I remember how AK, UK, P went, so this time I'm making every chapter count! I'm trying to differentiate here!
Note that I have to modify dates and times for my own convenience.
Whoops… My computer froze when I was writing last chapter, so… the teaser's last line doesn't make any sense. I'll rectify it here.
Ah… I learned who Chiune Sugihara was the other day. There are some really great people in the world… Rest in Peace, Chiune Sugihara.
The attack and the subsequent house-to-house looting/murdering
(Romano POV)
Pain shot through every inch of my body as the fat boy slammed his fist into my stomach. "G-guh…"
I doubled over in agony. "C-can't… breathe…"
"VEE! Fratello!" screamed Veneziano.
"R-run…" I muttered.
"Ve?"
"RUN, YOU IDIOTA!" I roared.
"VE!"
WHAM! Before Veneziano could even start, one of Harry's cousin's goons grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and punched him in the back.
"Fratello!" I screamed.
"You don't have time to worry about him," said a voice from behind. A moment later, he grabbed both my arms into a Full Nelson Hold.
"Got him, Doc?" asked Harry's cousin. [1]
"As ever, Big D!"
WHAM! WHACK! BAM!
Ugh… Again? Another time, more bullies… except these are just kids. Not even nation kids; Wine Jerk and the others were (physically) younger than these kids were when they picked on us. And even then, it was so that they could own us. Or gain power, or whatever. It was their job. How could these boys stand to pound other kids with no profit? Not even the mafia did that. When they did it, they did it for money, or power, or to tighten their grip over me. It would have been better if they stole something from me; then there would be a point. But all they're doing is beating us up…
"This is boring," said Harry's cousin at last. 'Doc', or whoever he was, released his hold over me. I crumpled to the ground. "Come on, gang, let's leave."
They mounted their pointlessly expensive racing bikes and pedaled off.
"Ve…" murmured Veneziano. He was lying on the ground next to me, strangely silent.
"Fratello…" I whispered back… "Sei ferito gravemente?" (Are you hurt badly?)
"… FRATELLO!" he screamed. "IT HURTS!"
He rolled over and hugged me tightly.
"Veneziano…" I muttered. I hugged him back, and then got the both of us to our feet. "Come on. We're going back."
Together we hobbled our way back to the house—none of us had ever thought of it as our home. I knew how to get there; fratello wasn't paying attention. We just had to go through the alleyway between the garage and the… something, and-
Cold.
Dark.
Nothingness…
"Oh, merda!" I cursed under my breath. There was only one being in the entire world that could create that atmosphere… Dementors!
"Ve? Wh-"
"Shut it!" I slapped my hand over Veneziano's mouth.
Dementors… I remembered them clearly. They fed on happiness and joy, and human souls… They couldn't take our souls, but that wasn't necessary. Their ability to make us relive the past was enough.
Hah… Spain brought them over by accident back in his Conquistador days. Said that the Aztecs invented chocolate as an antidote for Dementor attacks…
"Looks like you need a little lesson, kid."
"I just need a little bit of your land, okay?"
"Give up your house, and you won't get hurt."
Pain…
Death.
Once again, I saw, heard, felt every single death of all of my people… Salazar's heart attack… Ms. Maria, gunned down behind her bar…
I remembered the day I first encountered them… Spain had just come home from his daughter's house… well, one of his daughters… I think it was Mexico…
Suffering.
After he hugged me, he said that he was tired and wanted to sleep on something that wasn't rocking…
War.
Shots rang out on all sides of me. The Italian Wars. The World Wars. Austrian Succession. Spanish Succession. Nordic raids. Even some of Grandpa Rome's…
So I went down to the docks to pick up some of my goods, and… I went into that cabin.
Pain.
I had heard that sometimes Spain stored his things in that cabin when there was nowhere else to store anything…
Death.
Agony.
I was wrong. There was nothing in there but that. That… thing.
AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!
"AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAGHHHHHHHHGHGGGGH!"
"Expecto… Patronum!"
A… stag? A stag of light… A Patronus.
My vision…the stag… it was… blurring… The light began to fade… or was I the one who was fading? I don't know…
X
The next thing I knew, I was in a house. Not ours, Prussia cleaned ours so well that it was annoying. I could make out four figures, arguing in English… "…RUDDY OWLS!"
