Duo's Family Rewrite

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Still not mine….

AN: Okay, so while this fic is still in the rewrite stages and I'm just going through the already written bits and adding or changing things as needed, it's been backburnered because I'm trying to work on my other fics too, which I'm slowly but surely doing. Anyway, I finally got this chapter up and running, so here it is.

Chapter 5: Dream Connections

A few hours later, Harry groaned as the drug began wearing off. He felt the soft bed beneath him and wondered vaguely why Ron hadn't woke him up to tell him it was time for class or dinner or something. He fumbled around behind him, searching for his glasses, which he usually put on his bedside cabinet, but all his hand encountered was more of the bed he was lying in.

He sat up with a start. Where was he? He'd never been in a place like this, much less slept in a bed this size before. Had he been captured? It would explain the groggy feeling. But no, that didn't make sense, no Death Eater would ever put him in a room like this, much less let him sleep.

He paused and took a deep breath. Okay, time to take stock. He wasn't injured, so that ruled out the Hospital Wing, in fact, he didn't think he was at Hogwarts at all. It did feel like he'd been given a sleeping potion though. On the heels of that thought he remembered the vague sense of something puncturing his arm. A needle? Duo! His brother had drugged him! But why? Why would he do something like that?

He tried to remember what he was doing up till that point. He remembered they'd been eating lunch, and they were telling him the rules. He asked them to tell him what was happening when he was at school. Then the conversation had turned to Dumbledore.

'Oh shit,' he thought frantically. 'I lost control. I lost control of my magic, now they're going to hate me. I've got to leave.'

He looked around the bed and spotted his glasses on a small table. He slipped them on and took stock of the room he was in. It was a large room, almost as big as the whole fifth year dormitory at Hogwarts, that was decorated in dark green and black. Aside from the queen sized bed he was currently in, there was an oak desk under one of the dark curtained windows, and a matching dresser under the other along the same wall. Across the room was a small fireplace with a black chaise lounge in front of it, and flanked by a door on either side, which he assumed, were for a closet and possibly an ensuite bathroom. The final wall only sported a door, which all things considered must lead out into the hallway.

He shook his head, dismissing the distraction for what it was. The fact of the matter was he had to leave. But where would he go? He wasn't going to return to the Dursleys, that was a given, but who would take him in? The Weasleys were too close to Dumbledore at the moment, even though it hurt him dearly to write them off, they had after all looked after him so many times over the past few years. Hermione was out of the question, since she lived in the Muggle world and this Preventer organization was sure to find him there. He wished more than anything that Sirius were alive, he knew his godfather would've hidden him away until he could work everything out. On the heels of that thought came his answer: Remus. Remus would understand and help him out.

He jumped to his feet, intending to send a message to him right away. Almost immediately, however, he fell back on the bed, slightly dizzy from the sudden movement.

"Well, damn," he muttered to himself, "looks like I won't be going anywhere right now. What the hell did they give me?"

He slowly got to his feet and made his way over to the desk, using the wall and nearby furniture for support. There was paper in one of the drawers, as well as some pens. He took out a sheet and quickly scrawled a note to Remus, asking him if they could meet, secretly, in the town he was currently staying in. With that accomplished, he attached it to Hedwig's leg, who was perched on the window sill, and sent her off with the letter.

Once his beloved owl was out of sight, he carefully made his way back to the bed and slipped beneath the covers once again. He only intended to lie down until the groggy feeling went away, but shortly after his hand hit the pillow he was lost in the world of Morpheus.

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Throughout the rest of the day, Duo could tell his lover was unsettled by something, but he wasn't going to pressure him into telling. He knew he wouldn't get any answers from his 'Perfect Soldier' till he was good and ready to give them. With that thought, among others, he did a quick check on his younger brother, who hadn't been up in time for dinner as predicted, only to find him sleeping peacefully, so he took himself off to his own bed for the night.

As he was falling asleep, the braided teen let his mind wander where it would. He wasn't sure what was going on with his brother but he'd give him a few days to see if he'd come around on his own, otherwise he'd have to take drastic measures, involving rope, butter, and honey. From there, his mind drifted to the new parts he needed for his mecha, and how he would attain said parts, not that Quatre or Lady Une would let him go through with these plans but they were fun to think about nevertheless. And with that, he fell into a peaceful sleep in his boyfriend's arms.

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Duo found himself sitting in, what he'd officially dubbed, Quatre's Tower. It was a room on the fifth (1) floor of the house they were staying in. The braided teen compared it to a tower on a castle, considering it was the only room on that floor and was round with high windows, perfect for defending the keep. The blond, however, kept trying to burst his bubble by saying it was just meant for storage, similar to an attic.

There were four other people in the tower with him, though he had no idea who any of them were. Okay, that wasn't true, the boy on his left was his very own newfound little brother. Across from his seat was a beautiful redheaded woman with enchanting emerald eyes, the exact shade and shape as Harry's. Beside her was a man with black, flyaway hair and hazel eyes. He couldn't help but think he'd make a better candidate for Harry's brother, but he was Harry's brother, damn it, and he wasn't going to give that up without a fight. Finally, he came to the last person in the room, another male with shoulder-length black hair and mischievous blue eyes. He was sure he'd seen this guy somewhere before but he couldn't place it at the moment, though he had a vague sense of it having something to do with a prison, but he'd been in so many of them on both sides of the bars it was hard to know anything for sure.

