There are two reasons this took so long..1) This was possibly the most painful chapter I've ever tried to force out, and 2) I FINALLY finished Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which means I can now play the second half of the story, Reverse/Rebirth as my favorite character, the dark cutie Riku! Naturally enough, that takes up a good chunk of my time…

Disclaimer: You all know I don't own Digimon. And do I look like J.K. Rowling to you?

Chapter 31: Spring Break

Naturally enough, the entire school was abuzz with the news of strange, animal-like creatures appearing in Hogsmeade for at least a week after the incident in question had passed. Even the teachers seamed disturbed, finding themselves in many hesitant meetings in the corridors, shooting angry glares and detention threats at any student unfortunate enough to pass their way. Of course, no one was as curious as Miss Hermione Granger, who promptly attacked the library, with Ron and Harry in tow most of the way, and was very frustrated when they didn't find a thing.

The transfers, on the other hand, knew exactly why she couldn't find anything and were quite happy about it, and the following Saturday they took the recovery of the fifth D-Tector…Tomoki's…as a perfect opportunity to compare notes on the subject.

"I just don't get it." Izumi muttered, taking one of the Pumpkin Pastries Takuya had brought up from the kitchens. "The Biyomon only showed up for a couple of minutes. Why didn't Apemon disappear, too? What does it all mean?"

Kouji took a swig of Butterbeer, leaning back against the wall of the little alcove. "It means Konton-sama is getting more powerful. He's able to pull a Digimon completely into this world."

"Not completely." Kouichi sounded soft and tired, half-muffling a yawn as he leaned against his brother for support. "Apemon…wasn't as strong as he should have been. The transition…must have messed up his initial…programming."

"He's right." Takuya nodded. "Apemon's voice was messed up, too. He couldn't talk."

Junpei frowned slightly, finishing off his Pastry. "That's not the point." he muttered. "What if he brings more? And something stronger, like an ultimate or something? We don't even know if the Beast Spirits work in this world!"

"There's nothing else we can do…is there?" Tomoki asked hesitantly.

"We just have to keep trying." Takuya insisted, slamming his fist into the other hand. "We've always made it work before, and we can do it this time, too! Kegareru or not!"

Kouichi nodded slightly, smiling, then let his head drop sleepily onto Kouji's shoulder. The younger twin frowned at him. "I told you to go back to bed."

"I'm…fine…" the other boy muttered groggily, rubbing his eye and trying to sit up.

"Kouji's right, you're too tired." Tomoki piped, standing up. "Come on, we'll all help you. It'll be a nice chance just to, you know, talk."

The others added in their agreements until the group finally stood, making their way down the halls towards the staircases. As they entered the main hall of the second floor, Izumi stopped suddenly and looked out an open window with a sigh.

Takuya turned back. "What's up, Izumi?"

"Oh…it's really nothing." she sighed slightly, shaking her head. "But you know… It'll be Spring Break in a few weeks."

"Yeah. So?" Kouji prompted, glancing at her slightly as he tried to support Kouichi by the arm.

"Well…That means the year's almost over." Izumi shook her head. "And we'll go home like nothing ever happened, but we never even got a chance to see London…"

"Yeah we did." Junpei shrugged nonchalantly. "We went all around Diagon Alley…"

"That's not what I mean!" Izumi insisted. "I mean real London, Muggle London! We completely missed it on the way in, and I know we're not going to want to waste time on the way home." she sighed again. "I guess I'm just…a bit sad that we skipped over that. London is supposed to be amazing…"

"Well now." A thin hand with hot pink nails suddenly descended to pat the blonde on the shoulder, a few locks of brown-streaked-green hair falling past the robed arm. "I think I can do somethin' about that."

The six jumped a foot, staring up into crystal blue eyes. "Professor Tonks!" Izumi exclaimed slightly. "W-Wh-What do you mean?"

A wide grin spread across Tonk's face. "I think I can work somethin' out with the Headmaster to let you lot come along with me durin' Spring Break." she winked. "O' course, I'm stayin' with the Weasleys for most o' the week, but I'm sure we can talk Ol' Molly into a trip into London…"

"Oh no, we couldn't!" Takuya insisted, waving his hands slightly in front of him as the rest of the group exchanged panicked looks.

"We don't want to impose." Izumi flushed hotly, now wishing she'd never mentioned it.

"Nonsense, nonsense." Tonks laughed heartily, patting each of them on the shoulder as she went past. "Don't you worry, I'll get it all worked out…"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Draco Malfoy was in a very, very bad mood.

He usually was, after a trip home for the hols. It would never do for a Malfoy to be seen around Muggles, heaven forbid, but the resulting exertion of avoiding them made him almost wish he could…First those god-forsaken carriages down from the castle to Hogsmeade Station, then a several-hour-long train back to King's Cross, and from there a Floo Powder trip to a wizarding pub in Glasgow. (It would, of course, never do for a Malfoy home to be connected to a common Floo network, never knowing who would drop in…) From there his father, quite naturally, sent a carriage up to fetch him for another hour-long ride to the mansion.

