Chapter Twelve

"Are the prisoners of the correct stock?" Aro asked, interestedly, as Harry and the others walked back into the hall.

"One innocent. One completely corrupt." Harry reported. "The rest fit the bill quite nicely. Feed them well and they will be a good source for you."

"Innocent?" Aro asked.

"He will be released into my custody." Harry said.

"Of… course." Aro said, looking at Demetri. Demetri nodded firmly, before he left in a hurry. "Demetri seems impressed."

"I had to do something for the man." Harry said.

"The souls of the man's deceased wife and daughter were still attached to him." Alec put in. "Master Harry brought them forth to give closure to the man and to free them from their limbo."

Harry was impressed. Alec had made that up quickly and spoke convincingly, as if he knew Harry could do that. It even fit in well with his story for Marcus.

"You saw it?" Aro asked.

"It looked like a mist to me." Jane said, interrupting Andrea, who Harry had kind of forgotten was there. "But the man saw something and broke down in tears. Our master hid the cell to give them privacy after that."

"Marvellous." Marcus said. He was more focussed than Harry had ever seen him.

Aro swallowed imperceptibly. "Indeed, well done." he said. "I'm pleased to hear that you have stopped a grave injustice from taking place."

Harry nodded, seeming deep in thought. They waited only a few minutes, before the doors opened again and Demetri walked in with the former prisoner walking beside him.

The moment John saw Harry, he walked right to him and took his hand. "Thank you." he said, through his teeth. "You can't know what you did for me. You can't understand… You can't…" he broke down in sobs again, as he fell to his knees and wept openly, still grasping Harry's hand.

"I think I might." Harry said, soothingly, placing his other hand on the man's shoulder. "You will come with me and I will arrange for a suitable place for recovery, while we sort this out with the authorities, to ensure justice is done."

"Th- Thank you." he sobbed.

"What did you see?" Caius asked, not caring for the man's emotional state.

"He… he gave me a chance to say goodbye." John said through his tears. "They don't want me to die."

"The dead seldom want the living to join them." Harry said. "It's not a bad place, but you only ever get one chance at life. Eternity stands before them, so to wait for you is like nothing, to what comes after. Be at peace, John. You will see them again, and hopefully you'll have many stories to tell them. Live a long and happy life, so that you have good memories to share, when you embrace them again."

John just nodded, as he continued weeping.

"I'll be taking my leave now." Harry said, stepping away from John, who collected himself and stood up. "Tanya, Kate, have you seen enough?" he asked, as he held a hand out and Tanya and Kate appeared holding the hand, lightly touching down.

"Where did you come from?" Caius asked, shock written on his face.

"Oh, we've been around." Tanya purred. The in-between dimension was fun to float around in, but they'd not completely gotten the hang of directing themselves through the void which was that place. When Harry said it was a simple principle, he'd meant it. Application, on the other hand, took a bit more work.

"You spied on us?" Marcus asked, clear amusement written on his face.

"Tanya and Kate were of the opinion that something underhanded would be revealed." Harry said. "I'm sure they'll tell me later that there aren't any problems. Right?" he asked looking straight at Caius.

"N-No. There will be no problems." Caius promised. Screw trying to figure a way around this out. He'd be going to stop what he'd set in motion himself! Hopefully, he still could.

"Great!" Harry cheered. "Andrea, John, I need you both to take my hands. I'll be taking you to my home first to set you both up with what you need."

"Harry!" Aro interrupted their departure. "We'll see you again, right? To talk?" he sounded worried.

"I'm sure there will be no problems with that." Harry said. "I'll see you soon. I have to bring Andrea back once he's educated and to take back the cabinet."

Aro looked only slightly relieved, but nodded. "Thank you, Harry. You are a valued ally. We will welcome you back." he promised.

Harry nodded once and then all of them disappeared. Tanya, Kate, Jane and Alec used their own means of return, a second later. It was just another show for the Volturi. Harry not only possessed that ability; he could give it to others as well.

"You'd better start moving." Marcus said to Caius, with humour in his voice. Harry was fun to have around.

Caius didn't hesitate for one second. He was out of the hall instantly, to try and do some damage control.

"I hope he succeeds in stopping what he started." Aro said, as he slumped into his throne. "I'd hate to have to kill him to make an example."

"He needs to learn." Marcus said, before pouring himself, and Aro, a drink. Aro took it gratefully and downed the glass.

Back at Harry's house, he called Esme to find that she was about to start dinner.

"Perfect." Harry said. "I'll bring your new trainee over real quick."

"Trainee?" Esme asked.

"The Volturi found a chef." Harry said. "Andrea will need to learn your methods, so that he can start working."

"Oh." Esme said. "Okay, then." She sounded sad. She'd loved cooking so much, but realised that it was never something that they were supposed to do for the Volturi forever.

Harry quickly took the man to the Cullen house, before returning, to find Tanya had already made tea for John, which Alec had served him, with biscuits on a plate next to the cup.

"You'll be staying for dinner, before I take you to our house in Miami." Harry said. He turned to Emmett. "That's okay, right?" he asked.

"Of course." Emmett said, with Rosalie nodding along. He didn't know the whole story, but he was certain he'd find out.

WNWN

At the Cullen house, Esme was already demonstrating the platter and cloche. "So, when you feel the handle heat up again, the food is replicated, but blood-made." Esme was saying as she demonstrated.

"Ingenious." Andrea said, as he looked at the mince she'd replicated. He smelled it and smiled. "It smells like I remember!"

"That's a quirk of this kind of food." Esme agreed. "To us, it smells like what normal food smells like to humans, but their food still smells like theirs, unless you have one of these." she said, pointing out a bracelet she wore. "Harry made this for me. It dulls the smell in such a way that, while not appetizing to us, smells much less off-putting."

"So, you need the base ingredients, which you can then use to make meals for humans, all while preparing a dish for our kind at the same time." Andrea marvelled. "And the amount of duplication?"

