Hidden Inhumanity

by ShadowedAuthor

Sequel to Silent Humanity – Into his second year in a strange world, Gaara struggles more than ever to maintain his sanity and wellbeing. The dangers are mounting all around, both to and from the displaced Jinchūriki.

2. Chapter 2: Same Old Impulses

Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter (rightfully owned by J.K Rowling) or Naruto (rightfully owned by Masashi Kishimoto) nor do I make any money out of this fiction. I will also add that any sections or phrases in this chapter that bear resemblance to works by either author or from movies based on works of said authors is recreated in the same spirit of free usage and is not for profit.

A/N: I was really pleased to find that, despite my concerns, people have been writing reviews for the last chapter of Silent Humanity as well as the first chapter of Hidden Inhumanity. I had been afraid people would simply review the last addition, especially since they were published simultaneously. Lovely surprise. As, of course, was the content of those reviews. They always inspire and flatter, so thank you again.

Stop what you're doing and spend a moment to appreciate the awesome cover art that was donated. I got a few offers to do some cover art (which was so very generous) and the person who got in first was Spiral of Destiny, with whom I have been acquainted on this site for a while now and has drawn fanart for me before. Spiral of Destiny was unbelievably generous with their time and efforts, and beyond considerate of my wishes. So I wanted to express my ongoing appreciation of that effort and generosity.

I also wanted to mention that I happened across some fanart I didn't know about on another site which was a wonderful surprise.

Before I let you get on with the chapter, I have to confess to a continuity error, having said that Gaara was fifteen in last couple of chapters of SH when he was really fourteen at the end of that school year. It was spotted by an alert reviewer, whom I am grateful to. Apologies for the mistake.

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(Last Time)

He was just setting his book down when he heard a scream in the distance, probably on the other side of the camp, but still loud and shrill enough to cut through the lulling parties. The scream was followed by the sounds of an explosion and more screaming.

It was a sound he was intimately familiar with, the sounds of battle! And Shukaku was laughing.

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The screams were even louder outside of the tent and were growing exponentially as the campers fleeing the battle joined in the cacophony. Gaara looked around, trying to pinpoint where the noise was originating from, but with the size of the tents all around him and the crowds rushing about in every direction, all he could surmise was that the damage was being done quite a distance away.

Out of the Weasley tent came the slew of redheads packed in, as well as Harry and Hermione, all looking equally alarmed. Sirius, Remus and Arthur had still been out when it kicked off and were nowhere to be seen.

"It'll be the Irish." Bill Weasley alleged, having overcome his initial shock and looked ready to return to whatever game he had been playing inside.

Molly looked less sure.

"It's not the Irish!" Arthur said, running back into the area, all of his inebriated jollity now dispelled.

Sirius and Remus were following close behind him, both of their wands drawn.

"What's going on?" Molly demanded, pushing her way to the front of the children.

"It's a raid. Someone's attacking in the Eastern sector, causing all sorts of damage." Sirius said. Gaara was beginning to suspect that there was a potion to remove alcohol from ones blood.

"Who?!" Molly was looking even more worried than Ginny.

"We don't know yet, but they might be…they're wearing black robes and…well… We're going to go back out and help. Aurors haven't arrived yet." Sirius was looking around at the gathered children, but only stopped after his eyes had darted over Harry and then spotted Gaara coming from the other tent.

"Go and wait in the woods until the Ministry shows up." Arthur said.

"Or until we come and get you." Sirius commanded them.

"You want us to run and hide in the woods while you're going to fight who-knows-how-many wizards?! Surely you can't be serious?!" Hermione yelled.

Sirius turned to her, his face devoid of the usual warmth he displayed around Harry and his friends, and he said, "I am Sirius, and don't call me Shirley."

Remus face-palmed.

A particularly loud explosion went off in the distance and broke the reverie; Sirius made eye contact with his favourite recalcitrant foreigner and said one last thing, "Gaara, stay with Harry."

The men turned and ran in the direction of the attack and that gave the group the signal to get running.

The Weasleys all tried to stick together, but like the walk to the stadium, it soon became impossible to stay in one group amongst the panicked masses all surging around them. Gaara heeded Sirius' words and stayed next to Harry even after being separated from Ron and Hermione.

At one point, as they reached the woods, Harry tripped over something, or possibly someone, and Gaara had to dive back and help him to his feet before the Boy-Who-Lived was trampled to death. He pulled the black haired civilian onwards, not noticing the pair of glasses that had slipped off of Harry's nose and were already being smashed into the forest dirt. From then he kept one hand on Harry's shoulder (despite his innate aversion to any physical contact) and guided him into the dark woods until the mass of people thinned out and the noise settled.

With the half-moon obscured by clouds and the trees, and his glasses long gone, Harry was almost totally blind as he stumbled after the blur of red (or possibly brown, in this light). The uneven ground he was being dragged across was a nightmare to navigate as he was.

Gaara could have stopped where they were, set Harry against a tree and rested until someone found them, but he didn't have time to wait like that. He pulled Harry as quickly as he could, all over the forest looking for a Weasley or two. If he had more sand, he would have simply carried Harry as he went. He would have been half tempted to put Harry on his back and run like that, but for the fact that he despised physical proximity and he doubted the Gryffindor would take kindly to it either.

Finally, in the quiet of the woods, he heard someone yelling, "Harry! Gaara!"

Gaara pulled Harry along until they were upon the majority of the Weasley clan, all huddled close together with Ginny in the middle (she did not look too happy with this penguin-esque arrangement).

"Oh, dears!" Molly exclaimed when she spotted them. "Harry, what happened to your glasses? Oh, and your clothes, you're a mess!" She started to brush the dirt from his clothes and then cupped his face in her hands so she could get a better look.

When she deemed he was injury-free, she moved on to Gaara, who didn't look the least ruffled, and was not out of breath, which didn't stop her checking him over.

"I'm going back." Gaara said.

"What?!" About four Weasleys and a Granger shouted in response.

"Draco was in the camp. And the others may need help." He was a trained fighter, after all. It seemed only natural.

"Gaara, dear, you can't go back out there. I'm sure Draco will be absolutely fine. And you have to leave the fighting to the adults. They'll be back soon, you'll see." Molly had just said something similar to all of her eager sons who wanted to prove their bravery.

It was terribly similar to when Bill, Charlie and Percy were much younger, during the war, and they asked when Arthur would be back and she had to tell them 'They'll be back soon, you'll see.'

Ron butted his way to the front, "Malfoy's probably in on it, anyway. Leave him to it."

Gaara spared him a glance, having considered the possibility that Malfoy (Lucius) might well be involved, but he knew for a fact that even if Draco had been dragged into a conflict like this, he was not ready for battle.

Real children tended not to be.

He ducked under Molly's hand that had reached for his shoulder, and then ran back the way he had come. He heard one or two of the larger gingers try to give chase and a number of shouts ring out, but with the darkness, the uneven terrain and his superior speed, Gaara had little trouble evading his pursuers.

He darted around the clusters of scared World Cup attendees huddled around the woods, and soon enough he was back out in the relatively bright campgrounds, still illuminated by the bonfires and mounted torches burning about the place. He could see in one direction the glow of a larger fire and assumed that was where the attack was taking place.

He wished he had let Sirius show him where the 'fancy area' of the camp was as he was now left with little choice but to run towards the biggest tents he could see and hope they were in that general direction. He was gratified to see that as he ran the tents were indeed getting to be much nicer, cleaner and more expensive looking.

As he cut through the clusters of tents, he absently jumped up and kicked a looter in the head and continued without breaking his pace. He reached what looked to be an actual fence running along a very nice and neat looking area of the camp ground, filled with the best tents yet. He skirted around the perimeter and soon he reached the gateway to the premium area.

Gaara was not particularly surprised to see that it was guarded by a pair of wizards, though it was a little startling to see that not only were they wearing black cloaks, like the attackers, but they were also wearing silver masks. He had read a number of recently published wizarding history books, and that apparel could only mean one thing: Death Eaters.

Sadly it also meant that Lucius almost certainly was involved in whatever was happening, but hopefully the man had enough sense to leave Draco out of it. Since there were guards posted here, perhaps that was a sign that there were people here that might need to be protected. Although, from who or what, Gaara could not fathom.

Knowing Lucius and the sort of people that had been invited to the Malfoy Christmas party, these two were most likely just here to keep out looters.

Gaara didn't want to waste time here, so he slowed his pace and walked the last few meters to the break in the fence. He could have jumped over the barrier, but knowing the magicians of this country, they likely would have warded off such an entrance. Plus, if these two grunts wanted to pick a fight, Skukaku's chakra would only be too happy to oblige.

The pair had their wands drawn already, and they levelled them at Gaara when they (belatedly) noticed him walking towards them. He didn't move to stop them or even pay them heed, instead he continued walking until he was between them and their wands.

He couldn't see their faces beneath their masks, but he assumed they were silently debating with themselves whether he was a threat worth attacking/denying access to their area, or perhaps they were trying to work out if they had seen him at the Malfoy party.

In any case, they evidently had decided he was not a threat warranting expulsion so they dropped their wands once he had passed and turned back to the outside.

Gaara worried after the imminent threat had passed, whether he would now have to spend all night searching every tent for his friend. There were dozens upon dozens, perhaps even a hundred of the lavish tents spread out in the wall-off area, and it wasn't like the Malfoy family were so vain as to put their initials on the front of their…

Oh, wait, there it is!

It was hard to imagine a more fitting tent for Lucius and Draco to share, with the dark green fabric and the sparkling, embroidered silver 'M' on the tent flap. Sat outside, there were a pair of ornate wooden stools overlooking a modest fire, held in what appeared to be a large copper pan.

Lucius had obviously never entered a shop without feeling the compulsion to buy something.

With no door on which to knock, Gaara walked straight into the tent and was immensely relieved to find a bored Draco sat with his back to the entrance (a bad habit), hunched over what appeared to be a chess set.

Gaara walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"Your queen will be taken in three moves."

"Ah!" Draco almost jumped into the free standing chess set, instead merely bumping his knee and landing back in his chair. "Gaara, what are you doing here?!"

"Making sure you are unharmed." Now that he had, he wished he had kept his presence hidden so he could leave without an explanation.

