Chapter 7

Remus Lupin reached the bottom landing of the main staircase just as the front door opened, revealing Tonks and Hestia Jones. He greeted them both and the three were soon heading down the hall towards the stairs that led to the basement kitchen. Mrs. Black's portrait had already been screaming bloody murder, since Moody had gone trumping through the hall a couple minutes before them, so they ignored her as best they could.

In the kitchen, they each took seats around the large wooden table that filled up the majority of the space there. Kingsley was already there, as was Hagrid, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Bill Weasley, Diggle, Vance, and Mundungus Fletcher, who Remus couldn't help but give a bit of a stink eye. He'd caught Dung twice now, trying to pinch some of Sirius' family heirlooms, and the man's insistence that Sirius didn't even like his family things, plus he was dead now, so it wasn't like he needed them anymore, as an excuse for his actions, were far from sufficient in soothing Remus' displeasure.

Add on top of that the fact that Dung had apparently been doing a rather rubbish job in his duties to guard over Harry, and Remus considered the man virtually worthless at this point.

The door to the kitchen opened again and in walked Fred and George Weasley, both grinning quite smugly. A quick glance over at Molly Weasley, told Remus that she was less than thrilled to be seeing them there, but she didn't say anything, so Remus assumed this was an argument that had already taken place behind doors at the Burrow, and she had lost.

Arthur greeted them with a smile and the twins took the two seats to Hagrid's left.

The floo flared to life in the hearth and Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape stepped through a moment later.

Dumbledore sat at the head of the table and quickly called the meeting to order.

"Now, before I ask for any specifics, is there anything pressing that anyone wants to bring to the table first?" He asked, looking around the table at various members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Yes, actually," Remus said, drawing everyone's gaze to him.

Dumbledore's bushy white eyebrows raised into his forehead. "Is this about the South Morrow wolf pack?"

"Uh, no. There's no news there, I'm afraid. Actually, it's about Harry."

"Harry?"

"Apparently he's been leaving Privet Drive and we have no idea where he's been going."

Dumbledore frowned. "Leaving?"

"Dung first noticed it a number of days ago," Remus went on, looking over at Mundungus.

Dumbledore turned his questioning gaze on Dung who looked disgruntled at being made the center of attention.

"He was just heading down to the park. I didn't pay it any mind," he said defensively.

"But he was with someone, right?" Lupin pressed.

Dung huffed. "Yeah, he was with some young bloke I'd never seen before. It's not like the kid isn't allowed to have muggle friends, right? I just figured it was some kid he knew from the neighborhood."

Dumbledore frowned. "You're sure he was a muggle?"

"Well, not sure," Dung said defensively.

"I'm convinced he wasn't a muggle, actually," Hestia Jones added. "I joined Dung the next day, and the boy came by again, but didn't stop at Harry's house that time. At least, not out in the open. He walked down the street, heading towards Number 4 but I swear he saw us, even though we were both disillusioned, and just kept walking past instead."

"What did this boy look like?" Dumbledore asked.

"Tall, thin, probably around 18 years old, maybe? Chin-length black hair and dark eyes. I didn't get too close, so I couldn't tell you any more details than that," Hestia said.

"We think that Harry might have used his invisibility cloak to sneak out and meet up with the boy again, after that," Remus said.

"Yeah, when we did a check around lunch, it turned out Potter wasn't even in his house anymore, but we never saw him leave," Dung said. "We were watching the place the whole time, too. Happened again yesterday and today. No sign of Potter leaving the house, but when we check, he's not in there anymore."

Dumbledore hummed out a worried-sounding noise. "That is concerning. It's a dangerous time for Harry to be sneaking out unprotected. You're sure he's been back later in the day, though?"

"That first day that I saw the two of them leave towards the park together, I saw 'em walking back together too," Dung said. "The boy walked right up and went inside for a few minutes before leaving again. It was really late that night - way past dinner time. The other days Potter got back earlier though, but he's missed dinner twice. Yesterday he got back in time for it though."

"Interesting thing, though," Hestia added. "Yesterday I was using the spell to check the number of occupants in the house, right when the two of them got back, and it was two of them, so the boy had to have slipped in the house with Harry for a bit, at least. He left about five minutes later."

