Castle Guards
Castle Guards
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto or Harry Potter things wouldn't have turned out the same, as this story proves, so guess what, not mine.
AN: Well, this chapter didn't get out as fast as I wanted it too, I was hoping to have it up last Wednesday as a birthday present to me, but didn't work out that way cause I was out of town for two weeks. Anyway, here it is!
Once again, large sections of the book is in this chapter cause I wanted some ninja interaction with certain scenes.
As usual I have a few requests or whatever you want to call them to add here before getting to the story. First off, does anyone know how far one can travel with Apparation? That comes up in the sequel, but I was wondering how many stops I should put in between London and Japan, any suggestions will be taken under consideration.
Secondly, I'm planning some citrusy stuff for the next chapter or so, but have no idea how to go about writing it, this is my first yaoi fic and my bounce board is once again MIA, any help on that arena would be much appreciated.
Alright, enough of my ramblings, here's the next chapter.
"Japanese"
"Kyuubi"
'Naruto's thoughts'
Chapter 14: Interesting Lessons and Strange Dreams
"Get away from him, Malfoy!" a cold voice sounded from the doorway.
Malfoy stopped his assault on the blonde shinobi to glance over his shoulder at the intruder. His face paled as he took in the stoic redhead standing there with his arms folded across his chest.
"What do you want Sabaku?" Malfoy attempted to sneer, but the fear in his voice didn't let him manage it too well.
"Naruto, do you need my help?" Gaara ignored the Slytherin in favor of his friend.
"Not really," the blonde scratched the back of his neck.
Gaara just raised a nonexistent brow as if to say he doubted it. Naruto chuckled nervously and made his way over to his friend. Malfoy made a grab to stop the blonde ANBU but at a subtle move from Gaara, which caused sand to propel him across the room and pin him to the wall, thought better of it.
As soon as the two shinobi were on their way back to Gryffindor tower, Gaara broke the silence.
"What was that about?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know," the blonde shrugged. "He just cornered me."
"And you couldn't have fought him off?" the redhead asked curiously.
"I didn't want to compromise the mission," Naruto said sheepishly.
"That is no reason for you to let him get away with something like that," the Kazekage said sternly. "I don't want to have to find you in another situation like that. You are a shinobi, protect yourself like one, understand?"
"Yes Gaara," the ANBU sighed. "I'll not let anyone corner me again."
"You'd better not," Gaara stared him down. "There might not be someone to help next time."
"There won't be a next time, and even if there was I wouldn't need anyone's help," the blonde pouted.
"If you say so," the redhead acquiesced.
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It was with a certain amount of apprehension that Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed down to Hagrid's on Tuesday, heavily muffled against the cold. The shinobi had their own tension among them since Naruto and Neji still weren't talking, and now Kiba and Shino were ostracizing the pale eyed brunette too, Sakura and Temari seemed to be at odds as well, though no one knew why.
"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark…."
"What prefers the dark?" Harry heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice. "What did he say prefers the dark—did you hear?"
"Gaara," Naruto snuck up behind the other blonde and whispered in his ear, causing the Slytherin to pale considerably. "Gaara prefers the dark, makes the kill that much easier."
"Ready?" said Hagrid brightly, looking around at the class. "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em—"
"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" said Malfoy, the panic in his voice even more pronounced now. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"
The Slytherins murmured agreement and a few Gryffindors looked as though they thought Malfoy had a fair point too.
"Nope, Gaara's not trained at all, unless you count the training he was given to kill," Naruto taunted so only Malfoy could hear.
"'Course they're trained," said Hagrid, scowling and hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder.
"So what happened to your face, then?" demanded Malfoy.
"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily. "Now if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!"
He turned and strode straight into the forest. Nobody seemed much disposed to follow, except the shinobi. Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, who sighed but nodded, and the three of them set off after Hagrid, leading the rest of the class.
They walked for about ten minutes until they reached a place where the trees stood so closely together that it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow on the ground at all. Hagrid deposited his half a cow with a grunt on the ground, stepped back, and turned to face his class again, most of whom were creeping toward him from tree to tree, peering around nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any moment.
