[Fanfic] Love&Magic [wip]

Nanoha closed the door behind her and looked up into the living room, immediately spotting the one was looking for.

Smiling slightly, she stealthily made her way across the room until she was standing behind the couch, then leaned forward and covered the sitting blonde's eyes with her hands.

“Guess who?”

“Nanoha,” Fate called her at the same time she grabbed one of the auburn haired girl's wrists and pulled her hand down to kiss her palm, her now uncovered crimson eyes somehow smiling as much as her lips.

They had just finished to greet each other when an indistinct whine coming from Fate's lap claimed their attention. Looking down, Nanoha saw a familiar pair of cats snuggled on said lap. One of them was enjoying being petted by Fate's deft fingers while the other, the one who had let out the whining sound, had been left unattended by the hand that had moved to grasp Nanoha's own.

Fate chuckled, amused by the feline's action, and resumed her pampering after giving Nanoha an apologizing look. The latter pouted and moved to sit on the couch herself all the while looking at the twin cats jealously.

“Fate, the white devil is glaring at us, she wants to kill us,” one of the two spoke up.

“Yeah, please Fate, protect us from the white devil who'd kill two innocent kittens,” the other agreed.

The blonde girl couldn't help laughing at the indignant sputtering that came from said white devil.

“Fate-chan! Don't laugh!” Nanoha protested. “This is all wrong, if one of us were to hurt cats that'd be you, not me!” She received three quizzical expressions, two feline and one human, and she smiled at the chance of pulling Fate's hair after the blonde had laughed at her. “Don't tell me you forgot about when we first met.”

It didn't take more than a blink of her eyes before she understood what the blue eyed girl was referring to. “That didn't count, Nanoha that cat was possessed by a Jewel Seed! It was as tall as the Tokyo tower!”

“Don't be so melodramatic, it barely reached the tree tops.” She dismissed Fate's words before adding, “And it was just a good little kit that wanted to play.”

“No, no, I'm sure it was bigger than that, it was a hungry beast.”

“You're exaggerating, you're just looking for excuses because you shot him with more electricity than a city consumes in a week.”

“Who's exaggerating now?” Fate pointed out amused. “Yuuno was the only other person present and he would agree with me.”

“Of course he would,” Nanoha said rolling her eyes. “He was a ferret back then, and he never forgave that cat for trying to eat him, even-” she hurriedly continued to talk before Fate could say anything about how she was right about the kit being an hungry beast, “even if it really just wanted to play.”

“Was all this before or after you ended up naked because of a malfunction with your barrier jackets?” Aria -or was it Lotte? It was hard enough to distinguish them when the two familiars were in their human form, but when they were cats it was impossible for anyone not Gil Graham- asked.

Since Fate's natural shyness had put her out of commission as soon as the question came, it fell to Nanoha to answer.

“We never ended up naked, who told yo- No, wait, more importantly, what kind of extravagant tale did you hear?”

“That your devices were damaged because of a Jewel Seed, and your barrier jackets vanished leaving you two bare naked except for your hair ribbons to stare at each other and call each other's names,” the other cat twin answered.

“Raising Heart, take note: must track down the source of this rumor and come up with a suitable punishment.”

“Yes, master.” The mechanical voice of Nanoha's trusted intelligent device came from around her neck where the red sphere was hanging.

“Ok you two, let's make this clear, we did not end up naked back then.”

“So, when did you?”

Nanoha furtively glanced at Fate, but with the direction the conversation had taken the blonde wasn't going to be able to do much more than blush cutely and shuffle in her sit. Actions that made her look absolutely adorable and spurred Nanoha into trying to get rid of their extra company.

“Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?”

“Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back”

“I assure you I can shoot more than nine times. Now off you go, go to sleep, it's late. Let me have my Fate-chan time.”

The two cats looked at each other in a silent exchange before they jumped down the couch, having decided to leave the girls to have their alone time together. After all the two deserved it since they were being a big help in managing their master -or father, as the Liese twins liked to call him- Graham's camping field.

Nanoha and Fate absently wished them a good night while the familiars disappeared upstairs, before the former moved down the couch until she occupied the place she had coveted since entering the room, namely Fate's lap. She squirmed around a bit until she found a comfortable position and snuggled against the taller blonde who smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.

“Master, call from colonel Hayate.”

“Let it through,” Nanoha said happily pulling Fate's arms tighter around her. As soon as she finished talking, a screen appeared floating in front of them showing the image of their childhood friend.

With the self-assurance only a man of Gil Graham's power -and appearance, really he was a strapping man despite his age- could have, he calmly walked to the door and opened it with his twin familiars, now looking like two normal young adults, just a step behind him, flanking him.

Those two changed from a form to the other so fast, so often, Nanoha was starting to feel motion sickness.

