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.

14. Chapter 14: Same Old Consequences

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 planned to get this out for Gaara's birthday but evidently I have about as much idea of my own updating schedule as the rest of you.

In any case, enjoy.

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(Last Time)

Gaara was so angry that he was shaking. Except, he wasn't just angry.

Somewhere between plunging directly into nearly freezing water and the massive amount of chakra being expelled from his body, the warming charm on swimsuit had disappeared.

"No… I won-" He said, half-turning to Sirius, eyes struggling to remain open. "I'll kill."

"What's…?" Sirius had stilled, watching Gaara turn fully towards him, then look around. He seemed confused. Was he drunk?

He could hear Gaara's teeth chattering. Gaara stumbled.

"Isn't someone going to arrest him?!" Fudge hissed, looking at his guards who were all staring at the short red-headed boy shivering and struggling to stay awake and on his feet. And then he failed at both.

"Someone catch him!" Sirius shouted as Gaara fell backwards onto the wood with a thunk.

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Gaara awoke with a great hacking cough, his body jerking forward and then forcing him to roll onto his side. His eyes felt sore and puffy. He cracked them open and saw red in his hand.

Apparently he had coughed up blood.

That was probably bad.

The confused Jinchūriki tried to remember how he got here. Then he tried to work out where he was. He used his other hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes and, after much blinking and squinting, he saw he was in the Hospital Wing.

Huh…

It had been a while since he last woke up in that particular room.

There was thankfully a box of tissues on the bedside table that Gaara could use to clean the blood off his hands. Despite his devotion to spilling it, he had never particularly liked getting blood on him. It was only because of Kankuro's insistence that Gaara had not kept that unfortunate Rain shinobi's umbrella after their time in the Forest of Death in Konoha.

For a while he thought it was Kankuro's peculiar sense of style that precluded his little brother carrying a parasol. Gaara later learnt that Kankuro's main concern had been that any restraint Gaara had previously exhibited, stemming from his aversion to literally bathing in his enemies' blood, would disappear thanks to the stolen umbrella.

Gaara's eyes started to drift closed again. He felt tired. Had he been in a fight? He could not remember feeling this drained in a long while. His head was throbbing like Skukaku had not let him rest for weeks, and his throat and chest ached.

He rolled onto his back and was about to let his eyes fully close when a small movement on his other side made him glance over and see Sirius sat there with his eyes trained on Gaara.

"Wuh-" Gaara tried to ask a question but by the time his next coughing fit concluded, he couldn't remember what he planned to ask first.

"Easy, Bandit." Sirius said, reaching as if he wanted to lay a comforting hand on Gaara's shoulder but thought better of it and instead offered him a drink of water instead. "You're probably not feeling very well, I imagine. Madam Pomfrey was telling me you've got pneumonia."

Gaara wrinkled his invisible eyebrows. Pneumonia was a sickness in the lungs. But he didn't get sick. It was one of the few benefits to hosting a demon in his body.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Sirius was talking softly, which Gaara appreciated.

Trying to cast his mind back to the day before made his head throb but he did recall some water. And a mermaid?

Oh, it was all coming back to him now.

Suddenly he felt worse.

Sirius saw the grim expression on Gaara's face worsen. "Yep, there it is." He smirked. "You silly sod."

Gaara glared at the grown man mocking him in a vulnerable moment.

"You lost consciousness and fell hard. By the time we got you back here-"

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr Black. I always try to keep track of any budding medi-witches and wizards after they leave Hogwarts, but I don't recall you earning your healing certification." Pomfrey was standing behind him looking peeved.

"Good afternoon, Poppy." Sirius said with his most charming grin as he turned to her.

"That's Madam Pomfrey to you, Mr Black. It was when you were fifteen, when I had to regrow your toes after you accidentally spelled them away, and it is most certainly still now. And I would also appreciate you waiting for a trained professional to tell the patient what is wrong with them or to offer them water."

Sirius slumped forward in his seat, hanging his head in exaggerated and insincere contrition. "Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"Better. Now, Gaara, I am glad to see you're awake. You managed to get such a chill in that lake that you got hypothermia, and now you've gone and developed a case of pneumonia." She said, looking angry. "Of all the ridiculous things! It's still winter and they had you all swimming around the lake like it was June in the Riviera!" She scoffed extra hard for good measure.

"Because of your unique constitution, my usual spells and potions aren't as effective as they should be. Normally I can clear up a bit of frostbite or some water in the lungs before the student has time to finish explaining what's wrong. But you are a challenge."

Gaara responded by coughing up what felt like it must have been at least a quarter of his lung. Luckily he still had his tissue in hand.

"Yes, there will be a bit of that, I'm afraid. You are healing but it won't be pleasant. At least you have some practise not talking, which you will have to avoid for the next two days. No more than a word or two at a time."

"Oh dear. However will my loquacious ward ever keep his mouth shut?" Sirius pantomimed concern. "Tell me, doctor, will my boy ever sing again?"

Madam Pomfrey stared at him hard. She had not been amused by his antics when he was a teenager, and even less so when he was a grown man acting like a teenager.

"Gaara, drink this." She offered him a vial of purple liquid. If it had come from pretty much anybody else, Gaara would not have dreamed of unstoppering it and downing the potion that felt like drinking liquid razor blades. He coughed again.

"Yes, there will indeed be a lot of that. But that should make your throat feel a little better."

Gaara wondered when that effect would kick in.

"Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"We, Mr Black?" She asked pointedly.

"Fine. Isn't there anything more you can do?"

She huffed. "I've done everything to be done for the boy. Without needing to be asked by you, I might add." The medi-witch set two more vials on Gaara's bedside cabinet. "Drink the blue one when Mr Black leaves and then the clear one. Blue and then clear. Understood?"

Gaara nodded. His throat was feeling a little better so he would continue doing what she told him.

"And you." She rounded on Sirius. "Do not agitate him."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Sirius dutifully said. The experienced witch glared for one more moment before turning to depart. "Oh, and one more thing, Madam Pomfrey…"

"Yes?" She turned.

"Could you tell me where babies come from?" He smirked.

She clenched her jaw and then looked like she was about to tell him something but instead she turned on her heel and marched away. Sirius had asked her the same question in his sixth year, when she knew for a fact he was aware of the realities of procreation if his borderline overdose on birth control potions had been an indication.

When she was gone, Sirius sat back in his chair with a smile that might have been charming before madness and starvation had left their marks on his face. "Well, I don't suppose you could tell me?"

Gaara stared flatly at him. He was pretty sure, based on Sirius's many off-colour jokes and salacious stories from his youth that he knew about sex. Not to mention that, even if he had not been joking, Gaara was not supposed to talk.

"Yeah, thought not. Maybe when you're older." Sirius said, suddenly feeling nervous. He had just realised in the moments since his joke left his mouth that Gaara's sex education was essentially his responsibility. And, unlike most teenage boys, he could not count on the boy just figuring it out like and his friends had.

In dire need of a change of topic, Sirius said, "So, you nearly killed a lot of people yesterday… that wasn't good."

Gaara continued to stare.

"We need to talk about this properly but not here and now." Sirius said. "Nobody died, but… we need to talk about it." Sirius finished.

Gaara nodded slowly. He supposed there would be no avoiding that discussion.

Gaara opened his mouth but stopped before forming the first syllable. He tried miming his question but Sirius could not work out what he wanted.

"You know, I'd almost missed this." Sirius said with a grin. "But without your sand this is a bit one-sided."

Gaara could tell no one thought to bring his sand to the Hospital Wing. He thought for a second but there was nothing he could use to write nearby. In a moment of inspiration, he sat up and raised his hand to brush his hair back against his head.

Sirius snorted. "Is that supposed to be Draco?!" He laughed fully until Madam Pomfrey slammed her clipboard down on her desk. "Brilliant. I'm going to have to write that one down somewhere. Do you reckon you could do it again when I have my camera? Moony's not going to believe me when I tell him. And I'm definitely telling him."

Gaara let his naturally spiky hair resume its proper shape and waited for his unintentional hilarity to fade.

"So, Draco… Oh, you want to know how he's doing?" Sirius clicked his fingers. "Well, first, as I have often had occasion to remind you, you're an idiot. He was completely fine. Better than you, as it turns out. They gave him the antidote and he would have been okay to walk out of here straight afterwards if Cissy and Lucius didn't insist of making the mother of all fusses over it. Then Draco started making his own fuss, of course. And then, after all that, he refused to leave your side."

Gaara looked around to see if Draco was anywhere nearby.

"No, Pomfrey kicked all three out after about an hour."

As she would report to Dumbledore later, she had dealt with two generations of Malfoy hypochondria, so she was perfectly capable of ignoring their threats of hearings and governor's investigations when she forced the perfectly healthy blonds to vacate her domain.

"Oh, I suppose you don't know how you did in the Task." Sirius said, picking up the paper he had been reading while Gaara slept. He held it up for Gaara to read but the redhead just sat back in the bed, apparently uninterested.

