2/6

Gaara was not suited to this task. Kankuro would have been incapable too, but Temari might have managed. And he would have known exactly what to do and say to get Draco out of this turmoil. That was what he did: see through the darkness of others and help them find another path.

Would ramen noodles help Draco? Doubtful.

Gaara's problems did not decrease as time wore on. When October was in full swing, yet another trial was heaped upon him, this time in the form of a new article by Ms. Rita Skeeter. Her articles had been growing in popularity, evidenced by their frequent inclusion in the front ten pages of the Daily Prophet, but within Hogwarts they were notorious. After the series dealing with Gaara and the school, she had drifted away to talk about all kinds of disparate subjects, none of which Gaara felt he knew better for having read her poorly researched and badly written pieces.

This morning, however, her focus had shifted back to the school and it did not bode well for anyone present that she had. Gaara had taken to checking the paper since that first article, not as a matter of narcissism, expecting another article to feature him, but from habitual morbid curiosity and a growing sense of inclusion in this world's affairs.

The latest of her weekly columns was titled: 'The Past Villainies of Professor Severus Snape.' Already Gaara was holding back a veritable groan of frustration. He had just about managed to avoid any conflict with the man since his return to Potions classes, and that had been aided in no small part by the lack of (perceived) antagonism from Gaara or anybody else during these peaceful weeks. Putting Snape in a foul mood, as this article assuredly would, did not mean anything good for Gaara.

As Gaara read over the article, he decided to risk Dumbledore's ire and skip the next couple Potions lessons.

Skeeter had a flexible working relationship with the truth and employed it as scandalously as she could. The article mistakenly alleged that Snape had been friends with Sirius, Remus, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew in school, and that he had helped Remus, a known werewolf, to conceal Sirius from the dementors last year, prolonging the public panic and preventing the Ministry from capturing Sirius and exonerating him earlier. It then segued into a paragraph on Snape's criminal past as a Death Eater and questioned why such a dangerous character had been forgiven his crimes by Albus Dumbledore and offered a job around children. Especially, it added, when he was known to be such a bully to both the Boy-Who-Lived and the Defender of Hogwarts that they both cried themselves to sleep most nights.

Normally this sort of aspersion on his character was enough to make Gaara angry but he doubted even the simpletons of this world, anybody who knew or had met him, at least, would ever believe he cried over something like that, or that he went to sleep every night. That said, Gaara was not pleased to be continually used as a prop in her stories.

Skeeter finished by saying that it was only through her diligent investigative reporting that she had uncovered such travesties, as Snape was steadfastly blocking all press access to both boys to keep them from speaking out about him.

Now, Snape would surely know that Gaara had nothing to do with an article like this, nor would Potter for that matter, and yet when it was pointed out to him by the ever-helpful Professor Vector sat beside him, Gaara knew this would come back to him. And sure enough, a scant few minutes later, Snape's eyes shot up to meet his, and Gaara got to the impression he should not have been looking in the man's direction at that moment.

Draco pitied him but that feeling fled him when he saw that Dumbledore was waiting to talk to Gaara after lunch, actually having stood by the exit of the Great Hall to catch him. The students who walked out before and after him were just as surprised and all conversation hushed in the vicinity.

"Gaara, I just wanted to remind you of the agreement we made concerning your return to Potions earlier this year. I understand that a rather upsetting column has been written by Miss Skeeter, and not for the first time, but Professor Snape will act professionally, as I assured you."

"Good." Gaara said, annoyed to be predicted so easily. Now that his truanting had been pre-empted, he could not plead ignorance when Dumbledore raised the issue of the deal later. That wily old man!

Potions later that day was… tense would be the best way to describe it. True to the headmaster's word, Snape was less openly hostile to Gaara and instead spent the entire lesson watching and waiting for the slightest provocation so that he might be excused in his tormenting the boy. However, Gaara was used to avoiding giving such excuses, although that had been to stop his father from killing him rather than keeping an emotionally unstable teacher from snapping. More of a reversal of roles, really.

