CHAPTER TWO: Fumarete mo taorete mo Okiagaru Tsuyosa Kureta Kimi ga
TRANSLATION: Walking, Falling, You're the One That Picks Me Up and Gives Me Strength
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REVIEWS:
MarshmellowDragon: Your update alerts weren't working? That sucks. But yeah, I was hoping that Shinrai would be longer, but nope. Foiled again. Heh. Yeah, he's at Hogwarts.
See, I wrote this a long, long time ago when Goblet of Fire first came out, but I had to write Shinrai first, so when I got around to posting this it was almost a fad to write HP/DBX x-overs. I fail at life.
Ah, well. Nothing can be done about it, mochiron! So, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
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"Stupid old bat." Ron Weasley cursed as he and Harry exited the North Tower. Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Hey mate, why are we taking that class again?" Harry shrugged mildly, flipping his bangs out of his eyes.
"Dunno." Then he groaned. "Ugh, double potions with the Slytherins next."
"Damn." Ron cursed. "Hey, where's 'Mione?" He asked, blue eyes glancing about the halls, "She usually meets us outside."
"Like I said, dunno." The two walked in silence down to the dungeons, each wishing that they didn't have to go down there. Snape was as malicious as ever before, and delighted in taking every point away from Gryffindor as he could. As they walked in the classroom/dungeon/pit of imminent doom, Harry realized that he was early. Oh, it figured. Not even the Slytherins were there yet, and that was saying something. Hell, not even Snape was there yet.
With a sigh, Harry sat down with Ron at a table and looked around the classroom, for once not having Snape breathing down his neck. It seemed strange without the Professor swooping at them; the last anyone saw of him had been a Hufflepuff who saw him stalking down the halls cursing poor Neville to the seven hells. With a shake of his head, Harry leaned back, to wait for the rest of the class. Eventually, students began arriving, and Hermione sat down with the two of them, where she promptly began shooting venomous glares at Malfoy.
"What bit you?" Ron asked, and got whacked upside the head for his lack of tact.
"I swear, I'm going to hex that git if he calls me mudblood one more time. Teachers or not." The girl of the trio snapped. Ron and Harry exchanged glances.
'Note to Self: ' Harry thought to himself. 'Watch out for Hermione.' Ron seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and abruptly changed the subject.
"Hey, wonder where Snape is. He's never been late." Ron started. Harry snorted.
"Who cares? Greasy bastard." The last bit was said softly, seeing as the room was full of Slytherins. Ron shook his head, about to say something but didn't dare, as Snape swept into the room, but tailed by a boy of about their age, maybe a bit younger. He wasn't in uniform, and stared intently at his feet as he followed Snape, looking nervous and uncomfortable. "Hey, who's he?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, I've never seen him before." Hermione said absently, keeping her stare on the newcomer. As Snape took his place at the head of the room the boy stayed to the side of him, almost touching the ebony robes of the teacher. Snape said something quietly to him, handing him a book,and he went over to Snape's desk, sitting silently and not touching anything, settling on reading what the teacher had given him. Professor Snape volunteered no introduction, and instead began explaining the day's potion to what he believed a bunch of dunderheads. Eventually the new boy was forgotten, seeing as he kept completely silent, and Snape proceeded to prowl around the room and maliciously bully the 'poor defenseless' Gryffindors, as Fred and George often declared.
For Harry the class was utter hell, and the fact that it was a double period made it no better. But uponconsidering how the class normally went, this was good day. The Soothe Solution that he was brewing was a nice blue color, like it was supposed to be, and faint steam billowed out from his cauldron. When it was done, Harry took out a small vial and filled it with potion, knowing full well that whenever anything went right for him in potions that it wouldn't be for long. It was rare that that anything ever went well, and Harry was determined to make it last for as long as he dared.
Shockingly, Harry was able to hand his sample in without a hitch at the end of class. But, as expected, nothing good lasts forever. Before he could dump the rest of the potion and clean up, Neville Longbottom tripped; bumping into the table and knocking the trio's cauldrons all to the floor. The bell rang, and after many whimpered apologies, Nevillefled the room. Harry couldn't blame him. The three left merely stared blankly at the blue mess on the floor in silence. With a smirk in place, Snape swooped (A/N, I can't resist: See Snape. See Snape swoop. See Snape swoop and snarl.) over to them and handed Harry a bucket and a scrub brush.
