08-Sep-02
Parallel
A Harry Potter/Gundam Wing fanfic by Stormy
Rating: R
Pairings: 1x2 (more to be announced)
Summary: Heero Yuy and Harry Potter. Transcending time and space, the mystery of what became of Harry Potter is about to unfold.
Warnings: Shonen ai (1x2), possible SBxRL (haven't decided yet ^^)
Spoilers: TPS, CoS, PoA, GoF, (HP) Endless Waltz (GW)
Additional Notes: Who'da thunk calm and rational BEGGING would garner reviews? ^^ Thanks a lot you guys! What a way to restore one's self-esteem. I also noticed a lot of interesting suggestions; don't be surprised if one or two finds its way here.
Also, check out some fan art done for this fic at Crossover Corner's Parallel Pics Page, here at the Domain! (http://stormyfics.homestead.com/parallelpics.html)
Additionally, I apologize for the length of time it took to get this out. Hassles at work revolving around a constantly changing schedule, the death of my uncle, getting ready for year 2 of Police Foundations, and so on and so forth etc, etc, conspired to keep me from sitting at my pc for any substantial length of time, and I really do write all of my chapters in one-shot – I simply need to find a span of at least 3 hours or so in which to do it. The pics come out faster since I can do them at work, doodling in my sketchpad when the call volume is low.
Anyway, thanks again for all the kind reviews – I read each and every one, and they really are appreciated.
"Well..." Remus said, clearing his throat. "I can honestly say I wasn't expecting this."
Various murmurs of agreement escaped the other. Snape's eyes narrowed as he stared up at the empty, crumbling field that had once been the foundation of the greatest wizard's school that had ever existed. Piles of crushed rock and brick were all that remained, weatherworn and faded from years of exposure to the elements, and, Snape surmised to himself, probably a few wars of its own.
It was hard to tell that such an imposing structure ever existed. Weeds flourished and ran rampant through the scattered debris, the wind picking up the dust particles, lifting them up and settling them down, over and over again. Severus had to fight back the distinct urge he suddenly had to shed a tear over the loss of the one place that had ever truly felt like home to him.
Remus crouched down, extending his keener senses outward, trying to pick up even the barest trace of magic, of something familiar, but there was nothing. "It doesn't look like there was anything here at all."
"We must be centuries in the future," McGonagall said quietly, her sharp eyes picking out the details. "It is difficult to tell. When precisely did the calendar system 'After Colony' begin?"
"Another question to ask Heero when they return from work," Dumbledore answered her. Despite the sadness in his eyes, he looked the least shocked of all of them, as though he had suspected what they had discovered. Minerva raised her eyebrow.
"Headmaster?"
"I knew that Hogwarts had disappeared form this earth the moment we arrived in this time," he answered her unspoken question, smiling at the concern she showed in her eyes. "As the headmaster, I have deep ties with the very magical essence that makes up the school. I felt no such ties when we came here." He shook his head, turning to look back at the empty field. "I merely wish to discover what happened."
Remus stood up. "I can't feel any magic, either through my wand or using my 'alternate's' abilities. The most I can smell is something similar to gunpowder but more intense. This place was attacked."
"Voldemort?" Minerva asked, raking her eyes across the barren landscape. She couldn't take her eyes off the sheer emptiness. Remus shook his head.
"No. No magic, remember? "He smiled bitterly. "Heero and Duo told us how this world was brutalized by war. It only stands to reason that magic simply wasn't enough to stand up against it."
"Muggles always did have a talent for destruction," Snape muttered under his breath.
The four of them stood there silently for a few more minutes, listening to the wind whistle through the remains. Minerva crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back on the depressing sight.
"I believe I will return to the hotel," she said quietly, almost numbly, and vanished before the others could comment. Remus had a sad look of concern on his face but didn't say anything. Severus flicked an eye at where the deputy headmistress had stood and then looked at the Headmaster.
"I think Minerva has the right idea." He waved his hand at the field. "There is nothing left. And frankly, I'm not sure I want to see the remains of the Ministry right now."
