Honestly? I don't know what I'm doing, updating this. I wish I wasn't. But you guys don't seem to care about my huge gaping plot hole or the fact that my writing seriously sucks, so I'll try and slug through the stuff I've got prewritten and make it readable. At least.

Along with the plot hole, OOCness follows, but...seriously, I don't know why you're reading this anyway. Run on sentences, ahoy. (though admittedly, I've tried to fix some of the worser cases.)

Regardless, if you're still here, please disregard the horrible quality of these chapters! /bows

Ten Lives to the Fall

Chapter Four

On Monday, Harry didn't know what to expect as he entered the Great Hall, late because of the incident that happened in the Seventh Year boys' dorm involving misplaced socks, a mysterious amount of missing hygiene products (mainly related to hair care) and a large amount of extremely fluffy puffskeins. Walking in, he couldn't help but stare at the Slytherin table and almost dropped his cauldron onto his foot in the process, something that he would have rather avoided.

It wasn't so much that it was because he was unused to it being between his own Gryffindor table and the Hufflepuff one, but the fact that it seemed to be split into two.

Two, but not two equal halves. The side with the majority of the Slytherin House held a loud and brash Malfoy, busy bragging about something or other that happened to his father and the Ministry.

The other side clearly belonged to Tsunayoshi Sawada.

In the timespan of one night, he and his other 'special case' student had gotten what seemed like all ten first-years on their side, and he didn't seem to notice nor care one bit. Harry was not the only one staring; most of the people who entered the hall enjoyed wasting about five minutes of their morning looking at the sudden change before realizing that they were running extremely late.

Luckily for him, Professor Xanxus' arrival (emphasized by the extremely loud slamming of the door behind the Head Table and the very irritated scowl on his face) was what brought him back to his senses. Harry made for an empty seat beside Hermione and took his timetable from his Head of House, the smell of the pancakes quickly prompting him to eat.

As he ate, a quick inspection of his timetable showed his first period to be double potions. His groan caused Ron sharing his sentiment with a twin moan muffled by the toast in his mouth as he leaned over his shoulder.

"Great going, mate; double potions first thing for the new school year." His best friend said somewhat sympathetically, clapping him on the back.

Hermione, who also took the subject, gave a small frown towards them. The trio had been forewarned about it last night anyway, since Parvarti and Lavender had overheard some Slytherins gossiping. Even though Harry knew about it, it didn't mean he liked it, but at least he'd brought his Potions equipment with him. He didn't need to run to his dormitory, retrieve his equipment and be late to class.

The less time he faced Snape over the first day of term was well worth the promise to place an order for Witch Weekly's new glamour potion for the two; he had more than enough money. Harry peered down the table to see if the two girls received the owl yet, but found them talking avidly to a blonde Slytherin for some reason.

"But brighten up," Hermione said, trying to cheer them up. "We've all got Defence Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

"Yeah," Ron groaned in reply. "With the new professor."

It turned out that he wasn't the only one sceptical about the man's credentials. It wasn't surprising, considering that Quirrel was a joke in their first year, Lockhart was a fraud in their second, Lupin was the best teacher they ever had but a werewolf in their third, Moody was a fake and a Death Eater in their fourth and Umbridge was a simpering excuse for a human in their fifth. Last year, Dumbledore had simply put out an announcement that he was discontinuing the subject until a teacher applied.

They could only wonder about the new Professor Xanxus.

"Anyway," Hermione continued, "I'm going to spend lunch in the library today."

Harry thought he had a good idea about what she was looking for. "To look up more about Sawada's flame?"

She nodded, and frowned as she took a sip of her own pumpkin juice. "I've taken a brief look through all the books I've brought for myself, and I couldn't find anything."

Turning around to take another look at Sawada to try and figure out if he could somehow discern what the flame was by sight, he noticed that the two Slytherins had finished their own eating and were in deep conversation. Their low tones made it hard to hear what they were saying, but Harry noticed Sawada cutting off Gokudera's words at the end as the two of them left the hall.

