Chapter 14
"He should be getting grilled pretty heavily by now," Tom mused as he swung his legs in front of him while he sat atop a low stone wall near the park by Privet Drive.
"You really think they'll go all out like that?" Harry asked both worried and skeptically.
"I think they'll go so far as to use veritaserum on him. Which is why I gave him a preventative contraserum this morning before he left," Tom shrugged.
"What's contraserum?"
"It strengthens mental defenses, and counteracts and nullifies most of the effects of veritaserum. But it must be taken at least two hours before exposure to the truth serum, because it's ineffective before that and is only effective for an hour after. You've got to time it just right, making it impractical for those who find themselves being interrogated without advanced warning."
"What if they suspect he's used a contraserum?"
"It's unlikely they would suspect that, even if Black turns out to be a terrible actor. The potion has to be brewed the day it's used. It can't be stored, even under a stasis charm. The potion is illegal, for obvious reasons, so you'd be hard pressed to find an apothecary willing to make it for you, and even if you did, chances are they wouldn't be skilled enough to do it. If you think veritaserum is a difficult potion to brew, contraserum is decidedly harder."
Harry smirked over at Tom, sitting beside him. "But you could do it."
"Of course," Tom said dismissively, causing Harry to chuckle.
"If you're so brilliant with potions, what did you need Snape for?" Harry asked curiously, after a moment of silence had passed.
"Potions are very time consuming work. I had better things to do. I would delegate those tasks to Severus. He was also the only person I trusted could do as well as I could with the brews."
"Ah. I see."
Harry glanced to the side as a woman rounded the path and began walking in their direction. As she got a bit closer, Harry called out, "Good afternoon Mrs. Figg."
"She can't hear you, Harry," Tom chuckled, and Harry gave him a quick glare.
"Well, then dispell this sound ward. She'll think it's weird if I don't say anything."
Tom gave a lazy wave of his hand, and Harry could only assume, Tom had done what he'd asked.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Figg," Harry said again, drawing her distracted gaze up towards them, sitting atop the dividing wall.
"Oh! Harry! I almost didn't see you up there. How have you been doing lately?"
"I'm doing good, actually," Harry said with a small nod and a smile.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. And who might this be?"
"This is Thomlyn Moore. He's a friend."
"Ah, well, nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine," Tom responded politely.
"Well, I really must be going. I'm meeting up with Matilda from Number Six down in the park, and I'm already running behind."
"Bye then," Harry said with a wave. She returned it and a parting goodbye before she resumed her walk down the path.
Tom surreptitiously waved his wand in the same movement he'd used before, so Harry assumed the sound ward was back up.
"She's technically an Order Member," Harry remarked.
Tom blinked at him. "Her?" he asked incredulously.
"She's a squib. Apparently Dumbledore bought her the house she lives in, or something, way back when he left me here. She lived down on Wisteria Walk my whole life, and often offered to babysit me for free. She's got a zillion cats and her house smells, so I never really liked going over there much, but she was always nice. I never had any idea who she really was until last summer when she showed up, just after those two dementors attacked my cousin and I."
"So Dumbledore put a squib down the street to spy on you," Tom mused with obvious annoyance. "And she played along with your relatives desire to keep you ignorant. All that time, she could have revealed the truth to you - told you about the wizarding world and magic - and yet she never did." Tom sounded incensed.
"Believe me, the same thought has bitterly passed through my mind, as well," Harry grumbled.
"Oh, before I forget —" Tom said suddenly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something and handed it to Harry. It was a wristwatch.
Harry blinked at it as he accepted it. "What's this for?" he asked.
"Safety measure," Tom said and pulled up his sleeve, revealing an identical watch on his wrist. "Press the winding button on the left and it'll connect to mine and act like a muggle two-way, or a telephone. You can speak into it and I'll hear, and I can speak back. The button on the opposite side sends sound only, and doesn't receive any sounds back. This is so that you transmit the sounds around you without risking my response being noticed, if for example, you're in a position to where you cannot speak freely, but need to get my attention."