Snape was on the warpath all that week after he failed to work out his anger on the innocent students he had his eye on. It did not help his mood that all during that week, he received complaints from members of the public, the majority of which seemed not to have children currently attending the school, about his teaching style, his history, his looks…

Dumbledore's promises that it would all die down in another week or two were the only thing that kept him from going through with his longstanding threat to quit.

The weeks wore on and it was in the middle of October when the painfully mundane day-to-day life of an inter-dimensional Jinchūriki attending a magical school was punctuated by a noteworthy event, by his standards. This day was the day that his last hope of finding his home unaided was dashed.

Early into his research in this world, Gaara had identified the four major areas of magical theory to be explored once he determined that no mainstream magical discipline applied to his problem. Over the course the past ten months since he made that determination, he had researched and read around these areas one by one. Each had its own complications and complex rituals and spells to be tried before it could be set aside and another could be explored.

Of the four, Gaara had spent the past eleven weeks delving into the last and today he was going to apply what he had learned of that theory. If it failed, as his creeping doubt was predicting, there was nothing else to do. Nothing else in current fields of magical theory, so any further attempts might take years or even decades of research to explore whole new disciplines.

The extra help he had received in Arithmancy this past month had been invaluable, and he had even run some of his base equations past Professor Vector, careful to avoid any insinuation of what he was really working on. Granted, he was still very much a novice in the art but if this ritual panned out, he could continue to learn and use it to act on the information he was hoping to gain.

Tonight he was performing a ritual that should, if it worked according his calculations, reveal to him his place of origins, give him a view of that place, and theoretically it should give him an indication of what method he might employ to get there. He had tried spells to this effect before but this obscure branch of arithmantic formula was known to accommodate multiple dimensions. Granted, notes on those dimensions never described anything close to Gaara's home, but if the magic was piercing the universe itself, there was no reason it couldn't reach to Sunagakure.

While it seemed like his most promising opportunity yet, it being his last chance was what weighed on his mind as he finished setting up the circle of runes around a designated spot on the floor. As he understood it, he would need to visit a much more powerful location than Hogwarts, and posses a great deal more knowledge, should he wish to follow the information provided to travel across the pierced dimensions.

He had tried explaining all of this to Draco as he worked, spending hours setting up the requirements for the ritual, the complex array of runes, the candle formations, the different ingredients, the translations of ancient and discarded spells, but this had quickly bored the blond and the conversation had moved on to tales from Draco's earlier education.

Draco was fond of filling Gaara in on the goings-on of Hogwarts before he had arrived, which Gaara was happy to indulge since some of the stories were rather informative. The Basilisk story was interesting, to say the least. Although, the dubious role Lucius seemed to play in it was disturbing. Draco had not said as much but from what he seemed to know about an intensely private affair, it was clear his father had played some role in events that nobody in the Malfoy family would be eager to see uncovered.

Similar to that one, this story concerned the detested Gryffindor trio that Draco seemed to hate and revel in discussing in equal measures. Gaara had decided it was a pantomimed type of hatred, that Draco drew as much satisfaction in the appearance of a vicious rivalry with Potter as in the actual hatred and conflict.

"And there was a great big chess board. Of course, I don't for a minute believe that it was as big as they say, but even if it was half that size, it must have been something!" Draco exclaimed.

"How did you hear about it?" Gaara asked again.

"Oh, those three are a bunch of braggarts, honestly. Can't wait to go shouting about their latest adventures, as if they're really that impressive. The only thing they're good for is storytelling." Draco said. "Anyway, they all had to take positions and Weasley says he was the one who played them across. Obviously Granger would have helped, but it seems Weasley is actually not as bad as you would believe at playing the game, or so I've been told."

Gaara looked up from his sheets of calculations to check if Draco was okay. Admitting any virtue in a Weasley was tantamount to declaring undying love for Albus Dumbledore and all of his muggle-loving ways, in the eyes of Draco.

