I do not own Hetalia or Harry Potter.
Chapter 6: In Which Seborga Sends a Howler
Seborga was not usually an easy person to freak out. He was pretty old for a nation, and had lived through some pretty freak-worthy things. But never in his centuries of life did he have to deal with this before: spending several days in a single room with every single full-fledged country in the world.
That was pretty freak-worthy for a micronation.
Seborga wasn't even sure how the annual World Conferences went. Was he supposed to take notes? Did he just need to show up? Oh God, did he have to give a speech? He was definitely freaking out, which was why he was almost late on the first day; he had spent a whole hour panicking in his hotel room.
Thankfully, he managed to make it inside the room on time. He located his brothers' placards and nervously sat down in Veneziano's seat with his folders, notebooks, and pens stacked neatly in front of him, silently pleading that no one would try to talk to him. Within a few minutes, the other countries began to settle down into their seats. Seborga gulped. Seeing almost two hundred countries assembled in front of him, he was tempted to flee the room.
Seborga glanced at his neighbors. Since they were seated alphabetically, the country to his left was Israel, who was glaring across the table at an unfamiliar country. To his right, on the other side of Romano's seat, Jamaica wasn't even paying attention, staring off into space and tapping his finger on the table.
There was a sudden shout from England – or rather, the United Kingdom, as he yelled across the table at France. It quickly escalated into a loud argument, with other countries adding to the chaos.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Germany screamed over the noise from the podium. Instantly the room quieted.
"For once, I actually want to get something done at this meeting!" he said sharply. "We will start with roll call, and then we will proceed, in an organized fashion-" he glared at England, then at France, "to present our views on the topic. Is that clear?"
"When's lunch?" America yelled from his place next to England. There were several sounds of interest from around the table.
"Twelve o'clock, and not a minute before!" Germany snapped. He took a deep breath. "Let's start. Afghanistan!"
"Present!" Afghanistan called, before breaking into a coughing fit. Zimbabwe slapped his back a few times.
"Albania!"
"Present." Albania just raised her hand, not even bothering to look up from her notes. Seborga idly noted that she looked rather pale.
"Algeria!"
The list went on and on. Seborga grew steadily more nervous as more names were called. His palms were slick with sweat and slipped right off his suit when he tried to wipe them. There was a break in the pattern when Germany called "Iran!" and was met with silence.
Turkey coughed awkwardly. "He's… um… busy."
"I'm not surprised," Germany muttered. "Iraq!"
Iraq… Ireland… Israel… Seborga was practically shaking with fear as "Italy" drew closer. He almost leaped out of his seat when Germany called, "Italy, North!"
"P-present!" Seborga squeaked out.
Germany didn't even look up from his list. "Italy, South!"
Seborga was seized by fear and confusion. Was he supposed to call in present for Romano too? "Um… present?"
Germany looked up, eyebrows raised. Many countries turned and stared at Seborga in confusion.
America was the first to speak. "Who are you?"
"Um…" Seborga swallowed nervously before blurting out, "I'mSeborgaandI'mfillinginforVenezianoandRomanopleasedon't-lookatmelikethat!" Every country had turned in his direction, and he shrunk back under the weight of their gazes.
Thankfully, England spoke up for him. "Everyone, this is Seborga, Italy and Romano's younger brother. Italy and Romano are helping me out with…" he hesitated. "With something right now, and Seborga is filling in for them."
Spain glared at England. "What did you do to my Roma?" he hissed.
England stared back coolly. "I simply requested help, Spain. He decided to help me of his own free will."
"I'm sure that's the case," Spain shot back sarcastically. "Because the United Kingdom is known for asking help."
"I'll have you know, Italy approached me first!"
France scoffed. "As if. We all know Italy is scared out of his wits of you."
"Ah, well-" Seborga tried to break in, but he was cut off by America.
"Yeah, dude, like in World War Two he ran away all the time!" America yelled. "Whenever he saw England, it was like he turned into a dust cloud or something!"
Seborga finally found his voice. "Well, if you knew what happened, America, you would understand why!" he shouted at the superpower.
The room fell silent. Every head stared at micronation that had dared to challenge America.
"'What happened'?" America repeated. "I thought he was always like that around England." There were nods and murmurs from some of the other countries.
Seborga glared in indignation at America. "You were there," the normally passive and cheerful micronation spat. "You should know, America. You, England, and Canada."
England's face paled. "Wait, you don't mean… that?"
"Yes, I mean that!" Seborga shot back. "You never told him what you did, you bastard?"
"What? England, what's he talking about?" Canada said, but no one heard him.
"What's he talking about, England?" America said.
His northern brother sighed and slumped in his seat. "That's what I just asked…"
"Seborga…" England ignored his former colonies. "He already forgave me. He said so in his letter."
Seborga's eyes lit up. "You're in contact with my brothers?"
