AN Hey all, here's the real chapter 2. I hate to do this to you all, but chapter 3 will not be out for a few weeks yet. You see, I have to spend this weekend cramming for finals, and then I have to actually *take* my final exams, and find a job and such. So until I'm set for the summer, writing time shall be a little scarce. Don't worry though, I've got a good start on the next chapt, I just wanted to give you a heads up.
This chapter might be a bit confusing. I'm trying to figure out how the hell I should word a whole bunch of stuff, so don't go ballistic. I'll post something that will hopefully help you understand what the hell I'm trying to say. Until then, enjoy!
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Chapter 2
"Harry! Harry wake up!"
Harry thrashed a little more in his sleep, shouting to Heero in the other boy's native tongue. "^Go!^" he screamed in Japanese, "^I'll hold him off! Please Heero, just go!^"
Harry suddenly sat up straight in his bed, he wasn't quite sure who he was, meaning if he was currently himself or Heero, but he didn't feel very well either way. With a muffled sound he leapt from the bed and threw himself to the nearest toilet, only dimly recognizing the red bed hangings around the five beds in the room. Footsteps followed him towards the bathroom.
"Since when can you speak Japanese?" Ron asked from behind him, standing in the doorway, his expression mildly curious.
Harry slowly sat up, reaching for some toilet paper to wipe his mouth with. He stared at Ron as though he were insane. "What?"
"When you were asleep," Ron frowned. "You were yelling in another language. It sounded like Japanese, though I guess it could have been Chinese..."
Harry rolled his eyes, standing up and moving towards the sink. He grabbed at his toothbrush and proceeded to wash the after taste of stomach acid out of his mouth. "Nutters," he muttered. "You've known me for six years, when have I ever said a word in Japanese?"
Ron shrugged, the memory already fading. "So, what were you dreaming of?" He asked casually.
Harry stiffened, toothbrush still in his mouth. He used that as a pretense while he recalled his dream and debated over how much of it to tell Ron. In actuality, he and Heero had been fighting against a whole mob of Deatheaters, and loosing badly. By the time he spat into the sink a few seconds later, he had a pretty good plan.
"It was about Voldemort," he said softly, knowing that Ron had stiffened behind him. "He was torturing somebody, I don't know who, but I could see the terror in their eyes. There was a lot of smoke, and shouting, but I didn't understand what was being said."
Harry didn't think twice about stretching the truth to his best friend. Of course, he would only be so lucky to forget his nightmares, but no, he *always* remembered them.
The black haired Gryffindor finished off his story in such a way that even Ron knew the subject was closed. So, after quick showers, changing of clothes and many jokes, the two headed down through the nearly empty common room and out of Gryffindor tower. The journey down to the Main Hall would take ten minutes.
"What's our first exam?" Ron suddenly asked, stopping dead in his tracts.
"Charms," Harry answered, not changing his pace. "Hermione thinks that we're going to be tested on the Timeless Spell, then we're going to use the spelled object in potions after lunch."
Ron paled. "I don't remember that potion!" He wailed, running to catch up with his best friend. "And I have always had trouble with that spell! Could you help me?"
Harry groaned before nodding. "Come on, we can skip breakfast and practice. We have nearly an hour for you to learn them."
The red haired boy heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks Harry, you're a life saver."
They hurried towards the Charms corridor and let themselves into the empty Charms classroom. And so, with the little time they had, Harry proceeded to try and teach Ron enough about the charm to cast it, and then enough to brew the potion. "It's a two person potion," Harry assured the other boy. "So if you get lost, just ask your partner. And don't worry if you get Neville, Hermione was tutoring him."
Ron nodded nervously and attempted to cast the charm on one of the classroom windows. The glass shimmered with a pale light before returning to normal.
"Is that good?" He asked nervously.
Harry nodded just as the bell rang. "It's a sure sign that the spell worked." He told the other boy.
Ron heaved another sigh of relief, turning to embrace his best friend. "Thanks mate, you're a life saver."
"So THAT'S where you two have been!" An indigent voice said from behind them. "I was worried that you slept in or something. Yet here you were cramming for Charms..." Hermione continued with her rant, and the trio moved to sit down.
"I've brought you some toast," she said, "just in case you were hungry." She handed them each a few slices of buttered bread and they quickly devoured them.
A few minutes later Professor Flitwick, the miniature charms teacher, walked into the room. "Alright sixth years," he squeaked. "Clear your desks and I'll call you up one at a time to preform the spell. You will be tested on the Timeless Spell..."
The class complied and Flitwick began calling up students one at a time to attempt the spell.
===
Heero's wake up call couldn't be more different than Harry's. Instead of being shaken awake, he was jumped on by Duo. The heavy, sixteen year old boy plopped himself down on his lovers chest and calmly began brushing out his long hair. A few soft tendrils escaped his grasp and tickled Heero's nose.
"Duo," Heero muttered, batting the hair away. "GET OFF!"
With a shove, he attempted to dislodge the other boy, but Duo refused to move. In fact, the other boy was completely unimpressed. "Who's Harry?" He asked, still brushing out his hair, making a face when his brush attached itself to a knot.
Heero didn't answer right away, instead he again attempted to rid the warm weight on his stomach.
"Come on," Duo reprimanded. "You know I'll find out sooner or later, and I know for a fact that you don't want me following you around for the rest of your life repeating the phrase "Who's Harry?" over and over again." He freed the brush from the knot in his hair and finished brushing the long mass of brown out. Then he began the task of braiding it back.
Heero's face remained expressionless, and Duo's took on a hurt expression, tieing off the braid and sighing.
"Is he a secret lover from another Colony?" He asked sadly, slowly standing up and heading towards the doorway. "Because I'll understand if you want to break up with me..."
Heero rolled his eyes, sighed and sat up. "Come here Duo." He said softly.
Duo appeared almost like magic on the bed. He bounced in excitement, as though he were about to enter the worlds largest sugar factory and was completely unsupervised.
"Harry is hard to explain," Heero said finally, leaning against his pillows, Duo resting against his chest. "I'm not quite sure where I should begin."
"Well, quite obviously at the beginning. And, when you get to the end, stop."
Heero grunted softly. "I met Harry a very, very long time ago..."
But just then, Quatre appeared in the doorway. "Hey you two," he scolded. "Hurry up or we'll be late for the preventers meeting today."
"Aw, Q," Duo sighed. "Heero was just about to tell me something important!"
Quatre shrugged. "Preventers is important too," he said simply. "And you'll want to eat breakfast before you go. Because we're *not* stopping at some junky place to eat again Duo."
Duo grinned. "It's not my fault that Wufei smashed our alarm clock," he excused himself. "I didn't do anything to him except hide his katana, and it wasn't even hidden in an unlikely spot. EVERYBODY knows the first place you look is up the farthest tree in the middle of the lobby downstairs."
Heero shook his head. "I'll tell you later, Duo," he said, getting out of bed and moving towards the bathroom. "I need to get dressed anyway."
===
The Preventers lab was by far, the largest and tallest building in the Earthsphear. It over fifty stories above ground, and extended underground an equal amount of floors as well. It housed the most extensive network of spies available. The chemistry lab was the most high-tech and kept almost obsessively clean. Lady Une, the woman who was in charge of the whole organization was almost obsessed with the way the building was kept, and she knew each and every person who worked in it.
The Gundam pilots were no exception, they too were very concerned with the way things ran, doing personal scans of the building and the workers.
