Title: Living Stories

Artist: too-much-tea

Author: my-own-patronus

Rating (art/fic if different): K/T (PG-13)

Word Count: ~9000 (in progress)

Warnings: Major character death (both HP and Glee), spoilers for all of Harry Potter

Fic Summary: Every person has a story. Harry Potter wasn't the only student at Hogwarts back then, but everyone seems to forget that when they tell the tale of the Battle of Hogwarts. When a box of forgotten photographs is discovered 16 years later in the Room of Requirement, another story begins to unfold. Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel's story is finally about to be told.

Note: I am so grateful to have been able to work with the amazing too-much-tea and all the wonderful art she has created (and is in the process of creating for future events in this fic). I am also so deeply indebted to your-tragic-fairytale, my absolutely fantastic beta, who is the reason that the words sounds as pretty as they do. This has been such a fun collaborative process for me and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!

So far, I have three publishable chapters and lots of bits and pieces that don't fit anywhere just yet. Even though I know the exact trajectory of the fic, I don't know how long it will be in total. I also don't know when I'll finish or be posting more.

The fic and art are all being cross-posted to Tumblr, so go there if you want to see the real version of too-much-tea's amazing work!

And no, I couldn't resist putting the Aida lyrics in the description. That song fits this too well for me to ignore it. Go listen if you're not familiar!

Finally, I want to thank everyone who is choosing to read on despite the warnings - but seriously there will be major character death.

On to the fic!

Prologue

"This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of hate"

Jake laughed as he chased Kitty down one of the castle's many wide corridors. He knew that they should be quiet; Filch, the ancient caretaker knew all the passageways and even if he couldn't run, he could still catch them by taking shortcuts.

"Why did I let you talk me into sneaking out to the greenhouses in the middle of the night?" Kitty asked, though there was no malice in her voice.

"Because you thought it was hot. Plus, there were people in both our dorms..."

Kitty giggled and tried to run further, but her arm was yanked back by Jake.

"What?" she demanded.

"There's a door here. I've run down this hallway a million times and I've never seen this door before."

"Is this really the time to admire the school's architecture?"

"Come on, let's check it out! It'll keep Filch off our backs."

"Fine," Kitty said, rolling her eyes.

Jake didn't waste a second before pulling the door open, shoving Kitty in before him, and slamming the door after them.

"What is this place?"

Jake turned around and gasped. There were rows upon rows of - stuff. It smelled slightly musty and dusty and almost smoky, as if no one had been there in a long time. And no one probably had.

"I've never seen this place before," Jake said reverently. He took a step down the first row and began looking through the shelves.

"What is all this junk?"

"I don't think it's junk. I think... I think it's old students' stuff."

"What, that they just left behind?"

"I guess. I mean, what other explanation is there?" Jake gestured to a box with the letters 'BDA' written on it.

"Should we really go poking through this, though?" Kitty asked, a nervous tint to her voice. "I mean, it could be cursed or dangerous or something."

"What's so dangerous about some old school supplies? C'mon Kitty, I never thought you were such a wimp."

"Jake, have you never once paid attention to anyone in your entire life? Don't you remember hearing about back in '93 when they almost closed the school because some old school supplies were making someone try to kill the Muggle-Borns?"

"Come on, Kitty. That was You-Know-Who. Most students don't hide bits of their soul in old journals. Live a little!"

"How about this: I'll let you look through all of this if we get a little backup."

Jake rolled his eyes, but reluctantly agreed.

"Backup" ended up being Kitty and Jake's best friends, Marley and Ryder. The divisions that once existed between the four school houses had dissolved somewhat making the friendship between the two Slytherins and two Hufflepuffs less odd than it might have been twenty years ago when their own parents had attended Hogwarts.

Still, plenty of the competition and stigma still existed which is why, on the first day of First Year Herbology, Professor Longbottom made everyone partner up with someone from a different house whom they had never met before. In that one class, Jake and Ryder almost immediately became best friends.

It took a bit longer for Kitty and Marley, who initially hated each other (or, rather, Kitty hated Marley because Jake liked Marley). After Marley and Jake had tried dating in their fourth year and then broke up, Kitty became much friendlier to the brunette girl, and the group became inseparable.

So it was at a much more reasonable hour that day, after lessons had ended, when Kitty and Jake tracked down Ryder and Marley and told them about what they'd discovered the night before.

"Oh, you mean the Room of Requirement?" Ryder asked immediately, not the least bit impressed by Jake's story.

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Kitty asked.

"They used it a lot in Harry Potter's days here for Dumbledore's Army, but I thought it was mostly destroyed in the Battle of Hogwarts... Anyway, it's this room that'll turn into whatever you want it to if you walk past it three times. You guys must have been circling so much last night that you didn't even notice."

"Wanna go check it out?"

That was all Ryder needed to get up and follow after his best friend. Their girlfriends shared long-suffering looks before following after them.

When they reentered the Room of Requirement, nothing looked any different. Although, Kitty realized, it was probably because most students forgot about it or thought that it had been destroyed, like Ryder had.

The four kids weren't able to hold in their curiosity for much longer, and soon they were roaming through the shelves. It was mostly filled with old school books, robes that had ripped or faded, and even a few awards that didn't belong in the school's trophy room (most notable among those was the "Fred Weasley Troublemaker Award").

"This is boring," Kitty finally declared after an hour of searching. They had all congregated back at the front of the room, near the BDA box that Jake had been eyeing before.

"One last box and then we'll call it quits?" he suggested. His friends agreed quickly, eager to get to the Great Hall for dinner.

This box, once opened, however, was quite different from the others. For one thing, rather than filled with junk that had been carelessly packed away, it was filled with papers that had been stacked meticulously.

Something about it seemed to capture the entire group's attention and inspired a reverent mood. Jake reached in and pulled out the topmost photograph: it showed two boys, grinning, with their arms around each other.

Below that were a few journals, a stack of letters, another few piles of photographs, and several newspaper clippings - all from May 1998.

Marley's throat tightened.

"I think - I think these guys were here during the Battle," she whispered.