Redemption

Chapter Five:

Wufei's eyes snapped open, and he rolled onto his side to see a white owl perched on the window sill. The bird was tapping on the glass pane with its beak and carried a letter on its leg.

"Come in, Hedwig," he said, unlocking the window and pulling it up so the owl could come inside.

Hedwig ruffled her feathers and lifted her leg so Wufei could take the scroll of parchment tied there. The boy unrolled the letter and picked up his reading glasses from the bedside table. As he began to read, Hedwig nudged his hand lightly, and he scratched her feathers unconsciously.

Dear Wufei:

I'm writing from Hogwarts, and I miss you already. I've been thinking about you all day. I don't know how I'll make it through the week, let alone a whole year. My friends are here with me, but it feels as though something is missing without you. Remus is here. That was the surprise Dobby mentioned. He's going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again. I felt a little better to see him. Somehow, it feels as though I have a sort of link to you when he's around. You know, Cho Chang approached me today. I realized then exactly how much I really do love you. Heheh, Chang. That reminds me. Do you have any long lost sisters? Joking. Although, she does look a little like you, and, of course, there's the name.

Please write soon. I love you,

Harry.

"I love you..." Wufei read the letter a couple more times, and then smiled at Hedwig before thinking twice and lightly hugging her, placing a small kiss on her beak. She hooted indignantly, and nipped his thumb, which made him laugh.

He told her to stay put for a moment, and went to get a dish of water and some biscuits. Crumbling the biscuits in his hand, he left them on the window ledge and took out a pen and paper to reply.

"Please deliver this message to Harry for me," he told Hedwig as he tied the letter to her leg. "Don't forget to give him a little nip on the ear, though." Then, he ruffled her feathers once more and watched as she took flight, presumably in the direction of Hogwarts.

Now that he was awake, Wufei decided it was time to get up. He took a quick shower and went into the back room to begin his morning exercises. The house he lived in was quite large, one of the few luxuries he'd had in his life. He had told Harry that he lived there with his parents, but in truth, the house had been bought for him by O as a safe house in this part of England, and during the lull in missions, the Chinese boy had set the place up as his residency.

Even with everything Harry had shared with him about his hidden life, Wufei could not bring himself to share his own. There was too much blood and death involved, and the young wizard didn't need any extra danger in his life. Besides, it would endanger Wufei himself to let slip any intelligence on his organization.

He felt guilty though, and there were times when his mind reasoned that both their lives were constantly in danger anyway, but he couldn't help feeling as though Harry were a precious gift for him to protect. He was lucky enough to have Harry in the first place. If the boy ever found out his shameful secrets, then Wufei was sure he'd lose him, and he couldn't bear for the one pure thing in his life to disappear, even if he wasn't worthy of someone so kind and beautiful.

Realizing that his concentration was well and truly broken, Wufei replaced the sword he was practicing with on its stand, and turned to the kitchen in search of breakfast. As he brewed himself a cup of herbal Chinese tea there came a knock at the door. Pausing a moment, he wondered who it might be. Obviously, it wasn't Harry, who was now at school, and since wizards used owls even for parcels, that ruled out a gift from his lover. No one else would send something to him, would they? Perhaps it was a salesman.

Just in case, Wufei drew a sword from his training room and placed it within arms reach beside the door. He heard muffled voices through the thick wooden panels and the door bell rang once, before he opened it.

"Took you long enough, man," crowed Duo Maxwell. "So, you gonna invite us in?"

Despite the usual chipper and annoying ring of his voice, there was a strained undertone, and Wufei realized that the arm Heero had around his waist was not a casual occurrence, but rather, a form of support. A dark stain barely showed through Duo's black clothes but Wufei recognized it as blood, and lots of it.

"Come in." He nodded, opening the door wider, and surveying the street.

"Thanks, buddy. I knew you wouldn't let us down," Duo answered with a grimace as Heero maneuvered him inside.

.................................................................................................................................

Dear Harry,

I miss you too. I know it's hard to be away from each other for so long, but I know we'll make it. We just have to be strong. I'm glad Professor [It is professor isn't it?] Lupin is there with you. I know that he and the others will look after you. Not that you need it, of course, but it's good to know you're surrounded by people who care about you. Give my regard to Ron and Hermyony [Is that how it's spelt?] They seem like great people and I'm glad to have met them.

Take care, and don't get into too much trouble,

Wufei.

P.S. I love you very much.

Harry and Hermione were in their Advanced Potions class. With the decrease in numbers, each student had a cauldron to themselves so that they no longer worked in groups or pairs. At the front of the room, Snape sneered down at them whilst they attempted a very complicated potion on their first day of term.

Harry, however, could not concentrate to save his life, which was fast becoming an issue, as his potion suffered immensely. All he could think about was the letter that had arrived that morning at breakfast. Hedwig had shown up and playfully nipped him on the ear, before giving up the message from Wufei, which contained several very important facts.

He already knew the latter but he needed such reassurances when his love was hundreds of miles away.

"Potter, the only reason that you are still in my class is because Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall insisted that you be eligible for Auror training. However, if you continue to perform so dismally in the future, my authority shall overrule any charity provided. I suggest you get your act together, Mr. Potter. It seems that you have already blown your one and only chance." Snape stalked away, leaving behind a flustered and startled Harry, who had been so very rudely torn from his thoughts of Wufei.

He'd begun to brood over Snape's cruelty when he was jolted with an elbow to his side. "You need to add more sage to counteract the wolf's bane," Hermione whispered to him.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. This is an advanced class and I will not tolerate cheating in any form, let alone your insufferable habit of showing off," came the foreboding reprimand from the head of the class.

Harry groaned. It was going to be a long year.

"Let that be another ten points, Mr. Potter," Snape continued with a sadistic grin.