Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Just Another Perfect Soldier ❯ The Beginnings of Revenge ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: Sorry for the long wait BUT I've transferred into a different department at work- which is more like three departments at once- so I'm still training for that. I had about three pages of this wrote when I lost my …mojo for this particular fic and took a bit of a break. THEN I entered mintapotter's Drabble competition…and placed second. Go me!
 
So here's an update and I'm trying to get the next chapter of Pretty Little Lies out sometimes in the next two weeks.
 
Chapter Seven: The Beginnings of Revenge
 
One week.
Hogwarts had been in session for one week and already Harry felt as though he were going mad. If something didn't give, and soon, the Boy-Who-Lived was going to end up killing someone.
Really.
The presence, Zero-what Harry had ended up calling the weird whisper in his mind for some strange reason- had gleefully shown him that he was a danger to the people around him. He'd been a moment away from simply disabling his five Preventer bodyguards to killing them when Remus had interrupted him in the Hospital Wing.
Which brought up a whole other bunk load of problems the teenage wizard did not want to face.
Whatever had happened, whatever experimentation Voldemort had done on him, Harry knew he was irrevocably changed. This Dr. J had taken the innocent part of Harry James Potter and brutally clubbed it to death before reprogramming him into this robotic version of a ruthless killer, one that had some sort of wonky numbers program predicting dangers and enemies left and right. And while Gryffindor Harry was one tenacious little bugger at the best of times, he knew that without Slytherin Harry's iron-clad control, he would have lost his tentative hold over it before now.
Waking up in the Hospital Wing the next day had been a trial and a half for Harry, having to face up to his strange behavior in the cold morning light. Gryffindor Harry had cringed violently at the large bruise still trying to fade away on Wufei's face. The action had not gone un-noticed and seemed to soften the five Preventers into believing that Harry still had no recollection of his missing month or the day before. Trowa and Heero were their regular stone-faced selves but for the past week everyone seemed to want to forget the moment in the Hospital Wing had ever happened.
Slytherin Harry scoffed at them in disgust. Couldn't they tell that Harry's confusion near the end hadn't been a wipe but a reboot instead?
Slytherin Harry had then commented on how stupidity like that would get them killed. Gryffindor Harry slapped his counterpart into a stunned, blissful silence.
While talking about `Harry's Moment' wasn't the favorite `To Do' on the list, the repercussions of it were making the jade-eyed wizard wish harshly that he were back in Voldemort's hold. One of his five bodyguards was always at his side-always. Harry had not-so-politely told Heero where he could go when the Japanese wizard had tried to follow him into one of the washroom stalls on the first day of classes. Trowa and Wufei were always, always awake in the mornings when he left his dorm-the one shared with Heero- while Duo and Quatre seemed to have some sort of freakishly annoying night-owl tendencies.
The constant supervision had put a serious cramp in his plans for the base Dumbledore had mentioned when he believed Harry to be too far gone to listen in. Harry knew that base- inside and out. He'd been there once as Emerald. Whatever information Snape had given Dumbledore would barely scratch the surface of what Harry knew of Voldemort and his strongholds.
Dumbledore wanted to watch the base, maybe even send someone in to scope it out before setting the Aurors on it.
Harry wanted to blow it up.
There a slight difference in the plans it seemed, but Harry's wouldn't matter much if he couldn't get out from under the notice of his five watchdogs.
True, he had some time before the Order even began to make a move but Heero, Trowa and Duo especially, were still on high alert. Wufei didn't seem to care much for him and Quatre had some sort of creepy sixth sense that allowed him to keep a constant eye on Harry.
Until they let their guard down again, all he could do was bide his time and plan.
Worse, in some ways, than his five shadows was the time Harry spent with Ron and Hermione. The couple had just discovered their feelings for each other, making them skittish and awkward to be around. Ron blushed at random times for no reason at all- Harry ignored the numbers at the back of his mind telling him exactly what Ron was thinking and how those thoughts were affecting his body-ew- and Hermione was more girly than usual.
She was also, Harry had come to find, very suspicious of him.
The bushy-haired witch still had her head buried in as many books about memory loss as possible. She would ask sudden questions about Harry's state of mind- questions that would make Zero's numbers run and re-assess her threat score.
It was late one September evening, as Harry ignored Ron and Hermione's bickering about homework- and the hovering of his five bodyguards all throughout the library- that he found the answer.
Its simplicity stunned Harry for a moment before Zero started calculating the probability of success and mapping out a plan of action.
Mandrake leaves, when burned, gave off an odorless gas that put its victims in a deep, dream-filled sleep.
…if you weren't immune.
Harry ran a diagnostics over his improvements since Dr. J and bit back a smirk as an immunity to Mandrakes popped up. He had a plan, immunity and an innocent face. Now all he needed were Mandrake leaves.
That required a trip to Greenhouse three.
~!~
 