"Infinite, until you run out of blood." Esme said. "Harry will likely show you how to go to the facility to monitor levels. I have to check our facility only once a month, these days, but there's more blood than we can eat and it restocks itself constantly from the sources."

"Marvellous!" Andrea exclaimed. "And the first setting will help me create things to eat for enjoyment. This means that I can serve what is necessary only, to keep stocks up."

"That's how I do it." Esme agreed. "I tend to make three meals for my family, but dinner is a full meal at the last setting. I can send food off with our coven who mingle with humans and they can eat those during their breaks."

"And the humans cannot detect it?" Andrea asked.

"They shouldn't eat blood-made food, because it will make them sick, but to them it smells and tastes just like their own food and drink." Esme said.

"I see, so that's what he meant." Andrea nodded. He'd be making food for the prisoners to keep them healthy, while he used those same ingredients to copy for the immortals. "What about copying completed meals?" he asked.

"It's possible, but it doesn't taste as good." Esme warned. "It's just as filling, but never quite as delicious as making the food from their base ingredients."

"Fascinating." Andrea said. His smile was large, though. "Mister Potter was the one who invented and discovered all this?"

"Harry may not admit it, but he's a master in the kitchen." Esme said, smiling proudly. "He's invented food that would make the worlds' leaders in the culinary arts, cry themselves to sleep at night, for not being allowed to learn his secrets."

"And you learned from him?" Andrea asked, with hope in his eyes. If what he was hearing was true, he could not wait to learn from the pupil of such a master chef.

"He's taught me a thing or two." Esme allowed, modestly. "When he's really in his element, things start floating around the kitchen and to his hands, at his direction, while he adds things in amounts, he can never really quantify, so I don't think us, mere vampires, would ever reach his level."

Andrea did not know what to say to that. Magic was a relatively new concept to him, but he was still eager to learn what he could. "What are you making for the Volturi tonight?" he asked, when Esme started pulling things from the fridge.

"I was thinking a thick broth, with some home-made bread and butter." Esme said. She'd already bought the ingredients.

"I can help with that." Andrea said instantly.

"I was hoping." Esme smiled. "Get washed up and put on an apron."

"Yes, chef!" Andrea said instantly, feeling like a human at his apprenticeship again. He had never felt quite as at home as he felt in that moment. He hurried to the sink and started getting ready, while Esme smirked after him. His eagerness was heart-warming to her. No doubt the Volturi had seen his passion for the food, and his enthusiasm at the possibility of being involved in this had made them choose him.

WNWN

Back at Harry's house, dinner was proceeding swimmingly. He was making pizza, after asking John if he had any preferences. John had suggested they just order some pizza, not wanting to make more work for them. It wasn't a bad idea. Harry had not made pizza in a while and never for the covens. No doubt Emmett would proclaim he'd found his favourite again. He might actually be right this time, though. Harry knew a wonderful recipe for the base and it would crisp up perfectly with just a bit of magic.

Dinner that night was a huge success and Harry was proven right, with Emmett stating that it was his favourite, again. He'd simply loved it, eating a whole pizza himself and stuffing another half down his throat. That extra half wasn't necessary, but it was a blood-made copy at a low setting anyway, just for him to enjoy.

He did not expect Rosalie to enjoy it almost as much as he did, though. "That was fantastic!" she exclaimed. "You will need to teach me that recipe. No doubt the kids will love eating that."

"You have kids?" John asked.

"Not yet." Rosalie said, placing a hand on her stomach, which had started showing recently. "The first is on the way, though, and I'm hoping for a few more, when we can have them."

"Congratulations." John said. He didn't know about immortals, but he knew something strange had been going on in that dungeon. The people looked strange with those red eyes and the robes they wore looked like an ancient design. He didn't care about it then, but he was starting to wonder.

"Thank you." Rosalie smiled at the man. She'd not been congratulated in a while, and it touched her that this complete stranger would do so.

John turned to Emmett then, having realised that he was her partner. "Protect them well." he instructed. "There are monsters in the world, who would hurt them just to see you in pain."

"Anyone attacks my family and they will see what a real monster looks like." Emmett swore, a scowl on his face.

"Good." John nodded. "You'll make a good father. Just remember, kids take effort, but they are worth every single drop of blood and every bead of sweat. When you get home from work and they smile at you… welcoming you…" his tears started again.

"What's happening?" Rosalie asked, concern on her face.

"Mister Hobson recently lost his family." Alec said.

"I didn't lose shit!" John exclaimed, through his grief. "They were killed! Murdered!"

"I am so sorry!" Rosalie said. She didn't know what to say, but she suddenly wanted to hug the man, so she did.

"It's not your fault. They are at peace." John said as he pulled himself together. "I think… I think I need to go rest." he said, as he gently pushed Rosalie from him.

"I shall escort Mister Hobson to his rooms in the Miami house." Alec said.

"I thought you said we were in Washington." John asked, looking strangely at the young man.

"Master Harry's house is just as magical as he is." Alec said. He'd seen the display before, spoken to his deceased family and had experienced the teleportation, so it was safe to say he knew about magic. "It can transport you between locations."

John nodded at that. His wife and daughter had told him that the man, Harry Potter, was a big deal on the other side and that he should trust him, but also to keep his secrets. "I understand." he said. Before they left, he turned back to Harry. "My wife and daughter asked me to thank you, for the chance. They told me you don't do that often."

"I don't." Harry agreed. "The afterlife is meant to be known only after death. I thought you and they deserved it. You're a good man, John. Don't forget that."

"Thank you." John said again, before he left with Alec.

"Afterlife?" Rosalie asked, once the stairs disappeared. Harry had found it interesting that the house produced the stairs for Alec, but not for Jane. Not unless she was in her maid outfit. It was actually a bit funny to him. The house seemed to have developed a sense of humour.

"Harry summoned the souls of his family." Jane said solemnly, forgoing calling him 'master' in this sombre moment. "He was a broken man. He wanted to die."

