My Sanctuary

“Harry!” Harry’s heart leaped into his throat as he turned toward the sound of Hermione Granger’s voice, barely catching a glimpse of her light brown hair and slender form before she was in his arms, nearly knocking them both to the floor in enthusiastic (and slightly hysterical) greeting.

His arms circled her waist and he held her tightly against him as he closed his eyes. The achingly familiar scent of parchment, old leather and ink filled his nostrils, and he sighed in satisfaction. “Hullo, Hermione.”

As if these words were a pin jabbed into her back, Hermione straightened and shot him a glare. “Don’t ‘hullo’ me, Harry James Potter.” She told him sternly. “You had me worried sick! Ginny, Neville and Luna said you weren’t with them, Ron and I couldn’t find you on the train, I was SURE that you had gone out in search of the…” She trailed off, her lips pressed tightly together. “…well…that you had gone off alone.”

Harry gave her a mild look. “I promised you I wouldn’t go off alone.” He reminded her.

Hermione gave him a death glare. “Yes but you have a hero complex.” She replied with as much patience as she could muster…which admittedly wasn’t much. “You would have gone off on your own telling yourself that you’re just trying to keep Ron and myself safe and that it’s the right thing, even if it means that you’ll end up dying in a blaze of self righteous glory!”

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but Duo’s snicker from behind him beat him to it. “You have him pegged.”

Harry turned around and glared at the American pilot. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Duo gave him a shameless grin. “Not when she looks like she’s about to breathe fire. Never piss off a beautiful woman…you’re on your own, Green-Eyes.”

Harry shot Duo a rude hand gesture he had picked up FROM the American pilot, making Duo chuckle and Hermione shoot him a scandalized glare. “Harry James Potter…”

“Oy, who stuck a pin in her?” Harry was never so relieved to hear Ron Weasley’s mildly amused voice in his life. “And where were you? Nev and Luna said you weren’t on the train.”

Harry ran his hands through his hair. “That’s because I wasn’t.” He threw Hermione his best aggrieved look. “I would have explained if you had given me a chance BEFORE jumping down my throat.” She pursed her lips and Harry decided not to push his luck…he knew that she HAD been worried about him, and even admitted that her worry was probably justified. Motioning behind him at Duo, he hauled the braided pilot forward. “Ron, Hermione, meet Duo Maxwell. Duo, my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He’s the reason I wasn’t on the train…well…him and four others. They’re exchange students.”

Hermione pinned Harry with an intense gaze. “You were showing the new students around?” Harry nodded once, his eyes on her. “So…are you planning on actually ATTENDING school this year?”

Harry nodded again. “Yes.” He agreed quietly. “Hogwarts isn’t going to be a nice place to be as the year goes by…I can’t just abandon it and the people here.” This was true. He chewed lightly on his lip. “Ron, can the twins go pick up Hermione’s parents tomorrow?”

Hermione looked alarmed, and Ron gave her a deeply uneasy look before nodding cautiously. “Probably…why?”

Harry gave them a dry look. “Because you two are too well known. Ron, it’s not a secret your family are against Voldemort, and Hermione, everyone knows who you are. You got involved…and we need to make sure that your families are safe.”

Hermione’s face drained of color and her lips pressed together. “Harry…what are you planning to do?” She asked tightly.

Harry hated upsetting her like this. He felt like a jackass of massive proportions, but took comfort out of Duo’s hand as it found his shoulder. “Help set Hogwarts up for siege…gather as much of an army as I can.”

Ron’s alarm grew. “What about the…” He stopped and looked sideways at Duo before frowning. “…you know…”

Harry released a long breath. “Yeah…and so does Duo and the others.” He held up his hand. “I’ll explain later.” He stopped their shocked exclamations at his telling a bunch of students he didn’t even know the secret of the horcruxes. “If I do it right…Voldemort will bring the last ones TO us. We’re going to find the locket and we’re going to destroy it as publicly as we can…so that he’ll get nervous and upset and come for me rather than wait for me to take him down. He’ll bring ALL of the horcruxes…if only so he can keep them safe.”

