This is filler while the other chapter straightens itself out.

Someone asked me the ages/what the timeframe is in the story, so I'll say that at the end of chapter twenty it was March of '93, Harry is 12, Kyouya is turning 10 in a few months, and Tsuna is 7, if that helps any.

I really don't mean to make Iemitsu a bad guy, he just comes out that way. : /

Federico grit his teeth as he, Fragola, Mammon, and Shamal made their way through the halls of the Vongola Main House.

Adriano had been kidnapped three days earlier than planned, Sawada Nana hadn't been taken, and nothing was going according to plan- but Reborn had been insistent that Federico use the distraction that his boy had provided to get to Xanxus out of the Zero Point ice.

Federico hated that they were having to use a child to free one of their own who had been wrongfully imprisoned by his own father, hated that his old man and the CEDEF head had become so jaded and disillusioned that they had developed such huge blind spots in matters of family- to the point where they couldn't separate Famiglia matters and family matters anymore.

When had that happened?

(Federico knew, of course, but he'd like to think that his father- the man who he admired- wasn't so petty.

Sawada Iemitsu had started spending summers in Italia when he was about ten, as the Main House had loosely kept track of the branch lines of Sawada Ieyasu, but most of them had died out or hadn't achieved Flame Activation in generations. Iemitsu had been Flame Active for nearly a year- and had been kidnapped due to it- before the Main House had realized what had happened, and the boy had been under heavy guard when he'd gone back to Japan to spend time with his civilian mother during the school year.

Massimo and Iemitsu had been the best of friends, with Massimo being somewhat younger than the Young Lion. That hadn't really been an issue until Xanxus had been brought into the Family as Xanxus' habit of being blunt tended to upset Massimo, which earned the youngest son of Timoteo the ire of Iemitsu almost from the get-go, making the two almost instant enemies. When you add to that fact that Timoteo made a big production of constantly saying that he thought of the Young Lion 'as a son' while he was constantly on Xanxus' ass about everything, not to mention that the man had given Iemitsu the CEDEF nearly decade ago when Xanxus had had to fight tooth and nail to get the Varia- not to mention the Varia Sky Ring-, it was no wonder there was so much bad blood between the two.

So, really, from the moment ten-year-old Sawada Iemitsu had come over from Japan to start taking lessons in the Main House, the cracks had started and personal opinions had begun to influence professional decisions.)

While he had been lost down memory lane, they had arrived, and the Mists had neatly incapacitated the guards and the door, and Federico charged his Flames.

Xanxus is my brother, first and foremost, Federico thought grimly as he forced his will to overpower his father's, and I don't care if Father secretly wishes that Xanxus was more like Iemitsu or if Xanxus doesn't have a drop of Father's bloodline in him, it's my job as his big brother to protect him, even if that means protecting him from himself or the rest of our family.

The ice finally melts and Xanxus collapses into Federico's arms, already trying to fight, new burn scars seared into his skin, fresh and raw and livid in a way that makes Federico need several calming breaths.

"It's alright, Xan, I've got you." Federico murmurs as the Mist Flames settle over them and he falls back towards the door.

It takes several repetitions, and Federico keeps feeding his Flames into his brother's cold, (far too cold, did you even think about what you were doing Father?), body as Xanxus snarls and shivers and savages his lip to stifle his whimpers.

Finally, just as the Mists finish putting the decoy in place, Xanxus slits one pained red eye open, "Fede?" he rasps, suspicion rife in his tone and muscles trying to marshal themselves for an attack.

Federico is all but carrying Xanxus through the halls at this point, cloaked in mist Flames, "When you were nine, just after you came here, Father told you that you could learn Gunsmithing if you scored above average on all your tests. Knowing this, your tutor gave you books with all the wrong information in it and Massimo and Enrico went along with him. I found out and replaced the books and we laughed at their stupid faces when you passed your tests and were allowed to take the Gunsmithing courses with Old Man Percotti, who helped you with the design for your X-Guns."

Some of the tension finally bled out of Xanxus' frame and a grin twitched at his mouth, "Jackass. You swore you'd never tell." He grumbled as he slumped further against Federico.

Federico nodded to Fragola, who had signaled that the hall was clear, as they made tracks for the wing that had been appropriated for Federico's use so they could evacuate. Reborn had been kind enough to lend on of his son's properties in England as a place for Xanxus to convalesce, and Federico was once again reminded just how much he owed young Adriano Potter.

"Yeah, well, if you weren't such a suspicious bastard I wouldn't have to pull out the big stories."

Xanxus huffed, but was silent until they got into the car and he was laid across the seat so that Shamal could begin treating him, "Is-"

Federico laid a hand against Xanxus' shoulder, still pushing his Sky Flames into his cold brother, "Massimo is dead, Xan. But Reborn got your warning and that's the only reason I'm alive. You showed your Quality, Xan."

Xanxus nodded jerkily and faded into unconsciousness.

Sawada Iemitsu put his head in his hands and clenched his eyes shut as he was on yet another red-eye flight back to Italy in order to keep up appearances.

How had this happened?

