ERASING BOUNDARIES

The Slytherin team gathered behind green and silver curtains, listening in on the massive crowd that waited for them just beyond the heavy drapes. Heero and Duo remained calm as they made a few minor adjustments to their gear, tightening a few padding straps here and there, flexing their hands to make sure they would be able to grip the quaffle easily with the gloves. Both of them held new brooms, Nimbus 2001's that were forfeited by the Chasers before them, instead of the old tatty ones from the school shed. While they stood patiently, the other players fidgeted uncomfortably.

Blaise and Avery were swinging their bats to and fro at their sides, faces somewhat pale, nervousness coming off them in waves. McCoy was trying very hard not to look uneasy while his gorilla hands had a death grip on his broom handle, his right foot tap, tap, tapping at the ground. Nott did not look as confidant as his fellow Chasers while chewing anxiously at his fingernails, tiny droplets of sweat were already beading over his brows and upper lip. Draco had his arms crossed, expression in a scowl, neither trying to bite the heads off of his teammates or offering them any comforting words before the game.

The nervous bunch jerked when the curtain was pulled back, revealing thousands of eager faces and a dull gray sky above. It was late October and the gloomy clouds showed it. Draco made a disgruntled noise while peering up toward the skies. It was going to start raining while they played, he just knew it.

Slytherin exited upon their brooms, flying once around the pitch to be met with cheers and boos. Across from them, a team garbed in glaring yellow and solid black glided out as well. They too flied about the field, being met with more cheers than boos than the Slytherin team. Today's match was against the Hufflepuffs.

Both teams centered themselves at the middle of the field, waiting for Madame Hooch to arrive with the quaffle. The two bludgers had already been released and were floating lazily in the sky, not yet zooming around dangerously until the match began. The snitch was pretty much gone somewhere amongst the pitch. All eyes were on Hooch as she made her way to the center between both teams.

"You know the rules," she spoke loudly, "I want a fair game and no foul play got it?" Her last words were spoken more for the Slytherin team as she glared up at them with her bright yellow eyes, the pupils narrowed down to slits. She threw up the quaffle. The game started. Bludgers quickly zeroed in on the two teams.

Heero shot up towards the still rising quaffle and made a backwards flip, his broom looping vertically, the tail end whapping the ball to Duo who waited behind him. The Hufflepuffs shook off their surprise, not expecting the sudden quickness, and began to make chase after Duo. It proceeded normally at first, Duo keeping the ball tucked under his arm and flying towards the opposite goal posts, dodging Hufflepuffs and bludgers. He chucked the ball into the goal post without much effort, scoring the first ten points for Slytherin, leaving none for Hufflepuff.

Heero did the same when Slytherin had gotten back into possession of the quaffle after the Hufflepuff Keeper smacked it back into the field. It was obvious they were simply biding their time while Draco tried to find the snitch. Both of them kept the game going as smoothly as possibly, which wasn't very difficult, passing it amongst them and to Nott who finally regained his confidence and decided to join his fellow Chasers. However, Duo started to get bored with the game.

"Oi, Heero," he shouted at the Japanese while they flew untouched, "wanna kick it up some?" Heero nodded. "Hai."

The crowd seemed to be able to sense the change happening. The Houses pressed closer to the edges of their seats, watching intently the match. Shocked gasps and exclamations happened all at once, students were watching in anxious yet excited surprise at the dangerous stunt. Heero and Duo stood upon their brooms, the same surfing position like in practice, one foot over and one foot tucked safely under the handle.

"Hey! You can't do that," complained one of the Hufflepuff Beaters accusingly, "it's got to be against the rules!"

"Check again, Macmillan," sneered Avery before he whacked a bludger at the other boy. Macmillan tried hitting it back but the coordination of his club was off and the bludger smacked into his wrist.

"Urgh!" The boy cried out, dropping his club below. He flew jerkily back to the benches with his broken wrist where the Hufflepuff Alternates waited for their turn. Avery barked out a laugh as he returned to the game.

Once again, Duo had the ball, half crouched on his broom as he zoomed around other Chasers and bludgers. Upon nearing the goal posts, he threw the quaffle up into the air some distance in front of him, and pushed off the broom, the broom continuing to fly its straight path. In one smooth arc of his hand, he slapped the quaffle right through one of the higher hoops as if it were volleyball. Having timed it well, Duo fell to his Nimbus 2001 that was under him, grabbing hold of the handle then swinging himself back onto it as it flew like it was a gymnast bar.

Applause and shouts roared from the crowd. Harry watched the impressive sight, amazed at the amount of skill the two transfers had. However, a painful knot was beginning to grow in his belly. How was he supposed to go against that when it comes time for Gryffindor vs. Slytherin?

Slytherin back in possession, Heero sped past the others, going farther up than what was usually attempted by Chasers. It happened so fast, he had the quaffle above but in front of the golden hoops, releasing his hold and letting it fall, Blaise yelled at him then.

