8/9

"That does tend to happen, but that could also be because of your heroics the other night. You saved a lot of lives." Remus sat down on a large piece of luggage and gestured for Gaara to as well. "So you found Peter, did you?"

Gaara nodded.

"I heard he was in pretty bad shape when you handed him over. Accident on your way in?"

Gaara paused and then nodded slowly.

"I can't blame you for that, I suppose. I know what I would have done to him, and Merlin only knows what Sirius would have done given half the chance. Still, since he hasn't had a chance to yet, and on my behalf too, I wanted to thank you. You have freed one of my friends and brought to justice the man who betrayed the others."

Gaara nodded his acceptance.

"I've told Harry this already, but I was going to come and find you at dinner. I won't be here for the final week and I won't be coming back next year either. It seems Lucius Malfoy caught wind of my… issues after the attack and… Well, it looks like the information has mysteriously circulated amongst a number of more conservative parents. I've tendered my resignation before they can have me fired."

"Hn." Gaara processed this. One less reason to return to the school, but Draco and the books were still here. Still, it was a shame.

"I've enjoyed this year more than any I can remember since being a student in these very halls. A large part of that is thanks to you, Gaara. I want you to know that."

Gaara nodded. He may not be mute anymore, but he had no clue how to respond to such emotional outpouring.

"I'm going to finish packing here, and then I'm going to the Ministry to pick up Sirius in a couple of hours. They haven't announced it yet, they're waiting until he's away from any microphones before they tell the papers, but he's been fully acquitted. He'll be staying in my apartment until he can sort out his own place in the next few days. I was only able to talk to him for a minute, but he said… well, he asked me to ask you if you wanted to come and live with him. He understands if you want to live with Draco during the summer or if you have other plans… but…"

"I don't have any other plans." Lupin's face brightened as if he were the one getting the friend to live with.

"I'm sure Draco will be allowed to visit." Lupin wasn't really so sure. Sirius wouldn't mind, he'd make great sport out of pranking Malfoy Jr., but Malfoy Sr. would probably take issue. No need to worry Gaara unnecessarily.

Gaara chatted with Lupin for a little while, switching back over to sand when his voice started to croak. Upon prompting, he told of how he had left the castle to track down Wormtail. The difficulty had been immense since he was essentially tracking one rat through a forest after a four hour head start. It had been made harder and much simpler when he discovered Peter was intermittently switching between man and rat. He could travel a much greater distance as a human, but he was infinitely easier to find. Still, using all of the sand he had amassed that night and giving himself a serious migraine by using so many Third-Eyes, his sand tendrils finally found the rat-man on a bus from Aberdeen to Manchester, just outside of Haymarket.

Lupin had asked what happened after that, seeing as the capture had been surprisingly smooth, but Gaara had just concluded with 'We travelled from the bus stop to London on my sand. He wanted to tell the truth.'

Lupin let the subject drop since the brief glimpses he'd been given of the realities of Gaara's brutal childhood still made him uncomfortable, and if Gaara hadn't done the sorts of things Remus could never endorse, Sirius might be gone now.

Gaara left Remus to finish packing so that he wasn't late to picking up Sirius, but before Gaara went, Lupin assured him that they would see each other over the summer all the time.

Gaara had assumed as much.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Dinner that night had been so bad Gaara wished he had been able to escape Draco's watchful eye without resorting to his old violent tactics. Draco had been resolute that Gaara join him for dinner that night since he hadn't heard back from his father yet and he didn't want to risk missing his last dinner with Gaara.

The demon-host entered the Great Hall and, not for the first time, the Hall had gone silent. They all stared at him as if he were Merlin reborn.

His Housemates were the first to recover, having known he was present all day even if they hadn't seen him. They stood and started clapping, followed swiftly by most everybody from the other three houses and most of the teachers (barring the obvious exception). The round of applause only made Gaara visibly uncomfortable, which spurred on a couple of begrudging Gryffindors that needed the extra incentive.

Gaara sat as far away from his housemates as he could manage. But where he used to be able to achieve the requisite distance simply by sitting at the end of the table and glaring away all of his peers, now he had to rely on Draco to physically block any of the over-eager teen and preteen admirers. Everyone wanting to talk to him, thank him for his 'heroics', question his abilities, or simply hear his voice first-hand; it was miserable.

