Ok, so it's a day (and most of another) late, but I had a really really hellish week. Two large tests in my hardest subjects, homework out the wazoo, and I'm trying to apply to an internship for the summer and figure out my schedule for next semester.

So yeah. My week's been hell and I just kind of want to fall over and not do anything for the next month, but I can't because HOMEWORK. Blarg, excuse my ranting. It's been a long week.

I still don't own them. Sad sad thing that is.

Anyway, it's a pretty long chapter, though only lightly betad, so please be forgiving to minor errors. But we get to the fluff I promised! And yes, fluff is amazing. Enjoy!

*0*0*0*

Guardians of Hogwarts

Book 1: The Comfort of Friends

'Peter was in the hospital wing'

Harry couldn't banish the thought from his mind as he nearly tripped racing up the stairs. He wasn't quite sure of the location of the Hospital Wing but Gamora had a nearly unnatural understanding of the castle and he trusted her to find it (and probably much faster than any of the others).

He could hear the steps of the others behind him, Drax's heavy feet and the quiet clicks of Rocket's claws striking the floor with Hermione's softer feet near them.

Gamora was darting in front of them, moving effortlessly in robes.

Harry was just thankful that he had finally figured out how to run in the black drapes.

Falling flat on his face at this point would have been really embarrassing.

Harry almost slid into a wall as he took a sharp corner, seeing Gamora slow and then turn into a room. He slowed to a stop, finally, and took a deep breath as he stared at the small sign stating "Hospital Wing."

'Peter is in there… He's been in there, hurt, and I've been blaming him for ditching me…'

Harry stepped into the room, and his eyes fell on the one occupied bed.

Peter's eyes were closed, his breathing shallow and uneven, but Harry's eyes were drawn to the white bandages that covered one arm and circled his head a few times.

His stomach lurched as Peter shifted in his sleep and winced in pain.

Gamora, who had been standing back watching, moved forward, reaching towards Peter before a loud slam of the office door rang out. Gamora snatched back her arm, as if burned, sliding a mask over her concerned expression so fast that Harry was slightly awed.

Madame Pomfrey huffed a bit to herself, studying the pair who had entered her Hospital Wing, before smiling. "Hello, dears, are you Mr. Quill's friends?"

"Yeah, what happened to him?" Gamora asked as Harry nodded numbly. 'I was supposed to be his friend but I just assumed he betrayed me… I never even thought that something might have happened to him…. I don't deserve to call him my friend…'

Madame Pomfrey looked over at the Slytherin boy, and opened her mouth to speak before the door to the hallway slammed open, revealing Drax, Rocket, and Hermione, all looking anxious (and, in Rocket's case, slightly exhausted and annoyed).

The woman glared at them. "Do not slam doors in my Hospital Wing and remove your pet! It doesn't matter how much you are attached to it, animals are not allowed into the Hospital Wing! And a raccoon! Did you even check to make sure the thing was healthy? Nasty things are always carrying disease."

Hermione grabbed Rocket, just barely able to hold him back as he snarled incoherently, his eyes narrowed into slits with rage. "I AM NO ANIMAL!" He roared, his fangs fully exposed in their white glory.

Drax's eyes were equally narrowed, "Rocket does not have any diseases, but nor is he our pet. He is our friend and a student here."

Pomfrey's eyes were fixed on the snarling raccoon-boy as she sniffed haughtily. "He has fur that will irritate the patients here when he sheds and I will not tolerate him in my Hospital Wing."

Rocket opened his mouth to snarl and Harry was about to pipe up in defense of Rocket (he had never even found fur on his robes, if Rocket even shed, it wasn't going to be enough to hurt anyone), when another voice spoke up. "Maybe that's true, but his fur doesn't bother me, Madame Pomfrey, and I'm the only patient here, so there's no reason Rocket can't come in. The Hospital Wing must be cleaned after every patient anyway, otherwise it wouldn't be so sparkling clean, right? So no harm in it."

