Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in their carriage on the way from the train to the school, looking out of the window as they skirted the edge of Hogsmead.
"Hey, that reminds me, Fred and George told us yesterday that there was a new shop in Hogsmead. George thinks that the two guys who run it might be muggles or squibs. They haven't seen either of them with a wand, anyway and neither has anyone else," Ron said.
"They can't be, there aren't any non magical people in Hogsmead," Harry said.
"What about Filch?" Hermione offered.
"Maybe," Harry conceded.
"Well, we can go and check it out at the weekend, can't we," Hermione shrugged.
They all fell into talking about other things as the coaches rattled up toward the school, looking forward to getting into the village at the weekend and checking out the new shop.
In the last carriage, the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher sat with his wife, his 'assistant', and a small black cat with iridescent wings. They were accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Eriol Hiiragizawa felt a shiver of familiar magic. He wasn't able to keep the shock off his face, and Kaho and McGonagall both asked what was wrong.
"Nothing is wrong, I can sense the cards."
"Cards?" Minerva queried.
"Nothing, it just means that a friend must be around somewhere," Eriol dismissed, planning to go into the village at the first opportunity to check if it really was Touya and his Guardians he was sensing.
xxx
Yukito was alone in the shop, reading a book. They had decided that magical community or not, he and Kero would maintain their less obvious forms. Yukito, with his outgoing nature had made friends with some of the neighboring shop owners, who had warned him that the weekends during term time would mean a lot of kids in Hogsmead, and that they should be very wary of Slytherins.
The bell over the shop door rang, and three students came in, two boys and a girl. The girl had frizzy hair, one of the boys' untidy harsh red hair, and the other messy black hair, which looked like he had stuck his fingers in an electric socket. He found himself wondering a little uncharitably if they hung around together as some kind of bad hair club.
"Hello," the girl said politely.
"Hello is there something I can help you with, or are you just looking?"
"We're just curious really. What do you sell?" the girl asked.
"Magical and non magical nick-knacks. Magical this side of the shop, non magical that side."
"Thank you," she said.
They moved to look around, and Hermione grinned when she found a charmed jewelry box. The card in front of it said it would never open for anyone other than its owner.
"Will this work for a muggle?" she asked.
"For a what?"
"Muggle, non magical person."
"What a horrible term. Yes, the wand is only required to activate the charm, after that, the spell is voice activated."
"Sorry, I meant no offence. Are you non magical then?"
"Not exactly."
"'Mione, stop digging," the dark haired boy advised.
"Yeah, um, anyway. I'll buy this please," she said with a blush, bringing it to the counter.
Yukito wrapped it neatly in brown paper and handed her a small slip of parchment after she had paid.
"This is the spell to activate the box, you will have to wait until the intended recipient is with you, if you are going to be giving it to someone who cannot activate it for them self."
"Thank you," she said, taking her change and the parchment, and then moving to pick up the parcel.
The bell over the door rang again, and Hermione and the others turned automatically, seeing the new defense teacher there.
"Hello Professor Hiiragizawa," she greeted, she turned to get the parcel before she forgot it, and saw that the friendly young man behind the counter had closed down, his amber eyes going cold, hard.
"Eriol-san, what are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you again too, Yukito-san. Surprised to see you here, people were worried when you guys vanished."
"You know each other?" Ron asked dumbly.
"Oh yes, we're old friends. Is Touya-san here too?"
"Of course he is, where else would he be, you didn't answer my question, and is Akizuki here? Because if she comes near Touya, it will be a race to see which of us can de-wing her first,"
"We're all here, I'm teaching up at the school, Kaho is working in the hospital wing, and Akizuki is my assistant. She won't bother Touya-san."
There was a soft clicking sound, and a large lion with white wings and a jeweled headpiece padded in from the back of the shop, a rumbling growl low in its chest at first sight of Eriol.
"Kero-chan, is that really any way to greet an old friend?"
"Me or Touya, if you're still here in one minute, he'll come down himself, and bear in mind, he has in no way forgiven you for Li and his mother descending on him on the day of the funeral."
"Ah, would that be part of the reason for the two year vanishing act? Tomoyo-chan was very upset you know."
"Eriol, you're pushing your luck," Kero warned.
"Very well, but I would like to speak to him, if possible, please."
"Maybe, no promises."
Eriol left, and the three students tried to look like they hadn't been watching the whole thing in fascination.
"Why don't you like him, he seems very nice up at the school," Ron said with his normal lack of tact.
"He's deceptive," Yukito snarled.
A tall man came in from the back, sharp dark blue eyes sweeping over the shop as he entered; he was stunning, Hermione found herself struck speechless. Dark hair hung halfway down his back, caught at the nape of his neck by a leather thong, he wore black robes, which complemented his flawless caramel toned skin, and the only colored thing was the gold on the oddly shaped pendant that hung on a leather thong around his neck.
