Chosha's Notes
Konnichiwa Minna! Once more, a big hello and welcome back to the RuroKen Potter universe. I'm sorry if updates have been a little slower on this than in RKatPS, but I do have reasons. One is the fact that I have Fading Futures (which I finally updated!) but I've also started an HP fic, 'Celestin' and a crossover of the game Golden Sun and Lord of the Rings, called 'Adepts of Middle Earth' that I've also got chapters to write. I also have exams coming up in June, so I have revision, too. I will, however, try to update as much as possible on them.
Anyways, thank you all those who reviewed last time. I'm really surprised by the amount of reviews I've been getting for this story. Was it because RKatPS was a good story, so you've come to this one, I wonder. Doesn't matter, really, I'm just so please you like this one. I hope that I've made things begin to get interesting with this chapter… so, without further ado, here's chapter three!
Disclaimer: Ugh…that annoying bit…ah well…I don't own either HP or RK, and I'm not gaining anything from this…(except maybe writing experience, but that hardly counts, ne?)
Last time on RKatCoS
Kenshin and Hiko are transported to the Weasleys, where Kenshin can already see the fun is about to start…
Chapter Three
At the Burrow
Kenshin had never before in his life seen any other place remotely like 'The Burrow' as it was called. The building looked like it was once a pigsty, but had had so many rooms added it was now several storeys high. It also looked like a child had built it without knowing what a house should look like, because it was so wonky that it looked as if the roof, with its five teetering chimneys would just slide off the other end at any given moment. He was willing to bet that the only reason it was still standing was because of magic and enchantments. He knew for definite that in the muggle world, such a place would be one that had a sign on it saying 'Danger: unsafe structure, keep out'. There was a large garden filled with chickens and, from what Ron told him, little creatures with overly large, potato shaped heads called gnomes and beyond that was a large hill where they owned a paddock surrounded by trees. It was perfect to practice Quidditch (a wizard sport played on brooms) or Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu – which Hiko now claimed as territory to get Kenshin working some new Kata once they were settled in.
But this was nothing compared to inside the house itself.
Kenshin soon learned to expect the unexpected. Kenshin nearly jumped through the roof when the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece began to give him fashion tips and telling him how he looked cute. Small explosions seemed to emit from Fred and George's room, making Kenshin think they had some sort of battle field in there (he never dared to look. Besides, it would be rude). The room Kenshin shared with Ron was painted bright orange and all his posters of his favourite Quidditch team – the Chudley Cannons (hence the eye-stinging colour scheme) - moved and waved at them. Then there was a ghoul in the attic that threw pipes around in the attic if things got too quiet. All in all, there was only one word Kenshin could think of to describe the place – Insane!
About a two days later after Kenshin had arrived, Kenshin walked through the door leading into the kitchen, rubbing his arm where Hiko had managed to catch him with the back of his katana and lying his sakabato on the table, to find Mrs Weasley up making breakfast. She looked surprised when Kenshin walked in.
"My, You're up early!" she said, "The sun has only just come up fully as well."
Kenshin smiled up at her. "My master and I had practice on the hill." He explained. "We always get up early. Forgive me if we disturbed you at all."
"Not at all!" Mrs Weasley said with a smile. "Breakfast will be ready soon, if you want any."
"Do you need any help, Weasley-dono?" Kenshin asked politely, ignoring the stinging of his arm.
Mrs Weasley looked surprised. "Oh, you don't have to, Kenshin dear. You're a guest."
Kenshin beamed at her. "That's okay. Living with Shishou, I have to do a lot of things like cooking and stuff. I don't mind helping."
Mrs Weasley hesitated for a bit before smiling at him. "Well, I certainly will never say no to someone who wants to help out, especially with the crowd we've got staying here!" She said with a laugh. Kenshin smiled as he began to help her lay the table and make the sausages, and she saw that he was quite good at it. By the time they were nearly finished and Ron, Ginny and the twins began stumbling down the stairs groggily, still dressed in pyjamas, Mrs Weasley seemed ecstatic with her new helper.
"I wish you lot would be so generous," She said to the boys when they just stood there staring when Kenshin offered them sausages, before they all ran to check if he had fever. Of course, Kenshin could only oro at their antics.
