AN: Chapter Four is here!
Disclaimer - I do not own the Gundam Wing or Harry Potter universes, and make no money from this work. The Favorites, Follows, and Reviews are payment enough.
CHAPTER FOUR
The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, patiently waited for her turn. She had gathered a handful of her Aurors and marched the lot of them to the closest FRA registration site. Madame Bones was surprised that some of her department had already registered, such as Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Still, she had to flat out order this group to register. Two were pureblood wizards that frowned on everything Muggle. One was so behind on her paperwork that she'd carried a stack with her. Another Auror was simply afraid of needles. The last of the current group was so sure he was close to a break in his current case.
The registration staff must have the patience of saints, Amelia mused. One of the pureblood, Dolohov, was turning red in the face at the seemingly regulation questions. 'Have you had a blood transfusion or a bone marrow transplant?' were very important in this process, as the technology found the familial identifiers were somehow enclosed in the samples. Truthfully, Madame Bones didn't know exactly how that worked, but she could see how transplants from another person would affect the sample results. Slowly but surely, she was beginning to understand Arthur Weasley's fascination with Muggle things.
One of the waiting Aurors suddenly stood, and the reason was soon apparent as Minister Cornelius Fudge was escorted through the automatic doors by two Preventors. Amelia also stood from her seat, to better observe the agents.
At first the witch thought them both women. The taller Preventor was mostly behind Fudge, so the wide shoulders and flat chest wasn't initially obvious. The shorter agent walked ahead of the minister, her lean physique still feminine.
"Minister Fudge," Amelia Bones greeted. "I wasn't aware you had an appointment to register for the FRA. I would have postponed the Aurors getting registered. But we're all here now!"
Cornelius couldn't make himself adopt a pleasant expression. "These Preventors are preventing me from getting to my work!"
"The summons Agent Heero Yui served you allowed plenty of time for you to register on your own time," the tall man behind Fudge had a surprisingly deep voice. He moved to guard the door, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. He partner approached the check-in counter and collected paperwork for the pudgy wizard.
The female agent passed the clipboard and ink pen to Fudge's hesitant grip. "Here you go! Let's have a seat, and I'll help you if you have any questions. I'd imagine you don't have much experience with medical forms." Showing a patience roughly on par with the nurses, the woman herded her charge to an empty chair.
Amelia joined the standing Preventor against the wall. "Salutations. My name is Amelia Bones. I'm the head of our Department of Magical Law Enforncement, or the DMLE for short."
The man turned pale blue eyes onto the witch. "Preventor agent Zechs Merquise. Agent Yui spoke highly of you in his report."
"Glad to know I've made a favorable impression. His dry wit diffused a tense moment." Amelia smirked at the memory.
Zechs snorted. "Yui is hardly known for his humor. His intelligence is as sharp as a scalpel, but I'd imagine his wit is as dry as burnt toast."
Madame Bones glanced at Fudge, who was frowning at the forms and pen. "Have you met the Minister's secretary?" At the man's shudder, the witch took as a yes and continued. "Mr. Yui may have mentioned a Muggle fable where a prince is turned into a frog and that apparently the spell is gender-specific."
Being raised in an aristocratic household, Zechs didn't laugh out loud, but the smirk was unmissable. "Appropriate, although I would not have expected such from him. He can be painfully blunt at times."
"You know him personally," Amelia concluded.
"Indeed," he agreed without elaborating. Comfortable silence engulfed the odd pair. And an odd pair they were. Madame Amelia Bones was of average height, fit for her age, and dressed in charcoal grey robes. Her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled back into a simple twist, and a monocle covered one sharp eye. Zechs, by contrast, was quite tall, and his Preventor uniform hinted at firm muscles. His long hair was a paler blond than that of Lucius Malfoy, and a thin layer of fringe coupled with his light blue eyes brought to mind a large cat peering through tall grass.
Both agent and witch surveyed the waiting room. Several Aurors stood, paced, or sat as they awaited their turn, their crimson robes bold in the neutral-toned room. Cornelius Fudge still struggled with the intake forms, sweat dotting his brow, and his plum robes clashing with his lime-green bowler hat and waistcoat. And last but not least, the unnamed female Preventor with short dark blue hair and eyes.
After apparently a few minutes of thought, Zechs spoke. "I am unsure if you or your government are aware, but there Magicals employed in Preventors, probably more than we agents realize. For example, my partner," he nodded to the blue-haired woman, "Lucrezia Noin is the granddaughter of a Squib that had been disowned by a pure blood family. She has displayed a handful of accidental magic instances. Also the summons Fudge received was spelled by one of our agents; whoever touches the summons will be added to our list of those to be registered. Some of Preventors' best agents are actually witches and wizards untrained in the magical arts."
