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Harry Potter and the Secret Link	By : LeAnnRingo Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > General - Misc Views: 3407 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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~*~*~*~*Harry Potter and the Secret Link*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*Capricious Purple Clarity*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*Chapter Seventeen*~*~*~*~

A successfully Yule time holiday for a Weasley is rightly
defined as thus: no one smuggled in baby dragons, no one
brought any strange devices that the patron of the Weasley
family could declare “muggle” in any way, and no one found
themselves semi-permanently transformed due to a prank gone
horribly, horribly wrong, there and of itself, leading to a
successful winter break.

Ronald Bilius Weasley could rightly say that he had a
relatively peaceful holiday save for, oddly enough, a gift
from one Duo Maxwell (who had heard of Arthur Weasley’s
strange fascination for all things muggles from his youngest
son) to the patron of the Weasley brood. It was something
called ‘Tetris’, though Ron hadn’t had a chance to find out
what a tetris was; Molly Weasley had a hard enough time trying
to pry that odd muggle thing from her husband after the man
realized the purpose of such a game. The youngest son had made
a note to himself to ask Duo what this Tetris stuff was all
about, but he soon forgot upon his initial arrival back at
Hogwarts.

Harry Potter, Ron’s best friend since first year, was in the
company of Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret... with no
amount of bloodshed in sight. True, the two seemed to be in a
heated debate about something, but still...

Upon the sight of a Slytherin -that Slytherin!- sitting in the
common room as if he belonged there forced Ron to immediately
search for the Four Horsemen of the Apacolypse (which is
actually a wizard legend). He expected to see at least three
Horsemen arrive over the horizon any moment with a note from
Famine informing everyone that he was going to be late because
he had to stop for a beef bowl (1).

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s morally wrong to
simply take someone else’s stuff, Malfoy,” Harry was saying
irritably.

“Morals! Hah!” Malfoy retorted. “I don’t know the meaning of
the word. If someone doesn’t want something to get stolen,
they shouldn’t leave it out in the open. And yes, Potter, I do
classify leaving one’s trunk unlocked and unwarded ‘out in the
open’!”

“You’re impossible!”

“You’re insipid, but you don’t see me complaining about that.”

“You just did,” Duo Maxwell pointed out in amusement; the
American wizard’s gaze had been ping-ponging between the
participants of the debate since Ron (alongside his fellow
gobsmacked Gryffindors, for that matter) had unknowingly
walked in on something they never thought they’d see -or
wanted to see, for that matter- in their very own common room.

Maxwell. Of course. Ron probably would have yelled at him for
rocking the very foundation of Gryffindor life if it weren’t
for the fact he seemed to be curled very, er, intimately
around one Heero Yuy, who was another, more common sight to
behold in Gryffindor territory. Heero was just scary, and Ron
wasn’t about to risk his neck to yell at someone who appeared
to be in any sort of relationship with the guy. Well, not
while Heero was in hearing range, anyway.

“Bloody hell,” Seamus muttered dazedly. Four heads turned
toward the entrance to Gryffindor Tower simultaneously.

“Hey!” Duo said cheerfully. “Welcome back! You guys have a
good holiday?”

“We’ve been invaded,” Seamus went on to mutter, not even
acknowledging that Duo had spoken.

“By pod people,” Dean added helpfully, though Ron didn’t quite
know what ‘pod people’ were; he suspected he’d agree with Dean
if he knew.

“What?” Harry said, appearing and sounding honestly befuddled
by his housemates’ gawking.

“Oh, no,” Seamus said dramatically, falling to his knees and
clutching his head in horror, “they’ve assimilated Harry!”

“Don’t be so childish,” Hermione said waspishly, which was a
mood that had permanently been in place since Ron had met up
with her on Platform 9 3/4. Ron sincerely hoped the
flobberworm that had found its way up her bum found its way
back out again before it suffocated from sheer anal
retentiveness.

“And you sleep in the same room with these people?” Malfoy
asked Duo haughtily, smirking all the while. “I’m surprised
you’re not even more stranger than I already think you are.”