Hermione and Ron exchanged a long look. They both looked at Duo. Duo flashed them his most brilliant smile. “We’re here to follow Green-Eyes around and keep him from being stupid.” He put in cheerfully.

Harry rolled his eyes. “You’re an ass sometimes.” He muttered, ignoring Duo’s chuckle. “They’re my bodyguards.” He shuffled his feet awkwardly. It wasn’t even a lie. “I’d trust them with YOUR lives.”

He knew that those words would mean more to Hermione than trust with his own life. Harry had a death wish and both Ron and Hermione knew it. It wasn’t so much that Harry WANTED to die…it was more that he didn’t care if he did or not. If he managed to take out Voldemort, it would be worth the sacrifice…and deep in his heart Harry wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have to do just that. He was at peace with the idea. Trusting his five bodyguards with the lives of his friends, who Harry valued far higher than himself was a different matter, a more serious matter and he knew that both Ron and Hermione would know it. “So they’re here…to join the war?”

“It’s funny…” Duo replied cheerfully. “…we live in this world.” He gave them a smile, but there was little mirth and all fierce exhilaration in the grin. “That means we’ll protect it and if protecting Green-Eyes is the way to do it, we’ll do that. He tried to get rid of us…it didn’t work.”

Harry rolled his eyes and Duo laughed happily. Hermione smiled quizzically and Ron shrugged mildly. “So where are we putting the muggles?”

Harry motioned around. “McGonagall’s putting up tents in the courtyard. When more start coming, we’ll have to put up more all over the grounds. They’ve been building a wall all month.”

Ron’s eyebrows lifted. “You’ve been here since then?”

Harry shrugged. “Most of it.” He paused. “Sorry I didn’t write to let you know what was going on…I haven’t been wanting to use owls much.”

“Worried about interception.” Hermione nodded quickly. “We understand.” She gave Duo an uneasy look. “Are the others inside?”

Harry glanced around. “I believe Heero is checking in the students with muggle families that arrived so we can contact those families and escort them here within the week. Trowa is checking the wall McGonagall and Hagrid made with Flitwick. Duo is with me. Wufei is investigating the dorms…ALL of the dorms…and I believe Quatre….” He glanced at Duo.

Duo smiled slightly. “He went to welcome the firsties with Hagrid I think. We were GOING to send Heero…” Harry choked at the idea of Heero with the group of first year students…he would probably convince half of them to go home before they even got to the castle. “…but Trowa decided that Q-Ball would be more suited to the task.”

Harry released a long breath. “Thank god.”

Duo smirked. “Worried Hee-chan will disturb the little firsties?”

Harry snorted. “Bloody right I am. I can just see him giving them all the third degree and scaring them into states of panic.”

Duo laughed and Harry turned to meet Hermione’s and Ron’s gazes. “I promise I’ll introduce you at dinner.” He assured them both. “They’re…unique...” He ignored Duo’s snort. “…but they’re good people to have around.”

Hermione and Ron exchanged another long look before nodding once and following Harry up into the castle.

0 0 0

Wufei disliked crowds. It wasn’t that he hadn’t ever eaten in a communal cafeteria before, but he disliked it as much now as he did in the past. There were too many people, too many voices, too many distractions. The worst part of all was that he was attracting a great deal of attention as he made his way toward the Gryffindor table where he could see Harry, Duo and Quatre already sitting. Curious gazes turned his way, some more hostile, others (mainly feminine in origin) interested. Wufei could feel his face flushing as he walked down the long tables toward Harry. No more of this…they were sitting at the end near the door from now on. He glared at Duo as he neared the table. “Move.”

Duo was seated beside Harry on the long bench, his elbows on the table. A wicked smile crossed his face as he looked up. “Wuffers…good to see you.” He greeted cheerfully. “You want to sit by Harry do you?”

Wufei decided to kill him. Really…it wouldn’t be hard and wouldn’t even make a mess. He would just strangle Duo with his braid. He could feel himself blushing harder, but took comfort in the fact that some of his flush could be attributed to the speculative look a beautiful girl was giving him. “Harry…who’s your friend?”