Sniff…
Just one sniffle was all it took. Fratello was right next to me, so close that we were almost nuzzling. He sniffled again. Tears streaked down his cheeks…
He let out a quiet wail. "Uwah…"
The figures stopped, and turned around.
"Sniff… fratello… Holy Roma…"
I leaned in closer. "Veneziano… Fratello…" I slid my arms around his waist and hugged him. "Fratello…" (Brother)
Sniff… "Fratello…" Veneziano sniffled back.
"There, there," I patted him on the back.
"Fratello… I remembered. I remembered everything…"
"I do. I do too."
"Fratello… It hurts," he whispered. "It hurts. Ithurtsithurtsithurts…"
A shadow moved behind Veneziano. Before I could even think, I sprung up and throttled it. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BROTHER!" I screamed.
"G-i-it's me!" said the shadow. "H-Harry!"
My vision slowly blurred back to normal. "H-Harry?" I asked. "Wha-what happened to your glasses…?"
"They fell off," he said coldly. "After you choked me."
I looked down. "S-sorry…" I said.
"Eh? What was that?"
"I SAID I WAS SORRY, GLASSES JERK!"
I looked down again… "Sorry…"
"Ve… what were those things…?" Veneziano warbled.
Harry seemed at a loss for words. "Th- you were hit by a lorry-"
"Dementors." I said. "Don't screw with me, Glasses jerk. I know Dementors when I feel them."
At the word 'Dementors', Harry's family shuddered. "How… how do you know about… those… th-things…?" stuttered a bony woman.
Well, she may not be pretty… but she's a woman. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you," I said, as politely as I could manage.
"WELL, WHY CAN'T YOU TELL US?!" bellowed a man so fat that it was disgusting. "Speak! Do you think that you're guests here? That boy may have dragged the two of you here, but YOU'RE NOT WEL-"
"Oh, are you so tough?" I snapped. "Your own nephew brought us in, and you're going to kick us out just like that? Well, Your mother is a ********************* Lorem ipsem **************** Admintum Venium** *********** Tragula ********** hippopotamus ********** republican *****************Daniel Radcliffe ******************* with a bucket of ************** in a castle far away where no one can hear you ******************** soup ************************** with a bucket of ******** Mickey Mouse ******** a stick of dynamite **************** magical ******************* Alakazam!" [2]
"Pii!"
Huh…? I ceased my stream of curses and looked up. Gilbird was hovering in the air, a note in his beak.
"What… WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS-"
"Gilbird," I answered. "He's Gilbert's bird. Yes, he really named his own bird that." Actually, he really didn't name Gilbird after himself. Back when he was still a hospital, he helped treat this man named Gilbert. And since Gilbert was the first patient who didn't accuse him of being a witch/demon/whatever they were thinking at the time about albinos at the time (he's probably not albino, he just looks like one), Prussia named his bird after him. And later he took the name Gilbert, which led to some unfortunate implications about him being arrogant. Which he was. But that had nothing to do with Gilbird.
"He named his bird after himself," said Harry, making the logical conclusion.
"He didn't. I'll tell you the whole story some other day."
"WHAT IS THIS BIRD DOING-"
"You didn't see the note, did you?" I picked the note off of Gilbird. Most of it was in German and in Prussia's handwriting, although I did detect some Spanish. I translated it aloud.
"Hallo, Good evening, and general salutations. I am the awesome Gilbert and I want to know where Feli and Lovi are. If you have them, come over here with them. If you know where they are, come over and tell us. If you do not know, then your blood shall fertilize your gardens forevermore Sorry about that. Then you will come over and tell us that you don't know. P.S. Be sure to lock your doors at night. P.S.S. I AM AWESOME! P.S.S.S. Your heads would look very nice on a stake."
I peered at the note. Wait… that handwriting… It was Spain's, except… he only wrote in this script back when he was a Conquistador… or when he was feeling genocidal.
Plus, it was written in blood. God knows where he got it.
"Give me that!" said the obese man, grabbing it out of my hands. "Wh-what!? It's in German… and is that blood!?"
