Chapter 13
“…y” he heard a voice, it sounded as if his ears were filled with cotton “…ry” he opened his eyes a little.
His skin felt hot, a weight on his legs made him unable to move them; he hid his eyes from the bright rays of the sun.
“Harry” He heard the voice again, turned his head and saw the heroes on the balcony of the next room.
They looked worried, Hizashi was crouching down to be level with him and Shouta had one foot on the edge preparing to climb onto the railing.
“When did I fall asleep?” he asked himself quietly as he shook Draco's arm a little.
“Harry? Do you hear me?” Shouta asked, he heard the boots hit the railing.
“Yes, I'm sorry, did something happen?” He said, he shook the other a little harder and moved trying to hide his face.
“Harry, you're scaring me, talk to me,” he turned around just as Shouta climbed the railing, he frowned.
“Don't you hear me?” he asked them before noticing that the spell he cast last night was still working “I'm sorry” he said after dissmiss it.
“What are you doing out here?”
“We knocked on the door and call your phone, but no one answered, you worried us.”
“I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything, we…” he felt Draco get up and walk away a little. “Everything okay?” he asked.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Draco looked at Harry for a moment before jumping away, the red hue of his cheeks (along with the marks left by his clothes) highlight against his pale skin; He stood up, quickly opened the balcony door and entered the room before closing it behind him.
He heard the sound of the lock and frowned before standing up himself.
“Did you just lock the door?” didn't hear a response “Draco?” He tried to open it, he couldn't “Hey! Don't leave me outside,” he unlocked and opened the door.
He walked in and immediately look for the other only to see him hiding under the covers on the bed and a pillow over his head.
“Don't even think about saying anything,” his voice was muffled by the layers of fabric.
“About what?” ask with a smile.
“You know exactly what I'm talking about, Potter.” He lowered the covers until he could see his eyes. “One word about last night, and you'll be hanging from the ceiling.”
“Harry,” he said as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. Draco frowned. “Just call me Harry, it's weird that I call you by your name, and you don't call me by mine.”
“I… Mmm, okay,” he pressed the blankets closer to him.
“You know,” he looked into his eyes, “you don't have to be ashamed about last night.”
“Only girls and children cry, Pott-Harry,” he looked away.
“We still are, you know? We are not adults yet, we may not be little children, but we still are and not only girls can cry, that phrase that men don't cry always seemed stupid to me.”
“This is stupid,” hear him whisper.
“No matter who we are or our age, we're supposed to be able to vent, keeping everything to yourself doesn't do any good for you or those around you, I'm sure you know that as well as I do,” he saw him move a little, “I know I don't do this myself, but talking to someone usually helps. Do you feel better?”
“… Yes…a little,” he said softly.
“There you go, don't feel pressured, if at any point everything feels too much, and you want to talk or just have company, I'm here” he gave the other a small pat on the shoulder.
“… Okay, but you better do it too, I don't want to be the only one to talk about his stupid feelings.” He threw the covers aside, lowered his legs off the bed and sat up.
“It's not stupid, it's healthy.”
Silence fell in the room for a few seconds.
“You sounded like Granger.”
“I sounded like Hermione.”
They said at the same time, the silence returned for a few more seconds before a soft laugh filled the room, it felt good.
He never believed that one day he would be laughing with him, many things had to be solved, they still had to talk about what happened, about what is going to happen, but now he is happy with the peace and, after years, getting along with Draco.
They were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.
“Shit, I forgot about them” he quickly went to open it for them.
The four of them were in the hotel dining room having breakfast or trying to, in the case of the two boys.
They looked at Hizashi's plate in horror, if Harry thought the combination of food on his plate looked bad yesterday, this has no comparison; Seriously, he didn't understand how it was possible for him to eat that like it was nothing.
The blonde noticed the stares and swallowed before smiling mischievously.
“Remember guys, rule number one of hotel breakfast buffets: it doesn't matter what aberrant combination of foods you put on your plates” he points to his own plate, “the important thing is to act naturally.”
All they did was gape at him as he continued eating; Shouta looked at them for a second before shrugging and taking a bite of honey bacon.
