"So, what is the plan?" France asked into the silence that descended once they touched down in Madrid. Harry Potter not once woke up while they were flying and even now he was eerily silent. It was creepy to say the least. Not to talk bad about Germany, but at the moment the boy reminded him more of a survivor of one of those camps than a teenage boy from England who had a Dark Lord after him. If the boy was supposed to defeat said Dark Lord he had a lot to learn and most of all weigh to gain.
Spain growled darkly, even with the attempts from Prussia and France he was still the conquistador, and said in a sinister voice, "We're going to rip England a new one. That's something I wanted to do since he defeated my Armada."
"What about the boy you're holding like the most precious thing on earth?" Prussia intervened before France could say something stupid. "Don't you want to feed him and cloth him properly before you are going to tear England apart? It would be the right thing to do to put the needs of your guests first, right?" The Prussian wasn't delusional enough to think that he counted as a guest. He was often enough over to be seen as furniture and not a living person, same for France. Even West had a high chance of being ignored because he had to take Prussia back home over to Germany quite often. France and Prussia exchanged exasperated looks when Spain stopped in his tracks to stare down on Harry. Now they felt sorry for the poor boy to have the attention of the conquistador on him even if he was unconscious. He may not really feel it and never remember it, but that was one creepy experience nobody could forget, and body was to be seen as quite literal in that moment.
"You're right, Prussia. Your wisdom today even surprises me," Spain mumbled. "I have to plan something easy on the stomach to eat for him. I can't have him starving more than he already is. What do you think he can eat and mostly keep in?" The Spaniard questioned mostly France, as he had more experience in the kitchen than Prussia could ever hope to gather.
Both countries, green-eyed and blue-eyed, went into a discussion and finally disappeared into the kitchen of Spain's house, with Prussia staying in the living room, having Harry lying on the couch in front of him. If some things would be ignored the boy could be quite attractive, the messy hair was not as bad as one would think (Prussia was desensitized because he knew America, Canadia, Italy and Romano, even some of the Nordics, most notable Denmark) and the green eyes he had seen in the warehouse were such a brilliant colour that even England's own emerald orbs paled in comparison. After an hour of waiting the door bell rang. It was France who ushered the people in the living room and right away said his goodbye to disappear to the kitchen again. Prussia looked up and was greeted with the sight of Hungary, Austria, West and Switzerland standing awkwardly in the door.
"You may enter and even sit down," the Prussian drawled. "I may not be the host, see me more of a piece of furniture, but please come in."
It was Switzerland who finally shuffled in and took a look at Harry, then sighed.
"I guess, he is the reason that we are here?" the blonde asked. He got a nod in return. "That doesn't look good," the Swiss mumbled, ignoring Hungary who had walked up behind him.
Hungary paled when she took the looks of Harry Potter in. When Germany had told both her and Austria what Prussia had done she didn't know if she would hug him to death because he did her and every other nation a favour or if she should smack him with her frying pan because he was an inconsiderate arse. When Germany finally told them what the thing really was about she thought that Prussia was exaggerating, wouldn't have been the first time, but this was even worse than the picture the strict German had painted. She felt oddly sorry for the young boy on Spain's couch. Even with the noise the five people in the room made he didn't even twitch, much less wake up. The door bell saved everyone from an angry rant of the only female nation in the room. Again France delivered the people into the living room and vanished. This time the Nordic Five entered, followed by, surprisingly, Japan and Italy.
Finland, being a bit of a mother hen in the group, right away walked over to Hungary and Switzerland. He went from pale to green in a few seconds and soon ran out of the room. Even Iceland couldn't help but feel a bit worried. Finland had a strong stomach, he had to have it, and he had been in a lot of bloody wars, so whatever it was it had to scare him a lot more than blood and lethal wounds. Sweden went after his "wife" to comfort him, so Iceland, Norway and Denmark took it upon themselves to see what scared their fellow nation like that. Germany held Italy back with a silent shake of his head. When the other Nordics saw Harry they exhaled sharply. France had warned them on the phone that it was not a nice view, but that couldn't begin to really describe what the boy had to have been through in the last month or so, if they kept track of the time. The Finn entered the room again, followed by the Swede.
"This is inhuman," Finland whispered, petting the dark hair of the boy. "Who would do such a thing?"
"The Dursleys," Prussia answered in a grim tone. "Do not misunderstand me, I never had the ... pleasure... to meet them, but there were six locks on the door of the room the boy was in and a cat flap for the food. If I had to guess I would wager that he had to do all the chores around the house from a young age. The pictures I saw on the wall of the entrance never contained Harry and he seemed to be strangely accepting when we first told him why we kidnapped him. If my guess is true then the public will never know that Harry disappeared because the Dursleys certainly don't care."