"But- I mean, rather… what about the… you know…?" Clearly Draco knew something about the attack happening at that moment, but Gaara had no desire to force the flustered boy to disclose. Really, the exact reasons or circumstances did not matter. As long as Draco himself, and maybe Narcissa, weren't out there, Gaara only had to keep an eye out not to kill or seriously injure one Death Eater. Although Gaara wouldn't lose any (more) sleep if Lucius did get a little hurt, he knew it would devastate Draco.

"My father… has just stepped out." Draco had finally conjured up a feeble excuse.

"I will try not to hurt him. I am going to help Sirius and Remus. Stay here." It would have been nice if he did not have to order his friend around like this, but Draco was nowhere near ready for the battlefield (and certainly not ready to face his father on that field).

"Wait, no, just leave it. Wait here, they'll be gone soon."

Gaara looked back at him, gave him a wave, and left. He ran after he exited the tent, in case Draco had any notion of following. He continued running until he was almost upon the exit of the posh area, where the two guards were still posted.

They looked back at him, but either because he hadn't been any trouble before, or because he was a child, they continued to ignore him as he was leaving. He called out his sand and had it club both men on the back of their hooded necks, knocking them out for a good few hours, as he ran past.

The sounds were more localised now, whatever sort of property damage was being caused earlier was now restricted to collateral damage in the fight. He could see colourful lights in the distance so he ran straight for them, calling his sand out and around him, ready for any stray spells that might come his way. He hopped over any tents in his way this time, sure of his destination and desperate to arrive there without a second wasted. Remus and Sirius were competent duellers, they had assured (boasted to) him on numerous occasions, but they were also feeble civilians in his eyes. He wasn't going to leave them for a second longer on the battlefield than he had to.

They may have been adults but Gaara was a warrior, and a human weapon.

Gaara ignored the part of himself that was telling him to slow down and stay calm, that this frenzy to get there was because of Shukaku's chakra. His sand was swirling around him as he ran and he would need all of the chakra he could get his hands on if he was going to help with so little coming from his tiny gourd. It was pure luck that Gaara had thought to bring his old pouch with him, reasoning that his kunai might come in handy with the camping, or so that was the excuse he had given Sirius. Really he just felt vulnerable without his full gourd on his back.

Sirius would never have understood. 'What could possibly go wrong at a Quidditch match..?'

The answer was colourful, Gaara noted, as he watched his first wizarding battle.

The two groups were distinct and stood opposite one another, around a dozen on each side, hurling spells across a no-man's-land of burned tents and a single downed fighter, not wearing the black robes of a Death Eater. Most of the spells impacted on invisible barriers, all except the bright green ones sent out by the black-robed fighters, which their opponents seemed to dodge

From the direction Gaara had approached, he was now perpendicular to both groups, and had the perfect view to both the fight and to the individual groups. They were all so caught up in flicking their wands and sending out the colourful magics at each other that no one had noticed Gaara's arrival to the side.

Gaara did not think twice about reaching into his pouch and flinging a kunai into the crowd of Death Eaters. He had aimed at the shortest one, knowing for sure that it wasn't Lucius, expecting it to get intercepted or dodged and for the distraction to help Sirius and Remus, amongst the opposing combatants, press their advantage.

Instead, the black throwing knife flew at the Death Eaters and sunk into his neck, shocking those immediately around him as he made an aborted gesture to reach for his throat before he collapsed dead, the blood having gushed out in a great spurt.

The spell volleys simmered down as both groups looked to see who had attacked, and with a muggle weapon no less, only to find a boy who looked like he couldn't be more than thirteen-years old standing there.

To Lucius this was a problem. He had wanted to add the boy to the Dark Lord's forces but if he died now it would come to nothing. Plus Draco would never forgive him. But there was no way to protect the foolish child without revealing his identity.

Meanwhile, Sirius had yelled at the top of his lungs for Gaara to hide, or to run away, or to come to him. Gaara wasn't entirely sure what Sirius wanted him to do, although he would later admit it probably wasn't ignoring those orders and slowly walking towards the Death Eaters.

He didn't have enough sand to effectively neutralise them all at a distance, so he would need to get closer to them.

The groups of black-cloaked attackers had been too shocked by the sudden, brutal murder in front of them by a teenager that it took those first few steps for them to recover and start to cast at the redhead too.

The bursts of light flew at Gaara but even with his minimal sand his automatic defence swatted the crippling and possibly deadly curses out of the air like stray pigeons. His pace was slow as he approached, and he paused for a second and looked around for something try and convert to sand. It would take forever to tunnel deep enough to find bedrock in this field, so his only hope was to use whatever rocks were lying around. He was in luck as metres away there was a large rock by a fireside, someone having been using it as a seat before all of the panicking started.

He had underestimated the damage these curses would do to his sand supply. Each time they attacked, his shield was getting a little smaller. The magic was blasting the sand particles beyond his ability to control them.

He sent what little sand he could spare to the boulder, but with his flimsy shield thinner than ever, Gaara had to halt his approach and begin dodging the curses being sent at him.

One of the Death Eaters focussing on Gaara had grown impatient and sent one of the nasty green curses at him. Gaara had seen the other wizards' reaction to that curse and called all of his available sand to block it.

The shockwave knocked him off of his feet and the sand, the half that hadn't been vaporised by the spell, fell to the floor motionless. It took Gaara a moment recognise that the chakra in his sand was gone. It took another moment for him to somersault backwards to avoid the next curse, purple this time, that struck the grass where he had been prone.

Lucius had been focussed on fighting back Black and Lupin, letting the satisfaction he would gain from their deaths fuel him, when he saw the green flash of the Killing Curse flare and dissipate, leaving Gaara on the ground. He clenched his teeth, and wondered how he would explain this to Draco. Maybe he could claim the one who killed Gaara had been tortured to death. Draco would never find out any different. He would be sad for a little time until his other friends filled the void. Still it was a shame, the strange boy might have been useful to the…

Oh, he was still alive. Jolly good.

"Don't kill the boy, just keep him away. It's almost time for the signal." Lucius said as evenly as he could.

"What's the signal?" One of them replied, barely blocking a stunner aimed at his face.

Lucius didn't want to admit that he didn't know what the signal was, that he was out of the loop in not only his job but even within his own people. In fact, he felt as if he had been the last of the old guard to be informed of this raid.

It was humiliating.

At least the lower ranks still expected him to have all the answers. He still had their respect, and pretty soon he would be back on top.

No matter what foolish plan Cornelius had cooked up, and seemed insistent that even Lucius not be told, that man would be out of office within the next three or four years, at best. In the meantime, Lucius would marshal support and collect his allies, ready for the moment to give Fudge the boot.

Lucius snapped back to the present moment when his shield charm was blasted apart by combined pair of hexes from two of the do-gooders stopping them all from leaving. He was about the cast the Killing Curse at them, when his attention was drawn back to the single-man front to his right.

Gaara had been acrobatically dodging and even retreating a few steps to keep away from the spells that were aimed at him. His sand was almost done with the boulder, so he just needed to buy a few more seconds.

It pained him to use it here since he had so few with him, and it would cost him the kunai it was attached to, but Kankuro had always told him not to be stingy with weapons if he was going to use them. So he reached back into his pouch again and threw the kunai at the Death Eaters collected fifteen feet away.

The two that were facing him had seen it coming and erected their shield again, but instead of the metal bouncing off of their magical protections, when it hit the timer on the exploding tag ran out and it ignited.

The two that had cast the shield had definitely not seen the huge fireball coming, nor the concussive force of a bombarda maxima. They had their turn being thrown onto their backs, Gaara noted with satisfaction.

Gaara took the distraction as an opportunity to call back all of the sand he had access to from the crush rock. It amounted to less than his full gourds worth, even with the recovered mini-gourd's remains and the majority of the ground-up boulder.

Gaara had identified which of the men was probably Lucius, since he thought he heard a disguised voice command the others not to kill him (which he appreciated, even if it didn't extend to Sirius and Remus, and if it was foolhardy to go easy on an enemy). It was easier now that he didn't have to worry about killing the wrong person accidentally.

That easement was a godsend since Gaara's demon-induced headache was raging on worse than ever and he was now having to consciously restrict the flow of Shukaku's chakra into his own system for fear of losing whatever tenuous grip on control he had.

All of this battle was not only exciting the demon but Gaara's own bloodlust was rearing its ugly head as well.

He started on the offensive again, drawing the focus of a third Death Eater, who were all alternating between flinging non-lethal hexes and curses at him and shielding themselves against the sand tendrils that broke again and again on their barriers. It was a stalemate until one of the eight other Death Eaters, facing eleven or twelve campers, was pressured into desperation.

One of them, coincidentally the youngest of the raiders, had enough of this and fired off a nasty deep blue curse at Remus Lupin, known werewolf. Whether pure luck or skilled marksmanship, no one would ever know, but the curse managed to strike Lupin on the upper arm and send him spinning to the floor. The other fighters on the light side covered while Sirius checked on his oldest living friend, but Remus was already unconscious and his arm badly burned and discoloured.

"Remus! Remus! Hang on!" Sirius yelled, rolling Lupin onto his back and trying in vain to wake him up.

Gaara watched, eyes wide, stunned, as spells continued to slam into the protective sand curled around him. His eyes were stuck on the sight of Sirius trying to wake Remus. On Remus lying motionless on the grass.

On the smoking, blackened burn on Remus' upper arm.

"Stupid mutt!" The attacker yelled at the top of his voice. He revelled in his victory and fired off a few more quick spells towards Sirius Black, known blood traitor, but none of them made it through the wall of wizards still fighting.

The Death Eaters firing at Gaara had noticed their opponent's catatonia but his sand defence was still blocking them. They weren't allowed to kill him, so they focussed instead of killing time until the signal came. It couldn't be long now.

Gaara couldn't take his eyes off of Remus. Was he dead? He couldn't see his chest move in the dim light of the nearby fires. If he was dead…

"Bloody mongrel!" The attacker shouted again, while Sirius, who had set Remus down well behind their line, was returning to the fight.

This was supposed to be a peaceful world, where their wars didn't create weapons like Gaara or child-Shinobi, a world without killing…

And now that fool was laughing!

Gaara finally snapped out of his trance and turned to the man who had killed Remus. He commanded the sand to crawl along the grass in the gloom, under the barriers and invisible to his enemies. It trickled along the ground and started to latch onto the young Death Eater's shoes and the bottom of the black robes. More and more snuck under the barrier and the Death Eater with a death wish kept laughing and taunting until his feet wouldn't move.

