Harry Potter and the First Ones

Additional Disclaimer: Rights to Babylon 5 are owned by Warner Brothers Television, Babylonian Productions, Inc., the TNT network, and creator/writer/executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. I am making no money from the use of these characters and plotlines. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and Scholastic.

Author's Note: This chapter addresses the return of Sheridan to the station, as it occurred in Episode 3 of Season 4, The Summons. I'm sorry about the delay, but I actually tried to post this chapter a long time ago, and it didn't go through. I'm working on Chapter 12 now, so I'll try to remember to post these more frequently.

Arrival

Lorien's ship arrived at Babylon 5, but Hermione Hermione and the others couldn't really see what was going on. They could only imagine the chaos that might be occurring on the station as an unfamiliar vessel entered using the correct codes. As agreed, Ron donned the invisibility cloak, and everyone exited the ship and crowded into a boxy conveyance that reminded Hermione of a lift.

They lowered to the floor of the docking bay, and the door opened to reveal a complete security team waiting for them, weapons drawn. Hermione huddled with Ginny and Harry behind Lorien and Sheridan.

"I'll be damned," spoke a familiar voice. Hermione peeked around to see Chief Garibaldi, looking a little the worse for wear. She also recognized Garibaldi's right-hand man, Zack Allan. It was nice to see familiar faces, no matter what they were doing. Zack signaled everyone to stand down as he lowered his weapon.

"Captain," he said in surprise. "We thought...you were dead."

"It's a long story," Sheridan told him, obviously unwilling to get into a discussion of his resurrection at the moment. "What's going on?" Another security person stepped forward, having just finished listening to the device affixed to his hand.

"Sir, there appears to be a rather large gathering in the Zocalo."

"That's probably where I should go, then," Sheridan nodded to the man and swept past everybody, Lorien and the kids following in his wake. "I know the way." Hermione took in the dumbfounded stares of the crew members but had time for only an apologetic shrug at Zack as she struggled to keep up with the captain's long stride.

Soon enough, they arrived at one of the entrances to the Zocalo. Hermione had last seen it as a bustling center of commerce, but now it was simply packed with humans and aliens. All of their attention was focused on a metal balcony about a story over their head, where someone was talking.

Sheridan surreptitiously climbed a flight of stairs, and his companions followed like sheep. When he reached the balcony, the room gradually fell silent. The last to notice was the alien who'd been speaking, and Hermione now saw that there were a couple of other aliens with him. Judging from the fragments she'd heard, they had been trying to talk everyone out of fighting against the Shadows.

"We heard you were dead," the alien stammered nervously. Sheridan turned to his now captive audience.

"I was," he answered simply. "But I'm better now." Hermione resisted the urge to laugh. It really shouldn't have been funny but somehow, it was. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny hung back, using Lorien for cover. Hermione wasn't sure exactly where Ron was until she felt something brush her hand. She wished she could just hold his hand, but that sort of thing would have to wait.

Sheridan went on to give a passionate speech, giving hope to everyone by proving that he had survived the Shadows and even killed many of them. He encouraged them not to give up the fight and told them that, working together, they could prevail. Hermione could feel the full force of the charisma that had brought him this far. She looked over at Harry, wondering if he could command that kind of audience. She was pretty sure he had the potential; he'd shown some of it when leading Dumbledore's Army.

"Can I count on you?" Sheridan concluded his request. There was a mild response from the listeners.

"Can I count on you?" Sheridan repeated, more forcefully, raising his hands imploringly. "Will you stand together?" At this, there was loud cheering. Hermione, however, was distracted by Delenn moving slowly toward Sheridan. Hermione and the others stood back to allow her through, but Delenn didn't even seem to notice them, her eyes fixed on the captain. Hermione strained a little to hear their exchange.

"I thought I'd never see you again," said Delenn softly.

"I'll never leave you, Delenn," he replied. "Not even if the whole universe stood between us." Hermione couldn't completely suppress a sigh at that. It was just so...beautiful. She glanced over at Ginny to see if she had heard it, too. Ginny gave her a half-shrug, seeming a little amused at Hermione's reaction, but Hermione guessed that the younger girl wasn't completely unaffected. This was confirmed when Ginny cast a furtive glance at Harry. Hermione smiled a little to herself. If the opportunity presented itself, maybe it was her turn to play matchmaker.

