Xmas holidays were busy for me. Sorry. ^^ Let's see… oh, right, the part where they start joking around. Duo rubbed off on them – when they're facing something stressful or possibly upsetting, they're joking around. Not excessively, just a bit of sarcasm to lighten them up a bit, ne? ^^ (I know I do that ALL the time)

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Chapter 29

The morning that followed brought sun and warmth: it contrasted greatly with the moods of many residents of Hogwarts. The teachers were very annoyed, especially those who had been "dragged out" late at night to "save" a group of students. Ironically enough, those students were even more annoyed and upset than the teachers.

Duo woke with a sharp pain in his neck that refused to go away. Wufei's back burned with pain – they assumed it was because of the curse cast on him by the elder Malfoy. Heero had a mind-splitting headache, Trowa couldn't seem to wake up, and Quatre was irritable because everyone around him was irritable. They had yet to emerge from their dormitory for anything other than a shower, and it was already apparent that this day was going to be very trying on all of them.

Once they did emerge to greet the day, still well ahead of most of the student body, they arrived in the Common Room to find Hermione sitting on one of the plush chairs with a big book sitting on her lap, and a cat perched on the arm of the chair. The cat hissed at the sight of Odin and Shinigami, sitting on their respective owners' shoulders.

"Hermione," Quatre grunted in greeting, emerging from the staircase and into the room. She glanced up at him and nodded shortly in return, frowning. "Is Harry up yet, do you know?" the blond asked her.

"He's been up for awhile now," Hermione replied, passing a glance over the five boys. "He and Ron are outside practicing for Quidditch."

Quatre frowned at this information and glanced back at the others. Duo was wringing out his still-wet braid, seemingly unconcerned about the water splattering on the carpet, but Heero returned the glance and nodded towards the window. Trowa was there first, blinking blearily and looking around. The brunette sighed after a few moments, pushed a hand into his bangs and pushed them away from his forehead. Resuming his search, he spotted two blots in the sky.

"There," he said, pointing off to the west. "At the field. Well, actually, they're above the field…"

"Let's go then," Wufei grumbled, stalking towards the portrait. Trowa didn't move, and looked to be thinking about something.

"Well they're flying, aren't they? How are we supposed to get their attention?"

Heero arched an eyebrow at the brunette, and Wufei paused to look back. "Preventers coffee has made you soft," Heero remarked. Trowa glowered at him, but Heero wasn't fazed. "You and Quatre picked up some of your own brooms, remember? Just bring those."

"Why are you heading out?" Hermione cut in. Wufei turned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"How is that any of your business?" he said curtly. She bit her lip and sighed, looking at her book dejectedly.

"We just want to talk to him about the detentions," Duo said smoothly, tossing his braid back over his shoulder. It smacked loudly against his back. "He's bound to be pissed just like us."

"Well, all right, but if it's something very important don't forget to include Ron and me as well," Hermione persisted. Duo smiled forcibly and nodded, looking to Quatre.

"You gonna grab a broom or what, Quat?" he asked the blond. Quatre shrugged.

"I guess we could take them. May come in handy," he conceded, heading back into their room and leaving the other boys standing in the Common Room.

"Brooms," Duo grumbled. "How the hell can you trust a friggin' broom?" Heero and Trowa smirked at him, amused, and Duo stuck out his tongue childishly. Quatre emerged from their room with an unused broom in each hand, leaning them against his shoulders with the bristles in the air.

"Ready to go?" His response was an array of shrugs and a few hoots. One by one they turned, with Wufei being first out the hole as the rest followed behind. Before leaving the room Quatre waved to Hermione, only slightly hindered by the brooms in his hands.

In the chair in the Common Room, Hermione watched the boys leave with an unhappy frown on her face. She turned to Crookshanks and petted his fur softly. The animal purred happily, oblivious to its owners' discontent.

"There's something going on with them, Crookshanks," Hermione murmured. "I just have to figure out what, and what it has to do with Harry."

"What about Harry?" Neville Longbottom, long known for his knack for sleeping in, surprised Hermione by walking away from the staircase towards her.

Despite her mood, Hermione smiled. "Good morning, Neville. I have a favor to ask of you…"

***

The pitch was still misty due to the early morning change in temperature, but it wasn't a thick mist. Still, Duo thought irritably, glaring at the damp air, it's not helping dry my goddamned hair.

Two figures and small objects could be seen in the misty sky – the boys naturally assumed that it was Ron and Harry. Once they reached the center of the pitch, they looked up and watched for a few moments as the boys circled above, seemingly oblivious to their presence.

