Chapter 8: Quidditch and Visits

By the time the first quidditch game of the season arrived, Kakashi was watching Gryffindor Tower and Ebisu could return his real self to the Ravenclaw dormitories.

"The usual couple of people trying to sneak out," Ebisu reported as the duties changed hands. "The only other thing I'd like to mention is that Hermione Granger is time-traveling."

"She's what?" Kakashi asked, disbelieving.

"She's time-traveling." Ebisu repeated. "I confirmed it with Dumbledore. She's using something they call a 'time-turner' to re-do certain hours of the day to attend extra classes."

"And he didn't think that was relevant information for us to have?"

"Well, I suppose it doesn't make much of a difference to us. Whether she's in 9 o'clock once, twice, or thrice, we'll still be guarding her. The first time I noticed anything, I'd thought I'd seen her in an armchair by the fireplace. But then there she was, walking down the stairs from her dorm. It was late, so I thought I must be mistaken. That was until her friends mentioned something about her schedule being doubled up. After that I paid more attention. A couple of days later, I watched her walk into the Gryffindor common room and hurry up the staircase to the girl's dorm. Five minutes later, she came in again with Potter and Weasley. It reminds me of our clones in a way, being in two places at once."

The wizarding world was giving Kakashi a headache. "Good work Ebisu, I'll take it from here."

The next morning, Fred and George Weasley arrived at breakfast covered in bright pink paint that they had done a poor job of washing out of their hair. Kakashi stood leaning innocently against the wall near the Gryffindor table. The fifth year Weasleys glared at him as they passed. The Great Hall was filled with laughter and cat-calls. Kurenai had been talking to Ebisu when the twins made their appearance.

"What the-" Kurenai began and then trailed off at the sight.

"I thought about warning Kakashi when he took over Gryffindor Tower, about the twins," Ebisu explained, "but I then figured he'd have it covered." He hid a smirk with a sniff and a turn of his head.

Kurenai turned to him, eyes wide. "They tried to get into your room? Why?"

"Well for me, they wanted to set off fireworks inside of it while I was sleeping. But I think they had different motives for Kakashi."

Kakashi caught the two older members of his team looking at him from across the hall and smiled through his mask.

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The first game of the Quidditch season had arrived on the same morning as a thunderstorm. The line of umbrellas, headed to the Quidditch pitch, overlapped and swayed like scales on a fish.

"I can't believe they're going to be flying up in the air in this," Kurenai exclaimed, looking up at the rain. Another flash of lightning darted across the sky.

"Well at least we don't have to worry about the lightning," Guy grinned, elbowing Kakashi.

"Did you say something Guy?"

Kurenai snorted and Ebisu pushed his sunglasses up on his nose.

"Alright, you know the drill," Kakashi began. "Scatter and patrol. This storm would be excellent cover for Black to infiltrate the grounds and get close to the students. He did it once, he can do it again."

The ninja spread out in the stands, keeping an eye on everything as best they could in the rain. A whistle was blown and the game began.

The cold rain seeped into everything. Kakashi's mask soaked his face and his usually defiant hair hung down in drooping wet spikes around his headband. He couldn't see any of the game and had to squint to see the next section of stands. Frustrated, he straightened his headband and opened his Sharingan. Something stood out to him immediately.

Kakashi could see the soft glow of the wizards and witches but high in the stands opposite of him there was a lone, four-legged creature emitting a glow similar to a wizard. It was hard to make out and Kakashi started working his way over to that section. He saw the form retreat out of the stands and began to follow it. That was when a cold more piercing than the rain engulfed him.

Alarm bells went off in Kakashi's mind and he whipped his head toward the center of the arena. There, near the ground, floated dozens of dementors and they were all looking up. Kakashi followed their gaze and saw Harry fifty feet in the air, listing to the side on his broomstick.

Water squished in Kakashi's sandals as he bolted to the front of the stands. His hand reached for a kunai to distract the dementors but his team was already on it. A large fireball lit up the arena floor, scattering the creatures. Fire bullets blossomed from the other side of the stadium, forcing the dementors to do some fancy hovering to avoid the balls of flame. But this was only on the outskirts of Kakashi's awareness. As he neared the edge of the stands, another hooded figure was already floating over toward the silver haired youth. Obito's crushed body rose into Kakashi's mind's eye. He shook the image away.

Kakashi channeled chakra into his feet, launching himself at the dementor. Seeing the threat too late, the dementor pulled back right into Kakashi's downward swiping kunai. Kakashi pushed off of the back of the dementor. He hurtled through the air and freezing rain toward his target. The image of his father curled up and dead on the floor of their house swam before his eyes.

