Finders, Keepers

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Gundam Wing. I am making no money from this work of fanfiction.

Author’s Note: I would just like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. I haven’t been able to answer individually yet, because I’ve been writing all day, but I’ll get to it in a little while. Also, I would like to note that I made a mistake in Harry’s birth year, last chapter. He was born in AC 184; Duo was born in AC 180, and the Gundam war happened in AC 195.

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 Post DH (no epilogue), and Endless Waltz


Finders, Keepers
Chapter 2

Harry stared at the opulence of the mansion as Duo continued to drag him further into its depths. They had left Heero behind them several corridors ago.

Duo came to a sudden halt, and Harry barely kept himself from crashing into his brother. “We’re here!” Duo exclaimed, throwing open a door.

“Where is ‘here’?” Harry asked. He smiled at Duo’s exuberance. Never in his dreams had he imagined his brother would be this excited to meet him. Harry would have to rub it in Hermione’s face—he’d known just showing up was the best way to go!

“The kitchen!” Duo yelled, once again grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him across the threshold. “What do you want to eat?”

Harry was speechless—he literally could not speak as he gazed around the massive room. The best appliances on the market—a dozen ovens, a multitude of refrigerators, and more pots and pans than Harry could count without using his fingers—gleamed at him, reflecting off his glasses.

Four men and three women spanned the kitchen. Some were mixing ingredients, others checking the stoves and adding final touches to dishes Harry couldn’t pronounce. One man was tossing pizza dough above his head. It all reminded Harry of the reality cooking shows Petunia liked to watch.

“Well,” Duo said, bumping his hips into Harry’s, “what are you hungry for? The chefs can make just about anything.”

“Uh, well, actually, I’m not that hungry,” Harry stammered. “One of the guards brought me a sandwich, earlier.”

“A sandwich? That’s just a snack!” Duo declared. He stalked up to the nearest chef and got her attention. “Hey, Sheila, do you mind making me and my brother something to eat?”

“Of course not, Duo,” the petite woman trilled. She was blonde, probably in her mid-thirties, and very pretty. “What would you boys like?” She looked from Duo to Harry.

“Er, um, I don’t really want anything.” Harry snuck a glance to Duo. “Thank you, anyway.”

“Just give us some dessert, then,” Duo insisted. He turned to Harry. “Sheila makes a great chocolate cake. Everyone loves chocolate.”

Harry forced a grin to his face, but it felt more like a grimace. “Okay.” After years of knowing Mrs. Weasley, he knew when to give in on the subject of food. He could always just push the cake around on his plate.

Sheila beamed at the brothers. “All right, Duo, Mr. Maxwell. I’ll have it right out for you. Where should I have it taken?”

“Just bring it to the sitting room, ‘kay? I’m going to take Harry to meet the guys.” After Sheila got to work, Duo turned back to Harry. “I want you to meet my friends. Is that okay?”

“I guess so?” Harry said. He would rather talk to his brother alone, but he tried to think of it from Duo’s perspective. Harry had had months to get used to the fact that he had a brother—Duo’d only had hours, and not many of those.

“Great! I know they’re going to love you.” Duo grabbed Harry’s hand again. It was like he couldn’t stop touching him. Harry was glad of it—he didn’t think he would have the guts to just reach out and touch his brother for no good reason, no matter how much he wanted to. “I won’t let them grill you for too long—Heero’s the worst at that. Then we can talk, just us.”

Harry smiled. “That would be brilliant.”

***

Duo was taken aback by Harry’s expression. His smile lit up his face, so much as to make him seem a different person. Even with the dark circles under his eyes and the paleness of his skin, he was beautiful when he smiled, and so fragile-looking. Like a boy Snow White.

The kid obviously didn’t take care of himself. He was too skinny—which Duo knew just how to remedy—and his paleness looked too much like sickness to be his natural skin tone. The boy needed a caretaker, and who better to do that than his very own big brother?

Duo gripped Harry’s hand in his own and led him to one of the smaller sitting rooms. Despite not having told any of the guys where to meet him, he knew that was where they would be. It was “their” room, a bit more cozy than the rest of the house, with more comfortable furniture.

When they reached their destination, Duo didn’t let go of his brother’s hand. He wanted to keep a hold of him at all times, lest he disappear.

“Ach, Duo, stop smothering the kid!” Wufei commanded as they entered the room. Wufei was slouching gracefully on one of the rooms many couches (as he always did, to Duo’s great envy).

Duo looked to Harry, who frowned. Duo dropped his brother’s hand. Maybe Harry didn’t like that much touching. He didn’t want to scare him away so soon.

