Muggle repelling barriers had been placed in a nice park in the city of Metropolis. Two teenagers sat on the grass against a tree.
"I've been studying your powers," said Harry.
"Yeah," prompted Kara, as she rested her head against his right shoulder.
"And, I've got some theories on how they work and how they could work better," said Harry. "You're actually on a pretty good track with them. You're using them creatively as opposed to a blunt force."
"I figured that out rather quick," summarized Kara. "I mean, I'm all for punching someone in the face as much as the next person. But what if you go against someone who has a face that even someone like me can't punch?"
"We're on the same track them," said Harry in a thoughtful manner. "Magic is the same way. You could try and stun someone or disarm them off the bat. Or go straight for the throat with the most dangerous curse you could think of."
Harry let that sink in before he continued. "But what if you have five enemies or six or more? And all of them are more powerful than you and are able to block you?"
The girl nodded in understanding.
"Obviously, not the same exact thing, but it's the same thing in some other ways," said Harry. "Magic is all about intent and focus. Your abilities are based off of intent and focus. The yellow sunlight gives you your powers…it hasn't really be proven what gives mine."
"Do you have an idea?" asked Kara in a curious voice.
"Merely theories, no more foolish than the last," said Harry. "Magic is just what it is. It exists, some can use it. Others can't use it. Any kind of science really does die in the face of the insanity that is magic."
"Yeah that makes sense," said Kara. "I could get hit in the stomach with an entire round of bullets and barely flinch. One tickling charm and I'm helpless as we well know."
Harry smiled, and wrapped his arms around her.
"Back to your powers, I've been seeing something with them, you tend to burn through a great deal of energy for very little," said Harry. "I have the same problem with performing certain spells. It's about trying to work up to a certain point. If you can do the same thing in half of the energy then do it."
Kara nodded. "But I don't feel weak…well most of the time…"
"You could feel stronger," said Harry as he helped her up, before he waved his wand and three targets appeared. Then he put a shield around the area, so innocent bystanders wouldn't get hit. "Right, you could take all of those out one by one rather easily, couldn't you?"
"Piece of cake," said Kara as her arms folded and turned her head to look at Harry. "I thought you were going to give me a real challenge."
"Patience, my love, you're going to like this," said Harry. "I want you to take them all out at once and do it with the fraction of the power that you would one."
Kara studied them intently. She tried to do the math in her head and took a deep breath.
A beam of heat vision shot out, and ricocheted off of one target, but the second target had barely got hit.
Frustration mounted from the last daughter of the House of El as she looked at her lack of progress.
"What did I do wrong?" asked Kara.
"You were on the right track," said Harry as he adopted D.A. instructor mode. "You need to turn your head slightly to the right. You need to put your right foot before your left foot. And you need to intend to hit the targets. Don't just do, but intend."
The second time the girl followed Harry's advice to the letter and succeeded. Her face broke out in a grin.
"I knew you could do it," said Harry with a proud smile.
Kara nearly tackled Harry to the ground and kissed him in her excitement.
This went on for several minutes.
"That was awesome and I barely felt a tingle of energy," breathed the girl happily after she broke the kiss. "When Kal tried to teach me, I think he…."
"Your cousin is a bit different from you of how his powers work," said Harry. "There's a science and a skill to them and creativity, but he's more built for strength and size. You're built for skill and stamina."
"Just like someone else I know," muttered the girl with a fond expression as they rolled over before they got into a sitting position.
The two enjoyed a quiet lunch in each other's company. They had lessons with Batman and Blood had been meeting with Harry every now and again when he could.
Those lessons were rather slow going but Blood had told Harry not to be discouraged if he had not been able to grasp anything taught to him straight away. Magical education had changed. In the days of Camelot, there were no formal schools. It was not until Hogwarts where that started up and even then, the education was far different in the days of the Founders.
