Of Wizards and Keyblades: chapter 13
pairings: HP/GW, HG/RW, Sora/Kairi, Sora/GW
author's note: story's in it's waning stage. Thanks for sticking with me!
Harry got up from his bed, rubbing sleep from his bleary eyes. He reached for his glasses, and turned to sleepily survey the sunlit room. He caught site of the bed next to his, where Sora sat, hunched, cradling something to his chest.
"Sora? What's the matter?" He asked, moving over to his friend's side. The brunette started, twisting around to turn glistening eyes on the Boy Who Lived.
"O-oh, Harry! Nothing's the matter...I just had a...dream." He mumbled, his hands moving away from his chest to wipe at his eyes, and Harry could see a yellow star, with leaves sticking out of one end. Sitting down on the bed, the wizard immediately jumped back up again, dusting sand off his pj's.
"Why in the blazes do you have...SAND in you bed?" Harry exclaimed, waking up the rest of the dormitory.
"Uh, it m-must've been from my shoes, and I'll tell you about the paopu later." The Keyblade Master whispered, eyeing the shifting figures around him and stuffing the fruit into his pocket. "Meet me by the oak." And with that, Sora dashed out of the tower, the common room, and down the stairs until he reached the floor, then proceeded outside towards the lake.
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Harry dressed, and left Ron a brief note on his pillow. He followed Sora's path, and emerged from the castle to a glare of brilliant morning sunlight. The teen trotted down to the side of the lake, where Sora sat under the largest oak tree, tossing the funny star-shaped thing up in the air and catching it again. Harry dropped down beside him.
"So, what is this....papoose?"
Sora chuckled. "It's a paopu. It's a rare fruit, that grows only on MY island."
"Wow, you saved it for that long?"
Sora stared at the fruit. "No, I found it in my bed this morning, after I had a dream about being on my island with Kairi." Harry looked at the fruit in amazement, but thought that nothing should surprise him anymore.
"Kairi.....Goofy said she looked a lot like Ginny." Harry muttered, picking at the grass.
"Yeah, she does. And she's sweet like her, too."
"Look, Sora, uh....I like Ginny. A lot. You do, too, don't you?" The raven-haired boy asked, becoming still.
The Keyblade Wielder looked embarrassed at the question. "Well, yeah. But I know that she is meant for you." Harry gawked at him in disbelief. "Which is why I think I have the paopu. You see, there's a legend that goes along with this fruit. It says that if two people share it, their hearts become linked forever. No matter what. So, I want you to have it, and share it with Ginny." He tossed the citrus over to his friend, who caught it one-handed.
They sat there for what seemed like a lifetime, enjoying the morning weather, both deep in thought. Finally, Harry spoke.
"Sora, I don't need this to be connected with Ginny. I love her, and she cares for me, and doesn't that create a bond never to be broken? How about if...." Harry trailed off, staring at the star in his hands. Abruptly, he tore the fruit in half, and offered one piece to his awe-struck companion. "We've become good friends while you were here. You saved my life, twice, and Hermione's, and Snape's. We've been through a lot together, in the short time I've known you. And I don't know when you are leaving, if you ever do. And from what you told me, if you go, we may never see each other again. So, how 'bout we make ourselves a permanent connection? And if the legend's true, not space, time, or death could break this bond." Harry smiled, and bit into the fruit. "Mmm, tastes like and orange! And it tingles!"
Sora was surprised by this caring proposal, and fought back happy tears. He would never loose his friends if their hearts were connected, which was already true, but the act of sharing the paopu was an official symbol of their lifelong friendship, and it promised that neither Harry nor himself would forget or loose each other. Ever.
So, giving Harry a carefree grin, he sank his teeth into the meat of the star, savoring the taste, and shivering at the warm tingle that travelled down his throat to rest inside his heart.
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"Where've you two been? Ron and I were worried sick!" Hermione chastised, tossing Harry his backpack. "We're going to be late for Charms if we don't hurry!" Goofy and Donald trotted to keep up, and the tall Shield-Wielding warrior handed Sora his pack.
"Didn't you get my note, Ron?" Harry asked, taking the steps two at a time up to the Charms corridor.
Ron looked at him with a apologetic grin, "You left a note?"
Hermione gave an exasperated sigh and gave Ron a punch in the shoulder. He whined all the way to the classroom.
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"Good morning, class! Please welcome two guests for our lesson today, Donald and Goofy!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, standing on his desk. "For this hour, we will be practicing 'Corpus Levis,' and I want you all to pair off and be very careful....I have lined all furniture in this room with a pillow charm, just in case. You may begin!"