"Wonder how Ron convinced him to get out and play a game," Trowa wondered out loud. Quatre sighed.

"Harry's probably forcing himself to act normal around Ron," he muttered. "It must be tough for him."

"Hell yeah, it would be. He's probably going to make himself sick worrying about Draco," Duo replied. Duo began thinking about his own reaction when he lost Heero, if only for that short period of time, and found himself shivering in the cold morning air. The goosebumps on his flesh were effectively hidden by his black robe, but he got a curious glance from Quatre nonetheless.

"The more reason for us to help get Draco back," Quatre said determinedly. Duo smirked.

"Yeah, great, another crusade. Well, I'm always up for a little excitement, ain't that right Shinigami?" Duo petted his owl affectionately. "I just wish we could pick our own battles for once."

A rustling of paper drew the boys' glances to Trowa, who was removing the wrapping from his broom. After noticing he was being watched, the corner of Trowa's mouth lifted a bit. "Why would we want to break a chain by choosing our own battles? We do so well when we don't." Trowa steadied his broom and threw a leg over one side. Pulling the broom to a seating position caused his robe to ride up, and Trowa frowned. "That's really awkward. These robes are horrible."

Duo and Quatre laughed loudly. Duo continued howling while Quatre choked out, "I think you're supposed to be wearing pants, Trowa!"

"I'm wearing shorts!" Trowa protested, pulling up his robe to show them. Duo fell to the ground laughing. "It was hot yesterday," the European grumbled.

"Doesn't mean you have to use it as an excuse to show off your leg hair to us," Wufei griped. Duo howled again, and even Heero chuckled. Trowa's face was flushing red, though whether it was from embarrassment or anger wasn't clear.

Quatre patted the brunette on the shoulder. "Don't worry Trowa, Wufei's just jealous that you actually have leg hair. Isn't that right, Wufei?"

"Oooooh, low blow," Duo said appreciatively, grinning at Wufei. The Chinese boy huffed.

"Don't be ridiculous, Quatre. If anyone is behind in maturing, it's you."

"Actually, it's Heero, but we're getting off topic," Quatre redirected easily. Heero's eyes widened and Duo immediately came to his defense, raising his fist, index finger directed at Quatre, who smiled innocently.

"Now wait one second, Winner," Duo began, but was cut off by a red haired demon swooping down from the sky dangerously close to their heads. Instead of ducking, they all reached for a weapon they didn't have and crouched in a ready position.

"Status!" Heero barked. The responses were immediate.

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Chill. It was Ron," Duo grumbled. The four glanced at the braided boy before looking up, where Ron was indeed watching them with a curious look on his face.

"What are you doing crouched down like that?"

"Maybe because you nearly took their heads off," Harry remarked dryly, frowning from his position in the air behind Ron. He floated down on his broom and settled on the ground next to Trowa. Trowa's broom was lying on the ground next to him, abandoned during the puberty argument.

"So, what are you lot up to this fine morning?" Ron asked, a wicked smile on his face.

***

"Watch your head!"

"Shit!" Duo ducked immediately, waiting for Quatre to pass overhead before shouting after him. "You'd better not do that again, Quatre, or you'll be sorry!"

"Watch your head," came shout from behind him, and Duo whirled around and launched at Wufei with a growl. The Asian boy laughed and rose up into the sky again.

"He seems to be enjoying himself," Heero muttered, smiling.

"And that's all that matters," Quatre said laughingly, watching Wufei on his broom. Ron spiraled around him in the sky, only to have Wufei chase him challengingly. Quatre grinned as Ron was quickly outmaneuvered, and Wufei took off spiraling and diving. Ron landed on the ground next to Heero with a grin.

"He's bloody insane!" the redhead exclaimed. "I've never seen moves that daring except in major league tournaments, and when Harry plays!" Harry hummed his agreement. Harry glanced at Heero, who was watching as Wufei and Trowa raced up in the air, and held his broom out to the Japanese boy.

"Go ahead, Heero. Give it a go."

Heero looked surprised, but took the broom. "Thanks," he said, sitting on the broom and taking off immediately. Ron hooted his approval and took off after him.

Quatre laughed softly as Duo started running along underneath Heero, shouting up to him. Heero was shouting back, but Quatre couldn't hear what they were yelling. Harry watched too, with a curious and somber look on his face.

"Why doesn't Duo want to ride?" he asked Quatre, who looked surprised. "I offered him my broom, but he shook his head and said he didn't want to. I would think Duo would be the most eager to fly a broomstick."