France and Spain stood in the door, silently listening in on the deductions Prussia made from what they had seen in the house. France had the terrible urge to lose his clothes and be naked. Even if he had the proof that it didn't help him thinking in the slightest, he still thought that it helped. Spain seemed to sense his trouble because he gave the Frenchman a small smile. The worry in his eyes countered the effect. It was the moment France wanted to go back to the time they were just angered because England took them precious time to sleep, and didn't even know that Harry Potter had problems with his family, not to mention that he probably was abused and neglected as well. He wanted back the cheery self of Spain, Prussia proclaiming that he was awesome and Spain and him being invited to the practices from Denmark, Prussia and England for a concert. Instead he entered the room together with Spain, sorrow deep in his eyes and worry etched onto his face. Humans were so fragile. A month of almost no food and not enough sleep and they were on the brink of death. With a tired sigh the cooks fell in two chairs, breaking the sudden silence with it.
"Are you sure that Harry didn't do it to himself?" Norway was the voice of reason. He earned a few dirty looks for it, but the Bad Touch Trio simply shook their heads. "It would make sense, after all. A school mate of his died at the end of his school year and a Dark Lord is after him, after he resurrected himself with the help of Harry's blood. It could very well be that Harry stopped eating after that traumatic event."
"You know, Norway, I would have believed you if I hadn't seen what I saw," France said in an almost inaudible voice. "But he was locked in his room and ... to be frank, after such a traumatic event shouldn't he get help, maybe even be institutionalised, instead of being shipped off to his relatives without so much as a letter for them to tell them what happened to Harry over the school year? And if Harry's relatives really were as caring as you assume, why didn't they send for help if Harry didn't eat enough? Why is there dirt under his fingernails as if he worked in the garden not twenty hours ago? I admit that I have no idea as to what happened because I let Angleterre just blather while I focused on doing something else, but admit that there is something fishy."
Norway seemed as if he wanted to argue, but the thoughtful expression on Iceland's face hindered him. If even his brother agreed with France... He chanced a glance at Germany, who nodded, too. The German knew what happened to Harry, he was too strict, even in his social manners to not listen to someone when he was talking, so he had the full story of what happened to Harry in his head and now the account of Prussia, France and Spain, too. Before he could contemplate the situation further, a groan was heard, followed by a shaky breath. As one all the nations turned to Harry. Startling green eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly in the light. Not long after that he tried to sit up, but Spain pressed him down onto the couch again.
"Hey, Harry," Spain greeted the boy softly. "I hope you do not mind that I brought you here. We're in my country now."
Germany looked as if he'd eaten a lemon. Switzerland and Austria could only agree, until they heard a weak, "Spain? Why?"
Surprised the other nations raised an eyebrow. They didn't really expect Harry to remember anything, much less believe it and accept it like you got told every day that anthropomorphic representations of nations were pretty much real.
"My friends and I decided that we could help you better in one of our own countries. It was a coincidence that I won. We came to the decision to have a talk with England because he had to have seen something of what happened to you. All the nations have sworn to never ever let child-abuse happen if they can hinder it. Either England has truly never seen any signs of the abuse or he wilfully went against the vow. Many of the nations gathered in my home so we can decide what will happen to England or if he even knew what was going on," the Spaniard said in a quiet, but steady voice. It was, of course, a lie, they never decided anything, Spain simply did what he wanted to do and his friends jumped at his commands. Now that he thought about it he had to admit that he was quite surprised. Even when he was in the mood of the conquistador they still argued. Today they just did what he wanted. Why was that?
Harry seemed as if he wanted to ask a lot of questions, but the door bell rang again. France stood up and let America and his northern brother Canada in. The Frenchman nodded when the whisper-like voice of Matthew asked if Harry was awake. America was the first to enter the living room. To the surprise of almost all the nations gathered, he didn't proclaim to be THE HERO and didn't even say a thing to Harry. Instead he moved to the side and let Canada enter. For the first time in a long while the nations truly saw him. The Canadian nodded in greeting, and then went over to Harry. He kneeled down next to Spain and greeted him in his normal speaking voice, not that much above a whisper.
"Hello Harry. Let me introduce myself and all the others that are here at the moment. My name is Canada; I am the twin of America. Geographically I am above the USA. America is the one standing next to the door. Many people confuse me with him, but you'll get used to it. On the couch next to Prussia, the silver-haired man you maybe remember?, is his younger brother Germany. I know, they look nothing alike, it's pretty funny. Beside Germany are Austria and the young lady with a big potty mouth you haven't heard yet is Hungary. The other blonde on the next couch is the last Germanic nation, Switzerland. The one with the closed eyes and the curl on his from you right side, for him left, is Italy. He's often called Veneciano because he has a brother who represents the southern part of Italy. The dark-haired man to Italy's right is Japan. At the wall, in the order they are standing, from right to left, are Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. But that's enough of boring introductions. We really should get you something to eat. Harry, when was the last time you ate something?"
