They had won their match against Ravenclaw, obviously. Poe was the best chaser there was , and his was the best team there ever would be. They had had their celebrations in the Gryffindor Tower late into the night, with Professor Organa having to tell them all to go to bed twice. Three different girls had tried their best to kiss Poe, but he succeeded in escaping them. It was all good sport, he supposed. But the next day had resulted in disaster. When walking to the grand hall he had almost been randomly killed. It was definitely a prank taken too far. A suit of armour had shambled out after him, but the locomotive charm had been shabby at best and the entire suit of really really heavy armour had fallen on him. Ben Solo had walked by, and was actually smirking.
"You watch your back Dameron." This was probably payback for him walking in on Jerk Solo getting his slimy tentacles all over brilliant Rey. It had taken a while for somebody who wasn't an absolute jackass to come along and rescue him. Shattered ribs. It was really truly awful. He'd have to spend the foreseeable future in the hospital wing recovering.
Sure it was really painful trying to have all your ribs reset and regrown. But it wasn't without its perks. His team all came by to visit him, as well as most of the other members of his house. They conspired revenge, brought gifts and sweets, and offered to do his homework for him. He declined that offer. As terrible as homework was, being in a hospital wing with nothing to do was an unimaginable horror. What was he meant to do? Twiddle his thumbs? And the lack of internet… He might as well be put to death! The most awkward conversation that he'd had was when Professor Organa had come to see him. Poe was no rat. He wasn't about to snitch. He'd have his revenge. Organa knew that there were rumours going around that her son had done this to him. It was a serious offence against him. She must have been certain it was him if she was asking Poe about it. But Poe wouldn't rat him out, and she was forced to take his word for it. But leaving that hospital wing, they both knew better. They knew he was lying. But what could they do about it?
On his second night in the hospital, he was plotting with Sykkes, the best Keeper in the school, lovely guy. They were plotting on how they could get waxing strips for an excellent prank. But first Poe had to explain what waxing strips were.
"And they rip your hair out? What sort of muggle torture is that?"
"Swear to Merlin. Muggle women just put them on their legs and pull em straight off again. Just like that!" Sykkes seemed to pale.
"Is it some sort of test of strength or something? That's barbaric. See a muggle girl with smooth legs and you know not to mess with her. That sort of thing?" Poe thought that this was the best he was going to get.
"Yeah. Sure. But anyways. I figure, we get some, and put a full body bind on one of them. Put one of these badboys somewhere real delicate-"
"And who exactly are you going to wax, Dameron?" Poe looked up, a bit too quickly. He wheezed in pain, but smiled when he saw who was at the door.
Rey with a very reluctant looking Finn behind her. She clutched a tome that looked to be possibly bigger than her to her chest. She stared at him with big eyes. Finn refused to even look at him. He took to staring at his shoes instead. Sykkes stared at the girl for a second, then caught the que that he should leave. He gave a shy little smile at Rey, who he couldn't seem to stop staring at. Rey had a light blush on her cheeks, but strode into the hospital wing to Poe's bed with Finn at his heels.
"I heard what happened. This isn't right. He needs to be stopped. And we have an inside man." He had never seen Rey look more determined than she did now. Finn, though still refusing to lift his eyes from his shoes looked cross and righteous. Poe had a grin for him that he would never see. It was a terrible waste. Poe had a beautiful smile. Finn was really missing out.
"The bastard set a suit of armour on me. After I caught him with you that night, he's had it out for me." Poe tutted and shook his head. He had been only doing the right thing.
"He's had it out for you since that night. Are you serious? The boy probably hated you in utero. Come on. You're the anti-Ben Solo." Rey rolled her eyes, and took of the look of a schemer. Meanwhile Poe laid a hand on his heart and gazed up at Rey with great admiration.
"That is truly the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you!" She rolled her eyes again.
"He could have killed you. And he can't be let get away with that." Finn had finally broken his stony silence, And Poe tried to sit straighter in his bed.
"He did almost kill me! Look at me! Shattered rib cage! They nearly had to rush me to St. Mungos. I could have died. They were sending for the priest!" Poe battered simpered, fluttering his luscious eyelashes at the Slytherin boy. There was a lot of eye rolling going on right now, and Poe hated it. Couldn't they at least feel a little bit sorry for him? He deserved it for once!
"Look, I don't like you. You're a jumped up little Gryffindor airhead. But I hate Ben Solo more. I want him taken down. He… He's a bad captain." Finn said, finally looking at Poe. He decided he would be serious for a second. That just wouldn't last though, would it?