Harry felt that for the most part, he had gotten nonverbal spell casting down pat. Granted, there were still charms he struggled with. It somewhat helped that the process was not overcomplicated and he could do things his way, as opposed to what was done at Hogwarts.
It did work well for most people he supposed but he always played by a different set of rules.
Lois looked at the notes she had taken, with a frown. The mysterious Harrison Radcliffe had remained such.
Then again, it was not as if Lex Luthor had given out much information as of late.
"Still on that one, Lois?" asked Clark as he popped up.
"Yes, I'm still on it," said Lois with a fierce determination. When the reporter set her mind on something, she did have a single minded fixation to say the very least. "It's really a problem, to find someone who technically doesn't really exist?"
"Well he had to exist, I mean, he got his hands on the Lexcorp stock."
"Well he does exist, it's just this name didn't exist until that three day period in Vegas," said Lois. "It's not like Luthor is going to admit that he's worried about something. He's been rather quiet as of late."
Clark looked at her. "So you think he's up to something?"
"Gee, Smallville, I don't know, it's Lex Luthor," said the reporter in a sarcastic voice. "He's always got his hands on something and he's got some plan. And something tells me it's not to steal forty cakes."
"That would be terrible," responded Clark.
"He's not been in public lately, his little humiliation with Superman and Supergirl stung," muttered Lois. "His…personal assistant…has been covering all of the press conferences. "
Lois used the finger quotes for two of those words.
"Obsessed as usual," muttered Lois as she looked at what little information she uncovered without even blinking.
"Aren't the best of us?" asked Clark with a smile.
"Yeah, well I've got more on the green eyed hero boy, from Vegas, the one that Superman snatched off of the street," said Lois. "He's been in Gotham City."
She let this morsel of information sink in. "Why I don't know. There were a lot of strange things there was of late. People dropped dead in the street and some of them are in comas. My source was less than forthcoming about the details."
Clark just nodded.
"Something tells me that he might have stopped whatever happened," summarized Lois. "What's his story anyway?"
"I don't…I really can't help you Lois," said Clark.
"Are you sure you aren't holding out Clark?" asked Lois as she got to her feet to face her colleague. "It's almost like you know something about green eyed hero boy."
"Fine, you got me," said Clark. "He's a wizard from a magical boarding school in Scotland who has to save the world from an evil dark wizard."
Lois just remained silent for a moment before she responded.
"Ask a stupid question," muttered Lois as she looked over everything. "So you got anything going on lately or something? You seem preoccupied."
"Well, my cousin's going to stop by for a visit and…her friend," said Clark after a pause.
Something told him that telling Lois that his seventeen year old cousin was now married was going to lead to a lot of questions that he would not feel comfortable with asking.
"Do you mean friend…friend or friend…as in something more than a friend?" questioned Lois, her curiosity mildly piqued.
Clark remained silent for a moment. "The latter."
"Oh boy, well good luck with that one," said Lois. "Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid and give any threatening speeches involving shovels."
"No," said Clark in a calm voice.
"Oh that's good, glad someone around here has sense," said Lois and then she added, more to herself than Clark. "I really hope this story pays off rather soon. I hate going around in circles."
The wind blew to scatter leaves in the streets of Metropolis as the couple walked down the street.
"Nice place," muttered Harry as he had a look around.
"Too big and loud for me," said Kara as she shook her head.
"Well to visit, maybe not necessarily live," amended Harry, as he looked around. "Rather busy too."
Kara nodded, but her super hearing had heard someone drilling into a side of the building.
"Harry, I hear something," whispered Kara, as she grabbed his hand and Harry followed.
She peered through the building through her X-Ray vision.
"Lead," she muttered with a scowl but Harry had held his wand.
"Hang on, let's see if I can transfigure it into something that's not lead," said Harry as he concentrated. "Easy does it…try now."
The girl did as she saw several figures dressed in black garb with helmets as they entered the building.
"Intergang," whispered Kara.
"What's an Intergang?" asked Harry.
"Nothing good. "
She paused.