The boy took a look at the face of the kind man. He swallowed, and then he started to think back.
He couldn't answer the question, so he shrugged. "I don't know. If I had to guess, I'd think a week. It was an apple and half a sandwich. After that I burned the dinner and was forbidden from eating anything."
Canada looked less than pleased. Harry knew that it had nothing to do with him and more with the Dursleys, none the less he felt bad for disappointing the kind men. Spain wanted to help him where Dumbledore always ignored him and chided him for lying, even though he always told the truth. The boy knew that he shouldn't trust the men that easily, but another part of his mind screamed at him that he would already be dead if they were Death Eaters. Who in their right mind would come up with personifications of nations anyway when they wanted to kill someone?
"Did you do something after you ate?" the Canadian asked in his quiet voice. Harry was pretty sure that the man had to repeat himself quite often because nobody heard him when he talked.
"You mean like chores?" Harry asked him softly. The man nodded encouraging. "Um, I weeded the garden, cleaned the house, did the laundry, cleaned the windows, tidied up Dudley's room, painted the fence, tended to the plants in the garden, mowed the lawn and organised the attic. Of course I made the dinner, breakfast and lunch for them and then I could use the bathroom for five minutes. After that they locked me in my room again."
Harry didn't know why he told Canada about it. Even his friends didn't know about it and they knew a lot more about his home life than the nations gathered in the room. He felt strangely safe with them, mostly Spain, France, Prussia, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Italy, America and Canada, but he had the feeling as if something or someone was still missing. The Gryffindor had the urge to ask questions, to ask for the why and how. He felt utterly confused that the nations wanted to help him and even called for a meeting in the middle of the night. Before he could start to understand what was going on the Spaniard entered the room, carrying a small bowl with him. A heavenly scent filled the air and Harry's stomach decided to growl. Ashamed he blushed, but Canada gave him a soft smile. Before Harry even acknowledged the thought it disappeared again, but he found that this smile was the most beautiful thing on earth, shortly after the man himself. Spain gave the bowl to Harry who stared at it in wonder.
"That is for me?" he asked incredulous. Spain had to fight to keep his face impassive, only with a cheerful smile adorning it.
"Yep, it is. I've eaten not three hours ago and I think that most of the other nations did the same."
Agreement was murmured all around the room. Harry started eating with the encouragement from Canada and Spain in his ears. He had to repress a small moan as the taste exploded in his mouth. All too soon the bowl was empty and he for the first time in a month was not hungry. A small smile blossomed on his face which was returned by the nations he could see, namely Spain, Canada, Prussia, Austria, Hungary and Germany. The sudden ringing of the door bell, again, caused Harry to flinch. Prussia got up to answer the door.
"I thought you said we were in your country," Harry said quietly to Spain. "So why is Prussia answering the door?"
The Germanic nations couldn't help but laugh a little at that question. They had asked themselves the same question when France opened the door and not their host, Spain. As such they were pretty curious for the answer themselves.
"Prussia and France are so often over here that they almost live here themselves, so they see it as their duty to play host with me, whenever we have guests. I can't bring it over myself to stop them and it's nice to not have to do anything alone."
"I hope that this emergency you talked about is important and not just a prank, you wanker because Harry Potter disappeared. Dumbledore is worried and sent the Order out to find him," a cold voice was heard, and then a blond man with caterpillar-eyebrows and emerald green eyes entered the room. When those eyes fell upon Harry he stopped in his tracks, only to stumble because a small man with long, dark brown hair and warm amber eyes walked into him.
"Watch it, England, aru," the man said, manoeuvring himself around the man to enter the room properly.
"What is Harry Potter doing in Spain, Spain?!" the England called man asked. The nations that were in the room before shared a look. It was Finland brave enough to step forward.
"England, you are accused of wilfully ignoring the abuse of a child in your own country along with your brother Scotland to a lesser degree. We have to thank Prussia, France, Spain and America for seeing the abuse and for contacting us right away," Finland started. He could feel the supportive stances the other Nordics took in his back and saw the approving smiles from the Germanic nations.
"I don't see any abused children in the room," England started carefully, already thinking over all the children where it could be considered wilfully ignorant. From his position in the door he could only see Harry's head. That was more than enough to identify him, but not to see the abuse or even neglect.
Spain suddenly saw a sad flicker in Harry's eyes and decided to bring him out of the room, "Harry, how does it sound when I take you to your room France and I prepared for you? You don't have to sit through this conversation; we tend to get extremely loud anyways."
