Finders, Keepers

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Gundam Wing. I am making no money from this work of fanfiction. Also, in chapter 6, the lyrics to the song that Harry sings are also not mine—they belong to J.K. Rowling.

Summary: The war is over, and Harry has made a startling discovery: he has an older brother, who is a Muggle (most likely), who was adopted away before he was ever born. Crossover with Gundam Wing. Pairing: Heero/Harry, some Neville/Harry, Post DH (no epilogue), and Endless Waltz


Finders, Keepers
Chapter 12

Wufei fumed silently after Duo left the room. He was an idiot, plain and simple. A stubborn, ignorant fool.

Duo wasn’t wholly to blame, though. If Harry had just told Duo about magic, this could have been avoided. At the very least, Duo would have known that it wasn’t only possible, it was highly likely that Harry was on Earth.

Though he had covered it with a curtain, Wufei had been able to make out movement in the frame behind Harry’s back. Magical objects didn’t work for long in space, unless they were in direct contact with a witch or wizard. If he was in space, that portrait would have stilled long ago.

“Yuy!” Wufei barked, to relieve his tension, striding over to his friend.

Heero was hunched over his laptop. He continued typing, a nod of his head the only acknowledgement of Wufei’s existence.

“Pack your gear,” Wufei demanded. “I need your help.”

Heero waved his hand to shoo Wufei away. “Get Barton. I’ve almost got this.”

“If you don’t have a trace yet, you’re not going to.” Wufei knew Heero knew that, but his frantic typing didn’t convey that in the tiniest bit. “Besides, Maxwell needs Barton to help with the L3 search, and Quatre to finish L4,” he added the last before Heero could protest. “You’re all I’ve got, Yuy.”

Heero stopped typing, his hands clenched over top of the keyboard. If he had been Duo, he would have already thrown the laptop and be picking up his chair, readying it for a toss. Heero had always been more restrained than Duo. “You’re right,” he said, standing up. He carefully closed the computer and tucked it under his arm. “What’s your plan?”

Wufei nodded in thanks. At least Heero could be counted on to act rationally. “We’re going to Harry’s meet-up point.”

Heero motioned to the door with his laptop, nodding. “We can help Une’s people prepare, in the event that any of the kidnappers appear.”

“Yes” Wufei said. Plus, he thought, I need someone to confirm my story to Duo, when Harry shows up.

***

Harry stumbled out of the Floo into Andromeda’s house, almost falling over under the weight of his gifts.

“Hello!” he called, to let Andromeda know he was there. “It’s me!”

Harry wasn’t sure what Andromeda had been like before the war, but nowadays she was very jumpy, especially when it came to people entering her house unannounced. He supposed her wariness was to be expected, given that she lost her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law during the war.

Andromeda swept into the room a few minutes later, drying her hands on a towel. “Oh, Harry, my boy,” she said, gliding forward to kiss him on the cheek. She hugged him, then drew him back to arms’ length, studying him.

Harry hated it when she did that, but he’d never told her. It was like she was looking into the very depths of his soul, and found it in want of a good scrubbing.

“You’re too pale, and you’ve lost weight,” she declared, letting go of his shoulders, but not looking away. Harry blushed under her gaze. “I heard you’ve been to the colonies. It’s no wonder you’re ill – space will kill you.”

“Er,” Harry said. He’d actually felt a little better while he was on L4, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. If she knew this was him well, she would want to know why he wasn’t still in hospital – and what, precisely, was wrong with him.

“I hope you’re hungry, young man,” she said, walking out of the room. “You know how sad Mitzy gets if you don’t clean your plate!” she called from the dining room, and Harry jogged to catch up with her. She whirled around and poked him in the chest. “You better have brought me goblin chocolate. I simply can’t abide any other.”

Harry grinned, back on familiar ground. It was easy to talk about presents. “Of course,” he said. “I even went to that shop you like. The ghastly one in Knockturn Alley, where everything’s shaped like body parts.”

“My mother used to take us there, when we were children,” Andromeda said wistfully. She picked up a cloth from the table and went to Teddy, sat in his high chair at the end of the dining room. “They always had the best ladyfingers.” She tucked the cloth under Teddy’s shirt, sticking it with a sticking charm, and turned to Mitzy, who had been entertaining the baby. “You can go now, dear.”

