Insanity

Disclaimer: Saiyuki belongs to the great Kazuya Minekura, and Harry Potter to J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 3

Goku was the first to speak, and for the first time that day, his face was pained, so unlike his normal, happy-go-lucky mask.

"We looked for you for so long after that, but you were gone…" he trailed off sadly.

Gojyo cut in, "And what the hell was that thing about 'fifteen years?' You had the damn monkey convinced we wouldn't see you for another fifteen years!"

Hakkai started slightly. "You mean… it hasn't been that long for you?"

Gojyo looked at him blankly, uncomprehending. "No… it hasn't even been a year since that happened. What, has it been longer for you?"

Hakkai shook his head slowly. "I… I think I'd better start at the beginning. You three may want to sit down for this." A pause, then he began.

"Understand, now, that there are still some holes in my knowledge of the matter. Why… well, you'll see why in a moment.

"That blast that hit me… to be quite blunt, it killed me. No-" he held out his hand to forestall the inevitable questions, "I'm not a ghost or anything, just wait a moment. I suppose that what I should have said was that it destroyed my body, but my… soul, I suppose, was left to wander. This," he smiled wryly, "is where things get interesting.

"At that precise moment, a young mother, desperate to save her child's life, accidentally invoked an ancient magic. I'm still a bit unclear on the details, but as she died, she summoned a- guardian, I suppose, to save her child. That 'guardian'… was me.

"My soul was dragged to her child, and bound in his body. I sensed a tremendous burst of deadly power coming at us, and—well, the demon side came out instinctively. The last thing I remember was throwing up a chi barrier, and pouring all my strength into it.

"When I finally awoke… fifteen years had passed. I was still sealed inside the child's body, but he was completely unaware of me. That was this last summer. We had some… interesting experiences over the past few months, and made a few discoveries. No, Gojyo, not like that, so please stop smirking.

"One of these was that I can take control of Harry's body. I can revert to my own form, as I am now, but that takes enough energy that I won't be doing it often. What will usually happen is that I'll be using Harry's form, but my mind will be the one in control, so to speak.

"And speaking of which, I'll… see you guys later." Before the others could react, Hakkai quietly fell back into a chair, form morphing into that of Harry Potter.

Harry blinked a bit, not quite prepared for the change, then sighed.

"Damnit, Hakkai… stretching the time limit again?"

Sanzo raised an eyebrow. "So, do they actually teach a worthwhile language here, then?" he asked dryly. Harry just stared blankly at him, obviously not getting his point.

"You were speaking Japanese, if you didn't notice," Goku said quickly, noticing Sanzo's hand creep towards his fan.

"Oh, that? Ah… Hakkai taught me a bit… we had rather a lot of time this summer. We actually traveled a lot, for various reasons. Rather convenient, actually… I may still be a legal minor, but Hakkai isn't, so…" A rather devilish smile stole onto his face, "We had a bit of… fun." Gojyo smirked appreciatively at that.

Harry yawned, then smiled sheepishly. "Hate to break up the party, but we're still having a bit of trouble with judging how long Hakkai can stay out without problems, and he rather stretched the limit, so 'm rather drained. G'night, and don't forget, first class is tomorrow morning." He got up and headed off to bed, yawning.

One thought, though, was running through everyone's head.

This is going to be an interesting year…

((A/N: Wow, I got another chapter out already! Again, it's short, but they're at least getting longer.

A note: I realized as I was planning this out that Harry's and Hakkai's body-sharing and whatnot are suspiciously similar to that of D. . This is entirely unintentional, but it works. (I blame my recent obsession with the previously noted anime. Watch it. Now. The VAs for the four main males are the English voices of Gojyo, Goku, Kouryuu, and Kougaiji.)

Until next time,

Fire))