"It is," I said. "Look, what are you hiding? I know Dementors when I feel them. And I know that you know what they are. What I want to know is why. Why did you try to hide it from me, Harry? Why?"
X (Harry POV)
Lovino wasn't furious. He wasn't angry with me at all. He was… pleading? It wasn't as if he was on bended knee, but his eyes said it all.
I wanted to tell him. But I couldn't. "I… can't." I said. "I can't." If I did, then I'd get into more trouble than I already was… "I'm sorry, Lovino. If I tell you… they'll…"
Lovino looked at me with… not pity. Empathy. "Someone's holding something over your head, then. I won't pry. At least… not from you."
And with those strange words, he got Feliciano to his feet. "Andiamo, andiamo," he said. (Come on, let's go). Together, the two brothers made for the door; Feliciano clinging tightly to Lovino's arm and scuttling.
"W-WAIT!" screeched Uncle Vernon. "I'm not finished with you, boy! S-stop moving! You will come back and-"
Lovino turned around slowly. And glared. Uncle Vernon shrank back. Strange… Lovino isn't like Hagrid at all, and yet Uncle Vernon acted just like he did back when I first met Hagrid…
Uncle Vernon recovered as soon as Lovino turned his back. "Come back, you-"
Lovino spun around, and-
BAM. There was a crack like a gunshot- no, wait! That really was a- Lovino had- Lovino had a gun!
Lovino may have held the gun in his left hand, but he hit his mark: barely gazing Uncle Vernon's right cheek. Not to mention that he held the gun sideways…
As Uncle Vernon stared in shock, Lovino turned around and said, "Let that be a lesson to you, idiota," Lovino muttered as he turned the doorknob.
He opened it fully, and just before closing it, he turned around again. "Harry. I will find out. Everything."
And with these words, the door slammed shut.
X
Prussia looked at his bedmate, trying hard to make it so that said bedmate didn't notice. At this time… it was especially important to not make eye contact… When he got like this…
Spain looked up from sharpening his axe. "Hey, Prussia… just so you know… there will be blood tonight…"
Prussia shuddered. Ah… If he's like this… if we're going to do what he's planning, I might as well go along with it. Looting houses… Ah, that really brings me back.
X (Back to Harry)
The Dursleys drove off, going who knows where for who knows why. Not that it mattered… I was going on trial. I was never going to see Ron or Hermione again…
I would have done anything to go back to Hogwarts. Even kiss Snape. Well, maybe not Snape. But definitely Malfoy.
The front door opened with a creak. That's odd… I could have sworn that the door was locked. Voices… Those were probably not burglars; burglars would keep their voices down.
I got out of bed and crept out of my room. Those voices… I've heard them before… Professor Lupin?
I stopped creeping and stood up straight. If it was Professor Lupin, then I was safe… I reached the end of the hallway and peered down the stairs. Just as I thought, Professor Lupin was down there… and so was Professor Moody. There were also a lot of people that I didn't know, but if they were with Lupin and Moody… What if that really wasn't them?
"Hey! You!" Professor Moody lifted his head and looked at me with his one good eye.
"Professor Moody?" I asked uncertainly.
Moody grunted. "Never got around to teaching, did I?" He turned to Professor Lupin. "Is that him?"
Professor Lupin nodded. "That's him."
Moody grunted. "Could be a disguise… Pretend to be Harry Potter while his buddies curse us from behind."
A purple-haired witch popped up and looked at Moody with an incredulous look. "Are you sure? There's no one else here. Are you just being paranoid again, Mad-Eye?"
Moody jerked to the left. His magical eye spun every which way. "No… I can't see anyone here, but… someone's here. I can feel it."
The witch sighed. "Honestly, Mad-Eye, you'd think we're in a dragon's nest or something. It's your eye; if you can't see anything, it's not there."
Moody's eye stopped, but he still looked suspicious. Once again, he fixed me with his normal eye. "How do we know that you're the real Harry Potter, eh?"
"Harry, what animal comes out when you produce a Patronus?" asked Professor Lupin promptly.
"A stag," I said.
"That's the real one, Moody."
