Chapter 1: In Which the Italy Brothers Agree to Help England
Italy flicked his brown eyes open and frowned. England was doing it again, that subtle twitching and shifting. Nobody else at the G8 meeting seemed to notice; America was laughing obnoxiously, Germany was yelling at France while Japan tried to calm them down, and Russia was sitting on a transparent Canada, smiling creepily. And England… England was acting suspicious. Italy resolved to ask him if something was wrong later. Finally, Germany yelled, "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" The room immediately fell silent. "If we're not going to do anything productive during this meeting, then we should go home! I'm tired of trying to deal with you idiots!" Germany turned to go back to his seat, but froze when he saw Italy's eyes open. Italy quickly closed his eyes and gave Germany what he hoped was a convincing smile. "Ve~ so what's the first topic, Germany?" Germany looked at him strangely for a while longer, then sat down and cleared his throat. "Well, today's topic is…"
~.~
When the somewhat productive meeting ended, Italy was the first out of his seat. Saying a quick goodbye to Germany and Japan, he hurried down to the door to wait for England. Thankfully, the meeting was being held in London, so it was unlikely he would miss the golden-haired country, but it was also England's capital and a rather big city. If Italy missed him, it would be difficult to find him again. To Italy's surprise, England was the next one out. He looked anxious and worried, and he was muttering to himself, and didn't notice Italy. Italy stepped toward him and tapped his shoulder, startling him. When England saw who it was, he tensed.
"What do you want?" England asked. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Italy today.
"Is something bothering you?" Italy replied.
"None of your business," England snapped. He expected the normally timid country to shrink away from him, but to his surprise Italy actually stepped closer, his open eyes boring into England's green ones. Huh. England had never really seen Italy's eyes so clearly before. Now that he got a closer look, he saw warm amber, caramel, even gold undertones in the light brown. And he also saw something unexpected: true sympathy, curiosity, and above all, trustworthiness and willingness to listen. Maybe… just maybe… England sighed and said, "Fine, I'll tell you. But if I tell you, you have to promise me that you will help me out."
Italy smiled. "Of course! If you need help, I'll do my best to supply it!"
England paused. Italy would be a big help, but two would be better than one… "Italy, can you call your brother? I'll probably need Romano's help too," he said. Italy immediately agreed and pulled out his phone. As he called, England began thinking about the best way to tell the Italy brothers about his plan. If they already knew about magic, no problem. Otherwise it could get complicated.
He agreed! Italy thought happily. But why does he want Romano to come too? Italy quickly dialed his brother's number. Of course, the first thing he heard when Romano picked up was: "What the hell do you want, stupido fratello?!"
"Romano, England wants our help with something," Italy replied, keeping his voice serious. Romano picked up on Italy's tone of voice, and replied, "I'll be there as soon as possible," with no argument. When he hung up, Italy turned back to England, his cheerful smile back in place. "Ve~ He said he'll be here as soon as possible, England!"
England frowned. "I didn't even tell you why yet, and he still agreed?" After all, that was very out of character with Romano.
"Ve, of course! He knows that when I'm serious about something, it must be important. He'll be here in about eight hours."
"Eight hours!" England exclaimed.
"It's the best we can do, coming from Italy," Italy replied.
"Well, I don't want to have to explain the same thing twice," England said. "So, uh… I could… um… show you around London," he offered awkwardly.
Italy smiled reassuringly at him. "Don't feel so embarrassed! We're all proud of our capitals, aren't we? If we were in Rome or Venice, I'd show you around too!"
England seemed to regain some of his former pride and composure. "Well then, let's get going." He set off at a brisk walk. "I'll show you some of London's most famous sights." Italy celebrated inwardly as he followed. England trusts me!
Eight hours later, England and Italy went to the airport to pick up Romano.
"Ve~ Arthur, wait up!" Italy shoved his way through the crowds of London Heathrow Airport, trying to keep up with the golden-blonde head weaving through the crowd in front of him.
