Greetings from the dead. But seriously, we apologise for the extreme lateness of this update. Both Nemiriel and I got extremely busy and suffered extreme writer's block. We promise to update at least once a month. We also have brought on another person, dracoluv, to collab with us. She has an AO3 account and she has a lot of short stories, which make great reads if you have some time to kill. So, again we apologise and we hope you enjoy the chapter
Chapter 3
"I'm glad you've finally come around, Harry." Hermione stated as she, Harry, and Ron walked out of the Potions classroom. "The sooner we get started, the better."
Harry had told them just before class started that he had agreed to teach them defensive magic, but omitted the part about how he came to that decision, which Hermione was about to ask when Snape entered the room. Harry never thought he'd be glad to see Snape, but he knew that would be the only time. Harry then let his mind wander to the memory of him and Joseph talking by the Black Lake, and how the Slytherin helped him make a decision in one afternoon. He also thought about the feelings the taller raven made him feel, more specifically when he made Harry's heart beat faster and heat creep up his neck.
"We should start looking for basic spells." Hermione suggested, but then looked at Harry. "Harry, are you alright? You seem distracted."
"Yeah mate." Ron agreed. "You were like this in the morning. I mean, you could've told us at breakfast that you decided to teach us, but you were so distracted, you waited until now."
"I'm sorry guys. But just because I've agreed…doesn't mean I don't have reservations about all this." Harry said, hoping his friends would buy his excuse.
Hermione looked on the fence, as always. In the same way Harry thought that he would never be able to go a Divination lesson without Professor Trelawney prophesising his death, he thought that he would never be able to completely fool Hermione. Thankfully, Harry noticed that his Potions book wasn't in his bag, and told his friends to go ahead while he went to retrieve it. He let out a sigh of relief as he approached the Potions lab, glad that Hermione and Ron didn't insist to go with him. He was about to enter the classroom when surprisingly, he heard his name.
"Mr. Duskgem, why do you think I would be concerned about Potter and what teachers make him do during detention?" Snape's icy voice reached his ears.
"Because Professor Umbridge made him use a Blood Quill." Joseph said. "There must be some rule against punishments that cause harm to the students."
"It is within a teacher's discretion to use whatever means they see fit to discipline students." Snape replied. "If there was such a rule, then you should discuss this with Professor McGonagall, since she is the Head of Gryffindor."
Harry could hear footsteps getting louder and he began to panic. Whether it was Snape or Joseph, he didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. Unfortunately, the corridor had nothing to hide him. As the door opened, Harry crouched behind one of the stone braziers. He was sure he was going to get caught, but the Slytherin walked past him, making Harry a little thankful for being short for his age. As he slowly stood, he wondered why in Merlin's name Joseph had told Snape. He then wondered how the taller raven knew about the Blood Quill when Harry never told him about it. He thought that maybe Joseph had been made to use it before, and that idea made a shudder travel down his spine. Remembering that he still had class, he approached the Potions lab and knocked on the door.
"What is it, Potter?" Snape asked with a sneer.
"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I've forgotten my book." Harry quickly replied.
The potions master stared at him for a while before shutting the door, and opening after a minute.
"Now be gone." Snape bit out as he shoved the book into Harry's hands and slammed the door shut.
Yes, definitely will never be happy to see Snape again. Harry thought as he headed to Divination.
"So we'll get the word out that we're going to meet with people this Saturday during the Hogsmeade trip." Hermione whispered as the three had their dinner.
"How do we know that word won't get to someone who'll go straight to Umbitch?" Ron asked.
"I only gave word to tell people we can trust, Ronald." Hermione said.
Harry nodded and made sounds of agreement while his two friends talked and bickered about the plan, but his focus was mainly on a specific Slytherin, who was seated beside Malfoy, reading a book while he ate and paid no mind to his friends' conversation.
All day, Harry had been obsessing as to why Joseph brought up the Blood Quill to Snape. He even wondered why Joseph cared about it himself. He was afraid the Slytherin had told McGonagall, but the Head of Gryffindor hadn't called him to discuss something, nor has she transfigured Umbridge into a ball of yarn that Mrs. Norris would love to get her claws on.
''…right, Harry? Harry!'' Hermione's voice pierced his musings and he finally dragged his eyes back to his friends' faces.
''Yeah sure… uhm, what exactly?'' Harry replied in a daze, making Ron snort unattractively, his mouth full of mashed potatoes, and Hermione pursed her lips, looking exasperated.
''I said that The Three Broomsticks would probably be too obvious place for the meeting and that it would have too many people who recognise us there., wouldn't it? And focus Harry, the Hogsmeade trip is next weekend already.''
''Right, sorry 'Mione. And yes, I think The Three Broomsticks will be too crowded. The Shrieking Shack, maybe?'' Harry suggested while keeping his eyes on Joseph as Malfoy leaned closer to the raven to say something.