"Oh, brilliant," Harry mused looking the watch over more closely. The face of the watch was quite nice, with numerous hands and two secondary tiny circles with even more hands and Harry realized he had no idea how to make sense of half of what was displayed there. But part of it was clearly a normal clock, and that was good enough.
He secured it to his wrist and gave it a try, pushing the 2-way button and speaking into it. "Testing?"
Harry's voice echoed from Tom's watch and Harry grinned. "It's like a secret agent spy watch," Harry said with a grin.
"Well, technically it sort of is," Tom said with a shrug.
Harry hummed and they sat in quiet for a moment longer. "Do you think I should be hanging out closer to Privet Drive?" Harry asked.
"I thought we confirmed that your relatives would dislike that too much?"
Harry grimaced, "yeah, they would. But I just wonder if Remus, or who ever comes looking for me, won't think to come here and search for me."
"Well, we can walk up and down the street until someone shows up, or we get too bored," Tom offered and Harry smiled thankfully.
The two climbed off the wall and headed back towards Privet Drive. Fortunately, they didn't have to walk nearly as long or far as they'd feared. Standing in front of Number 4 was Albus Dumbledore.
"Well, that's not what I was expecting," Tom muttered under his breath as the Headmaster came into view.
Harry grimaced slightly. "Me neither."
"Worried curiosity, Harry. Aim for worried curiosity. Once he reveals the news of Sirius you need to be appropriately shocked. Disbelief would be appropriate."
"I know, I'm fine," Harry hissed back under his breath. "Headmaster Dumbledore!"
"Ah, Harry. I'm very relieved to have found you at home, this time of day. I feared we wouldn't find you until later this evening," Dumbledore said genially.
"Is something wrong? What's going on?" Harry asked, making an effort to sound worried and curious.
"Oh, nothings wrong. But something of great interest has most certainly happened. Would you like to go inside so we can discuss it?"
"Uh, I rather doubt Aunt Petunia would really want us discussing it in there," Harry began but then glanced around the neighborhood, spotting at least one neighbor peaking out from between her drapes, and looking quite incredulously at Dumbledore. "On second thought, I think she'd be more upset if we continued to speak out here."
The three entered Number 4 and Harry was relieved to find that Aunt Petunia was no where in sight and Dudley was obviously out and about the neighborhood, no doubt terrorizing someone with the aid of his friends.
They sat down on the couch in the same arrangement they'd assumed the last time Dumbledore had paid an unexpected visit. Dumbledore then proceeded to reveal the most miraculous and stunning return of Harry's godfather. Harry had thought he'd be able to act the part, but it wasn't as easy as he'd hope. He ended up hoping he'd just come off as totally stunned, and not as someone trying to fake enthusiasm.
"Wait - so Sirius is at Grimmauld Place, right now?" Harry asked with intensity.
"Yes, that is correct," Dumbledore said with a deep slow nod of his head. "And we have confirmed with absolute certainty that he is Sirius Black, and not an imposter."
"Well he was found in his home, isn't that right?" Tom asked, gaining Dumbledore's gaze.
"Yes, that's right."
"Well, it would be difficult for him to be an imposter and get in there, wouldn't it? It's protected under that Fidelius spell, as I understood it."
"Ah - yes. Harry told you about it, then?"
"Harry tells me everything," Tom stated.
Dumbledore's brows raised into his forehead, but he made no further comment on that.
"Well, Harry, given this rather unexpected turn of events, I thought I'd see if you were still set on remaining here with your muggle relatives?" Dumbledore asked, turning his focus back to Harry.
"You mean, go stay with Sirius instead?" Harry asked.
"Correct."
Harry looked thoughtfully before looking over at Tom for a moment. "Can Thomlyn be allowed to visit? I mean… he'd have to be let in on the secret…" Harry trailed off.
"Ah… well…" Dumbledore seemed to pause to think, "yes, I believe that would be acceptable. Perhaps you would consider spending more of your leisure time at Grimmauld Place and less time… elsewhere."
Harry grinned feeling a wave of triumph crash over him. Tom actually looked mildly stunned, and Harry suspected it was honest surprise too.
"You would be willing to allow me access to your Order's headquarters?" Tom asked, in a shocked tone. "I know you've no doubt done a background check on me, but it still seems surprising given how little you actually know me."