Or he was still a little delirious from being seriously ill and couldn't focus enough to read the cluttered newspaper's small print.

"Well, I'll tell you since you're so excited to find out." Sirius said.

"'Quidditch prodigy Krum steals another Triwizard Tournament Task out from under the British Champions. With an impressive use of a partial transformation spell, Viktor Krum was able to rescue his beloved Estelle Larkin even after battling through the treacherous whirlpool that his fellow Champion conjured. Following Krum, our very own Harry Potter (the Boy-Who-Lived) rescued his own friend from the water, one Ronald Weasley.

"Fleur Delacour was given the third place position for rescuing her younger sister. And in last place was Gaara, rescuing close friend Draco Malfoy from the depths of the Black Lake.

"Because of the disturbances during the task, the judges could not provide scores based on the Champions' performance and instead planned to use the order in which they reached the platform with their designated person. However, after a hushed conversation, the judges decided to award third place instead to Fleur Delacour in consideration of her good sportsmanship.'"

Sirius folded the broadsheet and set it back down. "Most of them are being careful with how far they go, but everyone knows you were responsible for the whirlpool in the lake. Dumbledore told me you were lucky not to be arrested. Though, that was more to do with the other thing."

Gaara did not have the energy to raise his hand and prompt a continuation so he just raised an eyebrow and hoped that would suffice.

"As if people weren't upset with you enough for trying to 'sabotage' the other Champions, you had to go and threaten to kill the Minister for Magic in front of witnesses."

Sirius watched Gaara's pale face and while, to the untrained eye it might have looked entirely blank, Sirius had become one of the foremost experts at reading the redhead's facial cues. Gaara had just remembered what he did and he was embarrassed.

"Yes, that's right, you pillock. I understood you might hate him, but you can't go around threatening politicians. Especially when they have an ego the size of Fudge's. He was really ranting about locking you up, and your display in the lake didn't help matters. It was only thanks to Dumbledore that you weren't. So, as far as anyone else will ever know, the hypothermia addled your tiny mind and you didn't know what you were saying."

Now Gaara's micro-expression was defiant.

"Oh, of course, we both know you meant every slurred word. Hence, 'pillock'. I would get more creative but Pomfrey will only let me stay for so long and that will quickly end if she hears me swearing." He glanced over his shoulder but she was nowhere to be seen.

Gaara looked down at his lap. Threatening that buffoon was the natural response to everything that happened. But the incident with the lake was an unforgivable lapse. He had nearly killed everyone.

Sirius was an expert at distracting people, a distinction with which Lily had honoured him during their NEWTs preparations. So, when he saw the troubled look on Gaara's face worsen, he knew just how to interrupt the train of thought.

"Now that I've got you cornered, you're going to tell me what really happened between Draco and you." Sirius hated to pry except he really didn't.

Gaara looked up at him and his expression steeled. Then nothing.

This went on for a few moments before Sirius remembered Gaara pulling this trick every time the previously mute off-worlder did not want to answer a question.

"I've not missed you doing that." He said. "Fine, keep your secrets. For now. I'll get it out of you sooner or later. But, in the short term, if Draco comes back to visit you again, should I tell Pomfrey to let him in or turn him away?"

Gaara again looked at his lap. Sirius took pity on him and left it without an answer. Apparently, whatever the truth of it was, Gaara was struggling to work it out himself.

Still, he would definitely find out before Cissy. His primary motivation was helping Gaara with whatever he was going through, but lording it over his cousin would be a sweet bonus.

They chatted for a while, in the same way that Sirius used to chat at Gaara before his throat healed. Gaara didn't try to throw anything at him or glare, outside of when Sirius said something inflammatory, so he assumed he wasn't entirely unwelcome. Still, Gaara was clearly very unwell and after only an hour, his eyes started to drift closed and then snap open.

"You need your rest, Bandit. I'll come again soon." He said with a smile.

"Honestly, Mr Black; this is a school infirmary! It is bad enough that the children of this school so often find themselves needing my care. Parents should not be imposing every five minutes as well."

"I pretend I'm coming to visit him but really it's to see your smiling face Poppy- Madam Pomfrey." He quickly amended his facetious claim when he saw how angry he was making her.

"Off with you now. Let the poor boy get some more rest." She shooed him away and he started to retreat.

"You'll feel as right as rain soon, Gaara."

"Of course he will." Pomfrey huffed. "Now don't you go back to sleep just yet, young man. You need to drink these first." She picked up the first vial and held it to his lips. He was only just awake enough to swallow it when it hit his tongue. When that was done, then came the second, and finally he was allowed to settle into sleep again.

Sirius stood back and tried not to worry. They had not transferred Gaara to St Mungos at the man's request, but Pomfrey would never have listened to him if she didn't think she could provide adequate care for Gaara at the castle. Sirius had made the request because the last thing they needed was for Gaara to be vulnerable in a government-controlled institution.

Sirius stepped out and then looked around. He was unescorted in Hogwarts. Should he make mischief or see Harry to distract himself?

Why not both?

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The next time Gaara woke up, Luna was there. He wasn't surprised, really. There were few people who would take the time to sit next to his unconscious body in this world and she was probably second on the list… currently.

Luna seemed to notice he was awake immediately, and she quickly closed the leather notebook she had been writing in and stashed it in her robes. It looked like quite a thick book; Gaara wondered if the weight of it pulled her robe down on one side when she walked.

"Hello, Gaara." Luna said with a smile.

"Hello, Luna." Gaara said back. He could not nod comfortably while lying with his head propped up by the plush infirmary pillow. It was only after the simple greeting had left his lips that he remembered speaking was also not comfortable at the moment, leading to more coughing.

"You should try not to speak." Luna said softly.

Gaara pushed himself up a little, ever so slowly. Now that the redhead was almost upright, he could see that Luna appeared to be well, no slings or casts in sight. Still, magic's utility in healing other people's injuries did not negate those injuries having been caused.

"I'm-" He coughed heavily into his hand, "-sorry."

Rather than looking sad or angry at all, Luna appeared happy with his apology. "It's kind of you to say that. But I'm fine now." She raised her previously broken arm and gave it a shake. She had taken to doing that periodically since it was healed, as her memory of the excruciating pain left the arm feeling stiff even though there was no physical reason for it.

Truthfully, Luna was happy that Gaara cared enough to ask. She understood this sort of concern did not come naturally to him, so his making the effort to ask spoke volumes about how he felt about her. All that being said, looking at him now, she was reminded of just how frightening his power had been.

"I don't want to pry, Gaara, but I'd like to ask. Your powers, your sand and what you did during the Second Task, it's not normal magic. Is it related to your home?" Luna asked. Before he could formulate a response, she added, "And is it related somehow to your… lunar reaction?"

Gaara's eyes were wide but Pomfrey was too far away to have heard what she said.

He tried to croak out a denial, something to stop the conversation in its tracks, but his body was kind enough to provide that escape in the form of another violent coughing fit and more blood in the handkerchief Luna handed to him.

A normal person would have been shocked by the sight of blood and would have quickly moved on or called over an adult. But Gaara was not in the habit of surrounding himself with normal people. He blamed his siblings for that. They were supposed to be his role models for normal behaviour but even Temari was atypical, at least as far as that one genin had told him not long before he was banished from his homeworld. The girl had been gossiping with some of her classmates and had not noticed the recently reformed serial killer passing by.

The abject look of terror on her face when she realised she had spent five minutes insulting the first family of Suna while the youngest and most homicidal member had been impassively watching from the back of the crowd had been nothing short of comical. Comical according to other witnesses, who relayed it to Kankuro.

To Gaara, the reaction had reminded him of old times. He'd had to leave before old habits resurfaced and he accidentally backslid. With the way the girl fled in the opposite direction, she had understood how close she came to a desert funeral.

Luna did not feel fear now, as she looked down at Gaara's narrow, shaking shoulders, even if, logically, she knew she probably should.

"I don't-" He cringed at the renewed pain in his throat. "I don't know what's happening."

Gaara was referring to the link between his presence in this world, the change to Shukaku's seal and the effect the full moon had on him. However, Luna did not have a hard time believing that Gaara was unknowing of something. Of all of his admirably qualities, awareness was not always chief amongst them.

Luna did not want to put her best friend in a pensive mood, so she segued into a new topic.

"Professor Dumbledore has been down at the lake, you know. He's been going down every day since the Task." She said.

Gaara looked her in the eye briefly before looking in her general direction. That meant she had his attention.

"He's been trying to build bridges with the mermen and mermaids, figuratively speaking, of course. They wouldn't like a real bridge. I expect that would just make things worse."

"Worse?" Gaara risked asking but the cringe and cough demonstrated that it had indeed been a mistake to continue talking. He would try not to repeat that mistake today.