It wasn't that Harry wasn't interested in this conversation, but his head was full of zigzagging thoughts already and all Harry wanted to do now was to faceplant straight into his soft, warm bed in the dormitory.
''Ugh, no offence mate but I'm not going anywhere near that place again. And I doubt others would want to either.'' Ron shuddered and Harry belatedly remembered their third year fiasco in that dilapidated house. ''But I remember Fred once telling me about some other pub, a little less public. What was it again…Hag's Horn? Or Hog's Bed? Something like that I think.''
''You mean Hog's Head.'' Hermione said with an eye roll. ''I don't know. Isn't it a bit shady there? Although it's far away from the main street, so that's a plus. And I'm sure none of the teachers would set foot in there.''
Harry opened his mouth to add his two sickles but then the sound of benches being pushed back drowned their conversation.
''We'll continue this later.'' Hermione muttered to him as they followed Ron out of the Great Hall.
They were just about to reach the Grand Staircase when Harry felt a tug on his ankle and had his face on the Entrance Hall's stone floor. Laughter echoed all around him while he hastily picked himself up. Harry didn't think he could feel any worse, but Malfoy and his friends appearing reminded him that life was never on his side.
"Honestly Potter, it's a wonder how you manage to survive the Triwizard tournament, given how uncoordinated you are." Malfoy taunted. "Why don't you go look and have Diggory kiss your wounds better? Oh wait…"
"Shove off, Malfoy." Harry spat, standing up.
Any other day, he would have been angry enough already, but with all of the hormonal aggravation and confusing thoughts on Joseph and the Blood Quill, Harry wasn't able to think clearly. He could feel his blood heated at the sound of Malfoy's taunts, and it took all he had not to hex the smirk off his face from the start. Harry had to remind himself of what Joseph said. All the ways he might avoid being taunted. Harry stood and made to turn away like the better man.
"What, Potter? Did I strike a nerve? I didn't mean to bring up your poor, Hufflepuff boyfriend. Actually, seeing how worked up you are about it, you're probably better off with him dead. Can't imagine how defensive you-
Harry raised his wand to Malfoy's nose, "Not another word, Malfoy. I'm warning you now."
Malfoy looked up the length of Harry's arm into his eyes with a sort of shiver, but tried to stay steely even as everyone's eyes turned on him. He was egged on by his mates, all jeering at his sides that he could take Potter. Harry looked over the crowd, his arm unwavering, and caught a glimpse of his friends amongst them, looking torn between pulling him back and defending him.
Harry returned sharpness to his form when he saw Malfoy's mouth twitch in the corner of his eye. He looked at him again, lips curling in a dark taunt. Then, a flash of black hair caught his eye behind Malfoy's shoulder and Harry's form relaxed slightly as he made eye contact with Joseph.
Malfoy took the opportunity to fall back and snicker at him, running off and shouting a weak insult backwards before fully disappearing.
Suddenly, all Harry was aware of were the faces in front of him, questioning him. Harry shook his head, not wanting to look into Hermione's knowing eyes, and stormed off, pushing his way through the gathered crowd to the staircase without ever glancing back.
That day had mostly disappeared in his mind now…just added to the long list of run-ins he's had in the hallway this year. Again Harry had to remind himself that these were better than if were to have in-class explosions.
After that time, his week had been uneventful leading up to today. It was Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry found himself once again in the library, studying silently alongside Joseph.
The other raven was quiet as he went through his work. Harry wished he knew how to start a conversation with him, but he only had defense homework, and it's not like he had a hard time copying down passages. Even he couldn't be that stupid.
Joseph must have noticed Harry's apparent frustration because he reached out and took the quill from his hand.
"If you keep doing that, you won't have any quills left," Joseph said, pointing out where Harry had apparently been chewing.
He felt a blush creep up to his cheeks and reached for the quill back after Joseph fixed it. "Thanks," he managed before an awkward silence fell upon them.
"Okay, what is it?" Joseph asked, shutting his book and fully turning to Harry, face untelling.
"What's what?" Harry asked seemingly obliviously…or, at least, it would have been if not for the horrid blush all the way up his neck
Joseph looked over him with a sigh. "You have been chewing on your quill, not doing any homework, and opening and closing your mouth several times throughout the hour we've been here. Obviously, there's something you want to talk about."
Harry dropped his head. He obviously wasn't as subtle as he liked to think.
"I uh…didn't really know what to say. I just…I guess I just wanted to talk to you. There never seems to be a safe topic, though." Harry shrugged, closing his book and turning to face Joseph.