England, taken aback by the sudden change in attitude, spluttered, "Well, yes, I mean, they need to communicate with me while they're at school-" His eyes widened, and he cut himself off, but it was too late; he had said too much.
"School?" Spain roared at England. "You sent my Romano to a school?"
"He volunteered-" England protested.
"He's almost as old as you, England, but you're treating him like a child-" Spain spat, his eyes burning with rage.
England stood up, his own green eyes burning. To many nations' surprise, he reached into a pocket and whipped out a slender stick. "Say that again, Spain," he growled, pointing it at Spain. "I dare you."
"You think to threaten me with a stick, Inglaterra?" Spain sneered.
Germany finally had had enough. "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" he roared. "You are all acting like children! Which is saying a lot, because I'm younger yet more mature than you both!" He pointed at Seborga, who flinched in surprise. "Seborga is the current representative for Italy. We will let him explain. England, Spain, you will both remain silent. Understand?"
Both nations continued to glare at each other as they sat down. Everyone turned to Seborga again, and he gulped. "W-well… this is what happened…"
For the most part, there was silence as he explained. Afghanistan coughed occasionally, there was a moment when Albania made a weird choking sound but she apparently managed to clear her throat, and several times Grenada had to slap Greece awake, but no one fought or interrupted.
"…so right now they're at Hogwarts, posing as students," Seborga concluded. There was silence for a moment longer before every nation still paying attention starting yelling questions across the table. Seborga shrank back and buried his head in his arms. Veneziano, Romano, sometimes I hate you so much…
~.~+~.~
The next morning, Lovino was pleased to see Malfoy's look of shock when he realized Harry and Ron hadn't been expelled. The fear from the previous night had dissipated, and Harry and Ron both thought that the whole night had been a wonderful adventure, and were quite eager to go on another expedition. Lovino didn't share their sentiments, only nodding to Hermione in the common room and saying a tired thank you to the Fat Lady. He knew all too well how badly the night could have gone. If Feliciano hadn't reacted as quickly to open the door, they all could have been killed or mauled by the dog.
On the way to breakfast, Harry filled Ron and Lovino in on his What-is-that-dog-guarding theory.
"I'm pretty sure it's that package Hagrid took out from Vault 317," he explained. "The Gringotts thief was probably looking for it."
"But what is it?" Ron wondered.
They figured it was very valuable, very dangerous, or both. But all they knew for certain was that it was about two inches long, and that wasn't very much to go off of.
Neville definitely didn't share Harry and Ron's feelings. He refused to talk about what had taken place, and only said that he never wanted to go near the dog again.
Hermione, on the other hand, stalked past them the next morning with her nose in the air, pointedly refusing to talk.
"What's her problem?" Ron muttered darkly. "It's not as though we made her come with us." Lovino felt a pang of sympathy for Hermione at that, and resolved to talk with her later.
At breakfast, everyone's attention was drawn to a ghostly-pale barn owl carrying a red letter. It landed next to Lovino, dropping the letter, which promptly began to smoke.
"Uh... Ron?" Lovino said, a bit nervously. "Why is my letter smoking?"
Ron's face paled. "Lovino... Mate, just open it and get it over with."
Lovino cautiously picked it up. "Why, what is it?"
"That's a Howler," Ron explained. "If you don't open it, it screams out the letter inside."
"And if I do open it?"
"It'll scream anyway." The letter was starting to tremble. "But it won't be as bad. Quick, Lovino, before it explodes-"
Lovino ripped it open a mere second before it combusted. The voice of a young man screamed, "LOVINO, FELICIANO, WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?"
Lovino's face paled and he glanced over to the Slytherin table at Feliciano. The northern brother's eyes were wide with horror.
Seborga's Howler continued in Italian. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGH? TWO HUNDRED COUNTRIES ALL YELLING QUESTIONS AT ME - SPAIN NEARLY ATTACKED - I THOUGHT ENGLAND WAS GOING TO EXPLODE - IT WAS HORRIBLE! AND AFTERWARD GERMANY GAVE ME A LECTURE, AMERICA PATTED ME ON THE BACK, BUT IT WAS MORE LIKE A SLAP THAT KNOCKED ME OVER, AND FRANCE TRIED TO FLIRT WITH ME! I DON'T KNOW IF YOU TWO GO THROUGH THIS EVERY TIME BUT IT WAS HORRIBLE AND I NEVER WANT TO FILL IN FOR YOU AGAIN!" The rant dissolved into sobbing. Everyone in the hall was listening, and more than a few were looking confused at the barrage of Italian.
Then the voice changed, and Lovino groaned when he realized it was Spain.
