Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Never Say Let Go ❯ Chapter 17

Title: Never Say Let Go

Authors: Skeren Dreamera and Hoshi-Tachi

Chapter Seventeen

The next few days went well. For the most part he was left alone by everyone, something he was sure had to do with his... overzealous... companion. Sirius had slept through his Transfiguration tutoring the day before, so that hadn’t gone badly, but now he had been asked to go see the headmaster and to bring his pet. For some reason, said pet was far more nervous than he was.

The animagus was leading him through Hogwarts' labyrinth, presumably to the Headmaster's office, but it was almost painfully obvious that he didn't want to go. His steps lagged, and his shoulders drooped.

In fact, Duo realized, he almost looked like a child about to be scolded for something.

"Oi, you okay?" he asked quietly, reaching down and touching the animagus' shoulder.

Doleful brown eyes stared up at Duo pitifully in reply, the expression just screaming ‘please don’t make me!’

He tugged him off to the side and sighed a little. "Okay, are you worried he’ll know about you?" A shaken head denied that. "So it’s something else." A nod. "Do you think you’re in trouble?" Another nod. "Well, then lets get it over with already." And so they resumed their trek to the Headmaster’s office.

It wasn't long before they were standing before the gargoyle Duo remembered from his first visit. "Um... now what?" he asked the animagus at his side.

Sirius carefully glanced up and down the hallway, making sure there wasn't anyone watching. Thankfully, Albus still kept the corridor free of paintings, a remnant left over from the first war with Voldemort. After all, it wouldn't do any good to have a password if paintings could hear it...

"There's a password," he whispered, changing back to his human form for a few moments.

Duo grimaced, though he couldn't suppress a pang of amusement at the sight of the older man crouching on the ground with that bright red collar still around his neck. "Great. Just great. Tell us to come see him, and then not tell us how..." He paused and blinked at the wizard. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know it?"

Sirius shook his head. "Er... it's usually some kind of sweet," he suggested, before changing back. Being exposed like that really made him uncomfortable...

The American sighed. "Lovely. Okay..." He turned to the gargoyle. "Um, Hershey's? Snickers? Mars Bars?" There was no response, and he sighed again. "Look, could you maybe be a nice, um, gargoyle, and let us in? I mean, he does kind of want to see us..."

It was to the animagus' complete shock that the gargoyle complied with the request. Duo, though, unaware of the famed obstinacy of that particular statuary, simply grinned. "Hey, thanks!" He bounded on ahead and up the stairwell, patting the gargoyle on its stony head as he passed.

The Gargoyle seemed about to take advantage of Sirius’ shock to close on his nose then, so he hurried to catch up, reaching Duo right as the door swung open. "Come in dear boy, come in."

Uncharacteristically obedient, the teenager stepped in as Sirius reluctantly sidled in behind him. "Hello again, Mr. Maxwell," Albus said cheerfully, a twinkle in his eyes until he spied the animagus. "And thank you for bringing your, er, pet..."

Realizing that the Headmaster wasn't sure if the teenager knew about him, Sirius quickly changed back. The elderly wizard froze for just a moment, then relaxed as he realized Duo wasn't reacting. "Sirius," he said with a reproving nod. "How very nice of you to finally drop by."

The ex-convict winced. "Erm, about that... I meant to report in, I really did, but..."

Albus held up a hand. "Just a moment, please." He glanced at Duo. "I'm sorry, my boy, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside until this conversation is finished."

For a brief moment the American was annoyed, but then his brain caught up with his emotions. 'Report in', was it? And Zechs hadn't? No wonder they wanted this conversation to be private...

"No problem!" he replied cheerfully, stepping back to the door. Sirius sent him a pleading look, but Duo just grinned back at him, only slightly sympathetically.

After all, as much as he liked the guy, not reporting as soon as you could was a Very Bad Thing. "Sorry, pal, but this shit's just a little too deep for me to get you out of..."

Sirius has just enough time to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach before Duo left, and he had to turn and look at Albus' stern face.

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

The ex-Gundam pilot was just growing bored, leaning against the wall outside of the Headmaster's office, when Sirius at last poked his head outside the door. "You can come back in," he said, his voice ragged and weary, which rather matched his haggard face.

Duo just nodded, walking past him with a concerned glance. Sirius gave him a reassuringly smile.

Hey, he was still alive, wasn't he?

Inside, Duo nodded to the Headmaster. "So, was there anything you wanted with me?" he asked, standing in front of the desk.

Albus smiled genially at him. "Well, would it be too much if I asked you to host Mr. Black for a few days? You seem to get along well..."

The teenager grinned disarmingly. "Sure! We're buddies!"

The old wizard relaxed. "Ah, good. And now that that's over with, how are you settling in at Hogwarts?" he asked, fixing him with a bright blue eye.

Duo was about to answer, when Sirius saw him stiffen and flick his eyes just over the Headmaster's shoulder, a gesture that was rapidly becoming familiar. What was unexpected, though, was the sudden flash of barely-concealed hate in those cobalt eyes.

Whatever the reason, the American almost instantly relaxed again, grinning at the old man. "Great, now that I'm starting to get the hang of my wand. It was kind of weird at first."

Albus smiled. "I can imagine. And your classes? Have you been having any problems with your tutors?"

