And so I can finally explain about the title of the story. The event at the end of this chapter is the "Fate worse than death" that the story title refers to.
You know a chapter's important when it shares the name of the story. I love this chapter.
Chapter Nine: A Fate Worse Than Death
"Harry!"
Harry straightened when he heard his name yelled. He had been looking under the bed for Snowball, who had run off when Harry was trying to teach him to not eat pillows. From the sounds of things, Quatre had found him.
Harry hurried to the bathroom and blushed bright red when he saw Quatre standing in the doorway with nothing but a towel on and dripping wet. He held a happy Snowball in his arms.
"I'm sorry!" Harry said. "I don't know how he gets past closed doors."
"Just try to teach him to stay out of the bathroom, okay?" Quatre sighed, handing Snowball back.
"Okay." He took Snowball and headed back to his room. "You gotta stop running off like that, Snow. You're getting both of us into trouble."
Snowball licked his face. Harry sighed. "You're such a pain."
"Not as easy as you thought it would be?"
Harry looked up at Wufei and sighed. "He does everything I tell him but whenever I say no, he won't listen."
"You go back on your punishments. If you'd follow through he'd behave better and not end up in the shower with Quatre."
Wufei sat on his bed and Snowball jumped away from Harry and into his lap. The Asian teen frowned at him.
"Watch." Wufei pointed at the floor and in a stern voice ordered, "Down."
Snowball cocked his head at him and shook out his fur cutely. Wufei was not impressed.
"Down. Now."
Snowball's ears dropped and he jumped off the bed, his tail between his legs. He turned to stare at Wufei sadly. Wufei didn't budge.
"Stay off the bed."
Snowball turned away and jumped back into Harry's lap, making himself comfortable. Harry absently began petting him.
"I guess I just gotta be firmer. But he's so cute."
"And he knows that. Which is why he always acts cute when you tell him no, because he knows it will change your mind. You're spoiling him."
Harry sighed. "I'm bad at saying no. And the few times I have managed to say it, no one's ever listened." Harry's eyes slipped closed as he talked. Despite the long rest he had gotten two nights ago, he was still pretty tired. Harry had spent most of last night awake and playing with Snowball and today all his energy had been used up chasing the cub around.
"You need to be unyielding. If they will not listen, make them listen. Do not back down."
"Easy for you to say," Harry grumbled. "You guys are tough."
Wufei raised an eyebrow at him. "And you are not?"
Harry opened his eyes, thinking honestly about it. "I guess… it depends on the situation. I've had to save my own life and other people's lives many times before, but… eh, I don't know. I can fight Death Eaters, but I couldn't stop my Uncle from beating me. I can take on dragons and giant spiders, but I can't stop some teacher from forcing me to carve 'I will not tell lies' into the back of my hand."
"I will not tell lies?"
"Long story," Harry dismissed. He yawned widely.
"You should sleep. You're going to make yourself sick."
"I'm fine."
"You're afraid. When was the last time you had a vision?"
"…When I told you guys the truth."
"We all have nightmares. You should not let them rule you." Wufei paused before making up his mind. "Come here."
"Come where?"
Wufei rolled his eyes. "Here. On my bed. Now."
Confused, Harry did as asked, carrying Snowball with him. He knelt on the bed, looking at Wufei curiously.
"Now what?"
Wufei rolled his eyes again. He grabbed the back of Harry's head and pulled him down onto his lap. Harry looked at him in confusion and more than a little embarrassed.
"Wufei?"
"Nightmares aren't as bad when you have someone next to you who will wake you up. As Heero said, we were hired to protect you from all harm, including the harm you do to yourself."
"You were awake?"
Wufei grunted. "Go to sleep. If you have a nightmare, I will wake you."
Harry was too tired to argue. And he did feel very comfortable where he was. He shifted around, moving Snowball so that he wasn't lying on top of the cub. Wufei pulled a blanket over Harry's shoulders and reached for a book on the nightstand.
