To AngelKitty77- Hope for more soon, too.
To Mikol- Yes, scaring the Malfoy was fun. I'll try to move at a comparably fast pace with this story, although I'm still stuck on a few key points, so there may be some small delays.
To Amarin Rose- Yes, this is AU for Gundam Wing. Actually, Heero's mission has absolutely nothing to do with Duo. He's never even met Duo before. Yes, we will eventually find out what Heero did at his old school, which is tied in with his mission, his boss, and why he would die if he failed at Hogwarts. As for what's wrong with Duo... well, you'll just have to read and find out, won't you?
"Oi. Potter."
Harry, caught off guard by the soft summons from the shadows, almost lost his balance turning to see who it was.
"Oh. Heero. You frightened me." The Boy Who Lived said, pushing his glasses back up his nose and fixing his robes. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I want you to meet me in the library during dinner tonight." The Japanese teen said quietly, his hard blue eyes and steel tone brooking no argument. "I have something to tell you. Something very important."
Before Harry could answer, the other teen was gone, leaving him alone again. With only three minutes to get to class.
"'Ello, Quatre. Ev'rythin' okay?"
"Yeah…" Quatre said distractedly, most of his mind focused on the ancient book in front of him. "Just doing some reading…"
"Oh. So why's yer pocket glowin'?"
"My pocket's what?" Quatre demanded, looking down to see that his vest pocket was, indeed, glowing faintly blue. "Oh, that. That's just Ciella."
"Ci-what-a?"
"Ciella. My water sprite. Ciella, don't be rude; come out and say hello to David."
"Tha's a'right!" David said quickly, backing up a few steps. "I don' need ta meet 'er! If'n she's a water spri', then I'd best be goin'…"
"What's wrong, David? Ciella's perfectly harmless!"
"Yeah!" A tiny female voice seconded, and a small blue orb zipped out into the open, growing and dissolving into a tiny naked woman small enough to sleep comfortably in Quatre's palm. "I'm harmless! I know the tales you British tell about water sprites, and they're all rubbish! Do I look like I could eat you?"
"N-no, ma'am," David agreed, wide-eyed but no longer trying to escape. "B-but wha'…"
"And as for the lack of water sprites in England, well, we're needed elsewhere! Each and every oasis in Arabia needs its own sprite, or it'll dry out, and then where would the people be? Not to mention the ones that need to guard the royal family, which is probably what all those ugly stories sprang from! We were just doing our jobs, you idiot! And if you ever try to hurt my master, I will personally drown you in the nearest lake!"
"Ciella!" Quatre exclaimed, standing and snatching the sprite out of the air. "Now you're frightening him on purpose! Apologize!"
"Oh, fine." Ciella pouted, wiggling out of the blond's grasp and flitting over to David. "I'm sorry for scaring you; Master Quatre would never let me drown you, even if I wanted to. My only purpose in life is to protect him and keep him happy, so I would never do anything that would upset him. Can you forgive my rudeness?"
"Um… yeah?"
"I can't imagine what he would want to talk to me about, though." Harry said for about the tenth time in the past two minutes.
"I dunno; might have something to do with the fact you're the Boy Who Lived." Ron commented, rolling his eyes. "You're so dense sometimes, Harry."
"Are you sure it's all right we came along?" Hermione interjected, heading off an argument. "I hope he won't think we don't trust him..."
"You shouldn't trust me." Heero said softly, stepping out from between two tall bookcases. "I know I wouldn't."
"Hee-Heero! You frightened me!" Hermione exclaimed, backing discreetly away. "You shouldn't go jumping out of the stacks like that!"
"Keep your voice down." Heero instructed sharply, his eyes flashing. "I wanted to speak to Potter alone, but as long as you're here, you might as well hear, too."
"Hear what?" Ron asked in a whisper.
"This should come as no surprise to at least one of you, but you're in danger."