"LOVINO, YOU'D BETTER BE ALRIGHT!" Spain cried in English. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING OVER THERE BUT MAKE SURE YOU STAY SAFE AND COME BACK SOON! IF YOU GET HURT I SWEAR I AM GOING TO - "
His voice suddenly cut off. There was the sound of scuffling. A rougher, deeper voice growled, "Antonio, give the letter to me!" The sounds stopped, and Lovino almost breathed a sigh of relief until the next voice made him groan again.
"FELICIANO!" Germany's voice boomed through the hall. At the Slytherin table, Feliciano jumped at the sound of his name. "ARTHUR HAS TOLD US WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. I EXPECT YOU TO COME BACK AND GIVE A FULL REPORT AS SOON AS YOU CAN, UNDERSTAND?" A sudden shriek made everyone jump, and Seborga's voice returned.
"NEVER AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME? NEVER AGAIN!" Seborga bawled. "I HATE YOU TWO SO MUCH!" With a final cry, the Howler burned itself up. A stunned silence pervaded the Hall. Feliciano's face was bright red. Lovino had buried his head in his arms. After a few moments, the students' conversations resumed.
"What was that?" Harry said. "Lovino, who were those people?"
"The first one was my younger brother," Lovino muttered. "The other two are... my guardian's acquaintances."
Harry opened his mouth to say more, but he stopped when Feliciano ran over to the Gryffindor table, a package in his hands, his face still glowing tomato-red. "Fratello! Arthur sent this!"
He set the package down next to the remains of the howler and handed Lovino a letter.
Feliciano and Lovino,
My deepest apologizes for the Howler. Seborga did fine at the conference and handled the experience very well, no matter what he had said. For the record, I did NOT tell them how to make a Howler. It was (here several words were scribbled out) that FROG. I had no idea he even remembered how to make one. And of course, once Spain heard that Seborga was sending a letter, he wanted a part in it too.
I finished making the Vanishing Cabinets; it took a bit of time to camouflage them as Italian books. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of book to use - I considered a Bible, but it was too small - so they are large mythology and fairy tale books. Hope you don't mind. You have to tell it to open in our language[1], or else they'll just be regular books, and you close it the same way. Lovino, clarify for Feliciano if he doesn't get it.
I've been inquiring at Gringotts about the break-in, but the goblins are being rather tight-lipped. I'll keep trying, and will let you know if I've made any breakthroughs.
Keep me updated. Sorry again for the Howler.
- Arthur
Lovino tore open the package. Sure enough, there was one book of Roman mythology and one book of fairy tales, both in Italian.
"What are those?" Ron leaned over for a closer look. "They look like, I dunno, little kid books or something."
"They're... family heirlooms," Lovino lied. "Our parents left them to us before they... you know..."
"Oh," Ron said hesitantly. "Sorry, I didn't know..."
"It's okay, Ron!" Feliciano said cheerfully, patting him on the back. "Lovi, we should go put these away, shouldn't we?"
"Don't call me Lovi!" Lovino growled as he got up. He nodded to Harry and Ron. "See you guys later."
In the hallway, Lovino shoved the fairy tale book into Feliciano's arms. "You get this one."
"Huh? Why me?" Feliciano squeaked.
"Because I would never be caught dead with a fairy tale book," Lovino huffed. "What on earth was Arthur thinking..."
"But what if the other Slytherins see?" Feliciano whined. "They'll tease me more!"
"Just put a book cover on it, then," Lovino growled. He lowered his voice to hiss, "You're several thousand years old! Get a grip, Feli, eleven-year old humans can't hurt you."
Feliciano pouted. "Fine." He flipped through his book, then said in Italian, "Open." Nothing happened. "Lovinoooo, why isn't it working?"
Lovino rolled his eyes. "Again, this is why you're not in Ravenclaw," he muttered. "Feli, you have to say it in Nation. Dios mio, how have you survived this long..."
Feliciano's eyes flashed with something akin to annoyance. "Open," he whispered at his book, a little more sharply than he normally would have. When he opened the cover, the pages had been hollowed out to reveal a stack of Italian paperwork. He sighed at the sight of the work, then returned to his normal self. "Yay! I figured it out!"
"You should probably close it," Lovino said, glancing around. "Wouldn't want anyone to see."
Feliciano nodded, then said in Nation, "Close." When he opened the cover, it was a normal book again.
"I'm going to go put mine away," Lovino said, already heading for the stairs. "See you."
"See you, fratello!" Feliciano waved, before turning toward the dungeons, secretly thinking about how he could get revenge on England. Hmm... Maybe I could send him something horrible for Christmas... And he smiled to himself before descending into the deepest parts of Hogwarts.
Meanwhile, in Gryffindor Tower, Lovino decided to try out his own Vanishing Cabinet, slipping in his own letter:
To Arthur,
Just trying out the Cabinet. I've got the mythology one, and Feli has the fairy tale one. What were you thinking? We're in a school full of immature humans and you send a fairy tale book?