I took this as permission to go down the stairs to join them. Lupin slowly introduced me to each of the wizards and witches in turn. "That's Kingsley Shacklebolt… You've already met Moody… That's Nym-"
"Don't you dare call me by that name!" snapped the purple haired witch.
"Who prefers to be called by her surname, Tonks," Lupin finished.
"You would be too, if your fool of a mother gave you the name Nymphadora."
Moody sniffed the air. "All right, so you are the real Potter. Then who's lurking over- THERE!"
He shot a blazing jet of light at a random spot on the wall. The wallpaper sizzled, but there was no one there.
Clink.
Tonks spun around on her heel and sneezed, "Expergiscendum!" (Awaken)
The spell fired without being aimed, and ricocheted off the walls and off the ceiling-
"AAAGGGQPTEHIAHGSDKDE!"
All eyes were on the space directly behind the couch in the parlor. That scream… that voice… where did I hear that before? It sounded like someone screaming and vomiting at the same time…
"What was that?" said Tonks as she took one step towards the couch-
And tripped. Over her own feet.
There was a flash of steel, and the entire couch was sliced neatly in two. Lengthwise. And not just the couch. A lamp on the table unfortunate enough to rest next to it was also cleaved perfectly, and the wall was irreparably scarred.
At first only the tip of the blade showed up from behind the couch, but as the top half of the couch slid downwards, its wielder slowly became visible.
The first thing we saw was a head of silver hair…
Gilbert Beilschmidt was crouching behind the couch. And holding a sword a good foot taller than he was. Over his shoulder. Over his other shoulder was a bag stuffed full of… something. Entirely nonplussed, he stood up with both the sword and the sack still over his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Ze hell are you doing here?!"
I gaped at him. "THIS IS MY BLOODY HOUSE!" I shouted.
Gilbert waved an arm. "I'm not talking about you, Harry. Vot I mean is, who ze hell are you people!?"
Moody glared at him with both of his eyes. "Shouldn't you tell us your name first, boy?!"
Gilbert sighed, and said, "Gilbert Beilschmidt. I'm Harry's neighbor. I come from East Germany, I love vurst und potatoes, I hate Austria, I haf a sword zat is taller than I am und I can use in much better zan you can use your vands. Any questions?"
"Why do you hate Austria?" asked Tonks.
"Gah, it's a long story."
I moved closer. "Careful, Harry," Lupin whispered.
"He won't hurt me. He's my neighbor," I answered. I cocked my head. Was that…? "You brought Antonio here?"
Antonio was lying stomach-down, spread-eagled on the carpet. He was gripping a gigantic axe tightly in one hand, although it didn't appear that he was capable of lifting it. I peered closer. The carpet was a pale cream colour, so I could see that there was no blood. But he was still… stock still…
I looked up and glared at Gilbert. "You took a bedridden-"
Gilbert shrugged me off. "Vasn't my idea." He began to absentmindedly tug at the axe. It wouldn't budge. "Besides, you vere ze vone who hit him vith zat spell!"
Tonks's eyes widened and said, "That was an actual spell!? I'm sorry, I just sneezed…"
"Expergiscendum. Zat means 'avaken' in Latin. Do you know vot you just did!?"
Tonks shook her head. "How should I know!?"
Gilbert shrugged. "I don't know either, but he's alive. I'll ask Arthur about it later."
Moody fixed both his eyes on him again. "How do you know Arthur?"
Gilbert waved him off again. "May not be your Arthur. Zis guy's last name is Kirkland. Peter's older brother," he said to me. "You don't know him? Not all Arthurs are the same person, you know."
Tonks cocked her head. "What's in the sack? It looks heavy…"
"Glad you noticed," muttered Gilbert, and he swung the sack off his shoulder. It fell with a loud CLUNK. "Antonio und I vere raiding ze houses of ze boys who jumped Feli und Lovi earlier. All zis is from looting zeir houses."
"Don't you live right next door?" I asked. "Why is the sack so full?"
Gilbert shrugged. "It was my idea to go to ze furthest house first, und do ze closest last. Zay vay, I vouldn't haf to carry all zis stuff und valk all ze vay back. Antonio vanted to… traumatize your cousin und his gang, but I just vanted to come along for ze ride. Ze whole 'Break-into-ze-houses-of-ze-kids-who-jumped-Lovino -und-do-possibly-vorse-to-zem- idea' vas all him."
