Silence and the Sound of a Gun
Heero did not return to Gryffindor Tower that night. Wondering about voices, teacups and dog eyes, among other things, he suddenly found that his feet had taken him all the way to the hospital wing. He really needed to pull himself together, if he continued to not notice what he was doing. But right now he was fine with the direction he had unconsciously chosen. He had no intention of sleeping tonight - he wouldn't find rest anyway - so he might as well watch over Quatre.
He settled in the window sill nearest to his friend's bed in the infirmary and started to read the book he had borrowed by the pale light of the waning moon. In the wee hours of the morning, when Heero had already speed-read through about two thirds, Quatre's sleep was getting restless. The former Wing pilot closed his book and took a seat at the side of the blonde's bed. When the sleeping boy started to toss his head from side to side, Heero hesitantly took his hand into his own. To his amazement the other immediately calmed down and continued to sleep peacefully until the dawn.
Quatre woke very slowly, his eyelids fluttering. He was astonished, to say the least, to find unfathomable dark blue eyes peering into his own. Heero? Remembering the day before and what he had been told by the nurse, he quickly averted his gaze. What was the silent boy doing here at this time of day? He noticed a callused hand leaving his own, before he was even aware that no foreign images, no emotions had been storming in on him. Turning his head back to face Heero and opening his mouth to remark on this, he only saw the door closing behind the other boy…
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When Harry returned from his morning shower, he found an astonishingly alert Duo inspecting Yuy's bed.
"Hey, Duo. What are you doing?"
"Just checking… Just checking…" the other mumbled.
"And what exactly?"
"You see, I went through the effort of making a perfect apple-pie bed for Yuy here - and now it seems it was all for nothing, nada…"
"You mean he didn't sleep here at all?" Harry tried to hide his worry. There probably were several good reasons for a student not to retire to his dorm at night, but still… Guessing from Ron's expression the redhead was thinking along the same lines as he himself.
"Oh, I'll just leave it like that for tonight. A nice surprise." Duo decided with an edge in his tone.
"And why…?" asked a confused Neville.
"Call it payback." Duo said in a voice that left no room for further questions. He made to leave the dorm.
"We are going to get Quatre for breakfast. See you there, okay?"
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Breakfast and their first class of the day, Arithmancy, were rather unexciting, considering the day before. Many students gave Quatre curious looks, but heated glares from his constant companions made them all back off. His friends just avoided the topic of what happened altogether, and Quatre himself managed by simply not meeting anybody's gaze at all.
When the lesson started, it soon became obvious that Professor Vector's subject was one that required brains - and the right attitude. Additionally, their teacher would not allow them to slack. In short, it was just the thing for Wufei to prove himself a rightful Ravenclaw. Most of the other students, who weren't Ravenclaws, got slightly exasperated - some simply had too many other things on their minds, but generally this class was rather demanding and they were glad to leave it behind and seek out their Muggle Studies classroom. It seemed rather ridiculous for the colonials, who had only now ventured into the wizarding world, to attend this lesson, nevertheless their teacher had required not only their presence, but also that of all the seasoned Hogwarts students of their age group.
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"Hello, everybody." A middle-aged red-haired witch with a friendly freckled face greeted them warmly. "My name is Martha Harris and I'm the new Muggle Studies teacher. Well, that isn't quite correct, actually I was a teacher here until seven years ago when I took a sabbatical leave that lasted quite a bit longer than foreseen." She gave an almost bashful smile.
"I'm a Squib and I was married to a Muggle for longer than I care to remember…" There were a few chuckles. "…so I think I know what I'm talking about. As most of you colonials were brought up in a Muggle environment, I don't think I have to introduce you to the charts normally used to explain the Muggle world to young wizards."
Now several of the more experienced Muggle-born students could be heard murmuring their approval.
"I thought we might use this first lesson to get to know each other better, that's why all the older students are here, too. I was thinking of a little group discussion and what better subject than the war and the Gundam Trials. I'm sure there are many diverging opinions which might cause some tension between you."
In Wufei's opinion she looked much too cheerful as she was talking about this.