Remus nodded and the two of them blinked away.
Dumbledore watched his colleagues disappear. He knew it had to be difficult for them all to see the remains of Hogwarts. The school was more then just a place of learning for so many of his students. It was a place of growing, of healing, of laughter and of love. Families began there, lifelong friendships struck up and forged in the face of their common enemy – the teachers. Hogwarts wasn't so much a school as it was a community, and despite the tempers that flared, and the oppositions built, he knew that there wasn't a Hogwarts student that didn't see the castle as anything else, no matter the voices to the contrary.
The pain in his heart over the school's destruction was immense but the knowledge that his Hogwarts was alive and well counteracted the pain quite effectively. Raising one hand, Dumbledore closed his eyes, feeling the magic within him, seeking the few thin threads that still lurked about the magical mausoleum. Remus Lupin's abilities were impressive, but being tied to the very school enabled Dumbledore to fix on the site, and view the school's destruction for himself.
A few minutes passed. A single teardrop fell from the older man's face, striking the dust at his feet, imprinting it with his sorrow. Then Dumbledore opened his eyes, nodded once in goodbye and disapparated without another sound.
Duo had been right. The instant he and Heero had set foot in the main conference room with Sirius, Noin, Hilde and Sally had fallen head over heels for the big, black dog, who obliged his admirers by rolling over and offering his tummy up for rubs.
"Shameless," Duo snickered, laughing even louder when Sirius had growled and rolled one eye up to glare at him.
Heero couldn't help but snicker as well, and once again he had felt Quatre, Trowa and Wufei turn incredulous eyes in his direction.
The meeting had gone smoothly. The new information gathered the previous day about the new White Fang faction, dubbed 'Razor Claw' in order to differentiate them from their predecessors, had been distributed, debated over and filed away with swiftness and it was no wonder – the new intel was pretty much beating a dead horse, supplying none of the pilots with anything truly unexpected. Duo had threatened to fall asleep halfway through the distribution but a few nudges from Quatre, a tug on the braid from both Wufei and Heero, and finally, a bite on the ankle from one highly amused Sirius had kept the American from dozing off.
"Stupid dog," Duo muttered, rubbing his ankle with an injured look. Sirius feigned complete innocence, curling up to Heero for protection. Heero automatically pet the animal, noting with a sigh that Trowa was staring again. Terrific.
"Are we done now?" Duo whined, waving his papers in an effort to get his point across. "We've read this stuff a hundred times before, but we can't do anything without more solid proof, something our agents have yet to come up with. I don't see why we have to have daily meetings about the same thing over and over."
"It's to make sure some of this information actually stays in your head," Quatre said sweetly. "Repetition and all that."
"Quatre?" Duo looked at the blonde pilot who was fighting to keep from laughing at the poleaxed expression on his friends face.
Lady Une shook her head. "Very well – dismissed, all of you."
Duo erupted out of his chair with a loud cheer, the others following suit. Sally muttered something about leaving a test tube on the Bunsen burner and left, Noin and Zechs tailing along behind her. Relena had bid them goodbye and the link between her and Sanq was severed. Lady Une nodded at all of them and headed off to do her own work for the day. Hilde had a training class to help lead and set off as well.
All in all, the meeting cleared out in remarkably short order, leaving behind Heero, Duo, Sirius and three immensely curious Gundam pilots who, as if on cue, looked at each other, folded their arms, and stared at Heero and Duo expectantly.
Duo couldn't help but laugh. "Did you guys practise that glare or what?"
"We stole it from Heero," Quatre smiled. "Now what's going on? Heero, I've been sensing conflicting emotions from you all morning."
"And I am curious about your new... pet," Trowa added, watching the large animal eye them with an intelligent expression. Wufei had nothing to contribute that the others already hadn't, and merely nodded in agreement as the others spoke.
Heero glanced at Duo who shrugged, nodded and then hopped up on the conference table, relaxing back. He jerked his head at the others, silently telling Heero to get on with it.
