Hanging By A Moment

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own anything to do with Harry Potter or with Gundam Wing. I am not getting paid for this in any way, it’s merely for entertainment purposes.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This story contains slash which means male/male pairings and is a Harry Potter/Gundam Wing crossover.

Wow, that is really all I have to say to my wonderful reviewers. I seriously didn’t think this story would get such response, and thank you! Your encouragement helps me along the way.

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Duo nearly swooned as he took the first bite of his strawberry crepe, a deep shudder of pleasure rolling up his spine. He slid from his chair at the dinner table, crawling beneath to throw himself down between Harry’s and Trowa’s chairs, his face beseeching. “Marry me!” This statement earned him blank stares from all except Wufei, who frowned at him. Making sure to slide closer to Trowa’s legs and out of easy kicking range from the irritated Chinese pilot, Duo beamed at the two faces directly above him. “Marry me!” He declared happily. “You two are cooking GODS!”

Harry laughed at this melodramatic scene, making Wufei’s scowl promise death and dismemberment to the braided pilot. Trowa merely blinked down at Duo’s face beneath the table, then calmly took a bite of his own desert.

It hadn’t taken long for Harry’s presence to leave an indelible mark on their lives, his personality making an impression on them with a swift ease that was almost scary at times. Such outbursts at meal times had become almost normal in the last three weeks. Harry had found his way into the kitchen where he worked in companionable silence with Trowa to create something better than the microwaved hot dogs Duo had cooked each time he was forced to make dinner.

“Duo.” Heero was frowning at him, and Duo straightened beneath the cool blue gaze.

“No offense, Hee-Chan, but you can’t cook worth beans.” Instantly Duo knew he had taken the joke too far as Heero’s face flushed not with temper, but with shame. His Heero existed to be a soldier. He had very little use for cooking, but didn’t like being reminded of his failure. Duo got up solemnly and went back to his place between Heero and Quatre, sliding his hand over his lover’s beneath the table.

He longed to plop himself down into Heero’s lap and kiss away the hurt that he himself had inspired, but didn’t dare. Two days after Harry’s arrival, Wufei had snarled to cut the lovey crap, a sentiment that Quatre had translated when Duo had been willing to get into a fight over it. Nobody wanted to lose Harry as a friend and house mate, and nobody knew if the wizard boy would be comfortable with their blatant sexuality. For Duo, a physical person by nature, the sudden disappearance of Heero’s touch in public nearly killed him, and he found himself counting down the month when he could take the situation between Harry and Wufei into his own hands.

Heero’s hand tightened on his reassuringly before he let go in favor of his crepe. Duo wasn’t insulted…they were just that good. He avidly took a bite of his own, breaking into Harry’s conversation with Quatre. “You got some jam on your face, Harry.”

Harry blinked and he licked the top of his upper lip casually, not seeming to notice what Duo saw in Wufei’s face at the movement. The Chinese pilot had flushed ever so slightly, his black eyes wide as he watched Harry out of the corner of his gaze. He looked as if the green eyed wizard had hit him, stunned and utterly speechless. Duo glanced sideways at Quatre, who had a knowing look on his face.

Harry paused as he saw where Duo and Quatre were looking, glancing over at Wufei on his left. “You okay, mate?”

The Chinese pilot stiffened as if he had been shot, looking away quickly. Harry frowned, a probing look on his face. “What?” He asked, the frown deepening as Wufei looked back at him, face wooden, emotions under control. “Do I have more jam on my face and you just don’t want to tell me?” Harry asked lightly, picking up his napkin, the only explanation he obviously could find for the strange look on his friend’s face.

Wufei’s harsh expression softened ever so slightly. “No.” He replied quietly. “You’re perfect.” He stood quickly, turning from the table. “Excuse me.”

Duo had to admire Wufei’s steady pace as he left the room, knowing that the prickly pilot wanted nothing more than to bolt. He glanced at Harry, who looked puzzled, eyes focused on the door Wufei had disappeared through. A faint flush stained his cheeks and he seemed to have forgotten his food and the conversation he had been engaged in. Duo grinned to himself, liking this response.

Heero’s hand clasped his beneath the table again, squeezing briefly before he got up. “I’ll be in the library if anyone needs me.” He left quickly, nodding respect to those left at the table. Duo’s grin widened. He would finish his desert, then spend a good hour with his lover before the evening fun with what he had dubbed, “Harry’s Trunk of Tricks” began. He fairly bolted down his crepe, standing with a ready-for-trouble gleam in his eyes. “Choices, choices.” He murmured. “To bother Wu-Man or Hee-Chan?”

