Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. All things Avatar belong to Nick. Don't sue me. :)

This is my second attempt at an Avatar crossover story. This one, however, I think will work :).

---

A sudden hush came over the battlefield. The war was over... but who had won? Katara pushed her way through the throng of people, trying to see. It had been over an hour since she had last seen Aang, battling his way into the palace. She had, along with Sokka and Toph and a small contingent of earth benders, taken a position just outside the palace walls, fighting anyone who came out and keeping anyone but the Avatar from going in. Initially, she had been fighting against one of Azula's friends – the knife thrower – and had lost track of Sokka and Toph. She knew that they were battling Azula at one point.

She couldn't see any of them now.

The air was filled with the acrid scent of burnt flesh, and she had to fight to keep from gagging. She was surrounded by the dead and wounded, and was keeping herself busy healing those that she could help, while trying not to fall apart over how very many were beyond any help that she could give.

She stumbled over a young fire nation soldier, alive only because he had the sense to tear off a portion of his clothing to use as a tourniquet just above his left elbow. The lower part of his arm had been blown clear off.

Katara paused for a second, and then bent down to do what she could. The soldier had already lost quite a bit of blood and was barely conscious. She was able to staunch the bleeding; a new layer of skin forming over the open wound, raw and pink. The limb, however, was gone forever.

“Thank you,” the soldier whispered hoarsely, but Katara had already moved on. There were too many... too many wounded, too many dead... and her heart was pounding. She felt numb.

There was a groan to the left of her that was familiar. Katara stopped in her tracks and turned, looking for the source.

“Over here...”

Toph was bent over Sokka, with his head cradled in her lap. Katara rushed over to them, barely daring to breathe.

“Is he...”

“No... he's not dead... but he did take a hit. I... I wish I could see... I don't even know where he's hurt.”

“He's... he's got a burn on the right side of his chest. Hold his head steady Toph, and let me do what I can.”

Toph nodded and Katara bent over her brother to assess the damage. It wasn't good... a portion of his shirt had been burned right into the skin, which was all raw and black and bubbling, and would probably get infected if she didn't do anything. Her hands were trembling as she worked on him for several long minutes before she pulled back, having done all that she could.

“He should be okay... there new skin isn't perfect, and there will be quite a bit of scarring, but I was able to heal most of the damage. He shouldn't be in too much pain when he wakes up.”

Toph let out a deep, shuddering breath.

“I will stay with him until he does.”

Katara nodded and went on, searching. There were more people that needed her help, more people that she needed to find. She needed to find out what happened to Aang...

...The front doors of the palace, which had been barricaded from the inside, swung open and free. She turned and looked for Aang, but it was Zuko who stepped out. His eyes sought hers out immediately.

“Come... you need to come now.”

“Where's Aang? What happened?”

“Just... come.”

Trembling, she followed him back into the palace, through several long corridors and into what might have once been the throne room. It was hard to tell, given the extent of the damage. Tapestries hung everywhere, many of them destroyed, some of them still on fire. The floor was cracked open as if there had been an earthquake, and there were several piles of smoldering wood which had once been pieces of furniture.

Under a large pile of rubble, she saw a leg protruding. Her heart was hammering away in her chest, and she started towards the body, but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

“That's not Aang. That's... my father.” Zuko said. The tone of his voice was even, his manner indifferent.

She turned her head away, at a loss for words. Anything she could say would be meaningless. She certainly wasn't sorry.

“Where's Aang?” She asked again. She was shaking slightly and felt lightheaded from the loss of energy. She had to fight through it, she had to stay on her feet no matter what. “Where is he?”

Zuko turned his head and pointed. In the far corner of the room, she saw Zuko's uncle – Iroh, she remembered – bent over someone. She ran, stumbling over a piece of debris in the process, her breaths coming in rapid heaves. He couldn't be dead too... he had to be alive... had to be, or what was the point of all of it?

“He's alive... but I do not know for how much longer,” Iroh said. Unlike his nephew, Iroh's voice was tired and soft and expressive, and he looked every bit of his age as he tended to Aang, removing his burnt clothes away from his body, and revealing the extents of his burns for all of them to see.