"Gather roun', gather roun'," said Hagrid, encouragingly. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me…."
He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed; most of them were too scared to make a sound.
Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again. A minute passed in which the class continued to peer nervously over their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whatever it was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid shook his hair back for a third time and expanded his enormous chest, Harry nudged Ron and pointed into the black space between two gnarled yew trees, where all the shinobi were already staring.
A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness. It surveyed the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs.
A great wave of relief broke over Harry. Here at last was proof that he had not imagined these creatures, that they were real: Hagrid knew about them too. He looked eagerly at Ron, but Ron was still staring around into the trees and after a few seconds he whispered, "Why doesn't Hagrid call again?"
Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Ron's and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse feet from them. There were only two other people, aside from the shinobi, who seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy standing just behind Goyle and was watching the horse eating with an expression of great distaste on his face, and Neville, whose eyes were following the swishing progress of the long black tail.
Naruto suddenly pointed to the trees again.
"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery wings closer to its body, and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. "Now… put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"
Immensely pleased to feel that he was at last going to understand the mystery of these horses, Harry raised his hand. He was immediately followed by all eight of the foreigners. Hagrid nodded at him.
"Yeah… yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he said seriously. "An' you too, Neville, eh? An'—"
"Excuse me," said Malfoy in a sneering voice, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
For answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Parvati squealed. Harry understood why: Bits of flesh stripping themselves away from the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look very odd indeed.
"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"
"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Hermione gave a soft "oh!" of comprehension at Harry's shoulder. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows—?"
"But they're really, really unlucky!" interrupted Parvati, looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once—"
"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "tha's jus' superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! 'Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate—an' here's another couple, look—"
Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Parvati, who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"
"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," said Hagrid patiently. "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' you can see them an' some can't?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Go on then," said Hagrid, beaming at her.
"The only people who can see thestrals," she said, "are people who have seen death."
"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points ter Gryffindor. Now, thestrals—"
"If anyone asks," Gaara said quietly to the rest of the shinobi, "just give the first person you saw die, or the first one you can remember the name of."
"Hai," the others nodded.
"Hem, hem."
Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a few feet away from Harry, wearing her green hat and cloak again, her clipboard at the ready. Hagrid, who had never heard Umbridge's fake cough before, was gazing in some concern at the closest thestral, evidently under the impression that it had made the sound.
"Hem, hem."
"Oh hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located the source of the noise.
"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow voice she had used with him earlier, as though she was addressing somebody both foreign and very slow. "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?"
"Oh yeah," said Hagrid brightly. "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see—or, I dunno—can you? We're doin' thestrals today—"
"I'm sorry?" said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning. "What did you say?"
Hagrid looked a little confused.
"Er—thestrals!" he said loudly. "Big—er—winged horses, yeh know!"
He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully. Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard, "'has… to… resort… to… crude… sign… language…'"
"Well… anyway…" said Hagrid, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered. "Erm… what was I sayin'?"
"'Appears… to… have… poor… short… term… memory…'" muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for everyone to hear her. Draco Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage.
"Oh yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge's clipboard, but plowing on valiantly. "Yeah, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, "name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favorite, firs' one born here in the forest-"
"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified thestrals as 'dangerous'?"
Harry's heart sank like a stone, but Hagrid merely chuckled.
"Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ', they might take a bite outta you if yeh really annoy them—"
"'Shows… signs… of… pleasure… at… idea… of… violence…'" muttered Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard again.
"No—come on!" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious now. "I mean, a dog'll bite if yeh bait it, won' it—but thestrals have jus' got a bad reputation because o' the death thing—people used ter think they were bad omens, didn' they? Jus' didn' understand, did they?"
Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudly and slowly, "Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk"—she mimed walking—Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were having silent fits of laughter—"among the students"—she pointed around at individual members of the class—"and ask them questions." She pointed to her mouth to indicate talking.
Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss to understand why she was acting as though he did not understand normal English. Hermione had tears of fury in her eyes now.
