Before you all start reading, feel free to hate me! I promised i'd get these up ages ago, but I hit a block in my writing and completely forgot about it for a while. I'm still clearing it actually. I've been working on another story that hit me a couple of weeks back. Its coming along well, and researching the human body is fascinating. You learn all sorts of interesting things in a Human Anatomy text book. Who knew? My work colleagues think i'm mad because i've been carting it back and forth to work and reading during my lunch breaks, and the book is like...2 inches thick. Easily. It's enormous.

My muse has been helping me with that story as well, and she's decided that every step i've taken due to my ignorance of the human body is wrong and she's decided I have to re-write scenes. *rolls eyes* I love her. Really.

But anyway, i digress. Enjoy this chapter. I'll post the next one sometime before the end of the week. :o)

At breakfast Thursday morning, Sora blinked as a piece of paper was placed in front of him. Glancing behind him at Zexion, who hovered, he dusted sticky breadcrumbs off his fingers and picked the piece of paper up. "What's this?"

"I made up a schedule last night for who will be on patrol what nights," the Illusionist said as he pointed to where Sora and Riku's names were listed. "You and Riku are patrolling the dungeons tonight after dinner."

Nodding, Sora smiled up at the Nobody. "Thanks Zex."

Nodding back, Zexion continued his way up the table, handing over rosters to Demyx and Axel and explaining as he went.

"Good luck," Albus murmured with a smile. "Be careful."

"Yeah, we will." Turning to look at his best friend, Sora locked gazes with Riku who smiled and held up his own roster. Sora grinned back and turned back to his breakfast.

"When am I on?" Yuffie asked as she leant over to snatch the piece of paper.

Sora handed it over and she scanned it, pouting a bit as she did so.

"I'm not on here."

"You aren't?" Sora asked in surprise. "How come?"

"Squally probably requested I not get put on. You know what he's like. He's over protective of those he cares about, and he thinks of me like a little sister. My fighting style is more suited to distance fighting anyway and not close up battles like with the Heartless."

"Ah…" Taking the returned roster, he glanced up at the Staff table where Leon was listening to Hagrid talk animatedly about something while he sat back in his chair holding a mug of what was probably coffee.

Cloud was hunched over the table, moving his food around on his plate with a frown. He was looking pale with dark circles under his eyes that could be clearly seen from two thirds of the way down the table, and Sora frowned.

"Hey, is Cloud all right?" he asked Yuffie.

The ninja blinked and looked up at the staff table with a worried frown. "I'm not sure. He's been a bit odd the last few days. Aerith said he's been getting bad headaches and Leon said he's been pretty moody when I talked to him earlier."

"Maybe he's coming down with something?" Sora wondered as he bit his lip anxiously and chewed on it lightly.

"Maybe." Yuffie grinned. "I hope it's the flu. Cloud is pathetic when he catches the flu. He doesn't get sick often, but when he does its camera worthy. He's such a baby."

Albus snorted in loudly and gave the older girl an amused look. "You're such a nice friend," he said sarcastically.

Yuffie just laughed.

LINEBREAK

They were sparring. Really, what else would they be doing in the middle of the day with no duties? They had to stay in shape somehow.

As Leon and Cloud clashed blades over and over, a large group of students had gathered to watch them, watching from a good distance away as they both leapt, jumped and sparked. A few of the girls were regulars, giggling to their friends as they leant against a rock or tree, or sat on the ground.

Neither Cloud nor Leon noticed them though as they focused on each other, avoiding the metal edges that swept towards them.

Cloud leapt backwards as Leon's gunblade swept towards his legs and flipped backwards, landing in a crouch as he swung the buster sword towards the brunette, watching as Leon moved to counter the swing easily as he held his ground.

Cloud used the rebound to swing the other way as quickly as he could, flinching when his arm twitched in pain but he brushed it off and kept swinging. Leon avoided this one and swung towards Cloud, causing the blond to sweep his sword up to block.