“You’re strange,” Duo retorted good-naturedly, “and at least
I’m still pretty in the morning.”

“I’ll always be prettier,” Malfoy replied with a toss of his
stupid head.

Ron would have cried if he were a lesser man. A Malfoy! In the
Gryffindor Tower! Godric Gryffindor himself would be rolling
in his grave! Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, however,
couldn’t be happier, being long-time secret members of
Malfoy’s own fan club. (“His hair! His eyes! Oh, if only he
had a more pleasant attitude!” bemoaned the members
frequently.)

Hermione approached the mixture of Slytherins and Gryffindors
(the horror!) with a sense of determination, completely
ignoring the presence of one Draco Malfoy as she seemed
particularly fixated on Harry. “How was your Yule break,
Harry?”

“It was okay,” Harry replied offhandedly. “Quiet as far as
life at Hogwarts goes.” Which probably didn’t really say much
in reality, as Harry rarely went a year without something
going on in the background.

“That’s nice,” Hermione said vaguely, her gaze going over Duo
and Heero before she eyed Malfoy wearily. “Malfoy.”

Malfoy replied with a jaunty, mocking return of, “Granger.”
Despite what it sounded like, Ron was sure there must have
been an insult in that word somewhere.

Hermione brushed him off quickly enough, raising an eyebrow
toward Duo and Yuy’s intimate state. “You two look... close.”

Duo grinned saucily. “Aw, Hermione, you can have a snuggle
bunny too; it’s perfectly okay! You just can’t have my snuggle
bunny. I’m selfish. Find your own.”

Ron blinked. “Snuggle-bunny?” he mouthed incredulously at
Harry. The Gryffindor Golden Boy rolled his eyes and grinned
at his redheaded friend.

Hermione seemed unphased. “I read that men generally aren’t
comfortable with intimate touching unless it eventually leads
to intercourse,” she said evenly. “Cuddling is either a manner
in which a man gets what he wants, or a sign of insecurity.”

“You read too much,” Duo said lightly, the smile never leaving
his face. Ron noticed that the American boy had easily shifted
away from his previous position from Yuy, whose Prussian blue
eyes, for once, didn’t display flat hostility, but suddenly
thoughtfulness.

“So I’ve been told,” Hermione said before turning back to
Harry. “I’m going to the library. I’ll see you at dinner,
Harry. Ron.”

“But we just got back,” Ron protested feebly as the girl
disappeared through the portrait entrance. “Spirits! That girl
and her books...”

“I told you I wasn’t exaggerating,” Harry informed Malfoy
smartly. “Hermione really does live in the library.”

“I never said you weren’t exaggerating,” Malfoy retorted
cattily, “I just said that it was stupid to devote all of
one’s time to the library. Granger clearly needs either a
hobby or a boyfriend. Girlfriend, if she’s so inclined. Hey,
Weasley -you’re slacking off. I expected the bookworm to have
you on a leash months ago.”

Ron bristled, hard-pressed to keep the flush from enveloping
his face. “Shut up, Malfoy.”

But the ferret just wouldn’t shut up. “Just snog the girl!
C’mon, she’s gagging for it! That’s how it works with you
Gryffindors, right? You snog, you get married, you have a
score of redheaded weasel-like offspring -hey, what do you get
when you cross a beaver with a weasel, anyway?”

Ron was this close to jumping Malfoy when Harry’s calm retort
stopped him. “I don’t know, Malfoy -what do you get when you
cross a ferret and a bulldog?”

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry. “Touche, Potter. I do not
look like a ferret. And Pansy happens to be a very nice girl.”

“Meanwhile, Ron looks in no way like a weasel, and Hermione
isn’t a beaver,” Harry replied. “Square?”

“Whatever.”

Somehow the exchange left Ron feeling a little disappointed.
Where was the bloodshed? His inner Gryffindor called for
controversy! This suddenly getting along with all Slytherins
bit just wasn’t on.

----------

Hermione felt vaguely irritated.

There was something going on with Duo Maxwell and his friends
-all of whom are suddenly wizards who were never called
themselves. Not surprisingly, she devoted most of her weekend
to the Hogwarts Library to sort everything out. As usual, the
library held at least some clues to the questions she had.

