Version: 1.1 - fixed typos

Chapter 11 - Epilogue

[ Virtual May 11 ]

When Harry awoke the next morning, he was again reminded of Hermione. If hair were the only consideration, he thought she and Kim could be sisters. He still missed his friends greatly, but also realized he hadn't thought about them much in the last few days. Then again, he had been very busy lately.

A naked Kim was draped over him, which reminded him of Ginny. While he hadn't done this with her, he had wanted to. There was no Weasley family to be a part of now, something he had enjoyed, yet he didn't have to deal with the constant chaos of that family either. Perhaps his present arrangement was better … or he told himself that to feel better whether it was true or not.

Considering Kim, he wasn't sure what to do about her, at least long term. He supposed the biggest question was if she truly liked him, or if it was all about saving her life and helping her move to the Federation. She was fun to be around, of that there was no doubt. Not sure what else to do, he'd just take it day by day and see what happened.

Looking at the clock, he saw that it was mid-morning and was surprised they'd slept so late. Then again, they'd also stayed up very the night before. Caressing her back from her shoulder down to her bum, she awoke with a slight start and looked at him.

"It's past time to get up," he informed her.

"I was having such a good dream too," she complained as she dropped her head back down on his chest, causing him to have to blow some of her hair out of his face.

"Oh?"

She rolled over to be completely on top of him and rose to lean on both elbows. "Yeah, I was flying my own little spaceship and traveling wherever I felt like. It was a really nice ship. I even had my own boy-toy, who looked a lot like you for some reason." She blew a kiss at him.

"So I'm your boy-toy?" he asked in surprise.

"In my dreams," she answered and then kissed him. "In reality, I'm your girl-toy, or something like that."

"You're not a toy to me," he told her seriously.

"I know," she replied with a smile. "That part of why I like you. You could have asked for that and I'd probably even have done it, at least for a few days, because of what you've done for me. But because you didn't ask, it makes me like you more and so I'm willing to live with you. I think you're very special and I also find the warrior in you to be sexy."

He supposed that answered part of his earlier question. "You're pretty special too. I guess we'll have to see how things work out then. Are you hungry?"

"Yes, but I can wait for a little bit if you can."

"I can, but why?"

She answered his question with a kiss and then started to resume last night's activity.

— — —

After a late breakfast, they went in search of Mrs Winters. The classrooms had been in the middle of the saucer section, so they had survived with little damage from the exploding Borg ship.

"Harry, it's good to see you again," Ada Winters said when they found her. "I assume this must be Miss Akhil; I was told to expect her."

"Hello," the girl said with a nod. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be called K'mpok, or," she looked at Harry for a moment, "if it's easier, you can call me Kim."

"That would be no problem at all. Where are you in your studies?" Winters asked.

"I've already started on my last year, assuming what I've done will transfer." Kim seemed hesitant, almost afraid she'd have to do more work.

"Other than history and maybe a few other minor things, I would imagine it's all the same. However, I'd like to give you a few tests to make sure. It's possible you've already completed what we could consider the basic education, at least in some areas," Winters told her with a smile and Kim looked hopeful that was true.

"We'll let Mr Potter resume his studies and you can come with me. I think there's time for one or two tests before lunch, then we can resume afterward. We should know what your standard is before the end of the day tomorrow. Come, my dear."

Harry watched the two walk away and shook his head. Mrs Winters seemed so sweet and easy going, which was a big contrast to most of his teachers at Hogwarts. He went to his previous work area and resumed his learning after a short review to remind him what he had been working on before all the trouble of the last few days had begun.

— — —

That evening, Harry and Kim walked hand in hand into Ten-Forward. Rumor had it that a party was there for the ship reaching Starbase 454. The rumor was very true as there were a lot of people in the large room.

They each grabbed a drink and stared out the main windows, as many others were doing. A few minutes later, they saw the process of dropping out of warp and entering sub-light speeds. A moment later, the big Klingon ship veered off and seemed to be doing a U-turn to return home as it left their view. Directly in front of them was a dot that was brighter than any other star visible and it was growing slowly.

"I think your ride back to Klingon just left," he told her teasingly.

"That's fine, I'm where I should be now." She kissed him on the cheek and then suddenly turned more and looked behind them.

Harry wondered what was going on and turned too, but still holding her hand. He saw Lauren standing there, with Fran and Camillia not too far behind and looking on with very interested expressions.

"I thought…" Lauren stopped, sounding like she was unable to continue as she looked between them.

"Hi Lauren," Harry said, trying to sound as friendly as he could. "I guess you never really met her, other than to see her across the room, but this is K'mpok or Kim. She'll be staying on board."

"Hi," Kim said and held out her hand.