"Well, that's a good sign at least, right?" Tonks asked. "I mean, if he were a Death Eater, he wouldn't be able to get in, right?"

"It surprises me that an unknown wizard of any nature can just go in there," McGonagall added, giving Dumbledore a questioning look.

"Intent is a large factor in whether or not the wards let someone new in," Dumbledore added. "Any witches or wizards with ill intent will be rejected by the wards."

"I saw them," Snape said, rather unexpectedly, drawing attention to him.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore asked.

"Potter and this other young man. I saw them a couple days ago."

"Where?" Hagrid asked, looking surprised. "You don't watch Harry's house."

Snape sneered. "Of course not," he drawled. "I have more important things to do than waste my days staring at that muggle heap. I saw them in Dietzel's Apotheker in Grassington."

"Grassington?!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"What was Harry doing in Yorkshire?" Tonks added, incredulously.

"It would appear that they were buying potions ingredients," Snape responded dryly.

"Did you see what kind of ingredients they got?" Dumbledore asked.

"I saw a selection on the table before they left," Snape confirmed. "It's not possible, however, to tell exactly what sort of potion they might have been brewing. The young man purchased a large variety of ingredients, obviously to mask which of the items he actually needed. I could list two dozen different potions that would need one or two of those ingredients and none of the rest, all of significant variance in purpose and application."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Did you speak to them?"

"Very briefly. I was surprised to see Potter there, of course. Next thing I know, this other young man injects himself between the two of us, standing there like some belligerent guard dog."

"Guard dog?" Fred asked, chuckling.

Snape sneered. "He seemed to be very… protective of Potter. He was also exceedingly rude."

Remus couldn't help the small snort that escaped him at Snape calling someone else rude. Snape glared at him for it. The Weasley twins seemed to find the sentiment humorous as well, if their muffled chuckles were anything to go by.

"Did you recognize him from the school?" Dumbledore asked Snape.

"No," Snape responded shortly, turning his gaze back to Dumbledore. "He was never a student at Hogwarts. That, or he was using a disguise, because I had never seen him before."

"Hmm.." Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully, looking concerned.

"Well, honestly, I can't really blame Harry for sneaking off," George said, and Fred nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, anyone here that's actually met Harry's relatives should know just how vile that lot is," Fred continued.

"I can't even imagine how awful it would be for Harry to loose Sirius —" George started.

"— Just to go and have to stay with those twats," Fred concluded.

"If he's got a friend that he trusts enough to sneak off with —"

"— It doesn't surprise us in the least, that he would."

"But that's the thing," Remus pressed in, "just who is this young man? How come none of us know anything about him? Fred, George, you're both closer to Harry, have either of you ever heard of Harry having a friend outside of Hogwarts who might fit this description?"

The twins looked at each other for a second before looking back at the group and shaking their heads. "No, no one," they said together.

"Maybe Ron or Hermione would know," Remus offered tiredly.

"Well, whether we can understand his reasoning or not," Molly Weasley cut in, "sneaking out like that is reckless of him. Absolutely dangerous! Look, Albus — if Harry is sneaking out because he doesn't want to be near his relatives, then he can come stay with us. We've got the wards updated, and with Fred and George in their own flat now, we've got more than enough room. I know it hasn't been all that long since the summer started, but if you think it's been enough time for the wards around the muggle's home to set or what have you, we'd be more than happy to take Harry in. It's just not safe for him to be going out unchaperoned like that!"

"You are absolutely right, Molly," Dumbledore agreed. "I think that I will pay Harry a visit and talk it over with him. No doubt, he will be thrilled with the chance to stay with your family again."

"What about his friend?" Fred asked, glancing between his mum and Dumbledore.

"What about him?" Molly asked, blinking in confusion.

"Well, if this guy gets the OK by the Order, you've got to decide if he's welcome at the Burrow," George picked up. "If Harry's meeting up with this bloke this often —

"— He might not be keen on staying at the house if it turns out he can't see his friend anymore," Fred finished.

"Oh. Well, he's welcome to visit as well, of course. That is, if Albus thinks he's safe," Molly amended quickly.

"Yes, I will be looking into him," Dumbledore said. "Now, I suppose that's dealt with for now. Severus, is there any news in regards to Death Eater activity?"