"Clean this up, Potter. Weasley, Granger, leave." He growled. Ron and Hermione were about to protest, but Harry waved a hand.
"S'okay, go ahead and leave. We don't have any other classes after this, go ahead."
"You sure?" Hermione asked, and Harry nodded. "Okay then." Then she and Ron left the room. After shooting a triumphant smirk to Harry, Snape spun on his heel out the door, leaving Harry to himself and the lonely scrub brush. When Snape was far away, Harry began cursing him loudly, while scrubbing furiously.
"That's really rude, you know." A soft voice chided him. Harry looked up to see the black haired boy kneeling on the dungeon floor in front of him.
"Who are-?"
"My name's Gohan Son. It's nice to meet you. And that WAS exceptionally unattractive coming out of your mouth."
"Harry Potter. And that git deserved it." Harry snapped. A soft smirk formed on Gohan's features, giving way to pure amusement.
"Maybe so, but he seems fairly acceptable to me." Gohan commented. Harry growled. "Ifslightly rough around the edges, and more than a little bitbiased." He added. Harry blinked quizzically. "What? Is my English strange? I know it's not my native language, so if I say something and it isn't right I need you to tell me, okay?"
"No, your English is fine. It's just…I've never heard anyone say something like that. It's always, "He's the greatest!" or "He sucks big time!". Even though I'm, part of the latter group, it's nice to hear something different once in a while." The Gryffindor said quietly, "Are you a student?"
"I will be tonight. Dumbledore said something about me getting Sorted, and then I'll be a full time student here. I'm bored." The saiyan suddenly remarked. "Professor Snape only told me to come with him for the last class, so now I don't have anything to do." Harry smirked sardonically.
"Well, you can always help me clean this mess." Of course, The Boy-Who-Refused-To-Die fully expected Gohan to walk away, not grab another brush and start scrubbing. So, seeing as how Gohan seemed nice enough though a bit quiet, Harry decided to make some small talk with his companion. "So, what House do you want to be in?" Gohan shrugged.
"I don't know. They all sound good. Personally, I'm going for Slytherin or Ravenclaw."
"Why? Why not Gryffindor?"
"Despite what people might tell you, I'm not all that brave." Gohan said quietly, "I don't like people, I'm paranoid, and I prefer reading than human company. Nothing personal." He commented mildly, then began attacking the floor with more vigor than before. A mild expression flitted across Harry's expression for several seconds before the boy smirk sardonically, twisting a rag between his fingertips.
"So, let me get this straight."
"Shoot."
"From what you've told me, you're a mistrusting, egotistical, cowardly reptile with a god complex. How quaint." He said, and Gohan blinked several times before suddenly bursting into genuine laughter that sounded like bells.
"I like you." the saiyan suddenly blurted out, flipping his bangs out of his eyes, "Even if I get sorted into a house that you might not like, do you want to be friends? It'll take a while for me to get to know you, but you seem decent. I'm not easy to deal with, but I'll try." The saiyan offered, and held out a hand. Harry beamed and took the offered hand, shaking it. It wasn't often that he met someone who hadn't either hero-worshipped him, hated him, or wanted to serve his head on a silver plate to a crazy guy with a snake complex, but despite, what did he have to lose? Or gain, for that matter.
"Yeah. I'd like that. I can't say that I'm easy to get along with either, but I'll try. That much I'll do."
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"That potion didn't take too long for you to clean up." Hermione commented at dinner that night. From across the table, Harry smiled and took a bite of his food, looking unnaturally smug.
"I had help. You know that kid, who came in with Snape?" Both Hermione and Ron nodded. "Well he helped me out, so it didn't take half as long. He's seems pretty cool. Neither of you would like him much, though."
"Why?" Ron asked.
"Well, you would take everything he said as an insult and Hermione would think him too snippy. He's bit withdrawn and really quick with the sarcasm, but he's cool. He did, however, did tell me I was being rude about cursing Snape." Harry said mildly. At that moment Snape entered The Great Hall, Gohan once again trailing behind him. As they sat down, Dumbledore rose to his feet and raised a hand, demanding silence. Harry swore that he could see a flash of something underneath Gohan's chair as he did so. Rather, make that plural. Furry somethings.