They finally broke free of the crowd, and checked the glowing screen listing the international arrivals. Locating the gate for Romano's (no, I have to think of him as Lovino, Italy thought,) flight, they headed for the arrival exit. Italy glanced outside. It was already 7 PM, and the sunset painted the sky a beautiful pink, breaking through London's perpetual gloom.
Waiting at the edge of the barrier, Italy could feel his brother getting closer. There! Romano stepped out of the gate with nothing but a briefcase in hand. Wow, he really wasn't kidding when he said he'd leave immediately.
"Fratello! Fratello, over here!" Italy called, waving his white flag above the crowd (and causing more than a few turned heads.) The southern half of Italy turned, spotted the flag, and quickly hurried over.
"Tea Bastard, let's go to your house now. I hate crowds," he said.
"Don't call me Tea Bastard!" England said scathingly as they made their way out of the bustling airport. Romano scowled but didn't say anything. Hailing a taxi, they were silent all the way to England's house. Only when they were all seated in England's living room did the golden-haired nation speak.
"Italy. Romano. Have you… Have you cut off ties with your magical governments?" England asked. The two brothers glanced at each other. Romano answered. "We drop in every now and then, but we don't really like to get involved."
England sighed. "At least you haven't cut off all ties… You both know about Voldemort, then?"
"That really murderous Dark Wizard, right?" Italy said. England nodded.
"Yes, he was defeated by a boy named Harry Potter. Or so my Ministry of Magic thinks." England hesitated. "There is a prophecy that says one of them, Potter or Voldemort, must kill the other. As it is, Voldemort will likely send his followers to try and kill the boy before he matures. So," England looked the Italy brothers in the eyes, dark, emerald green boring into brown and light green. "I want you two to protect him."
"Protect him?!" Romano exclaimed incredulously. "How?!"
"This will be his first year at Hogwarts – my magic school," England quickly clarified. "You two can attend as students, and protect him through his years of school."
"Okay!" Italy agreed like the cheerful person he is. Catching his brother's eye (if that's possible with closed eyes), he said, "I promised Eng-Arthur that I would help."
Romano muttered something in Italian that probably wasn't very nice. Then he grumbled, "Fine. But I have a few questions. One: Veneziano and I both look twenty years old. How do we pass as eleven-year old students?"
"De-aging spell."
"Hmm. Two: why don't you go, Arthur?"
"Well, I cut off ties with my magical government for several years, but they might still have files on me," England replied. "I'll go and help if things get bad, but for now the two of you are Harry's best bet."
"Hmph. Fine, then. One more question: What about our jobs?" Romano asked, his eyes narrowing. "Paperwork, national problems, even my mafia."
"I've been thinking about that," England replied. "I figured using a Vanishing Cabinet should work."
Italy's face lit up. "Oh! Those boxes that, if you put something in one, it will appear in the other, right?"
England nodded. "Of course, these Cabinets will have to be small, inconspicuous, and high-security. We can't have a nosy student getting his hands on your work.
Italy sighed, his curl drooping. "Dang… we still have to do paperwork after all…"
"If it's too much, I can handle some of it," England said. "And don't forget I have three brothers who can also help."
"Yeah, and those three brothers hate your guts." Romano said.
"They also hate Voldemort's guts. I might be able to convince them to check up on your country from time to time."
"England, what about world meetings, then?" Italy said. "With me and fratello both gone, there's no one to represent Italy."
"We can just send Seborga," Romano grumbled. "If that bastard agrees."
"We can bribe him with paperwork," Italy said, perking up, and a gleam of something England had never seen before entering his eyes. "Give him two choices: go to meetings with reports, or handle all our paperwork."
Romano chuckled darkly. "Serves him right for becoming a micronation."
England cleared his throat. "Please don't discuss how to kill someone right now," he said. "Since school doesn't start for another two and a half months, you two don't have to do anything now. We'll probably have to start getting you ready in August." He stood up. "You may stay here for the night. Now, please excuse me. I have to go write a letter." He turned and strode out of the room.
"What do we do now, Romano?" Italy asked.
"Whatever, I don't really care."