"What are we going to do?" He stared into Finn's eyes, finding it very hard not to swoon. Poe was basically in love with this boy. Sure he didn't know him. But that hadn't stopped him before.
"POLDARK! POE! Are you okay?" Poe blushed furiously. His father was here. And he'd called him by his full name. His mother had loved that period drama set in Cornwall apparently. Kes Dameron was a short enough man, roughly the same height as Poe. He had the same brown eyes as his father, and the same crop of brown hair, that was speckled with silver now. He rushed over to the bed, completely disregarding the other two Hogwarts students. "I came as soon as I could! I had the night shift last night, so you know…" His dad did look haggard and generally exhausted.
"I'm fine dad. These are my friends. Rey and Finn." Poe said, sitting up again, having sunk down into his blankets some at the sound of his father saying his full name. Kes looked over at the other two, and started, having clearly just realised that they existed.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you! Lovely to meet you both." He glanced down at the crests on their school uniforms. "Always lovely to see the houses getting along." He frantically shook their hands, before he sat beside Poe's bed, worrying over him, and tucking his blankets.
"We'll come back again, Poldark. Our school project can wait until after you've recovered." Rey said, with subtly sarcastic tones. Finn stood for a second after Rey had walked away.
"I hope you feel better soon." he mumbled, while still looking at Poe. He looked once at Poe's father, before setting off after Rey.
"They're a lovely pair, your friends. It was nice of them to visit." Kes said, staring after the odd pair for a while. "Now tell me what happened and what's going on. They said you had a shattered ribcage! Poe that's awful! I was so worried about you the whole way here on that blaster train. Is that really the only way to get here?" Poe smiled at the familiar babble of his father's voice. It was nice to have him here. He did miss him during term. His father was his only close family. He had never had any siblings. Kes had never married or even dated again. And his cousins were in far flung places like Guatamala and Bristol. So exotic. He decided to set his plans for revenge aside and enjoy his father's company. His father had taken up his son's hand, and was filling him in on all the news from the Muggle world, and from their little home in Glasgow. Their dog was fine. That's all that really mattered, wasn't it?
"I say we go with those… what are they called? Polishing strips?"
"Waxing strips." Poe corrected, a wicked grin forming on his lips. Sykkes was very gung-ho for the plan of revenge. The others were being a bit more cautious about it, not declaring themselves either way.
"Granted, what Solo did was really wrong. But do we want to start a war? And his mother is the head of our house. And never mind Organa… What about Snoke? He scares the living daylights out me…." Several others nodded, agreeing with the dark haired girl, who bit her lip nervously. She was his seeker, and he was very fond of her sage advice. She was a smart girl. Plucky, but not foolish.
"Okay, ideally, we would do this and leave no definitive proof that it was us… We need a person on the inside." Everyone started talking at once, most of them in outrage.
"I'm not working with no scummy Slytherins." Poe glared at the person who had said that as the cacophonous arguments continued.
"Well back in his time, Harry Potter used a Polyjuice Potion and snuck into the Slytherin dorm rooms." Poe scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"This guy again. Forget Potter. Hermione Granger actually drafted the potion. Without her the lot of them would have died the first day they even got to Hogwarts. No Polyjuice. It takes too long and it's too risky. I don't want to play the long game. I want immediate results. He can't be left to feel comfortable."
Before anyone had a chance to argue any further, or suggest anything, Rey came running up to the group of Gryffindors.
"Hi Rey!" Sykkes said, in his brightest pluckiest voice. Rey opened her mouth and looked at the boy.
"Yeah, hi. Poe. You need to come with me now. Uh. Please?" Sykkes looked mortally wounded and mortified, and at least four people were poking him in the ribs, slagging him off quietly.
"Okay. Okay. I'm fine by the way. Thanks for asking. Later guys." The team waved him off. He got up slowly, still feeling stiff and sore, but Rey grabbed his hand the second he stood up, dragging him along with her.
"You're not going to want to miss this!" There was a glee to her face, that made Poe feel instantly happy and excited. Her moods were infectious. What had she done? "So I may have neglected to tell you that I'm actually good friends with Han. And his foreign friend Chewbacca. He let me tag along a couple of times when he's been dealing with some particular nasty pests. All for the sake of learning of course." She dragged him to a small secluded spot where Finn was waiting, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. They were peering out at the groundskeeper's hut. There was a light stream of smoke puffing up out of the chimney.
"Ground-breaking stuff this. Smoke. Wonderful. What am I meant to be looking at here?"
Rey turned a look of incredulity on him.