When the door opened, the first thing Nanoha took notice of was the absence of the hooded people from before, and not only them. Everyone had disappeared off somewhere except two men, one of which had his hand raised as if he had been about to knock. Peeping behind them, she noticed that the guy she had accidentally blasted away had disappeared too.

“Good evening,” Graham greeted calmly.

“Er... Ah, yes, good evening Mr. Graham,” the red haired man said lowering his hand. “I am Arthur Weasley, and this is Arnold Peasegood. We apologize for the late hour, but as you might have noticed there have been some problems and we'd like to make sure no one was hurt.” His eyes darted to auburn haired girl with the side ponytail who was looking around the clearing behind him.

“Yes, I tend to notice when someone causes a ruckus on my doorstep. May I know why someone tried to attack one of my niece's best friends in the middle of the night?” he asked sharply.

However, before Arthur Weasley could even attempt to give him an explanation, a blur launched itself at the one called Arnold and snatched the stick the latter was holding in his hand. Arthur Weasley had barely started to lift his own wand when the older man's voice thundered, “Aria!”

The two short haired brunette, who had been standing behind him just a second before, straightened up and looked back at him from her position in front of Arnold Peasegood with his wand in her hand. Mr Weasley had no idea how she could have moved so fast, unless she used magic of course, of course.

“I'm sorry father,” Aria said hearing the reprimand in Graham's tone. “He was trying to do something to you with this,” she explained her reaction while waving the wand in the air.

“Uhm,” Nanoha interjected not liking the tense atmosphere, “why don't we all calm down and try to talk it through?”

Only the Liese twins and Fate saw Graham's lips twitch, probably remembering what happened every time someone didn't listen to the blue eyed girl. Nanoha was a really sweet girl but destruction tended to fall upon whoever refused to listen to her, and the retired former admiral didn't want to test how well he could take one of her attacks.

“That's a good idea, if you could please refrain from further attacks and come in?” He moved back to let the two men in.

After a brief introduction in which everyone became familiar with the others' names, Fate said she'd make some tea and turned towards the kitchen with a small gentle smile.

“Lotte, go with her and make sure she hasn't picked up any of Lindy's habits, I won't stand for my tea to be mistreated like that under my roof,” Graham whispered while Aria handed him Arnold's wand after the man and his companion had entered the house.

Said two men curiously eyed him as well as Nanoha, who had made a weird expression at those words, then settled down on the couch when they were invited to sit. There was a pause as all presents gathered their thoughts, then the man who had lost his stick to Aria broke the silence.

“Mr Graham, before anything else I'd like to apologize for my behavior, however I intended no harm. Also, forgive me, but I have to ask if you could return me my wand, I'm sure you'll understand...”

“Of course, and I myself apologize if my child has reacted more forcefully than necessary.” Nanoha raised an eyebrow at how Graham had addressed his familiar. Maybe Hayate had taken the habit of referring to the wolkenritters as her children from him... or maybe it was the other way around.

“However,” Graham continued to speak, “if you'd be so kind as to tell me exactly what it was you were trying to do to me before Aria stopped you I'd be more at ease when handing your wand back to you.”

/Fate-chan, they're talking all formal like,/ Nanoha whined using a telepathic link to communicate with her wife.

/Why do you think I offered to make tea? And before you accuse me of anything, I heard what Gil said and saw the face you made./

/Mou, Fate-chan! What happened to the sweet girl I married?/ It was almost possible to hear her pout.

/She was corrupted by the devil?/ Fate playfully answered.

/My memories of our first night picture a rather different situation,/ Nanoha remarked, feeling the instant embarrassment that caused to the blonde.

As much as she enjoyed a playful banter with her red eyed angel, however, she focused back on the talk the three men sitting in the living room were having. Nanoha noticed that the red haired man was eying curiously everything in sight as if every piece of furniture was a wonder.

“So you wanted to... obliviate, was it? Basically deleting our memories of what just happened tonight in order to protect the secrecy of the existence of magic,” Graham summarized.

“Yes, I'm an obliviator and it's my job to modify the memories of muggles who witness the use of magic,” Arnold Peasegood explained fidgeting in his seat. “Once again I apologize for my hasty actions, but I was in no way informed that you or your guests were magically aware.”

“Comprehensible, I've just moved back to England recently after spending years abroad where my niece lives.” It was a nice blend of half truths and lies by omission, but he couldn't really say he had been on another world. “Nanoha and Fate, also live there and are actually here only on vacation for the first time.” He handed back the wand to his owner as Fate and Lotte came back with tea for everyone.

“Still, it was a really crude oversight for us,” the wizard said after pocketing his wand and thanking Lotte who had poured him his cup of tea. “Many organizational problems could have been avoided if only we had been aware of your knowledge of Magic. ”

Nanoha took some form of comfort in the fact Fate was now beside her while the men continued their velvety talk. She herself preferred to be more direct, and although her work had taught her sometimes it was necessary to be more subtle, she couldn't help finding it mind-numbing. It was a great relief for her that Gil Graham was taking care of the whole affair, also because she was starting to get sleepy.

