I love you all. Seriously, I do. Everyone likes my story so much and I didn't expect for everyone to like it! You have all made SG-chan very happy with your kind reviews thus far ^^ Also, I've had many positive responses to my question of last chapter so, yes, Ianto will be showing up later on in the story ^_^ And Jack too, can't have Ianto without Jack! ^o^ Also, from now on I'll try to have a proper updating schedule; I'm shooting for once a week, Friday night. Hopefully I'll be able to keep to it ^^;; Also, prepare for some random backstory plots, etc.
Now, onto the anon review replies!
Allistra: Yes, sassy gay frenemies FTW! XD And USUK ^_^ Of course, this story will be USUKUS - as in they switch it around ;3 The Giant Squid - oh man, you have no idea about the giant squid - let's just say it's there and leave it there for right now. Ahh, you caught the reactions (or lack of). I try to be kinda subtle about stuff, but I guess I failed with that ^^; You'll see in this chapter though. Seme!Iggy is very... *nosebleeds* I luvs me some UKe too - really, I just like Alfred and Arthur having sex with each other (and occasionally Canada and France - SG-chan ships FACE so hard) xD Looking over the last chapter, it is kinda jarring. Thank you, I think I will fix that up a bit ^^ Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you're liking the story so much!
joniskpelare: Glad you like it so far! ^_^
Ribbit: Yay, the humor's good! SG-chan is trying to balance out the humor, drama, plot, romance, etc. and it's proving more difficult than she thought - especially since her only other HP stories are kinda cracky ones ^^;; As for Ianto, well, your question's been answered now xD Thanks for reviewing! ^^
Harrypotter4life7: Heh, I'm glad you're liking it! Iggy is one of my most favorite characters (which, considering I love all the characters (courtesy of watching HetaOni and RomaHeta ^^;) is saying something) and Greece is just... *squeals* He's just so cuddly and I want all his kittens. Er, I mean, cats. As in his army. Yeah *shifty eyes* You heard nothing... And while there may be times Arthur wants to strangle Heracles, well, after this chapter he'll have a new, er, target XDXDXD Thanks for reviewing! ^^
"It looks as though Morrigan herself trampled through here," Arthur clucked disapprovingly as he glanced around.
"Not like you can really do anything about it," Ianto replied, a small smile pulling at his lips at his brother's slight OCD for cleanliness that apparently extended to bombed out cities.
"Too true," the blond nation whispered, pain for his people - their people - reflected in his deep green eyes. The two had been foraging through the wreckage on the lookout for anyone who might still be alive, buried in the rubble. So far they had not had any luck.
Arthur cocked his head suddenly, a pensive expression on his face. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Ianto asked.
"There's magick, coming from over there." The shorter broke out into a run, surprisingly quick for someone whose country was being ravaged daily from constant bombings.
"Arthur slow down! There might be an undetonated explosive!" Ianto yelled after his younger brother. The brunette sighed exasperatedly as the other didn't even pause before breaking into a run himself.
"Help me!" Arthur demanded as he started to move rubble aside. "There's someone under here, someone alive!" With his elder brother's help the figure of a man was uncovered. He looked to be in his late forties or early fifties, and his blue eyes shone up at them with relief.
"Wh-who?" the man croaked, his voice raspy.
"Move him gently Arthur," Ianto reminded him as he bent to grab the man round his torso.
"I know, I know." Despite his irritated tone, the blond was gentle in his movements as the brothers lifted the man from where he'd been trapped beneath the rubble and out into the open air.
"Can you move your arms and legs?" Ianto asked as he examined the man's head for any bumps.
"Yes," he replied. "Who are you? You aren't dressed like paramedics or medical personnel."
"We're volunteers. I'm Ianto, and this is my brother Arthur," the brunette told him in a friendly tone. "Tilt your head back so I can get a look at your eyes. You don't seem to be concussed," he remarked. "Can you remember the date?"
"December 29th, 1940."
"Close, it's the 30th; you must've been out for a bit," Ianto observed while Arthur remained silent. "Can you tell us your name now?"
"It's Albus; Albus Dumbledore."