“Don’t mind grouchy over there,” Quatre said, coming up to the two of them. “He’s just cranky because he’s missing his afternoon nap. He’ll probably fall asleep soon.” Q-ball smiled and offered Harry his hand. “I’m Quatre Winner. I’m one of your brother’s friends.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“So polite!” Quatre quirked an eyebrow at Duo. “I wonder where he gets it from.” He smiled, to let Duo know he was just joking.

Duo laughed and grabbed Quatre to ruffle his hair. He let his friend—who couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard—go and turned back to his brother, who was smothering a laugh behind his hand. Duo grabbed that hand and held it in his own. “Don’t listen to him, Harry,” he commanded. “Q-ball’s taken so many etiquette lessons, he doesn’t know how normal people act. Let’s leave him here, and go see everyone else.”

Quatre smacked Duo on the back of the head, gently enough that he wouldn’t have known it happened, if it didn’t pull his braid. “Hey! That was uncalled for!” Duo pouted, turning to Harry. “Did you see what he did?”

“I did. It was awful,” Harry said in a deadpan, reminding Duo of Heero.

“He’s so mean to me. We should move away before he decides to attack your person next,” Duo said loftily, dragging Harry with him.

Harry’s laughter was sweet, and higher than Duo would have thought. It was like music—everything about his little brother was just perfect.

They stopped in front of Trowa, who was reading a weapon’s catalog. Duo poked him. “Say hello to my little brother, Trowa.”

Trowa looked up at Duo, blinked, then turned to Harry. “Hello, Duo’s little brother,” he said, then went back to his magazine.

Duo turned to Harry. “Trowa’s a little shy, but he isn’t mean like that blonde devil back there.”

“Hey!” Quatre shouted from the other side of the room. “I can hear you, Duo!”

Duo grinned devilishly. He loved teasing Quatre.

Trowa was being boring, so Duo led Harry over to Wufei, who appeared to be sleeping. Duo poked him. Nothing happened. Duo poked him again. Still nothing. Duo grabbed Wufei’s shoulder and shook. “Wuffers!” he whined. “I want you to meet Harry!”

Wufei spluttered and shoved Duo away, causing him to trip over his own feet and land on his butt. Harry offered Do a hand up, giggling.

“What gives, Maxwell?” Wufei demanded. “I was sleeping.”

“Say hello to Harry, and I promise I’ll leave you alone,” Duo said, crossing his fingers. It was more fun to tease Wufei than Quatre, and that was saying something.

Wufei rolled his eyes. “Fine, Maxwell.” He swiveled his head to Harry. “Hello, Har—“ His face turned white and red at the same time. He cleared his throat. “Hello, Harry.” He held Harry’s hand in both of his, in lieu of a proper handshake. “I’m honored to meet you. Don’t let Maxwell’s excitability put you off. He’s as calm as a sleeping puppy, as long as you take him for enough walks.”

Harry burst out laughing, seemingly not aware that his hand was still caught in Wufei’s. “I’ll try to remember that,” Harry said.

Duo didn’t like that look Wufei was giving Harry, so he extracted his brother from Wufei’s grip and dragged him to Heero.

“This is Heero. He’s my best friend,” Duo said. Heero was going over work stuff—probably the security specs of Relena’s summer home, since it was only a few months away—so it took him a few seconds to acknowledge them.

“We’ve met,” Harry said.

Duo laughed nervously and scratched his head. “Yeah, um, sorry about that. Heero’s just—Heero, you know?”

“Yeah, I can imagine.”

Heero looked up at the brothers. He was sitting on Duo’s favorite couch, and upon noticing them, scooted to make room.

Duo sat down, pulling Harry to sit in the middle. “Harry’s my brother,” he informed Heero.

“I know,” Heero said. He twitched his head to look at both brothers. “Congratulations.”

“Isn’t it brilliant?” Duo enthused.

Harry grinned, and took Duo’s hand for the first time. “I think so.”

***

Harry was loving his brother so much. He was so much fun! He reminded Harry of Fred and—of George. It was such a difference, being around Duo after the last year and a half, Harry almost choked at the lack of tension and fear.

It would take some getting used to. Harry tried to be polite while Duo was introducing him to his friends—each more gorgeous than the last, but he couldn’t help laughing when Duo fell over. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to mind.

After doing the intros with Heero (who still caused Harry to go mute with awe, which was probably better than babbling incoherently and trying to crawl into his lap), Duo’s friends left them to their own devices. Except for Wufei, who had once again fallen asleep, and was snoring in the corner.

“So, uh,” Harry trailed off, his nervousness flaring back, now that it was just him and Duo.