The mansion itself was more of a palace, an ancient castle that had been in the Malfoy line since the early 11th Century. Armed with every anti-Muggle device known to wizard kind…Unplottable, various powerful wards, not to mention the occasional team of well-trained Crups…the inside was as grand and glamorous as the ancient past filling its many tapestries.

But, currently, its reigning heir was storming through the main hall with a glare to kill angels, way beyond annoyed with his trip home and desperately wanting a hot bath and his Apparation license. He was not at all happy when, just moments before retreating to his private chambers to get a good head start on the first, a house elf suddenly materialized in front of him with the expression of one on an unwelcome mission.

"What is it?" he snapped fiercely.

The house elf trembled back slightly, shaking ferociously at the blonde's rage. "B-B-Binkses apologizes, young master." he stuttered. "B-But the Lord-Master has ordered Binkses to tell young master to report to the west sitting room as soon as he arrives."

Draco scowled. "And my father told you to say this, did he?"

"N-Not just young master's father, sir." whispered the trembling elf. "H-He has ordered it as well, sir."

The stressed pronoun struck a particular cord in Draco's mind, instantly summoning up the image of ferocious snakes, deadly spells and the hidden screams of tortured victims…

Damn.

"Fine." Draco snapped, turning on his heels and storming towards the West Wing. "But there better be a hot bath with an even hotter cup of tea ready for me when I get back, or so help me I'll have your head!"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

"And you didn't bother tell us this…why?"

Ron's incredulous question was directed at Tonks, sitting in the front seat of the muggle taxi heading quickly from London en route to the Burrow. They'd been jammed in the back of the cab for an hour now…'They' being Ron, Harry, Takuya, Kouji and Kouichi. Hermione, Izumi, Tomoki and Ginny were in the other car, with Junpei up front. Current topic of conversation: the fact that Tonks had neglected to tell the British-born wizards they were having outside company…

Said teacher leaned back in her chair to smirk at them with bubblegum pink hair falling into green eyes. "Ah, Ronniekins, the information was strictly on a need-to-know basis. And now you know."

Harry and Ron turned their eyes to the transfers squished in with them. Takuya immediately raised his hands in defense. "Hey, it was not our idea."

No more was said between them as the taxis pulled up the winding dirt road in front of the Burrow. They were far more distracted by trying to pull themselves free of each other and get out of the car.

Ron looked a bit nervous as the taxis rumbled off and the transfers gazed up at the Weasley home. Harry knew how touchy he was about his family's…economic…status, and was probably worried of what they would think.

"Woah…" Izumi whispered in awe. "You live here?"

"Um…Yeah." Ron shifted a bit. "What? Is that a problem?"

"Are you kidding!" Junpei exclaimed. "Talk about cool! I've never seen anything like that before!"

Ron blinked in surprise. "You...haven't?"

"We're not allowed to have any purely-magical buildings back home." Takuya nodded, grinning slightly. "Can you imagine how the Public Health Committee would react?"

Ron smirked, content, turning towards the front door. "Well then…come on in." He said brightly. "It's about time you lot met our mum…"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

The west-wing sitting room could more appropriately be called the Malfoy Family Library, as it was a huge room containing hundreds of thousands of wizarding books collected down through the centuries since before th dark ages. It was very well-lit, full of straight-back chairs and tables for leisurely reading accompanied by a spot of tea.

Today, it also contained a very large, very dangerous snake, coiled on the rug not far from either the fire or the chair of her master. Draco had to suppress a shudder at the sight of the tall, pale, almost inhuman creature perched in his father's favorite chair.

But he knew his place, and what would happen if he didn't stay in it. He entered the room, crossing in front of the armchair and bowing low to its occupant. "My Lord."

"Ah…Draco." the hissing voice echoed from the snake-like tongue. "I trust your journey home was good?"

"As good as it ever gets." The blonde recited his lines perfectly.

The monster known to the world as Lord Voldemort smirked, motioning to the chair in front of him. Draco sat down very gingerly and kept his back as perfectly straight as he possibly could.

"Tea?"

Draco shook his head. The Dark Lord grinned icily and poured him a cup anyway, which he accepted. For a moment there was an uneasy silence as Draco waited to be addressed.

Finally, Voldemort set down his cup and looked at him. "Now, Draco." he hissed frostily. "I would like to know about the transfer students that have been enrolled in Hogwarts. They may soon be of use to me."

Of course. He wanted information, information he couldn't get hiding in the shadows…

"There are six of them. Five boys and one girl." Draco rattled off coolly. "One of the boys is a fourth-year, another a seventh. The rest are all sixth years."

