Chapter 33

"Are you sure he said that we definitely couldn't kill him?" Wufei asked Trowa rhetorically, staring at Zabini. Much to the dismay of Millicent, Crabbe, Goyle, and the other students of Slytherin House, Wufei and Trowa had hauled Blaise out of the Great Hall almost immediately after threatening him, and moved damn fast for two guys carrying another guy.

They'd ended up dragging Zabini outside onto the pitch in the middle of the Quidditch field; far enough away to know when someone was coming and yet close enough to return to the school quickly if necessary.

It was always good to have escape routes, so they were also conveniently between the school and the Forbidden Forest. Zabini had struggled, of course, but it hadn't taken much to restrain a boy that had probably never heard of fist fighting. Trowa had confiscated the boy's wand – they were aware that these kids relied on magic more than anything. Once his wand was gone Zabini had complied fairly willingly.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions," Wufei told the stocky Slytherin, glaring maliciously. "And you're going to tell me the truth. If you don't, and we will know, then I'm going to introduce you to an acute form of torture. Understand?"

Blaise swallowed nervously, eyes flickering about as he nodded. He stood a few inches above Wufei, but was obviously intimidated without a group to back him up. "What did you do to Heero Yuy?"

"I didn't do anything," Blaise retorted. Two fingers were placed on his neck and pinched. Blaise cried out in pain and sunk to his knees.

"Try again," Wufei said calmly, fingers poised over the pressure point once more.

"I…" Pressure was applied immediately, and Blaise grit his teeth as another wave of pain pulsed through his body. "I can't tell! I'll be killed!" Wufei let up and regarded the boy.

"I think you should consider your options here. I'm here now, and I'm going to hurt you until you tell me what I want to know."

"Anything you do will be nothing compared to what he'll do," Blaise hissed, looking up through his hair.

Green eyes lowered until they were on par with the pain-filled eyes of Blaise. Trowa asked, "Would you like to test that theory?"

***

It took only about ten minutes to break the Slytherin – Wufei had delivered the final blow. Neither he nor Trowa had wanted to enter into that sort of work ever again, but when their comrade's life was concerned, they felt that they didn't have much of a choice.

Truth be told, anyone that fucked with one of them fucked with all of them.

They hadn't left any lasting marks in noticeable places – most were easily concealed by a robe or clothing. Despite their earlier claims of not caring about detentions, they were in enough trouble, and didn't need further interruptions messing with their plans to get Draco or to get home. Though they doubted Blaise admitting to his acute torture – especially since it was delivered in such an open area – they didn't want to take the chance of someone noticing and forcing it out of the Slytherin.

Once completed the questioning, Trowa let go and delivered a swift kick to the ribs of the trembling boy. Wufei had arched a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"For Heero," Trowa had said, his reasoning simple yet completely understandable. Wufei nodded his assent, and after depositing the boy near the outskirts of the forest they returned to the school with their newfound knowledge and sought out Quatre and Harry.

They found them relatively easily – the blond and his wizard friend were a corridor away from the Infirmary.

Wufei looked around with a frown. "Where are Duo and Heero?" To his surprise, Quatre rolled his eyes.

"Being jackasses," he retorted. "Nothing new."

"They have great timing," Trowa deadpanned. "Zabini just told us the details, and I'm sure Duo will want to hear them, even though I doubt it's what he's expecting."

"What did he say?" the tactician asked, frowning at Trowa. It was Wufei who answered.

"Apparently he's a Voldemort cohort and has been spying on Harry for two years. His new order was to spy on Draco Malfoy since his father… disappeared."

"Draco's mother is dead," Trowa told them. "Lucius is his only living parent."

Wufei continued. "Zabini didn't know why Lucius disappeared like that – all he knew was that he was ordered to keep an eye on Draco, and Harry, and to watch for anything suspicious." The oriental boy paused. "I believe they had some idea of your relationship," he told the wizard. Harry frowned.

"But how could they? We've been so careful."

"Heero and Duo found out, didn't they?" Trowa pointed out, and Harry could only nod. He could feel the guilt welling up inside of him, as well as anger. Anger at Zabini was fresh, first and foremost. Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy immediately followed.

Clearing his throat and casting a nervous glance around the corridor for any eavesdroppers, such as Madam Pomfrey or any nosy phantoms, Wufei continued. "After Zabini reported our… arrival, apparently Malfoy got suspicious. Especially when we were all sorted into the house of Voldemort's enemy. Malfoy apparently convinced Voldemort that we were to be disposed of."