"None," Snape said with a short flat tone.

"None?" Dumbledore echoed, questioningly.

"None. There has been no contact with the Dark Lord for more than 15 days, and only a few spies received word at that point, and none in-person. No one has seen him in person since the attack on the Ministry, 20 days ago. No one seems to have any idea what is going on. And they're getting restless."

"Hmm… that is concerning," Dumbledore said stroking at his beard.

"Isn't it good if You-Know-Who doesn't seem to be itching to cause trouble right away?" Emmeline Vance asked.

"Yes, but what is he doing, is the question," Tonks said. "Because he's got to be doing something. Why just up and vanish?"

"You're sure you didn't wound him in that duel of yours?" Moody asked Dumbledore.

"This is not something I can take credit for," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "I'm fairly confident that he sustained no serious injuries during our little scuffle."

"Scuffle," Kinglsey echoed incredulously, rolling his eyes.

"Do you have any idea what he might be up to?" Moody asked Dumbledore.

"Not a clue, unfortunately."

The group fell into silence for a moment but it soon became apparent that no one had any further information of value on the subject, and continued conjecture with so little information would be a waste of time.

"Moving on, how are things going in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" Dumbledore asked Kingsley, who proceeded to go into a lengthy discussion on the subject, with Tonks and Moody contributing bits here and there.

The meeting lasted another hour before finally drawing to a close and everyone dispersing the building, with word that the next meeting would be held at the Burrow.

— —

Harry wasn't sure he'd ever felt this helpless before. Tom was huddled in a heap on the floor in the center of a complicated ritual circle drawn in salt, and he'd been sobbing for the better part of the last fifteen minutes. Harry was standing at the doorway to the workroom, debating with himself how to proceed. He'd spent most of the last ten minutes out in the sitting room, where Tom had left him before beginning the ritual to reabsorb the locket horcrux. Tom had clearly been torn on the prospect of having Harry there at all, and it was obvious to Harry that a large part of Tom's reticence had been due to his not wanting Harry to see him break down like this.

But Harry could also tell that Tom was scared, and he knew the only reason Tom had allowed Harry to be here at all was because, at least some small part of him, did not want to be alone during this process.

And yet Harry had kept his distance, because that was the last thing that Tom had asked of him.

But Tom wasn't getting better, and it had been a long time. Or at least, it certainly felt like it.

Harry walked quietly into the workroom, towards where Tom was curled up on the floor. His shoulders still shook every now and then with another brief round of uncontrollable shudders, but they were becoming fewer and farther between.

From what Harry understood, the spell Tom had had to subject himself to, induced a series of hallucinations or visions, designed to make Tom understand the full range of pain and loss, and all the repercussions and implications of his murder of whoever's death had been used to create that horcrux. Only after he experienced the pain of the victim as well as the pain of all of the lives touched by the victim's death; all of the people who had loved them and mourned them; and felt true remorse, could the power holding his soul in the horcrux be broken and the piece within it merged back into his primary soul.

Harry hoped that, surely by now, that had happened. But he wasn't sure, and the last thing he would want to do was interrupt the process, making all this suffering for nothing. If he screwed something up and Tom had to do it over again… Harry wasn't sure how he'd forgive himself for that.

A sudden and surprising sob shook itself free from Tom and his shoulders shook with several rough, shuddering breaths. Harry felt a shift in the air and noticed that the salt-drawn runes on the floor beneath Tom were no longer impervious, as Tom's most recent movements had disturbed them, where they had remained magically undisturbed up until now.

"Harry…" Tom whimpered, and Harry rushed over, kneeling down and hovering his hand over Tom's back for a moment before bringing it down and resting it on him.

Tom's shudders seemed to reduce almost instantly and he arched his back towards Harry almost unconsciously.

"I'm here," Harry said as he began rubbing his hand reassuringly up and down Tom's back. "I think it's over."

Tom's head nodded weakly.

"I'm a monster," Tom rasped out in a shaky voice.

"Don't say that," Harry said. "That's not you, anymore."

A weak, humorless laugh seemed to cough it's way out of Tom's throat. "I'm me, Harry. I did those things. There are no excuses… they're inexcusable… I…"

"But you wouldn't do it now, right?" Harry offered questioningly.

