Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Place In Time ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 13 )

AN Out before Christmas, yay, which was my target, ok any questions about the characterisation in this chap email me or see the author's note at the bottom because to be honest I wasn't too sure about it myself.

 

Rating/Summary/Disclaimer - See first chapter

 

A Place in Time

 

Chapter 12

 

Japanese “~---~”

 

“Oh Merlin,” Minerva was whispering over and over as she buried her head in her hand, sitting in the armchair beside her desk. Severus rolled his eyes, `Oh Merlin' indeed, she was sitting in a comfortable chair in her own office with a cup of tea being made for her. Her boy wonder had not only steadily increased his chances of survival by his increased magical aptitude but he also appeared to have grown up considerably. His student on the other hand was basically being shunted to the side, the focus of the attention as always being Potter, their saviour. No one had even spoken to Draco regarding his new status as a part muggle of all things, nor about how he felt with regard to his father, his new status as a high profile target for Voldemort nor his current standing within the ministry.

 

Uneasily he realised that `no one' included him, he would have to rectify the situation as soon as possible, after all Potter was a Gryffindor who while they may be renowned for their `bravery', stupidity, and `loyalty', blind ignorance and the refusal to see what was in front of their noses, weren't famed for their tolerant attitude of his Slytherins. Maybe it was time to make sure that Potter wasn't going to split leaving Draco to face the music now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.

 

Because one of the things Minerva was pickiest about was tea being made the traditional way instead of using magic to make the kettle boil he had been standing next to it for several minutes and found himself wondering how muggles justified all that lost time to themselves.

 

Finally though it was done.

 

“Here,” he snapped, pushing the cup of steaming liquid in front of her hands.

 

He highly doubted that she'd heard his voice but something made her look up, probably the heat he mused as she slowly took the cup from him holding it under her chin, allowing the mist rising from the mug to heat her face.

 

At that point the door to the office banged and they both sat up, rising to their feet hurriedly, pulling wands and aiming before they'd even comprehended that should it have been an intruder the wards around Minerva's office would have warned them. Realising she was pointing a wand at the headmaster Minerva slumped back down into her seat, careful not to spill her tea, apologising as she did so.

 

Severus took his seat more slowly, collecting his own mug from the table on the way, not offering or intending to offer an apology for his actions, he was more than seasoned enough to realise that his actions were nothing more than necessary for someone in his position. Apparently Albus realised it too because he didn't even tender a raised eyebrow at Severus' reaction, Merlin knows it wasn't the first time he'd seen it.

 

Instead Albus simple made is way into the room and reached for the third mug on the table waiting for him and sank into the last chair.

 

“Your classes are covered for today,” he offered into the stillness as a potential icebreaker. It failed miserably, both Minerva and Severus having had no doubts regarding his ability to have their classes covered without even having to give a hint of the reason why, it was one of Albus many gifts. “And,” he continued, “with regard to Remus' little foray into Mr. Potter's new life I have journeyed to his quarters to inform Miss Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley that there was nothing for them to be overly concerned about.”

Severus spoke up at that, “how did they remember, because they obviously did, and why didn't you oblivate them?”

 

“I don't think that is my duty to either ask why or do, wouldn't you agree Severus?”

Severus snorted, not believing him for a second “You mean you'd rather they were close to Heero because then they're a potential mine of information.”

 

Albus didn't deny the accusation, “I am merely concerned Severus, that Mr Potter will forget that he has a base within this school to rely on as well as the Ministry and not merely his friends from the future who can have no real idea as to the scale of the war we are speaking of that they are obviously considering with such complacency. I believe that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley will provide him with such a reminder”

 

“Because naturally,” Severus muttered sarcastically, “the Ministry have been such a reliable point for him to work with in the past. And Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have been nothing but supportive throughout all the changes in his life.”

Albus fixed him with a stare that he returned unerringly, “Perhaps,” he suggested mildly, “it is not simply Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy that can grow up Severus.”

No even needing to point out the flaws in that particular piece of logic knowing that Albus was just as aware of them as he was Severus simply arched one perfect eyebrow and allowed the conversation to end there.

 

“Why though,” he was still curious as to one point, “do you believe that they remembered, they had no memory yesterday of that I am certain.”

“Conceivably a strategy to deal with them after having dealt with us,” Albus suggested, “perhaps a mere misjudgement…”

 

Severus shook his head, “doesn't sound like the sort of mistake Heero Yuy would make,” he muttered bitterly.