"Poor man." Rosalie said. She wasn't shocked at Harry's ability to speak to the dead. He'd even mentioned it before. Hearing it was something he'd done for the man actually made her proud of him. John seemed like a good man to her, too.

"Did the Volturi see?" Emmett asked.

"We couldn't see the souls." Jane said. "Only Harry and John could. Demetri did see him do it, though. Alec covered for Harry, stating that the souls were still attached to John and couldn't move on. It helped smooth things over. I think Marcus was about to ask after it, too."

"What did you two find out?" Harry asked Kate, changing the subject.

"It was as Jane and Alec suspected." Kate confirmed. "Caius had been up to something, but it seems he didn't inform Aro or Marcus. They did know he was up to something, though."

"He'll be taking steps to try and stop what he started, I'm sure." Tanya said. "Marcus really likes you, Harry. He stood up for you like a friend, even."

"I like Marcus too." Harry said, smiling.

There was silence at that, for a bit, before Alec turned up again. "Mister Hobson has been seen to his rooms." he said. "I will take his breakfast to him in the morning and check on him. Should I bring him here if he requests it?"

"If he wants to hang out here for a bit, I don't see why-" Harry started.

"No." Tanya said, sternly. "We can go to him. This is our home."

"Tanya?" Harry asked.

"I do not want to befriend the man, if you're only going to erase his memories of us." Tanya explained.

It was a good point. Harry knew he'd have to do something. "Well, I was not really planning on erasing his memories." he admitted. "I'll just bind him to not be able to speak about what he's learned and that will protect the secrets."

"Oh." Tanya said. Then she nodded. "In that case, feel free to bring him, Alec."

"Let us know if he needs anything as well, please?" Harry asked.

"You will need to set his records straight, if he wishes to re-join normal society, and likely provide him with a car." Alec stated easily, looking at his phone where he kept a list of priorities. It was completely unnecessary, with their perfect recall, but he'd started doing it as part of his role, and trying to maintain a human façade. "With food and lodgings taken care of, we'll also need a consultation from Alice, to provide him with clothing and we'll likely want to set him up with a therapist."

"Good point." Harry nodded. "Thanks Alec. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"The pleasure is mine, sir." Alec said, a small smile on his face.

"I'll get the car." Emmett said. "We'll need one once the baby is born, to get around, and he can use that in the meanwhile."

"Alice will come by tomorrow." Rosalie said, as she looked at her phone. "Jasper apparently has plans with you tomorrow?" she asked Harry.

"Oh, right." Harry chuckled. "Jasper feels that I'm getting way too liberal with his time, when it comes to Alice and shopping, so he's made me promise to be his alibi."

"Oh." Rosalie said, smirking. "Thank you. I'll keep that to myself, for now."

"It's only Jasper you'll piss off if you tell Alice." Harry said, shrugging.

"Besides that, you wanted to spend some time tomorrow on the Volturi's food device and doing something to the prisoners?" Alec asked. He still needed clarity on that.

"The way the blood is extracted, and blood production is increased, is a technology I brought from another world." Harry clarified. "Nanites and a form of blood sampling used to monitor and protect from the spread of diseases. There had been a serious outbreak in one world and humanity had almost died out, so medical technology had advanced greatly."

"So that isn't magic?" Alec asked.

"Well, partially." Harry corrected. "Before I went to that world, people were being forced to go to designated locations for tests daily and there were some issues that needed a bit of magical help."

"Harry tends to help where he can, with sustainable changes." Tanya explained. "That's why he's setting up the food supply for the vampires in such a way that he won't need to be here to keep it going."

"Why help at all?" Jane asked. "Kill those who won't change their diets and use your magic to force those that remain to not make more vampires, or to enforce the new diet."

"That's not sustainable." Harry said. "I won't be here forever to force the matter."

"We've had this discussion before." Emmett agreed. "You have to remember that, while Harry is capable of doing pretty much anything from our perspective, he always tries the peaceful way first, unless there are no other options."

"He's not like the Volturi." Rosalie agreed. "He's got the means to enforce things here, but only for a while. If he can get immortals to see the new way is the better way on their own, they will want to change and they will be able to enforce that themselves."

"But he's not setting up places to feed our kind all over the world." Alec pointed out.

"Yet." Harry corrected. "The first step is to let immortals feed on the evil of humanity first."

"You're using vampires to be your hand in culling evil." Jane said in realization.

"To a degree." Harry said. "Killing is easy, though. Change takes time."

"What's the next step?" Alec asked.

"We'll let Andrea learn his trade first." Harry said. "When he's able, we set up one other location, with cabinets that connect between Volterra and there. He can then start producing food for that location, or send ingredients through, with someone he's trained on the other side. They can even charge money and then make an income which will allow them to purchase another location and so on.

"In about twenty years, if things go to plan, we'll have sorted out both supply and setting up locations, where all immortals can arrange their meals." Harry finished.

"Since they only need to eat every so often, they can come in for a meal from anywhere and maybe even order what meal they want ahead of time." Rosalie agreed.

"Include alcohol sales and you'll have a system that no immortal wants to miss out on." Emmett added.

"You'd be surprised how often magical alcohol saves the day." Harry chuckled. "Cigarettes, not so much. Sometimes, though."

"Which proves that immortals and humans aren't all that different, really." Tanya added, with a smirk.

"Except for the life-span, your predatory nature, the fact that you're all super-models and the diet, not really, no." Harry said, only slightly sarcastically.

"We don't need to sleep and we have enhanced strength and senses." Jane pointed out.

"Fine, you have some advantages." Harry conceded, rolling his eyes. "Still, I've yet to hear of an immortal that bettered the world, like humans do, except maybe for Carlisle, to a degree. Something about being a vampire, makes you forget that there's a bigger world out there. That, or nobody's ever changed someone with a great enough desire to help humanity."

"When humans become your prey, you seldom care for their well-being." Alec pointed out.