“Um,” Harry said, once Mitzy had popped out. “I brought presents for Teddy. Toys and that soft food he likes.” He scratched his head, before accepting a bowl Andromeda thrust into his hands. “He’s, um, he’s still eating soft food, right?”

She gave him a look. “Of course, dear. It’s not been that long since you came by.”

“Right.” He lifted the spoon to his mouth, only to realize before he bit down that it was Teddy’s baby food. He blew on it to cover the mistake, but Andromeda’s eyes sparkled with silent laughter.

“Mitzy fixed steak and kidney pie, and that cake you like – the Muggle kind, with cheese in it. It should be ready in just a minutes.”

“Right,” Harry repeated, and sat down next to Teddy. “Hey, pretty,” he said, patting the baby’s head, smoothing down the hair that only stuck up whenever Harry was around.

Teddy gibbered at him, grabbing for Harry’s hand when he brought the spoon to Teddy’s mouth. “Ah ba ba brr,” Teddy said, laughing. He ate a bite and kicked in his chair, holding onto Harry’s hand. Teddy brought it to his mouth and gnawed on it.

“He’s still teething, I see,” Harry laughed. He could never get over how adorable his godson was. “I brought more cold teething rings. The charms on these are supposed to last longer than the others.”

Harry extracted his hand from Teddy’s mouth and wiped in on his trousers. The kid was cute, but he tended to slobber.

Teddy wailed and turned his hair black, reaching out for Harry. “Da! Da da da!” he cried.

Harry resolutely didn’t look at Andromeda, and reached out for Teddy. Teddy grabbed him and cooed.

“So, tell me about this brother of yours,” Andromeda demanded, after a few minutes of awkward silence, “and why you had to see him so urgently.”

“Er,” Harry said, eloquent as always. “There’s not much to tell. He’s my half brother, on my mum’s side. He’s a Muggle, for some reason, and he’s a Preventor, which is like the Muggle Aurors. Or maybe the Unspeakables, I’m not sure.”

He trailed off, feeding Teddy some more as he thought.

“And why did you have to leave the hospital in order to seek him out?” Andromeda repeated.

Harry glanced at her – her mouth was tight, which only happened when she was concerned. They had only known each other a few months, but Harry thought they’d gotten pretty close in that time. Andromeda tended to mother him, and worry about him even more than the Weasleys did. Hermione said it was because she lost so much during the war – her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law – that she wanted to keep what she had left doubly close.

“I did a spell to find him, and it was wearing off,” he said, fidgeting with his free hand. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to perform it again, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find him by Muggle means. Duo’s parents adoptive parents died somewhere on L2. I’m not sure exactly when, but he was pretty young. The Muggles didn’t keep good records of the people on L2, because of the war, especially the orphans.”

He chanced a full look at her, and was glad he did. Andromeda’s face had gone soft, like it did when she listened to a particularly weepy Celestina Warbeck song. “Oh, Harry,” she said, and stopped before saying anything else. She stood from her chair and glided over to him, leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you. Of course, if you ever perform a spell that lands you in the hospital again, I’m going to lock you in a tower for all eternity. I’ll bring Teddy up for visits, so you don’t get lonely.”

Harry smiled hesitantly. Like with Kreacher, he was never quite sure when she was joking. Thankfully, Mitzy appeared with lunch, so he didn’t have to comment. “This looks great. Thank you,” he told her, and she blushed, not used to compliments. He wondered if he should introduce her to Kreacher, then shoved the thought away. He shuddered to think what Kreacher would be like in-love.

“Thank you, Andromeda,” he said, after Mitzy had popped away. After trying and failing to extract his hand from Teddy with no luck, he resigned himself to eating one-handed.

“Of course, dear,” she replied, cutting his food for him, since he couldn’t do it himself. “You should come by more often.”

***

A couple of hours later, Harry left the Tonks’, after promising to look after Teddy next weekend. He had originally planned to head back to the colony before then, but he was helpless to refuse Teddy anything.

Harry just hoped that Duo didn’t mind waiting for Harry to come back. His brother was – somehow – under the impression that he was helpless, and maybe a little stupid, though Duo would sugarcoat it by saying “naïve.” Duo would have a conniption at the thought of Harry wondering around this big, wide world (i.e. London) all by himself, with no bodyguards or attack dogs, no matter that he’d been taking care of himself for 17 years.