The pilots reached the preventers lab with ten minutes to spare before their latest meeting about possible regrouping's of defeated military forces. The five boys walked through the part of the building that was open to the public before they disappeared through a door marked 'specialized personnel only'. Their enjoyment at being able to do such an action without being pulled aside was well concealed. They were barely over sixteen - most people still didn't know just who they were yet.
Duo had always taken great pleasure in this action. He would always make sure that they arrived at the same moment as a tour group and then proceeded to wave at all the stunned people before skipping though the door. Quatre later informed him that the guards were getting annoyed because they kept getting scolded about their lack of security by forty year old ladies with nothing better to do with their time. However as today was a Monday and it was still relatively early, there were no tour groups so Duo had to settle for alarming the new security guards while the others just rolled their eyes.
Once through the main door, the five boys had to remove their weapons and lock them in their personal lockers. After that they passed through metal detector which would allow them into the elevator that would take them to the underground labs and meeting rooms. The boys calmly went through the procedures and carefully locked their belongings into their personal safes.
The ride to the labs was silent, but the moment they stepped out of the elevator, Duo sprang to life.
He grabbed Wufei's arm in a vice-like grip and dragged the unwilling Chinese boy towards the large group of people who were also part of the preventers. The other Gundam pilots followed a bit behind, ready to run should Duo encourage Wufei's temper to a dangerous degree.
"Check it out Wu," the braided pilot was saying, "they're all wearing the same clothing... see?" He pointed at Lady Une, Sally Po, and Commander Noin, who were the hypothetical backbone of the Preventers program. In turned out that all the women had chosen to wear their field uniforms that day, and Duo was having a great time laughing it up.
Wufei sighed and cast a desperate look at his other friends. Quatre looked as though he were holding back a giggle, Trowa was silent and observing as always, and Heero looked deep in thought. Wufei sighed and resigned himself to a very long, very irritating morning.
After a while of talking, when most of the time was spent reminding Wufei of some of his more embarrassing moments, a large screen on the other side of the room sparked to life and the group took their seats. Relena Darlien appeared on the screen, wearing something that Duo referred to as "pukish pink."
"Good afternoon," the girl said primly, looking around at all of the people sitting around the table.
Everybody answered her properly, except the pilots, who either nodded or grunted.
"We, the preventers have called this meeting today because we feel that..."
Heero tuned her out, not really caring that his stalker had to say but still keeping a fragment of his attention on what she was saying, just in case. He turned the rest of his mind towards Harry, noting that the other boy was in the middle of his potions final already. He watched idly as Harry carefully added a shredded caterpillar cocoon and stirred carefully with his wooden spoon.
The cauldron in front of Harry was boiling quickly, however much Harry tried to tame it with his quick work. Just as it was time to add the second to last ingredient, Harry's hand faltered, hovering above his two choices. Heero could feel him gulp in sudden fear.
=Phoenix feathers,= Heero said quietly, knowing his doubles dilemma. =Stir counterclockwise three times and then add the slime.=
=Thanks,= Harry said, obviously relieved at the welcome help. There was a pause as the wizard worked on his potion. =Maybe you should be paying more attention to your meeting...=
Heero blinked and focused on the meting once more. Everybody in the room was staring at him, including Relena, still on the large digital screen. The pilot remained impassive, though he could hear Harry's muffled snickering in the back of his mind.
"Can I help you?" He asked dully, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.
"Heero, were you paying attention at all?" Relena asked, frowning at him. "Because what I have to say is-"
"Yeah, yeah," Duo interrupted, waving a hand at her. "You were just giving us details about an assignment. Give us a break, we understand what we have to do."
The girl on the screen scowled at him.
"^Hey,^" Duo asked, leaning over and whispering into his koi's ear, "^what's wrong?^"
"^Just thinking,^" Heero said flatly, not caring if the other pilots could speak Japanese perfectly fluently, and indeed that they were listening in on their conversation without bothering to conceal their interest.
"Oh," Duo said, sounding hurt.
Heero softened, "^I'll tell you later, alright?^"
Duo nodded, obviously pleased and the two boys turned back to the meeting at hand. Relena was looking extremely annoyed, the pilots bored, and everybody else just looked confused. At Heero's glare, the meeting commenced, going on for nearly an hour before they were released.
"Don't forget you five," Lady Une, the head of the Preventers, called after them, "you need to be ready to leave by dawn next Tuesday. Bring only what you need, I'm sure you can get new clothing and things if required." She paused. "You're mission should only last a few days, contact us when you've completed it."
Duo grinned widely at her. "No problem." He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet in already evident excitement. "Go in, blow it up, and run like hell."
Une frowned but nodded, looking at Quatre. "Make sure he uses a bit more stealth then that, alright?"
Duo pouted, sticking his tongue out as the woman walked down the hall towards her office.
Quatre nodded and turned to the other pilots. "Let's head to the firing range and get some scores in, Noin has been badgering me about how we've been putting it off."
The four pilots frowned.
"Q, it's only noon. We need to eat man!" Duo whined, following the blond boy down the hallway. "And I have paperwork nearly a mile high in my office that I have to get done. If I don't, Une might kill me!"
"When has paperwork ever bothered you?" Wufei asked, pressing the button to summon the elevator.
Duo grinned sheepishly. "Well, it doesn't really, but I got a memo in my box that was bordering on threatening my life... it *looked* like Une's writing, and that's what makes it scary." He followed the other pilots into the elevator and quickly pressed every button on the dash board.
"I have work to do as well," Heero piped up, cutting off Wufei's disapproving comment of Duo's childish tendencies. The elevator beeped and he stepped off of it, moving towards his personal locker and pulled out his gun and other weapons, strapping them to his body. "It's probably going to take all afternoon to get it done." He turned to Duo, "come and find me when you finish, alright?"
Duo nodded, slipping his knives into the leather gauntlets on his arms. "No prob," he grinned, moving to kiss his koi before hurrying away towards his personal office, which could also pass off as a potential fire hazard.
The other three pilots glanced at Heero before looking at each other and frowning.
Heero sighed, "come by later, and I'll explain everything."
They simply nodded before hurrying in the general direction Duo had left in. Heero spent a few more minutes checking over his weapons before following, turning into his office and sitting down behind the piles of papers stacked neatly on his desk. With a deep sigh, he opened his lap top and began making his way through the reports, filing some and setting others aside.
===
Harry was prevented from exiting the Potions lab because the moment he attempted to, a hand at his elbow stopped him. He turned, casting a curious look at the blond boy who had stopped him.
Draco flushed slightly, but didn't lose his resolve. "Did you think about tonight?" He asked softly, his gray eyes carefully avoiding eye contact.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, it sounds like fun, where are we going?"
Draco looked up, hardly daring to believe his luck. "I thought we could go to Hogsmeade for dinner, then do a bit of studying for Transfiguration tomorrow."
Harry's eyes widened at the quick response, "you've had a lot of time to think about this haven't you?"
Draco didn't answer. "I'll come and find you later alright? Or we can meet in the Entrance Hall after exams."
Harry grinned again and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
===
Nearly five hours after Duo disappeared, he bounded into Heero's office and plopped down on the large desk. "Alright Hee-chan," he demanded, "tell me about Harry now."
Heero glanced up at him and nodded before closing his lap-top and standing up. He led Duo over to the couch in the corner of the office and sat them down, the braided boy snuggling up as close to his koi as possible.
