Little Thief

Chapter 1

Reposted: July 24, 2010

Disclaimer: I do not own HP or GW. If I did own GW, then Duo would have gotten with Heero and Trowa with Quatre, Treize would have never died, and Une would be with him. If I owned HP, Sirius would be alive, Harry would be with Draco, people would be making fun of Voldemort's name, and Harry would have just blown Moldy's head off with a bazooka.

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"Duo, why don't you take Harry up to the Silver Room, then meet us in my office?" Quatre grinned at the boy, who had been looking at him nervously. "Feel free to do what you want up there, 'Ry. You'll be moving in with us, so make notes on how you might want to change the room." He ignored the glares his friends, apart from Duo – who had already dragged Harry upstairs before the boy could complain – and Trowa, sent his way, because he would get his way. He knew his friends well enough to know he almost always did. When it dealt with a kid like this, who had been used and abused, they would definitely listen to him.

"All right Winner, talk." Quatre just smiled at his friend, before walking away. The others sighed softly, following him upstairs to his spacious office. "Winner." Quatre sat down behind the large desk as his friends and fellow pilots arranged themselves in chairs surrounding the desk.

"Once Duo comes back, I will explain, Heero." Quatre sighed as he sunk into the soft cushions, amused as his friends glared at him once more.

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"Sir? Am I really going to be staying here?" Duo paused, looking at the small boy who had been silently following him. Well, who had put up with being literally dragged up the stairs silently. Vibrant, yet dull, green eyes stared up at him, and the braided teenager knelt beside the thin child, moving to wrap his arms around the skeletal form.

"Quatre has a good reason for bringing you here and asking us to keep you. I respect his judgment; he's a good friend, and knows what he's doing." The American smiled, before continuing. "And call me Duo, all right? Sir, or being called 'Mr. Maxwell' makes me want to look for a responsible adult." Duo grinned when the small boy giggled at that, before suddenly picking the boy up in his arms. "Now, to the Silver Room!" The boy shrieked in shock, as Duo easily sprinted the rest of the way down the hallway to the room. "Well, it's actually a set of rooms. We just call it the Silver Room for convenience."

"Wow." Harry looked around the large sitting room, taking it in. Everything was in either silver or white, and he frowned slightly. "Could, could I change the colors?" He looked up at Duo, who replied with only a wide smirk and a nod. Harry smiled happily in response, looking around. "Is this really mine?"

"Yep. Come on, I'll show you around. This is the sitting room, as you probably guessed. The door on the right leads to a kitchenette, but you aren't to use that, all right?"

"But, I can cook. Uncle Vernon had me do it for him; I've been cooking as long as I remember. I enjoy it, because no one bothers me when I'm in the kitchen." Harry frowned. How was he supposed to earn his keep if he couldn't cook?

"We'll make a deal. If someone is there to help you, you are allowed to cook, but never alone, understood?" Duo hid his scowl as he thought of what the man had forced the child to do. "Next is, hey, is that my tessen?" The teen reached up to the top of the mirror between the door to the kitchenette and the door he had been about to point out to Harry. "Yep, this is it. I'm going to get Wufei for hiding it."

"What's a tessen, si-, Duo?" Harry stumbled over calling the older male by his first name, but watched in awe as the boy snapped open a fan, grinning maniacally.

"It's a battle fan, basically. The edge is really sharp, but it's a great tool." Duo smiled softly at the boy, before closing and pocketing the weapon. "I'll get you a practice one and teach you how to use it, if you want." The boy nodded, and Duo smiled once again. "This through here is the study." He led the boy in, and let him look around. "If you notice, all the shelves are labeled. This was originally supposed to be Quatre's room when he was your age and a bit older, but he never actually got a chance to use it. Kit-kat loves to draw, so there are quite a few unused sketchbooks in here you can use if you want."

"Won't he be mad?" Harry looked up at the teen from where he had been staring longingly at the row of sketchbooks. "If there were his, I mean."

"Nah. Q-ball's been meaning to give them away to the nearby orphanage, actually, but we've been so busy we never got around to it. If you want them, use 'em. He'll be glad they're finally going to good use. There should be some colored pencils and such in here, too," the pilot replied, digging through a pile in the desk. "Here they are!" He moved to the window seat, placing them on the cushions. "Now, there is still more to see! You can come back once we've finished the tour." Harry reluctantly left the room, though one of the sketchbooks was wrapped protectively in his arms. "This is the bathroom, feel free to take showers or baths, as long or short as you want. We have a ridiculously over-sized water heater, enough for the entire household to take a two-hour long shower, at the same time, and still have enough hot water to fill the pool." Duo caught the look of wonder in the boy's eyes at being allowed to take hot showers, and inwardly snarled. Oh, whoever did this to the boy was going to pay. "There's a door in there leading directly to the bedroom. Which is here." Opening the door, he smiled sadly at Harry's amazed gasp. "It is impressive, isn't it?" Duo murmured, as he led the boy into the room. "This is yours now, for as long as we live here. Feel free to take a nap, draw in the library, or anything else that doesn't require you using the oven, all right? I need to go bother Kit-kat."