Hermione heard Harry swallow hard behind her, she knew he was attracted to guys that was fairly obvious by who his current crush was, and this guy would make the straightest man on the planet re-think his orientation.
"You heard?" the smaller man behind the counter asked as the dark man came up behind him, leaning into the solid body.
"Yes, he can wait, if he really wants to talk to me, it will be on my terms, not his."
He noticed the three young people, and looked at them curiously.
"Customers, from the school. The young lady has just bought the charmed box."
Touya nodded silently, his hand going to the top of Kero's head as the winged lion leaned into him.
"Sorry you had to witness that, I hope it hasn't put you off recommending us to your friends," Touya said quietly.
"No, of course not," Hermione said.
The three left the shop, and saw Professor Hiiragizawa standing talking angrily to his assistant, who seemed to be intent on heading into the shop they had just left. He had a firm grip on her arm, and was pulling her back in the direction of the school.
"I wonder what he meant by de-winging her," Harry mused as he watched her lose the battle and get pulled along the path.
"I don't know, I don't want to know, it's none of our business," Hermione said firmly, leading the way toward the WWW joke shop.
"Come on Ron, I thought you wanted to check out the twins new lines," Harry said, quickly following Hermione.
xxx
Kaho looked up from her book as Eriol thrust Akizuki into their quarters in front of him, closing the door firmly.
"It was them, then?" she asked.
"Yes, it's them. Yukito and Cerberus warned me off before I saw Touya-san though," he sighed.
"Yukito? I would have thought that in a place like this, he would feel more secure about using his true form," she mused.
"I don't know, maybe he still feels more comfortable as Yukito unless he's in battle."
"I still say you should have let me go in there," Akizuki sulked.
"Nakuru-chan, Yukito said that if you went near them, he and Touya would de-wing you, and I don't imagine they were joking."
She huffed and flounced off to her own room, Spinner rolled his eyes and followed her, in part to see if he could brighten her mood, but mainly to make sure she didn't do something stupid like fly out of the window and go looking for trouble. He didn't think they were joking about ripping her wings off either.
"Would you like me to try, Eriol koi?"
"You really think he'll receive you any better Kaho?"
"He might, he was almost civil the last time I saw him before Sakura-chan's death. And I didn't call the Li-clan in on him," she pointed out.
"It's worth a try. I really do need to talk to him. Maybe you should allow him to calm today, and go and see them tomorrow."
"Will their shop be open on a Sunday?"
"I would have thought so, shorter hours maybe, but they should be open. I think they live above the shop anyway, so if they're closed, you could try their private quarters."
xxx
Touya was minding the shop the next day, Yukito having opted to enjoy a lie in, and then start cooking Sunday lunch, a meal they had encountered while traveling that they had all enjoyed, generally consisting of roasted meat, roasted potatoes, and various types of vegetables to taste. It wasn't something they would consider having every week, but this was their first weekend in their new place, so it merited something special.
Touya looked up as the bell over the door rang, and frowned deeply at the red headed woman stepping into the shop.
"Hello, Touya-san," she said softly.
"Mizuki-san, or is it Hiiragizawa-san now? If you're here to ask me to talk to him, just turn around and take yourself back out of this shop now."
"Why are you so angry at him, Touya-san?" she asked, brushing aside the question of her surname as if she hadn't heard it.
"It could be something to do with him calling the gaki and his mother to take the book on the day my little sister and my father were buried, and just possibly it could be something to do with the fact that he turned up ready to wipe my memories. What was the plan, hmmm? Wipe away the memories of Yue, and Yukito because they were supposed to have been dragged back into the book as far as he was concerned?"
"How did you know?" she asked resignedly.
"Yue and Kero recognized the aura of the spell he was carrying, they told me."
"He didn't want to do it, Touya, it was just going to be a last resort, if you weren't coping with the loss of Sakura, and your father, AND your lover, all at the same time. He just intended to spare you pain if he had to."
"And never mind that I would probably never have trusted another living soul as long as I lived, because I didn't you know, after what you did to me, up until the day I met Yukito, I trusted NO ONE, not even my father."
"I know, and that's why it was an absolute last resort, because he knew it too. He was pleased, Touya, he was so pleased that you were the new card master, that you had made it unnecessary."
"And yet, he allowed them to come, on one of the worst days of my life, and try to take the book from me."
"He regrets that he was too late to stop them, Touya-san."
"Why does he want to talk to me anyway? Because if it's just to make sure I'm looking after the cards, and the Guardians, that's none of his business anymore."
"I'm not sure. Please Touya-kun, talk to him, he was worried when you dropped out of sight right after the funeral, everyone was."
She noted that Touya scowled at the switch into familiarity on his name and decided to stick to formality for now.
"Please, Touya-san," she repeated.
"I'll think about it. I'll contact him if I want to talk to him."
"I'll tell him, thank you Touya-san."
Kaho left and Touya slumped back onto the high stool behind the counter with a sigh. Kero fluttered in, perching on the counter.
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine. Yuki throw you out of the kitchen?"
