Cold Iron
Chapter 9: First Impressions
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Gundam Wing belong to their respective owners and I make no profit from writing this. This applies to this and all chapters of my work.
Rating: T/PG-13
Warning: 1x2, vaguely crude language (and possibly vulgar jokes from Duo.)
Duo woke up with the sun in his eyes, which triggered his headache quite nicely. This was either the worst or best hangover that Duo had ever experienced. It was the worst because the pain was un-fucking-believable, and coming from him, that was saying something. He hadn't felt that bad since Trowa and him had hid in an OZ whisky distillery and they decided to take a crate of the stuff for the road.
But it was the best because hungover Harry was hilarious. "Duo," Harry rasped, eyes still screwed shut and trying not to fall out of bed. "Duo, I think I'm dying."
"You're overreacting, buddy," Duo said, leaning over to give him a slap on the back, but then reconsidered. Harry seriously looked like he was going to upchuck. The green in his face went with his eyes quite spectacularly. Duo managed to swish and flick the rubbish bin from the corner of the room accurately enough so it landed in front of Harry, who grabbed it gratefully.
And then threw up.
Duo turned away to give the guy some privacy and surveyed the room. 'Oh man, we really did a number on it,' he thought, wincing. There were butterbeer bottles everywhere plus the odd firewhiskey, and one of Harry's shoes was hanging from the chandelier. Something which may have once been an armchair was smoking gently in the corner. (Duo recalled drinking something that made his breath flammable.) The windows all seemed to be in one piece though, and a quick scan of his reflection revealed that no penises had been scribbled on him, or worse, magicked on him. He scratched his head and stopped to pull Harry's glasses out of his hair.
Luckily, it seemed that they had been sane enough last night to not touch anyone else's stuff, but still, Duo hadn't meant to go completely mental.
This was bad, Duo realised. Scratch bad, it was unacceptable. Why the hell had he drunk so much? Sure, he hadn't been blackout drunk and he could still remember a large portion of the previous night, but the fact that he had let himself get so inebriated in the first place made him want to slap himself.
Here is Duo's list of what the fuck was I thinking?
-He had got drunk.
-He had got someone else drunk. (Admittedly, the someone else was a friend, but Duo couldn't afford to trust anyone here 100%. Harry was pretty up there though.)
-He had drunk unfamiliar substances, without knowing exactly what they were going to do to him.
'Are you a soldier? Or are you some dumb fratboy?' he thought, livid with himself. He was wasting time. He needed to get home so he would stop feeling so damn relaxed here.
Harry, completely oblivious to Duo's furious self-loathing, was busy throwing up. Duo stuffed all the angry feelings away, deep inside his chest to be dealt with later and turned his attention to Harry.
"I'm never drinking again," Harry declared solemnly. "I had no idea it could be that bad."
"Aww, grow a pair," Duo forced a grin, picking his way to the bathroom. He filled up a sink and dunked his head into it. He washed his face briskly and remembered to put his contacts in. Feeling a tiny bit better, he brought a glass of water to Harry. "It's going to be such a pain tidying this up."
"Tidying up what?"
Duo gave him his glasses back and, just for a moment, soldier or not, thought that the horrified expression on Harry's face might have made it all a little worth it.
After a vigorous cleaning session and Duo refusing to let the house elves deal with it ("They didn't make the mess!" "It's their job." "Don't care, now shut up and hold the trash bag open.") they finally made it to breakfast, where Snape had been lying in wait for them.
They both winced as the potions professor grabbed back of their necks and nearly shoved their faces into their plates. Duo had to bite back a "Dude!" and hold back a punch, while Harry turned green again from the sudden movement.
"Very interesting show you boys put on last night," Snape said silkily, his grip tightening around their collars.
"Did you like it?" Duo said, grinning like a class-A brat.
"Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more, if you hadn't completely destroyed a classroom."
Duo was about to reply with something dangerously catty, when they were interrupted by Dumbledore clapping behind them.
"Oh it was good, wasn't it, Severus!" he said, beaming. "Very well done. The Weasley twins had a hand in it, I suppose?"