Just as Harry was falling asleep he whispered quietly, "Thank you."
Wufei smiled.
"Quatre!" Duo hissed, grabbing the blonde's arm and jerking him unexpectedly into the closet as the blonde walked by.
Quatre blinked in surprise before frowning at Duo. "What are you doing?"
"Look!" He moved so that Quatre could peek out the door crack. "Wufei has a crush on Harry! And I was starting to think he was asexual."
Through the small opening, Quatre could just see into Harry and Wufei's shared room. Harry was sound asleep on Wufei's lap, one arm wrapped around Snowball, who was calm for once while chewing on a toy. Wufei was resting his back against the wall, reading a book, one hand absently resting in Harry's hair.
"Now that's unexpected," Quatre said, his annoyance with Duo disappearing at the new development. "Did you see that coming?"
"No one saw that coming. Who would have thought he went for young, innocent boys?"
"That sounds wrong, Duo. I wonder how Harry feels."
"He seems pretty comfy to me." Duo shot his friend a sly look. "So… how are we going to handle this?"
Quatre frowned at him. "Duo, this is Wufei we're talking about. You know how he is. He's more likely to reject our help and accidentally say something hurtful to Harry than let us help him."
"Aw but…"
"No buts, Duo. We'll leave them alone. Besides," Quatre glanced at the relaxed pair, "He seems to be doing just fine without our assistance."
"All right. But if he doesn't do anything, I'm getting involved."
"We'll see."
The door was suddenly flung open and Heero and Trowa stood before the two, looking at them suspiciously.
"What are you doing?" Heero demanded.
Duo grinned widely and bounced from the confined space. "Nothing Hee-chan."
"We were simply discussing something," Quatre dismissed. They both left the closet, small smirks on their faces. Trowa and Heero exchanged looks and decided not to ask.
Harry's sleeping habits improved greatly now that Wufei had promised to wake him if he ever had a nightmare. Never before had Harry had someone to watch over him. His friends had always been there to help but they always came after the nightmare was over. Wufei was there to stop it before it even began. Whenever Harry stirred in his sleep or scrunched up his face, Wufei would shake him awake just enough to get the nightmare to disappear before sitting with him until he fell asleep again.
It never even crossed Harry's mind that the arrangement was strange. Harry knew his other friends would never be caught dead sleeping next to another guy without a really good reason but Harry didn't care at all. When he thought about it, actually sat and tried to remember, he couldn't once come up with a situation when he had slept in the same bed as someone else. He'd been alone at the Dursley's, and Hogwarts he only shared a room with others. Harry had never known that sleeping next to someone could be so comforting. Their body warmth and constant presence was soothing to him.
Snowball had also started behaving. He still didn't listen when Harry, Duo, and Quatre told him no but the tiger cub didn't dare disobey Trowa, Wufei, and Heero. When those three said no, Snowball listened; when the other three said no, he made a cute face and they caved in, letting him do what he wanted. So depending on who was away on a mission that day usually determined if the house got ruined by the animal or not.
It was now the beginning of December and Harry had been living with the ex-pilots for five months. Really, it felt like he had known them his entire life. Harry had even gotten Heero to warm up to him. He wasn't entirely sure how they'd become such good friends when Heero rarely spoke and Harry had been slightly afraid of him but they had somehow managed it.
Currently, Harry was staring out the window at the snow covered forest. It was very beautiful with sun beams filtering through the trees, making the newly fallen snow shine and the frozen lake glisten. Harry noticed Heero exercising out by the lake and decided to bring him something to drink. He'd discovered Heero had a strong liking for hot chocolate but would never admit it. Harry knew he was right because no matter what time of the day Harry gave it to him, Heero always drank it but with other drinks, Heero would get so wrapped up in his work, he would forget all about them.
Duo had laughed when Harry pointed this out and claimed that his lover had a sweet tooth that he hid very well.