Only one thing to report: there's a three-headed dog guarding something under a trapdoor in the third-floor hallway by the Charms room. Harry thinks it's guarding the thing from vault 317. Don't know much else.
Lovino
~.~+~.~
While Lovino didn't share Harry and Ron's newfound appetite for dangerous adventures, the three of them did agree on one thing: they wanted some way to get back at Malfoy. And lo and behold, one week later the opportunity came to do just that.
At breakfast, everyone's attention was drawn to a long, slender package carried by six massive screech owls. Harry was only more confused when the package was dropped in front of him, along with a letter that nearly hit poor Chiara on her way to Lovino. Both boys ripped open their letters.
Dear Lovino and Feliciano,
It was a nice idea to try the Cabinet, Lovino, but for now I think we should stick with owl post. It would look suspicious otherwise.
The item in vault 317 is a small, very rare, and very valuable. The goblins refused to give any more information than that. I have some theories as to what it is, but without more information I can't be sure.
A three-headed dog sounds like a Cerberus, but I don't know how Hogwarts could have gotten ahold of one; they're supposed to be really hard to tame. If you find out anything else, let me know.
Arthur
"Lovino, have you been telling your guardian everything we've been doing?" Ron exclaimed, peeking over Lovino's shoulder.
Lovino jerked his letter away. "Ch-chigi! Don't look at my letters!"
Ron shrugged. "Well, have you?"
"He knows a lot of stuff and has contacts in the magical world," Lovino muttered. "I just thought he could help."
"Ron, Lovino, look at this!" Harry interrupted, a beaming smile on his face. He passed them his letter, and Lovino hastily stuffed his own letter out of sight.
Ron read the letter and moaned enviously. "A Nimbus Two Thousand... I've never even touched one!"
"And it's free, from McGonagall too," Lovino observed.
They quickly left the Great Hall, hoping to open the package before their first class started, Lovino grabbing his brother to give him their letter. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your perspective – they met Malfoy on a staircase just outside the main hall. Malfoy grabbed the package from Harry and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back. "You're in for it now, first years aren't allowed broomsticks."
"Oh yeah?" Ron shot back. "This isn't any old broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What have you got, a Comet Two-Sixty?" He flashed a grin at his friends. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as Nimbus."
"How would you know, Weasley, you can't even afford half the handle," Malfoy sneered. "I suppose you have to save up twig by twig."
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Lovino growled as Feliciano and Harry grabbed Ron by the shoulders to prevent him from lunging at Malfoy.
"I hope we're not fighting here, boys!" came a squeaky voice from behind them. Tiny Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, bustled up the stairs toward them.
"Potter's got a broomstick, Professor!" Malfoy said quickly.
"Ah, yes, that's right!" Flitwick said, smiling at Harry. "Professor McGonagall has already explained the circumstances to me, Potter. What model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," Harry said.
Lovino, seeing Malfoy's outraged expression, couldn't resist adding, "And it really was thanks to Malfoy's help that Harry's got it, sir."
They went up the stairs, chortling at Malfoy's incredulous face as they went. Even Feliciano, who was not one to laugh at others, cracked a smile.
"Nice one, Lovino!" Ron snorted. "Did you see his face?"
"What I said was true, though," Lovino smirked. "We were all there."
"Right, if Malfoy hadn't stolen the Remembrall, I would never have gotten on the team…" Harry said, grinning from ear to ear.
"So do you think this is a reward for breaking rules?" a bossy voice said. They turned to see Hermione.
"No, they didn't mean it like that-" Feliciano began, but Harry cut him off.
"I thought you weren't talking to us," he said.
"Yes, don't stop now, it's rather nice," Ron added.
Hermione reddened and spun on her heel, stomping away with her nose in the air.
"Ron!" Feliciano scolded. "That wasn't very nice."
"So what?" Ron said, though there was a hint of guilt in his voice.
"I'm going to go talk to her!" Feliciano declared, running off.
"What's got into him?" Harry said, watching him go.
Lovino just shrugged. There wasn't any way he was going to go after his brother; at least one of them had to stay with Harry. He changed his mental note from talk to Hermione soon to talk to Hermione as soon as possible before hurrying after Harry and Ron.
~.~+~.~
Lovino had never had so much work before. In addition to watching Harry, he had to juggle schoolwork and paperwork. Even if he did have his brother to share the guarding and paperwork responsibility with, he still went to bed mentally exhausted every night. It came as a surprise when he realized two months had already passed at Hogwarts. Despite all the magic and humans surrounding him, life at Hogwarts was surprisingly similar to life as a nation: get up, eat, do work, socialize, sleep, repeat. He wasn't sure if he liked that similarity or not. Almost daily, Lovino and Feliciano received letters from Seborga and Spain; poor Chiara flew so much that she had to go to Hagrid after she collapsed from exhaustion. Eventually Lovino got instructions from England on how to make his own Howler and he gleefully wrote one with Feliciano to send back to their relatives. They stopped pretty soon after that.
