Ch16

Ch16

AN: Here is the long awaited sixteenth chapter of the story which was last updated in December. Thank you for all who were patient and I can't wait to see what you'll think of this one.

Next chapter will have the arrival of the inners and Mamoru and we'll see who were the two Setsuna was secretly meeting form time to time. Review at the end!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Sailor Moon and nor do I own Harry Potter.

Severus stared on with an annoyed look on his face. It wasn't enough that the Gryffindors welcomed Oliver Wood back with open arms and loud cheering, making him take points away, not that they care. No, it was the fact that everyone couldn't help but gossip about the Quidditch player and the DADA professor being together, since the two were seen almost glued to the hip. That's preposterous. Serenity and Mr. Wood? Why would those two even consider dating if they had just met for a few hours? People don't just fall in love with seeing each other for the first time like those foolish childish fairy tales muggles tell their children. Another annoying gossip was that Mr. Wood should be looking over his back since the potions master will be planning to kill Mr. Wood for stealing Serenity away from him.

"I swear when I get my hands on the brat who started that rumor, house points will be the last thing he has to worry about." Severus felt a smirk grow on his face as he imagined torturing the unfortunate child. And if he was lucky, his victim would be the younger Potter. Forgetting that he was in a public corridor and not in his private chamber, Severus chuckled in a deep sinister tone.

Hotaru and the Golden Trio, as Harry and his friends were often called, were walking in at that exact moment down that corridor. They were standing right behind the potions master as they watched him act like he had just lost his mind.

"Blimey, I guess all those potion fumes he's been inhaling really did make him go crazy," Ron whispered to his friends.

Hermoine elbowed the redhead. "Ron, that's our potions professor you're talking about," she hissed.

Harry rolled his eyes as he watched his two friends once again have a lovers quarrel. "Let's just get out of here unless you really want to get house points taken away and detention as well," he said.

Hotaru just continued to watch the two arguing friends continue their spat as they walked away from the still muttering professor. "These two are just like Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa," she said silently, thinking back to the old times before the inners' betrayal, which still seems strange to the Saturn princess.

The inners would never betray the moon princess like this since they were connected much closer than the outers are, especially for the Venus bloodline, which is much closer in DNA and is the leader of the inners as well. It makes no sense for Minako to double cross Usagi…unless there's another part that they're missing. Hotaru stopped in her tracks as she tried to figure it out. If the inners betrayal really is a hoax, then why continue and not tell the outers or Luna and Artemis a thing? What's the real purpose of their infidelity?

"Hotaru?" Harry had noticed that Hotaru just froze up wit ha serious look on her face. "Hotaru, is everything all right?" he asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Hotaru looked up to see her three friends look at her curiously. She quickly smiled and said immediately, "Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just thinking that I know what got Professor Snape in a foul mood." The Gryffindor trio looked at each other and then towards Hotaru, silently asking her for the answer. "Remember how everyone assumed that Oliver and Usagi-mama are going out just because they've been spending some time together?" she was replied with three nods. "Well, there's another rumor circulating around about how Oliver is gonna get killed by Professor Snape for 'stealing his girl' quote-unquote." She glanced backwards where she believes Severus was probably still standing and still muttering to himself. "And judging by that dark chuckling he's doing, he's most likely to be imaging himself torturing the person who started that rumor and pretending that it's Harry the one he's torturing."

"Me?" Harry blurted out, pointing to himself, "Why would he be imagining that I'm the one spreading rumors about my sister?"

"Because he doesn't like you and because it's your sister," Ron guessed, shrugging his shoulders.

"Anyway so what's the plan for the dance tomorrow night?" Hermoine asked, trying to change the subject.

"Serenity said that she has an outfit for me so it would match Hotaru's," Harry said, "Why don't we meet over at Serenity's dormitory at six since the dance will start at seven?"

"That's a great idea," Hotaru said. "If you guys need help with anything, I'm sure Haruka-papa and the others would be glad to help."

"Hey Harry," Oliver said, walking in the hallway. The others looked at the old graduate and greeted him back. "Have you seen your sister around? She told me that she needed my help with something."

"Hey, Oliver, are you and Professor Serenity going out?" Ron asked, quite bluntly.

"Going out? No, why would anyone say that," Oliver said, "I mean sure she is beautiful, but I'm not one who steals girls away from their guys." He laughed as the underclassmen stared at him in confusion with a large question mark rotating behind their heads. "When I first saw Serenity and Professor Snape together earlier, it looked more like a father helping a daughter with her shopping, but their actions towards each other makes it look like they're much closer than that."

"Well, Snape is the same age as our father that might be why they seem more like father and daughter," Harry said.

"What does age have to do with anything?" Hotaru complained, "Jesus(1), what's with all these close minded people? They can't be in love because of age difference, or they're the same sex, or they can't have more than one marital and sexual partner, and so on and so forth. It just makes me so angry to see everyone so judgmental and too afraid to speak their own mind instead of going with the flow."

"You're more open minded because of Haruka and Michiru, aren't you?" Oliver asked. Hotaru nodded her head.

"What does Professor Ten'oh and Professor Kaioh have to do with anything?" Hermoine asked.

"They're lesbians," Hotaru replied straightforwardly.

"Wait, I thought in order to be lesbians, you need to be a girl," Ron said, scratching his head in confusion.

"Haruka-papa's a girl," Hotaru said, "But I call her that since she acts more like my dad than my mom." Turning to Oliver, she said, "Usagi-mama's back in her room, apparently she's having a meeting with Setsuna-mama and doesn't want anybody interfering."

Oliver stared at Hotaru for a quick second before he asked, "You're actually a great girl, so what are you doing in Slytherin?"

Hotaru looked down and recounted all of her memories to the times back in Silver Millennium when she was viewed as a goddess of death and destruction only, her other title of resurrection was lost and to the time when Mistress Nine was sealed within her body. "It deals with my past," she whispered in a sad tone. She smiled brightly, too fast, as she added, "And besides, regardless of what house we're in, we all have the qualities of the other three houses within us, only one characteristics outshine the others more."

"Hotaru," Haruka shouted, running towards the fifteen year old, "Come here, Setsuna has something to tell us. It's about you-know-who."

Hotaru looked at her adopted 'father' and knew what she meant. She bowed to her friends and ran towards Haruka, who met her halfway. Together they quickly headed off to their rooms, leaving the Gryffindors, old and current, staring behind them in confusion.

/-/

"Tomorrow night? How can you be so sure, Setsuna?" Michiru asked, "Even you can't be too accurate in certain details."

"A source told me," Setsuna replied, "I need you all to be ready at any time since they can attack either during, before, or after the dance."

"How can you be so sure that this source isn't pulling our legs?" Haruka said.

"Because that source is placed there by me," Usagi said, "Tomorrow is the day that all will be revealed and that I ask is that you'll put your trust in me."

"I trust you with my life, koneko, and I will over and over again," Haruka said, "It's just that I don't want you to get hurt again."

Usagi smiled gently. "Everyone's got to get hurt once in their lifetime to truly know how special life is, Ruka-chan," she said, "And don't worry the one who'll be hurt won't be me." She gave the tomboy Setsuna's mysterious smile.

(1) I didn't mean to sound offensive to anyone when Hotaru said Jesus like that, it's just a form of her expressing herself that time. I often used that word myself, being a Christian and all.