It was exactly as though they had a choice after all. Heero knew this from the beginning, when he'd woken up that morning and discovered two sets of memories in his brain where there had once been one. His fellow pilots were extremely intelligent, and not even two minutes had passed in their presence that morning before they'd already become suspicious. Trying to hide a secret of this magnitude was nearly impossible.
Not that Heero really wanted to try though. Quatre, Wufei and Trowa were his partners, his friends. Friends weren't something he'd even contemplated having back when he'd first been chosen as a pilot for Wing Zero. Doctor J had been adamant about his interactions with people, demanding that his time spent with others be as minimal as possible, as much as was necessary for whatever his mission happened to be. Meeting Duo, Relena and the other pilots had swept years of training away, knocking down walls he'd thought to be rooted in a deep and solid foundation.
And of course, some got closer then others, he thought idly, glancing at his partner and lover, sprawled out on the table. Much closer.
Duo gave him a wink, as though knowing exactly what he was thinking, and truthfully, Heero wouldn't have been surprised if he did. Still, this type of thinking was getting him rather side-tracked, and so he shook his head to clear it a bit, looking up at the three pilots who still stood there, waiting with varying degrees of patience.
"I have something to tell all of you," he began in a somewhat halting tone. "Something you may find difficult to believe and hard to accept." He chuckled wryly. "In fact, I've had a hard time believing it myself."
Wufei cocked an eyebrow at him. "Just your actions and attitude tells me whatever it is, is rather significant." He grinned. "It was rare indeed to see you so... shall I say flustered?"
Duo cackled, his eyes bright with eager anticipation. Quatre poked Wufei, a light admonishment, and then met Heero's eyes.
"Go on Heero."
The Perfect Soldier nodded and took a deep breath. "I've recently discovered some things about my past. Stuff I'd forgotten, that happened a lifetime ago," he said a bit weakly. A lifetime ago seemed like such an inadequate timeframe. "Things you may find hard to accept."
"Harder to accept then finding out that you were dating the one person you threatened to kill more times then you did Relena?" Wufei asked. "I like to think that after learning that particular aspect of your personal life, I can handle just about anything."
Duo straightened up on the table with a mild glare. "Oi!"
Heero sighed with frustration. "I guess there just isn't any easy way to say this." He looked down at the dog next to him. "And this is the quickest way to prove it." He faced them again. "I'm a wizard."
Quatre, Trowa and Wufei all blinked.
"A real wizard. Wands, magic, potions, cauldrons – the whole nine-yards." He smiled faintly. "This scar on my forehead—" he pulled his forelock away so they could see. "—is a result of an altercation I had with a powerful wizard as a baby."
There was still silence from the stunned trio who wore expressions of disbelief.
"Wizards?" asked Trowa.
"Magic?" scoffed Wufei.
Quatre said nothing, but continued staring at Heero with narrowed eyes. His hand rubbed his chest a little harder, as though soothing a private pain.
"I can tell you don't believe me," Heero said quietly. "I don't blame you – I thought the same thing when my godfather told me all of this."
Wufei spluttered. "Godfather? What godfather?"
Taking advantage of the fact they seemed too stunned by Heero's words, Heero rushed on. He knew that they were stunned more by the belief that Heero was playing a trick on them, even if he wasn't. His words were simply too ludicrous to believe, and Gundam Pilot logic would naturally take them to the most likely conclusion – their legs were being pulled. And if that were true, then it was Heero Yuy, in an act from him that was unheard of, that was pulling their legs. Hence, the shock.
"I know you don't believe me. And rather then try to convince you with words, I'll give you proof instead." He gestured towards the dog at his side. "I'd like you to meet my godfather."
Trowa's eyes narrowed as Heero introduced them to his 'godfather'. Something was up and he hadn't a clue what. It was unheard of for Heero to play a joke, let alone something this ridiculous. Still, his own sensitivity to animals was getting some rather strange readings from the bear-like creature at Heero's feet – the intelligence in its eyes and actions was so far from the norm for animals. Even intelligent ones.
Then something flickered, and Trowa's one visible eye widened in complete shock.