"I'm willing to trust Harry's judgement on this one," Dumbledore said, smiling at Harry.
Harry felt himself flinch as his mind warred between his new grander understanding of things, and his long-held instincts to trust this man and to feel pride or happiness when faced with supposed approval or trust from the old man.
"Well, I thank you for your faith in both myself and in Harry," Tom said graciously.
"With that settled, Harry, perhaps you might want to go and collect your belongings?"
"Uh, yeah," Harry said standing up. Tom made to rise as well, but Dumbledore raised one hand to stop him.
"I was wondering if Thomlyn might sit with me and keep an old man company for a few minutes?"
Tom slowly sat back down. He looked to Harry and gave one quick nod before fully focusing on Dumbledore opposite him.
Harry hesitated for a moment but finally turned and raced up the stairs towards his bedroom.
"Was there something you needed?" Tom asked Dumbledore calmly.
"Needed? Oh no. Actually, I wondered if you had taken any more thought into applying to Hogwarts as a transfer student?"
Tom blinked. That was not what he'd anticipated.
"I… hadn't thought about it much, actually."
"Ah, well I would encourage you to seriously consider it. Your marks on your OWL exams were quite impressive. Plus it would certainly grant you greater access to Harry, during the school year. I must admit, I can imagine Harry finding ways to disappear from school grounds quite often if he had someone out there that he really wanted to visit. Given the severity of Harry's enemies, minimizing such recreational outings would probably be in the best interest of his safety. And you did say, after all, that if you considered attending the school, it would be to help guarantee Harry's safety, did you not?"
A small smile turned the corner of Tom's mouth. "That I did," he nodded. "Alright, Professor. You've sold me on the idea. What is it that I need to do?"
Harry finished up with his packing fairly quickly, as he'd already been mostly packed in anticipation of just this very sort of thing happening. He shoved his trunk out the door of his room and went back to Hedwig's cage. He opened the latch on the cage and the window to his bedroom.
"I'm going to Number 12 Grimmauld Place again, alright Hedwig? Just like last summer. I think you'd be better off flying there yourself than hitching a ride with me," Harry said to the snowy white owl as he gently scratched the feathers around her chin.
Hedwig made a chirruping sort of sound back before hopping out of the cage and taking off out the window. Harry then took the empty cage and set it on top of his trunk before dragging the whole thing towards the stairs. Tom appeared at the bottom and extended his wand. A moment later, Harry's trunk was floating its way effortlessly down the stairs.
"Thanks," Harry said. "I was not looking forward to trying to get that down."
"I would expect not. Would you like me to put a featherweight charm on your trunk? It would make it considerably more manageable," Tom offered.
"Oh… yeah, that sounds kind of brilliant."
Dumbledore appeared in the archway to the sitting room with his hands folded behind his back. "Ready, Harry?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Harry said, with a grin as he mentally said goodbye forever to his personal hell in muggle suburbia.
Just at that moment, the front door opened and Petunia Dursley stood there with several bags of groceries in her arms. She squawked in surprise at their presence there and quickly shut the door behind her. "This is unacceptable!" she hissed at Harry. "What are they doing here, during the day?!"
"Ah, Petunia, what perfect timing," Dumbledore said graciously, earning a sharp yet horrified look from aunt Petunia. "I was hoping to take Harry with me today and relocate him to another house for the remainder of the summer holidays. With your permission, of course."
She eyed the trunk and then pinned Dumbledore with another sharp look. "It doesn't look like you were intending to ask permission."
Dumbledore just gave her an innocent smile.
She huffed out a breath and waved her hand impatiently. "Yes, take the boy. Go! Just get out of here before Vernon gets home."
And with that, she stomped down the hallway into the kitchen.
The three wizards quickly left the house with Harry now drawing a significantly lighter trunk behind him.
Tom looked questioningly at Dumbledore. "Are you intending for us to apparate from out here? In broad daylight?"
"I actually thought we might take the Knightbus," Dumbledore said with a warm smile.
Tom's eyes nearly bugged out. "No. Absolutely not. I refuse to board that thing."