Everyone turned to look and saw Peter now sitting up, his bright eyes shining with sincerity as he spoke reasonably. Harry could make out the glint of mischief in them and Peter shot them all a grin.

"Peter! You idiot!" Rocket spoke, sounding happy and annoyed at the same time (Harry hadn't known that combination was possible), slipping from Hermione's grasp and sliding around the disgruntled mediwitch with a disdainful twitch of his tail.

Hermione and Drax also moved around her, converging on Peter's bed and ignoring the mediwitch.

"Peter! Are you ok?" Hermione asked, her eyes filled with worry. "What happened?"

"Are you healed, friend Peter?" Drax questioned, his hands twitching as if he wanted to reach out but was worried that he'd hurt him.

Peter grinned, itching his wrapped arm absentmindedly. "I'm fine guys, I was just stupid."

"No, you are not getting away with that, Peter Quill, not this time." Gamora growled. "Give us a straight answer, what happened?"

Peter matched glares with Gamora until he grimaced. He opened his mouth just as Pomfrey spoke, her voice still angry. "I shall forgive the thing with the raccoon just this once, Mr. Quill. As I was going to say, Mr. Quill suffered a bad concussion, a broken right arm, several cracked and almost broken ribs, and an almost severe case of sleep deprivation. He's lucky I am letting him go with having Skelegrow and a dreamless-sleep potion for the past day. He is staying for another night for observation, though I'd prefer to keep him here longer…"

Peter glared at her, a pout forming on his lips as he silently begged not to be held in here longer.

She sighed gustily, "But I know that look and he'll be fighting his own way out soon, so he'll be released soon." She glared at the rest of the group, her eyes focusing mostly on Rocket, who silently bared his teeth in challenge. "Now, I'm retiring to my office, don't make too much noise and keep the raccoon out next time you come visit him."

She left with a swish of her cloak and Rocket spat in his direction, his tail twitching back and forth in agitation. "I am not a pet." He muttered.

"We know." The group chimed in unison, Peter grinning almost fondly at them. Harry could feel his lips pulling into a small grin, his first all day. Despite the horrible, tugging guilt, he couldn't help but feel warmth in him. Peter was still his friend, Gamora and Drax seemed to have settled their fight, at least temporarily, and Peter looked mostly healed.

Peter grinned at them. "Woman wouldn't stop hovering until I finally took her stupid potions. They tasted awful." He grimaced in remembrance and Gamora smacked him on the back of the head.

"Maybe that'll teach you next time to not be an idiot and get back up next time you get into a fight." She glared at him. "I can read the placement of the wounds, Peter. You were in a fight and outnumbered and you got beaten badly. Now tell us, what happened?"

*0*0*0*

Peter sighed, admitting to himself that, no, he really couldn't get out of an explanation this time. They were all staring, waiting for an answer, and no amount of squirming was going to get him out of this.

Sick of his silence and still annoyed at being called a pet, Rocket grumbled, "Seriously, just tell us already, ya idiot."

Peter opened his mouth to spin a tale of epic proportions, but then paused as he took in Gamora's carefully calm expression (he suspected she may want to murder his assailants underneath that mask, judging by the twitching of her fingers). Hermione and Drax's eyes were beseeching him (Drax doing puppy-dog eyes was actually slightly disturbing), and Rocket and Harry's concern (Rocket's hidden under careful layers of annoyance and indifference that no one in the group believed anymore).

Finally, Peter's shoulder slumped and he spoke. "Fine, I'll tell you, but no interrupting until the end, alright?" If he stopped, he may not have the guts to keep going. His instincts were still screaming to hide his weakness, but these were his friends. They had come and found him and were all looking like they'd cheerfully have a bonfire with his attackers as the wood.