Madame Bones nodded. "I would assume that Mr. Yui is one of these untrained wizards. There are wards that hide the ministry from non-Magicals, you see."
"Understandable, and yes, Heero Yui is untrained in magic. I suspect his magic manifested mostly as strengthening his body and accelerating his healing, considering his medical report." Zechs glanced at the witch beside him. "It is currently theorized that the magic of the untrained manifests in a way that would help that individual survive and possibly operates on a subconscious level - by instinct, in other words."
"An interesting theory, indeed," Amelia conceded. "The more I speak with you, the more I think our ministry and communities are too isolated from the rest of the world."
The Preventor smiled grimly. "Not all of the recent developments have been good. We have our own flaws and our own bigots and such. But I do advocate understanding those different from ourselves, and understanding comes from learning of it."
At last, Agent Noin rose from her seat next to the Minister and turned in the finally completed forms. She joined her partner and the witch at the wall. "That could have gone worse," she tried to assure herself. Zechs chuckled, and Noin smiled at him, "Careful, or else you'll be talking the toad through the paperwork." His expression fell into a grimace.
Preventors Malcomb and Lydia stood just outside the gates of Malfoy Manor. They had spoken with a House Elf not a moment before, and the creature said it would inform its masters of their presence. An albino peacock strutted on the other side of the bars.
Tillmint the House Elf popped into the sitting room and bowed to Narcissa Malfoy. "Mistress, the escorts are at the gates. They say the appointment is shortly, Mistress."
The witch set aside her stitching project. "I shall speak with them," she replied. Tillmint popped away, and Narcissa headed to the ornate wrought-iron gates. Once there, she coldly regarded the man and woman garbed in Preventors uniforms. "I am the lady of the house. May I help you?"
Agent Malcomb smiled in greeting despite the witch's cold tone. "Good day, Madame. A representative of Preventors spoke with your husband, a Lucius Malfoy. It was agreed that the Malfoy household would register in accordance to the Family Reconstruction Act, an international law that has gone into effect."
Madame Malfoy suspiciously eyed the pair. "Lucius has not mentioned any such appointment to me, sir."
The female agent shrugged, "Perhaps it slipped his mind, ma'am. The appointment still stands, however."
Malcomb queried, "Are you familiar with the Family Reconstruction Act?" At her blank face, he continued. "It is intended to reunite families separated by war. We use non-magical means of indentifying people, and a computer searches for familial matches. If, say, a cousin went missing and later registers, the database will be able to recognize that person-"
Agent Lydia smacked her partner's arm. "You're not explaining it well at all, Malcomb." She turned back to the skeptical woman. "Sorry about him. How the registration and database works is that the staff at the clinic will gather a small blood sample and discuss your known family. The sample will be processed though a machine that will identify specific markers. The results will be submitted to registration's database. From there, computers will compare your results to the results of everyone else who has registered. Of the computer finds a match or partial match, the files are sent to a specialized agent, and notices are sent to the affected persons."
Understanding shown in Narcissa's eyes. "I see. Just a moment, agents. I will collect my son for this registration." She turned towards her home but paused. "Would you like to come in? My House a Elf can provide tea."
"We'll be alright to wait here," Malcomb assured.
As luck would have it, shortly after Narcissa and Draco Malfoy arrived with their Preventor escorts, Agents Zechs and Noin returned with a short, toad-like witch in tow. Mrs. Malfoy sat prim and proper as she filled in the required forms. Draco flipped through a magazine in his seat next to his mother.
Lucrezia Noin generally considered herself a patient person. She had known Zechs for years in the military, she withstood Wufei's 'women should not be soldiers' spiel when they had first met, and she had acted as Relena's bodyguard and chief of security once upon a time. Her patience had even extended to helping the blundering Minister Fudge. But this woman - this witch with capital B - had Noin fingering the taser hidden under her jacket. Not only that, the effort of his restraint was showing through Zechs's poker face.
Like their previous trip to the clinic, Noin collected the paperwork from the desk and her partner took up wall space. Unlike last time, the female joined the former prince at the wall right away.
Delores Umbridge took a seat close to Madame Malfoy, much to the noblewoman's displeasure. Although Narcissa shared some of the ministry witch's blood purist views, the mother found many of Umbridge's idea too extreme or just plain stupid. Madame Malfoy honestly hated to hear the other witch's forced high, girly voice and horrid fashion sense. Yet for the sake of her husband's political ties, the former Black utilized all the behavioral lessons of her youth. That is, maintain a neutral expression and speak as little as possible.