For the next hour Sora and Hermione cast the "Floating Body" charm on each other, making the other float a few feet in the air. It was Neville, surprisingly, who perfected the charm first and got Hannah Abbott to hover six feet above the floor. Harry and Ron were too busy laughing behind their hands when Seamus jumbled his words and had Dean hanging upside down from the ceiling. Sora and Hermione, who were both smirking mischievously, turned around and shot their charms at Goofy and Donald, who had been sitting in a corner, very quiet. All of a sudden, both found themselves soaring six feet from their chairs, and they both laughed, well, Donald was trying to feign indignance.
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The six of them trooped down for lunch, which consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries.
When checking their schedule tables, Sora, Hermione, Ron, and Harry groaned with dismay at seeing Double Potions in their next two hours. "Well, best head off if we want choice seats...." Ron muttered sarcastically, shifting his bag onto his shoulder.
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Down in the dungeons, the Slytherins seemed eerily quiet. The loss of Draco's presence had disheartened them. Harry and his friends found this a drastic change, but for the better.
"Settle down, class." Snape drawled, after he opened the door and they all filed in. "Today you will be attempting, and I stress on attempting, to create a very difficult and potent concoction named the "Living Draught." It is a highly tempermental potion, so you will need to concentrate all of your simple thought on this. Directions are on the board. Begin."
Snape had totally ignored Donald and Goofy, who were looking unwelcomed and out of place, so Sora decided to use them as assistants, as he heated his cauldron, and asked them to get the ingredients from the cupboard. Hermione and Neville were faring very well by the end of the first hour, their potion was a glimmering amethyst, the proper color, while Ron and Harry's was an indigo. Sora, who really was trying his best, kept being distracted by his two friends, both of whom were getting the ingredients switched, and the stirring directions botched.
"No, Donald! It's supposed to be stirred counterclockwise for three minutes! Aw man!" The gloppy green ooze that was his potion had begun to boil heavily, until the froth almost overflowed from the pot's rim. "Quick, Goofy! Get me some water!" Goofy took three large strides over to the sink and filled a bucket with water, and handed it to his anxious human friend.
Just as Sora stemmed the impending eruption, and lowered the flames, Snape walked over, and cast a disgusting sneer down at his creation....or more appropriately, catastrophe.
"What. Is. This." He whispered, ladling out a spoonful of the ectoplasmic substance.
"Well, it was supposed to be the Living Draught." Sora gave him a weak smile, which died quickly at the look on his professor's face.
"Fool! The directions specifically wrote that only seven Boomslang scales were needed, and you utterly decimated the shrivelfig, which turned it green, and then you muddled up the stirring instructions that were as clear as glass! Are you deliberately wasting my ingredients?" Snape spat, eyes narrowed and biting. Goofy positioned himself in front of Sora, acting as a shield from the livid teacher.
"You're outa line goin' an' yellin' at Sora like that!" He said with his characteristic twang. "It was us who messed up the potion."
Snape was eye level with the humanoid animal, and looked put off by this loss of advantage. "I don't care who 'messed it up,' he is responsible for it, and if you are not one of my pupils, I kindly suggest that you let me deal with those who are myself. This is not your concern." He glared at Goofy, who glared right back.
"Now just a minute, you greasy villain!" Donald rasped, now standing on the desk. Sora groaned and put his head in his hands. The whole class was transfixed on the situation. "If Sora's being yelled at for something he didn't do, it is our concern!" The duck yelled, jumping up and down in his fury. "You're a bad teacher!"
Harry, Sora, and the rest of the class, winced. Uh-oh. Criticizing Snape's teaching methods was the wroooong way to pick a fight....or maybe, the most effective way.
Snape pulled himself up to his full and formidable height, and glared so ferociously that Sora would have shrieked like a girl and scrambled over the desks to get away from him, had he not been rooted to the spot. "Get. Out." Was all the man said, but neither duck nor dog budged. The Potions Master yanked his wand from his sleeve, and raised it to cast a hex, but Donald whapped him smartly over his head, and the man fell to the stone flagged floor, out cold. The whole class was in a surreal state of silent shock. Sora cursed, and stared down at Snape. "Perfect, guys, just peachy. Now we're gonna get it." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
author's note: wow, that was longer that I thought it was gonna be! I'm on a roll with this one, aren't I? :) Please review!
