28-Jul-02)
Parallel
A Harry Potter/Gundam Wing fanfic by Stormy
Rating: R
Pairings: 1x2 (more to be announced)
Warnings: Shonen ai (1x2), possible SBxRL (haven't decided yet ^^)
Spoilers: TPS, CoS, PoA, GoF, (HP) Endless Waltz (GW)
Additional Notes: This chapter deals with part of the explanation. The rest will be done in chapter 6. By chapter 7, you will start to see some action.
"To start with, we need to go back six weeks ago, Mr. Yuy. Six weeks ago marked the end of the school year for you and your peers in your fifth year. As you've heard and of course, dreamed, each year has been marked in some way, by a tragic event. Sadly, this year proved to be no exception." Dumbledore's silver brows drooped slightly. Heero tensed.
"As a result of Harry's bond with the dark wizard Voldemort, forged from the blood ceremony Voldemort performed last year during the Triwizard tournament, Voldemort discovered that he could come to Harry in his dreams. As well, the pain in his scar that he felt whenever Voldemort was near began to intensify. It was as if the tentative bond they had ever since that fateful day in Godric's Hollow years ago, had been boosted in power.
Harry knew of this of course. You – he – were very attuned to what you could and could not read from Voldemort. And as Ron and Hermione were your best friends, and Sirius your trusted godfather, you told them as many details as possible, keeping everyone in a well-informed loop.
Voldemort decided to try again to destroy you. Despite the number of his followers – his Death Eaters – the Ministry and their Auror's have been able to put away, Voldemort still has quite the large following, and his fanatical zeal seemed to overflow whenever he thought of killing you. Professor Snape, a trusted spy for our side, informed me that dissention was starting to grow among the ranks of the Death Eaters, as time after time a single young child was continuously able to defeat their dark Lord. Voldemort decided that the time for the final confrontation between you and he had come."
Dumbledore paused to see how his audience was handling the story he was weaving. The Professor's had blank expressions that would have made any wizard chess player proud, but Sirius was watching his godson with a look of extreme unhappiness. If he looked a little closer, Dumbledore could see hints of guilt in those dark eyes.
Ron and Hermione were perched next to each other and as the story progressed, they seemed to inch even closer, as though subconsciously seeking solace from each other as they knew what lay ahead. The young boy, Duo Maxwell had an enraptured look on his face, enthralled by the story about his lover. And Heero...
Dumbledore searched that stone face for the hints of Harry he could feel fighting to break free from their cage inside of Heero's mind, but the boy's face was completely closed off. He was listening with a focused attention that Dumbledore remembered from their discussions about his nightmares, but with a calmness that was completely foreign. What kind of life had Harry experienced as Heero that could result in such a distinct and noticeable change?
Shaking himself, the Headmaster nodded once and continued on with the story.
"It was during the last trip the students had to Hogsmeade, a village located not far from the school. It's a rather popular place for the students, and we try to arrange visits there to give students a chance to relax and have fun away from the school
You, Heero, or Harry, went as usual, with Ron and Hermione. You met up with Remus Sirius in his...he was in a disguise so as not to be recognized. At the end of the day, the students began to gather in a group for the trip home."
Dumbledore's voice dropped slightly. "A swarm of Death Eaters came out of nowhere and began attacking at what seemed to be completely random people. The Patil twins were injured in the first wave, as was Ginny Weasely, Cho Chang, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst.
You, Ron and Hermione retaliated in a manner most impressive, and Sirius helped enormously, particularly in the capturing of one particular Death Eater... but I shall go on about that later.
Voldemort was there too, even though no one could see him. But you Heero, you have always been sensitive to Voldemort's whereabouts and when your scar started stinging, you chose to hunt him down, leaving the main battle."
Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Hermione and Ron noticed you were missing almost immediately, and set out to find you. Ron asked his brothers Fred and George to find the teachers in the vicinity and then told Sirius and Remus what happened. They began to search all of Hogsmeade for you and it wasn't until an explosion was set off on the north side of the village that they did."
Remus cut in gently. "We followed the sound of the explosion and saw Voldemort screaming in agony. Black smoke was circling him and he was slowly disappearing, kind of like – what did you call it, Hermione?"
"A fade-to-black," Hermione said shakily. "Like on a muggle TV set. He was just being blacked out, fading into nothing."
"We looked for you," Ron added quietly. His muscles were impossibly tense. "We watched Voldemort disappear and then ran like crazy, hoping to find you." His lips clamped shut and he looked down. Hermione lay a gentle hand on his arm in a soothing gesture.
"I was able to track you somewhat," Sirius said after a minute. His voice was hoarse. "I have a special means of doing so, and I used it. There was no trace of you anywhere – not even..." he swallowed. "Even if you'd been killed, blown up or burned—" Hermione closed her eyes and Ron choked. "—I would have sensed it. But there was absolutely nothing."