"Why'd you let it go!" Heero ignored him, concentrating on the task at hand.

Heero pulled the Nimbus 2001 up to him as if it were a skateboard, and grasping it, pulled the broom from under his feet to hold like a bat. Plummeting head down with the quaffle some distance lower, he swung his broom while airborne and nothing underneath him to keep him up there, batting it straight into a hoop. Continuing to descend head first, he quickly brought the broom back under his feet and spiraled out in loops. Forcing the nose of the broom upwards, to slow the chaotic movements, he managed to regain his upright position.

The Slytherins up in the bleachers screamed with delight. Flags with the serpent emblem waved wildly in the stands. The energy emanating from the crowd was thick and electrifying. Everyone was cheering for the two brightest stars on the team, chanting Heero and Duo's names over and over again.

No one noticed when Draco finally caught the snitch. He hovered on his broom, gray eyes staring at the struggling snitch, crushing his hands tighter the snitch ceased all movement, a few broken feathers fluttered to the ground. A low rumble passed through the clouds. Slowly, raindrops fell to earth, the skies crying never-ending tears.

BREAK

Children milled into the Great Hall for dinner, the conversation still buzzing about the Quidditch match earlier that day, laughter and high spirits floated above the Slytherin table especially. The Hufflepuffs seemed slightly put out from the game, but they agreed it was fairly won, Heero and Duo had saw to that. The students realized that Heero and Duo had been purposely intervening whenever their teammates tried something sneaky, like blocking Nott when he attempted to kick someone off their broom for the quaffle. They were not being glory hounds by keeping the ball amongst the both of them, but rather were aware of Slytherin's usual tactics of committing foul after foul in a game.

Even Snape appeared pleased with the outcome of the game, regardless of how Gryffindor-like Heero and Duo were in evening the playing field. He sat proudly in his chair, taking bite after bite of filet mignon, savoring the flavor happily. Glancing over at Professor Sprout, he caught her gaze and smiled. The Head of Hufflepuff returned the smug look with her own smile that was more like bearing of the teeth than a genuine one.

Without warning…

"H-help! Albus…sweet Merlin…ALBUS, HELP US, PLEASE!"

…the cheerfulness in the room bled away.

A beaten looking auror stumbled into the Great Hall, limping painfully while carrying another.

It was Red and in his arms laid Tonks, lifeless.

Sweat had smeared the black smudges that covered his face while various scrapes and bruises littered the exposed portions of his torso. His robes were in tattered rags, webbing over his chest barely hanging on, but the portions under his intact belt remained. His left pants leg had a singed look to it burned away up to mid-thigh, a nasty expanse of blisters bubbled over his skin, obviously it being the cause for his limp.

Tonks looked worse out of the two. She too had been burned, but her wounds were far more severe. Rawness crawled up from her left side, over her shoulder, into the neck and her face. The once vibrant hair was a dull mousy brown, though half of it was gone, burned away revealing a blistered scalp. Aside from the given burns, there was something off in the way she looked.

Her left ear was missing. Melted away.

A flurry of motion happened all at once. The Heads of Houses ushered the frightened students away, far from the horrendous sight, the prefects following suit in bringing up the rear to make sure no one dawdled behind. Albus came sweeping up to the injured aurors, Madame Pomfrey at his side holding a case filled with clinking bottles. Red could no longer take another step and so collapsed to the floor, his arms still wrapped around Tonks, his face buried into the unmarked side of her mangled body.

Sobs wracked the man's frame causing great shuddering spasms to attack him, his cries muffled against Tonks. When Albus gently eased Tonks from his hold, he howled high and loud, grief consuming him for his fallen partner, his friend. Pomfrey was about to bring a potion filled bottle to Tonks' mouth to drink, but Albus rested a hand on the nurse's wrist, shaking his head. His other hand was by Tonks' neck, measuring for a pulse that wasn't there, long gone before they could even try to save her.

Pomfrey swallowed hard before relenting, with the effort of holding back tears apparent, she moved aside to offer the potion to Red instead for the burns on his leg. The former pilots had lined up beside the four of them, unable to do anything to help the woman who lay dead in the middle of the Great Hall. Heero looked over both aurors on the ground before kneeling by Red. The man had calmed down from the potion and was sitting up using his arms to support him, his face streaked by drying tears.

"What happened," he asked bluntly.

"Wha-young man, please!" Madame Pomfrey had choked out the words, stricken with disgust at how Heero could possibly interrogate someone at a time like this. "How can you be so callous?"

Heero ignored her, eyes boring into Red, all of his attention focused on only him.

"Tell me, Red. I need to know how Tonks got killed."