Kakashi reached out and caught Harry, who had fallen off of his broomstick. The young jonin rotated the Gryffindor so he could hold him with one arm. Then Kakashi twisted his head around to look at the fast approaching ground. His free hand weaved a few signs. Waterstyle: water sphere.

Below, Kakashi saw water from the ground and several thousand rain drops get sucked into a collective mass the size of a car. Kakashi fed the jutsu his chakra as fast as he could. Bigger, it needs to be bigger or it won't create enough resistance to slow us down before we hit the ground. In a last ditch effort, Kakashi maneuvered their bodies so his would cushion Harry's fall. That's all I can do.

They hit the water sphere and Kakashi passed out.

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"Is he going to be okay?" Harry asked, concern in his voice.

"My rival will bounce back from this in no time!" Guy proclaimed. Kakashi could practically hear the thumbs up Guy had just used.

"Touch him and die," Kurenai suddenly warned. Her tone was frigid.

"Oh come on Kurenai, we just want to see his face!" Fred whined.

"Fred, George, leave him alone! He saved Harry's life for Pete's sake!" Ron shouted.

"I will throw you all out if you can't keep your voices down. There are people trying to rest," Madam Pomfrey hissed.

Kakashi's eye smile gave him away.

"Up already captain?" Ebisu's joking tone didn't mask his relief.

"Shouldn't you be patrolling the castle?" Kakashi countered, opening his eye.

"Good to have you back," Ebisu smiled. "I'll get on that then." With that Ebisu turned around and left the hospital wing at a jog.

Kakashi threw his covers off and put his feet on the floor. He grabbed his headband off of the nightstand, tying it on as he stood.

Madam Pomfrey swooped in. "Kakashi lie back down this instant. I don't know what your friends meant by chakra-exhaustion but-"

"Madam Pomfrey," Kakashi interrupted her, buckling on his armor with practiced fingers. "I can assure you that I am perfectly fine. I'm sorry my teammates alarmed you but it's not as bad as they thought." He shot a glare at Guy and Kurenai. "I have a job to do. Good night."

Madam Pomfrey watched in shock as the three ninja strode out. Guy and Kurenai flanked their captain as they walked, just in case.

The witch turned around to see the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, plus Ron and Hermione, looking shocked as well. She huffed. "That's enough visiting for today. I've let you all stay too long as it is." As the mud-splattered Gryffindors made their way out, Harry opened his mouth to speak. "Don't even try it," Madam Pomfrey snapped.

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"So," Kakashi began as they walked down the corridor, "what happened?"

"After you made your water sphere, Dumbledore ran out onto the field and called the dementors off. He was quite angry. Then he cast a spell to slow your fall. When you hit the sphere, the splash was in slow-motion," Guy explained, clearly still in awe of what he'd seen.

"Between Ebisu and Guy's fire jutsu and you stopping the rain, we had a clear view," Kurenai added.

"I stopped the rain?"

"Well, pretty much all the water in the arena got consumed by your water jutsu. What were you thinking giving it that much chakra? You could have really hurt yourself," Kurenai crossed her arms.

"It was most unwise my rival." Guy's voice betrayed his concern.

Kakashi knew that they were right. "I'm sorry. It was hard to concentrate."

Kurenai's eyes softened. "None of us has had an easy life. But we can only imagine what you have to re-live every time a dementor gets close."

"I don't want your pity," Kakashi bit out. His words had sharp edges.

"Well you don't want our friendship either but you'll have that nonetheless," Kurenai shot back.

"'Teammates'," Guy scoffed at Kakashi's use of the word earlier. "You are my eternal rival, don't forget it."

"I think you make that impossible to forget Guy," Kurenai smiled.

"That's right," Guy beamed.

Kakashi remained silent, absorbing the conversation into his tired brain; tucking it into a safe corner of his mind.

Several weeks passed without incident. Quidditch practices and classes were attended, homework turned in, and corridors patrolled. The four ninja were quite used to their routine by now. Guy challenged himself to run laps around Hogwarts if the Slytherins didn't develop more up-beat attitudes. Even Malfoy had tired of insulting the energetic chunin and just let him give his speeches unopposed.

Fred and George had changed tactics and were now interrogating Kakashi's teammates one by one. Ebisu had gotten ten minutes into a story, about a princess and how she had decreed that Kakashi's face was too perfect to be viewed by any mortal, before they realized he was pulling their leg. The Ravenclaw girls who'd been eavesdropping seemed a little disappointed.