 

Albus shook his head, “indeed not, however, it is quite easy to see Harry Potter make a similar mistake out of a lingering fondness for his friends and the unfailing belief that they will trust him perhaps.”

 

“He's still there,” Minerva spoke for the first time, adding the unnecessary comment that they were all thinking.

 

“We did know this already,” Severus reminded them, ever the logical one, “as I recall we were informed as to this the very first time we met them as who they really are.”

Albus waved a hand, “of course of course but seeing it is something completely different wouldn't you agree Severus. Surely you cannot deny that seeing someone you know to be Draco Malfoy act as Quatre Winner does does not confuse you.”

 

It had, that Severus had been willing to admit but in that one second he worked it out, Quatre really was the way he acted but underneath that spark of life was something much harder that was totally lost in the cheerful exuberance the boy exhibited. Even now realising it was there Severus realised that he had absolutely no idea of how just what the teenager would be capable of and he couldn't deny the respect he felt growing at the realisation, it seemed that, just like Harry, Draco was still in there.

 

“Obviously,” Albus was continuing, “it would be ludicrous to have them return to their classes, they are clearly far more advanced than all of the other students in the year, seemingly mostly due to learning to control a much less concentrated form of magic and the sheer abundance when they returned to this time. Also I feel certain that you will have both witnessed exactly what they as well as their friends have managed to accomplish, simply for not having to deal with the restrictions we place on our young witches and wizards as learning parameters. Suffice to say, placing them in a class with their peers would only work to draw attention to them.”

Severus observed the man, tired of the games, knowing that Albus had had a plan in mind probably since he first met Heero and Quatre, honed from hearing their explanation and seeing them fight and finally about to be revealed. He didn't begrudge the man his idea.

 

He just wished he would get on with it.

 

“Before I start though,” Albus said suddenly and both Minerva and Severus fought the urge to sigh, both extremely familiar with the game the Headmaster was playing. Still it seemed that Minerva was finally starting to wake up so perhaps the rather long introduction had been good for something, Severus could always use another ally when dealing with Albus and while Minerva may not have cared about Draco her precious Potter was another thing entirely.

 

“Before I start,” Albus repeated, this time taking a sip of tea before he continued, “I feel we also need to deal with the fact that we have the equivalent of two muggle weapons of mass destruction on my school grounds, granted they have been shielded and any student coming within five meters of them will suddenly be reminded of pressing Transfiguration and Potions homework they have forgotten to finish or some extra reading in those particular subjects that they simply haven't found the time to do…”

He trailed off, Severus and Minerva accepted the not so subtly offered bribed for what they were and looked back at him without giving an inch.

 

“Anyway, we really do need to ask them to deal with that before we allow any other plan to get underway…”

 

“But…” Minerva prompted.

 

“But I believe that there is a great deal these `pilots' could help us with.” Albus steepled his hands, a managed to look imposing even with the shortbread biscuit he'd placed between his teeth in order to be able to steeple his hands in the first place. Moving one of his hands up to his mouth he bit the biscuit in half and chewed happily for a few seconds while the other two professors exchanged glances.

 

“I believe that it is time for the pilots to meet the Order.”

 

----

 

Taking care to avoid students on his way over Remus was struck by a thought as he reached the hospital wing with Padfoot.

 

Ron and Hermione. Shit, they had to be worried sick; freezing for a split second he forced himself to continue walking.

 

He hadn't fooled Sirius though, the dog turned to look at him curiously, the human expression alien on the canine features.

 

He sighed and beckoned the dog into the hospital wing and then down the narrow corridor that lead to the private rooms. Harry was alone other than the men in the beds, the Professors evidently having given them some privacy for this. He looked up at their entrance and spotted the expression on Remus' face instantly.

 

“What?”

 

Remus forced himself not to jump, he wasn't used to a Harry as observant as this one evidently was.

 

“I was just thinking that maybe you should tell Ron and Hermione what's going on at the same time, this way you only have to explain it once more…”

 

Harry hesitated, blue eyes flickering around the room before suddenly darkening and flying back to Remus' face. “Why should I tell them anything?”

 

Remus stuttered, of all the responses he'd been expecting that wasn't it. But at least he had an answer for it.

