Where are We?
By Meredith Summer
Disclaimer: Neither Gundam Wing nor Harry Potter belong to me. It should be obvious…if either series was mine I wouldn't be here on would be out writing more books or drawing more anime and becoming rich and famous…I am not either although I hope to be so one day. At any rate, the point is I am currently poor and unfamous so don't sue me, okay? I won't post the disclaimer again.
Author's Note:
Right now all I'm going to say is that I was inspired to write this after reading several similar fanfics here on and re-watching the Gundam Wing series which is one of my favorites but I hadn't watched in a long time. I have to say that I'm excited about it even though I know that in starting a new fanfics I'm shamelessly ignoring the other fics I've already started. Oh well…a writer has to follow her muse after all. Talk to you again after the first chapter! Oh yeah, I'm not happy with "Where are We?" as the title of my fic so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know…Thanks!
Chapter One: Mooooooooooo
The quiet peacefulness of the day was interrupted by a flash of bright purple light and a series of thuds, curses, and screams. When the light cleared, seventeen people sat in the middle of a small herd of cows. The people stared at each other while the cows stared at the people in mild surprise. The tableau held for several long minutes until one of the cows let out a long low "Mooooo," and butted the person in front of her.
The girl with sleek red hair squeaked in an undignified manner and scooted away. She landed in the lap of a young man with bright blue eyes and hair in a long mahogany braid. The young man automatically steadied her by putting his arms around her.
When he realized what he'd done, the young man grinned and tightened his arms around the girl. "Are you alright there, sweetheart? Usually girls introduce themselves before jumping into my arms."
The red-headed girl blushed, and a red-headed young man started to get up, growling slightly just as a young man of obvious Chinese descent boxed the braided boy's ear. "Cut it out 02. We need to figure out where we are and how we got here."
'02' grimaced, letting go of the girl to rub his ear. The girl took the opportunity to run to another girl who put her arms around her friend and glared at the boy with the braid before asking the group at large, "Does anyone know where we are? I've never seen this place before."
Most of the group shook their heads while one young woman sobbed quietly into her neighbor's shoulder and two of the young men—including the one with his arm around the sobbing young woman—glared at those they didn't recognize.
One young man with blond hair put his hand on the arm of the young man with long brown bangs next to him. When the boy with the brown bangs looked over, the blond boy shook his head slightly and the taller boy's glare softened.
The boy with the blond hair sighed and spoke up. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves? I'm Quatre Rebarba Winner. This is Trowa Barton. Duo Maxwell is the one with the braid—don't worry, he's harmless to women. He just likes to tease. Chang Wufei is the impatient one, and Heero Yuy is the silent one with his arm around Relena Peacecraft."
Before Quatre could continue, a woman with long white blond hair stood up and brushed off her skirt. "I am Dorothy Catalonia." The tall young woman with honey brown curls gave a hand up to a petite girl with short black hair. "I'm Sally Po, and this is Hilde—you know, Hilde, I don't actually know your last name."
Hilde grinned. "I don't often use my last name. I'm Hilde Schbeiker."
A pretty young woman with auburn curls also put her arm around the sobbing girl introduced as Relena Peacecraft. "I'm Catherine Bloom. Relena, sweetie, it's going to be okay. Stop crying now and show everyone your pretty smile."
Relena hiccupped and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry everyone. I don't usually fall apart like this. It's just that it felt like I was being turned inside out, and I think I maybe broke my ankle when we fell."
Immediately the young man introduced as Heero Yuy scooped Relena off her feet and held her close. She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks Heero-kun."
The first girl to have spoken still had her own arms around her red-headed friend. Now she frowned. "It sounds like you traveled by portkey…I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Ron, take a look at her ankle."
Heero frowned at the red-headed young man who approached him and the girl he held. The boy stopped a few feet away and held up his hands. "I'm Ron Weasley. I won't hurt Miss Relena. I have medical training."
