This morning as every other, she checked her patient carefully to make sure her breathing and pulse were growing stronger.

"You should soon be back with us, my dear." She said to the sleeping form on the bed.

With that she moved on to the next of her patients. A 2nd year Gryffindor who had been fighting and managed to knock himself unconscious yesterday.

Luis had been staging a secret vigil for the past two weeks. Ever since he heard she was badly hurt, Luis had spent a significant portion of his time lurking by the Hospital Wing. Pacing outside. Waiting for word.

He found it difficult to understand why a girl he barely knew had such a hold over him, but he found himself not really caring to find out why. It didn't matter.

Luis looked inside, hovering by the threshold. Madame Pomfrey was bending over her, a routine examination, he knew. Shinrei still had not awakened since that fateful night.

He gathered his courage and stepped into the hospital wing just as Madame Pomfrey went over to another patient.

Luis cleared his throat to catch her attention. "Good morning, Ma'am," he said, shyly, "I'm just stopping by to give these to her. As usual."

He withdrew his hands from behind his back and produced three red roses. Every morning, he went there breakfast time, just to leave flowers for the sleeping girl. Something he would never do if she was awake.

He placed them on the table beside her bed. Up close, he could see the peaceful set of Shinrei's slumbering face. As usual, he felt his heart stop.

He swallowed and turned away. "Is she any better now, Ma'am?" he asked Madame Pomfrey timidly.

She had been floating in the void for an eternity. It was not really a blank emptiness, no, but a quiet, peaceful place with trees and grass and, in the distance, sloping hills. She could smell wildflowers. But she was alone and terribly cold.

Suddenly, she wasn't alone anymore.

He was there as easily as the breeze swept through her hair. He stood close, not touching, but the way his strange midnight eyes fell on her would suffice for a hundred embraces. Or more.

*You will leave for Kyoto at dawn?* his voiced echoed slightly. Fluent Japanese, but slightly accented. Taiyuan.

She nodded. She did not know why. Gods. She tried to dissect her brain for understanding in that moment, but she could_not_remember_anything. She could not even speak. She wanted to cry, so she looked away from him.

*Shinrei.*

Her name on his lips was the sweetest thing she had ever heard. *Sung-ri...* The tears came easily now. She was crying, was she not? Why? Why would parting from this man hurt her so much? She knew him, Sung-ri, but otherwise--who was he in her life?

*Sung-ri, I am leaving so I could tell him about us. I can't lie to Kanjou anymore. I will fight and die for him, but I cannot lie to him. Never. I owe him that much.* She continued with conviction, but the tears would not stop.

He took her in his arms then, gently, but then he chuckled, a quiet laugh. *Ever so honourable, aren't you, Tenshi Hikari? You, who betrayed your own brother because he served Voldemort, would this time leave Japan's champion for the truth in your heart. So righteous.*

*Do not call me Tenshi Hikari. I am no Angel of Light. I fight for good, but that is all.* She was slightly miffed at his words, struggling to free herself. But he was much stronger. *I am not leaving Kanjou for the truth. I am leaving him for you.*

He stopped chuckling. His face was once again serious, more serious than usual. He rarely smiled, much less laughed, but when he did either, he looked so beautiful. Sung-ri. So many sides to him, yet he was still whole. How she loved him. She did not know why, but she loved him.

*Wo ai ni, Shinrei,* he said at last.

She leaned against him wordlessly, listening to his heartbeat. When she opened her eyes, he was not there anymore.

"Sung-ri!" she shouted, fear clawing at her heart. The tears flowed like an angry waterfall. She tried to run, to move, to look for him, but she seemed to be paralysed.

She struggled and fought against the invisible bonds, using all her power, drawing her strength from her love.

Then the bonds broke.

The girl known to all as Shinrei Hikari bolted upright from the bed in the Hogwarts School Infirmary, awake at last. She was crying, but she could not remember why.

Sung-ri-- Who was-- Someone_was_with_her. Gods. Could it be Sung-ri? He could be no one else--

Who_is_Sung-ri? her mind screamed.

Shinrei flung her arms around him, her body wrenched with sobs. She did not know that the person was Luis Verga.

The ceiling would have caved in and Luis would not have noticed, so great was his shock when Shinrei suddenly sprang from the bed like a crazed zombie.

His surprise tripled when she embraced him so tightly that air was ready to be squeezed out of his lungs. She cried into his chest, clinging to his robes like a child about to be abandoned by her mother.

Luis could not move, his mind still trying to absorb what was happening. He had always banked on his ability to react very fast, physically and mentally, but now both faculties had gone haywire. Overridden by surprise, or maybe the idea that it was Shinrei hugging him.

Slowly, he began to hear what she was saying as she sobbed.

"Sung-ri...." Again and again, she said the name as if it was the only thing keeping her alive.

Who in god's name was Sung-ri? He searched his memory for a student with that name but came up with zilch.