"Harry, you're being paranoid!" Ginny groaned. "Yes, Malfoy's a dick." She ignored Harry's scowl. "That doesn't mean he's evil. Sure, he went into Borgin and Burkes. Ever think maybe he was running an errand for Daddy dearest?"
"Maybe he knew he was being followed and did it to throw me off!" Harry argued.
"Do you honestly think he's that smart? Merlin, even Hermione doesn't think that circuitously!" Ginny rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration at her pseudo-brother's stubbornness. "Not everything Draco Malfoy does revolves around you, Harry. Or does wittle Hawwy-kins have a cwush?"
"On Draco bleeding Malfoy? Yeah right!" the boy scoffed. "I'd rather snog Voldemort first!" Ginny dissolved into giggles at that.
"Excuse me, is this compartment-"
The two turned to see Luna Lovegood at the doorway with a slightly surprised, yet dreamy, expression on her face.
"You can sit with us Luna; we were just talking," Harry reassured her.
"I was trying to convince him that Malfoy may be a tosser, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's evil," Ginny explained to her best friend.
"Well, he does have an absence of ensnarls about him," Luna mused. "That might account for some of his more unfavorable behavior…"
"Oh Luna," Ginny chuckled, giving the blonde a tight hug. "Do me a favor please? I'm off to visit Dean. Make sure Harry doesn't wander off?"
"All right," Luna agreed.
"Thanks," Ginny said. She set Luna's bag on the seat, and then before she left, glared at Harry over Luna's shoulder and mouthed: "Be nice!"
Harry gulped at the redhead's glare and nodded slightly. He simply stood there a moment, watching Luna stare off into space before he cleared his throat. "Er, um, would you like some help with that?"
"Oh?" Luna turned. "Yes, that would very helpful. Thank you Harry."
"No problem," Harry replied as he grabbed one trunk and lifted it up to the luggage carriage. "Wow, it doesn't weigh that much at all! How do you get it like that?"
"It's a feather light charm," Luna replied. "Don't you put one on your trunk?"
"Ah, no, my relatives are Muggles so I don't really do magic while they're around." Nervous and wanting to direct attention away from his living state, he asked, "So how was your summer?"
"It wasn't very eventful," Luna replied, her expression serene as she sat down and pulled out of her pocket… a newspaper? "I helped Daddy with the Quibbler, started studying for my OWLs for this year, and started my fairy scrapbook."
"Oh yeah, your dad runs a newspaper, doesn't he?" Harry mused. "Wait, fairy scrapbook?"
"Oh, yes." Luna unfolded her newspaper to the third page. "There's a fairy circle in our back garden - it's been there ever since Mummy left - and every year while I'm at Hogwarts I make a scrapbook, pictures and other things, of the different creatures I find there. Then, when I get back home, I give it to them as a summer solstice gift."
"That's pretty cool," Harry commented for lack of anything else to say. "I mean - Hermione always goes on about how things like that don't exist, but when you think about it, it's magic - that's reason enough."
Luna lifted her gaze from the paper, her pale blue eyes feeling as though they were looking into his soul, before she gave a small smile. "You're a strange person, Harry Potter," the Ravenclaw commented. "Would you like to read with me?" Not sure how to respond, Harry nodded and sat down next to her, perusing the tabloid of strange things called 'Noppera' that Luna was reading about.
"You didn't… cook any of this… did you?" Greece asked as he pulled out his chair.
"Why does everyone think I'm such a terrible cook?" Arthur scowled.
"Probably the one time… Gilbert ate your scones… passed out, and everyone… thought he was dead," Greece mused, poking with a fork at what seemed to be mashed potatoes.
"It's pronounced 'scawns', you illiterate Philistine," Arthur muttered as he sank into his own chair.
"Homer mean anything to you?" Heracles glared lazily at England, who was scowling (not pouting dammit!).
Just three seats down, Minerva McGonagall shook her head. "Why did you hire them Albus?" she asked for the 34th time since she had first met the two men.
"Arthur is a very old friend," Dumbledore replied. "As for Professor Karpusi, I had no idea he and Arthur knew each other; just be glad he isn't French."
