Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Never Say Let Go ❯ Chapter 10

Title: Never Say Let Go

Authors: Skeren Dreamera and Hoshi-Tachi

Notes: No worries, we'll actually be having regular updates now... unless something else happens...

Chapter Ten

Something made Severus glance up from his meal, just as his House's table went deadly quiet. He was stunned to see Potter, of all people, standing there with his sidekicks just behind him.

The Gryffindor seemed to be speaking to the irritating, time-traveling, Mr. Maxwell, when abruptly he stopped, and looked at something under the table. Potter's mouthed dropped open, and he said something that surprised both his friends and the Slytherins.

Curious, the potions master craned his head, trying to see just what they were looking at. Potter knelt and beckoned to whatever was under there, and Severus cursed as a large, shaggy black dog poked its head out from beneath the bench.

Damn it, what the hell was Black doing here?

And why the hell was he with Maxwell?!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duo blinked a few times and dropped his gaze to the dog near his feet. "You know Zechs? Maybe that's why he was wandering around the castle." He dropped his hand, scratching just behind an ear, causing the animagus to lean against his legs. "He was in really bad shape when I found him." A pause. "Oh, and no need to apologize, really."

Harry smiled gratefully at him, as Hermione joined him on the floor to pet Snuffles. "In bad shape?" he asked after a moment.

The American nodded. "Yeah. Apparently," he scowled, "some of the younger Slytherins like torturing puppies." Duo smirked evilly, casting a smug gaze down the table towards the end where the younger years usually sat. "Don't think they'll be trying that again..."

"What did you do to them?" Blaise inquired with a rather morbid curiosity.

Duo shrugged, eyes wide and innocent. "Oh, just scared the living shit out of 'em."

His Slytherin friend eyed him for a long moment. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, it's not like any of them needed to go see the Pomfrey lady. Though... Yeah, just scared em a little. Then I patched Zechs here up. And apparently you guys know him?" He directed this at the Gryffindors kneeling on the floor off to his side as he twisted a little, being careful not to jar his dog since he was leaning on him. "He wouldn't let me leave him in my room anymore."

"Yeah. He... hangs out with us sometimes. Doesn't really belong to anyone but himself, though," Harry replied cautiously, not knowing whether or not Duo knew just who the dog was. The braided boy hadn't made any references to the fact that Snuffles was really a wizard yet, but he also wasn't treating him like an ordinary dog, either.

"You know the mutt then, Potter?" Malfoy interrupted suddenly, sneering at his rival. "Good. You can take him, then, and good riddance."

Blaise snickered, for no readily apparent reason. "What's the matter, Captain?" he asked ingenuously. "Don't want to spend another night with a Grim sleeping in the same room?"

"I just don't want to worry about fleas in the dorm." The blond shot back the comment quickly.

The American gave the blond bully a look. "Malfoy, I thought we'd talked about this already. He isn't going anywhere." He curled his fingers in the fur on the scruff of the animagus' neck a little possessively. Yes, he'd already gotten rather attached. "Besides, he doesn't have fleas."

Harry didn't know what to make of the American's actions, eyeing the way he acted. He was even more confused that his godfather seemed to agree with the boy's opinion, just letting him do it.

Sirius wished he could tell his godson why, but he couldn't. Sorry Harry, but he needs me more right now... He needs someone to take care of him, and it looks like I'm it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The Gryffindors had quickly headed back to their own table after that, chased away by the increasingly hostile stares of the Slytherins. Zechs crawled back underneath the table, and for the rest of the supper Duo handfed him scraps of roast beef and a couple pieces of bread. Blaise even joined in with a couple tidbits of his own, though if the big dog moved too fast to take them the quiet boy had a tendency to flinch away as though he expected his fingers to go down the beast's gullet instead.

Finally Duo had had enough, and he rose from the table. "Hey, B? Where's Sevvie-bear's classroom? I'm supposed to go get tutored."

By this time Blaise was well used to his friend's propensity to choose suicidally inappropriate nicknames for their Head of House, but that one still made him wince. "Er... it's right across from his private rooms, actually."

Duo blinked. "That close?" The other boy nodded, and he grinned. "Great! I won't be late after all! I still need to go get my books out of our room."

Blaise nodded and glanced towards the head table. "You might want to hurry. He looks like he's almost finished, and he'll be expecting you down there before he is."

"Yeah? Sounds like something he'd expect." Duo shook his head, then got to his feet, waiting for Zechs to crawl out from under the table before curling his fingers back into his scruff. "See you later firebug." With a wave of his free hand, he went down to the dungeons.

Blaise frowned a little. "Firebug?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He'd tried, while he dug up his books and supplies, to get Zechs to stay. It clearly hadn't worked as he was currently putting everything down in the classroom he was to meet his Professor in, the black beast at his side. "You better not get in the way."

Zechs looked innocently at him, and went to sit over by the side of the classroom. Duo watched him suspiciously for a minute, then went back to unpacking.

