But Magic Doesn't Exist! – Chapter 8

Legend:

… times passing, same POV, same scene

change of scene/change of POV

have a cookie emphasis, ie. Italics

/have a cookie/ thoughts

Number 12 Grimmauld Place had been invaded. Well, no, not really invaded, but the minute Harry stepped in, escorted as he was by the greasy git, he could tell that something was different this year.

"I WON'T GO TO ANOTHER FUCKING BOARDING SCHOOL!"

The scream reverberated down the halls, waking up the portrait of Mrs. Black- who screamed obscenities from behind her curtains- and confirmed Harry's suspicions. He glanced a look up at Snape. The man looked livid.

The Potions Master swooped down the hall, and Harry followed close behind, to find himself staring at a scene of utter chaos. There were three- three! - people, other than the ones he knew, standing in the living room. The tallest, whose hair fell in a smooth fall in front of his face, leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and lips frowning. The other two, one Chinese, and the other who had the longest hair Harry's ever seen, even if it was up in a braid, were facing off, red in the face, and glaring worth anything. Harry wondered if he and Malfoy were ever that loud.

"Mr. Maxwell!" Snape glared. "I warned you last time. I will have you serving detention for a month upon reaching Hogwarts for using that kind of language!" he hissed.

The one with a braid threw his hands up in the air. "Wasn't me!" he protested. "I would f- er, fudging love to go to school! It'd be the first time I've stayed for more than a few weeks at a time! It's 'Fei that's got the problem!" He jerked his head at the Chinese boy, who crossed his arms and glared. Snape looked triumphant.

"Ah," he smirked, "not so refined, then, are we, Mr. Chang? You were present, I believe, for Mr. Maxwell's warning?"

Fei Chang (Harry thought it was spectacularly stupid name) nodded harshly, and looked away, face still flushed.

"In that case," Snape grinned, "you will be serving the one month's detention. And I will see to it that whatever house you get sorted into loses points." /Except if it's Slytherin/, Harry thought.

The expression on Fei's face didn't change, but he met Snape's eyes before nodding slowly. "Of course. Sir." His voice came out harsh. Harry watched Snape stride from the room, apparently satisfied, and it was only after Mrs. Black's muffled screams were silenced that the others in the room took action.

Ginny and Hermione- Ron stood staring at the Chinese boy- approached Fei, with little trepidation.

"Blimey," Harry heard Ron say, at the same time as Hermione asked why he wouldn't go to another boarding school.

"I've had a bad experience with boarding schools. I don't think I need to go into details." Fei said, and then his eyes snapped to Harry. His eyes were really, really dark, and Harry couldn't help but think that he looked a little like Cho. And hadn't Snape called him Mr. Chang? Maybe they were related.

The memory of that first, sloppy kiss, and the girl's subsequent tears were enough to dampen his spirits, but then Ron saw him, and yelled 'Harry!' with a really big grin, and Harry found himself smiling in return. Seeing his friends, even if it meant dealing with Snape over the rest of the summer, always had that effect on him.

"Ron!" He answered, and Hermione came up to hug him. He grinned, even though her hair was sticking to his mouth. "It's great to see you!"

"Hi Harry." Ginny said, and Harry smiled at her, though he could see Ron's eyes narrowing at how close to Fei she was standing.

There was a small silence, where Hermione pulled away, and then Mr. Maxwell draped himself over her shoulders (cuing another glare from Ron), and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Good friend o' yers? How about introducing us, sexy?" He spoke with an accent Harry had heard on TV- a western called 'the Lone Ranger'- and Harry thought they looked like they were going out; he found that he was happy for her, not jealous. He wondered if he should be.

Hermione smacked the boy's arm. "Duo!" she admonished, then rolled her eyes. Harry noticed she was grinning, though. "This is Harry, one of my best friends. Harry, this is Duo Maxwell. He's staying at my house."

Ron piped up, "Yeah, and we have visitors at the Burrow, too." He pointed at Fei. "Wufei Chang."

"Wufei?" Harry asked, brought up short. "I thought your name was 'Fei'."

The boy rolled his eyes. "One of Maxwell's more annoying habits is to mangle your name beyond recognition." He bowed, hands at his sides with the palms against his jeans, and murmured something that could have been 'Nice to meet you'.

"Or hope of recovery," Duo grinned, and extended a hand. "Duo Maxwell, at yer service. I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie."

Harry shook his hand, but when he made to pull away, his hand was caught in an iron grip. Duo's eyes were narrowed as he turned Harry's hand, his right hand, over, examining the scars that read 'I will not tell lies'. Harry had gotten it the year before, when the DADA professor had made him write lines with a special quill that burned every word he wrote into the back of his hand.

"Neither do you, I guess, huh?" Harry couldn't tell if it was a question or not, but there was a look in the boy's eyes that reminded him of Snape at his cruelest, and he shook his head. /Why am I so scared/ He thought. /I've faced down Voldemort, and this guy's my age/

Before he could properly examine the feeling, though, Duo grinned again, and stepped back, raising his arms in an impression of Vana White. "And ladies, and gentlemen," he said, turning sideways to reveal the third boy, leaning against the wall, "we have here Trowa Barton, doing an excellent imitation of a Greek Statue." The smile turned into a leer. "Or would be, if he'd lose the clothes."

Wufei snorted. "In your dreams, Maxwell."

Duo fell to his knees, taking Wufei hand in his, "Oh but Wuffie! Don't you know you're the only one in my dreams? The things you do with whipped cream are scandalous, but always leave me beggi-"

Wufei looked horrified, and Duo broke off, laughing. He ended up rolling on the floor.