"You hag, you evil hag!" she whispered, as Umbridge walked toward Pansy Parkinson. "I know what you're doing, you awful, twisted, vicious—"
"Erm… anyway," said Hagrid, clearly struggling to regain the flow of his lesson, "so—thestrals. Yeah. Well, there's loads o' good stuff abou' them…."
"Do you find," said Professor Umbridge in a ringing voice to Pansy Parkinson, "that you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"
Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but these were tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was almost incoherent because she was trying to suppress her giggles. "No… because… well… it sounds… like grunting a lot of the time…."
Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. The few unbruised bits of Hagrid's face flushed, but he tried to act as though he had not heard Pansy's answer.
"Er… yeah… good stuff abou' thestrals. Well, once they're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' senses o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go—"
"Assuming they can understand you, of course," said Malfoy loudly, and Pansy Parkinson collapsed in a fit of renewed giggles. Professor Umbridge smiled indulgently at them and then turned to Neville.
"You can see the thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" she said.
Neville nodded.
"Whom did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.
"My… my grandad," said Neville.
"And what do you think of them?" she said, waving her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a great deal of the carcass down to the bone.
"Erm," said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid. "Well, they're… er… okay…."
"'Students… are… too… intimidated… to… admit… they… are… frightened….'" muttered Umbridge, making another note on her clipboard.
"No!" said Neville, looking upset, "no, I'm not scared of them—!"
"It's quite all right," said Umbridge, patting Neville on the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be an understanding smile, though it looked more like a leer to Harry. "Well, Hagrid," she turned to look up at him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I've got enough to be getting along with…. You will receive"—she mimed taking something from the air in front of her—"the results of your inspection"—she pointed at her clipboard—"in ten days' time." She held up ten stubby little fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike than ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from their midst, leaving Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson in fits of laughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury, and Neville looking confused and upset, and the shinobi looking after her incredulously.
"One… would… think…" Naruto mimicked her loud and obnoxious tone, "she'd… get… the… idea… after… a… little… while… that… no… one… here… is… actually… stupid… except… her. Honestly, Gamakichi talks better than she does."
Most of the Gryffindors chuckled, while the Slytherins were glaring daggers at him.
"So, Hagrid-sensei," the blonde turned back to the half giant, "you were saying?"
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"That foul, lying, twisted old gargoyle!" stormed Hermione half an hour later, as they made their way back up to the castle through the channels they had made earlier in the snow. "You see what she's up to? It's her thing about half-breeds all over again—she's trying to make out Hagrid's some kind of dim-witted troll, just because he had a giantess for a mother—and oh, it's not fair, that really wasn't a bad lesson at all—I mean, all right, if it had been Blast-Ended Skrewts again, but thestrals are fine—in fact, for Hagrid, they're really good!"
"Umbridge said they're dangerous," said Ron.
"Well, it's like Hagrid said, they can look after themselves," said Hermione impatiently, "and I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them to us before N.E.W.T. level, but, well, they are very interesting, aren't they? The way some people can see them and some can't! I wish I could."
"Do you?" Harry asked her quietly.
She looked horrorstruck.
"Oh Harry—I'm sorry—no, of course I don't—that was a really stupid thing to say—"
"It's okay," he said quickly, "don't worry…."
"I'm surprised so many people could see them," said Ron. "Eleven in a class—"
"Yeah, Weasley, we were just wondering," said a malicious voice nearby. Unheard by any of them in the muffling snow, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking along right behind them, followed closely by the shinobi. "D'you reckon if you saw someone snuff it you'd be able to see the Quaffle better?"
He, Crabbe, and Goyle roared with laughter as they pushed past on their way to the castle and then broke into a chorus of "Weasley Is Our King." Ron's ears turned scarlet.
"Ignore them, just ignore them," intoned Hermione, pulling out her wand and performing the charm to produce hot air again, so that she could melt them an easier path through the untouched snow between them and the greenhouses.
"He still hasn't learned his lesson," Gaara said, his eyes narrowing dangerously on the blonde Slytherin. "Maybe another example should be given."
"Gaara," Naruto placed a restraining hand on the Kazekage. "You know we can't kill him, no matter how much he annoys us."