Harry nodded nervously.
"Excellent, excellent. I'll have to ask them how they come up with such intricate displays. Now, I must apologise, Severus, but I have to borrow the boys for a second."
Snape just stared at the headmaster coolly and inclined his head. "Understood." He slunk away. Duo mouthed a thank you at Dumbledore, who pretended not to notice, but smiled slightly anyway. But only slightly.
"Harry, Duo, you can eat later. We have things to discuss."
Somehow, they both knew that it wouldn't be good things.
They stood in front of a shallow stone basin inside Dumbledore's office. Duo couldn't stop staring at the silver clouds that swirled inside it. He didn't need to activate his contact lenses in order to know that this was a super magical object.
"It's a pensieve," Harry whispered. "You can put thoughts and memories inside there."
"You can what?"
"Harry's correct." Dumbledore came up behind them, holding a small glass bottle of the same silver liquid. "In here are the memories of a young wizard who was at last night's New Year celebration in London. After what happened, I sought him out and asked him whether he'd be kind enough to show us what he saw. But before we have a look, Duo, I understand that Mrs. Elffrost asked you to keep your cold iron on you at all times. But I believe that, just this once, it would be acceptable for you to take it off."
"Why?"
"Let's just say that accidents happen and I would hate for you to be stuck inside a bowl full of my memories. They can be very dull sometimes."
Duo thought this was wise and pulled the amulet off and lay it on Dumbledore's desk, where he was assured it would be safe.
Dumbledore then tipped the bottle and silver threads dripped down into the pensieve. The surface rippled, then cleared so Duo and Harry were both looking down at the image of a crowded river bank. Duo could make out the golden lights of the London Eye and parliament dancing in the reflection of the river.
"We had a few people there," Dumbledore said softly. "But we couldn't have expected…" he seemed to shake himself. "Well, I'll let you both see for yourselves." And he pushed them in.
Duo flailed for a moment, but the fall wasn't long and it was more of a float than a fall. He landed heavily. They were outside. It was night and the air was charged with excitement. There were thousands of people there, pressed right up against the stone wall bordering the river. Duo could also see people waving on the bridges, cameras flashing and heads wrapped in hats and scarves. There were people singing, both drunk and sober, and the police were out in force but they seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves. Duo looked around, but couldn't tell whose memory this was; there were that many people.
Dumbledore was right. They couldn't have expected the attack.
Harry's face was slack with horror as the fireworks, so similar to the ones they had set off on the roof, but vicious and lethal, bombarded the crowd. His fists were tight and shaking and he looked like he was going to throw up again. Duo was about to say something, anything, to make him feel better, when a man tripped and fell near them. Duo let out a cry as he started to rush over to him, but Dumbledore held him back. "It's too late, Duo," he said softly. "It's already happened."
The man was crushed by the stampede.
Explosions threw tens of people back like kicked pebbles. Some were set on fire that just couldn't be put out. Some of the fireworks left craters in the pavement, and Duo could see a charred, black hand fall limply over edge of one.
Then the Death Eaters came and Duo realised very quickly that they hadn't a shred of humanity in them. They were cruel, crueler than he could have imagined and as bodies fell and the flames grew higher, he was very painfully reminded of another bombing in another time.
There was a flash of green and a child fell at his feet, his eyes wide open and face twisted in terror. His mother cried out and clutched him to her chest.
Another family Duo couldn't save.
Father Maxwell. Sister Helen.
"I think you boys have perhaps seen enou-" Dumbledore said, but Duo moved his shoulder away from the headmaster's outstretched hand.
"I need to see it all, Professor," Duo said softly.
"I don't think-"
"Please. Harry, you go back," he added. Harry didn't need to see this. He wasn't the one that needed convincing, and he knew that Harry had enough nightmares as it was. Harry looked pale now, even bathed in the glow of the fires. "Go," Duo said again, wanting to protect his friend. "I'll catch up."
Dumbledore considered this and nodded. "Very well. You'll be taken out when the memory comes to a natural end. We'll see you back in Hogwarts."