"From what the ghosts told me, who I gather heard it from the portraits, who may have heard it from the Elves or someone else with pointed ears, I'm not sure… apparently, the mermaids didn't agree to the Task. Not the version that took place, at any rate. They were told a few teenagers would swim through their village and possibly cast a stunner or two. Instead, three Ministry construction witches have been trying to get access so they can rebuild the entire village. The mer-maids and –men won't let any more humans into the lake at the moment. They may even stop the first-year boats in September!"

Rather than attentive, Gaara's expression had soured a little. Luna saw the subtle signs. Oh, right, she realised, Gaara had been the cause of the destruction. In retrospect, she supposed it had not been the best story to share with Gaara. Perhaps it would have been better to share the one about the two seventh-year girls who both got pregnant from the same two-timing boyfriend and now both of the girls' families were demanding the boy marry their daughters.

Luna had not found that story as interesting, and had assumed Gaara would feel the same way, but maybe something more banal would have been better.

She would save that one for the next time she thought Gaara needed distracting. Or possibly the next time she found herself talking to Draco. He would definitely enjoy it if he hadn't heard about it already. After all, one girl was from Gryffindor, one from Slytherin, and the boy was a Hufflepuff whose family had been in Ravenclaw for four generations. Luna didn't normally like to gossip about people, but she recognised a juicy story when she heard it.

"Dumbledore is trying very hard to make it up to them, but mer-people have been known to hold a grudge." Luna said sagely.

Gaara nodded and decided this was the final reason not to go swimming in the Black Lake ever again.

They lapsed into silence and Luna tried to think of what to discuss next. She had been reading an interesting book about horses but Gaara had never expressed much of an interest in them before. She had eaten a particularly large breakfast that morning…

"You should let Draco back in." She said instead.

Gaara blinked, took a breath and then coughed harshly. "I can't trust him." He rasped. He had said the same thing a dozen times already.

Luna hummed, not in agreement but acknowledging he meant what he said. If anyone could appreciate a monosyllabic response, it was Gaara. "I need to go and send an owl. I'll visit you again tomorrow."

Gaara hoped he would be discharged soon to save him from all of these visitors. Normally, he could just walk away or hide if he wanted solitude, but he was something of a sitting duck in the Hospital Wing, with everyone knowing where to find him.

It was only by the grace of Pomfrey's stern countenance that he was spared the endless parade of unknown well-wishers looking to pester and confound him. For all of her faults, Gaara appreciated her visitation policy, which also limited the amount of time Sirius and Luna could spend visiting him.

They were his precious friends but he had his limits.

Madam Pomfrey approached with a thermometer in hand and a scowl on her face that he could appreciate.

"That will not be needed. I'm fine and am ready to leave." Gaara said with conviction that was undermined with the bloody cough in between his sentences. He pulled his ever-present handkerchief away from his mouth and showed it to her. "As you can see, the blood is much less."

Pomfrey heard the same thing every day and, as always ignored him as she tended to him. His temperature was still high, his lungs did appear to be healing despite the ongoing haemoptysis, and his temperament was a reassuring sign of his recovery.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gaara was not surprised when Lupin came next. At this point, it had only been a matter of time. He suspected the delay had only been thanks to Pomfrey's strict gate-keeping, but a Marauder would eventually find a way, even if Remus tended to be more polite about it.

Of course, Remus still told him he had sneaked into the castle, but Gaara had no way of knowing if that was true.

"Miss Lovegood asked me to come and see you. I would have come anyway, of course, but Madam Pomfrey isn't as fond of me as she used to be when I was a boy." He chuckled, as if he was blameless for the mess they had caused when he and his friends had graduated. Legend had it that Filch was still cleaning up after that stunt on Wednesday evenings.

"She suggested that I might be the most suitable person to talk to you." Remus said, sitting down after confirming Pomfrey was still out. "I wasn't sure at first but after I spent a while pondering her words, I remembered she is a uniquely insightful young witch that we would all do well to heed more often."

"I don't want to talk." Gaara said. He didn't need to be a genius to understand what had led Luna to send Remus. Though, apparently it was beyond Gaara to guess why Remus was the person uniquely suited to browbeating Gaara into forgetting his grievance with Draco.

"I know you don't want to talk. You know why I'm here, don't you, so of course you don't want to. I'd wager you would prefer to lose your voice entirely again rather than have a heart-to-heart chat right now. But I'm not going to give you a choice right now, and aside from that, there something else. You want things to change. Don't you? The problem between Draco and you, you want it to end. You just don't know how."

Gaara glared fiercely. Remus always had a habit of looking down on him. It was irritating.

"It does not matter what I want." Gaara said.

"Gaara, that matters more than anything else here, don't you see? I wouldn't be here if I didn't think it was what you really wanted."

"I want you to leave."

"I expect you do, but sometimes we have to put up with things we don't want in order to get the things we want the most." The man smiled.

"That does not make sense."

"Perhaps not." Remus shrugged. "But, regardless, I won't be leaving just yet."

Gaara turned to stare straight ahead. He thought it made it look like he had tuned out, but Remus knew Gaara struggled tuning things out like this and he would be listening to every word whether he wanted to or not.

"You know the story of Sirius's breakout. Probably better than I do at this point. Sirius likes to talk about himself and you spent weeks with him in that shack, and again at his home. But I don't think I've ever told you my story of the breakout." Gaara's eyebrow might have twitched or it might have been a trick of the light.

"My story doesn't include dementors or the well-timed evasion of guards or, as Sirius once told me, an Olympic-standard dive from the top of the prison into shark-infested waters. My story began the day I read the newspaper telling me someone I once thought of as a brother, the man responsible for killing the only friends I ever loved, had broken out of prison, most likely in order to kill James's son."

Remus sighed heavily. "I was… angry. Angrier than I've been since Lily and James, and Wormtail, were taken from me. I had spent a decade hating my best friend and living in complete isolation, often at the bottom of a bottle. That had made it so much worse, the anger I felt towards Sirius. Every day living alone and telling myself over and over that all of this had been his fault."

Gaara could relate to that kind of isolated existence. Even if he had Yashamaru and then his siblings, both Remus and he had lived as monsters, shunned by everyone around them. If Gaara had felt that there was someone responsible for the pain he felt every day of his existence… well, maybe that was his father… What would Gaara have done to the man if he had the power to defeat him?

"I sometimes have nightmares now," Remus continued, "thinking about what would have happened if Sirius came to me in those first few days, or if I managed to find him in one of our old haunts. Whatever happiness he or I have managed to find in the last year and a half wouldn't have been possible, that's for sure.

"But, at the time, it felt like there was nothing else that I could possibly do but search the Earth and… well, I try quite hard not to think about what I imagined in those dark days. Frankly, when I calmed down just a bit, it didn't take me very long to find him. Even if Sirius was the most wanted man in the magical world for the past week, I was one of only two living, including the rat, who knew about Padfoot. He isn't the most inconspicuous of dogs, as you might have noticed, and people did tend to remember seeing him unaccompanied when he passed through.

"By the time I caught up to him, he was nearly at Hogsmeade. He had already been to see Harry in Surrey and now he was waiting for the Weasleys to bring Wormtail to him."

Remus rubbed his eyes. At some point that neither participant could recall, Gaara had turned to watch the older man.

"He didn't have a wand and, even if he had one, he was half-starved, half-insane and didn't want to hurt me at all. It would have been easy, really. One of a hundred spells could have ended it. He was prone on the floor and I was standing there with enough hatred in me to cast a thousand Killing Curses. And he was saying all of the things I had expected him to say in that moment. I had steeled myself ready for it. The claims of innocence, the impossible excuses, the frame-up conspiracy. I half expected him to claim Dumbledore was behind it all or that James was really alive. It made me even madder because it reminded me of when Sirius was a lad and he would give the same rushed excuses to McGonagall or Slughorn.

"I still don't understand it, even now. I was ready to end him, but for one brief moment I felt calm. Truth be told, I was awfully tired, so maybe I was just exhausted from hunting him for three or four days straight. Perhaps I didn't want to be the one to kill my last remaining childhood friend. I don't suppose it makes too much of a difference. The important point is that I felt a moment of clarity and realised I had a choice then.

"I could make good on the promises I made at gravesides and into bottles for ten years, to murder Sirius and avenge them. Or else, I could believe him. Simple as that. No proof, no real reason. In all probability, this man who had betrayed everyone who called him a friend would wait ten seconds and stab me in the back. But once the thought was in my head, that Sirius could be telling the truth, I lost my strength. Everything that had been keeping me on my feet for those days, and kept me going for ten years, just sort of fell out of me. I literally fell to the floor."

"He could have killed you." Gaara said.

"Based on logic, he probably would have. Based on what I knew at the time."

"You didn't know about Wormtail."

"No, I didn't. But the alternative to believing in something without any proof and without a healthy sense of self-preservation was to be totally alone again."

"Foolish."

"That's correct. I was a fool. Sirius would have killed me, and then Harry, and then anyone else he wanted to. I would have been to blame for being a lonely sentimental old fool. But it's always a matter of luck when trust, friendship and love are involved. If you have a logical reason to know they will never hurt you, you aren't trusting them at all."