Glancing down he thought his shoes were caught in the mud, and then he saw the sand in the gloom climbing up his legs quicker and quicker. He yelled in alarm and tried to blast the trail still crawling along the grass, but it immediately reconnected and continued to cover his legs. His yell attracted the attention of his compatriots, but few could afford the distraction of helping.

In his panic, he tried to curse Gaara but his spell failed to even hit Gaara's sand protection, and the three dedicated to keeping Gaara at bay became two as one had to peel off to keep the advancing light fighters at bay.

Gaara paid no attention to the Death Eaters attacking him, focussed entirely on finishing the scum that killed his friend. The sand was at the twenty-something's chest and still climbed higher, lifting him off the ground. Gaara's hand was outstretched, his unblinking eyes locked on the flailing ones seen through the polished silver mask.

"Wait, no don't! Kill him, quickly!" The trapped and panicking Death Eater could not even wriggle.

Without any pithy remarks or damning words, Gaara completely covered his target, clenched his fist and the sand compressed and exploded, throwing bloody sand everywhere.

Gaara called back the sand that wasn't too saturated and prepared to continue his slow advance, but the fighting had largely stopped and many of the combatants were staring directly at him.

Surely a death, or second death, on the battlefield wasn't such a strange thing to behold.

Gaara did not realise that those who did not know him were startled by the merciless method of execution enacted by a child, and those that did know him were stunned by the enormous toothy smile stretched across his face as he had murdered a man.

The reverie resulting from the brutal consequences of Gaara losing control for a moment lasted for seconds only, but before it could end, the collective attention of the fighters was drawn then to the sky when a green light flared in their peripheral.

While the light side, and Gaara, stared up at the illumination in the sky, the Death Eaters used the secondary distraction to make a dash for freedom, making it twenty feet and all grabbing hold of a dark polished oak footstool that whisked them all away.

Gaara had chased them after he noticed the movement, but he failed to catch even the stragglers before they could grab the conspicuously placed portkey.

He looked around for his next victim but snapped out of his haze when he caught sight of Sirius still staring up at the sky. The sight of a friendly face was enough to rouse his human sensibilities, fortunately.

His manic smile now gone, he looked back at the group he had been fighting loosely alongside and they were all still staring up at the green light. Having only glanced at it before, Gaara looked to discern why they were so horrified. It took a while for his muddled mind to recall but eventually he remembered seeing the Dark Mark depicted in a school book, cut up and spread over three pages since replicating the entire thing was considered to be dark in and of itself.

The skull and snake symbol was clearly something inherently frightening to wizards but Gaara was now more interested in checking on his friends. He reformed his gourd, the full size now sitting heavily on his back, and he trudged over to where Remus was lying.

As he approached, he drew the notice of the adults who all backed away. The jerk reaction didn't fully register in Gaara's mind, not until Sirius flinched when he looked up at him. Sirius had already been back at Lupin's side to raise his head until help could come, but looking up at Gaara had elicited his instinctual fearful response when his eyes settled on Gaara's.

"Your eyes, Gaara…!"

Gaara was running on autopilot. He had to fight. He needed to kill. He wanted to check on his friends.

Sirius had fallen back from his shock but climbed to his feet and reached out to shake Gaara's shoulder. He had no idea what was going on with his ward, although he was secretly hoping this was a sign of shock from what he had done. That would be less worrying than Gaara being completely okay. Not after those kills…

But more than that, it wasn't just Gaara's behaviour, it was his eye.

As soon as Sirius' hand made contact with Gaara's shoulder, bypassing the automatic defence that would have stopped it if Sirius held any harmful intent, Gaara snapped out of his daze. The physical touch from another human being still held enough shock to break the stupor Gaara had been under.

Gaara mouth as hanging open as his brain caught up with everything.

"He's okay, Gaara, Remus is going to be fine. He's just unconscious." Sirius said slowly, his hand still resting on Gaara's small shoulder.

Despite having watched Gaara kill two full-grown men in cold blood just minutes before, Sirius thought Gaara had never looked so young as he did in that moment. It would have been all of the reassurance that Sirius needed if Gaara's eye weren't…

Dozens of pops sounded nearby and shouts rang out. Barking orders, Aurors swarmed into the clearing they had all been fighting in, their wands raised and pointing at everyone standing.

One of the fighters that had been helping Sirius and Remus ran over and started to explain the full situation to the Auror captain on the scene. Sirius had a pit in his stomach already, but when the conferrer and the Auror captain kept looking over at Gaara, even pointing him out, Sirius knew this was going to be a very long night.

"Gaara, close your left eye now."

Gaara looked up at him, clearly confused.

"Your eye's changed. We can deal with it later, but for now don't let them see it." Indeed, when Gaara had approached, Sirius had seen it. No longer was it the blue-ish-green, Gaara's left eye now had a black sclera and a peculiarly shaped golden iris, with a black cross through it. Certainly not a burst vessel but something more sinister.

"You there!" The Aurors were converging on Sirius and Gaara and by the time Sirius had looked back to make sure Gaara was not doing anything threatening, his eye was already closed. "Please surrender your wands."

Sirius handed his over, quickly recalling the last spell he had used. He did not tend to use dark spells but it would have been a disastrous coincidence if he was caught having done so now of all times. The amount of time it took Gaara to find where he had stashed his wand and hand it over to the irritated Auror would have been comical if the situation were not so dire.

"Priori Incantato." The Auror said, casting his wand over Sirius' and then Gaara's. Sirius' wand indicated the last spell he had used was the Blasting Curse, whereas Gaara's had been the Wand-Lighting Charm.

"When did you cast that?" Sirius covertly asked.

"Two weeks ago." Gaara replied.

Sirius stifled his smirk.

"We have reports that this young man used his magic to murder a pair of rioters this evening. We will need to take him in for questioning." He stepped forward with a pair of heavy-looking iron manacles. "You will need to relinquish your… bag, young man." He was stiff and gruff in his manner.

Gaara reached behind himself slowly and unclipped his newly-formed gourd, conscious of the number of wands directed at his head within a metre's range. The sand-filled container fell heavily onto the ground and he submitted himself to be cuffed. If he was going to escape, it would be safer to do it when they thought he was bound and harmless. Such simple locks would be child's play to pick, even if it wasn't Gaara's most polished skill.

They locked the manacles on and Gaara shuddered at the heavy hands placed on each of his shoulders without his consent, and he knew without looking back that there were still wands practically stabbing into the nape of his neck. His pouch was also unclipped and taken, which he wasn't happy about.

"Hold on," Sirius said, "I'm Gaara's guardian. I'll be accompanying him to the Ministry and staying with him during any questioning." There was no way he was ever letting Gaara go into that massive bureaucracy alone.

"Very well. But just you." The Auror captain commanded.

"And my solicitor. I presume I will have to wait until we arrive in the Ministry before he can be contacted." It was eerie how quickly Sirius could snap into pureblood-mode so quickly, Gaara held. "But we won't be going anywhere until my friend here is taken to St. Mungo's. He was hit by curse during the battle but it isn't spreading."

"Isn't he a-" One Auror started but Sirius interjected.

"It's not a full moon for another few days, so as long as the healers don't dilly-dally and he's all better before then, there should be no problem. Oh, and I refuse to allow my charge to go with you unless he or I are under arrest."

"Understood. I, Ernest Galloway, am placing the Hogwarts student known as 'Gaara' under arrest for the murder of two men, for use of underage magic, and for the unlicensed use of a magical artefact. He will be accompanied by his legal guardian, Sirius Black, while under interrogation." Galloway declared this, perhaps for the benefit of his men, and then commanded them, "Bring the healers here so we can go."

"Yes, sir."

Gaara watched all of this with mild interest. If Sirius was willing to let this play out, Gaara would go along with it as well for the time being. There was also another factor to consider: if he tried fighting again right now, there was a very strong chance that Shukaku would be partially released again, like in the Chunin exams and a few times in Suna before that. He could feel the chakra still racing through his system, begging to be used.

Soon a pair of healers approached, checking on the downed fighters, moving on from the crushed Death Eaters husk and the one with a slashed throat in seconds, and stopping by Lupin for a while before levitating him away.

"He will be taken to St. Mungo's. We will have them take a look at your eye as well, when we get to the Ministry holding cell." Galloway said.

"It's fine." Gaara rasped out. It would revert eventually, but if they insisted on seeing it, there was no way he could refuse without bringing more suspicion upon himself.

"Sirius, what's going on here?" Arthur finally approached, having been momentarily delayed by the Aurors too.

"Gaara's being taken in for questioning. Could you make sure Harry's okay, look after him for the night?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and could you send a patronus to Burke, Doyle, Grimshred and Associates, as well. Tell them where I am and that I need immediate representation." Sirius said.

"We will contact your attorney when we reach the Ministry." Galloway interjected.

"You needn't bother now. They'll probably be waiting for us there instead." Sirius replied easily. This Auror captain didn't seem like a bad sort, but it was common practice to delay the arrival of representation as long as possible so that interrogators could crack the suspect without interruption or interference.

Sirius was going to need his solicitor if Gaara had any hope of getting out of this. He moved forward, under the watchful Aurors' eyes, and placed his own hand of Gaara's shoulders so he could lock eyes with him. "Gaara, don't say a word unless I tell you to. Not one, okay?"

Gaara nodded. This shouldn't be too hard.

"It's going to be okay, Gaara." Sirius said, and then hugged Gaara. To onlookers it would have looked comforting, but Gaara heard Sirius' low whisper in his ear, "After we sort this out, you're going to explain everything, Gaara. No more secrets."

Gaara nodded again, suddenly impressed with his facetious guardian's ability to deal with serious situations. It was easy to forget that Sirius had fought in the first wizarding war against Voldemort.

The Aurors manhandling Gaara pushed him forwards and Sirius was left to trail behind, with a third Auror keeping an eye on him. They walked to another nearby clearing, presumably where the anti-apparition wards had been lifted for the Aurors to arrive through.

They all disappeared from the cold field and appeared in one of the grandest buildings Gaara had seen. He was led from the Ministry of Magic apparition point, through the grand Atrium and towards the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As they walked, Gaara heard another crack, meaning someone was following them. He didn't dare try to turn and look as the wands pointed at him were as close as they had ever been.