"So this lesson is meant to get rid of some of the differences. Well, tell me what you think."
There was a short silence before one of the Slytherins raised a hand and, when prompted, declared: "Do we really have to? I mean, it's obvious that this whole war was the colonies' fault…"
Of course the colonial students could not accept such a statement and the 'discussion' was soon in full swing.
"If it hadn't been for the Romefeller Foundation and Earth's imperialistic tendencies there never would have been a war in the first place…"
After a while the voices grew louder and louder as the debating parties turned more and more to trading insults. The lines were not clear, however. There was a rift between pacifists and advocates of the war, between colonials and inhabitants of the Earth, between colonial rebels and colonials siding with OZ, between Earth residents advocating the rebels and those supporting OZ, and so on. In short, the discussion became a rather unpleasant affair.
"Rampaging rebels…"
"Oppressors…"
"Warmongers…"
"Exploiters…"
"Terrorists…"
Just as Hermione began to wonder if the teacher would ever step in, she did and moved over to the Gundam Trials. Naturally, this topic was just as controversial and the views equally diverging. Harry was slightly surprised that the group of his new friends did not participate at all. Quatre in particular looked rather pale, but that probably was just the aftermath of the day before. That Yuy boy seemed to stare fixedly ahead, apparently unaware of his surroundings.
Hermione, having made up her mind on the issue a long time ago, followed the dispute with interest and growing frustration. Most of the arguments were just so unfounded and subjective. It came as no surprise, after the revelations in the wizard news, that most of the anger was taken out on the pilot 01, but some of the students originating from Earth even made comments like "Shoot them all."
Several students could relate how they had lost dear ones in a Gundam attack or even how they themselves witnessed incidents of the kind. One or two even claimed to have met a pilot in person - 'tall, imposing' men with 'maniacal zeal in their eyes' and of course they had escaped only barely. Others, naturally mainly colonials, were idolising the Gundam pilots, but they were given a hard time by those, mostly Slytherins, who were glorifying OZ.
That is, until one of the older newbies stood up and said hesitantly, but with a powerful voice that demanded to be heard: "I don't know how many of you have experienced this war pampered and sheltered from afar, but I'm assuming that's most of you. I, however, was forced into service by OZ and I can tell you that, despite their noble front, there was a lot amiss with them. I had to do things I'd rather forget and some of my comrades told me even worse things, like what OZ did to some kids they thought to be Gundam pilots. Believe me, justice is not served if you only put the pilots on trial and ignore the crimes committed by the other parties."
He slumped down onto his seat and a short silence followed.
"But they are terrorists…" Fys just wouldn't back down, which was a little surprising to most, since he was a colonial.
Now Hermione cut in furiously, telling what hardly anyone at Hogwarts knew: "I lost my uncle and my cousin in the Gundam attack on the New Edwards base, simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. But you know what? I'm sure they would have agreed with the pilots' cause. So I can't blame them for fighting. And in the end, it was the pilots who saved the Earth and made peace possible."
A small Ravenclaw girl near the front rows stood up: "I don't understand you lot. We have peace now. Why are you so hard set on going at each others' throats. I lost my father and my brother in this war and you know what the funny thing is…" She did not sound like it was funny at all, rather like she would cry any moment now. "One fought for OZ and the other for the so-called rebels… We should never forget about the past, we have to learn our lessons. But we just cannot dwell on the past and keep on shifting the blame around, if we want to build a better future."
Silence followed this statement and one could almost make out the wheels turning in some people's heads, before there were agreeing nods and murmurs. Even those hardliners who were not really convinced, could not help but shut up at this simple but insightful remark. To most of the student's relief, their teacher broke up the lesson and some of the newbies noted with satisfaction how naturally their steps took them to the Great Hall for lunch break without getting them lost.
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"Ah, thank god it's Friday," Ron said when they all tucked into their meals, making his new colonial friends realise that their first week of lessons was already over, since the afternoon was free.
"Okay, so what are our plans now?" Duo asked chewing his steak.