"That does not make any sense."

"Logic, sense, evidence. That came later, and my wand was still at the ready, but the first step was still mind-bogglingly dangerous and idiotic. I rolled the dice and won."

"You are telling me to trust Draco and risk him betraying me again?"

"Not if you don't really want to. You need to decide that for yourself because it is a risk. I have no clue what went on between you, but you need to decide whether you would rather avoid that risk or let him back into your life and the chance of him doing it again." Remus heard footsteps coming. "Please just promise me that you will think about it, and about what would make you happy. Because that's what matters at the end of the day."

Gaara coughed again and the door opened.

As Pomfrey stormed in at the sight of Remus visiting her patient without permission, he stood to leave without a fight.

"I don't know if I will be able to visit you again anytime soon. I hope you feel better soon, Gaara."

Gaara nodded, maintaining eye contact as long as he could before looking away. Remus apologised insincerely and skirted around Pomfrey as she brandished a roll of bandages at him and threatened to have the ex-professor banned from the grounds.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Professor Lupin is in the castle!" Harry stared intently at the Map, using his elbow to block it from prying eyes in the Great Hall.

"Why is he here? Is he meeting with Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said.

In the ranking of DADA professors, Lupin remained at the top and the thought of him returning for next year made her bookish heart flutter. Moody was great for stories and practical sessions, but his disdain for theory left him ranking above Lockhart but below Quirrel.

She wouldn't share her rankings, on this subject, with Harry, of course. But, Quirrel had actually been a rather competent professor when he wasn't pretending to be a coward or trying to kill one of her best friends.

"He was probably here to see Gaara, like Mr Black." Ron said.

"Yeah, he's coming from the Hospital Wing." Harry traced his finger along Remus's path.

"Shall we go and say hello?" Hermione was formulating the most convincing arguments for him returning to work.

Ron leaned heavily over Harry's shoulder. "Not where he's going." He pointed at Lupin descending into the Dungeons and heading towards Snape's office.

Harry looked over at where Snape was pretending to eat his lunch. The gaunt man did not eat very much in the Great Hall, he preferred to eat in his quarters. He only attended meals at the demand of his boss and so he could keep an eye on 'trouble-makers', or so the rumours purported.

"He's going to go spare if Lupin pranks him." Ron said, averting his gaze when Snape almost caught him looking. "You saw what he was like after Mr Black left that surprise for him."

Harry shuddered to recall. He had to go to Gaara-like lengths to stay out of Snape's warpath and even now he was avoiding looking at the man in case it somehow inculpated him in Sirius's mischief or Lupin's impending joke.

"Well, I can't believe he would break into the school and cause trouble like that." Hermione was still entertaining some notion that Professor Lupin was merely going to drop off a professional note or calling card for his ex-colleague.

Based on Snape's later actions, including but not limited to giving over sixty students detentions for reasons passing any other professor's understanding, Ron felt vindicated once again. Or he would have if he were not amongst the sixty.

"There goes Loony." Ron said, blissfully unaware of the trouble his 'insolent demeanour' would get him into in less than two hours.

"I've told you not to call her that!" Hermione whacked him on the arm.

Harry quietly agreed with her. He did not know Luna very well at all, but he tried not to hold her friendship with Gaara against her. Maybe he wasn't so bad underneath all of the… Gaara-ness.

"I still can't believe what she did." Hermione said when Luna was gone.

"Well, someone had to dance with him." Ron said.

"Not that! In the last Task."

"Oh, right. Yeah. Never would have guessed a Ravenclaw would have the stomach for it." Ron said with his usual prejudices on show despite the dirty look that a couple of passing Ravens gave him.

"You say that but we don't even know what she did." Harry said.

"True, but I do know she took Gillyweed from me, jumped into the Lake during the Task while there was a whirlpool and then everything calmed down. Besides, Lavender Brown heard that Luna showed up at the Hospital Wing with a broken arm afterwards, which Madam Pomfrey kept quiet." Hermione said.

"She did? Why?" Ron said.

"I have no idea. But Madam Pomfrey hates the Tournament. She probably doesn't want Luna to get in trouble for whatever she did." Hermione said.

"Nice to know at least one professor is on our side." Harry said.

"Harry, all of the professors are on your side." Hermione said, before Ron coughed and nodded towards Snape. "Or, at least, all of the professors are against the Tournament."

"Now that I believe." Harry agreed. "I didn't see Lovegood down there at all. I couldn't see much of anything at that point. I was just about to grab Ron and Krum was nearby, then all of a sudden the lakebed started to drift around. Before I knew what was happening, I was being dragged around in circles and I couldn't see Ron or anything."

Hermione and Ron didn't interrupt even though they had heard this story at least three times already.

"I could probably have swum against it but I didn't want to get near whatever was in the middle of the whirlpool. Plus that was when the Grindylows attacked me. Then, when I lost them, the mermaids started on me with their tridents."

"Merpeople." Ron corrected him. Harry gave him a funny look but continued. Last time, Hermione had been the one to correct him so Ron figured it was his turn.

"Then I helped Fleur, who was being dragged around, and she scared off the mermaids. We both went with the water for a while but then the water finally died down and I could go and collect Ron."

"He told it better last time." Ron quietly said to Hermione.

"It was only then that I realised Gaara was actually in the middle of it all. I'd thought it was all part of the Task." Harry finished his latest retelling oblivious to his friends' comments.

"Well, serves him right to be the one to end up in the Hospital Wing after pulling that." Ron was repeating himself now.

"No idea why he's still in there." Harry said. "Pomfrey can regrow bones overnight."

"Who knows." Ron said. "She couldn't fix his throat for months last year."

"That was something to do with Gaara himself. Maybe it's stopped her healing him again now."

"As I said, serves him right." Ron said with finality.

Harry secretly agreed but kept it to himself so Hermione didn't swat his arm as hard as she did Ron's.

Before Ron could say anything else to get either of them in trouble with Hermione, Harry butted in. "

"So, how did the Twins do out of the last lot of bets?"

Ron groaned loudly.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Pomfrey rushed out of the Hospital Wing. Normally the sick and injured children of the castle were brought to her, but if the report of a cursed sword impaling a thirteen-year old were true, she needed to attend at once.

As Madam Pomfrey followed after a suddenly wealthier third-year, who would soon learn the exact market value of a month in detention and 100 lost House points for lying about a medical emergency, the mastermind of the genius plot slid into the unguarded Hospital Wing.

It had cost a pretty penny to convince the Huffelpuff to lie to a professor, but that was nothing compared to the time invested in finding one gullible enough to think they wouldn't get in trouble. Not to mention the headache of convincing them that Draco would indeed curse their family if the blond's name was mentioned at any point.

In the past, Pomfrey had allowed aspiring med-witches and med-wizards to shadow her for a term, but Draco was pretty sure no one had applied so far this year. Nonetheless, Draco's eyes darted from side to side, checking every corner and doorway to ensure nobody would interrupt his business.

He moved slowly across the large room, staying light and on the balls of his feet, occasionally twisting behind a privacy screen or ducking behind a bed just in case Pomfrey returned or another student entered.

Gaara watched all of this impassively. Draco was so wrapped up in his sneaking that he had sneaked right past Gaara's bed and was continuing down to the end of the Hospital Wing. He had expected Draco to show his face sooner or later. The redhead's convalescence had been a cavalcade of lectures from the people in his life. He had half-expected Narcissa to show up sooner or later, and she probably would have if Draco had not beaten her to it.

At least he had been spared another hospital visit by Potter and his 'back-up dancers', as Draco sometimes called them. Gaara was not entirely sure what a 'back-up dancer' was, but Draco had said it with such relish, it seemed to be appropriately derisive.

Draco had actually somersaulted behind a table when a draft made a nearby curtain billow. So, when he looked up, realised he was facing the back wall, and turned around to see Gaara watching him, and having clearly witnessed his entire attempt at stealthy infiltration, Draco blushed, stood up and brushed off his robes like it never happened.

Draco walked over calmly to hide his mortification. And then, in true Draco fashion, he turned it around.

"All you had to do was swim down into the Lake and bring someone back. The simplest possible Task, and you somehow nearly killed half of the Wizengamot and Europe's journalists." He said with that painfully familiar drawl, looking down his nose at Gaara. Gaara glared right back at him.

"And then you nearly got done-in by a magically-resistant cold like a complete and utter fool."

Gaara responded with a hacking cough and then a glare, which Draco felt further proved his assertion.

Then… nothing.

The silence drew out and as neither knew where to go next. Draco insulting Gaara was as natural as anything in their friendship, but that was precisely the problem, their friendship did not feel natural. They had barely spoken in months and Gaara had spent that time feeling anything but friendship towards Draco.