"Is it always like this?" Harry asked Ron. Ron nodded, eyes fixed on Duo.

"Yes, they have been. Well, at least the last couple weeks," Hermione said, smiling. "That's when we all came to Grimmauld Place.

"Why did you come?" Harry asked. He'd expected to spend the summer alone at the house: without Buckbeak, or Sirius, or Remus (who'd probably be off on order business), and without his friends, who would probably stay at their houses.

Ginny paled. "Didn't you read the Daily Prophet, Harry? Lucius Malfoy escaped from Azkaban. Mum thought it wouldn't be safe at the Burrow."

"And I thought it would be better not to stay at home, either. Duo was attracting way too much attention from the neighbors."

Whatever conversation Duo'd been having, he'd also been listening in on Harry's and his head snapped around fast enough to send his braid in a wide arch around him.

"I said sorry! It's not my fault the can was marked 'water based'!" He protested.

"I know!" Hermione said, "But it still attracted attention, and one thing we can't afford to be, is conspicuous!"

"What happened?" Harry asked. Hermione frowned, and blushed.

"You don't want to know Harry."

Ron opened his mouth, but she cut him off with, "And no, I'm not telling you, either!" she snapped, "That's final!"

Harry frowned, and seethed inside. This was just like last year: he felt cut out, left out of the plans, and it didn't help that both his best friends had had visitors this past month, and he hadn't known! Of course, he had a visitor too.

He opened his mouth to say it, but slowly let it close as he heard the hushed conversation the three visitors were having.

"- going to tell you Maxwell, except to say that I do not have a 'complex' over it, I have not been traumatized by it, I just don't like boarding schools." Wufei clenched his jaw.

"I'll say," Duo gave a tiny laugh, "and I'll also say that you do have a complex and you are traumatized, 'cause we've been working together two and a half years, and I have never seen you react that badly to anything."

"A year and a half, Maxwell; aside from you and Yui, the five of us split up in 196."

Duo frowned. "You did?"

Wufei made a single jerky motion that was probably a nod.

"You were alone for a year? After the shit we went through? That's enough to give a guy a complex right there! Why didn't you come find us, or something? It'd'a been great to have a talking buddy whose vocabulary doesn't consist of 'huh'."

"Hn." Wufei grunted; his gaze turned away again.

"Yeah, that." Duo said.

"We're going to be split up now." Wufei said. Duo didn't say anything, but his head cocked to one side. Harry realized that he was eavesdropping, but couldn't bring himself to care. It wasn't like the strangers were trying to hide what they were saying.

"What?"

"Maxwell, consider our birthdays. What was the approximation the dental scan reported?"

"May 25-ish. I changed that to 27, though; liked it better. Why?"

"Barton has informed us that it was early March when we left. It is now June. Happy Birthday; you're seventeen. Barton," he turned to the tallest of them, "yours?"

"September 7th-"

"Ah," Wufei's lips twitched.

"-179."

The little smile faded, and even turned into a frown. "You see, Maxwell? You're both seventeen. From what I have learned from the Weasleys, you will both be sorted, and then placed in seventh year, and likely be tutored until your skill level matches those around you."

"And you won't be, is that it?" Ginny said, frowning as well.

"Yes," Wufei agreed, meeting her gaze. "My birthday is December 31st, 180 AC." His gaze flickered to Hermione, Ron, and then met Harry's. "I'll be in your year," he said to them.

"Wait a second," Duo said, frowning. "Hiiro's is August 9th, and Quatre's is November 17th… that makes you the baby!" He grinned, and his hand snapped out pinch Wufei's cheek. "Aww… such a pretty baby!"

"Maxwell!" Wufei snarled, slapping the hand away. "Cease taunting me, and I will not have to break your wrist!"

Maxwell pouted at him, and said, "Fine, be that way."

"There has to be a way that you're not all split up," Hermione said, casting sympathetic glances Wufei's way. "After all, I read a university study last year, that proved that students who go to new schools in their last years of schooling do far worse than their peers who have been in the same school all their lives. It has something to do with having to go out and make new friends, and not focusing on school work. I'm sure if we talk to Dumbledore, he'll let you all be in seventh year."

"It wouldn't take much to properly put you there, either," Ginny said, smiling hesitantly at Wufei. "You've already learned everything I know, and you don't even have a wand yet. With Hermione's help you could probably be ready for seventh year by the school start."

"Nah, that's too much work!" Duo exclaimed. "Besides, if we're all in seventh year, then we won't get to hang out with you, sweet Hermione," he lifted a hand to caress her cheek playfully, which she slapped away in the same manner.

"And what happened to Wufei being the only one in your dreams?" she asked, and then followed with, "I'm not sure I can live with a bloke who's 'one true love' changes every ten minutes."

Duo's grin widened, and he draped himself on Ginny, which set Ron's cheeks the same color as his hair. "Well, then, I'll live with Gin-Gin, and you two study buddies can have time of your lives."

Wufei snorted. "Nonsense, Maxwell. You need a studious environment. They don't have 'Demolitions 101' at Hogwarts."

Duo pretended to be offended, in a funny kind of way. "I can too keep my marks up without a 'studious environment'!"

"No you can't," Trowa spoke up, lips quirking. "We both saw the marks from La Georgeville Ecole Secondaire. You know; the one in France."

"I was playing a part!" Duo wailed, and Harry couldn't help laughing. "He lives!" Duo exclaimed, pointing in Harry's direction, which set Hermione, Ginny, and Ron to laughing. Duo followed suit, and though Wufei and Trowa didn't, they both had tiny little smiles on their faces. Harry thought the smile suited Trowa.

This summer wouldn't be so bad, after all.