Katara fell to her knees in anguish. The skin was burnt clear off the entire right side of his body. Burns also covered half of his left leg as well. There was no way that she'd be able to heal him. No way at all.

Aang's eyes fluttered open, sought hers out.

“I...”

But he wasn't able to complete whatever he was going to say, because the next thing out of his mouth was a blood-curdling scream.

Katara felt as if she was frozen to the floor, watching Aang with a detached feeling of horror, as if what she was seeing couldn't possibly be happening.

“Snap out of it,” Zuko said, shoving her roughly in the back, “and do something for him. Can't you see how much pain he is in?”

“I... I can't. He's... hurt too badly.”

Although the words fell from her lips, she didn't want to believe them.

“Avatar Aang... you must drink this,” Iroh said, pulling out a small vial from somewhere inside his clothes, “it will numb the pain.”

He pressed the vial to Aang's lips and tilted his head back. Aang choked and swallowed what was in his mouth, the rest of the medicine dribbling down his chin. Katara bent down beside him and grabbed his left hand. Tears were falling freely from her eyes, but she didn't even feel them.

A few tense moments passed.

“Uncle, what did you give him?”

“Poppy tea.”

Katara felt a gentle pressure on her hand as Aang tried to squeeze it. She lifted his hand and placed it against the side of her face and held it there as if it was her lifeline.

Aang's eyes fluttered open again. The gray of his irises were almost completely eclipsed by the black of his pupils.

“Did we win?” Aang asked in a throaty voice, giving her a small smile.

The fragile hold she had on her emotions broke open, and she began to sob freely and openly, placing sloppy wet kisses on Aang's hand.

“Shh, Katara... don't cry.”

“I can't... I can't heal you Aang, I can't...”

“Tired...”

“No, stay awake, stay with me.”

“I love you... I just want you to know that.”

“No, we have time for that, we have time, we have to have time...”

But Aang's eyes closed again, his breaths coming in shallow bursts. Both of the fire benders were quiet now, watching the two of them with sad, knowing eyes.

Katara screamed.

“Katara?”

Sokka was calling her name... she turned and saw him enter the room, being supported on one side by Toph. He was wincing with every step that he took. He looked at her, and then at Aang, and back at her again.

She shook her head, and turned away.

There had to be something... something she could do. If only there was a way to save him. If only...

A burst of crazed inspiration cut through the panic-stricken haze of her mind, and an idea was formed. An idea that might, just might, buy them time. And she turned towards Iroh, a crazed, excited light in her eyes.

“The river... the river that runs under the palace... does it run under this room?”

“Well, yes, but --”

“Toph, can you punch a hole into the floor?”

The blind girl nodded and gently extracted herself from under Sokka's arm after leaning him against the wall. Then she raised both arms, flattened her hands, and pushed down. The floor broke underneath her, and two piles of earth formed around her as she burrowed into the ground, creating a crude well in the center of the room.

“Done.” Toph said, hopping back out of the hole that she created.

Katara nodded to herself. “Good. Listen, Toph. I'm going to freeze us in a block of ice. When I'm done, you encase that ice in earth to keep it from melting. Keep us that way until there is a way to heal Aang. I don't care how long it takes.”

“But Katara, can't you just freeze Aang... by himself?” Sokka asked, a note of panic in his voice.

Katara turned to her brother and offered him a sad smile.

“It could take a while.”

“You love him.” The expression on her brother's face was gentle and resigned.

“We will find a way,” Toph added.

Katara nodded. She wanted to hug them, to tell them how much they meant to her... there was so much she wanted to say, if only there was time to say it. But Aang was slipping away from her with every moment that passed. So she didn't say anything at all. Instead, Katara gently pulled Aang into her arms, mindful of his injuries. With the last bit of energy she had, she called the water to her from the river beneath the palace, and encased herself and Aang in a cocoon of ice.

The last thing she saw before her body shut down was a hint of electric blue in Aang's eyes.

---

A/N: Okay, so there is the beginning of my Harry Potter/Avatar Crossover. Let's just say that Katara and Aang are going to be in that rock-ice-cocoon for a heck of a lot longer than they anticipated :). And yes, I had Iroh give Aang Opium Tea. Hey, it seemed to me like a reasonable pain killer, given the Asian influence on the show and Iroh's great love of tea... ;).