It took a week to get the leaves as Herbology Class was the only time Harry could realistically be near the Greenhouses without having his five shadows hovering worriedly. Or annoyingly. Or suspiciously. Or grudgingly.
Madame Sprout had brought the Seventh Years back to Greenhouse Three to study the Venomous Tentacula- which had finally finished teething after nearly five years. While everyone else had been busy trying to escape the plant's spiky branches, Harry had taken advantage of Zero and used its ability to predict the Tentacula's movements- and the general panic- to snatch a few Mandrake leaves off of the new sproutlings sitting in the tray.
Neville had ended up unconscious from the resulting screech but best of all Harry bodyguards were none the wiser of his thieving ways.
It was Thursday night, with just under an hour left until curfew, and the messy-haired wizard was waiting patiently for the word from Zero to burn the leaves.
Wufei had dragged Duo off to the library, under the guise of retrieving books for their Potions assignments. Harry knew they had actually gone off to snog in the back of the book shelves- a popular place for couples to hide.
Quatre, and obviously Trowa, had left just moments ago to raid the kitchens for a tray of tea for the whole group. Harry had no doubt of the blond's sincere intentions but predicted Trowa would `accidentally' distract his lover from his `mission'.
Or at least Zero was ninety-five point seven percent sure of that course of action on the tall wizard's part, but Harry had found there to always be a slight margin of error with the program no matter what the prediction.
Either way, that left him sitting in an almost heavy silence with the mysteriously handsome Heero Yuy. The Japanese wizard was unbearably intriguing to both Harry and Zero- the latter seeming to find the other teen familiar in a strange sort of way.
Harry found it….amazing that someone so imposing, so intense, so stand-offish could be friends with Duo and Quatre without making things awkward. Or with the mercurial Wufei without the two of them at each other's throats. Only his friendship with Trowa- and it sometimes seemed like the only thing those two did was smirk or grunt at each other- was a bit understandable.
Of course, there were moments when Harry felt that if anyone were able to understand how he felt- what he'd been through- it would be Heero. If he ever believed someone to find out his secret it would be him.
At the moment, Heero sat directly across from the jade-eyed wizard, his own blue gaze kept sternly on the book before him, his back to the wall and every line in his body screaming `TENSION'.
The fireplace crackled, making the teen twitch almost unnoticeably. Harry smirked. Heero was nervous around him- interesting.
The Gryffindor looked up at his solitary bodyguard, keeping his face blank in an innocently curious sort of way as he spoke.
“Can I ask you a question? You needn't answer if it be too personal.”
Heero visibly jerked at Harry's soft spoken inquiry. His blue eyes shot up from his book, roaming the room, assessing everything as inconsequential or a threat before replying.
“Hn.”
Here Harry cocked his head to the side, feeling a mite teasing.
“Hn. What does that mean?” At Heero's blank stare he continued. “Is it a yes? Or a no? An `I-Don't-Care'? Perhaps it's a veiled death threat.”
Heero shot him what Duo claimed to be a patented Heero Yuy Glare of Death. Grrr. Harry marveled that the simple narrowing of Heero's oddly expressive and completely blank eyes could tell so much about the other's mood.
He, Harry James Potter, was quickly beginning to irritate Heero Yuy.
“Never mind that- it's not really my question and I have the feeling I'll only get one with you.”
Those dark blue eyes narrowed just a fraction more, and Zero gave warning for him to hurry the hell up.
“How did you become a Preventer at such a young age? All five of you actually. It's rather obvious that you are close and used to working together but I know you can't be more than a year older than me.”
Heero didn't look away from Harry as they sat in silence, the fire burning between them. It almost felt as though Heero were reading him, seeing if Harry was worthy- or rather trustworthy- of knowing the truth behind their easy camaraderie.
