The next day, Madam Hooch managed to corner Haru and Zuko and drag them both out with her to learn to fly. There was no need to corner and drag Teo; the young teen was all but bouncing alongside her in his joy. On seeing what they were expected to fly on, however, Haru balked. “No. No way. My feet are not leaving the ground,” he said.

Zuko, too, was reluctant. “I’m not trusting myself on anything that weighs less than I do,” he said, flatly.

Madam Hooch gave both of them incredulous looks. “How do you expect to get anywhere without flying?” she asked.

“I’ll walk, thanks,” said Haru.

“I prefer sailing,” Zuko replied. “Overland, I’ll walk.”

She opened her mouth again, but Teo intervened. “They don’t like heights. How does this work, anyway?” Distracted, she moved on to teach the young man, who to nobody’s surprise proved to have a natural gift for flight.

“I don’t mind heights,” Zuko muttered, quietly enough that only Haru could hear him. “I just don’t trust a stick to keep me up there.”

“He had to tell her something — oh, that kid is going to break his neck.” Above, Teo had finished a loop-the-loop and was now executing a barrel roll.

“No, he’s not. He knows what he’s doing.”

“He knows what he’s doing with a glider,” countered Haru, even though it was obvious that Teo understood the mechanics of flying on a broom just as well as he did with a glider. Above, Teo dove towards them and pulled up sharply at the last moment, tumbling intentionally from the broom and rolling to their feet. Laughing, he looked up at both of them.

Despite himself, Zuko smiled faintly. Haru, however, rolled his eyes. “Airbenders.”

The thirteen-year-old blinked at him. “But I’m not an—”

“You’ve got the soul of one,” the earthbender interrupted him.

Zuko’s smile faded slightly, but not entirely.

Teo laughed again and rolled to his feet. “I wanna do that again!” he declared, and then was chasing after his broom happily. Haru groaned.

“You’re going to give Haru a heart attack,” Zuko said, wryly.

“Am not!” Teo retorted, picking up the broom and bolting back to them, his ubiquitous grin on his face.

The prince just shook his head. He was still smiling.

Teo tilted his head to one side. “…I’ve never seen you smile, Zu,” he commented, then mounted his broom and kicked off.

Zuko blinked a little, startled both by Teo’s comment and the unexpected nickname. Haru put a hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations, Zu,” he said with a slight smile of his own. “You’ve got a friend.”

“I…” He boggled a little. This…wasn’t what he’d expected. He wasn’t a likeable person, dammit! People didn’t want to make friends with him.

Except somebody did. And, apparently, somehow had.

He frowned down at his bandaged hand, trying to make sense of this new development. I can’t… he can’t be friends with me, I’m going to die in our war, assuming I survive this one. It’s too cruel to Teo to be his friend now.

The young man’s laughter drifted back down to both of them.

After class that night, Haru and Zuko lingered on the astronomy tower until Haru marked the all-clear. “Anything interesting come up?” Zuko asked. Professor Umbridge had given him detention for a month, save only for the nights when he had astronomy.

“Several disturbing things. Apparently this Dark Lord everyone is afraid to name? Voldythingy?”

“What about him?”

“Some of his minions are still around. They call them Death Eaters.” Haru rolled his eyes. “My House’s ringleader is the son of two of them. And he considers it a badge of pride. They also hate non-magic folk, and magic folk born to nonmagic folk.”

“…I’ll ask around my house about them. Our houses seem to be rivals, I’ll probably get a completely different picture than you’ve been getting.”

Haru wasn’t listening. A dreamy look had crossed his face as a pleasing thought came to him.

“…What are you thinking about?”

“Just that there’s this girl I’d love for them to meet.”

“Oh?” Zuko turned to him and arched his eyebrow.

“Well, she wouldn’t really fit their definition of magic.” Haru paused. “I think. Teo does, even though he’s not a bender.”

“Ah. Right then.” Clearly, whatever story was behind this wasn’t coming out.

