Hello yet again! I couldn't wait to post this. I just couldn't. Thanks to xXNaidaXx, Zantetsuken Reverse, Equality4Puppies, Crazy Awesome Neko, and Cookie05 for reviewing in the very short window between last post and this one - I believe it's only been about sixteen hours? Well, regardless, I don't own Hetalia or Harry Potter, for if I did I'd probably get more reviews~ (HINT HINT). And now a slightly unnecessary warning: this chapter centers largely around the Holocaust. I doubt it'll be some much of a touchy subject for modern Hetalia/HP fangirls, but it's worth mentioning anyway. Now enjoy the drama!


Chapter 11

"Um… so, who will go first today?" Britain asks hesitantly, walking into the Room of Requirement with a briefcase.

"What is that for, Britain?" Hungary asks, gesturing at the briefcase.

"It's our lesson. We're learning about boggarts today. They like small, enclosed spaces. One decided to move into this thing, and I thought we could use it," he explains, still not seeming all that keen on demonstrating.

"Cool! So what do we do with it?" Denmark asks excitedly.

"Um… when it's released, just point your wand at it and think of something funny and say riddikulus. So who's going first?"

"Dude, I will, 'cause I'm the hero!" America proclaims, pulling his wand from his robes and positioning himself to aim at the briefcase, which Britain had set on the floor.

"But-but you're a second year! What are you even doing here?! This is- you know what? It's not worth fighting it. Good luck, America." Britain pulls out his wand and opens the lock on the briefcase with a flick of his wrist.

For a second, nothing happens, but then a transparent whitish figure begins rising from the open briefcase. The ghost has no recognizable face, but instead its features change as the nations look on. Predictably, America screams like a girl and runs to the other side of the room.

It's Germany's turn to roll his eyes. "America, it is a ghost, and not even a real one at that. There is nothing to be afraid of, see?" Germany asks, stepping toward the ghostly figure, which is still hovering over the briefcase. He raises his wand to dismiss the ghost with the riddikulus spell, but before he gets the chance, the boggart begins to change.

The whitish ghost suddenly glows yellow and begins to shrink, compressing into a small golden necklace which floats at eye level in front of Germany. Curious about the change in the boggart, he reaches out to take it, and the necklace falls into his palm. The blond nation brings it up to his face to inspect the pendant.

For a second, nothing happens. Then the watching nations see a change in Germany. He begins shaking, and those observing from the sides can see tears rolling down his cheeks. Deciding that this is enough, Britain moves toward Germany to take care of the boggart himself.

"Don't come near me," Germany says.

"What? Germany, it's just a boggart, I can-"

"I said DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Germany shouts, his words echoing throughout the room. Britain hastily retreats to his former spot.

By this time, Italy is getting very concerned for his friend. "Germany, what's wrong?" he calls, rushing forward. Austria tries to grab him, anticipating what the boggart is showing Germany, but Italy slips away from his grasp.

Germany's shaking has subsided, but he still doesn't move from his place in front of the briefcase or discard the necklace. When Italy reaches his friend, gently touching his arm in an attempt to calm him, the blonde instead collapses to his knees. Italy drops with him. "Germany, what is it? Whatever it is, it'll be okay, right? It's always okay in the end."

Finally Germany turns his head, locking brimming cerulean eyes with the bright amber ones Italy finally opens. "No, Italy," he says slowly, as if each word pains him, which they probably do. "No, it's not always okay." He opens his hand and lets the necklace slide out onto the floor. As it hits the ground, he stands. "It was never okay." He spins on his heel and walks hurriedly out the door, leaving it to bang shut behind him. After a moment of stunned hesitation, Prussia runs after his brother, every hint of his normal mischievousness gone from his expression.

Britain carefully levitates the necklace and guides it back to the briefcase, which locks closed as the jewelry drops into it. The room breaks into a chorus of whispered speculations about what the boggart could have possibly been to make Germany – strong, tough Germany – break down like that.

Norway cuts in, instantly quieting the crowd of nations. "A boggart takes the form of its adversary's worst fear," he states matter-of-factly. "For America, this was a ghost. For Germany, whatever was on that necklace obviously brought back some painful memories. As nations, we certainly have enough of those."

"But what was it?" Turkey asks. All eyes turn to Italy.

"The – the necklace had the Star of David on it," he stutters.

"Why would Germany – oh, I get it; it's not the Star of David he's afraid of, it's the-" Spain begins, but cuts himself off at the menacing glances from many of the other nations. He doesn't need to complete his statement. The others know just as well.

-/|\-

"West – Ludwig – GERMANY!" Prussia calls, sprinting down the hall after his brother, who had broken into a run at some point and disappeared around a corner. He instantly regrets not attending any of the blonde's recent training sessions. How had he become so soft?