Draco did his best to reassert his dominance over Slytherin, imperiously demanding some peace and quiet while they ate, but even if he had been the prince he was before, no one could resist bothering Gaara now that they knew he wasn't a threat to the students (which would not hold true for much longer if they kept at their ruckus).

Fortunately, after nine months of blankly ignoring people and not answering questions, Gaara was perfectly prepared. And if they didn't leave him alone, he might have to fall back on some earlier habits he had formed…

The Headmaster had taken pity on Gaara and elected not to direct any more attention to the curmudgeonly boy, instead announcing the good news regarding Sirius Black and teaching his students a lesson about never assuming a person's guilt without thoroughly examining the facts. He also hinted that the Ministry was not as infallible as they might like them all to believe. He didn't want to entirely undermine the government, but a critical mind was a healthy mind.

In the evening, after Gaara had darted through the crowd and out of the Hall, the red-head took some time for himself to relax. It was a pleasantly warm June evening, (for Scotland) so he settled atop the Astronomy Tower to nap under the stars. He hadn't slept in a few very hectic days and he settled in for his reward. Draco wouldn't be happy about being ditched, but then he was never happy about being ditched.

The next morning, Draco received word that he was allowed to stay for the remaining week (and was told to confirm Gaara's summer plans). While Draco enjoyed his breakfast, he watched over half the student body saying tearful farewells to their friends. Parents had overwhelmingly wanted to withdraw their children early from Hogwarts, but only that slim majority had been able to take the time off work or could justify taking their child out of education for the week.

Classes would resume later than normal that Monday, to accommodate the leaving students. By ten, Draco was among eleven Slytherin that hadn't been taken out, including Gaara.

It was only after the mass exodus had taken place that Gaara reappeared. He still got too much attention, but with the Slytherin table thinned out he could at least eat in some semblance of peace once more. He was approached a number of times for autographs, which he had considered granting to get rid of the gnats flying around him but Draco had been quick to shoo them off. Apparently he was well versed in how celebrities should behave and Gaara couldn't just go around giving autographs to anybody.

Gaara didn't care as long as Draco intercepted them all.

The classes were so greatly reduced in number that all four Houses would be taught together and still not fill all of the seats, depending on the year group. It was clearly difficult for the teachers to keep their students on track when it was clear the material would have to be repeated at the beginning of next term when the missing students returned.

The exception to this was Snape, who openly admitted everything he covered this week would not be re-taught. If those slackers wanted to run home early, they would have to make up the work on their own time.

He was clearly upset about his Order of Merlin being rescinded, according to Ron.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was taught on a rolling basis by any professor who didn't have a class at the time thanks to the missing students. Some were better for the task than others. When Gaara saw Snape standing in the classroom on Wednesday, he turned straight on his heel and walked straight back out without breaking his stride. Snape didn't even frown at this, just got back to torturing the Gryffindors.

The professors, no matter how grateful they were to Gaara for his actions, had to remain objective in treating him like any other student (as much as they ever had). McGonagall was the first, on Tuesday, to call on Gaara to answer a question in front of the class.

It had been a simple enough question but it had caused a hush to fall and heads to turn as he answered in his clipped tone. Clearly he was never particularly loquacious even before his accident. Nevertheless, his year mates were all quite pleased to hear Gaara's long awaited voice. It was nothing special, really, but anticipation made it seem special to their ears.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

During the week, most of his interactions with people who weren't adults or Draco involved glaring at a pestilential admirer. Then there were the Weasley Twins.

None of the Weasley litter had been allowed to board the Hogwarts Express on Monday, for the obvious financial reasons, and the Twins had been revelling in their freedom since the school was practically empty. They could practice any number of their more reactive prank ideas without being discovered.

They had been in their rooms when the chaos of the Thursday morning attack had begun. There had been shouting and then they had been called away from their windows and into the Common Room, where a seventh-year they couldn't name and Professor Babbling were casting incorporeal Patroni to repel dementors trying to enter through the open portrait.