~.~
A month and a half later, at the end of July, the Italy brothers stood at England's door once again. It had taken them a while to settle their boss down for seven years without his personifications, and Romano had successfully bribed Seborga into attending the annual world meetings for them. It had also taken quite a bit of convincing for their boss to agree to send their paperwork to England.
England opened the door on the first knock. "Italy, Romano, I thought it would be you. Come in. Do you have any luggage?"
"No. Why the f*** would we have luggage when you're turning us into eleven-year olds?" Romano growled in his usual annoyed manner.
England decided to ignore his comment. "I've already enrolled you two, so we should get on with the spell. Then I'll take you to get your supplies. These came for you yesterday." He handed each of them a yellowed envelope with a red wax seal with a badger, a snake, an eagle, and a lion curling around a large H. Silently, each brother opened his letter and read the contents.
"I don't get this," Italy said once he was done. "What does 'We await your owl' mean?"
"Wizards in my country use owls to communicate," England explained, taking a sip of the tea he had made while they were reading.
Romano rolled his eyes. "That's so f***ing stupid. Don't your wizards know that owls flying in daylight look very suspicious?"
"Well, what do your wizards use, then?" England snapped.
"Falcons," Italy replied. "They fly fast, and don't stand out as much."
"Well, excuse me for my wizards' choice of messenger animal!" England retorted. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. "Enough about the birds. Unless you have any more questions, let's go to the basement." When neither Italy replied, he stood up and led the way out of the room to a very normal-looking door. He opened the door to reveal a dark, gloomy stone staircase that ended to an old, musty room. The walls were lined with shelves stuffed full of books and other…things, and it was dimly lit by torches. In the middle of the room was a large magic circle drawn with thick black lines.
"Stand in the middle of the circle," England instructed. "This won't take too long."
Italy and Romano complied and stood in the middle. England took an old-looking book, opened it, and started chanting in a language that they had never heard before. His clothes and hair billowed in a magic wind. The magic circle flared to life, the black line glowing green as the wind picked up around them. England ended his chant with a shout, and everything went black.
A few minutes later, Italy tentatively opened his eyes. " E-England? Did it work?"
"Yes," England said, appearing in his field of vision. He looked very big.
Italy cautiously sat up. He had been lying on the cold floor. He glanced to the right to see an eleven-year old Romano, still passed out. So it had worked. He crawled over to his brother and patted his head. "Romano, wake up." Wow. Italy's voice was even higher now. Romano groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Veneziano…?"
"I'm right here, Roma," Italy replied. He glanced at England. "Arthur, we should probably go upstairs."
England nodded. He walked over and gently took one of each Italy's hands in his own, pulling them up, Romano protesting a little. As he headed up with the two de-aged countries, he thought, it's like taking care of America and Canada again. He felt a warm heat blossom in his chest at the two eleven-year olds, even though he knew, in reality, both were about four times older than his previous charges. Still, it was nice to take care of younger nations…
When they were back in the living room, England said, "Now that you're both de-aged, we should go get your school supplies. We're going to Diagon Alley, a magic street invisible to Muggles."
"What the f*** is a Muggle?" Romano asked grumpily.
"A non-magical person," England replied. He cocked his head slightly. "Do you not call them Muggles?"
"No, we call them Nessagia [1]," Italy said. "Why do we have to go to a magic street? Do you not have a magic district?"
England sighed. "No."
"Then where do all your witches and wizards live?"
"They live with the Muggles and try not to draw attention to themselves," England explained. "Now, please shut up before I decide to hex you." Italy whimpered and remained silent all the way to the Leaky Cauldron.
~.~
When they reached the Leaky Cauldron, Arthur led them to the back of the pub. Feliciano cocked his head questioningly at the brick wall. "Why are we at a dead end, Arthur?" he asked.
"Just wait." Arthur turned to the brick wall, and, finding the correct brick, tapped it with his wand. The hole opened as the Italian twins watched in amazement.
"That's the first time I've seen magic in decades," Lovino said.
"Yeah, it's been a long time," Feliciano agreed.
