AN Hey all, hope you didn't die out there waiting for this chapter. And for those of you who think I'm evil, you don't know evil yet. Trust me, it gets better. This is an important chapter, trust me on that one.
I also wanted to say a few things about how Draco's parents died. DON'T READ THIS NOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED OOTP YET! Okay, in this fic, Lucius died instead of Sirius, who decided to trust Snape, just that once. Narsicca was killed by Voldemort a few days later for betraying him. That stupid fat house elf set the house on fire when Sirius went up to Hogwarts. So, Sirius is alive and in a way owes Snape his life. I'll get to that later. Draco doesn't know about him yet.
Just a reminder...
"^blah.^" is speaking in Japanese.
=blah= is telepathic speaking.
=================================
Chapter 4
"DUO!" Quatre screamed, picking up his duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Are you ready yet?"
"Nearly!" Duo shouted back from his and Heero's room. "I just need to pack my computer and then I'm good to go!"
"Well hurry up, our plane is going to leave without us!" The small blond turned towards his companions. "Why is it we're always waiting for him?" He shook his head, laughing quietly, "always him..."
Trowa simply rolled his eyes, and Wufei and Heero sighed. The four were already packed and ready to leave, duffle bags slung over their shoulders, weapons hidden expertly on their bodies. As they had been for the last twenty minutes.
"Heero, just knock the baka unconscious and drag him to the airport with us. I'm sure it will save us all a lot of trouble." Wufei snapped finally after five more minutes of waiting. "At this rate, we'll get there in time to see the plane leave without us!"
Though reluctant to admit it, Heero knew Wufei was right and stood up, but at that moment, Duo appeared. He was not holding his usual black duffle bag, instead his lap top was held loosely in one hand.
"Where's your stuff?" Quatre asked.
"Shrunk it." Duo said smugly, digging into his pocket and pulling out a miniature black bag. "Seems I'm quite good with this magic thing."
===
"Wow, Draco. This is amazing!" Harry's voice echoed around the large room he and Draco had just walked into. It was big enough to rival the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts. The large room was carpeted in a thick white rug that was charmed to be stainproof, Draco had quickly explained. Paintings of landscapes lined the walls, and large statues, mainly of dragons, stood in between, seemingly guarding the room.
"Our rooms are in the west wing," Draco said softly, nodding at two house elves who had just appeared to take away their trunks, bowing themselves away. "It's relatively empty, most of the paintings have been moved to the back halls. The kitchen is also in the west wing, as is the dinning room we will be using." The blond smiled. "There is a Quidditch pitch behind the house, and some gardens. My family went all out for this place, you'll notice. The house elves will be happy to help you if you need it."
"Great," Harry said, his green eyes shining. "Thanks a lot for letting me stay here, Draco. It really means a lot."
Draco laughed. "Come on, I'll show you to your room. It's a hallway away from mine, I hope you don't mind."
Harry grinned, turning to look at the dog standing behind them. "Come on Snuffles, let's check out our room!"
Sirius barked and took off after Harry, who was following Draco out of the main hall and down a well lit, highly decorated hallway. Harry stared around himself, as amazed as the first time he entered Diagon Ally. The entire hallway was composed of windows, though each window showed a different view. Harry began wishing that he had eight more sets of eyes. He also kept a careful watch as to where they were going, so he wouldn't get lost.
Draco stopped in front of a large white door with a gold handle, two fascinating hallways away from the windows. "This is your room," he explained, opening the door and leading the way in. Harry's things had already arrived. "It's actually a suite, bathroom's there, that door leads to the balcony. Don't mind the painting over there, she doesn't speak English at all, completely harmless."
Harry nodded, glancing at the painting Draco had indicated. A portrait of a small girl picking flowers in a large meadow. She seemed to be humming a quiet tune, though neither boy could pick it up. Harry turned back towards Draco, smiling at him, not surprised to see that Draco had moved, just the tiniest bit closer to himself.
So he wasn't surprised in the least when their lips met in a hesitant kiss. What did surprise him though, was how he felt about it. He felt as though he were cheating on Duo doing this. As though, if the other boy knew, both their hearts would shatter. With those feelings, Harry broke away from Draco, a small frown on his face.
"I just had the strangest feeling," he tried to explain. "That..." he looked desperately around the room for something explainable. "That we're being watched."
Which was sort of true, Sirius was watching them with a clearly amused expression on his doggy face. Well sure, *he* could be amused. He didn't have a boyfriend living in the future!
Draco just nodded. "I'm going to put all my things away," he said finally, moving towards the door. "A house elf will be by when dinner is ready. And I'll have another send up something for Snuffles to sleep on."
"Thank you, Draco." Harry said, sincerely sorry that he had somehow hurt the blond boy's feelings. The Slytherin nodded and headed out the door, leaving Harry alone in the room, as Sirius had decided to check out the balcony.
"Konnichiwa," a little voice said from behind him. "^My name is Kitsune, what's yours?^"
Harry turned around to look at the painting of the little girl and the flower field. "^I'm Harry,^" he said softly, moving towards Kitsune's frame, "^it's nice to meet you.^"
Kitsune curtsied. "^It's nice to meet you as well. This room was getting awfully lonely. I'm glad you're here, you seem nice.^"
The dark haired boy grinned. "^Thank you,^" he beamed. "^And how old are you, I'd say you're about nine years old.^"
The little girl giggled. "^Nope, I'm seven. Master Draco bought me about a year ago, I think he's really nice too. Do you think he's nice? I think he likes you.^"
"^I like Draco very much,^" Harry told the little girl, sitting down on the side of his new bed. "^Just, not exactly how he likes me. I think that he's a great friend, do you have any friends?^"
"^Vel-chan used to be my friend, but she got moved to the back hallway. I'm not allowed to go there, Master Draco says it's much too scary for me.^" Kitsune smoothed down her pretty dress, "^but I don't mind anymore, because you'll be my friend, right?^"
Harry laughed. "^Of course. So, who named you Kitsune, it's rather different, don't you think? You don't mind if I call you Kitty, do you?^"
Kitty shook her head. "^I like that name, I don't mind.^"
Harry stood up. "^Well Kitty, I need to unpack my belongings because Draco and I are going to eat dinner soon. Remind me to introduce you to Snuffles, okay? He's my dog, a rather lazy one too.^" As he spied Sirius napping on the balcony in the fading sunshine, tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Ugh."