"That might soon change, though." Jane conceded.

Their discussion lasted a while longer, but soon the sole human in the room decided it was time for bed. When he went, three of the resident females followed.

WNWN

In the next week, Harry finally had his meeting with the elders of the Quileute tribe and they welcomed him as an equal, despite his association with the 'cold ones'.

He showed up with platters of snacks, which he produced while everyone was rather distracted by nothing in particular. The idea was to maintain a bit of his mystery, while they met.

Billy had just chuckled, when he noticed the platters and smiled at Harry. "You know, we should be feeding you, as our guest." he said.

"I like to show off a bit." Harry said, easily. "Also, these are just snacks." he said.

The elders enjoyed the snacks. They chatted amiably for a while, while they waited for the bonfire to burn down a bit, before they went to sit down around it. Harry surprised them, by producing a hand-made quilt, which had a few designs and images, which only Harry understood, which he then sat down on, cross-legged. It was a gift to him, very long ago. It told the story of one of the tribes he was considered part of, but you could only understand it, if you knew the story.

"Is that from your time with the other tribes?" Harry Clearwater asked.

"It is." Harry said simply, before looking into the fire again, and thinking of his time with those people, and the family he'd left there.

There were a few looks shared between the elders, before they also sat down. They gave Harry a few minutes, before Billy broke the silence and started telling the story of the first of their people who took the shape of the wolf. Then he continued on to the time that their tribe met the cold ones for the first time.

Harry understood that they were trying to clarify some of what they had hinted around and stayed quiet, as the stories were told. When the stories were finished, Harry had drawn some comparisons between the people he'd met in the distant past, and these people. He stayed quiet for a while, after nodding at Billy. Then he started telling a tale of his own.

"There was once a tribe of the land." he started. "The tribe had vast lands, and a village near a river and a great forest, which they called home. They were a fortunate people, and the spirits smiled down on them. They honoured their traditions and told the tales of their forefathers, from which they learned the history of their people, and the lessons they had learned.

"One day, the great spirits came to their chief in a spirit walk and told him that they needed to change their ways, and to walk the land to the north, where the mountains protected their land from the cold of the north, but he did not listen. He told his people that the spirits were trying to tell him something, but that he'd not understood. The great spirits asked him again, but the chief said that their message was not clear.

"This continued for weeks, while the chief refused to change their way, because he couldn't think of a better life for his people, than the place he'd called home all his life.

"One day, the Chief went to speak to the great spirits, in his spirit form, but they refused to appear to him. He plead with them, asking why they had left them, but all he heard was silence. They were alone. He did not tell his people, but the chief confided in his son about what he'd been asked, and what he had done.

"The chief's son heard the voices of the spirits in his dreams, that same night, asking him to take his people, and only what they could carry easily, and go to the north. When he awoke, his spirit was awoken and he was a spirit walker, and he knew he had to listen, as his father had not. He left his father's home and started waking the people. They knew he was their chief, now, because he wore the horns of their greatest spirit guardian.

"It was the very next day that the chief was awoken by a great rumble, as the earth moved. When he left his home, he saw none of his people, but he still heard the sound to the south. When he looked, he saw the last thing he ever would. On the horizon, a great flood of water was rushing toward the village, as the ocean swallowed the land, after the Earth had moved.

"The man looked for his family, for his people, only to find he was alone, and when the water claimed the village, he finally understood why the great spirits had tried to guide him and his people from their home.

"There is great wisdom in the spirits, and they will sometimes guide you, but you will not understand why. It is not in their nature to give you all the answers, but if you are wise, you will trust their guidance. The people of that tribe escaped their fates with their lives, because their new chief was wise, but they did not do so without a large cost. Had the previous chief trusted in their guidance, they would have not lost so much and they would not have needed to start over with so little.

"That is the true story of the Xamlouchie." Harry finished, as he looked into the flames of the fire.

There was silence for a while, before Billy broke the silence. "Trust the spirits." was all he said.

"I don't know what your spirits represent, or what they stand for." Harry said. "But if you know them well, and you know you can trust them, then don't break that trust, because you think you know better."

There was silence for a bit longer, after that, as everyone pondered why Harry had told them this story. "Horns?" Harry Clearwater finally asked, breaking the contemplative silence.

"It was how their chief was known to be a speaker for the spirits." Harry explained, even as a set of curly bluish-green horns appeared on the sides of his head. They were ethereal, and seemed to move in the wind. "This is what it looked like." he said pointing at his head. "Their tribe only ever had one speaker, and it was inherited in the chiefs' family, but sometimes the spirits chose a different speaker, when the chief did not produce a suitable heir."

Harry then pointed down at the quilt, and pointed at the pictures that depicted a great wave of water, with a man on a hill in front of the crashing wave, with bluish-green horns on the sides of his head. "When a child was old enough to understand, this was always the first story told to them. The people did not want to ever have one of their own, make that mistake again."

"Why did you tell us?" Billy asked.

"Because the Xamlouchie were the ancestors of one of my first wives in that world." Harry said. "It was my first story from their people. I had to promise to pass it on to my family, when the time was right." Harry looked up at Billy. "I felt the time was right."

"Family?" Harry Clearwater asked.

"You know what I mean." Harry said. "Your spirits know my power, and maybe even some of my history, and they decided, like the spirits of the people from that world did, that I have a greater purpose, and wanted to bond our tribes. I know better than to argue with them, but I also know that I am respected as a conduit between the spirits and the people of the mortal plane.

"Shaman was the term used by those people, but I'm also more than that, so I don't fall under the authority of the spirits, as those people did." Harry said. "It's actually strange to think that, since they didn't see themselves as their superiors. They tended to think of the people as simply, 'their people'. It's like a parent to a child. You have hope for your child, and guide them, hoping they will listen, but they can still choose their own path. You always love them and try to protect them, anyway."

"You sound like you're a parent yourself." Billy said.