Then he blinked and shifted his eyes back down to his book.
“You're right- it's too personal. Do your work.”
Harry bristled at the order, fighting the urge to comply as well as the one to simply toss his book at Heero's head for being so….Heero. When in doubt, give out orders.
A sudden thought struck his mind, making Harry freeze in realization.
Heero was a bloody control freak.
Everything was meant to work by his master plan or not at all- as the alarm clock in their room that had run a bit too fast had found out. Heero had given them rules without anyone questioning it, or even noticing for that matter. And when things did not go as plan they were either forced or eliminated in such a way that only the ever cool, logical Heero Yuy could achieve.
No wonder Zero liked him so much- they were cut from the same damn fabric.
Gryffindor Harry wondered in sulkily if Heero was part computer as well. Zero automatically filled his mind with the make-believe image of Heero plugging himself in every night before bed. Harry's own surprise at seeing the image and an almost playful side of Zero overshadowed his awareness of the other four arriving.
“Does not compute...” Harry muttered to himself, knowing full well that Heero was not in any way robotic. Robots weren't that damn hot.
A loud voice behind him nearly had the jade-eyed wizard trying to jam his quill through the speaker's eye.
“Does not compute? You've only spent two hours alone with Heero and already he's rubbing off on you!” Duo's tone was teasing but his quick eyes caught Harry's form tensing.
“I can't seem to get the wording of my potions essay correct.” Harry lied, crunching up another ball of parchment and tossing it into the fire-pile. He already had the leaves rolled into a different parchment ball that was stuffed in his pocket- now all he had to do was make enough scrapes to require a mass trip to the fire place and the Mandrake leaves would do the rest.
Quatre smiled at him kindly. “What are you writing about? Perhaps I could help.”
Harry made a face that wasn't entirely faked- he really did hate Potions if only now because the many possible futures seemed to be conspiring to give him a headache.
“The theories behind using a bezor in the Wolfsbane Potion.”
Quatre blinked. “Um, perhaps you would be better off without my help in this one.”
Harry glared at his blank essay. “I suppose this is my fault for letting Professor McGonagall know I had the passing thought of becoming an Auror.”
“Passing thought?” Duo and Quatre stereo-ed, sounding surprised. Wufei lowered his book as Trowa raised a silent eyebrow. Even Heero paused in his reading to look at their charge.
Harry nodded. “I was fifteen when I made the hesitant suggestion and I didn't have a psychopathic Dark Lord hell bent on killing only me on his trip to world domination. Of course, the Auror program only accepts the best of the best. So my graduating with top marks is based on my graduating which is then based on my surviving the war.”
Wufei snorted. “Not the most optimistic are you Potter?”
Harry frowned at him. “I'm simply being realistic. Voldemort has been trying to kill me ever since I was old enough to totter around. He's made Merlin knows how many attempts on my life since then and successfully kidnapped me mere months ago. Logically, the next blow should kill me.”
Heero nodded slowly seeming surprised that Harry could use logic. “Logically. You failed to factor in our presence as well.”
“Hey, we're here to even the odds!” Duo said, the downer mood disappearing. “Plus, Heero here never fails a mission.” He pointed a finger in Harry's direction dramatically. “And you, Harry Potter, are the mission.”
“Congratulations.” Trowa added drolly. Quatre chuckled and Wufei hid a smirk. Harry shot them a half-hearted glare as he stood to drop his parchment scraps, stogging a few pieces in his robes.
Turning towards the fire he noticed, with part amusement part shock, that Heero seemed to be fighting a raging blush on his cheeks. Slytherin Harry cackled.
“So you no longer hold the ambition to become an Auror.” Quatre said, returning to the main point of the conversation. “What else would you like to do?”
Harry, tossing the Mandrake-Leaf-filled-parchment ball into the fire, shrugged. “I think I'm starting to hate living in the Wizarding World.”