Lauren looked a little lost, but she finally took the proffered hand and gave it a shake. "Hi," she returned, still sounding uncertain.

"Sorry I haven't been around to talk," he told his light brunette friend. "I just returned to learning at school again today. Commander La Forge has been keeping me busy. How have you been?"

That little bit of conversation seemed to give her enough time to center herself and she sounded fairly normal again. "I've been doing well. Classes has been running normally since the last time we talked. It must be nice to do something other than school."

"Life is more interesting that way," he answered and Kim made a snorting-like sound. "Sometimes too interesting," he amended, which made his girlfriend smile.

"Maybe you can tell me sometime?" Lauren asked.

"Parts of it," he agreed. "Some parts I'd prefer not to think about."

"Some parts I'd preferred not to have lived through," Kim muttered.

Lauren looked at the Klingon girl for a moment as if evaluating her. Turning to Harry, "I think I'd like to hear them, or the parts you can tell me. I should probably rejoin Fran and Camillia. Later, Harry."

"Later, Lauren." He thought she looked a bit disappointed as she left, but he couldn't do much about that.

Kim disengaged her hand from his and put it around his shoulders so she could stand closer and speak so only he could hear her. "You know she wanted to date you, right?"

"I had wondered," he answered quietly. "She's still a friend," he said as if he needed to make a point.

"I don't have a problem with that as long as I'm the one sleeping with you," Kim told him easily. "Let's go get another drink."

He grabbed her hand again and they walked over to the bar; Guinan seemed very busy at the moment. They had barely picked up new glasses when a hand fell on each of their outside shoulders and a head came in the middle near theirs. "If you could join us for a few minutes, please?"

Harry noticed the first officer smiling at the two of them, bringing up a recent memory. The contrast between Riker and K'ronog was vast. "Certainly, Commander," he answered and guided Kim after the man to a table on the side of the room that Lt Worf holding.

"Is everything going well, for each of you?" Riker asked as they took their seats.

Kim nodded and Harry grinned and quipped. "As long as the first officer doesn't try to beat the crap out of me."

Riker took a deep breath and looked away for a moment as if trying to restrain his reaction while Worf again looked like he wanted to pound someone.

"That was a joke," Harry added hastily.

"We know, Harry, it's just that, well, that never should have happened and I still get a little upset when I think about what you had to go through. Worf and I talked about it yesterday." Riker shook his head. "K'ranog's not the first person to be promoted that high when he never should have been. I can name several examples in Starfleet."

"What do you think will happen to him?" Harry asked Worf.

"As the Captain said, it is difficult to say. It will depend greatly upon the standing of his House and who backed him to become first officer. If he has enough backing, he will probably be forced to resign and that will be it. If he as little backing, it's even possible one of the second officers will cause an accident for him." Worf shrugged. "However, it will not go well for him as he has lost much honor for tricking you into a fight you never should have been in for something that no one would have contested. He crossed a line he shouldn't have and he will pay for that."

Harry nodded in understanding and Kim said, "An accident may be very probable. He was not well like by most of the crew."

Worf gave him a hard look. "I was very impressed to hear of your victory. If you would like to train with me, I would be willing to teach you."

With a surprised look at Riker who appeared amused that his prediction had come true so quickly, Harry said as respectfully as he could. "Thank you, I would be honored." When Kim hit his thigh with her hand under the table, he had to contain his laughter. "Would she be welcome too?"

"Yes," Worf agreed. "I can teach you both at the same time."

"Would you teach me to use my bat'leth? Please?" she asked, barely on this side of begging.

Worf raised a bushy eyebrow at her. "Where did you get a bat'leth?"

"I won it in a bet when Harry fought." As the two men stared at her, she looked down and said, "Harry told me he'd win so I thought I should take advantage of the situation."

Riker shook his head with a grin of disbelieve while Worf just looked at her for a long moment. "Yes, I will teach you how to use a bat'leth - properly."

"Thank you," she told him with a nod, very pleased.

Riker looked at Harry. "There is something I thought we should talk about, and that's your future. When Captain Picard and I filled out the application for you to be a Federation Citizen, we had to guess at a date of birth for you because there is no direct way to arrive at a date. Since you said you were almost eighteen and had been considered an adult where you came from, we just set your birthday to be the day before you arrived and subtracted eighteen years, making you born in 2349. Making you an adult solved several problems."

Harry grinned, "Thank you, Commander."

"While you don't really need one, if you had needed a guardian, I was going to volunteer for that. In that light, I hope you don't mind if I lay out some choices that you have and maybe give you some advice."

"No, not at all," Harry said, accepting the offer quickly.

"The same applies from me to you, Akhil," Worf said.

