Spoilers: PoA. Warnings: shoujoai Disclaimers: J.K. Rowling might recognize some of these characters, even after I've mauled them. Takeuchi Naoko might recognize others. Miyuu's mine. Blanca Marina is nickamano's. -<{ An End to Deviltry }>- Chapter Seven Hope By St. Suika Roberts In Response To nickamano@btinternet.com's "Draco Devilism" Stories Natsuko wakes before Miyuu, and smiles against the young woman's soft neck, drifting sleepily on the edge of dreams. She turns her head to look at a sound from the door. `Beryl needs some cosseting, so we won't be around for a couple days,' Usagi says, looking in from the doorway. Miyuu wakes, `Umm?' she mutters, blinking sleepily as she sits up, holding Natsuko with one arm as she levers herself up with the other. `We're done here, so we're taking off. Beryl needs some cossetting, and then we'll be back to visit.' `Oh, OK,' Miyuu flops back down, and yawns into the back of her hand, `I'll see you then.' `Have fun,' Usagi says, and waves. Natsuko waves back, then looks up into Miyuu's face, `Hogsmeade?' `Oh, right! It's Saturday. No school,' Miyuu smiles, `I still can't quite get used to that.' `What?' `No classes on Saturday.' Natsuko looks at her, a little confused. `In Japan Saturday is a half-day of school,' Miyuu says, getting to her feet, `Back in a moment.' Natsuko watches Miyuu scamper from the room, then realizes why, and follows. - `What are you up to?' `Disguise,' Miyuu says, her voice shifted to an older woman's tenor, `Granma Yukino out with her granddaughter and her friends. Potter's at the door, let them in.' Natsuko nods, and opens the door, stepping back to allow a large shimmer into the room. She closes the door behind it, and turns to sit back down. `Put this out, please,' Miyuu scribbles a quick note, and pulls a foil-wrapped flat-bottomed droplet shape from the upper left drawer to place on top of it. `OK,' Natsuko picks up the note and candy, `Make yourselves comfortable, and get your shoes off the tatami,' she orders the shimmer in passing. `Oh!' Luna says, then appears, stepping into the genkan to shed her shoes. Ginny and Harry follow suit, a little confused, as Natsuko closes the door again. `So, Natsuko, do you want to be my granddaughter or my wife?' Miyuu asks, a little laugh coloring her woman's voice. `What?' Harry asks, blushing. `Umm,' Natsuko blushes, `Wife would be better.' `Get over here, then,' Miyuu turns to look the others over, `Lovegood, get the tray when the house-elves bring us breakfast. Weasley, find something that would fit Potter in the last Tansu, that's my disguise kit.' `Right,' Ginny nods. Luna follows as she leads Harry over to the indicated cabinet. `What are we disguising him as?' `My granddaughter,' Miyuu answers distractedly, holding up pieces of latex to Natsuko's face. `Granddaughter?' Harry asks in a small voice. Ginny grins at Luna behind his back, `How old?' `Young. Late ten, or so.' `Like you?' Harry asks. `Is that any way to treat your aged granma, who is taking you out on her own time, out of the goodness of her heart?' Miyuu grouses, `Yes, like my normal age.' `Isn't he kinda big for that?' `Her mama, my daughter's wife, was really tall.' `Right.' `How do you-' Natsuko starts. `Don't,' Miyuu presses Natsuko's mouth closed with a gentle finger under her chin, `The cover story goes with the disguise, and both need to match. Don't move your face until the glue dries, then we'll do the rest of the makeup.' Natsuko almost answers, then nods. `Good. Gloves, gloves . . . ' Miyuu turns to the group around the Tansu, `Toss me my balanced driving gloves, please,' then back to Natsuko, `Your Segmi gloves should work fine for you.' Natsuko looks a question at her. `It's difficult to get hands to look old with makeup, so we can't let them be seen.' `Which are the "balanced driving gloves"?' `The heavy ones.' Luna picks up gloves, then picks up lumpy black leather set on the left, `Are you sure you want me to throw these?' `Go ahead.' Luna throws them one at a time, and Miyuu has to jump for the