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My apologies if you find any missing word or any spelling mistakes, first, English is not my first language so I may get mistaken sometimes and I don't have a beta. I always spell-check my work and look for any missing slips, but one can do as much.
Chapter Three:
A slender, long thin body slithered around the high grass and the inopportune rocks in its way. The sunlight warmed up the tiny scales in its skin, its light pink tongue tasting the air. It really enjoyed the sunshine and the new found liberty; at his master's house he always had to stay inside, but here, he could anywhere he wanted, if he kept himself out of anyone's view.
A particular scent was in the air, a scent he was well familiar with. The serpent whirled around and followed the scent, which lead him to an old cheery blossom tree. It was spring season, but he was no more than a hatchling, so he still didn't feel the need to find himself a mate. At the bottom of the tree, was sitting a young raven-haired boy with his eyes closed and sleep the afternoon away. He tossed and grunted in its sleep and his brows were furrowed in confusing. A little moan escaped its lips along with pleading words.
"No… get away… leave us…" The boy murmured in its sleep. While the snake couldn't not speak human because it wasn't in its nature, he did understand quite a bit and he could scent the distress in his young master.
The snake approached the boy and climbed up his arm until he could face the young boy. "Master! Wake up, master! It's just a night terror, young hatchling! Wake up!"
Harry heard the far away hissing in front of him and he abruptly opened his eyes. A snake was hanging from his arm, looking at him with concern, if snakes could really show such feelings. He felt his heart beating miles per hour and his skin was cold from the sweat. He had another nightmare.
"Are you okay, young master?" The snake hissed.
The image of blood and death corpses flashed through his eyes. He shook his head and smiled weakly at his snake. "Yes, Gaius, it's alright,"
The snake didn't seem to believe him, but it didn't ask him again. Harry sighed in relief and laid back on the bark of the tree.
It had been long since his last nightmare, almost three months. He was certain he passed through that stage, but it seems like he was wrong. He was lucky Gaius had woken him up before he could start yelling his throat out.
He looked down to the small snake attached to his left limb. The snake, a Naja Naja, or better known as an Indian cobra, was coiling up to his warmth. Harry smiled at his companion and let the small guy rest; he hoped it won't wake until he arrived home.
He had met Gaius a month after they arrived to Japan. He and Neenie were visiting the Wizarding shopping district under Tokyo and they had just passed a magical pet shop and he had entered the place to buy his owl Hedwig some treats. Unknowingly, he went to the reptilian area and found himself in the snake area; suddenly, he was speaking with at least ten snakes at the same time.
Gaius had been the most witty and sarcastic of the group, and oddly enough, the only one alone within a crystal tank. Since he was no more than a common Indian cobra, with no magical powers whatsoever, he didn't expect to be bought, and neither did the shopkeeper. Something akin to compassion and empathy was what drove Harry to take Gaius home with him. The snake, the shopkeeper and Hermione were all equally surprised with his decision, and Gaius was forever grateful. The snake was beautiful indeed, even if it just was a common cobra. Dark scales, quick as the wind, and a very special personality that sometimes reminded Harry of his old Potions Professor. Sirius was a little wary at first, and Hedwig and Crookshanks were surprisingly angry with Harry for a little while, (Hedwig even refused to send Harry's letters to Umehito) but they grudgingly accepted the new addition to the family.
Dumbledore had once told him that his ability to talk with snake was an ability that was transferred to him when Voldemort tried to kill him the first time. He was satisfied with that answer for a while. Until Voldemort died and he continued understanding the serpents. So he decided to look into his ancestors by his mother's side. In the 1770's, one of his great-great-great and much greats later, grandmother had married into a family of hidden Parselmouths, and after that union, at least one Parselmouth had appeared in his family tree until the late-1880. After that, his mother's line had been giving birth to squibs, until much later when his mother was born. His mother didn't have the gift, but it was given to him, and Harry didn't really mind.
When he told this to Sirius, he was very surprised that Lily Potter nee Evans had blood of Dark wizards in her family tree.
"But given the temper of that woman, I should had a least suspected it." He replied with a goofy grin.
Harry closed his eyes as he sighed, the slightly warm breeze playing with his hair and loose tie. He stretched out his left leg, which had been asleep for a while and he inhaled the scent of the various smells around him, and his lips revealed a small content smile. He was the very image of easiness and quietude.