"For you, Naruto, and only for you," the redhead sighed dejectedly, causing all the others to look at him curiously; the wizarding students out of shocked incredulity and the shinobi out of something akin to amusement.
"So guys," Ron turned his head and looked at the shinobi, who were about ten paces behind them, "who all did you see die?"
"Ron!" Hermione scolded, trying desperately to tell the shinobi with her eyes not to listen to him. "That's exceedingly rude…."
"Naw, Hermione," Naruto waved her off, "it's okay. We've all seen someone die before, we're not ashamed of it, nor are we that affected by it, honestly, it's not like we actually knew…" he caught Gaara's eye, "Shutting up."
"I saw my uncle, Yashamaru, die when I was five," the Kazekage said stoically, absently reaching up and tracing the ai tattoo on his forehead. "He killed himself."
"Oh," Ron looked shocked, "sorry."
"Don't be," Gaara shrugged, his hand falling to his side, "he was trying to kill me."
"Well, I saw Haku and Zabuza die," Naruto spoke up, to save Gaara some unwanted questions. "Haku was a great guy, just trying to protect his precious person, but Zabuza was a real ass."
"He wasn't all bad," Sakura interrupted. "Remember, in the end all he wanted was to be with Haku but thought he couldn't. You can't blame him for the way he was trained."
"So you saw those two die as well?" Hermione asked, suddenly curious.
"Yeah," the pinkette nodded. "They were killed by a band of thieves."
"What about the rest of you?" Harry piped up, now interested in how much these foreigners had seen.
"Kidoumaru," Neji said quietly. "He died of massive internal damage from a battle."
"Sakon and Ukon," Kiba smirked, looking over at Kankuro. "They got on the wrong side of Crow."
"It was Black Ant," Kankuro shook his head. "They actually got on the wrong side of an Iron Maiden, Kiba and I just have a running joke about what the name of the thing was."
"Tayuya," Temari chuckled slightly at some private joke, "she was crushed by a tree."
"Shino?" Harry looked at the bug ninja curiously. "You haven't said anything, but I know you can see the thestrals, you were watching them close enough."
"I saw someone die, yes," he shrugged, "though I don't know who it was, it was just a random person in the forest."
"Huh?" Kiba looked at him curiously. "Oh yeah, him, I remember."
"You were there?" Hermione's brow furrowed in thought.
"Yeah," the shaggy haired brunette shrugged, casting a sidelong look at the Kazekage. "We were doing an assignment together in the forest and happened on it, it was rather scary actually. Even Akamaru was worried."
"I can't believe you've seen that much death," the witch shook her head, her thoughts going a mile a minute.
"As I told Harry before," Naruto cut in as they reached the greenhouse, "death is a natural part of life, you've got to learn to accept it or you'll go insane. I had a friend who never moved on from the death of his family, he betrayed everyone to get more power to be able to defeat their killer, almost killed me in the process."
This left the wizarding students speechless and the shinobi giving him curious glances, wondering if he'd breakdown at the mention of said friend.
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December arrived, bringing with it more snow and a positive avalanche of homework for the fifth years. The shinobi managed to stay on top of things quite well, along with keeping up with their charges, which was made difficult for two of the teams as Ron and Hermione had prefect duties to attend to. Naruto had managed to get back to his old bubbly self, with the help of Kyuubi and, surprisingly enough, Gaara. Neji still hadn't figured out if he could stand up to his uncle, which caused Kiba to become even more intolerant of him.
The last D.A. meeting of the holidays arrived and the shinobi followed their respective charges to the Room of Requirement. Naruto had a silent laughing fit as he saw the decorations but managed to keep his cover as Harry removed them all. Finally all of the members were there.
"Okay," Harry said, calling them all to order. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break—"
"We're not doing anything new?" said Zacharias Smith, in a disgruntled whisper loud enough to carry through the room. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come…."
"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," said Fred loudly.
Several people sniggered. Harry saw Cho laughing and felt the familiar swooping sensation in his stomach, as though he had missed a step going downstairs, but it wasn't nearly as strong as before.