"Kit-kat?" Harry looked at him in confusion, eyes blinking owlishly in confusion.

"I give people nicknames, excessively. Kit-kat and Q-ball are some of my names for Quatre. You'll figure them all out eventually," Duo replied, ruffling Harry's hair before bounding out the door. Harry watched him leave in confusion, before he went back to the small study. Collapsing in the window seat, he picked up the colored pencils and opened the sketchbook to the first page. Slowly, he began to draw on the page, allowing his imagination to take flight. Slowly, a scene took form on the page, as he carefully colored it in. A beautiful red tigress stood in the center of the page, a brown buck at her right side. His antlers were magnificent, the proud animal standing with its head lowered and one hoof raised as if it was pawing the ground. Its blue eyes were barely visible, but from the slight sliver that could be seen, they seemed protective. The tigress's tail was in mid-lash, her brilliant emerald eyes warm and loving. Standing to the left of the large feline was a proud brownish grey wolf, his amber eyes soft and gentle. A large black dog lay beside him, blue-gray eyes bright and mischievous. Resting on the back of the canine was a large black fox, its onyx eyes cold and calculating, yet also defensive. Each animal was carefully colored, and Harry smiled at the picture.

"Tiger-Lily. Prongs. Moony. Padfoot. Gambit." He smiled, carefully writing the names over the animals. "I miss you." He smiled at the picture, before returning to the bookshelves. Looking around, he found a shelf labeled "Tamora Pierce" and gently removed a book entitled Alanna: The First Adventure before moving to sit in the window seat again, opening the book and descending into the world of Tortall.

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"All right Quat, who the hell treated the kid so badly?" Duo growled as he stalked into the office, violet eyes blazing with barely-concealed fury. "'Cause I'm gonna kill them." His friends looked at him in anger as he moved to the couch beside his lover, as he looked at Quatre expectantly. "Well?"

"He's currently a ward of the state, after his uncle was arrested for forcing the poor boy to pickpocket for him. He got me, and I followed him into the coffee shop. Harry has nothing more than the clothes on his back, and they're paper-thin as it is. What angered you, Duo?"

"Kid seemed surprised at so much as the concept of a hot shower, like I was when Howie first let me have them on his ship. He was shocked when I told him he could use the sketchbooks. He was shocked when I told him he wasn't supposed to cook. Said he'd been doing it for his uncle for as long as he could remember." Duo sighed, pulling his braid over his shoulder to play with the tail. "We need to take that kid in. He needs a family, he needs us."

"I know, Duo. You guys know what's going on now. What are your thoughts?" Quatre looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each of his fellow pilots. He waited, arms crossed over his chest.

"Take the child in. He needs a home, and we can give him one. Winner, you have the greatest chance of getting custody. We will all help." Heero looked at his friends as he spoke, and they all nodded in agreement. This was a child, who had been abused and used, who needed help. They knew it would be difficult, especially to bring the child up to speed with his education and to teach him to trust again.

"Thank you." Quatre smiled at his friends, and then turned to Duo. "You spent some time on the streets when you were younger. What can we do to show Harry that we do care about him? That we want to help him?"

"Give him boundaries. Give him responsibilities. Show him that he doesn't have to fear us. He'll need to be punished if he disobeys, but he needs to see that we won't hurt him. Confinement to a certain room, the withdrawal of privileges, things that that, are how he needs to be punished. He needs to know that yes, there are consequences for disobeying, but he'll never be hit. We need to reward him for good behavior, with small things. Let him feel he earns things, as he is unused to being given anything." Duo sighed, leaned on his lover, who wrapped a strong arm around his shoulders.

"All right. We should probably create rules together, as well as what happens as consequences. If we don't, we might all have different rules and consequences, and he'll start coming to one of us to get around the others." The suggestion came from a lounging Wufei, and his friends blinked, realizing he was right. They wanted the child to view them equally as guardians, and if they didn't have equal rules, then the boy would never feel safe or even comfortable. The five moved to sit around the desk, as Quatre opened up a new document on his laptop in order to write up the rules.

"Set bed times, chores, what he is and isn't allowed to do, where he is and isn't allowed to go, usage of the pool, etcetera. We also need to draw up what will happen if he breaks any of the rules."