"Quiet, quiet everyone. Please. Quiet. Thank you. Now, I know it's unusual, but Hogwarts has accepted a new student, who will be attending classes as of tomorrow, may I introduce Gohan Son, who will be joining classes tomorrow. Of course, he needs to be Sorted, so everyone please remain quiet during this event." As Dumbledore announced this, Gohan felt every pair of eyes travel to him, and he squirmed uncomfortably at the scrutiny. Anxiously he stared around the room, and caught Harry's eyes, who tilted his head encouragingly at him as Professor McGonagall (He had met her earlier.) brought out an old, dusty hat. The hybrid responded with a nod of recognition. McGonagall met the young saiyan's gaze and beckoned him forward. Gohan reluctantly stood and made his way from the High Table down to in front of the Hall, still well aware of the stares.
Relax. Pikachu crooned at him from under the table. After the potions incident Gohan had gone to see Madam Pomfrey, who informed him that Kira kept escaping and Hikaru kept singeing the bedclothes. So, she was more than happy to have Gohan release them from her care. The saiyan nodded at the encouragement and lifted his head defiantly to face the other students, as if daring them to make a comment.
"Put the hat on your head, dear." McGonagall said to him, handing him the dirty old hat. Though slightly confused, Gohan obliged, and was shocked to say the least when a little voice coming from the hat was heard inside his head.
Hmm. You are very interesting, childling. Brains yes, a great deal of intelligence, but cunning, and stealthy. But so much darkness in your past, child. It makes me wonder if there's really a clear cut House for you.
Shut up, stupid hat, before I beat you where it hurts! Right on your inseam!
Gohan gave a slight shudder, not used to having anyone but Piccolo and his pokemon speaking to him telepathically.
Don't threaten me, I get it! You value your friends, very loyal. And brave-!
I'm not brave. Gohan interjected in irritation.
Of course you are, you little brat! Bold and daring, but not stopping at anything short of reaching what you desire. Powerful. Yes, you have talent, so much talent. But where to put you? I haven't had a more difficult time with a child since Harry Potter, now, he was a hard one. But enough, where do YOU want to go? The hat asked. Gohan blinked.
I don't know. Just pick one. He ordered.
That's not helpful! Pick one!
You pick one, that's your job, not mine!
You obnoxious little...Oh, fine there's only one place for an attitude like that! Can't really say that I'm surprised, what with your power, but it had better be:
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat yelled, and the hall sat in stunned silence before quiet, controlled clapping began erupting from the table on the far left. Gohan gave a sigh of relief as he handed the hat to McGonagall and hesitantly made towards the Slytherin table, where he was thankfully ignored. A small smile grew on his face as Kira-tachi leapt out from under the High Table and raced up to him; and Gohan absently picked up Hikaru.
There was a blonde boy with grey eyes sitting next to him, and as he sat down the boy raised a hand.
"Welcome to Slytherin." he said coolly, "I'm Draco Malfoy. You are?" Never mind the fact that Gohan had just had his names announced. Oh well.
"Gohan Son."
No sooner had he spoken before Draco began running his eyes up and down Gohan's frame, as if critiquing him. The saiyan raised an eyebrow.
"What? Like what you see?' he inquired blandly, and was amused to see the blonde go a bright pink.
"No, not like that, you idiot!" Draco stammered, trying to regain his composure, "I was merely trying to decode your bloodlines."
"Bloodlines?" Now, that one had Gohan stumped. Draco huffed and sighed, as if the weight of the world had suddenly been dropped right there on his shoulders.
"Yes, your bloodlines." he said, as if talking to a particularly slow child. "You should know it. Certain families have certain characteristics that are unique to that particular family, like mine; Malfoy men more often than not have ice blonde hair and either grey or blue eyes. Do you get it now? I'm just trying to figure yours out, but it's a mystery."
"Well, that won't work with me, I suppose that I'm what you would a call a muggleborn." All of a sudden, he yelped. "Itai! That was my finger, Hika-brat!" He chided her.
Gomen nasai, Daddy. She apologized, and licked his hand in remorse as an apology for imbedding her teeth in his finger. Her adult teeth were beginning to come in, long, fangy, and sharp as daggers, and she was still getting used to them. Of course, Gohan forgave her, but not without being laughed at by Kira for being a pansy. She was promptly flicked in the face with a gob of mashed potatoes. As Gohan laughed at her misfortune Draco poked him.
"Hey, my father owns one of the most extensive collection of rare animals, I've never seen anything like these things before." he said distractedly, then jolted. "Wait one second, did you say that you're a muggleborn!"