His wife was in the hospital, he'd already had his Mist make her think that there had been an accident and that Tsuna was with him in Antarctica, and Tsuna-

Iemitsu swallowed convulsively and ground his palms into his eyes.

His son, the light of his life, his shy, sweet little boy who was all bright smiles and girly shrieks was missing.

Iemitsu breathed deeply, pushing down his utter rage, Damn you, Xanxus, this is all your fault. He snarled in the privacy of his mind, First it was the Cradle Affair where you tried to kill the man who was kind enough to take you out of the Slums and away from your lying whore of a mother, then Enrico, then Massimo, now even in ice you come after me. Nono should have killed you when he-

"I'm sorry, Boss, but we're here." Turmeric's voice was apologetic but firm.

Iemitsu breathed and righted himself, he'd find Tsuna.

He had to.

The Vongola Nono sat at the center of the table with Federico seated to his right, their Guardians taking up the remaining seats on that side of the conference table.

Sawada Iemitsu had been seated directly across from the two, allotted a spot on either side or a Guardian, along with all the other Bosses and Allies that had been invited.

When the last guest had entered, the doors were sealed shut by Commander Superbi of the Varia, the tall, fair haired Italian's predatory grin doing very little to reassure to people he had just sealed inside.

"What is the meaning of this, Nono?" the Chiavarone Proxy demanded to know, jowls quivering angrily.

The old man's face was set in a grim line that most hadn't seen in decades, "The time has come for me to set aside my personal feelings and desires and put my house in order, and we are going to start with the people in this room. I'm going to ask questions, and if I don't like your answers, you're going to spend a little Quality time with our dear Commander over there."

The room descended into chaos.

…..for about thirty seconds, until the Varia Officers and their best squads dropped in, then silence reigned.

"Let me explain this a little slower." Nono started again as he raked merciless eyes over the assembled, "There is a rampant infection in my house, and I will find eradicate it. Every. Last. Bit."

To say that Iemitsu was shell-shocked was an understatement.

How had it come to this?

When had dislike of Xanxus turned into automatically discrediting everything the man said? When did one of Vongola's own have to stage of fucking coup just to try to be heard?

The Varia had been ruthless in getting their message about his various shortcomings across, and he had heard, oh how he had heard.

Iemitsu punched his gun locker until his knuckles bled, It's my fault. If I had listened, Massimo might have lived. Tsuna might now have been taken at all. It's my fault, because I didn't want anything Xanxus said to have any meaning, so I never listened and I did my best to make sure no one else did either.

Iemitsu pushed everything back, grabbed his coat, and headed for his flight.

Tsuna was still out there, there was one thing that Xanxus hadn't beaten him at yet.

Xanxus had known of the existence of the magical world- both the Western and Eastern- as the Boss of the Varia he had a small number of witches and wizards under his command.

However, as he sat on the ornate chair he had appropriated for himself in the dining room-slash-war room, the table in front of him covered in papers and tactical maps, his laptop off to the side, and his phone by his hand, he was truly disgusted by the sheer wasted potential of these people.

Well, at least that Adriano trash and his shitty father were doing something about that shit, maybe he could convince the brat to join the Varia, and Xanxus needed someone fucking competent to lead the WEATHER squad.

The Varia WEATHER squad had been formed during Donna Ottava's reign,(the banner under the Varia emblem changed every time a new Vongola took office, giving rise to the belief that the Varia was a new organization, which was a bunch of shit because Secondo had created it), when the Donna had gotten sick and tired of losing people under her protection to the magicals' gross incompetence. Secrecy was an issue, of course, so the matter had been handed to the Varia Boss by the rather irate, terrifying woman with a clear set of orders of what would happen if the Donna did not see improvements.

The squad members themselves were scattered throughout the other squads of the Varia and only called together by the Boss when needed or performed their duties separately on top of their usual Varia assignments.

One of the biggest obstacles that Boss Messa had faced was that while the magicals cleaned up the 'obvious' traces of magic they overlooked the lingering traces of abuse from their brethren once their shitty 'Statute' had been upheld, so it would obviously be up to the Mafia to take care of their own.

It had taken a lot of trial and error, including a nearly catastrophic failure when one of their members had been caught feeding a Potion-laced tea to a squib, (the man was a damn good informant who had endured some sort of shitty curse and just a few drops of the potion kept his head on straight), and had been mind-fucked, their Mist Flames barely holding their mind together long enough to make it back to HQ in time to warn the Boss and help save the Varia's efforts before dying of Flame Exhaustion. After that, they had also learned to keep the fact that they could take care of themselves far, far away from the magical governments and vigilantes and had whittled down the number of people who even knew of the existence of the WEATHER squad until it was just the survivors.

By the time Donna Ottava stepped down, Don Nono hadn't been told as the Varia were damn good and there hadn't been any instances to draw attention to the squad's existence in a very long time, and Xanxus hadn't found out until he'd finally gotten his hands on the fucking Varia Sky Ring and Donna Ottava had called on him to tell him in person.

However, the Eastern method tended to give their children more options than criminal organizations, so most of the Varia members who came educated from that method tended to decline a place in WEATHER squad and the Western ones who had had their magic sealed or had finished their magical education but were sorely lacking in everything else had to be chosen very carefully as that was a lot of fucking time and effort to be putting in on a hunch.

