Chapter Eight
A/N: *Twiddles thumbs* Again, I have no excuse. I am sorry.
Oh, um, kind of a warning: There is USUK in, like, the middle part of this chapter. But, I did say it was a multiple pairings fic. *Shrugs*
Hope you guys all enjoy~
"England, you need to calm down." Japan attempted to place a reassuring hand on the Brit's shoulder.
The Brit narrowed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Calm down? Calm down? What do you mean calm down?"
"I'm completely fine! Oh, there's only the fact that I'm rapidly going through an emotional breakdown, Alfred's been chosen to compete in a life-threatening Tournament and bloody evil wizards who have the worst timing ever want to kidnap two of us for apparently no fucking reason. But, yes, Kiku I'm completely fine!"
The nations watched with wide eyes as England attempted to gain composure following his emotional rant. There were tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he started, his sincere eyes training on each individual nation present. "It's just…Harder than I thought it would be. This is harder than I thought it would be. I should never have agreed with this .I screwed all of us over." His shoulders drooped and, in that moment, England looked truly defeated.
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, France stepped forward and embraced his friend. Keeping his voice low, the Frenchman mumbled small comforts in the Brit's ear. "It's okay, Arthur. Nothing's your fault. We'll sort this out. Are you really going to let a bunch of itsy bitsy wizards destroy the mighty England? You were a pirate, for God's sake." The two friends both chuckled and France stepped back, ending their embrace.
"Goddamn it, Francis." England wiped the tears from his face and attempted to glare at the French nation. He turned his attention to the others who all had classic looks of shock on their faces. Who could blame them? England had just hugged France. His sworn "enemy."
"I swear to God, if any of you tell anybody about this then I will not be to blame for my actions. I was once a pirate, you know." Prussia snickered, causing both England and France to glare at him.
The group of nine then dissolved into a silence that was neither particularly comfortable nor uncomfortable, it was just thoughtful. A thoughtful silence. The sound of a throat clearing was heard and the nations all turned towards Germany.
"We need to come up with a plan." They all nodded. After all, Germany had just stated the obvious.
"That would be a good idea," said Japan.
Romano rolled his eyes. "We all know that having a plan is a good idea. Now we just need to fucking come up with one."
England glared at both Romano and Spain. "Antonio, control your child please," he scolded, his voice tight and crisp.
"Hey! That wasn't very nice or necessary. Just because you can't control yours," the Spaniard pointed out smugly.
"Ladies, please," Prussia, being smart for once, intervened. "Now is not the time to get the handbags out."
"My brother's right." Germany cut in, looking disapprovingly at both England and Spain. "Now is not the time to fight about our past resentments. We need to work together and we can't do it if you're all going to constantly bicker. Now, does anybody have any ideas for a plan?" Germany's eyes scanned the area as a hand shakily rose into the air.
Germany scrunched his eyes, trying to get a better view of who actually wanted to speak. "Uh… The other America?"
"It's Canada!" France hissed, forgetting to use Canada's human name. He hated it when Canada got forgotten- which was often.
"Thank you. Can-Matthew, you have an idea?" Eight heads turned towards Canada who blushed from the amount of attention he was receiving.
"Well, not exactly, but I just think that we shouldn't talk about this here. There could be people listening." A sudden feeling of being watched came over the nine nations and they subconsciously huddled closer together.
"Matthew's right," Romano decided. "We need to talk about this later and when all of the others are present."
Italy nodded. "Yeah, it will be easier to come up with something when all of our brains are there!"
"How about we all meet in the Great Hall at midnight?" England suggested with a shrug. "We can begin to discuss what we are going to do next there. Until then, just try to blend in and be as inconspicuous as possible." Not a very easy task… England thought as he scanned the faces of the fellow nations.
Not an easy task at all.
America ran out of the backroom, desperate to find England. He didn't want this anymore. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to leave. Dumbledore had given him the explanation of the Tournament rules and tried to provide help and comfort, but America hadn't listened. He wasn't interested; he just needed to find England. He sprinted through the Great Hall, ignoring the jeers and taunts that many of the Slytherins aimed at him.
He was just about to rush up the moving staircase to the Gryffindor Common Room when he spotted England conversing with his brother, Canada. Willing himself to at least approach England, America took a deep breath and hesitantly walked forward.
Seeing America approach from the corner of his eye, England turned to the younger nation. America had been expecting the biggest glare of his entire life, so he was surprised when England just looked…Empty.
America smiled nervously at his brother before addressing the Brit. "Arthur, can I talk to you?"
The Brit nodded. "Alright, go ahead then."
America sighed. Was England being purposefully difficult? Obviously, they couldn't talk there, in front of everyone else. That would just be stupid. "Well not here," he said, exasperated, "how about outside, in the Courtyard?" he suggested, with a shrug of the shoulders.