He grabbed a thermos and threw a coat on. It had used to be Quatre's but fit Harry well enough. He tugged on some gloves that were once Duo's and headed outside. Snowball followed him quickly out the door before it closed. Harry laughed at his pet.
"Want to visit Heero with me?"
The cub seemed more interested with the snow than Harry's words. He sniffed the white stuff, testing how it felt on his paws. The snow melted under his feet becoming a pool of water and Snowball stepped away, growling.
"It's just water, Snow." Harry laughed. Snowball continued to growl and backed up into the door. Harry shook his head and opened the door, laughing even more when Snowball dashed back inside, growling and baring his teeth. "I couldn't have picked a worse name for you. Maybe Duo's right, I should change it."
Harry closed the door and jumped off the porch, finding Heero still by the lake. It was a decently warm day for December. He waited patiently for Heero to finish his set of kicks and punches before interrupting.
"Did you need something?" Heero asked taking a deep breath and standing straight.
"You looked cold." Harry held out the thermos. "I brought you some hot chocolate." He held out the drink and Heero took it, sipping carefully.
"Your pet didn't follow you?" Heero had noticed Harry on the porch with Snowball.
"I think he's afraid of snow," Harry said. "Duo was right. Snowball is a terrible name for him."
"Hn."
"I would have picked another one if I knew he was related with fire or that he was going to turn black."
Heero frowned. "Related with fire?"
"That's what my book says. It doesn't have a lot of info on magical tigers but apparently they're all connected to a particular element. I don't know why or how, my book doesn't go into any detail. I'm assuming Snowball's connected with fire because he jumped into the fire and will only go near water if he's drinking it."
"What does that mean?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. I think it just means he can't be hurt by fire and doesn't like water. There's probably more to it but I don't have any way to research it."
Heero said nothing as he finished his drink. Harry glanced at him from the corner of his eye and noticed his gun resting in view on his hip. Harry knew all five of his protectors carried the weapon but they all concealed it so well he rarely ever saw it. Heero's was only visible now because he was exercising and hadn't bothered to hide it.
"Hey Heero…" Harry called hesitatingly. This question had been in the back of his head for awhile now but Harry had never really wanted to ask it. But now, seeing the gun in plain view, Harry figured he could at least try.
The blue eyed teen stared down at his charge, frowning at his suddenly nervous behavior.
"Can I," Harry gestured at the gun, "try shooting it?"
Heero looked at him in mild surprise. Aside from Quatre teaching him how to discipline his mind, Harry had never shown any interest in learning their skills. Heero had been fine with that. He didn't like the idea of giving Harry a gun to practice with. Not only because Harry had no idea what he was doing but also the image of a teenager, especially one as kind as Harry, holding a gun just didn't sit well with Heero. However if he knew anything about his charge, it was that the boy was as stubborn as Duo sometimes. It was best to get this out of the way now and make sure he never wanted to try it again.
Heero pulled the weapon from its holster and switched off the safety. This particular weapon had three settings and Heero made sure it was set to a particular one before he stepped over to Harry, taking his hands.
"Hold it firmly," he ordered. Harry obeyed. "Never point it at yourself unless you intend to die or at another unless you intend to kill them." Harry looked at him in shock. "Plant your feet solidly, use both hands." Harry tried to find even footing on the snow covered grounds and lifted the gun. "Look at where you want to hit." Heero pointed to a large tree. "There. Now aim slightly to the left of it, this particular gun has a pull." Harry nodded and did his best to aim. Once Heero was sure he was ready, he stepped behind Harry. "It will be loud. Fire when you feel comfortable."
Harry took a deep breath and re-aimed the gun. He held it for a half minute before finally squeezing the trigger. The gun went off with a loud bang that echoed in Harry's ears. The backlash from the shot was so strong it vibrated through his arm violently. The shot itself was powerful enough that he stumbled back and lost his balance, falling down in the snow. Heero immediately took the gun and clicked the safety back on, making sure Harry wouldn't accidentally set it off again.