Twenty or thirty feet behind them came the Auror captain levitating Gaara's improvised gourd, a suspected magical artefact.

The Ministry was silent compared to when Gaara was last there, the middle of the night limiting personnel to the nightly skeleton-crew that cleaned and maintained order in the building. Gaara suspected it would only be another hour before the halls were heaving again with reporters and workers when news broke of the attack.

The DMLA was as unimpressive to look at as any of the other offices in the Ministry, though they walked right on through them and into a series of labyrinthine corridors through the back of the main department. There were many doors lining the walls, presumably holding cells, but they continued to lead Gaara through the halls until they reached the last door.

It was sturdy and metallic like all the others, and the locks made a grinding noise as it opened. Inside was an impossibly blank, grey room. Gaara would have questioned whether his open eye was playing tricks on him if he had the time for such idle thoughts. The walls, floor and ceiling were all a perfect and uniformly dull grey colour, and there did not even appear to be any light source, the room was just illuminated evenly throughout.

Stepping inside, there were no windows and the inside of the door was the same colour, and was sunk into the wall, so when it closed behind Gaara and Sirius, there was no sign a door had been there in the first place. It would be easy to get lost in the cell, even though it was only a few metres square. There were a couple of stools placed around a table, but they too were the exact same colour and material as the walls.

"They are monitoring us so keep quiet." Sirius said.

Gaara had assumed as much.

It was only a few minutes after this that the door reopened behind them, though Gaara was sure it had been on the other side of the room when they entered, and two people entered.

One was the Auror captain they had met earlier accompanied by a woman Gaara was sure he had seen before but couldn't place.

"Please, have a seat." Galloway said.

Gaara and Sirius sat down and the interrogating pair settled opposite them.

"Commencing interview at 01:42 on Friday 19th August. Conducting the interview are Ernest Hogborn Galloway, Captain of Auror squad 75 and arresting agent, joined by Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." He said, presumably for the benefit of some sort of unseen recording device. "Being interviewed is suspect 'Gaara', no surname given, arrested on the charges of murder of two wizards, use of a dangerous magical artefact, use of underage magic, and use of magic in a restricted or muggle-inhabited area. With him is his legal guardian, Sirius Orion Black. Would you please confirm for the record your names are correct?"

"Yes, my name is Sirius Orion Black." Sirius said, unsure whether or not Gaara would add anything.

"My name is Gaara. I do not have a second name."

Galloway leaned forward onto the table, his fingers steepled, "That is unusual. I understand that you aren't from this country, where is that you are from, where they do not use surnames?"

Gaara looked to be about to say something so Sirius rudely interrupted, "That sounded like more than a record clarification. I am afraid we won't be saying anything more until my solicitor has arrived. He shouldn't be long."

"Yes, we will contact him now. What firm is he with?" Madam Bones said.

"I sent word ahead before we came here. But thanks for asking."

Bones gave Galloway a sidelong look, but it was unknowable what it was supposed to communicate. Gaara continued to stare at the blank wall in between the two in front of him. The last thing he wanted right now was to spend time in his head but it was the only thing he could do. He was no way near good enough at acting to bluff or lie, so he had to stay quiet and unresponsive.

And enjoy the screaming inside his head.

"So, you were there for the match, huh?" Galloway said casually. "Since I was on duty tonight, I couldn't go. I heard the Irish won but Krum got the Snitch. That must have been a good one."

Sirius smiled but made no effort to reply.

"Did you have good seats?"

"They were lovely, thank you." Sirius said with a thin smile.

"Who were you sat with?" Galloway still had the same smile on his face, but Sirius' dropped.

"I'm sorry, I can't answer any more questions until my solicitor arrives."

"Of course, I didn't mean to worry you. Just making conversation. Unless there's something about your seating arrangements you're afraid will incriminate you?"

Sirius didn't bother answering this time.

"If you could just clarify why you and your ward were participating in the riot, we can clear all this up a lot quicker. Then when your representation gets here, we can finish up with the difficult questions."

Sirius sighed, "I won't be saying anything more until my solicitor is here."

"If you would just give-"

"We will wait until your solicitor is here, Mr Black. Ernie, give it a break. We won't get anywhere like this." Madam Bones said, sitting straighter in her stool and trying her best to get a read on both Gaara and Sirius. As she did so, her attention was drawn to Gaara's closed eye. She had read his file previously and it made no mention of an ocular disability. "I will send for a Ministry healer right away, to have a look at Gaara's eye."

"That's not necessary." Sirius started.

"Of course it is. Ernie, please would you go and find the on-duty healer, have them come here. Thank you." Amelia didn't look at her subordinate as she ordered him around; her eyes were still locked on Gaara, who had not reacted to his own name. It was about as spooky as his entire demeanour tended to be.

Sirius looked at Gaara as well, appearing to be just a concerned foster-parent, but really unsure of how to proceed without raising suspicions. They might start to pose questions about his fitness to be a parent if he didn't let a healer look at Gaara's eye. But better that than them seeing whatever was going on with the eye itself.

"My apologies for Auror Galloway. He was just trying to get this disaster straightened out." Amelia said after the Auror had left.

Sirius again failed to reply. Not from any reluctance but because he was busy staring at Gaara, whose open eye was now twitching and did not seem to be blinking.

That was worrying…

With some time to think, especially following the events of this evening, Sirius had begun to question whether he had been a good guardian to Gaara. Staring at the clearly disturbed murderer, he wondered if he had been giving him too much latitude.

Sure, Gaara seemed more mature than Sirius or even Remus, but he was still a child. Perhaps he needed Sirius to take the reins, even if he would never (ever) admit it. He would have to look into getting Gaara some counselling, if only to discuss what Gaara had done to those two Death Eaters.

Although, he would hold off on that until he had forced some answers out of the shirty teenager. He had a horrible suspicion that those had not been the first humans Gaara had killed, and then there was his eye… If Gaara couldn't talk to a professional, for legal or personal reasons, Sirius would just have to do it himself.

Paragon of mental health that he was…

So, he would grill look into some sort of ongoing talk-therapy, finish his animagus training, and then try and create a stable atmosphere to continue raising the precocious boy. That seemed simple enough.

Sirius had been staring longer than Gaara would normally have allowed but the smallest person in the interrogation cell was so out of it he didn't look like he had noticed. With the lapsed conversation, Amelia was also examining the boy. She had seen him a couple times and his (surprisingly thin) file as many times again, being something of a curiosity to a number of the higher Ministry staff, having witnessed his dramatic entrance to deliver Pettigrew at the beginning of the summer and the stories of his involvement in the Attack on Hogwarts (or single-handed defeat of the dementors, depending on who you asked). Now he had apparently killed a couple of rioters at the World Cup; although, from the spotty details about that 'riot', she was already starting to question how simple the situation really was.

Unfortunately, Amelia would probably not get any way towards the truth with either of these two if they did manage to refrain from commenting before their solicitor arrived. She had heard Black hired the biggest, fanciest, most conniving magical law firm his family's money could buy, to arrive at the curious custody agreement he was awarded and to keep from ever getting sent back to Azkaban (guilty or innocent).

As soon as his private shark arrived, Amelia would be lucky to confirm whether or not they had even attended the World Cup.

The door opened and for a moment she thought said shark had appeared like the proverbial devil, but instead someone wearing Ministry healer robes entered before Galloway. Healers were rare and the Ministry only employed a few, but the DMLE had insisted on having a couple of their own on constant standby for wounded Aurors and suspects. The real issue had been getting healers, who were typically soft touches, that would be able to keep quiet and treat prisoners with the due objectivity.

They couldn't have them coddling murderers just because they'd been roughed up a little.

Still, this Gaara was a child and Amelia had been concerned whatever healer was brought in would undermine the intimidation she was attempting to instil.

Fortunately, Healer Jeffries was nothing if not professional and looked at Gaara with all of the sympathy elicited by a broken teacup that needed fixing. He dragged Galloway's unoccupied stool around and sat right in front of Gaara, who did not seem to have noticed any of this happening. Amelia was now joining Sirius in his worry for Gaara's mind, since the boy as acting catatonic.

Sirius nudged him, "Gaara."

Gaara blinked a looked like he had been daydreaming, suddenly startled out of his thoughts. He glanced at Sirius first and the Amelia, and then he seemed to register there was a new adult sat looking straight back at him. He looked back to Sirius, hoping for some explanation as to what had transpired while he was zoned out.

"They want to look at your eye, Gaara. Is that okay?" Sirius said, pretending to reason with his ward. Really, he needed to know if it was safe show them.

Gaara seemed to think for a moment and then nodded. His hands slowly raised, still bound together, and he rubbed his eye.

"You mustn't rub it!" The man sitting in front of him insisted, so Gaara lowered his hands and waited.

The healer leaned forward and placed his meticulously cleaned fingers around Gaara's eye and manually opened it. It was reddened, but otherwise unremarkable compared to the other eye. "What happened to it?" The healer asked as he pulled down the bottom lid and then pulled his hand back to check for signs of eyeliner.

Gaara looked to Sirius, wondering if he should say anything yet. Sirius hesitated and nodded slowly.

"I got dirt in it. It hurt to open it but it doesn't anymore." Gaara said, knowing full well that the soreness of his eye was due to his rubbing and not any grit.

"And what about the blackness around your eyes? It doesn't appear to be makeup," the healer asked.

"I'm an insomniac." Gaara flatly answered.

"Well, I don't see anything here that needs my help. I could prescribe a dreamless sleep potion, if it would help."

"That won't be necessary. Thank you, Healer Jeffries." Amelia interjected before Gaara could politely refuse. Truth be told, Amelia couldn't let her suspect get a good night's rest before she even had her chance to properly question him.

The healer left the room without a second glance and they went back to silence, except for the sound of Galloway dragging his stool back around to beside Bones'.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes later that there came a knock on the door. Behind it stood a goblin, like those working in the wizard bank, Gaara saw.

"Grimshred, of Burke, Doyle, Grimshred and Associates." The goblin growled as a greeting.

"Took you long enough. I was about to confess to being Gellert Grindlewald in disguise." Sirius snapped out.

"Mr Black, make no more jokes if you do not wish to spend unnecessary time here while I have to explain them away." The goblin said.

"I managed to restrain myself until you were here to defend me from the confusions." Sirius whined.