The boy nodded and let help himself up. As soon as he stood upright, England paled and lost every bit of colour he had had before. He swayed on his feet and had to clutch unto Russia who just had entered the room. Even the cold Russian lost colour when he was faced with the boy. Russia wondered how his beautiful mate could overlook such glaring evidence because it was nothing like him and Russia knew with every ounce of his heart that England really liked Harry and did not just hype him because he saved England's arse in the first war. How could he not have seen this? Especially this summer England had a careful eye on him! Suddenly the island nation thought back. He could never really remember Harry. It was always more like a fuzzy "There was this boy who saved me from certain death in the first magical war over Voldemort's reign. What's his name again?" He only remembered the boy when he entered Hogwarts and with that the magical world. Every summer the boy seemingly seemed to disappear out of his mind... The wards weren't meant to disrupt the nation in him who worried about all his citizens, only to keep Harry safe.
"Dumbledore!" he spat the name out and Harry froze, turning around to him, followed by all the nations. Normally he would blush under all the attention he got, but now he concentrated on his anger. "That man did something with the wards that I can't remember Harry until he leaves them. At the same time I always think I see him! Until Harry disappeared I thought I always saw him laughing with his aunt at some joke his cousin made and similar nonsense. That is the reason why I believed him when I asked Dumbledore about your pleas to stay in Hogwarts over the summer holidays that you were an attention seeking child!"
It was Norway who reacted first, "You sure give your headmasters too much power, England. What is it Dumbledore's business in the first place, where Harry is over the holidays?"
"He is Harry's guardian," England argued back, almost on autopilot.
"He's my magical guardian at the most. My guardians are the ones who starved me this summer and every summer before that. The ones, who let me sleep in a cupboard, made me make the breakfast before I could even see over the stove, the ones who made me work in the garden in a heat not even a dog would want to be outside and gave me the cast-offs from my cousin."
England stared at the boy. Now he knew why Harry was so small and not at the height his parents had been at when they were as old as him. Tears sprang in his eyes. If crying and begging for forgiveness would help the young Gryffindor he would do it, but he knew as well as the other nations that it helped nothing and only added insult to injury. Harry stayed strong, fought back, and never gave up. And now to tell him that someone was sorry would be an insult to all the efforts the boy made to get here. Harry seemed to have come to the same conclusion if the softening of his features was an indicator. The Russian hugged England softly from his back in a show of silent support.
"Well, now that Harry is here, we can make the best out of it and help him, da?" Russia asked and earned shivers in response. The only ones not reacting were Harry and England. England for obvious reasons and Harry simply because he didn't know him and his voice was not a reason to fear him. Otherwise Harry would have been afraid of Hagrid, too. Maybe he should be even more afraid of the soft giant than of Russia because Russia's voice was soft and held a barely noticeable Russian accent. It was a lesson early learned that looks could be deceiving; his teacher in first grade looked nice and helpful, but when he told her that he didn't get enough food or money for lunch she chided him for lying. After that he got a beating that he couldn't go to school for two weeks because she called the Dursleys.
"You are right," England nodded at his mate's words. "I think that it would be best to let him stay here and not tell Dumbledore that you are here. If he asks at the end of the holidays where you were just say that you were somewhere safe."
Spain nodded his acceptance that he would have a guest to care for, while Harry nodded to show that he understood. Suddenly he stopped.
"Hedwig," he yelped. "If Dumbledore or Hermione use her it's an almost 100 per cent possibility that they will find me."
Norway frowned, but Iceland was faster, "Hedwig knows what she's doing. Snowy owls like her aren't only a rare breed; they are way more intelligent than some of the other species out there. They often do not deliver mail because the owner used them to deliver hate mail and other fun like that. I'm sure that Hedwig will lose the letter somewhere over the channel and confuse Dumbledore or whoever will be the one casting the tracking charm to no end."
"Enough of that already," Spain interrupted when Denmark opened his mouth. "It's late in the night and Harry had a long and adventurous day. We all go to bed now and start planning in earnest tomorrow morning."
Everybody agreed with that, the Nordics were the first to get up and leave the room. The Germanic nations followed their example, until only England, Russia, China, Italy, Japan, America, Canada, Spain and Harry were left in the room. England looked at a loss of what to do. The Russian decided to help him; he bade everyone a good night and guided the lost nation out of the room. Italy and Japan made their way out of the room, too. Italy had a happy smile on his lips. Contrary to some of the other nations he understood why the nations that still were in the room, were the ones in the room. Japan raised an eyebrow at the behaviour of Italy, but didn't ask questions. It was one thing Japan had learned in all the time with the Italian; if he didn't want to talk nothing could make him. It was a funny thing because everybody thought that he told everyone everything. They always used Germany's formerly unknown love for BDSM as example. What they didn't take into account was that Italy simply did not think of it as important. Everybody could find such information if they really wanted to, and Italy made no big deal out of it that Germany liked to play different than him in the bedroom.
In the living room the nations stood quietly. Nobody wanted to break the silence, to be the one everyone yelled at.
