Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Never Say Let Go ❯ Chapter 14

Title: Never Say Let Go

Authors: Skeren Dreamera and Hoshi-Tachi

Chapter fourteen

Sirius sighed and, had he been currently capable of it, would have pouted as he sat outside the latest store Duo had dragged them to in muggle London. Damn it, what was with muggles and their ‘no pets’ laws, anyway? You’d think it was one of the bloody Ten Commandments or something...

After a quick stop in Gringotts to exchange Galleons for pounds, the braided American had insisted on stopping at first an office supplies store to pick up an armload of pens and what he called ‘notebooks’, and then at a supermarket for a few bags of coffee- which Hagrid at first stood against, but soon allowed after an application of puppy eyes the dog animagus would have been hard pressed to top.

And finally, here they were at what Duo promised was the last stop of the day, so he could buy something called a... laptop?

Duo moved around the store, trying not to groan out loud. The machines were primitive. Even he could fix something up better, but for that, he needed parts. He quickly set about picking out the nicest laptop he could locate. He'd modify it later. That process in particular took a good hour.

When he finally came out, Sirius gave the teen the most miserable look on the planet, making the American give him an apologetic smile. He'd gotten so wrapped up in what he was doing he forgot he had to leave him outside.

Then he remembered something. "Oh! Hagrid! We need to get Zechs a collar still."

Sirius’ ears went back, and the animagus fixed the teenager with a look of utter betrayal. Duo winced, and patted his head. "Sorry, boy, but if you don’t have a collar someone might try to take you away as a stray," he explained apologetically.

"’E’s right, y’know," Hagrid contributed, not seeming to find it at all odd that they were trying to convince a dog. "I’ve ‘eard o’ the muggles roundin’ up strays. Yeh don’ wan’ that teh happen to you, do yeh?

The dog continued to stare up at them plaintively for a few more moments, then whined unenthusiastically, his shoulders slumping. "Don’t worry, Zechs," Duo said cheerfully, ruffling his ears. "I promise not to get any of the pink ones that say ‘I Love Fluffy’ on them."

The mere suggestion earned the boy a horrified look, and the American had to hurry and grab onto his scruff before he could try to escape. "It was a joke! I wasn't considering it, promise!" The look didn't go away. "You'll like the collar, and you really worry too much."

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

The pet store, at least, would allow Sirius to enter. Hagrid looked like he was in heaven.

"Who’s a cute li’l pup, eh?" he crooned, practically nose to nose with several rottweiler puppies in a plastic pen. Duo laughed quietly to himself as he browsed through the small store’s selection of dog collars. Damn, but Tro’ and the big guy would definitely get along...

Consideringly, he reached out and fingered a pure black leather collar with a silver buckle. Then with a shake of his head, he pulled his hand away. Nice or not, no one would be able to see that against Zechs’ dark fur. Maybe the violet, or the bright red...

"Hey, Zechs? Come take a look at these and tell me what you think," he called out, staring between the two collars.

The animagus, after glaring at the puppy with all his might for a couple minutes, finally padded over to Duo, leaning against the teen as he peered up at him. He couldn't have picked something already, could he?

The teen picked up one of each of the colored leather collars, one dark violet and one deep red. Both had silver looking metal. "Okay, which one?"

Sirius stared at them thoughtfully, and finally nudged the red one. Hey, he was a Gryffindor, after all...

Even if he was staying in the Slytherin dorms.

Duo grinned. "Great! We’ll get this one, then," he said, putting the violet collar back. Sirius padded quietly after him as the boy bounced up to the counter to pay for the collar.

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

"Do I have to?" the teenager was whining long minutes later, scowling balefully at the little jar of Floo powder Hagrid was holding out to him on one broad palm.

Sirius was fully adorned with the red leather collar and a tag with his pseudonym. He didn't want to admit he rather liked it, so he pretended it wasn't there. He wasn't all that happy that Hagrid was going to carry him through the Floo, either; it was embarrassing.

Hagrid nodded, giving the teen what he figured was a reassuring smile. "G'on then, it’s nah tha' bad. Yeh'll see. Much nicer'n before."

Sighing in defeat, the American conceded to returning to Hogwarts by this method of transport... But that didn't mean he ever planned on doing it again!

"All right..." He grabbed a handful of the powder and tossed it into the dancing flames. "Hogwarts, the Great Hall!" he called out, trying not to choke on his sudden mouthful of ash.

Within moments Duo was tumbling out onto the flagstones of the Great Hall, which, except for him, was totally empty. He hurried to get out of the way, still spluttering, and soon after Hagrid arrived with the animagus in his arms.

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

They’d been in the kitchens for not quite an hour when the house elves had politely but nevertheless firmly shooed them out the door so they could prepare lunch. Neither of the boys really minded, though- Ron had had plenty to snack on, and Harry liked Dobby, but there was only so much of the energetic house elf a person could take in one sitting.

They stood just outside the portrait entrance as Harry again pulled out the Marauder’s Map to check where everyone was. The Gryffindor scanned it carefully, noting three students a couple corridors over and Filch prowling about not quite on the other side of the castle. He was about to put it away again, satisfied, when a new arrival appeared into the Great Hall, by Floo, if the little stylized burst of flames was anything to go by. That wasn’t what caught his attention, though, or made his breath catch in his throat.