“Yeah,” Duo echoed. He shifted on the couch, throwing an arm over the couch and facing Harry. “Tell me more about yourself, kid.”

Harry frowned at that. He wasn’t a kid, but he would let it go for now. There was no reason to be defensive. “I was, um, raised by our Aunt Petunia and her husband, after Mom and my dad died. I went to boarding school in Scotland. I got six GCSEs, but I didn’t take my A-Levels yet.”

OWLs and NEWT scores were reported in the corresponding Muggle category of the GSCEs and A-Levels for Muggle-born or –raised children, so as not to raise the suspicions of the Muggle authorities. If he wanted, Harry had high enough scores to go to Muggle university. Of course, when he got there, he would have no idea what the professors were talking about, having not attended Muggle school since he was ten.

“What about you?” Harry asked, desperately trying to get the focus off of himself. “What’s your life been like? Where did you go to school and all of that?”

Duo grinned, but it was gone in a flash. “I grew up on the streets of L2, after my adoptive parents died, I suppose. I was taken in by the Maxwell House when I was fairly young. Then I joined the war when I was fifteen, and I was in the short battle with the Barton Foundation after that ended. I met the guys in the war, and we became close. I would trust them with my life.”

Harry could relate to that, having friends that close himself, and was glad that his brother had such great friends. “How did you get involved in the war?” Harry knew a little bit about the recent Muggle wars, but he head been at Hogwarts for the majority of the fighting, and didn’t know many of the details, except that when he got back to the Dursley’s after second year, there was a lot of reconstruction going on on the TV, and a new police group had been created.

“I was—IwasaGundampilot,” Duo spat out. “The others were, too. I was 02. After the war, I became a Preventor.”

Harry didn’t know what a Gundam pilot was—he thought that was what Duo said. Maybe some kind of special forces? Either way, it seemed obvious that Duo didn’t really want to talk about it. “What’s it like, being a Preventor?” Harry asked.

***

Duo held back a sigh. Harry didn’t care that he had been one of the “G-boys,” as the press had dubbed them in the months following the war. Even now, seven years later, in AC 202, there were still people who hated the former Gundam pilots. There were also people—mostly beautiful women, in Duo’s experience—who adored them.

Duo was glad that Harry didn’t fall into either category. Having a brother who hero-worshipped him would be much better than having one who hated him, but not by much.

“Being a Preventor is great!” Duo enthused. “I get to catch the bad guys, and blow stuff up, and work with my friends. Heero and Wufei are Preventors, too—though, Wuffers is a field agent, and Heero is in charge of security.”

“Plus you get to help people,” Harry said.

“Oh, definitely!” Duo pulled his brother into a one-armed hug. “You’re so smart—rescues are my favorite part!” He poked Harry. “Tell me more about you, now. Do you play any sports? What are your friends like? Are there any girls in your life?” Duo forced himself to stop. He could keep asking questions all night long, and Harry would never have a chance to answer!

“Uh, well, I did play one sport at my school. It was a kind of localized game, called Quidditch.” Harry stopped and looked at Duo. After a few seconds, he continued speaking. “And my, uh, best friends are Ron and Hermione. We met our first year in boarding school, and just kind of fell in together after a sort of, well, it was because of one of our professors, who as a bit of an idiot.” Harry got this strange, wistful look on his face.

“Anyway, Ron and Hermione are like family to me. They’re been really supportive in my search for you. Hermione even found the, um, detective agency that found you.” Harry bit his lip. “I used to date Ron’s little sister, Ginny, but that was over a year ago. I’m not really interested in her, anymore.”

There was a knock at the door, before Duo could get out another question, and Harry’s face washed in relief.

“Come in!” Duo shouted, not bothering to keep his voice quiet for Wufei. The guy could sleep through a train crash, provided he wasn’t actually on the train, and one of the former pilots was near him.

The door opened, and Sheila stepped in, carrying her delightful chocolate cake. Duo could never remember its name, but he didn’t care. Sheila always knew what he wanted.

“You are a goddess of food,” Duo gushed, jumping up to take the plates from her. She’d brought glasses of milk, too. The wonderful, wonderful woman.

She smiled and winked as he salivated over her creation. “Mr. Winner says not to eat too much,” she said. “Dinner will be served in the family dining room in an hour.”

Duo nodded, not paying the slightest bit of attention. He handed a plate to Harry, took his first bite of heaven, and moaned in ecstasy.

***

“Duo seems really taken with Harry,” Quatre commented after he, Trowa, and Heero had cleared out of the sitting room. Quatre had wanted to wake Wufei to move him somewhere more comfortable, but that idea had been vetoed.