"You did not have a firm enough base," Heero reported dully.
"Sorry." Harry hurried to his feet and rubbed his tingling hands together. "I think I'm going to go and dry off in the house. Thanks." He rushed away without another word.
Heero calmly put his weapon away and picked up the thermos bottle Harry had left. There was only a little hot-coco left and Heero allowed himself to feel a small pang of disappointment that there wasn't more. As he took a sip Duo appeared from the trees, casually walking towards his lover.
"What was all that about?" he asked.
"He wanted to shoot a gun."
"And you let him? Scared the hell outta me. Quatre and Trowa were nearly out the door before we realized it was just you."
Heero shrugged. "He will not ask again."
"Oh? Did it freak him out?" Duo looked at the weapon on his lover's hip and snatched it from the holster. "Heero…"
"He will not ask again."
Duo sighed and put the weapon away, kissing Heero lovingly. "You cheater."
The gun was one that had been specially made for Heero. It was more powerful than the average weapon and Heero had set it on the highest of three settings, which was designed to give the bullet maxim distance without losing power. It was a hard gun to handle for someone trained and nearly impossible for someone who had never shot a weapon before.
Heero had set Harry up.
"Hey Quatre?" Harry called sticking his head in the blonde's room. The blonde was sitting with Trowa, going over something on the computer.
"Yes Harry?" Quatre paused in his typing and smiled politely at his friend.
"Have you guys seen Wufei around?"
"Not for awhile, actually."
"He was called on a mission a few hours ago," Trowa said quietly.
Harry blinked. "He… left?"
"Wufei rarely announces when he leaves. He usually just leaves a note. You should know that, Harry."
"I do… I just thought, I mean…" Harry forced a smile. "Never mind. Thanks."
"Did you need something?"
"No, I was just going to take a nap."
Quatre frowned, not having heard him. "What?"
"Nothing. Thanks guys," Harry closed the door behind him.
Quatre turned to Trowa. "Did he say he wanted to take a nap?"
Trowa nodded. "Wufei should not have left without telling him."
"Oh?"
"They will fight when he returns."
Quatre smiled. "What makes you think that?" The brunette shrugged. "Whatever you say, Trowa."
Quatre leaned back into his boyfriend's shoulder as they continued working.
Harry had found the note Wufei left and read it over. He then promptly ripped it into six tiny little pieces and held them out to Snowball.
"Burn it, Snow," Harry ordered. The little cub obeyed and the paper was engulfed in a brief puff of fire. "Good boy." Harry patted his head and made his way to his room.
The next morning Wufei arrived back after breakfast. Harry usually had something made for the guys when they got back from missions but not this time. He finished taking care of all the plates, glared angrily at Wufei, and stomped off to his room. The Asian boy looked from the closed bedroom door to the other four sitting at the table.
"What?"
Quatre just sighed. "You might want to go apologize to him."
"For what?"
"Just go talk to the kid. I'm sure Harry will let you know what you did wrong," Duo said.
Wufei's frown deepened but he obediently went to speak with the younger teen. He didn't bother knocking and barged in, kicking the door shut behind him. Harry was sitting on his bed, flipping angrily through the pages in his monster book. He didn't acknowledge Wufei as the Asian teen tossed his belongings onto his bed and turned back around.
"Why are you angry with me?" Wufei asked, straight to the point. He had never been one for beating around the bush. If he wanted to know something, he asked; if he wanted to tell someone something, he told them.
Harry, however, did not have that same direct attitude as him. He was not a confrontational person, even if he was forced into confrontational situations. So instead of answering the question, Harry just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not."
"Your behavior suggests otherwise."
"So sorry I don't feel like serving you, your highness."
Wufei's dark eyes narrowed. "You are not my servant nor do I require one. If you do not wish to talk, fine. I have more important things to do than deal with your pettiness."
Harry glared at him. "My pettiness? What about yours?!"
"I am not petty."
