000

Storming Skies

It was just a silly high-school girls' love ritual. Nothing was supposed to happen. Nothing would have happened, had Gokudera's mother not been a Squib. Now he's caught in another country, and in the middle of a deadly tournament. Gokudera/Harry.

000

Chapter Three
Awkward

000

"Now," the headmaster beamed at them, "If there are no more concerns -" he began only to be cut off by Snape who, for the first time that day, stepped up to speak.

"Just because we know the boy comes from an old line, and has performed this so called 'ritual', does not mean he is of particularly trust-worthy character," he sneered silkily, eyeing the two teenagers with great dislike. From the corner of his eye, he could see Harry bristle defensively in his chair, muttering something scornful under his breath that was pointedly ignored by the hook-nosed professor.

The headmaster nodded seriously, "You are quite right, Severus. The sins and virtues of our fathers and mothers are not our own, we must judge each other by his or her own merits," he agreed sagely as he got to his feet, "I have just the thing."

Hayato scowled darkly at the hook-nosed Professor, coming to the conclusion almost immediately that they most definitely would not be getting along. After all, if Harry really was the kind of person he had requested in his wish then Hayato could definitely trust his opinion on other people. If Harry didn't like this person, then it was only reasonable to assume that he wouldn't.

"What's this, what? Albus, surely it can't be that time of year just yet!" another voice piped up, sounding hoarse, tired, and more than a little vexed. "I haven't even finished my song!"

"Just a short matter, my dear Sorting Hat, a mere trifle of an incident," the aged headmaster explained turning around and presenting a rather battered old hat that for some reason had his... and he couldn't believe it was happening or that he could even legitimately think this about someone he'd met less than twenty four hours ago, had his Soul-Mate relax.

"I hardly think - " Snape began only to be waved off.

"None of that, Severus. Hat is quite adept at reading minds, it is only the privacy enchantments that Salazar and Helga cast that prevent him from speaking on what he has seen within the minds of the students. As young Mister Gokudera here is not a student, there is no such problem," the headmaster explained as he rounded the desk. "This way, the privacy of his mind is retained and we may be assured of the truth."

The hat was casually hooked onto his head, and it hadn't even been there for a second before it started screeching.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The headmaster laughed, "As pleased as that makes me, Hat, we aren't sorting a new student, I am afraid."

The hat grumped, "Then why did you wake me – oh, I see. You wish to make sure the lad isn't a threat to Mister Potter. Well, you shall have no concern from this one on that front. Mister Potter has won his undying loyalty for his earlier heroism."

The headmaster clapped his hands like a child, "Oh, how lovely. Yes, thank you very much, Hat."

"Yes, fine, lovely, put me back on my shelf would you? I'm sleepy," the bossy hat blustered, shifting around on Hayato's head of its own accord. A quick glance at Harry as the hat was whisked away showed him staring down determinedly at his knees with large eyes, mouthing the words 'Undying Loyalty?' with his cheeks stained vivid scarlet all the way up to the tips of his ears, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Just like the Juudaime – but with less squealing. And flailing.

He was hit with a sudden painful pang of homesickness and worry. "I'll need to contact my boss as soon as possible, and tell my sister I'm okay. She was at the party when I disappeared. And..." He gestured down at himself with a grimace, "I'll need some stuff."

The headmaster nodded, "Of course, of course, we will make arrangements for a trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow so that you may get some supplies and contact your friends. But for now, I believe Gryffindor Tower are throwing you quite the congratulations party, Mister Potter, it would be a tragedy to miss it."

And with that, the two of them were dismissed before Hayato could ask at all about how he was to pay for any of this, what time he was expected to show up in order to go to this Diagon Alley and would there be any phone-booths or internet cafés he could use to Skype the Vongola.

He grumbled, swearing unhappily as they got to the bottom of the revolving staircase.

"Uhm... I'm really sorry about this," Harry suddenly spoke up awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "The bond thing. It's going to be pretty dangerous tied to me right now so... I mean, the ritual had to have gone wrong somewhere. I don't think it would have tied us together when all I would do is put you in danger, what with this tournament," he explained guiltily, shuffling his feet.