"Let's break it up."
They moved in dressed in street clothes.
Kara busted the locked door open and Harry followed her.
One of the members of Intergang turned around but a flick of Harry's wand caused his arms and legs to snap together. Half of the gang members had been taken out by their combined forces before the other half had any idea what happened.
Right at that moment, the gang members began to fire their weapons. Large blasts of lasers had shot through the air at them. Kara pivoted and dove towards her attackers.
She blew on their weapons and caused the guns to freeze. They threw them down. Harry tripped them up as many of them scrambled out. A blasting hex nailed one of the thugs as he tried to charge Harry.
"Back up, we need back up, it's the Kryptonian and some other kid," whispered one of the Intergang members into a communicator.
Harry and Kara followed the few that escaped out but several people screamed.
A giant robot walked into the city and blasted a red laser at them. Several more laser blasts had caused them to take a step back. Both of them scattered rfrom the impact.
They peaked out from the side of a car as they studied the robot.
"I'll hit it low, you hit it high," whispered Harry.
"Gotcha," agreed Kara but loud sonic boom echoed over the city.
Superman had arrived immediately on the scene and moved to engage the robot in battle. The laser blast caught Superman in the chest but he pushed himself into battle. With several huge and dramatic punches, the Man of Steel knocked the robot right back away from civilians.
The robot staggered, before the Man of Steel had ripped open the robot, to pull out a pilot and then tossed his unconscious form out.
Kara turned and saw two men on the ledge right about her cousin. She immediately blasted off into the air and knocked them both off of their perches, before Harry slowed their descent to the ground.
There was a loud cheer from the crowd around them, as Superman was mobbed by fans and the members of the press.
Harry and Kara stood awkwardly to the side, as afterthoughts.
"People please, just doing my job," said Superman as he waved off the press as he walked over to Harry and Kara. "Are you two alright?"
"Fine, Kal, I'm just fine," said Kara as she turned her back slightly on him with a frown.
"What's wrong?" asked Superman.
"Oh, nothing's wrong, everything's just fine," said Kara. "Harry and I had that thing exactly where we wanted it…"
"I was just trying to help," said Superman. "Besides, everyone was saved."
"Yeah, they were," said Kara who tried to maintain some degree of calmness. She was glad to see her cousin after all and no one seemed to be hurt.
She calmed herself down.
"Hey look, it's Superman and his sidekick, Supergirl!" called someone.
Kara Potter was calm until she heard the "s-word". Her fists clenched around a piece of debris in her hand. It crumbled to dust.
"What about the other one, Superman must have had more help. Wow, another sidekick."
Kara wanted to crawl in a hole and die and Harry looked like he wanted to join her.
"Sidekick," mouthed Harry, as he clenched his fists, hand on his wand, before he mentally counted to thirty.
"Don't worry, I'll straighten this out," said Superman as he took a deep breath. "Guys, you don't understand, they took care of the situation on their own, without me. I just gave them help…"
Yet people were unwilling to listen properly to that and started to yell their thanks to Superman and his sidekicks.
"Thanks a lot, Kal," muttered Kara in a sarcastic voice.
"This isn't my fault," said Superman. "You…you were the one who was gung ho about being Supergirl and everything."
Kara turned to him. "Yeah, when I was fifteen, I liked it. I'm not fifteen any more, I'm not some kid. I'm a grown woman. I'm my own person…and I don't want to be known as just Superman's cousin or his sidekick!"
"That's not…" said Superman but Kara turned around and flew up and away, to get away from her cousin.
"You really have no idea what it's like to live in someone else's shadow, do you?" asked Harry.
Superman remained silent.
"You've made mistakes, yeah," said Harry. "Figures Superman would make some super mistakes."
"I'm really surprised that you didn't hex me," muttered Superman.
"Tempting," said Harry before he added in a whisper that only Superman could hear. "I've made my feelings perfectly clear about hurting Kara."
"Yes, you have," agreed Superman but Harry turned away from him.