No one had known what to do since the fireplace was blocked so they couldn't floo away, and the Headmaster and their Head of House were both out of the castle for the night, so they had no way of escaping nor calling for help. The younger students cried and screamed, the older ones wished they were powerful enough to be able to cast the Patronus Charm.

Fred and George had been quick to notice their youngest brother was missing from the crowd, along with Harry and Hermione. They weren't surprised, but they were worried. Immensely.

For the entire attack, everyone over the age of thirteen had known that eventually their protectors would tire and they would be left defenceless against the worst fate known to wizard-kind. Of course, when the moody thirteen-year olds had figured out this desperate truth, they were quick to loudly announce their doom to the younger children so that everyone could panic and suffer.

Fred and George believed they were done for until someone had shouted about what was happening outside. They had run to the window and watched Gaara perform feats that seemed to be straight out of Arthurian legend, and save all of their lives. Then, they found out he had saved their younger brother's ungrateful life. Then they found out he had saved Harry's godfather from being Kissed and captured their family pet.

Never before had they been so grateful to not be given Scabbers after Percy. They might have liked to make jokes about Percy sleeping with his precious pet rat, but it just seemed a little cruel at this point. They were also rather curious why Scabbers' name had never been revealed on their old Map, but it seemed inconsequential at this point.

In light of what Gaara had done for their family, they felt duty bound to do something outside of their comfort-zone: earnestly thank someone. No mockery, no pranks, no joking or laughing. It was awkward and uncomfortable, doubly so because it was to Gaara.

After they had cornered and sincerely thanked him for saving them, their brother, their friends, and their school, they had to go and do something cruel to an obnoxious fourth year to cleanse themselves.

They had considered, in light of his service to the school, whether they should return the Pranking Crown to him (an entirely figurative object they were looking into making over the summer holiday) but decided saving the school was about as far from a practical joke as one could go. Gaara would appreciate the title if he earned it back properly.

Gaara had received many such unnecessary expressions of gratitude over the week, but these two had been a surprise. Their senses of humour had reminded him so strongly of that person back in his world, it was a further shock when they had affirmed their attachment to their 'precious people', so to speak.

The other person of interest had been Luna.

She hadn't been such a surprise. He had seen her only briefly on the Monday morning, as the sun was rising. How she had known he was out on the Astronomy Tower, or indeed if she had known at all or had just happened to find him there, Gaara would never know. She was being called home by her father, who had not been willing to say whether she would be returning in September (a common problem amongst the student body).

She had been oddly emotional, Gaara recalled. She had been grateful, but more she had been worried apparently by his disappearance. And she had been scared by his power. She said it was evil even though he wasn't.

She hadn't elaborated, which Gaara appreciated. With all of these people telling him he was a hero, it was hard to keep his head and remember that he was a monster that housed a demon. Shukaku's chakra was not a miraculous solution to problems, it was his curse and his cross to bear.

Still, Luna had hugged him and thanked him nonetheless, for saving her and everyone. She insisted that she would write to him weekly and hoped he would write back even if he didn't really want to. She also wanted him to update her on his monthly transformations, in case there were any changes (or possibly if any photos happened to be taken).

He made no commitments, but wished her well.

By the end of the week, he was looking forward to being away from all of these people. It was difficult hearing so often how good a person he was when he knew they would all change their minds in a second if they knew who he really was. What he really was.

At least Sirius would likely get over any nonsense notions of Gaara's virtues after living in close proximity for two months. Draco had gotten over any lingering gratitude in a matter of days.

Dumbledore had called on him for a visit once more on Thursday afternoon to discuss Sirius' claim of guardianship. To the old man's credit, he seemed to honestly be checking on Gaara's feelings on the matter. He had also warned Gaara that, being an ex-prisoner of Azkaban, innocent or not, would have affected Sirius' mind profoundly and that moving in with him so soon after the man's acquittal might not make for the easiest living situation.

After he assured the headmaster that he was content to stay with Sirius over the holiday, he left quickly to avoid any further interrogation on his past or powers.

As hectic as these last days were, Gaara actually looked forward to the closing feast, marking the end of the year. Of course, preceding that had the onslaught of summer assignments by their teachers who had had to assure each class that the students who left early would receive the same homework as well, through the post.

