Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

This is the work of Harry Leferts and others.
Cross posted from SV and SB as each site has things exclusive to the other.
Permission granted by Harry Leferts and the Mods alethiophile, Megaolix and Biigoh


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These are some of the Authors of Harry Potter and the Ship Girls on Sufficientvelocity and Spacebattles

SV/SB Names/Handles - Single name if same on both sites

Harry Leferts - Original idea/Core writer Generally a Snippet/chapter a day
SisterJeanne/Yellow Hammer/ @Jeannette Delacroix - Backbone writer/Number 2
Lord K - Did a lot of Background writing for Years 1-3, Currently Inactive due to RL
Kiyone4Ever/Kimasa
K9Thefirst1
choco_addict
RCNAnon
Sakuya's Butler/Barricade
OnceUponWhatever/ NotHimAgain
sstabeler/harcroft
Warwolf117/Allard-Liao
dragon_cloud16/?
M1Garand8/?
drag0nsoldier/?
TempestK/?
Kab2 /?
ijnfleetadmiral/?
MagisterAurelius

 

Original Threads Here

SpaceBattles

1. Harry and the Shipgirls - First Thread
2. Harry and the Shipgirls: Prisoner of Shipping - Second Thread
3. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Feels - Third Thread
4. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Feels Pt. 2 - Fourth Thread
5. Harry and the Shipgirls: Goblet of Fire Pt. 3 (Main story and Canonical Side Stories) - Fifth thread

Sufficient Velocity

1. Harry And The Shipgirls: A HP/KanColle Snippet Collection - First Thread at Sufficient Velocity
2. Harry And The Shipgirls: Prisoner of Shipping - Second Thread at Sufficient Velocity

Questionable Questing

1 SFW Index
2 NSFW Thread Disclaimer
3 NSFW Horny Thread ​

 

Harry and the Shipgirls is a Harry Potter/KanColle crossover fanfic written by Harry Leferts.

Decades before the start of the story, the first Abyssals came and attacked, and the event was covered up by wizards to keep magic hidden from the muggles. And then more Abyssals came and those too were covered up.

Then more and more came in greater numbers over the decades, stretching the wizards thin trying to maintain the Statute of Secrecy, and then the Dark Lord Voldemort openly started what would be later known as the First Wizarding War, forcing the wizards to concentrate all their efforts inwards. By the time the Dark Lord was defeated and the wizards had a first look at the muggle world in a while, the Abyssal attacks escalated into the Total War, and in response the muggles summoned the Shipgirls to battle the abyssal menace.

Judging the situation unsalvageable, the magical governments decided to double down on hiding from muggles and hope for the War to blow over, while trying to cover up magical beings that were coming out of the woodwork due to the war thinning the barrier between the material and the spiritual, while many others took advantage of all of this to act more overtly.


Then one day, IJN Battleship Nagato along with others were attending a social dinner at the Dursleys', owners of a company that supplies materials to the Navy, where they found a malnourished seven-year old boy locked in the cupboard. With the Dursleys arrested for ration fraud, Nagato took upon herself to raise Harry Potter.

 

The Saga Begins
Harry Leferts


It had, like many problems, started out small, almost insignificant compared to what it would become. At first, the only signs were the odd fishing boat disappearing, no wreckage of them ever found. Maybe the odd swimmer going missing as well. Then, more went missing over the years. A cargo ship carrying metal here, a trawler going missing there. That sort of thing. Nothing to point to anything supernatural, after all ships disappeared all the time. But then one day an American Coast Guard vessel picked up a distress call from a fishing vessel claiming to be under attack. Responding, they were confronted with what looked like a cross between a crustacean and a old pirate boat. After a short fight, they managed to destroy it and bring some pieces back.

They didn't reach the land before being boarded by American magicals. Like many others, they were always on the look out for possible violations of the Statute of Secrecy, and the US was especially vigilant in this. So having found out through various means, they appeared on the vessel, stunned both the crew and rescued sailors, and upon confirmation of a breach, modified all their memories and got rid of the evidence. The damage the Coast Guard vessel, the Taney took was explained away as storm damage. After that, word got around and as more encounters with these creatures happened, the various magical governments went on an aggressive campaign to supress the knowledge of them. Military ships sometimes found themselves being boarded by dozens of magicals who stunned crew and modified their memories. Once, even the USS Iowa had such an event happen on it.

And the attacks continued and more vessels went missing.

Slowly, but surely, the numbers of missing and dead rose. The magical governments were never quite on scene before the attacks were over, not that they really tried. Mostly, they kept to just wiping any evidence left behind. Mass memory modifications became rather common place, though some noted that survivors needed a bit more effort for memory charms to work. Even large ships now sometimes went missing, including the odd oil tanker. In such cases, the wizards sometimes made the oil spills themselves to hide what happened. Better to keep muggles from wondering after all.

And so the attacks continued and became more common.

More then once, some wizards in various government bodies suggested sending out feelers to the muggle governments. Surely, they said, since they killed a number perhaps they could be used to fight this menace. To stop the attacks. But they were always shouted down. Far too risky, some said. After all, it could lead to the breakage of the Statute and, besides, it was only muggles being affected. Also, were they not wizards and witches? They could solve the problems themselves! Thus, going on the offensive, the wizards managed to find and kill some of the monstrosities at last, though at a cost. The ones they found were all as powerful and dangerous as Nundus, taking hundreds of magicals working together to bring down, usually with a number dead due to the muggle weapon based attacks they used. See, some said, we don't need any help.

But the attacks still continued and became more apparent.

Eventually, the monsters moved from attacking lone vessels, to groups of vessels. Even coastal communities were attacked. However, the magical governments just covered it up using things like freak hurricanes, or tsunamis to explain away what wiped out the communities. And always making sure to modify memories. But it had become harder and harder, needing more tries or power to modify some memories. Something that worried a few who diverted resources to find out why and to stop it from happening. Far more important in their minds was preventing muggles from finding out magic was real then lives. Thus, besides the odd monster killed, nothing was done but cover it up. Days, weeks, and months had turned into years and decades.

Still, the attacks continued.

Then Britain was in the grip of it's own civil war due to a rising Dark Lord known as Voldemort, and the British magical community had much more to worry over and direct it's attention to. Even the other governments turned more attention to it then what was going on in the oceans. After all, open violations were occurring in Britain and that was worrisome. So they pulled back and continued to just cover up. And the governments still shouted down those who wanted to bring in muggles to help. Even as the number of attacks had risen from the handful a year at the beginning to dozens or hundreds worldwide. Then Voldemort fell and, after a short period of time, those in Europe turned their attentions back to the oceans. Not long after, their first sign of something being wrong was the mass movement of mermaids. Many of them fleeing up rivers and into lakes alongside kelpies and other magical and sapient marine life. The Black Lake near Hogwarts saw the population double within a year. Worried, those who could communicate with them did so and found out that "The Dark Ones" were driving them from the oceans. That worried the governments. And it was a sign of what was about to happen.

And then the attacks came to a head.

Worldwide saw hundreds of attacks on coastlines within a single day. Britain alone saw more then two dozen. It was far too many to keep secret any more, though magical governments still tried, and the beings became known throughout the non-magical world. Soon they got the name "Abyssals" and humanity went on the attack. Hundreds of thousands died as the various armed forces pushed them back into the oceans and offshore. But it soon became apparent that they had too many numbers, that it was too hard for normal weapons to target them. As a whole though, the magical governments withdrew further from the non-magical world. Partially because they believed that doing so would limit their possible exposure. But far more was due to the fact that chaos had spread as many magicals feared that they were going to become exposed. By the time the year was out, it was soon discovered that large numbers of those muggles who had survived attacks by Abyssals were functionally immune to memory charms and showed resistance even to such spells as Imperio.

Facts that caused yet more chaos and, thankfully, lead to the magical governments missing the first shipgirl summonings for months. By the time that they noticed, it was too late and well known about shipgirls, a number of whom were more then antagonistic toward wizards and witches. All of this and more lead to things falling through the cracks, such as one young wizard who was adopted by a shipgirl...
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mutsu smiled down at the little black haired boy talking with Fubuki as she walked up to stand beside her sister. "So... I overheard the small fight that you were having with the Admiral." Seeing the narrowed eyed expression on Nagato's face, Mutsu held up her hands. "I'm not complaining as I have a rather adorable nephew of sorts out of it. Just wondering."

For several moments, Nagato was quiet before she began to speak. "You know how recently I left for England? On a... exchange of sorts."

Nodding, Mutsu cupped her chin in thought. "I do, Prince of Wales was rather interesting I have to say."

All that got her was a grunt. "While there, I was invited along with Warspite to accompany the British Admiral I was under to a dinner. It was with a representative of a company who was providing tools to the Royal Navy." Closing her eyes, Nagato took a moment to calm herself. "As soon as we entered, something was not quite right. For example, the couple's son was... overweight, to say the least."

That caused Mutsu to blink and frown as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, England is under a ration order just like us. So how would a child be overweight?"

Her lip slightly curled, Nagato clinched her hands on her arms. "As I said, that was one example. Another was that there were supposed to be two children there, the couple's nephew being the other. Despite that, there were no signs he even lived there and when we asked, we were told that he was out 'Causing trouble'. I don't believe that it fooled any of us in the least."

Now narrowing her eyes, Mutsu connected the dots. "Your new son, he's that child isn't he?" At Nagato's nod, she hummed. "I see..."

Turning, Nagato shook her head. "No, you don't. But what happened next..." Mutsu could see the tranquil fury on her sister's face. "I left to freshen up a bit, but heard something shifting around in the cupboard under the stairs and a quiet whimper. If I was a human, I might have missed it... So I knocked on the door and heard a gasp. After which things moved rather quickly and wound up with Warspite ripping the door off to reveal Harry there... it turned out it was his room. More then that, the doctors confirmed that he was suffering from a mild case of starvation. Apparently his relatives had been giving most of his share of food to their son instead..."

Eyes wide, Mutsu held her hand to her mouth. "Did they..."

Nagato only shook her head. "No, thankfully there was no signs of physical abuse, just mental and neglect."

Despite her own anger, Mutsu just let out a sigh. "I see... so how did you become his mother then?"

Smirking, Nagato scratched her chin. "His family, the Dursleys, were under the idea that by giving up rights to him and signing him over to my care, all charges would be dropped." Closing her eyes, Nagato waved one hand to the side. "Turns out, that only the charges of neglect were dropped. The fact that they were scamming the government in ration supplies by turning over most of them for the two children to their son was not dropped. It would seem that the British government frowns on such things."

On Mutsu's face was a similar smirk. "I see..."

With a sigh, Nagato finally had a soft smile on her face, along with the slightest of blushes, as she watched her son play with some of the Destroyers. "As it is, I've already have a few ideas as to how to help him. After all, he is my son and thus, as one of the Big Seven, I can do no less then make sure that he's head and shoulders above any others."

Shaking her head, Mutsu only sighed. "Try not to overload him..." Then she grinned and leaned in. "You so cuddle with him when you get the chance though, don't you?"

The silence and blush on Nagato's face caused her to laugh, which in turn caused Nagato to cross her arms and look away.

 

Lily's Nature

Harry Leferts


Looking out at the water, red hair blowing in the wind, two green eyes just blinked before their attention was caught by a voice. "Lils!"

The small girl blinked and turned as an older man, with red hair though missing her brilliant green eyes, came up. "Daddy?"

Slowly, the man shook his head as he took in his oldest standing in the water of the ocean just far enough for the waves to be lapping around her ankles. "What have we told you about running off, Lily? You know that the ocean can be dangerous."

Blushing, the girl kicked a bit of water as she nodded. "I know..." She then blinked and looked out at the ocean before frowning, "It's just... it calls to me, daddy..."

With a slow shake of the head, the man chuckled a bit. "I think that I know the feeling, after all I was in the Royal Navy myself."

**** Flash! ****

"Has anyone ever told you that you look beautiful in the water? Like some sort of mermaid?"

Rolling her eyes, Lily slowly got out of the water of the Black Lake and glared at a grinning James Potter. "Has anyone ever told you that you must be the most annoying man-child at this school?"

Despite everything, James hummed for a moment and then tapped his chin. "Yeah, one of the most beautiful girls at Hogwarts just this morning." Then gave her a rougish grin. "And you never answered my question."

For a moment, there was a far off look on Lily's face before she nodded. "Yeah... a number of people as a matter of fact."

Even though her response puzzled him, James Potter shrugged it off as he watched her gather up her items and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I still don't know why you go swimming in the lake. I mean, there's grindylows and other things in there that could attack you."

Lily just gave him a snort and rolled her eyes. "Potter, they don't bother me at all. Heck, none of them even come near me when I'm in the water."

It was with a start that James realized that she was right. He remembered one kid who got too close to the water near Hogsmeade and a kelpie tried to drag him under, only for Lily to leap into the water and swim to where the kid was struggling to surface. And just before she reached them, the kelpie let go and took off like a bat out of water...

Almost as if there was something that terrified it nearby.

******** Flash *********

Grunting, Lily stumbled forward a bit after the side along apparition. "Lils!"

As she was being grabbed by two arms, she grunted a bit. "James, getoff! I'm okay."

Looking up, she caught sight of the frightened expression on James' face and blinked before he continued to struggle to twist her around. "The hell you are! Voldemort just got you in the back with that cutting curse that the Death Eaters use, the one that... you know who created."

Needless to say, Lily flinched a bit as she was reminded of what her old best friend has done. Then she shook it off. "Sure, my back stings, but it must of missed, James. I don't feel any blood."

For his part, James stopped as he looked to where Lily's cloak had been cut through as well as her clothing in the middle of her back. But instead of the wide and bleeding gash, there was a much smaller red line along with a smaller cut. One that looked like it was easily healed as he used the counter-curse on it. "What the bloody hell, Lily?"

Having conjured a mirror, Lily used it to look at her back and shrugged. "Must have gotten out just in time, that's all."

All James could do was slowly nod as he was just confused, though he was much happier that she was okay.