"We can practice in pairs," said Harry. "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, just for ten minutes, then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."
They all divided up obediently; Harry partnered Neville as usual. The ninja were, amazingly enough, allowed to pair up together and, Harry was happy to note, did quite well with their techniques.
At the end of an hour, Harry called a halt.
"You're getting really good," he said, beaming around at them. "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff—maybe even Patronuses."
There was a murmur of excitement. The room began to clear in the usual twos and threes.
Outside the room, Naruto and Gaara set up post at the corner, waiting for their charge. As Ron and Hermione passed them, Neji whispered something to Kankuro and broke off, coming over to his captain and the Kazekage.
"Naruto, would it be possible to have a word with you," the brunette gave a pointed look at Gaara, "in private."
The blonde shared a look with his companion before nodding that he could handle this, and the Kazekage nodded once before turning away from the two Leaf ANBU to watch for his charge. Naruto led the way down the hall to a deserted classroom and then turned to his lieutenant.
"What did you need to talk about, Neji?" he asked, his voice professional, not wanting to get hurt by the Hyuuga again.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry," the brunette sighed, leaning against the wall. "I doubted you, and more importantly, I doubted myself, and by doing that I hurt you. For that I am sorry."
"Is this an 'I'm sorry, I want to fight this thing with your help' or an 'I'm sorry I hurt you, but I'm still not going to fight this and I'm just trying to make up excuses again'?"
"I am sorry I hurt you, and I do want to fight this," Neji bowed his head. "Kiba made me realize how weak I was being by not standing up to my uncle; if I can't shake his leash off half a world away, how am I ever going to stand up to him face to face. I care for you, Naruto, I do. I respect you as my captain and my friend, but I want more than that. I can't promise that I won't struggle with this again, but I will promise to listen and hear what you have to say. I love you, Naruto, and if you will take me back, I promise I will try my best to make things up to you."
"Good," the blonde smiled before stepping closer to his lieutenant. "Now if you're quite through…"
"Quite," Neji reached out and pulled Naruto into his arms, capturing his mouth with his own.
A few minutes later they pulled apart, both rather breathless, and rested their foreheads together. Neji gave a contented sigh as his blonde nestled snuggly against him.
As soon as he was settled in, Naruto looked straight into the pale eyes before him, "Did you just say you loved me?"
Neji just laughed as he gently squeezed his captain.
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Harry returned to the common room half an hour later to find Hermione and Ron in the best seats by the fire; nearly everybody else had gone to bed. Hermione was writing a very long letter; she had already filled half a roll of parchment, which was dangling from the edge of the table. Ron was lying on the hearthrug, trying to finish his Transfiguration homework.
"What kept you?" he asked, as Harry sank into the armchair next to Hermione's.
Harry did not answer. He was in a state of shock. Half of him wanted to tell Ron and Hermione what had just happened, but the other half wanted to take the secret with him to the grave.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, peering at him over the tip of her quill.
Harry gave a halfhearted shrug. In truth, he didn't know whether he was all right or not. "What's up?" said Ron, hoisting himself up on his elbow to get a clearer view of Harry. "What happened?"
Harry didn't quite know how to set about telling them, and still wasn't sure whether he wanted to. Just as he had decided not to say anything, Hermione took matters out of his hands.
"Is it Cho?" she asked in a businesslike way. "Did she corner you after the meeting?"
Numbly surprised, Harry nodded. Ron sniggered, breaking off when Hermione caught his eye.
"So—er—what did she want?" he asked in a mock casual voice.
"She—" Harry began, rather hoarsely; he cleared his throat and tried again. "She—er-"
"Did you kiss?" asked Hermione briskly.
Ron sat up so fast that he sent his ink bottle flying all over the rug. Disregarding this completely he stared avidly at Harry.
"Well?" he demanded.
Harry looked from Ron's expression of mingled curiosity and hilarity to Hermione's slight frown, and nodded.
"HA!"
Ron made a triumphant gesture with his fist and went into a raucous peal of laughter that made several timid-looking second years over beside the window jump. A reluctant grin spread over Harry's face as he watched Ron rolling around on the hearthrug. Hermione gave Ron a look of deep disgust and returned to her letter.