"Shut up and hunker down." she hissed, in a whisper. Poe muttered some profanities to himself and hunkered down next to Finn, who was still grinning out at the hut.
"Fancy meeting you here." Poe whispered, with a smirk. Finn didn't even ignore him. He glanced at him, and continued to smile.
"You look better." Poe had to take a deep breath. It almost sounded like he cared.
"I feel better. Thanks." He felt suddenly abashed and shy. Normally Poe would have seized that opportunity for outrageous flirtation, but here they were, staring at a hut in awkward silence. And then he slumped up to the hut.
Ben Solo, muffled up in a heavy black coat on what could be described as the hottest day of the year so far, strode with sure steps towards his father's door. Poe hunkered down further, his heart hammering. He realised what they were looking at. Ben Solo was about to be eaten alive by his grumpy father. The boy looked sullen, like he would rather be anywhere else but here. He banged a fist against the wooden door. Even though Ben Solo was a lanky thing, he was strong. He wasn't exactly a barrel of a lad, but he wasn't a noodle either. The door swung inwards.
"Get in!" Han barked. Poe pressed his lips together in a thin line to keep himself from giggling like a small child on Christmas morning. Their voices were low and quiet. Poe strained to hear. Rey put an arm on his shoulder, quirked an eyebrow and handed both of the boy s a flesh-coloured piece of string. A wicked smile spread on Rey's lips. Weasley's Extendable Ears. This girl was an evil genius. Poe stuck the string into his ear like an earphone and suddenly caught every single word.
"You think you can get away with these things? You think I won't know? You terrorised that girl and you could have killed that boy! You think I won't tell your mother? Then you thought wrong. You're an insolent pup. I have half a mind to send you packing. Send you home. Like to see you swaggering around like you own the place then. We could have you expelled as punishment. Have your wand snapped. You wouldn't even be a wizard. Are you proud of yourself, Ben? Are you?"
His father was a quiet man, but he was scary in his way. His anger was prickly and fearsome.
"I did nothing. I don't where you're hearing these lies, Han, but you're full of it. You don't know anything. You never have. Go ahead. Tell mother. Neither of you have proof of this bullshit." The three of them stared at each other, grinning, and a little shocked. Poe could never imagine speaking to his father like that. He adored his father. There was no way he would say these hurtful things to him. Han Solo's mumbled admonitions had come to an end now, it would seem.
"HOW DARE YOU! HAVE MORE RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS BOY! There'll be no more money for Hogsmeade visits. I've half a mind to drag you around this entire castle by the ear to show everyone your shame!"
"I dare you! I dare you to do it! I'd love to see you try!" Ben spat back with venom. Poe, Finn, and Rey glanced at each other again. Okay so this was more of a domestic than a shaming, and a spoilt brat getting his comeuppance. Poe didn't think they should be listening anymore.
"When did you start to hate us Ben? You were a nice kid. You used to bring flowers to your mom. What happened?" Poe's heart broke for Han Solo. He couldn't imagine the pain of a child who hated his parents. There was an icy silence between them. "Stay away from that girl. And stay away from Dameron, for god's sakes. He's a good boy. He doesn't deserve your assassination attempts. Get out of my sight." Han said, with a great weariness in his voice.
Ben Solo stormed from his father's cabin. Poe, with his excellent eyesight, could see fresh tears on the boy's cheeks. Poe felt great and sudden pity for the boy. He ripped the Extendable Ear from his own ear, and ran out. It would seem that he was just appearing on the road to meet Solo. Finn hissed at Poe to come back, but his mind was made up.
"Solo." he said, trying to catch the boy's attention. Ben swiped the tears angrily from his face.
"What do you want, Dameron?" he spat, his tone toxic and filled with hate.
"Can we just bury the hatchet? There's no reason why we shouldn't just be mates? We're both wasting our time with this stupid feud. What do you say? Call it quits?" Poe stuck his hand out, and held his breath and hoped to God that Ben would end things. He was suffering enough. He didn't have to hate everyone around him. Ben considered Poe's hand with cool eyes.
"I'd sooner kiss the Giant Squid." Ben stormed off past Poe, bumping his shoulder fiercely. Poe huffed his breath out, and smirked. Rey and Finn ran over to him.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Finn yelled. Rey just looked at him with big eyes, seeing what he had done, and probably recognising the new determination in his eyes.
"Finn. The best way to end a war is with peace. I'm going to be that boy's friend, whether he likes it or not." And Poe stared off towards the castle. "We'll just wax Hux's legs instead."