First to come out was the slightly crumpled sheet of parchment that held the list of ingredients he'd finally managed to find all of. Then came some spare sheets... oh, what he wouldn't give for some decent lined paper... and one of the two ball-point pens he thanked Shinigami every day for that he'd thought to put them in his knapsack before casting that damn spell.

He cut off his inner growling when he heard the light steps of someone doubtlessly trying to sneak up on him. He'd get to go shopping soon anyway. But the person sneaking up on him... That had to be Severus. He sat up and looked at him when he got to be a foot away in his looming. "Hiya teach! So what're we doin?"

There was a pause, as the older man's eye twitched, before he circled around the boy, only then spotting the animagus. "What is that doing here?"

Duo shrugged cheerfully. "The pup? He wouldn't let me leave the dorm without him, actually... I think he's decided he's my guard dog."

Severus glanced at the mutt, who proceeded to nod. "He's trying to keep you out of trouble, then?" The American nodded as well, and the Slytherin winced imperceptibly. For the first time in his life he actually pitied Black. "I wish you luck, then," he said seriously. "You're going to need it. I am beginning to believe that he may be worse than Potter."

Black blinked at him for a moment, surprised, and then started to look worried. Severus smirked thinly, his mission to disturb Black accomplished, and turned back to his young student. "You have your assignment?" he asked abruptly.

"Yeah." Duo reached into a pocket in his robes and pulled out a rolled sheet of parchment. "Any chance I could get some real paper whenever someone takes me shopping? This sheepskin stuff sucks. Whenever you try to write on it the ink just sort of... smears. Whichever one of you people decided to use it for everything was an idiot."

The potions master frowned at the boy's complete lack of tact. "Mr. Maxwell, do they no longer teach manners in whatever time you come from?"

By the side of the room, Sirius nearly fell over. Snape thought Duo'd time-traveled, too... Shit, the kid really must've been telling the truth.

The kid in question shrugged, plopping down on top of a desk. "Actually, Q was the diplomat... I usually just blew people up when I didn't like 'em," he said, smirking.

"There isn't any need for those sorts of jokes. A simple no would have done quite nicely." Shaking his head, he reached over to take the parchment and unrolled it, eyeing the teen he'd assigned it to. "You're sure you found all the ingredients?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure. The more poisonous bits were really hard to find, they weren't in the first book you gave me so I had to use another one, but it's all there." Duo waved a bit and grinned widely at the black haired man.

Put on guard, he unfurled the parchment and scanned the ingredients. "You make this, and you haven't managed to poison yourself yet?"

Duo scowled. "Why do you keep implying I'm gonna poison myself?"

The Head of Slytherin snorted. "Because I simply can't imagine you not, you foolish boy. From what I know of you, you're reckless and have no regard for authority. Those are not advantages when dealing with something so delicate as potions!"

The boy glared at him for a second, then smirked. "Fine. I'll make it while you watch. Maybe then you'll get your head far enough out of your ass to admit I might be able to take care of myself."

Dark eyes flashing a little, Severus turned and pulled up a chair. "Fine, do you have what you require for this concoction?"

Duo smirked faintly and started going through his bad. "Course Sev. Always have what you need on you, because you never know when you'll run out of something important. Emergencies and all that."

While the two started on a potion that Severus clearly thought was poisonous, Sirius could only sit back and watch. He never thought that he'd see the day when someone could manage his childhood nemesis so easily.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

By the time the salve was finished, Severus was looking a great deal less smug. "What did you say you called this again?" he asked, rubbing some of the cream between his thumb and forefinger.

"Mordaine," Duo replied, scraping the last bits of it out of the cauldron (really, a simple pot worked so much better...) and into one of several jars. "It heals minor-to-moderate burns within forty-eight hours, and I figure if you've got serious burns, you should be in the hospital anyway, not smearing a homemade remedy on 'em."

The potions master frowned as he suddenly felt his fingertips go slightly numb. "Does it have any other properties?" he asked warily.

The American blinked up at him. "Um, yeah. Soothes and cools pretty much right on contact."

"Is it supposed to make the skin go numb?" He frowned, wiping off his fingers.

"Yeah, that's really useful when you have bruises and need to run. That's what it was for originally really. The burn thing came later." Duo twisted the cap tightly onto his mixture and tucked it into his bag. He left one container for Severus. "I have a few other salves and stuff, but not with me."

Severus looked strangely at the boy. One of these days, he was really going to have to drag him up to Albus' office and pour some Veritaserum into him. Just to straighten out all the little mysteries that seemed to crop up around him like daisies...

Sirius sighed from the corner of the room where he'd been lying and trying to entertain himself by having a staring contest with a few of the various preserved jar contents. Damn it, but watching someone make potions was really boring... Finally having had enough of silence and mumbling over that damn cauldron, he stood, stretched, and strolled over to the two wizards.

Duo immediately glanced down and grinned, seeing the pathetic look in the brown eyes. "I didn't say it'd be fun to follow me in here pup. C'mere, I'm not working with nothin serious anymore."

Pleased that the two were apparently done, and ignoring the glare being directed his way from Severus, the transformed mage came to rest his head on the American boy's leg so he could be petted.

