Redemption

Chapter Twenty One:

Wufei found his own way down to the Great Hall the next morning. He took his time to watch the paintings on the walls. They spoke to him as he walked and one painting of a teenaged girl followed him, until she was dragged away by an old woman. Most of them were very polite and eager to point him in the right direction.

Once he entered the Great Hall, Wufei noted the four house tables, easily telling them apart thanks to all he'd seen and heard. Over at what he guessed was the Slytherin table, sat the blond boy he and Harry had run into in the corridors. He was scowling at one of his house mates and looked every bit the slimy bastard he had proved to be last night.

Dragging his thoughts from the boy, Wufei let his eyes drift up towards the ceiling. As he watched a small bird fly overhead, he made his way to the Gryffindor table, from where Harry was waving to him. The wizard was seated across from Hermione and Ginny who, Wufei was pleased to note, were sitting close together with their thighs touching.

Waving back, he grinned, and had almost reached them when his eyes settled upon the staff table at the head of the hall. Suddenly, he froze; eyes wide in shock to see who was staring back at him.

After a long moment, Wufei's eyes narrowed, his mouth snapped closed audibly, and he turned on his heel and strode out.

In his wake followed a murmur of confused whispers from the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's who had witnessed his odd behavior

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There had been a lot of speculation over the four new arrivals at the staff table that morning. Ron had claimed that they were student teachers or perhaps Enquirers from the Ministry but Hermione had pointed out that they were far too young.

Harry agreed, but there was something there that nagged at him. Something was oddly familiar about those boys. A forced maturity born of hardships beyond their age. They reminded him of himself; and of Wufei.

As he ate, Harry kept glancing up at the four 'boys' from the corner of his eye. He couldn't help feeling that something was off. Whenever he tried to ignore them, he got this uncanny feeling that at least one pair of eyes was trained on him.

His peripheral vision told him otherwise, though. Whenever his paranoia got a hold of him and he tried to catch them out, they seemed to be happily chatting or eating as they had the last time he checked. Well, all except for the dark haired one. He mostly just glared at the bacon and eggs in front of him or the braided boy to his left.

Finally, Harry noticed Wufei enter the Great Hall and felt himself relax a bit. He waved to his love, signaling him over to the Gryffindor table.

The unease returned, however, when his boy friend suddenly stopped mid step and then walked straight back out. Harry was just about to get up and follow him when Ginny grabbed his arm and pointed to the dark haired stranger who was following briskly after Wufei.

Harry frowned and bit his lip but just as he pulled out of Ginny's grasp to pursue the two boys, he was intercepted by Mr. Peacecraft.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Mr. Lupin was telling me an interesting story about your previous year. He mentioned a club you ran called the D.A." Harry had to physically hold back from sneering at the man. He wanted to know what was going on but he couldn't just brush the professor off.

"Uh, yes, sir," he answered. Hoping that if he kept his answers short and simple, he might get away quickly.

"I've been quite impressed by the knowledge of certain students who I believe were a part of this group. It would seem that it was quite a successful venture and I'd like to look into continuing it after the holiday break," Mr. Peacecraft seemed to be leading Harry as far away from the large entrance doors as possible and the young wizard was beginning to get quite anxious. "Of course, there would be teacher supervision this time, but if you'd like to continue running the sessions, I would see no problems."

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded quickly and glanced towards the doors.

"Very well, I'll make some arrangements with the headmaster and we'll meet to discuss this at a later date." Finally, the teacher let Harry go and returned to the head table.

Immediately, Harry made a beeline for the Entrance Hall. He almost growled with frustration to see that neither Wufei nor the stranger was anywhere in sight. His curiosity and paranoia had hit full strength. He had a bad feeling about this. He really hadn't liked the expression on the stranger's face as he'd followed Wufei out of the Hall.

Sighing, Harry continued on to Gryffindor Tower. As much as he'd like to look for Wufei, he'd probably be late for potions and Harry would never find his boyfriend if he was murdered by Snape first.

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Duo and Quatre were chatting animatedly with Trowa occasionally chipping something into the conversation, but all of them had noticed Heero's silence. Although he wasn't known for being talkative, he was usually perfectly happy to at least scold Duo every now and then.

Heero hadn't said a word all morning, though. Nor had he touched his food. It seemed to Trowa as though he was waiting for something, but the brunet couldn't imagine what. He could see that Heero's eyes occasionally flicked over to their charge. Trowa had been watching the boy, too. As, he was sure, had Duo and Quatre.

Harry Potter was identifiable by several significant physical attributes. The first of these was the odd lightning shaped scar on his forehead. This was usually covered by the second attribute, his perpetually messy dark hair. The third marker was his eyes. They were a deep emerald green, even brighter than Trowa's own.

From where he sat, Harry occasionally turned his head a little, talking with a redheaded boy next to him and casting a brief glimpse up towards the four operatives. He obviously wasn't oblivious; he knew he was being watched.

Trowa found that he admired that in the boy. Just from the stories he'd heard and his observations that morning, he had begun to develop a certain respect for Harry. Respect born of understanding.

Harry had been through a lot, but although he was more aware than those around him, he had managed to hold onto his innocence. He almost seemed like a normal teenager, blending in with those around him. The only things that claimed otherwise were the scar on his forehead and the faint hint of pain in his eyes that told of something darker deep within.

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Trowa had been silent for a while and Duo nudged his leg under the table. His boyfriend covered well and the only hint that he had been startled from his thoughts was the slight stiffening in his back and rising of his eyebrows.

Duo grinned at his lover and received a warm smile in return. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about the mission," Trowa answered, barely above a whisper. "It's a lot to take in." There was the barest hint of uncertainty in Trowa's voice and Duo frowned at him, urging him to continue. "It's just that these kids, they live in a world hidden from public sight. A place that should be safe. Yet, a shadow hangs over them all and they still continue as though everything is normal. Well, as normal as I suppose it gets around here, anyway."

From the other side of Duo came a grunt, causing the other three boys to look over at Heero. After a moment they saw what had caught his attention and Duo gasped

"It can't be," he said with no little amazement.

"Wufei," was Heero's curt statement.

Suddenly, the Chinese boy stopped in his tracks. Apparently he'd noticed them.

Duo lifted his arm to wave but it was grabbed by Heero who stood abruptly. "Stay here," he ordered and headed out after Wufei who had already left the Hall.

Trowa raised an eyebrow at Duo who just shrugged and bit his lower lip, then frowned at Quatre who had gone slightly pale.

"He wouldn't, would he?" the blond pleaded quietly, turning shining blue eyes towards Duo and Trowa.

Neither boy answered but instead became very interested in their breakfast until a voice behind them broke the short silence.

"Don't worry," Milliardo said in passing. "Things have a way of turning out around here." The wizard inclined his head towards the middle of the table where Albus Dumbledore sat, a smile twisting the corners of his mouth and light crinkling to the corners of his eyes.