"Come on, Old Fritz, give me a little help here," he prays, looking up to the heavens – and in the process seeing a portrait of a medieval wizard with long hair and beard waving madly, signaling to him. Something tells Prussia to stop.

"Hail, there, you! Who are you chasing after? What's he running from?"

"He's my brother, and… I guess he's running from his past. Our past."

"He's in my House, though. He must have quite a past, if he's still that scared of it. The lad was crying, for heaven's sake."

"S***. It was a boggart. And he was too young back then…"

"Well, judging by your tie, you're in Slytherin, but you've a brave soul somewhere, and someone has to help your brother. He went downstairs."

"Thanks!" Prussia starts to head to the staircase.

"Wait! There's a staircase behind my portrait. It goes down to the ground floor. Intercept him." The painting swings forward, revealing a doorway to a cobweb-infested stairway. As Prussia hurries down, the painting calls after him, "Stay courageous, and keep your brother close! And do me a favor and tell Salazar's portrait in your common room that Godric says hello!"

-/|\-

How far away from the Room of Requirement Germany was planning to go Prussia does not know, but Gryffindor's portrait was right to send him around the long way to intercept his little brother. They get to the Entrance Hall at exactly the same time, literally running into each other in their haste, but Prussia is the more coherent at the moment, and he is able to grab his younger brother and hold him until he stops struggling. The albino pulls him over to a staircase and forces him to sit, repeating that action for himself as soon as he knows Germany won't try to get away. They sit in silence for a while. Then:

"Do you remember World War One?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, of course, West. It's hard to forget it."

"You did all the work. The Triple Alliance, the militarization, all of it. I was training that entire time."

"You were young, West. I wasn't about to be an unawesome brother and let you go to war and hurt yourself before you even looked old enough to join. And anyway, you got into the action eventually, right? You found Italy."

"Ja, but I didn't actually kill anyone during that war, not really. You basically ran both Prussia and Germany. And then World War Two came around."

Prussia knows where this is going, but he has to let it go there. "And you started fighting, really being in the conflict, then."

"Yes." There is a moment of silence. "But just after the beginning of the war proper, my idiot b****** of a boss thought I could use a little… maturing. He had a Jewish girl brought from Poland, only fourteen years old. She and I were taken to a little cabin outside Berlin where we were to spend the night. I took the bed for myself, left her to sleep on the floor. In the morning she was forced to stand outside, ten paces from the wall, all day. At dusk, I was made to stand at point-blank range and kill her while looking right at her."

"And the necklace was…"

"Hers. The necklace was hers." Germany wipes a stray tear before continuing. "And the worst part about killing her, bruder? I enjoyed it. She was an abomination, not just Jewish, but a Slav as well. So somehow, even staring into her eyes as I killed her, I thoroughly enjoyed it."

For a moment, even Prussia is lost for words. Then he lets out a weak, nervous chuckle, pulling Germany into an awkward side-hug. "West, we're nations. We are what our people are. If our people are happy, we're fine; if our people are trying to revolt… well, you're lucky you weren't around for the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic era. You think Francis has issues now? They're nothing compared to then. But really, West. You are Germany. If the Germans feel sadistic, so do you. It isn't your fault. It's the price we pay for being who we are. Immortality is f***ing awful sometimes."

"But she-"

"She would be long gone by now anyway. Besides, don't you think she or anyone else would forgive you if they knew the hell we've been through? Now come on, you scared some people when you ran off. We have stuff to do, bruder, and I wanna get to dinner on time."

"Is that seriously all you're thinking about right now? Food?"

"Kesesesesesese, West, France and China and Turkey got the house-elves to let them cook tonight. It isn't going to be any old horrible British-food day. Even you should appreciate that."

"I hate to admit it, but you have a point."

"So you're okay again? Back to being just slightly less awesome than the awesome me?"

"Shut up, bruder."

"Yep, you're okay. Kesesesese…"


Yep, this is the chapter I wrote a whole story around. America will forever be a party crasher. Even in lessons. XD I sort of feel bad for Britain, though. He didn't want to go through this particular lesson yet, and he sort of forgot what to do. But Norway pressured him into it. So Chapter 3's title is a bit off - you should only always take Norway's input into account.

A lot of people forget that Germany is one of the youngest nations. Oh, there's that entire hypothetical HRE argument, but if he can't remember anything before unification or whenever it was, he's still young mentally and emotionally. And Germany as a country has had so many issues - he shouldn't have to hold all that hurt in all the time. No wonder he snaps so often. Now are you starting to see why I put him in Gryffindor? Don't worry, this arc's not quite over yet, though it won't be back for a while.

I have a challenge for you now. Let's get up to (or beyond) 99 reviews with this chapter! Yes, 99 is a nice number. Something might happen for everyone who reviews this chapter if we get up to that number...

Köszönjük! Viszlát később! (Hungarian)

Translations:
bruder - brother, German