Red angrily stared back at Heero. Rage poured in behind those dulled green eyes of his, tumultuous and uncontrolled, like a storm coming in. Red knew Heero was not the one at fault for what happened that evening, the boy was merely trying to help. But damn it if it wasn't convenient to blame him right then.

Red growled low in his throat.

"Get away from me, you little shit," he spat, swinging a fist at Heero, but the Japanese simply leaned back to avoid it. His hand shot out to grasp Red's, tightening over the fist, his hand too small to completely cover the man's fist but still held on just as strong. He didn't crush it, but held it still. Heero leaned his head in, blues eyes cold and steady, showing no intimidation of the much larger man.

"Tell me," repeated Heero without inflection.

"Albus," Pomfrey's voice sounded exasperated, "do something about this. Stop the boy, questions can wait until he's had time to heal." Albus made a gesture indicating he felt it was not his place to interfere.

"No, Poppy," sighed Red, his furious expression wilting into a sad one, "the boy's right. The Order needs to know everything and anything that comes up as soon as possible."

"The Order," puzzled Pomfrey, "you don't mean…" the words finally clicked together in her head. She turned accusing eyes at Dumbledore who was now sustaining an unreadable mask. "Albus! How could you force these young children to become Order members, have you gone daft?"

"They joined by their own free will," said the Headmaster, giving a semi-shrug as if saying 'not my fault, I'm innocent.' Poppy didn't buy it.

"That's totally absurd," she huffed.

"Enough, Poppy," mumbled Red, it was obvious he felt the same as the nurse that children shouldn't have been allowed in the Order, but he also knew these boys were far from being children. He unintentionally glanced to where Tonks lay. He tried speaking but choked up. Clearing his throat, he started again.

"The Ministry got wind of a possible Death Eater raid on Azkaban Prison. Word had it Voldemort was planning on freeing all the prisoners to help bulk up his army. Aurors were sent in to stop him, but no one had anticipated there'd be a dragon there. It was just an adolescent, but still, there was so much fire."

He had to pause for a moment, his breathing heavy as memories started flooding back to him. Dragons were illegal creatures in that part of the country. Their hides are known to naturally be able to deflect a majority of magical spells. The Death Eaters had probably stolen one from the nearest colony just for the purpose of torching their enemies, but an adolescent dragon was one of the hardest kinds to control given their agitated state through the onset of puberty.

"There were flames everywhere, there's nothing left of Azkaban now, it's all just a bunch of charred wood and rubble. Most of the prisoners died in the fire, but so did many of the Death Eaters, some of the other aurors were injured."

"So Voldemort is becoming bolder," said Heero, his expression flat and indecipherable, "he may be getting sloppy. He has sacrificed more with very little to no gain in return." Getting up from where he knelt by Red, Heero started to make his way for the exit, the other former pilots following him like a shadow. He stopped suddenly, never turning his back as he spoke in a soft, sympathetic tone.

"I am truly sorry for your loss."

And he was gone, the others followed suit.

BREAK

"What's going on here?"

Harry looked confused as he stood in the Room of Requirement, the other DA members standing behind him mirroring his reaction. All of their galleons had been signaling them frantically, calling them to the room.

"This meeting is for emergency training," said Heero. Of the five, he was the only one speaking to them. The other four were stationed around the room, keeping vigil. Trowa stayed at the back wall behind Heero, Quatre and Duo each took a side of the room, and Wufei was standing near the door. "An auror was killed tonight. Voldemort is escalating."

Harry stiffened, his nerves going numb. A horrible twisting sensation pained the middle of his stomach, his chest feeling extremely tight. Forcing himself to take a breath, he tried to speak, his voice wavering, shaking.

"Who w-was it?"

"Nymphadora Tonks."

Harry took a sharp intake of breath, his hands balled up in fists that turned his knuckles white. Ron caught Hermione who had been about to collapse, she whimpered, the whimpers turning into sobs. The three Gryffindors were affected most by the news for Tonks had been their friend. The others appeared grief-stricken too for another on the side of Light had died tonight, another good soul snuffed out.

Just as the group of students was trying to regain their composure, Wufei yanked the door open, making everyone jump, and grabbed for something outside. Pulling hard, a boy was forced in and tumbled to the ground, dumped unceremoniously on his rear end.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ron's words were spat out with contempt, his face screwed up in a scowl.

Draco struggled to his feet, eyes wide with nervousness like a deer caught in headlights, not looking the least bit like the arrogant aristocrat he usually was.

"I, well, um," the blond shook his head as though trying to reorganize his thoughts, "I followed you." He pointed at Heero.

"I know." Heero walked up to Draco and put a spelled galleon into his hand. The boy stared quizzically at the coin, then at the Japanese.

"You can't do that," protested Ron, "the great sod's a traitor."

"No, he's not, but he will be useful."

"Wait, what you mean 'useful'," asked Draco almost in a panic, "I don't want to have anything to do with…" He waved a hand, trying to find the right word but finding none. "…with whatever this is."