"Well, I think we all know what your plans are for tonight," Harry said with a smile. "How about a little game of Quidditch in the meantime?"
After having heard so much about it, the ex-pilots were all for it.
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The tension that had remained after Muggle Studies subsided noticeably during lunch, as the students slipped into weekend mood. The newness of it all was wearing off and the new students already felt quite at home at Hogwarts. This change in the atmosphere allowed many of them to stop being concentrated on themselves and start to notice some of the fine specimen of the other gender. After all, they were just hormone-driven teenagers. A fact which might explain why there were a few more spectators than to be expected, when the 'gang' tried their luck with an improvised Quidditch game. Quatre, for obvious reasons, preferred to remain on the ground with Hermione and Neville, but they had invited Wufei to join in.
The Gryffindor team members (and former members) among them were quite astonished to see how quickly their new friends adapted to the game. They had already proven themselves surprisingly apt during their flying lesson, but Quidditch was a whole different story and still they did extremely well. Harry could already picture Duo, Trowa and Hilde on the team. Flying seemed to come natural to them. Yet the Quidditch veterans couldn't afford to be dumbstruck at their performance, as they were soon to find out that, for all their slender appearance, the newbies knew how to put some hazardous force behind the Bludgers.
Hermione could only smirk inwardly at the cheers of the group of girls on the other side of their provisional field at a spectacular catch by Trowa, acting as keeper for the moment, who snatched the Quaffle away from a hoop. Her new friends were undeniably handsome, but as far as she could see at least two of them were out of the race before it had begun. But who was she to tell.
Unseen by the players and their 'fans', there were others eyeing their game. High on a tree sat a rat with beady eyes. It was indeed none other than Wormtail, the traitor. He wasn't present to execute a devilish plan, however. It was his own curiosity and the wish to serve his master somehow which had made him come to this place (maybe he'd also just looked for a reason to leave his side, with Wormtail you never really knew). The rat formerly known as Peter Pettigrew did not quite understand what was going on in the Dark Lord's mind at the moment. He seemed to be busy on every front but at Hogwarts, where James' offspring was leading a happy life. Oh, he was sure there was a greater plan behind it all, unfortunately nobody but that one colonial wizard seemed to know what was happening. And so Peter was keeping watch. He wouldn't have been as relaxed as he was, had he known that his former friend Padfoot wasn't sitting too far from him, but luckily (for him) he was downwind and couldn't be detected by the animagus' sense of smell.
Sirius in his animagus form watched on with melancholy. How he wished he could join in the fun with his godson. And even more, how he wished James could see his son fly… His dog hearing suddenly allowed him to perceive soft footfalls. There, in the shadows stood that boy. That boy again. What was he doing there? Surprisingly, Padfoot could detect the hunger in the teen's eyes where Sirius and most every other human would have failed to see any emotion at all. However, he did not know how to interpret it correctly, so he believed that Heero was somehow jealous and that put him even more on edge than he was around the boy anyway. That kid was not to be trusted.
In fact, Heero was feeling rather wistful. He would never begrudge his friends their fun. But oh, how he longed to be out there with them, to be able to laugh carefree, just like them. To be one of them - but that seemed to slip farther and farther away from him. If only they would tell him what went on. Quatre's rejection this morning had stung. If the most soft-hearted of them was so unforgiving…
Heero noticed that Hermione had spotted him and was making her way over. No, he couldn't… It hurt but really - what had he been thinking, allowing that girl to get close before? How utterly foolish of him to think she might want to be his friend - and that he could be hers. After what he had learnt in Muggle studies, how could she not hate him? Of course, she didn't know yet, but it was not fair on her. And she would despise him, once she learnt the truth. He and he alone was responsible for the death of her family members. Besides, he was too tainted for someone who radiated such a bright light. Her remarks had shown what a pure person she was. She did not deserve to be lied to by such a filthy, disgusting…
Heero silently retreated, leaving Hermione, who arrived at the spot moments later, to wonder whether she had imagined him standing there.
