AN:
Firstly: I'm soooo sorry for the long wait. There's so many of you waiting, and I made you wait almost 3 months! I know how agonizing it can be. It's summer now though; I'll have more free time, so look forward to speedier updates for a while.
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!
I'm giving you two quick polls to answer in your reviews:
1: Should I keep the strange time skip breaks? Or should I stop doing them? For now I'm doing boring breaks.
2: Should there be pairings? How would you react to Hermione/Kakashi consider how it seems to be leaning in that direction already? It won't mean any lovey dovey but would allow for more tension and … dare I say it… ANGST.
Take a minute out of your day to answer those questions and I will love you forever.
This chapter starts off slow and ends with a "BOOM!"
"It's almost Christmas!" Kakashi pointedly did not turn as Ron plopped down beside him in the great hall at breakfast. His plate, as usual, was overflowing with …basically everything that isn't good for you for breakfast.
After an expectant pause, Kakashi replied, "…Yeah."
Ron turned towards him and made a distinctly 'what's wrong with you, mate?' face. Kakashi had gotten pretty good at reading the dramatic boy's expression by now.
"Really, shouldn't you be more excited?"
"It's not really something we celebrate at home."
Ron looked horrified. "No Christmas? Really?"
"Not really." Kakashi tried to indicate by the tone of his voice that he would like it very much if Ron would back off. Please and thank you.
"No wonder you're always so gloomy then."
He had to force himself not to resort to violence at this point. "Is there something you want from me, Ron?"
He was fairly sure his eyebrow must be twitching at this point, and he hoped that his forehead protector was obscuring it enough.
"Well… since it's almost Christmas… you think you could maybe hang out with Harry today? While Hermione and I are at Hogsmede?"
Kakashi decided that puppy dog eyes did not mix well with freckles. Or frighteningly red hair. Or Ron.
Submitting was probably the best way of getting Ron to stop annoying him, so Kakashi responded with a monotonous "Fine."
His compliance worked as planned, and Ron quickly excused himself with a "Thaf 'ashi, otta ung ay!" shouted around a piece of overly- buttered toast. (Translation: "thanks Kakashi, got to run, bye!")
Kakashi let out a sigh. It had been only a week since Hermione had told him about the origin of his wand, and he had still discovered nothing more about the wizarding world's "White Fang" and couldn't even seem to find the book Hermione had been speaking about.
Not that he's had much time to study. Teachers were piling on tests and assignments as the semester came to a close, and he'd been training in much of his spare time.
At least "hanging out with Harry" would be somewhat of a break, and it would be easier to follow the boy around as his guard duty entailed.
Sighing heavily, he concentrated on locating Harry's chakra signature. Dumbledore had been right. It was increasingly easy to use chakra and now he could even locate individual signatures no matter how weak they happened to be.
He pin pointed Harry to the third floor corridor, and made his way up the steps.
Harry POV:
He was a little nervous. A little excited too. Fred and George had approached him with the exact tool he needed to go to Hogsmede and there was no way he was going to pass it up. Most importantly, he was a little on edge when a hand caught him around the forearm as he slipped into the secret passage hidden by the statue of the one-eyed witch.
Well, a lot on edge.
After all, he did jump five feet into the air (magic probably had something to do with this) and hit his head on the ceiling of the narrow opening.
When he opened his eyes again, sure that a professor had gotten him, it was instead a white haired boy who was clearly laughing at him, despite how well the mask hid his face.
He scowled. "Ha. Very funny."
When Kakashi finally got control of himself he answered, "Yes, yes it was" with a smiling eye. Then he looked sternly at Harry and said, "Although you really shouldn't be sneaking out of school."
The nervousness in the pit of Harry's stomach came back full force but he replied defiantly "What, are you going to stop me, Hatake?"
The silver haired teen considered him for a moment and then the grin that had been there before returned, "Not at all, Harry-chan, I'm going to come with you!"
Kakashi POV:
Okay, so maybe he'd overdone it with the "-chan." His acting skills weren't among the top skills in his shinobi arsenal, after all. He hadn't really needed them before. Even in other under cover missions he'd been in other shinobi villages.