Arthur led the trio through the hole, and the wall slowly closed behind them. The hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley lay ahead of them. Adults argued, children shrieked, and occasionally an animal call pierced the air. Arthur smirked at the brothers' wonder as he led them down the street.
"You two, go to Madam Malkins, and get your robes fitted," Arthur said, handing the boys the money for their robes. "You do remember how wizard currency works?"
"Twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, and seventeen Sickles to a Galleon," Feliciano replied. Arthur nodded.
"I'm going to go retrieve some money from Gringotts. If, by any chance, you are done before me, just wait outside Madam Malkin's shop. Understood?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lovino said, dragging his brother away. Arthur smirked. They weren't exactly America and Canada, but they were just as bad a combination.
Lovino pushed the door to Madam Malkin's open. The moment the twins stepped inside, a chubby witch hurried up to them.
"Hogwarts, dears?" she asked. They nodded, and she gestured for them to follow her, saying, "Come along, right this way!"
Feliciano went first, magic measuring tape measuring his arms, legs, shoulders, etc. as Lovino waited impatiently. About halfway through, the door jingled, and a few moments later another boy entered. He had a pale, pointy face, and slicked back pale hair. Lovino disliked him instantly.
"Are you two going to Hogwarts too?" the boy drawled.
"Yes!" Feliciano said from the top of the stool. "I'm Feliciano Vargas, and that's my brother Lovino! Who are you?"
The boy didn't answer the question. "Are you muggleborn?" he said haughtily.
"Maybe," Lovino said, as the tape finished, and Feliciano hopped down. Grumbling, Lovino climbed onto the stool as the tape started its work again. The pale boy continued talking.
"What do you mean, 'maybe'? You've got to know your heritage."
"I mean exactly what I said," Lovino snapped. "We don't know. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. Just shut up, will you?"
The boy opened his mouth to say more, but at that moment Madam Malkin came in with the twins' robes. "Here you are, dears," she said, smiling.
"Thank you!" Feliciano said, back to normal, while Lovino paid. The headed outside, and inwardly Lovino was cursing in annoyance.
Arthur was waiting outside the shop. "What took you two so long? I had enough time to get your books and your potions ingredients!"
"Whatever, let's just go," Lovino grumbled. "What next?"
Arthur rolled his eyes, but replied, "Let's go get your wands." He led them to a store called Ollivander's. Feliciano giggled at the sign above the door, while Lovino snorted. Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C. Both boys were still older than the shop. Just barely.
A bell tinkled as Arthur pushed open the door. Everywhere, there were boxes piled on boxes. A small man came out from behind a desk.
"Here for your first wands, are you," he said, silvery eyes not blinking. It was not a question. Feliciano trembled a little, and Lovino narrowed his eyes at Mr. Ollivander, glaring right back. Arthur answered for them. "Yes, that's right. Feliciano and Lovino are attending Hogwarts this year."
"Hmm… very interesting… well, let's get you measured up, and then we'll begin!" Ollivander pulled out two magic measuring tapes, and Lovino groaned. Not again…
When the tape finally finished, Ollivander asked, "Who wants to go first?" which, of course, Feliciano replied to with a happy, "I'll go!"
Ollivander went into the piles of boxes, then came back out. "Here, try this one. Ten and a half inches, swishy. Birch and unicorn hair core." Feliciano took the wand and it promptly exploded. Thus began the wand tryouts.
The first: obviously exploded.
Second: Feliciano picked it up, waved it, and blew up one of Ollivander's lights.
Third: Dissolved into black powder.
Fourth –
Arthur held out a hand. "Mr. Ollivander," he said. "Rather than destroying your wands, perhaps you should take a look at mine. Then maybe you will have a better idea of what wand to give my charges."
"Charges?" spluttered Lovino. "We are not-" Feliciano clamped his hand over his twin's mouth. His eyes met Arthur's, sending an unspoken message: Hurry up and get it done already.
Ollivander looked doubtful as he took Arthur's wand. Examining it closely, his eyes widened in surprise. He rubbed them and checked again.
"Impossible…" Ollivander turned his silvery eyes onto Arthur. "Is your name, by any chance, Kirkland?"