"Thank you, I would be grateful," she told him. "Could you also change my name on the application? I'd like to be known as K'mpok Akhil." She looked at her boyfriend. "Harry calls me Kim and I think I like that as it allows me to fit in a little better."

Worf nodded agreeably. "I can change the application and I think that is a good decision for you."

"Harry, and Kim if you plan to stay with him," Riker added with a little smirk, "I think you have several choices, none of which have to made immediately. We'll be at the Starbase for at least the next week and more likely about ten days while we make repairs with parts they're sending to us so we can achieve at least warp three; then we'll head to a shipyard for major repairs which Geordi thinks will take nearly two months.

"In no particular order … if you like, we can arrange passage to Earth.

"If you prefer, you can research planets in the Federation and we can arrange passage to one of them.

"You can stay here with us until you finish your education and work part time; Geordi told me about his desires to have you on his team and to train you. Kim, I'm sure we could find a part-time job for you as well or you could be only a full-time student.

"Last, I was talking to Doctor Crusher about your special needs and it happened that Doctor Sorrd overheard part of the conversation. Doctor Crusher asked her to join us because Doctor Sorrd had already been consulted about your medical needs when you first came onboard. Doctor Sorrd suggested that we contact Vulcan, where she grew up, to see if they could help. The Vulcans are well known for their intelligence and ability to solve unusual problems. So they could help you with your education while helping you to understand how to live in space and if there are any other limitations for you. While I've asked Doctor Sorrd to send a message to Vulcan regarding the possibility of you going there, we don't have an answer yet. When I asked about it, Doctor Sorrd could not think of a reason they wouldn't help you.

"As should be obvious, each choice has it's pros and it's cons."

"I'll have to consider the options with Kim," Harry told him, "but would it be possible to maybe spend some time on Vulcan during the repairs and join the Enterprise when it's ready to go again?" Kim looked surprised at that and then pleased.

Riker's smirk returned. "It's always wise to consider what the girl wants. As for your question, that's a possibility too."

"I remember our conversation in the captain's quarters. What would it be like with the Vulcans studying me?" He couldn't help but remember the observation that he would be studied somewhere.

"In general, Vulcans try to approach life scientifically and non-emotionally; they're also very respectful of individuals. That being said, they tend to be a very curious people also." Riker shrugged. "While I'm not sure if that would be an ideal situation for you or not, I do believe you could do a lot worse than spending some time on Vulcan. The Vulcan Science Academy is highly regarded throughout the Federation."

Harry nodded as he thought it through. "That is tempting." He looked at both men. "Thank you for trying to help us. I know I haven't made it easy on you."

"Perhaps yesterday could have gone smoother, but you've also kept us alive which is far more important and you have my thanks and respect for that," Worf said solemnly.

"You have my thanks as well, and you've really not been all that difficult," Riker told him with an easy smile. "Now that we've delivered our news, we'll let you enjoy the party." He patted Harry on the back and stood.

Worf looked at her. "K'mpok, I like it," he said with a nod. "You are old enough to take care of yourself, but call me if you need anything." He gave her a stern look. "Do not get into trouble." With that last warning, he rose and the two men left.

Kim looked at Harry and laughed quietly. "I like him. Too bad he wasn't my father."

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I think either staying on the Enterprise or going to Vulcan. I wonder if they could help me in regards to my ancestry," she shrugged.

"All right, let's go to Vulcan, if they'll let us," he told her. "For now, let's go see if we can find something to snack on. Oh, I didn't mind the other Klingon food and I liked the Bloodwine, but can we avoid the octopus and the worms?"

Kim threw her head back and laughed, causing Harry to shake his head at her.

They rose and went back to the bar area. They also looked out the front windows and saw that the "large star" from before was now a model sized structure and growing fast. They had reached the Starbase, but their trek had really just begun.

(the end for now - see "Harry's Trek 2" for the sequel)

(A/N: Thank you to all of you who reviewed! I appreciate the reviews, especially the ones who discussed the ST universe, and you know who you are. :) It seems a lot of you liked this story, despite that it's a mix of "fantasy" and "sci-fi", which doesn't seem like it should go together at first thought. {If you want 2 series who do that mix fairly well it would the "Warlock" series by Christopher Stasheff and the "Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey, although you don't get the sci-fi parts too much until you hit "All the Weyrs of Pern" or "Dragon's Dawn".}

Much like the Avenger crossover story, this story was written to do something very different beyond the normal Hogwarts/fight-Voldemort type of story. Also like the Avenger story, this is done in such a way that I can easily continue it, sort of like adding another episode/movie to a series. I'd like to write a sequel and I plan to, but it's also possible that life will deny me the opportunity. Fortunately, I do have most of a sequel already outlined, so assuming real life allows, I'll post at least 1 sequel. - Kevin)