A little later, Ron took Kenshin up to the hill so they could play Quidditch with the twins. Kenshin had only ever watched Quidditch before, never actually played it, so Ron began to teach Kenshin how to do it. Kenshin borrowed Ron's broom. But Kenshin was very good at flying after only a few minutes so they started to practice by throwing apples at each other. They couldn't use the normal Quidditch balls. How on earth would they explain it to the muggles if an escaped Bludger clouted someone in the back of the head? But Ron's broom wasn't much good for playing on either, as some butterflies were faster than the old thing. Kenshin was just glad Hiko was back at the house and wasn't there to see it, lest he decide to tell them of any other –cough- embarrassing situations he had been in.
"You should try out for chaser," one of the twins said after Kenshin caught all the apples aimed his way in rather daring moves spectacularly and aimed them through the makeshift hoops perfectly each time, making Kenshin blush at the complement.
Lunch was rather amusing – Mr Weasley had come home for lunch from work and was asking Hiko all about the muggle world, but kept getting interrupted because his cup would get knocked over or his plate would slip from the table mysteriously. Kenshin had to hold in a laugh as Mr Weasley turned to the Twins accusingly, who looked partially bemused at how it was happening, and slightly envious that it wasn't them who was doing it. But Kenshin knew. He had been trained to see such movements after all – he saw Hiko's hand blur to knock things over to shut him up. Kenshin looked at Hiko, who winked. Kenshin looked back innocently when Mr Weasley started to ask who the culprit was.
That evening, though, Kenshin was in for a surprise. It had started like any ordinary evening in the Weasley household. Hiko and Ron were playing Wizard chess (Kenshin had been opposed to it from the start, but Hiko told him he was being a baka as usual and that he wasn't going to lose – which was exactly the point. Kenshin couldn't bear for Hiko to become even more conceited) while the twins teased their brother as he was losing spectacularly to the smirking muggle. Kenshin was in the kitchen helping Mrs Weasley and Ginny make dinner and Percy was in his room… again. Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal an irate looking Mr Weasley.
"Oro?"
"Arthur?" Asked Mrs Weasley, rather surprised by the entrance.
"Looks like Harry's in some trouble," Mr Weasley said grimly, sitting down on the kitchen table. Ron stared, immediately abandoning the game he just lost to dash in to find out what was going on.
"What do you mean?" Ron said, worriedly.
"Only that Harry got a warning from the Improper Use of Magic Office three days ago. Everyone at the ministry is talking about it." Mr Weasley said. "Something about using magic in front of muggles or something."
Ron, Kenshin and the twins stared at each other.
"You shouldn't have said 'Just because we can't use magic, doesn't mean they know' at the end of last term, Baka Deshi" Hiko said in Japanese with a smirk.
Kenshin blushed. "You know I didn't mean actually do magic, Shishou!" He moaned.
Ron looked worried. "Harry wouldn't do something like that unless he was in trouble, would he?" Ron asked Kenshin. Kenshin shook his head affirmatively.
"I bet those rotten Muggles did something – no offence, Hiko" Said Fred. Hiko smirked in answer.
Mrs Weasley looked at her husband distressfully. "I hope nothing bad has happened." She mumbled. "He was such a sweet boy when we met at the train station. You know, if Harry hasn't answered by Friday, We'll have to go over ourselves, Arthur. Ron, could you write again, just in case?"
Kenshin thought he would spare Errol. "You can borrow Mika. She's never lost a letter, even at long distance."
"Thanks, Kenshin," Ron said, darting to get some ink and parchment, though Kenshin could tell that Ron didn't think it would work. Kenshin was sure he thought it was all the muggles' fault.
During dinner that night, while Mr and Mrs Weasley and Hiko talked, Fred and George leaned into Kenshin and Ron. "I dunno, you guys, but things look fishy." Said George.
"Harry might be in serious trouble," added Fred.
"They might be starving him"
"They might be torturing him!"
Kenshin sweat-dropped. "That's rather over the top, de gozaru…"
"Why would Harry try magic if he wasn't in some sort of trouble?" Asked Ron, biting his lip and playing with the food on his plate.
The twins leaned in even more. Kenshin glanced at them suspiciously, already knowing they could be worse than Hogwarts resident master-of-insanity poltergeist, Peeves. "We were thinking that we shouldn't wait for Friday. Harry might be in trouble. We should get him out of there tonight."