"Devlan," the woman's voice drew his attention back to her, "oh, my baby boy."

"I'm sorry, lady," the braided teen shook his head, "I think you got the wrong guy, name's Duo. Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie."

"Of course you are, sweetie," she gave him a fondly indulgent smile. "We want you to know how proud we are of you. Everything you've done so the people could enjoy peace."

Amethyst eyes widened in surprise. How could this woman he'd never met know about what he'd done, and why he did it? But for some unfathomable reason, he felt a great swell of his own pride that he'd made her proud.

"Aw," he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "it was nothin.'"

"That's my boy," the Harry look-alike beamed at him, slipping his arm around the woman's shoulders, "ever the modest one, just like his old man."

"Right," the redhead scoffed, before her expression morphed to utter seriousness. "Duo Maxwell, who never tells a lie, I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?" he asked curiously, not wanting to disappoint her.

"I need you to give me your word," a tear snaked its way down her cheek as her gaze darted briefly to the younger teen, who appeared to be distracted with the third adult. "Please, Duo, my Devlan, protect your brother. Promise me you will do anything within your power to protect him."

"Lady, you don't have to ask me to do that," he shook his head animatedly, as if he'd do anything but.

"You have to promise me," she insisted. "I can help you protect Harry, but I need your word."

"You have it," he gave her a slightly confused look but willing to go along with anything to bring the smile back to her face. "I, Duo Maxwell, will do anything within my power to protect Harry Potter, my brother, as long as he is mine to protect."

As he finished, the smile returned, bigger and brighter than before. She reached out and gently caressed his cheek, tears still falling from her vibrant green eyes. The former Deathscythe pilot felt a jolt of something at her touch, but it vanished as quickly as it came, only to be replaced with a peace of mind he'd never experienced, except in the presence of the other pilots, like he'd finally come home.

Just then, the door located behind the brothers opened and in walked an old man, who had to be older than dirt. Duo didn't know who this character was at all, but if the glare his brother was sending his way was any indication he wasn't one of the good guys. The man motioned for the other three adults to follow him, seemingly ignoring the teens, and they all stood to do so. At this point, Harry jumped up to follow them, and Duo followed suit, knowing he had to stop his brother.

"Let me go," the younger teen cried, trying to break out of his hold. "I have to stop them."

"No, you stop, Harry!" he yelled at the raven, but he didn't seem able to hear him. "I promised to protect you. You can't follow them." He then added much more quietly, "You have to stay with me. You can't abandon me, too."

As if they'd been summoned by his call, the other four pilots were at his side, helping him restrain his younger brother. He was grateful for their help, he didn't know how he'd ever manage without them.

"Harry," the long haired adult looked back from the doorway, "you have to let us go. We're needed elsewhere. You'll be fine here, I have faith in your brother."

"No, Sirius!" Harry screamed, trying once again to break the pilots' hold on him. "You can't leave me! I need you! SIRIUS!"

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Quatre rushed into Harry's bedroom, having felt the boy's distress all the way across the hall. He found the younger teen thrashing around on the bed, with Heero standing beside it, trying to wake the sleeping raven. He quietly made his way over to the former Wing pilot and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" the blond asked in barely a whisper.

"Nightmare," the shaggy haired brunet grunted back.

"That I can see," the former Sandrock pilot shook his head slightly, trying not to laugh. "But why are you in here?"

"Duo was talking in his sleep," the usually stoic teen sighed. "He was saying to stop Harry, he said he promised to protect him and that he couldn't follow them. Then I heard Harry, so I came to check on him. I've never heard him sound so desperate about anything before. I'm scared, Quatre."

"Go back to your lover, Heero," the shorter teen smiled faintly, he knew that took a lot for Heero to admit. "I'll keep an eye on Harry till he wakes up."

"Thank you, Quatre," he gave an almost imperceptible smile and walked out of the room.

The blond pilot sat down on the edge of Harry's bed and brushed the sweaty bangs away from the sleeping teen's forehead. He was careful not to make too much contact with the raven's skin, mindful of what had happened before in the kitchen. He let his mind drift as Harry settled back into a more peaceful slumber.

He knew that all the pilots, himself included, now had a soft spot for Harry, and it wasn't just that he was Duo's brother. Why, he wasn't so sure. He knew that if they had met Harry during the war, Heero would've had no trouble killing him off as a liability, okay, maybe a little trouble. There was something about him that was so strong, yet helpless at the same time. It made Quatre want to hide the boy away and make sure no one ever hurt him again, and he could tell the others felt the same.

But what was Harry hiding? There were so many things that didn't add up about Duo's younger brother. His paranoia at lunch had made no sense. He could understand Duo's, hell, he felt that way himself, but Harry had no reason for that. Did he?

Perhaps it had something to do with the grief and guilt he'd felt from the younger teen. Perhaps he'd had someone close to him go out and get into an accident, why would he feel guilty? Someone was sure to explain to him that things like that just happen, it wasn't his fault.

The former Sandrock pilot lowered his head into his hands. His circling thoughts were giving him a headache. Without realizing it, the aquamarine orbs slipped closed and he was lost in the peaceful oblivion of sleep.

(1. Earlier I did state that there were four floors that Harry saw from the front, I'm not going crazy and I didn't forget, he just didn't see 'the tower' as Duo calls it.)

Ammie: So, there it is. As I stated in my AN at the top, I am working on all my other fics and trying to get them moving. Anyway, please enjoy the rewritten chapter and let me know what you think.