The dog was growing larger, changing in shape. Black fur turned into what appeared to be dark-colored robes, paws turning into human hands and feet. Really, it was only a few seconds before a pale-faced man with long black hair was standing before them, but Trowa felt that he'd watched the transformation for hours, each detail engraving on his shocked brain.
He wondered if he was losing his mind.
Seconds later when he heard Wufei start cursing in shock, the Chinese boy's eyes just as wide as his own; he felt relief wash over him. He wasn't the only one hallucinating.
Heero watched his fellow pilots intently. Duo was too, but his face had a look of maniacal glee on his face. Heero supposed a shock of this magnitude was the ultimate in surprises; something the longhaired boy enjoyed springing on his friends in the form of one practical joke or another. Duo had to be loving this.
Trowa had a strange look of relief on his face, and Wufei was still spitting out something in Chinese, his eyes round with disbelief. But it was Quatre who held his attention.
The blonde boy was still absently rubbing his chest but his face was more amused then anything else. Heero knew of the Arabian's intelligence; he wasn't their tactical expert and field leader for nothing. From the very beginning when Quatre had shaken paws with Sirius, something had set off Quatre's Space Heart alarm. He'd had an entire meeting to use his empathic abilities to determine what it was about Heero and Duo's furry friend that was setting him off. Heero had the feeling that seeing Sirius transform was merely a confirmation of what the blonde had already figured out for himself.
Sirius seemed to be thinking along the same lines as him. "You know, you don't seem very surprised," he smiled. He jerked his head at the still gaping Trowa and Wufei.
"That's the typical reaction I usually get."
Quatre smiled. "Oh I'm shocked all right. I was wondering why I was getting a human 'reading' from you all morning. I thought something was wrong with me."
"Reading?"
"Quatre's empathic," Heero informed his godfather. "He can sense things about people – whether they're lying to him, or if he's close enough to the person, whether they're hurt, sick, depressed, happy, afraid and so on."
"Ah." Sirius studied the boy thoughtfully. "Interesting."
"Yuy?"
Heero turned as Wufei croaked out his name. "Yes?"
"What the HELL was that just now?"
Heero smiled, suddenly feeling playful, an emotion he hadn't felt in years. Since Harry, he thought absently. "I already told you, Wufei. I'm a wizard. So is my godfather. This is my godfather, Sirius. Remember?"
Wufei nodded faintly. Quatre turned to look at Trowa, peering at his lover worriedly.
"Trowa?"
The stoic pilot glanced from Heero, to Sirius, to Heero, to Sirius again. Then he looked back at Quatre, his one green eye bright. "Cool."
Even after asking that one question, it still took a while to get Wufei to speak English again. Apparently, extreme shock robbed him of his ability to speak several languages fluently. And even more apparently, seeing a dog transform into a man in front of him constituted a substantial shock.
Duo was still grinning.
"Well, Heero," Quatre began with a wry look. "I guess further proof isn't really going to be required."
Trowa nodded in agreement. "Something that extreme was most convincing."
Wufei merely shook his head, still staring at Sirius who took a perverse pleasure in the role he had played, and kept waving at the Chinese boy.
"I mean, I believe it, but I still can't believe it," Quatre continued. "Though I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, empathy really isn't that common among man – yet I possess it. Who am I to think that other such marvellous abilities don't exist?"
"Not to mention the bond that Trowa seems to form with every single animal he comes across," Duo added. "I betcha there's lots of magic still existing today that we simply just either don't see, or refuse to believe."
"A common habit with muggles," Sirius said shrugging.
It had taken a while, but Heero, with Sirius and Duo's help, had managed to relay his story to the shell-shocked pilots. His story had fascinated them as it had Duo, and even now, Quatre leaned forward, frowning a bit.
"So what happens now?"
Heero shrugged. "I don't know."
The blonde sat back, chewing his lip. "Well, your teachers and him—" he said, nodding at Sirius "—Obviously came for you to return you to their time. The problem is, do you really belong there? And even if you do, do you want to?"