Quatre smiled. "Yeah, most people would think that about Duo. The thing about Duo is… well, there's a bunch of reasons he doesn't want to fly. Back home, where we're from, he's a pilot."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "A pilot? Really? But he's so young!"

"Yeah, a pilot," Quatre affirmed, nodding. "He's a damn good one, too, and knows it. Duo trusts his… machines with his life. He trusts that he's done a good enough maintenance job on them that they won't kill him."

"But a broom isn't a machine," Harry pointed out, slowly beginning to understand. Quatre nodded again.

"Exactly. The feel of a machine around you is a comforting feeling, and it makes you feel secure. You know the outcomes of what could happen in the machine, and you know how to handle it. Duo's life hasn't come with many securities, and machinery is his security. I'm sure he's tempted to try flying the broom, but his subconscious is screaming no."

"So it's a psychological thing then," Harry muttered, watching as Heero looped around behind Duo and flew low behind and to the left of the braided boy. Duo began shouting and veering away, but Heero sped up, looped an arm around Duo's waist and took off into the sky.

Harry and Quatre laughed as obscenities started pouring out of Duo's mouth. "Duo's not afraid of much," Quatre continued, still chuckling. "But he'd still much prefer the feeling of a machine around him, not the open air."

"Oi!" Ron shouted, tailing after Heero and Duo. "You lot had better try out for the Quidditch team!" The redhead veered towards Trowa and Wufei, who were trying to outdo each others' aerial maneuvers. "You too! You'd better try out! We'll win fer sure if you do!"

***

"Well that was an interesting way to start the morning," Trowa commented as they made their way back to the school. They'd remained on the pitch for nearly half an hour, trying to enjoy themselves and keep Ron from getting suspicious at the same time. Harry had cheered up quite a bit from his earlier depression, but was still fairly quiet and subdued.

They arrived at breakfast and found it to be half over. Finding available seats, which scattered them around the table, they ate breakfast quickly. Duo annoyed Heero as much as possible, but the Asian boy just laughed and made a comment about flying, to which Duo would glower and hiss.

Their behavior didn't seem to bother the rest of the table, and Ron started up a conversation about Quidditch that had everyone commenting. Ron proceeded to tell the table of the aerobatics of the boys, with sound effects and actions to go with each story.

When he started to tell about Heero picking Duo up, Duo chucked a bread bun at his head and Ron changed stories quickly.

Once they'd finished breakfast, the students in the Great Hall left to their dormitories to get ready for the first class.

For the five boys, that meant Arithmancy for Heero and Charms for everyone else.

"Your class is going to be shitty," Duo said to Heero, who glanced at him with a confused look. "You don't even have Draco to entertain you this time."

Heero groaned. "You're right." He picked up his laptop, and took out one of the system discs he got with it. "Think I could transfigure this into a better game?"

"Like what?" Duo asked, frowning and thinking.

"I don't know… a shooting game. Something interesting. I can't just sit and play Solitaire in that class, not again."

"Make one up," Duo suggested with a grin. "You should be able to do that, right?"

Heero gave the disc a considering look. "I'll see what I can do when Vector's not looking." He shoved the disc in his laptop case, and looked at the others. "So, who's skipping first period?"

"I think Trowa could," Quatre suggested. "But it would be better if someone from another class went with him to the library."

Heero shook his head. "It has to be Harry, since he skips halfway through all of his classes except the ones with Draco in them. Since Draco isn't here, he can skip Divination as well."

Duo snorted. "Flitwick probably wouldn't notice. He doesn't seem to be the smartest dwarf around."

"Okay, we'll try that then," Quatre conceded.

"Heero can skip out of Divination with Duo," Wufei suggested. "Trelawney predicted that he'd be sick, and Duo has already shown he's protective of Heero." Heero made a face at the allusion of needing protection, but didn't argue. "So Heero could act sick and Duo could escort him out, and they could do a sweep for Sirius."

A knock sounded at the door to their room, and Wufei moved to open it. Harry was on the other side, a grin on his face. Wufei arched an eyebrow at his cheerfulness, but moved aside.

"I just thought of something," Harry said, walking into the room waving a parchment. "It's so obvious I can't believe I didn't think of it before!"

"So what is it?" Wufei asked impatiently. He closed the door again and watched Harry take out his wand.

"This parchment is a map, and it shows the locations of people and their names! This is the simplest way to find Sirius," Harry explained. Duo approached Harry and looked at the parchment in his hand. He arched an eyebrow.

"Uh, sorry to break it to you Harry, but that paper's blank."