"Yes you are!" Harry knelt on his bed, bringing him to eye level with Wufei. "You just up and left for your mission, not a single word to anyone."
"I left a note explaining my absence. It is what I have always done."
"Because you don't want to say goodbye. Because, even though you're happy for your friends, you're jealous of their relationships. You don't like walking in on them together, even if they're just sitting around, and being reminded that you don't have anyone like them."
"That is absurd," Wufei growled. "I leave a note because it is more convenient than finding someone and wasting my time."
"No it's not because if anything bad happens, the others aren't going to know where you are. If someone attacks, they won't have time to look for a piece of paper; whereas if you told them face to face you were leaving, they wouldn't have to worry. That's the efficient thing to do."
"And since when do you care how I do things?" Wufei was officially pissed off. Harry had no right to say these things to him. Wufei would never do anything to endanger his friends. They were all family, even if none of them ever said it out loud.
"I was just worried about the others."
Wufei scowled. "Now who is being petty; hiding behind lies?"
"I'm not hiding!"
"But you are lying."
Harry sat back down on the bed, his face red and angry. Yes, he was lying, but only because he didn't want to admit the truth to himself, let alone Wufei. He hadn't slept at all last night. He had tried but nightmares had plagued him constantly. The only time he slept peacefully was with Wufei there next to him.
While that was part of the reason he was so upset, it wasn't the whole reason. Harry understood how Wufei felt being surrounded by people in love and being alone himself. At school, all his friends were slowly pairing off, and here, Harry always made sure to be careful about interrupting the others. He knew the ex-pilots treasured their moments together and he always felt horrible when he interrupted them.
Harry had been alone almost all his life; he knew how Wufei felt. But he was also becoming attached to the Chinese youth. Harry had really thought the two were becoming close but Wufei hadn't even thought twice about leaving without a word. And that hurt.
"Why are you so upset?" Wufei repeated his first question staring at Harry as he waited for an answer.
Harry shrugged his shoulders, his anger suddenly gone. "I don't know. Forget about it. I'm sorry for being rude." Harry climbed off the bed and forced a smile, the argument over in his mind. He had overreacted about his own insecurities and taken it out on Wufei. "Did you want something to eat? There are leftovers from breakfast or I can make you something new."
Wufei wasn't sure what he was angrier about: the fact that Harry had started a fight or the fact that he was now walking away from it. If Wufei hadn't been hired to protect Harry, he probably would have hit him. Instead, he grabbed Harry's arm and turned him around before he could walk out the door.
"You may not start a fight and then walk away as if it were nothing," Wufei informed him angrily. It was then he noticed the bags under Harry's eyes. They had been getting better over the last few weeks but now seemed more pronounced. "You have not been sleeping."
Harry blinked at the rapid change of subject. "You already knew that."
"You have slept when I was with you."
Harry blushed brightly. "Yeah well… you wake me up if I have a nightmare."
"Any of the others would do the same."
"I don't want to bug them. It would be selfish to ask them to stay with me for the night instead of with their boyfriends. And…"
"And what?"
Harry shrugged again, finding the floor interesting. "And I'm most comfortable with you."
Wufei was shocked by the quiet admission. It had been a very long time since someone admitted to being comfortable with him like that. Many people trusted Wufei with their lives but very few trusted him with their feelings. And with good reason; Wufei was not always the most sensitive person around. But for someone reason with Harry, he wanted to try. Wufei rather liked the fact that Harry was so relaxed with him and he now understood that he had hurt the teen's feelings by not saying goodbye.
"I am sorry," Wufei said. Harry looked at him in surprise. "I should not have left without saying something to you."
"It's fine."
"It is not. You depend on me and I let you down. It will not happen again."
Harry smiled, finally looking up at Wufei. "I never doubted that for a second, Wufei."