Quatre looked resigned and a little amused at his fake dilemma, knowing already what Duo had in mind, and Harry snorted, lifting his glass. “You have more courage than brains.” He said mildly, smiling. “However, if you feel you must, Heero probably won’t kill you for at least five minutes. I doubt Wufei would let you anywhere near him tonight.”

Duo beamed at the wizard. “Good point! If Heero asks, I’ll tell him it was your idea.” He ran from the room before Harry could find something that wouldn’t shatter into a thousand pieces to throw at him, bouncing into the library. To his amazement, amusement and intense irritation, Heero was actually parked in front of his laptop, sitting on the expensive oak desk. “Whatcha doing?” Duo asked lightly, perching on the edge of the desk, leaning over the computer screen.

There was the faintest smile on Heero’s face, though he didn’t even glance up and actually moved Duo’s braid out of his line of vision. “Working.”

Duo heaved a long suffering sigh. “You work too much, Hee-chan.” He got up and made as if to leave.

Heero’s throaty chuckle sent shivers racing through Duo’s body, shortly followed by strong arms that encircled his waist from behind. He moaned as he felt Heero’s hard body pressing against his back. “Perhaps you’re right.” He whispered huskily.

Duo’s head tilted obediently as Heero’s hand, wrapped in his braid, pulled lightly. His knees nearly gave out as he felt Heero’s lips against the column of his throat. He squeaked breathlessly as Heero’s hands slid beneath his shirt and over the taught muscles of his stomach.

Unable to take it a moment longer, he spun in his lover’s embrace and caught Heero’s lips in a fiery kiss. Duo was grateful for the strong arms around him, otherwise he would have melted into a happy braided puddle on the floor at the first brush of Heero’s tongue against his lips. The kiss was broken and Duo hadn’t even worked up a good pout before his shirt was roughly pulled over his head and Heero’s lips were on his again.

A sharp gasp brought Duo back from the edge of euphoria, and for a moment he was disoriented. All mouths in the room were present and accounted for…not to mention busy…so who did the gasp belong to? Heero’s voice broke into his foggy confusion. “Harry.” Duo turned slowly toward the door, his heart pounding, to the door where Harry Potter stood stunned, green eyes wide.

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Quatre nearly hit his head on an open cabinet door as he felt a wave of shock burst on him. He gasped and stumbled, but was pulled back from a nasty fall on the kitchen floor. Strong arms grasped his shoulders, steadying him. “What is it, little one?” Trowa’s voice in his ear usually sent him into waves of bliss, but now only served to comfort him as he searched for the disturbance that rocked the house.

He gasped again when he got a good taste of the unique mixture of emotions from his friends, then swore softly. “Harry! He just walked in on Heero and Duo.”

Trowa looked unimpressed as Quatre turned to look at him. “Perhaps it’s time he knew.”

Quatre snorted, shaking his head. “Wufei isn’t going to take this as calmly as you do.” He pointed out.

Trowa didn’t smile, though his eyes softened to a gentle moss green. Leaning down he dropped a gently lingering kiss on Quatre’s lips. “Perhaps it’s time that Wufei got the answer he’s too afraid to ask for.”

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Harry stared. He knew that it was rude, knew he should apologize and get the hell out of the library, and still he stared. He felt as if he was burning and knew that he was blushing hard enough to make him pass out if he moved too quickly. His heart raced as he caught sight of Duo’s naked chest, the braided pilot staring back with wide violet eyes. Heero’s face was tinted a light pink, but his blue eyes were defiant, the arm around Duo’s bare torso fiercely protective. “Harry.” He greeted again.

His name on Heero’s lips startled Harry out of his dazed shock, and he whirled back to face the door. “Merlin, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” He swore under his breath as Quatre blocked his escape, Trowa a tower of strength behind him. “Look, I didn’t mean to walk in on anything like that.” He stammered.

Quatre’s blue eyes were bruised, but serene. “Does it bother you?”

Harry paused as he mentally went over what he knew about the five pilots whose lives he had disrupted. He turned and blinked back at Duo and Heero, at the look in the blue eyed pilot’s gaze that dared him to say anything to hurt Duo. There was love in that gaze, love in the gentle touches they occasionally shared, even love tinting the exasperated arguments they commonly got into.