Haru shrugged, blushing faintly. “She’s not here, anyway. So the point is moot.”

“Guess so.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

“Sure. I have detention again, I’ll meet you after that. Where?”

“Library.”

“Right. See you then.” He stood and wandered off.

Unfortunately, that next meeting would be delayed for awhile, due to events nobody could have foreseen.

They began when Teo had his first Defence class. Confused about the theoretical approach Professor Umbridge had mentioned, the young man raised his hand.

“Yes?” she said, slightly irritated, pointing at him.

“I don’t really understand, professor,” he said. “Do you mean we’re not going to actually practise the spells?”

“The education experts at the Ministry believe that a theoretical approach will be more than sufficient to get you through your exams.”

Teo, the child of a century-long war, then asked, “But what if someone attacks us?”

“No one is going to attack you in my classroom,” she snapped. “Come to my office tonight at six, for detention.”

Stunned, the boy stared at her. “Detention? But—”

“Sit down and open your book,” she said, sharply.

Confused and upset, Teo obeyed.

Zuko and a dark-haired fifth year boy he vaguely recognized as a Gryffindor were already at Umbridge’s office when he arrived.

“Hi, Zu,” he greeted the firebender listlessly.

“…What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised.

“I got detention,” he replied.

“What for?”

“I don’t know!” Teo exclaimed. “I just asked her what would happen if we got attacked, and she gave me a detention!”

Zuko clenched his fists, accidentally tearing open the half-healed marks from his last detention. I must control my temper.

The younger man took the seat next to Zuko, still clearly confused about what he’d done wrong. Professor Umbridge reminded Zuko and the fifth-year Gryffindor (Harry Potter, apparently) of their assigned tasks, and told Teo what she wanted him to write.

Obediently, he put the quill she’d provided to paper and began to write, and pain suddenly jerked across his hand. Startled, he gasped and dropped the quill.

“Is something wr—”

Before Umbridge could finish her deliberately cruel question, Zuko had launched himself over his desk at her, swords drawn.

“Zuko, no!” Teo flung himself after the firebender, knocking his desk aside, and wrapped his arms around the older man’s waist, stopping him short of his target. “It isn’t worth it!”

“Let go, Teo,” the prince hissed.

“No, Zu, it isn’t worth it!” he repeated, tightening his hold. Potter just stared at them both, his eyes wide.

He pulled away, breaking the younger boy’s grip as gently as he could, launching himself at the teacher again.

“Stupefy!” she shouted, and Zuko dropped to the ground midleap.

“Zuko!” Teo didn’t really remember moving, but he found himself between Umbridge and Zuko, staring defiantly at her.

His trembling ruined the effect somewhat.

“Go back to your lines. Both of you,” Umbridge snapped at Harry and Teo.

Teo shook his head, staying where he was.

“Now.”

Behind Teo, Zuko stirred — either Umbridge’s spell wasn’t as powerful as she thought it was, or the firebender was just too damned stubborn to stay down. “Teo. Haru’s in the library. Go find him.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Teo said, continuing to stare at the professor. He couldn’t stop shaking, but Zuko had to be protected.

“Teo, go,” Zuko said, quietly, giving the younger boy a gentle nudge towards the door. There were people who would actually care if anything happened to Teo. He had to be protected.

“But, Zu—”

“Go.”

Teo ran.

As Zuko had said, Haru was in the library; once Teo had spilled what had just happened to him, the earthbender snarled. “Go back to your common room,” he ordered the younger man. “Now.” As Teo fled once more, Haru bolted for Umbridge’s office, hoping he’d get there before there was a murder.

Zuko was unconscious on the floor again — apparently, he’d made a second try for Umbridge’s head, and she’d Stunned him again. Potter was still at his desk, wand out, eyes wide, staring as though he had been body-bound. Taking a brief moment to compose himself — the last time he’d been this angry had been on that prison ship when the warden had mocked Katara’s attempts to rally the imprisoned earthbenders — Haru strode into the office. Cold. Cold was better than heat.