Leon was mildly startled when he managed to whack his partner across his temple, and Cloud was just as startled, his eyes glazing as he staggered back and dropped the sword, a hand flying to his head as he sat down heavily with a hiss of pain.

Leon blinked and backed off. "You okay?"

Not getting a response, Leon frowned and waited with a gnawing sense of worry as he counted the seconds that passed as he waited for Cloud to snap back to normal. Normally the blond was right as rain a few seconds later after a blow like that. This was very unusual.

Blue eyes clearing about a minute later, Leon repeated his question, looking perplexed.

Cloud nodded when it passed and stood up. "Yeah." He shook his arm out, clenching his fist a couple of times. Grabbing the buster sword again, he stood in a ready stance. "Let's go."

Nodding, Leon started to attack again, leaving Cloud to block as quickly as he could and look for an opening at the same time, staying wary.

As the gunblade swung for his neck, Cloud ducked and pushed himself upwards with the sword sweeping towards the brunette. Leon sidestepped and twirled around the blond, sending the blade towards the unarmed back. Cloud moved to block it, suddenly seizing up as his body filled with pain. The buster sword slipped from his grip and landed a few meters away with a clunk.

Leon's eyes widened and he twisted his grip so that the gunblade hit Cloud with the flat and pulled the force back as much as he could. Cloud hit the ground and slid a couple of feet, curled up in a ball with his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Small cries of shock emerged from their audience, but he didn't care. Leon quickly knelt down by Cloud's side, placing a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the pangs in his wrists. He'd probably sprained them. "Cloud? You okay?"

Cloud didn't reply for a few minutes and when his eyes opened, Leon jerked back with surprise. They were lime green.

"Cloud?"

"Yeah?" Came the rasped voice and Cloud pushed himself into a sitting position, his body shaking like a leaf.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know," he answered quietly, closing his eyes again as another wave of pain and nausea swept over him.

Leon stood and offered him a hand. "Come on. It's probably nearly the end of lunch anyway."

Cloud took the offered hand and allowed himself to be pulled upright, staggering slightly when he was up. Shaking his pounding head, he headed over to the buster sword and bent down to pick it up, yelping as pain stabbed into his arm worse than before and he clutched at it, dropping to the ground again as he curled around it, forcing himself to work through the pain as his eyes screwed tightly shut.

Leon headed to Cloud's side the moment he cried out and knelt by him, concerned and afraid as the blond lay curled up for a few minutes, before a whimper escaped his throat. "Cloud? What's wrong?"

"Hurts…" he whispered hoarsely, eyes clenched shut.

"Cloud, look at me," Leon demanded, turning the blond head towards him. "Open your eyes."

The eyes were opened slightly and Leon swore as the normally blue orbs were glowing a sickly green, far more green than he'd ever seen them.

"Come on, we need to get you up to matron, immediately."

"No," Cloud gasped, eyes closing again before a cry of pain left his lips and he curled up tighter, clutching at his stomach.

"Cloud, something isn't right. We need to get you checked."

"No…" came the same gasp again as Cloud gripped the grass, tearing it out by the roots as he clung to it, breaths heaving as pain tore through his body. Heat flushed it suddenly and he let out a strangled yelp as the familiar sensation of ice-cold mako ran through his veins, the pain ramping up another couple of notches.

He vomited, and as the slick wet liquid hit the green grass, Leon jerked back in horror at the vivid red colour of blood that mixed with whatever had lain in Cloud's stomach.

Leon watched with helpless eyes as Cloud's body began glowing a soft green, beads of green fluid leaking out of the blonde's body, quickly turning brown as blood mixed with the green ooze, the fluid pooling and running down the exposed skin, soaking into the dark clothing that covered skin.

A few drops touched the grass and the green grass smoked and hissed.