“Forgive me Mr. Graham,” the red headed man interjected, his eyes still roaming the room curiously, “but I can't spot a single magical item and this hardly looks like the home of a wizard. Are you by any chance an expert of muggle culture?”

Fate, who unlike Nanoha was paying attention to the conversation, frowned at the unfamiliar word.
A glance at Graham confirmed that whatever 'muggle' was, the word itself was a specific term used exclusively by these people.

After all the TSAB translation program, which Bardiche had installed like any other active intelligent device, allowed her to speak the English language as if it was her mother language, using their connection to actually implant that knowledge directly in her brain. It had been the same with Japanese when she first came to Earth to look for the Jewel Seeds.

“Excuse me,” she interrupted giving an apologetic smile to the two men and trying not to giggle at Nanoha almost jumping at the sound of her voice. “Pardon my ignorance, but who or what are muggles?”

“It's how we call the people with no magical ability,” Mr Weasley answered. “I suppose it's not a word you could have learned without coming in contact with the British magical community. By the way, where did you say you are from? I really must say you don't seem to have any accent at all, your pronunciation is perfect.”

“Thank you,” Fate said, for once taking a compliment without blushing. The knowledge the compliment was aimed at something she hadn't actually done helped her there. “We're from-”

Once again, screams and yells from outside interrupted what was going on in Graham's living room.

The translation program the TSAB incorporated in all active intelligent devices was the greatest commodity one could have when traveling. Even if one were to meet a population that spoke a language never heard before, the intelligent device would be able to use the program to interpret the general meaning of the words from the intent behind them and, with more exposure, would be able to completely learn the language and send the data back to TSAB's central Languages Databank -which was actually a subsidiary of the Infinite Library- where the info was stored. Every time a device underwent maintenance they also were provided with the knowledge of whatever new language had been added since the last synchronization to the Databank, so that, should it come in contact with one such language, it'd be able to instantly provide its owner with the full knowledge to talk it fluently. The best part of it, in fact, was that intelligent devices could use their connection with their wielders to implant the knowledge of the language directly in their brain, effectively allowing them to talk it as if it was their mother language.

However, for as great as such a program was, there were noticeable faults in it. As the program relied on hearing native speakers, it was completely useless to decipher dead languages that were no longer spoken and, more importantly, it was limited to the spoken part of a language and was of no help for the written part. Some languages, especially those used on administered planets, had their alphabets and rules on their writing system stored in the Language Databank and intelligent devices could read them if the situation arose, but they couldn't impart that same knowledge to their wielders the way they can the spoken aspect.

Nanoha falls in love with Harry and cheats on Fate with him, but the latter finds out and decides to look for Voldemort. She helps him gaining a new body and then hooks up with him.
The war starts with Nanoha siding with the order of the phoenix and Fate leading the Death Eaters.
Eventually it comes down to the final battle between Harry and Voldemort, and just as the first is sending the mortal curse to the latter, Fate jumps between them and takes the hit for Voldemort, dying. Enraged, Voldemort kills Harry, and soon after wins the war seizing control of the whole world. Once he has effectively become the ruler of the world, he asks the TSAB for Earth to become an administered planet, request that is granted. However, Nanoha irrupts in the ceremony to celebrate said agreement, and kills Voldemort before killing herself too.
Three days later, the Saint's Cradle rises in the sky and Jail Scaglietti destroys the TSAB.

THIS IS NOT THE PLOT I'll write, it's a last ditch effort to get a reaction out of you all. While I can think darkish plots, I find myself unable to actually write them. I admit, however, that I find it really interesting.

"We're Japanese," Fate answered in her usual soft voice.

For the effect those three words had she could have shouted at the top of her lungs. Mr Weasley gaped openly at them, Bagman spouted his tea and Crouch's eyes widened so much they looked ready to pop out of their sockets. At least the three teenagers -Harry, Ron and Hermione- looked as confused at the reaction as Graham, Fate and Nanoha felt. The Liese twins were just happy that they were leaning against the wall, well out of reach of any stray spray of liquid.

"Forgive me, but you wouldn't happen to have something stronger to drink? This has already been a long night and I doubt it'll be over any time soon, now," Crouch said tiredly, a hand covering his eyes and massaging his temples. "Of all the countries out there it just had to be Japan..."

"Hey!" Nanoha objected, irked at the slight against her home country.

"I meant no offense, really. At least that explains why you had no idea that an hidden, world wide, magical society exists."

"Because we're Japanese?" Fate asked a bit confused by the gray haired man's words.