She went over the evidence in her mind. She’d read the
newspaper with the newcomers’ picture, over and over until the
article was practically ingrained into her memory. There was
very little said, despite it being front page news. Heero Yuy,
Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Rebarba Winner, and Chang
Wufei were wanted by Preventers, a newly established Earth
Sphere-wide prevention agency formed to protect against
terrorist acts. Even Vice-Minister Dorlian, former Queen of
the World Relena Peacecraft, made a public announcement for
the five suspected terrorists to turn themselves in for
questioning peacefully, though she clearly stated that it was
in hope that their cooperation would appeal to the government.
Lady Une promised they would not be harmed while under their
custody, and everyone from the President of the Earth Sphere
Alliance to traffic police were fairly demanding that the five
suspected terrorists turn themselves in “before things get out
of hand.”

Terrorists... in Hogwarts? How could Dumbledore even go along
with something so dangerous! What if the five of them had been
hired by the Dark Lord to take over the school, or kidnap
Harry, or... or any other nefarious plot?

They didn’t act normal, either. Perhaps Trowa Barton and Duo
Maxwell, and maybe even Quatre Winner, but that would only go
so far. Duo, always cheerful and vibrant and alive... it was a
rare sight to see the boy unguarded, but Hermione had seen him
in that state several times. The dark emotions lingering
behind those amethyst orbs made her shiver with uncertainty.
Sometimes his eyes darkened with anger or resentment,
glittering almost malevolently in the firelight of the common
room or some random hallway. Sometimes those noticeable violet
eyes would dim and dull with sadness or disparity or
lifelessness.

She’d yet to see hate in his eyes. She had a feeling she would
rue the day that ever happened. Duo was someone who didn’t
just feel -he felt passionately, with every fiber of his
being.

Quatre was almost a different matter. Polite, genteel, eager
to please and susceptible to other’s emotions. Quatre was like
the naive little brother that made one want to immediately
protect him, shield him from the evils of the world... but
sometimes, Quatre had a sort of disposition that screamed
‘I’ve done things far worse than anyone else in this world,
and if it were necessary, I would do it again’.

Once Quatre witnessed someone shove a little first year down,
calling her a mudblood. Quatre was shocked and hurt and sad...
but something almost maniacal flashed behind those teal orbs,
and gone was the innocent little brother, in his place a man
with murder in his eyes. Then he snatched that side of him
back and hid him once again; instead of going after the abuser
as Ron or Harry would have done, he knelt and helped the
crying little first year gather her things, murmuring sweet
words to comfort her.

Trowa Barton was a mystery. Quiet, reserved, and prone to
glaring at anyone who even looked at his best friend Quatre
funny. Trowa rarely said or did anything that drew attention
to himself. Largely he went ignored; but when Trowa did say
something, most would find themselves paying complete
attention to him. When Trowa said something, it tended to be
thoughtful and riddled with wisdom. He was possible the least
Slytherin attitude-wise, and when he was seen in the
Gryffindor common room, no one made any protests.

Once Duo was practicing his summoning spell with a wicked
dagger he vaguely explained as a present from someone he used
to know. He was having a hard time of it, and seemed to focus
a sort of single-minded obsession with getting the spell down.
So focused on his task that he was completely surprised when
Ron and Seamus deck of cards started popping so suddenly. The
dagger sailed through the air, thunking sharply against the
wall... hardly a few centimeters away from Trowa’s ear.

Trowa didn’t even flinch. No reaction, not even a sign that
he’d noticed the dagger at all. The entire common room was
staring at him, wide eyed and breathless. After a moment, he
reached over his shoulder and easily plucked the dagger from
the wall, flipping it end over end casually before sending it
whistling through the air back toward Duo.

The dagger thunked once more into the wall, centimeters away
from his cheek. The boy grinned wildly and chuckled, saying,
“Thanks, man.”

“No problem,” Trowa said softly before turning his gaze back
to the crackling fire.

The exchange had been more than a little unnerving.