"Go on," Duo encouraged, before seeing Heero's apparent discomfort about the subject at hand. "Here, I'll help... you've known him for a very, very long time..."
Heero's smile was almost nonexistent but it was enough to add a twinkle to his eyes. "Well, that's not quite perfectly honest. I've always known Harry, you could say we grew up together."
Duo frowned, "but you told me that Odin found you when you were six, and that you don't remember anything before that."
Heero sighed, "all I remember from that time is Harry, really. You see, Harry and I, we're basically the same person."
"So, he's an imaginary friend?" Duo giggled, though the seriousness was hidden deep in his eyes.
"No."
Duo stopped laughing, looking completely confused. "But-"
"Harry is a real person, he just lives in another time line. We are the *same* person, because we grew up being able to switch who we were. I am Harry, and he is Heero. He is more emotional than I am. By the time Odin and J were through with me, I had found the best way to avoid emotions was to send them straight to Harry. And the best way for him to avoid his anger and resentment was to send it to me. You know how dangerous it was for me during the war to be weighed down with emotions. Harry is the opposite, he's expected to have emotions. He's not allowed to be unhappy, it's dangerous for him if he let's his anger get a hold of him."
Duo cut in again, feeling lost. "So, you two just switch lives?" He asked. "And why is it dangerous?"
"Yes, we do switch, but it doesn't seem like it really. You see, Harry's presence is in my mind, it always has been. I grew up like this, being two people. And it's dangerous the same way it's dangerous for Quatre to be a warrior. People see him in a certain way, and to change that view could very well be suicide."
"So, what time line does he live in? You travel time? I have *two* boyfriends? This is so weird..."
"Duo," Heero said softly, cutting off the boys ramblings. "Harry lives in the past, so yes, I do travel time. And you don't have two boyfriends. I would never let Harry do anything with you. The most he does is hold you, but it's still my body, and he's me... so basically, I'm holding you."
Duo gave him a skeptical look.
"Okay, so maybe he kisses you once in a while... or a lot..." Heero admitted. "At the movies yesterday, that was Harry. We switched so that I could study for him, and he could get away from school for a bit. I'm not very good at dealing with your emotional bursts, unlike him. And he has a harder time concentrating enough to cram for finals."
Something clicked in Duo's mind. "Does Harry have green eyes, by chance?" He asked.
Heero nodded.
"So *that's* why your eyes sometimes glint with green! I couldn't figure it out, usually they're all blue... can you switch with him now?" Duo asked, his amethyst eyes glinting with anticipation.
"He's in the bathroom at this moment." Heero explained. "And now is definitely not the time to be bothering him. But, I can show him to you if you like."
Duo nodded eagerly and Heero stood up, walking towards his desk and pulling out a small hand held mirror he and Harry had charmed a long while ago. That mirror along with a select few could show him Harry's whereabouts. He stiffened slightly and glanced at the door, where Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were standing, listening to the entire conversation. "You can come in," Heero sighed. "No doubt that you want to know more about this as well."
Quatre bounded in while the other two moved much slower, trying to hide their eagerness.
Heero joined them on the couch and smiled slightly at his four friends. "It would be better for all of you to look first, so you know that the mirror is really just a mirror," He told them, handing the mirror to Duo.
The braided boy pretended to preen for a moment before passing it along to Quatra, who turned it around in his hands. Trowa took it next, running his hands along the surface, his one visible green eye scanning it carefully. Wufei gave it a curtsey glance before handing it back to Heero.
Heero took the mirror, cradling it carefully in his hands. "When you look into the mirror, you see yourselves because you don't have a double like I do. When I look into the mirror, the reflection I'm going to see is Harry. Trust me, it's perfectly safe... we do this all the time." He stiffened his resolve and moved so that the mirror was in front of his face, but still at such an angle that the four boys standing near him could look into it as well.
The four Gundam pilots blinked in surprise. A black haired boy was looking back at them, in the process of washing his hands. He had the same messy hair as Heero, albeit, slightly darker. Round wire rimmed glasses sat on his nose, blocking the view of startling green eyes. His skin was tanned as though he spent a lot of his time outdoors. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform it you didn't count the black robe, slightly slipping off his right shoulder. A few ordinary looking bathroom cubicles were standing behind him.
"Wow," Duo breathed. "He's hott!"
On the other side of the mirror Harry, obviously having somehow heard what Duo said, began laughing, his green eyes alight with humor behind his glasses.
"Can he see us too?" Trowa asked suddenly, looking over at Heero. "How does he know that we know about him?"
Heero shook his head. "No, he can't see us. And he knows because I told him. I can hear what's going on around him depending on how much he lets me hear, and the same for him. It's rather, confusing."
Wufei frowned. "So, what's so special about this mirror that it will reflect him? Why can't his mirror do that as well?" The Chinese boy looked desperate to show he wasn't confused, but the other four pilots could read his expression well enough to know that he was lost in the logic of it.
Heero, however, was saved from answering when Harry suddenly looked towards the side where another boy, this time with red hair had appeared. Harry said something, laughed and then paled drastically. He turned off the tap picked up his books and bolted for the door. The image disappeared the moment he was no longer visible.
The pilots only had a moment to see the titles of his books, but it was long enough to realize that something about Harry was slightly off. Who in the world studied with books like "The Standard Book of Spells" and "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi"?
"Where did he go?" Duo demanded, his violet eyes frowning.
"He has a meeting with somebody that he's a bit late to," Heero said softly, his eyes carefully avoiding his friends'. "Speaking of heading off, what say we get something to eat on the way back to the flat?"
It was clear that he didn't really want to answer any more questions about Harry, so his friends didn't argue. They would have plenty of time for that later. So, they agreed and quickly left the office for the outside world.
Duo's chant of "FOOD!" bringing smiles to the faces of anyone within a two mile radius.
===
Harry raced through Hogwarts as fast as he could, hoping against everything that Draco wouldn't change his mind about dinner that night. To his immense relief, the blond Slytherin was leaning against the banister at the bottom of the stairs.
"Draco!" Harry called, causing the boy to turn around and smile slightly.
"Hey Harry," Draco said when the Gryffindor joined him moments later.
There was an awkward moment before the two boys turned towards the doors and silently left the school building, walking calmly towards the village. That awkward feeling seemed to follow them down the nicely tended path and into a small, cozy restaurant. It somehow managed to disappear the moment they sat down and looked at their menu's.
"So," Harry asked, scanning the options in front of him and settling on a simple deli sandwich. "What have you been doing with yourself since they died?" He glanced up at the pensive blond, not sure if he had crossed into dangerous territory by mentioning Draco's parents, relaxing when he noted that he hadn't. "Anything interesting?"
Draco frowned, still carefully regarding the menu. "If you call being attacked by Aurrors who are suspicious dark objects still supposedly hidden in the manor interesting... then yes, life has been very interesting."
Harry winced in sympathy, he knew what it was like to have people suspicious of you, second year had taught him about that.
"So, you still live in the manor? Is it empty besides you?" Harry asked curiously, not knowing how somebody could live alone in such a large building. True, he had never actually seen Draco's house, but he had picked up that the thing was huge from the former snob's bragging.
"Mainly," Draco answered. "Just me and the house elves anyway, unless some relative drops by to try and mooch off my inheritance money. But that doesn't happen very often."