As the toad-like witch grumbled and struggled with paperwork, the Preventors who had escorted her shared a vindictive smile. They had agreed at a glance to not aid her. It may be petty, but neither agent could stand her.
Dr. Martha Jones watched with a satisfied smile as Harry and Heero chatted during their second meeting. Again, the younger boy was dressed in oversized rags. While Harry's overall appearance had not improved, his green eyes shown brighter, obviously happy to visit with his halfbrother. The older brother's blue eyes seemed warmer while regarding Harry.
Martha wasn't the only one observing the second meeting. The boy with the long braided hair had returned, dressed in his Preventors uniform. Duo had been the one to collect Harry Potter from the Dursley house, and he was still silently fuming at the family's treatment of the underdeveloped boy (not to mention, they treated Duo with thinly veiled scorn). To see his best friend soften with the British child eased Duo's unvoiced concern.
It was during this visit that conversation mostly stayed on the topic of Harry's school. The students were divided into four Houses, the bespectacled boy explained. Each House had its own set of dormitories, colors, and mascots. Harry was in Gryffindor House, with the colors of red and gold and the lion mascot, while Cedric Diggory belonged in Hufflepuff, the yellow and black badgers. The school, which Harry let slip was called Hogwarts, was in an old castle with towers and torrents, with a lake and forest and greenhouses. The groundskeeper was an enormous man named Hagrid, and the caretaker was the grumpy Mr. Filch.
Martha giggled, "My mum told me about Mr. Filch. Obsessed with his cat, he is. And Mister Rubeus Hagrid, she said, such a gentle giant of a man."
The three males looked at the doctor with varying levels of surprise.
"Don't tell me you forgot I was here," she teased. "Seriously, my mother was in Ravenclaw."
Three pairs of eyes followed her hand as she reached to toy with the polished wood holding her hair into a messy bun. Polished wood, part of which looked like a handle. A wand, the boys realized.
Harry sent an awkward smile to the pretty doctor while Duo grinned. Heero let his shoulders slump in relief, realizing that they could speak freely of magic.
As they all were again in the clinic's break room, they shared a couple pizzas, one of pepperoni and the other supreme. Duo stood a fair distance from the pizza, and with a mischievous eye twinkle and a jerking hand motion, a slice of supreme pizza zoomed to his waiting hands. The former pilot of Deathscythe groaned in appreciation as the favors registered in his mouth.
Harry stared a moment, his mouth slack and fortunately empty. Dr. Jones clapped for the wandless, wordless spell. The Perfect Soldier shook his head at Duo's use of magic. "Obviously," Heero deadpanned," we have a bit more to talk about."
Green eyes turned to the Asian teen. "Are you a wizard too?"
A shrug was the reply. "I have not had formal magical training, but I do have some magical ability."
Duo snorted, "Some magical ability, he says. Cushioning charms, shield charms, somehow slowing his falls- all without magical training or a focus object."
"Compared to your accios, notice-me-nots, and stealth," Heero countered, to which the L02 native snickered.
Reality set in for Harry Potter. He didn't have to hide his magic from his new brother! Or his friends! One of the widest smiles of his life graced his face. Now that Harry knew he would not be breaking the Statitute of Secrecy, he regaled the others with funny stories from school.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The time had come for the visit to come to a close. Martha hugged each of the boys in farewell, having walked with them to the unmarked sedan. During the short ride back to Privet Drive, they made plans for an overnight visit in a few days.
Both Heero and Duo escorted Harry to the door of Number Four. The smallest teen went rigid as barking echoed from the house. Duo frowned, "There wasn't a dog here before."
Pilot 01 rapt his knuckles against the door's painted wood, and the barking grew louder and more insistent. The trio waited on the front step a moment before someone came to the door.
"Who is it?" Petunia Dursley called.
Duo rolled his eyes. "Preventor Maxwell, ma'am. We need to talk just a minute."
The thin woman opened the door and urgently ushered the boys inside and out of the eyes of the neighbors. She attempted a neutral expression but failed miserably.
Heero cleared his throat to gain Petunia's attention, as the woman had been half glaring at Harry. "Mrs. Dursley, I understand you are Harry's aunt and primary legal guardian?"
"That's right," Petunia confirmed, eyeing the blue-eyed Asian. "Took in the ungrateful brat out of the goodness of our hearts. We could have sent him to an orphanage, finding him on the front step."
Harry wanted to sink into the floor and disappear, a feeling that had begun at Ripper's barking. He had avoided talking about the Dursleys as much as possible to his new brother. And now it looked like Aunt Petunia was going to spout the lies she told all the neighbors.