Harry rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "I know, but that's so teachers won't know what it is! Here, watch," Harry told them, taking out his wand and tapping the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

The paper, that had been blank seconds earlier, suddenly showed a map of Hogwarts, including all secret passageways, corridors, staff, and even students as little dots moving around on it! Duo grinned and snatched the map away from Harry to show Heero.

"This is perfect! We'll find him in no time!" Heero nodded and took the map, studying it.

"We'll need this during Divination," he told Harry, who nodded. "We're going to find him then. Anything particular you want us to tell him?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Tell him he'll be hearing a hell of a lot from me, especially about not telling me he was at Hogwarts!"

Duo beamed. "Sure thing, man."

***

Arithmancy found Heero completed his daily work fifteen minutes after the lecture. As the other students diligently worked at their homework, Heero practiced his transfiguration on the disc he'd taken with him. His wand didn't seem to work too well, as if Heero tapped the disc it would most likely scratch or crack.

Attempting to use his hands didn't work very well either. He held back curses as he tried repeatedly to even clear the disc without using his laptop, failing each time. Hermione sent a few curious glances his way, but each time she did she saw him hunched over his laptop looking as though he were concentrating very hard.

She did notice the absence of keys typing, though, and chalked it up as another observation to consider.

Abandoning his attempt at clearing the disc magically, Heero inserted it into his laptop and cleared it manually. He then set out working on a program that would create a map similar to the one Harry had shown them, with a layout of the school and all of its hidden corridors.

This task took him the majority of the class to complete, but when he was finished Heero felt pleased with the program and vowed to upload the map onto the computer the next chance he got.

Heero rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly and sighed.

***

During Charms, Trowa asked to be excused half an hour into the class. Flitwick merely waved a hand dismissively, and Trowa left towards the library.

Unfortunately, any search he attempted was cut off by Madam Pince and her persistent snooping. She asked if he needed assistance, and when he inquired about specters she gave him a completely useless text that told nothing but ghost stories. He tried looking up cloaking spells like Duo had suggested, but Madam Pince had interrupted him yet again and had taken the text he'd been using.

'Outdated and certainly no good for any projects,' she'd said. Trowa had watched her place the book in her desk for safekeeping, and had become very suspicious. He'd gone after a Hogwarts book, to read about the barrier spells the school had up, but she's confiscated that, too.

Rather than get angry and start demanding answers, which would be very uncharacteristic of him, Trowa got up and left the library, but not without sending a glare back at Pince. When he returned to the Charms classroom Flitwick had forgotten he'd been gone, but the dwarf simply continued talking about how charms could go wrong. Trowa sank into his seat and leaned over to tell Quatre of Pince's interference.

Quatre passed the message up to Duo, who passed it on to Harry. Quatre passed the message back to Wufei as well, and the five boys frowned at Trowa. Trowa merely shrugged helplessly.

It was silently understood that they would need to do something about Madam Pince if they planned to do any research.

Finally, after what seemed like the majority of the period was over, Flitwick assigned them some reading about what he'd just talked about and let them work on that for a bit. Most of the students in the class ignored the work, and started talking amongst themselves. Ron left his seat and went over to talk to Seamus and Dean, who were chatting with some Ravenclaw girls, including Wufei's seating partner Cho.

Wufei took Ron's spot and they all crowded around Quatre's desk, Harry and Duo only turning around.

"So Pince is trying to stop us," Duo muttered.

"Maybe not," Quatre interjected. "We can't assume that. Maybe that detention thing they gave us, maybe that restricts our library privileges?"

"Going to the library is a privilege?" Duo said dryly.

"Either way, it looks like we won't get anywhere with only one person studying. She can't keep up with a group," Wufei commented. "She couldn't before." Duo smirked.

"Yeah, and if all else fails, one of you could pull a diversionary tactic."

"And get banned from the library like you?" Quatre asked incredulously, then smiled. "We could use Harry's cloak. I'm sure you've done that before, right Harry?"

Harry nodded. "It's definitely been convenient." Duo nudged the boy with his elbow.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's been real convenient, especially for sneaking off in the night…" Duo trailed off, and Harry's face burned red with embarrassment.

Quatre chuckled. "Yeah, and as soon as we get him back you can go right back to doing that," he told Harry, who smiled sadly.

"But first," Trowa interrupted, looking at Duo. The braided boy smiled.

"We find Sirius," Duo finished, grinning as the bell signaling the end of first period rang. "And if Trelawney's not feeling considerate, she's about to have a very bad day."

*~*

And another one down.

The parchment magic words might be off. My HP books are under the house in a box somewhere, but meh, that's close enough, ne?

^.^ Hope you all had a nice holiday.

This one ended up lengthier than planned. But hey, nobody's complaining, right?