Draco, on the other hand, was afraid that any attempt to address the elephant in the room by apologising again might just reignite Gaara's anger. Gaara seemed calm, other than the glaring, and the platinum blond did not want to end the pleasant moment.

Perhaps, could they just not talk about it?

If they indulged in idle chatter long enough, maybe they would both forget about… the unpleasantness.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. Superficial friendships had been all he knew until he met Gaara, the first person in his life who spoke his mind and did not care about Draco's connections or ambitions. Well, the only such person in his life that he didn't actively despise.

"Thank you." Draco started, steeling himself against the anxiety twisting around inside of him. "For saving me, I mean. And… I suppose, for getting angry for me, as well. I was fine, of course, but you didn't know that and, well… Lovegood told me what happened and I…" 'Appreciate' seemed like such a sterile word, especially when he got the impression that Gaara had been so terribly angry that some form of demon had nearly been unleashed.

Normally with this many pauses, the conversational partner would pick up the thread and lighten the load, but of course that was well beyond Gaara's stunted social capabilities.

"Look, I'm not some plebeian who's going to kneel and grovel and your feet and beg your forgiveness." Draco snipped, getting angrier and angrier at Gaara's stupid impassive face. "Well, are you going to forgive me?"

Gaara blinked, so he was probably listening, at least. Five seconds went by. Then ten.

Pale lips barely parted. "Fine."

The doors banged open and in the entryway stood Pomfrey looking about as angry as anybody had seen her in a decade. "Mr Malfoy!"

Pomfrey stormed over and grabbed him by the scruff of his robes and started to march him out of the Hospital Wing and towards his reckoning with Snape. Apparently Draco could not rely on the discretion of a fourteen year old patsy. The platinum blond tried to summon some indignation at the ineffectiveness of his bribe or at being manhandled by some school employee, but he just could not stop smiling.

The smile, coupled with Snape's deduction that he and Gaara may be on better terms, led to a much harsher sentence than Snape would normally give to one of his own for a little harmless bribery. Bribes from Slytherin students were as common as overdue library books from Ravenclaws or near-death experiences for Gryffindors.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gaara was getting so used to the Great Hall hushing as he entered that it would now seem strange if people carried on their conversations. In fact, it reminded him of home, but with less hostility and fear lacing the silence, which was fair, considering Gaara had not yet killed anyone in this world.

Actually, he supposed he had killed a couple of Death Eaters. But a handful of justifiable killings in combat over the course of eighteen months practically made him a pacifist. His siblings would be so proud.

The hush this time was caused by the fact that Gaara had not been seen by most students for a week since he nearly capsized the VIP pontoon and started coughing blood.

Gaara had stopped actually coughing blood, hence breaking free of that medic's clutches, but he still had a cough and did not feel well. An irritable Gaara used to warrant sirens and curfews, but now it prompted whispers.

Of course, Gaara's irritation had also been worsened by being trapped in the Hospital Wing entirely too long. There had been threats of a trip to St Mungo's because of his lingering and severe sickness. He was only spared that fate because of Sirius's intervention and because, despite how much blood Gaara coughed up, he had not become any sicker.

Sirius had tried daily to spend time with Gaara during his convalescence, but eventually the school put a stop to it. Gaara had a feeling that Dumbledore had been quite permissive but McGonagall took a dim view to the ex-student stopping by whenever he pleased, especially after he was seen walking and talking with the Weasley Twins.

Gaara approached Draco and sat next to him, drawing even more attention, especially from the nearby Slytherins. The blond was currently moping, if Gaara's guess was correct. It might have something to do with the month of detention Draco had received and the threat of suspension since he had been involved in two 'serious' incidents this year.

Gaara only knew about the rather harsh punishment from Luna since Draco had been barred from any further visits.

Gaara had not been sitting for more than five seconds before Draco raised his head, which had previously been resting dejectedly on his crossed arms, and he went straight into sharing the most recent goings on.

Gaara listened as attentively as he was able. Since they were only just on good terms again, Gaara felt like he should make as much of an effort as he could to get along with Draco and avoid conflict. If they had another row, who knew how long it would take them to come together again, if ever.

"Can you believe he said that about her, to everyone?" Draco asked after a couple of minutes.

Gaara had managed to follow along with every word out of Draco's mouth. Unfortunately, despite this enormous effort, there was only so much that hard work could achieve, as Gaara had proven in the past.

"I don't know who either of those two are." Gaara admitted. He could not comment on their likelihood to act in any particular way considering he had never heard of them.

"But- they're both in our year!" Draco's disbelief seemed rather histrionic.

Gaara didn't know what that had to do with anything. Was he supposed to memorise everyone around him? That seemed like a waste of time.

A dark shape approached and air stilled around them.

Snape didn't descend on even his own students during mealtimes lightly, especially not these two.

Despite Draco's hope, Snape did not pass by and instead loomed over them. For the life of him, Draco could not think when the prejudiced and surly Potions master would have last directly interacted with Gaara.

Snape glared at Gaara. Gaara glared back at Snape.

Draco really wished he could work out why one of his favourite professors hated his friend.

Well, other than the obvious… But many of the other professors didn't even seem to mind Gaara's flagrant disregard for most of the school rules or his other eccentricities anymore.

The silence stretched on so long that Draco had to break it, "Sir, is there something we can help you with?"

"I had hoped that you finally learnt to avoid bad influences, Mr Malfoy. But sadly we cannot spare a moment to lament your poor life choices."

Draco sincerely hoped his Head of House, a respected adult professional, had not just come over to goad a fifteen-year old.

"Gaara, come with me."

Gaara did not immediately jump to his feet. "Where?"

"Where I tell you, boy!" Snape sneered at the presumption.

Draco could honestly understand Gaara's impertinence this time. Considering Snape had nearly lost his job, according to rumour, after getting into a fight with this particular student a year ago, Draco wouldn't want to follow him to an unknown destination either.

Gaara still did not rise, to nobody's surprise. He was not one to be cowed by an arbitrary display of authority.

"You will follow me to the Headmaster's office. Now." He turned and walked away slowly.

Gaara turned those wide, unblinking eyes to Draco, but Draco gestured at Snape, "Well, go on then!"

Gaara glanced that way, visibly weighed up his options in his head and then followed after Snape.

"It's like nothing changed. You and him pal-ing it up, Snape out to get him, the whole routine." Roy said from nearby.

"Yes, but some parts I could quite happily do without." Draco snipped, pushing his plate away.

Gaara followed Snape out of the Great Hall but wondered why his was being escorted. As many times as he had been to the Headmaster's office, he did not need a guide.

When they arrived, the office was empty, which set Gaara on edge. Had he just been led into a trap?

"We will be going to the Ministry of Magic. You are being summoned to apologise to the Minister of Magic. Regardless of what possessed you to nearly kill your fellow competitors for the sake of a magical cup, your actions following the Task are supposedly what require an apology. Your apparent delirium spares you any consequences but you will say you are sorry for threatening to murder the elected Minister of Magic."

It went unsaid that Snape felt no particular concern for the bumbling politician, but any student levelling credible death threats was unacceptable. Even he had to admit that.

"I was not delirious." Gaara clarified. He did not want the idiot in charge to disregard the warning he had been given.

Snape sighed through his nose. What a simple-minded child. "Neither I nor the Headmaster nor Fudge himself care if your apology is sincere. You will play along with this farce to soothe the man's ego or he will be well within his rights to have you arrested. Now come along. Your… guardian has given permission to take you off of school grounds for this excursion."

Gaara waited and Snape assumed his message had sunk in as much as it was ever going to. He cast the floo powder into the fireplace and directed Gaara to step in.

If the prospect of time with Snape, a visit to the Ministry and an insincere apology had not upset Gaara, a magical ride through the floo network to the other end of Great Britain did the trick. It was perhaps because of this that Gaara's legendary glare managed to draw a fair amount of attention as he was led through the Ministry atrium to the Minister's offices.

Gaara was shown into a waiting room while Snape went to locate the Headmaster, who had preceded them.

The waiting room was musty and oddly quiet compared to the rest of the office.

The door opened and Gaara was concerned when, instead of Dumbledore or even Snape, in stepped Henrick Morbidus.

"Oh, Gaara, of course. I had heard you were stopping by today."

Gaara had no ideas why this man was pretending this was anything but a set up. Presumably Dumbledore had been told to wait elsewhere for Gaara, and Snape was being led in circles, all so Morbidus could corner Gaara for a few minutes. Annoying as it was, admittedly it had worked.

"Good afternoon." Gaara said.

Morbidus's wrinkled face creased further as he pretended to be surprised, his eyebrows shooting up as he pulled out a pocket watch from his waistcoat and confirmed the time.

"Oh dear, the morning really has gotten away from me today. It's been awfully busy of late."

Gaara did not play along any further.

"I expect you know a little of what it is like. You've been around government before, I understand." Morbidus said. "In your homeland, I mean to say."

Gaara did not respond.