"Voldemort likes to torture his victims first," Harry muttered, sensing where Wufei was going.

Wufei nodded. "Zabini reported the… apparent closeness of Heero and Duo to Voldemort. He decided to test us with those two potions. They were both meant to kill slowly and painfully." A sardonic smirk graced his features. "Thankfully, Blaise is a very inadequate wizard."

"The potions were too complicated for him, and they weren't as powerful as they should have been," Trowa explained. Quatre was nodding, but Harry was looking upset.

"But… that's not like Voldemort at all," he muttered. "Why send… Oh." Harry paused, and behind his glasses his eyes widened in realization. "I suppose that is just like him. Send in someone else, and then kill them for not doing it well enough."

"Zabini expects to be killed." Quatre nodded to Wufei for that last bit of information, crossing one arm over his chest and resting his other arm's elbow on it, tapping his mouth with the free hand.

"It's starting to make a bit of sense, I guess. He thinks we're obstacles."

"Especially since you've been hanging around me," Harry muttered morosely. Quatre waved that off dismissively.

"I guess we should find Heero and Duo now, and fill them in," Quatre trailed off, seeming to remember something. He glanced at the wizard beside him. "When you came into the Infirmary earlier, you looked fairly anxious. Did Dumbledore say something important?"

Harry's green eyes widened. "Bollocks, of course! I forgot! Dumbledore made me think of a way to get to Draco!"

The three boys shushed him and looked around nervously. They heard rushing footsteps and Wufei gestured an end to the previous conversation. To avoid suspicion, he started up a conversation about Quidditch, asking Harry the rules and such. Thrown for a moment, it took Harry a few seconds to catch on, and once he did he was actively participating.

"Well, you see, there are quite a few members on the team, including the Seeker, Beaters, and oh- Hullo Ron and Hermione!" The two in question had just stormed around the corner, looking fairly annoyed.

"Harry, what are you doing way over here? It's almost time for Potions! Let's go! We'll probably be late!" Hermione wailed. She looked incredibly stressed almost to the point of tears. Harry responded well enough.

"Oh no! I lost track of time!" he lamented. The three pilots watched the two, one acting and one truly distressed.

"You'd better hurry then!" Quatre urged them. Ron looked at him incredulously.

"What, did you forget? You're in Potions too! We're making up for that failed potion, remember?"

Quatre's face fell slightly. He'd forgotten about that. "Oh, right," he muttered, glancing and Trowa and Wufei. So much for finding Heero and Duo and filling them in. "Let's go then!"

"You need your books!" Hermione whined, her voice taking on a screech. Trowa looked at her, startled.

"Why are you so worked up?" he couldn't help but ask. Hermione sniffled slightly.

"Gryffindor's been losing points steadily since school started! I plan on becoming Head Girl next year, and the fact that I declined becoming a prefect this year will not help that! I just want Gryffindor to do well," she sighed.

"I think you're taking this a little too seriously," Wufei muttered, walking down the hall after Ron and Harry. "Isn't there a war going on that should be worth a bit more consideration?"

"Students don't think about wars," Trowa murmured so that only Wufei would here. Wufei made an acknowledging noise.

"After the war school will still have been important," Hermione sniffed. She seemed to be calming down. "Regardless, we're going to be late."

"Then there's no need to hurry," Quatre pointed out cheerfully. He wasn't sure how Harry could handle Hermione's high-strung attitude, but supposed having Draco as an escape would help. He himself had dealt with a slew of sisters for most of his early life – he knew when to ignore them and when it was serious.

"Where are Duo and Heero?" Hermione asked, annoyed. "Why aren't they with you? They're probably already in class."

The pilots all snorted in unison, and Hermione looked at them in surprise. "We'll be lucky if they show up at all," Wufei muttered dryly. Trowa nodded in agreement.

"Unless a teacher finds them and drags them there, they probably won't."

"But you're here to learn and go to class!" Hermione insisted. "Why would they choose to skip the whole reason for their being here?"

"To snog in a deserted hallway?" Harry mused. Hermione flushed and Ron snorted.

"For some reason I could see that happening easily," the redhead mused, shaking his head. "Even though Heero was trying to kill Duo their first day here, I could see that happening."

"Ah yes," Quatre conceded. "But Duo threatened the beloved laptop."

"One does not threaten the beloved laptop and hope to live," Trowa added with a smirk.

The three wizards looked confused but didn't ask as they hurried up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower to get supplies. Classes were already started – they'd be almost ten minutes late if they didn't hurry, but the three boys following them didn't seem to mind.