Wufei Chang (though the Chinese boy clearly preferred to keep
with his culture and introduce himself with his surname first)
was a complete enigma. Ravenclaw and usually seen in the
company of at least a few of the new students, he spent about
as much, if not more, time in the library as Hermione did.
Chang appeared to be the loner of the group, preferring the
company of books instead of his friends. Hermione wouldn’t
have worried about him as much... if not for the fact she
could swear he was sneaking out books from the Restricted
Section frequently. It was only several evenings ago that she
was coming out of the library near closing, only to pass him
in the corridor, a familiar potions text hidden between
several apparently harmless books.

The last time she had checked, Most Potente Potions had a
permanent spot reserved in the Restricted Section, and it was
not accessible to any students as far as she was aware.

And then there was Heero Yuy, the second newest Slytherin that
was somehow unlike the rest. His gaze was something to shy
away from, for Heero always seemed to be weighing the pros and
cons of everything from his choice of breakfast to answering a
question when called on for class. His speech was rather...
deadened, with no emotional connotations attached, though he
spoke rather matter-of-fact. The things he said largely went
unchallenged, even if someone didn’t agree with him. That
stemmed from an incident in the Great Hall, when the earnest
Colin Creevey had sneaked up on the boy and snapped a photo.

The reaction was instantaneous. Yuy rounded on the boy,
pointing not a wand like most wizards were want to do, but an
honest-to-goodness gun -something illegal in Muggle England.
Hermione was sure things were to end in disaster, if not for
Duo suddenly making an appearance, cheerfully burbling about
how his Slytherin friend was so jumpy, always carrying around
a paint ball gun to scare folks, now, see, Colin, it wasn’t a
good idea to take a photo without permission first. With an
irritated glance at Duo, Yuy holstered his so-called paint
gun... but not before he subtly switched the weapon to safety
-things paint ball guns simply did not require.

Hermione needed to know what purpose it served to have five no
doubt dangerous criminals at Hogwarts. She decided to start
with the source -Duo Maxwell himself. With small abuse to her
prefect privileges, she managed to accost a copy of Duo
Maxwell’s records... only to find them suspiciously empty of
information a normal student would have. Duo Maxwell had no
birth record, nor any mention of parents other than a small
blurb mentioning that his mother was a pureblood witch, and
his father was halfblood, yet oddly enough, Duo himself was
listed under the status of pureblood despite his sire. His
progress in extra studies was phenomenal, and his grades were
meticulous despite his tendency to forgo studying. What was
more was that Duo Maxwell was under the close scrutiny of all
of Hogwarts professors, and it was stated quite clearly in his
file that should Duo show a tendency to lean toward Darker
learning, a prefect, Head Boy, or Head Girl was to go to the
Headmaster himself immediately.

Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy’s records were no better; in fact,
they were less informative than Duo’s had been. Neither had
any listed relatives aside from an adopted sister of Trowa’s,
a professional knife thrower in the circus. In fact, Trowa’s
former occupation happened to be a clown -which boggled
Hermione’s mind, as the boy didn’t seem to be the type.
Heero’s file was even less fulfilling -it seemed to warn the
reader to be cautious of Heero’s moods, for he tended to react
negatively towards surprises and comments that could be
interpreted as threats. Both were tentatively listed as
muggleborn.

Quatre Winner’s file was actually a well of information. Just
as Hermione had thought, Quatre was the only heir of Rebarba
Winner of Winner Enterprises, and the last child of thirty
children; twenty-nine of which were all female, and none of
them showed a talent for magic at all. There was a small
mention that it could have something to do with Quatre’s
sisters being test tube babies, not born naturally as Quatre
himself had been. His mother, surprisingly, was Quatrine
Malfoy Winner, a pureblood witch who had renounced her family
early on in the first rise of He Who Must Not Be Named. She
promptly married Rebarba Winner, a muggle man. He was
halfblood, and a Malfoy relation to boot.

Chang Wufei was the last of the proud Dragon Clan of L5, a
Colony that had self-destructed in the face of falling to the
OZ Alliance one year ago. Despite his origins, he was a
distant relation to Cho Chang and her family line, who were
all pureblood. It was assumed that Wufei’s line had given up
on the concept of magic long before Wufei was born, so while
it would seem he was muggleborn, he was tentatively listed as
a halfblood.