"CLOUD!" A familiar voice screamed and Leon looked up as Zack came hurtling down the hill towards them, Reno not that far behind him. Zack took one look at Cloud and turned to Reno. "Go get one of my potions from my stock. Hurry!" he ordered and Reno nodded, taking one look at Cloud before sprinting back up the hill as quickly as he could.

Zack dropped down beside Cloud and gripped his hand, ignoring the slime. "Cloud, it's Zack. Listen to me; I need you to stay calm, okay? You can panic after we get a potion into you, but right now you need to stay calm."

"What's going on?" Leon demanded as he looked at the dark haired man.

"The magic in this world is rejecting the mako infusion Cloud has in his body. The same thing happened to me when I first arrived here," Zack explained as he watched the brown droplets bead and run off the blonde's body to the ground, the mako evaporating in steam droplets as they hit the earth.

"How do we stop it?" Leon asked anxiously.

"I have a potion I can give Cloud. I take it about once a month or when I need to and it stops the reaction."

"So all we can do is wait?"

"Until Reno gets back, pretty much," Zack murmured and rubbed Cloud's hand soothingly, ignoring the brown slime slipping under his fingers. "Just hang in there Spike."

Cloud whimpered, eyes clenched tightly shut as he curled up around himself, breaths coming fast and uneven.

Reno sprinted through the castle as quickly as he could. He turned a couple of heads as he ran and when he entered the Headmistress's office, both Harry and Minerva turned to look at him in surprise.

"Tarshill?" Harry asked curiously as Reno ran for the floo, grabbed a handful of the powder and threw it in the fire, stating Zack's apartment address and disappeared in a ball of green flame.

Emerging on the other side, Reno quickly headed for Zack's stock of potions in the bathroom and grabbed a couple, heading back to the floo and transporting back to Hogwarts.

Harry grabbed his arm just as he emerged, jerking him to a stop. "Tarshill, what's going on?"

"Spike's in trouble," he gasped and jerked his arm out of Harry's grip, leaving the office at a run.

Minerva and Harry both followed him, Harry keeping pace with him until he got to the stairs and Reno leapt over the side without hesitating.

Harry and a dozen other students let out a cry of shock as Reno fell two floors and landed in a crouch, breaking into a sprint as he headed for the front doors, flying through them and down to where Cloud, Zack and Leon were.

"Here," he gasped and shoved the potion at Zack, who quickly took it and popped the cork.

"Cloud, think you can take this?" Zack asked calmly.

Cloud just curled up tighter and dragged in gasping breaths, shaking his head as a sob escaped through his lips.

Zack took a calculating look at Leon, who looked at him curiously, worry and concern showing on his face. "Trust me, this means nothing," he said and poured a mouthful of the potion into his own mouth before pulling Cloud up and shoving the liquid into his mouth with his tongue.

Cloud choked slightly but swallowed the potion as it ran down his throat.

Zack took another swig and forced the rest of the potion down Cloud's throat again, sitting back as he spat the horrible taste out of his mouth and onto the grass before wiping his mouth.

Reno just watched on worriedly as Cloud clawed the earth, tears rolling silently down his cheeks as his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Harry and Minerva caught up and watched as Cloud struggled against the pain.

"Fair, was this why you were so insistent that you visit all of a sudden?" Harry asked curiously.

Zack nodded and turned to look at Harry. "It just clicked when I started feeling the signs of the rejection that Cloud might be feeling the same thing. He's been here about a month so far." He looked back at his best friend and ran a hand through the brown tinged and slimy locks of hair. "I'm just sorry I didn't realize it sooner. He wouldn't have gotten to this stage if I had realized it."

"Don't blame yourself," Leon murmured. "I knew something was going on, but I didn't know what. He wouldn't tell me. He's stubborn like that."

Zack laughed and shook his head, a grin finding its way to his features. "Yeah, he is. I know that all too well." He looked at Leon curiously. "How long?"