****** Flash ********

Struggling to her feet, Lily ignored the emotional pain she felt from knowing that James was dead along with the physical pain from the chunks of metal embedded in her body. The reinforced door had withstood two of Voldemort's curses before she had seen a green flash and the door had exploded. Even now, she could feel the sting from the dark magic that coated the shards of wood and there was a look of surprise in Voldemort's face. "Hmm... so you're still alive. Interesting." A moment later, his surprise melted away and he raised his wand. "Now, step away you foolish girl and I'll let you live. I'm not here for you."

A glance behind her showed Lily two green eyes, identical to her own, watching her as tears gathered in them. 'I am so sorry, Harry...' Turning back, her eyes hardened as she tried to stand up straight through her pain. Even though she knew, somehow, that she could survive whatever he threw at her, Lily also knew that the time it would take for her to recover and react would be enough for the Dark Lord to kill her son.

Thus, she made a choice that was really no choice in her mind at all as she placed all her hope in the ancient magics she found. "No, take me. Take me instead!"

Growling, Voldemort took a step forward while keeping a weary eye around him. After all, this witch had survived things that normal witches and wizards would not have. Not that he had ever tested a killing curse on her. A pity that she would not join him. "I said, step aside."

In reply, Lily only narrowed her eyes. "Make me."

Eyes widening at her declaration, Voldemort glared at her. "Very well."

With a motion of his wand, Voldemort sent a blast of green light at Lily who just stood there, throwing everything she had into her sacrifice and to hopefully power the magic she had found in an old book. And as the green light washed over her, she felt a brief moment of pain before a ship's whistle could be heard and she could feel the lapping of water around her. And her last sight was the deck of a ship with men in old fashioned Royal Navy uniforms through the green light before she knew no more...

********* Flash ************

Gasping, Nagato woke up in the Docks from the strange dream she had just had. For less then a second though, the reborn Battleship could have sworn that she was a woman with red hair and green eyes, and rigging that resembled a small warship's at her feet. But in the time between the blinks of an eye, she had vanished and all that was left was the lapping of water against her body. That, and the feeling of the small body curled up asleep next to her which Nagato knew was her adopted son. "What was that?" Still confused, Nagato leaned back into the docks in utter confusion as she considered what had just happened. About a half hour later, she heard Kongou walk in. "How did the summoning go?"

All Kongou did was sigh as she made her way to her locker for her items. "No one came through..." She tapped her chin with a frown on her face for a moment as she slowed to a stop. "We thought that it might have been a success as it looked like someone was coming through, Dess... but then it failed."

Nagato only nodded as she rolled it around in her head. "I see..."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry was no stranger to fear. After all, he had been afraid a lot of times before. Like when his uncle used to yell at him. Or when he thought that once his new mom realized what kind of freak he was, she would send him back (never happened, she simply accepted the strangeness that happened around him). Heck, there was that typhoon when he arrived that scared him, only for his mom to cuddle with him to make him feel better.

Abyssals attacking the base again, and a swarm of PT Imps after him?

Yeah, that was a whole other different type of scary for the eight year old. In fact, it was absolutely terrifying.

Losing them again, Harry took shelter in the docks and curled up near where some of the extra rigging was stored. Outside the building, he could hear the imps sniffing even over the explosions and gunfire. However, Harry knew that all he had to do was wait and hide for long enough. Then some shipgirl would show up and-

It was then that his thoughts cut off as the concrete wall next to him was perforated by bullets and he scrambled back, bumping into one of Fubuki's turrets as the wall burst inwards to reveal the pack of PT Imps. Each of them growling as they began to stalk forward, certain that their prey was not about to escape. In his panic, Harry grabbed the first thing at hand which turned out to be the turret, his hand slipping easily into the grip and one finger into the trigger as he pulled it in front of him and then, instinctively, pulled down on the trigger...
******************************************************
As the video ended, Nagato just stared as she continued to stroke the sleeping Harry's head. Mutsu, Fubuki, Akagi, and several other shipgirls were also silent before finally Nagato got something out. "He... how did Harry use Fubuki's turret!?"

From where she stood, Yuudachi nodded and did a number of motions with her hands. "He's human after all, Poi~!"

Goto just leaned forward and frowned. "He is from all the tests. We have a birth certificate for him, actual evidence that he's grown from a baby. And you're right, it should be impossible for him to use shipgirl equipment. And yet... we have video evidence of him doing exactly that. Which opens up a whole bunch of questions and possibilities."

With a growl, Nagato narrowed her eyes. "If you're suggesting using my son to fight the Abyssals..."

However, Goto only raised a hand. "Nothing of the sort. And while I am in charge, it won't happen, Nagato." Eyes narrowed, he placed his hands clasped in front of his face. "No, I won't. But at the same time, the question is how is he able to use them. But there is one possibility..." Looking out the window, he sighed. "There's been several cases of a seemingly normal person becoming a shipgirl. And in more then one instance, they've had daughters who turned out to be shipgirls themselves. But not once has there been a case of a shipgirl potential with a son and so we've never considered it. Until we're sure though..." A soft smile came over his face. "I think it might be best if little chibi there is taught just in case he ever has need of it..."

 

Harry Meets DesDiv6

Harry Leferts

DesDiv6 was walking across the base when Akatsuki frowned some as she heard Inazuma say something. "Wait, Nagato-san has a son!?"

Even Hibiki turned her attention as her sister nodded. "Yup! His name is Harry and he's from England. I heard Kongou talking about it and going on that she liked having someone else from Britain here..." Inazuma then tilted her head. "I don't know why she was also talking about stuffing him with treacle tarts, nanodesu..."

Tapping her chin, Akatsuki just nodded. "I wonder what he looks like?"

At that moment though, Ikazuchi pointed toward something. "That's him right over there!"

Following their sister's arm, they blinked at the sight of the young, black haired boy walking. Much to Harry's surprise, a few moments later found all four right in front of him staring at him as Akatsuki nodded. "Are you Harry? Nagato-san's son?"

Slowly, and more then a little unsure, Harry just nodded spoke in the best Japanese he could. "Um... y-yes..."

Grinning, Akatsuki was about to say something when Ikazuchi grinned in a way that reminded people of Tenryuu. "So whatcha doing, Harry?"

More then a little shy, Harry kicked his shoe into the dirt a bit and blushed. "I... brought mom some lunch and we shared it together..."

Akatsuki just nodded at this with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. "Probably ate it like a real elephant lady!"

A moment later, Ikazuchi grinned and held up a finger. "You mean, elegant, right?"

While the two Destroyers argued, Harry noticed that Hibiki was just staring at him and began to become nervous. "H-hi?"

Having also noticed, Inazuma frowned a bit. "Is something the matter, Hibiki-chan?"

That had the effect of bringing the argument to an end between Akatsuki and Ikazuchi as both shared a look and then shrugged, the name ship piping up. "Yeah, you're kind of staring."

Despite that, Hibiki just tilted her head to one side and then the other before she brought her arm up and held her hand above Harry's head. The poor boy flinched, only to blink as Hibiki brought her hand gently down onto his head and rustled her fingers through his hair. Much to the surprise of the other shipgirls, Hibiki blushed a bit. "It's... soft... and fuzzy..."

Eyes wide, Akatsuki looked toward Harry. "Really? Let me try!" Also bringing her hand down, she did the same thing and blushed. "It is..."

As Inazuma and Ikazuchi joined in, Harry could only blink. 'What is going on?'

Meanwhile, over at the Admiral's office, Nagato stiffened and looked around. 'Why am I sensing that someone is giving my son headpats?'

 

Gift for Fubuki
Harry Leferts

Yuudachi frowned as she watched Harry rush by, his bike pulling a wagon in the back though he looked exhausted. "Is anyone else worried about Harry-chan? He's doing a lot around the base..."

Glancing over in the direction that Harry had left in, Mutsuki frowned slightly. "He's been doing a lot of errands for a number of the human base personnel..." Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she shook her head. "I was certain that Nagato-san gave him quite a nice allowance, but he seems to want the money badly for some reason..."

As she thought it over, Yuudachi nodded. "Harry-chan does have a good allowance... but maybe he's got his eyes on something to buy, poi?"

Both Destroyers heard a sound and turned to see a depressed Fubuki kick a stone absent mindedly. Feeling something, Fubuki looked up to see her friends staring at her with frowns on their faces and waved her hands in the air. "Ah! Just thinking of something, don't worry about it."

Poking her, Yuudachi frowned. "What's bothering you, Fubuki?"

However, Fubuki put on a false smile and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing important..."

The two other Destroyers just shared a look before resolving to get some ice cream to cheer up their friend. Much to their surprise though, it didn't...

___________________________________________________________________

"HAPPY COMMISSIONING DAY, FUBUKI!"

A happy smile on her face, Fubuki took the cheers of the various shipgirls with happiness. Something that a number of them were happy over because it seemed like she had been depressed for a while. Before they had any cake though, Fubuki took hold of the various presents given to her. Opening up one of them, she smiled at Kongou and her sisters. "A new tea set, thank you!"

Kongou just gave her a thumbs up. "You're welcome, Bucky!"

Even though her eyebrow twitched at the nickname, Fubuki just took a deep breath and let it out. Opening another present, her eyes widened before she smiled and bowed to Mamiya. "Food vouchers, thank you."

The shipgirl cook only chuckled. "I hope that you enjoy them, Fubuki-san."

Hearing a throat clear, Fubuki looked up to see Nagato with a hand on Harry's shoulder. With a frown, Fubuki tilted her head. "Nagato-san? I thought that you already gave me a present?"

Slowly, Nagato shook her head before she gently pushed Harry forward. "Harry has something for you too, Fubuki." Leaning down, she smiled at him. "Go on, Harry."

Fubuki clapped her hands some. "You got me a present, Harry-chan?"

Biting his lip, Harry nodded some as he walked forward with a long box in his hands. "I... really worked hard to get this, Fubuki-nee-chan... I... I hope that you like it..."

That caused Fubuki to blink as she remembered how Harry had done various chores and errands to raise money around the base. In fact, she even remembered him baking some things to sell as well. Smiling, Fubuki nodded. "Thank you, Harry-cha..."

Once the box touched her hands, her eyes widened as she realized what it was and looked down. Her hands shaking, Fubuki tore at the wrapping paper which caused the various shipgirls to whisper to each other in confusion before Yuudachi placed a hand on her trembling friend. "Fubuki?"

Almost as if Fubuki had not heard her, the Destroyer slowly opened the box to reveal an old sword that gently laid in a wooden, cushioned box. Fingers shaking, Fubuki took it out and then unsheathed it a bit. "Y... you were the one who bought it?"

Harry glanced at Nagato who gave him a nod and a smile before he turned back to Fubuki and kicked at the floor a little. "Uh-huh. I overheard you talking with the shopkeeper and... well, I asked him if he would let me make payments and he did, so..."

Confused, Akagi looked between them. "Fubuki... is the sword important to you?"

Gulping as tears gathered in her eyes, Fubuki just nodded as her voice came out in a croak. "Y-yes... this sword be-belonged to my last ca-captain and was recovered from... my wreck a few years ago. I... it was too much for me to buy but..." Moments later, she placed it back in the box with the upmost care before getting up and walking over to Harry. The largest smile was on her face even as tears ran down her cheeks as she pulled Harry into a hug. "Thank you so much, Otouto... thank you..."

Slighly unsure, Harry slowly brought up his arms and hugged her back, not noticing a teary Mutsu take a picture.

 

Kaga's Carrier Practice
Harry Leferts

[Harry: Age 7]

Frowning, Nagato continued to walk down the hallway as she checked inside the various rooms. "Where is he...?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, she opened one of the doors to reveal DesDiv 6 as well as Tenryuu using a Kotatsu. Blinking, Tenryuu looked up from her paperwork and cocked an eyebrow at Nagato's expression. "Something the matter?"

Nagato just kept looking around the room before she answered. "Harry up and disappeared somewhere. It is quite chilly today and I set up a Kotatsu for the two of us... But it took a while and by the time I was done, he wasn't anywhere in sight."

That caused Tenryuu to frown as she tapped a pen against her chin in thought. "Hmm... Can't say I saw the little guy today..." She then looked around at the rest of her division. "Did any of you see him?"

With a frown, Akatsuki shook her head. "No, I didn't see him... But if I did, I would have invited him in for tea and stuff! Just like a real elephant lady!"

Eyebrow raised, Inazuma just blinked and gave her a look. "You mean, elegant lady."

Meanwhile, Nagato filed that away in her mind to keep an closer eye on Akatsuki around her son. Not that she was overprotective or anything, not at all. "I see..."

A moment later they were all startled by a voice. "Oh, I've seen Harry..."

Everyone looked and was started to see Tatsuta poke her head out. Completely wierded out, Tenryuu jerked back. "What the hell?! Where the heck did you come from and how long have you been under there, ya weirdo?!"

Tatsuta only sighed. "A while, but it's alright... The Kotatsu is happiness... The Kotatsu is love..."

Just gobsmacked, Nagato finally recovered before she coughed. "Uh... Yes, well... Where did you see Harry?"

Slowly dragging herself back under the Kotatsu, Tatsuta let out a sigh and pointed in another direction. "I saw him heading toward the First Carrier Division's practice. He wanted to watch them."

Despite her emotionless face, Nagato was still wierded out by the Light Cruiser's actions and, from the looks on Tenryuu's and the Destroyers' faces, she wasn't the only one. "I... See.. Well, then I'll just be... Um... Going..." Closing the door, Nagato just began to walk away.

At a rather fast pace.
____________________________________________

It took a few minutes, but finally Nagato reached the practice area for the Carrier. Entering, she frowned and looked around as the only one there was Kaga who was wrapped in a light blanket. The Carrier just flipped a page of her book, which Nagato noted was the novel "Shogun" before the Battleship cleared her throat. "Kaga-"

However, much to her surprise, Kaga glanced at her and held a finger to her lips. "Shhh." Blinking, Nagato raised an eyebrow even as her breath fogged in the chill air. Just the same, she was about to say something when Kaga spoke up in a soft whisper. "You are looking for Harry-Chan, right?"

Slowly, Nagato nodded as she gave another glance around. "Yes, Tatsuta... Told me he was coming here."