And they were gone. Duo took a deep breath, inhaled the smoke and the ashes and the screams. And he watched.
The Death Eaters flung muggles into the freezing water, they spun them around like puppets in the air, they set their clothes alight and created snakes and spiders to bite and hiss and poison them.
He watched as people were trampled and burned and tortured and killed by bolts of magic. He watched the Death Eaters fly like bats and insects, heard them scream with laughter.
He tried to move along the river, but realised he had to stay close to the wizard whose memory this belonged to, who had been now identified and currently trying to help some of the injured. Duo sat with the dying instead, even though he knew they couldn't see him or feel him. He whispered comfort to them and tried to find out their names if he could. One young woman had her phone next to her on the pavement, and it said 'To: Maria From: Jonny' at the top of the cracked, glowing screen. "Goodnight Maria," Duo said and he moved on. He wondered whether Jonny knew what had happened to her by now.
He had seen this scene many times, too many times, at home, but the magic and the cloaks and masks added a nightmarish quality that should only stay inside your head. Duo watched the fleeing people and remembered that they weren't part of a war. They had no idea what was going on.
Finally, the memory came to an end and Duo felt himself pulled up and out of the pensieve. He emerged with a gasp, as if having been underwater for a long time.
Harry was seated at the headmaster's desk, clutching a steaming mug of thick hot chocolate. He was staring out of the window into the bright daylight, but Duo could tell how angry and sickened he was. Another mug sat on the desk waiting for Duo.
"Eighty-thousand people were there last night," Dumbledore said. "Over two-hundred bodies were found so far, and hundreds more missing."
Duo looked at him. "Why?" he asked.
"Just because things weren't going his way," Dumbledore replied. "Just because we moved the Devil's Bone right before he could steal it. This-" He gestured to the pensieve."Was a tantrum. Usually he isn't as obvious or flashy as this, but as you just saw, that's starting to change."
Duo looked back at the pensieve, looked back at the hell that was swirling inside it. Looked at Harry, who was so skinny and pale and just a teenager. So weak. "I need to write a letter," Duo said suddenly, grabbed his amulet and left.
The door shut and Dumbledore sat down heavily into his chair, took off his spectacles and rubbed his eyes before saying, "Well done, Harry."
Harry jerked, upsetting his drink. "Why? I didn't do anything."
"Oh, you did a great deal more than you think. I believe that you are a big factor in Mr. Maxwell's decision to stay with us." Dumbledore sounded so proud and a spark lit in Harry's chest and warmed him more than the hot chocolate ever could.
"He's staying?" he asked, hopefully. Harry didn't want anything like what he had just seen to happen again, ever. It was unrealistic he couldn't let it happen again. And he knew they would need Duo's help to beat Voldemort.
Dumbledore smiled in a way that took years off his face and said, "If he doesn't stay, then I will eat my hat."
Dear Guys,
I would have contacted you earlier but the stupid bird wouldn't take my letter until now. I'm so sorry for leaving you in suspense for almost two weeks. I'm fine and well, not exactly among friends but I'm trying my darndest to fix that. (But hey you know, they'll love me before they know it.) I'll be camping out here for a while though, so I'm afraid you'll have to get used to life without me for a bit. (I bet Wuffers is quite grateful for the break actually. He can rest his poor, tortured nerves hehehe.)
In all seriousness, the people here are insane, but you know, on the good side of insane. But there's this one guy who isn't. He's like a guy version of that crazy OZ colonel except super racist and with magical powers. And he's really evil. Apparently I have to help stop him. It's my destiny. (I wish I were joking.) I don't know how long it'll take, but they've promised to help me get home once this guy's out of the picture. Tell G I'll be out of action for a while. The bastard should understand.
I can't say much more. I don't want you thinking that I've totally lost it. But jeez, will I have a lot to tell you when I get back. Reply via birdmail. I don't know when I'll be able to write again so don't wait up.