"I'm with Thomlyn on this one," Harry said raising his hand. "Not a fan of the Knightbus."
"Oh? How unfortunate. I find it can be quite the exhilarating experience."
"I would definitely prefer apparition," Harry said.
"I suppose," Dumbledore said with a sigh, sounding disappointed. The group walked down the street, in the opposite direction of the park Harry and Tom usually apparated from, until they came to an alley way where people placed their trash bins for pick up. It was adequately out of view and Dumbledore offered them each his hand. Harry internally cringed but took hold of one of Dumbledore's arms.
"Now, I assume you've side-along apparated before," Dumbledore said with a grin. Tom actually rolled his eyes, but Harry nodded. "It may be somewhat uncomfortable, especially with the both of you at once. But it will be over quickly enough."
Having made it clear they were all ready, Dumbledore spun on the spot, dragging the two of them and Harry's trunk, through what felt like a small rubber tube, and then spitting them back out again, on the street directly in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
"And here we are," Dumbledore said cheerfully. Harry stumbled a bit, but Tom seemed unfazed. "Ah, and I mustn't forget. Thomlyn, the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters is located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place."
Harry watched as Tom's eyes seemed to refocused and widen as he stared at the house before them.
"That should do it," Dumbledore seemed to conclude. "I'm sure you can find your way inside Harry. I really ought to be getting back to the school. Much to do, much to do. Now off you go," he motioned for the two of them to climb the stairs and both did, hearing a gentle crack just as they stepped through the door and went inside.
"I can't believe he told you the secret!" Harry hissed, grinning. "I seriously did not expect you to be able to come in here!"
"I certainly didn't expect it either," Tom mused before looking around. "Ah, I do remember this place… although it's considerably filthier now than the last time I saw it…"
"Harry!" Remus Lupin called out as he began to hurry down the stairs. It set off Mrs. Black's portrait and she began her usual diatribe of hate and disgust with the unfortunate occupants of her noble home. "Oh shut up," Remus said tiredly before turning back to Harry. "I assume Dumbledore told you everything?"
Harry grinned, "Yeah, I've heard it all. Where is he?"
"Upstairs in his room right now." Remus shifted his gaze to Tom, looking surprised. "Oh, hello…"
"Dumbledore let him in on the secret, so he could visit me," Harry explained quickly before he started to head up the stairs.
"I'll give you some time with your godfather, Harry, don't worry about me," Tom called after him.
Harry looked at him questioningly for a moment before nodding and jogging the rest of the way up the stairs to the next landing and rounding the corner there.
"I have to admit, I'm rather surprised that Professor Dumbledore was alright with allowing you in here," Remus said as the two were left alone at the base of the stairs, with Walburga Black's portrait still screaming in the background.
"I was quite surprised as well. I honestly didn't expect to be allowed in. I figured the only way I'd be seeing Harry now was when he could get away and visit. But I suppose Professor Dumbledore probably thought the same thing. He didn't exactly like that Harry was running off with me every day while at the Dursley's, since it meant he had no idea where Harry really was. I suppose that's his motive here. He'd rather have Harry staying here where you lot know where he is, with me visiting, rather than Harry visiting me. I supposed he considered it worth more than the off chance risk that I'd overhear something sensitive."
"What… do you know about this house, exactly?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"I know that this house belonged to the Black family for more than a century. I know that Sirius' mother died more than a decade ago and it probably sat empty while Sirius was in Azkaban. And I know that it's currently being used as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."
"Ah. Yes… so Harry told you about the Order," Remus said, more than actually asked.
"Of course. His parents were Order members, you're an order member, Sirius and such. I know it was the Order that came to Harry's rescue at the Ministry, and I know it's been Order members who have been staking out Harry's muggle home."
"You can see through disillusionment charms," Remus observed more than asked. "The others have said that Harry's been waving to them recently, and it's always after you seem to point them out to him."
"Mm, I've always been good at sensing things like that. Honestly, I wish that you lot would have taken the initiative to speak to Harry every now and then, rather than just hiding out all the time. It really bothered him that he felt like he was being spied on, when I'm sure your intention was to simply protect him."