On Halloween morning, they woke to the mouth-watering smell of pumpkin drifting through the air. Apparently Feliciano had actually gotten up early because of it, because he was waiting outside the portrait hole for them.
"It's so good!" he said enthusiastically. "Do any of you know where the kitchens are? I want to learn how to make it! Then I could teach all my friends! Oh, and I could teach Arthur too! I bet he would love to learn it!"
"You'd have to ask Fred and George for the kitchens," Ron supplied.
"You can try teaching Arthur if you want to destroy a house," Lovino added casually as they headed down to the Great Hall.
"Destroy a house?" Harry repeated incredulously.
"Arthur is a terrible cook," Lovino explained. "I don't think he can make anything in his kitchen without setting something on fire or at least setting off the smoke alarm."
"I think he can only make tea," Feliciano said thoughtfully. "I don't know if it's any good, though."
To make the day even better, in Charms Professor Flitwick announced that they were ready to learn how to make things fly, which was something the entire class had been looking forward to ever since he had made Neville's toad zoom around the room. They were told to split up into pairs to practice, but since there was an odd number of students, Lovino volunteered to practice alone. He'd been noticing something about his casting recently, and wanted to confirm it privately. He sat between Harry, who was with Seamus Finnigan, another Gryffindor boy, and Ron, who had unfortunately been paired with Hermione. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see both of their infuriated faces; it was hard to tell who was angrier about this arrangement. Each of them had been given a feather, which they were supposed to levitate.
"Alright, don't forget that nice wand movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked from his pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. Saying the incantation is very important too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Lovino glanced furtively around the room. Most of the other groups were having trouble. He poked at his feather warily. It hadn't taken him long to notice that whenever he – or Feliciano, for that matter – cast a spell, its effect would always be extremely amplified.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The cry made Lovino turn to see Ron waving his long arms like a windmill. His feather stubbornly remained on the table.
"You're saying it all wrong," Hermione said crossly. "It's win-GAR-dium levi-O-sa, make the 'O' nice and long."
"Well, why don't you do it then?" Ron snapped, face red as a tomato.
Hermione rolled up her sleeves, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Her feather floated off the table to hover about four feet above their heads.
"Excellent, excellent!" Professor Flitwick cried, clapping his hands. "Look here, everyone, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron looked like he was ready to explode. Lovino turned back to his own feather. Flicking his wand the way Hermione had, he whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The feather twitched and drifted half-heartedly into the air before dropping back down. Lovino glanced around, then said, louder, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
His feather sprang up into the air, where it stood straight up, quivering, before shooting off like a rocket, knocking Hermione's still-floating feather out of the air and hitting Professor Flitwick square in the forehead. He fell over with a squeak.
The class gathered around the fallen professor, except for Lovino, who stared at his hands. "What the hell?" he muttered in Italian.
Within a few minutes, Hermione had gotten Professor McGonagall, who took one look at Professor Flitwick and said, "Who did this?"
Lovino raised a hand, trying to keep it from trembling. Sure, McGonagall was a pretty scary lady, but he was more worried about the sheer power with which the feather had hit Flitwick. He suppressed a shiver. If they had been levitating anything harder…
McGonagall dismissed the class early due to "an incapacitated teacher. Off you go. Your other teachers will understand."
As the rest of the class headed toward the door, chattering loudly, she beckoned Lovino over to the desk.
"Mister Vargas," she said sternly. "Did you do this on purpose?"
"No," he said truthfully.
"Do you know what happened?"
"I used the Levitation Charm, and the feather-"
McGonagall cut him off. "Vargas, I know what happened with the feather. Miss Granger told me. What I want to know is, what did you do?"
"Honestly, Professor, I don't know," he replied. "It just… happened."
"Vargas. You really have no idea at all as to why this has been happening for the past two months?"
She noticed too? Lovino kept his face blank. Of course, there was a very obvious reason as to why it was happening, but he wasn't going to tell a human about nations, even if she was, at the moment, his superior.
"I really don't," Lovino said evenly. "But you can try asking my guardian. Maybe he knows something."
McGonagall was silent for a while. Lovino kept his face calm under her gaze. Finally she said, "Very well, I will inquire further with… Arthur Kirkland, was it?" Lovino nodded. "Off you go then. I believe your friends are waiting for you."
Lovino hurried out of the room as quickly as he could, and almost immediately bumped into Hermione.
"Hey, what happened?" Lovino said, noticing that her eyes were red, but her mouth was set in a determined line.
"Nothing!" Hermione said, a little too quickly. "I just wanted to ask McGonagall about something!"
Lovino grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the door. "Hey – let go – what are you doing?" Hermione spluttered.
"We are going back to Gryffindor Tower, where you will tell me what happened," Lovino said without looking back.