He checked his gift bag, to make sure that he had everything for a suitable apology, before walking through Andromeda’s wards. He planned to hail a taxi to Hermione’s place. Two Apparations a day was probably his limit, these days.

It was just a little before 2 o’clock. Ron should be at Hermione’s pretty soon, if he wasn’t there already. Harry hoped George didn’t drop by today, as he sometimes did. Harry wanted alone some time with his best friends.

Of course, this was all contingent on Hermione even being at home. She hadn’t set a time for Harry to come over, when she spoke with Neville. With her parents just back from Australia, and their memories newly restored, Hermione would most likely want to spend some time with them. She wouldn’t wait around for Harry forever.

Harry made his way to the shopping district, a mere 5 minutes walk from Andromeda’s house, and flagged down a taxi. After giving directions to Charing Cross Road, he settled back in his seat and began to formulate what he would say to his friends, without letting them know how serious his situation was.

***

Heero and Wufei landed in London at 2 pm, local time, over two hours before their expected arrival time. Being Preventors and ex-Gundam Pilots came in handy at times like this. They were able to bypass customs, and flew their own shuttle, at speeds much faster than a consumer shuttle would be able to reach.

Heero was very glad they arrived when they did, looking around O’Reilly’s Fish and Chips. There were five Preventors on the premises, all very easy to spot to Heero’s trained eye. Harry’s kidnappers would easily make them out, and scatter before the Preventors ever laid eyes on them.

Heero sighed before turning to Wufei. He knew this wasn’t a major case to Colonel Une, who had refused to acknowledge any danger to Duo’s brother when neither Harry nor his kidnappers were actual persons listed in her database. She had only leant the resources she had because she wanted to keep Duo – and by extension the other ex-pilots – happy enough to keep working for her.

“Yes, I know,” Wufei said, before Heero had opened his mouth. “She sent the rookies.”

“Hn,” Heero agreed. It was a good thing he came. Wufei was going to need all the help he could get. “I’ll find out who’s in charge; you get the civilians out of here.”

Heero spotted the most likely candidate, and made his way towards her, leaving Wufei to do his part. The woman was the oldest Preventor in here, but that wasn’t saying much. Not even 30, she had the look of someone leading her first mission. She was out of uniform, but that was the only thing she was doing right. Everything about her screamed “officer of the law,” right down to the bulge in her jacket that could only be a handgun.

He gritted his teeth at the thought that this was who Une sent. All this crowd could accomplish would be getting Harry – and themselves, if they were lucky – killed.

Heero introduced himself to the woman, who looked relieved upon learning that Heero and Wufei would be taking charge.

“I’ve never worked a kidnapping case before,” Preventor McKee confessed. “Especially not one so high profile.”

“I can tell,” Heero replied, startling the woman. He pulled his laptop out of his briefcase, and sat down. A few minutes later, Wufei joined them, and they began to go over their strategy.

***

"Okay, so, I'm sorry, andI'llneverdoitagain," Harry said, practicing his apology outside Hermione's flat. He had rang the doorbell and was waiting for someone to let him in. Even though he had access to the wards, he decided it would probably be best just to wait, this time. More polite, that way.

The door opened suddenly, and Harry jumped. He thrust the gift bag out in front of him, before Hermione could tackle him with her "hugs." "Hey," he said.

Hermione smiled at him, wearily. She took the offered bag, eyeing his body language, which he knew screamed "Leave me alone" or something similar. Perhaps, "I was abused as a child, and thus am uncomfortable with anything relating to social grace." That's how she had described it in the past, anyway.

"Hey," she said, standing back and allowing him to step in. "Can I take your jacket?"

He shrugged and handed it to her. It was a little chilly for November, but not too bad. Or, it *shouldn't* feel too bad, anyway. If he was cold, that was just one more thing he could chalk up to his illness. "Thanks."

She put it away in the coat closet, before turning around to stare at him. She was doing that thing again, where she seemed to stare down into the very depths of him. Thinking about it, she and Andromeda had a lot in common. "Come in. Are you hungry?"

"Not really. Just got back from Andromeda's." Harry followed her to the living room. The place was spotless - not one dirty sock, nor one crooked picture, nor a tiny speck of dust littered the apartment. He could chalk it up to her being gone for a few months, but he knew it was just Hermione's style.

Of course, when Ron moved in, that might change - but probably not. Hermione ruled him with an iron fist, when it came to domestics.