Hee-chan, Tro, Quat, Fei – don't do anything dumb. If one of you gets your ass kicked by OZ, I'll kick it a million times harder when I get back. Send me a photo will you? I want to show my sexy friends off to everyone who doesn't want to kill me.
Stay safe kids and don't forget to polish Deathscythe!
Duo
Jan' 1996 (Trippin' right?)
No words could describe the immensity of Heero's relief at seeing that familiar, tight scrawl again. The tight knot of stress that had been inhabiting his stomach since Duo disappeared slowly unfolded and relaxed. He's alive, he's alive, he's alive.
As he held the sheet of, of all things, parchment he felt a shaky sensation near his knees and realised that it was his legs threatening to give way. Quatre actually did collapse into a chair, hands hovering near his eyes as he chuckled, "Oh, Duo. Only you could get into this situation."
The last couple days had been pure hell for them, Heero in particular. Normally, they wouldn't have worried so much if Duo had disappeared on one of his trips or missions, as he always came back laughing, maybe slightly beat up, but still laughing. But having seen him vanish with the same bird (phoenix, Trowa had said) that was staring at them now was more than slightly worrying.
"So the idiot's okay? Then where the hell is he?" Wufei said, his own relief vanishing under indignant fury at being made to worry over something so fucking stupid. "He's with wizards?"
"Apparently so," Quatre said with a shaky laugh.
"Wizards?"
"If you don't believe in magic after seeing that," Trowa said, gesturing to the preening bird. "I don't think anything will convince you."
Wufei shook his head in a resigned manner. "Tell Maxwell that I'm going to relieve him of his manhood when he gets back," he said, heading out of the living room, probably to sharpen his sword. "He owes it to me after all the stress I've gone through on his account."
"Duly noted," Heero said, finding some paper to start a reply. Quatre and Trowa went to start assembling a box of things they thought Duo might appreciate for his Magic Land Adventure plus write their own letters. (Wufei was probably doing the same in his room.)
Heero didn't really know how to start with the response. He was never good with letters, preferring instead to send quick, short emails that usually consisted of: 'Mission accepted' and 'Mission complete' But the bird was staring at him, telling him with its beady black eyes to hurry the hell up. Heero glared back. Trowa had been the only one who hadn't tried to throttle it on sight.
It chirruped, reminding Heero that he had a letter to write.
Duo,
Heero paused. 'Duo', or 'Dear Duo'? He decided to go with 'Dear', as that's what he had written to them. He squeezed the word in.
Dear Duo,
Now what should he write? 'Where are you? How do I get there? Thank God you're safe?'
'Write it, write it,' said his brain. Heero held the pen down on the paper too long and a big black blot formed. He wadded the letter up in disgust and tossed it in the direction of the bin.
The bird made a noise and suddenly blew a jet of fire at the paper ball. It caught aflame and shriveled up midair. Heero stared the phoenix, eyebrows raised high. It warbled.
"I'm writing it!" He started again.
Dear Duo,
Good to hear that you're safe. Wufei told me to tell you that you have approximately twenty punches to the face and one to the trousers awaiting your arrival home for causing him to worry. If we had known that magicians had kidnapped you then we wouldn't have worried so much.
That wasn't strictly true. They would have worried none-the-less. But the punch to the pants part was very true.
I'm concerned about this 'magical' racist however. Surely it would be more effective to have another one of us there with you. Please consider this. Heero had tried earlier to force the bird to take him to where Duo was, but it just pecked him on the head and hit him with a huge wing.
There was another thing in Duo's letter that didn't make sense, well, other than the whole wizard thing. Also, you say two weeks, but only a few days have passed here. You haven't hit your head, have you? A different time flow? Heero frowned, hating being confused. Where the hell could Duo be?
Get our asses kicked by OZ? Try to remember whom you're writing to and rethink that sentence. Come back safe. Don't let your guard down.
He hesitated. 'Miss you?' He folded up the letter before his brain could convince him to write it and slotted it into the envelope along with a photo he had quickly printed off.
It took them a little under half an hour to collect everything, before they sealed up the box with duct tape. They figured it wouldn't need an address, not that anyone knew what they could write as an address anyway. 'Duo Maxwell, the Wizards?' Heero wrapped it up with string so that it could carry it more easily and held it out to the bird.