"Um, Potter-kun?"
Harry groaned below his breath and opened up one green orb; he found himself looking at a young brown haired boy with large chocolate eyes. The boy, who was in his class, was carrying too many books in his brittle arms; Harry wondered how the petite boy could lift them all without a strain.
"Yes, Fujioka-san?" (1)
Fujioka lowered his gaze, seemingly abashed of getting his attention. "You have a snake coiled up in your arm."
Harry looked down at Gaius, who was sleeping soundlessly. He smiled a bit. "I'm aware of it. He's mine."
"Ah," Fujioka nodded his head. "Isn't it poisonous?"
"Very; I advise you to not get in his way when he's angry." Harry replied and almost laughed out loud when Fujioka stared at the serpent in avid terror.
Fujioka, even though he looked startled, continued to ask questions about his familiar. "What's his name? What species he is? I didn't know snakes were allowed in the Ouran campus,"
"His name is Gaius and he's a Naja Naja, or Indian cobra, if you preferred. And no, they aren't allowed; I just brought him along today because he was bored."
Fujioka furrowed an eyebrow. "How can you know he was bored?"
"I just can," Harry said swiftly. Fujioka rolled his eyes, somewhat annoyed with his answer.
It had been almost three weeks since he started attending Ouran, and it was already set in his mind that it was the most ridiculous, exasperating, and annoying place on the planet. The majority of the students didn't come here to study, they came just to waste time and fool around. They were the biggest gossipers, even worse than the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff fifth year girls. You couldn't even find silence in the three libraries the place had, and it was something that irritated Neenie to no end. Harry didn't visit the libraries unless he couldn't find a way to avoid them for the same reason.
The students in his class were frivolous and spoiled and liked to rant about anything. If Sirius wanted him to make friends, he certainly wasn't going to find them in his class. Not that he wanted anyways. He had Hermione and he had a sort of friendly relation with Umehito-sempai and that was enough for him. He didn't really need anybody else.
Fujioka Haruhi was barely an acquaintance of him. He was the only guy who had common sense and wasn't as superficial as the rest, but that was because he wasn't filthy rich and knew what is like to live without luxury. Fujioka was humble and modest and really cared about his studies, as far as Harry could tell. But then, the guy arrived one day with an expensive Ouran male uniform and started hanging with the Hittachin twins. So Harry began wondered if his view of Fujioka was too far-fetched.
"Well then, if you're not in danger of being bitten by a poisonous snake, I must be going," Fujioka bowed his head and turned around. The books in his arms almost fell over, but Harry was right behind him and caught them in time.
"Want a hand?" He asked with a small grin. "Where are you taking these?"
"Thank you, Potter-kun." Haruhi gave him a grateful smile and divided the group of books in half. Harry placed the books in his right arm so he wouldn't wake up Gaius. "I'm actually going to the Host club; I'm kind of late."
Harry raised an eyebrow as they walked down the hallway. "Never thought you'd be the sort of person to visit such a club,"
Haruhi laughed softly. "Not really, no. If I had my way, I wouldn't step foot in that music room if I could help it. They are really nuts. Didn't I tell you I own them a debt now?"
"Really?"
"Yeah; I gracefully stumbled into a rather expensive vessel, worth eight million yen, and since I'm broke, I have to work as a Host to pay it back."
"When did this happen?"
"Roughly a week after school began; I was looking for a quiet place to study and instead, I found myself being almost choked down by rose petals."
"I'd hate to be you," Harry replied playfully and Haruhi somehow managed to nudge him on the ribs.
A hissing sound came from the small snake tangled on Harry's limb and Haruhi back away from the serpent, suddenly scared. Gaius crawled up his arm and wrapped himself around Harry's shoulders. Haruhi stared with wide alarmed eyes and Harry just chuckled.
"Gaius, this is Haruhi; Haruhi, this is Gaius." Harry replied.
"Why is this small looking human with you, Master?" Gaius hissed.
"Is he angry or something?" Haruhi muttered, keeping a fairly distance away from him.
"Nah, he's just curious about you."
"Where are we going? I want to sleep some more!" Gaius protested. Harry just rolled his eyes.
"Lazy snake," he hissed below his breath when Haruhi turn in a corner. He thought he hadn't heard him, but it wasn't the case.