"I, er, haven't been fitting in well to the Slytherin dorm. I'm with those two brutes of Malfoy's and they take shifts so one is always awake and I can't sleep, otherwise they'll poison me or attack me or steal my stuff or something. And I'm not quite as skilled at the security spells as I convinced my guardian that I was, and I can't get it to work, so I have to stay awake instead." Peter breathed deeply, clenching his fists as he remembered the long sleepless nights, flinching at every noise and every shadow from the other beds, his wand clenched in his fist as he fought the gray shadows that attempted to ensnare him into sleep.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes (when did he close them..?) and saw Hermione watching him, her eyes soft. "So that's why you were always catnapping at meals."

"And why you have started sleeping in class." Drax added in, with Harry nodding along.

Peter ran his hand through his hair. "I felt safer with you guys." He admitted. "You would watch my back so I could actually sleep."

"We would've done that voluntarily, if you had just told us." Harry spoke softly. "We would've tried to help."

Peter just sat silently. He knew they would've helped, but… It was his problem. His friends didn't need it dumped on them. And he had been handling it… Though maybe he could've handled it better, probably by telling them before it had escalated to a point where he was in the Hospital Wing.

Rocket jumped up onto the bed, sitting on the edge with his tail twitching, just brushing Peter's side once. "So what made it go from no sleeping, to.. this?" He spoke gruffly, but Peter felt grateful for the quiet support from the tail softly brushing his bruised side all the same.

Glancing at his friends, Peter continued, "It's been getting worse since the first week, but after the whole flying and Remembrall thing… Well, Malfoy wasn't happy with me and his cronies were thrilled to express that for him, since he's not skilled enough magically to actually cause any damage. It took them a while to catch me." He snorted, "They were starting to call it 'Quill Hunting'. Come on, couldn't they at least give it a good name? I mean, really, I think a game devoted to catching me should have a much cooler name!"

Gamora rubbed her hand over her face. "At least his stupidity wasn't effected." She said wryly as Peter grinned sheepishly.

Rocket snorted. "I don't think he could ever not be an idiot. But at least he's not more of an idiot now."

"Geez Rocket, tell me how you really feel." Peter teased back, feeling his spirits lighten.

Drax spoke solemnly, "I am glad you are recovering, Peter, and I assure you that this will not be repeated." His voice was almost a growl. "Nobody hurts my friends."

Peter blinked, already shaking his head when he saw the rest of his friends (even Hermione, Ms. Must-Always-Obey-The-Rules! Apparently that ended once her friends started getting hurt…) nodding along. "Guys, it's fine, I can handle it, really!"

He could feel the dirty looks they were pointing at him, but Harry was the only one who spoke. "Really, Peter? You think we're going to sit back and watch this happen again eventually? What about next time we squabble with Malfoy? Will you ever be able to sleep in your dorm again?"

"Sleep deprivation is a real problem," Hermione chimed in. "It's not something to be taken lightly."

Harry shook his head, his eyes still clouded from guilt. "We're going to make sure it doesn't happen again." He promised, before moving towards the door purposefully.

Drax's hand caught Harry's shoulder before he moved too far though. "Wait, Harry. One of us should wait with Peter."

"Ok, so you stay."

Gamora exchanged glances with Peter, and Peter mentally winced. This was not going to be fun for any of them if he was right about their plan…

The half-elf girl sighed. "Harry, the only way to fix this is to go to the Head of House of the Slytherins, Professor Snape. You know Snape hates you. Your presence will only harm our efforts to convince him and he'll dismiss us right away if he thinks the idea came from you."

Drax was nodding quietly, not meeting Gamora's eyes when she glanced at him for support. He gently touched Harry's shoulder again. "It is a mark of a good warrior that he knows when to strike and when to hide in the shadows to await his opportunity to break the other's neck. This is a time to stay in the shadows."

Harry was wordlessly shaking his head, his clenched fists trembling, until he burst out, "I have to go too! I can help and Peter's my friend too." His voice caught a bit on the word 'friend,' and Peter blinked in surprise. He hadn't realized that Harry felt that guilty. And for what? He hadn't been the one to beat him up.

