Good Run of Bad Luck
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Anyone who actually reads these gets a cookie.
AN: Whoa! Two updates within a week! I would say I'm on a roll, but I don't want to jinx myself and this chapter has been sitting on my computer for awhile mostly completed.
On another note, I've created a yahoo group for other writers and readers, who are interested in discussing their works or giving out ideas. It's called Through_the_back_door You can all see me there. It's still new so things are still getting up and running but if ya'll could check it out it'd be great.
Anyway, moving on to the reason you're all really here.
~Other end of Phone Conversations~
Chapter 10: Unexpected Conversations
Petunia Dursley stood in the kitchen of Number Four Privet Drive, up to her yellow rubber glove clad elbows in hot soapy dishwater. She halted her actions as she heard the front doorbell chime. A scowl marred her rather horse-like face. Who would be calling at this hour? It was still too early to be considered neighborly. Her husband, Vernon, had just left for work half an hour ago, taking their son, Dudley, with him to drop him off at a friend's house along the way.
She let out an irritated sigh and ripped off her gloves as another knock sounded at the door. As she made her way to the door, she decided the person at the door had to be selling something. Depending on what it was, she would act accordingly. When she finally opened the door, she saw two girls, no older than her son, a redhead and a brunette, standing on the porch.
"May I help you?" she asked politely, thinking them to be some of Dudley's little friends.
"Yes," the redhead smiled prettily, and Petunia thought she might be one of her Duddykins admirers. "We're actually here to ask you about your nephew."
"I have no nephew," she answered, her face loosing all friendliness and turning hard as stone. "I want you to leave my property at once."
"Mrs. Dursley," tears began pooling in the vivid brown eyes of the speaker, "you have to understand. We're really worried about Harry. H-he w-w-was in a tr-tragic p-p-potions a-accident."
The brunette put her arm around the redhead's shoulders and pulled her over in a comforting embrace.
"What? What type of accident?" against her better judgment, Petunia was disturbed by this news.
"Please, Mrs. Dursley, may we come inside?" the brunette asked, still holding her companion.
"O-of course," she nodded, moving aside to let the two girls in, besides, what would it really hurt to find out what had befallen her nephew.
She led the pair to the living room and had them sit on the couch as she perched on the edge of the loveseat. Normally, she would've offered them some form of refreshment, but she wasn't exactly feeling overly courteous to these 'witches'. She just wanted information, that was all.
"Forgive us, in our concern we didn't even introduce ourselves," the brunette smiled, and Petunia felt that it was very strained. "My name is Pansy, and my companion here is Ginny, she's Harry's fiancé."
"Pleasure, I'm sure," she nodded stiffly but didn't even attempt to smile. "Now, what did that boy get himself into this time?"
"Oh, it was horrible," Pansy shook her head, as Ginny's sobs became louder. "He was brewing a potion and it exploded in his face and covered him from head to foot. The next thing we knew he was transformed into a five year old."
"Th-that's…" Petunia didn't have the words to express exactly what she was feeling.
"I know," the former Slytherin nodded. "But we tried to help him, but he didn't recognize us. He ran away. We tried to stop him, but he was too quick for us. After that, we read up on the potion he was making, and it said that his mind was that of the age he'd turned into."
"W-we figured h-he w-would come here," Ginny looked up and sniffed. "Since he lived here at that age."
"He's not here," the Muggle sighed. "We haven't seen him since he left, right before his birthday. But I will keep an eye out for him."
"That would be appreciated," Pansy gave a relieved sigh. "If he does show up, could you please let us know, you can reach us at this address," she handed Petunia a piece of paper. "We would be more than happy to pick him up and take him off your hands."
"Alright," Petunia nodded, examining the paper. "I can do that."
"In the meantime," Ginny sat up, her tears miraculously gone, "Imperio! You never saw us. We were not here. Now go about your business."
Petunia nodded vaguely and headed back into the kitchen. Pansy and Ginny shared a frustrated look before they apparated out.
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Hermione Granger sat curled up in an armchair in the living room of the apartment she shared with her fiancé, once again reading about the recent events of Muggle history. She had just reached a particularly interesting section on the Gundams when the phone that had been given to her by her new boss started ringing. She set the book face down, still open, across the arm of the chair and got up to retrieve the device from the bedroom. Before she could answer it, however, a loud CRACK sounded behind her. She whirled around, wand raised, only to lower it a moment later when she recognized what had caused the disturbance.
"Kreacher?! What are you doing here?" she asked, her hand over her rapidly beating heart.
"Master is telling Kreacher to bring this to his Muggleborn friend," he held out an envelope.
"Harry sent this?" she took the letter tentatively. "Where is he? When is he coming back?"