"My client and I will need to confer. Get out." Gaara was as impressed by the goblin temperament as he had been in Diagon Alley. For bankers, their dispositions uncannily mirrored those of warriors.

Once they were alone in the interrogation chamber, the goblin sat across from them and started to unpack his briefcase, pulling out a quill, ink and papers. He seemed to be in no rush at all, methodically uncapping his inkwell and dipping his quill and starting his paperwork.

"You haven't told them anything yet?"

"Nothing, just that Gaara had gotten some dirt in his eye and confirmed our names."

"Acceptable. What questions did they ask?"

"What happened, where Gaara comes from, that sort of thing." Sirius continued.

Gaara expected the goblin to ask the questions as well, to better defend them, but the small deformed creature asked no such things. It seemed entirely disinterested in the truth.

"How were you arrested? What were the charges?"

"It was all above board, but it is just Gaara under arrest. I'm here as his guardian. I thought Arthur would have told you that much. The charges were murder, underage magic in a restricted area, and…" He trailed off.

"Illegal use of a magical artefact." Gaara finished.

"What was the artefact?"

Sirius looked to Gaara to answer again, unsure of how to explain it properly.

"A gourd filled with sand. It has no independent magical properties, although it may register as magical. It's not an artefact." Gaara elaborated.

"Good." Grimshred noted down the point. "What did the Reverse Spell reveal from your wands?"

"I used a Blasting Curse and Gaara used a Wand-Lighting Charm." Sirius said.

Grimshred nodded and continued making notes. "Witnesses?"

"A few, and they saw him kill two people. He didn't use his wand. He can wandlessly control the sand in his gourd."

Grimshred stopped taking notes for a second, looking directly at Gaara, "The child is how old?"

"Fourteen as of January."

"Were the killings self-defence?"

"Yes." Sirius said it simply but in truth he wasn't so sure. The first attack, more like an assassination, had come unexpectedly when Gaara was safer to hide, and the second had not been defence at all. That had been murder.

"The witnesses will corroborate this?"

"Umm… They might or they might not."

Grimshred's quill scratched across his parchment as he crossed something out. "Any previous convictions or arrests?"

"None, although they did question him over his involvement with the capture of a… of Peter Pettigrew. He was never charged with anything."

"Any familial convictions?" Grimshred asked.

A sad reality of wizarding law was that the courts would openly assume guilt if a defendant had a long history of criminal relatives (Sirius assumed that played a part in his short, formality of a trial thirteen years ago.) "None, although as his guardian I would be counted on that score, right?"

"Correct. However, your conviction was overturned and record expunged."

"Ah, so will that take care of the cautions I received when I was younger."

"Yes, part of the settlement reached with the Ministry of Magic stipulated a total clearance of your record up to that point."

"Ah, brilliant." Sirius thought back to all of the warnings he had received when he was a teenager thanks to his father's influence. Were it not for the Black name, Sirius probably would have spent at least a couple months in Azkaban long before the betrayal.

"I will plead your ward down to two counts of manslaughter, maximum sentence of two years each." Grimshred said without looking up for his continued note taking.

Sirius' fond, reminiscent smile dropped and his eyes went wide at hearing the proposed bargain. He looked at Gaara but he didn't appear to be too worried. Knowing Gaara, he would escape within a week. But that confidence did not offer the same comfort to Sirius, it only emphasised Gaara's childish naïveté.

"That's not good enough. He can't got to Azkaban, I won't let he spend a single night there!"

"He will be sent there before his trial if formal charges are brought, regardless." The goblin didn't appear to appreciate the tone Sirius was taking with him.

"What about bail?"

"They can and will deny it without reason. Lack of a surname is ample enough to assume an escape risk."

Gaara had really wanted to avoid being on the run since it would make his goals infinitely more difficult to accomplish, but Sirius had told him only a few minor details of life in prison here and Remus had explained the rest. He would not waste away for four years, even if the dementors didn't affect him the same way as everyone else.

Plus, with his chakra, the dementors would swarm him as soon as he reached the black isle.

He would wait until they tried transporting him later. There was a good chance this cell had some sort of warding to prevent escape and he didn't want to have to wage war on every witch and wizard in the Ministry on his way out because he spent however long it would take to force his way through the barrier (if he even could…)

"So what can we do?" Sirius asked.

"If the interrogation goes on for…" Grimshred pulled out a shining gold watch and clicked open the pocket-watch case, "at least six more hours, they will not be able to process his papers and prepare him for transportation in time. He will spend the night in the cells here. I may be able to delay his transport another few days but it will likely be at least five months before a trial can be arranged but I should be able to have that admitted as time served should a prison term be issued."

Sirius couldn't believe it. Coming here, he had thought he was in for a couple days aggravation from the Ministry and maybe a slap on the wrist, not sending Gaara to Azkaban Prison for years!

"I will have the Aurors come back in. If we keep them any longer they will believe we are trying to delay."

Once Bones and Galloway had sat back down and Grimshred had taken Sirius' seat, the questioning resumed, formally this time.

They asked Gaara to recall the events that led to the murders that night but the Black family solicitor quickly interjected that it had not been established that the deaths, allegedly caused by his client, had in fact been murders. The interrogation went on for hours, with Gaara telling most of the story, being asked questions, and scarce more than five words being uttered by anyone without the goblin interrupting to stop Gaara incriminating himself or to object to the phrasing of the interrogators' questions.

Grimshred would stop Gaara every time he was about to retell his entry into the battle (and the resultant death) as well as the circumstances around the second death attributed to him. And the goblin would add words like 'attacker', 'combatants', 'self-defence', and 'proportionate response'.

If Gaara didn't already have the mother of all headaches, this experience certainly would have given him one. As it was, every time the 'bad cop', Galloway, raised his voice and asked him a stupid question, Gaara found it harder and harder to convince himself that killing the man would be bad.

Sirius sat back, looking terrified but keeping quiet. The only noises he would make were guttural ones when Galloway would accuse Gaara of being a 'monster', and gaping yawns. At around five in the morning, the interrogators stepped out to get coffee, the designated 'good cop', Bones, having offered to get some for the opposing adults too.

Gaara hadn't been asked but he didn't like coffee anyway.

Grimshred had started taking notes again and checking his watch. Sirius suspected he was calculating how many galleons he had already amounted.

Gaara was also calculating, though for him it was the amount of sand his armour would provide when the time came for his escape. Perhaps he could "borrow" some money from Draco and try fleeing abroad. He'd be able to find some useful libraries there, he thought. Plus Sirius, Remus and Draco couldn't be accused of aiding him since he would be so far away and no one would miss a little money from the Malfoy accounts.

Less than the three Malfoys spent on shoes in a quarter, Gaara would wager.

He was going to have to knock Sirius out as well, when he escaped, so that they weren't assumed to be colluding. It might be the last he saw of Sirius for a long while.

Still, this was the consequence for doing what Gaara did best. Everyone would be safer with Gaara in some distant land.

The door slid back open but instead of Bones and Galloway, there stood the insect-like Henrick Morbidus, his face tight and dull as always. He stepped in and slowly took his seat, eyeing Gaara the whole time.

"Good morning, my name is Henrick Morbidus. I work here as an inspector of sorts and I thought it was about time we met properly."

Gaara, who had not made eye contact with anyone, other than the healer who had insisted, found himself staring right back at the disquieting man. He was about to reply when, once again, the goblin beat him to it.

"And what capacity are you here in, Mr Morbidus." Grimshred demanded. He was about as well-informed as any goblin was likely to be about the major players in the Ministry of Magic and he was well aware of Morbidus' reputation. This was either a good sign, that Gaara was of interest to the Minister and might constitute a special case, or else he meant there was a determination that Gaara would being going to Azkaban and nothing any solicitor did would change that.

"As a guest in our country and in light of the notable role he played in the disturbance at Hogwarts at the end of the last school year, it was part of my duty to do a little research into Gaara here. But while he is in the Ministry, I thought it would be worthwhile to come down and have a little chat. Would that be acceptable?"

"Very well, but I will intercede if the conversation strays into any potentially incriminating topics." Grimshred ground out.

"That seems fair enough." Morbidus conceded. "Now, how are you feeling Gaara?"

"He is physically well following a brief eye examination by a Ministry healer." Grimshred answered.

"Very good," Morbidus responded, still looking right at Gaara.

"Before whatever occurred to bring you're here, did you have a pleasant evening?"

"Without admitting any real criminal cause for his arrest, my client was at the Quidditch World Cup finals and did attend the match as a leisure activity."

Gaara was bothered by both the goblin's answering all of the questions directed at him as if he weren't there, and for lying. Gaara had not watched the match as a 'leisure' activity, it was wholly obligation.

"I hear it was a rather good one, though I do not partake in sports myself."

Morbidus continued to throw out seemingly random questions and each one was answered (or deflected) by Grimshred who seemed wary of Gaara saying anything at all to the gaunt man. After twenty minutes of observing Gaara, Morbidus checked his watch and made his excuses, backing out of the room in either feigned deference or because he didn't want to show his back.

"Interesting." Gaara said to no one in particular after the door had closed.

A couple minutes after that, Galloway re-entered alone with a couple cups of very cold coffee, pretending he hadn't been waiting outside the door for his superior to leave.

He recommenced the interrogation but now Amelia was not there to hold him back, he tried every trick to get Gaara to snap and speak out. He played on Gaara's nonexistent vanity, his guilt, fear and self-hatred, and his pragmatism. While Gaara was more engaged than he had been earlier, it would have taken a lot more emotional manipulation to reach past his current planning-mode or beyond that to his horror.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"How is it going down there?"

"All proceeding as expected, Minister. The Black family solicitor will not let the interrogation amount to much of anything."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. We've got him now and all of the lawyers in Britain won't stop me sending him somewhere secure and under our surveillance. More importantly, what are the reporters saying?"

"We have received the advance copies of the morning editions and it's not looking good. A number feature pictures of the Dark Mark cast over the campsite, one or two of the cheaper magazines have inflated the figures to dozens of dead."

"How many are there actually?"

"Seven, including the two that Gaara killed."

"Injured?"

"Fifteen serious injuries, including the werewolf acquaintance of Sirius Black, and a further twenty-nine minor injuries. Those numbers have all been inflated by all but one paper."

"How are they painting us?" Fudge dreaded this answer.