"We could have handled that but thanks still," muttered Harry but he saw a woman out of the corner of his eye. "May I help you?"
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," said Lois as she looked at him. "You're him aren't you?"
"I'm who?" asked Harry.
"The green eyed hero, the same one that popped up in Las Vegas and Gotham City," said Lois.
"Yes," said Harry in a curt voice.
"So what's your story?" asked Lois without preamble
Harry just looked at her before he responded. "Long."
Lois frowned. He was playing the one word answer game.
Harry added after a few seconds. "I have to go, there was a misunderstanding, and I have to go comfort my wife."
Lois Lane was rendered speechless at that last word.
"Green eyed boy…Supergirl…Vegas…of course…no wonder he acted that way."
Suddenly, more things were clear but it raised many more questions.
The hero was gone and Lois turned, face to face with Superman for the first time in months.
A few seconds seemed like much longer.
"Distress call, I've got to go," muttered Superman as he flew off, saved by whoever had committed the crime.
Lois remained in the middle of the street as everyone moved back to their lives.
She had no idea why people thought she was so intimidating.
"Kara," whispered Harry, as he walked up to her as she sat at the edge of a roof.
"How did you find me?" asked Kara, as she felt her anger fading at Harry wrapping his arms around her and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Actually, how did you get up here?"
"I took the stairs," said Harry and she turned, mouth a gap.
"Ten floors up?" asked Kara.
"I'd climb a mountain," said Harry, as he held her for another minute before he sat next to her. "Are you doing alright?"
"Harry, I…I'm really upset now, about what he did," she said. "I know he means well swooping in to save the day, really, but sometimes he treats me like a baby. I thought we were over this."
Harry rubbed her shoulders and her neck. She relaxed as he worked his magic.
"Those people what they said, they didn't help you, did they?" asked Harry.
"No, I thought it would be cool to be just like him," said Kara but she shook it off. "But enough about that, we stopped them, we really knocked around Intergang."
"Yeah, we make a great team," said Harry with a smile. "So, let's do something fun. Maybe we can go to the cinema or something."
"Oh, the movie theater, yeah, that'd be fun," said Kara. "In disguises though."
"Great minds think alike," said Harry who had no desire to be badgered today. "Should we take the fun way?"
Kara got up to her feet and embraced him. They kissed high above Metropolis. The kiss lasted a long time, as the wind blew through their hair.
They parted after a long time.
"So, are you ready?" asked Kara.
"Up, up, and away," said Harry with a cheeky grin, as he was scooped up in his wife's arms as she flew him safely down the streets below.
On the Autumn Equinox, Albus Dumbledore remained in his office where he had been for the past three weeks. He had ignored all correspondence both letters and howlers alike.
A few students had been pulled from Hogwarts already. Dumbledore reflected upon the events of the summer and what to do next. He come to the sad conclusion that a second attempt to bring Harry back by force would end in disaster. Harry would have to come back on his own and he would eventually.
"Enter," said Dumbledore as he looked up and the door opened. He was greeted by a rather shell shocked Severus Snape. "Professor Snape what…"
"Two of my Slytherins, Headmaster," whispered Snape in his most dangerous voice. "Two of them have been attacked."
The Headmaster went rigid but put on a mask of calmness. "Are you certain it is not some sort of prank that gone awry…"
"If it's a prank, then it should be one that no one finds funny," replied the Potions Master as he turned to face Dumbledore. "Even the Weasley twins, even Potter and his gang of dunderheads would not have gone this far."
Dumbledore looked at his desk and remained calm. "Who was attacked Severus?"
"Parkinson and Crabbe," said Snape. "They'll live, for what it's worth. The scars won't ever heal."
"Crabbe but not Goyle?" asked Dumbledore.
"Well it's not like they're attached at the hip, Dumbledore," responded Snape without humor. "But don't try and get side tracked on the situation. I want every single Gryffindor interrogated, even if I have to brew up the Veritaserum and dump it down their throats."