“What do you want?” Umbridge asked him, not taking her eyes — or her wand — off of the unconscious prince.

“An explanation as for why I have a frightened thirteen-year-old boy with a bleeding hand coming to me for protection from a teacher.”

“He was impertinent. I gave him a detention.”

“Teo? Impertinent?” Haru’s voice was heavy with scorn.

“Yes. He questioned my teaching decisions.”

“…let me guess. Theoretical lessons as opposed to a practical every now and again?”

“Yes, if you must know.”

“I am legally considered his guardian,” Haru snapped. “I must. Further guessing, he mentioned a possibility of being attacked.”

“And I informed him that there was no need to fear attack in my classroom.”

“Because that’s the best way to reassure a child who’s grown up with a war, I’m sure.”

“He was still impertinent,” Umbridge said coolly.

“Wrong,” Haru said flatly. “He was confused. He doesn’t quite understand that this place is safe.”

“That may be so, but he is still a student in my classroom and directly contradicted me. This is impertinent, and I will not tolerate it.”

Green eyes narrowed dangerously. “And I will not tolerate you making him bleed for a misunderstanding. I thought this was a school, not the army.”

“This is a school. And children who misbehave must be punished. How else will they learn?”

“Then let me spell this out for you,” Haru said, towering over the diminutive professor. “If you hurt Teo again, I will make you regret it. I do not need your course, I do not need to graduate this school. I don’t need your magic. Don’t hurt him again.”

“I am sure he will give me no further cause to,” she said, coolly.

Zuko was starting to stir again, which, if Haru wanted to avoid further violence, was probably a good indicator that it was time to leave. As he knelt to draw the prince over his shoulder, he noticed something.

There was fresh blood on Zuko’s hand.

There was fresh blood on Potter’s hand.

Teo had been bleeding.

The papers on the desks glistened with red liquid slowly drying to brown.

Haru’s eyes narrowed even further. “Indeed.” He finished pulling the Fire Nation prince over his shoulder and left the room.

A few moments later, Zuko woke up completely. “Put me down.”

“No. Play unconscious until we’re outside.”

The prince clearly disliked this idea, but acquiesced. Once they were outside and a good distance from Hogwarts, Haru did let Zuko down. “Something you’d like to share with the class, highness?”

“What do you mean? And don’t call me that.”

“You tried to kill Umbridge. And while I completely sympathise… why?”

Zuko stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“There are some things about my life that I do not discuss. This is one of them. So drop it.”

Personal buttons pushed. Got it. Haru dropped it. Or at least, he snarled, “Fuck this,” and destroyed a nearby boulder. “You have got to control yourself, Zuko! Did it occur to you that that little stunt could get you fucking arrested?”

Before Zuko could respond, they were interrupted by a teenaged girl appearing suddenly between them and falling to the ground.

Startled, Haru turned to her, and complete and utter shock drove the rage away as he helped her up. “Ty Lee?!”

“Pan!” she cried out, delighted, and hugged him, tight as she could. “It’s so good to see you again! And Zuzu, too!” He, too, was attacked and nearly bowled over. Then she pulled away and slugged the prince, as hard as she could. “You’re a jerk, you know that? Mai’s really mad at you.”

“I explained—”

“You left her a letter, Zuko.”

“…wait, the pointy girl?” Haru asked. “Zuko, you know the pointy— of course you do, Azula’s your sister. What the hell did you do?”

“I… well, I had to leave. To… well. Yeah. And… I explained everything, I left her a note…”

“…you broke up with her,” Haru realised. “In a note? Great, she’s going to kill us all and it’ll be your fault.” He paused. “…except Teo. Teo’s too cute to kill. She’ll just adopt him.”

“I didn’t break up with her, exactly,” Zuko insisted.

“You told her you released her from any obligation she felt she owed you, and that you had to do this, and you were sorry. Sounds like breaking up to me,” Ty Lee said, dryly.

“To me, too,” Haru agreed before getting distracted by other important things. “Ty Lee, how did you get here?”