Luckily the other boy didn't understand what "-chan" meant. Kakashi had the feeling that Harry would most likely be pissed off if he did know.
As it was he was sitting there gaping at him like a fish out of water, his lips forming words that Kakashi was fairly sure were a combination of rather colorful language and questions.
It was all rather amusing to him. So he plastered on another grin and cooed, "Come on, Harry! Live a little!" grabbed the other boy's wrist and sped down the passageway half dragging a still very stunned Boy Who Lived.
GaurdGaurdGuardGaurdGaurdGuard GaurdGaurdGuardGaurdGaurdGuardGaurd
"Blood lollipops, Ron? Aren't those for vampires?"
"Ah, I suppose that would make sense," said the tall redhead sheepishly. "But honestly, 'Ermione, what should we get him?"
"Aw, now isn't that sweet." A white haired boy suddenly appeared right behind Ron.
Hermione gave a startled shriek and, having gotten over her initial shock, saw that Harry was standing next to an overly cheery Kakashi.
The she hit them.
"What in the world were you thinking?" She hissed and hit Harry again.
"And why didn't you stop him, Kakashi?!" She said giving him a sound smack.
"We were thinking it'd be nice to get out of the castle, 'Mione" replied Harry, rubbing at his now rather sore ear.
"And if you get caught?"
"We won't get caught, 'Mione!"
After a few more moments of argument, Hermione gave in, and the four, having paid for the numerous sweets they'd picked, strolled out of the crowded shop and meandered over to the Three Broomsticks Bar.
They seated themselves around a solitary table near one of the ridiculously large Christmas trees that adorned the poorly lit tavern. Ron set four tankards of butterbeer on the table proclaiming all too grandly that he would pay for their drinks. They enjoyed the warm feel of butterbeer for a while until, to their horror (well, mostly Hermione's horror) The small door to the tavern opened, it's bell tinkling as it admitted their teachers and the Minister of Magic.
Kakashi POV:
Without thinking, Kakashi faded into the background. Had someone walked up to the table they would, saving (perhaps) Professor Dumbledore, have not noticed the white haired shinobi until they sat on him. By this point however, he would be somewhere else, just as inconspicuous.
Unfortunately, Harry was not a shinobi.
The green eyed teen seemed to gape like a fish as he watched a steady stream of the people he most did not need to see right then, right there, sashay into the gratefully dark room.
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi sunk underneath the table, behind said overly large Christmas tree, one Harry Potter in tow.
The conversation that followed was not much of surprise to Kakashi. The way every adult he'd met had acted when they'd spoken about Sirius Black and Harry Potter had clued him in long ago.
By the looks of progressing sadness, horror, and finally fury the passed over Harry's face, Kakashi guessed that Harry had not been as perceptive about the circumstances of the matter of his parents' deaths.
Harry POV:
Sirius Black.
Sirius Black had been responsible—no— had been the murderer of his parents.
And these three—Hermione, Ron, and Kakashi—thought they were in a place to tell not to seek revenge?
They stood in front of the dying fire in the common room. It was already dark out.
"Please, Harry, You mustn't do anything stupid," the bushy-haired girl implored.
He would have laughed if he hadn't been so furious.
"D'you know what I see and hear every time a dementor gets too near me?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads, while Kakashi merely lowered his eye to the ground. "I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. If you'd hear your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget in a hurry."
Kakashi's flinch went by unnoticed.
"Don't tell me that you wouldn't want to go after the man responsible for that! He—he left me with nothing!" Kakashi's shoulders tensed up and his fists tightened so much that his knuckles turned white.
"He stripped me of my own parents! There's nothing left for me! So why not go after him?!"
"BUT YOU STILL HAVE THEM!" The hoarse scream resounded around the room. It came from the one source that not one of the golden three would have expected. Kakashi.
He was pointing at Hermione and Ron. Harry could clearly see the anger, the frustration in his solitary eye. He'd never seen Kakashi like this, and he must have looked surprised because Kakashi then forced himself to calm down and said, "You still have them… Don't try give up what you have now to try to amend something you can't. It'll only hurt you and your friends."