England rolled his vibrant green eyes. "Fine. I'll see you at midnight, Matthew." Canada nodded, waving goodbye to both England and America before walking off.
"Midnight?" America asked, his eyebrows piqued in interest. "Why are you meeting at midnight?" His eyes widened as he figured out the only reason that they would meet so late.
"Oh my God, Arthur, are you having some kind of thing with my twin brother?" America exclaimed, disgusted at the idea of England and Canada frick-fracking. It wasn't a nice image, not that America was jealous. Not jealous at all.
England just stared at America, trying to determine whether America was joking around or actually serious.
"You are such an idiot. Maybe you should think before you just jump to conclusions, Alfred. Do you really think that I would have sex with Mathew? No thank you. Besides, I would rather not start another war with Francis." England shuddered, heading towards the Courtyard leaving America feeling like an idiot, which seemed to be a regular occurrence just lately.
"Hey, wait up!" America yelled before jogging to catch up with England. "I'm sorry for accusing you of wanting to have sex with my brother!" Weirdest sentence ever… The American thought as they went and sat on an unoccupied bench in the far corner of the Courtyard.
England shrugged. "Whatever. That's not important, there's far too much going on right now for us to worry about petty, trivial matters like that. Firstly, we need to discuss your role in the Triwizard Tournament and then I need to inform you of some news that Germany told me earlier."
America glanced around to make sure there was no-one around them. England had just addressed Germany by his country name and living at Hogwarts and in secrecy for a few weeks had greatly increased America's paranoia. "Okay…What was the news Germany told you about?"
England shook his head, turning so that he was sitting cross-legged and facing America. "I said I'd tell you that second. We need to talk about the Triwizard Tournament."
America twisted his body so that he was mirroring England and rested his face on his palms. "I know," he sighed. "Y'know, I wish I never put my name in that goblet. It was selfish and stupid."
England nodded, "Well, I'm not going to dispute that, America. It was rather rash of you, which is just your typical behaviour." America opened his mouth to protest, but England intervened.
"Wait, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it is true. Now, the main problem with this tournament is that we literally have no idea what you are up against. Also, there is the fact that technically you shouldn't even be allowed to participate due to your apparent age. Though, that hardly matters, I'm sure Dumbledore will deal with that."
America kept his sapphire eyes focused on England as he considered everything that England had just said. "Wait, so you're saying that I have to do this tournament? I thought that you could get me out of it."
England rolled his eyes, before training them on the younger nation. "You really thought I could get you out of it? America, this isn't something where you can simply rely on me to bail you out. That's just your problem you know, you rush into everything head-first and then you don't care about the consequences because stupid, pathetic good-old England will come and help you."
America eyed England for a while, taking in the defeated look in his eyes that seemed to appear so regularly just lately. He wished they could just leave now and not come back. He wished that he could just hold England's hand and tell him that everything would be okay and that he didn't need to worry. Most of all, America wished that England could see just how much America valued him. He wasn't stupid or pathetic. America wished lots of things, they hardly ever came true.
"Do you really think that?" The question came out of America's mouth before he could stop it.
"What? That you rush into decisions without thinking them through?" England brushed his blonde fringe out of his eyes. "Yes, I do."
"No." Again, without thinking it through, America leant forward and brushed the remaining few strands of hair out of England's eyes. "I mean, do you really think that I view you as stupid or pathetic? Do you think that I just use you to get out of a crisis?"
England had turned a tinge of red, but he kept his eyes fixated on the American's baby blues. "Yes," he whispered, keeping his voice low so that America wouldn't notice how close it was to cracking. "I'm not as strong as I used to be and certain events have clouded my judgement. I'm just a pushover. I've turned into nothing." He turned his face away from America, finding that he could no longer look the nation in the eyes.
America shook his head. "Now you are being stupid," he chuckled.
America gently brought his arm up to England's chin and tilted it so they were once again facing each other. "I don't think you're stupid or pathetic at all, okay? And don't say that you're nothing, that's just a lie. You raised me, England. You made me who I am today and even though I left you and became independent, you still look out for me. If anyone's nothing, then it's me because I only just realised that I have never thanked you for everything you've ever done for me."
England smiled softly. His previous anger and frustration had disappeared completely. Thoughts of the Triwizard Tournament and evil wizards had been abandoned and now all England could think of was America's lips and how it was the perfect time to kiss them and whether America was thinking the same thing. Closing his eyes, England grasped the top of America's robes and pulled the American closer, gradually closing up the gap between them. Two hands were placed on England's waist; England leant forward and planted his lips on America's. America's lips tasted vaguely of cherries and cola, and they seemed to make England's lips feel all fuzzy as if he was buzzing with electricity. England was considering deepening the kiss when he suddenly remembered that they were supposed to be fifteen-year-old wizards at Hogwarts, so he begrudgingly pulled away. America's wide blue eyes seemed to mirror the Brit's and both of their faces now had a bright red tinge to them.
America rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand as he grinned sheepishly at the older nation. "Uhm, so that was weird."
England didn't answer. He was already stood up, checking his watch. "It's nine o'clock now. We're all meeting at midnight, okay?" With that, the British nation walked off, leaving America alone on the bench.
America frowned, what on Earth was that about? He supposed that England was just flustered or confused or something but that was still a little bit rude. America rubbed his lips with the back of his hand; they were still tingling from the kiss with England. He realised that England never told him about the "important" news that they were all meeting to discuss later that night.
The corridors of Hogwarts were silent as both students and teachers slept the night away. Only a select number of people were awake (nineteen to be precise) and they were all headed towards the Great Hall.
The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were already in the Hall as the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs filed in. "Took your time," America joked, receiving the finger from Prussia.
"Can I just say that deciding to meet up at midnight was the stupidest idea ever," Prussia announced, dropping onto a bench and practically slamming his head on the table.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually agree with that bastard," Romano said, sitting across from Prussia, a typical scowl on his face.
"Don't worry Roma, it's not that bad! Once this is done, we can go to sleep and have sweet dreams," Spain comforted, wrapping an arm around Romano.
"Again, how are you always so fucking happy?" Romano sighed, burying his face in his hands. Spain shrugged.
"If we could begin the meeting so I can go to sleep, that would be useful," Austria grumbled, putting his feet up on the bench.
"Why, do you need to catch up on your beauty sleep?" Prussia mocked. "You may need to hibernate for a few years in order to do that."
"SHOTS FIRED!" Spain and France shouted, resulting in glares from both Austria and England.
"If you lot haven't guessed, this is a very important meeting so if you'd kindly shut up then we can get started," England lectured.
"I'm sorry, but what is this meeting even about?" America asked, more than a little confused.
"England, I thought that you were going to tell him?" Germany asked, icy blue eyes calmly studying England.
A small blush found its way to England's face, he shrugged. "I-I forgot."
"England you're blushing," Japan remarked, sounding faintly amused.
"Hey, so is America!" Denmark bellowed from the other side of the room.
"What?" America yelled. "No, I'm not!"
England groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "And we wonder why nothing ever gets done."
However, nobody heard England as they were too busy arguing and chatting amongst themselves to listen.
Germany stood on the bench and slammed his fists on the table. "That's it! Can you all please just stop being petty for five minutes? Once we've got this sorted, we can all go to bed and sleep which is what half of you are moaning about so can we all just stop?" As expected, the room went into silence, allowing Germany to take a well-needed deep breath.
"Okay, thank you. Now, England, I suggest you take over this meeting. Can everyone listen to England and wait until he's finished talking to ask questions? Thank you." Germany sat down and Italy clung on to him.
"Thank you, Germany. Okay, so as we all know America is now the Hogwarts champion for the Triwizard Tournament." A few glares and mutters were passed around the room, mainly directed at America. "But, there's nothing we can do about that. The main reason for this meeting is the potential threat that has been posed to us by a group of what we believe to be evil wizards. Any questions so far?" England scanned the room and he was about to continue when a hand was raised in the air.
"Yes Finland, you have a question?"
"I was just wondering, how do you know about this threat?" Finland asked, his head cocked to the side in confusion.
"Ah, a group of nations including France and Germany overheard a private conversation between Severus Snape and another anonymous wizard. We have come to the decision that we can assume both Snape and the unknown wizard are at this school with dark and dangerous intent. I hope that answers your question."
Finland nodded, so England continued. "Anyway, the two participants in the conversation know that we are nations and apparently The Dark Lord-Voldemort- is going to use this information to his advantage."
"I thought that The Dark Lord was dead!" Shouted Denmark, his arms folded. "So, how does that even make any sense?"
"Voldemort isn't dead, Dane," Norway mumbled, next to Denmark. "I can feel his dark power rising, can't you?" Norway asked, his question directed towards England who nodded.
"Yes, I can feel it. It's quite faint, but it's getting stronger. So, he's alive, though, we have to keep that a secret, otherwise we'd cause a panic. Furthermore, Voldemort is, well, he's looking to take two of us. We're not certain on which two, but we need to figure that out tonight. France, what did they say Voldemort specifically wanted?"
"He wants the 'superpower mentioned in some prophecy and the one who possesses the magic of infinite power', right?" He looked to Prussia for confirmation who nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Whatever that means."
England began to pace, deep in thought. "Okay, so "superpower"- that could relate to who's performing better financially, what nation has the most land or trade etcetera, but in Voldemort's case I think he's on about the strength specification and the superpower nation." England stopped pacing and looked up to meet America's confused eyes. "I think he means you, America."