Remus hummed thoughtfully, his brow creased with mild worry. "Hmm, yes. I can see that. But Dumbledore didn't want us to disrupt his normal summer life, so the goal was to remain as inconspicuous as possible."
Tom gave an unimpressed little hum and turned his gaze on Walburga's portrait down the hall, which was still screaming and yelling.
"Is there a reason that thing is still on the wall?" Tom asked dubiously.
"It's there because no one can get it down," Remus said with an exasperated sigh. "That's Sirius' mother. She was a dramatically unpleasant woman in life, and significantly more so in death."
Tom cringed against an especially shrill scream. "Mind if I have a go at it?"
"Removing the painting?" Remus asked skeptically.
"Or at least silencing it," Tom said with a shrug.
"Be my guest."
—
Harry knocked on the door to Sirius room and stepped inside after he heard a call from within.
Sirius was there by himself, sitting on his bed with a big wolfish grin on his face. Harry grinned back.
"So it worked?" Harry asked.
Sirius chuckled and Harry quickly closed the door behind him and moved inside.
"It's all good. I've gotta admit, that bastard of yours is handy with his potions. I didn't even know a counter-potion to veritaserum existed."
"Sirius," Harry chided, rolling his eyes.
"What?" Sirius said defensively. "It's an accurate description! You said his father abandoned him and his mum before he was born. So that's a bastard, right?"
"Well, actually, his mum and dad were married, so no, he isn't."
Sirius gave a disinterested shrug. "Eh, close enough. Bellatrix may not be a dog, but she's still a bitch."
Harry rolled his eyes but chuckled softly. "So how is the whole ownership thing looking?" Harry asked and when Sirius blinked at him blankly for a moment, Harry waved his hands tot he room in general, "I mean, like with your will. Did everything revert to you?"
"Oh! I don't know, actually."
"Well, see if you can order Kreacher to do something," Harry suggested.
"Kreacher!" Sirius called out, but nothing happened.
"Kreacher!" Harry tried, and a moment later, Kreacher appeared before him, looking entirely disgruntled. "Bollocks," Harry cursed.
"Looks like he's still your's," Sirius joked.
"How do we fix this?" Harry asked, worriedly before dismissing Kreacher.
"Not really sure we need to," Sirius shrugged. "I'm a wanted man still, Harry. I can't really do much of anything with my assets. Actually getting into my vault was a right pain the few times I risked it. Now the vault is yours. No problems there."
"But I don't want your money!" Harry insisted.
"Alright, then don't spend any of it. Any chance you could lend me some from time to time if I ask you to go fetch it for me, though?" Sirius grinned innocently.
Harry huffed but smiled and nodded. "Okay, fine. But once we get your name cleared, I want to make a legitimate effort to get you your stuff back."
"Of course," Sirius said in a placating tone.
"So anyway, I brought my stuff, and we told my aunt I was leaving, so I guess I'm here for the rest of the summer!" Harry said happily.
"Brilliant, pup. It'll be great being able to do more than float near you and make rude remarks. Plus, it'll be nice for you to spend time with people who aren't former Dark Lords."
Harry snorted and shook his head. "Well, I suppose you putting the word 'former' in there is an improvement. I do appreciate that. But as it just so happens, Dumbledore told Tom this house's address, so he's in on the secret now and can come visit." Harry grinned widely.
Sirius looked horrified. "He did what? Great Merlin, this is just… this is utterly barmy. Inviting him to come hang out at Order Headquarters?"
Harry snickered. "I thought it was kind of funny, actually. I never thought it would work, honestly. But I guess Dumbledore wants me where he knows he can find me, over me running off with Tom to who knows where. He'd rather Tom come here, than me go there."
Sirius grumbled, looking entirely displeased with this development. "So where's Tommy-boy now?" he asked sarcastically.
"Downstairs with Remus."
"He's here? Now? Unsupervised?"
"I did say he was with Remus."
"Remus is too trusting! He'll just leave him alone! Who knows what that bastard will get into!"
"Sirius!" Harry chided in frustration as Sirius got up from his bed and was already heading out the door. Harry huffed out an annoyed breath and hurried after him. They went down two landings to the main floor before Sirius came to an abrupt stop and Harry came up from behind him.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
Tom was standing in the hallway with his wand aimed at the painting of Walburga Black. A painting that was surprisingly quiet.