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When it was time to break their Quidditch game off for dinner, the gang agreed that they had a lot of fun playing. Even Quatre believed he would enjoy it, once he could be sure not to suffer from sudden bouts of the second sight. Harry came to a decision.
"You know, I think you should try out for the team," he said. "We really need someone who's as fast and nimble as you are and who can pack a good punch on those Bludgers. What do you think?"
Duo didn't need to think twice and gave an enthusiastic "Sure!" while Trowa kept his usual quiet composure and simply nodded. They headed back to the castle ignoring the girls who tried to get their attention by complimenting them on their skills.
The twins and Duo wolfed down their dinner, as they still had several things to prepare for their revenge plan on Snape, and soon went their way. The others used a more sedate pace and prepared for a relaxed evening.
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When Duo arrived at his dorm, he was met with a rather pale-faced Heero coming out from the bathroom. They stared at each other for a moment, then, surprisingly, it was Heero who opened his mouth speaking hesitantly.
"I need to talk to you, Duo…"
"Fine, talk." Duo's tone was rather clipped as he looked for a black cap to hide his braid. Heero was slightly put off, Duo really wasn't making things easy for him.
"I wanted to ask…" he began quietly with his eyes to the ground, but Duo did not even see this living picture of remorse, as the twins chose that moment to barge into the room.
"Are you ready Duo? Let's go."
And Duo was swept away in the slipstream of the twins, before Heero could even complete his question. He sighed, at the same time worrying the scabs that were forming on his lower arms. Apparently he was not meant to get his answers…
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While the rest of the student body went to bed after a peaceful evening, Duo and his companions were waiting for the right moment to act. It was times like these that the twins wondered why they had given up the Marauders' Map, but they were pretty sure they could avoid Filch and his damned cat anyway. Soon they abandoned their hiding place (Duo was impressed at how well the twins knew their way around the castle and their skills at wreaking havoc - he was glad they were on his side) and went to 'work their magic' with their new accomplice's help. Snape was in for a surprise…
When they returned Duo was a little annoyed that he had missed Heero's reaction at his new apple-pie bed, but he was so pleased with himself and what he had accomplished with the Weasleys, that he even forgot the little episode when Heero had tried to talk to him.
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Saturday morning found Hermione Granger resolutely getting out of bed. She was set on dedicating the weekend to two different projects. The first, the easier one or so she thought, was talking to Heero to determine whether the others were right or rather (from her point of view) prove that she was still a good judge of character, even if there had been that short episode with Gilderoy Lockhart. The second endeavour had come to her mind last night while lying in bed and replaying what had occurred in Muggle Studies. The discussion about the trials had made her realise the unfairness of it all even more acutely than before, so she had decided to do something about it. She would have to research some more, but she was sure she could put something similar to her S.P.E.W. project (concerning the house elves) into action. And maybe this time she would really achieve her goal…
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The other Gryffindors by and by came to breakfast and prepared for a stressless day. To Quatre's astonishment he found two owls waiting for him. One was his sister Iria's , the other he did not know. Without hesitation he tore open the envelope of his sister's letter. Iria informed him that Relena had been trying to contact him repeatedly to inform him about the events at the trial. As he read Relena's account of the developments, he felt somewhat guilty. He felt like he had let Heero down somehow and decided he would try to talk to his fellow pilot later. Quatre immediately forgot about this resolution, however, when he read his second letter. It was from Dumbledore who asked him to come to a private lesson for controlling his Legilimency later that morning. Trowa patted his back reassuringly when he told the others.
"You know what," Duo said with his mouth full. "I always wondered how you can communicate by owl between earth and the colonies… I mean how do the owls cross empty space?"
Of course it was Hermione who tried to give a satisfying answer. "You're not the only one there. A lot of people have tried to find out how post owls cross the greatest distances within such a short time, but they couldn't find a real answer. They say it's a kind of Owl Magic that is closely related to Apparating."
"Oh. Well, it's cool. Wish I could do that…"
After breakfast the larger part of the gang decided to make good use of the warm late-August day and go swimming. Harry told them he'd follow later because Professor Lupin had asked him to 'walk his dog'.