They watched as the phoenix took it in one, large claw and moments later, the only remnant of its presence was the warmth of its departure on their faces.
"I'm actually kind of nervous," Duo admitted. It had been two weeks since he decided to stay, two weeks since he quite impulsively scribbled a letter to the guys at home saying, "Sorry, I decided I actually want to help these guys, who I am in no way or form indebted to, and am leaving you to fight OZ alone. So good luck with that! See you soon! XOXO"
God, he hated himself sometimes.
But not only had they replied and not get mad and swear to murder him, but they sent him a care package. A freaking care package. Duo's heart nearly burst when he opened the box and found his weapons and laptop and some food inside it. And their letters meant more to him than they could possibly realise. The weapons he had on him at the time of his kidnapping were only emergency ones meant for surprise attacks. The ones inside the box were for missions. He carried his gun in a shoulder holster under his spanking new uniform and immediately felt safer. He actually declared to Harry, "I no longer feel naked! Ha-HA!" Harry had just given him a weird look.
His new uniform. Not borrowed, not Harry's, not stolen but his. 'Looks like I'm in this for the long run now,' he thought, touching the Gryffindor emblem at his breast. The rest of the school were due to come back tonight, hence the nerves.
"Don't be," Harry said, obviously excited his friends were coming back. Four weeks by himself with only Duo for company must have been hard. "They won't bite!"
They didn't bite, but fuck, Duo had forgotten just how many of them there were. The tables he had only seen empty were now alive with students and covered in more food than he had ever seen in his whole life. And of course, being the new guy in a place that just didn't get new guys, Duo had a fair amount of attention. And everyone is grateful that they have something to talk about other than the attack on New Year's Eve.
Cover story: He was from America, homeschooled by his grandmother until she died a little while ago. Both of his parents were workaholic muggles so they sent him to Hogwarts.
Harry dutifully recited Duo's fake history as Duo tried not to blanch at all the lies.
Hermione, a bushy haired and sharp-eyed girl, found holes in it almost instantly. "They sent you here? But there are lots of schoo-"
There was a clatter and an "Ow!" as Harry stepped on her foot. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this right now," he said slowly. "Duo's feeling, er, a little emotional about it."
Duo just raised an eyebrow and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yeah! You know, bloke's grandmother's just died and everything. Save the interrogation, Hermione," Ron said, patting Duo's back in a reassuring manner. "She gets like that sometimes," he whispered as Hermione shot him an affronted look, but she softened when she looked at Duo.
"He's right, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Duo said, feeling ridiculous for accepting an apology for an imaginary grandmother. "In a better place, it was her time, yada yada." Which was true. She probably was. Whoever she was.
"So how was your holiday?" Hermione asked. "You weren't too bored, were you?"
"Nah, got my buddy Harry here to entertain me." Duo grabbed Harry in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles in his hair. "And trust me, he's very entertaining when he's drunk."
"You what!"
When Duo thinks back on it, this would probably be the point where he was labeled 'the bad influence' by Hermione. Ron, on the other hand, was grinning like they had been told that the Christmas holidays had just been extended until April. "Mate, you didn't," Ron said. "Did you?"
Harry nodded, still trying to get out of Duo's grip. "Duo's fault. We flew up on to the roof and got completely pissed. Ugh, Duo, gerrof!"
"Had a headache for days!" Duo declared, finally relenting. "But we have some left over in the common room if you-"
"No, thank you! As a prefect, I'm afraid I'll have to confiscate- Ron, stop looking so upset!"
"But Hermione."
"Well, you can confiscate it if you can find it," Duo said, leaning back casually. "I might have buried it in the Forbidden Forest for all you know. Joking, joking," he backpedaled as Hermione started to look threatening. "Don't worry, I'll get rid of it all."
She smiled and thanked him and the conversation continued around him as he stared up at the ceiling. It was a clear night and the stars and moon shone as brightly as if he were in space himself. But his contacts revealed it to be more magic and he amused himself by figuring out how the processed magic weaved together to form the illusion.