"Stop!" Hermione cried. "Let go of me!"
Lovino suddenly paused, feeling an instinctual tug from deep within his being. He pulled Hermione into a hallway off the main corridor. "Wait here."
Without waiting for a reply, he strode out into the hallway, following the feeling. Aha! He grabbed Feliciano's arm and pulled him toward the hallway where Hermione was still staring at him in confusion and indignation.
"Now spill," Lovino ordered. "I promise both Feliciano and I will help you on this."
Feliciano, to his credit, caught on pretty quickly. He glanced at Hermione's red streaked face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Hermione. You can tell me, okay?"
Hermione looked at them, and inexplicably burst into tears. Immediately Feliciano wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry! It's all right!"
Lovino hid a smile. He knew Feliciano and Hermione had had a better relationship ever since the midnight duel incident. And he knew that his brother was better at dealing with these situations.
It took a few minutes for Hermione to stop crying. Finally, hiccupping, she said, "It was… it was after Charms… when McGonagall dismissed us early…"
Feliciano shot Lovino an inquiring look. Lovino mouthed, I'll tell you later.
Hermione sniffed, then continued. "I heard someone say… 'She's a menace. No wonder no one can stand her.' I heard them… but they still said, 'So what? She's probably noticed she's got no friends'."
"Oh, Hermione!" Feliciano hugged her tighter. "That's not true! Lovi and I are your friends!"
Lovino had to resist the urge to tell his brother, Don't call me Lovi. Instead he said, "Feli's right. We're here for you."
Hermione rubbed her eyes. "Yes, but… Feli, you're in Slytherin, people will look down on both you and me…"
"That doesn't matter!" Feliciano said. He finally released her, and wiped away a tear. "Don't cry, Hermione. Who cares what other people say about your choice of friends? They're your friends. It's whether you care about each other that matters!"
Lovino nodded. "Hermione, if anyone was going to look down on a Gryffindor, it would be on me. My brother is in Slytherin! Slytherin and Gryffindor are practically archrivals. But I don't let their comments get to me, because they don't matter. Don't worry about it, Hermione. Besides, you're the smartest witch in the grade. The teachers all love you – except Snape, of course, but he doesn't like anyone – no one can look down on you for long."
Hermione sniffled. "Yes, but… Lovino, the one who said those things…"
"Who was it? I'll talk to them, if they're in Gryffindor. And Feli's got Slytherin covered."
Hermione took a deep breath. "Lovino… please don't be too hard on them… but it was Ron."
Lovino stared. He knew Ron didn't like Hermione, but this was going too far. "Feli, you stay with Hermione. I've got to get to Herbology."
"Lovi…" Feliciano's voice held a faint warning. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to have a little talk with Ron," Lovino said, turning around and marching out to the greenhouses.
~.~+~.~
Ron was still sulking by the time Flying lessons came around.
Upon his arrival to Herbology, Lovino had given Ron the tongue-lashing of his life. He didn't yell. He wasn't loud. That was what made it sort of scary. Lovino had spoken in the most scathing tone Harry had ever heard, and all he could do was stand to the side while one of his best friends scolded the other. Harry hadn't even known Lovino was close to Hermione. Neither did Ron, and now he was paying the price.
Harry didn't see Hermione for the rest of the morning. She wasn't at lunch, and she didn't attend any afternoon classes. When Feliciano rejoined them in Flying lessons, he only reported that he overheard Pansy Parkinson[2] saying that Hermione had hidden herself in a bathroom.
All thoughts of Hermione were pushed to the back of his mind when he went to dinner. The Great Hall had been completely redecorated for Halloween. It was lit by five hundred floating lanterns, and a cloud of live bats fluttered under the enchanted ceiling. Will-o'-the-wisps danced over the tables, causing the jack-o-lanterns to flicker. A magnificent feast appeared on the golden platters, just like on the first night.
Harry had just started in on a potato when Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall, turban askew, face white with terror. Everyone stared as he made his way to the High Table, where the teachers sat, and, leaning on a chair, gasped out, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."
Message delivered, he sank to the ground in a dead faint.
Immediately, there was an uproar in the Great Hall. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Dumbledore's wand to quiet everyone down.
"Prefects!" Dumbledore rumbled. "Organize your Houses and make sure no students leave the Hall! The Head Boy and Girl are in charge. Is that understood?" His voice no longer held his usual cheer. "Good. Professors, with me."
With that, Dumbledore swept out of the Hall with every teacher except the unconscious Quirrell following. The Great Hall filled with worried conversation. Students milled around, often hurrying to a friend to talk, while the prefects patrolled around the tables.
"What d'you reckon they'll do to it?" Ron said, leaning over to Harry. "Kill it?"
"No idea," Harry said. "Lovino, what do you-" He broke off. Lovino's spot was empty.