The other boy simply raised an eyebrow. When he figured that Harry had nothing else to add, he sat up to look better into his eyes. "Is the scene with Draco still bothering you?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably in his spot. He hadn't been thinking about that. Actually, that was quite the opposite sort of conversation he was looking to have. He wanted more of 'how are your grades', 'what's your favorite color', 'do you feel weird when we touch or is that just me?'…but life never went the way Harry wished anyway.
"Of course it's still bothering me." Harry could hardly hold back a sneer, reminding himself that it was not Joseph that he was mad at.
Joseph nodded his head slow and cast a privacy ward around them both. "What exactly is bothering you about it? Which part sticks out to you the most?"
"Well…" Harry felt his face screw up in thought. What exactly was he mad about? "I guess that Malfoy got away. He got to disrespect Cedric like that and just run off like he won the whole thing."
Joseph didn't comment for a moment, gathering up himself to speak. "I'm certain Draco didn't mean to disrespect Cedric, but merely to push your buttons. He was, actually, surprised by your violent reaction."
"Cedric was my friend, and he died for me. It was all my fault that he was even there in the first place. I told him to take the cup with me, together. If I had just grabbed it like I was meant to, he wouldn't have even been there in the first place. They never would have had the chance to kill him."
"Harry. You cannot blame yourself for his death." Joseph reached out and took his hand in concern. Harry felt fire ignite on his arm and Harry looked back at it two or three times just to be sure he wasn't actually on fire. "Harry? Are you listening to me?" Now Joseph reached to grab his chin, trying to direct Harry to look into his eyes.
Harry shot up from his chair in a sudden burst of energy he didn't understand. His heart was beating and he could hear it pounding in his ears. He must have been frustrated. That was the only reason his heart rate ever got this fast.
Desperate to keep himself from accidentally arguing with Joseph again, Harry apologized and excused himself from the library. He grabbed his things, avoiding looking at Joseph, and left as fast as he could.
All he could think was: What the heck just happened?
Harry sat at the Hog's Head with Ron and Hermione as they waited for everyone else who was interested in learning defensive magic. Harry was nervous, because he still wasn't convinced that he was the best person to be doing this, but he was excited about it as well. Not to mention he was still pretty wored up over his interaction with Joseph
"I'll go get some butterbeers." Ron said.
"I was actually wondering Harry." Hermione began. "What finally helped you agree to do this? I know it had nothing to do with talking to me and Ron."
"I just went somewhere to think. It also helped that I talked to someone who's neutral about me." Harry admitted and Hermione gave him a questioning look. He then told her about Joseph and how they had become friends.
"Ah yes, he's one of the top students in Potions class." Hermione said. "I'm surprised Malfoy was made prefect over him."
"Yeah, I'm sure he'd be much better to work with." Harry said.
"So, you two are just friends?" Hermione asked with a knowing smile.
"What are you implying?" Harry asked, hoping he wasn't blushing
"Don't play dumb, Harry. You blushed while you talked about him." Hermione pointed out. "So?"
"I don't know, 'Mione." Harry admitted. He then told Hermione about all the things he'd been feeling when he was with the raven-haired Slytherin, and how confused he was.
"The answer is quite simple Harry; you like him." Hermione said with a smile. "Before you protest, be honest with yourself for a minute, think things through and after, tell me what you think about him."
After a short silence, Harry's eyes widened and Hermione smiled."I like him." Harry admitted, but then his face fell. "I like him. I just don't know if he likes me back."
Hermione nodded and let the topic rest. Ron arrived with the butterbeers and soon, the rest of the students arrived. Harry saw several familiar faces, like Neville, Cho, and the Weasley twins. There were some students from older and younger years. They all gathered in a booth and those who couldn't fit anymore into it got some chairs. The bartender brought another round of butterbeers for everyone.
"Um...hi." Hermione began nervously. "I had...the idea that...people who are interested in studying the Defence Against the Dark Arts, and I mean really study, should do something about it, because what that toad Umbridge is useless." There were a couple of agreeing nods. "I think it'd be best if we took matters into our own hands."
"You do want to pass your OWLs, right?" Michael Corner from Ravenclaw asked.
"Of course I do, but I want to learn how to properly defend myself." Hermione answered. "We all need to because...because Lord Voldemort's back."
The reaction was instant; Padma Patil shuddered, Terry Boot gave an involuntary twitch, Cho's friend screamed, and Neville whimpered.
"Where's the proof?!" A blonde Huffepuff asked aggressively.
"Dumbledore believes it." Hermione said.
"You mean Dumbledore believes him." The blonde Hufflepuff returned.
"Oi, what's your name?" Ron asked
"Zacharias Smith." The blonde answered. "I think that we have a right to know what makes him say You-Know-Who is back before joining."
Hermione was about to retort, but Harry stopped her. He knew this was coming, that's why he was reluctant to try and teach several people. Hermione should've expected too that majority of these people came to hear what happened in the maze, how he and Cedric got transported to a graveyard, how the Hufflepuff died.
