Okay…This chapter isn't exactly Potter-centric, but it is from Harry's P.O.V. as some explanations are given…
As a warning note: I don't like Kousei (the twin's father) very much. You don't get to see a lot of him in the show, but he always struck me as a rather poor father figure. For the sake of this story, he is portrayed as a hateful character. However, I do think that Satome (Kouji's stepmother) and Tomoko (their mother) are sweet women, so don't feel like I'm completely abusing them…(Yes, those are the standard names for them. I looked it up on a very reliable and much-trusted Digimon website, Digimon Spirit)
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter. I'm just really strange.
Chapter 24: Family Matters
Madam Pomfrey seamed irritable, but that was only to be understood.
After all, news that the 'Dark Wizard' Slytherin Transfer was lying unconscious and apparently unharmed in the Hospital Wing had spread around the school like wildfire. People were coming up with all sorts of excuses to gather and gawk, everything from stomach aches to actually cursing themselves. It eventually got so bad that, for the sake of privacy and her own sanity, the nurse had Professor Flitwick put up a shielding spell that repelled everyone who was not either truly in need of assistance themselves, or had the good intent to visit the patient with no ulterior motive.
Harry genuinely had no ulterior motive for being there Saturday evening…He'd developed a serious headache over the course of the day, coupled with a nasty slip off the broom during Quidditch practice and sprinkled liberally with rather annoying, semi-blocked and little-remembered dreams. As a result, he had entered the Hospital Wing with the sole purpose of receiving several very nice and very relaxing charms so that he could actually sleep that evening and not bother his dormmates with persistent restlessness.
Now feeling light-headed and rather pleasant, he was just leaving when he heard something very odd float up through the silence:
"Ni-san. Kyo-wa desho kimi no mezameru desu ka? San-hi no shita koto ga aru…"
In true curiosity-killed-the-cat fashion, Harry pushed back the curtain around the only occupied bed just enough that he could see it. Kouichi was there, still in the bed, having gone three days without so much as a fluttered eyelid. His cat, Yugure, was curled up at the foot of his bed…how she got in there, Harry wasn't sure, but she was there…purring worriedly.
Sitting beside the bed, with his back to Harry, was Kouji. His hands were folded in his lap, while his eyes were focused on his brother with an almost painfully depressed gaze. Two translations charms lay on the desk, next to a wooden bowl that looked like a Pensive, which was why the gentle whispers of reassurance coming from his lips were in Japanese.
Harry was a bit surprised. Kouji was usually so much the serious, stoic type, to see him looking almost vulnerable was a bit disarming. Before he'd quite understood what he was doing, Harry had stepped into the self-contained, curtained area and put his hand on the long-haired boy's shoulder.
Kouji jumped, spinning around and raising one hand as though he was about to punch him on reflex. He stopped when he realized who it was and lowered his arm with a sigh. "Potaa…"
Harry's name was slurred, partially by annoyance and partially by the heavy accent that wasn't there when translated. Kouji reached over to the bedside, snatched up his translation charm, and reinserted it. There was a small beep and a humming sound as the light turned on.
"Don't sneak up on people like that, you're liable to get yourself shot." were the first English words out of his mouth.
Harry grinned a bit. That was more like the Kouji he knew. "Sorry."
Yugure sat up, stretched, and wandered across the bed to Harry, butting at his hand in mild greeting. Kouji sighed, brushing back his dark hair anxiously. "What're you doing here anyway, Potter?"
"Headache. Sprained wrist." Harry shrugged. "Fell off my broom during practice. Usual stuff."
Kouji smirked a bit, then turned his eyes back to Kouichi with a worried air. For a moment Harry was quiet, but there had been something nagging at him for a while now…
"Can I ask you something?"
Kouji glanced at him and shrugged. "Shoot."
"Why do the two of you have different last names?" When the transfer raised his eyebrow, Harry motioned to the boy in the bed. "You and him. I mean, I know you're twins and all…So why is his name Kimura and yours…?"
"Our parents divorced." Kouji cut him off. "When we were little…real little. Three or four, something like that. Neither of us even remember it. I mean, I didn't even know I had a brother…"
"Didn't know?" Harry echoed, before he could stop himself. "How could you not? I mean…Did you ever see your mother?"
Kouji's navy blue eyes leveled at him almost dangerously, and there was venom lacing his tongue in the next few lines. "Dad's a Muggle. Mom's a witch. He didn't know when they got married. She managed to hide it for about five years."
