A Different World

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. The seeds of romance were planted last chapter and now in Third Year, they will officially begin to bloom. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Notation: This chapter will be framed from Gaara's perspective. This will explain why he's everyone's favorite little "psycho." Oh and feel free to weigh in on who you would like to be "narrating" the next chapter.

Chapter 9

Several months had passed since the attack and everyone was beginning to lower their guard. That was just foolish. Someone had attacked Sasuke on his broomstick at Quidditch tryouts and then waited until the end of the year to attack all of them. This threat clearly wasn't going away.

The Aurors were predictably useless. They didn't know what they were looking for. Though Gaara reasonably though they could eliminate most of the students from the suspect list.

"Gaara, are you going to Hogsmeade for Halloween?" Sasuke asks.

That or they were at most accomplices. Why the Aurors insisted on checking everyone's wands regularly, he didn't know. A smart witch or wizard would have disposed any wand they used to do their dirty work.

Truly, that's what he would have done. Well that's what he would have done, if he was the one responsible for these attacks. He wasn't, but Gaara knew that more than one student sincerely believed that he was or might be.

"I don't know. I don't really have anyone to go with." He says with a shrug.

"You could hang out with me and the others, if you like." The younger Uchiha says.

Everyone thought that he was a psycho and he supposed in some ways, that he was. It wasn't entirely his fault though. He was just wired differently than most of his peers.

His magic didn't necessarily work the same way and it influenced his thought patterns. The red head was slowly getting better at controlling himself though. In part, Gaara assumed that was because watching his classmate's antics was so damn amusing.

"Maybe. That depends who the others consist of." The Third Year replies.

He wasn't the most social person, but he did enjoy watching them. They were just so damn passionate about everything. Every little thing to them was the most amazing thing ever or the end of the world.

Gaara didn't know how they did it. Surely, it had to be exhausting to be that excitable. To him, magic in itself was the source of his focus and that was enough. He didn't see a need to indulge in teenage drama. Everyone else did though.

"A lot of people. Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu are coming. There's also going to be Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata. I think that Karin and Sakura invited Hinata because she's shy and it'll be good for her to get a chance to socialize outside of classes." Sasuke says.

Hinata was coming? Well in that case, he could overlook everyone else's loudness or bubbly nature. Sasuke was the only other exception to the rule.

That's why he liked Sasuke and Hinata. They weren't like most of their other classmates. Hinata was like freshly fallen snow given human form. Completely innocent and pure. Sasuke was more like him though. He had the same eyes that Gaara did.

"I'll go." The red head says simply.

Sasuke saw magic the same way he did. He was enthralled by it and wanted to prove his worth. Sasuke wanted to prove himself in a similar manner to how Gaara was.

Hinata was the complete opposite. The girl seemed to deliberately try not to be noticed. Then again, he couldn't blame her. Not with a family like hers.

"Great. I'll let the others know. Are you going to wear a costume?" Sasuke asks.

"I hadn't thought of that. Should I?" The Third Year inquires back at him.

Hinata came from the Hyuga Family. They were perhaps the only pureblooded family that could rival Sasuke's in wealth, power, and history. They were also a rather cold family in his opinion.

They demanded perfection. The Hyugas considered themselves practically royalty and for someone like Hinata, growing up in that family must have been a nightmare. The shy girl would never be able to flourish and thrive in that sort of environment.

"It's probably be a good idea. I'm going with vampire. It's not the most creative, I know. The loser says that I already look like one anyway." Sasuke says with a shrug.

"I can see that. I'll go as a vampire as well. It's a classic choice and I doubt anyone would be shocked that we both picked it." The other boy reasons.

"You're getting to be as lazy as Shikamaru. Alright. I'll see you then." Sasuke says with a smirk as he heads off.

Gaara could relate to family issues. He was a Half-Blood himself. His mother came from a long line of magical people and his father was as Muggle as it was possible to be.

His mother had died shortly after giving birth to him. So Gaara had never known the woman. From what his uncle had told him though, she was a very sweet and kind woman who loved her children and her husband completely.

"Unfortunately, she had one big fault." He mutters.

She hadn't told Rasa about her magical abilities. When she fell in love with him, the woman had moved to the Muggle World. She had given it up completely and had hoped that her children would either be Squibs or that she could hide their magic from her husband.

That had been a foolish move on her part. Temari and Kankuro had been too young to show magic when he was born, but Gaara had emerged with his magic. He was a Druid.