"The French can all go drown in a lake of their own egotistical perverted fluids!" Arthur declared vehemently, having caught the word 'French' at the end of the sentence.
"If you start ranting… about the Suez Canal again… I will knock you out," Heracles said quietly but seriously. Arthur replied by doing the most masculine and logical thing and gave him the bird while simultaneously sticking his tongue out at the Grecian.
Minerva gave a heavy sigh. At least none of the students were here yet. "This is going to be a long year," she muttered to herself.
"But an enjoyable one!" Filius Flitwick didn't flinch at all (okay, maybe a teensy bit) under Minerva's glare. "Come Minerva, you had to have seen how Albus seems much less stressed with them here."
She had noticed that - grudgingly. It went against everything she knew to let someone she didn't know so close to everything she held dear - and Albus her former mentor and idol, counted as close to her. "They have yet to be seen as competent teachers," the woman muttered, her own slightly menacing aura making everyone near her - save Dumbledore - give a slight shiver. Really, it was a good thing the students hadn't arrived yet, to be seen acting so unprofessionally would have been humiliating! Speaking of which…
"I'd better get ready to greet the first years," Minerva stated primly, and with a swirl of her robes that made some people think she'd been taking pointers from Snape, departed from the Hall.
Quite a deputy you have Albus, Arthur mused to himself. I can see why she's the head Lioness. Too bad she isn't one of mine… Damn Will. Really, it was to be expected though - everyone else was kind enough in their welcome and had eventually warmed up to him, but that was mainly because he was their nation. He was never going to tell his eldest brother of the fact that Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress was truly Scottish through and through; he'd never live it down.
Despite his maudlin thoughts though, he was looking forward to this year. After all, he hadn't seen Harry Potter since the lad was a babe, just moments after the attack on Godric's Hollow.
"Harry, didn't you say that Snape was being replaced this year?" Ron asked, frowning.
"Yeah, why?"
"'Cause he's sitting up there at the staff table," the redhead replied.
"What?" Harry turned his attention from quietly observing (he was not stalking) Malfoy to the table. "What?" he repeated. "But - Slughorn said he'd take over Potions - look, he's sitting right between McGonagall and that bloke with the cat!"
"Maybe Snape's staying on as an assistant teacher or something?" Ron's nose wrinkled as if he smelled something unpleasant.
"Merlin, I hope not," Harry groaned. "Though if he's here to give me any more 'remedial lessons', no matter what the Headmaster says, I'm not going to let him near my mind again."
"Hello Harry, Ron," Neville greeted his dorm mates as they sat near him.
"Hey Nev," Ron replied. "How was your summer?"
"Not too bad," the other divulged with a wide smile. "Gran took me to get a new wand, so I'm not using my dad's anymore."
"That's great Neville," Harry congratulated him. "I bet classes will be a lot easier for you now, huh?" Neville's continued grin was all the answer needed.
Any further conversation was cut off as McGonagall called for their attention as she led in the first-years to be sorted.
Harry's attention wasn't on this, though, but on Snape's forbidding presence. While visiting Slughorn with Dumbledore, the former had seemed so sure in taking the Potions position! Was Snape still here as an assistant, Head of Slytherin, or what? If Dumbledore had kept him on simply to continue teaching Harry Occlumency, well, then Snape would be out of a job lickety-split for sure. Besides, he'd gotten better at it over the summer. With not much to do besides chores, he'd had to do something to keep his mind off Sirius, as well as how nice it would be to frighten the Dursleys into leaving him alone. Not too much, just enough to put Vernon in a psychiatric ward, perhaps…
Visions of his so-called 'family' in traction were interrupted by a boisterous yell of: "Ha! I'm gonna show you, Jerk Arthur, just how good I, Sea-kun, am at magic!"
Harry looked up at the first year who'd proclaimed this just in time for the blond guy sitting at the end of the table next to Snape to snap: "Stop mangling the Queen's English and just get to your table Peter, or do you want me to owl Tino?"