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When Harry turned into the corridor leading to Remus' rooms, he almost collided with Heero who carried a stack of books under his arm. The other shot him a look that bordered on a glare and continued his way. Shaking his head, Harry went on and knocked on the door that separated him from his godfather and his mate. When the door opened, he immediately felt the tension in the air and suggested that he could come back later if this wasn't a good time. Remus just gave him a smile and said: "Don't be silly. Sirius is just being stubbornly stupid again."
Sirius glared but had trouble to suppress the chuckle trying to break out. Harry couldn't help but feel comfortable in the company of his father's best friends while enjoying a second breakfast. To him they were almost like the family he never had and he knew he could trust them with anything (considering they had been Marauders, there wasn't much about his Hogwarts life that could shock them). So it was no wonder that he accidentally told them about what the twins had found out about the spy and the conclusions they had come to. Sirius encouraged that train of thoughts while Remus remained curiously silent.
Finally, he stepped in and reminded Harry: "Do you remember your third year? We all thought Sirius was a murderer and all evidence seemed to point at him. I don't know Heero very well, but I don't see any reason to mistrust him yet. I won't tell you what to think, Harry, but please keep an open mind."
Harry did not notice that at the same time he sent his lover a warning look to shut him up, before he would bring up his Malfoy story. And as always it worked. Remus subtly changed the subject and they had an enjoyable morning, before Harry said his goodbye to join his friends. As he walked to the lake he wondered if Remus could be right. They had misjudged Sirius after all…
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Quatre could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. Although he might look delicate for a boy, he usually did not lack courage. He was a Gundam pilot and he did that position justice, but had it not been for his 'little problem' with looking other people into the eyes, he probably would have turned around. Dumbledore might not appear frightening, but he did not enjoy his reputation as the greatest wizard alive for nothing and a private lesson with him seemed more and more scary with every step Quatre took.
"Ah, there you are." Quatre almost jumped when Nearly Headless Nick greeted him.
"The Headmaster asked me to tell you the new password to his office." He came closer and whispered into Quatre's ear. The blonde's eyes became large and round and suddenly he did not feel nervous anymore. He stepped up to the gargoyle guarding the entrance and said "Marshmellow Mice".
Dumbledore gave him a friendly welcome and the lesson did not turn out too bad. He was a friendly if confusing wizard after all.
"So, young Quatre. How are you doing? No more Legilimency attacks I hope… Good … good. Honey drop? No, oh well, let's start then."
At first Quatre wasn't quite sure how to take the Headmaster's curious ways, but he was quick to realise never to underestimate the old wizard as time wore on. Not unlike Harry with his Occlumency lessons, Quatre simply had to learn to close his mind off - not that this was all that simple, but he did get the feeling he was getting somewhere and even Professor Dumbledore seemed satisfied with his progress. Actually Dumbledore was even slightly amused with the eagerness Quatre showed. At the end of the lesson Quatre dared to ask the question that had been on his mind since the morning before.
"If there is natural Legilimency, is there also natural Occlumency?"
"Well, yes. There are even some Muggles who are natural occlumens, but it only happens with very strong-minded people. Why do you ask?"
So Quatre told him that he hadn't received any thoughts or emotions from Heero the day before.
"Ah, young Heero. Yes…"
Dumbledore's face showed a faraway expression and Quatre once more wondered whether Dumbledore had lost the thread of their conversation, but he did not have the courage to prod. Soon afterwards he was allowed to leave, but not before Dumbledore told him something he was not very pleased to hear.
"Professor Snape will continue with your lessons on Monday, and tell Harry he will have to take part, too."
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Meanwhile Heero had returned to his quiet spot on the roof. He did not want to impose himself on the others and everywhere else he seemed to risk running into Hermione which he tried to avoid at all costs.
And there were even a few other girls making advances he did not quite understand, what did they see in him? He had witnessed how they tried to get Duo to notice them. He could understand that. Duo relished the attention and exuded his cheerfulness and charms. Not to speak of his good looks which he shared with Quatre, Trowa and Wufei who simply brushed them off or ignored them so far. But Heero did not know how to deal with it, so he had frightened them off with his trademark glare and fled.