"You mean using Dad's flying car?" asked Ron. Kenshin almost dropped the fork he was holding and had to juggle with it to prevent it clattering to the floor.
"Flying what?" he choked.
"Flying car." Fred said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kenshin ogled, trying to process the thought of a car flying.
Ron saved him from going swirly-eyed with too much thought. "He took it apart to see how it worked, put spells on it and fixed it back together again. You know, if dad raided our house, he'd have to put himself under arrest!"
"'Course, Mom wouldn't be too pleased if she found out…" George said. "But it is for the greater good!"
"When?" asked Ron. There voices had grown lower and Kenshin had to glance at Hiko to make sure he wasn't eavesdropping. He wasn't – he was too busy being tortured by Mr Weasley with more questions. He looked about ready to Doryusen him into the floor. Kenshin turned back to them again.
"Tonight at midnight." Said Fred. "Everyone'll be asleep, so Mom won't even know. We'll just say Harry turned up in the middle of the night or something."
"I'll come too." Kenshin said. They looked at him as if they hadn't thought he would help. Kenshin smiled. "Well, if they are doing anything bad to him, we can't use magic to protect him or yourselves, but I'm sure I could be of some help…" he indicated his sakabato. The twins grinned. They hadn't yet caught Kenshin practising – he and Hiko always woke up exceptionally early – but they had heard the stories of his skill.
"Good on ya, Kenny! We'll have you one of us in no time!"
Kenshin blushed.
"We'd better owl Hermione, Sanosuke and Kaoru though." Ron said, "or we'll never hear the end of it!"
o0o
Kenshin and Ron sat in their room in the pitch black, waiting for the others to go to bed. It was crucial they get their timing right. If just one adult, or even Percy for that matter, saw them leaving the house, they would be in big trouble to say the least. Kenshin knew that if Hiko caught him, he would most likely find himself pushing up daises before he could utter an apology. It wasn't long before they finally heard the last door close, but they waited longer to make sure they would be asleep before they utilised their plans. Kenshin could only hope that when they started the car, it wouldn't startle everyone else awake too.
Ron nudged Kenshin after a bit and Kenshin nodded in acknowledgement. Carefully, making very little sound, they got up and made their way out of the room. Kenshin also took his sakabato – just in case. Gingerly, they crept down the stairs and opened the door to the yard. Kenshin almost winced at the small squeak it emitted. Thankfully, it didn't wake anyone up. Fred and George were already outside.
It was almost pitch black outside. The sky was covered in clouds, which blotted out the moon and stars, so there was very little light down below, except that from the headlights of the car, which was purring in waiting. That would be good, Kenshin thought. At least if any Muggles looked up, they wouldn't see them because of the cloud-cover.
"You took your time," whispered Fred. "Where's Kenny?"
"Here." Kenshin said, stepping out of the shadows into the headlights. The twins jumped, even Ron did. Kenshin had never made a sound!
"Bloody hell, Kenshin! Don't do that!" Gasped Ron
Kenshin rubbed the back of his head. "Gomennasai, I can't help it…"
"Cool!" said the twins in unison. Kenshin laughed nervously.
"Come on then," Said Ron. "We gotta hurry, or it'll be light soon and I really don't want mom finding out"
George made a gracious bow. "Of course, oh wonderful leader!"
"We are at your command, General Ronald," Fred joined in.
Ron blushed and glared at Kenshin as if daring him to join in. Kenshin raised his hands. "Maa, Maa. Lets just get Harry back before we get caught, de gozaru yo!"
They all scrambled into a turquoise coloured Ford Anglia. Kenshin gave it a slightly doubtful look. How was this thing going to fly?
Kenshin watched as Fred pushed a button on the dashboard then put his hands to the steering wheel. Kenshin almost yelped in surprise when the car simply rose from the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin could see the trees and the earth in general drop away from them. In seconds think clouds devoured them, blocking the ground from sight.
"What do you think, Kenshin?" asked Ron grinning.
Kenshin smiled. "Its different."
"Put the pedal to the metal, Fred!" cried George dramatically. Fred slammed his foot on the accelerator and the shot through the sky. Suddenly, they stopped again and Fred turned in his seat to look at them.