The feast was held on two tables so that the reduced numbers wouldn't be so spread out, to Gaara's chagrin.

"Well, it's the first time I can remember where I have had to perform this duty to so few students. This year has been one of the most eventful in living memory. A rather long span of time, I might add. I will spare you from any further oratories when I know you are all eager to tuck in and then get back to packing your things to return home.

"Before you do, however, I have a few more duties to which I must attend. First, I have to announce the winner of the coveted House Cup. This year, it should come as no surprise, goes to Ravenclaw!" The largest remaining House cheered raucously. Slytherin might have been a contender, especially since Gaara had been given two hundred points for his service to the school, but tallied against the many hundreds he had lost by skipping class, ignoring professors' instructions, or simply existing (Snape), Slytherin had still come in last for the first time in living memory.

The few snakes present weren't all that bothered. They might not have the House Cup this year but they did have Gaara. Bragging rights were still firmly theirs.

"It is also my pleasure to announce this year's House Quidditch champions are… Slytherin!" This didn't get much in the way of cheering since the results had been known since the last match, but as the only team member present, it fell to Draco to get up and collect the trophy, which Snape would take after dinner to put back in its display case. It seemed a little absurd when it was just him there holding it so he didn't wait long to return to his seat with it.

Usually, in Draco's experience, the Headmaster would normally then give a toast to next year's league; but he stayed rather quiet instead, conspicuously so, even sharing a look with McGonagall.

"Now, I have conferred with the governors and we have agreed that in light on recent events, a special recognition must be paid to the brave actions of five of our very own students in saving not only an innocent man from a terrible fate, but also protecting our school from attack. Please, would Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Gaara, and Draco Malfoy join me at the front."

Draco glanced around and repeatedly looked to Gaara, trying to figure out why he was being awarded for his inaction on the night of the attack. It took him half the walk to the podium to realise that his father's position on the board of governors and within the Ministry likely had a great many people convinced the Malfoy heir had played a pivotal role in the event.

He had the good grace to stand a little off to the side, away from those that actually had a hand in the heroics, when he reached the front. Gaara would have walked out of the hall entirely, away from this ridiculousness, but Draco had been between him and the door when he got up from the table.

Gaara made no move to take the plaque from the proffering wrinkled hands of the Headmaster so Harry stepped forward to take it instead. It was inscribed with their five names and was an award for 'Special Services Rendered to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' and referenced the date.

Once again, it was a strange sight, seeing a given name without either a middle or surname. Carved into the polished silver was: Gaara, Harry James Potter, Draco Lucius Malfoy, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger.

Draco suspected the ordering of the names had been a hotly debated topic since a number of the governors, his father chief amongst them, would not have stood for a mudblood (or a girl) coming anywhere but last on the list. And whilst Draco was clearly on there as an honorary position, he had been named before the mudblood and the sixth son of the dirty poor Weasley clan.

Fortunately, the finer points of politics were beyond Ron who was smiling like there was no tomorrow, and even Harry had overcome his disappointment over the Quidditch Cup and Draco's unexplained presence to enjoy the honour being bestowed upon him. Gaara hadn't bothered looking at the award, and Hermione looked like she might bite all the way through her pursed lips after harshly passing it on.

The insult wasn't lost on her.

Harry tried to hand the plaque off to Gaara to take back to his seat, an olive branch and recognition of who had played the bigger role. Gaara looked down at it, looked at Harry, then shook his head and continued to his seat.

Again, Gaara might have skipped this occasion entirely were it not acting as an official function too. It was confusing because it felt like every other dinner barring the awarding of commendations, but even Gaara had been invited to a few ceremonies and state dinners since the last Kazekage's death and knew they were important.

Temari's lessons on social functions had not yet gotten to explaining why such gatherings were important, only what Gaara had to do when he was there, by the time he had been exiled to this world. In hindsight, listening to yet another endless bloviating speech, Gaara suspected the reason Temari had never explained why it was important to sit through these things was because there wasn't a good reason and she knew he would happily get up and walk out in the middle.

When it was finally done, he did leave abruptly.

Dinner wasn't yet finished but he didn't like deserts anyway.