"Now, boy. I didn't want to send your brother and your sister to this damn school, but I have no choice. Hopefully, they can teach you how to control your curse." Rasa muttered in disgust.

Even at eleven, Gaara knew that his magic was different from his brother's and sister's. It was more wild. His father treated him like he was some sort of demon because of it.

To his credit, Rasa made sure that his physical needs were met. He was never a father to Gaara though. The red head knew that his father thought he was possessed or something, but he no longer cared.

"Yes, Rasa." He stated simply.

He wouldn't call this man his father. They might share blood, but that was all they shared. Rasa was never his father. His uncle was more like his father than this man that he happened to look like.

"Good. Now, let's go. We have to shop for your school supplies." The father of three said.

Gaara nodded and followed his family. For the first time in a long time, he was happy. He was going to a place where his magic would actually be encouraged. Where he could prove his existence and most importantly, he was getting away from all of…this.


A few hours later, they were all at the Three Broomsticks. It was a popular Inn and Pub. Mostly, Gaara thought that the others had wanted to come here because it served butterbeer to students.

Sadly, none of them were going to get Firewhiskey. They were too young. That was a pity. He would have liked to try it.

"Yeah! So we totally snogged!" Gaara overhears Kiba saying to his friends Shino and Choji at the next table and so did everyone else.

"Kiba, she kissed you on the cheek." Shino says with an exasperated sigh.

"That still counts!" The dog lover says and as if to back his owner up, Akamaru starts barking in agreement.

Snogging was now a topic of great interest amongst the students in his year, Gaara notes. There seemed to be two camps. The first camp still thought that romance was gross and mushy and the second camp was very much interested in snogging.

"If that counts then you might as well count Naruto's and Sasuke's kiss!" Shino retorts.

That causes the Uchiha and Uzumaki in question to both blush a deep shade of red. Gaara didn't know why they were still dancing around each other. To him, it was rather obvious that Sasuke preferred wizards and Naruto was most likely bisexual.

Gaara might not choose to discuss such topics openly, but he wasn't naïve. He understood what was what. It was just that he doubted anyone would want to snog him anytime soon. So for now, he was more than content to watch the drama unfold.

"HEY! DON'T BRING US INTO THAT!" Naruto shouts at them.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Kiba, Shino, and Choji all say in a rush as Sasuke's blush deepens.

Gaara knew why. The blonde was only bringing more attention to their accidental kiss with his antics. Naruto was anything, but a subtle creature.

"Oh stop looking so aghast. He was only playing around." The Hat says as he wanders into the room.

The red head still wasn't used to seeing a Hat using a ladder like legs. Oh well. It was probably one of the least strange things about going to Hogwarts, really.

That's when he notices Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were also at Hogsmeade. Hmm. Interesting. He couldn't help but remember Obito's dagger lesson last year.

"It might not be a student." He whispers to himself.

"Wait. What are you talking about?" Karin asks in confusion.

"Gaara doesn't think it was a student that attacked us." Hinata mumbles out quickly.

She could have been a Ravenclaw, if only she was more bolder. Finally, someone understood him. Well someone besides Sasuke, but Gaara just wasn't attracted to wizards and it was obvious that Naruto and Sasuke had that whole Soul Mate thing going on.

Well if you believed in Soul Mates. Gaara wasn't entirely certain, if he did or not. He decides at 14, he was a little too young to worry about forever. He'd decide on the answer to that Soul Mate question on another day.

"Who do you think it is then?" Sasuke asks.

"I'm not sure, but it occurs to me that it could be a teacher. Teachers would be able to travel throughout the grounds without setting off the wards." The red head states.

Gaara notices Naruto frown as he considers that and he scoots closer to Sasuke. Yeah. They'd probably be snogging by the end of the year. Hell, maybe by the end of the day.

He really should start getting in on that betting pool. There was good money to be had in such things. Why not take advantage of that delightful opportunity?

"That's true, but if it's a teacher…what are we going to do?" Karin asks mournfully.

"Well we'll find some proof and then get their sorry arse locked up in Azkaban!" Suigetsu says as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Gaara doubted that it would be that easy though. This was clearly a very targeted series of attacks. In both cases, they could have been fatal. Either this was a very imprecise killer or their goal wasn't to kill them.

It was to scare them. The possible murderer might not really be a murderer at all. They were just trying to terrorize them, but to what end he wasn't sure. That was in a way even more disturbing than someone wanting to kill them. The not knowing was the worst part in his opinion.

"It's not going to be that easy!" Sakura snaps at him.