 

“Well since the memory charm on them was only temporary I just assumed that-“

 

He was cut off suddenly as Heero's eyes narrowed and another boy entered the room, blonde this time but with a scent he found instantly familiar even if he couldn't place it, strange, his sense were normally much more honed than this just following the full moon.

 

“The memory charm was only temporary Heero?” The voice was sharp and Sirius growled, hackles raised as the eyes, a lighter shade of blue than Harry's, fixed on first Remus and then on him.

 

Harry didn't say anything, “what did you mean,” he repeated, “The memory charm was only temporary?”

 

“Exactly what he said.” Harry broke in, turning to face the blonde with an almost defiant look in his eyes. “Is that a problem.”

 

“That would depend,” the response came quietly and easily.

 

There was a cough from behind him as Sirius transformed back, he tensed immediately but neither of the two teens in front of him moved, even enough to flinch.

 

Then Sirius joined in the conversation “On what exactly?”

 

“On whether they can keep their mouth shut and on exactly how much trust they deserve.”

 

Seeing Sirius open his mouth to begin noisily defending his Godson's two best friends Remus hastily stepped onto the man's toe in order to prevent him from making a fool of himself, there was something about these boys that just wasn't right, that he couldn't explain, like they weren't supposed to be here. Like they didn't belong here in a way that couldn't only be explained by then having spent a considerable mount of their lives in another time zone.

 

Obviously expecting Harry to jump on the defensive Sirius turned to stare smugly at the blonde who just watched him with a cool appraising eye for a few seconds before turning back to Harry who still hadn't responded.

 

“*Well…*?”

 

“I can't give you that reassurance Quatre.” The admission stunned both Remus and Sirius but `Quatre' seemed to have been expecting it.

 

He nodded, “then what do you want to do?”

 

“Why wouldn't you want to tell them?” Sirius sounded confused now and oddly betrayed considering that it wasn't even him that they were talking about and that they didn't even really know the people that they were discussing, his perceptions of Ron and Hermione were limited after all.

 

After a quick glance at Harry Quatre answered him, “because the two of them, on more than one occasion have been known to be even less than short sighted and unable to see more than the two starker shades of black or white, it is high time that Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger realised that nothing stays white forever and black fades after time. They have been proved to be unreliable, indeed more Mr. Weasley in this case however, Miss Granger loses my confidence due to her connection with the muggle world and of her perception of what a `terrorist' is. Let me assure you right now Mr. Black that most muggles view terrorists the same way the wizarding society views Voldemort. I have concerns regarding whether or not she will be able to overcome her undoubted prejudice and see what we have become, what Harry has become.”

“Why us? Why did you let us know?”

 

There was amusement in the voice as it answered this time, as thought the response should have been obvious. “Because you both have more than enough experience with both the light and dark sides of this world and hopefully you will both be able to see beyond our methods to understand what we are trying to do.”

 

“And what is that exactly.”

 

It seemed that for the first time in the conversation Harry knew the answer because it was him that responded to Remus' shaky question, even as his cold, dead blue eyes lifted to Remus' face, “We are trying to kill Voldemort and his followers, demolishing any support networks he may have along the way while keeping as many people alive as is reasonable to expect.”

 

“As is reasonable to expect,” Sirius scoffed, “and by that you mean-”

 

The blue eyes blackened and Remus found himself taking an unconscious step back when faced with what he could tell was only a partial amount of Harry's anger .

 

“And by that I mean exactly what I said, I would have considered you of all people to have understood that sacrifice is a necessary part of a war no matter how much it pains those who are still living, what exactly is a war when lives are not at risk, it's playtime between those who can afford it and results in life becoming cheap. Everyone living won't work now and it won't work in eight hundred years time when Romefellar decides that way to either demolish the colonies or keep the war going forever is to use Mobile Dolls as the ultimate weapons.”

 

“But,” Quatre cut in, “that doesn't answer the question, are you going to tell them?”

 

Harry took a deep breath, “yes?”

Quatre nodded, “right, then lets get them up here.”

 

------------------

 

Twenty minutes later there was silence in the room, a fact that had not been helped by the arrival of the unnaturally silent Heavyarms pilot who was now leaning over the back of Quatre's chair protectively. The pilots looked almost relaxed, if they were the slightest bit nervous they didn't show it, Ron and Hermione on the other hand were sitting ramrod straight while Remus' gaze flickered between the glowering Sirius the expressionless boys and the fidgeting Ron and Hermione.