"What did you say?" Haruhi asked with interest.
"Nothing, just speaking with Gai,"
"Hey, I know what you're saying! Don't call me Gai! And I'm not lazy!" The serpent rubbed his scales against Harry's skin and the boy groaned uncomfortable; the skin around his neck was very sensitive and Gaius enjoyed tickling him merciless.
"Well, this is my stop," Haruhi stated suddenly. They have finally arrived to the Third Music Room and they could hear a ruckus from inside the doors.
"Well, let's go in," Harry hurried. He didn't particularly want to go in, but he wasn't going to stop mid-way after he had offered his help to the brown haired boy.
Once they opened the doors, Harry was suddenly transported to the tropics. He was quite certain he entered a music room, and that the tropical plants and the foreign animals didn't belong there, neither in Japan, for that matter. In front of him, were six men dressed with only robes around their waist; they were all barefoot and wearing golden jewelry. They had shouted a loud "Welcome" once the doors opened, and unfortunately, Harry almost choked with the rose petals.
"Oh, why is it so hot in here?" Gaius appeared from under Harry's blazer and looked around. "I like it; can we stay for a while?"
"You wish," Harry hissed in return and left Haruhi to deal with his club mates. Seriously, who turns a classroom into a tropical paradise? He left the bundle of books on a free coffee table and cleaned away the sweat from his forehead. It was definitively too hot for his liking.
"He's Potter Harry-san, a classmate of ours." He heard Haruhi saying.
"Ah, we remember him," The twins said at the same time. "He's that kid who sits at the back of the class,"
Harry wondered how many people had actually noticed him. As far as he knew, there haven't been any furtive glances and whispered words towards him. It made him a bit uneasy. After being a big shot in the Wizarding World (and what came of it) he didn't wish to be the center of attention again.
"Bye, Fujioka-san! Good luck in your studies!" He waved back to the petite boy hurriedly. He noticed the tall blonde looking at him with curiosity in his eyes, but that was probably because Gaius hadn't bothered to hide. But before any of them could call on it, he was always half way through the door.
~oOo~
"Haruhi, you're late!" Hikaru and Kaoru said at unison, greeting their favorite toy.
The brown haired girl was too busy staring at the decoration. She muttered something about rich bastards under her breathed and approached her club mates.
"I could be wrong, but I was quite sure it was late spring outside, and summer isn't usually this hot," She pointed out.
Tamaki was in the middle of a grand speech describing the benefits of giving their customers a nice tropical paradise when he noticed the black haired boy who was carrying her daughter's books. He could be wrong, but he swore there was a snake on his shoulders.
"Haruhi, who is he?" He asked in a whisper, not wanting the other boy listening to his queries. "Is that a snake?"
Haruhi looked back at her classmate, and nodded. "He's Potter Harry-san, a classmate of ours." She weakly nodded towards the Hittachin twins.
Both red-head nodded in acknowledge. "He's that kid who sits in the back of the class."
"Like if you guys didn't sit in the back too," Haruhi grumbled out. She looked back to thanks Potter-san, but he was already reaching for the door.
"Bye, Fujioka-san! Good luck in your studies!" the boy shouted. Tamaki, his eyes shining with glee, was about to stop the boy, but before he knew, Potter was gone. He pouted, upset, before snapping his fingers.
"Kyoya!" He called.
Said Shadow King appeared at his side in less than a second. The others gathered around, waiting for whatever Tamaki was going to speak.
"What do you know about Potter-san?"
Kyoya's eyes weren't seen, since the light was reflected on his glasses, but the air around them became chilly, and that in itself was impossible, since the heater was at full power in the music room. The Shadow King kept scribbling on his notebook, taking his time in answering. The other members exchanged glances between them, confused with the Shadow King's behavior.
"Kyoya?" Tamaki asked, a little wary.
"As you know, Potter Harry is in 1-A. His full name is Potter-Black Harry James, adopted ward and godson of Black Sirius, otherwise known as Lord Black."
"Lord Black?!" Five voices shouted in awe. Four voices because they have heard about Lord Black from their parents and the fifth voice because she didn't knew there was such a title in the first place.
"Adopted ward and godson?" Hikaru added. "That kid must have the best luck in the whole world!