It took all of his willpower and more to pull away from her. Shinrei looked up at him with face and eyes very red and streaked with tears. Her long black hair was loose, wrapped around her body like a cloak. She looked like a little lost child.

Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw his face. "You," she said in a pained, crestfallen voice. "You. You are not Sung-ri. What have you done to him?"

Luis remembered that Madame Pomfrey was still around and tried to catch her attention frantically.

While he tried to do so, Shinrei had collapsed, draped over his arm like a limp black ribbon.

Madame Pomfrey responded quickly to Luis and she could see something had definitely changed in terms of Shinrei's condition.

"Mr. Verga - what on earth! Did she regain consciousness?"

She took Shinrei from Luis and gently laid her back down on the bed and examined her.

Before Luis could respond, and while Madame Pomfrey was still examining her, Shinrei once more stirred on the bed. This time, her movements were very slow but strangely, almost deliberately, graceful.

Slender arms stretched to the side, giving the impression of black wings as her very, very long black hair fanned out as she moved.

Dark eyes fluttered open, but this time there was no surprise, but wariness. A suspicious alertness, like an animal thinking it would soon be cornered.

Black lids blinked. Once, twice, thrice. The small, well-defined, classically Oriental mouth curled into what was unmistakably a smile as she sat up, looking imperiously around, like a queen waking up with servants at her beck and call.

"Shimatta," she cursed, but with amusement, "who was the gaijin who did me in?"

She straightened slowly, then looked at both Madame Pomfrey and Luis. "Konnichiwa, Ma'am," she said cheerfully to the nurse. "I'm sure this is the first time I'm in here. Nice place. Comfortable and warm and--"

Her eyes settled on Luis. "Cozy," she finished. She smiled at the Hispanic boy. "You're Luis, right?"

Madame Pomfrey looked mildly surprised by this turn of events. "Mr. Verga, may I ask you to remain with Miss Hikari while I contact Professor Snape?"

With that the School Nurse went to her office to send a summons to the Potions Master who had been working on a potion to revive her.

"Sure," Luis stuttered, "no problem there, Ma'am. I'll stay with her. I'm fine with it. Everyone's still having breakfast so it's fine."

He babbled nervously even until Madame Pomfrey was out of the main area of the Hospital Wing.

His surprise at Shinrei's sudden "reawakening" still had not abated. What's more, she had been smiling at him ever since she opened her eyes.

It was her, but it was not like the Shinrei of two weeks ago. Before, she would not even talk to him in a civil manner. All she ever did was avoid him or duck behind Sinclair and Hupi for protection. But now?

"Yeah," he answered, still staring, "it's Luis." He swallowed. "It's great you're finally awake. Everyone was worried about you. You were out for about two weeks. So. How do you feel? You okay?"

Shinrei smiled, a slow smile. Her eyes had an almost predatory gleam as she listened to his statements, fully aware of and rather enjoying his discomfort.

"If I'm not okay, I would be dead, Luis," she said softly. "You're all very sweet to be so worried. Domo arigatou."

She shifted from her sitting position beneath the covers and pouted. "Kuso," she said irritably, throwing the covers off and frowning at the shapeless flannel hospital gown that she was wearing, "what is this thing? No wonder my skin feels like sandpaper."

She turned to him. "If you would be so kind, can you help me up? I want to stand by the window in the sunlight." She reached out and touched his arm, gripping it cajolingly. "Onegai, Luis? Please?"

It would take a miracle to make Luis refuse. A shiver ran down his spine at her touch. It was the first time she had touched him.

"Okay," he said, flushing mildly, "to the window as you say. You make it hard to refuse when you put it like that."

He grinned at her and guided her off the bed by using an arm to support her by the waist. As Shinrei got to her feet, he noted that her head only came up to his chest. She was so small. It was only now that he noticed how small she really was.

He walked her to the biggest window he could locate. He used his free arm to open the drapes so that sunlight streamed into the room.

"I bet this feels better," he said, feeling very light-headed as he bent down to look at her. "My mother used to say that the three most powerful healing potions could never be brewed: sunshine, music and love."

When Luis realised what he had just said, he turned away abruptly so she would not see his very, very red face.

"Your mother is a wise woman," Shinrei replied, staring through the window at the sun-bathed world outside. This time, she did not notice his reaction.

Her demeanour seemed distant, though she made no attempt to move away from him. In the past, she would have been already very scared at this sort of physical closeness.

Inside her head, the girl named Shinrei Hikari found it difficult what to make of her own actions. Somehow, she felt like a part of her died, while another part of her she never knew existed was steadily growing. She was afraid but very much tempted to open up to this side.

Banish Kanjou Hasmimoto, Clan Kossawa, the Order of Izanagi and all the other fools who thought they could control her life to the Hells. She could not care any less.

As the moments ticked by, she was also less and less in control of her actions. It was like falling into a dark chasm. A fatal yet delicious rushing sensation.