"I couldn't help but remark on how obnoxious this painting of your mother was being and Remus mentioned how no one had been able to do anything about it. I asked if I could have a go at it, and he said to give it a shot," Tom explained simply.
Sirius forcefully walked his way towards Tom, coming to a stop a bit behind him and looked up at the painting. In the picture, Walburga Black still looked utterly furious and was quite obviously still screaming bloody murder. But not a peep could be heard from it.
"How'd you do that?" Sirius asked incredulously. "None of the regular silencing charms would work on it! We tried dozens!"
"The portrait isn't what's silenced, she is. Inside the painting, she's silenced."
Sirius looked at Tom dubiously. "Excuse me?"
"Well if, for example, someone from another portrait walked into her frame, they would still be able to speak and it would be audible. However, even to them, she would sound mute. It's a spell that effects the reality of the painting, rather than the paintings existence in our reality."
"You can do that?" Sirius said in surprise.
"I know!" Remus said laughing, coming up the stairs that led down to the kitchen. "I couldn't believe it when he got her silenced."
"Have either of you ever looked into what is involved in creating magical portraits and landscapes?" Tom asked, almost pointedly.
"Uh, no," Sirius said with a shake of his head.
Remus laughed, "Art was never one of my strong points."
"Well, it is, admittedly, practically an entire branch of magic of it's own," Tom mused with a tilt of his shoulder. "It's far more diverse and considerably more complex than most think. Although, you can take regular oil painting and animate it with a single spell, it won't be realistic or have any substance to it. You can spot these cheap attempts a mile away. All the best magical paintings have a substantial amount of depth and life to them, and that's constructed through a vast array of highly specialized spells that control the environment inside the painting."
"Huh…" Sirius said with slightly dumfounded surprise. He looked back up at the outraged, but silent, painting of his mother on the wall and grinned. He wiggled his fingers at her, reached up, and pulled the curtain closed. "Ah… hear that?"
"Hear what?" Remus asked.
"Nothing. Sweet, beautiful, nothing."
Remus chuckled before glancing towards Tom who was now standing beside Harry. Rather close, beside him, in fact. Remus glanced hesitantly over at Sirius and then back at Harry. "So uhm… did you two get a chance to talk much?" Remus asked Harry.
"Huh? Uh - yeah?" Harry said, slightly confused.
"I mean, have you mentioned your new friend at all?" Remus hedged.
"Oh! You mean, did I tell Sirius that I'm gay and I met Thomlyn through a teen gay support group's penpal service?" Harry asked, grinning.
Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Er, yes. That," Remus said.
"Yeah, he told me," Sirius said with a sigh, giving Tom a less than approving look.
"Sirius, that's hardly an attitude —" Remus started.
"It's okay," Harry said, hoping to change he subject. "So, I noticed Buckbeaks gone? Where'd he go?"
They split apart shortly after with Sirius and Remus going down to the kitchen and Harry taking Tom up to the room he'd shared with Ron the summer prior. Tom had taken one look at the room, and insisted on a magical renovation.
"Renovation?" Harry had asked, dubiously.
"Yes. Wallpaper, carpet, drapes - the bedspread at least looks clean, but it's ancient. The furniture's paint is peeling and faded, and that chair has one leg that's too short."
Harry looked down at the chair he was sitting in and rocked back and forth on the odd-sized legs before looking up and shrugging. "It's hardly the worst place I've ever lived."
"Never leave me alone with your uncle, Harry. Never - leave - me - alone - with - him," Tom punctuated each word.
Harry's eyes were wide and he nodded slowly. "Ri—ght… Anyway, it's certainly good enough, you don't need to go to any trouble."
"How could it possibly be any trouble, Harry? It'll take less than five minutes," Tom said rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
Tom looked up and saw a magical portrait hanging there, but it was empty. "Who's portrait is this?"
"Oh, it's uhm… Phineas Nigellus Black, I think."
Tom turned and looked at Harry sharply. "You're kidding!"