"So, you two know each other?" Duo asked as he scratched, remembering how the professor had addressed the dog earlier.

"...Yes," Severus admitted reluctantly. "We've never been... fond of each other, though."

Sirius snorted at that blatant understatement. The Slytherin sneered at him and continued. "In fact, I believe this is the longest we've ever spent in one room together without attacking each other."

The teenager blinked at him, horrified. "You'd attack a dog?! I thought you were better than that!"

The 'dog' chuffed in amusement at the suddenly flabbergasted expression on the professor's face. "Dog? But that mutt's not a dog..."

"He's not?" Duo turned to eye Zechs. "You're not? Well, then what are you? I know you aren't one of them Grims."

Sirius hesitated, seeming to be caught in a state between wanting the kid to know, and being completely and utterly terrified he'd get attacked if he showed him.

Severus couldn't help but smirk. "Go on Black, show him what you are. Don't tell me that boldness of yours has finally disappeared, has it?"

The animagus glared at him, then concentrated. Duo's jaw dropped as he heard a 'pop!' and the dog he'd come to almost love disappeared, and in his place was a man.

A rather skinny man, to tell the truth, and one who looked like he'd been in a fight. The Gundam pilot somehow knew, even without looking, that they would match exactly the wounds he'd been treating for days. The man had thick, healthy-looking black hair that reached his shoulders, but that was really the only thing about him that didn't scream neglect. His wizards' robes were tattered, and his shoulders were thin and bony beneath them, even after two days of regular meals.

Sirius stared at Duo with worried blue eyes, wondering what was going on under the boy's shocked, but otherwise utterly blank face. Damn Snape for forcing this! He'd been planning on breaking it gently! What if Duo hated him now for lying to him?

The silence and staring went on for a few more moments, before Duo abruptly grinned. "Cool! Could you teach me to do that?! I'd owe you forever and ever and ever..."

The animagus gaped. "You... you're not mad?"

The boy shrugged. "Well, maybe a little... we will be having a little talk later on about you keeping secrets while I'm spilling my guts... But other than that? Not really." After all... if nothing else, it eased his mind over the possibility of Heero being a horse... A cool horse, but still...

Sirius nodded a little in understanding and shuffled is feet. "I had to be sure it was safe to tell you..."

Severus looked a little put out that Duo hadn't reacted in a more extreme fashion and let it go. He couldn't have everything he wanted after all. "Maxwell, take your mutt and get out of my office, I'll see you again in two days."

Duo rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Yeah, sure. Great. See ya then, grumpy-guts."

Sirius was hard put to stifle his snickers as they made their escape out the door while the Slytherin was still in shock.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duo wanted to ask Zechs a question once they were outside Severus' classroom, but the man changed back to his dog form the instant they stepped outside the door. So instead, he held on to it until they were back inside the thankfully empty dorm.

"Zechs?" he asked curiously, dropping down onto his bed as the dog again became the man. "When those kids were picking on you, why didn't you just change back?"

The wizard studied him for a moment. "Sirius."

The teenager blinked. "Huh?"

"My name. It's Sirius. Sirius Black." He winced and waited, as though expecting Duo to recognize it.

"Oh... Nice ta meet you, I guess..." Duo narrowed his cobalt eyes. "That doesn't answer my question, though," he stated. "Why didn't you change back?"

Sirius sighed and stared at the floor. "Because I'm an escaped convict," he finally replied resignedly, his thin shoulders sagging.

And now was when Duo called the Aurors, Sirius thought bitterly as the silence stretched on. Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why couldn't he ever take things slowly?!

The he was surprised to hear Duo's bed creak suddenly, and he looked up to see the boy walking over to him. "So, what'd you do?" he asked, staring up at him with wide, curious eyes.

Sirius' own eyes widened. "I was convicted of killing thirteen people," he admitted quietly.

Duo stared at him for a minute longer, studying the animagus carefully. At last he snorted. "Nah. You've never killed anybody," he said, grimacing and walking back to his bed.

The older wizard simply stood there, shocked for the... Damn, but he'd lost count of how many times the American had managed to shock him that day alone... "How... how did you know I was innocent?" he finally managed to ask.

Duo frowned as he lay back, his hands beneath his head. "Aside from the fact ya haven't tried to kill me yet..." He shrugged. "One thing is the words you used. You said you were 'convicted of', not that you killed thirteen people." Sirius nodded, acknowledging the logic in that, and Duo continued. "Plus, there's a certain... mark, I s'pose ya could call it, that only someone who's killed has. Changes their stance, reactions... little things like that. An' you don't have that mark."

Sirius was about to ask just how the hell Duo knew how to recognize that 'mark' when he heard a step outside the door, and he changed back into Padfoot just as Blaise Zabini stepped through the door.

As the two teenagers quickly fell into another conversation, he curled up on a rug to think. Earlier, he would have said many things about Duo Maxwell didn't add up, but now... the pieces were starting to add up.

And he was not liking the picture they were forming.

To be continued.