Tom's head shook roughly side-to-side. "No," he rasped in a pained voice. "She had a daughter, you know… I didn't know…" he let out a humorless laugh. "I didn't care."

"She?"

"Jennifer Miller… I didn't even know her name, you know. Not till tonight…"

"The muggle you killed when you created the locket horcrux?"

Tom nodded dully before rolling over so he was now facing Harry. Harry made to pull his hand away but Tom reached out and grabbed it and stared at Harry's hand as he twined their fingers together. "I can't believe you're willing to be here with me. I've done so many terrible things to you…"

"I don't see you like that," Harry said, shrugging.

"I don't deserve to be seen as anything but a monster."

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

Tom squeezed his eyes shut, gripping Harry's hand tighter in his own and shaking his head. "I deserve nothing but pain," he whispered.

"Tom, please," Harry said, leaning forward and reaching his free hand up and resting it against Tom's head, threading his fingers through Tom's hair.

Tom's breathing seemed to calm down and the tension in his shoulders and back seemed to melt away a bit. His death grip against Harry's hand seemed to loosen as well, which Harry was admittedly grateful for.

Neither of them said anything for several moments longer, and Harry kept aimlessly combing is fingers through Tom's long smooth hair. It had a gentle wave to it, and it reminded Harry a bit of Sirius' hair, which sent a small pang of remorse through his chest. But then Harry's gaze went to the large cauldron sitting in the hearth over a low flame, gently simmering away. Part of Harry still didn't dare let himself hope it would really work, but another part of him was really starting to get excited.

If anyone could bring Sirius back… it was Tom.

"You do deserve a second chance," Harry said, breaking the long silence. "But maybe you have to earn it, too. You know… try to use this chance to do some good. You're probably the most powerful wizard in the world. You can do things that other wizards wouldn't even have the guts to imagine."

"I don't know what I could do… what could possibly make up for all the harm I've caused?" Tom asked, looking up and making direct eye contact with Harry for the first time since this had begun.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "but it doesn't necessarily have to all be big stuff. Just keep doing lots of smaller things. Just… just keep trying to be the best person you can be. That's really all you can do, I think."

Tom's gaze seemed detached as he looked away and stared into the distance beyond Harry's shoulder. He'd loosened his grip on Harry's hand, but now he was aimlessly brushing their fingers together. Harry felt a shudder run from his fingers, all the way down his spine. But it wasn't a bad shudder, just unexpected.

Finally Tom pulled in a deep breath, pushed it out, and released Harry's hand. His hand shook lightly for a moment before he maneuvered it underneath himself and pressed it against the floor, slowly pushing himself up into an upright position.

"Thank you," he said softly, looking up and meeting Harry's eyes. Harry felt his heart rate increase and a heat in his chest seemed to grow and tighten for a moment as they held each other's gaze.

Harry ducked his head and shrugged. "It was nothing."

"It was much more than nothing."

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, feeling stupid the second he'd said it.

"I'll be okay," Tom replied giving Harry a weak grin as he reached up and tried to brush his hair out of his face.

Tom stood up and succeeded in pushing the unruly hair behind his ears. Harry stood as well and took a moment to look Tom over and take in the changes in his appearance. His hair was longer than it had been before, and Tom was shorter now, putting him only an inch or two taller than Harry.

"How bad is it?" Tom asked, catching Harry off balance.

"How bad is what?" Harry asked.

"I've de-aged again, yes?" Tom asked. The raspiness was clearing from his voice making it more obvious now that even it had changed slightly. The pitch was a bit higher now, making him sound a tad younger. He raised his hand and looked at it as he experimented with opening and closing his fist and stretching out his fingers. "I feel… strange."

"I'd say you only look one or two years younger," Harry said "I mean, before I would have guessed 19 or 20, and now… well, maybe 16 or 17? So I guess that's more like two to three years…"

Tom let a weak humorless chuckle pass through his lips before he sighed again. "Hopefully, the de-aging will reduce in intensity with subsequent horcruxes. If I lost two years for every remaining horcrux, I would end up being inconveniently young."

"Er… yeah," Harry agreed, trying to do the math in his head and realizing he wasn't even sure how many horcruxes were left.