Hero continued to frown, but nodded slightly. Ron closed the distance and with a quiet apology to Relena, he took off her left shoe and the white stocking. After he set them on the ground, he gently felt the girl's ankle. When Relena whimpered involuntarily, Ron smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry. You're right Miss Relena, your ankle's been fractured. If Heero will put you down, Miss Relena, I can put a poultice on and bandage it. I always carry basic supplies with me. Later on, I think do more for you."
Hero looked at the girl he held, and when she nodded, he gracefully knelt and gently set his burden down. While Ron worked, Hermione continued to introduce her friends. "This is Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister. Neville Longbottom is the one with the spiky light brown hair."
Two boys then spoke at the same time.
The one with the same white blond hair as Dorothy said, "I'm Draco Malfoy."
The one with the messy brown hair that looked remarkably like Heero said, "I'm Harry Potter."
The two boys glared at each other before looking away, blushing.
The last person, clearly the oldest young man present snorted lightly. "I'm Severus Snape. Look, why don't we try to find somewhere where we can get something to eat, then we can talk."
The others agreed. When Heero picked Relena up so she wouldn't have to walk, the young woman protested softly. "Heero-kun, you can't carry me! Who knows how long we'll have to go for!" The young man just grunted. Ron looked over, one eyebrow raised. "She's right you know," he said to Heero, "However, Miss Relena, you shouldn't be putting weight on that ankle of yours."
Harry exchanged a glance with Hermione; she shook her head. Before Harry could argue, Due had put a somewhat possessive hand on Relena's wrist. "I'll carry Relena after a while." His tone was one that would allow for no argument. After a moment, one in which Catherine and Sally exchanged amused glances, Heero nodded and the group moved on.
As they walked, Wufei dropped back to talk to red-headed Ginny. Awkwardly he asked, "Are you alright, onna? Maxwell can be an ass."
Ginny smiled briefly. "I'm fine. He was just teasing after all." They walked for a few moments more in companionable silence. After a while, Ginny decided to break the silence. "What does 'onna' mean? You said that earlier when you asked how I was."
Wufei took a moment to answer. "Literally, 'onna' just means 'woman.' Some people where I come from use it in a derogatory manner. I don't. I don't know…I've heard that some people say 'ma'am' or 'miss' to show respect. I use 'onna,'"
Ginny nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I've heard people say 'Madam' and be totally sarcastic."
Duo was watching Heero and Relena anxiously, although he didn't think anyone other than maybe the other Gundam pilots would know how he truly felt. "Heero, let me take her for awhile." At first Heero just tightened his grip, but Relena put a hand softly on his cheek. "Don't tire yourself Heero-kun." Heero nodded, and the trio stopped for a moment so Duo could take the injured girl. As Relena wrapped her arms around Duo's neck, she leaned over to kiss Heero's check. "Thank you, Heero-kun, for taking care of me."
Draco found himself walking with Dorothy and Catherine. He wanted to ask them more questions about who they were and how they'd gotten here, but he suspected they were Muggles. A lot had happened in the last few years, and while he no longer despised Muggles—having dated Hermione for two years, he'd gotten to know her parents quite well—but he still wasn't comfortable talking to strange Muggles.
Dorothy smiled at him. "You look like you could be my younger brother Draco Malfoy." The young man she addressed stiffened. He'd never known a stranger who would address him so familiarly. "I doubt it Miss Dorothy, I'm an only child."
Dorothy smirked lightly. "Perhaps you'd allow me to pretend you are my little brother? I've always wanted to have one."
Catherine choked on a laugh. When her companions both turned to glare at her, she raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I think it's a great idea. You could also be my big brother Draco. I'd love to have an older brother."
Draco hesitated, not certain how to respond to these two very pretty women. Dorothy laughed gaily and hooked her arm through Draco's. "You know, Catherine, that would make you my younger sister!"
Catherine gave a mock sigh and hooked her own arm though Draco's free arm. "Well if that's the price for getting an older brother, I guess I have to pay it." The two girls laughed.
Behind them Harry, who had found himself walking with Quatre and Trowa, was glaring at Dorothy and Catherine. Quatre watched Harry, amused. Finally he decided to engage in conversation with the young man. "You know, Harry-san, if looks could kill, the fair Dorothy and Catherine would be well and truly dead by now."