"What was that?" Ron asked rhetorically, but left to gather his equipment before class started. Harry turned to Hermione and was about to nudge her to class so they wouldn't be late, but he caught her frown.

"Italian." She said abruptly, seemingly in thought. "They were speaking Italian."

Struck by a thought, Harry blurted out, "You can understand them?"

Hermione looked towards him. "Italian is my second language."

Harry stared at her. "You don't look Italian." Not that he knew exactly how Italians looked, but still...

"I know. I look like I'm French, don't I?" A strange expression fell on her face as she briefly glanced away. "My mother's French but her parents immigrated to Italy because they didn't like the native country, and she moved to England after she fell in love with my father who was attending a conference, and here I am."

"So what did they say?"

She frowned. "This is what I'm having trouble with. Gokudera first said for Sawada not to second-guess himself and that he could tell the difference between the two of them. Sawada's reply was that if he was needed he would always be there for him no matter what, and that he would never be able to fulfil something before it cut off." Picking up both her bag and cauldron, preparing to head to Potions with him, she continued as Harry mirrored her action. "But the weird thing was, well; Gokudera called Sawada something I find really odd."

"What?"

She looked at him. "Vongola the Tenth."

It was only barely that Harry Potter made it to his class on time despite having his cauldron with him, he and Hermione sitting down in an empty row of seats just moments before Professor Snape entered the classroom. When the roll was called and he heard Gokudera's name, he noticed that the two transfers were in his class. Not finding it strange in the slightest, he and Hermione set to work creating a Bane of Dark Wood and its respective anti-poison.

He and Hermione automatically paired themselves up; him fetching the ingredients and Hermione preparing them for use. As she pulled out her knife, mortar and pestle, brass scales and her potion-making kit, Harry scanned the board for the first list of ingredients.

Whilst walking to the shelf in the corner of the room, he inadvertently passed Sawada and Gokudera along the way. Harry noticed Gokudera stand up with his tray and go for his own set of ingredients and Sawada's strange expression. Somehow, the silver-haired kid looped around him and got to the shelf first.

Almost too enthusiastically, Gokudera took down each of the containers and emptied approximately just the right amount of each. Somehow, he managed to gather everything necessary for the Bane in one trip, stacking his bowls with expert precision. Harry himself needed three trips to complete the task, and then even more after that to return their excess.

When he finally took out his own knife and board, their cauldron was already bubbling with ginger juice and an asphodel base. Harry flashed a smile and pulled his gloves on, proceeding to the aconite leaf. It was fortunate that Snape was currently out of the room at the moment so that he couldn't make some sort of snappy remark.

As he finished, Hermione had left in unspoken agreement to get the second set of ingredients for the antidote. He stirred the cauldron as it came to a boil and added his aconite and some roughly-broken rosethorn twigs before proceeding to stir it thrice in the opposite direction. It was then, when the potion turned a soft gold and Hermione had returned that Snape spoke in criticism.

"And what is going on here?"

Harry looked up, half-expecting the Potions Master to have appeared before him whist he was in deep concentration, but found empty space in the row before him. Turning around, he spotted Snape in front of the table where Sawada and Gokudera were sitting at, staring at them with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing." Sawada replied, looking at him in the eyes. By now, most of the class had temporarily paused in their work to look at the commotion.

Snape didn't look impressed. "I don't see 'nothing'. I see you having forced your brother to do all the work for you rather than you having done it yourself." And sure enough, Harry could see that Sawada's side of the bench remained clean even though their group was further ahead in their potion than his own, the colour of both liquids remaining close to the book. "A week of detention with me, Sawada, and know that I will not tolerate any slacking off in my class."