"I suspect it will lessen considerably though," Tom said as he walked weakly towards the large table and leaned his weight against the side of it and tried to steady himself. "The first absorption was supposed to be the equivalent to more than half a soul and it set me down to my early thirties. And while my previous body did not display my age in the normal sense, I was seventy, so that's quite a de-aging. The second horcrux was about a quarter of a soul and it knocked me down to 19 or 20, shaving off perhaps 9, maybe 10 years. This one was one-eighth of a soul and shaved off only two to three years. I can reasonably assume any further re-absorptions will result in significantly smaller changes."

Harry nodded a bit dazed, agreeing that that sounded about right, but reeling slightly at the reminder of how old Tom really was.

"Speaking of the other horcruxes… what's left?" Harry asked.

"The next one is a golden cup once owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and it is unfortunately stored in Bella's Gringott's vault."

"Wait, it's in Gringotts?"

Tom pushed himself up to sit on the stool nearest him, making a bit of a face as he apparently noticed his decreased height. "I have no doubt that I could get her to retrieve it for me, so long as I made use of some glamours and a little wandwork to temporarily restore my old appearance, however it's debatable whether or not it would be safe to send her after it at this time."

"How could she get to it at all?" Harry asked. "She's wanted by the Ministry, I would assume she couldn't just walk into Gringott's and ask to visit her vault."

"The goblins are neutral parties, and they often turn a blind eye to whether someone is 'wanted' by the Ministry or not. Their vaults are considered sovereign territory, so the Ministry can't even try to lay claim to a person's vault, no matter what crimes the person may be accused of. The Ministry wasn't even able to gain access to any of my vaults, and you can believe they tried."

"Wait, if you've got your own vaults, why did you have Bellatrix put the cup in her vault?" Harry asked.

"Bellatrix's vault is an old family vault that she inherited from her mother. These are not the sorts of vaults that new customers can just request. They are of the highest security level, and in the lowest bowels of the goblin's cave systems. The number of security systems a person would have to get past to just reach these vaults is unsurpassed. It was not the sort of vault that I personally could acquire, but it was the only level of security I was satisfied with, for protecting my horcrux. It was also intended as a sign of my faith in her as a loyal follower, not that she knew what it actually was - but she knew it was important."

"Well, she's definitely has been loyal," Harry said with a mildly derisive tone.

Tom heaved another tired sigh, reaching his hand up and brushing his hair out of his face again. He made a bit of a scowl at it as he reached up again, pulling it all back with one fist and tying it off with a piece of twine from one of the herb bundles.

"That's it! Tomorrow I'm getting a haircut," he declared, obviously annoyed with his hair. "The length has gotten entirely ridiculous. I can only imagine how badly it looks. Anyway, like I was saying, the goblins are generally unconcerned with whether or not the Ministry wants to arrest one of their customers, and only cares about the customer having proof of their identity. But Bellatrix would still need to get into the bank in the first place, and I suspect the Ministry's security presence around the bank has been heightened considerably at this time. It would probably be wise to give it some more time before asking her to retrieve the horcrux from her vault. Merlin knows the last thing that I want is to have to try and break into the vault to get the horcrux back, but if Bella got herself captured by the Ministry, that's exactly what I would have to resort to."

Harry hummed and nodded. "And any others? Horcruxes, I mean."

Tom sighed. "The only other remaining horcrux is presently hidden in Hogwarts, making it the least accessible of them all, to me."

"Hogwarts?!" Harry exclaimed. "You're kidding! How'd you get it in there?"

Tom smirked weakly. "When I was in my 30's the Defense Against the Dark Arts post became available again and I went in for an interview. I took advantage of that visit to slip down the right corridor and hide the horcrux in a secret place I used to visit when I was a student there."

Harry gaped at him. "Wait, you applied for the DADA post?"

"Dumbledore turned me down, of course," Tom sneered and scowled. "I actually applied for the Defense post twice. Armando Dippet was the Headmaster the first time I applied, and he said I was too young at the time. I wonder some times what might have happened if he'd actually accepted my application… I'd made two horcruxes by that point, but I never would have come across the locket or cup if I'd stayed at Hogwarts, and I'm not convinced I would have followed through with my loose plans to create more, had I never found them…"

Tom shook his head as if to shake the thoughts away. "It hardly matters, anymore. Although this topic does remind me of something I ought to attend to."