"Well?" Ron said finally, looking up at Harry. "How was it?"
Harry considered for a moment.
"Wet," he said truthfully.
Ron made a noise that might have indicated jubilation or disgust, it was hard to tell.
"Because she was crying," Harry continued heavily.
"Oh," said Ron, his smile fading slightly. "Are you that bad at kissing?"
"Dunno," said Harry, who hadn't considered this, and immediately felt rather worried. "Maybe I am. We could always ask Malfoy."
"Of course you're not," said Hermione absently, still scribbling away at her letter.
"How do you know?" said Ron in a sharp voice.
"Because Cho spends half her time crying these days," said Hermione vaguely. "She does it at mealtimes, in the loo, all over the place."
"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," said Ron, grinning.
"Ron," said Hermione in a dignified voice, dipping the point of her quill into her ink pot, "you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ron indignantly. "What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"
"Yeah," said Harry, slightly desperately, "who does?"
"Who's crying and kissing?" a curious voice interrupted. "Sounds like something Hinata would do."
The trio looked up and saw Neji and Naruto standing above them, giving them a curious look, or at least Naruto was, Neji just looked impassive.
"Cho kissed Harry, and she was crying," Hermione explained.
"Yes, that sounds like something my cousin would do," Neji nodded, "especially if you were the one kissing her, Naruto. But then again, I won't share with her, so I think she's safe from that fate. Come, Naruto, we should get some rest."
"You go ahead, Nej," the blonde gave him a small smile, "I'll be along in a bit, I want to hear about this."
"As you wish," he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Naruto's forehead. "Good night."
"'Night," the other four chorused.
"So what's this about making girls cry with your kisses?" Naruto plopped down on the arm of Harry's chair. "Are you really that bad a kisser? I mean, Malfoy was spitting after he kissed you, but that could just be because you weren't the one he wanted to kiss at the time." He shuddered slightly. "I had a similar experience to that when I was in the academy, but I don't hear Neji complaining about how I kiss."
Hermione looked at the three of them with an almost pitying expression on her face.
"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" she asked.
"No," said the three of them together.
Hermione sighed and laid down her quill.
"Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out what her feelings toward Harry are anyway, because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."
A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, "One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode."
"Yeah they can," Naruto shook his head. "Trust me on that one, I've had more confusing emotions going on before, and add in a pissed off fox and you've got one hell of a mess."
"Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have," said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again, while giving Naruto a calculating look.
"She was the one who started it," said Harry. "I wouldn't've—she just sort of came at me—and the next thing she's crying all over me—I didn't know what to do—"
"Don't blame you, mate," said Ron, looking alarmed at the very thought.
"You just had to be nice to her," said Hermione, looking up anxiously. "You were, weren't you?"
"Well," said Harry, an unpleasant heat creeping up his face, "I sort of—patted her on the back a bit."
Hermione looked as though she was restraining herself from rolling her eyes with extreme difficulty, while Naruto burst out laughing.
"Well, I suppose it could have been worse," she said. "Are you going to see her again?"
"I'll have to, won't I?" said Harry. "We've got D.A. meetings, haven't we?"
"You know what I mean," said Hermione impatiently, as Naruto finally fell to the floor in his hysterics.
"Honestly, Harry," the blonde finally gained some semblance of control, "and people call me an idiot."
"Oh well," said Hermione distantly, buried in her letter once more, "you'll have plenty of opportunities to ask her…."
"What if he doesn't want to ask her?" said Ron, who had been watching Harry with an unusually shrewd expression on his face.
"Don't be silly," said Hermione vaguely, "Harry's like her for ages, haven't you, Harry?"
He did not answer. Yes, he had liked Cho for ages, but whenever he had imagined a scene involving the two of them it had always featured a Cho who was enjoying herself, as opposed to a Cho who was sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. And he also couldn't understand why Malfoy's face kept popping up every time he thought of kissing someone.