"What? Seriously, what do I have to do with this- this magic stuff?" America protested, unhappy at the fact that he was personally being targeted. "I mean, I'd never even thought about magic until I came here."
England shrugged, "I don't know why he wants you, America, maybe it's something to do with this prophecy- whatever that is, but I think we should go with the assumption that he does. So, if the superpower refers to America then who is the other one? 'Infinite power'- what does that even mean? Does anyone else have any ideas or am I just talking to myself?"
"I think you're just talking to yourself," America contributed, earning him a glare.
"I think it means someone who is good at magic." Norway mused, stepping forward so that he could address everyone better. "Someone who has always had a tradition of magic in their blood, in their country. A keen practitioner of magic. Someone whose magic comes freely to them. Someone like you, England."
"Not necessarily Norway," England responded, his eyebrows creased in thought. "It could refer to me, you or Romania. We can't just say that it's me."
"But England, it is the most logical answer," Japan added. "After all, The Dark Lord is from Britain as is this school. I only assume that whatever he plans to do-he plans to do it here."
China nodded. "Japan is right. It does make more sense."
"I agree," Russia piped up from the far corner of the room. "Voldemort is seeming like a pretty clever guy."
"Okay…" England paused, trying to string everything together. "So, we think that Voldemort is after America and I. Now that we've sorted out who he wants, we need a plan. Does anybody have any suggestions?"
Prussia raised his hand in the air, and England resisted the urge to groan out loud. "Yes, Prussia?"
"I think that we should go into teams. Work on different sections, locate different areas that we need to target, that kind of thing. I mean, one of our teams needs to help America with the Tournament."
"That is… Actually not a bad idea. Okay, so we need to split up. How do you want to do this?" England asked, trying to figure out who would work well with who would be hard.
"I know that we're not at war anymore but how about the old Axis and Allies teams and the like?" Spain suggested. "At least that way it's easier for us to separate."
England nodded. "I see how that works. Okay, so we'll have Germany, Italy, Romano, Spain, Japan and Prussia; you'll be a group. America, Russia, France, China, Canada and I will form another group. Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland can join up. That leaves just Hungary and Austria to form a duo, is that okay?" Everyone nodded, okay with their groups. "Actually…" England rubbed his chin, in thought. "I think two's a bit small, maybe three… Does anyone want to join Austria and Hungary?"
Prussia smirked as he walked over to where Hungary and Austria were sitting. "I will!"
England nodded. "Okay, now we just have to give out roles. Germany, do you think you guys can work on helping America out with the Tournament?"
"I'm sure that will be fine, England."
"Former Allies, we can try and figure out how Voldemort is planning on getting hold of America and me." England's eyes moved over to the Nordic group. "Norway, your group can try and figure out why Voldemort needs us and research into Voldemort's past for us." England's eyes lingered on the trio, what could they do? "You three can work on Snape. Tail him for us and find out what he's up to."
"We need team names!" Prussia yelled, causing Austria to facepalm.
England rolled his eyes. "Alright, we can all come up with our own team names and announce them at our next meeting, okay? Does anyone have any questions?" Luckily for England, nobody had any. England glanced at his watch and raised his eyebrows. "It's half one, so now that we're done I guess we should get going to bed. Meeting dismissed!" he announced, allowing the tired nations to rush back to their dorms.
England walked up to the Gryffindor dorm with America, in silence. They hadn't spoken about their previous kiss or the fact that there was the possibility that evil wizards were after them. He guessed that they would have plenty of time to discuss both topics and that America probably didn't feel like talking about it right then. Hogwarts was a lot more stressful then England had thought it would be. Magic had previously just been a nice, habitual activity for England but now it just seemed dark and dangerous. It would become even darker if Voldemort took over. England knew that they could never let that happen, they just had to be prepared. England glanced over at America as they entered the Common Room. Voldemort was after England and he was after America.
Yes, they had to be prepared. Voldemort could not be allowed to win.
A/N: Okay, so there's the chapter that was wayyy overdue done! I am really sorry; I'm just a bad updater!
Oh, also I want you guys to give me ideas for possible team names; the best ones will be used! (I can't think of any at the moment, and I want them to be really awesome) So, you can PM me a suggestion, or post one in the reviews?
Thanks for following and favouriting, you guys are super awesome!
If you're feeling nice, then post a review! :')
~BooksAreLikeChocolateButBetter
GUEST REVIEW RESPONSE:
Berlin: You think it's awesome? Thank you! :') Yeah, the house selection was crazy hard… But, I think I put Ivan in the right place, I agree with you. He just wants friends! Yeah, I know. It was supposed to be obvious xD Thank you, I will!