"What?"

"Removal of the curse on the Defense post."

"So that was you?!" Harry exclaimed. "You really did curse the post?"

"I did it after Dumbledore turned me down the second time I applied."

"Such a mature way to handle rejection," Harry drawled with an air of sarcasm.

Tom pinned him with an amused glare, barely suppressing a smirk. "Are you teasing me?"

Harry grinned back, innocently.

Tom chuckled and shook his head. "Well, now that this particular chore is done away with, is there anything you'd like to do with the remainder of our day? It's not yet even mid-day and there's nothing to do with the potion till nearly midnight, so there's no real need to remain here all day."

"We could get you that haircut now," Harry offered with a shrug.

"Surely that would be boring for you."

Harry gave him a dismissive wave with one hand. "I could use one too. Mrs. Weasley usually cuts my hair during the summers, but there's nothing wrong with being a little pro-active about it. I've never actually had my hair cut by a professional."

"Haircuts it is, then," Tom said with a light laugh. "Then we eat."

— —

Later that night, Harry climbed the stairs in Number 4 and returned to his room after another uncomfortable dinner with the Dursley's. It was getting to the point where Harry was seriously considering just asking Tom if they could eat dinner together too, just so he could avoid this one unpleasant interaction Harry still had to endure with his relatives.

He knew that they'd prefer his absence as well, as they seemed to be fairly satisfied with pretending Harry didn't exist at all during the days when Harry wasn't there.

Harry slipped into his room and closed the door behind him, walking over and letting himself fall heavily onto his bed. It groaned under his weight and the thin spring mattress creaked and squeaked. Harry heaved a sigh and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before pushing himself up into a sitting position and reaching over to his desk and grabbing the two magazines laying there.

One was the quidditch magazine and Harry tossed it back to the side, as he'd gone through the entire thing, cover-to-cover by this point. The other one he hadn't yet bothered to look over, and wasn't even really familiar with as the only reason he'd had for grabbing it in the first place was the ad for Fred and George's shop that he'd seen on the back cover.

Now Harry actually took a moment to look at the front cover.

'The Bent Wand' was written across the top with a gnarled looking wand interweaving between the letters. Below that was a large photo of a male wizard wearing Quidditch Robes that Harry recognized as belonging to the Pride of Portree team. He was fairly sure the guy on the cover was their seeker, but wasn't familiar enough with the team to know off hand.

'Dougal McBride shows his PRIDE! Portree Seeker Discusses His Coming Out.' captioned the main featured story. Below it was written 'Summer Fashions! Holy Hotness!', and then 'Matilda Minx: "To Say I'm a Drama Queen Would Be An Understatement!"

Harry frowned at it in mild confusion for a moment, trying to work out just what kind of magazine it was, when a very slow dawning light seemed to begin to glow in the back of his mind. Harry flipped through the magazine, skimming the table of contents for the story titles and then flipping through some of the articles themselves.

If it hadn't already been obvious enough from the cover and the article titles, getting to the 'fashion photo spread' in the middle, made it blatantly obvious to Harry, just what sort of magazine he'd picked up. It was a periodicals magazine, aimed at gay wizards. Nothing explicit or pornographic, but it was certainly not the sort of magazine Harry would have ever picked up intentionally.

His face went red hot as he suddenly wondered if Tom had noticed what it was when they'd bought the thing in the first place.

Harry groaned, feeling utterly mortified and burying his face in his hands. He hadn't looked at it close enough before to realize just what it was, and what glance he had spared it had just showed a quidditch player on the front. It had seemed harmless enough.

Harry paused then, turning the magazine to the back and looking at Fred and George's ad.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Joke Shop Emporium!

It was a totally normal ad - or as normal as an ad for a joke shop run by Fred and George ever could be. Harry wondered what had possessed them to buy advertising in a gay wizard magazine. Harry shook his head, shrugging the curiosity off. and tossing the magazine to the side. He was about to head over to his trunk and dig out a book, when his eyes fell back on the magazine one more time and something caught his attention.