Marge Dursley, sister to Vernon, lumbered into the hall. "Oh, there you are, Petunia dear." Ripper the bulldog growled from his position tucked under his owner's arm.
The thinner woman twitched hard before turning to her sister-in-law. "Nothing to worry about, Marge. Preventor Maxwell was bringing the boy back."
"What trouble has that riffraff caused now, to be involving Preventors?" Marge rumbled.
Duo interjected, "Actually, Harry came with me as part of the Family Reconstruction Act. Our database found a familial match on his father's side, so Harry here got to meet his half brother."
Marge eyed the teens suspiciously. "How about we move into the sitting room?"
"Where are my manners?" Petunia flustered, "Of course, this way."
Harry and the pilots could tell that she didn't want to invite them further into the house. The thin woman perched on an armchair, Marge settled into the recliner, and the three boys took the couch.
"So," Duo started the conversation. "I'm Duo Maxwell, and that," a thumb jerk, "is Heero Yui. We're Preventor agents. Yui is here in Britain on a special assignment, and the match was identified just in time for him to multitask."
Marge took a rather deep pull from her tumbler. "You boys seem awfully young to be law enforcement. Makes me wonder just what sort of special assignment you could handle."
Heero spoke up. "My mission is to convince a particular pocket of the UK's population to register in accordance to the FRA. While similar groups in other countries have made great headway in complying, the UK's problematic group is being stubborn."
"Must be the same lot Lily fell in with," Petunia shugged. "Standing against what's normal and proper, the lot of them!"
Duo snorted. "Didn't a couple Preventor agents have to collect your family for registration? Agents Noah and Nicole noted your opposition and resistance in their report."
Petunia's cheeks blotched red in indignation.
"Back to the topic," Heero commanded. "I have met with my half brother -"
Duo commented, "That still feels weird."
"-Harry, twice and would like to arrange an overnight visitation. As you are his primary guardian, details must be discussed with you."
"Fine," the thin woman snapped. "Boy, gather your things." Cold eyes turned to the Preventors as Harry scurried from the room. "Take him and now and keep him for as long as you like. Let his freakishness be your problem for a time."
Marge Dursley may not have liked Harry - having believed everything Vernon told her about the child - but sending him away with strangers seemed odd. Surely such a problem child would warrant some warning for those taking him?
Harry had fled at his aunt's command. He fought tears as her acidic words reached his ears. Who knew what his aunt would tell the two older teens? He blindly scampered up the stairs to the bedroom door with multiple locks on the outside. The boy snatched up one of Dudley's discarded school bags (with a broken strap and burst zipper) and stuffed some clothes inside.
While the younger boy was upstairs, Duo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Mrs. Dursley, can you explain why the clinic diagnosed Harry with long-term malnourishment, especially during the core developmental phase? Or why the physical checkup found years worth of layered scars on him? Or even the numerous improperly healed fractures, AKA broken bones?"
Petunia gaped at him, and Marge blinked in surprise. Even Ripper seemed stunned into silence.
"Can you explain," Heero added, "why both times I have seen him, Harry has worn hand-me-downs from an obviously obese child, yet Harry shows physical signs of long-term starvation? Why a child nearly thirteen years old is the size of a small eleven year old?"
"Tell ya what!" Duo donned a fake smile, intent on investigating further. "I'll help Harry get his stuff. Hee-man, ya wanna take Harry for the rest of the summer? We can put some meat on his bones before he goes back to school, if nothing else."
"Oh, yes," Petunia seethed as the long-haired teen exited the sitting room. "St. Brutus School for Incurably Criminal Boys."
Heero maintained his alert-yet-relaxed posture but tilted his head as a sign of conflicting data. "So we heard from the babysitter. However, we looked it up. Do you know what we found? Nothing; no such school exits. Not by that name or by that purpose. You, madam, are lying...and lying poorly at that. Duo's specialty is identifying those who have been abused." Heero pulled a sealed envelope from his jacket pocket. "Preventors have filed a motion with Family Services to have Harry James Potter removed from your custody, citing extreme malnourishment, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. You have been served." The envelope found its way to Petunia's bony knees as Heero stood and moved to leave the room. "We're still deciding whether or not to file criminal charges."
Marge absently stroked Ripper's short, corse coat. Her mind was reeling from the accusations leveled against her brother's family. Thinking back, she couldn't recall a time Harry wore something besides Dudley's cast offs. Still, the obese woman didn't want to admit to her brother being in the wrong.
AN: Whelp, that is Chapter Four. Petunia Dursley is officially on their crap list but not yet on their hit list. Next chapter will see The Cupboard of Incriminating Evidence and the trip to Heero's current living space.