"Sure did," Gohan replied, watching intently to see just how many different shades of red that he could get from the other boy, Oh wow, that one's interesting! I wonder if I can get a pair of gloves made in that color…
"But that's not possible! Muggleborns can't get into Slytherin!"
"Oh really?" Gohan inquired mildly, "Well, I guess Sasuke was right, then. I do break rules wherever I go." The look on his face right then was what really freaked everyone out at that point.
There was just something so scary about seeing such an evil expression on such a seemingly kind person's face that freaked them out. Like seeing Snape suddenly smile sweetly at Harry Potter and ask him how he was. Yeah, that kind of scary.
Just then, someone tapped Gohan's shoulder and he turned, to stare fearlessly up at Professor Snape. The older man whispered something to him and Gohan nodded, getting up and following Snape out of the room. Draco eyed the two's backs in slight trepidation.
"Oh, great. Newest Slytherin killed by head of House. Wonderful."
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Gohan rolled his eyes in exasperation as he followed Severus through Diagon Alley; they had taken a portkey right outside the Hogwarts grounds. Apparently, Dumbledore had informed Severus that as of then he was to look after the newest Slytherin. The potions master was very, very, pissed off. Not just that though, the rest was because he had been ordered to leave in the middle of dinner to get the saiyan's school things. Not surprisingly, Gohan was also rather upset that he was being forced to collar all of his pokemon that were kept outside of their balls. Kira hadn't had a problem with it, seeing as how she wore one anyway, and was now teasing Pikachu and Aoi mercilessly about it. Aoi didn't really mind, but Pikachu was royally ticked and Severus rolled his eyes as Gohan broke up ANOTHER fight, and watched in amusement as the one he called Pikachu shocked him slightly.
"Itai! Pika-chan, this is NOT my fault! Just be lucky I'm not keeping you leashed like in Saffron!"
Don't you dare! Pikachu warned and Gohan smirked.
"Watch me."
Okay that's it! Pikachu leapt to his head from his shoulder and began to tug mercilessly on her partner's hair. I can take you! Take that! And that! Gohan rolled his eyes again.
"Lets just go to Ollivander's, and get you a wand." Severus suggested dryly, and Gohan nodded, looking as if he simply wanted to fall over into the nearest bed. Eventually, Pikachu calmed down as they arrived in front of a dilapidated old building with gold lettering. The group walked in and an old man came out from the back, to eye the saiyan in easy curiosity.
"Hmm? What brings you two into my shop? The Hogwarts school year has already started, Severus."
Gohan blinked, startled. How did this strange little man know Severus? The professor smirked and pushed Gohan forward.
"We need a wand for this boy." He said simply, and Ollivander flitted up to him, and began measuring his waist, chest, shoulders, arm, etc. with a little magical tape measure that moved by itself. After getting his measurements, Ollivander went and got a box from a shelf, and took out the wand that rested in it.
"Hold out your wand arm."
"My what?" Gohan asked. "Well, I'm ambidextrous, but most of the time I use my right hand.." He offered, and Ollivander nodded, handing him the wand. Gohan stared at it, a bit confused. "Um... what do I do with this thing?"
"Give it a wave." Ollivander prompted eagerly. Gohan hesitantly waved it around, feeling rather stupid. No sooner had he picked it up it was grabbed out of his hand, and Ollivander handed him another. "Try this one." Nope. "This one." Nada. "Try this one." No dice. Gohan rolled his eyes and huffed, slightly irritated, not to mention exhausted and still hungry.
"Why can't I just get a wand and go?" He griped, and Ollivander bent down to his level to stare into the ebony eyes.
"Because, child, the wand chooses the wizard."
"Well, if the wands don't mind my bluntness, tell them to hurry up and choose. I'm tired." Gohan bitched. Shockingly, Ollivander began chuckling, and Severus snorted in amusement.
"That's not the problem. The problem, is that wand and wizard must work in sync! You would have no problems controlling any of these wands, but the relationship must be symbiotic. A wand needs to extend some control over you. Understand?" The shopkeeper asked. Gohan reluctantly nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that it does make sense." The boy answered. Ollivander smiled then rubbed his chin slightly, contemplating something.