Harry snapped his attention back to his walking companions when Trowa snorted in amusement. "Huh?" Quatre clapped him on the back and chuckled sympathetically. "You should just talk to him, you know?"
Harry replied, "Why on Earth would I want to talk to Draco Malfoy of all people?" When Harry went back to glaring at the two women walking arm-in-arm with Draco, Trowa snorted—again—tried to swallow it, and nearly choked. Quatre had to pound the taller young man until he could breathe again.
Duo was on his second stint of carrying Relena and he was trying to figure out why he'd insisted on being the only other one allowed to carry the girl. Wasn't he jealous of the relationship Relena had with Heero? Of course it had felt good knowing that Heero trusted him enough to take Relena from him. It also felt so right to hold the pretty girl in his arms. All in all, Duo Maxwell was feeling quite confused.
Wufei was still walking with Ginny. He'd been fascinated with the way she responded to the whole 'onna' thing. He decided he liked to watch her. It wasn't until Ginny stumbled—and he'd leapt to catch her—that Wufei realized how pale the girl had become. He lifted her into his arms and shushed her when she sleepily protested. "01, it's been hours. We should make camp. The onna aren't used to this."
The whole group turned to look at him; Heero nodded in agreement. The group gathered together and both Duo and Wufei knelt to set down the girls they carried. Trowa sat on a rock and waited until everyone else had taken seats. "We've walked for hours and the closest thing to civilization we've seen is the cows where we started. We also can't stay out in the open—I think it's gonna rain tonight."
Quatre looked at him, frowning. "Where will we get supplies to build a shelter?"
Harry started to say something, but Hermione cut him off with a sharp gesture. When he glared at her, she shook her head. Growling, Harry turned to Severus for support. Severus rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway. "If you will excuse us for a few minutes," he said to the Gundam pilots and their friends, "I need to have a discussion with my companions. Ginny? Do you need to be a part of this?"
Wearily Ginny shook her head. "You know I trust you Severus. Whatever you decide is fine with me." Ron added, "I'm with Harry on this, so while you make a decision, I'm going to take another look at Miss Relena's ankle.
Relena smiled gratefully at Ron, but the five Gundam pilots watched with suspicion as Harry, Hermione, Draco, Neville, and Severus walked off out of earshot. Ginny smiled at them. "I'm sure you all have secrets you haven't shared with us. My friends just need to decide how many of our secrets we can trust you with." Duo, Quatre, and Wufei relaxed a little under her smile, but Heero and Trowa remained suspicious.
Hermione was indignant. "Harry, we can't just tell them about our magic! It's against the law to show magic to Muggles, you know that!"
Harry was just as forceful in his reply. "Hermione, I don't think the laws apply here. I don't think this is Earth! There's no way we can build a shelter tonight without magic! We're all exhausted."
Hermione wasn't ready to give in yet. "But they're Muggles! What if they don't want to stay with us? What if they're like the Dursleys, Harry?"
Harry's expression darkened at the thought of his relatives, but before he could say anything, Neville spoke up. "We don't even know if they're Muggles, Hermione. If we're all going to survive together here, wherever here is, we're all going to have to do whatever we can. For us, that means magic. You and Harry are the only ones of us with Muggle skills."
Draco refused to look at Harry, but added, "I agree with Longbottom and Potter, Hermione. You know that we could've gone further today if that Relena girl didn't have a fractured ankle. Weasley can heal her if we can show them our magic. Hell, we could've traveled a lot further if we'd brought out the brooms. We've got enough spares that we could've ridden double and found a better place to stay."
Frustrated and feeling defensive, Hermione turned to Severus. "Surely you don't think it's wise to tell them?"
Severus smiled thinly, "Sorry Hermione, you're out-numbered. It's going to take magic to figure out where we are and how we got here.
Hermione grimaced, but eventually nodded.
As they walked back to the rest of the group, Heero nodded the unhappy look on Hermione's face. He thought that whatever was going on, he didn't think he would like it. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Harry realized he was going to have to be the one to explain things. "Finding shelter isn't going to be an issue. We have all kinds of things with us—they've just been magicked."