Wufei met Harry's expressive green eyes and saw only trust there. As he had noted before, Harry's eyes were like an open book. They betrayed everything going on in his head. The Asian youth was suddenly hit with the strong desire to kiss the slightly smaller boy in front of him. Before he could stop himself (or have second thoughts) Wufei leaned forward and pressed his lips against Harry's.
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Neither of them moved as they both stared at each other, trying to gauge the others reaction. It was more like a test kiss, just to see what would happen. Wufei slowly pulled away but kept his face close. Harry's lips tingled and he couldn't deny that he had enjoyed that. Not really sure if it was okay, Harry slowly moved forward, wanting to kiss Wufei for real this time.
They were barely a breath-width apart when there was a loud shout from the living room. Harry's head whipped around towards the door as the noise and shouting continued. Wufei hurried out the door, Harry following closely and desperately trying to control his blush.
In the living room, Duo was sitting in a chair and exclaiming over a large fire on the table to Heero. Harry peered closer and realized that fire was actually Snowball, wreathed in flame. Duo seemed to be enjoying the show while Heero looked slightly disturbed by it. Wufei seemed confused by what was going on but Harry's heart nearly froze in his chest. He could feel the magic Snowball was giving off. Unlike all the small spells he had been using, this was powerful enough to be detected.
"Snowball stop!" Harry shouted desperately. "Stop it, now!" The fire died away and Harry ran forward, picking up his pet as the fire disappeared.
"What's wrong?" Wufei asked noticing Harry's upset face.
Duo grinned. "Yeah, that was one hell of a light show. I didn't know the little guy could do that."
"That's because I told him not to!"
"Why? Nothing got burned."
"You guys don't get it!" Harry shook his head. "I don't have to be the one doing magic for it to be detected!"
That got the ex-pilot's attention. Duo jumped from his chair as Heero spoke. "Can they detect magical creatures?"
Harry remembered Dobby from second year. "Yes."
"How long?"
Harry didn't have a chance to answer as loud banging noises echoed around them and they were surrounded.
Wufei had Harry pinned to the floor before Harry even saw him move. Duo and Heero were standing over them; Heero was shooting at the intruders while Duo flipped the couch, giving them something to hide behind. Wufei kept Harry's head pushed down, covering his body with his own as he drew his gun.
"Shit!" Duo cursed ducking behind the couch. The spells and curses were flying too fast for them to get anything more than a blind shot. "We need to find 03 and 04 and get out the hell out of here."
"Harry." Heero pierced him with an intense gaze. "Can you produce the same shield as when we were fighting Death Eaters?"
"I had my wand then. I've never tried it without it."
"No time like the present!" Duo sang out. The couch suddenly burst into flame as a spell hit it.
Harry raised his hand. "Protego!" he shouted. A shield formed around the four, stopping the spells. Harry was shocked to see that the people they were fighting against weren't Death Eaters but Ministry Aurors. He didn't get anymore than a glance before Wufei was dragging him down the hall, Heero and Duo covering them.
What they hadn't counted on was two Aurors disapparatingfrom in front of them, only to apparatebehind them, where the shield was not present. Before they had a chance to defend themselves, the Aurors had shot stunning spells at them. One caught Harry in the shoulder, knocking him out cold. Wufei caught him before he fell but the shield was now gone. The Aurors disarmed the three pilots quickly, preventing them from fighting further by holding them at wand point.
"Do not move, we will attack," one Auror stated clearly.
Faced with so many opponents with unknown powers and weaponless, the boys had no choice but to concede defeat –for now. Wufei held an unconscious Harry close to him.
"What did you do to him?" he hissed in pure fury.
The Head Auror looked to his subordinate questioningly. The man looked embarrassed. "Stunning spell, sir."
The man frowned. "Bind them and revive Potter."
Ropes shot from the tips of the Aurors wands, wrapping themselves tightly around the ex-pilot's arms, wrists, and ankles. Wufei was forced to drop Harry but they were close enough to the floor that he wasn't hurt.