"Kreacher cannot say," the little elf hedged with a shrug.
"Well, when you see him next please tell him to give me a call," she scowled. "We're all so worried about him."
"Kreacher will see what he can do," he looked away from her. "But Kreacher makes no promises." And with that being said, he disappeared with another loud CRACK.
The bushy haired witch shook her head and proceeded to open the letter.
Hermione,
Tell Kingsley I'm interested, but it's going to be awhile before I can actually meet with him. I'm currently dealing with a few issues. I'll tell you more about it later, I'm not sure this letter will actually get to you safely. Not that I don't trust Kreacher, there's just been some things going on. Anyway, I'll try and call as soon as I can, but with things how they are it isn't going to be easy.
Harry
She smiled as she reached the end. It was so like Harry to ramble on even in a letter. Well, she'd just have to inform her new boss about his answer. She would do that the next time they saw one another. Just as she was about to turn and leave the bedroom again, the cell phone started ringing again.
"Damn it, stupid Kreacher!" she threw her hands up and turned around to retrieve the phone. "He made me forget all about this." She clicked on the device and put it to her ear, "Hello?"
~Miss Granger,~ the smooth voice of her boss filled the air. ~When I assigned you this phone, I expected you to answer it the first time I called, not the second.~
"I-I'm sorry, sir," she stuttered slightly. "I didn't mean to, I had an unexpected guest. It won't happen again."
~See that it doesn't, Miss Granger,~ Treize said quietly. ~Now, on to the matter at hand. I just received word from Lady Une that you need to report to the London branch of Preventers Headquarters to submit a DNA sample for their records.~
"I understand," she nodded, not that he could see it. "When do I need to be there?"
~I will be meeting with you and the rest of the team within the hour, so please try not to be late.~
"Of course," brown eyes rolled in slight annoyance, as if she would do anything but. "I'll be there."
~Excellent. I'll see you there.~ With that the line disconnected.
Hermione sighed as she turned the phone off. Why did it seem like her new boss knew how to work someone? True, he was once the ruler of the entire Earth Sphere, but still, he reminded her a lot of Dumbledore. She just sincerely hoped he wasn't as warped as the old headmaster had been.
Roughly an hour later, the young witch apparated to Preventer Headquarters. Waiting outside were the three other members of the team, but not their boss.
"Right, and he tells us not to be late," she muttered quietly under her breath.
"Ah, it is so good of you to finally join us, Miss Granger," as if on cue the door to the building opened and out strode their fearless leader. "And now that we are all here, if the four of you would please follow me. We should be out of here shortly."
With that being said, he ushered the four teens into the building. He motioned them to the elevator, throwing a charming smile at the girl manning the front desk. Once they were safely enclosed within the lift, Treize quickly threw up a silencing charm and then turned to face his team.
"Now that we've got a little bit of privacy for a moment, there are a few things I need to explain," he began. "As I explained on the phone, we're here today so the four of you can be registered within the Preventer system. This requires a blood sample and a little bit of paperwork. Once that is completed, you will officially be members of the Preventers and official citizens of the Earth Sphere Unified Nations."
"So what were we before?" Blaise asked quietly. "I thought we were all citizens."
"As members of the Wizarding World," the former OZ general put his hands behind his back, "you were registered differently, especially within this new system that has been set up. Now as I was saying, once this is completed, I will be in contact with Lady Une so that we can meet with the rest of our team. After that, we will begin our official missions."
The four teens nodded in understanding just as the doors opened. Treize once again ushered them out and down the long hallway. At the end of the hallway, he opened a stainless steel door and motioned them inside.
"Have a seat," a woman in a lab coat at the other end of the room called as soon as the door closed behind them. "I'll be with you in a moment."
"Take your time, Ms. Po, we're in no hurry," Treize waved his crew into seats.
The doctor looked up at the sound of her name, "Oh, it's you. Lady Une told me that you'd be here."
"Well, she never was one for surprises," the former OZ general sighed. "She never lets me have a bit of fun. Since that's the case, I guess we'll just wait for you to be done."
"General," Sally sighed as she turned in her chair to face the man before her.
"It's just Tristan now, Tristan Roberts, General Khushrenada is dead," he began examining his nails.
"Fine then, Mr. Roberts," brown eyes rolled in slight annoyance. "We are currently waiting for the other members of this little team before I begin the examinations. Lady Une wanted this taken care of all at one time."
"Ah, I see," a slight frown marred the aristocratic features. "Well then, I believe it is time for me to be going. You four," he turned to the three wizards and one witch, "you stay and do whatever tests are required of you. Oh, and Miss Granger, Kingsley tells me you are an excellent spell caster, please be sure before you leave to put up anti apparition wards." With that being said, he disappeared with a small pop.