No one gave him a second look, so used to his antisocial eccentricities by now. It was rare he stayed all the way through dinner.

Dumebledore watched him leave and was glad the boy had stayed all the way through the closing ceremony. He had wanted to give an extra-long speech about what exactly Gaara did, but he thought better of it and refrained.

Everyone there knew what had happened first or second hand, and Gaara certainly wouldn't appreciate the effort.

When Draco got back to their room, he found Gaara reading on his bed again. Draco had spent the evenings of most of the week packing his many possessions into two trunks. He meticulously folded his clothes and stacked his books, all the while cursing Potter for freeing Dobby. It had been so much easier when he could leave these plebeian tasks to the servants.

Not that his family's house elf should have been in the castle in the first place, but that was neither here nor there.

Of course, Gaara was less than sympathetic to his plight, both regarding his old slave and the task of packing. When asked why he hadn't started packing, Gaara had replied that it would take only a few minutes. Draco knew Gaara wasn't overburdened with possessions, but even then he couldn't imagine Gaara was going to have an easy time packing everything away properly in the morning before the train departed.

He was taking the train, wasn't he?

It had not come as much of a shock that Gaara was going to live with Sirius Black after all that had come about. Nevertheless, Draco still felt disappointed that Gaara wasn't going to living at the manor. It was so much more interesting when he had a friend there.

He had insisted Gaara have Sirius extend an invitation to him, but the nod he got meant little coming from Gaara, who might well decide he wanted to spend the entire season alone.

Draco would just flood him with owls until he received an invitation, or maybe he could simply invite Gaara to visit him?

No!

It would be undignified to put forth all of the effort in their friendship. It was bad enough he found himself as Gaara personal wrangler, almost in an official capacity at Hogwarts. In some small ways, he missed his minions.

Although… if Gaara came to the Malfoy homestead, Draco wouldn't be forced into interacting with Potter, who was also supposed to be staying with Black. Honestly, the thought of Potter sharing a roof with Gaara for two months had him smiling every time he thought about it.

When he had put the finishing touches on his last case, Draco sat on his bed and picked up a book too. He had imagined, upon learning of Gaara's returned voice, like many people, that it might prompt the occasional bout of speech from the foreigner, but he seemed less inclined than ever to communicate. Even now, he often used his sand to answer nonverbally if he bothered to answer at all.

Draco had asked, in light of this new discovery, whether Gaara was so quiet back in his home world. A strange concept that he had come to terms with faster than anybody would have give him credit for because it was frankly the only explanation that made sense.

Of course Gaara was from another world.

Gaara had, as he always did, Draco had come to notice, weighed up how much to share with Draco before answering. He nodded and that was that.

It had helped, this monumental revelation that not only were there other worlds out there, but that Gaara had come from one; that Gaara was still as infuriating no matter what country or dimension he came from.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Draco looked at the sparse crowd filing into the Hogwarts Express and thought he could get used to this staggered exodus. He might suggest to his father that they send different years home on different days so the train wouldn't be so packed. The measure's chief supporter would undoubtedly be Gaara, who probably had a little political capital of his own at the moment.

Then again, as extravagant as father was at home, he would still probably tell Draco it was too much. Then there would come a long lecture about not wasting money.

Draco couldn't wait until he could apparate, or at least until he could persuade Gaara to teach him his sand shield trick. No one had bumped into Gaara since Gaara had known him.

Although, that hadn't really been related to a physical inability so much as the terror. Now, Gaara just got smiles, cheers and attempted pats on the back. Those were blocked by the sand.

They easily found a free compartment, the train being the same capacity it normally was and with half the students to fill it. It appeared no one had thought to uncouple a few cars for the reduced riders.

Gaara was very happy about this reduced 'clutter'. He was free from the school for a couple of months, to see what other sources of information he could find. He might even take some time to explore this country. Since he was on an island, he might just restrict himself to this land and not try to venture too far, though. Draco would never let him hear the end of it if he missed the start of school next term.

The platinum blond had been humorously glad of Remus' departure from the school and the diminished possibility he would be sharing a train ride with the outed werewolf.

The thought of anyone fearing Lupin, especially at any time but during the full moon, was enough to make Gaara smile.