Chapter Fourteen of 'Imago'- Giving Answers

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Chapter Fourteen—Giving Answers

“Why did you suspect that Professor Moody was using Polyjuice, Harry?”

“Theo smelled that potion when Moody took Theo to his office to talk to him.”

Theo has to smile at the expression that crosses Dumbledore’s face when Harry says that. But he can’t watch it as much as he’d like, because he has to keep his eyes aimed downwards and away from any chance Dumbledore can use Legilimency on him.

Sometimes caution is a pain.

“And you decided…” Dumbledore sighs. “Well, you were right, so I cannot fault your instincts. But I wish you had come to me instead of deciding that you needed to handle this problem on your own, Harry. It was reckless and dangerous.”

Theo would like to say many things to that, but he feels the magic boiling on the surface of Harry’s skin a second before Harry, unexpectedly, starts saying some of them.

“What would you have done, sir?” Harry asks, softly, and rhythmically clenching his fists at his side. “Would you have believed me? Or would you have told me how disappointed you were in me for trusting the word of a Death Eater’s son?”

“Harry,” Dumbledore says in surprise, at the same time as Snape’s hiss and McGonagall’s “Mr. Potter!” come from different corners of the Headmaster’s office. Sprout and Flitwick have been dismissed to watch over Crouch and call the Aurors.

“I don’t think you would have,” Harry says. “I trust Theo, and I know that you told me about the prophecy because you thought it would make him run away in fear for his own life. Well, he hasn’t. He’s staying, and he’s acting a damn sight more brave than some other people in this room—”

“Potter!” Snape thunders, and Theo can feel Harry’s flinch. He seems to do that around tall men with loud voices, which isn’t a surprise if some of the things he’s told Theo about the Muggles are true. “You will apologize to the Headmaster this instant!”

Harry turns a little to the side. Theo is waiting for him, and braces Harry, shoulder to shoulder. Then Harry draws a calming breath that probably gets rid of the impulse to shout back at Snape and says, “No.”

“Potter—”

“None of you are even talking about what it means that this person who impersonated Moody just tried to kill me!” Harry snaps. For a moment, the books on Dumbledore’s shelves rattle in place, and the silver instruments on his desk chime like glasses clinking together, but Theo presses himself hard into Harry’s side, and it passes. “Or that he’s probably the one who put my name in the Goblet, or that he was an imposter in the first place! You just want to accuse me and Theo of things! Why? Why aren’t you talking about this?”

There’s a long moment during which the adults exchange glances. Theo does notice, with some interest, that McGonagall looks unhappy. He wonders if that’s because she wanted to tell Harry about the imposter or just because she thinks Harry’s being disrespectful.

Dumbledore finally says, “You no longer need to worry about that, Harry. That business will be handled by the Aurors.”

Theo laughs. More than one gaze comes shooting straight at him. Theo ignores that. “And you think that treating Harry like a child after you’ve been treating him like an adult is going to work, Headmaster? Forcing him to compete in the Tournament, to bear the burden of the prophecy? But this is too far? For that matter, you wanted me to join the Dark Lord and become a spy for you. Why is that acceptable but telling us the truth about Crouch isn’t?”

“Albus!” McGonagall gasps.

“Why did you tell Potter of the prophecy?” Snape hisses. Theo squints towards him while not really lifting his head. He knows that he’s got to avoid Snape’s eyes as well as the Headmaster’s, and Snape tends to be obscure. But he seems afraid to Theo.

“I could not get Harry out of the contract that required he compete,” Dumbledore whispers. He sounds sad, and sincere, but Theo doesn’t believe him. “And I am simply trying to spare him from adult responsibilities he need not handle.”

“Why don’t you answer Theo about why you wanted him to become a spy?”

“My dear boy—”

“I just want to hear an answer, sir. Or a reason why you can’t explain that. But you don’t get to just duck the question.”

Theo’s quiet, but he hopes that he’s conveying his pride to Harry as best he can with the press of his shoulder and ribs. Harry leans back in response, but he doesn’t take his eyes from Dumbledore.

Finally, the Headmaster shakes his head a little and murmurs, “Surely you can see for yourself that he’s been a bad influence on you, Harry? Alienating you from your friends, encouraging you to take action against professors instead of coming to me, pushing you to use Darker magic than you have before.”

“Given that I had to act against a professor in my first year and burned him when I touched him, and no one believed anything I said about it when I did try to tell them, that’s a little rich, sir.”

Dumbledore doesn’t know what to do, from the look of him. Indecisive because his little puppet has finally started talking back, Theo thinks, beyond satisfied, and leans a little harder than ever on Harry.

“But you don’t deny that Mr. Nott has alienated you from your friends?”

Harry sighs. “Being in the Tournament alienated me from Ron, sir. And we did have some arguments about it, but we’ve repaired things as best we can. I do have room for more than just two friends in my life. If you think I don’t, then I think you’re the one who should worry about it.”

“Mr. Nott’s father is a Death Eater,” Dumbledore says, in a way that tells Theo honesty isn’t his first choice. “He could be influencing you in ways that you have never considered.”