"Well," Harry finally started, "I really should try to go to sleep. Maybe this time without a nightmare, that would be nice," he muttered the last part without knowing that everyone heard him. China offered the poor boy a sad smile. As nations they had their fair share of nightmares. As four thousand year old nation they had a certain cycle they occurred, every night it was another one, never the same like the night before. The night when Japan attacked him was especially bad when the scar hurt in the weather. As such it was no wonder that every nation had their medicine and such things for nights like that. China used many years to study the herbs in his country if some of them could help him. They were no perfect solution, but they helped a little bit. He took a step forward and offered some of his herbs to the boy.
"It's no perfect solution, aru," he said, "but they will help at least a little bit, so you can sleep one night in peace. It will not help you if you get ill now."
Harry accepted them with a weak "thank you" and China nodded, leaving the room. Spain, Canada and America exchanged looks.
"I'll carry you," America finally said and with a yelp Harry stared down at the world. The American really was tall, he mused.
"Yes, well," Spain started, sharing another look with Canada, "this way. I'll show you to your rooms after that."
~O~
It was early the next morning that saw nineteen nations gathered in Spain's kitchen, all silently trying to find something to say. Russia made some soup on the stove, not in the mood for an English breakfast like his mate wanted. That gave him an idea to start a conversation.
"What will Harry be eating until he can eat what we eat at the moment?" the nation asked. France lifted his head and for the first time he did not flinch when he met the lavender coloured eyes with his own blue ones.
"I'll stay here and oversee Harry's food. I'm just thankful that we found him when we found him." Spain and Prussia nodded in agreement.
"I offered taking care of Harry whenever Spain and France are needed in their countries as I am not really existent anymore," Prussia said with a small smile. It held no joy, but the surprise was that the self-loathing Spain and France now associated with it was absent as well. It was just a smile that didn't reach Prussia's eyes. Germany seemed to share the surprise as well and even Denmark and England threw him suspicious looks.
"If Harry forgives me," England started in a small voice, "I'd like to educate him in some of the more obscure magical arts and tell him about the history of the magical world. I should know it, right?" Norway nodded in agreement. That sounded like a good plan.
"I would like to teach Harry my language and the spells that are casted in it," he offered. He startled England into dropping the pan he was holding. Nobody really knew when the island started cooking and how it came that it smelled good.
Iceland shocked most of the others when he said, "I'll take care of the wards around the house so that the owls won't reach Harry until he wants them to find him. That still leaves many ways open for them to reach Harry."
Here Finland took over, "I've heard that some of the researchers in my country found a way to search in the Floo network for a person and that it will connect to the next fireplace that is near the searched person. Because it's so new there aren't any created wards against it yet. I'll start the research right after breakfast."
"I'm going to travel home. I feel sorry for the boy and hate the headmaster of England's school for doing it, but I can't do anything against it," Austria stated. Hungary nodded in agreement and even Switzerland nodded once. Germany decided that it was a good idea and went with the other Germanic nations. Sweden and Denmark were torn between staying and going, but finally decided that they would keep the house in Sweden running for the return of the other Nordics. Italy and Japan, both quiet since the evening before, travelled back with their ally. Russia would never leave England behind and England wanted to wait to see if he really got the forgiveness of Harry before he even considered going back to the island. His brothers could do some of the paperwork, too. China wanted to stay, simply because he was a nation that had a lot of experience in healing and other things like that and because he had a strange feeling whenever he thought about leaving the boy alone.
America and Canada, both silent that morning, decided to state the obvious, "We'll be going over to England and gather Harry's things, so that they can't be used in tracking charms and potions. Canada will cast point me's to see if we missed something when we are ready in the house of his relatives," here America sneered in distaste, "and at the same time we will have the pleasure to finally meet one of them."
Canada nodded in agreement at his brother's words. The tall nation was prepared to meet all of them. For each of them he had his own hex that would make them regret not taking care of Harry.
China suddenly had the idea that made Germany, Sweden and Denmark stop in their tracks, "Can we change Harry's guardianship to us? If we file child neglect and abuse we have a high chance, don't we?"
"Do we now?" Germany asked rhetorically. "Even if we would succeed, Harry has no other living relatives. Only because we would be the 'concerned neighbours' in that case, it doesn't mean that we will gain guardianship over him. Harry could go to an orphanage before we could say 'please'."
"Ve~, but Germany," Italy suddenly said, startling a lot of nations because they had forgotten he was even present, "if someone could claim 'soul mate' on Harry, wouldn't that mean that Harry's guardianship could be transferred to them quietly and quickly?"
It was Sweden's thick accent that answered, "The answer to that would be a 'yes', but can someone in this room really claim that he is the soul mate of this boy?"