"Hmm. I wonder.." With that the little wizard leapt up and dashed to the back of the room, then came back holding a silver box, quite unlike the other black ones. Kanji was scrawled all over it in black, and flinching, Ollivander opened the box. A pure black wand lay in it, though no wand either Severus nor Gohan had ever seen. Like the authoress said before, it was pure black, but had Japanese writing engraved into it very small circling around the bottom of it. Other than that, it was flawless.
"This wand really doesn't like me. My brother, a wizarding archaeologist, sent it to me; he found it in a tomb. He told me it belonged to an ancient and very powerful sorcerer that devised most of the spells etc. that we use today. The writing on this wand is a very old form, and he could find no one who could translate it. He sent it to me, though he nearly killed himself doing it, because he knew that I would find it fascinating. A VERY temperamental wand this one is. Normally I wouldn't dare bring it out, but seeing as you have gone through nearly every other wand in my store and you frustrate me... Give it a shot." Ollivander finished his story, and a bit apprehensively Gohan reached out and grasped it between his fingers.
Shockingly, a warmth emanated from the wand, rainbow sparks shot out like fireworks, lighting up the dusty room. Ollivander clapped maniacally and Severus gave off the slightest smirk, though it was hard to tell. However, Gohan was used to Piccolo's nonexpressions, so it wasn't such a shock. Then, Severus stepped forward and asked,
"What is this wand made of, pray tell?" Ollivander fidgeted.
"Well, I don't exactly know. I haven't been able to touch the blasted thing." At this, Gohan smiled mysteriously and stroked the wand, running a finger over the writing.
"It'll be fine." The saiyan confirmed, chuckling a bit as Pikachu sniffed the piece of wood in curiosity, momentarily taking her concentration off of her collar. "Now.. how much is this?"
Before they left, Ollivander stopped him, and whispered, "Be careful with that wand. But I think we can expect great things from you, little one."
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It was about an hour later when Gohan stumbled into the Slytherin third year dorms. Only Draco was awake and was sitting upright in his bed, fiddling with what looked like some strange form of radio. It was currently making clinking noises and every so often would curse loudly when the boy turned a dial.
"Having issues?" the saiyan inquired, exhaustion showing through in his voice, tiredly sliding into the bed next to Draco's, the one with his subspace bag in front of it. Said boy looked up and promptly scowled at him.
"No, I am not." he told him, continuing to fool with the radio. "Shut up and go to sleep."
"Touchy, touchy." Gohan mused, smiling slightly as his pokemon climbed into bed with him, "You shouldn't be so grumpy all the time. It's unhygienic." That said, he lay back and buried his face into his pillow, trying to shake off the stress that was currently causing his limbs to shiver. Damnit, damnit, damnit!
"What's wrong with you?"
"New place." Gohan muttered quietly as Kira settled herself over his shoulders, "I don't do well in new places."
"Well, suck it up." Draco told him, grey eyes piercing, "You're in Slytherin now, and you shouldn't expect anyone to trust you as long as you learn in this sorry excuse for a school. So get used to it."
"Now who should shut up?" Gohan snapped, turning his head to scowl right back..
"Don't get bitchy." Draco ordered, dodging the well-aimed book that was thrown in his general direction, "That was mature. But anyway, the point I'm making is that we're both Slytherins. Even though you might not be a pureblood even I can sense the power in you. So we should look out for each other, okay? People here are going to discriminate against you no matter who you might be. So, I think that it might be in your best interests."
Smirking, he caught the scowl that was being shot his way.
"Sleep on it," the elder told him, "And get some rest. You look like hell."
-END CHAPTER-
Now there's a caring friend, huh?
Anyway, here's chapter two, and here's my rant:
Several things irk me when it comes to fan fiction. One, people who do not spell check. Two, writers who do not name their stories. But most of all, writers who threaten to stop writing if they don't get a certain amount of reviews. I might suggest a number that I'd like to have, but that does not mean under any circumstances that I will stop writing. I write fanfiction for one person when it comes down to it. That's me. Don't get me wrong, I love my reviewers with all of my heart, especially the ones who review every chapter, (hug) but even if I never got a single comment on any of my fics I would still update, because it's the satisfaction to myself of posting something up that I like that keeps me going.
You reviewers and readers are what fuel me to hurry up, but it's my own inspiration, pleasure of writing, and my music that really make me write.
I write for me, and no one should ever stop because of lack of reviews.
This has been a rant from and sponsored by the Falcon.