A chill ran up Harry's spine at those words, a bit like the effect Muggle soap operas seamed to have on Aunt Petunia. "And…When he found out?"
"…Divorce." Kouji muttered. "Almost immediately. He hates magic, anything or anyone to do with it. The court made them split us up…I went with Dad, Kouichi with Mom. But that wasn't good enough for Dad. He's the one who insisted we never see each other again."
"…So how did you?" Harry knew he was prying, and he really wished Kouji would stop him if he was being rude, but there was a part of him that just wanted to…
"It was…kinda like fate." Kouji shrugged. "I met him the same day I met Takuya and the others, and it all came out…"
He glanced over at the bowl of smoking, shining white liquid, as though he was thinking about something. Harry didn't speak, but he continued anyway. "I met mom for the first time…and I couldn't believe it. I didn't know…that is, I didn't find out…that she was a witch until a lot later. When she warned Kouichi not to go see Dad, I thought it was just ashes from the divorce…I took him home anyway…"
He sighed heavily, reaching over to pull the wooden bowl into his lap. "Probably the single stupidest thing I have ever done."
Harry frowned and tried to picture it…A man who hated magic, meeting for the first time in years with his son who had been living with a witch. He couldn't picture it ending too badly…Wizard or not, it was still his son…
"What is that?" he asked, indicating the bowl.
"It's a Pensive." Kouji said simply, not noticing Harry's surprised reaction. "There are dreams…memories…that go through his head when he's unconscious like this. If they show signs of bothering him, like a nightmare, they stem it off and put it in one of these, so his body can focus on healing…itself…"
He was quiet for so long that Harry wondered if he'd forgotten there was someone else beside him. He gave the liquid a slight prod with his wand, poking through the memories with a melancholy sigh. After a moment he leaned back, apparently finding what he had been looking for. Harry looked over his shoulder and into the wooden bowl, not sure if he wanted to know what he found…
It wasn't like the other times he had experienced a recollection within a Pensive, back when he had been thrown into the very center of the memory. Rather, it was a bit like watching it through a window, as both he and Kouji remained outside of the bowl.
The small view was first that out of a window…a large city, which Harry naturally assumed must be Tokyo, as viewed from a suburb somewhere near the outskirts. There was a house, which was where he was looking out the window. Next the view turned inside the house, in the entry hall, as two identical boys entered.
"Kouji…Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kouichi asked, bending down to untie his shoes.
"It'll be fine, trust me." the younger twin grinned, toeing off his own shoes and replacing them with slippers. "Mom's just a bit paranoid…single moms do that sometimes."
Kouichi didn't seam eased. "But…Maybe we should've told your folks you were bringing company…"
"Would you relax?" Kouji sighed. "Everything will be just fine. Do you want anything to drink?"
"Uh, no thanks…" Kouichi mumbled, then followed his brother into the kitchen.
They weren't there for long before the front door opened again, this time with a woman's voice taking the head. "I'll take these things upstairs, okay, dear?"
"Whatever you want, honey." a man's voice came after her. Harry could only assume that the man was the twin's father, but the woman he wasn't so sure about.
Kouji glanced over at his brother. "You ready?"
Kouichi nodded, a bit hesitantly. Kouji grinned at him reassuringly, then went to stick his head out the door to the entry hall. "Dad?"
"Oh…Kouji, you're home."
"Yeah…Can you come here a second? There's someone I want you to meet…"
The man chuckled. "Well this is strange. A friend?"
"Sort've…" Kouji winked at Kouichi, who smiled shakily as his brother lead their father into the room
Their father was middle-aged, but not too far into it, with the same dark eyes that the twins had. His hair was black, but he was balding slightly, so it wasn't so obvious. He wore glasses and pushed them up the brim of his nose as Kouji lead him in.
For a moment his stern, well-worn face had a bit of a smile on it, but the moment he caught sight of Kouichi he froze. The color ran out of his face like sand off a shovel in the sandbox. His pupils dilated slightly and his jaw clenched in an expression that you couldn't tell if it was shock or pure disgust.
Kouichi gulped, then took a hesitant step forward. "D-D-Dad?" he stumbled out, lifting his hands as though to grasp his father's. "You…You are my dad…right?"