"And with that, I'm sure you can appreciate how complex organising a government can be." Morbidus continued. "It's rather fortuitous that we happened across one another today. Aside from a pleasant chat, I wanted to discuss a serious matter with you. I understand you are here for a serious matter also, but this is about the Triwizard Tournament."

Gaara glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Now, I am quite sure you were not involved in the incident in the First Task. Those that I represent are merely keen to ensure that you do not have any plans that might interfere with events during the Third Task. It is vital that it goes off without a hitch. With that said, is there anything I can say to convince you to… comply with the spirit of the event?"

Gaara actually looked at him this time. There was something being said here but he was not sure what. Some response was probably warranted, so he said, "I will win."

"Yes, quite right, of course. I suppose that determination is a characteristic of your people. Since you have not been entirely forthcoming about your origins, my department has instead had to do a little research. It took some time, but we have managed to uncover some pertinent details."

Gaara was not a politician and he doubted he ever could be, but this was definitely a bluff. Even if they had somehow determined that he was from another world, there was no way they could have uncovered details about it, such as his proximity to government there. He was being underestimated.

"You have not found my home and you never will." Gaara told him.

Morbidus's face froze, like a predator whose quarry just cross its path. "Now that is interesting. Do you mean that we simply will not find your home, or that can never find it?" He looked very interested.

The door opened before Gaara could say anything further. "Gaara, I wondered where they might have hidden you away. The clock in the room where I was waiting was running five minutes slow, so I nearly missed you. Henrick, how wonderful it is to see you today, thank you for keeping my student company. Perhaps you could inform the maintenance staff about the clock. Who knows what sort of trouble could occur if it's not fixed."

"Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore. We would not want our venerable Ministry of Magic to seem any less efficient than it truly is because of poor timekeeping. In fact, I have some pressing business that I must attend to so I will regretfully have to reschedule my meeting with the Minister for another day." He stood up to his towering height. "It was a pleasure speaking with you, Gaara. I hope that next time, I might have something more substantial to discuss with you. Headmaster." He nodded and departed.

Dumbledore watched the man retreat with a frown before turning to Gaara. "Before you say anything, Gaara, I would ask you to hold that thought until we are back at the school. We must finish up here as soon as possible." Not to mention that there were surely five or six separate listening charms in this waiting room.

Gaara nodded. He could keep his mouth shut, normally.

Despite mention of a rush, Dumbledore eased himself down into a seat and sat quietly, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Gaara was content to do the same, waiting in silence, staring in front of him at the wall.

There was no clock in this waiting room, but Gaara would guess that at least three quarters of an hour passed. Regardless of how musty the waiting room was, it was wonderfully quiet. Gaara thought it might be his favourite part of the Ministry yet.

The serenity was rudely interrupted by a squirrely-looking Ministry employee lightly knocking and inviting the legendary Albus Dumbledore, along with his less noteworthy student, to come and meet with the Minister for Magic.

"Albus, old friend. I do hope we haven't kept you waiting too long." Fudge cheered as the pair were shown into the impressive office.

"Not at all, Cornelius. Compared to an afternoon in the castle, it was pleasantly restful in your waiting room."

"And you." Fudge turned to Gaara. "I'm pleased to see you have recovered. I understand that you have a delicate constitution, so you were unwell for a considerable time following your delusional ravings and your loss of control in the Second Task. Rather embarrassing all around, I suppose, but you mustn't feel self-conscious. There are no cameras or journalists here today. I suspect many of them are still drying out after your last encounter." He laughed, as did the three or four important-looking men behind him.

"It was an unusual spell you used, that you lost control of, that nearly capsized the pontoon. I suppose that's something you picked up in your homeland. I can't imagine Hogwarts teaching anything like that." Fudge continued.

"It is a marvel what students will learn even when a teacher does not direct them. Without it, I fear half of the formidable and wonderful spells ever crafted would fade into obscurity." Dumbledore interjected.

"Yes, well. Perhaps a little more oversight is warranted." Fudged coughed. "Now, you understand why you have been called here today?" He looked down at Gaara.

"Yes." Gaara said.

"And…? What do you have to say?"

"I apologise for threatening to murder you." Gaara said robotically after Dumbledore glanced at him over his half-moon spectacles.

"Well, that wasn't so hard now, was it, my boy?" Fudge laughed. "Let's get a picture together while we're here. We didn't have a chance after you fainted after the Task, and I wouldn't want any nasty rumours to circulate now that we've cleared up that misunderstanding."

He stuck out his hand and one of the Ministry flunkies pulled out a camera.

Gaara looked down at the hand disinterestedly until Dumbledore cleared his throat.

The red-head grabbed the hand to shake and posed side-on to the camera. A few flashes later and the photo-op was done, but Gaara wasn't.

Gaara kept a hold of the hand and leaned in close.

"Don't forget what I told you. I will kill you if you target those precious to me. No fortress, warding or army will stop me."

Fudge looked stunned and Dumbledore quickly guided Gaara away, said some parting words and whisked Gaara away from the office and out of the Ministry.

When they were standing back in the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore collapsed into his chair. "That was unwise, Gaara. Of course you were not going to be on good terms with Minister Fudge, but soothing his ego from time to time can help avoid any further hostilities. I did not hear what you said, and nor did anyone else fortunately, so he can at least save face. But you have offended him personally twice now."

"I will be gone before he can do anything to me. And once I am gone, he won't have any reason to do anything."

Dumbledore looked as disapproving as he ever had. "It was an unnecessary risk to take."

"I was being kind." Gaara said.

"Kind? I have known Cornelius for many years and the look on his face after you spoke indicated what you said was anything but kind."

"I gave him a warning." For Gaara, using words to express being upset was a relatively new tactic, but ultimately a much less bloody one that his natural instincts.

"I had counted on you being less emotional about this without the hypothermia." Dumbledore said.

" Hn." Gaara gave a small hum and then left without being dismissed.

Dumbledore did not understand the boy as well as he had thought he did.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The radio was blaring away as the latest Quidditch match ran on. Apparently neither Seeker was on top form today as the match was in its fifth hour. Even the commentators were struggling at this point and they would not be relieved by their backups for another hour.

Sirius and Remus had listened raptly for the first couple of hours but now their minds were drifting and they were just waiting for someone to end it.

"You know, I was surprised you weren't there for the apology." Remus said. He wasn't drinking anything stronger than lemonade that day and sipping soft drinks was just not as satisfying. "When I saw the picture in the paper, I would have expected you to be in the background somewhere."

"Oh, right yes. That." Sirius sighed. "Dumbledore wrote to me afterwards. It did not go well. Maybe I should have gone after all."

"Why didn't you?"

"The papers were sniffing around about Gaara threatening Fudge, and Dumbledore said the Minister was already angry about it. I'm not known for being too political so he said me staying away would make it go smoother."

"And?"

"And about five seconds after that photo was taken," He nudged the coffee table on which sat a copy of that edition of the Prophet, "good ol' Gaara whispered something into Fudge's ear."

Remus groaned in anticipation. "I dread to ask."

"Dumbledore doesn't know what exactly, just that it was some sort of warning."

"Oh Merlin…" Remus sighed, looking forlornly at his lemonade. "Maybe you should have gone. Why didn't you?"

"I told you why."

"No, you said Dumbledore said it wasn't a good idea. Since when would that stop you?"

Sirius chuckled. "I was going to tell you after the match but I think I just heard a Seeker got sent off so we've got a while yet." Sirius leaned over and turned the radio down a little.

"Fudge found out about the adoption. I'm not sure how but I guess it was inevitable that he'd catch wind of it eventually. Needless to say, he's trying to block it from going through. I've got a date in court to make my case in two months. Dumbledore's promised to help me but he says there aren't any guarantees. By the letter of the law, it should be open and shut, but Fudge will be pulling every dirty string he can to foul it up."

"Wow. I think this calls for something stronger." Remus said, downing the last of his non-alcoholic drink and looking at the drinks cabinet.

"Nice try. Nothing stronger for you today. Remember, you made me swear." Sirius said, frowning at his own lemonade, poured in solidarity. His lycanthropic friend was not going completely sober, but he was looking to cut down and even Sirius had to admit it was probably a good idea.

"So that's why you've been going to the solicitors so much recently." Remus said.

"Pretty much. Ever since the Ministry submitted its injunction against the petition to adopt, we've been batting down motions and submitting them daily. Our court date only came so soon because even the corrupt sods at the Ministry can see how many resources are being wasted over this.

"Hold on." Remus leaned over and turned the radio back up.

"What?"

"I think I just heard the words 'compound fracture'."

Sirius winced sympathetically. "I hope it wasn't Anders."

"Money riding on it?" Remus asked.

"No, I'm fairly sure I dated his sister in fourth year."

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Narcissa was amongst her people, The Ladies.

The group had not devoted any further energy to naming themselves beyond the first suggestion. It was good enough as it was, and unlike the men in all of their lives, they didn't feel the need to come up with a catchy title like Death Eaters.