Arthur smiled. "Yes. I'm assuming you met my brother Allistor."
"Why, yes I did. He bought four wands that day…" Ollivander trailed off, then shook himself out of his memories. "Yes, this is one of them. Eleven inches, rather stiff but quite powerful. Oak. And the core… a dual core, hair from a lion's mane with unicorn hair. Dual core wands are very powerful, Mr. Kirkland; inexperienced first years should not be handling them."
"I think you will find that Feliciano and Lovino are much more than just first years," Arthur replied softly. "Please, at least try the dual core wands before we destroy your shop."
Ollivander considered this. Finally he gave in, and with a small sigh went to the back of the store. He came back with two boxes.
"These wands should work for you," he said. "They are twins as well, half of their cores came from the same source…" He took one wand out, and gazed at it before handing it to Feliciano. "There you go, Mr. Vargas. Nine and a half inches, springy and flexible. Oak, like Mr. Kirkland's. Phoenix tail feather with a golden eagle feather." Feliciano took it, and it seemed to glow momentarily, almost with happiness (if wands could be happy). Ollivander turned to Lovino and took out the second wand.
"Now for you, Mr. Vargas… Ten and a quarter inches, very rigid. Oak. Phoenix tail feather – from the same phoenix that supplied your brother's core – and hair from a wolf." The wand maker handed the wand to Lovino, and like Feliciano's wand, Lovino's wand glowed as well. Apart from Lovino's being slightly darker, there appeared to be no difference between the wands.
Ollivander's face dimmed a bit.
"Both of you, be careful with your wands. Wands with dual cores of a magical animal and a non-magical animal are very powerful. Those wands may prove to be hard to handle."
"I doubt it," Arthur said. "After all-" He was cut off by the jingling of the shop's door. Two people entered: a small, thin boy with pale skin, green eyes, and jet-black hair, and a huge giant of a man, with hair that looked like birds could nest in it.
"Ah, Hagrid!" Ollivander said, looking relieved to get away from Arthur and the twins for a few moments. "Very nice to see you again!"
Hagrid nodded and replied, "Pleasure. An' this here is…"
Ollivander turned his luminous eyes on the boy. "Harry Potter…"
Arthur cleared his throat, and the shopkeeper turned back to the trio. "Oh, I'm very sorry," Ollivander said. "For those two wands, it will be…forty Galleons."
Arthur sighed, and paid for the wands. Harry caught sight of the two young boys, both with brown hair and eyes, and weird hair curls. They looked so similar that they had to be twins. He wondered if they were going to Hogwarts too. Probably. He turned back to Ollivander, returning to what he had come to do.
"Ve~ what next, Arthur?" Feliciano said happily.
"You're going to need an animal to communicate with me," Arthur replied. "So we're going to the owl emporium next."
The emporium was dimly lit, and the air was constantly filled with gentle whoos. Bright, glittery eyes followed the three nations, the birds instinctively knowing that they were not normal wizards. The trio checked out the owls, until Lovino spotted one that looked promising, a small, Southern White-Faced Owl. It had a dark gray back with light flecks, and a light belly with black stripes. Its small ear tufts had undersides of dark gray, and down the middle of its forehead there was a darker strip. It had fluffy white feathers on its face, of course, and its intelligent eyes were amber-gold. The moment Lovino held her, she seemed to establish a bond with the nation. Arthur smiled, as Lovino gently stroked the owl's back. So the country had a soft side after all. He paid for the owl, and the three of them strolled out of the emporium with the newest member of their group.
"Lovi, what should we name it?" Feliciano asked.
"Her," Lovino corrected. "I want to call her Chiara."
"Chiara?" England asked. "Why Chiara?"
"Oh, I see!" Feliciano said, ignoring England. "Yeah, it fits her!"
"Chiara it is," Lovino said, reaching in a finger to stroke the Chiara's head. She cooed softly in response, nuzzling his finger.
"Why don't they listen to me?" England sighed, as they walked down Diagon Alley.
[1] Nessagia – I Google-Translated "no magic" and got nessuna magia. Combine them together to get nessagia.