Flipping another page of her book, Kaga tilted her head to the side and Nagato slowly walked around her before she smiled softly. There, just under the blanket and curled up into the Carrier's side was a sleeping Harry. "I see..."

Part of Nagato noted that there was a very small upturn of Kaga's lips as the Carrier nodded. "Harry-Chan showed up about an hour ago to watch as both Akagi-San and I practiced. Before you asked, he was well behaved as always and followed the rules. He did seem rather tired and at one point fell asleep against me, so Akagi-San placed the blanket around us and left to bring some tea."

There was a frown on Nagato's face as she sighed. "Harry didn't sleep well last night, I'm afraid." At the questioning look, Nagato shook her head. "Nightmares, though all he could remember was red eyes, green light, and a woman begging to spare him. I think..." Kneeling on the mat beside Kaga, Nagato furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "When I adopted him, I asked Warspite if she could find anything about his parents, seeing as his aunt and uncle told him they were drug and alcohol addicts who died in a car crash."

That brought an raised eyebrow from Kaga. "I see... And considering what I have heard in regards to his former guardians it was untrue?"

Nagato grimaced a bit. "From the reports, it seems that they were both murdered under mysterious circumstances with Harry as the only survivor and just over a year old. Once he is older, I will take him to see their graves, though I wish I had a picture of them to properly honor them..."

Beside her, the Carrier mulled this over before she hummed. "Perhaps his nightmares were of that then." Looking down at the small child curled up into her, her expression softened. "But for now, I believe that it would be best to let him rest. You don't need to worry, I'll keep an eye on him."

All Nagato did was bow a bit. "Thank you."

Both of them then lapsed into silence as they watched the chill November breeze blow by.

 

Thanking the Submarines 1
Harry Leferts

Waving as Harry walked off with a small wagon piled high with containers. From where she stood in the morning sunlight, Houshou waved back at him with a smile. "Have fun, Harry-chan."

Moments later, a confused Nagato walked up with a frown as she looked between where Harry was walking off and Houshou. "May I ask where Harry might be going with..." She took a sniff and blinked. "Brownies?"

Her hands clasped in front of her, Houshou just shook her head. "Do you remember how the submarines during the last Abyssal attack on the base had sheltered Harry in their area?"

There was a shudder that ran through Nagato at that before she nodded. "I'm just thankful it's an underground pen and was reinforced like a bunker..." it was then that she put the dots together and frowned. "Harry baked brownies for them?"

With a soft smile, Houshou nodded. "He wanted to thank them for what they did and thought that baking them something would show how thankful he is."

As she thought it over, Nagato frowned a bit more. "But we already thanked them for it..." Hearing a giggle, Nagato turned to see Houshou with a hand held in front of her mouth in an attempt to hide her amusement. "... What?"

Houshou only patted Nagato on the shoulder. "Yes, you thanked them for sheltering Harry-chan. But it was much the same as any other time they have done a good job." With a far off look in her eyes, Houshou watched Harry turn a corner and then turned herself back into her home. "Harry-chan understands a bit more, I'm afraid."

Needless to say, a confused Nagato followed her asking what she meant.

__________________________________________________________________________

Hearing a knock, Iku walked up to the door as she shouted back. "GUYS! WE GOT A VISITOR!" For several moments, she adjusted her swimsuit and put on her most lewd smile before opening the door. "Oh, hello..." Blinking, she looked down to see the seven year old Harry looking up at her with a smile. "Harry-chan? What are you doing here?"

It went without saying, that Iku readjusted her swimsuit and sent off a warning to the others as Harry blushed and shuffled his feet. "Um... I, uh, wanted to thank you for protecting me when the Abyssals attacked, Miss Iku... So I baked some brownies for you and the other subgirls..."

Taking a deep sniff, Iku's mouth began to water at the smell. A moment later, Hachi appeared and poked her head around Iku's to stare at Harry. "You... you made us something? To thank us?" At his nod, she shared a look with Iku. "T-thank you!"

Harry just smiled as he looked at the containers. "I made them with Nutella frosting so I hope that's okay and... Miss Iku? Why are you crying?"

Reaching up, the subgirl wiped away the small tear in the corner of her eye. "It's just some dust, Harry-chan. Now how about we bring those in with your help and we can share them, okay?"

With a smile on his face, Harry grabbed a box as Iku and Hachi grabbed the others as well as the wagon and brought them inside their section of the base. Houshou later just softly smiled at the massive grins on the subgirls as they returned the containers before leaving again. 'Seems that they have been noticed...'

 

Thanking the Submarines 2

Harry Leferts

A displeased expression on her face, Nagato tapped one finger against her well muscled arm as she glared at the orange clad Cruiser before her. "Naka... what do you have to say for yourself?"

Sweating, Naka looked around sheepishly. "Well... as Idol of the Fleet, it's up to me to keep morale up and..." As the glare ratcheted upwards, she flinched a bit. "Okay, okay, maybe getting Harry involved in my webcast was pushing it a little... but everyone loved him, right Harry?"

Naka glanced down at a confused Harry who simply looked up. "Yeah, Miss Naka was reading comments to me and everyone went on about how I looked."

Both shipgirls flushed as he nodded, though Nagato covered it up as she glared at Naka. "Still... it seems that I must be having words with everyone in regards to what is allowed involving Harry. He is my son after all and I will not be having him roped into such things!"

With a glance at Harry's confused expression, Naka coughed. "Chibi's deadly..." At the expression on Nagato's face, Naka sweated and then saluted. "Yes, ma'am! I'll go handle things right now!" There was a tremble on her body as she rushed out. 'And making sure to save those pictures somewhere for later...'

Slightly confused, Harry looked up at his adopted mother with his head cocked to the side. "Um... did I do something wrong?"

Upon seeing the fake fox tale attached behind her son wag, as the fox ears on the hidden headband on his head twitched, Nagato only shook her head. "N-no, you did n-nothing wrong, Harry-chan..." Suddenly, the dam broke and she swept Harry, dressed up to look like a kitsune, into her arms and cuddled him. "SOOOO KAWAII!"

Harry was only more confused as this had been happening to him all day. Even more confusing was how his aunt was giving his mom jealous looks while all the Kongou sisters, Yamato, and Musashi had similar looks as they peaked into the room from various places.

 

Sleepover at the Subs
Harry Leferts

[Harry, Age 9]

Weary from the battle, Nagato stepped from the water and into the boat ramp with her rigging vanishing. And with it, her exhaustion just increased as she walked up the ramp. Part of her wanted nothing more then to head home, but with a will composed of the steel she was made of, she soldiered on. 'Report to the Admiral... take a quick trip to the baths... and then head home and cuddle Harry.' The thought of just holding her adopted son gave her the strength to continue, mainly thanks to Nagamon bubbling under the surface. Walking into the office, she gave a salute to Goto. "Sir!"

For a moment, Goto just blinked at her from behind his paperwork as one hand reached out and took the mug of tea from Kongou, who was gently dessing as she started laying out some snacks. "Nagato? I would have thought that you would be visiting the docks and heading home."

A sigh escaped from the Battleship before she shook her head. "I... need to make my report first, Teitoku."

Looking at her through tired eyes, Goto glanced at Kongou and then back at her before rubbing his face. "Just... summarize then head to the docks. And then head home, you can go more into detail tomorrow after a good night's sleep."

Nagato blinked before she nodded with a slight smile. "Very well then." It didn't take her long to make a summary and was soon done. Then Goto dismissed her and as she walked out of the office, she glanced at the clock on the wall. '... Four hundred hours. Kami...' It was when she was making her way across the base that she blinked at the sight of Naka and stared. "Naka?"

Jumping a bit, the so called "Idol of the Fleet" turned and startled at the sight of Nagato. "Uh..."

Slowly, Nagato brought up a finger and pointed it at Naka with her eyes narrowed. "You were supposed to be watching over Harry tonight... and if you're here..."

However, Naka waved her hands around. "I know, I know! But I had to head out on a presentation that popped out of nowhere, you can ask Ooyodo if you want." Waiting until Nagato slowly nodded, Naka continued. "Anyways, Iku and the other subs took over for watching Harry for the night for me."

Utter silence met that as Nagato stared at her. "... Iku."

Nodding, Naka held up a finger and did a cutesy pose. "Yup! They were excited to be looking after Harry after all." For a brief moment, she frowned and then shrugged. "Normally I wouldn't trust that bunch with anything, but they act totally different around Harry. I mean, did you see what happened to that one guy who frightened Harry by screaming at him because he thought that Harry should go back to England to be in an orphanage there?"

All Nagato did was nod as Naka shuddered at the memory of what happened to the drunk ultranationalist a few years back. Iku had not been amused and the man found himself surrounded by the subs before Fubuki had herded Harry away. "So he's over in the sub pens?" At the nod, Nagato sighed and changed her direction. "Might as well check in on them..."

*************************************************************************

It was everything that Nagato could do but blink at the sight that met her. On the screen was a menu screen for a Miyazaki film that they had put on. But what had her real attention was the cuddle pile of submarines in front of her with Harry at the center. Part of her wanted to coo at the sight. However, she just smiled and shook her head at how it looked like the subs were protecting him. Heck, for once the clothing they were wearing looked rather normal. Still shaking her head, the Battleship turned and yawned as she walked out. 'I'll just go to the docks for an hour or two, looks like everything is covered here.'

As she walked out, she missed the sight of several eyes watching her between nearly closed lids. Once they were certain that she was gone, the subs cuddled a bit more and swiftly fell back asleep.

 

Mum will keep you safe
Harry Leferts

Outside the Battleship Dorms, the wind howled with rain lashing at everything as the walls shook. Inside, Nagato was sleeping peacefully in her futon without a care in the world. Sleeping, that is, until something poked her in the cheek. Mumbling as it happened again, Nagato waved a hand around. "Go'way, Mutsu... Wan sleep..."

For several moments, nothing happened and Nagato was about to fall fully back asleep when something poked her again. "Desu."

This time, she opened her eyes and blinked at the sight of the fairy in front of her. It took a few seconds, but she remembered that it was the one she had asked to keep an eye on Harry during the night. Call her paranoid, but she wanted to make sure that nothing would happen if he needed to get up in the middle of the night. And it helped that he seemed able to understand fairies somehow. He had only arrived at the base two weeks earlier after all. "Hmm?" Sitting up, Nagato looked around and took note of the storm raging outside before she looked down at the fairy with a frown. "Did something happen to Harry-Chan?"

Looking around, the fairy nodded. "Desu desu desu deeessu desu!"

A frown grew on Nagato's face as she listened. Before she could say anything though, there was a flash of light and thunder boomed loud enough to shake the building as the bolt struck something outside. It wasn't that which caught her attention though. That went to the slight whimper she just picked up. Nagato blinked and then threw her sheets to the side before she got up and walked into the other room where she found Harry with his covers over his head. "Harry-Chan?"

Part of her wanted to coo when she saw the two green eyes poke out and look up at her. But she stomped on that urge hard at seeing the fear in them. "N-Nagato...? Um... Sorry for waking you."

Gently, Nagato kneeled down as she shook her head. "There's nothing to be sorry for, Harry-Chan." Even as some of her fairies came out with lanterns to give some light, Nagato softly smiled at her charge. "Storms can be pretty scary, typhoons even more so I suppose."

Just nodding, Harry played with the sheet in his hands. Despite everything, he couldn't help but think that this was all some sort of dream. That he would wake up hungry again in his cupboard, but that never happened. When Nagato had declared him hers, he thought that she would throw him away when she learned that he was a freak. But that never came up, so all he did was nod. "Mm-hm..."

As yet another blast of thunder crashed outside and Harry flinched, Nagato cursed the Dursleys in her head. Several of her fairies agreed with her that a child should not have been more afraid of going to their guardian because something scared them. However, she shook shook that off and hummed. "Do you want me to stay?"

Surprised, Harry looked up at the tall and powerfully built woman who also happened to be a Battleship. Most people found themselves at least slightly nervous around Nagato, but not Harry. Ever since she became his guardian, he found that he felt safe around her. He still had issues going to her though when he had problems. After all, his aunt and uncle wouldn't comfort him. Slowly, Harry nodded before looking at the fairies who were clustered around the small glowing motes of light that made up their lanterns. "Um... Yes, please..."

With a surprising gentleness, Nagato made her way to the other side of Harry before pulling back the covers. "Now then, sit up for a moment, Harry-Chan." Slightly confused, Harry did so only to blink as Nagato slipped in beside him. "There we go... Now lie down." Once he had, his head cradled by her shoulder and body held by one arm, the Battleship looked down. "Better?"

Nodding, Harry smiled a bit as he found where his head currently was extremely comfortable. "Mm-hm."

Smiling, Nagato leaned down and kissed him on the top of the head. "Now, don't worry, Harry-Chan. I, Battleship Nagato, member of the Big Seven will protect you however I can. The storm won't harm you as long as I am here."

It was strange, but even as he nodded, Harry felt himself drifting off. His guardian's aura of safety driving away the fear he felt, helped along by the somewhat muffled sounds of her boilers creating a lullaby of sorts. Of course, his last words before he drifted off caused Nagato's eyes to widen. "Thank you, mum."

Tears sprang to Nagato's eyes before she leaned down and kissed Harry on his hair. "You're welcome, Musuko."

Unseen by Nagato was Mutsu looking through an open crack in the door with a small smile before she walked back to her own futon. Any teasing could wait until the morning after all.

 

Harry Leferts

[Age 7]

Hearing a knock at his office door, Goto shared a look with the three shipgirls before shrugging. "Come in." A few moments later, Harry poked his head in which caused the Admiral to smile. "Well now, this is a pleasant surprise."

With a smile of her own, Nagato nodded a bit. "Not often you visit me at work, Harry-Chan." Tilting her head though, she frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Much to her surprise though, Harry shook his head shyly. "Um... I made you something to eat for breakfast..."

It was that moment that Nagato's stomach chose to let out a soft rumble which caused Mutsu to giggle. "Oh my~ did you forget to have breakfast again, Nee-San?"

There was the slightest blush on Nagato's face as she turned a glare on her sister. Harry scuffing his foot on the carpet got Nagato's attention though as the little boy frowned. "Sorry..."