Guy was more than happy to tell them why Kakashi kept his face covered. "My rival is simply not as handsome as I," he stated sadly. "He conceals his face so that he will not lose to me in a beauty contest and thus fall further behind in our ongoing rivalry." Unsure if Guy was joking with them or actually believed that to be true, they decided to ask the female ninja.

Kurenai told them that they had a better chance of getting a date with her than finding out what Kakashi's face looked like.

"Really? You'd go on a date with us?" The twins said together, glints in their eyes.

Twenty minutes later, Fred and George found themselves turning all of their fireworks in to Mr. Filch. They couldn't quite recall how they'd gotten there but they suspected Kurenai had something to do with it.

As the Christmas break approached, another Hogsmeade trip was scheduled to take place the last weekend of the term. It was Kakashi and Kurenai's turn to accompany the students to the village. As the ninja were leaving the castle, Fred and George rushed by them. The twins laughed and turned back to look at them.

"Now what do you suppose they're up to?" Kurenai eyed them suspiciously.

Kakashi shrugged, he was looking ahead at the dementors flanking the gate. The December air suddenly became colder but Kakashi didn't hear Rin or see Obito or his father again. He didn't notice Kurenai smiling politely at Filch or Filch glaring at them as they passed.

"It's interesting," Kakashi spoke up, surprising Kurenai, "that at the start of term they let the students ride in the coaches with the interesting horses, but for trips to Hogsmeade they just walk."

Before Kurenai could answer, Cedric sidled up to them. "Don't be ridiculous Kakashi," Cedric said with a grin. "Nothing pulls the coaches; they are enchanted to go by themselves. I know you're both unfamiliar with our magic. Luckily Kurenai has me around to be her native guide. I don't know who you've been talking to over at Gryffindor but they've been pulling your leg."

"You know, for a Seeker you're kind of blind," Kakashi muttered before Kurenai could explain. She flashed the hand signal for 'hold your position'. It wasn't an exact translation but Kakashi knew what she meant. He went quiet and waited.

"What did he say?" Cedric asked, the genial expression on his face fading a bit.

"He said 'he must have been blind to not have noticed that'," Kurenai forced a laugh. "That Fred and George, they're such jokers."

Cedric brightened again, "yeah, that they are. Well, see you there." The Hufflepuff ran off to join his friends.

"Is something wrong with his vision?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm guessing Ebisu didn't mention the thestrals to you in his magical creature briefing?"

Kakashi shook his head.

Kurenai sighed, "well, he couldn't have possibly mentioned every creature. With the ones on the Hogwarts grounds alone they must need magic just to feed them all." She pondered this and then continued, "thestrals are the animals you saw pulling the coaches. A person can only see them if they've seen death."

"Oh," Kakashi said, realization hitting him.

"Yeah. Hagrid actually looked kind of sorry when he found out that all of us could see them."

This ended the conversation as they entered the bustling streets of Hogsmeade. The thatch-roofed cottages covered in snow made the village look quite picturesque.

Kakashi looked up and down the snowy streets. "Okay, I was thinking I could start on the north end of town and you on the south. When we meet in the middle we can switch to-."

"Kakashi," Kurenai interrupted him. He looked at her. Her hands were on her hips. "We are not going to patrol the town. The dementors already do that."

"They only patrol at night," Kakashi pointed out.

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Kakashi, you are a good captain, but we all need a break sometime."

"The holiday break is coming up. You'll get a long break then. With most of the students away it'll be a lot easier on all of us."

"I wasn't talking about me," Kurenai wanted to shout but she kept her voice level.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "I got a break when I was laid up in the hospital wing."

"Okay, let's talk about the hospital wing," Kurenai said, winding up. "We both know that those two incidents shouldn't have landed you in the hospital at all, even taking the dementors into account. You're pushing yourself too hard normally so when we do have to fight you aren't nearly as-" she sought for the right word. Careful? Versatile? Useful? No. "You aren't nearly as resilient as you usually are. Now, as a friend, I am ordering you to take this afternoon to relax."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "As a friend, you're ordering me?"

"Besides," Kurenai continued, brushing aside the lack of logic in her last statement. "The students aren't going to be on the easternmost edge of town or wherever you were thinking about patrolling. Most of them are going to be here in the heart of town anyway. Now come on," Kurenai grasped his arm and began to drag him down the street to a snow-covered inn. "Ebisu said that there's a beverage here that's a student favorite."