No prior school records, no medical documentation -even Ron’s
file mentions he’s allergic to shellfish (2), Hermione thought
to herself with a mental scowl as she shoved the files back
into the cabinet. Duo’s parents could have attended a
different school -but they aren’t even named! What could
Dumbledore possibly be up to? And why has Hogwarts all of a
sudden become a host to criminals? Why has the Earth Sphere
Alliance suddenly declared them criminals, anyway? All war
crimes and warrants were annulled and became void after the
Eve War!

There were too many questions and not enough answers.

Okay. She went to her scroll containing her hurriedly
scratched notes and read over them carefully.

1. Something is going on.

2. Mx GP; possible his friends are too.

2. HP knows something, but he isn’t telling.

3. DM probably has a clue, but he’s suspiciously tight-lipped,
as well.

4. W has M connections, but possibility of being in league
with the family is doubtful. W is ½, therefore, beneath the M
family’s notice.

She stopped there and hesitantly added as a side note, DM
appears to sometimes appreciate W’s company. DM unaware?

5. All may be ter.

6. AD is in on it, some profs appear to know; possible plan?

7. Mx PB, but parentage M - PB, F - ½; Y and B possible MB, W
and C ½.

Queries:

A. Why are all wanted?

B. What connection is there between Mx and HP?

C. What leverage could Mx hold over HP to keep secrets from
friends?

D. What is DM’s involvement?

Current Conclusion: More data necessary.

Hermione was bound and determined to figure this out, whether
Harry helped her or not.

----------

Unbeknownst to Hermione, the curious Gryffindor prefect was
being closely monitored. And Chang Wufei did not like the
implication that some upstart know-it-all woman was sticking
her nose in just the place where it didn’t belong.

He, of course, informed his fellow ex-Gundam pilots of the
matter. “She’s been hanging around the library a lot. I
happened to ask Flitwick for an example of privledges a
prefect had that other students didn’t. The list is
surprisingly long, and one happens to be access to student
records.”

Duo nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’ve been feeling a little of
the Granger cold shoulder, as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if
Hermione’s figured something out. I fingered her a trouble
spot since I met her.”

“Do you think she knows something?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she expected something,” Duo
replied to Trowa’s quiet inquiry. “In any case, we shouldn’t
act any differently around her. If she finds out, she finds
out. Hopefully she’ll use her good sense and confront one of
us before she goes off spouting all of our secrets to the
general populace.”

“Hn,” Heero grunted gruffly, probably liking the idea of
someone poking around in his business least of all the pilots.

“Relax, Hee-chan,” Duo said cheerfully. “Harry has some idea
to my past, and dragon boy knows something nefarious happened.
She’ll go to Harry and Ron before anyone else, and Harry would
probably convince her that we’re not bad people. We just have
to sit it out. No worries.”

“I’m sure she means well,” Quatre said softly, “but it really
doesn’t give her an excuse to pry, Duo, and you feel the same
way we all do about that. We have a future to look forward to
now; our pasts may not be spectacular by some standards, but
people who’ve never experienced true war could never
understand what soldiers like us fought for.”

Duo sighed, smiling softly when he felt the weight of Heero’s
grip on the end of his braid. “I know, Quat, but showing her
that it bothers us will just make her dig deeper. All we can
do is hope she’ll listen to the sermon before she cooks the
missionary.”

Wufei snorted wryly. “Only you, Maxwell.”

The American boy grinned. “I try, Wubear!”

“Wufei.”

“You always say that, and yet, it never helps,” the Gryffindor
laughed. “Give it up, man -I’ll never stop!”

Bloody Maxwell...

END CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

(1) This lovely imagery, I’m sorry to say, did not come from
my own creation. I read it somewhere years ago, and I’ve
forgotten the source.

(2) Hermione would be the kind of person who would go looking
through someone’s medical file just because she could,
especially with her nifty prefect status. :tisks: How
unethical.
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Harry Potter and the Secret Link