"What the hell was that about?" one of the redheads asked in confusion.
"No idea, Fred," his twin shook his head.
"I'm assuming that was what Une was talking about," the doctor let out a long slow breath. "Well, I believe we can start with introductions. I'm Dr. Sally Po, Agent Waters around here, I'm the lead medic within this organization. It shouldn't take too much longer for the others to get here, but you can tell me who you are while we wait. Why don't we start with you two?" she indicated the twins.
"Fred Weasley," the one with the missing ear gave a cheeky grin.
"Ugh, George," the bushy haired brunette groaned. "You'll have to forgive them, they're notorious pranksters. That's George Weasley and the other is his brother, Fred. You can tell because George has a missing ear, he lost it about a year ago."
"I see," Sally shook her head, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. "I'm sure they'll get along great with some of our other agents. And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Hermione Granger, I should've said that first, sorry," she gave a slight smile.
"It's alright," the former Alliance Major smiled. "And you?"
"Blaise Zabini," the former Slytherin answered.
"Right," she nodded and turned her chair back around to the computer. "With that I'll start on your files. And we'll just wait for the rest of the team to get here."
"Um, excuse me," Hermione stood up and made her way over to the doctor, "but can you tell us a bit more about the rest of the team that will be joining us? I mean, I know that there's one member missing from our side, but what are the others like?"
"Truthfully?" Sally chuckled, not turning away from the screen. "I can't describe them to you, you'll just have to meet them for yourselves."
"Oh," the bushy haired girl sighed. "Well then, what exactly do we need to do? For the tests, I mean."
"That I can actually answer," the twin tails moved slightly as the doctor shook her head. "Here in a few minutes I'm going to need a blood sample from each of you, that's for the FRA database and standard records. And I'll need your height, weight, eyesight; it's all standard procedure."
"I see," Hermione nodded. "Shouldn't we get started then?"
"Yes, I think we should," Sally nodded, pushing to her feet. "The others should be here soon, and they only need pre-mission checkups anyway, which normally wouldn't take very long, with them, however, it could take hours. Anyway, I can start with you if you'd like."
"That's fine," the former Gryffindor girl smiled. "I've been through this stuff before, but them," she indicated the others, "they're new to all this."
"I see," Sally smiled. "I'll be sure to go step by step with you so they know exactly what to expect."
"Alright," Hermione nodded and followed the doctor.
After a few minutes, Hermione was done, shortly followed by the other three. The doctor was just finishing with the last one when the door opened and four teen boys walked into the room.
"Finally," brown eyes rolled in annoyance. "It's about time you boys showed up. Where's Duo?"
"He's at home," the tall unibanged boy answered. "We couldn't find a babysitter. He volunteered"
In that case, he'll just have to come by tomorrow," the former major motioned the four in. "Have a seat boys, and I'll make sure you're up to code for your next assignment."
"Thank you so much, Miss Sally," the small blond smiled. "Lady Une was rather vague on the details of our next case."
"You probably know about as much as I do," Sally shrugged. "And unfortunately, the one who could've explained it all, just left a few minutes ago."
"Why are we here then?" the shaggy haired brunet asked stoically.
"You can take that up with Lady Une, she was the one that ordered a fit for duty physical for you five," the doctor turned back to her computer. "Besides, the rest of your team is here as well. You can take this opportunity to meet them."
"Oh," the small blond of the group turned and spotted the four wizards. "I'm so sorry, we didn't see you. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. This is Trowa Barton," he indicated the tall auburn haired teen. "Wufei Chang, and Heero Yuy," he motioned to the last two of the group.
"It's nice to meet you," the bushy haired girl smiled. "I'm Hermione Granger. These two over here are Fred and George Weasley, and that's Blaise Zabini."
"Well, now that that's over," the doctor pushed to her feet. "It's time for your physicals, boys."
All four nodded and began taking off their shirts for the examination. However, no one noticed the contemplative look on the shaggy haired brunet's face or the looks he kept sending in Hermione's direction.
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Harry Potter wandered around the long hallways of the house he now found himself in. He was currently almost alone, with only Duo present at the time being. The other four occupants of the house, including his brother, were out at the Preventers office in London.