"I knew it!" Hermione said in a fierce whisper. "I knew it! Didn't I tell you, Harry? Didn't I tell you that just because Voldemort's dead, you're not safe?"
"In danger from whom, Heero?" Harry asked, ignoring Hermione for the time being.
"I don't know yet. But the danger is building day by day, and it's going to come to a head soon. I need you three to be on your toes. Don't take any unnecessary risks, or I will be forced to confine you to your dorm. As of this moment, you have a bodyguard, whether you want one or not. Am I understood?"
"Say that again, you bastard! I dare you!"
The students of Hogwarts, momentarily between classes, found themselves witnessing something they didn't often see- a fistfight.
"Say it, if you're so damn much better than me!" Duo yelled, launching another punch at Draco, who just barely managed to avoid a solid hit to his skull.
Draco Malfoy was not faring well. He obviously didn't have much experience in physical altercations, if the number of visible injuries he sported was any indication.
"I said," Draco ground out, "if your stupid parents had raised you better-"
Whatever else the Slytherin had said was cut off as a hand connected hard with the side of his face, sending him stumbling into the corridor wall.
"I'll kindly ask you to retract that statement, Mr. Malfoy." Quatre said coldly, the threat of mayhem in his usually gentle aqua eyes. "Before I am forced to make you retract it."
"Why should I?" Draco demanded angrily, feeling his reddened cheek with tentative fingers. "He's nothing but a-"
"Duo," Quatre interrupted, a hint of anger present in his voice, "never knew his parents. He has been an orphan for as long as he can remember, and my close friend for nearly as long, so kindly retract your statement before I make you!"
"What's going on over here?" An irate voice demanded. "Why aren't you students in class?" Professor McGonagall in all her English glory strode into a rapidly-emptying hallway, her eyes following any stragglers until the disappeared into their appointed classrooms. "Boys, what are you doing?"
"Giving Mr. Malfoy a lesson in proper manners, Professor," Quatre said evenly, favoring the elderly woman with a small bow. "I'm afraid my fellow student mouthed off about the wrong thing and got me upset."
"Merely upset?" She retorted, eying the damage done to Malfoy with a look of disbelief.
"No, I'm the one who did that." Duo spoke up sullenly. "But maybe now he'll think twice before insulting an orphan's parents." He added, glaring at Draco. "He's lucky I'm the orphan he shot his mouth off to, and not Wufei. 'Fei woulda killed him."
"That, Mr. Maxwell, is beside the point. The three of you, come with me."
"I wonder where Duo is." Harry remarked, looking up and down the length of Gryffindor table in search of the American. "He's never missed a meal before."
"You mean you don't know?" Ron asked, looking up from his dinner plate. "Duo got himself in trouble for giving Malfoy a richly deserved beating! He and Quatre are still up with Dumbledore, I hear."
"That would explain why Malfoy was in the infirmary this afternoon when I went to see Madame Pomfrey about my headache." Hermione spoke up. "I wondered why he looked the worse for wear."
"I wonder if they'll send him back to America." Harry said, frowning. "Malfoy must have provoked him somehow, and it must have been bad, if Quatre's in trouble, too."
"Malfoy should get expelled." Ron countered. "It's all his fault, I'm sure."
"Damn straight, it is." A new voice said, and an unusually sober Duo dropped into an empty chair. "That bastard spoke ill of my dead; he should be exiled from the damned country. Now talk about something else." His bit said, the brunette snatched a piece of fruit off a platter and bit into it, glaring off into space.
"Songwind, are you sure about this?" Trowa asked for about the millionth time in the past hour. "You don't have to, you know; I'm sure Professor Hagrid will understand if you back down."
"I'll be fine, mon ami." Songwind said with a soft smile, one pale greenish hand patting Trowa's cheek as if he were a small child.
Then again, compared to a 379-year-old TreeKin, maybe he was a child.
"If you're sure…" He said doubtfully as they drew within sight of Hagrid's hut.