Harry looked up to see who was standing behind him, tilting his head back and pinning Wufei with his emerald gaze. Wufei froze as Harry gave him a lazy smile of greeting. “This is Chang Wufei. Wufei, this is Parvati Patil.”

“Wufei…I haven’t seen him around. Are you new?” Parvati’s interest grew.

Wufei glowered at Duo until the braided boy chuckled, sliding over to make room. Wordlessly Wufei sat down between Duo and Harry, his back stiff. Harry gave him a mild look of amusement when it became painfully obvious that Wufei had no intention of answering. “There’s a group of transfer students here this year…” Harry explained. “…I’m showing them around.”

“And we’re protecting innocent little Green-Eyes here.” Duo put in wickedly, holding out his hand, not caring that in doing so he thrust his arm into both Wufei and Harry’s face. “Duo Maxwell.”

Wufei roughly pushed Duo’s arm out of his face. Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled as Quatre joined them. “Good evening, Harry…Wufei…Duo…Trowa.” Quatre settled down beside Trowa, and Wufei watched them join hands beneath the table in silent greeting. Harry didn’t appear to notice, some of the irritation still on his face from Duo’s words.

It had been Heero’s idea to make their position with Harry public. Harry needed an army, and he would have to make himself a leader worth following. Wizards coming from all over the world to protect and join him would be a good first step…and so Harry would just have to get over it.

Heero stepped into the Great Hall one moment before Minerva McGonagall stood to address the room. Not seeming to notice the sudden silence as students turned toward their headmistress, Heero nodded his greetings to the group before taking his seat on Duo’s other side. “Good evening everyone.” McGonagall said quietly but with steel and intensity behind her words. “To those of you who have returned, welcome back. To those of you who are new, welcome as well. You will see many faces missing around the tables this year.” Her eyes hardened, and Wufei could feel the mood in the room shift violently from the excitement a moment earlier to grim sadness. He glanced sideways at Quatre, whose face was wooden, blue eyes focused on the table ahead of him.

Beside him, Harry trembled violently, and Wufei could see from the startled look on Trowa’s face that Trowa felt it too. Trowa reached out, his hand brushing Harry’s shoulder, and Harry shrank from his touch, his eyes focused on the teacher’s table, eyes filled with an emotion Wufei knew well…desperate sadness. Harry had lost someone who had been sitting at that table, someone who had meant a great deal to him…and he wanted no comfort as he thought about that person. Wordlessly, Wufei shook his head at Trowa, who removed his hand with an unreadable expression on his face.

“In times of great need,” McGonagall continued, ignoring the soft whispers in the room. “Hogwarts has been a sanctuary to those who need it, the people within united against a common enemy…that time has again come down on us. Hogwarts MUST unite. That is why, though you have all been sorted into separate houses, you will find that your class schedules have changed somewhat, and each class you will be immersed with many other students from different houses. Though individual dorms will remain locked from all save for the occupants of the room, the House common rooms will no longer be password protected beyond that of safety. Make no mistake…” Her eyes went hard and steely behind her glasses…and Wufei had to admire the way that her intense look instantly shut everyone in the room up. “…if you cannot get along with others, you WILL not be allowed the same freedom as the rest of your classmates. I will accept NO fighting, NO vandalizing of the House common rooms, and absolutely NO use of magic on the growing muggle community outside. If I find that ANY of these rules have been broken, there will be dire and serious consequences.” Though her voice became softer, her tone was still hard as steel. “Make no mistake that this will be the hardest year many of you have faced. Too many people have lost friends, family and loved ones. Hogwarts is a sanctuary, one of the last strongholds in England. Ladies and gentlemen, we are preparing for WAR, no matter…” Her face became sad. “…no matter how young you all are.”