They shuddered before returning to their plates with things that wouldn't give them a stomach ache in the next few minutes.
They feared that the boys would fight again at some point, their relationship seemed as volatile as Midoriya and Bakugo's, but surprisingly, they didn't; They acted as if nothing had happened, they spoke calmly and unconsciously moved closer to each other.
He really didn't want to ruin their fun, they had found a candy store while they were wandering around town and Harry's eyes lit up when he found a box of candy that apparently had “every flavor” in it, he has no idea what that meant.
“I had no idea they existed in the Muggle world,” he said happily to Draco.
“Oh, it's been a while since I've had one,” the other said as he grabbed another box.
“Do you think they are the same?” I ask, looking for something in the box.
“I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to try them,” he shrugged.
Even though they didn't choose many things, that was the first time they saw the boy willingly put things into a cart, and they couldn't help but smile.
Currently, he was looking at the boys as he gripped his phone tightly after reading the messages Tsukauchi had sent him; Draco was laughing while Harry tried not to grimace at whatever taste of what he put in his mouth.
Tsukauchi: They found the documents, it took them a long time because they had to search through old records.
Tsukauchi: I myself have read them hundreds of times, but I still don't understand how it is possible, you could say that they are distant relatives if they weren't so similar; They are identical to him, like a photocopy, they also found something of Harry, however, it doesn't make any sense, I'll send them to you.
Tsukauchi: Potter_Family.zip
Inside the compressed file were three PDFs: one of Lily Evans Potter, one of James Potter and one of Harry James Potter; all from the pre-peculiar era.
What?
He sent them to Hizashi to make sure he wasn't looking at them wrong, the dates couldn't be right, there was no way they could be; reading the documents made him feel so confused, so… Empty.
“Lily Evans Potter
Birth: January 30, 1960
Decease: October 31, 1981 (21 years old)
Previous marital status: Married.
Relatives: - Parents
- James Potter (husband)
- Harry Potter (Son)
- Petunia Dursley (Big Sister)”
“James Potter
Birth: March 27, 1960
Decease: October 31, 1981 (21 years old)
Previous marital status: Married.
Relatives: -Parents
- Lily Evans Potter (wife)
-Harry Potter (Son)”
He couldn't help but look at the photos to Harry again and again, he was the living representation of them; he shook his head and opened the last one.
“Harry James Potter
Birth: July 31, 1980
Marital status: Minor.
Relatives: -Parents (Deceased)
- Petunia Dursley (Maternal Aunt)”
The photo was of a younger Harry, probably about 5 or 6 years old, he looked… bad, his bright eyes were dull, his face blanks, so empty; It hurt his heart to see him so small and so absent.
Now, more than anything, he wanted to go ask him if this information was true, because it was not possible that he was born in 1980 and being here, in front of them; He looked at Draco, they knew each other, he doesn't know how long, but it must have been for a while, he is sure that if they search, they will find similar information.
His hands shook as he rested his face on them, pressing his eyes until he saw white dots and then colors; He let out a sigh, felt so tired, physically and mentally.
He felt Hizashi's hand make relaxing circles on his back, he looked at his husband and saw him staring at his phone, his brow furrowed and his mouth open not knowing what to say, their eyes connected for a second, and then they turned towards the boys; Now it was Harry who was laughing as Draco let a small stream of water from his wand fall into his mouth to gargle and then spit it out with a grimace.
“What was it?” Harry asked, still laughing.
“I have no idea, but it was disgusting,” he said as he wiped his lips.
They looked happy, they looked like children, how they should always have looked; He couldn't stop thinking about what they had done to them to end up like this, what happened in the exam and then in the castle was just a flash of whatever they had experienced in their short life, too short.
He can wait, he is patient enough to wait for them to return to the hotel later, when they are done having fun.
Hizashi looked at the boys, the four of them were in the hotel room, he could see them moving around uncomfortably, they looked at each other as if they were having a silent conversation, and they played anxiously with their wands.
They didn't know what to ask first, they had so many questions, and he was sure that more than half of them would not receive an answer, at least not today; He doesn't want to pressure the kids, but they need to know even the smallest thing about this whole situation.
