Redemption

Chapter Fourteen

About a week after Remus had recovered, the Gryffindors were all chattering loudly at breakfast when the mail arrived. There was a rather amusing spectacle as a Hufflepuff third year received a howler about a family heirloom her mother had found behind the couch. The poor kid turned beat red and left the Great Hall in tears, which provided no end of entertainment for the Slytherins.

Once the commotion had died down, Harry returned his attention to his cereal and almost jumped out of his skin to see a large feathery lump face down in the milk.

"Errol!" Ron grabbed the old owl from the bowl, and sighed in relief when two golden eyes blinked open and the letter he'd been carrying in his beak fell onto the table, soaked. He picked it up from the table and cast a quick drying spell on it. "Ouch!" The edges of the envelope grew hot in his hand and began to burn although there was no visible flame.

"Disente'!" Hermione spoke, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Ron, sometimes you can confuse the simplest spells."

The red head glared at her and went to open the letter when he realized who it was addressed to. "Oi, Harry, this is for you."

Harry took the letter and read the name on the front. "Oh... I wonder why." He opened the parchment envelope and began to read the letter. At first, he seemed a little confused, then surprised, and by the end of the letter he was beaming.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"It's from Wufei. You'll never believe it... he's staying at your house, Ron," Harry answered, passing his friend the letter.

"He's not just staying there. He's living there!" Ron exclaimed.

"Let me see," Ginny snatched the letter out of her brother's hands and read the letter herself. "Oh, Harry. That's wonderful!"

When Hermione read the letter, she kept up with the good cheer, but inwardly frowned. What was the boy running away from so desperately that he needed to hide out in the wizarding world? Of course, the letter didn't say so in those exact words, but she was good at reading between the lines, and figured that whatever had happened to Harry's boyfriend, there would be consequences if he was found and who knew how many people it might affect. Still, remembering what Ginny told her, Hermione kept her doubts to herself. Harry seemed a lot happier since the events of the previous week, and if this would help him stay that way, then they would deal with any repercussions when and if they came along. She also tucked away that little voice in her mind that was always on the lookout for minions of Voldemort. Harry knew more than any of them that he had to be careful, and if what Ginny had said was true, then the odds of Wufei being a traitor were really very slim.

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Milliardo was busy searching in the desk of his new office, and didn't hear the door open behind him. When Remus cleared his throat in hopes of getting his attention, the new professor whirled on him, wand raised with an incantation on his lips.

"Whoa, easy there. I come in peace," the werewolf joked, hands raised to breast height.

"Has anyone ever told you not to do that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Harry did mention that once," Lupin chuckled. "You can put the wand down now, you know."

"Right." Milliardo did so and slipped it back into his robe pocket, returning to hunting through the drawers for the lesson plan he just knew was hidden in some deep, dark forgotten corner of no return.

Remus shrugged and leant against the wall. The other man continued to ignore his presence and that was just fine. Once he'd been let out of the hospital ward, Remus had been visiting Milliardo between classes, offering his help in certain matters and being completely ignored. He understood. Peacecraft had gotten by on his own for a long time now, and an offer of help wasn't something he was used to, so Lupin ended up just watching him quietly as he went and did everything for himself, no matter what difficulty he came across.

Not today, though. Today, the man wouldn't find what he was looking for because it was hiding in the breast pocket of Lupin's robes. He smirked to himself, knowing it was only a matter of time before Milliardo figured it out, and so, he continued to wait. Sure enough...

"I was sure... Lupin, what have you done with my lesson plan?"

*Finally*, the werewolf thought. Now it was time to get to get down to business, and go over the reworked schedule for the next month. He may not be fit to take any classes, but his experience as a teacher would see that Zechs taught the children everything they needed to know.

"Let's have a little talk about the homework assignments for next week, shall we? ..."

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"Still no luck finding him, eh Heero?" Duo asked, looking over the boy's shoulder as he pulled up what should have been restricted records. "Damn. He really did do a thorough job, didn't he?"

"No less than you or I," Heero replied, paying little attention.

Wufei had gone missing about a fortnight ago, like he had promised to do once the four other operatives had finally gone off on their own missions once more. Two nights later, the order had come to locate and execute the traitor. At first, he had searched when Duo was asleep or not around, but eventually the American had found out anyway. That had been a tough night. Duo had been shocked that his partner would even consider killing one of their own, and it had taken a gun to his head to make him listen to the truth. Heero had no intention of killing the G.U.N.D.A.M. fugitive.

"Do not mistake me. I will do my job to the best of my ability and carry out orders as they have been given. Even so, I know, as I'm sure do Doctor J and the others, that there is no possibility of finding Chang," he told his partner. "Soon, they will give up and send me a new mission, and it will be as if he never existed."

After nearly two weeks, new orders had not come, and Heero continued to search through state records and documents that might contain a hint of Wufei, but there was nothing. The hospital he had been born in never even recorded his mother checking in. Of course, these things would not lead him to the whereabouts of the Chinese boy, but he was curious as to just how far Wufei had gone to eradicate his existence.

It didn't take Heero long to recognize Duo's lapse into thoughtfulness, and he pretended to keep searching whilst waiting for whatever the boy was preparing to ask him. "Heero?" the hesitant voice asked eventually. "What happens if you do manage to find him?"

"I... I don't know, Duo." His eyes never faltered from the computer screen. "I guess I'll just have to complete my mission." The American nodded solemnly and looked away, having expected such an answer. "Duo..." Heero's hands paused over the keyboard, and he stared ahead of him for a moment, trying to think of something, anything he could say to comfort his partner. "Never mind. You should get some rest." Heero resumed searching once again when a little red light blinked down the corner of the screen. It looked as though he finally had new orders.