Somewhat surprisingly, all seven of them (Delenn, Sheridan, Lorien, and the four kids) were able to slip away as the excited babbling continued behind them. Hermione attributed it to the general sense of awe probably being experienced by everyone at seeing the dead walk again.

Of course, not everyone was held back. Zack and Garibaldi quickly caught up to them while Delenn was trying to briefly update Sheridan on what had been happening in his absence. Sheridan decided that he needed to give a report to the most interested parties as soon as possible. He sent for Lennier, Dr. Franklin (who had apparently resumed his former post as chief medical officer), Commander Ivanova, Marcus, and Lyta Alexander. Zack returned to his security duties.

As the initial group filed into a conference room and began waiting for the rest, Hermione exchanged glances with Harry and Ginny. No one had told them what to do, and Ron was still stuck under the Invisibility Cloak. Delenn took notice of them first.

"I'm so glad you came," Delenn told them. "But how did you get to John?"

"Er, well, it's sort of hard to explain, but Draal...arranged it," Harry tried to answer her without giving too much of Draal's role away.

"Isn't one of you missing?" Delenn frowned, scanning over them.

"Ron, I think you can take the cloak off, now," Sheridan addressed empty space near the other three. Ron was speedily revealed, and he gave the wondrous garment back to Harry. "Everyone here either knows or needs to know who you are." Dr. Franklin was brought up to speed as others began to arrive.

Ivanova, Marcus, and Lyta entered together, and Hermione was mildly amused that Ivanova greeted Sheridan with a hug. She might call him "captain" and observe perfect military protocol at most times, but there was clearly some genuine affection there.

Despite the captain's assurances, Hermione and the others seated themselves off to the side, where they were less likely to be noticed. She noticed that, while the telepath Lyta had been invited to this meeting, the Vorlon ambassador for whom she worked had not. Perhaps the things Lorien had revealed about the Vorlons had something to do with that, but Hermione was sure it didn't bode well.

The four kids mostly conferred among themselves while Sheridan gave his report. After all, they knew most of this already.

"I'm not sure why we're here," Harry muttered. Hermione wasn't certain whether he meant the meeting or here in this time and place, but she supposed the point was valid either way.

"I know what you mean," Ron answered him. "I feel like we don't belong at this meeting."

"We only have one piece of the story," Ginny put in. "Maybe we need to listen to what the others have to say to get a true idea of what's going on." Hermione nodded thoughtfully, and the boys shrugged.

At least no one had drawn any undue attention to their little group. The same could not be said, however, for Lorien. When Garibaldi began demanding to know who Lorien was, Hermione found herself drawn back into the conversation. The security chief was being downright nasty, and though she didn't know him very well, the outburst didn't quite seem like him.

"Does something about Garibaldi seem a little...off?" she whispered to the others.

"I dunno. We only met him a couple of times," Ron echoed her own thoughts.

"He's probably just doing his job," Harry suggested. "Isn't he supposed to be suspicious of strangers and such?"

"No, Hermione's right," Ginny agreed with the other girl. "He always seemed to trust the captain before, but that seems to be somehow gone."

"Well, you don't seem to be in pain, Harry, so there must be no sign of the Shadows?" Hermione guessed.

"No Shadows," Harry agreed, nodding.

"Lyta would have sensed that, anyway," Ginny pointed out.

"Right." Hermione felt slightly foolish for having forgotten that.

"Let's talk about it later," Ron urged. "We're missing some other stuff."

He was quite right. As Hermione turned her attention back to the briefing, she realized that the others were talking about the Vorlons. Lyta was saying that they were planning to wipe out anyone that had any connection at all with the Shadows. This was confirmed when Ivanova and Marcus reported that they had seen an impossibly large fleet in hyperspace and had discovered, after their return to the station, that an entire planet associated with the Shadows had been destroyed. It was simply gone. Dr. Franklin made a medical analogy about the Vorlons not caring about how much "healthy tissue" was destroyed in the process.

Hermione felt frozen with shock, and she didn't hear any more of the meeting. Suddenly, Ron's comparison to a game of wizard's chess seemed horribly inadequate. An image of the destruction of Alderaan in the film Star Wars filled her mind. That, of course, had been fiction, but this present situation was all too real.

When she could move again, she swiveled her head toward her friends, seeing her own revulsion reflected in their faces. She reached for Ron's hand, needing to touch him. He actually did her one better, putting an arm around her and grasping her reaching hand with his free one.

"I can't believe it," she whispered as the attendees gradually dispersed. "A whole planet...just gone."