Draco noticed this attention and continued, "Loathe as I am to admit it. I suppose everybody has to be good at something. Shame his isn't magic or anything that could make him money one day. I'm sure it wasn't that hard a game, anyway. If Potter could chase down that key with his shoddy flying skills, all of those games must have been set at the level of a ten year old."

Gaara could admit that Potter's skills on those ludicrous flying brooms was above average but it was difficult to take Draco's assessment of Ron's chess skills seriously when Draco himself was a terrible player. Gaara was, by his own estimation, not altogether untalented at the game, and beating Draco was typically rather easy. The boy had no head for strategic thinking.

"Anyway, after he nearly got himself killed, Potter and Granger went on and somehow Potter ended up killing Professor Quirrel and destroying the Philosopher's Stone."

"He killed him?"

"Well, as far as anyone's been told, Potter did nothing wrong, but it's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

"He was able to kill a professor?"

"No, he must have snuck up behind him or something, but it's the only thing that could have happened. Dumbledore didn't get back until later and the other Professors didn't know what was happening until after."

"I don't believe Potter killed him." Gaara said, less sure than he admitted. He did not want Draco spreading hurtful rumours, true or false. Realistically, it seemed unlikely that someone of Harry's background and combat skill, as well his magical aptitude after only one year of teaching, could defeat a full-grown wizard, especially not one specialised in Defence Against the Dark Arts. That said, there was something about Potter that gave the opposite impression, a certain fierceness about him that made Gaara think twice about his dismissal of the story.

"More troubling is that the tests to keep Voldemort or Quirrel out of that hiding place were circumvented by three eleven-year-old Gryffindors." Gaara said.

"That's my point!" Draco said excitedly, going on to make several more accusations of incompetence against their headmaster.

While before, Gaara had always humoured Draco's hatred for Dumbledore, since the man was either a buffoon or a master manipulator for admitting Gaara to his school with so few questions asked, now he was reluctant to nod along. Aside from the promise of help in his plight, Gaara could now see some of the cogs turning in that ancient man's head and the last thing he would call him is incompetent.

"And this stone?"

"The Philosopher's Stone was supposed to be this alchemical masterpiece that could turn lead into gold and give the user eternal life."

"Immortality?" Gaara could imagine another snake-obsessed old man who would have killed for such a substance.

"Yes. It was made by Nicholas Flamel, who was a genius who lived to be over six hundred years old! He died last year I think, or maybe the year before. With the stone being destroyed, it's no wonder really. Another triumph for Potter, there."

"Why did he destroy the stone?"

"I have no earthly idea. I would have kept it. I don't need the gold, of course, but living forever would be nice."

Gaara went back to his preparations, unsure of such a notion. To him, immortality came with a heavy price, knowing what he did about Orochimaru, so the idea that a simple stone could provide it without cost was a curious thought.

"I met him at a party once, when I was about seven, I think. Nicholas Flamel, and his wife." Draco said. "Father has a picture of him standing next to him somewhere."

Draco then proceeded to list all of the famous witches or wizards his father or he had met over the years, none of whom meant a thing to Gaara.

Another half hour and the ritual was ready, and coincidentally this was the time when Draco finally ran out of famous names to drop. He had ended with the muggle Prime Ministers his father had been forced to meet with when the official liaisons had been ill or deemed too junior to make certain accords and Lucius had been forced to step in.

Draco retreated to the far end of the room unprompted when Gaara was about to start, unsure of what sort of effect this ritual would have but not wanting to be too close should it be energetic. When dealing with dimension-piercing magic, a good rule of thumb was to keep a ten foot exclusion zone around the ritual area, Draco decided.

Gaara started chanting something softly that sounded more Germanic than the Latin based spells they were taught, while stood in the centre of the array. Draco watched and waited, feeling a pit of dread in his gut as it proceeded. It was a long and uninterrupted spell, Gaara had warned him, but Draco could not find it within himself to sit at that moment.