She felt herself lean against the boy who was supporting her without complaint or question. She knew she had once been afraid of him, but she not really remember why. The idea was now so stupid to her.

*What is so scary about him?* she wondered. *He is perfectly fine. In fact, he is perfect.*

With that in mind, she smiled and shifted in his hold, moving until her full weight seemed to be cradled by his larger frame. She relaxed and closed her eyes.

When she spoke, her voice was soft. "Luis, this feels perfect. Thank you."

Luis felt her move closer to lean against him. Good God. Was he dreaming? Was someone trying to disrupt reality, or had someone snuck an especially strong hallucination potion into his morning pumpkin juice?

He was so stiff that he felt his back aching. When she asked for his help to get up and walk to the window, it sounded real enough. Her actions that followed were the ones that caused him to question reality and his own sanity.

However, Luis had gone through more than enough to be able to plant his perceptions firm on earth. She was there. He could feel her breathing steadily against him.

"No problem there, chiquita," he answered just as softly. "Anytime. All you gotta do is ask."

Shinrei let out a sigh. His accented voice is like music, she decided, especially when he speaks softly. She wished he would not let her go soon. It felt *so* nice to be held like this.

It occurred to her that she had never been held so close by anyone before. She had once thought being held like *this* was very wrong, but now she wondered why. It felt wonderful.

Gods. What was happening to her?

She opened her eyes. Curse the past. She could barely remember much of her former behaviour, what her beliefs were. She could not even recall how she dressed, or what she did with her very long hair to keep it out of the way.

But she could remember the solid facts, like her class schedule and how to execute the perfect Itto-ryu Blind Vulture attack. She could even remember the seventeen steps to pruning a kuromatsu bonsai.

Why could she not remember *herself*?

It doesn't matter, she decided. I'm alive. I'm here. Curse_the_past.

She reached up, allowing her fingertips to dance on the silver-green serpent crest pinned on his robes. "Slytherin," she mused. "I am a Gryffindor. Not by Sorting. It was a direct placement. Kanjou wanted it, I think. He knew beforehand I was going to end up in Gryffindor."

Shinrei looked up at the Hispanic boy. "Don't you just hate it when other people control your life, Luis? *I* have been controlled and shaped and dictated to all my life. I lived the way they wanted me to. In everything, I carried the teachings of Kanjou Hashimoto and the valiant Kossawa." A feline smile touched her lips. "But right now I have a feeling things are going to change."

Severus Snape had quietly entered the Hospital Wing and had come to stand a few feet behind Luis and Shinrei.

"What an interesting declaration, Miss Hikari. Unfortunately, while you are a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry your life will be controlled despite your predilection for disobedience."

He then regarded Luis Verga with a cool, penetrating look, "Mr. Verga, I believe you have a class?"

Luis looked over his shoulder at the sound of the familiar voice. Before he actually saw Professor Snape, he knew who it was. No one else could dish out perfectly-worded acid like that.

He reddened at being caught in a situation like this. Caught by /Snape/ he emphasised mentally. Very reluctantly, he let go of Shinrei.

"Yes, sir," he replied, nodding and looking in Snape's direction. "History of Magic with Professor Binns. So I guess I'd better make a run for it."

He started for the door, but something made him stop and turn towards Shinrei. "Be back later, okay?" He smiled broadly, his heart beating wildly at the mere sight of her.

Before anyone could reply or comment on his behaviour towards this particular Gryffindor, Luis was out of the Infirmary.

Shinrei returned Luis's smile and watched him leave. Tall, dark and handsome. He was very graceful when he moved, too. The black Hogwarts robes suited him perfectly. What she adored the most about the boy, though, were his silver eyes and accented voice.

She let out a very contented sigh and turned to Professor Snape, still retaining her good humour and bestowing on the rather surly-looking teacher a sunny smile.

"Konnichi wa, Professor," she said cheerfully. "I'm very flattered that you chose to visit me at this time, sir, I thank you. Without Luis I am going to be in need of a bit of company. Unless, of course, you will allow me to rejoin my classes."

"Do not worry about my aversion to being controlled, Professor," she added in a reassuring tone. "When it comes to Hogwarts, I willingly submit myself to its teachings, body and soul. I hope this will put your mind at ease, sir."

Shinrei gestured to a chair near the window. "Won't you sit, Professor Snape?"

Professor Snape noted Shinrei's languor and his thoughts went briefly to how he'd word his notes on the specific combination of new ingredients that he had added to the Potion administered to her earlier that morning.

However, he did not move towards the chair and both his expression and voice conveyed that he considered such pleasantries as an inappropriate familiarity on the part of the girl.

"You appear to be under the misapprehension that I am here on some kind of social visit, Miss Hikari. I am not! "However, since you appear to have recovered from your coma perhaps you are now ready to answer some questions about your potion-making activities in the dungeons and Forbidden Forest."