They were the wives of the pureblood elite. Voldemort and his organisation were quite patriarchal but they had been known to admit certain women into their midst. However, Narcissa and her crowd believed they had more sense.

They supported their spouses, kept them out of Azkaban and, for several widows, raised the next generation of their great society single-handedly. They also used their group as a networking hub for their own agendas.

The Ladies used the several seats they held in the Wizengamot as well as influence they held to enact a great many laws they felt were important.

Unfortunately, they could not always help one another, as Narcissa was finding. Her position, near the top of the group, had been largely unaffected by Lucius's recent political misfortunes, so she was used to being heeded. But her disquiet over Minister Fudge's mistreatment of her son had elicited a collective shrug.

While Fudge was fairly unpopular amongst her group, his ineptitude had allowed them to sneak a great many initiatives under the radar. With that in mind, the other members did not want to run afoul of the Ministry and draw its attention.

If she was being honest with herself, Narcissa was suggesting actions approaching the toppling of the magical government, and apparently some of The Ladies thought this was a tad much given that the Malfoy heir was ultimately unharmed.

Narcissa was unhappy with their disinterest, but that was nothing compared to how she was feeling about Lucius.

Her husband had halted his vendetta and any mention of retribution against Fudge over the egregious mistreatment of their precious son. Apparently that was a lower priority than being welcomed back into the fold at the Ministry, which was granting him enough influence and status to start making inroads back into the Death Eater inner circle.

Objectively, Narcissa knew her husband's ambition was worthwhile and it would put them all in a much stronger position in the end. On the other hand, she could make cold decisions and strategic moves safe in the knowledge that family was at the heart of what they did.

They would cleanse the world of muggle-born encroachment on their culture to safeguard their family's future. They would support each other to grab as much wealth and power as they could in order to pass it down to the next generation, as their parents had done for them.

So, as Lucius had said, they were simply disagreeing about which better served their family and particularly their son: revenge or ambition.

"I really am sorry, my dear." Trenchaste Umbringer intoned. "It would be far too risky for us to get wrapped up in a coup right now. Of course they won't share specifics, but we've all heard the stirrings recently. The Dark Lord is moving again. So we can't take action on such a scale right now."

Narcissa hummed into her tea. The stalwarts had been promising the Dark Lord's glorious return since the morning after he disappeared. It drove some, like poor Bella, to madness, and others would just occasionally mention it like a quiet prayer.

"And regarding the other matter…?" Narcissa said casually with a sideways glance.

"Oh, yes, that…" Trenchaste muttered. "Well, normally I could find a few women here to put in a few good words and get everything settled quietly. But that cousin of yours is still very unpopular amongst our lot."

"His political leanings are why I asked the favour. If we did not need to overlook that, I would rightfully expect The Ladies to provide the head of the Black household with any aid he required."

"No, Narcissa," Trenchaste pursed her lips, "As you say, a favour would suffice in that case, but… several of our esteemed peers have a personal disinterest in helping Sirius Black."

Oh, for the love of Merlin.

Narcissa sighed heavily. "How many?"

"Entirely too many. I remember him at the time, but they really should have known better."

Narcissa set her tea down. Sirius really only had himself to blame this time. She had selflessly tried to exert some influence to fix this mess with the adoption but he had managed to sow the seeds of his own undoing.

Frankly it was a miracle he hadn't sowed any other seeds along the way.

"Well, I can hardly blame you for trying. I appreciate the effort, especially in light of the assuredly indelicate nature of the conversations." Narcissa said.

"Not at all, my dear. What are friends for." Trenchaste said.

"Of course. Now, I am terribly sorry but I must bid you adieu for now. Lucius is having some old friends over this evening and I must get back to organising the chaos."

"Oh, please don't let me detain you." Narcissa's friend said, waving her off with a smile.

Narcissa smiled back until she turned around.

Narcissa had not spoken to Lucius in two days, since he had discussed Draco becoming more involved in the Death Eater activities this summer. She had… reservations.

Nevertheless, she needed to arrange the party. It was expected.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

It turned out, to Gaara's surprise, that the students from the other schools had taken his purported attempt to steal first place in the Second Task by murdering the other Champions somewhat personally.

Entirely aside from the fact that they had never been the focus of his wrath, or that his bad mood had not left either Krum or Delacour scarred or even seriously injured, Gaara contended that a few homicidal attempts were a natural part of competition. Draco vociferously disagreed and told him to keep that thought to himself.

Of course, Draco had been the one to point out this one-sided animosity to Gaara, who had entirely failed to notice the glares or rumours. The blond huffed as he hefted more of Gaara nest into his arms.

With his idiotic roommate back to using a bedroom like a civilised human, they needed to deconstruct the lair he had made in the Library. And they needed to do it in the middle of the night because Madam Pince would eviscerate them if she found out what Gaara had done to her Library.

Of course, Gaara thought nothing of being out of the dormitory after midnight, but Draco did not share his roommate's immunity to the curfew. And the platinum blond was already on thin ice with the professors.

Aside from the danger of authority figures catching him, Draco also had to keep an eye on the bookcases around him. After Gaara had unbound the four cases he had been using as walls for his hideaway, they had swung out violently and nearly sent Draco flying like a ping pong ball. Since then, those cases and several others nearby had casually tried to swat at the pair of them as they collected Gaara's things.

Apparently the bookcases were just sentient enough to hold a grudge. Draco did not think being blamed alongside Gaara was in any way fair, but life was rarely fair for him. Case in point, his best friend, who he had worked so hard to regain, was a total moron.

After Draco narrowly avoided detection on their way back to the room, Gaara set his things down and climbed onto his bed. While he did this with the same old blank affect, the way he seemed reluctant to move again to put away his things made Draco sure that the red-head had dearly missed sleeping on a real bed and didn't want to leave again in a hurry.

"So, how's Lovegood getting on?" Draco asked conversationally after the first three things that came to mind were either direct insults or things Gaara would find insulting.

"Fine as far as I know." Gaara said, still sitting contentedly atop his bed.

"Is that all?" Draco asked, trying to ignore the mess on the floor that Gaara had dumped there.

"All of what?"

"I mean, have you thought how to thank her properly for helping you during the Task and stopping you from doing whatever you were about to do?"

"Yes."

Draco scoffed. "I don't just mean saying thank you." Although, that was at least progress. "Have you given any thought at all as to what you can do to even the score with her?"

"Revenge?" Gaara quirked an invisible eyebrow, very confused by the turn this had taken.

"No, not revenge. You need to do something nice for her!"

"Why?"

Draco harrumphed loudly. "Because otherwise you'll be in her debt in a big way. She basically saved your ungrateful life."

Now, Gaara did not historically have the best grasp of the concept of debt since nobody he had ever met had been willing to risk trying to recover anything he took. But he did have some idea about gratitude thanks for his first friend.

Gaara, as always, felt that this matter had been blown somewhat out of proportion, but he could see that he had been a danger to everyone and…

The more he thought about it, the more he did probably owe her.

Draco watched the rusty, sand-clogged gears of Gaara's mind slowly grinding, and then his blank face started to cast about, looking first to the pile of blankets and books on the floor and then to Draco's desk.

"Oh, for-! No, you can't just give her something you have lying around. And you certainly can't give her something of mine!" Draco did think some of his nicest things could do the trick, but then it was from him and not Gaara.

When Gaara kept looking around, Draco continued. "Stop. You don't have anything good enough to give her to make up for what she went through for you."

"What would she want?" Gaara was formulating a plan in his head. If it needed to be extravagant, he would ask Sirius to buy it for him. Then, to repay Sirius's generosity, he would ask Draco to buy Sirius something, and then something from Sirius for Draco, and so on.

Eventually, they would both be broke or happy.

Draco could sense something distasteful in the air and sought to head it off. He'd had an idea for a little while but trying to lead Gaara into working it out himself would take a goblin's age.

"There's only one thing that will do in this situation, and fortunately we have ready access. Better yet, it won't cost you or Mr Black a single knut."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. Draco was not prone to being a spendthrift.

This did not bode well.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gaara glared petulantly but Draco did not care. He had won the argument and they both knew it. Even Sirius had confirmed that Gaara needed to do something for Luna as thanks.

"Just deal with it. We both know you have fought for your life before. Don't sit there pretending like this is the worst thing to ever happen to you." Draco sniped checking the clock.

The redhead had finally caved to Draco's unreasonable suggestion (command) but now he was beginning to suspect the Imperius curse had been employed.

Luna entered the room and she was surprised. When Draco invited her to chat, she had thought it was just a consequence of his recent reconciliation with Gaara making their mutual friend's absence during the full moon discomforting. The fact that their mutual friend was sitting there and waiting for her, all fluffy and grumpy, was a nice surprise.

"Oh, Gaara, I didn't expect to see you tonight. I hope you're well." She said, as if he could respond. Instead, he continued to scowl.

"Yes, well, I apologise for the deception. I couldn't be sure that he would follow through and I didn't want to disappoint." Draco said easily.