The point was, this Adriano kid could be an asset if he came from a family who owned or had primary access to a house like this, and even if he wouldn't join the Varia, the brat probably knew some trash that would, so either way cultivating a decent working relationship was in Xanxus' best interests.

Even if the fucking trash did consider Iemitsu fucking spawn his little brother.

The air rippled and Mammon stepped out, "The package was recovered successfully, Boss."

Xanxus' eyes narrowed at his Mist captain, "What happened?" he growled.

Iemitsu sat on his flight back to Italia, listlessly staring out the window.

(He was a fucking coward.)

Well, he was a good agent. A good CEDEF Boss-

-and a terrible father.

I'll take some time off once we've gotten back on our feet and things settle down and set things right, he promised himself as the plane took him further away from Japan and Nana and Tsuna. Tsuna's still young and his Flame is sealed, so I have plenty of time. He has Nana and memories of penguins and his goofy dad to fill the blank spot that the last two months would have left, he'll be fine.

Back at Hogwarts, the Spring school term was in full swing, and Gemma Farley and Jessica Chambers were making their weekly Deep Inspection and reminiscing on the changes that the school had undergone.

One of the first things that had changed when the Takeover had occurred was that the portraits of the school were redistributed. Now there were portraits scattered throughout the castle in such a way that a DC member could be notified of an attack within ninety seconds as long as the patrol routes were being observed. The entire school couldn't be covered with portraits, and some were more helpful than others, not to mention the challenge the ever-shifting floorplan presented, but the Committee had met these obstacles and triumphed over them within the first year of their existence.

While it wasn't a bullying-free utopia, the bullies did live with a healthy fear of the Committee, along with an expectation of immediate, exacting justice being meted out regardless of blood status or family name, which gave the victims hope at least.

There were scores of new clubs added as well, and the decorations of the castle were being shuffled around all the time by the Arts Clubs, (as long as they followed Committee Guidelines), not to mention the number of Athletics Clubs, Music Clubs, Academic Clubs to name the main categories, and all of those clubs answered to the Committee.

Then there was the actual Class Schedule of Hogwarts, which had undergone a major overhaul that had gone into effect in September of 1992. While the old schedule held seven core classes, with five additional options available for Third Years and above, the new schedule was much different. In deference to the culture but also acknowledging the need for actual math and other important things, the schedule had been shifted, allowing for much better time management, and the additional staff meant that the younger years spent a lot more time with hands on learning than essay writing.

The way it worked was that they had two six-week sets of nonmagical classes per term that were threaded through the seven core classes. The OWLs were now split between the end of Fourth Year and the end of Fifth Year, as were the parts of the GCSE's, of which the students were supposed to be able to pass equivalency. Meaning you didn't have to know the scientific side of the question as long as you answered the magical equivalent in some subject such as science, but most subjects such as history, mathematics, and English, were universal and therefore no alternatives were given.

Since most of the employment rules had been altered by the Wizengamot during the extreme amount of legislative changes that had occurred over the first few months of the year, and now the GCSE scores factored into the OWL scores, all the idiots who were ignoring the 'worthless muggle filth' would have to come back and take the tests in a few years when they wouldn't be able to find work.

Another thing that had changed were the 'Mutual Cultural Exchange' classes, which were mandatory for everybody and the Committee took a great deal of pleasure in enforcing that fact on those who dared to disrupt operations- so by hook or by crook- slowly understanding began to filter into the population at large.

(Reborn had used his Mafia skills to ensure that the school's backgrounds were flawless, but starting in the Fall of '92 the nonmagical families had actual school awards and pictures to hang on their walls to brag to friends and family about. The Sun Arcobaleno had noted the disturbing lack of cohesion as the children got older, and the incredible strain that the lackluster support that Hogwarts and the Ministry offered the family put on the family unit. So starting in the Spring of 1993, Avalon Academy in Wales would host its first ever Spring Theatre.

It was an actual school that Reborn had had built- a dummy school- and the students were all actually Hogwarts students, but Reborn had set the whole thing up so that the families- parents, grandparents, neighbors, annoying cousins- could come and interact like normal. There was art of all kinds that had been made by the students to be oogled, and a music program on top of the theatre production, and the teachers had made it a challenge to have the technology students make gadgets that mimicked charms and spells but were nonmagical, and over the years it would grow and the presentations held four times a year would be looked forward to by faculty, students, alumni, families, and the community.

And because Reborn had set up the protocols for the school- and the others like it that he'd had built- the nonmagicals never realized that the school was actually empty most of the year.)

Of course, Gemma and Jessica didn't know most of this finer details, they were merely going over schedules and awards and who needed what and who was up for what, but changes were embedding themselves into the fabric Hogwarts and no amount of complaining from the traditionalists or the modernists was going to change that, and both girls were incredibly pleased to be at the epicenter of this particular storm.

Even if the 'Tetsu' on the other side of the journal seemed to always be several steps ahead of them and made them feel slightly inadequate sometimes.

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