"That much be bloody lonely," Harry said lightly, he snickered before sighing. "But, I guess it's better then actually being kicked out by your only living relatives. The Dursley's sent me a note this year basically telling me not to come back." He sighed again, reflecting on his unstable plans. "I'm thinking about taking a flat in London this summer."
Draco nodded, biting his bottom lip in thought.
"Hello dears," a kind old lady said, walking up to their table. "Are you ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?"
Draco smiled at the women, his gray eyes twinkling in a way Harry had never seen them do before. "I think that we're ready." He turned to Harry, who nodded in agreement. They both told the nice women what they wanted before she walked away and they resumed their conversation.
"You're a lot different then I thought." Harry blurted out suddenly, flushing lightly. "I mean, I was kind of expecting 'Malfoy the prick' to appear sometime, but you've really changed."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get that a lot." He muttered sarcastically. "You could say that after my parents died I did a bit, well, a lot of thinking. And I realized, I didn't want to be who they made me to be. I didn't want to be someone who followed orders without asking why."
"I get it," Harry grinned. "Your conscience suddenly appeared and started leading you down the path of light."
Draco looked at him funny.
"Or not..."
Draco's lips twitched, as though he were trying to hold back a laugh. Before he could lose control, their food appeared on the table with a small pop and they both grinned.
"I," Harry proclaimed, picking up his sandwich. "Challenge you to an eating contest. He who finishes first must pay for the next outing."
"Tell me if I'm wrong, but when one is in such a contest, don't they try to finish first in order not to have to pay or what-not?"
Harry shrugged. "Hell if I know. Enough talk, contest starts now!"
===
"Hey Duo," Heero asked softly, shaking the almost asleep boy slightly after being questioned for nearly an hour about Harry. Duo, for some reason, had a very open opinion about Heero's double life and was extremely fascinated about it, something that would only lead up to millions of questions. Quatre too, was more curious then he expected, having taken Heero aside and asking him questions, all the while rubbing his chest where his heart space must have been acting up. "Can I ask you something?"
Duo half opened his eyes, squinting up at the Japanese boy with a sleepy, curious expression. "Nani?"
"Do you miss it? Working with Hilde at the scrap yard, I mean. Do you ever wish you were back there with her?"
Duo forced himself to sit up and crawl closer to his boyfriend. "If you mean, do I miss working at the scrap yard because it was a simple mindless job that had nothing to do with the war, sure. Of course I miss it." He yawned, leaning his head on Heero's shoulder. "But, if you mean do I miss it because Hilde's still there and it was up on a colony I had a lot of memories on, then no I don't. I'm perfectly content being here with you. I have friends, a home and a great job that requires something I'm very talented at."
Heero rested his cheek against the top of Duo's head, feeling Duo's warmth soak into him. "Sometimes, I miss being Relena's bodyguard. I miss hiding in the shadows where nobody thought to look. I miss being able to walk down a street and having to make my own way, like before the war."
Duo lightly kissed Heero's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here with me."
Feeling very assured with Duo's support, Heero fell into a light slumber, his subconscious slipping down the thread of magic that connected him and Harry. The thread that allowed them to communicate and switch places. He stopped somewhere along the middle, in a little mental image of a Japanese garden. It was their mental sanctuary, that garden, located where their minds met. It was full of flowers that held such beauty and perfection only their imaginations could produce. Water spilled from fountains into pretty streams that rushed about happily and the whole area was bathed in a warm light, bouncing off the water and creating waves of heat on the air.
Harry himself was sitting on the top of a grassy slope, his bare feet resting in one such stream. Heero sat down next to him, crossing his legs Indian style and relaxing in the warmth surrounding him.
Harry, it seemed was already waiting for him, and had been for sometime, bursting with news.
"How was your date with Draco? It did go alright, didn't it? I don't have to glare at him when ever he tries to talk to us in the hall, right?" Heero questioned gruffly, carefully looking at the black haired boy, reading his very open expression and feeling Harry's emotions pouring through his own body.
The wizard smiled over at him. "You sound like an over protective parent." He teased. "And you should already know how my date went. I could feel you listening in."
The Gundam pilot chuckled lowly. "Can I be blamed if I want to know what's going on in my second life? I say I have a right."
"You do," Harry said, leaning back on the grass and closing his eyes. The black haired boy smiled, kicking his feet in the stream a little, causing musical ripples to pour forth. "He was very different than I expected, and he kind of reminds me of Trowa, except that he talks a lot more. He's very serious about his past, and that surprised me a lot. But I really like him, he's refreshing and he seems to genuinely want to be there for me."
Heero looked down at the peaceful boy, pondering gently. "I told Duo and the other's about you."
"I know."
"Quatre was suspicious. He knows that I'm keeping something from them about the two of us, he just doesn't know what it is. And I don't particularly want to be the one to tell them that magic exists, and that you're a wizard. So if you want to take that part of the job over..."
"I know. But, that's something I wanted to talk to you about... I noticed something the last time I was you. Your body has the same magical feel that mine does, Duo's does too. I noticed because some giggly girl next to us *didn't* have it. Like the Dursley's don't. I think that you're a wizard as well, Heero. Duo too."
Heero blinked, well, that was certainly not something he'd been expecting, but it did make sense. After all, he'd jumped out a fifty story building and only broke his leg, yet still managed to walk away. Of course, Duo had been there for him to lean on, but it didn't matter at the time.
"I can check the other's in the morning if you want." Harry offered. "Since I know what I'm looking for. And I know that Duo's just *dying* to meet me." He opened his eyes and looked up at Heero with a mischievous expression.
Heero shrugged it off and nodded his agreement. "Transfiguration first and then Care of Magical Creatures?" He asked, making sure he knew Harry's schedule for the next day.
"And Defence as well," Harry sighed. "Honestly, I don't know why they even bother to *teach* that class. The most we ever learned was in third year because of Moony."
There was a break in their conversation, both boys thinking about their histories together and as each other.
"Are you going to tell them?" Heero asked suddenly, lightly poking Harry with a bare foot. "Ron and Hermione and Draco, I mean. Are you going to tell them about us?"
"Probably not." Harry admitted. "Draco maybe, but Hermione would just call it multiple personality disorder and start slipping me potions with my pumpkin juice to try and fix me. Ron would probably either think it's wicked cool, or that I'm crazy. I don't want to risk losing them." He brightened suddenly, sitting up and pulling his feet out of the water. "Oh! I forgot to tell you!"
He grinned hugely, standing up and pulling Heero to his feet as well. "Draco offered to let us spend the summer in his manor. He say's that it's too damn empty and lonely all by himself. What do you say?"
Heero looked at Harry, seeing the sparkle of happiness and hope deep in his green eyes. "It sounds good to me," he said finally. "Finding apartments in the Muggle world is supposed to be hard."
Harry gave a whoop of joy, grabbing his double in a tight hug. "This is going to be great!" He cried. "Just you wait and see. Draco's really changed, and I'm glad. He's a great person!"
Heero shook his head. "If you want to switch, that's fine for tomorrow. Duo and I were going to check out the hanger and do a bit of work on Wing and Deathscythe. I think we were going to do a bit of shooting practice as well."
"I'm meeting up with Draco for breakfast," Harry grinned. "And he promised to meet me to walk down to Hagrid's for class." He paused, turning to look at Heero, "um... this time, could you at least *try* not to scare what ever creature he has?"
"Fine, fine." Heero waved him off. "Tell me when you wake up. And I want a full report about Wing."
"Later!"