To say that Harry was surprised by the confrontation would have been an understatement. He knew that Snape was the Head of Slytherin House and that his bias meant he always overlooked any of their flaws, and that Sawada was in Slytherin. Yet, he had approached Sawada about him having forced his brother into doing work in his place, and given him a punishment that Harry would have normally received. But in the corner of his eye, he also noticed the smirk on Malfoy's face and his gut shifted in a strange anticipation.

"Forced?" Gokudera exclaimed, a look of anger on his face as he rose from his seat. "I was not forced; the Tenth would never -"

Harry was sure he was the only one who noticed the instantaneous glare that passed between the two brothers that looked nothing alike.

"Hayato." Sawada said in a warning tone, causing Gokudera to become quiet, literally using his hands to clamp his mouth shut. Turning to Snape, he continued. "I don't know how you thought that a way of showing thanks was a forced order from me, but it's pretty obvious that he forced himself into the position."

Snape looked positively livid, eyes narrowing into thin slits.

"When you speak you will address me as 'sir', do you understand? You are only at this school because the Headmaster was gracious enough to allow your guardian, who, I may add, was a former student who ended her education in her second year, an exception to the two of you. And this was all because she was worried that even though she trained you two at home previously, your magical energies might still go out of control and wanted you to take the N. E. W. T. tests to guarantee yourselves magically competent!"

"I, sir, will not tolerate any magical attacks on my family," Sawada's retort echoed in the dungeons as a glare grew on his face. "I don't think you understand why I was hiding. I hate the Wizarding World, don't confuse me with someone else."

His tirade was interrupted as the flame on his forehead burst forth and flew, now unrestrained by what ties that once bound it into place. Snape stumbled back, clutching his head as he cried, obviously in extreme pain. Sawada continued to look at him, and it was obvious that the whole room was confused as to why one instant the professor seemed fine and the next in incomprehensible fits.

As if possessed, Snape began to speak in a tone of voice different from his norm.

"I...will not try...to access Tsunayoshi Sawada's mind...ever...again—"

They had the rest of the morning off.

So far, the day proved to be incredibly tiring.

Hayato flitted happily beside him, having forgotten in his enthusiasm that he was finally reunited with his Tenth to remember their original reason for coming to Hogwarts in the first place. So far, Tsuna hadn't been able to secure his target's trust before he could draw more information out about their hit, but that needed to change.

The events of last night had been stupid. He hadn't meant to lose control in his words, but apologizing couldn't have been an option as the blonde Slytherin had been bragging and flaunting his power in an attempt to redeem himself before his peers. Apologising would just lower the others' opinion of both he and his Right-Hand.

His Dying Will Flame was the cause – every time during training he had been induced into that state in order to learn far more efficiently and he also used it during study and practical application. Because of the incident in Potions, Tsuna had spent the entire break in the bathroom to try and suppress his Flame whilst Hayato waited awkwardly outside.

Despite the half-hour, his only success was dulling its appearance and thinning the mental barrier that separated him from himself; his mind from the machine that was his body. He would have to mail the Ninth to see if he knew anything about the situation as Xanxus' Sky Flame was far too corrupted to be of any help. Even so, he couldn't make any more mistakes, or he would be the one who held their mission in compromise.

But, Tsuna felt slightly more cheered as he recalled that their next class was Defence Against the Dark Arts, the one in which Xanxus would be teaching in.

In a weird way, it filled him with suspense. It was almost impossible to predict what the leader of the Varia would do.

The door to the classroom was closed, a thin cluster of students scattered around and waiting for it to start. Harry Potter looked at him, and he almost winced at the lack of trust and the suspicion in those eyes. He looked as if he had just previously been in a discussion with his two friends, and Tsuna knew that they had to have been talking about him.

"You're in this class too?" The redhead asked, his own distrust visible in every fibre of his being. He must have heard the story from the Potter boy himself.

"Yes, of course." Holding out his hand with a smile on his face, he took in their caution. "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly; I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada, and this is my brother, Hayato Gokudera."

There was an awkward pause as Hayato's piercing eyes scanned over them for a few moments before he looked away, and the three Gryffindors introduced themselves hesitantly in response.