No, that would be the arrival’s name.

Adrian Potter.

Harry stared at the tiny dot, stunned. He worked his mouth, producing only an unintelligible noise the first time he tried, but managing to actually speak on the second try. "Ron."

The redhead glanced at him, and blinked when he saw his friend’s pale face. "Harry? Harry, mate, what is it?"

The Boy-Who-Lived reached out and grabbed his sleeve, bodily pulling him over. "Look," he muttered, tapping the dot with a shaking finger as the Map showed Rubeus Hagrid and Sirius Black Flooing in as well. "Look."

Ron gaped. "Bloody hell..." He looked up. "But I thought those Dursleys were your only family?"

Harry nodded slowly. "So did I... At least, that’s what Professor Dumbledore told me. Why would he lie?"

"Maybe he didn’t know?"

"Maybe..." The wizard frowned. "Hey, wait, they’re moving... Hagrid’s leaving, and the others are coming..." He followed the lines of Hogwarts’ corridors, tracing the stranger’s path. "Towards us! Come on!" He grabbed his friend’s robes and took off down the corridor.

"Harry? Mate, what’re we doing?" the redhead managed to gasp out two hallways and a sharp turn later.

"I have to see him!" Harry panted back. "I have to..."

Ron nodded, and increased his pace, while Harry’s eyes never left the Map as they grew steadily closer to the two dots. They reached a corner at the same time as Sirius and the strange Potter, and the teenager’s mind shrieked out a warning just a little too late, as they crashed at full speed into the two wizards.

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

Duo hadn't been all that keen on the Floo in the first place, but he had to admit that Sirius got the raw end of the deal. C’mon, Hagrid looked like he wanted to run off and study him or something. Luckily, he was distracted before he could get past the lesser evil of thinking about it. Excusing himself as he remembered something he'd forgotten to do that morning, the teacher practically ran off.

The American teen glanced around, noting nobody was around. "Oi, Zechs." With an almost sigh, the animagus looked up, feeling Duo hook his fingers into the collar he was wearing as he started to walk, carrying most of his things in his other hand. "You know how to unshrink all this?" He lifted his arm in illustration.

An amused chuff answered him, and the older wizard nodded, heading down the corridor with the teen. The teen talked rather aimlessly about the laptop system he was going to put together, mentioning a few details that had the Animagus concerned over what the boy was into... Not that he hadn't been before...

"The whole weapon thing? I'll tell you about it while we're alone, okay? I guess you deserve to know who you're dealing with." The braided teen sighed a little, then picked up his step. "Let’s hurry up so I can put this mess away."

They'd just circled a corner when there was a rain of bags and bodies. Duo managed to land in a crouch as not to topple over Sirius, who was still injured, but Sirius himself wasn't so lucky. He ended up flattened by a redheaded boy. The little brother of those Weasley twins... Donnie or something. He was usually better with names, but he had other things on his mind right now.

Without really looking at the Harry kid he'd saved from his professor the other day, he turned to pry the kid's friend off Zechs. The man was injured, honestly. "Dude, you're crushing the poor thing! He's still hurt!"

He didn't really relax until he got a vaguely annoyed look and a chuff in reply, only then looking at the other two sheepishly, seeing for the first time the black haired boy's stunned expression. "Sorry about that man, he's just been hurt, and I really don't want to have to patch him up again. You get tired of that sort of thing after a while." He got to his feet, righting the animagus before looking over at Harry. "Oi, you okay? Both of you?"

Ron managed to shake away the cobwebs first, shooting a sheepish glance at Sirius, who was really more amused than anything, before getting to his feet. "Sorry mate, we were just coming around a bit fast is all... Harry and I will be going now, right?"

"There's no reason to streak off like that. We were just heading to my dorm anyway. I bet most of the students are still in their classes or something. You can help me carry and find all of this mess." He gestured around, starting to pick up the shrunk packages.

Harry looked at the map. Yes, Adrian Potter was moving around right next to his feet. He looked back at Duo. Yep, the American had gotten Ron to help him deal with his packages, and Sirius was watching in something that seemed to be affectionate amusement... and worry? Map. People. Map. People.

He tapped the map once, and said clearly: "Mischief managed."

The longhaired boy got to his feet, last package held between his fingers. "You don't mean to tell me you tackled me and Zechs on purpose do ya? I thought you liked us!"

Straightening his glasses, the boy-who-couldn't-get-himself-killed shook his head. "I like you fine... but you said your name was Duo Maxwell, right?"

The smile the boy had on his face wavered a little, and he gave Harry a vaguely wary look. "Of course I did. I don't lie."

"Is it?" He moved forward a little, seemingly heedless of the suspicion he was garnering.

"It's the only name I know." His fingers itched to do something, but he wasn't exactly feeling threatened at the moment. More... a sense of premonition.

"Well, I'll tell you the one that interests me." Lifting the map in his hand, and grateful for class being in session, he reactivated the map, showing it to Duo, much to Ron's shock. He then pointed out the name that had sent him this direction. "The name Adrian Potter is the one that interests me."

And amazingly, Duo seemed to be in about the same level of shock that Harry had been in. It came through in a dazed whisper. "I have family?"