Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Labyrinth or Harry Potter, as all characters involved belong to Jim Henson and J.K. Rowling, respectively.
Forget About the Baby
Chapter 6: Homecoming
Twisting his fingers around leaves in the Goblin Castle's vineyard, the boy known to his peers as Tobias "King" leaned towards the bunches of intoxicating grapes and inhaled deeply, reveling in the magical scent.
He loved living where it was summer year-round.
He did not need a last name in his homeland because, where he lived, he was known as Jareth Tobias, heir to Jareth, the current Goblin King who had been on the throne for the past 452 years. While the fae were immortal, running a Kingdom was a tiresome business and, save for the High King himself, most decided after seven hundred odd years or so that they were tired of the responsibility and prestige that came with the position, proclaiming an heir as soon as possible.
And although running a Goblin Kingdom was not the most taxing job in the Underground, it was something that one could grow tired of. Chasing and throwing Goblins into the bog, dealing with rogue chickens, taking care of the labyrinth and managing wished away children was a fair amount of work. However, the Goblin Kingdom was exempt from most large, lavish social functions, which was a relief as Toby didn't enjoy being dressed up and fussed over often.
His favorite thing to do was to spend time in the labyrinth.
Toby had once been one of the children wished away. He did not know anything of the person who had wished him away or whether they had fought to get him back, especially since his surrogate father refused to tell them. He spent his spare time in the Underground wandering the Labyrinth and checking in all the oubliettes and nooks and crannies he could find, hoping that maybe he would find his lost relative there.
It wasn't as though he did not enjoy his life in the Underground- he loved it. But no child wants to grow up wondering about the life they could have had, and sometimes, Toby's curiosity threatened to get the best of him.
Jareth really was the best father that a boy could hope for. The two of them often went out riding horses in the Goblin Fields on the border of their kingdom, enjoying the afternoon together, Jareth passing on advice about being a benevolent and fair (yet, overall, much too stern for Toby's liking) ruler. They spent as much time as they could together and even looked alike, starting rumors among the Fae court that Tobias was not a wished-away-child at all but, rather, a love child from one of Jareth's many conquests and paramours.
However, Toby knew a few things that the Fae court did not.
1. His father had not taken a woman to his bed in the past ten or eleven years, the entire time Toby had been living with him, and Toby was not entirely sure why. While his upbringing must have been stressful and a lot of work, Jareth employed plenty of caretakers and nurses around the castle. And it wasn't like his surrogate father was exactly an unattractive man. He just didn't seem to find anyone attractive.
2. While he had developed a fair amount of magic, Toby was human, through and through. He was expected to evolve into fae after fifty years time of living in the Underground, but at this point, save for a pair of slightly pointy ears, he was just human, meaning that Jareth couldn't possibly be his biological father.
3. His father refused to marry and would not talk about any of his past relationships, though he would occasionally imply that he had been in love, once. Toby figured that he still was.
4. There were things that his father would never talk about, and Toby's family was one of them.
Toby figured that he had suffered something particularly devastating or tragic in his past life because every time he tried to bring up the subject with Jareth, the king's eyes would grow dark (around with the surrounding magical aura) and he would quickly change the topic of conversation.
Example:
"Father, did I ever have any siblings?"
"... Finish your breakfast before it grows cold, Tobias."
Really, the only thing Toby lacked were companions his own age, which is why when the Hogwarts letter arrived at the castle the previous fall, addressed to "Tobias King," he begged his father to let him attend school Aboveground. At first Jareth protested, claiming that there was nothing that Toby could learn Above that he could not learn in the Underground, where it was much safer.
However, after Toby locked himself inside his room for three straight days refusing to eat and/or talk to anyone, Jareth realized he was stuck. He did not know how to reason with children very well, just their spoiled and rash guardians.
And now Toby was back in the Underground after his first semester of school and bored out of his mind. He missed his friends, his classes, his teachers (even Snape, the oily evil Potions master) and the castle itself.
Sitting with Jareth in the vineyard, they discussed everything Toby had learned so far and the friends he had made. The two of them had written letters back and forth all semester, but it did not compare to being able to discuss events in person, reading facial expressions and delighting in the joy of each other's presence.
Toby spoke enthusiastically of all his new friends, seeming pleased with the people he had encountered and the connections he had made, speaking fondly of a girl in his house named Lisa Turpin. Jareth was startled at the familiarity with which his son spoke of these mortals, however, he trusted his heir's judgment.
Playing with the fingers on one of his gloves, Jareth idly conversed with his son, hardly noticing when his son mentioned that he felt a strong, ancient magical presence in the school. The king remarked that there were plenty of ghosts and old history in the building to set off such alarm, and to not pay any attention to it.
Had Jareth even sensed the fae magic that was in residence at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he would have cause for alarm.