He was distracted when a clear voice said, "Hi Harry, had a nice Christmas?" A girl, dressed in Ravenclaw robes and a slight blush, was smiling shyly behind him.
Harry fumbled. "Er, yeah, Cho. Good thanks, you?"
"Yeah, it was. Glad to be back though."
'Oh man,' Duo thought, watching them both go red and flail for something else to talk about. 'This is so awkward.'
She left after a minute and Harry tried to casually get more carrots, but couldn't seem to get his hands to work as he dropped them on the way to his plate and both Ron and Duo sniggered at the same time.
"So, what's the story there then?" Duo asked when Harry finally got more food on his plate without losing control of his fork.
"What story?" Harry scowled at Duo's waggling eyebrows. "We're just friends."
"Uh huh, sure. And I'm a potato."
"You could be."
Later, when Hermione was talking to Lavender about something, Duo leant over to Ron and whispered, "Hey, you know I'm getting rid of the booze?"
Ron nodded morosely. "Don't remind me."
"Didn't exactly say how I was getting rid of it, did I?"
It took a moment, but the look Ron gave him when understood what Duo was insinuating was one of pure friendship and they bumped fists over the gravy bowl. (Because of this firstbump, they would end up flat out drunk on the fringe of the Forbidden Forest, but only much later after Duo bonds with Hermione over knowledge and deems it safe.)
Harry was just relieved that everyone kind of liked each other.
But then there was the case of people liking each other too much.
Harry wasn't sure if introducing Duo to the Weasley twins was the best of ideas. In fact, he was certain that he heard a far off 'BOOM' in the distance, heralding the arrival of an apocalypse. He knew now that the three forces of hell had met, no one was coming out unscathed from whatever plot they would hatch.
There was a small silence as they regarded each other solemnly, sizing each other up. An understanding that only the greatest of pranksters could comprehend passed between them.
"Speciality?" George said sharply.
"Bombs and stealth."
"Aim?" Fred said.
"Mayhem."
"Target?"
"Anyone who pisses me off." Duo considered. "Also anyone who's fun to piss off."
The twins looked delighted. "Then you're alright!" they said, linking arms with him as if Duo had always been there. Duo looked totally at ease.
Ron approached, looking around curiously. "D'you hear that?" he asked, brow furrowed. "There was an explosion somewhere."
"It was nothing little bro," George said. "It was just the sound of the beginning of a beautiful friendship. How good's your sneaking around?" he asked Duo.
Duo grinned and puffed out his chest. "I can get into the girls' dormitory."
It took a while for everyone to absorb this nugget of information. "No," George said, jaw slack with shock.
"Even we can't get up there." Fred began, his own expression mirroring his twin's. They had spent the entirety of their second year unsuccessfully trying to get into the mystery of Gryffindor tower that were the female dorms, giving up only when threatened by McGonagall herself.
"Well," Duo said, examining his nails casually, as if handling stairs morphing into a waxed slide beneath your feet was a child's play. "All I did was shimmy up there and, you know, filled the room with frogs. That's all."
"I don't believe you." George was awe-struck.
Duo just shrugged, but grinned obnoxiously. "You'll see."
Half an hour later, Parvati and Lavender decided that they had had enough of the Welcome Back festivities and headed up to the dorms. The conversation Ron, Harry, the twins and Duo had been having about Quidditch died as they watched the girls disappear up the spiral stairs. Hermione noticed the sudden lull and put down her knitting.
"What are you looking -?"
They all turned to her, fingers at their lips and Hermione fell silent.
"Wait for it… wait for it… " Duo said in hushed tones.
They didn't have to wait long. There was a shriek, a slam of a door and the sounds of heavy footsteps as the two girls clattered down the stairs, red faced and flushed.
"WHO," Lavender shrieked. "WHO DID THIS?"
"Who did what?" someone asked.
"You know what I'm talking about!"
Nope, no one knew except for a chosen few, who were trying to not to implode with laughter. It was a ribbit that nearly undid them.