Naruto watched Harry closely. He could tell there was a lot going through his mind, and he could also tell it wasn't all about Cho. He didn't know how he could tell all this, but he could, maybe Kyuubi was helping him subconsciously.
"Nope, kit, not me," the fox chuckled. "You can see a lot because you were in a similar experience before. Remember that time with Sakura, when she finally agreed to go out with you after you returned from your training?"
'Yeah, I remember that,' the blonde cocked his head to the side. 'It felt wrong kissing her, especially since all I could think about was Neji.'
"Hey, Harry," he whispered so the other two, who were now arguing over Hermione's letter, wouldn't hear, "who's the better kisser, Cho or Malfoy?"
"Malfoy," Harry answered absently.
"I thought so," Naruto said smugly. "Harry, I think you might just be gay."
"Huh? What?" the brunette looked at him confused.
"It's just something to think about," the blonde smirked. "Good night."
Naruto got up and headed up the stairs, with a brief nod in Gaara's direction, who was seated in the shadows.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in silence for another twenty minutes, Ron finishing his Transfiguration essay with many snorts of impatience and crossing-out, Hermione writing steadily to the very end of the parchment, rolling it up carefully and sealing it, and Harry staring into the fire, wishing more than anything that Sirius's head would appear there and give him some advice about girls, or maybe what Naruto had mentioned. But the fire merely crackled lower and lower, until the red-hot embers crumbled into ash and, looking around, Harry saw that they were, yet again, the last in the common room.
"Well, 'night," said Hermione, yawning widely, and she set off up the girls' staircase.
"What does she see in Krum?" Ron demanded as he and Harry climbed up the boys' stairs.
"Well," said Harry, considering the matter, "I s'pose he's older, isn't he… and he's an international Quidditch player…"
"Yeah, but apart from that," said Ron, sounding aggravated. "I mean he's a grouchy git, isn't he?"
"Bit grouchy, yeah," said Harry, thinking it over. "I'd say he's more of a brooder though. But once you get to know him, he's not that bad. I mean, he's not the best looking guy in the world but he's not a stuck up git like some other people we know."
"What you like him now?" Ron asked incredulously as the reached the dorm.
They pulled off their robes and put on pajamas in silence; Dean, Seamus, and Neville were already asleep, they just assumed the shinobi were as well, since all of them had their curtains drawn. Harry put his glasses on his bedside table and got into bed but did not pull the hangings closed around his four-poster; instead he started at the patch of starry sky visible through the window next to Neville's bed. If he had known, this time last night, that in twenty-four hours' time he would have kissed Cho Chang and then contemplated his sexuality…
"'Night," grunted Ron, from somewhere to his right.
"'Night," said Harry.
Maybe next time… if there was a next time… she'd be a bit happier. He ought to have asked her out; she had probably been expecting it and was now really angry with him… or was she lying in bed, still crying about Cedric? He did not know what to think. Hermione's explanation had made it all seem more complicated rather than easier to understand, and Naruto's words had not helped at all.
That's what they should teach us here, he thought, turning over onto his side, how girls' brains work… it'd be more useful than Divination anyway….
Neville snuffled in his sleep. An owl hooted somewhere out in the night.
Harry dreamed he was back in the D.A. room. Cho was accusing him of luring her there under false pretenses; she said that he had promised her a hundred and fifty Chocolate Frog cards if she showed up. Harry protested…. Cho shouted, "Cedric gave me loads of Chocolate Frog cards, look!" And she pulled out fistfuls of cards from inside her robes and threw them into the air, and then turned into Hermione, who said, "You did promise her, you know, Harry…. I think you'd better give her something else instead…. How about your Firebolt?" And Harry was protesting that he could not give Cho his Firebolt because Umbridge had it, and anyway the whole thing was ridiculous, he'd only come to the D.A. room to put up some Christmas baubles shaped like Dobby's head…. And then Naruto was dragging Malfoy into the room and forcing them both under the mistletoe….
The dream changed….
His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone…. He was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly…. It was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors…. He was turning his head…. At first glance, the corridor was empty… but no… a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark….