"He's ten, so I believe he should be in bed around 8:30 during the week, but Friday and Saturday he can stay up until 9:30. We have the Maguanacs to take care of the majority of the house. I propose he takes care of his own rooms, and cleans up after himself around the rest of the house."

"That's acceptable. He'll learn responsibility, but not be overworked. Are we going to home school him?"

"Of course. He'd never be able to catch up otherwise. The Maguanacs will be able to teach him, and we can as well. He'll be assigned homework, of course, and will be expected to complete that on time." Quatre made the notes as he talked, smiling at his friends. "We'll be his older brothers. He'll learn that he can always come to us when he has trouble, whether it be if he's scared, confused about schoolwork, or just needs to talk to someone or be held. We'll always be there for him."

"Exactly. That's the approach that Father Maxwell and Sister Helen used with me and the others, always being there and such. It helps, a lot." Duo smiled, and Heero pulled him closer, reminding the American that he was no longer alone. The brunette smiled at his lover, kissing the Japanese teen softly. Heero smiled in return, as the others only smirked at the scene. "Anyways, right. He apparently likes cooking, so I say that we let him do so, so long as one of us is in the room to watch him." The other agreed, and Quatre wrote that down as well. As they continued bouncing ideas off of each other, they didn't even notice the passing time. "All right! So, we got the base down for what Harry needs to follow. So, what do we do next?"

"After we figure out the consequences when he disobeys, we'll present them to Harry, let him know. I'll print the rules and each of us can have our own copy, so we can tape Harry's to his door, and he can always refer to them. Now, what are we doing as punishments?"

"If he tries to break curfew, he'll have an earlier bed time the next night. If he cooks without supervision, then he'll be confined to his room and won't be allowed to cook for a week or so." The voice shocked the pilots, and they turned quickly. "Lady Une mentioned that you'd taken in a kid. I've been standing down the hall for a while. You five are quite loud."

"Come and sit Zechs. You might as well give your input." The blonde smirked when he was invited in, moving to sit near the desk. "Once he finds things he enjoys doing, he can loose those privileges for a week or two at a time. If he tries to use the pool without supervision, then he looses swimming privileges, and once he makes friends he won't be allowed to see them when he's grounded." The others nodded at Quatre's suggestion, as he wrote it down on the paper in front of his, to be transcribed onto his laptop at a later point.

"Teach him to respect personal space. If he has a nightmare or such, he's allowed to go into your rooms to sleep, but at any other time he is to knock before entering," Zechs Marquise suggested, and the others smiled. "When you don't want him to use your rooms at night, such as when you need time alone, tie something to the handle so he knows not to enter."

"Good. If he disobeys that rule, he can loose privileges." As they continued to work, Duo stood, sighing. "Duo?"

"I'm gonna go hang with the kid. Hee-chan, you wanna come? We can work on getting him used to each of us a bit at a time. Besides, I promised to teach him a few things."

"Like what, Maxwell?" Wufei Chang looked at the American cautiously. "If you are even considering turning him into another explosives-loving Shinigami, I'll kill you."

"Nah, just a mini Shinigami. I have the feeling he's going to need to know how to fight someday. I actually promised to teach him how to use a tessen. He was interested in it when I found mine earlier. He'll start with a practice fan, and once I'm sure he can wield it, I'll move him up to a real one. Put down a rule about him not practicing with any weapons we give him unless someone's there, would ya Kit-Kat?" With that, the American raced out the door, leaving his friends behind. His lover followed him, as he went to his room to pull out his practice tessen, before dragging Heero to Harry's room. "Harry? Can we come in?" he called, knocking lightly on the door. Duo remembered how he had been when he was first taken from the streets. He had needed to know that his room was his, and he would be safe there. Just as they wanted Harry to learn to respect their boundaries, they needed to respect his. Just barging into his room would only make him feel like he had to be defensive.

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"Harry? Can we come in?" Harry started when he heard the noise from the door to the rooms. Placing a bookmark from the desk into the book he had been reading, Harry carefully walked out to where Duo was waiting.

"Hi Duo," he whispered shyly, before looking at the man who was with him. "Hello, sir." Harry looked at the two of them, fidgeting slightly. "I'm Harry Potter. And you are?"

"Harry, this is my boyfriend, Heero Yuy. So, can we come in and talk in the living room?" Harry started, blushing slightly. Letting them inside, he led them into the small sitting room, moving to curl up into a tight ball on one of the chairs. "So Harry, this is Heero. Hee-chan, this is Harry. Also, I brought this for you, little Green Eyes."

"Green Eyes?" Harry blinked, a small memory surfacing at the words.