“Well, I was out in the garden, figuring out a new trip. I misjudged a distance, and ran into a statue, and… then I was here.”

“…again with the statues,” Zuko muttered.

“It’s what happened to us, too,” Haru explained to her.

“…Weird. So, where are we, anyway?”

“A country called Scotland. Specifically, just off the grounds of a school called Hogwarts.”

“…A school? That’s a weird name. Also, I’ve never heard of Scotland.”

“This is a different world, Ty Lee,” Zuko said quietly.

“…oh, wow.”

“Yeah,” Haru replied. “We’ve managed to keep that little fact secret. Which reminds me, we need to fit you into our story, too.” He considered.

“She comes from my town, too. She ran away to join us,” Zuko suggested, after filling her in on the broad outline of their story.

“Close enough to the truth to confuse even Toph,” Haru agreed. “Does that work for you, Ty Lee?”

“Sure,” she said. “Also, what’s your real name, Pan?”

Now the earthbender stared at her. “…you knew that wasn’t my name?”

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. “I’m bouncy, not stupid.”

“I don’t like stupid girls,” Haru said softly. “And my name is Haru.”

“Haru,” she tasted the name. “Yes. I like that. It suits you.”

The young man flushed.

She grinned and hugged him again. “It’s good to see you again.”

He folded his arms around her this time. “It’s good to see you too,” he whispered. He’d seen her on the Day of Black Sun, and his heart had leapt into his throat.

Apparently she hadn’t seen him.

She grinned up at him, and Haru smiled back at her. “Let’s get back to the school so we can get this out of the way.”

“All right.” She followed the two boys up to the castle.

“Zuko, go back to your dorm,” Haru said as they slipped inside. “I’ll take Ty Lee to get sorted out. And find some way to keep them from locking you in a mental ward.”

Zuko glared and wandered off, possibly to his dorm, but more likely just to wander.

“So, um… what happened to his hand?” Ty Lee asked, when he was out of earshot. She knew better than to ask when Zuko was around, as he would get annoyed, deny that there was anything wrong, and change the subject.

Haru hesitated. “He… got a detention with one of the teachers here.”

“Oh. What for?”

“Refusing to surrender his swords. And then punching her when she tried to take them from him.”

Ty Lee sighed. “Doesn’t surprise me.”

“I think he tried to kill her tonight,” Haru said after a moment. Ty Lee knew Zuko much better than he did. Perhaps she’d be able to offer insight.

“…What for?” she asked, puzzled. As attached as Zuko was to his blades, his swords weren’t worth killing over — his knife, maybe. But not the swords.

“I’m not sure,” Haru admitted. “From what Teo told me, Zuko didn’t snap until he — that is, Teo — was hurt during the detention.”

“…Who’s Teo?”

“Oh — he’s a friend of ours. His village colonised the Northern Air Temple when he was a kid; he wound up coming here with us.” Haru sighed. “He’s thirteen; in this world I’m considered his legal guardian.”

“What was he in detention for, do you know?” Ty Lee asked, after a moment.

“Impertinence,” Haru snarled suddenly, his temper flaring again.

“…no wonder he snapped.”

Haru blinked, confusion driving the anger down slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Well, that’s sort of why he got this —” she lightly touched her left cheek, just under her eye “ — when he was thirteen.”

“…it’s why?” Haru frowned. “I thought the scar was a training accident.”

Ty Lee shook her head. “I don’t know all the details — I was back home for my oldest sister’s wedding that whole week — but… well, from what I’ve been told, he went into a strategy meeting. One of the generals proposed something he thought was a bad idea, I mean ethically a bad idea, and he said so.”

“Right…”

Slowly, Ty Lee told him the whole story, and the earthbender’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit…”

“After that, he was banished, sent off to hunt for the Avatar. He couldn’t come home unless he was successful.”

“…no wonder he tried to kill her,” Haru whispered. “Not only is Teo his friend, it probably triggered every switch he has.”

Ty Lee nodded. “Yeah.”