"As you would expect, sir. A lack of response, delays, bureaucracy, inefficiency, lack of leadership, lack of standing security, poor planning, and a number of ill-mannered personal attacks on yourself and other pertinent heads of department."

"Wonderful. At least I managed to keep the VIPs out of it all. Last thing we need is an international incident on top of all of this. What about the attackers, any word yet?"

"There were no immediate identifications at the time of the attack, as you would expect." Morbidus cleared his throat, "Due to the… physical nature of Gaara's second victim's death, identification has been delayed until further methods of verification can be employed. The first has, however, been named as Alistair Talridge, aged thirty-two."

"Talridge, as in the son of Samuel Talridge?"

"Yes, Minister, the very same."

"So there's a chance this wasn't just a riot that got out of hand?"

"A very real possibility, I would say, Minister. With the son of a convicted and Kissed Death Eater, the Dark Mark and the methods of those involved, it is perhaps even likely that this was the work of remnants of the Dark Lord's followers."

"Blast! Why now, after all these years?!" Fudge looked as angry as he ever had. "I'm hanging on by a thread, pulling out ideas from a hundred years ago just to keep the public distracted, and now those old bigots come out of the woodwork to, what, make a statement? Lodge a protest? Make my life miserable?"

"Sir," Morbidus started soothingly, "you might consider that one of those who fought against these suspected Death Eaters was one of our Aurors. Off duty, mind you. And that also there was another Ministry employee present, Arthur Weasley. Furthermore, Sirius Black, who you set free after over a decade of injustice thanks to previous administrations' ineptitude also helped fight off the troublemakers. If explained the right way to the journalists, we might be able to come out of this ahead."

"Do you think anybody will believe that Black was working on our side?"

"That is the tricky part, I admit, sir, but all we need to do is paint the picture of good versus evil. Our Auror informally deputised those he was fighting with and together they fought against a common enemy. After all, the Ministry are the "good guys", don't you agree? It's only natural that anybody fighting against evil forces like those who would attack a world sporting event would be on our side."

"I suppose you're right, Henrick. It's only natural…" Cornelius said, calming. "But how can we avoid a panic. Admitting that even remnants of You-Know-Who's forces are still running around will cause chaos. I won't preside over the return to the troubles of the war."

"We can take a leaf from the muggle government's book in this instance, Minister. We take the same stance against these trouble makers as the muggles took against the Irish. Call them an isolated terrorist cell of the Dark Lords remaining low-level supporters and collaborators, intent on causing only fear and pandemonium, furthering no one's cause."

"Brilliant, Henrick! We'll tell everyone they're a public enemy that we've been tracking for weeks. While the attack was unexpected, it could have been much worse if not for our dedicated responders and the help of our good public."

"Very good, sir. However, there is one catch you may not like: by communicating events in this manner, it will be difficult to maintain our hold on Gaara. In the light we wish to paint the picture of events, Gaara would appear to be a hero of sorts, if perhaps a tad overzealous. If we convince the public of our view of the situation, Gaara would need to be released with the lightest of penalties. Otherwise we run the risk of undermining our own strategy and throwing doubt onto the polarity of the situation. And Black will use the notoriety he is currently enjoying to cause all sorts of trouble."

"You're not saying we have to release him, are you? Regardless of whatever investigations your department wants to run on the boy under our custody and my desire to keep him out of our hair, he still killed two men last night. Bad enough that the bloody Mark in the sky means we have to tell everyone Death Eaters are still running around, but now I have to let a murderer loose?"

"If it helps, he did reduce the number running by two."

Cornelius would have mistaken that for a quip had Morbidus shown even the slightest twitch of a cheek. He walked over to the concealed drinks cabinet, "What will you have?"

"Nothing for me, sir, thank you. There's a long day ahead and I will need all of my faculties intact. I never had much of a head for spirits."

"Fine." He poured himself a small brandy. "I'll call an early morning press briefing. Let's say seven."

"I would suggest eight-thirty or nine, sir. The morning papers will have all been finalised by now but some of the magazines might manage to get your statement out in time for a late morning printing. We want to separate the news cycles, with the papers at breakfast tables across the country inflaming public concern as they will, and then your statement of the full facts cooling them back down by noon."

"Yes, you're right, of course." Fudge said, sipping his stiff drink, "I won't mention Gaara at all. We've managed to keep him out of the public eye so far. It will be easier collecting him later if people aren't looking too closely at him."

"As you say, Minister, there will come another opportunity. And some of the less reputable journals have tried looking into Gaara but we have kept quiet and no one is willing to believe the extent of his involvement either way. The boy's story discredits itself, fortunately."

"That won't stop Skeeter from looking under every rock."

"Yes, she is rather persistent for a mainline reporter. If my men hear any whisperings of her renewed interest in him, I will look into a suitable distraction until the plan comes to fruition next month. That should suffice. What has Headmaster Dumbledore said to the plans?"

"I haven't told him yet. He's due to be informed this week. He's going to have all sorts of stipulations and I wanted as much in place as possible to head off his objections."

"Very wise, sir. Harder for him to undermine your authority if everything is already set in motion."

"I had better start drafting my statement." He said, sighing, "Three hours sleep. Could you tell my secretary to send in whatever coffee and writers are available."

"Of course, Minister. By your leave," He said, waiting until he had turned around to let his scowl sink in. The night staffer manning Cornelius' secretarial desk looking appropriately terrified when he relayed the orders. Good.

It was going to be a long day, but it meant that his own plans were proceeding even quicker than previously estimated.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

It was eight in the morning when another knock at the door came. Sirius was struggling to stay awake, suspecting the cold coffee he had drunk out of desperation had been decaffeinated, while Gaara was actually looking more lucid, if a bit tense, especially when the interrogation that had been winding down was interrupted by the knocking. The goblin didn't look phased at all by the duration or tedium of the questioning.

Galloway looked to be the most stressed of all, having switched back and forth between 'good' and 'bad' cops since his partner/boss had not returned. In came Rufus Scrimgeour, his magnificent mane of hair billowing as he strode into the room.

"You're free to go." He said, laying a roll of parchment on the table.

"What? But sir-" Galloway was indignant.

"Orders from Bones. The attackers last night were found to be terrorists and young master Gaara's actions deemed self-defence, so no formal charges will be filed at this moment. His underage magic will also be overlooked since the situation was dire."

"Found by whom, sir? I thought the department were still collecting evidence." Galloway asked.

"Not now, Auror Galloway. These orders come from Madam Bones herself. You can discuss it with her later. For now, I apologise for the inconvenience, Mr Black, master Black." Scrimgeour said.

Sirius had been more shocked than the time James had decided it would be a good idea to try transforming back and playing fetch with Moony in seventh year. All of the horrible things that had been circling around his head for the past six or seven hours had just been blown away by Scrimgeour's dramatic entrance.

His second reaction was delayed by the shocked first, but eventually he said, "He's not… Gaara doesn't use my surname." For some reason that sounded incredibly strange to him.

Gaara was wide-eyed. He had just started to decompress the sand around his hands to break off the magical restraints around his wrists, planning to punch the side of Sirius' head and then leap over the table to disable Galloway and whoever had just arrived and make his escape. He had to force himself to retract the sand that had already started to mark the manacles when the good news was shared.

So… that was it…?

That was anticlimactic, Gaara thought.

Galloway stormed out, determined to find out why a boy was being set free when he almost definitely had murdered two men. This stunk of the higher ups, and mentions of findings meant only one thing: the Office of Administrative Inspectors.

Scrimgeour stepped forward, "It's nothing personal. My colleague is overzealous at times. I would like to be the first to commend you on your service last night." He said with what might have passed for a smile if one squinted.

"T-thank you, Auror Scrimgeour." Sirius said, still struggling to believe it. He knew the Auror to be a good man from his numerous brushes with the law as a teenager, when Rufus was just a captain.

The Head Auror presented a key, "Your wrists, Gaara." He unlocked the cuffs, noticing all of the tarnishes and dents. They were old and would need to be replaced.

Gaara stood and looked back at Sirius, waiting for him to follow him out. As if Gaara had been patiently waiting this whole time for his inevitable release.

Sirius was in a similar daze as Gaara's earlier in the evening. He had been so sure he would lose Gaara to Azkaban, the place of his nightmares.

"Mr Black, my office will forward you the invoice for this morning." Grimshred said as he packed up his items more quickly than they had been taken out.

"Yes, of course, thank you."

The goblin did not pay any attention to the gratitude and walked right out, passing Gaara with as wide a birth as he could.

"Mr Black, if you would follow me please." Scrimgeour said, checking his watch impatiently.

"Right." Sirius jumped to his feet and marched on out, like he was afraid they might take his shock or hesitance as an insult and rescind this pardon.

When they emerged into the main Auror pit, it was heaving with frantic Aurors doing paperwork, dragging around arrested men and women, or loudly conversing with one another. A couple hushed their speech when the spotted Sirius and Gaara, but otherwise their entrance garnered little attention.

The Head Auror wandered over to a nearby desk and snatched a parchment off of it. "Sheridan!" He called.

"Sir!" A nondescript Auror approached.

"Bring me Sirius Black's and Gaara's wands."

"Yes, sir."

Scrimgeour brought the parchment over to Sirius and Gaara and talked it over with them. A standard release form, he said. Sirius read it over, wishing his solicitor had stuck around to make sure he wasn't confessing to littering or something. It all seemed okay, although he held off until his wand was back in his hand.

"It says 'I acknowledge that all property has been returned in the state it was confiscated in' but you still have Gaara's gourd." Sirius said.

"And my pouch." Gaara added, hoping no one was stupid enough to touch his few remaining exploding tags.

"I am afraid evidence can take up to eleven working days to be returned once it has been logged into evidence. Typically personal items aren't logged so fast and suspects aren't released so quickly. Hold on," He took the parchment back and started writing on it. He added a note that said the gourd and pouch were still to be released from evidence within the allotted time and asked Sirius to initial the change.

Once Sirius had checked his wand out for any scratches (it was brand new!), he checked Gaara's over. "What happened to it!?" He yelled, seeing all of the chunks missing and the rough carving.

"I can assure you that it the state the wand was delivered to us in." Auror Sheridan rebuffed.