Italy opened his eyes with a serious expression on his face, shocking the nations even further, "It really isn't my place to say this, but many in this room should know what I am talking about. I shouldn't even understand the situation, but someone has to do it when all the others are seemingly blind to everything." With that shocking words Italy's eyes closed again and he smiled an absent-minded smile, "Ve~, I'm hungry. I'm going to make some pasta~!"
His plan worked like it was intended, his serious words from before were almost forgotten; only the crux of things was still in their mind, not who said it and how it came to be. Italy couldn't afford that his mask fell right now, he had some things to do before he could finally be himself and with his mate. His happy smile, that didn't reach his eyes; he kept his eyes closed for that reason, so that nobody saw that his smile was fake; on his face he got to work to make some pasta. He really was happy when he got home and could eat something else. After having pretended for most of his life that his only meal was pasta he couldn't stand the sight of it any longer than need be.
Denmark and Sweden, together with Germany, decided to work on the guardianship for the boy. With that concern on their mind only four nations really went home and still in Spain were the fifteen other ones. Suddenly Spain's front door blew open and in marched an Italy-look-alike with slightly darker hair, the curl on the other side of his head and with green-brown eyes. Said man stopped in his tracks when he saw all the nations gathered.
"Chigi," he exclaimed in shock. "What is going on here?"
Italy came out of the kitchen, his eyes still closed, even though Romano knew that it was a mask, "Ve~, England had a case of an abused child that Prussia, Spain and big brother France found. We gathered to discuss it with him."
Romano's eyebrows rose in question. He would never understand how his younger brother could read his moods with eyes closed, but Italy always knew what face he pulled before even Romano knew it.
"They wanted to do something against England's constant annoying calls over Harry Potter. So they kidnapped him and wanted to bring him to say that he hated England. When they told him that there was a book about him, he got angry and escaped the ropes holding him," before Romano could ask a question, Italy answered it, "no, we do not know how he did it, but he seemed to have experience in it. He lost his shirt while escaping the ropes and shocked every nation present; America came in the meantime to save Harry, because you could see every single rib of him."
A cough was heard, followed by hectic movement from upstairs. One door flew open and closed with a resounding bang, while the bathroom door opened. Spain closed his eyes in pain.
"That was Harry," he explained Romano, "It seems that even with certain precautions we took he got ill. That's not good. He has to keep the meals down we make him, otherwise he will meet his end a little too early."
Ten displeased faces stared upstairs, where a weak looking Harry leaned against the banister. He didn't seem to see the nations at the bottom of the stairs.
"Harry," Prussia said with worry in his voice, shocking Romano. Prussia didn't seem like a person who would be concerned about the well-being of someone else than himself. The youth that was called was pale, startling green eyes dull and the most shocking were the ribs Romano could count from down the stairs. Dark hair was untameable messy and hung into his eyes. The south Italian had to admit that Harry Potter would look good, more so, he would look like a ten in Romano's system of grading looks of males and females alike, the top score anybody could reach, if he just had a bit more weight on him. The green eyes lifted a bit and bore into the red gaze of the Prussian.
"Prussia," Harry whispered. A soft smile was on his face and he seemed as if he wanted to say something, but he turned slightly green and ran into the bathroom again. Romano instantly forgot why he was here in the first place. He was here more often than even Prussia and France and knew every single way around the house and even some shortcuts Spain had let build into the house after nearly dying in here because he had no escape route, so he decided that he would help Harry whenever China had no possibility to be fast enough. Spain wanted him to stay anyway, so why not now and for a poor child nobody else seemed concerned enough about to help? The Italian would never admit it, but he was happy that the nations found Harry when they found him. Sadly a few weeks more and Harry would never make a good recovery like he would do now. Italy and Romano exchanged a look. The south Italian nodded in agreement to what Italy told him with his look. His brother relaxed slightly and went upstairs to 'his' room in the Spaniard's home, manor, whatever. A few minutes later he came back to the stairs, a bag in his hands. But instead of walking down, he set the bag down and went into the bathroom, where the boy still was.
"Ve~, are you feeling alright?" Italy asked the silly question. Sometimes he hated that he created this mask to hide the true self of his. Harry lifted his head, staring in honey-coloured eyes he didn't see the evening before. The curl seemed to have changed shape as he would have sworn that it took the shape of a heart as soon as they made eye contact. The green-eyed boy just prepared to give a smart-ass answer when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. It couldn't be possible, though. Italy may not look the part, but as a nation he was way older than him, so why did Harry imagine that he saw through a mask into the face of someone who had seen more and did more than anyone else? Why did he imagine seeing an intelligent and brave man who would fight for his believes? Why would Harry even think to know the nation in front of him? They never even exchanged one word; not even a greeting was exchanged between the two of them.
"I think you know the answer to your question as well as I do," the boy answered in a rough voice. Italy Veneciano nodded in agreement. "You're leaving?" he added when he saw Italy's bag through the open door. Again Italy nodded.