"Which way is Surrey again?"
Everyone face faulted.
"Oro!"
"Just kidding, just kidding."
"Fred…" growled Ron.
"Okay! Here we go!" and Fred turned the wheel, making them shoot off through the sky.
It was as if they had entered another world. Kenshin's eyes were the size of plates as he stared out the window. They were flying higher than the clouds, so below them looked like glittering snow in the night, overcast by bright stars and a full moon lighting the way. It looked magical, like something out of a fairytale that went past castles and magic itself. Even though he was worried, he couldn't help but be at awe in the face of the natural wonders of the world.
Kenshin could see breaks in the clouds below them, seeing the lights of street lamps as the flew over muggle towns, but Fred made sure they flew where no one looking up might mistake them for some type of UFO, but so they could still look out for Surrey.
He wasn't sure if it was just worry for his friend, or worry about what Hiko would do if he found out they were on this little escapade, but it wasn't long before Fred turned out the headlights and they began to descend to earth again. They were flying low over a deserted Muggle street, passed a sign saying Privet Drive. The houses were clean looking, with almost identically neat gardens and polished cars parked in the drives. Kenshin almost had to suppress a shiver. This was the type of place where everybody knew everybody and tried to be nice, but would begin to gossip as soon as your back was turned. It was also a place you would never expect someone like Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived and hero of the wizarding world to live.
"There it is!" said Ron, pointing to the most neat and tidy house on the street. They all looked out the windows to look. Apart from the cleaner-than-average look to it, number four looked as normal as any of the normal houses, except…
"Why are there bars on that window?" Kenshin asked in confusion. Fred and George gave each other knowing looks. Looks like they found the reason why Harry hadn't been answering their letters.
"Come on, Fred," Said Ron, impatience in his voice. "Bring us a little closer, we can't see if it's his room." For once, Fred complied without making a fuss. They carefully reversed towards the window a little more, 'parking' a few inches away from the wall. Carefully, Ron wound down his window and he and Kenshin peered into the barred window. Kenshin had to grip his sakabato tightly to prevent himself from snarling angrily at the sight that met his eyes.
The room behind the bars was a small box-room that seemed to be filled with broken toys and other junk, all with the name Dudley Dursley written on it and all of which looked as if it had been broken by said person in a tantrum. There was very little floor space to speak of. The door to the room seemed to be locked and the only way in or out was a small cat-flap by the door. On the half-hidden bedside table was a cage with a white snowy owl inside, but the cage was padlocked. Next to the cage was a small bowl – which was probably left from whenever dinner had been. The bed, however, had the only occupant of the room lying on it. The occupant was a boy of Kenshin and Ron's age, though he was rather small and very skinny for his age, even more so since the last time they had seen him. He wore clothes that looked like hand-me-downs that were several sizes too big. At that moment in time he seemed to be in a fitful sleep, his round glasses lob-sided on his face. His untidy jet-black hair was all over the place, almost covering the strange, lightning bolt shaped scar that marked him out as the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter.
TBC
Chosha's Notes
Oooo cliff-hanger! I'm evil sometimes… Anyway, we sort of know what they are about to see. I've just gotta say, if you expected the Weasleys to see Kenshin practising, or Sparing with Hiko, I'm sorry to disappoint you in that respect. However, I wanted to Get Harry on the scene first. Harry, Of course, has seen Kenshin fight, but will want to see Hiko fight too, so…you get the picture. Harry would be the one to go sneaking round at funny times in the morning/night, wouldn't he?
Also, Kenshin knows he's gonna get in trouble for going to save Harry if Hiko finds out, but Kenshin always thinks about others (even when he was younger) so Kenshin is gonna risk it, but…poor Ken-nii (CK: winces at the thought) – I'll say no more. But that aside, do you guys/girls have any questions, constructive criticisms or just general pointers or ideas for the story (which if I agree to, will have that specific chapter dedicated to you), just click on that little button at the bottom and review. I promise I'll get back to you if you have questions that need answering, etc.
Next time on RkatCoS
Kenshin sees who is behind the window (three guesses as to who it is!) and they decide to bust him out of his 'prison'. Next episode: Breakout
But until then, Ja ne!
Chosha Kurenai xXx