His eyes swung around to Quatre and Trowa who watched him carefully. Though they didn’t touch, there was a slight tilt in Quatre’s body as he leaned back toward the tall pilot. Trowa’s expression was as serene as always, but there was a softness in his gaze that Harry had never truly noticed before, but had always been directed at the blonde. He took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Duo snorted. “Well Wufei-“

He was cut off by Heero smacking him upside the head and Quatre hurrying to answer. “We didn’t know how you would feel about this. You’ve never indicated that you were partial to anyone but women, and we didn’t want to disturb you until we knew you better.”

“Sure, and Wufei threatened to kill us if we chased you off.” Duo put in, hopping back out of Heero’s reach.

“So Wufei…” Harry flushed. “I’m sorry.” He hurried to say, seeing a resigned look cross the blonde’s face and Trowa step up protectively behind his lover. “I just…wasn’t exactly prepared for this.” He ran a hand through his hair then glanced around the room. “But it doesn’t bother me. Just surprised me is all.”

Quatre studied him intently, and Harry felt himself break into a sweat beneath the probing gaze. “Are you sure?”

Harry smiled wryly. “My best friend’s oldest brother is gay. Charlie never bothered me. Why would this?” He paused. “I was just surprised.” He looked reproachfully at Duo then at Quatre. “You should have told me.”

Duo shrugged. “Like I said, Wufei was pissed. Told us to cool it for a while.”

Harry frowned. He could easily imagine the scene Duo painted. He believed Quatre’s explanation, but knew it hadn’t been the whole story. “Look. It doesn’t bother me, okay?” He said, taking a deep breath. I just need to process this and talk to Wufei before he finds out and flips out at you. Maybe I can calm him down.”

Harry didn’t wait for a reply, sliding past Quatre and Trowa with a slight smile at both before he headed for the backyard. The property sported a rather large pond, or a small lake depending on how you looked at it. On the dock was Wufei, body just a silhouette in the setting sun, body braced in a Tai-Chi position.

Harry was quiet as he reached the dock, not wanting to startle the pilot. Wufei waited until he got nearly a foot away to speak. “Duo’s chatter finally get to you?” He asked, his movements slow and steady. He didn’t look at Harry.

Harry shook his head, knowing instinctively that Wufei could see it. “No.” he said with a slight smile. “Duo doesn’t bother me. Ron’s twin brothers were like Duo and there were TWO of them.”

Wufei shuddered at the idea of two Duos, and shook his head. “You have more patience than I do.”

Harry studied Wufei before he spoke, his voice careful. “Tolerance too.”

There was a pause, when the world seemed to hold it’s breath as Wufei processed his words and turned slowly to face him. There was a slight frown on his face. “What do you mean?”

Harry sat down on the dock, taking off his shoes and socks, dipping his toes into the cool water and sighing in delight as the little waves calmed his racing heart and burning body. “I walked in on Duo and Heero earlier.” He said without preamble. “They were in a compromising position.”

There was silence from behind him, but Harry could feel the weight of Wufei’s gaze on his back. “You five should have told me. You shouldn’t feel you have to hide things from me because you’re afraid I can’t accept them.” He hadn’t meant for it to come out as the accusation it sounded like.

Wufei didn’t answer for a long time. “We didn’t want to frighten or disgust you into running away.”

Harry kicked his feet lightly. “You should give me more credit than that. I would have figured it out even without the blatant betrayal.”

Wufei sat down next to him, though a few feet away and crossed his legs beneath him. He picked up a rock from the bank nearby and threw it into the water. “How?”

Harry laughed at that. “You think I’ve never seen love before? They were careful…very careful really, but it’s so damn obvious you might as well paint a sign on their foreheads. Heero hasn’t killed Duo yet. Duo actually LISTENS to Heero, and their feelings are there in the small touches. Trowa and Quatre are like two sides of the same coin. Their feelings are in their eyes when they look at each other or talk about the other. It’s on the way they watch each other. It was obvious and I would have figured it out eventually.”

Wufei paused. “I like women.” He said, frowning darkly at the water beneath the dock. “I was even married once.”

Harry turned slightly and watched the Chinese pilot moodily pick up another rock and throw it into the water. “I never said you didn’t.” He said carefully, not sure what kind of mood Wufei was going to have.

His dark eyes were unreadable. “Her name was Meiran. She was killed just after we were married. It was an arranged marriage.”

Harry nodded, listening without comment. He didn’t think he could comment even if he wanted to. He slid closer to the other teen, though not close enough to touch, knowing what Wufei would think of any comforting at this moment. He would be lucky to escape without a broken bone. “Did you love her?” He finally asked as the silence stretched.