A pause befell the group, one party obviously uncomfortable talking with Slytherins and the other simply waiting with a patient air.

"So, Tsunayoshi," Hermione began, taking the initiative. "You were speaking Italian before during breakfast, weren't you? You don't really seem Italian, so where'd you learn the language?"

Alarm bells started ringing in Tsuna's head but he covered it with a small smile. "Please, call me Tsuna; I don't like being formal," he began easily, but his mind was whirring and he settled with a half-truth. "I'm Japanese, but I moved to Italy about two years ago due to some family issues and learnt the language there."

This, however, seemed to only make Hermione more interested. "Your Italian is quite good for someone who's stayed for two years – I can barely hear your accent, and you must've learnt English there as well. What region of Italy did you move to as well? Your Italian feels very standardized, and your English has a slight Italian accent rather than a Japanese one."

Tsuna hesitated for a brief moment, his heartbeat echoing in his mind as no amount of training could have prepared him for this sort of situation. It had been a mistake talking in Italian earlier and even though they were trying to make it harder for eavesdroppers to understand they should have chosen Japanese instead. England was relatively close to Italy, so it stood within reason that there would have been at least one person who understood, after all.

"I – uh, took some strict pronunciation courses because Asian languages and Western languages...how do I say this..." Pausing, he tried to remember the word in English, but the pounding of his heart made it hard to concentrate, even as he struggled for the word in Japanese. He just wished he could think straighter. "Different ways of speaking?" Shaking his head at the strange choice of words, he finally remembered as a wave of calm and peace washed over him, the effect of his Flame. "Phonetics. Different phonetics."

Ron frowned. "You don't look like brothers."

Tsuna smiled. The excuse he had given held several subtle hints underlying it, sufficiently deflecting the conversation in another direction in their subconscious without raising suspicion. "I'm the one adopted into the family," he replied without hesitation, knowing exactly what he was talking about, his Flame giving his mind a clarity he rarely had in the outside world.

By now, most of the class had arrived at the closed door, wondering what was going on.

Draco had taken that moment to come up to them, and if the Golden Trio noticed anything wrong about him having Crabbe and Goyle slightly too close to him or the two grunts' wariness, Tsuna didn't see it.

"So tell me, Sawada; was what Professor Snape said true? That your guardian was expelled in her second year?" He laughed mockingly. "I bet she was such a slut."

"There was never anything said about expelling. She merely left on her own free will." The light in Tsuna's eyes shifted dangerously as he tilted his head to examine the Malfoy eye-to-eye. "It won't work, Draco. I told you last night that I wouldn't side with you until you have gained my respect, and by playing these tricks you are doing the complete opposite. Besides," he turned to Hayato, "If my memory's correct, wasn't the last person to call the Poison Scorpion a 'slut' admitted to the mental ward in three seconds flat?"

Draco and the Golden Trio jumped when Hayato nodded in confirmation. Tsuna hid a frown at the wizards' reactions. He had been pretty confident that her name would not have been familiar to anyone who may have been in the corridor. Slightly narrowing his eyes, he resolved to Owl a message to Bianchi in order to find out why they may have reacted in such an odd way.

At that, the door to the classroom slammed open. Fortunately for the faces of those standing directly before it, it was a door designed to be swung inwards. Unfortunately, their faces and the faces of the rest of the class were greeted with a very irate Xanxus behind it.

Tsuna's face almost broke out into an automatic smirk, now that the killing aura was no longer entirely directed at him in a one-on-one battle.

"Well? What the—" ... "—are you—" ... "—waiting for?" Xanxus roared, and the class wasn't so stupid as to miss the blatant absence of two words as his mouth moved, but no sound came out.

As the glare intensified, the students scurried in as fast as they could, Tsuna once more reminded of why exactly Xanxus was revered and respected (mainly out of fear) in the Varia. And then he froze as he looked at the completely empty space that was their classroom, knowing that there should have been something there.