They walked in the door behind four people, one of which could only be Hagrid. Upon entering the establishment Kakashi was immediately put off by the noise and crowd. Kurenai tugged him to the bar and ordered two butterbeers.

Kakashi saw, out of the corner of his eye, a decorated pine tree seemingly float itself in front of a table. Maybe magical decorations moved every so often? He kept an eye on it as he and Kurenai drank their butterbeer at the crowded bar. It really warmed them up and made Kakashi significantly more cheerful.

Kurenai was ordering two more when they heard Hagrid shout, "filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Half of the room went quiet and they heard Professor McGonagall shush him.

The ninja drank from their tankards slowly and watched Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and another man leave. A minute later, three students emerged from behind the suspicious tree. The copy ninja's eye narrowed as he stood up and made his way over to them. Ron and Hermione froze, looking up at the looming form of Kakashi.

"Harry, what do you think you're doing here?" Kakashi's voice barely penetrated Harry's brain.

Harry could hardly think. His mind was busy mulling over the new information he'd just received. Black was my father's friend? He betrayed my parents to Voldemort?

"Harry," Kakashi said sharply. Harry blinked and looked at Kakashi. Recognition and then horror crossed his face. "What are you doing here?" Kakashi annunciated each word.

"I uh- um-" Harry couldn't form words.

"He just wanted to see Hogsmeade Kakashi, please don't turn him in." Hermione withered under Kakashi's glare.

"Yeah that's right," Ron began to back Hermione up but shut his mouth when Kakashi's gaze rested on him.

"Kurenai," Kakashi said. "Please accompany Mr. Potter back to the school the way he came. I want to know exactly how he got here without having to pass the dementors or the school's regular defenses." Kakashi turned to Harry. "It's not my job to enforce the rules at Hogwarts, but if you set foot outside the castle grounds again, without one of my teammates with you, I will personally deliver you to Professor McGonagall and explain to her precisely what you've been doing."

Harry nodded. Ron gulped. Hermione whispered out, "thank you Kakashi."

"Shall we?" Kurenai gestured for Harry to lead the way.

It was easier for Kurenai to sneak into Honeyduke's cellar than for Harry. By the time they had returned to the castle she had plenty to report. "There are two secret passages into the castle that the caretaker doesn't know about," Kurenai told the other ninja. They were in the old room that they shared. They didn't want to be overheard.

"You can't be serious?" Kakashi stared at his teammate.

"Oh, completely," Kurenai's irritation was clear. "Harry has some sort of magic map that shows him who's where and different ways to get in and out of the castle unseen."

"That's slightly creepy," Ebisu frowned. "He can find out where anyone is at any time?"

Kakashi brushed the comment aside. "He has a map?! Where did that come from?"

"He wouldn't tell me but I have a pretty good idea," the kunoichi replied. "Unfortunately, it would seem, his source was not the makers."

Guy counted off in his head, Harry, the previous owners of the map, and whoever made the map in the first place. "So we have a minimum of three people who know where these passages are?" Guy asked.

"We can bet on more than three," Kurenai said. "Whenever Harry referred to his source or the makers, he said 'they'. Not to mention that there could have been more owners besides Harry's source."

"Where are the passages Kurenai?" Kakashi asked.

"One is on the third floor corridor by that witch statue," Kurenai answered. "The other is under that ludicrous tree that broke Harry's broomstick."

"Guy," Kakashi ordered, "go check out the tree. Find out where the passage lets out and check to see if it's been used recently." Guy took off down the hall.

When Guy returned, his face was scratched up but he was beaming. "What happened to you?" Kurenai asked.

"That Whomping Willow is a most worthy opponent, but I came out victorious," Guy's teeth flashed.

"What did you find Guy," Kakashi asked.

"Besides a new sparring partner, I discovered that the tunnel under the willow tree leads to the building called 'the Shrieking Shack'. It is located on the outskirts of Hogsmeade." Kakashi gave Kurenai a pointed look that she ignored. Guy continued. "It does seem to have been used recently but not for a few weeks."

"Okay then, I'll have a word with Dumbledore about the passages. No need to tell him how I found out," Kakashi added when Kurenai looked distressed. "We'll pay special attention to them during our rounds."

It turned out that the Whomping Willow exit was used by Professor Lupin for when he became a werewolf. Because of this, Dumbledore put Lupin in charge of monitoring it. However, that didn't keep Guy from going there almost daily to spar with the mighty willow tree.