"Sea-kun will gracefully retreat for now!" The first year, Peter, shook his fist at the blond before sitting down at the - of course - Gryffindor table. Hermione immediately took to scolding him.
"You don't talk that way to a professor!"
"Professor? That Jerk? Ha!" Peter cackled. "He's my brother, much as I hate to admit it, so of course I can insult him!"
"Owl. Tino. No more Gundam." The almost-growl somehow carried across the hall, and Peter paled before he started to pout, sinking into his seat.
"Jerk," he muttered.
"I know how you feel," Ron nodded, giving Peter a pat on the back. "Older accomplished brothers are a pain, huh?" At the surprised look the boy gave him the redhead smiled sympathetically. "Youngest of five boys."
"Don't forget me, brother dearest," Ginny slung an arm around her brother's shoulder.
"You're a girl," Ron argued. "That in and of itself is an accomplishment, so you don't count."
"Noogie or Bat-Bogey my dear brother?" Ginny inquired sweetly.
"Wow, you argue just like my uncle and dad!" Peter laughed. "Although you're a lot more articulate than my dad," he said to Ginny. "I don't know how Papa can understand him sometimes. Then again, they've been together so long that it isn't surprising." The students around them were no longer paying attention to the rest of the Sorting in favor of gaining potential blackmail information on one of the new teachers.
"If I could please have your attention?" Everyone quickly did turn to pay attention as Dumbledore began to speak. "Welcome students, both old and new, to another year at Hogwarts!" There was the usual insert of polite clapping. "The ever-growing list of banned items can be found in Mr. Filch's office, and I must stress, they are banned for a reason. Also, the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden, so please, do stay out of it if you do not wish to die a painful death."
The twinkling eyes seemed to rest on the Gryffindor table in particular before moving on. "We have the honor of welcoming back to our school a beloved alumni and previous teacher, Professor Horace Slughorn, who will be taking over Potions from Professor Snape, who in turn will be taking the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
If Harry hadn't been biting the inside of his cheek, he probably would've done something incredibly melodramatic and stupid like yelling "NOOOOO!" or something. As it was, Dumbledore had to wait a couple minutes for the murmuring and sometimes outright 'boos' to die down before he continued.
"Replacing Professor Binns, who has gone onto his next great adventure, is Professor Arthur Kirkland. Professor Sinistra has taken leave of us because of family problems and taking her place is Professor Heracles Karpusi, an accomplished alumni from the Delphi Academy of Greece. Now, a few words. Dig in, and watch the scones."
"Does everyone feel the need to dig at my cooking?" Professor Kirkland blurted. "For Pete's sake, I didn't cook any of this!"
"Good, that means there'll be no deaths!" Peter yelled, unable to contain himself.
The majority of the students burst into laughter as Arthur turned a rather bright shade of red as he fought not to swear at Peter until the boy was deaf. After all, the innocent students' virgin ears had to be protected, didn't they?
"I'll catch it during class, but that was sooo worth it!" Peter cackled. "I'll have to owl Raivis later; I'm sure he'll appreciate the humor that the great Sea-kun has to offer. Hmm, maybe I'll write Kiku-san too…"
Harry shook his head while Ron outright guffawed at the boy's statement. As he looked across the Hall he caught Luna's eye - the blonde directed a strangely lucid smile at him before she started to eat. Shaking his head again, a small smile crossed Harry's face as he too began to eat.
Did you all enjoy the chapter? SG-chan hopes you did! ^^ And the next chapter will introduce the first of many (kinda) OCs! Well, the story could function without them, but I like to torture the characters some ^^ Oh, and since some people reviewing my DCMK fic Schismatic kept asking about pairings, I'm going to tell you that if you would like to read the full information profile for this and my other stories, they are located on my profile a bit down the page. Vote in my poll while you're at it too ^_^
Remember not to slip on a patch of ice and break your leg like my fifth grade teacher did! Then again, I'm fairly certain none of you reading this are health fanatics like my fifth grade teacher was. Really fun guy, way too enthusiatic about running and shit. Anywho, remember to review, cause SG-chan loves you all and would love you even more if you would leave reviews about the story ^^
Happy Holidays!