"I was the first person to find them all," spoke McGonagall. The grey-haired professor's voice was perfectly steady even though her face was white. "I found Sirius and Remus casting search spell after search spell. Hermione and Ron were a bit... too shaken to do much more then watch."
"Rather polite way of saying we were useless," Ron muttered.
Dumbledore took over again.
"The Ministry and its Auror's arrived—"
"Late as usual," Sirius growled. Remus shushed him.
"—And took charge of the situation, sending everyone home. After conducting a thorough search, they announced that Voldemort had been defeated and Harry Potter had been killed."
Sirius abruptly stood up and left the room. Heero and Duo watched with surprise as even Snape failed to make a single comment. Heero had caught a glimpse of the anguished and frustrated look on Sirius's face as he pushed through the door and bit his lip. Remus looked at the two of them apologetically.
"He took your death really hard, Har-Heero. You two never get to spend much time together, and you're his and my last link to our old friends. Sirius told you he is your godfather?"
Heero nodded mutely.
"He's never had a chance to truly be one. He blamed himself for not being around more, for not being more careful all those years ago. He thinks it's his fault you grew up with the Dursely's, and he was so mad at himself when he had to leave you after the Triwizard tournament last year. He didn't want to – you were such an emotional wreck—"
Duo gaped in astonishment.
"—but the Order needed to be gathered and Sirius was the best person for the job."
"That was my fault, not his," Dumbledore said quietly. "I was the one who asked him to retrieve the others. But I knew Harry would understand the importance."
Heero shrugged noncommittally. "Is Sirius a criminal?"
Shocked gasps echoed through the room. Even Snape looked astonished at Heero's question. Ron swallowed hard. "Harry?"
"Heero. And it's a reasonable question. So was he?"
Duo saw the confusion on all of their faces and decided to take pity on them. "What he means is that from the story you've given us, you've alluded to the fact that Sirius uses a disguise when he travels, and was never given much time to spend with Harry even though he obviously wanted to. Finally, something happened all those years ago that Sirius obviously blames himself for and tries to avoid being seen. Given that line of reasoning and taking into consideration the line of work we're both in, the obvious two conclusions is that Sirius is either a spy, or a criminal you're all harbouring. So which is it?"
"A little of both, actually."
Heads looked up as Sirius re-entered the room, looking worn and haggard. Remus looked like he wanted to go to him, but Sirius waved him off. "I was wrongfully imprisoned years ago. The Ministry thought I was the one who betrayed your parents to Voldemort, leading to their deaths. It was actually another... associate of ours, Peter Pettigrew. But he framed me." Sirius sat back down, sighing harshly. "I escaped Azkaban. Dumbledore, Remus, Minerva – almost all of the Hogwarts staff knows of me and my innocence. But the Ministry refused to believe me. It was only recently that the situation was rectified, so to speak."
"Meaning?"
"The Death Eater Sirius captured was Peter Pettigrew. He had faked his own death years ago, and him alive was a big leap for Sirius. The Ministry charged Peter with the deaths of James and Lily Potter and set me free legally." Sirius smiled sorrowfully. "But at the time it was announced, I was in... well, I wasn't in the best shape to appreciate it."
"He was drunk," Remus clarified. "Your supposed death hit all of us hard, him most of all." Sirius turned red.
"What did you expect?" he asked hotly. He turned to Heero and the pilot was startled to see tears in those dark eyes. "I was free – legal, able and willing to finally take my place as your legal guardian, as I should have been all those years. I had almost had that chance the year I escaped – I even asked you if you wanted to come live with me that summer instead of the Dursely's. You were so happy at the thought of leaving them that you jumped at the chance!"
"We had captured Peter," Remus explained. A self-loathing expression crossed his face. "But thanks to a problem of mine, he escaped. The Ministry captured Sirius again, but you and Hermione, thanks to Dumbledore, were able to rescue him. Fudge wasn't too happy about that."
"Fudge?" Duo asked, wrinkling his nose. Remus nodded.
"The former Minister of Magic."
"Former?"
"As of last week," Minerva spoke up. "In light of Fudge's incompetence regarding Voldemort, the wizarding community had enough of his bumbling. Until a new Minister is elected, Dumbledore is temporarily in charge."
Tentative smiles broke the tenseness of the situation. Heero nodded shortly, but something was still puzzling him. He stared at Remus.
"Does the 'problem' you spoke of have to do with the... feelings, I got from you earlier?"
Snape smirked from where he was quietly watching the proceedings. "This version of Potter doesn't seem to miss much. I am impressed."
Sirius glared at Snape, but Remus nodded. "Yes, it does."
Heero eyed him curiously, thoughtfully, and then shrugged again. Hermione frowned.