"What makes you think it is a Gryffindor, Severus?" questioned Dumbledore. "It could be some inner house conflict, a pureblood rivalry…"
Snape just looked at the Headmaster. His Slytherins would not be that careless but he declined to comment. He watched as Dumbledore looked his entire age and then some more.
McGonagall showed up at that moment to the Headmaster's office. "Headmaster, there's been an attack right in the fourth year girls dormitories in Gryffindor."
"Another one," whispered Dumbledore, his voice faint. He ignored the flushed feeling he was feeling. "Give me all of the details, Minerva."
McGonagall paused as she composed herself. "Romilda Vane, she was found in her bed, barely breathing. There were no signs of the entrance to the dormitory being forced open. She might be brain dead."
"Who would know the difference," muttered Snape but McGonagall shot him a stern look. "Well, two of my Slytherins were attacked and one of your Gryffindors. We may have a potential serial killer on the loose."
He let those words sink in as McGonagall grew pale and even Dumbledore was more serious. "Perhaps another illegal Animagus. We know how that's a particularly problematic flaw with the Hogwarts protections, given Black and Pettigrew. I wonder what Gryffindor could pull it off."
"What makes you think that this isn't a Slytherin?" asked McGonagall. "Or a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw? "
Another thought had visited her. "Or even some Death Eater using Polyjuice potion again to hide in plain site?"
She gave Dumbledore a look at those words but he took it in stride.
"Do you have any idea, Dumbledore?" asked McGonagall. "A real idea if you would please."
Dumbledore looked off into the distance, but the twinkle had been extinguished from his eye.
"This even baffles me," said Dumbledore after a moment. "Innocent until proven guilty."
"You do realize that you actually have to take this seriously, Dumbledore," said Snape as he looked Dumbledore in the eye. "Harry Potter isn't here to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. Any blood will be on your hands."
Snape felt repulsed at the fact that he somewhat agreed with Potter.
Dumbledore just remained thoughtful. Sometimes when fate shut a door, another window was opened.
Likely, news of the attacks would reach young Harry. Then he would have to come back and deal with the attacker.
For once, Albus Dumbledore had none of the answers and it put him in a very uncomfortable position.
There would be no need for the Ministry of Magic to find out. They were preoccupied with keeping a lid on the entire Wizarding World to begin with.
Hermione Granger sat cross legged on her bed as she engrossed herself in a book. A tale about how the Hogwarts founders had once fought a caveman who had claimed immorality due to a magical meteor. She wondered about the validity of it.
She heard about the attacks. Even with Harry gone, mystery seemed to occur in the halls of Hogwarts. Hermione wondered but it was not her place to pry anymore. In the back of her mind, she suspected this was a plan on Dumbledore's part to lure Harry back into Hogwarts.
She looked up felt a faint wave of magic.
"So, it's you again, isn't it?" asked Hermione. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was going mad the way you keep popping up out of the blue."
The voice of a girl, stoic and calm responded. "You know I'm all too real. You wouldn't be breathing if I was some figment of your imagination."
"So I know you're not one for small talk," muttered the bookworm. "Why are you here?"
"I'll cut to the chase. My magic can only cloak us for a certain amount of time. And the walls have ears."
"Knowing this place, I wouldn't be surprised if that was literal," muttered Hermione.
"Did you find the Diadem?"
"Yes, and I have it shielded in a trunk just like you said," replied Hermione. "Riddle thought he could hide it in the Room of Requirement. And I'm working on the others."
"Good, don't feel tempted to have those things on your person. You saw what the diary did to her. It's highly unstable magic. Most people who make those things end up getting sucked into their own objects because they botch the spell. The fact Riddle succeeded as many times as he did is troubling."
Hermione nodded.
"I've come to a number of conclusions about your friend's abilities. It really was the best thing to get him out of Hogwarts. And I do question your sanity staying here as well. You do remember I told you're sitting on something that is sentient."