The two boys grinned at each other before letting their magic pulse just enough to push them into each other's bodies. They both slept on, taking comfort from the warm presence in the back of their minds.
They didn't know how to survive without it. And they weren't about to try and find out either.
================================
AN Review and I'll update.
.
This chapter might be a bit confusing. I'm trying to figure out how the hell I should word a whole bunch of stuff, so don't go ballistic. I'll post something that will hopefully help you understand what the hell I'm trying to say. Until then, enjoy!
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Chapter 2
"Harry! Harry wake up!"
Harry thrashed a little more in his sleep, shouting to Heero in the other boy's native tongue. "^Go!^" he screamed in Japanese, "^I'll hold him off! Please Heero, just go!^"
Harry suddenly sat up straight in his bed, he wasn't quite sure who he was, meaning if he was currently himself or Heero, but he didn't feel very well either way. With a muffled sound he leapt from the bed and threw himself to the nearest toilet, only dimly recognizing the red bed hangings around the five beds in the room. Footsteps followed him towards the bathroom.
"Since when can you speak Japanese?" Ron asked from behind him, standing in the doorway, his expression mildly curious.
Harry slowly sat up, reaching for some toilet paper to wipe his mouth with. He stared at Ron as though he were insane. "What?"
"When you were asleep," Ron frowned. "You were yelling in another language. It sounded like Japanese, though I guess it could have been Chinese..."
Harry rolled his eyes, standing up and moving towards the sink. He grabbed at his toothbrush and proceeded to wash the after taste of stomach acid out of his mouth. "Nutters," he muttered. "You've known me for six years, when have I ever said a word in Japanese?"
Ron shrugged, the memory already fading. "So, what were you dreaming of?" He asked casually.
Harry stiffened, toothbrush still in his mouth. He used that as a pretense while he recalled his dream and debated over how much of it to tell Ron. In actuality, he and Heero had been fighting against a whole mob of Deatheaters, and loosing badly. By the time he spat into the sink a few seconds later, he had a pretty good plan.
"It was about Voldemort," he said softly, knowing that Ron had stiffened behind him. "He was torturing somebody, I don't know who, but I could see the terror in their eyes. There was a lot of smoke, and shouting, but I didn't understand what was being said."
Harry didn't think twice about stretching the truth to his best friend. Of course, he would only be so lucky to forget his nightmares, but no, he *always* remembered them.
The black haired Gryffindor finished off his story in such a way that even Ron knew the subject was closed. So, after quick showers, changing of clothes and many jokes, the two headed down through the nearly empty common room and out of Gryffindor tower. The journey down to the Main Hall would take ten minutes.
"What's our first exam?" Ron suddenly asked, stopping dead in his tracts.
"Charms," Harry answered, not changing his pace. "Hermione thinks that we're going to be tested on the Timeless Spell, then we're going to use the spelled object in potions after lunch."
Ron paled. "I don't remember that potion!" He wailed, running to catch up with his best friend. "And I have always had trouble with that spell! Could you help me?"
Harry groaned before nodding. "Come on, we can skip breakfast and practice. We have nearly an hour for you to learn them."
The red haired boy heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks Harry, you're a life saver."
They hurried towards the Charms corridor and let themselves into the empty Charms classroom. And so, with the little time they had, Harry proceeded to try and teach Ron enough about the charm to cast it, and then enough to brew the potion. "It's a two person potion," Harry assured the other boy. "So if you get lost, just ask your partner. And don't worry if you get Neville, Hermione was tutoring him."
Ron nodded nervously and attempted to cast the charm on one of the classroom windows. The glass shimmered with a pale light before returning to normal.
"Is that good?" He asked nervously.
Harry nodded just as the bell rang. "It's a sure sign that the spell worked." He told the other boy.
Ron heaved another sigh of relief, turning to embrace his best friend. "Thanks mate, you're a life saver."
"So THAT'S where you two have been!" An indigent voice said from behind them. "I was worried that you slept in or something. Yet here you were cramming for Charms..." Hermione continued with her rant, and the trio moved to sit down.
"I've brought you some toast," she said, "just in case you were hungry." She handed them each a few slices of buttered bread and they quickly devoured them.
A few minutes later Professor Flitwick, the miniature charms teacher, walked into the room. "Alright sixth years," he squeaked. "Clear your desks and I'll call you up one at a time to preform the spell. You will be tested on the Timeless Spell..."
The class complied and Flitwick began calling up students one at a time to attempt the spell.
===
Heero's wake up call couldn't be more different than Harry's. Instead of being shaken awake, he was jumped on by Duo. The heavy, sixteen year old boy plopped himself down on his lovers chest and calmly began brushing out his long hair. A few soft tendrils escaped his grasp and tickled Heero's nose.
"Duo," Heero muttered, batting the hair away. "GET OFF!"
With a shove, he attempted to dislodge the other boy, but Duo refused to move. In fact, the other boy was completely unimpressed. "Who's Harry?" He asked, still brushing out his hair, making a face when his brush attached itself to a knot.
Heero didn't answer right away, instead he again attempted to rid the warm weight on his stomach.
"Come on," Duo reprimanded. "You know I'll find out sooner or later, and I know for a fact that you don't want me following you around for the rest of your life repeating the phrase "Who's Harry?" over and over again." He freed the brush from the knot in his hair and finished brushing the long mass of brown out. Then he began the task of braiding it back.
Heero's face remained expressionless, and Duo's took on a hurt expression, tieing off the braid and sighing.
"Is he a secret lover from another Colony?" He asked sadly, slowly standing up and heading towards the doorway. "Because I'll understand if you want to break up with me..."
Heero rolled his eyes, sighed and sat up. "Come here Duo." He said softly.
Duo appeared almost like magic on the bed. He bounced in excitement, as though he were about to enter the worlds largest sugar factory and was completely unsupervised.
"Harry is hard to explain," Heero said finally, leaning against his pillows, Duo resting against his chest. "I'm not quite sure where I should begin."
"Well, quite obviously at the beginning. And, when you get to the end, stop."
Heero grunted softly. "I met Harry a very, very long time ago..."
But just then, Quatre appeared in the doorway. "Hey you two," he scolded. "Hurry up or we'll be late for the preventers meeting today."
"Aw, Q," Duo sighed. "Heero was just about to tell me something important!"
Quatre shrugged. "Preventers is important too," he said simply. "And you'll want to eat breakfast before you go. Because we're *not* stopping at some junky place to eat again Duo."
Duo grinned. "It's not my fault that Wufei smashed our alarm clock," he excused himself. "I didn't do anything to him except hide his katana, and it wasn't even hidden in an unlikely spot. EVERYBODY knows the first place you look is up the farthest tree in the middle of the lobby downstairs."
Heero shook his head. "I'll tell you later, Duo," he said, getting out of bed and moving towards the bathroom. "I need to get dressed anyway."
===
The Preventers lab was by far, the largest and tallest building in the Earthsphear. It over fifty stories above ground, and extended underground an equal amount of floors as well. It housed the most extensive network of spies available. The chemistry lab was the most high-tech and kept almost obsessively clean. Lady Une, the woman who was in charge of the whole organization was almost obsessed with the way the building was kept, and she knew each and every person who worked in it.
The Gundam pilots were no exception, they too were very concerned with the way things ran, doing personal scans of the building and the workers.