The trip to the dorms was quick – Quatre and Wufei grabbed their comrades' supplies in case they did show up. Minutes later they were descending the stairs once more and heading towards the basement and Potions.

"So good of you to join us," a sharp and angry voice greeted them as they entered the room. Snape stood at the front of the class and glared at them fiercely. His face was red from anger, apparently, and Wufei arched an eyebrow at him.

"Don't have an aneurysm on our account, professor," he commented wryly.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor," Snape growled. A few groans came up from the class, but for the most part the students were getting used to this steady decline in points. A few Slytherins snickered. "Get in your seats and begin your potion… where are Yuy and Maxwell?" he demanded.

"We don't know," Harry replied. He noticed that Snape didn't ask about Malfoy or even Blaise, who was also missing.

"I'm sure they'll show up eventually," Quatre said. "Maybe," he added under his breath as he made his way to Millicent. She was watching him and he cringed internally.

Neville looked panicked, especially when Harry sat alone in front of him and Seamus. "Harry, where's Malfoy? And Duo?" He looked to the Irish boy seated at his desk. "And Heero?"

Harry shrugged. "I haven't a clue about any of them," he replied, lying only slightly. "We'd better work fast though, since apparently we've all be abandoned. We have to do both potions." Neville paled at the thought.

So did Seamus and every other person in the vicinity.

***

Duo was pissed. No, he was flaming pissed. Of course he understood her reasoning, of course he knew she was right, and of course he understood that this was her job, but in doing so SHE'D INTERRUPTED THE ONLY GOOD MOMENT HE'D HAD SINCE THEY'D ARRIVED.

Heero was edgy next to him, probably because he could almost feel his rage, but Duo wasn't too sure he cared about that either.

He wanted the get the hell out of here. He wanted to get Draco first, of course, because they'd promised Harry that much, but he wanted to go home and start bringing Heero out again. He wanted to go back to his damn Preventer's job. He wanted to see Hilde, and Sally, and even scary Une. He wanted to leave this place and never come back.

But he had no idea how and where to start looking for how, and that pissed him off.

Duo knew where she was taking them, too. She was escorting them to Snape's class. Then, together, they'd probably add a few more detentions onto their sentences.

Which meant even less time with the guys, less time for planning Draco's rescue, and less time for planning their escape out of this damn world.

Duo wouldn't have admitted it, but he was currently feeling fairly homicidal and stabbing McGonagall through the eye with his wand had occurred to him. More than once. Another scenario about that began running through his head, but a touch on his hand brought him flying back to reality.

Heero quirked his lips at him. 'Calm down', he mouthed. A squeeze of his hand made Duo realize that regardless of their lost moment, it had still happened and Heero remembered it very clearly.

And apparently without regret.

Well. That calmed him down considerably. Duo found a small smile forming on his face without his say so, and Heero looked pleased. The hand that had been holding his let go and they continued to follow McGonagall as she descended towards the dungeons.

They reached the Potions classroom soon enough, and Heero and Duo had both assumed a defensive posture. They were ready for another argument. McGongall rapped on the door and it was opened almost immediately. Snape glared out at them.

"Howdy," Duo greeted with forced cheer. "Sorry we're late. Got a little lost."

"I found them in the Owlrey and assumed you would appreciate their return," McGonagall informed him with narrowed eyes.

"I assume you'll be punishing them as well?" Snape asked, although he phrased it so that it was more a statement than a question. McGonagall pursed her lips.

"Ten points each from Gryffindor," she announced. Snape nodded.

"Ten points each from Gryffindor for me, as well," Snape replied. McGonagall huffed slightly, but conceded. The tall professor glared at the two boys. "Get in here."

"Duo!" Neville called, delighted. Duo smiled at his lab partner.

"Hey, buddy. Sorry for showing up late. How's the potion coming?" Duo replied easily. He looked at each of his comrades in turn, indicating they needed to hold a discussion lately, and clapped Harry on the shoulder on his way to his desk. Heero merely followed, and once they'd returned to their respective seats they took up their work once more.

***

Almost an hour and two successfully brewed potions later, Duo breathed a sigh of relief. He'd taken over the addition of ingredients and the administration of the potions and theirs had turned out just fine. Other pairs around them were doing fine as well, and even Hermione, who had done the work herself, was finished. The only one who was behind was Harry, which was granted since he didn't have the potions skill of Hermione and was also alone.

