as she continued, "I just hope you are strong enough for what is to come."

She shook her head turned to the bed behind her, where Pyrrha Nikos was resting. "Hm…A Nikos…And…" She looked over to the next bed and frowned deeply. "A Valkyrie," she grumbled. "Thank God she isn't on Yang's team."

She looked over to the other side of the room, where the males were forced to sleep. The first one she caught sight of made her almost growl out loud. "An Arc…" she hissed. "You best not be like your old man, kid, or else you'll meet your end at the end of my sword."

She shook her head and turned the one to the Arc's immediate left. "Oh." She stared at the conked out Adam. "So you left the White Fang? That was a risky move, kid. With you gone, someone else might take charge. One who doesn't hold the old man's best interests at heart." She looked over to the Arc's right and raised an eyebrow.

"A Lie? Not many of those running around nowadays…" She looked back to other young women she looked over. The first was a young black haired girl. She smiled widely. "Ah…That's why you left, isn't it Mr. Taurus?" She walked over to the girl. "Well, I certainly can't fault on that one. But still…my point still stands."

She walked over to the next one, but paused. "So this is where you've been," she mumbled as she stared at Isabella Vulpes. "You're father's been going sick with worry. Pray he doesn't find you."

She walked to the next one and grimaced. "A Schnee," she grumbled disdainfully. "If it wasn't for your family turning over a new leaf recently, I'd end you here personally; Ruby's partner be damned." She sighed. "But whatever." She looked over to the last bed, and saw a girl with bright red hair.

"You by far are the most normal of this motley little crew," she whispered. "But there's something about you that's familiar. Like someone I knew in a past life…"

A groaning reached her ears. She turned back to the guys' section and saw a certain wolf Faunus sprawled across the bed. She schooled her features and walked over to him.

"And then there's you," she whispered fiercely as she came to a stop at the foot of the bed. "The Boy…Who Lived…" Her hand suddenly flew to her sword. She unsheathed it and flung the blade towards Harry. She stopped just short of his neck.

"I should kill you right here," she told him. "Then she will be safe. And you can finally rest in peace…with your family." Harry didn't even budge. "However…" She sighed unenthusiastically as she removed the blade from his throat and sheathed her sword.

"You found and saved my friend…when I didn't even know she needed to be found and saved in the first place," she said. "For that, I'll let you live." She walked back to where her mask was next to Yang. She picked it up and placed a small, light kiss on Yang's forehead. Putting her mask back on, she looked over at Harry and mumbled, "Don't make me regret this." She unsheathed her sword again, and created a red, swirling portal. Re-sheathing her sword, she walked through the portal with some last parting words to Yang:

"I'm very proud of the woman you've become, Yang…My beautiful little Sun Dragon." The portal closed off, and silence once again filled the infirmary.

Ozpin walked towards the infirmary with Harry's weapon under his arm, wrapped in a thick cloth. Professor Port had found it after "Sparky's" body ('Ah, Summer's quirks,' he thought) had finally disintegrated. It was unusable now, but Ozpin believed Harry should be the one who should decide the blade's final fate. It was his weapon, after all.

He turned a corner and saw Glynda coming towards him with a cup of coffee. He smiled. "Good morning, Glynda," he greeted cordially.

"Good morning Ozpin," she greeted back with a nod. She handed him his mug, which he gratefully accepted.

He took a sip of his preferred drink. "So," Ozpin said, "are you ready to for Mr. Potter's explanation, Glynda? Perhaps find out your family truly is descended from witches?" His tone was light, but teasing.

Glynda turned to glare at him. "My family was NOT descended from witches, Ozpin," she said tightly. "Why must you insist otherwise?"

"Perhaps I still have a little bit of that arrogant, full-of-himself playboy left in me from my time as a student here," Ozpin replied.

"Just so long as you didn't use your father's name like it was a viable threat," Harry commented as he walked past them, fully dressed in his usual outfit and twirling a whistle.

His presence shocked the two teachers. "Mr. Potter?" Glynda asked suspiciously. "You shouldn't be moving around with the wounds you sustained."

Harry sighed good-naturedly, and placed his whistle in his pocket. Casually taking his jacket off, he held his arm up for them to see, completely unblemished. "That power I mentioned earlier is extremely unique in its ability to heal nearly anything with the right amount of time, effort, and patience. I may not be as skilled in healing charms, but I can certainly piece myself back together if need be," Harry explained.

Ozpin hid his surprise well, while Glynda stared at his arm like he just said it was from space. "Your power continues to amaze me, Mr. Potter," Ozpin praised with a smirk.

Harry shrugged. "It can be a help or a hindrance," Harry dismissed. "Just like any other power in the world, it's whose wielding that power that decides what's good or evil. There's a phrase back home that sums it up perfectly: 'With Great power, comes Great responsibility.'"