Duo straightened a bit from the seat he'd taken next to Heero halfway through story time, and gripped his partner's hand tightly.
"Where Heero goes, so does Shinigami," he declared. His tone was laughing but his eyes were very determined, something none of them missed.
"If you go back to this past time, are you in any danger from this Voldemort character?" Wufei asked. His mind finally back on track, he seemed preoccupied with the battles Heero and Sirius had described. "He sounds dangerous, and not one to be easily defeated."
"You call that easy?" Heero growled. Wufei held up his hands in a gesture of peace.
"You know what I mean Yuy."
"Never assume your enemy is down without proof," Heero nodded, easing off. Old training habits were hard to break. Despite Sirius and Dumbledore's proclamations, he knew better then to just agree blindly. After all, hadn't they all initially thought him dead too? He pointed this out to Sirius who frowned.
"That makes for some interesting ideas," he said slowly. "And not good ones either."
Heero turned to Duo who, other then his brief outburst, had had very little to say about the whole situation. "What do you think?"
Duo chewed the tip of his braid, a nervous habit he'd never been able to break. His eyes were dark and distant, a sure sign that he was mulling over the facts very carefully. And in atypical Duo fashion, he took his time, thinking everything through.
Finally he raised his eyes to meet Heero's. "I think you should go."
Heero blinked in surprise. "What?"
"I think you should go." Duo shrugged. "You need to come to grips with all of this – relearn about your magic abilities, your past, your history." His eyes lightened. "And you need to settle this whole Voldemort thing once and for all. I know you Heero. I know how you act. It's like I said before – this will drive you crazy if you don't finish this up and give yourself some kind of closure. And that will drive me crazy. Guaranteed." He grinned. "Besides – you've got family now." He pointed at Sirius. "You deserve the chance for a family as much as any of us. In some ways, more so."
Heero frowned. "I guess. But what about you?"
Duo looked surprised. "What about me?" He grinned again. "You don't think I'm letting you go off on this adventure by yourself, do you? I want to see this Hogwarts place for myself!"
Heero smiled at his partner in relief. Really, he should have known Duo wasn't trying to get rid of him. And he knew his partner was exactly right. Even if it was permanent, he had to go back. As it was, his memories were only partially complete, and he knew that they would probably only get more confusing with time. He needed to rediscover a part of himself he had never known existed. He frowned as he thought about the enormity he was about to undertake. A small ball of fear had coiled up in his stomach.
Once again, Duo displayed his own bit of empathy, reaching for Heero's tense hand and clasping it within his own, meeting his worried look with a concerned one of his own.
"Ahem."
Heero and Duo started at the sudden noise and turned to see the other pilots and Sirius grinning at them. Quatre shook his head in amusement.
"And people say me and Trowa have a habit of zoning. You guys just tuned out the whole world, didn't you?"
"Nah," Duo shook his head. "I was wrapped up in my whole world."
Wufei made a mock gagging sound, stopping when Heero glared at him.
"So you've decided to come back with us," Sirius said quietly. His face was black, but his eyes gave away the relief he felt at their decision. "You and Duo."
Heero nodded.
Quatre, Wufei and Trowa exchanged long looks. Then Quatre nodded briefly and stepped forward, drawing all attention on him again. Heero frowned.
"Quatre?"
"Do you have room for three more?"
End Part 10
No I have NOT skimped out on the story of Hogwarts destruction. I plan on doing some kind of side-story or maybe an interlude that tells exactly what Dumbledore saw when he attuned himself to the remains of the school. However, that would have drawn out this chapter when I really want to get the main plot of this fic up and running. Please bear with me while I get this story established.
This part was kind of, not rushed, but not as well done as it could have been. Truth is, I rewrote several parts of it and still found it to be awkward – I don't think I wrote the reactions of Trowa, Wufei and Quatre realistically at all. Still, I tried my best, and I'm moving on. ^^ Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.
Feedback greatly appreciated! And again, please check out my homepage for illustrations for Parallel!
Stormy
Please send comments to: dingostorm@hotmail.com