Harry reached over and picked it back up, curiosity winning over embarrassment. It had fallen open to a page somewhere in the middle, on an article titled 'Not out yet? Need a friendly ear? The Starling Anonymous Penpal Service Answers the Prayers of the Closeted Wizards of Britain".

Harry rest the magazine in his lap and began to read the article.

Founded two years ago by Wolfgang Starling and his partner, Maxwell Pertwee, the Starling Penpal Service fills a much needed void in the support group form for young LGBT witches and wizards. Simply sign up, detailing your preference in penpal match - gender, age range, whether they're out or closeted as well, and many other options - and you'll be assigned an anonymous penpal. You and your penpal are each sent a small delivery box. To send a letter, simply put it in the box and it's magically sent directly to your partner's box, and vice versa, keeping all communications totally anonymous. This protects both parties, erasing concerns about sensitive communications going through a middle-man or any risk of your conversations being mis-delivered or intercepted.

Penpals can safely confide in their match, knowing that their identity is safe, and getting advice and support from a fellow witch or wizard who knows and understands the sorts of problems they're facing in their daily lives…

Harry paused, looking thoughtfully down at the article as a surprising idea began to brew in the back of his mind. He hadn't yet managed to come up with any viable excuse for how he and Tom had come to know each other, and he knew with each passing day, the chances increased that he might find himself in a situation where that was a story he would need to have sorted out.

An anonymous penpal service where people are randomly assigned to each other, could certainly explain how Harry would have come to meet someone that he would normally have absolutely no way to have encountered.

These delivery boxes would also solve the question of how they would have communicated during the last year, seeing as how Harry's post was being monitored by Umbridge almost the entire school year.

The only serious problem was that it was a service intended for witches and wizards who were… well, gay. Harry wasn't sure how Tom would even react to such a suggestion. Would he be offended to have the idea even presented? Harry had to remind himself that, despite appearing quite young now, Tom was born in the 20's. He'd spent 7 years in Slytherin house, where conservative values reigned supreme.

Given Tom's history, Harry would hardly be surprised if it turned out the man held certain homophobic beliefs. Beliefs Harry was more than familiar with, as 'poofs' were probably the only group of people that Uncle Vernon hated as much as he hated wizards.

As Harry pondered over all of this, he had a moment of dawning realization where it struck him how little the idea bothered him. The idea of using the excuse that he'd signed up to be an anonymous penpal to a gay wizard, for moral support, didn't seem to really bother him any, when he was sure it would have terrified him to even suggest such a thing at one point.

Harry could probably go with the story that he was bi, instead of just gay. It would mesh well with the train-wreck of a relationship he'd had with Cho this last school year. It had only been the most awkward and confusing social interaction of his life. Merlin, that would even work well with the cover story! He could say he turned to a penpal after his Valentines date with Cho proved to be such a nightmare. Or even that kiss just before the Christmas holidays — in all honesty, it had left him rather confused. He'd been excited at the time - it was his first kiss after all - and he'd been sure for months at that point, that he fancied Cho. And yet the kiss itself hadn't really been anything all that special. Mostly it had been… wet. And awkward. She had been crying, after all. And it left him feeling guilty, for some reason.

In any case, this plan also provided the perfect excuse for why he'd kept Tom secret, even from his friends. Insecurity about coming out was totally a reasonable excuse for secrecy! Hell, the very real uncertainty he had over how Ron would react to the whole thing was probably the one real bit of anxiety making Harry second guess the plan. How would people react if they thought he was gay? Was he really okay with using that as a cover-story? The idea of lying to Ron or Hermione was the most displeasing part of it all, but the hard reality was that everything was just so convoluted and dangerous, he had few other choices.

He could hardly tell them the truth. Could he? Tell them that he'd discovered that he was actually just an extension of Voldemort's soul in another body, and that everything he'd thought he knew was an elaborate lie constructed by Dumbledore, in an attempt to destroy the Dark Lord? Oh, and his new bestest buddy was, in fact, Voldemort, himself. But he was better now. Really!

Yeah, that… wouldn't go over well.

Harry supposed that worrying over it was a bit pointless at this moment, since this was definitely a decision that he and Tom would have to come to, together. Tom had basically told Harry that he needed to come up with this part of their cover story, and that whatever Harry came up with was fine by him, but Harry couldn't in good conscience make this choice without consulting Tom first.

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