"The Slytherins look down at you," said Heero flatly, keeping Draco's attention on him, "but they trust you're not brave enough to spill their darkest secrets, to reveal who has been joining Voldemort."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. You will be an asset to the DA and the Order."

"Hang on," interjected Harry, "how do you know about the Order?"

"We're all in it," said Duo, jumping into the conversation, "we've been talkin' 'bout what's a good plan and that's to include Malfoy. He can get the other Slytherins to join up."

"Why, exactly, would we want to do that," asked Ron incredulously, "those Slytherins are nothing but future Death Eaters in training. They're the enemy."

Draco bristled with anger at that.

"The hell we are," he snapped, "we're nothing like those cretins. The only reason why any of us would join is because we're too afraid to say no. Our parents are the ones who are making us swear allegiance to You Know Who, or are brainwashed to think that creature is master of all, never by our own free will would we commit ourselves to him!"

"Oh, right," scoffed Ron, not accepting what the heated blond said as truth, "I'll believe that when trolls fly."

"Bite your tongue, both of you," barked Wufei, he had had enough of their pig headed arguing.

"The other Slytherins won't trust Heero and Duo to such an extent they do Draco," explained Quatre, his tone placating, "they're not comfortable to talk so freely about such matters to a couple of new transfer students."

"They might later try to recruit them," added Trowa, "but by then it would be too late to get the information."

"Draco."

The blond Slytherin was caught off guard by the call of his name, the conversation was moving too fast for him to follow. His mouth had been half opened, ready to argue. He glanced back at Heero, taken aback by the look he was giving, something about it was painfully familiar. He had seen the same expression in the mirror.

"I understand what it means to want to do the right thing, but always seeming like you're failing. It makes you feel utterly helpless which only fuels your self-loathing. It makes you almost want to give up."

Heero paused long enough for Draco to respond, he nodded silently in agreement.

"But you can stop the helplessness so long as you keep trying. People need you," he stepped closer, "will you help us?"

There was a long moment of silence that stretched across the room, blanketing them. Tension was so thick in the room one could cut it with a knife. They stared on with bated breath, staring at Draco. Depending on Draco.

"All right. I'll do it. I…I want to help."

BREAK

The group of sleep-deprived students was too tired at making any further attempts to practice. The lesson that night had been a grueling one. It was decided they would start learning wandless magic. Heero, being the only one who was currently capable of doing such, demonstrated how to perform wandless magic without, not only a wand, but a gesture of the hand or speaking out loud the spell.

Wufei was able to wordlessly command spells, but still had to use his hands in order to focus his energy. Duo was the opposite. He didn't need to make hand gestures but still had to say the spell out loud. Trowa and Quatre had to utilize both methods to make up for the lack of a wand.

"I think we should call it a night," suggested Harry, having noticed all the drained looks he was receiving from the other teenagers, some of them fast asleep on a couch they had conjured up for when they needed to take a break.

"Hn." Heero nodded an assent.

The students were ushered out of the room, the sound of shuffling feet sluggishly wandered out the door, creeping away toward their separate Houses. Draco was still sitting in the Room of Recruitment, a look of thoughtfulness spread across his face as he fingered his wand, twirling it from time to time. He was too distracted to notice the sound of footfalls behind him. Only when a hand was placed on his shoulder did he jerk from his reverie.

"I don't know why you're doing this, Malfoy," said Harry, lifting his hand away when Draco turned sharply to face him, "but…thank you…for, you know, helping us with this."

Brows raised, Draco stared at Harry in surprise. Never in a thousand years had he ever expected the bloody Boy Who Lived to ever thank him for anything. One side of him wanted to snipe back with some cruel remark, yet the other couldn't resist the urge to feel warmed by the Gryffindor's words of gratitude. Unable to stop the small smile curling the ends of his lips, he shook his head slightly.

"Elegantly put, Potter. I swear your inarticulateness is quite atrocious." There lacked a certain bite to his words, softening the edges of the insult, making it seem more like a joke.

Harry offered a hesitant smile in return, unsure as to how to take this change in behavior from Malfoy. He had expected thanking the Slytherin would backfire in a scathing remark as was the usual from the blond. Instead, the teen was ribbing him rather than snapping back. Without much else to say, he left the conversation at that and walked out.

Draco still sat where he was, but this time there was an air of calm surrounding him instead of the anxiety of being lost. Unable to restrain himself from doing so, he touched his shoulder lightly where the memory of Harry's hand still lingered, his fingers brushing lightly over the cloth of his robes. That warmth which comforted his heart, washed through his chest and over his entire body, filling his core and melting the chill that had run deep in him for years. Pieces of his loneliness were being stolen away.

Light returned to those dulled gray eyes.

Author's Note: Keep those reviews coming, they feed these ravenous muses of mine.