Her head snapped back up. “Those of you with muggle families, your names have been taken down and aurors will escort your families here within the week. There are no exceptions. Those of you without muggle parents, think long and hard about your families…there are places for them as well. If you wish to bring them to Hogwarts before the end of the month, please contact your head of house or one of the prefects. They will be able to assist you.” She released a long breath. “Now that we’ve established that, allow me to welcome some new faces to the room, including our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Nymphadora Tonks.” Beside him, Harry seemed to come to life, and he, a pair of freckled redheads seated across from Harry and a girl with busy brown hair all clapped loudly, cheering. The young woman at the table stood and winked at their table before waving cheerfully and sitting back down.

McGonagall smiled ever so slightly. “Allow me to also welcome a few new faces amongst our students.” Wufei glanced at Quatre, who looked sideways at Harry, who was glaring at Duo like he expected this was probably the braided pilot’s fault. Quatre had gone to McGonagall asking for a public announcement to be made…none of them had informed Harry of this need…they hadn’t had much chance to.

“You have probably either spoken to one of them by now, or have seen them around the castle. They are exchange students brought here by Hogwarts’ need from all over the world. They will be acting as Harry Potter’s bodyguards while at Hogwarts.” Harry turned a shade of purple that was hardly complimentary to his coloring, and Wufei could almost HEAR the wizard yelling inwardly at them. He exchanged a long look with Heero, who shrugged almost imperceptivity…they hadn’t had much choice…and Harry didn’t understand yet how to play the games of war and manipulation.

“From the Salem Institute of Magic out of Massachusetts in the USA, please welcome Duo Maxwell.” Duo stood, waving cheerfully as every head turned his way. “From the Cairo University for Higher Magical Learning, Quatre Winner.” Quatre stood, his expression calmly serene, though he avoided Harry’s gaze as Harry sank down lower on the bench.

“From the Fire Ring School of Magic out of Hokkaido, Japan, Yuy Heero.” Heero stared at each face focused in his direction, blue eyes intense as he stared them down with a calm expression on his face, though Wufei knew that he disliked the attention as much as Harry did. “From our sister school, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Trowa Barton.” Trowa stood, one arm hanging casually on Quatre’s shoulder, moss green eyes disinterested, though he shot Harry the occasional uneasy look.

“And from the I Ching Institution of Magical Learning just outside of Beijing, China, Chang Wufei.” Wufei also stood, albeit reluctantly. He disliked making a spectacle of himself and equally disliked the speculative looks people shot him. He returned their curious gazes stonily, his expression never changing…then made the mistake of glancing at Harry.

Harry’s face was a mask of anger and humiliation, his eyes blazing shards of emerald that were colder than Wufei had ever seen. Seeing that Wufei (unlike the rest of the pilots, who were carefully avoiding Harry’s gaze) was looking at him, he pinned Wufei with a furious glare, making Wufei freeze beneath it.

Only when Duo yanked on his arm and half dragged him back down onto the bench did Wufei find the spell had broken and he could move again. He sat, but could feel Harry shaking beside him. Without a word, Harry got up and walked out of the Great Hall, ignoring both the brunette sitting across from them and Quatre both calling his name. Duo sighed. “Q-Ball, it’s your move. Go calm Green-Eyes down, hmm?”

Quatre obediently got up, looking resigned. Silently, Trowa followed, leaving the rest of them to deal with the curious looks from Harry’s friends, all of whom were staring at them. The girl’s lips were tight. “Harry doesn’t care for publicity.” She informed them icily.

Wufei glanced sideways at Heero, though he filled his plate as everyone else did. That was going to be a problem then…because everything they needed to do DEPENDED on Harry going public. With his reputation and charisma, he would be a glorious leader, but that meant having to step into the limelight. Obviously this was going to be harder than they previously thought. The girl hadn’t missed their silent communication, her eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m Hermione Granger and this is Ron and Ginny Weasley…we’re Harry’s best friends.”

Wufei gave the girl a more intent look…judging from the way she was looking like a cat who had just had a bucket of water dumped on her, she was probably Harry’s girlfriend too. There was a defensive look in her eyes, a fierceness in her expression. She looked like she could take them all on and would enjoy it. Dimly…Wufei wondered why he cared, or why he was now glaring at the girl like she had insulted him. He shook himself and forced his expression back into a milder one.