"How was that?" Hermione asked, indicating the Harry should sit on the couch.

He did, but not before looking down to make sure there wasn't a spell spring-loaded to snap at him when he did, locking him into his seat. He wouldn't put it past his friend to do that. In fact, he was surprised that he thought of it and she didn't.

"It wasn't bad." He wished he had some tea, so he had something to do with his hands. He wasn't usually this nervous around Hermione, but. . .it was just the situation. He should tell her what was going on with him, but at the same time, he didn't want her to worry. He wanted his last days to be fun and carefree, not just a countdown to the end. "Is Ron here?"

"He's in the kitchen, making tea." Hermione fluffed her hair, and sat on the loveseat opposite him. "He should be in in just a minute." She turned in the seat, and raised her voice. "Ron! Harry's here!" She twisted back around. "There. That should get him moving."

Harry flashed a smile at her (at least, he *hoped* it was a smile. It felt more like a grimace), before forcing himself to relax. These were his best friends. They'd been with him through thick and thin. He trusted them more than anybody, even his brother. If he told them - and he asked them to keep it secret - they would. They would understand. "I-I have something to tell you," he said, "but I'm sc--I'm not really sure I should."

"You can tell us anything, mate," Ron said, walking into the room. He was drying his hands on a towel, and in that moment, Harry had a vision of just what Ron would look like when he was Arthur's age, and had his own little brood of Weasleys. It was disconcerting, but in a good way, if that made any sense. Ron plopped down next to Hermione, swinging an arm over her shoulder, and the image vanished. He was just Ron again, just another eighteen year-old war veteran trying to survive. "You know that."

"Uh, yeah." Harry hesitated. Maybe he should back out, and say something else? There were *lots* of things he could say, and play it off as what he originally meant. But, no, he couldn't. Healer Munroe was right. He needed to tell *someone*. Who better than Ron and Hermione?

"I'm, uh, I guess I should just come out and say it, yeah?" He said, his eyes flicking to the fireplace. Hermione hadn't added it to the Floo network, yet. The old owner had been quite eccentric (read: batshit crazy) and added all kinds of dark wards to the Floo. She would have to get an expert in to remove them, before she could set it up.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, worry in her eyes. She leaned over and touched him gently on the knee, and Harry almost let out a sob. (But he didn't - he *didn't* - because he wasn't weak, and even though she was the closest thing he'd ever had to a sister, he couldn't break down in front of her.)

"I'm - shit," Harry said, and he leaped to his feet. He couldn't say this if he had to look at them. He stalked to the fireplace, and picked up a picture of the three of them. It was one that little Colin Creevey had taken, way back when they were all miniatures. They were in the Gryffindor common room. He and Ron were laughing -- probably about Quidditch, but he couldn't quite remember - and Hermione was scowling at them over a mound of parchment.

"Harry? Mate?" Ron asked, and his voice sounded close.

Harry turned around, almost smacking his forehead into Ron's chin. He backed away, to give Harry some room. "Merlin, this shouldn't be so hard," Harry complained. He looked at the floor, so he wouldn't have to see Ron's expression, and just spit it out. "I have Genie Disease."

He heard Ron's startled gasp, and looked up. He regretted it as soon as he did, and saw the look of sheer terror in Ron's eyes. He shifted to look at Hermione, who was better - she was just confused, and scared that she didn't know what he was talking about.

Ron grabbed Harry's shoulders, pinning him in place. "How long?" Ron asked. Harry gasped, and Ron relaxed his grip. "Did the Healer say how long?"

Harry shook his head. "Not-not really. It's kind of random, you know? Munroe thinks, maybe, it activated when Voldemort killed me, and that's how I came back."

Hermione's forehead wrinkled, and she opened her mouth to speak, before shaking her head. She appeared to be thinking - possibly trying to remember. Chances were, though, that even *she* had never read about Genie Disease. Apparently, the purebloods kept the knowledge to themselves, not writing it down, in the hopes that the disease would never appear again.

"What *is* Genie Disease?" Hermione asked after a few moments.

Harry couldn't answer that. He knew as much as he could, of course, from what the healer had told him, but he just couldn't bring himself to describe it.

"It's a time bomb," Ron answered, "set on Harry's magic. And when it goes off, so will he."

"And possibly everyone around me," Harry felt he had to add. When he died, he risked other people's lives, as well.