Finally peace and quiet. That did contrast sharply with what he was feeling inside, but he knew he needed to keep himself together, or else he would allow the whole situation to get to him and he wasn't sure if he could make it out of the mess of his thoughts and feelings.
With a sigh he opened another of those books that seemed to be his main occupation of late. This time he tried to learn all he could about the Dark Arts. After all you needed to know your enemy.
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At the same time Duo was indeed charming the Patil twins who had joined him and his friends. The others only looked on with amusement.
"Where's Hermione actually?" Wufei asked Hilde.
"I think she wanted to come later."
"The best guess is always the library. I wouldn't count on her coming. She often loses track of time when she's busy with one of her projects." Ron enlightened the others about this special trait of the Gryffindor girl, just as Quatre and Harry rejoined the group and the former related his first Legilimency lesson. As to be expected Harry (and with him his friends) was not thrilled to learn about the impending session with Snape.
Soon, however, all concerns were dismissed. The wars, past and present, were forgotten and they all could simply behave like the teenagers they were. They enjoyed the summer day, unaware of the dark clouds gathering on the metaphorical horizon.
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The L2 colony had the dubious pleasure of welcoming the most feared wizard of the time as he visited his most loyal servant among the scattered few colonial wizards.
"Did you get the shipment from the dealer?" a cold voice asked as its owner stormed into what could be called his headquarters in space.
"Yes, my Lord, and I sent it on immediately. It's really a pity you cannot produce this material by magic…" the other voice obviously belonged to someone who was used to power, but acknowledged his inferiority to the other.
"Indeed, it is. But then it wouldn't be as useful, would it?" The owner of the second voice wasn't quite sure how to interpret this remark but did not want to show it, so he changed the subject.
"Did you make progress concerning the Realm of the Waiting, my Lord?"
"Probably. You will have to wait and see."
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Luckily the Dark Lord was preoccupied with his own plans, so he did not notice the small presence in his mind that witnessed this conversation from far away. In the middle of the night Harry shot up in his bed, wiping the sweat from his brow. This had felt different from his other nightmares. What he had seen was less foggy than his latest dreams. It had felt real, like those visions from the year before… Harry felt that this conversation was important somehow, he just couldn't understand what had been about. Realm of the waiting? What the heck? Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to get back to learning Occlumency with Snape…
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The next day seemed to be the complete opposite of the day before. It was raining cats and dogs which confined the students to the inside of the castle. That of course awakened the adventurous spirit of some among them. The former Gundam pilots decided to do some more exploring, while Hilde and Ginny engaged Harry and Ron in another game of wizard chess.
Hermione naturally turned to her favourite resort, the library, after another castle-wide search for a certain mysterious boy had turned out fruitless. She was almost tempted to think that Heero was avoiding her on purpose, but why he would do that was beyond her. Seeing that she didn't make any progress on her first project, she was even more determined to turn the second into a success.
Heero on the other hand took to wandering the castle with atypical aimlessness during the afternoon, after he was sure Hermione had given up trying to find him in favour of the library. Duo had gifted him with another surprise last night. This time it wasn't an apple-pie bed, but completely undone sheets. Heero in his confused state was almost glad to see that Duo still remembered he existed, even if it was just to torment him with silly pranks. Uncharacteristically unaware of his surroundings, the Prussian-eyed boy did not realise that he was passing the girls' restroom closest to the library, so it came as a surprise to hear Hermione call out his name. He turned to her.
"I've been looking for you all day. Are you going back to Gryffindor Tower? I'll accompany you." For some reason she seemed overjoyed to see him, so he just "hn'ed".
They had not gotten further than a few meters, however, when two silhouettes stepped out of a shadowy corner.
"What do we have here…" came Noemi Falger's shrill voice as she and her boyfriend closed in on the pair of Gryffindors.
"Just what we've been looking for…"
Something in the Slytherin boy's voice made Heero flash back. A voice: "You're just what I've been looking for…" And hands… Heero willed the memory away.