While the Aurors levitated the prisoners to the living room, Harry was woken up. He blinked his green eyes open and was confused to see Kingsley Shacklebolt supporting him. When the dark skinned man noticed Harry's attention, he leaned close to his ear.
"Try and get away," he whispered quickly before moving back. He helped Harry to his feet and led him into the living room. Harry saw his friends tied up and looked to Kingsley pleadingly. The man ignored him, forced to play his part as an Auror, not a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
A moment later the door swung open and Trowa was led in by wand point, carrying an unconscious Quatre. The brunette's eyes were colder than ice and Harry knew, if Trowa had a gun in his hand, none of these people would be alive right now.
"Quatre!" Harry exclaimed. He was allowed to hurry to his friend and placed a hand on the blonde's forehead. Harry watched him closely before sighing in relief. He looked up at Trowa reassuringly. "Just stunned. Enervate."
Quatre's blue eyes fluttered open at the spell and the relief was clear on Trowa's face. He carefully put his lover down but refused to let go of him. The Aurors bound them like they had the others and put everyone in the middle of the room. Harry whipped around to face the Head Auror. He was a tall man, reaching Trowa's height, with a shaved head and muscular body. A scar running down his cheek stood out against pale skin.
"What the hell are you doing?" Harry shouted. "Why did you attack them?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "They shot first."
"Because you appeared out of nowhere! They were defending themselves! You have no right to tie them up like that! Let them go!"
"I'm afraid we can not do that, Mr. Potter."
"And why not?"
"They are being held until the Minister arrives."
Harry frowned. "The Minister…?"
"We have been looking everywhere for you, Mr. Potter. The entire wizarding world will be relieved to know that you're alive and well. Many were fearing the worst."
"Gee, what a relief."
The door was suddenly flung open once again and Rufus Scrimgeour stalked in. His yellow eyes took in the situation swiftly as he closed the door and stepped forward. He ignored the five boys tied up for the moment and stepped forward to Harry.
"Mr. Potter, I am Rufus Scrimgeour. It is good to see you are alive and unharmed," the new Minister of Magic greeted.
"It's sad to see Cornelius Fudge is not," Harry countered rudely.
"I see that despite your absence, you've been keeping up with events. Minister Fudge was buried with honors."
Harry said nothing as he watched the lion-like man carefully.
"But that is neither here nor there," he went on. "What we must do now is get you back to the wizarding world and safe."
"Fine. After you untie them."
The Minster looked at Harry disbelievingly. "Untie them? Mr. Potter, they will be brought into the Ministry for questioning."
"On what grounds?!"
"Kidnapping."
Harry stared at him incredulity. "You're joking, right? They're my friends!" Harry shook his head and forced himself to speak calmly. Throwing a fit wouldn't help anyone. "Dumbledore hired them to protect me."
"Did he now? Yes, I do remember him saying something along the lines that you had been sent to someone safe."
"Well there we go. Now that that's settled…" Harry turned towards his friends, raising his hand to undo the binding spells.
"Even so," Rufus said loudly making Harry pause, "They did not have legal permission to take you anywhere so they will still be brought in for questioning."
"Legal permission?"
"They did not have the approval of the Ministry nor the approval of your guardians."
"My relatives have… passed away. They have no say in anything anymore. And the Ministry has no control over me, legal or otherwise."
"I beg to differ, Mr. Potter. With the loss of your last living family, you have become a ward of the Ministry. You are, officially, now an orphan, which means the Ministry has legal guardianship of you until such time as you come of age or are adopted by a suitable family."
Harry's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Every time he had gotten involved with the Ministry, something bad had happened. They had screwed him over more than once and had proved their incompetence on numerous occasions. Harry hated getting involved with the Ministry and now, the Minister of Magic himself, was telling him that the Ministry had legal control of his life? No wonder he was being warned to stay away! On the floor, Quatre shifted uncomfortably as he felt Harry's raising panic. He traded a worried look with Trowa before turning back to the conversation.