Ozpin nodded. "Those are some very wise words," Ozpin noted.

"Yeah. So, what's under the cloth if you don't mind me asking?"

Ozpin smiled. "Why, your sword, actually, Mr. Potter," he said as he held it out for the young wolf Faunus.

Harry took it and unwrapped the sword. The tip of the blade and about half-way down from it were eroded away, easily showing the mechanics of the mecha-shift and mechanics for the sniper rifle. Harry grimaced.

'No way I'm taking this to Ultane. He'll skin me alive!' Harry frowned and took out his wand. "Reparo," he intoned, and Ozpin and Glynda felt a slight surge of Aura, though it felt more like something else to the two professors. Their eyes widened as the sword seemingly repaired itself.

"There!" Harry smiled grandly, holding the blade up proudly. "Good as new!"

"Impressive," Ozpin admitted. This power…it was almost like…

Harry scoffed. "This? This is easy. Transfiguration, now, that's very difficult."

Ozpin wondered what he was talking about, but he figured he'd find out during their talk. "I see," he muttered. "Well, I suppose I'll talk to you more after your match with Miss Nikos. I'll see your then, Mr. Potter."

"Yeah, see ya then," Harry said smiling as he walked off with his sword strapped to his back. He like Ozpin already. Sure, the man had his secrets, but the man didn't look at Harry like he was completely stupid and thought of him like a child. Unlike Dumbledore. The man treated everyone like they were children; hell, he'd seen him act like that to Professor McGonagall! And she was one of the most mature and best teachers at Hogwarts!

He shook his head and went off to the cafeteria for breakfast. He wanted to get something to eat before getting some training in before the match.

Beacon Academy Cafeteria

Lily walked into the cafeteria with the other eleven following after her, breakfasts in hand. She had woken up screaming when she saw the white walls of an infirmary, which just so happen to wake everyone else up. She felt embarrassed that she was scared of anything that reminded her of a hospital, but every time "hospital" or "infirmary" brought up in a conversation, her mind went back to her kidnapping.

To the beatings.

To having unknown drugs forcefully and painfully introduced into her bloodstream…

She shook her head of those painful memories. She couldn't dwell on her fears. Not now.

She walked in and noticed Harry already sitting at one of the tables with his sword strapped to his back. She blinked. When'd he get his sword back? 'And more importantly, how'd he fix it?' she thought

Ruby noticed Harry sitting by himself. "Hey, Harry!" Ruby said cheerfully, waving at him. He looked up and smiled as he motioned them to join him. Summer smirked.

'Time to start Operation Wolf Hunt!' she thought as she grabbed her daughters and pushed them forward. They protested, but even as undernourished as she was, she was still stronger than them. She quickly motioned them to the seats next to Harry, as she vanished in a gust of wind and reappeared in the seat in front of Harry, grinning.

"So! You're up early, Mr. Potter!" Summer said casually.

Harry blinked at her. "Well, yeah. I'm always up early," he said shrugging. "I was going to wake the lot of you, but I figured Ruby and Yang would want a few more minutes sleeping beside you. I didn't have the heart to blow a whistle in your ears."

Ruby perked up. "You wake people up with whistles too?"

"On occasion," Harry admitted. "Most of the time it's a bucket of ice water."

"Talk about a Weiss cold shower," Yang joked, making everyone groan as they sat down.

Harry, however, chuckled, making Yang's heart flutter a bit. "Certainly wakes people up," Harry commented.

Weiss glared at Harry. "And I want you to remember, next time you try that on me, I'm cutting your tail off," she said.

Nora narrowed her eyes at Weiss. 'That flimsy little snowflake best not hurt my Wolf Faunus,' her mind growled.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "You've threatened me with that since I met you, and you still haven't followed through," he said. "Why should I take it seriously now?"

Weiss huffed. Summer giggled. "Quite the relationship you two have," Summer commented, mentally frowning. 'This will be an obstacle.'

Weiss gave a long suffering sigh. "Oh, yes," she said, feigning a swoon. "It's so difficult! Being friends with this idiot…"

"Oh, how you wound me, Snow White," Harry intoned uninterestingly, looking away from her.

"I think she's more of a Weiss flower, than a Snow White," Yang piped, making everyone groan again.

"Grimm dammit, Yang," Ruby mumbled as she took a bit of her toast. She was immediately hit upside the head. She yelped.

"Language young lady," Summer said, eyes narrowed.

Ruby winced. "Sorry, Mom," she apologized.

"Besides," Summer grinned, "I found that very punny." Almost instantly, they all swore they heard Professor Goodwitch yell out:

"GRIMM DAMMIT, SUMMER!"

Yes. Yang did not get her love of puns from her father, like many thought. Nor did she get them from her uncle or her birth mother.

She got them from Summer-freaking-Rose.