"I have been." Harry said, not elaborating. There was silence again, and Harry just watched the fire, as he thought of one of his lost families.

It wasn't so painful now, after a couple hundred years. He had spoken to his descendants a couple of times, to hear what had happened to them, but soon he stopped seeing his own features in those that came after he left. His eyes were one of those features that lasted the longest, but when that disappeared, and people started looking at him like the legend from their childhoods, rather than the patriarch of their family, it broke the connection he had with them.

The meeting soon drew to a close, after discussing the latest of their young to turn into wolves. There were still some questions, mostly about his magic and what being a spirit warrior, and shaman, had meant, but Harry soon tired of the questions and they seemed to respect his silence, after a bit. Then he went home.

WNWN

Time went on, and Harry had taken the time to instruct Leah and Seth in emotional control exercises and they'd passed that information along, as per request from their Alpha. It was a very welcome bit of information, since less accidents happened and Sam actually chilled out a bit. He was still a strong leader, but he was less demanding, even though the wolves still ran the woods to patrol for possible attackers.

Harry was surprised when Leah's father, Harry Clearwater, broached the subject of marriage a short while after the meeting. He was not a fool, but skirted around the edges of his suspicions, before subtly asking for Harry to make things official. Leah would soon receive a ring.

Harry planned to do something special for her, too. The ring would be made from a special alloy and would have a bit of magic she'd find dead useful. She would be able to go stealth, which meant that any who looked in her direction would ignore her, in wolf form, and her scent would be completely hidden. Only those in the Potter Pack would be able to tell where she was, and only when she allowed them.

It had been requested, not demanded, for him to supply the Quileute tribe with talismans, so that they wouldn't need to worry about their clothes so much and Harry had finally agreed, but mostly for the newest females that had joined Quileute Pack. There had been a few requests from those same females to join the Potter Pack, when they realised that Leah and Seth only had the ability due to being part of the Potter Pack.

Harry had yet to allow any more transfers, but he was starting to consider it. Jacob had gotten very frustrated that he couldn't speak to Bella about his situation, which, by Harry's estimation, should be something he could share. It may be his tribe's secret, but it was also his life. Bella could keep the secret, too. She'd proven herself trustworthy already, after all.

Harry had also finished the Volturi blood facility and Andrea had happily taken over supplying their meals. He'd picked up his old skills in no time. The extra work Harry had put in for procuring human blood meant that even with all the mouths they were feeding, there was still an increase in blood being gathered. He was happily surprised, however, that a few vampires actually requested animal blood for their meals and he'd made an extension on the facility and given Andrea another platter for that purpose.

WNWN

Carlisle came to Harry one day, while he was taking a day off, to read and spend some time contemplating what to do next. He'd heard that there were werewolves in this world, but he'd not seen or sensed anything of the sort in his time in this world. Perhaps a bit of a field-trip, when they found a clue? His systems were already looking for anything that might point to the location of such creatures.

"Harry, I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Carlisle started, as he walked into the living room, where Harry was sitting.

"Nah, I'm just thinking." Harry said, smiling at the gentle vampire. "How can I help you Carlisle?"

Carlisle sat down, when Harry pointed at a chair for him, while Jane, in her maid's outfit again, walked in with a tea service, while Alec carried a plate of cookies for the guest. "Thanks." he said to them, as they placed the items on the coffee table between Harry and himself, before he looked back at Harry. "You know that treatment you gave to those people?"

"You'll have to be a bit more specific than that." Harry smirked. He'd done quite a bit in his time in this world, after all, if, that was what Carlisle was referring to.

"The people with the eating disorders?" Carlisle prompted, as he poured himself a cup of tea from the pot with a droplet of blood symbol on the side, indicating it was for immortals. That had been Jane's idea.

"Oh, right." Harry said, nodding. "The ones that are now donating to the Volturi."

"Exactly." Carlisle said.

"Is there an issue?" Harry asked, hoping that there wasn't some sort of problem arising from the people with the nanites in them.

"No problems with the previous users." Carlisle said, smiling. "The problem I'm experiencing, is a massive amount of requests for people to receive similar treatment."

"More people with weight issues?" Harry asked.

"Some, but most are from people who want to maintain their weight, and to have the health benefits of the treatment." Carlisle said. Harry had explained it to him. The nanites technically did more than just artificially encourage blood production. They also did a host of other things that increases the amount of energy people had, which was necessary, since constantly donating blood would make people have less energy, and could lead to other problems. The end-result of everything, however, was that people that had the treatment, lost weight and became more active, while having an increased appetite.

"I don't know, Carlisle." Harry said, as he considered it. He took a bite of a cookie from his own plate, to buy some time as he considered it. The nanites were the self-replicating sort, given the correct circumstances, not that they were capable of that in the world where they were developed. It required supervision, however, and a very specific circumstance. Without what Harry knew, there was literally no chance of anyone activating them or getting them to function. He'd added some magical parts to the process as well, which protected them further.

He finished the cookie, before he spoke again. "The thing is, we need to protect ourselves in this. You get too much attention, and that would be bad. I get too much attention… Well, I think you can understand the problem." he said.

"I understand that." Carlisle said. "This is a technology that the world isn't ready for, and I agree with you that we don't want to give people, like the government, access to a technology that they could reverse-engineer to create viruses, or maybe even something worse."

"Worse." Harry said. "Trust me, nanotech can end the world. This isn't a metaphor, either. I've seen it."

Carlisle was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected that. "Really?" he finally asked.

"Really." Harry said. "One man with a grudge, and a bit of insanity, created a self-replicating nanite that grew out of control and started reconstructing the entire planet. Fortunately, it was an enemy planet, so it wasn't any skin off my back, at the time, but I'd rather not see something like that happen to this one."

"And the people on that planet?" Carlisle asked.

"Oh, they were space capable." Harry assured him. "They were able to escape the situation, but they lost their planet and all its resources. That made them need to rely on the Dominion and we had one less enemy."