Somewhere inside the walls of Ouran, Harry sneezed.
"He's an average student, probably could be more if he wish to. He's natural from Britain, heir to the Lord Potter title and businesses, which I must say is small compared to the Black Empire. He rarely seen with anyone except for his sister and he haven't joined any of the clubs. Strangely enough, he seems to enjoy the company of Nekozawa-sempai."
"Aw man," Kaoru whined
"Who?" Haruhi asked.
"Sister?" Hikaru added.
"But what about his snake?" Tamaki pouted.
"Nekozawa Umehito is a third year student in Hunny's and Mori's class," Kyoya answered. "As for the snake, I suppose it's his pet, and while there isn't a rule against bring your pets to school, I'm sure bringing a poisonous snake would be frown upon."
Haruhi couldn't argue with him; Potter might have thought the snake was pretty harmless, but if he were to lose it while they were in class or something…
"And as for your question Hikaru, his sister is Granger-Black Hermione, a student in our class," The name was said with a hidden disdain many couldn't pick up.
When Haruhi heard a high pitched giggle behind her, she thought the guests had finally arrived and they were laughing at them. Imagine her surprise when she realized it was actually Tamaki giggling like a little girl.
Well, maybe not so surprised.
"What's up with you, boss?" Hikaru and Kaoru quirked an eyebrow.
Tamaki tried to stifle his giggles. "Ah, it was nothing, my fair subjects! Just remembering a delightful memory…" Kyoya visually stiffened.
"What are you talking about, Tama-chan?" Hunny inquired from atop Mori's shoulders.
Tamaki smirked smugly. "Let me tell you, Granger-san is such a brilliant young woman! Not only she has a dashing beauty, but her intelligence is beyond any I have encountered. It's only been three weeks into the school year and she's already the top of our class!" Tamaki's hair flipped upwards, as it had been playing with the wind.
"The guests are about to arrive," Kyoya simply stated, and indeed five minutes later, the door to the music room opened to reveal the first group of customers.
If anyone notice Kyoya's icy demeanor afterwards, nobody asked him about it.
Later, when the fuzz calmed down a bit, Haruhi approached the auburn haired twins, which were taking a break from their guests. She decided to ask them what had been bothering her earlier.
"Why was Kyoya-sempai looking as he was about to kill someone, mainly Tamaki-sempai? I mean, he always seems indifferent to Tamaki-sempai's antics but—"
Both boys suddenly grinned widely. "Didn't you get it?"
"Well, maybe you don't know—"
"But Kyoya-sempai has always been—"
"The top of his class, ever since grade school—"
"Many have tried to surpass him—"
"But none have succeeded—"
"Until now,"
"You mean Potter-san's sister?" Haruhi asked interested.
The twins shrugged slightly "The boss did say—"
"That Granger-san—"
"Is the top student of their class and it has been only three weeks since the semester started." They ended with another grin and walked away, leaving the cross dresser girl with her thoughts.
Suddenly, Haruhi could understand why the Shadow King appeared more pissed than usual. She did not have time to dwell on it though, as three of her regular customers called her away.
~oOo~
When Tamaki had finally finished "convincing" Haruhi that she was to learn how to be a gentleman (a.k.a learn how to dance a waltz) the girl, in a fit of anger and frustration, left the music room in a haste, ignoring the twin's offering of a ride to her house. Tamaki wasn't going to back down from the words he said. If Haruhi wanted to be and act like a guy so badly, then she was to learn how to be a gentleman. He couldn't understand why Haruhi showed so little interest in her natural female gender. It was true that she had a better chance clearing her debt feigning to be a male, but… Haruhi would make such a cute girl if she would only act the part to it!
But well, if his daughter wanted to be rebellious, Daddy will show her what it means to be a proper host, and by consequence, how to be a gentleman.
The first step; teaching her how to dance. Tamaki giggled inwardly and began daydreaming about having Haruhi's body close to his, holding her tight and sliding gracefully around the music room, a beautiful symphony as their background music and Haruhi blushing prettily as she profusely apologize for stepping on his foot. He would receive her words with a charming smile and she would—
"Tamaki, wake up," A voice said next to him and Tamaki was rudely startled from his fantasies.
"Wa, what?"