 

The machine by the beds beeped once, breaking the silence and Heero pressed a button on the laptop. Hermione watching him curiously, eager to see a muggle device working in Hogwarts, fighting the urge to tell him that what he was currently doing was impossible, she had the feeling it wouldn't go down too well.

 

Heero kept one eye on her, watching her face with hidden amusement; the other was watching the screen as Duo's face came into focus.

 

“Heya Hee-chan, sorry to interrupt and all but me n `Fei were wondering if Tro fancies popping home with us for a bit. I need to drop off this report to Une-chan and I figured we could scare some new recruits while we were at it.”

 

Heero looked at Trowa who, in turn, looked at Quatre.

 

The sapphire-eyed teen smiled at his lover's display of protectiveness and patted him on the hand lightly, speaking softly in Japanese.

 

“~Go with Duo and Wufei, I'll be fine. In the unlikely event of something I can't handle happening Heero's here too isn't he?~”

 

“~I love you.~” Trowa whispered softly as he nodded. Quatre's face lit up happily, no matter how many times he heard the words they seemed to get more wonderful every time.

 

“~Me too, but you should still go with Duo, have some fun, scare the crap out of all the soldiers who think they're unbeatable, enjoy yourself.~”

 

Duo was still waiting expectantly, “did I hear a yes there?”

 

“Yeah.”

”Great, we're flooing to Q's mansion, England mansion that is, the one in Cornwall, in *this* time, you know the floo address don't you? Then we'll be flooing to HQ from there, so we don't have to use the fire in the Hall, `k? See ya there in a few. Oh, and hi and bye to the rest of ya, Hermione, Ron, Remus, Sirius,” If Duo was surprised at the company his fellow pilots held he didn't show it, “I look forward to being introduced to you later but if I don't get this in soon Une's gonna have my head on a platter and I kinda like it where it is, sooooo, toodles.”

 

With a nod in greeting and farewell Duo disappeared and Trowa headed through the door after a quick backward glance and a nod.

 

“~He worries too much.~” Quatre murmured, still in Japanese, staring at the door his lover had gone through.

 

“~He loves you, of course he worries.~” Heero answered the non-question, “~you worry about him too, it's a natural side effect to caring about someone.~”

 

“I'm sorry but what language is that?” Hermione broke in, unable to contain herself any longer.

 

Quatre smiled at the eager girl despite himself, “It's Japanese, one of the languages all five of us are fluent in, Heero especially because he *is* Japanese.”

“Oh…” evidently stunned with yet another difference between Heero and Harry presenting itself.

 

Heero took pity on them, “is there anything about this situation you *really* don't understand?”

“Would this be *other* than everything?” Ron mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

 

“Yes.” The redhead frowned worriedly at this, Harry hadn't even cracked a smile.

 

“Ok then” he started, “I don't understand why we remember and no one else does.”

“It's because I always intended to tell you, I just cast a temporary charm on you so I'd have some breathing room first, everyone else got the full dose.” Quatre's eyes flickered to him but he didn't say anything, Heero steadfastly ignored him. Remus and Sirius said nothing, show no weakness was a concept they both understood

 

“Oh…”

 

Hermione's forehead had wrinkled in thought and confusion, “I don't understand the time travel thing, time turners are only supposed to be able to be used for a couple of hours and it's not like there's loads of them about, how did you…?”

 

“There *are* loads in the future,” Quatre explained, “There are hundreds upon thousands of them in fact, there's no magic so they're useless, not difficult to get hold of because no one wants them but because they've been in the future with no magic when they get here the magical influx is unbelievable and they'll work for up to about a week.”

 

“Yes but how did you do it? You said you spent most of the last three months in the future in space, there wouldn't be any floo system in space would there? And what about if you got captured?”

 

“You're right, there isn't a floo system in space, we had to fly back to Earth once a week to make the trip, come here, live a week and then go back, we were never captured for longer that a week so we were alright there and we weren't ever really too far away from each other towards the end so we didn't really have a problem there either.”

 

“I bet that was confusing though.”

 

Heero laughed, a cold bitter laugh that set the hairs on the back of the necks of the listeners on end, none of them seemed to realise that Heero wasn't angry, he was honestly trying to be more normal.