"The subject might have come up, yes," said Hermione. "But I have my purpose…and how are Kara and Harry?"
"They're doing well right now. I've only peaked in on them once or twice, but they really do share something special."
Hermione relaxed. "So…how did Sirius survive the veil? I know you know."
"I know, but it's not my place to say. And if he had really fallen through it, it would have been a fate worse than death."
"You seem to know a lot…"
"I don't know enough. And Hermione, Harry's coming to terms with who he really is and who he can be, so is Kara. I've been down that road. But what about you?"
"What about me?" countered Hermione.
"We both know the answer to that."
"My name is Hermione Granger, I'm a sixth year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I'd give my life it meant protecting the one's I care about," said Hermione with conviction. "That's all that matters."
"If you insist…I'll be in touch."
Hermione was left alone at those words and everything returned to normal.
In a darkened room, Voldemort sat. Off to his side, Wormtail was on his hands and knees. For his own entertainment, the Dark Lord had insisted that Wormtail scrub the floors the Muggle way.
He could do it mere seconds, but he loved to see both people and animals suffer.
Voldemort continued to gather information about the flying man who had attacked Bellatrix.
Potter had departed from the country, but he had the confidence that the boy would return and come to him. The Dark Lord was in no hurry, he had plenty of time.
It amused him that his latest obsession started in an attempt to send Potter a further message. Snape had sent him a newspaper clipping and the ball rolled from there. Bellatrix's arm was still damaged, but that was her own fault. She would have to learn to torture with her other hand.
"Enter," said Voldemort and Yaxley had entered. He had walked slow and with a purpose. "Yaxley, I trust you bring me news from the Ministry."
Yaxley responded in his usual cold and efficient monotone. "Yes, my Lord. The Ministry of Magic has passed an order for stricter control of dark creatures such as werewolves. The Auror department is being downsized after the first of the year for budget reasons. The Minister attempted to block that order, but he was overridden. And the Ministry is all is in a panic because Harry Potter left the country."
"They would be ripe for the taking," muttered Voldemort. "But not yet, one misstep could set me back years. I must focus on the flying man who caused Bellatrix some issues."
"My Lord, do you truly believe a man could fly?" asked Yaxley.
"With my prodigal talents, I could obtain flight velocity and have," said Voldemort. "Whoever this man is, he remains a potential issue. If I could control such a powerful being, then it would give me added protection."
"Of course, my Lord," said Yaxley.
"If you do not have any further news, then I thank you Yaxley, but I have much to do," said the dark wizard in his soft voice.
He was left alone.
Tom Marvolo Riddle traveled the world and spent years learning every form of magic he could located before he fully became Lord Voldemort. His true strengths laid in his ability to be prepared for anything.
He was without peer but when there was an individual that he could not understand, the game changed. Harry Potter was one and this flying man was another wild card.
Yet, he would adapt and he will win.
In the Department of Mysteries, Dolores Umbridge had made her way down the hallowed hallways.
"Clinton," muttered Umbridge with a nod, as she passed a young Unspeakable who had exited from the Hall of Time.
Umbridge walked through several rooms. She walked past a cage that contained two white lab rats. One had a particular large head and the other looked particularly dim witted. The Senior Undersecretary turned the corner, as she passed a head submerged in a block of ice.
Behind a thick door, Umbridge stood. Several trusted Aurors remained with her, ready to attack at any sign of trouble.
"Has the prisoner said a word?" asked Umbridge in her sickly sweet tone.
"He remains quiet as always."
Umbridge stepped over and peered inside. "Give him time and he'll break. He's no different than from any other half breed. His race's secrets will be the property of the Ministry of Magic soon enough."
She turned from the prisoner and walked off. Soon she would have what she wanted.
After they had returned from the movies and lunch, the two super powered teens hung out at Clark's apartment.