Well good. At least Bubblegum had some functioning brain cells. They needed to figure out a plan and soon. These "attacks" were likely going to keep coming.

"It's so good to get a chance to get out of the castle. I love it, but it's nice to take in the scenery now and then." Rin says with a smile.

Gaara decides to listen into the teachers' conversations like a hawk. Rin was married to Obito and Kakashi was their mutual childhood friend. From what he gathered, they had all gone to Hogwarts together.

They were all teachers. Anyone of them would have had the opportunity to attack them. What would be the motive though?

"Yes, it is." Obito says with a smile of his own as he wraps his arm around his wife's shoulder.

The red head knew that Obito was related to Sasuke and Itachi. He had change his last name when he married. He suspected that was in an effort to prevent people from realizing he had taught two of his relatives and to skirt any accusations of favoritism.

It seemed highly unlikely that Obito would attack his relatives, but there was always that chance. Gaara couldn't dismiss the possibility.

"You two make awesome vampires!" Ino says cheerfully as she walks passed them.

Yes, he and Sasuke had dressed up as vampires. Kiba was a werewolf. Shino was some kind of insect. Sakura had decided to be a fairy princess and Ino was a zombie bride. Naruto was dressed up like Merlin and Shino was a dragonfly? Finally, there was Hinata. She was dressed up as an angel. (Gaara didn't think that was an actual costume for her, but he digressed).

Rin was a happily married woman and attacking the other Uchihas would have meant she was going after her husband's family. That also seemed unlikely, but he couldn't dismiss that possibility out of hand either. That would certainly make her less likely to be a suspect.

"Thanks." They both say in unison.

There was also Kakashi. Could he be resentful that Sasuke was now a Quidditch Player? He had been a Pro before coming to Hogwarts. That seemed like a silly reason, but the red head wasn't ready to dismiss anything.


A few hours later, Gaara was in the Common Room with Sasuke. The others were off doing Merlin knows what for Halloween Celebrations. That meant that he could finally address this issue that had been brewing for awhile.

"Sasuke, you should just tell him how you feel." He states as he flips to page 394 in his Defense Against Dark Arts textbook.

"What are you talking about?" The Uchiha asks warily.

"Don't play thick. Even I can see that you like him as more than a friend. Naruto's a very popular guy. If you don't tell him how you feel, someone else will and he might say yes. We have potentially a homicidal killer after all of us. It's probably in your best interest not to waste time." Gaara replies dryly.

He knew that was a rather morbid joke, but the red head was still working on the whole humor thing. This was going to take some time. Oh well. He still had four years to figure it out before graduation.

"I don't think that he likes wizards though." Sasuke says.

"Only one way to find out for sure. I doubt that's going to be the issue though. You two have been obsessed with each other for years. So do everyone a favor and get on with snogging his brains out. The whole lovesick puppy routine is most unbecoming of a Slytherin." The other Third Year says.

Sasuke pauses. Gaara could tell that he was thinking about it. Good. Maybe, the other boy would finally make a move.

"I guess you're right. I mean it'd be awkward if he said no. It'll be even more awkward though, if I say nothing. Sooner or later, he'd notice something was up." Sasuke says with a sigh.

"That's right." Gaara agrees and Sasuke nods as he summons his Eagle Owl and quickly writes a note for Naruto to meet him in the Library…in the Restricted Section.

Gaara smirks when he sees that. Sasuke really was a Slytherin, after all. The Restricted Section was quite ambitious for a first date and everyone knew that Slytherins were known for their cunning and ambition.

"There are go. Do you really think this will work?" Sasuke asks as he watches the owl fly off.

"I don't think that it will work. I know that it will work." Gaara assures him.


Elsewhere the mysterious figure was in Hog's Head Inn with the cloaked figure again. Enough time had passed that they had decided it was safe to meet once more and to discuss their plans. The Aurors seemed to have given up for the time being.

"I swear they keep getting stupider with every passing generation." The cloaked figure says.

"I can't disagree with that. When I was a lad, they were a force to be reckoned with and now they give up after a few months." The dark haired figure states.

His companion nodded. He couldn't help, but be pleased by how things were going so far. The Aurors were gone and the students were still on edge while beginning to lower their guard. Soon, it would be the perfect time to strike.

"Yes, well it's a rather fortunate turn of events for us. I think that it might be time to increase our efforts." His companion reasons.

"What did you have in mind? Most of them are still rather young and will be of little use to us in our goal at this time. Though it would be a rather productive use of our time to win them over." He reasons.

