Harry Potter and the Starship Enterprise

After two weeks it was necessary for the Enterprise to resume her missions; by this time, however, selected members of the crew had met the Order, up to and including Arthur Weasley. One can just imagine how he reacted when he learned that Spock was extraterrestrial, the older man making it a point to talk to the Vulcan whenever he got the chance. The questions he asked sometimes bordered on intrusive, but because Arthur was a friend of Christine, Sirius and Harry, the Vulcan simply reinforced his mental shields, especially when Arthur happened to touch him.

It was only after they left that Christine gently admonished him not to do that because Spock was a touch-telepath and could feel the emotions of everyone who happened to touch him. He didn't want to feel obligated to maintain full shields all the time, so he asked those he associated with not to touch him unless absolutely necessary--even those he was closest to, like Kirk, McCoy and now Christine.

"Sorry about that, Christine. I had no idea. I was just so eager to speak with him, an actual extraterrestrial ..." Arthur's voice was properly contrite, yet at the same time, held awe at meeting someone from another planet, even though he was well aware of Spock's Human parentage. "And to think he has natural Legilimency, too."

"Don't worry, I understand--as does Spock. It's happened to him many times. Just don't do it unless you can't get his attention any other way. But we can't stay aboard ship any longer. It's already been out of service too long. We just wanted to make sure that we had all the facts on our mission to retrieve Sirius."

"Merlin, it's great to have him back--yet all the same, hard to believe he wasn't really dead, just in another dimension. I imagine there's going to be a lot of changes once the Wizarding world knows he's back, huh?"

"I think we better hold off on that as long as we can, give Sirius time to settle back in, rejoin the Order and all that. Not to mention the Final Battle."

"Do you think Sirius will join the Final Battle?"

"Are you kidding? That's a foregone conclusion, especially if his friends, such as Remus and Tonks--and Harry--are in it! He'll want to do all he can to help, whatever happens to him."

"But we just got him back. We don't want to lose him again ... and what's more, for good this time."

"I know, but we can't live his life for him, Arthur. He's a grown man; it's his decision."

Christine had her own reasons for wanting Sirius to remain alive, to make up to him as best she could for doubting him for so long and so terribly. Sirius had assured her he now understood why she had reacted as she did and didn't hold it against her, which was just like him ... but she felt a moral obligation to do it. She had to, if only to ease her conscience, which had kicked in big-time once she had been informed that Sirius had been innocent of all charges against him.

At the same time, she had become closer to Spock than she had ever imagined possible; he had even kissed her a number of times and held her in his arms, her head on his shoulder. Other times, she had sat with Spock's head in her lap and stroked his silky dark hair, even teasing the points of his ears, which she had discovered were extraordinarily sensitive to the touch. At the same time, she loved making him shiver by stroking them when he least expected it. There was even one time that their kisses and caresses had turned passionate, even intimate, and Spock had even asked her to bond with him before what would turn out to be their one and only time of physical intimacy. Only her lingering feelings for Sirius had stopped her.

She couldn't in all good conscience just leave him behind again so quickly or easily, not after all the trouble they had gone to to retrieve him, no matter what her feelings for Spock. She also wanted as much quality time with him as she could manage to get before things started heating up, heading for the inevitable battle between those of the Light and Voldemort and all those of the Dark he could rally to his cause.

Of course, she also hoped that Kirk and company would be willing to help the Wizarding world fight this great threat to not only it but the entire inhabited Galaxy, if not the universe, but that depended on the timing of said battle. They needed all the help they could get, and with the Enterprise's futuristic weaponry they would have a significant edge--but couldn't let Voldemort know they had any such thing in reserve, or else he would do all he could to sabotage it, if not use some of his cohorts to do it for him.

Harry had even confessed to her the several times over the last two weeks that he had either had visions of what Voldemort was thinking and feeling via his dreams or pain in his scar, convinced that it meant the Dark Lord was planning his battle strategy and that the Light had best do so as well, so he had had his friends--including Ginny, Neville and Luna--doing all possible research on defensive spells they could use against the Death Eaters, dementors and werewolves, as well as any other Dark creature Voldemort might decide to use.

It was fortunate that by this time Hagrid had acted as emissary to the giants and managed to convince at least one fairly large group to rally to the Light, owling the Order about it at the first opportunity and assuring them he would be fighting right along with them and even get his half-brother Grawp into the act.

Sirius had also been re-inducted into the Order as soon as they had gotten back to the planet's surface. Once he had been welcomed back properly, they all sat down and discussed battle strategy themselves, using what input Harry (who was now a full-fledged member, along with Ron and Hermione; Ginny wouldn't be old enough for a few months yet) could give them as to what was in the Dark Lord's mind to plan the course of action which they believed would be most likely to grant them victory.

They didn't expect to come out of it unscathed, nor did they expect to get through such a horrendous battle without a significant number of casualties, but fully intended to do their best to minimise them. They would frankly consider themselves lucky if they all came out alive, even if not uninjured. And just as Christine had surmised, Sirius fully intended to join the battle, despite her and Harry's protests. He understood their concern and wish not to lose him again.

He showed his appreciation by giving them both grateful hugs and kisses but finally told them gently but firmly that he just couldn't sit by while people he cared about were risking their lives. It would be an insult to the memory of all those who had sacrificed themselves in the First Wizarding War, most specifically, his closest friend and his wife, Harry's parents. James and Lily would never forgive him if he sat out the battle. If only for the sake of honouring their memory, he had to do all he could to further the cause they had all fought and so many had died for. Neither could he bear to see anything happen to either Harry or Christine ... especially if he was able to prevent it. And no matter how much they tried to assure themselves otherwise, everyone knew the battle was coming. It was inevitable, like the sunrise and sunset. Their days of peace were numbered.