There was no response for several moments. This certainly wasn't what the Gundam pilots expected to hear.
Draco snorted. "Potter, you prat, that doesn't tell them anything!" He ignored Harry's glare. "You see, the thing is—we're all wizards. Well Hermione and Ginny are technically witches, but that's beside the point. We use wands to do magic. We each have several weeks' worth of supplies with us. We can't tell you why we have all this stuff, at least not yet, but it's enough that we have it."
For several long moments nothing more was said. At last, Duo demanded, "Show us proof!" Ginny grinned and took a small object out of the backpack she'd set on the ground beside her; it looked like a model tent in her hands. "Alright everyone, you might want to stand back."
Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Neville, and Severus all pulled the others back so that Ginny and the model tent were in the middle of an empty circle fourteen feet in diameter. Ginny set the model tent on the ground and pulled a long slender stick out of her sleeve. She touched the end of the stick to the model tent and said clearly, "Enlargius!" Then she backed up quickly so that she, too, stood at the edge of the clearing.
As they watched, most of them perplexed, the tiny model tent began to grow…and it continued to grow until it was the largest dome tent any of them had seen outside the circus. It was fully twelve feet in diameter and twelve feet tall at the center. It was constructed of a sturdy, triple thick material as strong as nylon in a color that seemed to force the eye away from it.
The Gundam pilots and their friends said not a word, but simply stared.
Author's Notes:
So, some things you should know about this fanfics. First of all, many characters are going to be OOC. That's just the way it's going to be for this one. Second of all, Relena is not a bad person. I happen to think that she and Heero do have a relationship in the series that can be interpreted a couple of different ways. If you don't like the idea of Heero being in a romantic relationship with Relena, you're going to have to just deal with it or stop reading. However, I will not leave Duo all by himself and I think fans of the Duo/Heero pairing will like my solution. I certainly do. Other traditional relationships are going to be mixed up while some are going to stay traditional. This first chapter reveals what the relationships are going to be for several of the characters if you just know how to look. These are the characters whose relationships have been revealed. If you can figure out who is with who, I'll give you credit when I post the next chapter if you include your guess in a review: Heero, Relena, Duo, Harry, Draco, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Ginny.
Also, you can't really tell how old anyone is from this chapter, so I'm going to just tell you. I warn you now that I have muddled with the ages of all of the characters, okay?
Harry Potter: 17 years oldHermione Granger: 18 years old
Draco Malfoy: 18 years oldGinny Weasley: 16 years old
Ron Weasley: 18 years oldSeverus Snape: 22 years old
Neville Longbottom: 17 years oldSally Po: 17 years old
Dorothy Catalonia: 21 years oldHeero Yuy: 18 years old
Duo Maxwell: 18 years oldRelena Peacecraft: 16 years old
Quatre R Winner: 17 years oldTrowa Barton: 18 years old
Chang Wufei: 18 years oldCatherine Bloom: 17 years old
Hilde Schbeiker: 16 years old
Now obviously everyone from Hogwarts but Ginny is legally adults in the world of J K Rowling. That is not going to be the case for this fic. I mean no disrespect to J K Rowling, but I need for everyone but Severus Snape to be high school students…it just works better for my story, trust me. Also, they are not deserting the battle with Voldemort because in my story there is no Voldemort. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to tell the story of why they happened to have a year's worth of camping supplies plus extra brooms and wands, but there is a reason for it, I promise.
As for the Gundam pilots and their friends, other than my messing with the ages, their history is exactly the same as it is in the original series. The one small exception is that Dorothy obviously could not be a classmate of Relena because of the age difference. Instead, I've decided that Dorothy would have been a kind of lady-in-waiting when Relena became Queen Relena…she fulfilled the role that Lucretzia Noin plays with Relena; they are both companions and guides for Relena. Does that make sense? The other small exception is that Trowa is not believed to be Catherine's brother, younger or older. Catherine has to have always been an only child for the scene between her, Draco, and Dorothy to really make sense.
I think that's everything you need to know for now. Please let me know what you think.
Sincerely,
Meredith Summer.