"It's fine." Gaara said, pocketing the thing. He much more concerned about his gourd and weapons pouch. The gourd had been improvised and its chakra would not last long, but he still didn't like them having it, and much less his weapons.

"Sheridan will show you out. Oh, and Mr Black, the Minister for Magic has asked me personally to offer his apologies for the confusion. And to remind you of your prior arrangement. I am afraid he did not elaborate what that meant, to me."

"That's fine, he and I understand each other perfectly." Be discreet or else. Loud and clear.

Sirius and Gaara walked behind Sheridan without saying or looking at each other. Sirius noticed they were taking a longer route that would avoid the atrium, and the throng of reporters likely milling about the place. When they reached the private floo point, Sheridan waited for them to leave, presumably to then re-disconnect the secure fireplace.

Sirius took Gaara by the shoulder and walked into the flames with him, throwing the floo powder in. "The Burrow!"

Gaara knew full well how to use the floo network safely by now, but his longstanding aversion to magical travel might lead him to run off and Sirius did not want to lose sight of him just yet. Not after that scare.

Plus, with his steadying hand, he could stop Gaara flying face-first into the kitchen table at the other end.

"Sirius! Gaara!" Molly was in the kitchen, as Sirius had expected, looking both surprised and relieved to see them both. "Arthur said you'd been arrested. Come here you poor things." She swept both of them uncomfortable males into a crushing hug. "I'm just making breakfast. I'll make you a plate, just sit right down there."

Gaara took a seat at the dining room table even though he wasn't hungry and it felt intrusive to do so as a guest while the host was still busy cooking. But he still sat down because Mrs Weasley was less likely to initiate further physical contact if he did what she said, surely.

"By Merlin, you're back already. I can't believe you managed to make them see sense so soon. I was sure you wouldn't be released until at least tonight!" Arthur Weasley was all smiles as he descended the stairs into the kitchen-dining room.

"Yes, well, it was a good bit of luck, to be sure. How is Harry? And Remus?"

"Harry was worried but he's asleep in Ron's room right now. We almost had to send up some Dreamless Sleep for him, but he settled down a few hours ago. And I managed to get Remus into St Mungo's. They didn't want to take him at first," Arthur said.

"Ridiculous, the lot of them!" Molly piped up as she set some bacon into her cast-iron skillet.

"But they let him in eventually. Even got his own room."

"I'm sure they were only too happy to isolate him. As long as he's getting help." Sirius said.

"It was a nasty curse, whatever he was hit with, but they said he should be alright in a couple days. Should be little or no lasting nerve damage. But what happened with you, at the Ministry?"

"Let's talk about that in the other room. I have a couple ideas about what might have happened." Sirius got up from the table and led Arthur into the sitting room.

"Gaara dear, could you keep an eye on this, please. Just flip the bacon and make sure the eggs don't burn." She smiled at him and then bustled into the other room, shutting the door.

Gaara looked back and forth between the stove and the lounge door before getting up and tending the breakfast. It was entirely foreign to him, this level of homeliness. He had never even been to this house before, and he had only met the Weasleys a few times, and yet he was being treated like a close friend or a member of the family.

It was uncomfortable.

Gaara wasn't much of a cook, but methodically he flipped the bacon piece by piece. It was only as he looked towards the pan of eggs that he noticed the spatula, blowing on his hot fingers.

He was uncharacteristically weary after such a light battle. Maybe it was the stress or the waning headache? In any case, staring at the greasy full English breakfast as it finished cooking was calming. Yashamaru had said cooking was soothing but Gaara never understood why.

He might have liked to share this revelation with Draco, maybe the birth of a new hobby, but he knew it would only lead to a rant on how the impoverished Weasleys had to make their guests cook and how such a hobby was for plebeians.

"Can I have an extra sausage? I'm really hungry this morning." Ron said as he walked into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his head.

"I don't think there will be enough if you have extra. There might be some bacon to spare." Definitely-not-mum answered.

Ron rubbed his eyes, sure that his was a bad dream. He'd had similar nightmares before, so coming downstairs to find his mother replaced by Gaara of all people was par for the course. He half expected Draco Malfoy to come in and rant about rubber ducks and Snape to come downstairs complaining that all the hot water was gone.

When pinching himself and rubbing his eyes did not wake him up or change Gaara into his mother, he looked around to work out what was happening.

Gaara watched this process dispassionately, absently probing the bacon to stop it sticking. "Your mother and father are in the lounge with Sirius."

Finally his equilibrium was restored and Ron was still left with an irritable Slytherin minding his breakfast. He would have slunk back upstairs to avoid the situation were he not convinced Gaara was going to slip something into his food when he wasn't looking.

He was tired since they had evacuated the camp in the middle of the night, and now he was grumpy because there was a bastard in his kitchen first thing in the morning. He poured himself some orange juice and fell into one of the old wooden chairs, and watched Gaara like a drowsy hawk.

Gaara ignored him as best he could, serving up the eggs when they looked done. There were a lot of plates already warming in the oven and he figured Mrs Weasley wouldn't take any offense to his finishing up. He was less sure about the bacon and sausages. Pork was bad for you if it was not freshly killed or fully cooked. The Weasleys had no pigs so it needed to be cooked properly, but he didn't know how to check that.

A glance at Ron suggested even if he did know he wouldn't share that knowledge easily. Gaara would give it a few minutes and then interrupt Sirius. In the meantime, he dished out the beans and the fried tomatoes. He had just started buttering toast when he heard a door open.

"Morning mum," Ron said, "Dad, Mr Black."

"Oh, Ron, Gaara's just... Oh, my, sorry dear. I lost track of the time. Well, you've certainly done a good job here. I'll just get everything served up and you can sit down and join us." She took the spatula from him.

"I'll be back in a little while, Gaara. I've got to get Harry back soon or else they'll come looking for him. Best not to, after last night."

"Come now, surely he can stay for some breakfast. I can't send him back to that place on an empty stomach." Molly insisted, patting Gaara on the back and complimenting his buttering skills.

"Well, I really shouldn't. He's only meant to stay with me…"

"They'll know that he wasn't with you last night anyway. Surely they can make an exception just this once." Arthur agreed with his wife.

Looking at Molly's face, Sirius sat down next to Ron and wondered how the woman, not that much older than him, was still able to make him feel like a child. She 'hmphed' and set a glass of juice in front of the grown man.

"Ron, go wake our brothers and Ginny, and Harry and Hermione too. It's time for breakfast. Tell Fred and George if they're not down in five minutes, I'll let you have their sausages." Ron's grunting ascent perked up at that last threat and he practically skipped up the stairs to pass it on.

"Thank you for that, dear. You go sit down and I'll finish serving everything up. You must be famished after last night. I can't imagine you got a wink of sleep from what Sirius told me."

Gaara sat next to Sirius and sipped his freshly squeezed juice. He would have much rather had a cup of that awful British tea but he did not have the energy to try and refuse Mrs Weasley's well-intentioned but heavy-handed nutritional breakfast recommendation.

A great stampede sounded down the stairs as six Weasleys, a Potter and a Granger clomped down one after another. Bill had gone back to his own place in London, spending the better part of an hour convincing his mother to let him go last night.

"I told you he was here! And he was cooking breakfast earlier."

"We're still not buying it," George said.

"Where's the apron?" Fred added.

"Yeah, Ron, where's the apron,?" George continued.

"Sirius!" Harry looked very relieved to see his godfather, using the spare glasses Mrs Weasley had apparently stocked after his second year in case he came to visit again and they broke. An unbelievably kind and generous gesture.

He had only been told that Sirius and Gaara were at the Ministry answering questions but he had a pit in his stomach about it. Surely the Ministry could have waited to ask them about the fighting.

Gaara watched the reunion while he calculated how much of the piled plate set in front of him he would need to eat before he could be excused. He settled at 63.4%.

On one side sat Sirius but on Gaara's other side was Ginny (the only child of the clan willing to sit next to him, it seemed), and across were the twins who wanted nothing more than to drill Sirius for answers. Every time they voiced such demands, Molly or Arthur would stop them and resume a polite conversation about schoolwork or Quidditch.

Harry was on Sirius' other side, wanting to ask those same questions but sure he wouldn't get any straight answers. He trusted his godfather not to lie to him or to treat him like an infant, but with Mr and Mrs Weasley around, Sirius was acting like a cowed child himself.

Ginny had tried posing a few of the pertinent questions, whispered covertly with her raised glass to cover her moving lips. Gaara was impressed by her subterfuge and irritated by the repeated attempts when he ignored her. She kept asking if he had fought, why he went to the Ministry with Sirius, where his gourd was.

The last one was a pretty good question, actually.

The food was greasy and the company brash, loud and boisterous. Gaara was looking forward to returning to Grimmauld Place where he could seclude himself and eat in peace (when Sirius wasn't insisting otherwise).

His silence did not deter his inquisitor who continued to ask him about last night and then moved onto more acceptable lines of questioning, mainly about life with Sirius, homework, the incoming school year, her chances getting onto the House Team, et cetera. He still ignored her since he was quite used to doing so by that point in his meal.

He was feeling a little nauseous by the time he had eaten as little as he thought would be acceptable to his overbearing host. His slow eating finished at the same time everybody had cleared their plates. He looked and the only other one that had eaten anything less than their full portion was Ginny next to him, who was almost as tall as he was and was 'trying to watch her figure'.

He shook off his budding Napoleon complex and picked up his plate, preparing to stand and take it to the sink. The food might not have been to his taste but it was a kind gesture and doing some dishes seemed like an equitable recompense for feeding him. He didn't like coddling, but Mrs Weasley was essentially a good person and he was supposed to doing nice things for people like that.

"Oh, you can leave them there, Gaara." Molly said, her watchful eye having caught his movement.

"Yeah, don't worry. Mum'll take care of it." Ginny said casually.

"I would never use magic for cooking, it ruins the taste, but it's fine for the washing up." She smiled as she moved her chair back, pulled out her wand with a flourish and sent the dishes floating to the sink with a flick. The brush and sponge were already scrubbing them as everyone rose from their seats.

"I'm sorry but I really have to take you back now, Harry." Sirius said, pulling his coat back on. "Thank you for breakfast, Molly. Lovely as always. And you'll make sure Gaara is okay while I'm dropping Harry off?" He said, presumably confirming whatever he had asked in the other room.

