DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I also do not make any money from this.
WARNINGS: Yaoi (male x male), Yuri (female x female) adult topics, swearing, sexual scenes and violence.
This has not been Beta'd.
PAIRINGS: Ron x Hermione, Blaise x Cho
'text' is thought
"text" talking
Hidden Element
Chapter 15: Safest Place
Elementals:
Ice and Void – [Name]
Fire – Pansy Parkinson
Earth – Blaise Zabini
Nature – Cho Chang
Light – [Name]
The Forgotten:
[Element] – Saito Blackstar (OC)
[Element] – Carsly Hendricks (OC)
[Element] – [Name]
Water - Yasmin DiAngelo
Wind - Miya Hendricks (OC)
"Pansy please, you have to explain this! You can't just drag us somewhere!" Harry groaned angrily. He had enough of their silent, yet angry understanding. Pansy paused only a second in hesitation before continuing down the road they had found themselves on. It was a row of cottages, which all held white picket fences and roses climbing up their walls. It was a beautiful sight to behold, peaceful and idyllic.
"Ice was being vague, which he never is, and I got curious and worried. I had reason! Apparently he hadn't been living where he told me for years! I needed to know, so I actively sought him out." She pursed her lips tightly, finally coming to a stop as the ground beneath her shook minutely. Blaise was angry. Understandably, she had broken protocol. Not just that, she had broken his trust concerning a sensitive situation.
"I know it was against the rules, I know he could have been in danger, especially since they know my whereabouts. I just had to make sure he was alright. He'd been lying to me, Blaise, I needed to find out," she sniffed slightly at the disappointed look aimed at her.
She had never wanted to see that look on Blaise's face, yet her worry for the other had driven her to the extreme. Blaise would see reason, after Cho had calmed him down. She had a brief period of jealousy. She remembered a time when she calmed him down, when he came to her with his problems. She had never had a crush on the young man, yet she missed him dearly.
It was hard to pretend to be who you were in Hogwarts when an element constantly raged within you. You didn't respond how you wanted, didn't act how you thought your friends would want you to. At the same time, training and five years of separation had changed them. They never had the chance to talk. It was all about another semi-war now. No chance to catch up at all.
They were always busy being Potter's pets. Run here, tell us this. Had they been in the elementals situation, they would have stopped to talk no matter the situation. It was something they hadn't deserved, and something the Order of Ash hadn't taken into account.
Blaise sighed seeing the quivering look Pansy glanced him with. He knew they needed to talk, it was part of what was driving him to the edge. He had needed them back in his life, and despite Cho's insistence that he find them, he had stuck to the procedure Dumbledore had taught him.
Silently, almost unsure of her decision, Pansy gestured to the cottage two houses away.
"This is the house?" Blaise asked softly.
"Listen group" Pansy stated with a new-found authority like a tour group organiser. "Ice won't be in today. We're just here to show Blaise why he's very safe, and you, I guess, but mostly Blaise." She nodded to herself and drew a big gasp of air and marched forwards, the rest following confusedly. How could their strongest player being lost mean he was safe?
Pansy had never truly explained the situation, she had merely led them to a red range rover further down the hill. They had sped down the country side to a small town that lay a few meters beyond the swell of the hill side. They had parked the car at a library and had walked for what seemed like three blocks.
She knocked on the light green door, waiting a few seconds before the door opened. She watched in mild amusement with the others as a sunflower bloomed under Blaises feet, tripping him over into a bed of sweet peas. She would have to make time to tease him on the subject later. With a soft click of a turning lock, the door opened before them.
They only saw someone's retreating back before Pansy went inside and signaled for them to trail after. It was a pleasant cottage with a Victorian feel and they all instantly felt home inside the cheery looking home. The furniture was a dark, almost black, stained wood, its edges carved delicately in soft patterns. The walls were of a mint colouring, with black hugging the top and bottom of the walls. Roses littered the room in delicate vases, and although a fire was blazing in the fireplace, the overall temperature was unnaturally cold.
She led them to a leather couch, happy to see that their host had turned down all the pictures frames in the vicinity of the living room.
"Hey, Asher!" she giggled as a baby black Labrador made to jump up onto the couch. Hermione and Ginny cooed at the cute dog and moved to sit next to Pansy, taking turns playing with the dog. The boys all sat on the other coach, and Blaise on a foot stool next to the TV.
"Pansy," a voice greeted. They all looked up to find a handsome young man come in with a silver tray of tea and biscuits. His skin was tanned, his hair an almost black if it had not looked so purple when the light shone on it. One would think it a trick of the light. He seemed to be of Asian decent. What had drawn their attention, was the violent violet of the mans eyes. Much like Pansy's unnatural red, this was not a colour in the normal human eye colour spectrum. U
Gingerly, the man placed the tray before her.
"Could you heat them up again, please?" Pansy could only snigger as she nodded her head and heated the cups one by one and placed them on the table before her. "Please, help yourselves" he stated.
"Guys, I would like you to meet Saito. Saito, this is some of the group." He smiled softly and dragged a dining chair over and sat down. "Blaise here just wanted to make sure you were keeping our mutual friend safe."
"I'm sure you know by now that he needs none of my help to be safe. You give him no credit."
