Hogwarts Part 21
Home for the Holidays
Heero had to smile as he watched Duo pack. He hadn't met Duo's aunt yet, but he was looking forward to it. "Duo, love, we would be there but for a couple of weeks. You don't need to bring everything."
Duo was a bundle of nervous energy. He had to see Aunt Kitty... he had to see her and to hold her and to assure himself that she had, indeed, escaped his curse. Any number of things could happen. He wasn't even aware of his trembles until he found himself in Heero's arms.
Heero rubbed Duo's back and tried to soothe his lover's tremors. "Calm down, Duo. You're going to make yourself ill with all your worrying." Truth be told, he was relieved to be leaving the school. There had been several attempts on Duo's life, and none of them knew who or why. The last attempt had nearly been successful since none of them had caught it early. Someone had poisoned the tip of Duo's quill, which Duo had a habit of nibbling on when he was thinking. Heero had come close to yanking Duo out of Hogwarts, but Duo had murmured that they would probably only have to spend the one year at Hogwarts. After all, Relena had kept in touch and the progress on the wizarding school in Sanq was going well.
"I'm sorry, Heero. I guess I'm just antsy about going h-home." Duo curled as close to Heero as he could. "God, Heero! I have a home!"
Heero smiled and rubbed Duo's back. "Yes... you have a home, Duo. You have family and friends... people who love you very much. And you have me. I will never leave you again. I couldn't bear parting with you again." With that, Heero released Duo and spun him around. "Now finish your packing, koi."
*****
The ride on the Hogwarts Express was full of excited chatter. All six of the group managed to cram into one car to discuss plans on visiting during the holidays.
"I will try, Duo. I really will, but I am going to meet Meiling's family. We will owl you if we can join you at any time." Wufei smiled across at his betrothed.
Quatre smiled at the warm feelings in the car. "When can we expect the two of you to wed?"
Meiling spoke up. "If all goes well, then we can start making plans for this summer."
Duo blinked. "So soon? Wow! I hope I'm invited!"
Wufei chuckled. "Of course you will be. All of you will be invited." He glanced out the window. "Oh... we seem to have arrived!"
As soon as the train stopped, Duo jumped out of his seat.
Heero smiled sadly. "He's so worried that his Aunt won't be there."
Quatre nodded. "It'll take a while before he settles down a bit. He has lost quite a bit in his life. I would be worried if he WASN'T nervous."
*****
Duo almost fell down the steps in his haste to disembark. He looked around frantically, then he spotted who he wanted to see. She was waving at him enthusiastically. "AUNT KITTY!!!!!" With that, he bolted to his aunt and threw his arms around her. He knew he was trembling, but he couldn't bring himself to care. She was there... she really was there.
"Shhhh... I'm here, my boy. It's all right. Calm down now." She gently pushed him away. "Let me look at you!" She smiled warmly at him. "Much better! I was a little worried about you when you left. You were far too thin for my liking."
Duo frowned a little, then his eyes opened wide in alarm. He was looking DOWN at his aunt when she had been a little taller than him when he left. "Aunt Kitty, what HAPPENED? You've SHRUNK!"
Much to his surprise, Kitty started laughing. "Oh my dear boy! I didn't shrink. You GREW!"
Duo frowned a little in thought. "I didn't realize... Of course, I was starting to be able to look Trowa in the eye without tilting my head, but... I didn't realize it until now."
"And NATURALLY I stayed at the same height!" Quatre's voice from behind him spoke up, sounding petulant. "I'm doomed to be a shrimp!"
Heero smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around Duo from behind his lover.
Duo turned and smiled back at Heero. "Heero... this is my Aunt Kitty. Aunt Kitty, this is Heero."
Kitty scrutinized the young man standing behind her nephew and adopted son. "So... you finally got some common sense. Let me warn you. If you ever hurt my boy again, I'll turn you into a bone and feed you to the dogs." With that, she pulled Heero into a brief hug. "Do you have someplace to stay?"
Duo nodded and answered for Heero. "I was hoping he could stay with us!"
Kitty turned to Duo. "Of COURSE he's welcome to stay with us! Goodness, child! You didn't think I'd turn him away after you'd invited him, did you?" She smiled softly. "Though it would have been nice if you had told me he was coming. Is it safe to assume he'll be staying in your room?"
Duo nodded. "Yeah." He was grateful his aunt wasn't making Heero feel unwelcome in any way. He was still mulling it over as they got their trunks. "I'm looking forward to putting some things on those bookshelves in my room." He stopped when he spotted a familiar face coming towards him. A huge smile spread across his features and he bolted. "HOWARD!!!!" He caught the elderly man in a bear hug.
"Oooof! Air, kid! AIR!" Howard pulled Duo back a little and smiled. "No shadows in your eyes... good. I'm glad to see you happy. Your aunt and I met about a month ago. She wanted to get to know me. Said something about wanting to thank the person responsible for keeping her boy in one piece during the war." He lovingly mussed Duo's bangs. "I told her I wasn't keeping HER boy in one piece, I was keeping MY boy in one piece. Well... that started us talking and, well..."
Duo blinked. Howard was BLUSHING? He turned to his aunt who giggled girlishly. "Ummm... what am I missing here?"
Kitty held up her left hand. On her third finger was a band of gold with a sparkling Amethyst. "He would have gotten a diamond, but I said since it was you who brought us together... you don't mind, do you dear?"
Duo could only watch as Howard walked over to take his aunt's hand. "When?"
Howard grinned lopsidedly. "We were hoping to do it Christmas Eve, if you have no objections that... kid? Aw hell!" Howard walked forward and pulled Duo into a hug.
Kitty watched with concern at Duo's reaction. She expected a hearty congratulations. The last thing she expected, or wanted, was to make Duo cry. But there he was, weeping into Howard's shoulder. She was about to say something when Heero placed a hand on her arm.
"It's all right, ma'am. Duo always thought of Howard as a sort of uncle... if not a father." Heero smiled a little as Howard and Duo spoke in low tones. "You've given him something he's always wanted. It's probably the best gift you could have given him."
Kitty sniffled. "Did he react that way on his birthday? I never wanted to cause him any distress."
Heero sighed. "To be honest... the reaction was somewhat worse. He went into shock a little. It was too much too soon for him. Once the shock wore off, he's been alternating between scared and ecstatic." Heero then smiled over to where Duo was nodding at something Howard said. "Still... it's good for him to have a solid place to call home. I've been worried about him since he disappeared and I've felt horrible because I was what caused his disappearance." He turned back to Kitty with a serious expression. "After this term... we won't be going back to Hogwarts. Someone there is trying to kill him for some unknown reason. A friend of ours started a wizarding school, and we already agreed we'd be going there. Only the teachers at Hogwarts know where we're going." He shouldered his carry-on. "As far as the other students are concerned, we will vanish into thin air."
Kitty looked worried. "Why would anyone want to harm Duo?"
Heero shrugged. "The only guess I have is that they know he was a pilot and have a grudge against us. His photo WAS widely shown while he was a prisoner."
"My poor boy." She smiled as Howard approached with an arm around Duo's shoulders. "All better?"
Duo gave Kitty a sheepish smile. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that." He cleared his throat and shouldered his own carry-on bag. "So... let's go home."
TBC...
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