"And their houses?"

"The fourth-year and two others are Gryffindors." Draco made a bit of a face, but continued. "The girl was placed in Ravenclaw, and the older boy in Hufflepuff. The last one is a Slytherin."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow with a disturbingly amused smile. "I see." he chuckled softly. "And what of this…Slytherin transfer? Have you gotten to know him?"

"We are…acquainted." Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "Dormmates, study partners…not much else."

"I see." Voldemort repeated softly. "And tell me, Draco, has there been any sort of…unusual…occurrence at school lately?"

Draco raised an eyebrow himself, unsure of what he meant. "Unusual, my Lord?"

Before Voldemort could reiterate, the door leading down into the 'basement' suddenly burst open. "My Lord!" exclaimed the man who rushed in. "We've had a…complication."

"Hold on a moment, Draco." the snake-figure whispered icily, then snapped his blood-red eyes to the man. "What is it, Erskine?"

The tall, thin man shuddered in fear, but straightened to give out his report. "My Lord, I regret to inform you that our connection into the 'Digital World' complex has been interrupted to the brink of being severed. Th-The last Digimon transfer that was made as disrupted the sever…"

Digimon? The name echoed, almost familiarly, in Draco's mind. He didn't have a lot of time to think about it, though, as Voldemort suddenly stood.

"You would interrupt me…" he growled, pulling his wand from the depths of his cloak. "In the middle of conversing with a very reliable source of information to report that you have failed me?"

Erskine shrank back, stuttering frantic apologies and staring in horror at the wand pointed at him. He was only saved at that moment by another voice from the basement door.

"There is more to the story, Great Lord." whispered Lucius Malfoy as he came up behind his fellow Death Eater. "It appears that there is an…interference."

Voldemort put away his wand, turning cold eyes to the blonde man. "What sort of 'interference'?"

"Someone…or something…else is creating a connection to the Digital World." Lucius lectured humbly, keeping his cool even though he refused to look Lord Voldemort in the eye. "We cannot trace the location of this connection, but it must be somewhere within the European area to tamper with our connection so much."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"

"Yes, my Lord." nodded Lucius. "This can only mean that someone other than the Japanese must know about the 'Digimon' project…"

A slight smile wormed its way onto Voldemort's thin lips. "Or perhaps it is the Japanese themselves tapping in…" he turned back to the boy in the armchair. "Draco? Would you like to share your thoughts?"

Draco faltered the sudden proclamation as three sets of adult eyes focused on him. Voldemort smiled again in his same, disturbing manner. "Come now, Draco. I know you have some sort of idea as to what could be going on…"

Draco gulped, shifted and finally spoke. "The…The Slytherin Transfer…His name's Kimura…He's been…Talking in his sleep."

"…And?" Erskine prompted, annoyed, but shut up with a glare from Lucius.

"He talks about some…very strange things." Draco felt sick. Why did he feel like he shouldn't be telling them this? "And he's mentioned those…things…you keep talking about…Digimon."

Voldemort's grin widened, making his thin face stretch. "Well then…" he chuckled softly. "We'll just have to send Mr. Kimura an…invitation."

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Izumi was right about one thing: Muggle London could be amazing.

Thursday was the day designated for the transfer's tour of London, lead by 'Professor' Tonks herself as Hermione poured over the guidebooks to point out places of both Muggle and Wizard importance…The Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Saint Paul's Cathedral, and others. Harry was actually quite interested…he'd never really had a chance to see Muggle London…but Ron was bored out of his wits until the ghost of an ancient actor walked through him in the Globe Theatre.

"Lighten up, Weasley-kun." Takuya grinned, leaning back on his hand. "You know how it is, Muggles don't see the ghosts like we do. It's only natural for them to want to talk to somebody…"

"Of course it helps to notice them coming." Kouji muttered simply.

Ron bristled slightly. "Oh, shut up, both you."

The transfers just grinned at each other behind his back. Harry had to smile…Ron had also suffered a range of embarrassments prior to their trip, as he turned red every time he saw Tomoki anywhere near Ginny, and neither Takuya and Izumi were going to stand for that kind of behavior against their 'little brother'.

Tonks, on the other hand, was quite enjoying it. "It was a good preview, that ghost." she said brightly. "Our next stop'll have tons of 'em. You've heard of the Tower of London, right, gents?"

There were a few mumbled agreements. Tonks tossed blonde hair over her shoulder with a wide grin. "Okay, 'Mione, care to give the boys a bit of extra information?"

There was no response. The teacher slid down her sunglasses, blinking back at the group. "Hermione?"

Tomoki turned back slightly and stopped. "Um, guys…Where's Granger?" he asked dumbly. "And…Izumi? And Kouichi?"