first, and dive for the second, `Not too bad. Don't throw things much, do you?' `No,' Luna says, tucking her hair back behind her ear over her wand. `You should practice. PT's more fun with a group, anyway.' `PT?' `Physical Training,' Miyuu starts pontificating again. - A quiet knock at the door makes Miyuu look up from fussing with Natsuko's padded suit, `Get that, Lovegood.' `Right.' Luna picks up the tray, and steps inside, looking for somewhere to set the heavy burden. `Pink trunk,' Miyuu says, then steps back, looking at Natsuko critically, `That'll do. Here,' and she shakes out a shiny black robe with iridescent green tigerstripes, `Put this on.' `Wow,' Natsuko fingers the fabric, shrugs it on. Miyuu helps Natsuko into the robe, then trails her fingers through Natsuko's hair, grey streaks flowing with them. Her own hair is darker than normal, black with a few strands a little darker than her normal hair color, and she looks like a slender, very short, fourty-five year old muggle in a witch's robe. Natsuko looks a little older, a little heavier, a little greyer, and just noticeably taller. `Lets eat.' - Miyuu looks at the paper on the tray, then fishes six Almond Roka and four little bread-loaf shapped chocolates out, setting them on the tray before putting it out in the hall. `For the house elves,' Natsuko answers Harry's unspoken question. `That's why they're always in such a tizzy over her,' Luna realizes, smiling. `House elves in a tizzy?' Ginny looks disbelieving. `They watch her from around corners and giggle,' Luna smiles at her taller friend. Miyuu strips the rings off her left hand, dropping them on her tabletop, then pulls on one of her gloves, repeats the process with her right hand. - `Why are we heading towards the Whomping Willow?' Harry asks nervously as the group shuffles steadily along under the invisibility cloak. `Use your girl voice, Harry,' Miyuu sighs, `And it's the quickest way out, what with the dementors and all.' Harry shudders. `Evil creatures. Didn't really believe there was such a thing,' Miyuu continues softly, `They probably were humans once.' `What do you mean?' `Or maybe some sort of space alien, that'd fit.' `Aliens?' `Girl voice,' Miyuu orders, `Evil is a human condition. Non-sentients can't be evil. Violent, nasty, and horrible, yes, evil, no.' `What about Giants?' `Sentient.' `Trolls?' `Sentient, but they don't consider other men as anything other than very dangerous pests, so the evil thing might be arguable.' `Why? They kill people and eat them,' Ginny argues. `You kill doxies, and grindylows.' `They're pests,' Ginny says firmly, then pauses for a long moment, `Oh.' `'Zactly.' `How is the Whomping Willow going to get us out?' Harry tries to change the subject. `Tunnel at its base.' `And how aren't we going to get whomped?' Luna asks, always sensible. `You tickle it, and it goes all giggly,' Miyuu's old woman voice has a big smile in it. `What?' `Watch,' and Miyuu's hand slips out from under the cloak, exposing a long stripe of her grey robe, and her fingers wiggle, `Tickle tickle,' she says, a little laugh in her voice. The Whomping Willow twitches, its branches shivering, shifting as if to guard its trunk. `Tickle tickle,' Miyuu continues, `Tickle tickle, tickle tickle,' wiggling her fingers at it. The tree pulls its branches in close, shaking, leaning back from Miyuu, who continues to wiggle her fingers and say `Tickle tickle.' After a minute the Willow waves its branches in surrender, and Miyuu leads the way to a dark opening near the shivering tree's roots. She slips out from under the cloak and into the tunnel, the others following one at a time. - `This is the shrieking shack. I found nothing to indicate a haunt, so it may have left.' `Then it will come back!' Ginny clutches Luna tightly. `Maybe, maybe not. Ghosts don't tend to leave who or what they're haunting without severe provocation.' `Like Myrtle?' `Like Myrtle.' `Maybe it's hiding from the Dementors,' Harry offers. `I don't know if ghosts are vulnerable to Dementors. They do have a