The words were whispered but seemed to echo through the room. Harry seemed to drift off, lost in his own thoughts as he spoke. “Everyone knows my name, thinks they know me and judge me by these impossible standards. And then, when I finally let them down, it's shock and horror and `how could you do this to us?!' all around. I'm sick to death of that.”
The fire crackled in the following silence as the five ex-pilots contemplated the confession. First hand experience had taught them that the world was a fickle place and the people could love you in one breath and call for your blood in the next. Even those you were fighting to protect.
Harry returned to his seat in their silence and started up another copy of his essay- easily getting the words to come together this time.
Quatre was the first to slip, his cooling cup of tea spilling across the rug. Trowa caught him before the blond could even slide out of his seat as Duo yelped. Harry surged forward to join the circle around his kind-hearted bodyguard as Wufei made to stand and nearly fell to the floor.
Heero pulled out a gun, stepping in front of Harry. Zero piped up at how unusually trusting that move was- Harry had proven himself to be dangerous. Duo grabbed Wufei around the waist, pulling a large hunting knife out from behind his back. He looked at Heero and Trowa- who seemed to be fading just as fast as Wufei.
“What's going on here?”
Heero's eyes were flickering around the room for threats as Wufei sagged completely in his lover's arms and Trowa flopped over onto Quatre's chest. Harry pulled out his wand and ducked around his over-protective protector.
He touched Trowa's, then Quatre's necks and reported back to the obvious leader.
“They're got strong pulses and their breathing is even and clear. Except for being unresponsive I'd say they were asleep.”
Duo snorted. “What they're suddenly narcoleptic?”
“Drugs.” Heero said flatly as he watched Duo sway. The braided wizard put Wufei down gently, shaking his head violently as he stood.
“This is some freaking good gas then. Even I'm getting fuzzy.”
Harry sat back on the couch, trying to appear dizzy as he stared at Heero. The guy was steady as a rock. If this didn't work on him, Harry's plan was shot to hell.
Duo's knees shook as he sank to the floor.
“Get him out of here man. Before it gets you too.”
Harry jumped up. “I'll go get help!”
“No!” Heero turned to grab him again as his last friend slipped into unconsciousness- and stumbled under the affects of the leaves.
Zero calculated the time it would take to make the stubborn Japanese wizard fall as Harry let out a very Slytherin-like smirk.
“So you aren't immune to the affects of Mandrake leaves after all.” He said, smirk widening at Heero's shocked expression. “I was beginning to worry about that.”
“You did this?!” He nearly growled, staggering towards his charge. Harry nodded, raising his wand.
“It's harmless- does nothing but put you into a deep, dreamless sleep- but you're taking much too long to succumb. I'd like to help you.”
Harry sent a stunner at his remaining bodyguard and caught the teen before he fell. He didn't want to hurt them, not at all. Both Zero and Harry actually liked the five Preventers- they had spunk. Unfortunately they were in his way right now and he needed to be as unsuspicious as possible.
Dragging Heero over to his friends, Harry patted his cheek gently. “Don't worry. When you awake, you'll have no memory of this.”
Pulling out his Invisibility Cloak- which he had hidden under his robes at Zero's suggestion- Harry ran over his plan again, looking for potential problems.
Ron and Hermione would be down tomorrow after breakfast to see if their castle-bound friend wanted anything from Hogsmeade. They were currently on a study date- one Harry helped orchestrate. Dumbledore and Remus were occupied with an order meeting tonight as well- not that they knew that Harry knew this of course. Curfew had officially passed nearly twenty minutes ago, ensuring no one else who had made friends with the five new students would attempt to pay a visit.
Harry cast a warming spell over his companions, threw another log on the fire as well as the last of the Mandrake Leaves, before slipping on his cloak and leaving the room.
 