The pilots reached the preventers lab with ten minutes to spare before their latest meeting about possible regrouping's of defeated military forces. The five boys walked through the part of the building that was open to the public before they disappeared through a door marked 'specialized personnel only'. Their enjoyment at being able to do such an action without being pulled aside was well concealed. They were barely over sixteen - most people still didn't know just who they were yet.
Duo had always taken great pleasure in this action. He would always make sure that they arrived at the same moment as a tour group and then proceeded to wave at all the stunned people before skipping though the door. Quatre later informed him that the guards were getting annoyed because they kept getting scolded about their lack of security by forty year old ladies with nothing better to do with their time. However as today was a Monday and it was still relatively early, there were no tour groups so Duo had to settle for alarming the new security guards while the others just rolled their eyes.
Once through the main door, the five boys had to remove their weapons and lock them in their personal lockers. After that they passed through metal detector which would allow them into the elevator that would take them to the underground labs and meeting rooms. The boys calmly went through the procedures and carefully locked their belongings into their personal safes.
The ride to the labs was silent, but the moment they stepped out of the elevator, Duo sprang to life.
He grabbed Wufei's arm in a vice-like grip and dragged the unwilling Chinese boy towards the large group of people who were also part of the preventers. The other Gundam pilots followed a bit behind, ready to run should Duo encourage Wufei's temper to a dangerous degree.
"Check it out Wu," the braided pilot was saying, "they're all wearing the same clothing... see?" He pointed at Lady Une, Sally Po, and Commander Noin, who were the hypothetical backbone of the Preventers program. In turned out that all the women had chosen to wear their field uniforms that day, and Duo was having a great time laughing it up.
Wufei sighed and cast a desperate look at his other friends. Quatre looked as though he were holding back a giggle, Trowa was silent and observing as always, and Heero looked deep in thought. Wufei sighed and resigned himself to a very long, very irritating morning.
After a while of talking, when most of the time was spent reminding Wufei of some of his more embarrassing moments, a large screen on the other side of the room sparked to life and the group took their seats. Relena Darlien appeared on the screen, wearing something that Duo referred to as "pukish pink."
"Good afternoon," the girl said primly, looking around at all of the people sitting around the table.
Everybody answered her properly, except the pilots, who either nodded or grunted.
"We, the preventers have called this meeting today because we feel that..."
Heero tuned her out, not really caring that his stalker had to say but still keeping a fragment of his attention on what she was saying, just in case. He turned the rest of his mind towards Harry, noting that the other boy was in the middle of his potions final already. He watched idly as Harry carefully added a shredded caterpillar cocoon and stirred carefully with his wooden spoon.
The cauldron in front of Harry was boiling quickly, however much Harry tried to tame it with his quick work. Just as it was time to add the second to last ingredient, Harry's hand faltered, hovering above his two choices. Heero could feel him gulp in sudden fear.
=Phoenix feathers,= Heero said quietly, knowing his doubles dilemma. =Stir counterclockwise three times and then add the slime.=
=Thanks,= Harry said, obviously relieved at the welcome help. There was a pause as the wizard worked on his potion. =Maybe you should be paying more attention to your meeting...=
Heero blinked and focused on the meting once more. Everybody in the room was staring at him, including Relena, still on the large digital screen. The pilot remained impassive, though he could hear Harry's muffled snickering in the back of his mind.
"Can I help you?" He asked dully, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.
"Heero, were you paying attention at all?" Relena asked, frowning at him. "Because what I have to say is-"
"Yeah, yeah," Duo interrupted, waving a hand at her. "You were just giving us details about an assignment. Give us a break, we understand what we have to do."
The girl on the screen scowled at him.
"^Hey,^" Duo asked, leaning over and whispering into his koi's ear, "^what's wrong?^"
"^Just thinking,^" Heero said flatly, not caring if the other pilots could speak Japanese perfectly fluently, and indeed that they were listening in on their conversation without bothering to conceal their interest.
"Oh," Duo said, sounding hurt.
Heero softened, "^I'll tell you later, alright?^"
Duo nodded, obviously pleased and the two boys turned back to the meeting at hand. Relena was looking extremely annoyed, the pilots bored, and everybody else just looked confused. At Heero's glare, the meeting commenced, going on for nearly an hour before they were released.
"Don't forget you five," Lady Une, the head of the Preventers, called after them, "you need to be ready to leave by dawn next Tuesday. Bring only what you need, I'm sure you can get new clothing and things if required." She paused. "You're mission should only last a few days, contact us when you've completed it."
Duo grinned widely at her. "No problem." He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet in already evident excitement. "Go in, blow it up, and run like hell."
Une frowned but nodded, looking at Quatre. "Make sure he uses a bit more stealth then that, alright?"
Duo pouted, sticking his tongue out as the woman walked down the hall towards her office.
Quatre nodded and turned to the other pilots. "Let's head to the firing range and get some scores in, Noin has been badgering me about how we've been putting it off."
The four pilots frowned.
"Q, it's only noon. We need to eat man!" Duo whined, following the blond boy down the hallway. "And I have paperwork nearly a mile high in my office that I have to get done. If I don't, Une might kill me!"
"When has paperwork ever bothered you?" Wufei asked, pressing the button to summon the elevator.
Duo grinned sheepishly. "Well, it doesn't really, but I got a memo in my box that was bordering on threatening my life... it *looked* like Une's writing, and that's what makes it scary." He followed the other pilots into the elevator and quickly pressed every button on the dash board.
"I have work to do as well," Heero piped up, cutting off Wufei's disapproving comment of Duo's childish tendencies. The elevator beeped and he stepped off of it, moving towards his personal locker and pulled out his gun and other weapons, strapping them to his body. "It's probably going to take all afternoon to get it done." He turned to Duo, "come and find me when you finish, alright?"
Duo nodded, slipping his knives into the leather gauntlets on his arms. "No prob," he grinned, moving to kiss his koi before hurrying away towards his personal office, which could also pass off as a potential fire hazard.
The other three pilots glanced at Heero before looking at each other and frowning.
Heero sighed, "come by later, and I'll explain everything."
They simply nodded before hurrying in the general direction Duo had left in. Heero spent a few more minutes checking over his weapons before following, turning into his office and sitting down behind the piles of papers stacked neatly on his desk. With a deep sigh, he opened his lap top and began making his way through the reports, filing some and setting others aside.
===
Harry was prevented from exiting the Potions lab because the moment he attempted to, a hand at his elbow stopped him. He turned, casting a curious look at the blond boy who had stopped him.
Draco flushed slightly, but didn't lose his resolve. "Did you think about tonight?" He asked softly, his gray eyes carefully avoiding eye contact.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, it sounds like fun, where are we going?"
Draco looked up, hardly daring to believe his luck. "I thought we could go to Hogsmeade for dinner, then do a bit of studying for Transfiguration tomorrow."
Harry's eyes widened at the quick response, "you've had a lot of time to think about this haven't you?"
Draco didn't answer. "I'll come and find you later alright? Or we can meet in the Entrance Hall after exams."
Harry grinned again and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
===
Nearly five hours after Duo disappeared, he bounded into Heero's office and plopped down on the large desk. "Alright Hee-chan," he demanded, "tell me about Harry now."
Heero glanced up at him and nodded before closing his lap-top and standing up. He led Duo over to the couch in the corner of the office and sat them down, the braided boy snuggling up as close to his koi as possible.
"Go on," Duo encouraged, before seeing Heero's apparent discomfort about the subject at hand. "Here, I'll help... you've known him for a very, very long time..."
