A/n: I'm sorry for how late this chapter is. Would you believe it has been done for a bit, but QS and I forgot that it wasn't posted to the first chapter for pairings, etc...
Warnings: Same as always. Slash fic, out of character characters
Disclaimer: QS and I do not own either Gundam Wing or Harry Potter.
Nnnnnnnnnn
Zechs' sudden appearance was met with a few blank stares and more than a few giggles from adolescent girls. The likewise appearance of the five very male Gundam pilots didn't lessen the giggles, even when Heero sent his Death Glare at the entire room. (Quatre's very prominent blush probably curbed the girls' fear of death.) Zechs smirked at the room and waved at a few of the prettier girls, prompting Heero to turn the glare on him. The smirk faded for a short moment, then grew to an alarming size before the taller man nearly lifted Heero off his feet in order to pull him into a deep kiss. Sirius whistled loudly from the staff table, the only sound in the now near-silent Hall.
When the kiss ended, Duo was fanning himself with his hand. "Damn," he muttered. "You really should warn a guy before you do something like that, Zechsy. And next time you guys really go at it, can I watch?"
"Only if you don't mind paying for the privilege," Heero returned, frowning.
"Aw man, just say it's payback for the parts you stole from Scythe!"
"I thought I already paid you back?"
"Not if you want Sexy to know what that payback consisted of," Duo leered in triumph. "He might get ideas."
Heero's undoubtedly scathing response was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat, and all eyes turned to Dumbledore, who was grinning more widely than many students had ever seen before. (Heero was left muttering under his breath, undoubtedly promising Duo varied deaths.)
"While this is all quite informative," the ancient wizard announced to everyone, "I believe that I must make a few announcements about the people you see before you. They are visitors to Hogwarts who have, for their own reasons, been so far incapable of being taught to control the magic they all have in great strengths. I must request that everyone—" and here his eyes alighted on the Slytherin table with a stern look "—treat them with respect and bear with their ignorance of the magical world. They will all be rooming together in the Gryffindor dormitories, but I think they should be introduced to the school before our meal begins. If you boys would kindly come to the front of the Hall and introduce yourselves, one at a time?"
The pilots and Zechs glanced quickly at each other, slightly startled, and then moved forward as a group, keeping close to each other. At the front, they turned to stare at the crowd of children before the pilots all shoved Zechs out in front of them. Zechs made a face at them before he introduced himself.
"My real name is Milliardo Peacecraft," he announced, smirking as whispers erupted around the room. "But I would highly prefer if you would know me as Zechs Merquise." He bowed low and stepped back, pulling Heero forward as he did so.
"Heero Yuy," Heero announced with no emotion, and moved away quickly, glaring darkly at a few girls that were still giggling softly at Zechs.
Duo bounced forward next, waving gaily at everyone. "Name's Duo Maxwell; I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie!" Then, noticing a few boys snickering and pointing at his plait, he added with a light growl, "And I'll warn you not to mess with my braid. It ain't girly, and you'll regret it!"
Trowa quickly stepped forward, placing a steadying hand on Duo's shoulder. "I don't know my real name," he announced softly, silencing everyone as people leaned forward to hear him, "but I go by Trowa Barton." He nodded and stepped back, pulling a grinning Duo with him.
"I am Quatre Raberba Winner," Quatre smiled gently at everyone and bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to be here, and I hope that we all get along."
Finally, Wufei stepped forward, putting his hands together and bowing formally. "Chang Wufei. Please refer to me as Wufei. It is an honor to meet you all."
"Very good!" Dumbledore burst out, standing once again. "Now, the six of you may be seated at the Gryffindor table. That's the table of people wearing the red and gold scarves. Please, everyone, enjoy your supper!" He clapped his hands once, and every table was immediately filled with plates of food. A loud cheer was let up from the students, and even from Duo as he bounced to the very end of the Gryffindor table and began filling up his plate. He appeared not to notice the way most of the students moved away from him as the other pilots and Zechs sat at the table as well.