soul, or something like one, so they might,' Miyuu shrugs, `But the Dementors don't come out this far, so it shouldn't be a problem,' she checks her wand, nine inches, yew, with a ruhk feather core, and the pistol holstered under her robes anyway. - `This is my granddaughter Angharad, or Harry,' the tiny woman tells the much taller woman behind the counter, `and her friends. I've brought them 'round as Hogwarts is letting the students out today,' she turns to the children, all three of whom are taller than she is, `You've only fifteen sickles each, so be assured of what you buy,' she tells them. Her much rounder partner sets a trio of chocolate frogs on the counter, along with the the requisite knuts. The knuts dissappear into the older clerk's pouch, and the frogs vanish into Natsuko's pouch. Harry, Luna, and Ginny set their purchases on the counter. Miyuu pays, quoting each how much of their stipend is left. Harry starts on a chocolate frog, putting the rest of her candy in a battered old pouch, nearly as battered as Ginny's. `You wanted to go to Zonko's?' Natsuko asks, her older woman's voice not as practiced as Miyuu's, but good enough. `Yes ma'am,' Luna says, smiling. `Then we shall go there,' Miyuu smiles back, and leads the way. - `Hermoine?' Harry gasps, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide behind Miyuu. Hermoine Granger looks up at the sound of her name, then blinks at the pair of tiny middle-aged Asian witches and their much taller granddaughter, and proceeds to ignore them as politely as she can. Miyuu looks up at Harry and smiles, `Go ahead, look around, dear.' - Ginny fingers her new brocade pouch, `Thanks ever so, you really didn't need to,' she once more attempts to express her gratitude. `It was just adorable, the way your face lit up at the sight. I had to buy it after that,' Miyuu smiles, `Enjoy it, please.' `I shall!' Ginny wraps the tiny woman in a hug. A terrible chill draws down Miyuu's spine, `Down! Everyone! Now!' Harry, Ginny, Luna, and Natsuko, being made of wiser stuff than the late Goyle, are in the prone before Miyuu finishes speaking. Miyuu draws her Kel-tec, taking a bead on the cloaked form of the dementor, then shakes her head and tucks it away, drawing a slender, leaf-shaped blade instead, stepping between the dementor and her charges. She winces a little, drawing her free hand up in front of her face, smiling grimly. The dementor holds out one grey, slimy hand, crooking its finger towards Miyuu, who smiles back as a faint stream of greyish fog seems to start to flow from the dementor to her, glowing faintly as it swirls around her wrist. The dementor drops it's hand, and turns, taking quick steps that ruffle the edge of its cloak as it tries to flee. Miyuu shifts her grip on the knife, grabbing it by the tip, and draws it back before she scowls, grabs it by the hilt, and sheathes it under her robes. `I dithered too long,' she tells the girls, `We need to hurry.' Miyuu helps Natsuko to her feet as the others stand, and she leads them off at a quick walk through the late October snow. `You chased it off,' Harry says. `I shoulda killed it,' she answers, `But I didn't attack before its nerve broke and it fled. If it went for reinforcements, I can kill 'em, if it just ran . . . ' she shrugs, `If it comes back I'll know it didn't cease hostilities. `They're vulnerable to cold iron -- steel will hurt them, but cold iron will kill them with a good slash.' `Cold iron?' `Cold-worked meteoric or native iron. Early iron-age weapons, if you can find them. Some modern weapons, up to about fifth century current era. I shouldn't have let it get away,' she berates herself as she shoos the others into the Shrieking Shack. Miyuu slips out the tunnel under the Whomping Willow first, and gives it a hug. It reaches down and strokes her back while the others scurry to a safe distance. Miyuu rubs her face on the willow's smooth bark, then hurries to duck under the invisibility cloak with the others. --- Log: 2006/Mar/26: Started 2006/Oct/25: More 2006/Nov/2: More