Kitty giggled.
===
It was an unspoken rule that Gundam pilots are not allowed to pout. Actually, that was untrue because Duo and Quatre pouted all the time in order to get their way. The unspoken rule was to never sink down to their level, and quite unfortunately - Wufei was pouting.
Rather subtly, though he would never openly admit it.
"Duo, do something else!" Quatre pleaded, his voice carrying over the planes seat-backs to reach Wufei's ears.
Next to him, Trowa snorted softly, lifting his head from the current novel he was reading. Wufei and Trowa were sitting quietly and minding their own business on the plane they were taking towards their next mission. Duo, Quatre and Heero, who were sitting just in front of them were being amazed by Duo's new magical abilities.
Or, Quatre and Duo were anyway. As far as Wufei could tell, Heero was ignoring them and grunting softly when ever he was addressed. Duo, at the moment, seemed to be thinking about something, taking every few seconds to glance back at Wufei and Trowa - a devilish gleam in his eye that spelled trouble.
Wufei quickly excused himself for a twenty minute bathroom break.
It wasn't the fact that Duo had somewhat defined his magical abilities that upset Wufei. It wasn't the fact that Heero was supposedly an internationally famous wizard in his other life. To tell the truth, Wufei wasn't quite sure what upset him the most. It might have been how left out he felt. Or how he hadn't even suspected that something was off about his friend. Because of those things alone, the Chinese pilot felt somewhat insecure enough - and now that the others were showing signs of magic and leaving him behind... he didn't think he could take it.
After Duo had shown them all his magical powers, Quatre admitted that he had accidently levitated his bed that morning while looking for his shoes. Trowa had announced that the food in the refrigerator that they had all been fearing was alive had somehow ended up in the garbage can while his back was turned. Heero just 'hn-ed' and folded his arms, reminding them that he was a fully functional wizard.
Back in the bathroom, Wufei leaned against the small door and attempted to relax himself. When he felt he was relaxed enough, he felt for the pulses inside his body that told him how strong his magic supposedly was. At one of the stronger pulses, Wufei tensed slightly and was amazed to see a faintly colored bunch of sparks jump from his finger tips. He entertained himself for a few minutes, drawing lazy patters in the air with those sparks before he concentrated that magic a little more firmly. A pair of chopsticks appeared in his hand, giving him multiple splinters in his palm.
With an angry grunt, Wufei disposed of the chopsticks and decided to leave making objects appear to Duo, and ask Trowa if he had any tweezers. Those splinters hurt! So, once again sitting in his uncomfortable airplane seat, Wufei resumed with his pouting.
===
"Status, 05?" Quatre asked softly into his mouth piece from his position in the hallway, keeping watch. Wufei and Duo were currently in an underground base, destroying all mobile suits and suit making equipment, while Trowa and Heero erased the computer files.
"Ready to proceed," Wufei's voice crackled over the line.
"01?" Quatre asked.
"Files deleted, recall data is fire-walled. They won't be making suits here anytime in the future." Heero answered grimly. "We're moving out now."
"02, 05, proceed at will." Quatre said briskly. "We'll wait for you back at camp."
"Roger," Duo said over his line, a grin evident in his voice. Loud explosions followed his answer, and Quatre began towards the exit. He met Heero and Trowa there, and the three began moving towards their hastily set up camp just a mile away.
Nearly half an hour later, Wufei appeared, holding a protesting and bleeding Duo on his back.
Quatre jumped up and began panicking at once, running to get some water boiling to bathe the wound. Heero moved to strip Duo of his shirt and Trowa left to get a first aid kit.
It was a standard procedure for when ever one of them got hurt. No matter how serious, they were so confident with their own abilities that they rarely ever went for 'professional help.' As it was, none of the boys trusted anybody enough to come near them holding any kind of needle. As was seen when Sally Po attempted to give Duo a standard vaccine shot, the poor woman would never forget the howls. But still, there was a certain amount of trust as to let somebody else put things in your body without your knowing. They only tried to tolerate Sally Po's yearly examination because she was scary - as Duo so eloquently put it.
"We destroyed the entire factory, but just as we were leaving, a guard appeared at the end of the hall, trying to stop us. He only managed to shoot once or twice before Duo shot him, a bullet hit Duo." Wufei explained shortly, pressing a cotton swath against the bleeding. "I thought it was in the arm, but I couldn't be sure. I just grabbed him and ran."
"No," Duo grinned. "He picked me up, despite my protests, and *blurred* away, he was moving so fast."
A stain of pink appeared on Wufei's cheeks. "You were injured," he snapped.
"It's just a bullet," Duo grinned, not even wincing as Heero, none too gently, pulled the offending metal from his bicep and Quatre began cleaning the hole with a stinging disinfectant and boiling water. The needle and surgical thread that Heero produced a minute later, however, were a different story.
"Hey," Duo protested, scooting away from his friends. "I'm fine, barely even bleeding. There is no need to stitch it up, especially with *that* huge needle!" His eyes were wide and he was clearly thinking about where he put his gun and if he could reach it in time to scare his boyfriend away.
Heero looked over at Trowa and Wufei who moved and held Duo down, Wufei sitting on his legs, Trowa pinning down his arms. That didn't stop Duo from squirming, however, as Heero got closer with the needle. "Duo, if you don't stop moving, it's only going to be worse." Heero snapped, sitting down on the braided boy's chest. "This is standard procedure, it needs to be done."