“You’re from all over the world…” A tall, stocky boy murmured, sitting on redheaded Ginny Weasley’s other side. His brown eyes were slightly hostile, his face, unnaturally thin as if he had shed all of his baby fat in the span of one summer, intent with distrust. Wufei rolled his eyes…what did Harry need any of them for? He seemed to be protected enough. “…but you all seem to know each other pretty well.”

Luckily, after being assigned to the schools they would hail from and doing some reading, they had been prepared for this question. “Well…” Duo stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth, making Wufei cringe. “…T-Bag and Q-Ball met when they were kids. Trowa’s part of a muggle circus when he’s not in school. Anyway, Quatre’s family took him to SEE the circus and the rest, as they say, is history. I got the honor of seeing him too…he’s actually really good…I can’t even turn a CARTWHEEL and he can do standing flips. I tell you, there is no justice in the world.” Duo happily dug into the contents of his plate.

Heero took over the story when it became apparent that Duo had no interest in finishing anything but his dinner. Looking resigned, Heero released a long breath. “Duo and I are pen pals…or were when we first started school. I got to visit him between second and third year, he came between third and fourth.” He gave Parvati Patil and a girl sitting beside her a cold look as they gave first him the once over and then focused on Duo with undisguised interest. They looked taken aback by his scowl and quickly looked away. Heero seemed pleased by this, going back to his dinner, ignoring Duo’s snort of laughter.

Wufei rolled his eyes. “Yuy and I are cousins.” He finished up. “I’ve known Maxwell about as long as he has, and my father knows Winner’s family. The five of us have been in contact for about four or so years now.”

“And as for the reason we’re here…” Duo flashed the group on the other side of the table a dazzling smile. “…T-Bag’s circus came to Paris and we thought we’d take the train over to see London while we were here…well one thing led to another…” He paled slightly as he looked sideways at Heero. “…and Hee-chan ended up in the hands of a few Death-Eaters.”

Hermione paled and the boy who had glared at Wufei now looked startled. They all looked sharply at Heero, who ignored them, his eyes on his food. “Potter showed up to help us stage a rescue…” Wufei finished quietly. “…we owe him…and so here we are. We’ll protect him and repay the debt of honor owed to him.” It wasn’t even a lie.

None of Harry’s friends looked surprised by this story, they all relaxed visibly and seemed far more at ease now that they had heard it. Apparently it was not unheard of for Harry to do just that sort of thing…which didn’t surprise Wufei much. “And Harry was okay with you following him?” The boy beside Ginny asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. “I’m Neville…Neville Longbottom by the way.”

Duo grinned. “Green-Eyes doesn’t have a choice, and trust me, you DON’T want to upset Q-Ball when he gets into an overprotective mood. He’ll eat you alive.”

Redheaded Ginny looked skeptical, but Hermione merely shrugged. “He seemed okay with it when he introduced us to Duo outside.” She smiled at them. “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

“Thanks.” Wufei nodded as graciously as he could manage and got up. “I’ll be back.” He glanced sideways at Duo and Heero, silently issuing the command to stay put and keep Harry’s friends occupied. Wordlessly Heero nodded and Duo beamed at Ginny before asking her a question about the school. Silently, Wufei turned and strode from the room.

He wasn’t entirely surprised to see that both Quatre and Trowa were in the common room, and the door to his own bedroom was locked. He pounded on the door. “Potter, open up.” The door remained locked.

Wufei rolled his eyes and walked into the room Quatre and Trowa shared, opening the window and glancing over. A small ledge barely more than a foot wide ran just below the window, and it was a sheer drop of a couple hundred feet to the ground below that. Wufei studied the ledge speculatively before slipping cautiously through the window. “Be careful.” Quatre ordered, his face pale.

Wufei nodded once to show he understood and inched his way toward his bedroom, back pressed tight against the cool stone. The night wind had a bite to it already, and Wufei could feel autumn in the air as he took a long breath. The space between his window and Quatre’s was only about ten feet, but it seemed far longer to Wufei as he patiently inched his way along, knocking lightly on the glass.