The chanting was indeed dull but towards what Draco anticipated to be the end, lights started to flicker and flash all around Gaara in a random sequence. And then nothing.

Gaara came to the end of his long and impressively memorised spell and then he simply stopped talking. Draco held his breath, waiting for some wave of… something, or some final flash, but instead Gaara trudged forward, heedless of the scuffs he left on the carefully drawn circle, and sat down on his bed.

"Is that it, was that the end?" Draco asked after Gaara did not move again.

"Yes, that was the end."

"And?" Draco entirely failed to grasp the clear disappointment on Gaara's downturned face.

"It failed. There is little else I can try now, to find my home and return there."

"Oh."

"I may never return to my home or see the people there ever again."

From a weaker boy, or one who had a healthier connection to his emotions, Draco expected tears would have been trailing down Gaara's cheeks, instead his face betrayed nothing of what he was feeling. When something like this happened, Gaara's stoicism became a lot less admirable. Beyond the pity, however, there was relief in Draco's heart.

"I don't know if I should say this," Draco said, sitting down on his own bed directly across from Gaara, "but I am a little glad. I know it's horrible to say it but I'm happy that you won't be disappearing forever."

Gaara looked up at him, his face still blank but at least he wasn't glaring.

"And Mr Black and Professor Lupin and Lovegood, and I'm sure other would miss you too. You've been here for a year already and none of us want you to leave again."

Gaara did not know how to respond, again. He had never considered that he would be abandoning the people here. Going home had been his all consuming goal for so long that the bonds he had fostered with the people here had been taken for granted. He could never have predicted that he would develop so many bonds in such a short time here. And now that he had precious people here… he still had to return home.

If it was still possible, he had to find a way back to his people. They needed him, whereas he was a liability to this world and its order.

Gaara refused to lie to his friend about this so he stayed quiet.

Draco tried to read something from Gaara's porcelain face but nothing was showing through. What did this silence mean?

Draco waited and still nothing was said, and then Gaara was looking down at the floor instead of staring right at him so Draco took the break in the conversation to sit back on his own bed. He decided that Gaara's silence and his solemnity was a sign that he was going to be staying. This was his way of expressing his desire to stay in this world with everyone here.

That was what Draco chose to believe that night.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Sirius sat upright with a cup and saucer in hand and tried to work out if his throat was as exposed as it felt. A trait from his time spent as a dog was that whenever he felt threatened, he wanted to cover his vulnerable throat from any potential attacks. Illogical for most human threats but as Narcissa peered over at him from her seat, he could not be sure that she would not sink her teeth in.

She really hadn't changed since they were children, he thought. She said the same about him, but for vastly different reasons.

She had 'popped around' for tea fifteen minutes ago and so far they had covered the typical pleasantries and already Sirius was (and he couldn't believe he was even thinking this) missing Lucius' presence. Cissy was a scary girl who had grown into a scarier woman and at least when Lucius was here, she was focussed on stopping a fight breaking out. Here and now, she was speaking with him and he had no idea why.

She was not the type of person to visit out of familial sentimentality, not when it came to him, and she was not being forthcoming with her real reasons for visiting. Unless she really was just here to chat…

He was hoping she might throw a curse at him, otherwise he would have to keep his face from scowling or from slipping some Irish into his coffee until she decided to leave.

Narcissa had to keep her face from smiling as Sirius squirmed. This was a veritable flashback to her childhood, when he had been an awkwardly scrawny little boy trying to avoid his three sadistic cousins when they came to visit.

Today, she had come to visit for two reasons: one, this was what family does, or so she had been told; and two, Lucius happened to be on a minor diplomatic trip to Germany this week and the manor was very empty without Draco or him to keep her company. The discomfort it caused Sirius was nothing to do with it whatsoever.

"So, dear cousin, please remind what you've been doing with all of your free time, as of late?" She asked, noticing his frequent glances to the drinks trolley and hoping he was not following in their unfortunate forbearers' footsteps and drinking away what little remained of the Black family fortune.