Peter knew the others were right though, so he (with a small sting of guilt) faked a yawn (it was totally fake…. Partially, at least), and spoke, "Actually, could you stay, Harry? I'd rather not have to take another of Pomfrey's potions to go to sleep…"

Harry visibly wavered, before, with a sigh, he gave in with a small nod.

Gamora grinned and nodded approvingly and disappeared out the door, with Drax and Hermione on her heels, Hermione's parting comment of "I'm sure he'll agree with our suggestion, Harry," earning a slight shake of the head from Peter.

Rocket waited a second longer, his back claws lazily swinging back and forth as he perched on the bed. Then he grinned with all his teeth, his eyes glinting with mischief and dark enjoyment. "This is going to be fun." He said, and Peter just blinked.

Rocket jumped off the bed and paused before he grabbed his tail, and tugged a bunch of hairs off, before tossing them on a couple of the other Hospital Wing beds.

Peter was still snickering after the raccoon-boy disappeared out the doorway after the others.

Peter glanced at Harry, smiling at the other boy, but Harry's stormy eyes didn't lighten. Peter frowned and opened his mouth to speak when the door banged open.

"Harry! What're you doing with this traitor?!"

Ron's face was flushed red and his eyes were blazing. Harry blinked in surprise before speaking, "Ron, Peter was here, he didn't betray us. He got beaten up and was trapped up here."

Ron blinked, once, twice, before he stood straighter and adopted a confused expression. "Oh… so Peter's not an evil betraying Snake?"

Peter gazed at the pair, seeing Harry squirming in guilt and avoiding his gaze and Ron looking confused and a bit disappointed.

"Nope," Harry said, "Peter's still our friend…"

Ron shuffled his feet awkwardly in the silence and rubbed the back of his head, his ears bright cherry red. "I, er, was actually in the middle of something, so I'm just going to…" and he ran out the door before Peter or Harry could say anything.

A beat of silence.

"Well, that was awkward."

Harry snorted in laughter before falling silent, but Peter managed to catch his eyes with his own before he looked away.

"Harry, what's up? You've been avoiding looking me in the eye since you've come in."

Harry was fiddling with his hands, not speaking, but Peter waited. He wasn't very patient, but he knew how to read people and Harry was going to break in 5… 4…. 3….

Harry broke, the quiet words spilling out like water, "I blamed you. When you didn't come, I was angry and I blamed you. I thought you betrayed me and, all that time, you were here, unconscious and injured and I was angry at you."

The black haired boy fell silent after his sudden splurge, his fingers locked in death grips on each other as he sat heavily on the other bed (on top of a few of Rocket's hairs, but Peter didn't think that Harry really would care…).

Peter eyed Harry. "Goddamn it, I was two off…" He muttered, before he met Harry's confused eyes. "Got it all off your chest? Good. I don't blame you and I forgive you for any random guilt you may have remaining," Peter said the last part in a fake, overly grandiose voice.

Harry blinked. "What?"

Peter sighed gustily. "I don't blame you, Harry. We've known each other for, what, a few weeks? It makes sense that you'd be a bit suspicious of me not showing up. Plus, I was hiding my issues from you guys, so you had no reason to think something was wrong."

Harry still looked unsure, and Peter softened his voice. "I don't blame you, Harry. I really don't."

The other boy hesitantly smiled and Peter grinned back before a very real yawn interrupted him. He blinked sleepily. Now that everything was settled, he could feel exhaustion tugging at his bones and his struggles against it were weakening…

Peter felt a hand clasp his shoulder and Harry's voice say, "Go to sleep, Peter. I'll keep watch."

With a last sigh, Peter let himself slip into the darkness of the first easy sleep he'd had in several weeks.

*0*0*0*

"No."

Hermione was shaking in her shoes as she faced Snape's desk.

Oh it was easy to stand and nod along with her friends when they were talking about stopping Peter from getting bullied again, but once they were actually here…

They weren't going after the boys (yet at least; Rocket had a dark glint in his eyes which made Hermione actually feel pity for the Slytherin bullies). Crabbe and Goyle were too stupid to do anything but follow Malfoy's orders and Malfoy already had a feud going against Harry and Peter (and the rest of them by default).