"Yes, yes, go on if you're going." She waved him off. "And Harry, dear, you'll come and stay with us next Wednesday for the last week of the holiday, won't you." She confirmed.

"Yes, Mrs Weasley." He said, running upstairs to get his bag.

"Gaara, you go into the lounge with the boys and Ginny." Molly encouraged.

He nodded and turned on his heel. His mechanical stride was with the foreknowledge that he was walking into the lions' den. The Weasleys and Granger would pounce on him as soon as he walked through the door, he could already see it happening.

"Gaara, what happened?!" Granger practically yelled as the door was slid shut right behind him.

Gaara concentrated on not letting his shoulder slump in defeat.

"Yeah, why did you leave?" Ron added.

"He said he was checking on Draco, didn't he?" Percy added.

"Yeah, but he also said he was gonna go and fight." Fred or George said.

"They wouldn't have dragged him to the Ministry with Sirius if he didn't at least see the fight." George or Fred continued.

Gaara sighed and moved to sit on the sofa as the group continued to debate between themselves what Gaara had or had not done last night. The only one not engrossed in the debate was Percy who was bitterly regretting his having the day off since the Ministry would be abuzz today.

Crouch would have given him so much responsibility, for sure, if he could just go in. But his mother refused to so much as entertain the idea, even refusing to let Arthur 'pop in' for an hour or two. Today was her day with her family (minus Bill and Harry who had to leave) and she wasn't about to let Percy run off for his unpaid internship with Crouch of all people.

Gaara and Hermione would be going home soon, and then Molly would crack out the board games!

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

After the worst part of an hour had passed, Sirius reappeared.

"So, he was probably using his sand is what you're saying?" Ginny said.

"Well, we can't be certain of that, but what we do know is-" Hermione was interrupted by the lounge door opening.

Sirius looked in on the group sat tightly around Gaara, all looking to deep in conversation apart from the topic of their debate, who was dead to the world once again. His ability to turn himself off like that was both impressive and worrying.

Molly and Arthur had just told him about the press conference Fudge was giving when he arrived, and he considered leaving Gaara to this close-knit hell so he could continue discussing it but the likely assault that would soon be perpetrated was not worth the schadenfreude. Plus there were more pressing matters like seeing Remus, to attend to.

"We've got to go now, Gaara." Gaara had never looked so relieved, Sirius thought.

Gaara pushed his way through the huddled teens and walked straight out. They didn't seem to miss him even as they continued speculating on what he had done during the battle.

"Come on, we'll go and check on Moony now." Sirius said in the same terse mood he always adopted after taking Harry back to Privet Drive.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Gaara said to Mrs and Mr Weasley.

"You're always welcome here, Gaara. Please do stop by again soon." She replied, catching him a short hug.

"You must tell me about exploding knives sometime, Gaara. Simply fascinating!" Arthur said. He'd been bursting to ask all morning but Molly insisted on letting him alone with the children.

"Thanks again for breakfast and for keeping an eye on Harry and now Gaara." Sirius said.

"You must come back soon. I'll help you with those forms we talked about and I'm sure Molly will have some more useful advice for you." Arthur smiled.

Sirius thanked him again and swept Gaara out of the door before much more could be said.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to stop by the house to drop off the tents and pick up something for Remus."

Gaara suspected the little silver thing in Sirius' pocket was a flask, freshly refilled with single-malt but made no mention of it.

After he had recovered from the post-apparition nausea and mood, Gaara was quite impressed by the wizarding hospital, much more modern and clean than most of the magical buildings he had seen. He was hoping the visit would be short so he could go back to Sirius' and rest at last, although with any luck they could take a taxi since they were already in London.

They drew fewer stares in this building, the magical equivalents of doctors and nurses running about the place with little interest in an ex-convict and a peculiar redhead. Even when Sirius stopped a witch in the hall and asked for directions, she seemed wholly uninterested in them and didn't seem to recognise Sirius at all as she guided them to the correct floor.

Sirius was not happy to find Remus' room in the Infectious Magical Diseases and Secure Patients Ward, the doors made of very heavy wood and all having locks on both sides.

Inside a room that had signs outside notifying visitors of the presence of a werewolf, they found Remus lying in bed looking bored and tired. It was a bare room but there was a small dish with some grapes next to his bed that he had started on. It took a moment for Gaara to work out that Mr Weasley had probably purchased them for Remus when he arrived.

With how late things had run last night and how hurt he was supposed to be, Gaara found it odd that his chronically lethargic friend was awake.

"I thought the kissogram wasn't due round till midday." He quipped, struggling to push himself up to sitting position with his heavily bandaged arm.

Sirius smirked but then stopped himself from moving and pulled out the silver device in his pocket. He held it up and pulled out a decorative needle that had immobilised a spinning component that started up immediately after. It span so fast it rose into the air and let off some sparks and sank back down to the main piece where Sirius again fixed it with the needle.

"One of the more useful keepsakes from my paranoid father. Just had to make sure no one was watching or listening in." Sirius smiled. "Now, you were saying about a kissogram?" He transformed into Padfoot and ran up to Remus to slobber all over him.

"Get off me you mangy mutt!" The man griped, trying to push the shaggy black dog off of his hospital bed before it was covered in fur. It would send the nurse into a panic if she found fur in a werewolf's bed days before the full moon.

Padfoot didn't struggle much and jumped back down, his tail wagging frantically. Gaara watched the animal antics and prayed he wasn't forced to strike a dog should that man-dog try to lick his face too.

Sirius straightened back up in his human form and smiled still as he sat in the bed-side chair. He whipped out his wand and locked the door.

"I don't have mange. I have a vet's note and everything." Sirius said. "And you're looking well."

"Nothing a couple nights in here won't fix. I'll have to come back after my transformation, though. The healer said it would probably undo most of their work."

"That's pretty understanding of them." Sirius said.

"Well, he did say he didn't want me coming back until two days after the moon's passed, 'just in case'. I'll just have a friend keep an eye on me until then." Remus said.

"Oh, which friend were you thinking this time?" Sirius leaned forward, feigning casual interest.

"I'm not sure. So many on holiday this time of year, plus the bank holiday is coming up so I don't want to impose."

"I know how you hate to impose." Sirius chuckled.

Gaara was watching the light and friendly banter distantly. He knew this was just Sirius' way of checking Remus was okay but Gaara had no way of entering into the facetious repartee so he settled into the other chair and waited. They would inevitably draw him in sooner or later.

Sirius had moved on quicker than expected to recounting their interrogation for the second time that morning. It was almost as boring as experiencing it, Gaara thought.

"But, he was okay, I think. He's going to be back at the Burrow next week and I'll take him to Diagon Alley." Sirius said, finishing his tale with the morose delivery of Harry into the unwelcoming arms of the Dursleys.

"I would imagine so. Will Bandit be going with you or do you want me to take him?"

"Thanks but I think I'll take both. Plus I have a whole speech lined up for when I take them to Zonko's showroom and I don't want to have to say it twice."

Remus laughed as did Sirius. It was good to see that, especially in a hospital.

"I heard the radio earlier. Fudge is saying it was a terrorist cell. Last of You-Know-Who's followers." Remus said.

"Yeah, I heard it. It'd be lovely to think that there are only a dozen of them left in the country. And to think: none of them work at the Ministry!" Sirius laughed bitterly.

"As long as none of them work here, I'm happy for now." Remus added.

Sirius chuckled for a little longer but he went quiet afterwards.

"I can't put this off any longer. Not just today, I've been avoiding this for… Well, I've been ignoring this for a while now. Questions coming up and I've told myself they don't matter. But that's not true. I have to know, I need the answers and I think you do too, Remus."

Sirius paused and looked to Gaara, who had a sinking suspicion this is where things would lead after Sirius locked the door. "Gaara, last night was well beyond your usual level of… your normal level. Something happened, and I should have seen whatever it is coming. But with what happened, how normal it was for you, and your eye… I need you to tell me everything, Gaara. I need the truth. Please."

Gaara felt trapped, but he could have escaped. He could run away and they would never know the truth. Better he be gone than finding out this secret.

But he didn't run. He didn't jump to the door and keep running until his existence could no longer bring ruin and pain to his friends. Instead, he stayed sat where he was and looked up at Sirius and Remus, trying not to feel like the teenager he technically was.

"It's okay, Gaara, we're just worried. Take your time."

He took a deep breath.

"It started the night I killed my mother…" He started.

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Omake:

August was a nice month, Gaara thought as he ran back from the match. It was the warmest and that was pretty much all he required in order to decide it was the best time of year. He had ditched the others to have some time alone before the others arrived back and enjoy a moment's peace and quiet.

The first such moment since Sirius had practically dragged him out of the house.

The woods were dark now and were quiet. It was very pleasant. He was almost tempted to spend the evening in here, enjoy the night air and the smell of the forest. He slowed his pace, the lead he had gained would provide plenty of time to settle when he got back to the campsite.

He walked through the trees, enjoying the feeling of his feet on the soft forest floor, and the sight of two people making out against a tree…

…hold on…

He had paused when he walked into view of a sturdy tree, against which a pair of twenty-somethings were deep in the throes of a passionate lip-lock. The surprise had cause him to stop in his tracks, but in doing so, one of the otherwise occupied participants parted one of their eyes and happened to catch sight of a pale boy with bright scarlet hair and dark rimmed eyes staring right at them.

She screamed.

Gaara continued walking, ignoring the reaction and the boyfriend trying to calm her back down.

'I wonder if this is related to what Kankuro used to say about Temari and that Nara boy 'sucking face'?' Gaara thought. 'She sometimes screamed at Kankuro too.' It fit the description, anyway.

Gaara mused on the purpose of kissing as he walked the rest of the way to Sirius' tent. By the time he got there, he came to the conclusion that it was the eleventh human behaviour that simply had no rational explanation or purpose to it.

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A/N: I have been wanting to use that 'I am serious, and don't call me Shirley' joke from Airplane for years. I wrote it down in that form, even with Hermione setting it up, in around 2015. So pleased I managed to squeeze it in.

I almost forgot to mention, I had a guest reviewer mention a reference I made to Edgar Allan Poe in the first chapter of SH and I may be mistaken but I think that might have been the first such mention in a review I have gotten. For a joke I made seven years ago to be noticed now brings me endless joy. I figure other saw it and just didn't care, but it still made my day to see the review.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please take a moment to review if you happen to have anything to say.