Now for the first time, Duo marveled at the young wizard's strength, holding up the charade so well while internally being torn up about the loss of Draco.

A loss they planned on remedying as soon as possible.

A while later class was finally over, and Harry had actually completed his recovery potion in record time. Neville and Seamus had helped him clean up so that once class ended everyone was able to leave – Neville had been excited at completing not one, but two successful potions. 

As for the punishments for late arrivals, that was still to be determined. Snape had looked ominous, though, and Duo had restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

He couldn't wait to get out of here. He just wished he could see the look on the teacher's face when he found out his detention-servers were M.I.A. That thought allowed Duo the good humor to smile cheekily and wink at Snape when they left. He loved messing with people.

"Harry has an idea," was murmured into his ear, and Duo nodded absently to Trowa. He waited for Heero next to the door and grabbed the soldier's arm when he came out. He passed the message onto the Japanese boy and they both made their way down the corridor. Sure enough, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Harry were waiting for them at the end of it.

"Did anyone else notice that Zabini failed to show up for class?" Wufei asked with a smug smirk on his face. Duo arched an eyebrow.

"I happened to notice that. What'd you do to the asshole?"

"Just a few pokes and pinches," Wufei replied innocently. Duo grinned.

"Awesome."

"Harry has an idea?" Heero asked, leading them back to topic. They looked around, but this place wasn't secure enough for their discussion. It was too close to Snape's office. "Let's use Draco's door," Heero suggested, and so they did.

"All right, Harry, what'd you think of?" Quatre asked once they were outside and a ways away from the door.

"Well," Harry started somewhat uneasily. Although they were no doubt his friends, he still didn't know them all that well. "Dumbledore was talking about nightmares and vision, and it gave me this weird feeling that he could read my mind or something. So… I wondered, why couldn't I read Draco's mind? Then I realized that this could work… as magic."

Duo was nodding. "You could ask him exactly where he is and we wouldn't have to locate him."

"Exactly."

"So where would we get something like the procedure for a spell of that magnitude? I would think that it would be complicated," Trowa mused.

"The library," Harry replied immediately. Duo and Trowa both frowned.

"We're not exactly welcome there," Duo muttered.

"Pince is suspicious of us," Trowa added. Harry's brow furrowed.

"You've been here for two bloody days and she's already suspicious?"

"Apparently we're suspicious looking," Duo replied with a careless shrug. "We were also sneaking around the restricted section looking for time-travel stuff. This time we'll be looking for mind-reading stuff."

"We could get help from Hermione," Quatre suggested. He was immediately assaulted by five glares, but raised his hands and gestured for calm. "She likes researching. Pick a class she doesn't have with us, or just say that you're interested, and I think she'd look up numerous books all on her own."

"Mention you're looking for 'light reading' for some thick books," Heero muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I think Trowa claimed Hermione, didn't you?" Duo asked, looking to the tall boy. Trowa thought back and nodded.

"I could ask."

"And those of us without suspicious teachers after us could go to the library as well," Wufei added, looking to Quatre.

Harry nodded. "Okay, so you'll do this while we're in Transfigurations? Then Trowa can talk to Hermione after that and she can find some books for detention. You're allowed to study in there, and isn't our first detention with McGonagall? She certainly won't argue."

Duo groaned. "Oh man, I forgot we had her next. She's pissed at us." He swung his laptop case and sighed. "We should probably get going now, then, before she comes searching." Quatre laughed.

"Well if you two hadn't decided to play hide and seek she wouldn't have sought you out."

Heero glared at the Arabian while Duo stuck out his tongue. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't get why she came looking for us though."

"And how she found us," Heero muttered.

"Maybe the owls told on us," Duo mused with a grin. The warning bell for the next period sounded, and the three with Transfigurations cringed. "We'll see you guys later," Duo told them, turning and heading back towards the door into the school. Heero followed, and after beaming and saying bye, Harry did as well.

The remaining three exchanged a look that told of planning, and made their way as well.

It was time to gather data so they could start drawing up plans.

And to avoid getting any more damned detentions.

***

Ta…da.

Yes yes, a month later.

It came, though, didn't it?

I'm happy with the responses I'm getting for this. I hope nobody's lost too much interest yet… from my few reviews I can see a few still enjoy it, which is always good XD

But yeah. We're drifting into unknown territory here. Whatever it says in HP (if anything) about mind-reading and spells to induce mind-reading is about to get shot out the window with a hockey stick while tied to a brick.

Hold on kids, we're in for a rocky ride.