Duo sighed and proceeded to sulk. Two minutes later, he was let up, wincing pitifully. He stomped over to where his and Heero's sleeping bags had been laid out, climbed into his and proceeded to take a nap. Out around the campfire, the four boys began talking about their new plans.
"I contacted Une," Quatre informed the others. "And it turns out that this was an easy way for them to force us on vacation. We've been forbidden to return to headquarters until she contacts us."
Heero grunted, while the other two grinned.
"They did a good job," Wufei laughed. "Hiding a secret that big from us, and getting all of us out here at the same time."
"Actually," Heero said. "Duo and I knew about this a month ago. I'm surprised you didn't notice. Losing your touch?"
Wufei turned his nose up at that. "We'll excuse us. I seem to recall a time when even the mention of a vacation had your gun out and bullets flying."
"Duo even told you!" Heero smirked. "And you didn't believe him?"
Quatre sighed. "Yes well, there is a slight problem. For example, how are we supposed to get out of here. And what are we going to do until we're called back?"
"I believe that London is only a few miles away," Trowa said softly. "We can hang around there if you want. And even if we don't like London we can find some other place to stay. hijacking planes isn't *that* hard."
Quatre and Wufei stared at the unibanged boy strangely, but wisely decided not to comment.
Something clicked in Heero's now vacant expression, a light in his eyes suddenly lighting up. "London," he said softly.
===
"Wow."
Draco chuckled from where he stood behind Harry, holding both their brooms in his hands.
"You own all of this?" Harry asked incredulously, gesturing towards the massive Malfoy grounds, Quidditch pitch and lake. "This is amazing!" He grabbed his broom and was almost instantly airborne, flying in lazy circles around the grounds.
He and Draco had been at the manor for nearly a week, and Harry had been amazed at nearly everything he saw. For the first week, they had stayed indoors, mainly. Draco showing him and sometimes Heero around the whole of the house. The sites in there were endless. A library that took up nearly a whole floor, an entertainment room that was nearly all Muggle equipment. A ballroom, a star-gazing tower, indoor swimming pool, doors that led to Muggle and magic areas. These doors in particular sparked Harry's interest and he took a great deal of pleasure opening a door and staring into Diagon Alley. With all of these things, Harry couldn't decide what was best, and now he was finally seeing the Malfoy grounds, the choice had been made harder. He flew for a few minutes before he found the best part.
Or rather, a small Japanese style garden hidden in a small corner. It was untended and the gazebo there was rotting, but with a little work... Harry landed next to the gazebo, a small smile on his face. Draco landed next to him a moment later.
"All it needs is a little work," Harry told the blond. "And then it will be perfect."
Draco looked confused. "This old dump?" He asked doubtfully, "this place has been falling to ruins for years. Nobody comes out here any more."
"I can come back here right?" Harry asked, turning pleading eyes towards Draco. "So that I can clean it up, it would be so beautiful, I know it would."
However, it seemed that his light haired companion was reluctant to deny him anything and quickly agreed.
===
At precisely one fourty-three, just as the moon was setting over the distant mountain tops, Heero sat up in his sleeping bag, causing the zipper to groan as it moved. His eyes snapped open, showing a vibrant green, rather than his usual blue. Those eyes were shining in the darkness of the clear skied night, and he slowly made his way to his feet.
Duo blinked sleepily, "Hee-chan?" He muttered, "what is it?"
Heero didn't answer at all, moving out into the night as though he were in a trance.
Duo sat up, frowning and proceeded to follow his boyfriend, silently and stealthily. As an afterthought, he grabbed his miniature bag as well as Heero's before continuing any further.
Trowa and Wufei were sitting at the fire side, keeping watch. Quatre was leaning against Trowa, sleeping peacefully. Heero ignored them all and headed off into the surrounding trees, following a path only he seemed to know, now with four boys following him.
===
At the exact same time, Harry also sat up in his bed, his eyes also glowing in the darkness. And unlike Heero's eyes, they were burning a fierce blue. Above the bed in her picture frame, Kitty blinked hazily at Harry before falling back asleep. Sirius didn't even move.
Harry noticed none of this and exited his room walking towards the end of the hall. Once there, he opened a secret door he didn't know was there and proceeded though it. Without a look at where he was now standing, he proceeded down the street towards his destination. Through another door, through a trap door hidden in the floor. There, Harry sat down to wait.
===
Duo stared dumbstruck. Heero had just pulled up a piece of the forest floor and was descending into it, as though a set of stairs were hidden just below his line of site. Casting a look back at his fellow pilots, Duo moved after Heero to see that there *were* steps in the hole.
Go figure.
Moving slowly down the steps, Duo glanced around the almost depressingly dark area and picked out Heero in the middle of the room, sitting quietly with his head down. His eyes were still glowing that strange green color, and Duo blinked as he realized that a strong magical power was now emitting from his boyfriend.
Taking another look around the room, Duo realized that he was in some sort of basement. A very, very old looking basement that was covered in dust. Quatre sneezed behind them as the pilots moved to take a better look at their surroundings.
"Hey guys," Wufei called softly from where he was prodding at the wall. "Check this out." A small wooden door popped out of the wall, big enough for Wufei's hand to go through. The Chinese boy reached in and pulled out a handful of sticks.
Sticks with handles, Duo noted, walking towards them. He pulled out one by random, as did Quatre and Trowa. Now, each with a stick in hand - Duo realized what they must be.
"Wands," he whispered softly, a tingle racing through his arm. "Guys, they're wands!" He gave his a little swish, delighted when Wufei's hair turned pink. "This is *too* cool!"
Wufei growled and attempted to turn his hair back to its normal black. He succeeded in turning his hair neon yellow, causing Duo to laugh even harder.
"When life gives you lemons!" The braided boy quipped, "dye Wu's hair yellow!"
Wufei growled and started towards the irritant.
"Guys," Quatre said softly, stepping between them. He pointed at Heero, who body was now spitting sparks in a perfect circle surrounding him. In every place where the sparks landed, a small ray of light appeared on the floor, shooting up towards the ceiling and lighting up the room. The four pilots moved forward just inside the ring of light, just enough to hear Heero whispering in Latin.
But it was such an old form of the language that none of them could translate it to form something coherent enough to understand. All they got were a few key phrases about time. Duo stepped forward again against his will, drawn closer to Heero by some unknown force. Beside him, Quatre also stepped forward, dragging along Trowa. Wufei seemed to be fighting the force with little success.
Suddenly, Heero stopped whispering and his head snapped up. One word passed his lips in a clear voice that wasn't his. "Tempus!"
And everything around them disappeared.
===
I hit the ground. Hard. I'm pretty sure that I passed out for a minute, but as I woke up, I sprang back to my feet, my katana appearing in my hands as I studied the space around me. Absolutely nothing had changed, except a few layers of dust around the room had been swirled up in the whirlwind of magic.
That, and a black haired boy was laying unconscious in the middle of the room next to Heero, who was also unconscious.
The others slowly stood up. Trowa and Quatre had their guns out, Duo's knives were twirling in his hands.
"Status?" I said softly, fighting off my nausea from the site of the room spinning. I noticed that my head was pounding as well, and that my left shoulder ached.
"I'm fine." Quatre said lightly, putting his gun away.
Trowa nodded, also putting his weapon away.
Duo sighed. "My stitches opened." He muttered, "I must have landed on them."
We looked and sure enough, a light patch of blood was seeping thorough his shirt. But our attention was drawn towards Heero and the other boy again when Duo suddenly moved towards them.
"Hee-chan?" He whispered, placing a hand on his boyfriend. He glanced at the other boy as well, his purple eyes going wide in the darkness of the room. "Guys!" He said softly, "it's *Harry*!"
Sure enough, when we reached their sides a few seconds later, the boy on the floor was indeed the boy that we saw reflected in the mirror nearly a week ago.
"They're both out cold," Quatre said softly, reaching out one hand to check their pulses. "Why don't we take them back to camp?"
The rest of us agreed. Trowa some how got roped into carrying Harry, as Duo refused to let anybody else handle his koi. They're kind of cute like that, putting each other before themselves.
"Wufei?" Duo asked, Heero settled comfortably on his back. Trowa was standing still with Harry resting in his arms.
I looked over at him. "Yeah, I'm going to open the door in a minute Maxwell." Even though he was amusing, he was still a baka. I marched up the stairs but before I could open the trap door, it opened from above and a man with large moon like eyes peered down at me.
"Mr. Chang." He said in a misty voice. "Yes, I thought you'd be here by now. What are you waiting for, come up here, and why is that sword still out? There is no danger here! Come on, bring the other's as well."
I left the dusty basement, my katana still in my hand and was unsettled to see that we were no longer in the middle of a forest. We were in a shop lined with narrow boxes. Wands, my brain supplied, it's a wand shop.
"Mr. Barton, Mr. Maxwell." The man said, watching as Duo and Trowa heaved Heero and Harry up the stairs. "And Mr. Winner. A pleasure, yes indeed it is. Come on up."
Quatre was the last to leave the basement, closing the trap door behind him.
None of us said a word, though after a moment Duo snapped something harsh sounding in Japanese, clearly hoping that the man had no idea what he was saying. I didn't catch what he said, but knowing Duo, it couldn't be good. I'll never admit it, but I almost envy him for managing to look intimidating even with an unconscious boy on his back. His violet eyes were spitting fire, clearly in mode 'Shinigami'.
"You are in my store," the man smiled, ignoring Duo. "Olivander's Wands. But I see that you already have your wands. Fine looking ones as well, though they aren't any from my shop. I dare say that they're from other countries. His," here he nodded at Quatre, "looks like it's from Arabia. Your's," Duo this time, "from North America." Then he looked at me. "China." And then Trowa, "and Greece."
None of us blinked.
Olivander frowned, clearly not sure if we spoke English or not.
But before he could say anything, the door to his shop opened and a blond haired boy rushed in. I just noticed that the sun was shining, it was clearly sometime in the middle of the day. I must have been unconscious for longer then I thought.
"Have you seen him?" He boy asked. "Have you heard anything?"
Olivander chuckled. "Mr. Malfoy, relax. He's right over there." He nodded at Trowa, who remained impassive, even if his eyes did narrow a little.
"Harry!" Malfoy yelped, seeing the boy in Trowa's arms. "What happened to him? Is he alright?"
"I would say he needs a bit of sleep," Olivander said softly, once again using his misty voice. "Why don't you take these boys as well, they just arrived here from other countries. I'm not sure yet if they speak English."
The blond looked around at us, his eyes lingering on Duo's long braid, Heero's dead to the world form, and my katana - which I placed back in its sheath. He seemed reluctant to agree, but nodded anyway.
"Alright, come on." He nodded at Olivander and gestured for us to follow him. Which, after a quick silent discussion, we did.
We followed him out onto a busy looking street, blinking in the bright sunlight. And almost automaticaly we fell into our normal Gundam Pilot stances. Trowa and Duo walked on either side of Quatre, with me behind. Heero was usually at the front, but as the case was, the blond boy was leading us. Out way of walking was a silent way of telling everyone that we weren't afraid to give our lives for each other, and that they should stay away from us. Duo had decided to name it the 'Death March,' after which we all attacked him with our pillows.
The boy turned to make sure we were following him before leading us into a small alley between buildings. He said something, again in Latin, and a door appeared out of no where. Duo started whispering something, and stared even more when the boy disappeared through it. After a moment of hesitation, we followed.
=================================
AN Review and I'll update.
.
I also wanted to say a few things about how Draco's parents died. DON'T READ THIS NOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED OOTP YET! Okay, in this fic, Lucius died instead of Sirius, who decided to trust Snape, just that once. Narsicca was killed by Voldemort a few days later for betraying him. That stupid fat house elf set the house on fire when Sirius went up to Hogwarts. So, Sirius is alive and in a way owes Snape his life. I'll get to that later. Draco doesn't know about him yet.
Just a reminder...
"^blah.^" is speaking in Japanese.
=blah= is telepathic speaking.
=================================
Chapter 4
"DUO!" Quatre screamed, picking up his duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Are you ready yet?"
"Nearly!" Duo shouted back from his and Heero's room. "I just need to pack my computer and then I'm good to go!"
"Well hurry up, our plane is going to leave without us!" The small blond turned towards his companions. "Why is it we're always waiting for him?" He shook his head, laughing quietly, "always him..."
Trowa simply rolled his eyes, and Wufei and Heero sighed. The four were already packed and ready to leave, duffle bags slung over their shoulders, weapons hidden expertly on their bodies. As they had been for the last twenty minutes.
"Heero, just knock the baka unconscious and drag him to the airport with us. I'm sure it will save us all a lot of trouble." Wufei snapped finally after five more minutes of waiting. "At this rate, we'll get there in time to see the plane leave without us!"
Though reluctant to admit it, Heero knew Wufei was right and stood up, but at that moment, Duo appeared. He was not holding his usual black duffle bag, instead his lap top was held loosely in one hand.
"Where's your stuff?" Quatre asked.
"Shrunk it." Duo said smugly, digging into his pocket and pulling out a miniature black bag. "Seems I'm quite good with this magic thing."
===
"Wow, Draco. This is amazing!" Harry's voice echoed around the large room he and Draco had just walked into. It was big enough to rival the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts. The large room was carpeted in a thick white rug that was charmed to be stainproof, Draco had quickly explained. Paintings of landscapes lined the walls, and large statues, mainly of dragons, stood in between, seemingly guarding the room.
"Our rooms are in the west wing," Draco said softly, nodding at two house elves who had just appeared to take away their trunks, bowing themselves away. "It's relatively empty, most of the paintings have been moved to the back halls. The kitchen is also in the west wing, as is the dinning room we will be using." The blond smiled. "There is a Quidditch pitch behind the house, and some gardens. My family went all out for this place, you'll notice. The house elves will be happy to help you if you need it."
"Great," Harry said, his green eyes shining. "Thanks a lot for letting me stay here, Draco. It really means a lot."
Draco laughed. "Come on, I'll show you to your room. It's a hallway away from mine, I hope you don't mind."
Harry grinned, turning to look at the dog standing behind them. "Come on Snuffles, let's check out our room!"
Sirius barked and took off after Harry, who was following Draco out of the main hall and down a well lit, highly decorated hallway. Harry stared around himself, as amazed as the first time he entered Diagon Ally. The entire hallway was composed of windows, though each window showed a different view. Harry began wishing that he had eight more sets of eyes. He also kept a careful watch as to where they were going, so he wouldn't get lost.
Draco stopped in front of a large white door with a gold handle, two fascinating hallways away from the windows. "This is your room," he explained, opening the door and leading the way in. Harry's things had already arrived. "It's actually a suite, bathroom's there, that door leads to the balcony. Don't mind the painting over there, she doesn't speak English at all, completely harmless."
Harry nodded, glancing at the painting Draco had indicated. A portrait of a small girl picking flowers in a large meadow. She seemed to be humming a quiet tune, though neither boy could pick it up. Harry turned back towards Draco, smiling at him, not surprised to see that Draco had moved, just the tiniest bit closer to himself.
So he wasn't surprised in the least when their lips met in a hesitant kiss. What did surprise him though, was how he felt about it. He felt as though he were cheating on Duo doing this. As though, if the other boy knew, both their hearts would shatter. With those feelings, Harry broke away from Draco, a small frown on his face.
"I just had the strangest feeling," he tried to explain. "That..." he looked desperately around the room for something explainable. "That we're being watched."
Which was sort of true, Sirius was watching them with a clearly amused expression on his doggy face. Well sure, *he* could be amused. He didn't have a boyfriend living in the future!
Draco just nodded. "I'm going to put all my things away," he said finally, moving towards the door. "A house elf will be by when dinner is ready. And I'll have another send up something for Snuffles to sleep on."
"Thank you, Draco." Harry said, sincerely sorry that he had somehow hurt the blond boy's feelings. The Slytherin nodded and headed out the door, leaving Harry alone in the room, as Sirius had decided to check out the balcony.
"Konnichiwa," a little voice said from behind him. "^My name is Kitsune, what's yours?^"
Harry turned around to look at the painting of the little girl and the flower field. "^I'm Harry,^" he said softly, moving towards Kitsune's frame, "^it's nice to meet you.^"
Kitsune curtsied. "^It's nice to meet you as well. This room was getting awfully lonely. I'm glad you're here, you seem nice.^"
The dark haired boy grinned. "^Thank you,^" he beamed. "^And how old are you, I'd say you're about nine years old.^"
The little girl giggled. "^Nope, I'm seven. Master Draco bought me about a year ago, I think he's really nice too. Do you think he's nice? I think he likes you.^"
"^I like Draco very much,^" Harry told the little girl, sitting down on the side of his new bed. "^Just, not exactly how he likes me. I think that he's a great friend, do you have any friends?^"
"^Vel-chan used to be my friend, but she got moved to the back hallway. I'm not allowed to go there, Master Draco says it's much too scary for me.^" Kitsune smoothed down her pretty dress, "^but I don't mind anymore, because you'll be my friend, right?^"
Harry laughed. "^Of course. So, who named you Kitsune, it's rather different, don't you think? You don't mind if I call you Kitty, do you?^"
Kitty shook her head. "^I like that name, I don't mind.^"
Harry stood up. "^Well Kitty, I need to unpack my belongings because Draco and I are going to eat dinner soon. Remind me to introduce you to Snuffles, okay? He's my dog, a rather lazy one too.^" As he spied Sirius napping on the balcony in the fading sunshine, tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Ugh."
Kitty giggled.
===
It was an unspoken rule that Gundam pilots are not allowed to pout. Actually, that was untrue because Duo and Quatre pouted all the time in order to get their way. The unspoken rule was to never sink down to their level, and quite unfortunately - Wufei was pouting.
Rather subtly, though he would never openly admit it.
"Duo, do something else!" Quatre pleaded, his voice carrying over the planes seat-backs to reach Wufei's ears.
Next to him, Trowa snorted softly, lifting his head from the current novel he was reading. Wufei and Trowa were sitting quietly and minding their own business on the plane they were taking towards their next mission. Duo, Quatre and Heero, who were sitting just in front of them were being amazed by Duo's new magical abilities.
Or, Quatre and Duo were anyway. As far as Wufei could tell, Heero was ignoring them and grunting softly when ever he was addressed. Duo, at the moment, seemed to be thinking about something, taking every few seconds to glance back at Wufei and Trowa - a devilish gleam in his eye that spelled trouble.
Wufei quickly excused himself for a twenty minute bathroom break.
It wasn't the fact that Duo had somewhat defined his magical abilities that upset Wufei. It wasn't the fact that Heero was supposedly an internationally famous wizard in his other life. To tell the truth, Wufei wasn't quite sure what upset him the most. It might have been how left out he felt. Or how he hadn't even suspected that something was off about his friend. Because of those things alone, the Chinese pilot felt somewhat insecure enough - and now that the others were showing signs of magic and leaving him behind... he didn't think he could take it.
After Duo had shown them all his magical powers, Quatre admitted that he had accidently levitated his bed that morning while looking for his shoes. Trowa had announced that the food in the refrigerator that they had all been fearing was alive had somehow ended up in the garbage can while his back was turned. Heero just 'hn-ed' and folded his arms, reminding them that he was a fully functional wizard.
Back in the bathroom, Wufei leaned against the small door and attempted to relax himself. When he felt he was relaxed enough, he felt for the pulses inside his body that told him how strong his magic supposedly was. At one of the stronger pulses, Wufei tensed slightly and was amazed to see a faintly colored bunch of sparks jump from his finger tips. He entertained himself for a few minutes, drawing lazy patters in the air with those sparks before he concentrated that magic a little more firmly. A pair of chopsticks appeared in his hand, giving him multiple splinters in his palm.
With an angry grunt, Wufei disposed of the chopsticks and decided to leave making objects appear to Duo, and ask Trowa if he had any tweezers. Those splinters hurt! So, once again sitting in his uncomfortable airplane seat, Wufei resumed with his pouting.
===
"Status, 05?" Quatre asked softly into his mouth piece from his position in the hallway, keeping watch. Wufei and Duo were currently in an underground base, destroying all mobile suits and suit making equipment, while Trowa and Heero erased the computer files.
"Ready to proceed," Wufei's voice crackled over the line.
"01?" Quatre asked.
"Files deleted, recall data is fire-walled. They won't be making suits here anytime in the future." Heero answered grimly. "We're moving out now."
"02, 05, proceed at will." Quatre said briskly. "We'll wait for you back at camp."
"Roger," Duo said over his line, a grin evident in his voice. Loud explosions followed his answer, and Quatre began towards the exit. He met Heero and Trowa there, and the three began moving towards their hastily set up camp just a mile away.
Nearly half an hour later, Wufei appeared, holding a protesting and bleeding Duo on his back.
Quatre jumped up and began panicking at once, running to get some water boiling to bathe the wound. Heero moved to strip Duo of his shirt and Trowa left to get a first aid kit.
It was a standard procedure for when ever one of them got hurt. No matter how serious, they were so confident with their own abilities that they rarely ever went for 'professional help.' As it was, none of the boys trusted anybody enough to come near them holding any kind of needle. As was seen when Sally Po attempted to give Duo a standard vaccine shot, the poor woman would never forget the howls. But still, there was a certain amount of trust as to let somebody else put things in your body without your knowing. They only tried to tolerate Sally Po's yearly examination because she was scary - as Duo so eloquently put it.
"We destroyed the entire factory, but just as we were leaving, a guard appeared at the end of the hall, trying to stop us. He only managed to shoot once or twice before Duo shot him, a bullet hit Duo." Wufei explained shortly, pressing a cotton swath against the bleeding. "I thought it was in the arm, but I couldn't be sure. I just grabbed him and ran."
"No," Duo grinned. "He picked me up, despite my protests, and *blurred* away, he was moving so fast."
A stain of pink appeared on Wufei's cheeks. "You were injured," he snapped.
"It's just a bullet," Duo grinned, not even wincing as Heero, none too gently, pulled the offending metal from his bicep and Quatre began cleaning the hole with a stinging disinfectant and boiling water. The needle and surgical thread that Heero produced a minute later, however, were a different story.
"Hey," Duo protested, scooting away from his friends. "I'm fine, barely even bleeding. There is no need to stitch it up, especially with *that* huge needle!" His eyes were wide and he was clearly thinking about where he put his gun and if he could reach it in time to scare his boyfriend away.
Heero looked over at Trowa and Wufei who moved and held Duo down, Wufei sitting on his legs, Trowa pinning down his arms. That didn't stop Duo from squirming, however, as Heero got closer with the needle. "Duo, if you don't stop moving, it's only going to be worse." Heero snapped, sitting down on the braided boy's chest. "This is standard procedure, it needs to be done."
Duo sighed and proceeded to sulk. Two minutes later, he was let up, wincing pitifully. He stomped over to where his and Heero's sleeping bags had been laid out, climbed into his and proceeded to take a nap. Out around the campfire, the four boys began talking about their new plans.
"I contacted Une," Quatre informed the others. "And it turns out that this was an easy way for them to force us on vacation. We've been forbidden to return to headquarters until she contacts us."
Heero grunted, while the other two grinned.
"They did a good job," Wufei laughed. "Hiding a secret that big from us, and getting all of us out here at the same time."
"Actually," Heero said. "Duo and I knew about this a month ago. I'm surprised you didn't notice. Losing your touch?"
Wufei turned his nose up at that. "We'll excuse us. I seem to recall a time when even the mention of a vacation had your gun out and bullets flying."
"Duo even told you!" Heero smirked. "And you didn't believe him?"
Quatre sighed. "Yes well, there is a slight problem. For example, how are we supposed to get out of here. And what are we going to do until we're called back?"
"I believe that London is only a few miles away," Trowa said softly. "We can hang around there if you want. And even if we don't like London we can find some other place to stay. hijacking planes isn't *that* hard."
Quatre and Wufei stared at the unibanged boy strangely, but wisely decided not to comment.
Something clicked in Heero's now vacant expression, a light in his eyes suddenly lighting up. "London," he said softly.
===
"Wow."
Draco chuckled from where he stood behind Harry, holding both their brooms in his hands.
"You own all of this?" Harry asked incredulously, gesturing towards the massive Malfoy grounds, Quidditch pitch and lake. "This is amazing!" He grabbed his broom and was almost instantly airborne, flying in lazy circles around the grounds.
He and Draco had been at the manor for nearly a week, and Harry had been amazed at nearly everything he saw. For the first week, they had stayed indoors, mainly. Draco showing him and sometimes Heero around the whole of the house. The sites in there were endless. A library that took up nearly a whole floor, an entertainment room that was nearly all Muggle equipment. A ballroom, a star-gazing tower, indoor swimming pool, doors that led to Muggle and magic areas. These doors in particular sparked Harry's interest and he took a great deal of pleasure opening a door and staring into Diagon Alley. With all of these things, Harry couldn't decide what was best, and now he was finally seeing the Malfoy grounds, the choice had been made harder. He flew for a few minutes before he found the best part.
Or rather, a small Japanese style garden hidden in a small corner. It was untended and the gazebo there was rotting, but with a little work... Harry landed next to the gazebo, a small smile on his face. Draco landed next to him a moment later.
"All it needs is a little work," Harry told the blond. "And then it will be perfect."
Draco looked confused. "This old dump?" He asked doubtfully, "this place has been falling to ruins for years. Nobody comes out here any more."
"I can come back here right?" Harry asked, turning pleading eyes towards Draco. "So that I can clean it up, it would be so beautiful, I know it would."
However, it seemed that his light haired companion was reluctant to deny him anything and quickly agreed.
===
At precisely one fourty-three, just as the moon was setting over the distant mountain tops, Heero sat up in his sleeping bag, causing the zipper to groan as it moved. His eyes snapped open, showing a vibrant green, rather than his usual blue. Those eyes were shining in the darkness of the clear skied night, and he slowly made his way to his feet.
Duo blinked sleepily, "Hee-chan?" He muttered, "what is it?"
Heero didn't answer at all, moving out into the night as though he were in a trance.
Duo sat up, frowning and proceeded to follow his boyfriend, silently and stealthily. As an afterthought, he grabbed his miniature bag as well as Heero's before continuing any further.
Trowa and Wufei were sitting at the fire side, keeping watch. Quatre was leaning against Trowa, sleeping peacefully. Heero ignored them all and headed off into the surrounding trees, following a path only he seemed to know, now with four boys following him.
===
At the exact same time, Harry also sat up in his bed, his eyes also glowing in the darkness. And unlike Heero's eyes, they were burning a fierce blue. Above the bed in her picture frame, Kitty blinked hazily at Harry before falling back asleep. Sirius didn't even move.
Harry noticed none of this and exited his room walking towards the end of the hall. Once there, he opened a secret door he didn't know was there and proceeded though it. Without a look at where he was now standing, he proceeded down the street towards his destination. Through another door, through a trap door hidden in the floor. There, Harry sat down to wait.
===
Duo stared dumbstruck. Heero had just pulled up a piece of the forest floor and was descending into it, as though a set of stairs were hidden just below his line of site. Casting a look back at his fellow pilots, Duo moved after Heero to see that there *were* steps in the hole.
Go figure.
Moving slowly down the steps, Duo glanced around the almost depressingly dark area and picked out Heero in the middle of the room, sitting quietly with his head down. His eyes were still glowing that strange green color, and Duo blinked as he realized that a strong magical power was now emitting from his boyfriend.
Taking another look around the room, Duo realized that he was in some sort of basement. A very, very old looking basement that was covered in dust. Quatre sneezed behind them as the pilots moved to take a better look at their surroundings.
"Hey guys," Wufei called softly from where he was prodding at the wall. "Check this out." A small wooden door popped out of the wall, big enough for Wufei's hand to go through. The Chinese boy reached in and pulled out a handful of sticks.
Sticks with handles, Duo noted, walking towards them. He pulled out one by random, as did Quatre and Trowa. Now, each with a stick in hand - Duo realized what they must be.
"Wands," he whispered softly, a tingle racing through his arm. "Guys, they're wands!" He gave his a little swish, delighted when Wufei's hair turned pink. "This is *too* cool!"
Wufei growled and attempted to turn his hair back to its normal black. He succeeded in turning his hair neon yellow, causing Duo to laugh even harder.
"When life gives you lemons!" The braided boy quipped, "dye Wu's hair yellow!"
Wufei growled and started towards the irritant.
"Guys," Quatre said softly, stepping between them. He pointed at Heero, who body was now spitting sparks in a perfect circle surrounding him. In every place where the sparks landed, a small ray of light appeared on the floor, shooting up towards the ceiling and lighting up the room. The four pilots moved forward just inside the ring of light, just enough to hear Heero whispering in Latin.
But it was such an old form of the language that none of them could translate it to form something coherent enough to understand. All they got were a few key phrases about time. Duo stepped forward again against his will, drawn closer to Heero by some unknown force. Beside him, Quatre also stepped forward, dragging along Trowa. Wufei seemed to be fighting the force with little success.
Suddenly, Heero stopped whispering and his head snapped up. One word passed his lips in a clear voice that wasn't his. "Tempus!"
And everything around them disappeared.
===
I hit the ground. Hard. I'm pretty sure that I passed out for a minute, but as I woke up, I sprang back to my feet, my katana appearing in my hands as I studied the space around me. Absolutely nothing had changed, except a few layers of dust around the room had been swirled up in the whirlwind of magic.
That, and a black haired boy was laying unconscious in the middle of the room next to Heero, who was also unconscious.
The others slowly stood up. Trowa and Quatre had their guns out, Duo's knives were twirling in his hands.
"Status?" I said softly, fighting off my nausea from the site of the room spinning. I noticed that my head was pounding as well, and that my left shoulder ached.
"I'm fine." Quatre said lightly, putting his gun away.
Trowa nodded, also putting his weapon away.
Duo sighed. "My stitches opened." He muttered, "I must have landed on them."
We looked and sure enough, a light patch of blood was seeping thorough his shirt. But our attention was drawn towards Heero and the other boy again when Duo suddenly moved towards them.
"Hee-chan?" He whispered, placing a hand on his boyfriend. He glanced at the other boy as well, his purple eyes going wide in the darkness of the room. "Guys!" He said softly, "it's *Harry*!"
Sure enough, when we reached their sides a few seconds later, the boy on the floor was indeed the boy that we saw reflected in the mirror nearly a week ago.
"They're both out cold," Quatre said softly, reaching out one hand to check their pulses. "Why don't we take them back to camp?"
The rest of us agreed. Trowa some how got roped into carrying Harry, as Duo refused to let anybody else handle his koi. They're kind of cute like that, putting each other before themselves.
"Wufei?" Duo asked, Heero settled comfortably on his back. Trowa was standing still with Harry resting in his arms.
I looked over at him. "Yeah, I'm going to open the door in a minute Maxwell." Even though he was amusing, he was still a baka. I marched up the stairs but before I could open the trap door, it opened from above and a man with large moon like eyes peered down at me.
"Mr. Chang." He said in a misty voice. "Yes, I thought you'd be here by now. What are you waiting for, come up here, and why is that sword still out? There is no danger here! Come on, bring the other's as well."
I left the dusty basement, my katana still in my hand and was unsettled to see that we were no longer in the middle of a forest. We were in a shop lined with narrow boxes. Wands, my brain supplied, it's a wand shop.
"Mr. Barton, Mr. Maxwell." The man said, watching as Duo and Trowa heaved Heero and Harry up the stairs. "And Mr. Winner. A pleasure, yes indeed it is. Come on up."
Quatre was the last to leave the basement, closing the trap door behind him.
None of us said a word, though after a moment Duo snapped something harsh sounding in Japanese, clearly hoping that the man had no idea what he was saying. I didn't catch what he said, but knowing Duo, it couldn't be good. I'll never admit it, but I almost envy him for managing to look intimidating even with an unconscious boy on his back. His violet eyes were spitting fire, clearly in mode 'Shinigami'.
"You are in my store," the man smiled, ignoring Duo. "Olivander's Wands. But I see that you already have your wands. Fine looking ones as well, though they aren't any from my shop. I dare say that they're from other countries. His," here he nodded at Quatre, "looks like it's from Arabia. Your's," Duo this time, "from North America." Then he looked at me. "China." And then Trowa, "and Greece."
None of us blinked.
Olivander frowned, clearly not sure if we spoke English or not.
But before he could say anything, the door to his shop opened and a blond haired boy rushed in. I just noticed that the sun was shining, it was clearly sometime in the middle of the day. I must have been unconscious for longer then I thought.
"Have you seen him?" He boy asked. "Have you heard anything?"
Olivander chuckled. "Mr. Malfoy, relax. He's right over there." He nodded at Trowa, who remained impassive, even if his eyes did narrow a little.
"Harry!" Malfoy yelped, seeing the boy in Trowa's arms. "What happened to him? Is he alright?"
"I would say he needs a bit of sleep," Olivander said softly, once again using his misty voice. "Why don't you take these boys as well, they just arrived here from other countries. I'm not sure yet if they speak English."
The blond looked around at us, his eyes lingering on Duo's long braid, Heero's dead to the world form, and my katana - which I placed back in its sheath. He seemed reluctant to agree, but nodded anyway.
"Alright, come on." He nodded at Olivander and gestured for us to follow him. Which, after a quick silent discussion, we did.
We followed him out onto a busy looking street, blinking in the bright sunlight. And almost automaticaly we fell into our normal Gundam Pilot stances. Trowa and Duo walked on either side of Quatre, with me behind. Heero was usually at the front, but as the case was, the blond boy was leading us. Out way of walking was a silent way of telling everyone that we weren't afraid to give our lives for each other, and that they should stay away from us. Duo had decided to name it the 'Death March,' after which we all attacked him with our pillows.
The boy turned to make sure we were following him before leading us into a small alley between buildings. He said something, again in Latin, and a door appeared out of no where. Duo started whispering something, and stared even more when the boy disappeared through it. After a moment of hesitation, we followed.
=================================
AN Review and I'll update.
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