"Well, a little bit of this and a little of that…" Seeing that she wasn't satisfied with his vague answers, he added, "And I've been trying to fight some of those ludicrous new anti-werewolf laws being written at the moment."

"You're fighting against them?"

"Well, yes, of course I am. I've known Remus for a long time and he's never been anything but a gentleman to me. Other than on the nights of the full moon when he forgets his manners a bit…"

"Yes, your werewolf friend whose been living here…" She looked around as if she was going to find chew marks on the furniture or shed fur all over the floor, all of which would have come from Padfoot rather than Moony.

"Remus, yes. Sadly Hogwarts had no need of his services this year and those laws have made alternative employment nearly impossible, so today he is out again trying for one of the few positions that might still be allowed to employ him. Stupid laws."

"Seem reasonable to me. They are dangerous."

"Not so dangerous when he was teaching Draco last year."

Narcissa paused in sipping her tea. "That was an awful shock, let me tell you."

"Yes, well, he was shocked, but Draco is a nice lad so Remus overcame it fairly quickly." Sirius smirked until Narcissa shot him a look and he had to act like a scolded child.

"I'm not doing that much for him. Nothing any half-decent friend wouldn't do."

"Housing him, feeding him, helping him find somewhere to… transform? And more?"

"That's about right, I guess. With how much the old parents left me, it's nothing extravagant. I could keep a whole pack of the moochers around the place and it wouldn't dent it."

"Yes, well, if you were to invite any more of those things to stay with you, I shouldn't expect Draco to visit again."

"I would have thought you would be more accepting of them, considering You-Know-Who's position on werewolves."

Narcissa did not appreciate Sirius raising such an uncomfortable topic at afternoon tea and she let him know it.

"If you ever met Greyback, you would understand my reservations in endorsing that particular branch of the Dark Lord's philosophy."

"Well, he gives them all a bad name, that's for sure. But really, Cissy, is this dissent in the ranks I smell?"

"Simply healthy disagreement, as you would find in any movement."

"Yes, a 'movement,' that's definitely what I would call your lot."

"Must you drag us into an argument when none is called for? I did not come here to start a fight over the rights or wrongs of the war. Can we not sit down like civilised witches and wizards and enjoy afternoon tea?"

"Fine. Yes. You're right. No need to start fights." Sirius said. "I've not only been helping Remus with his fight. I've been working to help rebuild some of the family vaults. Father left them in something of a state, so the goblins and I have been reworking the portfolio."

"You've been actively directing your own investments?" Narcissa's face was not as political in that moment as perhaps would have been polite.

"Yeah, I have." Sirius said grumpily. "It's not so difficult once they explain it all to you."

"And the goblins aren't taking advantage of you, are they? You know how they can be."

"Yes, I know exactly how greedy those little monsters can be but I have them well in hand. I've got them sending me daily reports on all the accounts and any movements therein. Giving them no room to do me over."

"Prudent." Possibly the closest to a compliment she had paid him all afternoon. "I've thinking of having Lucius teach Draco about the family finances next summer. It's never too early to take an interest in one's own future interests."

"I'll take your word on that, but I expect he would enjoy that. Definitely seems to take after Lucius, he does."

Narcissa searched Sirius' face for the barest hint that that had been an insult against Draco, her inner Gryffindor looking to jump out and play the part of the lioness protecting its cub. Seeing nothing overt, she let it be. "Well, I think he takes after both of us. Strong like his father but not without his… sensitivities…too."

"I noticed something like that. Then again, with his age, I couldn't be sure just how much of him is from the two of you and how much is him being a teenagers and taking after his friends."

"He knows better than to let anybody his own age change his mind."

"Except Gaara." Sirius said.

"Those two are very close, yes, but…" Narcissa did not know whether either of them would believe it if she claimed Gaara had not had any effect on her son. Such a blatant lie would not serve to move the conversation forward.

"It's to be expected. You remember how I was after I met James and Remus."