“I hope the kid can live up to the expectations Duo seems to have for him,” Trowa said, flicking his bangs out of his eyes.

Quatre turned to Heero. “What do you think?”

Heero crossed his arms. “No one can live up to the image Duo is building of Harry. He’s always wanted a family, and now one has literally shown up at his front door. He’s going to try to make Harry into the perfect little brother—and himself the perfect big brother. Nonetheless, Harry seems like a good kid. I think he’ll be good for Duo.”

“I think we should invite him to stay,” Quatre said. He wanted to let Duo spend as much time with his little brother as possible. Quatre knew what it was like, having siblings you knew nothing about, having not met any of his 29 sisters until the war. That struggle to form a bond was difficult when both parties had their own lives, and nothing in common except for the blood running through their veins.

“I agree,” Trowa said, and Quatre smiled. Trowa had a similar experience with his sister, although they formed a relationship first and were still unsure if they were blood kin. Trowa confessed they were both afraid of what it would do to their relationship if it turned out that they weren’t brother and sister.

“I have no problems with that plan,” Heero said.

“Great!” Quatre shouted. One of the chefs came rushing by—Sheila Thurman, one of the best he employed—holding Duo’s favorite dessert. Quatre caught her as she passed them. “Sheila, can you tell Duo and Harry not to spoil their appetites; we’re having dinner in an hour?”

“Of course, Mr. Winner.” She raised a plate at him, in lieu of a salute.

“It’s Quatre,” he called after her, but she was already gone. He had gotten most of his staff to call him by his first name, but there were still a few holdouts. “Mr. Winner” just sounded so old.

“You might as well stop trying with that one,” Trowa said with a light chuckle. “She will never call you anything except what she called your father.”

***

Just a little over an hour later, Harry sat in the “small” dining room, surrounded by Duo and his friends. The room was easily twice the size of his bedroom at Hogwarts.

He sat between Duo and Heero at a round table, with Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa taking up the other side. The chefs had just brought out the dishes, and everyone was serving themselves.

Harry played with his napkin, waiting for everyone to get what they wanted. After eating both a sandwich and a piece of cake earlier, the thought of more food made him sick to his stomach. Still, he didn’t want to be rude, so he put some bread and a bit of chicken on his plate, and filled his water glass.

Given the obvious wealth his brother’s friend had (Duo had fallen in the floor, laughing, when he learned Harry thought this place was his), Harry was surprised they were eating such plain food and serving themselves. He was mostly grateful, though. After one frou-frou Ministry dinner, where he was forced to eat snail and let the staff dole out his food like he was a child, Harry decided to stick to “normal people” things.

Unless it came from Kreacher, of course. He tended to cry if Harry tried to do anything for himself. And everything he cooked (even snails, Harry was sure) was delicious.

“How long will you be on L4, Harry?” Quatre asked, between dainty bites.

Harry brought his hand up to scratch his head, before thinking better of it. He was at the dinner table, after all. He fiddled with his fork, instead. “I didn’t think that far ahead, actually. I didn’t have much of a plan, except to find Duo and meet him. I don’t really have anything pressing waiting for me back home, until next September.”

The Auror program had taken him in, despite the fact that he hadn’t taken his NEWTs. His Order of Merlin, First Class, was more than enough to qualify him, according to his recruiter.

“Do you have somewhere to stay, tonight?” Trowa inquired.

“Yeah, I’m staying at the, uh,” he had to think, “the Four Seasons, near the shuttle station.”

Quatre dropped his cutlery. “That place is a rate hole,” he declared. “You’ll stay here with us, instead. That way, you and Duo can spend more time together. He’s on vacation.”

Harry could only nod. He had a feeling that Quatre would have said any hotel he was staying at wasn’t good enough, since the Four Seasons was actually a rather nice hotel. Loads better than a tent in the woods, anyway—even a magical one. “Er, okay. If you’re sure you don’t mind?” He turned to Duo.

“It’s a great idea. Thanks, Quat!” Duo ruffled Harry’s hair. “Give me the room number, and I’ll have someone go get your stuff. We’ll get you set up in a room—you can take your pick. Q-ball has a bunch.”

Harry smiled weakly. “Thanks. You don’t need to go to any trouble, though.”

“It is no trouble,” Heero said, startling Harry. “You’re Duo’s brother. We want you to be comfortable.”

Harry flushed scarlet when Heero addressed him. “Thanks, anyway.”

Heero nodded and went back to his meal. The conversation moved on—to Duo, thankfully—and Harry sighed in relief. He never knew what to say when his brother asked him about himself. There was so much he couldn’t say.