The figure pauses. Clearly, the hooded person needed time to compose their thoughts. That was just fine with him though. He wanted to do this right, so he could get the love of his life back.

"One of them needs to be put in danger. Others will come to help and we can save them. That will earn their trust." The robed figure states.

"That does sound like an excellent idea. What did you have in mind, specifically?" He inquires.

"I haven't decided on the details of the plan yet, but I have an idea forming." His partner in crime informs him.

He simply nods. He was used to this type of behavior from them. The wizard figured that by the time you reached a certain age, you were just naturally cryptic. That was fine. He knew what their end goal was.

"Very well. In that case, I shall get us some Firewhiskey while we mull over these details." He states and his companion nods approvingly.


Back at the castle, Gaara follows Sasuke into the library. He makes himself scarce because he knew the blonde. If the Uchiha called out to him, Naruto was going to come.

It didn't matter that this was the Restricted Section and that Naruto was a goodie two shoes Gryffindor. He'd do anything for his friends. Loyal to the point of absolute stupidity was the way that he would describe the sapphire eyed wizard, really.

"Sasuke?" The blonde calls out a few minutes later.

Naruto really should learn to be more subtle. He was sneaking into the Restricted Section for goodness sake's! Gaara shakes his head as he watches and could only hope that the Librarian wouldn't notice them all.

"Yeah. I'm here." Sasuke says as he makes his way over to Naruto.

"Good. So I got your owl. What did you want to talk about? It sounded pretty serious." The oblivious wizard says.

Honestly, the red head had absolutely no idea how anyone could be that oblivious. It was obvious that Sasuke adored the other boy like no other. Now, it was simply time to see if the feelings were returned or not.

He was here to offer moral support to the Uchiha. Sasuke was the closest thing that he had to an actual friend outside of his family in this school at the moment. If all his dreams were about to be crushed, well he would be there to offer a shoulder for him to cry on.

"Well it is serious. I don't really know how to say this, but I kinda have to. It'll get in the way of our friendship, if I am constantly carrying this around as a secret." The raven haired boy says.

Well that was more of an expression than anything, really. Gaara doubted that Sasuke was actually the type to cry. Still he figured it was the bloody principle of the thing.

"Get in the way of our friendship? Big secret? Sasuke, what are you talking about? You're not making any sense." Naruto says with a frown.

Alright. Maybe, the Uchiha could have handled this a little better. Naruto might be his first boyfriend though. He was allowed to make mistakes. This tale might still have a happy ending.

"You know how Itachi is with Kisame?" Sasuke asks softly.

That was truly something that Gaara didn't see coming. Kisame was now studying to be a Dragonologist and Itachi was training to be a healer under Tsunade. The older raven was the picture of serenity and Kisame was just the wilderness personalized. They couldn't be more different and yet, somehow they apparently were making it work.

"Yeah. What about it? Wait. Did they break up or something?" The Gryffindor inquires.

At the moment, Itachi was training to become a healer. Tsunade was the one training him. Personally, Gaara thought that Itachi just wanted an excuse to be in the castle. He didn't want to leave his baby brother "alone" when the attackers might still be on the loose.

"No. They didn't break up. You know how they are together, but they're both wizards?" Sasuke tries again.

"Yeah. I mean I don't care. Whatever makes them happy." The blue eyed boy replies merrily.

That likely wasn't the answer that Sasuke was hoping for, but it wasn't the worst answer Naruto could have given. There was still a chance.

"Well yeah. Right. Well what do you think about doing that sort of thing yourself. I mean could you imagine dating another bloke?" Sasuke asks.

Ah ha! He finally said it. One thousand points to Slytherin for exhibiting Gryffindor level courage. Gaara couldn't help but feel proud of the Uchiha at that moment.

That took guts to tell your crush what you thought of them. This was especially true when your crush just happened to be your best friend. He supposed that this was the make or break moment for the potential couple. Naruto's next response was going to determine the course of their relationship likely forever.

"Me? Date another guy? I guess I hadn't really thought about it before. Maybe. I'm not really sure how that would work exactly though. I mean I think it's more about the person than if they're a boy or a girl. You know what I mean? If you like somebody it doesn't really matter whether they have a broomstick or a cauldron as Deidara says." The blonde answers his best friend.

"Really? That's great!" Sasuke says cheerfully as he kisses Naruto.

This time, it wasn't an accident. Gaara blinks. He hadn't expected the Uchiha to just go for it like that.

Well one way or another, Naruto's response was certainly going to prove most interesting. If there was one thing that Gaara knew for sure, there was never a dull moment at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly.