Kay, I had an incredibly large amount of questions posted by ADJ, and since they're Anonymous I'll just post my answers here.
If you had the same questions then here are your answers, and if you didn't then bear with me ^^;
1) This takes place in Harry's sixth year. I'm operating under the assumption that Divination is like DADA, and has different levels after third year. I'm ALSO running under the assumption that Divination doesn't require prerequisite courses ^^;
2) Didn't I explain that? They're reviewing for the first few weeks because of the newbies in the courses, and then they're picking up really fast from there. It is of course unlikely, but I think (personally) that Dumbledore WOULD go out of his way to do that. Such a nice guy. =)
3) I really have no idea what you're talking about, what with Harry's "character development". I dunno, I never intentionally made him out to be "insecure" and "naïve"… just cutely oblivious. Sorry if it seemed that way.
4) I never said Dumbledore wasn't a threat. This was the GW boys' natural assumption upon getting to this world. I mean really… he's old and frail, would you think he was the most powerful wizard ever? Neither would I.
Oh, and about involving more of HP plot? We haven't even gotten started yet, hon.
fire youkai: Be calm! I always backtrack eventually. Even if it doesn't get explained in THIS chapter, you'll find out what happened sooner or later ^^ (maybe later if I'm feeling sadistic XD)
Warnings: There's some shounen-ai in here! I warned you before and I'm warning you again. If you don't like two boys kissing (what's wrong with you? ^^) then you'd better ignore the rest of the fic and move on. DM+HP in this one (DMxHP implied.)
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Chapter 15
The hissing was the first thing Heero heard – that and the rustle of fabric. He grabbed Duo's elbow, slowing the other boy and placing a finger to his own lips. Cobalt eyes narrowed and Duo nodded. Slowly they moved down this new, darker corridor that they had discovered during their search.
In retrospect, Heero had realized that it had been very stupid of them to take off down an unknown corridor without anyone to lead them back, but he hadn't really been concerned about that at the time. He was, in actuality, concerned for the missing boys, if only because he had reason to believe that they could really mess each other up.
He'd heard about their rivalry in the Common Room; some girls had been loudly discussing how they'd been fighting since their first year, and how their duels were amazing to watch. He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, and now he found himself wondering if there was weight enough behind their rivalry to resort to escaping from their peers to have one on one battles in dark, lonely corridors.
He didn't doubt it.
He didn't plan on giving up until he found Harry and Draco, either – preferably with each in one piece - because Duo had wanted to talk to Harry, and Heero didn't want to resort to paintings to find his way back to the Great Hall.
When he'd first heard the hissing he'd passed it off as pipes in the walls, but after the hissing alternating between louder and softer sounds, he realized it was in fact people hissing at each other somewhere. Duo had no doubt heard it too, however the braided boy hadn't slowed and Heero preferred NOT sneaking up on two potentially dangerous wizards that could quite possibly be fighting.
"I don't understand you sometimes!"
Heero and Duo both stopped dead at the exclamation that was obviously Harry's voice. The smirked at each other – found one missing student. They could only assume that the other was Draco…
"I don't see what's so hard to understand, Harry. It's not like I'm going to leave you for him."
Bingo.
Heero arched an eyebrow at the phrasing, a suspicion growing in the back of his mind. He looked questioningly at Duo, who merely smiled at him. Heero's suspicion grew as he realized Duo knew something that he didn't. Before he could ask him, Duo started moving again, approaching the last doorway in the corridor. Heero sighed silently and followed.
"I just…" came Harry's voice again. "I just… I don't think I could…"
A shushing noise sounded, and Heero assumed it was Draco. He watched as Duo approached the doorway and started when an apparition appeared before him.
Duo staggered backwards at the sudden appearance of the ghost – this place had GHOSTS? Why hadn't he seen any before now?!
"Please don't disturb them," the ghost requested, looking at the door wistfully. The ghost placed a hand at his translucent neck and looked to be in deep thought. "They get so little time together now. I try to help them… they're so good for each other."
"Sorry, man. I gotta talk to Harry," Duo apologized, still tense and eyeing the ghost warily.
The ghost's chest heaved as he sighed, and his head rocked a little. "Very well. Please don't condemn them, though." With a parting sigh, the ghost disappeared into the floor. Heero and Duo stared at the floor wide-eyed, looked at each other and shook their heads.
"This is a really, really weird castle," Duo mouthed. Heero nodded in response.
Duo pressed forward again, touching the closed door and listening. He pushed slowly at the door, wincing when it creaked quietly. Heero came up behind him and peeked through the crack, starting when he saw the two figures in the room.
Harry had Draco pressed up against the wall, both hands against his shoulders to hold him there. Draco's arms were wrapped around Harry's waist, and the two were kissing passionately.
Heero's jaw dropped, and Duo eagerly peaked around the corner to see what had affected his partner so much. Duo could barely contain his laughter when he saw the two boys. When Harry started pulling at Draco's robes, Duo decided to spare them some dignity.
"Ahem," he coughed loudly, relieved when the two sprang apart immediately. They stared at him wide-eyed as he pushed the door the rest of the way open, revealing Heero as well. "Hey, guys."
"D-D-Duo!" Harry exclaimed, shocked. He staggered back a bit, only to run into Draco. The blonde frowned when Harry jumped away. "I… I didn't see you there."
"Well you wouldn't have," Duo started good-naturedly, as if discussing the weather. "You were a little preoccupied." Draco smirked.
"We were… well…" Harry said frantically, trying in vain to think of some excuse.
"Oh bloody hell, Harry. We were necking for Merlin's sake! At least have the decency to tell them the truth," Draco scolded the raven-haired boy. Harry looked at the floor in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry. I panicked – I mean, I honestly wasn't expecting someone to actually catch us after all this time. I mean, I knew it was likely, but…"
Draco came forward and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist. Harry tensed at first, eyeing the two pilots carefully before allowing himself to relax into the embrace. Duo blinked and smiled as the blonde rested his chin on Harry's shoulder.
"Come now, love, it's not that bad," Draco said soothingly.
Duo couldn't help it – his smile grew into a wide grin and he chuckled. "Aw, you guys are so cute!"
He could hear Heero snicker beside him and was relieved; he'd been worried that Heero would react negatively to this situation. The fact that Heero was comfortable enough with this to laugh sent Duo's hopes flying.
Harry and Draco looked at them in surprise.
"Cute?" Draco cried out indignantly. "I am most certainly NOT cute!"
Harry smiled. "Shut up. Yes you are."
"WHAT?!"
"So," Heero broke in, effectively stopping the impending argument. "You two are together then?" Harry and Draco nodded. "And you snuck off to be alone together?" Again, the two nodded. "And nobody else knew?"
"Well, Nick knew," Harry admitted. Duo raised an eyebrow and Harry explained. "Nearly Headless Nick, a phantom that lives in Hogwarts. He sort of… stumbled upon us once and for some reason decided to help us spend time together. But nobody else knew besides that."
"So, why do you think that would change?" Heero continued.
Harry and Draco looked at him, confused.
"Yeah," Duo chimed, leaning against a table in the room. "I mean, if you don't want us to tell about you then just say so. We're pretty good at keeping secrets."
Harry smiled warmly, and the corners of Draco's mouth upturned slightly. "Really? That'd be great!" Harry exclaimed.
"You should tell them eventually, though," Duo said. "I mean, they're your best friends." Harry bit his lip and looked downcast. Draco's arms tightened reassuringly.
"I'm afraid that they'd make me stop seeing him. Or worse – that they'd tell the Headmaster he'd poisoned my mind or something. They won't understand, Duo. They don't know that he's changed." Harry placed his hands over Draco's on his stomach, squeezing them tightly.
"Okay," Duo accepted, frowning slightly. "So uh… what exactly has he changed from to become what he is now?"
"A self-absorbed, naïve git controlled by his father," Draco replied bitterly.
"Draco's parents had close ties with Voldemort," Harry explained. Duo nodded.
"That evil bastard guy."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. Because of his father's influence he acted horribly to anyone outside Slytherin house, especially Ron and Hermione. Last fall though, Draco's parents disappeared and two weeks later we found out they were killed by Voldemort. Draco was sent to stay with Snape, but in reality he stayed here with Dumbledore where it was safer. I noticed he'd changed because of how different he acted when we were face to face – like he didn't really want to fight me anymore. He tried to hide it though, the stubborn git," Harry said, amused when Draco made a face.
"And one day I gave up and dragged him off to a classroom and molested the stubborn ponce," Draco drawled, hugging Harry's midsection possessively. "Best moment of weakness I've ever had."
Dawning came over Heero's face and he looked at Harry accusingly. "You were glaring at me in class because you were jealous?"
Duo barked out a laugh. "Seriously?"
Harry flushed. "Well…"
"He's not used to me paying attention to anyone but him," Draco said, slowly releasing Harry and stepping away. He shoved Harry's shoulder playfully. "He dragged me up here to question me about my feelings for Yuy." Draco rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair.
Duo smiled, shaking his head slowly. He glanced at Heero, who looked somewhat shocked. "What, Heero? Surprised that people besides Relena and me are attracted to you?"
A small, barely visible red tinge appeared on Heero's face, but before he could respond Nick appeared through the floorboard.
"Finch's heading this way, lads! There's no way of hiding from him now!"
Harry's eyes widened and he pulled his wand from his robes. Draco did the same. Duo and Heero watched in surprise as the two pointed the wands at each other.
"Ready, Malfoy?" Draco nodded in response, and the two raised their wands over their heads.
"Uh… you guys…"
"Incendio!" Harry cried, and Draco's robe caught on fire. Draco gasped and stomped on it, putting it out quickly.
"Tarantallegra!" said Draco, and Harry's legs began jerking around uncontrollably. As if remembering something about this spell, Harry smiled.
The smile vanished soon after and Harry shouted, "Rictusempra!"
Malfoy doubled over, wheezing and laughing silently.
"What in the hell?" Duo murmured, backing away from the weird things the boys were doing.
Then, through the door marched and in marched an angry looking man with bright yellow eyes. "What in the hell are you lot doing in here?!" he hollered.
"Finite incantatem," Harry and Draco murmured. They stood slowly, watching Filch carefully.
"We were… just talking," Harry lied obviously. Heero frowned and Duo watched, confused.
"Talking! Hogwash! You boys've been dueling again! I'll see that McGonagall does something about this!" The man stormed away muttering under his breath.
Duo frowned. "Eh?"
Harry shrugged, straightening his robes. "It's expected of us, really. If we really were just talking then they'd start to monitor us more closely."
"Besides," Draco contributed. "It's not like the detentions they give us will stop us."
Draco and Harry grinned at each other. Duo and Heero shared a look, and Duo sighed softly before shaking his head.
This castle was really, really weird.
***
Lame ending… but I couldn't think of another way. Anyway, Harry and Draco have been discovered! Heehee ^^ Now we know kinda how they got together. Yay!
But hey…. I wonder if Hermione and Ron will find out? ^.~