"What the- where'd he go?" Harry frantically whipped his head around. To his surprise, he saw Lovino edge out the open doors. Where is he going?
Harry ran through everything the Vargas twins had said that day. The broomstick... knocking out Professor Flitwick in Charms... Lovino scolding Ron... Feliciano saying Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom...
Crying in the girls' bathroom.
"Oh no," Harry breathed.
"What?" Ron said.
"Hermione," Harry said. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll. Lovino - and probably Feliciano - they must have snuck out to warn her."
Ron frowned. "We can't just leave, though."
"Ron, we have to!" Harry said, urgency growing in his voice. "Besides, all three of them would never forgive you if we don't."
Ron pressed his lips together, obviously remembering Lovino's tongue-lashing.
"Oh, alright then," he conceded. "But we can't let Percy see us." Percy was Ron's third oldest brother and a fussy, rather strict Gryffindor prefect.
He glanced around. "Percy's gone to the Ravenclaw table. Let's go now. And if we're caught, it's your fault."
They got up and discreetly made their way to the massive doors of the Hall. It was slow going, and Harry had to fight a growing sense of dread, forcing himself to act casual. They slipped outside just as Percy looked back at the Gryffindor table. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, heart pounding in his ears. He turned to keep going and slammed into someone.
"AH!" Feliciano yelped as they collided.
"Feli?" Ron stared at him. "What are you doing?"
"Ah... I'm n-not doing anything!" Feliciano stuttered. Even Harry could see through such a feeble lie. "N-no, it's not as though I'm looking for someone, no, not at all!"
"'Looking for someone'?" Harry repeated suspiciously.
Feliciano glanced at them both, then shrunk back sheepishly. "...You're not falling for it, are you."
"No. Where were you going?" Harry asked.
"It's Lovino! I'm sure he's gone after Hermione," Feliciano said, wringing his hands worriedly. "But with that troll... ve... I'm scared."
"Well, we were going to find him too," Harry said, patting him on the back. "Let's get going before someone catches us."
"Going where, though?" Ron broke in. "Didn't Snobby Parkinson say Hermione was in the girls' bathroom? Which one? And what if she left?"
There was an awkward pause. Harry honestly didn't consider that before leaving the Hall. Maybe he should have thought this through a little more carefully -
"I know where they are."
Harry and Ron stared at Feliciano.
"Uh... how?" Ron said dubiously.
"I know where Lovino is, at least," Feliciano clarified. "It's a... twin thing."
Did Harry just imagine it, or did Feliciano hesitate before saying "twin", as if he were about to say something else?
"Ve..." Feliciano twisted his fingers together nervously in the silence that followed. "Well... let's go, then."
With Feliciano leading the way, they quietly made their way through the labyrinth of Hogwarts' passages. As they crept down a hallway, Harry heard the Italian murmur, "Lovino... we're almost here..."
Suddenly, a putrid odor caused them all to freeze in their tracks. Harry couldn't help screwing up his face; it was like dirty socks and unclean toilets mixed with the smell of Dudley after he had just returned to the house after exercising (read: beat up a kid).
"What the -" Ron groaned. "What is that?"
Feliciano peeked around the corner, and stifled a squeak. Quickly, Ron and Harry moved to look.
It was the troll. It was ten feet tall, with greenish-yellowish-brownish skin, a flattened nose, and piggy little eyes. Its arms were thick as branch, and the club it carried was barely more than a branch with a handle anyway. It was dressed in a dirty loincloth, and the horrid smell drifted off of it whenever it moved.
The troll looked around, snorting stupidly. Then, with slow, ambling steps, it entered a room off the side of the corridor. There was a moment of tense silence before Feliciano whispered a curse in Italian. "Lovino's in there."
On cue, a scream pierced the air. No words were needed as the trio sprinted for the bathroom. Ron wrenched open the door to reveal a shrieking Hermione on the other side of the room, with Lovino tugging at her arm, eyes fixed on the troll, a grimace on his face. The troll had focused on the source of the noise and was steadily advancing, its lumbering arm poised to strike.
"LOVINO!" Feliciano cried as the troll swiped downward. In the same moment Lovino gave up on tugging Hermione and instead tackled the petrified girl to the side. The club scraped down the wall and smashed into a stall as the troll turned to face the three boys. They gulped simultaneously.
"SPLIT UP!" Lovino roared from the other side of the room. "It can only attack one of you at a time! Split up and confuse it!"
Feliciano responded first, pulling out his wand and darting to the side. Harry forced himself to do the same.
"Er... Hey! Over here!" Harry yelled, drawing the troll's attention. With a confused grunt, it swung around to face him.
"Oi, peabrain! I'm here!" Ron yelled, picking up a pipe and throwing it at the troll.