Yang laughed lightly as everyone else groaned. Harry gave a low chuckle. Sirius would love this woman.

Too bad she was already married and he was dead…

"Anyways!" Summer said, deciding to change the subject. "I know you said you'd tell us about yourself later today, Harry, but I must ask: did you have anyone special back home before you came here?" Yang, Nora, Weiss, and Pyrrha ALL did a spit take. Did she just ask that?!

"Well, yeah. Several," Harry answered. "There was Ron, Hermione, Neville, the Patil twins, Susan, Hannah, Luna, Ginny, Fred, George, Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, Tonks, Remus, Professor Moody…"

Summer blinked owlishly. "No, no, no!" she said. "I mean someone 'special,' as in...A girlfriend!" Ruby did a spit take now.

Harry frowned. "Not really," he said uncertainly. "I've got rotten luck with women. If they're not total snobs, they either see me as a brother, or are a fangirl." He shivered. "I learned quickly that fangirls were the incarnation of evil."

"But no girlfriends?" Summer asked levelly, but inside she had a sinking feeling.

"Well, there was a girl I liked," Harry admitted. "But that was a disaster. She was still hung over her last boyfriend's death. Plus, I quickly learned I didn't like her that way. She was a bully of the highest order. And I don't see what girls like in me, to tell you the truth. I'm just plain ole' Harry."

This had several reactions. 'So modest!' Ruby thought with a major blush.

'You green eyed idiot,' Weiss shook her head.

'He's got half the girls in the whole school chasing him, and he thinks he's PLAIN?!' Jaune thought enviously.

'Oh, so he's one of those types,' Yang thought. She had her work cut out for her.

'He's kidding, right?' Blake thought from her side of the table. While she stayed clear of him because of her feline genes screaming "DOG!" at her, she would freely admit he was attractive in his own way.

'You just gave your fangirls another reason to pursue you, partner,' Lily thought.

Meanwhile...'Shit! Shit! Shit! Grimm-fucking-dammit!' Summer seethed, as she nearly slammed her head into the table. 'Not another Taiyang!' she thought miserably.

Taiyang had been her partner during their time at Beacon, and she knew better than anyone he was a clueless IDIOT! While Qrow had been the playboy of the group, Tai had been the dependable, likeable guy that everyone could count on.

But he was absolutely clueless regarding anything and everything revolving around romantic love. She had spent her ENTIRE time at Beacon schooling him (hoping he'd see she liked him), and what did he do?

Shacked up with Raven!

It was only after she had left for whatever reason, Summer went to comfort him that he finally got it! Sure, Summer was really upset he got his heart broken by Raven, but could anyone really fault her for being so frustrated with him?!

Harry sighed as he stood up. "But that doesn't matter anymore," he said. "If anyone needs me, I'm going to be warming up for my match with Pyrrha. Later!" He waved at them and walked off.

"But…It's only 9:30," Ruby said, confused.

"He's more than likely saying that so he'll be alone," Weiss said with a sigh. "I've known him for two years, and even before I knew him well, he was always a loner. He likes keeping to himself."

"But why?" Ruby asked.

Weiss sighed. "You'll find out after the match," she said dejectedly. "What I can say is that Harry's past is a difficult one."

Ruby didn't like the sound of that.

Neither did Summer.

Adam nodded absently. He could tell Harry had a rough past simply by looking at him. He was sure it wasn't as bad as his when he was still stuck in the mines, but whatever Potter went through, it impacted him hard.

Blake suspected Harry had a rough past as well. He did well at hiding it, but Blake's observation skills caught small signs that reminded her of Adam, and Blake knew he had a rough past. She almost didn't want to know.

But, there was something about him that drew her in. That intrigued her. And she wanted to know why. What was so special about this one Faunus?

Two and a half hours later. Beacon combat room (Audience Hall), Beacon Academy

Harry stood in the center of the stage meant for spars as Pyrrha walked up to him. He gave her a challenging grin. "Standard Tournament rules?" he asked. He had spent the last two hours training his mind, making sure he didn't freeze up again at seeing an image of his mother. It was time to see if it worked.

"Certainly," she said, grinning back.

The other ten plus Summer sat on the benches in front of the stage. Ruby jumped up on stage and held her hand up. "Alright! I want a clean, friendly spar!" she announced. She pointed her finger at the two as she continued: "This will be STR, where when Aura's in the red or you're ringed out, you're disqualified! Ready!" Pyrrha and Harry positioned themselves. Ruby looked at them and nodded. "Fight!" she shouted and ran offstage, leaving a trail of rose petals.

Pyrrha and Harry ran at each other, swords ready. They swung at each other; their blades connected with a shower of sparks. Pyrrha swung her shield at Harry, but he quickly dropped to the ground and twisted, trying a sweeping kick.