 

“It was confusing, I would be sitting on Peacemillion's brig, that's a space cruiser belonging to Duo's friend Howard or fixing Wing, that's my gundam… I'll explain that more lately. Or sparring with one of the others… and I would suddenly remember that I had transfiguration homework, or think of something I wanted to put in my potions essay or think of a new broom manoeuvre to try for Quidditch.”

“He's right,” Quatre smiled in remembrance, “I'd be sitting in DADA and something would make me think of a new gundam formation, when I started sketching the design for new twin blades on my History of Magic homework I realised that we weren't going to be able to separate the worlds enough, to existed as two different people. As it was our week here, we spoke to the house elves about new quarters for us and the other pilots, quarters where we could keep muggle things we'd charmed to run on magic, laptops, printers, cell phones, gundam programmes. We started to keep parchment, quills and ink in the gundams and in safehouses, we both bought extra books and left them on Peacemillion. More than were there already that is, we went shopping in the holidays and spent an absolute fortune, we bought books, equipment, weaponry, new clothes, new robes, everything we would need to live both our lives here and there. To be honest it was a bit like having divorced parents, two lots of things at both houses.”

 

“I don't understand how you got the ministry to believe in You-Know-Who's return.” Ron stated, oblivious to the numerous eye rolls that accompanied his reluctance to call Voldemort by his name. “Fudge is an idiot, how'd you get him to listen to you?”

“Lucius Malfoy and veritaserum and Harry Potter and veritaserum,” Quatre said dryly, “when the statements matched he had no choice but to believe, Lucius got kissed and Harry Potter was finally believed, the ministry hasn't actually told the public that he's returned yet because as long as Voldemort thinks we don't believe it we have the advantage, as long as he thinks he has the advantage though he won't attack because he won't want to take the risk of losing his advantage when he's not ready to do so.” Seeing Sirius' mouth open and anticipating the question he answered it first. “The ministry told no one because we asked them not to and since we're both adults they had no duty to tell anyone, the file was sealed by us, no one can get at it, including Voldemort, we cast a spell on those at the trial, similar to the one we'll be casting on you, so they couldn't talk about it and besides we'd done them an incredible favour and we weren't going to spill to the press how blind they'd been in the first place, they owed us. And sorry Sirius but we can't get you declared innocent quite yet, doing that would mean that they'd accepted Wormtail wasn't dead and if they accepted that…”

 

Sirius winced reflexively and nodded, he understood, no one had said he had to like it but he did understand and it was nice to have some kind of guarantee that he would be free one day… if he lived long enough that it. Suddenly he shuddered as another though started to form.

 

“How'd you get Lucius Malfoy to testify, it's not like Fudge would believe anything against his favourite.”

“Draco Malfoy helped us.” Heero answered, watching Quatre carefully as his head dropped.

 

“Why would Draco Malfoy help you…” Ron's scornful voice was ignored as Heero inwardly winced, and seeing what might happen if the conversation was allowed to continue Hermione quickly switched the conversation to that of Harry's love life a topic she wasn't feeling particularly comfortable with.

 

“So you're…” Hermione seemed to be having problems with the words, “*together*, with them? You're seeing them, *romantically*.”

Heero nodded warily, frowning at the clumsy change of subject, all the while eyeing her cautiously; unsure of how she was going to react. He had expected this from the less level headed member of their trio but, to be fair to Ron, he had grown up in a wizarding society and was probably more used to… unorthodox relationships than Hermione.

 

As it was the redhead was watching the two with a strange expression on his face before he turned back to Harry.

 

“Soulmates?” He questioned casually.

 

Heero nodded again.

 

“*What*?” Hermione started, “soulmates? What are you talking about? The very concept of soulmates is ridiculous, how can you be sure you'll be compatible with a so-called `soulmate' in fifty years.”

 

“You can be certain that your magic can be compatible Hermione and your magic has a strong influence on a wizard or witches' personality. I'm surprised you've never heard of this before.” Ron was the one to explain to his friend what was going on, taking advantage of the rare situation when he actually knew more about something than she did.

 

“Soulmates aren't that uncommon in the wizarding world among wizards and witches. They're another one of the reasons muggleborns are looked down on. When two soulmates have a child the child is practically guaranteed to be more powerful magically. Squibs tend to be the result of those born from non-soulmate pairings between a witch and a wizard, the main reason arranged marriages are so uncommon in our world. You can practically guarantee that a muggleborn isn't going to be as powerful magically as a child of a soulmate pairing of a witch and wizard and that is something else which makes them inferior in the eyes of some purebloods.”