~!~
 
Vulcan Mulciber was not a happy Death Eater.
His lord had just left the base, putting it under his order so that he could continue the war back on British soil.
Vulcan kicked a stone off the `path' over-looking the base with a curse. He didn't want to be commander of this base- every one of these wizards were the worst France had to offer. A bunch of idiots obsessed with the Dark Arts and barely enough brains to wave a wand- combined.
And it was his responsibility to turn them into respectable- in a very skewed sense of the word- Death Eaters and not let them blow up the base.
Almost as soon as those words crossed his mind, the ground below his feet shook suddenly. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Footsteps, the panicked Death Eater realized as he tried to catch his balance and run back to the base. Whatever it was would be driven back by the wards and the Fidileus Charm around the base. Right?
Running down the slight incline, Vulcan was brought to a complete halt as a large, black shape materialized from nowhere, next to the base. A long thin object was gripped in what Vulcan could only assume was its hand. It had the shape of a sword, now that he thought about it. Large black wings flexed- almost as though the creature were annoyed.
Still frozen with fear, the Death Eater let out a small sigh as the giant creature turned its head around the clearing, looking lost. At least it didn't know where the base was.
Vulcan watched in growing awe as the monster stepped out into the moonlight, the silvery beams making the black of the creature glow a dark emerald almost black color.
Black Emerald……
A sinking feeling accompanied the rolling fear in his stomach as he realized what he was seeing. That was no monster- that was Black Emerald and Phoenix. The moonbeams flashed red against those huge angelic wings that gave the Gundam its name.
The sword rose to be gripped by the Gundam's two hands and he wondered if Emerald even knew of this base. Wouldn't the protections keep him out now that he had gotten away?
No sooner had that thought crossed his mind did the sword in Phoenix's hands glow that dark emerald-black color and tore through layers of wards and blood magics and into the eastern side of the base.
Explosions rocked the ground this time, sending Vulcan tumbling on to the rocks. He watched in horror as the duo his Lord had planned on using to destroy Dumbledore and his Army eliminated one of their best bases and attacked the lousy Death Eaters that escaped.
One idiot was even desperate enough to shoot a stunner at the Gundam's legs.
Realizing this was a lost cause, Mulciber made to run past the anti-apparation charms.
He never made it as the popping of the French Auror's was the only warning he had before a binding spell caught his legs.
His Lord was not going to be pleased.
 
~!~
 
Harry turned on Phoenix's invisibility cloak as he hovered over the crater that used to be one of Voldemort's bases. Pieces of burning foundation and walls scattered over the French countryside and Aurors crawled over the site like little beetles from his view inside the Gundam.
Zero was still scrolling information and stats across his mind as he spread Phoenix's invisible wings and started the flight home.
Mission accomplished.
Zero reminded him to run a systems check on his Gundam before returning to his rooms. Phoenix might have been built superior to anything ever made but it would be careless and inefficient to not keep her in perfect condition.
Gryffindor Harry surfaced from behind his hands- they had covered his face when Phoenix was transfigured in the Forbidden Forest. Harry felt his hands want to shake but Slytherin Harry held them still as Zero- who was just the deeper part of the bad side of Harry's mind- told Gryffindor Harry to calm down.
Pale and shaking Gryffindor Harry was still stubborn.
`Do you realize what we've just done?!' Harry felt his thoughts swirl. `We've just murdered hundreds of people! They never stood a chance against us!'
`They were the enemy.' Zero/Slytherin Harry commented. `It is our mission to defeat Voldemort and his forces for peace and the continued existence of the Wizarding World.'
`By being just like them?'
`Death is necessary in war.'
`You're a monster.'
Harry blinked in a daze as Gryffindor Harry and Slytherin Harry drifted away completely leaving only Zero. His head ached and for a moment the jade eyed wizard had no idea what had happened in his own mind.
`They're gone. Download complete.' The next part was like a seductive whisper it was so relieved. `It's just you and me now.'
For the last few months he had had Gryffindor Harry - also known as his all around good conscience- telling him to be kind and patient with the people around him while Zero/Slytherin Harry told him to kill his threats and be efficient about it.
No wonder he was always so damn confused.
`They were simply your way of coping with your extreme thoughts while I integrated myself into your mind completely.' Here Zero sounded amused. `You are an astonishingly complicated human.'
Harry sighed, feeling somewhat relieved. The voices in his head were gone- that was a good thing, right?
Then again, he still had a semi-conscious computer program embedded into his personality, subconscious and brain. Harry wouldn't be winning any awards for sanity any time soon.
Zero gave him a warning to speed up- the Mandrake Leaves wouldn't work forever and he still had to alter their memories of the night to avoid suspicion.
Ebony and scarlet wings swept back into a powerful thrust, making it seem as though the wind had moved the clouds in the sky instead of an invisible Gundam.
 