"Er, Lav, you do realise there's a frog on your shoulder?"
She freaked the fuck out.
Every girl the in common room (except for Hermione, who realised who the culprit was almost immediately) stampeded up the stairs to see for themselves. The screams were glorious. The twins were nearly crying, slapping a triumphant Duo on the back.
"How many are there? Tell us!" they begged.
"A good hundred or so. So that every surface is covered."
Harry was just confused. "How did you even get that many up there?"
"Swish and flick, dude! Swish and flick! Oh yeah! They haven't found the tampons in the bathroom yet!" Duo crowed loudly, not at all worried about being overheard due to the noise. He had spent the good part of Saturday hanging tampons from taps, showers, the ceiling, everywhere and anywhere. He had also slapped whatever panty pads he could find on to the walls.
There was a minor glitch however and when Duo looked back fondly at this event, he would attribute his downfall to this one glitch. He had forgotten the one girl right in front of him.
"Duo Maxwell… " Hermione eyes were burning with righteous anger, nearly ripping the woolly hat she had been knitting apart. All the boys leaned back from her wisely. "Do you know how expensive tampons are?"
"Oh, so those where yours?" Duo said stupidly. "I had you pegged down as a panty pad person."
Hermione bristled, looked like she was about to yell at him and then suddenly reconsidered. She stood up very calmly, too calmly, and disappeared upstairs for a moment.
"Duo, mate, I'd run if I were you," Ron whispered, but Duo waved his caution off.
"I fear no one."
He feared no one until the girls came back down, murder burning in their eyes and a victorious Hermione at the lead. "It appears that the female dorms have been breached and vandalised. But I've just made an offer to the girls. Whoever catches Mr. Maxwell will earn a 'get out of detention free' card, if the detention is issued by a prefect."
Duo looked around. There were an awful lot of girls there, most of whom looked more than vaguely irritated at having their rooms invaded by amphibians and their feminine items used as decorations. "You wouldn't. That's exploitation of power," Duo said in a low voice, paling when Hermione only nodded at him.
"Go get him," she said and all female eyes turned to Duo, who then realised that this was not a situation he wanted to be in.
He bolted out of the common room and the horde of girls followed him.
"Don't forget that curfew begins soon!" Hermione called after them.
"That… was cruel, Hermione," Ron said, watching the crowd disappear through the portrait hole. "The poor sod doesn't even know his way around here yet."
"It doesn't matter to me," Hermione said, completely nonplussed. "Serves him right for messing around with our belongings. And those frogs! Frogs everywhere!"
The peace didn't last long, as Duo strolled back in only a minute later, having lost the girls near the portrait. "Touché, Hermione," he said. "Remind me not to piss you off again."
"Go clean up."
Duo trudged dutifully up and began to clean up his mess, and wondered, just maybe, he could let the house elves deal with this one.
Back downstairs, the boys were still trying to figure out how he bypassed the slide.
"I still want to know where he got those frogs from," Ron said.
"I want to know if he's a genius or just really, really dumb," Hermione sniffed.
Harry just wanted to know how the hell he was going to tell his best friends the truth about the 'homeschooled' boy from 'America'. And judging by the glances Hermione kept sneaking him, it'd have to be soon.
End Chapter 9
AN: Two updates in two days. Crazy. I'm completely overwhelmed by the reviews and the fact that people are still reading this despite its age (I've known this bloody fic longer than I have some of my closest friends.) Thank you so much! Oh by the way, if you do review, um, could you briefly mention where you're reading from? I have a weird obsession with looking at all the countries in the reader traffic stats and it makes me happy to know that there are people in Greece or the Philippines or somewhere that are reading. It'd be really cool if you could!
A quick word concerning pairings. Leaning towards canon pairings for the HP guys, 1x2 and 3x4 for our boys. This is not a romance fic, but I like to have relationships just simmering in the background.
Okay, super tired right now and the smart thing to do would be leave it for tomorrow and then post it. But I'm really not that smart. Hope you enjoyed it!