“And so Theo helps me expose the Death Eater and the spy in the middle of Hogwarts who probably put my name in the Goblet and is even more probably trying to help Voldemort return? Wow, yes, that makes so much sense.”

“We don’t know what Mr. Crouch was doing. We have not had the chance to question him—”

“Mr. Crouch?” Theo has to interrupt then, and he doesn’t care that they can all hear the derisive tone in his voice. “So one of the judges of the Tournament was using Polyjuice and putting underage students’ names in the Goblet, and you think I’m the problem?”

“Not Crouch Senior,” says McGonagall, and Theo wonders if she’s staking out a side of some sort by saying this. “Crouch Junior, his son.”

“He was a Death Eater, and he’s supposed to be dead,” Theo says, staring.

“It appears that Mr. Crouch has been involved in—”

“Now, now, Minerva, we don’t want to speculate without further proof,” Dumbledore says firmly, cutting her off. Theo sneaks a look to see that McGonagall’s lips are bloodless as they’re pressed together, and he smiles to himself. Dumbledore has done himself no favors by trying to control everyone in the room.

“But he was a Death Eater, then,” Harry says. “So that means he is the one who put my name in the Goblet.”

“As I was saying, we have no proof,” says Dumbledore firmly. “We do not know. And I don’t want you jumping to conclusions based on this, Harry. You have already done quite enough, you and Mr. Nott.”

“And are you sorry that Crouch tried to kill me?” Harry asks curiously, his muscles tensing against Theo in a way that Theo isn’t sure will be visible to anyone but himself. “I mean, he shot the Killing Curse at me, and I had to use the whole Gryffindor table to deflect it. And he’s been trying to kill me by putting me in the Tournament tasks.”

“Of course I am sorry, Harry.” Dumbledore looks as startled as though someone’s tweaked his beard. “My apologies if I didn’t express it aloud. I thought you would know.”

“I think a lot of us are learning new things today,” says Harry, and shakes his head a little. “Anyway, it doesn’t sound like you have any use for us if you’re not going to tell us anything about what happened with Crouch. Can we go, then?”

“In a moment. Harry, I must impress on you how dangerous your plan was. Again, if you suspect something like this, I must ask that you come to me. Or another professor. Perhaps you would feel more comfortable with your Head of House? You need to make sure you have someone watching over you who can protect you…”

Theo glances sideways, sees Harry’s slightly glazed eyes, and smiles a little. It seems that Harry has learned the value of pretending to listen and setting aside his instinctive defiance for a little while.

Theo himself keeps an eye on both McGonagall and Snape. McGonagall still looks displeased with essentially being told to shush. Perhaps she can be an ally in the future.

And Snape is glaring harder at Harry, as usual, then Theo or Dumbledore. Theo doesn’t intend to move against him unless he openly moves against Harry, but the man’s tendency to blame Harry for everything is a problem Theo is thinking about, and Snape may not like the conclusion of his thoughts.

*

Granger is waiting for them a few steps away from the gargoyle that guards the base of the Headmaster’s moving staircase. Theo hears the hiss of Harry’s irritated breath and glances at him. “One word, and she’ll go away,” he mutters.

Harry hesitates, then shakes his head. “I’d rather have this confrontation here than in front of the entire Gryffindor common room,” he says, and draws Theo along with him to face her.

Granger glances once at Theo, but seems to decide he’s less important than what she wants to say to Harry. “Why didn’t you tell us?” she demands, and gestures at Weasley, standing a few steps behind her. “Harry, that was so dangerous! Confronting someone who would use a Killing Curse on you—”

“He was Barty Crouch Junior, apparently,” Harry interrupts. “Mr. Crouch’s son, and a Death Eater who was supposedly dead.”

Granger’s mouth works for a moment as she takes in that information. Theo wonders, amused, if they’ve overloaded her brain with it. Then she shakes her head and snaps, “It doesn’t matter! Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why should I have?”

“We could have helped you, mate,” Weasley whispers. He sounds more subdued than Theo has ever seen him. He glances at Theo, and then chooses to look away. “We could have—we could have planned—it seems like we never get to come along on your adventures anymore!”

He practically shouts the last words, and Theo blinks. That’s an unexpected perspective, both because it makes a lot of sense of why Granger practically tackled Harry in the Great Hall and because anyone who could think of this as an adventure is mad.

Or just a Gryffindor, which he supposes amounts to close to the same thing.

“This wasn’t a usual adventure,” Harry says steadily. “We had to work closely together, Theo and I, to replace his Polyjuice Potion with another one, and then we had to make sure he didn’t leave the Great Hall before what he drank wore off. I didn’t know he would try to kill me, but I’m not surprised.”

“But I could have helped you brew the other potion!” Granger insists. “And we could have told Professor Dumbledore together!”

Harry sighs. “He didn’t want to hear it, Hermione. He didn’t even do anything to keep me out of the Tournament, not really. Why would he have taken me seriously? He thought Crouch was Moody, and Moody was an old friend of his. I know he would have believed Crouch over me. And then maybe Crouch would have been alerted that we knew about the Polyjuice.”