She jumped over his kick, but Harry rotated on his hands and sent his legs up, connecting with Pyrrha's stomach. She grunted and rolled away. Harry twisted on his hands until he could finally push up and land on his feet. Once he landed, he charged Pyrrha again, Hunter's Moon scraped across the concrete as he ran. Pyrrha brought her shield to bare against his sword, but he lashed out with a hard punch to her shield and his sword raced towards her legs.

On the ground floor, everyone was watching in awe. "Yeah! Go Harry! Kick Pyrrha's butt!" Ruby was cheering, causing Summer to grin widely.

'You're doing pretty well, Potter,' Summer thought.

'I've got good money on you Harry, so don't lose!' Weiss thought as she watched Harry's and Pyrrha's Aura levels.

"Go, Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted, knowing his team member and partner was going to win. It was just this gut feeling he had.

'This is going to be close,' Ren thought as he stared unwaveringly at the stage.

"That's it, my Sweet Wolf Faunus! Rip the gladiator girl a new one! Break her legs! Shave her head! Bury her in mountain of pancakes and syrup!" Nora shouted wildly, waving a large form finger that said, "HARRY #1." Adam wondered where she got it.

Then again, he probably didn't want to know.

"Come on, partner!" Lily encouraged. "You got this!"

Back on stage, Pyrrha stabbed her sword into the ground, stopping the blade and jumped away from Harry. She tossed her sword in the air, and grabbed her shield with her throwing arm. She threw it at him, but Harry had pushed the button on top of Hunter's Moon's pommel, and the compartment containing his old wand slid out. He grabbed it and shouted, "Protego!"

Over the two years he'd been on Remnant, Harry had only been able to replicate two spells with just his Aura. The Protego was somewhat easy to do because he just took his Aura shield and projected it outward, away from his body.

Pyrrha's shield, Akoύo, bounced off the Aura shield, and Harry dropped the spell and raced towards Pyrrha, kicking her shield off the stage. She cursed as she grabbed Milό out of the air and ran to meet the wolf Faunus. They clashed swords again. Harry went for a diagonal cut, but Pyrrha dodged and slashed at his thigh. He twisted away and kicked her sword.

He slashed downward, but Pyrrha blocked with Miό. Harry frowned and channeled fire Dust into his leg. He swung. Pyrrha cursed and sent his foot away via her Semblance.

'Thank the Lord he wears steel-toed boots,' Pyrrha thought as she went for a…less than honorable blow. Harry's eyes widened and he instantly jumped away.

"Grimm dammit, Pyrrha! I know you want to win, but don't go aiming down there!" Harry shouted.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted back and charged at him with Milό. Harry frowned and transformed Hunter's Moon into its twin sword form. Flooding his body with lightning Dust, he bolted forward faster than Pyrrha could normally see.

But she really didn't need to.

She used her Semblance to create a slight magnetic field around her. That way when his swords inter the field, they would stall just long enough for her to counter. As predicted, Harry's blade stalled, but only just. She frowned. Lightning Dust. He was using it to counteract her Semblance.

But he wasn't perfect, and Pyrrha had much better control. She deflected his attacks quickly, effortlessly turning to defend whenever her magnetic field was entered. A blade went towards her back, but she raised Milό over her shoulder and stopped the blade, which vanished quickly. The assault continued, and Pyrrha was starting to wonder what Harry was up to when it stopped suddenly, and she heard a loud voice cry out, "Expelliramus!"

Abruptly, Milό was forced out of her hands and into the air. Harry appeared and grabbed it and held it at her neck. Hunter's Moon was next to her waist. Pyrrha was silent as she stared at him, his back to her.

"Harry's Aura is in the red! He's disqualified! The winner is Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted.

Pyrrha was shocked. "H-huh?!"

Harry, however, sighed. The disarming charm (his go-to spell) was the second spell he replicated, but like the shield charm, they were extremely Aura exhaustive, as expected. Magic, as he learned, was denser than Aura, which is why bullets travel faster than spells. So spells that were created for magic consumed a lot of Aura to compensate for the lack of power. It was absolutely impractical to use in a tournament setting.

He stood up and threw Milό back to Pyrrha, who caught it in a daze. "There," he said with a lop-sided smile. "You're rematch."

Pyrrha was still in shock. "I…I beat you…" she mumbled.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course, if I hadn't tried out those two spells, I might have beat you. Those spells took a lot of my Aura to fuel."

Pyrrha looked at him. "You're saying that you could've beaten me?"

"Perhaps. My fighting styles does give me an edge over you, but your Semblance is difficult to counteract," Harry explained.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Our first combat class, I challenge you," she growled, but this time, there wasn't any anger or frustration. It was playful.

She had finally found someone who could match her step-for-step.

Harry grinned. "You're on. But first, let's head to Professor Ozpin's office." His grin turned somber as he said, "You've all been wondering about my past since I mentioned I was going to tell you. So, let's get it over with."