After the meal ended and everyone began to disperse, the pilots and Zechs were approached by a trio of the older students. The one in front reached out his hand and opened his mouth to say something undoubtedly polite—but was cut off by a boisterous Duo.
"Heero, look! He's copied your hair!" the braided polite grinned, throwing an arm around Heero's shoulders. "And Trowa, he has your eyes! Aw, it's like someone tried to clone you two and accidentally got both your cells in the same body. How cute!"
"Duo, hush," Quatre said softly, ignoring the snickering Zechs and muttering Wufei. "You're scaring them."
"Sorryyyy," Duo returned angelically.
"My apologies," Quatre murmured, turning back to the trio and grabbing hold of the outstretched hand, shaking it firmly to bring the boy out of his daze. "I don't think you could have missed our names from earlier, but I am Quatre. Might I ask who you are?"
"Er…Harry. Harry Potter. My friends are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. I was…we thought you would like us to take you back to Gryffindor Tower. The stairs might have moved already, and it's really confusing to get around on your first day here."
"We'd quite appreciate that," Quatre accepted the offer for all of them. "Dumbledore was not very informative about directions earlier today."
"Right. Well, it's just this way, if you want to follow me?" At the silent nods from the six people, Harry turned and started walking, looking a little disconcerted. Ron followed closely behind him, every so often glancing back with wide eyes; Hermione fell into step beside Quatre and smiled at the blond boy.
"I'm Hermione," she said brightly. "I'm currently the Head Girl, so if you have any questions, you're always welcome to ask me. Harry's the Head Boy, but he's not nearly as helpful as I am. He's absolutely hopeless with responsibility. Do you mind if I ask why you couldn't learn magic before?"
"Yes," Trowa responded. Hermione's bright smile fell a little.
"Oh. Anyway, I suppose you're all going to be in classes with us, so would you like for me to teach you the basics? Harry and Ron would help, of course, and hopefully you lot won't mess up too badly in classes. They're only on the weekdays, of course, so we won't have a class again until Monday, which is good since you'll be able to learn more in a couple of days than you could in one night. Do you know if Dumbledore is going to make you take the O.W.L.s or the N.E.W.T.s?"
"I won't be joining your classes, I'm afraid," Zechs returned, smiling softly at the girl, "but I'm sure we'd all love for you to help us. As to those owls and newts you mentioned, I'm afraid we have no idea what you're talking about. We're…rather out of touch with the times."
"Oh dear. I suppose you're all Muggleborn? Well, you must be. You didn't react at all to Harry's name. The O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s are tests that all students take in their fifth and seventh years, respectively. They're used to find out how much we've learned to help us decide what to do with our lives after school. I think you'll have to take them at some point, or else you'll never be able to get a decent job."
"With any luck," Quatre interjected, "we won't be staying here very long, so the tests shouldn't be something we have to worry about. As for Harry, what is so special about him that we should know his name?"
"Oh, he's the Boy-Who-Lived. He lived through Voldemort performing the Killing Curse on him when he was one, and somehow managed to get rid of him for a while. Then in fifth year, he finally defeated Voldemort for good. Harry's an excellent wizard, even if he isn't much for academics. Voldemort was the most powerful Dark Lord in history, after all, so Harry has to be strong to defeat him, doesn't he?"
"Or lucky," Zechs murmured.
"Or talented," Trowa added.
"Or all three!" Duo grinned, bouncing. "Ooh, I like heroes. Not to be confused with Heeros, which, while they may practically be one and the same, are a very different species of human."
"We aren't found often in the wild," Heero deadpanned.
"That's right!" Duo crowed gleefully. "I've taught you well, my…friend. I suppose calling you my son is pushing it a little, isn't it?"
"A lot," Heero frowned, which was nothing at all like his usual Death Glare. "I don't want to think about children. Relena wanted to have children with me."
"Heero, Relena wanted something very different from you. The children would have merely been a bonus, and a way to force you into marrying her and staying with her for life."