Wufei didn’t look at him. “I didn’t even know her.” He said after another long minute. “She was brave. Strong. She deserved better than me, and better than what happened to her.”

Harry ignored the danger and touched his friend’s shoulder. Wufei stiffened but didn’t pull away or try to hit him. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t like the implication that Wufei was a bad person, but knew better than to try to convince the pilot otherwise. It would only provoke a fight that Harry wanted to avoid. There were other, more subtle ways to handle the situation.

Wufei nodded coolly. “And you?” He asked, still not looking over.

Harry shrugged. “A couple of incidences in school. Girls both of them.” He didn’t put any sort of emphasis on the gender, but Wufei stiffened at the word. Harry ignored this, going on. “Cho and I never really worked out. I was a poor substitution for her old boyfriend, someone who was killed when Lord Voldemort was reborn just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” A terrible sadness still touched Harry at the memories of Cedric Diggory, but no longer the guilt. The incident had not been his fault. “And then there was Ginny. We had a brief thing in my 6th year, but then I went off to fight a war I didn’t expect to live through.” Harry shrugged. “She found someone else.”

To his surprise the hurt no longer appeared at the memories of Ginny, only a strange sense of detachment. He was fond of his memories of Ginny, associated their brief relationship with nothing but good feelings, and yet finally felt as though he had moved on. “And she wanted someone real.” Wufei finally turned at that statement and Harry smiled slightly. “It’s hard loving a hero. You expect them to be exceptional in everything they do, to never make mistakes. It’s a hard lesson to learn when you see that the hero is just human with the same flaws you have. Ginny found someone that could make her happy.”

Wufei frowned. “This didn’t make you angry?”

Harry laughed. “Sure it did.” He said, shaking his head and kicking his feet in the water. “Hurt too. Made me think for a long time that maybe I couldn’t ever find love. I thought that in school a couple of times. I’m made to save the world, and with that responsibility comes specific obligations. I didn’t expect to live through what my future held, and nobody else expected it either.”

Wufei’s face was unreadable. “And now?”

Harry shrugged. “I’ve met heroes. They live here.” He smiled and lay back to look up at the stars as they appeared. “They’re human. They make stupid mistakes and they’re just normal with likes and dislikes. When I look at Duo and Heero, Trowa and Quatre, I think maybe it’s possible. Possible to live, possible to love, possible to still fight and have someone worth living for, someone to make you want to survive the next battle.”

Wufei tilted his face to the sky, though he didn’t lay down. Harry wished he knew what the Chinese pilot was thinking. “Why’d you tell them to hide it from me, Wufei?” He finally asked, staring at the boy next to him. “Who were you protecting? Me or yourself?”

Wufei scowled at Harry. “What are you implying?”

Harry shrugged. “Dunno. You tell me.” His voice was calm and he stared into Wufei’s gaze, not really sure what he was looking for or why he wanted to know so badly. Wufei’s almond shaped eyes were black pools that seemed to suck in light yet seemed luminous in his face. He looked very noble sitting there above him, and very young at the same time.

“What do you want from me, Harry?” Wufei’s voice was soft, the words spoken in a sigh, almost to himself.

Harry grasped his companion’s shoulder again and pulled him down to lay on the dock. “I want you to be happy, Fei.” He replied softly.

Wufei didn’t even appear to notice the use of the nickname, Harry doubted he even heard it. “What if I can’t?” He asked.

Harry laughed. “Look up.” He ordered, pointing out the stars that were coming out. “Now wait.” A silence stretched between them again, but this was not tinged with the tension of before. Each boy was lost in their own thoughts, staring up into the dark velvet sky above. A star shot across their vision and Harry smiled at the sight of it. “Now wish.” He said simply.

Wufei wasn’t looking at the sky anymore as Harry glanced over to see what the pilot was doing. He had expected anger, a flippant remark maybe. Wishing on stars wasn’t exactly Chang Wufei’s cup of tea. The dark eyes were unreadable. “What did you wish for?”

Harry smiled. “I didn’t.” He said lightly. “That was your wish. Your star.”

Wufei didn’t speak for a long minute, his eyes closing. After what seemed to Harry to take months but in reality only took moments, the pilot’s eyes opened and he stood, holding out his hand to Harry. Harry grasped it and allowed the Chinese boy to pull him to his feet, grabbing his shoes as they made their way up to the house. “Do you want to play chess?” He asked as they neared the house. The look of peace on Wufei’s face as he turned back to nod was everything Harry could have hoped for.