 

“Oh…” Hermione seemed stunned and both Ron and Heero could see her fighting the urge to sprint down to the library that second.

 

“Two soulmates though,” Ron was grinning at his friend, “well, two at the same time anyway, that's rare but you were never one to do things by halves were you mate?”

 

“I…”

 

“Look, I'm not criticising you, I think it's wonderful, we were all beginning to wonder to be honest, if you just hadn't found anyone or if you had and were just ignoring it.”

“You can ignore it then?” Hermione had her goal in sight and was determined to learn as much as she could about this new topic as fast as she could.

 

“Oh yes… you can ignore it, most commonly if one person isn't sure if the other is ready or if they aren't sure that the other person feels the same or if the other person has already been bonded or when they're younger if they are mixing up a crush with a soulmate, that has been known to happen before since no one can actually understand how if feels to meet a soulmate until they have. Occasionally they've known each other for a long time also and they feel it would be easier to ignore it and look for someone else than to make the transition from friend to lover, especially if they aren't sure it's the real thing. We have several soulmates though so it's not the begin all end all if the first one you find isn't ready.” Ron was staring at Hermione as he was talking and Heero shook his head.

 

Zechs stirred suddenly and he moved over to his lover, stroking his long hair until he settled down again and the movement seemed to jerk Ron and Hermione out of the stupor they had settled in.

 

“You are still Harry though, right?” Sirius had finally managed to put his though into words and was currently staring at Heero who was now turning to watch him with seeming disinterest, “I mean, a future as someone else doesn't mean much, does it? You're still you, just now you've found someone and…”

 

“Padfoot,” Remus' voice broke in, hoarse and quiet, regret clear in every syllable, “we've been over this. Does he even look like Harry? He's not him, the only thing that is the same is the memories and that God-forsaken scar, he doesn't look the same, he doesn't think the same, he doesn't act the same, he's not Harry, he's Heero, maybe because he lived that life most recently or maybe because he was sent to the future with the intention of him becoming like Heero while his being Harry was just an accident. I don't know why it is but Harry doesn't evaluate everyone he sees as a potential enemy, he doesn't carry at least ten concealed weapons on him at all times, he doesn't look at life like a soldier does and he doesn't have the ability to completely turn off his emotions. Heero on the other hand, can do all of those things. Harry and Heero together is Heero with a smile, a laugh and emotions, it's not the same person Sirius, no matter how much you want him to be.”

 

“How do you know that?” Sirius' voice was weak, “how do you know…”

 

“It's obvious, I can smell it, sense it, feel it, see it. Neither of them are the same.”

 

“Huh?” Three confused sets of eyes turned to him, Heero and Quatre just watched him quietly. “What do you mean, neither of them?”

 

“I'm half surprised you couldn't tell Padfoot, the person sitting next to our godson is the teenager formerly known as Draco Malfoy, now it's Quatre albeit with a slightly sharper sense of humour and a touch more self assurance.”

“What!”

 

Ron had his wand out in a split-second. Nice reflexes, some part of Heero's brain mused absently, the part that wasn't concentrating on holding a gun to his friend's head that was.

 

Quatre had a weapon drawn too, a tiny tranquilliser gun was being pointed at Ron's throat by one hand, the other was holding a wicked looking blade, he'd sprung back slightly and now had the whole room in his scope.

 

Ron froze, along with Hermione, Sirius and Remus, holding their breath.

 

Quatre sighed when he realised what he was doing and dropped the arm holding the knife, though the gun he kept trained.

 

“Ok, so that wasn't the best start for a re-introduction but you're going to have to understand that we are *dangerous* and we could probably kill any of you in our sleep. It's mostly very acute instincts though so don't do anything stupid, like pulling a weapon on one of us for example,” he stressed the words, shooting a slight glare at the redhead. “And we won't have to kill you.” He grinned brightly, “how's that?”

 

Ron's eyes darkened, “Give me one reason why we should trust a filthy Slytherin Deatheater?”

 

Quatre's eyes flashed, “Because I am not a deatheater and never will be, because I willingly gave Lucius Malfoy over to the Ministry, because Slytherin does not equate evil and because if you know anything about your friend you'll know that Harry trusts me and that you should trust him.”

