Chapter Thirty-Seven of 'Winged Victory'- Rumors and Defiance

[lomonaaeren]

Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Thirty-Seven—Rumors and Defiance

GELLERT GRINDELWALD ESCAPED?

Theo smiles down at the headline in the Prophet and takes a big sip of his tea, hot and extra-sweet this morning. Cassie is truly a treasure in the way that she anticipates his moods and how they affect the kind of food and tea he’ll want.

“What’s with the deranged maniac smile, Theo?”

Theo leans across the table to kiss Harry. Harry, who was just about to drop into his chair, reels and grabs hold of Theo’s shoulders to stand. Theo draws back with a chuckle and watches his dazed lover almost miss the chair.

“The Prophet is reporting things exactly like we would have wanted them to,” Theo murmurs, and turns the paper so Harry can read it.

Harry takes it and skims the article a little, snorting now and then. “The end of civilization? Where do they get this bollocks?”

Theo shrugs and watches with half-lidded eyes as Harry eats porridge with one hand while holding the paper with the other. Maybe he should worry about how strongly seeing Harry eat affects him. But there’s literally no one in the world other than the two of them it affects, so he won’t worry. “They have to sell papers, and things like that sell, unfortunately.”

“Blatant lies and fearmongering?”

“Exactly.”

“Do you ever remember a time when that wasn’t happening? When people in the magical world were committed to truth and not lies?’

Harry looks so distressed that Theo reaches across the table to take his hand. “No,” he says gently. “But I wouldn’t. I think a lot of good people, ones willing to tell the truth and take on power, were killed in the war. In fact, Voldemort targeted a lot of Prophet reporters who tried to investigate him and the Death Eaters.”

Harry slowly nods. Then he says, “Maybe that’s something we can focus on for after the war, then.”

“Rebuilding truth and taking on power?”

“That, but also trying to rebuild a magical newspaper.” Harry gives the Prophet a scowl and tosses it away from him so violently that it skids off the table and flops to the floor. “Making people aware that it doesn’t have to be like this and there’s more in the world than scandalous lies and gossip.” Then he sighs.“Even though we’re encouraging the lies and gossip right now.”

Theo laughs a little. “Because we need to.”

“And you’re really not worried about what could happen because we need to do this?”

Theo cocks his head. “Honestly, Harry? No. Not with how many people left the progress of the whole war up to you, and shrieked every time you deviated from their plans, and called you names and would have been fine with a deadly Tournament killing you. I’ll help you save them because that’s what you want. Not because they have any redeeming qualities that means they should get to be saved.”

Harry stares at Theo across the table. He’s trembling a little. Theo swallows and wonders if he got too intense with this and if he should be worried about Harry’s reaction.

“Harry?” he asks softly.

Harry abruptly launches himself across the table and into Theo’s lap. Theo grunts and nearly falls as his chair rocks backwards. He clasps Harry close and tries to prevent him from hitting his arse or his hips or anything else on the table. It's amazing that he managed to jump as far as he did.

Harry buries his face in Theo’s neck. He’s trembling. “Thank you,” he whispers.

“For what?”

“For doing something for me only. Just—I do care about people and I do want to save them, but it’s nice to hear that there are some people in the world who care more about me than this huge group of innocents waiting just out of sight.”

Theo gathers Harry close and kisses him behind the ear. Harry shakes harder and leans even closer, until their breath is mingling. Theo clutches him.

“Of course. I know you would do the same thing for me.”

“You deserve it, Theo. All the love and honor in the world.”

“And the same to you.”

It’s a good thing that Luna or someone else doesn’t come around the corner, because Theo would want to Obliviate them if they saw this moment between him and Harry. But as it is, they can sit there, in the sunlight pouring through the window, and Theo can feel his heart beating with joy in the company of the one he loves.
*

“I wish I could come with you.”

“I know, Sirius. But too many people know what your dog form looks like.”

“You could Transfigure me to look like a different dog…”

“Neither of us have the skills for that.” Theo is relieved, as he leans against the wall around the corner from Harry and Black and shamelessly spies, that Harry sounds both firm and loving. “And I’m not going to risk your life or your sanity or whatever goes wrong with human Transfiguration on a regular basis because you want to come with us.”

“Harry.”

Theo does peer around the corner now, and strolls into the sitting room with the active Floo when Harry catches his eye and waves him in. Black is almost dropping to his knees, his eyes wide and huge and appealing. Yes, a dog is definitely the right form for him.

“I would hide if you wanted me to. I would make sure that I didn’t take risks. I just can’t stand the thought of what Dumbledore might do to you for what happened to Remus.”

Black flinches when he says the name, but Harry doesn’t. He only shakes his head again. “If something happens to us, then you’re one of the few people who knows the truth about our plans. And everyone else is our age or close to it, and still has the Trace on their wands. We’re relying on you to be our backup if we get captured or detained and someone still has to hunt down the last Horcrux.”