FLASHBACK

"Come on Green Eyes! Go to Uncle Gambit! That's it, cub. You can do it!" A tall, dark haired knelt in front of him, onyx eyes bright as he held his arms widespread to catch the small toddler waddling towards him. Beside him stood two other men, each grinned and encouraging him. One had long, messy dark hair that hung into grey-blue eyes that sparkled in mischief. The other had short, nicely combed light brown hair that had grey streaked through it, and scars marring his face and bare arms.

"You can do it, son. That's it, Harry." Another man entered his vision, and he cooed as he stumbled into the first man's arms, before giggling happily. "That's it! That's my little Prongslet!" Harry cooed again, his arms waving as he reached for the man. "Come on. Try walking to Uncle Padfoot now." The grey-blue eyed man moved away, and Harry toddled to him. He collapsed into the man's arms, turning to cuddle against the man's chest. Cooing, Harry then yawned, closing his eyes briefly. He felt himself passed to someone else, and squirmed slightly before a loving voice calmed him.

"That's my little Green Eyes. Sleep, my sweetheart. Mummy's got you." Opening his eyes briefly, he saw bright green eyes and red hair, before he drifted off to sleep.

FLASHBACK

"Harry? Harry?" Duo was waving the practice tessen in front of Harry's face, trying to get the boy's attention. "Harry?" What was wrong with him? His eyes were glassy, and he wasn't blinking.

"S, sorry. My, my mum and dad used to call me Green Eyes. I just remembered." Harry bit his lip, drawing his arms around himself in a tight hug. "I, I miss them." He shook, looking around for his sketchbook. Hopping up, he ran into the study, before returning with it. "My parents, and uncles, always likened themselves to animals. I remember that. I drew this, because this is what they likened themselves to." Harry shyly held it out to Duo, who took it reverently. "They called themselves nicknames. The stag and tiger are my dad and mum. The other three are my uncles. Well, I called them Uncle Moony, Padfoot, and Gambit, but there wasn't any real relation between us. They were just my parents' friends, but they were family." Harry paused, moving closer to Duo so he could run a gentle finger over the dog. "I remember, Uncle Padfoot would bring his dog over, and I'd ride on his back, while Mum and Dad watched and made sure I didn't fall off."

"Do you remember their real names? We want to take care of you, but if you have family who could take you in…" Duo mentioned, looking at the child. He wanted to help this kid, but didn't want to keep him from his family. "We want what's best for you."

"You, you want to take care of me?" Harry breathed, startled, before shaking his head. "No, no one wants a freak. You don't mean it." He pulled away, but stopped when Heero dropped his hand to Harry's shoulder, the boy froze.

"You are not a freak, no matter what you were told," the Japanese teen murmured softly, gently pulling the small boy into his arms. "You are a little boy who has been treated wrongly. I'm sure these people you call 'Uncle' would love to have you back."

"I, I." Harry shook slightly, confused by Heero's reaction. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had always called him a worthless freak. Why would that change now? "But."

"We want you, Harry. You're a smart kid, to get away with getting Q-ball. Usually he'd catch someone who tried to pickpocket him before they could even go to pull away. You're a sweet kid, too. That bas–" At Heero's clearing of throat, Duo paused, trying to think of a more suitable word. "Err, jerk, of a man you called Uncle was wrong about you. You've been used and abused, and we only want to help you."

"U, Uncle Padfoot, I remember his name. Dad called him Sirius. S, Sirius Black, I believe." Harry looked down, and then up at Heero and Duo. "And, and Uncle Sev, and Uncle Remus. I, I don't remember their names, though." Harry pulled away, moving to curl up on the couch. "I, I. What will you do, if you can't find them?"

"Q-ball will adopt you. The five of us will raise you. We'll get you caught up in your education." Duo smiled at the boy, and leaned back in his chair. "But, back to what I was saying earlier, I found a practice tessen for you. It's weighted like the real weapon, but the edges are blunt and will, at worst, give you a bruise. I'll teach you how to use it, and you can practice whenever you want, unless you're grounded."

"Grounded?" Harry blinked in confusion as he took the weapon, holding it carefully.

"We have some rules you're to follow while you live here, and if you disobey, you'll be grounded or have privileges taken away," Duo told him, smiling. "You might be stuck in your room, not permitted to go swimming, have an earlier bedtime, things like that." Duo sighed, catching the boy's eyes. "No matter what, Harry, we will never hit you. We will never starve you. The most we might punish you, in regards to food, is to deny you your favorite foods for a few days. Your meals will always be balanced and filling. You might not get desert a few days, or you might be limited to foods you don't like as much, but it will always be enough to keep you healthy." Harry's lip trembled, though he shook his head. "We mean it, Harry. We'll always take care of you."