"You don't seem... well, very enthusiastic about any of this Harry."
"That's because I'm not Harry," Heero replied calmly. "And I choose to reserve any judgements and/or opinions until the whole story has been told." That said, he turned back to Dumbledore. The chill at the base of his spine had lessened slightly during the story telling, as though subconsciously, he was glad things had turned out the way they claimed. Still, even if their story had any relevance whatsoever, he was still Heero Yuy, and he refused to get sidetracked from why they thought he was anything different. "Continue please."
The elderly wizard nodded. "We were all shocked and upset over the Ministry's callous disregard for the possibility that you might have been alive. There was no trace of your physical presence – but the Auror's, under Fudge's directions, refused to think of other possibilities, such as apparition or another port key."
Sirius blanched. Hermione and Ron exchanged looks that told Heero they seemed to be quite glad a port key wasn't involved. Now how did I know that?
"I began to do an investigation of my own. Sirius, Ron and Hermione were a great help, as was Professor Snape in concocting various potions that could trace or track elements, or react when in the proximity of something I was looking for." Dumbledore looked at Professor Snape. "If you could explain the potion that worked the best, Severus?"
Snape shrugged. "Of course." Facing the rest of them, he adopted a facial expression that reminded Heero of a particularly pompous teacher he and Duo had once had while undercover at a school near a mobile doll plant. The teacher seemed to know everything and made sure everyone knew it. Snape had the same look on his face. Heero smiled slightly, and knew when he heard Duo snickering, that the American had thought of the same thing.
"When the Headmaster asked me to accompany Black, Granger and Weasely to the site, I began to search for traces of anything that might have been used in a potion. The Ministry doesn't have a single Auror with the least amount of proficiency in potions, and therefore did not know that potions, not just spells, are capable of relocating people, turning them invisible, shrinking them down for easy transport and so on. Oh no, they all think that a wand must be waved and silly incantations chanted—"
"If we could please stick to the point?" Professor McGonagall asked pointedly. Snape glowered at her.
"I found several ingredients that are quite rare, and only a Master would know the various potions they could create. One that we later discovered was what happened to Mr. Potter was the Spirit Spell potion. The potion was used hundreds of years ago by muggle shamans who probably stole it from wizards, to travel to the Spirit world, to commune with their ancestors.
The properties of this potion are quite complex, and they had darker uses as well. It was used as the final punishment for wizard offenders before Azkaban was built as a more humane way of letting criminals serve lengthy prison terms. The potion, when brewed properly and with the right adjustments in the ingredient levels, could send a person's mind fleeing the safety of their own head. Then, the body was woken before the spirit could return, leaving the body a mere husk without a mind to run it. The method was abandoned when Azkaban was built."
"And now they use Dementor's to accomplish the exact same thing," Sirius muttered bitterly. "Nice to see we've progressed to more humane punishments." Remus stroked his arm gently. Heero cocked his head to one side, his eyes narrowed.
"So what you're saying then, is that you believe this potion was used on Harry Potter, sending his mind fleeing somewhere? Landing in me?"
Snape paused, unsure of what to say next. Heero watched him, his mind racing to assimilate and process this new information. Snape hesitantly turned to Dumbledore who captured Heero's attention.
"Not... quite." The white-haired Headmaster spoke quietly. "According to Severus, who analysed the potion quite thoroughly, the ingredients used were similar, but the amounts were different. And there was the addition of a Kikan Utsuso plant, that made quite a difference."
"The Kikan Utsuso plant is a very rare plant that comes from the remote island mountains of Japan," Snape explained. "Very rare, and very dangerous. It was thought for years to be extinct, and it mostly is these days. You can only get this plant in certain areas of Japan, and the Japanese Ministry protects those areas. No one is allowed in their special gardens, not even other visiting Ministers. Yet somehow, Voldemort got a hold of this plant. I can only surmise that he had a Death Eater in one of the garden guards, or that his power is just so great that he was able to break in undetected."
"What did this plant do?" Duo asked curiously.
"The plant, in English and loosely translated, means to transport to a specific time and place. The plant itself was what the Time Turners, when they were invented, were based on. In fact, all Time Turners have a tiny, modified leaf of the Kikan Utsuso ground up in the sand of the Turner body. But it was done in such a way that even if you took all the Time Turners in the world and extracted the fragments of the leaf from the sand, you'd barely have enough to transport a bug, let alone a whole person. You need a whole plant, a pure plant, untouched or modified in any way, to do what was done."
"What Severus thinks happened was remarkable," Dumbledore spoke up. "The addition of the plant changed the potion from sending just your mind hurtling through time and space."
Heero had the distinct idea that he knew where this was going. Duo nodded grimly.
"It sent him."
End Chapter 5
Feedback please? Honestly, it encourages me to write faster!
Stormy
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