"You're telling us that all this was Antonio's idea," I said, folding my arms. "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, of all people. Who was bedridden just a few hours ago."
"Weirder things have happened," muttered Moody.
"And what's with the axe?" I gestured to the extremely heavy-looking axe. Antonio still held a tight grip on it, even with Gilbert trying to pry it out.
Gilbert sighed. "Kid, you haf no idea. Antonio's not nearly as innocent as you might sink. Besides, your cousin und his gang mugged Lovino earlier… do you haf any idea how much Antonio cares about him!?"
I stepped back.
"No, you don't," said Gilbert. "I'm sorry about yelling at you; it's not your fault. But… Ja, it vas his idea. Trust me… he loves Lovino to so much zat he vas happy ven Lovino vanted to sleep vith him. No, not like zat!" he said, mostly for the benefit of the slightly disgusted wizards and witches. Tonks even pulled a face.
"Zat being said… Who ze hell are you?" Gilbert asked with unexpected ferocity. "You are vizards, I know zat. But vot do you vant vith Harry?"
Moody drew himself up to his full height. "We are here to bring him to safety."
"Does if haf anysing to do vith ze Dementors?"
This time not only Moody, but also Lupin glared at Gilbert. "How did you know about them?" Lupin asked in a raspy voice.
Gilbert didn't glare, but gave Lupin a sad look. "This isn't ze first time Lovino has been attacked by Dementors. But vy vere zey here?"
Moody shuffled. "That's what we want to know."
Gilbert nodded rather carelessly. "Harry,vere is ze drinks cabinet?"
"Why do you want to know?" Moody asked chillily.
"Because tonight, I intend to get vasted."
I pointed without thinking.
Before any of us could stop him, he walked into the kitchen and opened cabinets at random. "Ah. Here ve go…" he said, and laid down bottles and cans from the cabinet onto the counter. "Vine… bad beer… sake… rum… coke? You keep coke in a liquor cabinet…? More vine, vodka, old vine… A painting, seriously, how does zat even fit… Chocolate…? A greeting card written in polite German… Wodka? Samanė? A recording of Elizabeta's ex-husband singing…?! Ein, zwei, drei, vier? Vot is zat even counting…? Melon soda?! Churros!? How do zey not go rotten?!" [3] After shuffling through the bottles again, he finally picked out a bottle of "Good German beer" and took a sip.
"Hey!" shouted Moody. "What do you know about the Dementors!? Speak!"
Gilbert looked down at him and wielded the beer bottle threateningly. "Zis beer bottle is designed to be harder zan your skull. I haf trained in ze use of police batons for over a decade, und ze only two sings zat are stopping me from bashing your skull into kingdom come is ze fact zat Harry is here, und ze fact zat it vould be a tremendous vaste of good beer. Oh ja, und I haf another bottle."
He then drained the bottle held it by the neck. "Now zere is only vone reason."
"Call it two."
I spun around. The voice came from upstairs, and belonged to… "Natalya?"
Natalya, decked out in a dress and holding a knife in both hands, stood at the top of the stairs. "Your new second reason: I have multiple knives hidden-"
"Under your dress, inside your sleeves, shoes, socks, and bra," Gilbert finished, taking a sip of samanė. "Natalya, I do your laundry. Did you really sink zat I don't see ze sheathes your sister sewed in to all of your clothes? Zat's not a good enough reason. I am stronger zan you are, anyvay."
Natalya bristled. "Are you saying that I rank lower than beer?" she said testily.
Gilbert nodded, and drained a wodka bottle. "Und Harry. Not to mention ze fact zat everyvone here is armed also ranks higher."
Natalya sprang at him, but Gilbert blocked both of her knives with only his sword. One handed. "A vord to ze vise;" he said. "My sword is longer zan ze span of your arms, so as long as you are holding a knife in each hand, I can block both of zem."
Natalya was annoyed, but she sheathed her knives somewhere on her body. "So," she began. "Feli's still gibbering, and Lovino is actually hugging him. Elizabeta is on the warpath, and I came here to get you two back. But who are these guys?"