Hayato stared at him with wide eyes, his mouth opening a little in disbelief. Legitimately touched in a way that he hadn't felt since Juudaime told him that he didn't want an Underling, that he wanted a Friend. And he wanted Hayato to be that friend. He thought it was his fault and was apologising to him because of what Hayato had done and he had been the one selfishly complaining in his head about how inconvenient it was and how far away from Juudaime he was and -

Harry frowned determinedly, "I don't know what the next task is, or how dangerous it'll be. But, I'll do my best to make sure you don't get hurt even if I can't stop you from being involved," he promised firmly.

It was too much. That was too much.

"TESORO!" he wailed, literally lunging across the corridor, getting a brief glimpse of Harry's eyes widening in alarm before he ploughed into the smaller boy, whisking him up into the biggest, tightest, strongest hug he had ever given anyone in his life.

Harry, however, had frozen in shock and not a little horror at the sudden and quite frighteningly explosive outpouring of enthusiasm and affection from the older boy who was suddenly crushing him against his body and – rubbing his cheek against his head?

The Storm Guardian smiled blissfully, holding his Soul Mate close. He was blessed, he really was, he had asked the Gods for this wonderful amazing person and they had literally dropped him into his lap and he had protected him and was still trying to protect him and - "I'll – I'll protect you forever, Tesoro! I won't let this tournament harm even a hair on your head!" he gushed passionately, an image of those scars, scars he gained protecting him flashing up behind his eyes.

Harry spluttered, "Ah-Buh – But that's – you don't have any magic! Please! I can handle myself! I don't want anyone getting hurt trying to protect me!" he exclaimed, squirming in the other boy's grasp.

"Never the less!" the Storm Guardian proclaimed firmly, adjusting his grip to hold the boy by his face, cupping both cheeks tenderly and meeting his eyes intently, "I'll protect you with my Dying Will!" he promised.

Harry turned white and quickly looked away, pushing Hayato's hands back towards him, "Don't say that. Just... Too many people have died already because of me, just... Don't." He hurried away, head down and refusing to look at him, "I don't need any more guilt. Come on. Hermione'll be wondering where we are."

Hayato panicked, realising that the other boy had completely misinterpreted his meaning – and really, with a terminology like 'Dying Will' he wasn't surprised that someone outside of the Mafia would be alarmed at such a declaration.

"No wait! I didn't mean it as in Dying-Dead!" he exclaimed, rushing over and practically tackling the smaller, half blind boy into another hug, "I didn't mean dying as in dead!" he repeated desperately, looking around quickly before dragging him into the nearest empty classroom. "I'll prove it!"

Harry quickly found himself sat on a desk before he had even conceived what had happened, his eyes were literally spinning in confusion and shock.

Was Gokudera always this hectic, he wondered?

"Okay, okay, maybe a demonstration would be best, err, Uri!" he called, an odd red light igniting around him.

Harry jerked backwards as the scarlet light suddenly flashed throughout the room and a... cat? Was left behind in its wake, he couldn't see it very clearly without his glasses. It was a tiny cream coloured thing with golden coloured leopard print spots up her back, at the tip of her tail and paws, with large bell-shaped ears, and... scarlet fire... coming out of her ears. And that wasn't even getting into the sunglasses, or bandoleer, or bracelets that she was wearing either. There was an odd symbol and some writing on it but he couldn't read it at this distance, all it looked like were metallic smudges on her. The cat yawned widely, showing off tiny pointed kitten teeth, and blinking lazily up at them with large ruby red eyes that didn't look like they had a pupil.

"This is Uri, my battle partner, she's only a baby right now but she's plenty powerful," Hayato explained as he knelt down in order to pick her up – apparently, Miss Uri was not having any of it. She hissed irritably and immediately set to shredding her master's hand with both claws and teeth. Harry hissed in sympathetic pain as the older boy yelled in pain and surprise as his hand was scratched to all hell. Damn, he hadn't seen damage like that since Crookshanks jumped on Ron's head at the pet shop in Third Year – right before Hermione bought him. "Sh-she can be difficult, at times," Hayato managed to choke out as he carefully cradled his bleeding left hand. "I didn't think to train her properly, didn't really have time." Harry watched him shoot a glower at the feline as she delicately hopped onto the desk next to him but there was definitely an element of fondness in there. He got the impression that even if the opportunity presented itself, he wouldn't take it.