Harry put out his tongue…. He tasted the man's scent on the air…. He was alive but drowsing… sitting in front of a door at the end of the corridor…
Harry longed to bite the man… but he must master the impulse…. He had more important work to do….
But the man was stirring… a silvery cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt…. He had no choice…. He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood….
The man was yelling in pain… then he fell silent…. He slumped backward against the wall…. Blood was splattering onto the floor…. A flash of silver landed next to his head and a shadow fell across him….
His forehead hurt terribly…. It was aching fit to burst….
"Harry! HARRY!"
He opened his eyes. Every inch of his body was covered in icy sweat; his bedcovers were twisted all around him like a straitjacket; he felt as though a white-hot poker was being applied to his forehead.
"Harry!"
Ron was standing over him looking extremely frightened. There were more figures at the foot of Harry's bed. He clutched his head in his hands; the pain was blinding him…. He rolled right over and vomited over the edge of the mattress.
"He's really ill," said a scared voice. "Should we call someone?"
"Harry! Harry!"
He had to tell Ron, it was very important that he tell him…. Taking great gulps of air, Harry pushed himself up in bed, willing himself not to throw up again, the pain half-blinding him.
"Your dad," he panted, his chest heaving. "Your dad's… been attacked…."
"What?" said Ron uncomprehendingly.
"Your dad! He's been bitten, it's serious, there was blood everywhere…."
"Shit!" someone swore quietly.
"I'm going for help," said the same scared voice, and Harry heard footsteps running out of the dormitory.
"Harry, mate," said Ron uncertainly, "you… you were just dreaming…."
"No!" said Harry furiously; it was crucial that Ron understand. "It wasn't a dream… not an ordinary dream…. I was there, I saw it…. I did it…."
"Oh fuck," the same person swore again.
He could hear Seamus and Dean muttering but did not care. The pain in his forehead was subsiding slightly, though he was still sweating and shivering feverishly. He retched again and Ron leapt backward out of the way.
"Harry, you're not well," he said shakily. "Neville's gone for help…."
"I'm fine!" Harry choked, wiping his mouth on his pajamas and shaking uncontrollably. "There's nothing wrong with me, it's your dad you've got to worry about—we need to find out where he is—he's bleeding like mad—I was—it was a huge snake…."
He tried to get out of bed but Ron pushed him back into it; Dean and Seamus were still whispering somewhere nearby, and the shinobi were all staring at him shrewdly. Whether one minute passed or ten, Harry did not know; he simply sat there shaking, feeling the pain recede very slowly from his scar…. Then there were hurried footsteps coming up the stairs, and he heard Neville's voice again.
"Over here, Professor…"
Professor McGonagall came hurrying into the dormitory in her tartan dressing gown, her glasses perched lopsidedly on the bridge of her bony nose.
"What is it, Potter? Where does it hurt?"
He had never been so pleased to see her; it was a member of the Order of the Phoenix he needed now, not someone fussing over him and prescribing useless potions.
"It's Ron's dad," he said, sitting up again. "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious, I saw it happen."
"What do you mean, you saw it happen?" said Professor McGonagall, her dark eyebrows contracting.
"I don't know…. I was sleeping and then I was there…."
"You mean you dreamed this?"
"No!" said Harry angrily. Would none of them understand? "I was having a dream at first about something completely different, something stupid… and then this interrupted it. It was real, I didn't imagine it, Mr. Weasley was asleep on the floor and he was attacked by a gigantic snake, there was a load of blood, he collapsed, someone's got to find out where he is…."
"Goddamn it woman," Naruto pushed his way forward and reached over and lifted Harry easily into his arms. "He wasn't dreaming, he was having a fucking vision! Neji, you and Shino follow me with the Weasleys," he began barking orders on his way to the door. "Kankuro, find Gaara. Kiba, send Akamaru up to get the girls. I'm taking him to Dumbledore."
Ammie: Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I had fun with it. I also wanted to say to everyone who is keeping up with this story Thank you. You guys make this all worth while. I love to write this story and I also love the fact that so many people like it as well. So to all my reviewers I love you guys so much, keep telling me what you think.