It’s the right thing to say, even though Theo and Harry haven’t discussed what they should say in this situation. Then again, why should they have to? Theo knows that his and Harry’s minds are always vibrating in tune.

Black takes a step back. His shoulders straighten, the stoop vanishing. He gives a firm nod. “If you’re sure that you need me to stay here, then I will.”

“Thanks, Sirius.”

Harry hugs Black. Theo smiles at him, steps around them, and makes sure the wards are engaged on the Floo, so that no one will be able to come in at the same time they’re going out.

“Don’t you think that’s a little paranoid?”

Theo glances over his shoulder. Black is watching him with a superior expression. “No.”

“There’s never been a record of a successful attack through a closed but unwarded Floo.”


Theo has to laugh. “And you never thought that that might be because records of it were private? Or just not written down?”

Black’s expression falters a little. “You’ve seen one happen?”

“My father led one during the war.”

“Sometimes I forget what a bastard your father was.”

“Don’t worry, I can remind you,” Theo says, and vanishes in a blast of green flames through the fireplace. He’ll leave Harry and Black to say their goodbyes in private. He tries to apply his father’s lessons in being a bastard selectively. Not spying on his lover’s farewells, at least not with people he trusts, is one of those times he can be a better person than Father.

Of course, he waits right on the other side of the Floo in King’s Cross, so that he’s the first to welcome Harry when he comes out, instead of someone who would “welcome” him. He flicks his wand to banish the soot from Harry’s robes and leans in to brush his lips against his lover’s.

“I’m fine,” Harry says softly.

“And so is Black?”

“Yeah. Honestly, I think seeing what you did with that orb really sobered him up. He knows that we need someone like you to succeed. He doesn’t like admitting it, but he can live with it.” Harry loops his arm through Theo’s.

Theo pretends to pout at him as they walk towards the train, trunks floating behind them. “And you don’t need me for any other reason?”

“I do. I just don’t think that Sirius would have wanted to hear about all the extremely lascivious and salacious reasons that I need you."

"Why, Mr. Potter, you’ve been improving your vocabulary.”

Harry unexpectedly lunges forwards and pins Theo against the side of the train. His eyes are as bright as comets that might herald the end of the world, and his hands move with confidence down Theo’s shoulders to rest on his hips. Theo swallows, his pulse increasing to a much faster pace than he would have assumed it would at Harry doing something like this.

“I’ve improved a lot,” Harry says. “Do you want me to show you what else it is besides the vocabulary?”

Does Theo ever, but they’re still in public. He indicates that with little darts of his eyes left and right, and Harry nods with a sigh and steps back. He holds out a hand for Theo to grasp. “Then we can wait a bit.”

“Don’t make me wait for long,” Theo says, leaning forwards to breathe those words into Harry’s ear.

Harry shivers as they hop onto the train and head for a compartment near the back, where they told Weasley and Granger to look for them. “Of course not.”

*

“And that means that we might be able to set up an Arithmantic matrix to find the last Horcrux.”

Theo sighs a little. What Granger is saying is interesting, and of course he wants to hear it if she really thinks they’ll have success, but so far it’s all theory without any description of good results. She hasn’t tested it yet, as far as he knows.

And by keeping him and Harry in the compartment, she’s interfering in Theo’s ability to put his cock down Harry’s throat.

Harry shoots Theo an amused, sympathetic look—but mostly amused—and turns back to Hermione. “Fine, I understand as much as I’m going to of the theory. But, and no offense, Hermione, if this would work and it’s pretty simple, why hasn’t Dumbledore come up with it or offered it to me?”

“Um.”

Granger’s biting her lip. Weasley watches her with a besotted expression that Theo wants to make a face at. Then again, he probably looks no better around Harry the majority of the time.

“There’s about a twenty percent chance of it working,” Granger finally murmurs. “There’s about a forty percent chance that it does nothing at all. There’s also about a forty percent chance that it will blow the person using it into, um, small chunks.”

Theo leans forwards. He must do it too quickly, because Granger yelps and Weasley throws his arm forwards as if to keep Theo from grabbing and strangling her. Harry turns a look of strained patience on Theo.

“You thought this was a viable plan?”

“Theo, sound a little less like you’re going to pick your teeth with her bones, please.”

“If you try to hurt her—”

“Ron, be quiet,” Granger hisses, and shoves him. Then she turns to Theo with so much pain in her face that Theo sits back and scowls in silence despite himself.

“I didn’t think it would really work,” she whispers. “I just. We have no other ideas, and this one has a small chance. And I can’t shake the feeling that we’re running out of time. He could notice the Horcruxes missing at any moment.”

Theo isn’t about to tell her that Voldemort definitely knows one of them is dead, given that Theo killed his snake. He just nods and puts a sympathetic smile on his face and says, “Well, we’ll do the best we can. But we’ll come up with a safer ritual, even if we end up using one built on top of your Arithmantic matrix. Can I take a look at it?”