The man didn't say a thing, just stared at him, rigid. Kouji frowned, nudging him forward. "We know everything, dad. About mom and everything. It really is him…It's Kouichi…"
For a moment their father remained white as a ghost. Kouichi hesitantly reached forward and touched his hand, very lightly, just brushing his fingers against the his knuckles.
The man's already-rigid stance became sharper and he narrowed his dark blue eyes at the boy fiercely. "Get. Out."
Kouichi snapped his hand back, turning his eyes up to gaze at his father with sudden fear. Kouji's eyes widened. "Dad…"
"Get. Out." the man's voice grew more and more fierce. "Get out, get out! Get out of my house now, you…you…"
"Dad!" Kouji exclaimed, but he couldn't reach out in time to stop what happened next. His father, turning purple with rage, suddenly lifted one hand and brought it down across the elder twin's cheek with a sickening SLAP!!
Kouichi stumbled back, running into the island bar in the middle of the room, one hand raised to touch his burning left cheek. The father stood gasping for breath, his hands clutched beside him, as a china plate that had been sitting on the counter suddenly flew across the room on its own and crashed into the wall near his head. Harry recognized it as involuntary magic at its best.
The man took several deep breaths before he gasped out the final words. "Get. OUT."
Kouichi didn't need to be told again. With a stuttered gasp and tears welling up in his eyes, he bolted past his brother and made a hell-bent-for-leather run out the front door.
The memory cut off there with a gentle shake from Kouji. He set the bowl on the bedside table with a sigh. Harry waited a few moments before he spoke again.
"That's…That's awful." the look on Kouji's face told him that yes, he'd forgotten he was here. "I can't believe…How could he do that?"
"He's a money-grubbing, tight-fisted lump of a muggle." Kouji hissed in a very threatening tone. "I didn't talk to him for months after that…I couldn't understand why either…until we got the messages for training…"
Harry nodded sympathetically. "So you keep your magic a secret from your father?"
"What else can I do?" Kouji muttered. "I can't just move out…I mean, I do care about dad, and Satome…my stepmother…And unless mom gets a better job there's no way I could move in with them…"
"Kouji…"
The transfer cut off, blinking at Harry in surprise. "Did you say something?"
Harry shook his head.
"Otouto-san…" Kouji's head snapped to the bed. Kouichi's eyes were open sleepily, and he was smiling up at his brother. "O…Ohayoo-gozaimasu, Otouto-san."
Harry looked over the younger twin's shoulder as Yugure bounded up to rub against her owner. "Um…What did he say?"
"'Good Morning'." Kouji translated shakily, as though he was trying not to smile, then touched the button on his charm to turn it off before speaking again. "Ee, Nii-san. Konbon-wa."
"Ah. Arigato." Kouichi turned his head slightly and looked at Harry with a small smile. "Potaa-san. Konbon-wa."
"Uh…Hi." Harry waved shakily, smiling a little. "I'm glad you're awake…"
Kouichi turned his head quizzically, which was when Harry remembered that he couldn't understand him. He tapped Kouji on the shoulder and motioned towards the back of the room.
"I'll get Madam Pomfrey." he said slowly. Kouji nodded slightly, as though he understood, but seamed completely focused on his brother.
Harry wandered back to the rear of the room, but before he knocked on Madam Pomfrey's office he looked back. Kouji had apparently helped his brother to sit up and was currently…well, as strange as it sounded referring to Kouji, he was hugging him. Kouichi had his arms sleepily around his brother's waist, and the younger of the two was stroking his hair, whispering something to him in soothing Japanese.
Harry smiled and decided to give them a little time.
TBC…
"Ni-san. Kyo-wa desho kimi no mezameru…" - Er, okay…we haven't gone over all of this in Japanese 1 yet, so I really don't think I got it all right. (DON'T BERATE ME ABOUT IT, JAPANESE 1 MEANS THE FIRST YEAR OF JAPANESE!) What it's supposed to say is "Big Brother. Will you wake up today? Three days have gone past…"
"O…Ohayoo-gozaimasu, Otouto-san." - Good morning, Little Brother.
"Ee, Nii-san. Konbon-wa." - No, Nii-san. Good evening.
"Ah. Arigato." - Thank you
"Potaa-san. Konbon-wa." - This should be obvious: "Potter-san. Good evening."
Oh, and about the Pensive thing…It was the only bit I could think of to work in a good flashback. After all, that's what the Pensive is for, isn't it? At least for Mrs. Rowling…