"So, a place that's not too small, but not too big?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, I mean, we need our space, but some large house just seems like it's cold and sterile," said Kara, as they flipped through several descriptions of houses that were available.
"You got a great point," said Harry. "A medium sized one, not really towards a major population area."
"We're on the same track with that one," agreed Kara as she looked at. "Something by the beach would be nice, wouldn't you think?"
Harry mused about that one for a minute. "Yeah, that would be nice. Plenty of room out there to have fun and fly, it would be perfect."
The door clicked up and Clark had returned.
"Oh, hi guys, um…" said Clark as the events of the day was fresh in his mind. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a place to stay," muttered Kara as she remained rather cool towards her cousin.
"Yeah, we're burning through the Vegas winnings rather quickly on all of these motel rooms and half of them I need to fix up," said Harry.
"There are plenty of nice places here in Metropolis you know," added Clark.
Kara turned to him. "Yeah, there are, but here's the thing. I don't really want to be in this city every day. And you know why."
"Kara, about today, I was only trying to…" started Clark.
"Kal, I know, believe me, and I appreciate it, but we had the matter under control," said Kara. "I just got a bit upset that they were calling me your sidekick."
"I never said that through," argued Clark, as Harry became very interested at the house listings.
"I know you didn't, but…it just drives me nuts alright," said Kara.
"Well family wouldn't be family if they didn't drive you nuts every once and while," replied Clark with a smile but Kara just sighed.
"Maybe," muttered Kara as she looked at everything.
"So busy day today?" asked Harry trying to steer the conversation into happier waters.
"Yes, three distress calls at the same time," said Clark. "And Intergang slipped away, even if you helped bring some of them in. One guy cracked his skull."
"Well, that's what he got for jumping in the way of a blasting curse," said Harry as he looked at Clark before he added. "Oh, and your reporter friend, she better keep her nose out of my business."
"Lois?" asked Clark as he leaned against the sofa and Harry confirmed. "Oh, because you…yeah she's now determined to figure out what your story is."
Harry just remained silent.
"She's really not that bad, and if you'd just give her an interview, Lois would likely leave you alone," said Clark. "The harder you hide, the more she digs."
"Well she's going to have to find a pretty big shovel," replied Harry.
"Sounds to me like you've had some bad experience with the press," said Clark as he surveyed Harry.
"Well, to put it simply, yes," said Harry. "And…I let the marriage thing slip."
Kara looked at him for a second but shrugged her shoulders.
"Well it was bound to come out eventually," she said in a resigned voice but she added with a bit more humor. "At least she hasn't figured out to see past a pair of glasses, otherwise some people would have to come up with a new disguise."
Clark just smiled. "Well it's a bit more than a pair of glasses. The attitude is the thing."
'And it's a good thing I didn't mention the marriage,' thought Clark. 'Lois would have put two and two together and then I'd really be in for it.'
"So, Kara, how about this place?" asked Harry, as she scooted over to look at what had been found.
She looked at the place and her face lit up in a smile. "It's beautiful and near a beach, not too far away from either Metropolis or Gotham City either. Not too big, not too small, just perfect."
Clark peeked over their shoulder. "Well, you do realize that you'd be neighbors to royalty more or less."
The two looked confused.
"Well, you see Atlantis is off the coast. And the king…well he doesn't take too kindly to people who use the ocean as a waste dump."
Clark looked at them. "But I'm sure, as long as you don't dump anything in the water, he'll leave you in peace."
"Wait, Atlantis is real?" questioned Harry.
"Very much so," said Clark with a chuckle.
"Harry, it's perfect and not a bad price, and look at it, it looks like a palace, but it's not too pretentious," said Kara as she looked at the picture. "So can we…"
"Anything for you, my prodigal princess from the stars," said Harry with a grin.
Any other person and Kara would have rolled her eyes, but coming from Harry it sounded rather sweet.
"So you like it?" asked Kara.
"Perfect," replied Harry, as he looked at her. "We're going to finish up the business with Luthor and then…we'll see what we can do about getting that."