"I, I wanna stay here," the thin boy admitted, looking up at them. "I feel safe here, and you've been so kind." Duo and Heero smiled at his words, and stood slowly. "Duo? Heero?"

"We need to go talk with Lady Une, our boss, about getting the adoption arranged, Green Eyes, and to see if we can locate your Uncle Padfoot. Even if you want to stay here, he has first rights to you." Duo sighed, before moving close enough to ruffle Harry's hair. "Rest, little one. We'll get you in time for dinner, all right?" Harry nodded, smiling shyly, before disappearing into the bedroom. "We'll have to take him shopping, too," Duo murmured to his lover as they excited the room.

"Turn him over to Winner's sisters, you mean," Heero replied, wrapping the other pilot's braid in his hand. "We'll go along to make sure they are clothes for a proper kid, though." Duo laughed at that, as they returned to their friends.

"The kid's willing to live with us. However, we need to gain his trust still. He mentioned family friends he used to consider his uncles. Sirius Black was one of them. He couldn't remember the other names," Duo told them as they entered the room.

"I'll get started on researching his family. I'm stuck on desk duty for a while, until my ribs heal from our last mission, so I can handle that," Wufei murmured, the dark-haired Chinese agent looking at his friends. Platinum gold-haired blue-eyed Quatre, a pacifist who became a soldier only because he had to, who cared for everyone and everything. Brown-haired green-eyed Trowa, who looked so like the child. The platinum blonde-haired blue-eyed Zechs Marquise, the eldest among them at 22 instead of 18. The American among them, with his long brown hair and cobalt, nearly amethyst-eyed Duo Maxwell, the prankster and street-wise self-proclaimed "Shinigami". He thought of himself, a widower of nearly 4 years, and sighed. They were going to have a hell of a time raising this child.

"You do that. I can only hope we do right by this boy," Quatre murmured, sighing. "We'll take him out shopping tomorrow, after I get in touch with one of my sisters here in the London area. They'll know what to get."

"But we can't let them go overboard," Trowa murmured to his small lover, who nodded. The others laughed, nodding.

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"Harry. Time to wake up, little one. It's time for dinner." Harry stirred at the soft voice, and blinked owlishly. Quatre was standing beside him, and another man was behind him, looking at the book that was on the bedside table.

"Hullo, Quatre," Harry murmured, yawning. "Hello, sir."

"Call me Wufei, child," the Chinese agent replied, smiling softly. This was a child, he reminded himself, who needed to be able to relax around him. He would drop his guard, if only for this child. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," the emerald eyed boy replied, carefully getting off the bed. "Duo mentioned this used to be your room. Are you sure I can use it?"

Quatre had been told to expect this question, and had already decided on his answer. "Of course, Green Eyes. No one else is here to use it. Duo mentioned the drawing you did. Could I see it?" Harry nodded shyly, and led them to the sitting room, where he held out the sketchbook. "This is wonderful, Harry. Do you think I could borrow it for a while, to make a copy of it so we can hang it on your door?" Harry nodded, and Quatre smiled, carefully tearing the page out, before slowly folding it gently to prevent too large of creases. "Now then, let's go eat, shall we?" Harry nodded, and smiled. Wufei held out a hand to him, and he cautiously took it. He remembered Uncle Vernon doing something like that before, and when he went to take it, the man had slapped him across the face. But Wufei only smiled at him, and gently pulled the small boy out of the room. Harry followed willingly, not willing to anger him. Once they cleared the door, Wufei paused.

"Do you want to be carried, xiao hai?" Harry frowned, unsure of the foreign word.

"Szow hi?" Harry repeated, confused.

Wufei repeated the word, sounding the unfamiliar language out for the too-small boy. "It means little child in Mandarin, my native language." The boy looked at him in wonder, and he smiled. "I am Chinese. Each of our small family has a different nationality, xiao Harry." Again he pronounced it for the child, smiling still. The boy repeated it, and he praised the boy. "It means little Harry." Harry smiled at that, before he reached up, in the worldwide sign to be picked up. Wufei gently picked up the boy, and cradled him against his chest. "Come then, little one. Let's get you something to eat."

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AN: So, I have a number of people with this favorited or with a story alert. More than all my other stories combined! So, I'm glad that people are enjoying this. I hope you enjoy this update!

EDIT: So, I fixed the error in the Mandarin here and a few things that were bugging me.

EDIT July 24, 2010: Fixed a few things I noticed when going over it again to remember what I had been writing, and a bit of the Mandarin, again. Hehe.