But empty it was. The space where a board would usually sit along with the teacher's desk was clear, and there were no tables and no chairs. However, all the notable features of the room were along or even on the walls, they themselves painted in various shades of forest camouflage and the windows covered with a sheer, black fabric. The front end of the rectangular classroom had a door that led to what was most likely Xanxus' office, the back end housing real forestry that had black and dark green targets hidden skilfully behind it.

"Just put your bags down you—" ... "—and get to the front here so I can give you my—" ... "—introductory speech for the school year."

Tsuna raised a hand after giving his bag to a very insistent Hayato. Even though their robes were black against the dark backdrop he knew that Xanxus could see him, only pretending that he couldn't. Finally, Xanxus got irritated and called upon him.

"What is it this time?" The words shitty brat could only be seen on his lips.

"Why are some of your words not coming through, sir?" Tsuna asked, acting as innocent as he could. It was payback for the stuff he went under during training, and if he learnt anything it was that the Varia liked to fight dirty (call them different techniques or something, but they still did anything to win).

"Dumbledore called it a selective silencing charm. That—" ... "—Flitwick placed it on me, and apparently it censors any 'violent or crude' words."

And Tsuna did smirk, unseen by all except Xanxus.

In response, the Varia Boss just simply swished his wand in a straight line. A loud crack and the sound of something exploding rang out around them. Hayato and all the students jumped for different reasons, but everyone quickly understood the meaning and gathered before Xanxus at once.

"Now." The voice was low and deadly, quickly shutting everyone up. "Let me get one thing straight; you will not learn anything in my class. All your proper learning will be done for homework. I volunteered for the job because I wanted to see the skills the next generation of magisters in the Wizarding World held, and so far the Hufflepuff and Slytherin third-years, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first-years and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fifth-years haven't impressed me one little bit. Che, for all the Ravenclaws are hyped up to be the smartest and better than the rest they're probably the ones who failed the most.

"But anyway," he continued, glaring at Hermione who had opened her mouth to ask something, "what you will be doing in this class is seeing how you'd fare in a real-life combat situation. The classroom is purely practical, and you will be learning theory in your own time. Am I understood?"

A small, soft wave of affirmation passed through the group who were too stunned to react. Xanxus' glare intensified and he almost growled in his throat, when the voices repeated themselves again but in a much clearer chorus.

"Today will just be for me to see what level of skill you are all at." He looked at them. "Now, I hope you can remember your own names and line up in alphabetical order. Single file. The person in front will announce their name and proceed to cast the disarming charm, stunning spell and cutting curse at the suit of armour – accio – here before stepping forward to repair it and set it back up the way it had been before. Understood?

"There will be no unnecessary talking," he emphasised as whispers broke out. "No spell incantations are to be passed around nor tips nor anything else of that sort. Also, you should already be in your line! I want you to remember the order of people in front of you and back, because from next lesson onward I will be taking fifteen house points off each and every person who is not in line within sixty seconds. Do I make myself clear?"

A chorus of 'yes' was heard as they all quelled under the too-powerful gaze of the Varia leader, him lazily calling for them to begin as he sunk into the Varia throne Tsuna hadn't noticed during his cursory examination of the room.

He was impressed though, he had to admit it. Xanxus had figured out a great way to keep his cover yet not do remotely anything at all. With each student having to set the armour back the way it was originally it meant that he didn't need to get up and do it himself, the only job he had was to record their progress on the slip of paper he held with him.

Tsuna had the suspicion that nothing was being written down anyway.

Those wondering: I got rid of those extra note thingies on LJ. No guarantees when I'm going to update next, either. Sorry. D:

Also, shameless plug, but if anyone wants to read some of my newer less fail stuff, I've actually started a new fanfiction account about 1-2 years after quitting this one. I shouldn't be too hard to track down, but leave a message or something and I'll link ya. /shotforever