No, they were approaching the head honcho for the Snakes: Professor Snape himself.

And it was not going well.

"But, Professor-"

"I said no, Ms. Galonlithe. And that is my final answer. I shall not move the Slytherins just to accommodate one troublemaker who picks fights with the other, proper Slytherins and then blames them when he loses."

Hermione could feel her blood heat and her face flush in anger. Ok, Peter maybe was a bit of a troublemaker, but he hadn't picked that fight! And the dark circles under his eyes were not faked.

Gamora's fists were clenched so tight that the normally green skin was stretched thin and white, while Drax was almost trembling with suppressed anger. Rocket's tail was twitching madly (which would have made Hermione giggle if she wasn't so angry at Snape at the moment), and his eyes were narrowed as he tried to come up with an angle that would win them the argument.

It hit Hermione then. She felt a small smile creep up her lips. She was no Peter, talking his way out of trouble with his fine words, but she knew the right approach for this one. Her muggle father had faced problems at work once and he had complained about it many times at home.

"I could not believe the audacity of this woman, she kept implying that she'd use my colleagues or boss in order to get around me if I didn't bow right down to her. She hated taking no for an answer…"

Hermione cleared her throat before stepping forward hesitantly, her confidence wavering. But she saw her friends standing with her and she took strength from that. She needed to do this to protect her friends, and after the terror of watching their group falling apart around Peter's apparent betrayal and Gamora and Drax's argument (which they had apparently put aside for now), she would do anything to keep them together and safe.

They were her friends and she'd protect them.

She cleared her throat, "Professor, if you can't fix this problem, we'll have to take it to Professor McGonagall."

Snape turned towards her, his eyes like ice on hers. She was almost trembling and part of her was screaming 'This is a teacher! I can't argue with a TEACHER!' But Hermione shoved that part of her back.

She continued, her voice carefully innocent, "You see, sir, we're required to report any cases of bullying we see back to Professor McGonagall, who said that she'd personally look into them if the teacher witnessing it wouldn't. When she hears the severity of Peter's injuries, I'm sure she'll take action…."

The potions professor stood suddenly, spooking Hermione a few steps back until she almost ran into Drax and Rocket. Snape stared at them coldly, his eyes blazing in icy fury. "There is no need to bother Professor McGonagall, Ms. Granger, I can handle all the issues within my own House. I shall have Mr. Quill switch dorm rooms with Mr. Malfoy. Now if that's settled, will you all get out of my office?"

Hermione fled, her courage spent, but her grin still firmly in place. The four of them spilled out of the office, smiling in victory.

Gamora clapped Hermione on the back. "Nicely done, Hermione! I was really worried we wouldn't be able to convince him to listen to us."

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" Rocket asked as Drax nodded.

"My dad had someone in his office once who tried to do the same thing." Hermione explained. Everyone remained looking blankly at her. Hermione blinked at them, unsure whether she should try to explain further or just ponder over the fact that her friends apparently didn't understand what an 'office' was…

Drax cleared his throat. "Shall we return to Peter now? It will be curfew soon and we will not have another chance tonight."

The others nodded but Rocket spoke up, "I'll meet ya there; I need to look into somethin' real quick," before he disappeared into the castle.

Hermione exchanged confused looks with Drax, before, once again, following Gamora's lead into the confusing twists and turns of the castle.

*0*0*0*

Groot ambled towards the Hospital Wing, the small raccoon-boy perched on his shoulder. He had been wandering out of the Herbology area (he wasn't really supposed to, but, really, Herbology classes got pretty boring when the same thing was taught all the time and Groot was patient, but not that patient), when he had found Rocket racing down the halls from the seventh floor, practically squealing about finding "that stupid door!"

Groot had asked what Rocket was excited about, but the raccoon-boy had just scrambled up to his shoulder, perching up there like a little bird, chattering about Peter being in the Hospital Wing and how he had "found the perfect spot for the idiot to sleep!"