"You've mentioned this 'dominion' before." Carlisle noted, after sighing in relief. "It doesn't sound like a peaceful kind of… organization?" he finished, with a question at the last word.

"In a galaxy with a bunch of advanced races, there were inevitable fights over expansion and rights to resources." Harry shrugged. "The Dominion was formed as a governing council. Whoever joined had the protection of the rest of the united planets, so ended up being given their fair share and people started living in peace. When I showed up, there were people rebelling against the Dominion, because there wasn't enough to go around and the upper structure of the Dominion had become corrupt.

"I had the choice of stopping the rebellion, or fixing the Dominion. I chose to learn what I could first, as I did here, and the rest is galactic history. It took a few years, but I put some systems in place and, boom, sorted." Harry finished. Carlisle looked at him strangely. "What?" he asked.

Carlisle shook his head, then. "You have so many stories." he said. "One day, you'll have to sit down and tell me more of your adventures."

"He's in a lot of the history books in his library." Tanya said, as she walked into the room.

"Hey there, Mrs Potter." Harry greeted her with a smile, as she came to sit down on his lap.

"Mr Potter." she said, before she kissed him deeply.

"History books?" Carlisle prompted.

"It's a library Carlisle." Tanya said. "It's got a lot of books."

"I try to stay out of the public light, most of the time." Harry said, before Carlisle could beg Tanya to let him see the library… again. "Unfortunately, there are some cases where I don't have that luxury."

"His exploits, when they are recorded, however, are always legendary." Tanya agreed. "I've found twelve books that are named simply: Harry Potter. And those are just the ones that are in English."

"The multiverse has a lot of languages." Harry agreed. "Fortunately, I can usually understand the native language of whatever world I end up on."

"You should see the number of notes on learning other languages he has in the library." Tanya said.

"Well, sometimes I need to learn, and I don't have perfect recall, as you well know." Harry said, defending himself.

"I accept you, with your limitations, love." Tanya said, as she sat back. "What were you two talking about?" she asked, as Harry enfolded her in his arms.

"Carlisle was trying to convince me to let him use my nanites on a few more people." Harry said.

"You told him about the dangers?" Tanya asked.

"Yup." Harry said, turning back to Carlisle. "So, do you still want to try this?" he asked.

Carlisle had not expected the amount of information he was bombarded by, but he finally spoke again. "Well, considering the amount of damage nanites could do, it's probably a good idea not to continue with this, then." he finally said, in defeat.

"Well, my nanites are definitely safe, and can stay off of medical scans and stuff, so it wouldn't lead to that, if exposure to them are controlled." Harry said. "In their inactive state, however, and with the right knowledge, they would still pose a threat. Such an operation would require many protections and someone in charge who I can trust."

"Let Carlisle handle it." Tanya shrugged. "He wants to help people, let him help people, but then make him the one that has to take responsibility." she smirked at the doctor.

WNWN

That conversation went around a few times, over the next few weeks and Carlisle ended up quitting at the hospital, to start a clinic. Carlisle didn't really mind, because Harry had supplied him with an entire resort in Miami, where people would come for weekend stays, and be given whatever food they wanted and 'treated' with whatever miracle drug they were using.

The resort had been a bit of a surprise to Harry, himself. His systems, as intelligent as they were, were able to figure out that a spa/retreat that had been hosted there, was actually owned, operated and funded by a human-trafficking group, who used the place to launder money. Finding paper trails on their misdeeds were also not really a difficult thing, and soon Harry had purchased the entire resort right out from under them, all without his knowing anything about it.

On the bright side, the system had informed Harry of the situation, when it had everything handled, except for the human cargo, which it had found and narrowed down to a few locations around the world.

Harry had a few options at that point, but rather than getting involved personally, because he just knew he'd end up killing people, when he saw something that he didn't like, he informed the authorities and had his system monitor them, when they acted on the intel.

Everything had gone over fine, until something happened that set Harry's blood to boil.

-Flashback-

Harry paled, as he read the report from his system, in the form of a text message on his phone. One of the human traffickers had heard what was going on as a bunch of his colleagues and associates world-wide suddenly started disappearing, as every country rallied their forces in a simultaneous strike to get to all of them at once.

Unfortunately, those same people apparently thought that there was such a thing as acceptable losses and risk, and one man had been overlooked, as more prominent and influential people were targeted.

Harry's system had intercepted and blocked a kill command from getting to the people who were watching their 'merchandise'. Unfortunately, it also informed him that the same man would not be stopped because his lackeys were suddenly unreachable. They had only a few minutes, before the innocent children that this particular man carried as 'stock', were erased from existence.

"Harry?" Tanya asked in concern.

Harry didn't say a thing. He simply disappeared.

"Oh, no." Alice said, as her eyes widened.

"What's going on?" Carlisle asked her, urgently.

"No, no, no…" Alice kept on saying, as her vision was filled with a certainty she'd never known before.

WNWN

Harry appeared in his house, in the server room, where there was a constant low hum of active hardware. A few screens popped up in front of him and started giving him specifics about locations, known numbers and likely scenarios.

He didn't want to waste a moment, though, so the moment he got a clear picture of the location, he focussed and disappeared again, only to appear in front of a two-storey motel. Harry didn't wait to look around, to gather information. He simply released his power from their normal constraints and 'felt' around for what he knew he would find.

It wasn't close to the motel, but he knew there was a secret passage that led from the building's basement, out to the desert, where there was likely another secret entrance, or exit. He followed the feeling and flew directly through the ground to the location he'd picked up, with his scan of the area. He'd felt human presences, so he knew he'd find something.

He came out in a tunnel, with concrete walls and lights, which were flickering due to his presence and power, and continued forward until he came to a solid metal door, behind which he found people.

In the centre of a large room, with many adjoining doors, all locked from the outside, were seven men with guns lying about them on the table, as they played some sort of card game. Three had been watching, while four of them were playing. Well, they had been, until the lights started acting up.