"It gets full here. England, Russia and China decided to stay here, along with all the Nordics and Germany and Prussia and France will be staying here, too. America and Canada will be coming back as soon as they have your things gathered over in England. My brother, Romano, has decided to keep an eye on you for me. It's not that I don't trust the others, it's just that I would feel better knowing that my brother is here to help you," Italy explained. Not once was a "Ve~," heard. Harry may not have known Italy for long, but he knew that this was a speech pattern everybody seemed to associate with him.
Finally Harry sighed; asking a question that made him blush as soon as he thought over it, "Why do you dumb yourself down?"
It was another Italian accent that answered him, "That is an interesting question. Brother Dearest, why do you dumb yourself down?"
Harry lifted his head and stared into green-brown eyes. Auburn hair built a curl like Italy's on the right side for the person.
"Romano, I take it?" the boy half asked, half stated. The Italian grinned and presented white teeth while at it.
"That's me," the man confirmed. Italy sat quite shocked in the bathroom on the floor. Not only did Romano not even try to insult Harry, but his curl had changed unknown for Harry and Romano himself, form to a heart, too. At that Harry had asked a question he thought he would never hear until he would let his mask fall. But here he was and got asked why he would dumb himself down. Did he become so obvious that even a mere human could see the difference?
"I do it myself. I can see the difference between someone who's really dumb and someone who just pretends," Harry answered the unasked question. He shrugged at the looks he received from Romano and Italy. "If you get hurt regularly when you do better than someone else you start real quick to get worse than anybody else. Dudley is plain unable to count to thirty and I had to be worse in school than him."
Romano nodded in understanding. That made sense, even though he really wanted to see the family of Harry suffer for what they did to the poor boy. He sighed, and then he lifted Harry up.
"Well, if my brother doesn't want to answer the questions then we can bring you to your bed again, right? I can't imagine that it's nice to sleep on the bathroom floor and you will need the rest so that your body can concentrate on fighting the illness."
"I never was ill before," the boy in Romano's arms said pitifully. Italy stayed behind and cleaned the bathroom before he followed his brother and his new charge. Germany and Japan, who stood with his things packed, gave him odd looks, but Italy decided to ignore them for a while. Spain had his lips pressed into a stern expression.
"I will bring up something to eat soon. Even though he is ill, he has to eat something," he said to Italy. Feliciano nodded, entering the room of Harry. Romano lifted his head a little to look at his younger brother.
"Spain will be up soon to bring something to eat." At Harry's groan in response Italy continued, "Harry, it's not healthy at all to not eat, and we would really like it if you got better and not worse while in our care."
Both Italians nodded and they suddenly heard agreement from the door as well. When they turned around they saw America and Canada leaning against the doorframe on both sides. If America wouldn't have the cowlick and Canada the curl they would be so identical that nobody would be able to make a difference between the two. Harry didn't seem to have the problem as he smiled at Canada in greeting. "Morning Canada," he said and Canada returned the greeting in kind.
"Wait, you are able to make a difference between the two?" Romano asked surprised.
Harry blinked in confusion and looked at America and Canada again, "Why are you saying it as if it's impossible? You have never seen the Weasley-twins if you really have problems to differentiate America and Canada. If you look closely Canada has more lilac than blue eyes, his hairstyle is different to America's, too, and his whole body posture screams that he is someone else than America. There is no way to confuse the both of them... The first time you will see Fred and George Weasley, you will be lost in the land of confusion," Harry prophesized. "If you can't see a difference between them, you will never see the difference between some of the Weasleys."
America gave the boy a grin. It seemed as if Canada didn't have to fear to be forgotten or even mistaken as him ever again. Harry was a nice boy, observant and cunning enough to put every Slytherin to shame. The American blinked surprised. Huh, it seemed as if he remembered more of Hogwarts from what England told him than he imagined. That came as a surprise for him. Alfred was sure that Harry saw something in him that not many people even knew about, if the sharp look was anything to go by. Italy looked between the two of them and auburn eyebrows rose in surprise. The blond American decided to speak with Italy when they left the house.
"I take it that you are quite able to tell them apart, aren't you?" Spain asked from the door. He stood between America and Canada, a stark contrast between the two blonds with pale skin and light coloured eyes, as Spain himself had a tan skin, dark green eyes and dark brown hair. "I heard England quite often complain that in his magical world there were twins he absolutely could not keep apart. I guess that he meant the twins you were talking about."
"I did," the British accent from England answered. "I always was quite impressed that Harry was able to do so, though. But his answer always frustrates me."
Harry gave a small laugh, for now ignoring the smell of food in the room.
"Oh? And what would this answer be?" America asked and earned a mischievous smile from Harry and a frustrated sigh from England.