"Indeed," Bagman barged into the conversation after cleaning the mess with his tea with a wave of his wand. "Japan is the only country without a magical government. We know of some little independent magical groups that live there, but the creation of a magical government there is impossible."

"Detection spells don't work there, it's like something disrupts them. We've been able to pick up some big magical signals occasionally, but tracking down individual wizards and witches is impossible," Crouch said more to himself than anyone else rubbing his chin. "As a result, magic usage cannot be monitored and, since Japanese witches and wizards hide themselves and live among the muggles disguising their powers, they remain ignorant of each other's existance and are thus unable to band together."

"According some rumors I've heard, some managed to successfully mix together magic and muggle techorologies," Mr Weasley commented excitedly.

"Technologies," Hermione corrected him. "And you mean to say that there are no magical schools there? How do they learn magic, then?"

"Most magical knowledge is kept either in the family by those who know it, or passed down from teacher to disciple as far as we know," Crouch answered. "Japanese people are naturally discreet and have made a wonderful job of keeping magic hidden, just as much as the muggle population has made a wonderful job at ignoring anything bizarre."

"I've heard of a guy who made a bet once," Ludo spoke up once again, merrily ignoring the glare Crouch shot him, "he walked down a street with a manticore on a leash, and no one stopped him or made any questions about it. The only time someone made a comment about it was when one of those muggle aurors-"

"A policeman," Hermione corrected the blond man while gesturing at him to continue. She looked like the kind of girl that craved knowledge.

"Yeah, a policemen told him that dogs weren't allowed in the mall he had tried to go in. Dogs!"

/Fate-chan, Japanese aren't that bad, are we?/

/The girl who, at the tender age of nine, picked up a talking ferret and hunted shiny stones of doom while keeping it all quiet, asked./

Nanoha sent her a murderous glare.

/I think of that as another adorable trait of yours,/ Fate continued smiling lovingly at her.

Nanoha seemed a bit more pleased and happy at that, but still looked a bit peeved as she kept glaring at no one in particular. Fate wished she'd stop, her glare was just as sexy as her smile, and it was way too distracting. Damn hormones.

"..a bit different, as some develop it in conjunction with martial arts," Crouch was answering another question Hermione had asked. "Their culture also generally encourages meditation, and the few Japanese wizards I've had the privilege of meeting were exceptionally strong in the mind arts."

"But how does that work, if there’s no magical organization then doesn’t that mean that there are no magical schools there?"

"Indeed, as far as we know most magical knowledge is kept either in the family by those who know it, or passed down from teacher to disciple," Crouch answered yet again.

“Huh? Magical schools? As in schools were you learn magic?” Nanoha spoke up, now really interested in the subject, before, almost as a second thought, she added another question. “Wait, are you three students in a magic school then?”

“Uhm, yes, we attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we’re all Gryffindors, about to start our fourth year,” Hermione answered.

“Gry-what?” Nanoha asked frowning in confusion.

“It’s one of the four houses the student body is divided in, each named after one of the founders and standing for his or her values,” was the textbook-like answer.

“Hey, speaking of Hogwarts, Barty don’t you think…” Ludo Bagman was saying, his eyes sparkling like a child’s as he tried to convey his thoughts to the other man without actually putting them into words. It wasn’t necessary when Crouch did guess correctly what the blond man was thinking.

“Ludo, don’t you think we already have enough to worry about?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Nonsense! When else will we have a chance like this? Besides most of the work is already done, a couple of people more won’t do any difference to us and I’m sure Dumbledore has enough room. Wait a second, I’ll call him.” He stood up abruptly and left the room.

“Ludo! Excuse me,” Crouch hastily said to the others in the living room before chasing after his colleague. “Ludo, listen to me!”

Their sudden leaving left all the others, wizards and TSAB mages alike, rather baffled, with the sole exception of Mr Weasley who seemed to at least have a good idea of what was going on, although his frown indicated he wasn’t sure. Or maybe he didn’t think whatever was going on was such a good idea. In any case, neither him nor his son and his friends noticed when Aria stealthily disappeared from the room.

“Dumbledore?” Graham inquired raising an eyebrow at Arthur Weasley.

“Albus Dumbledore, he’s the headmaster at Hogwarts.” Hermione beat everyone else at explaining it. But I’m not sure what Mr Bagman was talking about...”

“Wait,” the younger redhead, Ron, who had been enjoying the refreshments offered and mostly ignored the conversation till then, interrupted her. “Wait, does this have anything to do with whatever you all hinted at that is going to happen at Hogwarts this year?”

Even the other boy, Harry, seemed just as curious despite keeping silent.

“I… ah… I’m really not supposed to say.” Mr Weasley discomfort obviously came from having to keep the info from his host rather than the teenagers.

“I understand.” Gil said with a sigh. There was no point in pressuring the other man, not when it seemed he’d have answers as soon as the other two –or Aria at the very least- came back anyway.