"About three days, I think," he replied, eyes narrowing as he thought about it.

Zack nodded. "Mine's about five days leeway, but Cloud has more mako than me, so the shorter time period would make sense."

Cloud suddenly relaxed, his grip on the grass loosening as he breathed easier, body going limp and his eyes fluttered closed.

Zack stroked the blond head affectionately. "Just sleep Spike." He turned to Harry, looking decisive. "I'm taking tomorrow off."

"Why?" Harry asked, looking a little taken aback.

"Cloud's going to need me here to explain things, and I want to make sure he doesn't react badly to the potions."

Harry nodded slowly, seeing the sense in that. He turned to Reno, looking strict. "I expect to see you tomorrow. No slacking off just because Fair isn't there."

Reno whined and pouted. "That's not fair boss. You'll just have me running errands all day."

"Maybe I will," Harry replied with a shrug. "Both of you can take the rest of the day off. I know you're worried about him and you'll be near to useless Fair."

Zack grinned and saluted Harry. "You got it Boss." He turned to Leon and winked. "If I were still in SOLDIER I wouldn't have gotten a break like that. How I love the Auror department." He sighed happily.

Leon shook his head in amusement.

"Come on, let's get Spike to bed. He'll be out for the rest of the day, at least."

Leon strapped his gunblade to his belt and bent to pick Cloud up.

"Ah, I'll get him," Zack quickly interjected, hurrying forward to pick his slimy friend up.

Leon frowned. "I can carry him."

"Yes, I know," Zack appeased, "But he's also covered in radioactive goo that you may or may not pick something up from, and if Cloud poisoned you accidently he'd kill me and never forgive himself. I don't have a death wish just yet."

Leon backed off and nodded. "Can you get his sword as well? I can't carry it."

"Already there," Zack said and shifted Cloud into one arm before he stooped down to scoop the buster sword up. He spun it with a nostalgic grin.

Harry and Minerva both stared as Zack slung it over his shoulder to holster it onto his own metallic disc and easily and headed up towards the castle, leading the way with Cloud back in both arms.

"Pff, showoff," Reno said to Zack, who grinned and kicked him.

"You can carry it if you want to."

Reno laughed nervously and backed up a couple of steps, waving his hands in front of him. "No thanks, I'm good. I'd break my back."

"How heavy is that?" Harry asked curiously as he quickly caught up with them.

Zack shuffled Cloud again and reached up to grip the hand. He swung the Buster sword to the ground and held the handle out for the Head Auror to take. "Have a go."

Harry took it carefully, and Zack let go. The sword pulled Harry to the ground and he stared at it in awe as he tried to lift it up again, just barely managing to get the blade off the ground to hip height. "Merlin's beard," he choked out and put it down.

Zack scooped it up easily with a laugh. "Yeah, it's heavy, but you get used to it. Come on, we're falling behind." He quickly headed up the hill.

Half the girls swooned as they watched the group head up the hill.

LINEBREAK

It was an hour later that found Cloud clean, tucked up under the covers in fresh pyjamas and Leon at his side, leaning against the bed head and petting the blond spikes that were no longer soaked with brown goo. The blond was unconscious, with no sign of waking anytime soon.

Looking up when the door to their room opened, Leon nodded a greeting to Zack and Aerith.

"How is he?" Aerith asked as she hurried forward to check her friend over.

"Out cold," Leon replied as he watched Zack place a bag full of vials down on the table. "He's made a few noises of discomfort over the last ten minutes."

Zack pulled out another vial and tossed it to Aerith, who caught it. "Give him another. It should help."

Nodding, she uncorked it and slowly worked the potion down Cloud's throat.

Swallowing noisily, Cloud whimpered for a moment but then relaxed, inappreciable lines smoothing out of his face as he slumped back against Leon's side.

"Where did you get these?" Leon asked Zack quietly, not wanting to disturb the sleeping blond.