"You have a lovely house, Saito," Hermione chirped happily, petting the dogs soft head.
"None of this was done by me." Asher jumped off the one couch, followed by a slight 'aww' from the girls and made to sit at his owners feet, tail wagging happily. Saito scratched his ears, before the black dog jumped up and made itself comfortable on his lap.
"I somehow believe that," Blaise grumbled, looking around for any sign that could directly pin point Ice to this location. Harry opened his mouth to comment on his lack of knowledge, but got elbowed by Blaise. He knew Harry hated being left in the dark, almost as much as he hated it himself, yet now was not the time to be asking these questions. They didn't know whether or not this human before them knew about Ice's gift. He wished with all his might that Ice wasn't that stupid.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble... but if you don't mind me asking, don't you like tea?" Hermione asked politely, adding sugar to hers, noting that the extra tea cup (presumably his) had remained untouched. He laughed, producing an electrifying sound.
"I do like tea, but I'm afraid I can't have any right now." He took Pansy's cup from her and turned it upside down. The tea had grown solid. Pansy snatched her tea cup back and burned it back to life, suddenly sure Saito had a death wish. The discovery part was not part of their plan of 'introduction'.
Blaise was instantly at alert as he started to growl.
"That reaction doesn't happen with normal humans..." Blaise growled.
"Ah..." Ginny stated wide eyed, finally getting a crucial part of Pansy and Blaise's bickering that had been unsaid.
"I'm assuming Ice lives here then!" she smiled softly. "Which one are you?" She stilled as she saw Pansy shake her head for her to stop asking. Pansy, having heard all about Saito, knew how blatantly honest he could be. There was no way he would beat around the bush.
"I'm not one of yours if that's what your asking..." he smirked. Instantly the room was filled with wands. Only Pansy and Blaise remained seated.
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked stiffly.
"I live here, and according to Pansy, you were here to see me." He looked at her pointedly.
"Ice and Saito live together... they're..." She stuttered over her words, not quite sure how to explain the current situation.
"We're seeing each other," he said slowly. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I won't hurt him."
"No... Pansy..."
"Later, Blaise, when everyone's there. Just, please trust me on this. You do, don't you?" It took him a lot longer to grow calm than Pansy would have liked.
She couldn't get over the fact that they had all changed so much. Looking back now, Blaise had been a shield for her and Draco at all times. He had also been the weapon, the shoulder to cry on, the strong one to hold them together. There had been traces of what stood before her now, yet this almost constantly rumbling Blaise no longer made perfect sense.
It hurt her to know that someone else knew him better than she did. She just hoped that when they all came together again, that their elements would not get in the way of their friendship and comradeship.
It had taken Pansy a lot of convincing to get the Order and Blaise back out the house. Saito had been decent enough, but he had not taken well to the insistence that he was evil. It had been an awkward parting. She had shot a glare at the man for ruining her 'easing into it' plan, whom only responded with a shrug as he set about clearing away the tea set.
The atmosphere in Ron and Hermione's house was no where near amicable. They had proceeded to tell the other three their findings and had made their way to 'the den'. They needed to talk things through.
"Pansy, what does this mean?" Ginny asked slowly "For our side, I mean." Pansy sighed.
"It means nothing. Nothing has changed, apart from the fact that they have been limited. Although Saito has managed to call somewhat of a truce, they can no longer just run amuck and do what they want. Their attacks have decreased drastically. There was no plan they were setting up, it was because of Ice."
"And he's happy with that?" Blaise sighed wearily. He didn't know whether he should rage or stay calm. His feelings were a mudslide of confusion. How dare he do something stupid like that! He cringed to think how Ice had changed since the last time he saw him.
"He's trying to be the hero again, dammit!"
"No. We both know he would never think of himself as the hero. When I said you'll have trouble convincing Ice to join the fighting, I don't mean because of his personality... I mean because he's in love with Saito, or at least I think he is."
"So, you're saying, to keep the peace, and his seeming love, he'll be OK with this stalemate for ever?" Ginny whined.
"You said I think. So you're not completely sure whether or not he really does love him?" Neville queried. Pansy felt like she was close to slamming her head against the table.
"Have you decided yet Pans?" Blaise interrupted her response slowly as he leaned backwards in his chair. He knew the answer before she would give it. He was sure of it, although she had changed, loyalty and passion was still there. What worried him, however, that instead, it had increased.
"It depends. I won't join if Ice doesn't. I don't care what your argument is, I won't break a cease fire that will put him right in the middle of the danger. Unless he's out of there, then no." Her argument seemed to gain determination as it ended.
"He's already in danger, Pansy!" Harry growled "Their leader could decide with a click of his or her fingers that Ice had to die then and there! Who's to say this Saito is seemingly in love with Ice as well? He could be stringing him along to keep him there till he heard word from the boss. Safest place my ass!" Pansy couldn't help but laugh.
"First of all, what the hell Potter, that was lame. Second of all, don't tell me you didn't notice the lights flicker every once in a while, how his words jolted you back to reality... that's a strong use of element without really meaning to use it. That WAS the leader dumb ass. Ice is living in a safe place indeed."
XxHushHushxX: Thank you!
*Evil laugh* Wait and see. There have been some subtle hints as to who her love interest is - but will something come of it? Stay tuned!