Heero's smile was almost nonexistent but it was enough to add a twinkle to his eyes. "Well, that's not quite perfectly honest. I've always known Harry, you could say we grew up together."
Duo frowned, "but you told me that Odin found you when you were six, and that you don't remember anything before that."
Heero sighed, "all I remember from that time is Harry, really. You see, Harry and I, we're basically the same person."
"So, he's an imaginary friend?" Duo giggled, though the seriousness was hidden deep in his eyes.
"No."
Duo stopped laughing, looking completely confused. "But-"
"Harry is a real person, he just lives in another time line. We are the *same* person, because we grew up being able to switch who we were. I am Harry, and he is Heero. He is more emotional than I am. By the time Odin and J were through with me, I had found the best way to avoid emotions was to send them straight to Harry. And the best way for him to avoid his anger and resentment was to send it to me. You know how dangerous it was for me during the war to be weighed down with emotions. Harry is the opposite, he's expected to have emotions. He's not allowed to be unhappy, it's dangerous for him if he let's his anger get a hold of him."
Duo cut in again, feeling lost. "So, you two just switch lives?" He asked. "And why is it dangerous?"
"Yes, we do switch, but it doesn't seem like it really. You see, Harry's presence is in my mind, it always has been. I grew up like this, being two people. And it's dangerous the same way it's dangerous for Quatre to be a warrior. People see him in a certain way, and to change that view could very well be suicide."
"So, what time line does he live in? You travel time? I have *two* boyfriends? This is so weird..."
"Duo," Heero said softly, cutting off the boys ramblings. "Harry lives in the past, so yes, I do travel time. And you don't have two boyfriends. I would never let Harry do anything with you. The most he does is hold you, but it's still my body, and he's me... so basically, I'm holding you."
Duo gave him a skeptical look.
"Okay, so maybe he kisses you once in a while... or a lot..." Heero admitted. "At the movies yesterday, that was Harry. We switched so that I could study for him, and he could get away from school for a bit. I'm not very good at dealing with your emotional bursts, unlike him. And he has a harder time concentrating enough to cram for finals."
Something clicked in Duo's mind. "Does Harry have green eyes, by chance?" He asked.
Heero nodded.
"So *that's* why your eyes sometimes glint with green! I couldn't figure it out, usually they're all blue... can you switch with him now?" Duo asked, his amethyst eyes glinting with anticipation.
"He's in the bathroom at this moment." Heero explained. "And now is definitely not the time to be bothering him. But, I can show him to you if you like."
Duo nodded eagerly and Heero stood up, walking towards his desk and pulling out a small hand held mirror he and Harry had charmed a long while ago. That mirror along with a select few could show him Harry's whereabouts. He stiffened slightly and glanced at the door, where Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were standing, listening to the entire conversation. "You can come in," Heero sighed. "No doubt that you want to know more about this as well."
Quatre bounded in while the other two moved much slower, trying to hide their eagerness.
Heero joined them on the couch and smiled slightly at his four friends. "It would be better for all of you to look first, so you know that the mirror is really just a mirror," He told them, handing the mirror to Duo.
The braided boy pretended to preen for a moment before passing it along to Quatra, who turned it around in his hands. Trowa took it next, running his hands along the surface, his one visible green eye scanning it carefully. Wufei gave it a curtsey glance before handing it back to Heero.
Heero took the mirror, cradling it carefully in his hands. "When you look into the mirror, you see yourselves because you don't have a double like I do. When I look into the mirror, the reflection I'm going to see is Harry. Trust me, it's perfectly safe... we do this all the time." He stiffened his resolve and moved so that the mirror was in front of his face, but still at such an angle that the four boys standing near him could look into it as well.
The four Gundam pilots blinked in surprise. A black haired boy was looking back at them, in the process of washing his hands. He had the same messy hair as Heero, albeit, slightly darker. Round wire rimmed glasses sat on his nose, blocking the view of startling green eyes. His skin was tanned as though he spent a lot of his time outdoors. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform it you didn't count the black robe, slightly slipping off his right shoulder. A few ordinary looking bathroom cubicles were standing behind him.
"Wow," Duo breathed. "He's hott!"
On the other side of the mirror Harry, obviously having somehow heard what Duo said, began laughing, his green eyes alight with humor behind his glasses.
"Can he see us too?" Trowa asked suddenly, looking over at Heero. "How does he know that we know about him?"
Heero shook his head. "No, he can't see us. And he knows because I told him. I can hear what's going on around him depending on how much he lets me hear, and the same for him. It's rather, confusing."
Wufei frowned. "So, what's so special about this mirror that it will reflect him? Why can't his mirror do that as well?" The Chinese boy looked desperate to show he wasn't confused, but the other four pilots could read his expression well enough to know that he was lost in the logic of it.
Heero, however, was saved from answering when Harry suddenly looked towards the side where another boy, this time with red hair had appeared. Harry said something, laughed and then paled drastically. He turned off the tap picked up his books and bolted for the door. The image disappeared the moment he was no longer visible.
The pilots only had a moment to see the titles of his books, but it was long enough to realize that something about Harry was slightly off. Who in the world studied with books like "The Standard Book of Spells" and "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi"?
"Where did he go?" Duo demanded, his violet eyes frowning.
"He has a meeting with somebody that he's a bit late to," Heero said softly, his eyes carefully avoiding his friends'. "Speaking of heading off, what say we get something to eat on the way back to the flat?"
It was clear that he didn't really want to answer any more questions about Harry, so his friends didn't argue. They would have plenty of time for that later. So, they agreed and quickly left the office for the outside world.
Duo's chant of "FOOD!" bringing smiles to the faces of anyone within a two mile radius.
===
Harry raced through Hogwarts as fast as he could, hoping against everything that Draco wouldn't change his mind about dinner that night. To his immense relief, the blond Slytherin was leaning against the banister at the bottom of the stairs.
"Draco!" Harry called, causing the boy to turn around and smile slightly.
"Hey Harry," Draco said when the Gryffindor joined him moments later.
There was an awkward moment before the two boys turned towards the doors and silently left the school building, walking calmly towards the village. That awkward feeling seemed to follow them down the nicely tended path and into a small, cozy restaurant. It somehow managed to disappear the moment they sat down and looked at their menu's.
"So," Harry asked, scanning the options in front of him and settling on a simple deli sandwich. "What have you been doing with yourself since they died?" He glanced up at the pensive blond, not sure if he had crossed into dangerous territory by mentioning Draco's parents, relaxing when he noted that he hadn't. "Anything interesting?"
Draco frowned, still carefully regarding the menu. "If you call being attacked by Aurrors who are suspicious dark objects still supposedly hidden in the manor interesting... then yes, life has been very interesting."
Harry winced in sympathy, he knew what it was like to have people suspicious of you, second year had taught him about that.
"So, you still live in the manor? Is it empty besides you?" Harry asked curiously, not knowing how somebody could live alone in such a large building. True, he had never actually seen Draco's house, but he had picked up that the thing was huge from the former snob's bragging.
"Mainly," Draco answered. "Just me and the house elves anyway, unless some relative drops by to try and mooch off my inheritance money. But that doesn't happen very often."
"That much be bloody lonely," Harry said lightly, he snickered before sighing. "But, I guess it's better then actually being kicked out by your only living relatives. The Dursley's sent me a note this year basically telling me not to come back." He sighed again, reflecting on his unstable plans. "I'm thinking about taking a flat in London this summer."
Draco nodded, biting his bottom lip in thought.