Clark felt obligated to warn Harry about Luthor. "You do know that Luthor's likely already figuring out how to best deal with you."
"Yeah, but here's the thing, he doesn't know me," said Harry. "He just is chasing some ghost about now, a false identity."
Kara added. "We both think he's up to something, but we don't know what."
"Well that's not exactly a news flash," said Clark. "As long as you know what we're doing…"
"I have a decent idea," said Harry.
"We both did our homework, we didn't tear over here the first minute for a good reason," added Kara with a confident expression on her face.
"We're going to give him enough rope to hang himself," concluded Harry as they had matching diabolical grins on their face.
Clark almost felt sorry for Lex Luthor.
Kara flipped through Harry's things and paused at something. She blinked and gave him a nudge "Honey, I really want to show you this…this is really…just wow."
"Yeah, the Quibbler, the last one published before…it happened," whispered Harry and Clark looked at them.
They explained about Luna and what little he knew. It was one of the many reasons why Harry was not too fond of the Wizarding World these days. Luna did not deserve anything bad that happened to her. She had her own oddness but that just made her…well Luna.
The fact that the Ministry of Magic seemed unwilling to investigate on the off chance that she was alive, made Harry a bit agitated. She had fought bravely in the Department of Mysteries and really worked hard in the D.A.
"It's really sad what happened to her, she seems like such a unique person," said Kara. "But…that's not what I'm talking about."
She gave a moment and pointed at the page of the Quibbler. "This is what I'm talking about."
"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack?" asked Harry as he looked at it.
"Yes, that," said Kara in a bit of an excited, bit of a remorseful voice. "This Crumple-Horned Snorkack thing…the picture, it existed. It was native to Krypton."
She took in a deep breath. "I had one as a pet when I was a little girl. It wasn't called that, but I had one."
Kara closed her eyes for an instant. "It died with everything else."
Harry placed his arm around her shoulders, as she reflected.
"So many good people died but so many wonderful species of animals as well, on both Krypton and Argo," said Clark in a somber voice.
"It just…" managed Kara. "It just brought back all kinds of memories…of what we lost."
Harry grabbed her tightly. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Harry sometimes wondered how life would have been different if his parents had lived.
"It's tough," said Harry as he held her close. "Loss always is. But we gained something special despite it all. And we honor the people we lost by living on and making the most out of life."
"Of course, and we will," replied Kara. "All we lost…it's gone and we can't change the past. We just got to make the best of the present and…the future. Appreciate everything that we have in the here and now."
She also added in a guilty voice. "And I really am sorry about snapping at you Kal. You were just trying to help."
"Kara, you weren't completely wrong, I just see you as my younger cousin and it's just…it's going to take some adjusting," said Clark. "So I'm going to warm up a TV dinner do you…"
"No, thanks but Kara and I are going out, we've got things to do, but thanks for letting us stick around here," said Harry as he looked at Kara who helped him pick up. "We'll get out of your hair, I'm sure we're going to run into you before too long."
Clark watched them leave.
It struck him how close he came to losing the only blood family he had left because of his actions.
At dusk in Metropolis, a red blur whizzed through the streets at super speed. Papers flew in every direction from the gust of wind he generated.
The man stopped. Dressed in red, with a yellow emblem on his chest, he was the fastest man alive. Underneath the mask, he was Wally West, a graduate student who was about to become a forensic scientist.
He was better known as the Flash, the beloved hero of Central City.
He had been brought here because of the recent mirror based thefts in Metropolis and he had a hunch of the person behind it.
"What the…" managed the Flash but at that moment, he looked at the nearest mirror. There was someone trapped right inside it alright.
The Scarlet Speedster turned around as the image of a mysterious pink haired woman drew closer and by some force, she had busted right through the mirror. The woman tripped over her feet as she had arrived.
With a loud crash, she flew into him and caused him to lose his balance. Both crash landed right on the streets of Metropolis.