"Not yet. Professor McGonagall was a little scary at first, but she's not so bad once you get to know her," Duo answered, and Sirius blinked. Duo, scared of Minerva? When Snape's best glare didn't even phase him?

Then he caught sight of the odd light in the boy's eye, and realized that whatever had made that look appear in his eyes earlier had made him decide to do a bit of acting. Still more than a little puzzled, though, the wizard made a mental note to ask Duo just who he'd seen, and why he'd reacted like that.

Unaware of the silent drama that had just played out in front of him, Albus simply chuckled. "Yes, I suppose Minerva can be quite formidable at first." He glanced down at a few papers on his desk, and sighed. "I really am enjoying this conversation, but I'm afraid I do need to finish up some of this paperwork," he said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.

The braided teenager laughed. "Oh, goody, someone who hates filling out forms as much as I do..." He turned towards the door, more than ready to get out of there. "Have a nice day, Professor," he called over his shoulder.

The Headmaster beamed after him. "And you as well. Oh, and Sirius?" he said as the animagus started to follow the American out.

Sirius stopped. "Yes?" he asked with some trepidation.

But Albus simply smiled at him, blue eyes a-twinkling. "That's a very nice collar," he complimented him cheerfully, as the wizard's hand automatically went up to touch the aforementioned accessory. "I'm pleased you finally decided to start wearing one, it will make things much safer for you. Though, I will have to ask Duo how he got you to wear it, since my asking you to for years had no affect."

For no reason that he could fathom, except that there was something knowing in those eyes, Sirius blushed. Without a word, he turned and followed the Slytherin down the stairs.

Duo snagged Sirius almost the instant the man turned back to his animagus form and started heading back towards the lower levels of the school. "I’m sure you noticed. Take me back so I can tell you."

Realizing the tension that was evident in the boy’s grip, if not his stance, voice or expression, he hurried to get the boy back to the dungeons.

Unfortunately, though, Blaise was waiting for them. "Hey," he said with a quiet smile. "Ready for Divination?"

Duo blinked at him, startled. "Divination...? Oh, crap! I forgot!" He cast an apologetic look at the animagus beside him. "Um, later?"

Sirius was more than a little unhappy about it, but he nodded his head anyway. After all, it wasn't like there was anything the kid could do about it. School was important.

...Did he just think that? Dear Merlin, he could hear Moony laughing now....

Blaise looked back and forth between them curiously. "Later? Later for what?"

The teenager's mind worked, trying to come up with an answer that didn't make him sound insane, expose Zechs or violate his self-imposed honesty. Then his eyes fell on the animagus, or rather his unkempt and not very clean fur. "I need to give the mutt a bath and a good combing," he said truthfully. "I guess I'll do it later."

The dark-haired Slytherin nodded, accepting the explanation. "Well, shall we go, then? Class starts in fifteen minutes."

Duo grinned. "Sure. Just let me grab my-" He paused as he felt something tug on his sleeve, and looked down to see the animagus' teeth fastened into the robe's material. "What, you want to come?"

Sirius nodded firmly, still not letting go. He'd listened to Harry complain about the Divination professor predicting his death too many times. It was time for him to take up his responsibilities as the boy's godfather.

Revenge on Sybil Trelawney seemed like a good place to start.

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

The trip to the Divinations classroom was rather quiet, and they met up with Harry and Ron not too far from the door of the classroom. "Hello."

Harry grinned at them. A few repeat performances of Duo dragging Blaise to the Gryffindor table to eat had mostly broken the ice between them, though they still weren't really friends. Ron had stopped muttering that all Slytherins were evil with two such examples before him, though, so there was still hope. "Hey. You've got Divination with us, right?"

The American nodded. "Yep! Is it really up in some tower?"

"Yeah," Ron answered. "You even have to climb up this ladder to get into the classroom."

Duo frowned. "Climb up a ladder? What would happen if someone who was handicapped wanted to come here? And..." He suddenly blinked, and swiveled his head to stare at something behind him. "Hey, can you climb ladders?"

Sirius chuffed a little, moving up with the others to lean against Duo’s legs in amusement. He knew where it was. "Oh good, you can. Well, come on, no reason to be late."

Ron choked. "Si-Snuffles?! What are you doing?!"

The animagus sent him a tongue-lolling look that, had it been on a human, could have been nothing but a smirk. Harry stared at him for a few more seconds, then slowly grinned. "You're going to give her a heart attack, you know," he observed gleefully.

The Animagus just padded on ahead, following Duo up the ladder. Of course he’d scare the bat. He wanted to freak her out, as intended. Her reaction wasn’t at all a disappointment, as the people behind the American heard a petrified shriek.

Then there was an abrupt 'thud!' followed by utter silence. Gathering up his Gryffindor courage, Harry crept up the ladder and peeked up over the edge of the entrance.

Professor Trelawney was lying crumpled on the floor, her ephemeral veils pooled around her. "Wicked..." he breathed out, climbing up the rest of the way. "Ron, get up here! You've got to see this!"

Ron crawled up beside Harry and a grin crossed his face. "Wicked is right."

They were cut off by the upset shrieks of Lavender and Pavarti. "How could you? You brought an evil omen down on us!!"

As the two Gryffindors gaped at the furious girls, they heard Duo snicker. "Please. Don't any of you people have anything better to do than tell ghost stories and believe in fortunetelling?"

Lavender looked at him like he was crazy. "There isn’t anything better to keep track of!"

To be continued.