"You have been sitting there for an hour," Kyoya swiftly replied. "Everyone has left already,"
And indeed, only Kyoya and he were currently in the music room. It was already cleaned and reorganized after their tropical cosplay event. It was surprising how it big it looked when it was void of human interaction. He suppressed a shiver and decided he preferred the music room when it was filled with chatter and laughs from his friends and guests.
Incidentally, they were both sitting at one of the rich wooden tables next to windows, and he realized it was quite late, for the sun was already setting.
"Why are we still here?" Tamaki pouted.
"I decided to stay for a while to continue working on the preparations for the Spring Ball(2), since you were such a help earlier. As for you, you might want to answer yourself."
Tamaki winced at the Shadow King's tone of voice. Why Kyoya always managed to make him feel like a child who had been caught red-handed?
"You don't know how valuable you are to the Host club, my friend! We certainly couldn't have done anything without you!" Tamaki tried to appease.
"Certainly," Kyoya said dryly.
"Is there anything else you might need my assistance with?" Tamaki pulled his seat closer to the Shadow King's, who was typing away in his pineapple laptop. "Is there anything else we need?"
"We have already have the confirmation of the chairman for the reservation of the main hall, the school orchestra has agreed to been in charge of the music, the catering service is already settled, the—"
"May I see the guest's list?" Tamaki put in, not quite concentrated in Kyoya's words.
Kyoya handed him over a paper sheet without baiting an eyelash and continue listing. "We will need to ask the maintenance group of the school to triple check for any novelty that could cause us a problem the night of the ball, and as your insistence, I asked the team to decorate the main hall with white lilies and gardenias."
"There's someone missing on this list," Tamaki spoke abruptly, frowning at the piece of paper.
"That's ridiculous; I have invited all of our regular guests and the female first years," Kyoya assured.
"Well, yes, I can see that, but I don't see Jonouchi-san's name or Granger-san's name," Tamaki pointed out.
Kyoya flicked his glasses over the bridge of his nose. "Ever since we established the Host club, Jonouchi-san(3) has never shown an interest in our services, so I believe we should save ourselves the disappointment." He drawled.
"I don't understand her really," Tamaki commented casually. "Between you and me, I always feel like she dislikes me or something, but of course that's ridiculous!" Tamaki laughed warmly and Kyoya just sighed. Leave the fool to his own thoughts, his mind provided.
"I can understand Jonouchi-san, but why isn't Granger-san on the list?" Tamaki asked again. "Is it possible that you may have skipped her name accidentally? You know you should always double check—"
"I did double check," Kyoya grunted out.
Tamaki let drop the list on the table and looked at him amused. "Are you still sour about Granger-san?"
"Of course not," Kyoya answered a bit too soon.
Unexpectedly, Tamaki chuckled. "My dear friend, it was just a test! Sure, she got a higher score than you by five points but I'm sure that's nothing to worry about! Actually, I believe it was time for you to grant the position of top student to someone else, don't you think?"
Kyoya just glared at the blonde male seated beside him. Tamaki fought the shivers running down his spine.
"Maybe not," Tamaki whispered to himself. "Regardless, I want you to send an invitation to Granger-san. I find her to be delightful company,"
"She's an insufferable know-it-all," Kyoya spat angrily, clearly thinking out loud.
There was silence between the two boys. Tamaki eyed Kyoya with a knowing glint in his eyes. Kyoya avoided his gaze.
"Granger-san will be delivered an invitation this afternoon," Kyoya relented at last. He shut down his laptop rather harshly and stood up from the table, grabbing his belongings as he hurried towards the door.
When Kyoya left the music room, Tamaki grinned widely. He had never seen his best friend acting so presumptuous before; he would even dare to use the word childish if it wasn't for the fact that such a word would never describe his friend.
"At last, Kyoya meets his match…" Tamaki said to the empty room.
A/N:
(1) I know many other stories, and not only crossovers, but normal Ouran fics as well, make the main characters figure out Haruhi's secret by just looking at her. I don't believe you could just notice Haruhi is a girl by just looking at her. There's a reason why none of the guests at the host club knew about her real gender, you know?
(2) In the manga, its Christmas Ball, in the anime is Spring Ball. Since there are clearly not in December, I will go by the anime on this.
(3) Jonouchi Ayame is a character which makes her debut in Chapter 17 of the manga.
Again, I hope you like this chapter!
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