“You still could have.”

“I could have. And I chose not to.”

Granger looks at Harry with narrowed eyes. Theo braces himself to get in the way if he has to, but keeping silent and staying back has worked well for him so far, and he intends to do it unless something demands he intervene.

“All right,” Granger says at last, and her tone is calmer than Theo expected. “Why did you choose not to tell us?”

“Because of what you said about telling Dumbledore,” Harry says quietly. “You would have wanted to tell him, and I think that would have messed things up. And you might have done something that would warn Moody—Crouch. I care about you lot, but I don’t trust you with something like this. Not anymore.”

Granger winces, opens her mouth, closes it, and winces again. Weasley is bright red, but he’s looking at the floor. And he’s actually the one who speaks again, and he’s not shouting, to Theo’s vast surprise. “Does that mean you would trust us with other things, though?”

Harry grins at him, and something coiled tight in Theo relaxes. No one is getting abandoned here, not him and not Granger and Weasley. That means Theo doesn’t have to compete with anyone. “‘Course, Ron. You’re still my first friend. The train compartments were all full, remember?”

Theo blinks. That sounds like an inside joke, but also, if it’s really a reference to the way that Weasley and Harry became friends…

That’s all it took? If Theo had found Harry on the train and asked to sit with him because all the other compartments were full, he would have been Harry’s first friend and friend for life?

Theo sighs to himself. No, that’s not all it took, of course not. Weasley’s been loyal to Harry before this year, and he’s the sort of person who would have thought to say something like that, which Theo wouldn’t have, not at eleven. And Harry was the sort of kid who would believe in that kind of thing and accept it. Now he’s not.

It’s the Harry in front of him, the clever and capable boy smiling at Granger and Weasley and welcoming them back into his orbit while not fully trusting them, that Theo wants, not the past one who was starved for friendship.

Weasley groans, but he’s smiling. “Yeah. I get it. And…” He looks as if he’s about to breathe out fire, which makes Theo shift his weight a little, ready to get in front of Harry. “I’m sorry.”

Everyone in the corridor stands there and blinks. Theo decides he’s probably blinking the hardest, and definitely the only person having the thought that he’s having right now.

Damn. It wasn’t my Confundus Charm, was it?

“Thanks, Ron,” Harry says softly, and goes up to hug Weasley. Theo hangs back, and just shrugs when he catches Granger’s eye. She gives him a disbelieving look, but that’s her problem.

And then, after some conversation with Weasley that Theo doesn’t bother to listen to, Harry comes up, and claims Theo’s hand, and drags him away. Theo doesn’t look back to grin at Weasley and Granger, because, frankly, he doesn’t need to. He just walks along and feels the warmth of Harry’s hand in his.

And remembers the events that took place in the Great Hall that day, and licks his lips.

He can’t wait to get Harry alone.

*

“What d’you think they’ll do about Crouch?”

Theo shakes his head. “It’s too early to tell yet. They don’t even know for sure how he escaped death. They’ll know more after they question him under Veritaserum. And I wouldn’t bet on the Ministry releasing any truth at all.” He pushes off the wall of their decorated classroom where Harry led him and stalks slowly towards his boyfriend. “But I can think of something more important.”

“You can?”

“Yeah. You.” Theo springs forwards and grabs Harry’s hands, holding them across his chest. Harry’s eyes are wide and startled. “Did you know what you were doing when you cracked the whole Gryffindor table in half deflecting Crouch’s Killing Curse?”

“I—are you upset at me for that? It’s not like I knew he would use that spell! Or even meant to crack the table! I just reached out and grabbed the nearest thing I thought was big enough to deflect it.”

“I know,” Theo says, and slides a hand around Harry’s hip, pulling him closer still. When he’s nearer, Harry’s expression changes. He seems to understand what Theo means without Theo having to spell it out, but Theo does, for the sheer pleasure of the thing. “Seeing you use magic like that makes me want to throw you on a bed.”

Harry opens his mouth, and Theo takes advantage, almost diving at Harry’s lips. Harry gasps as their tongues twine together, but gives as good as he gets, his fingers digging into Theo’s hips through his robes, his foot curling around one of Theo’s ankles and dragging him off-balance. Theo finds himself leaning heavily on Harry, snogging as if their lives depend on it, and maybe part of them does.

When they draw back from each other at last, Harry slides a hand through Theo’s hair and messes it up. Theo keeps his eyes closed, the better to focus on the gentle scratch of Harry’s nails against his forehead.

“And now there’s only the Third Task to go,” Harry whispers at last.

Theo nods, not opening his eyes. He suspects they’ll have to be wary at that Task, although not as much as if they still hadn’t figured out a way to expose Moody as Crouch. The Dark Lord will still try something else to kill Harry.

But he can’t try his original plan, and part of Theo is sleek and smooth and content as a predator, absolutely sure that no matter what kind of plan the Dark Lord does come up with, he and Harry will be able to meet it.