"I wouldn't be disappointed. I like spending time with you as well, Draco." Luna said.

Draco's face registered his surprise but he didn't comment on his disbelief.

"Gaara doesn't deserve you as a friend, nor does he deserve me for that matter. But you really outdid yourself during the Second Task when I was… indisposed. So Gaara wanted to do something nice for you to say thank you."

Luna did not understand why Gaara needed to say thank you the one evening in the month when he physically could not say any such thing.

"We put some thought into it and we decided," Draco said in a way that could only mean he decided and Gaara capitulated, "that you deserve what you really want. You can hug Gaara in his animal form."

There was a growl.

"Once. You can hug him once."

Luna looked between her two friends, somewhat stunned. She took a moment to collect herself, eyes darting to Gaara once or twice, whose big, heavy tail was thumping against the stone floor testily.

"Thank you for the thought but that's alright. I don't want to make Gaara feel uncomfortable." It seemed a bit exploitative, with Draco directing her and Gaara unable to verbalise his inevitable objection.

Draco huffed at the girl who clearly wanted the thing she had politely refused. "Oh for Merlin's sake…"

He marched over to Gaara, who did not have enough time to evade or even look shocked before Draco reached under his front legs (or were they still arms?) and lifted him up to chest height, a full foot off the floor. His tail shifted to and fro but Gaara did not wriggle or try to shift out of Draco's grasp.

Draco kept up his momentum and continued his march over to Luna, thrust Gaara at her like a surly present. "Here. All yours."

Luna panicked and took Gaara in her arms, holding his smaller frame to her chest.

Oh wow he was fluffy. She's nearly forgotten how soft the fur was.

Draco watched and tried to keep the smirk off of his face in case a reflective surface clued Gaara in to his amusement. He would already have to deal with Gaara probable tantrum after he turned back, there was no sense in exacerbating the problem.

Then again, with the way his brow was creased over his ringed eyes and his top lip was curled back to expose his teeth, Gaara was already plenty annoyed by the situation.

Luna seemed oblivious to his objection now that he was in her arms. Draco would let the hug continue for a few more moments before stepping in. He wanted Luna to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for as long as possible while also minimising the risk that Gaara would lash out.

Based on his expression, Gaara was two squeezes or twenty seconds away from biting.

Make that one squeeze.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Dumbledore held in his sigh and continued waiting patiently. Severus had been ranting for ten minutes without pause so far and Albus had decided to let the young man tire himself out this time.

The subject of today's outrage appeared to be stolen Potions ingredients.

Of course, it was normally the role of the boss, which Albus would normally humbly claim, to express concern and disappointment when his Potion's Master failed to properly safeguard his stores. However, Albus knew how impossible it was to keep all but the most pernicious of materials out of the students' hands.

Albus looked down at the list of what had been pilfered again. He may have been a Transfiguration professor back in the day but Albus did have a flair for Potions, and he could guess that whoever had been raiding Severus's cupboard was quite clever. They had the foresight to steal a range of ingredients rather than just what they needed for one recipe. The mixture that had been taken did not correspond to any one or two potions, which indicated either a general theft or someone was brewing something they shouldn't.

Considering most of the ingredients were commonly available from less protected shops, Albus agreed with Severus's assessment. Listening to the latest part of the rant, he did not agree with the man's actions, however.

"Severus!" He raised his void enough to stop the younger man speaking for a few moments. "We have discussed this."

"I did nothing more than make some enquiries."

"Yes, but did those enquiries extend beyond Gaara or mister Potter?" Dumbledore did release a sigh this time.

"I interrogated a number of likely suspects but Gaara was not amongst them." That was chiefly because Severus might not have trusted Gaara but he did believe the boy lacked the required Potions skills to actually use those ingredients.

"And I take it there were no leads."

"Of course there weren't." Severus griped. He had been teaching long enough to know something stolen was unlikely to be recovered after a week. "Nevertheless, Potter has previously stolen from my stores."

"Forgive me if my memory is failing me, but I don't believe you ever proven the boy had anything to do with that theft." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, he said something similar." Growled Snape.

Dumbledore looked to his neglected teapot, wishing the young man had not refused his offer. He preferred when he had a cup in his hands during meetings like these, it made pauses easier to manage.

Still, now that a pause had been presented, Albus used it to his advantage and changed the subject.

"How has your investigation progressed?"

Severus straightened a little. How marvellous it was to watch, Albus thought, the shift from begrudging teacher to weary spy. Snape had taken to both roles with more skill than Albus had dared to hope at the time.

"It is as you suggested, only a professor or a Ministry employee would have had the access required to poison the dragon. Hagrid would be the only professor we could definitively rule out based on his… response to the thing's death."

"Yes, you're correct about that. I would like to believe that no one in this castle would be capable of inflicting that level of suffering on a majestic creature, but someone is responsible."

"Indeed. Unfortunately, without making myself known to the Ministry's own investigators, I could not gather any further information. From what I can piece together, they have not found much more than I have."

"A pity. And the other matter?"

"No progress." Snape said. "Whoever put Potter's name into the Goblet was very cautious."

"Do I detect a hint of respect, Severus?"

Severus's frown deepened. "I am here for a reason, Professor. I do not respect anyone who would force a child to participate in such a contest."

Dumbledore definitely would have liked a cup in his hand to sip in that moment.

"Assuming Potter truly did not put his own name in, I have not been able to find a lead as to who did. I did investigate Moody during my research, being the newest member of staff."

"I told you that I had the utmost confidence in Alastor." Albus interjected.

"And that is why I did not feel it prudent to inform you of my investigation until I concluded it."

"I take it you did not find anything noteworthy?"

"He is most likely unfit to guide children, but there was nothing untoward you need to be aware of." Severus said.

"Well, quite a few within Hogwarts and outside raised similar objections when I announced hiring you." Dumbledore said.

"If only you heeded advice when it was offered to you." Snape muttered loudly enough for the old man to hear.

"So there was nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Nothing strange for Mad-Eye Moody, at least." Snape said. "He is aware that he was investigated and did not take it well."

"Ah, I see." Dumbledore was surprised he did not have Alastor in his office about this already. "It might be prudent to steer clear for the time being."

"I plan to." Snape had aired his complaints and given his report, so he stood to leave. "If there's nothing else, Headmaster…"

"Actually, before you go, Severus, I would just like to ask you about your second-year class."

Snape took his turn to sigh. He was sure this was the old man's petty revenge.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Things were pleasantly simple. Lessons were progressing and the professors seemed to collectively understand how little academic success meant to Gaara. He no longer needed to avoid Draco, he had his bed back, Sirius was amusing himself with something, and Potter's group were still needlessly antagonistic but that just seemed to keep Draco entertained.

There was still some lingering friction with the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students, over the whole 'trying to murder their Champions' misunderstanding, but that did not factor into Gaara's life very much. None of them had tried anything more than a harsh look, and that only made Gaara feel more at home.

Luna was acting a little odd. Odder.

Gaara did not like to think back to the last full moon as it just made him angry, but Luna had been distant since then. Sirius had just teased him when Gaara asked, so he had stopped opening his letters for the last few days. He would wait for the silly man to tire himself out before engaging again.

Draco was avoiding the subject, possibly aware that Gaara might hold some ill will because the platinum blond had been the one to suggest the ridiculous idea.

With all of this peace and mundanity, Gaara realised he let something slip from his attention. This realisation only came about when, on a seasonably cold Thursday morning, he opened a letter addressed to him that was definitely not from Sirius. Safe in that knowledge, he tore open the letter while Draco was busy tearing into someone nearby about their choice of footwear.

'Gaara,

I will reveal your volatile secrets if you do not meet with me after the interschool Quidditch match. Come alone to the second floor south corridor at 5pm on that day.'

It was not signed this time either. Gaara pocketed the threatening letter.

He'd forgotten about the blackmail.

"What was that about?" Draco asked after concluding his solid argument as to why that student should apologise to his parents for his poor choice in shoes and turning his attention back to Gaara.

"Nothing. Just Remus asking me to start answering Sirius's letters again." Gaara said.

"Hmm. Sounds about right. Hard to believe he was a professor anymore. The more I hear about him, the more he sounds like a cross between Mr Black's personal assistant and his ne'er-do-well relation."

Gaara thought that described their relationship fairly well.

He also thought about how to respond to this note. He was on limited time in this world. Could he risk ignoring it? Should he just resort to his base instincts and fall back on violence? Should he find out what they want?

He supposed he should at least attend on the day, in a little less than a week. He would have his sand for protection and he could find out who was toying with him and what they wanted.

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A/N: I'm afraid that for Gaara's birthday I ended up giving Luna the present. Although, perhaps the reconciliation is a suitable present.

For Luna's present, credit for Draco's idea goes to a reviewer on AO3 'Rhinoki113' – thank you for reading, reviewing and for the idea.

I hoped you all enjoyed.