"What's going on?" one of the men around the table asked, as he looked up at the ceiling.

"If there's another rat, chewing on the cables again, I swear-" another one started saying, but Harry was already through the first door on the left. He needed to secure the children first.

He entered the room, to find it completely dark. He was currently floating in the in-between dimension, so he had not been noticed, and had been able to move through solid objects, but he didn't have a way to see in the normal dimension, from where he was. Fortunately, he had other means.

He slipped back into the normal dimension, before quickly going invisible. Then he cast a spell to allow him to see in the dark. If there was just one flash of light, he'd likely be blinded for a few minutes, since he needed to push the spell to the limits to be able to see.

What he found were five young children, laying on cots. There was a smell in the room, and he spotted a bucket in the corner, which was likely their toilet. It didn't seem like it had been cleaned out in a while. The door was likely sealed to keep both the smell down and the children from trying to escape. The complete darkness made it impossible to even try.

Harry knew what to do, in this situation, however. He simply turned the cots into portkeys and sent them off to the Cullen house. Carlisle would be able to check them over and the immortals would be able to ensure that they remained safe. Hopefully Esme would get them cleaned up and fed, as well.

Done with that, Harry continued down the line of doors. It was not encouraging. It seemed the kids were separated by age, or size, and the next room over had slightly older kids. And so on it went. Harry kept on sending them off, without them even knowing he was there. They'd obviously awaken on their way, but sticking them to the bunks for ten seconds would ensure they arrived where they were going.

In the third to last room, Harry found a room with seven girls in their early teens. He did not like seeing the bruises on their arms. It looked like they were being drugged, to control them. It was not a new concept to him. He'd seen it all too often. Addicts had very little chance of recovery, if they had been exposed for long enough. Unless you had magic, anyway. He'd sort them out, too.

He sent them on and went to the next room. This room had no children, fortunately. Unfortunately, there was a bed in it, which looked like it was put there to be used recreationally. Harry froze at that. The guards were all male. There were no women… His power flared again, as some of the darkness he'd seen in his life flashed before his eyes, but he pulled himself together. There was still one room to check.

Before he could move on, there was an exclamation from outside. This room wasn't closed, but Harry could hear angry yelling from outside. He went to go check that first, seeing a man in a very nice suit, yelling at the others. He'd just arrived with one other man, likely a body-guard. Harry was glad he'd decided to act immediately. Just in case, he made sure to block anyone from exiting the central room.

Then he went to the last room. What he found sickened him. His magic flared like he'd not felt in a long time, as he froze in shock. He did not notice the door to the room he was in, explode from its hinges and fly at the others in the room. He did not hear the crunch as two of the men were hit, and flattened against the far wall, by the same door.

He did not notice as he cried tears of blood, as his body protested the release of all his power. He did not notice the cement walls catching fire before they started to melt, leaving the bodies in the room perfectly intact. He did not notice as random magical effects destroyed the others in the main chamber, in painful and interesting ways.

All he knew, was the looks of pain and fear, on the faces of the dead children.

And then he screamed.

WNWN

Harry's ladies, including Leah, since she'd shown up ten minutes after he disappeared (because Kate had called her to let her know what had happened) were all at Harry's house. With no idea of how to look for him, they were just standing around in the living room.

It had been an hour since Harry vanished. Shortly after his disappearance, cots started appearing in the Cullens' front-yard, with scared children on them. Carlisle had taken one look at them and seen the signs of neglect. These children had likely not eaten properly in a long time. Esme was asked to start preparing some soup for the kids, who likely needed water and nutrients.

Jasper had helped with calming the kids down. There was a lot of fear in the air, no doubt to the sudden magical transport that brought them to yet another unknown place.

Edward was reading them, as Carlisle inspected each child, even as more and more showed up.

They'd discussed all their options, but there was no way of knowing where Harry went. Even Edward couldn't find the location where the kids had been held. It was likely that they were being kept underground, though. The kids all remembered waking up in the dark place.

They knew Harry had a fail-safe, though, so if he was in trouble, he'd be brought home. The ladies were all silent and waiting, so when a crack was heard, everyone jumped and ran to find out what had happened.

WNWN

Harry woke up in his own bed. He was instantly aware of the presence of his wives. He was tired. Not physically, but like he'd done a lot of magic in a very short period of time. His magic was not drained in the least, but the expulsion of a lot of magic from the body could sometimes leave a mark.

"Harry?" Tanya asked from his side.

"Hi." Harry said, hoarsely. "What happened?" he asked.

"We don't know." Leah's voice said from the direction of the door, where she'd taken a seat in front of the door. "You disappeared, and sent kids to the Cullen home a few minutes later."

"Edward got what information they had from them." Jane said. "We still don't know where, or why, but we have a good idea of what and how."

Mention of the kids had brought Harry's mind, and his temper, back with a vengeance. He shook for a moment, before he sat upright instantly, ignoring his protesting body. "How are they?" he asked.

"There aren't beds in the Cullen home, except for Edward's, so we took them to the Miami property, for now." Kate said. "We weren't sure you wanted them to go through the system." They were actually more worried about the exposure of magic, when the kids were questioned.

"Are there enough rooms?" Harry asked.

"The house provided more rooms with bunk beds when we asked." Tanya assured him. "John is still there, and he's helping out, with the rest of the coven helping where they can."

"Good." Harry decided. "How did I end up here?" he asked, then.

"We don't know." Leah repeated. "You appeared on the floor inside your bedroom. You were on fire."

"Fire?" Harry asked.

"I'm thinking it was a remnant of whatever you did." Kate said.

"I suspect that your protections kicked in, when you melted a large section of the Nevada desert into glass." Jane said, helpfully.

Harry groaned. "Not again." he moaned.

"Again?" Jane asked.

Harry sighed. "As my ladies, I expect all of you to keep this to yourselves, okay?" he requested, as he got up, to get dressed. He had no idea when he'd been disrobed, but he needed to start helping those kids.