"Dumbledore told you what happened last year. If you didn't believe him then, you won't believe me now." Harry said.
"All he told us was that You-Know-Who killed Cedric and you brought his body back." Smith said. "He didn't go into details-"
"I'm not going to explain in complete detail how Cedric was killed right in front of me!" Harry shot angrily at Smith, but he really intended the message for everyone. "If that's what you're here for, then you might as well fuck off."
Everyone was a little taken aback, but no one left, not even Smith. Hermione was about to continue when a girl from Hufflepuff chimed in.
"Is it true you can conjure a corporeal patronus, Harry?" She asked, and Harry nodded, making all of them talk excitedly.
"A corporeal patronus?" Harry said to himself, and then turned to the girl from Hufflepuff. "You don't happen to know Madam Bones, do you?"
"She's my aunt. I'm Susan." The girl replied. "Your patronus takes the form of a stag, yes?"
"Blimey Harry, I didn't know you could do that." Lee Jordan said when Harry confirmed it.
"That's 'cause mum told us not to spread it around." Fred said.
"She said he's got enough attention, as it is." George finished. "Being who he is and having to compete in the Triwizard tournament last year."
Everyone then excitedly retold the tales of Harry's heroics, from saving the Sorcerer's Stone in his first year, to slaying the Basilisk with Gryffindor's sword in second year, to fending off hundreds of dementors with his patronus in their third year.
"Look, it's great when you say it like that." Harry said. "But to be honest, I was terrified every single time and I mostly survived because of luck and pure nerve. I also had a lot of help from these guys."
"Yes, but we're doing this because we want to learn to defend ourselves against Death Eaters, not dragons." Hermione said. "They'll be using spells and we'll be using spells."
After several more minutes, they all agreed that they wanted to learn from Harry and set a schedule that would accommodate all the students. Then came the problem of the venue. The library and an unused classroom were suggested, but they seemed like not the best places for secret lessons.
"We'll inform everyone once we find a place." Hermione said and brought out a piece of parchment. "Everyone should write their names so we know who was here. And I think we should also all agree not to go talking about this stuff. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge, any other teacher, or any student who would willingly rat us out."
The twins immediately stepped forward and signed their names, but everyone else seemed reluctant to do so. Some people gave the excuse that Hermione might forget the list somewhere and the brunette reminded them who they were talking about. Ernie then signed his name, and everyone else did so after, a lot of them reluctantly. Everyone then started leaving in small groups, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"So, what spells should we teach?" Ron asked.
"I've actually come up with a short list of essential ones." Harry said.
"Did you have any help with making the list?" Hermione asked with a knowing smile.
"He did." Someone said, making the three Gryffindors jump. The person in the next booth stood and Harry stared wide-eyed at the Slytherin.
"How much did you hear?" He asked nervously.
"Enough, and don't even try Weasley." Joseph said and Harry saw the ginger reaching for his wand.
"Why not? You'll probably go running to the toad or Snape." Ron said.
"If I was going to tell Snape or Umbridge, do you think I would've waited for your little meeting to finish?" Joseph said. "And Hermione is right; no one is learning anything with Umbridge."
"So, will you be joining us?" Hermione asked.
"I will, but I'll not be attending all the meetings since my housemates will get suspicious." Joseph said, taking the quill and signing his name at the bottom. "I assume you've put some hexes on this thing?"
Hermione nodded and the male Gryffindors looked at her with surprise.
"Just to make sure no one can blab and we'll be able to know who exactly did if they do." Hermione said.
"It's a pity you weren't sorted into Slytherin." Joseph remarked and Ron glared.
"Anyway, Joseph helped me look for the spells he can help with the first aid magic." Harry said.
Ron and Hermione left together and Joseph and Harry left as well, both of them heading towards the castle.
"Don't let the likes of Smith get to you." Joseph said. "He and lot of people think they can handle the truth about something, but they'll just freak out once you tell them."
"I probably shouldn't have told him to fuck off, though." Harry sighed.
"I think you should have." Joseph said. "It showed that you are serious about teaching them and wouldn't stand for any bullshit. If you hadn't done that, he and everyone else would still be badgering you about what happened. You're going to be a great teacher, Harry."
"Thanks." Harry said with a faint blush. "So, I'll see you later?"
"Sure. By the way..." Joseph began.
The taller raven then took Harry's chin, tilting his head up, before softly pressing their lips together. It took a few seconds for Harry to register what was going on, but he eventually kissed back. The kiss was soft, sweet and tender. They stared at each other through half lidded eyes, before the Slytherin smiled.
"If it wasn't clear, I like you too." He said as he straightened himself with a small smile. "See you later."