Internally shaking her head, Nagato just picked him up in her arms and gave a soft snort. "I'm not angry at you, Harry-Chan. Your aunt Mutsu is just being her usual self. But she is right, I did forget to grab something this morning to eat, so thank you."

Part of her felt that the smile that Harry gave her was worth admitting what she had. Then Harry held up a box he was holding and glanced around. "Oh, um, here's your muffins, mum."

And as it always did, him calling her mum caused her boilers to feel like they were about to burst. Sitting down, Nagato was about to say something when Goto spoke up from where he was behind a desk. "Is there any blueberry muffins?" Noticing the attention he was getting, the Admiral frowned. "Don't look at me like that."

Nagato just gave him a disbelieving stare. "Are you really going to bother my son over muffins?"

There was a serious expression on Goto's face as he snorted. "I will do anything for a blueberry muffin." Hearing the sound of the box being opened, they turned as Harry dug inside and pulled out a muffin that he placed on the Admiral's desk. With a grin, Goto held it up. "See! Harry-Chan listens."

Utterly unimpressed, Nagato just gave him an even stare before she took the muffin Harry was offering her. Closely examining it, she took a sniff and hummed. 'This smells rather good actually.' Seeing the looks she was getting, Nagato glared at them before she gave a smile to Harry. "Looks good."

Peeling off the wrapper, Nagato brought it to her mouth and took a bite out of it. For several moments she chewed before she stopped and blinked. There was a frown on Harry's face as he tilted his head. "Mum?"

Gently, Nagato patted him on the head before she popped the rest of the muffin into her mouth and chewed and swallowed it. Then she turned to her sister who had a muffin of her own. "Mutsu... You really need to try this."

Raising an eyebrow, Mutsu took a bite of herself and a few moments later, the muffin was gone. "Mmm... That was great, Harry-Chan."

She wasn't the only one as Goto and Ooyodo also nodded and complimented the blushing Harry. Of course, that was when the floor began to shudder as a familiar voice sounded out. "TEEEEEIIIIIITTTTOOOOOOKKKUUUU!" Slamming the door open, no one noticed Goto grab a muffin and unwrap it. "BURNING LOVE!"

With almost casual ease, Goto tossed the muffin as Kongou flew at him with it landing in her mouth as she somersaulted. Kongou then came to a stop leaning against the chair as she chewed the muffin and caused everyone but Goto to blink at her. "Mmm oh my, who made this, Dess?"

Goto just pointed at a confused and befuddled Harry. "Harry-Chan did."

Blinking, Kongou focused in on him. "You did?" At his nod, she seemed to disappear before appearing in front of him with a notebook and pen in her hands. "It's very soft and moist, what did you use in it?"

Glancing toward Nagato, who only smiled and nodded, Harry hummed as he kicked his feet around. "Well... I used yogurt in it..."

That caused Kongou to blink in surprise. "Yogurt?" At his nod, she wrote something down. "I see... I didn't know you could do that..."

It was all Nagato could do but look toward both Ooyodo and Mutsu with the other two shrugging.

 

Harry Leferts

Looking up from his paperwork, Albus smiled as he glanced at his door. "You can come in, Minerva."

Several moments later, a frazzled looking Minerva McGonagall stumbled in and sat in the chair in front of Albus before she began to pour herself a cup of tea. That done, she took a sip and relaxed some as she looked at her longtime friend. "Is it true? Did you manage to find Harry Potter?"

Amused, Dumbledore just nodded as he folded his hands and watched Minerva over his glasses. His eyes twinkled a bit as he considered what he was going to tell her. "As a matter of fact, I have. It took some doing, but a few of my connections helped find him. So the rest of the Order can call the search off."

It was with utter relief that McGonagall slumped in her seat before she set the now empty cup to the side and watched as it was refilled. "Oh, thank Merlin..." Rubbing at her eyes, she shook her head. "Between these 'Abyssals', the shipgirls with the muggles... the Order has been stretched trying to help." Now looking up, she missed how Dumbledore's amusement increased some. "Where is he, Albus?"

With a hum, Dumbledore leaned back and steepled his hands. "Mister Potter, as it turns out, is currently living in Yokosuka, Japan."

That caused Minerva to blink as it niggled at something deep in her memory. "Yokosuka... Whatever would Harry Potter be doing all the way in Japan?"

Now smirking under his beard, it took everything in Dumbledore not to laugh at what he was sure to be an interesting reaction. Nonetheless though, his mirth still colored his tone. "As it turns out, Mister Potter is currently in the care of his new adopted mother, the Battleship Nagato." Seeing Minerva freeze, Dumbledore began to count off inside his head. 'Five... four... three... two... one...'

Getting to her feet, Minerva gawked at him, utterly flabbergasted. "He's with a shipgirl!? Albus, we need to go and bring Mister Potter back!"

Much to her surprise though, Dumbledore just chuckled at her expression and waved her back to the chair. "Please, sit, Minerva." Once she was sitting again, Dumbledore sighed and seemed to stare off into the distance. "We shall do no such thing, Minerva."

Just staring at him, Minerva ran a hand over her face. "But Albus!"

Holding up a hand, the Headmaster shook his head. "He is fine and safe, Minerva. From all accounts, this Nagato is taking very good care of him and he is becoming a happy child. Perhaps it's not the normal childhood we might have thought that he could have had, but it is a happy one. And I would dare to say that he is likely safer where he is then he was with his... relatives." Shaking his head, Dumbledore took off his glasses and began to clean them. "I do wish that Petunia could have put her jealousy behind her, but alas, it was not to be."

Minerva, to Dumbledore's amusement, just reached into her pocket and pulled out a flask before splashing some of the contents into her tea. That done, she took a sip and closed her eyes. "But what of the blood protection, Albus. You said yourself that he needed to stay with Petunia..."

In reply, Dumbledore only got up from his chair and looked out through the window toward the Black lake. "The ancient magic that Lily invoked that night to give young Harry protection meant that placing him with Petunia, where the blood of his mother rested, was the only choice that I could take. Thankfully, with Miss Nagato, the other choice can be done."

Eyes narrowing, Minerva got up as she set aside her tea. "What other choice, Albus?"

Hands clasped behind his back, Dumbledore looked all of his true age. "Shortly after I placed Harry with the Dursleys, I came across an interesting bit of information during my research. It seems that besides blood, the only other thing that could sustain the protection would be the unconditional and undiluted love of a mother for their child."

That caused Minerva's eyes to widen before they narrowed and her nostrils flared as she growled. "So Potter didn't need to be with those... people!?"

Slowly, Dumbledore shook his head. "As much as I would like to have thought otherwise, he did. You see, Minerva, at the time of my discovery, the protection would last maybe a month, at most, outside of the vicinity of Lily's sister. And it may take that long just to settle guardianship of young Harry. But... I would only have one chance of making the right choice, because his guardian would need to have the true love of a parent for a child. And at the time, and still, far too many would be blinded by his fame to give him that. That is not counting how certain dark families would also be jumping at the chance to be his guardian and would interfere."

Frowning, Minerva stared at her reflection in the mirror as she walked up beside Dumbledore. "Perhaps, Molly Weasley could have...?"

However, Dumbledore shook his head. "Do not get me wrong, Minerva. Molly is a wonderful mother and I am certain that Harry could have a happy childhood. But she also had a number of children of her own with another on the way at the time that Lily and James died. Could she give Harry the attention needed? And would Arthur be able to resist the pressure that certain parties might place on him? Pressure on oneself can far too easily create temptation. And temptation can lead to tragedy. Perhaps... Remus, you might think. I gave it a lot of thought before I disregarded it. Not because of his condition, but because he was, and still is, in a dark place caused by his grief. I hate myself, Minerva. Here I had the knowledge of how to keep a young child both happy and safe, but everywhere I looked... There were reasons why I could not. For I would have just one chance and if I was wrong, something that I'll admit I am far too often, I would doom him."

As one of the few people close enough to him for Dumbledore to feel comfortable speaking of such things, Minerva frowned at him. "But now that's been taken out of your hands."

While he nodded, there was a small smile on Dumbledore's face. "Indeed, Minerva. Perhaps I allowed my fear to rule me, but I am happy that the decision has been taken from my hands. Miss Nagato is giving him all the love, fully unconditional, that he needs for Lily's protection. No strings attached, just pure love that a mother would have for her child. The love that can give a muggle woman the strength to lift a car off her child. The love that would give one the energy to push themselves to where they should die and beyond, letting them last long enough to save the one they care for..."

It was with a whisper that Minerva said the next bit. "The love that would drive a mother to freely give up their life, and protect their child even though they were no longer breathing."

Just nodding, Dumbledore hummed. "Exactly." Turning, he regarded her with a smile and a nod. "Now then, I do not need to ask that you would keep Mister Potter's current location a secret? I would like to keep this known to as few people as possible as with the state of the Ministry, I do not want to consider their reaction. Bagnold perhaps might try something that would end in disaster in an attempt to buoy up her popularity."

 

Harry Leferts

Drying herself off, Harder glanced to the Japanese sub beside her and snorted. "Okay, I got to ask..." Once she had Hachi's attention, she continued. "What's the deal with the kid? I mean, with how you bunch act toward everyone else, one would think that you wouldn't care. But you all just tone it down around him."

Hachi wiggled one finger around in her ear as she hummed. "Harry-chan is... special and we do have standards." At the raised eyebrow, she frowned and looked up at the ceiling of the sub pens. "Well, it started a couple of months after Harry-chan arrived on base. We hadn't really had much contact with him, you know? But he never treated us different then he did anyone else and we had been taking it easy."

That caused Harder to frown before she tossed the towel she had been using into a bin. "Okay? And?"

A grimace crossed Hachi's face as she tossed her own towel to the side. "Well, a Wo class must have gotten in close without anyone noticing because next thing we knew, there was an air attack going on. And because it was a surprise attack, there was no warning and Harry-chan was caught outside...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Whimpering, Harry ran as he held his head above his head in an effort to protect himself as he ran for a shelter. The whole time, bombs dropped in various parts of the base and some of the Abyssal aircraft performed strafing runs on various places. As well, the booms of the various weapons trying to shoot down the aircraft could also be heard. Giving a glance up, Harry could see some bombs heading for him. But before they reached him, two arms grabbed him and hauled him up. Said arms carried him well away before the bombs hit and exploded against the ground before a voice caused him to look up. "You okay there, chibi?"

It was all that Harry could do to blink at the sight of the grin on Iku's face as she continued to run for the harbour. "Uh-huh..."

For a moment, Iku glanced around before her expression became serious. "Hey, can you hold your breath for a while?"

Confused, Harry just nodded, though he flinched from another close strike, bits of shrapnel bouncing off of Iku's back which was shielding him. "Y-yeah?"

Nodding, Iku grimaced. "Good enough... Chibi, take a deep breath now!" Even though he was still confused, Harry took a deep breath and held it. His eyes widened a few seconds later as Iku leapt from the rocks that surrounded the harbour and cleared several dozen feet before diving under the water, still holding Harry. To the young boy, the next few minutes were filled with water rushing past him and the booms and the very slight shockwaves of explosions in the harbour. Then everything went dark and Harry glanced up to see the ceiling to the Sub pens cover them. Even then though, Iku continued to cut through the water until she reached the ladder that went down into the water that the sub girls deployed from and surfaced until she was standing on the water. Looking down at the soaked and shivering child, Iku's eyes softened a bit, even as the pens shuddered from a hit. "You okay there?"

Unable to say much from coughing, Harry just nodded. "Y-yes..."

Just letting out a breath, Iku nodded before she gripped the ladder in one hand, her other arm wrapped around Harry as she began to climb. "That's good... but we still need to make sure that you're not hurt. Humans are weird like that where they can be hurt and not realize it..." Reaching the top, she took a deep breath. "HEY! GIRLS! NEED A BIT OF HELP HERE! HACHI, BRING THE FIRST AID KIT! YUU! BRING ME SOME TOWELS AND ANY SWEATERS AND BLANKETS YOU CAN FIND!" Looking down at Harry, Iku just shook her head and winked. "Hey, don't worry, us sub girls will take care of you..."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"... And after we checked him out and got him into some warm, dry clothes and blankets, the three of us took care of him. Iku, Yuu, and I played boardgames with him until we got the all clear while Imuya went out and helped hunt down the Abyssals. Since then Harry's been our little buddy. Heh..." Scratching her chin, Hachi looked over at Harder. "We don't need to act lewd to get his attention. Everyone else might ignore us and avoid our part of the base, but Harry never has and visits us a lot... and we can always look forward to a nice little award from him after a mission."

Harder raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

Coming to a stop, Hachi grinned and opened the fridge to show two containers. One was had a note saying it was Hachi's and the other said it was for Harder. Opening hers, Hachi let out a happy sigh. "Cupcakes... Harry-Chan's cupcakes." With a smile, she took one out and bit into it. "Mmm... Harry-chan knows just how to treat us right... Attention and rewards..."

 

AkumaOuja

[Okay then, first shot at this. Let's see how it goes.

Mostly, I'm assuming that, since Lockhart does what he does, and officially speaking he's actually got the potential to be quite talented, just not to the level he though he'd been when he was a kid, he's actually acquired a certain amount of skill in relation to the things he does inorder to get his stories quietly, write them down, edit and gussy them up, and the like. So, honestly, I imagine he's a half decent survivalist and writer, probably in decent shape, it's just that's never been how he markets himself, and he sees all the effort he puts in doing those things, in addition to being in contrast to how he thinks things SHOULD be, to be a sign of him being terrible at those things.

Also, apparently Lockhart's a halfblood, and his age means his grandparents, and his father as well, likely fought in WWII and it's wizarding equivalent, so I decided to use that possibility, it can't all be laughs, after all. I don't want my only contribution to be cheap jokes while the real story telling goes on around me.]

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Gilderoy Lockhart sat in his study, several papers and notebooks strewn about him, as he mused over a series of notes, first hand accounts, and even a few transcribed reports from Obliviators and Hitwizards to the Wizengamot and the Minister of Magic he'd been sent, "so as to consult his considerable expertise and professional opinion on the matter." All on a singular topic.