"Hello dears," a kind old lady said, walking up to their table. "Are you ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?"
Draco smiled at the women, his gray eyes twinkling in a way Harry had never seen them do before. "I think that we're ready." He turned to Harry, who nodded in agreement. They both told the nice women what they wanted before she walked away and they resumed their conversation.
"You're a lot different then I thought." Harry blurted out suddenly, flushing lightly. "I mean, I was kind of expecting 'Malfoy the prick' to appear sometime, but you've really changed."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get that a lot." He muttered sarcastically. "You could say that after my parents died I did a bit, well, a lot of thinking. And I realized, I didn't want to be who they made me to be. I didn't want to be someone who followed orders without asking why."
"I get it," Harry grinned. "Your conscience suddenly appeared and started leading you down the path of light."
Draco looked at him funny.
"Or not..."
Draco's lips twitched, as though he were trying to hold back a laugh. Before he could lose control, their food appeared on the table with a small pop and they both grinned.
"I," Harry proclaimed, picking up his sandwich. "Challenge you to an eating contest. He who finishes first must pay for the next outing."
"Tell me if I'm wrong, but when one is in such a contest, don't they try to finish first in order not to have to pay or what-not?"
Harry shrugged. "Hell if I know. Enough talk, contest starts now!"
===
"Hey Duo," Heero asked softly, shaking the almost asleep boy slightly after being questioned for nearly an hour about Harry. Duo, for some reason, had a very open opinion about Heero's double life and was extremely fascinated about it, something that would only lead up to millions of questions. Quatre too, was more curious then he expected, having taken Heero aside and asking him questions, all the while rubbing his chest where his heart space must have been acting up. "Can I ask you something?"
Duo half opened his eyes, squinting up at the Japanese boy with a sleepy, curious expression. "Nani?"
"Do you miss it? Working with Hilde at the scrap yard, I mean. Do you ever wish you were back there with her?"
Duo forced himself to sit up and crawl closer to his boyfriend. "If you mean, do I miss working at the scrap yard because it was a simple mindless job that had nothing to do with the war, sure. Of course I miss it." He yawned, leaning his head on Heero's shoulder. "But, if you mean do I miss it because Hilde's still there and it was up on a colony I had a lot of memories on, then no I don't. I'm perfectly content being here with you. I have friends, a home and a great job that requires something I'm very talented at."
Heero rested his cheek against the top of Duo's head, feeling Duo's warmth soak into him. "Sometimes, I miss being Relena's bodyguard. I miss hiding in the shadows where nobody thought to look. I miss being able to walk down a street and having to make my own way, like before the war."
Duo lightly kissed Heero's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here with me."
Feeling very assured with Duo's support, Heero fell into a light slumber, his subconscious slipping down the thread of magic that connected him and Harry. The thread that allowed them to communicate and switch places. He stopped somewhere along the middle, in a little mental image of a Japanese garden. It was their mental sanctuary, that garden, located where their minds met. It was full of flowers that held such beauty and perfection only their imaginations could produce. Water spilled from fountains into pretty streams that rushed about happily and the whole area was bathed in a warm light, bouncing off the water and creating waves of heat on the air.
Harry himself was sitting on the top of a grassy slope, his bare feet resting in one such stream. Heero sat down next to him, crossing his legs Indian style and relaxing in the warmth surrounding him.
Harry, it seemed was already waiting for him, and had been for sometime, bursting with news.
"How was your date with Draco? It did go alright, didn't it? I don't have to glare at him when ever he tries to talk to us in the hall, right?" Heero questioned gruffly, carefully looking at the black haired boy, reading his very open expression and feeling Harry's emotions pouring through his own body.
The wizard smiled over at him. "You sound like an over protective parent." He teased. "And you should already know how my date went. I could feel you listening in."
The Gundam pilot chuckled lowly. "Can I be blamed if I want to know what's going on in my second life? I say I have a right."
"You do," Harry said, leaning back on the grass and closing his eyes. The black haired boy smiled, kicking his feet in the stream a little, causing musical ripples to pour forth. "He was very different than I expected, and he kind of reminds me of Trowa, except that he talks a lot more. He's very serious about his past, and that surprised me a lot. But I really like him, he's refreshing and he seems to genuinely want to be there for me."
Heero looked down at the peaceful boy, pondering gently. "I told Duo and the other's about you."
"I know."
"Quatre was suspicious. He knows that I'm keeping something from them about the two of us, he just doesn't know what it is. And I don't particularly want to be the one to tell them that magic exists, and that you're a wizard. So if you want to take that part of the job over..."
"I know. But, that's something I wanted to talk to you about... I noticed something the last time I was you. Your body has the same magical feel that mine does, Duo's does too. I noticed because some giggly girl next to us *didn't* have it. Like the Dursley's don't. I think that you're a wizard as well, Heero. Duo too."
Heero blinked, well, that was certainly not something he'd been expecting, but it did make sense. After all, he'd jumped out a fifty story building and only broke his leg, yet still managed to walk away. Of course, Duo had been there for him to lean on, but it didn't matter at the time.
"I can check the other's in the morning if you want." Harry offered. "Since I know what I'm looking for. And I know that Duo's just *dying* to meet me." He opened his eyes and looked up at Heero with a mischievous expression.
Heero shrugged it off and nodded his agreement. "Transfiguration first and then Care of Magical Creatures?" He asked, making sure he knew Harry's schedule for the next day.
"And Defence as well," Harry sighed. "Honestly, I don't know why they even bother to *teach* that class. The most we ever learned was in third year because of Moony."
There was a break in their conversation, both boys thinking about their histories together and as each other.
"Are you going to tell them?" Heero asked suddenly, lightly poking Harry with a bare foot. "Ron and Hermione and Draco, I mean. Are you going to tell them about us?"
"Probably not." Harry admitted. "Draco maybe, but Hermione would just call it multiple personality disorder and start slipping me potions with my pumpkin juice to try and fix me. Ron would probably either think it's wicked cool, or that I'm crazy. I don't want to risk losing them." He brightened suddenly, sitting up and pulling his feet out of the water. "Oh! I forgot to tell you!"
He grinned hugely, standing up and pulling Heero to his feet as well. "Draco offered to let us spend the summer in his manor. He say's that it's too damn empty and lonely all by himself. What do you say?"
Heero looked at Harry, seeing the sparkle of happiness and hope deep in his green eyes. "It sounds good to me," he said finally. "Finding apartments in the Muggle world is supposed to be hard."
Harry gave a whoop of joy, grabbing his double in a tight hug. "This is going to be great!" He cried. "Just you wait and see. Draco's really changed, and I'm glad. He's a great person!"
Heero shook his head. "If you want to switch, that's fine for tomorrow. Duo and I were going to check out the hanger and do a bit of work on Wing and Deathscythe. I think we were going to do a bit of shooting practice as well."
"I'm meeting up with Draco for breakfast," Harry grinned. "And he promised to meet me to walk down to Hagrid's for class." He paused, turning to look at Heero, "um... this time, could you at least *try* not to scare what ever creature he has?"
"Fine, fine." Heero waved him off. "Tell me when you wake up. And I want a full report about Wing."
"Later!"
The two boys grinned at each other before letting their magic pulse just enough to push them into each other's bodies. They both slept on, taking comfort from the warm presence in the back of their minds.
They didn't know how to survive without it. And they weren't about to try and find out either.
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AN Review and I'll update.
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