While most of the time he cursed the fact that he had been shrunk to his new size, like when he was trying to rush up the stairs and ended up crawling on all fours just to make it faster, but there were definite perks to being mistaken as a five year old. Because of his size, he had discovered quite a bit about his housemates that he probably wouldn't have known had he been his normal size. Like the fact that all five of them were Preventers, or at least part time in Quatre's case. No, he had found out that the blond owned most of outer space, or something to that effect. His brother, Trowa, also worked part time with a circus troupe, which he considered a makeshift family of sorts. Duo liked making jokes out of just about everything, but doesn't like talking about himself or his past at all. Wufei was quiet most of the time, unless he was the brunt of one of the braided teen's jokes, but he had found out that the Chinese teen was the last member of his family and that he cared for the other members in the household as if they were now his family. And Heero, well, he hadn't found out much about the stoic brunet.
He really wanted to talk to Heero about what was bothering him, but after what had happened shortly after arriving, with the bath, he was hesitant to talk to him at all. Of course, the brunet wasn't exactly seeking Harry out either, in fact, he was downright avoiding him.
As he made his way through the house, he found his feet had taken him right outside Quatre's office. The blond had invited him inside on multiple occasions but he had refused, just for the principle of it. He still hadn't forgiven him for the toy incident. However, he'd always been interested about what was in the office. So, with his insatiable curiosity well intact, he grabbed the knob and carefully pushed his way inside. He went over to the massive desk in the middle of the room and climbed into the big chair behind it. As he twirled around in the chair, he was reminded, for a brief moment, of Dumbledore's office, but that quickly faded as he looked around at the lack of spinning and whirling objects.
He was just about to break down and cry at the thought of his former headmaster when he was brought from his musings by a muffled ringing coming from the desktop. His eyes narrowed slightly as he began looking around for the source of the noise. He finally located the source coming from under a rather large pile of disorderly papers. It was a small cell phone that he'd seen before, mostly at the blond's ear. He hesitated a moment before he picked up the device and clicked the talk button.
"Hello?" he said as he put it to where his human ear would be.
~Hello?~ a confused female voice echoed. ~Who is this?~
"Who's this?" Harry countered.
The person on the other end took a deep breath, ~This is Relena. Can you please give the phone to Quatre?~
"He's not here," the chibified wizard answered.
~Oh,~ she seemed slightly deflated. ~Well, can you tell me who is there?~
"Just me," the raven haired neko shrugged, clambering out of the chair and making his way to the door. "And Duo."
~Oh. Oh,~ Relena hesitated. ~Just… let Quatre know I called when he gets back, okay?~
"Okay," Harry drawled, having made it to the top of the stairs. "I can get Duo."
~No, no, that's alright,~ she stammered. ~I'll try again later.~
With that the line went dead. Green eyes stared incredulously at the phone as he pulled it away from his ear. Just as he was about to turn back to the office to put the device away, the braided teen found him.
"Hey there, Kitty," he lifted the chibi into his arms, much to the shrunken wizard's dismay. "Whatcha got there?"
"Quatre's phone," he held out the little machine.
"And what are you doing with Kitty Quat's phone?" Duo took the phone.
"Relena called," he shrugged.
"Relena?" the braided teen pulled a face. "Why would Queeny be calling Quat?"
"Queeny?" the chibi asked.
"It's nothing, Kitty," Duo ruffled the already messy black locks. "What'd ya say we get some lunch?"
"Okay," Harry frowned, trying in vain to flatten his hair.
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Once they were finished with their physical evaluations, the former Gundam pilots gathered their things and made their way from the medical bay. The four new members of their supposed team followed them out.
"Well," the blond smiled at the newcomers, "I believe this is where we part for now. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other very soon."
"It was nice meeting all of you," the lone female smiled, extending her hand.
"Granger," the former Wing pilot spoke up, "a word?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," the witch frowned slightly.
Heero nodded and led her off to the side. Once he was sure they were out of earshot of the others, which was quite a bit further considering the former pilots' hearing, he turned to face her. Prussian blue eyes regarded her seriously. Hermione fidgeted slightly under the intense stare.
"You wanted something?" she finally said, hoping to leave soon, this man made her uneasy.
"Do you know Harry Potter?" he asked bluntly.
"What?" she was taken aback, not only by his audacity, but also by his question. How would this agent know about Harry Potter? "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"Harry Potter," he scowled. "Do you know him or not? If not just say so."
"And if I do?" she countered.
"So you do know him," it wasn't a question. "Good. He's been trying to contact you."
"Wait," her eyes widened. "You know where he is? Is he okay? Why would you know? He isn't in any kind of trouble is he?"
"He's fine," Heero sighed minutely. "And he is currently staying with us. As for why, you can ask him that yourself. And trouble is a relative term. Come with me."
With that being said, he grabbed her arm and started dragging her back toward the others.
"Wait, what, stop," she protested, trying in vain to free her arm from the steely grip.
Ammi: I know it's been awhile since I've posted on this, but I've been trying. Hopefully things will work out soon and I'll get back into my writing. Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy and please check out the group.