Now Harry was angry again. "What could you possibly know about it? HUH?! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK IT'S A SIMPLE AS THAT?! BLACK WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF MY PARENTS! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LET THAT SLIDE?! AND WHAT WOULD YOU, KAKASHI, KNOW ABOUT LOOSING YOUR FAMILY?!"
"I-I…" Kakashi's face had gone pale.
"I DIDN'T THINK SO!"
"Ha-Harry…"
"Are you going to side with him, then, Hermione?"
"I didn't say anything, Harry, but don't you think—"
"You're making a mistake." Kakashi's voice was quiet.
"Am I then? And I ask again how the bloody hell would you know?"
"Because-- because I… made the same mistake once. And it cost my closest friend his life." His face was turned down toward the floor, so they couldn't see his face. His fists clenched into balls and his knees were locked.
"And—and now. I'm begging you. Don't make me watch someone else be as stupid as I was."
"L-look," stuttered Ron, trying to break the tension, "let's go—let's go visit Hagrid. We haven't seen him for ages!"
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione, eyes still fixed on the white haired teen "Harry isn't supposed to leave the castle and I—"
"Yeah, let's go," Harry spat, glowering in Kakashi's direction. "And I can ask him how come he never mentioned Black when he told me all about my parents!"
"Don't blame Hagrid," hissed Kakashi, finally drawing his eyes away from the floorboards.
"And why not? I had a right to know."
"Maybe but he was only trying to protect you."
"Protect me? If he had stopped Black that night my parents would never have died!" At this Hermione and Ron both gasped.
"Harry, you don't mean that," whispered Ron.
"Yeah, I do. So let's ask him, shall we?" He roughly threw on his cloak and stomped through a protesting portrait of the fat lady.
Ron hesitantly began to follow and stopped at the exit. "Coming, 'Mione?"
"I'll catch up," she replied, still staring at Kakashi who had sat down cross-legged on the cold floor.
Ron bit his lip, giving the two one last glance, and then left the common room.
Hermione sat down next to Kakashi quietly. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Hermione finally spoke.
"What was he like?... Your friend, I mean."
Kakashi chuckled dryly. "He was… a real goofball. He was always late for everything, wore these really tacky orange goggles all the time." He smiled softly at the memory of his teammate. His expression turned to one of sadness as he said, "But… In the end… he was a lot more smart, and a lot more noble than I'll ever be."
They soon felt silent again. To Hermione's astonishment, it was Kakashi who restored the conversation.
"I know how he feels."
Hermione looked at him, questioningly.
"He thinks that if he beats Black, somehow, everything will return to how it was, or how it was supposed to be. But you can't bring the dead back to life, and I don't think you should even try, even if it's only in memory. It only leads to disaster. Believe me."
"I think I can."
"Eh?" Kakashi seemed to be startled. He looked up at her.
"I think I can believe you on that." She smiled dimly.
He watched he with quiet curiosity for a while. And then whispered, "If we're going to catch up with them, we'd better get going."
"Oh! Yes!" Hermione stood and followed Kakashi out of the portrait hall. As the made their way towards the first pair of step, she watched him from behind.
"Kakashi?"
"Hm?"
"When… when we were on the train…. You passed out when the Dementors got too near, too." Kakashi's shoulders stiffened almost imperceptivity.
"Yeah…"
"You can see something when they get close, like Harry." It wasn't a question. "But you were different. It was like… you were trying to escape from something."
Kakashi turned around abruptly, "You are as intelligent as you seem, Hermione." The smiling eye was enough to tell Hermione that she had said enough, but she persisted anyway.
"And you're more afraid than you seem, Kakashi."
The fake grin faded away. "I'm just a coward. I was too afraid of breaking the rules and I…" he fell into silence.
"…Kakashi. What do you see and hear, when the dementors are near?
AN: Cliffie! Will he tell her? What is going to happen? What will be revealed about his father in the next chapter? Will I stop asking these dumb questions?
NEVER!!