~!~
 
It was amusing, watching Remus, Dumbledore, Snape and Professor McGonagall all but dash past the wards of Hogwarts. The Order seemed to have an impressive intelligence circle to have gotten word on the base in less than two hours. The base had been deep in the French countryside and only the Aurors had been on scene when Harry had left.
`Keep down wind. The Werewolf has an enhanced sense of smell.'
The ghosts and Filch were on high alert with the Headmaster away but they couldn't catch what they couldn't see and Harry was a soldier now. He strolled past the bitter caretaker as if he were simply walking to a class early.
Portraits were cleverer than that.
“Reveal yourself!” Slytherin hissed into the darkened and seemingly empty hall. Helga Hufflepuff had her wands out- it was shaking badly- while she hid behind the ever courageous Gryffindor.
Rowena Ravenclaw seemed to find the whole scene boring and continued reading one of her many large tomes.
Harry sent them a Confundus Charm, said the new password- which had been changed into a series of seven numbers that Heero changed weekly- and entered the small dorm.
His five bodyguards were still spread across the floor, deep in sleep. It almost looked like a sleepover that had ended early.
Or a mass murderer.
Zero prompted Harry into action. Just because J had modified him and created the new ability to go days without sleep didn't mean he had to. Sleep would be good for Harry and Zero- who needed to upgrade himself whenever possible. During Harry's rest was the most efficient time and apparently less painful.
The Gryffindor decided to move Trowa first. The tallest of the six of them, he had spent half the night slumped over his lover's prone body. That couldn't possibly be good for his spine.
Laying the other teen flat, Harry pulled out his wand and set it at Trowa's temple. He could have used wandless magic but a wand was much more reliable and this needed to be perfect. Better to err on the side of caution than to get cocky and blow his cover.
With Zero's ability to produce possible outcomes, Harry quickly did a scan of Trowa's memories of earlier than night. If he had planned on doing something in particular, Harry could use that while fabricating a new memory of the night for him.
The silent wizard's mind included many thoughts of suspicion against Harry and amusement for Duo's antics while warm feelings and naughty plans had been in sore for Quatre.
Zero vetoed the idea of using those last thoughts in a fake memory as Harry- and Zero- had no clear idea what the two lovers were like in their private moments together. The program also claimed that there were certain after effects from sexual intercourse that would be suspiciously missing if Harry were to take that route. Harry agreed- although he took Zero's word on most of it. He wasn't the most informed on sex and its complications after all.
The story began with Quatre claiming a migraine and dragging Trowa off to bed early. Trowa had gone willingly, worried for his lover's health.
Harry wondered how they had ever planned to keep their relationship a secret as he lugged Trowa into his shared room with Quatre. It was a pleasant room, painted in calming blues and green.
There was only one bed.
Even before Voldemort and Dr. J, the old Harry wouldn't have missed that hint.
A flick of his wand had Trowa dressed in dark green pajama bottoms and tucked into bed.
Quatre's story was a bit harder to conjure up as Harry had to put the impression of an actual migraine into his memory before the blond was quickly snuggled up to his lover.
Wufei and Duo were next- each implanted with the fake memory of helping each other with their homework. Wufei had already completed his arithmancy homework in the library- after dragging himself and his braided lover out from behind the bookshelves- and Duo had made outrageous predictions in Divination.
Harry had simply extended their actual memories of snogging in the library and superimposed the ones of doing their homework with being in the dorms. It wasn't easy but with Zero the job was done seamlessly.
The last of the lovers stashed away in bed- and in their frightening red and black colored room- Harry turned on Heero.
Zero was all but drooling to get into this teen's head.
That was why, when Harry finally put his wand at the Japanese wizard's temple, Zero made him shoot through Heero's memories farther back than any of them.
`There. There. There. I must know why he seems familiar.'
Harry tried to protest as flashes of what his mind registered as OZ Leos, Duo, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, the Preventer's building in Sanq, the Vice-Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft and more.
A thought crossed Heero's memory and Zero all but tackled it.
Wing Zero.
A Gundam.
Heero was a Gundam pilot.
Duo, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre were Gundam pilots.
`Here!'
Zero stopped and a familiar face had Harry jerking back from Heero's still form in terror.
That face had belonged to the one who had tortured him for weeks, had made him into this robotic- humanoid monster. And Heero knew him.
Heero knew Dr. J.
 
A/N: Okay, here's where I explain some things. Slytherin Harry and Gryffindor Harry are gone now. I'll miss them. However they were, as Zero said, Harry's way of coping. Almost like Zero compartmentalizing all of Harry's thoughts while he sorted his shit out. Now Harry's back in business with the Zero system integrated into his very way of thinking and he knows about the guys.
 
Thanks for the reviews and sorry fro the long wait!
 
S.Tangerine