Abyssals. Towering monstrous ship-like creatures with a distinct and clear loathing of human kind, whether magical or not. They were, to put it lightly, one of the two more recent magical creatures to cause trouble for the magical communities in the world. Though, he supposed with the easiest comparison being Nundu, "Cause trouble" was perhaps something of an understatement.

Indeed, the creatures would likely have already overrun most of the world, if it weren't for their more positively inclined counterpart, the Shipgirls.

Living embodiments of Muggle warships, rising up from the depths to ride the tides of war once more.

"That was a good one, I'll have to remember that one." He thought, writing it down on a bit of scratchpaper.

However, this was something of a problem, not just for witches and wizards and muggles, but for Lockhart in particular.

"I can hardly stay silent on the matter but my usual methods are hardly going to suffice." He thought, and indeed, that was the crux of the matter. As one of Britain's foremost experts on dealing with dark creatures, adventuring, daring-do, and dangerous exploits in general, he couldn't, in anyway, be silent on the matter. Indeed, his fans had already bombarded him with letters asking him if he would publish his next book once "All was said and done" about his part in beating back the new scourge of the seas.

Several hundred letters, more or less all asking the same thing, and not a one even considering for a second he wouldn't be involved in the largest, most destructive conflict since the war with Grindelwald and his muggle counterpart.

He'd had a grandfather in both of those wars, muggle and wizard, "descendant of war heroes" and he'd certainly milked that often enough in his books. "Of course, I suppose both of them would be rather unhappy with that." He thought, a tinge of shame slithering through his mind, before he shook his head and dismissed it. He had other matters to attend to.

Like what he was going to do about this entire mess.

Shipgirls and Abyssals had the unfortunate effect of gradually building up the resistance of those that encountered them to things like Obliviate, which, considering his his primary skills were casting obliviate, stealing and editing memories, and acquiring and writing stories, made the entire situation rather unenviable for him. To be sure, he had other skills, some of them rather genuinely practical, after all, he could hardly travel in comfort in hunting down his stories, far too showy, much too obvious, especially as his normal destinations were small and out of the way. Living rough and doing so quietly was something he was almost decent at. It was a struggle, but then again, his memory charm had always been the only thing he was particularly exemplar at...that and smiling.

It wouldn't do for any of his fans to see him in hiking equipment, his hair under a hood to keep the sun off, and his face and teeth anything less than picture perfect, after all. If they could see him, actually struggling to cross some desolate bit of landscape, or clambering up the side of a mountain to get to some remote village, why his sales would drop in a matter of minutes! Not to mention all the experts on that kind of thing, who'd no doubt comment on his inability to cross the Sahara in anything less than five days on foot. It wasn't like he could have brought a broom, after all! Not everyone could be wondrous explorers.

He shook his head, "Not the time to go over my failings, I need to find a solution to this." He thought.

So, he couldn't simply Obliviate an Admiral and their girls, it simply wouldn't work. However it wasn't like he could actually fight an Abyssal himself. He'd be crushed in moments, he had no real ability in magical combat, after all.

He sighed, putting down a report from a hitwizard who'd had their leg bitten off by a Wo-class, that effectively told him that, yes, were he to attempt to fight one he would die, rather horribly and messily, before he peered around his study at the various portraits of himself, each of which were similarly deep in thought, before his eyes came to rest on the mantle of his fireplace, where a Blue-black cap and uniform rested. It had been his grandfather's on his father's side, Jonathan Lockhart a Navy officer in the muggle Navy. He'd been a stern man, but rather kind hearted, and Gilderoy had loved his stories as a child, though it was usually tales of him keeping the crew in order and seeing amazing locations, as his posting had been rather uneventful.

He'd often taken the cap as a child, run around pretending to be an admiral and attempting to rope his sisters into things, they'd never had much of a love for it.

Still, he wished he could just let a ship do the fighting, then he could write his story, get all the credit he liked, and not even have to worry about-

"That's it!" He shouted, jumping to his feet, before rushing off to prepare himself for the trip.

If a bunch of muggles could summon a shipgirl, certainly he could too, right?


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GIlderoy no. Gilderoy what are you doing. Stahp. Staaaaaaaaapph Gilderoy, you know not what you do!

 

Harry Leferts

Warming morning sunlight softly spilled into the bedroom and tickled Nagato's eyes where she slept. Part of her, that which was human, wanted nothing more then to snuggle deeper into her warm blankets away from the light. At the same time though, that portion of her that was a ship was already getting ready for the day ahead. Her fight against wakefulness failed, Nagato yawned a bit as she smacked her lips and looked toward the calender with a soft smile playing across her lips. 'Mother's Day... I wonder if Dreadnought will like the gift that I got for her?'

A soft knock at the door though broke her from her thoughts and she looked up to see one green eye peeking through the crack toward her. "Mum? Are you up?"

With a chuckle that would have surprised most of the shipgirls on the base outside of a select few, Nagato smiled with a nod. "I am now, Harry." It was then that a smell hit her which caused her mouth to water and a moment later for her eyes to also widen in surprise. 'He didn't...'

It turned out that Harry had as the eight year old opened the door and rolled in a small table laden down with food as he blushed at her shocked look. "I... brought you some breakfast, mum... I hope that you liked it."

Her expression soft, Nagato opened her arms to hug him. Once he was in her embrace, she kissed him on the top of his head. "I love it, thank you." Once he settled and leaned into her side, she began to eat. If anyone would have looked in, they would have seen the proud Battleship savouring each bite. "Mmm... lovely." When she was done though, she got another surprise as Harry pulled out a small gift for her. "For me?"

Nodding, Harry smiled as she opened it up. "Uh-huh... do you like it?"

Upon seeing what it was, Nagato's eyes widened before her expression softened at the necklace inside. "I love it, Harry."

There was a large grin on Harry's face as he tightly hugged her. "Happy Mother's Day, mum..."

 

Harry Leferts

As she walked beside Nagato, Jersey just raised an eyebrow at the Japanese Battleship. "Say what now? You fucking have your kid working in the kitchen?"

Sighing, Nagato rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Trust me, Jersey. If it was up to me then Harry-chan wouldn't be working in the kitchen, or anywhere else. But if I don't end up doing something, then things happen such as all of us coming back to find the Battleship Dorms absolutely spotless and clean... and I am still unsure how Harry-Chan managed to get all the laundry done without anyone noticing."

That just caused Jersey to blink and stare at Nagato. "Wait, what?"

With a grimace on her face, Nagato stared up at the clouds above. "Harry-Chan's... family had him do a large number of chores while he was with them. Cooking, cleaning, gardening... that sort of thing. It's made him think that he needs to do things such as clean up a house. And trying to convince him otherwise didn't work. So rather then have him do something and get hurt, it's best to give him some chores where others are watching over him and will make sure that he's not overdoing it... such as in the kitchen." Both of them walked in and blinked as the smells hit them before they spotted Mamiya who was bringing out a large pot. The two Battleships made their way over and were there first. "What do we have here now?"

Mamiya just smiled at Nagato as she placed the pot down and wiped her head. "Actually, the soup of the day is something that Harry-chan made."

Blinking, Nagato looked between Mamiya and the pot in surprise. "Harry-chan made it?"

A chuckle escaped from Mamiya as she placed another pot on the burner. "Remember how we had chicken a few nights ago?" Once Nagato nodded along with Jersey, she continued. "Harry-chan made a bunch of broth from what was leftover from it and used it to make some soup... he also made some bread."

Just then, the doors to the kitchen opened and the nearly seven year old Harry walked out with a large basket full of dinner rolls. His face lit up at seeing Nagato there as a grin stretched across his face. "Mum!"

Softly smiling, Nagato had to internally squee at the sight of her adopted son in an apron and hat. Part of her made sure that one of her fairies took a picture that would be added to her growing album as she nodded. "Hello, Harry-chan. I heard that we have you to thank for lunch."

Even Jersey had to grin at the blush that bloomed on the kid's cheeks. "Yeah, smells fucking incredible."

Not even a moment later, she grunted as Nagato elbowed her and shot a glare at the Iowa class before the Japanese Battleship turned back to Harry who had tilted his head. "She is right though, it smells heavenly, and I am sure it tastes just as good."

While scuffing his shoe on the floor, Harry just nodded as he put the hot, steaming dinner rolls up. "Thank you, mum. It was just something that I learned to do. If I made sure that I had used everything then I might have gotten some..." Shaking it off, Harry didn't notice the stormy looks on both Nagato's and Jersey's faces, or Mamiya's scowl before all three covered it up. "Anyways, I hope that you and the others like it!"

Leaning over the pot nearest to her, Jersey blinked. "So... What kind of soup is it anyways?"

Harry tilted his head and tapped his chin in thought, not knowing that the expression was causing Nagato to melt inside and just barely hold back from hugging him. "Well... I used chicken broth as a base with some herbs, then I added some vegetables we had as well as rice, which is really good in the soup..."

As he continued, Jersey just raised her eyebrow even more. 'Okay... So he fucking basically made a soup with stuff left over...' Even though she was hungry, as usual, and the smell was good, the American Battleship was unsure. Her crews' memories hinted how stuff like that could turn out bad.

Much to her surprise though, the soup was pretty good though for what it was made from. That said, she did roll her eyes at the proud and happy expression on Nagato's face throughout lunch.

 

Harry Leferts

Walking through an area of bushes that had grown up since the first Abyssal attack had flattened a portion of Yokosuka base, which had been left in ruin since, Harry just blinked at the sight there before him. Inside of a small area was what looked like a shrine of some sort just like that teenager had mentioned to him. Not seeing anyone around, he frowned and walked forward past the bushes and made his way to the shrine and looked it over. "I wonder where you came from..."

A voice right behind him caused him to jump though. "Have you come to pray, little one?" His heart thudding in his chest, Harry turned to find a young woman in a Miko outfit there behind him, just smiling serenely at him. "I hope that I didn't scare you."

Just shaking his head as he calmed down, Harry let out a breath. "N-no, I just didn't see you."

Letting out a strangely bark like laugh, the Miko's smile widened just a bit. "Not many do."

It was then that Harry realized that he hadn't answered the question and the seven year old blushed some as he scuffed his shoes on the stone. "Um... I just heard about this place and wanted to see it..."

Her head tilted to the side, the Miko nodded. "Understandable, Harry-Chan."

That caused Harry to stare at her in shock. "How did you know who I am?"

Once more, the Miko let out bark like laughs before she calmed down. "You are Nagato-san's adopted son, it's not hard when I've seen you around."

When she turned toward the Shrine though, her expression turned malencholy which caused Harry to frown. "Um, miss..."

Blinking, she shook off her sadness and turned to Harry with a smile. "I'm so sorry, you can call me, Haru."

Slowly nodding, Harry frowned a bit. "Why were you so sad?"

For a moment, Haru seemed surprised before she shook her head. "Do you know what this shrine represents, Harry-chan?" At the shake of his head, she continued. "It's for all those lost in the war with the Dark Ones on the ocean. I have tasked myself in keeping it in memory of the man I loved. A sailor who went out one day at the beginning and never returned."

With a frown, Harry nodded a bit. "I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Haru..."

Surprised, Haru just reached down and placed her hand on his head before smiling as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I thank you for that, Harry-Chan. But please, don't be sad for me. I know that he wouldn't want me to be sad and here I shall wait and tend to this shrine until the day that we're reunited, for I know that I will meet with him again under the sakura trees where we'll walk, hands intertwined with each other as the rain falls from the sky. For our love is powerful and if not in this life, then in the next one I shall see him in the centuries to come."

Even though he wasn't quite sure what she meant, Harry just nodded. "Okay, Miss Haru."

Turning back to the Shrine, she shook her head. "Now then, do you know what you should do when visiting a shrine?" Blushing, Harry just shook his head and the Miko just nodded. "Well then, I think that perhaps I should teach you."

Gently, she explained and taught Harry and at the end after he did as she had instructed, he smiled up at her. "Thank you!"

Chuckling, she tilted her head a bit and then nodded. "You're very welcome, Harry-Chan. Now run along and maybe I'll tell you some stories on your next visit, hmm?"

Eyes wide, Harry looked up at her. "Really!?"

A wide smile on her face, Haru nodded. "Really." Once Harry was gone, she took a deep breath and then let it out. "You can come out now."

From where she was hidden, Junyou walked out and took a sip of her bottle before raising an eyebrow at her. "Never thought that I would come across someone like you here. Though if you think for a moment that you can hurt the kiddo..."

The smile on Haru's face never left it as she took up a broom and began to sweep the stone area. "You don't need to worry, I would never harm him. I'm not that type after all and I'll protect him on his visits."

Several moments passed before Junyou nodded some. "Yeah, I can see that." Taking another sip, she thought it over and then scratched her head in befuddlement. "But dammit, I am not looking forward to needing to explain that we got a Zenko serving as a Miko on the base.

All Haru did was give a barking laugh as her shadow, that of a four tailed fox, laughed along with her.

 

Harry Leferts

Going into a cutesy pose, Naka winked at the webcam on her computer. "Hai, Hai!~ Naka-Chan, Idol of the Fleet here, desu!" Bringing up one finger, she grinned. "Now, I have a very special surprise for all of you, my fans online. A special guest!" Naka then reached up to the webcam and then turned it to reveal a bemused eight year old Harry in a seat. "Say hello once again, to Harry-Chan! One of my favourite chibis!"

Confused, Harry waved at the camera. "Hi..."

With a glance at the comments already flying, Naka let herself smirk for a moment before clearing her throat. "Now, after a lot of work, I managed to convince his adopted mother, Nagato, to let me have him on so be nice to him, okay?" Giggling and letting out another wink, she turned toward Harry and rubbed her chin. "Hmm... you know what? You're missing something, chibi."

Looking himself over, Harry frowned. "I am?"

Just nodding, Naka reached under the table. "Yup! Now give me just a moment here." Moving between Harry and the camera, she could be seen doing something before pulling away to reveal that Harry was once more wearing the fake fox ears he could control using his mind. Then much to her surprise, he furrowed his eyebrows before he reached into a bag and pulled out what looked like fake fangs that he then placed in before grinning. "... Where did you get those from?"