The ladies all nodded, so Harry continued. "When I'm really upset, the limiters on my magic sometimes malfunctions, as the nature of my magic fights my control. I found something last night, which made me very angry, and I sort of… lost control."

"Wait, wait, wait." Kate said. "You're telling us that you are even more powerful?" she asked.

"I usually function on a few percent of what I'm actually capable of." Harry allowed, as he finished buttoning up his shirt and started putting on socks. "It's not a modesty thing, or anything like that. I just like being able to be around technology without frying everything electric, or with a microchip, in my area. Having a working cell phone is a plus, after all."

"The EMP was you!?" Leah asked, incredulously. "All of Vegas went down! The police think it was done for a robbery or something!" It was currently the biggest news in the country and you could see it on any channel.

"Told you." Jane said, smugly. It wasn't difficult to connect the dots, when Harry was involved and known to be in the area. The news channels were thinking the melted stretch of desert was connected, but it was only speculation. Everything from prototype nukes to a scientific experiment gone awry. To be fair, Harry's other ladies had seen him tire himself out doing some big magical things, but nothing to this scale. They were thinking it was connected, but not something he'd done himself.

"So, you're powerful enough to melt a mile of sand into glass and knock out the electronics of an entire city, just by losing your temper?" Kate clarified.

"No." Harry said. "I didn't lose my temper. I saw something horrific, and it caught me by surprise. Temper is too mild a word."

"The other children." Tanya said sadly, as she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, sitting down next to him. "I'm sorry you had to see that, love." she said, before kissing his cheek.

"I've seen worse." Harry admitted. "It was just…" he trailed off, as he saw the looks on their little faces again. The thing that worried Harry the most, was that he didn't see the evil in their souls. That meant one of a few things that he didn't like to think about, one of which was that the men thought they were entitled to act like they did. He suspected he knew his next mission.

"They are not in pain anymore." Kate tried, from his other side.

"Yes, they are." Harry countered. "Their last moments… I'll need to spend some time helping them move on." Fear, pain, confusion. These emotions, and others, had an effect on the passing of a soul. With one of them, there was a chance. With all of them, there was basically a certainty.

"This is why the spirits respect you." Leah said, in sudden understanding. He doesn't just protect the living. He looks out for the souls of the innocent as well. The thought welled her eyes with tears, for both his nature, and his pain.

"The Hobsons." Jane said, as something connected for her, too. "You didn't just bring them to help John. You did that to help them, too." she stated.

"It's within my power, so I do what I can." Harry said, as he stood up. "I'm going to Miami. There's living souls to take care of first."

In short order, Harry and his ladies arrived at the Miami house. Most of the kids were still being treated in their rooms. Some of the most recent additions were sitting in the back-yard, with Jasper standing close-by, using his gift to help them remain calm. There were no smiles, however, as should be natural for children their age.

Harry found Carlisle and they walked off to discuss the children and what he had discovered, doctor-to-doctor. Carlisle was even in a lab coat, to help the children see him in the right way.

"What happened?" Esme asked, worriedly, as she found Harry's ladies just staring at the door, through which Harry and Carlisle had disappeared.

"Harry found the children that the others remembered disappearing." Tanya said. "It wasn't pretty."

"He told you?" Rosalie pressed. She'd also seen them arrive. The look on Harry's face worried her. He was never upset enough to look like that. He shouldn't need to ever look like that.

"He didn't want to talk about it." Kate said.

"I'd suggest that you don't push either." Jane suggested. "He seems like he's still trying to recover, himself."

Esme and Rosalie just stared at the door, much like the other ladies had been, until Esme shook herself and went back to the kitchen. There were many mouths to feed, and now she intended to make something nice for Harry, too. She remembered him loving the curry she'd made before. Maybe she'll do that again.

Rosalie, having not left the children since the previous night, decided to go help Esme, since she was now learning to cook for mortals, too. She intended to feed her own children, one day, after all. With so many kids around, she could see if she had the required skill.

WNWN

Harry spent the majority of the next two days, fixing their bodies, and where necessary, their minds. He used the opportunity to erase the worst memories, and the memory of their lost friends. They were too young to carry such a burden. He didn't remove the memory of being taken, though. Some of the kids had made the mistake of trusting strangers, and was therefore easy targets. Better to learn from that particular experience.

By the end of the second day, there were actually a few smiles and a bit of laughter. Harry had been making lists of names and contact info, so that the children could be returned to their parents, where they had those. There were a few who were taken from the streets, so they were planning on making a different plan for those kids.

On the third day, Harry started taking the kids home, but not before making it impossible for them to talk about the magic, and then proceeding to give them a magic show unlike anything they'd ever seen before. Flying conjurations and magical toys were in abundance. Cartoon characters, brought to life to play with them and some strange creatures named Pokémon, or something, that cuddled up with them and played with them, and each other, while repeating their own names as a form of communication. Harry hadn't seen anything like that before, but one kid had been an avid watcher of the show, and the memories had helped Harry produce something believable.

By the time the kids were taken home, all of them had smiled at least a few times, and spirits were up. Harry took all of those that had them to their homes, and waited to be sure they found their parents and loved ones, before stealthily disappearing again.

It was a long day, and by the time Harry was done delivering the last of the children, the orphans, to an orphanage, where Carlisle had arranged a place, and some extra funding for them, he went directly home to Forks, where his ladies were already waiting for him in bed.

They had not been very amorous, since this whole thing started, but they were there for their lover, and Leah had taken the opportunity to simply tell her father that she was moving to Harry's house, to help him cope with something personal. Harry Clearwater had not asked, because Seth had gotten enough information to tell his dad what was going on, without giving anything away.

He was not happy that his little girl was moving away, but he trusted Harry to keep her safe. Fortunately, she'd shown her father her new ring, before dropping the bomb of moving out. It had actually helped.

Harry fell into bed, with his ladies taking positions next to him, and cuddling in close.

-End Flashback-