"A good magician never gives away his tricks," both recited at the exact same time. Both sets of green eyes sparkled in amusement when the other nations in the room gaped at them. If America and Canada wouldn't have known better they would have sworn quite a bit of money that this was staged. So they knew though that it just came as a coincidence. England was up after Canada this morning and last night it was America who brought Harry into his room. Canada and America shared a room and it was next to Harry's, so they would have heard if England entered the room of the other British citizen in the house after they retired for the evening.
"That was staged," Spain argued and America and Canada laughed at that. England gave a snort in amusement and from the bed they heard a laugh as well. "I never thought you had to resort to staging things like this, England, but I have to admit that it worked well."
"I may not be known as the most spontaneous nation out there, but even I do not plan a joke three months before it happens with someone else, only to have it look like a spontaneous joke," England said amused.
Harry grinned only in response to that. "I didn't even know England before yesterday," he pointed out.
"Ve~, I should be going!" Italy said, standing up after he looked down on his watch. "I have a long drive before me."
"Come visit soon, Italy," Harry said. The Italian grinned down at the adorable boy with a sparkle in his honey-coloured eyes.
"Ve~, I will, do not fret, Harry. Until then I will leave you in the good care of China and my brother. Do your homework as soon as Canada and America come back with your things, promise?" Italy Veneciano said and patted his head.
"Well, we should be going as well. I think that we will be taking a plane, right, brother?" America asked. Canada nodded in agreement, his long curl bouncing with the movement.
"My most important possessions are under a lose floorboard in my room under the bed. Under the photo album is my invisibility cloak, do not forget it. I refuse that it gets in the hands of Vernon or, worse even, Dudley. If Hedwig is still in Privet Drive tell her that you know where I am. She will follow you to me," Harry rattled down the facts. "Ron still has my dress robes. I don't even know how that came to be, but it's true that they are in his possession. Hermione has hogged a few of my books. They belong to the Potter-family."
England raised a questioning eyebrow. So Harry did know about his standing in the magical world?
"Hermione lent me the books half a year ago. She was certain that I would never even open it and not see the name of the original owner in it. I made sure that neither Hermione nor Ron would ever see me reading any book I could get my hands at and always made extra mistakes in my essays. I never trusted anyone in the school. As such I never slept that much because I went into the library and read everything I could get my fingers at. When I have seen the name in the book I decided to research a bit and learned that the Potter-family is a rich and famous family. Sadly many of the books I would have needed to learn proper disappeared out of the library before I could read them."
"If you let us," a new voice said; it was male, held little emotion and for being male it was surprisingly high pitched, "England and I will teach you everything there is to know about you and your magic. If Spain agrees we will call Romania over. He's more of an expert in behaviour of Lords and Ladies than England and me in the magical world."
Both British people turned to stare at whoever it was. It turned out that the male with blond hair and indigo coloured eyes was Norway, mostly remembered by Harry through his hairpin in form of the Nordic Cross. England looked put out at the words of his magical ally. This was not the reaction he expected from Norway, not in the least. Norway did not talk this much, he would never offer to teach anyone and most of all Norway never ever offered to teach someone else his language and the spells in said language!
"Thank you, Norway, that would be much appreciated," Harry said with gratitude in his voice. The Norwegian nodded in agreement, meeting England's look head on. He raised an eyebrow, turned around, after he smiled a little at Harry, who in turn gave one back, with a little frown, and Norway left the room. The British nation followed the Nordic out.
America, Italy and Canada decided to finally do what they wanted to do and left the room as well. Now alone with Spain and Romano Harry sighed.
"Let me guess," he started when Spain finally entered the room properly, "This was not Norway's typical behaviour."
It was the Italian in the room who gave an amused smile, "You are pretty good in reading people, Harry. Not many people could have gathered from one sentence that something's not normal."
"It was more the behaviour of everybody else that gave it away than the sentence itself," the boy shrugged. Before he could say anything else a spoon full of soup was shoved in his mouth.
"You have to eat," Spain said without regret when Harry glared at him. "Italy told me of your reaction when I mentioned food, so if you don't eat willingly I will force-feed you until you do."
Romano said nothing about this. It was pretty obvious that this was a fight of wills. Harry was losing pretty quickly and pretty spectacular. Of course a boy of fourteen, nearly fifteen years, could not hold his candle against a nation of over four hundred years with a lot more experience. It came for nobody, even Harry, as a surprise when the boy broke eye contact and swallowed the soup. None the less Spain had to feed him the bowl because he did not want to eat it to save his life. Spain on the other hand was strangely happy about this and had no problem whatsoever to do so.
~O~
If the ending is somewhat abrupt I am totally sorry.^^' The chapter was originally 20k words long and I had to... make two parts out of it somehow.^^'
I hope you like it and sorry for the long wait.
By the way, I finally, thanks to your reviews, can give credit to the story I totally recommend: Potter and the Perverts by puppeez4eva.
Greetings, Fen