She turned her head to the wizards.
Tonks looked at her strangely. "Who are you?" she asked. "And what's with the knives?"
"That's Natalya," I said. "She's… another one of my neighbors."
Lupin looked at her, and then at her knives. "Harry, do you have a single neighbor who doesn't use a sharp and pointy weapon whenever the mood strikes them?"
"Vell, zere is Elizabeta," Gilbert said for me. "But zat's only because she uses a heavy bludgeoning weapon venever she gets mad. The Frying Pan of Doom."
Tonks stared at him. "But zen again, Feliciano and Lovino are not zat violent," Gilbert added hastily. "I mean, Lovino is alvays angry, but he is never going to do anyvone any harm."
"I see…" Tonks said uncertainly.
"Zat is, unless you really push him," Gilbert added as he started on the wine. "Zen he breaks out ze guns. Machine guns if he's… yeah. But zat only happened twice. Feliciano…? No, he can use a fencing foil unbelievably vell… not as good as I can vith zis," he spun his own zweihänder around, "but it's scary sometimes how somevone like him can use it vith zat much skill."
So even Feli has a weapon. "Surely Peter doesn't…?"
"Guns," Gilbert and Natalya said in unison.
"Guns aren't exactly… legal for an eleven year old to own, aren't they?" I asked. "You have to have a license, and you have to be at least fourteen to get one of those, don't you?" [4]
Gilbert shrugged. "I haf no idea. But he has zem. Oh, and don't bother trying to look, he hides zem pretty vel-"
"Look out!" I shrieked.
Natalya had leapt up onto the chandelier (it was made of metal, not glass), hooked both of her legs onto the arms, and swung; stabbing downwards so that both her knives were right where Gilbert's head was-
Gilbert parried her head with the same beer bottle that he threatened Mad-Eye with, effectively stopping her movement entirely. He then drained a rum bottle as if that had never happened. "Not a bad idea," he said, "but I'm just faster."
Natalya was dazed for a second, but recovered rapidly. "Haf you learned your lesson?" Gilbert asked.
Lupin grabbed Natalya's shoulder before she could spring at Gilbert. "Calm down," he said. "This boy is much stronger than you are. There's no point in fighting him anyway, is there?"
Natalya wrested out of his grasp and sprung at Gilbert again. Gilbert grinned. "Zat's the spirit!" he shouted, and drew his massive sword. Natalya rushed at him at an incredible speed, but he blocked every one of her knives.
Kingsley looked at Lupin. "Should we stop them?" he asked.
Lupin shrugged. "If they're anything like James and Sirius, then they'll stop in a moment."
At length, Gilbert stopped parrying and slashed at Natalya. "Ve should stop now," he said as she leapt back. "Haf you forgot about Antonio?"
I looked behind the couch, or at least where the remains of the couch were. Antonio still looked like he was knocked out, and this time he was muttering something unintelligible in Spanish.
Gilbert and Natalya stared at him for a while.
"He does look like he's in pain," Natalya admitted at last.
"My point exactly. Now let's go home."
Natalya bristled. "Not ye-"
Gilbert's arms and sword became a blur. The next thing I knew, Natalya was lying on her back, a long gash across her stomach. She looked more shocked than hurt.
"Do you know vy I did zat?" Gilbert asked quietly. Moody's wand was pointing directly at his head, but Gilbert didn't pay it any heed.
"I… hate you…" Natalya muttered.
"Heh… I'd be surprised if you didn't," said Gilbert. "Even if you're not ze vone I hate. I just vant a good fight even if you vant to kill- all right, seriously injure me."
Natalya spat. "You just want to get back at my brother, don't you," she said bitterly.
"Heh…" Gilbert smiled humorlessly. All of a sudden, his smile contorted into a sadistic grin. "If I really wanted to get back at you, zen I'd…"
Gilbert's eyes flashed like the twin pools of blood they resembled. "You vould be begging for ze mercy of death soon enough."
Natalya flinched. "N-normally I'd argue," she said as she recovered, "but you're right. I know what you mean." Her hands clenched into fists. "I can still remember him…"
"Gut. Now, why hasn't zat spell vorn off yet?"