Bouncing a bit in his chair, Harry smile let the fangs poke out from between his lips as one of the ears waggled a bit. "I got them from Kongou-san!"

For several moments, Naka frowned as she became thoughtful before she just shook it off. "I'm not going to ask, it's Kongou. That way lies madness."

Harry then raised his hand. "Want to see something cool?" At Naka's nod, he concentrated not realizing that Naka, and a large number of her fans found his expression cute. Then Naka blinked as one ear moved back and forth then stopped before the other one did the same. "See! I can control them now!"

All Naka did was blink before going into a presentation pose while looking at the camera. "Behold! One of the deadliest chibis in the world, people!" Sitting back into her chair, Naka gestured at something off screen. "Anyway, I promised you all something special and I am coming through for you, all of my fans! Today on the show, Harry-chan is going to play a game for all of us."

Tilting his head to the side, Harry just blinked. "What game is that, Naka-nee?"

Even though she wanted to coo, Naka resisted before pulling out a game case. "Why, Ōkami of course!" Tapping something out of sight, the screen closed a bit as scenes from the game showed up. "It's a game where one plays as a wolf with special powers. She uses ink to draw which has the effect of causing magic, all the time fighting against demons and the forces of evil!" Another tap caused the screen showing her and Harry to blow up again and become the only view. "A game that I am certain that Harry will enjoy!"

Pulling out a controller, she passed it over to Harry who took it with a grin. "Cool!"

Once more winking with her cutesy pose, Naka nodded. "Very cool! Now then, to begin..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Mutsu blinked as she poked her head into the office to see her sister watching the computer screen with a smile and a slight blush. "... What are you watching?"

Holding up a finger, Nagato just grinned. "Naka is having Harry-chan play a game with her."

Now curious, Mutsu walked around and blinked at the sight of Harry drawing what looked like a sun, which caused the sun to rise in the game. "Huh..." Sitting down next to her, Mutsu continued to watch. "Oh my~ Those ears and how they're reacting to his emotions are adorable!"

With a nod, Nagato just smiled even wider as she felt Nagamon bubbling under the surface. "Mm-hm..."

 

Harry Leferts

Stretching some, Nagato looked up at the clear, blue sky above as the circadas played their song. Here and there fluffy white clouds drifted in the breeze as she took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. 'Hmm... let's see... paperwork is done for the day, it's lovely, the Abyssals seem to be keeping quiet for now... I suppose that the only issue is that Mutsu is in Sasebo under the command of that American Admiral.' Frowning some, she glanced at the watch around her wrist, her eyes softening as it was a gift from Harry to her. "Harry should have been let out of school by now, maybe spend the rest of the day with him."

A blush rose to her cheeks as she thought of cuddling with her son. If nothing else, Harry enjoyed the attention just as much as she did. Of course, it was just about then that she realized that she was hearing something akin to a Doppler effect. In fact, it was strangely familiar, but was a happy scream. Looking up just in time, Nagato saw Harry on Shimakaze's shoulders as the Destroyer sped past in the water, a fan tail behind her. "HI MUM! BYE MUM!"

Nagato blinked and then waved with a smile as she called out. "HI HONEY!" She took a few more steps before she suddenly came to a stop and froze for a second. Then her head whipped around with the sound of tortured steel from how fast it turned and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "HARRY!?"

Several miles away, Harry grinned as he kept an good grip on Shimakaze, his life vest slightly wet from the spray as the wind whipped his normally messy hair into a chaotic mass. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN, SHIMAKAZE-NEE! THANKS!"

Grinning up at him, Shimakaze scoffed. "You ain't seen speed yet, Harry-chan."

It was then that they heard Nagato's screech and both looked back to see Nagato leap from the shore and onto the water before she barrelled towards them at her top speed. Harry just blinked a bit against the salt spray and frowned. "Mum? Do you think that something's wrong?"

Tilting her head back just a bit, Shimakaze got a mischievous look on her face. "Nope, in fact I think that she wants to race us." Now grinning, she looked up at Harry who was looking down at her. "So how about it? Want to race your mom?"

Even though he wasn't quite sure about it, Harry slowly nodded. After all, Shimakaze wouldn't lie about something like that, right? "Sure..."

If anything, Shimakaze's grin widened even more as she whipped herself into a turn and began to rush at Nagato. "Great! Now hang on tightly!"

By the time Nagato realized that they were speeding in her direction, she only had the time to widen her eyes as they went past, Harry nodding at her. "WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE RACE, MUM!"

Shimakaze meanwhile cackled a bit. "TOO SLOW, GRANDMA!"

With a growl, Nagato turned fast enough that her head nearly met the water before she continued in the direction of those two. "SHI-MA-KA-ZE!"

Now blinking, Harry looked down at Shimakaze. "Mum just sounded really mad..."

The Destroyer only laughed and shook her head. "Nah! She just doesn't want us beating her. Trust your big sister, okay?"

Just nodding, Harry turned his head back to see his mom chugging after them. 'I wonder why mum is so red...'

 

Harry Leferts

Squinting, Harry looked up at the ceiling before he swallowed painfully. "Fubuki-nee... everything hurts and I'm so itchy..."

Not even a moment later, Fubuki's face entered his field of vision and she reached up and gently stroked the top of his head, though Harry missed the slight pause before her hand touched his hair. "I know, Otouto, I know. But you can't scratch, okay? We don't want to make things worse with your chicken pox. Now, I got some nice broth for you which should be good for your stomach."

Just nodding, Harry sat up a bit and grunted as his body ached. All over him where the spots from chicken pox which he had caught at school. As he sipped from the spoon though, he looked up at Fubuki with a frown. "Where's mum...?"

With a sigh, Fubuki shook her head. "Nagato-san is getting you some medicine that the doctor prescribed, it should help."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry blinked in thought. He could still remember that his mum had been acting strange when they had gone to the doctor's office when he first started to show signs and he had heard her screech when the doctor had talked to her. His head had whipped around in time to see Iowa pull Nagato out of the room while pushing out other frightened shipgirls with the doctor looking confused before he turned and gave the slightly frightened child a shrug and a smile. Then the doctor had given him a lollipop and went out of the room. Several minutes later, Nagato, now calmer came back in with the others who looked nervous but calmer.

And since then, he had been stuck in bed as the chicken pox worked it's way through him. Yet sometimes Nagato and the others gave him strange looks of worry and relief.

However, at the moment he just laid back with a groan. "'M not really hungry, Fubuki-nee..."

The Destroyer just nodded and smiled a bit as she put a top onto the bowl of broth. "That's okay, Harry-chan."

She checked the mittens on his hands and slowly nodded. They had put them on his hands and secured them after they caught him scratching at the boils from the chicken pox. Not long afterwards, Iowa poked her head in with a grin. "Hey ya, kiddo! I brought a laptop so that we can watch some neat stuff!"

If anything, the smile caused both shipgirls to relax a bit more and Fubuki gave a nod to the Battleship before she slipped out.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Her hands and lower arms under water that was hot enough that it would burn a normal human, Fubuki scrubbed at them without soap before she reached over for the bottle on the side only to blink as a slender hand reached for it and then poured some onto her hands. Giving a smile to Kongou, Fubuki worked up a lather before rinsing it off and repeating before the Fast Battleship spoke up. "And how is Harry-chan, Dess?"

Letting out a sigh as she soaped up her hands and lower arms a third time, Fubuki smiled slightly. "He's doing a bit better, I think that he might be over it in a few days..." A frown appeared on her face as she looked over at Kongou. "Um, Kongou-san... about doctor-"

Before she could get any further though, Kongou held up a hand. "The good doctor now knows better then to say what he did in the manner he did." Reaching up, Kongou rubbed the side of her head in a way that expressed utter annoyance at what happened. "Teitoku is just thankful that Iowa was there to get us out of the room before we overreacted much more... I'm just thankful that we were wrong, Dess."

Fubuki had a truly impressive scowl on her face as she glared at the wall. "What was he even thinking when he told us that Harry-chan had 'Just a normal case of the pox, nothing to worry about'."

All Kongou did was shake her head with a similar scowl on her face. "He wasn't thinking. No one has had to deal with that... horror for decades now."

Turning off the water, Fubuki nodded as she shook off her hands and then reached for a towel to dry her hands on. "Something else to be thankful to the future I think." A shudder ran through her as images from the memories of her crew drifted through her mind. "There's no way that Harry-chan can catch smallpox now... no way at all."

Even though it was true, there was a hint of prayer there as well, which Kongou nodded at. "Dess."

 

AkumaOuja

AkumaOuja said:
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Figured it's about time I continued this.

As per usual, comments and criticism are welcomed.

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Lockhart sighed as he'd put the record into place. Regretfully, his many cosmetic talents had never included a singing voice of note. What he gathered seemed to suggest that the song itself had to be carefully chosen. Songs of the ocean, of homecoming, of service and spirit, these all seemed the ideal choices. Thankfully, many sea shanties and the like had been composed over the years that covered precisely those topics. However he was hardly much of a singer himself. To be sure, for a sea shanty or sailor's song, he supposed that it was less tune and clean notes than spirit, however he felt that the best odds were if he made it as direct as he possibly could.

And that would take a more feminine touch, he thought. Thankfully, his adoring fans were more than willing to show their support for the war effort by singing a few songs. More than one song had been written about a sailor who hadn't come home, after all, and outsourcing like this meant he wouldn't even have to pay for anything

"I can only hope that this doesn't take too horribly long," He thought as he adjusted the cap of his grandfather's uniform and moved the needle into place. He'd decided to start with a few of the more unlikely ones first and narrow things down a tad.

So, dressed in his grandfather's uniform, surrounded by whatever naval paraphernalia he could gather up discreetly, he set the record playing and struck as fine a salute as he could have managed. His foyer was perhaps not an ideal place for this, but it was the only one with a water feature and he'd hoped the small saltwater fountain would be of some kind of help in this endeavor.

Three hours and several dozen songs later, his arm had started to cramp, he was rather stiff, and starting to rethink this entire enterprise as he set about putting his last record into place.

"Damn it all, I need someone to answer! I can't be seen sitting on the sidelines! I'll lose everything if people...realize what a fraud I am.." He thought desperately, even as the record began to spin.

Come all you bold seamen
And see what is done~

It began, the voice of a woman floated through the room with almost an operatic tone as she sang the opening to Britons, Strike Home. Lockhart waited with baited breath. A minute passed....and then another.

My father was a squire,
And I was his heir~

"No, no damn you!" He muttered as his hopes faded and he saw the threads of his career as they slipped away. "This...this has to work! It just has to work, I can't lose out like this." He thought as he frantically tried to come up with a solution.

However, as the final strains of Britons, Strike Home came to an end, there was still no shipgirl. He and his career were as doomed as they were when he'd begun. He sighed and slouched into a chair next to the recordplayer.

"I'm ruined." He said, and placed his head in his hands.

What could he do? He was hardly going to be able to write a book without a story to write, and if he simply made it up, it'd be obvious he was a fraud. His entire career, ruined because of a missing boat.

He lifted his head and took his grandfather's cap in his hand as he stared forlornly at record player. In the end, he supposed his fame hadn't been able to last forever, not on it's own.

He looked down at the hat in his hands, blue and a touch threadbare, he'd need to have it repaired at some point, it wouldn't do to let it degrade after all.

"Remember Gilderoy. Just because you've got a way to take it easy, to let someone or something else do the work, doesn't mean you should. I won't say you shouldn't ever, because lord knows I've shirked a touch here and there, but when it comes down to it, the finest work is always done with your own hands. Besides, sometimes, the easy way isn't so easy, when it comes down to it."

His grandfather had said that to him when he was a child. He'd caught him trying to transfigure a few pieces of wood into a new chair after he'd broken one. He'd sat him down and helped him build a new one by hand as he explained it to him.

In that moment knew exactly what to do. He stood up and smoothed back his hair before he placed the cap carefully atop his head. Then he drew in a deep breath and started to sing.

'"Tis now two months or more,
Since a boat left the shore,
Mann'd by a skipper and his men
It sail'd at night away,
A storm came on next day,
And breaking hearts long
For the boat's return since then~"

He sang with everything he had, pushing every ounce of emotion he could into each word. This was, inessence, his last chance. If this failed, what else could he do?

"The skipper's wife goes down
Ev'ry day from the town,
To watch for tidings on the shore;
She strains her aching eyes,
And through her descries,
The phantom of a form
That will come back no more~"

His eyes were closed as he sang, and so the unearthly glow that appeared infront of him went unnoticed, until a rumbling, like the rushing of water being forced out of the way by something truly massive. He ignores it however, terrified that if he stopped singing for even a moment, it would all be a waste.

"The child she lulls to rest
Lulls to rest on her breast,
Asks, when will father come again?
She dares not give repl-"

"Hello there! HMS Royal Sovereign, reporting for duty!...Or am I Arkhangelsk?" A voice said, starting out feminine and slightly welsh, before deepening like a child imitating her father and taking on a Russian accent, and he opened his eyes to see her.

She was tall, with blue eyes and rather silky brunette hair in a long ponytail, and a stereotypically Russian fur hat was seated on her head, a thick fur trimmed coat over a buttoned up waistcoat and a short skirt.

"I suppose it says something about me that that was the first things I noticed. Though she at the least seems to have similar appreciation for good hair care." Lockhart mused, even as he took in what likely should have been the more immediate concern rather than her fashion sense.

That would be the battleship she was wearing. A pair of twin barreled cannons sat behind and above her shoulders swivelling slightly as if they were testing their range of motion, and her arms held a grip inlaid into the twin halves of a battleship. Studded along the length of her arms were fourteen smaller cannons, and at her elbows sat a more modest pair of guns than most of the others. Above her hands were each two smaller guns, the most meager of the lot. A rather metallic set of heels attached to what seemed to be the bow of a ship, complete with torpedo tubes seemed to complete the ensemble.

Lockhart looked at her expectant face and gave himself a shake, before he put on his best smile and held out a hand. "Well, Sovereign, My name is Gilderoy Lockhart." He said.

She seemed to regard him and his dazzling smile for a moment, before nodding and taking his hand in a firm grip.