Though he didn’t see Harry respond, the window flew open behind him, and Wufei tumbled backward into the room. Swearing, he felt his head slam into the floor and winced at the pain. Harry’s face, torn between concern and anger, hovered above him. “What the bloody hell were you doing out there?!” He demanded, holding out his hand.

Wufei thought about ignoring that hand, and normally he would…but truth be told he was glad for the offer. He took Harry’s hand and allowed the wizard to haul him up. For a moment their bodies pressed flush together, and Wufei felt his heart begin to hammer against his chest as he stared down into Harry’s face. Harry looked startled, his face turning pink as he hurriedly released Wufei. “Are you okay?”

Wufei nodded. “Fine. You should have opened the door.” Harry rolled his eyes. “I should have locked the window.”

Wufei snorted and silence stretched between them as neither spoke for a long minute, Harry staring moodily at his feet. “You don’t like publicity do you?”

Harry looked up and his eyes flashed. “No.” He hissed. “First I’m famous because my parents died and I survived the killing curse. Then I’m famous enough for people to make up lies about me. All the publicity had ever done is make people believe I’m something that I’m not. Famous Harry Bloody Potter.”

Wufei could understand this thought…he hadn’t liked it much after the war either. Everyone knew his face, they knew his name. There was no peace. The others had handled it well enough (though he had his suspicions about Yuy) but Wufei had hated it from the moment the first idiot had shown up at his door. “My apologies.” He said finally. “We didn’t realize it would affect you so.”

Harry gave him a cold look and opened the door to the room. He stood in the doorway. “One of you mind telling me what you were thinking about when you did this?”

Quatre was the first to answer. “We want to make your position as public as we can.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Why?” It was obvious to Wufei that Harry would have preferred a much more private method of taking down his enemy.

Trowa gave Harry a shrug. “For the same reason you were public about your rescue of Heero.” He replied calmly, voice quiet. “You wanted attention of wizards. In this case so did we…there are wizards all over this world, Harry. If you stood as one and faced the darkness, you would have a better chance at succeeding against it before it rises out of control. Announcing to the world that the five of us have come from around the world to protect and join with YOU proves that not only should the world respond to you, but that people are trusting you enough to follow you onto a battlefield.”

Harry remained silent, his arms crossed over his chest. “You may not WANT to be a hero, Harry…” Quatre finished up quietly. “…but we don’t think there’s much of a choice. Use what you have. When you’re in public, be what they need you to be and then when you come back here you can fall apart and scream until you’re hoarse.”

Harry sighed. “Political games.” He replied in a dead voice.

Quatre gave him a stern look. “Political games are at times the only weapon you have. We know you can do this…” His lips twitched. “…I saw the video feed from your rescue of Heero. Be THAT Harry Potter in public.”

Harry looked helpless for a moment before his head bowed. “One of the things that worked for us…” Trowa continued. “…was that we came from different backgrounds, from different places and nationalities. The Gundam pilots gave the world someone to fall behind and our results ensured that they would fall in line behind a group of teenagers. Your story will be much the same.”

Harry studied them for a moment. “All right…all right.” He sighed. “I’ll play the hero.” He looked slightly sick at the idea…but seemed firm about it.

Quatre smiled at him. “Good. We should all have the same schedules, so here’s how it’s going to go for you in a day. You’ll wake up early and run through tumbling and stretching to build up your speed and endurance with Trowa. Then you’ll go to breakfast and class. During the free period before lunch you’ll work with Heero on gunplay before going to lunch. After lunch you’ll go to class and then during the free period during the twilight hours, you’ll begin swordplay with Wufei. After dinner you’ll learn knife throwing from Duo.”

Harry looked slightly stunned to hear about his future, and he ran his hands through his hair. “Merlin…I’m not going to have TIME to worry about politics.” He muttered.

Quatre smiled at him. “Harry, you’re not going to have time for much of anything. I’ll be monitoring your diet and sleep intake.” He gave Harry a kind smile. “Don’t worry…after a few weeks everything will kind of fall into place and the regimens will become less intense and taxing.”

Wufei nearly smiled as he saw the look of good humored incredulity cross the wizard’s face.