"It's not the kind of thing you'd expect from the side you consider good," said Ginny tightly.

"Kosh would never have supported this," added Ron decisively. "He was only in my head for a little while, but I'm sure of that."

"I think you're all overlooking something," Harry put in quietly. "We know that Shadows have been here."

"Which means Babylon 5 is probably on the list!" Hermione gasped. Another silence followed this as they all tried to make sense out of the situation.

The attendees to the meeting began to drift away until finally, only Sheridan, Lorien, Delenn, and Ivanova remained with the kids.

"Commander, you remember our previous guests," Sheridan indicated the four wizards, who moved hesitantly to join the others.

"Of course." Ivanova nodded toward them perfunctorily. "What's their part in all this?"

"We don't know yet, but I'm not about to turn down any help at this point. I'd like you to find them spare accommodations in Blue Sector."

"Blue?" Ivanova's composure was clearly shaken by this request, and her next question clarified the reason. "Sir, you want them in crew quarters?"

"I want to keep them close, and it seems the safest place. Lorien will be staying with me for the time being."

"Yes, sir." Ivanova went to a console mounted on the wall and began pressing points on the screen. Delenn and Sheridan conferred in tones too low for Hermione to hear.

"You have your identicards?" Ivanova asked, turning toward them. Hermione and the others rummaged in their bags and handed her their thin identification cards. One at a time, the commander inserted them into the computer and gave them back. "These will now open your doors. The boys are here, and the girls here." She pointed at two areas that appeared to be across the corridor from one another. Hermione tried to figure out how to get there, but Sheridan had come to look over their shoulders.

"Good," he nodded with satisfaction. "You'll practically be surrounded by security people I trust, and you won't be far from me. I'll accompany you there. Are you coming, Delenn?"

"Of course."

"Ivanova?"

The commander shook her head.

"I need to get back to CNC," she excused herself, and the captain nodded.

Hermione tried to concentrate on the route they took to their quarters. It took her mind off of the dark scenarios they might face. At last, the four teens were settled in their rooms, but being away from Ron did nothing to lighten Hermione's mood. She wandered around restlessly, surfing through the information on the computer console, playing with the light settings, and rifling through the books in her bag.

"I wonder if we'll get to eat with the crew, too," Ginny mused. She had gone to the small kitchen to find what was there and put together a reasonable snack of basic staples. Hermione briefly wondered why there was food here at all before realizing that these quarters may have belonged to someone who had, until recently, served in the military. Given the tempestuous history of the station, it probably wouldn't do to dwell on the reason for the vacancy.

"How can you be so calm?" Hermione finally exploded, no longer able to contain her agitation.

"I'm not calm, I'm hungry," the younger girl replied airily. "Aren't you?"

"Well..." Hermione suddenly realized that she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a real meal. "Actually, yes."

"There's nothing we can do right now, anyway," Ginny added, gesturing for Hermione to join her, which she did.

"That's the point," Hermione fretted nervously, in between bites. "I'm not sure what we can do at any time. What these people face...it's huge! We're not prepared for an interplanetary war!"

"Are you sure?"

"What?" Ginny's question brought Hermione up short.

"Just because it's never happened doesn't mean we aren't ready," said Ginny reasonably. "We weren't ready to fight Death Eaters, either, but we did it."

And nearly got killed, Hermione added mentally. Still, their little group of six had held their own far better than anyone would have expected, so she supposed the redhead had a point.

"We must be here for a reason," Ginny continued. "In the morning, we'll get together with the boys and maybe the captain and Lorien and try to figure things out. We all need some rest in a decent bed, and I think Sheridan has earned a night with his girlfriend."

Hermione felt herself blushing as she abruptly understood that Sheridan's invitation to Delenn was not merely to help see her and the others to their rooms. However, Hermione frowned as something else occurred to her.

"Yes, but wasn't Lorien going to stay with Captain Sheridan, too?" she asked.

"That's true," conceded Ginny, a sly smile spreading across her face. "I hope the bedrooms in his quarters are far apart."

Concluding that Ginny could not be relied upon for rational conversation at present, Hermione declared herself tired after eating a little. Her assessment proved to be truer than she knew, as she was asleep within minutes of finding a bed.

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Author's Note: My outline for this story is a lot more generic than the last story, so if there are things you as readers would like to see addressed, feel free to mention them. However, keep in mind that the next six chapters are already written.:)