----------


Ehhhhhhh, not quite satisfied with this. It's messy, but it needed doing. Finding information on summoning was a bitch and a half, so eventually I just had to work off the tiny pieces that got mentioned from time to time.

If anyone actually knows how the fuck it works, I'm open to rewriting this.

 

*Note by Darthcourt - this is included even though part of it is incorporated into a Year 2 piece by Harry Leferts*

Tiypo

AkumaOuja I hope you don't mind but I just had to write a snippet on a later more humble Lockhart talking with, or more accurately at, Harry. Please feel free to completely disregard it if you have other plans.
_________________________
“Harry, would you mind staying behind for a few minutes?” Professor Lockhart called from the front of the room as his class ended.

Mentally the preteen grimaced, but nodded regardless. Harry didn't particularly care for his own claim to fame in the largely nonsensical wizarding world and largely tried to stay away from the bombastic DADA teacher. He kept seated as the other whispering students filed past him and out of the classroom before walking up to the teacher who was now sat a desk of his own.

“Is there something wrong professor?” he asked, hoping that this wasn't some bid to drag him further into the limelight.

The teacher replied back in a happy but more reserved and serious tone than his usual, “No, not at all, but would you mind me asking if the Ms. Nagato you are living with happens to be thee Nagato?”

Harry paused for a moment before stating his answer, “Yes, my adoptive mother is the battleship Nagato.”

“In that case I believe you may be able to appreciate this.” The teacher said reached into his desk and pulled out a book.

“I have little doubt that with time you'll notice that the assigned literature in my class is rather on the fantastic side even for magic and to some extant that is true.” He began to lecture.

“My books are all based on true stories, but in truth they aren't my own and have been embellished to appeal to a larger audience; people don't like to read simple tales of simple heroes after all.” He chuckled.

At this Lockhart's speech trailed off for a few seconds, fingers idly stroking the spine of book as he stared at the cover.

“There is one though; a story of my own.” He started speaking again. “That is if you would consider the sidekick the star of his own story.”

He turned to face Harry and handed him the book, “This is the only story that I have ever written that has proven to be unpopular with my fans, and it is my proudest work.”

Harry slowly took the book being extended to him before reading the name, Week with a Warship, and at the bottom of the cover was the autograph of someone who he didn't expect.

“You actually met Royal Sovereign?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

“Believe it or not I actually summoned her!” Lockhart laughed, “The time I spent with her was a most humbling experience and I'm glad to call her my closest friend now.”

The Professor kept smiling, “That story has no need to be glamorized; the time I spent with Sovereign deserves to be told as it was even if it was just me being dragged around on her adventures.”

Harry smiled back, “I know that feeling. Thank you for the book, it means a lot to me to know someone else gets that they aren't just ghosts or monsters.”

The professor nodded in understanding, before glancing at his watch.

“Ah, look at the time! If you'll excuse me, I happen to have a lunch date with a certain lady of steel. I hope that you enjoy my adventure.”

“I think I will Professor.” Harry answered as Lockhart grinned and rose with a purposely overly dramatic flourish of his cape like robes before stepping out of the classroom and turning towards the front of the school.

Stepping out of the classroom himself Harry started making his way towards the dining hall when one last thought crossed his mind that made him pale.

“How am I going to tell Hermione?”

 

Harry Leferts

Somewhat bored with yet another PR event, Warspite walked through the schoolyard just watching the children with a slight smile as she kept one hand on her cane. Practice though made it look less like she actually needed it and more that it was a fashion choice, though her fellow shipgirls knew that it was the first. It wouldn't do for a Battleship to show up at a school to make children feel better and more safe while in a wheelchair after all. And she knew that she would be paying for it later, damn the damage from Jutland. But seeing the smiles on the faces of the children, Warspite felt it worth the slight twinges in her rudders. Suddenly, she came to a stop and looked at one corner of the yard and frowned, the teacher beside her coming to a stop as she realized that the Battleship had stopped on their tour of the school grounds. "Is something wrong, Miss Warspite?"

Blinking, Warspite looked over at her and then waved a hand. "No, no, something just caught my eye." At the confused expression on the teacher's face, Warspite pointed at a young girl who was all alone under one of the trees reading through a rather large book. "I just noticed that little girl over there."

There was a frown on the teacher's face as she spotted who it was and sighed. "Ah... that would be Hermione Granger. Nice girl but... not the most socially proficient if you catch my drift."

Just humming, Warspite tapped a finger on her cane. "Hermione, hmm? Bit of an unusual name that."

All the teacher did though was shrug, though Warspite spotted a bit of protectiveness. "Her parents were quite smitten with the name I suppose. But she's a good student, very active in class and quite intelligent." Then the frown came back and she sighed. "I just wished that the other students would be a bit more friendly."

Warspite chuckled though and softly smiled. "It seems that some things have not changed in all the decades that I have been gone. Children can still be a bit cruel to those who are, shall we just say... different." Slowly, her expression turned a bit thoughtful and she tilted her head to the side. "Still, it seems that she's quite familiar to myself. Almost as if I've met her before."

Now a bit confused, the teacher furrowed her eyebrows and rubbed her wrist. "Perhaps one of her family was a crew member on you?"

Somewhat bemused, Warspite just nodded before smiling. "Perhaps."
__________________________________

Much to Hermione's surprise, a few minutes later she heard a throat clearing and looked up to see Warspite there with a smile on her face. "Is it okay if I take a seat?"

Even though she was surprised, Hermione just nodded. "Y-yeah, it is."

Taking a seat, Warspite let out a soft sigh as she placed her cane beside her. Just humming, she glanced at the large book in Hermione's hands and nodded her head at it. "Pretty big book for someone of your age. Jane's, right?"

As she noticed the other kids watching in interest and whispering amongst themselves, Hermione shifted just a touch. "Jane's All the World's Fighting Shipgirls, actually. It's very well researched and informative. And they always make sure that with each new summoning, they bring out a new edition."

Suddenly, she blushed as she realized how that sounded and thought that Warspite might laugh at her. However, she was pleasantly surprised as Warspite simply nodded. "Agreed, they actually do a lot of good work. Very good work at that, and I should know as I've been interviewed by them though I do wish that they wouldn't have added that nickname of theirs to my entry." Leaning back on her elbows and heedless of picking up any stains, Warspite frowned for a moment and hummed. "You're parents must be quite proud of having an intelligent daughter such as yourself to call their own."

If anything, that increased the blush on Hermione's face before she nodded. "They are, though I don't see them as often anymore." At the look, Hermione brought her knees to her chest. "They worked as dentists before the war, but work mostly on the base as medics now, helping out however they can."

Chin cupped in one hand, Warspite thought this over before softly smiling. "I see... rather, independent as well as someone who keeps extending their reach and looking for knowledge."

For the next half hour, Warspite chatted with Hermione and, at the end, invited her to stay in touch and maybe even visit from time to time. Once the time came for Hermione to return to class, Warspite just watched as she walked back to the school before one of the Destroyers walked up and cleared her throat. "Um, ma'am? Are you going to tell-"

However, Warspite cut her off with a wave of her hand and a slight glare. "No, I'm not going to say anything to the Admiralty and neither are you. Some of those bloody bastards would try and throw her into the war at the first chance they get. No, best to let her have something of a childhood before she might be needed." Turning once more, the Battleship watched as Hermione entered the school, a slender and ghostly hull around her. "Yes, best to allow her this much before awakening her after all. She deserves that, but also to be prepared."

 

Harry Leferts

Looking at the piece of paper in her hands, Ooyodo took a sip of her mug before raising an eyebrow as she looked at the nervous eight year old Harry in front of her. "So... may I ask why you're asking permission for the items on this list? Just out of curiosity, mind you."

Still slightly nervous, Harry looked around and leaned forward. "Mum's birthday is tomorrow and since she's been my mum for more then a year I wanted to really do something nice for her... so Mamiya is letting me make the desserts for her party!" Then he deflated a bit. "But, um... I was told that if I had special requests, I was supposed to go to you."

Eyebrow still raised, Ooyodo frowned as she looked at the list. "That is true. As to the list itself..." Glancing up, she just barely held a snort at the now depressed look on Harry's face before continuing. "None of the items on this list are restricted in anyway, Harry-Chan. I honestly can't understand why you thought that you needed my permission for any of this, but..." Shrugging, Ooyodo shook her head. "I don't see any problems"

Handing him back the paper, Ooyodo watched as he grinned. "Thank you!"

With that, he took off and, with just a moment to wait for Goto to enter his office and giving the Admiral a bow, Harry was gone. Just raising an eyebrow, Goto turned toward his secretary ship. "Mind explaining what exactly just happened?"

As she walked back to her desk, Ooyodo just softy chuckled. "Seems that Harry-Chan wants to do something nice for Nagato-San tomorrow for her Commissioning Day celebration. Honestly, I don't know why he wanted to know if he could have the items, they're not hard to come by after all." Frowning in thought, she hummed a bit. "Though I do wonder what he needs chocolate pudding powder, jello powder, and the like for..."

Just raising an eyebrow, Goto blinked at that. "I see..." Shaking it off, he hummed. "Guess that we need to wait until tomorrow."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Softly smiling, Nagato leaned back as the group around her finished their modified version of the "Happy Birthday Song", except they called it the "Happy Commissioning Day Song". The only voices not with them were Harry's, Honshou's, Fubuki's, and Yuudachi's as they had gone back into the kitchen to get something. However, just as the last words drifted into silence, the door opened and a happy Harry walked in pushing a cart. On top, was a plate with a cover over it and he came to a stop in front of Nagato with a smile. "Um... happy commissioning day, mum... I made you some stuff and I hope that you like it."

All Nagato did was pull him into a hug and sigh. "I'd be happy with anything that you made."

Taking a moment, Harry just enjoyed the hug. If you asked him, the one thing he adored about his adopted mother was just how often and how much affection she gave him. Something that he had wanted all his life and now was getting anytime he wanted. However, all things came to a end and he pulled away. "Um, right! Here goes... PAN PAKA PAN!" Lifting the cover, he was treated by a gasp and blinked to make sure that the cake was alright. Seeing that it was, he turned and looked at the stunned shipgirls and blinked. "Um... is something wrong?"

It was a stunned Ooyodo who managed to speak first as she pointed at the decadent looking cake. "Harry-Chan... did you really make that with just the supplies on the list you showed me..."

More then a little confused, Harry nodded. "Well, yes? It's death by chocolate... Though I made more then one cake so everyone can have a slice and used some of the Jello to make mousse... that was okay, right?"

Looking over at the doors to the kitchen in time to see Honshou, Fubuki, and Yuudachi walk in with carts that also had cakes, and what looked like plastic cups filled with mousse, the other shipgirls just stared before Goto leaned down to Harry. "Mind letting the cooks see some of the recipes later on?"

Harry just nodded as he lit up the candles on the cake. "Sure!" Turning toward Nagato, he blinked. "Mum? Aren't you going to blow out your candles?"

Quickly shaking it off, Nagato did so and a few moments later stared at the large slice of cake before picking up a fork and taking a piece off. "It's pretty moist..." Taking a bite, she chewed before closing her eyes and humming. 'So good...' Once she opened her eyes, she gave another hug to Harry and then pulled him into her lap. "I love it, thank you Harry."

The smile she got just about melted her heart as he nodded. "You're welcome, mum!"

All of them enjoyed their cake and mousse quite a bit, none more then Nagato for what it meant.

 

Harry Leferts

The sun having set an hour before, eight year old Harry was running along one of the paths in the base home after staying behind with DesDiv6 studying and doing his homework. Not that he was really all that worried though as the base was well guarded and he often saw one of the other military personnel walking around or doing patrols. However, when he was going past one of the old bunkers, he heard a sound and looked over to see a girl leaning over a wall there just giving him an odd smile. Frowning, he waved a bit at her. "Um, hi?"

Still silent, the girl waved at him though her smile grew just a touch more even though her hair covered most of her face. Before anything else could happen, a voice came through the night. "Harry-Chan, shouldn't you be heading home? It is getting rather late and Nagato-san doesn't want you out too late."

Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the time on the watch his mother had gotten him and he gulped. "Oh no... Um, I was studying with Akatsuki-chan and... I kind of lost track of time."

Chuckling, Fubuki just waved him off as she kept an eye on the girl with a smile on her face. "I don't think that Nagato-san will be angry with that and she'll just want for you to try and keep better track next time."

With a smile, Mutsuki skipped up to Harry and bent down so that she could more easily talk with him. "How about I give you a piggyback, that way you can get home earlier?"

It went without saying that Harry's eyes widened and a bright smile split his face. "Really?"

The Destroyer's eyes crinkled in a smile a bit as she crouched down. "Yup, now get on, Harry-Chan." Once he was on and her a good grip around her neck, her own arms supporting his legs, Mutsuki gave him a small bounce. "Have a good hold?"

Nodding, Harry grinned. "Yup!"

As she smiled back at him, Mutsuki glanced toward Fubuki who was still watching the girl and nodded. "I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

Fubuki just glanced at her with one eye while making sure not to take the other off the girl. "Yeah, I'll see you later, Mutsuki-chan. I'll see you tomorrow, Harry-chan." She waited as Mutsuki took off with Harry letting out a happy squeal as he said goodbye, before she turned her full attention back to the girl who shuddered at the smile on Fubuki's face. Said smile didn't reach her eyes and was somewhat predatory and frigid. It certainly didn't help that Fubuki's eyes were as cold as her name might suggest, lacking the usual warmth in them. "You know, Harry-chan is pretty much my Otouto in everyway, right? And it's my job as his big sister to protect him from those who might want to harm him..." Her eyes, if it was possible, got even more cold. "Which means that right now? Right now I'm pretty angry."

When the girl though shifted as if she was about to move, Fubuki held up one finger. "Ah-ah, I'm afraid that there's no getting out of this... Though I will say this..." Seeing that the girl was now focused on her, Fubuki grinned in a way that was in no way friendly. "As that American film we watched last week put it, we're clever girls."