"Duo." Heero's frown turned into his trademark glare, and the braided teen very calmly took a large step sideways to force himself between Quatre and Hermione, at which point he threw a friendly arm around Hermione's shoulders and grinned at her.
"So, pretty girl, what do you know about empaths?" he asked, completely out of the blue. The other four pilots and Zechs immediately tensed, paying close detail to everything Hermione said even while they pretend they weren't paying attention (Wufei started muttering something to Trowa, while Heero and Zechs talked about Heero's 'Relena problem').
"Empaths?" Hermione asked, highly surprised. "Oh, there are only a few of them in existence! They're said to be able to feel the emotions of others, and can even force those emotions to change."
"They can change others' emotions?" Quatre asked soflty, rubbing at his chest absently and no longer pretending not to be paying attention.
"Oh yes. It depends on several factors, of course. If an emotion is too powerful or the Empath's powers are too weak, nothing will happen. And of course, you can't force people to love or hate someone. What I actually meant was that they can…inspire a change. For instance, many Empaths are drawn to the healing arts because they can send waves of comforting emotions to patients and help them calm down. It's especially useful in psychiatric wards. St. Mungo was a highly talented Empath that the wizarding hospital was named after. Before her death, she often made visits to the new hospital in order to help people. It's been rumored that she actually died from trying to help a man she once loved when he was having a nervous breakdown. Apparently, all her magic had focused on calming the man down and, at her age—nearly two hundred by that time, I believe—she couldn't handle the loss of magic and she collapsed in ashes."
"That's really awesome!" Duo grinned.
"And frightening," Quatre added, shaking his head. "To think that any person could be capable of such things. Nearly two hundred years old? It must have been magic keeping her together at that age. I haven't heard of anyone living over a hundred in years!"
"Yes, there are theories saying that. When wizards can be bothered comparing themselves to Muggles, which isn't very often. Magic enhances a lot of things, like our physical strength and, not only how easily injured we are, but also how easily we heal from wounds that would kill any Muggle. It's really quite fascinating, I'm thinking of going into the field of research myself."
"I'd very much like to read these reports," Wufei said suddenly, breaking off his conversation with Trowa to stare at Hermione.
"The resident brain strikes again," Duo sighed, rolling his eyes. "He'll be buried in book after book again."
"So much for the whip I bought," Trowa muttered thoughtfully, forcing a blush out of Wufei as Hermione squeaked in horror and Duo burst out in raucous laughter.
"I just want you to know," Wufei began, holding his head up high despite the redness that refused to fade from his face, "that one day, I may yet carry out every single threat I have ever made regarding you, Duo, and perform those deeds on Trowa as well."
"I thought you loved me?" Trowa queried innocently.
"Only when you're not sharing personal details with every person you meet! It's dishonorable to have strangers know what you do in your personal time!"
"Is it unjust as well?" Heero asked with a smirk.
"Can we please stop discussing this?" Hermione asked weakly before Wufei could respond, looking a little green. "I, for one, would like to be as far away from this discussion as possible."
"I concur with the woman," Wufei agreed darkly.
"The world may yet end," Quatre said, the smallest of smiles on his face. "I never believed I'd hear that sentence from you, Wufei."
"I believe the phrase is: 'desperate times call for desperate measures'," Wufei returned haughtily. "And she was right, anyway. We need another topic of conversation."
"We could talk about Heero's and Zechs's personal life instead," Duo leered.
"How about we talk about yours and Heero's?" Zechs suggested. "Or at least the one part you mentioned earlier?"
"Or how about," Ron interrupted suddenly, stopping in front of the Fat Lady, who was giggling slightly at having caught the tail end of the conversation. "We talk about teaching you lot what we're going to teach you, and never mention the fact that you all apparently have sex with each other ever again?"
Duo and Zechs both pouted.
"I really do appreciate it," Ron frowned, turning back around just as Harry muttered the password and stepped into the common room.