"Worse, Yue did. I still don't understand how he can be fully merged, but still have two distinct personalities depending on the face he's wearing," Kero huffed.
"Because that's how he's comfortable, Kero. Yukito is better suited to cheer, and Yue better suited to seriousness. As long as he's happy Kero, does it matter?"
"It does when my little brother throws me out of the kitchen at bow point."
Touya laughed, the dark mood Kaho had brought on breaking, and the two Guardians relaxed.
"You're going to stay down here until I lock up then?" he asked.
"Yes."
Yue leaned back against the counter in the kitchen, easing back the telepathic connection to Kero slightly now that he knew the anger was faded. He felt more than a little angry himself, how dare Hiiragizawa disrupt their peace again. Shaking it off, he switched back into Yukito, cooking in his true form was a nightmare.
xxx
Dinner in the Great Hall was a noisy affair, all of the students in the school crammed into one place at the same time. Eriol leaned back in his chair when he finished his dinner, looking over at Kaho, who sat at the far end of the table with Madam Pomfrey. He smiled at her, thinking how lucky he was to have her, and seeing him, she smiled back.
There was a ripple of sound in the hall, and all the students fell silent. Surprised, Eriol turned forward again, wondering what could have silenced so many people at once, and saw Yue sweep into the room, wearing his bow and quiver.
In his peripheral vision, he could see the staff reaching for their wands at the sight of the intimidating figure; he was going to have to do something before this got unpleasant. He was about to stand when there was a rustle from the center of the table, and Dumbledore stood up.
"Yue-san, it has been a very long time. I never expected to see you in these halls again, I thought your master had passed away," Dumbledore said.
Eriol wracked his brains, searching out Clow's memories, and a faint recollection came to him, sending Yue several times to deliver messages to the school for him. Dumbledore must have only been a young man then, he was surprised the man remembered Yue.
"Clow passed, but we remain. We have a new master now, Dumbledore-sama," Yue said, bowing his head respectfully.
"So, what can we do for you, or your master?" Dumbledore asked.
"The card master gave me a message for Hiiragizawa Eriol," Yue said, pointedly leaving off any honorific as he turned his attention to Eriol.
"The card master agrees to your request to speak with him. As neutral ground, he suggests the midpoint between the school and the village, midnight, tonight."
"Thank you, Yue-san, and please, thank Kinomoto-san for agreeing to speak with me," Eriol said.
"Don't bring Ruby, if you're truly coming to talk not fight. Spinniel however is welcome; Cerberus is looking forward to seeing him again."
"Understood."
Yue nodded briefly to Eriol, bowed formally to Dumbledore and swept out as silently as he had entered.
Noise levels in the room rose again as people in the hall started to speculate on their unusual visitor, and a lot of people were staring at the DADA teacher, as he had been the recipient of the message.
"You know his master, Hiiragizawa-san?" Dumbledore asked.
"Oh yes, but I knew his sister better, she was the mistress before him. He took over the mastery of the cards when she was killed in an accident."
"So he is not as strong?"
"Albus, he's stronger. Far stronger than her, than me, than YOU, he's more powerful than Clow Reed."
"Then why wasn't he the master from the start?"
"Because he loved his little sister Albus, and she was the one who had been chosen since before Clow's death. He wouldn't take that from her."
"He sounds fascinating," Dumbledore mused.
"Why don't you come with me? If I'm banned from bringing Ruby, then I should even up the numbers somehow."
"Don't you think he would mind?"
"I seriously doubt he could dislike me more than he already does, Albus."
"Then I will accompany you, thank you."
xxx
Midnight was cold and clear, the full moon looking down serenely as Albus and Eriol headed to the meeting point Touya had given. Touya was there already, sitting astride a bench so that he was facing Yue, who also straddled the bench. Cerberus was lying on the ground, his head on his paws, idly watching the two men approaching.
"No Spinniel?" he rumbled in disappointment.
"He's coming Cerberus-chan, he's just making sure Ruby didn't follow us," Eriol assured him.
Touya and Yue rose smoothly from the bench as Eriol spoke, turning to face the two men. Touya raised a questioning eyebrow in Dumbledore's direction, and Eriol shifted uncomfortably.
"This is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts; he wanted to meet you, Kinomoto-san."
Spinniel chose that moment to drop out of the sky, pouncing on Cerberus, who instantly rolled and flipped him off. The two banished their wings, and Spinniel paused just long enough to look back over one muscular black shoulder at Eriol.
"She's not following, Kaho-san has her distracted," he said shortly, before he and Kero rolled off into the undergrowth in a mock battle for dominance.
"Should someone stop them?" Albus asked, wincing a little and the hisses and growls.
"Why? They're only playing. What did you want Eriol?" Touya demanded coolly.
"The magical community is at war, Kinomoto-san. It began here, with one evil creature and his followers, but it is spreading, and soon it will engulf magical communities all over the world. We need your help stop it," Eriol told the younger sorcerer.
tbc