He sighed. “Hopefully, there won’t be a repeat performance. I’m going to the heads of House tomorrow and exerting the rights I’ve got as Teo’s legal guardian. And now I have to come up with something to explain away Zuko’s justifiable attempt at homicide.”

“Without telling the whole world about his disgrace, ‘cause then he’d hate you forever.”

“About half of everything I tell these people is a lie anyway.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “They still haven’t caught on that we’re from a different world.”

Ty Lee nodded. “That’s probably good.”

“It’s very good. There’s — oh, shit, we didn’t have a chance to tell you yet. There’s a strong likelihood that this world will experience a war soon.”

“…that sucks.”

Haru brought her up to date on everything he and Zuko had been able to discover, and sighed. “So far I don’t think Teo’s noticed, but we’ll have to tell him eventually.”

She nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

He heaved another sigh, and continued leading Ty Lee towards the Headmaster’s office. When they were almost there, though, he stopped suddenly, looking at the slim acrobat.

“…What is it?” she asked, looking up at him.

The older man reached out and hugged her close to him. “I missed you,” he murmured.

She hugged back. “I missed you, too,” she whispered back.

Looking down at her, a thousand thoughts warred within Haru’s mind:

She’s the enemy.

She’s never threatened you.

She’s friends with Azula.

And with Zuko.

Azula more so.

She hasn’t even considered attacking you.

She doesn’t know you’ve been fighting.

But that doesn’t apply in this world.

That is the stupidest—

He kissed her. She kissed back.

Forgetting completely about Dumbledore — and well, everything — he tightened his hold on her and lost himself to the moment. Ty Lee twined her arms around his neck and melted against him. It took someone clearing their throat to bring Haru back to reality.

“Can I help you?” Professor Dumbledore asked, sounding rather amused, rather than annoyed, to find a pair of teenagers making out just outside his office.

Then again, he’d been working at this school for over fifty years, and Headmaster for at least thirty-five of those years.

Startled, Haru jerked away from Ty Lee. “Um. Hi, professor,” he said, flushing and trying to gather his thoughts.

“Hello,” Ty Lee said, brightly. “I just got here, that’s why we came to see you, I ran away from home, too, worried about my brother, and I ran into him and my boyfriend—” she squeezed Haru’s hand, to indicate him “—and we were taking a minute to catch up before talking to you.”

Haru nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders. “It’s been awhile since we last saw each other.”

“I see,” the headmaster said, smiling. “Well, then. Welcome, miss.” Turning to Haru, he said, “For now, she can stay in the room you boys used over the summer.”

“Yes, sir. C’mon, Ty Lee.” He escorted her away from the headmaster.

“Well, I’m glad he wasn’t mad,” Ty Lee said. “Hopefully I can find Zuzu and tell him he’s my brother now before anyone asks him about his sister and he says something weird.”

“Or freaks ou— wait, did you just call him Zuzu?”

“Yeah. That’s what we used to call him, when we were kids. He hates it.”

“Huh. We’ll see if he lets Teo keep calling him Zu, then.”

“Right.”

A few turns, and they were outside the… guest room, Haru supposed it was. “Oh, Ty Lee?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. Some of the kids here are… very prejudiced against people who aren’t wizards. And we won’t know about you for a bit, I don’t think. So get out of the way if anyone points a thin stick of wood at you.”

“…Okay,” she said, a little confused, but willing to trust his warning.

“Oh — and mudblood is an insult here. So feel free to hit back.” He kissed her forehead.

She tilted her head up and caught it with her lips instead. “I will.”

“I’ll introduce you to Teo tomorrow,” he said. “I think you’ll like him.”

“I’m sure I will,” she replied, grinning.

“Good night, Ty Lee.”

“Good night.”

He showed her into the room, then snuck back to his own dorm. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Author's Note: If you're wondering how Ty Lee and Haru know each other enough to be making with the face-sucking so soon, I suggest you hop along to my profile and take a look at Just One Night, which is considered canon to this story.