Tonks looked confused. "I thought that most spells lasted for a long time."
Gilbert looked visibly shaken, but he said, "Antonio's special. He recovers from spell effects quickly. Normally, zat is."
Tonks blinked. "I've already said I was sorry!" she gaped.
"I never said I vas mad," Gilbert retorted. He hefted Natalya to her feet. "Ve're leaving. I know you can valk, so don't bother trying to get out of it. I'll get Antonio."
Lupin looked at him, but remained silent.
Gilbert lifted up Antonio bridal-style and strode out the door, and Natalya scuttled after him.
After the door shut behind them, Lupin spoke. "Gilbert… he seemed to have lost interest in us," he said. "Either that, or he already knows someone who knows…"
Moody grunted. "I knew that there was someone on the inside… That new kid. He looked suspicious, with all that bowing and scraping."
Lupin turned. "Are you talking about the new teacher?" he asked.
"That's the one."
"I've never seen him bow, but he has scraped food off of dishes before."
"I was being metaphorical, Tonks."
Lupin turned to me. "We're leaving this place," he said.
"Where are we going?" I asked. The Burrow? Hogwarts?
"We can't tell you," he said. "You'll find out soon enough."
"Get your broom," Moody ordered. "We're flying."
Flying…? We were flying? A wave of happiness spread over me. Flying was probably one of the best parts about the magical world…
X (Prussia POV)
Belarus and I made it back to the house quickly enough. She still wasn't talking to me, but that was most likely an improvement.
When Romano saw Spain, he was devastated. Yet again, he stayed up all night at his bedside.
Belarus was still mad at me, but she went to bed without any arguments anyway. After all, she had little interest in anything if had nothing to do with her dear older brother.
Italy had woken up early the next morning, and began hugging Romano again. Romano didn't even mind, and even hugged him back. Seriously, if this keeps up, next thing I know France and I are going to get married!
Oh, and Hungary was so happy that Italy was awake that she made breakfast for all of us.
As for me…
On that night, I called England.
"Hello? Oh, it's you…" he said. "What now? It's way too late for you to-"
"I. I need a few favors from you."
England sighed over the phone. "What is it? And if you want something hard, then that'll be less time for me to work on that spell."
I sighed. "Where to begin… All right. This is what I need you to do…"
X (Harry POV)
We landed our broomsticks in a lonely square in front of a run-down neighborhood..
Moody handed me a sheet of paper, and hissed, "Read it!"
It read 'The location of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.'
Before I could ask, Moody grabbed the paper and set it alight with his wand. "Look," he said, and pointed at the space between number eleven and number thirteen.
Another building emerged steadily from between those two houses, growing and growing like a balloon inflating until it was about the same size as the other houses. "Go in," whispered Moody.
I opened the door to the strange building.
"Arf!"
A fluffy-looking dog came bounding out of the doorway, and placed its front paws on my legs. It barked once and began to pant.
"Mindaugas! Ateik!" (Come!)
Immediately the dog turned around and trotted over to its owner, a tall young man with shoulder-length hair and green eyes. He knelt down to pick up his dog. It began to pant and lick his face, to which the man smiled. The man stood up and looked at us. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't think that he would do that…"
Moody eyed him suspiciously. "You again?"
The man blinked. "Everyone else was sleeping… Molly asked me to stay awake for you. She's had a long night…"
Moody nodded and trudged past him, never letting his magical eye off of him.
The man sighed. "He's never going to trust me, is he?"
"Probably not," said Lupin. He put his hand on the man's shoulder. "Cheer up, he doesn't trust anyone."
"I guess…" The man said. His dog barked at me, and he turned to me. "Oh? Are you Harry?"
I nodded. "So they picked you up just now…" he mused. "Are you feeling okay? You just flew in this weather in the dead of night… I'll go make some cocoa."
He retreated into the house. I looked at the others, who shrugged. "He's always been like this," said Tonk. "Dung's been scared stiff of him ever since he came, though."
"He has?" asked Hestia Jones.
"Yeah. No idea why, though."
"Who is he?" I asked.