As the troll took a heavy step in Ron's direction, Harry noticed Feliciano dragging Hermione toward the door. Wait, where was Lovino -
There was a loud SMACK as Lovino slammed his foot into the troll's fingers, causing it to drop its club with a thud that was drowned out in its howl of pain. Its face creased with anger, the troll advanced on Lovino, who had accidently rushed into a corner. Fear flashed briefly across his face before he scowled, fisting his hands.
Harry didn't pause to think. "Hey, leave him alone!"
The troll turned in confusion. Lovino whipped out his wand and yelled, "Feliciano, with me, on the club!"
Together the twins took aim at the club and yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club shot up into the air - its speed seemed to startle Feliciano, who faltered - it rebounded off the ceiling, slammed into a stall, and hurtled straight at the troll's head, colliding with a resounding CLUNK! The troll groaned, staggering, before falling toward -
"HERMIONE!" Ron reacted faster than Harry, grabbing Hermione's arm and dragging her out of the way. The troll crashed into the place Hermione had been mere seconds before.
The resulting silence was broken only by the water dripping from the broken pipes and the pants of the students.
Abruptly there was the sound of many running feet. The Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Quirrell burst into the ruined bathroom. Quirrell took one look at the troll, gasped weakly, and sagged against the wall.
"Potter," Professor McGonagall's voice was strained with barely-controlled fury. "Weasley. Vargas. What is going on here?"
The four boys glanced at each other uncertainly. None of them had prepared a story. Feliciano was just opening his mouth to possibly blurt out something random when a small voice surprised them all. "Please, Professor, they were looking for me."
"Miss Granger!" McGonagall rounded on the terrified girl still huddled by the side of the bathroom. "What ever are you talking about?"
"I-I came looking for the troll. I'd read all about them, you see - I thought I could defeat it by myself." Hermione looked sheepish. Harry had to keep himself from gaping at her. Hermione Granger, telling an outright lie to a teacher?
"Please, Professor, they came looking for me. Harry and Ron distracted it, Feliciano got me to safety, and Lovino and Feliciano worked together to knock it out. If it weren't for them, I'd be dead." Her face was bright red by the end, whether from exertion or shame.
"Well, then," Professor McGonagall surveyed the scene. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think about taking on a full-grown mountain troll by yourself? Five points from Gryffindor. You'd best get back to the Great Hall."
Hermione nodded, not looking at anyone. She hurried out of the bathroom with her face still bright red.
"As for you all..." McGonagall fixed her eyes on the boys. Harry had to resist the urge to shrink back. "Well, not many first-year students could successfully take down a mountain troll. You each win your House five points. Now, all of you should return to the Great Hall."
They hustled out before any teacher could change his or her mind.
"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron complained.
"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's," Harry supplied.
"I'm just glad no one got hurt!" Feliciano said with a huge grin.
Hermione was waiting for them at the Great Hall's entrance. There was a moment of awkward silence as the four boys stared at the bushy-haired girl.
Then Lovino smirked, grabbing his brother and pulling him away. "We'll leave you to it."
The trio watched the twins go. The moment stretched out until, at the same time, they all said "Thanks" and hurried off to finish the feast.
But from that moment on, Hermione became part of their little group of friends. Because there are some things you just can't live through without becoming friends, and battling a ten-foot mountain troll was one of them.
From where he watched at the Slytherin table (he was breaking regulations, but who cares? His brother's in Slytherin!) Lovino snickered as Hermione scolded Ron's eating habits. There was a certain warmth to her scolding.
Take that, Ronald Weasley.
[1] It's my headcanon that Nations have a language that only they can speak and understand. I know I shouldn't be advertising, but in my one-shot "Touch the Stars" it's explained in story format, so if you wanna check it out...
[2] I know, in the book it was Parvati Patil. But since Feliciano is in Slytherin, I changed it to Pansy Parkinson just so it would make more sense.
Note: as VivyPotter said in her story "Those Times When You Just Thought, 'Huh'", why on earth would Dumbledore send students out of the safety of the Great Hall and risk their lives? Especially when the Slytherin common rooms are in the dungeons, and the troll was reported to be in the dungeon. But hey, for the sake of plot, they still manage to sneak out anyway.
Also, just to clarify: it is established canon that Italy and Romano are not twins. Romano is definitely the older brother, in age as well as physical appearance (Romano looks 23 while Italy is only 20.) But since they had to be in the same year they are pretending they're twins.
I'm so sorry guys, I really am kind of a jerk when it comes to writing. I just kept putting it off, and putting it off, and look at how much time has passed. Hopefully this super-duper long chapter will make up for it. I probably should have spent more time editing it, but I wanted to get it up as soon as I finished. Quick question for you all: would you rather have shorter chapters and more frequent updates, or longer chapters but less frequent updates? No guarantees - I have another story, and school, and an original story to work on - but I'll try my best based on the responses.
Thank you for your patience and continued support! Until next time, Storm out ~