Utterly confused, the girl furrowed her eyes until a sound caused her to turn and her eyes widened at the red ones looking right at her. Before she could do anything though, Yuudachi's hand shot out and gripped her throat before lifting her up and above the wall to reveal that the girl's lower half was gone, nothing there but smoke. "Hi, I'm Yuudachi! One of Harry-chan's other nee-sans. And welcome to our Nightmare Party, Poi~..."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For the next week, Harry was pretty confused over why the shipgirls of the base were particularly active, especially at night as they seemed like they were searching the base for something. Not once was he or any of the other children out of sight of any of the adults as at least one shipgirl was always within sight. Heck, Haru was often seen walking around with an angry expression on her face followed by Ryujou and Junyou. She even brought her niece to the base to help out in her shrine. After that though, things settled down and Harry shrugged it off like the other children though he was still curious. He never did see that odd girl again though.

 

Harry Leferts

Moving away from Harry for a moment and focusing on something else in the world. In particular the thoughts that the shipgirls are not the only ones fighting...
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Australia gritted her teeth as her batteries fired again, the shells taking out another Abyssal Cruiser before an explosion caught her attention and she turned to wince as Haruna exited from the smoke. "Are you alright there, mate?"

With a slight smile even as some of her uniform was in rags, Haruna raised a thumb. "Haruna is okay!" Then she glared at the injured Re-class that had dared to attack her. "All batteries, FIRE!"

Several moments later, the pieces of said Abyssal sank beneath the waves and Australia grinned a bit as she spotted the local Abyssal Demon trying to escape. "THEY'RE RUNNING! KEEP IT UP AND SINK THE BLOODY WANKERS!"

Of course, that was when she heard a gasp over the radio and turned to look toward where USS England, one of the more famous subhunters of the Second World War was staring at the water with a wide eyed look. "Guys? Something really, really big just passed underneath us... about five hundred feet down and it's moving fast."

That caused the Batttlecruiser to share a look with both Haruna and Iowa who had been helping drive out the Abyssals from one of their bases in the South Pacific which had been preying on the convoy route between New Zealand and Australia. The other two Capital ships had the same expression before Iowa turned back and frowned a bit. "One of ours?" When England shook her head, Iowa cursed. "Fuck, just what we need."

Meanwhile, Haruna frowned as she fired her guns again. "That's odd, I've never heard of Abyssal subs that deep..."

A scowl on her face, Iowa growled. "Okay, all escorts! We might have a hostile submarine in the area, so keep your eyes out and-"

She was suddenly cut off as England screamed. "IT'S RISING! AND HOLY HANNAH, IT'S COMING UP FAST!"

Whipping her head around, Australia blinked. "WHERE?!"

Eyes wide, England just stared at her. "RIGHT UNDER THE ABYSSAL PRINCESS!"

Hearing that, everyone turned toward the Princess who just had time to look down before the ocean around her exploded upwards. What happened was over in less then a minute, but to the shipgirls it seemed like everything was going along at a speed of a crawl. Slowly, whatever was surfacing kept rising higher and higher and eventually everyone could see the grey skin with yellow and white spots. What clued everyone in though was the maw filled with sharp teeth and the black, emotionless eye, though Australia and others shivered as they could swear there was hate and anger there. It was a shark, if a creature the size of a Destroyer could be called such.

The fact that there was a powerful, white spiritual aura around it as it kept rising up and up into the air was another clue that something was going on.

It was then that they heard the screaming and noticed that the Abyssal Princess was inside it's mouth, the teeth somehow punching through her body. Then the shark shook it's head and, with a further scream of tortured metal, the Abyssal Princess was torn in half, both pieces quickly snapped up. And then it was over, the shark sinking back beneath the waves and leaving nothing above but one of the Princess's sinking arms to show she had been there. With a gulp, England shook a bit. "C-contact moving off... descending to six hundred feet and continuing it's dive..."

Iowa just raised a shaking finger as she pointed to where the Princess had been. "That... that just fucking happened, right? I mean, we all just saw that, right?"

Off to the side, Haruna shook her head. "Haruna is not okay... Haruna very much not okay..."

Her voice soft, Australia shook a bit. "I... thought that it was just a legend..."

Looking toward her, Iowa boggled at the Battlecruiser. "You know what that was!?"

Slowly, Australia nodded as she looked down into the depths. "Among the Polynesians of the South Pacific, there is a legend.... Of a giant shark that haunts the seas they call 'Lord of the Deep'. I... my crew had heard the stories, about how it was more then a hundred feet long but... Bloody hell..."

It went without saying that pretty much all of them quickly made their way out of the area, not wanting a second encounter with the being.

 

Harry Leferts

His feet slapping along the tile, Harry frowned as he held Nagato's hand as she guided him toward the pool. "So what are we doing, mum?"

With her lips twitching, Nagato just chuckled and gave him a small smile. "Well... today you'll be learning how to swim as a matter of fact."

That caused Harry to blink and look up at her in complete confusion as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, really? We're here so that I can learn how to swim?" He then looked up to see that Nagato had her usual clothes on while he stood there in his swim trunks. "But... why aren't you ready?"

Lightly laughing, Nagato crouched down so that she could more easily look into Harry's eyes. Not that it was very easy to do so being as she was over six foot and Harry was still short for his age though he was catching up. "Well, you need to learn just in case something happens and you need to be able to swim." For a moment, there was a distant expression on her face before she shook it off. "Trust me, it's best that you know how to swim just in case, especially as we're by the ocean."

Blinking, Harry just smiled and grinned. "Okay mum, so... do I have to wait for you?"

Much to his surprise though, Nagato's cheeks pinked a bit. "Um... actually, I'm not the best swimmer out there as a matter of fact... so instead I got someone who can teach you better then I could."

Confused, Harry just frowned as Nagato began to gently guide him toward the pool. 'Mum's not going to teach me? But then who...' When he reached the pool though, he blinked at who was there in the water just doing a lazy backstroke. "Willie?"

William D. Porter just looked up and grinned at seeing Harry before giving him a wave. "Hiya, Harry! Ready to learn how to swim?"

Eyes wide, Harry turned toward Nagato. "You're having Willie teach me to swim, mum?"

Seeing the smile on the Destroyer's face turn a bit brittle, Nagato frowned at Harry. "Now, Harry-Chan, Willie-San is taking time out of her schedule to teach you what is an important skill. She's a very good swimmer after all."

Much to her surprise, Harry gave her a frown back. "Well, yeah! I mean, she's awesome! She was going to be in the Olympics and everything and now she's going to teach me!"

Surprised, Willie glanced at Nagato who seemed surprised before she coughed a bit and scratched her cheek with a slight blush. "Well, um... I wasn't going to actually be in the Olympics, they were just scouting to see if I could..." Seeing the confusion, her blush increased a bit. "Er... Anyway, who told you about that?"

Looking between Nagato and Willie, Harry shrugged. "O'Bannon did, she was going on about it..." He then frowned a bit. "Though I don't know why she said that she was going to escort your brother and so become your sister. Isn't she already your sister?"

There was a slight twitch in Willie's eyebrow which was the only sign of emotion on her otherwise expressionless face. After letting out a deep breath, the Destroyer clinched one of her fists underwater. "It looks like I'm going to be having another chat with O'Bannon over certain bounderies." Shaking it off, she shook her head. "But the Olympics would have been before I became a Shipgirl, Harry. I wouldn't be allowed now because it would be too unfair."

Befuddled, Harry tilted his head a bit. "Wait, you were going to the Olympics as a ship?"

Giggling at both Harry's expression as well as how Nagato was biting her lip at said expression, Willie shook her head. "I wasn't always a Shipgirl, Harry, or a ship. Before the war I was a somewhat normal girl. And then everything changed when the Abyssals attacked." However, at seeing the confusion of both mother and son, Willie sighed. "Great... That was a wasted joke."

Shaking it off, Nagato crouched down again to her son's height. "Now, since Iowa-San will be staying for a while and Willie-San is her Escort, she's going to be able to teach you the basics as a favor for me. I expect that you'll pay close attention to whatever she tells you and learn what she's going to teach."

Much to her surprise, Harry nodded and gave her a salute. "Harry will do his best!"

For several moments there was silence before a short caused them both to turn to where Willie was trying, and failing, to hold in snickers. Sighing, Nagato just reached up and rubbed the side of her head. "Perhaps... You have been hanging out too much with Fubuki-San..."

Harry just tilted his head in confusion and blinked. "Poi?"

There was the strange sound of flesh meeting flesh as well as steel meeting steel as Nagato facepalmed. "Right..." Glancing at Willie, she shook her head. "I'll just leave him in your capable hands then..."

Giving Harry a kiss on the brow, which caused him to light up in a smile, Nagato looked over at Willie who patted a part of the pool's side. "Come sit over here, Harry."

Doing so, Harry was surprised as Willie reached up and, with strength greater then what one would have assumed if they had not known her nature, picked him up under his armpits and then dropped him in the pool. "Gah! Cold!"

Once more giggling, Willie grinned a bit. "It's best to get it over with as fast as possible, Harry. That way you get used to it quickly and besides, it's invigorating!" After Harry was done jumping about, Willie cleared her throat as Nagato walked away. "Now then, before we get down to actual swimming, I'm going to teach you how to float..."

 

Harry Leferts

Walking into the shrine, Harry looked around only to blink at an odd sound. It didn't take long following it once he paid his respects at the shrine for Harry to find Haru in a trench waist deep as she shovelled at the ground. "Miss Haru?"

The Priestess looked up and smiled at Harry before tossing another shovelful of dirt over her shoulder. "Hi there, Harry-Chan. School done for the day?"

Just nodding, Harry looked around before he sat down on a large rock. "Yeah, though Natsumi-Chan is still stuck at school for detention. She got caught playing pranks on... Some of the others."

Simply humming, Haru tapped one finger against the handle of her shovel. She didn't need to ask who the "Others" were seeing as some of the students didn't like the idea of a "Foreigner" going to their school. A fact that Haru's niece went out of her way to dissuade them from showing ever since she arrived. However, hearing this only caused Haru to sigh and tap a finger on the shovel again before she shook her head and went back to digging. "It seems that I'll need to have another chat with Natsumi-Chan over getting caught."

Just nodding as he still found it odd that she encouraged her niece's antics, Harry tilted his head to the side some. "Um... So what are you doing , Miss Haru?"

Pausing in her work for a moment, Haru took the chance to grab a drink. "Well... At the moment I'm digging a channel between the two craters here, Harry-Chan." Gesturing at the two bomb craters left over from the original Abyssal attack, she continued. "I've cleansed them of any Abyssal taint and they're much too big for me to just fill in easily, so I've decided to turn them into koi ponds. Might place an island in the middle of them as well... But as to the channel, I'm going to place a nice bridge over it. I think it'll make the shrine look even better. Thankfully, the authorities gave me a rather large parcel of land for this so it all fits in."

Harry frowned a bit and then shifted on the rock. "Would you like some help, Miss Haru?"

Once more, Haru paused in her work as she gave Harry a searching look. After seconds it seemed that she had found whatever she was looking for and nodded. "Well, if you want to help, I wouldn't say no. But first you need to head home and change. After all, it wouldn't do to get your school uniform dirty, right?"

Eyes wide, Harry quickly checked himself over. "Yeah, mum wouldn't like it if I got it dirty."

Nodding, Haru then smiled and made a shooing motion with her hand. "Exactly, now head on home and change while telling Nagato-San where you're going to be and when you get back I'll show you what to do, okay?" As he nodded and headed off, Haru hummed and looked up at the sky. 'So then... Maybe I should...'
______________________________________

Once Harry got back, he followed Haru until she stopped at a point on the opposite side of one of the craters. There was a path of sorts made with stakes tied together until they reached partway up a small hill. Waiting for a moment, Haru pointed at piece of bamboo driven into the side of the hill with a ribbon flying from it. "Now, you see that post there, Harry?" At his nod, she smiled. "That's the location of a spring I found and will be using to supply water to the ponds."

Scrunching up his nose a bit in thought, Harry frowned. "Um, wouldn't the water be dirty, Miss Haru? I remember Ooyodo talking about why they couldn't dig wells. Something about the water being contaminated?"

Much to his surprise, she just gave a barking laugh and shook her head. "Actually, I got it on good authority that Suijin-sama will make sure that the water from the spring will be clean and plentiful."

That only caused Harry to furrow his eyebrows before he shook it off. "Um, okay... So you need me to dig it up?"

However, Haru just shook her head. "No, I'll dig up the spring when everything is ready. What you could do though is start a little on the channel between the spring and what will be the pond. It doesn't need to be very deep though, so you don't need to worry. That just leaves what the payment will be for it."

Looking up, Harry grinned slightly. "More stories?"

Softly chuckling, Haru reached down and ruffled his hair. "Actually, Harry-Chan, I've been thinking that I should teach you how to make some charms."

Eyes widening, Harry stared at her. "Lucky charms?" At her nod, his face lit up. "Maybe I can give some to mum!"

Just humming, Haru smiled a bit. "I think that can be done. And coming from you and made with love, I can see them as being quite powerful..." Suddenly she raised her finger. "And if you use that water gun on either of us, Natsumi-Chan, then I shall be quite put out."

Turning, Harry could see Natsumi shove something behind her back as she glanced away with her honey coloured eyes. "What do you mean by that, Oba-Chan?"

Completely unimpressed, Haru just raised one eyebrow before smirking. "Good thing that you're here and have changed out of your school clothes. Because now you can give Harry-Chan some help."

Gobsmacked, Natsumi stared at her aunt. "I... But-"

Cutting her off, Haru's smirk grew. "You got caught."

For a moment, Natsumi worked her mouth. "But I-"

Once more though, she was just cut off. "You. Got. Caught. Let the punishment fit the crime."

With that, Haru walked off and Natsumi scowled. A moment later though, she turned to see Harry holding out a bottle whose neck bulged out a bit. "I got you some ramune, by the way."

Natsumi suddenly smiled as she took the bottle and nodded. "At least someone appreciates my work."

Both kids shared a smile before they got to work, though Harry noted partway through that Junyou showed up to talk with Haru and give said Miko a bottle of sake. When she swung by the two kids, she gave them two more bottles of remune that she had somewhere on her, though Harry didn't question it much.