Lupin shrugged. "You had better ask him. None of us are really up to an explanation right now… I need a drink."
We ended up following the man into the kitchen, where he was working at the stove.
"Excuse me," I asked as I sat at the table. "But you never told us your name…"
The man turned around with a tray of cups and set it down at the table. "I'm sorry," he blushed. "Toris. Toris Laurinaitis. I'm one of the new Muggle Studies teachers this year."
X (Prussia POV)
"First, the spell that someone used on Spain. I want to know what it did, and why he hasn't recovered yet."
England sighed on the other end. "What was the incantation?"
"Expergiscendum. Awaken in Latin, right?"
There was a pause. "That spell… it sounds familiar, but I don't know what it does. I'll look it up."
"Danke," I said. "Second order of business… Why were the Dementors after Harry?"
England's tone suddenly became dire. "I know why they were after him, but I can't tell you. It'll violate that rule."
I sighed. "You can't tell any human information interfering with that person's destiny that you learned by your 'know-everything-that-goes-on-in-your-land-ability ', right? But I'm a nation, and your ally. Why can't you tell me?"
"Because you and Harry are close, and I can't allow you to know," he replied simply. "You see, by merely knowing that information, you slowly alter his destiny. Anyway, if he finds out that you know and didn't tell him, he'll be furious."
"Fine then. Who were the ones who came for Harry? And why?"
"Let's see… They were the Order of the Phoenix. Hah… time for an explanation."
England told me about everything. Voldemort, Harry's parents, Hogwarts, Sirius, Wormtail… everything.
"…and that's the story," he finished.
"…England."
"Yes, Prussia?"
"One last thing. I want you to enroll us in Hogwarts."
X (Spain POV)
All I could see was darkness. Darkness, void, nothingness…
No. Wait. If I looked closely, I could see light…
I could see the face of a man in one of them… he was speaking… I could hear him… Rome?
But- that was so long ago! I was barely even a child then! How!?
"This place is your subconscious," a voice called. It sounded familiar… but where did I hear it before?
"Hola?" I said. I turned around and saw a silhouette right behind me.
"Hola," he said. It was definitely a man's voice…
"So how did I get here?" I asked.
He sighed. "After that witch hit you with that spell, it kind of…"
He made a motion with his hands. "Yeah… it sent you here."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Is that all… thank goodness. I thought that it was something bad… so, how do I get back?"
The man looked uncomfortable. "Ah. You see… that's the thing."
"You mean I can't get back!?" I shouted. No! Then… "Romano would be all alone…"
"That's not what I meant," said the man. "You can get back any time you want. This is your mind. You can make it lighter if you want."
"Oh?" I looked up. The man's features became clearer and clearer as the sun in the distance rose.
"Uh… you see… that spell wasn't exactly harmless," the man said.
I gaped at him and jumped back. "D-don't tell me!?"
"Yeah…" said my pirate self. "That spell kind of resurrected us… Say hi, everyone!"
"Hi!" chorused all of my former selves.
TO BE CONTINUED!
[1] Doc- Doc is actually Piers Polkiss, one of Dudley's gang. You see, a dock is like a pier, so… it turned into Dock, pronounced the same as Doc as in short for doctor.
[2] Romano's curse- Copied and Pasted from Wizard Swears.
[3] The alcohol cabinet- everything in it was a reference to the Marukaite Chikuyuu. All of the drinks were mentioned in the 'could I have some X' or whatever they ask for: even the non-drink items and non-food, too. The order came from the video [APH] Everyone's Ending and [APH] Everyone Else's Ending, adding Sealand to the end.
[4] Gun license- I am not sure about gun laws in the UK at this point in time. But Sealand shouldn't be able to own one.
I subscribe to the belief that Lithuania is in fact 185 cm tall (taller than Russia or Sweden), but he just hunches over and makes himself short so much that he looks shorter.
Wondering what Prussia and Belarus are talking about? I was thinking about the Berlin Wall with Prussia. He was separated from his brother for more than forty years… Belarus was separated from her brother for centuries.
What will the nations do now that they've enrolled in Hogwarts? What will Spain do now that he's got all of his past selves back? And what did Harry mean about wanting to kiss Malfoy?