Harry nodded hesitantly, "And the... fire coming out of her ears? That's natural, right, it's not hurting her, is it?" he asked worriedly. Apart from Fawkes he'd never met another animal seemingly made out of an element save an Ashwinder, but he knew that if you took them out of the flame they were born in they died within the hour, same with Salamanders.

Hayato rapidly shook his head as Uri eyed the wizard thoughtfully, "No, she's – okay," he stopped himself and quickly made for the blackboard. Harry watched as he went hunting for a stick of chalk and froze a little, looking down when he saw the flame-eared feline with one paw on his thigh, looking up at him warily.

He glanced over at Hayato before back down at the feline. Well, manners never hurt, and it definitely won him points with Hedwig, Crookshanks and Buckbeak, Fawkes too, "Hello little Lady," he greeted softly slowly reaching out and holding a hand to her, a few inches back, letting her have the option to come and investigate if she wanted to. "Aren't you beautiful," he muttered, she really was, despite her... peculiarities, she was a very pretty cat.

The ruby eyed feline purred loudly in approval, immediately moving into his lap and sniffing at his fingers before digging her cheek into his nails, tail flicking this way and that. Harry smiled a little, surprised that she was being so affectionate with him when she had been so vicious to her partner. Then again, he had called her beautiful, all girls liked it when you called them beautiful, Hedwig especially. He gently rubbed her cheeks and under her chin, his free hand coming around to gently stroke her from behind the head down her back, scritching a little when he reached her hind-quarters. The purring doubled in volume and she shifted into a more comfortable position, her eyes lidding in pleasure.

"There!"

Harry twitched, jerking his head up to the blackboard and staring at the odd diagrams that were messily scribbled across it, an odd wheel of six sections with a circle in the middle, all of them holding a different symbol, a set of wings and what looked like dummies, and a – bullet?

Hayato seemed to be fiddling a little awkwardly with his chalk, "Uri is a box weapon comprised of a unique high-density energy created and refined from one's own life-force. Due to the way this energy resonates with one's emotions, it can be regarded as a type of battle aura, or more closely as a manifestation of willpower and resolve. More commonly known as a Dying Will because the most common instance of awakening said high-density energy is upon the line between life and death when you are forced to eek just that little bit more determination and resolve to survive out than before," he rambled rapidly pointing to a pair of diagrams of a person with a flame in their belly and nothing happening, and then that flame engulfing them in the next picture with some kind of hole in their chest. "Each Dying Will flame comprises of a certain level of purity indicating how strongly the individual feels, high purity flame, the most destructive and brightest of the Dying Will Flames are an unyielding force of nature in of themselves. Only those who can wield the highest purity of flame can manipulate their Dying Will without the use of Box Weapons like Uri, or Rings made of a special mineral able to channel it.

"There are two polarities and seven flames within both. Flames of the Sky are more commonly known due to historical events involving these pacifiers here. In the Sky Flame Polarity, you have Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, Cloud, Mist, and Sky Flames itself. Each have their own destructive properties and colour-resonations. You can generally tell what flame a person has by their personality," he explained pointing to each of the segments in his odd wheel. "Flames of the Earth Polarity have only recently been discovered and thus far only one family have been recorded to have them. Their abilities are largely unknown. Thus far Gravity, Glacier, Forest, Desert, Mountain, Swamp, and River have been recorded, each with their own highly destructive abilities manipulated through rings.

"I'm the Storm Guardian to the Vongola's Tenth Generation Head, that means I'm the strongest Storm Flame user of that family. I'm the boss's Right Hand Man, I handle a lot of the logistics he doesn't have time for and with the exception of the Cloud Guardian, and Juudaime himself, I'm the strongest combatant of the Tenth Gen." Hayato set down his stick of chalk and placed both hands on the green eyed boy's shoulders, his vaguely blurry features oddly serious and making him feel very small and uncertain all of a sudden. "The hat thing said it best, Tesoro, you have my undying loyalty. I will fight with my Dying Will, every ounce of my resolve, to protect you, and come back to you," he swore solemnly.