 

Ron shook his head, “I don't buy it, it's probably a plan to gain our trust so you can gain access to our…”

 

“Ron…”

“No,” the red-headed Gryffindor didn't move, “I refuse to relax while… that,” he spat the word, seemingly unable to find a strong enough insult, “is in the same room.”

Not dropping his weapon he turned pleading eyes on Heero who was still pointing a gun at him unwaveringly, “come on mate, who are you gonna trust, me or a Slytherin?”

 

Heero exchanged a look with Quatre.

 

Hermione cleared her throat, “what did Professor Lupin mean?” Heero's eyes flickered to her momentarily the announce to her that he was listening and to urge her to continue. “He said,” she swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “He said you were a soldier, that you carried weapons. You've killed, haven't you?” Heero hesitated and gave a sharp nod, “how many? Harry? How many?”

 

A few seconds later Quatre answered for him, “Hundreds, thousands maybe tens of thousands, men women and children, soldier and civilians, dead, we've all done things we aren't proud of Hermione.”

 

She looked broken, “why?”

 

“Because there was no other way,” the words were mater-of-fact and to the point, said in the manner of someone who had debated his words a million times, following the path of every what if until it threatened to drive him mad.

 

She shook her head, unable to deal with that combined with the sight before her, “no.”

“I've made mistakes Hermione, we all have and if I was given the chance to change things there is no way I can say that I wouldn't so it but on the whole the choice was to fight or to die.”

She shook her head again, “no!”

He sighed and dropped the arm that was holding the gun to his side, following his cue Quatre did the same, “I'm sorry Hermione.”

 

“Huh?” The girl didn't manage to get any more out before Heero and Quatre overtook her words with one spoken in unison.

 

“Oblivate.”

 

Ron and Hermione slumped to the floor in unison and Heero allowed his head to fall to his chest, Quatre moved over to him and hugged him lightly.

 

“I'm sorry Heero.” The brunette pilot shook his head, “you didn't need to do that you know, you could have just erased the memories of me and-“

“No,” Heero cut in, “if they were going to work with us then they needed to know who we were and what we were capable of and right now, they're just too young for me to be able to deal with and not be worried about what they're doing or what they're saying.”

 

“What…” Sirius seemed to be having problems with English, “What…?”

 

Quatre looked at him, sapphire eyes sad, “have you ever heard the phrase `It is better to seek forgiveness than beg permission?” Sirius shook his head, “It's a saying from the Muggle military that I believe is a particularly prudent statement here.”

“As if you're upset,” Sirius spat, thinking while he did so that Ron may have been right with his assessment, “you didn't want him to tell them in the first place.”

Quatre just watched him, releasing Heero's arm as the brunette made his way towards his lovers on the beds, “no I didn't,” he agreed easily, “because I feared a situation like this, I did however understand Heero's need to try and was willing to attempt it for his sake, however I was concerned, it is difficult to understand the lives we lead and the things we've done, especially for ones as young as Ron and Hermione are. Maybe when we have more time to explain without the threat of Voldemort hanging over us the conversation will go better.”

 

Sirius opened his mouth again and Remus hastily put a hand on his shoulder, “yes,” he agreed softly, “maybe it will.”

 

Unlike Sirius he could smell the grief pouring from both Heero and Quatre though their faces didn't show anything and unlike Sirius he understood just how much he failed to comprehend the enormity of what the act of oblivating the two Gryffindors had done to them both.

 

“Come on,” he said quietly, “picking up Hermione, watching in awe as Harry managed to lift Ron's far more gangly frame without even seeming to work at it, “let's deal with these two first. Then you can tell us what you plan to do.”

 

Fin Chapter 12

 

 

AN - Ok I was worried about Quatre's characterisation in this one because I thought I'd made him too mean, then I thought about it and realised that this is his Draco coming into play as Heero's Harry did when he failed with the memory charm, the original draft of this chappie had R&H finding out and then I thought about it and realised that they have a lot of growing up to do. Quatre is edge in this chap because he understands exactly what would happen if one of them messes up and says something to the wrong person or decides that they don't agree at the last second, they're both Gryffindors and very idealistic, coming to terms with the lifestyle the pilots would be very difficult plus Q is a strategist, he needs to trust the people he's working with and in this situation he recognised that Heero may be seeing the situation with a bias, he wants his friend to be happy but realises what it could cost, just as Heero does in the end…

 

And boy was that a long author's note?!