"Uh, no, that's him. Not sure what the big deal is. I mean, I get that he was a headmaster, but isn't he also known as one of the least-popular headmaster's ever?"
"Not that!" Tom hissed as he turned and grabbed the portrait off the wall, tossing it on the bed portrait-side down and throwing a pillow over it. "Think of what you just said, Harry - he was a Headmaster of Hogwarts. Every Hogwarts Headmaster has a portrait in the Headmaster's office. The subjects of magical portraits can travel freely between all proper portraits painted of them. So Phineas Black can go from the Headmaster's office, to peak in on your bedroom and go back, whenever he damn well wants."
Harry's eyes went big again. "You mean, you think he might spy on me for Dumbledore?"
"I'm saying he was probably put in your room, specifically so he could do just that. Yes, he's spying on you."
"Bollocks!" Harry cursed as he grimaced down at the bits of frame that still poked out from beneath the pillow. "Well, do you have any of those fancy spells like the one that silenced Mrs. Black that would keep him from seeing or hearing anything in this portrait?"
"Of course, but he would notice. And he would tell Dumbledore. It would look suspicious if you somehow managed to cast complex spells to blind and deafen a portrait for no apparent reason."
"So what do we do?" Harry asked.
"Well… honestly, I think we should just move the bloody portrait somewhere else. Stick it in some closet or unused bedroom."
"Oh… yeah, I guess that makes sense.
Tom wrapped the painting in a pillow case and the two slipped out of Harry's room and went down the hall. A linen closet was set into the wall beside the bathroom and Tom pulled it open to inspect it. He pulled out the contents of one shelf and checked for depth. It wasn't quite deep enough to hold the painting flat, but a quick wave of Tom's wand and Harry saw the shelf suddenly grow further back by an extra five inches. Tom slid the painting, face down, onto the shelf and then Harry stuffed the pile of sheets and towels that had been on the shelf, back into place."
"So what happens when Phineas Nigellus tries to spy on me and finds himself in the pitch black?" Harry asked.
"What can he do?" There's any number of reasons for a portrait to get put into storage that aren't suspicious at all. With the darkness, he won't be able to tell where he is, and Dumbledore would have to search the house pretty thoroughly to find it. And then he'd have to come up with a convincing excuse for putting it back in the room. This should be enough for a good while to come."
"Great. Merlin, to think he was probably spying on Ron and I most of last summer. That's just creepy."
The two returned to Harry's room, and Tom set about fixing it up. He had to prod Harry for any preferences, as in the beginning, Harry just kept insisting that it wasn't important, and anything was fine.
In the end, the room ended up featuring a lot of maroon and cream colors. Tom sighed as he looked at it. "Well it's certainly a monumental improvement. A bit much red though."
Harry snickered, "What, would you have preferred green and silver?"
Tom scoffed. "I'm not that much of a stereotype. But I can't blame you for finding the red comfortable. You have spent the majority of the last five years, living in a room absolutely covered in the stuff.'
The walls had cream wallpaper with red designs that looked like they'd been stamped on. The legs or feet of any of the furniture in the room now looked like polished gold metal, while any wood parts were a deep mahogany color, and with red-dyed leather linings on the tops where appropriate. None of which had been there before. The furniture had been rather plain and wooden, before this.
"So how'd you come up with the designs for these?" Harry asked, eyeing the writing desk with it's maroon mat top, rich wood, and gold accents.
"I remember some furniture along those lines from somewhere at some point. Just the idea that came to mind when I finally managed to drag some color preferences out of you."
"Oh come on! I knew if I just came out and told you red and gold you'd probably poke fun."
"Am I poking fun?"
Harry grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "I guess not."
"That common room, back in Gryffindor Tower is like home, right? It's the one place that has felt more like home than any other. It's only natural that things that you remind you of home, would make you feel more comfortable."
Harry stared at Tom for a moment. "I never even thought about it like that… but I guess that's really insightful."
Tom shrugged. "I tried to make my bedroom at the orphanage as green and silver as I could manage when I was younger, for the exact same reason," he grinned softly and shrugged.
There was a knocking on the door then that drew both of their attentions. Harry jumped up and went over to open the door.