Harry's eyes widened feeling the bottom of his stomach twist abruptly, how, why -

Hayato smiled warmly, hands gently trailing up to cup the boy's cheeks once again, leaning down to -

"GYAAAAAAH! URI!" he roared, throwing himself backwards as his Box Weapon promptly latched onto his face with a furious yowl, claws working like a piston and tearing into his flesh.

"Holy shit!" Harry yelped, jumping to his feet and quickly scooping the flailing feline up and away from the older boy, "Are you okay?" he asked, horrified at the blood pouring down his face as Uri hissed possessively from his arms.

"...Medic..."

000

Harry sighed as twenty minutes later they finally reached Gryffindor Tower. After using the few minor healing charms he knew to close up the claw marks on his face and hands, Harry had been forced to sit back in shock as the silver haired boy lunged after his cat, the two of them tearing across and around the classroom, upending tables and chairs and somehow getting into the rafters.

Harry could only blink and sit in what was pretty much the eye of the storm until Uri deemed enough of the game and jumped into his lap, purring as Harry's arms reflexively came up to support her weight before she was forced to dig those little scalpels she called claws into his skin. Hayato glowering at them from where he had plonked himself down on the floor opposite, twitching a little as Uri purred and nuzzled into Harry's chest. After that, it wasn't difficult to herd the two of them up to Gryffindor Tower, though Hayato seemed particularly insistent on erasing what had been on the board before they did so. Harry tried not to twitch every time the silver haired boy shot his cat a glare on the way back to the tower either, but it was very hard not to when he had such a murderous look on his face. Eventually though, Uri seemed to get bored of prompting his ire and disappeared once again in a flare of scarlet light.

Just before going in, Harry paused, "Ahhh, be prepared for a lot of people, noise and questions, Gokudera - "

"Hayato, please. Call me Hayato," he requested firmly, having to fight back the urge to brush his hand across the other's cheek.

He nodded, "Alright, Hayato, like I said, be prepared. And don't eat anything a pair of red headed twins give you. They're real pranksters and anything could happen from turning purple, to spouting boils in the shape of a penis on your head, or even turning into a canary," he warned.

"Canary?" the Storm Guardian spluttered in excited disbelief.

Harry nodded, "Canary Creams. One of their most recent inventions. They think I don't know," he explained, "C'mon. You can ask when when we get inside."

Sure enough, as soon as the Fat Lady moved aside and they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells, not unlike the arena where Harry had faced the dragon. The tables had been pushed to one side of the room and were positively heaving with mountains of cakes and crisps and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface. Someone, Lee Jordan most likely, had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks so the air was thick with multi-coloured stars and sparks; and Dean had put his artistic talents to good use in the scant few hours since the Task to put up some new banners. Most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his firebolt with Hayato in his lap, though a few of them showed Cedric with his head on fire.

The Storm Guardian had to fight the urge to take a step back as a tidal wave of people surged forward towards them, all of them smiling and cheering, hands reaching out to whisk his soul-mate away. Harry caught his wrist and pulled him close so that they wouldn't get separated in the crowd – he seemed to know almost everyone as they pressed in around them, answering shouted questions easily, his hand firm and warm and reassuring on Hayato's wrist. A balm to his frazzled nerves as girls pressed in around him giggling and a rain of hands slapped at his back with boisterous approval. The human tidal wave heaved and the two of them finally were expelled to a less populated area seemingly controlled by a group of red heads, he spotted the twins easily enough, the boy from the tent – Ron – and a girl who had to have been their younger sister, and the odd one out, the brunette Miss Granger with them.

"What did the headmaster say?" the bushy haired girl asked immediately, not even giving them a chance to speak before pouncing, her eyes wide with concern.

"Blimy Hermione, give the guys a chance to have a sit down, will ya!" one of the twins exclaimed playfully draping an arm around her shoulder.