"St. Mungo's," Zack replied with a shrug. "I've already asked my healer to double the next batch so I can give some to Cloud."

"The healer will probably want to see Cloud for himself," Aerith reasoned.

"Yeah, probably," Zack agreed. "It's gonna be a tough promise to keep though. Spike hates doctors."

"Don't I know it," Aerith agreed. "I'm the only one he tolerates."

A bell chimed around the room softly, announcing that there was someone at the entrance. Looking perplexed, Zack walked over to open the portal, blinking when it revealed two people he hadn't expected to see. "Hello you two."

"Hey," Sora greeted as he let himself into the room, Yuffie following on his heels. "Is Cloud okay? We heard something happened to him."

"He'll be fine," Zack replied with a soothing smile as he ushered the two teens into the bedroom. "He just needs to rest for now."

"What happened?" Yuffie demanded.

Zack sighed and scratched at the back of his head. "Cloud… the mako we have in our bodies for some reason reacts badly with the natural magic of this world, and in turn we go through cycles where once a month the mako and magic clash and the magic tries to attack the mako and reject it from this world. It's unnatural, so the planet sees it as a threat. Or that's the theory we came up with anyway."

"And the potions?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"I take them when I feel the effects start to appear. It's usually in the form of muscle twinges and spasms, headaches, mood swings, loss of appetite, insomnia and such. It lasts for about three days for me."

Aerith's lips twitched in amusement. "In other words you have a time of the month."

"Hey, so does Spike now!" Zack replied indignantly, and both girls laughed, Leon's lips twitching in amusement. "It's not funny!" the man whined. "I get the worst cravings for chocolate. Just ask Reno! I'm still amazed that I don't put on any weight with the amount I eat in those three days."

For some reason that just made Yuffie and Aerith laugh harder.

Zack glared at his girlfriend. "I hate you," he muttered darkly.

Aerith's laughter died down into giggles and she walked over to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. "You love me," she teased.

Zack blushed, but smiled back happily.

"Ooh, I so wish I had a camera," Yuffie whined with a small pout.

Zack sighed and dropped his forehead onto Aerith's. "Remind me to stay away from her. She's evil."

Aerith giggled again and patted his cheek sympathetically, while winking a conspiring wink at the younger female. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll respect your privacy."

Yuffie grinned, getting the message. Aerith was going to be getting pictures of her own.

Sora looked amused and shook his head. "So Cloud's going to be okay?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yes, Kiddo, Spike will be fine," Zack replied with a smile.

"Good." Sora sighed in relief before turning to Yuffie. "We should get going. We have class."

"Yeah. What do you have now?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"Divination. You?"

"Ugh, lucky. I have History of Magic with Binns."

Sora grimaced sympathetically. "Well, at least he won't notice if you're late."

"Isn't he the ghost teacher?" Zack asked curiously.

Both students looked at the Auror and nodded.

"Ugh, you poor things. I've heard he's an absolute bore. The old Hogwartian's I've talked to said he can make the most awake and attentive student fall asleep in five minutes, if not less."

Yuffie grimaced and nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty bad. We were talking about the Giant Wars last lesson. I think I remember the first three minutes of his lecture, and the next thing I know I'm wiping drool off my chin as everyone packs up to go at the end of class. There was more than one sleepy face."

"How did he become a ghost teacher?" Aerith asked curiously.

Sora shrugged. "Rose said the rumor is that he just up stood up out of a chair in the staff common room one day and left his body behind. He never realized, and he's been teaching ever since."

"Cheap wages," Zack replied with a shrug and a grin.

"Yeah," Sora replied with a grin of his own.

"How odd," Aerith murmured, looking thoughtful. "Wouldn't you think you'd figure out that you were dead eventually?"

"He was pretty old apparently, and not fully cognizant."

"Ah."

"Anyway, we should get going," Sora said and turned around with a wave. "Tell Cloud I said get better soon."