The giant tree creature was curious about this, so he had continued towards the Hospital Wing easily, talking with Rocket in low "I am Groot"s.

When they arrived, Gamora was perched on one of the beds, facing the door with a cool, calculating glint in her eye to cover her exhaustion from the long day. Drax was sitting with Hermione on the floor, leaning against Peter's bed and talking with low voices with occasional yawns, with Harry sitting on the bed next to Peter's, watching the blond boy quietly, his green eyes still slightly subdued.

Rocket leaped from Groot's shoulder onto one of the open beds, gleefully leaving almost-distinguishable dirty claw marks on the clean sheets.

His voice was like a whip crack in the previously silent room. "Come on, ya idiots! I found the perfect spot!" He glanced at Peter, who had woken and was blinking blearily up at the disproportionate duo, and continued, "We're gonna break ya out of here and take you somewhere better."

Peter woke up quickly. "I am on board with this." He grinned before sitting up carefully.

The others stood up and oriented themselves as Peter stood up slowly, Harry steadying him as Peter balanced himself for the first time in a full day.

"So, where are we going, raccoon-boy? And, hi Groot." Gamora yawned.

Rocket grinned. "Somewhere that no one can find us."

*0*0*0*

"Rocket, we are in front of a blank wall."

"I can see that, Drax, gimme a sec."

Rocket strolled up and down the hallway three times, and Groot smiled. He knew what the raccoon-boy doing, but the others were clearly confused. And semi-exhausted, especially Peter, who was still blinking sleepily. They had essentially walked out of the Hospital Wing (the mediwitch was still annoyed at them apparently), but Peter had been humming what he called the "Mission Impossible" theme song the entire time.

Groot didn't really understand what Peter had meant with the song, but it was a fun tune anyway.

Gamora jumped suddenly, her eyes wide. "A door just appeared!" She said, confused, and Hermione nearly squealed in excitement.

"Oh my god, it's the Room of Requirement, I didn't think it was real!" Hermione was nearly dancing in excitement, and the group, wide eyed (except for a very smug Rocket and a very amused Groot), entered the room.

The room was warm and dim. The floor sunk beneath their feet like it was a mattress itself and it was immensely soft. Soft blankets of muted colors were piled along the walls, except for one which was home to a large fireplace with a low, crackling fire inside it. Pillows were scattered everywhere, and, walking into the room itself was enough to make them all feel more sleepy.

Peter looked at it, curiously. "I'd ask how you know about it, but," he yawned, "I really need to sleep and this looks so comfortable…"

The others murmured agreement before moving to pull blankets and pillows into the center of the room, the mattress floor making them stumble several times.

Hermione mumbled, "We should be-" she yawned, "-going back to the dorms…"

"They won't miss us." Gamora shrugged as she created an almost nest to her liking.

Groot watched in amusement as the six children created a nest in the center of the room and then curled into it. They hadn't realized it, but they had essentially created one large bed for themselves and as they lay down, they cuddled together.

It wasn't perfect. Gamora nearly punched Drax for hitting her with his foot when she hadn't been paying attention to him, but soon they were all snuggled into a warm pile of little kids who hadn't had enough warmth in their lives.

Groot rested, his branches and roots taking hold of the wall as he watched over the kids and the door, keeping watch so they could finally sleep peacefully and safely.

*0*0*0*

PUPPY PILES ARE AWESOME, ok?

I promised fluff and fluff is equivalent to puppy piles. And apparently angsty guilt. But that's Harry's fault. Really.

I'm sorry, I really wanted them cuddling together. Most of them are rather emotionally damaged and now they have people they can trust. Wanting physical affection is reasonable and (for any slightly dirty minded people out there), they're eleven (or around). This is just snuggling and cuteness, I assure you.

Anyway, I desperately need to get back to my mounds and mounds of homework.

Please review and let's all hope I don't drown under my homework load. :D

See ya,

Scales