Granger happily whips out a long scroll of parchment with numbers scratched on it and scratched out. Theo moves over to the seat beside her so that he can study it and see which ones are actually active. Meanwhile, Harry beams at him from the other side of the compartment. Theo knows that smile. Harry’s happy that Theo didn’t take Granger’s head off or something similar.

Theo gives a sweet one back. He would never want to disappoint or hurt Harry. But neither will he allow Harry to do this ritual in sheer desperation to find the ring—it must be the ring—and destroy himself.

Because, with their luck and maybe with the interference of the Horcrux in Harry’s head, that’s undoubtedly what would happen.

Theo is not going to allow it.

*

“Mr. Nott.”

Theo turns around with his eyebrows raised. He expected a summons from Snape or Dumbledore, of course, because they could never leave him and Harry well enough alone. But he didn’t expect Professor Sinistra to approach him.

“Professor Sinistra,” Theo says, because he might as well see what she wants before he refuses it.

Professor Sinistra offers him a small smile. “I take tea in my office at five on Friday afternoons with a small, select group of students, Mr. Nott. I wondered if you might be interested in joining me, and them?”

“It would depend on who they are and what state their left forearms are in.”

Professor Sinistra catches her breath, and her eyes shine with what seems to be amusement, or admiration, or both. “I think you’ll be very pleased with the state of their left forearms, and of the rest of them,” she says. “I can’t guarantee that, of course, but that’s one reason I want you to meet them.”

Theo studies her. She looks placidly back. She’s always been pleasant in the classroom and hard to read otherwise, which Theo never thought might prove to a problem. Who knew that the Astronomy Professor is someone who might be politically active?

“If you’re sure that you want to invite me.”’

“Oh, yes.”

Theo nods slowly. “Then I thank you for the invitation, Professor. Does it extend to my significant other as well?”

“I’d like it to, but we need to speak first, and I need to make sure that he’s someone who would appreciate such an invitation.”

“Why do you think that he might not?”

“Because I imagine that he’s tired of people seeing him as the Boy-Who-Lived and trying to use him politically. He might see this as another attempt to do so. Of course I hope he won’t, but I’ll want you to reassure him.”

Theo gives her another nod. “All right, Professor. Five-o’clock on Friday.”

Sinistra tilts her head at him, and walks away down the corridor. Theo blinks after her for a long moment, then shakes his head and continues on to Arithmancy.

He’s interrupted again before he can actually go in and take his seat.

“Ah, Mr. Nott.”

“The answer is no,” Theo says, without looking around. He would know Dumbledore’s voice anywhere.

The Headmaster sighs and walks towards him, his footsteps soft and sneaky. “You have not even heard what I’m proposing.”

“I know that you want me to betray Harry and condemn him to death. That’s all I need to know.”

“I said that once.”

“It was a memorable once.”

Dumbledore’s footsteps pause, and for a second, Theo thinks that he’ll be able to walk away and that’ll be the end of it. But as always with the Headmaster, he can’t let anything go. His footsteps speed up again, and then he steps in front of Theo and gazes at him sternly, as if Theo is a misbehaving first-year.

Theo lets him have a flat stare back. Dumbledore moves as if to draw his wand. Theo smiles a little. I still have the ability to make someone fear me.

“You don’t understand what’s at stake,” Dumbledore says, his voice thin. “The lives of so many people, so many more than just Harry. I value Harry too. I don’t want to see him die. But we have to do it to keep those people safe.”

“Why don’t you die to save them, Headmaster? Why haven’t you ever confronted Voldemort when you’re the only one he’s ever feared?” Theo tilts his head in mock confusion. “I always wondered, you know, why you didn’t fight him. Tell me, was it fear or practicality?”

“Practicality?”

“You wanted to stay alive to savor all the rewards and fame that you had.”

Dumbledore seems genuinely stricken. “How dare you accuse me of such a thing,” he says, his voice gone thin again. “I would never…I have never done anything simply for the fame.”

“Including dueling Grindelwald?”

“What do you know about him? What do you know about the way that he escaped from prison?”

“I did a little research when I heard that he did escape and I realized that he might be a danger to Harry.” Theo leans near enough that Dumbledore imitates him, not seeming to realize what he’s doing. “And I found some interesting connections between him and you. Some things that might explain why you waited so long to duel him. And why you finally decided to do it.”

“Your sources must be biased.”

The Headmaster sounds a little strangled. Theo winks at him and turns away. “You might tell yourself that,” he says. “And you might tell yourself that you can persuade me around as far as killing Harry. But maybe it’s time to ask yourself what happens if you can’t.”

Silence behind him, and Theo finally gets to go to Arithmancy, thinking more about the invitation to Sinistra’s office than the futile effort Dumbledore made to change his mind.