"I'll bring some chocolate with me," Yuffie fair welled with an evil grin.

Zack groaned and placed a hand on his stomach. "Please don't. I'll get fat, and then hate myself for getting fat, and then Aerith will hate me because I'm no longer attractive."

Aerith giggled at the sound of rising hysteria in her boyfriend's tone and placed a soothing hand on his arm. "It's alright. Even if you put on a few pounds I'll still like you."

"You won't be saying that when I actually do," Zack grumbled and huffed.

Aerith giggled again and leaned up to kiss the dark haired man. "You're so cute when you're grumpy."

Zack wasn't sure whether to be chuffed or insulted. He somehow managed an interesting mix of the two.

Giggling, Sora waved. "See you guys." Turning, he left, Yuffie following.

Sighing, Zack waved his wand and a loveseat appeared just beside the bed, and he flopped into it.

"How long until Cloud wakes do you think?" Leon asked quietly.

Zack shrugged. "Depends how long it takes his body to repair the damage the rejection caused. The magic literally starts tearing our body to pieces because the mako is engrained in our cells." He grimaced and shivered a bit, rubbing his side. "Most painful thing I've ever been through. Thank Shiva for Reno and his ability to make people listen even though he sounds like an idiot half the time."

Aerith settled beside him and placed a comforting hand on his.

"On a lighter note, who wants to bet that Spike will curse me when I tell him," Zack said suddenly, quite cheerfully as he grinned. "His face is going to be priceless."

Leon snorted and smirked. Oh to have a camera… He may have to borrow Yuffie's.

LINEBREAK

Sora and Riku were patrolling the dungeons later that night after all the students were back in their dorms. There were large herds of Heartless appearing in deserted or rarely used corridors and classrooms, and the two Keyblade bearers has been given all the keys for the areas they were patrolling so they could more easily find all the corners the Heartless were hiding.

"So Cloud's okay?" Riku asked as they left another classroom.

"Yeah, he's okay," Sora replied, hands resting behind his head as they walked. "Zack said he should be fine in a couple of days." He grinned as he recalled the information he'd been given and relayed it to Riku.

Riku snorted in amusement laughed quietly. "Ooh, that is not going to go down well. Poor Princess."

Sora laughed. "Yeah, he's self-conscious about being girly already."

Riku fixed his friend with a curious look. "Why?"

"He can cross-dress and become a far too convincing girl way too easily."

Riku laughed loudly.

Yawning suddenly, Sora looked around. "What's the time? Do you know?"

Casting a tempus spell, Riku blinked. "It's nearly ten. Want to call it a night?"

"Yeah." Turning to his friend with a smile he pulled the older teen into a hug. "This has actually been fun. Want met to walk you back to your common room?"

Pulling back, looking absolutely affronted, Riku scowled. "No. Absolutely not. If anyone should be walking anyone back to their dorms it should be me."

Sora laughed. "I was joking Ri."

Glowering, the silver haired teen crossed his arms. "Wasn't funny."

Shaking his head, still smiling, Sora quickly bounced up on tiptoe to press a quick kiss to his friend's cheek. "Your expression was funny. Night Ri. I'll see you tomorrow." Turning, he left with a wave.

Riku, frozen in shock and his heart going a million miles an hour, groaned and sagged back against the wall once the brown head of spikey hair disappeared around the corner and he dragged a pale hand down his face, letting out a shaky breath. Fucking Sora.

Mmm… fucking Sora.

No!

Shaking his head, Riku quickly cleared those thoughts from his head with a little difficulty. Sora was his best friend for crying out loud! The boy was also an oblivious little shit that refused to make anything easy for him.

Groaning again, Riku pushed himself off the wall and began making his way back to the Slytherin dorms. He needed a shower and to drop into bed. Hopefully he ran into some Heartless on his way back too.

~TBC

Cookies and the next chapter for those of you that review! *runs away with a basket of cookies*