"I am." She assured him, sounding exasperated. "And after that unfortunate incident Duo told you about the other day, I sincerely do not wish to disappoint Rubeus."
"Okay," Trowa said, finally convinced she really meant to do this. "But if it gets to be too much, tell me."
"Oui!" She smiled happily, her dark eyes sparkling. "Ja'taime, Trowa."
"Ja'taime, Songwind." He replied, returning her smile with one of his own.
The crowd of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws waiting impatiently for the lesson to start took no notice of the two as the threaded their way to the front of the clearing, where Rubeus Hagrid awaited them.
"All righ' there!" The giant teacher called once he spotted them. "All righ', ev'ryone, eye t' the front, please! We got us a couple o' special ladies with us t'day, an' it's best not t' keep 'em waitin'!"
Songwind sighed wistfully, and Trowa smiled. Apparently, the first wizard Songwind had bonded to had spoken with a similar accent, and she very much enjoyed listening to it.
"Go." He whispered, giving her a gentle shove. He was very proud that she'd taken the initiative for once and offered herself as a lesson; when he'd first met her three years ago, she would have rather died than be seen by so many people at once.
Songwind stepped carefully over the uneven ground and turned to face the class as a small blue orb of light zipped over to join her, flying circles around her. Trowa's sharp ears caught the faint sound of giggling.
Songwind took a deep breath and introduced herself in a clear, carrying voice.
"My name is Songwind. I am of a race known as dryads and tree nymphs in this country; in my homeland, I am called TreeKin. I have lived for 379 years, and will continue to live so long as my tree does.
"Were I an ordinary TreeKin, I would not be able to travel so far from my tree. It is by virtue of my bond with a young wizard that I may come to such places as England and not fear the repercussions that would befall my sisters."
She paused to catch the orb of blue light and cupped it in her hands. "And this young one is a water sprite called Ciella. She has traveled here from the deserts of Arabia to serve and protect her master. In order to do so, she had to leave behind her oasis, which will slowly drain and die in her absence, should the safeguards she cast upon leaving fail."
A murmur ran through the students, and Trowa guessed they didn't really know all that much about Elemental sprites.
"Ciella and I shall be the lesson today. Ask of us what you will, and we shall answer as best we can."
Trowa was hard-put to keep from applauding.
"Boy."
Heero ignored the implied command and kept walking. His detention was over, and he had no intentions whatsoever of staying in this damned dungeon any longer than he had to.
"Answer me when I address you, Mr. Yuy!" Professor Snape snapped, and Heero turned slowly to face him.
"Forgive me, Professor." He said impassively. "I was not away of the fact that my name had been changed to Boy. What do you want?"
"You would do well to watch that tone, boy." Snape said warningly. "I am not one to be trifled with."
"You would do well to watch yourself, Professor." Heero disagreed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Should you push me too far, I cannot be held accountable for my actions."
"Are you threatening me?" Snape asked, as if not believing his ears.
"Warning, Severus." Heero corrected. "The name Heero Yuy may mean nothing to you, but perhaps Operation: Meteor might."
Snape was silent for a long moment, and Heero wasn't sure if it was the impolite use of his first name that held his tongue, or if he did indeed know anything about Operation: Meteor.
"You?" The Potions master said finally, staring at Heero. "You were involved in that disaster? You couldn't have possibly been!"
"Wrong. I was more than involved; I was responsible. Now if you'll excuse me, Professor, I have homework to do, and I'm sure you wish to report this to the Headmaster. I will see you tomorrow."
Heero turned and stepped into the dank hallway, closing the classroom door behind him. Perhaps such secrets would have been better left buried, but there was no help for it now. He'd made a choice, and now he would live with it.
Even if it meant dying.
I richly deserve to be beaten about the head and shoulders with a frying pan for how long it took me to get this chapter out, but I'd prefer if you used a feather duster. I've been getting quite a few migraines lately.
Also, corrections on my French are very welcome. I took it four years ago, and I passed with a D-.