It was Remus. "We've got some dinner ready down in the kitchen. Thomlyn is welcome to stay if he wants."
"Actually, I should be going," Tom said, coming to stand beside Harry. "I've monopolized your time far too much, on a day as important as today," he said to Harry. "Spend some time with Sirius."
Harry looked conflicted but gave Tom a thankful smile and nodded.
The three went down the stairs and Harry walked Tom to the front door. Remus hung back and then just turned and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.
"So… what next?" Harry asked.
"Next… I give you a couple days."
"Days? Why?" Harry asked.
"Because you've got Sirius back, you nitwit. Spend some time actually getting to know him. Ask him about your family history, or about your mum and dad. Get him to tutor you on the animagus transformation. Whatever. Do the same with Lupin. They're basically uncles to you, you should get more comfortable with them, especially if you're going to be living with them."
Harry twisted up his mouth thoughtfully before nodding. "Okay, right. What about after that?"
"Well, we still have to make time for those occlumency lessons, and I'd like you to continue to work on spell drills," Tom said and Harry groaned slightly. "Also, it's nearly your birthday," Tom pressed on, smiling up at Harry through his fringe. "I couldn't help but wonder what you might be doing for it."
"Oh. I have no idea," Harry said, surprised. "It had kind of slipped my mind."
"Well, if it turns out Sirius, or your friends intend to throw you some sort of party, I'd like to attend."
"Really? You don't strike me as the party type," Harry grinned cheekily.
Tom chuckled. "It has certainly been a very, very long time, since I last attended a birthday party. But this is special. It's you birthday. Besides… I would sort of like to meet your friends. If that's alright with you, of course."
Harry felt himself blush and couldn't help the smile on his face. "Yeah… I've been wanting that for some reason. Seems irrational, part of me is terrified of trying to figure out how to tell them, but it's getting easier. Hey, that reminds me - when is your birthday?"
"My real birthday, or Thomlyn Moore's birthday?" Tom asked quietly.
"Er… both, I guess," Harry whispered back.
"Real birthday is December 31st. Thomlyn Moore's birthday is recorded as April 14th."
"Well, I'll just have to find a way out of Hogwarts on both of those days, so we can celebrate," Harry grinned.
"That might not be necessary."
"I definitely want to celebrate your birthday, if you're going to celebrate mine," Harry argued.
"Not that. I mean, sneaking out."
"How so?"
"When you were up in your room packing and Dumbledore wanted me to stay with him? He made another effort to convince me to apply to Hogwarts. I'd been mulling the idea around in my mind for a while now, debating the reasons to do it over the reasons not to… I was already leaning towards actually doing it, but the biggest factor of all really just comes down to being able to be near you… Of course, if you'd rather I keep my distance, I can cancel the whole thing, I just…"
Harry smiled and pulled Tom in for a hug. "Merlin, that is going to be so weird. And brilliant," Harry said with a laugh. "You at Hogwarts. But then again, I guess you were basically there my whole first year too."
Tom rolled his eyes. "That does not count. Besides, I spent most of my time on Quirrell resting. I had to conserve my energy. I was barely even conscious."
"Ah, alright. Anyway, wow… a student at Hogwarts. That's certainly going to mix things up. But I will feel a lot better having you near by. Who knows what the hell is going to happen next year. Most years whatever insanity disrupts my life is caused by you, but it hasn't always… and who knows what Dumbledore is going to do when Voldemort stays disappeared."
"Hmm… yes. I'm going to have to address my old persona and his various responsibilities soon. I think I may spend the next couple days making plans on that front, actually."
"Oh yeah? What plans?"
"I haven't made them yet," Tom smirked.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Right, right. Fine. I'll use the watch to call you up if I need anything or just want to, alright?"
"It's why I gave it to you," Tom smiled. "I should go. They're waiting for you."
"Right. Harry fidgeted for a moment before just pushing forward and pressing his lips against Tom's. Tom met the kiss seamlessly and wrapped his arms around Harry's lower back while Harry went for the shoulders. They only kissed for a short while, but it still left Harry feeling breathless. They pulled apart and Harry let out a contented sigh.
"Good night, Harry."
"Night, Tom."
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