"But- "

A second twin materialised between the two new arrivals armed with a pair of flagons filled with a frothy pale yellow-tan drink that looked a little like a banana and butterscotch milkshake, "Let them have a drink before springing the Spanish Inquisition on them!" he chastised playfully, handing over the flagons. Hayato being forced to stomp down his urge to snatch Harry's hand back as the green eyed boy let him go in order to take the drink – he had to take this slowly. If he had learned one thing from Juudaime, it was that he couldn't just jump the poor boy and smother him with affection, he had to build up to that. He could only thank Uri for interrupting him earlier in her typical less-than-gentle manner, if he had managed to land that kiss at this point... he would have just driven Harry off.

Harry eyed it suspiciously and gave the twins a look, "You haven't – "

"Our sweet ickle Harrykins, do you doubt our honour, integrity, and intentions?" the twin draped over the girl gasped in hurt.

"Every time I talk to you. What have you done to the drinks?" he asked with a grin.

"Nothing."

"The lovely Miss Granger-"

"Very lovely she is."

"Indeed brother-mine. The lovely Miss Granger-"

"Very lovely."

"-Wouldn't let us," finished the twin stood between Harry and Hayato with a mournful expression.

"They should be perfectly fine," the girl in question informed them with a huff.

Hayato eyed the drink sceptically, "What is it?" he asked.

"Butterbeer, it doesn't have much in the way of alcohol so they're allowed to sell it to minors. Try it, it's really nice when warm or cold," Harry explained before sipping at his own drink.

Hayato hummed, he wasn't really a fan of overly sweetened drinks and something with the name 'Butter'beer was somewhat foreboding. He took a sip and pulled a face, very sweet, too sweet for his palate.

Harry laughed at the expression he pulled, "Too sweet?" he asked. Hayato nodded guiltily. "Well, there's Pumpkin juice as well. Bit of a weird flavour but you get used to it. It's not as sweet, but it's still pretty sweet," he explained setting his drink down – and pausing as Hermione held out her flagon.

"I haven't had any yet, been too busy worrying," she admitted sheepishly. "Here, try some."

After trying the pumpkin juice – which tasted surprisingly like pumpkin korroke without the panko crust or katsu sauce – Hayato fund himself being inundated with people and questions and food. It was a party. And while he was one of the older people in attendance, the twins being only a little older than him, he strangely felt so much older with all the unbridled childish enthusiasm around him. Homesickness hit like a punch in the gut as he watched the twins drag Harry into a headlock, ruffling his hair and generally tormenting him, sending the smaller boy squirming and yelping, Hermione laughing with that red headed girl as they drank from flagons and ate cake. He ended up having to retreat to the side, staring morosely at his drink.

"You okay?" Harry asked quietly, sitting down beside him as the twins left him to go and torment their younger brother.

"Mmm, yeah, I am now," the Storm Guardian told him with a smile as he shifted just a little closer.

000

Chapter Three done! Not much happened but this was a good place to cut off. Don't always expect that the chapters will be as long as the previous ones.

Also, if any of you are concerned about if Gokudera is getting into this too quickly – we do remember how he and Tsuna met, right?

Five, maybe six sentences were exchanged, mostly boiling down to 'you're not good enough – hold still so I can kill you'. And then Hayato's declaring eternal loyalty and willing to die for Tsuna's approval. And that's without knowing anything about Tsuna beyond what his future job is and the fact that he saved Hayato despite his murderous rampage.

Harry just saved his life and got severely injured in the process. Harry who he was taken to after wishing for a Soul Mate, Harry who apparently embodies everything that Hayato wanted in a lover and partner. Harry who just saved his life and was betrayed by his bestfriend.

You bet your ass Hayato is going to throw himself into this relationship head-fucking-first. This is everything he's ever wanted all rolled up into one, INCLUDING MOTHERFUCKING MAGIC! MAGIC! We do remember how big of an Occult Dork this boy is, right? That he somehow knows exorcism chants that fucking worked on Mukurou! And tried to recite a prayer when Dino's Sponge Turtle fell in the mountain river and he stupidly thought it was the Spirit of the Mountain. Hayato is jumping into this – Harry however, is oblivious and has other things on his mind.

It isn't love, yet. Just remember that.

Also, Hayato is seventeen. Kaoru's the oldest of the group (in this) and he was celebrating his 18th B-day when Hayato did the ritual.