The group stopped dead and made a quick head count, finding that, indeed, they were three heads short. Kouji, for one, paled rather quickly. "But…But where…"

"Mm…They must've gotten lost." Tonks muttered out loud, looking concerned for a moment. Then she smiled. "Then I suppose we should keep going…"

"WHAT?" snapped Takuya, Ron and Kouji at the same time.

"…Hermione knows exactly where we're going." Tonks finished simply. "She'll get Orimoto-chan and Kimura-san there in no time. We just have to wait for them once we get there."

"But…"

"Oh, relax, Minamoto-san." Tonks grinned, turning to find a bus stop. "How much trouble could they get into?"

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Izumi asked, blinking at the map over Hermione's shoulder.

"We're not in trouble." Hermione sighed.

"…We're lost, aren't we?"

"Er…Yeah. We're lost."

The three sighed as Hermione let the map lower limply in her hands. She was now greatly regretting ever going to talk to that Victorian wizard-actor that had called her over in the Globe. She was regretting that Izumi had come with out of interest in the old stories the man had told them. She was regretting that Kouichi had noticed them and hung back to wait, not realizing that the rest of their group had gone on without them. And she was really regretting only having 4 pounds and a four-year-old map in their possession in the way of muggle resources.

Kouichi sighed, shaking his head slightly as though trying to get rid of a nervous headache. "…Maybe we should ask for directions."

"That's a good idea." Hermione pointed at a small building across the street. A pub. "I bet somebody in there will know the way."

They entered the pub and quickly decided to split up to find someone who wasn't drunk. Unfortunately, there were quite a few people who were more than a little impaired (it was about five PM) and that lead to a few…unwelcome…comments.

Kouichi, being male, had it just a bit easier, so he maneuvered himself to the back of the room and looked up at the man working the bar. "Excuse me, sir."

The man looked up. "You're a little young to be wanting a drink, ain'tcha?"

"I-I don't." Kouichi stuttered slightly. "B-But my friends and I are lost…We need directions to the Tower of London."

"Oh, I see." the man smiled behind his big black beard. "Just hang on a sec, I know just the fella to ask."

"Thank you very much." Kouichi bowed from reflex more than anything else. The man waved him a 'you're welcome' and slipped into the back. The boy stood by the bar and waited patiently, humming a Yoko Kanno song to get his mind off the crowd he didn't want to be in.

A tall, burly man gave him a sour look over a very large drink and stood. "Hey, kid." he growled.

Kouichi turned slightly, a bit surprised at being addressed. "Um…Yes?"

"You're not from around here, 're you?" the man growled softly. "Yer accent's diff'rent. And yer looks…"

"I-I'm a…transfer student." Kouichi gulped slightly and backed up, not liking the tone of the man's voice. "F-From Tokyo…"

"Yer a Jap!" the man snarled, grabbing him by a collar. "You got a lotta nerve, talkin' back ter me…"

With one thrust of his arm he'd hoisted the boy off of his feet and into the air, dangling a few inches from the floor. Kouichi cried out in shock, his hands going to try to wrench the huge hand away from his throat.

"Kouichi-kun!" Izumi shouted, pushing her way through the crowd with Hermione on her heels. "Put him down!"

The man's eyes turned to her. "You want some too!"

"Please, he wasn't doing anything." Hermione begged, instinctively reaching for her wand. "We're just looking for directions…"

"Damn Japs…" The man growled, lost in a drunken stupor and turning his eyes back to the scared boy in his grip. "Yer lot lost me two years'a my life in a stinkin'…"

"Callahan, put the boy down!" The bearded man appeared and grabbed the hand holding Kouichi in the air. "He hasn't done anything, to you or anyone else! Now put him down."

He and two other men managed to pry the drunk's hand away from the boy. Kouichi gasped slightly when he was freed, dropping to the ground ungracefully. They lead the ranting drunk into the back as fast as humanly possible.

Izumi turned to her friend worriedly. "Kouichi-kun, are you okay?"

Kouichi groaned and rubbed his neck painfully. "Yeah…I'm fine."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." A hand suddenly came down on his shoulder. He looked up to find the bearded man shaking his head sadly. "I'm really sorry, kid. Callahan's a war vet…Got sent to a P.O.W. camp for two years during the Burma campaign. Things like that can mess with a person, you know?"

"Yeah…I guess." Kouichi groaned slightly.

"Anyway…Here ya go." the man handed Kouichi a new map and a five-pound note. "Take the double-decker on that schedule and it should get you right to the front gates. Don't worry 'bout paying me back, you don't look like you've got a lot of cash on yeh."

"Thank you so much." Izumi bowed low, folding her hands in front of her.

"No problem." the man smiled. "Now you better get out of here, before Callahan comes back."

They were out the door before he finished his sentence.

TBC…

From what I've figured, it's perfectly okay for a few teenagers to go into a pub in England, as long as they don't order anything too strongly alcoholic. That's just how I've gotten it…