“Mmm…well” Harry rubbed the back of his neck, “What do you want to know?”
“Everything, actually,” Shouta said, trying to sound calm.
“I don't know if he can tell you everything, it's…” looking at Draco, “a long story and there are too many things to explain for it to make any sense.”
“Well, it's still early, I think we have enough time.”
Shouta looked at both boys expectantly, waiting for one of them to start speaking, but after a moment he could see that they wouldn't.
“How about you tell us about your… magic?” Hizashi asked softly.
“Honestly, I don't think there's much to explain about that, it's just kind of a quirk if you think about it.” Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry, but he didn't say anything.
“A fairly powerful one, yes, but unlike ours, you have the same abilities, something that is impossible with a normal quirk.” Shouta felt Hizashi nudge him gently.
“Yes, you're right about that, but besides that it's practically the same; Some are born with magic and others are not, people with magic can be born from people without magic, they develop, they learn to use it, there is not much difference,” Harry explained.
“What if they are born without magic?” Hizashi asked.
“From wizards?” Harry asked, the other nodded.
“They are called Squibs, they are not exactly Muggles, they have a magical core, however, they cannot access it,” Draco said quietly.
“What do you mean by magical core?”
“It's like…” he thought for a moment.
“Like a gene or something?”
“I guess? You can put it that way, a magic gene.”
“I see, do the wands help you access that core?”
“Not exactly, it's true that it helps us, but with or without it, we can use magic, it's just more difficult, when I was little I did a lot of accidental magic, but that's because my core is… stronger than usual, although it is not that strange” Harry said.
“So the wand is like a support” Shouta said and the boys nodded.
“It helps focus magic on a single point and makes it easier to cast spells, wandless magic is an admired skill in the magical world, not many people can do more than two or three spells without using their wands.”
“What about the castle? You said it was a school,” the blonde asked softly.
“Yes, Hogwarts, it would have been more impressive if everything was still standing.”
“Even if it were, they wouldn't be able to see it,” Draco whispered.
“True,” he agreed.
“What do they mean by that? Why wouldn't we see it?” Shouta asked.
“It's… a spell that the castle has, like camouflage,” Draco said. “Only wizards and witches can see what it really looks like, muggles only see what the castle is like now… I think so.”
“That's why you reacted like that when we arrived,” Hizashi said, Harry nodded.
“How many? To need an entire castle as a school, there must be quite a few” both boys smiled.
“That's just the main infrastructure, several of the rooms have spells that alter the relative size of the space, they are bigger on the inside” Harry explained.
“Oh! Like the TARDIS!” Hizashi said happily.
“I guess? I don't know what it is, but sure” he shrugged his shoulders “besides, there are thousands of wizards and witches around the world, they can't all go to the same place.”
“Are there more schools?”
“Yes, there are eleven in total?” he asked the other boy, who said yes.
“There are… many,” said the blonde.
The conversation was more fluid from that point.
They weren't sure how it would go, but they are happy to know more about these kids; They did not touch the topics about their families or their pasts at the moment, however, they understand more about the world where they grew up and feel satisfied with that for the moment.
The curtains prevented most of the moonlight from entering the room, but it was still bright enough to see.
Draco stared at Harry as he slept, he kept moving and grimacing from time to time; He thought maybe he was having a bad dream, but it didn't last long before he calmed down.
“Why are you always so lucky?” he asked himself silently.
He sighed before lying down again and closed his eyes tightly, he wasn't tired, but he needed to sleep.
A metallic noise made him open his eyes, he saw the shadow of a bird on the curtains, he looked at it for a few seconds until the bird opened its wings and screamed loudly, scaring him, and then flew away.
He glanced at Harry before leaning over the edge of the bed and taking his bag, he reached in and pulled out a piece of blue fabric, hugged it and closed his eyes again.
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he pressed the fabric harder; He inhaled its scent, jasmine and a light touch of chamomile with lavender, the flowers from his mother's garden.
He calmed down for a moment before curling up and finally sleeping.