"Gryffindor garbage." Fys sounded threatening and it definitely worked on Hermione. She took an insecure step back, so Heero decided to get her out of the situation, before things could get out of hand.
Unusually wordy he said to her: "Why don't you go ahead, while I sort this out."
She looked at him hesitantly, not wanting to leave him to fend for himself, but a move of his head and a step closer by Noemi convinced her to hurry away. Although the corridor was now deserted, another pair of eyes watched the scene with curiosity from around the corner.
"What a gentleman you are," Fys mocked the blue-eyed enigma.
"What do you want?" a smarter person than the two in front of Heero would have recognised the dangerous tone in the Wing pilot's voice as he drew his wand. Yet they did outnumber him and he had no experience with wizard duels. It took a simple Expelliarmus to disarm him and suddenly he found himself "stupefied" on the ground, unable to move for the moment. The Slytherin girl used the opportunity to kick him in the side as she picked up his wand (which Fys had not managed to catch).
"That was a foolish thing to do," Fys continued. "We were willing to play this nicely and what do you do?" he shook his head and gave his girlfriend a sign. She nodded and stepped closer again, hissing: "You brought this onto yourself. Can't have you threatening us, can we?"
Still affected by the hex, Heero could only watch helplessly as the smiling Slytherin girl stepped with her heel down on his right hand. There was a sickening sound of crushing bones.
At this moment the hidden onlooker couldn't hold back any longer. He might mistrust the boy, but this was too much. This was unnecessarily cruel and in the end Gryffindors stuck together. Padfoot lunged forward and barked furiously at the Slytherin pair, revealing his sharp teeth.
Heero sucked in a breath, he hadn't seen that coming. He suppressed any sound as he was used to do and drew on the pain to shake off the magical paralysis. He used the diversion the dog provided to get to his feet. His right hand was useless now, but he couldn't be deterred by such minor details and he still had the use of his other hand. He reacted quickly as he saw the pair drawing their wands on the dog. He couldn't allow that.
"Fuck off you mangy dog…"
Suddenly the sound of a gun being cocked rang through the deserted corridor. The scene seemed to freeze and the girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "How… But I…"
The element of surprise was definitely on Heero's side, they had counted him out too soon. Fys gulped hard as cold steel touched his temple and a low icy voice said: "Fuck off yourself."
Understandably, at that moment there was nothing the two wanted to do more, but they were transfixed to the spot.
"Move!" Heero said a little more forcefully and after another moments hesitation Falger and Fys ran off faster than they'd ever done in their lives.
Heero sighed, then his eyes fell on the dog staring at him. Once more he wondered about the all too human expression of this particular canine. "You too." He said in a clipped tone that left no room for argument.
Padfoot complied gladly. That kid with his gun was easily one of the most frightening sights he had ever seen. And he had seen a lot. He knew the kid had been within his right, but it freaked him out. The boy couldn't just run around the school with a gun. WITH A FUCKING GUN!
When Hermione arrived at the scene with Professor Lupin in tow, there was no trace of what had transpired. Her teacher tried to reassure her by saying this could only mean that nothing too bad had happened, but they both found the situation rather disconcerting.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Meanwhile Heero stormed toward Gryffindor Tower cradling his hand to his chest. Kuso, several of the small bones in his hand were broken. And how was he supposed to explain this to the school nurse? He would have to treat himself once again. He probably deserved this for letting his guard down like that.
The students in the common room never knew what hit them, when Heero swept through like a tornado and up to his dorm. The fire, that had been lit for the very first time this school year, flared up in the fireplace, a door banged close and they were all left to wonder what exactly just happened.
Heero himself slumped down onto his bed. With practised movements and the help of his teeth, he tore a white shirt into strips and then started to set his own bones, gritting his teeth. Having bandaged his hand and wrist tightly, using a makeshift splint, Heero fell into an exhausted sleep right on top of his bed, completely ignoring the newest surprise Duo had concocted for him.
.
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Sorry, dass es diesmal wieder etwas länger gedauert hat...