"I hardly think I need to be reminded of that summer. I still recall the floo call between father and Uncle Orion. First time I had heard such profanities uttered aloud."

"Yeah, I got the first half of that directed at me."

"Well, Draco has not made any sort of declarations to Lucius or I, like you did. All the better that he didn't."

"I should hope not. Father was angry but he had his ways about him. I can only imagine what Lucius would do if Draco came home and said he wanted to marry a muggleborn or try a year in the muggle world."

Narcissa pursed her lips. She would not utter a word against her husband, especially not to Sirius, but she had the same concerns at the start of the summer holidays. Luckily, as always, Draco was not as stupid as his first cousin once removed.

"Anyhow, Gaara is not the same sort of person as James Potter. Altogether more sensible." Narcissa did not want to upset Sirius so she avoided any more colourful words against her cousin's best friend.

"In that, we can agree. I don't think I could compare the two in any way but the quality of our friendships. The boys are close, and entirely aside from any difference you or I or Lucius might have, they do seem to be doing some good for each other."

"I'm glad we can agree on this."

Sirius did not mention the letter Draco had sent him only a few days before then, enumerating the conversation he had had with Gaara regarding his stay in this world. Draco had been sure that Gaara would never think to discuss this with Sirius so he had relayed the conclusion of Gaara's apparent last hope of finding and reaching his home and the reality that he was stuck here. Sirius, as Draco had been, was delighted by the news and was happy to not have to pretend otherwise in front of Gaara at that moment.

The letter had been welcome and very helpful, but it had also been incredibly formal, to the point that Sirius had to make a conscious effort to avoid mocking it in his short reply, thanking Draco for telling him.

Still, it had further endeared his relative to him.

"Oh," Sirius broke the short silence that had risen between them, "I almost forgot, I finally made contact with Andromeda."

"Oh? How nice." Narcissa said, putting forward an air of total disinterest. Andromeda and she had cut ties in the most permanent manner many years ago and she could not allow herself to show even a hint of familial sentiment for her. That said, she was one of Narcissa's precious sisters and she could never bring herself not to care entirely.

"Yeah, well, nicer than the experience. Released from prison, nearly Kissed, rebuilding my life, none of that mattered. Did I blame her for tracking mud through the house when we were children? That was the issue at hand."

"That and a number of other grievances, I would imagine."

"Oh, don't get me started. Honestly, she hasn't changed one bit. Hasn't forgotten a thing, either. If anything, she hates me more than ever."

"Well, you always did bring that out of her."

"Her daughter's nice, though."

"Her daughter? Oh yes, I recall she had a child with her muggle."

"Yeah, that's the one. Nymphadora. Makes you appreciate your own name, I think. She hates it, insists everyone calls her Tonks, no matter what Andy said."

"Tonks?"

"Her surname. Andy's surname too, come to think of it."

"Of course. The muggle's name."

"You could call him by his name, you know. It's just the two of us here and I know you remember it. You might not have been invited to the wedding but you remember his name."

"I was invited. I chose not to attend." Narcissa did not mention Ted Tonks.

"Were you? Well, goes to show, then, doesn't it? Where was my invitation? Hates me. Absolutely hates me."

"While I have no doubt about the sincerity of her dislike of you, Sirius, I believe at the time you were serving your time in Azkaban."

"I still got letters. No invitation. Would have been nice to be invited."

"Enough, please. I don't know why you went there when you knew what it would be like."

"The same reason you came here today, I reckon. It is simply what family does. No matter how one feels about the other, you sit them down with a cup of tea and stale biscuit and you catch up on the latest comings and goings."

"I believe you might be right."

Narcissa poured them each a fresh cup and they settled back into their chairs.

"You've had these re-stuffed, haven't you?"

"Please let's not start talking about the furniture, Cissy. It's only one step from talking about the weather."

"What might you suggest then?"

"The boys?"

"That would be fine."

"Gaara's been doing very well in his new Arithmancy classes, he says. All theory based so it's to be expected."