"That can't be true," Harry argued feebly. "Don't I get any say in this?"
"Not until you are seventeen. And then you must apply for emancipation to be an adult, which must be approved by a Ministry representative."
In other words, Harry was screwed. They were going to do everything in their power to control him and for as long as possible. No way, did Harry want to be controlled like that. He stepped away from the Minister, closer to his friends.
"I will not agree to this."
"I am afraid you do not have a choice, Mr. Potter. You are still a minor, after all. But we can discuss this more at the Ministry." He gestured to the boys tied up on the floor. "Bring them by Portkey."
Desperate for a way to protect his friends, Harry blurted out the first thing that popped into his head. "They're muggles!"
Rufus whipped around to face him. "What?"
"They're muggles, all five of them. They have no magic at all and only know about it through me."
"You expect me to believe Dumbledore left you in the hands of muggles?" the Minster demanded.
"Scan them for magic, if you don't believe me. You can't bring muggles to the Ministry of Magic."
Rufus nodded once at one of the Aurors. The woman quickly ran her wand over Heero, who shot her such a cold glare she felt shivers down her spine. The results appeared before her and the woman gladly stepped away from him.
"It's true, sir," she reported. "He's muggle."
"It seems you have caused us quite the predicament, Mr. Potter. You must enjoy testing us."
"Maybe just a little."
Rufus glared at the teen, who glared right back. The female Auror interrupted the staring contest by clearing her throat.
"What do you want us to do, sir?" she asked.
"Mr. Potter is correct, we cannot take muggles to the Ministry. We can not, however, leave things as they are. Very well, erase their memories."
"No!"
"Fuck you!" Duo shouted pissed off with the whole situation. He had been trying to get free from his binds ever since they were placed on him and had no luck. Apparently magical rope couldn't be untied like normal rope. "You even try to touch our minds and I'll ki—"
"Silencio!" an Auror said. The spell hit Duo right in the throat, shutting him up instantly. The teen's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger.
"Stop it!" Harry shouted. He hurried to his friend's side and touched his throat. "Finite Incantatem." The spell lifted and Duo hissed in Harry's ear.
"Can't you do that with the ropes?"
Harry squinted at the ropes and noticed they weren't particularly strong. He nodded at Duo once, turning around to face the Minister but keeping his hand behind his back. Harry held up three fingers and Duo prepared himself to move.
"Move aside, Mr. Potter," Rufus ordered. "We will erase their memories and be on our way. We need to get you safely back to the wizarding world."
"Why? They didn't do anything wrong. They protected me, something you claim to be doing." He placed a finger down.
"They are muggles. Muggles who have no relation to our world and have no business knowing about it."
"They're my friends." Harry put another finger down.
"I am sorry that they will have to forget you, but it is for the best."
Harry was momentarily distracted. "Forget me?"
"We can not have them remembering anything about magic and that includes you, Mr. Potter. You are as magical as wizards come."
Though Harry could tell he meant that as a compliment, it pissed Harry off. "So that means I can't have muggle friends? I'm not going to sit here and let you make my friends forget me!"
He waved his hand behind his back at Duo shouting, "Finite Incantatem!"
Duo shot to his feet and Harry had enough sense to duck out of the way. The teen ran straight at Rufus, pulling out a hidden knife from his sleeve. Duo tackled Rufus to the ground but didn't get any farther than that as a spell flung him away from the Minister. Duo flipped in midair to land on his feet. He made to move forward again but an Auror pointed a wand at his head.
"Obliviate!"
"No!" Harry screamed. Duo's body went slack and his eyes glazed over. "Minister, stop!"
"Stupefy!"
Harry collapsed to the floor as Rufus' spell hit him. The other boys could do nothing as the ropes binding them tightened and different Aurors stepped up behind them. Harry's unconscious face was the last thing Wufei saw as his memory was erased.
And so ends the first "part" of this story. We'll be returning to Hogwarts with the next chapter.
Hope you enjoyed.
